{"meta":{"pmid":6171860,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Comparison of different analytical and precipitation methods for direct estimation of serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol.\nIn this study two commercial enzymatic methods for the determination of serum cholesterol have been adapted for a continuous-flow analyser and a discrete multichannel analyser. The selective precipitation methods for lipoproteins using either dextran sulphate\/MgCl2, heparin\/MnCl2, phosphotungstate\/MgCl2 or polyethylene glycol (mol. wt 6000) were compared with each other and with ultracentrifugal analysis as well as with agarose gel electrophoresis for lipoproteins. The results indicated that the dextran sulphate\/MgCl2 precipitation procedure was the method of choice for the determination of HDL-cholesterol from clear and hyperlipemic sera. HDL-cholesterol values for 391 apparently health women (X +\/- SD) were 1.58 +\/- 0.34 mmol\/l and for 432 men 1.27 +\/- 0.29 mmol\/L. The corresponding HDL-cholesterol\/cholesterol ratios for women were 0.292 +\/- 0.068 and for men 0.229 +\/- 0.069. The HDL-cholesterol in serum was slightly age dependent in women, while the HDL-cholesterol\/cholesterol ratio showed highly significant negative correlation with the age in both women and men.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20377062,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Chest granuloma secondary to methyl methacrylate. Case report].\nWe present the case of a patient with a history of a massive left hemithorax crushing injury in 1985; the exact management of the lesion is unknown. Twenty years later he had a thoracic fistula with a culture that was reported as positive for Enteroccocus faecalis and Staphyloccocus epidermidis. The patient was referred by the chest surgery service with the diagnosis of rib osteomyelitis once complementary imaging tests were performed (plain X-rays, CAT scan and MRI). The patient underwent surgery at our service; a granulomatous reaction secondary to a foreign body (methyl methacrylate and Ethibon) was reported. Chest reconstruction for massive lesions is possible with methyl methacrylate. Imaging studies involve the well-known difficulty to identify this material, given that it may produce signals and densities that are difficult to interpret by specialized physicians.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27272082,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Effect of a Combination of Recombinant EGF Cosmetic Serum and a Crosslinked Hyaluronic Acid Serum as Compared to a Fibroblast-Conditioned Media Serum on the Appearance of Aging Skin.\nAnti-aging cosmeceutical efficacy is hampered by lack of active ingredient purity and lack of dosing standardization. These are two important key factors necessary to insure consistent, reproducible, and documentable skin effects. Without this type of standardization, it is not possible for cosmeceutical science to advance. Growth factors are interesting cosmeceutical ingredients with established cosmetic skin effects that can now be standardized due to the recent ability to manufacture recombinant epidermal growth factor. The concomitant use of a recombinant epidermal growth factor with a filler grade hyaluronic acid (EGF\/RHA) was studied over 12 weeks in 60 females with mild to moderate photoaging as compared to a currently marketed spent fibroblast growth media and moisturizer (TNS). Investigator, noninvasive, and subject assessments were collected at baseline and weeks 2, 4, 8, and 12. The blinded investigator noted a statistically significant preference for the EGF\/RHA at week 2 in terms of smoothness (<em>P<\/em> =0.003) and firmness (<em>P<\/em> =0.003). This improvement continued into weeks 4 and 8 with continued superior EGF\/RHA results in fine lines (<em>P<\/em> =0.002), radiance (<em>P<\/em> =0.014), and overall appearance (<em>P<\/em> =0.027) by week 12. Transepidermal water loss was reduced for the EGF\/RHA over the TNS at week 12 (<em>P<\/em> =0.005). The subjects gave high ratings to both study products. This research demonstrates the utility of recombinant growth factors, when combined with hyaluronic acid hydration, in improving skin cosmetic attributes. The ability to manufacture consistent pure recombinant growth factors lays the foundation for improved scientific study of this category of cosmeceutical actives.<br \/><br \/> <em>J Drugs Dermatol<\/em>. 2016;15(6):738-741.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37462480,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Up-regulated expression of miR-576 inhibits ALK4 expression, regulates JAK\/STAT signaling pathway and promotes proliferation and migration of prostatic cancer cells].\nTo explore the mechanism of the action of the miR-576\/ALK4 axis on the progression of prostate cancer (PCa). PCa cells were transfected with miR-576 mimics\/inhibitor, the proliferation and migration distance of the cells were detected by MTT and scratch wound healing assay, respectively. The targeted regulation effect of miR-576 on ALK4 was verified by dual-luciferase reporter assay. The effects of miR-576 on the mRNA and protein expressions and phosphorylation levels of the ALK4 and JAK\/STAT signaling pathway factors JAK2 and STAT3 were determined by qPCR and Western blot, respectively. The C4-2 cells were co-treated with sh-ALK4 and Ruxolitinib for measurement of the proliferation and migration of the PCa cells. Bioinformatics analysis and binding site prediction showed that miR-576 was up-regulated in the PCa cells, and dual-luciferase reporter assay revealed its targeted regulation effect on ALK4 and its impact on the phosphorylation levels of JAK2 and STAT3. Overexpressed miR-576 promoted while knocked-down miR-576 inhibited the proliferation and migration of the PCa cells. sh-ALK4 increased the proliferation and migration of the cells, while Ruxolitinib suppressed the promoting effect of sh-ALK4. The expression of miR-576 is up-regulated in PCa, inhibits the expression of ALK4, regulates the activity of the JAK and STAT signaling pathways, and promotes the proliferation and migration of PCa cells.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9563405,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the quantitation of IgG anti-D and IgG subclasses in the sera of alloimmunized patients.\nIgG subclass composition of maternal alloantibodies to the D antigen seems to play a role in the severity of hemolytic disease of the newborn. The subclassing of IgG anti-D is usually performed by hemagglutination techniques, but the results are not quantitative and sometimes are difficult to interpret. Thus, there is a need for quantitative methods. The aim of this study was to develop an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the quantitation of specific IgG anti-D and IgG subclasses in the sera of alloimmunized patients. Group O R1R2 red cells were sensitized with anti-D. Red cell membranes were solubilized with nonionic detergent. IgG and IgG subclasses were measured by a sensitive and reproducible immunocapture ELISA. A serum calibrated for its IgG subclass content was used as a reference, and the anti-D preparation 68\/419 was used as an internal control. Optimal conditions for the detection of IgG anti-D and IgG subclasses by ELISA were studied. The absolute concentration and the proportions of IgG subclasses were determined in the sera of 14 pregnant women. A close parallelism was observed between dilutions of the IgG reference serum and the IgG anti-D solubilized from sensitized RBCs. The sum of IgG anti-D subclass concentrations, determined by the ELISA, correlated well with other quantitative methods. The method described is sensitive and can be used routinely for the quantitative determination of specific IgG anti-D and IgG subclasses in sera.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8341139,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Catastrophic visual loss due to Cryptococcus neoformans meningitis.\nWe have reviewed our experience with 17 of our own patients with cryptococcal meningitis and 32 cases from the literature. Although this complication is an uncommon event, patients with cryptococcal meningitis may develop visual loss in the absence of other ocular lesions (endophthalmitis or cryptococcomas in the visual pathway) that could explain the visual symptoms. There are 2 distinct patterns of visual loss: rapid visual loss and slow visual loss. Rapid visual loss is characterized by onset of profound visual loss over a period as short as 12 hours before or early in the course of therapy and a clinical syndrome that is strongly suggestive of optic neuritis. Direct invasion of the optic nerve by C. neoformans is demonstrated by cases in this and other reports. Slow visual loss is characterized by slow but progressive visual loss which typically begins later during therapy and may be due to the effects of increased intracranial pressure. While the initial deficit may be mild, patients with slow visual loss can progress to severe visual loss over weeks to months. The only factors that appear to predict either pattern of visual loss are the presence of papilledema, an elevated CSF opening pressure, and a positive CSF India ink preparation. In the 25 visual loss patients for whom data were available for all 3 items, 10 (40%) were positive for all 3, as opposed to only 4 of 114 (3.5%) from a reference group of cryptococcal meningitis patients without visual loss (p < 0.00001). The only therapeutic measures with any degree of consistent success were those directed at reducing intracranial pressure. When begun early and used aggressively, such therapy halted and sometimes even reversed the course of visual loss, particularly in the slow visual loss group. Corticosteroids did not appear to be of value in the small number of patients who received them.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25521807,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"A graph kernel method for DNA-binding site prediction.\nProtein-DNA interactions play important roles in many biological processes. Computational methods that can accurately predict DNA-binding sites on proteins will greatly expedite research on problems involving protein-DNA interactions. This paper presents a method for predicting DNA-binding sites on protein structures. The method represents protein surface patches using labeled graphs and uses a graph kernel method to calculate the similarities between graphs. A new surface patch is predicted to be interface or non-interface patch based on its similarities to known DNA-binding patches and non-DNA-binding patches. The proposed method achieved high accuracy when tested on a representative set of 146 protein-DNA complexes using leave-one-out cross-validation. Then, the method was applied to identify DNA-binding sites on 13 unbound structures of DNA-binding proteins. In each of the unbound structure, the top 1 patch predicted by the proposed method precisely indicated the location of the DNA-binding site. Comparisons with other methods showed that the proposed method was competitive in predicting DNA-binding sites on unbound proteins. The proposed method uses graphs to encode the feature's distribution in the 3-dimensional (3D) space. Thus, compared with other vector-based methods, it has the advantage of taking into account the spatial distribution of features on the proteins. Using an efficient kernel method to compare graphs the proposed method also avoids the demanding computations required for 3D objects comparison. It provides a competitive method for predicting DNA-binding sites without requiring structure alignment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34417387,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Robotically Assisted Recipient Site Preparation in Hair Restoration Surgery: Surgical Safety and Clinical Outcomes in 31 Consecutive Patients.\nRecent advances in robotic surgery have extended to hair restoration surgery, using a robotic recipient site creation device. This study aimed to assess the surgical safety and postoperative clinical outcomes of using this robotic system. Thirty-one men diagnosed with androgenetic alopecia, who underwent hair transplantation with robotic recipient site creation, were retrospectively reviewed. Their mean age was 38.7 \u00b1 9.5 (range, 22\u201267) years. The total number of robotically created recipient sites was 36,273. The average site creation speed was 1,593 \u00b1 544 sites per hour. Postoperative crusting (54.8%) was the most frequent complication in the recipient area, followed by pruritus (12.9%), asymmetry (6.5%), and folliculitis (6.5%). The mean score of cosmetic outcomes and patient satisfaction, scored on a 5-point scale, was 4.10 \u00b1 0.54 and 4.13 \u00b1 0.85, respectively. No significant differences in cosmetic outcomes and patient satisfaction were found between 3 operators. The current device can automatically make slit incisions in the recipient area with speed and consistency noninferior to manual site creation. It is both safe and reliable for clinical use, and it is also easily managed by different hair surgeons without a long learning curve.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28261166,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Molecular Taxonomic Profiling of Bacterial Communities in a Gilthead Seabream (Sparus aurata) Hatchery.\nAs wild fish stocks decline worldwide, land-based fish rearing is likely to be of increasing relevance to feeding future human generations. Little is known about the structure and role of microbial communities in fish aquaculture, particularly at larval developmental stages where the fish microbiome develops and host animals are most susceptible to disease. We employed next-generation sequencing (NGS) of 16S rRNA gene reads amplified from total community DNA to reveal the structure of bacterial communities in a gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) larviculture system. Early- (2 days after hatching) and late-stage (34 days after hatching) fish larvae presented remarkably divergent bacterial consortia, with the genera Pseudoalteromonas, Marinomonas, Acinetobacter, and Acidocella (besides several unclassified Alphaproteobacteria) dominating the former, and Actinobacillus, Streptococcus, Massilia, Paracoccus, and Pseudomonas being prevalent in the latter. A significant reduction in rearing-water bacterial diversity was observed during the larviculture trial, characterized by higher abundance of the Cryomorphaceae family (Bacteroidetes), known to populate microniches with high organic load, in late-stage rearing water in comparison with early-stage rearing-water. Furthermore, we observed the recruitment, into host tissues, of several bacterial phylotypes-including putative pathogens as well as mutualists-that were detected at negligible densities in rearing-water or in the live feed (i.e., rotifers and artemia). These results suggest that, besides host-driven selective forces, both the live feed and the surrounding rearing environment contribute to shaping the microbiome of farmed gilthead sea-bream larvae, and that a differential establishment of host-associated bacteria takes place during larval development.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29363490,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dissecting human antibody responses: useful, basic and surprising findings.\nHuman memory B cells and plasma cells represent a rich source of antibodies that have been selected in response to human pathogens. In the last decade, different methods have been developed to interrogate the human memory repertoire and isolate monoclonal antibodies. I will discuss how a target-agnostic approach based on high-throughput screening of antibodies produced by cultured B cells and plasma cells has not only provided potent and broadly neutralizing antibodies against a range of pathogens, but has also advanced our understanding of basic aspects of the immune response, from host-pathogen interaction to the role of somatic mutations in affinity maturation and in the diversification of the antibody response. Most surprisingly, this approach has also revealed a new mechanism of diversification based on templated insertion of non-Ig DNA into antibody genes that we discovered in the context of the immune response to malaria infection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34423275,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Tetramethoxystilbene Inhibits NLRP3 Inflammasome Assembly via Blocking the Oligomerization of Apoptosis-Associated Speck-like Protein Containing Caspase Recruitment Domain: In Vitro and In Vivo Evaluation.\nNucleotide-binding domain leucine-rich repeat family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome complex regulates the caspase-1 activity and subsequent processing of interleukin-1\u03b2 (IL-1\u03b2). Various inflammatory diseases involve the activation of inflammasome complexes; thus, the intervention in complex formation via small molecules offers a new therapeutic opportunity. The structure-guided design and synthesis of a series of methoxystilbenes and methoxy-2-phenylnaphthalenes identified new inhibitors of NLRP3 inflammasome complex. The tetramethoxystilbene 4o and trimethoxy 2-phenylnaphthalene 1t inhibit the release of a mature form of IL-1\u03b2 in J774A.1 cells with IC50 values of 1.39 and 2.07 \u03bcM, respectively. Mechanistic investigation revealed that tetramethoxystilbene 4o blocks the oligomerization of apoptosis-associated speck-like protein (ASC), which is the vital step in the formation of NLRP3 inflammasome assembly, thus preventing the activation of caspase-1 and the IL-1\u03b2 release. Treatment of LPS+ATP challenged mice with 20 mg\/kg of 4o significantly suppressed the levels of IL-1\u03b2. The data presented herein warrant further investigation of methoxystilbenes in disease-specific models of inflammatory diseases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15808421,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Redox regulation of the signaling pathways leading to eNOS phosphorylation.\nOxidative stress mediates positive and negative effects on physiological processes. Recent reports show that H(2)O(2) induces phosphorylation and activation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) through an Akt-phosphorylation-dependent pathway. In this study, we assessed activation of eNOS and Akt by determining their phosphorylation status. Whereas moderate levels of H(2)O(2) (100 microM) activated the Akt\/eNOS pathway, higher levels (500 microM) did not, suggesting differential effects by differing levels of oxidative stress. We then found that two pro-oxidants with activity on sulfhydryl groups, 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (CDNB) and diethyl maleate (DEM), blocked the phosphorylation events induced by 100 microM H(2)O(2). GSH was not a target thiol in this system because buthionine sulfoximine did not inhibit this phosphorylation. However, down-regulation of cell membrane surface and intracellular free thiols was associated with the inhibition of phosphorylation, suggesting that oxidation of non-GSH thiols inhibits the H(2)O(2)-induced phosphorylation of eNOS and Akt. DTT reversed the inhibitory effects of CDNB and DEM on Akt phosphorylation and concomitantly restored cell surface thiol levels more efficiently than it restored intracellular thiols, suggesting a more prominent role for the former. Similarly, DEM and CDNB inhibited TNF-alpha-induced Akt and eNOS phosphorylation, suggesting that thiol modification is involved in eNOS inductive pathways. Our findings suggest that eNOS activation is exquisitely sensitive to regulation by redox and that cell surface thiols, other than glutathione, regulate signal transduction leading to phosphorylation of Akt and eNOS.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19048494,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Non-additive genetic effects on weights and performance of a Brazilian Bos taurus x Bos indicus beef composite.\nThe aim of the present study was to evaluate the heterosis effects on weaning weight at 205 days (WW, n = 146,464), yearling weight at 390 days (YW, n = 69,315) and weight gain from weaning to yearling (WG, n = 59,307) in composite beef cattle. The fixed models were: RM, which included contemporary groups, class of age of dam, outcrossing percentages for direct and maternal effects, and additive direct and maternal (AM) breed effects; R, RM model, minus AM breed effects, and H, RM model, minus additive breed effects. The estimates for W205 were in general positive (P < 0.01). The R and H models resulted in similar estimates, but they were very different from the ones estimated by the RM model. For W390, the R and H models resulted in general positive estimates (P < 0.05). For WG, the RM model resulted in general significant heterosis effects (P < 0.05). It can be concluded that the RM model seems to supply estimates of better quality (P < 0.01).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26442733,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Neuroprotective effects of hypothermia.\nThe neuroprotective effects of hypothermia have been shown in case reports and animal studies. Therapeutic hypothermia is used to provide neuroprotection during certain types of surgery and after serious events that pose a threat to the brain. The aim of this review is to describe the efficacy of such treatment in adults. All articles retrieved from five searches in PubMed were examined. Studies were included if they had a hypothermia protocol and a measurement of neuroprotection. The list of randomised studies was completed using studies identified from five international review articles. In all, 103 of 678 studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria, of which 48 were clinical trials. Ten of the clinical trials were randomised, using a normothermic control group. Several randomised clinical trials have suggested that avoidance of hyperthermia provides the same neuroprotection as therapeutic hypothermia after cardiac arrest and traumatic brain injury, but prognostic factors and inclusion criteria vary markedly between the patient populations, including time to target temperature. Two studies found that cognitive function after prolonged aortic surgery under deep hypothermia was equivalent to that after brief normothermic interventions. Animal studies show a neuroprotective effect of hypothermia, but this is dependent on the extent of anoxic damage as well as the rate of cooling. It remains uncertain how best to implement therapeutic hypothermia to achieve neuroprotection after acute events that pose a threat to the brain. Hypothermia during aortic surgery seems to provide adequate neuroprotection for prolonged interventions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28735538,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Photophysics of the Singlet Oxygen Sensor Green Chromophore: Self-Production of 1O2 Explained by Molecular Modeling.\nWe report a combined computational and experimental study to rationalize the behavior of a well-known singlet oxygen (1O2) probe, that is, the chromophore of the Singlet Oxygen Sensor Green: a fluoresceine-based sensor. In particular, we evidence that the presence of an intramoleculer charge transfer state that is no more present upon reaction with 1O2 explains the fluorescence enhancement observed in the presence of reactive oxygen species. Furthermore, we also unequivocally show the photophysical pathways leading to the fluorescence enhancement of fluoresceine upon irradiation with UVA lights and also in the absence of any oxygen activator. More specifically, we evidence that the presence of a possible intersystem crossing upon population of higher energy singlet electronic excited states will lead to the population of the fluoresceine triplet manifold and hence to the self-production of 1O2.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37467736,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evaluating Injury Severity in Neonatal Encephalopathy Using Automated Quantitative Electroencephalography Analysis: A Pilot Study.\nQuantitative analysis of electroencephalography (qEEG) is a potential source of biomarkers for neonatal encephalopathy (NE). However, prior studies using qEEG in NE were limited in their generalizability due to individualized techniques for calculating qEEG features or labor-intensive pre-selection of EEG data. We piloted a fully automated method using commercially available software to calculate the suppression ratio (SR), absolute delta power, and relative delta, theta, alpha, and beta power from EEG of neonates undergoing 72 h of therapeutic hypothermia (TH) for NE between April 20, 2018, and November 4, 2019. We investigated the association of qEEG with degree of encephalopathy (modified Sarnat score), severity of neuroimaging abnormalities following TH (National Institutes of Child Health and Development Neonatal Research Network [NICHD-NRN] score), and presence of seizures. Thirty out of 38 patients met inclusion criteria. A more severe modified Sarnat score was associated with higher SR during all phases of TH, lower absolute delta power during all phases except rewarming, and lower relative delta power during the last 24 h of TH. In 21 patients with neuroimaging data, a worse NICHD-NRN score was associated with higher SR, lower absolute delta power, and higher relative beta power during all phases. QEEG features were not significantly associated with the presence of seizures after correction for multiple comparisons. Our results are consistent with those of prior studies using qEEG in NE and support automated qEEG analysis as an accessible, generalizable method for generating biomarkers of NE and response to TH. Additionally, we found evidence of an immature relative frequency composition in neonates with more severe brain injury, suggesting that automated qEEG analysis may have a use in the assessment of brain maturity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9554600,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Caffeine intake and low birth weight: a population-based case-control study.\nThe authors conducted a matched case-control study to investigate the effects of caffeine intake during pregnancy on birth weight. From January to November 1992, in the first 24 hours after delivery, 1,205 mothers (401 cases and 804 controls) were interviewed and their newborns were examined to assess birth weight and gestational age by means of the method of Capurro et al. (J Pediatr 1978;93:120-2). The cases were children with birth weight < 2,500 g and gestational age > or = 28 weeks. Cases and controls were matched for time of birth and hospital of delivery and were recruited from the four maternity hospitals in Pelotas, southern Brazil. Daily maternal caffeine intake during pregnancy for each trimester was estimated. To assess caffeine intake, 10% of the mothers were reinterviewed at their households and samples of reported information on drip coffee and mat\u00e9 (a caffeine-containing drink widely used in South America) were collected and sent to the laboratory for caffeine determination through liquid chromatography. When instant coffee was reported, the weight of powder was measured using a portable scale, and caffeine intake was estimated from a reference table. Caffeine intake from tea, chocolate, soft drinks, and medicines was estimated from a reference table. Analyses were performed by conditional logistic regression. Crude analyses showed no effect of caffeine on low birth weight, preterm births or intrauterine growth retardation. The results did not change after allowing for confounders.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23457040,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"EBARDenovo: highly accurate de novo assembly of RNA-Seq with efficient chimera-detection.\nHigh-accuracy de novo assembly of the short sequencing reads from RNA-Seq technology is very challenging. We introduce a de novo assembly algorithm, EBARDenovo, which stands for Extension, Bridging And Repeat-sensing Denovo. This algorithm uses an efficient chimera-detection function to abrogate the effect of aberrant chimeric reads in RNA-Seq data. EBARDenovo resolves the complications of RNA-Seq assembly arising from sequencing errors, repetitive sequences and aberrant chimeric amplicons. In a series of assembly experiments, our algorithm is the most accurate among the examined programs, including de Bruijn graph assemblers, Trinity and Oases. EBARDenovo is available at http:\/\/ebardenovo.sourceforge.net\/. This software package (with patent pending) is free of charge for academic use only. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20365959,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"How to define variation of physical properties normal to an undulating one-dimensional object.\nOne-dimensional flexible objects are abundant in physics, from polymers to vortex lines to defect lines and many more. These objects structure their environment and it is natural to assume that the influence these objects exert on their environment depends on the distance from the line object. But how should this be defined? We argue here that there is an intrinsic length scale along the undulating line that is a measure of its stiffness (i.e., orientational persistence), which yields a natural way of defining the variation of physical properties normal to the undulating line. We exemplify how this normal variation can be determined from a computer simulation for the case of a so-called bottle-brush polymer, where side chains are grafted onto a flexible backbone.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20355888,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Development and testing of hierarchically wrinkled coatings for marine antifouling.\nWe report on the formation and testing of novel marine coatings comprising hierarchically wrinkled surface topographies (HWTS) having wrinkles of different length scales (generations) ranging from tens of nanometers to a fraction of a millimeter. The individual wrinkle generations are arranged in nested patterns, where each larger wrinkle resides underneath and represents a scaled-up version of the smaller wrinkle. We present and discuss results from field tests in seawater and laboratory experiments. The results of our field tests reveal that while coatings with flat topographies foul after relatively short time periods (4-15 weeks), the HWST coatings with the same chemistries as flat coatings remain relatively free of biofouling even after prolonged exposure to seawater (18 months). In contrast to flat coatings, the HWST substrates are not colonized by barnacles. These observations suggest that surface topography plays a dominant role in governing the coating defense against barnacle fouling even without fine-tuning the chemical composition of the overcoat. Laboratory experiments indicate that settlement of zoospores of the green alga Ulva and the strength of attachment of sporelings (young plants) depend on the chemical composition of the coating as well as surface topography.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31244064,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Occurrence and Behavior of Macrolide Antibiotics in Municipal Wastewater Treatment: Possible Importance of Metabolites, Synthesis Byproducts, and Transformation Products.\nA one-year study on the occurrence and fate of macrolide antibiotics and their metabolites, synthesis byproducts, and transformation products (TPs) was performed in the wastewater treatment plant of the city of Zagreb (Croatia). The target compounds were found in all analyzed influent and effluent samples with the total concentrations of azithromycin-, clarithromycin-, and erythromycin-related compounds reaching up to 25, 12, and 0.25 \u03bcg\/L, respectively. The most prominent individual constituents were the parent macrolides azithromycin and clarithromycin. However, a substantial contribution of their derivatives, formed by deglycolysation and microbial phosphorylation, was also detected. In addition, widespread presence of several linearized nontarget TPs was confirmed for the first time in real wastewater samples by suspect screening analysis. Complex characterization of macrolide-derived compounds enabled decoupling of industrial and therapeutic sources from the in situ transformations. Due to the high inputs and incomplete removal and\/or formation of several TPs during the conventional wastewater treatment, the average mass load of azithromycin-related compounds in secondary effluents exceeded 3.0 g\/day\/1000 inhabitants. This is the first study to reveal the importance of metabolites, byproducts, and TPs for the overall mass balance of macrolide antibiotics in urban wastewater systems.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27473151,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Fifteen-minute consultation: the child with systemic arterial hypertension.\nHypertension in children is a relatively uncommon condition but its prevalence is increasing with the rising rates of excess weight during childhood. It is important that hypertension is diagnosed early in children, particularly in those with symptoms, in those with secondary causes and in those with target organ damage. This article presents a systematic approach to the evaluation of a child with arterial hypertension, highlighting important points on history and examination, out-of-office monitoring and baseline investigations before consideration for more detailed investigations and treatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17879905,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Advanced multifocal tuberculous spondylitis without disk involvement and with multidrug-resistant bacilli.\nIn this brief report, we describe a 23-year-old immunocompetent Nigerian patient with extensive multifocal tuberculous spondylitis without disk involvement. Cultures of sputum samples and biopsy samples from the L4 vertebra were positive for tuberculosis; drug-susceptibility testing of the isolates revealed multidrug resistance. Treatment with second-line drugs resulted in an excellent interim outcome after 6 months, without the need for surgical intervention.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32359322,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Influence of bilateral cochlear implants on vocal control.\nReceiving a cochlear implant (CI) can improve fundamental frequency (F0) control for deaf individuals, resulting in increased vocal pitch control. However, it is unclear whether using bilateral CIs, which often result in mismatched pitch perception between ears, will counter this benefit. To investigate this, 23 bilateral CI users were asked to produce a sustained vocalization using one CI, the other CI, both CIs, or neither. Additionally, a set of eight normal hearing participants completed the sustained vocalization task as a control group. The results indicated that F0 control is worse with both CIs compared to using the ear that yields the lowest vocal variability. The results also indicated that there was a large range of F0 variability even for the relatively stable portion of the vocalization, spanning from 6 to 46 cents. These results suggest that bilateral CIs can detrimentally affect vocal control.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35127502,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Deferoxamine Counteracts Cisplatin Resistance in A549 Lung Adenocarcinoma Cells by Increasing Vulnerability to Glutamine Deprivation-Induced Cell Death.\nGlutamine, like glucose, is a major nutrient consumed by cancer cells, yet these cells undergo glutamine starvation in the cores of tumors, forcing them to evolve adaptive metabolic responses. Pharmacologically targeting glutamine metabolism or withdrawal has been exploited for therapeutic purposes, but does not always induce cancer cell death. The mechanism by which cancer cells adapt to resist glutamine starvation in cisplatin-resistant non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) also remains uncertain. Here, we report the potential metabolic vulnerabilities of A549\/DDP (drug-resistant human lung adenocarcinoma cell lines) cells, which were more easily killed by the iron chelator deferoxamine (DFO) during glutamine deprivation than their parental cisplatin-sensitive A549 cells. We demonstrate that phenotype resistance to cisplatin is accompanied by adaptive responses during glutamine deprivation partly via higher levels of autophagic activity and apoptosis resistance characteristics. Moreover, this adaptation could be explained by sustained glucose instead of glutamine-dominant complex II-dependent oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). Further investigation revealed that cisplatin-resistant cells sustain OXPHOS partly via iron metabolism reprogramming during glutamine deprivation. This reprogramming might be responsible for mitochondrial iron-sulfur [Fe-S] cluster biogenesis, which has become an \"Achilles' heel,\" rendering cancer cells vulnerable to DFO-induced autophagic cell death and apoptosis through c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) signaling. Finally, in vivo studies using xenograft mouse models also confirmed the growth-slowing effect of DFO. In summary, we have elucidated the adaptive responses of cisplatin-resistant NSCLC cells, which balanced stability and plasticity to overcome metabolic reprogramming and permitted them to survive under stress induced by chemotherapy or glutamine starvation. In addition, for the first time, we show that suppressing the growth of cisplatin-resistant NSCLC cells via iron chelator-induced autophagic cell death and apoptosis was possible with DFO treatment. These findings provide a solid basis for targeting mitochondria iron metabolism in cisplatin-resistant NSCLC for therapeutic purposes, and it is plausible to consider that DFO facilitates in the improvement of treatment responses in cisplatin-resistant NSCLC patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25427189,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Treatment of an amelogenesis imperfecta with restorations prepared using a modified clear matrix technique.\nThe rehabilitation of a patient with amelogenesis imperfecta (AI) from both functional and esthetic standpoints represents a challenge. A number of treatment options have been proposed. Recently, the use of adhesive restorations has gained popularity because of the improved physical properties of these materials. This article describes a treatment with direct resin composite for the restoration of teeth affected by the hypomature type of AI. A modified clear matrix technique was used during the preparation and restoration process. The use of the technique provides clinicians with reduced chair time, and the matrix can be repeated when needed; restorations can be performed relatively quickly with a minimal post-operative finishing process. This article highlights the use of direct-bonded resin composites providing satisfactory esthetics and function in restoring AI-affected teeth.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29553792,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"\"Assault-related shame mediates the association between negative social reactions to disclosure of sexual assault and psychological distress\": Correction to Decou et al. (2017).\nReports an error in \"Assault-related shame mediates the association between negative social reactions to disclosure of sexual assault and psychological distress\" by Christopher R. DeCou, Trevor T. Cole, Shannon M. Lynch, Maria M. Wong and Kathleen C. Matthews (Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 2017[Mar], Vol 9[2], 166-172). In the article, there was an error in the coding of missing values thus effecting the abstract, Methods, Results, and Discussion sections. The frequency counts for sexual assault victimization, reactions to social disclosure, and assault-related shame were calculated incorrectly due to an error in the coding of missing values, and have been corrected in the description of participants and in the results and discussion sections. In addition, the sample size was incorrectly reported as N = 207, and should have appeared as \"N = 208.\" The sample size and corresponding percentages have been corrected throughout the text. Two transcription errors for the indirect effects via PTSD and global distress were also corrected. These indirect effects were incorrectly reported as \"PCL-C; \u03b2 = .27,\" and \"OQ-45.2;\u03b2 = .21,\" and should have appeared as \"PCL-C;\u03b2 = .26,\" and \"OQ-45.2; \u03b2 = .20.\" (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2016-43136-001.) Objective: Several studies have identified associations between social reactions to disclosure of sexual assault and psychological distress; however, no studies have evaluated shame as a mediator of this association. This study evaluated assault-related shame as a mediator of the associations between negative social reactions to disclosure of sexual assault and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and global distress and hypothesized that there would be an indirect effect of social reactions to disclosure upon symptoms of psychopathology via assault-related shame. Participants were 207 female psychology undergraduates who reported past history of completed or attempted sexual assault and had disclosed the assault to at least 1 other person. Participants completed self-report measures of social reactions to sexual assault disclosure, assault-related shame, and symptoms of psychopathology. Participants reported significant histories of attempted or completed sexual assault and indicated clinically significant symptoms of depression and subthreshold symptoms of PTSD and global distress, on average. Evaluation of structural models confirmed the hypothesized indirect effect of negative social reactions to sexual assault disclosure upon symptoms of PTSD (z = 5.85, p < .001), depression (z = 4.56, p < .001), and global distress (z = 4.82, p < .001) via assault-related shame. These findings offer new insight concerning the intervening role of assault-related shame and highlight the importance of shame as a target for therapeutic intervention. This study suggests the need for future research concerning the role of shame in the etiology of PTSD and process of disclosure among survivors of attempted or completed sexual assault. (PsycINFO Database Record","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15560596,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Application of plasmapheresis in complex of preoperative preparation in patients with autoimmune thyroiditis and diffuse toxic goiter].\nThe article is devoted to actulal problem of endocrinology and surgery-treatment of severe diseases of the thyroid gland. Results of plasmapheresis application in complex preoperative preparation in 90 patients, aged from 20 to 60 yrs, in severe course of the disease, were adduced. After plasmapheresis preparation conduction the reduction of the autoimmune processes in the patients organisms, the antibodies titer lowering were noted, witnessing the stable remission achievement. Plasmapheresis application in complex of treatment of patients with autoimmune thyroiditis and diffuse toxic goiter causes significant positive influence on hormonal and immune state.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6726204,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The association between psychosis and violent crime: a study of offenders evaluated at a court psychiatric clinic.\nExamination of 2100 psychiatric evaluations conducted by a court psychiatric clinic to determine competency or for a presentence evaluation indicated no association between a diagnosis of psychosis and commission of a crime of violence. However, offenders referred for a pretrial competency examination were more likely to have committed a crime of violence than were defendants seen for a presentence evaluation. The implications of these results are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6366610,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hyperzincemia in anencephaly and spina bifida: a clue to the pathogenesis of neural tube defects?\nZinc is essential for normal embryogenesis and may have particular importance for closure of the human neural tube. Compared to 258 controls, we found increased zinc content in umbilical cord serum in eight of nine newborn anencephalics (p less than 0.02) and three infants with spina bifida (p less than 0.001). Increased zinc levels were bound to serum albumin or alpha-2-macroglobulin (alpha 2M) in infants with neural tube defects (NTD). In NTD-mothers, total serum zinc was similar to controls, but there was a shift in the distribution of zinc from alpha 2M to albumin. Fetal hyperzincemia and elevated maternal albumin-bound zinc suggest that the NTD-fetus receives but does not use zinc normally.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":937821,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Scanning electron microscopy of the lungs of vitamin E-deficient rats exposed to a low concentration of ozone.\nThe acute effects of a low concentration of ozone on the surface morphologic features of the conducting airways and alveoli were studied by scannging electron microscopy. Rats were exposed to approximately 0.3 ppm of ozone for 3 hours daily for as many as 16 consecutive days. Animals were killed at intervals of time, and their lungs were processed. Throughout the airways, cilia were seen to be swollen, showing hemispheric extrusions and considerable surface roughness. Groups of severely injured cilia had a tendency to adhere to each other. Small, round bodies were frequently noted, mainly in the large airways and the proximal bronchioles, in some areas thickly covering the airway epithelial surface. In addition, the luminal surfaces of the epithelium of the regions were often covered with a pseudomembrane. The surfaces of protruding nonciliated cells (Clara cells) showed many small swellings and discrete, round bodies. These changes were most marked in the terminal airways. The surfaces of alveolar ducts and alveolar walls showed scattered areas of cytoplasmic swelling and attachment of round bodies throughout the parenchyma. The findings described were more prominent in vitamin E-deficient rats than in rats fed a diet supplemented with vitamin E, suggesting an antioxidant effect of the vitamin.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25425960,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-30":1}}},"text":"Effect of Water Content on Enthalpic Relaxations in Porcine Septal Cartilage.\nCartilage thermoforming is an emerging surgical technology which uses heat to accelerate stress relaxation in mechanically deformed tissue specimens. Heat induced shape change in cartilage is associated with complex thermo mechanical behavior of which the mechanisms are still a subject of debate. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used to characterize the threshold temperatures and enthalpies in cartilage as a function of water content. The DSC identified two enthalpic events in porcine nasal septal cartilage, which depend on the water content. The change in the water content of cartilage impacts the interactions between matrix macromolecules and water molecules, which may be associated with a bound-free water transformation (reversible process) and a denaturation of cartilage (irreversible process).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28283606,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Predictive Value of RAPID Assessed Perfusion Thresholds on Final Infarct Volume in SWIFT PRIME (Solitaire With the Intention for Thrombectomy as Primary Endovascular Treatment).\nComputed tomography perfusion imaging can estimate the size of the ischemic core, which can be used for the selection of patients for endovascular therapy. The relative cerebral blood volume (rCBV) and relative cerebral blood flow (rCBF) thresholds chosen to identify ischemic core influence the accuracy of prediction. We aimed to analyze the accuracy of various rCBV and rCBF thresholds for predicting the 27-hour infarct volume using RAPID automated analysis software from the SWIFT PRIME trial (Solitaire With the Intention for Thrombectomy as Primary Endovascular Treatment) data. Patients from the SWIFT PRIME study who achieved complete reperfusion based on time until the residue function reached its peak >6 s perfusion maps obtained at 27 hours were included. Patients from both the intravenous tissue-type plasminogen activator only and endovascular groups were included in analysis. Final infarct volume was determined on magnetic resonance imaging (fluid-attenuated inversion recovery images) or computed tomography scans obtained 27 hours after symptom onset. The predicted ischemic core volumes on rCBV and rCBF maps using thresholds ranging between 0.2 and 0.8 were compared with the actual infarct volume to determine the most accurate thresholds. Among the 47 subjects, the following baseline computed tomography perfusion thresholds most accurately predicted the actual 27-hour infarct volume: rCBV=0.32, median absolute error (MAE)=9 mL; rCBV=0.34, MAE=9 mL; rCBF=0.30, MAE=8.8 mL; rCBF=0.32, MAE=7 mL; and rCBF=0.34, MAE=7.3. Brain regions with rCBF 0.30 to 0.34 or rCBV 0.32 to 0.34 thresholds provided the most accurate prediction of infarct volume in patients who achieved complete reperfusion with MAEs of \u22649 mL. URL: http:\/\/www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01657461.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28301291,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Histological and Histomorphometrical Analysis on a Loaded Implant With Platform-Switching and Conical Connection: A Case Report.\nThe association of Morse taper implant-abutment design with the use of a smaller abutment diameter (platform switching) may improve dental implant success rate and prevent peri-implant bone loss. The aim of the present study was to histologically and histomorphometrically evaluate the behavior of peri-implant tissues around an implant with a conical connection associated with platform switching. A platform-switched Morse-cone connection implant was inserted in the left posterior mandible of a 61-year-old patient. The implant was inserted at the level of the alveolar crest. After 11 months from placement and 6 months of loading, the implant was retrieved for psychological reasons and processed for histological evaluation. The retrieved implant was wholly surrounded by bone tissue, except for a small area in the apical portion. At higher magnification, in the coronal portion of the implant, it was possible to observe bone directly at the implant platform level. No resorption of the coronal bone was present, except for 0.2 mm on the vestibular aspect. Crestally, bone remodeling with areas of newly formed bone was detected; the bone-implant contact was 73.9%. Apposition of bone was detected even upon the platform. Peri-implant crestal bone preservation can be achieved with the combination of Morse taper conical internal implant-abutment connection with the use of a smaller abutment diameter (platform-switching).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28569000,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"GENETICS OF PHYSIOLOGICAL AND BEHAVIORAL RESISTANCE TO HOST FURANOCOUMARINS IN THE PARSNIP WEBWORM.\nDepressaria pastinacella, the parsnip webworm, feeds almost exclusively on the flowers and fruits of Pastinaca sativa, the wild parsnip. Resistance to webworms in wild parsnip populations is largely attributable to genetically based variation in furanocoumarin chemistry; by differentially reducing fruit set among chemical phenotypes, parsnip webworms may act as selective agents on wild parsnip populations. To determine whether wild parsnip chemistry can act as a selective agent on webworm populations, it is necessary to establish that resistance mechanisms in the webworm to furanocoumarins are genetically based. In this study, we estimated the amount of genetic variation in behavioral and physiological responses of webworms to parsnip furanocoumarins. Virtually no variation was found among webworm families for feeding preferences for diets varying as much as fourfold in furanocoumarin content. Nor was significant variation found for mean furanocoumarin intake over the assay period, except in one case, in which maternal effects may account for differences among families. In contrast, substantial familial variation existed for cytochrome P450-mediated metabolism of bergapten and xanthotoxin, two host furanocoumarins. The presence of additive genetic variation in metabolism, and the absence of such variation in discriminative feeding behavior, suggests that adaptation to changes in furanocoumarin chemistry, resulting either from changes in the distribution of chemical phenotypes in parsnip populations or from shifts to new chemically different host plants, is likely to be facilitated by physiological rather than behavioral means.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32365288,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Super-Expansion of Assembled Reduced Graphene Oxide Interlayers by Segregation of Al Nanoparticle Pillars for High-Capacity Na-Ion Battery Anodes.\nThe applicability of Na-ion batteries is contingent on breakthroughs in alternative electrode materials that have high capacities and which are economically viable. Unfortunately, conventional graphite anodes for Li-ion battery systems do not allow Na-ion accommodation into their interlayer space owing to the large ionic radius and low stabilizing energy of Na in graphite. Here, we suggest a promising strategy for significantly increasing Na capacity by expanding the axial slab space of graphite. We successfully synthesized reconstructed graphite materials via self-assembly of negative graphite oxide (GO) flakes and Al cation (positive) pillars and by subsequent chemical reaction of the obtained Al-GO materials. Al pillars, atomically distributed in graphite interlayers, can extend the slab space by up to \u223c7 \u00c5, which is a 2-fold interlayer distance of pristine graphite. An exceptionally high capacity of 780 mAh\/g is demonstrated for reconstructed graphite anodes with Al pillars, compared with rGO materials (210 mAh\/g). We investigated the electrochemical reaction mechanism and structural changes associated with discharge and charge to emphasize the benefit of using reconstructed graphite as anodes in Na-ion batteries. Our strategy of modifying the interlayer distance by introducing metallic pillars between the layers can help address the low capacity of carbonaceous anodes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28566090,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Lymphatic delivery of etanercept via nanotopography improves response to collagen-induced arthritis.\nEvidence suggests lymphatic function mediates local rheumatoid arthritis (RA) flares. Yet biologics that target the immune system are dosed systemically via the subcutaneous (SC) administration route, thereby inefficiently reaching local lymphatic compartments. Nanotopography has previously been shown to disrupt tight cellular junctions, potentially enhancing local lymphatic delivery and potentially improving overall therapeutic efficacy. We first characterized nanotopography (SOFUSA\u2122) delivery of an anti-TNF drug, etanercept, by comparing pharmacokinetic profiles to those obtained by conventional SC, intravenous (IV), and intradermal (ID) routes of administration, and assessed uptake of radiolabeled etanercept in draining lymph nodes (LNs) in single dosing studies. We then compared etanercept efficacy in a progressive rat model of collagen-induced arthritis (CIA), administered systemically via SC route of administration; via the regional lymphatics through ID delivery; or through a nanotopography (SOFUSA\u2122) device at 10, 12, and 14 days post CIA induction. Measurements of hind limb swelling and near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF) imaging of afferent lymph pumping function and reflux were conducted on days 11, 13, and 18 post CIA induction and compared to untreated CIA animals. Univariate and multivariate analysis of variance were used to compare the group differences for percentage swelling and lymphatic contractile activity. Even though all three modes of administration delivered an equal amount of etanercept, SOFUSA\u2122 delivery resulted in increased lymphatic pumping and significantly reduced swelling as compared to untreated, ID, and SC groups. Pharmacokinetic profiles in serum and LN uptake studies showed that using the nanotopography device resulted in the greatest uptake and retention in draining LNs. Locoregional lymphatic delivery of biologics that target the immune system may have more favorable pharmacodynamics than SC or IV administration. Nanotopography may provide a more efficient method for delivery of anti-TNF drugs to reverse impairment of lymphatic function and reduce swelling associated with RA flares.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15555207,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Genetic alterations in locally advanced stage II\/III colon cancer: a search for prognostic markers.\nHeterogeneity in advanced colon cancer leads to different results from adjuvant chemotherapy. To identify groups of patients who may need adjuvant treatment, molecular staging and correlation with clinical data may be helpful in classifying histologically similar tumors. Colon cancer develops through a multistep process with an accumulation of multiple genetic alterations that are often the cause of a form of genomic instability. The 2 best known mechanisms of genomic instability are chromosomal instability (CIN) and microsatellite instability (MSI). The CIN phenotype is found in approximately 85% of sporadic colon cancers and is characterized by aneuploidy, multiple chromosomal rearrangements, and an accumulation of somatic mutations in oncogenes such as K-ras and tumor suppressor genes such as TP53 and APC. The MSI phenotype is associated with small insertions and deletions mainly in repetitive sequences (microsatellites) and is found in approximately 15% of cases. This instability, often referred to as high-frequency MSI (MSI-H), is caused by defects of the mismatch repair system, which is involved in repairing DNA errors that arise during DNA replication. Clear-cut correlations between the somatic genetic alterations in tumors and the clinical behavior of the tumor are rare. Only a few markers, such as MSI-H and TP53, seem to have a prognostic value. Mutations in the TP53 gene are associated with an aggressive tumor growth and subsequent reduced survival, whereas MSI-H seems to be correlated with a favorable outcome. In general, predicting biologic behavior of in particular stage III colon cancers is difficult and remains a great clinical problem.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7937493,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"New fatherhood: myths and realities.\nDespite evidence for the existence of nurturing fathers, little is known about how and why men increase their involvement with their children. The qualitative study from which these findings were taken explored the experience of 10 Canadian fathers in dual-earner families after the birth of their first infants. The constant comparative method was used to generate a grounded theory explicating the men's process of redefining their roles as spouses, workers, and fathers. Findings from 20 semi-structured interviews conducted with a purposive sample of fathers in their homes revealed that the fathers' experiences consisted of coping with many demands from children, partners, and jobs. These men redefined their roles as fathers after their partners returned to full-time employment. Two stages of monitoring role strain and limiting role strain captured the variation in behavior. This study contributes to community health nurses' understanding of how men respond to the lack of concurrence among societal expectations, others' expectations, and their own realities of fatherhood.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12007735,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2013-20":2}}},"text":"VEGF gene delivery for treatment of ischemic cardiovascular disease.\nThere are increasing numbers of patients with ischemic myocardial disease not amenable to traditional methods of revascularization. These patients may benefit from new research into the use of naturally occurring angiogenic compounds, such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) for re-establishing blood flow into regions of hibernating myocardium. Animal studies and human clinical trials evaluating VEGF demonstrate increases in myocardial perfusion after treatment, with some patients reporting improvement in anginal symptoms. Further research into the ideal form of VEGF therapy (protein, plasmid, or adenoviral) and delivery method (intracoronary, intramyocardial, or epicardial) seems justified.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20357479,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Characterization of the T-cell epitopes of the major peach allergen Pru p 3.\nPru p 3 is the major peach allergen recognized by more than 90% of peach-allergic individuals of the Mediterranean area. Identification of the dominant Pru p 3 T-cell epitopes can improve our understanding of the immune responses against this protein and could be helpful in the development of hypoallergenic immunotherapy. For this purpose, we examined the phenotypes, specificities and cytokine secretion profiles of proliferating T cells in response to Pru p 3 in peach-allergic individuals. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 15 peach-allergic patients were incubated with Pru p 3. The proliferation of antigen-specific T-cell lines (TCLs) was assessed by tritiated methylthymidine incorporation. T-cell epitopes were identified by analyzing the reactivity of TCLs against 8 overlapping peptides spanning the entire length of Pru p 3. We characterized the phenotype of Pru-p-3-specific TCLs by flow cytometry and analyzed their production of interleukin (IL) 4 and gamma-interferon (IFN-gamma) by ELISA. Ninety-two Pru-p-3-specific TCLs were isolated (stimulation index > or =5). These TCLs proliferated mainly in response to Pru p 3(12-27) and Pru p 3(57-72). Pru-p-3-specific TCLs were mainly CD4+ (81%) and expressed cell surface CD30. In addition, TCLs produced high levels of IL-4 and low levels of IFN-gamma, indicating a Th2 phenotype. Two immunodominant T-cell-reactive regions of Pru p 3 were identified: Pru p 3(12-27) and Pru p 3(57-72). These peptides showed a differential ability to elicit a Th2 response. Taken together, our results provide a better understanding of the immunological T-cell reactivity against Pru p 3.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28690222,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Curative effect of surgery on moyamoya disease: an analysis of 47 patients].\nTo evaluate the effect of surgery on 47 patients with moyamoya disease by retrospective analysis. Methods: A total of 47 patients with moyamoya disease were enrolled from August, 2010 to According to the improved treatment in August, 2013, all cases were divided into two groups: a pre-improved group and a post-improved group. According to different surgical methods, they were divided into two subgroups: an indirect revascularization subgroup and a combined revascularization subgroup. Results: The cerebral ischemia in 77.4% of patients was relieved after the surgery. There was significant difference in outcomes of patients between the pre-improved group and the post-improved group (P<0.05), while there was no significant difference between the pre-improved indirect revascularization subgroup and the pre-improved combined revascularization subgroup. There was also no significant difference between the post-improved indirect revascularization subgroup and the post-improved combined revascularization subgroups (P>0.05). Conclusion: Surgical treatment can improve the outcomes of patients with moyamoya disease, but there is no significant difference in surgical effects between indirect and combined revascularization.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6724486,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Neuropsychologic contribution to dyslexia research. A review of important explanatory models and findings].\nSince in a substantial proportion of reading-disabled children constitutional factors appear to play an important pathogenetic role, major contributions to a better understanding of dyslexia have long come from the fields of neuropsychology and behavioral neurology. In this overview an attempt is made to describe the most important hypotheses and models on which neuropsychological research on this problem has been based. The first section is devoted to a discussion of findings on acquisition of reading and spelling skills by brain-damaged children and on the effect of the localization of central nervous system lesions on reading disorders in children. Classic neurological disorders are seen in only a small proportion of children with reading retardation, however. Therefore the second section comprises a discussion of various hypotheses that have been developed to explain the particular performance profiles seen in children with dyslexia but with no evidence of brain damage, i.e. in those children who can be said to have a developmental disorder. It is emphasized that dyslexia is probably not a uniform syndrome but that rather different subgroups of reading-disabled children can be identified.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9565701,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Metabolic responses and nutritional therapy in patients with severe head injuries.\nThe severe hypermetabolism and hypercatabolism seen in patients with severe head injuries results in malnutrition that occurs very rapidly and can cause impaired healing and an increased tendency to infection and multiple organ failure. Thus, early adequate nutritional support plays a role in functional outcome. Total enteral nutrition (TEN) is preferred over total parenteral nutrition (TPN), but TPN should be supplied promptly while increasing TEN to a goal of at least 25 to 35 nonprotein kcal\/kg\/d and 2.0 to 2.5 g protein\/kg\/d. Nutritional formulas high in branched chain amino acids, glutamine, arginine, vitamins E and C, and zinc may also have some advantages. Growth hormone may improve anabolism. Hyperglycemia, especially glucose levels exceeding 200 mg\/dL, must be prevented and\/or treated promptly with insulin or decreased glucose intake. Careful monitoring with indirect calorimetry and nitrogen balance studies should help prevent inadequate protein or excessive carbohydrate intake.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16215234,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The tissue factor requirement in blood coagulation.\nFormation of thrombin is triggered when membrane-localized tissue factor (TF) is exposed to blood. In closed models of this process, thrombin formation displays an initiation phase (low rates of thrombin production cause platelet activation and fibrinogen clotting), a propagation phase (>95% of thrombin production occurs), and a termination phase (prothrombin activation ceases and free thrombin is inactivated). A current controversy centers on whether the TF stimulus requires supplementation from a circulating pool of blood TF to sustain an adequate procoagulant response. We have evaluated the requirement for TF during the progress of the blood coagulation reaction and have extended these analyses to assess the requirement for TF during resupply (\"flow replacement\"). Elimination of TF activity at various times during the initiation phase indicated: a period of absolute dependence (<10 s); a transitional period in which the dependence on TF is partial and decreases as the reaction proceeds (10-240 s); and a period in which the progress of the reaction is TF independent (>240 s). Resupply of reactions late during the termination phase with fresh reactants, but no TF, yielded immediate bursts of thrombin formation similar in magnitude to the original propagation phases. Our data show that independence from the initial TF stimulus is achieved by the onset of the propagation phase and that the ensemble of coagulation products and intermediates that yield this TF independence maintain their prothrombin activating potential for considerable time. These observations support the hypothesis that the transient, localized expression of TF is sufficient to sustain a TF-independent procoagulant response as long as flow persists.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14533831,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Childhood cutaneous hemangiomas.\nAn hemangioma is a common benign growth of vascular endothelium that may have multiple clinical manifestations. Either identified at birth or shortly thereafter, hemangiomas have both proliferative and involutional phases. Certain varieties are associated with congenital anomalies. Numerous therapy options are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12033905,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"From 2D framework to quasi-1D nanomaterial: preparation, characterization, and formation mechanism of Cu(3)SnS(4) nanorods.\nAn ion-ion reaction route under solvothermal condition at relatively low temperatures was first put forward to the preparation of tetragonal Cu(3)SnS(4) nanorods, on the basis of the strategy that 2D framework structure of Cu(3)SnS(4) containing layers could provide orientation for the growth of quasi-1D nanomaterials. X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern, transmission electronic microscope (TEM) images, electronic diffraction (ED) pattern, X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS), energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDXA), M\u00f6ssbauer spectrum, Raman spectrum, thermal analysis (DTA and TGA), ultraviolet and visible light (UV-vis) spectrum, and photoluminescence (PL) spectrum were used to characterize the products. On the basis of a series of supplementary experiments and the result of infrared absorption spectrum (IR), a reaction mechanism was proposed: ethanol as solvent and reductant and trace water\/CH(3)CSNH(2) as sulfur source and acid-making components could form 2D network through hydrogen bonds, which provided the orientation for the formation of a 2D framework structure; appropriate concentration of CH(3)CSNH(2), warming speed, reaction constant temperatures (T(rc)), and reaction time also played important roles.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27286310,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Generation of Marked and Markerless Mutants in Model Cyanobacterial Species.\nCyanobacteria are ecologically important organisms and potential platforms for production of biofuels and useful industrial products. Genetic manipulation of cyanobacteria, especially model organisms such as Synechocystis sp. PCC6803 and Synechococcus sp. PCC7002, is a key tool for both basic and applied research. Generation of unmarked mutants, whereby chromosomal alterations are introduced into a strain via insertion of an antibiotic resistance cassette (a manipulatable fragment of DNA containing one or more genes), followed by subsequent removal of this cassette using a negative selectable marker, is a particularly powerful technique. Unmarked mutants can be repeatedly genetically manipulated, allowing as many alterations to be introduced into a strain as desired. In addition, the absence of genes encoding antibiotic resistance proteins in the mutated strain is desirable, as it avoids the possibility of 'escape' of antibiotic resistant organisms into the environment. However, detailed methods for repeated rounds of genetic manipulation of cyanobacteria are not well described in the scientific literature. Here we provide a comprehensive description of this technique, which we have successfully used to generate mutants with multiple deletions, single point mutations within a gene of interest and insertion of novel gene cassettes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9562221,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The effect of training and epinephrine infusion on ratings of perceived exertion (RPE).\nSeven untrained males (mean age [+\/-SD] = 25.6+\/-3.9 yr, mean ht = 177.0+\/-5.9 cm, mean wt = 65.8+\/-7.4 kg) completed a 6-week exercise program (cycle ergometer). Prior to training, and at the end of each week of training, each subject performed a 20 min constant-power exercise test (absolute power was the same each week). At the end of the six week training program (within a few days), an additional 20 min constant-power test was performed, during which epinephrine was infused at a rate of 100 ng x kg(-1) x min(-1) over the final 10 min of exercise. Training significantly (P<0.05) reduced end-exercise ratings of perceived exertion (RPE), plasma epinephrine concentration [Epi], plasma norepinephrine concentration [NE], blood lactate concentration [La-], minute ventilation (V(E)), heart rate (HR), and blood glucose concentration [Glc]. Epinephrine infusion failed to increase RPE despite significant (p < 0.05) increases in [Epi], [La-], V(E) and [Glc]. Therefore, the present data indicate that RPE during exercise is not causally related to changes in plasma [Epi]. It also appears that modest changes in plasma [NE], blood [La-], V(E) and blood [Glc] during constant-power cycle ergometry (as observed during Epi infusion) do not impact RPE.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12029877,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The nutritional needs of the older person.\nOlder people have particular nutritional requirements that are different from other groups. The nutritional status of many older people is poor in respect of some key nutrients. Older people are at higher risk of malnutrition if they are ill, live alone or have difficulty in eating. Older patients should have their nutritional status and nutritional intake monitored regularly to ensure they are receiving adequate nutrition.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17178804,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-10":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Accounting for outliers and heteroskedasticity in multibreed genetic evaluations of postweaning gain of Nelore-Hereford cattle.\nThe objectives of this study were to demonstrate the utility of hierarchical Bayesian models combining residual heteroskedasticity with robustness for outlier detection and muting and to evaluate the effects of such joint modeling in multibreed genetic evaluations. A 3 x 2 factorial specification of 6 residual variance models based on several distributional (Gaussian, Student's t, or Slash) and variability (homoskedastic or heteroskedastic) assumptions was used to analyze 22,717 postweaning gain records from a Nelore-Hereford population (40,082 animals in the pedigree). To illustrate the utility of the 2 robust distributional specifications (Student's t and Slash) for outlier detection and muting, 3 records from the same contemporary group (an extreme residual outlier, a mild residual outlier, and a near-zero residual) were chosen for further study. The posterior densities of the corresponding weighting variables of these records were used to assess their degree of Gaussian outlyingness and the ability of the robust models to mute the effects of deviant records. The Student's t heteroskedastic provided the best-fit model among the 6 specifications and was preferred for genetic merit inference. Kendall rank correlations of the posterior means of the additive genetic effects of the animals, used to compare the selection order of the Student's t and Gaussian models, were reasonably high across all animals within the most frequent genotypes, ranging from 0.83 to 0.91 and from 0.89 to 0.95 for the homoskedastic and the heteroskedastic versions, respectively. However, when considering only animals ranked in the top 10% by the customary Gaussian homoskedastic model, these rank correlations were reduced considerably, ranging from 0.29 to 0.57 and from 0.72 to 0.85 between the 2 residual densities within the homoskedastic and heteroskedastic versions, respectively. Rank correlations between the homoskedastic and heteroskedastic versions within each of the Gaussian and Student's t error models tended to be smaller, with a range from 0.68 to 0.90 across all animals and from 0.28 to 0.67 for animals ranked in the top 10%. These results support the implementation of robust models accounting for sources of heteroskedasticity to increase the precision and stability of multibreed genetic evaluations with proper statistical treatment of deviant records.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20380608,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Agreement and reproducibility in identification of endometriosis using magnetic resonance imaging.\nMagnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a promising technique in the study of endometriosis, allowing a complete mapping of lesions before surgery. However, the value of MRI in the diagnosis of endometriosis in the bladder, in superficial peritoneal lesions, and in ovarian foci and uterosacral ligaments is still under debate. To assess inter- and intra-observer agreement in the evaluation of endometriosis in different anatomical locations using MRI. From June 2006 to February 2008, 83 female patients (mean age 39, range 19-49 years) who had undergone MRI examination for suspected endometriosis were evaluated by two radiologists. MRI at 1.5 Tesla was performed with SE and TSE sequences, T1- and T2-weighted with and without fat suppression. Each examination was completed with gadolinium administration. Each dataset was independently evaluated by the radiologists for the presence or absence of endometriosis. The location (ovaries, uterosacral ligaments (USLs), pouch of Douglas, vagina, rectosigmoid, rectovaginal septum, and bladder) of suspected lesions was recorded. Cohen kappa statistical analysis was performed to calculate agreement between measurements. After 2 months the data were analyzed again by the two observers to assess intra-observer agreement. Of the 83 MRI examinations performed, 12 patients demonstrated no evidence of endometriosis. In the remaining 71 studies, 157 endometriotic lesions ranging in size from 0.4 to 6.2 cm were detected. Of the 157 lesions, 53 (33.75% incidence) were smaller than 1 cm. In the ovaries, the inter-observer agreement was 92.77% and the kappa value was 0.802 (95% CI, 0.695-0.91). In the bladder the inter-observer agreement was 96.39% and the kappa value was 0.553 (95% CI 0.056-1). In the USLs the inter-observer agreement was 90.96% and the kappa value 0.583 (95% CI, 0.381-0.784). In the rectovaginal septum the inter-observer agreement was 94.58% and the kappa value 0.739 (95% CI, 0.572-0.905). In the rectovaginal pouch the inter-observer agreement was 88.55% and the kappa value 0.608 (95% CI, 0.443-0.774). In the vaginal fornix the inter-observer agreement was 94.58% and the kappa value 0.726 (95% CI, 0.552-0.901). In the rectosigmoid the inter-observer agreement was 89.76% and the kappa value 0.589 (95% CI, 0.389-0.768). The results of our study indicate that MRI has a high inter- and intra-observer agreement in the identification of endometriosis located in the ovary, rectosigmoid, and rectovaginal septum, whereas the agreement is suboptimal for the identification of endometriosis located in the USLs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32353386,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Investigating DNA adduct formation by flavor chemicals and tobacco byproducts in electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) using in silico approaches.\nThe presence of flavors is one of the commonly cited reasons for use of e-cigarettes by youth; however, the potential harms from inhaling these chemicals and byproducts have not been extensively studied. One mechanism of interest is DNA adduct formation, which may lead to carcinogenesis. We identified two chemical classes of flavors found in tobacco products and byproducts, alkenylbenzenes and aldehydes, documented to form DNA adducts. Using in silico toxicology approaches, we identified structural analogs to these chemicals without DNA adduct information. We conducted a structural similarity analysis and also generated in silico model predictions of these chemicals for genotoxicity, mutagenicity, carcinogenicity, and skin sensitization. The empirical and in silico data were compared, and we identified strengths and limitations of these models. Good concordance (80-100%) was observed between DNA adduct formation and models predicting mammalian mutagenicity (mouse lymphoma sassy L5178Y) and skin sensitization for both chemical classes. On the other hand, different prediction profiles were observed for the two chemical classes for the modeled endpoints, unscheduled DNA synthesis and bacterial mutagenicity. These results are likely due to the different mode of action between the two chemical classes, as aldehydes are direct acting agents, while alkenylbenzenes require bioactivation to form electrophilic intermediates, which form DNA adducts. The results of this study suggest that an in silico prediction for the mouse lymphoma assay L5178Y, may serve as a surrogate endpoint to help predict DNA adduct formation for chemicals found in tobacco products such as flavors and byproducts.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29371852,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Devising a Method to Study if Wernicke's Aphasia Patients are Aware That They Do Not Comprehend Language or Speak It Understandably.\nWernicke's Aphasia (WA) is characterized by an individual speaking fluent gibberish without the ability to understand anything that is said to them or anything they attempt to read. It is caused by damage to the left posterior temporoparietal cortex, also known as Wernicke's area. An additional intriguing symptom of WA patients is their apparent obliviousness to their own lack of understanding despite their intact reasoning or other cognitive abilities. Their only deficit seems to be in the basic rules of language that define word meaning, also known as phonology. Growing out of a project in an undergraduate class, we devised a phonology-free approach to communicating with WA patients that attempts to answer the questions of whether WA patients know that they do not understand what is said to them, that others do not understand what they have said, and if these patients are distressed by this lack of communication. We here describe the process and the resulting method.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37841727,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Case report: A toxoplasmic encephalitis in an immunocompromised child detected through metagenomic next-generation sequencing.\nThere exist numerous pathogens that are capable of causing infections within the central nervous system (CNS); however, conventional detection and analysis methods prove to be challenging. Clinical diagnosis of CNS infections often depends on clinical characteristics, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis, imaging, and molecular detection assays. Unfortunately, these methods can be both insensitive and time consuming, which can lead to missed diagnoses and catastrophic outcomes, especially in the case of infrequent diseases. Despite the application of appropriate prophylactic regimens and evidence-based antimicrobial agents, CNS infections continue to result in significant morbidity and mortality in hospital settings. Metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) is a novel tool that enables the identification of thousands of pathogens in a target-independent manner in a single run. The role of this innovative detection method in clinical pathogen diagnostics has matured over time. In this particular research, clinicians employed mNGS to investigate a suspected CNS infection in a child with leukemia, and unexpectedly detected Toxoplasma gondii. A 3-year-old child diagnosed with T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma was admitted to our hospital due to a 2-day history of fever and headache, along with 1 day of altered consciousness. Upon admission, the patient's Glasgow Coma Scale score was 14. Brain magnetic resonance imaging revealed multiple abnormal signals. Due to the patient's atypical clinical symptoms and laboratory test results, determining the etiology and treatment plan was difficulty.Subsequently, the patient underwent next-generation sequencing examination of cerebrospinal fluid. The following day, the results indicated the presence of Toxoplasma gondii. The patient received treatment with a combination of sulfamethoxazole (SMZ) and azithromycin. After approximately 7 days, the patient's symptoms significantly improved, and they were discharged from the hospital with oral medication to continue at home. A follow-up polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing after about 6 weeks revealed the absence of Toxoplasma. This case highlights the potential of mNGS as an effective method for detecting toxoplasmic encephalitis (TE). Since mNGS can identify thousands of pathogens in a single run, it may be a promising detection method for investigating the causative pathogens of central nervous system infections with atypical features.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37864222,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":3,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-18":1,"2024-10":1,"2024-30":1}}},"text":"Screening for atypical porcine pestivirus in Swedish boar semen used for artificial insemination and a characterisation of the seminal RNA microbiome including the virome.\nThis study aimed to characterise the RNA microbiome, including the virome of extended semen from Swedish breeding boars, with particular focus on Atypical porcine pestivirus (APPV). This neurotropic virus, associated with congenital tremor type A-II in piglets, was recently demonstrated to induce the disease through insemination with semen from infected boars. From 124 Artificial Insemination (AI) doses from Swedish breeding boars, APPV was detected in one dose in addition to a sparse seminal RNA virome, characterised by retroviruses, phages, and some fecal-associated contaminants. The detected seminal microbiome was large and characterized by Gram-negative bacteria from the phylum Proteobacteria, mainly consisting of apathogenic or opportunistic bacteria. The proportion of bacteria with a pathogenic potential was low, and no antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) were detected in the datasets. Overall, the results indicate a good health status among Swedish breeding boars. The detection of APPV in semen raises the question of whether routine screening for APPV in breeding boars should be instigated.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1699796,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Importance of the alpha 3-fragment of complement C4 for the binding with C4b-binding protein.\nThe human regulatory complement component C4b-binding protein (C4BP) is a multimeric plasma protein, which regulates the classical pathway of the complement system. C4BP functions as a cofactor to factor 1 in the degradation of C4b and accelerates the decay rate of the C4b2a complex. Previously, we have demonstrated that monoclonal antibodies (C4-2 and 9) directed against the alpha'-chain of C4b inhibit the binding of C4b to C4BP. In order to identify the structural domain of C4b that binds C4BP, proteolytic fragments of C4 were generated with trypsin and Staphylococcus aureus V8 protease. Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, immunoblotting and amino acid sequence analysis of the proteolytic fragments reactive with the anti-C4 mAb's revealed that the residues Ala738-Arg826 of the alpha 3-fragment of C4b are important for the interaction with C4BP.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28532282,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Synthesis of pH-responsive N-acetyl-cysteine modified starch derivatives for oral delivery.\nIn this study, a novel type of pH-responsive polymer PyHES-NAC (2-hydroxy-3-(2-propynyloxy) propyl hydroxyethyl starch (PyHES)) - (N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC)) was synthesized. First, PyHES was prepared via hydrophobic modification of hydroxyl groups in hydroxyethyl starch (HES) with propynylglycidyl ether (PGE), and then pH-responsive carboxylic acid group was connected to propynyl group via thiol-yne click reaction with NAC. Aqueous PyHES-NAC solutions exhibited a good transference between hydrophobic (or self-assembly) and hydrophilic static along with the change of pH value and protective properties of drugs under acidic conditions. 10.0% DOX was released under artificial gastric fluid after 2 h, whereas an immediate release (above 80%) was observed under artificial intestinal fluid. Drug loading capacity of PyHES-NAC was increased by the increase of degree of substitution (DS) of hydrophobic propynyl groups in PyHES, and 41 wt% DOX Loading capacity was the highest value in our study area.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28264142,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Using body donor demographics to assist the implementation of donation programs in Brazil.\nThe use of human material in anatomy education depends upon the generosity of body donors. However, little is known regarding the demographics of body donors in Brazil, where voluntary body donation is a relatively rare phenomenon. Hence, the aim of the present study was to elucidate the demographic profile of applicants to the Body Donation Program (BDP) at the Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre in Brazil, as well as to assess whether the observed characteristics of body donors are unique to that sample, or if they merely reflect the characteristics of the regional population. Information derived from the specific forms filled out by donors between January 2008 and June 2016 at the time of registration were collected. Data from 416 forms were analyzed. Based on this study, the typical applicant in Brazil is typically a white female (67.4%), over 60 years of age (60.3%), unmarried or single (70.6%), affiliated with a religious group (89.1%), of middle class background (40.4%), who has completed high school and\/or holds a university degree (93.8%). The motivation of donors was, in most cases, an altruistic gesture, represented by the desire to help society and science. Elucidating these demographic characteristics of potential donors may help identify the target public to which information regarding body donation campaigns could be directed. Anat Sci Educ 10: 475-486. \u00a9 2017 American Association of Anatomists.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28731517,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mental steps: Differential activation of internal pacemakers in motor imagery and in mental imitation of gait.\nGait imagery and gait observation can boost the recovery of locomotion dysfunctions; yet, a neurologically justified rationale for their clinical application is lacking as much as a direct comparison of their neural correlates. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we measured the neural correlates of explicit motor imagery of gait during observation of in-motion videos shot in a park with a steady cam (Virtual Walking task). In a 2 \u00d7 2 factorial design, we assessed the modulatory effect of gait observation and of foot movement execution on the neural correlates of the Virtual Walking task: in half of the trials, the participants were asked to mentally imitate a human model shown while walking along the same route (mental imitation condition); moreover, for half of all the trials, the participants also performed rhythmic ankle dorsiflexion as a proxy for stepping movements. We found that, beyond the areas associated with the execution of lower limb movements (the paracentral lobule, the supplementary motor area, and the cerebellum), gait imagery also recruited dorsal premotor and posterior parietal areas known to contribute to the adaptation of walking patterns to environmental cues. When compared with mental imitation, motor imagery recruited a more extensive network, including a brainstem area compatible with the human mesencephalic locomotor region (MLR). Reduced activation of the MLR in mental imitation indicates that this more visually guided task poses less demand on subcortical structures crucial for internally generated gait patterns. This finding may explain why patients with subcortical degeneration benefit from rehabilitation protocols based on gait observation. Hum Brain Mapp 38:5195-5216, 2017. \u00a9 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12001540,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Prevalence and significance of coronary collateral circulation in patients with acute myocardial infarct].\nAngiograms from consecutive and unselected patients with acute myocardial infarction were studied with respect to the prevalence as well as the significance of coronary collateral circulation to myocardium distal to the acute coronary occlusion. Coronary angiograms were obtained from 700 consecutive and unselected patients with an acute transmural infarction within 3.7 +\/- 3 hours (0.5-12) of symptom onset. No patient had undergone i.v. thrombolysis prior to angiography. Complete and acute vessel occlusion was found in 626\/700 patients (89%). Coronary collaterals were detected and graded using Rentrop's classification. The grade of collateral circulation was related to the clinical course after 30 days and to the global and regional left ventricular wall motion. Collaterals were found in 334 patients (69%); 242 patients (38%) had collateral flow grade 2 or 3. Collaterals were demonstrated more frequently in women vs men and in patients with multivessel disease. The prevalence of collaterals was unrelated to age and the presence of diabetes mellitus. Patients who had angiography within 3 hours of symptom onset had collaterals detected less frequently than patients who had angiography beyond 6 hours (66% vs 75%, p < 0.05). No collaterals were found in 17\/37 patients (47%) in cardiogenic shock and inferior MI but in only 30\/164 patients (18%, p < 0.01) without shock. Global and regional left ventricular wall motion after 2 weeks was unrelated to the degree of coronary collateral circulation during acute myocardial infarction. Collateral circulation to myocardium distal to an acutely occluded coronary artery is detected in 2\/3 patients during the acute infarct phase. The absence of collaterals is related to the early occurrence of cardiogenic shock in patients with inferior MI but not to the presence of diabetes mellitus. After direct angioplasty of the infarct vessel, the protective effects of coronary collaterals on chronic LV function remain uncertain.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11999512,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"A novel piezoelectric biosensor for the detection of phytohormone beta-indole acetic acid.\nA novel piezoelectric immunosensor has been developed for the determination of beta-indole acetic acid (IAA) in dilute solutions. The detection is based on competitive immunoreaction between a hapten (IAA) and an antigen (IAA-BSA, hapten-protein conjugation) bound to an anti-IAA antibody, immobilized on a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM). The frequency change (y) of the sensor caused by antigen is linearly related to the logarithm of the concentration of IAA (x) in the range of 0.5 ng\/ml - 5 microg\/ml with a regression equation of the form y = -23x + 151 (r = 0.9937).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16146727,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Role of protein modifications mediated by transglutaminase 2 in human viral diseases.\nTransglutaminase 2 (TG2) belongs to a family of calcium-dependent enzymes that catalyze transamidation reaction, producing polymerized, polyaminated or deamidated proteins. Recently, a growing number of viral proteins as well as cellular proteins with which they interact have been found to be modified by TG2, suggesting a novel function for TG2 in viral pathogenesis. This review summarizes the results of relevant research, examines the mechanisms underlying TG2 function in host-virus interactions and proposes a model for viral pathogenesis involving TG2.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32620945,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Fold-stratified cross-validation for unbiased and privacy-preserving federated learning.\nWe introduce fold-stratified cross-validation, a validation methodology that is compatible with privacy-preserving federated learning and that prevents data leakage caused by duplicates of electronic health records (EHRs). Fold-stratified cross-validation complements cross-validation with an initial stratification of EHRs in folds containing patients with similar characteristics, thus ensuring that duplicates of a record are jointly present either in training or in validation folds. Monte Carlo simulations are performed to investigate the properties of fold-stratified cross-validation in the case of a model data analysis using both synthetic data and MIMIC-III (Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care-III) medical records. In situations in which duplicated EHRs could induce overoptimistic estimations of accuracy, applying fold-stratified cross-validation prevented this bias, while not requiring full deduplication. However, a pessimistic bias might appear if the covariate used for the stratification was strongly associated with the outcome. Although fold-stratified cross-validation presents low computational overhead, to be efficient it requires the preliminary identification of a covariate that is both shared by duplicated records and weakly associated with the outcome. When available, the hash of a personal identifier or a patient's date of birth provides such a covariate. On the contrary, pseudonymization interferes with fold-stratified cross-validation, as it may break the equality of the stratifying covariate among duplicates. Fold-stratified cross-validation is an easy-to-implement methodology that prevents data leakage when a model is trained on distributed EHRs that contain duplicates, while preserving privacy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19033939,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cutaneous reactive angiomatosis associated with chronic lymphoid leukemia.\nCutaneous reactive angiomatosis is an unusual benign vascular disorder of the skin usually associated to systemic diseases. It is characterized by lobular or diffuse proliferation of small blood vessels with hyperplasia of endothelial cells, pericytes, and sometimes histiocytes. We report a 59-year-old man with asymptomatic erythematous-violaceous patches on back, palms, and elbows for 9 months. Laboratory examination revealed changes consistent with B-chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Cutaneous biopsy showed a predominantly lobular small blood vessel proliferation in dermis with pericytic hyperplasia and mild perivascular lymphoplasmacytic infiltrate. Spontaneous involution of lesions occurred after 6 months. A second biopsy performed at the beginning of clinical involution showed a less prominent vascular component with perivascular giant cells with coexpression of CD68 and CD 31. To our knowledge, this is the first case of cutaneous reactive angiomatosis with documented histopathological findings of clinical involution.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37460683,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Frequent upregulation of HER2 protein in hormone-receptor-positive HER2-negative breast cancer after short-term neoadjuvant endocrine therapy.\nEndocrine resistant metastatic disease develops in ~ 20-25% of hormone-receptor-positive (HR+) breast cancer (BC) patients despite endocrine therapy (ET) use. Upregulation of HER family receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) represent escape mechanisms in response to ET in some HR+ tumors. Short-term neoadjuvant ET (NET) offers the opportunity to identify early endocrine escape mechanisms initiated in individual tumors. This was a single arm, interventional phase II clinical trial evaluating 4 weeks (\u00b1 1 week) of NET in patients with early-stage HR+\/HER2-negative (HER2-) BC. The primary objective was to assess NET-induced changes in HER1-4 proteins by immunohistochemistry (IHC) score. Protein upregulation was defined as an increase of \u2265 1 in IHC score following NET. Thirty-seven patients with cT1-T3, cN0, HR+\/HER2- BC were enrolled. In 35 patients with evaluable tumor HER protein after NET, HER2 was upregulated in 48.6% (17\/35; p = 0.025), with HER2-positive status (IHC 3+ or FISH-amplified) detected in three patients at surgery, who were recommended adjuvant trastuzumab-based therapy. Downregulation of HER3 and\/or HER4 protein was detected in 54.2% of tumors, whereas HER1 protein remained low and unchanged in all cases. While no significant volumetric reduction was detected radiographically after short-term NET, significant reduction in tumor proliferation rates were observed. No significant associations were identified between any clinicopathologic covariates and changes in HER1-4 protein expression on multivariable analysis. Short-term NET frequently and preferentially upregulates HER2 over other HER family RTKs in early-stage HR+\/HER2- BC and may be a promising strategy to identify tumors that utilize HER2 as an early endocrine escape pathway. Trial registration number: NCT03219476.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16996155,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2013-20":1,"unknown":3}}},"text":"An alternative process for cleaning knives used on meat slaughter floors.\nTraditionally on slaughter floors operator knives are cleaned by rinsing in hand wash water at 20-40 degrees C followed by brief immersion in baths termed \"sterilisers\" which contain water no cooler than 82 degrees C. Under Australian legislation, both domestic and export, it is possible for a meat processing establishment to apply to the Controlling Authority for permission to implement an alternative procedure providing that it is at least the equivalent of that legislated. No firm evidence appears to exist for the 82 degrees C requirement and the possibility of replacing this element of the knife cleaning procedure with an alternative procedure using 60 degrees C water and a longer immersion time was investigated at an abattoir slaughtering cattle and sheep. Knives were tested at a range of work stations located along beef and mutton slaughter floors for Aerobic Plate Counts (APCs) and E. coli. For knives used on the beef chain the mean log APC\/cm(2) was 2.18 by the current knife cleaning process and 1.78 by the alternate procedure (P<0.001). Using the current system E. coli was isolated from cleaned knives on 20\/230 (8.7%) occasions compared with 21\/230 (9.1%) occasions using the alternative system. The mean log E. coli of positive knives was 0.43\/cm(2) and 0.61\/cm(2) from the current and alternative systems, respectively. On the mutton chain the mean log APC\/cm(2) was 1.95 using the current knife cleaning process and 1.69 by the alternative procedure (P=0.014). Using the current system E. coli was isolated from cleaned knives on 24\/130 (18.5%) occasions compared with 29\/130 (22.3%) occasions using the alternative system. The mean log E. coli of positive knives was 0.90\/cm(2) and 0.76\/cm(2) from the current and alternative systems, respectively. It is concluded that using two knives alternatively, rinsing them in hand wash water, then immersing them between uses in 60 degrees C water provides a microbiological outcome equivalent to rinsing them and momentary dipping in 82 degrees C water.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19046111,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Maintenance treatment in metastatic breast cancer.\nMetastatic breast cancer (MBC) occurs in 20-30% of women with breast cancer and is an incurable disease. Treatment is palliative and directed to prolong survival, decrease symptoms and improve patients' quality of life. For patients with hormone receptor-negative disease or for hormone receptor-positive disease that has become resistant to endocrine therapy, or is progressing rapidly and life threatening, cytotoxic chemotherapy is indicated. However, the optimal duration of chemotherapy treatment for MBC is still a matter of debate. Studies using maintenance chemotherapy regimens standard in the 1990s showed a consistent benefit with a more prolonged time to progression, although an improvement in survival was only demonstrated in one study. Two recent trials with newer cytotoxic agents showed controversial results; whereas one study concluded that the policy of prolonging treatment in chemotherapy-sensitive patients, after aggressive, modern combination chemotherapy, cannot be recommended for women with MBC, the other study showed that maintenance therapy with pegylated liposomal doxorubicin significantly prolonged time to progression in MBC patients after first-line chemotherapy without significant clinical toxicity. Initial data regarding metronomic chemotherapy indicate that continuously low-dose cyclophosphamide and methotrexate is minimally toxic and effective in heavily pretreated breast cancer patients. In daily practice, maintenance chemotherapy is a reasonable strategy that prolongs time to progression in patients with MBC who did not show progression after first-line chemotherapy. However, this benefit should be considered together with toxicities of treatment and the patient's preference.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37860222,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"FADE OUT HIV: An Educational Intervention Allying Black Community Barbers, Their Clients, and Community Clinicians.\nBlack individuals in the United States are less likely to use medication to prevent HIV (pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP) than White individuals and are significantly more likely to receive a new HIV diagnosis. Because of America's long history of unethical medical and research practices and ongoing prejudice and bias, Black Americans have mistrust towards the medical community. This distrust, along with the social determinants of health, leads to low participation in health care. Health interventions at culturally \"safe\" and familiar venues are a popular strategy to engage Black Americans in health care. In the United States, barbershops are staples of the Black community and the utility of barbershops as a venue for delivering interventions has been successfully explored. We describe FADE OUT HIV, a program designed to increase barberknowledge of prevalence of HIV in the Black community; facilitatediscussions between Black barbers and their Black clients about HIVexposure, prevention, and treatment; provide free HIV tests forbarbers' clients; and educate community clinicians via live andenduring webcasts about HIV prevention and treatment. Clinician education was designed to facilitate HIV screening and ensure that the barber clients would be referred to clinicians who were knowledgeable about HIV. The learning objectives of the education were focused on barriers that prevent HIV screening and PrEP uptake and strategies to overcome these barriers, monitoring recommendations for people using PrEP, the benefits and limitations of new and in-development PrEP, and the importance of rapid initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART). As a result of this programme, 308 HIV tests were administered to barber clients at hosted events in Los Angeles and clinician knowledge and competence increased by 33% and 34%, respectively.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11987574,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Vulvar carcinoma--retrospective study of 47 cases (epidemiology, etiology and long-term results].\nTo evaluate the incidence of vulvar carcinoma, epidemiological signs and therapeutic results in patients with vulvar malignancies during the stated time period. Retrospective clinical study. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and General Faculty Hospital, Prague. An analysis of the available clinical documentation of the patients of the oncological outpatient service of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. Vulvar carcinoma represents 4% of all malignant tumours of female genital tract. It concerns predominantly elder women (the average age is 74.2 years). The overall 5-year survival, with no regard to the stage of the disease, is 39.1% in our group. This low figure is due to the high age of the group and to the inappropriate therapeutic approach owed to the internal comorbidity, advanced age and the fact that the majority of cases are diagnosed in advanced stage. In spite of good access, the introduction of screening program is unlikely due to the age distribution, biological behaviour and difficulties in diagnostic of premalignant lesions. With regard to the increasing incidence of in situ carcinoma whose ethiopathogenesis is affected by HPV infection, it is necessary to pay more attention to vulva lesions in terms of an early histopathological verification. The treatment of the external genital tract malignancies should be concentrated to the centers with the greatest experience of their management.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25290724,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Continuous myocloni and tonic spasms in a 2-month-old infant with enterovirus 71 brain stem encephalitis.\nBrain stem encephalitis is a cardinal presentation of central nervous system involvement in enterovirus 71 infection, and manifests as myoclonus, ataxia, tremor, and autonomic dysfunction. A 2-month-old infant with enterovirus 71 brain stem encephalitis demonstrated continuous myocloni and tonic spasms. On admission, the patient's myoclonus, which mainly involved the shoulders and the arms, was considerably worse during wakefulness and occurred once or twice a minute. Several hours after admission, the myoclonic jerks steadily worsened, appeared ceaselessly every 1 to 2 seconds, and were intermixed with tonic spasms of all four extremities accompanied by crying. Video electroencephalography revealed a normal background without epileptiform discharges and no ictal electroencephalographic changes during the myoclonic jerks and tonic spasms. Complete remission was achieved without complications after completion of a 3-day immunoglobulin therapy. This case suggests that the brain stem may be a major origin site for not only myoclonus but also tonic spasm.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12035325,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nurse-led chest drain removal in a cardiac high dependency unit.\nWithin the cardiac high dependency unit it is currently a member of the surgical team who makes the decision for a patient's chest drain to be removed after cardiac surgery. This has often resulted in delays in discharging one patient and therefore in admitting the next. A pilot study was carried out using a working standard that had been developed, incorporating an algorithmic model. The results have enabled nursing staff in a cardiac high dependency unit to undertake this responsibility independently.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6928614,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Influenza defective interfering viral RNA is formed by internal deletion of genomic RNA.\nThe 3'- and 5'-terminal nucleotide sequences of the defective interfering (DI) RNAs present in a preparation of DI influenza virus were determined. It was found that all DI RNAs possessed identical terminal sequences for at least the first 13 nucleotides at the 5' end and at least the last 12 nucleotides at the 3' end. The sequence of the DI RNAs is (5')A-G-U-A-G-A-A-A-C-A-A-G-G-...-C-C-U-G-C-U-U-U-C-G-C-U-OH(3'). In addition, the same sequences were present at the 3' and 5' termini of the viral polymerase genes (P1, P2, and P3) from which these DI RNAs originate. These results indicate that DI RNAs of influenzing virus are formed by an internal deletion of the genomic RNA.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34397815,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Identification of sensitive indicators in immune response for leprosy affected patients: An observational clinical study of safety and immunogenicity of influenza vaccine.\nCured leprosy patients have special physical conditions, which could pose challenges for safety and immunogenicity after immunization. We performed an observational clinical study aimed to identify the safety and immunogenicity of influenza vaccine in cured leprosy patients. A total of 65 participants from a leprosarium were recruited into leprosy cured group or control group, and received a 0.5 ml dose of the inactivated split-virion trivalent influenza vaccine and a follow-up 28 days proactive observation of any adverse events. Hemagglutination and hemagglutination inhibition test was performed to evaluate serum antibody titer, flow cytometry was conducted to screen of cytokines level. The total rate of reactogenicity was 0.0% [0\/41] in leprosy cured group and 37.5% [9\/24] in control group. The seroconversion rate for H1N1 was difference between leprosy cured group and control group (41.83% vs 79.17%, P = .0082), but not for H3N2 (34.25% vs 50.00%, P = .4468). At day 0, leprosy cured group have relatively high concentration of interleukin-6, interleukin-10, tumor necrosis factor, interferon-\u03b3, and interleukin-17 compared to control group. The interleukin-2 concentration increased 2 weeks after vaccination compared to pre-vaccination in leprosy cured group, but declined in control group (0.92 pg\/ml vs -0.02 pg\/ml, P = .0147). Leprosy cured group showed a more rapid down-regulation of interleukin-6 when influenza virus was challenged compared to control group (-144.38 pg\/ml vs -11.52 pg\/ml, P < .0001). Subgroup analysis revealed that the immunization administration declined interleukin-17 concentration in Tuberculoid type subgroup, but not in Lepromatous type subgroup or control group. Clinically cured leprosy patients are relatively safe for influenza vaccine. Leprosy cured patient have immune deficit in producing antibody. Interleukin-6 and interleukin-17 were 2 sensitive indicators in immune response for leprosy affected patients. The identification of indicators might be help management of leprosy and used as predictive markers in leprosy early symptom monitoring.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30305498,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Clonal hematopoiesis in aplastic anemia].\nAplastic anemia (AA) is an autoimmune-mediated bone marrow failure syndrome. While AA is not a malignant disease, clonal hematopoiesis is commonly detected via next-generation sequencing and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array. Clonal hematopoiesis in AA has been confirmed by the detection of classic X chromosome skewing, PNH clones, UPD6p, and various mutations. The most frequent genetic events in AA are UPD6p and somatic mutations in BCOR\/BCORL1, PIGA, DNMT3A, and ASXL1. While some mutations are common between patients with AA and healthy elderly donors, UPD6p and PIGA mutations are specific to clonal cells in AA, which need to manage their highly autoimmune extrinsic environment. During the evolution of AA into myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), additional genetic events are frequently acquired that provide MDS cells with intrinsic survival benefits. Hematopoietic cells in AA appear to achieve clonal expansion by their escape from recognition and cytotoxicity by CD8 T-cells, accounting for the distinct landscape of genetic events observed in AA.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34241049,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Direct comparison of amplitude and geometric measures of spectral inhomogeneity using phase-cycled 2D-IR spectroscopy.\nTwo-dimensional infrared (2D-IR) spectroscopy provides access to equilibrium dynamics with the extraction of the frequency-fluctuation correlation function (FFCF) from the measured spectra. Several different methods of obtaining the FFCF from experimental spectra, such as the center line slope (CLS), ellipticity, phase slope, and nodal line slope, all depend on the geometrical nature of the 2D line shape and necessarily require spectral extent in order to achieve a measure of the FFCF. Amplitude measures, on the other hand, such as the inhomogeneity index, rely only on signal amplitudes and can, in principle, be computed using just a single point in a 2D spectrum. With a pulse shaper-based 2D-IR spectrometer, in conjunction with phase cycling, we separate the rephasing and nonrephasing signals used to determine the inhomogeneity index. The same measured data provide the absorptive spectrum, needed for the CLS. Both methods are applied to two model molecular systems: tungsten hexacarbonyl (WCO6) and methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl [Cp'Mn(CO)3, MCMT]. The three degenerate IR modes of W(CO)6 lack coherent modulation or noticeable intramolecular vibrational redistribution (IVR) and are used to establish a baseline comparison. The two bands of the MCMT tripod complex include intraband coherences and IVR as well as likely internal torsional motion on a few-picosecond time scale. We find essentially identical spectral diffusion, but faster, non-equilibrium dynamics lead to differences in the FFCFs extracted with the two methods. The inhomogeneity index offers an advantage in cases where spectra are complex and energy transfer can mimic line shape changes due to frequency fluctuations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32365812,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mediating Effects of Specific Types of Coping Styles on the Relationship between Childhood Maltreatment and Depressive Symptoms among Chinese Undergraduates: The Role of Sex.\nAlthough childhood maltreatment is known to be associated with depressive symptoms, few studies have investigated the mediating effect of different types of coping styles on this association. It is unknown whether the impacts vary by sex. We investigated the mediating effects of different coping styles on the relationship between childhood maltreatment and depressive symptoms among Chinese undergraduates, as well as the role of sex in the mediated pathways. A total of 7643 college freshmen and sophomores (5665 females, 1978 males; 4215 freshmen, 3428 sophomores; mean age, 19.67 years) from two colleges in China completed a standard questionnaire on the details of childhood maltreatment, depressive symptoms, and coping styles. Childhood maltreatment was significantly correlated with all coping styles and depressive symptoms studied (p < 0.001). Problem solving, self-blame, help seeking, problem avoidance, and rationalization mediated the relationship between childhood maltreatment and depressive symptoms. The estimated ratio of the effect of childhood maltreatment on the occurrence of depressive symptoms can be explained by the mediation of problem solving, self-blame, help seeking, problem avoidance, and rationalization, which accounted for 15.1%, 25.6%, 7.4%, 1.6% and 1.6% of the total effect, respectively. Sex differences were found to have mediating effects on coping styles in terms of the relationship between childhood maltreatment and depressive symptoms. The findings illustrate the need to focus on coping styles and to employ sex-specific methods to effectively help college students reduce depressive symptoms associated with childhood maltreatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28729740,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Annual Performance of a Two-Speed, Dedicated Dehumidification Heat Pump in the NIST Net-Zero Energy Residential Test Facility.\nA 2715 ft2 (252 m2), two story, residential home of the style typical of the Gaithersburg, Maryland area was constructed in 2012 to demonstrate technologies for net-zero energy (NZE) homes (or ZEH). The NIST Net-Zero Energy Residential Test Facility (NZERTF) functions as a laboratory to support the development and adoption of cost-effective NZE designs, technologies, construction methods, and building codes. The primary design goal was to meet the comfort and functional needs of the simulated occupants. The first annual test period began on July 1, 2013 and ended June 30, 2014. During the first year of operation, the home's annual energy consumption was 13039 kWh (4.8 kWh ft-2, 51.7 kWh m-2), and the 10.2 kW solar photovoltaic system generated an excess of 484 kWh. During this period the heating and air conditioning of the home was performed by a novel air-source heat pump that utilized a reheat heat exchanger to allow hot compressor discharge gas to reheat the supply air during a dedicated dehumidification mode. During dedicated dehumidification, room temperature air was supplied to the living space until the relative humidity setpoint of 50% was satisfied. The heat pump consumed a total of 6225 kWh (2.3 kWh ft-2, 24.7 kWh m-2) of electrical energy for cooling, heating, and dehumidification. Annual cooling efficiency was 10.1 Btu W-1h-1 (2.95 W W-1), relative to the rated SEER of the heat pump of 15.8 Btu W-1h-1 (4.63 W W-1). Annual heating efficiency was 7.10 Btu W-1h-1 (2.09 W W-1), compared with the unit's rated HSPF of 9.05 Btu W-1h-1 (2.65 W W-1). These field measured efficiency numbers include dedicated dehumidification operation and standby energy use for the year. Annual sensible heat ratio was approximately 70%. Standby energy consumption was 5.2 % and 3.5 % of the total electrical energy used for cooling and heating, respectively.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21749225,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Quantifying the mechanical properties of human skin to optimise future microneedle device design.\nMicroneedle devices are a promising minimally invasive means of delivering drugs\/vaccines across or into the skin. However, there is currently a diversity of microneedle designs and application methods that have, primarily, been intuitively developed by the research community. To enable the rational design of optimised microneedle devices, a greater understanding of human skin biomechanics under small deformations is required. This study aims to develop a representative stratified model of human skin, informed by in vivo data. A multilayer finite element model incorporating the epidermis, dermis and hypodermis was established. This was correlated with a series of in-vivo indentation measurements, and the Ogden material coefficients were optimised using a material parameter extraction algorithm. The finite element simulation was subsequently used to model microneedle application to human skin before penetration and was validated by comparing these predictions with the in-vivo measurements. Our model has provided an excellent tool to predict micron-scale human skin deformation in vivo and is currently being used to inform optimised microneedle designs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25420347,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Separation of tautomeric forms of [2-nitrophloroglucinol-H]- by an in-electrospray ionization source hydrogen\/deuterium exchange approach.\nHere we report the observation that, depending on the solvent used for the electrospray, 2-nitrophloroglucinol undergoes a deprotona- tion from different sites forming two tautomeric gas phase ions. Those ions differ bythe collision-induced dissociation [CID] spectra and by the gas phase hydrogen\/deuterium (H\/D) exchange kinetic. We performed H\/D exchange in the electrospray ionization (ESI) source by saturation ESI region with vapors of deuterated solvent (D20). It was observed that [2-nitrophloroglucinol-H]- exchanges two -OH hydrogens when MeOD is used as the spray solvent but when the spray solvent is 50:50 MeOD\/DO20 we observed an additional two H\/D exchanges at the aromatic ring. We propose that the reaction occurs via a keto-enolt tautomerization mechanism which was found to be energetically favorable.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16240700,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Typing of food-borne Listeria monocytogenes by polymerase chain reaction-restriction enzyme analysis and amplified fragment length polymorphism.\nThe applicability of polymerase chain reaction-restriction enzyme analysis (PCR-REA) and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) for typing of food borne Listeria monocytogenes strains was tested. A panel of 43 L. monocytogenes strains isolated from food, mostly serovars 1\/2b or 1\/2a, were analysed by the optimized PCR-REA oriented to inlA and inlB genes and by AFLP. By PCR-REA, five types of profiles were obtained. By AFLP, the strains were separated into 11 types and 18 subtypes forming two major clusters. PCR REA was a relatively straightforward method for typing food-borne L. monocytogenes with a moderate discrimination power. AFLP was a more complex but a highly discriminative and reproducible method.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11638798,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Apollonia, patron saint of dentistry].\nApollonia's short trajectory and her martyrdom in the times of Emperor Decius in the 3rd century, is here reported. The artists who painted the saint are quoted, offering a small biography about their trajectory and principals works. Bernardino Luini, painting is studied with more detail, mentioning the similar characteristics of his Saint Apollonia with those of some of the personages painted by Leonardo da Vinci.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26418996,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Study of molecular mechanism for a blood sample with A3 phenotype].\nOBJECTIVE To explore the molecular mechanism for a blood sample with mixed-field hemagglutination upon determination of ABO blood group. METHODS Serological techniques were employed to identify the erythrocyte phenotype. The A and B antigens were detected by flow cytometry. The preliminary genotype of ABO gene was assayed with sequence-specific primer-polymerase chain reaction (PCR-SSP). Exons 6 and 7 of the ABO gene were amplified with PCR and analyzed by direct sequencing. Haplotypes of the ABO gene were analyzed by cloning sequencing as well. RESULTS The serological reaction pattern has supported an O phenotype when all the tubes were centrifuged for the first time. However, a mixed-field hemagglutination of red blood cells (RBCs) with anti-A antibodies was present after the tube was centrifuged five times later. A antigens were detected on the surface of partial red blood cells of the sample by flow cytometry. PCR- SSP results have shown that the preliminary ABO genotype was A\/O. Analysis of the fragments of exons 6 and 7 of the ABO gene has indicated that heterozygosis lied as follows: 261G\/A, 425T\/T, 467C\/T, 646A\/T, 681A\/G, 745C\/T, 771C\/T, 829A\/G, conjecturing the genotype to be A307\/O02, which was confirmed by haplotype sequence analysis. Compared with A101 allele, A307 allele has two missense mutations, 467C> T and 745C> T, which have resulted in substitutions Pro156Leu and Arg249Trp in the A glycosyltransferase polypeptide chain. CONCLUSION A variant allele (A307) has been identified for the first time in mainland China, which is responsible for the formation of A3 phenotype.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27258463,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Frequency of Irritable Bowel Syndrome Among Healthcare Personnel.\nThis study aims to investigate the frequency of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) among healthcare professionals. A total of 394 healthcare professionals and 207 individuals who were selected as a control group were included in the study. A questionnaire form containing Rome III diagnostic criteria was administered to health workers and the control group. The study groups were evaluated according to age, gender, occupation, profession, presence of chronic disease, drug usage, smoking, awareness of IBS, alarm symptoms, and the type of IBS they have. Irritable bowel syndrome was diagnosed in 44 healthcare workers and 10 control group participants. Of the 44 healthcare professionals with IBS, 6 had alternate, 13 had constipated-dominant, and 25 had diarrhea-dominant IBS. Of the 10 persons in the control group who were diagnosed as having IBS, 5 were diarrhea-dominant and 5 were constipated-dominant type. Irritable bowel syndrome was more frequent in healthcare professionals than in the control group. Healthcare workers are more prone to IBS due to their stressful working environment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19049718,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Induction of continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis after retroperitoneoscopic nephrectomy.\nInduction of continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) as treatment of end-stage renal disease is difficult for patients requiring nephrectomy with traditional surgery, and usually hemodialysis is selected for these patients. In a 61-year-old woman with end-stage renal failure a left renal tumor was diagnosed by abdominal ultrasonography, enhanced computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. Following an urology consultation, we decided to perform left kidney nephrectomy. We estimated that she had to undergo dialysis permanently after nephrectomy. She desired to be treated by CAPD, however, we decided after allowing for a postoperative period for complete healing of the peritoneum to avoid complications. This is why during the interim period between surgery and induction of CAPD she underwent hemodialysis (HD) in a local outpatient HD center and in our hospital. We selected a retroperitoneoscopic approach for nephrectomy. Pathology evaluation revealed a renal cell carcinoma. 4 months after nephrectomy, CAPD catheter implantation was performed by using laparoscopy and CAPD was started. At the present time, the patient is doing well on CAPD. To our knowledge, there are no clear indications regarding initiation of peritoneal dialysis after nephrectomy. The retroperitoneoscopic approach for nephrectomy allows for initiation of peritoneal dialysis after nephrectomy within a relative short postoperative period.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31249860,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":2,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-22":2,"2024-10":1}}},"text":"Nonequilibrium evolution of volatility in origination and extinction explains fat-tailed fluctuations in Phanerozoic biodiversity.\nFluctuations in biodiversity, large and small, pervade the fossil record, yet we do not understand the processes generating them. Here, we extend theory from nonequilibrium statistical physics to describe the fat-tailed form of fluctuations in Phanerozoic marine invertebrate richness. Using this theory, known as superstatistics, we show that heterogeneous rates of origination and extinction between clades and conserved rates within clades account for this fat-tailed form. We identify orders and families as the taxonomic levels at which clades experience interclade heterogeneity and within-clade homogeneity of rates, indicating that families are subsystems in local statistical equilibrium, while the entire system is not. The separation of timescales between within-clade background rates and the origin of major innovations producing new orders and families allows within-clade dynamics to reach equilibrium, while between-clade dynamics do not. The distribution of different dynamics across clades is consistent with niche conservatism and pulsed exploration of adaptive landscapes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17198375,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mechanism of interaction of the double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) binding domain of protein kinase R with short dsRNA sequences.\nThe dsRNA-activated protein kinase (PKR) plays a major role in the cellular response to viral infection. PKR contains an N-terminal dsRNA binding domain (dsRBD) and a C-terminal kinase domain. The dsRBD consists of two tandem copies of a conserved double-stranded RNA binding motif, dsRBM1 and dsRBM2. dsRNA binding is believed to activate PKR by inducing dimerization and subsequent autophosphorylation reactions. We have characterized the function of the dsRBD by assessing the binding of dsRBM1 and dsRBD to a series of dsRNA sequences ranging from 15 to 45 bp. For dsRBM1, the binding stoichiometries agree with an overlapping ligand binding model where the motif binds to multiple faces of the dsRNA duplex and overlaps along the helical axis. Similar behavior is observed for a dsRBD containing both dsRBM1 and dsRBM2 for sequences up to 30 bp; however, the binding affinity is enhanced 30-fold. Longer dsRNA sequences exhibit lower-than-expected stoichiometries, indicating a change in binding mode. NMR spectroscopy was used to define the regions of the dsRBD that interact with dsRNA. dsRNA binding induces exchange broadening of cross-peaks in 1H-15N HSQC spectra. For a 20 bp dsRNA, the resonances most affected map to the known dsRNA binding regions of dsRBM1 as well as the N-terminus of dsRBM2. For a longer 40 bp sequence, additional regions of dsRBM2 exhibit enhanced broadening. These data support a model in which dsRBM1 plays the dominant role in binding short dsRNA sequences and dsRBM2 makes additional interactions with the longer sequences capable of activating PKR.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28576492,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"A DNA sequence obtained by replacement of the dopamine RNA aptamer bases is not an aptamer.\nA unique specificity of the aptamer-ligand biorecognition and binding facilitates bioanalysis and biosensor development, contributing to discrimination of structurally related molecules, such as dopamine and other catecholamine neurotransmitters. The aptamer sequence capable of specific binding of dopamine is a 57 nucleotides long RNA sequence reported in 1997 (Biochemistry, 1997, 36, 9726). Later, it was suggested that the DNA homologue of the RNA aptamer retains the specificity of dopamine binding (Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun., 2009, 388, 732). Here, we show that the DNA sequence obtained by the replacement of the RNA aptamer bases for their DNA analogues is not able of specific biorecognition of dopamine, in contrast to the original RNA aptamer sequence. This DNA sequence binds dopamine and structurally related catecholamine neurotransmitters non-specifically, as any DNA sequence, and, thus, is not an aptamer and cannot be used neither for in vivo nor in situ analysis of dopamine in the presence of structurally related neurotransmitters.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23452790,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Rapid determination of triclosan in personal care products using new in-tube based ultrasound-assisted salt-induced liquid-liquid microextraction coupled with high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection.\nThis paper describes the development of a novel, simple and efficient in-tube based ultrasound-assisted salt-induced liquid-liquid microextraction (IT-USA-SI-LLME) technique for the rapid determination of triclosan (TCS) in personal care products by high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet (HPLC-UV) detection. IT-USA-SI-LLME method is based on the rapid phase separation of water-miscible organic solvent from the aqueous phase in the presence of high concentration of salt (salting-out phenomena) under ultrasonication. In the present work, an indigenously fabricated home-made glass extraction device (8-mL glass tube inbuilt with a self-scaled capillary tip) was utilized as the phase separation device for USA-SI-LLME. After the extraction, the upper extractant layer was narrowed into the self-scaled capillary tip by pushing the plunger plug; thus, the collection and measurement of the upper organic solvent layer was simple and convenient. The effects of various parameters on the extraction efficiency were thoroughly evaluated and optimized. Under optimal conditions, detection was linear in the concentration range of 0.4-100ngmL(-1) with correlation coefficient of 0.9968. The limit of detection was 0.09ngmL(-1) and the relative standard deviations ranged between 0.8 and 5.3% (n=5). The applicability of the developed method was demonstrated for the analysis of TCS in different commercial personal care products and the relative recoveries ranged from 90.4 to 98.5%. The present method was proven to be a simple, sensitive, less organic solvent consuming, inexpensive and rapid procedure for analysis of TCS in a variety of commercially available personal care products or cosmetic preparations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18577277,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Case of thyroid hemiagenesis and ectopic lingual thyroid presenting as goitre.\nWe report an extremely rare case of thyroid hemiagenesis with ectopic lingual thyroid. Case report and review of the world literature concerning thyroid hemiagenesis with ectopic lingual thyroid and heredity. Ectopic thyroid is an uncommon embryological aberration characterised by the presence of thyroid tissue in a site other than its usual, pretracheal location. The lingual thyroid is the most common manifestation of benign ectopic thyroid tissue, but is still a rare clinical entity. Thyroid hemiagenesis is also a very rare abnormality, in which one thyroid lobe fails to develop. We report a case of left thyroid hemiagenesis and goitre in the right lobe in a 26-year-old woman with an ectopic lingual thyroid. To our knowledge, this is the first report in the world literature of thyroid hemiagenesis with ectopic lingual thyroid.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35354722,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Perspective on transition from pediatric to adult health care for patients with neurological disease: current situation and issues].\nAn improvement in efficacy treatment and development of the social support system has led to many patients with neurological disease being able to reach adulthood. Therefore health care for life from pediatrics to adulthood has become necessary. The Special Committee for Measures Against Transition from Pediatric to Adult Health Care of the Japanese Society of Neurology officially started to examine the current situation and issues of transition from pediatric to adult health care in July 2020. Pediatric neurologists and adult neurologists have an awareness of this issue of constructing a better transition from pediatric to adult health care. However, there are some tasks that need to be resolved in the medical system. We intend to improve the understanding of transition and assessment of medical service fees for transition in cooperation with the Japanese Society of Neurology and the Japanese Society of Child Neurology.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20370474,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sex differences in the administration-time-dependent effects of low-dose aspirin on ambulatory blood pressure in hypertensive subjects.\nPrevious studies have revealed sex differences in blood pressure (BP) regulation, pathophysiology of hypertension, and treatment responses to medication. On the other hand, low-dose aspirin has been shown to reduce BP when administered at bedtime, as opposed to upon awakening, in hypertensive subjects and pregnant women at risk for preeclampsia. The purpose of this research was to investigate the potential sex differences in the administration-time-dependent influence of aspirin on BP. We studied 130 men and 186 women with untreated mild hypertension, 44.1 +\/- 13.2 yrs of age, randomized to receive aspirin (100 mg\/day) either on awakening or at bedtime daily for three months. BP was measured for 48 h before and after treatment. With ASA on awakening, ambulatory BP was unchanged in men and slightly but significantly elevated in women (1.7\/1.4 mmHg in the 48 h SBP\/DBP means, respectively; p < 0.023). BP was significantly reduced after aspirin at bedtime and to a larger extent in women (-8.0\/-5.6 mmHg in SBP\/DBP) than men (5.5\/3.4 mmHg, respectively; p < 0.009 between men and women). Factors influencing a stronger response of BP to aspirin at bedtime included female sex, elevated fasting glucose, and high glomerular filtration rate. This study corroborates the significant administration-time-dependent effect of low-dose aspirin on ambulatory BP in subjects with untreated mild hypertension, while documenting significant sex differences in the BP response to aspirin. Accordingly, results indicate that bedtime is the optimal time for aspirin ingestion in both men and women. This timed administration of low-dose aspirin could provide a cost-effective valuable approach for BP control and potential added cardiovascular protection, especially in hypertensive women.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25411311,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-22":1}}},"text":"Oxidative stress regulates IL-4 gene expression in mast cells through the reduction of histone deacetylase.\nMany proinflammatory cytokines are regulated by the acetylation and deacetylation of the core histone. Since dysregulation of T helper 2 cytokine production is a key in the pathogenesis of allergic diseases, we examined the role of histone deacetylase (HDAC) on interleukin (IL)-4 gene expression in mast cells. We also examined whether oxidative stress has any impact on HDAC activity. In vitro study. Academic research laboratory. An IgE-sensitized mast cell line (RBL-2H3 cells) was treated with varying concentrations of the HDAC inhibitors trichostatin A (TSA) and H2O2 and stimulated with antigens. The amount of IL-4 gene expression was quantified by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Quantitative measurement of IL-4 in the cell supernatant was performed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Moreover, HDAC activity was measured with the use of a nonisotopic assay that utilized an HDAC Fluorescent Activity Assay Kit. IL-4 mRNA expression was induced by antigens in IgE-sensitized RBL-2H3 cells. Pretreatment with TSA and H2O2 enhanced IL-4 mRNA expression up to 5-fold in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, HDAC activity in RBL-2H3 cells was reduced after treatment with H2O2. Our results suggest that oxidative stress may up-regulate IL-4 gene expression in mast cells via a decrease in HDAC activity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28357414,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A Novel Staphylococcus Podophage Encodes a Unique Lysin with Unusual Modular Design.\nDrug-resistant staphylococci, particularly Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis, are leading causes of hospital-acquired infections. Bacteriophages and their peptidoglycan hydrolytic enzymes (lysins) are currently being explored as alternatives to conventional antibiotics; however, only a limited diversity of staphylococcal phages and their lysins has yet been characterized. Here, we describe a novel staphylococcal phage and its lysins. Bacteriophage Andhra is the first reported S. epidermidis phage belonging to the family Podoviridae. Andhra possesses an 18,546-nucleotide genome with 20 open reading frames. BLASTp searches revealed that gene product 10 (gp10) and gp14 harbor putative catalytic domains with predicted peptidase and amidase activities, characteristic functions of phage lysins. We purified these proteins and show that both Andhra_gp10 and Andhra_gp14 inhibit growth and degrade cell walls of diverse staphylococci, with Andhra_gp10 exhibiting more robust activity against the panel of cell wall substrates tested. Site-directed mutagenesis of its predicted catalytic residues abrogated the activity of Andhra_gp10, consistent with the presence of a catalytic CHAP domain on its C terminus. The active site location combined with the absence of an SH3b cell wall binding domain distinguishes Andhra_gp10 from the majority of staphylococcal lysins characterized to date. Importantly, close homologs of Andhra_gp10 are present in related staphylococcal podophages, and we propose that these constitute a new class of phage-encoded lysins. Altogether, our results reveal insights into the biology of a rare family of staphylococcal phages while adding to the arsenal of antimicrobials with potential for therapeutic use. IMPORTANCE The spread of antibiotic resistance among bacterial pathogens is inciting a global public health crisis. Drug-resistant Staphylococcus species, especially S. aureus and S. epidermidis, have emerged in both hospital and community settings, underscoring the urgent need for new strategies to combat staphylococcal infections. Bacterial viruses (phages) and the enzymes that they use to degrade bacterial cell walls (lysins) show promise as alternative antimicrobials; however, only a limited variety of staphylococcal phages and their lysins have yet been identified. Here, we report the discovery and characterization of a novel staphylococcal phage, Andhra. We show that Andhra encodes two lysins (Andhra_gp10 and Andhra_gp14) that inhibit growth and degrade the cell walls of diverse staphylococci, including S. aureus and S. epidermidis strains. Andhra and its unique lysins add to the arsenal of antimicrobials with potential for therapeutic use.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":951040,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Importance of atrial rhythm disease in geriatrics].\n13 patients aged between 69 and 85 suffering from atrial rhythm disease were examined. Special attention was paid to the relationships between this syndrome and acute cerebral vascular pathology. The series shows the high frequency in arrhythmic atrial disease of episodes of incipient loss of consciousness or authentic syncopal phenomena. Fully 11 patients were subjected.....ed to definitive endocardial stimulation owing to the intensity of the symptomatology. On the basis of these observations, stress is laid on the importance of atrial rhythm disease as a cause of acute cerebral ischaemia in the elderly subject","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28559839,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Branch Retinal Vein Occlusion, Macular Ischemia, and Intravitreal Anti-VEGF Therapy.\nTo report a case with ischemic macular edema (ME) due to an acute branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) which was treated with repeated intravitreal anti-VEGF injections. Retrospective case presentation. A 66-year-old female patient was treated with repeated intravitreal anti-VEGF injections due to ischemic ME following an acute BRVO. Over a period of 2.5 years best corrected visual acuity increased from 0.06 to 0.6 (decimal notation) accompanied by a reduction in central retinal thickness from 546 to 292 \u00b5m. Overall 17 anti-VEGF injections were administered to treat repeated recurrence of ME. Macular ischemia did not worsen during this profound intravitreal anti-VEGF therapy. Intravitreal anti-VEGF therapy can be a beneficial treatment strategy even in ischemic ME following an acute BRVO.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37850621,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A review of pulmonary neutrophilia and insights into the key role of neutrophils in particle-induced pathogenesis in the lung from animal studies of lunar dusts and other poorly soluble dust particles.\nThe mechanisms of particle-induced pathogenesis in the lung remain poorly understood. Neutrophilic inflammation and oxidative stress in the lung are hallmarks of toxicity. Some investigators have postulated that oxidative stress from particle surface reactive oxygen species (psROS) on the dust produces the toxicopathology in the lungs of dust-exposed animals. This postulate was tested concurrently with the studies to elucidate the toxicity of lunar dust (LD), which is believed to contain psROS due to high-speed micrometeoroid bombardment that fractured and pulverized lunar surface regolith. Results from studies of rats intratracheally instilled (ITI) with three LDs (prepared from an Apollo-14 lunar regolith), which differed 14-fold in levels of psROS, and two toxicity reference dusts (TiO2 and quartz) indicated that psROS had no significant contribution to the dusts' toxicity in the lung. Reported here are results of further investigations by the LD toxicity study team on the toxicological role of oxidants in alveolar neutrophils that were harvested from rats in the 5-dust ITI study and from rats that were exposed to airborne LD for 4 weeks. The oxidants per neutrophils and all neutrophils increased with dose, exposure time and dust's cytotoxicity. The results suggest that alveolar neutrophils play a critical role in particle-induced injury and toxicity in the lung of dust-exposed animals. Based on these results, we propose an adverse outcome pathway (AOP) for particle-associated lung disease that centers on the crucial role of alveolar neutrophil-derived oxidant species. A critical review of the toxicology literature on particle exposure and lung disease further supports a neutrophil-centric mechanism in the pathogenesis of lung disease and may explain previously reported animal species differences in responses to poorly soluble particles. Key findings from the toxicology literature indicate that (1) after exposures to the same dust at the same amount, rats have more alveolar neutrophils than hamsters; hamsters clear more particles from their lungs, consequently contributing to fewer neutrophils and less severe lung lesions; (2) rats exposed to nano-sized TiO2 have more neutrophils and more severe lesions in their lungs than rats exposed to the same mass-concentration of micron-sized TiO2; nano-sized dust has a greater number of particles and a larger total particle-cell contact surface area than the same mass of micron-sized dust, which triggers more alveolar epithelial cells (AECs) to synthesize and release more cytokines that recruit a greater number of neutrophils leading to more severe lesions. Thus, we postulate that, during chronic dust exposure, particle-inflicted AECs persistently release cytokines, which recruit neutrophils and activate them to produce oxidants resulting in a prolonged continuous source of endogenous oxidative stress that leads to lung toxicity. This neutrophil-driven lung pathogenesis explains why dust exposure induces more severe lesions in rats than hamsters; why, on a mass-dose basis, nano-sized dusts are more toxic than the micron-sized dusts; why lung lesions progress with time; and why dose-response curves of particle toxicity exhibit a hockey stick like shape with a threshold. The neutrophil centric AOP for particle-induced lung disease has implications for risk assessment of human exposures to dust particles and environmental particulate matter.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17202172,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"SNPSTR: a database of compound microsatellite-SNP markers.\nThere has been widespread and growing interest in genetic markers suitable for drawing population genetic inferences about past demographic events and to detect the effects of selection. In addition to single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), microsatellites (or short tandem repeats, STRs) have received great attention in the analysis of human population history. In the SNPSTR database (http:\/\/www.imperial.ac.uk\/theoreticalgenomics\/data-software) we catalogue a relatively new type of compound genetic marker called SNPSTR which combines a microsatellite marker (STR) with one or more tightly linked SNPs. Here, the SNP(s) and the microsatellite are less than 250 bp apart so each SNPSTR can be considered a small haplotype with no recombination occurring between the two individual markers. Thus, SNPSTRs have the potential to become a very useful tool in the field of population genetics. The SNPSTR database contains all inferable human SNPSTRs as well as those in mouse, rat, dog and chicken, i.e. all model organisms for which extensive SNP datasets are available.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30306857,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Role of Fatty Acid Binding Protein 4 (FABP4) in Kidney Disease.\nAccumulating evidences indicated that obesity and metabolic syndrome were independent risk factors for the development and progression of kidney diseases. Apart from inflammation, lipotoxicity, and hemodynamic factors, adipokines have been proposed to play crucial roles in the relationship between kidney diseases and metabolic disorders. As one of the key adipokines, fatty acid binding protein 4 (FABP4), which is mainly expressed in adipocytes and macrophages, has recently been shown to be associated with renal dysfunction and kidney damage. Both clinical and experimental studies have proposed circulating FABP4 as a novel predictor for renal injuries, and it might also be a predictor for cardiovascular events in patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD). FABP4 has also been detected in the glomerular cells and epithelial tubular cells in mouse and human kidneys, and the expression of FABP4 in these cells has been involved in the pathogenesis of kidney diseases. In addition, experimental studies suggested that inhibition of FABP4 had protective effects on renal damage. Here, we reviewed current knowledge regarding the role of FABP4 in pathophysiological insights as well as its potential function as a predictor and therapeutic target for kidney diseases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12037223,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Effects of daily variation in outdoor particulates and ambient acid species in normal and asthmatic children.\nEvidence suggests that the respiratory health of children may be adversely affected by daily variation in outdoor pollutants, particularly ozone and particulates. However, data from the UK are sparse and the contribution of different particulate fractions and acid species, together with the identification of those individuals most at risk, are not clear. One hundred and sixty two 9 year old children were enrolled from two inner city locations and recorded daily symptoms and twice daily peak expiratory flow (PEF) over 8 week periods in the winter and summer. Their results were analysed with daily pollutant levels at appropriate lags using regression models which corrected for trends, weather, pollen, and autocorrelation. Pollutant levels were generally low, especially in the summer. Multiple statistically significant associations were noted between health outcomes and pollutant concentrations, but no consistent patterns in identified effects were apparent between pollutants, lags, direction of observed effect, or location. There was no evidence to suggest that subgroups with atopy or pre-existing wheeze are more sensitive to pollutant effects. These data do not suggest that adverse health outcomes are associated with daily variations in pollutants [corrected]. No evidence was found to indicate that particulates or individual acid and anion species are more closely related to adverse health outcomes than other pollutants.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28362922,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Factors Leading to a Poor Functional Outcome in Spinal Meningioma Surgery: Remarks on 173 Cases.\nSpinal meningiomas are common spinal tumors, in most cases benign and with a good surgical prognosis. However, specific location, infiltration of spinal cord, vascular encasement, or spinal root involvement can bring a less favorable prognosis. To correlate these data with clinical\/functional outcome. Two hundred twenty-four consecutive patients with spinal meningiomas treated from 1976 to 2013 in our institution were analyzed; among these, 51 were excluded for incomplete clinical data or follow-up. The remaining 173 cases were classified in regards to sex, age, symptoms, axial location, Simpson grade resection, and functional pre-\/postoperative status. Most recurring onset symptoms were pain (32.9%) and motor deficit (31.8%); thoracic spine was the most severely affected (69.8%). Functional improvement on the follow-up was observed in 86.7% of cases; 6.4% of patients resulted stable and 6.9% worsened. A low functional grade before surgery was connected to a lesser improvement after. Anterolateral meningiomas were the most represented (42.2%); a gross total resection (Simpson grades I and II) was conducted in 98.8%, and a macroscopically complete removal without dural resection or coagulation (Simpson grade III) was performed in 1.2%. Of the meningiomas, 98.3% were classified as WHO grade I. Recurrence rate was 2.3%, and 7 cases presented complications (4 of 7 required surgical procedure). We can affirm that negative prognostic factors in our study were anterior or anterolateral axial location, prolonged presentation before diagnosis, WHO grade >I, Simpson grade resections II and III, sphincter involvement, and worse functional grade at onset.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26469117,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Brdt Bromodomains Inhibitors and Other Modern Means of Male Contraception.\nCompared to efficient and secure female contraception, a vasectomy and condoms are the only options for men. The choice of male contraceptive methods is limited, so contraception mainly rests on the shoulders of women. Several concepts are considered: testosterone administration--inhibiting pituitary secretion of lutropin (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), progestogen--affecting the secretion of gonadotropin and gonadoliberin (GnRH) antagonists. New potential targets for non-hormonal male contraception were discovered: glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate-dehydrogenase (GAPDHS)--specific to male germ cells and voltage-gated cation channel (CatSper). Both are responsible for sperm motility. Drugs such as thioridazine used in schizophrenia treatment and phenoxybenzamine (antihypertensive activity) exhibit a contraceptive effect. Similar action exhibits an analogue of lonidamine--adjudin and an antagonist of retinoic acid receptors (BMS-189453). Researchers are working on a contraceptive vaccine, whose active ingredient is epididymal protease inhibitor (Eppin). Another promising method acts by blocking Bromodomain testis-specific proteins (Brdt) involved in the process of spermatogenesis. JQ1-the Brdt inhibitor causes reversible infertility without affecting the endocrine signaling pathways. A recent discovery of Juno as the binding partner for Izumo1 identifies these proteins as the cell-surface receptor pair, essential for gamete recognition and this interaction can be inhibited by an anti-Juno monoclonal antibody. Our review shows that the situation of men can change and investigators are close to the optimal solution. In the near future men will be able to choose the best contraceptive suited to their needs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1690518,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"[Sar1]angiotensin II receptor-mediated stimulation of protein synthesis in chick heart cells.\nCardiac hypertrophy is a process that occurs in response to various mechanical or hormonal stimuli. Stimulation of the renin-angiotensin system is involved in the process of cardiac hypertrophy through mechanisms related to increased peripheral vascular resistance and increased cardiac afterload. In this study we determined whether [Sar1]angiotensin II (ANG II) directly stimulated protein synthesis and cell growth in embryonic chick myocytes in cell culture. Eighteen-day-old embryonic chick myocytes in subconfluent cell culture, incubated in a chemically defined serum-free media, showed a significant increase in total protein content, 18.5, 26.2, and 22.2%, respectively, when exposed to [Sar1]ANG II (1 microM\/day) for 5, 7, and 9 days, respectively. The increase in total protein resulted in part from an increase in the fractional protein synthesis rate of 21.7, 16.5, and 14.9% at 5, 7, and 9 days, respectively. Total DNA and RNA levels did not change significantly following a 4-day exposure to [Sar1]ANG II in subconfluent culture. The relative rate of protein synthesis, determined by pulse labeling for 3 h with [3H]phenylalanine, showed increases of 23.4, 22.9, and 17.8% over control after 4, 5, and 6 days of exposure to [Sar1]ANG II. The incorporation of [3H]phenylalanine was blocked by the specific ANG II-receptor antagonist [Sar1,Ile8]ANG II. The data demonstrate a receptor-mediated increase in the rate of protein synthesis in cultured chick myocytes in response to [Sar1]ANG II, with a resultant increase in total cellular protein. This angiotensin peptide appears to directly stimulate protein synthesis in cultured embryonic chick myocytes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16990992,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Phase I safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetic study of recombinant human mannan-binding lectin.\nMannan-binding lectin (MBL), a human plasma protein, plays an important role in the innate immune defence. MBL recognizes microorganisms through surface carbohydrate structures. Due to genetic polymorphisms, MBL plasma concentrations range from 5 to 10,000 ng\/mL. Approximately 30% of the human population have low levels of MBL (below 500 ng\/mL). MBL deficiency is associated with increased susceptibility to infections in immunosuppressed individuals, e.g., during chemotherapeutically induced neutropenia. Replacement therapy with MBL may be beneficial in this patient group, and recombinant human MBL (rhMBL) is in development as a novel therapeutic approach. To assess the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of rhMBL, a placebo-controlled double-blinded study was performed in MBL-deficient healthy male subjects. rhMBL was administered as both single intravenous (i.v.) infusions (0.01, 0.05, 0.1, and 0.5 mg\/kg) and repeated i.v. infusions (0.1 or 0.3 mg\/kg given at 3-day intervals). There were no difference in incidence and type of adverse events reported in the study between the groups of subjects receiving rhMBL and the placebo group. All adverse events reported as drug-related were mild and no serious adverse events were recorded. There were no clinically significant changes in laboratory evaluations, ECG or vital signs, and no anti-MBL antibodies were detected following rhMBL administration. After single i.v. doses of rhMBL the maximal plasma levels increased in a dose-dependent manner reaching a geometric mean of 9710 ng\/mL+\/-10.5% in the highest dose group (0.5 mg\/kg), with an elimination half-life of approximately 30 h. No rhMBL accumulation in plasma was observed following repeat dosing. Administration of rhMBL restored the ability to activate the MBL pathway of the complement system without non-specific activation of the complement cascade. In conclusion, no safety or tolerability concern was raised following rhMBL administration no signs of immunogenicity detected, and an rhMBL plasma level judged sufficient to achieve therapeutic benefit (>1000 ng\/mL) can be achieved.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29380621,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Paediatric laser dentistry. Part 4: Soft tissue laser applications.\nLasers can provide effective soft tissues applications in children. All the wavelengths produce incision and vaporisation of oral tissues, together with a high bactericidal effect. The haemosthatic effect varys according to the wavelength used, and the choice of a visibile, near, medium or far infrared laser allows a better interaction with specific targets, gingiva, mucosa, frenum, or oral pathology.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28684717,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Efficiency of Dinucleosides as the Backbone to Pre-Organize Multi-Porphyrins and Enhance Their Stability as Sandwich Type Complexes with DABCO.\nFlexible linkers such as uridine or 2'-deoxyuridine pre-organize bis-porphyrins in a face-to-face conformation, thus forming stable sandwich complexes with a bidentate base such as 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane (DABCO). Increased stability can be even greater when a dinucleotide linker is used. Such pre-organization increases the association constant by one to two orders of magnitude when compared to the association constant of DABCO with a reference porphyrin. Comparison with rigid tweezers shows a better efficiency of nucleosidic dimers. Thus, the choice of rigid spacers is not the only way to pre-organize bis-porphyrins, and well-chosen nucleosidic linkers offer an interesting option for the synthesis of such devices.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12001658,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Facial pains as symptoms of mental disorders].\nOne hundred seventeen patients, aged 16-75 years, with orofacial pains were studied. Borderline psychic disorders were detected in 106 cases, schizophrenia--in 11 cases. Facial pain was characterized by (1) polymorphism of sensations changing their site and duration, (2) absence of orofacial sensory deficits, (3) symptoms \"mosaic\"--a combination of separate signs specific for various \"organic\" facial pain, (4) absence of objective changes in oral cavity and facial region, (5) key role of psychoemotional factors in pain recurrence and intensification, (6) non-opioid analgesics and carbamazepine inefficacy. A systematics for facial pains of psychic genesis, comprising two groups of disorders, was elaborated. The first group includes facial pain and odontalgia in borderline psychic disorders--neurotic (somatoform, hypochondriac and hysteric) disorders, affective ones (mild depressive episodes and dystimia) and paranoic personality disorder. The second group comprises orofacial cenesthopathies in neurotic-like (schizotypal disorders) and paranoid types of schizophrenia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30091535,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Determination of the concentration of cathepsin B by SPRI biosensor in children with appendicitis, and its correlation with proteasomes.\nCathepsin B (CatB) belongs to a family of lysosomal cysteine proteases and plays an important role in intracellular proteolysis. The concentration of CatB and 20S proteasome was evaluated in the serum of children with appendicitis, before and after surgery, on a basis of an innovative method for determining biomolecules concentration - surface plasmon resonance imaging (SPRI) biosensor. Forty-two children with acute appendicitis, who were treated at the Department of Pediatric Surgery (Medical University of Bialystok, Poland), were randomly included into the study (age: 5-17 years, mean age: 11.5 \u00b11 year). There were 15 girls and 27 boys in the study group. Eighteen healthy, age-matched subjects, admitted for planned surgeries, served as controls. Exclusion criteria were the following: severe preexisting infections, immunological or cardiovascular diseases that required longterm medication, and complicated cases of appendicitis with perforation of the appendix and\/or peritonitis. The CatB concentrations in the blood plasma of patients with acute appendicitis were elevated before surgery, they were the highest 24 h after surgery, and were above the range of concentrations measured in controls; the difference was statistically significant. The CatB concentration measured 72 h after the operation was decreased, but still did not reach the normal range when compared with the concentration measured in controls (p < 0.05). Cathepsin B concentration may reflect the metabolic response to acute state of inflammation, surgical intervention in the abdominal cavity and the process of gradual ebbing of the inflammation. The method of operation - classic open appendectomy or laparoscopic appendectomy - does not influence the general trend in the CatB concentration in children with appendicitis. There is a strong positive correlation between the CatB and 20S proteasome concentrations 24 h after surgery. The SPRI method can be successfully used for determining the concentration of active forms of enzymes presented in lysosomes in the diagnosis of inflammatory conditions in the abdominal cavity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28543085,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Combination of a subcutaneous ICD in a patient with a baroreceptor activation device: Feasibility, safety, and precautions: A Case Report.\nWe present a case of a patient with a baroreflex activation therapy (BAT) receiving a subcutaneous implantable cardioverter defibrillator (S-ICD). We anticipated two possible hazardous interactions between the two devices. Stimulation by the BAT could be adjudicated as noise and result in underdetection of ventricular arrhythmias or it might be misinterpreted as ventricular arrhythmias and lead to inappropriate shocks. Postop ensing occurred, the upper limit of pulse width of the BAT was limited because of noise detection by the S-ICD, but the upper limit of amplitude was limited by patient's discomfort. In this patient, the combination of a BAT and an S-ICD was safe.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18601180,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Influence of mass transfer limitations on determination of the half saturation constant for hydrogen uptake in a mixed-culture CH(4)-producing enrichment.\nThere is strong evidence in the literature supporting the existence of significant mass transfer limitations on the kinetics of exogenous H(2) consumption by methanogens. The half saturation constant for H (2) uptake by a mixed-culture, CH(4) producing enrichment was measured using an experimental protocol that avoided internal mass transfer limitations. The value obtained was two orders of magnitude smaller than any other previously reported. A mathematical model for acetogenic syntrophic associations was developed to check the capacity of H(2) as electron transporter between syntrophic partners. It was found that H(2) diffusion could account for the rate of transport of electrons between the syntrophic microorganisms and that formate is not a necessary intermediate. The possibility that formate may be an intermediate in this system was not ruled out. A Monod-type kinetic equation was modified to include the observed H(2) threshold effect. This modified equation was used to predict the CH(4)-production rate in a batch-fed digester. The results show that the external and internal H(2) pools are kinetically coupled.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28360669,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evaluation of Early Postoperative Neurological Complications Following Living Donor Liver Transplantation.\nLiver transplantation is one of the best treatment options for end-stage liver disease. In Turkey, living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) is performed more frequently than cadaveric transplantation, because organ donation is unpopular in our country. Neurological complications contribute to poor postoperative outcomes after liver transplantation. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the outcomes of LDLT patients in whom such complications developed early during postoperative follow-up in the intensive care unit. Of 217 LDLTs performed between August 2011 and August 2012, neurology consultations were arranged for 29 patients (13.36%) because of development of new-onset neurological symptoms and\/or findings in patients with neurologically uneventful preoperative histories. We retrospectively collected data on age, gender, primary disease, Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score, and postoperative hospitalization duration of those who survived. The indications for neurological consultation and diagnoses were categorized into acute confusion\/encephalopathy, epileptic seizures, leukoencephalopathy, and focal neurological deficits. The immunosuppressive treatment regimens prescribed were also considered. The outcomes of the 2 groups (with and without neurological complications) were compared. The mean patient age was 44.52\u00b116.24 years, and males predominated (65.5%, n=19). Acute confusion\/encephalopathy was the most frequent complication (62.1%, n=18), followed by epileptic seizures (27.6%, n=8), cerebrovascular disease (6.9%, n=2), and leukoencephalopathy (3.4%, n=1). Statistically significant between-group differences in age (44.5\u00b116.2 vs. 34.33\u00b120.98 years; p<0.001), and proportions of patients with a disease of viral etiology (55.17% vs. 35.63%, p<0.05), were evident. Mortality was significantly higher in the group with neurological complications (65.5% vs. 37.32%, p<0.05). The duration of postoperative hospitalization was also significantly longer in this group (29.80\u00b115.04 vs. 10.00\u00b15.47 days; p<0.05). Mortality was significantly higher and the duration of postoperative hospitalization significantly longer in LDLT patients with new-onset neurological complications than in those without such complications.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36926997,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Associations among SNPs in two addictive genes, food addiction, and antioxidant markers in recreationally active young women.\nIntroduction: food addiction is associated with genetic polymorphisms and decreased antioxidant intake. Objectives: this study determined the associations among food addiction, dopamine receptor 2 (DRD2) and toll-interleukin 1 receptor (TIR) domain-containing adaptor protein (TIRAP rs625413) gene polymorphisms, antioxidant capacities, and zinc levels among recreationally active Turkish women. Methods: the Yale Food Addiction Scale was used to evaluate the food addiction status. Serum antioxidant capacities and zinc levels were evaluated by blood analyses. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) extraction was performed using peripheral blood leukocytes, and the polymorphism status of the DRD2 Taq 1A and TIRAP genes was investigated using a commercial kit. Results: the frequencies of the heterozygous genotypes of DRD2 Taq 1A and TIRAP were 23.1 % and 31.4 %, respectively, and the frequency of risk allele homozygous genotypes was 3.2 %. Most participants (94.4 %) had a nonpolymorphic\/wild (CC) genotype in both genes; however, 11.5 % of the participants had a food addiction. The differences between serum antioxidant capacities, zinc levels, and body mass indices of those with and without food addiction were statistically significant. However, there were no differences in the serum zinc and antioxidant levels among the different genotypes. Conclusion: food addiction in young Turkish women was not associated with DRD2 Taq 1A or TIRAP polymorphisms but was associated with serum antioxidant capacities and zinc levels. Further studies on different loci of the same genes or genotypes of different genes with larger sample sizes are warranted.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26441991,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Functional Role of G9a Histone Methyltransferase in Cancer.\nPost-translational modifications of DNA and histones are epigenetic mechanisms, which affect the chromatin structure, ultimately leading to gene expression changes. A number of different epigenetic enzymes are actively involved in the addition or the removal of various covalent modifications, which include acetylation, methylation, phosphorylation, ubiquitination, and sumoylation. Deregulation of these processes is a hallmark of cancer. For instance, G9a, a histone methyltransferase responsible for histone H3 lysine 9 (H3K9) mono- and dimethylation, has been observed to be upregulated in different types of cancer and its overexpression has been associated with poor prognosis. Key roles played by these enzymes in various diseases have led to the hypothesis that these molecules represent valuable targets for future therapies. Several small molecule inhibitors have been developed to specifically block the epigenetic activity of these enzymes, representing promising therapeutic tools in the treatment of human malignancies, such as cancer. In this review, the role of one of these epigenetic enzymes, G9a, is discussed, focusing on its functional role in regulating gene expression as well as its implications in cancer initiation and progression. We also discuss important findings from recent studies using epigenetic inhibitors in cell systems in vitro as well as experimental tumor growth and metastasis assays in vivo.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37462592,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1}}},"text":"Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Hand Surgery Milestones V2.0 Development and Implementation: What Fellowship Directors, Faculty, and Fellows Need to Know.\nMilestones have been in effect for Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-accredited hand surgery fellowships since 2015. In 2016, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education began an improvement process to make the milestones easier to read, understand, and assess. This article looks at the process used for hand surgery, makes comparisons between the two versions, and discusses the resulting changes. A representative group of hand surgery faculty and fellows worked together to review the milestones data and identify necessary changes. Working iteratively in large and small groups, the milestones were edited, and a supplemental guide was developed. The new hand surgery milestones have fewer patient care subcompetencies, yet include the same overarching themes. The medical knowledge subcompetencies have been reduced to four, and they now focus on key dimensions of knowledge development instead of pure anatomical knowledge. Systems-based practice, practice-based learning and improvement, professionalism, and interpersonal and communication skills include subcompetencies harmonized with all other accredited programs. Finally, the supplemental guide was created as an aid to clinical competency committees to provide clear understanding of the intent of the milestones. The guide includes examples for individual milestones, ideas for how to assess each subcompetency, and resources for faculty and fellows alike. The new hand surgery milestones were designed to be clearer and easier for clinical competency committees to evaluate and for faculty and fellows to understand. The accompanying supplemental guide is a new addition that will help individual programs better understand how to implement these changes. The new hand surgery milestones can be found at https:\/\/www.acgme.org\/globalassets\/pdfs\/milestones\/handsurgerymilestones.pdf.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37868457,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Brugada Phenocopy Induced by Hypovolemic Hyponatremia.\nBrugada syndrome (BrS) is a hereditary channelopathy caused by an autosomal dominant mutation in the cardiac sodium channel gene SCN5A alpha subunit. In individuals without structural heart disease, the risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD) increases in this channelopathy with ST-segment elevation in V1-3 precordials. Brugada phenocopy (BrP) is a condition in which transient ST-segment elevations are observed, mimicking BrS electrocardiographic changes, which can occur with electrolyte and metabolic disorder scenarios. In this study, we share a case of BrP that occurred due to hypovolemic hyponatremia and recovered spontaneously with the correction of electrolyte disturbance.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27270697,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Learning and Doing: An Interview with Bill Wood.\nTHE Genetics Society of America's Elizabeth W. Jones Award for Excellence in Education recognizes significant and sustained impact on genetics education. As well as having made major contributions to biochemistry and developmental genetics, the 2016 awardee William B. Wood has been a pioneer in the reform of science teaching. Wood's leadership has been crucial in several national initiatives and programs, including the development of the influential National Academies Summer institutes on Undergraduate Education in Biology. He has also catalyzed change in education through his service as Editor-in-Chief of CBE-Life Sciences Education, a peer-reviewed journal published by the American Society for Cell Biology, in editorial partnership with the GSA.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17883089,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Metaplastic carcinoma of the breast (carcinosarcoma variant): a case report.\nA case of a female patient aged 60 yrs, with metaplastic carcinoma of the breast which is a rare neoplasm is presented. Although it is a tumor of the ductal type, the predominant component of the neoplasm has an appearance other than glandular pattern and more in keeping with other cell types. Metaplastic carcinoma runs a very aggressive course and bears an unfavourable prognosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28255480,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Multiple Electrolyte and Metabolic Emergencies in a Single Patient.\nWhile some electrolyte disturbances are immediately life-threatening and must be emergently treated, others may be delayed without immediate adverse consequences. We discuss a patient with alcoholism and diabetes mellitus type 2 who presented with volume depletion and multiple life-threatening electrolyte and metabolic derangements including severe hyponatremia (serum sodium concentration [SNa] 107 mEq\/L), hypophosphatemia (\"undetectable,\" <1.0 mg\/dL), and hypokalemia (2.2 mEq\/L), moderate diabetic ketoacidosis ([DKA], pH 7.21, serum anion gap [SAG] 37) and hypocalcemia (ionized calcium 4.0 mg\/dL), mild hypomagnesemia (1.6 mg\/dL), and electrocardiogram with prolonged QTc. Following two liters of normal saline and associated increase in SNa by 4 mEq\/L and serum osmolality by 2.4 mosm\/Kg, renal service was consulted. We were challenged with minimizing the correction of SNa (or effective serum osmolality) to avoid the osmotic demyelinating syndrome while replacing volume, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, and magnesium and concurrently treating DKA. Our management plan was further complicated by an episode of significant aquaresis. A stepwise approach was strategized to prioritize and correct all disturbances with considerations that the treatment of one condition could affect or directly worsen another. The current case demonstrates that a thorough understanding of electrolyte physiology is required in managing complex electrolyte disturbances to avoid disastrous outcomes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9158829,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Observations on the relationships between plasma free fatty acids, ketones and bicarbonate in acute hyperglycaemia.\nSome of the initial biochemical findings, obtained from 141 randomly-selected cases of acute hyperglycaemia (admission plasma glucose > 20 mmol\/L) were examined. When viewed in terms of their initial plasma bicarbonate concentration, three groups were identifiable. Plasma concentrations of free fatty acids (FFA), acetone and the sum of 3-hydroxybutyrate (3OHB) and lactate were different between these groups. However, there were no differences in plasma glucose or lactate concentrations. It was further observed that the relationship between the plasma FFA\/albumin molar ratio, and ketone concentration could be described by a rectangular hyperbola, and the initial anion gap was linearly related to the sum of the 3OHB and lactate concentrations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28289824,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"A miRNA signature for an environmental heterocyclic amine defined by a multi-organ carcinogenicity bioassay in the rat.\nHeterocyclic amines (HCAs) produced during high-temperature cooking have been studied extensively in terms of their genotoxic\/genetic effects, but recent work has implicated epigenetic mechanisms involving non-coding RNAs. Colon tumors induced in the rat by 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP) have altered microRNA (miRNA) signatures linked to dysregulated pluripotency factors, such as c-Myc and Kr\u00fcppel-like factor 4 (KLF4). We tested the hypothesis that dysregulated miRNAs from PhIP-induced colon tumors would provide a \"PhIP signature\" for use in other target organs obtained from a 1-year carcinogenicity bioassay in the rat. Downstream targets that were corroborated in the rat were then investigated in human cancer datasets. The results confirmed that multiple let-7 family members were downregulated in PhIP-induced skin, colon, lung, small intestine, and Zymbal's gland tumors, and were associated with c-myc and Hmga2 upregulation. PhIP signature miRNAs with the profile mir-21high\/mir-126low\/mir-29clow\/mir-215low\/mir-145low were linked to reduced Klf4 levels in rat tumors, and in human pan-cancer and colorectal cancer. It remains to be determined whether this PhIP signature has predictive value, given that more than 20 different genotoxic HCAs are present in the human diet, plus other agents that likely induce or repress many of the same miRNAs. Future studies should define more precisely the miRNA signatures of other HCAs, and their possible value for human risk assessment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14524775,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Wedge filling and interface delocalization in finite Ising lattices with antisymmetric surface fields.\nTheoretical predictions by Parry et al. for wetting phenomena in a wedge geometry are tested by Monte Carlo simulations. Simple cubic LxLxL(y) Ising lattices with nearest neighbor ferromagnetic exchange and four free LxL(y) surfaces, at which antisymmetric surface fields +\/-H(s) act, are studied for a wide range of linear dimensions (4<\/=L<\/=320, 30<\/=L(y)<\/=1000), in an attempt to clarify finite size effects on the wedge filling transition in this \"double-wedge\" geometry. Interpreting the Ising model as a lattice gas, the problem is equivalent to a liquid-gas transition in a pore with quadratic cross section, where two walls favor the liquid and the other two walls favor the gas. For temperatures T below the bulk critical temperature T(c) this boundary condition (where periodic boundary conditions are used in the y direction along the wedges) leads to the formation of two domains with oppositely oriented magnetization and separated by an interface. For L,L(y)--> infinity and T larger than the filling transition temperature T(f)(H(s)), this interface runs from the one wedge where the surface planes with a different sign of the surface field meet (on average) straight to the opposite wedge, so that the average magnetization of the system is zero. For T<T(f)(H(s)), however, this interface is bound either to the wedge where the two surfaces with field -H(s) meet (then the total magnetization m of the system is positive) or to the opposite wedge (then m<0). The distance l(0) of the interface midpoint from the wedges is studied as T-->T(f)(H(s)) from below, as is the corresponding behavior of the magnetization and its moments. We consider the variation of l(0) for T>T(f)(H(s)) as a function of a bulk field and find that the associated exponents agree with theoretical predictions. The correlation length xi(y) in the y direction along the wedges is also studied, and we find no transition for finite L and L(y)--> infinity. For L--> infinity the prediction l(0) proportional, variant (H(sc)-H(s))(-1\/4) is verified, where H(sc)(T) is the inverse function of T(f)(H(s)) and xi(y) proportional, variant (H(sc)-H(s))(-3\/4), respectively. We also find that m vanishes discontinuously at the filling transition. When the corresponding wetting transition is first order we also obtain a first-order filling transition.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28358206,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Metal-Free [2 + 1 + 2]-Cycloaddition of Tosylhydrazones with Hexahydro-1,3,5-triazines To Form Imidazolidines.\nA novel protocol toward imidazolidines has been accomplished using tosylhydrazones and hexahydro-1,3,5-triazines as the substrates under metal-free reaction conditions. Importantly, the role of LiOtBu has been confirmed not only to release the diazo but also to promote the cycloaddition. Further mechanistic investigations reveal that the reaction proceeds through a stepwise [2 + 1 + 2] process.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25513894,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Oxygen reduction electrocatalyst of Pt on Au nanoparticles through spontaneous deposition.\nA straightforward one-step spontaneous deposition approach for growth of Pt atomic shell on Au nanoparticles and the superior activity and durability of the resulted Pt-on-Au nanoparticles for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) are reported. Transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, energy-dispersive spectrometry, and electrochemical measurements indicate that Pt can be spontaneously deposited on Au surface upon simply dispersing carbon-supported Au nanoparticles in PtCl42\u2013-containing solution, without introducing any extraneous reducing agents or any pre\/post-treatments. The deposited Pt atoms are uniformly distributed on the surface of Au nanoparticles, with coverage tunable by the concentration of PtCl42\u2013 and temperatures. An approximate monolayer of Pt forms at temperature of ca. 80 \u00b0C and PtCl42\u2013 concentrations of above 10\u20134 mol\/L. The obtained Pt-on-Au core\u2013shell nanoparticles catalyze the ORR with specific and mass activities of Pt that are 3.5 times higher than that of pure Pt nanoparticles. Moreover, they exhibit no visible activity degradation after undergoing long-term oxidization\/reduction cycling in O2-saturated acid media, therefore showing great prospect as durable cathode electrocatalysts in proton-exchange membrane fuel cells.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1683613,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Primary prevention in hypertension. Valid conclusions from observational studies.\nRelatively few observational (i.e., nonexperimental) studies have been conducted to examine the role of antihypertensive drug therapy in the primary prevention of coronary heart disease. To draw valid conclusions from experimental or observational studies, internal validity should be ensured. In particular, similarity of \"extraneous\" effects, of information, and of prognosis between the treatment groups compared in a particular study is needed. Because allocation of participants to antihypertensive drug therapy in observational studies is nonrandomized by definition, special efforts should be made to achieve comparability of prognosis, that is, to avoid \"confounding by indication.\" Follow-up and case-control studies, the two main types of observational studies, also offer certain advantages over randomized clinical trials, particularly when different classes of drugs are compared. Although few valid observational studies on the efficacy of drug therapy for hypertension in the primary prevention of first coronary events have been published, the available data suggest that beta-blockers might confer greater protection than other drug regimens. However, more evidence is needed to confirm these findings. It is concluded that observational studies could play an increasing role in the assessment of the role of antihypertensive therapy in the primary prevention of coronary heart disease when the inherent potentials and pitfalls of these studies are appreciated.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28561445,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Ecology of breastfeeding in the United States: An applied perspective.\nBreastfeeding initiation and duration have followed distinct cycles in the United States. Despite recent increases, breastfeeding rates still fall short of public health goals. This paper takes an applied perspective to examine the potential role of human biologists in enhancing the promotion of breastfeeding in the United States. The conceptual model of breastfeeding held by policy makers and public health professionals is distinguished from that of human biologists. An integrated model is proposed that incorporates the sociodemographic factors of the public health model with the components of breastfeeding structure and early mother-infant interaction of the human biology model. It is suggested that human biologists can contribute to the more effective promotion of breastfeeding by promoting inclusion of a wide range of anthropological research on infant feeding, clarifying the vocabulary of infant feeding, and expanding their own research to include participation in the development and testing of breastfeeding interventions. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 10:221-228, 1998. \u00a9 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7925827,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Distribution of forebrain diffuse axonal injury following inertial closed head injury in miniature swine.\nDiffuse axonal injury (DAI) is one of the most frequently encountered types of brain damage resulting from closed head injury. This study was designed to verify whether DAI could be produced in miniature swine by rapid acceleration and deceleration of the head in the coronal plane. Hanford miniature swine (16-19 kg) were anesthetized with 3% isoflurane and their heads accelerated rapidly once through a 60-105 degrees arc in the coronal plane, producing only transient post-traumatic unconsciousness without prolonged coma. All animals made a good recovery and were sacrificed between 6 h and 10 days after injury. The response of forebrain projection systems to this injury was studied using neurofilament immunohistochemistry with antisera to nonphosphorylated (SMI-32) and phosphorylated (SMI-31) epitopes common to heavy (200 kDa) and medium (160 kDa) neurofilament proteins. In 9 of 12 animals, lesions characterized by foci of SMI-32 positive axonal retraction balls were present at the white matter\/gray matter junction at the crests of gyri in the dorsolateral regions of the frontal, parietal, and temporal cortices and along margins of the lateral ventricles. A high density of pyramidal neuron perikarya in layers III and V within cortical gyri associated with subcortical DAI were intensely positive for SMI-31 immunohistochemistry. These results validate the use of miniature swine in studies of axonal injury and demonstrate that axonal injury analogous to that seen in the mildest form of DAI (grade I) can be produced in these animals without producing prolonged coma.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28362673,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-26":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Fixed-Level Frequency Threshold Testing for Ototoxicity Monitoring.\nHearing loss from ototoxicity is often most pronounced at high frequencies. To improve patient monitoring and compliance, high-frequency testing methods should be short and easy to administer. We evaluated the repeatability and accuracy of a B\u00e9k\u00e9sy-like, fixed-level frequency threshold (FLFT) technique. This test takes less than a minute and could provide a rapid and effective way to determine the highest audible frequency. We hypothesized the FLFT test would be repeatable in normal-hearing subjects, and accurate when compared with B\u00e9k\u00e9sy fixed-frequency audiometry in the sensitive region for ototoxicity (SRO). Twenty-nine normal-hearing subjects (20 females, 9 males) performed 2 different automated audiometry tests at least 4 times over a period of no less than 3 weeks. Ages ranged from 23 to 35 years (average = 28 years). Subjects completed testing under Sennheiser HDA-200 headsets. Initial fixed-frequency audiometry thresholds were obtained at frequencies ranging from 0.5 to 20 kHz to identify each subject's highest audible frequency, which was used to determine the SRO. The SRO was defined as the seven frequencies at and below the highest audible frequency in 1\/6-octave steps. These frequencies were monitored with fixed-frequency audiometry. At each session, the FLFT test was administered at 80 dB SPL. Subjects used a B\u00e9k\u00e9sy-style tracking method to determine the frequency threshold. All testing was completed in a sound booth (single wall, Industrial Acoustics Company) using a computerized, laptop-based, system. FLFT repeatability was calculated as the root mean square difference from the first test session. FLFT accuracy was calculated as the difference from the highest audible frequency determined from fixed-frequency audiometry interpolated to 80 dB SPL level. The FLFT average RMSD for intersession variability was 0.05 \u00b1 0.05 octaves. The test showed no learning effect [F(3,78) = 0.7; p = 0.6]. The overall intersession variability for SRO fixed-frequency audiometry thresholds at all frequencies was within clinically acceptable test-retest variability (10 dB) at 5.8 dB (range 2.7 to 9.9 dB). The SRO fixed-frequency audiometry therefore served as a repeatable basis of comparison for accuracy of the FLFT test. The mean absolute difference between the fixed-frequency audiometry and FLFT-determined highest audible frequency was 0.03 octaves. The FLFT and the highest audible frequency via fixed-frequency audiometry at 80 dB SPL were not different statistically (p = 0.12). The FLFT took approximately 30 seconds to complete, compared with approximately 4.5 min for fixed-frequency audiometry SRO and 20 to 25 min for a traditional ototoxic audiometric assessment. The B\u00e9k\u00e9sy-style FLFT was repeatable within 1\/12 octave (1 step size in the testing procedure). The FLFT agreed well with the highest audible frequency determined via fixed-frequency audiometry at 80 dB SPL. The FLFT test is amenable to automatic and self-administration and may enable quick, accurate, noise-tolerant ototoxicity, and high-frequency hearing monitoring.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31259676,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Heterocephalacria mucosa sp. nov., a new basidiomycetous yeast species isolated from a mangrove forest in Thailand.\nStrains of yeast were isolated under a nitrogen-depleted culture condition from decaying tree bark (strain N-12.1) and from mangrove forest water (strain 1-7W.1) sampled at different locations within a mangrove forest site in Ranong province, Thailand. They were found to be genetically and phenotypically different from any currently recognised yeast species. Phylogenetic analysis of nucleotide sequence of three genes, the internal transcribed spacer region 1 and 2 plus 5.8S ribosomal RNA gene (ITS), D1\/D2 domain of the large subunit ribosomal RNA gene (LSU D1\/D2) and the small subunit of the ribosomal RNA gene (SSU), revealed that these two strains were related to but distinguished from Heterocephalacriaarrabidensis. Several distinct physiological characteristics of these two strains were detected, namely inability to assimilate glycerol, dl-lactic acid, succinic acid, citric acid, d-gluconic acid, and ability to grow well at 25 \u00b0C, which were different from those of H. arrabidensis. Accordingly, the name Heterocephalacria mucosa sp. nov., is proposed to accommodate this novel species. The MycoBank number is MB 828624.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27257796,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Prevention of common healthcare-associated infections in humanitarian hospitals.\nHumanitarian medical organizations focus on vulnerable patients with increased risk for healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and are obligated to minimize them in inpatient departments (IPDs). However, in doing so humanitarian groups face considerable obstacles. This report will focus on approaches to reducing common HAIs that the authors have found to be helpful in humanitarian settings. HAIs are common in humanitarian contexts but there are few interventions or guidelines adapted for use in poor and conflict-affected settings to improve prevention and guide surveillance. Based on existing recommendations and studies, it appears prudent that all humanitarian IPDs introduce a basic infection prevention infrastructure, assure high adherence to hand hygiene with wide accessibility to alcohol-based hand rub, and develop pragmatic surveillance based on clinically evident nosocomial infection. Although microbiology remains out of reach for most humanitarian hospitals, rapid tests offer the possibility of improving the diagnosis of HAIs in humanitarian hospitals in the decade ahead. There is a dearth of new studies that can direct efforts to prevent HAIs in IPDs in poor and conflict-affected areas and there is a need for practical, field-adapted guidelines from professional societies, and international bodies to guide infection prevention efforts in humanitarian environments.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23443143,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Flexible intramedullary nailing in simple bone cysts of the proximal humerus: prospective study for high-risk cases of pathologic fracture.\nWe designed and evaluated a modified cyst index using the Picture Archiving and Communication System software for treating simple bone cysts of the proximal humerus by preventive intramedullary flexible nail insertion in symptomatic children or adolescents. From January 2007 to December 2009, cases with a cyst index of at least 4 were enrolled in the study. Of 20 total cases, 19 were prospectively followed-up for at least 2 years. The mean patient age was 10.6 years (range, 7-15 years) and the mean modified cyst index was 6.56 (range, 4.95-8.25). The mean cyst healing period was 8.7 months (range, 4-30 months) and the mean follow-up period was 31.05 months (range, 24-42 months). Seventeen lesions (89%) were classified as completely healed and two (11%) were classified as healed with residual radiolucency. In all cases, no angular deformity was found on the final follow-up radiograph. Therefore, preventive flexible intramedullary nail insertion before the occurrence of a pathologic fracture because of simple bone cysts with a modified cyst index of at least 4 in the proximal humerus is an excellent treatment option. Therapeutic Level IV.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12001948,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of free fall on higher plants.\nThe influence of exposure to the free fall state on the orientation, morphogenesis, physiology, and radiation response of higher plants is briefly summarized. It is proposed that the duration of the space-flight experiments has been too brief to permit meaningful effects of free fall on general biochemistry, growth and development to appear. However, two types of significant effect did occur. The first is on differential growth, i.e. tropism and epinasty, resulting from the absence of a normal geostimulus. For these phenomena it is suggested that ground-based experiments with the clinostat would suffice to mimic the effect of the free fall state. The second is an apparent interaction between the radiation response and some flight condition, yielding an enhanced microspore abortion, a disturbed spindle function, and a stunting of stamen hairs. It is suggested that this apparent interaction may be derived from a shift in the rhythm of the cell cycle, induced by the free fall.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37441847,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Update on Identification and Treatment of Infants and Toddlers With Suspected Childhood Apraxia of Speech.\nThe purpose of this tutorial is to (a) provide an updated review of the literature pertaining to proposed early features of childhood apraxia of speech (CAS), (b) discuss the findings of recent treatment studies of infants and toddlers with suspected CAS (sCAS), and (c) present evidence-based strategies and tools that can be used for the identification of and intervention for infants and toddlers with sCAS or at high risk for the disorder. Since Davis and Velleman's (2000) seminal work on assessment and intervention in infants and toddlers with sCAS, limited research has guided clinicians in the complex task of identifying and treating early speech motor difficulties prior to a definitive diagnosis of CAS. Following the structure of Davis and Velleman, we explore the proposed early characteristics of CAS with reference to contemporary research. Next, we describe the limited treatment studies that have investigated intervention for infants and toddlers at risk of or suspected of having CAS. Finally, we present practical suggestions for integrating this knowledge into clinical practice. Many of the originally proposed correlates of CAS in infants and toddlers now have research supporting their presence. However, questions remain about the developmental trajectory of the disorder. Although limited in number and restricted by lack of experimental control, emerging treatment studies can help guide clinicians in providing appropriate intervention to infants and toddlers with sCAS who need not wait for a definitive diagnosis to initiate intervention.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25418684,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Designing supramolecular liquid-crystalline hybrids from pyrenyl-containing dendrimers and arene ruthenium metallacycles.\nThe association of the arene ruthenium metallacycle [Ru4(p-cymene)4(bpe)2(donq)2][DOS]4 (bpe = 1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethylene, donq = 5,8-dioxydo-1,4-naphtoquinonato, DOS = dodecyl sulfate) with pyrenyl-functionalized poly(arylester) dendrimers bearing cyanobiphenyl end-groups is reported. The supramolecular dendritic systems display mesomorphic properties as revealed by polarized optical microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and small-angle X-ray scattering measurements. The multicomponent nature of the dendrimers and of the corresponding host-guest supramolecules (i.e., end-group mesogens, dendritic core, pyrene unit, aliphatic spacers, and metallacycle) leads to the formation of highly segregated mesophases with a complex multilayered structure due to the tendency of the various constitutive building-blocks to separate in different organized zones. The pyrenyl dendrimers exhibit a multilayered smectic A-like phase, thereafter referred to as LamSmA phase to emphasize this unaccustomed morphology. As for the corresponding Ru4-metallacycle adducts, they self-organize into a multicontinuous thermotropic cubic phase with the Im3\u0305m space group symmetry. This represents a unique example of liquid-crystalline behavior observed for such large and complex supramolecular host-guest assemblies. Models of their supramolecular organizations within both mesophases are proposed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26433746,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1}}},"text":"Activity of temocillin, mecillinam, ceftazidime, and ceftazidime\/avibactam against carbapenem-non-susceptible Enterobacteriaceae without carbapenemase production.\nTreatment options for multidrug-resistant Gram-negative infections are scarce and therefore alternatives with a narrow spectrum or new agents are sought. Antimicrobial susceptibility to temocillin, mecillinam, ceftazidime, and ceftazidime\/avibactam was determined using Etest and disk diffusion according to European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST) methodology. A total of 77 carbapenem-nonsusceptible Enterobacteriaceae were studied, including Klebsiella pneumoniae (26%), Escherichia coli (26%), Enterobacter cloacae (26%), and Enterobacter aerogenes (22%). Several phenotypic tests, PCRs followed by sequencing and a microbiological bioassay excluded carbapenemase production in all isolates. Antimicrobial susceptibility rates were low for temocillin (15.6%, minimum inhibitory concentration [MIC] range 2 to >1,024 \u03bcg\/ml), moderate for mecillinam (59.7%, MIC range 0.25 to >256 \u03bcg\/ml), and excellent for ceftazidime\/avibactam (100%, zone diameter range 19 to 32 mm, median 25 mm). 5.2% of the isolates were susceptible to ceftazidime alone (zone diameter range 6 to 32 mm). In this study, mecillinam exhibited moderate and ceftazidime\/avibactam excellent in vitro antimicrobial activity against carbapenem-nonsusceptible Enterobacteriaceae without carbapenemase production. Ceftazidime\/avibactam was able to restore previously reduced susceptibility to ceftazidime in all isolates, thus potentiating its activity. Temocillin only exhibited low in vitro antimicrobial activity against the isolates. Further evaluation of mecillinam and ceftazidime\/avibactam with regard to the potential clinical utility against infections caused by these pathogens has to be performed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20366958,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Field evolution of coexisting superconducting and magnetic orders in CeCoIn5.\nWe present nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements on the three distinct In sites of CeCoIn5 with a magnetic field applied in the [100] direction. We identify the microscopic nature of the long range magnetic order (LRO) stabilized at low temperatures in fields above 10.2 T while still in the superconducting (SC) state. We infer that the ordered moment is oriented along the c axis and map its field evolution. The study of the field dependence of the NMR shift for the different In sites indicates that the LRO likely coexists with a modulated SC phase, possibly that predicted by Fulde, Ferrell, Larkin, and Ovchinnikov. Furthermore, we discern a field region dominated by strong spin fluctuations where static LRO is absent and propose a revised phase diagram.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3049085,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Spontaneous arterio-venous fistulae of the vertebral artery. Diagnostic and therapeutic considerations.\nSpontaneous arterio-venous fistulae of the vertebral artery are rare. These lesions mainly affect the upper cervical area, and are usually asymptomatic, or may present as small, often pulsatile, cervical masses with vascular murmurs. The authors report on two cases in which the presumptive diagnosis, suggested by venous digital subtraction angiography, was then confirmed by selective angiography. In both cases an intravascular approach with detachable balloons and particulate substances was carried out, with good anatomical and functional results. Problems related to diagnosis, pathophysiology of symptoms, indications for treatment and embolization techniques are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25501008,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Three\u2011time point view of mild brain injuries' structural alteration and their association with cognitive domains.\nMild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) accounts for 70\u201180% of total neurotrauma, majority among them manifest with cognitive deficits. Till date there are few\/or no 3\u2011time\u2011point longitudinal studies that have evidenced brain volume changes. The current study has investigated volume changes at 3\u2011time\u2011points and their association with cognitive sequel. Twenty\u2011one mTBI patients with normal imaging and 15 GCS were recruited. Initially these patients were evaluated with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan \u226436hours and neuropsychological test (NPT) during 2\u20113weeks after\u2011injury. All the patients were available for follow\u2011up for repeat MRI and NPT on 3\u20114 and 6\u20117months. The imaging and test scores were analyzed using repeated measures of analysis (P<0.05). The brain volumes were correlated with respective test\u2011scores using partial\u2011correlation. Left frontal lobe (P<0.029) and thalamus (P=0.049) showed significant increase in mean volume overtime, whereas corpus callosum (mid\u2011anterior [P=0.011] and central [P=0.04]) and left cerebellum (P=0.043) showed significant decrease in mean volume overtime. Clinically cognitive scores improved with time. Eventual improvements in attention and memory scores were positively associated with increase in cingulate gyrus volume. The 3\u2011time\u2011point longitudinal study illustrates brain areas that changes with time and their association with improving cognitive scores. The study provides hint about the pattern of natural recovery.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17004530,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Black\/white differential use of health services by young children in a rural Mississippi community.\nUse of health services in rural communities has not been well studied. We explored how black and white children used health services in a rural Mississippi community. Data were prospectively collected for 396 children attending a private practice to determine if race was associated with the use of health services in this community. White children made more sick contacts than black children (P < 0.001). Black children (36%) were more likely to be treated in the emergency room than white children (24%; P = 0.013). There was no black-white difference in the hospitalization rates, although white children were more likely to undergo ear-nose-throat (ENT) surgery for pressure equalizing tube (PET) placement, and\/or tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy (T and A; P < 0.001). Even after controlling for various confounders, the frequency of all physician sick contacts was twice as high for white children than for black children (RR = 2.17; 95% C.I. = 1.32-3.58). Overall, black children used disproportionately fewer health services than their white counterparts, but used significantly higher emergency room services. Private insurance coverage was the single most significant variable that accounted for the black-white differential use of the emergency room.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12042462,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Use of fan beam dual energy x-ray absorptiometry to measure body composition of piglets.\nA piglet model was used to determine whether the fan beam dual energy X-ray absorptiometry technique (DXA) could be adapted for the measurement of body composition of small subjects. Commercial domestic swine piglets (n = 14) with weights between 1.95 and 21.1 kg had duplicate fan beam-DXA scans followed by chemical analysis of body composition. Each scan required 2-3 min to complete. DXA-measured total body weight was validated against scale weights of the piglets (with and without blanket and other covering), DXA bone mineral content validated against carcass ash and calcium, and DXA lean and fat mass validated against chemical lean and fat contents. Measurements from duplicate DXA scans were highly reproducible with adjusted r(2) values from 0.992 to 1.000. Each DXA measurement was highly predictive of the scale weight or specific chemical body composition with adjusted r(2) values from 0.974 to 0.999. The intraclass reliability coefficient among measurements from individual scans with scale weight or the weight of individual chemical components was extremely high at > or =0.99 for all comparisons. The SD of residuals for DXA prediction of scale weights (with and without covering) were 168 and 157 g, respectively, and were 27, 8.8, 122 and 72 g for the prediction of carcass ash, calcium, lean and fat tissue content, respectively. We conclude that rapid scan acquisition, accurate and precise prediction of scale weight and components of body composition would support the use of fan beam-DXA for body composition studies in growing humans or animals.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34398226,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Comparison of salivary gland MRI and ultrasonography findings among patients with Sj\u00f6gren's syndrome over a wide age range.\nThis retrospective study compared MRI and US findings among patients with SS over a wide age range. Ninety patients with SS aged 8-84 years who had undergone both MRI and US examinations were divided into four groups according to age, as follows: <18 years (juvenile SS, JSS), 9 patients; 18-39 years, 12 patients; 40-69 years, 53 patients; >69 years, 16 patients. Imaging findings of parotid glands (PGs) and submandibular glands (SMGs) were compared among the four groups. Furthermore, the relationships within and between imaging findings and various clinical findings were examined. On MRI, patients with JSS commonly exhibited multiple high-intensity spots in the PGs on MR sialography and fat-suppressed T2-weighted imaging. With increasing SS group age, the frequencies and numbers of the high-intensity spots were lower. Fat areas on MRI and hyperechoic bands on US were rarely observed in the PGs and SMGs of patients with JSS, whereas they were more common in patients with adult SS. In addition, the presence of hyperechoic bands on US, the presence of fat areas on MRI, and decreased salivary flow were associated with one another. Salivary gland imaging findings in patients with JSS were characterized by punctate sialectasis, whereas those findings in patients with adult SS were characterized by fatty degeneration. Distinct findings in patients with JSS and adult SS are likely to reflect differences in glandular lesion stage. MRI and US are presumably useful for evaluation of glandular lesion severity during follow-up.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12040216,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A custom mandibular distraction device for the rat.\nIn the last several years, the rat model has been used as a reliable means of studying distraction osteogenesis (DO). This model has several benefits, including lower cost, the availability of molecular reagents for the rat, and the ability to perform a large number of operations in a short time. We have recently developed an external device that is custom-made for the rat mandible and secured at the mandibular ramus. The device consists of a Leone (Florence, Italy) jackscrew distraction assembly (0.2 mm per one-quarter turn), 2 Luhr L-shaped 0.8-mm five-hole microplates, and four 0.8-mm x 3-mm microscrews (Stryker-Leibinger Corp., Kalamazoo, MI) for fixation. Additionally, there is a methylmethacrylate block that is placed on the lingual surface of the angle of the mandible to support the posterior screws. Sterile surgical technique was used, and the same two surgeons performed all operations. To date, we have operated on 153 Sprague-Dawley rats. The procedure has been well tolerated by the animals. We had 17 postoperative deaths (11% mortality), largely as a result of anesthetic complications. There were no wound infections or dehiscence. A mandible fracture was noted in 6 rats (4%), which occurred at the time of device placement. There were no device dislodgments. Postmortem examination showed the device to be well positioned in all rats, with good callous formation at the distraction site. The rats surpassed their preoperative weight after an average of 9.2 days. These results compare favorably with those of other models currently in use. We have developed a device that is currently being used in the study of DO in the rat mandible. Our device is small in size, does not require wide undermining for its placement, and has had a low incidence of device dislodgment or infection. This model has shown great reproducibility and thus should be effective in its application for the histologic and biochemical investigation of DO in the rat.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27472807,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Tunable Ambipolar Polarization-Sensitive Photodetectors Based on High-Anisotropy ReSe2 Nanosheets.\nAtomically thin 2D-layered transition-metal dichalcogenides have been studied extensively in recent years because of their intriguing physical properties and promising applications in nanoelectronic devices. Among them, ReSe2 is an emerging material that exhibits a stable distorted 1T phase and strong in-plane anisotropy due to its reduced crystal symmetry. Here, the anisotropic nature of ReSe2 is revealed by Raman spectroscopy under linearly polarized excitations in which different vibration modes exhibit pronounced periodic variations in intensity. Utilizing high-quality ReSe2 nanosheets, top-gate ReSe2 field-effect transistors were built that show an excellent on\/off current ratio exceeding 10(7) and a well-developed current saturation in the current-voltage characteristics at room temperature. Importantly, the successful synthesis of ReSe2 directly onto hexagonal boron nitride substrates has effectively improved the electron motility over 500 times and the hole mobility over 100 times at low temperatures. Strikingly, corroborating with our density-functional calculations, the ReSe2-based photodetectors exhibit a polarization-sensitive photoresponsivity due to the intrinsic linear dichroism originated from high in-plane optical anisotropy. With a back-gate voltage, the linear dichroism photodetection can be unambiguously tuned both in the electron and hole regime. The appealing physical properties demonstrated in this study clearly identify ReSe2 as a highly anisotropic 2D material for exotic electronic and optoelectronic applications.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9147805,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Successful tracheal weaning.\nIn 1994, neuroscience nurses and neurosurgeons at St. Boniface General Hospital and the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg completed a study on tracheostomy weaning. This collaborative effort was initiated in response to a perceived clinical need--weaning difficulties in our neurological and neurosurgical patients--and was the first step along the road to implementing a standardized weaning procedure.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28730765,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Prognostic role of inflammatory biomarkers in metastatic breast cancer.\nThe effects of inflammation on the prognosis, life expectancy and several parameters such as response to treatment of breast cancer have been previously studied. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of inflammatory markers on prognosis in patients with metastatic breast cancer. This study was conducted on 81 patients with metastatic breast cancer who have been followed up at the Department of Medical Oncology, Hacettepe University Institute of Oncology, between December, 2009 and March, 2014. For all studied parameters Kaplan-Meier survival estimates and p values computed by log-rank test were calculated. A p value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Median follow-up time was 26 months. There were 38 deaths due to disease progression during the follow up. The levels of serum albumin, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) were not associated with a significant effect on overall survival (OS). Among patients with a higher serum C-reactive protein (CRP), the estimated mean survival was 84\u00b136 months, compared to 278\u00b1113 months among patients with a normal serum CRP (p=0.032). When patients with higher and normal lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels were compared, their 2-year OS survival rates were 68.2 and 87.7%, respectively (p=0.034). Among patients with higher serum ferritin levels, the estimated mean survival was 29\u00b110 months, compared to 212\u00b1113 months for normal serum ferritin (p=0.01). Among patients with higher serum beta-2 microglobulin (\u03b22-M), the estimated mean OS survival was 28\u00b18 months, compared to 84\u00b157 months for those with normal levels (p<0.01). Serum CRP, ferritin and \u03b22-M can be useful prognostic factors for OS in patients with metastatic breast cancer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36263267,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-26":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evaluating clinician-led quality improvement initiatives: A system-wide embedded research partnership at Stanford Medicine.\nMany healthcare delivery systems have developed clinician-led quality improvement (QI) initiatives but fewer have also developed in-house evaluation units. Engagement between the two entities creates unique opportunities. Stanford Medicine funded a collaboration between their Improvement Capability Development Program (ICDP), which coordinates and incentivizes clinician-led QI efforts, and the Evaluation Sciences Unit (ESU), a multidisciplinary group of embedded researchers with expertise in implementation and evaluation sciences. To describe the ICDP-ESU partnership and report key learnings from the first 2 y of operation September 2019 to August 2021. Department-level physician and operational QI leaders were offered an ESU consultation to workshop design, methods, and overall scope of their annual QI projects. A steering committee of high-level stakeholders from operational, clinical, and research perspectives subsequently selected three projects for in-depth partnered evaluation with the ESU based on evaluability, importance to the health system, and broader relevance. Selected project teams met regularly with the ESU to develop mixed methods evaluations informed by relevant implementation science frameworks, while aligning the evaluation approach with the clinical teams' QI goals. Sixty and 62 ICDP projects were initiated during the 2 cycles, respectively, across 18 departments, of which ESU consulted with 15 (83%). Within each annual cycle, evaluators made actionable, summative findings rapidly available to partners to inform ongoing improvement. Other reported benefits of the partnership included rapid adaptation to COVID-19 needs, expanded clinician evaluation skills, external knowledge dissemination through scholarship, and health system-wide knowledge exchange. Ongoing considerations for improving the collaboration included the need for multi-year support to enable nimble response to dynamic health system needs and timely data access. Presence of embedded evaluation partners in the enterprise-wide QI program supported identification of analogous endeavors (eg, telemedicine adoption) and cross-cutting lessons across QI efforts, clinician capacity building, and knowledge dissemination through scholarship.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17885851,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"An economic evaluation of asthma action plans for children with asthma.\nThe costs and effectiveness of asthma action plans for children were evaluated in a cross-sectional economic analysis. Direct health care and indirect costs, nights with symptoms, and asthma attacks were measured in 879 Ontario children with asthma. From a societal perspective, the total annual costs of the asthma action plan and the control groups were CDN$6,948 and CDN$6,140 per patient, respectively. Health outcomes were similar. The difference in cost was attributable to greater medication and health services use in the intervention group. Prospective randomized trials are necessary to measure potential improvements in control of asthma using asthma action plans.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3034352,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Plasma cyclic nucleotide levels in acute leukemia patients.\nTo verify the clinical usefulness of extracellular cyclic nucleotide determination as a tumor marker, plasma cyclic AMP (cAMP) and cyclic GMP (cGMP) levels were measured in 70 normal subjects and 173 acute leukemia patients studied in different stages of their disease. Mean plasma cAMP levels were similar in leukemic and normal subjects, although in 48 patients in the active stage of the disease, first diagnosis, or relapse, the cAMP values were below the normal range, and most of these patients failed to respond to chemotherapy. Plasma cGMP levels were markedly elevated in untreated patients, normalized in all patients who attained complete remission, and increased promptly to pretreatment values in patients who relapsed, suggesting that their determination may be useful to monitor the patients' response to treatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19024176,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"'Gastro' of Mirpur Khas (Sindh) is resolved.\nDiarrhoeal disease is a common cause of major public health concern in many parts of the world including Pakistan. Eighteen stool samples were received from Civil Hospital Mirpur Khas (Sindh). All the specimens were processed for culture and antimicrobial susceptibility according to Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines. Eight out of eighteen (44.4%) samples were positive for Vibrio cholerae. The isolates were gram negative rods, showed darting motility and were Oxidase positive. Contact with distilled water immobilized all these strains (Mdw). API 20NE was used for the biochemical identification and serological confirmation was done with 'difco' antisera. Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method was performed for their respective susceptibility to various antibiotics. All these isolates were confirmed to be Vibrio cholerae O1 Biotype El Tor Serotype Ogawa. The isolates were generally sensitive to majority of the antibiotics but resistant to nalidixic acid except one strain. Six out of eight isolates were resistant to co-trimoxazole. Cholera must be suspected in outbreaks of such kind of 'gastro'.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30653314,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mechanism of Photoredox-Initiated C-C and C-N Bond Formation by Arylation of IPrAu(I)-CF3 and IPrAu(I)-Succinimide.\nHerein, we report on the photoredox-initiated gold-mediated C(sp2)-CF3 and C(sp2)-N coupling reactions. By adopting gold as a platform for probing metallaphotoredox catalysis, we demonstrate that cationic gold(III) complexes are the key intermediates of the C-C and C-N coupling reactions. The high-valent gold(III) intermediates are accessed by virtue of photoredox catalysis through a radical chain process. In addition, the bond-forming step of the coupling reactions is the reductive elimination from cationic gold(III) intermediates, which is supported by isolation and crystallographic characterization of key Au(III) intermediates.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21137959,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Micron and submicron patterning of dicyanopyrazine-linked porphyrin molecules using micro-contact printing and Langmuir-Blodgett assembly.\nWe describe a method to conveniently fabricate micron- and submicron-sized patterns of well-ordered and densely-packed dicyanopyrazine-linked porphyrin (4-TDCPP) molecules by using micro-contact printing (micro-CP) in conjunction with Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) deposition. SEM and AFM images reveal that the sizes and shapes of the 4-TDCPP patterns are well-matched with the geometric features of the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) stamps used for micro-CP. Fluorescence images show strong, red emission from the 4-TDCPP patterns. However, the thicknesses of the 4-TDCPP patterns transferred onto a silicon substrate by micro-CP are not the same, even though the same amount of 4-TDCPP layers are deposited on the surface of PDMS stamps in the LB process. The thicknesses of the 10 microm line, 2 microm dot and 300 nm line patterns of 10-layered 4-TDCPP molecules are 34.6, 26.7 and 5.9 nm, respectively. These differences may be due to variations in adhesion forces between the silicon substrate and 4-TDCPP on PDMS stamps having different size patterns. Larger patterns have greater contact areas compared to smaller patterns. This phenomenon can cause stronger adhesion forces, resulting in greater pattern thickness.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30094907,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Acquired ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency in pediatric and adolescent patients with fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma.\nOrnithine transcarbamylase deficiency (OTCD) disrupts the metabolic pathway responsible for converting nitrogenous waste to urea, allowing for excretion. When impaired, ammonia levels accumulate in the blood resulting in severe, sometimes life-threatening toxicities. Abnormalities of the urea cycle are often inherited, though there are some rarer acquired forms. We describe two cases of acquired OTCD in pediatric patients with fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma (FL-HCC). We detail its presentation and management, explore potential underlying pathophysiology, and propose a practice change to optimize care of FL-HCC patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3082878,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mechanisms of H1o accumulation in mouse neuroblastoma cells differ with different treatments.\nThe accumulation of histone H1o in mouse NIE-115 neuroblastoma cells was measured during the course of three treatments that block cell division. Over the course of 12 days, these treatments, 5 mM butyrate, 2% dimethyl sulfoxide, and serum withdrawal, all resulted in decreased levels of DNA synthesis and increased levels of H1o (in absolute terms and relative to the other H1 histones, H1abc). However, the increase in H1o differed comparing butyrate treatment, where there was a 6-fold increase in the H1o\/H1abc ratio, with the other two treatments which both had only 3-fold increases in the H1o\/H1abc ratio. The mechanism for increasing H1o differed for each of the three treatments and involved differential changes in both synthesis and degradation of the H1 subfractions to favor H1o accumulation on the chromatin. Despite the obvious correlation of the increase in H1o levels with the inhibition of DNA replication, we also showed that increases in H1o can occur without any change in DNA synthesis when cells are switched from media containing dimethyl sulfoxide to media with butyrate as the blocking agent. Finally, there was no correlation between the production of neurites in this cell line and H1o accumulation, arguing against simple, direct involvement of H1o in differentiation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23335022,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Measurement of dabigatran and rivaroxaban in primary prevention of venous thromboembolism in 106 patients, who have undergone major orthopedic surgery: an observational study.\nNo routine coagulation laboratory test is recommended during rivaroxaban or dabigatran treatment. However measuring drug concentration and\/or anticoagulant activity can be desirable in some special clinical settings, such as bleeding, thrombosis recurrence or emergency surgery. The effects of dabigatran etexilate and rivaroxaban on various coagulation assays have been previously studied in normal plasma spiked with increasing concentrations of the drug. In contrast, few data are available in routinely treated patients. In order to perform and to interpret the results of these tests, it is necessary to determine the usual responses of patient's plasma. We have used several coagulation tests in a prospective study including 106 patients receiving thromboprophylactic treatment with dabigatran 150 or 220 mg od and rivaroxaban 10 mg od for major orthopaedic surgery. The most common tests--prothrombin time (PT) and activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT)--give results, which vary according to the reagent used. To overcome this limitation, we advocate the use of plasma calibrators, which decreases the inter-laboratory heterogeneity of results. Anti-Xa measurement and Hemoclot, a thrombin diluted clotting assay, are specific assays which have been proposed for rivaroxaban and dabigatran respectively. These tests, conventional PT, aPTT and thrombin generation (TG) have been performed. We demonstrated that measurements of both drugs can determine reliably the drug concentration in patients' plasmas. PT is more prolonged with rivaroxaban than with dabigatran. Interestingly, the pattern of TG was clearly different in relation to the difference in the mechanism of action of the two new anticoagulants. A significant inter-individual variability of response is detected. Rivaroxaban--mean Cmax 140 ng\/mL (extremes 0-412) induces a greater increase of PT than dabigatran. aPTT is sensitive to dabigatran. Rivaroxaban concentrations were in good agreement with two other studies while unexplained lower than expected concentrations were found in dabigatran patients receiving 220 mg once a day [mean Cmax 60 ng\/mL (extremes 0-320)]. An interference by pantoprazole, a drug which reduces dabigatran absorption, could explain the observed lower than expected results.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16224518,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Preparation and identification of monoclonal antibodies against SARS-CoV putative protein X4].\nTo obtain monoclonal antibodies against putative protein X4 of SARS-CoV for further study of the structure and function of protein X4. Balb\/c mice were immunized with recombinant Protein X4, hybridoma cell lines secreting monoclonal antibodies against protein X4 were screened by regular cell fusion and subcloning approach. The specificities of these monoclonal antibodies were determined by Western blotting and Immunofluorescence assay. Three hybridoma cell lines (8A5, 8H6 and 4A2) stable in secreting specific monoclonal antibodies were successfully obtained. They could bind specifically to protein X4 proved by Western blotting. All of them belonged to the IgG2a isotype proved by antigen mediated ELISA. Indirect Immunofluorescence assay indicated that they could specifically bind to protein X4 expressed in SARS-CoV infected Vero E6 cells. Monoclonal antibodies of high specificity against protein X4 have been successfully prepared, which laid the foundation for the further study of protein X4.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6918354,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A high-molecular mass derivative of trypsin-kallikrein inhibitor for potential medical use. II. Study of inhibitory activity.\nThree derivatives of poly[alpha-N beta-(2-hydroxyethyl)-DL-asparagine, beta-N alpha-(2-hydroxyethyl)-DL-asparagine] were used as soluble carrier polymers for binding the trypsin-kallikrein inhibitor (TKI). In addition to the parent polymer an anionic derivative with 19.2 mol of carboxyl groups\/100 mol of residues and a hydrophobized derivative with 18.0 mol of butyl groups\/100 mol of residues were also used. All carriers contained 6.6 mol of 2-(4-aminobenzamido)ethyl residues\/100 mol which were used for the binding after diazotation. All derivatives retained a high inhibitory activity toward trypsin and chymotrypsin whereas the effect on kallikrein was substantially reduced. The kinetic constants were estimated under the simplifying assumption, that classical kinetic equations for the enzyme-inhibitor interaction may be applied. The equilibrium dissociation constants (5 X 10(-9) mol\/l) and association rate constants (1 X 10(5) l X mol-1 X s-1) with respect to trypsin are unaffected by the two chemical modifications of the carrier. The increase in the equilibrium dissociation constant (compared to native TKI) is probably a result of the decreasing strength of the enzyme-inhibitor complex rather than a manifestation of reduced rate of diffusion of the enzyme to the active center of the polymer-bound inhibitor.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17823354,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Role of endothelium-derived CC chemokine ligand 2 in idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension.\nInflammatory cytokines may affect pulmonary vascular remodeling in idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH). CC chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2) is synthesized by vascular cells and can stimulate monocyte\/macrophage migration and smooth muscle cell (SMC) proliferation. To investigate the role of CCL2 in IPAH. CCL2 levels in plasma, monocytes, lungs, and medium from pulmonary endothelial cell (P-EC) or pulmonary artery SMC (PA-SMC) cultures were measured by ELISA and Western blot analysis. CCL2 receptor CCR2 mRNA levels in monocytes, P-ECs, and PA-SMCs were measured by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Effect of CCL2 on PA-SMC proliferation and migration was assessed using [3H]thymidine incorporation and a modified Boyden's chamber. The effect of endothelial cell-derived CCL2 on monocyte migration was measured using a modified Boyden's chamber. Compared with control subjects, we found the following in patients with IPAH: elevated CCL2 protein levels in plasma and lung tissue, whereas monocyte CCL2 levels were similar between patients and control subjects, and elevated CCL2 release by P-ECs or PA-SMCs. P-ECs released twice as much CCL2 than did PA-SMCs. Monocyte migration was markedly increased in the presence of P-ECs, and the increase was larger with P-ECs from patients with IPAH. CCL2-blocking antibodies reduced P-ECs' chemotactic activity by 60%. Compared with controls, PA-SMCs from patients exhibited stronger migratory and proliferative responses to CCL2, in keeping with the finding that CCR2 was markedly increased in PA-SMCs from patients. These results suggest that CCL2 overproduction may be a feature of the abnormal P-EC phenotype in IPAH, contributing to the inflammatory process and to pulmonary vascular remodeling.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28360731,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Association of Demyelinating and Inflammatory Bowel Diseases: A Case Series and Overview of the Literature.\nNeurological complications of inflammatory bowel diseases (i.e., ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease) can be summarized as a combination of neuromuscular manifestations, cerebrovascular and demyelinating diseases that can be seen in approximately 3% of patients. In addition, asymptomatic cerebral white matter lesions may be detected in these patients. Clustering of diseases within families may be explained by the exposure to similar environmental factors, shared genes, or complex interactions between genetic and environmental factors. Here we report an epileptic patient with Crohn's disease and cerebral white matter lesions, a family with ulcerative colitis and multiple sclerosis and two patients who have both multiple sclerosis and Crohn's disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28541685,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Discovery of 1,4-Benzodiazepine-2,5-dione (BZD) Derivatives as Dual Nucleotide Binding Oligomerization Domain Containing 1\/2 (NOD1\/NOD2) Antagonists Sensitizing Paclitaxel (PTX) To Suppress Lewis Lung Carcinoma (LLC) Growth in Vivo.\nNucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptors (NLRs) are intracellular sensors of pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) and damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs). Previously, we reported nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-containing protein 1 (NOD1) antagonists (11, 12) and a NOD2 antagonist (9) that sensitized docetaxel (DTX) or paclitaxel (PTX) treatment for breast or lung cancer. In this article, we describe for the first time a 1,4-benzodiazepine-2,5-dione (BZD) derivative (26bh) that acts as a dual NOD1\/NOD2 antagonist and inhibits both nuclear factor \u03baB (NF-\u03baB) and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) inflammatory signaling, thereby sensitizing PTX to suppress Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) growth. After investigation of the compound's cytotoxicity, a systematic structure-activity relationship (SAR) was completed and revealed several key factors that were necessary to maintain antagonistic ability. This study establishes the possibility for using adjuvant treatment to combat cancer by antagonizing both NOD1 and NOD2 signaling.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14555256,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-18":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Bone response to jumping is site-specific in children: a randomized trial.\nSkeletal loading during growth may be one way of increasing bone mass early in life. We hypothesized that children randomized to a jumping program (25 jumps\/day from a 45-cm box, 5 days\/week for 12 weeks) would have greater increases in hip and spine bone mineral content (BMC) and 4% distal tibia volumetric bone density than children randomized to the control group. Our secondary hypothesis was that jumping would not be as beneficial among peripubertal children as compared to prepubertal or pubertal children due to the relatively high growth rate that occurs during the peripubertal period. Fifty-four children (31 girls) ages 3-5, 7-8, 11-12, and 15-18 years were enrolled. We performed bone, anthropometric, and force plate measurements at baseline and 12 weeks. Twenty-four-hour diet recall and Tanner's self-report of pubertal development were completed at baseline. Jumpers had a lower calcium intake than nonjumpers at baseline (965 +\/- 403 vs 1295 +\/- 465 mg\/day, P < 0.01), but the groups were otherwise similar. Overall, jumpers had greater increases in total body BMC (45.0 +\/- 4.9 vs 29.4 +\/- 5.3 g, P = 0.03) and regional dual energy x-ray absorptiometry leg BMC (19.8 +\/- 2.6 vs 11.5 +\/- 2.8 g, P = 0.03) than nonjumpers at all pubertal stages. However, the 4% distal tibia bone response to jumping appeared to be modified by pubertal stage, with the greatest bone benefit from jumping observed in pubertal children (interaction of jumping group by pubertal stage, P < 0.05, for both BMC and volumetric BMD). A similar pattern was observed for spine BMC (interaction, P = 0.10). We conclude that skeletal loading increases total body and leg BMC in children, but may not have a positive effect at sites that are predominantly trabecular bone during periods of rapid growth (i.e., peripubertal period).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17186725,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Clinical observation on chronic severe hepatitis B treated by principles of cooling-blood and detoxicating combined with clearing-heat and resolving-damp or combined with strengthening-Pi and warming-yang].\nTo observe the therapeutic efficacy on chronic severe hepatitis B (CSH) patients of Yanghuang and Yinhuang syndrome type by principles of cooling-blood and detoxicating combined with clearing-heat and resolving dampness (PA) or with strengthening-Pi and warming-yang (PB), respectively. Forty-three patients with CSH were randomly divided into two groups, group A (22 cases) treated with PA and group B (21 cases) with PB. The therapeutic efficacy, laying stress on the effect in eliminating jaundice, was observed. The efficacy in group B was effective in 19 cases (90.5%), and ineffective in 2 (9.5%), while in group A, effective in 16 (72.7%) and ineffective in 6 (27.3%). Levels of TBIL and ALT were significantly lower in both groups (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01), and the descending extent was greater, the thrombinogen activity was higher in group B than that in group A after treatment (P < 0.05), no significant difference in ALT was found between the two groups. The efficacy of PB is better than that of PA on CSH with Yanghuang and Yinghuang syndrome.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28558705,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Disseminated cryptococcosis with recurrent multiple abscesses in an immunocompetent patient: a case report and literature review.\nCryptococcus neoformans is frequently present as an opportunistic pathogen mainly affecting immunocompromised populations. Disseminated C. neoformans infection in immunocompetent population is rare and usually involves lung and central nerve system. Cryptococcus from biologic samples can easily grow on routine fungal and bacterial culture media. Besides, cryptococcal latex agglutination test has been established as a reliable diagnostic tool with overall sensitivities of 93-100%. We report a rare disseminated cryptococcosis case which presented with chronic recurrent multiple abscess in an immunocompetent male involving skin, lung, spine and iliac fossa without evidence of central nerve system involving. The results of serum cryptococcal latex agglutination tests and standard microbial cultures were negative. The patient underwent empirical anti-bacterial and anti-tuberculosis therapy which turned out to be effectless. Finally, bedside inoculation of the pus was carried out and revealed Cryptococcus neoformans, which was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction. After the administration of anti-fungal drugs including liposomal amphotericin B, the patient recovered from fever and paraplegia. This case reveals an uncommon pattern of disseminated C. neoformans infection in immunocompetent population presented with chronic multiple abscess and without central nerve system involving. Negative routine microbial cultures may not necessarily rule out cryptococcosis, especially in early stage. Besides, cryptococcal latex agglutination test does have a chance of false negative, which might be related with \"capsule-deficiency\". Moreover, this phenomenon could be related with low-grade virulence and relative long illness duration.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22814445,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A neuroscience approach to managing athletes with low back pain.\nLow back pain (LBP) is a common complaint within the athletic population and is commonly managed through a biomedical approach. The injured or damaged structure causing the LBP is identified and treated, and complete recovery from the episode is expected. Clinical experience shows us that often, athletes with LBP will not recover from their episode and may continue their sports participation despite persistent pain, or they may limit participation. Recent neuroscience research into the biology of pain suggests that clinicians involved in the management of athletes with LBP should embrace a biopsychosocial approach by engaging the brain and nervous system. This manuscript provides an overview of such a biopsychosocial approach, and presents information on the neurobiology of the athlete's pain experience.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9139897,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The A protein of the filamentous bacteriophage Cf of Xanthomonas campestris pv. citri.\nFilamentous bacteriophages have very strict host specificities. Experiments were performed to investigate whether the A protein of the filamentous phage Cf, which infects Xanthomonas campestris pv. citri but not X. campestris pv. oryzae, is involved in determining Cf's host specificity. The gene encoding the A protein of Cf was cloned and expressed in X. campestris pv. citri. The genomic DNA of another filamentous bacteriophage, Xf, which infects X. campestris pv. oryzae but not X. campestris pv. citri, was then introduced by electroporation into X. campestris pv. citri that had expressed the A protein of Cf. The progeny phages thus produced were able to infect both X. campestris pv. oryzae and X. campestris pv. citri, indicating that the A protein of Cf was incorporated into the viral particles of Xf and conferred upon Xf the ability to infect the host of Cf. Inactivation of the A protein gene abolished the infectivity of Cf. The results of this study indicate that the A protein of Cf is responsible for controlling the host specificity of Cf.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30657607,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Beyond the antibody: B cells as a target for bacterial infection.\nIt is well established that B cells play an important role during infections beyond antibody production. B cells produce cytokines and are APCs for T cells. Recently, it has become clear that several pathogenic bacterial genera, such as Salmonella, Brucella, Mycobacterium, Listeria, Francisella, Moraxella, and Helicobacter, have evolved mechanisms such as micropinocytosis induction, inflammasome down-regulation, inhibitory molecule expression, apoptosis induction, and anti-inflammatory cytokine secretion to manipulate B cell functions influencing immune responses. In this review, we summarize our current understanding of B cells as targets of bacterial infection and the mechanisms by which B cells become a niche for bacterial survival and replication away from extracellular immune responses such as complement and antibodies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16221932,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Contrasting effects of reward expectation on sensory and motor memories in primate prefrontal neurons.\nThe value of reward obtained with successful behavior is important for guiding purposeful behavior. The lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) has been implicated in working memory that guides goal-directed behavior. However, mechanism that integrates the reward value into the working memory for goal-directed behavior is not understood. To help clarify this issue, we examined the effect of reward expectation on the neuronal process in the LPFC associated with memory-based sensorimotor processing. By temporally dissociating visuospatial sensory and saccade-directional motor memories in the LPFC, we here show that reward expectation significantly enhanced the directional selectivity of sensory working memory but did not affect the directional selectivity of motor memory. The enhancement of sensory working memory in the neuronal population was sustained during the delay but extinguished soon after the motor memory appeared. These results suggest that the expectation of high reward value primarily affects the sensory working memory that may be used for behavioral guidance rather than preparation for forthcoming saccades. It thus appears that the LPFC is a neuronal substrate for working memory used to guide a reward-oriented behavior, rather than reflecting an efficient control of motor action in motivated states.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12037716,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Meta-analysis of genetic-linkage analysis of quantitative-trait loci.\nMeta-analysis is an important tool in linkage analysis. The pooling of results across primary linkage studies allows greater statistical power to detect quantitative-trait loci (QTLs) and more-precise estimation of their genetic effects and, hence, yields conclusions that are stronger relative to those of individual studies. Previous methods for the meta-analysis of linkage studies have been proposed, and, although some methods address the problem of between-study heterogeneity, most methods still require linkage analysis at the same marker or set of markers across studies, whereas others do not result in an estimate of genetic variance. In this study, we present a meta-analytic procedure to evaluate evidence from several studies that report Haseman-Elston statistics for linkage to a QTL at multiple, possibly distinct, markers on a chromosome. This technique accounts for between-study heterogeneity and estimates both the location of the QTL and the magnitude of the genetic effect more precisely than does an individual study. We also provide standard errors for the genetic effect and for the location (in cM) of the QTL, using a resampling method. The approach can be applied under other conditions, provided that the various studies use the same linkage statistic.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28701863,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Inhibition of hypoxia-induced cyclooxygenase-2 by Korean Red Ginseng is dependent on peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma.\nKorean Red Ginseng (KRG) is a traditional herbal medicine made by steaming and drying fresh ginseng. It strengthens the endocrine and immune systems to ameliorate various inflammatory responses. The cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2)\/prostaglandin E2 pathway has important implications for inflammation responses and tumorigenesis. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR\u03b3) is a transcription factor that regulates not only adipogenesis and lipid homeostasis, but also angiogenesis and inflammatory responses. The effects of the KRG on inhibition of hypoxia-induced COX-2 via PPAR\u03b3 in A549 cells were determined by luciferase assay, Western blot, and\/or quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The antimigration and invasive effects of KRG were evaluated on A549 cells using migration and matrigel invasion assays. We previously reported that hypoxia-induced COX-2 protein and mRNA levels were suppressed by KRG. This study examines the possibility of PPAR\u03b3 as a cellular target of KRG for the suppression of hypoxia-induced COX-2. PPAR\u03b3 protein levels and PPAR\u03b3-responsive element (PPRE)-driven reporter activities were increased by KRG. Reduction of hypoxia-induced COX-2 by KRG was abolished by the PPAR\u03b3 inhibitor GW9662. In addition, the inhibition of PPAR\u03b3 abolished the effect of KRG on hypoxia-induced cell migration and invasion. Our results show that KRG inhibition of hypoxia-induced COX-2 expression and cell invasion is dependent on PPAR\u03b3 activation, supporting the therapeutic potential for suppression of inflammation under hypoxia. Further studies are required to demonstrate whether KRG activates directly PPAR\u03b3 and to identify the constituents responsible for this activity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30668916,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Machine Learning Consensus To Predict the Binding to the Androgen Receptor within the CoMPARA Project.\nThe nuclear androgen receptor (AR) is one of the most relevant biological targets of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs), which produce adverse effects by interfering with hormonal regulation and endocrine system functioning. This paper describes novel in silico models to identify organic AR modulators in the context of the Collaborative Modeling Project of Androgen Receptor Activity (CoMPARA), coordinated by the National Center of Computational Toxicology (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). The collaborative project involved 35 international research groups to prioritize the experimental tests of approximatively 40k compounds, based on the predictions provided by each participant. In this paper, we describe our machine learning approach to predict the binding to AR, which is based on a consensus of a multivariate Bernoulli Naive Bayes, a Random Forest, and N-Nearest Neighbor classification models. The approach was developed in compliance with the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) principles, trained on 1687 ToxCast molecules classified according to 11 in vitro assays, and further validated on a set of 3,882 external compounds. The models provided robust and reliable predictions and were used to gather novel data-driven insights on the structural features related to AR binding, agonism, and antagonism.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28299222,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Complete Obstruction of Endotracheal Tube in an Infant with a Retropharyngeal and Anterior Mediastinal Abscess.\nIntraoperative ventilatory failure is not an uncommon complication; however, acute endotracheal obstruction by a foreign body or blood clot can be difficult to quickly discriminate from other causes. Once the diagnosis is made, quick action is needed to restore ventilation. The ultimate solution is to exchange the endotracheal tube; however, there can be other ways of resolving this in situations where reintubation would be difficult or unsafe. This case report discusses such an event in an infant with multiple airway challenges including a retropharyngeal and anterior mediastinal abscess. We have also formulated a pathway based on various case reports involving complete ETT obstruction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17917933,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Gender inequalities in maternal perception of healthy child body shape and their association with child body mass and blood pressure.\nTo investigate whether maternal perception of child body shape is different for boys and girls and whether this subjective parameter is associated with objective indices of cardiovascular health. Cross-sectional survey (the ARCA Project). Southern Italy. Body mass index, waist circumference and blood pressure were measured according to standardised procedures in 3551 children (Boys = 1778; Girls = 1773) aged 6-11 years. Maternal perception of child body shape was investigated by inviting mothers to choose, within two sets of seven, 9-year-old child silhouettes (one set for boys and one set for girls), the body shape they perceived as that of a healthy child. Although the majority of mothers indicated the median silhouette as 'healthy', mothers of girls chose a fatter silhouette as 'healthy' more often than the mothers of boys (P = 0.001). By regression analysis, mothers' perception of a child's body shape was a significant determinant (P < 0.01) of blood pressure in both genders, and of anthropometric indices in girls only, independently of parental overweight, education, birth weight and physical activity. Our study suggests that maternal perception of a healthy body shape in children is associated with her child's blood pressure and degree of adiposity; with regard to the latter, differences between genders are apparent.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20353461,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Retransplantation after BK virus nephropathy in prior kidney transplant: an OPTN database analysis.\nBK virus (BKV) has emerged as a major complication of kidney transplantation. Since June 30, 2004, the OPTN in the USA collects BKV as a primary or secondary cause of graft loss and also if treatment for BK virus (TBKV) is administered. In this study, we determined characteristics of those recipients of repeat kidney transplants from the OPTN database, where either (a) a graft loss occurred between June 30, 2004 and December 31, 2008 and database recorded prior TBKV in that allograft or (b) a graft loss between June 30, 2004 and December 31, 2008 was attributed primarily or secondarily due to BKV. In the study time period, 823 graft losses have occurred where TBKV or graft failure attributable to BKV was reported in prior transplant; of these, 126 have received a retransplant as of June 5, 2009. Induction and maintenance immunosuppression usage mirrored current trends. As of June 5, 2009, 118\/126 grafts are still functioning, one graft failure attributed to BKV. TBKV was reported in 17.5% of the retransplants. In the retransplants performed through December 31, 2007, 1-year acute rejection rate was 7%, 1-year and 3-year Kaplan-Meier graft survival rates and median GFR were 98.5%, 93.6%, 65.5 and 68.4 mL\/min, respectively. Retransplantation after BKV appears to be associated with good results.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29387594,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Improving access to home phototherapy for patients with psoriasis: current challenges and future prospects.\nAlthough the treatment burden for phototherapy in the outpatient setting is considerable, prescription of home-based phototherapy has not been instigated. Home-based phototherapy seems more patient friendly in terms of avoiding the thrice-weekly hospital visits. So why are most treatments still given in a hospital setting? Is home-based treatment less effective? Are there financial barriers? Is the treatment not available? To answer these questions, a literature search was done. A literature search of PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases was performed, using the search terms \"psoriasis\" and \"phototherapy\". Selection was based on two rounds; the first round involved screening the title and abstract of all records and second involved evaluating the full text of the remaining articles for eligibility according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. In total, 23 publications were included with consensus of both researchers. Overall, the patients reported being very satisfied with home-based phototherapy. Results regarding effectivity in terms of improvement from disease severity and in quality of life were variable but generally positive. Reasons for reluctance varied from medicolegal and social aspects to lack of reimbursement and unfamiliarity on the side of the prescriber. In the treatment for psoriasis, home-based phototherapy is as effective and safe as phototherapy in an outpatient setting. Patients were more satisfied with home-based phototherapy. Factors that negatively influence the prescription of or choice for home-based phototherapy can be summarized in terms of lack of control, lack of knowledge, and lack of a good reimbursement system.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26486023,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Strabismus in patients with neurofibromatosis type 1-associated optic pathway glioma.\nTo characterize the incidence, type, natural history, and treatment outcomes of strabismus in pediatric patients with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) and optic pathway glioma (OPG). The medical records of consecutive patients diagnosed with NF1 and OPG at our neurofibromatosis clinic since 1985 were reviewed retrospectively. We noted age at diagnosis, reason for referral to our clinic, ophthalmologic examination results, presence or absence of strabismus, strabismus type and treatment, and final results of treatment. A total of 76 patients were included. Of these, 22 (28.9%) had strabismus: 5 (22.7%) had esotropia and 17 (77.2%) had exotropia; of those with exotropia, 10 (45%) also had hypotropia. In 12 patients (54.5%), strabismus was present at the first ophthalmologic examination. The development of strabismus preceded the diagnosis of both NF1 and OPG in 4 (5.3%) patients and the diagnosis of OPG in another 2 (2.6%) patients with known NF1. In 16 (76%) patients, the strabismus was sensory. Five patients (22.7%) underwent surgery, which resulted in a deviation angle of <10(\u0394) in 1 patient, <20(\u0394) in 2 patients, and >20(\u0394) in 2 patients. Strabismus was the presenting symptom and led to the diagnosis of OPG in a subset of patients, including those who did not have a previous diagnosis of NF1. Exotropia, especially associated with a hypotropia, was the most common strabismic deviation seen in these patients. Sensory strabismus was the most common type seen in this population. Deviations of <10(\u0394) may be difficult to achieve with strabismus surgery.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28359686,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"SLM, a novel carbazole-based fluorophore attenuates okadaic acid-induced tau hyperphosphorylation via down-regulating GSK-3\u03b2 activity in SH-SY5Y cells.\nPhosphorylated tau dissociates from microtubules and aggregates to form neurofibrillary tangles resulting in neuronal toxicity and cognitive deficits. Attenuating tau hyperphosphorylation is considered as an effective therapeutic approach for Alzheimer's disease (AD). From our previous study, SLM, a carbazole-based fluorophore prevents A\u03b2 aggregation, reduced glycogen synthase kinase-3\u03b2 (GSK-3\u03b2) activity and tau hyperphosphorylation in triple transgenic mouse model of AD. However, the mechanism by which SLM attenuates tau hyperphosphorylation warrants further investigation. In the current study, we intend to evaluate the effects of SLM against okadaic acid (OA)-induced tau hyperphosphorylation and microtubules instability in human neuroblastoma (SH-SY5Y) cells. The results showed that, SLM reduced the OA-induced cell neurotoxicity and tau hyperphosphorylation in SH-SY5Y cells. SLM treatment down-regulated GSK-3\u03b2 activity. However, in the presence of GSK-3\u03b2 inhibitor (SB216763, 10\u03bcM), SLM treatment could not reduce GSK-3\u03b2 activity and tau hyperphosphorylation as compared with SB216763 treatment alone. Furthermore, SLM treatment also ameliorated OA-induced microtubules instability and cytoskeleton damage. Collectively, SLM attenuated OA-induced tau hyperphosphorylation via down-regulating GSK-3\u03b2 activity in SH-SY5Y cells. Therefore, this study supports SLM as a potential compound for AD and other tau pathology-related neurodegenerative disorders.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27270455,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Indirect Fitness Benefits Enable the Spread of Host Genes Promoting Costly Transfer of Beneficial Plasmids.\nBacterial genes that confer crucial phenotypes, such as antibiotic resistance, can spread horizontally by residing on mobile genetic elements (MGEs). Although many mobile genes provide strong benefits to their hosts, the fitness consequences of the process of transfer itself are less clear. In previous studies, transfer has been interpreted as a parasitic trait of the MGEs because of its costs to the host but also as a trait benefiting host populations through the sharing of a common gene pool. Here, we show that costly donation is an altruistic act when it spreads beneficial MGEs favoured when it increases the inclusive fitness of donor ability alleles. We show mathematically that donor ability can be selected when relatedness at the locus modulating transfer is sufficiently high between donor and recipients, ensuring high frequency of transfer between cells sharing donor alleles. We further experimentally demonstrate that either population structure or discrimination in transfer can increase relatedness to a level selecting for chromosomal transfer alleles. Both mechanisms are likely to occur in natural environments. The simple process of strong dilution can create sufficient population structure to select for donor ability. Another mechanism observed in natural isolates, discrimination in transfer, can emerge through coselection of transfer and discrimination alleles. Our work shows that horizontal gene transfer in bacteria can be promoted by bacterial hosts themselves and not only by MGEs. In the longer term, the success of cells bearing beneficial MGEs combined with biased transfer leads to an association between high donor ability, discrimination, and mobile beneficial genes. However, in conditions that do not select for altruism, host bacteria promoting transfer are outcompeted by hosts with lower transfer rate, an aspect that could be relevant in the fight against the spread of antibiotic resistance.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37447872,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Advancements in Neighboring-Based Energy-Efficient Routing Protocol (NBEER) for Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks.\nUnderwater wireless sensor networks (UWSNs) have gained prominence in wireless sensor technology, featuring resource-limited sensor nodes deployed in challenging underwater environments. To address challenges like power consumption, network lifetime, node deployment, topology, and propagation delays, cooperative transmission protocols like co-operative (Co-UWSN) and co-operative energy-efficient routing (CEER) have been proposed. These protocols utilize broadcast capabilities and neighbor head node (NHN) selection for cooperative routing. This research introduces NBEER, a novel neighbor-based energy-efficient routing protocol tailored for UWSNs. NBEER aims to surpass the limitations of Co-UWSN and CEER by optimizing NHNS and cooperative mechanisms to achieve load balancing and enhance network performance. Through comprehensive MATLAB simulations, we evaluated NBEER against Co-UWSN and CEER, demonstrating its superior performance across various metrics. NBEER significantly maximizes end-to-end delay, reduces energy consumption, improves packet delivery ratio, extends network lifetime, and enhances total received packets analysis compared to the existing protocols.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23447889,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Surgical treatment for acute small intestinal obstruction caused by Parascaris equorum infection in 15 horses (2002-2011).\nThere is a consensus in the veterinary literature that Parascaris equorum (ascarid) impaction carries a poor prognosis. Hence surgery is often delayed and foals are often subjected to euthanasia after diagnosis of ascarid impaction is established. Our clinical impression was that ascarid impaction carries a better prognosis than previously reported. Our expectation was that manually evacuating the impaction into the caecum, thus refraining from opening the small intestine, would improve the prognosis for survival of horses with ascarid impaction. The aim of this study was to examine medical records of horses treated surgically for ascarid impaction, record their clinical findings and evaluate the association of outcome with the method of relieving the impaction. The medical records of all horses presented to our hospital between October 2002 and December 2011 that underwent exploratory celiotomy for ascarid impaction were reviewed. Information retrieved from the medical record included surgical findings, surgical technique, complications, short- and long-term survival. The association between categorical variables was assessed using the Fisher's exact test. A P value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Fifteen horses fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Eighty percent of horses (12\/15) survived to discharge and 60% (6\/10) survived for at least one year. Five horses are doing well but are still in convalescence. Horses that underwent small intestinal enterotomy or resection and anastomosis (n = 5) were less likely to survive to discharge (P = 0.022). In our study, manual evacuation of ascarid impaction into the caecum, while refraining from opening the small intestine resulted in significantly improved survival in horses with ascarid impaction. Refraining from opening the small intestine may be the key to improving surgical outcome in horses with ascarid impaction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17920999,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Post-transplant infections: single center experience from the developing world.\nTo describe our experience of post-transplant infections in allogeneic stem cell transplants at the Armed Forces Bone Marrow Transplant Centre, Rawalpindi, Pakistan. From July 2001 to September 2006, patients with malignant and non-malignant hematological disorders having human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-matched sibling donors were selected for transplant. Pre-transplant infection surveillance was carried out, and strict prophylaxis against infection was observed. After admission to the hospital, patients were kept in protective isolation rooms, equipped with a HEPA filter positive-pressure laminar airflow ventilation system. Bone marrow and\/or peripheral blood stem cells were used as the stem cell source. Cyclosporin and prednisolone were used as prophylaxis against graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). The engraftment was monitored with cytogenetic\/molecular analysis and change of blood group. Survival was calculated from the date of transplant to death or last follow-up. One hundred and fifty-four patients received allogeneic stem cell transplants from HLA-matched siblings for various hematological disorders at the Armed Forces Bone Marrow Transplant Centre, Rawalpindi, Pakistan between July 2001 and September 2006. Indications for transplant included aplastic anemia (n=66), beta-thalassemia major (n=40), chronic myeloid leukemia (n=33), acute leukemia (n=8), and miscellaneous disorders (n=7). One hundred and twenty patients were male and 34 were female. The median age of the patient cohort was 14 years (range 1 1\/4-54 years). One hundred and thirty-six patients and 135 donors were cytomegalovirus (CMV) IgG-positive. One hundred and forty patients (90.9%) developed febrile episodes in different phases of post-transplant recovery. Infective organisms were isolated in 150 microbiological culture specimens out of 651 specimens from different sites of infections (23.0% culture positivity). Post-transplant infections were confirmed in 120 patients (77.9%) on the basis of clinical assessment and microbiological, virological, and histopathological examination. Mortality related to infections was 13.0%. Fatal infections included CMV disease (100% mortality, 6\/6), disseminated aspergillosis (66.7% mortality, 4\/6), pseudomonas septicemia (42.9% mortality, 9\/21), and tuberculosis (25% mortality, 1\/4). More than 90% of our patients developed febrile episodes with relatively low culture yield. The majority of infections were treated effectively, however CMV, aspergillosis, and pseudomonas infections remained problematic with high mortality.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9166000,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Characterisation of fibroblast-like cells in pannus lesions of patients with rheumatoid arthritis sharing properties of fibroblasts and chondrocytes.\nTo better understand the characteristics of synoviocytes located in the rheumatoid arthritis (RA) pannus. One cell line, termed PSC, was cloned from RA pannus lesions. Phenotypic analysis was done by contrast microscopy, indirect immunostaining, and safranin O staining. Transcription of several protooncogenes and matrix degrading enzymes was evaluated. The expression of mRNA for collagen II was detected by in situ hybridisation. The ability of anchorage independent growth was assessed by soft agarose culture. PSCs showed a high transcription of protooncogenes c-fos, c-myc and c-jun. They also expressed mRNA for matrix degrading enzymes, such as collagenase, cathepsin B, and cathepsin L. Anchorage independent growth assay demonstrated that PSCs formed colonies in soft agar culture. Phenotypic analysis showed that this fibroblast-like PSC was stained intensely with anti-vimentin and anti-fibroblast antibody. In situ reverse transcriptase assay showed that the cell line expressed type II collagen mRNA. Alternative fibroblast-like cells were identified in the pannus lesion of RA sharing properties of fibroblasts and chondrocytes. These findings suggest that this fibroblast-like cell derived from pannus lesions may contribute to the destruction of the cartilage in RA.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19036939,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Analysis of human papillomavirus type 18 load and integration status from low-grade cervical lesion to invasive cervical cancer.\nThe clinical value of viral load and integration testing for human papillomavirus (HPV) remains unclear. Data on HPV type 18 (HPV18) is limited. We examined the HPV18 viral load and integration status of 78 women with normal cervix or neoplasia. While the crude viral load appeared to increase with lesion severity, the association was not significant after normalization with sample cellularity. Unlike reports for HPV16, the amino-terminal 1 region of HPV18 E2 was most frequently (71.0%) disrupted, representing the best marker for integration. A substantial proportion (57.1%) of invasive cancers harbored only the episomal genome, thus jeopardizing the clinical value of integration testing. A large proportion (41.7%) of normal\/low-grade lesions showed viral integration, suggesting that integration of HPV18 starts early and is unlikely to be a sole determinant for progression. Interpretation of viral load should take into account the form of HPV infection as single infections had significantly higher viral loads than coinfections (P = 0.046). More data generated from routinely collected samples are warranted to verify the clinical value of viral load and integration testing. Viral load quantitation for HPV18 is premature for clinical use at this stage.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31247050,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Exercise testing criteria to diagnose lower extremity peripheral artery disease assessed by computed-tomography angiography.\nThe sensitivity and specificity of exercise testing have never been studied simultaneously against an objective quantification of arterial stenosis. Aims were to define the sensitivity and specificity of several exercise tests to detect peripheral artery disease (PAD), and to assess whether or not defined criteria defined in patients suspected of having a PAD show a difference dependent on the resting ABI. In this prospective study, consecutive patients with exertional limb pain referred to our vascular center were included. All patients had an ABI, a treadmill exercise-oximetry test, a second treadmill test (both 10% slope; 3.2km\/h speed) with post-exercise pressures, and a computed-tomography-angiography (CTA). The receiver-operating-characteristic curve was used to define a cut-off point corresponding to the best area under the curve (AUC; [CI95%]) to detect arterial stenosis \u226550% as determined by the CTA. Sixty-three patients (61+\/-11 years-old) were included. Similar AUCs from 0.72[0.63-0.79] to 0.83[0.75-0.89] were found for the different tests in the overall population. To detect arterial stenosis \u226550%, cut-off values of ABI, post-exercise ABI, post-exercise ABI decrease, post-exercise ankle pressure decrease, and distal delta from rest oxygen pressure (DROP) index were \u22640.91, \u22640.52, \u226543%, \u226520mmHg and \u2264-15mmHg, respectively (p<0.01). In the subset of patients with an ABI >0.91, cut-off values of post-exercise ABI decrease (AUC = 0.67[0.53-0.78]), and DROP (AUC = 0.67[0.53-0.78]) were \u226518.5%, and \u2264-15mmHg respectively (p<0.05). Resting ABI is as accurate as exercise testing in patients with exertional limb pain. Specific exercise testing cut-off values should be used in patients with normal ABI to diagnose PAD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16218600,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Atomic layer deposition in nanometer-level replication of cellulosic substances and preparation of photocatalytic TiO2\/cellulose composites.\nTiO2 replicas of filter paper with nanometer-level accuracy were prepared by atomic layer deposition of thin conformal TiO2 coating, followed by a removal of the paper by air-anneal at 450 degrees C. Photocatalytic anatase TiO2\/cellulose composites were also made by leaving the paper intact. The TiO2 films were deposited from Ti(OMe)4 and H2O at 150-250 degrees C. The photocatalytic activity of the TiO2\/cellulose composite was verified by photocatalytic reduction of Ag(I) from an aqueous solution to Ag nanoparticles on the TiO2 surface. The TiO2\/cellulose composites are mechanically more stable than the free-standing TiO2 replicas and are therefore potentially suitable as lightweight, high surface area photocatalysts.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28292888,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Antibody-mediated inhibition of EGFR reduces phosphate excretion and induces hyperphosphatemia and mild hypomagnesemia in mice.\nMonoclonal antibody therapies targeting the EGF receptor (EGFR) frequently result in hypomagnesemia in human patients. In contrast, EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors do not affect Mg2+ balance in patients and only have a mild effect on Mg2+ homeostasis in rodents at elevated doses. EGF has also been shown to affect phosphate (Pi) transport in rat and rabbit proximal convoluted tubules (PCT), but evidence from studies targeting EGFR and looking at Pi excretion in whole animals is still missing. Thus, the role of EGF in regulating reabsorption of Mg2+ and\/or Pi in the kidney remains controversial. Here, we inject mice with the anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody ME-1 for 2 weeks and observe a significant increase in serum Pi and mild hypomagnesemia, but no changes in Pi or Mg2+ excretion. In contrast, a single injection of ME-1 resulted in hyperphosphatemia and a significant reduction in Pi excretion 2 days after treatment, while no changes in serum Mg2+ or Mg2+ excretion were observed. Dietary Mg2+ deprivation is known to trigger a rapid Mg2+ conservation response in addition to hyperphosphatemia and hyperphosphaturia. Interestingly, one dose of ME-1 did not significantly modify the response of mice to 2 days of Mg2+ deprivation. These data show that EGFR plays a significant role in regulating Pi reabsorption in the kidney PCT, but suggest only a minor role in long-term regulation of Mg2+ transport in the distal convoluted tubule.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28341500,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Effect of 2% Chlorhexidine Gluconate-Impregnated Cloth on Surgical Site Infections in Vascular Surgery.\nSurgical site infections (SSIs) are a significant burden to patients and health care systems. This retrospective study evaluates the observed rates of SSI after our institution implemented chlorhexidine gluconate-impregnated (CHG) cloth as a preoperative antiseptic preparation in elective vascular surgery. Between March 2011 and January 2012, we reviewed 250 patients who underwent elective vascular surgery who used the CHG cloth preoperatively. Their rate of SSIs was compared with 252 control patients who received the CHG shower preoperatively during the preintervention period. Urgent and emergent cases were excluded. The primary outcome measured was SSI within 30 days of index operation. There was no baseline difference in mean age, gender distribution, smoking status, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and the number of patients with body mass index >40 between the cohorts. There was no difference in the overall rate (5.6% vs. 5.6%, P = 1.00) and type of SSIs between the 2 groups, but the control group trended toward deeper infections (4 deep incisional and 2 organ space vs. none and 1, respectively). The control group also had more dirty or infected wound categories (10 vs. 21.4%, P < 0.01) and more perioperative antibiotic errors and hypothermia (P < 0.02). There was no observed difference in SSI rates before and after implementation of the CHG as the preoperative method of skin decontamination in our retrospective case-control cohorts.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37840807,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Insular dysfunction of interoception in major depressive disorder: from the perspective of neuroimaging.\nInteroception plays a crucial role in maintaining bodily homeostasis and promoting survival, and is considered the basis of human emotion, cognition, and self-formation. A malfunction of interoception is increasingly suggested to be a fundamental component of different mental health conditions, and depressive disorders have been especially closely associated. Interoceptive signaling and processing depends on a system called the \"interoceptive pathway,\" with the insula, located in the deep part of the lateral fissure, being the most important brain structure in this pathway. Neuroimaging studies have revealed alterations in the structure and function of the insula in a large number of individuals with depression, yet the precise relationship between these alterations and interoceptive dysfunction remains unclear. The goal of this review is to examine the evidence that exists for dysfunction of interoception in people with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), and to determine the associated specific alterations in the structure and function of the insula revealed by neuroimaging. Overall, three aspects of the potential relationship between interoceptive dysfunction and alterations in insular function in people with depression have been assessed, namely clinical symptoms, quantitative measures of interoceptive function and ability, and interoceptive modulation. To conclude, several specific limitations of the published studies and important lines of enquiry for future research are offered.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37856296,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The hidden crisis of nurse suicide.\nThis article discusses the epidemiology of suicide, the suicide rates among the general population and nurses, suicide risk factors and barriers to reporting mental health issues among healthcare professionals, strategies to recognize nurses at risk for suicide, and interventions to prevent nurse suicide.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25415689,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The use of proton therapy in the treatment of head and neck cancers.\nExternal beam radiation therapy is a commonly utilized treatment modality in the management of head and neck cancer. Given the close proximity of disease to critical normal tissues and structures, the delivery of external beam radiation therapy can result in severe acute and late toxicities, even when delivered with advanced photon-based techniques, such as intensity-modulated radiation therapy. The unique physical characteristics of protons make it a promising option in the treatment of advanced head and neck cancer, with the potential to improve sparing of normal tissues and\/or safely escalate radiation doses. Clinical implementation will require the continued development of advanced techniques such as intensity-modulated proton therapy, using pencil beam scanning, as well as rigorous methods of quality assurance and adaptive techniques to accurately adjust to changes in anatomy due to disease response. Ultimately, the widespread adaptation and implementation of proton therapy for head and neck cancer will require direct, prospective comparisons to standard techniques such as intensity-modulated radiation therapy, with a focus on measures such as toxicity, disease control, and quality of life.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17202655,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The anti-apoptotic and anti-oxidant effect of eriodictyol on UV-induced apoptosis in keratinocytes.\nRecently, considerable scientific and therapeutic interest has focused on the structure and functions of the flavonoids. In a previous study, we suggested that hydroxyl (OH) substitutions on specific carbons in the skeleton of the flavonoids might significantly affect their apoptosis-modulating properties. Here, to investigate the effect of various OH substitutions on their diphenylpropane (C6C3C6) skeleton carbons, we selected 10 different flavonoids and assessed their role on UV-induced apoptosis of human keratinocytes, the principal cell type of epidermis. The results showed that 5,7,3',4'-tetrahydroxylflavanone (eriodictyol) and 3,4'-dihydroxy flavone (3,4'-DHF) had a positive effect on cell proliferation of human HaCaT keratinocytes. Treatment with eriodictyol in particular resulted in significant suppression of cell death induced by ultraviolet (UV) light, a major skin-damaging agent. We found that eriodictyol treatment apparently reduced the percentage of apoptotic cells and the cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase, concomitant with the repression of caspase-3 activation and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. The anti-apoptotic and anti-oxidant effects of eriodictyol were also confirmed in UV-induced cell death of normal human epidermal keratinocyte (NHEK) cells. Taken together, these findings suggest that eriodictyol can be used to protect keratinocytes from UV-induced damage, implying the presence of a complex structure-activity relationship (SAR) in the differential apoptosis-modulating activities of various flavonoids.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28707187,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Imaging in Vascular Access.\nThis review examines four imaging modalities; ultrasound (US), digital subtraction angiography (DSA), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT), that have common or potential applications in vascular access (VA). The four modalities are reviewed under their primary uses, techniques, advantages and disadvantages, and future directions that are specific to VA. Currently, US is the most commonly used modality in VA because it is cheaper (relative to other modalities), accessible, non-ionising, and does not require the use of contrast agents. DSA is predominantly only performed when an intervention is indicated. MRI is limited by its cost and the time required for image acquisition that mainly confines it to the realm of research where high resolution is required. CT's short acquisition times and high resolution make it useful as a problem-solving tool in complex cases, although accessibility can be an issue. All four imaging modalities have advantages and disadvantages that limit their use in this particular patient cohort. Current imaging in VA comprises an integrated approach with each modality providing particular uses dependent on their capabilities. MRI and CT, which currently have limited use, may have increasingly important future roles in complex cases where detailed analysis is required.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23449950,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effectiveness of early and aggressive administration of fresh frozen plasma to reduce massive blood transfusion during cytoreductive surgery.\nCytoreductive surgery (CRS) combined with perioperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy (PIC) has been consistently associated with high volume blood loss and red blood cell (RBC) transfusion. This study evaluates the effectiveness of the introduction of a novel protocol to reduce blood loss and subsequent intra-operative transfusion in patients with high volume disease. One hundred and thirty-one consecutive patients with high volume disease (peritoneal cancer index \u226516) who underwent CRS and PIC were evaluated. Group I consisted of the sixty patients (46%) treated before June 2006. Group II consistent of the seventy-one (54%) patients treated after June 2006 under the new protocol. The clinical and treatment-related data of patients in the two groups were compared. Group II was associated with reduced intra-operative red blood cell transfusion (P<0.001), reduced cryoprecipitate transfusion (P=0.020), reduced platelet transfusion (P<0.001), reduced fresh frozen plasma transfusion (P=0.024), reduced operation length (P<0.001), reduced crystalloid administration (P<0.001) and reduced colloid administration (P<0.001). Group II was also associated with increased transfusion of FFP in the first half of the surgical intervention relative to the second half [FFP1(st)(:)FFP2(nd) ratio >1 (P<0.001)] and increased transfusion of RBC in the first half of the surgical intervention relative to the second half [RBC1(st)(:)RBC2(nd) ratio \u22651 (P=0.016)]. Early administration of fresh frozen plasma combined with restrictive fluid resuscitation may reduce overall intra-operative transfusion of RBC and other blood components.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20373924,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"No effect of energy supply during childbirth on delivery outcomes in nulliparous women: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.\nThe effect of providing oral energy supplements of energy on duration of labour and labour outcomes remains to be clarified. The purpose of this study was to examine whether extra energy supply beyond a self-regulated dietary intake during labour would shorten duration of labour in nulliparous women. A total of 213 healthy women at gestational age >36 weeks received either 1 litre of isotonic energy-drink (n = 111) or placebo-drink (n = 102) at the start of labour. A total of 61% in the intervention group gave birth within the hospital median of 9 hours, compared with 58% in the placebo group (p = 0.68). The mean (SD) durations of labour were 528 (240) minutes and 506 (233) minutes in the intervention and placebo group (p = 0.50), respectively. Extra oral supply of 1 litre energy drink beyond self-regulated intake of food and drink to healthy nulliparous women in birth does not affect the duration of labour.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6736938,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Kaufmann syndrome or VACTERL association? Discussion of a differential diagnosis].\nThe authors describe a dysmature female newborn, with multiple birth defects, who died soon after birth. At first polydactyly and hydrometrocolpos let think of a Kaufman syndrome, with autosomal recessive inheritance. But due to the presence of other malformations and since polydactyly is preaxial, the whole clinical and anatomical picture may be put into the frame of VACTERL association, mainly sporadic. Thus seemingly hydrometrocolpos and urogenital sinus have to be added, although rarely, to the other known defects of the VACTERL association.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32348992,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Persistence Rate with Tadalafil for Treatment of Male Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms.\nWe examined the persistence rate with tadalafil for treatment of male lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and explored the factors relevant to withdrawal. We retrospectively collected the data of male patients who received tadalafil treatment for LUTS. The persistence rate and the reason for withdrawal were investigated. A total of 155 patients were examined. Mean age and mean observation period were 71.9 (48-93) years and 15.1 (1-52) months, respectively. During the observation period, 74 patients (48%) withdrew tadalafil. The Kaplan-Meier curve indicated a 58% persistence rate at 1 year. The reasons for withdrawal included insufficient efficacy (31 patients, 42%), adverse events (21 patients, 28%), or symptom improvement (8 patients, 11%). Patients who continued tadalafil were significantly younger than those who withdrew it due to insufficient efficiency (71.4 \u00b1 9.6 vs. 74.9 \u00b1 9.1 years). Most patients withdrew tadalafil due to insufficient efficacy. Older patients are likely to withdraw the treatment because of insufficient efficacy, thus, tadalafil for male LUTS could be more effective for younger patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17187257,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3,"dup_dump_count":2,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2013-20":1,"2013-48":1}}},"text":"ADAMTS13 phenotype in plasma from normal individuals and patients with thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura.\nThe activity of ADAMTS13, the von Willebrand factor cleaving protease, is deficient in patients with thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP). In the present study, the phenotype of ADAMTS13 in TTP and in normal plasma was demonstrated by immunoblotting. Normal plasma (n = 20) revealed a single band at 190 kD under reducing conditions using a polyclonal antibody, and a single band at 150 kD under non-reducing conditions using a monoclonal antibody. ADAMTS13 was not detected in the plasma from patients with congenital TTP (n = 5) by either antibody, whereas patients with acquired TTP (n = 2) presented the normal phenotype. Following immunoadsorption of immunoglobulins, the ADAMTS13 band was removed from the plasma of the patients with acquired TTP, but not from that of normal individuals. This indicates that ADAMTS13 is complexed with immunoglobulin in these patients. The lack of ADAMTS13 expression in the plasma from patients with hereditary TTP may indicate defective synthesis, impaired cellular secretion, or enhanced degradation in the circulation. This study differentiated between normal and TTP plasma, as well as between congenital and acquired TTP. This method may, therefore, be used as a complement in the diagnosis of TTP.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34400877,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A review of cutting-edge therapies for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC): Perspectives from patents.\nRationale: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a challenging disease due to its heterogenous etiology. Several breakthroughs have occurred in treatment of HCC, associated with an enormous number of patent publications for a variety of HCC treatment modalities. As patents can provide valuable information for academic research and commercial development, this study aims to unravel the cutting-edge therapies for HCC by using patents as an indicator. The outcome from this analysis may offer meaningful insights for respective policymaking, strategic plan and research and development (R&D) prioritization. Methods: Derwent Innovation platform was employed to collect the sample data of patents related to HCC treatment technologies worldwide as of December 31, 2019. Data inclusion, screening and exclusion were according to the rules of preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA). Technologies were classified based on Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging system and recent clinical publications. Patent citation network analysis was carried out to identify and understand HCC therapeutic technology flow. Results: A dataset of 2543 patent documents and 528 patent families was generated. 11 technological categories were classified. Numerous researches were focalized on refinements in technologies and innovations within the field of HCC therapy, and the major achievements are technology advancement on molecular target therapy, chemotherapy, locoregional therapy, combination therapy and immunotherapy with demonstrated clinical benefits. In patent citation network, Notch pathway investigation, antibody drug conjugate (ADC) technology development and drug eluting beads trans artery chemoembolization (DEB-TACE) advancement are the major technological communities involving patents with the greatest future exploratory potential. Conclusion: Numerous emerging technologies have been identified in this study, in which exploring novel therapeutic targets in molecular target therapy, more localized and visible locoregional therapy and combination of immunotherapy with target therapy or other traditional therapies are highlighted as the future trends in treating HCC.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3076804,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Reverse flow in the major infrarenal vessels--a capacitive phenomenon.\nThe arterial blood flow waveform is shown to change abruptly when passing from the thoracic aorta into the abdominal aorta in humans. Although this change has been accurately predicted by numerical solution of complicated pulse propagation equations, this paper demonstrates the ability of a simple lumped parameter model to explain this change in the waveforms using easily understood physical terms. The model correctly predicts changes in flow waveform under conditions of exercise and peripheral vascular disease. This analysis is useful in understanding abdominal artery physiology and explains the basis for clinical ultrasound Doppler examination of the legs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32582465,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Welcome Baby Program: An Implementation and Outcomes Evaluation.\nIn 2015, First 5 LA contracted with the RAND Corporation to perform an implementation and outcomes evaluation of its Welcome Baby universal home visitation program. RAND designed and executed a mixed-methods implementation and outcomes evaluation program that examined program fidelity across 12 sites in Los Angeles County, each site's community referral and resource process, staff and participant experiences with the program, factors that may influence program attrition, short-term outcomes, and the relationship between program fidelity and outcomes. Data from multiple sources were used, including interviews with staff and focus groups with participants, quantitative data from staff and participant surveys, data collected by staff and entered into an administrative database, and document review. There was significant variation across the sites in meeting fidelity thresholds. Staff qualifications and training, reflective supervision, enrolling clients in the maternity ward, and service dosage elements were most challenging. Sites performed well in participant perceptions of their home visitor, supervisory requirements, and home visit content. Considerable variation in sites' community referral and resource process was also found. Welcome Baby participants achieved better outcomes compared to local and national benchmarks in more than half of the areas measured, including more positive parenting practices, higher levels of any breastfeeding, and safer sleep environments. Few clear patterns were evident in terms of relationships between meeting fidelity thresholds and outcomes. It is important to note challenges in evaluation, such as the lack of data to assess some of the fidelity and outcome domains.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25514575,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pelvic inflammatory disease in the adolescent: a poignant, perplexing, potentially preventable problem for patients and physicians.\nThe present review considers recent pelvic inflammatory disease literature. It remains a difficult condition to accurately diagnose and manage in the adolescent woman. Failure of accurate diagnosis and prompt management leads to complications, including chronic pelvic pain and infertility. Annual chlamydia screening of sexually active adolescents is an important method for early identification of this common cause of this disorder. Youth with positive screens can be lost for treatment if effective follow-up plans are not in place in clinical practice. The intrauterine device is not a risk factor for this condition in adolescents and is a recommended contraceptive device in sexually active adolescent women. A variety of chlamydial antigens are being used to help differentiate lower genital infection from upper genital disorder. Clinicians are not following established protocols for its diagnosis and management. Sequelae can be reduced in adolescent women if clinicians continue with regular chlamydia screening in sexually active adolescent women, have a low index of suspicion for pelvic inflammatory disease, carefully follow accepted treatment protocols, and teach youth comprehensive sexuality education including regular condom use. Funded research is needed to develop improved diagnosis and management tools as well as a chlamydia vaccine.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3048914,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Naftifine cream in the treatment of cutaneous candidiasis.\nNaftifine, a member of a new class of synthetic antifungal drugs, the allylamines, was evaluated for the treatment of cutaneous candidiasis. In a double-blind, parallel-group clinical trial, sixty patients with cutaneous candidiasis were randomly assigned to receive either naftifine cream 1 percent or its vehicle twice a day for three weeks. Two weeks after the end of therapy, 77 percent of the naftifine-treated patients were mycologically cured (negative results on potassium hydroxide preparations and culture) and had no clinically apparent disease, compared with 3 percent of the patients treated with vehicle (p less than 0.001). Side effects reported with naftifine cream were few and minor.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36933957,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-18":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Coverage of Fertility Preservation and Treatment Among Surgical Trainees in the United States of America.\nSurgery trainees spend their prime fertility years in training, which leads to delays in childbearing, accompanying infertility challenges, and high-risk pregnancies. Literature report of institutional support for fertility preservation (egg\/sperm freezing) and treatment is lacking. The cost is particularly prohibitive while receiving a resident physician salary. This study aimed to assess availability of fertility resources and institutional coverage of fertility services to US General Surgery Residents (GSR) and Breast Fellows. We composed and distributed a 26-question survey to GS residency and fellowship program directors nationwide to survey residents and fellows. Summary and descriptive statistics were tabulated, and categorical variables were analyzed using Pearson's chi square test. A total of 234 US surgical trainees (male n = 75, female n = 155, unreported n = 4) completed the survey. Total of 12 % of trainees reported having been counseled on family planning\/fertility treatment during training, and only 5.1% were counseled on fertility preservation. Perceived lack of support from program (p = 0.027) and counseling of fertility preservation (p = 0.009) were significantly associated with female gender. A minority (12.5%) reported having insurance coverage for fertility preservation and 26% had coverage of fertility treatment. In addition, 2.6% respondents pursued fertility preservation while in training and 33% reported they would pursue fertility preservation if it was covered by insurance. Fertility preservation is rarely discussed in US General Surgery residency programs. The large majority of GSR lacks awareness of insurance coverage of fertility preservation and treatment. Strong efforts are necessary to improve fertility education for GSR and insurance coverage to meet trainee's needs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12029750,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Perioperative supply chain management.\nFaced with declining revenues and increasing operating expenses, hospitals are evaluating numerous mechanisms designed to reduce costs while simultaneously maintaining quality care. Many facilities have targeted initial cost reduction efforts in the reduction of labor expenses. Once labor expenses have been \"right sized,\" facilities have continued to focus on service delivery improvements by the optimization of the \"supply chain\" process. This report presents a case study of the efforts of Vanderbilt University Medical Center in the redesign of its supply chain management process in the department of Perioperative Services. Utilizing a multidisciplinary project management structure, 3 work teams were established to complete the redesign process. To date, the project has reduced costs by $2.3 million and enhanced quality patient care by enhancing the delivery of appropriate clinical supplies during the perioperative experience.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3058293,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Beaumont's contribution to gastric psychophysiology: a reappraisal.\nWilliam Beaumont's monograph on the physiology of digestion which was first published in 1833, has become a classic in its field. In a series of experiments over a 10 year period on Alexis St. Martin, a 19 year old Canadian voyageur with a traumatic gastric fistula, Beaumont was the first to describe many important aspects of the digestive process. In two of the 238 experiments Beaumont noted gastric physiological changes induced by emotional arousal, these being bile reflux and delayed gastric emptying. Elsewhere in the book, but not in experimental context, Beaumont referred to non-specific changes in coloration and secretion of the mucous membrane induced by emotion. Modern gastric psychophysiological research has shown that emotional arousal increases, and withdrawal decreases, gastric acid secretion. It has also been shown conclusively that emotion can cause a reflux of bile into the stomach and it may delay gastric emptying. Although the main thrust of Beaumont's work was physiological, he must be credited with being the first investigator to draw attention to the role of emotional arousal in the digestive process.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26469900,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Peripheral Arterial Disease and Spinal Cord Injury: A Retrospective Nationwide Cohort Study.\nThe aim of this study was to elucidate the relationship between spinal cord injury (SCI) and the risk of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) in a cohort study with a large representative sample.The National Health Insurance Database was used to select patients who were diagnosed from 2000 to 2010. Patients with a history of PAD were excluded. The SCI group comprised 42,673 patients diagnosed with SCI, and we enrolled 170,389 matched controls (non-SCI group). We used a Cox proportional hazards regression model to analyze the adjusted risk of PAD between the case and control patients.Patients with SCI exhibited a significantly higher risk (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.37; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.22-1.53) of PAD than patients without SCI. Patients with diabetes were at the highest risk of developing PAD (adjusted HR = 3.11, 95% CI = 2.80-3.44). Among patients without comorbidity, SCI patients exhibited a significantly higher risk of PAD than non-SCI patients. Furthermore, lumbar, sacral, or coccygeal spine, and multiple spine SCI were significantly associated with an increased risk of PAD (HR = 1.56, 95% CI = 1.33-1.84, HR = 2.11, 95% CI = 1.59-2.79, respectively).SCI is associated with an increased risk of PAD. Future studies should focus on modifying risk factors to reduce PAD risk among patients with SCI.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15255609,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of NaCl on leaf salt secretion and antioxidative enzyme level in roots of a mangrove, Aegiceras corniculatum.\nShort-term salt (NaCl) treatment on Aegiceras corniculatum in roots and leaves showed no change in fresh and dry weight of leaves, roots and leaf area. There was no significant change in total soluble root protein, photosynthetic pigments of leaves and spectral characteristics of thylakoids. However, the activity of antioxidative enzymes (catalase, ascorbate peroxidase and guaiacol peroxidase) in roots decreased by 72, 58 and 80% respectively after 96 hr of treatment (300 mM of NaCl). Secretion of salts from the leaf salt glands and salt accumulation on upper surface of the leaves were quantified that revealed linear increase of salt secretion of leaf with increase in period of salt treatment. It was concluded that loss of activities of antioxidative enzymes at high salt treatment, caused leaf senescence in spite of high rates of salt secretion by Aegiceras corniculatum.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28255599,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A Novel and Cost-Effective Method for Evaluating Cardiopulmonary Auscultation Skills in Student Physical Therapists.\nSophisticated high-fidelity human simulation (HFHS) manikins allow for practice of both evaluation and treatment techniques in a controlled environment in which real patients are not put at risk. However, due to high demand, access to HFHS by students has been very competitive and limited. In the present study, a basic CPR manikin with a speaker implanted in the chest cavity and internet access to a variety of heart and breath sounds was used. Students were evaluated on their ability to locate and identify auscultation sites and heart\/breath sounds. A five-point Likert scale survey was administered to gain insight into student perceptions on the use of this simulation method. Our results demonstrated that 95% of students successfully identified the heart and breath sounds. Furthermore, survey results indicated that 75% of students agreed or strongly agreed that this manner of evaluation was an effective way to assess their auscultation skills. Based on performance and perception, we conclude that a simulation method as described in this paper is a viable and cost-effective means of evaluating auscultation competency in not only student physical therapists but across other health professions as well.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27272936,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Category-Selectivity in Human Visual Cortex Follows Cortical Topology: A Grouped icEEG Study.\nNeuroimaging studies suggest that category-selective regions in higher-order visual cortex are topologically organized around specific anatomical landmarks: the mid-fusiform sulcus (MFS) in the ventral temporal cortex (VTC) and lateral occipital sulcus (LOS) in the lateral occipital cortex (LOC). To derive precise structure-function maps from direct neural signals, we collected intracranial EEG (icEEG) recordings in a large human cohort (n = 26) undergoing implantation of subdural electrodes. A surface-based approach to grouped icEEG analysis was used to overcome challenges from sparse electrode coverage within subjects and variable cortical anatomy across subjects. The topology of category-selectivity in bilateral VTC and LOC was assessed for five classes of visual stimuli-faces, animate non-face (animals\/body-parts), places, tools, and words-using correlational and linear mixed effects analyses. In the LOC, selectivity for living (faces and animate non-face) and non-living (places and tools) classes was arranged in a ventral-to-dorsal axis along the LOS. In the VTC, selectivity for living and non-living stimuli was arranged in a latero-medial axis along the MFS. Written word-selectivity was reliably localized to the intersection of the left MFS and the occipito-temporal sulcus. These findings provide direct electrophysiological evidence for topological information structuring of functional representations within higher-order visual cortex.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3038551,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Oscillation of ion fluxes in mammalian erythrocytes. Mechanism of oscillation.\nThe dependence of ionophore-induced oscillations in rat erythrocytes on various concentrations of A23187, FCCP and Ca2+ was analysed using ion-selective electrodes. The oscillations were shown to be independent of the extracellular concentration of carbonylcyanide p-trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone and Ca2+. The dependence of oscillations on the concentration A23187 was shown to be a threshold characteristic and represented by a bell-shaped curve. In the course of oscillations the redistribution of A23187 between cells and the incubation medium was demonstrated using high-speed centrifugation. A hypothesis for oscillatory-state generation in erythrocytes was suggested on the basis of pH-dependent changes of the Ca2+ ionophore A23187 content in cells. According to this hypothesis the H+ concentration within the external membrane-adjacent layer serves as a causative factor for induction of cyclic desorption of A23187 molecules from the cell membrane.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36940217,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-30":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Collection of triatomines from sylvatic habitats by a Trypanosoma cruzi-infected scent detection dog in Texas, USA.\nTriatomine insects, vectors of the etiologic agent of Chagas disease (Trypanosoma cruzi), are challenging to locate in sylvatic habitats. Collection techniques used in the United States often rely on methods to intercept seasonally dispersing adults or on community scientists' encounters. Neither method is suited for detecting nest habitats likely to harbor triatomines, which is important for vector surveillance and control. Furthermore, manual inspection of suspected harborages is difficult and unlikely to reveal novel locations and host associations. Similar to a team that used a trained dog to detect sylvatic triatomines in Paraguay, we worked with a trained scent detection dog to detect triatomines in sylvatic locations across Texas. Ziza, a 3-year-old German Shorthaired Pointer previously naturally infected with T. cruzi, was trained to detect triatomines. Over the course of 6 weeks in the fall of 2017, the dog and her handler searched at 17 sites across Texas. The dog detected 60 triatomines at 6 sites; an additional 50 triatomines were contemporaneously collected at 1 of these sites and 2 additional sites without the assistance of the dog. Approximately 0.98 triatomines per hour were found when only humans were conducting searches; when working with the dog, approximately 1.71 triatomines per hour were found. In total, 3 adults and 107 nymphs of four species (Triatoma gerstaeckeri, Triatoma protracta, Triatoma sanguisuga, and Triatoma indictiva) were collected. PCR testing of a subset revealed T. cruzi infection, including DTUs TcI and TcIV, in 27% of nymphs (n = 103) and 66% of adults (n = 3). Bloodmeal analysis of a subset of triatomines (n = 5) revealed feeding on Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana), Southern plains woodrat (Neotoma micropus), and eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus). A trained scent detection dog enhanced triatomine detections in sylvatic habitats. This approach is effective at detecting nidicolous triatomines. Control of sylvatic sources of triatomines is challenging, but this new knowledge of specific sylvatic habitats and key hosts may reveal opportunities for novel vector control methods to block the transmission of T. cruzi to humans and domestic animals.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19050059,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Analytic solution during an infusion test of the linear unsteady poroelastic equations in a spherically symmetric model of the brain.\nThis work determines the spatial and temporal distribution of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pressure and brain displacement during an infusion test in a spherically symmetric model of the brain. The response of CSF pressure and parenchymal displacement to blood pressure pulsations is determined in the solution. We use a spherically symmetric, three-component poroelastic model of the brain, differentiating between the solid elastic matrix, the CSF and the arterial blood compartments. The governing equations are linearized with quasi-constant poroelastic parameters. The solution does reproduce the average intracranial pressure increase during the test as well as the rise in CSF pressure pulsation amplitude due to transmission of blood pressure oscillations. In addition, the CSF flux into and out of the parenchyma is shown over time.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25405725,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mouse dead end 1-\u03b2 interacts with c-Jun and stimulates activator protein 1 transactivation.\nDead end 1 (DND1), important for maintaining the viability of primordial germ cells, is the first protein containing an RNA recognition motif that has been directly implicated as a heritable cause of spontaneous tumorigenesis. In the present study, c-Jun was identified through yeast two-hybrid screening of a 10.5-day old mouse embryo cDNA library as one of the proteins which interact with DND1-\u03b2. The interaction between DND1-\u03b2 and c-Jun was demonstrated to occur by glutathione S\u2011transferase pull\u2011down and co-immunoprecipitation. Using confocal microscopy, DND1-\u03b2 was found to be specifically expressed in GC-1 spermatogonia cells, mainly in the nuclei. When transfected into GC-1 cells, DND1-\u03b2 and c-Jun were demonstrated to be co-localized principally in the nuclei. Furthermore, in a dual luciferase reporter assay, the transcriptional activity of activator protein 1 was demonstrated to be significantly increased by co-transfection with DND1-\u03b2 and c-Jun plasmids in GC-1 cells. The identification and confirmation of an additional protein interacting with DND1-\u03b2 facilitates the investigation of the functions and molecular mechanisms of DND1.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23868566,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Towards kinetic modeling of genome-scale metabolic networks without sacrificing stoichiometric, thermodynamic and physiological constraints.\nMathematical modeling is an essential tool for the comprehensive understanding of cell metabolism and its interactions with the environmental and process conditions. Recent developments in the construction and analysis of stoichiometric models made it possible to define limits on steady-state metabolic behavior using flux balance analysis. However, detailed information on enzyme kinetics and enzyme regulation is needed to formulate kinetic models that can accurately capture the dynamic metabolic responses. The use of mechanistic enzyme kinetics is a difficult task due to uncertainty in the kinetic properties of enzymes. Therefore, the majority of recent works considered only mass action kinetics for reactions in metabolic networks. Herein, we applied the optimization and risk analysis of complex living entities (ORACLE) framework and constructed a large-scale mechanistic kinetic model of optimally grown Escherichia coli. We investigated the complex interplay between stoichiometry, thermodynamics, and kinetics in determining the flexibility and capabilities of metabolism. Our results indicate that enzyme saturation is a necessary consideration in modeling metabolic networks and it extends the feasible ranges of metabolic fluxes and metabolite concentrations. Our results further suggest that enzymes in metabolic networks have evolved to function at different saturation states to ensure greater flexibility and robustness of cellular metabolism.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12006600,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Intracellular activation of human adamalysin 19\/disintegrin and metalloproteinase 19 by furin occurs via one of the two consecutive recognition sites.\nAdamalysin 19 (a disintegrin and metalloproteinase 19, ADAM19, or meltrin beta) is a plasma membrane metalloproteinase. Human ADAM19 zymogen contains two potential furin recognition sites (RX(K\/R)R), (196)KRPR(200)R and (199)RRMK(203)R, between its pro- and catalytic domains. Protein N-terminal sequencing revealed that the cellular mature forms of hADAM19 started at (204)EDLNSMK, demonstrating that the preferred furin cleavage site was the (200)RMK(203)R downward arrow(204)EDLN. Those mature forms were catalytically active. Both Pittsburgh mutant of alpha(1)-proteinase inhibitor and dec-Arg-Val-Lys-Arg-chloromethyl ketone, two specific furin inhibitors, blocked the activation of hADAM19. Activation of hADAM19 was also blocked by brefeldin A, which inhibits protein trafficking from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi, or, a calcium ionophore known to inhibit the autoactivation of furin. When (202)KR were mutated to AA, the proenzyme was also activated, suggesting that (197)RPRR is an alternative activation site. Furthermore, only pro-forms of hADAM19 were detected in the (199)RR to AA mutant, which abolished both furin recognition sites. Moreover, the zymogens were not converted into their active forms in two furin-deficient mammalian cell lines; co-expression of hADAM19 and furin in these two cell lines restored zymogen activation. Finally, co-localization between furin and hADAM19 was identified in the endoplasmic reticulum-Golgi complex and\/or the trans-Golgi network. This report is the first thorough investigation of the intracellular activation of adamalysin 19, demonstrating that furin activated pro-hADAM19 in the secretory pathway via one of the two consecutive furin recognition sites.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17914464,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Non-covalent interactions in biomacromolecules.\nNon-covalent interactions play an important role in chemistry, physics and especially in biodisciplines. They determine the structure of biomacromolecules such as DNA and proteins and are responsible for the molecular recognition process. Theoretical evaluation of interaction energies is difficult; however, perturbation as well as variation (supermolecular) methods are briefly described. Accurate interaction energies can be obtained by complete basis set limit calculations providing a large portion of correlation energy is covered (e.g. by performing CCSD(T) calculations). The role of H-bonding and stacking interactions in the stabilisation of DNA, oligopeptides and proteins is described, and the importance of London dispersion energy is shown.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22683823,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2017-13":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Review of cytomegalovirus infection findings with mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitor-based immunosuppressive therapy in de novo renal transplant recipients.\nCytomegalovirus (CMV) infection and disease are major complications in the renal transplant recipient. The occurrence of CMV is associated with acute rejection, allograft dysfunction, significant end-organ disease, and mortality. Several clinical studies have indicated that the use of certain immunosuppressive drugs can delay the reconstitution of CMV-specific cell-mediated immune responses, thereby leading to uncontrolled CMV replication. Accumulating evidence indicates, however, that the use of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitors, sirolimus, and everolimus, may decrease the incidence and severity of CMV infection in renal transplant recipients. The purpose of this article is to review CMV infection data from randomized clinical trials that investigated the use of sirolimus- and everolimus-based treatment regimens in de novo renal transplantation. The mTOR inhibitor clinical trials included were primarily identified using biomedical literature database searches, with additional studies added at the authors' discretion. This review will summarize these studies to discuss whether mTOR inhibitor-based immunosuppressive therapy can reduce the magnitude of CMV-related complications in the de novo renal transplantation setting.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6162432,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hyperamylasemia due to poorly differentiated adenosquamous carcinoma of the ovary.\nIn a patient with poorly differentiated ovarian carcinoma, the symptomatology was mistaken for acute pancreatitis. A review of the pertinent literature argues in favor of the early use of amylase isoenzymes in patients whose history, objective signs, and routine diagnostic studies fail to disclose pancreatic disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6362813,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Use of mechanical ventilation in adults with severe asthma.\nAsthma severe enough to require intubation and mechanical ventilation is associated with a mortality rate of about 10%. Therapeutic modalities are ever-changing and at times controversial. This paper provides an update on such modalities and presents, in a step-wise fashion, those most appropriate for practical patient care. The timing of intubation and the methods used to control airway patency, arterial pH and gas levels, and hemodynamic status are crucial to the success of therapy. Finally, conventional and disputed methods of bronchodilation are outlined.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37671191,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Advances in optical molecular imaging for neural visualization.\nIatrogenic nerve injury is a significant complication in surgery, which can negatively impact patients' quality of life. Currently, the main clinical neuroimaging methods, such as computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and high-resolution ultrasonography, do not offer precise real-time positioning images for doctors during surgery. The clinical application of optical molecular imaging technology has led to the emergence of new concepts such as optical molecular imaging surgery, targeted surgery, and molecular-guided surgery. These advancements have made it possible to directly visualize surgical target areas, thereby providing a novel method for real-time identification of nerves during surgery planning. Unlike traditional white light imaging, optical molecular imaging technology enables precise positioning and identifies the cation of intraoperative nerves through the presentation of color images. Although a large number of experiments and data support its development, there are few reports on its actual clinical application. This paper summarizes the research results of optical molecular imaging technology and its ability to realize neural visualization. Additionally, it discusses the challenges neural visualization recognition faces and future development opportunities.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32369532,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Caenorhabditis elegans CUB-like-domain containing protein RBT-1 functions as a receptor for Bacillus thuringiensis Cry6Aa toxin.\nPlant-parasitic nematodes cause huge agricultural economic losses. Two major families of Bacillus thuringiensis crystal proteins, Cry5 and Cry6, show nematicidal activity. Previous work showed that binding to midgut receptors is a limiting step in Cry toxin mode of action. In the case of Cry5Ba, certain Caenorhabditis elegans glycolipids were identified as receptors of this toxin. However, the receptors for Cry6 toxin remain unknown. In this study, the C. elegans CUB-like-domain containing protein RBT-1, released by phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C (PI-PLC), was identified as a Cry6Aa binding protein by affinity chromatography. RBT-1 contained a predicted glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchor site and was shown to locate in lipid rafts in the surface of the midgut cells. Western ligand blot assays and ELISA binding analysis confirmed the binding interaction between Cry6Aa and RBT-1 showing high affinity and specificity. In addition, the mutation of rbt-1 gene decreased the susceptibility of C. elegans to Cry6Aa but not that of Cry5Ba. Furthermore, RBT-1 mediated the uptake of Cry6Aa into C. elegans gut cells, and was shown to be involved in triggering pore-formation activity, indicating that RBT-1 is required for the interaction of Cry6Aa with the nematode midgut cells. These results support that RBT-1 is a functional receptor for Cry6Aa.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26468006,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sexual selection drives asymmetric introgression in wall lizards.\nHybridisation is increasingly recognised as an important cause of diversification and adaptation. Here, we show how divergence in male secondary sexual characters between two lineages of the common wall lizard (Podarcis muralis) gives rise to strong asymmetries in male competitive ability and mating success, resulting in asymmetric hybridisation upon secondary contact. Combined with no negative effects of hybridisation on survival or reproductive characters in F1-hybrids, these results suggest that introgression should be asymmetric, resulting in the displacement of sexual characters of the sub-dominant lineage. This prediction was confirmed in two types of secondary contact, across a natural contact zone and in two introduced populations. Our study illustrates how divergence in sexually selected traits via male competition can determine the direction and extent of introgression, contributing to geographic patterns of genetic and phenotypic diversity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34402339,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Electroconvulsive Therapy in Elderly Patients With Cerebral Aneurysms: A Systematic Review With Clinical Recommendations.\nElectroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is commonly used in the elderly due to its proven efficacy and safety profile. However, presence of cardiovascular comorbidities such as cerebral aneurysms may complicate the course of treatment. Our knowledge about the possible risk factors and precautionary measures remains limited. We performed a systematic review of published case reports of elderly patients with cerebral aneurysms treated with ECT. A total of 11 cases were included for the review. One patient died because of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) secondary to ictal hypertensive surge during treatment with ECT. Risk factors such as history of hypertension, age of the patient, extent of the ictal surge in blood pressure, efficacy of prophylactic treatment to control surge in blood pressure and characteristics of cerebral aneurysm each elevated the risk of complication in these cases. We reviewed safety measures based on the evidence from the current literature available. ECT is safe in elderly patients with cerebral aneurysms provided appropriate safety measures are employed. Screening for cerebral aneurysms in high risk patients, effective prevention and management of blood pressure elevation acutely during ECT is the best practice to avoid adverse outcomes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34408505,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"An Overview of Investigational and Experimental Drug Treatment Strategies for Marfan Syndrome.\nMarfan syndrome (MFS) is a heritable connective tissue disorder caused by pathogenic variants in the gene coding for the extracellular matrix protein fibrillin-1. While the disease affects multiple organ systems, the most life-threatening manifestations are aortic aneurysms leading to dissection and rupture. Other cardiovascular complications, including mitral valve prolapse, primary cardiomyopathy, and arrhythmia, also occur more frequently in patients with MFS. The standard medical care relies on cardiovascular imaging at regular intervals, along with pharmacological treatment with \u03b2-adrenergic receptor blockers aimed at reducing the aortic growth rate. When aortic dilatation reaches a threshold associated with increased risk of dissection, prophylactic surgical aortic replacement is performed. Although current clinical management has significantly improved the life expectancy of patients with MFS, no cure is available and fatal complications still occur, underscoring the need for new treatment options. In recent years, preclinical studies have identified a number of potentially promising therapeutic targets. Nevertheless, the translation of these results into clinical practice has remained challenging. In this review, we present an overview of the currently available knowledge regarding the underlying pathophysiological processes associated with MFS cardiovascular pathology. We then summarize the treatment options that have been developed based on this knowledge and are currently in different stages of preclinical or clinical development, provide a critical review of the limitations of current studies and highlight potential opportunities for future research.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3046372,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Brachydactyly, a possible inherited anomaly at prehistoric Prince Rupert Harbour.\nDisproportionately short metacarpals or metatarsals in eight burial skeletons and three unusually short metapodials recovered as disturbed bones were identified in a 1500 B.C. to A.D. 500 skeletal series from eight archeological sites of the north mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada. At least ten people were affected from four sites for a minimum series frequency of 5.2%. Various factors clinically implicated in the occurrence of brachymetapody were investigated to account for the anomaly. Context-sensitive information suggested that trauma, infarction or infection, and individual or family-related malformation syndromes were unlikely possibilities. Some modern population data suggest that the series frequency was unusually high, particularly for fourth metatarsal involvement, the most commonly affected bone. Modern pedigree interpretations, ethnohistoric inferences, and the archeological contexts of the affected burial skeletons and site samples provide a framework for concluding that brachymetapody in the series was more likely due to the inheritance of an essentially isolated anomaly.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34412487,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Population analysis of Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype 19A by whole genome sequencing in the Czech Republic and in Europe after serotype 19A inclusion in pneumococcal conjugate vaccine.\nTo present the results of whole genome sequencing (WGS) analysis of Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype 19A and to compare them with the respective data from Europe. The vaccine serotype 19A is widely distributed in the Czech Republic. WGS was used in this study as the most powerful available method for detailed characterization of S. pneumoniae. Nineteen Czech isolates of S. pneumoniae 19A were analysed and compared with 415 European isolates included in the PubMLST database. S. pneumoniae serotype 19A causes all types of pathogen - host interaction, from carriage to noninvasive and invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD). In 2010 - 2019, 3872 cases of IPD were reported within the surveillance programme in the Czech Republic, with 323 of these caused by serotype 19A. WGS data of the Czech serotype 19A isolates show a numerous and genetically related subpopulation of three sequencing types: ST-199, ST-416, and ST-3017. Within this subpopulation, the largest is the cluster of nine ST-199 isolates. High relatedness of ST-199 isolates is also confirmed by the fact that all but one isolate, 117\/2019 (novel rST- -137805), share the same ribosome sequencing profile - rST-11365. Outside the above-mentioned subpopulation, there are only four isolates that form three separate genetic lines of serotype 19A. A highly similar situation is observed across European countries, where about half of all serotype 19A isolates form a genetically closely related subpopulation (ST-199, ST-416, ST-450, ST-667, ST-3017, and ST-10360) while isolates which are not part of this subpopulation represent a large number of unrelated genetic lines. The study has shown a mostly homogeneous population of S. pneumoniae serotype 19A to circulate in the post-vaccination era in both the Czech Republic and Europe, with some unrelated isolates located outside this population.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26469241,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Capsular Block Syndrome Following Combined Cataract and Vitrectomy Surgery in a Patient With Intraocular Gas.\nThe aim of this report is to describe the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of the rare complication of capsular block syndrome following combined cataract and vitrectomy surgery in a patient with intraocular gas.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6739146,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Use of josamycin in the eradication of meningococcus].\nBecause of their in vitro and in vivo activity on Neisseria meningitidis, good salivary and tonsillar tissue levels, high safety and non-penetration through the meningeal barrier, macrolides are agents of choice for treating Meningococcus carriers. To assess the value of josamycin for eliminating Meningococci in carriers, we carried out a 14-month study with bacteriological control. 27 carriers identified (throat specimens) among contacts of 28 children with meningococcal meningitis hospitalized in Pediatrics at the Amiens and Toulouse CHU (teaching hospitals) were treated. Josamycin was given in a dosage of 50 mg\/kg\/day in children and 2 g\/day in adults, in two divided doses daily, for six days. Bacteriologic control at the end of treatment showed that every study patient was free of Meningococci. In vitro, strains recovered from carriers were inhibited by josamycin at concentrations of 0.25 to 1 microgram\/l. Given its safety and efficacy, josamycin is well suited to prophylaxis of meningococcal infections.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19049954,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Genetic compatibility and hatching success in the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus).\nRecent discussion of genetic benefits of polyandry and female mate choice has distinguished between two potential factors influencing offspring quality: (i) some males carry higher quality genes and (ii) males and females differ in their degree of genetic compatibility. We examined evidence for effects of good genes and genetic compatibility on embryonic survival of sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus), a fish species with external fertilization that spawns in North Atlantic rivers. Using in vitro fertilization, we made all possible crosses among 10 males and 5 females collected in the spawning grounds. Male identity did not have any significant effect on hatching success. However, female identity and male x female interactions had a highly significant effect on hatching success. Our results suggest that genetic compatibility between male and female genomes plays an important role in embryo survival during the early stages of development in the sea lamprey.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28249616,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Tumor-to-tumor metastases: papillary thyroid carcinoma into a clear cell renal cell carcinoma.\nThyroid metastases to distant sites are uncommon incidents, most often metastasizing to the lungs and bones. Rates of metastasis to the kidney are particularly low, ranging from 2.8-3.8% for papillary and 6-20% for follicular variants of well-differentiated thyroid cancers (WDTCs). In rare instances, tumor-to-tumor metastasis between two true primary neoplasms can occurs. This medical phenomenon has previously occurred as a clear cell renal cell carcinoma (CCRCC) spreading to a WDTC. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a tumor-to-tumor metastasis of a thyroid cancer metastasizing to a primary renal neoplasm. A 72 year old male presented to the urology clinic with complaints of flank pain. Computed tomography (CT) imaging of the abdomen and pelvis revealed a 5.7 cm solid enhancing mass from the lateral aspect of the right kidney, suspicious for renal cell carcinoma (RCC). The patient subsequently underwent a right laparoscopic radical nephrectomy, and immunohistochemical staining of the 5.5 cm lesion revealed a positive RCC marker to establish a diagnosis of a pT1b ISUP Grade 2 CCRCC. The tumor contained a 3 mm focus of a lesion staining positive for TTF1 and Thyroglobulin, and negative for RCC marker. This finding established a diagnosis of a tumor-to-tumor metastasis of PTC to CCRCC. Subsequent ultrasound and CT of the head and neck revealed a heterogeneously hypodense 3.3 cm mass in the right thyroid lobe, prompting a total thyroidectomy and level VI neck dissection. Pathology revealed a classic variant multifocal PTC and two ipsilateral lymph nodes positive for metastatic PTC. Ultimately, the thyroid specimen was positive for lymphatic vascular invasion, extrathyroidal extension with invasion of the tracheal cartilage, staging as T4aN1aM1. On follow up examination the patient was recovering well, without signs of dysphagia or dysphonia, and showed bilateral mobile vocal cords on laryngoscope examination. Tumor-to-tumor metastasis between the thyroid and kidney is an extremely rare occurrence, reports of RCC metastases from a WDTC has not yet been reported in the literature. Corroboration of diagnostic imaging findings with immunohistochemistry staining can consolidate a diagnosis of thyroid neoplasm tumor-to-tumor metastasis to a RCC, thereby prompting surgical excision.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37465692,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Smooth and accurate predictions of joint contact force time-series in gait using over parameterised deep neural networks.\nAlterations in joint contact forces (JCFs) are thought to be important mechanisms for the onset and progression of many musculoskeletal and orthopaedic pain disorders. Computational approaches to JCFs assessment represent the only non-invasive means of estimating in-vivo forces; but this cannot be undertaken in free-living environments. Here, we used deep neural networks to train models to predict JCFs, using only joint angles as predictors. Our neural network models were generally able to predict JCFs with errors within published minimal detectable change values. The errors ranged from the lowest value of 0.03 bodyweight (BW) (ankle medial-lateral JCF in walking) to a maximum of 0.65BW (knee VT JCF in running). Interestingly, we also found that over parametrised neural networks by training on longer epochs (>100) resulted in better and smoother waveform predictions. Our methods for predicting JCFs using only joint kinematics hold a lot of promise in allowing clinicians and coaches to continuously monitor tissue loading in free-living environments.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25517724,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A long isoform of the epithelial sodium channel alpha subunit forms a highly active channel.\nA long isoform of the human Epithelial Sodium Channel (ENaC) \u03b1 subunit has been identified, but little data exist regarding the properties or regulation of channels formed by \u03b1728. The baseline whole cell conductance of oocytes expressing trimeric \u03b1728\u03b2\u03b3 channels was 898.1\u00b1277.2 and 49.59\u00b113.2 \u00b5S in low and high sodium solutions, respectively, and was 11 and 2 fold higher than the conductances of \u03b1669\u03b2\u03b3 in same solutions. \u03b1728\u03b2\u03b3 channels were also 2 to 5 fold less sensitive to activation by the serine proteases subtilisin and trypsin than \u03b1669\u03b2\u03b3 in low and high Na+ conditions. The long isoform exhibited lower levels of full length and cleaved protein at the plasma membrane and a rightward shifted sensitivity to inhibition by increases of [Na+]i. Both channels displayed similar single channel conductances of 4 pS, and both were activated to a similar extent by reducing temperature, altogether indicating that activation of baseline conductance of \u03b1728\u03b2\u03b3 was likely mediated by enhanced channel activity or open probability. Expression of \u03b1728 in native kidneys was validated in human urinary exosomes. These data demonstrate that the long isoform of \u03b1ENaC forms the structural basis of a channel with different activity and regulation, which may not be easily distinguishable in native tissue, but may underlie sodium hyperabsorption and salt sensitive differences in humans.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12182472,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Application of nested polymerase chain reaction to detection of Salmonella in poultry environment.\nIsolation of Salmonella from environmental and processing-plant poultry samples requires the sampling of large numbers of areas within the poultry house or plant. Subsequently, the required number of samples necessitates a large volume of work for a microbiology laboratory, especially when the protocol requires the inclusion of a delayed secondary enrichment for the isolation of Salmonella. This study examined the use of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to identify those secondary enrichments containing Salmonella. The unique Salmonella virulence gene invA was chosen as the target for the development of a nested PCR because of its uniform distribution among Salmonella serotypes. The use of nested PCR primers increased the sensitivity of detection 100-fold, resulting in the detection of as few as four cells. There was a strong, statistically significant positive correlation between PCR and culture results as determined by chi-square (P < 0.001) and kappa (kappa = 0.915; excellent agreement) tests. Using PCR to screen primary enrichments for presumptive Salmonella contamination, we improved our efficiency at isolating Salmonella upon secondary enrichment by 20%, and no false negatives were observed. This method will not only validate the use of secondary enrichment procedures but also reduce costs and manpower required for the surveillance of Salmonella.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9165888,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Teaching practical skills: a guide for preceptors.\nConcern has been expressed that recently qualified nurses may be deficient in clinical skills. In this article the authors explore psychomotor skills learning and suggest strategies to support preceptors who have responsibility for developing such skills in students. The advice should prove helpful to clinical staff who are involved in teaching clinical skills to nursing students.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29374966,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evaluation of Hematocrit Influence on Self-Monitoring of Blood Glucose Based on ISO 15197:2013: Comparison of a Novel System With Five Systems With Different Hematocrit Ranges.\nISO 15197:2013 recommends testing procedures and acceptance criteria for the evaluation of influence quantities such as hematocrit on measurement results with systems for self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG). In this study, hematocrit influence was evaluated for a novel SMBG system (system A) and five other systems with different hematocrit ranges based on ISO 15197:2013. Test procedures were performed with one test strip lot for each system. Each system was tested within the hematocrit range indicated in the manufacturer's labeling (system A: 10-65%, B: 15-65%, C: 20-60%, D: 35-60%, E: 30-60%, F: 30-55%). According to ISO 15197:2013, clause 6.4.2, venous blood samples were used for the evaluation of hematocrit influence. The evaluation was performed for three glucose concentration categories (30-50 mg\/dL, 96-144 mg\/dL, and 280-420 mg\/dL). For each glucose concentration category, at least five different hematocrit levels were investigated. The novel system A and systems B, E, and F complied with the tested lot with the defined criteria and showed \u226410 mg\/dL and \u226410% difference between the test sample and the respective control sample with a hematocrit value of 42% \u00b1 2% for BG concentrations <100 mg\/dL and \u2265100 mg\/dL, respectively. Two systems showed >10% difference at glucose concentrations \u2265100 mg\/dL. Remarkable hematocrit influence within the labeled hematocrit range was obtained in two systems with the tested reagent system lot. Adequate SMBG systems should be carefully chosen by patients and their health care professionals, particularly for patients with increased and decreased hematocrit values.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34407229,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"PKD1 alleviates oxidative stress-inhibited osteogenesis of rat bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells through TAZ activation.\nOxidative stress is known to inhibit osteogenesis and PKD1 is implicated in bone remodeling and skeletogenesis. In the present study, we explored the role of PKD1 in osteogenesis under oxidative stress. H2 O2 was used to induce oxidative stress in rat bone marrow (BM)-mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) during osteoblast differentiation. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, calcium deposits, and the RUNX2 marker were assayed to determine osteogenic differentiation. The correlation of PKD1, Sirt1, c-MYC, and TAZ was further confirmed by chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) and dual-luciferase reporter assay. We found that H2 O2 induced the downregulation of PKD1 expression and the upregulation of c-MYC, and Sirt1 was accompanied by decreasing cell viability in BM-MSCs. During osteogenic differentiation, the expression of PKD1 was upregulated significantly whereas Sirt1 tended to be upregulated mildly under normal conditions. Both PKD1 and Sirt1 were upregulated upon oxidative stress. The positive correlation of PKD1 expression with osteogenic differentiation under normal conditions might be hindered by oxidative stress and PKD1 could interact with TAZ under oxidative stress to regulate osteogenic differentiation. Our results suggest that PKD1 may alleviate oxidative stress-inhibited osteogenesis of rat BM-MSCs through TAZ activation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28727489,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Third person singular -s in typical development and specific language impairment: Input and neighbourhood density.\nThe purpose of this study was to examine factors promoting the use of third person singular -s by 23 children with specific language impairment (SLI) and 21 children with typical development (TD). Relative proportions of third person singular -s forms in the input (input proportion) were calculated for 25 verbs based on data from an American English corpus of child-directed speech. Neighbourhood density values were also collected for these verbs. With previously collected probes of third person singular -s use for each of these verbs, we found with logistic regression that input proportion was positively associated with the likelihood of third person singular -s use for both groups. For neighbourhood density, we found that children with SLI were more likely to inflect sparse verbs than dense verbs; density was not significantly related to inflection use for TD children. We argue that as a result of their verbs' poorly encoded phonological representations, children with SLI were less able to inflect dense verbs than sparse verbs. We recommend that clinicians be aware of the effects of input proportion and neighbourhood density to ensure that assessments are representative and that treatment success is optimal.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9152101,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Thought disorder in schizophrenic and control adoptees and their relatives.\nPrevious research showed significantly elevated levels of thought disorder in the relatives of persons with schizophrenia, as well as in the persons with schizophrenia themselves. Comparisons of schizophrenic and control adoptees and their respective relatives provide a method for minimizing the confounding of genetic and environmental sources of familial resemblance and for elucidating whether the elevated levels of thought disorder in persons with schizophrenia and their relatives reflect the influence of shared genetic factors, shared environmental factors, or both. The present study provides the first such adoption-sample data on an operationally defined measure of thought disorder. Speech samples elicited by standard interview questions from schizophrenic and control adoptees and their respective biological and adoptive relatives were tape-recorded. Verbatim transcripts of these speech samples were scored, while unaware of the personal or family diagnoses of the subjects, using the Thought Disorder Index (TDI). The mean TDI scores were significantly higher in schizophrenic than in control adoptees and in biological relatives of the schizophrenic adoptees than in the biological relatives of the control adoptees, whereas the respective groups of adoptive relatives did not differ significantly. The differences were most marked for the samples of biological sibs and half sibs, which were larger and more representative than the samples of parents. Results suggest that the elevated TDI scores in the relatives of persons with schizophrenia that have been found in other studies reflect the operation of genes increasing the liability for schizophrenia, rather than the rearing experiences that were shared in common with schizophrenic probands.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23866961,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Methyl-\u03b2-cyclodextrin alters adipokine gene expression and glucose metabolism in swine adipose tissue.\nThis study was designed to determine whether methyl-\u03b2-cyclodextrin (MCD) can substitute for albumin in incubation medium for neonatal swine adipose tissue explants, or whether MCD affects metabolism and cytokine expression. Subcutaneous adipose tissue explants (100 \u00b1 10 mg) were prepared from 21-day-old pigs. Explants were incubated in medium 199 supplemented with 25 mM HEPES, 1.0 nM insulin at 37\u00b0C. The medium also contained bovine serum albumin (BSA) or MCD at 0%, 0.05%, 0.1%, 0.2% or 0.3%. Tissue explants were treated with these media for 1 h and then switched to the same basal incubation medium containing 0.05% BSA. Explants were removed from basal medium at 2 or 8 h of incubation, and real-time PCR was performed to assess expression of tumor necrosis \u03b1 (TNF) and interleukin 6 (IL6), acetyl CoA carboxylase (ACAC) and fatty acid synthase (FASN). Alternatively, rates of 14C-glucose oxidation and lipogenesis were monitored \u00b1 insulin (100 nM), following MCD treatment. Incubation with BSA had minimal effects on gene expression or adipose tissue metabolism, only producing a doubling in TNF mRNA abundance (P < 0.01). Treatment with MCD increased TNF mRNA abundance by eightfold (P < 0.009), whereas IL6 gene expression increased a 100-fold (P < 0.001) with a suppression in ACAC and FASN expression (P < 0.01). This was paralleled by MCD inhibition of insulin-stimulated glucose oxidation and lipogenesis (P < 0.001). Addition of a TNF antibody to the incubation medium alleviated this inhibition of insulin-stimulated glucose metabolism by ~30% (P < 0.05).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29384580,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Analyzing Gaps to Design Educational Interventions.\nThis article addresses how nursing professional development practitioners can meet educational design criterion 1 in the American Nurses Credentialing Center Primary Accreditation process and standards 1 and 2 in the Association for Nursing Professional Development Scope and Standards of Practice. J Contin Educ Nurs. 2018;49(1):4-6.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17885612,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Immunohistochemical detection of StarD6 in the rat nervous system.\nSteroidogenic acute regulatory (StAR)-related lipid transfer (START) domain 6 (StarD6) is known to be exclusively expressed in germ cells of testis. As little is known about StarD6 expression in the nervous system, we investigated the distribution of StarD6 in rat neural tissues. Immunoreactivity of StarD6 was detected in the brain, spinal cord and dorsal root ganglia; particularly cerebral cortex (layer V and VI), hippocampus, substantia gelatinosa of the spinal cord. We provided compelling evidence that multiple neuronal and glial populations were immunolabelled with anti-StarD6 antibody throughout the nervous system. We postulate that StarD6 might play an important role in lipid sensing of the nervous system based on its immunolocalization in this study.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28352778,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A meta-analysis of adiponectin gene rs22411766 T>G polymorphism and ischemic stroke susceptibility.\nSeveral studies have investigated the correlation between adiponectin gene rs22411766 T>G polymorphism and ischemic stroke risk. However, the results were not conclusive with each other. Therefore, to overcome this obstacle, we performed this meta-analysis to further explicate the adiponectin gene rs22411766 T>G polymorphism and ischemic stroke susceptibility. Case-control or cohort studies focused on adiponectin gene rs22411766 T>G polymorphism and ischemic stroke risk were electronic searched in the databases of Medline, Pubmed, Cochrane library, Excerpta Medica database(EMBASE) and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). All the potentially relevant studies were included in this meta-analysis. The association between adiponectin gene rs22411766 T>G polymorphism and ischemic stroke was expressed by odds ratio with its confidence interval. Publication bias has been assessed by begg's funnel plot. All the analyses have been performed by Revman 5.1 statistical software. Finally, a total of six studies with 1,345 cases and 1,421 controls were included in this meta-analysis. Our results demonstrated that there was a significant association between adiponectin gene rs22411766 T>G polymorphism and ischemic stroke risk (p<0.05). People with G single nucleotide of adiponectin gene have the increased risk of developing ischemic stroke compared to T single nucleotide.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29565316,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A High-Resolution SAR Focusing Experiment Based on GF-3 Staring Data.\nSpotlight synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is a proven technique, which can provide high-resolution images as compared to those produced by traditional stripmap SAR. This paper addresses a high-resolution SAR focusing experiment based on Gaofen-3 satellite (GF-3) staring data with about 55 cm azimuth resolution and 240 MHz range bandwidth. In staring spotlight (ST) mode, the antenna always illuminates the same scene on the ground, which can extend the synthetic aperture. Based on a two-step processing algorithm, some special aspects such as curved-orbit model error correction, stop-and-go correction, and antenna pattern demodulation must be considered in image focusing. We provide detailed descriptions of all these aspects and put forward corresponding solutions. Using these suggested methods directly in an imaging module without any modification for other data processing software can make the most of the existing ground data processor. Finally, actual data acquired in GF-3 ST mode is used to validate these methodologies, and a well-focused, high-resolution image is obtained as a result of this focusing experiment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16159433,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Magnetic resonance perfusion weighted imaging manifestation of late radiation-induced encephalopathy at temporal lobe].\nThe imaging appearances of radiation-induced encephalopathy (REP) of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients were widely reported. As a new technique, magnetic resonance perfusion weighted imaging (MR PWI) is gradually applied to clinical study of REP. This study was designed to observe the characteristics of REP of NPC patients on MR PWI, and investigate its diagnostic value. The MRI and MR PWI records of 26 volunteers and 19 NPC patients with 37 lesions of MRI-diagnosed temporal lobe REP were retrospectively analyzed. The MRI was performed 30 months to 9 years after radiation therapy for NPC. The imaging sequences included T1-weighted imaging (T1WI), T2-weighted imaging (T2WI), MR PWI, and Gd-DTPA-contrasted T1WI. Unilateral temporal lobe was involved in 1 case of REP, and bilateral temporal lobes in 18 cases of REP. MR PWI revealed that in edema areas of REP, relative cerebral blood volume (rCBV) and relative cerebral blood flood (rCBF) were decreased, mean transit time (MTT), time to peak (TTP), and time of arrival (TO) were delayed simultaneously; in demolished blood-brain barrier areas of REP, rCBV and rCBF were normal, but MTT, TTP, and TO were delayed; no blood perfusion was observed in myelinopathy areas of REP. MR PWI can clearly reveal brain blood perfusion changes in various lesions of REP, and indicate that obvious malfunction of brain blood perfusion is occurred in REP.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27272236,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Network representation of protein interactions: Theory of graph description and analysis.\nA methodological framework is presented for the graph theoretical interpretation of NMR data of protein interactions. The proposed analysis generalizes the idea of network representations of protein structures by expanding it to protein interactions. This approach is based on regularization of residue-resolved NMR relaxation times and chemical shift data and subsequent construction of an adjacency matrix that represents the underlying protein interaction as a graph or network. The network nodes represent protein residues. Two nodes are connected if two residues are functionally correlated during the protein interaction event. The analysis of the resulting network enables the quantification of the importance of each amino acid of a protein for its interactions. Furthermore, the determination of the pattern of correlations between residues yields insights into the functional architecture of an interaction. This is of special interest for intrinsically disordered proteins, since the structural (three-dimensional) architecture of these proteins and their complexes is difficult to determine. The power of the proposed methodology is demonstrated at the example of the interaction between the intrinsically disordered protein osteopontin and its natural ligand heparin.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12030200,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"HIV dementia persists, but now it's a chronic disease.\nHighly active antiretroviral therapy has not eliminated HIV dementia, but it has changed the problem from one that strikes with severity and quickly leads to death to a process of slow, chronic cognitive decline, according to new research. 'What's been observed is there appears to be less of the old AIDS dementia, at least among patients with access to the new antiretroviral therapies,' says Dawn McGuire, MD, medical director of the Western NeuroAIDS Program at the HIV Institute for Treatment and Research in San Francisco.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28691616,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Assessment of Northern Jordanian adolescents' knowledge and attitudes towards asthma.\nBackground Asthma is a chronic illness of the airways that can cause a persistent cough. The illness affects a significant population of young people worldwide and can affect their ongoing quality of life. Aim To explore Jordanian adolescents' knowledge and attitudes to asthma. Method A cross-sectional research design was used with a convenience sample of 302 adolescents from six schools in northern Jordan, who completed a self-reported knowledge and attitude survey. Results Although the adolescents had an adequate knowledge level about asthma, several areas of knowledge deficit were identified and some negative attitudes were demonstrated. No significant association was found between adolescents' level of knowledge and their attitudes to adolescents with asthma. Conclusion Jordanian adolescents need more educational programmes about living with life-changing chronic illnesses such as asthma, and about how the knowledge and positive attitudes of peer groups can normalise the illness for the affected person, enhancing their quality of life.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15238125,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A theoretical model of job retention for home health care nurses.\nPredicted severe nursing shortages and an increasing demand for home health care services have made the retention of experienced, qualified nursing staff a priority for health care organizations. The purpose of this paper is to describe a theoretical model of job retention for home health care nurses. The theoretical model is an integration of the findings of empirical research related to intent to stay and retention, components of Neal's theory of home health care nursing practice and findings from earlier work to develop an instrument to measure home health care nurses' job satisfaction. The theoretical model identifies antecedents to job satisfaction of home health care nurses. The antecedents are intrinsic and extrinsic job characteristics. The model also proposes that job satisfaction is directly related to retention and indirectly related to retention though intent to stay. Individual nurse characteristics are indirectly related to retention through intent to stay. The individual characteristic of tenure is indirectly related to retention through autonomy, as an intrinsic characteristic of job satisfaction, and intent to stay. The proposed model can be used to guide research that explores gaps in knowledge about intent to stay and retention among home health care nurses.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28347191,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Transferring two grades I cleavage-stage embryo might not be a good protocol.\nThe aim of this study was to explore whether transferring two grades I cleavage-stage embryo was suitable for the patients in the first fresh transfer. This study included 202 single grades I cleavage-stage, 229 single grades III cleavage-stage, 743 single excellent blastocyst, 522 double grades I cleavage-stage, and 596 double grades III cleavage-stage embryo transfers. Main clinical outcomes: clinical pregnancy and twin-pregnancy rate. Among single excellent blastocyst, single grades I and single grades III group, the clinical pregnancy rate was significantly higher in single excellent blastocyst group than single grades I and grades III group (67.16% versus 42.08% versus 23.97%; p < 0.001). When transferred double grades I cleavage-stage embryos, the clinical pregnancy rate reached 68.20% which was no significant difference compared with the single excellent blastocyst group (67.16%). However, the twin-pregnancy rate was significantly higher in double grades I group than double grades III and single excellent blastocyst group (43.26% versus 26.70% versus 0.60%; p < 0.001). Because of higher twin-pregnancy incidence rate, transferring two grades I cleavage-stage embryo might not be a good protocol. Extended culture to blastocyst-stage could be considered for the patient with only two grades I cleavage-stage embryos.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12040682,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Three cases of recurrent gastric cancer responding to TS-1 therapy following combination therapy with 5-fluorouracil, mitomycin C and cisplatin].\nWe report three patients with recurrent gastric cancer responding to TS-1 therapy after combination chemotherapy with 5-fluorouracil, mitomycin C and cisplatin. All 3 cases had undergone total gastrectomy with lymphadenectomy for advanced gastric cancer. Postoperative follow-up computed tomography (CT) showed liver metastases (cases 1 and 3), peritoneal dissemination (case 2) and enlargement of paraaortic lymph nodes (case 1) due to cancer recurrence. After 2 to 4 courses of combined treatment with 5-fluorouracil (500-750 mg\/body\/day, days 1-5, civ), mitomycin C (6-8 mg\/body, day 6) and cisplatin (60-80 mg\/body, day 7), CT revealed considerable reduction of the metastatic tumors. Subsequently oral administration of TS-1 (80-100 mg\/body\/day) for 4 weeks was performed. All 3 patients are well without any signs of increase in tumor size.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29563289,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Deep-Sequencing Analysis of the Dynamics of HIV-1 Quasiespecies in Naive Patients during a Short Exposure to Maraviroc.\nIn this study, we have characterized quasispecies dynamics and the evolution of viral tropism in naive HIV-1-infected patients treated with a short course of maraviroc monotherapy (ClinicalTrials.gov registration no. NCT01060618) independently of the tropism of the infecting virus. We randomly selected 20 patients infected with viruses displaying different basal tropisms-10 carrying R5 and 10 carrying dual\/mixed X4 (DM\/X4) viruses-at recruitment as determined by phenotypic assay (Trofile). Evolution of viral quasiespecies at the end of treatment was determined by ultradeep sequencing of the V3 region using a 454 Life Sciences Platform and geno2pheno (g2p) algorithm for viral tropism prediction. The false-positive rate (FPR) that defines the probability of classifying an R5 virus falsely as X4 was set at 10%. X4-specific HIV-1 viral load (VL) was calculated from sequences with an FPR of <3.75%. Virological response as defined as >1-log10 copies\/ml reduction in VL was detected in 70% of patients independently of the basal tropism of the infecting virus. Viral tropism remained stable, and nonsignificant differences in FPR values before and after treatment were found for the majority of patients in both tropism groups. Only three patients (one with R5 and two with DM\/X4 viruses) showed an increased (>1 log) X4 VL, and one patient harboring a DM\/X4-tropic virus displayed a significant reduction in FPR values at the end of treatment. Fast changes in the composition of viral populations were observed in all patients after 10 days of maraviroc (MVC) monotherapy treatment, and a complete replacement of viral quasiespecies was found in 3\/10 patients carrying R5-using viruses and 4\/10 patients carrying DM\/X4-using viruses.IMPORTANCE Initiation of treatment with maraviroc requires previous determination of viral tropism by genotypic or phenotypic methods because of the risk of treatment failure and selection of DM\/X4-tropic variants. In this study, we confirm previous work showing that the virologic response to maraviroc is independent of basal tropism. By deep-sequencing analysis, we determined that fast changes in viral populations were due to the emergence of minority variants in some patients whereas in others generation of new strains was detected. The risk of DM\/X4 selection was very low as FPR values remained stable, and only one patient showed a detrimental switch to DM\/X4 variants. Our data show that some DM\/X4 viruses are sensitive to maraviroc treatment probably because only a low proportion of DM\/X4 viruses use preferentially the X4 receptor and contain authentically maraviroc-resistant viruses that are not accurately detected by current assays.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18604950,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-22":1}}},"text":"Peptide-mediated targeting of liposomes to tumor cells.\nOne of the biggest obstacles for efficient drug delivery is specific cellular targeting. Liposomes have long been used for drug delivery, but do not possess targeting capabilities. This limitation may be circumvented by surface coating of colloidal delivery systems with peptides, proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, or antibodies that target cell surface receptors or other biomolecules. Each of these coatings has significant drawbacks. One idealized system for drug delivery combines stabilized \"protein module\" ligands with a colloidal delivery vehicle. Prior studies have shown that peptide-amphiphiles, whereby both a peptide \"head group\" and a lipid-like \"tail\" are present in the same molecule, can be used to engineer collagen-like triple-helical or alpha-helical miniproteins. The tails serve to stabilize the head group structural elements. These peptide-amphiphiles can be designed to bind to specific cell surface receptors with high affinity. Structural stabilization of the integrated targeting ligand in the peptide-amphiphile system equates to prolonged in vivo stability through resistance to proteolytic degradation. Liposomes have been prepared incorporating a melanoma targeting peptide-amphiphile ligand, and shown to be stable with retention of peptide-amphiphile triple-helical structure. Encapsulated fluorescent dyes are selectively delivered to cells. In this chapter we describe the methods and techniques employed in the preparation and characterization of peptide-amphiphiles and peptide-amphiphile-targeted large and small unilamellar vesicles (LUVs and SUVs). Fluorescence microscopy is subsequently utilized to examine the targeting capabilities of peptide-amphiphile LUVs, which should allow for improved drug selectivity towards melanoma vs normal cells based on differences in the relative abundance of the targeted cell surface receptors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25504014,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Protection of HepG2 cells against acrolein toxicity by 2-cyano-3,12-dioxooleana-1,9-dien-28-imidazolide via glutathione-mediated mechanism.\nAcrolein is an environmental toxicant, mainly found in smoke released from incomplete combustion of organic matter. Several studies showed that exposure to acrolein can lead to liver damage. The mechanisms involved in acrolein-induced hepatocellular toxicity, however, are not completely understood. This study examined the cytotoxic mechanisms of acrolein on HepG2 cells. Acrolein at pathophysiological concentrations was shown to cause apoptotic cell death and an increase in levels of protein carbonyl and thiobarbituric acid reactive acid substances. Acrolein also rapidly depleted intracellular glutathione (GSH), GSH-linked glutathione-S-transferases, and aldose reductase, three critical cellular defenses that detoxify reactive aldehydes. Results further showed that depletion of cellular GSH by acrolein preceded the loss of cell viability. To further determine the role of cellular GSH in acrolein-mediated cytotoxicity, buthionine sulfoximine (BSO) was used to inhibit cellular GSH biosynthesis. It was observed that depletion of cellular GSH by BSO led to a marked potentiation of acrolein-mediated cytotoxicity in HepG2 cells. To further assess the contribution of these events to acrolein-induced cytotoxicity, triterpenoid compound 2-cyano-3,12-dioxooleana-1,9-dien-28-imidazolide (CDDO-Im) was used for induction of GSH. Induction of GSH by CDDO-Im afforded cytoprotection against acrolein toxicity in HepG2 cells. Furthermore, BSO significantly inhibited CDDO-Im-mediated induction in cellular GSH levels and also reversed cytoprotective effects of CDDO-Im in HepG2 cells. These results suggest that GSH is a predominant mechanism underlying acrolein-induced cytotoxicity as well as CDDO-Im-mediated cytoprotection. This study may provide understanding on the molecular action of acrolein which may be important to develop novel strategies for the prevention of acrolein-mediated toxicity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30096821,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Macronutrient Composition of the Australian Population's Diet; Trends from Three National Nutrition Surveys 1983, 1995 and 2012.\nAlthough the role of individual macronutrients in the development of obesity remains controversial, changes in macronutrient composition of the diet may have played a causal role in the obesity epidemic. The aim of this analysis was to determine the percentage energy (%E) for protein, carbohydrate and fat of Australian adults' diets over time. Cross-sectional, national nutrition surveys from 1983, 1995 and 2012 assessed diet using one 24 h recall. The prevalence of obesity increased between each survey, from 9.6% to 19.7% and 27.7%. Protein (%E) differed between each survey and contributed 17.7%, 16.8% and 18.3% energy in 1983, 1995 and 2012, respectively (p < 0.001). Carbohydrate (%E) increased from 40.0% in 1983 to 44.9% in 1995 (p < 0.001), with no change in dietary fibre but declined in 2012 to 43.1%. Fat (%E) declined between each survey from 35.3%, 31.9%, to 30.9%, respectively (p < 0.001). Alcohol (%E) has declined for younger adults and men but intake increased for women aged >45 years. Prospective cohort studies with comprehensive assessment of foods consumed, together with measurements of weight and height, will advance the understanding of the relationship between macronutrients and changes in body weight and obesity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27267452,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Improving Synthetic Biology Communication: Recommended Practices for Visual Depiction and Digital Submission of Genetic Designs.\nResearch is communicated more effectively and reproducibly when articles depict genetic designs consistently and fully disclose the complete sequences of all reported constructs. ACS Synthetic Biology is now providing authors with updated guidance and piloting a new tool and publication workflow that facilitate compliance with these recommended practices and standards for visual representation and data exchange.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34237936,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Bifunctional Paramagnetic and Luminescent Clays Obtained by Incorporation of Gd3+ and Eu3+ Ions in the Saponite Framework.\nA novel bifunctional saponite clay incorporating gadolinium (Gd3+) and europium (Eu3+) in the inorganic framework was prepared by one-pot hydrothermal synthesis. The material exhibited interesting luminescent and paramagnetic features derived from the co-presence of the lanthanide ions in equivalent structural positions. Relaxometry and photoluminescence spectroscopy shed light on the chemical environment surrounding the metal sites, the emission properties of Eu3+, and the dynamics of interactions between Gd3+ and the inner-sphere water placed in the saponite gallery. The optical and paramagnetic properties of this solid make it an attractive nanoplatform for bimodal diagnostic applications.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":4117170,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pain patterns in the rheumatic disorders.\nPain patterns vary greatly in the different types of arthritis, from the localized agony without mental overtones in acute gout to the diffuse disorder we call rheumatoid arthritis, where inflammation of many joints, systemic illness, anaemia, anxiety, and depression are usually all present in some degree. Each pain pattern calls for a different therapeutic approach, physical, psychological, and pharmacological. Few patients suffer as much pain and suffering over many years as do chronic arthritics. It is all the more important to instruct them in the essentials of their own treatment. A patient with an occupied and instructed mind usually suffers less than an ignorant and depressed one, fearful of her disease and its complications and of the dark uncertain future that lies ahead.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16218870,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"New glycyl radical enzymes catalysing key metabolic steps in anaerobic bacteria.\nDuring the last decade, an increasing number of new enzymes containing glycyl radicals in their active sites have been identified and biochemically characterised. These include benzylsuccinate synthase (Bss), 4-hydroxyphenylacetate decarboxylase (Hpd) and the coenzyme B12-independent glycerol dehydratase (Gdh). These are involved in metabolic pathways as different as anaerobic toluene metabolism, fermentative production of p-cresol and glycerol fermentation. Some features of these newly discovered enzymes are described and compared with those of the previously known glycyl radical enzymes pyruvate formate-lyase (Pfl) and anaerobic ribonucleotide reductase (Nrd). Among the new enzymes, Bss and Hpd share the presence of small subunits, the function of which in the catalytic mechanisms is still enigmatic, and both enzymes contain metal centres in addition to the glycyl radical prosthetic group. The activating enzymes of the novel systems also deviate from the standard type, containing at least one additional Fe-S cluster. Finally, the available whole-genome sequences of an increasing number of strictly or facultative anaerobic bacteria revealed the presence of many more hitherto unknown glycyl radical enzyme (GRE) systems. Recent studies suggest that the particular types of these enzymes represent the ends of different evolutionary lines, which emerged early in evolution and diversified to yield remarkably versatile biocatalysts for chemical reactions that are otherwise difficult to perform in anoxic environments.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17007512,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Voltammetric heparin-selective electrode based on thin liquid membrane with conducting polymer-modified solid support.\nA novel, solid-supported voltammetric ion-selective electrode to detect anticoagulant\/antithrombotic heparin at polarizable poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) membrane\/water interfaces was developed. An approximately 3-4.5-microm-thick PVC membrane plasticized with 2-nitrophenyl octyl ether was supported on a gold electrode modified with a poly(3-octylthiophene) (POT) film as an ion-to-electron transducer. Charge transport through the PVC-covered POT film is electrochemically reversible, as demonstrated by cyclic voltammetry with nonpolarizable membrane\/water interfaces. In addition to the fast charge transport, adequate redox capacity of the POT film and a small ohmic potential drop in the thin PVC membrane enable ion transfer voltammetry at polarizable macroscopic membrane\/water interfaces in a standard three-electrode cell. Reversible ClO4- transfer at the interfaces coupled with oxidation of a neutral POT film was examined by cyclic voltammetry to determine the distribution of the applied potential to the two polarizable interfaces by convolution technique. Interfacial adsorption and desorption of heparin facilitated by octadecyltrimethylammonium were studied also by cyclic voltammetry and convolution technique to demonstrate that the processes are electrochemically irreversible. Stripping voltammetry based on the interfacial processes gives a low detection limit of 0.005 unit\/mL heparin in a saline solution, which is slightly lower than the detection limit of most sensitive heparin sensors reported so far (0.01 unit\/mL).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9543698,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Enhancing and priming of macrophages for superoxide anion production by taxol.\nTaxol, an anticancer drug, has been known not only to block cell division by stabilizing microtubules but also to activate murine macrophages to express TNF-alpha, interleukin-1, and to produce nitric oxide (NO). We therefore reasoned that taxol could activate murine macrophages to generate reactive oxygen intermediates, such as superoxide anion (O2-), which are responsible for intracellular killing of pathogenic microbes. Treatment of RAW264.7 cells, murine macrophage cell line, with taxol increased phorbol ester-induced O2- production in a dose dependent manner (approximately 2 fold). In addition, taxol rapidly (< 1 hr) primed RAW264.7 cells to enhance O2- release stimulated with PMA. Taxol also enhanced stimulation of O2- production by FMLP, but not by Con A. This effect was abolished by prior treatment with both superoxide dismutase (SOD) and N-acetyl-L-cystein, a free radical scavenger. To investigate the mechanism of taxol-induced macrophage stimulation, we evaluated the ability of colchicine, a drug that inhibit tubulin polymerization, and cAMP analogues, which is known to depolymerize microtubule. Taxol-induced O2- production was inhibited by the treatment with both colchicine and DB-cAMP. Taken together, these results demonstrated that taxol provides two signals, \"priming\" and \"enhancing\", to generate superoxide anion via the stabilization of microtubules in murine RAW264.7 cells","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26470357,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Bean Type Modifies Larval Competition in Zabrotes subfasciatus (Chrysomelidae: Bruchinae).\nLarval competition is particularly prevalent among grain beetles that remain within their mother-selected grain throughout development, and the behavioral process of competition is usually inferred by the competition outcome. The Mexican bean weevil Zabrotes subfasciatus (Boheman) is subjected to resource availability variation because of the diversity of common bean types and sizes, from small (e.g., kidney beans) to large (e.g., cranberry beans). The competition process was identified in the Mexican bean weevil reared on kidney and cranberry beans by inference from the competition outcome and by direct observation through digital X-ray imaging. Increased larval density negatively affected adult emergence in kidney beans and reduced adult body mass in both kidney and cranberry beans. Developmental time was faster in cranberry beans. The results allowed for increased larval fitness (i.e., higher larval biomass produced per grain), with larval density reaching a maximum plateau >5 hatched larvae per kidney bean, whereas in cranberry beans, larval fitness linearly increased with density to 13 hatched larvae per bean. These results, together with X-ray imaging without evidence of direct aggressive interaction among larvae, indicate scramble competition, with multiple larvae emerging per grain. However, higher reproductive output was detected for adults from lower density competition with better performance on cranberry beans. Larger populations and fitter adults are expected in intermediate larval densities primarily in cranberry beans where grain losses should be greater.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12022259,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Human microdialysis.\nMicrodialysis has been used extensively in animal studies for decades and in human pharmacokinetic studies for about 10 years. Microdialysis is based on the passive diffusion of a compound along its concentration gradient from the tissue through the membrane into the dialysate. Microdialysis samples from the interstitial space which is a defined, anatomical compartment; there is no net loss of body fluid; the sample is \"purified\" and no enzymatic degradation takes place because proteins do not pass through the probe membrane into the dialysate; microdialysis data relate to the intact molecule; time resolution is high compared to biopsy and skin blister techniques; radioabelling or induction of a magnetic response is not needed; microdialysis is also an alternative method to determine protein binding of a compound in vivo; microdialysis can readily be set up in clinical research units without expensive infrastructure. Microdialysis has been used to measure tissue concentrations of endogenous compounds and to investigate the tissue penetration of drugs in a variety of tissues in humans in vivo in both healthy volunteers and patients. Microdialysis data have also been used in PK-PD modelling and to obtain concentration-response relationships locally in tissues in vivo. There are also studies combining microdialysis with imaging techniques, e.g. PET. Microdialysis data may be used in early studies to select the appropriate compound, to optimise dosing regimens and to investigate the kinetic and dynamic consequences in the tissues of drug-drug and drug-disease interactions. Microdialysis can also be used in late phase studies to provide tissue concentration data in support of therapeutic efficacy trials or to create a niche for an already marketed drug. FDA and CPMP documents emphasise the value and importance of human tissue drug concentration data and support the use of microdialysis in humans to obtain such information. Microdialysis can satisfy regulatory requirements by providing data on drug concentrations in a well-defined anatomical tissue compartment at or close to the effect target site. Microdialysis is a versatile technique because of its multifaceted utility, low cost, ease of use, adaptability to different types of compounds and its feasibility for a number of organs and tissues. Equipment and probes for use in various organs have been commercially available for years.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37654296,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Assessment of the Efficacy of TMJ Arthroscopy-Assisted Masseter Nerve Avulsion on Hemimasticatory Spasm: An Original Research.\nThe goal of this study is to find a cure for the masticatory muscle disease known as hemimasticatory spasm (HMS). This retrospective investigation intends to find a more efficient therapeutic approach for HMS patients by examining the clinical effectiveness of masseteric nerve avulsion performed on HMS using a temporomandibular arthroscope. A clinical study was piloted where the subjects were treated for masseter nerve avulsion by TMJ arthroscopy. The follow-up was done till 2 years, and the subjects were evaluated for the various characteristics like difficulties, masticatory abilities, and various sounds at the joint for the various functions of the joint. The diagnosis was done using the electrophysiological electromyogram (EMG) at the designated time intervals. There was a complete remission in all the subjects. The masseter nerve avulsion was effective since the scores lowered. Within 3 years of the operation, electrophysiological EMG depicted no discharge potential with a high frequency, and the total efficiency when paired with the clinical effectiveness was deemed acceptable. The maximal masseter power between the treated and nontreated sides was comparable. The mastication, on comparing, was also as effective as the normal side; however, lower mastication was noted in the first year. The avulsed nerve tissues lacked any apparent demyelination. Masseteric nerve avulsion with temporomandibular arthroscope assistance provided acceptable and stable total effectiveness for the intervention of the hemimasticatory spasm. While the strength of the muscle of the afflicted side was only marginally reduced, its masticatory effectiveness was optimally preserved.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25301905,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Application of the WHO surgical safety checklist outside the operating theatre: medicine can learn from surgery.\nSafety checklists in medicine are designed to identify a potential error before it results in harm to a patient. The World Health Organization (WHO) safety checklist was widely implemented in surgical practice in the UK after significant reductions in death, and peri-operative complications were achieved in eight countries worldwide in the 'Safe Surgery Saves Lives' campaign of 2008. Nevertheless, use of the checklist for invasive medical procedures is not yet routine. Such procedures are becoming ever more complex, necessitating multidisciplinary team management and involving higher-risk patients, with the need for general anaesthesia on occasion. As a result, the potential for error increases and the need for a safety checklist has become more apparent. Such a checklist can be modified to provide a framework for specialty-specific safety checks, enhanced team-working and communication for invasive medical procedures. Following an audit of use of the WHO checklist in 20 cases under general anaesthesia in our quaternary referral cardiac catheterisation laboratory, we discovered use of this safety tool was poor (performed\/documented: sign in 30%\/40%, time out 10%\/15%, sign out 10%\/15%) and we identified two 'near miss' incidents within the audit period. We then developed and implemented a modified WHO checklist for the specific challenges faced in the cardiac catheterisation laboratory. Following a staff education programme, a subsequent audit of 34 cases demonstrated improvement in all sections (performed\/documented: sign in 91.2%\/82.4%, time out 85.3%\/76.5%, sign out 73.5%\/64.7%) with no patient safety incidents during the post-intervention audit period. Well-designed, procedural checklists may well prove to be of benefit in other areas of interventional medicine.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22686574,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"New genus and species of fish blood fluke (Digenea: Aporocotylidae Odhner, 1912) from stoplight parrotfish, Sparisoma viride (Bonnaterre, 1788), (Labridae: Scarinae) in the Caribbean Sea.\nPrimisanguis caribbeanensis n. gen., n. sp. (Digenea: Aporocotylidae) infects the stoplight parrotfish, Sparisoma viride (Bonnaterre, 1788), (Labridae: Scarinae) in the Caribbean Sea off La Parguera (17\u00b058'26\" N, 67\u00b002'47\"W), Puerto Rico. It is most easily distinguished from other nominal aporocotylids by the combination of having an adult body that is approximately 5-10 times longer than wide, a sinistral posterolateral body protuberance, tegumental body spines that are straight (lacking recurved tip) and wrap dorsoventrally around the body margin, posterior ceca that are 2-5 times the anterior ceca length, a single testis that extends lateral to both the ceca and nerve cords, an ovary abutting the posterior margin of the testis, a symmetrical vitellarium and medial primary vitelline duct, a post-cecal and post-gonadal ootype, and a proximal uterus that is extensively convoluted posterior to the ootype and which functions as a uterine seminal receptacle. The new genus lacks a spinous anterior sucker, pharynx, auxiliary external seminal vesicle, cirrus stylet, oviducal seminal receptacle, and Laurer's canal. The new species is morphologically most similar to the other aporocotylids that have a posterolateral body protuberance, including species of Psettarium Goto and Ozaki, 1930, Aporocotyle Odhner, 1900, Ankistromeces Nolan and Cribb, 2004 , Phthinomita Nolan and Cribb, 2006, and Littorellicola Bullard, 2010, but it can be differentiated from them, at the least, by lack of a spinous anterior sucker in the adult and by the combination of having dorsoventral rows of tegumental spines, a testis dorsal to the posterior ceca, and a uterine seminal receptacle posterior to the ootype. The new species is the first aporocotylid reported from the Caribbean Sea or from a parrotfish of Sparisoma.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35350933,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"It's like standing in front of a prison fence - Dying during the SARS-CoV2 pandemic: A qualitative study of bereaved relatives' experiences.\nSince the onset of the SARS CoV2 pandemic, protective and isolation measures had a strong impact on the care and support provided to seriously ill and dying people at the end-of-life. Exploring bereaved relatives' experiences of end-of-life care during the SARS-CoV2 pandemic. Qualitative interview study with bereaved relatives. Thirty-two relatives of patients who died during the pandemic, regardless of infection with SARS-CoV2. Three core categories were identified: needs, burden and best practice. Relatives wished for a contact person responsible for providing information on the medical and mental condition of their family members. The lack of information, of support by others and physical closeness due to the visiting restrictions, as well as not being able to say goodbye, were felt as burdens and led to emotional distress. However, case-by-case decisions were made and creative ways of staying in touch were experienced positively. Our results indicate that the strong need for closeness when a family member was dying could not be met due to the pandemic. This led to suffering that can be prevented. Visits need to be facilitated by making considered decisions on a case-by-case basis. For easy communication with relatives, approaches should be made by healthcare professionals and support for virtual communication should be offered. Furthermore, the results of the study can help to implement or develop ideas to enable dignified farewells even during pandemics.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6903556,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The hemolytic equivalence of human, guinea pig and canine complement proteins.\nThe ability of functionally pure human, guinea pig and canine complement proteins to fulfill the hemolytic function of a substituted analagous component in an otherwise totally homogeneous complement sequence was investigated by means of conventional hemolytic assays. A striking feature was the observation that for hemolysis to occur, differing requirements for enzyme-substrate homology were exhibited by each of the three species of C3 and C5 convertases (C3 and C5 CVA). The results suggest that different strategies of molecular interaction evolved in complement systems of different species.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18603062,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Outcome of 200 patients after an extracardiac Fontan procedure.\nDespite the known advantages of the extracardiac conduit Fontan procedure, the long-term outcomes related to the longevity of the conduit and anticoagulation therapy have not been determined. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the outcome of hospital survivors with an extracardiac Fontan circulation. Between 1996 and 2006, 200 patients had the extracardiac conduit Fontan operation. The median age at operation was 3.4 years. Most patients (89.5%) underwent a bidirectional cavopulmonary shunt. Fenestration was required in 85 patients. Overall, the 10-year survival was 92.4% +\/- 2.1%. Multivariate analysis identified severe infection during the early postoperative period and a high pulmonary arterial pressure during the preoperative period as independent risk factors for patient mortality. The Kaplan-Meier estimate for freedom from reoperation was 82.4% +\/- 4.1% at 10 years. Arrhythmia occurred in 32 patients after the Fontan operation; freedom from arrhythmia was 85.1% +\/- 4.4% at 10 years. The risk factors for arrhythmia were the heterotaxy syndrome, follow-up duration, and age at Fontan operation. Freedom from thromboembolism at 10 years was 92.9% +\/- 1.9%. Among all of the patients, 95.2% were classified in New York Heart Association class I. The results of this study showed that during 10 years of follow-up, the overall survival and the functional status of the survivors after an extracardiac Fontan procedure were satisfactory. We might infer that fenestration provided benefit inasmuch as the high-risk Fontan patients fenestrated had similar outcomes to those not fenestrated, who were presumably low risk. The incidence of late death, reoperation, obstruction of the cavopulmonary pathway, arrhythmias, and thromboembolism was low.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17911848,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The nurse-patient trajectory framework.\nThe development of nursing knowledge should give structure and form to the practice of nursing. The development of Nursing Process Theory resulted from early nursing observations and inferences from nursing practice that resulted in formal data accumulation processes, mutual correspondence between nurses and patients, and exchange of information. The development of the nursing process discipline helped to substantiate the need for professional nursing services. The shifts towards examining the links between processes and outcomes, professional accountability, and classification of distinct nursing functions have influenced the development of information systems. The Nurse-Patient Trajectory Framework described in this paper may be used to show the relationships between the virtual information system and the real world that it affects. The framework is visualized along two separate and distinct nurse and patient trajectories.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11994840,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Self-harm behaviors across the life cycle: a pilot study of inpatients with borderline personality disorder.\nThe purpose of this study was to explore, throughout the life cycle, the prevalence of self-harm behaviors among psychiatric inpatients with and without borderline personality disorder (BPD). Psychiatric inpatients with BPD (n = 43) were compared to those without BPD (n = 40) with regard to self-reported self-harm behaviors during their lifetime. The mean number of self-harm behaviors, including high-lethal behaviors (i.e., suicide attempts, cutting oneself, overdosing), among those with BPD dramatically increased between the ages of 18 and 24 years and was sustained through ages 50 to 59 years. Non-BPD patients showed a similar pattern, but the means were notably less. These data suggest that the behavioral \"burn out\" theory of personality disorders does not necessarily occur among inpatients with BPD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21156101,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Experimental colonization of pigs with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA): insights into the colonization and transmission of livestock-associated MRSA.\nTwo models were used for colonizing pigs under experimental conditions. In the first model, six 5-week old piglets were challenged by nasal and gastrointestinal inoculation with a mixture of four strains representing the most prevalent methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) sequence types (ST398, ST9) and spa types (t08, t011, t034, t899) associated with pig farming. In the second model, the vagina of a pregnant sow was inoculated with the same MRSA mixture shortly before farrowing. While MRSA carriage was unstable following nasal-gastrointestinal inoculation of piglets, vaginal inoculation of the sow resulted in persistent carriage of t011-ST398 and t899-ST9 in all newborn piglets. The results from the two models provide evidence that livestock-associated MRSA can efficiently spread by vertical perinatal transmission and that direct colonization of weaned piglets is hampered by unknown host, bacterial or environmental factors. The vaginal inoculation model described in this study represents a useful tool for studying MRSA-host interactions in pigs having the same genetic background.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17202191,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"RNA recognition mechanism of the minimal active domain of the human immunodeficiency virus type-2 nucleocapsid protein.\nNCp8 of HIV-2 contains two CCHC-type zinc fingers connected by a linker, and is involved in many critical steps of the virus life cycle. It was previously shown that the first zinc finger flanked by the linker is the minimal active domain for specific binding to viral RNA. In our previous study, we determined the three-dimensional structure of NCp8-f1, including the minimal active domain, and found that a hydrogen bond between Asn(11) N(delta)H and Arg(27) O stabilized the conformation of the linker in the vicinity of the zinc finger [Kodera et al. (1998) Biochemistry 37, 17704-17713]. In this study, RNA binding activities of NCp8-f1 and three types of its mutant peptides were analysed by native PAGE assay. The activity and three-dimensional structure of NCp8-f1\/N11A, in which alanine is substituted for Asn(11) thereby affecting the conformation of the linker, was analyzed and compared with those of NCp8-f1. We demonstrated that the existence of Arg(4) and\/or Lys(5) and Arg(26) and\/or Arg(27) were necessary for binding RNA. Furthermore, the linker's flexible orientation, which is controlled by the hydrogen bond between Asn(11) N(delta)H and Arg(27) O, appears to be a structural basis for NCp8 existing as a multi-functional protein.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6747007,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Do patients like psychometric testing by computer?\nProgrammed a micro-computer to administer and score the Crown-Crisp Experiential Index (CCEI) (Crown & Crisp, 1979) for a study of the psychological state of 59 newly delivered mothers. This publication reports the findings of a separate paper-and-pencil questionnaire assessment of the patients' attitudes to the computer itself. The 59 patients were almost unanimous in finding the computer acceptable and easy to use; only 1 S minded using it. None found the instructions difficult to understand, and only 1 had difficulty in reading them. Only 2 would object to using the computer again.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25505077,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-18":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Analysis of the early immune response to infection by infectious bursal disease virus in chickens differing in their resistance to the disease.\nChicken whole-genome gene expression arrays were used to analyze the host response to infection by infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV). Spleen and bursal tissue were examined from control and infected birds at 2, 3, and 4 days postinfection from two lines that differ in their resistance to IBDV infection. The host response was evaluated over this period, and differences between susceptible and resistant chicken lines were examined. Antiviral genes, including IFNA, IFNG, MX1, IFITM1, IFITM3, and IFITM5, were upregulated in response to infection. Evaluation of this gene expression data allowed us to predict several genes as candidates for involvement in resistance to IBDV. Infectious bursal disease (IBD) is of economic importance to the poultry industry and thus is also important for food security. Vaccines are available, but field strains of the virus are of increasing virulence. There is thus an urgent need to explore new control solutions, one of which would be to breed birds with greater resistance to IBD. This goal is perhaps uniquely achievable with poultry, of all farm animal species, since the genetics of 85% of the 60 billion chickens produced worldwide each year is under the control of essentially two breeding companies. In a comprehensive study, we attempt here to identify global transcriptomic differences in the target organ of the virus between chicken lines that differ in resistance and to predict candidate resistance genes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11654781,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Bioethics and political ideology: the case of active voluntary euthanasia.\nIn different countries responses to important bioethical issues are different, as exemplified by the attitudes towards the voluntary and active forms of medical euthanasia. But why is this the case? My suggestion is that the roots of the variety are, to be considerable degree, ideological. The most important present-day political ideologies all have their roots in the prevailing doctrines of moral and social philosophy. In the paper these doctrines are outlined and the predicted response towards active voluntary euthanasia within each model is sketched. The conclusion reached is that while it would in some countries be dangerous to allow euthanasia in the prevailing circumstances, the solution is not to hinder the legalization process but to alter the circumstances.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9545079,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Finger ridge-count asymmetry and diversity in Andean Indians and interpopulation comparisons.\nA separate analysis of ulnar and radial finger ridge-counts, obtained from 115 Aymara Indians (55 males and 60 females) of northern Chile, was performed. From these variables, directional asymmetry, fluctuating asymmetry, indices of bilateral asymmetry (square root of A2), and intraindividual diversity (s\/square root of 5) were calculated for each sex. The results show that most bimanual differences for the ridge-counts are not statistically significant in the Aymara, except for radial counts in female first and second fingers (right hand means are larger), while most ulnar-radial differences are highly significant in both sexes (radial values exceed ulnar ones). Most sex differences do not reach statistical significance, although males have more ridge-counts, lower directional asymmetry, somewhat lower fluctuating asymmetry, and lower indices of asymmetry and diversity than females. As fluctuating asymmetry is not larger in males, the dermatoglyphic findings do not indicate support for the hypothesis that males are less canalized than females. In accordance with the findings of other authors, interpopulation comparisons in the indices of asymmetry and diversity show ethnic differences. Both indices tend to be low in samples of African ancestry, high in samples of European origin, and intermediate in the Aymara, while Indian groups are characterized by high asymmetry and low diversity values. Moreover, the data reveal a geographical trend in that asymmetry and diversity values tend to decrease from the northern to the southern hemisphere in populations of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, thus indicating greater ridge-count variability and heterogeneity among fingers in northern populations. It is assumed that this gradient primarily reflects different degrees of miscegenation and heterozygosity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18604819,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Stimulus dependence of the action of small-molecule inhibitors in the CD3\/CD28 signalling network.\nCells in the body are exposed simultaneously to a multitude of various signals. Inside a cell, molecular signalling networks integrate this information into a physiologically meaningful response. Interestingly, in the cellular testing of drug candidates, this complexity is largely ignored. Compounds are tested for cells that are challenged with one stimulus only. The activation of T lymphocytes through engagement of the T cell receptor (TCR)-CD3 complex and CD28 coreceptor is a prominent example for a cellular response that depends on the integration of signals. We investigated the cellular response characteristics of this network at different strengths of receptor and coreceptor activation. A novel cellular microarray-based approach, in which various combinations of antibodies directed against the CD3 complex and CD28 were spotted, was employed for analysing the stimulus dependence of activation of the transcription factor NFAT and actin reorganisation. For both responses, quantitative differences in inhibitor activity were observed. Remarkably, for IL-2 expression, which was detected by standard ELISA, low doses of the Src-family kinase inhibitor PP2 strongly potentiated IL-2 expression at high-level, but not at low-level, CD28 co-engagement. Therefore, for a physiologically highly relevant signalling network, the cellular response might vary qualitatively with only quantitative variations of a stimulus. This level of complexity should be considered in early cellular drug testing.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6367369,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Tuberculosis of the colon in a kidney transplant patient.\nA 58-year-old woman experienced recurrent fever episodes after kidney transplantation. She was treated with antibiotics because of suspicion of staphylococcus infection. Abdominal pain combined with haemorrhagic diarrhoea occurred eight months after transplantation. A barium enema revealed a stenotic process in the middle part of the ascending colon mimicking carcinoma, and hemicolectomy was consequently performed. Histological examination revealed tuberculosis with little granuloma formation and abundant acid-fast tubercle bacilli in the mucosa and submucosa, and only slight perigranulomatous reactions. The patient was successfully treated with triple antituberculous chemotherapy without deterioration of allograft function. Tuberculosis should be suspected in immunosuppressed patients suffering from pyrexia of unknown origin, even when chest X-ray is normal.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11989357,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Prolonged postoperative thromboprophylaxis--current state of knowledge].\nBy \"prolonged thromboprophylaxis\" is usually meant around 30 days postoperatively. This modality using low molecular heparin in patients undergoing total hip replacement has been shown to be effective as regards incidence of both phlebographically detected deep vein thrombosis and--in meta-analysis--clinical venous thromboembolism. It is important to identify further risk groups who may be in need of prolonged thromboprophylaxis. Recent data suggest that patients undergoing abdominal\/pelvic surgery for malignant diseases belong to such a group.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28273098,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Phylogenetic relationships of Vepris (Rutaceae) inferred from chloroplast, nuclear, and morphological data.\nThe tribe Toddalieae Hook. F. (Rutaceae) has been controversial since its inception by Bentham and Hooker. The nine taxa examined, Acronychia J.R. & G.Foster, Diphasia Pierre, Diphasiopsis Mendonca, Fagaropsis Mildbr.ex. Siebenl., Oricia Pierre, Teclea Delile, Toddaliopsis Engl., Toddalia Juss. and Vepris Comm. ex. A. Juss, have been recognized under the tribe Toddalieae or Tribes Acronychia, Phellodendron and Toddalia. More recently Araliopsis Engl., Diphasia, Diphasiopsis, Oricia, Teclea, and Toddaliopsis have been incorporated into the genus Vepris, while Toddalia and Fagaropsis have continued to be recognized as closely related. For this study, sequence data of one non-coding chloroplast region (trnL-F) and one nuclear region (ITS) and various morphological characters, based on Mziray's taxonomic studies were examined to try to elucidate these relationships. This study found that the taxa Diphasia, Diphasiopsis, Oricia, Teclea, Toddaliopsis, Vepris, Toddalia eugeniifolia Engl. and Toddalia glomerata F. Hoffm. form a monophyletic group. Due to the amount of intrageneric and intraspecific variation, species delimitations were difficult to determine; however, these genera should be united into Vepris. The analyses also confirmed that Toddalia asiatica (L.) Lam., Zanthoxylon sp. and Fagaropsis angolensis (Engl.) H.M. Gardner are the closest relatives to this group.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23332843,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of Lactobacillus inoculants and forage dry matter on the fermentation and aerobic stability of ensiled mixed-crop tall fescue and meadow fescue.\nThis study evaluated the effects of Lactobacillus plantarum with or without Lactobacillus buchneri on the fermentation and aerobic stability of mixed tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb) and meadow fescue (Festuca pratensis Huds.) silage ensiled at different dry matter (DM) contents. The first cut was harvested at boot stage and second-cut grasses were harvested when 30- to 35-cm tall. Four DM content treatments of the first cut were 17.9, 24.9, 34.6, and 48.7%; and of the second cut were 29.1, 36.3, 44.1, and 49.2%. Chopped grasses at each DM content were treated with (1) deionized water (control), (2) Lb. plantarum MTD-1 (LP), or (3) a combination of Lb. plantarum MTD-1 and Lb. buchneri 40788 (LP+LB). The application amount of each inoculant to the fresh forage was 1 \u00d7 10(6) cfu\/g. Grasses were ensiled in vacuum-sealed polyethylene bags containing 150 g of DM for 60 d, with 4 replicates for each treatment. Silages inoculated with LP+LB had greater pH compared with untreated or LP-treated silages. Lactate was greater in LP silage than control or LP+LB silages. As silage DM increased, lactate in untreated and LP-treated silages decreased, but increased in LP+LB-treated silage. Acetate concentration decreased with increased DM in all silages. The LP+LB-treated silage had the longest and control silage the shortest aerobic stability for both harvests. The greatest values in aerobic stability were observed in silages with highest DM content. In this study, aerobic stability of grass mixes ensiled between 18 and 44% DM content increased as the percentage of DM increased. The LP and LP+LB inoculants improved aerobic stability of silages harvested between 18 and 44% DM content.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1675437,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Rapid changes in poly (A) tail length of vasopressin and oxytocin mRNAs form a common early component of neurohypophyseal peptide gene activation following physiological stimulation.\nThe time course of acute changes in vasopressin (VP) and oxytocin (OT) mRNA size and level during dehydration has been studied in rats. Total RNA was extracted from samples of the supraoptic nucleus at various intervals after water deprivation, subjected to northern blotting, and probed with oligonucleotides specific for VP and OT mRNA. The VP and OT mRNA size, shown previously to reflect 3'-poly (A) tail length, was consistently increased 2 h after dehydration, prior to significant changes in plasma osmolality or haematocrit. Intraperitoneal administration of hypertonic saline resulted in a similarly rapid VP and OT mRNA size response, in some cases within 1 h of treatment. The effect of a discrete hypovolaemic stimulus was investigated with intraperitoneal injections of polyethylene glycol; again, the VP and OT mRNA size was rapidly increased. No significant changes in mRNA level were observed in any of the experimental groups. The results show that an increase in VP and OT mRNA poly(A) tail length forms an acute and general response to activation of the hypothalamo-neurohypophyseal system. The rapidity of the poly (A) tail response, which appears to be independent of physiological signalling mechanisms associated with increases in mRNA accumulation (observed after 2 days of dehydration), provides a paradigm for the investigation of novel modes of neuronal gene regulation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15258251,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Critical role of lysine 204 in switch I region of Galpha13 for regulation of p115RhoGEF and leukemia-associated RhoGEF.\nHeterotrimeric G proteins of the G12 family regulate the Rho GTPase through RhoGEFs that contain an amino-terminal regulator of G protein signaling (RGS) domain (RGS-RhoGEFs). Direct regulation of the activity of RGS-RhoGEFs p115 or leukemia-associated RhoGEF (LARG) by Galpha13 has previously been demonstrated. However, the precise biochemical mechanism by which Galpha13 stimulates the RhoGEF activity of these proteins has not yet been well understood. Based on the crystal structure of Galphai1 in complex with RGS4, we mutated the Galpha13 residue lysine 204 to alanine (Galpha13K204A) and characterized the effect of this mutation in its regulation of RGS-RhoGEFs p115 or LARG. Compared with wild-type Galpha13, Galpha13K204A induced much less serum-response factor activation when expressed in HeLa cells. Recombinant Galpha13K204A exhibits normal function in terms of nucleotide binding, basal GTP hydrolysis, and formation of heterotrimer with betagamma. We found that lysine 204 of Galpha13 is important for interaction with the RGS domain of p115 or LARG and for the GTPase-activating protein activity of these proteins. In addition, the K204A mutation of Galpha13 impaired its regulation of the RhoGEF activity of p115 or LARG. We conclude that lysine 204 of Galpha13 is important for interaction with RGS-RhoGEFs and is critically involved in the regulation of their activity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15254479,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Personal exposure to particulate matter less than 2.5 microm in Mexico City: a pilot study.\nThis study was aimed to describe the personal exposure of permanent residents in Mexico City's Metropolitan Area (MCMA) to particulate matter of less than 2.5 microm diameter (PM(2.5)) during their daily activities. A total of 40 healthy volunteers (30 women and 10 men) with sedentary activities were included. All of them carried a PM(2.5) personal monitor during 13 h and registered their activities in a written diary that classified them in indoor and outdoor microenvironments in each 30 min period. All sample collections started at 0900 hours, and even though measurements were obtained during the rainy season (April-August 2002), the relative humidity was less than 70%. The data were categorized and evaluated under the following criteria: morning and afternoon exposure, indoor and outdoor activities, and geographical location. The descriptive analysis showed that the overall outdoor median concentration of PM(2.5) (89.50 microg\/m(3)) was higher than the indoor one (67.55 microg\/m(3)). PM(2.5) concentrations in the morning to early afternoon were more elevated than in the late afternoon, suggesting a circadian-like behavior. In the indoor microenvironment, the highest concentration occurred in the subway (106.2 microg\/m(3)) followed by school (93.27 microg\/m(3)), and the lowest at home (53.1 microg\/m(3)). The outdoor microenvironment with the highest concentrations was the public transportation (bus) (99.95 microg\/m(3)), while the automobile had the lowest (64.9 microg\/m(3)). The geographical zone with the highest concentration was the Center city area (87.87 microg\/m(3)), and the one with the lowest concentration was the northeast area of the city (50 microg\/m(3)). All the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). Multivariate analysis corroborated that PM(2.5) concentrations are mainly determined by geographical locations and hour of the day, but not by the type of microenvironment. The inclusion of covariables in the multivariable analysis ensures a more accurate estimation and prediction of the real PM(2.5) concentrations. In conclusion, PM(2.5) personal exposure of healthy adult permanent residents of MCMA is usually higher than recommended by the international standards in outdoor and even in indoor microenvironments. Particulate matter personal exposure varies in relation to hour of the day, daily activities and microenvironments.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32349347,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Kids, Difficult Asthma and Fungus.\nFungi have many potential roles in paediatric asthma, predominantly by being a source of allergens (severe asthma with fungal sensitization, SAFS), and also directly damaging the epithelial barrier and underlying tissue by releasing proteolytic enzymes (fungal bronchitis). The umbrella term 'fungal asthma' is proposed for these manifestations. Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) is not a feature of childhood asthma, for unclear reasons. Diagnostic criteria for SAFS are based on sensitivity to fungal allergen(s) demonstrated either by skin prick test or specific IgE. In children, there are no exclusion criteria on total IgE levels or IgG precipitins because of the rarity of ABPA. Diagnostic criteria for fungal bronchitis are much less well established. Data in adults and children suggest SAFS is associated with worse asthma control and greater susceptibility to asthma attacks than non-sensitized patients. The data on whether anti-fungal therapy is beneficial are conflicting. The pathophysiology of SAFS is unclear, but the epithelial alarmin interleukin-33 is implicated. However, whether individual fungi have different pathobiologies is unclear. There are many unanswered questions needing further research, including how fungi interact with other allergens, bacteria, and viruses, and what optimal therapy should be, including whether anti-neutrophilic strategies, such as macrolides, should be used. Considerable further research is needed to unravel the complex roles of different fungi in severe asthma.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6164059,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Allelic forms of beta 2-microglobulin in the mouse.\nSpleen cells from BALB\/c and C57BL\/6 mice were cultured separately or together, and the biosynthetically labeled supernates were examined by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Although there were no major labeled proteins in the mixed group that were not present in the separate cultures, there was a major low-molecular-weight protein that differed in charge in the two strains. This protein was identified as beta 2-microglobulin; it could be labeled with 125I on the cell surface by using the lactoperoxidase technique, was noncovalently attached to the H-2K molecule, and had the expected size and charge when compared with human beta 2-microglobulin. Both acidic and basic forms were present in (BALB\/c X C57BL\/6) F1 hybrids, suggesting codominant expression, although allelic exclusion was not ruled out. Either parental form could combine with one parental form of the H-2K molecule. The beta 2-microglobulin gene does not appear to be closely linked to either the H-2 or th immunoglobulin heavy-chain complexes. It is proposed that beta 2-microglobulin is an \"effector subunit\" of histocompatibility antigens and that its physiological role is to interact with a specific killing structure on the surface of cytolytic T lymphocytes and thereby initiate cell destruction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12030969,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"A link between parotid salivary Ig level and recurrent respiratory infections in young Down's syndrome patients.\nThe purpose of the present investigation was to assess the correlation between recurrent respiratory infections and the levels of salivary Ig in a group of young Down's syndrome (DS) individuals. Twenty-three DS and 10 age- and sex-matched healthy individuals were included. DS individuals who had experienced three or more upper respiratory tract infections (n = 10) in the previous 12 months were compared to DS individuals who had not experienced recurrent respiratory infections (n = 13) and to healthy controls (n = 10). A statistically significant reduction in the Ig salivary secretion rate was recorded in the subgroup with recurrent respiratory infections. No significant differences were seen between the subgroup without recurrent respiratory infections and controls. It is suggested that the secretory immune system provides local immune protection against pathogens in the respiratory tract. Detection of salivary Ig levels may serve as a predictor of the susceptibility of DS individuals to recurrent respiratory tract infections.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23871879,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"The molecular basis for the inhibition of phosphodiesterase-4D by three natural resveratrol analogs. Isolation, molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulations, binding free energy, and bioassay.\nThe phosphodiesterase-4 (PDE4) enzyme is a promising therapeutic target for several diseases. Our previous studies found resveratrol and moracin M to be natural PDE4 inhibitors. In the present study, three natural resveratrol analogs [pterostilbene, (E)-2',3,5',5-tetrahydroxystilbene (THSB), and oxyresveratrol] are structurally related to resveratrol and moracin M, but their inhibition and mechanism against PDE4 are still unclear. A combined method consisting of molecular docking, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, binding free energy, and bioassay was performed to better understand their inhibitory mechanism. The binding pattern of pterostilbene demonstrates that it involves hydrophobic\/aromatic interactions with Phe340 and Phe372, and forms hydrogen bond(s) with His160 and Gln369 in the active site pocket. The present work also reveals that oxyresveratrol and THSB can bind to PDE4D and exhibits less negative predicted binding free energies than pterostilbene, which was qualitatively validated by bioassay (IC50=96.6, 36.1, and 27.0\u03bcM, respectively). Additionally, a linear correlation (R(2)=0.953) is achieved for five PDE4D\/ligand complexes between the predicted binding free energies and the experimental counterparts approximately estimated from their IC50 values (\u2248RT ln IC50). Our results imply that hydrophobic\/aromatic forces are the primary factors in explaining the mechanism of inhibition by the three products. Results of the study help to understand the inhibitory mechanism of the three natural products, and thus help the discovery of novel PDE4 inhibitors from resveratrol, moracin M, and other natural products.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28719836,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Long-term management of patients with hormone receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer: Concepts for sequential and combination endocrine-based therapies.\nTreatment options for hormone receptor-positive (HR-positive) metastatic breast cancer (MBC) continue to increase in parallel with expanding knowledge about the complex biology of breast cancer subtypes and resistance mechanisms to endocrine therapy. For patients with HR-positive MBC, there are now an unprecedented number of endocrine-based treatment options that can improve long-term outcomes, while preserving or optimizing quality of life, and that can be used before selecting more cytotoxic chemotherapeutic regimens. In addition to antiestrogens, steroidal and nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitors, the selective estrogen-receptor degrader, fulvestrant, and new endocrine-based combinations provide significant and clinically meaningful improvements in outcomes in the first line setting and beyond. Also, new clinical scenarios and indications for monotherapy endocrine and targeted therapies continue to be explored. Patients have several therapeutic options when their disease progresses or becomes resistant, although the optimal sequencing of these therapies remains unclear. Ongoing research in the resistant\/refractory setting is anticipated to continue improving the outlook for these patients. This review will discuss current and investigational approaches to sequential single-agent endocrine and endocrine-based combination therapy for the long-term management of patients with HR-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative MBC.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3041593,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-30":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Breast cancer-associated pS2 protein: synthesis and secretion by normal stomach mucosa.\nThe human pS2 gene is specifically expressed under estrogen transcriptional control in a subclass of estrogen receptor-containing human breast cancer cells. The pS2 gene encodes an 84-amino acid protein that is secreted after signal peptide cleavage. The distribution of pS2 protein in normal human tissues was studied with antibodies to pS2; pS2 was specifically expressed and secreted by mucosa cells of the normal stomach antrum and body of both female and male individuals. Moreover, no estrogen receptor could be detected in these cells, indicating that pS2 gene expression is estrogen-independent in the stomach. The function of the pS2 protein in the gastrointestinal tract is unknown. However, the pS2 protein is similar in sequence to a porcine pancreatic protein that has been shown to inhibit gastrointestinal motility and gastric secretion.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32580839,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Serum Ang and CysC Levels in Essential Hypertension Complicated by Hypertensive Emergencies.\nTo explore the value of serum angiotensin \u2161 (Ang II) and cystatin C (CysC) levels in predicting hypertension emergency in patients with essential hypertension. Experimental study. Hangzhou Hospital of Zhejiang Medical and Health Group, from January 2018 to February 2020. One hundred and thirty seven patients with essential hypertension were divided into hypertension emergency group (Group A, 42 cases) and essential hypertension group without emergency (Group B, 95 cases). Ninety-five healthy subjects were selected as control group. Correlation between serum Ang and CysC and essential hypertension complicated with hypertension emergency was analysed. Diagnostic ability of Ang and CysC was analysed by ROC curve. Serum Ang and CysC levels in Group A and B were higher than those in control group (all p <0.001); serum Ang II and CysC levels in Group A were higher than those in Group B (both p <0.001). Serum Ang II and CysC levels were positively correlated with essential hypertension complicated with hypertension emergency (r=0.480, p <0.001; r=0.485,p <0.001, respectively). Area under ROC curve of serum Ang II combined with CysC for predicting hypertension emergency was 0.905 (95%CI: 0.854-0.955), which was larger than that of serum Ang II, CysC alone. Serum Ang II and CysC in patients with primary hyperemia complicated with hypertension emergency were higher. Combined detection of serum Ang II and CysC might be used as an effective reference index for predicting hypertension emergencies in patients with essential hypertension. Key Words: Serum, Angiotensin \u2161 (Ang II), Cystatin C (CysC), Essential hypertension, Hypertension emergency.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29375036,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Rotavirus vaccine impact and socioeconomic deprivation: an interrupted time-series analysis of gastrointestinal disease outcomes across primary and secondary care in the UK.\nRotavirus causes severe gastroenteritis in infants and young children worldwide. The UK introduced the monovalent rotavirus vaccine (Rotarix\u00ae) in July 2013. Vaccination is free of charge to parents, with two doses delivered at 8 and 12 weeks of age. We evaluated vaccine impact across a health system in relation to socioeconomic deprivation. We used interrupted time-series analyses to assess changes in monthly health-care attendances in Merseyside, UK, for all ages, from July 2013 to June 2016, compared to predicted counterfactual attendances without vaccination spanning 3-11 years pre-vaccine. Outcome measures included laboratory-confirmed rotavirus gastroenteritis (RVGE) hospitalisations, acute gastroenteritis (AGE) hospitalisations, emergency department (ED) attendances for gastrointestinal conditions and consultations for infectious gastroenteritis at community walk-in centres (WIC) and general practices (GP). All analyses were stratified by age. Hospitalisations were additionally stratified by vaccine uptake and small-area-level socioeconomic deprivation. The uptake of the first and second doses of rotavirus vaccine was 91.4% (29,108\/31,836) and 86.7% (27,594\/31,836), respectively. Among children aged < 5 years, the incidence of gastrointestinal disease decreased across all outcomes post-vaccine introduction: 80% (95% confidence interval [CI] 70-87%; p < 0.001) for RVGE hospitalisation, 44% (95% CI 35-53%; p < 0.001) for AGE hospitalisations, 23% (95% CI 11-33%; p < 0.001) for ED, 32% (95% CI 7-50%; p = 0.02) for WIC and 13% (95% CI -3-26%; p = 0.10) for GP. The impact was greatest during the rotavirus season and for vaccine-eligible age groups. In adults aged 65+ years, AGE hospitalisations fell by 25% (95% CI 19-30%; p < 0.001). The pre-vaccine risk of AGE hospitalisation was highest in the most socioeconomically deprived communities (adjusted incident rate ratio 1.57; 95% CI 1.51-1.64; p < 0.001), as was the risk for non-vaccination (adjusted risk ratio 1.54; 95% CI 1.34-1.75; p < 0.001). The rate of AGE hospitalisations averted per 1,000 first doses of vaccine was higher among infants in the most deprived communities compared to the least deprived in 2014\/15 (28; 95% CI 25-31 vs. 15; 95% CI 12-17) and in 2015\/16 (26; 95% CI 23-30 vs. 13; 95% CI 11-16). Following the introduction of rotavirus vaccination, incidence of gastrointestinal disease reduced across the health-care system. Vaccine impact was greatest among the most deprived populations, despite lower vaccine uptake. Prioritising vaccine uptake in socioeconomically deprived communities should give the greatest health benefit in terms of population disease burden.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12002711,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Initial results in the assessment of multiple myeloma using 18F-FDG PET.\nThis prospective study was undertaken to investigate the appearance of multiple myeloma on fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET). Furthermore, the accuracy of FDG-PET in detecting myeloma lesions and its influence on patient management were evaluated. Forty-three patients with known multiple myeloma (n=28) or solitary plasmacytoma (n=15) underwent FDG-PET. The results of routinely performed radiographs and of scans obtained using all available imaging modalities (MRI, CT), as well as the clinical course, were used for verification of detected lesions. Focally increased tracer uptake was observed in 38 of 41 known osteolytic bone lesions (sensitivity 92.7%) in 23 patients. In addition, 71 further bone lesions which were negative on radiographs were detected in 14 patients. Twenty-six (36.6%) of these lesions could be confirmed in ten patients. As a result of FDG-PET imaging, clinical management was influenced in five (14.0%) patients. The positive predictive value for active disease was 100% in patients with focal or mixed focal\/diffuse skeletal FDG uptake and 75% in patients with diffuse bone marrow uptake. Depending on the interpretation of the PET scans in patients with diffuse bone marrow uptake, the sensitivity ranged from 83.8% to 91.9% and the specificity from 83.3% to 100%. FDG-PET thus proved highly accurate in detecting multiple myeloma, and revealed a greater extent of disease than routine radiographs in 14 of 23 (60.9%) patients who had osteolytic bone lesions. FDG-PET might contribute to the initial staging of solitary plasmacytoma.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30670059,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-26":1,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Preconception paternal alcohol exposure exerts sex-specific effects on offspring growth and long-term metabolic programming.\nAlthough clinical data support an association between paternal alcohol use and deficits in child neurocognitive development, the relationship between paternal drinking and alcohol-induced growth phenotypes remains challenging to define. Using an established mouse model of chronic exposure, previous work by our group has linked preconception paternal alcohol use to sex-specific patterns of fetal growth restriction and placental dysfunction. The aim of the present study was to investigate the long-term impact of chronic preconception paternal alcohol use on offspring growth and metabolic programming. Preconception paternal alcohol exposure induced a prolonged period of fetal gestation and an increased incidence of intrauterine growth restriction, which affected the male offspring to a greater extent than the females. While the female offspring of ethanol-exposed males were able to match the body weights of the controls within the first 2 weeks of postnatal life, male offspring continued to display an 11% reduction in weight at 5 weeks of age and a 6% reduction at 8 weeks of age. The observed growth deficits associated with insulin hypersensitivity in the male offspring, while in contrast, females displayed a modest lag in their glucose tolerance test. These metabolic defects were associated with an up-regulation of genes within the pro-fibrotic TGF-\u03b2 signaling pathway and increased levels of cellular hydroxyproline within the livers of the male offspring. We observed suppressed cytokine profiles within the liver and pancreas of both the male and female offspring, which correlated with the up-regulation of genes in the LiverX\/RetinoidX\/FarnesoidX receptor pathways. However, patterns of gene expression were highly variable between the offspring of alcohol-exposed sires. In the adult offspring of alcohol-exposed males, we did not observe any differences in the allelic expression of Igf2 or any other imprinted genes. The impact of paternal alcohol use on child development is poorly explored and represents a significant gap in our understanding of the teratogenic effects of ethanol. Our studies implicate paternal exposure history as an additional and important modifier of alcohol-induced growth phenotypes and challenge the current maternal-centric exposure paradigm.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28532024,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"The effect of pore size and porosity on mechanical properties and biological response of porous titanium scaffolds.\nThe effect of pore size and porosity on elastic modulus, strength, cell attachment and cell proliferation was studied for Ti porous scaffolds manufactured via powder metallurgy and sintering. Porous scaffolds were prepared in two ranges of porosities so that their mechanical properties could mimic those of cortical and trabecular bone respectively. Space-holder engineered pore size distributions were carefully determined to study the impact that small changes in pore size may have on mechanical and biological behaviour. The Young's moduli and compressive strengths were correlated with the relative porosity. Linear, power and exponential regressions were studied to confirm the predictability in the characterisation of the manufactured scaffolds and therefore establish them as a design tool for customisation of devices to suit patients' needs. The correlations were stronger for the linear and the power law regressions and poor for the exponential regressions. The optimal pore microarchitecture (i.e. pore size and porosity) for scaffolds to be used in bone grafting for cortical bone was set to <212\u03bcm with volumetric porosity values of 27-37%, and for trabecular tissues to 300-500\u03bcm with volumetric porosity values of 54-58%. The pore size range 212-300\u03bcm with volumetric porosity values of 38-56% was reported as the least favourable to cell proliferation in the longitudinal study of 12days of incubation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27486222,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Smoothed Bootstrap Aggregation for Assessing Selection Pressure at Amino Acid Sites.\nTo detect positive selection at individual amino acid sites, most methods use an empirical Bayes approach. After parameters of a Markov process of codon evolution are estimated via maximum likelihood, they are passed to Bayes formula to compute the posterior probability that a site evolved under positive selection. A difficulty with this approach is that parameter estimates with large errors can negatively impact Bayesian classification. By assigning priors to some parameters, Bayes Empirical Bayes (BEB) mitigates this problem. However, as implemented, it imposes uniform priors, which causes it to be overly conservative in some cases. When standard regularity conditions are not met and parameter estimates are unstable, inference, even under BEB, can be negatively impacted. We present an alternative to BEB called smoothed bootstrap aggregation (SBA), which bootstraps site patterns from an alignment of protein coding DNA sequences to accommodate the uncertainty in the parameter estimates. We show that deriving the correction for parameter uncertainty from the data in hand, in combination with kernel smoothing techniques, improves site specific inference of positive selection. We compare BEB to SBA by simulation and real data analysis. Simulation results show that SBA balances accuracy and power at least as well as BEB, and when parameter estimates are unstable, the performance gap between BEB and SBA can widen in favor of SBA. SBA is applicable to a wide variety of other inference problems in molecular evolution.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35356084,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Image-Driven Modeling of Nanoscopic Cardiac Function: Where Have We Come From, and Where Are We Going?\nComplementary developments in microscopy and mathematical modeling have been critical to our understanding of cardiac excitation-contraction coupling. Historically, limitations imposed by the spatial or temporal resolution of imaging methods have been addressed through careful mathematical interrogation. Similarly, limitations imposed by computational power have been addressed by imaging macroscopic function in large subcellular domains or in whole myocytes. As both imaging resolution and computational tractability have improved, the two approaches have nearly merged in terms of the scales that they can each be used to interrogate. With this review we will provide an overview of these advances and their contribution to understanding ventricular myocyte function, including exciting developments over the last decade. We specifically focus on experimental methods that have pushed back limits of either spatial or temporal resolution of nanoscale imaging (e.g., DNA-PAINT), or have permitted high resolution imaging on large cellular volumes (e.g., serial scanning electron microscopy). We also review the progression of computational approaches used to integrate and interrogate these new experimental data sources, and comment on near-term advances that may unify understanding of the underlying biology. Finally, we comment on several outstanding questions in cardiac physiology that stand to benefit from a concerted and complementary application of these new experimental and computational methods.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9570414,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Enabling student nurses to use the information superhighway.\nNursing graduates must be sophisticated in the use of information technologies and understand how these technologies interface with various health care systems. The purpose of this project was to evaluate the impact of a newly developed Internet course, focusing on current information technologies, on 20 RN-to-MSN students. Author-developed instruments were used to measure weekly computer use, perceived computer skill, and knowledge related to the information superhighway. The Stronge & Brodt Nurses Attitudes Toward Computerization Questionnaire was used to assess attitudes toward computerization. Qualitative data was elicited using weekly evaluation forms. When compared to 23 students at a similar stage of their nursing program, quantitative findings indicated that, at the end of the semester, students in the pilot course had more computer knowledge, reported greater computer skill, and used computers more. Qualitative findings suggested that pilot students: * Were connected with nursing networks and expressed their intent to maintain these networks. * Were able to use current health information found on the Internet in their nursing practices. * Used skills learned in the pilot class to complete projects in other classes. * Communicated with classmates via the Internet, thus forming a potentially valuable professional support system. * Used the library and librarians early in their programs. * Understood the relevancy of telemedicine and the Internet to the future survival of nursing in a changing health care arena. While the authors caution that an adequate infrastructure must be available to support such an endeavor, they emphasize that knowledge of the relevancy and use of the information superhighway is crucial to the future survival of nursing in a rapidly changing health care arena.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23457049,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Thrombin activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor: a putative target to enhance fibrinolysis.\nThrombin activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI) was discovered two decades ago consequent to the identification of an unstable carboxypeptidase (CPU) formed upon thrombin activation of its proenzyme. The antifibrinolytic effects of the activated form (TAFIa, CPU) are linked with its capacity to remove C-terminal lysines from the surface of the fibrin clot. A distinctive characteristic of TAFIa is its temperature-dependent conformational instability: TAFIa activity spontaneously decays with an apparent half-life of 8 to 15 minutes at 37\u00b0C. A variety of studies has demonstrated a role for TAFI\/TAFIa in venous and arterial diseases. In addition, a role for TAFI\/TAFIa in inflammation and cell migration has also been shown. Because TAFI\/TAFIa is a potential risk factor for thrombotic disorders, many inhibitors, both at the level of activation or at the level of activity, have been developed and were proven to exhibit a profibrinolytic effect in animal models. Pharmacologically active inhibitors of the TAFI\/TAFIa system may open new ways for the prevention of thrombotic diseases or for the establishment of adjunctive treatments during thrombolytic therapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16162054,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Implicit and self-attributed motives to achieve: two separate but interacting needs.\nThis research examined how implicit and self-attributed needs to achieve (labeled as n Ach and san Ach, respectively) combine with self-referenced and norm-referenced feedback to predict effort-related (task performance) and choice-related (task continuation) indexes of students' engagement in a mental concentration task. In Experiment 1 the authors found that in a task-focused setting, task performance was predicted by the joint effect of self-referenced feedback and n Ach, whereas task continuation was predicted by the joint effect of norm-referenced feedback and san Ach. In Experiment 2 the authors found that in an ego-focused setting, n Ach and san Ach interacted in the prediction of task performance but not of task continuation. In Experiment 3 the authors found that the effects of n Ach and san Ach on students' performance were mediated by the anticipated affective value of achievement outcomes. These findings are discussed in relation to a 2-system approach to achievement motivation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25503264,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hypercytotoxicity and rapid loss of NKp44+ innate lymphoid cells during acute SIV infection.\nHIV\/SIV infections break down the integrity of the gastrointestinal mucosa and lead to chronic immune activation and associated disease progression. Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs), distinguishable by high expression of NKp44 and ROR\u03b3t, play key roles in mucosal defense and homeostasis, but are depleted from gastrointestinal (GI) tract large bowel during chronic SIV infection. However, less is known about the kinetics of ILC loss, or if it occurs systemically. In acute SIV infection, we found a massive, up to 8-fold, loss of NKp44+ILCs in all mucosae as early as day 6 post-infection, which was sustained through chronic disease. Interestingly, no loss of ILCs was observed in mucosa-draining lymph nodes. In contrast, classical NK cells were not depleted either from gut or draining lymph nodes. Both ILCs and NK cells exhibited significantly increased levels of apoptosis as measured by increased Annexin-V expression, but while classical NK cells also showed increased proliferation, ILCs did not. Interestingly, ILCs, which are normally noncytolytic, dramatically upregulated cytotoxic functions in acute and chronic infection and acquired a polyfunctional phenotype secreting IFN-\u03b3, MIP1-\u03b2, and TNF-\u03b1, but decreased production of the prototypical cytokine, IL-17. Classical NK cells had less dramatic functional change, but upregulated perforin expression and increased cytotoxic potential. Finally, we show that numerical and functional loss of ILCs was due to increased apoptosis and ROR \u03b3t suppression induced by inflammatory cytokines in the gut milieu. Herein we demonstrate the first evidence for acute, systemic, and permanent loss of mucosal ILCs during SIV infection associated with reduction of IL-17. The massive reduction of ILCs involves apoptosis without compensatory de novo development\/proliferation, but the full mechanism of depletion and the impact of functional change so early in infection remain unclear.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17878791,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-26":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dorsal bunion after clubfoot surgery: outcome of reverse Jones procedure.\nThe dorsal bunion deformity consists of the elevation of first metatarsal head, plantar flexion contracture at the first metatarsophalangeal joint, and dorsiflexion contracture of the tarsometatarsal joint. A reverse Jones procedure with transfer of the flexor hallucis longus to the metatarsal head has been an effective method in correcting this deformity. This is a retrospective review of 27 patients with 33 feet who had reverse Jones procedure with or without metatarsal osteotomy between 1983 and 2002. All patients had previous soft tissue releases for clubfoot deformity. Clinical reviews included muscle function test and radiographic evaluation before and after procedures. We used the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society Hallux Metatarsophalangeal-interphalangeal scale for functional outcome results. The average follow-up was 4.96 years. There were 21 boys and 6 girls. Average age at time of procedure was 13.7 years. With the reverse Jones procedure, there were 18 first metatarsal osteotomies and 12 split anterior tibial tendon transfers. Before surgery, decreased muscle strength in triceps surae (73%), tibialis posterior (76%), peroneus longus (67%), and extensor hallucis longus (76%) was noted. Patients (84.9%) had normal tibialis anterior and flexor hallucis longus power. In radiographic evaluations, the operation resulted in decreased elevation of the first metatarsal by measuring the metatarsal-horizontal angle. The lateral metatarsophalangeal angle improved from 23 degrees plantar flexion to 1 degree in dorsiflexion. The average global American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society Hallux Metatarsophalangeal-interphalangeal score was 70 preoperatively and 92 postoperatively with improvement of subscores in pain, activity, footwear, range of motion, callus, and alignment. Dorsal bunion is a recognized long-term complication after clubfoot surgery. The causes of the deformity are weakness of Achilles tendon, overpowering of flexor hallucis longus, and strong anterior tibial tendon with weakness of peroneus longus. The reverse Jones procedure improved the condition in this series and provided a long-lasting and effective correction of the dorsal bunion deformity. Level 4.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28574267,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Copper-Catalyzed, Stereoselective Bis-trifluoromethylthiolation of Propiolic Acid Derivatives with AgSCF3.\nA copper-catalyzed chemo- and stereoselective oxidative bis-trifluoromethylthiolation of propiolic acid derivatives was achieved by using carboxylic acid as the activating group and formic acid as a cosolvent. The reaction of propiolic acid derivatives and AgSCF3 in the presence of (NH4)2S2O8 and catalytic Cu(OAc)2 in MeCN\/HCO2H afforded bis-trifluoromethylthiolated acrylic acids in moderate to excellent yields with E selectivity. Further derivatization of the resultant products gave a series of polysubstituted SCF3-containing alkenes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31243744,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Update on the role of pharmaceutical-grade chondroitin sulfate in the symptomatic management of knee osteoarthritis.\nOsteoarthritis (OA) is the most prevalent musculoskeletal disease and a major cause of negative relevant outcomes, associated with an ever-increasing societal burden. Pharmaceutical-grade chondroitin sulfate (CS) was repeatedly reported to reduce pain and improve function in patients with knee OA. This treatment was also shown to be cost-effective, compared to placebo, up to 24 months. However, controversies still persist regarding the usefulness of CS for patients with knee OA, mainly due to inconsistent reports from various clinical trials. In this literature review, we aimed to summarize the main most recent findings on the efficacy and safety of CS in OA. Based on the results of studies presenting a low risk of bias, the most recent meta-analysis shows that only the pharmaceutical-grade CS may be considered as an appropriate background treatment for the management of knee OA. Evidence from another recent meta-analysis, using data from full safety reports, confirms the good safety profile of CS in OA. This new evidence on efficacy and safety suggests that recommendations for the use of CS in patients with knee OA cannot be extrapolated to other low-grade preparations as generics, nutraceutical-grade or over-the-counter preparations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32377513,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Clinical Significance of Hepatocyte Growth Factor and Transforming Growth Factor-Beta-1 Levels in Assessing Disease Activity in Inflammatory Bowel Disease.\nBackground. Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-\u03b2) and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) are inflammatory cytokines which function as key regulators of immunological homeostasis and inflammatory responses. They have been linked to inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). In this study, we aim to assess the levels of TGF-\u03b2 and HGF and other inflammatory markers in patients with IBD and correlate them with the disease activity. Study Design. A cross-sectional study involving 100 patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and 100 patients with Crohn's disease (CD) and 50 control subjects. TGF-\u03b2 and HGF levels were measured and correlated with disease activity. Results and Conclusion. Serum levels of TGF-\u03b2 and HGF were significantly higher in IBD patients compared with the control group. In the UC group, the levels of HGF and TGF-\u03b2 were significantly higher than in the CD group. Levels of TGF-\u03b2 and HGF correlate with the activity of IBD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9553254,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Regional anesthesias in children--the concept, advantages and general principles].\nValidates the concept and discusses the advantages of central and peripheral regional anesthesias in children in combination with superficial narcosis during the stage of analgesia in surgical interventions of any severity. Emphasizes the efficacy of regional blocking, including prolonged ones, for postoperative analgesia. Presents the fundamentals of regional anesthesias in children.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15264944,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Toward youth self-report of health and quality of life in population monitoring.\nThis paper addresses population monitoring of youth health and quality of life, including the concepts used, methodological and practical criteria for indicators, and existing surveys and measures. Current population surveys of youth generally focus on poor health, such as disability or health-risk behaviors. Although these are important end points, indicators of illness or risk do not reflect the health or life perspective of the majority of youth who do not experience health problems. The measures used to monitor youth health should be appropriate and sensitive to future needs and capture the perspectives of youths. Two potential concepts for this \"scorecard\" are self-perceived health and quality of life, which have been shown to be useful in adults. For youth, the quality of life framework seems particularly relevant as it incorporates both positive and negative aspects of health and well-being and also captures salient aspects of health other than physical health, such as sense of self, social relationships, environment and culture, and life satisfaction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14520602,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The connection between QT dispersion and autonomic neuropathy in patients with type 2 diabetes.\nIt is controversial whether an increase in the QT dispersion (QTd) on the electrocardiogram (ECG) reflects cardiac autonomic neuropathy in diabetic patients. In the current study, the QTd was compared in 60 type 2 diabetic patients and in 30 healthy subjects, and its association with autonomic neuropathy in diabetic patients was investigated. An increased QTd was found in diabetic patients, compared to healthy subjects. The QTd had significant negative associations with the log of the low and high frequency power (log LF and HF, respectively) of the power spectral analyses (PSA) of heart rate variations and the systolic blood response during standing (Delta BP). There was no significant difference in the QTd between patients with and without sympathetic skin response (SSR), reflecting peripheral sympathetic function. A significant positive correlation was also found between QTd and the systolic blood pressure (SBP). On the other hand, there was no correlation between QTd and serum total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), hemoglobin (Hb) A (1C) concentrations or body mass index (BMI). By multiple regression analysis, the log HF, which reflects cardiac parasympathetic function, and the SBP alone were significantly associated with QTd as the dependent variable. The Delta BP and log LF, which partially reflect sympathetic nerve function, had no significant associations with QTd. These findings suggest that QTd reflects cardiac autonomic neuropathy (relative parasympathetic neuropathy) and that the QTd is also influenced by SBP, independent of autonomic neuro-function.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21754880,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"(S)-2-(1-Methyl-indolin-2-yl)-1,3-diphenyl-propan-2-ol.\nThe five-membered ring in the the title mol-ecule, C(24)H(25)NO, fused with the phenyl-ene ring, is almost planar (r.m.s. deviation = 0.023 \u00c5), with the methyl-ene C atom deviating most from this mean plane [0.031 (1) \u00c5]. The tertiary N atom shows a flattened pyramidal configuration [\u03a3(angles at N) = 350.3 (6)\u00b0].","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37839011,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Omics molecular subtyping, prognostic prediction and individualized treatment of prostate cancer: Advances in studies].\nProstate cancer (PCa) is a most common malignancy in males. It has a greater heterogeneity than other cancers, which poses a real challenge to the clinical diagnosis, classification and prognostic monitoring. At present, high-, medium- and low-risk PCa patients are classified mainly by Gleason scores and the PSA level, which, however, fail to reveal the diverse molecular heterogeneity and precisely distinguish the molecular subtypes of PCa. With the development of high-throughput sequencing, more and more studies on the molecular classification of the malignancy have paved the theoretical ground for the early diagnosis, efficacy prediction and individualized treatment of PCa. This study reviews the molecular classification, prognosis prediction and individualized treatment of PCa to date, hoping to contribute to the development of the precise treatment of PCa.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":939675,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Metrizamide in experimental urography. V. Renal excretion mechanism of a non-ionic contrast medium in rabbit and cat.\nThe excretion mechanisms of the non-ionic contrast medium, metrizamide, and the ionic, sodium diatrizoate, are compared to investigate the potential usefulness of metrizamide in clinical urography. A mixture of 125I-labeled metrizamide and 131I-labeled diatrizoate was injected intravenously to rabbits or cats. Urine, bile and blood were analyzed for their concentration of iodine. From these concentrations the renal and total clearance was calculated. In the rabbit the excretion of metrizamide was also compared with that of 3H-inulin with or without influence of p-aminohippurate or probenecid. The earlier reported relatively low urinary iodine concentrations after intravenous injection to rabbits of low doses were explained by the following findings: In the rabbit the volume of distribution, the renal clearance and the total clearance of metrizamide were smaller than those measured for diatrizoate and inulin. The biological half-life in serum measured 30-150 min after injection was the same for all three compounds. No indication of tubular secretion was found. The excretion mechanism of the contrast media exhibits species differences as no differences between metrizamide and diatrizoate in the parameters mentioned above could be measured in the cat.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30314282,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cellular Automata Modeling of Ostwald Ripening and Rayleigh Instability.\nA cellular automata (CA) approach to modeling both Ostwald ripening and Rayleigh instability was developed. Curvature-driven phase interface migration was implemented to CA model, and novel CA rules were introduced to ensure the conservation of phase volume fraction of nearly equilibrium two-phase system. For transient Ostwald ripening, it is shown that the temporal growth exponent m is evolving with time and non-integer temporal exponents between 2 and 3 are predicted. The varying temporal growth exponent m is related to the particle size distributions (PSDs) evolution. With an initial wide PSD, it becomes narrowed toward steady state. With an initial narrow PSD, it becomes widened at first and then narrowed toward steady state. For Rayleigh instability, two cases (one with sinusoidal perturbation on the surface of the long cylinder, and the other with grain boundaries in the interior of the long cylinder) were simulated, and the breakup of the long cylinder was shown for both cases. In the end, a system containing long cylinders with interior grain boundaries was simulated, which demonstrated the integration of Rayleigh instability and Ostwald ripening relating to the spheroidization of the lamellar structure.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3055441,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Three-dimensional transcranial Doppler blood flow mapping in patients with cerebrovascular disorders.\nWe investigated 60 patients with cerebrovascular disorders using a three-dimensional transcranial Doppler blood flow mapping system. A composite display of the circle of Willis is created with computer assistance, allowing accurate vessel identification and optimal data documentation of blood flow velocity and direction in the basal cerebral arteries. The basilar artery was insonated in every patient; the middle cerebral artery and the most distal internal carotid artery were found in 95% of the patients, the anterior cerebral artery in 85%, and the posterior cerebral artery in 84%. Insonation problems occurred predominantly in elderly women. Transcranial Doppler blood flow mapping showed an abnormal result in 23 of 60 patients (38%). An intracranial stenosis with greater than 50% diameter reduction or occlusion was found in 10 of 31 patients (32%) with completed stroke, reversible ischemic neurologic deficit, or transient ischemic attack. Collateral blood flow mechanisms could be demonstrated in patients with extracranial carotid artery occlusions. Intra-arterial cerebral angiography performed in 21 patients confirmed the transcranial Doppler blood flow mapping diagnosis in 19 (90.5%). In one patient an arteriovenous malformation diagnosed by transcranial Doppler blood flow mapping was confirmed by magnetic resonance imaging.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37448281,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Significance of C4d expression in peritubular capillaries concurrent with microvascular inflammation in for-cause biopsies of ABO-incompatible renal allografts.\nPathologic diagnosis of antibody-mediated rejection (ABMR) in ABO-incompatible (ABOi) transplantation patients is often challenging because patients without ABMR are frequently immunopositive for C4d. The aim of this study was to determine whether C4d positivity with microvascular inflammation (MVI), in the absence of any detectable donor-specific antibodies (DSAs) in ABOi patients, could be considered as ABMR. A retrospective study of 214 for-cause biopsies from 126 ABOi kidney transplantation patients was performed. Patients with MVI score of \u22652 and glomerulitis score of \u22651 (n = 62) were divided into three groups: the absolute ABMR group (DSA-positive, C4d-positive or C4d-negative; n = 36), the C4d-positive group (DSA-negative, C4d-positive; n = 22), and the C4d-negative group (DSA-negative, C4d-negative; n = 4). The Banff scores, estimated glomerular filtration rates (eGFRs), and graft failure rates were compared among groups. C4d-positive biopsies showed higher glomerulitis, peritubular capillaritis, and MVI scores compared with C4d-negative specimens. The C4d-positive group did not show significant differences in eGFRs and graft survival compared with the absolute ABMR group. The results indicate that C4d positivity, MVI score of \u22652, and glomerulitis score of \u22651 in ABOi allograft biopsies may be categorized and treated as ABMR cases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3045459,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Catecholamine-induced cardiovascular disease in the spontaneously hypertensive and atherosclerotic turkey.\nThe interest evoked by the Broad Breasted White Turkey (BBWT) as an animal model for studying the cardiovascular damages produced by hypertension and catecholamines is mainly due to the fact that hypertension is spontaneous and tissue and circulating catecholamines, especially norepinephrine, are extremely high. In this paper we focused our attention on three characteristic pathophysiological features displayed by these animals which are strictly related, as well as in humans, to the elevated blood pressure values and to catecholamine action. We also described the possibility of modifying the development of some of these lesions with pharmacological interventions liable to antagonize the peripheral effects of norepinephrine and epinephrine. The dissecting aneurysm of the aorta accounts for 5-10% of sudden deaths in this animal strain. It can be prevented by lowering blood pressure, especially with beta-blockers, and facilitated by MAO-inhibitors. The degree of cardiac hypertrophy is remarkably high and unexpectedly characterized by the synthesis of a \"fast\" V1-like isomyosin with high Ca++ activated ATPase activity, oxygen consumption and speed of muscle shortening. Neither the reduction of the degree of cardiac hypertrophy, nor treatment with labetalol alone were able to modify this peculiar pattern. In spite of having very high levels of high-density-lipoproteins, which are known to be protective against atherosclerosis, this animal develops a severe atheromatous disease especially in the abdominal aorta, where the cellular growth has also been proven to be in vitro more pronounced than in the thoracic tract. Treatment with beta-blockers reduced the severity and extent of the lesion even in absence of a significant reduction in blood pressure.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28574164,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Limited and digestive proteolysis: crosstalk between evolutionary conserved pathways.\nContents 958 I. 958 II. 959 III. 960 IV. 962 V. 962 962 References 963 SUMMARY: Proteases can either digest target proteins or perform the so-called 'limited proteolysis' by cleaving polypeptide chains at specific site(s). Autophagy and the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) are two main mechanisms carrying out digestive proteolysis. While the net outcome of digestive proteolysis is the loss of function of protein substrates, limited proteolysis can additionally lead to gain or switch of function. Recent evidence of crosstalk between autophagy, UPS and limited proteolysis indicates that these pathways are parts of the same proteolytic nexus. Here, we focus on three emerging themes within this area: limited proteolysis as a mechanism modulating autophagy; interplay between autophagy and UPS, including autophagic degradation of proteasomes (proteophagy); and specificity of protein degradation during bulk autophagy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3039686,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Feline leukemia virus (FeLV) and FeLV-associated diseases in cats: a review].\nFeline leukaemia virus (FeLV) usually occurs in its natural species, the domestic cat. FeLV is also important to human individuals as a comparative model, as FeLV may cause a variety of diseases which are partly malignant and partly benign, such as immunosuppression which bears a resemblance to AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) in man. Although FeLV is a common infective agent, the incidence of disease due to FeLV is much higher in cats kept in closed households in which several of them are present than it is in free-range cats. Consequently, diseases caused by FeLV are frequently diagnosed in pedigree cats which are often maintained in relatively large numbers. FeLV is transmitted among cats by contagion. The main sources of infection are persistantly infected FeLV carrier cats which continuously excrete virus from the mouth and in other secretions. The majority of cats infected with FeLV will produce neutralising antibodies. Cats which are unable to do so, will become permanently infected. The prognosis is bad in these cats: 90 per cent will die within five years. Various techniques are used to detect FeLV. The most common method, the indirect immunofluorescence (IFA) test, is performed on air-dried blood smears. The results of the IFA agree with that are almost completely identical to those of the virus isolation test. Another test is ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay), which produces approximately 10 per cent more positive results which are probably due to circulating FeLV antigens. Dissemination of FeLV among cats may be prevented by identifying infected carrier cats and removing them from contact with non-infected cats. Removal programmes using indirect immunofluorescent antibody (IFA) tests were used successfully in the Netherlands. The proportion of FeLV-positive cats decreased from 9 per cent in 1974 to approximately 3 per cent in 1985 during such a removal programme. During the above period, the removal programme was carried out in the society of Dutch cat breeders 'Felikat', the programme being made compulsory on all members of the society. The incidence of cats positive for FeLV decreased from over 11 per cent in 1974 to less than 2 per cent within four years. None of the cats tested in this society was found to be positive for FeLV in 1984 and 1985. Besides removal programmes, other methods of control, such as vaccination, were developed to prevent the spread of FeLV. The FeLV-immunostimulating complex vaccine (FeLV-ISCOM vaccine) a subunit vaccine in which FeLV-gp70 is presented in a particular manner, seems to be promising.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14524859,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Order statistics of Rosenstock's trapping problem in disordered media.\nThe distribution of times t(j,N) elapsed until the first j independent random walkers from a set of N>>1, all starting from the same site, are trapped by a quenched configuration of traps randomly placed on a disordered lattice is investigated. In doing so, the cumulants of the distribution of the territory explored by N independent random walkers S(N)(t), and the probability Phi(N)(t) that no particle of an initial set of N is trapped by time t are considered. Simulation results for the two-dimensional incipient percolation aggregate show that the ratio between the nth cumulant and the nth moment of S(N)(t) is, for large N, (i) very large in comparison with the same ratio in Euclidean media, and (ii) almost constant. The first property implies that, in contrast with Euclidean media, approximations of the order higher than the standard zeroth-order Rosenstock approximation are required to provide a reasonable description of the trapping order statistics. Fortunately, the second property (which has a geometric origin) can be exploited to build these higher-order Rosenstock approximations. Simulation results for the two-dimensional incipient percolation aggregate confirm the predictions of our approach.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37850447,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Alternaphenol B2, a new IDH1 inhibitor from the coral-derived fungus Parengyodontium album SCSIO SX7W11.\nA new aromatic polyketide, alternaphenol B2 (1), and four known compounds (2-5) were isolated from the coral-derived fungus Parengyodontium album SCSIO SX7W11. Their structures were elucidated by high-resolution mass spectrometry, 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy and comparison with reported literatures. Compounds 1 and 2 exhibited selective inhibitory activity against isocitrate dehydrogenase mutant R132H (IDH1m), with IC50 values of 41.9 and 27.7 \u03bcM, respectively. Our findings thus provide a fresh incentive for investigation on IDH1m inhibitors as lead compounds for cancer treatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37454933,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Tactile stimulation facilitates functional recovery and dendritic change following neonatal hemidecortication in rats.\nAfter large neocortical lesions, such as hemidecortication, children can show significant motor and cognitive impairments. It thus is of considerable interest to identify treatments that might enhance long-term functional outcome. We have previously shown that tactile stimulation enhances recovery from perinatal focal cortical lesions in rats, so the goal of the present experiment was to explore the effectiveness of postlesion tactile stimulation in reducing functional deficits associated with neonatal hemidecortication. Rats were given hemidecortications on postnatal day 10 (P10). Half of the group was then exposed to a daily tactile stimulation treatment for 15 min, three times a day for eleven days following the surgery. All groups were then tested on a number of behavioural tasks (Morris water task, skilled reaching, forelimb placing during spontaneous vertical exploration, and a sunflower seed opening task) beginning at P 120. The brains of the male animals were prepared for Golgi-Cox staining and subsequent analysis of dendritic arborisation and spine density. There were two main findings in this experiment: 1) Tactile stimulation improved cognitive ability and some motor performance after P 10 hemidecortication; and, 2) Tactile stimulation altered cortical organization after P10 hemidecortication. Tactile stimulation may provide an important noninvasive therapy after hemispherectomy in children.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":934571,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Acidosis, local anesthetics, and the newborn.\nFour newborn infants were studied following maternal epidural block with lidocaine or mepivacaine. Each of these neonates, born with a pH of 7.23 or below in the umbilical vein blood, showed an elevated fetal-to-maternal concentration ratio, a possible manifestation of ion trapping of a weak base.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18593702,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Metal ion substrate inhibition of ferrochelatase.\nFerrochelatase catalyzes the insertion of ferrous iron into protoporphyrin IX to form heme. Robust kinetic analyses of the reaction mechanism are complicated by the instability of ferrous iron in aqueous solution, particularly at alkaline pH values. At pH 7.00 the half-life for spontaneous oxidation of ferrous ion is approximately 2 min in the absence of metal complexing additives, which is sufficient for direct comparisons of alternative metal ion substrates with iron. These analyses reveal that purified recombinant ferrochelatase from both murine and yeast sources inserts not only ferrous iron but also divalent cobalt, zinc, nickel, and copper into protoporphyrin IX to form the corresponding metalloporphyrins but with considerable mechanistic variability. Ferrous iron is the preferred metal ion substrate in terms of apparent k(cat) and is also the only metal ion substrate not subject to severe substrate inhibition. Substrate inhibition occurs in the order Cu(2+) > Zn(2+) > Co(2+) > Ni(2+) and can be alleviated by the addition of metal complexing agents such as beta-mercaptoethanol or imidazole to the reaction buffer. These data indicate the presence of two catalytically significant metal ion binding sites that may coordinately regulate a selective processivity for the various potential metal ion substrates.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37850104,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Inflammation and viral infection as disease modifiers in schizophrenia.\nNumerous studies have now implicated a role for inflammation in schizophrenia. However, many aspects surrounding this aspect of the disease are still controversial. This controversy has been driven by conflicting evidence on the role of both pro-and anti-inflammatory factors and by often contentious findings concerning cytokine and immune cell profiles in the central nervous system and periphery. Current evidence supports the point that interleukin-6 is elevated in CSF, but does not support activation of microglia, resident macrophage-like cells in the brain. Furthermore, the mechanisms involving transit of the peripheral immune system factors across the blood brain barrier to central parenchyma have still not been completely elucidated. This process appears to involve perivascular macrophages and accompanying dendritic cells retained in the parenchyma by the chemokine and cytokine composition of the surrounding milieu. In addition, a number of studies have shown that this can be modulated by infection with viruses such as herpes simplex virus type I which may disrupt antigen presentation in the perivascular space, with long-lasting consequences. In this review article, we discuss the role of inflammation and viral infection as potential disease modifiers in schizophrenia. The primary viral hit may occur in the fetus in utero, transforming the immune response regulatory T-cells or the virus may secondarily remain latent in immune cells or neurons and modify further immune responses in the developing individual. It is hoped that unraveling this pathway further and solidifying our understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms involved will pave the way for future studies aimed at identification and implementation of new biomarkers and drug targets. This may facilitate the development of more effective personalized therapies for individuals suffering with schizophrenia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34424178,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Bordetella hinzii Meningitis in Patient with History of Kidney Transplant, Virginia, USA.\nA patient in Virginia, USA, who had previously undergone multiple kidney transplantations showed signs of Bordetella hinzii bacteremia and meningitis. This emerging pathogen has been increasingly identified as a clinically significant pathogen in immunosuppressed and, less frequently, immunocompetent patients. This patient was treated and recovered without further issue.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35362518,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"A PKC that controls polyphosphate levels, pinocytosis and exocytosis, regulates stationary phase onset in Dictyostelium.\nMany cells can pause their growth cycle, a topic much enriched by studies of the stationary phase (SP) of model microorganisms. Although several kinases are implicated in SP onset, whether protein kinase C has a role remains unknown. We show that Dictyostelium discoideum cells lacking pkcA entered SP at a reduced cell density, but only in shaking conditions. Precocious SP entry occurs because levels of extracellular polyphosphate (polyP) reach the threshold needed to induce the SP onset at a lower cell density than seen in wild-type cells; adding exopolyphosphatase to pkcA- cells reverses the effect and mimics wild-type growth. PkcA-mediated regulation of polyP depended on inositol hexakisphosphate kinase and phospholipase D. PkcA- mutants also had higher F-actin levels, higher rates of exocytosis and lower pinocytosis rates. Postlysosomes were smaller and present in fewer pkcA- cells compared to the wild type. Overall, the results suggest that a reduced PkcA level triggers SP primarily because cells do not acquire or retain nutrients as efficiently, thus mimicking, or amplifying, the conditions of actual starvation. This article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1100998,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Physiological and biochemical properties of a Pseudomonas methanolica culture under chemostat cultivation].\nThe effect of different concentrations of methanol on Pseudomonas methanolica BKM B-1131 was studied. The limitation of growth by methanol in chemostat was found at a concentration of the substrate below 0.1--0.23 per cent; higher concentrations resulted in the appearance of residual methanol in the medium and in a decrease of the economic coefficient. A declining chemostat curve has been obtained when the growth was limited by a deficiency of methanol. If the growth rate increased, the content of RNA remained the same, the content of protein decreased from 50 to 39 per cent, and the content of POBA increased. Changes in the specific activity of some key enzymes of the Krebs and Embden-Meyerhof cycles and of methanol dehydrogenase suggest an increase in the activity of the Krebs cycle enzymes with the growth rate because at this time the substances between acetate and pyruvate are accumulated which are favourable substrates for the synthesis of POBA.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":937049,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Repeat scintigraphy of the internal mammary lymph nodes in rabbits.\nRabbits were subjected to different combinations of scintigraphy of the internal mammary lymph nodes, fractionated irradiation, and surgical trauma to the chest wall. No influence could be demonstrated on the image at repeat scintigraphy of the internal mammary nodes. Microscopic changes in the lymph nodes and vessels were relatively slight and inconstant.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22699475,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Scoping a perforated bleeding peptic ulcer: learning points.\nPeptic ulcer perforation and haemorrhage is not unusual as a complication of peptic ulcer disease. In the older patientspresentation can be dramatic and atypical. The authors are presenting a case of duodenal ulcer perforation and haemorrhage which was misdiagnosed as a gastric malignancy and thus failure to have Helicobacter pylori eradication, recurrence with complication and hesitancy in surgical intervention due to initial label of malignancy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26421514,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Final-Year Students' and Clinical instructors' Experience of Workplace-Based Assessments Used in a Small-Animal Primary-Veterinary-Care Clinical Rotation.\nFinal-year veterinary students must meet baseline clinical competency upon completion of their training for entry to practice. Workplace-based assessments (WBAs), widely used in human medical training to assess post-graduate students' professionalism and clinical performance, have recently been adopted in undergraduate veterinary clinical teaching environments. WBAs should support veterinary trainees' learning in a clinical teaching environment, though utility of WBAs within veterinary education may differ from that in medical training due to differences in context and in learners' stage of clinical development. We conducted focus groups with final-year veterinary students and clinical instructors following the implementation of three WBAs (Direct Observation of Procedural Skills [DOPS], the Mini-Clinical evaluation exercise [Mini-CEX], and the In-Training Evaluation Report [ITER]) during a small-animal primary-veterinary-care rotation. Students and clinical instructors viewed the DOPS and Mini-CEX as feasible and valuable learning and assessment tools that offered an overall opportunity for timely in-the-moment feedback. Instructors viewed the ITER as less feasible in the context of a service-oriented veterinary clinical teaching environment. Students believed the ITER had potential to be informative, although in its existing application the ITER had limited utility due to time constraints on instructors that prevented them from providing students with individualized and specific feedback. In service-oriented veterinary clinical teaching environments, successful implementation of WBAs requires balancing provision of feedback to students, time demands on clinical instructors, and flexibility of assessment tools.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28559218,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Argpyrimidine-tagged rutin-encapsulated biocompatible (ethylene glycol dimers) nanoparticles: Application for targeted drug delivery in experimental diabetes (Part 2).\nDiabetes mellitus is characterized by hyperglycemia and associated complications. However, long-term diabetes control is not often sustained by currently available therapeutic approaches. Research on nanoparticle-mediated drug delivery systems is in progress. Here we have tested a ligand (argpyrimidine)-tagged drug (rutin)-encapsulated biocompatible (ethylene glycol dimers) nanoparticle for targeted drug delivery in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Argpyrimidine, being an advanced glycation end product (AGE), directs the nanoparticles to interact with cell surface receptors of AGEs (RAGE) and delivers the drug into the cells. The bioflavonoid rutin possesses antihyperglycemic property, and has been used for nanocapsulation. Two doses of nanoparticles containing 20mg rutin\/kg body weight were administered (i.v. at 7days interval) into streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Compared to free rutin, nanoparticle treatment appears to be significantly more effective in controlling the diabetogenic effects - hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, oxidative stress etc, including heart-associated complications. This approach may thus be explored for drug delivery in the treatment of diabetes mellitus.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28582863,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Framingham Risk Score and the Risk of Progression from Mild Cognitive Impairment to Dementia.\nMild cognitive impairment (MCI) often represents the clinical manifestation of cognitive deterioration preceding Alzheimer's disease (AD). Currently, there are no reliable approaches for an objective evaluation of the risk of developing AD in MCI patients. The aim of this study was to verify whether the Framingham cardiovascular risk profile (FCRP) could be useful to identify patients at the highest risk of conversion from MCI to AD. Patients with amnestic MCI (aMCI) were carefully investigated to assess their vascular risk profile. They were also submitted to a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation. The FCRP was calculated for each patient and the apolipoprotein E (ApoE) genotype was determined from peripheral blood cells. The main outcome was defined as a conversion to AD within 24 months after inclusion. 385 consecutive aMCI subjects were included. Age, FCRP, and vascular age showed a fairly predictive value on conversion to AD. Selecting the subpopulation of ApoE \u025b4 carriers, we observed that FCRP had an increased performance in predicting the conversion. The rate of conversion increased from 12.5% in the FCRP low-risk group to 43.2% in the high-risk group (p < 0.0001). ApoE \u025b4 carriers had a 3.7-times increased probability of conversion with respect to the other subjects (p < 0.0001). FCRP assessment could be considered a reliable approach to predict conversion to AD in aMCI subjects. The presence of ApoE \u025b4 increases significantly the risk of conversion. These data confirm the narrow relationship between genetic and vascular risk factors in influencing the evolution of cognitive impairment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28344798,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Long-term outcomes of Botulinum toxin in the treatment of chronic anal fissure: 5 years of follow-up.\nChronic anal fissure is a frequent and disabling disease, often affecting young adults. Botulinum toxin and lateral internal sphincterotomy are the main therapeutic options for refractory cases. Botulinum toxin is minimally invasive and safer compared with surgery, which carries a difficult post-operative recovery and fecal incontinence risk. The long-term efficacy of Botulinum toxin is not well known. The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term efficacy and safety of Botulinum toxin in the treatment of chronic anal fissure. This was a retrospective study at a single center, including patients treated with Botulinum toxin from 2005 to 2010, followed over at least a period of 5 years. All patients were treated with injection of 25U of Botulinum toxin in the intersphincteric groove. The response was registered as complete, partial, refractory and relapse. Botulinum toxin was administered to 126 patients, 69.8% (n = 88) were followed over a period of 5 years. After 3 months, 46.6% (n = 41) had complete response, 23.9% (n = 21) had partial response and 29.5% (n = 26) were refractory. Relapse was observed in 1.2% (n = 1) at 6 months, 11.4% (n = 10) at 1 year, 2.3% (n = 2) at 3 years; no relapse at 5 years. The overall success rate was 64.8% at 5 years of follow-up. Botulinum toxin was well tolerated by all patients and there were no complications. The use of Botulinum toxin to treat patients with chronic anal fissure was safe and effective in long-term follow-up.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28289142,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Transcriptional interference by RNA polymerase III affects expression of the Polr3e gene.\nOverlapping gene arrangements can potentially contribute to gene expression regulation. A mammalian interspersed repeat (MIR) nested in antisense orientation within the first intron of the Polr3e gene, encoding an RNA polymerase III (Pol III) subunit, is conserved in mammals and highly occupied by Pol III. Using a fluorescence assay, CRISPR\/Cas9-mediated deletion of the MIR in mouse embryonic stem cells, and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays, we show that the MIR affects Polr3e expression through transcriptional interference. Our study reveals a mechanism by which a Pol II gene can be regulated at the transcription elongation level by transcription of an embedded antisense Pol III gene.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17192800,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Penile rehabilitation after radical prostatectomy: important therapy or wishful thinking?\nOn the basis of data accumulated thus far, it is reasonable to discuss the implementation of a \"penile rehabilitation\" program with patients undergoing radical prostatectomy. Central to discussions of penile rehabilitation after radical prostatectomy is evidence demonstrating significant fibrotic changes in the corpus cavernosum that occur postoperatively. Several studies have been published evaluating the efficacy of various pro-erectogenic agents. The limited data regarding intracavernous injections and vacuum constriction devices suggest that an increased percentage of treated patients experienced a return of natural erections compared with patients who received no treatment. Longer, prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled studies will be needed to confirm the utility of these treatments. Data from contemporary studies evaluating the chronic use of oral phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors suggest a beneficial effect on endothelial cell function among men suffering from erectile dysfunction due to a variety of causes. Limited data suggest that this effect might be seen among post-prostatectomy patients, implying a possible role for these agents in enhancing the return of sexual function in such individuals.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37457625,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"BL-MOL-AR Project, Preliminary Results about Liquid Biopsy: Molecular Approach Experience and Research Activity in Oncological Settings.\nBackground Liquid biopsy is mainly used to identify tumor cells in pulmonary neoplasms. It is more often used in research than in clinical practice. The BL-MOL-AR study aims to investigate the efficacy of next-generation sequencing (NGS) and clinical interpretation of the circulating free DNA (cfDNA) levels. This study reports the preliminary results from the first samples analyzed from patients affected by various neoplasms: lung, intestinal, mammary, gastric, biliary, and cutaneous. Methods The Biopsia Liquida-Molecolare-Arezzo study aims to enroll cancer patients affected by various malignancies, including pulmonary, intestinal, advanced urothelial, biliary, breast, cutaneous, and gastric malignancies. Thirty-nine patients were included in this preliminary report. At time zero, a liquid biopsy is executed, and two types of NGS panels are performed, comprising 17 genes in panel 1, which is already used in the routine tissue setting, and 52 genes in panel 2. From the 7th month after enrollment, 10 sequential liquid biopsies are performed up to the 17th month. The variant allele frequency (%) and cfDNA levels (ng\/mL) are measured in every plasmatic sample. Results The NGS results obtained by different panels are similar even though the number of mutations is more concordant for lung pathologies. There are no significant differences in the actionability levels of the identified variants. Most of the molecular profiles of liquid biopsies reflect tissue data. Conclusions Preliminary data from this study confirm the need to clarify the limitations and potential of liquid biopsy beyond the lung setting. Overall, parameters related to cfDNA levels and variant allele frequency could provide important indications for prognosis and disease monitoring.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37445219,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of COVID-19 on Musculoskeletal Performance in Gait and the Timed-Up and Go Test.\nThe total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus infection is over 621 million in the world. In approximately 63% of cases, the patient still experiences persistent symptoms 30 days after the onset of symptoms or hospitalisation, and 45.9% of patients have experienced or will experience symptoms for at least three months. Despite the prevalence of chronic symptoms and pathological changes that may affect gait and functional mobility in people with a history of COVID-19, there are few publications investigating the impact of these abnormalities. This study aims to determine the long-term effects of COVID-19 on gait and the Timed-Up and Go Task. A total of 30 individuals took part in the experiment. The subjects in the study group were infected with the COVID-19 virus and required hospital treatment. Prior to the study, the subjects had no chronic diseases or other conditions affecting the musculoskeletal system. The non-infected by COVID-19 group was a healthy population with no history of COVID-19 disease. The study used the inertial system wireless motion analysis system based on 15 inertial sensors (inertial measurement units, IMUs). IMU sensors were placed on the following body segments: head, sternum, middle and lower spine, shoulder, arm, forearm, hand, shank, for the left and right limb. Movement task reports generated from the recording were created using myoRESEARCH 3.10. The subjects in the study group were asked to perform a movement task test-the Timed-Up and Go Test (TUG): sit-to-stand, walk (3 m) without change in direction, walk termination, and stand-to-sit. It took 46% longer for those infected by COVID-19 (participants) to complete the entire movement task compared to those in the not-infected by COVID-19 group. Sit-to-Stand Time [s] was greater in the infected by COVID-19 group and was 2.1 \u00b1 0.7. Mean Walking Speed [m\/s] was lower than in the not-infected by COVID-19 group and was 0.26 \u00b1 0.07. Walking cadence [steps\/min] was lower and was 21.2 \u00b1 1.2. Infected by COVID-19 participants achieved a smaller anterior pelvic tilt angle (p < 0.001) and a smaller hip flexion angle (p = 0.025), with an increase in knee (p < 0.001) and ankle (p < 0.001) flexion angles. Individuals in the infected by COVID-19 group present changes in the ranges of motion and the time to complete the TUG task, despite the fact that at least eight weeks passed after hospital discharge.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17823357,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sleep apnea, alertness, and motor vehicle crashes.\nSleep apnea causes impairment in performance and is associated with an increased risk of motor vehicle crashes compared with the general population of drivers. Despite this increased risk, the actual number of accidents is still quite low, although the implications are significant in commercial vehicle drivers. It is difficult for physicians to assess risk and ability to drive in many patients with sleep apnea, yet physicians are often mandated to make these assessments with obvious implications for patients. Because many patients may never have a crash, it is not practical or feasible to restrict all untreated patients from driving, unless they operate commercial vehicles. Thresholds of disease severity that prompt driving restriction need to be established for sleep apnea much like they have been for alcohol. Until more data emerge, continued educational efforts about sleep apnea are needed to convince government and insurance organizations to provide appropriate resources for diagnosis and treatment of sleep apnea, because apnea risk is minimized with successful apnea treatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23873913,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Genome-wide transcriptional profiling of the purple sulfur bacterium Allochromatium vinosum DSM 180T during growth on different reduced sulfur compounds.\nThe purple sulfur bacterium Allochromatium vinosum DSM 180(T) is one of the best-studied sulfur-oxidizing anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria, and it has been developed into a model organism for laboratory-based studies of oxidative sulfur metabolism. Here, we took advantage of the organism's high metabolic versatility and performed whole-genome transcriptional profiling to investigate the response of A. vinosum cells upon exposure to sulfide, thiosulfate, elemental sulfur, or sulfite compared to photoorganoheterotrophic growth on malate. Differential expression of 1,178 genes was observed, corresponding to 30% of the A. vinosum genome. Relative transcription of 551 genes increased significantly during growth on one of the different sulfur sources, while the relative transcript abundance of 627 genes decreased. A significant number of genes that revealed strongly enhanced relative transcription levels have documented sulfur metabolism-related functions. Among these are the dsr genes, including dsrAB for dissimilatory sulfite reductase, and the sgp genes for the proteins of the sulfur globule envelope, thus confirming former results. In addition, we identified new genes encoding proteins with appropriate subcellular localization and properties to participate in oxidative dissimilatory sulfur metabolism. Those four genes for hypothetical proteins that exhibited the strongest increases of mRNA levels on sulfide and elemental sulfur, respectively, were chosen for inactivation and phenotypic analyses of the respective mutant strains. This approach verified the importance of the encoded proteins for sulfur globule formation during the oxidation of sulfide and thiosulfate and thereby also documented the suitability of comparative transcriptomics for the identification of new sulfur-related genes in anoxygenic phototrophic sulfur bacteria.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25302408,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Air pollution and percent emphysema identified by computed tomography in the Multi-Ethnic study of Atherosclerosis.\nAir pollution is linked to low lung function and to respiratory events, yet little is known of associations with lung structure. We examined associations of particulate matter (PM2.5, PM10) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) with percent emphysema-like lung on computed tomography (CT). The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) recruited participants (45-84 years of age) in six U.S. states. Percent emphysema was defined as lung regions < -910 Hounsfield Units on cardiac CT scans acquired following a highly standardized protocol. Spirometry was also conducted on a subset. Individual-level 1- and 20-year average air pollution exposures were estimated using spatiotemporal models that included cohort-specific measurements. Multivariable regression was conducted to adjust for traditional risk factors and study location. Among 6,515 participants, we found evidence of an association between percent emphysema and long-term pollution concentrations in an analysis leveraging between-city exposure contrasts. Higher concentrations of PM2.5 (5 \u03bcg\/m3) and NOx (25 ppb) over the previous year were associated with 0.6 (95% CI: 0.1, 1.2%) and 0.5 (95% CI: 0.1, 0.9%) higher average percent emphysema, respectively. However, after adjustment for study site the associations were -0.6% (95% CI: -1.5, 0.3%) for PM2.5 and -0.5% (95% CI: -1.1, 0.02%) for NOx. Lower lung function measures (FEV1 and FVC) were associated with higher PM2.5 and NOx levels in 3,791 participants before and after adjustment for study site, though most associations were not statistically significant. Associations between ambient air pollution and percentage of emphysema-like lung were inconclusive in this cross-sectional study, thus longitudinal analyses may better clarify these associations with percent emphysema.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":928961,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Chemiluminescence resulting from an interaction between imipramine and human polymorphonuclear leukocytes.\nThe addition of imipramine to a suspension of resting polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) resulted in the generation of chemiluminescence (CL) (100,000 cpm with 1 X 10(-4)M imipramine). In the presence of a particle (zymosan) capable of activating the PMNs to generate reactive oxygen species, the magnitude of CL observed with 1 X 10(4)M imipramine was greatly enhanced (greater than 1,000,000 cpm). No CL was detected upon the addition of imipramine to PMNs isolated from a chronic granulomatous child or to alveolar macrophages isolated from rats. Another tricyclic antidepressant, amitriptyline, failed to generate CL with PMNs either alone or in the presence of zymosan; however, both imipramine and amitriptyline generated CL upon addition to the xanthine oxidase-purine superoxide generating system. Although the mechanism by which this drug-cell interaction results in the generation of CL is not known, the observations are suggestive that the CL may originate, in part, from the activation of imipramine by some reactive oxygen state(s).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20372374,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Integral phase modulation properties of a single-mode optical fiber subjected to controlled vibration.\nDynamic measurements of optical phase modulation in a single-mode fiber subjected to controlled mechanical vibrations are reported. An accurate analysis of the fiber strain state explains the observed phase vs frequency characteristic behavior. The integration properties of the single-mode fiber are evaluated quantitatively for the vibrations applied. The experimental results emphasize the excellent capabilities of optical fibers to sense mechanical vibrations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19047409,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2013-20":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Inhibition of complement and CD14 attenuates the Escherichia coli-induced inflammatory response in porcine whole blood.\nThe innate immune response is a double-edged sword in systemic inflammation and sepsis. Uncontrolled or inappropriate activation can damage and be lethal to the host. Several studies have investigated inhibition of downstream mediators, including tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta). Emerging evidence indicates that upstream inhibition is a better therapeutic approach for attenuating damaging immune activation. Therefore, we investigated inhibition of two central innate immune pathways, those of complement and CD14\/Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)\/myeloid differentiation protein 2 (MD-2), in a porcine in vitro model of Escherichia coli-induced inflammation. Porcine whole blood anticoagulated with lepuridin, which did not interfere with the complement system, was incubated with E. coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or whole bacteria. Inhibitors of complement and CD14 and thus the LPS CD14\/TLR4\/MD-2 receptor complex were tested to investigate the effect on the inflammatory response. A broad range of inflammatory readouts were used to monitor the effect. Anti-CD14 was found to saturate the CD14 molecule on granulocytes and completely inhibited LPS-induced proinflammatory cytokines in a dose-dependent manner. Anti-CD14 significantly reduced the levels of the E. coli-induced proinflammatory cytokines TNF-alpha and IL-1beta, but not IL-8, in a dose-dependent manner. No effect on bacterial clearance was seen. Vaccinia complement control protein and smallpox inhibitor of complement enzymes, two Orthopoxvirus-encoded complement inhibitors, completely inhibited complement activation. Furthermore, these agents almost completely inhibited the expression of wCD11R3, which is associated with CD18 as a beta2 integrin, on porcine granulocytes and decreased IL-8 levels significantly in a dose-dependent manner. As expected, complement inhibition reduced bacterial clearance. We conclude that inhibition of complement and CD14 attenuates E. coli-induced inflammation and might be used as a therapeutic regimen in gram-negative sepsis along with appropriate treatment with antibiotics.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26467193,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-26":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A literature review on the levels of automation during the years. What are the different taxonomies that have been proposed?\nIn this paper we present a literature review of the evolution of the levels of autonomy from the end of the 1950s up until now. The motivation of this study was primarily to gather and to compare the literature that exists, on taxonomies on levels of automation. Technical developments within both computer hardware and software have made it possible to introduce autonomy into virtually all aspects of human-machine systems. The current study, is focusing on how different authors treat the problem of different levels of automation. The outcome of this study is to present the differences between the proposed levels of automation and the various taxonomies, giving the potential users a number of choices in order to decide which taxonomy satisfies their needs better. In addition, this paper surveys deals with the term adaptive automation, which seems to be a new trend in the literature on autonomy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22815161,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A field-expedient method for detection of leptospirosis causative agents in rodents.\nWe have developed a thermal-stable, pathogenic Leptospira TaqMan PCR assay intended to support pathogen surveillance in reservoir populations. The assay is packaged specifically for use with a portable, ruggedized, real-time PCR thermocycler. Limit of detection was established at \u2264 100 fg (20 organisms). Sensitivity and specificity were 100% concordant with conventional PCR results using a broad test panel of human pathogenic and nonpathogenic Leptospira, genetic near neighbors, and clinically significant organisms. In blind testing using a panel (n=50) of pathogenic Leptospira infected and noninfected Rattus species samples, assay sensitivity results were 100% concordant with conventional PCR. Tests performed under field conditions using wild-collected rodent kidney extracts demonstrated the mobility of the system. During field evaluation, samples were processed and analyzed in 3 hours. Thermal stabilized reagents allowed transportation, storage, and analyses under ambient temperatures. The system provides a promising aid in leptospirosis control programs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28721113,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Telehealth and eHealth in nurse practitioner training: current perspectives.\nTelehealth is becoming a vital process for providing access to cost-effective quality care to patients at a distance. As such, it is important for nurse practitioners, often the primary providers for rural and disadvantaged populations, to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to utilize telehealth technologies in practice. In reviewing the literature, very little information was found on programs that addressed nurse practitioner training in telehealth. This article provides an overview of both the topics and the techniques that have been utilized for training nurse practitioners and nurse practitioner students in the delivery of care utilizing telehealth. Specifically, this article focuses on topics including 1) defining telehealth, 2) telehealth etiquette, 3) interprofessional collaboration, 4) regulations, 5) reimbursement, 6) security\/Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), 7) ethical practice in telehealth, and 8) satisfaction of patients and providers. A multimodal approach based on a review of the literature is presented for providing the training: 1) didactics, 2) simulations including standardized patient encounters, 3) practice immersions, and 4) telehealth projects. Studies found that training using the multimodal approach allowed the students to develop comfort, knowledge, and skills needed to embrace the utilization of telehealth in health care.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30312100,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"N\u00e9el- and Bloch-Type Magnetic Vortices in Rashba Metals.\nWe theoretically study noncoplanar spin textures in polar magnetic conductors. Starting from the Kondo lattice model with the Rashba spin-orbit coupling, we derive an effective spin model with generalized Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida interactions including the anisotropic and antisymmetric exchange interactions. By performing simulated annealing for the effective model, we find that a vortex crystal of N\u00e9el type is stabilized even in the absence of a magnetic field. Moreover, we demonstrate that a Bloch-type vortex crystal, which is usually associated with the Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling, can also be realized in our Rashba-based model. A magnetic field turns the vortex crystals into N\u00e9el- and Bloch-type Skyrmion-like crystals. Our results underscore that the interplay between the spin-orbit coupling and itinerant magnetism brings fertile possibilities of noncoplanar magnetic orderings.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28690939,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Central Diabetes Insipidus and Hyperglycemic Hyperosmolar State Following Accidental Carbon Monoxide Poisoning.\nCarbon monoxide poisoning is common and carries significant morbidity and mortality. The nervous system, particularly the brain, is frequently affected by it, owing to its high metabolic activity and oxygen requirements. Carbon monoxide damages the nervous system by both hypoxic and inflammatory mechanisms. Central diabetes insipidus is an extremely rare complication of carbon monoxide poisoning. Herein, we report the case of a young lady, who developed this complication and severe hypernatremia after accidental carbon monoxide poisoning. She also developed a hyperglycemic hyperosmolar state during the treatment for hypernatremia. To the best of our knowledge, both these entities have not been reported together in association with carbon monoxide poisoning. The purpose of this article is to emphasize the anticipation and early recognition of central diabetes insipidus in carbon monoxide poisoning. This can prevent severe hypernatremia and complications associated with its presence and treatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29545906,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Clinical Influence of Autophagy-Associated Proteins on Human Lung Cancer.\nExploitation of autophagy might potentially improve therapeutic strategy. Here, we analyzed the protein expression of autophagy-associated genes including LC3A, LC3B, Beclin-1, p62, and Atg5 in 88-131 primary lung tumors by immunohistochemistry (IHC) on tissue-microarrays (TMAs). Additionally, the DNA methylation pattern of LC3A was investigated by bisulfite sequencing (BS) and methylation-specific-PCR (MSP). It turned out that the higher expression of LC3A protein was associated with adenocarcinoma compared to squamous cell carcinoma of lung (p = 0.008), positive staining of LC3B was significantly related to tumor grade (p = 0.006), and the protein expression of Beclin-1 was significantly correlated to pN stage (p = 0.041). The expression of p62 and Atg5 was however not significantly associated with any clinicopathological parameters. Downregulation of LC3A was related to DNA methylation in lung cancer cell lines, while in primary lung tumor samples, protein expression of LC3A was not significantly correlated with DNA methylation, and the methylation status of LC3A was not related to clinicopathological features. Taken together, our results suggest that autophagy-associated proteins such as LC3A, LC3B, and Beclin-1 might be potential biomarkers for subclassification, differentiation, and local metastasis in primary lung tumor, and epigenetic mechanism is partially responsible for gene silencing of LC3A in lung cancer cell lines.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3078995,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Congenital heart disease with right ventricular overloading in the elderly].\nThis study was undertaken to characterize the clinical pictures of long-standing overload of the right ventricle and to investigate its hemodynamics. 1. Myocardial cell injury of the right ventricle was studied. Histopathological examinations were performed by biopsy in patients with atrial septal defect (ASD). Cell diameter was more widely distributed in the disease compared to the control. The range of distribution was more markedly scattered in ASD with congestive heart failure. Change in the ultra-fine structure was also more remarkable in ASD with than without pump failure. 2. ASD with impending myocardial infarction was discussed as an example of associated acquired disease. 3. The occurrence of pulmonary hypertension could be monitored with recently developed color Doppler method. A representative case of ASD and pulmonary hypertension was presented and discussed. 4. Right ventricular overloading associated with arrhythmias was presented. The effects of arrhythmias on Ebstein's anomaly and Uhl disease were examined. In these anomalies, development of pump failure and life-threatening arrhythmias were serious problems in managing old patients. In summary, histo-pathological examinations, monitoring of pulmonary artery pressure by Doppler echocardiography and management of arrhythmias were necessary to evaluate prognosis of congenital heart disease in the elderly.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16161917,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[The evaluation of useful breath actuated inhalers by preschool asthmatic children].\nClinical efficacy of breath actuated devices depend on value of Peak Inspiratory Flow (PIF), in consequence they are used in older children. Therefore the aim of our study was to assess the ability to use breath actuated inhalers in preschool stable asthmatic children. 156 children aged (mean and 95% CI) 4.5 (95% CI: 4.3-4.6) years participated in the study. Peak Inspiratory Flow Rate (PIFR) assessment with In Check (Clement Clark, U.K.) with resistance valve for Turbuhaler, Diskus, Easi Breathe devices was assessed. Minimal effective value of PIFR significantly frequent for Easi Breathe--98.1% (95% CI 94.5-99.4) compared with Diskus--78.2% (95% CI: 71.1-84.0) and Turbuhaler--71.8% (95% CI 64.3-78.3) (p < 0.05) was found. Significant correlation between PIFR and age of children for all devices was confirmed. We conclude that the use of breath actuated Easi Breathe devices seems to be effective in most preschool asthmatic children in stable period of disease. Use of dry powder inhalers should be preceded by assessments of PIFR with In Check.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26472733,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Subtype-specific therapy for DLBCL: are we there yet?\nIn this issue of Blood, Offner et al report the results of LYM-2034, a phase 2 multinational trial in which 164 patients with nongerminal center B-cell\u2013like diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (non-GCB DLBCL) were randomized to receive rituximab, cyclophosphamide, adriamycin, prednisone, and either vincristine (R-CHOP) or bortezomib (VR-CAP). DLBCL, previously recognized as a single disease entity, represents a heterogeneous group of diseases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36926042,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Novel SMAD3 variant identified in a patient with familial aortopathy modeled using a zebrafish embryo assay.\nIn human, pathogenic variants in smad3 are one cause of familial aortopathy. We describe a novel SMAD3 variant of unknown significance (VUS), V244F, in a patient who presented with aortic root dilation, right coronary artery ectasia, abdominal aortic aneurysm, right vertebral artery atresia, and cavernoma. Determination of variant pathogenicity impacted multiple aspects of the patient's care, including the most appropriate surgical threshold for which to recommend a valve-sparing aortic root replacement. To determine whether the newly identified SMAD3 variant, and whether SMAD3 induced aortopathy in general, can be assayed in a zebrafish embryo model, we injected smad3a mRNA into Tg[kdrl:mCherry] zebrafish embryos. By measuring the size of the dorsal aorta at 48hpf we found a correlation between pathogenic SMAD3 variants and increased dorsal aortic diameter. The newly identified V244F variant increased dorsal aortic diameter (p < 0.0001) similar to that of the pathogenic control variant T261I (p < 0.0084). In addition, we examined several previously identified variants of uncertain significance and found P124T (p < 0.0467), L296P (p < 0.0025) and A349P (p < 0.0056) to behave like T261I. These results demonstrate that the zebrafish embryo assay was successful in validating known pathogenic variants, classifying our newly identified variant V244F as likely pathogenic, and classifying previously identified variants P124T, L296P, and A349P as likely pathogenic. Overall, our findings identify a novel SMAD3 variant that is likely pathogenic as well as offer a new mechanism to model SMAD3 VUSs in vivo.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32358188,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Allosteric conformational change of a cyclic nucleotide-gated ion channel revealed by DEER spectroscopy.\nCyclic nucleotide-gated (CNG) ion channels are essential components of mammalian visual and olfactory signal transduction. CNG channels open upon direct binding of cyclic nucleotides (cAMP and\/or cGMP), but the allosteric mechanism by which this occurs is incompletely understood. Here, we employed double electron-electron resonance (DEER) spectroscopy to measure intersubunit distance distributions in SthK, a bacterial CNG channel from Spirochaeta thermophila Spin labels were introduced into the SthK C-linker, a domain that is essential for coupling cyclic nucleotide binding to channel opening. DEER revealed an agonist-dependent conformational change in which residues of the B'-helix displayed outward movement with respect to the symmetry axis of the channel in the presence of the full agonist cAMP, but not with the partial agonist cGMP. This conformational rearrangement was observed both in detergent-solubilized SthK and in channels reconstituted into lipid nanodiscs. In addition to outward movement of the B'-helix, DEER-constrained Rosetta structural models suggest that channel activation involves upward translation of the cytoplasmic domain and formation of state-dependent interactions between the C-linker and the transmembrane domain. Our results demonstrate a previously unrecognized structural transition in a CNG channel and suggest key interactions that may be responsible for allosteric gating in these channels.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36930071,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"The association between C509T, T869C, G915C gene polymorphisms of transforming growth factor-\u03b21 and systemic lupus erythematosus risk: A meta-analysis.\nThe relationship between transforming growth factor-\u03b21 (TGF- \u03b21) gene polymorphisms and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) has been reported in many studies, but there were still controversies with regard to their conclusions. Relevant documents were retrieved from 5 electronic databases such as PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Wanfang, and China national knowledge infrastructure. Odds ratios (ORs) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to assess the relationship between TGF-\u03b21 genetic variation and SLE. The present meta-analysis included 12 case-control studies with 1308 SLE patients and 1714 healthy controls. The results of the combined analyses showed that TGF-\u03b21 C509T polymorphism showed no association with SLE risk (TC vs CC: OR = 1.16, 95% CI = 0.91-1.48, PHeterogeneity (PH) = 0.579; TT vs CC: OR = 1.15, 95% CI = 0.63-2.09, PH = 0.003; T vs C: OR = 1.08, 95% CI = 0.8-1.45, PH = 0.003; TC\/TT vs CC: OR = 1.17, 95% CI = 0.93-1.46, PH = 0.133; and TT vs TC\/CC: OR = 1.06, 95% CI = 0.64-1.76, PH = 0.004). TGF-\u03b21 G915C and T869C polymorphisms were not linked with SLE risk. Moreover, subgroup analysis stratified by ethnicity and Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium revealed no significant correlation of TGF-\u03b21 T869C, C509T, G915C polymorphisms with SLE risk. TGF-\u03b21 T869C, C509T, G915C polymorphisms might not be associated with the development of SLE.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30313101,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Safety and efficacy of combining capecitabine and temozolomide (CAPTEM) to treat advanced neuroendocrine neoplasms: A meta-analysis.\nRetrospective studies have suggested that capecitabine combined with temozolomide (CAPTEM) is effective for treating patients with advanced neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs); however, the efficacy and safety of this regimen needs to be verified by high-quality evidence or results of randomized controlled trials.We carried out a meta-analysis to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of a CAPTEM protocol for patients with advanced NENs. Systematic electronic literature searches were conducted using PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library, and among meeting abstracts of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, European Society for Medical Oncology, European Neuroendocrine Tumor Society, and North American Neuroendocrine Tumor Society, up to June 30, 2017. We selected studies describing CAPTEM regimens for treating advanced NENs and reported on tumor response and\/or toxicities according to clear World Health Organization (WHO) grading of patients. Three reviewers independently and repeatedly identified studies, extracted data, and assessed the quality of the literature. A single-proportion meta-analysis was applied to included articles.Fifteen studies with a total of 384 individuals were included. Medium overall survival in most studies was more than 12 months, whereas medium progression-free survival was similar or slightly higher than that in studies using other treatment regimes. Disease control rate of CAPTEM administration for patients with NENs was 72.89% (95% confidence interval, 64.04-81.73%; I = 82.4%; P < .01). WHO grade 3 to 4 toxicities, such as thrombocytopenia (3.36%), neutropenia (0.69%), lymphopenia (0.65%), anemia (0.59%), mucositis (0.57%), fatigue (0.54%), diarrhea (0.49%), nausea (0.39%), and transaminase elevation (0.13%) were reported in the trials included.CAPTEM is effective and relatively safe for treating patients with advanced NENs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32370149,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Influence of the Phenological State of in the Antioxidant Potential and Chemical Composition of Ageratina havanensis. Effects on the P-Glycoprotein Function.\nAgeratina havanensis (Kunth) R. M. King & H. Robinson is a species of flowering shrub in the family Asteraceae, native to the Caribbean and Texas. The aim of this work was to compare the quantitative chemical composition of extracts obtained from Ageratina havanensis in its flowering and vegetative stages with the antioxidant potential and to determine the effects on P-glycoprotein (P-gp) function. The quantitative chemical composition of the extracts was determined quantifying their major flavonoids by UPLC-ESI-MS\/MS and by PCA analysis. The effects of the extracts on P-gp activity was evaluated by Rhodamine 123 assay; antioxidant properties were determined by DPPH, FRAP and inhibition of lipid peroxidation methods. The obtained results show that major flavonoids were present in higher concentrations in vegetative stage than flowering stage. In particular, the extracts obtained in the flowering season showed a significantly higher ability to sequester free radicals compared to those of the vegetative season, meanwhile, the extracts obtained during the vegetative stage showed a significant inhibitory effect against brain lipid peroxidation and a strong reductive capacity. This study also showed the inhibitory effects of all ethanolic extracts on P-gp function in 4T1 cell line; these effects were unrelated to the phenological stage. This work shows, therefore, the first evidence on: the inhibition of P-gp function, the antioxidant effects and the content of major flavonoids of Ageratina havanensis. According to the obtained results, the species Ageratina havanensis (Kunth) R. M. King & H. Robinson could be a source of new potential inhibitors of drug efflux mediated by P-gp. A special focus on all these aspects must be taking into account for future studies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28535518,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Extracorporeal Sorbent Technologies: Basic Concepts and Clinical Application.\nLimitations imposed by the characteristics of some solutes and the structure of dialysis membranes have spurred new interest in the use of mechanisms beyond diffusion and convection for extracorporeal solute removal. Sorbents have been utilized for more than 50 years in extracorporeal blood treatments for specific purposes, and better understanding of their basic aspects may further expand the potential for their clinical application. In this chapter, the basic principles applying to sorbents are discussed, including composition and structure, along with the fundamental mechanisms of solute removal. The critical importance of sorbent biocompatibility is also highlighted. With these basic principles in mind, the clinical application of sorbents is discussed, with an emphasis on the use of hemoperfusion and coupled plasma filtration-adsorption for sepsis-related disorders. Finally, new sorbent-based clinical approaches for acute conditions and end-stage renal disease are presented, emphasizing that sorbent technologies may assume a larger role for a variety of clinical disorders in the future.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34426427,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Septic discitis and septic pulmonary emboli: rare complications of Proteus mirabilis urinary tract infection.\nProteus mirabilis is a gram-negative bacterium frequently considered a pathogen of the urinary tract. Septic discitis and septic pulmonary emboli resulting from P. mirabilis urosepsis is a rare phenomenon. We report a 39-year-old woman who was admitted to our hospital with a complicated urinary tract infection resulting in bacteraemia, septic discitis, paraspinal abscesses and septic emboli. She was treated with a prolonged course of intravenous antibiotics resulting in the clinical resolution of her symptoms. Based on our PubMed search of the English literature, this is only the second reported case of septic discitis caused by P. mirabilis This paper illustrates that physicians should include septic discitis caused by P. mirabilis as a possible aetiology of low back pain in patients with active or recently treated urinary tract infection. Additionally, this article discusses the pathogenesis and other complications resulting from P. mirabilis bacteraemia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23441363,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Postpartum complicated by transverse myelitis.\nTransverse myelitis is a very rare neurological condition associated with immunologic and infectious conditions causing interruption of the neuroanatomical pathways in a transverse plane in the spinal cord. Herein is described the fatal case of a patient that developed transverse myelitis after a Caesarean delivery, probably related to the epidural analgesia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9554464,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Genetic defects in the control of growth hormone secretion.\nSince growth hormone deficiency (GHD) causes short stature and metabolic derangements, the processes which control its release are important physiologically. These processes can be illuminated by an understanding of genetically determined GHD. In 2 Indian Moslem cousins from a consanguineous family, GHD resistant to growth hormone releasing hormone (GHRH) stimulation was found. No mutations were found in the growth hormone gene (GH1) (J. Phillips). The receptor for GHRH (GHRHR), implicated in the dwarfism of the little mouse, thus becomes a candidate gene to explain their GHD. Amplification and sequencing a region of GHRHR homologous to that mutated in the little mouse showed a mutation (265G*T) leading to a stop codon at position 72 which would completely prevent GHRHR expression. Subsequently, Maheshwari et al. found an identical mutation in a multiplex kindred from Sindh, Pakistan, about 800 km from the place of origin of our patients. GHD is more commonly caused by recessive or dominant mutations of GH1. The latter are of great interest in understanding the mechanism of GH secretion. In a large kindred with dominant GHD we found a heterozygous 666G*A mutation replacing of Arg with His at amino acid 183. We speculate that the introduced histidine interferes with interactions necessary for correct GH secretion.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16237396,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Sex differences in neurochemical effects of dopaminergic drugs in rat striatum.\nPrevious data indicate that dopamine neurotransmission is differently regulated in male and female rats. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the dopamine transporter and autoreceptor as potential loci responsible for this sex difference. Fast cyclic voltammetry at carbon-fiber microelectrodes was used to monitor changes in electrically evoked levels of extracellular dopamine in the striata of anesthetized male and female rats before and after administration of an uptake inhibitor, a dopamine D2 antagonist, or a D3\/D2 agonist. Administration of 40 mg\/kg cocaine ip increased electrically-evoked extracellular dopamine concentrations in both sexes, but to a significantly greater extent in female striatum at the higher stimulation frequencies. The typical antipsychotic, haloperidol, increased dopamine efflux in both sexes but the effect was twice as large in the female striatum. The D3\/D2 agonist quinpirole induced an unexpected, transient increase in dopamine efflux following high-frequency stimulation only in females, and evoked dopamine was higher in females across this entire time course. More detailed analysis of cocaine effects revealed no fundamental sex differences in the interaction of cocaine with DAT in vivo or in synaptosomes. These results indicate that nigrostriatal dopamine neurotransmission in the female rat is more tightly regulated by autoreceptor and transporter mechanisms, perhaps related by greater autoreceptor control of DAT activity. Thus, baseline sex differences in striatal dopamine regulation induce different pharmacologic responses. These results contribute to understanding sex differences in stimulant-induced locomotor activity in rats and may have broader implications for neurologic disorders and their pharmacotherapies in humans.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23876804,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Neisseria prophage repressor implicated in gonococcal pathogenesis.\nNeisseria gonorrhoeae, the causative agent of the sexually transmitted disease gonorrhea, can infect and colonize multiple mucosal sites in both men and women. The ability to cope with different environmental conditions requires tight regulation of gene expression. In this study, we identified and characterized a gonococcal transcriptional regulatory protein (Neisseria phage repressor [Npr]) that was previously annotated as a putative gonococcal phage repressor protein. Npr was found to repress transcription of NGNG_00460 to NGNG_00463 (NGNG_00460-00463), an operon present within the phage locus Ngo\u03a64. Npr binding sites within the NGNG_00460-00463 promoter region were found to overlap the -10 and -35 promoter motifs. A gonococcal npr mutant demonstrated increased adherence to and invasion of human endocervical epithelial cells compared to a wild-type gonococcal strain. Likewise, the gonococcal npr mutant exhibited enhanced colonization in a gonococcal mouse model of mucosal infection. Analysis of the gonococcal npr mutant using RNA sequence (RNA-seq) analysis demonstrated that the Npr regulon is limited to the operon present within the phage locus. Collectively, our studies have defined a new gonococcal phage repressor protein that controls the transcription of genes implicated in gonococcal pathogenesis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1688139,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Immune responses against sexual stages of Plasmodium vivax during human malarial infections in Sri Lanka.\nDuring natural infections of P. vivax malaria a variety of immune responses to the infection affect infectivity of the parasites to mosquitoes. Sexual stage antigens present in the blood stage parasites induce antibodies which may either enhance or suppress the infectivity of the sexual parasites to mosquitoes. Subsequent infections of P. vivax do not, unless occurring within less than 4 months, boost this response indicating a very short immune memory for the relevant antigens. Blood infection also results in the release of cytokines and other non-antibody factors which together can mediate death of the blood stage sexual parasites. These factors are associated with paroxysm in non-immune individuals. In individuals from an endemic area with age-acquired anti-disease immunity clinical symptoms are mild and the parasite killing factors are not induced.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25503395,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pyrosequencing revealed highly microbial phylogenetic diversity in ferromanganese nodules from farmland.\nThere is renewed interest in the origin and makeup of ferromanganese nodules (FMNs), long known to soil mineralogists as unusual secondary minerals. However, new evidence suggests that microorganisms play a significant role in the generation of FMNs. The biogenic origin of nodules has remained elusive because until recently, little has been known about the overall microbial community structure in their microbiota. To learn more about the microbial community and to determine the relative abundance, diversity, and composition of the microbial communities present in FMNs and their surrounding soil, we used pyrosequencing to investigate 16S rRNA genes obtained from vertical soil profiles of both paddy fields and sugarcane fields. Using pyrotaq 16S rRNA gene sequencing, we show that the microbial phylogenetic diversity of nodules was higher than those reported in previous studies of this biosphere, and we identified many previously unidentified microorganisms. Here, we show that the microbial community of these nodules is dominated by Burkholderiales, Rhodocyclales, Acidobacteriales, Desulfuromonales, and Clostridiales, and there were no statistically significant differences found when comparing the microbial community structures of FMNs obtained from vertical soil sequences. Although the microbial composition was markedly different between the surrounding soil and the FMNs, the microbes found within the FMNs were very similar to other FMNs from both field types examined here. In addition to their geochemical properties and the microbial community composition of FMNs, we found that the levels of iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), and SiO2 greatly impact the microbial diversity among FMN communities. Our results indicate that the FMN microbial communities from different land-use types are very similar and suggest that natural selection of these microbes is based on the oligotrophic conditions and the high metal content. Researching FMNs in these two land-use patterns, which represent two different redox potentials, deepens our understanding of Fe-Mn biogeochemical cycling in these oligotrophic biospheres and suggests a biogenetical origin for these nodules.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32614449,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"RNA-sequencing and bioinformatics analysis of long noncoding RNAs and mRNAs in the asthenozoospermia.\nAsthenozoospermia is one of the major causes of human male infertility. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play critical roles in the spermatogenesis processes. The present study aims to investigate the intricate regulatory network associated with asthenozoospermia. The lncRNAs expression profile was analyzed in the asthenozoospermia seminal plasma exosomes by RNA-sequencing, and the functions of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were analyzed by Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway and DO (Disease Ontology) enrichment analyses. Pearson's correlation test was utilized to calculate the correlation coefficients between lncRNA and mRNAs. Moreover, the lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA co-expression network was constructed with bioinformatics. From the co-expression analyses, we identified the cis regulated correlation pairs lncRNA-mRNA. To confirm sequencing results with five of the identified DElncRNAs were verified with quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). We identified 4228 significantly DEGs, 995 known DElncRNAs, 2338 DEmRNAs and 11,706 novel DElncRNAs between asthenozoospermia and normal group. GO and KEGG analyses showed that the DEGs were mainly associated with metabolism, transcription, ribosome and channel activity. We found 254,981 positive correlations lncRNA-mRNA pairs through correlation analysis. The detailed lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA regulatory network included 11 lncRNAs, 35 miRNAs and 59 mRNAs. From the co-expression analyses, we identified 7 cis-regulated correlation pairs lncRNA-mRNA. Additionally, the qRT-PCR analysis confirmed our sequencing results. Our study constructed the lncRNA-mRNA-miRNA regulation networks in asthenozoospermia. Therefore, the study findings provide a set of pivotal lncRNAs for future investigation into the molecular mechanisms of asthenozoospermia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28264906,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Inactivation of NMB0419, Encoding a Sel1-Like Repeat (SLR) Protein, in Neisseria meningitidis Is Associated with Differential Expression of Genes Belonging to the Fur Regulon and Reduced Intraepithelial Replication.\nNeisseria meningitidis is a commensal microbe that colonizes the human nasopharynx but occasionally invades the bloodstream to cause life-threatening infection. N. meningitidis MC58 NMB0419 encodes a Sel1-like repeat (SLR)-containing protein, previously implicated in invasion of epithelial cells. A gene-regulatory function was revealed in Escherichia coli expressing plasmid-borne NMB0419 and showing significantly increased epithelial adherence compared to the wild type, due to increased expression of mannose-sensitive type 1 pili. While a meningococcal NMB0419 mutant did not have altered epithelial adherence, in a transcriptome-wide comparison of the wild type and an NMB0419 mutant, a large proportion of genes differentially regulated in the mutant were involved in iron acquisition and metabolism. Fifty-one percent and 38% of genes, respectively, up- and downregulated in the NMB0419 mutant had previously been identified as being induced and repressed by meningococcal Fur. An in vitro growth defect of the NMB0419 mutant under iron restriction was consistent with the downregulation of tbpAB and hmbR, while an intraepithelial replication defect was consistent with the downregulation of tonB, exbB, and exbD, based on a known phenotype of a meningococcal tonB mutant. Disruption of the N-terminal NMB0419 signal peptide, predicted to export the protein beyond the cytoplasmic membrane, resulted in loss of functional traits in N. meningitidis and E. coli Our study indicates that the expression of NMB0419 is associated with transcriptional changes counterbalancing the regulatory function of Fur, offering a new perspective on regulatory mechanisms involved in meningococcal interaction with epithelial cells, and suggests new insights into the roles of SLR-containing genes in other bacteria.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8348523,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Female student of a visible minority].\nThis article is the second on visible minority groups in schools of nursing and the profession. The survey was conducted in three institutions in the Ottawa region. The goal was to discover whether statistics reflect the current college and university nursing population. Of this population, 73.7 per cent participated. Results show clearly that the following questions must be answered by health professionals responsible for community services: Is the goal of equal representation of all ethnic groups at the college and university level realistic? How can educators identify reasons why certain ethnic groups lean toward nursing? Will it be necessary to consider several factors in order to clearly identify the visible minority representation? These questions and others will guide the authors in their subsequent surveys of minority representation in the health care professions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6172480,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Antigen-specific human T lymphocyte clones: induction, antigen specificity, and MHC restriction of influenza virus-immune clones.\nHuman peripheral blood lymphocytes from an HLA-Dw1,3 individual were primed in vitro with influenza A virus (A\/Texas\/1-77\/x-49) and subsequently cloned by limiting dilution in TCGF. Of the 96 TLCs originally obtained, nine were characterized in detail. TLCs were antigen specific, responding to influenza A virus, not to influenza B, TGAL, GAT, tetanus toxoid, or KLH, and only when antigen was presented by cells unable to form rosettes with AET-treated SRBC. Presentation of antigen by unseparated PBL often resulted in significant \"back stimulation,\" probably via production of growth factors. The MHC requirements for the induction of TLC proliferation were analyzed. Of four representative clones analyzed, three required Dw1;DR1 compatibility for successful presentation of viral antigens by a panel of antigen-presenting cells. In contrast, one TLC showed an unusual pattern of response that could not be correlated to a particular HLA haplotype. Monoclonal anti-T cell antibody analysis of the surface phenotype of two TLCs maintained in continuous culture for 5 mo indicated that they were OKT3+, 4+, and 8-, consistent with an inducer\/helper phenotype. To confirm the clonal nature of TLCs, data on the functional properties of TLC subclones are also presented.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12002668,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pharmacological and molecular biological (RT-PCR) characterization of functional TP prostanoid receptors in immortalized human non-pigmented ciliary epithelial cells.\nImmortalized human non-pigmented ciliary epithelial (NPE) cells (ODM-2) were shown to express the mRNA for the prostanoid TPalpha but not the TPbeta receptor using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). These TPalpha receptors were coupled to phospholipase C (PLC) and, thus, promoted phosphoinositide (PI) turnover. TP receptor agonists yielded the following potencies (EC50S) in the PI turnover assays: I-BOP = 8.2 +\/- 1.1 nM; carbocyclic TA2 = 87.5 +\/- 25.3 nM; U-44069 = 1.16 +\/- 0.32 microM; U-46619 = 1.2 +\/- 0.2 microM (n = 4-17). Agonists selective for other prostanoid receptor subtypes (e.g., fluprostenol and sulprostone) were inactive. The agonist effects of U-44619 and I-BOP were potently blocked, in an apparent non-competitive manner (ki = 53.9 +\/- 12 nM; pA2s = 7.6-7.8; pKbs = 7.38), by the TP receptor-selective antagonist, SQ29,548, but were unaffected by other prostanoid receptor antagonists (e.g., AH6809, AL-8810). The PLC inhibitor (U73122) inhibited U-46619-induced PI turnover (IC50 = 4.3 +\/- 0.6 microM). The functional potencies of the compounds stimulating or inhibiting the TP receptor-mediated PI turnover in the NPE cells correlated well with the TP receptor binding affinities of these compounds at human platelet TP receptors (r = 0.98). These studies have shown the presence of the mRNA for and the expression of functional TPalpha receptors coupled to PLC in human NPE cells. The TPalpha receptors on NPE cells may be responsible for inhibiting aqueous humor production and may help explain the intraocular pressure-lowering effects of certain TP agonists.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11986516,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Return to treatment after assessment in a community children's mental health clinic.\nMost people who receive mental health assessments do not follow up on needed treatment. The authors examined factors that predicted return for at least one treatment visit among 113 children who presented for treatment at a rural community mental health center, using predictors of return for adults from a previous study. Sixty-four percent of the children, compared with 46 percent of the adults, returned at least once. Time until the first appointment predicted whether patients returned for treatment. The age of the child was the only other variable that predicted initial treatment engagement. The results strongly suggest that community mental health agencies can improve treatment acceptance rates by providing rapid response to requests for treatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21756446,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Winning and losing: an evolutionary approach to mood disorders and their therapy.\nTo advance a new evolutionary model that examines the effects of winning and losing on mood and physiological variables. Previous studies have focused on the involuntary defeat strategy in de-escalating conflict. Here, we propose that there also exists an involuntary winning strategy (IWS) that is triggered by success and characterized by euphoria and increased self-confidence. It motivates efforts to challenge, and promotes reconciliation. Previous studies are presented, including data on student athletes, demonstrating the impact of winning and losing on mood. Winning is consistently shown to be related to physiological changes such as increased testosterone and serotonin levels in primates. It reliably leads to mood changes that serve to motivate winners to continue their competitive efforts. When the IWS functions optimally, success leads to success in an adaptive cycle. Over time, the initial differences between the winners and losers of agonistic encounters become magnified in a process known as difference amplification. As a result of assortative mating, the children of people who have entered into an adaptive cycle will inherit traits from both parents that will, in turn, give them an increased competitive advantage. In this manner, difference amplification could have accelerated human evolution by natural selection. Vignettes of clinical interventions are also used to illustrate therapeutic strategies designed to disrupt maladaptive cycles and promote adaptive behaviour.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28539412,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Maternal Dietary Patterns during Pregnancy Are Associated with Newborn Body Composition.\nBackground: Maternal dietary intake during pregnancy may influence offspring growth and adiposity. Specific dietary patterns associated with newborn adiposity have not been identified.Objective: We aimed to identify patterns of maternal dietary intake associated with gestational weight gain (GWG) and fasting glucose during pregnancy and to evaluate whether adherence to these patterns is associated with newborn adiposity.Methods: In the Healthy Start prospective cohort, dietary intake during pregnancy was assessed via 24-h recalls. Reduced-rank regression identified dietary patterns predictive of GWG and fasting glucose. Associations between dietary patterns and newborn fat mass, fat-free mass, and adiposity were estimated by using linear regression models among 764 ethnically diverse mother-infant pairs.Results: Two dietary patterns were identified. Pattern 1, correlated with greater GWG (r = 0.22, P < 0.01), was characterized by a higher consumption of poultry, nuts, cheese, fruits, whole grains, added sugars, and solid fats. Greater adherence to pattern 1 (upper compared with lower tertile) predicted a greater newborn fat-free mass (61 g; 95% CI: 12, 110 g) but no difference in fat mass or adiposity. Pattern 2, correlated with greater maternal fasting glucose (r = 0.16, P < 0.01), was characterized by a higher consumption of eggs, starchy vegetables, solid fats, fruits, and nonwhole grains and a lower consumption of dairy foods, dark-green vegetables, and whole grains. Greater adherence to pattern 2 was associated with a greater newborn birth weight (80 g; 95% CI: 15, 145 g), fat mass (33 g; 95% CI: 8, 59 g), and adiposity (0.9%; 95% CI: 0.3%, 1.6%).Conclusions: Among pregnant women, adherence to a dietary pattern characterized by an intake of poultry, nuts, cheese, and whole grains was associated with greater GWG but not maternal fasting glucose or newborn adiposity. Adherence to a pattern characterized by an intake of eggs, starchy vegetables, and nonwhole grains was associated with higher maternal fasting glucose and greater newborn adiposity. Maternal dietary patterns during pregnancy may influence newborn body composition.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16224152,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Diagnostic and therapeutic problems of pulmonary tuberculosis in elderly patients.\nTo identify differences in the clinical, radiologic, and microbiologic features of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) in the young (<64 yr) and elderly (> or =65 yr), we performed a retrospective analysis of the medical charts and chest radiographs of 207 young and 119 elderly pulmonary TB patients. Hemoptysis and a febrile sense were more frequent in the young, whereas weakness, dyspnea, anorexia, and mental change were more frequent in the elderly. Elderly patients showed higher frequencies of cardiovascular and chronic lung diseases, whereas the young showed a higher proportion of underlying liver disease. In addition, chest radiography showed a significantly higher frequency of mid or lower lung involvement by TB lesions in the elderly (10.6% vs. 22.7%, p<0.05). Lesions were frequently misdiagnosed as pneumonia or lung cancer in the elderly. However, there was no difference between these two groups in terms of sputum acid-fast bacilli positivity. The elderly showed a higher frequency of adverse drug reactions (18.5% vs. 40.7%, p<0.05), and higher TB-related mortality (1.3% vs. 11.1%, p<0.05). In conclusion this study showed that young and elderly pulmonary TB patients have similar microbiologic features; however, the elderly showed higher frequencies of atypical clinical and radiologic presentations, adverse drug reactions, and higher TB-related mortality.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20352974,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Effects of mixed carbon sources in cultivation of recombinant Pichia pastoris for polygalacturonate lyase production].\nIn order to increase the production and productivity of alkaline polygalacturonate lyase (PGL), we studied the mixed carbon sources feeding strategies during the induction phase by recombinant Pichia pastoris GS 115. Glycerol, sorbitol or lactic acid co-feeding with methanol all enhanced the PGL production. Among all the feeding strategies, the sorbitol co-feeding strategy was most significant. By using this strategy, the PGL activity and productivity reached 1593 U\/mL and 16.7 U\/(mL-h). Compared to the control, the enhancements of PGL activity and productivity were 84.6% and 45.2% respectively, when we set the sorbitol feeding rate at 3.6 g\/(h x L).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22662450,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Scarred for life.\nThousands of girls in the UK are at risk of female genital mutilation. A multi-agency safeguarding group in Bristol, established after a school nurse became concerned that pupils were at risk, is preventing girls from being taken out of the country to have the procedure. It raises awareness among professionals and supports families in the Sudanese and Somalian communities to speak out against the practice.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25525303,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"GSK-3\u03b2 inhibition attenuates CLP-induced liver injury by reducing inflammation and hepatic cell apoptosis.\nLiver dysfunction has been known to occur frequently in cases of sepsis. Excessive inflammation and apoptosis are pathological features of acute liver failure. Recent studies suggest that activation of glycogen synthase kinase- (GSK-) 3\u03b2 is involved in inflammation and apoptosis. We aimed to investigate the protective effects of GSK-3\u03b2 inhibition on polymicrobial sepsis-induced liver injury and to explore the possible mechanisms. Polymicrobial sepsis was induced by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP), and SB216763 was used to inhibit GSK-3\u03b2 in C57BL\/6 mice. GSK-3\u03b2 was activated following CLP. Administration of SB216763 decreased mortality, ameliorated liver injury, and reduced hepatic apoptosis. The inhibition of GSK-3\u03b2 also reduced leukocyte infiltration and hepatic inflammatory cytokine expression and release. Moreover, GSK-3\u03b2 inhibition suppressed the transcriptional activity of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-\u03baB) but enhanced the transcriptional activity of cAMP response element binding protein (CREB) in the liver. In in vitro studies, GSK-3\u03b2 inhibition reduced inflammatory cytokine production via modulation of NF-\u03baB and CREB signaling pathways in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated macrophages. In conclusion, these findings suggest that GSK-3\u03b2 blockade protects against CLP-induced liver via inhibition of inflammation by modulating NF-\u03baB and CREB activity and suppression of hepatic apoptosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32617011,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Mycobacterium abscessus Complex Clinical Isolates from a Chinese Tertiary Hospital.\nMycobacterium abscessus complex (MABC) is a group of important infectious agents that are highly associated with drug resistance, and antibiotic treatment is usually ineffective. This study investigated the characteristics of antimicrobial susceptibility of MABC isolates and the synergy between certain \u03b2-lactam combinations against MABC infection. We collected 129 MABC isolates from patients with lower respiratory tract infections and categorized them into three subspecies. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of 15 antimicrobials for the MABC isolates were determined using commercial Sensititre RAPMYCOI MIC plates and the broth microdilution method, as recommended in the CLSI (M24-A2). In addition, the MICs of imipenem, alone and with ceftazidime and\/or avibactam, were assessed in vitro for all isolates. The erm(41) and rrl genes were also sequenced. The MABC isolates exhibited >80% resistance to 11 of the 15 antimicrobials. Regarding the remaining four antimicrobials, the isolates were least resistant to tigecycline (12.4%) and amikacin (3.9%), and only partially resistant to two cefoxitin (39.5%) and imipenem (40.3%). Compared with M. massiliense isolates, M. abscessus and M. bolletii isolates were more resistant to amikacin and imipenem, whereas M. abscessus was significantly less resistant to tigecycline relative to M. massiliense and M. bolletii isolates. The clarithromycin inducible resistance rate was 68.4% and 74.3% among M. bolletii and M. abscessus isolates. Furthermore, 88.7% of the M. abscessus isolates carried a T at position 28 of erm(41), which is associated with inducible clarithromycin resistance. In addition, compared to imipenem with avibactam only, the MIC50 and MIC90values of imipenem after adding ceftazidime plus avibactam were decreased fourfold. The antimicrobial resistance rates and the characteristics of the erm(41) gene associated with inducible clarithromycin resistance were different among the three MABC subspecies. There was also synergy between imipenem and 100\u03bcg\/mL ceftazidime against MABC isolates.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28289540,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"BFPTool: a software tool for analysis of Biomembrane Force Probe experiments.\nThe Biomembrane Force Probe is an approachable experimental technique commonly used for single-molecule force spectroscopy and experiments on biological interfaces. The technique operates in the range of forces from 0.1 pN to 1000 pN. Experiments are typically repeated many times, conditions are often not optimal, the captured video can be unstable and lose focus; this makes efficient analysis challenging, while out-of-the-box non-proprietary solutions are not freely available. This dedicated tool was developed to integrate and simplify the image processing and analysis of videomicroscopy recordings from BFP experiments. A novel processing feature, allowing the tracking of the pipette, was incorporated to address a limitation of preceding methods. Emphasis was placed on versatility and comprehensible user interface implemented in a graphical form. An integrated analytical tool was implemented to provide a faster, simpler and more convenient way to process and analyse BFP experiments.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6169848,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Comparison of phosphorylation of two polyoma virus middle T antigens in vivo and in vitro.\nTwo species of polyoma virus middle T antigen were detected in both lytically infected and transformed cells by in vitro kinase assay of immunoprecipitates. A minor species with an apparent molecular weight of 58,000 (58K) represented less than 10% of the total middle T protein. This species was roughly 10 times more active as a phosphate acceptor than was the predominant 56K form. Partial proteolytic mapping experiments showed that the same site was phosphorylated in both species. Mapping of the middle T antigens from a series of deletion mutants suggested that the major site of phosphorylation is tyrosine residue 315. Phosphorylation occurred on both middle T species in vivo, involving sites predominantly other than the tyrosine labeled in vitro. The 56K and 58K middle T forms differed from each other in their in vivo phosphorylation patterns. Some phosphate was incorporated into the 58K species in a region of the molecule to which at least part of the apparent molecular weight different could be mapped. hr-t mutant NG-59, which codes for a slightly altered middle T, produced only a single species (56K) which was inactive in the in vitro kinase reaction. Moreover, no 58K species appeared in vivo with this mutant. hr-t mutants are therefore defective in both aspects of phosphorylation. Phenotypically normal revertant cells of a polyoma transformed line failed to express any middle T antigens or associated kinase activity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26493003,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Transgenic proteins in agricultural biotechnology: The toxicology forum 40th annual summer meeting.\nDuring the 40th Annual Meeting of The Toxicology Forum, the current and potential future science, regulations, and politics of agricultural biotechnology were presented and discussed. The range of current commercial crops and commercial crop traits related to transgenic proteins were reviewed and example crop traits discussed, including insecticidal resistance conferred by Bt proteins and the development of nutritionally enhanced food such as Golden Rice. The existing regulatory framework in the USA, with an emphasis on US FDA's role in evaluating the safety of genetically engineered crops under the regulatory umbrella of the FD&C Act was reviewed. Consideration was given to the polarized politics surrounding agricultural biotechnology, the rise of open access journals, and the influence of the internet and social media in shaping public opinion. Numerous questions related to misconceptions regarding current products and regulations were discussed, highlighting the need for more scientists to take an active role in public discourse to facilitate public acceptance and adoption of new technologies and to enable science-based regulations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14535233,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Scientific basis and development of internal dosimetry models (BIODOS).\nAssessments of doses and risks to workers and members of the public exposed to radionuclides require biokinetic and dosimetric models which describe the behaviour of the radionuclides and provide tools for dose calculations. The overall objective of BIODOS is to improve the scientific basis of existing models and to provide new or improved models. One part aims to provide models targeting specific uncertainties, including estimates of doses and risks from radionuclides ingested by adults and children; estimates of the transfer of radionuclides to breast milk and doses to infants; development of systemic models to improve the interpretation of bioassays; and studies of the importance of heterogeneous distribution of dose within tissues and cells. The other part forms a comprehensive research programme on the inhalation of radionuclides and addresses four areas of uncertainty, namely ultrafine particles, inter-subject variation, absorption into blood and clearance mechanisms.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23872984,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A post-synthetic approach for the synthesis of 2'-O-methyldithiomethyl-modified oligonucleotides responsive to a reducing environment.\nBased on a novel concept, a Reducing-Environment-Dependent Uncatalyzed Chemical Transforming RNA, \"REDUCT RNA\", we established a post-synthetic approach for the synthesis of 2'-O-methyldithiomethyl-modified oligonucleotides from 2'-O-(2,4,6-trimethoxybenzylthiomethyl)-oligonucleotides by treatment with dimethyl(methylthio)sulfonium tetrafluoroborate. 2'-O-methyldithiomethyl oligonucleotides were easily converted into 2'-hydroxy oligonucleotides under reducing conditions, such as those found in the intracellular environment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19039801,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Schizophrenia and impulsive aggression: a heuristic inquiry with forensic and clinical implications.\nAssessment of a violent act committed by an offender with schizophrenia typically focuses on whether the act was due to distortions in thought or perception, i.e., delusions or hallucination. An important but less appreciated feature is the impulsivity of the act, which can have forensic and therapeutic implications. Here a modification of Barratt's classification of aggressive behavior is presented that includes premeditated (instrumental), medical (secondary), impulsive (expressive), and compulsive (instrumental and expressive) aggression. Violence due to a mental condition such as schizophrenia is considered medical, but even aggression motivated by delusions or hallucinations can also be characterized as impulsive, premeditated, or compulsive.Although research on aggression and schizophrenia is limited with regard to the impulsivity-premeditation dimension and difficult to compare, current evidence suggests this to be an important consideration in the assessment of aggression in individuals with schizophrenia, important both forensically and therapeutically. Future research on the impulsive-premeditated quality of aggressive acts by offenders with schizophrenia--research wherein aggressive behavior is defined, situational context is clarified, and diagnostic criteria are explicitly followed--should further refine our understanding of the nature of aggressive acts associated with schizophrenia. Findings from such research will undoubtedly inform assessment, treatment, and forensic relevance of schizophrenia-related physical aggression.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15262889,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Combinatorial Fgf and Bmp signalling patterns the gastrula ectoderm into prospective neural and epidermal domains.\nStudies in fish and amphibia have shown that graded Bmp signalling activity regulates dorsal-to-ventral (DV) patterning of the gastrula embryo. In the ectoderm, it is thought that high levels of Bmp activity promote epidermal development ventrally, whereas secreted Bmp antagonists emanating from the organiser induce neural tissue dorsally. However, in zebrafish embryos, the domain of cells destined to contribute to the spinal cord extends all the way to the ventral side of the gastrula, a long way from the organiser. We show that in vegetal (trunk and tail) regions of the zebrafish gastrula, neural specification is initiated at all DV positions of the ectoderm in a manner that is unaffected by levels of Bmp activity and independent of organiser-derived signals. Instead, we find that Fgf activity is required to induce vegetal prospective neural markers and can do so without suppressing Bmp activity. We further show that Bmp signalling does occur within the vegetal prospective neural domain and that Bmp activity promotes the adoption of caudal fate by this tissue.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27484604,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evaluation of Spontaneous Bone Regeneration after Enucleation of Large Cysts of the Jaws using Radiographic Computed Software.\nSpontaneous regeneration of bone is commonly seen in the small surgical defects caused by enucleation of cysts. However, in case of large surgical defects caused by the enucleation, spontaneous regeneration of bone is a rare phenomenon and it depends on factors, such as age of the patient, intact periosteum, and proper stabilization. The study included 16 patients, who reported to the department of oral and maxillofacial surgery with the complaint of pain and swelling in the jaws diagnosed as cyst. The sample included equal numbers of male and female subjects aged between 15 and 40 years. Panoramic radiographs were taken pre- and postoperatively on day 2 of the enucleation. The dimensions of the cyst were evaluated on the radiograph according to the proforma. Subsequent radiographs were taken at regular intervals of 1.5, 3, and 6 months using standard parameters and were analyzed using MCID\u2122 analysis software of imaging research. Mean reduction was seen in up to 39 and 60% in the cystic cavity size and increase in the mean density up to 59 and 90.2% at 3 and 6 months intervals respectively. Spontaneous bone regeneration was seen even after primary closure of the large cystic defect without the need for placement of foreign substances or grafts and it also eliminated the complications resulting from placement of foreign substance. Further studies are required in a larger sample with longer follow-up durations to confirm the outcome of the present work for the benefit of patients. The present study depicted that spontaneous bone regeneration can occur with accepted results after simple enucleation of jaw cyst without the aid of any graft material. Hence, simple enucleation may be considered as a first line of treatment modality for cystic lesion of the jaws. This simplifies the surgical procedure, decreases the economic and biologic costs, and reduces the risk of postoperative complications. Follow-up is necessary along with patient's compliance for the success of treatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32357396,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Barriers and Mitigating Strategies to Healthcare Access in Indigenous Communities of Canada: A Narrative Review.\nThe objective of this review is to document contemporary barriers to accessing healthcare faced by Indigenous people of Canada and approaches taken to mitigate these concerns. A narrative review of the literature was conducted. Barriers to healthcare access and mitigating strategies were aligned into three categories: proximal, intermediate, and distal barriers. Proximal barriers include geography, education attainment, and negative bias among healthcare professionals resulting in a lack of or inadequate immediate care in Indigenous communities. Intermediate barriers comprise of employment and income inequities and health education systems that are not accessible to Indigenous people. Distal barriers include colonialism, racism and social exclusion, resulting in limited involvement of Indigenous people in policy making and planning to address community healthcare needs. Several mitigation strategies initiated across Canada to address the inequitable health concerns include allocation of financial support for infrastructure development in Indigenous communities, increases in Indigenous education and employment, development of culturally sensitive education and medical systems and involvement of Indigenous communities and elders in the policy-making system. Indigenous people in Canada face systemic\/policy barriers to equitable healthcare access. Addressing these barriers by strengthening services and building capacity within communities while integrating input from Indigenous communities is essential to improve accessibility.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16220815,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The transformational power of IT: Experience from patient safety leaders.\nLate last year, David J. Brailer, M.D., Ph.D., National Health Information Technology Coordinator for the Department of Health and Human Services, visited Evanston (IL) Northwestern Hospital (ENH) to observe its electronic medical record system. ENH is the first in the nation to put such a system into an acute care setting, including all three of its hospitals and its 70 medical offices and ambulatory sites. \"It's been truly transformational for our processes, our delivery of care, our communications, and our way of doing business,\" says Mark R. Neaman, FACHE, ENH's president and chief executive officer. What's more, ENH has demonstrated at least a 20 percent reduction in medication errors, and the remaining errors have shifted from wrong medication and wrong patient to errors of timing, which are almost always less severe.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18583244,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Protective effect of Oviductus Ranae capsules on the reproductive organs of aged mice].\nTo observe the protective effect of Oviductus Ranae (OR) capsules on the reproductive organs in an aged mouse model established by D-galactose injection. Forty-eight female Kunming mice were randomly divided into 4 equal groups, namely the high- and low-dose OR groups, diethylstilbestrol (DT) group, and model group. The mice received subcutaneous injection of D-galactose for 6 weeks to establish aging models. Another 12 mice were injected daily with normal saline (NS) to serve as the normal control group. From the third week of the experiment, the mice were given oral OR at low or high doses (in the OR groups) or vegetable oil (in the model or control groups) till the sixth week. In the last two weeks, the vaginal smears were obtained from the mice for evaluating the changes of the vaginal keratinocytes and counting the days of estrus. After completion of drug administration, all the mice were sacrificed and the serum content of estradiol (E(2)) was detected by radioimmunoassay, with the ovarian and uterine indices determined. The ovarian and uterine pathologies were observed using HE staining, and SOD and MDA activities in the ovary and uterus were also assessed. OR obviously increased E(2) level and the ovarian and uterine indices in the aged mice, also alleviating the pathological change of the ovary and uterus. OR substantially depressed MDA content and enhanced SOD activity in the ovary and uterus. OR has definite antioxidative effects and ameliorates the degenerative changes of the reproductive organs in mouse models of aging.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34422938,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mycobacterial Cell Wall Stimulant in the Treatment of Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Case Series Regarding Treatment in Equine, Bovine and Caprine Patients.\nSquamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is a common dermatological neoplasia found in large animal species. Treatment options, such as surgery and cryotherapy may be difficult or not feasible. Alternative therapies, such as immunomodulating drugs, can potentially be used for companion large animals. The hypothesis of the following retrospective study is: following multiple intravenous and intralesional injections of a mycobacterial cell wall stimulant (MCW) regression of SCC in equine, bovine and caprine patients will be observed. In this observational-retrospective case series, patients included are 2 bovine, 2 caprine and 3 equine patients. The medical records at two different teaching veterinary hospitals were searched for cases with a positive histopathological diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma that were subsequently treated with MCW, as either the sole therapy, or in conjunction with other therapies. Seven cases were included in this retrospective study. The median duration of therapy was 56.5 days, with 3 of the 7 patients being euthanized. Significant complications were seen in 3\/7 patients. Repeated injections of a MCW may lead to reduction in lesion size of SCC in some cases, but long-term resolution is unlikely and the risk of significant complications is high; due to limited sample size and the variety in species, it is difficult to conclude if MCW is an effective therapy for SCC.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28358847,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Alpha-1-antitrypsin suppresses oxidative stress in preeclampsia by inhibiting the p38MAPK signaling pathway: An in vivo and in vitro study.\nThis present study was designed to investigate the effects of alpha-1-antitrypsin (AAT) on oxidative stress in preeclampsia (PE) by regulating p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38MAPK) signaling pathway. HTR8\/SVneo cells were randomly assigned into normal, hypoxia\/reoxygenation (H\/R), HR + AAT and HR + siRNA-AAT groups. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western blotting were used to detect the mRNA and protein expressions of p-p38MAPK, AAT, signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1) and activating transcription factor2 (ATF2). Flow cytometry, scratch test, cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay and the 3-(4,5)-dimethylthiazol (-z-y1)-3,5-di- phenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay were conducted to detect reactive oxygen species (ROS) and cell apoptosis, cell migration, proliferation and cytotoxicity, respectively. Mouse models in PE were established, which were divided into normal pregnancy (NP), PE and PE + AAT groups with blood pressure and urine protein measured. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were conducted to detect the activity of oxidative stress-related kinases and expressions of inflammatory cytokines and coagulation-related factors in cells and mice placenta. Immunohistochemistry, Western blotting and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay were performed to detect AAT and p38MAPK expressions, apoptosis-related protein expressions, and apoptosis rate in mice placenta. Compared with the normal group, the H\/R group had decreased expression of AAT, activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and GSH-Px, cell proliferation and migration, but increased p38MAPK, STAT1, ATF2, MDA, H2O2, inflammatory cytokines, coagulation-related factors, cell cytotoxicity, ROS, apoptotic factors and apoptosis rate. Compared with the H\/R group, the HR + ATT group had increased expressions of AAT, activity of SOD and GSH-Px, cell proliferation and migration but decreased p38MAPK, STAT1, ATF2, malonyldialdehyde (MDA), H2O2, inflammatory cytokines and coagulation-related factors, cell cytotoxicity, ROS, apoptotic factors and apoptosis rate, while opposite results were observed in the HR + siRNA-ATT group. Compared with the NP group, the PE group had decreased activity of SOD and GSH-Px but increased MDA, H2O2, AAT, p38MAPK, inflammatory cytokines, coagulation-related factors and apoptosis rate. The indexes in the PE + AAT group were between the NP and PE groups. Thus, we concluded that AAT suppressed oxidative stress in PE by inhibiting p38MAPK signaling pathway.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28743873,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Origin of clay minerals in Early Eocene volcanic paleosols on King George Island, Maritime Antarctica.\nThe paleoclimate during the Early Eocene in Maritime Antarctica is characterized by cool conditions without a pronounced dry season. Soils formed on volcanic material under such climate conditions in modern analogue environments are usually Andosols rich in nanocrystalline minerals without pedogenic smectite. The paleosols formed on volcanic material on King Georges Island are covered by basalts, dated by 6 new 40Ar\/39Ar datings to 51-48 Ma, and are rich in smectite. A pedogenic origin of the smectites would suggest a semi-arid rather than a wet non-seasonal humid paleoclimate. To investigate the origin of the smectites in these paleosols we used X-ray diffraction and microscopic techniques. Minor mineralogical changes between the volcanic parent material and the paleosols and a homogenous distribution of smectites throughout the paleosol horizons indicate that these smectites were mainly inherited from the pyroclastic parent material, which was altered prior to surficial weathering. Nevertheless, the mineralogical properties, such as degree of crystallinity and octahedral site occupancy, of these smectites were modified during the ancient soil formation. Our findings highlight that trioctahedral smectites were a product of deuteric alteration of pyroclastic rocks and were progressively transformed to dioctahedral smectites during weathering in a soil environment on King George Island.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23883447,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Pre-hospital advanced airway management by experienced anaesthesiologists: a prospective descriptive study.\nWe report data from the first Utstein-style study of physician-provided pre-hospital advanced airway management. Anaesthesiologists from eight pre-hospital critical care teams in the Central Denmark Region (a mixed rural and urban region with 1.27 million inhabitants) prospectively registered data according to the template for reporting data from pre-hospital advanced airway management. Data collection took place from February 1st 2011 to October 31st 2012. Included were patients of all ages on whom pre-hospital advanced airway management was performed. The objective was to estimate the incidences of failed and difficult pre-hospital endotracheal intubation, and complications related to pre-hospital advanced airway management. The overall incidence of successful pre-hospital endotracheal intubation among 636 intubation attempts was 99.7%, even though 22.4% of pre-hospital endotracheal intubations required more than one intubation attempt. The overall incidence of complications related to pre-hospital advanced airway management was 7.9%. Following rapid sequence intubation, the incidence of first pass success was 85.8%, the overall incidence of complications was 22.0%, the incidence of hypotension 7.3% and that of hypoxia 5.3%. Multiple endotracheal intubation attempts were associated with an increased overall incidence of complications. No airway management related deaths occurred. The overall incidence of successful pre-hospital endotracheal intubations compares to those found in other physician-staffed pre-hospital systems. The incidence of pre-hospital endotracheal intubations requiring more than one attempt is higher than suspected. The incidence of hypotension or hypoxia after pre-hospital rapid sequence intubation compares to those found in UK emergency departments. Pre-hospital advanced airway management including pre-hospital endotracheal intubation performed by experienced anaesthesiologists is associated with high success rates and relatively low incidences of complications. An increased first pass success rate following pre-hospital endotracheal intubation may further reduce the incidence of complications and enhance patient safety in our system.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15256739,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Partial involvement of group I metabotropic glutamate receptors in the neurotoxicity of 3-N-oxalyl-L-2,3-diaminopropanoic acid (L-beta-ODAP).\nNeurolathyrism is a human motoneuron disease caused by the overconsumption of grass pea (Lathyrus sativus) that contains a toxic non-protein amino acid, 3-N-oxalyl-L-2,3-diaminopropanoic acid (L-beta-ODAP). The preventive activities of various glutamatergic agents from acute neuronal death caused by L-beta-ODAP were studied using rat primary cortical neuron\/glia culture. Nearly 80% of the rat primary cortical neurons were killed by 300 microM L-beta-ODAP within 24 h. Though antagonists acting on the alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptor prevented most of the toxicity, antagonists acting on group I metabotropic glutamatergic receptors (mGluRs), including (RS)-1-aminoindan-1,5-dicarboxylic acid (AIDA), (S)-alpha-methyl-4-carboxyphenylglycine (MCPG), and 2-methyl-6-(2-phenylethenyl)pyridine (SIB1893) partially and significantly prevented neuronal death due to L-beta-ODAP. These antagonists, within limited concentrations, did not have any inhibitory effects on the currents through AMPA receptors expressed in Xenopus oocytes. L-beta-ODAP itself did not induce the currents through group I mGluRs expressed in Xenopus oocytes. These results suggest that the neurotoxicity induced by L-beta-ODAP is partially mediated by the activation of group I mGluRs by an indirect mechanisms.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37457541,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Jarisch\u2012Herxheimer reaction.\nSyphilis is caused by a spirochete, Treponema pallidum. Diagnosis of syphilis is made with a venereal disease research laboratory test. Treatment of choice is intramuscular injection benzathine Penicillin. The Jarisch\u2012Herxheimer reaction (JHR) is a transient immunological phenomenon that can occur in patients during treatment for syphilis with penicillin. It is a rare phenomenon but can be a potentially severe one. It manifests clinically with short-term constitutional symptoms such as fever, chills, headache, and myalgia, besides exacerbation of existing cutaneous lesions. We report the case of a 24-year-old man presenting with JHR posttreatment with benzathine penicillin.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17173775,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Impact of FDG-PET in therapeutic management of patients with suspected recurrence of head and neck cancer].\nThis study aims to evaluate the impact of Positron Emission Tomography on therapeutic decisions in patients with suspicion of recurrence of head and neck cancers. The diagnostic and therapeutic impact of FDG-PET was evaluated in 59 of 60 studies performed in a sample of 54 patients. The impact was graded on five levels (high, moderate, low, no impact and negative impact) following the Hicks et al. classification modified by us. The FDG-PET impact was high in 28 studies (47.46 %), moderate in 7 (11.86 %), low in 20 (33.90 %), no impact in 3 (5.09 %) and finally negative impact in 1 study (1.69 %). FDG-PET is useful in the management of patients in 59.32 % of the studies with indeterminate physical examination and conventional imaging tests. This paper supplies new data since we did not find any studies showing statistical results on therapeutic impact of FDG-PET in head and neck cancers in a systematic review of the literature made by our group.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15553854,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Computer simulation of high frame rate ultrasonic imaging system based on the angular spectrum concept].\nA high frame rate (HFR) ultrasonic imaging method developed by Jianyu Lu has been attracting attention in the related imaging area. Because a special weighting on the received signal is needed to implement this method, the imaging system is complicated. This paper presents a new kind of theroetical analysis for the HFR imaging system in view of the angular spectrum concept. Based on the study, the special weighting process can be replaced by Fourier transform. Computer simulation demonstrates the correctness of the analysis. It shows that the constructed images by the new method have the same high quality as those obtained by using the original HFR method while the system implementation is greatly simplified.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26488178,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Should the Dose of Antiplatelet Drugs Be Adjusted for Body Weight? The Example of Vorapaxar.\nIn contrast to the vast majority of pharmaceuticals on the market, antiplatelet agents are widely prescribed in a uniform, 'one size fits all' manner, without conventional dose adjustments. However, strong evidence yielded from clinical trials repeatedly suggests that patients with a low body weight (LBW), the elderly and those with renal or hepatic impairment may benefit from reduced doses, while younger, heavier patients, males and diabetics may benefit from a dose escalation. Vorapaxar, a thrombin protease-activated receptor-1 inhibitor, has been tested in the TRA2P and TRACER clinical trials, but its efficacy and safety in patients with a LBW is unclear. To determine the impact of LBW on primary end point rates (PER) and bleeding risk after vorapaxar, as yielded from the TRA2P and TRACER secondary FDA review. The LBW (<60 kg) groups in TRA2P (n = 1,852; 7%) and TRACER (n = 1,046; 8%) were small. However, the PER repeatedly suggested inferiority of vorapaxar over placebo in both the successful TRA2P study (10.6 vs. 8.4%; p = 0.012) and the failed TRACER study (19.3 vs. 18.2%; p = not significant). In TRA2P, the PER monotonically escalated with increasing weight for placebo, while those in the vorapaxar arm formed a flat U- or J-shaped distribution across the weight quintiles. In TRACER, the PER by weight quintile appear much higher, but also more random than in TRA2P. The bleeding rates in TRA2P were higher for the 2 lowest-weight quintiles with both placebo and vorapaxar. In TRACER, bleeding rates were more than doubled when compared to TRA2P, and they varied little by weight quintile, with a slight decrease for the heaviest patients in the placebo population and being the highest in the 2 lowest-weight quintiles after vorapaxar. The FDA analyses revealed no definite proof that LBW is associated with reduced efficacy of vorapaxar. While these data are striking, they can be explained by better outcomes in LBW placebo patients already sufficiently treated with dual-antiplatelet therapy. In contrast to efficacy, both TRA2P and TRACER definitely suggest that bleeding rates after vorapaxar are higher in patients with LBW. Dose adjustment for antiplatelet agents may soon become a reality.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27474699,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Who decides the \"best interests\" of the child?\nB was a frail 15-year-old girl who was brought to the hospital by the police. She had met a 22-year-old boy on a social networking site a few months earlier. They had fallen in love and she had started living with him. On finding his daughter missing, B's father reported the matter to the police station. The police caught the couple and brought them to the police station. The boy was arrested. The father sent B to a shelter home lest she run away from home again. The police registered a complaint of rape.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29360942,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"IL-6 trans-signalling contributes to aldosterone-induced cardiac fibrosis.\nAn excess of aldosterone results in cardiac remodelling and fibrosis. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a key mediator in the fibrotic process; however, the effect of aldosterone on the expression of IL-6 remains unclear. We investigated whether aldosterone induces the expression of IL-6 and thereby contributes to the fibrotic process. In this clinical study, we prospectively enrolled 25 patients with primary aldosteronism (PA) and 26 patients with essential hypertension (EH). The PA patients had higher plasma IL-6 levels, left ventricular mass index, degree of myocardial fibrosis, and more impaired diastolic function than the EH patients. In addition, plasma IL-6 levels were positively correlated with 24-h urinary aldosterone and echocardiographic parameters. In cell studies, we investigated the possible molecular mechanism how aldosterone-induced IL-6 secretion and the further effects of collagen production. Aldosterone significantly induced IL-6 protein and mRNA production in human umbilical vein endothelial cells. Intracellular signalling occurred through the mineralocorticoid receptor\/PI3K\/Akt\/NF-kB pathway. In cardiac fibroblasts, IL-6 trans-signalling played a critical role in aldosterone-induced IL-6-enhanced fibrosis-related factor expression. To further investigate the role of IL-6 trans-signalling in aldosterone-induced cardiac fibrosis, we measured the severity of myocardial fibrosis in aldosterone infusion mice models including an IL-6 chemical inhibitor and Sgp130 Knockin Transgenic Mice. Mice receiving recombinant soluble gp130 and Sgp130 Knockin Transgenic Mice prevented myocardial fibrosis and cardiac hypertrophy by aldosterone infusion. IL-6 trans-signalling contributes to aldosterone-induced cardiac fibrosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15252568,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The molecular structures of pentaborane(9) with halogen substituents in apical and basal positions, determined by electron diffraction and theoretical calculations.\nThe molecular structures of 1-bromo-pentaborane(9) and 2-bromo-pentaborane(9) in the gas phase have been determined by electron diffraction and ab initio and DFT computational methods. Computational methods have also been applied to the fluoro and chloro analogues, to 1,2-dibromo-pentaborane(9), and to the parent unsubstituted borane. The electronic effects of halogen substitution on the borane cage are remarkably small, particularly for chlorine and bromine substituents, and steric effects are also minimal, even in the compound with two bromine atoms. The largest effects are (a) lengthening of B((base))-B((apex)) bonds adjacent to the halogen in the 2-isomers, with an associated shortening of the opposite base-apex bond, (b) shortening of the B((base))-B((apex)) bond in the 1-fluoro compound, and (c) increase of the B((base))-B((apex))-F angle in 1-F-B(5)H(8), but a decrease in this angle in the 2-bromo compounds.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28350216,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"AtSLP2 is an intronless protein phosphatase that co-expresses with intronless mitochondrial pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) and tetratricopeptide (TPR) protein encoding genes.\nShewanella-like PPP family phosphatases (SLPs) are a unique lineage of eukaryote PPP-family phosphatases of bacterial origin which are not found in metazoans. 1,2 Their absence in metazoans is marked by their ancient bacterial origins and presence in plants. 1 Recently, we found that the SLP2 phosphatase ortholog of Arabidopsis thaliana localized to the mitochondrial intermembrane space (IMS) where it was determined to be activated by mitochondrial intermembrane space protein 40 (MIA40) to regulate seed germination. 3 Through examination of atslp2 knockout (accelerated germination) and 35S::AtSLP2 over-expressing (delayed germination) plants it was found that AtSLP2 influences Arabidopsis thaliana germination rates via gibberellic acid (GA) biosynthesis. 3 However, the exact mechanism by which this occurs remains unresolved. To identify potential partners of AtSLP2 in regulating germination through GA, we undertook a gene co-expression network analysis using RNA-sequencing data available through Genevestigator ( https:\/\/genevestigator.com\/gv\/ ).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25416878,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Entropic ratchet transport of interacting active Brownian particles.\nDirected transport of interacting active (self-propelled) Brownian particles is numerically investigated in confined geometries (entropic barriers). The self-propelled velocity can break thermodynamical equilibrium and induce the directed transport. It is found that the interaction between active particles can greatly affect the ratchet transport. For attractive particles, on increasing the interaction strength, the average velocity first decreases to its minima, then increases, and finally decreases to zero. For repulsive particles, when the interaction is very weak, there exists a critical interaction at which the average velocity is minimal, nearly tends to zero, however, for the strong interaction, the average velocity is independent of the interaction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37464877,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"PET\/CT imaging in invasive endometriosis: a way to minimize missed diagnosis and reduce invasive interventions.\nHeterogeneous and nonspecific symptoms make invasive endometriosis a difficult entity to diagnose. Small lesions with absent associated changes can be easily missed in cross-sectional imaging. Even when the lesions satisfy the thresholds for various investigations, their appearance changes with cyclical fluctuations in the hormonal levels. Therefore, newer approaches are needed to achieve correct diagnosis. Six females in reproductive age group (mean age = 32.5 \u00b1 4.3 years) were retrospectively selected, wherein the diagnosis of invasive endometriosis was confirmed after 18F-FDG-PET\/CT. Indications for PET\/CT were staging in 4 patients, suspected progression in 1 and suspected inflammatory bowel disease in one patient. The study was repeated in proliferative phase in two patients and in the menstrual phase in another patient. FNAC was available in two patients and a drop in CA125 was documented in the last patient. In five patients metabolically active lesions were seen in PET\/CT and in the last, activity was absent despite symptoms. Repeat menstrual phase imaging in the last patient confirmed the diagnosis. In two patients with metabolically active lesions at baseline, resolution was seen in proliferative phase PET\/CT. In the other two patients, repeat study was not indicated as FNAC revealed normal endometrial tissue and in the last patient, significant drop in CA125 was documented after just 2 weeks. In all of these patients, the final diagnosis was of invasive endometriosis. In reproductive-age women, PET\/CT acquisition should be optimized in the context of menstrual cycle. This approach can be used to non-invasively rule in\/rule out endometriosis, especially with repeat imaging in proper menstrual phase.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12025862,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Graduate nursing students' precourse and postcourse perceptions and preferences concerning completely web-based courses.\nWeb-based nursing courses have proliferated rapidly in recent years, but few data are available about course outcomes. A pretest\/posttest survey design of student perceptions and preferences was used to evaluate two graduate-level on-line nursing courses (required research and elective aging issues courses; N = 31 and N = 29, respectively) on the basis of Billings' outcomes evaluation framework for nursing Web-based courses. Students in both courses were favorable or at least neutral in their perceptions of outcomes at both pretest and posttest, but favorable shifts in perceptions also occurred from pretest to posttest. Most students remained stable in their preferences for format of instruction (on-line or classroom), and most favored an on-line format. Almost all students indicated they would take the course they took if they had the decision to make over again. Students who took the elective aging issues course had somewhat more favorable perceptions overall at posttest, compared to the required research course, but some differences were accounted for by pretest score differences between the groups. While outcomes were positive for both courses, the results also highlight specific needs for adequate socialization and support of students, particularly for first-year graduate students who are taking Web-based courses.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37462601,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Increasing capitation in mixed remuneration schemes: Effects on service provision and process quality of care.\nMany health systems apply mixed remuneration schemes for general practitioners, but little is known about the effects on service provision of changing the relative mix of fee for services and capitation. We apply difference-in-differences analyses to evaluate a reform that effectively reversed the mix between fee for services and capitation from 80\/20 to 20\/80 for patients with type 2 diabetes. Our results show reductions in provision of both the contact services that became capitated and in other non-capitated (still-billable) services. Reduced provision also occurred for guideline-recommended process quality services. We find that the effects are mainly driven by patients with co-morbidities and by general practitioners with high income, relatively many diabetes patients, and solo practitioners. Thus, increasing capitation in a mixed remuneration schemes appears to reduce service provision for patients with type 2 diabetes monitored in general practice with a risk of unwanted quality effects.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7932707,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Solution structure of the d(T-C-G-A) duplex at acidic pH. A parallel-stranded helix containing C+ .C, G.G and A.A pairs.\nThe solution structure of the d(T-C-G-A) sequence at acidic pH has been determined by a combination of NMR and molecular dynamics calculations including NOE intensity based refinements. This sequence forms a right-handed parallel-stranded duplex with C+ .C (three hydrogen bonds along Watson-Crick edge), G.G (two symmetry related N2-H.. N3 hydrogen bonds) and A.A (two symmetry related N6-H..N7 hydrogen bonds) homo base-pair formation at acidic pH. The duplex is stabilized by intra-strand base stacking at the C2-G3 step and cross-strand base stacking at the G3-A4 step. The thymine residues on partner strands are directed towards each other and are positioned over the C+ .C base-pair. All four residues adopt anti glycosidic torsion angles and C2'-endo type sugar conformations in the parallel-stranded d(T-C-G-A) duplex which exhibits large changes in twist angles between adjacent steps along the duplex. This study rules out previously proposed models for the structure of the d(T-C-G-A) duplex at acidic pH and supports earlier structural contributions, which established that d(C-G) and d(C-G-A) containing sequences at acidic pH pair through parallel-stranded alignment. We have also monitored hydration patterns in the symmetry related grooves of the parallel-stranded d(T-C-G-A) duplex.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30657061,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"A cross-sectional study of associations between kinesiophobia, pain, disability, and quality of life in patients with chronic low back pain.\nLow back pain is a significant health problem condition due to high prevalence among the general population. Emotions and physical factors are believed to play a role in chronic low back pain. Kinesiophobia is one of the most extreme forms of fear of pain due to movement or re-injury. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between kinesiophobia and pain intensity, disability and quality of life in people with chronic low back pain. The study included 132 individuals with chronic back pain, with ages between 18 and 65 years old. Kinesiophobia was assessed using the Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia, pain intensity was measured using the Numeric Rating Scale with a cut-off more than 3 for inclusion in the study, disability was assessed using the Roland Morris questionnaire, quality of pain was assessed using the McGill questionnaire, and quality of life was assessed using the Quality of Life questionnaire SF-36. The results are statistically significant, but with weak associations were found between kinesiophobia and pain intensity (r = 0.187), quality of pain (sensory, r = 0.266; affective, r = - 0.174; and total r = 0.275), disability (r = 0.399) and physical quality of life (emotional r = - 0.414). Kinesiophobia is an important outcome to assess in patients with chronic low back pain. The results suggest that correlations between kinesiophobia and disability and quality of life are statistically significant.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9147636,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"High throughput parallel analysis of hundreds of patient samples for more than 100 mutations in multiple disease genes.\nAs more mutations are identified in genes of known sequence, there is a crucial need in the areas of medical genetics and genome analysis for rapid, accurate and cost-effective methods of mutation detection. We have developed a multiplex allele-specific diagnostic assay (MASDA) for analysis of large numbers of samples (> 500) simultaneously for a large number of known mutations (> 100) in a single assay. MASDA utilizes oligonucleotide hybridization to interrogate DNA sequences. Multiplex DNA samples are immobilized on a solid support and a single hybridization is performed with a pool of allele-specific oligonucleotide (ASO) probes. Any probes complementary to specific mutations present in a given sample are in effect affinity purified from the pool by the target DNA. Sequence-specific band patterns (fingerprints), generated by chemical or enzymatic sequencing of the bound ASO(s), easily identify the specific mutation(s). Using this design, in a single diagnostic assay, we tested samples for 66 cystic fibrosis (CF) mutations, 14 beta-thalassemia mutations, two sickle cell anemia (SCA) mutations, three Tay-Sachs mutations, eight Gaucher mutations, four mutations in Canavan disease, four mutations in Fanconi anemia, and five mutations in BRCA1. Each mutation was correctly identified. Finally, in a blinded study of 106 of these mutations in > 500 patients, all mutations were properly identified. There were no false positives or false negatives. The MASDA assay is capable of detecting point mutations as well as small insertion or deletion mutations. This technology is amenable to automation and is suitable for immediate utilization for high-throughput genetic diagnostics in clinical and research laboratories.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3074997,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A multicompartmental model of cholesterol metabolism in rats.\nA complete model of the cholesterol system was developed in the rat. It synthesizes several partial models previously developed under different isotopic conditions. It contains 16 compartments and 40 parameters. It specifically describes the intestine (mucosa and contents), liver and plasma cholesterol subsystems. The model was validated by the similarity between the simulated and experimental values in all the compartments during the 48 hours following the single introduction of an isotopic label in two different parts of the system (single ingestion of 14C-cholesterol, intravenous injection of red cells containing 3H-cholesterol). The similarity between the simulations and the experimental values was also observed up to 4 months following labelled cholesterol ingestion as well as under other different isotopic conditions for shorter periods. The parameter values identified and the resulting fluxes agree with the already published data.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17180000,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"About the involvement of deoxyribonuclease I in apoptosis.\nCell death by apoptosis is involved in a large variety of developmental events and physiological processes requiring a reduction in cell count. Nuclear collapse, one of the first visible changes denoting irreversible commitment to cell death by apoptosis, is frequently accompanied by chromatin degradation into nucleosome-sized fragments of multiples thereof. The identity of the endonuclease responsible for this DNA digestion has attracted some interest in recent years and several candidate endonucleases have been proposed. The scope of this article is to summarise the present knowledge about deoxyribonuclease I, one of the candidate enzymes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26495885,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Association between ADAMTS-4 gene polymorphism and lumbar disc degeneration in Chinese Han population.\nLow back pain (LBP) is a common health problem and many LBP are caused by lumbar disc degeneration (LDD). ADAMTS-4 (a disintegrin and metalloprotease with thrombospondin motifs-4), also known as aggrecanse-1, plays a core role in degeneration of extracellular matrix in LDD. To investigate the association between ADAMTS-4 genetic polymorphism and LDD, we genotyped SNPs in and around ADAMTS-4. We recruited 482 sporadic cases of LDD and 496 healthy controls from Chinese Han population. Five SNPs were selected and phenotyped by the Sequenom MassARRAY system. Allelic, genotypic, and haplotypic association was performed. Rs4233367 (c.1877 C>T), which located in exon of ADAMTS-4 showed significant association with LDD. The T allele conferred a lower risk of LDD with an OR of 0.69 and TT genotype is at nearly one-fifth of the risk compared to CC genotype. Other tested SNPs didn't show significant difference between the case and control groups. The SNP rs4233367 in the exon of ADAMTS-4 gene may be associated with lumbar disc degeneration. \u00a9 2015 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 34:860-864, 2016.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30659777,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":3,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-22":1,"2024-10":1,"2024-26":1}}},"text":"Are children with clinical obesity at increased risk of inpatient hospital admissions? An analysis using linked electronic health records in the UK millennium cohort study.\nFew studies have examined health service utilization of children with overweight or obesity by using linked electronic health records (EHRs). We analysed EHRs from 3269 children (1678 boys; 51.3% [weighted]) participating in the Millennium Cohort Study, living in Wales or Scotland at age seven whose parents consented to record linkage. We used height and weight measurements at age five to categorize children as obese (>98th centile) or overweight (>91st centile) (UK1990 clinical reference standards) and linked to hospital admissions, up to age 14 years, in the Patient Episode Database for Wales and Scottish Morbidity Records. Negative binomial regression models compared rates of inpatient admissions by weight status at age five. At age five, 11.5% and 6.7% of children were overweight or obese, respectively; 1221 (38%) children were subsequently admitted to hospital at least once. Admissions were not increased among children with overweight or obesity (adjusted rate ratio [RR], 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.87, 0.68-1.10 and 1.16, 0.87-1.54, respectively). In this nationally representative cohort of children in Wales and Scotland, those with overweight or obesity at entry to primary school did not have increased rates of hospital admissions in later childhood and early adolescence.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28343817,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Conventional vs invert-grayscale X-ray for diagnosis of pneumothorax in the emergency setting.\nPneumothorax is a pathologic condition in which air is accumulated between the visceral and parietal pleura. After clinical suspicion, in order to diagnose the severity of the condition, imaging is necessary. By using the help of Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS) direct conventional X-rays are converted to gray-scale and this has become a preferred method among many physicians. Our study design was a case-control study with cross-over design study. Posterior-anterior chest X-rays of patients were evaluated for pneumothorax by 10 expert physicians with at least 3years of experience and who have used inverted gray-scale posterior anterior chest X-ray for diagnosing pneumothorax. The study included posterior anterior chest X-ray images of 268 patients of which 106 were diagnosed with spontaneous pneumothorax and 162 patients used as a control group. The sensitivity of Digital-conventional X-rays was found to be higher than that of inverted gray-scale images (95% CI (2,08-5,04), p<0,01). There was no statistically significant difference between the gold standard and digital-conventional images (95% CI (0,45-2,17), p=0,20), while the evaluations of the gray-scale images were found to be less sensitive for diagnosis (95% CI (3,16-5,67) p<0,01). Inverted gray-scale imaging is not a superior imaging modality over digital-conventional X-ray for the diagnosis of pneumothorax. Prospective studies should be performed where diagnostic potency of inverted gray-scale radiograms is tested against gold standard chest CT. Further research should compare inverted grayscale to lung ultrasound to assess them as alternatives prior to CT.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25410533,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Lycopene protects pancreatic acinar cells against severe acute pancreatitis by abating the oxidative stress through JNK pathway.\nThis study investigated the anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory effects of lycopene on severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) in both in vivo and in vitro models. Utilizing a rat model, we found that lycopene administration protected against SAP, as indicated by the decreased levels of serum amylase and C-reactive protein. Pathological changes were alleviated by pretreatment with lycopene. The serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-\u03b1, interleukin-6, macrophage inflammatory protein-1\u03b1, and monocyte chemotactic protein-1 were decreased by lycopene. The decreased reactive oxygen species (ROS) content in the pancreatic tissues of the lycopene-treated group were indirectly evaluated by measuring the levels of myeloperoxidase, lipid peroxidase, and superoxide dismutase. Lycopene protected acinar cells against necrosis and apoptosis by relieving the mitochondrial and endoplasmic stress caused by ROS which was shown in electron microscopy and immunohistochemistry staining of active nuclear factor-\u03baB p65. The protective effect was also observed in a simulated SAP model in a rat acinar cell line. ROS and apoptotic staining were compared between groups. Lycopene exerts protective effects against SAP in rats that may be related to its anti-inflammatory property through inhibiting the expression of damage-associated molecular patterns, and anti-oxidative property which can thus maintain cellular homeostasis and prevent the phosphorylation of JNK pathway.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25401050,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-22":1}}},"text":"CD4+ T Cells Play a Critical Role in Mediating Hypertension in Response to Placental Ischemia.\nSimilar to preeclamptic women, hypertension in the chronic Reduced Uterine Perfusion Pressure Rat Model Of Preeclampsia (RUPP) is associated with increased CD4+ T cells, cytokines, sFlt-1 and agonistic autoantibodies to the AngII receptor (AT1-AA). We examined the effect inhibition of T cell co-stimulation in RUPP rats treated with (A) (abatacept, 250 mg\/kg, infused i.v. at gestation day 13), on hypertension and sFlt-1, TNF-\u03b1 and AT1-AA. RUPP surgical procedure was performed on day 14. On day 19 MAP increased from 94+2 mmHg in Normal Pregnant (NP) to 123 \u00b1 3 mmHg in RUPP control rats. This response was attenuated by Abatacept, MAP was 104 \u00b1 2 mmHg in RUPP \u00b1 A, and 96 \u00b1 2 mmHg NP \u00b1 A. Percent circulating CD4+ T cells were 66 \u00b1 3% in RUPPs compared to 55 \u00b1 3% NP rats (p<0.04) but were normalized in RUPP \u00b1 A rats (54 \u00b1 3%). The twofold increase in TNF alpha seen in RUPPs (277 \u00b1 47 pg\/ml) was decreased to 80 \u00b1 18 pg\/ml in RUPP+A. Placental sFlt-1 was reduced 70 % to 151 \u00b1 28 in RUPP \u00b1 A compared 488 \u00b1 61 pg\/ml in RUPP (p<0.001). AT1-AA decreased from 20 \u00b1 0.8 bpm in control RUPP to 6 \u00b1 0.7 bpm in RUPP \u00b1 A. We next determined the effect of RUPP in causing hypertension in pregnant T cell deficient rats by examining MAP in NP (123 \u00b1 5 mmHg) and RUPP athymic nude rats (123 \u00b1 7 mmHg). In the absence of T cells, hypertension in response to placental ischemia was completely abolished. Collectively these data indicate that CD4+ Tcells in response to placental ischemia play an important role in the pathophysiology of hypertension associated with preeclampsia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29375617,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Growth Hormone, Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1, Insulin Resistance, and Leukocyte Telomere Length as Determinants of Arterial Aging in Subjects Free of Cardiovascular Diseases.\nBackground: Increased arterial stiffness (AS), intima-media thickness (IMT), and the presence of atherosclerotic plaques (PP) have been considered as important aspects of vascular aging. It is well documented that the cardiovascular system is an important target organ for growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 in humans, and GH \/IGF-1 deficiency significantly increases the risk for cardiovascular diseases (CVD). The telomere length of peripheral blood leukocytes (LTL) is a biomarker of cellular senescence and that has been proposed as an independent predictor of (CVD). The aim of this study is to determine the role of GH\/IGF-1, LTL and their interaction cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF) in the vascular aging. Methods: The study group included 303 ambulatory participants free of known CVD (104 males and 199 females) with a mean age of 51.8 \u00b1 13.3 years. All subjects had one or more CVRF [age, smoking, arterial hypertension, obesity, dyslipidemia, fasting hyperglycemia, insulin resistance-HOMA (homeostatic model assessment) >2.5, or high glycated hemoglobin]. The study sample was divided into the two groups according to age as \"younger\" (m \u2264 45 years, f \u2264 55 years) and \"older\" (m > 45 years, f > 55 years). IMT and PP were determined by ultrasonography, AS was determined by measuring the carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (c-f PWV) using the SphygmoCor system (AtCor Medical). LTL was determined by PCR. Serum IGF-1 and GH concentrations we measured by immunochemiluminescence analysis. Results: Multiple linear regression analysis with adjustment for CVRF indicated that HOMA, GH, IGF-1, and LTL had an independent relationship with all the arterial wall parameters investigated in the younger group. In the model with c-f PWV as a dependent variable, p < 0.001 for HOMA, p = 0.03 for GH, and p = 0.004 for LTL. In the model with IMT as a dependent variable, p = 0.0001 for HOMA, p = 0.044 for GH, and p = 0.004 for IGF-1. In the model with the number of plaques as a dependent variable, p = 0.0001 for HOMA, and p = 0.045 for IGF-1. In the older group, there were no independent significant associations between GH\/IGF-1, LTL, HOMA, and arterial wall characteristics. Conclusions: GH\/IGF-1, IR, HOMA, and LTL were the important parameters of arterial aging in younger healthy participants.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28740346,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Management and outcome of hepatocellular adenoma with massive bleeding at presentation.\nTo evaluate outcome of acute management and risk of rebleeding in patients with massive hemorrhage due to hepatocellular adenoma (HCA). This retrospective cohort study included all consecutive patients who presented to our hospital with massive hemorrhage (grade II or III) due to ruptured HCA and were admitted for observation and\/or intervention between 1999-2016. The diagnosis of HCA was based on radiological findings from contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or pathological findings from biopsy or resection of the HCA. Hemorrhage was diagnosed based on findings from computed tomography or MRI. Medical records were reviewed for demographic features, clinical presentation, tumor features, initial and subsequent management, short- and long-term complications and patient and lesion follow-up. All patients were female (n = 23). Treatment in the acute phase consisted of embolization (n = 9, 39.1%), conservative therapy (n = 13, 56.5%), and other intervention (n = 1, 4.3%). Median hemoglobin level decreased significantly more on days 0-3 in the intervention group than in the patients initially treated conservatively (0.9 mmol\/L vs 2.4 mmol\/L respectively, P = 0.006). In total, 4 patients suffered severe short-term complications, which included hypovolemic shock, acute liver failure and abscess formation. After a median follow-up of 36 mo, tumor regression in non-surgically treated patients occurred with a median reduction of 76 mm down to 25 mm. Four patients underwent secondary (elective) treatment (i.e., tumor resection) to address HCA size of > 5 cm and\/or desire for future pregnancy. One case of rebleeding was documented (4.3%). None of the patients experienced long-term complication (mean follow-up time: 36 mo). With a 4.3% risk of rebleeding, secondary (elective) treatment of HCA after massive hemorrhage may only be considered in patients with persistent HCA > 5 cm.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":932429,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Studies on glycopeptide released by trypsin from sheep erythrocytes.\nPretreatment of sheep erythrocytes with trypsin abolishes their specific binding and rosette formation with human T lymphocytes. A glycopeptide containing sialic acid is released from the intact sheep erythrocytes by incubation with trypsin and purified. This glycopeptide contains activity that can be bound to T lymphocytes and produces inhibition of rosette formation. This component with a m.w. of about 10,000 contains galactose, acetylglucosamine, acetylgalactosamine, sialic acid, and serine. These results suggest that the glycopeptide released by trypsin treatment may contain the site of the T cell receptor of sheep erythrocytes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37842815,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Unraveling the solvent stability on the cathode surface of Li-O2 batteries by using in situ vibrational spectroscopies.\nIn aprotic lithium-oxygen (Li-O2) batteries, solvent properties are crucial in the charge\/discharge processes. Therefore, a thorough understanding of the solvent stability at the cathode surface during the oxygen reduction\/evolution reactions (ORR\/OER) is essential for the rational design of high-performance electrolytes. In this study, the stability of typical solvents, a series of glyme solvents with different chain lengths, has been investigated during the ORR\/OER by in situ vibrational spectroscopy measurements of sum frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy and infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (IRRAS). The structural evolution and decomposition mechanism of the solvents during ORR\/OER have been discussed based on the observations. Our results demonstrate that superoxide (O2-) generated during the ORR plays a critical role in the stability of the solvents.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32360589,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Exercise-induced immune system response: Anti-inflammatory status on peripheral and central organs.\nA wide array of molecular pathways has been investigated during the past decade in order to understand the mechanisms by which the practice of physical exercise promotes neuroprotection and reduces the risk of developing communicable and non-communicable chronic diseases. While a single session of physical exercise may represent a challenge for cell homeostasis, repeated physical exercise sessions will improve immunosurveillance and immunocompetence. Additionally, immune cells from the central nervous system will acquire an anti-inflammatory phenotype, protecting central functions from age-induced cognitive decline. This review highlights the exercise-induced anti-inflammatory effect on the prevention or treatment of common chronic clinical and experimental settings. It also suggests the use of pterins in biological fluids as sensitive biomarkers to follow the anti-inflammatory effect of physical exercise.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9563938,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Can patents deter innovation? The anticommons in biomedical research.\nThe \"tragedy of the commons\" metaphor helps explain why people overuse shared resources. However, the recent proliferation of intellectual property rights in biomedical research suggests a different tragedy, an \"anticommons\" in which people underuse scarce resources because too many owners can block each other. Privatization of biomedical research must be more carefully deployed to sustain both upstream research and downstream product development. Otherwise, more intellectual property rights may lead paradoxically to fewer useful products for improving human health.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26470129,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Investigation of Age Polyethism in Food Processing of the Fungus-Growing Termite Odontotermes formosanus (Blattodea: Termitidae) Using a Laboratory Artificial Rearing System.\nLaboratory rearing systems are useful models for studying Rhinotermitid behavior. Information on the biology of fungus-growing termites, however, is limited because of the difficulty of rearing colonies in the laboratory settings. The physical structure of termite nests makes it impossible to photograph or to observe colonies in the field. In this study, an artificial rearing system for field-collected colonies of the fungus-growing termite Odontotermes formosanus (Shiraki) was developed to facilitate observation in the laboratory. We recorded colony activity within the artificial rearing system and documented a variety of social behaviors that occurred throughout the food processing of the colony. This complex miniature ecosystem was cooperatively organized via division of labor in the foraging and processing of plant materials, and the observed patterns largely resembled the caste and age-based principles present in Macrotermes colonies. This work extends our insights into polyethism in the subfamily Macrotermitinae.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22664770,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Ocular surface assessment in patients with obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome.\nThe aim of this study was to assess the correlation between ocular surface changes and disease severity in patients with obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS). Two hundred eighty patients with OSAHS were compared with respect to the presence of a floppy eyelid syndrome (FES), Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) questionnaire, the corneal fluorescein staining stages, the Schirmer I test, and tear film break-up time (TBUT) values. Based on the apnea-hypopnea index, the presence of FES was detected at the following rates: 23.1 % in non-OSAHS group (A), 41.7 % in mild group (B), 66.7 % in moderate group (C), and 74.6 % in severe group (D); severe and moderate stage of FES was found in groups C and D and mild stage of FES in group B (p < 0.01). OSDI questionnaire values were as follows: group A, 12.57 \u00b1 17.64; group B, 22.90 \u00b1 16.78; group C, 45.94 \u00b1 22.03; and group D, 56.68 \u00b1 22.85(p < 0.01). Schirmer values were as follows: group A, 10.76 \u00b1 3.58 mm; group B, 9.83 \u00b1 2.53 mm; group C, 7.73 \u00b1 2.42 mm; and group D, 6.97 \u00b1 2.15 mm (p < 0.01). The TBUT values were as follows: group A, 10.53 \u00b1 3.64 s; group B, 9.46 \u00b1 2.40 s; group C, 7.29 \u00b1 2.13 s; and group D, 6.82 \u00b1 2.20 s (p < 0.01). Corneal staining scores are as follows: 0.26 \u00b1 0.60 in group A, 0.40 \u00b1 0.71 in group B, 0.98 \u00b1 0.72 in group C, and 1.14 \u00b1 0.90 in group D, and the differences were statistically significant among the groups(p < 0.01). OSAHS, particularly the moderate and severe forms, is associated with low Schirmer and TBUT values and high scores in OSDI questionnaire and corneal staining pattern stage. The presence of FES is observed as a practically constant finding in OSAHS. If complaints such as burning, stinging, and itching which can be commonly observed in middle-aged patients are accompanied by FES, the patient should be evaluated for sleep disorders. We speculate that appropriate treatment of OSAHS may result in better control of these symptoms.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8346763,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Partial meniscectomy and anterior cruciate ligament rupture in soccer players. A study with a minimum 20-year followup.\nA retrospective review of 77 soccer players with 91 affected knees that had undergone the same operation, a rim-preserving meniscectomy, was made with a minimum followup of 20 years and an average followup of 27 years. The patients were divided into groups based on the presence of an intact (Group 1) or ruptured (Group 2) anterior cruciate ligament. At 5 years after meniscectomy, 75% of Group 1 and 52% of Group 2 were still playing soccer, and 13% in Group 1 as opposed to 28% in Group 2 had given up sports. The sporting class assessment was good in 80% of the Group 1 knees and 62% in the Group 2 knees. By followup, 5% of Group 1 and 32% of Group 2 required further meniscectomies, and 2% of Group 1 and 16% of Group 2 required operations for osteoarthritis. Radiologically diagnosed osteoarthritis was present in 24% of Group 1 knees compared with 77% of Group 2. Functionally, 60% of the Group 1 knees were excellent at followup as opposed to 9% in Group 2 knees. In Group 1, 49% were still involved in sports compared with 22% in Group 2. However, 97% of Group 1 were satisfied with their knees compared with 74% of Group 2. All of these differences were statistically significant.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29360772,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Thermoreversibly Cross-Linked EPM Rubber Nanocomposites with Carbon Nanotubes.\nConductive rubber nanocomposites were prepared by dispersing conductive nanotubes (CNT) in thermoreversibly cross-linked ethylene propylene rubbers grafted with furan groups (EPM-g-furan) rubbers. Their features were studied with a strong focus on conductive and mechanical properties relevant for strain-sensor applications. The Diels-Alder chemistry used for thermoreversible cross-linking allows for the preparation of fully recyclable, homogeneous, and conductive nanocomposites. CNT modified with compatible furan groups provided nanocomposites with a relatively large tensile strength and small elongation at break. High and low sensitivity deformation experiments of nanocomposites with 5 wt % CNT (at the percolation threshold) displayed an initially linear sensitivity to deformation. Notably, only fresh samples displayed a linear response of their electrical resistivity to deformations as the resistance variation collapsed already after one cycle of elongation. Notwithstanding this mediocre performance as a strain sensor, the advantages of using thermoreversible chemistry in a conductive rubber nanocomposite were highlighted by demonstrating crack-healing by welding due to the joule effect on the surface and the bulk of the material. This will open up new technological opportunities for the design of novel strain-sensors based on recyclable rubbers.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16215103,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pancreatic islet cell transplantation: a treatment strategy for type I diabetes mellitus.\nType I diabetes mellitus continues to be a serious disease with long-term morbidity from complications of the disease, despite better knowledge of physiology and better patient care. Pancreatic islet cell transplantation, still experimental, is gaining acceptance as a treatment strategy for individuals with type 1 diabetes who have poor glucose control and frequent hypoglycemic episodes despite maximal care. The procedure can improve glucose control, avoiding further hypoglycemic episodes, and can achieve insulin-independence at the expense of immunosuppression treatment. Islet cell transplantation does not correct all the metabolic abnormalities seen in type 1 diabetes, and glucose tolerance can remain abnormal. The dietary management of the patients still needs to be defined. Further research is focused at improvement in islet isolation and the refinement of immunosuppression strategies aiming toward immune tolerance, bringing hope for a cure of diabetes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8344275,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Synthesis of 3-arsonoalanine and its action on aspartate aminotransferase and aspartate ammonia-lyase. Comparison with arsenical analogues of malate and fumarate.\nDL-3-Arsonoalanine has been synthesized by the Strecker synthesis from the unstable compound arsonoacetaldehyde. It inactivates pig heart cytosolic aspartate aminotransferase and inhibits aspartate ammonia-lyase by competing with aspartate (Ki\/Km 0.23). The fumarate analogue (E)-3-arsonoacrylic acid and the malate analogue (RS)-3-arsonolactate also inhibit fumarate hydratase, competing with fumarate (Ki\/Km 1.8) and malate (Ki\/Km 1.6) respectively. Attempted non-enzymic transamination of 3-arsonoalanine gave elimination of arsenite, in contrast with the transamination of 3-phosphonoalanine, which is either successful or leads to loss of phosphate.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9545765,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Silicon of the medium in the postoperative maxillary cyst].\nAs part of a study on chronic inflammatory disease of the mucous membrane, silicon of the medium in postoperative maxillary cysts and in other cysts was measured, and following results were obtained. Silicon concentrations of the medium in the postoperative maxillary cysts and in the postoperative ethmoidal cysts were 34.5 ppm and 42.9 ppm (geometrical mean) respectively, and they were higher than in other primary cysts such as frontal cyst, nasal vestibular cyst, and dental cyst. The silicon content of the medium in the postoperative maxillary cyst varied with the water content of the medium; the lower the water content the higher was the silicon content and the relationship was expressed by the following equation. log S = 7.43 + 7.14 log d-6.14 log w, where S = Si (mcg), d = dry weight (g.) and w = wet weight (g.). The high concentration of silicon in the postoperative cyst was considered to be due to the large amount of silicon transudate from the surrounding fibrous tissue through a highly damaged or missing epithelial wall of the cyst.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8349948,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"In vitro and in vivo comparative studies on immunosuppressive properties of cyclosporines A, C, D and metabolites M1, M17 and M21.\nCyclosporine A (CsA) and its major metabolites: M1, M17 and M21 and two analogues: cyclosporines C (CsC) and D (CsD), were studied for their capacity to interfere with different in vitro activation pathways. Their inhibition potentials against the reaction of Graft-versus-Host (GvH) were also studied. The results showed: CsA, CsC and metabolite M17 were the most active compounds upon the inhibition of lymphocyte proliferation induced by different mitogens (ConA, PHA, PWM) and also on the proliferation of mixed lymphocyte cultures (MLC). The same results were observed concerning the direct activation by protein kinase C using a combined action of phorbol ester + calcium ionophore. In vivo using local GvH reaction, CsA and CsC proved more active than M17 in the two different combinations: H-2d --> (H-2b x H-2d)F1 and H-2k --> (H-2b x H-2k)F1 CsD and two metabolites M1 and M21 showed no or weak immunosuppressive effects. Overall, the immunosuppressive potency of six compounds could be schematized as: CsA > or = CsC > M17 > M1 > or = CsD > M21.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28568811,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"SELECTION ON A FLORAL COLOR POLYMORPHISM IN THE TALL MORNING GLORY (IPOMOEA PURPUREA): TRANSMISSION SUCCESS OF THE ALLELES THROUGH POLLEN.\nThe W locus, a codominant locus influencing floral pigment intensity in the tall morning glory, Ipomoea purpurea, is polymorphic throughout the southeastern United States. Previous studies suggest that this polymorphism is actively maintained by balancing selection, and that increased selfing accompanied by lack of pollen discounting (\"Fisher effect\") may act to protect the white allele when it is rare. Processes that act to protect the dark allele and thus stabilize the polymorphism in conjunction with the Fisher effect have not been previously detected. The goal of this study was to determine whether any of three such processes might operate in I. purpurea. Estimates of breeding system parameters in a large experimental population in which the white allele was in higher than normal frequency (0.5) provided little evidence that either dark- or light-flowered plants were more successful as pollen parents than white-flowered plants. In addition, no evidence was found for a transmission bias favoring the dark allele in the ovules produced by light heterozygotes. In contrast, a strong transmission bias favoring the dark allele in pollen of heterozygotes was observed. A simple model using parameter estimates derived from this and previous studies indicates that a balance between the Fisher effect and biased transmission in heterozygote pollen could account for many properties of the polymorphism.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37465164,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"\"HLA-C: evolution, epigenetics, and pathological implications in the major histocompatibility complex\".\nHLA-C, a gene located within the major histocompatibility complex, has emerged as a prominent target in biomedical research due to its involvement in various diseases, including cancer and autoimmune disorders; even though its recent addition to the MHC, the interaction between HLA-C and KIR is crucial for immune responses, particularly in viral infections. This review provides an overview of the structure, origin, function, and pathological implications of HLA-C in the major histocompatibility complex. In the last decade, we systematically reviewed original publications from Pubmed, ScienceDirect, Scopus, and Google Scholar. Our findings reveal that genetic variations in HLA-C can determine susceptibility or resistance to certain diseases. However, the first four exons of HLA-C are particularly susceptible to epigenetic modifications, which can lead to gene silencing and alterations in immune function. These alterations can manifest in diseases such as alopecia areata and psoriasis and can also impact susceptibility to cancer and the effectiveness of cancer treatments. By comprehending the intricate interplay between genetic and epigenetic factors that regulate HLA-C expression, researchers may develop novel strategies for preventing and treating diseases associated with HLA-C dysregulation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35350904,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Plantamajoside promotes metformin-induced apoptosis, autophagy and proliferation arrest of liver cancer cells via suppressing Akt\/GSK3\u03b2 signaling.\nMetformin, a well-known antidiabetic drug, exhibits anticancer effect in a variety of cancers, including liver cancer. Plantamajoside (PMS), a phenylethanoid glycoside compound isolated from Plantago asiatica, is proved to possess anticancer effects, too. In our study, we hypothesized that PMS might promote metformin mediated anticancer effects on liver cancer. The half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of metformin was evaluated by cell viability assay. The influence of PMS on proliferation, migration, invasion and apoptosis of metformin-treated cells was evaluated by BrdU incorporation assay, flow cytometry, western blot, wound scratch healing assay, transwell cell migration assay and immunofluorescence. A fasting\/feeding mouse model was built to evaluate the influence of PMS on metformin sensitivity in vivo. PMS (2.5, 10 or 40 \u03bcg\/mL) treatment reduced the IC50 of metformin under different glucose concentrations. PMS (10 \u03bcg\/mL) promoted metformin (5 mm) induced apoptosis and autophagy, and inhibition on proliferation, migration and invasion of HepG2 and HuH-7 cells. In the fasting\/feeding mouse model, PMS (50 mg\/kg) promoted metformin (200 mg\/kg) induced proliferation arrest and apoptosis in vivo. Meanwhile, PMS reduced the level of pAkt(ser473) and GSK3\u03b2(ser9) in HepG2 and HuH-7 cells. Restoration of Akt\/GSK3\u03b2 signaling by a constitutively activated myr-Akt1 abrogated the effects of PMS on metformin-treated liver cancer cells. Our results demonstrated that PMS promoted the anticancer effects of metformin on liver cancer in vitro and in vivo.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28533989,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Iatrogenic Spinal Subdural Extra-Arachnoid Hygroma Following Uncomplicated Lumbar Decompression.\nIntradural spinal arachnoid cysts (ISACs) have been reported in the current literature as either an idiopathic disease or exceedingly rare sequelae after lumbar puncture, spinal trauma, or meningitis. Other studies have more appropriately termed the iatrogenic pathology as a spinal subdural extra-arachnoid hygroma (SSEH), as there is not often a clear cyst wall as in a true arachnoid cyst. However, to the best of our knowledge, none of the previous studies described an SSEH following uncomplicated posterior lumbar surgery, as they have previously involved clear durotomies during the initial operation. Here, we report the case of a 53-year-old woman who presented to the emergency department with a persistent severe orthostatic headache and worsening leg pain, six days following an uneventful L5-S1 discectomy and left L4-5 laminoforaminotomy, without intraoperative durotomy. Lumbar magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan revealed a pseudomeningocele and an SSEH extending from the S1 up to the lower thoracic spine, compressing and displacing the cauda equina. Although the hygroma extended up to the lower thoracic spine, surgical exploration was performed only at the index surgical site with bilateral L5 laminectomy, wide durotomy, and wide fenestration of the arachnoid layer. Postoperatively, her headaches dissipated and her pain improved with complete radiographic resolution of the collection. Iatrogenic SSEH is an exceedingly rare complication of posterior lumbar decompression and can occur in the absence of a durotomy during the index surgery. Although these hygromas may span multiple levels, the initial surgical site or the site of known durotomy should be explored first. They can potentially be treated with only a limited durotomy and arachnoid fenestration at a single level rather than at a multilevel arachnoid fenestration.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15249454,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cytokine response to pulmonary thromboendarterectomy.\nPulmonary thromboendarterectomy (PTE) is an effective but challenging treatment for chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH). PTE is associated with marked hemodynamic instability in the perioperative course, suggesting the involvement of circulating mediators. The aim of this study was to characterize the expression of proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines in patients undergoing PTE. Fourteen patients with CTEPH (mean [+\/- SD] pulmonary vascular resistance, 1,056 +\/- 399 dyne.s.cm(-5)) underwent PTE using cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) and deep hypothermic circulatory arrest (DHCA). Peripheral arterial blood samples were drawn prior to patients undergoing sternotomy, during CPB, before and after DHCA, and 0, 8, 16, 24, and 48 h after surgery. An enzyme-linked-immunosorbent assay was used to analyze the plasma levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-10. Seven patients undergoing aortic arch replacement (ARCH) in DHCA served as a control group. Prior to and during PTE, the CTEPH patients exhibited elevated TNF-alpha levels, which decreased within the first 24 postoperative hours (p = 0.02). There was no TNF-alpha release among patients in the ARCH group. IL-6 levels were similar in both groups throughout the perioperative course. A profound anti-inflammatory response was observed in the PTE group, which was reflected by elevated IL-10 levels prior to surgery and a marked peak level immediately after surgery. A positive correlation was found between maximum vasopressor support and peak levels of IL-6 (r = 0.82) in the PTE patients. Heart failure due to CTEPH appears to generate a pronounced inflammatory response with the release of proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines. PTE results in the rapid normalization of preoperatively elevated TNF-alpha levels. IL-6-mediated systemic inflammatory cascades may be involved in the regulation of peripheral vascular tone after PTE.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28694486,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"CTCF binding landscape in jawless fish with reference to Hox cluster evolution.\nThe nuclear protein CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF) contributes as an insulator to chromatin organization in animal genomes. Currently, our knowledge of its binding property is confined mainly to mammals. In this study, we identified CTCF homologs in extant jawless fishes and performed ChIP-seq for the CTCF protein in the Arctic lamprey. Our phylogenetic analysis suggests that the lamprey lineage experienced gene duplication that gave rise to its unique paralog, designated CTCF2, which is independent from the previously recognized duplication between CTCF and CTCFL. The ChIP-seq analysis detected comparable numbers of CTCF binding sites between lamprey, chicken, and human, and revealed that the lamprey CTCF protein binds to the two-part motif, consisting of core and upstream motifs previously reported for mammals. These findings suggest that this mode of CTCF binding was established in the last common ancestor of extant vertebrates (more than 500 million years ago). We analyzed CTCF binding inside Hox clusters, which revealed a reinforcement of CTCF binding in the region spanning Hox1-4 genes that is unique to lamprey. Our study provides not only biological insights into the antiquity of CTCF-based epigenomic regulation known in mammals but also a technical basis for comparative epigenomic studies encompassing the whole taxon Vertebrata.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19033676,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-10":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Regulation of alpha-ketoisovalerate decarboxylase expression in Lactococcus lactis IFPL730.\nThe alpha-ketoisovalerate decarboxylase (Kivd) is a unique lactococcal key enzyme in the decarboxylation of branched-chain alpha-keto acids derived from branched-chain amino acids transamination into aldehydes. These products are important aroma compounds produced during cheese ripening. In this study, the Kivd expression of Lactococcus lactis IFPL730 growing either in nitrogen-rich media or in chemically defined media supplemented with different concentrations of branched-chain amino acids and casitone was analyzed. Isoleucine starvation increased 4-fold the Kivd activity of L. lactis IFPL730 compared to cells grown in chemically defined medium with casitone as nitrogen source. Regulation of expression was at the transcription level, probably mediated by CodY, for which a consensus CodY-box sequence was identified in the kivd promoter region.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30307487,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Clinical Usefulness of Proteomics in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Comprehensive Review.\nThe protein domain is probably the most ubiquitously affected in disease, response and recovery, and therefore proteomics holds special promise for biomarker discovery in general, and particularly in inflammatory bowel disease [IBD], i.e. ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. Tremendous progress has been made over the past decade in the development and refinement of proteomics technologies. These advances provide opportunities for a long-anticipated personalized medicine approach to the treatment of IBD. The present review examines the current state of IBD proteomics research and its usefulness in clinical practice. We performed a systematic bibliographic search to identify studies investigating the use of proteomics in patients with IBD, and we then summarized the current 'state of the art' in the applications of proteomic technologies in the study of IBD. In particular, in the present review we provide: [1] a brief introduction to proteomics in health and disease; [2] a review of the different stages from biomarker discovery to clinical application; and [3] a comprehensive review of the clinical usefulness and application of proteomics in IBD, including: [a] screening to differentiate IBD from healthy controls; [b] differentiating Crohn's disease from ulcerative colitis; [c] prediction of the behaviour or the IBD course; [d] prediction of IBD response to biological treatment; and [e] monitoring response to treatment. We also review the importance of the type of sample-blood vs intestinal tissue-for the study of proteomics in IBD patients. Finally, we emphasize the current limitations of proteomic studies in IBD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7944569,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"PM10, ozone, and hospital admissions for the elderly in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota.\nSeveral recent studies have reported associations between airborne particles and\/or ozone and hospital admissions for respiratory disease. PM10 has rarely been used as the particle exposure measure, however. This study examined whether such an association could be seen in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, which has daily monitoring data for PM10. Data on hospital admissions in persons aged 65 y and older were obtained from Medicare records for the years 1986 through 1989. Daily counts of admissions, by admit date, were computed for pneumonia (ICD9 480-487) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (ICD9 490-496). Classification was by discharge diagnosis. Daily air pollution data from all monitoring stations for ozone and PM10 in Minneapolis-St. Paul were obtained, and the daily average for each pollutant was computed. An average of approximately six pneumonia admissions and two admissions for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease occurred each day. Poisson regression analysis was used to control for time trends, seasonal fluctuations, and weather. PM10 was a risk factor for pneumonia admissions (relative risk [RR] = 1.17, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.33-1.02) and COPD admissions (RR = 1.57, 95% CI = 2.06-1.20). Ozone was also associated with pneumonia admissions (RR = 1.15, 95% CI = 1.36-0.97). The relative risks are for an increase of 100 micrograms\/m3 in daily PM10 and 50 ppb in daily ozone concentration. Several alternative methods for controlling for seasonal patterns and weather were used, including nonparametric regression techniques. The results were not sensitive to the methods. When days exceeding the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for either pollutant were excluded, the association remained for both pneumonia (RR = 1.18, 95% CI = 1.34-1.03 for PM10, and RR = 1.18, 95% CI = 1.41-0.99 for ozone) and COPD (RR = 1.54, 95% CI = 2.06-1.16 for PM10).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17887771,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Improving therapeutic properties of protein drugs through alteration of intracellular trafficking pathways.\nAlthough intracellular trafficking processes can play a central role in the physiological function of a protein, these same processes can also limit the benefit of the protein when it is taken out of its physiological context and used as a protein drug. Therefore, the properties of certain protein drugs may be improved by manipulating their trafficking pathways to suit their therapeutic function. A detailed consideration of the factors that govern how protein traffic is routed among different cellular destinations can be used to ascertain molecular design criteria for engineering a protein drug so as to alter its trafficking pathway in a beneficial manner. In this review, we summarize studies that have applied this approach to achieve the following three improvements in protein drug function: (1) half-life extension of the Fc fragment of IgG, (2) half-life extension of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, and (3) increase in cellular association of transferrin.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23327691,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The macrocyclic peptide natural product CJ-15,208 is orally active and prevents reinstatement of extinguished cocaine-seeking behavior.\nThe macrocyclic tetrapeptide natural product CJ-15,208 (cyclo[Phe-d-Pro-Phe-Trp]) exhibited both dose-dependent antinociception and kappa opioid receptor (KOR) antagonist activity after oral administration. CJ-15,208 antagonized a centrally administered KOR selective agonist, providing strong evidence it crosses the blood-brain barrier to reach KOR in the CNS. Orally administered CJ-15,208 also prevented both cocaine- and stress-induced reinstatement of extinguished cocaine-seeking behavior in the conditioned place preference assay in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Thus, CJ-15,208 is a promising lead compound with a unique activity profile for potential development, particularly as a therapeutic to prevent relapse to drug-seeking behavior in abstinent subjects.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36281134,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Humoral immune response against BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine in patients with rheumatic disease undergoing immunosuppressive therapy: A Japanese monocentric study.\nWe investigated serum total antibody titers against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein receptor-binding domain after BNT162b2 mRNA vaccination against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Japanese patients taking various immunosuppressive medications for rheumatic disease. In 212 outpatients with rheumatic diseases at Kagawa University Hospital and 43 healthy volunteers (controls), all of whom had received 2 doses of BNT162b2 vaccine, serum antibody titers of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein were analyzed at least 14 days after the second dose. Many of the patients were taking immunosuppressive agents to manage their rheumatic disease. The antibody titers against SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in these patients were significantly lower than those in controls. The analysis of therapeutic agents revealed that the antibody titers in patients treated with rituximab were much lower than those in controls. In patients treated with tacrolimus, baricitinib, azathioprine, mycophenolate mofetil, abatacept, tumor necrosis factor inhibitors, cyclosporine, interleukin-6 inhibitors, methotrexate, or glucocorticoids, antibody titers were moderately lower than those of controls. Interleukin-17 and interleukin-23 inhibitors did not impair the humoral response. In addition, the combination of methotrexate with various immunosuppressive agents reduced titers, although not significantly. In Japanese patients with rheumatic disease, many immunosuppressants impaired the immune response to the BNT162b2 vaccine. The degree of decline in antibody titers differed according to immunosuppressant. When used concomitantly with other immunosuppressants, methotrexate may impair the immune response to the BNT162b2 vaccine. However, immunomodulatory treatments such as interleukin-17 and -23 inhibitors may not attenuate this response in patients with rheumatic disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24396669,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Benign teratoma of the thyroid gland.\nAlthough pathology reports of thyroid tissue in ovarian teratomas are abundant, benign teratomas of the thyroid are extremely rare in adolescents and adults. Therefore, their clinical characteristics are still not well characterized. We report a case of a 54-year-old woman with a growing mass in her neck. Left lobectomy of the thyroid revealed it to be a benign thyroid teratoma composed of tissues from all three germ layers. Preoperative evaluations included thyroid ultrasonography (US), ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC), and computed tomography (CT) of the neck. A 4.7-cm, well defined, predominantly hypoechoic mass intermingled with hyperechoic internal lesions, was observed in the inferior portion of the left thyroid lobe with substernal extension on US. The posterior extent of the nodule was not visualized due to deep attenuation of the echo. US-guided FNAC failed to reveal any thyroid follicular cells, but suggested a benign cystic tumor. Neck CT hinted at the diagnosis of teratoma because the mass contained large amounts of fat, and the margin was well defined. Extrathyroidal extension and cervical lymphadenopathy were not seen. She underwent left thyroid lobectomy, and histologic examination confirmed benign thyroid teratoma. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case report of benign thyroid teratoma in Korea.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16230664,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Measuring fluctuating asymmetry in fattening rabbits: a valid indicator of performance and housing quality?\nFluctuating asymmetry (FA) has been advocated as the preferred measure of developmental instability and a reliable indicator of the quality of an animal (performance\/fitness) and of its environment during its growing life. Empirical studies, however, are too scant or equivocal to consider this assumption adequately validated, which is partly due to the lack of a robust methodological framework for collecting and analyzing FA data. Therefore, we conducted an experiment in which 306 weaned rabbits were housed either in welfare-friendly pens (n = 6) or barren pens (n = 6). The size of both types of pen was similar (1.91 m2), but the welfare-friendly pens were equipped with suitable enrichment material (gnawing stick, elevated platform, and hiding box) and were stocked with one-half of the number of rabbits compared with the barren pens (17 vs. 34 rabbits per pen). Performance data (BW gain, ADFI, and G:F) were collected every 14 d. After slaughter (d 63 to 72), we measured twice the left- and right-hand side of 11 presumed bilateral traits on intact carcasses and 50 traits on fleshed bones. Using a stringent decision process, an optimal combination of morphological traits for estimating FA in fattening rabbits was determined. This combination consisted of five traits (fleshed bones) that showed no directional asymmetry or antisymmetry and showed a high level of FA relative to the measurement error; also, these traits were not correlated in their signed FA values. Measurements on intact carcasses seemed inappropriate for estimating FA. Using this robust FA measuring protocol, rabbits housed in the welfare-friendly pens were less asymmetric than were rabbits from the barren pens. Except for a greater daily BW gain in the welfare-friendly pens during the first 14 d after weaning, there were no effects of housing conditions on performance traits. The FA was negatively correlated with BW gain in rabbits from the barren pens, whereas in the welfare-friendly pens, there was no correlation. These results support the application of FA as an indicator of animal welfare and performance; however, FA seems to be a more reliable estimator of the underlying developmental instability when living conditions are suboptimal.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34398702,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sexual violence victimization among American college students studying abroad.\nObjective: Research has just begun to identify American college students who study abroad as a group at-risk for sexual violence victimization. The purpose of the current study was to examine the context of these incidents. Participants: We utilized a large longitudinal sample of 2,428 United States college students studying abroad for between 4 and 21 weeks in 12 different foreign countries. Methods: We estimated descriptive statistics and logistic regression models to assess prevalence and correlates of sexual victimization abroad, as well as effect size comparisons to quantify changes in drinking abroad. Results: Over one-fifth of students experienced sexual violence while abroad, including sexual assault and verbal coercion. Women, younger students, those who experienced sexual violence prior, and heavier drinkers had the greatest odds of sexual violence victimization abroad. Conclusions: Findings point to the need for evidence-based programming to reduce sexual violence risk among American college students studying in foreign countries.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29387204,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Clinical manifestations and epigenetic mechanisms of gastric mucosa associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma and long-term follow-up following Helicobacter pylori eradication.\nThe current study aimed to summarize the clinical manifestations and identify the epigenetic mechanisms of gastric mucosa associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma, as well as evaluate the long-term effects of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) eradication. A total of 122 patients with marginal zone B-cell lymphoma of primary gastric MALT lymphoma were enrolled in the present study. The clinical manifestations of gastric MALT lymphoma, including symptoms, H. pylori state and endoscopic type, were summarized. The response to therapy was evaluated in patients that underwent H. pylori eradication. Survival analysis was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. The expression of microRNA-383 (miR-383) in tumor tissues and cell lines was determined using reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Furthermore, bioinformatic analyses, luciferase reporter assays. and western blot analysis identified zinc finger E-box binding homeobox 2 (ZEB2) as a direct target gene of miR-383. An MTT assay was used to examine the function of miR-383 and ZEB2 in MALT lymphoma. The clinical symptoms of patients with gastric MALT lymphoma were non-specific and included epigastric pain, abdominal discomfort and bleeding. The majority of endoscopic types were classified as ulcer, erosion and mucosa edema. The H. pylori infection rate was 79.5% (97\/122) and a total of 47 patients underwent eradication therapy. Lymphoma remission was achieved in 93.6% (44\/47) of patients and complete remission (CR) was achieved in 74.4% (35\/47). The median follow-up time was 38 months (range, 10-132 months) and the median time taken to achieve CR was 4 months (range, 3-7 months). The estimated 3-year survival rate was 90.3% and the 5-year survival rate was 76.2%. Therefore, it was determined that patients with stage I or II gastric MALT lymphoma are able to undergo H. pylori eradication as a first-line treatment and that the survival rate of patients undergoing this treatment is high. Furthermore, it was determined that the mechanism by which miR-383 and ZEB2 contribute to MALT lymphoma progression is by the targeting of ZEB2 by miR-383, which inhibits the proliferation of cancer cells.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28697821,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"The first detection of Toxoplasma gondii DNA in environmental air samples using gelatine filters, real-time PCR and loop-mediated isothermal (LAMP) assays: qualitative and quantitative analysis.\nToxoplasma gondii infections are acquired through the ingestion of oocysts present in the environment. However, there is no data about their occurrence in the air or about airborne transmission of these infections. In the present paper, we report on the identification of T. gondii using rapid molecular detection methods, supported by microscopic analysis, in environmental air samples. A total of 71 samples were collected, using gelatine filters, from kitchen gardens, recreational areas and sandpits located in northern and north-eastern Poland. Material recovered from the filters was analysed using real-time PCR and loop-mediated isothermal assays targeting the T. gondii B1 gene. Toxoplasma gondii DNA was found in two samples, as confirmed by both molecular assays. Genotyping at the SAG2 locus showed Toxoplasma SAG2 type I. Moreover, the presence of T. gondii oocysts was confirmed in one of the positive samples with the use of microscopy. The results showed that T. gondii may be present in environmental air samples and that respiratory tract infections may play a role in the high prevalence of toxoplasmosis in humans and animals. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first epidemiological evidence that oro-fecal and foodborne toxoplasmosis may be traceable to an airborne respiratory origin and that this may represent a new, previously unknown transmission route for this disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":2786363,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hard-rock mining exposures affect smokers and nonsmokers differently. Results of a community prevalence study.\nThe physiologic consequences of occupational dust exposure, their relation to smoking, and their reversibility with cessation of exposure remain controversial. To address these questions, we studied a random sample of male residents of Leadville, Colorado when the major employer, a hard-rock mine, had been closed for 5 to 11 months. Subjects were interviewed for respiratory symptoms and occupational history, underwent plethysmographic measurements of lung volume and airflow, and performed a single breath diffusing capacity procedure. Dyspnea was the only respiratory symptom exacerbated by mining exposures. Cumulative dust exposure, estimated with historic respirable dust measurements for mining job titles and weighted by time at the job, was associated with decreases in maximal expiratory flow rates when controlled for smoking, age, and height. However, determinations of plethysmographic lung volume that allowed calculation of flow rates at equivalent absolute lung volume indicated that dust effects differed in never-smokers and smokers. In never-smokers, dust exposure was associated with decreased lung volume, increased flow rates, and increased DLCO\/VA. In smokers, dust exposure was associated with increased lung volume, lower flow rates, and lower DLCO\/VA than that accounted for by smoking. We suggest that hard-rock mining exposures result in irreversible pulmonary function changes of airflow limitation in smokers and of a restrictive nature in never-smokers.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6728671,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Observations of bacterial diseases of captive snakes in Finland.\nEighteen captive, nonpoisonous snakes which suffered from bacterial infections were studied. The most usual bacteria found were gram-negative rods; especially Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Aeromonas hydrophila and Proteus spp. The most common disorders caused by them were stomatitis, septicaemia, bronchopneumonia and abscesses. The sensitivities of ten isolated bacteria to antimicrobial drugs were tested. Neomycin and gentamicin seemed to be effective, especially against P. aeruginosa.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32589046,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Five analytic challenges in working with electronic health records data to support clinical trials with some solutions.\nElectronic health records data are becoming a key data resource in clinical research. Owing to issues of data efficiency, electronic health records data are being used for clinical trials. This includes both large-scale pragmatic trails and smaller-more focused-point-of-care trials. While electronic health records data open up a number of scientific opportunities, they also present a number of analytic challenges. This article discusses five particular challenges related to organizing electronic health records data for analytic purposes. These are as follows: (1) data are not organized for research purposes, (2) data are both densely and irregularly observed, (3) we don't have all data elements we may want or need, (4) data are both cross-sectional and longitudinal, and (5) data may be informatively observed. While laying out these challenges, the article notes how many of these challenges can be addressed by careful and thoughtful study design as well as by integration of clinicians and informaticians into the analytic team.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26415787,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Encephalopathy with status epilepticus during sleep (ESES) induced by oxcarbazepine in idiopathic focal epilepsy in childhood.\nEncephalopathy with status epilepticus during sleep (ESES) is an age-related disorder characterized by neuropsychological regression, epilepsy and a typical EEG pattern of continuous epileptiform activity (> 85%) during NREM sleep. Cases of worsening or induction of ESES with phenytoin, carbamazepine and phenobarbital have been reported. We describe a child with benign epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes (BECTS) in whom treatment with oxcarbazepine (OXC) induced ESES. The patient was studied through repeated clinical-neuropsychological evaluations and 24-hour EEG recordings. He was treated with OXC two months after epilepsy onset. One month after starting OXC, he developed an abrupt and severe cognitive deterioration. A 24-hour EEG and neuropsychological tests showed an electroclinical picture compatible with ESES. Withdrawal of OXC and introduction of other drugs were followed by a prompt improvement. Five months after ESES onset, a 24-hour EEG was normal. Our report indicates that OXC can induce ESES in BECTS.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28538903,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Epidemiological profile of tinea capitis in S\u00e3o Paulo City.\nTinea capitis is the most common fungal infection in children. The identification of the etiologic agent helps clinicians make their therapeutic choice. Studies conducted in different countries show a changing pattern of the main etiological agents according to their regions. We performed a retrospective study in the tertiary public service in S\u00e3o Paulo, analyzing the isolated etiological agents in patients with tinea capitis from March 2013 to May 2015. Microsporum canis was the main agent (56.6%), followed by Trichophyton tonsurans (36.6%). Despite recent migratory movements in the city, we observed no change in the causative agent of tinea capitis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23333039,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Problem gambling severity and the incidence of Axis I psychopathology among older adults in the general population.\nTo examine the longitudinal relationship between past-year problem-gambling severity and incident Axis I psychopathology among older adults (aged 55-90), analyses were conducted on data from the National Epidemiologic Study of Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC). This nationally-representative population-based survey was conducted in two waves (Wave 1, 2000-2001; and Wave 2, 2004-2005). Past-year problem-gambling severity at Wave 1 and incident Axis I psychopathology at Wave 2 were evaluated with the Alcohol Use Disorder and Associated Disabilities Interview Schedule-Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fourth Edition. Multivariate logistic regression modeling was conducted on groups categorized into low-frequency gambling\/non-gambling (LFG\/NG), low-risk gambling (LRG), and at-risk\/problem\/pathological gambling (ARPG) based on DSM-IV criteria for pathological gambling. Relative to LFG\/NG, ARPG at Wave 1 was positively associated with the incidence of generalized anxiety disorder (OR = 2.51; p = .011) and any substance use disorder (OR = 2.61; p = .0036); LRG was negatively associated with the incidence of hypomania (OR = 0.33; p = .017). Models were adjusted for demographic characteristics, psychiatric comorbidity, health behaviors, physical health, and stressful life events assessed at baseline. While gambling may represent a positive activity for some older adults, data suggest that risky\/problematic gambling behavior may be associated with the development of psychiatric problems in this population. Older-adult gamblers, as well as their clinicians, friends, and family, should be aware of potential risks associated with gambling, adopt strategies to prevent the onset of secondary disorders, and monitor themselves and others for signs of problems.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27266277,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Low-level prenatal lead exposure and infant sensory function.\nLead is a pervasive neurotoxicant that has been associated with poorer cognitive, behavioral, and motor outcomes in children. The effects of lead on sensory function have not been well characterized. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of prenatal lead exposure on infant sensory function, as measured by auditory brainstem response (ABR) and grating visual acuity (VA). Lead was measured in maternal blood in mid- and late-pregnancy (mean gestational age = 15.5 and 39.0 weeks, respectively) and umbilical cord blood in a cohort of full-term infants in rural northeastern China. ABR latencies (peaks I, III, V) were measured in newborns during unsedated sleep (n = 315). The ABR central-to-peripheral (C-P) ratio was calculated as the ratio between the III-V and I-III interpeak intervals. VA was measured in 6-week-olds using Teller Acuity Cards (n = 1019) and assigned as the narrowest grid the infant fixated on. Multivariate linear regression was used to evaluate relationships between tertiles of mid-pregnancy, late-pregnancy, or cord lead and newborn ABR or 6-week VA. Higher late-pregnancy lead levels were associated with higher ABR C-P ratios and lower VA. In covariate-adjusted analyses, mean C-P ratios were 4.6 and 3.2 % higher in infants whose mothers had lead > 3.8 \u03bcg\/dL and lead = 2-3.8 \u03bcg\/dL, respectively, than for infants whose mothers had lead < 2 \u03bcg\/dL (p-trend =0.002). In adjusted analyses for VA, mean scores were 8.5 and 7.2 % lower for maternal lead > 3.8 \u03bcg\/dL and lead = 2-3.8 \u03bcg\/dL, respectively, compared to lead < 2 \u03bcg\/dL (p-trend =0.009). Auditory and visual systems maturation appears delayed in infants with higher prenatal lead exposure during late-pregnancy, even at relatively low levels. Both systems start myelinating in late gestation and mature rapidly in infancy. Higher ABR C-P ratio and lower grating VA scores suggest effects of low-level lead exposure on sensory system myelination.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22677763,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Efficacy of cereton in acute ischemic stroke: results of the trial SOLNTSE].\nWe studied 95 patients with acute (no later than 24h after onset) carotid ischemic stroke. Patients of the main group (50 patients) received cereton in dose 4 ml (1000 mg) intravenously during 10 days in the combination with traditional treatment; 45 patients of the control group received only traditional treatment. Neurological deficit on NIHSS and vigilance on The Glasgow Coma Scale were assessed at baseline and in 5th, 7th and 19-21th days. The Barthel index was used to measure functional independence of the patient at the discharge from a hospital (21th day). The \"cost-effectiveness\" ratio, the cost of one score on the NIHSS and Barthel scales were calculated. The reduction in neurological deficit (p<0.05) and higher extent of functional independence were seen in the main group compared to the controls. Based on the \"cost-effectiveness\" analysis, the use of cereton was shown to be more effective for treatment of patients with acute ischemic stroke: the cost of the achievement of positive effect in patients of the control group receiving only traditional treatment was significantly higher (p<0.05).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27284391,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Anxiolytic-Like Effects and Increase in Locomotor Activity Induced by Infusions of NMDA into the Ventral Hippocampus in Rat: Interaction with GABAergic System.\nIn this study, we investigated the role of N-Methyl-D-Aspartate (NMDA) receptors in the ventral hippocampus (VH) and their possible interactions with GABAA system on anxiety-like behaviors. We used an elevated-plus maze test (EPM) to assess anxiety-like behaviors and locomotor activity in male Wistar rats. The results showed that intra-VH infusions of different doses of NMDA (0.25 and 0.5 \u03bcg\/rat) increased locomotor activity, and also induced anxiolytic-like behaviors, as revealed by a tendency to increase percentage of open arm time (%OAT), and a significant increase in percentage of open arm entries (%OAE). The results also showed that intra-VH infusions of muscimol (0.5 and 1 \u03bcg\/rat) or bicuculline (0.5 and 1 \u03bcg\/rat) did not significantly affect anxiety-like behaviors, but bicuculline at dose of 1 \u03bcg\/rat increased locomotor activity. Intra-VH co-infusions of muscimol (0.5 \u03bcg\/rat) along with low doses of NMDA (0.0625 and 0.125 \u03bcg\/rat) showed a tendency to increase %OAT, %OAE and locomotor activity; however, no interaction was observed between the drugs. Interestingly, intra-VH co-infusions of bicuculline (0.5 \u03bcg\/rat) along with effective doses of NMDA (0.25 and 0.5 \u03bcg\/rat) decreased %OAT, %OAE and locomotor activity, and a significant interaction between two drugs was observed. It can be concluded that GABAergic system may mediate the anxiolytic-like effects and increase in locomotor activity induced by NMDA in the VH.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16229511,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Unsteady motion of receding contact lines of surfactant solutions: the role of surfactant re-self-assembly.\nRe-self-assembly of surfactant molecules must occur at moving contact lines of soluble surfactant solutions. Molecules are transported into and out of the contact line region from four sources: the three interfaces meeting at the contact line and the fluid confined between the solid-liquid and liquid-vapor interfaces. As molecules move among these sources at the contact line, they must rearrange. The dynamics of this re-self-assembly has been shown to have a dominating effect on the structure of advancing contact lines, causing unsteady motion and complex structure of the contact line. It might be assumed that the re-self-assembly for receding contact lines leads to more steady contact line movement. However, in this article we show that for a wide variety of systems this is not true. Quasi-static distortions of the contact line occur as it retreats because of the inability of the surfactant to completely re-self-assemble at localized positions along the contact line.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18579652,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Lower uterine artery blood flow and higher endothelin relative to nitric oxide metabolite levels are associated with reductions in birth weight at high altitude.\nReduced uteroplacental blood flow is hypothesized to play a key role in altitude-associated fetal growth restriction. It is unknown whether reduced blood flow is a cause or consequence of reduced fetal size. We asked whether determinants of uteroplacental blood flow were altered prior to reduced fetal growth and whether vasoactive and\/or angiogenic factors were involved. Women residing at low (LA; 1,600 m, n = 18) or high altitude (HA; 3,100 m, n = 25) were studied during pregnancy (20, 30, and 36 wk) and 4 mo postpartum (PP) using Doppler ultrasound. In each study, endothelin (ET-1), nitric oxide metabolites (NO(x)), soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase (sFlt-1) and placental growth factor (PlGF) levels were quantified. At HA, birth weights were lower (P < 0.01) and small-for-gestational age was more common (P < 0.05) compared with LA. HA was associated with lower uterine artery (UA) diameter (P < 0.01) and blood flow (P < 0.05). Altitude did not affect ET-1, sFlt-1 or PlGF; however, ET-1\/NO(x) was greater and NO(x) lower during pregnancy and PP at HA vs. LA. ET-1\/NO(x) was negatively associated with birth weight (20 wk, P < 0.01; 36 wk, P = 0.05) at LA and HA combined. At HA, UA blood flow (30 wk) was positively associated with birth weight (dagger). UA blood flow and ET-1\/NO(x) levels accounted for 45% (20 wk) and 32% (30 wk) of birth weight variation at LA and HA combined, primarily attributed to effects at HA. We concluded that elevated ET-1\/NO(x) and altered determinants of uteroplacental blood flow occur prior to altitude-associated reductions in fetal growth, and therefore, they are likely a cause rather than a consequence of smaller fetal size.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3049958,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Quantitative measurement of renal perfusion following transplant surgery.\nWe developed an easily implemented clinical procedure for quantitative perfusion measurements in transplanted kidneys using intravenously administered [99mTc]DTPA and the tracer fractionation technique. F = Ak(T)\/0 integral of T [Aa(t)\/Va] dt, where F = renal blood flow, Ak(T) = DTPA activity in kidney at time = T, Va = ultrasonographically measured femoral artery segment volume, T = time postinjection of F determination, and Aa(t) = time course of DTPA activity in femoral artery segment. The technique was applied to a group of 80 studies in 35 patients in whom an independent clinical determination of transplant function was available. Blood flow (units of ml\/min) measured 439 +\/- 83 in normally functioning transplants, 248 +\/- 63 in transplants with acute tubular necrosis, 128 +\/- 62 in transplants with rejection, and 284 +\/- 97 in transplants with cyclosporine toxicity. These preliminary results indicate potential usefulness of this method in the evaluation of renal function following transplant surgery.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":10209814,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Bootstrap approach for constructing confidence intervals for population pharmacokinetic parameters. II: A bootstrap modification of standard two-stage (STS) method for phase I trial.\nFor population pharmacokinetics in phase I trials, the standard two-stage (STS) method is quite appealing, especially to non-statisticians, because the method is theoretically and computationally simple. The method, however, does not take into account the uncertainty in estimating individual-specific parameters and gives biased estimates for population variances of pharmacokinetic parameters. This is one of the main reasons why the STS method is not generally recommended. This paper proposes a simple bootstrap modification of the STS method for estimating confidence intervals of population means and standard deviations of pharmacokinetic parameters in phase I trials. The proposed approach adopts a bootstrap bias correction in estimating population variances of pharmacokinetic parameters. Applications are given to a simulated data set and an actual phase I trial to show how the proposed approach works in practice.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12018402,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Determination of firefighter exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and benzene during fire fighting using measurement of biological indicators.\nIn accomplishing their duties, firefighters are potentially exposed to a vast array of toxic combustion and pyrolysis products such as benzene, carbon monoxide, acrolein, nitrogen dioxide, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Exposure to PAH and benzene was assessed by means of urinary measurements of 1-hydroxypyrene and t,t-muconic acid, respectively. All urine samples were collected from 43 firefighters during a period extending for 20 h following the end of exposure during a fire. A control sample was also obtained from each participant after at least four days without involvement in fire fighting activities. Only one control 1-hydroxypyrene measurement exceeded the value of 0.32 micromol\/mol creatinine considered as the 95th percentile of a normal reference population in this study. Following exposure, 38 percent of the maximum values of all samples collected from each firefighter exceeded this reference value. The highest single value observed in this study was 3.6 micromol\/mol creatinine. None of the control samples had a t,t-muconic acid concentration above the limit of detection. A large number (81%) of post-fire samples also had nonquantifiable concentrations of this metabolite. Among 43 firefighters in this study, 17 had measurable excretion of this metabolite in any of the urine samples after fire fighting and, of the latter group, only 6 had t,t-muconic acid concentrations exceeding 1.1 mmol\/mol creatinine, a value considered to correspond to a benzene-air concentration of approximately 1 ppm according to the literature. There is clear evidence that fire fighting activities are associated with exposure to PAH above environmental background, as assessed by 1-hydroxypyrene measurements, despite the use of protective equipment. However, in comparison with observations made in other cohorts of industrial workers with known polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons exposure, firefighters' exposure in this study was low. Similarly, based on t,t-muconic acid determinations, exposure to benzene was rather low in this study. For both contaminants, observation of low exposure could be due to either low concentrations of the contaminant during fire fighting or to the efficiency of protective equipment worn.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14561756,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The caveolin scaffolding domain modifies 2-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionate receptor binding properties by inhibiting phospholipase A2 activity.\nActivation of the enzyme phospholipase (PLA 2) has been proposed to be part of the molecular mechanism involved in the alteration of 2-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionate (AMPA) glutamate receptor responsiveness during long term changes in synaptic plasticity (long term potentiation). This study assesses the effect of the caveolin-1 scaffolding domain (CSD) on the activity of the regulatory enzyme PLA2. Caveolin-1 is a 22-kDa cholesterol-binding membrane protein known to inhibit the activity of most of its interacting partners. Our results show that the calcium-dependent cytosolic form of PLA2 (cPLA2) and caveolin-1 co-localized in mouse primary hippocampal neuron cultures and that they were co-immunoprecipitated from mouse hippocampal homogenates. A peptide corresponding to the scaffolding domain of caveolin-1 (Cav-(82-101)) dramatically inhibited cPLA2 activity in purified hippocampal synaptoneurosomes. Activation of endogenous PLA2 activity with KCl or melittin increased the binding of [3H]AMPA to its receptor. This effect was almost completely abolished by the addition of the CSD peptide to these preparations. Moreover, we demonstrated that the inhibitory action of the CSD peptide on AMPA receptor binding properties is specific (because a scrambled version of this peptide failed to have any effect) and that it is mediated by an inhibition of PLA2 enzymatic activity (because the CSD peptide failed to have an effect in membrane preparations lacking endogenous PLA2 activity). These results raised the possibility that caveolin-1, via the inhibition of cPLA2 enzymatic activity, may interfere with synaptic facilitation and long term potentiation formation in the hippocampus.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28260451,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Descemet Stripping Automated Endothelial Keratoplasty: Our Experience at King Hussein Medical Center.\nIn this study, we report our experience at King Hussein Medical Center with Descemet stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty. This study was conducted at King Hussein Medical Center of the Royal Medical Services during the period between January 2015 and January 2016. Patients who underwent Descemet stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty were enrolled in the study. We performed a comprehensive overview of the advantages of the surgery and analyzed the donor tissue selection criteria, indications, detailed surgical techniques of the procedure, and surgical outcomes. Our cohort included 13 patients. We had successful results for all of our patients, with final visual acuity of more than 6\/12. The 2 indications for surgery were pseudophakic bullous keratopathy and Fuchs endothelial dystrophy. Descemet stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty is becoming a revolutionary procedure in corneal surgery and replacing penetrating keratoplasty in many clinical situations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15556333,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Primary mandibular bone xanthoma. A case report.\nWe describe a case of a xanthoma located in the mandible of an 11-year-old boy. The lesion, apparently benign, did not produce pain. It did, however, produce mandibular expansion by infiltration. In jaws, xanthoma has been very rare; in order to diagnose primary xanthoma, it was necessary to discount other histological entities or the association of hyperlipoproteinemia. Treatment was the total excision of the lesion.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9566057,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Current status of endoluminal grafting for exclusion of abdominal aortic aneurysms. The beauty and the beast.\nThe exclusion of abdominal aortic aneurysms with endoluminal grafts has generated a great deal of interest since the early 1990s, and many centers are currently evaluating the procedure and comparing it to classic surgical exclusion. Although endoluminal grafting procedures show promise, development and clinical testing of devices is a time-consuming process that is influenced greatly by the regulatory climate in the country where the clinical trials take place. Nevertheless, a number of devices are currently under study, and the advantages of 2nd- and 3rd-generation technology are reflected in reduced rates of complications such as endoleaks and thrombosis. Further study will be required to perfect these devices and observe their long-term success in the exclusion of abdominal aortic aneurysms.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29554004,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Effects of High Salt-Low Potassium Diet on Blood Pressure and Vascular Reactivity in Male Sprague Dawley Rats.\nSodium (Na) intake increases vascular reactivity. Whether low potassium (K) intake affects vascular reactivity-associated blood pressure (BP) changes is uncertain. This study aimed to determine whether Na-induced increases in BP and vascular reactivity are altered by low K intake. Male Sprague Dawley rats were assigned to 3 dietary groups for 6 weeks: a standard Na-K diet (control, n = 12), a high Na-normal K diet (HS-NormK, n = 12), and a high Na-low K diet (HS-LowK, n = 12). BP was measured at baseline and after the dietary intervention. Na and K excretions and vascular reactivity were measured after the dietary intervention. The Na\/K ratio was significantly higher in the HS-LowK compared with the other groups. Systolic and diastolic BPs increased significantly in the HS-NormK and HS-LowK groups. In mesenteric arteries, the dose-response curves for phenylephrine-induced contractions shifted to the left and the EC50 (mean \u00b1 SD) was significantly lower in the HS-NormK (0.51 \u00b1 0.17 \u03bcM, P = 0.003) and HS-LowK (0.69 \u00b1 0.14 \u03bcM, P = 0.005) groups compared with the control (3.24 \u00b1 0.79 \u03bcM). Systolic (r = -0.58 P = 0.002) and diastolic (r = -0.61 P = 0.001) BPs were associated with the EC50 of phenylephrine-induced contraction in mesenteric arteries. High Na intake induces increased alpha-1 receptor responsiveness in mesenteric arteries, which may be responsible for the increase in BP and is not affected by low dietary K intake.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1156125,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Serial nerve conduction and electromyographic studies in experimental allergic neuritis.\nExperimental allergic neuritis (EAN) was produced in ten guinea pigs by intradermal injection of peripheral nerve antigen and complete Freund's adjuvant. Six additional animals were injected with adjuvant only, and three control animals received saline. Slowing of motor nerve conduction velocity occurred in all animals ijected with antigen. Velocities progressively decreased through the first six weeks, at which time they started increasing, returning to the normal range in the third month. Six of the animals--generally those having received the greatest amount of antigen and adjuvant--developed severe encephalomyelitis and died early in the study. These animals also developed more severe peripheral nerve involvement, and conduction velocities decreased more than in mildly affected animals. Abnormal electromyographic findings were observed in all EAN animals surviving through the third week. Two of the six animals injected with complete adjuvant without antigen showed some minimal electromyographic changes. Several developed slight slowing of nerve conduction velocity during the first few weeks. Saline control animals had normal nerve conductions and electromyographic studies throughout the course of observation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15242449,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Updated perspectives on emerging vibrios associated with human infections.\nThis review describes the ecological, clinical and epidemiological features of emerging vibrios and discusses what laboratory methods are being used for the detection of pathogenic vibrios in clinical, environmental and food samples. After selecting articles illustrative of the current scientific research on pathogenic vibrios, the review focuses on the need for better insight into the risk factors of emerging infections to establish adequate prevention procedures.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26442797,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Re(I) derivatives functionalised with thioether crowns containing the 1,10-phenanthroline subunit as a new class of chemosensors.\nA series of luminescent fac-[Re(CO)3(L)(NN)](+) complexes, where L is a pyridine or an imidazole and NN is the 1,10-phenanthroline subunit of mixed donor pentadentate thioether crowns have been synthesised and their luminescence properties have been analysed. Then, heterometallic Re(i)\/Au(i) complexes, with the Au(i) fragment bonded directly to the imidazole ligand, and heterometallic Re(i)\/Ag(i) complexes, with the silver fragment coordinating the S-donor thioether linker of the rings have also been prepared. Analysis of their luminescence properties showed a considerable blue shift of the emission maxima for the Re(i)\/Ag(i) derivatives, upon coordination of the silver centre to the S-donor atoms of the aliphatic chain of the macrocyclic units.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16984034,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Novel method for estimating viable Salmonella cell counts using real-time PCR.\nA novel method for estimating viable Salmonella Enteritidis cell counts with 5'-nuclease real-time PCR was developed in this study. Our method was based on the increase kinetics of the target DNA region (invA) of the microorganism growing in a food\/clinical sample in a culture medium during incubation. The index of increase in the target DNA region studied here was threshold cycle, CT. A test Salmonella strain was grown in buffered peptone water at the optimal temperature (39 degrees C). As Salmonella cells were grown, the value of CT decreased with time, generating a downward sigmoidal curve. The slope of the curve was constant at various initial cell concentrations. With higher initial cell concentration, the CT value evaluated from the slope at a given time was lower. With this relationship, a novel method for estimating the initial viable cell concentration of a sample was developed. Dead Salmonella cells or bacteria other than the target cell caused deviation in the CT curve. Incubation in a selective media suppressed the deviation caused by other bacterial cells. We think that this method could be applied to many other microorganisms cultivable in a suitable medium.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28541679,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Biomagnetic Monitoring of Atmospheric Pollution: A Review of Magnetic Signatures from Biological Sensors.\nBiomagnetic monitoring of atmospheric pollution is a growing application in the field of environmental magnetism. Particulate matter (PM) in atmospheric pollution contains readily measurable concentrations of magnetic minerals. Biological surfaces, exposed to atmospheric pollution, accumulate magnetic particles over time, providing a record of location-specific, time-integrated air quality information. This review summarizes current knowledge of biological material (\"sensors\") used for biomagnetic monitoring purposes. Our work addresses the following: the range of magnetic properties reported for lichens, mosses, leaves, bark, trunk wood, insects, crustaceans, mammal and human tissues; their associations with atmospheric pollutant species (PM, NOx, trace elements, PAHs); the pros and cons of biomagnetic monitoring of atmospheric pollution; current challenges for large-scale implementation of biomagnetic monitoring; and future perspectives. A summary table is presented, with the aim of aiding researchers and policy makers in selecting the most suitable biological sensor for their intended biomagnetic monitoring purpose.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9566135,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Occlusal migration of the maxillary first primary molars subsequent to the loss of antagonists.\nThe purpose of this study was to observe the vertical changes in unopposed maxillary first primary molars longitudinally. The subjects of this study were 17 children whose lower first primary molars had to be extracted. Space closure were prevented by crown-loop space maintainers for all these children. Plaster casts were made every 4 months for 16 to 24 months after the extraction. These series of casts were standardized, and vertical changes of the maxillary first primary molars against the occlusal plane were measured using a micro-reader. The mean changes indicated that maxillary first primary molars without intercuspidation tend to drift toward the extraction space. On the control side with antagonists, the maxillary first molars seemed to move reversed to apical throughout the observation period. Accordingly, the results of this study showed new trends after the premature loss of primary molars. The vertical changes toward extraction space varied from -0.40 mm to 1.43 mm at the 16 months after extraction. Mean changes were small, but there were some individual differences in reaction, giving negative values. However, we should always be concerned about loss of arch length and also occlusal drift of unopposed teeth, because the vertical changes were greater than 1 mm at 16 months after extraction in some cases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35344570,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Diaphragm dysfunction and peripheral muscle wasting in septic shock patients: Exploring their relationship over time using ultrasound technology (the MUSiShock protocol).\nIntensive Care Unit (ICU) patients are known to lose muscle mass and function during ICU stay. Ultrasonography (US) application for the assessment of the skeletal muscle is a promising tool and might help detecting muscle changes and thus several dysfunctions during early stages of ICU stay. MUSiShock is a research project aiming to investigate structure and function of diaphragm and peripheral muscles using ultrasound techniques in septic shock patients, and to assess their relevance in several clinical outcomes such as the weaning process. This is a research protocol from an observational prospective cohort study. We plan to assess eighty-four septic shock patients during their ICU stay at the following time-points: at 24 hours of ICU admission, then daily until day 5, then weekly, at extubation time and at ICU discharge. At each time-point, we will measure the quadriceps rectus femoris and diaphragm muscles, using innovative US muscle markers such as Shear-Wave Elastography (SWE). In parallel, the Medical Research Council (MRC) sum score for muscle testing and the Airway occlusion pressure (P0.1) will also be collected. We will describe the association between SWE assessment and other US markers for each muscle. The association between the changes in both diaphragm and rectus femoris US markers over time will be explored as well; finally, the analysis of a combined model of one diaphragm US marker and one limb muscle US marker to predict weaning success\/failure will be tested. By using muscle ultrasound at both diaphragm and limb levels, MUSiShock aims to improve knowledge in the early detection of muscle dysfunction and weakness, and their relationship with muscle strength and MV weaning, in critically ill patients. A better anticipation of these short-term muscle structure and function outcomes may allow clinicians to rapidly implement measures to counteract it. ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04550143. Registered on 16 September 2020.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16237889,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[History of orthopedic surgery in Belgrade--100 years of orthopedics in Serbia (1905-2005)].\nThe history of orthopedics in Serbia is related to a hand x-ray made in 1905 by dr. Nikola Krsti\u0107. The first orthopedic word was founded in 1919, to be enlarged into a full-fledged orthopedic surgical ward of the General State Hospital in 1932. Until 1941, the ward headed by Dr. Nikola Krsti\u0107. The Orthopedics course was headed by Dr. Borivoje Gradojevi\u0107, who also wrote the first textbook in our country in 1934. In 1947, the ward became the Clinic for Orthopedic Surgery and Traumatology in Belgrade which is the orthopedic basis of Serbia, together with the Special Orthopedic Surgery Hospital Banjica, even today.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28248744,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"CLINICALLY INVISIBLE RETINOBLASTOMA RECURRENCE IN AN INFANT.\nTo report a case of clinically invisible retinoblastoma recurrence detected only on spectral-domain optical coherence tomography. Case report. A 3-week-old girl with bilateral familial retinoblastoma underwent six cycles of intravenous chemoreduction. Both eyes showed tumor regression. After 6 cycles of chemoreduction, the tumor in the right eye appeared with clinical regression; however, by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography, there was 40 \u03bcm increase in thickness and 290 \u03bcm increase in basal diameter. Due to tumor proximity of 1.85 mm to the foveola, the recurrence was treated via intraarterial chemotherapy with two cycles of Melphalan 3 mg. After treatment, spectral-domain optical coherence tomography showed complete regression of the recurrent tumor to a flat scar with intact fovea. Precise submillimeter imaging with spectral-domain optical coherence tomography for monitoring retinoblastoma is important and can allow detection of early recurrences that might be clinically invisible otherwise, as well as surveillance of the fovea.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27283055,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"A Comparative Analysis Between Antibiotic- and Nonantibiotic-Associated Delayed Cutaneous Adverse Drug Reactions.\nThe difference in clinical presentation, causality assessments, and outcomes of patients with delayed antibiotic-associated cutaneous adverse drug reactions (AA-cADR) and nonantibiotic-associated (NA)-cADR is ill defined. We examined the etiology of AA-cADR, with regard to the type of antibiotic exposure, allergy labeling, and patient outcomes, in comparison with NA-cADR. A retrospective observational inpatient cohort study of cADR was performed from January 2004 to August 2014. Patients were divided into AA-cADR and NA-cADR groups for analysis. cADR was defined as erythema multiforme, fixed drug eruption, acute generalized erythematous pustulosis, drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS), drug-associated linear IgA disease, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, and toxic epidermal necrolysis. Of the 84 patients with cADR, 48% were AA-cADR. Male sex (60% vs 32%, P = .004), median length of stay (14.5 vs 11 days, P = .05), median Charlson comorbidity index (3 vs 1, P = .03), and inpatient mortality (20% vs 5%, P = .04) were higher in AA-cADR compared with NA-cADR. The median drug latency was lower in AA-cADR (6 vs 20 days, P = .001). Sulfonamide antibiotics and glycopeptides were implicated in 20% of AA-cADR. DRESS was more frequently reported in AA-cADR. After cADR diagnosis, further antibiotic therapy was administered in 64% of patients, higher in AA-cADR (75%, 30 of 40) compared with NA-cADR (55%, 24 of 44) (P = .06). Fluoroquinolones (53% vs 21%, P = .02), glycopeptides (vancomycin and teicoplanin; 70% vs 38%, P = .05), and carbapenems (33% vs 13%, P = .11) were used more commonly in AA-cADR. Antibiotics were the cause of cADR requiring hospital admission in 48% of episodes, and were associated with longer length of stay, higher age-adjusted Charlson comorbidity index, shorter drug latency, and mortality. In AA-cADR, glycopeptide and sulfonamide antibiotic exposure predominated.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":927756,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Complications following parametrial radiogold treatment for cervical carcinoma.\nBetween January 1950 and March 1965, 382 patients with carcinoma of the uterine cervix were treated with parametrial radiogold injections. One hundred and ninety-two patients are known to have survived 5 or more years after the treatment without evidence of recurrence. Major complications with significant morbidity requiring hospitalization or additional surgery was observed in 9.4% of the patients. Parametrial radiogold injection is associated with a high incidence of major lower urinary tract complications, including an increased incidence of ureteral obstruction as a result of radiation fibrosis, Heterogenous distribution of radioactive material with localized areas of heavy irradiation is probably responsible for the development of late major complications.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26497197,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Prognostic significance of macrophage invasion in hilar cholangiocarcinoma.\nTumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) promote tumor progression and have an effect on survival in human cancer. However, little is known regarding their influence on tumor progression and prognosis in human hilar cholangiocarcinoma. We analyzed surgically resected tumor specimens of hilar cholangiocarcinoma (n = 47) for distribution and localization of TAMs, as defined by expression of CD68. Abundance of TAMs was correlated with clinicopathologic characteristics, tumor recurrence and patients' survival. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software. Patients with high density of TAMs in tumor invasive front (TIF) showed significantly higher local and overall tumor recurrence (both \u03c1 < 0.05). Furthermore, high density of TAMs was associated with decreased overall (one-year 83.6% vs. 75.1%; three-year 61.3% vs. 42.4%; both \u03c1 < 0.05) and recurrence-free survival (one-year 93.9% vs. 57.4%; three-year 59.8% vs. 26.2%; both \u03c1 < 0.05). TAMs in TIF and tumor recurrence, were confirmed as the only independent prognostic variables in the multivariate survival analysis (all \u03c1 < 0.05). Overall survival and recurrence free survival of patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma significantly improved in patients with low levels of TAMs in the area of TIF, when compared to those with a high density of TAMs. These observations suggest their utilization as valuable prognostic markers in routine histopathologic evaluation, and might indicate future therapeutic approaches by targeting TAMs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1681933,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Massive hiatal hernia in children.\nTen children had massive hiatal hernias repaired between January 1982 and February 1991. Their clinical presentation, association with other congenital abnormalities, and postoperative complications were different from those seen in adults. Vomiting (n = 7) and anaemia (n = 7) were the most common symptoms, followed by respiratory distress (n = 5), cough (n = 3), and regurgitation (n = 3). Abdominal pain was uncommon. The clinical diagnosis was confirmed in seven cases by barium meal examination. The most common operation was Nissen's fundoplication (n = 7); the hiatus alone was repaired in the remainder. Five patients developed postoperative complications and two died probably as a result of delay in diagnosis and associated malformations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17173638,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Oral immunotherapy against a pollen allergy using a seed-based peptide vaccine.\nPeptide immunotherapy using dominant T-cell epitopes is safer and more effective than conventional immunotherapy for the treatment of immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated allergic diseases. When allergenic T-cell epitope peptides are expressed in the edible part of transgenic plants, successful mucosal immune tolerance to these allergens may be attainable by the consumption of these plants. In this study, we generated transgenic rice seed that accumulated high concentrations (about 60 microg per grain) of polypeptide consisting of seven dominant human T-cell epitopes derived from the Japanese cedar pollen allergens, Cry j 1 and Cry j 2, in the endosperm. Oral administration of these transgenic rice seeds to B10.S mice before or after they were immunized with Cry j 1 holoprotein reduced not only their T-cell proliferative response to Cry j 1, but also their serum IgE levels, proving the efficacy of oral immunotherapy for the treatment of pollinosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26480090,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cyclostationarity-based joint monitoring of symbol-rate, frequency offset, CD and OSNR for Nyquist WDM superchannels.\nSoftware-defined transceivers can be reconfigured based on demand and existing channel impairments, and as such, monitoring of both signal and channel parameters is necessary. We demonstrate a novel joint estimation method suitable for spectrally efficient Nyquist wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM), based on the cyclostationary property of linearly modulated signals, exploited both in the frequency and time domains. Using a Nyquist superchannel composed of three 10 GBaud channels, we experimentally demonstrate the simultaneous monitoring of symbol-rate with 100% accuracy, roll-off, frequency offset (FO), chromatic dispersion (CD) and optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) with root-mean-square errors (RMSE) of 20%, 4 MHz, 200 ps\/nm and 1.5 dB respectively, when the roll-off factor is larger than 0.06 for DP-QPSK and 0.3 for DP-16QAM.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6150097,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The effect of therapeutic agents on cartilage degradation in-vivo.\nImplantation of minced autologous cartilage into inflamed air pouches in mice allows the study of therapeutic agents on both the inflammatory process and cartilage degradation. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents were found to reduce cell accumulation in response to carrageenan, but were unable to prevent proteoglycan loss from cartilage. In contrast, D-penicillamine had no effect on the inflammatory process but significantly reduced proteoglycan loss. Our findings suggest that the autologous cartilage transplantation model in the mouse may be useful for studying novel anti-arthritic agents.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19047679,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"BLNK suppresses pre-B-cell leukemogenesis through inhibition of JAK3.\nPre-B-cell leukemia spontaneously develops in BLNK-deficient mice, and pre-B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells in children often lack BLNK protein expression, demonstrating that BLNK functions as a tumor suppressor. However, the mechanism by which BLNK suppresses pre-B-cell leukemia, as well as the identification of other genetic alterations that collaborate with BLNK deficiency to cause leukemogenesis, are still unknown. Here, we demonstrate that the JAK3\/STAT5 signaling pathway is constitutively activated in pre-B leukemia cells derived from BLNK(-\/-) mice, mostly due to autocrine production of IL-7. Inhibition of IL-7R signaling or JAK3\/STAT5 activity resulted in the induction of p27(kip1) expression and cell-cycle arrest, accompanied by apoptosis in the leukemia cells. Transgene-derived constitutively active STAT5 (STAT5b-CA) strongly synergized with the loss of BLNK to initiate leukemia in vivo. In the leukemia cells, exogenously expressed BLNK inhibited autocrine JAK3\/STAT5 signaling, resulting in p27(kip1) induction, cell-cycle arrest, and apoptosis. BLNK-inhibition of JAK3 was dependent on the binding of BLNK to JAK3. These data indicate that BLNK normally regulates IL-7-dependent proliferation and survival of pre-B cells through direct inhibition of JAK3. Thus, somatic loss of BLNK and concomitant mutations leading to constitutive activation of Jak\/STAT5 pathway result in the generation of pre-B-cell leukemia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28696118,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Fusion of Ultraviolet-Visible and Infrared Transient Absorption Spectroscopy Data to Model Ultrafast Photoisomerization.\nUltrafast photoisomerization reactions generally start at a higher excited state with excess of internal vibrational energy and occur via conical intersections. This leads to ultrafast dynamics which are difficult to investigate with a single transient absorption spectroscopy technique, be it in the ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) or infrared (IR) domain. On one hand, the information available in the UV-vis domain is limited as only slight spectral changes are observed for different isomers. On the other hand, the interpretation of vibrational spectra is strongly hindered by intramolecular relaxation and vibrational cooling. These limitations can be circumvented by fusing UV-vis and IR transient absorption spectroscopy data in a multiset multivariate curve resolution analysis. We apply this approach to describe the spectrodynamics of the ultrafast cis-trans photoisomerization around the C-N double bond observed for aromatic Schiff bases. Twisted intermediate states could be elucidated, and isomerization was shown to occur through a continuous complete rotation. More broadly, data fusion can be used to rationalize a vast range of ultrafast photoisomerization processes of interest in photochemistry.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19042196,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Drug exposure opportunities and use patterns among college students: results of a longitudinal prospective cohort study.\nUnderage drinking and drug use among college students are major public health concerns, yet few studies have examined these behaviors and their associated risk factors and consequences prospectively. This paper describes the sampling and recruitment methods of a longitudinal study of 1253 college students at a large, mid-Atlantic university. Incoming first-year students were screened during the unique window between high school and college in order to oversample drug users for longitudinal follow-up. Intensive recruitment strategies yielded a 95% cumulative response rate in annual interviews and semiannual surveys. The authors report preliminary results on exposure opportunity, lifetime prevalence, initiation, continuation, and cessation of substance use for alcohol, tobacco, and 10 illicit and prescription drugs during the first 2 years of college. Findings suggest that although some substance use represents a continuation of patterns initiated in high school, exposure opportunity and initiation of substance use frequently occur in college. Implications for prevention and early intervention are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9556139,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Assessment of cancellous bone quality in severe osteoarthrosis: bone mineral density, mechanics, and microdamage.\nThe role of bone microdamage (microscopic cracks or microcracks and ultrastructural collagen matrix and bone mineral damage) in diseases such as osteoarthrosis and osteoporosis is poorly understood. Microdamage accumulation in vivo is influenced by age and cyclic loading, therefore, it would be useful if the burden of microdamage in bone could be assessed by noninvasive measures such as the radiological measurement of bone mineral density (BMD). The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between BMD, compressive strength and stiffness, and microdamage in the cancellous bone of the proximal femur in patients with severe osteoarthrosis. Trabecular bone core samples, from the intertrochanteric region of the femur, were obtained from 34 patients, with a mean age of 70.3 +\/- 11.1 years, undergoing total hip arthroplasty for osteoarthrosis. Cores selected from contact X-ray images were used for BMD measurement, compressive mechanical testing or left untested (uncrushed), en bloc staining for microdamage, and bone histomorphometry. The study shows a strong dependence of both the elastic modulus and ultimate failure stress of the bone samples on BMD and a significant relationship between the elastic modulus and trabecular anisotropy (Tr. An). In multiple linear regression, BMD and Tr. An together account for about 70% of the variance in the elastic modulus. Then including microcrack crack density (Cr.Dn) and damage volume fraction (DxV\/BV) variables, Tr. An alone accounts for a relatively small amount of the variation (8.5%) in ultimate failure stress and elastic modulus. The Cr.Dn accounts for more of the variation in the ultimate failure stress than in the elastic modulus (50% vs. 7%). In this experiment, data for Cr.Dn provide a measure of damage associated with the ultimate failure of cancellous bone. In specimens that were not mechanically tested, in vivo microcrack accumulation increases exponentially with age. In conclusion, data from this study suggest that BMD and Cr.Dn are the major determinants of cancellous bone strength, whereas BMD and Tr. An are major determinants of cancellous bone stiffness. In bone specimens subjected to compressive testing there was no relationship between microdamage and BMD, suggesting that BMD cannot be used to monitor changes in the mechanical properties of bone due to microdamage accumulation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22695931,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Pharyngolaryngo-esophagectomy with laparoscopic gastric pull-up: a reappraisal for the pharyngoesophageal junction cancer.\nSurgical treatment of advanced hypopharyngeal tumors is still a surgical challenge. We report a case of a hypopharyngeal tumor treated with a pharyngolaryngo-esophagectomy (PLE) and laparoscopic gastric tubulization and interposition. A 56-year-old man presented with a relapsing hypopharynx carcinoma, after primary chemoradiation therapy. Preoperative workup showed a stage IV cancer with esophageal invasion and multiple cervical lymph node metastases. Surgical treatment consisted of a cervical phase, with larynx, pharynx, and esophagus dissection, radical lymph node dissection, homolateral hemithyroidectomy and definitive tracheostomy, and an abdominal phase with a 4-trocar laparoscopy. The gastrocolic ligament was opened, and short gastric and left gastric vessels were divided preserving an accessory left hepatic artery. Gastric tailoring was carried out with 45-mm linear staplers. The hiatus was opened and the esophagus dissected free with Ultracision (Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Cincinnati, OH) to the tracheal bifurcation. The upper esophagus was bluntly mobilized by finger and sponge stick dissection. The gastric tube was pulled up, and the anastomosis between the stomach and the tongue base was performed with a 2-layer interrupted hand-sewn technique. Total operative time was 390 min (abdominal time 180 min). Estimated blood loss was 400 cc. The number of dissected cervical lymph nodes was 32. Oral feeding was started after 10 days, and the patient was discharged after 14 days. Stage of disease was pT4N1M0 G3 R0. Laparoscopic surgery allows a minimally invasive gastric tailoring and tubulization and transhiatal esophageal dissection and represents a valuable alternative for intestinal reconstruction after PLE. CT scan showing a large hypopharynx carcinoma involving cervical lymph nodes and cervical esophagus.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37841485,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Current State and Legal Issues of Online Crimes Related to Children and Adolescents.\nThere are two categories of online crimes related to children and adolescents: those committed by adolescents and those committed against children and adolescents. While recent trends in criminal law show consensus on strengthening punishment in cases of crimes against children and adolescents, there are mixed stances in cases of juvenile delinquency. One perspective emphasizes strict punishment, whereas the other emphasizes dispositions aligned with human rights. While various forms of online crime share the commonality in that the main part of the criminal act occurs online, they can be categorized into three types: those seeking financial gain, those driven by sexual motives, and those engaged in bullying. Among these, crimes driven by sexual motives are the most serious. Second-hand trading fraud and conditional (sexual) meeting fraud fall under the category of seeking financial gain and occur frequently. Crimes driven by sexual motives include obscenity via telecommunication, filming with discrete cameras, child and adolescent sexual exploitation material, fake video distribution, and blackmail\/coercion using intimate images\/videos (\"sextortion\"). These crimes lead to various legal issues such as whether to view vulgar acronyms or body cams that teenagers frequently use as simple subcultures or crimes, what criteria should be applied to judge whether a recorded material induces sexual desire or shame, and at what stage sexual grooming becomes punishable. For example, sniping posts, KakaoTalk prisons, and chat room explosions are tricky issues, as they may or may not be punished depending on the case. Particular caution should be exercised against the indiscriminate application of a strict punishment-oriented approach to the juvenile justice system, which is being discussed in relation to online sexual offenses. In the punishment case of online crime, juvenile offenders with a high potential for future improvement and reform must be treated with special consideration.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18581112,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Angioleiomyoma: magnetic resonance imaging features in ten cases.\nAngioleiomyoma is a rare, benign smooth muscle tumour arising from the tunica media of small veins and arteries and can occur anywhere in the body. The histological appearances are well documented, but there are relatively few descriptions of the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings. A retrospective study of the clinical presentation, MRI appearances and histological findings of ten angioleiomyomas presenting as extremity soft tissue masses. MRI typically demonstrated a well-defined, oval mass located superficial to the fascia with the commonest sites being the hand (three cases) and ankle\/foot (five cases). The lesion was isointense to muscle on T1-weighted spin echo images with heterogeneous increased internal T2W\/short tau inversion recovery (STIR) signal intensity, which commonly appeared as multiple linear or branching areas of hyperintensity. Enhancement after IV gadolinium ranged from diffuse to heterogeneous. In a single case, central fat signal intensity was seen, while a further case showed marked T2W\/STIR hypointensity due to diffuse hyalinisation within the lesion. This is the largest reported MRI series of extremity musculoskeletal angioleiomyoma. Angioleiomyoma should be considered in the differential diagnosis of a superficial mass in the hand or foot, particularly when characteristic linear or branching hyperintensity is seen on T2W or STIR images.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26423470,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Water availability predicts forest canopy height at the global scale.\nThe tendency of trees to grow taller with increasing water availability is common knowledge. Yet a robust, universal relationship between the spatial distribution of water availability and forest canopy height (H) is lacking. Here, we created a global water availability map by calculating an annual budget as the difference between precipitation (P) and potential evapotranspiration (PET) at a 1-km spatial resolution, and in turn correlated it with a global H map of the same resolution. Across forested areas over the globe, Hmean increased with P-PET, roughly: Hmean (m) = 19.3 + 0.077*(P-PET). Maximum forest canopy height also increased gradually from ~ 5 to ~ 50 m, saturating at ~ 45 m for P-PET > 500 mm. Forests were far from their maximum height potential in cold, boreal regions and in disturbed areas. The strong association between forest height and P-PET provides a useful tool when studying future forest dynamics under climate change, and in quantifying anthropogenic forest disturbance.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9162908,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Low-risk thyroid carcinoma--therapy, follow-up and prognosis].\nA retrospective study was performed to determine the frequency of local recurrences and distant metastases as well as potential risk factors in patients with low-risk differentiated thyroid carcinoma. In addition, the efficiency of our follow-up programme and the diagnostic value of the procedures administered was to be evaluated. 41\/740 (8%) patients developed 62 recurrences at a mean 4.7 years after the onset of the disease. In 14 cases the tumor marker thyroglobulin was the first diagnostic sign. 13 recurrences were diagnosed by chest x-ray and\/or CT. In 12 cases recurrences\/metastases were detected by iodine-131 whole body scan, and 8 cases by ultrasound of the neck. A good prognosis was found if patients were under 45 years of age when the tumor was first diagnosed, and if the tumor did not exceed 20 mm in diameter. The prognosis was not statistically significant influenced by histology, gender and surgical methods. The 10-year survival rate for papillary carcinomas was 91% and for follicular carcinomas 84%. We recommend yearly follow-up examinations with selective use of other diagnostic methods in order to provide best patient care.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28293291,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"A mild thermomechanical process for the enzymatic conversion of radiata pine into fermentable sugars and lignin.\nConversion of softwoods into sustainable fuels and chemicals is important for parts of the world where softwoods are the dominant forest species. While they have high theoretical sugar yields, softwoods are amongst the most recalcitrant feedstocks for enzymatic processes, typically requiring both more severe pretreatment conditions and higher enzyme doses than needed for other lignocellulosic feedstocks. Although a number of processes have been proposed for converting softwoods into sugars suitable for fuel and chemical production, there is still a need for a high-yielding, industrially scalable and cost-effective conversion route. We summarise work leading to the development of an efficient process for the enzymatic conversion of radiata pine (Pinus radiata) into wood sugars. The process involves initial pressurised steaming of wood chips under relatively mild conditions (173 \u00b0C for 3-72 min) without added acid catalyst. The steamed chips then pass through a compression screw to squeeze out a pressate rich in solubilised hemicelluloses. The pressed chips are disc-refined and wet ball-milled to produce a substrate which is rapidly saccharified using commercially available enzyme cocktails. Adding 0.1% polyethylene glycol during saccharification was found to be particularly effective with these substrates, reducing enzyme usage to acceptable levels, e.g. 5 FPU\/g OD substrate. The pressate is separately hydrolysed using acid, providing additional hemicellulose-derived sugars, for an overall sugar yield of 535 kg\/ODT chips (76% of theoretical). The total pretreatment energy input is comparable to other processes, with the additional energy for attrition being balanced by a lower thermal energy requirement. This pretreatment strategy produces substrates with low levels of fermentation inhibitors, so the glucose-rich mainline and pressate syrups can be fermented to ethanol without detoxification. The lignin from the process remains comparatively unmodified, as evident from the level of retained \u03b2-ether interunit linkages, providing an opportunity for conversion into saleable co-products. This process is an efficient route for the enzymatic conversion of radiata pine, and potentially other softwoods, into a sugar syrup suitable for conversion into fuels and chemicals. Furthermore, the process uses standard equipment that is largely proven at commercial scale, de-risking process scale-up.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34409012,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Analyzing the Performance of the Population Health Environment on the Promotion of Provincial Governors in China.\nChina's economy has achieved rapid growth, but the change has also brought about serious environmental degradation, which is the main factor endangering human health. This study empirically investigates the impact of the population health environmental index on the promotion of provincial governors using an ordered probit model. The sample of the study consists of regions where provincial governors, municipal mayors, and autonomous region chairmen were stationed from 1995 to 2015. The results show that the population health environmental index had a significant and positive impact on governors' promotions, especially in the eastern region. The reformation of the population health environmental index assessment system for government officials was the initial factor that brought about these effects.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31256131,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Reliability and Validity of the Chinese Version of the Mild Behavioral Impairment Checklist for Screening for Alzheimer's Disease.\nThe Mild Behavioral Impairment Checklist (MBI-C), a screening scale for neuropsychiatric symptom evaluation, facilitates Alzheimer's disease (AD) screening. However, its validity and reliability for use as an AD screening tool have not been determined. To develop an AD screening scale suitable for the Chinese population. The MBI-C was translated into Chinese and back-translated with the original author's consent. Forty-six AD patients, attending the Xuanwu hospital memory clinic, and 50 sex- and education-matched controls from the community underwent a full neuropsychological evaluation, including MBI-C assessment. Among them, 15 AD patients were evaluated repeatedly, and eight were evaluated simultaneously by two different clinicians, to assess MBI-C reliability. The MBI-C demonstrated good internal consistency reliability, test-retest reliability, and inter-rater reliability. Its optimal cutoff point was 6\/7 for identifying AD dementia, with a sensitivity of 86.96% and specificity of 86.00%, and its detection rate for moderate-severe AD dementia was higher than that of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire (NPI-Q). Pearson's correlation coefficients ranged from 0.702 to 0.831, indicating content validity. Seven factors were extracted during principal component analysis, with a cumulative contribution of 70.55%. Moreover, the Pearson's correlation coefficient was 0.758, indicating its criterion validity. The MBI-C could also distinguish AD dementia severity. MBI-C scores were significantly negatively correlated with MMSE and MoCA scores, and positively correlated with ADL scores. This study showed that the Chinese version of MBI-C has high reliability and validity, and could replace the NPI-Q for AD dementia screening in the Chinese population.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37461652,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-30":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Broad Protection Against Clade 1 Sarbecoviruses After a Single Immunization with Cocktail Spike-Protein-Nanoparticle Vaccine.\nThe 2002 SARS outbreak, the 2019 emergence of COVID-19, and the continuing evolution of immune-evading SARS-CoV-2 variants together highlight the need for a broadly protective vaccine against ACE2-utilizing sarbecoviruses. While updated variant-matched formulations such as Pfizer-BioNTech's bivalent vaccine are a step in the right direction, protection needs to extend beyond SARS-CoV-2 and its variants to include SARS-like viruses. Here, we introduce bivalent and trivalent vaccine formulations using our spike protein nanoparticle platform that completely protected hamsters against BA.5 and XBB.1 challenges with no detectable virus in the lungs. The trivalent cocktails elicited highly neutralizing responses against all tested Omicron variants and the bat sarbecoviruses SHC014 and WIV1. Finally, our 614D\/SHC014\/XBB trivalent spike formulation completely protected human ACE2-transgenic hamsters against challenges with WIV1 and SHC014 with no detectable virus in the lungs. Collectively, these results illustrate that our trivalent protein-nanoparticle cocktail can provide broad protection against SARS-CoV-2-like and SARS-CoV-1-like sarbecoviruses.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20367283,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Value of the different prognostic systems and biological markers for predicting severity and progression of acute pancreatitis.\nSeveral tools have been developed for severity stratification in acute pancreatitis (AP). They include single biochemical markers and complex scoring systems, all of which aim at an early detection of severe AP to optimize monitoring and treatment of these patients. The aim of this study was to reassess and compare the value of some known and newly-introduced prognostic markers in the clinical context. We have conducted a prospective observational study. One hundred and eight patients with a diagnosis of AP and onset of the disease within last 72 h were included in this study. Clinical data and expression results of some serum biochemical markers were used for statistical analysis. The diagnostic performance of scores predicting severity and progression of AP, cut-off values, specificity, and sensitivity were established using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. Among single biochemical markers, C-reactive protein remains the most useful. Despite its delayed increase, it is accurate, cheap, and widely available. Interleukin-6 and macrophage migration inhibitory factor seem to be new promising parameters for use in clinical routine. Pancreas specific scores (Imrie-Glasgow, pancreatitis outcome prediction) and scores assessing organ dysfunction (acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II, multiple organ dysfunction score, and Marshall score) remain of value in determining the severity, complications, and possible outcome of AP. Indication, timing, and consequences of the methods applied need to be carefully considered and incorporated into clinical assessments. Currently, there is no single prognostic marker that would cover the whole range of problems associated with the treatment of AP. The prediction of severity and progression of AP can be achieved using a series of accurate methods. The decision to undertake interventional or surgical treatment is the most complex task requiring both clinical judgment and meticulous monitoring of the patient.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17815992,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Electron Microscope Autoradiography of Bacteria Labeled with Iodine-125.\nThe low-energy extranuclear electrons emitted by iodine-125 can be used for electron microscope autoradiography with results comparable to those obtained with tritium. Autoradiographs of tritium-labeled bacteria showed that 71 percent of all reacted grains localized on the cell. This figure was 86 percent when I(125)-labeled bacteria were used.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24392880,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Ataxia rating scales are age-dependent in healthy children.\nTo investigate ataxia rating scales in children for reliability and the effect of age and sex. Three independent neuropaediatric observers cross-sectionally scored a set of paediatric ataxia rating scales in a group of 52 healthy children (26 males, 26 females) aged 4 to 16 years (mean age 10y 5mo SD 3y 11mo). The investigated scales involved the commonly applied International Cooperative Ataxia Rating Scale (ICARS), the Scale for Assessment and Rating of Ataxia (SARA), the Brief Ataxia Rating Scale (BARS), and PEG-board tests. We investigated the interrelatedness between individual ataxia scales, the influence of age and sex, inter- and intra-observer agreement, and test-retest reliability. Spearman's rank correlations revealed strong correlations between ICARS, SARA BARS, and PEG-board test (all p<0.001). ICARS, SARA, BARS and PEG-board test outcomes were age-dependent until 12.5, 10, 11, and 11.5 years of age respectively. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) varied between moderate and almost perfect (interobserver agreement: 0.85, 0.72, and 0.69; intraobserver agreement: 0.92, 0.94, and 0.70; and test-retest reliability: 0.95, 0.50, and 0.71; for ICARS, SARA, and BARS respectively). Interobserver variability decreased after the sixth year of life. In healthy children, ataxia rating scales are reliable, but should include age-dependent interpretation in children up to 12 years of age. To enable longitudinal interpretation of quantitative ataxia rating scales in children, European paediatric normative values are necessary.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16227573,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Micro-RNA regulation of the mammalian lin-28 gene during neuronal differentiation of embryonal carcinoma cells.\nVertebrate genomes each encode hundreds of micro-RNAs (miRNAs), yet for few of these miRNAs is there empirical evidence as to which mRNA(s) they regulate. Here we report the identification of human lin-28 mRNA as a regulatory target of human miR-125b and its homolog miR-125a. Studies of miR-125b function in mouse P19 embryonal carcinoma cells induced to develop into neurons suggest a role for this regulatory miRNA in mammalian neuronal differentiation, since its increased concentration in these cells contributes to lin-28 downregulation. Within the lin-28 3' untranslated region (UTR) are two conserved miRNA responsive elements (miREs) that mediate repression by miR-125b and miR-125a. Simultaneous deletion of both miREs renders the lin-28 3' UTR almost completely insensitive to these miRNAs, indicating that these two miREs are the principal elements in the lin-28 3' UTR that respond to miR-125. At the 3' end of each element is an adenosine residue that makes a significant contribution to function irrespective of its complementarity to the 5'-terminal nucleotide of miR-125. By contrast to most earlier reports of gene repression by other miRNAs that are imperfectly complementary to their targets, lin-28 downregulation by miR-125 involves reductions in both translational efficiency and mRNA abundance. The decrease in the mRNA concentration is achieved by a posttranscriptional mechanism that is independent of the inhibitory effect on translation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32363856,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Free Radical and Nicotine Yields in Mainstream Smoke of Chinese Marketed Cigarettes: Variation with Smoking Regimens and Cigarette Brands.\nFree radicals and nicotine are components of cigarette smoke that are thought to contribute to the development of smoking-induced diseases. China has the largest number of smokers in the world, yet little is known about the yields of tobacco smoke constituents in different Chinese brands of cigarettes. In this study, gas-phase and particulate-phase free radicals as well as nicotine yields were quantified in mainstream cigarette smoke from five popular Chinese brands and two research cigarettes (3R4F and 1R6F). Mainstream smoke was generated under International Organization of Standardization (ISO) and Canadian Intense (CI) smoking regimens using a linear smoking machine. Levels of free radicals and nicotine were measured by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy (EPR) and gas chromatography with flame-ionization detection, respectively. Under the ISO puffing regimen, Chinese brand cigarettes produced an average of 3.0 \u00b1 1.2 nmol\/cig gas-phase radicals, 118 \u00b1 44.7 pmol\/cig particulate-phase radicals, and 0.6 \u00b1 0.2 mg\/cig nicotine. Under the CI puffing regimen, Chinese brand cigarettes produced an average of 5.6 \u00b1 1.2 nmol\/cig gas-phase radicals, 282 \u00b1 92.1 pmol\/cig particulate-phase radicals, and 2.1 \u00b1 0.4 mg\/cig nicotine. Overall, both gas- and particulate-phase free radicals were substantially lower compared to the research cigarettes under both regimens, whereas no significant differences were observed for nicotine levels. When Chinese brands were compared, the highest free radical and nicotine yields were found in \"LL\" and \"BS\" brands, while lowest levels were found in \"YY\". These results suggested that the lower radical delivery by Chinese cigarettes compared to United States reference cigarettes may be associated with reductions in oxidant-related harm.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28296903,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The potential distribution of cassava mealybug (Phenacoccus manihoti), a threat to food security for the poor.\nThe cassava mealybug is a clear and present threat to the food security and livelihoods of some of the world's most impoverished citizens. Niche models, such as CLIMEX, are useful tools to indicate where and when such threats may extend, and can assist with planning for biosecurity and the management of pest invasions. They can also contribute to bioeconomic analyses that underpin the allocation of resources to alleviate poverty. Because species can invade and establish in areas with climates that are different from those that are found in their native range, it is essential to define robust range-limiting mechanisms in niche models. To avoid spurious results when applied to novel climates, it is necessary to employ cross-validation techniques spanning different knowledge domains (e.g., distribution data, experimental results, phenological observations). We build upon and update a CLIMEX niche model by Parsa et al. (PloS ONE 7: e47675), correcting inconsistent parameters and re-fitting it based on a careful examination of geographical distribution data and relevant literature. Further, we consider the role of irrigation, the known distribution of cassava production and a targeted review of satellite imagery to refine, validate and interpret our model and results. In so doing, we bring new insights into the potential spread of this invasive insect, enabling us to identify potential bio-security threats and biological control opportunities. The fit of the revised model is improved, particularly in relation to the wet and dry limits to establishment, and the parameter values are biologically plausible and accord with published scientific literature.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1703584,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Combined use of in situ hybridization and unlabeled antibody peroxidase anti-peroxidase methods: simultaneous detection of type I procollagen mRNAs and factor VIII-related antigen epitopes in keloid tissue.\nIn this study, we developed methodology that allows the combined use of in situ hybridization and peroxidase anti-peroxidase techniques on the same tissue section. A human pro alpha 1(I) collagen cDNA and antibodies to factor VIII-related antigen were used on keloid tissue sections as a model for a fibrotic reaction. The basic protocols of the techniques were modified to obtain optimal results. The feasibility of this new method was demonstrated by elucidation of type I procollagen gene expression in the cells of blood vessel wall and the adjacent fibroblasts. In the case of capillaries, pro alpha 1(I) collagen mRNAs were detected within endothelial cells identified by the presence of factor VIII-related antigen. Pro alpha 1(I) collagen mRNAs were also found in close proximity of medium-size blood vessels, but in this context clearly outside the vessel wall. These results may contribute to the understanding of pathogenetic aspects of keloids and other fibrotic conditions. Thus, the combination of in situ hybridization and peroxidase anti-peroxidase techniques provides a useful tool to examine gene expression simultaneously both at mRNA and protein levels in fibrotic tissues. This methodology is also applicable to a variety of other biologic and pathologic situations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6154018,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Soluble blue as a counterstain in the Ziehl-Neelsen procedure--A brief communication.\nA technique is described using soluble blue instead of the conventional methylene blue as a counterstain for the Ziehl-Neelsen procedure. This increases the intensity of blue staining of non-bacterial contaminants and is useful in monitoring the progress of purification of M. leprae from host tissue.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6172973,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Scabies and genital herpes: a problem in management.\nA patient who was infested with scabies subsequently developed recurrent herpes genitalis. Scratching the scabetic lesions resulted in self-inoculation with herpes on the lower abdomen and chin. Inoculation herpes is one of the most common complications of HSV-2 infection. The infection can be divided into primary, latent, shedding and recurrent stages. Pruritic lesions such as scabies complicate the management in herpes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17179362,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"CT-guided percutaneous steroid injection for management of inflammatory arthropathy of the temporomandibular joint in children.\nThe purposes of this study were to retrospectively review an injection technique, to develop a grading system for evaluation of imaging findings, and to report preliminary outcome related to percutaneous CT-guided steroid injection into the temporomandibular joints of children with inflammatory arthropathy. CT-guided steroid injection into the temporomandibular joint of children with inflammatory arthropathy results in clinical and imaging improvement in a substantial proportion of children treated.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30655735,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Novel role of microRNA-126 in digestive system cancers: From bench to bedside.\nMicroRNAs (miRNAs) are ubiquitously expressed, small, non-coding RNAs that regulate the expression of approximately 30% of the human genes at the post-transcriptional level. miRNAs have emerged as crucial modulators in the initiation and progression of various diseases, including numerous cancer types. The high incidence rate of cancer and the large number of cancer-associated cases of mortality are mostly due to a lack of effective treatments and biomarkers for early diagnosis. Therefore there is an urgent requirement to further understand the underlying mechanisms of tumorigenesis. MicroRNA-126 (miR-126) is significantly downregulated in a number of tumor types and is commonly identified as a tumor suppressor in digestive system cancers (DSCs). miR-126 downregulates various oncogenes, including disintegrin and metalloproteinase domain-containing protein 9, v-crk sarcoma virus CT10 oncogene homolog and phosphoinositide-3-kinase regulatory subunit 2. These genes are involved in a number of tumor-associated signaling pathways, including angiogenesis, epithelial-mensenchymal transition and metastasis pathways. The aim of the current review was to summarize the role of miR-126 in DSCs, in terms of its dysregulation, target genes and associated signaling pathways. In addition, the current review has discussed the potential clinical application of miR-126 as a biomarker and therapeutic target for DSCs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27472747,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Structured Approach Therapy for Combat-Related PTSD in Returning U.S. Veterans: Complementary Mediation by Changes in Emotion Functioning.\nTo address the impact of combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on U.S. Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) veterans, the investigators developed a 12-session manualized PTSD treatment for couples called structured approach therapy (SAT). A randomized controlled trial had shown that 29 OEF\/OIF veterans with combat-related PTSD who had participated in SAT showed significantly greater reductions in PTSD compared to 28 veterans receiving a 12-session PTSD family education intervention (Sautter, Glynn, Cretu, Senturk, & Vaught, 2015). We conducted supplemental follow-up and mediation analyses, which tested the hypothesis that changes in emotion functioning play a significant role in the decreases in PTSD symptoms primarily observed in veterans who had received SAT. Veterans assigned to the SAT condition showed significantly greater decreases than those assigned to PTSD family education in emotion regulation problems (p < .001, Cohen's f(2) = .18) and fear of intense emotions (p < .001, Cohen's f(2) = .152). Decreases in both emotion regulation problems (mediated effect:ab\u0302= .36), and fear of intense emotions (mediated effect:ab\u0302 = .24) were found to be complementary mediators of reductions in PTSD symptoms greater with SAT. These findings suggest that SAT may aid veterans in improving their ability to regulate trauma-related emotions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17886743,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Parasite communities of eels Anguilla anguilla in freshwater and marine habitats in Iceland in comparison with other parasite communities of eels in Europe.\nNinety-five eels from one marine and three freshwater localities in Iceland were examined for parasites. Twenty species were found, 12 from marine habitat, 12 from freshwater and 4 species were found in both habitats. These are: Eimeria anguillae, Chilodonella hexasticha, Trichodina fultoni, T. jadranica, Myxidium giardi, Myxobolus kotlani, two Zschokkella spp., Derogenes varicus, Deropristis inflata, Diplostonmum sp., Plagioporus angulatus, Podocotyle atomon, Anisakis simplex (larva), Eustrongylides sp. (larva), Hysterothylacium aduncum (larva), Raphidascaris acus (larval and adult stages), Bothriocephalus claviceps, Proteocephalus macrocephalus, and a pseudophyllidean larva. Thirteen of these species are new parasite records from Icelandic waters. The component community of marine eels was characterized by low diversity and a high dominance of a single species. Overall, seven species of helminths were observed, up to five different species occurring in an individual fish. The component community of the freshwater eels was species-poor with low diversity and relatively high dominance of single species. A between-sites difference in the freshwater eels was considerable; only Diplositonun sp. was found at more then one sampling site. Similar to previous studies, there is a total replacement of freshwater macroparasite species by marine ones in saline waters. But unlike research abroad in which species richness decreases with higher salinity, the marine eels in Iceland have considerably higher richness than the freshwater ones. The parasite communities of freshwater eels in Iceland are, in general species-poorer, less diverse and having higher Berger Parker (BP) dominance than other eel communities in Europe. Marine eels have on the other hand comparable species richness, are less diverse and with a high BP dominance.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17172201,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sex parties: female teen sexual experimentation.\nAdolescent participants in a study aimed at exploring the nature and characteristics of girls' dating relationships revealed the phenomenon of sex parties. These teens defined a sex party as an opportunity to engage in sexual contact outside of typical dating relationships. Sexual activity could involve actual intercourse, but usually involved sex acts without vaginal intercourse. Data were collected through 22 semistructured interviews with female adolescents, ages 15-18. All the participants knew of sex parties, however, only a subgroup of these adolescents actually participated in activities loosely defined by teens as sex parties. Alcohol was common at these parties, but female teens asserted that they consumed alcohol willingly to relax, as opposed to being coerced to do so. Some teens expressed regret following participation in a sex party, although none reported sexual coercion or abuse.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7934312,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of phenylephrine on membrane currents in single smooth muscle cells of taenia caeci.\nProcedures used for dissociation of taenia caeci smooth muscle cells usually damage alpha 1-adrenoceptors. This paper describes modes of isolation under which alpha 1-adrenoceptors of taenia caeci do not lose their function. It has been found that antioxidants (dithiothreitol or taurine) are able to protect receptors from injury caused by digestive enzymes. A high concentration of bovine serum albumin also protects receptors from enzyme injury if a relatively specific enzyme (collagenase Type XI, Sigma) is used. Phenylephrine (10 mcmol\/l) studied both in muscle strips using the double sucrose gap method and in isolated smooth muscle cells using whole cell current clamp conditions substantially hyperpolarized the smooth muscle membrane. This hyperpolarization was blocked by pretreatment of the tissues or cells by prazosin (1 mcmol\/l). Phenylephrine (1-50 mcmol\/l), under whole cell patch clamp conditions, enhanced the frequency and amplitude of spontaneous transient outward currents (STOCs), which were voltage- and temperature-dependent, and elicited a low amplitude sustained outward current. Phenylephrine (10 mcmol\/l) reduced the inward and enhanced the outward component of the total whole cell current evoked by voltage steps from the holding potential of -50 mV to -10 mV. Under experimental conditions when only calcium current was recorded, phenylephrine significantly enhanced its amplitude. These results are in favor of the assumption that phenylephrine induced hyperpolarization is at least partially the consequence of calcium influx, which activates potassium conductance.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16156397,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Drug hypersensitivities: definition, epidemiology and risk factors.\nDrug hypersensitivity reactions are the adverse effects of drugs taken at a dose which is tolerated by normal subjects, and which clinically resemble allergy. There is few true epidemiological data on drug hypersensitivity reactions. The available information requires a cautious interpretation as they are rarely proven. Both under diagnosis and over diagnosis must be taken into account. Drug hypersensitivity reactions represent one third of adverse drug reactions, can be life threatening and motivate changes on drug prescription. They concern more than 7% of the general population, therefore being an important public health problem. A few risk factors are already pinpointed. Future progress in genetics can help the identification of populations at risk for specific reactions. This review describes currently known data on incidence,prevalence, mor tality and risk factors of these reactions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20362764,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"The effect of zirconia surface treatment on flexural strength and shear bond strength to a resin cement.\nDespite the expanded applications for zirconia in restorative dentistry, there is no clear recommendation in the literature regarding surface treatment before bonding. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of mechanical surface treatment of yttria-partially stabilized zirconia on its flexural strength and the effect of mechanical and chemical surface treatments on its bond strength to a resin cement. For flexural strength evaluation, zirconia bars (4 x 5 x 40 mm) were prepared from zirconia blocks, finished using a diamond rotary cutting instrument, sintered, then assigned into 4 groups: (1) control (no treatment), (2) airborne-particle abrasion, (3) silicoating, and (4) wet hand grinding. After storage for 24 hours at 37 degrees C, flexural strength was determined using a 3-point bending test, and the results were analyzed using 1-way ANOVA (alpha=.05). For shear bond strength evaluation, zirconia rods (2.5 x 3 mm) were prepared from zirconia blocks, sintered, and assigned into 16 groups. Each group underwent a combination of the following mechanical and chemical treatments. Mechanical treatment included: (1) control (no treatment), (2) airborne-particle abrasion, (3) silicoating, or (4) wet hand grinding. Chemical treatment included: (1) control (no treatment), (2) acid etching followed by silanation, (3) silanation only, or (4) application of zirconia primer. Dentin specimens were prepared from extracted molars stored in 0.5% chloramine-T. Zirconia rods were bonded to dentin using a resin cement (Multilink Automix), then light polymerized. After storage, the specimens were loaded to failure with the notched shear bond test method in a universal loading apparatus. For artificial aging analysis, the groups that achieved the highest bond strength values were duplicated, stored at 37 degrees C and 100% humidity for 90 days, and thermal cycled before being loaded to failure. Results were analyzed using 2-way ANOVA (alpha=.05). Airborne-particle abrasion and hand grinding significantly increased flexural strength. The highest shear bond strength values were achieved for the following groups: silicoated + silanated > hand ground + zirconia primer > airborne-particle abraded + silanated > zirconia primer > airborne-particle abraded + zirconia primer. Artificial aging resulted in significantly lower shear bond strength for the silicoated\/silanated and the zirconia primer groups. Mechanical modification of the surface increased the flexural strength of Y-TZP. The resin bond to Y-TZP was improved by surface treatment. A combination of mechanical and chemical conditioning of the zirconia surface was essential to develop a durable resin bond to zirconia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7927662,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"C9-mediated killing of bacterial cells by transferred C5b-8 complexes: transferred C5b-9 complexes are nonbactericidal.\nThe formation of the C5b-9 complex on the outer membrane of complement-sensitive cells of Escherichia coli results in inhibition of inner membrane function and the death of the cell. Cells bearing a precursor of the C5b-9 site, the C5b-8 complex, suffer no loss in viability. Antibiotic-sensitive, complement-sensitive donor cells bearing precursor C5b-8 complexes were incubated with equal numbers of antibiotic-resistant, complement-sensitive acceptor cells that had not been exposed to a complement source. This cell mixture was incubated with 5 mM EDTA for 5 min and then with calcium chloride (20 mM) for various times. The excess calcium ion concentration was effectively reduced with additional EDTA, and the cell mixture was washed and resuspended in buffer. The viability of the acceptor cells was assayed by plating on antibiotic-containing media. C9 was added to the mixture, and the mixture was incubated for 10 min at 37 degrees C and then plated as described above. It was found that the acceptor cells were killed by the addition of purified C9 only after incubation with donor cells bearing C5b-8 sites during the transfer procedure. This indicates that precursor C5b-8 sites that support C9-mediated killing could be transferred between cells. No loss in viability was detected for acceptor cells subjected to the procedure described above in the presence of donor cells bearing complete C5b-9 complexes, formed prior to mixing with acceptor cells for the transfer procedure.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29377210,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A Comprehensive Risk Analysis of Transportation Networks Affected by Rainfall-Induced Multihazards.\nClimate change and its projected natural hazards have an adverse impact on the functionality and operation of transportation infrastructure systems. This study presents a comprehensive framework to analyze the risk to transportation infrastructure networks that are affected by natural hazards. The proposed risk analysis method considers both the failure probability of infrastructure components and the expected infrastructure network efficiency and capacity loss due to component failure. This comprehensive approach facilitates the identification of high-risk network links in terms of not only their susceptibility to natural hazards but also their overall impact on the network. The Chinese national rail system and its exposure to rainfall-related multihazards are used as a case study. The importance of various links is comprehensively assessed from the perspectives of topological, efficiency, and capacity criticality. Risk maps of the national railway system are generated, which can guide decisive action regarding investments in preventative and adaptive measures to reduce risk.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20371631,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Neuronal release of D-serine: a physiological pathway controlling extracellular D-serine concentration.\nD-serine is thought to be a glia-derived transmitter that activates N-methyl D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) in the brain. Here, we investigate the pathways for D-serine release using primary cultures, brain slices, and in vivo microdialysis. In contrast with the notion that D-serine is exclusively released from astrocytes, we found that D-serine is released by neuronal depolarization both in vitro and in vivo. Veratridine (50 microM) or depolarization by 40 mM KCl elicits a significant release of endogenous D-serine from primary neuronal cultures. Controls with astrocyte cultures indicate that glial cells are insensitive to veratridine, but release D-serine mainly by the opening of volume-regulated anion channels. In cortical slices perfused with veratridine, endogenous D-serine release is 10-fold higher than glutamate receptor-evoked release. Release of D-serine from slices does not require internal or external Ca(2+), suggesting a nonvesicular release mechanism. To confirm the neuronal origin of D-serine, we selectively loaded neurons in cortical slices with D-[(3)H]serine or applied D-alanine, which specifically releases D-serine from neurons. Depolarization with veratridine promotes D-serine release in vivo monitored by high temporal resolution microdialysis of the striatum. Our data indicate that the neuronal pool of D-serine plays a major role in D-serine dynamics, with implications for the regulation of NMDAR transmission.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7940017,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2013-20":3}}},"text":"Membrane-bound neomycin phosphotransferase confers drug-resistance in mammalian cells: a marker for high-efficiency targeting of genes encoding secreted and cell-surface proteins.\nAn efficient method for inactivating genes is the use of silent selectable markers that are expressed only after homologous recombination into the active target gene. However, use of this approach for genes encoding secreted or membrane-anchored proteins may produce hybrid proteins comprising the N-terminal signal sequence from the target gene linked to the protein conferring drug resistance. Such chimeric enzymes will be secreted, precluding selection for drug resistance. To overcome this problem, we tested the possibility of anchoring in the membrane the cytoplasmic neomycin phosphotransferase (NPT). We constructed a fusion gene with a transmembrane domain connecting the N-terminal signal sequence of a membrane-targeted protein and the neo gene. Expression of this gene yielded G418-resistant colonies of C2C12 cells which contained assayable NPT activity. Comparison of enzyme activity in cell extract fractions verified that the active fusion protein was insoluble, presumably through localization to a membrane compartment. Transmembrane neo cassettes should serve as integration-activated markers capable of targeting genes encoding secreted or cell surface proteins.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23334043,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"The first report on mushroom green mould disease in Croatia.\nGreen mould disease, caused by Trichoderma species, is a severe problem for mushroom growers worldwide, including Croatia. Trichoderma strains were isolated from green mould-affected Agaricus bisporus (button or common mushroom) compost and Pleurotus ostreatus (oyster mushroom) substrate samples collected from Croatian mushroom farms. The causal agents of green mould disease in the oyster mushroom were T. pleurotum and T. pleuroticola, similar to other countries. At the same time, the pathogen of A. bisporus was exclusively the species T. harzianum, which is different from earlier findings and indicates that the range of mushroom pathogens is widening. The temperature profiles of the isolates and their hosts overlapped, thus no range was found that would allow optimal growth of the mushrooms without mould contamination. Ferulic acid and certain phenolic compounds, such as thymol showed remarkable fungistatic effect on the Trichoderma isolates, but inhibited the host mushrooms as well. However, commercial fungicides prochloraz and carbendazim were effective agents for pest management. This is the first report on green mould disease of cultivated mushrooms in Croatia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37446469,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Amino-Termination of Silicon Carbide Nanoparticles.\nSilicon carbide nanoparticles (SiC NPs) are promising inorganic molecular-sized fluorescent biomarkers. It is imperative to develop methods to functionalize SiC NPs for certain biological applications. One possible route is to form amino groups on the surface, which can be readily used to attach target biomolecules. Here, we report direct amino-termination of aqueous SiC NPs. We demonstrate the applicability of the amino-terminated SiC NPs by attaching bovine serum albumin as a model for functionalization. We monitor the optical properties of the SiC NPs in this process and find that the fluorescence intensity is very sensitive to surface termination. Our finding may have implications for a few nanometers sized SiC NPs containing paramagnetic color centers with optically read electron spins.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11641348,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Gender difference in cardiovagal baroreflex gain in humans.\nWe tested the hypothesis that women would demonstrate lower cardiovagal baroreflex gain compared with men. If so, we further hypothesized that the lower cardiovagal baroreflex gain in women would be associated with their lower aerobic fitness and higher body fat percentage compared with men. To accomplish this, we measured cardiovagal baroreflex gain (modified Oxford technique) in sedentary, nonobese (body mass index < 25 kg\/m2) men (age = 26.0 +\/- 2.1 yr, n = 11) and women (age = 26.9 +\/- 1.6 yr, n = 14). Resting R-R interval and diastolic blood pressure were similar in the two groups, but systolic blood pressure was lower (P < 0.05) in the women. Cardiovagal baroreflex gain was significantly lower in the women compared with the men (13.3 +\/- 1.5 vs. 20.0 +\/- 2.8 ms\/mmHg, P < 0.05). The lower cardiovagal baroreflex gain in the women was not related (P > 0.05) to their lower aerobic fitness and was only marginally related to their higher body fat percentage (r = -0.34, P < 0.05). There were no gender differences in the threshold and saturation, operating range, or operating point (all P > 0.05), although the operating point fell significantly to left (i.e., at a lower systolic blood pressure) compared with men. Therefore, the findings of this study suggest that the gain of the cardiovagal baroreflex is reduced whereas other parameters were similar in women compared with men. The mechanisms responsible for the reduced cardiovagal baroreflex gain remain unclear.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16158607,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Response of CH4 emission of paddy fields to land management practices at a microcosmic cultivation scale in China.\nThe terrestrial ecosystem may be either a source or a sink of CH4 in rice paddies, depending, to a great extent, on the change of ecosystem types and land use patterns. CH4 emission fluxes from paddy fields under 4 cultivation patterns (conventional plain culture of rice (T1), no-tillage and ridge culture of rice (T2), no-tillage and ridge culture of rice and wheat (T3), and rice-wheat rotation (T4)) were measured with the closed chamber technique in 1996 and 1998 in Chongqing, China. The results showed that differences existed in CH4 emission from paddy fields under these land management practices. In 1996 and 1998, CH4 emission was 71.48% and 78.82% (T2), 65.93% and 57.18% (T3), and 61.53% and 34.22% (T4) of that in T1 during the rice growing season. During the non-rice growing season, CH4 emission from rice fields was 76.23% in T2 and 38.69% in TI. The accumulated annual CH4 emission in T2, T3 and T4 in 1996 decreased by 33.53%, 63.30% and 65.73%, respectively, as compared with that in T1. In 1998, the accumulated annual CH4 emission in T1, T2, T3 and T4 was 116.96 g\/m2, 68.44 g\/m2, 19.70 g\/m2 and 11.80 g\/m2, respectively. Changes in soil physical and chemical properties, in thermal and moisture conditions in the soil and in rice plant growth induced by different land use patterns were the dominant causes for the difference in CH4 emission observed. The relative contribution of various influencing factors to CH4 emission from paddy fields differed significantly under different land use patterns. However, the general trend was that chlorophyll content in rice leaves, air temperature and temperature at the 5 cm soil layer play a major role in CH4 emission from paddy fields and the effects of illumination, relative humidity and water layer depth in the paddy field and CH4 concentration in the crop canopy were relatively non-significant. Such conservative land use patterns as no-tillage and ridge culture of rice with or without rotation with wheat are thought to be beneficial to reducing CH4 emission from paddy fields and are, therefore, recommended as a significant solution to the problems of global (climatic) change.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20355579,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Entanglement generation using silicon photonic wire waveguide.\nThis paper reviews recent progress on telecom-band entangled photon-pair sources based on spontaneous four-wave mixing (SFWM) in a silicon photonic wire waveguide. Thanks to the large third order nonlinearity of nano-scale silicon waveguides, we can generate photon pairs efficiently. Moreover, the use of silicon waveguides enable us to avoid the noise photons caused by spontaneous Raman scattering, which has been a serious problem with entanglement sources based on SFWM in dispersion shifted fiber. We successfully demonstrated high-purity time-bin and polarization entanglement generation using 1-cm long silicon waveguides.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31264868,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nanoscale Fluid Vortices and Nonlinear Electroosmotic Flow Drive Ion Current Rectification in the Presence of Concentration Gradients.\nIon current rectification (ICR) is a transport phenomenon in which an electrolyte conducts unequal currents at equal and opposite voltages. Here, we show that nanoscale fluid vortices and nonlinear electroosmotic flow (EOF) drive ICR in the presence of concentration gradients. The same EOF can yield negative differential resistance (NDR), in which current decreases with increasing voltage. A finite element model quantitatively reproduces experimental ICR and NDR recorded across glass nanopipettes under concentration gradients. The model demonstrates that spatial variations of electrical double layer properties induce the nanoscale vortices and nonlinear EOF. Experiments are performed in conditions directly related to scanning probe imaging and show that quantitative understanding of nanoscale transport under concentration gradients requires accounting for EOF. This characterization of nanopipette transport physics will benefit diverse experimentation, pushing the resolution limits of chemical and biophysical recordings.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":5663803,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Magnetoencephalography: evidence of magnetic fields produced by alpha-rhythm currents.\nWeak alternating magnetic fields outside the human scalp, produced by alpha-rhythm currents, are demonstrated. Subject ard magnetic detector were housed in a multilayer magnetically shielded chamber. Background magnetic noise was reduced by signal-averaging. The fields near the scalp are about 1 x 10(-9) gauss (peak to peak). A course distribution shows left-right symmetry for the particular averaging technique used here.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3077328,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Chromosomal origin of acetyltransferase AAC(6') specifying amikacin resistance in Serratia marcescens.\nTwo clinical isolates of Serratia marcescens resistant to aminoglycoside-aminocyclitols and other antibiotics have been examined for aminoglycoside-modifying enzymes. Both strains were amikacin-resistant, and this resistance was mediated by an acetyltransferase AAC(6'). S. marcescens 737 contains a single conjugative plasmid, pUZ 737, of 135 kilobases, which confers resistance to gentamicin and tobramycin by a nucleotidyltransferase, ANT(2\"), and to kanamycin, neomycin, butirosin and lividomycin by a phosphotransferase, APH(3'). S. marcescens 1830 does not contain extrachromosomal DNA, and it produced only the above mentioned AAC(6'). The presence of AAC(6') and associated aminoglycoside resistance are not dependent on the presence of a detectable plasmid, not transferred by conjugation, and not cured. Therefore, this enzyme is probably encoded by a chromosomal gene.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25411689,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Emerging cephalosporin and multidrug-resistant gonorrhoea in Europe.\nNeisseria gonorrhoeae has consistently developed resistance to antimicrobials used therapeutically for gonorrhoea and few antimicrobials remain for effective empiric first-line therapy. Since 2009 the European gonococcal antimicrobial surveillance programme (Euro-GASP) has been running as a sentinel surveillance system across Member States of the European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA) to monitor antimicrobial susceptibility in N. gonorrhoeae. During 2011, N. gonorrhoeae isolates were collected from 21 participating countries, and 7.6% and 0.5% of the examined gonococcal isolates had in vitro resistance to cefixime and ceftriaxone, respectively. The rate of ciprofloxacin and azithromycin resistance was 48.7% and 5.3%, respectively. Two (0.1%) isolates displayed high-level resistance to azithromycin, i.e. a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) \u2265256 mg\/L. The current report further highlights the public health need to implement the European response plan, including further strengthening of Euro-GASP, to control and manage the threat of multidrug resistant N. gonorrhoeae.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25289343,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Update\/Review: changing of use of local anesthesia in the hand.\nAmong the many advances in local anesthesia of the hand, some of the most significant changes in the last 5 years have been the following: (1) the acceptance of safety of locally infiltrated epinephrine with lidocaine for hemostasis, which has removed the need for sedation, brachial plexus blocks, and general anesthesia for most common hand surgery operations and minor hand trauma. (2) The elimination of the 2 injection finger block technique in favor of the single injection palmar block. (3) Local anesthesia can now be consistently injected in the hand with minimal pain. (4) Liposomal release of local anesthetic after injection into the surgical site can provide pain control up to 3 days. This article reviews the impact and best evidence related to these changes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12037729,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Urinary albumin excretion and insulin metabolism in clinically healthy 58-year-old men.\nThe aim of the present cross-sectional study was to investigate the relationship between urinary albumin excretion and insulin sensitivity, intact insulin and insulin propeptides in 104 clinically healthy 58-year-old men recruited from the general population. Insulin sensitivity (hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp) adjusted for lean body mass, fasting plasma insulin, proinsulin, split-proinsulin, C-peptide, and urinary albumin excretion and were determined. Urinary albumin excretion was significantly associated with body mass index (BMI), systolic and diastolic blood pressure, plasma insulin, and C-peptide (P <.05). Insulin sensitivity tended to be associated with urinary albumin excretion (P=.07). In a multiple regression analysis, urinary albumin excretion was independently and significantly associated with systolic blood pressure (P <.05). In conclusion, urinary albumin excretion was associated with insulin and C-peptide in clinically healthy 58-year-old men; however, this relationship became insignificant when blood pressure was taken into account in the regression analysis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30100756,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"MicroRNAs, long noncoding RNAs, and circular RNAs: potential tumor biomarkers and targets for colorectal cancer.\nNoncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) can be divided into microRNAs (miRNAs), long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), circular RNAs (circRNAs), pRNAs, and tRNAs. Traditionally, miRNAs exert their biological function mainly through the inhibition of translation via the induction of target RNA transcript degradation. lncRNAs and circRNAs were once considered to have no potential to code proteins. Here, we will review the current knowledge on ncRNAs in relation to their origins, characteristics, and functions. We will also review how ncRNAs work as competitive endogenous RNA, gene transcription and expression regulators, and RNA-binding protein sponges in colorectal cancer (CRC). Notably, except for the abovementioned mechanisms, recent advances revealed that lncRNAs can also act as the precursor of miRNAs, and a small portion of lncRNAs and circRNAs was verified to have the potential to code proteins, providing new evidence for the significance of ncRNAs in CRC tumorigenesis and development.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32618073,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Localized infection and leg ulcer after platelet-rich plasma injection.\nAlthough many studies report effective use of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection in the clinics, almost no study reports any side effects. The patient who was treated with PRP injection in gastrocnemius muscle developed complications. The authors of this study present a case which may show the possible side effects of PRP.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16164155,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-18":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Prognostic indicators in patients with primary intraventricular haemorrhage.\nPrimary intraventricular haemorrhage (PIVH) is a rare clinical entity. We sought to evaluate risk factors, clinical and radiological features, and outcome of patients with PIVH. Cases of PIVH were identified from cohort of patients with non traumatic intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) by reviewing the radiological data. Their charts were reviewed and demographic, clinical, radiological and laboratory data was recorded and analyzed. Chi square and t test were used to determine predictors of poor outcome. Fifteen of 677 (2%) patients with ICH had PIVH. Nine (60%) were men. Median age was 56 years. Predisposing factors included hypertension in twelve (80%), coagulopathy in five (33%) and vascular malformations in two (13%) patients. Eleven (73%) patients developed hydrocephalus. Two patients died. Univariate analysis identified diabetes mellitus, blood in all ventricles and coagulopathy as predictors of death during initial hospital stay and hydrocephalus as predictor of poor outcome (death and disability combined) (p < 0.05). Hypertension is most common associated risk factor for primary intraventricular haemorrhage followed by coagulopathy. Hydrocephalus is a common complication, associated with poor outcome. Diabetes mellitus, coagulopathy and panventricular blood predict early mortality.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7932407,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Increase in adhesion molecules on CD4+ cells and CD4+ cell subsets in synovial fluid from patients with rheumatoid arthritis.\nTo elucidate the role of adhesion molecules in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We evaluated their expression and that of an activation marker on CD4+ cell populations and CD4+ cell subsets in specimens of peripheral blood (PB) and synovial fluid (SF) obtained from 10 patients with RA and 7 with osteoarthritis (OA). A 2 or 3-color immunofluorescent method was used for analysis. The SF from both groups of patients showed a greater density of adhesion molecules including LFA-1 alpha, LFA-1 beta, CD2, VLA-4 alpha and VLA-5 alpha on CD4+ cells, and a higher percentage of CD4+HLA-DR+ cells compared with their PB. IN PB-CD4+ cell subsets from the arthritic and healthy subjects, the CD4+CD45RO+ cell population showed an increased expression of adhesion molecules compared with CD4+CD45RA+ cell population. The expression of adhesion molecules on circulating CD4+ cell population and CD4+ cell subsets from the patients with RA and OA was comparable to that from healthy subjects. SF from both groups of patients showed a higher percentage of CD4+CD45RO+ cells and a lower percentage of CD4+CD45RA+ cells. In SF-CD4+ cell subsets from patients with RA, the CD4+CD45RO+ cell population had an increased expression of VLA-4 alpha compared to the CD4+CD45RA+ cell population; however, there was no significant difference in other adhesion molecule expression and the percentage of HLA-DR+ cells between the 2 cell subsets. Furthermore, the expression of VLA-4 alpha on the CD4+CD45RO+ cell population in SF from patients with RA was significantly higher than that in matched PB. In CD4+CD45RA+ cell population from both groups of patients, SF showed an enhanced expression of adhesion molecules and an increased percentage of HLA-DR+ cells compared with matched PB. Our results suggest that increased expression of adhesion molecules and increased percentage of HLA-DR+ cells on CD4+ cells in SF may be responsible for cellular interactions between these cells and synovial cells or extracellular matrix.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34411477,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Avulsion injuries: an update on radiologic findings.\nAvulsion injuries result from the application of a tensile force to a musculoskeletal unit or ligament. Although injuries tend to occur more commonly in skeletally immature populations due to the weakness of their apophysis, adults may also be subject to avulsion fractures, particularly those with osteoporotic bones. The most common sites of avulsion injuries in adolescents and children are apophyses of the pelvis and knee. In adults, avulsion injuries commonly occur within the tendon due to underlying degeneration or tendinosis. However, any location can be involved in avulsion injuries. Radiography is the first imaging modality to diagnose avulsion injury, although advanced imaging modalities are occasionally required to identify subtle lesions or to fully delineate the extent of the injury. Ultrasonography has a high spatial resolution with a dynamic assessment potential and allows the comparison of a bone avulsion with the opposite side. Computed tomography is more sensitive for depicting a tiny osseous fragment located adjacent to the expected attachment site of a ligament, tendon, or capsule. Moreover, magnetic resonance imaging is the best imaging modality for the evaluation of soft tissue abnormalities, especially the affected muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Acute avulsion injuries usually manifest as avulsed bone fragments. In contrast, chronic injuries can easily mimic other disease processes, such as infections or neoplasms. Therefore, recognizing the vulnerable sites and characteristic imaging features of avulsion fractures would be helpful in ensuring accurate diagnosis and appropriate patient management. To this end, familiarity with musculoskeletal anatomy and mechanism of injury is necessary.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29550257,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Canonical and non-canonical adenosinergic pathways.\nAdenosine (ADO) is an immunosuppressive molecule with multiple functions in different human organs. ADO is released through the concerted action of surface molecules endowed with enzymatic functions, that belong to two different adenosinergic pathways. The canonical pathway is started by CD39, that converts ATP to AMP. On the other hand, the non-canonical pathway metabolizes NAD+ to ADPR, through the action of CD38. The latter byproduct is then converted to AMP by CD203a\/PC-1. Both pathways converge to CD73, that fully degrades AMP to the final product ADO. In this Review we take into account the most relevant finding regarding the expression of ectoenzymes belonging to both adenosinergic pathways in different cell types, including regulatory cell subsets and neoplastic cells. Moreover, we summarize the role of these molecules in different physiological and pathological settings. Finally, we discuss potential therapeutic application of specific inhibitors of ectoenzymes and\/or ADO receptors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23434571,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The type I IFN signature as a biomarker of preclinical rheumatoid arthritis.\nTo validate the presence and demonstrate the clinical value of the type I interferon (IFN)-signature during arthritis development. In 115 seropositive arthralgia patients who were followed for the development of arthritis (Amsterdam Reade cohort), and 25 presymptomatic individuals who developed rheumatoid arthritis (RA) later, and 45 population-based controls (Northern Sweden cohort), the expression levels of 7 type I IFN response genes were determined with multiplex qPCR and an IFN-score was calculated. The diagnostic performance of the IFN-score was evaluated using Cox regression and Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC)-curve analysis. In 44 of the 115 at-risk individuals (38%) from the Amsterdam Reade cohort, arthritis developed after a median period of 8 months (IQR 5-13). Stratification of these individuals based on the IFN-score revealed that 15 out of 25 IFN(high) individuals converted to arthritis, compared with 29 out of 90 IFN(low) individuals (p=0.011). In the Northern Sweden cohort, the level of the IFN-score was also significantly increased in presymptomatic individuals who developed RA compared with population-based controls (p=0.002). Cox regression analysis of the Amsterdam Reade cohort showed that the hazard ratio (HR) for development of arthritis was 2.38 (p=0.008) for IFN(high) at-risk individuals after correction for anticitrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA) and rheumatoid factor (RF). The ROC-curve area under the curve (AUC) for the IFN-score combined with ACPA and RF in the prediction of arthritis was 78.5% (p=0.0001, 95% CI 0.70 to 0.87). The results demonstrated clinical utility for the IFN-signature as a biomarker in the prediction of arthritis development.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37853983,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Consecutive Case Series of Uniportal Full-endoscopic Unilateral Laminotomy for Bilateral Decompression in Lumbar Spinal Stenosis: Relationship between Decompression Range and Functional Outcomes.\nUniportal full-endoscopic unilateral laminotomy for bilateral decompression (UFE-ULBD) has been used to treat lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) with satisfactory outcomes. However, a limited number of studies have investigated the relationship between decompression range and clinical outcomes. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of UFE-ULBD for single-segment LSS and to explore the relationship between the decompression range and functional outcomes. Single-segment LSS patients who had undergone UFE-ULBD using an interlaminar approach between November 2021 and February 2023 were retrospectively analyzed. Patient demographics, visual analogue scale (VAS) scores for leg and back pain, Oswestry disability index (ODI) scores, modified MacNab grades, and radiological outcomes, including the decompression ratio of the disc-flava ligament space and osseous lateral recess, the enlargement ratio of superior articular process interval, lamina interval dural sac cross-sectional area (DSCA), were collected. The independent sample t-tests, paired sample t-tests, chi-square tests, Fisher's exact tests, and Pearson's and Spearman's correlation analyses were used. Forty patients (23 males, and 17 females) were retrospectively enrolled in this study. The mean follow-up period was 12 months. At the last follow-up, VAS scores for leg pain and back pain decreased from 6.0 \u00b1 0.8 to 1.0 \u00b1 1.9 (p < 0.001), and from 6.0 \u00b1 0.8 to 1.2 \u00b1 1.8 (p < 0.001) respectively; ODI score decreased from 71.7 \u00b1 6.2 to 24.3 \u00b1 21.3 (p < 0.001). According to the modified MacNab criteria, the results were excellent in 28 (70%), good in 5 (12.5%), fair in 6 (15%), and poor in 1 (2.5%), with an excellent-good rate of 82.5%. The postoperative DSCA enlarged from 57.69 \u00b1 21.86 to 150.75 \u00b1 39.33 mm2 (p < 0.001), with an enlargement ratio of 189.43 \u00b1 107.83%. No difference in clinical or radiological parameters was detected between patients with excellent, good, fair, or poor outcomes based on the modified MacNab criteria. UFE-ULBD can provide satisfactory clinical and radiological outcomes in single-segment LSS patients. With sufficient exposure to the dural sac boundary, the functional outcome was not related to the radiological decompression range in LSS patients who had undergone UFE-ULBD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28718560,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Frequency of epstein-barr virus in classical hodgkin Lymphoma.\nEpstein-Barr virus plays an important role in pathogenesis of Hodgkin lymphoma. The first patient with Epstein-Barr positive Reed Sternberg cells was described in 1985. Since then association between Epstein-Barr virus and Hodgkin lymphoma has been shown in many parts of the world and its occurrence shows significant variation from continent to continent and from country to country. The study was carried out at department of histopathology, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology from 27th April 2013 to 10th March 2014. A total of 55 cases of classical Hodgkin lymphoma were included in the study. Out of 55 patients, 38 (69%) were male and 17 (31%) were female. The age of the patients ranged between 4-67 years with an average age of 29.4\u00b121.72 years. Out of these, 44 cases (80%) were positive for latent membrane protein-1. Among positive cases 32 (72.72%) were male and 12 (27.28%) were female. Based upon histological subtypes MCHL was the commonest as a whole accounting for 87.3% as well as among both genders. Out of total 55 cases, 79.16% (38\/48) of mixed cellularity Hodgkin lymphoma cases showed positivity for latent membrane protein-1 while 83.33% (5\/6) cases of nodular sclerosis Hodgkin lymphoma and 100% (1\/1) cases of lymphocyte depleted Hodgkin lymphoma showed positivity. No case of lymphocyte predominant classical Hodgkin lymphoma was diagnosed during the study. 80% of our classical Hodgkin lymphoma cases showed association with EBV expression. A total of 79.16% cases of mixed cellularity Hodgkin lymphoma showed LMP1 expression while 100% of lymphocyte depleted Hodgkin lymphoma showed LMP1 expression. The highest expression seen in lymphocyte depleted Hodgkin lymphoma subtype in contrast to mixed cellularity requires to be confirmed by a larger scale study comprising of substantial number of patients of lymphocyte depleted Hodgkin lymphoma and lymphocyte rich classical Hodgkin lymphoma.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14531587,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Low- and high-level controlled processing in executive motor control tasks in 5-6-year-old children at risk of ADHD.\nThe scant research on the characteristics of Attention-Deficit\/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in kindergarten years curtails progress on early assessment of ADHD. By screening a general population sample of 1317 five- to six-year-old children, four groups of children were selected. The performance of 30 children later diagnosed with ADHD was compared with 74 children later diagnosed with 'borderline ADHD' (children exhibiting all ADHD symptoms but without disruptions on two situations), 113 children later diagnosed with other psychopathology, and 126 healthy controls on computerised motor control tasks involving low- and high-level controlled processing. In addition, motor control was compared with movement speed. The children at risk of ADHD were in general less accurate and more variable in their movements than the children with other psychopathology and healthy controls. Under conditions of high-level controlled processing, the children at risk of ADHD were disproportionately more inaccurate and had a more unstable performance with their preferred hand than the other children. In addition, linear effects were found, with the children at risk of ADHD having the worst performance, followed by the children with 'borderline ADHD', and then both groups of control children. No significant group differences were found in movement speed. The main findings are interpreted as evidence for a specific deficit in high-level controlled processing in young children at risk of ADHD, now found in a motor task, rather than a response task. Furthermore, the results support the notion that ADHD represents a dimensional trait. In addition, problems in movement control (the need to allocate attentional capacity) rather than problems in movement speed distinguish children at risk of ADHD from other children. The findings are interpreted as evidence that higher-order executive processes, such as self-control and self-regulation, are already affected early in the development of ADHD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34421164,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Measuring 5-year-old Mexican-heritage Children's Ethnic-Racial Identity Attitudes, Centrality, and Knowledge.\nYoung children are aware of ethnicity-race, yet the field lacks measures to assess ethnic-racial identity (ERI) in early childhood. Thus, the goals of the current study were: (a) to describe three adapted measures that can be used to assess aspects of Mexican-heritage children's ERI (i.e., attitudes, centrality, and knowledge), and (b) to test the psychometric properties of each measure among 182 five-year-old Mexican-heritage children. Results from confirmatory factor analyses supported a 2-factor solution characterizing positive and negative ERI attitudes; the subscales demonstrated adequate reliability and findings provided preliminary support for construct validity. Findings for ERI centrality revealed significant variability among children and initial support for convergent and divergent validity. Support for ERI knowledge was more limited and suggests further development of this measure is needed. Overall, the current study calls attention to the importance of assessing ERI in early childhood, and provides developmentally appropriate assessments to stimulate growth in this area.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25401155,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Variability in estimated glomerular filtration rate by area under the curve predicts renal outcomes in chronic kidney disease.\nGreater variability in renal function is associated with mortality in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, few studies have demonstrated the predictive value of renal function variability in relation to renal outcomes. This study investigates the predictive ability of different methods of determining estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) variability for progression to renal replacement therapy (RRT) in CKD patients. This was a prospective observational study, which enrolled 1,862 CKD patients. The renal end point was defined as commencement of RRT. The variability in eGFR was measured by the area under the eGFR curve (AUC)%. A significant improvement in model prediction was based on the -2 log likelihood ratio statistic. During a median 28.7-month follow-up, there were 564 (30.3%) patients receiving RRT. In an adjusted Cox model, a smaller initial eGFR AUC%_12M (P < 0.001), a smaller peak eGFR AUC%_12M (P < 0.001), and a larger negative eGFR slope_12M (P < 0.001) were associated with a higher risk of renal end point. Two calculated formulas: initial eGFR AUC%_12M and eGFR slope_12M were the best predictors. Our results demonstrate that the greater eGFR variability by AUC% is associated with the higher risk of progression to RRT.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28266167,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pathophysiology of heart failure and frailty: a common inflammatory origin?\nFrailty, a clinical syndrome that typically occurs in older adults, implies a reduced ability to tolerate biological stressors. Frailty accompanies many age-related diseases but can also occur without overt evidence of end-organ disease. The condition is associated with circulating inflammatory cytokines and sarcopenia, features that are shared with heart failure (HF). However, the biological underpinnings of frailty remain unclear and the interaction with HF is complex. Here, we describe the inflammatory pathophysiology that is associated with frailty and speculate that the inflammation that occurs with frailty shares common origins with HF. We discuss the limitations in investigating the pathophysiology of frailty due to few relevant experimental models. Leveraging current therapies for advanced HF and current known therapies to address frailty in humans may enable translational studies to better understand the inflammatory interactions between frailty and HF.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1693522,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"K+ (Rb+) transport by a mammary secretory cell apical membrane fraction isolated from goats' milk.\nThe transport of K+ (Rb+) by cell fragments isolated from goats' milk, which are believed to be pieces of mammary epithelial cell cytoplasm encapsulated by apical membrane, has been studied. K+ (Rb+) accumulation was time dependent and was virtually abolished by 0.1% Triton X-100 which indicates that K+ (Rb+) uptake is into a membrane-limited space rather than by binding. Replacing medium Cl- with SCN- increased whereas gluconate replacement of Cl- decreased K+ (Rb+) influx suggesting that uptake is sensitive to changes in membrane potential. Na+, K+, Li+ and Rb+ ions added to the incubation medium reduced the rate of K+ (Rb+) accumulation. K+ (Rb+) uptake was markedly reduced by both barium ions and quinine; the inhibitory effects were not additive suggesting they are acting at a single locus. Increasing the pH of the medium stimulated the Ba2(+)-sensitive component of K+ (Rb+) influx. The results show that the transport properties of the goats' milk membrane fraction used here are similar to the apical aspect of the intact mammary epithelium. Therefore this membrane preparation may be a good source and model to study mammary secretory cell apical membrane ion transport.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37457982,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Metabolic response of intestinal microbiota to guar gum consumption.\nGuar gum is used extensively as a thickening agent in food, but it remains uncertain whether and to what extent it is fermented by colonic microbiota and whether it has microbiota modulatory properties. To determine the metabolic response of intestinal microbiota to guar gum consumption, specifically, the extent of initial fermentation and subsequent adaptation. Single-center, single arm, open label, proof-of-concept study testing the effect of guar gum on microbiota metabolism and adaptation. Healthy male subjects (n = 12) were administered gum guar (8 g\/day) for 18 days. Outcomes were measured before, at initial and late administration: (a) anal gas evacuations (number\/day); (b) digestive sensations (daily scales); and (c) fecal gut microbiota taxonomy and metabolic functions by shotgun sequencing. At initial consumption, guar gum induced a transient increase in anal gas evacuations and digestive sensations; gas evacuation completely reverted upon continuous administration, whereas sensations reverted only in part. Guar gum induced moderate changes in human microbiota composition at both taxonomic and functional levels. Positive associations between effects on microbiota (proliferation of Agathobaculum butyriciproducens and Lachnospira pectinoschiza) and hedonic sensations were detected. Guar gum is metabolized by intestinal microbiota, and, upon continuous consumption, induces a selective adaptation of microbial taxonomy and function. These data highlight the potential interest of guar gum for novel prebiotic ingredient formulation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30311857,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of the Bone Morphogenetic Protein-2 Doses on the Osteogenic Potential of Human Multipotent Stromal Cells- Containing Tissue Engineered Constructs.\nA strategy for improving the efficacy of stem cell-based bone tissue engineering (TE) constructs is to combine bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) with multipotent stromal cells (MSC). Previous studies on the potential cooperative effect of BMP-2 with human multipotent stromal cells (hMSCs) on bone formation in vivo have, however, shown contradictory results likely due to the various and\/or inappropriate BMP-2 doses. Our results provided evidence that the addition of BMP-2 at low dose only was beneficial to improve the osteogenic potential of hMSCs-containing TE constructs, whereas BMP-2 delivered at high dose overcame the advantage of combining this growth factor with hMSCs. This new knowledge will help in designing improved combination strategies for tissue regeneration with better clinical outcomes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14534377,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evaluation of the POSSUM scoring system for comparative audit in pancreatic surgery.\nWide variations exist in the reported morbidity and mortality rates for major pancreatic resections. The Physiological and Operative Scoring System for enUmeration of Morbidity and mortality (POSSUM) was developed for comparative audit in general surgical patients. It has also been found to be reliable for audit in colorectal, thoracic and vascular surgery with minor modifications. To evaluate POSSUM and its modification for mortality, P-POSSUM, in pancreatic surgery. Retrospective analysis of 50 patients undergoing partial pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) (46 tumours, 4 chronic pancreatitis) using the POSSUM and P-POSSUM as predictors of morbidity and mortality. These were then compared with the observed values. The POSSUM-predicted mortality was 26%. The P-POSSUM predicted a mortality risk of 6%. The observed mortality was 4%. Using POSSUM for morbidity, the predicted value was 76%. The observed morbidity was 46%. The risk scores for patients with and without morbidity were similar (66.4 +\/- 11.0 vs. 68.8 +\/- 12.9, p = 0.49). While P-POSSUM appeared satisfactory for predicting mortality risk, POSSUM overestimated morbidity and mortality for PD in a specialist centre. Modifications are needed prior to its application for comparative audit in pancreatic surgery.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25519307,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Glial cells in familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy.\nTransthyretin V30M mutation is the most common variant leading to Familial Amyloidotic Polyneuropathy. In this genetic disorder, Transthyretin accumulates preferentially in the extracellular matrix of peripheral and autonomic nervous systems leading to cell death and dysfunction. Thus, knowledge regarding important biological systems for Transthyretin clearance might unravel novel insights into Familial Amyloidotic Polyneuropathy pathophysiology. Herein, our aim was to evaluate the ability of glial cells from peripheral and autonomic nervous systems in Transthyretin uptake and degradation. We assessed the role of glial cells in Familial Amyloidotic Polyneuropathy pathogenesis with real-time polymerase chain reaction, immunohistochemistry, interference RNA and confocal microscopy. Histological examination revealed that Schwann cells and satellite cells, from an Familial Amyloidotic Polyneuropathy mouse model, internalize and degrade non-fibrillar Transthyretin. Immunohistochemical studies of human nerve biopsies from V30M patients and disease controls showed intracellular Transthyretin immunoreactivity in Schwann cells, corroborating animal data. Additionally, we found Transthyretin expression in colon of this Familial Amyloidotic Polyneuropathy mouse model, probably being synthesized by satellite cells of the myenteric plexus. Glial cells from the peripheral and autonomic nervous systems are able to internalize Transthyretin. Overall, these findings bring to light the closest relationship between Transthyretin burden and clearance from the nervous system extracellular milieu.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24389050,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Genomic analysis of primordial dwarfism reveals novel disease genes.\nPrimordial dwarfism (PD) is a disease in which severely impaired fetal growth persists throughout postnatal development and results in stunted adult size. The condition is highly heterogeneous clinically, but the use of certain phenotypic aspects such as head circumference and facial appearance has proven helpful in defining clinical subgroups. In this study, we present the results of clinical and genomic characterization of 16 new patients in whom a broad definition of PD was used (e.g., 3M syndrome was included). We report a novel PD syndrome with distinct facies in two unrelated patients, each with a different homozygous truncating mutation in CRIPT. Our analysis also reveals, in addition to mutations in known PD disease genes, the first instance of biallelic truncating BRCA2 mutation causing PD with normal bone marrow analysis. In addition, we have identified a novel locus for Seckel syndrome based on a consanguineous multiplex family and identified a homozygous truncating mutation in DNA2 as the likely cause. An additional novel PD disease candidate gene XRCC4 was identified by autozygome\/exome analysis, and the knockout mouse phenotype is highly compatible with PD. Thus, we add a number of novel genes to the growing list of PD-linked genes, including one which we show to be linked to a novel PD syndrome with a distinct facial appearance. PD is extremely heterogeneous genetically and clinically, and genomic tools are often required to reach a molecular diagnosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29361684,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Micronutrient Gaps in Three Commercial Weight-Loss Diet Plans.\nWeight-loss diets restrict intakes of energy and macronutrients but overlook micronutrient profiles. Commercial diet plans may provide insufficient micronutrients. We analyzed nutrient profiles of three plans and compared their micronutrient sufficiency to Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) for male U.S. adults. Hypocaloric vegan (Eat to Live-Vegan, Aggressive Weight Loss; ETL-VAWL), high-animal-protein low-carbohydrate (Fast Metabolism Diet; FMD) and weight maintenance (Eat, Drink and Be Healthy; EDH) diets were evaluated. Seven single-day menus were sampled per diet (n = 21 menus, 7 menus\/diet) and analyzed for 20 micronutrients with the online nutrient tracker CRON-O-Meter. Without adjustment for energy intake, the ETL-VAWL diet failed to provide 90% of recommended amounts for B12, B\u2083, D, E, calcium, selenium and zinc. The FMD diet was low (<90% DRI) in B\u2081, D, E, calcium, magnesium and potassium. The EDH diet met >90% DRIs for all but vitamin D, calcium and potassium. Several micronutrients remained inadequate after adjustment to 2000 kcal\/day: vitamin B12 in ETL-VAWL, calcium in FMD and EDH and vitamin D in all diets. Consistent with previous work, micronutrient deficits are prevalent in weight-loss diet plans. Special attention to micronutrient rich foods is required to reduce risk of micronutrient deficiency in design of commercial diets.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21750256,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"RIC8 is a guanine-nucleotide exchange factor for Galpha subunits that regulates growth and development in Neurospora crassa.\nHeterotrimeric (\u03b1\u03b2\u03b3) G proteins are crucial components of eukaryotic signal transduction pathways. G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) act as guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) for G\u03b1 subunits. Recently, facilitated GDP\/GTP exchange by non-GPCR GEFs, such as RIC8, has emerged as an important mechanism for G\u03b1 regulation in animals. RIC8 is present in animals and filamentous fungi, such as the model eukaryote Neurospora crassa, but is absent from the genomes of baker's yeast and plants. In Neurospora, deletion of ric8 leads to profound defects in growth and asexual and sexual development, similar to those observed for a mutant lacking the G\u03b1 genes gna-1 and gna-3. In addition, constitutively activated alleles of gna-1 and gna-3 rescue many defects of \u0394ric8 mutants. Similar to reports in Drosophila, Neurospora \u0394ric8 strains have greatly reduced levels of G-protein subunits. Effects on cAMP signaling are suggested by low levels of adenylyl cyclase protein in \u0394ric8 mutants and suppression of \u0394ric8 by a mutation in the protein kinase A regulatory subunit. RIC8 acts as a GEF for GNA-1 and GNA-3 in vitro, with the strongest effect on GNA-3. Our results support a role for RIC8 in regulating GNA-1 and GNA-3 in Neurospora.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17911872,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Computerized management of chronic anticoagulation: three years of experience.\nChronically anticoagulated patients taking the drug Warfarin require time intensive management and followup processes to avoid complications. The \"Chronic Anticoagulation Clinic\" (CAC) protocol is a set of production rules that help manage, treat, and follow-up such patients. The CAC protocol has been in regular use at Intermountain Healthcare (Salt Lake City, UT, USA) for over three years. The results demonstrate an improvement on the number of patients with anticoagulation levels within the desired target range. The protocol alerts have a high acceptance rate (83.4%) and were able to help patients remember to collect their next coagulation test. The CAC protocol results show that production rules can improve the management of chronically anticoagulated patients. Additional studies are required to verify if this experience can be transferred to other institutions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27275662,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"[Is amalgam stained dentin a proper substrate for bonding resin composite?].\nAfter the removal of amalgam restorations, black staining of dentin is often observed, which is attributed to the penetration of corrosion products from amalgam. A study was carried out to determine whether this amalgam stained dentin is a proper substrate for bonding resin composites. A literature study and an in vitro study showed that Sn and Zn in particular are found in amalgam stained dentin, and this was the case only in demineralised dentin. In vitro, demineralised dentin acted as porte d'entr\u00c8e for amalgam corrosion products. Bond strength tests with 5 adhesive strategies showed no differences between bond strengths to amalgam stained and to sound dentin, but did show different failure types. A clinical study showed good survival of extensive cusp replacing resin composite restorations. No failures were attributed to inadequate adhesion. It is concluded that staining of dentin by amalgam corrosion products has no negative effect upon bond strength of resin composite. It is suggested that Sn and Zn may have a beneficial effect upon dentin, thus compensating the effects of previous carious attacks, preparation trauma and physico-chemical challenges during clinical lifetime.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12005717,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Segmented band mechanism for itinerant ferromagnetism.\nWe introduce a novel mechanism for itinerant ferromagnetism, which is based on a simple two-band model, and, by using numerical and analytical methods, we show that the periodic Anderson model contains this mechanism. We propose that the mechanism, which does not assume an intra-atomic Hund's coupling, is present in both the iron group and some f electron compounds.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20375166,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 suppresses hepatitis C virus replication in an mTOR-dependent manner.\nWe and others have observed that hepatic levels of suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (SOCS3) are significantly higher in persons with chronic hepatitis C, particularly those who are nonresponders to interferon (IFN) treatment, than in healthy individuals. However, the relationship between SOCS3 and hepatitis C virus (HCV) replication remains unclear. Given its putative role, we hypothesized that SOCS3 is permissive for viral replication. We therefore used the OR6 cell line, which harbors a genotype 1b full-length HCV replicon, and the genotype 2a full-length HCV strain JFH1 infection system to analyze the effects of SOCS3 overexpression and short hairpin RNA (shRNA)-mediated knockdown on HCV replication. We further analyzed the role of mTOR in the effects of SOCS3 by treating selected cells with rapamycin. OR6 cells and JFH1-infected Huh7.5.1 cells expressed significantly less SOCS3 than control cells. Furthermore, inhibition of HCV replication with the HCV protease inhibitor BILN 2061 restored SOCS3 protein levels. SOCS3 overexpression in OR6 cells and JFH1-infected Huh7.5.1 cells resulted in significantly lower HCV replication than that in the control cells, despite SOCS3-related inhibition of STAT1 phosphorylation and type I IFN signaling. In contrast, JFH1-infected cells with stable SOCS3 knockdown expressed higher levels of HCV proteins and RNA than did control cells. SOCS3-targeting shRNA also knocked down mTOR and phospho-mTOR. The mTOR inhibitor rapamycin reversed the inhibitory effects of SOCS3. In independent investigations, SOCS3 unexpectedly suppressed HCV replication in an mTOR-dependent manner. These findings suggest that increased SOCS3 levels consistently observed in chronic IFN nonresponders may reflect a compensatory host antiviral response to persistent infection and that manipulation of SOCS3\/mTOR may offer benefit against HCV infection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35352700,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A comparative study on nosocomial and community-acquired spontaneous bacterial peritonitis in patients with liver cirrhosis at a university hospital.\nThe serious nature of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) in patients with cirrhosis and the need for timely effective empirical antibiotic therapy in the context of the global surge of antimicrobial resistance and changing epidemiology necessitate a periodic review of the local epidemiologic features of the disease. The aim of the study is to investigate the differences in bacterial profile and antibiotic resistance between nosocomial and community-acquired SBP in patients with liver cirrhosis to guide empirical antibiotic choices for better outcomes. This cross-sectional study included 95 ascitic cirrhotic patients diagnosed with SBP. According to the setting in which the infection was acquired, the patients were divided into two groups: nosocomial and community-acquired SBP. The bacterial profile and rates of multidrug resistance (MDR) phenotype and the extended-spectrum \u03b2-lactamase (ESBL) production among Gram-negative isolates in both groups were compared. Escherichia coli was the most frequently isolated bacteria (60% of all isolates) followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae (11.4%). Gram-positive bacteria were only isolated from nosocomial SBP cases; the most common was Staphylococcus aureus (11.4%) followed by coagulase-negative staphylococci (5.7%). High rates of resistance to third-generation cephalosporins, the first-line empirical treatment of SBP, were detected (76.6-100% in nosocomial isolates and 25-87% in community isolates). Carbapenems, amikacin and gentamycin showed good activity against Gram-negative bacilli in both nosocomial and community-acquired isolates. MDR bacteria, including ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae, were significantly associated with nosocomial SBP. The significant increase in MDR phenotype and ESBL production among nosocomial isolates necessitates a change in the initial empirical therapy for nosocomial SBP and carbapenems seem good alternatives.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34421787,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Tenecteplase Thrombolysis in Posterior Circulation Stroke.\nOne in five ischaemic strokes affects the posterior circulation. Basilar artery occlusion is a type of posterior circulation stroke associated with a high risk of disability and mortality. Despite its proven efficacy in ischaemic stroke more generally, alteplase only achieves rapid reperfusion in ~4% of basilar artery occlusion patients. Tenecteplase is a genetically modified variant of alteplase with greater fibrin specificity and longer half-life than alteplase, which can be administered by intravenous bolus. The single-bolus administration of tenecteplase vs. an hour-long alteplase infusion is a major practical advantage, particularly in \"drip and ship\" patients with basilar artery occlusion who are being transported between hospitals. Other practical advantages include its reduced cost compared to alteplase. The EXTEND-IA TNK trial demonstrated that tenecteplase led to higher reperfusion rates prior to endovascular therapy (22 vs. 10%, non-inferiority p = 0.002, superiority p = 0.03) and improved functional outcomes (ordinal analysis of the modified Rankin Scale, common odds ratio 1.7, 95% CI 1.0-2.8, p = 0.04) compared with alteplase in large-vessel occlusion ischaemic strokes. We recently demonstrated in observational data that tenecteplase was associated with increased reperfusion rates compared to alteplase prior to endovascular therapy in basilar artery occlusion [26% (n = 5\/19) of patients thrombolysed with TNK vs. 7% (n = 6\/91) thrombolysed with alteplase (RR 4.0 95% CI 1.3-12; p = 0.02)]. Although randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm these results, tenecteplase can be considered as an alternative to alteplase in patients with basilar artery occlusion, particularly in \"drip and ship\" patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23866596,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Significance of the factors of hypoxia and endothelial dysfunction in kidney injury in the presence of obesity].\nTo define the clinical significance of asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) and that of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene polymorphism as factors of endothelial dysfunction (ED) in the development of early kidney injury in obese patients. The investigation included 86 patients (64 men and 22 women aged 44 +\/- 11 years) with abdominal obesity. Along with physical examination, the authors determined albuminuria, calculated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) using the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) formula, estimated insulin resistance markers (fasting plasma insulin and C-peptide concentrations and homeostatic model assessment (HOMA) index), as well as serum ADMA levels by enzyme immunoassay in all the patients. C677T polymorphism in the MTHFR gene was studied by allele-specific polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. Kidney injury (chronic kidney disease (CKD)) was diagnosed using the Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative (KDOQI) criteria. Early vascular remodeling was determined from the increased intima-media thickness (IMT) of the common carotid artery (CCA). CKD was diagnosed in 27(31%) patients. The latter, unlike the patients with CKD, were observed to have more pronounced obesity (body mass index (BMI) 36.8 +\/- 8.0 and 32.0 +\/- 4.7 kg\/m2, respectively (p < 0.001)), waist circumference (119 +\/- 18 and 109 +\/- 11 cm (p = 0.002)), higher levels of C-peptide (1348 +\/- 363 and 1028 +\/- 363 pmol\/I; p < 0.001), insulin (16.9 +\/- 7.3 and 11.7 +\/- 5.5 microU\/ ml; p < 0.001), and HOMA index (4.3 +\/- 1.7 and 2.9 +\/- 1.5; p < 0.001). In the patients with Stage IIIa CKD, ADMA concentrations (0.77 +\/- 0.19 micromol\/l) was higher than in those with Stages I (0.58 +\/- 0.11 micromol\/l; p = 0.048) and II (0.61 +\/- 0.13 micromol\/l; p = 0.071). An association between ADMA concentrations, CCA IMT, and estimated GFR was revealed in the patients with CKD. The predictors of an estimated GFR reduction in obesity were elevated serum concentrations of ADMA, uric acid, insulin, and HOMA index. The combination of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome and metabolic syndrome increased the risk of CKD by 2.1-fold (95% confidence interval, 1.06-3.14). Evaluation of the impact of MTHFR gene polymorphism on kidney injury in obesity disclosed that the patients with homozygous carriage of the abnormal T allele of the MTHFR gene had a higher risk for Stages I-IIIa CKD (2.60 with 95% confidence interval, 1.32-3.88), more marked obesity and hyperinsulinemia, and increased serum ADMA concentrations. Insulin resistance and ED hold a central position in the pathogenesis of CKD in obese patients. The mechanisms of the atherosclerotic vascular remodeling associated with elevated serum ADMA concentrations are of paramount importance in the progression of early-stage CKD. The homozygous carriage of the abnormal T allele of the MTHFR gene increases the risk of Stages I-IIIa by more than twice.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29386837,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Paraneoplastic Pyoderma Gangrenosum Associated with Rectal Adenocarcinoma.\nPyoderma gangrenosum (PG) is a rare chronic neutrophilic dermatosis characterized by painful necrotic ulceration. The most common diseases associated with PG are inflammatory bowel disease, certain rheumatologic and hematologic diseases, and malignancy. Here, we describe the case of a 60-year-old man who presented with pruritic and painful erythematous ulcerative macules and patches on both lower extremities, and was diagnosed with PG based on his clinical and histologic features. His PG became exacerbated despite standard therapy with a high-dose systemic steroid in combination with dapsone and cyclosporine. Systemic evaluation of underlying conditions revealed rectal adenocarcinoma at the rectosigmoid junction (T3N0M0), which was completely removed via Hartmann's procedure followed by adjuvant chemotherapy. Two months after anticancer therapy, his PG was completely healed with hypertrophic scarring. Herein, we present the first case of paraneoplastic PG caused by rectal adenocarcinoma in Korea.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19030076,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":">1 MW peak power single-mode high-brightness passively Q-switched Nd 3+:YAG microchip laser.\nA high-brightness diode end-pumped Nd:YAG microchip laser, passively Q-switched by a Cr(4+):YAG saturable absorber (SA), has been developed. The dependences of pulse energy and width were investigated based on theoretical verification to enhance the peak power. As a result, the peak power exceeded 1.2 MW with M(2) = 1.04 and spectrum width Delta lambda < 5.1 pm at a repetition rate of 100 Hz. Brightness of 98 TW\/sr x cm(2) was obtained with a supplied average electrical power of 2.3 W. The peak power increased up to 2.1 MW with M(2) = 1.36. Peak power of 1.7 MW was obtained from a 2-cm-diameter x 5-cm-long monolithic laser head.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25520675,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Attention to local and global levels of hierarchical Navon figures affects rapid scene categorization.\nIn four experiments, we investigated how attention to local and global levels of hierarchical Navon figures affected the selection of diagnostic spatial scale information used in scene categorization. We explored this issue by asking observers to classify hybrid images (i.e., images that contain low spatial frequency (LSF) content of one image, and high spatial frequency (HSF) content from a second image) immediately following global and local Navon tasks. Hybrid images can be classified according to either their LSF, or HSF content; thus, making them ideal for investigating diagnostic spatial scale preference. Although observers were sensitive to both spatial scales (Experiment 1), they overwhelmingly preferred to classify hybrids based on LSF content (Experiment 2). In Experiment 3, we demonstrated that LSF based hybrid categorization was faster following global Navon tasks, suggesting that LSF processing associated with global Navon tasks primed the selection of LSFs in hybrid images. In Experiment 4, replicating Experiment 3 but suppressing the LSF information in Navon letters by contrast balancing the stimuli examined this hypothesis. Similar to Experiment 3, observers preferred to classify hybrids based on LSF content; however and in contrast, LSF based hybrid categorization was slower following global than local Navon tasks.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17196078,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Factors affecting magnetic retention of particles in the upper airways: an in vitro and ex vivo study.\nThis paper presents the results of experiments using an in vitro model and an ex vivo animal model (Rana catesbeiana) to study magnetic particle retention in the conducting airways, specifically the trachea and bronchi. The purpose of these experiments was to determine the significant factors for retention of magnetic particles deposited from an aerosol at the airway surface using a magnetic field. The results indicate that the apparent viscosity of the mucus layer at low shear rates is the most significant obstacle to particle retention. The results also show that particle size and aggregation play major roles in particle retention. The mucus transport rate, unlike the effect of fluid velocity in intravenous applications, did not appear to be a determining factor for particle retention. It was also found that a suitably designed magnetic system, aside from having a high intensity, needs to exert a strong radial field to promote particle aggregation. The findings suggest that one possible approach to magnetic particle retention could be delivery of a mucolytic agent along with the drug particles. This study provides the fundamentals needed for development of a targeted magnetic drug delivery system for inhaled therapeutic aerosol particles.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3028976,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Detection of herpes simplex virus antigen with an enzyme immunoassay and direct immunofluorescence].\nA total of 464 clinical specimens from patients with extragenital and genital lesions and from the cervix of asymptomatic women were examined for the presence of Herpes-simplex-virus antigen by using a commercially available enzyme immunoassay Kit (ELISA, Dakopatts) and a direct immunofluorescence technique with monoclonal antibodies (Syva-Merck). The detection rate was compared to the isolation rate of the tissue-culture technique. In extragenital lesions the sensitivity of the ELISA technique and immunofluorescence was determined to be 78.9% and 80% and in genital lesions 46.2%. In cervical clinical specimens, the sensitivity of both techniques was determined to be 5.7% and 15.4%. An HSV infection, negative in tissue culture, was diagnosed in 22 and 27 cases, respectively, using ELISA and immunofluorescence. This diagnosis was confirmed in 21 and 22 cases by the other immunological technique. For this reason, it can be assumed that in some cases direct immunological techniques can be more sensitive than the tissue culture technique. With regard to asymptomatic and manifest infections, reliable results are only obtainable in cases of manifest disease with blisters or scabs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16152977,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of coexposure to DDT and manganese on freshwater invertebrates: pore water from contaminated rivers and laboratory studies.\nAn environmental survey of several rivers of the southern Huasteca area of Mexico revealed high concentrations of manganese (Mn) and the presence of DDT in the sediments and pore water. Therefore, acute (48-h) toxicities of Mn and DDT were assessed both independently and as a combination on 24-h-old neonates of Daphnia magna Strauss and Lecane quadridentata Ehrenberg. Daphnia magna showed high sensitivity to both toxicants, whereas L. quadridentata was highly resistant to DDT and less susceptible to Mn. For D. magna, the Mn and DDT coexposure was significantly more toxic than any of the singly tested compounds. When D. magna was exposed to sediment pore water, no association was found between the Mn content in the samples and the observed toxicity. Preliminary particle analysis of pore water showed different compounds of Mn, which apparently were not in bioavailable form.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36258719,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Role of Post-translational Modification of Silent Mating Type Information Regulator 2 Homolog 1 in Cancer and Other Disorders.\nSilent mating type information regulator 2 homolog 1 (SIRT1), an NAD+-dependent histone\/protein deacetylase, has multifarious physiological roles in development, metabolic regulation, and stress response. Thus, its abnormal expression or malfunction is implicated in pathogenesis of various diseases. SIRT1 undergoes post-translational modifications, including phosphorylation, oxidation\/reduction, carbonylation, nitrosylation, glycosylation, ubiquitination\/deubiquitination, SUMOylation etc. which can modulate its catalytic activity, stability, subcellular localization, and also binding affinity for substrate proteins. This short review highlights the regulation of SIRT1 post-translational modifications and their pathophysiologic implications.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28276324,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"TFR2-related haemochromatosis in the Netherlands: a cause of arthralgia in young adulthood.\nType 3 hereditary haemochromatosis (HH) is a rare iron overload disorder caused by variants in the transferrin 2 receptor (TFR2) gene. We aim to present characteristics of patients diagnosed with TFR2-HH in the Netherlands, in order to increase knowledge and awareness of this disease. We collected clinical, biochemical and genetic data from four patients from three families diagnosed with HH type 3 in the Netherlands between 2009 and 2016. Three women and one man diagnosed with HH type 3 presented with arthralgia and elevated ferritin levels and transferrin saturation (TSAT) at ages 25-41 years. The hepcidin\/ferritin ratio as measured in three patients was low. Liver iron content in two patients as assessed by MRI or liver biopsy was highly increased (250 and 362.7 \u03bcmol iron\/g dry weight, respectively, reference < 35 \u03bcmol\/g). DNA analysis revealed four different TFR2 pathogenic variants: one nonsense, one splicing and two missense variants, of which three are novel. Phlebotomy decreased the serum iron parameters but did not relieve the arthralgia. In patients with a combination of elevated TSAT and ferritin in the absence of anaemia, and after exclusion of HFE-related HH, rare forms of HH should be considered. In these cases, presentation with arthralgia in young adulthood, low hepcidin\/ferritin ratio and\/or liver iron content > 100 \u03bcmol\/g form an indication for analysis of the TFR2 gene. Although type 3 HH is extremely rare, awareness of the disease among physicians is important in order to achieve an early diagnosis and prevent complications, such as liver damage.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17885714,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nurse practitioners and GPs--addressing the needs of older persons living in residential aged care.\nThe Australian population is becoming progressively older, placing significant pressure on both the supply of supported accommodation and health services. Collaboration between general practitioners and nurse practitioners over the care of people living in residential aged care facilities has the potential to promote continuity of care, decrease hospitalisations and readmissions, enhance patient satisfaction, reduce costs, enhance working relations between medicine and nursing, and improve residents' access to care. It will require improved communication and the overcoming of several attitudinal and organisational barriers.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3066562,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Calcium antagonists and hormone release. VI. Effects of a calcium antagonist (verapamil) on the biphasic insulin release in vivo.\nThe present study was designed to investigate the influence of a calcium antagonist (verapamil) on the two phases of insulin release. The present results confirmed our previous studies and in vitro data, showing that the first phase insulin release is not inhibited by a calcium antagonist and strongly indicated that glucose stimulated insulin secretion has two phases of release: (1) the first phase of release, which is independent from extracellular calcium; (2) the second phase of release, which was inhibited by calcium antagonists, is dependent from calcium uptake from an extracellular source.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14563784,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Muscarinic agonist-mediated heterologous desensitization in isolated ileum requires activation of both muscarinic M2 and M3 receptors.\nWe investigated the subtypes of the muscarinic receptor mediating short-term heterologous desensitization in the isolated ileum. Treatment of the ileum from C57BL\/6 mice with acetylcholine (30 microM) for 20 min caused a subsequent decrease in contractile sensitivity to both prostaglandin F2alpha (PGF2alpha) and the muscarinic agonist, oxotremorine-M. This subsensitivity was characterized by 7- and 3-fold increases in the EC50 values of the agonists, respectively, with no significant effect on the maximal response. The subsensitivity to PGF2alpha was prevented in both M2 and M3 muscarinic receptor knockout mice. Similarly, the subsensitivity to oxotremorine-M was prevented in M2 knockout mice. Acetylcholine-mediated desensitization of histamine-induced contractions in the guinea pig ileum was inhibited by both M2- and M3-selective muscarinic antagonists with high potency, although careful analysis of the data suggested behavior more consistent with an M2 antagonistic profile. Modeling studies showed that the competitive antagonism of response contingent upon activation of two receptor subtypes should exhibit a pharmacological profile similar to that of the least sensitive signaling pathway. Our results demonstrate that muscarinic agonist-mediated short-term heterologous desensitization of intestinal smooth muscle is contingent upon activation of both M2 and M3 muscarinic receptors and that activation of either receptor by itself is insufficient to cause desensitization.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7942117,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Imaging of chemiluminescent reactions in mesoscale silicon-glass microstructures.\nChemiluminescent reactions in mesoscale analytical structures (chips) containing micrometre-sized interconnecting channels and chambers (pL-nL total volume) were imaged. The chips were fabricated by bonding Pyrex glass to etched pieces of silicon using a high-temperature diffusive bonding technique. In initial experiments light emission from an enhanced chemiluminescent horseradish peroxidase reaction and from a peroxyoxalate reaction contained in straight channels (300 microns wide x 20 mu deep; volume 70.2 nL) and open chambers (812 microns wide, 400 microns deep, 5.2 mm long) linked by channels (100 microns wide, 20 microns deep) to an exit and entry port were studied using a specially modified microplate holder and an Amerlite microplate luminometer. Light emission from more complex structures (two chambers interconnected by a branching channel 100 microns wide, 20 microns deep) filled with a solution containing alkaline phosphatase, Emerald, and CSPD was imaged using a Photometrics Star 1 CCD camera. Detailed investigation of the detection and spatial resolution of the signal was performed on a Berthold Luminograph LB 980 using both the enhanced chemiluminescent horseradish peroxidase reaction and a peroxyoxalate reaction. We successfully resolved light emission from silicon structures with dimensions 100 microns wide and 20 microns deep. These simple silicon structures served as models for more complex designs that will be used for simultaneous multi-analyte assays in which an imaging system resolves and quantitates light emission from different locations on a silicon-glass analytical device.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34409068,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Genome-Wide Enhancer Analysis Reveals the Role of AP-1 Transcription Factor in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma.\nHead and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is one of the most common cancers in the world, but its epigenomic features have not been determined. Here, we studied the chromatin landscape of active enhancers of HNSCC head tumor tissues by performing H3K27ac and H3K4me1 ChIP-Seq with a Tgfbr1\/Pten double conditional knockout HNSCC mouse model. We identified 1,248 gain variant enhancer loci (VELs) and 2,188 lost VELs, as well as 153 gain variant super enhancer loci (VSELs) and 234 lost VSELs. Potentially involved transcription factors were predicted with motif analysis, and we identified AP-1 as one of the critical oncogenic transcription factors in HNSCC and many other types of cancer. Combining transcriptomic and epigenomic data, our analysis also showed that AP-1 and histone modifications coordinately regulate target gene expression in HNSCC. In conclusion, our study provides important epigenomic information for enhancer studies in HNSCC and reveals new mechanism for AP-1 regulating HNSCC.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6361113,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The endocrine pancreas during pregnancy and lactation in the rat.\nThe percentage of endocrine tissue in the whole pancreas, the volume density of the insulin producing beta-cells, the non-fasting plasma glucose level and the plasma insulin level were studied in pregnant rats and in puerperal lactating and non-lactating rats. During pregnancy there was a progressive rise in the percentage of endocrine tissue, in the volume density of the beta-cells and in the insulin level in peripheral blood. Plasma glucose levels declined during pregnancy. A lower plasma glucose level, a lower plasma insulin level, a lower percentage of endocrine tissue and a lower volume density of the beta-cells was found in lactating compared to non-lactating rats.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7930439,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Endoscopic features of primary upper gastrointestinal lymphoma.\nPrimary upper gastrointestinal lymphoma (PUGIL) is relatively common in the Middle East, and upper gastrointestinal (UGI) endoscopy is very useful for its diagnosis. Analysis of 33 patients with PUGIL revealed that ulceration, mainly superficial and\/or multicentric, in 24 (73%) patients was the most frequent endoscopic feature. A granulonodular pattern was characteristic of duodenal involvement, but in contrast, infiltrative and polypoid patterns were more often seen in gastric lymphoma. Isolated involvement of the fundus was not seen in these patients. With a high index of suspicion and careful attention to mucosal details, the diagnosis of PUGIL may be made early by multiple biopsies during UGI endoscopy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15558629,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Remythologizing culture: Narrativity, justification, and the politics of personalization.\nThe thesis that the self is a story unfolding in prescriptive space is typically embraced by social constructionists as a radical alternative to naturalistic accounts of human development. Yet, the Tree of Knowledge (ToK) System proposed by Henriques (2003) implies that events at multiple levels of analysis (i.e., matter, life, mind, and culture) can be considered as conditions of possibility for the emergence of meaningful personal narratives. Thus, the ToK System represents an opportunity to recast the work of naturalists and social constructionists in a framework that is at once scientific and humanistic.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22814964,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Treatment of tuberculosis with levofloxacin or moxifloxacin: report of 6 pediatric cases.\nWe report 6 pediatric cases of tuberculosis caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis and treated them with levofloxacin or moxifloxacin in the mother-child unit of a university hospital in France between 2005 and 2011. We assess the clinical efficacy and safety of fluoroquinolones and the benefit-risk ratio for their use as second-line antituberculosis drugs in children and adolescents.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30099459,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Human Paleoneurology and the Evolution of the Parietal Cortex.\nPaleoneurology deals with the study of brain anatomy in fossil species, as inferred from the morphology of their endocranial features. When compared with other living and extinct hominids, Homo sapiens is characterized by larger parietal bones and, according to the paleoneurological evidence, also by larger parietal lobes. The dorsal elements of the posterior parietal cortex (superior parietal lobules, precuneus, and intraparietal sulcus) may be involved in these morphological changes. This parietal expansion was also associated with an increase in the corresponding vascular networks, and possibly with increased heat loads. Only H. sapiens has a specific early ontogenetic stage in which brain form achieves such globular appearance. In adult modern humans, the precuneus displays remarkable variation, being largely responsible for the longitudinal parietal size. The precuneus is also much more expanded in modern humans than in chimpanzees. Parietal expansion is not influenced by brain size in fossil hominids or living primates. Therefore, our larger parietal cortex must be interpreted as a derived feature. Spatial models suggest that the dorsal and anterior areas of the precuneus might be involved in these derived morphological variations. These areas are crucial for visuospatial integration, and are sensitive to both genetic and environmental influences. This article reviews almost 20 years of my collaborations on human parietal lobe evolution, integrating functional craniology, paleoneurology, and evolutionary neuroanatomy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28544528,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography fingerprints combined with multivariate statistical analyses to evaluate the quality consistency and predict the fingerprint-efficacy relationship of Salviae miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma (Danshen).\nMicellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography fingerprinting combined with quantification was successfully established and applied to evaluate the quality consistency of Danshen, which is a medicinal herb used to treat various diseases, especially coronary cerebrovascular diseases. A background electrolyte composed of 20 mmol\/L sodium tetraborate, 90 mmol\/L orthoboric acid, 25 mmol\/L sodium phosphate monobasic dehydrate, and 65 mmol\/L sodium dodecyl sulfate was used to separate compounds. To optimize micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography conditions, a response surface strategy was set up for orthogonal experimental design. In fingerprint assessments, a systematic quantified fingerprint method was established for integrated quality assessment of Danshen samples from qualitative and quantitative perspectives, by which the quality of 30 samples was well differentiated. The principal component analysis coupled with quantitative determination of two components was applied to explain that the quality consistency of the medicinal herb was relatively good within one harvest season, but poor among harvest seasons for the Danshen samples. In addition, the fingerprint-efficacy relationship between the chemical fingerprints and antioxidant activities was investigated utilizing orthogonal projection to latent structures, which provided important medicinal efficacy information for quality control. This work offered an efficient, holistic, and powerful approach to evaluate the quality consistency of Danshen samples.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16158672,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A passive acoustic monitoring method applied to observation and group size estimation of finless porpoises.\nThe present study aimed at determining the detection capabilities of an acoustic observation system to recognize porpoises under local riverine conditions and compare the results with sighting observations. Arrays of three to five acoustic data loggers were stationed across the main channel of the Tian-e-zhou Oxbow of China's Yangtze River at intervals of 100-150 m to record sonar signals of free-ranging finless porpoises (Neophocaena phocaenoides). Acoustic observations, concurrent with visual observations, were conducted at two occasions on 20-22 October 2003 and 17-19 October 2004. During a total of 42 h of observation, 316 finless porpoises were sighted and 7041 sonar signals were recorded by loggers. The acoustic data loggers recorded ultrasonic signals of porpoises clearly, and detected the presence of porpoises with a correct detection level of 77.6% and a false alarm level of 5.8% within an effective distance of 150 m. Results indicated that the stationed passive acoustic observation method was effective in detecting the presence of porpoises and showed potential in estimating the group size. A positive linear correlation between the number of recorded signals and the group size of sighted porpoises was indicated, although it is faced with some uncertainty and requires further investigation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31249063,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Estimation of allele-specific fitness effects across human protein-coding sequences and implications for disease.\nA central challenge in human genomics is to understand the cellular, evolutionary, and clinical significance of genetic variants. Here, we introduce a unified population-genetic and machine-learning model, called Linear Allele-Specific Selection InferencE (LASSIE), for estimating the fitness effects of all observed and potential single-nucleotide variants, based on polymorphism data and predictive genomic features. We applied LASSIE to 51 high-coverage genome sequences annotated with 33 genomic features and constructed a map of allele-specific selection coefficients across all protein-coding sequences in the human genome. This map is generally consistent with previous inferences of the bulk distribution of fitness effects but reveals pervasive weak negative selection against synonymous mutations. In addition, the estimated selection coefficients are highly predictive of inherited pathogenic variants and cancer driver mutations, outperforming state-of-the-art variant prioritization methods. By contrasting our estimated model with ultrahigh coverage ExAC exome-sequencing data, we identified 1118 genes under unusually strong negative selection, which tend to be exclusively expressed in the central nervous system or associated with autism spectrum disorder, as well as 773 genes under unusually weak selection, which tend to be associated with metabolism. This combination of classical population genetic theory with modern machine-learning and large-scale genomic data is a powerful paradigm for the study of both human evolution and disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37459058,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Wet Deposition of Globally Transportable Microplastics (<25 \u03bcm) Hovering over the Megacity of Beijing.\nMicroplastics of size <25 \u03bcm possess globally transportable features, but the impact of precipitation on their transport remains unclear. Here, microplastics were detected in all 10 studied rainfalls in Beijing, with <25 \u03bcm microplastics present in 8 rainfalls. Interestingly, microplastic abundance (7590-136,778 items\u00b7m-3) was tentatively linked to maximum rainfall intensity, with <25 \u03bcm microplastics making up 39.6 (\u00b127.5)% of the total count. The composition of <25 \u03bcm microplastics differed from that of larger microplastics, although both mainly comprised polystyrene, polyethylene, and polypropylene. The microplastic communities differed among rainfalls, suggesting that atmospheric transport is a highly dynamic process. The first rainfall exhibited the highest microplastic abundance and community diversity after long-term exposure to dry atmospheric environment. The deposited microplastics were unstable and highly fragmented according to the conditional fragmentation model. The wet deposition rate of the microplastics was calculated as 2-463 \u03bcg\u00b7m-2 (146-8629 items\u00b7m-2) per rain, amounting to 25.44 tons per annum in Beijing. Although <25 \u03bcm microplastics represented a negligible proportion (0.00-1.24%) of the overall mass load of microplastics, their numerical abundance was high. Our results demonstrate that precipitation is an effective mechanism for removing airborne microplastics, which may enter urban soils and waters, exacerbate microplastic burdens in the environment, and cause potential risk for human health.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30311249,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Application of polycaprolactone, chitosan, and collagen composite as a nanofibrous mat loaded with silver sulfadiazine and growth factors for wound dressing.\nFabrication of nanofibrous biomaterials composed of natural and synthetic materials that incorporated with antibiotic and growth factors with controlled release manner is an attractive topic in wound healing. The purpose of this study was to prepare optimal composite of materials as biomimetic nanofibrous mats for application in wound healing. The mat was prepared of polycaprolactone (PCL) in the bottom, chitosan\/poly ethylene oxide (Cs\/PEO) in the middle, and PCL\/collagen (PCL\/Coll) in the top layer. A panel of standard characterization tests of nanofibrous mat was performed and its compatibilities in strength and integration were confirmed. Middle layer was loaded with epidermal growth factor (EGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), and silver sulfadiazine (SSD) was incorporated in the bottom layer as an anti-infection factor. Then, on the dorsum of rats, a 400-mm2 wound was created and surrounded by a silicone ring to control the usual tissue contractions. Nanofibrous mats with or without growth factors were applied as wound dressings and at day 14, the healing process was evaluated. At day 14, the treated group by designed mat showed faster epithelialization and angiogenesis. Silicone ring in the test group was desirable in wound closure compared to the control group. Reformation of skin tissue was manifested in a shorter time. This composite nanofibrous mat could be introduced as a dynamic and effective candidate for wound dressing.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12026971,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Radioactivity near the sunken submarine \"Kursk\" in the Southern Barents Sea.\nRadioactivity measurements were conducted on seawater, sediment, and biota samples collected in the vicinity of the Russian submarine \"Kursk\" in September, 2000, within 1 month of the vessel's sinking in the Barents Sea to determine whether leakage of radioactivity from the vessel's two nuclear reactors had occurred and to assess the impact on one of the most productive fishing areas in the world. Levels of radioactivity in surface sediments and biota are within the range of values previously measured in the Barents Sea and can be ascribed to inputs from global fallout, European nuclear fuel reprocessing facilities, and the Chernobyl accident. However, levels of 1291 in seawater in the Southern Barents Sea increased by 500% between 1992 and 2000, and the 129I\/137Cs ratio increased by more than an order of magnitude during this time, owing to long-range transport of releases from reprocessing facilities at Sellafield (U.K.) and La Hague (France). Although these results indicate that, at the time of sampling, leakage from the Kursk had a negligible impact on the environment, they also show that regional background levels of artificial radioactivity are varying rapidly on annual timescales and that Europe's nuclear reprocessing facilities are the leading contributor of anthropogenic radioactivity to the region.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16152652,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Initial experience with a new femoral artery closure device following percutaneous coronary intervention with glycoprotein IIb\/IIIa inhibition.\nThe aim of the study was to determine the safety and efficacy of a novel femoral artery closure device (StarClose, Abbott Vascular Devices, Redwood City, CA) following percutaneous coronary intervention employing aspirin, heparin, and glycoprotein (GP) IIb\/IIIa inhibition. A prospective nonrandomized single-center pilot study of the StarClose device included a subset of patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention utilizing GP IIb\/IIIa inhibitors. Those that fulfilled the inclusion criteria (age < 80, no periprocedural haematoma, puncture above the superficial femoral and profunda femoralis artery bifurcation, no significant femoral artery disease) underwent closure of the femoral artery puncture site with a StarClose device immediately on completion of the procedure. Time to hemostasis (TTH), bleeding, mobilization, and short-term clinical follow-up data were collected, and an ultrasound scan of the femoral artery was performed 2 weeks later. Twenty-five patients were recruited, of whom 23 underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Their mean age was 58 +\/- 12 years, 84% were male, and 63% had unstable angina. All were on aspirin 100-150 mg daily and all PCI patients received i.v. heparin 4-10,000 units at commencement of the procedure and clopidogrel 600 mg on completion. Two patients were on a tirofiban infusion and 23 received a double bolus of eptifibatide, each 0.18 mg\/kg, separated by 10 min. The procedural success was 100% and device success 23\/25 (92%), with 1 failure due to technical error. The median device delivery time was 36 sec (range, 11-178) and median TTH 37 sec (range, 10-509 sec). There were no major adverse events. In 10 patients, a moderate amount of tract ooze required a short period of adjunctive manual compression. Follow-up ultrasound femoral artery scans revealed no compromise of the vessel lumen. Femoral artery closure with the device following coronary angiography and intervention using glycoprotein IIb\/IIIa receptor inhibitors is safe and effective. A randomized trial of a larger number of patients is warranted.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37664274,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Topical Cocaine Hydrochloride Nasal Solution: Anesthetic and Surgical Considerations.\nAdequate surgical view during various types of nasal procedures is essential for surgical operations to be performed in a safe, efficient, and successful manner. Minimizing bleeding during surgery is an important way of increasing visualization that is commonly achieved by using a vasoconstrictive agent to control intraoperative hemorrhage. Many otolaryngologists choose to employ topical cocaine to minimize bleeding during surgery owing to its vasoconstrictive properties, while simultaneously benefitting from its dual local anesthetic effects. The relative benefit of topical cocaine for otolaryngologic procedures when compared to other topical analgesics and vasoconstrictors remains a topic of discussion due to the multiple potential cardiac and central nervous system side effects associated with cocaine administration. Furthermore, there is not a scientifically backed maximal safe dose published; instead, most of the guidelines for intranasal cocaine use are based on untested clinical practice. Despite this, the short latency, adequate duration of action, and inherent vasoconstrictive and decongestive capabilities make cocaine a valuable anesthetic agent for use in clinical procedures. As the relative benefit of using topical cocaine compared to the use of other vasoconstrictors and analgesics for nasal procedures remains undetermined in the current literature, this leaves the need for a comprehensive review of research that explores the risks and benefits of using topical cocaine in nasal procedures based on clinical trials that compare intranasal cocaine with various other analgesics and vasoconstrictors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8354286,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Structural similarity between lung surfactant protein D and conglutinin. Two distinct, C-type lectins containing collagen-like sequences.\nPreparations of bovine lung surfactant D (SP-D) and conglutinin were examined by electron microscopy, gel-filtration and SDS\/PAGE. SP-D is composed of non-covalently linked subunits, of 160 kDa, which each contain three, disulphide-linked, 44-kDa polypeptide chains. In the electron microscope a single 160-kDa subunit of SP-D appears as a 45.8 +\/- 3-nm-long rod connected to a small globular 'head'. Particles were also seen which correspond to non-covalently linked dimers, trimers and tetramers of the 160-kDa monomer subunit of SP-D. The tetramer structure contains 12 polypeptide chains and is very similar to the electron microscopy images and model reported by Strang et al. [Strang, C. J., Slayter, US., Lachmann, P. J. and Davis, A. E. (1986) Biochem. J. 236, 3811-389] for bovine conglutinin in which four 160-kDa subunits are disulphide-linked to give a molecule of expected molecular mass of 528 kDa. This study confirmed the findings by Strang et al. in the above paper for intact conglutinin and also emphasised that the rod-like structures, of length 37.6 +\/- 3.7 nm, seen in the conglutinin subunits were significantly shorter than those in SP-D despite the close similarity in amino acid sequence (79% identify) and chain length between the two proteins. In addition, a truncated form of conglutinin was found in the conglutinin preparations, due to limited proteolysis of the Arg-Ala bond at position 54 in the 44-kDa chains. These truncated conglutinin chains yield a subunit composed of three shortened, non-disulphide-linked, chains and this subunit appears as a monomer with a rod length of 34.2 +\/- 2.8 nm in the electron microscope. On gel-filtration, a proportion of the SP-D preparation behaved, as expected, as a molecule with an apparent molecular mass of 600 kDa. The remainder of the SP-D preparation behaved as aggregated material with a molecular mass greater than 900 kDa which yielded no distinct structures in the electron microscope. Intact conglutinin was eluted at a position greater than 900 kDa but yet provided clear electron microscopy images of the tetramer structure described above.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29562375,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Parameters influencing the quality of colonoscopy in Belgium : a critical evaluation.\nIn relation to recent implementation of colorectal cancer screening programs at the regional level, quality assessment of colonoscopy gains more interest in Belgium. In order to evaluate quality indicators of colonoscopies in Belgium, we retrospectively analysed data about colonoscopies performed between 2002-2010. Coded data concerning number of medical procedures and polypectomy were provided by the Intermutualistic Agency (IMA). This database was used to calculate different quality indicators such as polyp detection rate (PDR), use of sedation, amount of procedures and time interval according to physician and center type. Considerable differences in polyp detection rate (PDR) exist between different physicians and centers. Mean PDR significantly correlated with the number of colonoscopies performed each year. A minimum of 106 colonoscopies per year was identified to maintain competence. Recuperation rate for polyps was low, and time intervals between colonoscopies were generally too short in comparison to European and international guidelines. In absence of a central colonoscopy registry in Belgium, our results were based on reimbursement data. Other quality parameters, although accuracy is questionable (eg. bowel cleansing and withdrawal time) are not systematically registered. Despite these difficulties, we were able to demonstrate that a minimum amount of 106 colonoscopies per year is necessary to maintain competence. The results from this large database can be used as a foundation to work out a quality colonoscopy bundle.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11999379,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The amount of thiolic antioxidant ingestion needed to improve several immune functions is higher in aged than in adult mice.\nWith aging there is an increase of oxidative stress due to an imbalance between the oxidant production and the antioxidant levels in favor of the former. Since immune cell functions are specially linked to reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, the oxidant\/antioxidant balance is essential for these cells. Although low levels of antioxidants cause a decrease in immune function, very high levels of antioxidant compounds could show prooxidant effects. In the present work, we have studied the effect of diet supplementation, for 4 weeks, with two different doses of two thiolic antioxidants, namely thioproline (TP) and N-acetylcysteine (NAC), at 0.1% (w\/w) and 0.3% (w\/w, of each antioxidant) on the main immune system cells, i.e.: macrophages, lymphocytes and natural killer (NK) cells of adult (33+\/-1 week old) and aged (75+\/-1 week old) female Swiss mice. Two groups of animals, adult and aged mice, fed standard diet were used as controls. The results show that the ingestion of 0.1% doses of thiols improves, in the adult mice, several immune functions such as the chemotaxis capacity of both macrophages and lymphocytes, the phagocytosis of macrophages, the lymphoproliferative response to the mitogen Con A and the NK activity. Moreover, no change was observed in adherence capacity of immune cells, and superoxide production was decreased. By contrast, in aged mice the ingestion of these amounts of antioxidants did not change the immune functions studied with the exception of NK activity, which was stimulated. The ingestion of 0.3% of antioxidants by adult mice only increased some immune functions such as adherence and superoxide production, which are markers of oxidative stress. Other functions such as chemotaxis or lymphoproliferative response decreased. However, the ingestion of these very high amounts of thiols by aged animals increased the phagocytosis, the NK activity and specially the lymphoproliferative response to the mitogen, a function that is very depressed with aging.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23456451,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Effect of selenium and grape seed extract on indomethacin-induced gastric ulcers in rats.\nIndomethacin (IND) is a non-steroid anti-inflammatory agent that is known to induce severe gastric mucosal lesions. In this study, we investigated the protective effect of selenium (SEL), grape seed extract (GSE), and both on IND-induced gastric mucosal ulcers in rats. Sprague-Dawley rats (200-250 g) were given SEL, GSE, and both by oral gavage for 28 days, and then gastric ulcers were induced by oral administration of 25 mg\/kg IND. Malondialdehyde (MDA), non-enzymatic (reduced glutathione, GSH) and enzymatic (superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase) antioxidants, prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) in gastric mucosa, and serum tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-\u03b1) were measured. Moreover, gastric ulcer index and preventive index were determined. Indomethacin increased the gastric ulcer index, MDA, TNF-\u03b1, and decreased PGE2 and non-enzymatic (GSH) and enzymatic (superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase) antioxidants. Pretreatment with SEL, GSE, and both significantly decreased the gastric ulcer index, MDA, and TNF and increased antioxidants and PGE2. Histopathological observations confirm the gastric ulcer index and biochemical parameters. Selenium and GSE have a protective effect against IND-induced gastric ulcers through prevention of lipid peroxidation, increase of GSH, activation of radical scavenging enzymes, PGE2 generation, and anti-inflammatory activity. Co-administration of GSE and SEL is more effective than GSE or SEL alone.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35344648,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Osimertinib Combined with Systemic Chemotherapy for EGFR Mutant, T790M-Negative, Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients Who Develop Leptomeningeal Metastases with Extracranial Progression to Prior EGFR TKI.\nLeptomeningeal metastasis (LM) is a rare but fatal clinical condition with a short survival time. The incidence of LM from epidermal growth factor receptor mutant (EGFRm) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has increased due to the limited efficacy of first- or second-generation epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in the central nervous system (CNS). Osimertinib is a third-generation, irreversible, CNS penetrant, oral EGFR TKI that demonstrates promising efficacy in CNS metastases regardless of T790M. Herein, we report four cases of T790M-negative EGFRm NSCLC patients treated with osimertinib combined with systemic chemotherapy, who progressed on prior EGFR TKI and developed LM with extracranial lesions. The combination treatment was well tolerated, and the mean overall survival from LM diagnosis was 14.7 months (95% confidence interval, 10.4 to 19.0). These results suggest that osimertinib combined with systemic chemotherapy would be a reasonable treatment option for T790M-negative EGFRm NSCLC patients who develop LM with extracranial progression to prior EGFR TKI. A further prospective study is warranted.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3056436,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Is protective therapy possible in occupational asthma? Role of immunotherapy].\nSpecific immunotherapy (ITS) can be a preventative measure for occupational allergy when allergens cannot be fully eliminated. Many allergens provoke IgE-mediated reactions, but when they are haptens and the physiopathology is complex, then the value of ITS is restricted. However, with common allergens whose density increases with occupation, such as house dust and house dust mites for domestic employees, pollens for florists and animal epithelia for breeders, then ITS is effective. On the other hand, when the allergen is specific for the job, of which there are two well documented examples in bakers asthma from wheat flour and laboratory worker's asthma to small laboratory animals there are disparate results. Overall, there is only a modest place for ITS in the treatment of professional asthma, because of the lack of purified, well-standardised extracts.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6362243,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Branched-chain amino acid-enriched elemental diet in patients with cirrhosis of the liver. A double blind crossover trial.\nIn 14 patients with cirrhosis of the liver and portal-systemic shunts the effect of a branched-chain amino acid-enriched elemental diet on portal systemic encephalopathy, routine laboratory parameters and plasma amino acids was investigated. In addition to the standard therapy including protein restriction (40 g\/day) the patients received 44 g of an amino acid-protein mixture containing 30% of branched-chain amino acids and placebo over 3 months in a crossover regimen. Plasma valine and leucine increased significantly, whereas all other amino acids, including the ratio (formula: see text), remained unchanged. The electroencephalogram, number connection test, clinical state and laboratory parameters were not influenced by therapy with branched-chain amino acids. Thus, orally administered branched-chain amino acids probably have no influence on hepatic encephalopathy but are an adequate source of nitrogen in patients with cirrhosis of the liver.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6748118,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of bilateral adrenalectomy on blood sugar level and plasma refill in a rat hemorrhagic shock model.\nRecent studies suggest that the hyperglycemic response to hemorrhage and shock may play a role in promoting plasma refill via its hyperosmolar effect. This relationship was tested in a bilaterally adrenalectomized rat model. After a left carotid arterial cannulation, seven adrenalectomized rats and seven control rats with intact adrenal glands were bled periodically for periods of 15 min followed by 15 min of rest. The initial hemorrhage depleted 7.5% of the total blood volume (TBV) and subsequent hemorrhages 5% each. The study period extended up to 120 min to replicate a hemorrhage of 22.5% of TBV. Micromethod hematocrits (Hct) and blood sugar (BS) were monitored every 15 min and results were analyzed by use of a BMD-P statistical package on an AMDAHL 470 computer. A significant (p less than 0.05) increase in BS during shock was seen in the control rats, while the adrenalectomized animals did not demonstrate a significant hyperglycemic response. There was no significant difference in the plasma refill observed between the two groups. At 60 min, the Hct fell 3.6 +\/- 1.7 and 4.6 +\/- 0.6 percentage points for control and adrenalectomized animals, respectively, while at 120 min, a respective Hct drop of 7.5 +\/- 1.6 and 5.4 +\/- 1.1 percentage points was noted. This study indicates that the absence of the hyperglycemic response in the adrenalectomized rats had no effect on plasma refill when compared to the response of control rats with intact adrenals.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1689429,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Acute hemodynamic effects of nilvadipine, a new calcium channel blocker, in patients with congestive heart failure.\nThe acute hemodynamic effects of nilvadipine, a newly synthesized calcium channel blocker, were studied in 12 patients with congestive heart failure. Hemodynamic measurements were made before and 15, 30, and 60 min after oral administration of 6 mg nilvadipine. Substantial reductions in systemic vascular resistance (-28.8 +\/- 6.3%, p less than 0.01) and forearm vascular resistance (-52.0 +\/- 6.2%, p less than 0.01) after nilvadipine administration were associated with increases in cardiac index (31.1 +\/- 8.3%, p less than 0.01) and forearm blood flow (105.2 +\/- 27.4%, p less than 0.01). Mean arterial and pulmonary arterial pressures were decreased by 12.2 +\/- 3.0% (p less than 0.01) and 14.7 +\/- 5.0% (p less than 0.05), respectively, after nilvadipine administration; however, heart rate remained unchanged. Decreases in mean arterial pressure correlated with the baseline arterial pressure (y = 0.58x - 41.6, r = 0.75, p less than 0.01). Pulmonary capillary wedge pressure decreased by 33.1 +\/- 9.1% (p less than 0.01) after nilvadipine administration. However, right atrial pressure and the venous stiffness constant remained unchanged, and the venous pressure-volume curve was not shifted significantly. Therefore, the decrease in pulmonary capillary wedge pressure was attributed primarily to afterload reduction. Nilvadipine holds promise as a vasodilator for the therapy of congestive heart failure.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12004969,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Repeatability of standardized tests of functional impairment and well-being in older people in a rehabilitation setting.\nThe aim of this study was to establish the repeatability of standardized tests of vision (Snellen chart testing), hearing (whispered voice test), communication (Frenchay aphasia screening test), loneliness (UCLA loneliness scale), morale (Philadelphia geriatric centre morale scale), and a multidimensional instrument (EASY-care) when used in a rehabilitation setting. The tests were administered by a research nurse to 50 older subjects attending a day rehabilitation unit, with repeat administration one or two weeks later by a nurse on the unit. Kappa statistics were used for level of agreement for categorized data and interclass correlation coefficient were used for data based on scores. Moderate repeatability for Snellen chart testing. whispered voice test; good to excellent for the FAST, UCLA loneliness scale and Philadelphia geriatric centre morale scale. Moderate to very good repeatability for all EASY-care items except communication, feeding, use of telephone and cognitive impairment, which had poor spread of data. Poor repeatability for commonly used tests of vision and hearing is worrying, whereas the positive results for the other tests will increase confidence in using them more in routine practice.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15559380,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Post-traumatic vertigo.\nThe vestibular-like symptoms that commonly follow head injury are most often due to one of a number of specific pathologies affecting vestibular, CNS or cervical structures. These pathologies can be readily identified in the majority of cases by appropriate testing in the examining room, and in vestibular function or neurodiagnosic laboratories. Whereas vestibular suppressants have a roll, they often delay recovery and have been supplanted as the mainstay of treatment in most cases by vestibular rehabilitation techniques. Given the large number of patients requiring outpatient management following head injury, it is appropriate that most generalists and many subspecialists should be aware of the differential diagnosis, workup and treatment options for post-traumatic vertigo.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30094847,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Results and complications after removal of tibial tuberosity advancement cage for treatment of surgical site infections: A retrospective study.\nTo describe the surgical technique and report the short-term results after removal of tibial tuberosity advancement (TTA) cages in dogs with surgical site infections (SSI). Retrospective clinical study. Seventeen client-owned dogs. Medical records of dogs treated for SSI by removal of a TTA cage between November 2012 and May 2015 were reviewed. Information collected included signalment, physical examination findings, affected stifle, cage size, date of SSI onset, time elapsed to implant removal, duration of procedure, culture results, any complications encountered, timing of follow-up recheck, and short-term results. Seventeen dogs (20 stifles) were included. Clinical signs related to SSI started at a mean of 403 days after TTA, and implants were removed 474 days (mean) after TTA. No intraoperative complications were reported. Postoperative complications occurred in 40% of dogs. Three dogs developed major complications, including a tibial tuberosity fracture. Eighty-five percent of owners reported complete resolution of clinical signs related to the SSI and were satisfied with the outcome. Surgical site infections were short- and long-term complications successfully treated by removal of the TTA cage in the majority of dogs in this study, although complications were common. Removal of the TTA cage can be considered as an adjunct to treat SSI but has the potential for postoperative complications.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3038850,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Cloning of the gene for myxobacterial hemagglutinin and isolation and analysis of structural gene mutations.\nMyxobacterial hemagglutinin (MBHA) is a major developmentally induced protein that accumulates during the period of cellular aggregation in the bacterium Myxococcus xanthus. It has been shown that this lectin is targeted to the cell surface and periplasmic space of developmental cells, suggesting that it may play a role in cell-cell recognition or agglutination. We have cloned the structural gene for MBHA by using synthetic deoxyoligonucleotides containing sequences deduced from the amino acid sequence of MBHA and have used the cloned gene to construct strains of M. xanthus that cannot synthesize MBHA. We found that although the MBHA-deficient strains are delayed in their developmental time course, they are otherwise able to aggregate and sporulate normally. Our results suggest that MBHA may function to increase the efficiency of fruiting-body formation but is not a critical component of cellular aggregation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19039352,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Reversible hydration and dehydration of polyanionic brushes bearing carboxylate, phosphate and sulfonate side groups: a comparative AFM study.\nThe present work reports on a systematic study of the swelling\/collapse transition of three anionic polymer brushes bearing carboxylate, phosphate and sulfonate side groups via AFM measurement. Time scale of conformation change process can be approximately evaluated directly. All the three brushes in their sodium salt forms stretch away from the surface in pure water, as a result of charge repulsion and uptake of water. The collapse of weak brushes has two ways: normal charge screening and precipitation (strong ion pairing), depending on the types of cations that have different coordination capabilities with anionic groups. Alkali metal ions can make brushes shrink only at relatively high concentrations following a gradually increased charge screening mechanism. The brushes collapsed in this way can be restored by simply flushing with water. However, multivalent cations can irreversibly collapse brushes more easily even under very low concentrations (<10(-3) mol L(-1)). The brushes cannot be restored with simple water rinsing even for strong sulfonate containing brushes. In this case, recovery can be achieved by ion exchange in concentrated salt solution, which facilitates transit from strong ion pairing to less strong charge screening and then flushing with water. Alternatively, the multivalent ion can be extracted with chelating reagent of low concentration (10 mM EDTA). As the chelating agent doesn't affect the conformation of brushes, the brushes are one-step recovered directly, much more efficient than with high concentration electrolyte which usually requires extra water rinsing to remove excess salt inside brushes. The interaction between anions in the brushes and metal ions represents a model system to profoundly understand the mechanism of bio-mimic motions and how muscle works. In this regard, the present study provides useful information for the development of polyelectrolyte brushes based ion sensor and ion powered nanoactuators.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29385605,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of level of soluble fiber and n-6\/n-3 fatty acid ratio on performance of rabbit does and their litters.\nThe aim of this work was to study whether the dietary supplementation with soluble fiber (SF) and the reduction of the n-6\/n-3 fatty acid ratio or the combination of both influences the survival, body and milk composition, and reproductive performance of rabbit does during the first four parturitions. Four diets in a 2 \u00d7 2 factorial arrangement were used with two levels of SF (7.8 vs. 13.0, on dry matter [DM] basis; high soluble fiber [HSF] and low soluble fiber [LSF]) and two different n-6\/n-3 fatty acid ratios (13.4\/1 vs. 3.5\/1). Nulliparous does (24\/diet) were inseminated 11 d after parturition. Body chemical composition and energy content of rabbit does and their performance, litter growth, and milk production were measured between birth and weaning (25 d) along four parturitions, and milk composition and fecal digestibility were also recorded. The proportion of total removed does decreased in HSF respect to LSF groups (22.9 vs. 50.0%; P = 0.005), and it tended to decrease in LSF groups when the n-6\/n-3 ratio increased and in HSF groups when the n-6\/n-3 ratio decreased (P = 0.059). The increase of the level of SF reduced the digestible crude protein (CP)\/digestible energy ratio (by 4%; P < 0.001) and improved the digestibility of all fibrous fractions (P < 0.001). The reduction of the n-6\/n-3 ratio reduced the total dietary fiber digestibility in rabbit does fed LSF diets, but it had no effect in those fed HSF diets (P = 0.043). Treatments had no effect on average daily feed intake among parturitions (P = 0.16), but the digestible CP intake among parturitions was lower in HSF than in LSF groups (P = 0.003). Treatments had no effect on the total number of kits born, litter or average kit weight at birth, or litter size at weaning, fertility, feed efficiency, total milk production, and body chemical composition and energy content of rabbit does (P \u2265 0.29). The average weight of kits at weaning of LSF_Hn-6\/n-3 and HSF_Ln-6\/n-3 groups decreased by 6% compared with those from the other two groups (P = 0.030). The reduction of the dietary n-6\/n-3 ratio increased the milk fat content by 12% with no effect on protein and DM content (P = 0.031). The proportion of milk odd fatty acids and saturated fatty acid increased in rabbit does fed the HSF diets compared with those fed LSF diets (P \u2264 0.037) with no effect of the n-6\/n-3 fatty acid ratio. In conclusion, SF reduced the replacement rate of rabbit does with no effect of the n-6\/n-3 ratio, while both dietary factors modified milk composition and fatty acid profile with minor influence on litter productivity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19044867,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Potential energy surface for interactions between two hydrogen molecules.\nNonrelativistic clamped-nuclei energies of interaction between two ground-state hydrogen molecules with intramolecular distances fixed at their average value in the lowest rovibrational state have been computed. The calculations applied the supermolecular coupled-cluster method with single, double, and noniterative triple excitations [CCSD(T)] and very large orbital basis sets-up to augmented quintuple zeta size supplemented with bond functions. The same basis sets were used in symmetry-adapted perturbation theory calculations performed mainly for larger separations to provide an independent check of the supermolecular approach. The contributions beyond CCSD(T) were computed using the full configuration interaction method and basis sets up to augmented triple zeta plus midbond size. All the calculations were followed by extrapolations to complete basis set limits. For two representative points, calculations were also performed using basis sets with the cardinal number increased by one or two. For the same two points, we have also solved the Schrodinger equation directly using four-electron explicitly correlated Gaussian (ECG) functions. These additional calculations allowed us to estimate the uncertainty in the interaction energies used to fit the potential to be about 0.15 K or 0.3% at the minimum of the potential well. This accuracy is about an order of magnitude better than that achieved by earlier potentials for this system. For a near-minimum T-shaped configuration with the center-of-mass distance R=6.4 bohrs, the ECG calculations give the interaction energy of -56.91+\/-0.06 K, whereas the orbital calculations in the basis set used for all the points give -56.96+\/-0.16 K. The computed points were fitted by an analytic four-dimensional potential function. The uncertainties in the fit relative to the ab initio energies are almost always smaller than the estimated uncertainty in the latter energies. The global minimum of the fit is -57.12 K for the T-shaped configuration at R=6.34 bohrs. The fit was applied to compute the second virial coefficient using a path-integral Monte Carlo approach. The achieved agreement with experiment is substantially better than in any previous work.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27265277,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Influence of cholesterol on shape parameters of erythrocytes in hyperglycemic subjects.\nWe determined the morphological changes of erythrocytes in blood samples of diabetic patients with varying levels of hyperglycemia with normo- and hyper-cholesterol concentrations and compared them with cells of healthy subjects. The shape analysis was carried out by shape descriptors based on projected area, perimeter and form factor, as measured by the processing of erythrocyte images. Blood smears were collected from normal subjects and from glycemic subjects with normo- and hyper-cholesterol levels. After image processing techniques like edge enhancement, thresholding, filtering, contour extraction, and pattern analysis and recognition, the images were used for shape analysis. The shape parameters, which quantified the changes in erythrocytes in diabetic subjects with normal cholesterol level, showed significant deviation from the shape of normal cells. Cells of diabetic subjects with hyper-cholesterol level showed more deviation than cells with normal cholesterol. These changes lead to hyper aggregation and to a decrease in deformability of erythrocytes and hence increase microcirculatory complications.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11654621,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"UNESCO, genetics, and human rights.\nIn response to a mandate conferred on the International Bioethics Committee (IBC) of UNESCO in November 1993, the IBC has drafted a \"universal declaration on the human genome and human rights,\" which will be considered by the General Conference of UNESCO in November 1997. This article discusses the development of the document and provides the text of the \"revised preliminary draft\" of the declaration.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20374627,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Quantitative analysis of late gadolinium enhancement in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.\nCardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) with the late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) technique allows the detection of myocardial fibrosis in Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). The aim of this study was to compare different methods of automatic quantification of LGE in HCM patients. Forty HCM patients (mean age 48 y, 30 males) and 20 normal subjects (mean age 38 y, 16 males) underwent CMR, and we compared 3 methods of quantification of LGE: 1) in the SD2 method a region of interest (ROI) was placed within the normal myocardium and enhanced myocardium was considered as having signal intensity >2 SD above the mean of ROI; 2) in the SD6 method enhanced myocardium was defined with a cut-off of 6 SD above mean of ROI; 3) in the RC method a ROI was placed in the background of image, a Rayleigh curve was created using the SD of that ROI and used as ideal curve of distribution of signal intensity of a perfectly nulled myocardium. The maximal signal intensity found in the Rayleigh curve was used as cut-off for enhanced myocardium. Parametric images depicting non enhanced and enhanced myocardium was created using each method. Three investigators assigned a score to each method by the comparison of the original LGE image to the respective parametric map generated. Patients with HCM had lower concordance between the measured curve of distribution of signal intensity and the Rayleigh curve than controls (63.7 +\/- 12.3% vs 92.2 +\/- 2.3%, p < 0.0001).A cut off of concordance < 82.9% had a 97.1% sensitivity and 92.3% specificity to distinguish HCM from controls. The RC method had higher score than the other methods. The average extent of enhanced myocardium measured by SD6 and Rayleigh curve method was not significant different but SD6 method showed underestimation of enhancement in 12% and overestimation in 5% of patients with HCM. Quantification of fibrosis in LGE images with a cut-off derived from the Rayleigh curve is more accurate than using a fixed cut-off.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28741552,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-26":1}}},"text":"Intrinsic versus Extrinsic Cancer Risks: The Debate Continues.\nDeciphering the relative contribution of intrinsic (e.g., genetic) and extrinsic (e.g., life style, environmental) risk factors in cancer development is crucial for strategizing cancer prevention. The recent publication by Wu and colleagues in Nature appears as an important contribution to the debate previously initiated by Tomasetti and Vogelstein in Science, who proposed that two-thirds of cancers can be attributed to random mutations and hence 'bad luck'. By contrast, Wu and colleagues, using four lines of evidence, suggest that cancer risk is dominated by extrinsic factors, and intrinsic risk factors only contribute marginally. The debate remains open, and an approach focusing on the evolutionary ecology of organs could provide crucial insights.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37849017,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Non-enzymatic glycation and aggregation of camel immunoglobulins induce breast cancer cell proliferation.\nGlycation of biomolecules results in the formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs). Immunoglobulin G (IgG) has been implicated in the progression of various diseases, including diabetes and cancer. This study purified three IgG subclasses (IgG1, IgG2, and IgG3) from Camelus dromedarius colostrum using ammonium sulfate fractionation and chromatographic procedures. SDS-PAGE was performed to confirm the purity and molecular weight of the IgG subclasses. Several biochemical and biophysical techniques were employed to study the effect of glycation on camel IgG using methylglyoxal (MGO), a dicarbonyl sugar. Early glycation measurement showed an increase in the fructosamine content by ~four-fold in IgG2, ~two-fold in IgG3, and a slight rise in IgG1. AGEs were observed in all classes of IgGs with maximum hyperchromicity (96.6%) in IgG2. Furthermore, glycation-induced oxidation of IgGs led to an increase in carbonyl content and loss of -SH groups. Among subclass, IgG2 showed the highest (39.7%) increase in carbonyl content accompanied by 82.5% decrease in -SH groups. Far UV-CD analysis illustrated perturbation of \u03b2-sheet structure during glycation reaction with MGO. Moreover, glycation of IgG proceeds to various conformational states like aggregation and increased hydrophobicity. In addition, the cytotoxicity assay (MTT) illustrated the proliferation of breast cancer cells (MCF-7) with IgG2 treatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25496467,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Photosynthetic leaf area modulates tiller bud outgrowth in sorghum.\nShoot branches or tillers develop from axillary buds. The dormancy versus outgrowth fates of buds depends on genetic, environmental and hormonal signals. Defoliation inhibits bud outgrowth indicating the role of leaf-derived metabolic factors such as sucrose in bud outgrowth. In this study, the sensitivity of bud outgrowth to selective defoliation was investigated. At 6 d after planting (6 DAP), the first two leaves of sorghum were fully expanded and the third was partially emerged. Therefore, the leaves were selectively defoliated at 6 DAP and the length of the bud in the first leaf axil was measured at 8 DAP. Bud outgrowth was inhibited by defoliation of only 2 cm from the tip of the second leaf blade. The expression of dormancy and sucrose-starvation marker genes was up-regulated and cell cycle and sucrose-inducible genes was down-regulated during the first 24 h post-defoliation of the second leaf. At 48 h, the expression of these genes was similar to controls as the defoliated plant recovers. Our results demonstrate that small changes in photosynthetic leaf area affect the propensity of tiller buds for outgrowth. Therefore, variation in leaf area and photosynthetic activity should be included when integrating sucrose into models of shoot branching.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11992576,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Dendritic cell susceptibility to hepatitis C virus genotype 1 infection.\nIn vitro infection of human monocyte-derived dendritic cells was carried out to study their susceptibility to hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Immature dendritic cells and mature dendritic cells were incubated overnight at 37 degrees C with HCV-positive (genotype 1) serum samples; the presence of the viral genome associated with the production of its replicative intermediate was used as evidence of infection. In immature dendritic cells, HCV RNA was detectable from days 1-10 post-infection (p.i.), and de novo synthesis of negative-strand HCV RNA could be demonstrated by a strand-specific rTth reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction at day 2. In mature dendritic cells, the positive-strand form was detectable from days 1-5 p.i., while the negative-strand HCV RNA appeared at days 1 and 2 p.i. Quasispecies present in the inoculum and 6 days p.i. were analyzed by sequencing hypervariable region 1 of the E2 protein. Only two of seven HVR variants present in the inoculum were found in HCV-infected immature dendritic cells. Another two HVR variants not found in the inoculum were recovered from infected immature dendritic cells, suggesting serum minor variants selection or virus evolution during in vitro replication. Analysis by single-strand conformation polymorphism assay of 5' untranslated region of HCV sequences showed that the patterns obtained from the inoculum and infected immature dendritic cells and mature dendritic cells differed slightly. These findings indicate that both immature dendritic cells and mature dendritic cells are susceptible to HCV genotype 1 infection, supporting at least HCV RNA replication. This model should be a valuable tool for the study of modulation of dendritic cell functions in HCV infection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7927181,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Experimental study on carcinogenesis by human papillomavirus type 8 E7 gene].\nHuman papillomavirus (HPV) 5 and HPV8 are often detected in skin cancers developed in patients suffering from epidermodysplasia verruciformis, as well as in skin cancers developed in immunosuppressed patients. In the present study, in order to examine the transforming activity of the HPV8E7 gene, the HPV8E7 and HPV8E6\/E7 genes were cloned into the expression vector (pcD2-Y), under the SV40 enhancer\/promoter to construct pcD2-8E7 and pcD2-8E6\/E7, respectively. The E7 and E6\/E7 genes of genital high-risk HPV16 were also cloned into pcD2-Y to construct pcD2-16E7 and pcD2-16E6\/E7, respectively. They were tested for their ability to collaboratively transform primary rat embryo fibroblasts (REFs) with activated H-ras gene. Transfection experiments of REFs having an activated H-ras gene revealed that pcD2-8E7, as well as pcD2-16E7 and pcD2-16E6\/E7, induced transformation of cells in G418-resistant colonies at efficiencies of 11.9%, 43.0% and 53.0%, respectively. Transformed cell lines induced by activated H-ras gene and pcD2-8E7 or pcD2-16E7 were named 8RE and 16RE cell lines, respectively. Tumor induction in syngeneic newborn rats by injected the 8RE cells was higher than that of the 16RE cells. In cytological and histological examination, the 8RE cell lines and their induced tumors were different from the 16RE cell lines and their induced tumors. The 8RE cell lines showed the characteristic transformation with efficient growth ability on plastic and colony formation in 0.3% soft agar. These results support the hypothesis that the HPV8E7 gene plays an important role in the carcinogenesis of skin cancers.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30096103,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"SPONTANEOUS CLOSURE OF MACULAR HOLE IN A PATIENT WITH MACULAR TELANGIECTASIA TYPE 2.\nTo present a case of macular hole associated with macular telangiectasia Type 2 (Mac-Tel 2) which underwent spontaneous closure. A 58-year-old woman is admitted with complaints of blurred and distorted vision. Optical coherence tomography, fundus autofluorescence, and optical coherence tomography angiography were performed for diagnosis and follow-up. Optical coherence tomography revealed hyporeflective cavitations in both eyes, and full-thickness macular hole covered with internal limiting membrane drape in the left eye. Fundus autofluorescence showed loss of hypoautofluorescence in temporal parafoveal area in the right eye, and centrally in the left one. Vascular irregularities were detected in optical coherence tomography angiography images. The patient was diagnosed as Mac-Tel 2. During the follow-up, the macular hole underwent a process of spontaneous closure, starting as bridging at the level of external limiting membrane and outer nuclear layer followed by further repairment and organization of the outer plexiform layer, accompanied with visual gain. Spontaneous closure of macular hole in patients with Mac-Tel 2 is a rare entity. We hypothesize that extension or proliferation of Muller cells, which leads to reconstruction of normal foveal structure, is the main mechanism for this phenomenon.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23878238,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Role of methyl-induced polarization in ion binding.\nThe chemical property of methyl groups that renders them indispensable to biomolecules is their hydrophobicity. Quantum mechanical studies undertaken here to understand the effect of point substitutions on potassium (K-) channels illustrate quantitatively how methyl-induced polarization also contributes to biomolecular function. K- channels regulate transmembrane salt concentration gradients by transporting K(+) ions selectively. One of the K(+) binding sites in the channel's selectivity filter, the S4 site, also binds Ba(2+) ions, which blocks K(+) transport. This inhibitory property of Ba(2+) ions has been vital in understanding K-channel mechanism. In most K-channels, the S4 site is composed of four threonine amino acids. The K channels that carry serine instead of threonine are significantly less susceptible to Ba(2+) block and have reduced stabilities. We find that these differences can be explained by the lower polarizability of serine compared with threonine, because serine carries one less branched methyl group than threonine. A T\u2192S substitution in the S4 site reduces its polarizability, which, in turn, reduces ion binding by several kilocalories per mole. Although the loss in binding affinity is high for Ba(2+), the loss in K(+) binding affinity is also significant thermodynamically, which reduces channel stability. These results highlight, in general, how biomolecular function can rely on the polarization induced by methyl groups, especially those that are proximal to charged moieties, including ions, titratable amino acids, sulfates, phosphates, and nucleotides.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11981713,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Esophageal melanotic schwannoma presenting with superior vena caval obstruction.\nA rare tumor with an unusual presentation can pose a diagnostic and management dilemma. In this paper, we will discuss the management of a 47-year-old lady with melanotic schwanoma of the esophagus who presented with superior vena caval obstruction. The initial histological diagnosis of esophageal metastatic malignant melanoma did not corroborate the clinical and operative findings. Further evaluation revealed positivity for HMB45, S-100 protein, and vimentin, and confirmed the diagnosis of melanotic schwannoma.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37465096,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Time-distance vision transformers in lung cancer diagnosis from longitudinal computed tomography.\nFeatures learned from single radiologic images are unable to provide information about whether and how much a lesion may be changing over time. Time-dependent features computed from repeated images can capture those changes and help identify malignant lesions by their temporal behavior. However, longitudinal medical imaging presents the unique challenge of sparse, irregular time intervals in data acquisition. While self-attention has been shown to be a versatile and efficient learning mechanism for time series and natural images, its potential for interpreting temporal distance between sparse, irregularly sampled spatial features has not been explored. In this work, we propose two interpretations of a time-distance vision transformer (ViT) by using (1) vector embeddings of continuous time and (2) a temporal emphasis model to scale self-attention weights. The two algorithms are evaluated based on benign versus malignant lung cancer discrimination of synthetic pulmonary nodules and lung screening computed tomography studies from the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST). Experiments evaluating the time-distance ViTs on synthetic nodules show a fundamental improvement in classifying irregularly sampled longitudinal images when compared to standard ViTs. In cross-validation on screening chest CTs from the NLST, our methods (0.785 and 0.786 AUC respectively) significantly outperform a cross-sectional approach (0.734 AUC) and match the discriminative performance of the leading longitudinal medical imaging algorithm (0.779 AUC) on benign versus malignant classification. This work represents the first self-attention-based framework for classifying longitudinal medical images. Our code is available at https:\/\/github.com\/tom1193\/time-distance-transformer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29560452,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-18":1}}},"text":"Benefits of mass customized products: moderating role of product involvement and fashion innovativeness.\nThe objective of this study was to explore impacts and benefits of mass customized products on emotional product attachment, favorable attitudes toward a mass customization program, and the ongoing effect on loyalty intentions. This study further investigated how benefits, attachment, attitudes, and loyalty intentions differed as a function of involvement and fashion innovativeness. 290 female online shoppers in South Korea participated in an online survey. Results of this study revealed that perceived benefits positively influenced emotional product attachment and attitudes toward a mass customization program. In addition, attachment positively influenced attitudes, which in turn affected loyalty intentions. This study also found that benefits, attachment, attitudes, and loyalty intentions were all higher in highly involved consumers (high fashion innovators) than those in less involved consumers (low fashion innovators). This study concludes with theoretical and practical implications for mass customization programs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35368570,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Provision of Kidney Disease Education Service Is Associated with Improved Vascular Access Outcomes among US Incident Hemodialysis Patients.\nPre-ESKD Kidney Disease Education (KDE) has been shown to improve multiple CKD outcomes, but its effect on vascular access outcomes is not well studied. In 2010, Medicare launched KDE reimbursements policy for patients with advanced CKD. In this retrospective USRDS analysis, we identified all adult patients on incident hemodialysis with \u22656 months of pre-ESKD Medicare coverage during the first 5 years of CMS-KDE policy and divided them into CMS-KDE services recipients (KDE cohort) and nonrecipients (non-KDE cohort). The primary outcome was incident arteriovenous fistula (AVF) and the composite of incident AVF or arteriovenous graft (AVG) utilization. Secondary outcomes were central venous catheter (CVC) with maturing AVF\/AVG and pure CVC utilizations. Step-wise multivariate analyses were performed in four progressive models (model 1, KDE alone; model 2, multivariate model encompassing model 1 with sociodemographics; model 3, model 2 with comorbidity and functional status; and model 4, model 3 with pre-ESKD nephrology care). Of the 211,990 qualifying patients on incident hemodialysis during the study period, 2887 (1%) received KDE services before dialysis initiation. The rates of incident AVF and composite AVF\/AVG were more than double (30% and 35%, respectively, compared with 14% and 17%), and pure catheter use about a third lower (40% compared with 65%) in the KDE cohort compared with the non-KDE cohort. The maximally adjusted odds ratios in model 4 for study outcomes were incident AVF use, 1.78, 99% confidence interval, 1.55 to 2.05; incident AVF\/AVG use, 1.78, 99% confidence interval, 1.56 to 2.03; incident CVC with maturing AVF\/AVG, 1.69, 99% confidence interval, 1.44 to 1.97; and pure CVC without any AVF\/AVG, 0.51, 99% confidence interval, 0.45 to 0.58. The benefits of the KDE service were maintained even after accounting for the presence, duration, and facility of ESKD care. The occurrence of pre-ESRD KDE service is associated with significantly improved incident vascular access outcomes. Targeted studies are needed to examine the effect of KDE on patient engagement and self-efficacy as a cause for improvement in vascular access outcomes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19034803,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Personality traits measured by the Swedish universities Scales of Personality: factor structure and position within the five-factor model in an Estonian sample.\nThe study aims to test the reliability and validity of the Estonian version of the Swedish universities Scales of Personality (SSP), and to characterize the position of the SSP-measured traits within the basic personality dimensions of the five-factor model. A total of 529 participants completed the Estonian version of the SSP. A subsample of 197 persons completed the SSP together with the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R). The internal consistency of the SSP scales was satisfactory. Principal component analysis yielded three factors representing neuroticism, aggression and disinhibition. The factor solution obtained in the Estonian sample was similar to the original SSP study in the Swedish normative sample. NEO-PI-R Neuroticism had highest correlations with SSP neuroticism factor scales. Extraversion had strongest relationship with adventure seeking and low detachment. Agreeableness correlated positively with SSP social desirability and negatively to aggression-irritability scales. Conscientiousness facet Deliberation correlated with Impulsiveness. The Estonian SSP showed acceptable reliability and validity, which confirms that SSP is applicable in different social and cultural background. The SSP measures traits that correspond to the major personality models. The SSP characterizes three broad dimensions of personality, namely neuroticism, disinhibition and aggression, which are useful in assessment of personality correlates of mental disorders.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28275609,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"The Domains of Human Nutrition: The Importance of Nutrition Education in Academia and Medical Schools.\nHuman nutrition encompasses an extremely broad range of medical, social, commercial, and ethical domains and thus represents a wide, interdisciplinary scientific and cultural discipline. The high prevalence of both disease-related malnutrition and overweight\/obesity represents an important risk factor for disease burden and mortality worldwide. It is the opinion of Federation of the Italian Nutrition Societies (FeSIN) that these two sides of the same coin, with their sociocultural background, are related to a low \"nutritional culture\" secondary, at least in part, to an insufficient academic training for health-care professionals (HCPs). Therefore, FeSIN created a study group, composed of delegates of all the federated societies and representing the different HCPs involved in human nutrition, with the aim of identifying and defining the domains of human nutrition in the attempt to more clearly define the cultural identity of human nutrition in an academically and professionally oriented perspective and to report the conclusions in a position paper. Three main domains of human nutrition, namely, basic nutrition, applied nutrition, and clinical nutrition, were identified. FeSIN has examined the areas of knowledge pertinent to human nutrition. Thirty-two items were identified, attributed to one or more of the three domains and ranked considering their diverse importance for academic training in the different domains of human nutrition. Finally, the study group proposed the attribution of the different areas of knowledge to the degree courses where training in human nutrition is deemed necessary (e.g., schools of medicine, biology, nursing, etc.). It is conceivable that, in the near future, a better integration of the professionals involved in the field of human nutrition will eventually occur based on the progressive consolidation of knowledge, competence, and skills in the different areas and domains of this discipline.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29382387,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Hospital costs associated with psychiatric comorbidities: a retrospective study.\nPsychiatric comorbidities are relevant for the diagnostic and therapeutic regimes in somatic hospital care. The main aim of this study was to analyse the association between psychiatric comorbidities and hospital costs per inpatient episode. A further aim was to discuss and address the methodological challenges in the estimation of these outcomes based on retrospective data. The study included 338,162 inpatient episodes consecutively discharged between 2011 and 2014 at a German university hospital. We used detailed resource use data to calculate day-specific hospital costs. We adjusted analyses for sex, age, somatic comorbidities and main diagnoses. We addressed potential time-related bias in retrospective diagnosis data with sensitivity analyses. Psychiatric comorbidities were associated with an increase in hospital costs per episode of 40% and an increase of reimbursement per episode of 28%, representing marginal effects of 1344 \u20ac and 1004 \u20ac, respectively. After controlling for length of stay, sensitivity analyses provided a lower bound increase in daily costs and reimbursement of 207 \u20ac and 151 \u20ac, respectively. If differences in hospital costs between patient groups are not adequately accounted for in DRG-systems, perverse incentives are created that can reduce the efficiency of care. Therefore, we suggest intensifying the inclusion of psychiatric comorbidities in the German DRG system. Future research should investigate the appropriate inclusion of psychiatric comorbidities in other health care systems' payment schemes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30662577,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Targeting mTOR in Glioblastoma: Rationale and Preclinical\/Clinical Evidence.\nThe mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) drives several physiologic and pathologic cellular processes and is frequently deregulated in different types of tumors, including glioblastoma (GBM). Despite recent advancements in understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in GBM biology, the survival rates of this tumor are still disappointing, primarily due to the lack of efficacious treatments. The phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN)\/phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)\/protein kinase B (AKT)\/mTOR pathway has emerged as a crucial player in GBM development and progression. However, to date, all the attempts to target this pathway with PI3K, AKT, or mTORC1 inhibitors failed to improve the outcome of patients with GBM. Despite these discouraging results, recent evidence pointed out that the blockade of mTORC2 might provide a useful therapeutic strategy for GBM, with the potential to overcome the limitations that mTORC1 inhibitors have shown so far. In this review, we analyzed the rationale of targeting mTOR in GBM and the available preclinical and clinical evidence supporting the choice of this therapeutic approach, highlighting the different roles of mTORC1 and mTORC2 in GBM biology.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32588994,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"In Situ Synthesized Particulates on a Zirconia Ceramic Surface and Their Effect on Bonding to Porcelain.\nTo explore the effect of in situ synthesized particulates on a zirconia surface on the bonding properties between zirconia and porcelain. Presintered yttrium-stabilized tetragonal zirconia (Y-TZP) was cut into slices and bars and polished with 1,200-grit silicon carbide abrasive paper. Samples were randomly divided into six groups (C, I1, I3, I5, I7, and I9) according to immersion time in hydrofluoric acid solution (0, 10, 30, 50, 70, and 90 seconds, respectively). Then, the samples were placed in calcium chloride solution for 90 seconds and dipped in sodium hydroxide solution at 80\u00b0C for 2 hours. After sintering, the surface topography and roughness were examined. After the porcelain was fired, the bonding interface was observed, and cross-sectional microhardness was measured. The shear bond strength of the zirconia to porcelain was evaluated, and failure modes were classified. A 3-point bending test was applied to confirm the effects of the treatment on the mechanical properties. The above data were statistically analyzed. Polycrystalline particulates were synthesized on the zirconia surface. The surface roughness values increased as the immersion time of the samples in hydrofluoric acid increased. The cross-sectional microhardness decreased gradually in the experimental groups. Group I7 showed an elevated bond strength (27.02 \u00b1 2.44 MPa). Mainly mixed failure mode was obtained in the experimental groups. The Weibull characteristic strength for the experimental groups was higher than that of group C. The flexural strengths were not significantly different among the groups. In situ synthesized polycrystalline particulates on zirconia could effectively improve the bonding between zirconia ceramics and porcelain without significantly decreasing the mechanical properties.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26470540,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Research Progress in Norovirus Bioaccumulation in Shellfish].\nNoroviruses (NoVs) are one of the most important foodborne viral pathogens worldwide. Shellfish are the most common carriers of NoVs as they can concentrate and accumulate large amounts of the virus through filter feeding from seawater. Shellfish may selectively accumulate NoVs with different genotypes, and this bioaccumulation may depend on the season and location. Our previous studies found various histo-blood group antigens (HBGAs) in shellfish tissues. While HBGAs might be the main reason that NoVs are accumulated in shellfish, the detailed mechanism behind NoV concentration and bioaccumulation in shellfish is not clear. Here we review current research into NoV bioaccumulation, tissue distribution, seasonal variation, and binding mechanism in shellfish. This paper may provide insight into controlling NoV transmission and decreasing the risks associated with shellfish consumption.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29374515,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of ganoderic acid D on colon cancer Warburg effect: Role of SIRT3\/cyclophilin D.\nGanoderic acid D (GAD) is a highly oxygenated tetracyclic triterpenoid. This study aims to assess the effects of GAD on the energy metabolism of colon cancer through the regulation of SIRT3 expression and whether this effect is related to acetylated cyclophilin D. The results demonstrated that GAD inhibits the energy reprogramming of colon cancer cells including glucose uptake, lactate production, pyruvate and acetyl-coenzyme production in colon cancer cells. Meanwhile, GAD upregulated the protein expression of SIRT3. Furthermore, the interruption of SIRT3 expression significantly reversed all the effects of SIRT3 on the energy reprogramming of colon cancer. In addition, GAD induced the deacetylated cyclophilin D (CypD) by SIRT3, whereas SIRT3-shRNA inhibited its combining effect on CypD. The energy reprogramming effects of GAD on colon cancer seem to be mediated by SIRT3 upregulation via acetylated CypD inhibition.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28535761,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"The emerging role of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance in the evaluation of hypertensive heart disease.\nArterial hypertension is the commonest cause of cardiovascular death. It may lead to hypertensive heart disease (HHD), including heart failure (HF), ischemic heart disease (IHD) and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). According to the 2007 ESH\/ESC guidelines, the recommended imaging technique is echocardiography (echo), when a more sensitive detection of LVH than that provided by ECG, is needed. Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (CMR), a non-invasive, non-radiating technique, offers the following advantages, beyond echo: a) more reliable and reproducible measurements of cardiac parameters such as volumes, ejection fraction and cardiac mass b) more accurate differentiation of LVH etiology by providing information about tissue characterisation c) more accurate evaluation of myocardial ischemia, specifically if small vessels disease is present d) technique of choice for diagnosis of renovascular, aortic tree\/branches lesions and quantification of aortic valve regurgitation e) technique of choice for treatment evaluation in clinical trials. The superiority of CMR against echocardiography in terms of reproducibility, operator independency, unrestricted field of view and capability of tissue characterization makes the technique ideal for evaluation of heart, quantification of aortic valve regurgitation, aorta and aortic branches. CMR has a great potential in early diagnosis, risk stratification and treatment follow up of HHD. However, an international consensus about CMR in HHD, taking under consideration the cost-benefit ratio, expertise and availability, is still warranted.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7947760,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Secondary structure of the ETS domain places murine Ets-1 in the superfamily of winged helix-turn-helix DNA-binding proteins.\nThe members of the ets gene family of transcription factors are characterized by a conserved 85-residue DNA-binding region, termed the ETS domain, that lacks sequence homology to structurally characterized DNA-binding motifs. The secondary structure of the ETS domain of murine Ets-1 was determined on the basis of NMR chemical shifts, NOE and J-coupling constraints, amide hydrogen exchange, circular dichroism, and FT-IR spectroscopy. The ETS domain is composed of three alpha-helices (H) and four beta-strands (S) arranged in the order H1-S1-S2-H2-H3-S3-S4. The four-stranded antiparallel beta-sheet is the scaffold for a putative helix-turn-helix DNA recognition motif formed by helices 2 and 3. The 25 residues extending beyond the ETS domain to the native C-terminus of the truncated Ets-1 also contain a helical segment. On the basis of the similarity of this topology with that of catabolite activator protein (CAP), heat shock factor (HSF), and hepatocyte nuclear factor (HNF-3 gamma), we propose that ets proteins are members of the superfamily of winged helix-turn-helix DNA-binding proteins.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22696867,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Isolated oculomotor nerve palsy in a white-eyed patient with dural carotid-cavernous sinus fistulas: a case report.\nThe study reported a woman with dural carotid-cavernous sinus fistulas (CCFs) who presented with a unilateral white-eyed appearance, and painful oculomotor nerve palsy with pupillary involvement. After cerebral angiography, which revealed posterior drainage of the fistulas, the dural CCFs closed, the oculomotor nerve palsy subsided spontaneously and no recurrence occurred throughout the 2-year follow-up. Dural CCFs should be kept in mind when patients present with painful oculomotor nerve palsy. Moreover, cerebral angiography remains the standard diagnostic method and fistulas may close spontaneously following this procedure.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27253774,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Estimating Gait Stability: Asymmetrical Loading Effects Measured Using Margin of Stability and Local Dynamic Stability.\nChanges to intersegmental locomotor control patterns may affect body stability. Our study aimed to (a) characterize upper body dynamic stability in response to the unilateral addition of mass to the lower extremity and (b) evaluate the efficacy of 2 different stability measures commonly used in the literature to detect resulting symmetrical step pattern modifications across the weighted segments (spatial) and between epochs of the gait cycle (temporal). Young adults walked on a treadmill while unloaded or with weights applied unilaterally to their foot, shank, or thigh. Both margin of stability and local dynamic stability (LDS) estimates detected similar trends of distal segment weighting resulting in more unstable upper body movement compared to proximal weighting; however only LDS detected anteroposterior changes in upper body stability over time.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31265075,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mortality of midlife women with surgically verified endometriosis-a cohort study including 2.5 million person-years of observation.\nIs all-cause and cause-specific mortality increased among women with surgically verified endometriosis? The all-cause and cause-specific mortality in midlife was lower throughout the follow-up among women with surgically verified endometriosis compared to the reference cohort. Endometriosis has been associated with an increased risk of comorbidities such as certain cancers and cardiovascular diseases. These diseases are also common causes of death; however, little is known about the mortality of women with endometriosis. A nationwide retrospective cohort study of women with surgically verified diagnosis of endometriosis was compared to the reference cohort in Finland (1987-2012). Follow-up ended at death or 31 December 2014. During the median follow-up of 17 years, 2.5 million person-years accumulated. Forty-nine thousand nine hundred and fifty-six women with at least one record of surgically verified diagnosis of endometriosis in the Finnish Hospital Discharge Register between 1987 and 2012 were compared to a reference cohort of 98 824 age- and municipality-matched women. The age (mean \u00b1 standard deviation) of the endometriosis cohort was 36.4 \u00b1 9.0 and 53.6 \u00b1 12.1 years at the beginning and at the end of the follow-up, respectively. By using the Poisson regression models the crude and adjusted all-cause and cause-specific mortality rate ratios (MRR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were assessed. Calendar time, age, time since the start of follow-up, educational level, and parity adjusted were considered in the multivariate analyses. A total of 1656 and 4291 deaths occurred in the endometriosis and reference cohorts, respectively. A lower all-cause mortality was observed for the endometriosis cohort (adjusted MRR, 0.73 [95% CI 0.69 to 0.77])-there were four deaths less per 1000 women over 10 years. A lower cause-specific mortality contributed to this: the adjusted MRR was 0.88 (95% CI 0.81 to 0.96) for any cancer and 0.55 (95% CI 0.47 to 0.65) for cardiovascular diseases, including 0.52 (95% CI 0.42 to 0.64) for ischemic heart disease and 0.60 (95% CI 0.47 to 0.76) for cerebrovascular disease. Mortality due to alcohol, accidents and violence, respiratory, and digestive disease-related causes was also decreased. These results are limited to women with endometriosis diagnosed by surgery. In addition, the study does not extend into the oldest age groups. The results might be explained by the characteristics and factors related to women's lifestyle, and\/or increased medical attention and care received, rather than the disease itself. These reassuring data are valuable to women with endometriosis and to their health care providers. Nonetheless, more studies are needed to address the causality. This research was funded by the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa and The Finnish Medical Foundation. None of the authors report any competing interest in relation to the present work; all the authors have completed the disclosure form.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29552989,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"At the Crossroads Between Neurodegeneration and Cancer: A Review of Overlapping Biology and Its Implications.\nA growing body of epidemiologic evidence suggests that neurodegenerative diseases occur less frequently in cancer survivors, and vice versa. While unusual, this inverse comorbidity is biologically plausible and could be explained, in part, by the evolutionary tradeoffs made by neurons and cycling cells to optimize the performance of their very different functions. The two cell types utilize the same proteins and pathways in different, and sometimes opposite, ways. However, cancer and neurodegeneration also share many pathophysiological features. In this review, we compare three overlapping aspects of neurodegeneration and cancer. First, we contrast the priorities and tradeoffs of dividing cells and neurons and how these manifest in disease. Second, we consider the hallmarks of biological aging that underlie both neurodegeneration and cancer. Finally, we utilize information from genetic databases to outline specific genes and pathways common to both diseases. We argue that a detailed understanding of the biologic and genetic relationships between cancer and neurodegeneration can guide future efforts in designing disease-modifying therapeutic interventions. Lastly, strategies that target aging may prevent or delay both conditions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11984460,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Myocardial infarction: nursing responsibilities in the first hour.\nThe aim of this article is to provide a comprehensive review of the physiological processes that occur during the first hour following a myocardial infarction (MI). It will identify the general principles and the physiological processes that occur in response to a MI, outlining the consequences of cellular hypoxia to the heart. The implications for clinical practice and how they link to the physiological processes are detailed. Understanding the physiological principles involved in a MI is important for identification and to ensure patient management is initiated. This, together with prompt diagnosis and interventions, will assist in reducing mortality within the first hour following a MI.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34245227,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Bayesian meta-analysis using SAS PROC BGLIMM.\nMeta-analysis is commonly used to compare two treatments. Network meta-analysis (NMA) is a powerful extension for comparing and contrasting multiple treatments simultaneously in a systematic review of multiple clinical trials. Although the practical utility of meta-analysis is apparent, it is not always straightforward to implement, especially for those interested in a Bayesian approach. This paper demonstrates that the recently-developed SAS procedure BGLIMM provides an intuitive and computationally efficient means for conducting Bayesian meta-analysis in SAS, using a worked example of a smoking cessation NMA data set. BGLIMM gives practitioners an effective and simple way to implement Bayesian meta-analysis (pairwise and network, either contrast-based or arm-based) without requiring significant background in coding or statistical modeling. Those familiar with generalized linear mixed models, and especially the SAS procedure GLIMMIX, will find this tutorial a useful introduction to Bayesian meta-analysis in SAS.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7950024,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"HYCONES II: a tool to build hybrid connectionist expert systems.\nThis paper describes HYCONES II--a tool to enable the construction of hybrid connectionist expert systems to solve classification problems. HYCONES II offers to the knowledge engineer a hybrid knowledge base that integrates frames with three different neural network models: the combinatorial neural model--CNM, the Fuzzy ARTMAP and the Semantic ART--SMART models. The latter is a new model, introduced by this paper, based on a combination of the two previous models. The validation section compares the performance of these three neural models to solve diagnostic problems in two medical domains. This paper also presents HYCONES II knowledge representation features, built in the symbolic component of its hybrid knowledge-base, to deal and represent fuzzy medical variables. Finally, the present status and future developments of the project are presented.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35359610,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Synergistic Effect of Quercetin Magnetite Nanoparticles and Targeted Radiotherapy in Treatment of Breast Cancer.\nQuercetin is a potent cancer therapeutic agent present in fruits and vegetables. The pharmaceutical uses of quercetin are limited due to many problems associated with low solubility, bioavailability, permeability, and instability. In addition, the high doses of quercetin show toxic effects in clinical and experimental studies. Therefore, a new strategy is warranted to overcome these problems without the use of toxic doses. The iron oxide nanoparticles can be used as a drug delivery system. This study aimed to prepare quercetin-conjugated magnetite nanoparticles (QMNPs) using biological simple nanoprecipitation and mediated by fungus Aspergillus oryzae. Also, we initiated in vitro and in vivo studies to determine whether QMNPs might sensitize breast cancer to radiotherapy treatment. The structural, morphological, and magnetic properties of the prepared nanoparticles were studied. The results indicated that QMNPs were spherical in shape and 40 nm in diameter. The in vitro studies showed that the incubation of MCF-7, HePG-2, and A459 cancer cells with QMNPs for 24 h effectively inhibited the growth of cancer cell lines in a concentration-dependent manner with IC50 values of 11, 77.5, and104 nmol\/mL, respectively. The combination of QMNPs with irradiation (IR) potently blocked MCF-7 cancer cell proliferation and showed significant changes in the morphology of these cells as observed by bright-field inverted light microscopy. Focusing on the long-term toxicity of QMNPs (20 ml\/kg), the assessment of hematological, hepatic, and renal markers indicated no toxic effect. Besides, QMNPs inhibited tumor growth and potently enhanced the lateral radiotherapy treatment in N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU)-induced breast cancer in female white albino rats. These anticancer and radiosensitizing activities were ascribed to cytotoxicity, cell cycle arrest, immunomodulation, and efficiency through induction of apoptosis. In a conclusion, these observations suggest that the QMNPs combined with LRT could act as a potential targeted therapy in breast cancer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37468717,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-26":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Standardization of radiograph readings during bowel management week.\nDuring \"bowel management week,\" abdominal radiographs are used to monitor the amount and location of stool. A radiologist familiar with the treatment plan can provide an improved interpretation. The goal of this paper is to standardize the radiological reports during a bowel management week. We saw 744 patients during bowel management week from May 2016 until March 2023. Diagnosis included: anorectal malformation (397), idiopathic constipation (180), Hirschsprung disease (89), and spina bifida (78). Laxatives were the treatment for 51% of patients, and 49% received enemas. Characteristic radiographs were selected for each treatment group for a proposed reading standardization. When the stool is visualized, it is crucial to report its location. Having a contrast enema helps with the correct interpretation of the colonic anatomy. It is also essential to always compare the amount of stool with the radiograph from the previous day to determine if there is an increase or decrease in stool. Examples of radiographs are shown to guide the use of the preferred proposed terminology. Providing information regarding which treatment modality the patient is receiving and stating that a patient is on a bowel management week treatment is crucial for the radiologist to provide adequate interpretation. The radiologist must be familiar with the treatment goals and purpose of the daily radiograph.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32351270,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Less frequent cardiac and extracardiac findings during 99mTc-methoxyisobutylisonitrile myocardial perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography with radiological correlates.\nMyocardial perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) as a common imaging procedure in nuclear medicine laboratories may encompass findings in the heart or beyond it, in the thorax or abdomen, which may be related or unrelated to the symptoms of the patients. Sometimes, these findings may be discovered incidentally. In the present article, it is aimed to present some less frequent cardiac and extracardiac findings including radiolabeled emboli, transposition of great arteries, breast prosthesis, breast tissue uptake, pericardial effusion, hiatal hernia, hepatocellular carcinoma, ascites, aortic aneurysm, splenomegaly, and polycystic kidney disease during 99mTc-methoxyisobutylisonitrile myocardial perfusion SPECT with their radiological correlates.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37840353,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"White-rot fungus Phlebia floridensis ITM 12: Laccase production, oxidoreductase profile, and hydrogen-peroxide independent activity.\nPhlebia genus is a relevant group of fungi with a crucial role in numerous ecosystems. In tropical and subtropical areas this genus allows the efficient degradation of lignin and carbon recovery; however, the majority of these fungal species remain undiscovered. The main purpose of this work was to determine the enzymatic activity of extracellular proteins of a novel Phlebia floridensis strain isolated in Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. The results that are reported here demonstrate that the soluble protein extract of P. floridensis can degrade a broad spectrum of recalcitrant compounds. This induced protein extract is able to modify not only phenolic and nonphenolic compounds, but also anthroquinone dyes, even without the addition of exogenous hydrogen peroxide. Using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), we were able to identify a novel chloroperoxidase in enzymatic extract. As far as we know, this is the first report about the presence of this type of enzyme in the Phlebia genus.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14557485,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Enhanced expression of nicotinamide N-methyltransferase in human papillary thyroid carcinoma cells.\nTo gain an understanding of the molecular pathogenesis of thyroid cancer, we used DNA microarray to study the expression profiles of 10 different human thyroid carcinoma cell lines. These included papillary lines BHP 2-7, BHP 7-13, BHP 10-3, BHP 18-21, NPA 87, and TPC1; anaplastic lines ARO 81-1 and DRO 90-1; follicular line WRO 82-1; and medullary line HRO 85-1. Among the genes with increased expression in the cancer cell lines, a gene coding for nicotinamide N-methyltransferase (NNMT) was identified for being highly expressed only in the papillary cell lines. NNMT catalyzes N-methylation of nicotinamide and other structurally related compounds and is highly expressed in the human liver. The results were further confirmed by semiquantitative RT-PCR and Northern blot analysis. NNMT catalytic activities were determined in all of the cells described above and in additional cell lines. Significantly higher NNMT enzyme activities were detected in eight of 10 of the papillary lines and three of six of the follicular cell lines tested. Normal thyroid tissue, thyroid primary cultures, anaplastic cancer cells, and medullary cancer cells showed no or low enzyme activity. Immunohistochemical staining for NNMT of human thyroid specimens showed strong and abundant cytoplasmic reactions in the sections of papillary carcinomas, and weak or scanty reaction in the normal thyroid tissues. These results indicate that NNMT is a potential biomarker for papillary thyroid carcinoma.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35344054,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Efficacy and safety of CARTIGROW\u00ae in patients with articular cartilage defects of the knee joint: a four year prospective studys.\nResearch shows autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) is a promising treatment for articular cartilage lesions. In this study, we assessed mid-term efficacy and safety of gel-based ACI or autologous adult live cultured chondrocytes (CARTIGROW\u00ae) implantation in patients with cartilage defects of the knee joint. In this prospective, open-label study, patients (19-38 years) with focal, international cartilage repair society grade III or IV articular cartilage defects of the knee joint were enroled at four centres across India from April 2015 to September 2015. Punch biopsy was conducted to harvest cartilage, from which chondrocytes were isolated and cultured, and the characterised chondrocytes were implanted into the cartilage defect. Key efficacy outcomes were assessed by quantitative changes in international knee documentation committee (IKDC), visual analogue scale (VAS) scores, and qualitative changes in magnetic resonance imaging at six months and four years from baseline. Of the14 patients enroled in the study, all patients completed the six month follow-up and 11 completed the four year follow-up. The IKDC score improved significantly from 32.84 \u00b1 9.25 at baseline to 67.49 \u00b1 13.03 at six months (mean difference [MD] 34.66 \u00b1 13.00, p < 0.0001) and to 60.18 \u00b1 10.33 at four years (MD 28.21 \u00b1 15.14, p = 0.0001). The VAS score reduced from 72.00 \u00b1 14.40 at baseline to 16.64 \u00b1 17.03 at six months (MD 55.36 \u00b1 24.50, p < 0.0001) and further to 12.72 \u00b1 9.05 at four years (MD 62.09 \u00b1 10.66, p < 0.0001). All patients showed improvement on MRI of the knee joint. No adverse events were reported. Autologous adult live cultured chondrocytes (CARTIGROW\u00ae) implantation showed good mid-term efficacy in patients with cartilage defects of the knee joint with no side-effects.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17889576,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Femoral mononeuropathy caused by a malignant sarcoma: two case reports.\nA 9-year old miniature poodle and a 6-year old American Staffordshire terrier were evaluated for slowly progressive lameness and atrophy of the left pelvic limb. Neurological examinations of both animals were consistent with femoral nerve lesions. In both cases, neoplastic masses were identified within the left psoas muscle, invading the left femoral nerve or, in one case, its nerve roots. Ultrasound-guided fine needle aspirate and histopathological examination of the masses revealed that these were malignant sarcomas. Femoral mononeuropathies are very rare in dogs, and most descriptions of femoral nerve lesions are caused by traumatic injuries. Descriptions of neoplastic processes affecting the femoral nerve are limited to peripheral nerve sheath tumours (PNST). These cases provide the first descriptions of malignant neoplasms other than PNSTs that infiltrate the femoral nerve or its nerve roots and cause unilateral femoral mononeuropathy and lameness of obscure origin.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8354566,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Atypical salmonellosis: two cases of sacroiliitis.\nTwo young adult males presented with fever, severe pain, redness, swelling over the left sacroiliac joint and inability to walk and squat. A differential diagnosis of tuberculous sacroiliitis was considered. On blood culture isolation of S. Typhi in both of them was suggestive of sacroiliitis of salmonella etiology. They recovered completely following specific antibiotic therapy, aspirin and bed rest. At recovery both showed extremely high Widal titres.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11988087,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Characterization of a murine gene encoding a developmentally regulated cytoplasmic dual-specificity mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphatase.\nMitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) play a vital role in cellular growth control, but far less is known about these signalling pathways in the context of embryonic development. Duration and magnitude of MAPK activation are crucial factors in cell fate decisions, and reflect a balance between the activities of upstream activators and specific MAPK phosphatases (MKPs). Here, we report the isolation and characterization of the murine Pyst3 gene, which encodes a cytosolic dual-specificity MKP. This enzyme selectively interacts with, and is catalytically activated by, the 'classical' extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERKs) 1 and 2 and, to a lesser extent, the stress-activated MAPK p38alpha. These properties define the ability of this enzyme to dephosphorylate and inactivate ERK1\/2 and p38alpha, but not JNK (c-Jun N-terminal kinase) in vivo. When expressed in mammalian cells, the Pyst3 protein is predominantly cytoplasmic. Furthermore, leptomycin B causes a complete redistribution of the protein to the nucleus, implicating a CRM (chromosomal region maintenance)1\/exportin 1-dependent nuclear export signal in determining the subcellular localization of this enzyme. Finally, whole-mount in situ hybridization studies in mouse embryos reveal that the Pyst3 gene is expressed specifically in the placenta, developing liver and in migratory muscle cells. Our results suggest that this enzyme may have a critical role in regulating the activity of MAPK signalling during early development and organogenesis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9559066,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Chromosome diversity of the genus Aotus from Colombia.\nDescription of six Colombian karyomorphs is completed through an extensive cytogenetic characterization of 35 Aotus (owl monkeys) specimens. The description of a new karyomorph for Colombian Aotus by chromosome on Q, G, R, and C, sequential banding is included. Pairs of karyomorphs 2 and 3 and 6 and 9 with 2n of 54, and 50, respectively, as well as karyomorphs 7 and 8 with 46 and 58 chromosomes were strongly suspected to represent different species on the grounds of large karyotypic differences. A proposal for a chromosome nomenclature of Aotus karyomorphs that aims to clarify Aotus taxonomy is presented which achieves a precise correspondence of different banding patterns, based on Q, G, R, and C sequential banding and chromosome measurements. Although our contribution is not a universal nomenclature system, unique criteria for chromosome denomination within Aotus karyomorphs are established. Previous systems of chromosome nomenclature have not successfully addressed the nomenclature of chromosomes of the same karyotype.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20371824,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Membrane-associated glucocorticoid activity is necessary for modulation of long-term memory via chromatin modification.\nGlucocorticoid hormones enhance the consolidation of long-term memory of emotionally arousing training experiences. This memory enhancement requires activation of the cAMP-dependent kinase pathway and the subsequent phosphorylation of cAMP response-element binding (CREB) protein. Here, we demonstrate that glucocorticoids enhance the consolidation of hippocampus-dependent and hippocampus-independent aspects of object recognition memory via chromatin modification. More specifically, systemic corticosterone increases histone acetylation, a form of chromatin modification, in both the hippocampus and insular cortex following training on an object recognition task. This led us to examine whether increasing histone acetylation via histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibition enhances memory in a manner similar to corticosterone. We found a double dissociation between posttraining HDAC inhibitor infusion into the insular cortex and hippocampus on the enhancement of object recognition and object location memory, respectively. In determining the molecular pathway upstream of glucocorticoids' effects on chromatin modification, we found that activation of membrane-associated glucocorticoid receptors (GRs) and the subsequent interaction between phospho-CREB and CREB-binding protein (CBP) appear to be necessary for glucocorticoids to enhance memory consolidation via chromatin modification. In contrast, mineralocorticoid receptors (MRs) do not appear to be involved. The findings also indicate that glucocorticoid activity has differential influences on hippocampus-dependent and hippocampus-independent components of memory for objects.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17181885,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Impact of dietary counselling on nutrient intake during pregnancy: a prospective cohort study.\nThe aim of this study was to assess the impact of dietary counselling combined with the provision of food products on food and nutrient intake in pregnant women. We carried out a prospective cohort study of healthy and atopic pregnant women (n 209), who were randomized into dietary intervention and control groups. The intervention group received dietary counselling and food products to modify the fat composition of their diet to meet current recommendations. Three-day food records were collected during each trimester of pregnancy. Women in the intervention group consumed more vegetables, fruits, soft margarines and vegetable oils and less butter than those in the control group during the course of pregnancy (P<0.05). The main distinction between the groups in nutrient intake over the pregnancy was attributable to a higher energy intake (% energy) of PUFA by 0.5%energy (95% CI 0.1, 0.8) and to a lower intake of SFA by 0.8 % energy (95% CI -1.4, -0.4) in the intervention group. Dietary intake of vitamin E was 1.4 mg (95% CI 0.6, 2.2), folate 20.9 microg (95% CI 0.8, 41.0) and ascorbic acid 19.8 mg (95 % CI 3.5, 36.0) higher in the intervention group compared to the controls, while no differences in other nutrients were detected. Dietary counselling combined with the provision of food products during pregnancy is of importance in modifying food and nutrient intake, with potential health benefits.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25289378,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Comparison of surgical stress responses during spinal and general anesthesia in curettage surgery.\nResponse to the surgical stress is an involuntary response to metabolic, autonomic as well as hormonal changes that leads to heart rate and blood pressure fluctuations. This study aimed to investigate the effect of general versus spinal anesthesia on blood sugar level and hemodynamic changes in patients undergoing curettage surgery. In this randomized clinical trial, 50 patients who were candidate for elective curettage surgery were divided into two groups of general (n = 25) and spinal (n = 25) anesthesia. In both groups, blood glucose level was evaluated 10 minutes before, 20 and 60 minutes after initiation of anesthesia. Also, heart rate and mean arterial blood pressure were evaluated at 10 minutes before, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 minutes after intiation of anesthesia. There was not significantly difference between blood glucose level of both groups during 10 minutes before, 20 and 60 minutes after the intiation of anesthesia. Heart rate changes in the general and spinal groups compared to the baseline level were decreased up to maximum12.5% and 14.5%, respectively. The mean arterial pressure changes in the general and spinal groups compared to the baseline level were decreased up to maximum 5.4% and 8%, respectively. Blood glucose and hemodynamic changes caused by surgical stress were not significantly different between two groups.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15240258,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Longitudinal study of Campylobacter jejuni bacteriophages and their hosts from broiler chickens.\nA longitudinal study of bacteriophages and their hosts was carried out at a broiler house that had been identified as having a population of Campylobacter-specific bacteriophages. Cloacal and excreta samples were collected from three successive broiler flocks reared in the same barn. Campylobacter jejuni was isolated from each flock, whereas bacteriophages could be isolated from flocks 1 and 2 but were not isolated from flock 3. The bacteriophages isolated from flocks 1 and 2 were closely related to each other in terms of host range, morphology, genome size, and genetic content. All Campylobacter isolates from flock 1 were genotypically indistinguishable by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). PFGE and multilocus sequence typing indicated that this C. jejuni type was maintained from flock 1 to flock 2 but was largely superseded by three genetically distinct C. jejuni types insensitive to the resident bacteriophages. All isolates from the third batch of birds were insensitive to bacteriophages and genotypically distinct. These results are significant because this is the first study of an environmental population of C. jejuni bacteriophages and their influence on the Campylobacter populations of broiler house chickens. The role of developing bacteriophage resistance was investigated as this is a possible obstacle to the use of bacteriophage therapy to reduce the numbers of campylobacters in chickens. In this broiler house succession was largely due to incursion of new genotypes rather than to de novo development of resistance.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9158848,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Social class differences in women's fat and fibre consumption: a cross-national study.\nThis study focuses on social class variation in the intake of fat and fibre in Maastricht, Li\u00e8ge and Aachen, based on food frequency questionnaires of 849 women from nuclear families with schoolgoing children. In Maastricht and Li\u00e8ge higher-middle class women consumed less fat than working class women, while in Aachen no class difference was apparent. The intake of fibre was highest among the higher-middle class women, although this tendency was not significant in Aachen. Analysis of food groups that contribute to the intake of fat and fibre revealed that not all food groups showed this pattern. Higher-middle class women consumed less bread, less potatoes and more cheese than working class women. Moreover, they chose more often high-fat cheese and fats. Yet, working class women consumed more meat, milk and fats, and less grain, fruit and vegetables. In general, social class variations in fat and fibre intake were uniform across the cities, although in Aachen class differences were small or absent. In conclusion, these results suggest that the diet of higher-middle class women is more in accordance with the dietary recommendations regarding fat and fibre than the diet of working class women.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24390983,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Association between the Rs3087243 polymorphism and risk for diabetes: a meta-analysis.\nThe aim of this study was to evaluate the association between the rs3087243 polymorphism of the cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen-4 (CTLA-4) gene and the risk of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D). A comprehensive meta-analysis of case-control studies was conducted to determine the association between the rs3087243 polymorphism (CT60A\/G) and T1D and assess the joint evidence for the abovementioned association, influence of individual studies, and evidence for publication bias. We searched PubMed, Medline, Embase, Cochrane Library, and reference lists of relevant studies up to February 2012 and contacted the authors of these studies via email. For the case-control studies, 1) the rs3087243 polymorphism was significantly associated with T1D [allele (fixed: odds ratio and 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.249 (1.194-1.307), P < 0.001; random: odds ratio and 95%CI = 1.601 (1.103-2.325), P = 0.013)] [genotype (GG versus GA+AA: odds ratio and 95%CI = 1.249 (1.164-1.341), P < 0.001)], 2) there was no evidence to show that this association was accounted for in any study, and 3) there was no evidence for publication bias. In conclusion, the rs3087243 polymorphism was significantly associated with T1D.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28257212,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Synthesis of (+)-Greek Tobacco Lactone via a Diastereoablative Epoxidation and a Selenium-Catalyzed Oxidative Cyclization.\nAn asymmetric synthesis of the C11-homoterpenoid (+)-Greek tobacco lactone is developed starting from readily available (R)-linalool. The synthesis is comprised of four operations and features a diastereoablative epoxidation and an oxidative tetrahydropyran formation using vanadium-, palladium-, and selenium-catalyzed cyclizations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6726307,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The effectiveness of behavioral intervention for reduction of nausea and vomiting in children and adolescents receiving chemotherapy.\nFifty-one children 6-17 years of age rated the severity of nausea, vomiting, and the extent to which chemotherapy bothered them during each course of chemotherapy. Sixteen patients had no symptoms and the doses administered to 16 others were not constant so that matched courses could not be assessed. After baseline measurement of two matched courses, the remaining 19 patients were randomized to receive hypnosis or supportive counseling during two more matched courses. An additional course with no intervention was assessed in half of the patients. No significant reduction of symptoms was demonstrated prior to intervention. However, intervention with both hypnosis and supportive counseling was associated with significant reductions in nausea, vomiting, and the extent to which these symptoms bothered patients (all p less than 0.001). Also, after termination of intervention, symptom ratings remained significantly lower than baseline. The data indicate that chemotherapy-related nausea and emesis in children can be reduced with behavioral intervention and that reductions are maintained after intervention has been discontinued.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29371804,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Role of MAPK Signaling Pathways in Regulating the Hydrophobin Cryparin in the Chestnut Blight Fungus Cryphonectria parasitica.\nWe assessed the regulation of cryparin, a class II hydrophobin, using three representative mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways in Cryphonectria parasitica. Mutation of the CpSlt2 gene, an ortholog of yeast SLT2 in the cell wall integrity (CWI) pathway, resulted in a dramatic decrease in cryparin production. Similarly, a mutant of the CpBck1 gene, a MAP kinase kinase kinase gene in the CWI pathway, showed decreased cryparin production. Additionally, mutation of the cpmk1 gene, an ortholog of yeast HOG1, showed decreased cryparin production. However, mutation of the cpmk2 gene, an ortholog of yeast Kss1\/Fus3, showed increased cryparin production. The easy-wet phenotype and accumulation of the cryparin transcript in corresponding mutants were consistent with the cryparin production results. In silico analysis of the promoter region of the cryparin gene revealed the presence of binding motifs related to downstream transcription factors of CWI, HOG1, and pheromone responsive pathways including MADS-box- and Ste12-binding domains. Real-time reverse transcriptase PCR analyses indicated that both CpRlm1, an ortholog of yeast RLM1 in the CWI pathway, and cpst12, an ortholog of yeast STE12 in the mating pathway, showed significantly reduced transcription levels in the mutant strains showing lower cryparin production in C. prasitica. However, the transcription of CpMcm1, an ortholog of yeast MCM1, did not correlate with that of the mutant strains showing downregulation of cryparin. These results indicate that three representative MAPK pathways played a role in regulating cryparin production. However, regulation varied depending on the MAPK pathways: the CWI and HOG1 pathways were stimulatory, whereas the pheromone-responsive MAPK was repressive.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37661378,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Synthesis and in Vitro Cytotoxicity Evaluation of Jadomycins.\nJadomycins, which are benzo[b]phenanthridine-type alkaloids isolated from Streptomyces venezuelae ISP5230, exhibit cytotoxic activity against multidrug-resistant breast cancer cells. We have previously achieved the total synthesis of jadomycins using the direct arylation of juglone as a key step. In this study, we achieved the total synthesis of jadomycin T and jadomycin aglycons using L-threonine and 1-amino-2-propanol as nitrogen sources. Additionally, we evaluated the cytotoxic activity of eight compounds, including glycosides, jadomycin T, and their corresponding aglycons, in eight types of tumor cells. The evaluated jadomycins tended to exhibit stronger cytotoxic activity as aglycons than as glycosides. Although the presence of a 1,3-oxazolidine ring derived from an amino acid was not essential, the presence of the 1,3-oxazolidine ring showed strong activity when the ring had a carboxyl group. Furthermore, compared to the non-natural isomer at a different position on the phenolic hydroxyl group, the naturally occurring phenanthroviridin aglycon exhibited stronger cytotoxic activity. In addition, this study suggests that jadomycins may become lead compounds for the treatment of brain tumors; however, further studies on their ability to penetrate the blood-brain barrier are required.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37667614,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Modeling the development of cognitive reserve in children: A residual index approach.\nTo model cognitive reserve (CR) longitudinally in a neurodiverse pediatric sample using a residual index approach, and to test the criterion and construct validity of this index. Participants were N = 115 children aged 9.5-13 years at baseline (MAge = 10.48 years, SDAge = 0.61), and n = 43 (37.4%) met criteria for ADHD. The CR index represented variance in Matrix Reasoning scores from the WASI that was unexplained by MRI-based brain variables (bilateral hippocampal volumes, total gray matter volumes, and total white matter hypointensity volumes) or demographics (age and sex). At baseline, the CR index predicted math computation ability (estimate = 0.50, SE = 0.07, p < .001), and word reading ability (estimate = 0.26, SE = 0.10, p = .012). Longitudinally, change in CR over time was not associated with change in math computation ability (estimate = -0.02, SE = 0.03, p < .513), but did predict change in word reading ability (estimate = 0.10, SE = 0.03, p < .001). Change in CR was also found to moderate the relationship between change in word reading ability and white matter hypointensity volume (estimate = 0.10, SE = 0.05, p = .045). Evidence for the criterion validity of this CR index is encouraging, but somewhat mixed, while construct validity was evidenced through interaction between CR, brain, and word reading ability. Future research would benefit from optimization of the CR index through careful selection of brain variables for a pediatric sample.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23868829,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Genetics of thoracic aortic aneurysm: at the crossroad of transforming growth factor-\u03b2 signaling and vascular smooth muscle cell contractility.\nAortic aneurysm, including both abdominal aortic aneurysm and thoracic aortic aneurysm, is the cause of death of 1% to 2% of the Western population. This review focuses only on thoracic aortic aneurysms and dissections. During the past decade, the genetic contribution to the pathogenesis of thoracic aortic aneurysms and dissections has revealed perturbed extracellular matrix signaling cascade interactions and deficient intracellular components of the smooth muscle contractile apparatus as the key mechanisms. Based on the study of different Marfan mouse models and the discovery of several novel thoracic aortic aneurysm genes, the involvement of the transforming growth factor-\u03b2 signaling pathway has opened unexpected new avenues. Overall, these discoveries have 3 important consequences. First, the pathogenesis of thoracic aortic aneurysms and dissections is better understood, although some controversy still exists. Second, the management strategies for the medical and surgical treatment of thoracic aortic aneurysms and dissections are becoming increasingly gene-tailored. Third, the pathogenetic insights have delivered new treatment options that are currently being investigated in large clinical trials.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28697218,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A 1% Colloidal Oatmeal Cream Alone is Effective in Reducing Symptoms of Mild to Moderate Atopic Dermatitis: Results from Two Clinical Studies.\n<p>BACKGROUND: The epidermal barrier in patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) is deficient in ceramides and cathelicidins. Such epidermal defects may be a trigger for AD, thereby encouraging research toward development of skin-barrier-targeted preventive strategies.<\/p> <p>METHODS: Two single-center, single-arm clinical trials were conducted (study 1, age greater than equal to 8 years and study 2, greater than equal to 10 years) in patients with mild to moderate AD to evaluate the effects of an over-the-counter 1% colloidal oatmeal cream administered for 14 days. Study 1 assessed the Eczema Area and Severity Index (EASI) and Investigator's Global Atopic Dermatitis Assessment (IGADA) on day 3, and itch severity using a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) immediately after application as primary efficacy endpoints. In study 2, the primary efficacy endpoint was change from baseline in patients' assessment of itch. Both studies assessed safety through adverse event (AE) recording.<\/p> <p>RESULTS: Study 1: 29 patients were enrolled (mean age [range], 27.07 [8 -67]). Comparing to baseline, EASI, IGADA, and itch were improved after the application, and improvements were maintained until day 14. Improvements of greater than\/equal to 20% over baseline were noted in 53.6% and 25.0% patients at day 3 for EASI and IGADA scores, respectively, and in 37.9% patients for itch score immediately after the product application. On day 14, these percentages were 82.8%, 62.1%, and 85.7%, respectively.<\/p> <p>STUDY 2: 30 patients were enrolled (mean age [range], 32.9 [10-80]). Itch severity and EASI score were significantly improved after product application and improvements were maintained until day 14. Transepidermal water loss values were significantly reduced and skin hydration was significantly increased at all assessment time points. No adverse events (AEs) were reported in study 2 and 2 AEs were reported by 1 patient in study 1.<\/p> <p>CONCLUSIONS: The colloidal oatmeal cream was well tolerated and clinically effective in patients with mild to moderate AD.<\/p> <p><em>J Drugs Dermatol. 2017;16(7):671-676.<\/em><\/p>.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26474313,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Estimating a Logistic Discrimination Functions When One of the Training Samples Is Subject to Misclassification: A Maximum Likelihood Approach.\nThe problem of discrimination and classification is central to much of epidemiology. Here we consider the estimation of a logistic regression\/discrimination function from training samples, when one of the training samples is subject to misclassification or mislabeling, e.g. diseased individuals are incorrectly classified\/labeled as healthy controls. We show that this leads to zero-inflated binomial model with a defective logistic regression or discrimination function, whose parameters can be estimated using standard statistical methods such as maximum likelihood. These parameters can be used to estimate the probability of true group membership among those, possibly erroneously, classified as controls. Two examples are analyzed and discussed. A simulation study explores properties of the maximum likelihood parameter estimates and the estimates of the number of mislabeled observations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22662061,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Refinement of the theory for extracting cell dielectric properties from dielectrophoresis and electrorotation experiments.\nA modified theory is proposed for extracting cell dielectric properties from the peak frequency measurement of electrorotation (ER) and the crossover frequency measurement of dielectrophoresis (DEP). Current theory in the literature is based on the low frequency (DC) approximations for the equivalent cell permittivity and conductivity, which are valid when the measurements are performed in a medium with conductivity less than 1 mS\/m. The present theory extracts the cell properties through optimizing an expression for the medium conductivity in terms of the peak ER, or DEP crossover, frequency according to its definition using full expressions of equivalent cell permittivity and conductivity. Various levels of approximation of the theory are proposed and discussed through a scaling analysis. The present theory can extract both membrane and interior properties from the low and the high peak ER, or DEP crossover, frequencies for any medium conductivity provided the peak ER, or DEP crossover, frequency exists. It can be reduced to the linear theory for the low peak ER and DEP crossover frequencies in the literature when the medium conductivity is less than 10 mS\/m. However, we can determine the membrane capacitance and conductance via the slope and intercept, respectively, of the straight line fitting of the ER peak and DEP frequency against medium conductivity data according to the linear theory only when the intercept dominates the experimental uncertainty, which occurs when the medium conductivity is less than 1 mS\/m in practice.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17198054,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Modulation and treatment of patient-ventilator dyssynchrony.\nThe coupling between ventilator delivered inspiratory flow and patient's demands both in terms of timing and drive is a challenging task that has become largely feasible in recent years. This review addresses the new advances to modulate and treat patient-ventilator dyssynchrony. Patient-ventilator dyssynchrony is a common phenomenon with conventional modes of mechanical ventilation which influence the duration of mechanical ventilation. Inspection of pressure, volume and flow waveforms represents a valuable tool for the physician to recognize and take the appropriate action to improve patient-ventilator synchrony. New developments have been introduced aiming to improve patient ventilator synchrony by modulating the triggering function and the variables that control the flow delivery and the cycling off. Patient-ventilator dyssynchrony may affect patients' outcome. New modes of assisted mechanical ventilation have been introduced and represent a major step forward in modulating patient-ventilator dyssynchrony.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23444796,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Current problems concerning parasitology and mycology with regard to diseases of the skin and its appendages.\nCurrent issues concerning Parasitology and Mycology with regard to diseases of the skin and its appendages are presented. Aspects of diagnostics, clinical picture and therapy of skin and nail mycoses, as well as difficulties in the diagnosis and treatment of both native parasitoses (toxoplasmosis) and imported human tropical parasitoses (malaria, filariosis) have been emphasised. The clinical importance of environmental mould fungi in nosocomial infections and fungal meningitis, as well as selected properties of fungi isolated from patients with head and neck neoplasms treated by radiotherapy are discussed. Other mycological topics include the characteristics of newly-synthesized thiosemicarbazides and thiadiazoles as potential drugs against toxoplasmosis and their biological activity against Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoites, selected molecular mechanisms of resistance to azoles, Candida albicans strains and a new tool (barcoding DNA) for describing the biodiversity of potential allergenic molds. The importance of environmental factors in pathogenesis of mycoses and parasitoses is noted. The characteristics of pathogenic fungi isolated from natural ponds in Bialystok and potentially pathogenic yeast-like fungi isolated from children's recreation areas in Lodz are presented. The ongoing problem of anthropozoonoses is considered, as are the roles of stray cats and dogs in contaminating soil with the developing forms of intestinal parasites. The characteristics of the human microbiome, including population composition, activity and their importance in normal human physiology, are presented, as are the major goals of the Human Microbiome Project initiated by National Institutes of Health (NIH).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18577556,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"In vivo association between positive coronary artery remodelling and coronary plaque characteristics assessed by intravascular optical coherence tomography.\nPositive coronary arterial remodelling has been shown to be associated with unstable coronary syndromes and ex vivo histological characteristics of plaque vulnerability such as a large lipid core and high macrophage content. The aim of this study is to evaluate the in vivo association between coronary artery remodelling and underlying plaque characteristics identified by optical coherence tomography (OCT). OCT is a unique imaging modality capable of characterizing these important morphological features of vulnerable plaque. OCT and intravascular ultrasound imaging was performed at corresponding sites in patients undergoing catheterization. OCT plaque characteristics for lipid content, fibrous cap thickness, and macrophage density were derived using previously validated criteria. Thin-cap fibroatheroma (TCFA) was defined as lipid-rich plaque (two or more quadrants) with fibrous cap thickness <65 microm. Remodelling index (RI) was calculated as the ratio of the lesion to the reference external elastic membrane area. A total of 54 lesions from 48 patients were imaged. Positive remodelling compared with absent or negative remodelling was more commonly associated with lipid-rich plaque (100 vs. 60 vs. 47.4%, P = 0.01), a thin fibrous cap (median 40.2 vs. 51.6 vs. 87 microm, P = 0.003) and the presence of TCFA (80 vs. 38.5 vs. 5.6%, P < 0.001). Fibrous cap macrophage density was also higher in plaques with positive remodelling showing a positive linear correlation with the RI (r = 0.60, P < 0.001). Coronary plaques with positive remodelling exhibit characteristic features of vulnerable plaque. This may explain the link between positive remodelling and unstable clinical presentations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25520769,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Second to fourth digit ratio is a predictor of sporting ability in elite Indian male kabaddi players.\nTo determine the 2D:4D ratio in elite Indian male kabaddi players and compare them with non-athletes. Our study was undertaken to find out a possible relation between digit ratio and sporting ability of male kabaddi players. This study also gives an insight into the possible ethnic differences between Indian sports personnel and other populations. Both right and left hands of 33 male kabaddi players attending training camp at the Bangalore regional centre of Sports Authority of India were scanned. Lengths of second and fourth digits were measured and their ratio calculated. Age, weight, height and body mass index matched subjects (25 males) who did not participate in any sports formed the control group. A highly significant difference was found in 2D:4D ratios of both the hands with Kabaddi players having a lower ratio compared to their controls. There was no statistically significant difference in 2D:4D (\u0394 r-l) between Kabaddi players and controls. Kabaddi is an intermediate sport not requiring a high level of endurance but at the same time requires masculine traits because of combating nature of the game. 2D:4D ratios can be used as reliable additional criteria when screening for prospective players to be inducted into the team.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28346427,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"MiR-21 is required for anti-tumor immune response in mice: an implication for its bi-directional roles.\nHere we show that miR-21, a microRNA known for its oncogenic activity, is also essential for mediating immune responses against tumor. Knockout of miR-21 in mice slowed the proliferation of both CD4+ and CD8+ cells, reduced their cytokine production and accelerated the grafted tumor growth. Further investigations indicated that miR-21 could activate CD4+ and CD8+ T cells via the PTEN\/Akt pathway in response to stimulations. Taken together, these data suggest the key functions of miR-21 in mediating anti-tumor immune response and thereby uncover a bi-directional role of this traditionally known 'oncomiR' in tumorigenesis. Our study may provide new insights for the design of cancer therapies targeting microRNAs, with an emphasis on the dynamic and possibly unexpected role of these molecules.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":278869,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Correlation between the ability of tumor cells to incorporate specific fatty acids and their sensitivity to killing by a specific antibody plus guinea pig complement.\nLine-1 diethylnitrosamine-induced guinea pig tumor cells can be rendered sensitive to killing by rabbit anti-Forssman IgM antibody plus guinea pig complement (GPC) or antitumor antibody plus GPC following prolonged incubation (17 hr ) of the cells with one of several metabolic inhibitors. Compared to control cells, these cells have been shown to be inhibited in their ability to incorporate fatty acids into complex cellular lipids, which suggested that lipid synthesis is of fundamental importance for the ability of the tumor cells to resist humoral immune killing. In this study, drug-treated cells that were rendered sensitive to killing by anti-Forssman antibody plus GPC, but not antitumor antibody plus GPC, were inhibited in their incorporation of saturated (palmitic or stearic acid), but not an unsaturated, fatty acid (linoleic acid). These data suggested that the fatty acid composition of specific lipids may also be important for the resistance of these tumor cells to killing by antibody and complement.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36265514,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Impact of Wheat Arabinoxylan with Defined Substitution Patterns on the Heat-Induced Polymerization Behavior of Gluten.\nTo further depict the interaction mechanism of wheat arabinoxylan (AX) and gluten proteins upon thermal processing, AX was enzymatically tailored with defined substitution patterns and the impact on the heat-induced polymerization behavior of gluten was comparatively studied. The results showed that tailormade AX promoted the formation of glutenin-glutenin and glutenin-gliadin macrocrosslinks upon heating, with the optimal effect detected for AX depleted of Araf of disubstituted Xylp. The tailormade AX, especially AX depleted of monosubstituted Xylp, facilitated the polymerization ability of \u03b1-gliadin into glutenin compared with untailored AX. The unfolding process of gluten was partially impeded by AX upon heating, while the tailormade AX promoted the unfolding process. AX could bury Trp and Tyr upon polymerization of glutenin and gliadin and induced the change of the disulfide bridge conformation to a less-stable state, while the effect was alleviated with tailormade AX. The enhanced polymerization with tailormade AX strengthened the gluten network and induced more heterogeneously distributed large protein aggregates.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6360534,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Local lung ventilation in critically ill patients using nonradioactive xenon-enhanced transmission computed tomography.\nNonradioactive xenon is sufficiently radiodense to increase the density of gas-containing lung as seen in a computed tomography (CT) scan. Subtraction of a baseline CT scan from the xenon-enhanced CT scan can accentuate gas space differences by subtracting fixed tissue densities. The baseline scan and the scan obtained during wash-in of xenon (before equilibration) allow circulation of local ventilation. The xenon CT scan, thus, provides more precise information about distribution of ventilation than planar radiogas techniques. The technical aspects of application to a critically ill patient and the mathematical basis of the technique are presented.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8353057,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Proximate causes of aggressive fighting in middle school children.\nIn study 1, 8- and 11-year-old girls and boys (N = 110) were interviewed individually and asked about why children in general, and themselves in particular, fight with fellow pupils in the playground. A substantial proportion of children (51 per cent) reported having had at least one aggressive fight during the previous year. The most common reasons for children resorting to fighting were retaliations to teasing, retaliations to unprovoked assaults, disagreements over aspects of the game that was being played, because another child was disliked, and to settle dominance disputes. In study 2, a direct observational methodology was employed to examine how often children of these ages engage in aggressive fighting, how long fights last, and their proximate causes. Among the younger pupils, a large proportion of fights (43.3 per cent) had no obvious immediate cause to an adult observer, but others were caused when a playful assault received an aggressive retaliation (15.4 per cent), and by disputes over space in the playground (13.5 per cent). Among the 11-year-old pupils, a smaller percentage of fights (14.8 per cent) had no obvious immediate cause. The two most common causes of fighting at this age were aggressive retaliations to teasing (25.9 per cent) and aggressive retaliations to accidental injury\/hurt (18.5 per cent). In study 3, in situ interviews were combined with direct playground observations in order to reveal participants' views (or onlookers' views if participants were not available to be interviewed) about the causes of fights. Again, the most common causes of fighting were disputes over some aspect of the game being played (33.3 per cent), aggressive retaliations to teasing (25.0 per cent), disagreements over possession of toys\/equipment (14.6 per cent), and aggressive retaliations to accidental injury\/hurt (14.6 per cent). Age and sex differences are reported in some measures across all three studies. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for interventions aimed at improving children's experiences of life on the school playground.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1163204,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Histological and histochemical study on the ependyma of Bradypus tridactylus.\nHistological and histochemical aspects of the whole encephalic ventricular system of eight specimens of Bradypus tridactylus were studied. After anesthesia and perfusion, the encephalons were obtained by craniotomy. Transverse serial sections of the encephalon, stained according to Azan (Heidenhain's method) or Kluver-Barrera for nerve cells and myelinated nerve fibers; silver impregnation was carried out according to Cajal-De Castro's or Palmgren's methods. The following histochemical reactions were used: PAS (McManus), metachromasia, acid phosphatase (Gomori), Brachet's and Gomori's trichromic reaction (modified by Bargmann for neurosecretion). Histologically, different characteristics of the ependymal cells in different areas were observed, which would be related to functional peculiarities of each area of the encephalic ventricles. The ependymal cells showed discrete apical basophilia due to the presence of RNA which disappears after treatment with crystalline ribonuclease. The PAS reaction indicated the presence of a small quantity of PAS-positive substances in the apical zone of the ependymal cells and the subependymal tissue. These substances disappeared after the salivary amylase test, indicating the presence of glycogen. The acid phosphatase reaction was negative.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18607747,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Serotoninergic mechanisms of the effects of neurotensin on passive avoidance behavior in rats.\nThe aim of the present work was to identify the features of the actions of neurotensin on administration into the substantia nigra or dorsal cervical nucleus on the reproduction of passive avoidance reactions in rats. The results showed that the action of neurotensin administered into the substantia nigra was accompanied by sharp reductions in passive avoidance reactions, while administration into the dorsal cervical nucleus, conversely, led to increases in these reactions and slowing of their extinction. The effects of microinjections of the serotonin 5-HT(1A) receptor agonist 8-hydroxydipropylaminotetraline (8-OH-DPAT) into these brain structures were analogous to the effects of neurotensin. The different behavioral effects of administration of neurotensin corresponded to identifiable changes in the levels of serotonin and its metabolite 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid in the caudate nuclei of the brain. These data led to the conclusion that the effects of neurotensin on passive avoidance behavior are associated with the regulation of the emotional state of the animals via actions on the functions of brain serotoninergic structures.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6733568,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Improved procedures for the conjugation of oligosaccharides to protein by reductive amination.\nThe rate of coupling of oligosaccharides having aldose end groups to protein by reductive amination was significantly increased by changing the temperature and pH of the reaction, and even more significantly by the addition of borate ions. Under optimized conditions half of the lysine residues of bovine serum albumin could be derivatized by lactose in 7 h and their complete derivatization was achieved in approximately 24 h. All attempts to carry out similar reductive amination procedures using oligosaccharides having ketose (D-fructose, 3-deoxy-D-manno-octulosonic acid (KDO), and sialic acid) failed owing to the slowness of the reaction. Model studies on the coupling of D-fructose and KDO to glycine indicate that any coupling procedure based on reductive amination of ketose residues would of necessity require the prior introduction of a small functionalized spacer molecule.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9167274,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Isolation and analysis of moenomycin and its biosynthetic intermediates from Streptomyces ghanaensis (ATCC 14672) wildtype and selected mutants.\nStreptomyces ghanaensis (ATCC 14672) produces the phosphoglycolipid antibiotic moenomycin consisting of several components. A solid phase extraction procedure was developed which allowed a rapid isolation of both moenomycin and its biosynthetic intermediates from culture filtrates. Semi-preparative high performance liquid chromatography followed by high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry provided structural data on the different moenomycin components. In order to obtain initial information on the biosynthetic pathway, moenomycin non-producing mutants were isolated. They were shown to release intermediates with shorter lipid chains suggesting that the lipid chain synthesis probably takes place at a later stage of the moenomycin biosynthesis. Based on the biological activity and the analytical data, we assume that a modification and in particular a shorter lipid portion drastically influences the inhibitory activity of this antibiotic.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15257109,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Autoimmune pancreatitis associated with immune-mediated inflammation of the papilla of Vater: report on two cases.\nAutoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) is defined histologically by periductal and interacinar lymphocytic infiltration. Immunohistochemically, the majority of these lymphocytes are identified as T cells. Epithelial HLA-DR antigen expression was also described as a marker of autoimmunity in this type of chronic pancreatitis. We report 2 cases, a 56-year-old man and a 29-year-old woman, with AIP associated with immune-mediated inflammation of the main duodenal papilla (MDP). Serologically, antinuclear antibody positivity was detected in the male patient. The female patient, treated medically for ulcerative proctitis, had no serological evidence of autoimmune disease. Macroscopic papillitis was present only in the male patient, and endoscopic biopsy samples were taken from this swollen MDP. Since we could not exclude malignancy, a pancreatic head resection was performed in both patients. The histologic and immunohistochemical studies of the resected specimens showed periductal T-lymphocytic infiltration in the pancreatic and papillary tissues. Furthermore, HLA-DR-antigen expression was also demonstrated in epithelial cells of the pancreas and MDP. The immunohistological features of endoscopic biopsy samples from the swollen MDP were identical as in the surgically resected specimens. Immune-mediated inflammation of the MDP may be associated with AIP.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35357107,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of fructose from apple and honey on serum uric acid in young Chinese: Randomized crossover trials.\nOverconsumption of drinks containing fructose increases the risk for hyperuricemia and gout. Comparative analysis evaluating the indicators of serum uric acid (SUA) load caused by natural food-derived fructose and pure fructose in sweeteners is lacking. We aimed to uncover the effect of fructose from apple and honey and pure fructose powder on the SUA concentration of healthy young Chinese individuals. Two randomized crossover trials were performed. The participants were randomly assigned to consume apple or honey (test food) or pure fructose powder (reference food); one week later, the groups' dietary intervention was switched. Blood samples were collected at 0, 30, 60, and 120 min after meal to measure the SUA and blood glucose concentrations. At 30 and 60 min, the SUA concentration in participants consuming apple or honey was lower than in those consuming fructose powder. At 120 min, the SUA concentration of participants consuming apple returned to baseline. The areas under the curve (AUC) within 2 h (2h- AUCs) of SUA exhibited the trend of fructose >honey >apple. The 2h-AUC ratio between test food and reference food was determined using the uric acid index to assess the efficiency of food-derived fructose in increasing the SUA concentration. The uric acid index of honey was higher than that of apple. Men had higher postprandial SUA concentration than women. Food-derived fructose caused a lighter load on uric acid metabolism than pure fructose. Uric acid index can be useful for distinguishing fructose-containing foods.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19040996,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Mitogen-inducible gene-6 expression correlates with survival and is an independent predictor of recurrence in BRAF(V600E) positive papillary thyroid cancers.\nMitogen-inducible gene-6 (Mig-6) is an immediate early response gene that negatively regulates signaling. EGFR overexpression and activating mutations in MAPK signaling effectors are common events in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). The purpose of this study was to determine if Mig-6 expression is associated with EGFR expression or surgical outcomes in PTC. We determined Mig-6 transcript levels from a microarray in 19 patients with PTC who underwent thyroidectomy. We established a maximally selected cutoff to discriminate Kaplan-Meier survival estimates. For cross-validation, we performed quantitative RT-PCR on resected well-differentiated PTC from an additional 106 patients. Mig-6 and EGFR mRNA levels correlated directly (P < .0001). Mig-6 expression above the cutoff of 1.10 (2;-dCt[Mig6-GUS]) was associated with greater survival (P = .008). When this cutoff was applied in the cross-validation, high Mig-6 expression was associated with longer survival (P = .03) and disease-free survival (P = .07). Furthermore, high Mig-6 expression was independently predictive of greater disease-free survival in BRAF(V600E)-positive PTC. High Mig-6 expression in PTC is associated with favorable outcomes. Mig-6 is a novel tumor suppressor that may be a candidate for targeted cancer therapeutics in patients with PTC refractory to conventional therapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20367904,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[The lung protection strategy under the support of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in patients suffering from influenza A H1N1].\nTo study the effect of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in patients suffering from severe pneumonia complicating influenza A H1N1 by putting lungs in rest to protect the latter. Five patients with severe pneumonia following influenza A H1N1 were treated with ECMO and different modes of mechanical ventilation at the same time. Two patients died, both of them received synchronized intermittent mandatory ventilation (SIMV) and bi-level positive airway pressure (BiPAP) modes, with airway pressure release ventilation (APRV) to control lung expansion with expansion pressure 40 cm H(2)O (1 cm H(2)O=0.098 kPa). In 3 survivors, the strategy of lung rest was performed by giving an optimized positive end expiratory pressure (PEEP) with an optimal compliance by gradually elevation of PEEP, and high-level pressure (Phigh) at 20 cm H(2)O by application of BiPAP mode. One patient died due to lung damage and repeated spontaneous pneumothorax and sepsis; 1 patient died due to multiple organ dysfunction syndrome. Three patients recovered after following the strategy of lung rest. When ECMO is used for severe pneumonia complicating influenza A H1N1, prognosis can be obviously improved, with decrease in the occurrence of lung damage through the protection strategy of lung rest.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29554362,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Screening for idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder: usefulness of actigraphy.\nTo evaluate the utility of multimodal low-cost approaches including actigraphy, a wrist-worn device monitoring rest\/activity cycles, in identifying patients with idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder (iRBD). Seventy patients diagnosed with sleep disorders causing different motor manifestations during sleep (iRBD, sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome) and 20 subjects without any relevant motor manifestation during sleep, underwent video-polysomnography (vPSG) and 2 week actigraphy, completed six validated RBD screening questionnaires, and sleep apps use was assessed. Actigraphy was analyzed automatically, and visually by seven blinded sleep medicine experts who rated as \"no,\" \"possible,\" and \"probable\" RBD. Quantitative actigraphy analysis distinguished patients from controls, but not between patients with different types of motor activity during sleep. Visual actigraphy rating by blinded experts in sleep medicine using pattern recognition identified vPSG confirmed iRBD with 85%-95% sensitivity, 79%-91% specificity, 81%-91% accuracy, 57.7% \u00b1 11.3% positive predictive value, 95.1% \u00b1 3.3% negative predictive value, 6.8 \u00b1 2.2 positive likelihood ratio, 0.14 \u00b1 0.05 negative likelihood ratio and 0.874-0.933 area under the ROC curve (AUC). AUC of the best performing questionnaire was 0.868. Few patients used sleep apps; therefore, their potential utility in the evaluated patients' groups is limited. Visual analysis of actigraphy using pattern recognition can identify subjects with iRBD, and is able to distinguish iRBD from other motor activities during sleep, even when patients are not aware of the disease in contrast to questionnaires. Therefore, actigraphy can be a reliable screening instrument for RBD potentially useful in the general population.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14530466,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evaluating the clinical effectiveness of 90Y-SMT 487 in patients with neuroendocrine tumors.\nBecause of the presence of cell membrane somatostatin receptors (SSTRs), many neuroendocrine tumors will bind analogs of somatostatin. (90)Y-Dodecanetetraacetic acid-Phe1-Tyr3-octreotide (SMT 487) is an SSTR radiopharmaceutical currently under investigation as a therapeutic option for neuroendocrine tumors. Although there are a variety of methods for evaluating response to a given cancer therapy, an important indicator of success is the impact on the clinical status of the patient. The purpose of this work was to develop a semiquantitative method and assess the clinical effectiveness of (90)Y-SMT 487 therapy in patients with neuroendocrine tumors. A scoring system was developed to evaluate clinical response that included the following parameters: weight, health status score (determined by the patient), Karnofsky score, and tumor-related symptoms. We applied this scoring system to 21 patients who had completed 3 cycles of therapy with (90)Y-SMT 487. Fourteen of the 21 showed a favorable clinical response, whereas 5 were clinically stable after treatment and 2 showed evidence of clinical progression. There was also a significant reduction in the amount of octreotide being used after completion of (90)Y-SMT 487 therapy in the 20 patients who were on this medication. Using this scoring method, (90)Y-SMT 487 appears effective in improving the clinical status of patients with (111)In-pentetreotide-positive neuroendocrine tumors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28743348,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Advances in biomarkers of ARDS].\nAcute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a common diseases in critical ill patients, which is an acute-onset hypoxic condition with radiographic bilateral lung infiltration. And it can be divided into two phases in pathophysiology: an acute exudative phase combining diffuse alveolar damage and lung edema followed by a later fibro proliferative phase. The early prediction and risk assessment of patients with ARDS is still very poor in the clinical. In recent years, researchers gradually focus their research on exploration of biomarkers of ARDS. The article mainly aims to sum up the development of biomarkers exploration.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24392412,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Huge Bilateral Paramesonephric Cysts in a 25 year old Nulliparous woman.\nParaovarian cysts are uncommon adnexal masses which are usually asymptomatic. We describe a case of bilateral huge paramesonephric cysts in a nulliparous woman. A 25-year-old lady presented with abdominal distension for one year duration. Examination and imaging revealed large abdominopelvic cystic masses with no solid areas or septations. Intraoperatively there were huge bilateral paraovarian cysts which were excised. Histopathology revealed low cuboidal to ciliated columnar epithelium with no evidence of ovarian parenchyma suggestive of paramesonephric cyst. Paraovarian cyst should be included in the differential diagnosis of a cystic mass visualised on ultrasound.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9145902,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Essential role of endogenously synthesized tylosin for induction of ermSF in Streptomyces fradiae.\nWe compared ermSF induction in wild-type Streptomyces fradiae NRRL B-2702 and that in GS-14, a tylA mutant which cannot synthesize tylosin. Our findings suggest that (i) endogenously synthesized tylosin plays an obligatory role in ermSF induction and (ii) tylosin, or a biosynthetic intermediate beyond tylactone, has an \"autocrine\" function that induces ErmSF synthesis, thereby enabling S. fradiae to resist higher levels of tylosin.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29369541,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hierarchical Design of Tissue Regenerative Constructs.\nThe worldwide shortage of organs fosters significant advancements in regenerative therapies. Tissue engineering and regeneration aim to supply or repair organs or tissues by combining material scaffolds, biochemical signals, and cells. The greatest challenge entails the creation of a suitable implantable or injectable 3D macroenvironment and microenvironment to allow for ex vivo or in vivo cell-induced tissue formation. This review gives an overview of the essential components of tissue regenerating scaffolds, ranging from the molecular to the macroscopic scale in a hierarchical manner. Further, this review elaborates about recent pivotal technologies, such as photopatterning, electrospinning, 3D bioprinting, or the assembly of micrometer-scale building blocks, which enable the incorporation of local heterogeneities, similar to most native extracellular matrices. These methods are applied to mimic a vast number of different tissues, including cartilage, bone, nerves, muscle, heart, and blood vessels. Despite the tremendous progress that has been made in the last decade, it remains a hurdle to build biomaterial constructs in vitro or in vivo with a native-like structure and architecture, including spatiotemporal control of biofunctional domains and mechanical properties. New chemistries and assembly methods in water will be crucial to develop therapies that are clinically translatable and can evolve into organized and functional tissues.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1098346,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Preservation of kidneys for transplantation. Assessment of ischemic damage by renal autoperfusion.\nAutoperfusion of canine kidneys was investigated as an alternative method to determinate the ischmic organ damage following various preservation procedures. As a compromise between implantation of the donor kidney and normotherimic isolated perfusion, autoperfusion is shown to offer some advantages in the study of the pathophysiology of the ischemic damaged kidney. Within 3 hours of autoperfusion, we obtained detailed information about the immediate regenerative ability of the glomerular, tubular, and vascular functions following various sorts of ischemic trauma.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11996586,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Pairing of propellers: dimerization of octahedral ruthenium(II) and osmium(II) complexes of eilatin via pi-pi stacking featuring heterochiral recognition.\nFive octahedral eilatin complexes of the type [M(L-L)(2)(eilatin)](2+) (M = Ru, Os; L-L = bipyridyl-type ligands) were synthesized, and their dimerization via pi-pi stacking was studied by crystallography and (1)H NMR techniques. The X-ray structures of these racemic complexes were solved and revealed that the eilatin complexes are organized as discrete dimers in which the eilatin residues of each complex are stacked in centrosymmetric packing. Chemical shift dependence on concentration in the (1)H NMR spectra support fast dimer-monomer equilibrium, and the structures of the dimers in acetonitrile solution are proposed to be analogous to their solid-state structures. Dimerization constants in acetonitrile were measured for the five racemic eilatin complexes that exhibit different structural parameters, as well as for the two enantiomeric forms of one of these complexes. They were found to be independent of the metal (Ru vs Os), strongly dependent on the steric effects introduced by the L-L ligands (2,2'-bipyridine, 1,10-phenanthroline, 2,9-dimethyl-1,10-phenanthroline, and 2,2'-biquinoline), and dependent on the optical purity of the complexes. A clear preference for heterochiral over homochiral dimer formation was demonstrated. This is the first report of chiral recognition in solution, exhibited by simple chemical systems held solely by pi-stacking interactions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36925988,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mandibular Block Graft for Localised Ridge Augmentation Followed by Delayed Implant Placement: A Case Report.\nThe presence of adequate ridge width is an important prerequisite for implant placement. Reconstruction of the alveolar ridge can be done through various bone augmentation procedures. Autogenous bone grafts are being used for ridge augmentation for a long time and are still considered the gold standard for jaw reconstruction. Intraoral autogenous bone grafts from sites such as mandibular symphysis and ramus offer various advantages over the extraoral sites. This case report describes the use of an autogenous block graft from mandibular symphysis for a ridge augmentation procedure in the maxillary anterior region followed by delayed implant placement. Six months postoperative clinical and radiographic examination revealed significant increase width of the ridge and appropriate implant placement with satisfactory esthetic and functional results.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19044673,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Characterization of cross-section correction to charge exchange recombination spectroscopy rotation measurements using co- and counter-neutral-beam views.\nMeasurements of rotation using charge exchange recombination spectroscopy can be affected by the energy dependence of the charge exchange cross section. On DIII-D, the associated correction to the rotation can exceed 100 kms at high temperatures. In reactor-relevant low rotation conditions, the correction can be several times larger than the actual plasma rotation and therefore must be carefully validated. New chords have been added to the DIII-D CER diagnostic to view the counter-neutral-beam line. The addition of these views allows determination of the toroidal rotation without depending on detailed atomic physics calculations, while also allowing experimental characterization of the atomic physics. A database of rotation comparisons from the two views shows that the calculated cross-section correction can adequately describe the measurements, although there is a tendency for \"overcorrection.\" In cases where accuracy better than about 15% is desired, relying on calculation of the cross-section correction may be insufficient.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28298039,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Interactions between glioma and pregnancy: insight from a 52-case multicenter series.\nOBJECTIVE The goal of this study was to provide insight into the influence of gliomas on gestational outcomes, the impact of pregnancy on gliomas, and the identification of patients at risk. METHODS In this multiinstitutional retrospective study, the authors identified 52 pregnancies in 50 women diagnosed with a glioma. RESULTS For gliomas known prior to pregnancy (n = 24), we found the following: 1) An increase in the quantified imaging growth rates occurred during pregnancy in 87% of cases. 2) Clinical deterioration occurred in 38% of cases, with seizures alone resolving after delivery in 57.2% of cases. 3) Oncological treatments were immediately performed after delivery in 25% of cases. For gliomas diagnosed during pregnancy (n = 28), we demonstrated the following: 1) The tumor was discovered during the second and third trimesters in 29% and 54% of cases, respectively, with seizures being the presenting symptom in 68% of cases. 2) The quantified imaging growth rates did not significantly decrease after delivery and before oncological treatment. 3) Clinical deterioration resolved after delivery in 21.4% of cases. 4) Oncological treatments were immediately performed after delivery in 70% of cases. Gliomas with a high grade of malignancy, negative immunoexpression of alpha-internexin, or positive immunoexpression for p53 were more likely to be associated with tumor progression during pregnancy. Deliveries were all uneventful (cesarean section in 54.5% of cases and vaginal delivery in 45.5%), and the infants were developmentally normal. CONCLUSIONS When a woman harboring a glioma envisions a pregnancy, or when a glioma is discovered in a pregnant patient, the authors suggest informing her and her partner that pregnancy may impact the evolution of the glioma clinically and radiologically. They strongly advise a multidisciplinary approach to management. \u25a0 CLASSIFICATION OF EVIDENCE Type of question: association; study design: case series; evidence: Class IV.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31602930,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Study on polysaccharide content and monosaccharide composition of Polyporus umbellatus from different production areas].\nIn order to provide scientific basics for exploitation and sufficient application of Polyporus umbellatus resources and study the monosaccharide composition of P. umbellatus polysaccharides,the anthrone-sulfuric acid method was applied to compare polysaccharide content of P. umbellatus from 17 producing areas. The monosaccharides were derived by 1-phenyl-3-methyl-5-pyrazolone( PMP) and the derivatives were identified by UPLC-MS\/MS and the content of each monosaccharide component was determined simultaneously. The results demonstrated that there was a certain difference in total polysaccharide content of P. umbellatus from different regions,and the content of total P. umbellatus polysaccharide from Shaanxi province and Sichuan province( 1. 15% and 1. 90%) was relatively higher than that of others areas. Polysaccharides from P. umbellatus was mainly composed of eight monosaccharides,including glucose,glucuronic acid,galactose,ribose,xylose,arabinose,mannose and fucose. The contents of glucose( 17. 65 mg\u00b7g-1) was higher than others. The ribose was the lowest( 0. 13 mg\u00b7g-1). In addition,fructose,rhamnose and galacturonic acid were also detected in some samples. Furthermore,the results of cluster analysis( CA) and principal component analysis( PCA) indicated that totally 17 batches of P. umbellatus polysaccharide could be classified into three clusters,samples collected from Wuchang in Heilongjiang province were clustered into one group separately. The study can provide a basis for rational utilization of P. umbellatus resources,and also implies the sequence of monosaccharide linking and pharmacological activity of P. umbellatus polysaccharides.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18601033,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of glucose on the production of recombinant protein C in mammalian cell culture.\nEffects of glucose on a cultured Chinese hamster ovary cell line producing recombinant human protein C were investigated. After the recombinant cells reached confluency, they were maintained in the medium containing 10% serum and different levels of glucose in either batch or daily-exchange mode. High concentrations of glucose to the cultures yielded higher cell densities. Daily exchanges of media produced higher cell densities than the corresponding batch culture. Total protein C production per cell decreased with time in batch culture, in accordance with the declined glucose metabolism. Supplementation of the media with high levels of glucose diminished both the expression and gamma-carboxylation activities of the recombinant cells. Production of protein C persisted in daily-exchange culture, resulting in a constant production rate of protein C. In this case again, glucose reduced the specific productivity of recombinant protein C. An apparent glucose inhibition constant was determined to be 0.11 mg\/mL by Dixon plots. The ability to gamma-carboxylate recombinant protein C was also impaired at the highest level of glucose. From these results, a strategy to maximize recombinant protein C productivity is discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23464324,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Accelerated PET water activation acquisition with signal separation methodology.\nPositron emission tomography (PET) water activation studies can be considerably accelerated when the time between the successive water bolus injections is reduced. However, when considering shorter interinjection times, as short as 5 min, there will be a contaminating residual PET signal in brain tissues attributed to the previous injections. In this paper a signal separation methodology is proposed to allow shorter (<10 min) interinjection times. The contaminating signal in the frames of interest is estimated by extrapolating the decaying tail of the previous signal. The method requires the dynamic PET recording of the decaying signals between two injections in order to extrapolate the tail, which can be done post-reconstruction using a weighted least squares method. Several extrapolation functions are investigated, including a quadratic function, a decaying exponential, and a biologically inspired function. The biologically inspired function is based on the one-tissue compartmental model for [(15)O]H2O and makes use of a generating function estimated from the total trues coincidence rate. To evaluate the proposed method and extrapolation functions, one- and two-dimensional simulation studies were performed, using interinjection times as low as 5 min. The resulting corrected images are compared to the conventionally obtained images with an interinjection time of 10 min, which allows the previous signal to almost completely vanish. Among all considered extrapolation functions the biologically inspired function was found to give the best results. The bias introduced when considering shorter interinjection times (<10 min) could be almost completely removed by subtracting the extrapolated remaining activity from the total measured signal of interest. Compared to the standard method of using longer interinjection times the resulting images have a slightly increased variance. Nonetheless the observed increases are small compared to the total variance and the resulting activation maps were visually very similar. The simulation results show that the proposed method can significantly reduce the total scan time (e.g., when considering 12 bolus injections, the total scan time can be reduced from 2 to 1 h). Extensive and very realistic simulations were used in this work, paving the way for future in vivo validation of the method.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23451977,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Influence of diverse chemical modifications on the ADME characteristics and toxicology of antisense oligonucleotides.\nTherapeutic gene silencing is a huge promise for the treatment of a variety of diseases. The translation of this widely used scientific technique toward clinical application has been hindered by insufficient ADME properties of antisense and siRNA oligonucleotides. Despite reasonable therapeutic response after local administration, reaching adequate concentrations at the site of action after systemic application is still a major hurdle and this has resulted in poor efficiency in preclinical and clinical situations. This review focuses on the influence on the ADME parameters of chemical modifications already tested in clinical trials, such as phosphorothioates (PSs), 2'-modified agents, including locked nucleic acids (LNA) and phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomers (PMO). The dominating PS backbone modification, while conferring adequate nuclease resistance and improving biodistribution, has been shown to be involved in unspecific protein binding and off-target effects on apoptosis pathways. PS-free antisense agents such as PMO generally show poorer pharmacokinetic characteristics. In terms of pharmacokinetics and cell membrane permeation, there is currently no efficient alternative to PS, although doubts about long-term toxicity of this class still remain. Consequently, improved structural modifications or galenic formulations are deemed necessary to create entities with higher efficiency and lower toxicity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9157096,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A preliminary analysis of interactive effects between common classroom contingencies and methylphenidate.\nTo assess the drug-behavior interaction effects with an 8-year-old boy wih attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, common classroom antecedent (e.g., seating arrangement) and consequent (e.g., peer prompts) stimuli were alternated within a school day while drug conditions (methylphenidate vs. placebo) were alternated across days. The results suggested that peer attention maintained disruptive behavior when methylphenidate was absent but not when it was present.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21745411,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Antiobesity and lipid-lowering effects of Bifidobacterium spp. in high fat diet-induced obese rats.\nRecent studies have reported the preventive effects of probiotics on obesity. Among commensal bacteria, bifidobacteria is one of the most numerous probiotics in the mammalian gut and are a type of lactic acid bacteria. The aim of this study was to assess the antiobesity and lipid-lowering effects of Bifidobacterium spp. isolated from healthy Korean on high fat diet-induced obese rats. Thirty-six male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into three groups as follows: (1) SD group, fed standard diet; (2) HFD group, fed high fat diet; and (3) HFD-LAB group, fed high fat diet supplemented with LAB supplement (B. pseudocatenulatum SPM 1204, B. longum SPM 1205, and B. longum SPM 1207; 108 ~ 109 CFU). After 7 weeks, the body, organ, and fat weights, food intake, blood serum levels, fecal LAB counts, and harmful enzyme activities were measured. Administration of LAB reduced body and fat weights, blood serum levels (TC, HDL-C, LDL-C, triglyceride, glucose, leptin, AST, ALT, and lipase levels), and harmful enzyme activities (\u03b2-glucosidase, \u03b2-glucuronidase, and tryptophanase), and significantly increased fecal LAB counts. These data suggest that Bifidobacterium spp. used in this study may have beneficial antiobesity effects.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14526531,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Copy number of ribosomal operons in prokaryotes and its effect on phylogenic analyses].\nDifferent aspects of the presence of multiple copies of ribosomal operons in prokaryotic genomes are reviewed. Structure of prokaryotic ribosomal operons is briefly described. The available data are summarized regarding the copy number of ribosomal genes in various prokaryotic genomes, the degree of polymorphism of their individual copies, physiological and evolutionary aspects of the presence of the multiple copies of ribosomal genes. The review also considers the influence of the presence of multiple copies of ribosomal genes on the results of identification of prokaryotic isolates and of the studies of prokaryotic diversity in environmental samples based on phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29363518,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Serum biomarkers in periprosthetic joint infections.\nThe diagnosis of periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) is difficult and requires a battery of tests and clinical findings. The purpose of this review is to summarize all current evidence for common and new serum biomarkers utilized in the diagnosis of PJI. We searched two literature databases, using terms that encompass all hip and knee arthroplasty procedures, as well as PJI and statistical terms reflecting diagnostic parameters. The findings are summarized as a narrative review. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) were the two most commonly published serum biomarkers. Most evidence did not identify other serum biomarkers that are clearly superior to ESR and CRP. Other serum biomarkers have not demonstrated superior sensitivity and have failed to replace CRP and ESR as first-line screening tests. D-dimer appears to be a promising biomarker, but more research is necessary. Factors that influence serum biomarkers include temporal trends, stage of revision, and implant-related factors (metallosis). Our review helped to identify factors that can influence serum biomarkers' level changes; the recognition of such factors can help improve their diagnostic utility. As such, we cannot rely on ESR and CRP alone for the diagnosis of PJI prior to second-stage reimplantation, or in metal-on-metal or corrosion cases. The future of serum biomarkers will likely shift towards using genomics and proteomics to identify proteins transcribed via messenger RNA in response to infection and sepsis.Cite this article:Bone Joint Res 2018;7:85-93.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17913710,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Oxidative modification to cysteine sulfonic acid of Cys111 in human copper-zinc superoxide dismutase.\nCopper-zinc superoxide dismutase (SOD1) plays a protective role against oxidative stress. On the other hand, recent studies suggest that SOD1 itself is a major target of oxidative damage and has its own pathogenicity in various neurodegenerative diseases, including familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Only human and great ape SOD1s among mammals have the highly reactive free cysteine residue, Cys(111), at the surface of the SOD1 molecule. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of Cys(111) in the oxidative damage of the SOD1 protein, by comparing the oxidative susceptibility of recombinant human SOD1 modified with 2-mercaptoethanol at Cys(111) (2-ME-SOD1) to wild-type SOD1. Wild-type SOD1 was more sensitive to oxidation by hydrogen peroxide-generating fragments, oligomers, and charge isomers compared with 2-ME-SOD1. Moreover, wild-type SOD1, but not 2-ME-SOD1, generated an upper shifted band in reducing SDS-PAGE even by air oxidation. Using mass spectrometry and limited proteolysis, this upper band was identified as an oxidized subunit of SOD1; the sulfhydryl group (Cys-SH) of Cys(111) was selectively oxidized to cysteine sulfinic acid (Cys-SO(2)H) and to cysteine sulfonic acid (Cys-SO(3)H). The antibody raised against a synthesized peptide containing Cys(111)-SO(3)H reacted with only the Cys(111)-peroxidized SOD1 by Western blot analysis and labeled Lewy body-like hyaline inclusions and vacuole rims in the spinal cord of human SOD1-mutated amyotrophic lateral sclerosis mice by immunohistochemical analysis. These results suggest that Cys(111) is a primary target for oxidative modification and plays an important role in oxidative damage to human SOD1, including familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis mutants.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32372908,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-10":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pushing the Limits of EEG: Estimation of Large-Scale Functional Brain Networks and Their Dynamics Validated by Simultaneous fMRI.\nFunctional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is the technique of choice for detecting large-scale functional brain networks and to investigate their dynamics. Because fMRI measures brain activity indirectly, electroencephalography (EEG) has been recently considered a feasible tool for detecting such networks, particularly the resting-state networks (RSNs). However, a truly unbiased validation of such claims is still missing, which can only be accomplished by using simultaneously acquired EEG and fMRI data, due to the spontaneous nature of the activity underlying the RSNs. Additionally, EEG is still poorly explored for the purpose of mapping task-specific networks, and no studies so far have been focused on investigating networks' dynamic functional connectivity (dFC) with EEG. Here, we started by validating RSNs derived from the continuous reconstruction of EEG sources by directly comparing them with those derived from simultaneous fMRI data of 10 healthy participants, and obtaining an average overlap (quantified by the Dice coefficient) of 0.4. We also showed the ability of EEG to map the facial expressions processing network (FEPN), highlighting regions near the posterior superior temporal sulcus, where the FEPN is anchored. Then, we measured the dFC using EEG for the first time in this context, estimated dFC brain states using dictionary learning, and compared such states with those obtained from the fMRI. We found a statistically significant match between fMRI and EEG dFC states, and determined the existence of two matched dFC states which contribution over time was associated with the brain activity at the FEPN, showing that the dynamics of FEPN can be captured by both fMRI and EEG. Our results push the limits of EEG toward being used as a brain imaging tool, while supporting the growing literature on EEG correlates of (dynamic) functional connectivity measured with fMRI, and providing novel insights into the coupling mechanisms underlying the two imaging techniques.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12041698,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Primary angiosarcoma of the chest wall: CT and MR findings.\nA surgically confirmed primary angiosarcoma of the chest wall is described. CT showed a right chest wall mass projecting into the thoracic cavity from the right axilla. The tumor was a high density, inhomogeneous-density mass. Invasion to the rib was noted, and calcified foci were demonstrated. A homogenous high-density mass ventral to the chest wall mass was shown. Contrast-enhanced CT did not demonstrate any enhancement. MRI demonstrated a large heterogeneous mass on both T1-weighted images (T1WI) and T2-weighted images (T2WI). Contrast-enhanced axial T1-weighted MR images did not show any enhancement of the mass, but the homogenous mass ventral to the chest wall mass was shown. MRI demonstrated certain characteristic findings of angiosarcoma of the chest wall. Intratumoral hemorrhage with juxtaposed hematoma and aggressive invasion to the surrounding tissue suggest angiosarcoma.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15258638,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Does the environment constrain avian sound localization?\nA bird needs to keep track not only of social interactions of conspecifics but also of their changing locations in space by determining their directions and distances. Current knowledge of accuracy in the computation of sound source location by birds is still insufficient, partly because physiological mechanisms of few species are studied in well defined laboratory settings, while field studies are performed in a variety of species and complex environments. Velocity gradients and reverberating surfaces may conceivably induce inaccuracy in sound source location (mainly elevation) by distorting the directional cues. However, most birds possess an inherently directional pressure difference receiver, which enhances the directional cues (mainly azimuth), and a computational mechanism in their auditory pathways to suppress echoes of redirected sound.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28284204,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Calcium - Magnesium imbalance implicated in benign prostatic hyperplasia and restoration by a phytotherapeutic drug - Croton membranaceus M\u00fcll.Arg.\nCalcium (Ca)- magnesium (Mg) imbalance is implicated in prostate cancer. Ca\/Mg ratio increases or decreases with proliferation or apoptosis, respectively. The study examined whether this Ca\/Mg imbalance exists in BPH patients and the effect of a phytotherapeutic drug on the Ca\/Mg ratio. Thirty (30) BPH patients who used the ethanolic root extract of Croton membranaceus (60 mg\/day) for 3 months were examined for serum Ca, Mg, phosphate, parathyroid hormone (PTH), vitamin D, prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels and renal function tests (RFT) before (BT) and after treatment (AT) alongside thirty (30) controls. Twenty (20) trace element including Mg and Ca were determined in the drug by neutron activation analysis (NAA). RFT, PTH and vitamin D for BT, AT and controls (C) were normal. Mean PSA was 1.0 \u00b1 0.64 (C), 27.9 \u00b1 19.0 (BT) and 16.2 \u00b1 11.8 ng\/mL (AT) (p = 0.002). Mg, Ca\/Mg ratio BT, AT and control were significantly different (p = 0.0001, respectively). After treatment, Mg and Ca\/Mg ratio were not different from controls. The prevalence of Ca\/Mg imbalance was 80% (BT), 13.3% (AT) and 3.3% (control group). Ca\/Mg ratio imbalance is associated with BPH. This has previously not been demonstrated. The imbalance was significantly corrected after treatment with the phytotherapeutic drug.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15255236,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Spontaneous regression of neovascularization at the disc in diabetic retinopathy.\nNeovascularization at the disc (NVD) is the most serious complication in diabetic retinopathy, and leads to vitreous hemorrhage and tractional retinal detachment. We report two cases of spontaneous regression of NVD in proliferative diabetic retinopathy. Two men (31 and 46 years old) with diabetes had NVD in both eyes. They were treated with panretinal photocoagulation on the left eye first, but their right eyes went untreated, because they did not revisit our clinic for several months. Fortunately, on revisit, their neovascularization had disappeared a few months later in both eyes, including their untreated right eyes. We could not find any specific causes for the spontaneous regression of the new vessels.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6176256,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hyaluronectin in normal human skin and in basal cell carcinoma.\nThe localization of hyaluronectin has been studied in normal skin and in basal cell carcinoma. In fetal skin it is abundant in the dermis but absent from the epidermis, and in adult skin it is totally absent except in the hair sheaths and bulbs. In basal cell carcinoma it is abundant only in the stroma reaction. The presence of this protein in mesenchymatous tissues seems to be linked to zones of physiological or neoplastic proliferation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36274055,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Chemical Variability of Hexane Extracts from Five Subspecies of Calendula suffruticosa from Spain.\nThe chemical profile of the hexane extracts of the subspecies carbonellii, greuteri, marginata, trialata, and vejerensis of Calendula suffruticosa growing in Spain, herein described for the first time, were studied to access their value as a chemo taxonomical tool and search for potentially useful compounds. The subsp. greuteri and carbonellii showed higher extract yields. Terpenoids were the most abundant chemical class in subsp. carbonellii, greuteri, trialata, and vejerensis, while alkanes were the most abundant in subsp. marginata. Differences in chemical constituents were identified among the subspecies of C. suffruticosa analysed, which the PCA can prove. The subsp. trialata and greuteri showed more significant phytochemical similarity, which might indicate genetic proximity between these two subspecies. C. suffruticosa subsp. marginata presented the fewest number of compounds and in the smallest quantities, and C. suffruticosa subsp. vejerensis presented the largest number, however, both showed no alcohols. Furthermore, some of the compounds found in significant amounts are known for their pharmacological and nutraceutical properties, denoting potential use.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22669628,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Escherichia coli: great diversity around a common core.\nEscherichia coli outbreak in Germany, which resulted in more than 4,000 cases, including 908 cases of hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS) and at least 50 deaths, highlighted the genome plasticity of E. coli and the potential for new virulent strains to emerge. The analysis of 170 E. coli genome sequences for the presence of nine previously identified protective extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli antigens suggested the feasibility of a combination vaccine as a universal intervention against all pathogenic E. coli strains. This article reports on the feasibility of a combination vaccine as a universal intervention against all pathogenic Escherichia coli strains.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7930111,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2013-20":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nurses' attitudes towards aggressive behaviour, following attendance at 'The Prevention and Management of Aggressive Behaviour Programme'.\nThe issue of aggression and violence is current in society. Recent reports indicate that this is not just an issue for society at large, but also for its organizations and institutions. The health care industry is not exception in this regard. Nursing, among other disciplines, has focused an increasing amount of attention on this problem for its members. This is evidenced by the increasing amount of literature on the topic. One feature of this writing is the study of programmes designed to train professionals in techniques to prevent and manage aggression and violence. To date, little attention has been paid to the evaluation of such programmes. In these times of economic difficulty, this position cannot be supported. This paper describes the study of one such educational programme. In this case the evaluation focused on the study of attitude change in participants following attendance at 'The Prevention and Management of Aggressive Behaviour Programme'. Although the indications are that the programme had a positive effect on attitudes, the author concludes that further study is required to illuminate the statistical significance of this positivity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17877070,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Treating the diabetic ulcer: practical approach and general concepts.\nNeuropathic foot disease is commonly seen in clinical practice and is related primarily to the high and increasing prevalence of diabetes mellitus in the western world. The treatment of diabetic ulcer can be divided into three stages: evaluation, healing, prevention. Based on the evaluation, foot ulceration in diabetic patients can be categorized as non-infected and infected. Non-infected and non-ischemic ulcers heal when the area is off-loaded, constituting the cornerstone of treatment. Off-loading is combined with wound care. Surgical curative procedures are performed when conservative means fail and include internal off-loading, i.e., correction of the foot deformity and wound closure procedures. Off-loading is also important for infected ulcers but controlling the infection is essential. The infection is controlled by antibiotics, pus drainage, debridement of necrotic tissues including surgical debridement, and partial foot amputations. Diabetic ulcer is an expression of a complex systemic disease and requires treatment by multidisciplinary means, combining medical and paramedical personnel. The orthopedic surgeon plays a major role since a prominent part of the treatment involves foot surgery.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29552600,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Fructose Intolerance: Cause or Cure of Chronic Functional Constipation.\nFunctional constipation is a common occurrence in the pediatric population. The link between fructose ingestion and constipation is obscure due to a lack of published data. In this article, we discuss the relationship of fructose tolerance and the development of constipation via a literature review and our single-center experience. A literature review of constipation and fructose ingestion was performed using PubMed. A retrospective chart review from the pediatric gastroenterology clinic, January 2012 to December 2015, was completed, with attention to the relationship of fructose intolerance and its clinical presentations. There were 367 patients who underwent the fructose breath hydrogen test (FBHT), out of which 208 patients had fructose intolerance. Clinical presentations included chronic abdominal pain, chronic diarrhea, chronic constipation, emesis, and nausea. Statistical significance was reached for chronic constipation, emesis, and nausea, being less likely to be found in FBHT-positive patients. Thus, fructose intolerance may help resolve symptoms in patients with chronic functional constipation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6164189,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Immunocytochemical studies on the central nervous system of the earthworm, Lumbricus terrestris.\nThere are numerous aldehyde fuchsin (AF)-positive, neurosecretory cells of medium size (A cells) and a small number of large, AF-negative neurons (B cells) in the cortical layer of the cerebral ganglion. In the subesophageal ganglion, symmetrical groups of AF-positive cells lie ventrally. The peroxidase--antiperoxidase (PAP) method was used for the immunocytochemical study of substance P and ACTH in these ganglia. In addition, the presence of L-enkephalin and alpha endorphin could be confirmed. Using rabbit antibodies to substance P we found small immunoreactive neurons among negative A and B cells in the cerebral ganglion. The processes of these immunoreactive cells could be traced to the subcortical synaptic neuropil. With antibodies to ACTH, activity was visible in perikarya similar in size to A neurons. A part of the nerve terminals of the synaptic zone, some of the B neurons and further several nerve cells of the subesophageal ganglion reacted positively. Successive demonstration of substance P and ACTH on the same section showed that the two materials occurred in different cell types. Using antiopsin antibody in an indirect immunocytochemical test we observed strong reaction in numerous medium-sized perikarya and in nerve fibres of the synaptic zone of the cerebral ganglion, further in some neurons of the subesophageal and abdominal ganglia. In contrast to this result, the photoreceptor cells of the prostomium and cerebral ganglion were negative. Presumably, substance P is present in a perikaryon type hitherto unrecognized while ACTH and antiopsin reactions seem to be located first of all in A cells.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35363078,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-30":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evaluation of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Carriage in the Elderly in Portugal Using Selective Enrichment Followed by Quantitative Real-Time PCR.\nThe prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in hospitals in Portugal is worrisome and among the highest in Europe. Surprisingly, MRSA prevalence in the community was described as very low (<2%) based on studies that used classical culture-based methods (CCBM). We investigated whether the apparent limited spread of MRSA in the community in Portugal might result from low sensitivity of CCBM. Nasopharyngeal- and oropharyngeal-paired samples obtained from senior adults living in nursing (n = 299) or family homes (n = 300) previously characterized by CCBM were reanalyzed. Samples were inoculated in a semi-selective enrichment medium, and those showing visible growth were evaluated by qPCR targeting nuc, mecA, and mecC genes (SSE+qPCR). By SSE+qPCR, 34 of the 1,198 (2.8%) samples were MRSA positive compared with 21 (1.8%) by CCBM. SSE+qPCR improved non-significantly detection of MRSA carriers from 5.4% to 8.0% (p = 0.12) in the nursing home collection, and from 0.3% to 1.7% (p = 0.13) in the family home collection. MRSA isolates belonged to three HA-MRSA clones widely disseminated in Portuguese hospitals. In conclusion, use of semi-selective medium combined with qPCR did not change the overall scenario previously described. In Portugal, MRSA circulation in the community among senior adults is low.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17910110,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A novel arterial pouch model of saccular aneurysm by concomitant elastase and collagenase digestion.\nAn ideal aneurysm model of cerebral aneurysm is of great importance for studying the pathogenesis of the lesion and testing new techniques for diagnosis and treatment. Several models have been created in rabbits and are now widely used in experimental studies; however, every model has certain intrinsic limitations. Here we report the development of a novel saccular aneurysm model in rabbits using an arterial pouch that is subject to in vitro pre-digestion with combined elastase and collagenase. A segment of right common carotid artery (CCA) was dissected out and treated with elastase (60 U\/ml, 20 min) followed by type I collagenase (1 mg\/ml, 15 min) in vitro. The graft was anastomosed to an arterial arch built with the left CCA and the remaining right CCA, while the other end of the graft was ligated. The dimension and tissue structure of the pouch were analysed immediately, 2 or 8 weeks after operation. Ten terminal aneurysms were produced. The gross morphology of the aneurysm resembles the human cerebral terminal aneurysms. We have observed the following pathological changes: (1) growth of the aneurysm (mean diameter increased from (2.0+\/-0.1) to (3.2+\/-0.3) mm at 2 weeks, P<0.001, n=7-10); (2) thinning of the aneurysmal wall (the mean wall thickness decreased to 44% at 2 weeks), which was accompanied by significant losses of elastic fibres, collagen and the cellular component; and (3) spontaneous rupture (3 out of 9, one aneurysm ruptured 24 h after operation with the other two at 2 and 4 weeks respectively). This rabbit arterial pouch model mimics human cerebral aneurysms in relation to morphology and histology. In particular, this model exhibited an increased tendency of spontaneous rupture.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18594050,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of AGTR1 A1166C gene polymorphism in patients with heart failure treated with candesartan.\nThe benefits of angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) in patients with heart failure who are treated with standard pharmacotherapy, including an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor, were demonstrated in 2 large randomized trials. It is currently impossible to determine which patient will benefit from the addition of an ARB. To explore the impact of selected candidate genes on the hemodynamic, neurohormonal, and antiinflammatory effects of candesartan in patients with heart failure who are already being treated with an ACE inhibitor. We investigated the impact of 10 candidate genetic polymorphisms on the effects of candesartan in patients with heart failure who are treated with an ACE inhibitor. We evaluated their impact on acute (2 wk) and long-term (24 wk) changes in blood pressure and N-terminal proB-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) during treatment with candesartan. Thirty-one patients were included. Homozygotes of the AGTR1 A1166 allele (n = 13) had a greater decrease in systolic (-9.1 +\/- 4.7 vs 1.1 +\/- 3.3 mm Hg; p = 0.04 by analysis of variance [ANOVA], adjusting for dose) and diastolic blood pressure (-5.1 +\/- 1.5 vs 1.9 +\/- 1.9 mm Hg; p = 0.005 by ANOVA, adjusting for dose) compared with C1166 allele carriers (n = 18) following 2 weeks of treatment. After 6 months of treatment, C1166 carriers experienced a greater decrease in NT-proBNP (-151.4 [-207; -19.8] ng\/L vs 147.3 [-61.3; 882.9] ng\/L; p = 0.03) and hsCRP (-0.8 [-2.2; -0.03] mg\/L) vs 0.2 [-1.8; 5.3] mg\/L; p = 0.09) compared with patients carrying the AA1166 genotype. No other significant association was found. The results of this proof-of concept study provide the first evidence that the AGTR1 A1166C polymorphism could influence the response to candesartan in patients with heart failure who are receiving ACE inhibitors. Validation of these exploratory findings in larger populations is required before use of the AGTR1 A1166C genotype can be incorporated into clinical practice.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6743759,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Segmental cable evaluation of somatic transients in hippocampal neurons (CA1, CA3, and dentate).\nThis study describes a detailed cable model of neuronal structure, which can predict the effects of discrete transient inputs. Neurons in in vitro hippocampal slices (CA1 and CA3 pyramidal cells and dentate granule neurons; n = 4 each) were physiologically characterized and stained with horseradish peroxidase (HRP). The HRP morphology was approximated with numerous small segments. The cable model included both these segments and spatially dispersed dendritic spines. The transient response function at the soma of the segmental model was numerically derived, and charging responses to simulated current inputs were computed. These simulations were compared with the physiological charging responses from the somatic penetrations, using an analysis of the charging time constants (tau i) and intercepts. The time constant ratio (tau 0\/tau 1) did not significantly differ between the observed and simulated responses. A second index of comparison was the equivalent cylinder electrotonic length (L), which was derived using only the tau i values and their intercepts. The L values also did not differ significantly between the observed and simulated transients and averaged 0.91 length constant. Thus, using criteria based only on analysis of charging responses, the segmental cable model recreated accurately the observed transients at the soma. The equivalent cylinder model (with a lumped soma) could also adequately simulate the observed somatic transients, using the same criteria. However, the hippocampal neurons (particularly the pyramidal cells) did not appear to satisfy the equivalent cylinder assumption anatomically. Thus, the analysis of somatic charging transients alone may not be sufficient to discriminate between the two models of hippocampal neurons. Anatomical evidence indicates that, particularly for discrete dendritic inputs, the detailed segmental model may be more appropriate than the equivalent cylinder model.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9139895,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Murein segregation in Escherichia coli.\nPeptidoglycan (murein) segregation has been studied by means of a new labeling method. The method relies on the ability of Escherichia coli cells to incorporate D-Cys into macromolecular murein. The incorporation depends on a periplasmic amino acid exchange reaction. At low concentrations, D-Cys is innocuous to the cell. The distribution of modified murein in purified sacculi can be traced and visualized by immunodetection of the -SH groups by fluorescence and electron microscopy techniques. Analysis of murein segregation in wild-type and cell division mutant strains revealed that murein in polar caps is metabolically inert and is segregated in a conservative fashion. Elongation of the sacculus apparently occurs by diffuse insertion of precursors over the cylindrical part of the cell surface. At the initiation of cell division, there is a FtsZ-dependent localized activation of murein synthesis at the potential division sites. Penicillin-binding protein 3 and the products of the division genes ftsA and ftsQ are dispensable for the activation of division sites. As a consequence, under restrictive conditions ftsA,ftsI,or ftsQ mutants generate filamentous sacculi with rings of all-new murein at the positions where septa would otherwise develop.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23446032,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"The ULT1 and ULT2 trxG genes play overlapping roles in Arabidopsis development and gene regulation.\nThe epigenetic regulation of gene expression is critical for ensuring the proper deployment and stability of defined genome transcription programs at specific developmental stages. The cellular memory of stable gene expression states during animal and plant development is mediated by the opposing activities of Polycomb group (PcG) factors and trithorax group (trxG) factors. Yet, despite their importance, only a few trxG factors have been characterized in plants and their roles in regulating plant development are poorly defined. In this work, we report that the closely related Arabidopsis trxG genes ULTRAPETALA1 (ULT1) and ULT2 have overlapping functions in regulating shoot and floral stem cell accumulation, with ULT1 playing a major role but ULT2 also making a minor contribution. The two genes also have a novel, redundant activity in establishing the apical\u2013basal polarity axis of the gynoecium, indicating that they function in differentiating tissues. Like ULT1 proteins, ULT2 proteins have a dual nuclear and cytoplasmic localization, and the two proteins physically associate in planta. Finally, we demonstrate that ULT1 and ULT2 have very similar overexpression phenotypes and regulate a common set of key development target genes, including floral MADS-box genes and class I KNOX genes. Our results reveal that chromatin remodeling mediated by the ULT1 and ULT2 proteins is necessary to control the development of meristems and reproductive organs. They also suggest that, like their animal counterparts, plant trxG proteins may function in multi-protein complexes to up-regulate the expression of key stage- and tissue-specific developmental regulatory genes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17887993,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Sildenafil citrate improves erectile function: a randomised double-blind trial with open-label extension.\nTo evaluate once-daily 100-mg sildenafil for the treatment of erectile dysfunction (ED) in men with ED and lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). This was a 12-week, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled (DBPC) trial, with an 8-week open-label (OL) extension, in men > or = 45 years of age who scored < or = 25 on the erectile function (EF) domain of the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) and > or = 12 on the International Prostate Symptom Score. At DBPC end of treatment (EOT), the sildenafil group (n = 189, vs. placebo, n = 180) had improved EF (IIEF), improved emotional well-being [Self-Esteem And Relationship questionnaire (SEAR)], and greater treatment satisfaction (Erectile Dysfunction Inventory of Treatment Satisfaction) (p < 0.0001). At OL EOT, IIEF and SEAR scores improved slightly in the group previously randomised to sildenafil (n = 168), but much more in the group previously randomised to placebo (N = 155), such that total improvement over the 20-week trial was comparable between the groups. Erections at baseline were hard enough for penetration on approximately half of occasions and lasted long enough for successful intercourse on less than one quarter of occasions, increasing at sildenafil DBPC and OL EOT to approximately 90% (penetration) and 80% (intercourse success) vs. 61% (penetration) and 39% (intercourse success) for DBPC placebo. At sildenafil DBPC and OL EOT, > or = 90% of men were taking sildenafil 100 mg. Sildenafil was generally well tolerated. In this trial of men with ED and BPH-associated LUTS, sildenafil treatment for ED was efficacious, effective and generally well tolerated.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37851263,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Quantitative calculation of gases generation during low-temperature oxidation of coal.\nThe gases evolution during the low-temperature oxidation of coal is an essential parameter used to assess the state of coal oxidation and to estimate the gaseous pollutants. However, the current semi-quantitative method, which employs gas concentration as the measurement standard, is flawed. This paper presents a quantitative calculation method for gas products during coal oxidation. N2 is used as the tracer gas in the experiment, because nitrogen is an inert gas that will not participate in the reaction, and the amount of matter will not change in the reaction. According to the formula [Formula: see text], the corresponding mass flow rates of each gases component were calculated, and the gas yields during the reaction period were determined by comprehensive calculation. To this end, experiments were conducted on the low-temperature oxidation of coal using a flow reactor. After undergoing quantitative calculations, the main gas products' mass flow rates, yields, and energies, including CO, CO2, CH4, C2H4, C2H6, C2H2, and C3H8 between 30 and 180 \u00b0C were obtained. The findings showed that CO2 > CO > CH was generated in all the coal samples. The amount of gases produced in the low-temperature oxidation of coal is proportional to the level of oxygen concentration. When the oxygen concentration ranges from 0 to 21%, the gaseous production of MTH coal ranges from 381.44 g\/ton to 8562.80 g\/ton. The results of gaseous energy calculations showed that the energy loss for low temperature oxidation of the four coal samples ranged from 4334.14~26,772.73 kJ\/ton under air atmosphere. Energy loss is also significantly affected by the oxygen concentration, and the energy loss of MTH coal increases significantly from 520.52 kJ\/ton at 0% oxygen concentration to 26,772.73 kJ\/ton at 21% oxygen concentration, an increase of about 50 times. Significantly, this method not only reflects the real gas evolution during low-temperature oxidation of coal but also computes the gas emission and energy loss, which is crucial for studying the mechanism of coal spontaneous combustion and assessing gases pollutants.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6739800,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Percutaneous cholecystostomy in acute cholecystitis and common duct obstruction.\nPercutaneous cholecystostomy was performed in 36 patients, of whom 22 patients with acute cholecystitis had decompression of the gallbladder and 14 patients with common duct obstruction had biliary decompression through the gallbladder. In almost all cases of acute cholecystitis, percutaneous cholecystostomy quickly confirmed the diagnosis and brought relief. Bile leakage occurred in one patient when catheter placement was performed under ultrasonic guidance alone; subsequent procedures were performed in a single step using an \"accordion\" catheter under fluoroscopic control following ultrasound localization. This technique has proved to be useful as both a diagnostic and therapeutic procedure.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23874546,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Identification of biomarkers of response to IFNg during endotoxin tolerance: application to septic shock.\nThe rapid development in septic patients of features of marked immunosuppression associated with increased risk of nosocomial infections and mortality represents the rational for the initiation of immune targeted treatments in sepsis. However, as there is no clinical sign of immune dysfunctions, the current challenge is to develop biomarkers that will help clinicians identify the patients that would benefit from immunotherapy and monitor its efficacy. Using an in vitro model of endotoxin tolerance (ET), a pivotal feature of sepsis-induced immunosuppression in monocytes, we identified using gene expression profiling by microarray a panel of transcripts associated with the development of ET which expression was restored after immunostimulation with interferon-gamma (IFN-\u03b3). These results were confirmed by qRT-PCR. Importantly, this short-list of markers was further evaluated in patients. Of these transcripts, six (TNFAIP6, FCN1, CXCL10, GBP1, CXCL5 and PID1) were differentially expressed in septic patients' blood compared to healthy blood upon ex vivo LPS stimulation and were restored by IFN-\u03b3. In this study, by combining a microarray approach in an in vitro model and a validation in clinical samples, we identified a panel of six new transcripts that could be used for the identification of septic patients eligible for IFNg therapy. Along with the previously identified markers TNFa, IL10 and HLA-DRA, the potential value of these markers should now be evaluated in a larger cohort of patients. Upon favorable results, they could serve as stratification tools prior to immunostimulatory treatment and to monitor drug efficacy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28722109,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Genomic signatures of pancreatic adenosquamous carcinoma (PASC).\nIn pancreatic cancer, pancreatic adenosquamous carcinoma (PASC) containing both ductal adenocarcinoma and squamous carcinoma in the same tumour represents \u223c4% of the total incidence. To date, the genomic features of this mixed tumour are still unknown. We analysed the genomes of 17 PASCs and 34 pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDACs), and showed that PASC carried highly enriched TP53 mutations and 3p loss as compared with PDAC. We also showed that adenomatous and squamous components of PASC harboured comparable genomic alterations, suggesting that the two cellular components develop from the same progenitor cancer cells. Our study has updated genomic knowledge to help with understanding mixed cancers of the pancreas. Copyright \u00a9 2017 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28564174,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"HERITABLE VARIATION IN ETHANOL TOLERANCE AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH BIOCHEMICAL TRAITS IN DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER.\nTo help elucidate mechanisms of larval ethanol tolerance seven isochromosomal lines of Drosophila melanogaster with different second chromosomes were fed a growth-limiting concentration of ethanol (4.5% v\/v) and examined for associations between growth traits and biochemical characteristics that had previously been implicated in the determination of tolerance variation. Repeated measures of survival and development time over four generations verified the inherited nature of these traits. Significant variation among the lines were evident for flux from ethanol into lipid, for activity levels of alcohol dehydrogenase and glycerol-3-phosphate oxidase (GPO), and for levels of long chain and unsaturated fatty acids. A high degree of positive association occurred among the variables. A partial correlation analysis controlling for performance of the lines on ethanol-free medium revealed a strong association between the degree of long chain fatty acid content and line survival when ethanol was fed. The correlation between GPO activity and survival in an ethanol environment appeared to depend on the association of GPO activity with long chain fatty acid content. The positive correlations of flux from ethanol into lipid with many of the other variables suggested that the ADH pathway influenced the level of ethanol tolerance. These associations are all consistent with the hypothesis that the lipid content of body tissues, especially the levels of long chain and unsaturated fatty acids in cell membranes, may have an important influence on both spatial and interspecific variation in the ethanol tolerance of larvae.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37449382,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Prevalence of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Girls With Central Precocious Puberty.\nThe purpose of the current study was to examine the prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in girls with central precocious puberty. Girls with central precocious puberty were prospectively recruited from the pediatric clinic. Screening was done with ADHD Rating Scale (ADHD-RS) and Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Those who screened positive on ADHD-RS were referred for the diagnostic evaluation which included a Computerized Performance Test (CPT) and a clinical interview conducted by a child adolescent psychiatrist. Among the 81 girls (mean age = 8.97 \u00b1 0.91) who completed the study, 11 girls (13.58%) were diagnosed with ADHD: 5 of them were inattentive type and 6 of them were combined type. The present exploratory study showed that the prevalence of ADHD in girls with central precocious was higher than the known worldwide prevalence of ADHD in children.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7936543,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hormonal management of the sick menopausal woman.\nHRT is likely to benefit menopausal women with concurrent conditions. In particular, women with atherosclerosis and its sequelae who use HRT may live longer. Our knowledge concerning the differential pharmacologic, biologic, and clinical effects of various estrogen preparations and routes is rudimentary, particularly in the sick climacteric woman. What data do exist, however, suggest that estrogen use is likely to improve the morbidity or mortality of women with coronary heart disease, myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, hypertension, peripheral vascular disease, diabetes mellitus, stroke, and thromboembolic disorders. Whether there are any advantages to oral versus nonoral administration in these clinical circumstances has not been concretely determined. In order to minimize hepatic impact, it may be prudent to administer by a nonoral route estrogens that naturally occur in women to those with dyslipidemias, coagulopathies, liver disease, and cholelithiasis. Women who smoke are unlikely to accrue the full benefits of HRT. Although prospective, randomized clinical trials are expensive and tedious to execute, they are needed to determine the impact in sick menopausal women of estrogens and progestins in general and the different preparations, routes, and regimens in particular.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15248493,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Biosorption of Baftkar textile effluent.\nDecolourization of wastewater from a textile plant by a marine Aspergillus niger was studied. The fungus was previously isolated from Gorgan Bay in the Caspian Sea. The kinetics of decolourization was studied by varying energy sources. The best decolourization was achieved when sucrose was used as source of carbon and energy. NH4+ ion was demonstrated to be the best nitrogen source. Color reduction was found to increase from 80-97% as inoculum concentration increased from 0.04-1.0 g\/L. A minimum inoculum of 0.2 g\/L is necessary to achieve decolourization. The optimal temperature for the growth of A. niger on Baftkar wastewater is found to be 30 degrees C. 90-96% colour reduction is achieved in 19-20 hr of contact of mycelium cell with the wastewater. Colour reduction in a continuous column reactor of 70% was obtained using treated mycelium (NaOH, 90 degrees C) after 1 hr.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12036304,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Genomic organization of mouse and human 65 kDa FK506-binding protein genes and evolution of the FKBP multigene family.\nFK506-binding proteins (FKBPs) are peptidyl-prolyl cis\/trans isomerases PPIases) that bind the immunosuppressive drug FK506. Of the many eukaryotic FKBPs that have been identified, FKBP65 is an endoplasmic reticulum-localized protein that associates with tropoelastin in the secretory pathway. Unlike any other FKBP characterized so far, FKBP65 is developmentally regulated and may be intimately involved in organogenesis. Here, we report the isolation, sequencing, and genomic organization of the mouse FKBP65 gene (Fkbp10) and provide a comparison with the human ortholog. Mouse Fkbp10 contains 10 exons and 9 introns encompassing 8.5 kb. The exon-intron organization of Fkbp10 displays a pattern of repetition that reflects the coding sequence of the four PPIase, or FK506-binding, domains present in the mature protein. The exon organization of the PPIase domains differs from that of the other FKBP family members. The evolution of the FKBP65 gene and other members of the FKBP multigene family were therefore investigated from a taxonomically diverse array of prokaryotic and eukaryotic taxa. These analyses suggest that the FKBP multigene family emerged early in the evolutionary history of eukaryotes, and during that time some members, including the FKBP65 gene, have experienced gene elongation by means of PPIase domain duplication.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19029635,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-30":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Modulation of hemorheological parameters by the erythrocyte redox thiol status.\nThere is growing knowledge about the association between hemorheological blood disorders and compromised microcirculation in erythrocyte abnormalities. Effects of the non-neuronal cholinergic elements, especially acetylcholinesterase, on the erythrocyte hemorheological parameters were characterized in the past. However, alterations of these parameters have not been studied under the influence of the cellular redox thiol status. Aliquots of venous blood from ten healthy male subjects were incubated in vitro with increasing concentrations of a thiol reducer agent (dithiothreitol 1, 10, 50 microM final concentrations) in the presence and absence of acetylcholinesterase substrate (acetylcholine) or inhibitor (velnacrine maleate). The following parameters were determined in all blood samples aliquots: erythrocyte aggregation, erythrocyte deformability and lipid membrane fluidity. Blood smears were performed. Dithiothreitol induces no significant changes on the hemorheological behaviour of human red cells. Upon intracellular thiol stimulation, the presence of AChE effectors (either acetylcholine or velnacrine) decreases erythrocyte aggregation and elongation indexes. The addition of DTT to blood samples aliquots, contributing to the redox thiol status, is not directly involved in the modulation of erythrocyte rheological properties. However, upon acetylcholinesterase modulation by its substrate or inhibitor, changes on the hemorheological parameters are triggered by DTT. Associated pharmacological interest is considerable to address the hemorheology-hemostasis-microcirculation triad disorders.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16228203,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Symbiotic abilities of Sinorhizobium fredii with modified expression of purL.\nPrevious reports showed that a transposon-induced PurL- mutant of Sinorhizobium fredii induced pseudonodules on Glycine max and the addition of 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-riboside or adenine to the plant could not restore the mutant to establish effective symbiosis. To gain a better understanding of the impact of the purL gene on symbiosis formation, we measured the effect of modified expression of this gene on the symbiotic abilities of S. fredii on soybean (G. max). A 1.98-kb in-frame deletion mutant in the purL gene of S. fredii was constructed. Transcriptional modification of the purL gene was conducted using several promoters such as those of lac, nifH, nifQ, and fixN. It was found that reduced expression of purL gene or suitable symbiotic expression of purL (such as with the promoter nifH or nifQ) can efficiently establish symbiosis of S. fredii on G. max without the exogenous supplementation of any adenine or purine precursor; at least a minimal level of expression of purL is essential for effective symbiosis with soybean.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12013064,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Partners' ratings of combat veterans' anger.\nSpouse reports may serve as an important source of collateral information in the assessment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and associated behavioral problems. This study examined the concordance of anger reports among 94 combat veterans and their partners. Veterans' scores on subscales of the Multidimensional Anger Inventory were compared with scores on a parallel version completed by partners to assess veterans' anger symptomatology. The study examined whether the concordance between veteran and partner-reported anger is moderated by whether the veteran suffers from PTSD. There was moderate agreement between veterans and their partners on reports of anger and little evidence to suggest that PTSD diagnosis affected the convergence between partner and veteran scores.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17920673,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"A polymerase chain reaction for detection of Brucella canis in vaginal swabs of naturally infected bitches.\nA PCR assay for the detection of Brucella canis in canine vaginal swab samples was evaluated, comparing its performance with that of bacterial isolation, serological tests, and a blood PCR assay. One hundred and forty-four female dogs were clinically examined to detect reproductive problems and they were tested by the rapid slide agglutination test, with and without 2-mercaptoethanol (2ME-RSAT and RSAT, respectively). In addition, microbiological culture and PCR were performed on blood and vaginal swab samples. The results of the vaginal swab PCR were compared to those of the other tests using the Kappa coefficient and McNemar test. Of the 144 females that were examined, 66 (45.8%) were RSAT positive, 23 (15.9%) were 2ME-RSAT positive, 49 (34.02%) were blood culture positive, 6 (4.1%) were vaginal swab culture positive, 54 (37.5%) were blood PCR positive, 52 (36.2%) were vaginal swab PCR positive, and 50.69% (73\/144) were positive by the combined PCR. The PCR was able to detect as few as 3.8 fg of B. canis DNA experimentally diluted in 54 ng of canine DNA, extracted from vaginal swab samples of non-infected bitches. In addition, the PCR assay amplified B. canis genetic sequences from vaginal swab samples containing 1.0 x 10(0) cfu\/mL. In conclusion, vaginal swab PCR was a good candidate as a confirmatory test for brucellosis diagnosis in bitches suspected to be infected, especially those negative on blood culture or blood PCR; these animals may be important reservoirs of infection and could complicate attempts to eradicate the disease in confined populations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34418282,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Recent Progress in Enolonium Chemistry under Metal-Free Conditions.\nUmpolung approach through inversion of the polarity of conventional enolates, has opened up an unprecedented opportunity in the cross-coupling via alkylation. The enolonium equivalents can be accessed either by hypervalent iodine reagents, activation\/oxidation of amides, or the oxidation of alkynes. Under umpolung conditions, highly basic conditions required for classical enolate chemistry can be avoided, and they can couple with unmodified nucleophiles such as heteroatom donors and electron-rich arenes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3069038,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Endo-ultrasonography for preoperative staging of rectal cancer.\nTwenty-five intrarectal ultrasound (US) scannings were performed preoperatively for assessing the depth of infiltration of rectal neoplasms. One tumour located in the distal rectum could not be visualized on the ultrasonogram. US could correctly identify extraintestinal infiltration in 13 out of 14 cases with proved extrarectal involvement on histopathological examination. The overall accuracy of US in demonstrating tumour growth outside the rectal wall was 88%, sensitivity 93% and specificity 80%. Intrarectal US is a useful additional method in the preoperative evaluation of rectal neoplasms and provides more information about the depth of tumor infiltration compared with conventional methods thus helping decide the most appropriate therapy for the patient.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1099220,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Foreign-body tumorigenesis: in vitro isolation and expansion of preneoplastic clonal cell populations.\nForeign-body reactions were induced in coisogenic CBA\/H and CBA\/H-T6 mice by sc implantation of 15 times 22 times 0.2-mm unplasticized vinyl chloride vinyl acetate copolymer films. At 6 months' post implantation, implants and unopened tissue capsules were transferred to recipient animals of the T6-different partner strain. After another 3 months, part of the film\/capsule complex was transferred to (C57BL\/10ScSn times CBA\/H-T6)F1 mice for tumor development. Capsule-derived and film-attached cells of the other part were separately cultured. Cultures consisting initially of euploid cells were often gradually replaced by different cells with specific aneuploid karyotypes which were identical with, or closely related to, those of the corresponding tumors. The cultured cells implanted in hybrid recipients at different passage numbers frequently gave rise to homologous tumors. Hence, it was possible to prepare in vitro cells with prefixed specific tumor determinants at different stages of preneoplastic maturation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6152810,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hepatic microvascular regulatory mechanisms. IV. Effect of lodoxamide tromethamine and arterenol-HCl on vascular responses evoked by compound 48\/80.\nChanges in the hepatic microvasculature and systemic arterial blood pressure were measured in anesthetized Sprague-Dawley rats receiving an i.v. infusion or topical application of compound 48\/80, lodoxamide, or arterenol. Histochemical determination of the number of Falck-Hillarp positive (serotonin containing) mast cells also was performed on sections of liver at the light microscopic level. The infusion of arterenol (0.1 mg\/kg) or Ringer's solution (control) provoked a vasopressor response within 25 sec in rats rendered hypotensive 5 min previously with compound 48\/80. The duration of this response was brief with arterial pressure returning to the pre-injection (hypotensive) state within 3 min following arterenol or Ringer's administration. The injection of lodoxamide (a purported inhibitor of histamine release) inhibited compound 48\/80-induced hypotension at all doses except 1 mg\/kg. In vivo microscopy revealed that topical administration (0.1 microgram) significantly antagonized the microvascular responses elicited by compound 48\/80. However, higher doses of lodoxamide (1.0-10 micrograms) when applied topically were found to be vasoactive. Given these results and the histochemical demonstration of an inhibition of compound 48\/80-induced release of serotonin, it is suggested that: lodoxamide antagonizes the action of compound 48\/80 by blocking the release of mast cell constituents, and neither compound 48\/80 nor the released constituents appear to modify vascular responsiveness to arterenol or hypervolemia following the initiation of hypotension.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19043534,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Conventional Microscopy vs. Computer Imagery in Chiropractic Education.\nAs human tissue pathology slides become increasingly difficult to obtain, other methods of teaching microscopy in educational laboratories must be considered. The purpose of this study was to evaluate our students' satisfaction with newly implemented computer imagery based laboratory instruction and to obtain input from their perspective on the advantages and disadvantages of computerized vs. traditional microscope laboratories. This undertaking involved the creation of a new computer laboratory. Robbins and Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease, 7(th)ed, was chosen as the required text which gave students access to the Robbins Pathology website, including complete content of text, Interactive Case Study Companion, and Virtual Microscope. Students had experience with traditional microscopes in their histology and microbiology laboratory courses. Student satisfaction with computer based learning was assessed using a 28 question survey which was administered to three successive trimesters of pathology students (n=193) using the computer survey website Zoomerang. Answers were given on a scale of 1-5 and statistically analyzed using weighted averages. The survey data indicated that students were satisfied with computer based learning activities during pathology laboratory instruction. The most favorable aspect to computer imagery was 24-7 availability (weighted avg. 4.16), followed by clarification offered by accompanying text and captions (weighted avg. 4.08). Although advantages and disadvantages exist in using conventional microscopy and computer imagery, current pathology teaching environments warrant investigation of replacing traditional microscope exercises with computer applications. Chiropractic students supported the adoption of computer-assisted instruction in pathology laboratories.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17912132,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Acute hemorrhagic cyst of the ligamentum flavum.\nA case report and clinical discussion. To describe a rare complication of a cyst of the ligamentum flavum, which bled spontaneously, provoking an acute lower limb monoparesis and lumbar sciatic pain. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUNDS DATA: Cysts of the ligamentum flavum have been rarely reported. Intraspinal degenerative cysts described in literature are usually juxta-articular (synovial and ganglion) cysts and have a similar radiologic appearance. They are preferentially located in the lumbar spine, while the cervical localization is unusual. Hemorrhage into the cyst is an uncommon complication and an extremely rare cause of nerve root compression. A 59-year-old woman presented with sudden severe radicular lumbar deficit and pain secondary to acute hemorrhage into a ligamentum flavum cyst. Magnetic resonance imaging showed at L3-L4 level a lobulated slightly hyperintense mass with a ventral area of marked hyperintensity in T1 images, hypointense on T2 images. Signal within the lesion was suggestive of intralesional hemorrhage. Complete resection of the lesion was performed, resulting in immediate recovery. The cyst was quite rounded, brownish, and contained rest of both partially fresh and coagulated hematoma. Histologic examination revealed myxoid degeneration of the ligamentum flavum with an hemorrage in the cystic cavity without a synovial layer. This report identifies a rare case of radicular lumbar deficit and pain secondary to acute hemorrhage into a ligamentum flavum cyst. The pathogenesis and clinicopathologic characteristics of this lesion are described.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32616132,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Effect of Monochromatic Energy Image Synthesized from Dual-layer Detector Spectral CT on Imaging of Inferior Vena Cava].\nObjective To evaluate the effect of monochromatic energy image on inferior vena cava imaging quality on dual-layer detector spectral CT. Methods Totally 39 patients who were clinically suspected of abdominal disease and referred to perform contrast-enhanced computed tomography(CT)were prospectively enrolled and underwent abdominal examination using a single-source,dual-detector spectral CT.The delayed phase scan was performed 3 minutes after injection of 60 ml of iopamidol(320 mg\/ml)at a rate of 3 ml\/s.The raw images were reconstructed to obtain conventional mixed energy images and spectral based images(SBI).The 40,50,60,and 70 keV single energy images were obtained.The CT value,noise,and signal-to-noise(SNR)of inferior vena cava and the contrast-to-noise(CNR)of inferior vena cava relative to psoas major on conventional mixed energy images and the 40,50,60,70 keV single energy images were measured.The SNRs and CNRs on monoenergetic 40-70 keV images were compared with polychromatic 120 kVp images.ANOVA was used to compare the CT value,noise,SNR,and CNR among these five groups.The optimal monoenergetic image set was chosen. Results The differences in CT value,noise,SNR,CNR of inferior vena cava were statistically significant among five groups(all P<0.05).The SNR and CNR in 40 keV group and 50 keV group were significantly higher than those in other groups(all P<0.05).The SNR of 40 keV group was significantly higher than that of 50 keV group(P=0.002).The CNR of 40 keV group was not statistical different compared with that of 50 keV group(P=0.630). Conclusion 40 keV is the optimal monoenergetic energy level for the inferior vena cava on dual-layer detector spectral CT and may be valuable for the diagnosis of inferior vena cava disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36275094,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Development of nanoemulsions for the delivery of hydrophobic and hydrophilic compounds against carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae.\nAntimicrobial resistance (AR), particularly the limited antimicrobial activities of antibiotics and natural compounds, has prompted research into new antimicrobials. Nanoemulsions (NEs) have been found to improve the activity of antimicrobial compounds. This study developed clove essential oil-in-water NEs (CEO-NEs) and water-in-oil-in-water NEs co-encapsulating CEO and meropenem (CEO-MEM-NEs) to investigate the antibacterial activity of these loaded NEs against carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae. Ultrasonication was used to prepare CEO-NEs and CEO-MEM-NEs. Tween 80 and Imwitor 375 surfactants were used to produce CEO-NEs while Tween 80, Imwitor 375, and PGPR were used to produce CEO-MEM-NEs. Droplets' sizes were 138 \u00b1 1.769 and 183.600 \u00b1 0.889 for CEO-NEs and CEO-MEM-NEs, respectively. The resultant NEs were monodispersed, negatively charged, and physically stable. The antibacterial activities of NEs were investigated using broth microdilution, checkerboard, and time-kill assays to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC). CEO-NEs (0.16% CEO MIC) and CEO-MEM-NEs (0.08% CEO and 1 \u03bcg mL-1 MEM MICs) completely inactivated K. pneumoniae, and showed functional stability after two weeks of storage at 4 \u00b0C. In conclusion, the formulated NEs significantly enhanced the antibacterial activity of CEO and MEM and have great potential as delivery systems of antimicrobial compounds.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":10204428,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A twelve-month clinical trial comparing the bracket failure rates of light-cured resin-modified glass-ionomer adhesive and acid-etch chemical-cured composite.\nA clinical study was undertaken to compare the failure rate over a twelve-month period of orthodontic brackets bonded with a light-cured resin-modified glass-ionomer (Fuji Ortho LC-GC International Japan) and an acid-etch chemically-cured two-paste composite (Orthodontic Concise-3M USA). Failure rates of 6.1 per cent and 5.4 per cent respectively were reported, with no statistically significant difference between the two adhesives. This finding, along with the relative ease of use and possible advantages of reduced risk of peri-bracket demineralisation, suggests that the resin-modified glass-ionomer adhesive may become more popular as a bracket adhesive.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32373377,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A Case Report of an Early Response to Definitive Chemoradiation for Esophageal Carcinoma Cuniculatum.\nThis case report describes a 63-year-old female with a locally advanced esophageal carcinoma cuniculatum treated with definitive chemoradiation who had a rapid and early response. This case is illustrative of an aggressive behavior with rapid response and rapid recurrence. The cases of esophageal carcinoma cuniculatum as well as the closely related clinical entity of verrucous carcinoma are reviewed suggesting good clinical outcomes after definitive therapy with chemoradiation and\/or surgery.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14557236,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Neuropeptide FF exerts pro- and anti-opioid actions in the parabrachial nucleus to modulate food intake.\nNeurons that synthesize the morphine modulatory peptide neuropeptide FF (NPFF; Phe-Leu-Phe-Gln-Pro-Gln-Arg-Phe-NH2) densely innervate the parabrachial nucleus (PBN), an area implicated in regulating food intake. We analyzed opioid-related actions of NPFF in feeding in adult male Sprague-Dawley rats. Unilateral infusion of 2 nmol\/0.5 microl of the mu-opioid receptor agonist [d-Ala2,NMe-Phe4,glycinol5]enkephalin (DAMGO) into the lateral PBN increased 4-h food intake from 0.7 +\/- 0.1 to 3.3 +\/- 0.3 g. NPFF (1.25-5.0 nmol) prevented this hyperphagic mu-opioidergic action. In rats fed after 4-h deprivation (baseline = 12.3 +\/- 0.3 g\/2 h), 5 nmol of NPFF did not alter and larger doses (10 and 20 nmol) actually increased food intake (+36, 54%). Twenty nanomoles also elevated intake of freely feeding rats (from 0.7 +\/- 0.1 to 5.1 +\/- 1.0 g\/4 h). The opioid receptor blocker naloxone (10 nmol) antagonized this increase. These data reveal both pro- and anti-opioid actions of NPFF in the PBN to modulate feeding. The mechanisms for the opposite actions of low and high concentrations of this neuropeptide in parabrachial regulation of food intake remain to be determined.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28699111,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"HLA class Ib in pregnancy and pregnancy-related disorders.\nThe HLA class Ib genes, HLA-E, HLA-F, and HLA-G, were discovered long after the classical HLA class Ia genes. The elucidation of their functions had a modest beginning. However, their basic functions and involvement in pathophysiology and a range of diseases are now emerging. Although results from a range of studies support the functional roles for the HLA class Ib molecules in adult life, especially HLA-G and HLA-F have most intensively been, and were also primarily, studied in relation to reproduction and pregnancy. The expression of HLA class Ib proteins at the feto-maternal interface in the placenta seems to be important for the maternal acceptance of the semi-allogenic fetus. In contrast to the functions of HLA class Ia, HLA-G possesses immune-modulatory and tolerogenic functions. Here, we review an accumulating amount of data describing the functions of HLA class Ib molecules in relation to fertility, reproduction, and pregnancy, and a possible role for these molecules in certain pregnancy complications, such as implantation failure, recurrent spontaneous abortions, and pre-eclampsia. The results from different kinds of studies point toward a role for HLA class Ib, especially HLA-G, throughout the reproductive cycle from conception to the birth weight of the child.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1688487,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evaluation of amino-oxyacetic acid as a palliative in tinnitus.\nAmino-oxyacetic acid (AOAA) was evaluated as a palliative in tinnitus. Sixty-six patients with tinnitus presumed to be of cochlear origin were given either a placebo or 75 mg of AOAA four times a day for 1 week. Response was evaluated by both audiometric measurement of tinnitus loudness and subjective rating by patients of change or no change in tinnitus severity. Because loudness measurements and self-rating have not been shown to be independent, and since the aim of clinical treatment of tinnitus is the alleviation of subjective distress, greater weight was given to the patient's self-rating. A total of 21% of all patients reported a subjective decrease in tinnitus severity, usually within 3 to 4 days after the start of AOAA use. Patients with tinnitus caused by presbycusis or Meniere's disease were the most likely to respond to AOAA treatment with a reduction in tinnitus severity, whereas those with drug-induced tinnitus were the least likely to respond. Nausea and dysequilibrium were the most common side effects of AOAA use. Of the 21% of patients who responded to AOAA, 71% developed some type of side effect. Amino-oxyacetic acid produces a reduction in the severity of tinnitus in about 20% of patients; however, the incidence of side effects makes the drug unacceptable for clinical use.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28572029,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Risk Factor Modification Behaviors of Practicing Vascular Surgeons.\nNational smoking rates have declined; however, it remains the primary modifiable risk factor for nearly all vascular disease. While vascular surgeons have the availability to treat patients via medical or surgical\/endovascular means, involvement in risk factor modification may be lacking. This study seeks to understand vascular surgeons' involvement in tobacco cessation and risk factor modification and to determine if practice variables had any effect on provision of these services to vascular surgery patients. Anonymous electronic surveys examining tobacco cessation and risk factor modification were sent to the Vascular & Endovascular Surgery Society members (n = 633). Influence of time from training, practice type (dichotomized into academic and nonacademic vascular surgeons), hospital size, region, and workload was assessed, and data were analyzed by univariate contingency tables. A total of 149 (24%) surveys were completed. While the majority of respondents ask patient's smoking status (97%), assess willingness to quit (84%), and advise patients to quit (95%), only 34% prescribe medications to assist in cessation, 7% see patients in tobacco cessation follow-up, and 3% verify cessation with cotinine levels or carbon monoxide monitoring. Surgeons who prescribed medications for cessation are more likely to assess patient's willingness to quit, prescribe\/advise nicotine replacement, or prescribe initial statin or other lipid-lowering medications. There was no difference in perceived education received during training in risk factor modification, but only 26% of respondents thought they were well trained. Comparing academic to private practice vascular surgeons, there was no difference in cessation techniques used; however, academic surgeons were less likely to perform endovascular procedures for claudication in patients who continued to smoke (29% vs. 46%, P = 0.03) and more likely to prescribe an initial antihyperlipid medication (65% vs. 39%, P = 0.0018). Tobacco dependence remains a critical issue for vascular surgery patients; however, there is wide variation in cessation techniques used. The majority of vascular surgeons are not well versed in cessation techniques and risk factor modification, and thus, efforts should be made to provide this education in vascular surgery training programs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37460178,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Three-dimensional finite element model construction and biomechanical analysis of customized titanium alloy lunate prosthesis].\nTo design customized titanium alloy lunate prosthesis, construct three-dimensional finite element model of wrist joint before and after replacement by finite element analysis, and observe the biomechanical changes of wrist joint after replacement, providing biomechanical basis for clinical application of prosthesis. One fresh frozen human forearm was collected, and the maximum range of motions in flexion, extension, ulnar deviation, and radialis deviation tested by cortex motion capture system were 48.42\u00b0, 38.04\u00b0, 35.68\u00b0, and 26.41\u00b0, respectively. The wrist joint data was obtained by CT scan and imported into Mimics21.0 software and Magics21.0 software to construct a wrist joint three-dimensional model and design customized titanium alloy lunate prosthesis. Then Geomagic Studio 2017 software and Solidworks 2017 software were used to construct the three-dimensional finite element models of a normal wrist joint (normal model) and a wrist joint with lunate prosthesis after replacement (replacement model). The stress distribution and deformation of the wrist joint before and after replacement were analyzed for flexion at and 15\u00b0, 30\u00b0, 48.42\u00b0, extension at 15\u00b0, 30\u00b0, and 38.04\u00b0, ulnar deviation at 10\u00b0, 20\u00b0, and 35.68\u00b0, and radial deviation at 5\u00b0, 15\u00b0, and 26.41\u00b0 by the ANSYS 17.0 finite element analysis software. And the stress distribution of lunate bone and lunate prosthesis were also observed. The three-dimensional finite element models of wrist joint before and after replacement were successfully constructed. At different range of motion of flexion, extension, ulnar deviation, and radial deviation, there were some differences in the number of nodes and units in the grid models. In the four directions of flexion, extension, ulnar deviation, and radial deviation, the maximum deformation of wrist joint in normal model and replacement model occurred in the radial side, and the values increased gradually with the increase of the range of motion. The maximum stress of the wrist joint increased gradually with the increase of the range of motion, and at maximum range of motion, the stress was concentrated on the proximal radius, showing an overall trend of moving from the radial wrist to the proximal radius. The maximum stress of normal lunate bone increased gradually with the increase of range of motion in different directions, and the stress position also changed. The maximum stress of lunate prosthesis was concentrated on the ulnar side of the prosthesis, which increased gradually with the increase of the range of motion in flexion, and decreased gradually with the increase of the range of motion in extension, ulnar deviation, and radialis deviation. The stress on prosthesis increased significantly when compared with that on normal lunate bone. The customized titanium alloy lunate prosthesis does not change the wrist joint load transfer mode, which provided data support for the clinical application of the prosthesis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9160687,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"MLL gene rearrangement, cytogenetic 11q23 abnormalities, and expression of the NG2 molecule in infant acute myeloid leukemia.\nTo study prognostic factors in infant acute myeloid leukemia (AML), we analyzed 44 children treated on Childrens Cancer Group protocols for MLL gene rearrangement by Southern blot, cytogenetic 11q23 abnormalities, and reactivity with monoclonal antibody 7.1. This antibody detects the human homologue of the rat NG2 chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan molecule, which has previously been reported to be expressed on human melanoma. NG2 has been found to be expressed on human leukemic blasts but not on other hematopoietic cells. In childhood AML, NG2 cell surface expression correlated with poor outcome and with some but not all 11q23 rearrangements. In childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia, NG2 expression correlated with poor outcome and with balanced 11q23 translocations. In this study, 29 of 44 (66%) of infants with AML showed MLL rearrangement and, as expected, this group had a high incidence of French-American-British M4\/M5 morphology (22\/29). Of the cases tested, 35.1% (13\/37) were NG2 positive. All (13\/13) NG2-positive cases were rearranged at MLL, whereas only 46% (11\/24) of NG2-negative cases had MLL rearrangement. NG2 expression did not correlate with poor outcome (P = .31); there was a trend towards a worse outcome with MLL rearrangement (P = .13). Thus monoclonal antibody 7.1 does not detect all cases of MLL rearrangement in infant AML.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28574322,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Volume-outcome relationship for colorectal cancer in primary care: a prospective cohort study.\nPurpose Higher caseloads are associated with better outcomes for many conditions treated in secondary and tertiary care settings, including colorectal cancer (CRC). There is little known whether such volume-outcome relationship exist in primary care settings. The purpose of this paper is to examine general practitioner (GP) CRC-specific caseload for possible associations with referral pathways, disease stage and CRC patients' overall survival. Design\/methodology\/approach The paper retrospectively analyses a prospectively maintained CRC database for 2009-2014 in a single district hospital providing bowel cancer screening and tertiary rectal cancer services. Findings Of 1,145 CRC patients, 937 (81.8 per cent) were diagnosed as symptomatic cancers. In total, 210 GPs from 44 practices were stratified according to their CRC caseload over the study period into low volume (LV, 1-4); medium volume (MV, 5-7); and high volume (HV, 8-21 cases). Emergency presentation (LV: 49\/287 (17.1 per cent); MV: 75\/264 (28.4 per cent); HV: 105\/386 (27.2 per cent); p=0.007) and advanced disease at presentation (LV: 84\/287 (29.3 per cent); MV: 94\/264 (35.6 per cent); HV: 144\/386 (37.3 per cent); p=0.034) was more common amongst HV GPs. Three-year mortality risk was significantly higher for HV GPs (MV: (hazard ratio) HR 1.185 (confidence interval=0.897-1.566), p=0.231, and HV: HR 1.366 (CI=1.061-1.759), p=0.016), but adjustment for emergency presentation and advanced disease largely accounted for this difference. There was some evidence that HV GPs used elective cancer pathways less frequently (LV: 166\/287 (57.8 per cent); MV: 130\/264 (49.2 per cent); HV: 182\/386 (47.2 per cent); p=0.007) and more selectively (CRC\/referrals: LV: 166\/2,743 (6.1 per cent); MV: 130\/2,321 (5.6 per cent); HV: 182\/2,508 (7.3 per cent); p=0.048). Originality\/value Higher GP CRC caseload in primary care may be associated with advanced disease and poorer survival; more work is required to determine the reasons and to develop targeted intervention at local level to improve elective referral rates.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17819563,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"EUROPEAN SCIENCE: U.K. Unveils 'Brain Gain' Initiative.\nLast week, U.K. Trade and Industry minister Stephen Byers announced a $6 million a year program to lure as many as 50 research stars to the country or persuade others who might accept lucrative offers from abroad to remain in Great Britain. The initiative is the latest in a series of moves in the past few weeks aimed at buoying up the British scientific community.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24398429,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Measuring skin temperature before, during and after exercise: a comparison of thermocouples and infrared thermography.\nMeasuring skin temperature (TSK) provides important information about the complex thermal control system and could be interesting when carrying out studies about thermoregulation. The most common method to record TSK involves thermocouples at specific locations; however, the use of infrared thermal imaging (IRT) has increased. The two methods use different physical processes to measure TSK, and each has advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, the objective of this study was to compare the mean skin temperature (MTSK) measurements using thermocouples and IRT in three different situations: pre-exercise, exercise and post-exercise. Analysis of the residual scores in Bland-Altman plots showed poor agreement between the MTSK obtained using thermocouples and those using IRT. The averaged error was -0.75 \u00b0C during pre-exercise, 1.22 \u00b0C during exercise and -1.16 \u00b0C during post-exercise, and the reliability between the methods was low in the pre- (ICC = 0.75 [0.12 to 0.93]), during (ICC = 0.49 [-0.80 to 0.85]) and post-exercise (ICC = 0.35 [-1.22 to 0.81] conditions. Thus, there is poor correlation between the values of MTSK measured by thermocouples and IRT pre-exercise, exercise and post-exercise, and low reliability between the two forms of measurement.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36931312,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Blue-Blood Pig Thorax Model Increases Residents' Confidence in Internal Mammary Dissection.\nPreparation of the recipient vessels is a crucial step in autologous breast reconstruction, with limited opportunity for resident training intraoperatively. The Blue-Blood-infused porcine chest wall-a cadaveric pig thorax embedded in a mannequin shell, connected to a saline perfusion system-is a novel, cost-effective ($55) simulator of internal mammary artery (IMA) dissection and anastomosis intended to improve resident's comfort, safety, and expertise with all steps of this procedure. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of the use of this chest wall model on resident's confidence in performing dissection and anastomosis of the IMA, as well as obtain resident's and faculty's perspectives on model realism and utility. Plastic surgery residents and microsurgery faculty at the University of Wisconsin were invited to participate. One expert microsurgeon led individual training sessions and performed as the microsurgical assistant. Participants anonymously completed surveys prior to and immediately following their training session to assess their change in confidence performing the procedure, as well as their perception of model realism and utility as a formal microsurgical training tool on a five-point scale. Every participant saw improvement in confidence after their training session in a minimum of one of seven key procedural steps identified. Of participants who had experience with this procedure in humans, the majority rated model anatomy and performance of key procedural steps as \"very\" or \"extremely\" realistic as compared with humans. 100% of participants believed practice with this model would improve residents' ability to perform this operation in the operating room and 100% of participants would recommend this model be incorporated into the microsurgical training curriculum. The Blue-Blood porcine chest wall simulator increases trainee confidence in performing key steps of IMA dissection and anastomosis and is perceived as valuable to residents and faculty alike.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":275833,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Conformation of dopamine at the dopamine receptor.\nTritiated dopamine was used to label the dopamine receptor in membranes isolated from the rat corpus striatum. Scatchard analysis of displacement of [3H]dopamine by nonradioactive dopamine indicated the presence of two binding sites. The similarities in affinity, capacity, and drug specificity of the high-affinity site in the striatal membranes from rat and the binding site in the membranes from the calf caudate nucleus suggest that [3H]dopamine labels the same site in both species. In order to determine what conformation of dopamine is preferred at the dopamine receptor site, conformationally restricted analogs of dopamine--namely, the cis and trans 2-amino-1(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)cyclobutane hydrochlorides--were tested for their affinity to the receptor. Compared to the cis conformation, the trans-restricted analogs had more affinity for the receptor site, indicating that dopamine probably interacts with the receptor in the trans conformation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14528615,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evaluation of individually tailored interventions on exercise adherence.\nThis study's purpose was to test the effects of a reversal theory-driven individualized exercise prescription on exercise consistency, weight, percentage body fat, and exercise motivation for a group of faculty, students, and staff at a southwestern university. Participants were randomly assigned to 5-week education plus monitoring or monitoring-only treatment groups. The hypothesis was that participants in the education plus monitoring group would have more consistent exercisers, higher exercise motivation scores, and greater overall weight loss and decrease in percentage of body fat than would those in the monitoring-only group. Consistent exercisers will score higher than inconsistent exercisers on exercise motivation scores. More participants were exercising at recommended levels in the education plus monitoring group than in the monitoring-only group after the study intervention. Consistent exercisers had significantly higher motivation scores than did inconsistent exercisers. Thus, individualized exercise prescriptions using reversal theory can be beneficial in promoting a consistent exercise program.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22668613,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Medical home and emergency department utilization among children with special health care needs: an analysis of the 2005-2006 National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs.\nThe purpose of this article was to determine whether medical home associated with reduction in emergency department utilization by children with special health care needs. The study comprised 40 723 children participating in the National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs. For whole sample, presence of medical home was not associated with a decrease in emergency department (ED) utilization. However, children aged 0 to 5 years and those with severe functional limitations derived the most benefit from a medical home. Presence of medical home for severely limited children was associated with fewer ED visits (odds ratio, 0.59; 95% confidence interval, 0.50-0.70). Additional studies are warranted to explore specific components of a medical home and ED use.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26434955,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Theoretical Elucidation of Glucose Dehydration to 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural Catalyzed by a SO3H-Functionalized Ionic Liquid.\nWhile the catalytic conversion of glucose to 5-hydroxymethyl furfural (HMF) catalyzed by SO3H-functioned ionic liquids (ILs) has been achieved successfully, the relevant molecular mechanism is still not understood well. Choosing 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride [C4SO3HmimCl] as a representative of SO3H-functioned IL, this work presents a density functional theory (DFT) study on the catalytic mechanism for conversion of glucose into HMF. It is found that the conversion may proceed via two potential pathways and that throughout most of elementary steps, the cation of the IL plays a substantial role, functioning as a proton shuttle to promote the reaction. The chloride anion interacts with the substrate and the acidic proton in the imidazolium ring via H-bonding, as well as provides a polar environment together with the imidazolium cation to stabilize intermediates and transition states. The calculated overall barriers of the catalytic conversion along two potential pathways are 32.9 and 31.0 kcal\/mol, respectively, which are compatible with the observed catalytic performance of the IL under mild conditions (100 \u00b0C). The present results provide help for rationalizing the effective conversion of glucose to HMF catalyzed by SO3H-functionalized ILs and for designing IL catalysts used in biomass conversion chemistry.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26469993,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cross Redox Coupling of Aryl-Aldehydes and p-Benzoquinone.\nHerein, we report an unprecedented Cross Redox Coupling (CRC) reaction catalyzed by Cu(OAc)2\u00b7H2O. As a proof-of-concept, direct coupling of aromatic aldehydes (or alcohols) and p-benzoquinone led to an ester in the presence of the Cu(II)-TBHP combination. During the coupling process, the C-H bond of the aldehydes was converted directly to a C-O bond. Mechanistically, we propose that the reaction proceeded via a radical pathway. In addition, atom and electron economies were well-conserved during this CRC reaction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15239274,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Safety of portal vein resection using centrifugal pump-assisted venous bypass between the superior mesenteric vein and the umbilical vein.\nTo achieve complete resection of pancreatic cancer, portal vein resection has been performed with increasing frequency at the time of pancreaticoduodenal resection (pancreaticoduodenectomy or total pancreatectomy). In the meantime, visceral congestion and liver ischemia are of great concern during the procedure. We investigated safety of portal vein resection using a centrifugal pump-assisted bypass between the superior mesenteric vein and the umbilical vein. A retrospective comparison was performed in 49 consecutive patients who underwent pancreatoduodenal resection with or without portal vein resection using the bypass for pancreatic cancer. Twenty-two patients underwent portal vein resection using the bypass (group 1). The other 27 patients undergoing pancreatoduodenal resection without portal vein resection comprise the control group (group 2). Total operative time was 756 +\/- 159 min and 526 +\/- 109 min (p<0.001) and median blood loss was 2090 mL and 1200 mL in groups 1 and 2, respectively. However, the centrifugal pump-assisted bypass allowed stable bypass flow, and neither intestinal edema nor ischemic change of the liver was observed during portal vein resection and the subsequent reconstruction. Postoperatively, the peak postoperative AST, ALT and total bilirubin levels showed no significant difference and postoperative day of starting a liquid diet was similar between the groups (9.0 +\/- 5.4 vs. 9.8 +\/- 3.8 days, p=0.48). In addition, the rates of morbidity (55% vs. 48%) including biliary and pancreatic leak as well as mortality (9% vs. 4%) did not significantly differ between the 2 groups. The centrifugal pump-assisted bypass may be useful to prevent hepatic ischemia and visceral congestion during portal vein resection procedures, resulting in similar postoperative outcomes to the control after pancreaticoduodenal resection for pancreatic cancer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19049077,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Synthesis of a new polymeric host material for efficient organic electro-phosphorescent devices.\nWe have synthesized a new polymeric host material for phosphorescent dyes, which can be used in phosphorescent light-emitting layers. An alternating copolymer, composed of N-alkylcarbazole and tetramethylbenzene units was synthesized through the Suzuki coupling reaction. We fabricated electro-phosphorescent devices using the synthesized polymeric host doped with solution-processible green and red phosphorescent dyes. Light-emitting devices have an ITO\/PEDOT\/polymer + dopant\/Balq3\/Alq3\/LiF\/Al configuration. The device containing one of two studied green dopants (designated as green 1) in the polymeric host showed the best performance, with a maximum luminous efficiency of 29 cd\/A. A thin film of this polymeric was successfully patterned by laser-induced thermal imaging (LITI), and an electro-phosphorescent device was fabricated using the patterned film. This patterned device showed performance characteristics similar to those of a spin-coated device.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17911453,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Targeting vascular adhesion protein-1 to treat autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.\nThe development of new, safe, and effective anti-inflammatory drugs represents a major challenge for the pharmaceutical industry, as well as a significant opportunity. The increasing prevalence of chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases associated with an aging population has led to an intense effort to discover new anti-inflammatory drug targets and drugs acting against them. This review highlights the recent progress made in developing therapies directed against an endothelial cell adhesion molecule called vascular adhesion protein (VAP)-1 for the treatment of chronic inflammatory disease as well as highlighting other therapeutic opportunities offered by this vascular target.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37457543,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Life expectancy and end-of-life communication in adult patients with congenital heart disease, 40-53 years after surgery.\nAlthough survival of patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) improved significantly over time, life expectancy is still not normal. We aimed to investigate how adult patients, their partners, and treating cardiologists estimated the individual life expectancy of CHD patients. Furthermore, preferences regarding end-of-life (EOL) communication were investigated. In this study, we included 202 patients (age: 50 \u00b1 5) who were operated in childhood (<15 years old) between 1968 and 1980 for one of the following diagnoses: atrial septal defect, ventricular septal defect, pulmonary stenosis, tetralogy of Fallot, or transposition of the great arteries. A specific questionnaire was administered to both the patients and their partners, exploring their perceived life expectancy and EOL wishes. Two cardiologists independently assessed the life expectancy of each patient. Most adults with CHD believed their life expectancy to be normal. However, significant differences were found between estimated life expectancy by the cardiologist and patients (female: P = 0.001, male: P = 0.002) with moderate\/severe defects, as well as for males with mild defects (P = 0.011). Regarding EOL communication, 85.1% of the patients reported that they never discussed EOL with a healthcare professional. Compared with patients with mild CHD, significantly more patients with moderate\/severe defect discussed EOL with a physician (P = 0.011). The wish to discuss EOL with the cardiologist was reported by 49.3% of the patients and 41.7% of their partners. Adult patients, especially with moderate\/severe CHD, perceived their life expectancy as normal, whereas cardiologists had a more pessimistic view than their patients. Increased attention is warranted for discussions on life expectancy and EOL to improve patient-tailored care.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18603543,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Acute and long-term outcome of unprotected left main coronary angioplasty compared to the anticipated surgical risk.\nPercutaneous coronary intervention of unprotected left main (ULM) stenosis is increasing despite surgical revascularisation being the recommended treatment by the current guidelines. We compared the 30-day and 9-month mortality after ULM stenting with the predicted surgical outcome as determined by the EuroSCORE. We included 81 consecutive patients who underwent ULM stenting. The patient cohort was divided into a normal risk group (EuroSCORE <or=5, predicted 30-day mortality <3%), and a high-risk group (EuroSCORE >5, predicted 30-day mortality 11%). Follow-up examinations were scheduled for one and nine months after the initial PCI. The average EuroSCOREs in the normal- and high-risk group were 3.0 (29 patients, 36%) and 10.0 (52 patients, 64%), respectively. Mortality rates at 30 days were 3% in the normal-risk group and 8% in the high-risk group. Subacute stent thrombosis occurred in 3.4% (three patients) undergoing elective PCI. Major adverse cardiac events during the nine months follow-up were registered in 24% of patients in the normal-risk group, and in 27% of the patients in the high-risk group. Short-term outcome of ULM stenting in our high-risk patients is comparable to surgical outcome predicted by the EuroSCORE. Long-term outcome was less favourable due to a high mortality rate. ULM stenting in patients with low surgical risk could be associated with higher mortality rates compared to CABG because of the unpredictable risk of a fatal stent thrombosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28544349,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Primary peritoneal psammocarcinoma.\nPsammocarcinoma is a rare low-grade serous carcinoma arising either from ovary or peritoneum and is characterized by extensive psammomatous calcifications and invasion of surrounding structures. Prognostically, psammocarcinoma resembles borderline serous tumor and has a much more favorable outcome than the common serous carcinoma of ovary and peritoneum.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11633715,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[The relationship between Sigmund Freud and Paul Federn: some unpublished documents].\nThe relationship between Freud and Paul Federn, which lasted over an exceptionally long period of time (35 years), has been neglected for two major reasons: the departure of the latter for the United States in 1938 and the absence of any biographer. Long considered as a dissident, he was ignored by analytic circles (including Jones, Freud's biographer), partly because of his position in favor of the training of nonmedical analysts. A pioneer in the field of mental health and the application of psychoanalysis to social problems, he strove to transform psychoanalysis into an instrument for social and political change, thus remaining faithful to his socialist convictions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30096240,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Presence and Role of Midplane Cholesterol in Lipid Bilayers Containing Registered or Antiregistered Phase Domains.\nThree-component lipid mixtures can produce coexisting liquid ordered and liquid disordered phases, a model for eukaryotic plasma membrane rafts. In compositionally symmetric bilayers with two phase-separated leaflets, phase domains of the two leaflets may align through registration, where domains are found across from domains of the same phase, or else antiregistration, where domains are found across from domains of the opposite phase. This alignment could serve as a method of information communication across the plasma membrane. We used coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations to study ternary mixtures of a high-melting-temperature phospholipid, a low-melting-temperature phospholipid, and cholesterol. We found a significant presence of cholesterol molecules at the bilayer midplane rather than in a leaflet in some systems, corresponding to a lack of registration. Increasing the length of the acyl chains from 16 to 24 carbons in high-melting-temperature phospholipids or increasing the concentration of cholesterol from 20 to 35 mol % in the bilayer produced a transition from registration to antiregistration and gave rise to significant populations of midplane cholesterol.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28356708,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The efficacy of Alahmady ring implantation in the management of neovascular glaucoma.\nTo evaluate the efficacy and safety of Alahmady ring implantation in the management of neovascular glaucoma. A total of 15 eyes of 15 patients with intractable neovascular glaucoma with intraocular pressure (IOP) \u226528 mmHg not responding to medical treatment were retrospectively analyzed. All patients had poor visual acuity and underwent Alahmady ring implantation. The ring was designed from fenestrated silicon tube used in lacrimal surgeries and was implanted subsclerally after passing it through the anterior chamber. Patients were followed up for at least 24 months. Success in this study was defined based on IOP \u22658 mmHg and <21 mmHg, with not more than 1 glaucoma drug, and improvement of patient symptoms and signs with maximum use of beta blocker as antiglaucoma drug. A total of 15 eyes of 15 patients (9 males [60%] and 6 females [40%]) were analyzed in this study. The mean IOP before surgery was 38.6 mmHg (standard deviation [SD]: 6.98) and it was 14.05 mmHg (SD =7.57) after surgery. The follow-up range was 24-36 months. Success of silicon drainage device was defined as an IOP <21 mmHg on the last follow-up visit. Medications included only beta-blockers and topical steroids for those who were without severe complications or for those who were not in a condition to undergo a further glaucoma surgery. Alahmady ring implantation proves to be a good surgical option for neovascular glaucoma; however, a longer follow-up period is recommended.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28543917,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"A Novel PGM3 Mutation Is Associated With a Severe Phenotype of Bone Marrow Failure, Severe Combined Immunodeficiency, Skeletal Dysplasia, and Congenital Malformations.\nCongenital disorders of glycosylation (CDGs) affect multiple systems and present a broad spectrum of clinical features, often including skeletal dysplasia. Exome sequencing has led to the identification of new CDG genes. Immune and skeletal phenotypes associated with mutations in PGM3, encoding a protein that converts N-acetyl-glucosamine-6-phosphate into N-acetyl-glucosamine-1-phosphate, were recently reported. Through exome sequencing, we identified a novel homozygous mutation (c.1135T>C; p.Phe379Leu) in PGM3 in two siblings with bone marrow failure, severe combined immunodeficiency, renal and intestinal malformations, and a skeletal dysplasia resembling Desbuquois dysplasia. Severe respiratory compromise secondary to lung hypoplasia and pulmonary hypertension, and intestinal obstruction led to their demise. We thus report the most severe phenotype described so far associated with PGM3 mutations. This CDG should be considered in the presence of skeletal dysplasia associated with severe immunodeficiency. \u00a9 2017 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30668607,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Feeding intolerance alters the gut microbiota of preterm infants.\nFeeding intolerance (FI) is a common disease in preterm infants, often causing a delay in individual development. Gut microbiota play an important role in nutrient absorption and metabolism of preterm infants. To date, few studies have focused on the community composition of gut microbiota of preterm infants with feeding intolerance. In this study, we collected fecal samples from 41 preterm infants diagnosed with feeding intolerance and 29 preterm infants without feeding intolerance, at three specific times during the development and prevalence of feeding intolerance (after birth, when feeding intolerance was diagnosed, after feeding intolerance was gone), from different hospitals for 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The gut microbiota community composition of preterm infants diagnosed with feeding intolerance was significantly different from that of preterm infants without feeding intolerance. At the time when feeding intolerance was diagnosed, the relative abundance of Klebsiella in preterm infants with feeding intolerance increased significantly, and was significantly higher than that of the preterm infants without feeding intolerance. After feeding intolerance was cured, the relative abundance of Klebsiella significantly decreased in the infants diagnosed with feeding intolerance, while the relative abundance of Klebsiella in preterm infants without feeding intolerance was not significantly altered during the development and prevalence of feeding intolerance. Furthermore, we verified that Klebsiella was effective in the diagnosis of feeding intolerance (AUC = 1) in preterm infants, suggesting that Klebsiella is a potential diagnostic biomarker for feeding intolerance.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29364760,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Life Goals Increase Self-regulation among Male Patients with Alcohol Use Disorder.\nAlcohol use disorder (AUD) has been conceptualized as a chronic self-regulation failure. The aim of this study was to examine the most probable pathways related to self-regulation among patients with AUD. In this study, a hypothetical model was proposed that focused on the relationship between risk factors (extrinsic life goals, emotion dysregulation) and protective factors (intrinsic life goals, self-control, and abstinence self-efficacy). Male patients with AUD (N = 188) were recruited from alcohol centers of four psychiatric hospitals between March 2015 and September 2015. All participants completed psychological assessments, including the Future Oriented Goals Scale (FOGS), the Alcohol Abstinence Self-Efficacy Scale (AASE), the Brief Self-Control Scale (BSCS), and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) as well as sociodemographic characteristics. The final model was found to be a good fit to data. In testing indirect effects, it was shown that intrinsic life goals via emotion dysregulation, self-control, and alcohol abstinence self-efficacy decreased alcohol self-regulation failure. On the other hand, extrinsic life goals via these factors increased alcohol self-regulation failure. Conclusions\/Importance: These results suggest that intrinsic goals might indirectly be the important and protective factors for AUD. Moreover, the findings implicate that self-regulation through goal setting may be necessary to alleviate symptoms and improve function among patients with AUD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9558943,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Thyroid function in acute pancreatitis.\nTo analyze changes in the thyroid function in patients with acute pancreatitis. Admission serum levels of triiodothyronine (T3), reverse triiodothyronine (rT3), thyroxine (T4) and thyrotropin (TSH) were determined in 20 patients with pancreatitis and 20 healthy control patients. Another group of 20 patients with upper digestive haemorrhage was included to study possible changes in the pattern of thyroid function in hemodynamic alterations. In addition, laboratory indicators of liver, renal and pancreatic functions were measured in all groups. Our results demonstrated low levels of T3 in 20% of patients with pancreatitis and increased rT3 levels in 75% of them. Thyrotropin was always among reference ranges and only one case presented a low level of T4. No significant alterations were detected in patients with upper digestive haemorrhage. These results suggest that pancreatitis may play a role in the genesis of these changes, since other factors such as diet and cellular hepatic alteration appear to have had no effect on the levels of thyroid hormones in these patients. In other studies those changes in the thyroid function can be relationed with the prognosis in acute pancreatitis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28691048,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Feasibility of transnasal endoscopy in screening for esophageal and gastric varices in patients with chronic liver disease.\nScreening for esophageal and gastric varices is indicated for patients with portal hypertension or cirrhosis. Typically, conventional endoscopy is used; however, the need for sedation increases the costs and risks, especially in cirrhotic patients. Use of transnasal endoscopy with an ultrathin endoscope enables study of the upper gastrointestinal tract without the need for sedation. The objective of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of transnasal endoscopy in screening for esophageal and gastric varices in patients with chronic liver disease. This was a prospective study in which transnasal endoscopy was carried out in patients with cirrhosis or portal hypertension who had indications for screening of esophageal and gastric varices. The following variables were evaluated: demographical data, duration of procedure, patient tolerance and acceptance, adverse events (AEs), endoscopic findings and interobserver agreement related to portal hypertension alterations ( kappa index). A total of 50 patients entered the study. The most common cause of liver disease was chronic viral hepatitis (66 %). Among the cirrhotic patients, most of the patients were Child-Pugh A (74 %). In 5 patients (10 %), nasal intubation was not possible. Two patients (4 %) experienced minor epistaxis. Tolerance was excellent or good in 92 % according with a visual analogic scale. In 16 patients (32 %), esophageal varices were detected and in 2 patients (4 %) gastric varices were detected. The mean duration of the procedure was 7 minutes. Transnasal endoscopy is feasible, effective and well tolerated for screening of esophageal and gastric varices in patients with chronic liver disease. It can be performed in outpatient clinics safely and without the use of sedation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7931150,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cruciform structure of a DNA motif of parvovirus minute virus of mice (prototype strain) involved in the attenuation of gene expression.\nIt has previously been reported that the region between nucleotides 259 and 383 immediately downstream from the P4 early promoter of parvovirus minute virus of mice, prototype strain (MVMp) is responsible for transcriptional attenuation. Attenuation results from the premature pausing of RNA polymerase II within this sequence (designated to as att) and seems to depend on potential RNA secondary structure. To assess the attenuation capacity of att under near physiological conditions, the early transcription unit of MVMp was replaced by the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase reporter gene under control of the early P4 promoter, in the presence or absence of att. The resulting recombinant vectors were encapsidated in parvovirus particles and replicated in cells after co-infection with the wild-type virus. The att fragment reduced the rate of expression of the reporter gene by approximately threefold, confirming previously reported data from transfection experiments performed in the same cellular system. This attenuation factor is unexpectedly high, considering that the 'readthrough' fold of the nascent viral transcript is thermodynamically more stable than the 'attenuation' configuration. In an attempt to elucidate this point, we sought for the presence of secondary structures in the template DNA molecule. In vitro nuclease probing of viral dsDNA revealed that the att fragment had a cruciform configuration with both complementary strands folding into the computer-predicted stem-loop 'attenuation' structure. These observations lead us to propose that the secondary structure of the DNA template may prompt the formation of the 'attenuation' stem-loop in nascent mRNAs by bringing corresponding self-complementary sequences into close proximity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17191976,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Modeling biochemical networks: a cellular-automata approach.\nThe potential of the cellular-automata (CA) method for modeling biological networks is demonstrated for the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling cascade. The models derived reproduced the high signal amplification through the cascade and the deviation of the cascade enzymes from the Michaelis-Menten kinetics, evidencing cooperativity effects. The patterns of pathway change upon varying substrate concentrations and enzyme efficiencies were identified and used to show the ways for controlling pathway processes. Guidance in the selection of enzyme inhibition targets with minimum side effects is one outcome of the study.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16150005,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Genetic and environmental components of adolescent adjustment and parental behavior: a multivariate analysis.\nAdolescent adjustment measures may be related to each other and to the social environment in various ways. Are these relationships similar in genetic and environmental sources of covariation, or different? A multivariate behavior-genetic analysis was made of 6 adjustment and 3 treatment composites from the study Nonshared Environment in Adolescent Development, using 674 same-sex adolescent sibling pairs aged 9-11. Cholesky decompositions of the total covariance matrix yielded additive and nonadditive genetic, and shared and nonshared environmental matrices. Factor analyses led to 3 factors for all but shared environment. The first 2 factors resembled Neuroticism and Extraversion factors typically found for personality; the third factor, parental monitoring and control, appeared to have different associations in different matrices.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30310283,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hydrophobically modified chitosan nanoliposomes for intestinal drug delivery.\nEncapsulation of hydrophilic drugs within liposomes can be challenging. A novel chitosan derivative, O-palmitoyl chitosan (OPC) was synthesized from chitosan and palmitoyl chloride using methane-sulfonic acid as a solvent. The success of synthesis was confirmed by Fourier transform infra-red (FT-IR) spectroscopy and proton NMR spectroscopy (H-NMR). Liposomes encapsulating ferrous sulphate as a model hydrophilic drug for intestinal delivery were prepared with or without OPC inclusion (Lipo-Fe and OPC-Lipo-Fe). Entrapment of iron was significantly higher in OPC containing liposomes compared to controls. Quantitative iron absorption from the OPC liposomes was significantly higher (1.5-fold P<0.05) than free ferrous sulphate controls. Qualitative uptake analysis by confocal imaging using coumarin-6 dye loaded liposomes also indicated higher cellular uptake and internalization of the OPC-containing liposomes. These findings suggest that addition of OPC during liposome preparation creates robust vesicles that have improved mucoadhesive and absorption enhancing properties. The chitosan derivative OPC therefore provides a novel alternative for formulation of delivery vehicles targeting intestinal absorption.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31244412,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Anticancer Triazenes: from Bioprecursors to Hybrid Molecules.\nTriazenes are a very useful and diverse class of compounds that have been studied for their potential in the treatment of many tumors including brain tumor, leukemia and melanoma. Novel compounds of this class continue to be developed as either anticancer compounds or even with other therapeutic applications. This review focused on several types of triazenes from the simplest ones like 1,3-dialkyl-3-acyltriazenes to the more complex ones like combi-triazenes with an emphasis on how triazenes have been developed as effective antitumor agents.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3076776,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of secretagogues on cytosolic free Ca2+ and insulin release in the hamster clonal beta-cell line HIT-T15.\nWe have examined the effect of secretagogues on cytosolic free Ca2+ (Cai) in the hamster clonal beta-cell line HIT-T15 using the Ca2+-binding fluorescent indicator Quin 2. Stimulation of HIT cells by glucose increased Cai in a dose-dependent manner; raising the medium glucose concentration from zero to 2 mM increased Cai by 36%, from 89 +\/- 4 to 121 +\/- 6 nM (mean +\/- S.E.M., n = 23). Further raising the medium glucose concentration to 10 mM increased Cai to 139 +\/- 6 nM. Cai was maximum and plateaued at 4 min after each addition of glucose. Addition of 40 mM K+ to the medium rapidly depolarized the HIT cells and increased Cai to 407 +\/- 48 nM. The increases in Cai in response to glucose of K+ were blocked by the simultaneous presence of verapamil (50 microM). Stimulation by glucose or K+ also increased insulin release in parallel incubations of Quin 2-loaded HIT cells. Carbamylcholine chloride, forskolin or the phorbol ester 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol acetate had no significant effect on Cai in glucose-stimulated HIT cells monitored 5 min after the addition of each test agent, despite increasing insulin release by 241, 239 and 216% respectively. These data support the hypothesis that potentiators of insulin release which activate cAMP-dependent protein kinase or protein kinase C do not increase Cai but sensitize the secretory mechanism to Ca2+.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19035261,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Magnetic resonance imaging survey of the upper airway in different age non-snoring males].\nTo investigate the morphology characters of upper airway and its surrounding tissues in different age non-snoring males. Total of 114 non-snoring males, with age-range from 22 to 78 year old, were included in this study. They were divided into 3 groups: 30 in younger group (22-29 years old), 57 in middle-aged group (36-57 years old), and 31 in aged group (70-78 years old). All subjects had magnetic resonance imaging scanning. (1) The nasopharynx in aged group was statistically different from that of the younger group and the middle aged group. The volume of nasopharynx in aged group (7.81 +\/- 1.59) cm3 (x +\/- s, same herein after) is greater than that in younger group (4.89 +\/- 1.20) cm3 and middle aged groups (6.06 +\/- 2.07) cm3. (2) The AP diameter\/transverse diameter of velopharynx, glossopharynx and laryngopharynx in the aged group tended to be smaller. The average value of AP diameter\/transverse diameter of velopharynx in aged group is 0.46 +\/- 0.14, while the value is 0.59 +\/- 0.14 and 0.57 +\/- 0.14 in middle and young groups respectively, compared with that of the aged group, there is statistical difference (P < 0.01). Further more, the min\/max section area of velopharynx, glossopharynx, laryngopharynx in aged group are smaller than that of young group and midlife groups. (3) The aged group had the thinnest thickness of posterior and lateral velopharyngeal walls, but the largest volume of soft palate and fat pads among all groups. In non-snoring males, there is more fat deposition around the upper airway with aging. While the large nasopharynx and large transverse diameter of upper airway seem to balance the disadvantaged changes and to benefit the their sleep respiration.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24391842,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Electroacupuncture at ST36 ameliorates gastric emptying and rescues networks of interstitial cells of Cajal in the stomach of diabetic rats.\nDepletion of interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) is certified in the stomach of diabetic patients. Though electroacupuncture (EA) at ST36 is an effective therapy to regulate gastric motility, the mechanisms of EA at ST36 on gastric emptying and networks of ICC remain to be elucidated. The aims of this study were to investigate the effects of EA on gastric emptying and on the alterations of ICC networks. Rats were randomized into the control, diabetic rats (DM), diabetic rats with sham EA (DM+SEA), diabetic rats with low frequency EA (DM+LEA) and diabetic rats with high frequency EA groups (DM+HEA). The expression of c-kit in each layer of gastric wall was assessed by western blotting. The proliferation of ICC was identified by immunolabeling of c-kit and Ki67 as the apoptosis of ICC was examined by TUNEL staining. The results were as follows: (1) Gastric emptying was severely delayed in the DM group, but accelerated in the LEA and HEA group, especially in the LEA group. (2) The expression of c-kit in each layer was reduced apparently in the DM group, but also up-regulated in the LEA and HEA group. (3) Plentiful proliferated ICC (c-kit+\/Ki67+) forming bushy networks with c-kit+ cells were observed in the LEA and HEA group, while the apoptotic cells (c-kit+\/TUNEL+) were hardly captured in the LEA and HEA group. Collectively, low and high frequency EA at ST36 rescue the damaged networks of ICC by inhibiting the apoptosis and enhancing the proliferation in the stomach of diabetic rats, resulting in an improved gastric emptying.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6361740,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Different prednisolone pharmacokinetics in Cushingoid and non-Cushingoid kidney transplant patients.\nPrednisolone pharmacokinetics have been compared in 16 Cushingoid and 46 non-Cushingoid long term kidney transplant recipients. The Cushingoid patients had a significantly (p less than 0.05) higher peak concentration, a longer elimination half-time, a greater area under the time-concentration curve of total and free prednisolone, and a lower total body clearance of prednisolone. It is suggested that prednisolone pharmacodynamics may be influenced by pharmacokinetic differences, and that differences in renal function may be an important contributing factor.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26426050,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Passive Immunotherapy Protects against Enteric Invasion and Lethal Sepsis in a Murine Model of Gastrointestinal Anthrax.\nThe principal portal for anthrax infection in natural animal outbreaks is the digestive tract. Enteric exposure to anthrax, which is difficult to detect or prevent in a timely manner, could be exploited as an act of terror through contamination of human or animal food. Our group has developed a novel animal model of gastrointestinal (GI) anthrax for evaluation of disease pathogenesis and experimental therapeutics, utilizing vegetative Bacillus anthracis (Sterne strain) administered to A\/J mice (a complement-deficient strain) by oral gavage. We hypothesized that a humanized recombinant monoclonal antibody (mAb) * that neutralizes the protective antigen (PA) component of B. anthracis lethal toxin (LT) and edema toxin (ET) could be an effective treatment. Although the efficacy of this anti-anthrax PA mAb has been shown in animal models of inhalational anthrax, its activity in GI infection had not yet been ascertained. We hereby demonstrate that passive immunotherapy with anti-anthrax PA mAb, administered at the same time as gastrointestinal exposure to B. anthracis, prevents lethal sepsis in nearly all cases (>90%), while a delay of up to forty-eight hours in treatment still greatly reduces mortality following exposure (65%). Moreover, passive immunotherapy protects against enteric invasion, associated mucosal injury and subsequent dissemination by gastrointestinal B. anthracis, indicating that it acts to prevent the initial stages of infection. * Expired raxibacumab being cycled off the Strategic National Stockpile; biological activity confirmed by in vitro assay.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27259860,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-10":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Aquimarina aggregata sp. nov., isolated from seawater.\nA novel Gram-stain-negative, agarolytic, rod-shaped, non-flagellated, strictly aerobic strain with gliding motility, designated RZW4-3-2T, was isolated from coastal seawater of the Yellow Sea in China (119.625\u00b0 E 35.517\u00b0 N). The organism grew optimally at 28 \u00b0C, at pH 7.0 and in the presence of 2.0-3.0 % (w\/v) NaCl. The strain required seawater or artificial seawater for growth, and NaCl alone did not support growth. Strain RZW4-3-2T contained MK-6 as the major respiratory quinone and iso-C17 : 0 3-OH, iso-C15 : 0, iso-C15 : 1 G and iso-C15 : 0 3-OH as the dominant fatty acids. The polar lipids of strain RZW4-3-2T comprised phosphatidylethanolamine, five unknown phospholipids and one unknown lipid. The DNA G+C content of strain RZW4-3-2T was 32.3 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that the novel strain was related most closely to Aquimarina pacifica SW150T, Aquimarina macrocephali JCM 15542T and Aquimarina muelleri LMG 22569T with 98.1, 97.4 and 97.1 % sequence similarities, respectively. The estimated DNA-DNA hybridization values were 20.00\u00b12.31 %, 20.70\u00b12.33 % and 20.70\u00b12.32 % between strain RZW4-3-2T and A. pacifica SW150T, A. macrocephali JCM 15542T and A. muelleri LMG 22569T, respectively. On the basis of results of polyphasic analyses, strain RZW4-3-2T represents a novel species of the genus Aquimarina, for which the name Aquimarinaaggregata sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is RZW4-3-2T (=JCM 30824T=MCCC 1K00698T).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32584539,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Linear Alternating Supramolecular Photosensitizer for Enhanced Photodynamic Therapy.\nSupramolecular polymers with facile and versatile architectures via noncovalent connection present great potential in biological fields. Herein, a linear alternating supramolecular polymer is constructed via host-guest inclusion interaction between cyclodextrin dimer (CD2) and bifunctional adamantane-conjugated porphyrin (TPP-Ad2). The supramolecular alternating structure of CD\/TPP could not only suppress the aggregation of PSs to improve the photophysical properties because of the steric hindrance but also enhance the water solubility of PSs induced from cyclodextrin moieties. The nanoplatform obtained by this linear alternating supramolecular polymer (TPP-Ad2\/CD2) presents significantly enhanced photodynamic therapy (PDT) efficacy, providing a promising path for PDT.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23327812,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Long-term secular trend of skeletal maturation of Taiwanese children between agricultural (1960s) and contemporary (after 2000s) generations using the Tanner-Whitehouse 3 (TW3) method.\nThe Tanner-Whitehouse (TW) method is one of the well-known techniques in determining the bone age. According to the objectivity of TW3, the secular trend was investigated to discover whether the skeletal maturation of Taiwanese children between two generations was different. The large-scale database of Taiwan was collected. The first group, called mid-1960s, included 265 boys and 295 girls in the agricultural generation (between 1966 and 1967). The second group, called mid-2000s, includes 114 boys and 616 girls in the contemporary generation (after 2000s). The bone age was determined by three radiologists using the carpals-only system of the TW3 method and by two physicians using the Greulich and Pyle method. A comparison of the means (independent-samples t-test) was applied by examining the difference of the children's skeletal maturation between the two generations in the same chronological age. The significant difference was considered while the p-value was 0.05 or less (95% confidence interval). A significant difference of the mean bone age (by, on average, three radiologists using the TW3 method) between the mid-1960s and mid-2000s in the same gender and chronological age was presented by the independent-samples t-test (p<0.001 with 95% confidence interval), and the bone age, determined by the TW3 method, of the mid-2000s group was higher than that of the mid-1960s group. This scenario corresponded with the children's bone age determined by pediatricians. Besides, it deserved to notice that the bone age of boys in the mid-2000s was larger than that of the girls in the mid-1960s. Furthermore, by comparing the environmental condition, we suspect that the difference of bone age of children between the two generations was attributed to the discrepancy in nutrition and socioeconomic variation during the four decades in Taiwan. The study presents that the secular trend of skeletal maturation of children in the mid-2000s is faster than that in the mid-1960s.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28290873,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Predictor Model of Acute Coronary Syndrome Outcomes].\nScores for assessment of risk of cardiovascular events in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) became wide spread during last decade. Taking into consideration high level of ACS morbidity and mortality in Russia there is a need in creation of own national scores. Aim of this study was to investigate the value of risk factors of death and to create a multivariate model of survival of patients with ACS during hospitalization. The non-randomized retrospective continuous study of 1000 case histories (medical records) of patients with ACS with assessment of value of risk factors was performed, and the multifactor model and computer program estimation of risk of death was created. While selecting risk factors emphasis was made on heart rhythm and presence of arrhythmia, and on anamnestic data. Most significant factors were age, history of myocardial infarction, atrial fibrillation, and ventricular tachycardia. The created regression model of estimation of risk of death by 51.4% was explained by these factors. Using this model, we developed a computer program \"Kardiorisk\" which predicts risk of death with 100% sensitivity and 80% specificity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31254476,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sodium-chloride-induced effects on the expression profile of human periodontal ligament fibroblasts with focus on simulated orthodontic tooth movement.\nIncreased salt (NaCl) consumption triggers chronic diseases such as hypertension or osteopenia. Its impact on orthodontic tooth movement and periodontitis, however, has not been investigated, although both processes are related to the immune system, with periodontal ligament fibroblasts (PDLFs) playing a key mediating role. Here, we investigated the impact of NaCl on the expression pattern of PDLFs in a model of simulated compressive orthodontic strain. Periodontal ligament fibroblasts were preincubated for 24 h with additional 0 or 40 mM NaCl and concurrently treated for another 48 h with or without compressive strain of 2 g cm-2 . We analyzed the expression of genes and proteins involved in orthodontic tooth movement by reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), ELISA, and immunoblot. Co-culture experiments were performed to observe PDLF-mediated osteoclastogenesis. A higher (40 mM) concentration of NaCl in the culture medium resulted in increased secretion of prostaglandin, expression of alkaline phosphatase, and expression of genes involved in extracellular matrix remodeling, but decreased compression-induced expression of the interleukin-6 (IL6) gene. The 40 mM concentration of NaCl also enhanced receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa-B ligand (RANKL) but reduced that of osteoprotegerin (OPG), resulting in upregulated PDLF-mediated osteoclastogenesis. A high NaCl concentration in the periodontal ligament, corresponding to a high-salt diet in vivo, may influence orthodontic tooth movement and periodontitis through increased secretion of prostaglandins by PDLFs and upregulated PDLF-mediated osteoclastogenesis, possibly accelerating orthodontic tooth movement and propagating periodontitis and periodontal bone loss.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26418685,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Suture Products and Techniques: What to Use, Where, and Why.\nThere are an increasing number of wound closure materials and suturing techniques described in the dermatologic and surgery literature. A dermatologic surgeon's familiarity with these materials and techniques is important to supplement his or her already established practices and improve surgical outcomes. To perform a thorough literature review of wound closure materials (sutures, tissue adhesives, surgical tape, and staples) and suturing techniques and to outline how and when to use them. A literature review was conducted using PubMed and other online search engines. Keywords searched included suture, tissue adhesive, tissue glue, surgical tape, staples, dermatologic suturing, and suturing techniques. Numerous articles outline the utility of various sutures, surgical adhesives, surgical tape, and staples in dermatologic surgery. In addition, there are various articles describing classic and novel suturing techniques along with their specific uses in cutaneous surgery. Numerous factors must be considered when choosing a wound closure material and suturing technique. These include wound tension, desire for wound edge eversion\/inversion, desired hemostasis, repair type, patient's ability to care for the wound and return for suture removal, skin integrity, and wound location. Careful consideration of these factors and proper execution of suturing techniques can lead to excellent cosmetic results.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26425080,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Delivery of DNAzyme targeting aurora kinase A to inhibit the proliferation and migration of human prostate cancer.\nHerein, a polyethylenimine derivative N-acetyl-L-leucine-polyethylenimine (N-Ac-L-Leu-PEI) was employed as a carrier to achieve the delivery of DNAzyme targeting aurora kinase A using PC-3 cell as a model. Flow cytometry and confocal laser scanning microscopy demonstrated that the derivative could realize the cellular uptake of nanoparticles in an energy-dependent and clathrin-mediated pathway and obtain a high DNAzyme concentration in the cytoplasm through further endosomal escape. After DNAzyme transfection, expression level of aurora kinase A would be downregulated at the protein level. Meanwhile, the inhibition of cell proliferation was observed through 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide and cell colony formation assay, attributing to the activation of apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. Through flow cytometric analysis, an early apoptotic ratio of 25.93% and G2 phase of 22.58% has been detected after N-Ac-L-Leu-PEI-mediated DNAzyme transfection. Finally, wound healing and Transwell migration assay showed that DNAzyme transfection could efficiently inhibit the cell migration. These results demonstrated that N-Ac-L-Leu-PEI could successfully mediate the DNAzyme delivery and downregulate the expression level of aurora kinase A, triggering a significant inhibitory effect of excessive proliferation and migration of tumor cells.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32371728,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Accelerated Biologic Aging, Chronic Stress, and Risk for Sepsis and Organ Failure Following Trauma.\nChronic stress and accelerated aging have been shown to impact the inflammatory response and related outcomes like sepsis and organ failure, but data are lacking in the trauma literature. The purpose of this study was to investigate potential relationships between pretrauma stress and posttrauma outcomes. The hypothesis was that pretrauma chronic stress accelerates aging, which increases susceptibility to posttrauma sepsis and organ failure. In this prospective, correlational study, chronic stress and accelerated biologic aging were compared to the occurrence of systemic inflammatory response syndrome, sepsis, and organ failure in trauma patients aged 18-44 years. Results supported the hypothesis with significant overall associations between susceptibility to sepsis and accelerated biologic aging (n = 142). There were also significant negative associations between mean cytokine levels and chronic stress. The strongest association was found between mean interleukin-1\u03b2 (IL-1\u03b2) and human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT), r(101) = -0.28), p = .004. Significant negative associations were found between mean cytokine levels, IL-12p70, r(108) = -0.20, p = .034; and tumor necrosis factor-\u03b1 (TNF-\u03b1), r(108) = -0.20, p = .033, and positive life events via the behavioral measure of chronic stress. Results may help identify individuals at increased risk for poor outcomes of trauma and inform interventions that may reduce the risk for sepsis and organ failure.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34414040,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"How Did the Village Community Perceive and Draw Strategies Against the COVID-19 Pandemic? A Qualitative Exploration.\nObjectives There is a lack of evidence about the difficulties faced by the villagers and the mechanisms they adopt to cope with the ongoing coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic. In this study, we tried to explore the various stressors experienced by the villagers and the coping mechanisms. We also tried to document the future strategies that could be adopted to address the current pandemic situation. Methods An exploratory, descriptive qualitative study was conducted in five purposively selected villages in the Kolar district of South India. We conducted face-to-face in-depth interviews among nine key informants, including personnel across various health, education, and administrative domains. Two investigators carried out a manual descriptive content analysis to identify the codes and categories under three broad themes. A hybrid approach was used for coding the respondents' views in the most appropriate words\/phrases. Results A total of 146 codes were identified and grouped into 19 different categories under three broad domains viz. 'stressors', 'coping strategies' and 'suggestions for future actions' for the existing COVID-19 pandemic. The stressors mainly were due to household level problems like finance management and familial disruptions. Coping mechanisms adopted include social capital, government support, judicial resource management, child marriages and apathetic attitude. The suggestions for future actions included an emphasis on the involvement of gram panchayats, adoption of the 'stay in village' concept, better communication framework and financial pooling for future exigencies. Conclusion The stressors due to COVID among villagers were mostly related to household level issues. The mechanisms adopted to cope up with the stressors included both positive and negative mechanisms. The suggestions for future actions mainly emphasized the involvement of gram panchayats.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28706511,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Exoproteome Analysis of the Seaweed Pathogen Nautella italica R11 Reveals Temperature-Dependent Regulation of RTX-Like Proteins.\nClimate fluctuations have been linked to an increased prevalence of disease in seaweeds, including the red alga Delisea pulchra, which is susceptible to a bleaching disease caused by the bacterium Nautella italica R11 under elevated seawater temperatures. To further investigate the role of temperature in the induction of disease by N. italica R11, we assessed the effect of temperature on the expression of the extracellular proteome (exoproteome) in this bacterium. Label-free quantitative mass spectrometry was used to identify 207 proteins secreted into supernatant fraction, which is equivalent to 5% of the protein coding genes in the N. italica R11 genome. Comparative analysis demonstrated that expression of over 30% of the N. italica R11 exoproteome is affected by temperature. The temperature-dependent proteins include traits that could facilitate the ATP-dependent transport of amino acid and carbohydrate, as well as several uncharacterized proteins. Further, potential virulence determinants, including two RTX-like proteins, exhibited significantly higher expression in the exoproteome at the disease inducing temperature of 24\u00b0C relative to non-inducing temperature (16\u00b0C). This is the first study to demonstrate that temperature has an influence exoproteome expression in a macroalgal pathogen. The results have revealed several temperature regulated candidate virulence factors that may have a role in macroalgal colonization and invasion at elevated sea-surface temperatures, including novel RTX-like proteins.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28268876,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cardiovascular fitness strengthening using portable device.\nThe paper describes a reliable and valid Portable Exercise Monitoring system developed using TI eZ430-Chronos watch, which can control the exercise intensity through audio stimulation in order to increase the Cardiovascular fitness strengthening.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12018328,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Anaerobic bacteria in upper respiratory tract and other head and neck infections.\nAnaerobic bacteria are common in chronic upper respiratory tract and head and neck infections. Anaerobes are the most predominant components of the normal human oropharyngeal bacterial flora, and are therefore a common cause of bacterial infections of the upper respiratory tract that are of endogenous origin. Because of their fastidious nature, anaerobes are difficult to isolate from infectious sites and are often overlooked. Anaerobic bacteria can be recovered in chronic otitis media and sinusitis, and play a role in tonsillitis. They are also important in complications of these infections. Anaerobes predominate in deep oral and neck infections and abscesses. In addition to their direct pathogenicity in these infections, they possess an indirect role through their ability to produce the enzyme beta-lactamase. In this fashion, they are capable of \"shielding\" non-beta-lactamase-producing bacteria from penicillins. The lack of directing adequate therapy against these organisms may lead to clinical failures. Their isolation requires appropriate methods of collection, transportation, and cultivation of specimens. Treatment of anaerobic infections is complicated by the slow growth of these organisms, by their polymicrobial nature, and by the growing resistance of anaerobic bacteria to antimicrobials. Antimicrobial therapy is often the only form of therapy required, whereas in other cases, it is an important adjunct to a surgical approach. Because anaerobic bacteria generally are recovered mixed with aerobic organisms, the choice of appropriate antimicrobial agents should provide for adequate coverage of both types of pathogens.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21156610,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"An unknown mechanism promotes somatic incompatibility in Ceratobasidium bicorne.\nStrains of Ceratobasidium bicorne (anamorph uninucleate Rhizoctonia), causing root dieback in nursery-grown conifer seedlings, were fruited in the laboratory and the pairing interactions among sibling, single-basidiospore progeny were investigated. No mating reactions were observed. Instead, a high frequency of somatic incompatibility was observed in progeny pairings, indicated by a killing reaction in hyphal anastomosis and by formation of a demarcation line. The F1 progeny also could be fruited, and the level of somatic incompatibility within the F2 progeny remained high, even if lower than in the F1 progeny. The interaction types in pairings within a family of progeny were similar in all respects to those between field isolates, indicating that the species is homothallic. The uninucleate condition of vegetative cells and the basidial characteristics would indicate homokaryotic fruiting, but the possibility of pseudohomothallism remains. We currently are not able to provide an explanation for the mechanism promoting somatic incompatibility in this species, but it seems likely that the classic heterogenic model of somatic incompatibility recognized in basidiomycetes is not applicable here. Alternative mechanisms are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35127147,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nanobodies Are Potential Therapeutic Agents for the Ebola Virus Infection.\nEbola fever is an acute, highly contagious viral disease with a mortality rate that can reach 90%. There are currently no licensed therapeutic agents specific to Ebola in the world. Monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) with viral-neutralizing activity and high specificity to the Ebola virus glycoprotein (EBOV GP) are considered as highly effective potential antiviral drugs. Over the past decade, nanobodies (single-domain antibodies, non-canonical camelid antibodies) have found wide use in the diagnosis and treatment of various infectious and non-infectious diseases. In this study, a panel of nanobodies specifically binding to EBOV GP was obtained using recombinant human adenovirus 5, expressing GP (Ad5-GP) for alpaca (Vicugna pacos) immunization, for the first time. Based on specific activity assay results, affinity constants, and the virus-neutralizing activity against the recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus pseudotyped with EBOV GP (rVSV-GP), the most promising clone (aEv6) was selected. The aEv6 clone was then modified with the human IgG1 Fc fragment to improve its pharmacokinetic and immunologic properties. To assess the protective activity of the chimeric molecule aEv6-Fc, a lethal model of murine rVSV-GP infection was developed by using immunosuppression. The results obtained in lethal model mice have demonstrated the protective effect of aEv6-Fc. Thus, the nanobody and its modified derivative obtained in this study have shown potential protective value against Ebola virus.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15244270,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Biophotons from stressed and dying organisms: toxicological aspects.\nCells and organisms exposed to detrimental and toxic substances show different responses in photon emission dependent on amount, kind and exposure time of toxin as well as on the organism investigated. Radical reaction-generating substances and dehydrating, lipid dissolving and protein denaturating toxins which do not induce direct chemiluminescence resulting from reactive oxygen species were applied. Lethal doses of toxins and stress factors such as osmotics and temperature evoke increase in the intensity of photon emission resulting from a rapid and irreversible perturbation of homeostasis. Bacterial and fungal toxins that elicit hypersensitive death of plant cells or defense response correlated with photon emission are also briefly discussed. Collective molecular interactions contribute to the photon-generating degradative processes in stressed and dying organisms. The measurements of biophoton signals and analysis of their parameters are used to elucidate the possible mechanisms of the toxin-organism interaction and the resistance of organisms. Toxicological perspectives of the use of these sensitive and rapid measurements as a part of direct toxicity assessment are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9566794,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Recombinant human IL-16 inhibits HIV-1 replication and protects against activation-induced cell death (AICD).\nThe chemoattractant cytokine IL- 16 has been reported to suppress lymphocyte activation and to inhibit HIV-1 replication in acutely infected T cells. We have cloned and expressed human IL-16 in Escherichia coli and investigated whether the recombinant protein could regulate the level of lymphocyte apoptosis from HIV-1-infected subjects. After purification and refolding, only 2-10% of the recombinant cytokine was present in a biologically active homotetrameric form. This could explain the need for high concentrations of the bacterially derived IL- 16 to induce significant inhibition of HIV-1 replication. Addition of IL-16 to unstimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) cultures from HIV-1-infected subjects did not modify the observed level of spontaneous lymphocyte apoptosis. In contrast, IL-16 added to PBMC cultures stimulated with anti-CD3, anti-CD95 or dexamethasone reduced significantly the percentage of lymphocytes undergoing AICD. This effect was found to correlate with the ability of the cytokine to decrease CD95 expression on activated CD4+ T cells. Comparative studies on PBMC from healthy individuals indicated that the regulation of apoptosis levels by IL-16 is a complex phenomenon and could depend on the nature of the activator used and\/or the immune status of lymphocytes tested. The outcome of CD4 cross-linking on T cells by various ligands is discussed in the context of the observed beneficial activities of IL- 16 and its potential role in the treatment of HIV disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8355061,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evaluation of pulmonary systemic blood flow using ECG gated acquisition.\nWe propose a functional parametric analysis method using ECG-gated 99mTc-labeled red blood cell (RBC) imaging for detection and characterization of periodic variations in local blood activity in the lungs during cardiac cycle. We validated in animal experiments that such count variations correlate with cyclical pulmonary blood flow and may be used for evaluation of systemic-to-pulmonary shunts. Clinical studies were performed in 48 patients. After labeling the RBC pool with 99mTc, ECG-gated gamma camera images of both lung fields were acquired and processed to obtain Fourier transforms of time\/activity functions in selected regions. The first harmonic parametric images of amplitude and phase were derived. There was an excellent correlation (r = 0.92) between activity variations and pulsatile flow measured by our method with that obtained by the thermodilution method in dog experiments (n = 10) after implantation of a systemic-to-pulmonary shunt. Patient studies showed the technique to be sensitive in detecting and quantifying abnormal systemic-to-pulmonary blood flow. Lung pulsatile flow can thus be noninvasively measured from functional parametric phase and amplitude images; the technique may be useful for detecting and quantifying abnormal systemic-to-pulmonary blood flow in man.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37443560,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Thoracic Aorta: Anatomy and Pathology.\nThe aorta is the largest elastic artery in the human body and is classically divided into two anatomical segments, the thoracic and the abdominal aorta, separated by the diaphragm. The thoracic aorta includes the aortic root, the ascending aorta, the arch, and the descending aorta. The aorta's elastic properties depend on its wall structure, composed of three distinct histologic layers: intima, media, and adventitia. The different aortic segments show different embryological and anatomical features, which account for their different physiological properties and impact the occurrence and natural history of congenital and acquired diseases that develop herein. Diseases of the thoracic aorta may present either as a chronic, often asymptomatic disorder or as acute life-threatening conditions, i.e., acute aortic syndromes, and are usually associated with states that increase wall stress and alter the structure of the aortic wall. This review aims to provide an update on the disease of the thoracic aorta, focusing on the morphological substrates and clinicopathological correlations. Information on anatomy and embryology will also be provided.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6723174,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Chest pain in pediatric patients presenting to a cardiac clinic.\nRecords of 67 pediatric patients with a primary complaint of chest pain were reviewed to determine the frequency of associated cardiac disease. Only four of 67 (6%) had chest pain associated with cardiac diseases that usually cause chest pain. Fifty-seven (85%) patients had chest pain in which no clear cause could be determined. Of these 57, 20 patients also had isolated congenital cardiac anomalies, i.e., atrial septal defect. A causal relationship of these lesions to the chest pain could not be established. Thirty-four of the 37 patients with chest pain and no cardiac abnormalities were evaluated by telephone at a mean of 13 months after their clinic assessment. Twenty-nine of the 34 were either asymptomatic or had reduced symptoms. There was no correlation between duration of symptoms prior to their clinical study and the persistence of chest pain at follow-up. From this study, we conclude that chest pain in pediatric patients is infrequently due to cardiac disease even when associated with previously unsuspected, isolated congenital cardiac lesions. Idiopathic chest pain tends to be self-limited.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26433743,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Medical information concerning an infant's congenital anomaly: Successful communication to support parental adjustment and transition.\nWhen a diagnosis of congenital anomaly (CA) is made, parents are confronted with new and complex medical information, which may impact their parental adjustment. However, few studies have explored the role of information concerning the CA in parental adjustment, during the transition to parenthood. This study aimed to characterize both parents' perceptions of information concerning the CA and to investigate their role in maternal and paternal adjustment, one month after the disclosure and six months post-birth. Thirty six couples whose infants were prenatally- or postnatally diagnosed with a CA participated in this prospective longitudinal study. During both assessment times (Time 1: one-month after the disclosure; Time 2: six-month post-birth), they answered the Brief Symptom Inventory-18, the EUROHIS-QOL-8, and other specific questions to assess parents' information perceptions. Mothers were more satisfied than fathers (p < .01) with the amount of information that was received at the disclosure, although mothers and fathers reported similar levels of comprehension of information. Six-month post-birth, both parents were similarly satisfied with the information that was received, although mothers sought significantly more (p < .01) additional information. Both maternal and paternal adjustment were significantly associated with maternal perceptions of information concerning CA. Health professionals should recognize the important role of information concerning CA in parental adjustment and tailor their communication practices in order to promote parents' satisfaction and comprehension of the medical information. Despite the prominent influence of maternal perceptions on parental adjustment, both parents should be included in the communication process.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28252277,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Achieving Ultralow Fouling under Ambient Conditions via Surface-Initiated ARGET ATRP of Carboxybetaine.\nWe achieved ultralow fouling on target surfaces by controlled polymerization of carboxybetaine under ambient conditions. The polymerization process for grafting polymer films onto the surfaces was carried out in air and did not require any deoxygenation step or specialized equipment. This method allows one to conveniently introduce a nonfouling polymer network onto large substrates.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3029548,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Apocytochrome c induces pH-dependent vesicle fusion.\nThe ability of apocytochrome c and the heme containing respiratory chain component, cytochrome c, to induce fusion of phosphatidylcholine (PC) small unilamellar vesicles containing 0-50 mol % negatively charged lipids was examined. Both molecules mediated fusion of phosphatidylserine (PS):PC 1:1 vesicles as measured by energy transfer changes between fluorescent lipid probes in a concentration- and pH-dependent manner, although cytochrome c was less potent and interacted over a more limited pH range than the apocytochrome c. Maximal fusion occurred at pH 3, far below the pKa of the 19 lysine groups contained in the protein (pI = 10.5). A similar pH dependence was observed for vesicles containing 50 mol % cardiolipin (CL), phosphatidylglycerol (PG), and phosphatidylinositol (PI) in PC but the apparent pKa values varied somewhat. In the absence of vesicles, the secondary structure of apocytochrome c was unchanged over this pH range, but in the presence of negatively charged vesicles, the polypeptide underwent a marked conformational change from random coil to alpha-helix. By comparing the pH dependencies of fusion induced by poly-L-lysine and apocytochrome c, we concluded that the pH dependence derived from changes in the net charge on both the vesicles and apocytochrome c. Aggregation could occur under conditions where fusion was imperceptible. Fusion increased with increasing mole ratio of PS. Apocytochrome c did induce some fusion of vesicles composed only of PC with a maximum effect at pH 4. Biosynthesis of cytochrome c involves translocation of apocytochrome c from the cytosol across the outer mitochondrial membrane to the outer mitochondrial space where the heme group is attached. The ability of apocytochrome c to induce fusion of both PS-containing and PC-only vesicles may reflect characteristics of protein\/membrane interaction that pertain to its biological translocation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3061802,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The assembly of the major outer membrane protein OmpF of Escherichia coli depends on lipid synthesis.\nCerulenin, a drug which specifically blocks lipid synthesis, prevented both the trimerization of OmpF monomers and their assembly into the outer membrane of Escherichia coli B cells. A monoclonal antibody directed against a surface-exposed epitope of the trimer was used to probe the assembly of OmpF in the presence or absence of the drug. An inhibition level of 80% was reached 16 min after the addition of cerulenin. The accumulated monomeric form could not be assembled even after lipid synthesis was restored. Instead, it was slowly degraded. It was further shown that the inhibition of assembly resulted in a rapid inhibition of OmpF synthesis. These data demonstrate that there is a direct relationship between the synthesis of lipid (most likely lipopolysaccharide) and the correct export of OmpF. This coupling is required to promote the trimerization of the porin monomer and its assembly into the outer membrane.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9562515,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Strategies to identify genes for complex diseases.\nGenes underlie numerous human diseases and traits. Although we have witnessed a great deal of success in identifying disease-susceptible genes, the task remains challenging for most of the complex diseases. This paper reviews evidence for the role of genetic factors in complex diseases including breast cancer, diabetes and multiple sclerosis. We then describe strategies that can potentially optimize our chance of success in identifying genes involved in complex diseases. Advances in molecular biology, particularly mapping of the human genome, statistical methods that provide more accurate models of complex patterns of inheritance, and basic medical science, which have increased our understanding of disease pathophysiology, will ultimately strengthen the ability of the current generation of genetic epidemiological studies to identify the genetic basis of complex human disorders.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26483053,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Type 2 diabetes and its correlates among adults in Bangladesh: a population based study.\nType 2 diabetes is one of the most prevalent non-communicable diseases in Bangladesh. However, the correlates of type 2 diabetes among adults in Bangladesh remain unknown. We aimed to investigate the correlates of type 2 diabetes among the adults in Bangladesh. We conducted a cross-sectional study using data from the nationally representative 2011 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey. A random sample of 7,543 (3,823 women and 3,720 men) adults of age 35 years and older from both urban and rural areas, who participated in the survey was included. Diabetes was defined as having a fasting plasma blood glucose level of \u2265 7 mm\/L or taking diabetes medication during the survey. Hypothesized factors, e.g., age, sex, education, place of residence, social status, body mass index, and hypertension were considered in the analyses. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to identify the important correlates of type 2 diabetes. Among the respondents, the overall prevalence of diabetes was 11 %, and the prevalence was slightly higher in women (11.2 %) than men (10.6 %). Respondents with the age group of 55-59 years had higher odds of having diabetes (odds ratios (OR) = 2.37, 95 % confidence interval (CI): 1.76-3.21) than the age group of 35-39 years. Moreover, respondents who had higher educational attainment (OR = 1.67, 95 % CI: 1.18-2.36) and higher social status (OR = 2.01, 95 % CI: 1.50-2.70) had higher odds of having diabetes than the respondents with no education and lower social status, respectively. We also found socioeconomic status, place of residence (rural or urban), regions of residence (different divisions), overweight and obesity, and hypertension as significant correlates of type 2 diabetes in Bangladesh. Our study shows that older age, higher socioeconomic status, higher educational attainment, hypertension, and obesity were found to be significant correlates of type 2 diabetes. Need-based policy program strategies including early diagnosis, awareness via mass media, and health education programs for changing lifestyles should be initiated for older age, wealthy, and\/or higher educated individuals in Bangladesh. Moreover, area-specific longitudinal research is necessary to find out the underlying causes of regional variations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32375403,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Kalirin Interacts with TRAPP and Regulates Rab11 and Endosomal Recycling.\nCoordinated actions of Rab and Rho are necessary for numerous essential cellular processes ranging from vesicle budding to whole cell movement. How Rab and Rho are choreographed is poorly understood. Here, we report a protein complex comprised of kalirin, a Rho guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) activating Rac1, and RabGEF transport protein particle (TRAPP). Kalirin was identified in a mass spectrometry analysis of proteins precipitated by trappc4 and detected on membranous organelles containing trappc4. Acute knockdown of kalirin did not affect trappc4, but significantly reduced overall and membrane-bound levels of trappc9, which specifies TRAPP toward activating Rab11. Trappc9 deficiency led to elevated expression of kalirin in neurons. Co-localization of kalirin and Rab11 occurred at a low frequency in NRK cells under steady state and was enhanced upon expressing an inactive Rab11 mutant to prohibit the dissociation of Rab11 from the kalirin-TRAPP complex. The small RNA-mediated depletion of kalirin diminished activities in cellular membranes for activating Rab11 and resulted in a shift in size of Rab11 positive structures from small to larger ones and tubulation of recycling endosomes. Our study suggests that kalirin and TRAPP form a dual GEF complex to choreograph actions of Rab11 and Rac1 at recycling endosomes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22667756,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Rhodium-catalyzed intramolecular formation of N-sulfamoyl 2,3-aziridino-\u03b3-lactones and their use for the enantiospecific synthesis of \u03b1,\u03b2-diamino acid derivatives.\n4-Hydroxymethylbutenolide 4 was transformed into its sulfamoyl derivative 5, which upon treatment with iodosobenzene diacetate and magnesium oxide in the presence of a rhodium catalyst afforded the product of intramolecular aziridination 6. Reaction of 6 with primary or secondary amines in DMA led to regioselective opening of the aziridine ring at C2 to give the corresponding bicyclic derivatives 7a-7g in good to excellent yields. Methanolysis of the lactone ring of the N-benzyl-N-methyl derivative 7c followed by protection of the resulting secondary hydroxy group and treatment of the product with Boc anhydride provided the activated cyclic sulfamates 13 and 14. The latter then reacted with a second nucleophile (azide or thiophenol) to give the corresponding difunctionalized \u03b1,\u03b2-diamino methyl esters 15-18, 20.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17185839,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"The influence of mechanical stimulation on osteocyte apoptosis and bone viability in human trabecular bone.\nIt has been shown previously using in vivo and ex vivo animal models, that cyclical mechanical stimulation is capable of maintaining osteocyte viability through the control of apoptotic cell death. Here we have studied the effect of mechanical stimulation on osteocyte viability in human trabecular bone maintained in a 3-D bioreactor system. Bone samples, maintained in the bioreactor system for periods of 3, 7 and 27 days, were subjected to either cyclical mechanical stimulation which engendered a maximum of 3,000 microstrain in a waveform corresponding to physiological jumping exercise for 5 minutes daily or control unloading. Unloading resulted in a decrease in osteocyte viability within 3 days that was accompanied by increased levels of cellular apoptosis. Mechanical stimulation significantly reduced apoptosis (p< or =0.032) and improved the maintenance of osteocyte viability in bone from all patient samples. The percentage Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) labelled bone surface was significantly increased (p< or =0.05) in response to mechanical stimulation in all samples as was the Bone Formation Rate (BFR\/BS) (p=0.005) as determined by calcein label incorporation in the 27-day experiment. These data indicate that in this model system, mechanical stimulation is capable of maintaining osteocyte viability in human bone.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28352694,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Inclusion body myositis - pathomechanism and lessons from genetics.\nInclusion body myositis is a rare, late-onset myopathy. Both inflammatory and myodegenerative features play an important role in their pathogenesis. Overlapping clinicopathological entities are the familial inclusion body myopathies with or without dementia. These myopathies share several clinical and pathological features with the sporadic inflammatory disease. Therefore, better understanding of the genetic basis and pathomechanism of these rare familial cases may advance our knowledge and enable more effective treatment options in sporadic IBM, which is currently considered a relentlessly progressive incurable disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28291612,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-18":1,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Additive or non-additive effect of mixing oak in pine stands on soil properties depends on the tree species in Mediterranean forests.\nThis study investigated how oak abundance in pine stands (using relative Oak Basal Area %, OBA%) may modulate soil microbial functioning. Forests were composed of sclerophyllous species i.e. Quercus ilex mixed with Pinus halepensis Miller or of Q. pubescens mixed with P. sylvestris. We used a series of plots with OBA% ranging from 0 to 100% in the two types of stand (n=60) and both OLF and A-horizon compartments were analysed. Relations between OBA% and either soil chemical (C and N contents, quality of organic matter via solid-state NMR, pH, CaCO3) or microbial (enzyme activities, basal respiration, biomass and catabolic diversity via BIOLOG) characteristics were described. OBA% increase led to a decrease in the recalcitrant fraction of organic matter (OM) in OLF and promoted microbial growth. Catabolic profiles of microbial communities from A-horizon were significantly modulated in Q. ilex and P. halepensis stand by OBA% and alkyl C to carboxyl C ratio (characteristic of cutin from Q. ilex tissues) and in Q. pubescens and P. sylvestris stands, by OBA% and pH. In A-horizon under Q. ilex and P. halepensis stands, linear regressions were found between catabolic diversity, microbial biomass and OBA% suggesting an additive effect. Conversely, in A-horizon Q. pubescens and P. sylvestris stands, the relationship between OBA% and either cellulase activities, polysaccharides or ammonium contents, suggested a non-additive effect of Q. pubescens and P. sylvestris, enhancing mineralization of the OM labile fraction for plots characterized by an OBA% ranging from 40% to 60%. Mixing oak with pine thus favored microbial dynamics in both type of stands though OBA% print varied with tree species and consequently sustainable soil functioning depend strongly on the composition of mixed stands. Our study indeed revealed that, when evaluating the benefits of forest mixed stand on soil microbial functioning and OM turnover, the identity of tree species has to be considered.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19044653,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Fast visible imaging of turbulent plasma in TORPEX.\nFast framing cameras constitute an important recent diagnostic development aimed at monitoring light emission from magnetically confined plasmas, and are now commonly used to study turbulence in plasmas. In the TORPEX toroidal device [A. Fasoli et al., Phys. Plasmas 13, 055902 (2006)], low frequency electrostatic fluctuations associated with drift-interchange waves are routinely measured by means of extensive sets of Langmuir probes. A Photron Ultima APX-RS fast framing camera has recently been acquired to complement Langmuir probe measurements, which allows comparing statistical and spectral properties of visible light and electrostatic fluctuations. A direct imaging system has been developed, which allows viewing the light, emitted from microwave-produced plasmas tangentially and perpendicularly to the toroidal direction. The comparison of the probability density function, power spectral density, and autoconditional average of the camera data to those obtained using a multiple head electrostatic probe covering the plasma cross section shows reasonable agreement in the case of perpendicular view and in the plasma region where interchange modes dominate.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26491147,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Four Isoforms of Arabidopsis 4-Coumarate:CoA Ligase Have Overlapping yet Distinct Roles in Phenylpropanoid Metabolism.\nThe biosynthesis of lignin, flavonoids, and hydroxycinnamoyl esters share the first three enzymatic steps of the phenylpropanoid pathway. The last shared step is catalyzed by 4-coumarate:CoA ligase (4CL), which generates p-coumaroyl CoA and caffeoyl CoA from their respective acids. Four isoforms of 4CL have been identified in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). Phylogenetic analysis reveals that 4CL1, 4CL2, and 4CL4 are more closely related to each other than to 4CL3, suggesting that the two groups may serve different biological functions. Promoter-GUS analysis shows that 4CL1 and 4CL2 are expressed in lignifying cells. In contrast, 4CL3 is expressed in a broad range of cell types, and 4CL3 has acquired a distinct role in flavonoid metabolism. Sinapoylmalate, the major hydroxycinnamoyl ester found in Arabidopsis, is greatly reduced in the 4cl1 4cl3 mutant, showing that 4CL1 and 4CL3 function redundantly in its biosynthesis. 4CL1 accounts for the majority of the total 4CL activity, and loss of 4CL1 leads to reduction in lignin content but no growth defect. The 4cl1 4cl2 and 4cl1 4cl2 4cl3 mutants are both dwarf but do not have further reduced lignin than the 4cl1 mutant, indicating that either 4CL1 or 4CL2 is required for normal plant growth. Although 4CL4 has a limited expression profile, it does make a modest contribution to lignin biosynthesis. Together, these data show that the four isoforms of 4CL in Arabidopsis have overlapping yet distinct roles in phenylpropanoid metabolism.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23458128,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Isolation of monodisperse nanodisc-reconstituted membrane proteins using free flow electrophoresis.\nFree flow electrophoresis is used for rapid and high-recovery isolation of homogeneous preparations of functionally active membrane proteins inserted into nanodiscs. The approach enables isolation of integral and membrane anchored proteins and is also applicable following introduction of, e.g., fluorescent tags. Preparative separation of membrane protein loaded nanodiscs from empty nanodiscs and protein aggregates results in monodisperse nanodisc preparations ideal for structural and functional characterization using biophysical methods.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7922946,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Use of blood donation history of people with HIV infection to identify recipients at risk.\nTo determine whether previous blood donations from HIV-positive patients posed a threat to recipients. Interviewer-administered questionnaire survey. Regional HIV outpatient referral clinic for southern Alberta. All 478 patients attending the clinic from May 1, 1993, to Mar. 31, 1994; 366 were excluded: 335 had not donated blood, and 31 could not provide reliable information regarding possible donations. Patients were asked at a routine clinic visit regarding the dates, frequency and location of previous blood donations. The Canadian Red Cross was informed, with patient consent, if the previous donations posed a potential risk of HIV transmission. Number of HIV-positive patients whose donations posed a possible or definite risk to recipients. A total of 545 units of blood had been donated by the 112 patients in the study; 57 units (donated by 29 patients) posed a possible risk, and 12 (given by 11 patients) posed a definite risk of HIV transmission to the recipients. Thirty-two of these donors had been unknown to the Red Cross through its \"look-back\" and \"trace-back\" protocols. Only 1 of the 13 patients found to be HIV positive by the Red Cross openly admitted donating blood to undergo HIV antibody testing; the remainder were either ill-informed or did not perceive themselves to be at risk. The patients were highly mobile, 36.7% donating blood at some time in a province other than the one where they had received their positive HIV test result. Asking HIV-positive patients about their blood donation history, although subject to recall bias, is a simple and inexpensive method for identifying high-risk blood donations. The Red Cross should routinely be notified, with patient consent, of all donations posing a risk in order to enhance the prospect for identifying HIV-positive blood recipients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31247134,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"SPARE: Sparse-view reconstruction challenge for 4D cone-beam CT from a 1-min scan.\nCurrently, four-dimensional (4D) cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) requires a 3-4 min full-fan scan to ensure usable image quality. Recent advancements in sparse-view 4D-CBCT reconstruction have opened the possibility to reduce scan time and dose. The aim of this study is to provide a common framework for systematically evaluating algorithms for 4D-CBCT reconstruction from a 1-min scan. Using this framework, the AAPM-sponsored SPARE Challenge was conducted in 2018 to identify and compare state-of-the-art algorithms. A clinically realistic CBCT dataset was simulated using patient CT volumes from the 4D-Lung database. The selected patients had multiple 4D-CT sessions, where the first 4D-CT was used as the prior CT, and the rest were used as the ground truth volumes for simulating CBCT projections. A GPU-based Monte Carlo tool was used to simulate the primary, scatter, and quantum noise signals. A total of 32 CBCT scans of nine patients were generated. Additional qualitative analysis was performed on a clinical Varian and clinical Elekta dataset to validate the simulation study. Participants were blinded from the ground truth, and were given 3 months to apply their reconstruction algorithms to the projection data. The submitted reconstructions were analyzed in terms of root-mean-squared-error (RMSE) and structural similarity index (SSIM) with the ground truth within four different region-of-interests (ROI) - patient body, lungs, planning target volume (PTV), and bony anatomy. Geometric accuracy was quantified as the alignment error of the PTV. Twenty teams participated in the challenge, with five teams completing the challenge. Techniques involved in the five methods included iterative optimization, motion-compensation, and deformation of the prior 4D-CT. All five methods rendered significant reduction in noise and streaking artifacts when compared to the conventional Feldkamp-Davis-Kress (FDK) algorithm. The RMS of the three-dimensional (3D) target registration error of the five methods ranged from 1.79 to 3.00 mm. Qualitative observations from the Varian and Elekta datasets mostly concur with those from the simulation dataset. Each of the methods was found to have its own strengths and weaknesses. Overall, the MA-ROOSTER method, which utilizes a 4D-CT motion model for temporal regularization, had the best and most consistent image quality and accuracy. The SPARE Challenge represents the first framework for systematically evaluating state-of-the-art algorithms for 4D-CBCT reconstruction from a 1-min scan. Results suggest the potential for reducing scan time and dose for 4D-CBCT. The challenge dataset and analysis framework are publicly available for benchmarking future reconstruction algorithms.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28741457,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Anthocyanins: Multi-Target Agents for Prevention and Therapy of Chronic Diseases.\nAnthocyanins, a flavonoid class of polyphenols, are water soluble dark colored natural pigments found in fruits and vegetables. Owing to their wide distribution in plant materials, dietary consumption of anthocyanins is high compared to other flavonoids. Anthocyanins, due to their multifaceted medicinal properties are the active components in many herbal folk medicines. As in vitro and in vivo results, animal models, and clinical trials in various cell lines suggest, anthocyanins possess antioxidant, antidiabetic, antihyperlipidemic, anti-inflammatory, anticarcinogenic, antiulcer, and preventive activities against cardiovascular diseases. Additionally, anthocyanins exhibit chemotherapeutic, cardioprotective, hepatoprotective, and neuroprotective activities. In the diet, anthocyanins are absorbed in the stomach and intestinal cells and rapidly detected in the plasma. These promising properties of anthocyanins may well provide health benefits against chronic diseases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22672223,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2013-48":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Parental bonding in males with adjustment disorder and hyperventilation syndrome.\nThe purpose of the study was to identify the style of parental bonding and the personality characteristics that might increase the risk of hyperventilation and adjustment disorder. A total of 917 males were recruited, 156 with adjustment disorder and hyperventilation syndrome (AD + HY), 273 with adjustment disorder without hyperventilation syndrome (AD-HY), and 488 healthy controls. All participants completed the Parental Bonding Instrument, Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, and Chinese Health Questionnaire. Analysis using structural equation models identified a pathway relationship in which parental bonding affected personality characteristics, personality characteristics affected mental health condition, and mental health condition affected the development of hyperventilation or adjustment disorder. Males with AD-HY perceived less paternal care, and those with AD + HY perceived more maternal protection than those with adjustment disorder and those in the control group. Participants with AD-HY were more neurotic and less extroverted than those with AD + HY. Both groups showed poorer mental health than the controls. Although some patients with hyperventilation syndrome demonstrated symptoms of adjustment disorder, there were different predisposing factors between the two groups in terms of parental bonding and personality characteristics. This finding is important for the early intervention and prevention of hyperventilation and adjustment disorder.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27272776,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"siRNA Targeting of MDR1 Reverses Multidrug Resistance in a Nude Mouse Model of Doxorubicin-resistant Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma.\nTo investigate the effects of vector-based small interfering RNA (siRNA) targeting MDR1 on the reversal of multidrug resistance in a mouse model of doxorubicin (DOX)-resistant human hepatocellular carcinoma. Three siRNAs plasmid vectors (MDR1 siRNA1, MDR1 siRNA2 and MDR1 siRNA3) targeting MDR1 were constructed and transfected into DOX-resistant human hepatocellular carcinoma Bel-7402\/ADM cells. The expression of MDR1 mRNA and P-glycoprotein (P-gp) was detected with RT-PCR and western blotting, respectively. A nude mouse model of DOX-resistance was established with untransfected Bel-7402\/ADM or Bel-7402\/ADM transfected with MDR1 siRNA (Bel-7402\/ADMsi). The nude mice with tumors from untransfected Bel-7402\/ADM cells were treated with either saline (Group 1); intravenous DOX (Group 2); or the combination of intra-tumoral MDR1 siRNA and intravenous DOX (Group 3). The nude mice with tumors from Bel-7402\/ADMsi cells were treated with intravenous DOX (Group 4). DOX and MDR1 siRNA were administered twice a week at 20 mg\/kg\/dose and 9.8 mg\/kg\/dose, respectively. Tumor growth was measured to assess reversal of multidrug resistance by MDR1 siRNA. MDRl mRNA and P-gp expression of Bel-7402\/ADM cells was reduced by transfection of three siRNAs with different silencing efficiency (p<0.05). DOX treatment (Group 4) resulted in significant reduction in tumor size in the Bel-7402\/ADMsi tumor model (p<0.05), indicating reversal of multidrug resistance in tumor by MDR1 siRNA. However, the combination treatment of intratumoral MDR1 siRNA and DOX (Group 3) showed no significant anti-tumor efficacy in the untransfected Bel-7402\/ADM (p>0.05) tumor model, suggesting poor in vivo transfection efficiency of MDR1 siRNA. Analysis of the tumor samples showed the reduced expression level of MDR1 mRNA and P-gp was due to efficacy of MDR1 siRNA. In vitro transfection of siRNAs' vectors targeting the MDR1 gene can effectively silence MDR1 mRNA and P-gp expression in DOX-resistant human hepatocellular carcinoma Bel-7402\/ADM cells that resulted in reversal of multidrug resistance to DOX in the xenograft tumor model.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16149805,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Kinetics of proton transfer from cationic carbon acids in water and aqueous DMSO. Effect of activating groups and solvent on intrinsic rate constants.\n[reaction: see text] Acidity constants and rates of reversible deprotonation of acetonyltriphenylphosphonium ion (1H+), phenacyltriphenylphosphonium ion (2H+), N-methyl-4-phenacylpyridinium ion (3H+), and N-methyl-4-(phenylsulfonylmethyl)pyridinium ion (4H+) by amines in water, 50% DMSO-50% water (v\/v), and 90% DMSO-10% water (v\/v) have been determined. From the respective Br\u00f8nsted plots, log k(o) values for the intrinsic rate constants of the various proton transfers were obtained. Solvent transfer activity coefficients of the carbon acids and their respective conjugate bases were also determined which helped in understanding how the pKa values and intrinsic rate constants depend on the solvent. Some of the main conclusions are as follows: (1) The pK(a) values of 1H+, 2H+, and 3H+ are significantly higher than that of 4H+ because of a stronger resonance stabilization of the corresponding conjugate bases 1, 2 and 3, respectively. (2) The electronic effects of the PPh3+ and the N-methyl-4-pyridylium group are similar but the mix between inductive and resonance effect is different. (3) All four acids become more acidic upon addition of DMSO to the solvent. In all cases, the main factor is the stronger solvation of H3O+ in DMSO; for 1H+, 2H+, and 3H+ but not 4H+ this factor is significantly attenuated by stronger solvation of the carbon acid in DMSO. (4) The intrinsic rate constants for proton transfer are relatively high for all four carbon acids and show little solvent dependence; this contrasts with nitroalkanes which have much lower intrinsic rate constants and show a strong solvent dependence. These results can be understood by a detailed analysis of the interplay between inductive, resonance, and solvation effects.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31603489,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"National Trends in American Heart Association Revised Life's Simple 7 Metrics Associated With Risk of Mortality Among US Adults.\nThe American Heart Association (AHA) introduced the Life's Simple 7 (LS7) metrics to assess and promote cardiovascular health. However, several shortcomings of these metrics have been identified. Therefore, a revised set of LS7 metrics was developed. To evaluate national trends in the metrics addressed by the revised LS7 and the individual and combined associations of the revised LS7 metrics with all-cause and cause-specific mortality and to compare these measures with the AHA recommended LS7 metrics. This national cross-sectional study used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 1988 to 2016. The revised LS7 metrics included a combination of the body mass index and waist to hip ratio, Healthy Eating Index-2010, and a lower blood pressure threshold of greater than or equal to 130\/80 mm Hg in addition to physical activity, smoking, total cholesterol, and fasting blood glucose. Data for this study were analyzed from June 1, 2017, to December 31, 2017. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality. The secondary outcome was cancer and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality. Data were available for 13 606 adults in 1988 to 1994 (7329 [53%] female; mean [SD] age, 47 [17.7] years), 6360 in 1999 to 2004 (3442 [54%] female; mean [SD] age, 47 [18.6] years), 10 618 in 2005 to 2010 (5428 [51%] female; mean [SD] age, 47 [17.5] years), and 10 773 in 2011 to 2016 (5474 [50%] female; mean [SD] age, 48 [17.4] years). Compared with a revised LS7 score of 0 to 1, the adjusted hazard ratios for a revised LS7 score of 5 to 7 were 0.46 (95% CI, 0.35-0.61) for all-cause mortality, 0.42 (95% CI, 0.25-0.68) for cancer mortality, and 0.37 (95% CI, 0.24-0.55) for CVD mortality, respectively. The adjusted hazard ratios for participants who met 6 or more AHA recommended ideal LS7 metrics were 0.49 (95% CI, 0.33-0.74) for all-cause mortality, 0.60 (95% CI, 0.29-1.25) for cancer mortality, and 0.24 (95% CI, 0.13-0.47) for CVD mortality. Participants with a body mass index of 29.9 or less but without central obesity were independently associated with lower risk of all-cause and CVD mortality. Blood pressure was associated with 36.7% or more of the observed population-attributable fraction of mortality. The individual revised LS7 metrics with modified criteria regarding weight, blood pressure, and diet provide more information about factors associated with cancer mortality than the original AHA LS7 metrics.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32620139,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Identification of drought tolerant mechanisms in a drought-tolerant maize mutant based on physiological, biochemical and transcriptomic analyses.\nFrequently occurring drought stress negatively affects the production of maize worldwide. Numerous efforts have been made to develop drought-tolerant maize lines and to explore drought tolerant mechanisms in maize. However, there is a lack of comparative studies on transcriptomic changes between drought-tolerant and control maize lines. In the present study, we have developed a drought-tolerant maize mutant (C7-2t) by irradiating the seeds of maize inbred line ChangC7-2 (C7-2) with 60Co-\u03b3. Compared to its wild type C7-2, C7-2t exhibited a significantly delayed wilting and higher drought tolerance under both the controlled and field conditions, indicating its high water-holding ability. Transcriptomic profiling was performed to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between C7-2 and C7-2t during drought. As a result, a total of 4552 DEGs were implied in drought tolerance of C7-2 and C7-2t. In particular, the expression of photosynthesis-related genes in C7-2 was inhibited, whereas these genes in C7-2t were almost unaffected under drought. Moreover, a specific set of the DEGs were involved in phenylpropanoid biosynthesis and taurine (hypotaurine) metabolism in C7-2t; these DEGs were enriched in cell components associated with membrane systems and cell wall biosynthesis. The drought tolerance of C7-2t was largely due to its high water-holding ability, stable photosynthesis (for supporting osmoregulation) and strengthened biosynthesis of cell walls under drought conditions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37456365,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"White Matter Microstructural Alterations over the Year after Acute Ischemic Stroke in Patients with Baseline Impaired Cognitive Functions.\nThe disruption of white matter (WM) integrity is related to poststroke cognitive impairment (PSCI). The exploration of WM integrity alterations in the chronic stage of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) may help to improve the long-term outcomes of PSCI. Sixty patients showing impaired cognitive functions within 3 days after AIS (baseline) and 25 healthy controls underwent diffusion kurtosis imaging scan and cognitive assessment at baseline and 1 year. Based on the tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS), kurtosis fractional anisotropy (KFA) and mean kurtosis (MK) were compared in WM tracts between the groups. One year after AIS, 25 patients were diagnosed with PSCI and 35 patients with non-cognitive impairment (NCI). Compared with baseline, cognitive performance improved in 54 patients and remained unchanged in 6 patients at 1 year. TBSS analysis showed that there were no significant differences in WM tract integrity between the AIS and control groups at baseline (P > 0.05). Compared with the control group, the KFA and MK in multiple WM tracts in the AIS group decreased significantly at 1 year (P < 0.05). Longitudinal analysis showed that the KFA and MK of multiple WM tracts recorded at 1 year were significantly lower than those recorded at baseline in the AIS, PSCI, and NCI groups (P < 0.05), and PSCI group had a faster degeneration than NCI group (P < 0.05). The finding suggests that the patients with baseline impaired cognitive functions still have WM microstructural damages at 1 year poststroke, even if their cognitive function has improved or returned to normal. Cautions should be taken against the possible negative impact of these changes on long-term cognition.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17203412,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Violence and mental illness: a new analytic approach.\nEmpirical studies of violence and mental illness have used many different methods. Current state-of-the-art methods gather information from both subject and collateral interviews as well as official records. Typically these sources are treated as additive. Any report of a violent incident from any source is treated as true and all reported incidents are added to generate estimates of frequency. This paper presents a new statistical technique that uses the level of agreement between the sources of data to adjust those estimates. The evidence suggests that, although the additive technique for using multiple sources correctly estimates how many people are involved, it substantially underestimates the number of incidents. The new technique substantially reduces both false negatives and false positives.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8350584,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Preventive antibiotic administration for prevention of nosocomial septicemia in very small premature infants (VLBW infants)--preventive vancomycin administration against infections with coagulase negative streptococci--prevention of translocation with oral cefixime therapy in intestinal colonization with pathogenic gram-negative pathogens].\nVLBW-infants below 1500 g of birth weight have a quite high risk to acquire a nosocomial sepsis. 20-40% of all infants exhibit signs of nosocomial infection once during neonatal intensive care. The rate of infection is related to technique and amount of used invasive devices as to gestational age. Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CONS) and gram-negative organisms contribute most to these cases of sepsis. In a three phase study we tried to demonstrate the efficacy of different mechanisms to change the rate of nosocomial sepsis. During the first phase a strict hygienical protocol was enforced as isolation, care with sterile gloves and aseptic techniques in introducing and maintaining i.v. lines. In a second phase we started a randomized controlled study of prophylactic vancomycin (10 mg\/kg\/day in two doses). In a third phase we added an oral antibiotic regime with cefixime for all patients with positive cultures for gramnegative organisms under the hypothesis of translocation from the gut as the way of infection. During the first phase 23.7% of 76 patients enrolled acquired CONS-sepsis, 0.52% gramnegative sepsis. During the second phase (41 patients) 6 patients in the control group acquired CONS-sepsis, none in the vancomycin-group. The rate of gramnegative infections was not different (4 and 3 cases). During the third phase (vancomycin plus cefixime eventually in cases of positive stool cultures) no case of nosocomial sepsis occurred (35 patients, 11 positive cultures). The management used in phase 3 reduced the rate of nosocomial infections in VLBW-infants drastically.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8353023,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[The autocrine-paracrine modulation of natural killer activity in man by peptides of the corticostatin-defensin family].\nCorticostatins (CS)-defensins are a family of peptides recently isolated from neutrophils and cells of myeloid lineage. They have been termed CS in that members of the family inhibit ACTH-induced steroidogenesis, and defensins in that they are highly effective as enhancers of intracellular killing of pathogens. Natural killer (NK) cells are an immunocyte subset whose cytotoxic activity is modulated by lymphokines and hormones. Recent evidence suggests a myeloid origin for these cells. We evaluated whether two human CS-defensins, HP-1 and HP-4, are able to modulate in vitro spontaneous NK cell activity of human peripheral blood mononuclear (PBM) cells and in vitro susceptibility to the stimulatory effect by immune interferon (IFN-gamma) or interleukin 2 (IL-2) and to the inhibitory effect of cortisol. PBM cells were incubated for 20 h with HP-1 or HP-4 and IFN-gamma or IL-2 or cortisol. NK cell activity was measured in a 4-h direct cytotoxicity assay (K562 cells as a target). We also searched for CS-defensins in NK-enriched cell preparations by means of HPLC separation of the supernatant obtained from sonicated cells. HP-1 and HP-4 significantly inhibited both spontaneous and lymphokine-inducible NK cell activity, and potentiated cortisol-dependent inhibition. Radioimmunoassay on HPLC purified fractions demonstrated the presence of HP-1 in NK-enriched cell preparations. Our data indicate that HP-1 and HP-4 are negative modulators of NK cell cytotoxicity and that autocrine\/paracrine mechanisms are conceivably involved. HP-1 production by NK cells may be viewed as additional support for the thesis of the myeloid origin of these immune effectors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16223263,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Fusion of mass spectrometry-based metabolomics data.\nA general method is presented for combining mass spectrometry-based metabolomics data. Such data are becoming more and more abundant, and proper tools for fusing these types of data sets are needed. Fusion of metabolomics data leads to a comprehensive view on the metabolome of an organism or biological system. The ideas presented draw upon established techniques in data analysis. Hence, they are also widely applicable to other types of X-omics data provided there is a proper pretreatment of the data. These issues are discussed using a real-life metabolomics data set from a microbial fermentation process.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28260475,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nonmelanoma Skin Cancers After Kidney Transplant: Our 15 Years of Experience With Mammalian Target of Rapamycin Inhibitors.\nWe evaluated patients with nonmelanoma skin cancer after kidney transplant and the effects of immunosuppression reduction and switching to a mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitor drugs. Kidney transplant recipients were evaluated retrospectively from patient medical records (between January 2000 and December 2014). A 30% increase in serum creatinine was accepted as indicating renal failure progression. Of 18 patients included (mean follow-up 98 \u00b1 66 mo), 7 (38.8%) had squamous cell carcinoma, 7 (38.8%) had Kaposi sarcoma, and 4 (22.2%) had basal cell carcinoma. At cancer diagnosis, average serum creatinine was 1.6 \u00b1 0.7 mg\/dL and proteinuria was 410 \u00b1 766 mg\/d. Immunosuppression regimen was changed in 15 patients (83.3%), with new regimen being a single-drug (only prednisolone) in 4 patients, double-drug in 6 patients, and triple-drug protocol in 8 patients. Eight patients were switched to a mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitor-based double (4 patients) or triple (4 patients) regimen. During follow-up after starting new treatment (average 46 \u00b1 50 mo), 6 patients (33.3%) had progressive kidney failure (0 were receiving triple regimen). Those that progressed were using mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitor-based drugs relatively less (33% vs 50%), although often receiving a single-drug immunosuppression treatment (50% vs 8.3%). Three patients (33.3%) had acute rejection (2 receiving double and 1 receiving single immunosuppression treatment). Five patients (27.7%) had local recurrence of the primary tumor. Mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitor use was relatively less common in patients with tumor relapse (20% vs 46%). One patient died (heart failure), and 1 with chronic rejection returned to dialysis. Mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitorbased drugs could reduce local recurrence rate in kidney transplant recipients with nonmelanoma skin cancers. Aggressive reduction and\/or cessation of immunosuppressive drugs after skin cancer can lead to graft rejection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37851561,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Outcomes of Goniotomy With or Without Secondary Intraocular Lens Implantation in Pediatric Glaucoma Following Cataract Surgery: A Prospective Pilot Study.\nTo report the outcomes of a 120-degree goniotomy (GT) with or without secondary intraocular lens (IOL) implantation in glaucoma following cataract surgery (GFCS). Prospective, observational study. Pediatric patients with GFCS who underwent standalone 120-degree GT or 120-degree GT combined with secondary IOL implantation (GT+IOL) from March 2022 to August 2022 at the Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center were recruited. Primary outcomes were intraocular pressure (IOP) and the number of ocular hypotensive medications. A secondary outcome was the surgical success rate. Success was defined as a postoperative IOP within the range of 5-21 mm Hg. Complete and qualified successes were defined, as the above, without and with ocular hypotensive medications, respectively. Thirty-two eyes of 22 patients were included. The mean age at the time of GT was 68.5 \u00b1 29.3 months. The mean follow-up duration was 12.2 \u00b1 2.3 months (9-15 mo). Mean IOP decreased from 30.9 \u00b1 4.8 mm Hg on 2 (interquartile range = 1) medications at baseline to 15.8 \u00b1 3.6 mm Hg on 0 (interquartile range = 1.5) medication at the latest visit in all eyes. The overall complete and qualified success rates were 68.8% and 90.6%, respectively. There were no significant differences in IOP, number of medications, and complete and qualified success rates between the standalone GT and GT+IOL groups at the latest follow-up at 9 months postoperatively. To reduce the need for additional surgery, 120-degree GT was a safe and effective surgical treatment for GFCS in children, which could be combined with secondary IOL implantation in aphakic eyes with GFCS.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37450607,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A Cone Beam CT Bronchoscopy Study of the Ultrathin Cryoprobe for Biopsy of Peripheral Lung Lesions.\nCompared with the standard cryoprobe, the novel ultrathin 1.1 mm cryoprobe (UTCP) has improved ergonomics, shape memory, and flexibility. The performance of UTCP has demonstrated promising results in several small trials. In this single-center, retrospective review, we examine 200 (N=200) consecutive patients referred for cone beam CT bronchoscopic biopsy of peripheral lung lesions. We utilized an extended multimodality approach, including transbronchial needle aspirate, brush, traditional forces biopsies, UTCP biopsies, and BAL. We analyzed tool in lesion, tool touch lesion, center strike rates, and diagnostic yield. We assessed for molecular adequacy and analyzed safety. A total of 222 lesions were biopsied. We achieved a tool in lesion or tool touch lesion confirmation for all biopsy attempts (100%) and a center strike rate of 68%. AQuIRE diagnostic yield was 90%, with 60% malignant, 30% benign lung nodules, and 10% nondiagnostic. UTCP was diagnostic in 3.6 % of peripheral lung lesions biopsies when all other modalities were nondiagnostic; thus, raising our overall diagnostic yield from 86.4% to 90.1%. Our analysis demonstrates superior adequacy for molecular analysis for histologic samples (TBBX or UTCP) versus cytologic samples (FNA) (P<0.001). Three patients (1.5%) had a pneumothorax, and 1 patient (0.5%) had moderate bleeding. UTCP was diagnostic in 3.6% of peripheral lung lesions when all other modalities were nondiagnostic. In the setting of CBCT guidance, UTCP has a similar safety profile to standard biopsy tools. Future trials are warranted to assess UTCP and its impact on peripheral lung lesion biopsies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12012623,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Simplified artificial endometrial preparation, using oral estradiol and novel vaginal progesterone tablets: a prospective randomized study.\nThere are various successful protocols for artificial endometrial preparation, comprising induction of endometrial proliferation with estrogens and secretory transformation with progestins. The aim of this prospective randomized study was to evaluate a simplified approach for endometrial preparation, comparing two constant doses of oral estradiol combined with a novel low-dose vaginal natural progesterone preparation (100 mg Endometrin tablets). Twenty-nine patients were enrolled in the study and divided randomly into two groups. Both groups received oral estradiol tablets from the beginning of menstruation, group A (15 patients) receiving 4 mg\/day divided into two doses of 2 mg each, and group B (14 patients) receiving 6 mg\/day divided into three doses. Serum estradiol and progesterone and sonographic thickness of the endometrium were measured on the 1st day of menstruation and on the 6th, 11th, 16th and 21st days of the artificial cycle. Following the first 12 days of estradiol priming, with an endometrial thickness of > or = 8 mm, Endometrin vaginal tablets 100 mg were added twice a day for 10 days. On the 21st cycle day, an endometrial biopsy was taken from all patients using Pipelle. In all 29 patients, appropriate changes in estradiol, progesterone and endometrial thickness were observed. Estradiol levels were significantly higher in the 6 mg\/day group on days 6 and 11, but no significant difference was noted in serum progesterone level and endometrial thickess between groups. Histological evaluation of endometrial biopsies, on the 21st day, revealed adequate late-secretory endometrium in 14\/15 (93.3%) patients of group A and in 13\/14 (92.9%) patients of group B. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that an appropriate endometrial secretory transformation may be induced using an economical regimen of fixed low-dose oral estradiol (4 mg\/day) and low-dose vaginal progesterone tablets (Endometrin 100 mg twice daily).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20360861,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A systems biology approach to transcription factor binding site prediction.\nThe elucidation of mammalian transcriptional regulatory networks holds great promise for both basic and translational research and remains one the greatest challenges to systems biology. Recent reverse engineering methods deduce regulatory interactions from large-scale mRNA expression profiles and cross-species conserved regulatory regions in DNA. Technical challenges faced by these methods include distinguishing between direct and indirect interactions, associating transcription regulators with predicted transcription factor binding sites (TFBSs), identifying non-linearly conserved binding sites across species, and providing realistic accuracy estimates. We address these challenges by closely integrating proven methods for regulatory network reverse engineering from mRNA expression data, linearly and non-linearly conserved regulatory region discovery, and TFBS evaluation and discovery. Using an extensive test set of high-likelihood interactions, which we collected in order to provide realistic prediction-accuracy estimates, we show that a careful integration of these methods leads to significant improvements in prediction accuracy. To verify our methods, we biochemically validated TFBS predictions made for both transcription factors (TFs) and co-factors; we validated binding site predictions made using a known E2F1 DNA-binding motif on E2F1 predicted promoter targets, known E2F1 and JUND motifs on JUND predicted promoter targets, and a de novo discovered motif for BCL6 on BCL6 predicted promoter targets. Finally, to demonstrate accuracy of prediction using an external dataset, we showed that sites matching predicted motifs for ZNF263 are significantly enriched in recent ZNF263 ChIP-seq data. Using an integrative framework, we were able to address technical challenges faced by state of the art network reverse engineering methods, leading to significant improvement in direct-interaction detection and TFBS-discovery accuracy. We estimated the accuracy of our framework on a human B-cell specific test set, which may help guide future methodological development.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12005382,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Heterosexual risk behaviors in at-risk young men from early adolescence to young adulthood: prevalence, prediction, and association with STD contraction.\nHealth-compromising lifestyles involve stable patterns of behavior and are associated with high-risk social environments and accelerated developmental trajectories. Developmentally, antisocial behavior is associated with such lifestyles. Mediational models predicting a measure of lifetime average sexual risk behavior assessed over a 10-year period (from ages 13-14 to 22-23 years) were examined for a sample of at-risk young men. The measure included years of abstinence from intercourse as well as levels of 3 key heterosexual indicators of risk: frequency of intercourse, number of intercourse partners, and condom use. Predictors included lifetime average measures of contextual, family, and peer process variables and individual behaviors. In addition, similar models for prediction of STD contraction were assessed. A younger age of onset of intercourse was associated with higher numbers of intercourse partners after onset. As hypothesized, findings indicated mediational associations of socioeconomic status, parental monitoring, deviant-peer association, antisocial behavior, and substance use in the prediction of sexual risk behavior. Lower condom use also predicted STD contraction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24386351,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Detecting the differences in responses of stomatal conductance to moisture stresses between deciduous shrubs and Artemisia subshrubs.\nShrubs and subshrubs can tolerate wider ranges of moisture stresses in both soil and air than other plant life forms, and thus represent greater nonlinearity and uncertainty in ecosystem physiology. The objectives of this paper are to model shrub\/subshrub stomatal conductance by synthesizing the field leaf gas exchanges data of 24 species in China, in order to detect the differences between deciduous shrubs and Artemisia subshrubs in their responses of stomatal conductance to changes in the moisture stresses. We revised a model of stomatal conductance by incorporating the tradeoff between xylem hydraulic efficiency and cavitation loss risk. We then fit the model at the three hierarchical levels: global (pooling all data as a single group), three functional groups (deciduous non-legume shrubs, deciduous legume shrubs, and subshrubs in Artemisia genus), and individual observations (species \u00d7 sites). Bayesian inference with Markov Chain Monte Carlo method was applied to obtain the model parameters at the three levels. We found that the model at the level of functional groups is a significant improvement over that at the global level, indicating the significant differences in the stomatal behavior among the three functional groups. The differences in tolerance and sensitivities to changes in moisture stresses are the most evident between the shrubs and the subshrubs: The two shrub groups can tolerate much higher soil water stress than the subshrubs. The analysis at the observation level is also a significant improvement over that at the functional group level, indicating great variations within each group. Our analysis offered a clue for the equivocal issue of shrub encroachment into grasslands: While the invasion by the shrubs may be irreversible, the dominance of subshrubs, due to their lower resistance and tolerance to moisture stresses, may be put down by appropriate grassland management.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28696257,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Transient and dynamic DNA supercoiling potently stimulates the leu-500 promoter in Escherichia coli.\nThe inactive prokaryotic leu-500 promoter (Pleu-500) contains a single A-to-G point mutation in the -10 region of the leucine operon promoter, which causes leucine auxotrophy. This promoter can be activated by (-) DNA supercoiling in Escherichia coli topA strains. However, whether this activation arises from global, permanent, or transient, dynamic supercoiling is still not fully understood. In this article, using a newly established in vivo system carrying a pair of divergently coupled promoters, i.e. an IPTG-inducible promoter and Pleu-500 that control the expression of lacZ and luc (the firefly luciferase gene), respectively, we demonstrate that transient, dynamic (-) DNA supercoiling provided by divergent transcription in both wild-type and topA strains can potently activate Pleu-500 We found that this activation depended on the promoter strength and the length of RNA transcripts, which are functional characteristics of transcription-coupled DNA supercoiling (TCDS) precisely predicted by the twin-supercoiled domain model of transcription in which a (+) supercoiled domain is produced ahead of the RNA polymerase and a (-) supercoiled domain behind it. We also demonstrate that TCDS can be generated on topologically open DNA molecules, i.e. linear DNA molecules, in Escherichia coli, suggesting that topological boundaries or barriers are not required for the production of TCDS in vivo This work demonstrates that transient, dynamic TCDS by RNA polymerases is a major chromosome remodeling force in E. coli and greatly influences the nearby, coupled promoters\/transcription.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12027706,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nucleophilic substitution reactions of aryl dithioacetates with pyridines in acetonitrile.\nKinetic studies of the pyridinolysis (XC(5)H(4)N) of aryl dithioacetates (CH(3)C(=S)SC(6)H(4)Z) are carried out in acetonitrile at 60.0 degrees C. A biphasic Br\u00f6nsted plot is obtained with a change in slope from a large value (beta(X) congruent with 0.9) to a small value (beta(X) congruent with 0.4) at pK(a) degrees = 5.2, which is attributed to a change in the rate-limiting step from breakdown to formation of a zwitterionic tetrahedral intermediate, T(+\/-), in the reaction path as the basicity of the pyridine nucleophile increases. A clear-cut change in the cross-interaction constants rho(XZ) from a large positive value (rho(XZ) = +1.34) to a small negative value (rho(XZ) = -0.15) supports the mechanistic change proposed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29546276,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Salicylate induces reactive oxygen species and reduces ultraviolet C susceptibility in Staphylococcus aureus.\nThis study demonstrates that growth of Staphylococcus aureus in the presence of salicylate reduces ultraviolet C (UVC)-induced cell death and increases the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). In addition, compounds that scavenge ROS (N-acetylcysteine, glutathione, catalase and superoxide dismutase) reverse the increased UVC survival induced by growth in the presence of salicylate, while ROS donors (tert-butylhydroperoxide, H2O2 and NaClO) enhance survival of salicylate challenged cultures. Collectively, these findings suggest that ROS production induced by growth in the presence of salicylate protects S. aureus from UVC-induced cell death.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28261691,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Graphene-Metal Composite Sensors with Near-Zero Temperature Coefficient of Resistance.\nThis article describes the design of piezoresistive thin-film sensors based on single-layer graphene decorated with metallic nanoislands. The defining characteristic of these composite thin films is that they can be engineered to exhibit a temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) that is close to zero. A mechanical sensor with this property is stable against temperature fluctuations of the type encountered during operations in the real world, for example, in a wearable sensor. The metallic nanoislands are grown on graphene through thermal deposition of metals (gold or palladium) at a low nominal thickness. Metallic films exhibit an increase in resistance with temperature (positive TCR), whereas graphene exhibits a decrease in resistance with temperature (negative TCR). By varying the amount of deposition, the morphology of the nanoislands can be tuned such that the TCRs of a metal and graphene cancel out. The quantitative analysis of scanning electron microscope images reveals the importance of the surface coverage of the metal (as opposed to the total mass of the metal deposited). The stability of the sensor to temperature fluctuations that might be encountered in the outdoors is demonstrated by subjecting a wearable pulse sensor to simulated solar irradiation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36282641,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[NORMATIVE AND LEGAL ASPECTS OF THE FORMATION OF THE BASIC PREREQUISITES OF PUBLIC HEALTH (PUBLICATIONS REVIEW)].\nPreservation of public health is the main goal of social progress and development of the society. The search for potential opportunities to improve individual and public health indicators is a positive predictor of increasing the socio-economic efficiency of the society and increasing the healthy life expectancy of citizens. The scientific review provides arguments in favor of the need for professional collaboration of specialists from various industries in order to universally realize the most important right of citizens to protect their own and public health. Regulatory legal documents defining national and international policy in the field of health protection and forming the general vector of development of health care activities were used as the sources of information for the formation of the basis of the study. As a result of a logical generalization of global and national priorities and trends in the development of the healthcare sector, the main prerequisites (determinants) of health saving of citizens, adopted by the world community and reflected in domestic documents, are formulated. The main prerequisites (determinants) of health are defined as: promotion of activities that advantage health protection; creation of a single preventive space; specification of the concept of \"responsible attitude to health\"; coverage of the entire life cycle of a person and all spheres of his activity in the formation of a responsible attitude to health and motivation for its preservation; development of information technologies in the field of health protection; expansion of intersectoral and interdisciplinary cooperation in order to maintain and strengthen health; improvement of public health literacy; transformation of health services from the standpoint of health protection; development of human resources to ensure health-saving activities. The identified determinants of the preservation of individual and public health can act as a theoretical basis for the development of a scientific and practical methodology aimed at solving problems of improving health through the potential of interdisciplinary interaction of specialists in various fields of activity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36266084,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Research advances in the use of dynamic navigation technology for implantation in the edentulous jaw].\nThe use of dynamic navigation technology in edentulous jaw implant restoration can solve many problems associated with traditional edentulous jaw implant restoration. The benefits of dynamic navigation include fine positioning guidance, restoration-guided surgery, good aesthetic results, and the possibility of simultaneous conceptual design and real-time implant guidance, as well as the transition from \"blind\" to \"direct\" vision during the implantation. It can guide clinicians and adjust the plan in real time, improve the efficiency of communication between the clinician, technician, and patient throughout the process and so on. The workflow, current clinical application and challenges, accuracy analysis, and limitations of the dynamic navigation technology in the edentulous jaw are discussed in this paper, as well as an outlook on its future development, with the goal of contributing to the clinical development of dynamic navigation-guided implantology in the edentulous jaw.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16987938,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A comparison of rarefaction and bayesian methods for predicting the allelic richness of future samples on the basis of currently available samples.\nRarefaction methods have been introduced into population genetics (from ecology) for predicting and comparing the allelic richness of future samples (or sometimes populations) on the basis of currently available samples, possibly of different sizes. Here, we focus our attention on one such problem: Predicting which population is most likely to yield the future sample having the highest allelic richness. (This problem can arise when we want to construct a core collection from a larger germplasm collection.) We use extensive simulations to compare the performance of the Monte Carlo rarefaction (repeated random subsampling) method with a simple Bayesian approach we have developed-which is based on the Ewens sampling distribution. We found that neither this Bayesian method nor the (Monte Carlo) rarefaction method performed uniformly better than the other. We also examine briefly some of the other motivations offered for these methods and try to make sense of them from a Bayesian point of view.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17009648,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pharmacokinetic analysis of paclitaxel and carboplatin in a patient with advanced ovarian cancer during hemodialysis--case report.\nWe examined pharmacokinetics of paclitaxel and carboplatin in a FIGO Stage IIIb ovarian cancer patient with hemodialysis-dependent chronic renal failure. The patient suffered from recurrence of the disease after treatment with optimal debulking surgery and postoperative chemotherapy consisting of cisplatin, epirubicin and cyclophosphamide, and she was treated with combined paclitaxel and carboplatin as second-line chemotherapy. The carboplatin dose was chosen to produce a target area under the concentration\/time curve (AUC) of 5.0 microg-min\/ml according to a published formula. Four-hour hemodialysis was started 24 hours and 16 hours after the end of carboplatin administration in the first and second courses of the chemotherapy, respectively. Pharmacokinetic studies showed that the AUCs of free platinum were 8.03 and 5.69 microg-min\/ml in the first and second courses of the chemotherapy, respectively, suggesting that the AUC of carboplatin is affected by hemodialysis. However, an attenuation pattern of paclitaxel was almost similar between the first and the second courses, indicating that the change in blood concentration of paclitaxel was similar to that of patients with normal renal function. Hematological and nonhematological adverse effects were at an acceptable degree. The evidence suggests that even patients with chronic renal failure can undergo combination chemotherapy of paclitaxel and carboplatin without suffering any severe adverse effects by determining the time to start hemodialysis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30652497,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Inhibition of GGPPS1 attenuated LPS-induced acute lung injury and was associated with NLRP3 inflammasome suppression.\nInhibition of the mevalonate pathway using statins has been shown to be beneficial in the treatment of acute lung injury (ALI). Here, we investigated whether partial inhibition of this pathway by targeting geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate synthase large subunit 1 (GGPPS1), a catalase downstream of the mevalonate pathway, was effective at treating lung inflammation in ALI. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was intratracheally instilled to induce ALI in lung-specific GGPPS1-knockout and wild-type mice. Expression of GGPPS1 in lung tissues and alveolar epithelial cells was examined. The severity of lung injury and inflammation was determined in lung-specific GGPPS1 knockout and wild-type mice by measuring alveolar exudate, neutrophil infiltration, lung injury, and cell death. Change in global gene expression in response to GGPPS1 depletion was measured using mRNA microarray and verified in vivo and in vitro. We found that GGPPS1 levels increased significantly in lung tissues and alveolar epithelial cells in LPS-induced ALI mice. Compared with wild-type and simvastatin treated mice, the specific deletion of pulmonary GGPPS1 attenuated the severity of lung injury by inhibiting apoptosis of AECs. Furthermore, deletion of GGPPS1 inhibited LPS-induced inflammasome activation, in terms of IL-1\u03b2 release and pyroptosis, by downregulating NLRP3 expression. Finally, downregulation of GGPPS1 reduced the membrane expression of Ras-related protein Rab10 and Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and inhibited the phosphonation of I\u03baB. This effect might be attributed to the downregulation of GGPP levels. Our results suggested that inhibition of pulmonary GGPPS1 attenuated LPS-induced ALI predominantly by suppressing the NLRP3 inflammasome through Rab10-mediated TLR4 replenishment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1679149,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Role of monoaminergic neurotransmitter systems in MDP-induced adjuvant effect.\nThe changes in delayed hypersensitivity in guinea pigs stimulated by muramyl dipeptide (MDP) after administration of agonists or antagonists of neurotransmitter systems were studied. Muramyl dipeptide was given in Freund's incomplete adjuvant three weeks before administration of drugs and antigen. Pretreatment with methiotepine, haloperidol and clonidine increased, while lisuride, apomorphine and yohimbine decreased the reaction of delayed hypersensitivity. These results suggest that serotonergic, dopaminergic as well as presynaptic alpha-receptors might have an inhibitory effect on cell-mediated immunity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11999856,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"On the complexities of measuring naming.\nThe aims of this study were to investigate the adequacy of electronic voice keys for the purpose of measuring naming latency and to test the assumption that voice key error can be controlled by matching conditions on initial phoneme. Three types of naming latency measurements (hand-coding and 2 types of voice keys) were used to investigate effects of onset complexity (e.g., sat vs. spat) on reading aloud (J. R. Frederiksen & J. F. Kroll, 1976; A. H. Kawamoto & C. T. Kello, 1999). The 3 measurement techniques produced the 3 logically possible results: a significant complexity advantage, a significant complexity disadvantage, and a null effect. Analyses of the performance of each voice key are carried out, and implications for studies of naming latency are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34402218,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Effects of Electronegativity of X and Hybridization of C on the X-C\u22c5\u22c5\u22c5O Interactions: A Statistical Analysis on Tetrel Bonding.\nCone and distance-cone corrected statistical analyses have been performed on X-C\u22c5\u22c5\u22c5O (X=H, B, C, N, O and F; the C atom is sp2 and sp3 hybridized) tetrel bonds. The sp3 -C and sp2 -C prefer to form the interactions through \u03c3-hole (\u2220XCO\u2248180\u00b0) and \u03c0-hole (\u2220XCO\u224890\u00b0), respectively. With the increase in electronegativity of X, the preference for the particular angles of the respective geometries increases and the C\u22c5\u22c5\u22c5O distance becomes shorter. The angular preference is found to be more prominent in the cases of \u03c0-hole interactions than that in the \u03c3-hole interactions. A similar distance-cone corrected statistical analysis on O=C\u22c5\u22c5\u22c5O interaction also suggests that the preferred \u2220OCO angle is \u223c90\u00b0 and the preferred C\u22c5\u22c5\u22c5O distance is around the sum of van der Waals radii (3.22 \u00c5) of the C and O atoms. However, a cone-corrected statistical analysis on X-Si\u22c5\u22c5\u22c5O interactions suggests that the preference for linearity in this case is much higher than that for the X-C\u22c5\u22c5\u22c5O \u03c3-hole interactions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31259322,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Preferential immobilization of size-controlled anatase nanoparticles in mesopores.\nPrecise structural design of a host-guest complex was carried out from the aspects of the size and the location of the guest (anatase particles), and the remaining open space of the host (mesoporous silica). The size of the anatase particles was successfully controlled (3, 5 and 8 nm) during the preparation, and the size-controlled nanoparticles were preferentially encapsulated into the mesopores with a diameter of 8 nm. Due to the precise control of the anatase particles, size dependent photoluminescence of the anatase quantum dots was observed for the first time. The change in the porosity of the mesoporous silica by the immobilization of the anatase in the pore was followed to find a systematic variation of the porosity corresponding to the loaded anatase amount. This correlation can be useful to estimate the location of the guest in\/on the host for the host-guest hybrids.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30666498,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"The correlation between the incidence of adverse events and progression-free survival in patients treated with cabozantinib for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC).\nClinical practice shows significant differences in treatment outcomes across patients treated with cabozantinib for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). It is not known whether cabozantinib-induced adverse events are predictive factors of survival as in case of drugs such as sunitinib or axitinib. The study participants were 30 adult patients with mRCC treated with cabozantinib as a second- or further line setting. All adverse events were evaluated using the National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 4.0. Progression-free survival (PFS) values were calculated by taking the beginning of cabozantinib treatment as the start date and either disease progression or death as the end date. PFS were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and compared using the log-rank test. We identified independent PFS predictors using multiple Cox proportional hazards models and reported hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals. The median observation time cabozantinib treatment was 7.5 months, with a range of 2-15 months. During that time, 11 (37%) of the patients had mRCC progression. Median PFS on cabozantinib was not reached, and lower quartile was 6 months. All patients developed at least one adverse event in the course of cabozantinib therapy. Hypertension, hypothyroidism and HFS were observed most frequently, in about two-thirds of the patients. The co-incidence of multiple adverse events was common. Hypertension, hypothyroidism, diarrhea and liver toxicity were significantly associated with longer PFS values. Patients with three or more side effects had significantly longer PFS than those with two or fewer. Even though this study was conducted in a small patient sample and the observation time was relatively short our results confirm the predictive value of the incidence of adverse events during cabozantinib treatment in mRCC patients. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study of this kind conducted in this group of patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25521301,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Glowing graphene quantum dots and carbon dots: properties, syntheses, and biological applications.\nThe emerging graphene quantum dots (GQDs) and carbon dots (C-dots) have gained tremendous attention for their enormous potentials for biomedical applications, owing to their unique and tunable photoluminescence properties, exceptional physicochemical properties, high photostability, biocompatibility, and small size. This article aims to update the latest results in this rapidly evolving field and to provide critical insights to inspire more exciting developments. We comparatively review the properties and synthesis methods of these carbon nanodots and place emphasis on their biological (both fundamental and theranostic) applications.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31253014,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of Alpha-Tocopherol and Analogs on Cyclic-Amp Systems.\nAlpha-tocopherol analogs which lack the terpenoid side chain are non-competitive inhibitors of beef liver phosphodiesterases that act upon cyclic-AMP and cyclic-GMP. Cyclic-AMP phosphodiesterase is elevated in livers from tocopherol-deficient rats, which additionally have decreased glycogen and increased serine dehydratase.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25496592,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"A Core Gene Set Describes the Molecular Basis of Mutualism and Antagonism in Epichlo\u00eb spp.\nBeneficial plant-fungal interactions play an important role in the ability of plants to survive changing environmental conditions. In contrast, phytopathogenic fungi fall at the opposite end of the symbiotic spectrum, causing reduced host growth or even death. In order to exploit beneficial interactions and prevent pathogenic ones, it is essential to understand the molecular differences underlying these alternative states. The association between the endophyte Epichlo\u00eb festucae and Lolium perenne (perennial ryegrass) is an excellent system for studying these molecular patterns due to the existence of several fungal mutants that have an antagonistic rather than a mutualistic interaction with the host plant. By comparing gene expression in a wild-type beneficial association with three mutant antagonistic associations disrupted in key signaling genes, we identified a core set of 182 genes that show common differential expression patterns between these two states. These gene expression changes are indicative of a nutrient-starvation response, as supported by the upregulation of genes encoding degradative enzymes, transporters, and primary metabolism, and downregulation of genes encoding putative small-secreted proteins and secondary metabolism. These results suggest that disruption of a mutualistic symbiotic interaction may lead to an elevated uptake and degradation of host-derived nutrients and cell-wall components, reminiscent of phytopathogenic interactions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":33731537,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Serum-Derived Exosomes from Patients with Coronary Artery Disease Induce Endothelial Injury and Inflammation in Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells.\nEndothelial injury and inflammation have been found to be essential in the pathogenesis of coronary artery disease (CAD). Circulating exosomes are of great value as novel biomarkers for CAD. However, the role of circulating exosomes in the pathogenesis of CAD remains unclear. Thus, in this study, we aimed to examine whether circulating exosomes from CAD are involved in the endothelial injury and inflammation. The serum-derived exosomes were isolated from CAD and controls using an ExoQuick reagent, and these were then quantified by measuring the protein levels using BCA methods. The uptake of exosomes by human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) was observed by laser scanning microscope and analyzed via flow cytometry. Then, HUVECs were treated with vehicle, exosomes from CAD (CAD-exo), and controls (ctrl-exo) in the absence and presence of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Cell viability, migration, and angiogenesis were evaluated using CCK-8 assay, scratch assay, and tube formation assay. Inflammatory factors including IL-1\u03b2, IL-6, TNF-\u03b1, ICAM-1, and VCAM-1 levels were detected via qPCR. As per our findings, no significant differences were noted in uptake of ctrl-exo and CAD-exo by HUVECs. CAD-exo suppressed cell viability in a dose-dependent manner. Compared with ctrl-exo, CAD-exo-treated HUVECs significantly suppressed migration and angiogenesis. However, CAD-exo had a stronger inhibitory effect on VEGF-induced migration and angiogenesis compared with ctrl-exo. Moreover, IL-1\u03b2, TNF-\u03b1, and ICAM-1 were determined to be significantly upregulated in HUVECs treated with CAD-exo, but IL-6 and VCAM-1 expressions were not affected. Overall, our results suggest that CAD-exo are involved in endothelial injury and inflammation, which may, in turn, cause endothelial dysfunction and potentially promote the development of CAD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25292167,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Transcranial low-level laser therapy enhances learning, memory, and neuroprogenitor cells after traumatic brain injury in mice.\nThe use of transcranial low-level laser (light) therapy (tLLLT) to treat stroke and traumatic brain injury (TBI) is attracting increasing attention. We previously showed that LLLT using an 810-nm laser 4 h after controlled cortical impact (CCI)-TBI in mice could significantly improve the neurological severity score, decrease lesion volume, and reduce Fluoro-Jade staining for degenerating neurons. We obtained some evidence for neurogenesis in the region of the lesion. We now tested the hypothesis that tLLLT can improve performance on the Morris water maze (MWM, learning, and memory) and increase neurogenesis in the hippocampus and subventricular zone (SVZ) after CCI-TBI in mice. One and (to a greater extent) three daily laser treatments commencing 4-h post-TBI improved neurological performance as measured by wire grip and motion test especially at 3 and 4 weeks post-TBI. Improvements in visible and hidden platform latency and probe tests in MWM were seen at 4 weeks. Caspase-3 expression was lower in the lesion region at 4 days post-TBI. Double-stained BrdU-NeuN (neuroprogenitor cells) was increased in the dentate gyrus and SVZ. Increases in double-cortin (DCX) and TUJ-1 were also seen. Our study results suggest that tLLLT may improve TBI both by reducing cell death in the lesion and by stimulating neurogenesis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":939025,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Transient transmural reduction of myocardial blood flow demonstrated by thallium-201 scintigraphy, as a cause of variant angina.\nIn previous studies we demonstrated that variant angina could not be attributed to increased myocardial demands. In order to investigate whether a reduction of regional myocardial blood supply could be responsible for these ischemic episodes, we studied regional myocardial perfusion in six patients admitted to our coronary care unit. Myocardial scintigrams, obtained 5-7 min following i.v. injection of 1 mCi of thallium-201, performed during an episode of ST-segment elevation, showed transmural deficits of tracer uptake in the heart wall corresponding to the leads showing ST-segment elevation. These regional deficits ahd disappeared by 2 hours because of late uptake in previously ischemic myocardium. One week later, following injections performed in the absence of acute ischemia, no deficit was apparent. Tracer uptake in ischemic areas was 60% to 85% of that observed a week later. After adjusting for thallium-201 kinetics and counting geometry promblems., these scintigrams actually represent large underestimations of actual flow reduction. Thus variant angina appears to be caused by massive transmural reduction of myocardial blood supply.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15264118,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Esophageal variceal ligation for acute variceal bleeding: results of three years' follow-up.\nEndoscopic variceal ligation is widely accepted as the optimum endoscopic treatment for esophageal variceal hemorrhage. However, the rebleeding course and long-term outcome of patients with esophageal variceal hemorrhage after ligation have been poorly defined. Therefore, we conducted a long-term follow-up study to delineate the outcome of ligation. Twenty-one liver cirrhotic patients with endoscopically proven esophageal variceal hemorrhage were treated by endoscopic variceal ligation. These patients received regular follow-up and detailed clinical assessment of at least 24 months. Twenty-one eligible patients were followed up for a mean of 44.45 months (range 33.5-64 months). The mean number of sessions required to obtain eradication was 3.57+\/-1.99 (range 1-8). Esophageal varices could be obliterated within 11.57+\/-6.8 weeks (range 3-30). The percentage of variceal recurrence during follow-up was 57.14% (12\/21) after endoscopic variceal ligation. Recurrence were observed in a mean of 34 months (median 29 months). Rebleeding from esophageal varices appeared in four patients (19.04%). The appearance rates of portal hypertensive gastropathy and fundal gastric varices after varice obliteration were found to be 45.45% (5\/11) and 25% (3\/12), respectively. Based on the results of long-term follow-up of endoscopic variceal ligation, although the percentage of variceal recurrence was high, endoscopic ligation achieved variceal obliteration faster and in fewer treatment sessions. Furthermore, endoscopic variceal ligation had a lower rate of rebleeding and of development of fundal gastric varices, but high portal hypertensive gastropathy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6167991,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Prediction of protein antigenic determinants from amino acid sequences.\nA method is presented for locating protein antigenic determinants by analyzing amino acid sequences in order to find the point of greatest local hydrophilicity. This is accomplished by assigning each amino acid a numerical value (hydrophilicity value) and then repetitively averaging these values along the peptide chain. The point of highest local average hydrophilicity is invariably located in, or immediately adjacent to, an antigenic determinant. It was found that the prediction success rate depended on averaging group length, with hexapeptide averages yielding optimal results. The method was developed using 12 proteins for which extensive immunochemical analysis has been carried out and subsequently was used to predict antigenic determinants for the following proteins: hepatitis B surface antigen, influenza hemagglutinins, fowl plague virus hemagglutinin, human histocompatibility antigen HLA-B7, human interferons, Escherichia coli and cholera enterotoxins, ragweed allergens Ra3 and Ra5, and streptococcal M protein. The hepatitis B surface antigen sequence was synthesized by chemical means and was shown to have antigenic activity by radioimmunoassay.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6174824,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Resident macrophage proliferation in mice depleted of blood monocytes by strontium-89.\nThe capacity of resident peritoneal macrophages and alveolar macrophages for self-renewal was studied in CD-1 mice depleted of radiosensitive blood monocyte precursors by irradiation of the bone marrow with the bone-seeking isotope 89Sr. Thermoluminescent dosimetry and studies of DNA synthesis showed that significant levels of radiation were absorbed predominantly in anatomical sites in close proximity to bone. Cell proliferation remote from bone marrow was unaffected when quantitated by DNA precursor uptake. Between 10 and 15 days after injecting mice intravenously with 89Sr at 2 microCi per gm. of body weight, monocytes were only rarely detectable in the peripheral blood as determined by morphology, stains for nonspecific esterase and peroxidase, and by latex phagocytosis. Total numbers of resident peritoneal and alveolar macrophages were not significantly decreased and tritiated thymidine incorporation in vivo persisted at normal levels rather than regressing at a predicted rate during profound monocyte depletion. The data, therefore, suggest that local proliferation by resident macrophages in monocytopenic and intact mice is an important mechanism of population renewal.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12041562,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evaluation of culture and PCR-based assay for detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from sputum collected and stored on filter paper.\nWe evaluated the use of culture and PCR-based assay for the direct detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) from sputum collected and stored on filter paper at room temperature for 5 days; the results were compared with those of staining and conventional culture of fresh sputum before storage (the 'gold standard'). Out of 231 sputum specimens examined, MTB was recovered from 124 samples by culture before storage. The culture positivity rate was significantly decreased to 70% after 5 days storage. For PCR assay, a fragment of 377 bp of the IS6110 sequence was amplified and detected using three methods: first PCR product combined with agarose gel electrophoresis (AGE); first PCR product with dot blot hybridization (DBH); nested PCR with AGE. Compared with culture, the sensitivity, specificity, and efficiency for first PCR with AGE were 71.8, 100 and 84.9% respectively; PCR with DBH gave results of 89.5, 96.3 and 92.6% respectively; the same values for nested PCR were 96.0, 97.2, and 96.5% respectively. Of these three methods, nested PCR gave excellent sensitivity and specificity with no significant difference (p = 0.727) from conventional culture. The storage of sputum on filter paper and storage at room temperature for 5 days had no apparent effect on the performance of nested PCR. We propose that this collection and storage method be considered for transporting sputum specimens from peripheral health centers or from the field; specimens may be sent by post to a central point for both culture and PCR analysis by trained technicians supervised in accordance with a well-established quality control system.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15808167,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Long-term efficacy of adding a sharp posterior optic edge to a three-piece silicone intraocular lens on capsule opacification: five-year results of a randomized study.\nTo compare the intensity of capsule opacification with the sharp and the round optic edge variant of an open-loop hydrophobic silicone intraocular lens (IOL). Randomized, controlled, double-blind clinical trial with intraindividual comparison. Fifty-one patients with bilateral age-related cataract were included (102 eyes). Each patient had had cataract surgery in both eyes and received a Microsil IOL with a sharp optic edge design (model S) in one eye and a Microsil IOL with a round optic edge design (model R) in the fellow eye. Both IOLs had an identical haptic design (nonangulated polymethylmethacrylate) and silicone optic material. The patients were examined at the slit lamp, best-corrected visual acuity was assessed, and standardized high-resolution digital retroillumination images of the posterior capsule were taken 5 years after surgery. The intensity of regeneratory posterior capsule opacification (rPCO), fibrotic PCO (fPCO), and anterior capsule opacification (ACO) was assessed subjectively at the slit lamp, and of rPCO, objectively using automated image analysis software (AQUA). The need for an Nd:YAG laser capsulotomy (Nd:YAG-LCT) was noted. The mean AQUA PCO score was 1.2 for the model S and 2.4 for the model R lens (P = .001). The model S lens also led to less peripheral fPCO (P = .003). Concerning ACO, there was no significant difference between both IOL groups (P = .72). Whereas no capsulotomy was required with the model S, four cases (16%) had been performed in the model R group. Five years postoperatively, the sharp-edged silicone IOL showed less rPCO and fPCO than the round-edged IOL. However, regarding ACO, there was no significant difference between both IOL styles.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30670495,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Unstable Genome and Transcriptome Dynamics during Tumor Metastasis Contribute to Therapeutic Heterogeneity in Colorectal Cancers.\nGenomic and transcriptomic alterations during metastasis are considered to affect clinical outcome of colorectal cancers, but detailed clinical implications of metastatic alterations are not fully uncovered. We aimed to investigate the effect of metastatic evolution on in vivo treatment outcome, and identify genomic and transcriptomic alterations associated with drug responsiveness. We developed and analyzed patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models from 35 patients with colorectal cancer including 5 patients with multiple organ metastases (MOMs). We performed whole-exome, DNA methylation, and RNA sequencing for patient and PDX tumors. With samples from patients with MOMs, we conducted phylogenetic and subclonal analysis and in vivo drug efficacy test on the corresponding PDX models. Phylogenetic analysis using mutation, expression, and DNA methylation data in patients with MOMs showed that mutational alterations were closely connected with transcriptomic and epigenomic changes during the tumor evolution. Subclonal analysis revealed that initial primary tumors with larger number of subclones exhibited more dynamic changes in subclonal architecture according to metastasis, and loco-regional and distant metastases occurred in a parallel or independent fashion. The PDX models from MOMs demonstrated therapeutic heterogeneity for targeted treatment, due to subclonal acquisition of additional mutations or transcriptomic activation of bypass signaling pathway during tumor evolution. This study demonstrated in vivo therapeutic heterogeneity of colorectal cancers using PDX models, and suggests that acquired subclonal alterations in mutations or gene expression profiles during tumor metastatic processes can be associated with the development of drug resistance and therapeutic heterogeneity of colorectal cancers.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37839880,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pyothorax and Constrictive Pericarditis after Chemoradiotherapy for Esophageal Cancer: A Case Report.\nA 75-year-old man underwent chemoradiotherapy for advanced esophageal cancer. After nine years, he was hospitalized for left pyothorax. Consequently, the patient underwent drainage and window opening surgery. He experienced cardiopulmonary arrest but was resuscitated. Based on cardiac catheterization data, the patient was diagnosed with constrictive pericarditis. Unfortunately, extracorporeal circulation did not improve his condition, and he ultimately died. An autopsy revealed adhesion between the pericardium and pleura, especially the pericardium in contact with the left thoracic cavity, which was markedly thickened. This suggests that constrictive pericarditis, a latent complication of chemoradiotherapy, is aggravated by pyothorax.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16211516,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"On-column protein refolding for crystallization.\nOne major bottleneck in protein production in Escherichia coli for structural genomics projects is the formation of insoluble protein aggregates (inclusion bodies). The efficient refolding of proteins from inclusion bodies is becoming an important tool that can provide soluble native proteins for structural and functional studies. Here we report an on-column refolding method established at the Berkeley Structural Genomics Center (BSGC). Our method is a combination of an 'artificial chaperone-assisted refolding' method previously proposed and affinity chromatography to take advantage of a chromatographic step: less time-consuming, no filtration or concentration, with the additional benefit of protein purification. It can be easily automated and formatted for high-throughput process.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24400222,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Clinical trials in hepatocellular carcinoma: an update.\nThe success of sorafenib has spurred an explosive increase of clinical trials testing novel molecular targets and other agents in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The paradigm of the studies has been characterized by three noticeable changes. First, the molecular targets of interest have expanded from angiogenesis to cancer cell-directed oncogenic signaling pathways for advanced HCC treatment. Agents targeting EGFR, FGFR, PI3K\/Akt\/mTOR, TGF-\u03b2, c-Met, MEK, IGF signaling, and histone deacetylase have been actively explored. Second, the target indication has shifted from advanced stage to early or intermediate stages of disease. The feasibility of combining locoregional therapies and targeted agents, and the use of novel agents after curative treatments are currently under active investigation. Finally, the therapeutic strategy has shifted from monotherapy to combination targeted therapy. We aim to provide a comprehensive overview of newly disclosed and ongoing clinical trials for the treatment of HCC.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16237056,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"TGF-beta1 inhibits T-bet induction by IFN-gamma in murine CD4+ T cells through the protein tyrosine phosphatase Src homology region 2 domain-containing phosphatase-1.\nTGF-beta1 prevents the development of autoimmune disease by restraining the development of autoreactive Th1 cells. TGF-beta1 inhibits Th1 development in part by suppressing the expression of T-bet, an IFN-gamma-induced transcription factor that promotes Th1 differentiation, but how TGF-beta1 suppresses T-bet is not known. In this study we show that TGF-beta1 suppresses IFN-gamma-induced T-bet expression through the hemopoietic protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP) Src homology region 2 domain-containing phosphatase-1 (Shp-1). In murine CD4+ T cells, IFN-gamma rapidly induced the expression of T-bet as well as of IFN regulatory factor-1, another transcription factor important for Th1 development. TGF-beta1 antagonized the effects of IFN-gamma, inhibiting IFN-gamma's induction of both Th1 transcription factors. In the presence of IFN-gamma, TGF-beta1 rapidly induced in Th cells the synthesis of the PTP Shp-1, but did not induce Shp-2 or several members of the suppressor of cytokine signaling family of Jak-Stat inhibitors. We tested the requirement for Shp-1 by using T cells from the Shp-1-deficient me(v)\/me(v) mouse strain. Shp-1 was required for TGF-beta1's suppressive effects, because its suppression of T-bet and IFN regulatory factor-1 was completely abrogated in me(v)\/me(v) CD4+ T cells. Receptor-proximal responses to IFN-gamma, such as the induction of Jak-Stat phosphorylation, were inhibited by TGF-beta1 in wild-type T cells, but not in me(v)\/me(v) T cells. Consistent with a direct role for Shp-1, TGF-beta1's inhibition of IFN-gamma-induced Stat1 phosphorylation was sensitive to the general PTP inhibitor pervanadate. Together, these data show that TGF-beta1 suppresses IFN-gamma signaling and transcriptional responses in CD4+ T cells through the PTP Shp-1.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34412220,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Role of topology in determining the precision of a finite thermometer.\nTemperature fluctuations of a finite system follow the Landau bound \u03b4T^{2}=T^{2}\/C(T) where C(T) is the heat capacity of the system. In turn, the same bound sets a limit to the precision of temperature estimation when the system itself is used as a thermometer. In this paper, we employ graph theory and the concept of Fisher information to assess the role of topology on the thermometric performance of a given system. We find that low connectivity is a resource to build precise thermometers working at low temperatures, whereas highly connected systems are suitable for higher temperatures. Upon modeling the thermometer as a set of vertices for the quantum walk of an excitation, we compare the precision achievable by position measurement to the optimal one, which itself corresponds to energy measurement.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34399010,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"G protein-coupled estrogen receptor-1 enhances excitatory synaptic responses in the entorhinal cortex.\nActivation of estrogen receptors is thought to modulate cognitive function in the hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, and striatum by affecting both excitatory and inhibitory synaptic transmission. The entorhinal cortex is a major source of cortical sensory and associational input to the hippocampus, but it is unclear whether either estrogens or progestogens may modulate cognitive function through effects on synaptic transmission in the entorhinal cortex. This study assessed the effects of the brief application of either 17-\u03b2 estradiol (E2) or progesterone on excitatory glutamatergic synaptic transmission in the female rat entorhinal cortex in vitro. Rats were ovariectomized on postnatal day (PD) 63 and also received subdermal E2 implants to maintain constant low levels of circulating E2 on par with estrus. Electrophysiological recordings from brain slices were obtained between PD70 and PD86, and field excitatory postsynaptic potentials (fEPSPs) reflecting the activation of the superficial layers of the entorhinal cortex were evoked by the stimulation of layer I afferents. The application of E2 (10 nM) for 20 min resulted in a small increase in the amplitude of fEPSPs that reversed during the 30-min washout period. The application of the ER\u03b1 agonist propylpyrazoletriol (PPT) (100 nM) or the \u03b2 agonist DPN (1 \u03bcM) did not significantly affect synaptic responses. However, the application of the G protein-coupled estrogen receptor-1 (GPER1) agonist G1 (100 nM) induced a reversible increase in fEPSP amplitude similar to that induced by E2. Furthermore, the potentiation of responses induced by G1 was blocked by the GPER1 antagonist G15 (1 \u03bcM). Application of progesterone (100 nM) or its metabolite allopregnanolone (1 \u03bcM) did not significantly affect synaptic responses. The potentiation of synaptic transmission in the entorhinal cortex induced by the activation of GPER1 receptors may contribute to the modulation of cognitive function in female rats.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16987749,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dermatopontin, a novel player in the biology of the extracellular matrix.\nDermatopontin is a widely distributed small molecular weight protein in the extracellular matrix (ECM) and today its homologues are known in five mammals and several invertebrates. The structures of these homologues are relatively well conserved among the species. In the skin, dermatopontin is located mainly on the surface of the collagen fibers. It is found in the conditioned medium and also in the cytoplasm of cultured fibroblasts. Early studies focused on ECM assembly (collagen fibrillogenesis) and interactions (with the proteoglycan decorin). Subsequently, a targeted disruption of dermatopontin resulted in a phenotype similar to Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. In addition, a cell adhesion activity of this protein for dermal fibroblasts and several other cells was found, and this activity might suggest this protein's involvement in wound healing. The expression of dermatopontin around an infarct zone of experimental myocardial infarction may support this possibility. In invertebrates, dermatopontin homologues act mainly as adhesion\/agglutination molecules. In addition, we found that transforming growth factor-beta1 interacts with dermatopontin and the function of this cytokine is modified by dermatopontin. Recently, the involvement of this protein in cell proliferation has been indicated. In this review we describe the reported functions of this protein and speculate on the multiple roles of this largely uncharacterized matrix molecule.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31256606,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Predictors of Depression and Anxiety in Family Members 3 Months After Child's Admission to a Pediatric ICU.\nFamily members of children admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) suffer from severe stress, which sometimes results in long-term psychological problems. We aimed to identify associations between demographic and psychosocial variables at early stages of a child's admission to the ICU and depression and anxiety in family members at approximately 3 months after admission. We also explored predictive models for depression and anxiety at 3 months after admission. This study is a secondary analysis of data from a previous clinical trial of palliative care for family members in ICUs, in which 380 family members of 220 children reported demographic and psychosocial status at approximately 1 week after ICU admission (baseline), at discharge from the ICUs, and at 3 months after the child's admission to the ICU. Clinical data were extracted from the children's medical records. We used linear regression models and stepwise linear regression for the analyses. After controlling for significant confounders of gender (female) and child mortality, worse psychological status at baseline, represented by reported depression, anxiety, and acute stress symptoms, was associated with more severe depression and anxiety at 3 months. Also, a better family relationship at baseline was associated with lower depression and anxiety at 3 months. We suggest a need to screen family members of children admitted to the ICU with validated scales and intervening with those at high risk of depression and anxiety. Registry number NCT02144779 on ClinicalTrials.gov . https:\/\/clinicaltrials.gov\/ct2\/show\/NCT02144779?term=NCT02144779&rank=1 .","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34424098,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Zenkeramide: a new iso-benzofuranone propanamide and urease inhibitory constituents of Celtis zenkeri Engl stem bark (Ulmaceae).\nA new iso-benzofuranone propanamide: 3-(3-oxo-1, 3-dihydroisobenzofuran-1-yl) propanamide (zenkeramide) (1) along with three known compounds: Trans-N-coumaroyltyramine (2), \u03b2-Sitosterol (3) and \u03b2-sitosterol-3-0-\u03b2-D-glucopyranoside (4) were isolated from the ethyl acetate fraction of the stem-bark of Celtis zenkeri Engl (Ulmaceae). The structure of the new compound was elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analysis. The compounds were examined for Urease Inhibitory Activity. Compounds 1 and 2 showed moderate activities (IC50 values (\u03bcM) of 42.3 \u00b1 0.19 and 45.2 \u00b1 0.55, respectively), while compounds 3 and 4 were potent inhibitors of the Jack bean urease (IC50 values (\u03bcM) of 20.3 \u00b1 0.37and 27.6 \u00b1 0.52, respectively), when compared to the standard inhibitor (thiourea- IC50 21.5 \u00b1 0.47). The isolation of all the compounds from C. zenkeri and the urease activity of compounds 1 and 2 are reported for the first time.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28256790,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-26":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Universal Super-Resolution Multiplexing by DNA Exchange.\nSuper-resolution microscopy allows optical imaging below the classical diffraction limit of light with currently up to 20\u00d7 higher spatial resolution. However, the detection of multiple targets (multiplexing) is still hard to implement and time-consuming to conduct. Here, we report a straightforward sequential multiplexing approach based on the fast exchange of DNA probes which enables efficient and rapid multiplexed target detection with common super-resolution techniques such as (d)STORM, STED, and SIM. We assay our approach using DNA origami nanostructures to quantitatively assess labeling, imaging, and washing efficiency. We furthermore demonstrate the applicability of our approach by imaging multiple protein targets in fixed cells.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26436378,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Expressional analysis of immune-related miRNAs in breast milk.\nImmune-related miRNAs in breast milk are extracellular miRNAs that are related to immune organ development and regulation of the immune function in infants and young animals. The goal of this study was to compare the expression levels of five immune-related miRNAs in breast milk in black goats, humans, and dairy cattle. The miRNAs from milk were extracted and the expression levels were assessed using quantitive RT-PCR methods. MiR-146, miR-155, miR-181a, miR-223, and miR-150 were all detected in Dazu black goat milk, and these miRNAs were significantly more highly expressed in colostrum than in mature milk of goats (P < 0.01), except for miR-150. Further, all five miRNAs were expressed in human colostrum, but patterns differed from those in goats: miR-146 and miR-155 were highly expressed (P < 0.01) in human colostrum, whereas miR-223 was abundant in goat colostrum (P < 0.01). In addition, five miRNAs were significantly higher in bovine mature milk than in goat milk (P < 0.01). Taken together, these results confirm that immune-related miRNAs are rich in breast milk with different expression levels depending on the lactation phase and species.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":2788679,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Coronary endarterectomy].\nFrom July, 1984, to December, 1986, coronary bypass grafting was performed in 314 patients, 70 (22%) requiring coronary endarterectomy (RCA; 48 pts, LAD; 10 pts, LAD + RCA; 10 pts, Others; 2 pts). Coronary endarterectomy patients (END group) were younger and often with the risk factor of hyperlipidemia than non-endarterectomy patients (NON group). The over-all hospital mortality rate of END group was 7 per cent; perioperative myocardial infarction occurred in 7 per cent of patients. Early postoperative angiogram (4 weeks after the operation) was performed in 54 patients. The patency rate of RCA endarterectomy was 81.8 per cent, and that of LCA endarterectomy was 75 per cent. This result was poor compared with the patency rate of non-endarterectomy graft (86.6%). However without endarterectomy, with all likelihood the patency rate of those grafts would have been poorer. The results of right coronary endarterectomy are satisfactory and better than those of the left coronary artery system. This experience suggests that coronary endarterectomy is safe and an useful adjunct of saphenous vein bypass grafting procedures in the management of diffuse coronary disease, especially in RCA lesions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22687956,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Retinal vasoreactivity as a marker for chronic ischemic white matter disease?\nThe cerebral microvasculature cannot be easily studied non-invasively. Because the retina and brain share embryological, anatomical and physiological similarities, studies of retinal blood vessels may prove to be useful as a surrogate marker for cerebrovascular disease. In epidemiological studies abnormal retinal arteriovenous ratios (AVRs) predict the risk of stroke and vascular dementia. However, the association between retinal vasoreactivity, cerebral small vessel ischemic disease, and cerebral blood vessel function remains unknown. To examine (1) the association between cerebral ischemic white matter disease (WMD) and retinal microvessel behavior and (2) the relationship between retinal blood vessel reactivity and measures of cerebrovascular function. Cohort study of 12 patients with ischemic WMD and 14 healthy controls. Retinal vasoreactivity was measured following high frequency flicker light stimulation. Middle cerebral artery (MCA) vasoreactivity was measured using transcranial Doppler ultrasound (TCD). Magnetic resonance imaging scans (MRIs) were reviewed for evidence of ischemic WMD. Patients with ischemic WMD had attenuated retinal venous (2.2% \u00b1 0.27 SD, vs. controls 6% \u00b1 0.7 SD, p=0.002, CI 95%) and arterial (1.9% \u00b1 0.8 SD, vs. controls 4.9% \u00b1 0.8 SD, p=0.004, CI 95%) vasoreactivity compared to controls. An attenuated retinal venous light flicker response was associated with a significant decrease of MCA vasoreactivity (r=0.45, p=0.05, CI 95%). Decreased AVRs, an indicator for altered retinal vessel architecture in patients with cerebral chronic ischemic WMD, were also significantly correlated with dysfunction of cerebral vasoreactivity (r=0.69, p=0.001, CI 95%). In this study functional and structural impairment of the retinal microvasculature were associated with ischemic WMD and measures of cerebral vascular function. Microvascular dysfunction in the eye may predict cerebral small vessel disease, but validation by larger studies is needed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28580819,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Opicapone for the management of end-of-dose motor fluctuations in patients with Parkinson's disease treated with L-DOPA.\nOpicapone is a third generation, highly potent and effective catechol O\u2011methyltransferase (COMT) inhibitor that optimizes the pharmacokinetics and bioavailability of L-DOPA therapy. Areas covered: In this review, the authors describe the preclinical and clinical development of opicapone. In PD patients with motor fluctuations, once daily opicapone administration was well-tolerated and consistently reduced OFF-time and increased ON-time without increasing the frequency of troublesome dyskinesia, and these benefits were maintained over at least a year of continued open-label therapy. Expert commentary: With its convenient once-daily regimen, adjunct opicapone should be considered as an effective option for use in L-DOPA treated PD patients experiencing motor fluctuations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37655883,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Recent Expedition in Pd- and Rh-Catalyzed C(Ar) -B Bond Formations and Their Applications in Modern Organic Syntheses.\nTransition metal-catalyzed borylation has emerged as a powerful and versatile strategy for synthesizing organoboron compounds. These compounds have found widespread applications in various aspects, including organic synthesis, materials science, and medicinal chemistry. This review provides a concise summary of the recent advances in palladium- and rhodium-catalyzed borylation from 2013 to 2023. The review covers the representative examples of catalysts, substrates scope and reaction conditions, with particular emphasis on the development of catalyst systems, such as phosphine ligands, NHC-carbene, and more. The diverse array of borylative products obtained for further applications in Suzuki-Miyaura coupling, and other transformations, are also discussed. Future directions in this rapidly evolving field, with the goal of designing more efficient, selective borylation methodologies are highlighted, too.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7924691,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Quantitative precision of an automated image cytometric system for the measurement of DNA content and distribution in cells labeled with fluorescent nucleic acid stains.\nAn automated image cytometric system is described for the measurement of DNA content and distribution in cells stained with fluorescent DNA binding or intercalating compounds. The quantitative precision of integrated optical intensity (IOI) measurements using this system was estimated to be 2.0%, based on the coefficient of variation (cv) of the IOI of DNA check beads. Using peripheral blood lymphocytes stained with 4'-6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI), the cv of IOI was found to be 3.5%. Slide to slide variability of the IOI for peripheral blood lymphocytes (cv over 10 slides of the mean IOI) was found to be 2%. The most important sources of error in these measurements were glare, illumination instability, image calibration instability, and staining non-uniformity. These errors were investigated and minimized.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25413658,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mediation from multilevel to structural equation modeling.\nThe purpose of this article is to outline multilevel structural equation modeling (MSEM) for mediation analysis of longitudinal data. The introduction of mediating variables can improve experimental and nonexperimental studies of child growth in several ways as discussed throughout this article. Single-mediator individual-level and multilevel mediation models illustrate several current issues in the estimation of mediation with longitudinal data. The strengths of incorporating structural equation modeling (SEM) with multilevel mediation modeling are described. SUMMARY AND KEY MESSAGES: Longitudinal mediation models are pervasive in many areas of research including child growth. Longitudinal mediation models are ideally modeled as repeated measurements clustered within individuals. Further, the combination of MSEM and SEM provides an ideal approach for several reasons, including the ability to assess effects at different levels of analysis, incorporation of measurement error and possible random effects that vary across individuals.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26434640,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Synthesis and Structural Reassignment of Plakinidone.\nIn connection with its first synthesis, plakinidone was structurally revised to a five-membered lactone. The key evidence for the previous assignment of this natural product as a perlactone was proven to be a misinterpretation of the MS data because of unawareness of a facile air oxidation. The synthetic samples also allowed for detection of differences in (13)C NMR for diastereomers of remote stereogenic centers, along with the influence of the air oxidation on the optical rotation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1701751,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[A self-retaining intraurethral device as an alternative to indwelling catheter and prostatectomy].\nA new, original self-retaining intraurethral catheter (IUC), 30-60 mm long, was inserted into the urethra and bladder neck in 34 patients with urinary retention due to benign prostatic hyperplasia. The placement of the IUC is easily done under local anesthesia in the outpatient clinic. Before insertion, all the patients had had an indwelling catheter for weeks or months. In 29 patients (85.3%) the IUC was left in place from 2-38 weeks (mean 13.8). These patients voided satisfactorily and were fully continent. In 5 (14.7%) the IUC had to be removed after several days because of severe frequency or residual urine, the result of improper placement of the IUC. In 4 other patients (11.8%) the IUC was removed after 3-12 weeks because of obstruction by stones after extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy, or because of difficulty in voiding during therapeutic diuresis for pulmonary edema. Based on our experience, it is suggested that this new device may avoid the use of the standard indwelling catheter in patients with urinary retention caused by intravesical obstruction. It may also be an alternative to prostatectomy in patients at high risk for surgery.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14538045,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"1999 ICP Distinguished Scientist Award. The history of positron emission tomography.\nThe history of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is rich in technological achievements and advancements. The advancements that have benchmarked PET progress are the result of key components that include human intellect and passion for PET technology, relentless persuasion of key political forces to eliminate the barriers precluding PET usage, tireless efforts to raise awareness about PET and a crucial network of support throughout the PET community. This article sets forth a timeline of significant events that have contributed to the development of PET as it is known today. It introduces the earliest physicist and physician, for instance, who were responsible for the first medical applications for positron emitting radioisotopes using a simple brain probe that utilized coincidence to localize brain tumors. Additionally, it identifies landmark technological achievements that have helped pave the way to modern PET. This study includes historical accounts surrounding the use of the first human PET tomograph, discovery of the Bismuth Germanate (BGO) scintillator, development of the Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET method, the design of the first PET medical cyclotron with automated chemistry and operated by a PC and a technologist, Food and Drug Administration's approval of FDG, HCFA reimbursement, and the capacity of Lutetium Oxyorthosilicate (LSO) to produce a revolutionary advance in PET scanners. The main thrust of this article is to recognize via a timeline of PET accomplishments the noteworthy work of scientists, physicians and others who have been key players in various aspects of the continuous activity to move PET technology forward from invention to research, and to become a major clinical imaging modality.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7937996,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cloning of a cDNA for the FAD-linked glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase from rat liver and its regulation by thyroid hormones.\nA full-length 2.4-kb cDNA for the FAD-linked glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (EC 18.104.22.168) was cloned from rat liver using PCR techniques. The cloned gene encodes a protein of 727 amino acids. The calculated molecular mass of 80,898 Da is higher than the apparent molecular mass observed by SDS\/PAGE (74,000 Da) of the purified enzyme. This result indicates that the enzyme is synthesized as a precursor with a putative mitochondrial signal sequence. mRNA for this gene was detected in liver, heart, muscle, brain, testes, and pancreas. With the exception of testes, basal expression levels were very low in all tissues examined. However, application of thyroid hormones led to a 10- to 15-fold increase in liver glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase mRNA, whereas hypothyroidism further decreased the mRNA level.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":10202559,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Thymic peptides and preparations: an update.\nThe possibilities of thymic peptides in human therapy are still being described. Here, we focus on their general characteristics and on recent advances in this area.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37847628,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-26":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Toward Robust Discriminative Projections Learning Against Adversarial Patch Attacks.\nAs one of the most popular supervised dimensionality reduction methods, linear discriminant analysis (LDA) has been widely studied in machine learning community and applied to many scientific applications. Traditional LDA minimizes the ratio of squared l2 norms, which is vulnerable to the adversarial examples. In recent studies, many l1 -norm-based robust dimensionality reduction methods are proposed to improve the robustness of model. However, due to the difficulty of l1 -norm ratio optimization and weakness on defending a large number of adversarial examples, so far, scarce works have been proposed to utilize sparsity-inducing norms for LDA objective. In this article, we propose a novel robust discriminative projections learning (rDPL) method based on the l1,2 -norm trace-ratio minimization optimization algorithm. Minimizing the l1,2 -norm ratio problem directly is a much more challenging problem than the traditional methods, and there is no existing optimization algorithm to solve such nonsmooth terms ratio problem. We derive a new efficient algorithm to solve this challenging problem and provide a theoretical analysis on the convergence of our algorithm. The proposed algorithm is easy to implement and converges fast in practice. Extensive experiments on both synthetic data and several real benchmark datasets show the effectiveness of the proposed method on defending the adversarial patch attack by comparison with many state-of-the-art robust dimensionality reduction methods.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28712067,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"RNAi-mediated resistance to whitefly (Bemisia tabaci) in genetically engineered lettuce (Lactuca sativa).\nRNA interference (RNAi)-based transgenic technologies have evolved as potent biochemical tools for silencing specific genes of plant pathogens and pests. The approach has been demonstrated to be useful in silencing genes in insect species. Here, we report on the successful construction of RNAi-based plasmid containing an interfering cassette designed to generate dsRNAs that target a novel v-ATPase transcript in whitefly (Bemisia tabaci), an important agricultural pest in tropical and sub-tropical regions. The presence of the transgene was confirmed in T0 and T1 generations of transgenic lettuce lines, segregating in a Mendelian fashion. Seven lines were infested with whiteflies and monitored over a period of 32 days. Analysis of mortality showed that within five days of feeding, insects on transgenic plants showed a mortality rate of 83.8-98.1%. In addition, a reduced number of eggs (95 fold less) was observed in flies feeding on transgenic lettuce plants than insects on control lines. Quantitative reverse transcription PCR showed decreased expression level of endogenous v-ATPase gene in whiteflies feeding on transgenic plants. This technology is a foundation for the production of whitefly-resistant commercial crops, improving agricultural sustainability and food security, reducing the use of more environmentally aggressive methods of pest control.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32368155,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Position of Orifice of Distobuccal Canal of Maxillary Second Molars Using Cone-Beam Computed Tomography.\nThis study aimed to assess the position of distobuccal canal orifice of maxillary second molars using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). A total of 301 CBCT scans of patients were retrieved from the archives of a radiology clinic, and the distance between the orifices of distobuccal and mesiobuccal root canals, the distance between the orifices of distobuccal and palatal root canals and the angle between the orifices of mesiobuccal, distobuccal and palatal root canals in the axial plane were measured on CBCT scans. Of 301 maxillary second molars evaluated in this study, 202 (67.1%) had three canals and 99 (32.9%) had four canals. The distance between the distobuccal and mesiobuccal canal orifices (DM) ranged from 1.10 to 4.40 mm (mean: 2.1831\u00b10.6370 mm). The distance between the distobuccal and palatal canal orifices (DP) ranged from 1.20 to 6.20 mm (mean: 3.8704\u00b10.84944 mm). The mean angle between the mesiobuccal, distobuccal and palatal orifices (MDP) was 106.37\u00b112.12075\u00b0. Around one-third of maxillary second molars had four canals; the rest had three canals. No maxillary second molar with two canals was found. The orifice of distobuccal canal was located at 2 mm distance from the mesiobuccal canal orifice in distopalatal direction in the majority of cases. It had 3 to 4 mm distance from the palatal canal orifice in most cases. CBCT is recommended to find the orifice of distobuccal canal in cases in whom negotiation of this canal is challenging.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30672255,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Efficacy of herb-separated moxibustion combined with sulfasalazine enteric-coated tablets for ankylosing spondylitis with cold-dampness obstruction type].\nTo compare the clinical efficacy between herb-separated moxibustion and conventional moxibustion on ankylosing spondylitis (AS) based on oral administration of sulfasalazine enteric-coated tablets. A total of 64 patients with AS of cold-dampness obstruction type were randomly divided into an herb-separated moxibustion group and a conventional moxibustion group, 32 cases in each one. Based on oral administration of sulfasalazine enteric-coated tablets, the patients in the conventional moxibustion group were treated with moxibustion at the area with Dazhui (GV 14) to Changqiang (GV 1) as center and about 10 cm in width; the moxibustion was given for 1 hour. In the herb-separated moxibustion group, the gauze was soaked in the medicinal liquor and ginger juice, and placed on the same moxibustion area as the conventional moxibustion group, followed by moxibustion for 1 hour. The treatment in the two groups was given once a week, three treatments constituted a course and totally three courses were given. The symptom quantification score, occipital-wall distance, Schober test, C-reactive protein (CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) levels were observed before and after treatment in the two groups, and the clinical efficacy was evaluated. Compared before treatment, the symptom quantification score, occipital-wall distance, CRP and ESR levels were lower but the Schober test was higher after treatment in the two groups (all P<0.05). The symptom quantification score, Schober test, CRP and ESR levels in the herb-separated moxibustion group were superior to those in the conventional moxibustion group (all P<0.05), but no significant difference was observed on occipital-wall distance (P>0.05). The total effective rate was 90.0% (27\/30) in the herb-separated moxibustion group, which was higher than 73.3% (22\/30) in the conventional moxibustion group (P<0.05). The herb-separated moxibustion combined with sulfasalazine enteric-coated tablets has significant efficacy for AS with cold-dampness obstruction type, which could obviously relieve pain symptoms, improve occipital-wall distance, Schober test and other physical signs, and improve the quality of life.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17919387,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Inhibition of the aquaporin-1 gene expression by RNA interference: experiment with cultured rat pleural mesothelial cells].\nTo investigate the influence of RNA interference (RNAi) on the expression of aquaporin-1 (AQP1) gene and to investigate the feasibility of gene therapy for pleural effusion. Two recombinant plasmids with shRNAs targeting the AQP1 gene, AQP1-1-pGenesil and AQP1-2-pGenesil-1 were constructed. Pleural mesothelial cells were obtained from rats, cultured, and randomly divided into 5 groups: blank control group, Lipofectamine 2000 control group, HK negative control group, AQP1-1-pGenesil-1 transfected group, and AQP1-2-pGenesil-1 transfected group. RT-PCR and Western blotting were used to detect the mRNA and protein expression of AQP1. The mRNA expression levels of aquaporin-1 of the AQP1-1-pGenesil-1 and AQP1-2-pGenesil-1 transfected groups were inhibited by 83.5% and 90.9% respectively, and the protein expression levels of the AQP1-1-pGenesil-1 and AQP1-2-pGenesil-1 transfected groups were inhibited by 41.2% and 67.6% respectively. RNAi can successfully inhibit the expression of AQP1 and has the feature of sequence correlation of shRNA in the cultured rat pleural mesothelial cells. It may be used as a potential new approach for gene therapy of pleural effusion.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28301020,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cytotoxicity and Bioactivity of Calcium Silicate Cements Combined with Niobium Oxide in Different Cell Lines.\nThe aim of this study was to evaluate the cytotoxicity and bioactivity of calcium silicate-based cements combined with niobium oxide (Nb2O5) micro and nanoparticles, comparing the response in different cell lines. This evaluation used four cell lines: two primary cultures (human dental pulp cells - hDPCs and human dental follicle cells - hDFCs) and two immortalized cultures (human osteoblast-like cells - Saos-2 and mouse periodontal ligament cells - mPDL). The tested materials were: White Portland Cement (PC), mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA), white Portland cement combined with microparticles (PC\/Nb2O5\u00b5) or nanoparticles (PC\/Nb2O5n) of niobium oxide (Nb2O5). Cytotoxicity was evaluated by the methylthiazolyldiphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) and trypan blue exclusion assays and bioactivity by alkaline phosphatase (ALP) enzyme activity. Results were analyzed by ANOVA and Tukey test (a=0.05). PC\/Nb2O5n presented similar or higher cell viability than PC\/Nb2O5\u00b5 in all cell lines. Moreover, the materials presented similar or higher cell viability than MTA. Saos-2 exhibited high ALP activity, highlighting PC\/Nb2O5\u00b5 material at 7 days of exposure. In conclusion, calcium silicate cements combined with micro and nanoparticles of Nb2O5 presented cytocompatibility and bioactivity, demonstrating the potential of Nb2O5 as an alternative radiopacifier agent for these cements. The different cell lines had similar response to cytotoxicity evaluation of calcium silicate cements. However, bioactivity was more accurately detected in human osteoblast-like cell line, Saos-2.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36275600,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Seed Endophyte bacteria enhance drought stress tolerance in Hordeum vulgare by regulating, physiological characteristics, antioxidants and minerals uptake.\nGrowth stimulating bacteria help remediate dry arid soil and plant stress. Here, Pseudomonas sp. and Pantoea sp. we used to study the stress ecology of Hordeum vulgare and the environmental impact of water deficit on soil characteristics, growth, photosynthesis apparatus, mineral acquisition and antioxidiant defense. Plants inoculated with Pseudomonas or Pantoea had significantly higher (about 2 folds) soil carbon flux (soil respiration), chlorophyll levels (18%), net photosynthetic rate (33% in Pantoea and 54% in Pseudomonas), (44%) stomatal conductance than uninoculated plants in stressed conditions. Both bacterial strains improved leaf growth (23-29%) and root development under well-watered conditions but reduced around (25%) root biomass under drought. Plants inoculated with Pseudomonas or Pantoea under drought also increased of about 27% leaf respiration and transpiration (48%) but decreased water use efficiency, photoinhibition (91%), and the risk of oxidative stress (ETR\/A) (49%). Drought stress increased most of the studied antioxidant enzymatic activities in the plants inoculated with Pseudomonas or Pantoea, which reduce the membrane damage and protect plants form oxidative defenses. Drought stress increased K+ acquisition around 50% in both shoots inoculated with Pseudomonas or Pantoea relative to non-stressed plants. Plants inoculated with Pseudomonas or Pantoea increased shoot Na+ while root Na+ only increased in plants inoculated with Pseudomonas in stressed conditions. Drought stress increased shoot Mg2+ in plants inoculated with Pseudomonas or Pantoea but did not affect Ca2+ relative to non-stressed plants. Drought stress increased about 70% K+\/Na+ ratio only in plants inoculated with Pseudomonas relative to non-stressed plants. Our results indicate that inoculating barley with the studied bacterial strains increases plant biomass and can therefore play a role in the environmental remediation of drylands for food production.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26479593,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Tunable multiwavelength mode-locked Tm\/Ho-doped fiber laser based on a nonlinear amplified loop mirror.\nWe propose and demonstrate a tunable multiwavelength mode-locked Tm\/Ho-doped fiber laser based on a nonlinear amplified loop mirror (NALM). Without using polarization-maintaining fiber, only passive fibers with low birefringence were inserted into the NALM to help overcome mode competition and realize mode-locking. The spacing between adjacent channels was measured to be \u223c6 nm. By adjusting the polarization controllers (PCs) to an appropriate position, self-started mode-locking was achieved, which further overcame the mode competition in the fiber laser. A multiwavelength mode-locked fiber laser with at least three available channels were tunable in the widest range of 30 nm (from 1935 to 1965 nm) with a 3 dB channel bandwidth of \u223c1.6 nm. This multiwavelength mode-locked fiber laser is quite stable with the maximum peak fluctuation within 0.47 dB in long-term observations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30313576,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Key to Chinese species of Copidosoma (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), with new records and three new species.\nSix species of Copidosoma (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) from Southwestern China are reviewed, including three new species (C. heinitane sp. nov., C. linzhiensis sp. nov., C. longchuane sp. nov.) and two species newly recorded from China (C. longiclavatum Kazmi Hayat and C. recurvariae Sharkov). Copidosoma serricorne (Dalman) is newly recorded from Xizang, southwestern part of China. A key to all the Chinese species of the genus based on females is given.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30097479,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Unintended pregnancy, prenatal care, newborn outcomes, and breastfeeding in women with epilepsy.\nTo compare the proportions of unintended pregnancies, prenatal vitamin or folic acid (PNVF) use, adequate prenatal care visits, and breastfeeding among women with epilepsy (WWE) to women without epilepsy (WWoE). The Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) is an annual survey of randomly sampled postpartum women administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We used PRAMS data from 13 states from 2009 to 2014 to compare the primary outcomes in WWE and WWoE, as well as our secondary outcomes of contraception practices, newborn outcomes, and time to recognition of pregnancy. We adjusted for maternal age, race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status (SES), and we calculated odds ratios for these outcomes using logistic regression. This analysis included 73,619 women, of whom 541 (0.7%) reported epilepsy, representing 3,442,128 WWoE and 26,635 WWE through weighted sampling. In WWE, 55% of pregnancies were unintended compared to 48% in WWoE. After adjustment for covariates, epilepsy was not associated with unintended pregnancy or with inadequate prenatal care. WWE were less likely to report breastfeeding but more likely to report daily PNVF use. Newborns of WWE had higher rates of prematurity. Although planning for pregnancy is of utmost importance for WWE, more than half the pregnancies in WWE were unintended. Maternal age and SES differences likely contribute to the higher rates in WWE compared to WWoE. The proportion of women reporting breastfeeding is lower in WWE despite studies indicating the safety of breastfeeding in WWE.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30663704,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Novel Process for 3D Printing Decellularized Matrices.\n3D bioprinting aims to create custom scaffolds that are biologically active and accommodate the desired size and geometry. A thermoplastic backbone can provide mechanical stability similar to native tissue while biologic agents offer compositional cues to progenitor cells, leading to their migration, proliferation, and differentiation to reconstitute the original tissues\/organs1 , 2. Unfortunately, many 3D printing compatible, bioresorbable polymers (such as polylactic acid, PLA) are printed at temperatures of 210 \u00b0C or higher - temperatures that are detrimental to biologics. On the other hand, polycaprolactone (PCL), a different type of polyester, is a bioresorbable, 3D printable material that has a gentler printing temperature of 65 \u00b0C. Therefore, it was hypothesized that decellularized extracellular matrix (DM) contained within a thermally protective PLA barrier could be printed within PCL filament and remain in its functional conformation. In this work, osteochondral repair was the application for which the hypothesis was tested. As such, porcine cartilage was decellularized and encapsulated in polylactic acid (PLA) microspheres which were then extruded with polycaprolactone (PCL) into filament to produce 3D constructs via fused deposition modeling. The constructs with or without the microspheres (PLA-DM\/PCL and PCL(-), respectively) were evaluated for differences in surface features.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30663846,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Characterisation of N-(Octadecyl)-1,8-naphthalimide Monolayer Compression Using Molecular Dynamics and Experimental Approaches.\nThe development of luminescent surfaces is an active area of supramolecular chemistry, particularly for the development of new sensing platforms. One particularly useful surface deposition method is the Langmuir-Blodgett technique where organic amphiphilic fluorophores (e.g. 1,8-naphthalimides) can form ordered monolayers at an air-water interface before being deposited onto solid supports. The ability to simulate monolayer formation and consequently develop predictability over film formation would allow for significant advances in the luminescent materials field where synthesis might be directed by simulation data. Here, we compare pressure-area isotherms of N-(octadecyl)-1,8-naphthalimide determined experimentally, using the Langmuir-Blodgett technique, and computationally, using three different simulation techniques. We find that all three simulation techniques are able to describe the liquid-condensed\/liquid-expanded region of the isotherm, and that the isotherms are highly similar in this region, although the N\u03b3T ensemble performs best. Experimental isotherms showed film formation properties that align with the simulation data, suggesting that simulations are a viable means to direct synthesis. Investigation of the underlying structural details disclosed by the simulations reveals the compression-induced ordering at atomic-level detail, which will allow prediction of how functionalisation of the naphthalimides will alter the monolayer compression and mounting process.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29558979,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Cerebrospinal fluid in the differential diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease: clinical utility of an extended panel of biomarkers in a specialist cognitive clinic.\nCerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers are increasingly being used to support a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Their clinical utility for differentiating AD from non-AD neurodegenerative dementias, such as dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) or frontotemporal dementia (FTD), is less well established. We aimed to determine the diagnostic utility of an extended panel of CSF biomarkers to differentiate AD from a range of other neurodegenerative dementias. We used immunoassays to measure conventional CSF markers of amyloid and tau pathology (amyloid beta (A\u03b2)1-42, total tau (T-tau), and phosphorylated tau (P-tau)) as well as amyloid processing (A\u03b2X-38, A\u03b2X-40, A\u03b2X-42, soluble amyloid precursor protein (sAPP)\u03b1, and sAPP\u03b2), large fibre axonal degeneration (neurofilament light chain (NFL)), and neuroinflammation (YKL-40) in 245 patients with a variety of dementias and 30 controls. Patients fulfilled consensus criteria for AD (n = 156), DLB (n = 20), behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD; n = 45), progressive non-fluent aphasia (PNFA; n = 17), and semantic dementia (SD; n = 7); approximately 10% were pathology\/genetically confirmed (n = 26). Global tests based on generalised least squares regression were used to determine differences between groups. Non-parametric receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and area under the curve (AUC) analyses were used to quantify how well each biomarker discriminated AD from each of the other diagnostic groups (or combinations of groups). CSF cut-points for the major biomarkers found to have diagnostic utility were validated using an independent cohort which included causes of AD (n = 104), DLB (n = 5), bvFTD (n = 12), PNFA (n = 3), SD (n = 9), and controls (n = 10). There were significant global differences in A\u03b21-42, T-tau, T-tau\/A\u03b21-42 ratio, P-tau-181, NFL, A\u03b2X-42, A\u03b2X-42\/X-40 ratio, APP\u03b1, and APP\u03b2 between groups. At a fixed sensitivity of 85%, A\u03b2X-42\/X-40 could differentiate AD from controls, bvFTD, and SD with specificities of 93%, 85%, and 100%, respectively; for T-tau\/A\u03b21-42 these specificities were 83%, 70%, and 86%. A\u03b2X-42\/X-40 had similar or higher specificity than A\u03b21-42. No biomarker or ratio could differentiate AD from DLB or PNFA with specificity > 50%. Similar sensitivities and specificities were found in the independent validation cohort for differentiating AD and other dementias and in a pathology\/genetically confirmed sub-cohort. CSF A\u03b2X-42\/X-40 and T-tau\/A\u03b21-42 ratios have utility in distinguishing AD from controls, bvFTD, and SD. None of the biomarkers tested had good specificity at distinguishing AD from DLB or PNFA.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11997676,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Placental abruption.\nPlacental abruption complicates approximately 1% to 2% of all pregnancies and remains a significant cause of both maternal and fetal morbidity. Proposed pathophysiology of both acute placental abruption and the more common partial placental separation are discussed. The contribution of placental abruption to both preterm labor and preterm premature rupture of membranes is discussed. Recent evidence supporting maternal hypertensive disorders, maternal tobacco and cocaine use, age and parity, multiple gestations, maternal thrombophilias, and an unexplained elevated maternal serum alphafetoprotein as risk factors for abruption is reviewed. Emergency management of acute abruption is outlined. Finally, particular emphasis is given to the management of partial placental separation, including both immediate and delayed delivery and the use of tocolysis. Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Family Physicians. After completion of this article, the reader will be able to define the condition of placental abruption, list the conditions associated with abruption, and outline potential management options for patients with placental abruption.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25509871,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Researches of autonomic regulation of blood circulation in the condition of long-term space flight].\nIn the article is presented five-year experience of experimentation in autonomic regulation of blood circulation onboard the International space station. The heart rate variability (HRV) analysis was the basic methodical approach in the researches. We described probabilistic approach created on the basis of HRV analysis to an estimation of risk of pathology development in the conditions of long space flight. The individual type of autonomic regulation had essential value during the analysis of results. It is shown that the type of regulation, which is inherent in every cosmonaut in the conditions of weightlessness, remains even during following flights. We obtained the new scientific data on connection of character of adaptable reaction of an organism to the space flight factors with individual type of autonomic regulation. It is shown that staying in weightlessness is connected with changeover of regulatory systems and with transition in a zone of prenosological states. Adaptable reactions in weightlessness are characterized by tension growth of regulatory systems at preservation of sufficient functional reserves. The mobilization of additional resources after returning to the Earth is required and consequently functional reserve of mechanisms of regulation decreases. Cosmonauts with vagotonic and normo-sympatotonic types of autonomic regulation appear to be the most resistant. Knowing the type of autonomic regulation we will be able to foresee possible reaction of the cosmonaut to the factors of space flight. As a result of HRV analysis during the flight of the past few months likelihood estimations were calculated and risk categories were defined. Consequently, 3 groups of risk of pathology development were distinguished. In conclusion, theoretical and applied relevance of the conducted experiments were considered.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9554088,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Gender solidarity in hierarchical organizations.\nPrevious research has suggested that promotion decisions in hierarchical organizations may vary as a function of the decision maker's sex. In particular, it has been argued that women may be more likely to support a same-sex other than men due to higher levels of identification with their gender in-group. This paper reports findings from two experiments which examine gender identification and candidate promotion strategies amongst university students (N = 116) and public servants (N = 136) in hypothetical organizations which manipulated the participants' personal status and that of their gender in-group. In the university sample women did identify more strongly with their sex than men. This was not generally the case in the public service sample, although here women with high personal status tended to show greater identification than men in a similar position. However, in both studies there was little evidence that gender identification was associated with preferential treatment of in-group candidates in promotion-related decisions. These decisions were generally influenced by norms of fairness qualified by the participants' personal status. Implications for the self-categorization process are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6746683,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-18":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Idiopathic scoliosis in three dimensions. A radiographic and morphometric analysis.\nEleven articulated scoliotic spines were examined radiographically and morphometrically. Measurement of the curve on anteroposterior radiographs of the specimens gave a mean Cobb angle of 70 degrees, though true anteroposterior radiographs of the deformity revealed a mean Cobb angle of 99 degrees (41% greater). Lateral radiographs gave the erroneous impression that there was a mean kyphosis of 41 degrees while true lateral projections revealed a mean apical lordosis of 14 degrees. Morphometric measurements confirmed the presence of a lordosis at bony level, the apical vertebral bodies being significantly taller anteriorly (P less than 0.02). There were significant correlations (P less than 0.01) between the true size of the lateral scoliosis, the amount of axial rotation and the size of the apical lordosis. This study illustrates the three-dimensional nature of the deformity in scoliosis and its property of changing in character and magnitude according to the plane of radiographic projection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22685268,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"MitraClip therapy in daily clinical practice: initial results from the German transcatheter mitral valve interventions (TRAMI) registry.\nA substantial percentage of patients with mitral regurgitation (MR) in need of mitral valve repair are currently considered not suitable for conventional surgery. In Germany, the largest cohort of patients studied to date has been treated using a percutaneous, catheter-based approach. We report the acute outcomes of patients enrolled in the investigator-initiated German transcatheter mitral valve interventions (TRAMI) registry. Between January 2009 and August 2011, 486 patients [median age 75 (interquartile range 70-80) years; 200 women (41%)] were enrolled in the registry (309 retrospectively and 177 prospectively), with 481 patients (99%) having undergone percutaneous edge-to-edge therapy for MR using the MitraClip. At baseline, 93% of patients were in New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class III or IV and 71% of patients had a left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) \u226450%. Two-thirds of patients presented with functional MR. Procedural success was achieved in 94% of patients, with grade III present in 93% of patients at baseline yet only 6% post-intervention. Retrospective patients were followed for a median of 183 days, prospective patients for a median of 44 days. The periprocedural complication rate was low, with only minor bleedings as the most significant event. In-hospital and post-discharge mortality was 2.5% and 12.5%, respectively. Data from the German TRAMI registry suggest that MitraClip therapy is a viable treatment option in daily clinical routine for high surgical risk patients with significant MR.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15252610,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Preparation, structures and some reactions of novel diynyl complexes of iron and ruthenium.\nReactions between HC triple bond CC triple bond CSiMe3 and several ruthenium halide precursors have given the complexes Ru(C triple bond CC triple bond CSiMe3)(L2)Cp'[Cp'= Cp, L = CO (1), PPh3 (2); Cp' = Cp*, L2= dppe (3)]. Proto-desilylation of 2 and 3 have given unsubstituted buta-1,3-diyn-1-yl complexes Ru(C triple bond CC triple bond CH)(L2)Cp'[Cp'= Cp, L = PPh3 (5); Cp'= Cp*, L2 = dppe (6)]. Replacement of H in 5 or 6 with Au(PR3) groups was achieved in reactions with AuCl(PR3) in the presence of KN(SiMe3)2 to give Ru(C triple bond CC triple bond CAu(PR3)](L2)Cp'[Cp' = Cp, L = PPh3, R = Ph (7); Cp' = Cp*, L2= dppe, R = Ph (8), tol (9)]. The asymmetrically end-capped [Cp(Ph3P)2Ru]C triple bond CC triple bond C[Ru(dppe)Cp*] (10) was obtained from Ru(C triple bond CC triple bond CH)(dppe)Cp* and RuCl(PPh3)2Cp. Single-crystal X-ray structural determinations of and are reported, with a comparative determination of the structure of Fe(C triple bond CC triple bond CSiMe3)(dppe)Cp* (4), and those of a fifth polymorph of [Ru(PPh3)2Cp]2(mu-C triple bond CC triple bond C) (12), and [Ru(dppe)Cp]2(mu-C triple bond CC triple bond C) (13).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6171989,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Influence of a beta-adrenoceptor stimulant, KWD 2131, in nasal histamine provocation tests. Rhinomanometric evaluations in normal persons and patients with hay fever.\nNasal histamine provocation was performed in ll asymptomatic (out of season) patients with hay fever and in ll normal controls. Posterior rhinomanometry was used for objective evaluation. The histamine challenges caused nasal symptoms as well as increased nasal airway resistance. The differences in response between the two groups of subjects were not significant. KWD 2131, a beta-adrenoceptor-stimulating drug which was ascribed an antiallergic effect in a previous allergen provocation study, did not block the effects of histamine challenge in a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover evaluation. The absence of protective action against histamine-induced effects with KWD 2131, supports a mast-cell-stabilizing effect of the substance in allergen provocation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29386142,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Oncocytic tumors are marked by enhanced mitochondrial content and mtDNA mutations of complex I in Chinese patients.\nOncocytic tumors are composed of oncocytes characterized by acidophilic granular and reticular cytoplasm. Such features have been attributed to the distinctive aggregation of abnormal mitochondria. Sporadic mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations, particularly those in complex I subunit genes, have been identified as one of the most noticeable alterations. We reviewed 11,051 cases of patients with thyroid tumors who visited the First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University from January 2011 to August 2017, and we were able to identify 123 cases as oncocytic tumors. We found that older people are at higher risk (P < 0.001) for oncocytic tumors. We confirmed an increased mitochondrial mass in representative samples. Furthermore, a comprehensive analysis of the mitochondrial genomes in patients with oncocytomas revealed 1) haplogroups D5 and A exhibit increased risk of oncocytomas; 2) 60% of mtDNA mutations are in genes encoding respiratory complex subunits while 8% occur in rRNA and 4% in tRNA regions; 3) among mutations in coding regions, 50% are in Complex I genes, including most of the disruptive mutations; 4) 64% of mtDNA mutations are heteroplasmic. Our studies imply a tumorigenesis mechanism for oncocytomas involving mitochondrial alterations mediated by genome instability and modified by mitochondrial haplogroups.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28697755,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Spread of resistant gram negatives in a Sri Lankan intensive care unit.\nInfections with multi drug resistant (MDR) organisms are a major problem in intensive care units (ICUs). Proper infection control procedures are mandatory to combat the spread of resistant organisms within ICUs. Well stablished surveillance programmes will enhance the adherence of the staff to infection control protocols. The study was conducted to assess the feasibility of using basic molecular typing methods and routine hospital data for laboratory surveillance of resistance organisms in resource limited settings. A retrospective study was conducted using consecutive Gram negative isolates obtained from an ICU over a six month period. Antibiotic sensitivity patterns and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) based typing was performed on the given isolates. Of the seventy isolates included in the study, seven were E.coli. All E.coli were MDRs and Extended Spectrum \u03b2 lactamse (ESBL) producers carrying bla CTX-M. Fourteen isolates were K.pneumoniae, and all were MDRs and ESBL producers. All K.pneumoniae harboured bla SHV while 13 harboured bla CTX-M. The MDR rate among P.aeruginosa was 13% (n=15) while all acinetobacters (n=30) were MDRs. Predominant clusters were identified within all four types of Gram negatives using RAPD and the ICU stay of patients overlapped temporally. We propose that simple surveillance methods like RAPD based typing and basic hospital data can be used to convince hospital staff to adhere to infection control protocols more effectively, in low and middle income countries.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15258716,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Assessing methylphenidate preference in ADHD patients using a choice procedure.\nMethylphenidate (MPH) is widely used in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and is associated with positive clinical effects across a wide range of domains. Despite the clinical effectiveness of MPH, concern has arisen with respect to its abuse potential. To assess MPH preference in adults diagnosed with ADHD using a choice procedure and to evaluate the relationship among drug preference, therapeutic efficacy, and abuse potential in a clinical sample. Participants were ten volunteers (ages 18-22 years) with ADHD who were receiving MPH treatment. Preference was assessed using a double-blind choice procedure with four sampling sessions wherein subjects received either placebo or MPH and eight choice sessions when they chose either capsule or no capsules. Overall, MPH was chosen significantly more often than placebo (chi2=52.5; P<0.001) and participants were equally separated into groups of those who chose MPH reliably (MPH choosers) and those who did not (MPH non-choosers). MPH decreased ADHD symptoms and resulted in lower ratings of stimulant effects among MPH choosers. MPH choosers also reported higher levels of baseline ADHD symptoms. Despite higher preference of MPH than placebo in this clinical sample, other measures of abuse potential were not elevated, and MPH choosers were more symptomatic than non-choosers. As such, MPH preference in ADHD populations likely reflects therapeutic efficacy rather than abuse potential. Future work should examine MPH choice in diagnosed and non-diagnosed populations to further explore the role of clinical efficacy in the preference of this stimulant drug.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":951872,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Synthesis and characterization of blood compatible surfaces. Part I. Dynamic tube test applied to heparinized surfaces.\nA 3 yr study has shown that this test procedure can monitor subtle differences in surface chemistry with a high degree of reproducibility. Based on the present studies, the test appears to be a valid screening tool for examining materials in a dynamic flow situation without the need for animal sacrifice often associated with blood testing. Also, due to the small amount of blood required, numerous samples can be run on the same animal which is extremely advantageous when comparing treatment methods. In addition, the simplicity of the test should make it easily adaptable to most blood testing laboratories.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9158650,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Synergistic effects of citicoline and MK-801 in temporary experimental focal ischemia in rats.\nCiticoline, a naturally occurring precursor of phosphatidylcholine, is neuroprotective and is currently being assessed in clinical trials. To evaluate potential synergistic neuroprotective effects of prolonged citicoline treatment and early N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) antagonist therapy, suboptimal treatment regimens of citicoline and MK-801 were tested alone and in combination in a rat model of temporary focal ischemia. Four groups of Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 12 per group) underwent 90 minutes of temporary middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) with the suture model. Animals were randomly and blindly assigned to one of four treatment groups: (1) saline, vehicle; (2) MK-801, 0.5 mg\/kg IV bolus at 60 minutes after MCAO followed by saline 1 mL\/kg IP daily for 7 days; (3) saline IV at 60 minutes after MCAO followed by citicoline 250 mg\/kg IP daily for 7 days; or (4) both MK-801 and citicoline (daily for 7 days) active treatment. Triphenyltetrazolium chloride staining was used to assess postmortem infarct volume. Neurological scores were determined daily. Premature mortality between days 2 and 4 was 33.3% in group 1, 41.7% in groups 2 and 3, and 25.0% in group 4. Mean corrected infarct volume was significantly reduced in group 4 compared with the others (175.2 +\/- 89.3 mm3 in group 1, 179.1 +\/- 78.5 mm3 in group 2, 163.9 +\/- 73.7 mm3 in group 3, and 84.7 +\/- 56.8 mm3 in group 4 [P < .02, ANOVA and P < .05, Scheff\u00e9's test for group 1 versus group 4]). Mean infarct volume in animals dying prematurely was significantly (P < .05, Student's t test) larger in group 1 than those surviving for 7 days (247.2 +\/- 89.5 versus 139.2 +\/- 68.2 mm3), but there was no significant difference in infarct volume in groups 2, 3, and 4 between animals dying prematurely and those surviving for 7 days. These results demonstrate synergistic neuroprotective effects of citicoline and an NMDA antagonist in temporary experimental focal ischemia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37457267,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"How well do policymakers address stigma surrounding substance use disorders: lessons from a qualitative review of Scottish Alcohol and Drug Partnerships' strategic plans.\nStigma is a significant barrier to the successful implementation of public health policies which aim to reduce harm from substance use disorders. Despite attention being given to stigma in the literature for at least a decade, evidence on what works to reduce it is limited and inconclusive. Without clear guidance, policymakers could be limited in their ability to develop evidence-informed strategies for reducing stigma. In response to a steep incline in drug-related deaths in Scotland since 1996, the Scottish Government has committed to tackling stigma in national drug policy. Scotland's 31 Alcohol and Drug Partnerships are responsible for developing local strategies that aim to tackle harm from substance use disorders. This qualitative review explored how well these strategies respond to stigma and identified approaches mentioned that could have implicit implications for tackling stigma. The strategic plans of Alcohol and Drug Partnerships across Scotland were identified and thematically analysed to identify key themes relating to stigma. Content of strategic plans was initially coded under a coding scheme of four broad categories: content that explicitly mentioned stigma; identity, status and power; deservedness of support; and attribution of responsibility for SUDs. Twenty-four strategic plans were identified and analysed, with four themes emerging: (1) limited clarity and consistency on how stigma will be directly tackled by ADPs; (2) recognition of the positive contribution that people with substance use disorders can make towards decisions about treatment and support; (3) diversion of people with substance use disorders away from the criminal justice system towards quality support underpinned by human rights; and (4) recognition of the complex determinants of substance use disorders and that everyone has a role to play. Alcohol and Drug Partnerships acknowledged the importance of tackling stigma in their strategic plans but provide limited clarity on how this will be done. This review calls for the inclusion of more evidence-informed strategies for tackling stigma within the Scottish local policymaking context. This requires academic, policymaking and lived experience communities to collaborate to test and evaluate innovative responses to tackling in stigma to strengthen understanding of what works in which contexts.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6929502,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Classification of cultured mammalian cells by shape analysis and pattern recognition.\nWe have developed a method for classifying cultured cells on the basis of shape characteristics. High-resolution optical information on three-dimensional shape was obtained by anodic oxide interferometry. Each interference order formed in a cell was considered as a closed figure; measurement of 37 mathematical descriptors was carried out for each figure. The individual cells were classified according to the values of their descriptors. We used standard principles of pattern recognition, such as hierarchical cluster analysis and nearest neighbor analysis, as a basis for ordering the cells into groups. Alternatively, linear discriminant functions could be used, but they provided only a slight improvement in correct classification of the cells. We anticipate that the method will be appropriate for classification of cultured cell lines and for determination of the magnitude and direction of cell shape changes implicated in various biological processes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17176223,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Intestinal bifidobacteria that produce trans-9, trans-11 conjugated linoleic acid: a fatty acid with antiproliferative activity against human colon SW480 and HT-29 cancer cells.\nBifidobacterium breve species of human intestinal origin have the ability to synthesize cis-9, trans-11 (c9, t11) conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) from free linoleic acid. In this study, the ability of Bifidobacterium species to isomerize C(18) polyunsaturated fatty acids was investigated, and the antiproliferative activities of the two main microbially produced CLA isomers were assessed. Linoleic acid was converted principally to c9, t11 CLA and lesser amounts of t9, t11 CLA, whereas c9, t11 CLA was converted mainly to t9, t11 CLA. Likewise, t10, c12 CLA was converted principally to t9, t11 CLA, which was incorporated into the bacterial cell membranes. To examine the antiproliferative effect of the two main CLA isomers formed, SW480 and HT-29 human colon cancer cells were cultured in the presence of c9, t11 CLA and t9, t11 CLA. The t9, t11 CLA had a more potent antiproliferative effect than c9, t11 CLA. It is tempting to suggest that the ability of Bifidobacterium to produce such bioactive metabolites may be associated with the beneficial effects of bifidobacteria present in the human gastrointestinal tract.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35368966,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of CMB Carrying PTX and CRISPR\/Cas9 on Endometrial Cancer Naked Mouse Model.\nEndometrial cancer, one of the most common gynecological cancers in women. Patients with advanced or recurrent disease have poor long-term outcomes. The current experiment explore the roles of cationic microbubbles (CMBs) carrying paclitaxel (PTX) and CRISPR\/Cas9 plasmids on the xenotransplantation model of mice with endometrial cancer. The tumor histology, tumor cell viability, cell cycle, and invasion ability were investigated. Meanwhile, the P27, P21, GSK-3, Bcl-2 associated death promoter (Bad), mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), and C-erbB-2 expressions were evaluated by qRT-PCR and western blotting, respectively. CMB-PTX-CRISPR\/Cas9 had an inhibitory action on the tumor growth, tumor cell viability, cell cycle, and invasion ability of the mouse xenograft model of endometrial cancer. The CMB-PTX-CRISPR\/Cas9 increased the GSK-3, P21, P27, and Bad expression levels, while reduced the C-erbB-2 and mTOR expressions. CMBs loaded with both PTX and CRISPR\/Cas9 plasmids may be a new combination treatment with much potential. CMB-PTX-CRISPR\/Cas9 may regulate the tumor cell viability, invasion, and metastasis of endometrial cancer naked mouse model by upregulating expressions of GSK-3, P21, P27, and Bad.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28725182,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Canonical and Novel Non-Canonical Cholinergic Agonists Inhibit ATP-Induced Release of Monocytic Interleukin-1\u03b2 via Different Combinations of Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Subunits \u03b17, \u03b19 and \u03b110.\nRecently, we discovered a cholinergic mechanism that inhibits the adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-dependent release of interleukin-1\u03b2 (IL-1\u03b2) by human monocytes via nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) composed of \u03b17, \u03b19 and\/or \u03b110 subunits. Furthermore, we identified phosphocholine (PC) and dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) as novel nicotinic agonists that elicit metabotropic activity at monocytic nAChR. Interestingly, PC does not provoke ion channel responses at conventional nAChRs composed of subunits \u03b19 and \u03b110. The purpose of this study is to determine the composition of nAChRs necessary for nicotinic signaling in monocytic cells and to test the hypothesis that common metabolites of phosphatidylcholines, lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) and glycerophosphocholine (G-PC), function as nAChR agonists. In peripheral blood mononuclear cells from nAChR gene-deficient mice, we demonstrated that inhibition of ATP-dependent release of IL-1\u03b2 by acetylcholine (ACh), nicotine and PC depends on subunits \u03b17, \u03b19 and \u03b110. Using a panel of nAChR antagonists and siRNA technology, we confirmed the involvement of these subunits in the control of IL-1\u03b2 release in the human monocytic cell line U937. Furthermore, we showed that LPC (C16:0) and G-PC efficiently inhibit ATP-dependent release of IL-1\u03b2. Of note, the inhibitory effects mediated by LPC and G-PC depend on nAChR subunits \u03b19 and \u03b110, but only to a small degree on \u03b17. In Xenopuslaevis oocytes heterologously expressing different combinations of human \u03b17, \u03b19 or \u03b110 subunits, ACh induced canonical ion channel activity, whereas LPC, G-PC and PC did not. In conclusion, we demonstrate that canonical nicotinic agonists and PC elicit metabotropic nAChR activity in monocytes via interaction of nAChR subunits \u03b17, \u03b19 and \u03b110. For the metabotropic signaling of LPC and G-PC, nAChR subunits \u03b19 and \u03b110 are needed, whereas \u03b17 is virtually dispensable. Furthermore, molecules bearing a PC group in general seem to regulate immune functions without perturbing canonical ion channel functions of nAChR.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9144976,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Glutamine-supplemented tube feedings versus total parenteral nutrition in children receiving intensive chemotherapy.\nAlthough enteral nutrition is generally advocated in the care of children with cancer, those patients receiving intensive chemotherapy alone or in combination with bone marrow transplantation often require total parenteral nutrition (TPN). Two patients are presented illustrating some differences between enteral and parenteral feedings in children receiving intensive chemotherapy. Nasogastric glutamine-supplemented tube feedings were well tolerated both in the hospital and at home. The cost of care for the enterally supported child was less than one third of the TPN-supported child. Although TPN appears to be beneficial in some patients with cancer, it is expensive and is associated with several significant disadvantages. Among these are an increased incidence of both gram-positive and gram-negative infections and an increased incidence of gastrointestinal symptoms. Enteral nutrition is less costly than TPN and maintains the structural and functional integrity of the intestinal mucosa. The addition of certain substrates such as glutamine, arginine and omega-3 fatty acids may improve the body's immune response as well. We hypothesize that early glutamine supplemented tube feedings in children receiving intensive chemotherapy alone or in combination with bone marrow transplantation will result in improved nutrition with fewer infections and lower cost than TPN-supplemented patients. In addition, a shorter hospital stay and improved quality of life are anticipated.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18598418,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Rayleigh matches in carriers of inherited color vision defects: the contribution from the third L\/M photopigment.\nThe mother or daughter of a male with an X-chromosome-linked red\/green color defect is an obligate carrier of the color deficient gene array. According to the Lyonization hypothesis, a female carrier's defective gene is expressed and thus carriers may have more than two types of pigments in the L\/M photopigment range. An open question is how a carrier's third cone pigment in the L\/M range affects the postreceptoral neural signals encoding color. Here, a model considered how the signal from the third pigment pools with signals from the normal's two pigments in the L\/M range. Three alternative assumptions were considered for the signal from the third cone pigment: it pools with the signal from (1) L cones, (2) M cones, or (3) both types of cones. Spectral-sensitivity peak, optical density, and the relative number of each cone type were factors in the model. The model showed that differences in Rayleigh matches among carriers can be due to individual differences in the number of the third type of L\/M cone, and the spectral sensitivity peak and optical density of the third L\/M pigment; surprisingly, however, individual differences in the cone ratio of the other two cone types (one L and the other M) did not affect the match. The predicted matches were compared to Schmidt's (1934\/1955) report of carriers' Rayleigh matches. For carriers of either protanomaly or deuteranomaly, these matches were not consistent with the signal from the third L\/M pigment combining with only the signal from M cones. The matches could be accounted for by pooling the third-pigment's response with L-cone signals, either exclusively or randomly with M-cone responses as well.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18604036,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Social health insurance: a knowledge-do gap in eastern Nepal.\nHealth care costs, and those for inpatient care in particular, pose a barrier to seeking health care, and cost be a major cause of indebtedness and impoverishment, particularly among the poor. The Ministry of Health in Nepal intends to initiate alternative financing schemes such as community and social health insurance schemes as a means to supplement the government health sector financing source. Social Health Insurance (SHI) is a mechanism for financing and purchasing \/ delivering health care to workers in the formal sector regulated by the government. Considering all these facts BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences (BPKIHS) has introduced SHI scheme in 2000 as an alternative health care financing mechanism to the community people of Sunsari and Morang districts. In the beginning small area was elected as a pilot project to launch the scheme. A major objective of SHI is to reduce poverty caused by paying for health care and to prevent already vulnerable families from falling into deeper poverty when facing health problems. A total of 26 organizations with 19799 populations are at present in SHI scheme. Sixteen rural based organizations with 14,047 populations and 10 urban based organizations with 5752 people are the beneficiaries in this scheme. BPKIHS SHI Scheme is the outcome of the visionary thinking on social solidarity and as an alternative health care financing mechanism to the community. BPKIHS is mobilizing people's organizations and is offering health services through its health insurance scheme at subsidized expenses. This has helped people to avail with health facilities who otherwise would have been left vulnerable because of their penetrating health needs. There is huge gap between premium collection and expenditures. The expenditures are more and this may be due to knowledge - do gap in the program. If conditions are unsuitable, SHI can lead to higher costs of care, inefficient allocation of health care resources, inequitable provision and dissatisfied patients. It can also be more difficult to realize the potential advantages of SHI in future. The future challenges confronting the scheme are to give the continuity and sustainability of the program to its catchments areas. This might entail a shift in its program operation mechanism. People's active involvement is required, which will further provide a sense of ownership in the scheme amongst the people.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16995553,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Preoperative characteristics of patients undergoing LASIK in 1997 versus 2004 at one surgical eye center in China.\nTo compare the preoperative characteristics of LASIK patients undergoing surgery in 1997 versus 2004 at one of the principal eye surgical centers in China. Preoperative data of patients who underwent LASIK in 1997 and 2004 were recorded and retrospectively compared. In 1997, the mean spherical equivalent refraction of the 824 eyes of 428 patients undergoing LASIK surgery was -7.30 +\/- 4.65 diopters (D), with a mean patient age of 24.67 +\/- 6.76 years. Students represented 45.05% of patients undergoing surgery in 1997. In 2004, the mean spherical equivalent refraction of the 8434 eyes of 4286 patients undergoing LASIK surgery was -6.66 +\/- 3.31 D, with a mean patient age of 25.20 +\/- 6.59 years. Students represented >50% of patients undergoing surgery in 2004. There were significant differences in the constitution ratio of occupation and the spherical equivalent refractions between 1997 and 2004 (t=-2.712, chi-squared=25.117, respectively, P<.05). At our center in China, the majority of LASIK patients are young and have myopia ranging from -3.00 to -10.00 D. Students were much more likely than any other occupation to undergo LASIK. The number of patients undergoing LASIK at our center in China has increased exponentially from 1997 to 2004, with an average annual increase in surgical volume of approximately 40%.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32617080,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-26":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Artificial intelligence in radiotherapy.\nArtificial intelligence (AI) has already been implemented widely in the medical field in the recent years. This paper first reviews the background of AI and radiotherapy. Then it explores the basic concepts of different AI algorithms and machine learning methods, such as neural networks, that are available to us today and how they are being implemented in radiotherapy and diagnostic processes, such as medical imaging, treatment planning, patient simulation, quality assurance and radiation dose delivery. It also explores the ongoing research on AI methods that are to be implemented in radiotherapy in the future. The review shows very promising progress and future for AI to be widely used in various areas of radiotherapy. However, basing on various concerns such as availability and security of using big data, and further work on polishing and testing AI algorithms, it is found that we may not ready to use AI primarily in radiotherapy at the moment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37859198,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Combination of deep learning and 2D CARS figures for identification of amyloid-\u03b2 plaques.\nIn vivo imaging and accurate identification of amyloid-\u03b2 (A\u03b2) plaque are crucial in Alzheimer's disease (AD) research. In this work, we propose to combine the coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) microscopy, a powerful detection technology for providing Raman spectra and label-free imaging, with deep learning to distinguish A\u03b2 from non-A\u03b2 regions in AD mice brains in vivo. The 1D CARS spectra is firstly converted to 2D CARS figures by using two different methods: spectral recurrence plot (SRP) and spectral Gramian angular field (SGAF). This can provide more learnable information to the network, improving the classification precision. We then devise a cross-stage attention network (CSAN) that automatically learns the features of A\u03b2 plaques and non-A\u03b2 regions by taking advantage of the computational advances in deep learning. Our algorithm yields higher accuracy, precision, sensitivity and specificity than the results of conventional multivariate statistical analysis method and 1D CARS spectra combined with deep learning, demonstrating its competence in identifying A\u03b2 plaques. Last but not least, the CSAN framework requires no prior information on the imaging modality and may be applicable to other spectroscopy analytical fields.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28272181,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Family Presence During Resuscitation After Trauma.\nThe purpose of this study was to examine the effects of family presence during resuscitation (FPDR) in patients who survived trauma from motor vehicle crashes (MVC) and gunshot wounds (GSW). A convenience sample of family members participated within three days of admission to critical care. Family members of 140 trauma patients (MVC n = 110, 79%; GSW n = 30, 21%) participated. Family members ranged in age from 20-84 years (M = 46, SD = 15, Mdn = 47). The majority were female (n = 112, 80%) and related to the patient as spouse (n = 46, 33%). Participating in the FPDR option reduced anxiety (t = -2.43, p =.04), reduced stress (t = -2.86, p = .005), and fostered well-being (t = 3.46, p = .001). Results demonstrate the positive initial effects of FPDR on family members of patients surviving trauma injury.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30301832,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"scaRNAs and snoRNAs: Are they limited to specific classes of substrate RNAs?\nPosttranscriptional modifications of rRNA occur in the nucleolus where rRNA modification guide RNAs, or snoRNAs, concentrate. On the other hand, scaRNAs, the modification guide RNAs for spliceosomal snRNAs, concentrate in the Cajal body (CB). It is generally assumed, therefore, that snRNAs must accumulate in CBs to be modified by scaRNAs. Here we demonstrate that the evidence for the latter postulate is not consistent. In the nucleus, scaRNA localization is not limited to CBs. Furthermore, canonical scaRNAs can modify rRNAs. We suggest that the conventional view that scaRNAs function only in the CB needs revision.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36939366,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Benefits of video games for people with schizophrenia: a literature review.\nIn spite of the overwhelming concerns about the deleterious impact of exposure to video games, a growing body of evidence suggests that it may be of potential interest for therapeutic purposes, particularly in schizophrenia. As literature is rapidly evolving, we carried out a systematic review of recent articles on this issue. We identified seven studies published from 2017 to 2022 exploring the benefits of commercial video games in people with schizophrenia and related disorders regarding symptoms, cognition and functional outcome. Six studies used an RCT design. Associations between gaming and better outcomes were found in three main areas: physical condition (walking speed, aerobic fitness), neurocognition (processing speed, memory and executive functions), and social functioning, self-efficacy in daily life activities and quality of life. Active use of video games is associated with better aerobic fitness and cognitive performances. Video gaming may contribute to better functional outcome and quality of life in patients suffering from cognitive impairments and difficulties in social functioning. Persons with schizophrenia may benefit from using commercial video games because of their potential therapeutic impact on functioning and cognition.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11983546,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Respiratory viruses and chronic rejection in lung transplant recipients.\nBACKGROUND; Chronic rejection manifested as obliterative bronchiolitis (OB) and bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS) continue to be major causes of morbidity and mortality after lung transplantation. Community respiratory virus (CRV) infection, including respiratory syncytial virus, parainfluenza virus, and influenza virus, can infect and also cause morbidity in lung transplant recipients. Because CRV and OB\/BOS affect the small airways, we sought to determine whether CRV infections predisposed patients to OB\/BOS. To determine whether CRV predisposed to OB\/BOS, a proportional hazards regression analysis of time to OB\/BOS was performed with CRV as a time-dependent covariate. To determine the influence of OB\/BOS on the subsequent development of CRV infection, we reversed the outcome and time-dependent covariate. To illustrate the effect of CRV on OB\/BOS and the effect of OB\/BOS on CRV, landmark plots were generated at specific time points. Time to development of OB\/BOS was then compared using the Kaplan-Meier method. In our institution, we documented 40 infections caused by CRV in 33 lung transplant recipients during an 11-year period. Community respiratory virus infections occurred predominantly during seasonal community outbreaks, except for parainfluenza infections, which occurred throughout the year. The diagnosis of OB\/BOS occurred throughout the year and was not associated with seasonal outbreaks of CRV. Community respiratory virus infection involving both upper and lower respiratory tracts did not predispose to OB or BOS (relative risk [RR], 1.1; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.52-2.3; p = 0.81). However, patients with documented CRV infection of the lower respiratory tract were predisposed to high-grade BOS development (RR, 2.3; 95% CI, 1.1-4.9; p = 0.04). In addition, a patient with pre-existing OB or BOS was predisposed to developing both upper and lower respiratory tract infection with CRV (RR, 4.2; 95% CI, 1.9-9.4; p < 0.001). Patients with CRV infection of the lower respiratory tract were predisposed to high-grade BOS development, and patients with OB and BOS were predisposed to CRV infections.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17893919,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-22":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Downregulation of the 18-kDa translocator protein: effects on the ammonia-induced mitochondrial permeability transition and cell swelling in cultured astrocytes.\nHepatic encephalopathy (HE) is a major neurological complication in patients with severe liver disease. While the pathogenesis of HE is unclear, elevated blood and brain ammonia levels are believed to be major etiological factors, and astrocytes appear to be the primary target of its toxicity. A notable feature of ammonia neurotoxicity is an upregulation of the 18-kDa translocator protein (TSPO) (formerly referred to as the peripheral benzodiazepine receptor or PBR), which is found on the outer mitochondrial membrane. However, the precise significance of this upregulation is unclear. To examine its potential role in ammonia-induced astrocyte dysfunction, we downregulated the TSPO using antisense oligonucleotides, and examined whether such downregulation could alter two prominent features of ammonia gliotoxicity, namely, the mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT) and astrocyte swelling. Nontransfected cultures treated with NH4Cl (5 mM; 48 h) showed a significant increase in astrocyte cell volume (37.5%). In cultured astrocytes transfected with TSPO antisense oligonucleotides, such cell swelling was reduced to 17%, but this change was not significantly different from control cell volume. Similarly, nontransfected cultures treated with NH4Cl (5 mM; 24 h) exhibited a 40% decline in the cyclosporin A-sensitive mitochondrial inner membrane potential (DeltaPsi(m)) (P < 0.01) (a measure of the MPT). By contrast, cells transfected with TSPO antisense oligonucleotides did not display a significant loss of the DeltaPsi(m) following ammonia exposure. Our findings highlight the important role of the TSPO in the mechanism of ammonia neurotoxicity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28690879,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Epidemiological Characteristics and Clinical Outcome of HIV-Related Tuberculosis in a Population of TB Patients in South-western Nigeria.\nTuberculosis (TB) is the second leading cause of death from infectious disease globally with its impact more dramatic in resource limited settings. Individuals with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection who also develop tuberculosis represent a significant challenge to TB control. This study was carried out to determine the prevalence of TB-HIV coinfection and pattern of infection among TB patients. We also compared treatment outcome among coinfected patients with those not coinfected. A six-year retrospective review of records of patients managed at the Tuberculosis Treatment Center of the LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, South-Western Nigeria from January 2009 to December 2014 was carried out. One hundred and five (26.3%) of the 399 TB patients seen in the study period were coinfected with HIV. About 10% of the subjects had extrapulmonary tuberculosis. Treatment failure was significantly worse among patients who had both HIV and TB compared with those who had TB only (49.5% vs. 32%, p = 0.001). Death rate was also higher in the coinfected individuals implying a poorer clinical outcome. High prevalence of TB-HIV coinfection and poor treatment outcome in this group of individuals, though predictable, calls for a more concerted effort in the management of TB-HIV coinfection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22699400,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"The gastrointestinal pharmacology of cannabinoids: focus on motility.\nThe marijuana plant Cannabis sp. and its derivatives and analogues, known as cannabinoids (CBs), induce many effects throughout the whole body. Herein we briefly review the gastrointestinal (GI) pharmacology of CBs, with special focus on motor function. Some drugs are available to treat nausea and emesis, and evidences in humans and animal models suggest that other GI motility alterations (gastro-oesophageal reflux, inflammatory bowel conditions or paralytic ileus) might benefit from modifications of the CB tone throughout the gut. However, central and peripheral (including GI) side effects may occur upon acute and chronic CB administration. Hopefully, the ongoing worldwide intense research on CBs will soon provide new, safer CB-based medicines.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28569277,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Clinical Stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation.\nOral anticoagulation therapy has reduced the risk of ischaemic stroke and improved the outcomes for patients with atrial fibrillation considerably. The emergence of the non-vitamin K oral anticoagulants as alternatives to vitamin K antagonists has significantly changed the practice of stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation. As the main complication with antithrombotic therapy is bleeding, physicians should always balance the risk of ischaemic stroke against intracranial haemorrhage and intervene where appropriate to reduce both risks. Individual approach is often mandatory due to heterogeneity of the risks and patient preferences. The purpose of this review is to summarise the current knowledge of the oral anticoagulation therapy in atrial fibrillation patients and guide physicians with the management of anticoagulants based on data from clinical trials and systematic reviews.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28683314,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Periadolescent Maturation of GABAergic Hyperpolarization at the Axon Initial Segment.\nNeuronal chloride levels are developmentally regulated. Early in life, high intracellular concentrations support chloride efflux and depolarization at GABAergic synapses. In mouse, intracellular chloride decreases over the first postnatal week in the somatodendritic compartment, eventually supporting mature, hyperpolarizing GABAergic inhibition. In contrast to this dendritic switch, it is less clear how GABAergic signaling at the axon initial segment (AIS) functions in mature pyramidal cells, as reports of both depolarization and hyperpolarization have been reported in the AIS past the first postnatal week. Here, we show that GABAergic signaling at the AIS of prefrontal pyramidal cells, indeed, switches polarity from depolarizing to hyperpolarizing but does so over a protracted periadolescent period. This is the most delayed maturation in chloride reversal in any structure studied to date and suggests that chandelier cells, which mediate axo-axonic inhibition, play a unique role in the periadolescent maturation of prefrontal circuits.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22678334,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Laparoendoscopic single-site repair of bladder rupture using a home-made single-port device: initial experience of treatment for a traumatic intraperitoneal bladder rupture.\nWe report our initial experience with a laparoendoscopic single-site (LESS) repair of a bladder rupture using a home-made single-port device. A 37-year-old man presented to the emergency department with complaints of voiding difficulty and gross hematuria after blunt trauma. Cystography and computed tomography revealed an intraperitoneal bladder rupture. The patient underwent LESS repair of a bladder rupture using the Alexis wound retractor, which was inserted through the umbilical incision. A home-made single-port device was made by fixing 6\u00bd surgical gloves to the outer rim of the retractor and securing the glove finger to the end of 3 trocars with a tie. Using the flexible laparoscopic instruments and rigid instruments, LESS surgery was performed using a procedure similar to conventional laparoscopic surgery. The patient did not have any voiding problem after removal of the urethral Foley catheter on the 10th postoperative day. To our knowledge, this is the first published report of LESS repair of a traumatic bladder rupture using a home-made single-port device in the literature.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14530673,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Local excision of large rectal villous adenomas: long-term results.\nTransanal excision of rectal villous adenomas is a widely used surgical technique, because it is a one-step procedure, requiring no sophisticated instrumentation, and allowing complete histologic analysis of the excised tumor. Therefore, it ranks alongside radical surgery and palliative destructive procedures, but its results are highly variable in the published series. This discrepancy may be explained by the variable completeness of tumor excision because of potential dissection difficulties. Because intraoperative exposure may be a major limiting factor, one of us (JF) has developed a tractable cutaneomucous flap procedure to lower the rectal tumor to the anal verge, where control of the dissection line is easier. This retrospective review of consecutive patients operated on during ten-year period reports long-term results after transanal excision for large rectal villous adenomas with the tractable flap technique. From 1978 to 1988, 207 consecutive patients (100 males), mean age 68 (range, 24-90) years, were operated on for an apparently benign villous rectal adenoma. Twenty-one patients (10 percent) were referred after failure of previous treatments: 11 endoscopic, 8 surgical, 1 laser, 1 radiotherapy. Mean distance of lower tumor edge from anal margin was 5.6 (range, 0-13) cm and was <10 cm in 82 percent. Three patients (1.5 percent), including one with a Tis carcinoma, underwent a secondary treatment for immediate gross failure of resection: one further local excision and two palliative laser destructions. Immediate postoperative course was uneventful for 96 percent; there was one death from perineal gangrenous infection, four cases of hemorrhage, and three urinary retentions. Subsequently one case of transient fecal incontinence and 11 medically managed stenoses were noted. Mean size of resected tumor was 5.4 (range, 1-17) cm. Deep excision margins concerned the rectal muscular layers in 199 patients (96 percent) and perirectal fat in 8 (4 percent). Specimen margins were negative for cancer in 175 (85 percent) and positive or unknown in 32 cases. Histologic evaluation demonstrated in situ cancer in 28 (14 percent) and invasive carcinoma in 9 (4 percent). In three patients (1 percent), two abdominoperineal resections were immediately performed (one T2 with a mucinous contingent, one T3) and one adjuvant radiotherapy (one undifferentiated T2). Four patients (2 percent) did not return for postoperative evaluation. For the remaining 198 patients, mean follow-up was 74 +\/- 34 (median, 75; range, 1-168) months. Forty-four died from unrelated causes. Recurrence occurred in seven (3.6 percent) and was malignant in two, who subsequently died. Specific recurrence-free probability was 99.5 percent at one year, 96 percent at five years, and 95 percent at ten years. A lesion size >6 cm (10 vs. 1 percent for smaller tumors) and the presence of an invasive carcinoma (20 vs. 3 percent without invasive carcinoma) were significantly associated with an increased probability of recurrence at five years. Providing that adequate intraoperative exposure is obtained and advanced malignant tumors receive immediate secondary treatment, transanal resection of clinically benign, large rectal villous adenomas is safe and effective. It is an alternative to rectal resection, which exposes the patient to potentially adverse effects, and also to destructive procedures, which preclude any histologic evaluation of the tumor.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17008731,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Chloro(diethylenetriamine)copper(II) chloride: a disordered quasi-one-dimensional structure.\nThe title structure, [CuCl(C4H13N3)]Cl, consists of alternating [CuCl(dien)]+ (dien is diethylenetriamine) and Cl- ions arranged in quasi-one-dimensional stacks along the crystallographic a axis and forming tetragonally elongated octahedral coordination shells around each Cu atom [equatorial Cu-Cl = 2.2552 (8) A, and axial Cu-Cl = 2.831 (1) and 3.341 (1) A]. Crystallographic mirror planes bisect each stack vertically through the Cu, Cl and central N atoms, and horizontally through the [CuCl(dien)]+ cation. The horizontal mirrors lead to each atom in the puckered [CuCl(dien)]+ cations being disordered over two crystallographically equivalent sites. Comparison of the title structure with its Br and I analogues shows a growing influence of hydrogen bonding relative to coordination bonds on traversing the series I < Br < Cl.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8352772,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Antibodies specific for human albumin function as blocking antibodies when attached to erythrocyte-bound albumin.\nAlbumin is shown to be firmly bound to human red blood cells using the techniques of flow cytometry, immunoblotting, and complement fixation. The interactions between antibodies attached to the cell bound albumin and the complement system are examined. Antibodies specific for human serum albumin bind to albumin on erythrocytes and activate both homologous and heterologous complement in the absence of hemolysis. Moreover, treatment of erythrocytes with anti-albumin antibodies renders the cells resistant to classical pathway mediated lysis initiated by a passive lysis system. Thus, erythrocyte-bound anti-albumin antibodies appear to function in a manner similar to \"blocking\" antibodies described in some bactericidal systems.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35370192,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Bridge between Total Synthesis of Bioactive Natural Products and Development of Drug Leads].\nAlthough natural products are rich sources for drug discovery, only a small percentage of natural products themselves have been approved for clinical use, thus it is necessary to modulate various properties, such as efficacy, toxicity, and metabolic stability. A question in natural product drug discovery is how to logically design natural product derivatives with desired biological properties. This review describes our recent studies regarding the medicinal chemistry of tunicamycin. Tunicamycin inhibits bacterial phospho-N-acetylmuramic acid (MurNAc)-pentapeptide translocase (MraY), which is an essential enzyme in bacteria and a good target for antibacterial drug discovery. The usefulness of tunicamycin as antibacterial agents is limited by off-target inhibition of human UDP-N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc): polyprenol phosphate translocase (GPT). We positioned the total synthesis of tunicamycin as a starting point for the research and have accomplished the synthesis of tunicamycin V by using the Achmatowicz reaction, [3,3] sigmatropic rearrangement of allyl cyanate, and stereoselective glycosylation as key reactions. Next, the minimum structural requirements for tunicamycin V for MraY inhibition were established by systematic structure-activity relationship studies with truncated analogs of tunicamycin V. Our collaborative study elucidated a crystal structure of human GPT in complex with tunicamycin. This structural information was then exploited to rationally design an MraY-specific inhibitor of tunicamycin V in which the GlcNAc moiety was modified to a MurNAc amide. The analog was identified as a highly selective MraYAA inhibitor.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25501245,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Increasing genetic variability in black oats using gamma irradiation.\nThe black oat (Avena strigosa Schreb) is commonly used for forage, soil cover, and green manure. Despite its importance, little improvement has been made to this species, leading to high levels of genotypic disuniformity within commercial cultivars. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of different doses of gamma rays [(60)Co] applied to black oat seeds on the increase of genetic variability of agronomic traits. We applied doses of 0, 10, 50, 100, and 200 Gy to the genotype ALPHA 94087 through exposure to [(60)Co]. Two experiments were conducted in the winter of 2008. The first aimed to test forage trait measurements such as plant height, dry matter yield, number of surviving tillers, and seedling stand. The second test assessed seed traits, such as yield and dormancy levels. Gamma irradiation seems not to increase seed yield in black oats, but it was effective in generating variability for the other traits. Tiller number and plant height are important selection traits to increase dry matter yield. Selection in advanced generations of mutant populations can increase the probability of identifying superior genotypes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29358856,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Stable gastric pentadecapeptide BPC 157 in the treatment of colitis and ischemia and reperfusion in rats: New insights.\nTo provide new insights in treatment of colitis and ischemia and reperfusion in rats using stable gastric pentadecapeptide BPC 157. Medication [BPC 157, L-NAME, L-arginine (alone\/combined), saline] was bath at the blood deprived colon segment. During reperfusion, medication was BPC 157 or saline. We recorded (USB microscope camera) vessel presentation through next 15 min of ischemic colitis (IC-rats) or reperfusion (removed ligations) (IC + RL-rats); oxidative stress as MDA (increased (IC- and IC + RL-rats)) and NO levels (decreased (IC-rats); increased (IC + RL-rats)) in colon tissue. IC + OB-rats [IC-rats had additional colon obstruction (OB)] for 3 d (IC + OB-rats), then received BPC 157 bath. Commonly, in colon segment (25 mm, 2 ligations on left colic artery and vein, 3 arcade vessels within ligated segment), in IC-, IC + RL-, IC + OB-rats, BPC 157 (10 \u03bcg\/kg) bath (1 mL\/rat) increased vessel presentation, inside\/outside arcade interconnections quickly reappeared, mucosal folds were preserved and the pale areas were small and markedly reduced. BPC 157 counteracted worsening effects induced by L-NAME (5 mg) and L-arginine (100 mg). MDA- and NO-levels were normal in BPC 157 treated IC-rats and IC + RL-rats. In addition, on day 10, BPC 157-treated IC + OB-rats presented almost completely spared mucosa with very small pale areas and no gross mucosal defects; the treated colon segment was of normal diameter, and only small adhesions were present. BPC 157 is a fundamental treatment that quickly restores blood supply to the ischemically injured area and rapidly activates collaterals. This effect involves the NO system.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25429071,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Tumoral expression of IL-33 inhibits tumor growth and modifies the tumor microenvironment through CD8+ T and NK cells.\nCancer immunotherapy has shown great promise as a new standard cancer therapeutic modality. However, the response rates are limited for current approach that depends on enhancing spontaneous antitumor immune responses. Therefore, increasing tumor immunogenicity by expressing appropriate cytokines should further improve the current immunotherapy. IL-33 is a member of the IL-1 family of cytokines and is released by necrotic epithelial cells or activated innate immune cells and is thus considered a \"danger\" signal. The role of IL-33 in promoting type 2 immune responses and tissue inflammation has been well established. However, whether IL-33 drives antitumor immune responses is controversial. Our previous work established that IL-33 promoted the function of CD8(+) T cells. In this study, we showed that the expression of IL-33 in two types of cancer cells potently inhibited tumor growth and metastasis. Mechanistically, IL-33 increased numbers and IFN-\u03b3 production by CD8(+) T and NK cells in tumor tissues, thereby inducing a tumor microenvironment favoring tumor eradication. Importantly, IL-33 greatly increased tumor Ag-specific CD8(+) T cells. Furthermore, both NK and CD8(+) T cells were required for the antitumor effect of IL-33. Moreover, depletion of regulatory T cells worked synergistically with IL-33 expression for tumor elimination. Our studies established \"alarmin\" IL-33 as a promising new cytokine for tumor immunotherapy through promoting cancer-eradicating type 1 immune responses.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15252052,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Topological characterization of the c, c', and c\" subunits of the vacuolar ATPase from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.\nThe vacuolar ATPase (V-ATPase) is a multisubunit enzyme that acidifies intracellular organelles in eukaryotes. Similar to the F-type ATP synthase (FATPase), the V-ATPase is composed of two subcomplexes, V(1) and V(0). Hydrolysis of ATP in the V(1) subcomplex is tightly coupled to proton translocation accomplished by the V(0) subcomplex, which is composed of five unique subunits (a, d, c, c', and c\"). Three of the subunits, subunit c (Vma3p), c' (Vma11p), and c\" (Vma16p), are small highly hydrophobic integral membrane proteins called \"proteolipids\" that share sequence similarity to the F-ATPase subunit c. Whereas subunit c from the F-ATPase spans the membrane bilayer twice, the V-ATPase proteolipids have been modeled to have at least four transmembrane-spanning helices. Limited proteolysis experiments with epitope-tagged copies of the proteolipids have revealed that the N and the C termini of c (Vma3p) and c' (Vma11p) were in the lumen of the vacuole. Limited proteolysis of epitope-tagged c\" (Vma16p) indicated that the N terminus is located on the cytoplasmic face of the vacuole, whereas the C terminus is located within the vacuole. Furthermore, a chimeric fusion between Vma16p and Vma3p, Vma16-Vma3p, was found to assemble into a fully functional V-ATPase complex, further supporting the conclusion that the C terminus of Vma16p resides within the lumen of the vacuole. These results indicate that subunits c and c' have four transmembrane segments with their N and C termini in the lumen and that c\" has five transmembrane segments, with the N terminus exposed to the cytosol and the C terminus lumenal.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12031959,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Central leptin gene therapy blocks high-fat diet-induced weight gain, hyperleptinemia, and hyperinsulinemia: increase in serum ghrelin levels.\nRecombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV), encoding either rat leptin (rAAV-lep) or green fluorescent protein (rAAV-GFP, control), was injected intracerebroventricularly in rats consuming a high-fat diet (HFD; 45 kcal%). Caloric consumption and body weight were monitored weekly until the rats were killed at 9 weeks. Untreated control rats consuming regular rat diet (RCD; 11 kcal%) were monitored in parallel. Body weight gain was accelerated in rAAV-GFP + HFD control rats relative to those consuming RCD, despite equivalent kcal consumption. At 9 weeks, serum leptin, free fatty acids, triglycerides, and insulin were elevated in HFD control rats. In contrast, rAAV-lep treatment reduced intake and blocked the HFD-induced increase in weight, adiposity, and metabolic variables. Blood glucose was slightly reduced but within the normal range, and serum ghrelin levels were significantly elevated in rAAV-lep + HFD rats. Uncoupling protein-1 (UCP1) mRNA in brown adipose tissue (BAT), an index of energy expenditure through nonshivering thermogenesis, was decreased in rats consuming HFD. Treatment with rAAV-lep significantly augmented BAT UCP1 mRNA expression, indicating increased thermogenic energy expenditure. These findings demonstrate that central leptin gene therapy efficiently prevents weight gain, increased adiposity, and hyperinsulinemia in rats consuming an HFD by decreasing energy intake and increasing thermogenic energy expenditure.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6728098,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Transient occlusion of intracranial blood vessels. Presentation of one clinical and preliminary considerations.\nThe authors suggest that some cerebral ischaemic lesions depend upon a transient obstruction of intracranial blood vessels (particularly the trunk and the branches of the middle cerebral artery). This explains (as in the patient described here) the cases in which an ischaemic lesion does not correspond with the vascular lesions found on arteriography and\/or at autopsy. Furthermore the authors indicate the importance of blood flow in the spontaneous relief of obstruction which is favoured by an undamaged vascular bed. Consequently they recommend, if possible, early surgical treatment of the carotid lesions, in order to reduce the risk of emboli and to improve cerebral blood flow in general.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3059987,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Use of the vena cava in renal transplantation. Extension of the right renal vein].\nVena cava is a providential material for the transplant surgeon. Prolongation of the right renal vein using vena cava is a simple and effective procedure. Consequently the inferior vena cava must be harvested with the right and not the left kidney for which it is unnecessary. The use of a long segment of vena cava makes the renal transplantation and easy, well-defined procedure without interfering with the requirements of multiorgan donation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31246079,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Gonadal hormone fluctuations do not affect the expression or extinction of fear-potentiated startle in female rats.\nPrior studies suggest that levels of ovarian hormones may affect learning and memory in rats, including studies of fear conditioning and extinction. We previously showed that female rats show reduced retention of extinction compared to males when measuring fear-potentiated startle, but not when measuring freezing behavior. One commonly reported observation in studies of freezing behavior is that rats with increased levels of estradiol during extinction learning show better retention of extinction than rats given extinction training when levels of estradiol are low. Here, we tested the hypothesis that fear extinction retention in a fear-potentiated startle paradigm in females is influenced by levels gonadal hormones, which we had not accounted for in our original report. We used the fear-potentiated startle paradigm to test if extinction learning was affected by estrous phase, ovariectomy, or acute systemic injections of estradiol in ovariectomized rats. We report that neither the expression nor extinction of fear-potentiated startle differed in rats given extinction training in proestrus compared to those in metestrus. Removal of the ovaries had no effect on fear acquisition or extinction learning as assessed by fear-potentiated startle. Finally, systemic injections of estradiol given to ovariectomized rats before extinction training had no effect on the expression of fear or the retention of extinction. Our findings suggest that the effect of female gonadal hormones on fear conditioning and extinction may depend on the measure of fear employed or by the parameters used to study fear learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34423871,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Mediterranean diet and health: a comprehensive overview.\nThe Mediterranean diet (MedDiet), one of the most studied and well-known dietary patterns worldwide, has been associated with a wide range of benefits for health. In the present narrative review, we aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of the current knowledge on the relation of the MedDiet to important health outcomes, considering both observational and intervention studies with both risk factors and clinical diseases as outcomes. In addition, we considered the clinical and public health impacts of the MedDiet on both human and planetary health. Earlier research confirmed by recent studies has provided strong evidence for the benefits of the MedDiet on cardiovascular health, including reduction in the incidence of cardiovascular outcomes as well as risk factors including obesity, hypertension, metabolic syndrome, and dyslipidaemia. There is also evidence that MedDiet is associated with lower rates of incident diabetes, and better glycaemic control in diabetic patients compared to control diets. In prospective studies, adherence to the MedDiet reduced mortality, especially cardiovascular mortality, hence increased longevity. In addition, it has been associated with less age-related cognitive dysfunction and lower incidence of neurodegenerative disorders, particularly Alzheimer's disease. Furthermore, the relatively low environmental impacts (water, nitrogen and carbon footprint) of the MedDiet is an additional positive aspect of the Mediterranean dietary model. It is likely that the combination of a healthy diet with social behaviours and the way of life of Mediterranean regions makes the MedDiet a sustainable lifestyle model that could likely be followed in other regions with country-specific and culturally appropriate variations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28700001,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Genetic variability of Leishmania infantum in naturally infected dogs in the state of Bahia, Brazil.\nIn Brazil, Leishmania infantum mainly affects humans and dogs. The state of Bahia presents many dogs that are positive for this parasite. Despite the importance of epidemiology in this region, there are still very few studies that have assessed the genetic characteristics of L. infantum. The aim of this study is to investigate the genetic variability of L. infantum isolated identified in naturally infected dogs, in order to verify occurrence of subpopulation of this parasite in the different biomes existing in the state of Bahia. Thirty-two samples of L. infantum were analyzed, which were obtained isolated in dogs from the Mata Atl\u00e2ntica (rainforest), Caatinga (semi-arid scrub forest), and Cerrado (a vast tropical savannah eco-region) Bahia municipalities' biomes. All animals presented with clinical changes suggestive of Leishmania spp. and they exhibited positive reactions to serological tests. kDNA analysis with RFLP markers revealed the presence of genetic variability and gene flow in subpopulations of L. infantum; samples from the Mata Atl\u00e2ntica areas were genetically more similar to those from the areas of Caatinga and they were less likely to resemble those of the Cerrado. This data may be used to investigate the dissemination of parasite in the canine population of state of Bahia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28266722,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Development and validation of an HPLC-UV method for the simultaneous determination of the antipsychotics clozapine, olanzapine and quetiapine, several beta-blockers and their metabolites.\nA simple, accurate and selective column-switching high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was developed and validated for simultaneous quantification of six beta-blockers (metoprolol, timolol, bisoprolol, propranolol, carvedilol and nebivolol), three of their metabolites (\u03b1-hydroxy metoprolol, N-desisopropyl propranolol and 4'-hydroxy carvedilol 4-HCAR), three antipsychotics (olanzapine, clozapine and quetiapine) and three of their metabolites (N-desmethyl olanzapine, N-desmethyl clozapine and N-desalkyl quetiapine) in human serum. After pretreatment on a Merck LiChrospher RP-4 ADS column (25 \u03bcm), drugs were separated on a Phenomenex Gemini Phenyl Hexyl 110 A column (250 \u00d7 4.6 mm, 5 \u03bcm) using a gradient mixture of acetonitrile and potassium dihydrogen phosphate buffer pH 3.1 (containing 10% methanol) as a mobile phase at a flow rate of 1 mL\/min. The total analysis time was 40 min. For detection of the analytes, four different UV wavelengths were used: 215, 226, 242 and 299 nm. The method was validated according to the guidelines of the Society of Toxicology and Forensic Chemistry in terms of selectivity, linearity, accuracy, precision and stability and successfully applied for the analysis of the 15 described analytes in human serum.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9556178,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Hospitalizations for infectious diseases in Jewish and Bedouin children in southern Israel.\nTwo different population groups reside in the Negev region of southern Israel and have equal, and free from financial barrier, access to tertiary care at a single regional hospital. The Jewish population has a largely urban and industrialized lifestyle, while the Moslem Bedouins are in transition from their traditional nomadic life to settlement. To examine the differences in morbidity patterns reflected in hospitalizations, the computerized hospitalization records of children <15 years of age, for 1989-1991 were used (n=15,947). Rates of hospitalizations for infectious diseases were significantly higher for Bedouins in comparison to Jews (250 and 121\/10,000 child years, respectively, odds ratio (OR): 2.1, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.0-2.2, p < 0.001). Rates of hospitalization per 10,000 child years in Bedouins and Jews for diarrhea were 114 and 32 (OR: 3.7, 95% CI: 3.3-4.0, p < 0.001), respectively, and for pneumonia 55 and 19 (OR: 2.9, 95% CI: 2.6-3.3, p < 0.001), respectively. In infants the differences were even more pronounced, especially for diarrheal diseases. In Bedouin children infectious diseases were associated with longer hospital stay, more pediatric Intensive Care hospitalizations (OR: 2.7, 95% CI: 1.7-4.5,p < 0.001), and higher in-hospital mortality (OR: 5.7, 95% CI: 2.8-12.2, p < 0.001). Thus, Bedouin children are at higher risks of hospitalizations for infectious diseases in early childhood, as compared to Jewish children. This may reflect the differences in lifestyle, environmental and social conditions of the two populations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35369503,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Novel Collaborative Weighted Non-negative Matrix Factorization Improves Prediction of Disease-Associated Human Microbes.\nExtensive clinical and biomedical studies have shown that microbiome plays a prominent role in human health. Identifying potential microbe-disease associations (MDAs) can help reveal the pathological mechanism of human diseases and be useful for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of human diseases. Therefore, it is necessary to develop effective computational models and reduce the cost and time of biological experiments. Here, we developed a novel machine learning-based joint framework called CWNMF-GLapRLS for human MDA prediction using the proposed collaborative weighted non-negative matrix factorization (CWNMF) technique and graph Laplacian regularized least squares. Especially, to fuse more similarity information, we calculated the functional similarity of microbes. To deal with missing values and effectively overcome the data sparsity problem, we proposed a collaborative weighted NMF technique to reconstruct the original association matrix. In addition, we developed a graph Laplacian regularized least-squares method for prediction. The experimental results of fivefold and leave-one-out cross-validation demonstrated that our method achieved the best performance by comparing it with 5 state-of-the-art methods on the benchmark dataset. Case studies further showed that the proposed method is an effective tool to predict potential MDAs and can provide more help for biomedical researchers.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18605706,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Matrix-mediated formation of hierarchically structured SnO crystals as intermediates between single crystals and polycrystalline aggregates.\nCrystalline SnO grown in a Sn 6O 4(OH) 4 matrix exhibited hierarchical architectures, such as stepped bipyramids, stacked meshes, and rosettes, which were not categorized into the classical assortment of crystal morphologies. The complex architectures consisting of small building units were found to be produced through stacking and\/or branching growth accompanied with a decrease in the unit size and degradation of the crystallographic symmetry in their assembly. This particular morphological evolution is presumed to be achieved by increasing the driving force of crystallization in the presence of abundant precursor species supplied from the matrix.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27478463,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Perception of barriers to postoperative pain management in elderly patients in Polish hospitals with and without a \"Hospital Without Pain\" Certificate - a multi-center study.\nIn 2005-2050, the global population of elderly people will increase by 12%. This will lead to increased demand for such healthcare services as hospital care or surgical interventions. Pain in elderly patients is a substantial problem. Insufficiently controlled postoperative pain continues to be a widespread phenomenon. Pain management in Poland is usually based on nursing care supervised by an anesthesiologist or surgeon. The aim of the study was to identify barriers to effective nurse-controlled analgesia in postoperative pain management in elderly patients in hospitals with and without a Hospital Without Pain certificate. The study was conducted after the approval of the study protocol by the Independent Bioethics Committee for Scientific Research of the Medical University of Gdansk. The study project was multicenter and was conducted from July 2012 to December 2013. The research was questionnaire-based and used the Polish version of the Nurses' Perceived Obstacles to Pain Assessment and Management Practices questionnaire. The project included 676 nurses from hospitals awarded the Hospital Without Pain Certificate and 926 respondents from hospitals without the certificate. After calculating the overall average result in particular groups, healthcare system-related problems were first among the barriers hindering pain management in elderly patients M = (C = 3.81, N\/C = 3.87). Patient-related barriers were second (M = 3.77). Physician- and nurse-related barriers took the subsequent positions, with very similar scores M = (C = 3.47, N\/C = 3.44) and M = (C = 3.46, N\/C = 3.44), respectively. The greatest barriers to pain management in elderly patients are related to the healthcare system. Nurses from Hospital Without Pain certified hospitals devoted significantly more time to relieving pain through non-pharmacological methods.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37845307,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1}}},"text":"Tumour area infiltration and cell count in endoscopic biopsies of therapy-naive upper GI tract carcinomas by QuPath analysis: implications for predictive biomarker testing.\nGuidelines regulate how many (tumour-bearing) tissue particles should be sampled during gastric cancer biopsy to obtain representative results in predictive biomarker testing. Little is known about how well these guidelines are applied, how the number of tissue particles correlates with the actual tumour-infiltrated area and how many absolute tumour cells are captured. The study included endoscopic biopsies of untreated carcinomas of the upper gastrointestinal (GI)-tract during the 2016-2020 review period. Archival (H&E)-stained histological sections were digitised and the tumour areas were manually annotated. The tumour-bearing tissue area and absolute carcinoma cell count per case were determined by image analysis and compared with a reference primary surgical specimen. Biopsies from 253 patients were analysed. The following mean values were determined: (a) tumour tissue particle number: 6.5 (range: 1-25, standard deviation (SD) = 3.33), (b) number of tumour-bearing tissue particles: 4.7 (range: 1-20, SD = 2.80), (c) tumour-infiltrated area: 7.5 mm2 (range: 0.18-59.46 mm2, SD = 6.67 mm2), (d) absolute tumour cell count: 13,492 (range: 193-92,834, SD = 14,185) and (e) tumour cell count in a primary surgical specimen (tumour size: 6.7 cm): 105,200,176. The guideline-recommended tissue particle count of 10 was not achieved in 208 patients (82.2%) and the required tumour-bearing tissue particle count of 5 was not achieved in 133 patients (52.6%). Tissue particle count, tumour-infiltrated area and tumour cell count were only weakly correlated. Most cases featured an infiltrated area \u2265 4.5 mm2 (156, 61.7%). Cases with more tissue particles showed only a moderate increase in infiltrated area and tumour cells compared to cases with fewer particles. Biopsies are often used to determine predictive biomarkers, particularly Her2\/neu and PD-L1. Diagnostic standards to ensure representative material have been suggested in guidelines to reduce false-negative predictions. However, the real-world practice seems to substantially deviate from recommended standards. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first systematic study describing the relationships between endoscopic tissue fragment number, actual infiltrated tumour area and carcinoma cell number. The data question the tissue particle number as a quality assessment parameter. We advocate histopathological reports indicating on which basis statements on therapy-relevant biomarkers were made. Digital pathology has the potential to objectively quantify the tissue for documentation, quality assessment and future clinical studies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":951711,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Atrophie blanche examined with thermography.\nAtrophie blanche developed in a 25-year-old man with systemic lupus erythematosus is reported. A thermographic examination was applied to estimate skin temperature, and the temperature was low on areas where lesions were distributed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":943936,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sahel nutrition survey, 1974.\nIn time of food shortage, accurate assessment of nutrition status is important so that effective aid may be directed to those in greatest need and, in the future, the impact of this aid on the nutritional situation may be assessed. Using a population proportional sampling method and the index weight for height (which is relatively independent of sex, race, and age) as a criterion of nutritional status, CDC investigators determined that about 10% of the sampled population (aged about 6 months through 6 years) in Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Upper Volta and over 20% in the sampled population in Chad were severely and acutely undernourished. Apparently younger children were affected first, but as the food shortage became more severe the prevalence of undernourished older children increased. This method of nutrition surveillance has proven itself during a stressful period and should be considered a fundamental tool when rapid assessment of acute undernutrition in children in developing nations is required.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37851406,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Multiscale integrative analyses unveil immune-related diagnostic signature for the progression of MASLD.\nMetabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is a chronic liver disease prevalent worldwide, with an increasing incidence associated with obesity, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. The progression of MASLD to metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) poses a pressing health concern, highlighting the significance of accurately identifying MASLD and its progression to MASH as a primary challenge in the field. In this study, a systematic integration of 66 immune cell types was conducted. Comprehensive analyses were performed on bulk, single-cell RNA-Seq, and clinical data to investigate the immune cell types implicated in MASLD progression thoroughly. Multiple approaches, including immune infiltration, gene expression trend analysis, weighted gene coexpression network analysis, and 4 machine learning algorithms, were used to examine the dynamic changes in genes and immune cells during MASLD progression. C-X-C motif chemokine receptor 4 and dedicator of cytokinesis 8 have been identified as potential diagnostic biomarkers for MASLD progression. Furthermore, cell communication analysis at the single-cell level revealed that the involvement of C-X-C motif chemokine receptor 4 and dedicator of cytokinesis 8 in MASLD progression is mediated through their influence on T cells. Overall, our study identified vital immune cells and a 2-gene diagnostic signature for the progression of MASLD, providing a new perspective on the diagnosis and immune-related molecular mechanisms of MASLD. These findings have important implications for developing innovative diagnostic tools and therapies for MASLD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28539942,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-26":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Impact of Anxiety and Depression on Physical Health Condition and Disability in an Elderly Korean Population.\nThis study aimed to investigate the longitudinal effects of anxiety, depression, and their comorbidity on physical disorders and disability in an elderly Korean population. In total, 1,204 community-dwelling elders were evaluated at baseline, and of these 909 (75%) were re-assessed two years later. Anxiety and depression were identified at baseline using questions from the community version of the Geriatric Mental State diagnostic schedule (GMS-B3). Participants were assessed for functional disability and for 11 physical disorders both at baseline and at follow-up. Anxiety alone was associated with the incidence of heart disease, depression alone with the incidence of asthma, and comorbid anxiety and depression with incidence of eyesight problem, persistent cough, asthma, hypertension, heart disease, and gastrointestinal problems. Comorbid anxiety and depression were associated with an increase in the number of physical disorders and the degree of disability during the two-year follow-up, compared to anxiety or depression alone or the absence of anxiety or depression. Anxiety, depression, and particularly their comorbidity should be assessed in the elderly population considering their longitudinal effects on physical disorders and disability. Future study is required to determine whether interventions aimed at these disorders can mitigate their impacts.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1699484,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cerebrovascular accidents (strokes) in children with sickle cell disease residing at high and low altitudes of Saudi Arabia.\nIn a 3-year period, eight cases of cerebrovascular accident were seen out of 400 patients with sickle cell disease residing at high and low altitudes of Asir Province of Saudi Arabia. They were all Saudi nationals and comprised five boys and three girls of ages ranging from 3.5 to 9 years. They had varied clinical presentations of their cerebrovascular accident. Cranial computed tomography in seven of them showed abnormality in the region of the middle cerebral circulation. Management and some suggested factors contributing to the occurrence of the cerebrovascular accident are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22701036,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pulsed reduced dose-rate radiotherapy as re-irradiation for brain metastasis in a patient with lung squamous-celled carcinoma.\nThe recurrence and progression of brain metastases after brain irradiation are a major cause of mortality and morbidity in patients with cancer. The risk of radiation-induced neurotoxicity and efficacy probably leads oncologists to not consider re-irradiation. We report the case of a 48-year-old Asian male diagnosed with squamous cell lung cancer and multiple brain metastases initially treated with 40 Gy whole-brain radiotherapy and 20 Gy partial brain boost. Fourteen gray stereotactic radiosurgery as salvage for brain metastases in the left occipital lobe was performed after initial irradiation. The recurrence of brain metastases in the left occipital lobe was demonstrated on magnetic resonance imaging at 9 months after initial radiotherapy. He received the second course of 28 Gy stereotactic radiosurgery for the recurrent brain metastases in the left occipital lobe. The third relapse of brain metastases was demonstrated by a magnetic resonance imaging scan at 7 months after the second radiotherapy. The third course of irradiation was performed because he refused to undergo surgical resection of the recurrent brain metastases. The third course of irradiation used a pulsed reduced dose-rate radiotherapy technique. It was delivered in a series of 0.2 Gy pulses separated by 3-min intervals. The recurrent brain metastases were treated with a dose of 60 Gy using 30 daily fractions of 2 Gy. Despite the brain metastases receiving 162 Gy irradiation, this patient had no apparent acute or late neurologic toxicities and showed clinical improvement. This is the first report of the pulsed reduced dose-rate radiotherapy technique being used as the third course of radiotherapy for recurrent brain metastases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34414037,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"DUSP12 regulates the tumorigenesis and prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma.\nDual specificity protein phosphatase (DUSP)12 is an atypical member of the protein tyrosine phosphatase family, which are overexpressed in multiple types of malignant tumors. This protein family protect cells from apoptosis and promotes the proliferation and motility of cells. However, the pathological role of DUSP12 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is incompletely understood. We analyzed mRNA expression of DUSP12 between HCC and normal liver tissues using multiple online databases, and explored the status of DUSP12 mutants using the cBioPortal database. The correlation between DUSP12 expression and tumor-infiltrating immune cells was demonstrated using the Tumor Immune Estimation Resource database and the Tumor and Immune System Interaction Database. Loss of function assay was utilized to evaluate the role of DUSP12 in HCC progression. DUSP12 had higher expression along with mRNA amplification in HCC tissues compared with those in normal liver tissues, which suggested that higher DUSP12 expression predicted shorter overall survival. Analyses of functional enrichment of differentially expressed genes suggested that DUSP12 regulated HCC tumorigenesis, and that knockdown of DUSP12 expression by short hairpin (sh)RNA decreased the proliferation and migration of HCC cells. Besides, DUSP12 expression was positively associated with the infiltration of cluster of differentiation (CD)4+ T cells (especially CD4+ regulatory T cells), macrophages, neutrophils and dendritic cells. DUSP12 expression was positively associated with immune-checkpoint moieties, and was downregulated in a C3 immune-subgroup of HCC (which had the longest survival). These data suggest that DUSP12 may have a critical role in the tumorigenesis, infiltration of immune cells, and prognosis of HCC.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26473558,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Multiple Responsive Fluids Based on Vesicle to Wormlike Micelle Transitions by Single-Tailed Pyrrolidone Surfactants.\nWe report a new family of multiple responsive fluids based on the single-tailed pyrrolidone surfactants, N-ethyl-2-pyrrolidone N-alkyl amine (C(m)NP, where m = 10, 12, 14, 16, and 18). These surfactants are highly sensitive to solution pH as a result of the presence of the N-amino group in the molecules. Equilibrium surface tension results indicate that both the surface activity and micellization ability of C(m)NPs decrease with the increase of the protonation degree; i.e., they exhibit a higher critical micelle concentration (cmc) and higher surface tension at the cmc (\u03b3(cmc)) at the acidic conditions than those at the basic conditions. The cmc values of C(m)NPs follow the well-known Klevens equation, which decrease linearly with the increase of the hydrocarbon chain length m at a given pH. More importantly, the self-assemblies of C(m)NPs are highly sensitive to pH, CO2, and CuCl2, as identified by turbidity and viscosity. The transitions between vesicles and wormlike micelles are further confirmed by rheology, static and dynamic light scattering (SLS and DLS), cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques systematically. Although the aggregate transitions induced by different factors are similar, however, the mechanisms are different. The pH- and CO2-induced transitions are attributed to variation in the protonation degree of the N-amino group; however, CuCl2-induced transitions are a result of the formation of C(m)NP and CuCl2 coordination complexes as revealed by two-dimensional (2D) nuclear Overhauser effect spectrometry (NOESY) NMR and ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectra.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34405686,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Building on Synthetic Immunology and T Cell Engineering: A Brief Journey Through the History of Chimeric Antigen Receptors.\nAdvancement in our understanding of immune cell recognition and emerging cellular engineering technologies during the last decades made active manipulation of the T cell response possible. Synthetic immunology is providing us with an expanding set of composite receptor molecules capable to reprogram immune cell function in a predefined fashion. Since the first prototypes in the late 1980s, the design of chimeric antigen receptors (CARs; T-bodies, immunoreceptors), has followed a clear line of stepwise improvements from antigen-redirected targeting to designed \"living factories\" delivering transgenic products on demand. Building on basic research and creative clinical exploration, CAR T cell therapy has been achieving spectacular success in the treatment of hematologic malignancies, now beginning to improve the outcome of cancer patients. In this study, we briefly review the history of CARs and outline how the progress in the basic understanding of T cell recognition and of cell engineering technologies made novel therapies possible.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27274024,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The organization and content of informatics doctoral dissertations.\nThis article offers suggested guidelines for graduate students who are embarking on informatics doctoral studies and anticipating the dissertation research and its documentation. Much of the guidance is pertinent for writing dissertations in other disciplines as well. The messages are largely directed at doctoral students, but some elements are also pertinent for master's students. All are relevant for faculty research advisors. The value of the dissertation is often underestimated. Too often it is seen as a hurdle to be overcome rather than an opportunity to gain insight into one's own research and to learn how to communicate effectively about it. Ideas that have been ill-formed often do not gel effectively until one tries to write about them. The main lesson is that the preparation of a carefully crafted, rigorous, logically evidence-based, and influential dissertation can be remarkably rewarding, both personally and professionally.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":930967,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Electroencephalographic correlates of prism adaptation in mentally retarded individuals.\nSensorimotor adaptation was studied in 23 institutionalized, mentally retarded individuals. This was achieved by recording the pattern of off-target pointing errors resulting from viewing through a 20-diopter prism. The results showed a wide range of individual differences in prism adaptation. The electroencephalogram (EEG) was also recorded from four scalp locations and analyzed by computer to determine EEG intensity, coherence, and phase angle. Correlations between EEG and behavioral scores of prism adaptation revealed a number of significant relationships, especially negative correlations between alpha intensity and prismatic adaptation. These results indicate that patterns of central nervous system activity are meaningful related to sensorimotor capabilities in retarded individuals.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6364803,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Preparation and sterilization by filtration of Renacidin irrigation.\nA method for the sterilizing filtration of Renacidin, a urologic irrigating solution, was evaluated. Renacidin irrigation was prepared and sterilized by microporous membrane filtration. A sterilizing membrane filtration apparatus was challenged by inoculating a batch of irrigation solution with Escherichia coli. The sterility of both intentionally contaminated and routinely prepared batches was evaluated. The stability of the solution was monitored by pH measurement, visual examination, maintenance of a vacuum, and absorbance spectrum of a 1:100 dilution in deionized water over a wavelength range from 400 to 200 nm. The time required to prepare three one-liter units was about two hours. No microbial growth was detected in any of the samples. The predicted minimum shelf-life at 10 degrees C was six months. Because the prepared solution contains some unreacted citric acid and bicarbonates, storage at room temperature could produce excessive pressure inside the container from carbon dioxide gas evolution. Refrigerated storage is recommended. This method for the preparation and sterilization of Renacidin irrigation is reasonably expedient, economical, and reliable.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19037614,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Increasing uptake time in FDG-PET: standardized uptake values in normal tissues at 1 versus 3 h.\nPositron emission tomography (PET) imaging at more than 1 h after 2-deoxy-2-[(18)F]fluoro-D: -glucose (FDG) administration may result in less blood pool activity and possibly decreased normal FDG uptake in tissues such as liver. Lower normal background activity could be an important component of improved image contrast on delayed imaging. Increasing FDG uptake in normal organs, however, may mitigate the beneficial effects of blood pool clearance. The purpose of this study is to determine the normal tissue and blood pool FDG uptake at 1 and 3 h after injection. Ninety-nine patients with known or suspected malignancy referred for FDG-PET-computed tomography (CT) were retrospectively evaluated. PET imaging was performed at either 1 h (60 +\/- 15 min; n = 50) or at 3 h (180 +\/- 15 min; n = 49) after FDG administration. Normal tissue FDG uptake without involvement by malignancy or influenced by artifact (misregistration, \"brown fat,\" focal muscle uptake, focal atherosclerotic disease) was confirmed by inspection of both the PET and CT scans. Aortic blood pool, adipose tissue, bone marrow, cerebellum, liver, lungs, muscle, and spleen were quantitatively evaluated by CT-guided region of interest analysis in three contiguous slices. Mean standardized uptake values (SUVs) were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance. Mean SUVs on the 3- versus 1-h images were significantly lower for aortic blood pool 13% (p < 0.0001) and adipose tissue 20% (p < 0.008). FDG uptake showed significant increases at 3 h compared to 1-h imaging in the cerebellum 40% (p < 0.0001), bone marrow 25% (p = 0.003), muscle 21% (p = 0.0004), and spleen 13% (p = 0.01). The liver and lung showed no significant differences (1%, p = 0.85; -2%, p = 0.62, respectively). On FDG imaging at 3 h compared to 1 h, significant changes were apparent, but the magnitude of changes was modest overall. Three-hour delayed imaging demonstrated significantly lower aortic blood pool and adipose tissue activity and significantly higher cerebellum, muscle, spleen, and bone marrow activity. Hepatic and lung activities were not significantly different. These results suggest that previously reported improvements in tumor image contrast with delayed imaging may be primarily due to cumulative FDG uptake within the tumor rather than reduction in normal background activity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23459825,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Infant breastfeeding prevalence in the city of S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil, 2008].\nThis cross-sectional epidemiological study based on AMAMUNIC aimed to evaluate infant breastfeeding (BF) prevalence and duration in S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil. Sample size was based on a cluster calculation, selecting 35 primary care units and 35 infants (< 1 year of age) per unit. A total of 1,424 interviews with mothers were performed (56 items on feeding in the previous 24 hours) in August 2008, subsequently analyzed according to residential areas: Central West, East, North, Southeast, and South. Prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) was 52% up to three months and 39% up to six months, as follows: 44% (Central West), 57% (East), 62% (North), 43% (Southeast), and 48% (South) up to three months and 36% (Central West), 46% (East), 39% (North), 36% (Southeast), and 33% (South) up to six months. Prevalence of EBF according to infant age was 58% in the first month, 50% in the second and third, and 13% in the sixth. In conclusion, EBF prevalence up to six months is still heterogeneous in the city, suggesting the need for programs to encourage BF that are differentiated according to region.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26469558,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Recognizing Single Collisions of PtCl6(2-) at Femtomolar Concentrations on Ultramicroelectrodes by Nucleating Electrocatalytic Clusters.\nWe report the electrodeposition of electrocatalytic clusters of platinum from femtomolar platinate solutions. An inert carbon fiber ultramicroelectrode (UME) was held at a potential where proton reduction was unfavorable on carbon but favorable on platinum in a 1 M sulfuric acid solution. Upon addition of femtomolar amounts of hexachloroplatinic acid, which will also reduce to Pt(0) at the applied potential on the carbon fiber UME, cathodic blips were observed in the amperometric i-t response. These blips correspond to the reduction of protons to molecular hydrogen at the small platinum clusters followed by a rapid deactivation likely due to hydrogen bubble formation. On average, these current spikes occur when five platinum atoms have been formed on the electrode, as determined by a comparative analysis of experimental cathodic blips and calculated hexachloroplatinate molecule collision frequencies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37663027,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Anal sac mast cell tumor in a dog.\nAn 11-year-old castrated mixed-breed dog was diagnosed with a unilateral anal sac mass. Anal sacculectomy was performed without complication. Histopathology of the mass was consistent with a well-differentiated mast cell tumor. Analyses for the Ki-67 protein, KIT expression pattern, and the presence of c-kit mutations were done. Recovery from surgery was unremarkable and repeat staging revealed no evidence of mast cell disease at 4, 8, and 12 mo after surgery. To the authors' knowledge, primary mast cell neoplasia of the anal sac has not previously been reported in the veterinary literature. Key clinical message: Although mast cell tumors of the perineal region are commonly encountered in veterinary practice, the anal sac represents a novel location for this disease. Cytology of anal sac masses can be a useful diagnostic tool to confirm the diagnosis, guide staging, and assist in treatment decisions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30308761,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Recognising, assessing and managing offending behaviour in persons with intellectual disability.\nThe association between intellectual disability and offending is complex. Recent evidence would suggest that the received wisdom of intellectually disabled persons being more prone to offending is either incorrect or only tells part of the story. Those within the 'borderline' intellectual disability range may be more prone to committing sexual and criminal damage offences but those with an IQ less than 50 rarely offend. The offender with intellectual disability shares characteristics with his counterpart from the general population. As with the general population as a whole, offending in this group is often unreported and its recognition is complicated by issues of competence. The lack of validated forensic assessment schedules for this population poses a further challenge. Some general approaches to assessment in this population are discussed. This case report illustrates the difficulties of assessing and managing offending behaviour in an individual with moderate intellectual disability. The challenge of treating offenders with an intellectual disability is immense and requires specialist expertise. Managing such cases in a generic setting is inappropriate and the need for a forensic learning disability service in Ireland is highlighted.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12014928,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Radiology of perinephric fluid collections.\nThe perinephric spaces consist of the subcapsular, perirenal, anterior and posterior pararenal spaces. Fluid may collect in one or more of these compartments; this can be readily demonstrated by cross-sectional imaging, particularly computed tomography (CT). This pictorial review illustrates the radiological manifestations of perinephric fluid collections with their differential diagnosis including perinephric abscess, perirenal urine collection, subcapsular and perirenal hematoma, renal lymphangiomatosis, pancreatic pararenal fluid collections and transudate fluid associated with nephropathies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22694320,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Aberrant temporal growth pattern and morphology of root and shoot caused by a defective circadian clock in Arabidopsis thaliana.\nCircadian clocks synchronized with the environment allow plants to anticipate recurring daily changes and give a fitness advantage. Here, we mapped the dynamic growth phenotype of leaves and roots in two lines of Arabidopsis thaliana with a disrupted circadian clock: the CCA1 over-expressing line (CCA1ox) and the prr9 prr7 prr5 (prr975) mutant. We demonstrate leaf growth defects due to a disrupted circadian clock over a 24 h time scale. Both lines showed enhanced leaf growth compared with the wild-type during the diurnal period, suggesting increased partitioning of photosynthates for leaf growth. Nocturnal leaf growth was reduced and growth inhibition occurred by dawn, which may be explained by ineffective starch degradation in the leaves of the mutants. However, this growth inhibition was not caused by starch exhaustion. Overall, these results are consistent with the notion that the defective clock affects carbon and energy allocation, thereby reducing growth capacity during the night. Furthermore, rosette morphology and size as well as root architecture were strikingly altered by the defective clock control. Separate analysis of the primary root and lateral roots revealed strong suppression of lateral root formation in both CCA1ox and prr975, accompanied by unusual changes in lateral root growth direction under light-dark cycles and increased lateral extension of the root system. We conclude that growth of the whole plant is severely affected by improper clock regulation in A. thaliana, resulting not only in altered timing and capacity for growth but also aberrant development of shoot and root architecture.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1101624,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Intravitreal injection of vancomycin in experimental staphylococcal endophthalmitis.\nToxicity, clearance, and therapeutic effectiveness of intravitreal vancomycin hydrochloride injection in experimentally induced staphylococcal endophthalmitis were evaluated. Vancomycin was found to be nontoxic in a single, 1 mg\/0.1 ml intravitreal dose. Therapeutic levels of vancomycin were present in the vitreous for over 72 hours and in the aqueous during a period from 6 to 48 hours after injection. Injection of a methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus produced a panophthalmitis in our systemically treated controls, whereas in the rabbits treated by intraocular injection, the course of the infection was significantly altered.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32587965,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Specific viral RNA drives the SARS CoV-2 nucleocapsid to phase separate.\nA mechanistic understanding of the SARS-CoV-2 viral replication cycle is essential to develop new therapies for the COVID-19 global health crisis. In this study, we show that the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein (N-protein) undergoes liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) with the viral genome, and propose a model of viral packaging through LLPS. N-protein condenses with specific RNA sequences in the first 1000 nts (5'-End) under physiological conditions and is enhanced at human upper airway temperatures. N-protein condensates exclude non-packaged RNA sequences. We comprehensively map sites bound by N-protein in the 5'-End and find preferences for single-stranded RNA flanked by stable structured elements. Liquid-like N-protein condensates form in mammalian cells in a concentration-dependent manner and can be altered by small molecules. Condensation of N-protein is sequence and structure specific, sensitive to human body temperature, and manipulatable with small molecules thus presenting screenable processes for identifying antiviral compounds effective against SARS-CoV-2.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37852247,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Epidemiology and Comorbidity of Patients with Alopecia Areata in Germany - Analysis of Longitudinal Claims Data.\nAlopecia areata (AA) is a chronic, immune-mediated disease characterised by acute onset hair loss. The hair loss can range from small, circumscribed hairless areas on the scalp to complete loss of head and body hair. However, data on the epidemiology of AA are limited. Current evaluations are lacking in Germany. The aim of this study was to evaluate the epidemiology and comorbidity of AA in Germany based on claims data. A representative 40% sample of all adults who were insured with a German statutory health insurance (DAK-G) between 2016 and 2020 was evaluated (n = 2.88 million). Based on at least one relevant outpatient or inpatient diagnosis of ICD-10 L63, the annual AA prevalence and incidence (ICD-10 L63) were calculated for 2016 to 2020. Different case definitions were used for diagnosis validation. In addition, the occurrence of comorbidities in AA patients was investigated. In 2020, AA prevalence was 210 per 100,000 and incidence 72 per 100,000. Compared to persons without AA, those with AA significantly more often had atopic dermatitis (rate ratio (RR) 2.9), pruritus (RR 2.7), lupus erythematosus (RR 2.4), urticaria (RR 2.3) and psoriasis (RR 2.2). Women were affected slightly more often than men (0.2% vs. 0.1%). On a regional level, higher prevalence and incidence rates were found in Brandenburg (prevalence: 332; incidence: 116 per 100,000), Hesse (344 and 124 per 100,000, respectively) and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (303 and 111 per 100,000, respectively). AA is a common immune-mediated skin condition with a relevant prevalence and marked regional variations in Germany. For a complete understanding of epidemiology, complementary population-based exams including clinical characteristics of AA are useful.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6725574,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Factor structure of the levels of attribution and change (LAC) scale in samples of psychotherapists and smokers.\nInvestigated the factor structure of the Levels of Attribution and Change (LAC) Scale, a 60-item, Likert-format instrument designed to assess the levels and loci of causal attributions about a problem behavior. Principal component analyses were performed on two samples, 194 adult smokers and 140 professional psychotherapists. In both cases, nine distinct and interpretable components were retained, which accounted for 63% and 68% of the total variance, respectively. Coefficients of congruence indicated that the two component patterns were quite similar. Item cross-classification revealed that the nine components closely resemble the 10 theoretical scales, with 2 scales (Familial Conflicts, Interpersonal Conflicts) represented by one component. Estimates of internal consistency averaged .84 and .87 for the two samples. The LAC theoretical scales and the scoring system have considerable empirical justification. The LAC Scale appears to be an internally consistent, multidimensional inventory with a robust factor structure.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25522700,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Qualification of ship doctors: a German approach.\nWhile a steady growth of cruise tourism since the 1970s created an increasing demand for ship doctors medical postgraduate specialty training did not sufficiently reflect the scope of skills and knowledge required from a physician being left to himself at sea. The German Maritime Health Association therefore tasked a working group with analysing the situation and coming up with suggestions for an adequate postgraduate training for ship doctors. The working group consisted of 19 experts with various backgrounds in maritime medicine. A literature review was done on cruise ship epidemiology as well as an assessment of tasks and environmental factors influencing medical care on board of cruise ships. Necessary knowledge and skills were derived and compared with those imparted by standard German medical education. Mandatory knowledge and skills were identified as well as elements of standard medical education contributing to these goals. Those aspects that would or could not be adequately covered by German standard education were catalogued and summarised in a course curriculum. In 2013 after approval by its board of directors the German Maritime Health Association published a qualification and training recommendation addressing colleagues planning to muster as ship doctors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16228211,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Radiofrequency thermal ablation (RFA) after transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) as a combined therapy for unresectable non-early hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).\nThe treatment of unresectable \"non-early\" (according to the BCLC classification) hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in cirrhotic patients with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) followed by radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is retrospectively evaluated and possible prognostic factors of this combined therapy are investigated. Forty-six consecutive cirrhotic patients (Child-Pugh class A or B) with solitary or oligonodular HCC underwent RFA after TACE. The treated lesions were 51 overall (size 30-80 mm, mean 48.9). RFA was performed by a multitined expandable electrodes device after one TACE administration. Local efficacy was evaluated with multiphasic computed tomography (CT) performed an average of 2 months after treatment and then during follow-up. Patient survival rate was also evaluated (follow-up time 1-51 months, mean 15 months). Technical success (defined as complete devascularization during the arterial phase) was achieved in 34\/51 lesions (66.7%) at the first CT check and in 29\/51 (56.9%) during the succeeding follow-up. Among the considered prognostic factors, only lesion diameter (< or > = 50 mm) was statistically significant in the Fisher's exact test in terms of local control (85.2 vs. 45.8% at first CT, p=.0065; 70.4 vs. 41.7% during follow-up, p=.051). There were two major complications (6.5%): one hepatic failure and one death. A Kaplan-Meier analysis showed survival rates of 89.7% at 12 months and 67.1% at 24 months. Combined therapy for non-early HCC shows a relatively high complete local response (especially in lesions less than 5 cm in diameter) and promising mid-term clinical success. Its overall usefulness has yet to be established by a larger series and risk-benefit analysis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7941863,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[The cloning and expression of the gene for Staphylococcus aureus beta-hemolysin].\nThe gene coding the synthesis of beta-hemolysin (phospholipase C) has been cloned from S.aureus strain 126\/89. A highly active Escherichia coli producer has been obtained, its capacity of synthesizing phospholipase C exceeding that of the natural strain 37-fold. Phospholipase C (beta-hemolysin) obtained from the natural and gene-engineering producers have been found to be identical in their enzymatic and molecular characteristics. The nucleotide sequence of the full plc gene which codes peptide consisting of 333 acid radicals has been established. In S.aureus strains of different origin this gene has been found to have a conservative character.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29562042,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The irreducible needs of children for development: a frame of reference to health care.\nA comprehensive health care to children implies in caring for their development, by perceiving the needs based on a suitable reference to children's specificities. This theoretical study aimed to analyze the \"irreducible needs of children\" frame of reference, based on a child development theory. We performed a comparative analysis between the contents of children's irreducible needs and the components of the Bioecological Theory of Human Development. An extensive correspondence was verified among the components of the Bioecological Theory and the following essential needs: ongoing nurturing relationships; experiences tailored to individual differences; developmentally appropriate experiences; limit setting, structure and expectations; stable, supportive communities and cultural continuity. The need for physical protection, safety, and regulation is not explicit in the elements of the theory, although it is also verified in their definitions. We concluded that the irreducible needs' reference can support nurses in health care and in child development promotion.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29368022,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Cost-effective downstream processing of recombinantly produced pexiganan peptide and its antimicrobial activity.\nAntimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have significant potential as alternatives to classical antibiotics. However, AMPs are currently prepared using processes which are often laborious, expensive and of low-yield, thus hindering their research and application. Large-scale methods for production of AMPs using a cost-effective approach is urgently required. In this study, we report a scalable, chromatography-free downstream processing method for producing an antimicrobial peptide, pexiganan, using recombinant Escherichia coli (E. coli). The four helix bundle structure of the unique carrier protein DAMP4 was used to facilitate a simple and cheap purification process based on a selective thermochemical precipitation. Highly pure fusion protein DAMP4var-pexiganan was obtained at high yield (around 24 mg per 800 mL cell culture with a final cultivation OD600 ~ 2). The purification yield of DAMP4var-pexiganan protein is increased twofold with a 72.9% of the protein recovery in this study as compared to the previous purification processes (Dwyer in Chem Eng Sci 105:12-21, 2014). The antimicrobial peptide pexiganan was released and activated from the fusion protein by a simple acid-cleavage. Isoelectric precipitation was then applied to separate the pexiganan peptide from the DAMP4var protein carrier. The final yield of pure bio-produced pexiganan was 1.6 mg from 800 mL of bacterial cell culture (final cultivation OD600 ~ 2). The minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) test demonstrated that the bio-produced pexiganan has the same antimicrobial activity as chemically synthesized counterpart. This novel downstream process provides a new strategy for simple and probable economic production of antimicrobial peptides.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15264600,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Model simulations of the Arctic atmospheric boundary-layer from the SHEBA year.\nWe present Arctic atmospheric boundary-layer modeling with a regional model COAMPS, for the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean (SHEBA) experiment. Model results are compared to soundings, near-surface measurements and forecasts from the ECMWF model. The near-surface temperature is often too high in winter, except in shorter periods when the boundary layer was cloud-capped and well-mixed due to cloud-top cooling. Temperatures are slightly too high also during the summer melt season. Effects are too high boundary-layer moisture and formation of too dense stratocumulus, generating a too deep well-mixed boundary layer with a cold bias at the simulated boundary-layer top. Errors in temperature and therefore moisture are responsible for large errors in heat flux, in particular in solar radiation, by forming these clouds. We conclude that the main problems lie in the surface energy balance and the treatment of the heat conduction through the ice and snow and in how low-level clouds are treated.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28694758,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Safety assessment and antioxidant activity of Lantana montevidensis leaves: Contribution to its phytochemical and pharmacological activity.\nLantana camara, the widely studied species, and L. montevidensis, the less studied species of the genus Lantana are both used in traditional medicine for the same purpose (anti-asthma, anti-ulcer, anti-tumor, etc). However, little is known about the toxicity of L. montevidensis and there is limited information on its chemical constituents. Here, we investigated for the first time the genotoxicity and cytotoxicity of the ethanolic (EtOH) and aqueous extracts from the leaves of Lantana montevidensis in human leukocytes, as well as their possible interaction with human erythrocyte membranes in vitro. The antioxidant activities of both extracts were also investigated in chemical and biological models. Treatment of leukocytes with EtOH or aqueous extracts (1-480 \u00b5g\/mL) did not affect DNA damage index, but promoted cytotoxicity at higher concentrations (240-480 \u00b5g\/mL). Both extracts did not modify the osmotic fragility of human erythrocytes. The extracts scavenged DPPH radical and prevented Fe2+-induced lipid peroxidation in rat's brain and liver homogenates, and this was likely not attributed to Fe (II) chelation. The HPLC analysis of the extracts showed different amounts of polyphenolic compounds (isoquercitrin, gallic acid, catechin, ellagic acid, apigenin, kaempferol, caffeic acid, rutin, quercitrin, quercetin, chlorogenic acid, luteolin) that may have contributed to these effects. These results supported information on the functional use of L. montevidensis in folk medicine.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24386338,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Strike fast, strike hard: the red-throated caracara exploits absconding behavior of social wasps during nest predation.\nRed-throated Caracaras Ibycter americanus (Falconidae) are specialist predators of social wasps in the Neotropics. It had been proposed that these caracaras possess chemical repellents that allow them to take the brood of wasp nests without being attacked by worker wasps. To determine how caracaras exploit nests of social wasps and whether chemical repellents facilitate predation, we: (1) video recorded the birds attacking wasp nests; (2) analyzed surface extracts of the birds' faces, feet, and feathers for potential chemical repellents; and (3) inflicted mechanical damage on wasp nests to determine the defensive behavior of wasps in response to varying levels of disturbance. During caracara predation events, two species of large-bodied wasps mounted stinging attacks on caracaras, whereas three smaller-bodied wasp species did not. The \"hit-and-run\" predation tactic of caracaras when they attacked nests of large and aggressive wasps reduced the risk of getting stung. Our data reveal that the predation strategy of caracaras is based on mechanical disturbance of, and damage to, target wasp nests. Caracara attacks and severe experimental disturbance of nests invariably caused wasps to abscond (abandon their nests). Two compounds in caracara foot extracts [sulcatone and iridodial] elicited electrophysiological responses from wasp antennae, and were also present in defensive secretions of sympatric arboreal-nesting Azteca ants. These compounds appear not to be wasp repellents but to be acquired coincidentally by caracaras when they perch on trees inhabited with Azteca ants. We conclude that caracara predation success does not depend on wasp repellents but relies on the absconding response that is typical of swarm-founding polistine wasps. Our study highlights the potential importance of vertebrate predators in the ecology and evolution of social wasps.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16210755,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Ca2CuTe4O10Cl2, a new synthetic tellurium(IV) oxochloride.\nSingle crystals of dicalcium copper tetratellurium decaoxide dichloride, Ca2CuTe4O10Cl2, were synthesized via a transport reaction in sealed evacuated quartz glass tubes. The building units of the structure are irregular CaO7 polyhedra, centrosymmetric CuO4Cl2 octahedra and two crystallographically distinct TeO4E distorted bipyramids (E being the 5s2 lone pair of TeIV). The TeO4E and CuO4Cl2 polyhedra together form planes that are connected by the Ca atoms. The CuO4Cl2 octahedra are isolated from each other by the other building units.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11994357,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Isozyme-specific abnormalities of PKC in thyroid cancer: evidence for post-transcriptional changes in PKC epsilon.\nPKC isozymes are the major binding proteins for tumor-promoting phorbol esters, and PKC activity is abnormal in a number of different human cancers. Less is known about putative structural and functional changes of specific PKC isozymes in human neoplasms. A single-point mutation of PKCalpha at position 881 of the coding sequence has been observed in human pituitary adenomas and up to 50% of thyroid follicular neoplasms, and a rearrangement of PKCepsilon was reported in a thyroid follicular carcinoma cell line, suggesting that these signaling proteins may play a role in thyroid tumorigenesis. To explore this possibility, we examined thyroid neoplasms for mutations and changes in expression levels of PKCepsilon or alpha. None of the 57 follicular adenomas, 26 papillary carcinomas (PCs), 7 follicular carcinomas, or the anaplastic carcinoma harbored the PKCalpha 881A>G mutation. Moreover, none of 15 PCs, 10 follicular adenomas, or 6 follicular carcinomas showed evidence of mutations of PKCepsilon. However, 8 of 11 PCs had major isozyme-specific reductions of the PKCepsilon protein, which occurred through either translational or posttranslational mechanisms. These data indicate that post-transcriptional changes in PKCepsilon are highly prevalent in thyroid tumors and may play a significant role in their development.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27268296,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-22":1,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Anti-M\u00fcllerian hormone (AMH) receptor type II expression and AMH activity in bovine granulosa cells.\nAnti-M\u00fcllerian hormone (AMH) produced by granulosa cells has previously been proposed to play a role in regulating granulosa cell differentiation and follicle selection. Although AMH receptor type II (AMHR2) dimerizes with a type I receptor to initiate AMH signaling, little is known about the regulation of AMHR2 expression in bovine granulosa cells and the role of AMH in follicle development. The primary objectives of this study were to: (1) characterize AMHR2 expression in granulosa cells during follicle development; (2) identify factors that regulate AMHR2 mRNA expression in granulosa cells; and (3) examine the role of AMH signaling in granulosa cell differentiation and proliferation. Bovine granulosa cells were isolated from 5- to 8-mm follicles before selection and deviation, as well as from 9- to 12-mm and 13- to 24-mm follicles after selection. Analyses revealed that expression of AMHR2 was greater in 5- to 8-mm follicles compared with 13- to 24-mm follicles (P < 0.05). Granulosa cells treated with bone morphogenetic protein 6 (BMP6) or BMP15, but not BMP2, significantly increased AMHR2 expression when compared with control cultured cells (P < 0.05). In addition, expression of AMH was greater in granulosa cells cultured with BMP2, BMP6, or BMP15 when compared with controls (P < 0.05). Finally, treatment with recombinant human AMH, in vitro, inhibited CYP19A1 expression in a dose-related (10-100 ng\/mL) fashion, and reduced granulosa cell proliferation at 48 and 72 hours (P < 0.05). Results from these studies indicate that AMH signaling plays a role in both regulating granulosa cell proliferation and preventing granulosa cells from 5- to 8-mm follicles from undergoing premature differentiation before follicle selection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34234728,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A Study of Young Chinese Intentions to Purchase \"Online Paid Knowledge\": An Extended Technological Acceptance Model.\nUnder the catalysis of knowledge anxiety and cognitive surplus, knowledge sharing platforms has experienced rapid growth, which has accelerated the integration of knowledge resources online. As with all new successful and sustainable business products, the consumers will play an important role in the future development of online paid knowledge. Therefore, we constructed an extended technological acceptance model by examining factors that influence young Chinese people's willingness to pay for online paid knowledge. The study surveyed 405 young Chinese participants, in which the extended technological acceptance model was tested by using structural equation modeling. Findings indicate that perceived ease of use is positively associated with perceived usefulness and associated attitudes, whereas perceived usefulness and attitude is positively associated with purchase intention. Perceived risk and group conformity are found to indirectly affect consumers' willingness to pay. The study advances the current body of knowledge by empirically testing the impact of perceived risk and the role of cultural influence (group conformity) on purchasing intention. Finally, theoretical and practical implications are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30314194,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Taxonomic revision of a darkling beetles genus Anaxius (Tenebrionidae: Pedinini: Helopinina).\nThe genus Anaxius F\u00e5hraeus, 1870 (Tenebrionidae: Helopinina) is revised to include seven Southern African species, four of which are new. A taxonomic treatment of the genus is provided including a morphological study, new species descriptions, keys, illustrations, and notes on species distributions. The following species are treated: Anaxius bloubergensis sp. nov., A. campbellae Koch, 1958, A. limpopoensis sp. nov., A. meletsensis sp. nov., A. obesus F\u00e5hraeus, 1870, A. prozeskyi Koch, 1958, and A. pseudoloensus sp. nov. A lectotype is designated for Anaxius obesus F\u00e5hraeus, 1870 to fix the taxonomic status of this species. Anaxius montiscaerulei Koch, 1958 is considered as a synonym of A. campbellae.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35359375,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pan-Cancer Analysis Based on EPOR Expression With Potential Value in Prognosis and Tumor Immunity in 33 Tumors.\nErythropoietin receptor (EPOR), a member of the cytokine class I receptor family, mediates erythropoietin (EPO)-induced erythroblast proliferation and differentiation, but its significance goes beyond that. The expression and prognosis of EPOR in cancer remain unclear. This study intended to perform a pan-cancer analysis of EPOR by bioinformatics methods. Several databases such as GTEx, TCGA, CCLE, and others were used to explore the overall situation of EPOR expression, and the correlation of EPOR expression with prognosis, microRNAs (miRNAs), immune infiltration, tumor microenvironment, immune checkpoint genes, chemokines, tumor mutation burden (TMB), microsatellite instability (MSI), methyltransferases, and DNA mismatch repair (MMR) genes in 33 tumors was analyzed. In addition, we compared the promoter methylation levels of EPOR in cancer tissues with those in normal tissues and performed protein-protein interaction network, gene-disease network, and genetic alteration analyses of EPOR, and finally enrichment analysis of EPOR-interacting proteins, co-expressed genes, and differentially expressed genes. The TCGA database showed that EPOR expression was upregulated in BLCA, CHOL, HNSC, KIRC, LIHC, STAD, and THCA and downregulated in LUAD and LUSC. After combining the GTEx database, EPOR expression was found to be downregulated in 18 cancer tissues and upregulated in 6 cancer tissues. The CCLE database showed that EPOR expression was highest in LAML cell lines and lowest in HNSC cell lines. Survival analysis showed that high EPOR expression was positively correlated with OS in LUAD and PAAD and negatively correlated with OS in COAD, KIRC, and MESO. Moreover, EPOR had a good prognostic ability for COAD, LUAD, MESO, and PAAD and also influenced progression-free survival, disease-specific survival, disease-free survival, and progression-free interval in specific tumors. Further, EPOR was found to play a non-negligible role in tumor immunity, and a correlation of EPOR with miRNAs, TMB, MSI, and MMR genes and methyltransferases was confirmed to some extent. In addition, the enrichment analysis revealed that EPOR is involved in multiple cancer-related pathways. The general situation of EPOR expression in cancer provided a valuable clinical reference. EPOR may be target gene of hsa-miR-575, etc. A pan-cancer analysis of panoramic schema revealed that EPOR not only may play an important role in mediating EPO-induced erythroblast proliferation and differentiation but also has potential value in tumor immunity and is expected to be a prognostic marker for specific cancers.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29364010,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Patient Concerns Inventory integrated as part of routine head and neck cancer follow-up consultations: frequency, case-mix, and items initiated by the patient.\nIntroduction The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance Improving Supportive and Palliative Care for Adults with Cancer (2004) and the Cancer Reform Strategy (2007) support the premise that assessment and discussion of patients' needs for physical, social, psychological, and spiritual wellbeing should be undertaken during oncology follow-up. We report the use of the Patient Concerns Inventory in a routine head and neck cancer clinic setting over a seven-year period, summarising the number of available clinics, the number of patients completing the inventory within a clinic, the range of clinical characteristics and the concerns they wanted to discuss. Methods The data were analysed from oncology follow-up clinics between 1 August 2007 and 10 December 2014. Audit approval was given by the Clinical Audit Department, University Hospital Aintree. Results There were 386 patients with 1198 inventories completed at 220 clinics, median 6 (range 4-7) per clinic. The most common concerns raised by patients across all the clinic consultations were dry mouth (34%), fear of recurrence (33%), sore mouth (26%), dental health (25%), chewing (22%) and fatigue\/tiredness (21%). Conclusions The incorporation of the Patient Concerns Inventory as part of routine oncology clinics allows for a more patient initiated and focused consultation available to the majority of patients throughout their follow-up. The inventory allows for greater opportunity to provide holistic targeted multiprofessional intervention and support.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16220991,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A novel selective GABA(A) alpha1 receptor agonist displaying sedative and anxiolytic-like properties in rodents.\nIn our pursuit to identify selective ligands for Bz\/GABA(A) receptor subtypes, a novel pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine derivative (4), the azaisostere of zolpidem, was synthesized and evaluated in vitro on bovine brain homogenate and on recombinant benzodiazepine receptors (alphaxbeta2\/3gamma2, x = 1-3, 5) expressed in HEK293 cells. Compound 4 displayed affinity only for alpha1beta2gamma2 subtype (K(i) = 31 nM), and in an in-depth, in vivo study it revealed sedative and anxiolytic-like properties without any amnesic and myorelaxant effects in rodents.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26417783,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Suicide in adolescence: attempt to cure a crisis, but also the fatal outcome of certain pathologies.\nTeen suicide is an alarming public health issue. The purpose of this paper is to better understand the reasons behind attempting\/committing suicide. Our research focuses on adolescent psychopathology and on pathologies that are considered as adolescent suicide risk factors. We conducted literature-based research. The first part of this research was based on adolescent psychopathological traits, whilst the second concentrated on the most frequently made diagnoses in the case of adolescents who had attempted suicide. Adolescence is a period of life characterized by great instability, where everything is called into question. We can observe a high propensity towards taking action, which allows the adolescent to bypass certain questions that they cannot answer. This takes place against a background where the body, which is undergoing change, becomes the scene, the means and the purpose to answer these questions, once and for all, through suicide. Notwithstanding, the studies also show that, setting aside these psychopathological considerations that characterize every adolescent, certain diagnoses are commonly related to adolescent suicide and, as such, constitute risk factors. These pathologies are as follows: depression, adjustment disorder and personality disorder. We can, however, include some precisions as regards the frequency of these diagnoses, given that adolescence is inherently a period of life characterized by depression and that the future adult is obliged to adjust. Teen suicide is, therefore, conditioned by pathological behaviour, which is part of a necessary and normal transition, but one which is occasionally stimulated by certain pathological instabilities.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22668530,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Adenosquamous carcinoma of the esophagogastric junction. Case report.\nAdenosquamous carcinoma is a rare tumor with coexisting elements of infiltrating squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma. This tumor is reported to arise in different organs but rarely in the oesophagus. In most cases, it shows highly aggressive biological behaviour with high propensity to regional lymph-node metastasis and poor prognosis. We describe the management of a patient with an aggressive adenosquamous carcinoma of the esophagogastric junction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15239662,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sulfonyl-containing aldophosphamide analogues as novel anticancer prodrugs targeted against cyclophosphamide-resistant tumor cell lines.\nA series of sulfonyl-group containing analogues of aldophosphamide (Aldo) were synthesized as potential anticancer prodrugs that liberate the cytotoxic phosphoramide mustards (PM, IPM, and tetrakis-PM) via beta-elimination, a nonenzymatic activation mechanism. Kinetic studies demonstrated that all these compounds spontaneously liberate phosphoramide mustards with half-lives in the range of 0.08-15.2 h under model physiological conditions in 0.08 M phosphate buffer at pH 7.4 and 37 degrees C. Analogous to Aldo, the rates of beta-elimination in all compounds was enhanced in reconstituted human plasma under same conditions. The compounds were more potent than the corresponding phosphoramide mustards against V-79 Chinese hamster lung fibroblasts in vitro (IC(50) = 1.8-69.1 microM). Several compounds showed excellent in vivo antitumor activity in CD2F1 mice against both P388\/0 (Wild) and P388\/CPA (CP-resistant) tumor cell lines.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24393777,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Congenital thoracic lordosis and scoliosis in a cat.\nA 10-week-old domestic shorthair kitten was referred for intermittent episodes of dyspnea, cyanosis and a suspected congenital thoracic anomaly. Physical examination showed an obvious palpable concavity in the caudal thoracic spine. Thoracic radiographs showed severe caudal thoracic lordosis from T5 to T13 with a Cobb angle of -77\u00b0, a centroid lordosis angle of -68\u00b0, a vertebral index of 6.3 and a flattened sternum. Severe loss of vital capacity was suspected and surgical correction of the thoracic deformity was to be performed in two separate stages, the first being surgical ventral distraction on the sternum to increase thoracic volume and rigid fixation with an external splint. The second stage, if required, would be surgical correction of the spinal deformity to also increase thoracic volume. The initial stage of surgery was performed and postoperative radiographs showed a vertebral index of 10.3. The kitten suffered a left sided pneumothorax in recovery and died from cardiorespiratory arrest despite immediate pleural drainage and cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Treatment recommendations that may benefit future case management are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23445494,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The utility of low frequency heart rate variability as an index of sympathetic cardiac tone: a review with emphasis on a reanalysis of previous studies.\nThis article evaluates the suitability of low frequency (LF) heart rate variability (HRV) as an index of sympathetic cardiac control and the LF\/high frequency (HF) ratio as an index of autonomic balance. It includes a comprehensive literature review and a reanalysis of some previous studies on autonomic cardiovascular regulation. The following sources of evidence are addressed: effects of manipulations affecting sympathetic and vagal activity on HRV, predictions of group differences in cardiac autonomic regulation from HRV, relationships between HRV and other cardiac parameters, and the theoretical and mathematical bases of the concept of autonomic balance. Available data challenge the interpretation of the LF and LF\/HF ratio as indices of sympathetic cardiac control and autonomic balance, respectively, and suggest that the HRV power spectrum, including its LF component, is mainly determined by the parasympathetic system.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22697034,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Operative guidelines for the shoe industry: risk assessment and environmental hygiene].\nConsidering the most relevant factors for occupational safety and health, the Safety Check application in the footwear industry makes little and medium size factories employers able to carry out risk assessment. However, in specific cases, it is necessary to achieve an in-depth evaluation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28357540,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Vanillin biosynthetic pathways in plants.\nThe present review compiles the up-to-date knowledge on vanillin biosynthesis in plant systems to focus principally on the enzymatic reactions of in planta vanillin biosynthetic pathway and to find out its impact and prospect in future research in this field. Vanillin, a very popular flavouring compound, is widely used throughout the world. The principal natural resource of vanillin is the cured vanilla pods. Due to the high demand of vanillin as a flavouring agent, it is necessary to explore its biosynthetic enzymes and genes, so that improvement in its commercial production can be achieved through metabolic engineering. In spite of significant advancement in elucidating vanillin biosynthetic pathway in the last two decades, no conclusive demonstration had been reported yet for plant system. Several biosynthetic enzymes have been worked upon but divergences in published reports, particularly in characterizing the crucial biochemical steps of vanillin biosynthesis, such as side-chain shortening, methylation, and glucoside formation and have created a space for discussion. Recently, published reviews on vanillin biosynthesis have focused mainly on the biotechnological approaches and bioconversion in microbial systems. This review, however, aims to compile in brief the overall vanillin biosynthetic route and present a comparative as well as comprehensive description of enzymes involved in the pathway in Vanilla planifolia and other plants. Special emphasis has been given on the key enzymatic biochemical reactions that have been investigated extensively. Finally, the present standpoint and future prospects have been highlighted.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12020273,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cytochrome c oxidase deficiency due to a novel SCO2 mutation mimics Werdnig-Hoffmann disease.\nMutations in the SCO2 gene have been associated with fatal cardioencephalomyopathy. To report a novel SCO2 mutation with prominent spinal cord involvement mimicking spinal muscular atrophy (Werdnig-Hoffmann disease). An infant girl presented at birth with generalized weakness, hypotonia, and lactic acidosis. At 1 month of age she developed hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and died of heart failure 1 month later. Neuroradiological studies were unremarkable. Muscle biopsy specimens showed groups of atrophic and hypertrophic fibers, but mutation screening of the SMN gene was negative. Histochemical and biochemical studies of respiratory chain complexes were performed, and the whole coding region of the SCO2 gene was sequenced. Findings from muscle histochemistry studies showed virtually undetectable cytochrome c oxidase activity, but normal succinate dehydrogenase reaction. Biochemical analysis in muscle confirmed a severe isolated cytochrome c oxidase deficiency. Pathologic findings of the brain were unremarkable, but the ventral horns of the spinal cord showed moderate-to-severe loss of motor neurons and astrocytosis. Sequencing of the SCO2 gene showed the common E140K mutation, and a novel 10 base-pair duplication of nucleotides 1302 to 1311, which disrupts the reading frame of the messenger RNA and gives rise to a truncated protein. The SCO2 mutations should be considered in the differential diagnosis of children with spinal muscular atrophy without mutations in the SMN gene.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28744087,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A peek into the future of radiology using big data applications.\nBig data is extremely large amount of data which is available in the radiology department. Big data is identified by four Vs - Volume, Velocity, Variety, and Veracity. By applying different algorithmic tools and converting raw data to transformed data in such large datasets, there is a possibility of understanding and using radiology data for gaining new knowledge and insights. Big data analytics consists of 6Cs - Connection, Cloud, Cyber, Content, Community, and Customization. The global technological prowess and per-capita capacity to save digital information has roughly doubled every 40 months since the 1980's. By using big data, the planning and implementation of radiological procedures in radiology departments can be given a great boost. Potential applications of big data in the future are scheduling of scans, creating patient-specific personalized scanning protocols, radiologist decision support, emergency reporting, virtual quality assurance for the radiologist, etc. Targeted use of big data applications can be done for images by supporting the analytic process. Screening software tools designed on big data can be used to highlight a region of interest, such as subtle changes in parenchymal density, solitary pulmonary nodule, or focal hepatic lesions, by plotting its multidimensional anatomy. Following this, we can run more complex applications such as three-dimensional multi planar reconstructions (MPR), volumetric rendering (VR), and curved planar reconstruction, which consume higher system resources on targeted data subsets rather than querying the complete cross-sectional imaging dataset. This pre-emptive selection of dataset can substantially reduce the system requirements such as system memory, server load and provide prompt results. However, a word of caution, \"big data should not become \"dump data\" due to inadequate and poor analysis and non-structured improperly stored data. In the near future, big data can ring in the era of personalized and individualized healthcare.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35362004,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Multiple sclerosis: Diagnosis, disease-modifying therapy and prognosis.\nMultiple sclerosis (MS) is a multifocal inflammatory central nervous system disorder. There are now many highly effective disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) available as treatment options, which have a significant impact on disease activity and long-term disability. The aim of this article is to provide a concise overview of the diagnosis, DMTs and prognosis of MS. The diagnosis of MS is made on clinicoradiological grounds to prove dissemination of disease in both time and space in the nervous system. While the expanding options of DMTs have had a significant impact on disability, they make medication selection for individual patients more complicated. Patients with MS often have a model of care shared between the neurologist and the general practitioner. This review article summarises the key aspects of the diagnosis, DMTs and prognosis of MS relevant to the general practitioner.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23335251,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Heterometallic polyhydride complexes containing yttrium hydrides with different Cp ligands: synthesis, structure, and hydrogen-uptake\/release properties.\nA new family of Y(4)\/M(2) and Y(5)\/M heterobimetallic rare-earth-metal\/d-block-transition-metal-polyhydride complexes has been synthesized. The reactions of the tetranuclear yttrium-octahydride complex [{Cp''Y(\u03bc-H)(2)}(4)(thf)(4)] (Cp'' = C(5)Me(4)H, 1-C(5)Me(4)H) with one equivalent of Group-6-metal-pentahydride complexes [Cp*M(PMe(3))H(5)] (M = Mo, W; Cp* = C(5)Me(5)) afforded pentanuclear heterobimetallic Y(4)\/M-polyhydride complexes [{(Cp''Y)(4)(\u03bc-H)(7)}(\u03bc-H)(4)MCp*(PMe(3))] (M = Mo (2 a), W (2 b)). UV irradiation of compounds 2 a,b in THF gave PMe(3)-free complexes [{(Cp''Y)(4)(\u03bc-H)(6)(thf)(2)}(\u03bc-H)(5)MCp*] (M = Mo (3 a), W (3 b)). Compounds 3 a,b reacted with one equivalent of [Cp*M(PMe(3))H(5)] to afford hexanuclear Y(4)\/M(2) complexes [{Cp*M(\u03bc-H)(5)}{(Cp''Y)(4)(\u03bc-H)(5)}{(\u03bc-H)(4)MCp*(PMe(3))}] (M = Mo (4 a), W (4 b)). UV irradiation of compounds 4 a,b provided the PMe(3)-free complexes [(Cp''Y)(4)(\u03bc-H)(4){(\u03bc-H)(5)MCp*}(2)] (M = Mo (5 a), W (5 b)). C(5)Me(4)Et-ligated analogue [(Cp''Y)(4)(\u03bc-H)(4){(\u03bc-H)(5)Mo(C(5)Me(4)Et)}(2)] (5 a') was obtained from the reaction of 1-C(5)Me(4)H with [(C(5)Me(4)Et)Mo(PMe(3))H(5)]. On the other hand, the reaction of pentanuclear yttrium-decahydride complex [{(C(5)Me(4)R)Y(\u03bc-H)(2)}(5)(thf)(2)] (1-C(5)Me(5): R = Me; 1-C(5)Me(4)Et: R = Et) with [Cp*M(PMe(3))H(5)] gave the hexanuclear heterobimetallic Y(5)\/M-polyhydride complexes [({(C(5)Me(4)R)Y}(5)(\u03bc-H)(8))(\u03bc-H)(5)MCp*] (6 a: M = Mo, R = Me; 6 a': M = Mo, R = Et; 6 b: M = W, R = Me). Compound 5 a released two molecules of H(2) under vacuum to give [(Cp''Y)(4)(\u03bc-H)(2){(\u03bc-H)(4)MoCp*}(2)] (7). In contrast, compound 6 a lost one molecule of H(2) under vacuum to yield [{(Cp*Y)(5)(\u03bc-H)(7)}(\u03bc-H)(4)MoCp*] (8). Both compounds 7 and 8 readily reacted with H(2) to regenerate compounds 5 a and 6 a, respectively. The structures of compounds 4 a, 5 a', 6 a', 7, and 8 were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1687060,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Malignant urinary tract tumor in childhood.\nFifty-one patients under the age of 18 with histologic-proven malignant urinary tract tumors were encountered at the Department of Pediatrics of National Taiwan University Hospital from 1979 to 1989. There were 47 tumors arising from the kidney, 2 from the bladder, and 2 from the urethra. For upper urinary tract tumors, abdominal mass (92%) and abdominal distension (86%) were the most common symptoms and signs. For lower urinary tract tumors, painless hematuria, bladder distension and urinary difficulty were most frequently encountered. Associated anomalies were found in one-fifth of our patients, including kyphosis, undescended testes, hypospadias, inguinal hernia, intersex and congenital heart disease. Diagnosis was aided by plain X ray, abdominal ultrasonography, intravenous pyelography, computed tomography, or angiography in upper urinary tract tumors, and cystoscopy, cystography and computed tomography in lower urinary tract tumors. Multimodal treatment including total excision, multiagent chemotherapy, and radiotherapy were performed. Postoperative complications included infection (22%), ascites (19%), ileus, pleural effusion, scoliosis, neuropathies, and growth retardation. The local recurrence rate was 32%, and the metastatic rate was 34%. The overall mortality rate was 53% for an average follow-up period of 38 months. The causes of death included sepsis, respiratory failure and hepatic failure. The two-year survival rate was 47.6%. The important prognostic factors included histology, staging and vascular invasion, in addition to combined chemotherapy and radiotherapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32351136,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Integrating gene expression profiling into NCCN high-risk cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma management recommendations: impact on patient management.\nObjective: To integrate gene expression profiling into the management of high-risk cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) within the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines to improve risk-aligned management recommendations.Methods: A cohort of 300 NCCN-defined high-risk cSCC patients, along with the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) T stage, Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) T stage, and known patient outcomes were analyzed. Risk classifications using a validated 40-gene expression profile (40-GEP) test and T stage were applied to NCCN patient management guidelines. Risk-directed patient management recommendations within the NCCN guidelines framework were aligned based on risk for metastasis.Results: Of the 300 NCCN high-risk cSCC patients, 159 (53.0%) were 40-GEP Class 1 and AJCC T1-T2, and 173 (57.7%) were Class 1 and BWH T1-2a, indicating low risk for metastasis and, thereby, suggesting low management intensity. The 40-GEP integration suggested high intensity management for only 24 (8.0%) patients (all Class 2B), and moderate intensity management for the remainder of the cohort.Conclusions: The 40-GEP test can be integrated within existing NCCN guideline recommendations for managing cSCC patients to help refine risk-directed management decisions. Integration of the 40-GEP test would allow >50% of this NCCN-defined high-risk cohort to be managed with the lowest intensity recommendations within the broad NCCN guidelines. High intensity management was deemed risk-appropriate for a small subpopulation (8.0%). This study demonstrates that the 40-GEP test, in combination with T stage, has clinical utility to impact patient management decisions in NCCN high-risk cSCC for improving risk-aligned management within the NCCN guidelines framework.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15806273,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hypercoagulable states: a review.\nVascular surgeons are often asked to evaluate patients with recurrent thromboses or thromboses in unusual locations either arterial or venous. There may be obvious inciting factors, but in many of these patients the possibility of a previously undiagnosed hypercoagulable state must be considered. Hypercoagulable states can be acquired (smoking, medication, change in physiologic status as occurs with pregnancy) or congenital. Congenital hypercoagulable disorders are more prevalent in families or patients with a history of thromboembolic events early in life or multiple miscarriages and include conditions such as protein C or S deficiencies, factor V Leiden mutation, and prothrombin gene variant. This article reviews the hypercoagulable states that are encountered in clinical practice as well as guidelines for testing and goals of therapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9151149,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Permeability and adsorption capacity of dialysis membranes to lipid A.\nHemodialysis membranes were tested in vitro for possible penetration by low molecular weight endotoxins containing lipid A. Using lipid A from Escherichia coli as a model substance for this kind of pyrogen, different dialyzers (F4, E3. Acepal 1300, Altraflux, F 40, Polyflux 110, Filtral 12, F 60) were challenged by tangential filtration in aqueous medium. All membranes exhibited impermability to lipid A (as well as to LPS from Pseudomonas aeruginosa), which was proved by additional experiments using culture filtrates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in bicarbonate dialysis fluid, as well as by employing miniaturized dialyzers with synthetic lipid A as a contaminant. Furthermore, the highest adsorption capacities were found for polysulfone and polyamide membranes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7943399,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Gender difference in cardiopulmonary reflex inhibition of sympathetic nerve activity.\nWe tested the hypothesis that reflex responses to mechanical [increase in left atrial pressure (LAP) 0-25 mmHg] and chemical stimulation [left atrial injection of phenylbiguanide (PBG), 0.5-10 mg\/kg] of cardiopulmonary receptors are greater in female (n = 9; 335 +\/- 9 g) than in male (n = 10; 558 +\/- 23 g) age-matched rats. Anesthetized (500 mg\/kg urethan and 80 mg\/kg alpha-chloralose), tracheotomized, and artificially ventilated (100% oxygen), sinoaortic-denervated animals were instrumented with left atrial, femoral venous, and arterial catheters and a Tygon occluder around the ascending aorta. Reflex inhibition of lumbar sympathetic nerve activity (LSNA) vs. LAP and dose PBG was higher in female rats. A two-way analysis of variance revealed a significant gender effect, males vs. females (P = 0.023), and a significant gender x dose interaction (P < 0.001) for LSNA vs. LAP. There was also a significant gender x dose interaction (P < 0.001) for LSNA vs. PBG. However, there was no influence of gender on the reflex inhibition of mean arterial pressure (P = 0.751) or heart rate (P = 0.561). These responses were associated with a higher left ventricular weight-to-body weight ratio in females (2.14 +\/- 0.06 vs. 1.95 +\/- 0.07 g\/kg, P = 0.039).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34415767,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Giant Thermoelectric Seebeck Coefficients in Tellurium Quantum Wires Formed Vertically in an Aluminum Oxide Layer by Electrical Breakdown.\nHigh efficiency thermoelectric (TE) materials still require high thermopower for energy harvesting applications. A simple elemental metallic semiconductor, tellurium (Te), has been considered critical to realize highly efficient TE conversion due to having a large effective band valley degeneracy. This paper demonstrates a novel approach to directly probe the out-of-plane Seebeck coefficient for one-dimensional Te quantum wires (QWs) formed locally in the aluminum oxide layer by well-controlled electrical breakdown at 300 K. Surprisingly, the out-of-plane Seebeck coefficient for these Te QWs \u2248 0.8 mV\/K at 300 K. This thermopower enhancement for Te QWs is due to Te intrinsic nested band structure and enhanced energy filtering at Te\/AO interfaces. Theoretical calculations support the enhanced high Seebeck coefficient for elemental Te QWs in the oxide layer. The local-probed observation and detecting methodology used here offers a novel route to designing enhanced thermoelectric materials and devices in the future.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17178128,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Characterization of ventricular repolarization in male and female guinea pigs.\nSince both components of the delayed rectifier K(+) currents (I(Kr) and I(Ks)) are present in guinea pig and human ventricle, the guinea pig appears as an interesting model to examine the contribution of these currents in sex-related difference of cardiac repolarization. Accordingly, we compared ventricular repolarization in adult male and female guinea pigs using electrophysiological protocols together with Western blots analysis and perfused heart preparation. Our results indicate that there was no sex-related difference in the expression levels of the different K(+) channels studied (ERG, KvLQT1, minK and Kir2.1), nor in the density of the K(+) currents (I(Kr), I(Ks) and I(K1)) encoded by these channels. Action potential durations and QTc intervals were also similar between males and females. In addition, we compared QTc intervals using Langendorff-perfused whole hearts in the presence of I(Kr) and\/or I(Ks) blockers. The I(Kr) blocker (5 microM E-4031) prolonged QTc intervals to a similar extent in male (24+\/-2%) and female (29+\/-3%, p=0.1) hearts. Similarly, the degree of QTc prolongation induced by 0.1 microM HMR1556 (I(Ks) blocker) was similar in both sexes (males: 15+\/-2% and females 18+\/-2%; p=0.2). In addition to their QT prolonging effects, the I(Kr) and I(Ks) blockers significantly reduced heart rate in both male and female guinea pigs. These studies clearly demonstrate that adult guinea pigs do not display sex differences in ventricular repolarization.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8341471,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Male cancer mortality by occupation: 1973-86.\nTo identify male occupational groups with increased risk of death from cancer in 1973-86. Age and social class standardised mortality ratios were calculated for males 15-64 years for all cancers combined and for site specific cancers by occupational group. In general, higher socio-economic groups had a lower all cancer mortality and lower socio-economic groups a higher mortality. After standardisation for age and social class, mortality ratios were increased for lung cancer in bricklayers and carpenters (SMR = 125; 95% CI: 110-141), machine tool operators (SMR = 218; 95% CI: 131-342), and welders (SMR = 140; 95% CI: 120-161), with the first group also having an increased risk for pleural mesothelioma (SMR = 222; 95% CI: 70-522). Malignant melanoma risk was increased in clerical workers (SMR = 147; 95% CI: 106-199) and not in outdoor occupations. Colon cancer mortality risk was increased in managers (SMR = 125; 95% CI: 104-148), and woodworkers (SMR = 147; 95% CI: 115-186). Stomach cancer mortality risk was raised for machine tool operators (SMR = 357; 95% CI: 128-782). Painters had an increased ratio for multiple myeloma (SMR = 352; 95% CI: 140-729) and machine tool operators an increase for leukaemia (SMR = 172; 95% CI: 45-446). The use of routinely collected data to examine cancer mortality by occupation is a useful method to identify groups with increased risks and provide information for hypothesis generation. Further research may be warranted to investigate lung and digestive cancers in woodworkers and machine tool operators, and cancer of the haemopoietic and lymphatic systems in painters and machine tool operators.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37666683,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cross-cultural adaptation to Spanish of the Perceived Sensivity to Medicines scale.\nPatients' views regarding the actions and side effects of medicines can be measured with the Perceived Sensitivity to Medicines (PSM) scale. The aim of this study was to translate and adapt the PSM scale for use in the Spanish population. The translation and cultural adaptation of the PSM scale and a pretest of the Spanish version were carried out with 50 patients receiving outpatient care in various specialties. There were no difficulties in the stages of the translation and adaptation process. In the cognitive interview, participants found the five items easy to understand (mean score of 3.86\u00b10.24 out of 4). Given its brevity, the Spanish version of the PSM scale represents an easily applicable tool for both research and clinical purposes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28294613,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Surface Adsorption in Ternary Surfactant Mixtures above the Critical Micelle Concentration: Effects of Asymmetry on the Composition Dependence of the Excess Free Energy.\nThe composition of the adsorbed layer of a ternary surfactant mixture at the air-water interface has been studied by neutron reflectivity. The adsorption of the ternary mixture of octaethylene monododecyl ether (C12E8) sodium dodecyl 6-benzene sulfonate (LAS), and sodium dioxyethylene glycol monododecyl sulfate (SLES), as well as each of the binary mixtures, at solution concentrations greater than the mixed critical micelle concentration is highly nonideal. In the ternary mixture, the surface adsorption is dominated by C12E8 and LAS, and there is little SLES at the interface. The departure from ideality in the binary mixtures can be quantitatively described by applying the pseudophase approximation with quadratic and cubic terms in the excess free energy of mixing (GE) both at the surface and in the micelles. The same parameters that describe the binary interactions give a quantitative fit to the adsorbed fractions in the ternary mixture over a wide range of composition. A similar analysis is effective for the mixture containing sodium dodecyl sulfate instead of SLES. Of the set of six GE required to fit the ternary data, one is ideal (SLES-LAS) and three, LAS-C12E8 (micelle) and C12E8-SLES (micelle and surface), have minima occurring at a composition (mole fraction) of the anionic species of 1\/3.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28288998,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-22":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Anterior condylar confluence dural arteriovenous fistula: a rare cause of hoarseness.\nHoarseness secondary to an anterior condylar confluence (ACC) dural arteriovenous fistula (DAVF) has not been previously described. We present a 58-year-old patient with a 3-week history of progressive unilateral left-sided headaches and hoarseness. Nasolaryngoscopy and CT neck showed the presence of unilateral vocal cord palsy with no identifiable cause along the expected course of the recurrent laryngeal nerve. MRI revealed an incidental finding of abnormal serpiginous vessels in the left hypoglossal canal which led to a diagnostic cerebral angiogram, confirming the presence of an ACC DAVF. The patient underwent transvenous coil embolisation with subsequent resolution of arteriovenous shunting and symptoms. Follow-up MRI at 6 months showed no recurrence and there was complete resolution of clinical symptoms.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28580368,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Monitoring nonadiabatic avoided crossing dynamics in molecules by ultrafast X-ray diffraction.\nWe examine time-resolved X-ray diffraction from molecules in the gas phase which undergo nonadiabatic avoided-crossing dynamics involving strongly coupled electrons and nuclei. Several contributions to the signal are identified, representing (in decreasing strength) elastic scattering, contributions of the electronic coherences created by nonadiabatic couplings in the avoided crossing regime, and inelastic scattering. The former probes the charge density and delivers direct information on the evolving molecular geometry. The latter two contributions are weaker and carry spatial information through the transition charge densities (off-diagonal elements of the charge-density operator). Simulations are presented for the nonadiabatic harpooning process in the excited state of sodium fluoride.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":33726178,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Spectral analysis of organic LED emitters' orientation in thin layers by resonant emission on dielectric stacks.\nPurposely tailored thin film stacks sustaining surface waves have been utilized to create a unique link between emission angle and wavelength of fluorescent dye molecules. The knowledge of the thin film stack's properties allows us to derive the intrinsically emitted luminescence spectrum as well as to gain information about the orientation of fluorophores from angularly resolved experiments. This corresponds to replacing all the equipment necessary for polarized spectroscopy with a single smart thin film stack, potentially enabling single shot analyses in the future. The experimental results agree well with those from other established techniques, when analyzing the Rubrene derivative in a 2,4,6-tris(biphenyl-3-yl)-1,3,5-triazine (T2T) host used for the fabrication of optimized organic light-emitting diodes. The findings illustrate how resonant layered stacks can be applied to integrated spectroscopic analyses.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23455230,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Modeling aeolian transport of soil-bound plutonium: considering infrequent but normal environmental disturbances is critical in estimating future dose.\nDose assessments typically consider environmental systems as static through time, but environmental disturbances such as drought and fire are normal, albeit infrequent, events that can impact dose-influential attributes of many environmental systems. These phenomena occur over time frames of decades or longer, and are likely to be exacerbated under projected warmer, drier climate. As with other types of dose assessment, the impacts of environmental disturbances are often overlooked when evaluating dose from aeolian transport of radionuclides and other contaminants. Especially lacking are predictions that account for potential changing vegetation cover effects on radionuclide transport over the long time frames required by regulations. A recently developed dynamic wind-transport model that included vegetation succession and environmental disturbance provides more realistic long-term predictability. This study utilized the model to estimate emission rates for aeolian transport, and compare atmospheric dispersion and deposition rates of airborne plutonium-contaminated soil into neighboring areas with and without environmental disturbances. Specifically, the objective of this study was to utilize the model results as input for a widely used dose assessment model (CAP-88). Our case study focused on low levels of residual plutonium found in soils from past operations at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), in Los Alamos, NM, located in the semiarid southwestern USA. Calculations were conducted for different disturbance scenarios based on conditions associated with current climate, and a potential future drier and warmer climate. Known soil and sediment concentrations of plutonium were used to model dispersal and deposition of windblown residual plutonium, as a function of distance and direction. Environmental disturbances that affected vegetation cover included ground fire, crown fire, and drought, with reoccurrence rates for current climate based on site historical patterns. Using site-specific meteorology, accumulation rates of plutonium in soil were modeled in a variety of directions and distances from LANL sources. Model results suggest that without disturbances, areas downwind to the contaminated watershed would accumulate LANL-derived plutonium at a relatively slow rate (<0.01 Bq m(-2) yr(-1)). However, model results under more realistic assumptions that include environmental disturbances show accumulation rates more than an order-of-magnitude faster. More generally, this assessment highlights the broader need in radioecology and environmental health physics to consider infrequent but normal environmental disturbances in longer-term dose assessments.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15239007,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Conformer-specific and two-fold adiabatic photoisomerization of ZZ-1,4-di-(2-quinolylethenyl)benzene.\nIrradiation of the ZZ stereoisomer of 1,4-di-(2'-quinolylethenyl)-benzene was found to cause direct adiabatic (one photon-two bond) isomerization to a product having the same lifetime as the EE isomer but a rather different spectrum with respect to that obtained by direct excitation of the EE one. To clarify this unexpected behaviour, the conformational equilibria of the EE stereoisomer have been studied in non-polar solvent by fluorimetry. The most abundant conformers, formed by the hindered rotation of the condensed-ring groups around the quasi-single bond with the ethenic carbons, have been characterized by the selective effect of the excitation energy on the fluorescence spectrum. The combined application of the principal component analysis allowed the separation of the spectral properties of three conformers to be achieved. Information on their structures was obtained by theoretical calculations. The results of the present conformational study clearly indicated that the fluorescence spectrum of the photoproduct of ZZ belongs to a specific component of the conformer mixture of the EE isomer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12038138,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Analysis of serum and whole blood values in relation to helminth and ectoparasite infections of feral pigs in Texas.\nIn the summers of 1996 and 1997, 60 wild pigs (Sus scrofa) were necropsied from three sites in south Texas (USA) to test the hypothesis that serum and whole blood parameters vary significantly (P < or = 0.05) with the prevalence and intensity of parasites infecting wild pigs. We found ten parasite species: five nematodes (Metastrongylus salmi, Metastrongylus pudentotectus, Stephanurus dentatus, Oesophagostomum dentatum, and Physocephalus sexalatus); four ixodid ticks (Amblyomma cajennense, Amblyomma maculatum, Amblyomma americanum, and Dermacentor variabilis); and one trematode (Fascioloides magna). Among juvenile pigs, the intensity of the four species of ticks, collectively, was negatively correlated (P < or = 0.05) with whole blood principal component number one (PC-1); this factor was positively associated with lymphocytes and eosinophils. Lungworm intensity (Metastrongylus spp.) among adult pigs was negatively correlated (P < or = 0.05) with whole blood PC-2; this factor was negatively associated with segmented neutrophils and monocytes. There were no significant correlations found between parasite prevalences and either serum or whole blood principal component factors. The correlations observed between parasite intensities and serum and whole blood parameters generally were weak. Thus, we found no strong evidence that serum and whole blood parameters provided good predictive information on parasite infections in wild pigs for most practical management decisions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25503316,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-30":1}}},"text":"The ligninolytic peroxidases in the genus Pleurotus: divergence in activities, expression, and potential applications.\nMushrooms of the genus Pleurotus are comprised of cultivated edible ligninolytic fungi with medicinal properties and a wide array of biotechnological and environmental applications. Like other white-rot fungi (WRF), they are able to grow on a variety of lignocellulosic biomass substrates and degrade both natural and anthropogenic aromatic compounds. This is due to the presence of the non-specific oxidative enzymatic systems, which are mainly consisted of lacasses, versatile peroxidases (VPs), and short manganese peroxidases (short-MnPs). Additional, less studied, peroxidase are dye-decolorizing peroxidases (DyPs) and heme-thiolate peroxidases (HTPs). During the past two decades, substantial information has accumulated concerning the biochemistry, structure and function of the Pleurotus ligninolytic peroxidases, which are considered to play a key role in many biodegradation processes. The production of these enzymes is dependent on growth media composition, pH, and temperature as well as the growth phase of the fungus. Mn(2+) concentration differentially affects the expression of the different genes. It also severs as a preferred substrate for these preoxidases. Recently, sequencing of the Pleurotus ostreatus genome was completed, and a comprehensive picture of the ligninolytic peroxidase gene family, consisting of three VPs and six short-MnPs, has been established. Similar enzymes were also discovered and studied in other Pleurotus species. In addition, progress has been made in the development of molecular tools for targeted gene replacement, RNAi-based gene silencing and overexpression of genes of interest. These advances increase the fundamental understanding of the ligninolytic system and provide the opportunity for harnessing the unique attributes of these WRF for applied purposes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28688169,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sequential Dy(OTf)3 -Catalyzed Solvent-Free Per-O-Acetylation and Regioselective Anomeric De-O-Acetylation of Carbohydrates.\nDysprosium(III) trifluoromethanesulfonate-catalyzed per-O-acetylation and regioselective anomeric de-O-acetylation of carbohydrates can be tuned by adjusting the reaction medium. In this study, the per-O-acetylation of unprotected sugars by using a near-stoichiometric amount of acetic anhydride under solvent-free conditions resulted in the exclusive formation of acetylated saccharides as anomeric mixtures, whereas anomeric de-O-acetylation in methanol resulted in a moderate-to-excellent yield. Reactions with various unprotected monosaccharides or disaccharides followed by a semi-one-pot sequential conversion into the corresponding acetylated glycosyl hemiacetal also resulted in high yields. Furthermore, the obtained hemiacetals could be successfully transformed into trichloroimidates after Dy(OTf)3 -catalyzed glycosylation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30660852,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The relationship between preoperative factors and the presence of intramedullary increased signal intensity on T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging in patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy.\nTo investigate preoperative factors affecting the presence of intramedullary increased signal intensity (ISI) on T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) and the impact of ISI on clinical manifestations. Eighty-nine patients with CSM were retrospectively reviewed from January 2013 to December 2016 in our hospital. Based on the presence or absence of ISI on axial and sagittal T2-weighted MRI, patients were divided into ISI group (48 cases) and non-ISI group (41 cases). Factors such as age, sex, body mass index (BMI), duration of symptoms, clinical symptoms and signs, number and distribution of spinal cord compression levels, preoperative Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) score, preoperative C2-C7 lordotic angle, preoperative C2-C7 range of motion (ROM), maximal canal compromise (MCC) and maximal spinal cord compression (MSCC) were initially compared using univariate analysis. Factors with significant result in univariate analysis were included in multivariate logistic regression analysis. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and the area under the curve (AUC) were applied to evaluate the reliability of multivariate logistic regression model. Univariate analysis showed that the number of spinal cord compression levels, preoperative JOA score, MCC and MSCC might be related to the presence of ISI (P < 0.05). Furthermore, multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that the number of spinal cord compression levels (OR = 0.203, P < 0.05), preoperative JOA score (OR = 4.274, P < 0.05) and MSCC (OR = 0.250, P < 0.05) were independent preoperative risk factors associated with the presence of ISI, yielding an AUC of 0.9558. Patients with ISI showed a trend of increasing clinical symptoms and signs, and also exhibited statistically significantly increased frequencies of clumsy hands, lower limb spasticity, impairment of gait, broad-based, unstable gait, weakness and motor deficits (P < 0.05). Multilevel spinal cord compression, lower preoperative JOA score and greater MSCC are independent preoperative risk factors related to the presence of ISI on T2-weighted MRI in patients with CSM. Patients with ISI tend to have more clinical symptoms and signs, especially in lower limb manifestations and motor deficits.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28257955,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sex hormones reduce NNK detoxification through inhibition of short-chain dehydrogenases\/reductases and aldo-keto reductases in vitro.\nCarbonyl reduction is an important metabolic pathway for endogenous and xenobiotic substances. The tobacco specific nitrosamine 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK, nicotine-derived nitrosamine ketone) is classified as carcinogenic to humans (IARC, Group 1) and considered to play the most important role in tobacco-related lung carcinogenesis. Detoxification of NNK through carbonyl reduction is catalyzed by members of the AKR- and the SDR-superfamilies which include AKR1B10, AKR1C1, AKR1C2, AKR1C4, 11\u03b2-HSD1 and CBR1. Because some reductases are also involved in steroid metabolism, five different hormones were tested for their inhibitory effect on NNK carbonyl reduction. Two of those hormones were estrogens (estradiol and ethinylestradiol), another two hormones belong to the gestagen group (progesterone and drospirenone) and the last tested hormone was an androgen (testosterone). Furthermore, one of the estrogens (ethinylestradiol) and one of the gestagens (drospirenone) are synthetic hormones, used as hormonal contraceptives. Five of six NNK reducing enzymes (AKR1B10, AKR1C1, AKR1C2, AKR1C4 and 11\u03b2-HSD1) were significantly inhibited by the tested sex hormones. Only NNK reduction catalyzed by CBR1 was not significantly impaired. In the case of the other five reductases, gestagens had remarkably stronger inhibitory effects at a concentration of 25 \u03bcM (progesterone: 66-88% inhibition; drospirenone: 26-87% inhibition) in comparison to estrogens (estradiol: 17-51% inhibition; ethinylestradiol: 14-79% inhibition) and androgens (14-78% inhibition). Moreover, in most cases the synthetic hormones showed a greater ability to inhibit NNK reduction than the physiologic derivatives. These results demonstrate that male and female sex hormones have different inhibitory potentials, thus indicating that there is a varying detoxification capacity of NNK in men and women which could result in a different risk for developing lung cancer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9559826,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Alginate lyase promotes diffusion of aminoglycosides through the extracellular polysaccharide of mucoid Pseudomonas aeruginosa.\nWe demonstrated that a 2% suspension of Pseudomonas aeruginosa alginate completely blocked the diffusion of gentamicin and tobramycin, but not that of carbenicillin, illustrating how alginate production can help protect P. aeruginosa growing within alginate microcolonies in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) from the effects of aminoglycosides. This aminoglycoside diffusion barrier was degraded with a semipurified preparation of P. aeruginosa alginate lyase, suggesting that this enzyme deserves consideration as an adjunctive agent for CF patients colonized by mucoid strains of P. aeruginosa.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25499744,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Cultivation of microalgal Chlorella for biomass and lipid production using wastewater as nutrient resource.\nUsing wastewater for microalgal cultures is beneficial for minimizing the use of freshwater, reducing the cost of nutrient addition, removing nitrogen and phosphorus from wastewater and producing microalgal biomass as bioresources for biofuel or high-value by-products. There are three main sources of wastewater, municipal (domestic), agricultural and industrial wastewater, which contain a variety of ingredients. Some components in the wastewater, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, are useful ingredients for microalgal cultures. In this review, the effects on the biomass and lipid production of microalgal Chlorella cultures using different kinds of wastewater were summarized. The use of the nutrients resource in wastewater for microalgal cultures was also reviewed. The effect of ammonium in wastewater on microalgal Chlorella growth was intensively discussed. In the end, limitations of wastewater-based of microalgal culture were commented in this review article.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12031497,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-22":1}}},"text":"Human uroplakin lb gene structure and promoter analysis.\nThe uroplakin Ib (UPIb) gene is predominantly expressed in urothelium and is overexpressed in 50% of transitional cell carcinoma (TCC). Molecular cloning of the genomic 5' region and comparison to a chromosome 3q genomic contig determined that the gene spans 31 kb and has eight exons including a noncoding exon 1. Multiple transcription start sites were identified in exon 1 by 5'RACE and ribonuclease protection assay (RPA). In vitro reporter gene analysis was performed with 2.3 kb of genomic DNA sequence flanking the 5' end of UPIb. A 235-bp 5' fragment that included UPIb exon 1 generated strong transcriptional activity in normal and malignant human urothelial cell lines. Established malignant cell lines had greater transcriptional activity from the UPIb promoter than normal human cells. The identification of a functional human UPIb gene promoter may find application in targeting gene therapy strategies for bladder cancer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9155726,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Induction of early pregnancy factor activity in vitro by platelet-activating factor in mice.\nThe rosette inhibition test was used to determine early pregnancy factor activity in culture media from oestrous mouse ovaries and oviducts stimulated in vitro for early pregnancy factor production under different experimental conditions. Embryo conditioned media, platelet-activating factor and cortical granule release media could all stimulate the production of early pregnancy factor by oestrous mouse ovaries and oviducts. This stimulation was completely blocked by the presence of BN 52021, a platelet-activating factor receptor antagonist. This study indicates that platelet-activating factor is the 'ovum factor' released by the zygote on fertilization to initiate the synthesis of early pregnancy factor.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28540801,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Umbilical temperature correlation with core and skin temperatures at rest, in the heat and during physical activity.\nto determine the correlation of umbilical temperatures (Tumb) with simultaneously recorded chest wall temperature (Tchest) and rectal temperature (Trectal) in adults during rest, heat exposure and exercise. A total of 28 healthy men, wearing different types of clothing (athletic garb, a spandex full body heating garment, firefighter bunker gear) had average and peak umbilical, chest wall and rectal temperature measurements taken during sedentary temperature stabilisation stages, heat exposure periods and active exercise phases. Curvilinear relationships were noted between Tchest and Tumb compared with Trectal and their association became noticeably positive and linear at approximately 35.5 \u00b0C. Polynomial regression analysis of Trectal with linear and quadratic forms of Tchest and Tumb indicated an overall R2 of 0.657 and 0.767, respectively. Bivariate analysis of a restricted data set (where Tchest and Tumb \u226535.5\u00b0), indicated that Tumb was significantly associated with Trectal (raverage = 0.710, p <0.001; rpeak = 0.841, p <0.001) and Tchest was also significantly associated with Trectal, but less so (raverage = 0.570, p <0.001; rpeak = 0.699, p <0.001). the umbilicus offers a non-invasive, peripheral site for measurement of temperature that more closely correlated with body core temperature than Tchest when core temperature was \u226535.5 \u00b0C.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17179402,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Exploring couple attributes and attitudes and marital violence in Vietnam.\nUsing a couple-centered approach, this study focuses on the relative attributes and attitudes of spouses as predictors of marital violence. Analysis of data from Vietnam showed that 37% of married women have ever been hit by their husbands. Regression results found that husbands with lower resources or status than their wives were more likely to have abused. Results also found that the association between husbands' gender attitudes and marital violence depends on the level of equity of wives'attitudes. The decline in violence among couples in which husbands expressed gender equitable attitudes was greater when wives also expressed equitable attitudes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28727774,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Inhibitors of Mycobacterium marinum virulence identified in a Dictyostelium discoideum host model.\nTuberculosis remains one of the major threats to public health worldwide. Given the prevalence of multi drug resistance (MDR) in Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains, there is a strong need to develop new anti-mycobacterial drugs with modes of action distinct from classical antibiotics. Inhibitors of mycobacterial virulence might target new molecular processes and may represent a potential new therapeutic alternative. In this study, we used a Dictyostelium discoideum host model to assess virulence of Mycobacterium marinum and to identify compounds inhibiting mycobacterial virulence. Among 9995 chemical compounds, we selected 12 inhibitors of mycobacterial virulence that do not inhibit mycobacterial growth in synthetic medium. Further analyses revealed that 8 of them perturbed functions requiring an intact mycobacterial cell wall such as sliding motility, bacterial aggregation or cell wall permeability. Chemical analogs of two compounds were analyzed. Chemical modifications altered concomitantly their effect on sliding motility and on mycobacterial virulence, suggesting that the alteration of the mycobacterial cell wall caused the loss of virulence. We characterized further one of the selected compounds and found that it inhibited the ability of mycobacteria to replicate in infected cells. Together these results identify new antimycobacterial compounds that represent new tools to unravel the molecular mechanisms controlling mycobacterial pathogenicity. The isolation of compounds with anti-virulence activity is the first step towards developing new antibacterial treatments.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19051607,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The anticonvulsant, local anesthetic and hemodynamic properties of some chiral aminobutanol derivatives of xanthone.\nIn the present study, several pharmacological tests in animals were carried out to assess potential anticonvulsant, local anesthetic and hemodynamic activity of novel 2- and 4-substituted aminobutanol chiral derivatives of xanthone (hydrochlorides of: (R,S)-2-[(7-chloro)-2-xanthonemethyl)]-N-methylaminobutan-1-ol (MH-2(R,S)), (R,S)-2-(4-xanthonemethyl)-aminobutan-1-ol (MH-20(R,S)) and (R,S)-2-[(6-methoxy)-2-xanthonemethyl]-aminobutan-1-ol (MH-26(R,S)) and their pure enantiomers R and S). The obtained results provided evidence that the most interesting anticonvulsant (in maximal electroshock-test) activity was shown by compound MH-2(R), which in dose 100 mg\/kg p.o., protected the mice against tonic cramp of extensors similarly as phenytoin. Moreover, this compound, in concentrations from 0.25 to 1%, also possessed high local anesthetic activity (in infiltration anesthesia), comparable to the reference compound, mepivacaine. All examined compounds suppressed the spontaneous locomotor activity in mice, especially compound MH-2(R,S) and MH-20(R,S), and their enantiomers. The impairment of motor coordination (in chimney test) for applied doses was not observed. Furthermore, compound MH-20(S) at dose corresponding to 1\/10 LD50 displayed an interesting hemodynamic activity and significantly decreased systolic and diastolic blood pressure in rats. All examined compounds showed chronotropic negative effect in anesthetized rats ECG record. The most reducing heart frequency was observed for enantiomers S of aminobutanol derivatives of xanthone, especially MH-2(S). The LD50 values of the investigated compounds were comparable with LD50 value of the reference compound in local anesthesia tests--mepivacaine. These studies demonstrated different strength of enantiomers and racemic mixture in carried out tests, where the R enantiomers presented rather central and local anesthetic properties, whereas S enatiomers influenced the hemodynamic activity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31602139,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sciatic Nerve to Pudendal Nerve Transfer: Anatomical Feasibility for a New Proposed Technique.\nAim Restoration of bladder and bowel continence after pudendal nerve anastomosis has been shown successfully in animal models and may be applicable in humans. Aim of this cadaveric study was to assess feasibility of pudendal nerve neurotization using motor fascicles from sciatic nerve. Methods Pudendal and sciatic nerves were exposed via gluteal approach in 5 human cadavers (10 sites). Size of pudendal and sciatic nerves and the distance between two nerves was measured. Results There were four male and one female cadavers. Mean age was 62 (range, 50-70) years. Mean pudendal nerve diameter was 2.94 mm (right side) and 2.82 mm (left side). Mean sciatic nerve diameter was 11.2 mm (right side) and 14.2 mm (left side). The distance between two nerves was 23.4 mm on both sides. Conclusion Transfer of the motor fascicles from sciatic nerve to pudendal nerve to restore the bladder and bowel continence is feasible.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9159646,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Electromyographic (EMG) study of cold shivering in the chronic spinal dog.\nCold shivering in six chronic spinal dogs (T9-10), which became capable of weight-bearing standing and\/or walking with their hindlimbs, was studied by electromyography (EMG). In the forequarters, EMG activities in the form of grouping discharges (GD) accompanied by visible tremor (VT) were induced at an ambient temperature of 15 degrees C in all the dogs. In the hindquarters, GD with VT were induced at 3 degrees C in one dog. Although GD with VT were not induced in in the remaining dogs, GD without VT were produced by additional cutaneous stimuli to the hindquarters at 3 degrees C. These stimuli never produced GD in the hindquarters at room temperature. Though the mean frequency of GD in the hindquarters was lower than that in the forequarters, the range of the frequency in the hindquarters was much the same as that in the forequarters. During the experiment, the drop in rectal temperature was less than 0.6 degrees C in all of the dogs. These findings suggest that the chronically isolated spinal cord is responsible for cold shivering, while its excitability to cold exposure is less than that of the spinal cord governed by the supraspinal center.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37460925,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-22":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Spatially resolved, high-dimensional transcriptomics sorts out the evolution of biphasic malignant pleural mesothelioma: new paradigms for immunotherapy.\nMalignant Pleural Mesothelioma (MPM) is a dreadful disease escaping the classical genetic model of cancer evolution and characterized by wide heterogeneity and transcriptional plasticity. Clinical evolution of MPM is marked by a progressive transdifferentiation that converts well differentiated epithelioid (E) cells into undifferentiated and pleomorphic sarcomatoid (S) phenotypes. Catching the way this transition takes place is necessary to understand how MPM develops and progresses and it is mandatory to improve patients' management and life expectancy. Bulk transcriptomic approaches, while providing a significant overview, failed to resolve the timing of this evolution and to identify the hierarchy of molecular events through which this transition takes place. We applied a spatially resolved, high-dimensional transcriptomic approach to study MPM morphological evolution. 139 regions across 8 biphasic MPMs (B-MPMs) were profiled using the GeoMx\u2122Digital Spatial Profiler to reconstruct the positional context of transcriptional activities and the spatial topology of MPM cells interactions. Validation was conducted on an independent large cohort of 84 MPMs by targeted digital barcoding analysis. Our results demonstrated the existence of a complex circular ecosystem in which, within a strong asbestos-driven inflammatory environment, MPM and immune cells affect each other to support S-transdifferentiation. We also showed that TGFB1 polarized M2-Tumor Associated Macrophages foster immune evasion and that TGFB1 expression correlates with reduced survival probability. Besides providing crucial insights into the multidimensional interactions governing MPM clinical evolution, these results open new perspectives to improve the use of immunotherapy in this disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23336977,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The unfolded protein response and chemical chaperones reduce protein misfolding and colitis in mice.\nEndoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress has been associated with development of inflammatory bowel disease. We examined the effects of ER stress-induced chaperone response and the orally active chemical chaperones tauroursodeoxycholate (TUDCA) and 4-phenylbutyrate (PBA), which facilitate protein folding and reduce ER stress, in mice with colitis. We used dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) to induce colitis in mice that do not express the transcription factor ATF6\u03b1 or the protein chaperone P58(IPK). We examined the effects of TUDCA and PBA in cultured intestinal epithelial cells (IECs); in wild-type, P58(IPK-\/-), and Atf6\u03b1(-\/-) mice with colitis; and in Il10(-\/-) mice. P58(IPK-\/-) and Atf6\u03b1(-\/-) mice developed more severe colitis following administration of DSS than wild-type mice. IECs from P58(IPK-\/-) mice had excessive ER stress, and apoptotic signaling was activated in IECs from Atf6\u03b1(-\/-) mice. Inflammatory stimuli induced ER stress signals in cultured IECs, which were reduced by incubation with TUDCA or PBA. Oral administration of either PBA or TUDCA reduced features of DSS-induced acute and chronic colitis in wild-type mice, the colitis that develops in Il10(-\/-) mice, and DSS-induced colitis in P58(IPK-\/-) and Atf6\u03b1(-\/-) mice. Reduced signs of colonic inflammation in these mice were associated with significantly decreased ER stress in colonic epithelial cells. The unfolded protein response induces expression of genes that encode chaperones involved in ER protein folding; these factors prevent induction of colitis in mice. Chemical chaperones such as TUDCA and PBA alleviate different forms of colitis in mice and might be developed for treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19052365,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Crystallization and preliminary X-ray crystallographic analysis of Ca2+-free primary Ca2+-sensor of Na+\/Ca2+ exchanger.\nThe plasma-membrane Na(+)\/Ca(2+) exchanger (NCX) regulates intracellular Ca(2+) levels in cardiac myocytes. Two Ca(2+)-binding domains (CBD1 and CBD2) exist in the large cytosolic loop of NCX. The binding of Ca(2+) to CBD1 results in conformational changes that stimulate exchange to exclude Ca(2+) ions, whereas CBD2 maintains the structure, suggesting that CBD1 is the primary Ca(2+)-sensor. In order to clarify the structural scaffold for the Ca(2+)-induced conformational transition of CBD1 at the atomic level, X-ray structural analysis of its Ca(2+)-free form was attempted; the structure of the Ca(2+)-bound form is already available. Recombinant CBD1 (NCX1 372-508) with a molecular weight of 16 kDa was crystallized by the sitting-drop vapour-diffusion method at 293 K. The crystals belonged to the hexagonal space group P6(2)22 or P6(4)22, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 56.99, c = 153.86 A, beta = 120 degrees , and contained one molecule per asymmetric unit (V(M) = 2.25 A(3) Da(-1)) with a solvent content of about 55% (V(S) = 45.57%). Diffraction data were collected within the resolution range 27.72-3.00 A using an R-AXIS detector and gave a data set with an overall R(merge) of 10.8% and a completeness of 92.8%.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34406383,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Prevalence of Enthesopathies in Adults With X-linked Hypophosphatemia: Analysis of Risk Factors.\nEnthesopathies are the determinant of a poor quality of life in adults with X-linked hypophosphatemia (XLH). To describe the prevalence of patients with enthesopathies and to identify the risk factors of having enthesopathies. Retrospective study in the French Reference Center for Rare Diseases of the Calcium and Phosphate Metabolism between June 2011 and December 2020. Adult XLH patients with full body X-rays performed using the EOS\u00ae low-dose radiation system and clinical data collected from medical records. The main outcome measures were demographics, PHEX mutation, conventional treatment, and dental disease with the presence of enthesopathies. Of the 114 patients included (68% women, mean age 42.2 \u00b1 14.3 years), PHEX mutation was found in 105 patients (94.6%), 86 (77.5%) had been treated during childhood. Enthesopathies (spine and\/or pelvis) were present in 67% of the patients (n = 76). Patients with enthesopathies were significantly older (P = .001) and more frequently reported dental disease collected from medical records (P = .03). There was no correlation between the PHEX mutations and the presence of enthesopathies. Sixty-two patients had a radiographic dental examination in a reference center. Severe dental disease (number of missing teeth, number of teeth endodontically treated, alveolar bone loss, and proportion of patients with 5 abscesses or more) was significantly higher in patients with enthesopathies. Adult XLH patients have a high prevalence of enthesopathies in symptomatic adults patients with XLH seen in a reference center. Age and severe dental disease were significantly associated with the presence of enthesopathies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29377698,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Photoinduced Bimolecular Electron Transfer in Ionic Liquids: Cationic Electron Donors.\nRecently, we have reported a systematic study of photoinduced electron-transfer reactions in ionic liquid solvents using neutral and anionic electron donors and a series of cyano-substituted anthracene acceptors [ Wu , B. ; Maroncelli , M. ; Castner , E. W. Jr Photoinduced Bimolecular Electron Transfer in Ionic Liquids . J. Am. Chem. Soc. 139 , 2017 , 14568 ]. Herein, we report complementary results for a cationic class of 1-alkyl-4-dimethylaminopyridinium electron donors. Reductive quenching of cyano-substituted anthracene fluorophores by these cationic quenchers is studied in solutions of acetonitrile and the ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide. Varying the length of the alkyl chain permits tuning of the quencher diffusivities in solution. The observed quenching kinetics are interpreted using a diffusion-reaction analysis. Together with results from the prior study, these results show that the intrinsic electron-transfer rate constant does not depend on the quencher charge in this family of reactions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1158775,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Globoid cell leukodystrophy in a Beagle.\nGloboid cell leukodystrophy was diagnosed in a purebred Beagle bitch. Clinical signs and histopathologic and ultrastructural features were consistent with those reported in globoid cell leukodystrophy in man, cat, and other breeds of dogs. The occurrence of the disorder in 2 clinically affected females from a related litter and a familial history of inbreeding support the existence of a familial pattern.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21750147,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Aurintricarboxylic acid promotes the conversion of naive CD4+CD25- T cells into Foxp3-expressing regulatory T cells.\nNaive peripheral CD4(+)CD25(-) T cells can be converted into Foxp3-expressing regulatory T cells under appropriate stimulation conditions. Considering that continuous exposure to antigens is one of the prerequisites for the differentiation and maintenance of Treg cells, we investigated whether preventing activation-induced cell death while providing continuous TCR stimulation could promote the expression of Foxp3 in murine naive CD4(+) T cells. Among the several anti-apoptotic agents tested, aurintricarboxylic acid (ATA) was found to induce the in vitro conversion of naive CD4(+) T cells into Foxp3(+) Treg cells with suppressive activity. Neutralizing studies with an antibody against transforming growth factor (TGF)-\u03b2 revealed that ATA requires the presence of TGF-\u03b2 to induce Foxp3 expression in naive CD4(+)CD25(-) T cells. Although ATA itself did not activate the Smad signaling pathway, it down-regulated the extracellular signal-regulated kinase and mammalian target of rapamycin signaling cascade in activated T cells. Lastly, combined exposure to ATA and TGF-\u03b2 had a synergistic effect on the rate of induction and maintenance of Foxp3 expression. These results indicate that ATA could be exploited to efficiently prepare inducible regulatory T cells in vitro and may aid in more precisely identifying the specific signaling pathways that drive Foxp3 expression in T cells.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14080319,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"RECIPROCAL ACTIVITIES OF THE VENTROMEDIAL AND LATERAL HYPOTHALAMIC AREAS OF CATS.\nStatistical treatment of recordings of spontaneous unit discharges from the ventromedial nucleus and the lateral area of the hypothalamus (the activities in one area being recorded while the other was stimulated) revealed significant reciprocal relations. The concept that glucose-sensitive neurons are present in the ventromedial nucleus was supported by the effects on the spontaneous unit discharges of injecting glucose and other-solutions intravenously.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8355286,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Preliminary crystallographic studies on scytalone dehydratase from Magnaporthe grisea.\nMagnaporthe grisea are pathogenic, directly penetrating fungi which cause rice blast disease. Isolated, non-pathogenic mutant strains which are defective in the biosynthesis of dihydroxynapthalene-derived melanin fail to infect host plants and have been shown to lack certain key enzymes in melanin biosynthesis. One such enzyme is scytalone dehydratase that converts scytalone to 1,3,8-trihydroxy-naphthalene. Crystallization trials of scytalone dehydratase were undertaken with the expectation that structural information on this enzyme would facilitate design of high affinity inhibitors which might find use in the control of rice blast disease. We now report that recombinant scytalone dehydratase, complexed with a tight binding inhibitor, has been crystallized with PEG 4000 as a precipitant. The crystals are trigonal and belong to the space group P321 with the cell dimension: a = b = 75.5 A, c = 73.8 A. The observed diffraction extends to 2.5 A. Analysis of the packing in the cell suggests that scytalone dehydratase forms a symmetric trimer. These results are consistent with sedimentation equilibrium experiments indicating that the solution aggregation state of scytalone dehydratase was trimeric over a 24,000-fold concentration range.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28559077,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Incidence and Risk Factors of Postoperative Adjacent Segment Degeneration Following Anterior Decompression and Instrumented Fusion for Degenerative Disorders of the Cervical Spine.\nTo explore incidence and risk factors of postoperative adjacent segment degeneration (ASD) following anterior decompression and instrumented fusion for degenerative disorders of the cervical spine. Medical records from January 2005 to September 2011 of 283 patients were retrospectively reviewed. Patients were divided into 2 groups based on occurrence of ASD at follow-up: ASD group and no ASD group. To investigate risk for occurrence of ASD, 3 sets of factors were analyzed statistically: patient characteristics, surgical variables, and radiographic parameters. Postoperative ASD developed in 68 of 283 patients. There was no statistically significant difference between the 2 groups in patient characteristics or the surgical variables of surgical strategy, surgical time, and blood loss. The number of patients receiving 2-level spinal fusion was higher in the ASD group. Upper instrumented vertebra at C5 was more common in the ASD group. There was no difference between groups in all but 1 of the radiographic parameters; the plate-to-disc distance was much smaller in the ASD group. Logistic regression analysis revealed that upper instrumented vertebra at C5, plate-to-disc distance <3.0 mm, and 2-level anterior cervical fusion were independently associated with ASD. Patients with degenerative disorders of the cervical spine who receive 2-level cervical fusion and with upper instrumented vertebra at C5 are at high potential risk of ASD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32372409,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The effect on consent rates for deceased organ donation in Wales after the introduction of an opt-out system.\nOrgan transplantation saves and transforms lives. Failure to secure consent for organ retrieval is widely regarded as the single most important obstacle to transplantation. A soft opt-out system of consent for deceased organ donation was introduced into Wales in December 2015, whilst England maintained the existing opt-in system. Cumulative data on consent rates in Wales were compared with those in England, using a two-sided sequential procedure that was powered to detect an absolute difference in consent rates between England and Wales of 10%. Supplementary risk-adjusted logistic regression analysis examined whether any difference in consent rates between the two nations could be attributed to variations in factors known to influence UK consent rates. Between 1 January 2016 and 31 December 2018, 8192 families of eligible donors in England and 474 in Wales were approached regarding organ donation, with overall consent rates of 65% and 68%, respectively. There was a steady upward trend in the proportion of families consenting to donation after brain death in Wales as compared with England and after 33 months, this reached statistical significance. No evidence of any change in the donation after circulatory death consent rate was observed. Risk-adjusted logistic regression analysis revealed that by the end of the study period the probability of consent to organ donation in Wales was higher than in England (OR [95%CI] 2.1 [1.26-3.41]). The introduction of a soft opt-out system of consent in Wales significantly increased organ donation consent though the impact was not immediate.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17195701,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Comparative effects of single-dose ceftriaxone versus three oral antibiotic regimens on stool colonization by resistant bacilli in children.\nThe use of short-term intramuscular ceftriaxone for pediatric ambulatory conditions raises concerns regarding the promotion of resistance among colonizing enteric bacteria. This study was designed to assess the prevalence of stool colonization with resistant Gram-negative bacilli after single-dose ceftriaxone treatment compared with other regimens for acute otitis media. Children age 3 months to 7 years and diagnosed with acute otitis media were randomized to receive treatment with single-dose ceftriaxone or with oral cefprozil, amoxicillin or azithromycin. Stool samples were obtained at enrollment and then 3-5 days, 10-14 days, and 28-30 days after therapy was initiated and screened for the presence of facultative Gram-negative bacilli resistant to ceftriaxone, cefprozil, amoxicillin, piperacillin, piperacillin-tazobactam and tobramycin. Mean prevalence of colonization by resistant organisms for each treatment group was compared at each time point. One thousand nine subjects were enrolled. The prevalence of colonization by a Gram-negative bacillus resistant to at least 1 of the screening antibiotics decreased after receipt of ceftriaxone but returned close to values measured at study entry by 30 days. A qualitatively similar pattern was noted for the 3 other regimens, but a quantitatively greater decrease in the prevalence of colonization by a resistant bacterium was noted at the 3- to 5-day and 10- to 14-day visits among azithromycin recipients (P < 0.001). Colonization by a Gram-negative bacillus resistant specifically to ceftriaxone was unusual at each study visit, regardless of treatment assignment. A single intramuscular dose of ceftriaxone had a similar effect on the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative facultative bacilli in the stool of healthy children when compared with commonly used oral agents.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36278714,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Combined Traction Force-Atomic Force Microscopy Measurements of Neuronal Cells.\nIn the course of the development of the nervous system, neuronal cells extend (grow) axons, which navigate over distances of the order of many cell diameters to reach target dendrites from other neurons and establish neuronal circuits. Some of the central challenges in biophysics today are to develop a quantitative model of axonal growth, which includes the interactions between the neurons and their growth environment, and to describe the complex architecture of neuronal networks in terms of a small number of physical variables. To address these challenges, researchers need new experimental techniques for measuring biomechanical interactions with very high force and spatiotemporal resolutions. Here we report a unique experimental approach that integrates three different high-resolution techniques on the same platform-traction force microscopy (TFM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and fluorescence microscopy (FM)-to measure biomechanical properties of cortical neurons. To our knowledge, this is the first literature report of combined TFM\/AFM\/FM measurements performed for any type of cell. Using this combination of powerful experimental techniques, we perform high-resolution measurements of the elastic modulus for cortical neurons and relate these values with traction forces exerted by the cells on the growth substrate (poly acrylamide hydrogels, or PAA, coated with poly D-lysine). We obtain values for the traction stresses exerted by the cortical neurons in the range 30-70 Pa, and traction forces in the range 5-11 nN. Our results demonstrate that neuronal cells stiffen when axons exert forces on the PAA substrate, and that neuronal growth is governed by a contact guidance mechanism, in which axons are guided by external mechanical cues. This work provides new insights for bioengineering novel biomimetic platforms that closely model neuronal growth in vivo, and it has significant impact for creating neuroprosthetic interfaces and devices for neuronal growth and regeneration.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16983926,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Discussion on methods for searching traditional Chinese medical literature in English in PubMed-MEDLINE database].\nThe methods for searching traditional Chinese medical literature in English with subject headings in PubMed-MEDLINE database were discussed from the practical view, and seven useful searching methods with free words according to practical experiences were put forward in order to assist the domestic TCM researchers to utilize PubMed-MEDLINE database in searching overseas TCM literature in English.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34425302,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"MC2R\/MRAP2 activation could affect bovine ovarian steroidogenesis potential after ACTH treatment.\nStressors activate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, reducing fertility by interfering with the mechanisms that regulate the timing of events within the follicular phase of the estrous cycle. In the HPA axis, melanocortin 2 receptor (MC2R) mediates responses to adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) in concert with melanocortin receptor accessory protein 2 (MRAP2). The aims of the present study were: (1) to evaluate the effects of ACTH administered in cows in the preovulatory period on the expression of the MC2R\/MRAP2 complex in the dominant follicle; and (2) to analyze the involvement of Extracellular signal Regulated Kinase 1 (ERK1) signaling in the activation of MC2R and the expression of key enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of glucocorticoids (GCs) in the dominant follicle. To this end, 100 IU ACTH was administered to Holstein cows from a local dairy farm during pro-estrus every 12 h for four days until ovariectomy, which was performed before ovulation. Protein immunostaining of MC2R was higher in the dominant follicles of ACTH-treated cows (p < 0.05). Also, Western blot analysis showed higher activation of the ERK1 signaling pathway in ACTH-treated cows (p < 0.05). Finally, immunohistochemistry performed in the dominant follicles of ACTH-treated cows detected higher expression of CYP17A1 and CYP21A2 (p < 0.05). These results suggest that the bovine ovary is able to respond locally to ACTH as a consequence of stress altering the expression of relevant steroidogenic enzymes. The results also confirm that the complete GC biosynthesis pathway is present in bovine dominant follicle and therefore GCs could be produced locally.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19042294,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"\"Bringing home more than a paycheck:\" an exploratory analysis of Black lesbians' experiences of stress and coping in the workplace.\nAlthough the workplace stress that Black women and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people experience due to prejudice and discrimination has been well-documented in the social science literature, much of this literature focuses on Black women or LGBTs as if these groups were distinct and mutually exclusive. Consequently, there is a void of theory and research on the workplace stress that Black lesbians experience. This qualitative study involved exploratory analyses of workplace stress due to race, sex\/gender, and sexual orientation, and coping strategies among a predominantly middle-class, highly educated sample of 19 Black lesbians between the ages of 26 and 68. Four workplace stressors emerged, those relevant to: heterosexism\/ sexual identity; racism\/race; sexism\/sex\/gender; and intersections of race, sex\/gender, and sexual orientation. Three primary coping strategies emerged: being out and managing being out, covering their sexual orientation, and confronting or educating coworkers about prejudice and discrimination.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1695077,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Immunohistochemical staining of human breast cancer with a new tumour marker MCA: relation to axillary lymph node involvement, metastasis, and survival.\nThe immunohistochemical reactivity of a new tumour marker MCA (mucinous carcinoma associated antigen) was determined in human breast cancer. The material consisted of paraffin-embedded biopsies from the breast tumours in 95 patients. The age of the patients at the time of diagnosis was 58.1 +\/- 13.1 years. The maximal follow-up time was 13.3 years and the mean follow-up time 12.4 years (range 11.5-13.3 years). MCA positivity was not related to histological type or size of the tumour. It was, however, related to axillary node involvement (p = 0.05) and metastasis (p = 0.06) during the follow-up time. The prediction of metastasis (p = 0.05) and node involvement (p = 0.048) was better in postmenopausal women. Crude survival or breast cancer survival could not be predicted with statistical significance on the basis of MCA staining. The disease-free survival had an almost statistically significant correlation with MCA positivity (p = 0.09). Our results suggest that the new tumour marker antigen MCA reacts with breast cancer cells in paraffin sections. It might be used in identification of cancer cells in tissue sections. MCA can also be used as a weak indicator of aggressiveness of the tumour.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28579248,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Echocardiography-Derived Left Ventricular Outflow Tract Gradient and Left Ventricular Posterior Wall Thickening Are Associated with Outcomes for Anatomic Repair in Congenitally Corrected Transposition of the Great Arteries.\nCongenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries is a rare form of congenital heart disease. Management is controversial; options include observation, physiologic repair, and anatomic repair. Assessment of morphologic left ventricle preparedness is key in timing anatomic repair. This study's purpose was to review the modalities used to assess the morphologic left ventricle preoperatively and to determine if any echocardiographic variables are associated with outcomes. A retrospective review of patients with congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries eligible for anatomic repair at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital from 2000 to 2016 was conducted. Inclusion criteria were (1) presurgical echocardiography, magnetic resonance imaging, and cardiac catheterization and (2) clinical follow-up information. Echocardiographic measurements included left ventricular (LV) single-plane Simpson's ejection fraction, LV eccentricity index, LV posterior wall thickening, pulmonary artery band (PAB)\/LV outflow tract (LVOT) pressure gradient, and LV and right ventricular strain. Magnetic resonance imaging measurements included LV mass, ejection fraction, eccentricity index, and LV thickening. LV pressure, PAB\/LVOT gradient, right ventricular pressure, pulmonary vascular resistance, and Qp\/Qs constituted catheterization data. Outcomes included achieving anatomic repair within 1 year of assessment in patients with LVOT obstruction or within 1 year of pulmonary artery banding and freedom from death, transplantation, or heart failure at last follow-up. Forty-one patients met the inclusion criteria. PAB\/LVOT gradients of 85.2 \u00b1 23.4 versus 64.0 \u00b1 32.1 mm Hg (P = .0282) by echocardiography and 60.1 \u00b1 19.4 versus 35.9 \u00b1 18.9 mm Hg (P = .0030) by catheterization were associated with achieving anatomic repair and freedom from death, transplantation, and heart failure. Echocardiographic LV posterior wall thickening of 35.4 \u00b1 19.8% versus 20.6 \u00b1 15.0% (P = .0017) and MRI LV septal wall thickening of 37.1 \u00b1 18.8% versus 19.3 \u00b1 18.8% (P = .0306) were associated with achieving anatomic repair. Inter- and intraobserver variability for echocardiographic measurements was very good. PAB\/LVOT gradient and LV posterior wall thickening are highly reproducible echocardiographic measurements that reflect morphologic LV performance and can be used in assessing patients with congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries undergoing anatomic repair.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27256827,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Use of smokeless tobacco and risk of cardiovascular disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis.\nObjective The purpose of this study was to assess the risk of ischaemic heart disease (IHD) and stroke (non-fatal and fatal) among adult ever-users of smokeless tobacco (ST). Design The study design involved a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies. Methods Data sources for the review included key electronic databases and reference lists. Studies were included based on design (cohort or case-control), exposure (exclusive use of ST or adjusted for smoking), and outcome (non-fatal and fatal IHD and stroke). Data extraction included reported measures of association (risk ratios (RRs) or odds ratios (ORs)) between ever-use of ST (current or past) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) outcomes among non-smokers, and other study characteristics. The Newcastle-Ottawa scale was used to assess study quality. Summary measures were estimated using random effects models. Results Twenty studies were included in the meta-analyses. Overall, significantly increased risk of IHD deaths (1.15, 95% confidence interval (CI: 1.01-1.30) and stroke deaths (1.39, 95% CI: 1.29-1.49) was found among ever-users of ST. We did not find an overall significant increased risk for IHD (1.14, 95% CI: 0.92-1.42) or stroke (1.01, 95% CI: 0.90-1.13). But geographical variations were marked for IHD, with significant positive association in Asian studies (1.40, 95% CI: 1.01-1.95), and the INTERHEART study, where ST data was mainly reported from Asia (2.23, 95% CI: 1.41-3.53). European studies did not show an increased risk for non-fatal CVD. Conclusion An association was found between ever use of ST and risk of fatal IHD and stroke, consistent with previous reviews. ST consumption also appears to significantly increase risk of non-fatal IHD among users in Asia, but not in Europe.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31256520,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Preliminary study of exon sequence in pneumoconiosis using high-throughput and intervention of EGFR-TKIs on silicosis rats].\nObjective: To observe the effect of epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKIs) on silica (SiO(2))-induced pulmonary fibrosis in rats, and to explore the role of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling pathway in pulmonary fibrosis. Methods: A rat model of SiO(2) silicosis was established (high, medium and low dose intervention groups, and the model group was infused with silica suspension). The control group was intratracheally injected with the same amount of sterile saline. The rats were intragastrically administered with different concentrations of EGFR-TKIs (13.5 mg\/day, 6.75 mg\/day, 3.375 mg\/day). The model group and the control group were given the same amount of normal saline. Six rats in each group were euthanized on the 3rd, 7th, and 14th days after modeling. HE staining was used to observe the pathological of lung tissue. Masson staining to observe pulmonary fibrosis. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) expression of p-EGFR. Determination of hydroxyproline content by alkaline hydrolysis of the sample, Western Blot was used to detect the contents of TGF-\u03b1, Ras, p-Erkl\/2, PI-3KCG and Aktl protein in lung tissue. Results: The degree of fibrosis and hydroxyproline content in HE staining and Masson staining decreased with the increase of intervention dose, which was statistically significant (7 d, 14 d). Compared with the model group, the relative expressions of TGF-\u03b1, p-Erkl\/2 and Aktl protein in lung tissue of each intervention group were statistically significant (P<0.05). The down-regulation of Ras and PI-3KCG protein in the high- and medium-dose intervention group was statistically significant (P<0.05), and there was no significant difference in the low-dose intervention group.Compared with the intervention group, the down-regulation of TGF-\u03b1, Ras, and p-Erkl\/2 protein in the lung tissue was statistically different in the low-dose group (P<0.05). There was no significant difference between the dose and the medium dose intervention group (P>0.05). PI-3KCG was significantly different only in the high-dose intervention group and the low-dose intervention group on the 7th and 14th day (P<0.05), and there was no difference between the other groups (P>0.05). There was a statistically significant difference in Akt1 between the dose intervention groups (P<0.05). Conclusion: EGFR-TKIs inhibits EGFR-related intracellular tyrosine kinase activity and intracellular phosphorylation, and inhibits the downstream signal transduction pathways of EGFR\/PI-3K\/AKt and Ras\/ERK\/MAPK target protein Ras, p-Erkl\/2, PI3K, Akt1, thereby alleviating changes in pulmonary fibrosis, this process is dose-dependent, and the high-dose and medium-dose intervention groups have a significant effect.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29384780,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Effect of Emergency Department and ICU Occupancy on Admission Decisions and Outcomes for Critically Ill Patients.\nICU admission delays can negatively affect patient outcomes, but emergency department volume and boarding times may also affect these decisions and associated patient outcomes. We sought to investigate the effect of emergency department and ICU capacity strain on ICU admission decisions and to examine the effect of emergency department boarding time of critically ill patients on in-hospital mortality. A retrospective cohort study. Single academic tertiary care hospital. Adult critically ill emergency department patients for whom a consult for medical ICU admission was requested, over a 21-month period. None. Patient data, including severity of illness (Mortality Probability Model III on Admission), outcomes of mortality and persistent organ dysfunction, and hourly census reports for the emergency department, for all ICUs and all adult wards were compiled. A total of 854 emergency department requests for ICU admission were logged, with 455 (53.3%) as \"accept\" and 399 (46.7%) as \"deny\" cases, with median emergency department boarding times 4.2 hours (interquartile range, 2.8-6.3 hr) and 11.7 hours (3.2-20.3 hr) and similar rates of persistent organ dysfunction and\/or death 41.5% and 44.6%, respectively. Those accepted were younger (mean \u00b1 SD, 61 \u00b1 17 vs 65 \u00b1 18 yr) and more severely ill (median Mortality Probability Model III on Admission score, 15.3% [7.0-29.5%] vs 13.4% [6.3-25.2%]) than those denied admission. In the multivariable model, a full medical ICU was the only hospital-level factor significantly associated with a lower probability of ICU acceptance (odds ratio, 0.55 [95% CI, 0.37-0.81]). Using propensity score analysis to account for imbalances in baseline characteristics between those accepted or denied for ICU admission, longer emergency department boarding time after consult was associated with higher odds of mortality and persistent organ dysfunction (odds ratio, 1.77 [1.07-2.95]\/log10 hour increase). ICU admission decisions for critically ill emergency department patients are affected by medical ICU bed availability, though higher emergency department volume and other ICU occupancy did not play a role. Prolonged emergency department boarding times were associated with worse patient outcomes, suggesting a need for improved throughput and targeted care for patients awaiting ICU admission.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6166603,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"IgE antibodies for penicillins and cephalosporins in rats. II. Antigenic specificity of rat anti-penicillin-OvA IgE sera.\nSprague Dawley (SD) rats were immunized with various penicillin-ovalbumin (OvA) in combination with aluminum hydroxide (alum) and thimerosal-killed Bordetella pertussis for the purpose of obtaining rat anti-penicillin IgE sera. In the rat 60-hour passive cutaneous anaphylaxis (PCA) reaction and the hapten inhibition test, a weak cross reaction between penicillin G (PCG) and ampicillin (ABPC) was observed, but not cross reaction was observed between sulbenicillin (SBPC) and other penicillins. Rat anti-6-formamidopenicillanic acid (FPC) IgE serum reacted with PCG-bovine gamma globulin (BGG), ABPC-BGG and SBPC-BGG, but FPC-BGG did not react with rat anti-PCG, anti-ABPC and anti-SBPR IgE sera and the PCA reaction between anti-FPC IgE sera and FPC-BGG was inhibited by FPC, PCG, ABPC and SBPC. These results indicate that the antigenic active sites of PCG, ABPC and SBPC are limited to the acyl side chain moiety of penicillins, while the antigenic active site of FPC is confined to the penicilloyl moiety of the penicillin.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23460721,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Job strain-associated inflammatory burden and long-term risk of coronary events: findings from the MONICA\/KORA Augsburg case-cohort study.\nWe examined the association between job strain and coronary heart disease (CHD) and investigated the role of markers of inflammation and endothelial dysfunction as possible mediators of job strain-associated CHD risk. The sample (n = 1027) included employed participants (35-64 years old, 68% male) from the population-based MONICA\/KORA (Monitoring of Trends and Determinants in Cardiovascular Disease\/Kooperative Gesundheitsforschung in der Region Augsburg) studies. At baseline Karasek's Job Strain Index was assessed during standardized personal interviews, and nine biological markers were measured (1984-1995). Participants were followed (average, 12 years) to assess incident events (sudden cardiac death or fatal and nonfatal myocardial infarction). In this case-cohort design, the final sample contained 114 cases and 913 noncases. Baseline distributions of cardiometabolic risk factors were significantly different between cases and noncases, with no detectable job strain-specific differences. However, cases with high job strain had higher monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, interleukin (IL)-8, and IL-18 compared with noncases with high job strain. High-sensitivity C-reactive protein, IL-6, and soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 were increased in cases versus noncases, regardless of work stress. Job strain was associated with incident coronary events in Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for age, sex, and survey (hazard ratio = 2.57, 95% confidence interval = 1.09-6.07) and after adjustment for CHD risk factors (2.35, 1.003-5.49). Adjustment for monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 or IL-8 increased this risk estimate by 14.5% or 9.4%, respectively, whereas adjustment for C-reactive protein and soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 led to decreased hazard ratios (-9.9% and -5.5%, respectively). Job strain increased CHD risk in healthy workers; the associated inflammatory burden may contribute to stress-related coronary pathogenesis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28739824,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Epigenetic Mechanisms Regulate Innate Immunity against Uropathogenic and Commensal-Like Escherichia coli in the Surrogate Insect Model Galleria mellonella.\nInnate-immunity-related genes in humans are activated during urinary tract infections (UTIs) caused by pathogenic strains of Escherichia coli but are suppressed by commensals. Epigenetic mechanisms play a pivotal role in the regulation of gene expression in response to environmental stimuli. To determine whether epigenetic mechanisms can explain the different behaviors of pathogenic and commensal bacteria, we infected larvae of the greater wax moth, Galleria mellonella, a widely used model insect host, with a uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) strain that causes symptomatic UTIs in humans or a commensal-like strain that causes asymptomatic bacteriuria (ABU). Infection with the UPEC strain (CFT073) was more lethal to larvae than infection with the attenuated ABU strain (83972) due to the recognition of each strain by different Toll-like receptors, ultimately leading to differential DNA\/RNA methylation and histone acetylation. We used next-generation sequencing and reverse transcription (RT)-PCR to correlate epigenetic changes with the induction of innate-immunity-related genes. Transcriptomic analysis of G. mellonella larvae infected with E. coli strains CFT073 and 83972 revealed strain-specific variations in the class and expression levels of genes encoding antimicrobial peptides, cytokines, and enzymes controlling DNA methylation and histone acetylation. Our results provide evidence for the differential epigenetic regulation of transcriptional reprogramming by UPEC and ABU strains of E. coli in G. mellonella larvae, which may be relevant to understanding the different behaviors of these bacterial strains in the human urinary tract.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34422791,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Unpicking the Roles of DNA Damage Protein Kinases in Trypanosomatids.\nTo preserve genome integrity when faced with DNA lesions, cells activate and coordinate a multitude of DNA repair pathways to ensure timely error correction or tolerance, collectively called the DNA damage response (DDR). These interconnecting damage response pathways are molecular signal relays, with protein kinases (PKs) at the pinnacle. Focused efforts in model eukaryotes have revealed intricate aspects of DNA repair PK function, including how they direct DDR pathways and how repair reactions connect to wider cellular processes, including DNA replication and transcription. The Kinetoplastidae, including many parasites like Trypanosoma spp. and Leishmania spp. (causative agents of debilitating, neglected tropical infections), exhibit peculiarities in several core biological processes, including the predominance of multigenic transcription and the streamlining or repurposing of DNA repair pathways, such as the loss of non-homologous end joining and novel operation of nucleotide excision repair (NER). Very recent studies have implicated ATR and ATM kinases in the DDR of kinetoplastid parasites, whereas DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PKcs) displays uncertain conservation, questioning what functions it fulfills. The wide range of genetic manipulation approaches in these organisms presents an opportunity to investigate DNA repair kinase roles in kinetoplastids and to ask if further kinases are involved. Furthermore, the availability of kinase inhibitory compounds, targeting numerous eukaryotic PKs, could allow us to test the suitability of DNA repair PKs as novel chemotherapeutic targets. Here, we will review recent advances in the study of trypanosomatid DNA repair kinases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27254108,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Low miR-187 expression promotes resistance to chemoradiation therapy in vitro and correlates with treatment failure in patients with esophageal adenocarcinoma.\nEsophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) has a poor prognosis and is increasing in incidence in many western populations. Neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy (CRT) followed by surgery is increasingly the standard of care for locally advanced EAC; however, resistance to treatment is a significant clinical problem. The identification of both novel biomarkers predicting response to treatment and novel therapeutic targets to enhance the efficacy of CRT are key to improving survival rates in EAC. In this study we performed global microRNA (miRNA) profiling of pre-treatment EAC biopsies and identified 67 miRNA significantly altered in patients who are resistant to CRT. One of these miRNA, miR-187, was significantly decreased in pre-treatment EAC tumors from patients having a poor response to neoadjuvant CRT, highlighting downregulation of miR-187 as a potential mechanism of treatment resistance in EAC. In vitro, miR-187 was demonstrated to play a functional role in modulating sensitivity to X-ray radiation and cisplatin in EAC and its dysregulation was demonstrated to be due to chromosomal alterations. In vitro, miR-187 altered expression of a diverse array of pathways, including the immune regulator complement component 3 (C3), serum levels of which we have previously demonstrated to predict patient response to CRT. In vivo, expression of C3 was significantly increased in tumors from patients having a poor response to CRT. This study highlights for the first time a role for miR-187 as a novel biomarker of response to CRT and a potential therapeutic target for enhancing the efficacy of CRT in EAC.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30662974,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Air pollution, physical activity, and markers of acute airway oxidative stress and inflammation in adolescents.\nThe airway inflammatory response is likely the mechanism for adverse health effects related to exposure to air pollution. Increased ventilation rates during physical activity in the presence of air pollution increases the inhaled dose of pollutants. However, physical activity may moderate the relationship between air pollution and the inflammatory response. The present study aimed to characterize, among healthy adolescents, the relationship between dose of inhaled air pollution, physical activity, and markers of lung function, oxidative stress, and airway inflammation. With a non-probability sample of adolescents, this observational study estimated the association between air pollution dose and outcome measures by use of general linear mixed models with an unstructured covariance structure and a random intercept for subjects to account for repeated measures within subjects. A one interquartile range (IQR) (i.e., 345.64 \u03bcg) increase in ozone (O3) inhaled dose was associated with a 29.16% average decrease in the percentage of total oxidized compounds (%Oxidized). A one IQR (i.e., 2.368E+10 particle) increase in total particle number count in the inhaled dose (PNT) was associated with an average decrease in forced expiratory flow (FEF25-75) of 0.168 L\/second. Increasing activity levels attenuated the relationship between PNT inhaled dose and exhaled nitric oxide (eNO). The relationship between O3 inhaled dose and percent oxidized exhaled breath condensate cystine (%CYSS) was attenuated by activity level, with increasing activity levels corresponding to smaller changes from baseline for a constant O3 inhaled dose. The moderating effects of activity level suggest that peaks of high concentration doses of air pollution may overwhelm the endogenous redox balance of cells, resulting in increased airway inflammation. Further research that examines the relationships between dose peaks over time and inflammation could help to determine whether a high concentration dose over a short period of time has a different effect than a lower concentration dose over a longer period of time.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12042458,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Folate status and age affect the accumulation of L-isoaspartyl residues in rat liver proteins.\nFormation of atypical L-isoaspartyl residues in proteins and peptides is a common, spontaneous and nonenzymatic modification of aspartyl and asparaginyl sites. The enzyme protein-L-isoaspartyl methyltransferase (PIMT) catalyzes the transfer of the methyl group of S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM) to these L-isoaspartyl sites, thereby allowing reisomerization and restoration of the original alpha peptide linkage. Because SAM is in part a product of folate metabolism, the present study was undertaken to determine the effects of folate deficiency on the presence of L-isoaspartyl residues in hepatic proteins. Young (weanling) and older (12 mo) Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a folate-sufficient (2 mg folate\/kg diet) or folate-deficient (0 mg folate\/kg diet) diet for 20 wk. Liver proteins were analyzed for L-isoaspartyl residues. This analysis was based on the PIMT-dependent incorporation of [(3)H]-methyl groups from [(3)H]-SAM and the subsequent (nonenzymatic) sublimation of these methyl groups into a nonaqueous scintillant. The amount of L-isoaspartyl residues in hepatic proteins was higher in younger folate-deficient than in folate-sufficient rats (deficient: 187 +\/- 71, sufficient: 64 +\/- 43 pmol\/mg protein, P < 0.025). This difference, however, was not seen among the older groups of rats who instead exhibited a much larger accumulation of L-isoaspartyl residues in their hepatic proteins (deficient: 528 +\/- 151, sufficient: 470 +\/- 204 pmol\/mg protein, P = 0.568). The importance of these observations is discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31263813,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Precise and non-invasive circulating tumor cell isolation based on optical force using homologous erythrocyte binding.\nPrecise isolation of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) is proved to be significant for early cancer diagnosis and downstream analysis. Most of the existing strategies yield low purity or cause unexpected damage to cells because of foreign material introduction. To avoid foreign material caused damage and achieve high efficiency simultaneously, this work presents an innovative strategy using tumor cell targeting molecules to bind homologous red blood cells (RBCs) with tumor cells, which results in obvious optical constant differences (both size and mean refractive index) between CC-RBCs (RBC conjugated CTCs) and other blood cells. Then the modified CTCs can be precisely separated under laser illumination in an optofluidic system. Experiments show that CTCs are efficiently modified with erythrocytes and finally isolated from blood at high purity (more than 92%) and a high recovery rate (over 90%). In the whole process, CTCs are proved to keep membrane and function integrity. The combination of homologous RBC binding and an optofluidic system will provide a convenient tool for cancer early diagnosis and treatment monitoring, which exhibits good performance in CTC non-invasive and precise isolation, thus showing great potential.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36278151,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-18":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The efficacy and safety of intralesional injection of collagenase Clostridium histolyticum for Peyronie's disease: A meta-analysis of published prospective studies.\nBackground: Peyronie's disease (PD) is a progressive fibrotic disorder of the penis that is adverse to men's health. Currently, effective and reliable non-surgical options for PD are limited. Since the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved it in 2013, intralesional injection of collagenase Clostridium histolyticum (CCH) became the only licensed treatment for PD. This meta-analysis aims to evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of CCH in treating PD, predominantly based on post-FDA studies. Methods: The primary outcome was clinical efficacy evaluated by the percentages of improvement in penile curvature (PC) and Peyronie's disease symptom bother score (PD bother score). The secondary outcome was the safety assessed by treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs). Heterogeneity was assessed by Cochran's Q and I 2 tests. Sensitivity and subgroup analyses were performed to explore the source of heterogeneity. Funnel plots and Egger's test were used to evaluate the publication bias. Results: A total of 11 studies with 1,480 intentions to treat (ITT) population were included. The pooled effect of the improvement of PC was 35% (95% CI: 0.33-0.38), and the pooled improvement of the PD bother score was 41% (95% CI: 0.37-0.45). No heterogeneity was found at the pooled improvement of PC (p = 0.845, I 2 = 0.00%). Meanwhile, some heterogeneity existed in the pooled improvement of the PD bother score (p = 0.069, I 2 = 43.4%). The pooled effect of TRAEs was 93% (95% CI 0.88-0.97) with significant heterogeneity (p < 0.000, I 2 = 92.3%). Conclusion: The intralesional injection of CCH could significantly improve the penile deformity of PD patients. Meanwhile, CCH appears to ameliorate the PD bother score to some extent and has acceptable clinical safety. Future studies are required to clarify the long-term outcomes of CCH injection in the treatment of PD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28705897,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cas9-mediated excision of Nematostella brachyury disrupts endoderm development, pharynx formation and oral-aboral patterning.\nThe mesoderm is a key novelty in animal evolution, although we understand little of how the mesoderm arose. brachyury, the founding member of the T-box gene family, is a key gene in chordate mesoderm development. However, the brachyury gene was present in the common ancestor of fungi and animals long before mesoderm appeared. To explore ancestral roles of brachyury prior to the evolution of definitive mesoderm, we excised the gene using CRISPR\/Cas9 in the diploblastic cnidarian Nematostella vectensisNvbrachyury is normally expressed in precursors of the pharynx, which separates endoderm from ectoderm. In knockout embryos, the pharynx does not form, embryos fail to elongate, and endoderm organization, ectodermal cell polarity and patterning along the oral-aboral axis are disrupted. Expression of many genes both inside and outside the Nvbrachyury expression domain is affected, including downregulation of Wnt genes at the oral pole. Our results point to an ancient role for brachyury in morphogenesis, cell polarity and the patterning of both ectodermal and endodermal derivatives along the primary body axis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34404138,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Past and present of plasmatrix].\nThe plasmatrix has good biological activity, it derives from patients' themselves tissues and has no adverse reactions, thus it has been widely used in tissue regeneration. With the development of biomedicine and material science, plasmatrix have gone through different stages of development, their preparation methods, product characteristics and biology have all changed. This article summarizes past research and systematically introduces the development process, theoretical basis and product characteristics of plasmatrix, so as to provide guidance for their application in the process of tissue regeneration.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37457295,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Role of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) in the regulation of mitochondrial bioenergetics in zebrafish oocytes: lessons from in vivo and in vitro investigations.\nOptimal mitochondrial functioning is indispensable for acquiring oocyte competence and meiotic maturation, whilst mitochondrial dysfunction may lead to diminished reproductive potential and impaired fertility. The role of the intra-ovarian IGF system in ovarian follicular dynamics has been implicated earlier. Although several studies have demonstrated the role of the IGF axis in facilitating mitochondrial function over a multitude of cell lines, its role in oocyte energy metabolism remains largely unexplored. Here using zebrafish, the relative importance of IGF1 in modulating oocyte mitochondrial bioenergetics has been investigated. A dramatic increase in ovarian lhcgr and igf1 expression accompanied heightened ATP levels and mitochondrial polarization in full-grown (FG) oocytes resuming meiotic maturation and ovulation in vivo. Concomitant with elevated igf1 expression and IGF1R phosphorylation, hCG (LH analog) stimulation of FG follicles in vitro prompted a sharp increase in NRF-1 and ATP levels, suggesting a positive influence of gonadotropin action on igf1 expression vis-\u00e0-vis oocyte bioenergetics. While recombinant IGF1 administration enhanced mitochondrial function, IGF1R immunodepletion or priming with PI3K inhibitor wortmannin could abrogate NRF-1 immunoreactivity, expression of respiratory chain subunits, \u0394\u03a8M, and ATP content. Mechanistically, activation of PI3K\/Akt signaling in IGF1-treated follicles corroborated well with the rapid phosphorylation of GSK3\u03b2 at Ser9 (inactive) followed by PGC-1\u03b2 accumulation. While selective inhibition of GSK3\u03b2 promoted PGC-1\u03b2, Akt inhibition could abrogate IGF1-induced p-GSK3\u03b2 (Ser9) and PGC-1\u03b2 immunoreactive protein indicating Akt-mediated GSK3\u03b2 inactivation and PGC-1\u03b2 stabilization. The IGF1-depleted follicles showed elevated superoxide anions, subdued steroidogenic potential, and attenuated G2-M1 transition. In summary, this study highlights the importance of IGF1 signaling in oocyte bioenergetics prior to resumption of meiosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22661848,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Clinical efficacy of Shilajatu (Asphaltum) processed with Agnimantha (Clerodendrum phlomidis Linn.) in Sthaulya (obesity).\nObesity is defined as the condition in which excessive amount of fat is accumulated in the body. Classical Ayurvedic texts describe eight types of despicable designated as 'Nindita purusha' including atisthaulya. Corpulent people are characterized by short in longevity, slow movement, difficult to indulge in sex, weak, emission of bad body odor, profuse perspiration, excessive hunger and excessive thirst. Sixty to seventy percent of cardiac patients die of obesity and contribute to develop coronary artery disease, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hyperlipidaemia. In the present study, 66 patients of obesity were treated with Shilajatu processed with Agnimantha. After complition of therapy, 5.09 \u00b1 0.24 kg and 2.06 \u00b1 0.10 kg\/m(2) reduction of body weight and body mass index, respectively were noted. The result was found to be statistically highly significant (P<0.001). No adverse effects were observed in any of the treated patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11989732,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Comparison of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, immunohistochemistry, and in situ hybridization for the detection of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus in pigs.\nReverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), immunohistochemistry, and in situ hybridization were compared for the detection of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV). Fifteen piglets experimentally infected with PEDV were used in the study. In addition, 94 diarrheic piglets submitted to the Department of Veterinary Pathology in Seoul National University for diagnosis of PEDV infection were used to compare the 3 methods. Antigen and nucleic acid of PEDV were detected in 15\/15, 13\/15, and 14\/15 of the intestinal and fecal samples from the PEDV-inoculated pigs by RT-PCR, immunohistochemistry, and in situ hybridization, respectively. The virus was isolated from 15\/15 of the jejunal samples from the PEDV-inoculated pigs. Neither PEDV antigen nor PEDV nucleic acid was detected in the intestinal and fecal samples from mock-infected control pigs. Of the 94 samples, 63 were positive for PEDV by all 3 techniques. Six samples were positive for PEDV by immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization. Three samples were positive for PEDV by in situ hybridization and RT-PCR. Seven samples were positive for PEDV by RT-PCR. Although RT-PCR identified the presence of PEDV more frequently than the other methods, when only formalin-fixed tissues are submitted, immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization would be useful methods for the detection of PEDV antigen and nucleic acid.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12014569,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Case III: Managing conflict--the case of the faculty stuck in the middle.\nThe need for administrative faculty members to have superior leadership and management skills to handle their increasingly complex responsibilities is well established. As a part of the 2000-01 ADEA Leadership Institute curriculum, fellows were responsible for developing situational case studies for a faculty development workshop to develop participants' leadership and management skills. The case presented here involved managing conflicts in the dental academic setting. The foundation of conflict management centers on communication techniques including transparent communication, open discussion, open confrontation, and active listening. Management options such as avoidance, accommodation, competition, negotiation, and collaboration are potential strategies for the faculty leader. This case study involves a fictitious public dental school, New Horizons University, which has embarked on solutions to address limited resources, but unwittingly has created conflicts between individuals and groups of faculty members. The case discussion analyzes the cause of conflicts, presents the positive and negative potential of the conflicts, reviews techniques of conflict management, and discusses specific management concepts regarding resource allocation and equity theory.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26487912,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Polar Functionalities Containing Nitrodihydroimidazooxazoles as Anti-TB Agents.\nNovel polar functionalities containing 6-nitro-2,3-dihydroimidazooxazole (NHIO) analogues were synthesized to produce a compound with enhanced solubility. Polar functionalities including sulfonyl, uridyl, and thiouridyl-bearing NHIO analogues were synthesized and evaluated against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) H37Rv. The aqueous solubility of compounds with MIC values \u22640.5 \u03bcg\/mL were tested, and six compounds showed enhanced aqueous solubility. The best six compounds were further tested against resistant (Rif(R) and MDR) and dormant strains of MTB and tested for cytotoxicity in HepG2 cell line. Based on its overall in vitro characteristics and solubility profile, compound 6d was further shown to possess high microsomal stability, solubility under all tested biological conditions (PBS, SGF and SIF), and favorable oral in vivo pharmacokinetics and in vivo efficacy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30668721,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Vertical Habitat Stratification in Sympatric and Allopatric Populations of Aedes hendersoni and Aedes triseriatus (Diptera: Culicidae).\nVertical habitat stratification in populations of Aedes hendersoni Cockerell (Diptera: Culicidae) and Aedes triseriatus (Say) (Diptera: Culicidae) has been observed to varying degrees throughout the species' sympatric range, and potential causes of the phenomenon, including species competition and interaction, have been debated extensively. Stratification patterns in oviposition in allopatric, sympatric, and marginally sympatric populations of both species were investigated and compared in this research to detect any pattern differences related to species composition. Expected patterns were observed in sympatric populations, with Ae. hendersoni preferentially ovipositing in canopy habitats, whereas Ae. triseriatus preferred basal habitats. Allopatric populations presented a strong shift toward basal preference in the former and a slighter but significant shift toward canopy in the latter. Marginal populations of Ae. hendersoni showed intermediate height preferences, whereas preferences of marginal and sympatric Ae. triseriatus did not differ. The convergence of habitat selection in allopatric populations and corresponding divergence in sympatric populations support interspecific competition-based hypotheses regarding the origin of the stratification phenomenon, although plausible alternative or contributing explanations are numerous and warrant further study.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26485751,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Role of the teneurins, teneurin C-terminal associated peptides (TCAP) in reproduction: clinical perspectives.\nIn humans, the teneurin gene family consists of four highly conserved paralogous genes that are the result of early vertebrate gene duplications arising from a gene introduced into multicellular organisms from a bacterial ancestor. In vertebrates and humans, the teneurins have become integrated into a number of critical physiological systems including several aspects of reproductive physiology. Structurally complex, these genes possess a sequence in their terminal exon that encodes for a bioactive peptide sequence termed the 'teneurin C-terminal associated peptide' (TCAP). The teneurin\/TCAP protein forms an intercellular adhesive unit with its receptor, latrophilin, an Adhesion family G-protein coupled receptor. It is present in numerous cell types and has been implicated in gamete migration and gonadal morphology. Moreover, TCAP is highly effective at reducing the corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) stress response. As a result, TCAP may also play a role in regulating the stress-associated inhibition of reproduction. In addition, the teneurins and TCAP have been implicated in tumorigenesis associated with reproductive tissues. Therefore, the teneurin\/TCAP system may offer clinicians a novel biomarker system upon which to diagnose some reproductive pathologies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12018571,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Primary PNET of kidney: report of two cases and review of literature.\nPNET of the kidney is a rare tumor with only a few published reports. In view of poorer prognosis and different therapeutic approach, renal PNET should therefore be differentiated from other primary renal neoplasma such as Wilms tumor, renal neuroblastoma and malignant rhabdoid tumor which on histology resemble renal PNET. Two cases of renal PNET have been described in this report. Cut surface of the tumor in both cases was greyish white lobulated, with multiple tiny cystic areas. Histologically, tumor consisted of loosely cohesive sheets of small to medium sized monomorphic cells with round nuclei and little cytoplasm. Tumor cells showed diffuse strong membrane positivity for MIC2 and focal weak to moderate positivity for NSE and vimentin. Renal PNET should therefore be included in differential diagnosis of rapidly enlarging renal lumps presenting with local infiltration and aggressive behaviour, particularly in children and young adults. Diffuse strong membrane positivity for MIC2 in PNET is helpful in differentiating it from other primary renal neoplasms.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28346621,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Current Status of Family Medicine Faculty Development in Sub-Saharan Africa.\nReducing the shortage of primary care physicians in sub-Saharan Africa requires expansion of training programs in family medicine. Challenges remain in preparing, recruiting, and retaining faculty qualified to teach in these pioneering programs. Little is known about the unique faculty development needs of family medicine faculty within the sub-Saharan African context. The purpose of this study was to assess the current status and future needs for developing robust family medicine faculty in sub-Saharan Africa. The results are reported in two companion articles. A cross-sectional study design was used to conduct a qualitative needs assessment comprising 37 in-depth, semi-structured interviews of individual faculty trainers from postgraduate family medicine training programs in eight sub-Saharan African countries. Data were analyzed according to qualitative description. While faculty development opportunities in sub-Saharan Africa were identified, current faculty note many barriers to faculty development and limited participation in available programs. Faculty value teaching competency, but institutional structures do not provide adequate support. Sub-Saharan African family physicians and postgraduate trainee physicians value good teachers and recognize that clinical training alone does not provide all of the skills needed by educators. The current status of limited resources of institutions and individuals constrain faculty development efforts. Where faculty development opportunities do exist, they are too infrequent or otherwise inaccessible to provide trainers the necessary skills to help them succeed as educators.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6930227,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The treatment of fistulas following irradiation damage.\nFistulas following irradiation treatment of uterine cancer present special problems. They are seldom isolated injuries. Because of the depressed response of connective tissue, direct repair can seldom be carried out. For rectovaginal fistulas a defunctioning colostomy is the usual first stage, and this may in time result in spontaneous closure. Repair can only be achieved by carefully planned operations where non-irradiated tissue is used to close the defect.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1163205,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cyclic changes in the pituitary gland in correlation with the testicular cycle in a hill-stream teleost, Schizothorax richardsonii (Gray and Hard).\nIn Schizothorax richardsonii, the pituitary gland has been studied in correlation with the phases of the testicular cycle. The cyanophils of the proximal pars distalis show hypertrophy, hyperplasia, granulation, degranulation and vacuolisation in concurrence with the spermatogenic cycle. Secretory activity of the cyanophils controls the maturation of testes, which indicates that these cyanophils are gonadotrops. The formation of sperm mother cells, however, does not appear to depend on the secretory activity of the pituitary. During spawning and regression phases, the azocarminophilous granules in the cytoplasm of the cyanophils show quantitative variation. The migratory chromophil cells show numerical variation, suggesting their involvement in the reproductive cycle. Neurosecretory material also appears to play some part in reproduction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31265013,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Electrospun nanofiber supported optodes: scaling down the receptor layer thickness to nanometers - towards 2D optodes.\nA novel type of optode sensor is proposed using electrospun nanofibers as the supporting inert material. The proposed arrangement offers the possibility of a significant extension of the surface area of the probe while also minimizing the thickness of the receptor layer. This novel, close to 2D, optode configuration results in a sensor free from limitations related to analyte transport in the receptor phase. Unlike other formats, low analyte ion concentrations (10-8-10-5 M) were recorded, which are typically inaccessible for other formats of optodes, with a linear dependence of the emission signal on the logarithm of the analyte concentration. This effect results from a significant exhaustion of the analyte in the sample close to the interface with the sensor. On the other hand, as the ionophore surface concentration in the receptor was close to saturation, for a high concentration of the analyte (>10-5 M) in solution, the optode responses were observed with a sigmoidal dependence of the emission intensity on the logarithm of analyte concentration, independent of the applied ionophore contents in the 2D receptor phase. It was also shown that the response of the nanofiber supported liquid optode layer is reversible for the sigmoidal response range.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11996948,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Collagen suppresses the proliferative phenotype of allylamine-injured vascular smooth muscle cells.\nRepeated cycles of oxidative injury by allylamine induce proliferative rat vascular smooth muscle cell (vSMC) phenotypes characterized by enhanced secretion of osteopontin (OPN). The present study was designed to evaluate the role of extracellular matrix (ECM) interactions in the induction of proliferative phenotypes in this model of oxidant injury. Because OPN is involved in ECM\/integrin signaling, and may participate in proliferative control, the proliferation profiles of control and allylamine vSMCs seeded on different matrices were compared. Allylamine cells exhibited a proliferative advantage over controls when seeded on plastic, Pronectin, or fibronectin, but not type I collagen. Addition of GRGDS peptide selectively enhanced [3H]-thymidine incorporation in allylamine vSMCs, while anti-OPN antibodies nullified their proliferative advantage. Allylamine cells exhibited altered expression of alpha1, alpha5 and beta3 integrin subunits and enhanced downstream integrin-coupled increases in focal adhesion kinase, AP-1 and NF-kappaB binding activity. Inhibition of NF-kappaB by pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate selectively compromised proliferation of allylamine vSMCs, while seeding on a non-permissive collagen matrix ablated enhancement of NF-kappaB inducibility. These results implicate ECM interactions in the deregulation of vSMC proliferation following repeated cycles of oxidative chemical injury.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20357464,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Non-human primates: a comparative developmental perspective on yawning.\nThere is a long history of yawning in Old World monkeys being viewed as a form of communication, in particular, as a kind of threat. Yawning in agonistic and tense situations is seen in adult males, in particular, and it varies with male hormonal levels and social status. Experiments are reviewed that demonstrate operant control of the rate of yawning in adult male macaques, using food rewards. This indicates a degree of flexibility in the production of yawning. However, although adult male Old World monkeys often engage in 'canine contests', there is little evidence for the contagious yawning seen in humans. Experiments are reviewed showing that chimpanzees tested under comparable conditions to human adults, namely exposed to video sequences showing yawns, may yawn contagiously to yawn stimuli. Chimpanzees also yawn to computer animations of yawns. There is controversy in the literature over whether other species, including dogs and some monkeys, may also show contagious yawning. Further research is required to address unresolved issues. A hypothesis is put forward that in modern industrial society adults' natural pattern of yawning is inhibited, and that being reminded to yawn by seeing another individual yawn (contagious yawning) can help us to catch up on missed yawns. This would explain the lack of contagious yawning reported in young children and chimpanzees in natural surroundings, as these populations do not have the same social constraints on yawning.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22664465,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Short and long-term effects of Baccharis articulata on glucose homeostasis.\nIn this study, the in vivo effect of the crude extract and n-butanol and aqueous residual fractions of Baccharis articulata (Lam.) Pers. on serum glucose levels, insulin secretion and liver and muscle glycogen content, as well as in vitro action on serum intestinal disaccharidase activity and albumin glycation were investigated. Oral administration of the extract and fractions reduced glycemia in hyperglycemic rats. Additionally, the n-butanol fraction, which has high flavonoids content, stimulated insulin secretion, exhibiting an insulinogenic index similar to that of glipizide. Also, the n-butanol fraction treatment significantly increased glycogen content in both liver and muscle tissue. In vitro incubation with the crude extract and n-butanol and aqueous residual fractions inhibited maltase activity and the formation of advanced glycation end-products (AGEs). Thus, the results demonstrated that B. articulata exhibits a significant antihyperglycemic and insulin-secretagogue role. These effects on the regulation of glucose homeostasis observed for B. articulata indicate potential anti-diabetic properties.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37449791,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Population outcomes, trends and the future of pouch surgery for ulcerative colitis: a 19-year New South Wales data linkage study.\nIleal pouch-anal anastomosis (IPAA) is considered the gold standard reconstructive option in ulcerative colitis (UC). Recent efforts to improve pouch outcomes have seen a push towards centralisation of surgery. This study aimed to document outcomes following pouch surgery at a population level within New South Wales (NSW), and identify factors associated with, and temporal trends of these outcomes. A retrospective data linkage study of the NSW population over a 19-year period was performed. The primary outcome was pouch failure in patients with UC who underwent IPAA. The influence of hospital level factors (including annual volume) and patient demographic variables on this outcome were assessed using Cox proportional hazards modelling. Temporal trends in annual volume and evidence for centralisation over the studied period were assessed using Poisson regression analysis. The annual volume of UC pouches reduced over the study period. The pouch failure rates were 8.6% (95% CI 6.3-10.8%) and 10.6% (95% CI 8.0-13.1%) at 5- and 10-years, respectively. Increasing age and non-elective admission were associated with higher failure rates. One-third of UC pouches (31.6%) were performed in a single institution, which averaged 6.5 pouches\/year throughout the study period. Three-quarters (19\/25) of NSW public hospitals who performed pouches performed less than one UC pouch annually. The outcomes following UC pouch surgery in NSW are comparable with global standards. Concentrating IBD pouch surgery with the aim of producing specialist surgical teams may be a reasonable way forward in NSW and would ensure equity of access and facilitate research and training collaboration.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17911605,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"PDL1 is required for peripheral transplantation tolerance and protection from chronic allograft rejection.\nThe PD-1:PDL pathway plays an important role in regulating alloimmune responses but its role in transplantation tolerance is unknown. We investigated the role of PD-1:PDL costimulatory pathway in peripheral and a well established model of central transplantation tolerance. Early as well as delayed blockade of PDL1 but not PDL2 abrogated tolerance induced by CTLA4Ig in a fully MHC-mismatched cardiac allograft model. Accelerated rejection was associated with a significant increase in the frequency of IFN-gamma-producing alloreactive T cells and expansion of effector CD8(+) T cells in the periphery, and a decline in the percentage of Foxp3(+) graft infiltrating cells. Similarly, studies using PDL1\/L2-deficient recipients confirmed the results with Ab blockade. Interestingly, while PDL1-deficient donor allografts were accepted by wild-type recipients treated with CTLA4Ig, the grafts developed severe chronic rejection and vasculopathy when compared with wild-type grafts. Finally, in a model of central tolerance induced by mixed allogeneic chimerism, engraftment was not abrogated by PDL1\/L2 blockade. These novel data demonstrate the critical role of PDL1 for induction and maintenance of peripheral transplantation tolerance by its ability to alter the balance between pathogenic and regulatory T cells. Expression of PDL1 in donor tissue is critical for prevention of in situ graft pathology and chronic rejection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37857892,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-30":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Freshwater fish diversity in the western Amazon basin shaped by Andean uplift since the Late Cretaceous.\nSouth America is home to the highest freshwater fish biodiversity on Earth, and the hotspot of species richness is located in the western Amazon basin. The location of this hotspot is enigmatic, as it is inconsistent with the pattern observed in river systems across the world of increasing species richness towards a river's mouth. Here we investigate the role of river capture events caused by Andean mountain building and repeated episodes of flooding in western Amazonia in shaping the modern-day richness pattern of freshwater fishes in South America, and in Amazonia in particular. To this end, we combine a reconstruction of river networks since 80 Ma with a mechanistic model simulating dispersal, allopatric speciation and extinction over the dynamic landscape of rivers and lakes. We show that Andean mountain building and consequent numerous small river capture events in western Amazonia caused freshwater habitats to be highly dynamic, leading to high diversification rates and exceptional richness. The history of marine incursions and lakes, including the Miocene Pebas mega-wetland system in western Amazonia, played a secondary role.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17176057,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Conformational coupling between the cytoplasmic carboxylic acid and the retinal in a fungal light-driven proton pump.\nMany fungal rhodopsins, eukaryotic structural homologues of the archaeal light-driven proton pump bacteriorhodopsin, have been discovered in the course of genome sequencing projects. Recently, two fungal rhodopsins were characterized in vitro and exhibited very different photochemical behavior. Neurospora rhodopsin possesses a slow photocycle and shows no ion transport, reminiscent of sensory rhodopsins, while Leptosphaeria rhodopsin has a fast bacteriorhodopsin-like photocycle and pumps protons light-dependently. Such a dramatic difference is surprising considering the very high degree of sequence homology of the two proteins. In this paper, we investigate whether the chemical structure of a cytoplasmic carboxylic acid, the homologue of Asp-96 of bacteriorhodopsin serving as a proton donor for the retinal Schiff base, can define the photochemical properties of fungal rhodopsins. We studied mutants of Leptosphaeria rhodopsin in which this aspartic acid was replaced with Glu or Asn using spectroscopy in the infrared and visible ranges. We show that Glu at this position is inefficient as a proton donor similar to a nonprotonatable Asn. Moreover, this replacement induces long-range structural perturbations of the retinal environment, as evidenced by changes in the vibrational bands of retinal (especially, hydrogen-out-of-plane modes) and neighboring aspartic acids and water molecules. The conformational coupling of the mutation site to the retinal may be mediated by helical rearrangements as suggested by the changes in amide and proline vibrational bands. We conclude that the difference in the photochemical behavior of fungal rhodopsins from Leptosphaeria and Neurospora may be ascribed, to some extent, to the replacement of the cytoplasmic proton donor Asp with Glu.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17883209,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Analysis of intra-uterine fluid motion induced by uterine contractions.\nEvaluation of the fluid flow pattern in a non-pregnant uterus is important for understanding embryo transport in the uterus. Fertilization occurs in the fallopian tube and the embryo (fertilized ovum) enters the uterine cavity within 3 days of ovulation. In the uterus, the embryo is conveyed by the uterine fluid for another 3 to 4 days to a successful implantation site at the upper part of the uterus. Fluid movements within the uterus may be induced by several mechanisms, but they seem to be dominated by myometrial contractions. Intra-uterine fluid transport in a sagittal cross-section of the uterus was simulated by a model of wall-induced fluid motion within a two-dimensional channel. The time-dependent fluid pattern was studied by employing the lubrication theory. A comprehensive analysis of peristaltic transport resulting from symmetric and asymmetric contractions is presented for various displacement waves on the channel walls. The results provide information on the flow field and possible trajectories by which an embryo may be transported before implantation at the uterine wall.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36262648,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Flow karyotyping of wheat-Aegilops additions facilitate dissecting the genomes of Ae. biuncialis and Ae. geniculata into individual chromosomes.\nBreeding of wheat adapted to new climatic conditions and resistant to diseases and pests is hindered by a limited gene pool due to domestication and thousands of years of human selection. Annual goatgrasses (Aegilops spp.) with M and U genomes are potential sources of the missing genes and alleles. Development of alien introgression lines of wheat may be facilitated by the knowledge of DNA sequences of Aegilops chromosomes. As the Aegilops genomes are complex, sequencing relevant Aegilops chromosomes purified by flow cytometric sorting offers an attractive route forward. The present study extends the potential of chromosome genomics to allotetraploid Ae. biuncialis and Ae. geniculata by dissecting their M and U genomes into individual chromosomes. Hybridization of FITC-conjugated GAA oligonucleotide probe to chromosomes suspensions of the two species allowed the application of bivariate flow karyotyping and sorting some individual chromosomes. Bivariate flow karyotype FITC vs. DAPI of Ae. biuncialis consisted of nine chromosome-populations, but their chromosome content determined by microscopic analysis of flow sorted chromosomes indicated that only 7Mb and 1Ub could be sorted at high purity. In the case of Ae. geniculata, fourteen chromosome-populations were discriminated, allowing the separation of nine individual chromosomes (1Mg, 3Mg, 5Mg, 6Mg, 7Mg, 1Ug, 3Ug, 6Ug, and 7Ug) out of the 14. To sort the remaining chromosomes, a partial set of wheat-Ae. biuncialis and a whole set of wheat-Ae. geniculata chromosome addition lines were also flow karyotyped, revealing clear separation of the GAA-rich Aegilops chromosomes from the GAA-poor A- and D-genome chromosomes of wheat. All of the alien chromosomes represented by individual addition lines could be isolated at purities ranging from 74.5% to 96.6% and from 87.8% to 97.7%, respectively. Differences in flow karyotypes between Ae. biuncialis and Ae. geniculata were analyzed and discussed. Chromosome-specific genomic resources will facilitate gene cloning and the development of molecular tools to support alien introgression breeding of wheat.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28262344,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Clopidogrel, prasugrel, or ticagrelor use and clinical outcome in patients with acute coronary syndrome: A nationwide long-term registry analysis from 2009 to 2014.\nThe beneficial use of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) with acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) and P2Y12 \u00f5inhibitors has been established for patients after acute coronary syndrome (ACS). However, the optimal duration of DAPT is under debate. The aim of the present study was to investigate the long-term utilization and clinical outcome of clopidogrel, prasugrel, and ticagrelor in patients with ACS from 2009 to 2014 in Austria. We analysed data from 13 Austrian health insurance funds for the years 2009 to 2014, on 72,676 patients with a hospital discharge diagnosis of ACS. The primary end point was recurrence of ACS or death >30days after the index event. 32,830 subjects received a prescription of a P2Y12 inhibitor within 30days after the index ACS. 18,640 (56.8%) subjects were discharged with clopidogrel, 6683 (20.4%) with prasugrel, and 7507 (22.9%) with ticagrelor, respectively. Data from 32,174 patients with 4975 events during a median follow-up period of 24.9months were available for survival analysis. The cumulative incidence for recurrence of ACS or death at two years was 18.7% in patients receiving clopidogrel, and 8.7% and 12.0% in those receiving prasugrel or ticagrelor, respectively. Utilization of P2Y12 inhibitors in patients with ACS was consistent with guideline recommendations. Prasugrel and ticagrelor are increasingly used in ACS patients and associated with a lower number of recurrence of ACS or death compared to clopidogrel. However, clopidogrel was predominantly used in older patients with more co-morbidities.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12000635,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2015-18":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Children's needs during hospitalization: an observational study of hospitalized boys.\nTwenty-one boys (age range 5 months to 16 years) were followed during their stay at hospital. Total observation time was 120 h. Field notes were made immediately after each observation. These were then transcribed into a narrative text, which was analysed by content analysis. Six categories of needs were identified during non-threatening situations at the hospital: the need for activity, the need for new experiences, the need for information, the need for participation, the need for praise and recognition, and needs related to physical resources. Four categories of needs were found during episodes of threat, discomfort and pain: the need for control, the need for having their parents nearby, the need for what is familiar, and the need for integrity. These results indicate that those involved in the care of children should be alert to the fact that as circumstances change, different needs have to be met. During non-threatening situations efforts should be made to inform children and to allow them to continue with their everyday lives. During threatening situations the children should be assisted and supported in keeping the situation under control.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27260581,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Orbital complications associated with paranasal sinus infections - A 10-year experience in Israel.\nOrbital involvement is the most common complication of sinus infections. The epidemiology of the disease is continuously changing in the antibiotic era. Data on patients who were hospitalized due to acute sinusitis and orbital complications were retrospectively collected and analyzed from four medical centers in Israel during the years 2002-2012. 288 patients were included in the study, the average age was 14.4 years, 180 were males, and 220 were children. No significant annual increase in the number of patients was noted. The lowest number of patients was found during the summer 19.4%. A linear direct correlation was found between older age and prolonged hospital stay. Children were presented with a significantly higher Chandler score than adults. No patient had cavernous sinus thrombosis. 101 (35%) patients received antibiotics before hospital admission. Their average hospital stay was similar to those who were not treated prior to admission. 106 patients (39.8%) had fever. A direct correlation was found between older age and the presence of fever. 102 (35.4%) patients had leukocytosis. The difference in white blood cell count between patients younger than two years of age to the other groups was statistically significant. Forty four (15.3%) patients underwent surgical intervention. A direct correlation was found between leukocytosis and older age to surgery. Periorbital cellulitis occurs mainly in children and males and is less frequent in the summer. Children tend to have worse orbital involvement with lower temperatures than adults. Older age and leukocytosis are associated with surgical intervention.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27272155,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"High-Throughput 3D Tumor Spheroid Screening Method for Cancer Drug Discovery Using Celigo Image Cytometry.\nOncologists have investigated the effect of protein or chemical-based compounds on cancer cells to identify potential drug candidates. Traditionally, the growth inhibitory and cytotoxic effects of the drugs are first measured in 2D in vitro models, and then further tested in 3D xenograft in vivo models. Although the drug candidates can demonstrate promising inhibitory or cytotoxicity results in a 2D environment, similar effects may not be observed under a 3D environment. In this work, we developed an image-based high-throughput screening method for 3D tumor spheroids using the Celigo image cytometer. First, optimal seeding density for tumor spheroid formation was determined by investigating the cell seeding density of U87MG, a human glioblastoma cell line. Next, the dose-response effects of 17-AAG with respect to spheroid size and viability were measured to determine the IC50 value. Finally, the developed high-throughput method was used to measure the dose response of four drugs (17-AAG, paclitaxel, TMZ, and doxorubicin) with respect to the spheroid size and viability. Each experiment was performed simultaneously in the 2D model for comparison. This detection method allowed for a more efficient process to identify highly qualified drug candidates, which may reduce the overall time required to bring a drug to clinical trial.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8345308,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mycobacterial infection of the parotid gland: an unusual cause of parotid swelling.\nSix cases of mycobacterial infection of the parotid gland are reviewed. All six cases presented solely with a slowly enlarging parotid swelling clinically indistinguishable from a parotid tumour. All of the swellings required surgical removal, superficial parotidectomy in four cases, and enucleation in two cases to obtain a definitive diagnosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12007163,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Latent class versus two-part models in the demand for physician services across the European Union.\nUsing three waves of data from the European Community Household Panel, this paper estimates demand for physician services equations for 12 European countries. We focus on the selection of the most appropriate econometric specification for visits to general practitioners and to specialists among two-part and latent class models. The distinction between the demand of services from these two types of physicians allows us to distinguish cases in which two-part perform better than latent class models, evidence which is different from previous findings in the literature. The results suggest that latent class models are more appropriate than two-part models to estimate general practitioners utilisation while the opposite is found for visits to the specialists.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6730942,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Urinary free cortisol during pregnancy.\nAdrenocortical function was measured during early and late normal pregnancies by determining urinary free cortisol on three consecutive days. A marked intra-individual variation in urinary free cortisol excretion was found. This pattern did not differ in early and late pregnancy. No correlation was demonstrated between the excretion of free cortisol, estrogen levels and creatinine clearances.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12025798,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"First-line treatment for osteoarthritis. Part 2: Nonpharmacologic interventions and evaluation.\nBecause of the chronic nature of osteoarthritis, nonpharmacologic interventions provide the client with self-care strategies that may lessen pain, improve physical functioning, and increase independence and sense of control. Nonpharmacologic interventions include exercise, rest and joint protection, heat and cold, hydrotherapy, therapeutic touch, acupuncture\/acupressure, biofeedback, hypnotherapy, cognitive-behavioral techniques, activity and home maintenance modification, nutrition, and transportation interventions. Most of these therapies are very useful for nurses as independent interventions. Suggestions for evaluation of interventions are made.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35127766,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Added Value of Patient Engagement in Early Dialogue at EMA: Scientific Advice as a Case Study.\nThe European Medicines Agency provides Scientific Advice to medicines developers and patient input has been an integral part of this process for many years. As end users of medicines, patients bring their perspectives to many different processes along EMA's regulatory pathway, complementing the scientific expertise. While the value of including patients has been well-demonstrated over the years, requests for evidence of their impact continue. Using Scientific Advice as a case study, data was collected over a four-year period to assess the number of patients involved, where they contributed, as well as the impact and added value of their input. In this paper, we show that patients' contributions have a tangible impact on the recommendations provided to developers and in over half of the cases, this led to further discussion on relevant patient perspectives. These data provide quantitative evidence of the value of patient input in medicines development and supports EMA's continued inclusion of their voice throughout the medicine's lifecycle.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35363792,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Simplified hypertension screening methods across 60 countries: An observational study.\nSimplified blood pressure (BP) screening approaches have been proposed. However, evidence is limited to a few countries and has not documented the cardiovascular risk amongst missed hypertension cases, limiting the uptake of these simplified approaches. We quantified the proportion of missed, over-diagnosed, and consistently identified hypertension cases and the 10-year cardiovascular risk in these groups. We used 60 WHO STEPS surveys (cross-sectional and nationally representative; n = 145,174) conducted in 60 countries in 6 world regions between 2004 and 2019. Nine simplified approaches were compared against the standard (average of the last 2 of 3 BP measurements). The 10-year cardiovascular risk was computed with the 2019 World Health Organization Cardiovascular Risk Charts. We used t tests to compare the cardiovascular risk between the missed and over-diagnosed cases and the consistent hypertension cases. We used Poisson multilevel regressions to identify risk factors for missed cases (adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, and 10-year cardiovascular risk). Across all countries, compared to the standard approach, the simplified approach that missed the fewest cases was using the second BP reading if the first BP reading was 130-145\/80-95 mm Hg (5.62%); using only the second BP reading missed 5.82%. The simplified approach with the smallest over-diagnosis proportion was using the second BP reading if the first BP measurement was \u2265140\/90 mm Hg (3.03%). In many countries, cardiovascular risk was not significantly different between the missed and consistent hypertension groups, yet the mean was slightly lower amongst missed cases. Cardiovascular risk was positively associated with missed hypertension depending on the simplified approach. The main limitation of the work is the cross-sectional design. Simplified BP screening approaches seem to have low misdiagnosis rates, and cardiovascular risk could be lower amongst missed cases than amongst consistent hypertension cases. Simplified BP screening approaches could be included in large screening programmes and busy clinics.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29367257,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Elucidation of the Binding Mode of the Carboxyterminal Region of Peptide YY to the Human Y2 Receptor.\nUnderstanding the agonist-receptor interactions in the neuropeptide Y (NPY)\/peptide YY (PYY) signaling system is fundamental for the design of novel modulators of appetite regulation. We report here the results of a multidisciplinary approach to elucidate the binding mode of the native peptide agonist PYY to the human Y2 receptor, based on computational modeling, peptide chemistry and in vitro pharmacological analyses. The preserved binding orientation proposed for full-length PYY and five analogs, truncated at the amino terminus, explains our pharmacological results where truncations of the N-terminal proline helix showed little effect on peptide affinity. This was followed by receptor mutagenesis to investigate the roles of several receptor positions suggested by the modeling. As a complement, PYY-(3-36) analogs were synthesized with modifications at different positions in the common PYY\/NPY C-terminal fragment (32TRQRY36-amide). The results were assessed and interpreted by molecular dynamics and Free Energy Perturbation (FEP) simulations of selected mutants, providing a detailed map of the interactions of the PYY\/NPY C-terminal fragment with the transmembrane cavity of the Y2 receptor. The amidated C-terminus would be stabilized by polar interactions with Gln2886.55 and Tyr2195.39, while Gln1303.32 contributes to interactions with Q34 in the peptide and T32 is close to the tip of TM7 in the receptor. This leaves the core, \u03b1-helix of the peptide exposed to make potential interactions with the extracellular loops. This model agrees with most experimental data available for the Y2 system and can be used as a basis for optimization of Y2 receptor agonists.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12031886,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Comparative uptake of polyamines by prostate and non-prostate cancer cell lines.\nThe Km and Vmax of [14C]-radiolabeled polyamines were determined for PC-3 and AT3B-1 cell lines. With PC-3 Km values are in the following order: ornithine> spermidine> spermine> putrescine, while with AT3B-1 it was spermidine> ornithine> spermine> putrescine. To determine which of these polyamines exhibit higher accumulation, the relative uptake of all the four amines was studied with prostate (PC-3, AT3B-1, LNCaP) and non-prostate (MCF-7, KLN-205, OVCAR) cell lines at 10 and 20 microM after 1 hour. Spermine and spermidine accumulated at higher levels in prostate (AT3B-1 and LNCaP) over non-prostate cell lines (p < 0.01). Putrescine accumulated more in PC-3 and LNCaP than the non-prostate cancer cells.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25295124,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of fissure sealants in children and adolescents with a high caries risk.\nIn Germany, the application of resin-based pits and fissures sealants on the occlusal surfaces of permanent molars is part of individual prophylaxis for children and adolescents between six and 18 years. The individual prophylaxis is covered by the Statutory Health Insurance since 1993. The report addresses questions on medical effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, as well as ethical, social, and legal implications of pit and fissure sealants in preventing dental caries for children and adolescents at high caries risk. The results of the studies indicate a protective effect of pit and fissure sealants, particularly for children and adolescents at high caries risk. Additionally, the economic evaluation suggests a tendency for cost savings in this group. Nevertheless, a general expansion of the intervention cannot be recommended. All studies show a risk of bias in favour of pit and fissure sealing and a limited transferability to the German health care system. Studies included in the economic evaluation revealed methodological flaws. Both the economic models and primary studies do not provide reliable results.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28287147,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Radiation-associated circulatory disease mortality in a pooled analysis of 77,275 patients from the Massachusetts and Canadian tuberculosis fluoroscopy cohorts.\nHigh-dose ionising radiation is associated with circulatory disease. Risks associated with lower-dose (<0.5 Gy) exposures remain unclear, with little information on risk modification by age at exposure, years since exposure or dose-rate. Tuberculosis patients in Canada and Massachusetts received multiple diagnostic x-ray fluoroscopic exposures, over a wide range of ages, many at doses <0.5 Gy. We evaluated risks of circulatory-disease mortality associated with <0.5 Gy radiation exposure in a pooled cohort of 63,707 patients in Canada and 13,568 patients in Massachusetts. Under 0.5 Gy there are increasing trends for all circulatory disease (n = 10,209; excess relative risk\/Gy = 0.246; 95% CI 0.036, 0.469; p = 0.021) and for ischaemic heart disease (n = 6410; excess relative risk\/Gy = 0.267; 95% CI 0.003, 0.552; p = 0.048). All circulatory-disease and ischaemic-heart-disease risk reduces with increasing time since exposure (p < 0.005). Over the entire dose range, there are negative mortality dose trends for all circulatory disease (p = 0.014) and ischaemic heart disease (p = 0.003), possibly due to competing causes of death over this dose interval.These results confirm and extend earlier findings and strengthen the evidence for circulatory-disease mortality radiation risk at doses <0.5 Gy. The limited information on well-known lifestyle\/medical risk factors for circulatory disease implies that confounding of the dose trend cannot be entirely excluded.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37448034,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Machine Learning Approaches in Brillouin Distributed Fiber Optic Sensors.\nThis paper presents reported machine learning approaches in the field of Brillouin distributed fiber optic sensors (DFOSs). The increasing popularity of Brillouin DFOSs stems from their capability to continuously monitor temperature and strain along kilometer-long optical fibers, rendering them attractive for industrial applications, such as the structural health monitoring of large civil infrastructures and pipelines. In recent years, machine learning has been integrated into the Brillouin DFOS signal processing, resulting in fast and enhanced temperature, strain, and humidity measurements without increasing the system's cost. Machine learning has also contributed to enhanced spatial resolution in Brillouin optical time domain analysis (BOTDA) systems and shorter measurement times in Brillouin optical frequency domain analysis (BOFDA) systems. This paper provides an overview of the applied machine learning methodologies in Brillouin DFOSs, as well as future perspectives in this area.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":33730830,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Comparative study on metagenomics of esophageal flora in elderly and middle-aged esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients].\nObjective: To explore the flora characteristics and differences of esophageal tissues between elderly esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) patients and young and middle-aged ESCC patients, so as to assist in studying the potential biomarkers of elderly ESCC patients. Methods: In this study, a retrospective study was adopted. 72 ESCC patients diagnosed in Taihe Hospital, Shiyan City, Hubei Province from July 2018 to July 2019 were selected, including 49 patients in the elderly group (\u2265 60 years old, 40 males and 9 females), 23 patients in the young and middle-aged group (<60 years old, 21 males and 2 females). In the same period, 20 healthy persons without abnormal gastroscopy in endoscopy center were selected as the control group (aged 35-78 years old, median age 57 years old, 16 males and 4 females). The genomic DNA was extracted from the affected esophageal tissues of patients with ESCC and the middle esophageal samples of the control group. The V4 hypervariable region of bacterial 16SrRNA gene sequence was amplified. Illumina HiSeq sequencing technology was adopted. The flora characteristics of elderly, young and middle-aged ESCC patients was compared and analyzed. QIIME and Rstudio software were used to analyze the sequence data, and nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis test or Wilcoxon rank sum test were used for statistical methods. Results: Shannon index [5.17 (4.53, 5.95) vs. 4.79 (3.74, 5.97)], Simpson index [0.94 (0.91, 0.96) vs. 0.92 (0.83, 0.96)] and Chao1 index [343.55 (259.76, 570.59) vs. 329.16 (268.88, 648.00)] were similar in flora of two groups, and there was no significant difference (Z=-0.791, -1.057, -0.380, all P>0.05). There was no significant difference in \u03b2-diversity between the elderly group and the young and middle-aged group (PC1=19.14%, PC2=6.95%, PPC1=0.67, PPC2=0.42). At the phyla level, the top 5 phyla in abundance were as follows: Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria and Fusobacteria in the young and middle-aged group, while the top 5 phyla in abundance were as follows: Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, Fusobacteria and Actinobacteria in the elderly group; the significant difference between the two groups was Fusobacteria (Q=0.596, P<0.05). At the genus level, the top 5 genera in the young and middle-aged group in abundance were as follows: Prevotella, Bacteroides, Streptococcus, Selenomonas and Veillonella. In the elderly group, Prevotella, Bacteroides, Streptococcus, Selenomonas and Haemophilus were the top 5 in abundance, and there were significant difference in Fusobacterium between the two groups (Q=0.938, P<0.05). PICRUSt function prediction showed that the abundance of Aminoacyl.tRNA.biosynthesis, Nucleotide.excision.repair, RNA.polymerase, Ribosome, Clavulanic.acid.biosynthesis, Photosynthesis and Photosynthesis. proteins in the elderly group were lower than those in the young and middle-aged group (all Q=0.734, P<0.05). Conclusion: There is no significant difference in \u03b1-diversity and \u03b2-diversity between elderly ESCC patients and young and middle-aged patients, but the abundance of Fusobacterium flora increased.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11989820,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Multiple levels of Notch signal regulation (review).\nNotch is a vitally important signalling receptor controlling cell fate determination and pattern formation in numerous ways during development of both invertebrate and vertebrate species. An intriguing pathway for the Notch signal has emerged where, after ligand-dependent proteolysis, an intracellular fragment of the receptor itself translocates to the nucleus to regulate gene expression. The nuclear activity of the Notch intracellular domain is linked to complexes regulating chromatin organization through histone deacetylation and acetylation. To allow the Notch signal to be deployed in numerous contexts, many different mechanisms have evolved to regulate the level, duration and spatial distribution of Notch activity. Regulation occurs at multiple levels including patterns of ligand and receptor expression, Notch-ligand interactions, trafficking of the receptor and ligands, and covalent modifications including glycosylation, phosphorylation and ubiquitination. Several Notch regulatory proteins have conserved domains that link them to the ubiquitination pathway, and ubiquitination of the Notch intracellular domain has recently been linked to its degradation. Different proteolytically derived isoforms of Notch have also been identified that may be involved in alternative Notch-dependent signals or regulatory mechanisms, and differences between the four mammalian Notch homologues are beginning to be appreciated.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16985618,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Urothelial carcinoma in a man with hereditary nonpolyposis colon cancer.\nAlthough most upper tract urothelial carcinomas are believed to be acquired, patients with hereditary nonpolyposis colon cancer (HNPCC) may have more than 20 times the risk of the normal population for these cancers. Certain mismatch repair mutations are now known to be associated with the disease. Screening and surveillance regimens are still evolving, but urinalysis, urine cytology, cystoscopy, and periodic upper tract imaging are the mainstays. HNPCC should be considered in any patient who develops an upper tract urothelial cancer or has a suggestive family history.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30096530,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Coalescence of charged droplets in outer fluids.\nA controlled technique to produce a precise volume of fluid species, such as water droplets, has critical importance in a variety of industrial applications. Electric field provided a well-established method to produce charged water droplets with a controlled volume. The coalescence of produced charged water droplets, however, impedes the efficiency of electric field-assisted methods. Whereas the coalescence of stationary single droplets, often charged, is overwhelmingly studied in air or vacuum, the effects of surrounding medium and approaching velocity are neglected. Systematic series of experiments and simulations were designed to address the effect of viscosity as well as approaching velocity on the coalescence of charged water droplets in viscous surrounding mediums (\u03bc = 100 & 1000 cSt). Results suggested that increasing the electrical conductivity of water droplets with lower approaching velocity diminishes the chance of coalescence between water droplets. The higher viscosity of surrounding medium resulted in a lower chance of coalescence between water droplets while droplets with stronger electrical conductivities underwent a lower deformation inside the dielectric medium. Finally, results suggested that water chain formation, which is reportedly a main retarding factor in electrocoalescers, took place for droplets with intermediate sizes in higher viscosities of surrounding medium.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29359178,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Impact of Saffron on Symptoms of Withdrawal Syndrome in Patients Undergoing Maintenance Treatment for Opioid Addiction in Sabzevar Parish in 2017.\nDrug dependence is one of the serious problems around the world. Saffron is one of those beneficial medicinal plants which is embedded with a similar mechanism to methadone (e.g., inhibition of serotonin reuptake). Thus, it can be helpful in reducing the withdrawal symptoms. The aim of this study was to reduce the daily dose of methadone usage and reduce its side effects using saffron in the form of medicinal supplements. This study was categorized as a clinical trial. Accordingly, 44 clients of addiction treatment centers in Sabzevar parish were randomly selected to participate in this study in 2016-2017. While the experimental group was treated with methadone syrup and self-made saffron capsules, the control group received methadone syrup and placebo capsules. The results showed that the use of saffron and methadone alleviated the symptoms of withdrawal syndrome (p<0.001). Having reviewed the research participants, it was indicated that the introduction of saffron alleviated the symptoms of withdrawal syndrome in patients undergoing maintenance treatment for opioid addiction. Thus, it seems rational to make use of saffron in combination with methadone in order to alleviate the symptoms of withdrawal syndrome.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28571240,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Monitoring Microcirculatory Blood Flow during Cardiopulmonary Bypass in Paediatric Cardiac Surgery Patients as a Predictor for Anaerobic Metabolism.\nImproving tissue oxygenation is one of most important tasks in management of low cardiac output. Central venous oxygen saturation (ScvO2) and lactate are established criteria for monitoring the adequacy of tissue oxygenation. The venous-to-arterial carbon dioxide difference [P(v-a)CO2] is inversely associated with cardiac output. To study the use of P(v-a)CO2\/C(a-v)O2 ratio as a marker of low cardiac output during Cardiopulmonary Bypass (CPB) in paediatric cardiac surgical patients. The present study was a prospective observational study conducted over a period of nine months from 1st August 2015 to 30th April 2016. A total of 110 children were enrolled, who underwent CPB during cardiac surgery. The CPB time, Mean Arterial Pressure (MAP), flow rate, cross clamp time, were recorded for all the patients as well as Arterial Blood Gas (ABG) and Venous Blood Gas (VBG) were checked at four different points of time: 1) Before CPB, 2) 10 minutes after initiation of CPB, 3) 30 minutes on CPB and 4) off CPB. The results indicated that Receiver Operating Characteristic curve (ROC curve) at 30 minute of CPB time P(v-a)CO2\/C(a-v)O2 was more specific and sensitive than lactate to detect anaerobic metabolism. Decrease platelet count was significant on second postoperative day. The present study suggests the use of P(v-a)CO2\/C(a-v)O2 ratio as a marker to detect low flow on CPB. Our study was single centric and with a small size, studies involving large population and multiple centers are required to support the recent findings.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35344220,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Validity of equivalent square field concept in small field dosimetry.\nThe equivalent square (ES) concept has been used for traditional radiation fields defined by the machine collimating system. For small fields, the concept Sclin was introduced based on measuring dosimetric field width (full-width half maximum, FWHM) of the cardinal axis of the beam profiles. The pros and cons of this concept are evaluated in small fields and compared with the traditional ES using area and perimeter (4A\/P) method based on geometric field size settings, for example, light field settings. One hundred thirty-seven square and rectangular fields from 5-50 mm with every possible permutation (keeping one jaw fixed and varying other jaw from 5 to 50 mm) were utilized to measure FWHM for the validation of Sclin . Using a microSilicon detector and a scanning water tank, measurements were performed on an Elekta (Versa) machine with Agility head and a Varian TrueBeam with different MLC\/Jaw design to evaluate the Sclin concept and to understand the effect of exchange factor in small fields. Field output factors were also measured for all 137 fields. The data fitting for fields ranging from 5-50 mm between the traditional 4A\/P method and Sclin shows differences and indicates a linear relationship with distinct separation of slope for Elekta and Varian machines. For Elekta Agility machine ES based on 4A\/P < Sclin and for the VarianTrueBeam 4A\/P > Sclin for square fields. Our measured data show that both methods are equally valid but does vary by the machine design. The field output factor is dependent on the elongation factor as well as machine design. For fields with sides \u226510 mm, the exchange factor is nearly identical in both machines with magnitude up to 4%, which is close to measurement uncertainty (\u00b13%), but for small fields (< 10 mm), the Elekta machine has higher exchange factors compared to the Varian machine. The results demonstrate that the two concepts for defining equivalent field (Sclin and 4A\/P) are equivalent and can be directly related through an empirical equation. This study confirms that 4A\/P is still valid for small fields except for very small fields (\u226410 mm) where source occlusion is a dominating factor. The Sclin method is potentially sensitive to measurement uncertainty due to measurement of FWHM which is machine-, detector- and user-dependent, while the 4A\/P method relies mainly on geometry of the machine and has less dependency on type of machine, detector, and user. The exchange factors are comparable for both types of machines. The conclusion is based on data from an Elekta with Agility head and a Varian TrueBeam machine that may have potential for bias due to light field\/collimator set up and alignment. Care should be taken in extrapolating these data to any other machine.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17913212,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Trichrome staining for detection of intestinal protozoa a better screening method.\nIntestinal protozoal infections are common in our country because of poor hygiene and tropical conditions. The efficacy of trichrome staining to screen stool smear was compared with commonly used methods i.e. concentrated iodine mount and direct wet mount to test its better effectiveness. All Stool samples were first examined by routine methods i.e. direct wet mount and iodine staining. A portion of stool sample was also inoculated in vial containing polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fixative. From PVA preserved samples, slides were prepared and stained by modified wheately's trichrome method. The results of both methods were compared and relative accuracy was calculated. 1054 stool specimens were examined and 259 parasites detected, of which 20.7% were protozoa and 3.7% helminthde. Trichrome staining detected 19.1% protozoa while routine methods detected 12.9% protozoa. For identification of protozoa, accuracy was 91.8% in favor trichrome staining and 61.8% by wet mount and iodine staining. Trichrome stained smear alone can be used as screening method in those geographic areas where protozoa infections are common.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17191667,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Iodide excess exerts oxidative stress in some target tissues of the thyroid hormones.\nEnvironmental iodine deficiency continues to be a significant public health problem worldwide. On the other hand, iodide excess results principally from the use of iodine-containing medicinal preparations or radiographic contrast media. For this reason we intended to explore iodide excess impairment on prooxidant\/antioxidant balance of the thyroid gland, hepatic tissue and in blood and the effect of selenium administration on oxidative stress markers under the same circumstances. Experiments were performed for 10 days with white, male, Wistar rats, as follows: group 1: control-normal iodine supply group; 2: high iodine diet, group; 3: high iodine diet and selenium; group 4: high iodine diet and Carbimasole. Oxidative stress markers such as lipid peroxides were determined in thyroid gland, hepatic tissue and in blood. Measuring H+ donor ability of the sera and catalase activity in thyroid gland and in hepatic tissue assessed antioxidant defense. Iodide excess had prooxidant effects, leading to an increased lipid peroxides level and catalase activity in target tissues and in blood and to a decreased H+ donor ability of the sera. Selenium supplementation had opposite effects. Present data allow us to conclude that the alterations due to iodide excess in thyroid gland, hepatic tissue and in blood are mediated through oxidative stress.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26421242,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Temporal stability of an endemic Mexican treefrog.\nThe demographic characteristics of an amphibian population fluctuate independently over time, mainly in response to the temporal variation of environmental factors, especially precipitation and temperature. These temporal fluctuations may contribute to the size of an amphibian population and could be used to determine the current conservation status of a species. During a five year (2004-2008) period, we studied the relative abundance, sex ratio, and age-sex structure of a population of metamorphosed individuals of the endemic treefrog Hyla eximia in Central Mexico. We also studied the species' relationship with climatic variables such as temperature and precipitation. We found an interannual constant abundance during the study period. However, interannual differences were observed in the population structure by age-sex category (males, females, or juveniles), with decreased abundance of males and juveniles during the rainy months (August-November). The annual abundance of H. eximia was positively correlated with rainfall, but negatively with monthly temperature. We found the sex ratio was male-biased (2:1), except for year 2008. Also, differences in snout-vent length (SVL) were found between years, suggesting changes in recruitment of new individuals. We conclude that variations in abundance, and frequencies by age-sex category, of H. eximia are related to seasonal variations in temperature and precipitation characteristics of temperate zones. However, this temporal stability may suggest that anurans have an unusual capacity to persist even in the face of human-induced habitat change.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28302917,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"HIF1\u03b1 in aortic aneurysms and beyond.\nAbdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a permanent expansion of the vessel wall with a high prevalence in those 65 years of age and older. Aneurysms are prone to dissection and rupture that carry a mortality rate of over 85%. Currently, surgical repair is the only option to treat this disease. The need to intervene prior to these events has set off a flurry of basic studies in an effort to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms that govern AAA formation, progression and rupture. In the present study, the role of myeloid cells in contributing to AAA development has been confirmed. More specifically, the transcription factor, hypoxia-inducible factor-1\u03b1 (HIF1\u03b1), was demonstrated to be a necessary component for regulating the expression of extracellular matrix modifying enzymes and their endogenous inhibitors in these cells. This new discovery may lead to therapeutic targets to prohibit the degradation and weakening of the vessel wall with the hope of limiting AAA formation and\/or growth.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1690549,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Influence of maternal proximity on behavioral and physiological responses to separation in infant rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta).\nThe effects of maternal proximity on the behavioral and physiological responses of infant rhesus macaques during 4 days of total or adjacent separations from the mother were studied. The 6 infants tested showed behavioral responses that differentiated the two separation conditions. Major differences were found in the quantity and quality of vocalizations, the occurrence of cage-biting and cage-shaking behavior, object exploration, and hunched and freezing postures. In particular, the structure of coo vocalizations clearly discriminated between the presence or the absence of the mother during separation. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations of dopamine and serotonin metabolites did not discriminate between the two separation conditions but showed a transient elevation at 24 hr after separation and were not different from baseline by 96 hr after separation. In contrast, both the plasma cortisol and the CSF norepinephrine metabolite responses tended to be greater and to persist for a longer period of time when infants were totally isolated. The results are discussed within the context of attachment and coping theories.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12040756,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Hyperbaric oxygen therapy for cognitive disorders after irradiation of the brain.\nAnalysis of the feasibility and effect of hyperbaric oxygen treatment (HBO) on cognitive functioning in patients with cognitive disorders after irradiation of the brain. Seven patients with cognitive impairment after brain irradiation, with an interval of at least 1.5 years after treatment, were treated with 30 sessions of HBO in a phase I-II study. A comprehensive neuropsychological test battery was performed before treatment, at 3 and 6 months thereafter. Patients were randomized into an immediate treatment group and a delayed treatment group. The delayed group had a second neuropsychological test at 3 months without treatment in that period and started HBO thereafter. All eligible patients completed the HBO treatment and the extensive neuropsychological testing. One out of seven patients had a meaningful improvement in neuropsychological functioning. At 3 months there was a small, but not significant benefit in neuropsychological performance for the group with HBO compared to the group without HBO treatment. Six out of seven patients eventually showed improvement after HBO in one to nine (median 2.5) of the 31 tests, although without statistical significance. HBO treatment was feasible and resulted in a meaningful improvement of cognitive functioning in one out of seven patients. Overall there was a small but not significant improvement.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":5839224,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Photostatic reporting in a hospital bacteriology laboratory.\nA method of reporting results of tests performed in a hospital bacteriological laboratory is described in which a modified commercially available electrostatic copier is used. This device was designed for a hispital system in which more than one report per specimen is issued and in which rubber stamps are widely used and frequently changed. It has been working satisfactorily for more than six months. It increases accuracy and saves time and money. Attention to the clarity of reproduction is necessary. It is suggested that this system could be modified for other laboratory reporting systems.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34408066,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Modality-Specific Modulation of Temperature Representations in the Spinal Cord after Injury.\nDifferent types of tissue injury, such as inflammatory and neuropathic conditions, cause modality-specific alternations on temperature perception. There are profound changes in peripheral sensory neurons after injury, but how patterned neuronal activities in the CNS encode injury-induced sensitization to temperature stimuli is largely unknown. Using in vivo calcium imaging and mouse genetics, we show that formalin- and prostaglandin E2-induced inflammation dramatically increase spinal responses to heating and decrease responses to cooling in male and female mice. The reduction of cold response is largely eliminated on ablation of TRPV1-expressing primary sensory neurons, indicating a crossover inhibition of cold response from the hyperactive heat inputs in the spinal cord. Interestingly, chemotherapy medication oxaliplatin can rapidly increase spinal responses to cooling and suppress responses to heating. Together, our results suggest a push-pull mechanism in processing cold and heat inputs and reveal a synergic mechanism to shift thermosensation after injury.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT In this paper, we combine our novel in vivo spinal cord two-photon calcium imaging, mouse genetics, and persistent pain models to study how tissue injury alters the sensation of temperature. We discover modality-specific changes of spinal temperature responses in different models of injury. Chemotherapy medication oxaliplatin leads to cold hypersensitivity and heat hyposensitivity. By contrast, inflammation increases heat sensitivity and decreases cold sensitivity. This decrease in cold sensitivity results from the stronger crossover inhibition from the hyperactive heat inputs. Our work reveals the bidirectional change of thermosensitivity by injury and suggests that the crossover inhibitory circuit underlies the shifted thermosensation, providing a mechanism to the biased perception toward a unique thermal modality that was observed clinically in chronic pain patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28588170,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Early Postoperative Parathyroid Hormone Level as a Predictor of Hypocalcaemia after Total Thyroidectomy.\nPostoperative transient hypocalcaemia is a common squeal after total thyroidectomy usually due to parathyroid insufficiency. Objective of this study is to find out the optimum cut-off value of parathyroid hormone (PTH) level in early postoperative period as a best predictor for hypocalcaemia. This prospective observational study was carried out from July 2013 to July 2014 in the Department of Surgery Sir Salimullah Medical College & Mitford Hospital (SSMC&MH), in collaboration with department of Otolaryngology SSMC&MH, department of Otolaryngology Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) and department of Otolaryngology Dhaka Medical College & Hospital (DMC&H), Dhaka. Total 92 patients were selected those came for total thyroidectomy. PTH was measured at different percentile 6 hours after surgery to find out optimum cut-off point. In 47.5th percentile at 8.02 cut-off point of PTH found with good combination of sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value, accuracy and it was 83.33%, 91.66%, 90.90%, 84.62% and 91.30% respectively. We found PTH level as a predictor of hypocalcaemia and PTH 8.02pg\/ml was the optimum cut-off point to predict hypocalcaemia within 6 hours after total thyroidectomy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30302476,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Porous Co3O4 nanoplates with pH-switchable peroxidase- and catalase-like activity.\nPorous Co3O4 nanoplates were synthesized via a soft template method. By using amphiphilic block copolymer F127 colloids as the pore producer, porous Co(OH)2 nanoplates were prepared. After the annealing procedure, the obtained Co3O4 reserved the hexagonal shape and a similar size to the Co(OH)2 precursor. The as-prepared porous Co3O4 nanoplates named Co3O4-F simultaneously possessed peroxidase and catalase mimetic activities. Interestingly, these two kinds of mimetic enzyme activities could be switched by pH. Meanwhile, temperature and the concentrations of Co3O4-F had a significant effect on the switch pH and the dual-enzyme mimetic catalytic ability. Moreover, Co3O4-F exhibited good peroxidase-like catalytic activity even in the neutral pH system, providing a new strategy for one-step analysis of glucose. A novel one-step colorimetric glucose biosensor was fabricated based on the Co3O4-F nanozyme, making the operation of detection simpler and easier.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31602101,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Unmet Need of Antenatal Screening for Asymptomatic Bacteriuria: A Risk Factor for Adverse Outcomes of Pregnancy.\nRecommended urine culture is unsuitable for screening pregnant women for asymptomatic bacteriuria due to long turn-around time, unaffordability, and user-unfriendliness. The objective of this review was to evaluate the suitability of various tests for this purpose. A PubMed-based systematic review of published articles irrespective of year and language was done. Search terms included asymptomatic bacteriuria, screening test, urinary tract infection, and diagnostic test. Diagnostic accuracy studies conducted on human populations comparing tests with urine culture were included. One author extracted predefined data fields, including quality indicators, another validated it. Of 78 records, 25 studies describing 15 tests were included. All tests were rapid, seven were valid and two of them were affordable and easy-to-use. No test provided comprehensive identification with antibiotic susceptibility. Despite publication bias, no test was found suitable for screening asymptomatic bacteriuria antenatally and providing evidence-based prescription. Further research is needed to develop tests which suit this purpose.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35350781,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 Variants by mRNA and Adenoviral Vector Vaccine-Elicited Antibodies.\nThe increasing prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 variants has raised concerns regarding possible decreases in vaccine effectiveness. Here, neutralizing antibody titers elicited by mRNA-based and adenoviral vector-based vaccines against variant pseudotyped viruses were measured. BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273-elicited antibodies showed modest neutralization resistance against Beta, Delta, Delta plus and Lambda variants whereas Ad26.COV2.S-elicited antibodies from a significant fraction of vaccinated individuals had less neutralizing titer (IC50 <50). The data underscore the importance of surveillance for breakthrough infections that result in severe COVID-19 and suggest a potential benefit by second immunization following Ad26.COV2.S to increase protection from current and future variants.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24400241,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The use of a single daily dose of tadalafil to treat signs and symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia and erectile dysfunction.\nA strong and independent association between lower urinary tract symptoms suggestive of benign prostatic hyperplasia (LUTS\/BPH) and erectile dysfunction (ED) has been widely evidenced in several clinical epidemiologic studies. Preclinical animal models have provided a great deal of information on potential common pathogenic mechanisms underlying these two clinical identities. Although the efficacy of the most commonly used treatments for LUTS\/BPH is well defined, the negative impact of these treatments on sexual function - in particular, on ED - has triggered the search for new treatment options. In this regard, a new role for phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors in the treatment of LUTS\/BPH and ED has been claimed. Tadalafil is one of the most extensively investigated phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors for this new indication. All evidence reported to date suggests that tadalafil 5 mg once daily is a safe and effective treatment option for both LUTS\/BPH and ED.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30661402,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Four Covariance Structure Models for Canonical Correlation Analysis: A COSAN Modeling Approach.\nThe mathematical connection between canonical correlation analysis (CCA) and covariance structure analysis was first discussed through the Multiple Indicators and Multiple Causes (MIMIC) approach. However, the MIMIC approach has several technical and practical challenges. To address these challenges, a comprehensive COSAN modeling approach is proposed. Specifically, we define four COSAN-CCA models to correspond with four possible combinations of the data to be analyzed and the unique parameters to be estimated. In terms of the data, one can analyze either the unstandardized or standardized variables. In terms of the unique parameters, one can estimate either the weights or loadings. Besides the unique parameters of each COSAN-CCA model, all four COSAN-CCA models also estimate the canonical correlations as their common parameters. Taken together, the four COSAN-CCA models provide the correct point estimates and standard error estimates for all commonly used CCA parameters. Two numeric examples are used to compare the standard error estimates obtained from the MIMIC approach and the COSAN modeling approach. Moreover, the standard error estimates from the COSAN modeling approach are validated by a simulation study and the asymptotic theory. Finally, software implementation and future extensions are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20368222,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sex-based differences in the association between duration of type 2 diabetes and heart rate variability.\nWe examined the association between heart rate variability (HRV) and duration of type 2 diabetes among 155 female and 106 male subjects: mean+\/-SD for duration=49.6+\/-65.6 and 57.3+\/-77.1 months, respectively, p=0.38. Among males, duration of diabetes was independently and inversely associated with vagal-heart rate modulation (high frequency (HF) power, 0.15-0.40 Hz, standardised ss = -0.32, p=0.001; root mean square of successive differences between R-R intervals, ss = -0.26, p=0.006) and total R-R variability (standard deviation of normal R-R intervals, ss = -0.36, p=0.001); but not among females (p> or =0.80 for each HRV index). In contrast, HF was inversely associated with age of diabetes diagnosis (ss = -0.16, p=0.04) and 10-year absolute risk for coronary heart disease (ss = -0.16, p=0.04) among female subjects. Longitudinal research is needed to establish whether risk factors for early cardiac autonomic impairment differ among men and women with type 2 diabetes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6158979,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Comparison of synthesis and secretion of plasma albumin, fibrinogen and alpha 2-macroglobulin by slices of Morris hepatomas and rat liver.\nSlices of rat liver or Morris Hepatomas 5123 GVI and 7777 were incubated for 2 h with 14C-leucine. Newly synthesized labelled proteins were determined independently in the medium and tissue homogenate, total protein after precipitation with trichloro-acetic acid, and albumin, fibrinogen and alpha 2-macroglobulin after immuno-precipitation with monospecific antisera. In comparison with control rat liver, synthesis and secretion of albumin were reduced four- to five-fold in the 2 heptomas examined. On the other hand, synthesis and secretio of fibrinogen and alpha 2-macroglobulin in Hepatomas 5123 GVI annd 7777 were similar to rat liver, especially to the liver isolated from rats with turpentine-induced local inflammation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32348917,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Mechanical properties and cytocompatibility of dense and porous Zn produced by laser powder bed fusion for biodegradable implant applications.\nIn this work, the macrotexture of dense Zn produced by laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) was studied and the mechanical properties for different tensile bar orientations were measured. The compressive strength of LPBF Zn scaffolds with five different unit cells was measured for a relative density of 20-51%. In addition, the response of mesenchymal stem cells to the LPBF Zn scaffolds was studied. The elastic modulus and yield strength of dense LPBF Zn were 110.0 \u00b1 0.2 GPa and 78.0 \u00b1 0.4 MPa, respectively in the vertical and 81.0 \u00b1 0.4 GPa and 55.0 \u00b1 0.7 MPa in the horizontal direction. This could be explained by the preferential orientation of the \u30080001\u3009 direction in the building plane. For LPBF Zn scaffolds, the plateau stress for the different unit cells varied between 8 and 33 MPa for a 30% relative density. Calcein staining, lactate production and DNA measurements over a 13-day period showed that mesenchymal stem cell viability was low for Zn scaffolds. This work forms a basis for further research into the LPBF texture formation of metals with hexagonal crystal structure, guides implant designers in scaffold unit cell and relative density selection and motivates further research into the cytocompatibility of LPBF Zn. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) is a manufacturing technology which allows the seamless combination of porous and non-porous volumes in a metallic implant and is used in the orthopedic manufacturing industry today. The production of highly dense Zn with LPBF has been described earlier, but the mechanical properties of the resulting material have not been studied in detail yet. This study is the first to report on (i) the influence of different scanning strategies on the macrotexture of dense LPBF Zn and the resulting anisotropy of its mechanical properties, (ii) the relationship between the relative density and strength for LPBF Zn scaffolds with five different unit cells and (iii) the in vitro response of mesenchymal stem cells to these scaffolds.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37854425,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Transforming psychology education to include global mental health.\nIn recent years, the reality of global migration has brought the lack of understanding of mental health needs across different cultures into sharp focus. Psychology programs are not up to date on global issues and are often experienced as inadequate in preparing graduates to meet the challenges of society today. The field of education and training in psychology has hardly evolved since the last two decades. On the other hand, the mental health needs arising locally and globally require a knowledge base and a set of skills future psychologists need to have in order to be able to work and grow professionally. In addition, most psychologists in the western world are bound, at some point in their career, to be in contact with immigrants or refugees to offer them services and be a source of support for such a vulnerable population. Also, the field of psychology is witnessing more movement among psychologists than ever before, whereby many professionals move to another country, to work, volunteer, gain or provide training, consult and much more. This requires a certain level of preparation, which psychologists need to be aware of and ready to engage in before and after they move. This article highlights different psychology programs around the world that include global mental health in their programs. It discusses essential aspects and skills that psychologists need to learn to be prepared to work globally with various populations and to expand their skills beyond service providing to more management and policy work. Topics such as human rights and social justice, advocacy, health management and policymaking are addressed as important competencies to be gained during the education and training of future psychologists.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17198287,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Inventors as investigators: the ethics of patents in clinical trials.\nThe Bayh-Dole Act and renewed emphasis on translational research have stimulated patenting activities at universities. To examine how different institutions manage possible patent-related conflicts of interest in human subjects research, and to provide an ethical analysis and recommendations. Policies of nine major professional organizations, 13 of the largest recipients of federal biomedical funding in the United States and Canada, and 17 biomedical journals were canvassed. Disagreements in policies were used as the basis for analyzing the ethics of inventorship in clinical trials. Policies varied along three lines. First, some policies did not define patent inventorship as a potential conflict of interest. Second, some of those that did define it as such used licensing as a trigger for conflict of interest management. Third, several policies imposed presumptive restrictions on an investigator's participation in a trial involving his or her invention. The author defends on ethical grounds restrictive policies on patent holding in clinical trials and rejects objections to restrictive policies. The author recommends five policies: (1) any related patent holding should always be disclosed to IRBs and research subjects, (2) investigators who hold conflicting patents should be presumptively barred from certain activities in a study, (3) institutional interests in patents should be managed and disclosed to research subjects, (4) IRBs should also be informed of an investigator's filed (not just held) patents on an experimental agent, and (5) the stringency of policies should be adjusted according to a patent's earning potential and the risk associated with a study.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28262025,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dissociative Water Adsorption by Al3O4+ in the Gas Phase.\nWe use cryogenic ion trap vibrational spectroscopy in combination with density functional theory (DFT) to study the adsorption of up to four water molecules on Al3O4+. The infrared photodissociation spectra of [Al3O4(D2O)1-4]+ are measured in the O-D stretching (3000-2000 cm-1) as well as the fingerprint spectral region (1300-400 cm-1) and are assigned based on a comparison with simulated harmonic infrared spectra for global minimum-energy structures obtained with DFT. We find that dissociative water adsorption is favored in all cases. The unambiguous assignment of the vibrational spectra of these gas phase model systems allows identifying characteristic spectral regions for O-D and O-H stretching modes of terminal (\u03bc1) and bridging (\u03bc2) hydroxyl groups in aluminum oxide\/water systems, which sheds new light on controversial assignments for solid Al2O3 phases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37457702,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Immunogenicity and protective efficacy of nanoparticle formulations of L-SseB against Salmonella infection.\nSalmonella enterica, a Gram-negative pathogen, has over 2500 serovars that infect a wide range of hosts. In humans, S. enterica causes typhoid or gastroenteritis and is a major public health concern. In this study, SseB (the tip protein of the Salmonella pathogenicity island 2 type III secretion system) was fused with the LTA1 subunit of labile-toxin from enterotoxigenic E. coli to make the self-adjuvanting antigen L-SseB. Two unique nanoparticle formulations were developed to allow multimeric presentation of L-SseB. Mice were vaccinated with these formulations and protective efficacy determined via challenging the mice with S. enterica serovars. The polysaccharide (chitosan) formulation was found to elicit better protection when compared to the squalene nanoemulsion. When the polysaccharide formulation was used to vaccinate rabbits, protection from S. enterica challenge was elicited. In summary, L-SseB in a particulate polysaccharide formulation appears to be an attractive candidate vaccine capable of broad protection against S. enterica.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12013292,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Through-the-knee amputation: an improved technique.\nThrough-the-knee amputation (TKA) is an excellent lower extremity treatment for the ischemic extremity when revascularization is not feasible and a prosthesis is not practical. Over the past 8 years 185 major amputations have been performed at our hospital of which 63 were of the TKA type. In 61 of these an improved technique was used that resulted in nonischemic, strong, and aesthetic stumps with 100 per cent primary healing. Our technique consists of removing the distal 2 cm of the femoral head with the two condyles and allowing the patella to ankylose to the new distal femoral end. In comparison with the other major amputations the TKA with this technique had significant advantages over the above-knee amputation and often was found to be superior to the below-knee amputation especially when rehabilitative ambulation with a prosthesis was not possible.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3066858,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Proposal of an experimental model of fetal hydrocephalus.\nThere have been numerous experimental studies reported in literature that simulate congenital hydrocephalus. The various techniques that have been proposed present the obstacle of being difficult to reproduce and the results therefore, often do not match. We have proposed a new experimental model that is easily created, reproduced and that allows for precise monitoring of the hydrocephalic entity, in addiction to presenting itself as an example to follow in resolving the hydrocephalic pathology. The authors report the results relative to their case studies of 14 pregnant animals treated and they list and discuss the principal complications encountered.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12040050,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Activity-dependent recruitment of extrasynaptic NMDA receptor activation at an AMPA receptor-only synapse.\nWe have identified an excitatory synapse in cerebellar molecular layer interneurons at which the level of presynaptic activity determines the receptor type involved in the postsynaptic response. When small numbers of parallel fibers are activated, EPSCs are mediated solely by AMPA receptors (AMPARs), despite our finding that NMDA receptors (NMDARs) are present in the dendrites of these cells. The EPSC kinetics are fast (tau decay = 0.82 +\/- 0.05 msec at room temperature), consistent with the role these interneurons are thought to play in precisely timed inhibitory control of Purkinje cells. NMDARs are activated only when glutamate release is increased either by facilitation with brief high-frequency trains or by recruiting more presynaptic fibers with higher stimulus intensities. Under these conditions, EPSCs consist of a fast-rising AMPAR-mediated current followed by a slow component mediated by both NMDARs and AMPARs. Inhibitors of glutamate transport increase the amplitude and prolong the time course of the compound EPSCs. In contrast, the properties of fast AMPAR EPSCs resulting from the activation of few inputs remain unchanged when glutamate uptake is blocked. Our results suggest that, at these synapses, the postsynaptic density contains AMPARs alone. It is only when transmitter release is high enough for glutamate to diffuse to the extrasynaptic space and to reach concentrations sufficient to activate extrasynaptic receptors that NMDARs are involved in the postsynaptic response. We suggest that such a spatial separation of receptor types may provide a mechanism for rapid changes in EPSC properties, depending on the amount of synaptic activity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15261606,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Immune-mediated components of hereditary demyelinating neuropathies: lessons from animal models and patients.\nMost demyelinating forms of Charcot-Marie-Tooth type 1 (CMT1) neuropathy are slowly progressive and do not respond to anti-inflammatory treatment. In nerve biopsy samples, overt lymphocytic infiltration is absent, but pathological features typical of macrophage-related demyelination have been reported. In mouse models of CMT1, demyelination was substantially reduced when the mutants were backcrossed into an immunodeficient genetic background. A few individual patients with CMT1 respond to anti-inflammatory treatment; however, unlike most patients with CMT1, these patients show accelerated worsening of symptoms, inflammatory infiltrates in nerve biopsies, and clinical features resembling chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy as well as CMT1. We conclude that in patients with typical CMT1 and in animal models, a cryptic and mild inflammatory process not responsive to standard anti-inflammatory treatment fosters genetically mediated demyelination.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1674889,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of H2-receptor antagonists on the pharmacokinetics of 5-fluorouracil in the rat and monkey.\nThe effect of short term (7 days) and long term (28 days) pretreatment with the imidazole H2-receptor antagonist, cimetidine (CMT), on the pharmacokinetics of 5-fluorouracil (5-FUra) has been studied in the rat and cynomolgus monkey. Short-term pretreatment of rats with CMT significantly increased t1\/2.z by 29 per cent and AUC by 40 per cent: total body clearance was decreased by 30 per cent. Long-term pretreatment exaggerated these effects. By contrast, short- and long-term pretreatment with the furan H2-receptor antagonist, ranitidine, caused no significant effect on 5-FUra kinetics. In the monkey, 7 days pretreatment with CMT increased t1\/2.z by 32 per cent leaving other 5-FUra kinetic parameters unchanged; 28 days pretreatment increased both t1\/2.z by 41 per cent and AUC by 100 per cent with a decrease in total body clearance of 5-FUra of 48 per cent. CMT, but not RNT, inhibited cytosolic dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD), the enzyme responsible for 5-FUra catabolism. It is proposed that the observed effects of CMT on 5-FUra kinetics are the result of inhibition of DPD. This interaction has the potential for increasing systemic drug toxicity and it is therefore advisable that where H2-receptor blockade is administered concurrently with 5-FUra that a non-imidazole based H2-receptor antagonist such as RNT should be substituted for CMT.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30672055,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Improvements in chemical carriers of proteins and peptides.\nThe successful intracellular delivery of biologically active proteins and peptides plays an important role for therapeutic applications. Indeed, protein\/peptide delivery could overcome some problems of gene therapy, for example, controlling the expression levels and the integration of transgene into the host cell genome. Thus, protein\/peptide drug delivery showed a promising and safe approach for treatment of cancer and infectious diseases. Due to the unique physical and chemical properties of proteins, their production (e.g., isolation, purification & formulation) and delivery represented significant challenges in pharmaceutical studies. Modification in the structural moieties of these protein\/peptide drugs could improve their solubility, stability, crystallinity, lipophilicity, enzymatic susceptibility and targetability, and subsequently, therapies and cures against various diseases. Using the structural modification of protein\/peptide, their delivery provided overall higher success rates including high specificity, high activity, bioreactivity and safety. Recently, biotechnological and pharmaceutical companies have tried to find novel techniques for the modifications and improve delivery systems\/carriers. However, each carrier has its own benefits and drawbacks, and an appropriate carrier is often established by the physicochemical properties of protein or peptide, the ideal route of injection, and clinical characteristics of therapy. In this review, an attempt was made to give an overview on the chemical carriers for proteins and peptides as well as the recent advances in this field.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30663907,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Objective auditory brainstem response classification using machine learning.\nThe objective of this study was to use machine learning in the form of a deep neural network to objectively classify paired auditory brainstem response waveforms into either: 'clear response', 'inconclusive' or 'response absent'. A deep convolutional neural network was constructed and fine-tuned using stratified 10-fold cross-validation on 190 paired ABR waveforms. The final model was evaluated on a test set of 42 paired waveforms. The full dataset comprised 232 paired ABR waveforms recorded from eight normal-hearing individuals. The dataset was obtained from the PhysioBank database. The paired waveforms were independently labelled by two audiological scientists in order to train the network and evaluate its performance. The trained neural network was able to classify paired ABR waveforms with 92.9% accuracy. The sensitivity and the specificity were 92.9% and 96.4%, respectively. This neural network may have clinical utility in assisting clinicians with waveform classification for the purpose of hearing threshold estimation. Further evaluation using a large clinically obtained dataset would provide further validation with regard to the clinical potential of the neural network in diagnostic adult testing, newborn testing and in automated newborn hearing screening.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6736928,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Echography in the post-natal diagnosis of congenital urinary tract disorders.\nThe lecture concerns itself specifically with post-natal diagnosis of urinary tract disorders in a child, investigation of the siblings and parents and monitoring of children \"at risk\". The author describes the advantages of ultrasonography compared with other imaging techniques and gives a description of the appearance of major congenital conditions (infantile type polycystic disease, adult type polycystic disease, medullary cystic disease, nephrocalcinosis and lucent crystal deposits). The author hints at the necessity to screen the parents of children presenting with infantile polycystic disease, as this research was done for the relatives of cases of adult polycystic disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17005852,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Identification of a novel oligodendrocyte cell adhesion protein using gene expression profiling.\nOligodendrocytes undergo extensive changes as they differentiate from progenitors into myelinating cells. To better understand the molecular mechanisms underlying this transformation, we performed a comparative analysis using gene expression profiling of A2B5+ oligodendrocyte progenitors and O4+ oligodendrocytes. Cells were sort-purified ex vivo from postnatal rat brain using flow cytometry. Using Affymetrix microarrays, 1707 transcripts were identified with a more than twofold increase in expression in O4+ oligodendrocytes. Many genes required for oligodendrocyte differentiation were upregulated in O4+ oligodendrocytes, including numerous genes encoding myelin proteins. Transcriptional changes included genes required for cell adhesion, actin cytoskeleton regulation, and fatty acid and cholesterol biosynthesis. At the O4+ stage, there was an increase in expression of a novel proline-rich transmembrane protein (Prmp). Localized to the plasma membrane, Prmp displays adhesive properties that may be important for linking the extracellular matrix to the actin cytoskeleton. Together, our results highlight the usefulness of this discovery-driven experimental strategy to identify genes relevant to oligodendrocyte differentiation and myelination.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30313110,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"The association between IUGR and maternal inherited thrombophilias: A case-control study.\nOne of the risk factors for vascular obstetric complications, such as intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), is inherited thrombophilias. Nevertheless, routine screening for thrombophilias is not endorsed in pregnant women due to their low prevalence and conflicting results of published studies regarding the usefulness of screening in these patients. The cause of IUGR remains unknown in almost 1 quarter of cases. There are no published studies evaluating the association of inherited thrombophilias and IUGR in patients with IUGR of unknown origin. Understanding and preventing IUGR is an important public health concern, as IUGR has been associated with fetal mortality and neonatal morbidity, as well as adverse long-standing consequences. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of inherited thrombophilias in IUGR of unknown cause and to test the association between the inherited thrombophilias and IUGR of unknown cause.This study included 33 cases of IUGR of unknown cause tested for inherited thrombophilias and 66 controls individually matched for age, ethnicity, and smoking status.Patients with plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1) and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) had significantly higher odds for IUGR of unknown cause (P < .001 and P = .002, respectively) with OR 13.546 (CI 95% 3.79-48.37) and 8.139 (CI 95% 2.20-30.10), respectively. A positive association between other inherited thrombophilias (homozygous 20210 prothrombin gene mutation and homozygous factor V Leiden) and IUGR of unknown cause was also found, P = .096, OR 6.106 (CI 95% 0.72-51.30), although it was not statistically significant (P = .096, OR = 6.106, CI 95% 0.72-51.30).Our results indicate that PAI-1 and MTHFR thrombophilias represent risk factors for IUGR of otherwise unidentified cause.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28364237,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Manipulating Gene Expression in the Chick Embryo.\nThe chick embryo is a well-established representative of amniote embryos, which has been used to make many discoveries, including many major concepts, which have moved our knowledge of developmental biology in hugely important ways. The chick has a relatively compact genome and is easily amenable to embryological manipulations and in vivo imaging. Morpholino gene manipulations have been used in a variety of contexts, and constitute a quick and versatile molecular tool. Here we describe methods to deliver morpholinos to chick embryos, allowing targeting of specific cell populations at defined developmental stages, using two stages as examples: the epiblast of the embryo in the first day of incubation, when the primary germ layers of the embryo are specified, and in ovo electroporation of the neural tube as an example of a later stage. With slight modifications, these general methods can be used to target other embryonic tissues.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11993103,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Analysis of expectations on the nurse's leadership in the light of Grid's theories].\nBased on the understanding that leadership is a fundamental resource for nurses in health institutions, the aim of the authors was to analyze, under the light of Blake & Mouton's Grid Theories, the expectations of the Nursing team regarding nurse's leadership. The analysis was based on four investigations performed in different contexts of Brazilian Nursing and data were collected through the application of the \"Grid & Leadership in Nursing Instrument\" developed by Trevizan. Results show that the subjects prefer the Grid style 9.9. The authors discuss the results and emphasize the need for the development of leadership in Nursing.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28705801,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The miR-15 family reinforces the transition from proliferation to differentiation in pre-B cells.\nPrecursor B lymphocytes expand upon expression of a pre-B cell receptor (pre-BCR), but then transit into a resting state in which immunoglobulin light chain gene recombination is initiated. This bi-phasic sequence is orchestrated by the IL-7 receptor (IL-7R) and pre-BCR signaling, respectively, but little is known about microRNAs fine-tuning these events. Here, we show that pre-B cells lacking miR-15 family functions exhibit prolonged proliferation due to aberrant expression of the target genes cyclin E1 and D3. As a consequence, they fail to trigger the transcriptional reprogramming normally accompanying their differentiation, resulting in a developmental block at the pre-B cell stage. Intriguingly, our data indicate that the miR-15 family is suppressed by both IL-7R and pre-BCR signaling, suggesting it is actively integrated into the regulatory circuits of developing B cells. These findings identify the miR-15 family as a novel element required to promote the switch from pre-B cell proliferation to differentiation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25500744,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Inhibition of local aldosterone by eplerenone reduces renal structural damage in a novel model of chronic cyclosporine A nephrotoxicity.\nThe fact that mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists reduce structural and functional alterations induced by cyclosporine A (CsA) indicates that aldosterone plays a key role in chronic CsA nephrotoxicity. We and other researchers have reported local renal aldosterone synthesis. To investigate local renal aldosterone's role in chronic CsA nephrotoxicity, we evaluated the effect of eplerenone (Epl) on renal structural damage and renal dysfunction in adrenalectomized (ADX) rats, and assessed whether the therapeutic benefit was associated with reduction of transforming growth factor-\u03b21 (TGF-\u03b21), connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1) and collagen I (COL-I) expression. Male Sprague-Dawley rats fed a normal-sodium diet were divided in four groups: sham-ADX, ADX, CsA, or Epl. Rats in the ADX, CsA and Epl groups were adrenalectomized first. Aldosterone, sodium and potassium levels in serum and urine were measured on the second day. Two weeks later, vehicle (sham-ADX and ADX group), CsA (25mg\/kg\/d), or CsA and Epl (100 mg\/ kg\/d) combination was administrated, respectively. After six weeks, urinary protein, creatinine clearance (Ccr), tubulointerstitial fibrosis (TIF), aldosterone level in kidney, and renal aldosterone synthase CYP11B2, COL-I, TGF-\u03b21, CTGF and PAI-1 gene expression levels were determined. On the second day after surgery, adrenalectomized rats showed undetectable aldosterone with natriuresis, hyponatremia, decreased urinary potassium excretion and hyperpotassemia. CsA reduced Ccr, induced urinary proteins and up-regulated COL-I, TGF-\u03b21, CTGF and PAI-1 gene expression with a significant development of TIF. Eplerenone administration prevented TIF and COL-I, TGF-\u03b21 and PAI-1 up-regulation but did not improve renal function. Our results suggest local renal aldosterone is an important mediator of renal injury induced by CsA.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3032526,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of vidarabine in dimethyl sulfoxide vehicle on type 1 herpesvirus-induced cutaneous lesions in laboratory animals.\nVidarabine (9-beta-D-arabinofuranosyladenine) prepared in a 70% dimethyl sulfoxide vehicle was applied topically to type 1 herpesvirus-induced cutaneous lesions on guinea pigs and athymic nude mice. Treatments were 3 or 5 times daily for 7 days beginning 24 h after virus exposure. Against infections in guinea pigs induced by a thymidine kinase-positive virus strain, either treatment schedule effectively inhibited mean lesion score, lesion size, appearance of new lesions, and reduced lesion virus titers. Therapy was similarly effective against infections in guinea pigs induced by a thymidine kinase-negative virus strain, except that lesion virus titers were somewhat increased in animals treated 3 times daily. Treatment 5 times daily was most efficacious against both virus strains. Treatment 3 times daily of mice infected with a thymidine kinase-negative virus was not effective, but treatment 5 times daily significantly inhibited lesion score and size and reduced lesion virus titer by 37%. Toxicity controls exhibited no signs of skin irritation, although guinea pigs treated 5 times daily experienced some transient weight loss.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22674840,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"The accessibility of vulnerable groups to health services in Greece: a Delphi study on the perceptions of health professionals.\nProblems of accessibility to healthcare services notably affect certain population groups such as poor and unemployed people, migrants and minorities, thus having a negative impact on their health. The aim of this study was to investigate these problems from the perspective of health professionals and to formulate empirically informed suggestions to solve the issue. Primary data were collected in 2010-2011 by using a panel of 36 experienced health professionals around Greece. A two-round Delphi method was undertaken to achieve the objectives of the study. The first questionnaire investigated the factors that hinder accessibility to health services. The second round aimed at determining the relative importance of each of the factors emerging in the first round. The group of experts identified 345 factors in the first round, which were grouped in 55 statements. Consensus was achieved in 22 statements. The study revealed important issues, and health professionals proposed a number of actions to eliminate the accessibility problems. The use of medical interpreters and cultural mediators, transcultural education and stronger linkages among medical facilities are important to reduce accessibility problems. Restructuring primary healthcare and better documenting of the beneficiaries could also improve the quality of provided healthcare services.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6152107,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Beta blockers: the extended family.\nBeta-Adrenergic blocking drugs, by occupying beta receptors without stimulating adenylate cyclase, interfere with the physiologic responses mediated by the sympathetic nervous system. This property has led to their application in the cardiovascular disorders on which sympathetic tone either underlies or contributes to the pathogenesis of the process. Lipid solubility, selective beta-receptor blockade, and intrinsic sympathomimetic activity are three additional characteristics of beta blockers that modify the pharmacodynamics and pharmacologic effects of each agent. As the role of the sympathetic nervous system in the pathogenesis of heart disease is better defined, the development of beta blockers with particular pharmacologic profiles and fewer side effects may provide more specific treatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8351353,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Quality assurance and cancer detection rates in a provincial screening mammography program. Work in progress.\nIn 1990, a provincial screening program was inaugurated in Alberta, a Canadian province of 2.4 million people. The goal of the program is to decrease the number of deaths from breast cancer by 30% in women aged 50-69 years. In the first 18 months of program operations, efforts were concentrated on high levels of quality assurance in all areas of program activities. In particular, the abnormality referral rates, cancer detection rates, and size and stage of mammographically detected cancers were evaluated. Of the 9,553 women seen, 8,524 were between the ages of 50 and 69 years. Reported abnormality rates were initially more than 16%, but were brought down steadily to less than 5%. Cancer detection rates increased with age, ranging from 1.9 cancers detected per 1,000 women aged 40-49 years to 14.1 cancers per 1,000 women aged 70 years and older. Forty-one of the 61 cancers detected (67%) were less than 1.5 cm in diameter. Forty-three of the 52 cancers (83%) in which the nodal status was known were node negative. At the conclusion of the first 18 months of operation, interpretation parameters were within the target zones expected for a population-based screening program.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6745605,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Trophic effect of pentagastrin on normal and regenerating parietal cells. A light and electron microscopic study in rats.\nGastric mucosal wounds were produced by cauterization of the oxyntic gland area in adult rats. From the first postoperative day, one group of animals was given two daily subcutaneous injections of pentagastrin, 250 micrograms\/kg body wt, dissolved in hydrolyzed gelatin. The remaining rats served as controls and were given saline in the gelatin. After 90 days of treatment the animals were killed and the gastric mucosa was prepared for light and electron microscopy. Using stereologic techniques, data on parietal cells were obtained from both normal and regenerating mucosas. Pentagastrin induced a 2.3-fold increase in the parietal cell volume density in the regenerating mucosa and a 1.3-fold increase in normal mucosa. However, pentagastrin did not affect the ultrastructure of the parietal cells. Thus, the well-known trophic effect of pentagastrin on the gastric mucosa was confirmed; however, the absence of ultrastructural changes in the parietal cells suggests that the target for its trophic effect is likely to be the progenitor cell population.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14524840,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Classical infinite-range-interaction Heisenberg ferromagnetic model: metastability and sensitivity to initial conditions.\nAn N-sized inertial classical Heisenberg ferromagnet, which consists of a modification of the well-known standard model, where the spins are replaced by classical rotators, is studied in the limit of infinite-range interactions. The usual canonical-ensemble mean-field solution of the inertial classical n-vector ferromagnet (for which n=3 recovers the particular Heisenberg model considered herein) is briefly reviewed, showing the well-known second-order phase transition. This Heisenberg model is studied numerically within the microcanonical ensemble through molecular dynamics. In what concerns the caloric curve, it is shown that, far from criticality, the kinetic temperature obtained at the long-time-limit microcanonical-ensemble simulation recovers well the equilibrium canonical-ensemble estimate, whereas, close to criticality, a discrepancy (presumably due to finite-size effects) is found. The time evolution of the kinetic temperature indicates that a basin of attraction exists for the initial conditions for which the system evolves into a metastable state, whose duration diverges as N--> infinity, before attaining the terminal thermal equilibrium. Such a metastable state is observed for a whole range of energies, which starts right below criticality and extends up to very high energies (in fact, the gap between the kinetic temperatures associated with the metastable and the terminal-equilibrium states is expected to disappear only as one approaches infinite energy). To the best our knowledge, this has never before been observed on similar Hamiltonian models, in a noticeable way, for such a large range of energies. For example, for the XY (n=2) version of the present model, such a behavior was observed only near criticality. It is shown also that the (metastable state) maximum Lyapunov exponent decreases with N like lambda(max) approximately N-kappa, where for the initial conditions employed herein (maximal magnetization), kappa=0.225+\/-0.030, both above and below the critical point.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37443478,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Circulating tumor DNA analysis detects micrometastatic disease and predicts recurrence in a patient with colon cancer: A case report.\nColorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most prevalent and deadly cancers worldwide, and approximately 50% of patients with early-stage disease develop metastases. A critical limitation for successful management of CRC is early disease detection and identification of progression. Next-generation sequencing-based circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) profiling has emerged as a promising biomarker for the assessment of minimal or molecular residual disease in CRC. The patient was initially diagnosed with resectable CRC with uncertain small lung nodules. The patient was diagnosed with sigmoid colon adenocarcinoma placed at 15 to 20 cm above the anal verge (ypT4N1R0). Lung nodules were found in the apical part of the upper lobe of the right lung and the dorsal segment of the lower lobe of the left lung. The patient received systemic therapy and local treatment and plasma ctDNA-MRD detection was performed for monitoring the molecular disease status after surgery. The patient achieved a complete response after treatment. However, he presented with disease recurrence in liver lesions. The postoperative ctDNA detection suggested the possibility of micrometastatic pulmonary disease, and that was confirmed by follow-up examination. Serial ctDNA detection revealed disease relapse ahead of radiologic imaging by a lead time of 9 months. This case demonstrated the potential of ctDNA analysis to be a sensitive and specific tool for the detection of micrometastatic disease and prediction of recurrence.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6030277,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mechanism of conversion of aspartate into glutamate in cerebral-cortex slices.\n1. When slices of guinea-pig cerebral-cortex slices are incubated with [U-(14)C]-aspartate and non-radioactive glucose as substrates, the specific radioactivities of the citric acid-cycle intermediates are lower than that of the glutamate isolated from the same vessels. 2. Glutamate was significantly labelled when [1-(14)C]-aspartate and glucose were present in the incubation medium. These results would not be expected on the basis of simple conversion of aspartate into glutamate through the citric acid cycle, since the C-1 position of oxaloacetate is decarboxylated in the conversion of isocitrate into alpha-oxoglutarate. 3. It appears that aspartate is converted into glutamate by citric acid-cycle mechanisms; however, the carbon ;skeleton' is not immediately condensed with acetyl-CoA to form citrate but first follows the cycle in a reverse direction to fumarate or succinate and then proceeds in the forward direction. 4. The conversion of aspartate into glutamate appears to be compartmentalized.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9153225,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The winged helix transcriptional activator HFH-3 is expressed in the distal tubules of embryonic and adult mouse kidney.\nThe hepatocyte nuclear factor-3 (HNF-3)\/fork head homolog (HFH) proteins are an extensive family of transcription factors, which share homology in the winged helix DNA binding domain. Members of the HFH\/winged helix family have been implicated in cell fate determination during pattern formation, in organogenesis, and in cell-type-specific gene expression. In this study we isolated a full-length HFH-3 cDNA clone from a human kidney library which encoded a 351-amino acid protein containing a centrally located winged helix DNA binding domain. We demonstrate that HFH-3 is a potent transcriptional activator requiring 138 C-terminal residues for activity. We used in situ hybridization to demonstrate that HFH-3 expression is restricted to the epithelium of the renal distal convoluted tubules. We determined the HFH-3 DNA binding consensus sequence by in vitro DNA binding site selection using recombinant HFH-3 protein and used this consensus sequence to identify putative HFH-3 target genes expressed there. These putative HFH-3 target genes include the Na\/K-ATPase, Na\/H and anion exchangers, E-cadherin, and mineralocorticoid receptor genes as well as genes for the transcription factors HNF-1, vHNF-1, and HNF-4.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19028056,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Chronic kidney disease classification stratifies mortality risk after elective stent graft repair of the thoracic aorta.\nRisk factors for perioperative and late mortality after thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) remain ill-defined. In this study, we examined the prognostic significance of chronic kidney disease (CKD), a well-known predictor of death after thoracic aorta open repair, employing a stratification based on CKD stages derived from glomerular filtration rate (GFR) values. A prospective database was evaluated for 179 consecutive patients electively submitted to TEVAR between 1999 and 2007. Preoperative GFR was estimated by using the Cockcroft-Gault equation. Patient groups were stratified into four quartiles by baseline serum creatinine (SC) and GFR values, with quartile I being the lowest, and quartile IV the highest, and into the five CKD stages in reverse order (I GFR >or= 90 ml\/min\/1.73 m(2); II 60-89; III 30-59; IV 15-29; V < 15). Prognostic significance of preoperative GFR values and CKD stages were investigated by means of univariate and multivariate analyses, and the Kaplan-Meier log-rank method. A primary technical success was achieved in 166 of 179 patients (92.7%), and an initial clinical success in 158 (88.3%). Thirty-day mortality was 5% (nine cases). Paraplegia or paraparesis were observed in 11 (6.1%) patients, and completely resolved in six cases after cerebrospinal fluid drainage. Preoperative GFR quartiles and CKD stages were significant predictors of 30-day mortality (P = .004 and P < .0001 respectively), whereas SC quartiles did not affect the outcome (P = .12). In particular, GFR quartile I (<60 ml\/min\/1.73 m(2)) was associated with a ten-fold greater risk of perioperative death compared with the other three quartiles (Odds Ratio 11.4, 95% Confidence Interval 2.3-57.0, P = .003). Midterm survival was 88.8% (159 of 179) at a mean follow-up of 35.6 +\/- 23.7 months. Actuarial survival at 60 months was 57.8%, 81.1%, 92.3%, and 100% for GFR quartiles I to IV respectively (P < .0001), and 0.0%, 66.7%, 59.2%, 88.6%, and 100% (P < .0001) for CKD stage V to I respectively. At univariate analyses, age (P = .019), preoperative SC quartiles (P = .001), GFR quartiles (P = .0002), and CKD stages (P < .0001) were all predictive of mid-term mortality. At multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analysis, only CKD stages remained independently associated with the outcome (P = .008). GFR is an accurate prognostic predictor in patients submitted to TEVAR. Also, perioperative and midterm mortality directly correlate with the severity of CKD stages, allowing a risk stratification model to be employed both for risk-adjusted preoperative evaluation, and to establish accurate matching criteria for comparative studies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27272058,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[There is no Need to Reinvent the Wheel - Requirements for a Successful Project Transfer].\nAlthough the transfer of an existing project can be a resource-efficient form of implementation of successful interventions, project transfers are rarely carried out in practice. The aim of this article is to pool the experience of 3 projects about the transfer of their prevention approaches to other municipalities and regions, as well as to make recommendations for future trans-regional transfer processes in the field of disease prevention and health promotion. To achieve this, documentation sheets were used and interviews were conducted with team members of the transfer projects. The results show that the ability to adapt intervention to context is an essential condition of successful implementation. In addition, there has to be a need for the intervention in the transfer region and a benefit to the participant organizations as well as to the team members. Furthermore, constructive and personal communication and cooperation between the participants of the original and the transferred project are required for successful transfer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23878566,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evaluation of properties of irreversible hydrocolloid impression materials mixed with disinfectant liquids.\nAddition of disinfectant to irreversible hydrocolloid impression materials can eliminate the disinfection step to avoid dimensional changes associated with it. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of various disinfectant mixing liquids on the properties of commercially available irreversible hydrocolloid impression materials. Four commercially available irreversible hydrocolloid impression materials (Zelgan, Vignette, Tropicalgin, and Algitex) were mixed with disinfectant liquid containing chlorhexidine (0.1 and 0.2%) and sodium hypochlorite (0.1 and 0.5%). After mixing with disinfectant liquids, materials were evaluated for pH changes during gelation, gelation time, flow, gel strength, permanent deformation and detail reproduction. Significant changes in gelation time were observed in irreversible hydrocolloid impression materials upon mixing with disinfectant liquids. In general, chlorhexidine increased the gelation time, whereas sodium hypochlorite reduced it. However, no significant changes in the flow were observed both with chlorhexidine and sodium hypochlorite. Gel strength was found to decrease when mixed with chlorhexidine, whereas an increase in gel strength was observed upon mixing with sodium hypochlorite. Permanent deformation of the most irreversible hydrocolloid impression materials was below the specification limit even after mixing with disinfectant liquids. Sodium hypochlorite significantly reduced the surface detail reproduction, whereas no change in detail reproduction was observed with chlorhexidine. Chlorhexidine solution can be used to mix irreversible hydrocolloid impression materials in regular dental practice as it did not significantly alter the properties. This may ensure effective disinfection of impressions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26432340,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Seasonality in physical activity and walking of healthy older adults.\nAn increasing number of older adults require improvements in their quality of life. Physical activities, particularly walking ability, are of primary importance for older adults. The influence of season on physical activity has not been sufficiently studied among older adults. Therefore, this report compared the physical activity and walking of older individuals between summer and winter seasons using a longitudinal study design in a community in a mid-latitude area. Participants in the study comprised 39 healthy community-dwelling adults ranging in age from 65 to 80 years. Physical parameters and activities as well as the preferred speed of walking were measured at half-year intervals. Significant seasonal differences from summer to winter and from winter to summer were detected. Specifically, body fat percentage, single-leg stance, walking speed, cadence, stride length, and trunk and head-trunk pitch ranges were greater in winter than in summer, whereas grip strength and steps per day were greater in summer. Temperature and total activity level were considered to be related to body fat percentage. Grip strength was thought to be affected by outdoor temperature. The possibility of relationships between increased activity per unit time in older adults and increased preferred walking speed, cadence, and stride length in winter temperatures was discussed. The seasonal climatic environment of the geographic area of this study affected the activity level of the participants. These results indicate that seasonality should be considered when analyzing physical activity and walking in older adults.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30677262,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Clinical Considerations Regarding the Use of Obesity Pharmacotherapy in Adolescents with Obesity.\nA growing number of youth suffer from obesity and in particular severe obesity for which intensive lifestyle intervention does not adequately reduce excess adiposity. A treatment gap exists wherein effective treatment options for an adolescent with severe obesity include intensive lifestyle modification or metabolic and bariatric surgery while the application of obesity pharmacotherapy remains largely underutilized. These youth often present with numerous obesity-related comorbid diseases, including hypertension, dyslipidemia, prediabetes\/type 2 diabetes, obstructive sleep apnea, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, musculoskeletal problems, and psychosocial issues such as depression, anxiety, and social stigmatization. Current pediatric obesity treatment algorithms for pediatric primary care providers focus primarily on intensive lifestyle intervention with escalation of treatment intensity through four stages of intervention. Although a recent surge in the number of Food and Drug Administration-approved medications for obesity treatment has emerged in adults, pharmacotherapy options for youth remain limited. Recognizing treatment and knowledge gaps related to pharmacological agents and the urgent need for more effective treatment strategies in this population, discussed here are the efficacy, safety, and clinical application of obesity pharmacotherapy in youth with obesity based on current literature. Legal ramifications, informed consent regulations, and appropriate off-label use of these medications in pediatrics are included, focusing on prescribing practices and prescriber limits.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16238708,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Issues when treating epilepsy in the elderly.\nSingle seizures and epilepsy are one of the most commonly encountered neurologic disorders in elderly individuals, arising as a result of complex and often multiple acquired underlying pathologies. Ischemia is by far the most frequent etiology, and is found in up to one-third of these patients, followed by tumors, which are diagnosed in approximately 10% of affected individuals. Thus, a multidisciplinary approach to its diagnosis and management is required. Antiepileptic drug (AED) therapy is the mainstay of treatment for epilepsy in the elderly, but age-specific changes in drug metabolism, increased sensitivity to side effects, and the risk of drug interactions must be considered. Some newer AEDs seem to offer advantages over the older agents in terms of their reduced drug interaction potential (due to lack of enzyme induction), and improved tolerability profiles, which is supported by few recent clinical trials. In order to achieve seizure freedom without causing intolerable side effects, treatment should be initiated with monotherapy at low doses and titrated slowly to within the recommended dose range.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23870037,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Bluetongue virus in Lebanon.\nSince 2000, several incursions of bluetongue virus (BTV) occurred in the Mediterranean Basin involving European and surrounding Countries. The Middle East represents one of the most important gateways for the access of BTV in Europe. Limited data on the BTV situation in this area are available. In this perspective, an epidemiological survey on the presence of BTV in Lebanon was conducted. Of the 181 serum samples tested, 97 (mean = 53.6%; 95% CI: 46.3-60.7) resulted positive when tested for the presence of BTV antibodies by c-ELISA, of these 42 (mean = 42%; 95% CI: 32.8-51.8) serum samples were from sheep and 55 (mean = 67.9%; 95% CI: 57.1-77.1) serum samples were from goats. Fourteen blood samples (14\/110; mean = 12.7%; 95% CI: 7.8-20.3), 6 (6\/66; mean = 9.1%; 95% CI: 4.4-18.5) from sheep and 8 (8\/44; mean = 18.2%; 95% CI: 9.6-32.0) from goats, were positive by qRT-PCR. The results with serum-neutralization assay and typing performed by RT-PCR confirmed that six BTV serotypes are currently circulating in Lebanon, and these serotypes are as follows: 1, 4, 6, 8, 16 and 24. This study is the first report that confirms the presence and circulation of BTV in Lebanon.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9160078,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Rhabdomyolysis associated with simvastatin-gemfibrozil therapy.\nSimvastatin is a potent inhibitor of hydroxymethylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase intended for use as a hypocholesterolemic agent. The long-term clinical experience with simvastatin indicates that it is a safe, effective, and well-tolerated hypolipidemic agent. Laboratory adverse events involving elevations of serum transaminase levels and serum creatine kinase (CK) levels to more than three times the upper limit of normal range have been seen in 1.5% and 3.4% of cases, respectively. We describe a case of severe myopathy and rhabdomyolysis associated with concomitant use of simvastatin and gemfibrozil. Seven days after discontinuing administration of gemfibrozil and simvastatin, the patient's condition improved and she was discharged home. Although this is the first report to indicate an association between myopathy and concomitant use of simvastatin and gemfibrozil, we strongly recommend caution and careful monitoring if simvastatin is given to patients receiving gemfibrozil.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18605766,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Avoiding underdiagnosis, overdiagnosis, and misdiagnosis of lung carcinoma.\nGiven the magnitude of the therapeutic and prognostic implications, it is critical that pathologists diagnose lung cancer accurately. This can sometimes be a formidable challenge, as a number of benign entities mimic lung carcinoma and vice versa. To present strategies for recognizing benign entities likely to be confused with lung carcinoma, malignancies of the lung prone to misinterpretation as benign, and commonly misclassified pulmonary neoplasms. The medical literature and experience from consultative and surgical practice. In addition to understanding the clinical context in which a lung biopsy is procured and the radiographic findings, appreciating the histologic distribution of disease and what, if any, pathologic features are present in the background can go a long way toward averting a misdiagnosis of lung cancer. Recognizing the limitations posed by small samples and communicating clearly to clinicians the level of diagnostic uncertainty are equally as important for establishing an accurate diagnosis of lung cancer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11993996,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Spectral tuning and evolution of short wave-sensitive cone pigments in cottoid fish from Lake Baikal.\nThe cottoid fishes of Lake Baikal in eastern Siberia provide a unique opportunity to study the evolution of visual pigments in a group of closely related species exposed to different photic environments. Members of this species flock are adapted to different depth habitats down to >1000 m, and both the rod and cone visual pigments display short wave shifts as depth increases. The blue-sensitive cone pigments of the SWS2 class cluster into two species groups with lambda(max) values of 450 and 430 nm, with the pigment in Cottus gobio, a cottoid fish native to Britain, forming a third group with a lambda(max) of 467 nm. The sequences of the SWS2 opsin gene from C. gobio and from two representatives of the 450 and 430 nm Baikal groups are presented. Approximately 6 nm of the spectral difference between C. gobio and the 450 nm Baikal group can be ascribed to the presence of a porphyropsin\/rhodopin mixture in C. gobio. Subsequent analysis of amino acid substitutions by site-directed mutagenesis demonstrates that the remainder of the shift from 461 to 450 nm arises from a Thr269Ala substitution and the shift from 450 to 430 nm at least partly from Thr118Ala and Thr118Gly substitutions. The underlying adaptive significance of these substitutions in terms of spectral tuning and signal-to-noise ratio is discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1097000,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Platelet size in man.\nThe shape and parameters of platelet size distributions were studied in 50 normal persons and 97 patients in order to test the proposed thesis that platelet size heterogeneity results mainly from aging in the circulation. This thesis was contradicted (1) by size distributions of age-homogeneous, newly-born cell populations which were lognormal with increased (instead of decreased) dispersion of volumes and (2) by the macrothrombocytosis found in some populations with normal age distribution. For these reasons, thrombocytopoiesis appeared to play the major role in determining platelet size. A model was built in which the volume variation of platelet territories due to megakaryocyte growth and membrane demarcation at each step of maturation was a random proportion of the previous value of the volume. This model explains the lognormal shape of both newborn and circulating platelet size distributions. It also implies that (1) the mean and standard deviation of platelet logvolumes depend on the rates of volume change of the individual platelet territories (growth rate minus demarcation rate) as well as on megakaryocyte maturation time; (2) platelet hyperdestruction causes an increase in the mean and dispersion of the rates of territory volume change; (3) Mediterranean macrothrombocytosis and some hereditary macrothrombocytotic thrombocytopenias or dysthrombocytopoieses reflect a diminished rate of territory demarcation, and (4) platelet size heterogeneity is caused mainly by the variations in territory growth and demarcation and not by aging in the circulation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23444983,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Favourable metabolic effects of a eucaloric lower-carbohydrate diet in women with PCOS.\nDiet-induced reduction in circulating insulin may be an attractive nonpharmacological treatment for women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) among whom elevated insulin may exacerbate symptoms by stimulating testosterone synthesis. This study was designed to determine whether a modest reduction in dietary carbohydrate (CHO) content affects \u03b2-cell responsiveness, serum testosterone concentration and insulin sensitivity in women with PCOS. In a crossover design, two diets ('Standard,' STD, 55:18:27% energy from carbohydrate\/protein\/fat; lower-carbohydrate, 41:19:40) were provided for 8 weeks in random order with a 4-week washout between. Thirty women with PCOS. \u03b2-cell responsiveness assessed as the C-peptide response to glucose during a liquid meal test; insulin sensitivity from insulin and glucose values throughout the test; insulin resistance (HOMA-IR); and total testosterone by immunoassay. Paired t-test indicated that the lower-CHO diet induced significant decreases in basal \u03b2-cell response (PhiB), fasting insulin, fasting glucose, HOMA-IR, total testosterone and all cholesterol measures, and significant increases in insulin sensitivity and dynamic ('first-phase') \u03b2-cell response. The STD diet induced a decrease in HDL-C and an increase in the total cholesterol-to-HDL-C ratio. Across all data combined, the change in testosterone was positively associated with the changes in fasting insulin, PhiB and insulin AUC (P < 0\u00b705). In women with PCOS, modest reduction in dietary CHO in the context of a weight-maintaining diet has numerous beneficial effects on the metabolic profile that may lead to a decrease in circulating testosterone.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23434338,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Sustaining innovation and improvement in the treatment of childhood cancer: lessons from high-income countries.\nCancer in children and adolescents is rare and biologically very different from cancer in adults. It accounts for 1\u00b74% of all cancers worldwide, although this proportion ranges from 0\u00b75% in Europe to 4\u00b78% in Africa, largely because of differences in age composition and life expectancy. In high-income countries, survival from childhood cancer has reached 80% through a continuous focus on the integration of clinical research into front-line care for nearly all children affected by malignant disease. However, further improvement must entail new biology-driven approaches, since optimisation of conventional treatments has in many cases reached its limits. In many instances, such approaches can only be achieved through international collaborative research, since rare cancers are being subdivided into increasingly smaller subgroups on the basis of their molecular characteristics. The long-term effect of anticancer treatment on quality of life must also be taken into account because more than one in 1000 adults in high-income countries are thought to be survivors of cancer in childhood or adolescence. The introduction of drugs that are less toxic and more targeted than those currently used necessitates a partnership between clinical and translational researchers, the pharmaceutical industry, drug regulators, and patients and their families. This therapeutic alliance will ensure that efforts are focused on the unmet clinical needs of young people with cancer. Most children with cancer live in low-income and middle-income countries, and these countries account for 94% of all deaths from cancer in people aged 0-14 years. The immediate priority for these children is to improve access to an affordable, best standard of care in each country. Every country should have a national cancer plan that recognises the unique demographic characteristics and care needs of young people with cancer. Centralisation of the complex components of treatment of these rare diseases is essential to improve survival, accelerate research, and train the future specialist workforce. Referral routes and care pathways must take account of the large geographical distances between many patients' homes and treatment centres, and the economic, cultural, and linguistic diversity of the populations served.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3044172,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Role of alcohol-induced hypothermia in mediating the teratogenic effects of alcohol in C57BL\/6J mice.\nThe purpose of this study was to determine the role of alcohol-induced maternal hypothermia in the teratogenic actions of alcohol. C57BL\/6J mice were administered an acute dose of alcohol (5.8 g\/kg orally) or isocaloric sucrose on day 10 of gestation. One half of each group was placed for 6 hr in an incubator set at 32 degrees C and the other half was housed in the incubator at room temperature (22 degrees C). As expected, acute prenatal alcohol exposure at this time of gestation was associated with decreased birth weight and an increase in limb and kidney malformations. The significant alcohol x environmental temperature interaction on these dependent variables indicated that the teratogenic insult was not attenuated, but was in fact even greater for the 32 degrees C\/alcohol group. An absence of a main effect of environmental temperature indicated that the 32 degrees C environment, per se, was not teratogenic. Thus, maternal hypothermia is probably not an etiological factor in animal models of fetal alcohol syndrome. Moreover, antagonism of alcohol-induced maternal hypothermia exacerbates the teratogenic actions of alcohol observed at room temperature.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12032637,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"The common -675 4G\/5G polymorphism in the plasminogen activator inhibitor -1 gene is strongly associated with obesity.\nPlasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1) increases in several insulin-resistant conditions such as obesity. We tested the hypothesis that the PAI-1 gene might be a candidate for obesity and Type II (non-insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus. We investigated the frequency of a common and functional -675 4G\/5G promoter polymorphism in the PAI-1 gene in 188 lean, 70 overweight (BMI 25-30 kg\/m(2)) and 247 obese otherwise healthy Scandinavian subjects. The genotypic ( p = 0.002), or allelic ( p = 0.0004) distribution differed markedly between the three groups. Homozygosity for 4G was more common among obese people, whereas homozygosity for 5G was more common among lean subjects. Heterozygosity was evenly distributed. The lean and overweight groups did not differ in frequency distribution. The relative risk for being obese in comparison to being lean for 4G\/4G was threefold higher ( p = 0.0003). Also, carriers of the 4G allele in the heterozygous or homozygous form were distributed differently between the three groups ( p = 0.006). The 4G carriers were more common among the obese than the lean group. The latter group did not differ from the overweight group. The relative risk of being obese in comparison with lean was twofold increased in 4G carriers ( p = 0.0015). Similar results were obtained in men and women. Thus, the common -675 4G\/5G polymorphism in the PAI-1 gene is strongly linked to obesity and a markedly increased risk for obesity is associated with the 4G allele in its homozygous form.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20359114,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Primary aspergillus laryngitis: report of six cases].\nTo discuss the distinctive clinical manifestation of primary aspergillus laryngitis. Six cases of primary aspergillus laryngitis in our department were reviewed, among which 3 cases were diabetes patients, and were laryngeal mucosal barrier impairment. 2 cases were smoking, 2 cases were over use of voice and 1 case was gastro-pharyngeal reflux. Refractory hoarseness was the main clinical manifestation of all patients. The prophase treatment with antibiotics and glucocorticoid should breakdown the balance of flora and exacerbate the disease. Stop using antibiotics and glucocorticoid and alter to oral administration of itraconazole in 2 to 4 weeks after final diagnosis can effectively cure the disease. No recurrence was found in 6 month to 4 years follow up. Diffuse hyperemia, pachynsis and scattered lamellar leukasmus of vocal cord were the characteristic physical findings of primary aspergillus laryngitis. Pathology is the major means to get the final diagnosis. Oral administration of itraconazole could be effective.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36940156,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Analytical Methods Based on Liquid Chromatography and Capillary Electrophoresis to Determine Neonicotinoid Residues in Complex Matrices. A Comprehensive Review.\nNeonicotinoids (NNIs) are neuro-active and systemic insecticides widely used to protect crops from pest attack. During the last decades, there has been an increase concern about their uses and toxic effects, especially to beneficial and non-target insects such as pollinators. To assess potential health hazards and the environmental impacts derived from NNIs uses, a great variety of analytical procedures for the determination of their residues and their metabolites at trace level in environmental, biological and food samples have been reported. Due to the complexity of the samples, efficient sample pretreatment methods have been developed, which include mostly clean-up and preconcentration steps. On the other hand, among the analytical techniques used for their determination, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled to ultraviolet (UV) or mass spectrometry (MS) detection is the most widely used, although capillary electrophoresis (CE) has also been employed in the last years, considering some improvements in sensitivity when coupling with new MS detectors. In this review, we present a critical overview of analytical methods based on HPLC and CE reported in the last decade, discussing relevant and innovative sample treatments for the analysis of environmental, food and biological samples.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11641584,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Quantitative regional cerebral blood flow measurement techniques improve noninvasive detection of cerebrovascular vasospasm after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage.\nAdequate therapy of vasospasm (VS) in patients suffering from aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage critically depends upon early and reliable diagnosis of cerebral hypoperfusion. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the usefulness of quantitative regional blood flow (rCBF) analysis as an adjunct in noninvasive prediction of VS. Therefore, 33 transcranial Doppler sonography (TCD) studies assuming cerebrovascular VS (TCD flow velocity >120 cm\/s) were followed by (s)Xe\/CT and cerebral panangiography (PA). TCD plus (s)Xe\/CT significantly increased the predictability of VS from 34 to 91%, proving that a combination of TCD and rCBF studies improves the noninvasive detection of VS and might help to prevent unnecessary angiographic examinations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20353396,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Toward integrase defective lentiviral vectors for genetic immunization.\nGenetic immunization with lentiviral vectors is under evaluation as a means for induction of sustained immune response. Lentiviral vectors showed reduced antivector immune responses and efficiently transduce post-mitotic cells in vivo, including antigen presenting cells, such as dendritic cells and macrophages, thus providing a significant benefit over other vector-based antigen delivery platforms. Several evidences indicate that a single immunization with lentiviral vectors induces strong and sustained effector and memory T-cell immune responses, as well as antibody production. New generation of lentiviral vectors with improved biosafety profile are also under development. In particular, integration defective lentiviral vectors have been generated and used as an efficient and safe delivery system for both gene therapy and immunization purposes. Taken together, these evidences support the ongoing development of lentiviral vector-based genetic immunization strategies for safe applications in the clinic.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11644010,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Introduction to the theme.\nSpicker introduces a set of five articles on medico-economic, ethical, and conceptual problems raised by the new Medicare prospective payment system (PPS), which bases reimbursement of hospitals on treatment of patients in disease categories known as diagnosis related groups (DRGs). The articles are by Charles E. Begley (\"Prospective payment and medical ethics\"); George J. Agich (\"Incentives and obligations under prospective payment\"); Thomas Halper (\"DRGs and the idea of a just price\"); Leonard M. Fleck (\"DRGs: justice and the invisible rationing of health care resources\"); and Edmund L. Erde (\"Efficiency, ethics and indigent care: a review of the proceedings of the conference 'The all-payers DRG system: has New Jersey found an efficient and ethical way to provide indigent care?\").","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32367704,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Anterior Chamber Migration of Ozurdex Implants.\nWe present patient characteristics and follow-up results of cases with anterior chamber dexamethasone implant migration. The common feature of all six presented cases was vitrectomized eyes. Four of the patients had sutured intraocular lens (IOL) implantation due to complicated cataract surgery, one had combined retinal detachment surgery with sutured IOL implantation, and one had vitrectomy for diabetic intravitreal hemorrhage cleaning and uncomplicated cataract surgery. Anterior chamber implant migration caused corneal edema in all cases and elevated intraocular pressure in three cases. In two cases, the dexamethasone implant was directed into the vitreous cavity after maximum pupillary dilation and corneal manipulation with cotton tip applicator with the patient in reverse Trendelenburg position. There was no other complication until dexamethasone implant degradation, with clear cornea at final examination. In two cases, the implant was removed from the anterior chamber by aspiration, but keratoplasty surgery was planned due to endothelial cell loss and persistent corneal edema during follow-up. In the last two cases, the dexamethasone implant was redirected into the vitreous chamber with a 23-gauge catheter and anterior chamber maintainer but they migrated into the anterior chamber again. In one of these patients, the implant was aspirated by catheter and corneal transplantation was performed due to corneal edema, while the other patient's implant was redirected into the vitreous chamber with no further anterior migration. The risk of dexamethasone implants migrating into the anterior chamber of vitrectomized eyes and those with sutured IOL implantation should be kept in mind and the patient should be informed and advised to see an ophthalmologist immediately before permanent corneal endothelial damage occurs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24384894,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The assessment and impact of sarcopenia in lung cancer: a systematic literature review.\nThere is growing awareness of the relationship between sarcopenia (loss of muscle mass and function), and outcomes in cancer, making it a potential target for future therapies. In order to inform future research and practice, we undertook a systematic review of factors associated with loss of muscle mass, and the relationship between muscle function and muscle mass in lung cancer, a common condition associated with poor outcomes. We conducted a computerised systematic literature search on five databases. Studies were included if they explored muscle mass as an outcome measure in patients with lung cancer, and were published in English. Secondary care. Patients with lung cancer. Factors associated with loss of muscle mass and muscle function, or sarcopenia, and the clinical impact thereof in patients with lung cancer. We reviewed 5726 citations, and 35 articles were selected for analysis. Sarcopenia, as defined by reduced muscle mass alone, was found to be very prevalent in patients with lung cancer, regardless of body mass index, and where present was associated with poorer functional status and overall survival. There were diverse studies exploring molecular and metabolic factors in the development of loss of muscle mass; however, the precise mechanisms that contribute to sarcopenia and cachexia remain uncertain. The effect of nutritional supplements and ATP infusions on muscle mass showed conflicting results. There are very limited data on the correlation between degree of sarcopenia and muscle function, which has a non-linear relationship in older non-cancer populations. Loss of muscle mass is a significant contributor to morbidity in patients with lung cancer. Loss of muscle mass and function may predate clinically overt cachexia, underlining the importance of evaluating sarcopenia, rather than weight loss alone. Understanding this relationship and its associated factors will provide opportunities for focused intervention to improve clinical outcomes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25401903,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Transmissive resonator optic gyro based on silica waveguide ring resonator.\nA transmissive resonator optic gyro (TROG) based on silica waveguide ring resonator with improved long-term bias stability is reported in this paper. The modeling of a transmissive resonator used in optic gyro is carried out. The polarization dependence of resonator and the influences of phase modulator's residual intensity modulation on the gyro output are analyzed. The resonator is simulated, designed, fabricated, tested and used to build up a TROG prototype. A bias stability of 0.22\u00b0\/s over one hour test with an integration time of 10s is successfully demonstrated. No obvious drift has been found from the Allan variance analysis result of a 10000s test data, which means that the TROG prototype has an improved long-term drift characteristic.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6728940,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A rationale for modifying the site of insertion of the orticochea pharyngoplasty.\nA modification of the insertion level of Orticochea flaps is proposed. The purpose of the modification is to place the pharyngoplasty at a higher site, in the area of attempted velopharyngeal contact. The site of velopharyngeal contact can be identified using lateral radiographic techniques. A success rate of 93 percent was achieved in improved oral-nasal resonance balance when the pharyngoplasty was placed at a site in the nasopharynx.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25428429,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Estimation of the components of municipal solid waste settlement.\nEstimation of the municipal solid waste settlements and the contribution of each of the components are essential in the estimation of the volume of the waste that can be accommodated in a landfill and increase the post-usage of the landfill. This article describes an experimental methodology for estimating and separating primary settlement, settlement owing to creep and biodegradation-induced settlement. The primary settlement and secondary settlement have been estimated and separated based on 100% pore pressure dissipation time and the coefficient of consolidation. Mechanical creep and biodegradation settlements were estimated and separated based on the observed time required for landfill gas production. The results of a series of laboratory triaxial tests, creep tests and anaerobic reactor cell setups were conducted to describe the components of settlement. All the tests were conducted on municipal solid waste (compost reject) samples. It was observed that biodegradation accounted to more than 40% of the total settlement, whereas mechanical creep contributed more than 20% towards the total settlement. The essential model parameters, such as the compression ratio (Cc'), rate of mechanical creep (c), coefficient of mechanical creep (b), rate of biodegradation (d) and the total strain owing to biodegradation (EDG ), are useful parameters in the estimation of total settlements as well as components of settlement in landfill.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36935654,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Biocompatible Short-Peptides Fibrin Co-assembled Hydrogels.\nFibrin hydrogels made by self-assembly of fibrinogen obtained from human plasma have shown excellent biocompatible and biodegradable properties and are widely used in regenerative medicine. The fibrinogen self-assembly process can be triggered under physiological conditions by the action of thrombin, allowing the injection of pregel mixtures that have been used as cell carriers, wound-healing systems, and bio-adhesives. However, access to fibrinogen from human plasma is expensive and fibrin gels have limited mechanical properties, which make them unsuitable for certain applications. One solution to these problems is to obtain composite gels made of fibrin and other polymeric compounds that improve their mechanical properties and usage. Herein, we prepared composite hydrogels made by the self-assembly of fibrinogen together with Fmoc-FF (Fmoc-diphenylalanine) and Fmoc-RGD (Fmoc-arginine-glycine-aspartic acid). We have shown that the mixture of these three peptides co-assembles and gives rise to a unique type of supramolecular fiber, whose morphology and mechanical properties can be modulated. We have carried out a complete characterization of these materials from chemical, physical, and biological points of view. Composite gels have improved mechanical properties compared to pure fibrin gels, as well as showing excellent biocompatibility ex vivo. In vivo experiments have shown that these gels do not cause any type of inflammatory response or tissue damage and are completely resorbed in short time, which would enable their use as vehicles for cell, drug, or growth factor release.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23445627,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Red blood cell mechanical stability test.\nRed blood cells (RBC) are exposed to various levels of shear stress (SS) during their flow in the circulatory system, yet no significant damage occurs if their mechanical stability is not impaired. Alternatively, normal RBC may be damaged during flow in non-physiological environments and under extreme SS (e.g., extracorporeal circulation, ventricular assist devices). The shear-induced damage may result in hemolysis or in altered mechanical properties of RBC that, in turn, reduces the ability of RBC to withstand further damage by SS. An ektacytometer employing a Couette shearing system was used to apply SS at a constant level of 100 Pa for 300 seconds as a model of sub-hemolytic mechanical stress. The degree of cellular damage during and after the application was assessed by diffraction pattern analysis. The area of the diffraction pattern was found to correlate with the number of RBC in the sheared suspension. Monitoring the ellipse area during the application of gradually increasing SS provides the concentration of the remaining intact RBC and can therefore be used to estimate the hemolytic threshold as a measure of RBC mechanical stability. The hemolytic threshold determined after the mechanical stress application was found to be ~150 Pa, while it was ~250 Pa in the same samples before the SS application. Additionally, SS-elongation index curves recorded before and after the application of the sub-hemolytic SS significantly differed from each other, indicating the impairment in deformability following the mechanical stress. The Couette type ektacytometer can be used as a tool to assess the sub-hemolytic damage to RBC in testing the biomedical equipment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25504616,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Surface-initiated anionic polymerization of [1]silaferrocenophanes for the preparation of colloidal preceramic materials.\nA novel strategy for the preparation of poly(ferrocenylsilane) (PFS) immobilized on the surface of cross-linked polystyrene (PS) nanoparticles is reported. The ferrocene-containing core\/shell architectures are shown to be excellent candidates as preceramic polymers yielding spherical ceramic materials consisting of iron silicide (Fe3 Si) and metallic iron after thermal treatment. For this purpose, dimethyl- and hydromethyl[1]silaferrocenophane monomers are polymerized by surface-initiated ring-opening polymerization upon taking advantage of residual vinylic moieties at the PS particle surface. A strategy for selective chain growth from the particle surface is developed without the formation of free PFS homopolymer in solution. The grafted particles are characterized using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS). These particles are excellent precursors for ceramics as studied by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The composition of the ceramics is studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements, while the morphology is probed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealing the original spherical shape of the precursor particles. Obtained ceramic materials- predominantly based on iron silicides-show ferromagnetic behavior as investigated by superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetization measurements at different temperatures.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6732261,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Anaphylaxis following the use of bacitracin ointment. Report of a case and review of the literature.\nA 52-year-old woman suffered an acute anaphylactic reaction to topically applied bacitracin. An investigation disclosed the presence of concurrent type I and IV hypersensitivity to bacitracin. We review five other cases of anaphylactic reactions to topical medications and describe the clinical characteristics common to all six cases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29547513,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cardiorespiratory Fitness as a Mediator of the Influence of Diet on Obesity in Children.\nThe association between diet and obesity has been widely studied and it continues to be controversial; however, the extent to which cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) acts as a confounder or mediator in this relation has not been analyzed. The aim of this study is to examine if the relation between diet and obesity is mediated by CRF. In this cross-sectional study, fat mass (by electronic bioimpedance) was measured in 320 schoolchildren, aged 9-11 years. Diet was measured through two computerised 24-h dietary recalls and CRF was assessed by the 20-m shuttle run test. Simple mediation analyses were fitted. CRF acts as a partial mediator in the negative relationship between dietary factors (energy intake\/weight, carbohydrate intake\/weight, protein intake\/weight, and fat intake\/weight) and fat mass. The percentage of mediation ranged from 24.3 to 33.2%. Thus, Spanish schoolchildren with higher levels of energy and macronutrients intake had lower adiposity levels, especially when they had good levels of CRF.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30091506,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Mentalization-based treatment and its evidence-base status: A systematic literature review.\nThis study reviewed the evidence-base status of mentalization-based treatment (MBT), its quality, strengths, and limitations. The aim was to pave the way for further MBT research. An electronic database and reference lists search identified MBT outcome papers, and these were systematically reviewed. The quality of the studies and the risk of bias were determined using two validated checklist tools. Twenty-three studies were included in the review. This included nine randomized controlled trials, seven uncontrolled pre- and post-effectiveness studies, three retrospective cohort studies, two uncontrolled randomized trials, and two case studies. The methodological quality of almost half of the papers was assessed as fair (43%), followed by good (34%), poor (17%), and excellent (4%) ratings. Nevertheless, the review identified risk of confounding bias across the majority of studies (60%) and fidelity to treatment was poorly reported in almost half of the studies (47%). Most of the studies focused on borderline personality disorder (BPD), showing positive clinical outcomes for this population but the evidence-base for other presentations was still developing. The treatment of adolescents who self-harm and at-risk mothers in substance abuse treatment showed particularly promising results, as these are client groups that have previously shown limited positive response to psychological interventions. Mentalization-based treatment is a potentially effective method across a wide range of clinical presentations but further research should focus on increasing the quality and the quantity of the MBT evidence outside the treatment of BPD. MBT can be a particularly effective intervention for the treatment of adults with a diagnosis of BPD and of adolescents who self-harm and mothers enrolled in substance abuse treatments. MBT can be an effective intervention for depression and eating disorders but the evidence is currently limited. Professionals supporting mothers of children at risk may benefit from receiving training in the principles of MBT.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28588183,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Orlistat (The Lipase Inhibitor) Therapy in Overweight and Obese Subfertile Women.\nThis experimental study was carried out to evaluate the efficacy of orlistat (a pancreatic lipase inhibitor) therapy over lifestyle change on weight reduction and ovulation in overweight and obese subfertile women. It was carried out in Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) Dhaka, Bangladesh from August 2015 to January 2016. Subfertile obese and overweight female patients attending the study centre during study period was considered as study population. Subfertile women with normozoospermic husband with BMI (25-40) Kg\/M2, age (18-35) years with no history of taking medication or dietary modification for weight loss currently or for the preceding 3 months were included in this study but subfertile patients having laparoscopic ovarian drilling and metformin and those with structural abnormalities in reproductive tract and known hormonal and medical disorder were excluded from this study. Detailed history taking, physical examination including weight, Body Mass Index (BMI) and baseline relevant investigations were done. Transvaginal sonography (TVS) on day 12 and day 14 of menstrual cycle was done for evaluation of ovulatory status of the patients. Counseling was done about life style change by diet of low glycemic index and moderate exercise. Following written informed consent, 120 patients were enrolled into either of the two groups. Group I received capsule Orlistat 120 mg twice daily for 3 months period. Group II was counseled for life style modification only. Post treatment weight measurement and TVS on day 12 and 14 were done after completion of intervention. Then pre and post-treatment parameters were assessed between two groups. Mean age was (27.31\u00b14.58) years in Group I and (26.20\u00b14.71) years in Group II. Majority patients, (78.3%) in Group I and (76.7%) in Group II had oligomenorrhoea. Hirsuitism was observed in (25%) in Group I and (43.3%) in Group II. Mean weight (kg) at booking was (72.26\u00b17.81) in Group I and (67.10\u00b15.93) in Group II; after 3 months (67.77\u00b17.82) and (63.55\u00b16.07). Reduction of weight (%): (6.52\u00b12.28) in Group I and (5.33\u00b12.14) in Group II which was significantly higher in Group I than that of Group II in (25.0-29.9) BMI. Ovulation assessed by TVS at booking and after 3 months in Group I: 13(21.7%) and 37 (61.7%) and in Group II: 14 (23.3%) and 27 (45.0%). Ovulation was higher in Group I than that of Group II, but the difference was not statistically significant. Majority of the overweight and obese subfertile patients suffered from oligomenorrhoea and anovulation. Weight significantly reduced in both groups along with ovulation improvement, more in Group I, but insignificant in between groups. Therefore this study suggested that orlistat can improve ovulation as it acts indirectly by weight reduction more than life style modification alone.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22689493,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Rapid preparative isolation of a new phenylpropanoid glycoside and four minor compounds from Sparganium stoloniferum using high-speed counter-current chromatography as a fractionation tool.\nA rapid high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) method was used to isolate five minor compounds from rhizome of Sparganium stoloniferum namely San Leng in Chinese, including two phenylpropanoid glycosides, sparganiaside A (1) and 1-O-feruloyl-3-p-coumaroylglycerol (2), and three aromatic acids, vanillic acid (3), p-hydroxylcinnamic acid (4), and p-hydroxybenzoic acid (5), of which, compound 1 was a new one. Five compounds were preparatively enriched at top efficiency by one-step HSCCC operation in the isolation procedure. A suitable solvent system composed of chloroform-methanol-water (4:3.5:1.8, v\/v\/v) was used. And the operation time was less than 4 h. The purities of compounds (1-5) in the enriched fractions were determined to be 75.8%, 66.3%, 90.6%, 79.9%, and 98.2%, respectively. The mean recoveries of the five compounds were 84.8%, 87.3%, 81.8%, 90.3%, and 92.7%, respectively. Compounds 1-4 were further purified by semi-preparative high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). This is the first report on the use of HSCCC as a fractionation tool for preparative isolation of minor compounds from S. stoloniferum. The method was proved to be rapid, convenient, high yield, and low cost. HSCCC was shown to be a quick and effective tool in isolation of natural products even though the compounds were not abundant.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28303705,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The sense of life satisfaction versus dietary choices of young women doing fitness for recreational purposes\n: The health potential of a person can be improved thanks to recreational physical activity and rational diet. The sense of life satisfaction is also one of significant health resources. The aim of the study was to analyze the relations between the level of life satisfaction and the frequency of consuming selected products in the group of young women who engage in fitness for recreational purposes. The study involved 200 young women (20-30 years old) who regularly do recreational physical activity in fitness clubs in Ma\u0142opolska. An original questionnaire was used to measure the frequency of consumption of food products, with the following scale: several times a day, once a day, several times a week, once a week, several times a month, and more rarely \/ never. The Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) by Diener et al., adapted into Polish by Juczy\u0144ski, was used to measure life satisfaction. The results were analyzed with the use of U Mann-Whitney test and Spearman's rank correlation coefficients in a statistical package PQStat ver. 1.6. Statistical analysis showed that along with higher life satisfaction, women significantly less often consumed: white bread (p<0.05) and whole milk (p<0.05), and significantly more often: wholemeal bread (p<0.05), whole-grain rice and pasta (p<0.001), legumes (p<0.05), fermented milk products (p<0.05), fish (p<0.05), seafood (p<0.01), beef (p<0.01) and vegetable juices (p<0.001). The comparison of the mean frequency of consumption of certain foods depending on the level of life satisfaction (low vs. high according to the SWLS) showed that women who displayed high life satisfaction significantly more often consumed wholemeal bread (p<0.01), whole-grain rice and pasta (p<0.001), curd cheese with reduced fat content (p<0.05), seafood (p<0.05), beef (p<0.001) and vegetable juices (p<0.05), and significantly less often, sweets and confectionery (p<0.05) than did women displaying low life satisfaction. The study proved the predictive role of life satisfaction in the development of eating habits of young, physically active women, indicating more rational dietary choices of women with higher levels of this individual quality.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20376420,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-26":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Demographic change and disease rates: a projection until 2050].\nDemographic change and its impact on the German healthcare system is a subject of great debate. The purpose of this paper is to make projections on disease rates based on the 11th coordinated demographic prediction and population-based data which take into consideration demographic developments. The German population will decrease by approximately 16% until 2050, while at the same time the number of persons aged over 65 years will increase by 38% and the number of individuals aged over 80 years will increase by 156%. Baby boomers cause a vertical wave in the population pyramid. The population pyramid itself will lead to an overproportional increase in the number of elderly persons. Assuming that disease probability stays the same, the incidence of diseases due to advanced age will rise dramatically. Especially diseases, such as community-acquired pneumonia, age-related macula degeneration, dementia, fracture of the femur neck, and myocardial infarction, will by then occur more often. By 2050, some of the most frequent diseases will be hypertension and arthrosis. Thus, the continuous cutting of resources seems rather short minded. It is highly recommended to reconsider the long-run effects before setting a health policy course. A proper social discourse about primary care and prioritization appears to be urgently needed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31252817,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Electrically variable liquid crystal lenses for ophthalmic distance accommodation.\nWe present the example of a specific design of an electrically tunable liquid crystal lens (TLCL) with floating electrode to analyze experimentally the potential of using TLCLs in intraocular implants. An optimized voltage-frequency driving technique is demonstrated to achieve high optical powers (up to 4 diopters) with very low aberrations (below 0.1\u03bcm) for an optical aperture of 3mm. In addition, the continuous character of distance accommodation and the absence of granularity across the aperture of the lens (pixel-free) make this component an excellent choice for various ophthalmic applications.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3043213,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Structural organization of the genome of paramyxoviruses].\nThe review summarizes the recent papers on the studies of primary structure of genome of a number of paramyxoviruses from the three genera of a family. The cited data demonstrate that despite the common principles of the genetic material arrangement shared by paramyxoviruses, they are variable in the genome, the primary structure of intragenic region, as well as the strategy of coding for some proteins. The data on the arrangement of the genetic material is discussed as useful as a criterion for classification of single stranded viruses with unsegmented genome.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28691417,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of endovascular coronary low-level laser therapy during angioplasty on the release of endothelin-1 and nitric oxide.\nNitric oxide (NO) and endothelin-1 are potentially significant factors contributing to the pathogenesis of post-angioplasty restenosis. It may be postulated that low-level laser therapy (LLLT) can favorably influence the process of restenosis by affecting those factors. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of LLLT applied during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) on the factors participating in the homeostasis of vascular tone - NO and endothelin-1. In a randomized, prospective study of 52 subjects undergoing PCI, an additional 808 nm intravascular LLLT was applied at a dose of 9 J\/cm2 in the lesion part. The control group was 49 subjects with PCI only. We assessed the concentration of nitrites\/nitrates reflecting NO metabolism as well as endothelin-1 in both groups before PCI, and at 6 h, 12 h and 1 month after the procedure. In addition, half a year after PCI, a follow-up angiography was performed. Statistically higher nitrite\/nitrate concentrations were observed in the laser group as compared to the control group in all tests except the pre-PCI assays. Endothelin-1 levels were significantly higher in the laser group 6 h after PCI with a significant decrease in subsequent tests, which was not observed in the control group. The restenosis rate was 15.0% in the laser group and 32.4% in the control group (however the difference was not statistically significant). LLLT applied during the PCI procedure can influence the process of restenosis by modifying NO and endothelin-1 concentrations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37669618,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"What Works in Collaboration? Identifying Key Ingredients to Improve Service Delivery in Schools.\nThis survey study examined factors that may influence interprofessional collaboration in schools to support children with oral and written language impairments, namely, knowledge, collaborative beliefs and practices, and resources. A survey was conducted across 319 school-based professionals, in a partnering public school district, to examine these constructs within the context of each individual participant's professional role. Between-groups comparisons were made between special educators, general educators, paraprofessionals, and indirect educators (i.e., those whose roles do not explicitly include language-based instruction). Special educators had significantly higher levels of learning experiences and knowledge about language disorders compared to other groups. Those who engaged in the most independent learning (i.e., learning outside of pre- or in-service learning) exhibited the highest levels of knowledge. Collaborative beliefs among professionals were best predicted by access to resources and overall professional learning experiences. More positive collaborative beliefs, in turn, predicted higher rates of collaborative behaviors. Resources were predicted by a small negative relationship with years of experience and by working in specific school buildings within the district. Those with less experience in specific buildings reported more resources. Individuals with higher levels of individual learning and positive attitudes toward collaboration may enhance the interprofessional collaborative practices of teams supporting children with language disorders. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.23641\/asha.24059178.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23868738,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Amplitude spectral area: predicting the success of electric shock delivered by defibrillators with different waveforms.\nProlonged ventricular fibrillation (VF) is associated with a low rate of return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) following electric shock. Moreover, electric shock that does not reestablish spontaneous circulation causes myocardial dysfunction even if ROSC is subsequently achieved. Amplitude spectral area (AMSA), calculated by analysis of VF waveforms immediately before electric shock, is considered to predict the outcome of electric shock. This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of AMSA in relation to waveforms of defibrillators in prehospital settings. The AMSA values of 81 patients with VF confirmed by ambulance crews were compared according to the type of defibrillators with different waveforms and between those with and without ROSC. With a biphasic defibrillator, the mean AMSA was significantly different between the 14 patients who achieved ROSC (25.3 \u00b1 9.5 mV-Hz) and the 43 subjects who did not achieve ROSC (15.4 \u00b1 8.1 mV-Hz; p = 0.0006). No significant difference was seen in the corresponding values when a monophasic defibrillator was used, at 19.1 \u00b1 2.4 mV-Hz for 3 ROSC patients and 16.1 \u00b1 7.5mV-Hz for 21 non-ROSC patients. AMSA may serve as a predictive measure for ROSC following electric shock delivered by a biphasic defibrillator.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16225125,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Toxic exposure of children in 2004--telephone service of toxicology.\n509 toxicological telephone inquiries concerning children under 15 years have been provided by Krak\u00f3w Poison Information Centre (PIC) in the year 2004. Medication drugs were involved in almost one half (n=208) the cases noted. 63.7% of calls concerned children under 4 years with a two-year-old group predominance. The main reason for poisoning in children under 4 were pharmaceuticals (42.6%), followed by pesticides (9.8%), corrosives (8.8%), hydrocarbons (8.1%), plants (5.5%) and detergents (3.7%); all exposure were accidental. Suicide attempts reached 32.3% in the 12-14 age group. In that group also a cases of psychoactive substances overdosing were noted. Most exposures in children reported to poison centre were accidental (87.2%). Thus, it is absolutely necessary to intensify prevention and education activity both for parents and primary school children to avoid the poisoning.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29378120,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Betulin-Constituted Multiblock Amphiphiles for Broad-Spectrum Protein Resistance.\nMultiblock-like amphiphilic polyurethanes constituted by poly(ethylene oxide) and biosourced betulin are designed for antifouling and synthesized by a convenient organocatalytic route comprising tandem chain-growth and step-growth polymerizations. The doping density of betulin (DB) in the polymer chain structure is readily varied by a mixed-initiator strategy. The spin-coated polymer films exhibit unique nanophase separation and protein resistance behaviors. Higher DB leads to enhanced surface hydrophobicity and, unexpectedly, improved protein resistance. It is found that the surface holds molecular-level heterogeneity when DB is substantially high due to restricted phase separation; therefore, broad-spectrum protein resistance is achieved despite considerable surface hydrophobicity. As DB decreases, the distance between adjacent betulin units increases so that hydrophobic nanodomains are formed, which provide enough landing areas for relatively small-sized proteins to adsorb on the surface.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25420737,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Difference in adenoma detection rates according to colonoscopic withdrawal times and the level of expertise.\nAdequate screening colonoscopy in the general population decreases the mortality associated with colorectal cancer through detection and removal of adenomatous polyps. Prolonged colonoscopic withdrawal times (>6 min) are reportedly beneficial for adenoma detection rates (ADRs). However, the quality of the endoscopist compared with colonoscopic withdrawal times is not known. The aims of this study were to investigate the difference in ADRs between trainees and experienced examiners. A total of 967 consecutive patients who underwent screening colonoscopy in a single University hospital from June 2010 to November 2011 were enrolled in this prospective observational study. Colonoscopy was performed by four experienced staff and seven gastroenterology fellows. Seven gastroenterology fellows performed 633 colonoscopies and four experienced staff performed 334 colonoscopies. The overall detection rates of colorectal adenoma were 31.5% with ADRs of fellows and staff of 29.4% and 35.6%, respectively (p=0.047). Fellows also showed lower advanced ADRs (5.7% vs. 9.9%, p=0.016), and fellows had longer mean withdrawal times than staff (12.4\u00b1B1;4.9 min vs. 8.2\u00b1B1;4.1 min, p<0.001). Multivariate analysis showed significantly increased ADRs and advanced ADRs for staff compared with fellows (adjusted OR 2.41, 95% CI 1.70-3.43; adjusted OR 2.55, 95% CI 1.47-4.45, respectively). ADRs were significantly lower when colonoscopy was performed by trainees, although withdrawal times were longer than those of staff. Our results demonstrated that the quality of colonoscopy, as measured by ADRs, may be improved by experienced examiners.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6728347,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Nailing down a diagnosis.\nNails can act as a barometer of an individual's health, offer clues to nutritional disturbances and serve as windows through which to view capillary changes associated with constitutional disease. Understanding growth and development of normal nails is essential to the identification and interpretation of nail pathology. Causes of onychopathology include genetic disease, trauma, tumors, dermatologic disease, miscellaneous acquired disorders and generalized systemic disease. Diagnosis is aided by the realization that the nails have a limited number of reaction patterns when disturbed by disease. Any of these reactions may manifest a host of disorders. Clinicians should remember to include the nails in patient assessment. The nails are interesting anatomical and physiological areas that can help make a diagnosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20356505,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[A clinical comparative study of multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica.].\nTo compare the clinical characteristics of multiple sclerosis (MS) and neuromyelitis optica (NMO) for better diagnosis and differential diagnosis of them. The characteristics of 40 MS and 38 NMO cases were retrospectively studied on clinic manifestations, electroneurophysiology, some laboratory indices, imaging characteristics and so on. The ratios of male to female were 1:1.35 and 1:4.43 respectively in patients with MS and NMO, so patients with NMO were more likely to be female as compared with MS (P < 0.05). The mean onset age was (35.5 +\/- 13.9) years in MS patients and (30.6 +\/- 15.6) years in NMO patients, but no significant difference was found (P > 0.05). The cases of visual acuity <\/= 0.1 in patients NMO was 13, which of MS was merely 1. The cases of visual acuity less than 0.5 after treatment in NMO patients was 19, which in MS was only 1. The cases of cognitive impairment in NMO was 3, which of MS was 10. The cases of cerebrospinal fluid oligoclonal bands in MS was 16, which in NMO patients was 9. The lesions of spinal cord shown in MRI of MS patients were typically oval, peripheral and asymmetric, but those in NMO patients extended longitudinally and converged centrally. The mean number of involved vertebral segments in NMO patients was significantly greater than that in MS patients (6.6 vs 2.2, P < 0.01). Furthermore, the number of spinal cord lesions in MS patients was alse remarkably greater than that in NMO patients (2.0 vs 1.2, P < 0.01). NMO may be a distinct clinical entity, which is likely to be differentiated from MS by its tendency to affect women, younger age at onset, and other features clinical manifestations, electroneurophysiology, laboratory parameters, neuroimaging show.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30305266,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Promoting Self-Care of Diabetic Foot Ulcers Through a Mobile Phone App: User-Centered Design and Evaluation.\nWithout effective self-care, people with diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) are at risk of prolonged healing times, hospitalization, amputation, and reduced quality of life. Despite these consequences, adherence to DFU self-care remains low. New strategies are needed to engage people in the self-care of their DFUs. This study aimed to evaluate the usability and potential usefulness of a new mobile phone app to engage people with DFUs in self-care. We developed a new mobile phone app, MyFootCare, to engage people with DFUs through goals, progress monitoring, and reminders in self-care. Key features included novel visual analytics that automatically extract and monitor DFU size information from mobile phone photos of the foot. A functional prototype of MyFootCare was created and evaluated through a user-centered design process with 11 participants with DFUs. Data were collected through semistructured interviews discussing existing self-care practices and observations of MyFootCare with participants. Data were analyzed qualitatively through thematic analysis. Key themes were as follows: (1) participants already used mobile phone photos to monitor their DFU progress; (2) participants had limited experience with using mobile phone apps; (3) participants desired the objective DFU size data provided by the tracking feature of MyFootCare to monitor their DFU progress; (4) participants were ambivalent about the MyFootCare goal image and diary features, commenting that these features were useful but also that it was unlikely that they would use them; and (5) participants desired to share their MyFootCare data with their clinicians to demonstrate engagement in self-care and to reflect on their progress. MyFootCare shows promising features to engage people in DFU self-care. Most notably, ulcer size data are useful to monitor progress and engage people. However, more work is needed to improve the usability and accuracy of MyFootCare, that is, by refining the process of taking and analyzing photos of DFUs and removing unnecessary features. These findings open the door for further work to develop a system that is easy to use and functions in everyday life conditions and to test it with people with DFUs and their carers.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19053614,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The endocyclic restriction test: the geometries of nucleophilic substitutions at sulfur(VI) and sulfur(II).\nThe trajectories for nucleophilic substitutions at sulfur(VI) and sulfur(II) have been investigated by the endocyclic restriction test. On the basis of double-labeling experiments, the sulfur(VI) transfer in the conversion of 1 to 2 is found to be intramolecular, while the sulfur(VI) transfer in the conversion of 3 to 4 and the sulfur(II) transfer in the conversion of 5 to 6 are found to be intermolecular. These results are taken to be consistent with transition structures for these sulfur transfer reactions which require a large angle between the entering and leaving group, a geometry analogous to apical group positions in trigonal bipyramidal transition states.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23337715,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sensitization by ventral pallidal DAMGO: lack of cross-sensitization to morphine.\nRepeated injections of morphine into the ventral pallidum of laboratory rats results in the development and expression of motor sensitization. Although morphine and [D-Ala, N-MePhe, Gly(ol)]-enkephalin (DAMGO) both activate \u03bc-opioid receptors, their influence on receptor-mediated signaling differs; therefore, we determined if they differentially influenced ventral pallidal-mediated motor sensitization. Repeated intraventral pallidal injections of DAMGO led to the development of motor sensitization and this behavior persisted for at least 18 days. When DAMGO-sensitized rats were challenged with a morphine treatment (either in the ventral pallidum or systemically), the resulting motor response was similar to that seen in rats with a history of intrapallidal saline, that is, cross-sensitization did not occur. As DAMGO and morphine likely activate different arms of the heterologous signal transduction system associated with \u03bc-opioid receptors, these observations may reflect behavioral consequences of biased agonism at these receptors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37446415,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hard Magnetic Properties and the Features of Nanostructure of High-Temperature Sm-Co-Fe-Cu-Zr Magnet with Abnormal Temperature Dependence of Coercivity.\nThis paper presents methods and approaches that can be used for production of Sm-Co-Fe-Cu-Zr permanent magnets with working temperatures of up to 550 \u00b0C. It is shown that the content of Sm, Cu, and Fe significantly affects the coercivity (Hc) value at high operating temperatures. A decrease in the content of Fe, which replaces Co, and an increase in the content of Sm in Sm-Co-Fe-Cu-Zr alloys lead to a decrease in Hc value at room temperature, but significantly increase Hc at temperatures of about 500 \u00b0C. Increasing the Cu concentration enhances the Hc values at all operating temperatures. From analysis of the dependence of temperature coefficients of the coercivity on the concentrations of various constituent elements in this alloy, the optimum chemical composition that qualifies for high-temperature permanent magnet (HTPM) application were determined. 3D atom probe tomography analysis shows that the nanostructure of the HTPM is characterized by the formation of Sm2(Co,Fe)17 (2:17) cells relatively smaller in size along with the slightly thickened Sm(Co,Cu)5 (1:5) boundary phase compared to those of the high-energy permanent magnet compositions. An inhomogeneous distribution of Cu was also noticed in the 1:5 phase. At the boundary between 1:5 and 2:17 phases, an interface with lowered anisotropy constants has developed, which could be the reason for the observed high coercivity values.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25494773,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"In silico studies of the properties of water hydrating a small protein.\nAtomistic molecular dynamics simulation of an aqueous solution of the small protein HP-36 has been carried out with explicit solvent at room temperature. Efforts have been made to explore the influence of the protein on the relative packing and ordering of water molecules around its secondary structures, namely, three \u03b1-helices. The calculations reveal that the inhomogeneous water ordering and density distributions around the helices are correlated with their relative hydrophobicity. Importantly, we have identified the existence of a narrow relatively dehydrated region containing randomly organized \"quasi-free\" water molecules beyond the first layer of \"bound\" waters at the protein surface. These water molecules with relatively weaker binding energies form the transition state separating the \"bound\" and \"free\" water molecules at the interface. Further, increased contribution of solid-like caging motions of water molecules around the protein is found to be responsible for reduced fluidity of the hydration layer. Interestingly, we notice that the hydration layer of helix-3 is more fluidic with relatively higher entropy as compared to the hydration layers of the other two helical segments. Such characteristics of helix-3 hydration layer correlate well with the activity of HP-36, as helix-3 contains the active site of the protein.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37847081,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Oxalis inhibits prostate tumor in the mouse model of castration-resistant prostate cancer: Effect and mechanism].\nTo investigate the inhibitory effect of oxalis on prostate tumor in the mouse model of castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) and its action mechanism. We established a CRPC model in 40 male C57\/BL mice aged 6-8 weeks, divided them randomly into four groups of an equal number, and treated them intragastrically with normal saline (control), low-dose oxalis (5 mg\/kg\/d), medium-dose oxalis (10 mg\/kg\/d), and high-dose oxalis (15 mg\/kg\/d), respectively. After 28 days of treatment, we measured the tumor volume and body weight of the mice in different groups, calculated the tumor-inhibition rate, examined the histomorphological changes of the prostate tumors by HE staining, and detected the expressions of the nuclear factor-\u03baB (NF-\u03baB) signaling pathway and its downstream proteins in the tumor tissue by immunofluorescence assay. In comparison with the controls, the mice in the low-, medium- and high-dose oxalis groups showed a gradual decrease in tumor cell concentration and cell degeneration, and a gradually increased number of necrotic tumor cells. The volume and mean weight of prostate tumors were significantly reduced (P < 0.05), the expressions of NF-\u03baB p65 and Ki67 proteins remarkably down-regulated (P < 0.05), and that of the Bax protein markedly up-regulated (P < 0.05) in the oxalis groups compared with the controls. Oxalis can inhibit the growth of prostate tumor in CRPC mice possibly by down-regulating the NF-\u03baB signaling pathway and the expressions of p65 and Ki67 and up-regulating the expression of Bax, and thereby promoting the degeneration and necrosis of tumor cells.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17909185,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A chloroplast cyclophilin functions in the assembly and maintenance of photosystem II in Arabidopsis thaliana.\nPhotosynthetic light reactions rely on the proper function of large protein complexes (including photosystems I and II) that reside in the thylakoid membrane. Although their composition, structure, and function are known, the repertoire of assembly and maintenance factors is still being determined. Here we show that an immunophilin of the cyclophilin type, CYP38, plays a critical role in the assembly and maintenance of photosystem II (PSII) supercomplexes (SCs) in Arabidopsis. Mutant plants with the CYP38 gene interrupted by T-DNA insertion showed stunted growth and were hypersensitive to high light. Leaf chlorophyll fluorescence analysis and thylakoid membrane composition indicated that cyp38 mutant plants had defects in PSII SCs. Sucrose supplementation enabled the rescue of the mutant phenotype under low-light conditions, but failed to mitigate hypersensitivity to high-light stress. Protein radiolabeling assays showed that, although individual thylakoid proteins were synthesized equally in mutant and wild type, the assembly of the PSII SC was impaired in the mutant. In addition, the D1 and D2 components of the mutant PSII had a short half-life under high-light stress. The results provide evidence that CYP38 is necessary for the assembly and stabilization of PSII.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20372094,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Septin2 is modified by SUMOylation and required for chromosome congression in mouse oocytes.\nIn mitosis, centrosomes nucleate microtubules that capture the sister kinetochores of each chromosome to facilitate chromosome congression. In contrast, during meiosis chromosome congression on the acentrosomal spindle is driven primarily by movement of chromosomes along laterally associated microtubule bundles. Previous studies have indicated that septin2 is required for chromosome congression and cytokinesis in mitosis, we therefore asked whether perturbation of septin2 would impair chromosome congression and cytokinesis in meiosis. We have investigated its expression, localization and function during mouse oocyte meiotic maturation. Septin2 was modified by SUMO-1 and its levels remained constant from GVBD to metaphase II stages. Septin2 was localized along the entire spindle at metaphase and at the midbody in cytokinesis. Disruption of septins function with an inhibitor and siRNA caused failure of the metaphase I \/anaphase I transition and chromosome misalignment but inhibition of septins after the metaphase I stage did not affect cytokinesis. BubR1, a core component of the spindle checkpoint, was labeled on misaligned chromosomes and on chromosomes aligned at the metaphase plate in inhibitor-treated oocytes that were arrested in prometaphase I\/metaphase I, suggesting activation of the spindle assembly checkpoint. Taken together, our results demonstrate that septin2 plays an important role in chromosome congression and meiotic cell cycle progression but not cytokinesis in mouse oocytes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37844895,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Acute purulent diverticulitis in the cecum: case report.\nA 40-year-old female with a 24-hour course of abdominal pain suggestive of acute appendicitis. An emergency laparotomy was performed, finding plastron in the cecum and ascending colon, color changes, with purulent liquid and 5 cm in diameter, fixed to Toldt's. It was decided to perform a right hemicolectomy with an ileotransverse end-to-side anastomosis with adequate postsurgical evolution. The histopathological report showed acute purulent diverticulitis of the cecum, which is very low incidence in the Mexican population, that's why this case report is carried out.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37846522,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nanoscale Horizons Emerging Investigator Series: Dr Ahu G\u00fcmrah Dumanli-Parry, University of Manchester, UK.\nOur Emerging Investigator Series features exceptional work by early-career nanoscience and nanotechnology researchers. Read Ahu G\u00fcmrah Dumanli-Parry's Emerging Investigator Series article 'Edible cellulose-based colorimetric timer' (https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1039\/D3NH00006K) and read more about her in the interview below.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37464838,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Colorectal cancer screening with faecal immunochemical test: Patterns of participation.\nTo evaluate participation and participation patterns in a population-based screening programme for colorectal cancer (CRC) using the faecal immunochemical test (FIT). All individuals invited to three consecutive screening rounds in the population-based CRC screening between October 2015 and December 2020 in the Stockholm-Gotland Region, Sweden were included. Patterns of participation were assessed. The study included 26 541 individuals which resulted in 79 623 screening events. The overall uptake rate was 71.5% and women had a significantly higher participation rate. The participation rate increased significantly between the first and third screening round for both men and women, and the increase was larger among men than women (66.1 to 70.7% vs. 73.1 to 75.4%). In total, 80.9% participated at least once. Consistent participation was the most common participation pattern (61.0%). The probability of attending all three consecutive rounds after initial participation was 87.7%. Over the three rounds, 17.4% participated after a reminder letter. Screening individuals attending after a reminder letter had a higher proportion of drop-outs in the following screening round compared to initial participants (15.4% vs 6.2%). A constant and high participation rate was observed in population-based FIT-screening for CRC. Initial participation was a strong predictor for continuous participation. The need for a reminder letter before participation was a risk factor for subsequent drop-out.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7941347,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nuclear localization and transforming activity of human papillomavirus type 16 E7-beta-galactosidase fusion protein: characterization of the nuclear localization sequence.\nA MAb 9F6 was capable of staining HPV16 E7 in a human cervical carcinoma line, CaSki, and rat 3Y1 cells stably expressing HPV16 E7 gene. Contrary to the current understanding of E7 as a nuclear protein, the site of staining was clearly cytoplasmic. The subcellular localization of E7 was further studied by using the beta-galactosidase (beta-gal) receptor method. A fusion protein composed of E7 and beta-gal was stably expressed in rat 3Y1 cells. The beta-gal activity in these cells was detected mostly in the nucleus, even though 9F6 still stained the cytoplasm of these cells. The fusion protein was also found to be oncogenic since transfected 3Y1 cells acquired transformed phenotypes such as increased saturation density and anchorage-independent growth. These results indicate that biologically active E7 exists mostly in the nucleus, but nuclear E7 is masked from 9F6. A series of deletion mutants of E7 further demonstrated that the amino acid sequence from 16 to 41 was enough to transport beta-gal into the nucleus. A mutation either at amino acid 24 or 26 which is known to disrupt the binding of E7 to RB, the retinoblastoma gene product, did not strongly affect the nuclear localization of the fusion protein, suggesting that the nuclear transportation of E7 is mostly independent of RB binding.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3078807,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Preliminary report on household contact studies of the prevention of pertussis in Japanese children by Takeda diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and acellular pertussis vaccine combined.\nAcellular pertussis vaccines combined with diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and adsorbed onto an aluminum salt (AcPDT) have been used exclusively in Japan for the immunization of children since 1981. (Interagency Report 2), 1987; Kimura et al. 1), 1985) Immunization of children is initiated at two years of age with a booster dose one year later. Morbidity and mortality rates from pertussis, which had steadily increased since 1975 because of poor acceptance of the whole cell preparation, have declined since widespread use of AcPDT (Kimura, 1985). The apparent efficacy of AcPDT has also been demonstrated by several household contact studies in which rates of pertussis in immunized and unimmunized children exposed to the disease in their own homes were determined. In these studies vaccine efficacy ranged between 78 and 93 percent (Interagency Report). However, there are six different manufacturers of AcPDT in Japan, and their products vary in antigenic constituents. One manufacturer produces AcPDT that contains about 50 percent pertussis toxoid and 50 percent filamentous hemagglutinin (B-type AcPDT). Four manufacturers market vaccines that contain predominantly FHA, approximately 10 percent pertussis toxoid, and approximately one percent agglutinogens (T-type AcPDT). The sixth product comprises pertussis toxoid and FHA in amounts that are intermediate between the B- and T-types. With the exception of one small study (Aoyama, 1988) all of the Japanese studies have considered these AcPDT products as a group, and accordingly product-specific information concerning efficacy is not available.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25401378,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Childhood Otitis Media: A Cohort Study With 30-Year Follow-Up of Hearing (The HUNT Study).\nTo study the extent to which otitis media (OM) in childhood is associated with adult hearing thresholds. Furthermore, to study whether the effects of OM on adult hearing thresholds are moderated by age or noise exposure. Population-based cohort study of 32,786 participants who had their hearing tested by pure-tone audiometry in primary school and again at ages ranging from 20 to 56 years. Three thousand sixty-six children were diagnosed with hearing loss; the remaining sample had normal childhood hearing. Compared with participants with normal childhood hearing, those diagnosed with childhood hearing loss caused by otitis media with effusion (n = 1255), chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM; n = 108), or hearing loss after recurrent acute otitis media (rAOM; n = 613) had significantly increased adult hearing thresholds in the whole frequency range (2 dB\/17-20 dB\/7-10 dB, respectively). The effects were adjusted for age, sex, and noise exposure. Children diagnosed with hearing loss after rAOM had somewhat improved hearing thresholds as adults. The effects of CSOM and hearing loss after rAOM on adult hearing thresholds were larger in participants tested in middle adulthood (ages 40 to 56 years) than in those tested in young adulthood (ages 20 to 40 years). Eardrum pathology added a marginally increased risk of adult hearing loss (1-3 dB) in children with otitis media with effusion or hearing loss after rAOM. The study could not reveal significant differences in the effect of self-reported noise exposure on adult hearing thresholds between the groups with OM and the group with normal childhood hearing. This cohort study indicates that CSOM and rAOM in childhood are associated with adult hearing loss, underlining the importance of optimal treatment in these conditions. It appears that ears with a subsequent hearing loss after OM in childhood age at a faster rate than those without; however this should be confirmed by studies with several follow-up tests through adulthood.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23455536,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Coronary endothelial dysfunction demonstrated by means of (15)O-labeled water PET\/CT in hypothyroid cardiomyopathy.\nHypothyroidism is a rare cause of dilated cardiomyopathy. Triiodothyronine was found to target endothelial nitric oxide synthase, which serves to enhance peripheral vascular relaxation by acting on vascular smooth muscle cells. In patients with subclinical hypothyroidism, adenosine-induced coronary flow reserve is significantly reduced. We report the case of a 46-year-old woman with hypothyroid cardiomyopathy manifested as reversible severe left ventricular dysfunction (LVEF = 32%). O-labeled water PET at rest and during cold pressor test showed a severe coronary endothelial dysfunction. In patients with severe hypothyroidism, endothelial function is impaired and may be an important mechanism of heart failure.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15239932,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Peptidomics in Drosophila melanogaster.\nIn analogy with proteomics technology, where all proteins expressed in a cell or tissue are analysed, the peptidomic approach aims at the simultaneous visualisation and identification of the whole peptidome of a cell or tissue, ie all expressed peptides with their post-translational modifications. With nanoscale liquid chromatography (nanoLC), combined with mass spectrometry and subsequent database searching, the peptidome of the Drosophila larval brain has been identified at the amino acid sequence level. In a single experiment involving only 50 Drosophila larval brains, one can obtain a display of the expressed peptides. In this paper, current peptidomics technology will be explained, using Drosophila as an example. Compared with the 400,000 Drosophila whole bodies that were required as a starting material for traditional biochemical peptide purification rounds, the authors are convinced that peptidomics technology, which in the future will certainly be applied to the analysis of different physiological states, has the inherent potential to bring about a true revolution in the study of the molecular physiology of Drosophila.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26419227,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Nanoparticle-rich diesel exhaust-induced liver damage via inhibited transactivation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha.\nDiesel exhaust emission contains a high amount of nano-sized particles and is considered to be systemically distributed in the body. However, few studies about the effects of nanoparticle rich-diesel exhaust (NR-DE) on liver have been reported. The present investigation focuses on the effects of NR-DE on livers in rats, especially concerning inflammation and lipid metabolism. Male F344 rats were exposed to fresh air or low (24 \u00b1 7 \u00b5g\/m3 ), medium (39 \u00b1 4 \u00b5g\/m3 ) and high (138 \u00b1 20 \u00b5g\/m3 ) concentrations of NR-DE for 1, 2, or 3 months (5 hours\/day, 5 days\/week). Exposure to both medium and high concentrations of NR-DE for one month increased plasma asparate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase activities, while only high concentrations increased plasma interleukin-6 and hepatic nuclear factor kappa B (NF\u03baB), suggesting that activation of hepatic inflammatory signaling took place. Although these exposures elevated peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) \u03b1 levels or its binding activity to the response element, neither activated PPAR\u03b1-target genes such as \u03b2-oxidative enzymes nor inhibited NF\u03baB elevation. Thus, NR-DE may contain some materials that inhibit PPAR\u03b1 activation in relation to lipid metabolism and inflammation. Taken together, NR-DE exposure at one month may cause inflammation; however, this finding may not be observed after a longer exposure period. \u00a9 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol 31: 1985-1995, 2016.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20358051,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Single-molecule sequence detection via microfluidic planar extensional flow at a stagnation point.\nWe demonstrate the use of a microfluidic stagnation point flow to trap and extend single molecules of double-stranded (ds) genomic DNA for detection of target sequences along the DNA backbone. Mutant EcoRI-based fluorescent markers are bound sequence-specifically to fluorescently labeled ds lambda-DNA. The marker-DNA complexes are introduced into a microfluidic cross slot consisting of flow channels that intersect at ninety degrees. Buffered solution containing the marker-DNA complexes flows in one channel of the cross slot, pure buffer flows in the opposing channel at the same flow rate, and fluid exits the two channels at ninety degrees from the inlet channels. This creates a stagnation point at the center of a planar extensional flow, where marker-DNA complexes may be trapped and elongated along the outflow axis. The degree of elongation can be controlled using the flow strength (i.e., a non-dimensional flow rate) in the device. Both the DNA backbone and the markers bound along the stretched DNA are observed directly using fluorescence microscopy, and the location of the markers along the DNA backbone is measured. We find that our method permits detection of each of the five expected target site positions to within 1.5 kb with standard deviations of <1.5 kb. We compare the method's precision and accuracy at molecular extensions of 68% and 88% of the contour length to binding distributions from similar data obtained via molecular combing. We also provide evidence that increased mixing of the sample during binding of the marker to the DNA improves binding to internal target sequences of dsDNA, presumably by extending the DNA and making the internal binding sites more accessible.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34235043,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Perception of Cosmetic Procedures among Saudis during COVID-19 Pandemic.\nA novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was first reported in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. The fast spread of the virus has led to a significant reduction in the numbers of elective procedures especially cosmetic interventions. Although many measures have been carried out to offload the health care system, it is unclear whether these changes had an effect on general population perception toward undergoing cosmetic procedures. The aim of this study was to assess the perception of Saudis toward undergoing a cosmetic surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic. An online survey consisting of two parts was used, with a series of questions about cosmetic procedures, in general, and cosmetic procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular. The survey included Saudis (age 18 to 60 years) with access to social media. A total of 563 respondents participated in this survey. The vast majority were women (86.9%) and were between 18 and 24 years old (38.7%). Some 27.4% considered a cosmetic procedure during the COVID-19 pandemic; however, only 11.9% underwent any. In the majority of the participants (86%), the pandemic did not change their minds about having a cosmetic procedure. About 49.7% agreed that fear of contracting the virus would be a factor for not undergoing a cosmetic procedure during the pandemic. Clear differences in the engagement and perception of cosmetic procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic exist among Saudis. More studies are needed to explore the effects of pandemics on aesthetic practice and to find ways to perform elective procedures in a safe way.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12038886,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Academic and school health issues among children exposed to maternal intimate partner abuse.\nTo determine the association between children's exposure to maternal intimate partner violence (IPV) and academic problems and school health concerns. The study population consisted of 153 children aged 5 to 16 years who attended public school and whose mothers experienced police- or court-reported IPV. The comparison group consisted of public school peers of the exposed children. Generalized linear modeling using a binomial distribution and log-link function served as the primary method of analysis. Urban public school district. The occurrence of academic problems and type-specific school nurse visits during the 1-year study period. Children whose mothers experienced IPV were more likely to be suspended from school (relative risk [RR], 1.8; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.2-1.7) and to have had frequent non-suspension-related absences (RR, 1.6; 95% CI, 1.0-2.3) than comparison children after adjusting for relevant confounders. Intimate partner violence-exposed children were more likely to have a school nurse visit for social or emotional complaints (RR, 2.2; 95% CI, 1.3-3.9), a visit that resulted in being sent home from school (RR, 1.6; 95% CI, 1.1-2.3), or a visit that led to referral to the school speech pathologist (RR, 7.5; 95% CI, 1.9-29.6) relative to comparison schoolchildren after adjusting for relevant confounders. Children's exposure to maternal IPV is significantly associated with the occurrence of academic problems and school health concerns. Describing the increased risk of the academic and health problems exhibited by IPV-exposed children relative to nonexposed children offers the possibility of improving the likelihood that clinicians will identify the woman who experienced abuse and her children, and promote referral to appropriate resources.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6731075,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hormonal effects on prevention or regression of atheroma.\nWhite Leghorn cockerels, fed either normal or cholesterol enriched food, were injected with saline, peanut oil, testosterone, oestradiol, progesterone, or oestradiol plus progesterone for 87 days. The ascending aortas, descending aortas and abdominal aortas were examined by light and electron microscopy and both qualitative and quantitative assessments made. The results were subjected to multivariate analysis. Cholesterol feeding increased lipid storage and round cell infiltration in the endothelium and intima, and both the degree of lipid storage and the amount of lumen obstruction was much greater in the abdominal aorta than in the ascending or descending aorta. Treatment with oestrogen plus progesterone, regardless of diet or site of action, caused a highly significant reduction in the percentage of normal cells of the endothelium. Those cockerels treated with oil, androgen and progesterone showed significantly less large foamy eosinophilic endothelial cells than those treated with oestrogen plus progesterone. The degree of round cell infiltration was increased by androgen and oestrogen, but not by oestrogen plus progesterone, when compared with both saline treated and oil treated controls. Cholesterol feeding caused a reduced percentage of normal endothelial cells. This was significantly enhanced by treatment with androgen, progesterone and saline. The effect of cholesterol feeding as a cause of a reduced percentage of normal, and an increased percentage of foamy eosinophilic endothelial cells, was significantly enhanced in the ascending aorta and the descending aorta but not in the abdominal aorta. The same site-dietary interaction was observed in the trend towards an excess of large clear cells over large eosinophilic cells in the intima. In spite of this the extent of plaque likely to cause obstruction as a result of this site-dietary interaction was increased only in the abdominal aorta. An unexpected treatment-site interaction was that progesterone had an enhanced effect, causing disruption of the internal elastic lamina of the ascending aorta but not of the descending or abdominal aortas. There was no evidence that diet or treatment increased the amount of acid esterase in the tissues, even though the chickens showed the expected species deficiency of this enzyme, but there was a significant relationship between the presence of lipid and the amount of acid esterase in the plaques of the abdominal aorta. Male albino Wistar rats were primed with peanut oil, oestrogen and triamcinolone before subcutaneous granulomas were induced by implanting cholesterol, and then treated with these substances for longer periods. Cryostat sections of the granulo","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20375288,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Learning disabilities and anxiety: a meta-analysis.\nThis article presents the results of a meta-analysis of the empirical literature on anxious symptomatology among school-aged students with learning disabilities (LD) in comparison to their non-LD peers. Fifty-eight studies met inclusion criteria. Results indicate that students with LD had higher mean scores on measures of anxiety than did non-LD students. The overall effect size was statistically significant and medium in magnitude (d=.61) although substantial heterogeneity of results was found. Moderator effects were examined for informant type, gender, grade, publication status, and identification source. Informant type (i.e., self-, parent, or teacher report) explained a significant amount of variability in the sample of studies, and identification source (i.e., school identified or special school and clinic\/hospital identified) approached statistical significance. Implications for assessment and intervention are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32618590,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Effect of emergency department fibrinogen testing on survival of trauma patients receiving blood transfusions.\n: Fibrinogen is the first clotting factor to reach critically low levels during blood loss and its depletion is associated with coagulopathy, increased blood loss, transfusion requirements and mortality after trauma. However, direct measurements of fibrinogen concentration or function are not included in many Emergency Department (ED) trauma laboratory testing protocols. We hypothesized that including a test of fibrinogen concentration in the ED would be associated with increased survival for trauma patients requiring blood transfusions.To test this hypothesis, we performed a single-centre retrospective study of the effect of a resulted fibrinogen concentration measurement performed in the ED on survival of trauma patients receiving blood transfusions within the first 4 h of their hospital arrival. Multivariate logistic regression was used test the effect of a fibrinogen test on hospital survival after adjusting for the influence of INR, injury severity, lowest recorded blood pressure and blood transfusion intensity defined as the number of red blood cell units transfused in the first 4 h or care.Of 11 404 trauma registry individuals from 2016 to 2017, 843 (7.4%) received any blood transfusions within the first 4 h of ED care, of whom 635 (75.3%) had a documented fibrinogen concentration ordered and resulted. Multivariate logistic regression for hospital survival demonstrated a significant interaction effect between the presence of a fibrinogen test and transfusion intensity (Whole Model P < 0.0001, Interaction P = 0.035). Repeat analysis after stratifying for those individuals receiving more than 4 units of red blood cell units within 4 h of care found that the presence of a fibrinogen test was independently associated with survival only for those receiving more than 4 units [FIB test odds ratio for survival = 3.5 (1.0, 10.8), P = 0.03].Fibrinogen testing in the ED may be a valuable addition to resuscitation of the trauma patient receiving significant blood transfusions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28356890,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evaluation and Optimization of in silico designed Sphingosine-1-Phosphate (S1P) Receptor Subtype 1 Modulators for the Management of Multiple Sclerosis.\nMultiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic autoimmune disorder affecting the Central Nervous System (CNS) through inflammation, demyelination and neurodegeneration. Sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor (S1PR1) modulators have been approved for the management of MS. Phosphorylated fingolimod mimics endogenous sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P), a bioactive lipid that regulates remyelination and cell injury. Amiselimod was developed as a successor of fingolimod, with more specificity for S1PR1, and showed promising results until phase 2 clinical trials. This study utilized the fingolimod and amiselimod scaffolds, together with their critical binding interactions for the S1PR1 Ligand Binding Pocket, as templates for the in silico de novo design of high efficiency binding Lipinski rule-compliant molecules. A rigorous selection process identified two molecules, Molecules 003 and 019, deriving from fingolimod and amiselimod, respectively, which were deemed most suitable for further optimization.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1681971,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Performance of long-stay schizophrenics after drug withdrawal on matched immediate and delayed recall tasks.\nBoth anticholinergic and neuroleptic drugs were withdrawn from eight long-stay hospitalized chronic schizophrenics. These patients and normal controls were then tested on Calev, Venables & Monk's (1983) immediate and delayed matched recall tasks to evaluate their rate of forgetting of verbal well-encoded materials. The results showed rapid forgetting in schizophrenics. This finding suggests that a post-encoding deficit characterizes long-stay schizophrenics after drug withdrawal. Cognitive and brain pathologies that may explain these results are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14524771,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Difference and similarity of dielectric relaxation processes among polyols.\nComplex permittivity measurements were performed on sorbitol, xylitol, and sorbitol-xylitol mixture in the supercooled liquid state in an extremely wide frequency range from 10 microHz to 500 MHz at temperatures near and above the glass transition temperature. We determined detailed behavior of the relaxation parameters such as relaxation frequency and broadening against temperature not only for the alpha process but also for the beta process above the glass transition temperature, to the best of our knowledge, for the first time. Since supercooled liquids are in the quasi-equilibrium state, the behavior of all the relaxation parameters for the beta process can be compared among the polyols as well as those for the alpha process. The relaxation frequencies of the alpha processes follow the Vogel-Fulcher-Tammann manner and the loci in the Arrhenius diagram are different corresponding to the difference of the glass transition temperatures. On the other hand, the relaxation frequencies of the beta processes, which are often called as the Johari-Goldstein processes, follow the Arrhenius-type temperature dependence. The relaxation parameters for the beta process are quite similar among the polyols at temperatures below the alphabeta merging temperature, T(M). However, they show anomalous behavior near T(M), which depends on the molecular size of materials. These results suggest that the origin of the beta process is essentially the same among the polyols.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28282771,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The follicle-stimulating hormone receptor Asn680Ser polymorphism is associated with preterm birth in Hispanic women.\nRecently, a study based on the analysis of accelerated evolution of related genes at birth identified the follicle-stimulating hormone receptor (FSHR) as a possible candidate for the development of preterm delivery. Additionally, FSHR expression has been described in extragonadal tissue including the placenta. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to determine the association between the N680S polymorphism of the follicle-stimulating hormone receptor and preterm birth in a population of Hispanic women. Placenta samples were obtained from 64 women who had preterm births and 54 control cases. DNA was extracted and genotyped for the N680S FSHR gene polymorphism by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. The \u03c72 test and t-test were used to calculate statistical significance. Statistically significant differences in genotype frequencies for the N680S polymorphism were observed between preterm and term groups (p = .04). Based on the Akaike information criterion values, the dominant model showed that the NN genotype had a significantly increased risk of preterm birth compared with the SS + NS genotype (OR 2.52, 95% CI 1.20-5.33, p = .02). The results herein suggest that the FSHR polymorphism N680S is significantly associated with preterm birth in the Hispanic population.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25497115,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Effects of sodium benzoate, a widely used food preservative, on glucose homeostasis and metabolic profiles in humans.\nSodium benzoate is a widely used preservative found in many foods and soft drinks. It is metabolized within mitochondria to produce hippurate, which is then cleared by the kidneys. We previously reported that ingestion of sodium benzoate at the generally regarded as safe (GRAS) dose leads to a robust excursion in the plasma hippurate level [1]. Since previous reports demonstrated adverse effects of benzoate and hippurate on glucose homeostasis in cells and in animal models, we hypothesized that benzoate might represent a widespread and underappreciated diabetogenic dietary exposure in humans. Here, we evaluated whether acute exposure to GRAS levels of sodium benzoate alters insulin and glucose homeostasis through a randomized, controlled, cross-over study of 14 overweight subjects. Serial blood samples were collected following an oral glucose challenge, in the presence or absence of sodium benzoate. Outcome measurements included glucose, insulin, glucagon, as well as temporal mass spectrometry-based metabolic profiles. We did not find a statistically significant effect of an acute oral exposure to sodium benzoate on glucose homeostasis. Of the 146 metabolites targeted, four changed significantly in response to benzoate, including the expected rise in benzoate and hippurate. In addition, anthranilic acid, a tryptophan metabolite, exhibited a robust rise, while acetylglycine dropped. Although our study shows that GRAS doses of benzoate do not have an acute, adverse effect on glucose homeostasis, future studies will be necessary to explore the metabolic impact of chronic benzoate exposure.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1681941,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Gallbladder torsion. Case report.\nGallbladder torsion is a rare surgical emergency occurring primarily in elderly women. The anatomical background is a variation in the attachment of the gallbladder to the inferior margin of the liver. Increasing life span will probably lead to an increasing number of cases, and gallbladder torsion must be kept in mind in patients with sudden onset of pain in the upper right quadrant, nausea, vomiting, and a palpable mass. None of the laboratory routines or non-invasive examinations enables one to make the right preoperative diagnosis. Treatment is cholecystectomy. Promptly treated, the prognosis is good.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":943724,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Almost complete regression of cerebral arteriovenous malformation--report of a case (author's transl)].\nSpontaneous regression or disappearance of cerebral arteriovenous malformation (AVM) had been rarely reported in the literatures. Regression after carotid ligation or radiation therapy are not spontaneous one, because these treatments may have some influences on morphological changes of AVM by CBF dynamic change or by some radiobiological effects on AVM. The reported case is 57 aged male. He had an episode of sudden onset of left hemiparesis 7 years ago and was treated conservatively at a private doctor. Afterward he enjoyed his life, for 4 years, he consulted our clinic on account of left hemiconvulsion. Right CAG revealed right parietal AVM (3.5 X 4.0 X 5.O) with dilated feeding and draining vessels. Patient denyed operation at that time, but again consulted our clinic on account of severe left hemiconvulsion. Right CAG was performed again, but right parietal AVM was almost not visualized and feeding and draining vessels were diminished in diameter. Inspite of repeated 4 vessel angiographies AVM was remarkably regressed, and also no angiospastic vessels and intracerebral hematoma were absent in these angiographies. Though spontaneous regression of cerebral AVM is rare course, we report the importance of morphological follow up, when cerebral AVM is nondefinitively treated.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26467202,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Temperature-Dependent Raman Spectroscopy of Titanium Trisulfide (TiS3) Nanoribbons and Nanosheets.\nTitanium trisulfide (TiS3) has recently attracted the interest of the 2D community because it presents a direct bandgap of \u223c1.0 eV, shows remarkable photoresponse, and has a predicted carrier mobility up to 10000 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1). However, a study of the vibrational properties of TiS3, relevant to understanding the electron-phonon interaction that can be the main mechanism limiting the charge carrier mobility, is still lacking. In this work, we take the first steps to study the vibrational properties of TiS3 through temperature-dependent Raman spectroscopy measurements of TiS3 nanoribbons and nanosheets. Our investigation shows that all the Raman modes linearly soften (red shift) as the temperature increases from 88 to 570 K due to anharmonic vibrations of the lattice, which also includes contributions from the lattice thermal expansion. This softening with the temperature of the TiS3 modes is more pronounced than that observed in other 2D semiconductors, such as MoS2, MoSe2, WSe2, and black phosphorus (BP). This marked temperature dependence of the Raman spectra could be exploited to determine the temperature of TiS3 nanodevices by using Raman spectroscopy as a noninvasive and local thermal probe. Interestingly, the TiS3 nanosheets show a stronger temperature dependence of the Raman modes than the nanoribbons, which we attribute to lower interlayer coupling in the nanosheets.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":33726033,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Depth acquisition in single-pixel imaging with multiplexed illumination.\nSingle-pixel imaging (SPI) has drawn wide attentions due to its high signal-to-noise ratio and wide working spectrum, providing a feasible solution when array sensors are expensive or not available. In the conventional SPI, the target's depth information is lost in the acquisition process due to the 3D-to-1D projection. In this work, we report an efficient depth acquisition method that enables the existing SPI systems to obtain reflectance and depth information without any additional hardware. The technique employs a multiplexed illumination strategy that contains both random and sinusoidal codes, which simultaneously encode the target's spatial and depth information into the single measurement sequence. In the reconstruction phase, we build a convolutional neural network to decode both spatial and depth information from the 1D measurements. Compared to the conventional scene acquisition method, the end-to-end deep-learning reconstruction reduces both sampling ratio (30%) and computational complexity (two orders of magnitude). Both simulations and experiments validate the method's effectiveness and high efficiency for additional depth acquisition in single-pixel imaging without additional hardware.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12000344,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Targeting dental sealants in school-based programs: evaluation of an approach.\nSeveral guidelines have been published in the United States to promote the appropriate use of sealants in both individual care and public health programs. Targeting sealants to children and teeth at high risk for dental caries has been accepted as a desirable strategy in school-based programs. However, there is little evidence to show that programs are complying with these guidelines. This report examined the extent to which sealants were targeted to high-risk children at 11 different school-based programs in New York State. Data on 3357 children ages seven to nine were analyzed. The percent of children receiving sealants ranged from 41% to 88%. While in two sites (St. Lawrence & Onondaga) fewer than 52% of the children received sealants; more than 73% received sealants in the remaining nine sites (P < 0.05). The results suggest that there was a wide variation in the implementation of the guidelines for sealant use. Some reasons for not adhering to the guidelines were: difficulty in assuring parents and local dentists that some children were not at risk for caries; lack of confidence in the risk-assessment method; uncertainty regarding what constitutes deep pits and fissures; fear of misclassifying children and requests by school administrators, parents and local dentists that all children should benefit from preventive measures.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26426748,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Quantitative-profiling of neurotransmitter abnormalities in the disease progression of experimental diabetic encephalopathy rat.\nDiabetic encephalopathy (DE) is one of the most prevalent chronic complications of diabetes mellitus (DM), with neither effective prevention nor proven therapeutic regimen. This study aims to uncover the potential dysregulation pattern of the neurotransmitters in a rat model of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced experimental DE. For that purpose, male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were treated with a single intraperitoneal injection of STZ. Cognitive performance was detected with the Morris water maze (MWM) test. Serum, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and brain tissues were collected to measure the levels of neurotransmitters. Compared with the control rats, the acetylcholine (ACh) levels in serum, CSF, hippocampus, and cortex were all significantly down-regulated as early as 6 weeks in the STZ treatment group. In contrast, the glutamate (Glu) levels were decreased in CSF and the hippocampus, but unaffected in the serum and cortex of STZ-treated rats. As for \u03b3-aminobutyric acid (GABA), it was down-regulated in serum, but up-regulated in CSF, hippocampus, and the cortex in the STZ-treated group. The mRNA expressions of neurotransmitter-related rate limiting enzymes (including AChE, GAD1, and GAD2) and pro-inflammatory cytokines (including IL-1\u03b2 and TNF-\u03b1) were all increased in the DE rats. Our data suggest that DM induces isoform-dependent and tissue-specific neurotransmitter abnormalities, and that neuroinflammation may underlay the nervous system dysfunction observed in the progression of DE.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32585099,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Differences in Stability, Cytotoxicity, and Mechanism of Action of Ru(II) and Pt(II) Complexes of a Bidentate N,O Donor Ligand.\nWe report [RuII(L)(\u03b76-p-cym)Cl] (1 and 2) and [PtII(L)(DMSO)Cl] (3 and 4) complexes, where L is a chelate imine ligand derived from chloroethylamine and salicylaldehyde (HL1) or o-vanillin (HL2). The complexes were characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction and other analytical techniques. The 1H nuclear magnetic resonance data show that both the Ru(II) and Pt(II) complexes start forming the aquated complex within an hour. The aquated complexes are stable at least up to 24 h. The complexes bind to the N7 of the model nucleobase 9-ethylguanine (9-EtG). Interaction with calf thymus (CT) DNA shows moderate binding interactions with binding constants, Kb (3.7 \u00b1 1.2) \u00d7 103 M-1 and (4.3 \u00b1 1.9) \u00d7 103 M-1 for 1 and 3, respectively. The complexes exhibit significant antiproliferative activity against human pancreas ductal adenocarcinoma (Mia PaCa-2), triple negative metastatic breast adenocarcinoma (MDA-MB-231), hepatocellular carcinoma (Hep G2), and colorectal adenocarcinoma (HT-29) cell lines. The studies show that with the same ligand the Pt(II) complexes are more potent than the Ru(II) complexes. The in vitro potencies of all the complexes toward pancreatic cancer cell line MIA PaCa-2 are more than cisplatin (CDDP). The Pt(II) and Ru(II) complexes show similar binding constants with CT-DNA, but the reactivity of the Pt(II) complex 3 with 9-EtG is faster and their overall cell killing pathways are different. This is evident from the arrest of the cell cycle by the Ru(II) complex 1 in the G2\/M phase in contrast to the SubG1 phase arrest by the Pt(II) complex 3. The immunoblot study shows that 3 increases cyclin D and Bcl-2 expression in MDA-MB-231 due to the SubG1 phase arrest where these proteins express in greater quantities. However, both 1 and 3 kill in the apoptotic pathway via dose-dependent activation of caspase 3. Complex 3 depolarizes the mitochondria more efficiently than 1, suggesting its higher preference for the intrinsic pathway of apoptosis. Our work reveals that the same bidentate ligand with a change of the metal center, viz, Pt(II) or Ru(II), imparts significant variation in cytotoxic dosage and pathway of action due to specific intrinsic properties of a metal center (viz, coordination geometry, solution stability) manifested in a complex.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37446272,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Ca2+ Dynamics of Gap Junction Coupled and Uncoupled Deiters' Cells in the Organ of Corti in Hearing BALB\/c Mice.\nATP, as a paracrine signalling molecule, induces intracellular Ca2+ elevation via the activation of purinergic receptors on the surface of glia-like cochlear supporting cells. These cells, including the Deiters' cells (DCs), are also coupled by gap junctions that allow the propagation of intercellular Ca2+ waves via diffusion of Ca2+ mobilising second messenger IP3 between neighbouring cells. We have compared the ATP-evoked Ca2+ transients and the effect of two different gap junction (GJ) blockers (octanol and carbenoxolone, CBX) on the Ca2+ transients in DCs located in the apical and middle turns of the hemicochlea preparation of BALB\/c mice (P14-19). Octanol had no effect on Ca2+ signalling, while CBX inhibited the ATP response, more prominently in the middle turn. Based on astrocyte models and using our experimental results, we successfully simulated the Ca2+ dynamics in DCs in different cochlear regions. The mathematical model reliably described the Ca2+ transients in the DCs and suggested that the tonotopical differences could originate from differences in purinoceptor and Ca2+ pump expressions and in IP3-Ca2+ release mechanisms. The cochlear turn-dependent effect of CBX might be the result of the differing connexin isoform composition of GJs along the tonotopic axis. The contribution of IP3-mediated Ca2+ signalling inhibition by CBX cannot be excluded.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28565772,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Association of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection with increased risk of asthma in children.\nThe present study was conducted to investigate the relationship between Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) infection and the risk of asthma among children by detecting the rate of MP immunoglobulin M (MP-IgM) and the eosinophil (EOS) count. A total of 139 asthmatic children were enrolled as the case group and assigned into three groups: Group A (aged <3 years, n=42), group B (aged 3-8 years, n=45) and group C (aged >8 years, n=52). Additionally, 115 healthy children were enrolled in the control group. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to measure the MP-IgM-positive rate. EOS count was detected in the experimental and control groups by using a hemocytometer analyzer. A meta-analysis was performed by using the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis version 2.0 software. The positive rates of the MP-IgM and EOS count in the experimental group were significantly higher than those in control group (both P<0.001). Furthermore, the asthmatic children in group C had a higher MP-IgM-positive rate and EOS count as compared to those in groups A and B, respectively (all P<0.05). Results from groups A and B were not statistically significant (all P>0.05). The meta-analysis further confirmed that asthmatic children had a higher MP-IgM-positive rate as compared to the healthy controls (P<0.001). Age-stratified analysis revealed that the MP-IgM-positive rate in asthmatic children aged \u22658 and <8 years was significantly higher than that in the healthy controls (P=0.003 and P<0.001). Asthmatic children had a higher MP-IgM-positive rate and EOS count as compared with controls, suggesting that the MP infection may be closely associated with the risk of asthma. Additionally, the positive rate of MP-IgM may indicate an important biological marker in predicting the development of asthma.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7933014,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Fetal scapular length in the ultrasonographic assessment of gestational age.\nA prospective cross-sectional study of 515 singleton fetuses of ages between 15 and 42 weeks' gestation was performed. At gestational ages greater than 26 weeks, only fetuses with a sonographic estimated fetal weight between the 10th and 90th percentiles for growth were included. Scapular length (cm) as a function of gestational age (weeks) was expressed by the regression equation: SL = 0.3289 + 0.9553 (GA) with a Pearson correlation coefficient of R2 = 0.942. This study defines the normal limits of scapular length, demonstrates a high correlation between scapular length, gestational age, and other standard measurements of fetal growth, and indicates that scapular length can predict gestational age in fetuses with normal growth.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26471500,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Tissue factor expression by myeloid cells contributes to protective immune response against Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection.\nTissue factor (TF) is a transmembrane glycoprotein that plays an essential role in hemostasis by activating coagulation. TF is also expressed by monocytes\/macrophages as part of the innate immune response to infections. In the current study, we determined the role of TF expressed by myeloid cells during Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb) infection by using mice lacking the TF gene in myeloid cells (TF(\u0394) ) and human monocyte derived macrophages (MDMs). We found that during M. tb infection, a deficiency of TF in myeloid cells was associated with reduced inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression, enhanced arginase 1 (Arg1) expression, enhanced IL-10 production and reduced apoptosis in infected macrophages, which augmented M. tb growth. Our results demonstrate that a deficiency of TF in myeloid cells promotes M2-like phenotype in M .tb infected macrophages. A deficiency in TF expression by myeloid cells was also associated with reduced fibrin deposition and increased matrix metalloproteases (MMP)-2 and MMP-9 mediated inflammation in M. tb infected lungs. Our studies demonstrate that TF expressed by myeloid cells has newly recognized abilities to polarize macrophages and to regulate M. tb growth.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27262639,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Retrospective age-of-onset and projected lifetime prevalence of psychiatric disorders among U.S. Army National Guard soldiers.\nThe study of military-related mental health has been disproportionately focused on current symptomology rather than potentially more informative life course mental health. Indeed, no study has assessed age-of-onset and projected lifetime prevalence of disorders among reservists. Age-of-onset and projected lifetime DSM-IV anxiety, mood, and substance use disorders were assessed in 671 Ohio Army National Guard soldiers aged 17-60 years. Between 2008 and 2012, face-to-face clinical assessments and surveys were conducted using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV and Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale. Lifetime prevalence of psychiatric disorders was 61%. Alcohol abuse\/dependence (44%) and major depressive disorder (23%) were the most common disorders. The majority (64%) of participants reported disorders antedating enlistment. Median age-of-onset varied with anxiety disorders - particularly phobias and OCD - having the earliest (median=15 years) and mood disorders the latest median age-of-onset (median=21 years). The study was limited by both the retrospective investigation of age-of-onset and the location of our sample. As our sample may not represent the general military population, our findings need to be confirmed in additional samples. Each psychiatric disorder exhibited a distinct age-of-onset pattern, such that phobias and OCD onset earliest, substance use disorders onset during a short interval from late-adolescence to early-adulthood, and mood disorders onset the latest. Our finding that the majority of participants reported disorders antedating enlistment suggests that an assessment of lifetime psychopathology is essential to understanding the mental health burden of both current and former military personnel.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12030420,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Therapeutic effect of parenteral magnesium on noise-induced hearing loss in the guinea pig.\nWe have recently demonstrated in the guinea pig that preventive dietary magnesium supplement can significantly reduce impulse noise induced hearing loss by on average 18 dB. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether magnesium might also have a therapeutic effect on noise trauma. Anesthetized guinea pigs were exposed to an impulse noise series (1\/s) of L(peak) 167 dB (L(eq,ls) 127 dB) for 38 min. The permanent hearing threshold shift (PTS) was determined one week post-exposure, using auditory brainstem response audiometry at a frequency range of 0.5-32 kHz. The total magnesium concentrations of perilymph (PL), cerebrospinal fluid and blood were analysed by atomic absorption spectrometry at different times of treatment. In a first set of experiments, animals on a low initial magnesium status were injected either of 4 different dose levels of magnesium (1.14-3.42 mmol MgSO4 s.c.\/kg per day) for 3 days or saline as a placebo. The treatment was started immediately after the exposure. The magnesium groups received drinking water with an additive of 39 mmol MgCl2\/l for one week and the placebo group tap water (0.43 mmol Mg\/l) alone. A dose level of 2.85 mmol Mg has proved to be most effective and reduced the PTS by 13-20 dB compared to the placebo group. The magnesium concentrations increased to above 4 mmol\/l in serum and to 1.2 mmol\/l in PL during the first 3 days of this treatment. In a second set of experiments, we tested the dependence of the therapeutic efficacy on the post-exposure time of onset of the optimal treatment (1 min, 2 h and 4 h), using guinea pigs on normal initial magnesium status. In the 1 min-group, the reduction of hearing loss was similar to that found in the first series. The therapeutic effect decreases with the length of time elapsed between the end of exposure and the beginning of treatment. In a few animals, hair cell stereocilia were examined using scanning electron microscopy. The results also revealed a magnesium related reduced susceptibility of hair cell stereocilia to impulse noise exposure.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28270588,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The optimal exercise intensity for the unbiased comparison of thermoregulatory responses between groups unmatched for body size during uncompensable heat stress.\nWe sought to identify the appropriate exercise intensity for unbiased comparisons of changes in rectal temperature (\u0394Tre) and local sweat rates (LSR) between groups unmatched for body size during uncompensable heat stress. Sixteen males vastly different in body morphology were separated into two equal groups [small (SM): 65.8 \u00b1 6.2 kg, 1.8 \u00b1 0.1 m2; large (LG): 100.0 \u00b1 13.1 kg, 2.3 \u00b1 0.1 m2], but matched for sudomotor thermosensitivity (SM: 1.3 \u00b1 0.6; LG: 1.1 \u00b1 0.4 mg\u00b7cm-2\u00b7min-1\u00b7\u00b0C-1). The maximum potential for evaporation (Emax) for each participant was assessed using an incremental humidity protocol. On separate occasions, participants then completed 60 min of cycling in a 35\u00b0C and 70% RH environment at (1) 50% of VO2max, (2) a heat production (Hprod) of 520 W, (3) Hprod relative to mass (6 W\u00b7kg-1), and (4) Hprod relative to mass above Emax (3 W\u00b7kg-1>Emax). Emax was similar between LG (347 \u00b1 39 W, 154 \u00b1 15 W\u00b7m-2) and SM (313 \u00b1 63 W, 176 \u00b1 34 W\u00b7m-2, P > 0.12). \u0394Tre was greater in SM compared to LG at 520 W (SM: 1.5 \u00b1 0.5; LG 0.8 \u00b1 0.3\u00b0C, P < 0.001) and at 50% of VO2max (SM: 1.4 \u00b1 0.5; LG 0.9 \u00b1 0.3\u00b0C, P < 0.001). However, \u0394Tre was similar between groups when Hprod was either 6 W\u00b7kg-1 (SM: 0.9 \u00b1 0.3; LG 0.9 \u00b1 0.2\u00b0C, P = 0.98) and 3 W\u00b7kg-1>Emax (SM: 1.4 \u00b1 0.5; LG 1.3 \u00b1 0.4\u00b0C, P = 0.99). LSR was similar between LG and SM irrespective of condition, suggesting maximum LSR was attained (SM: 1.10 \u00b1 0.23; LG: 1.07 \u00b1 0.35 mg\u00b7cm-2\u00b7min-1, P = 0.50). In conclusion, systematic differences in \u0394Tre and LSR between groups unmatched for body size during uncompensable heat stress can be avoided by a fixed Hprod in W\u00b7kg-1 or W\u00b7kg-1>Emax.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31249329,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Checking for voice disorders without clinical intervention: The Greek and global VHI thresholds for voice disordered patients.\nVoice disorders often remain undiagnosed. Many self-perceived questionnaires exist for various medical conditions. Here, we used the Greek Voice Handicap Index (VHI) to address the aforementioned problem. Everyone can fill in the VHI questionnaire and rate their symptoms easily. The innovative feature of this research is the global cut-off score calculated for the VHI. Therefore, the VHI is now capable of helping clinicians establish a more customizable treatment plan with the cut-off point identifying patients without normal phonation. For the purpose of finding the global cut-off point, a group of 180 participants was recruited in Greece (90 non-dysphonic participants and 90 with different types of dysphonia). The voice disordered group had higher VHI scores than those of the control group. In contrast to previous studies, we provided and validated for the first time the cut-off points for all VHI domains and, finally, a global cut-off point through ROC and precision-recall analysis in a voice disordered population. In practice, a score higher than the well-estimated global score indicates (without intervention) a possible voice disorder. Nevertheless, if the score is near the threshold, then the patient should definitely follow preventive measures.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6152531,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Humoral immune system and ulcerative colitis activity. III. Immune complexes.\nSerum immune complexes (IMC) were examined by means of 4.166% polyethylene glycol precipitation. IMC were found in 33.3% of all examined patients (12.8% of inactive and 51.1% of active colitis). Polyethylene glycol serum precipitation was correlated with the activity of the disease, and was found to be increased in patients with extensive morbid process and with duration of the disease. In the patients with extraintestinal manifestations IMC increased particularly in those with skin lesions. Our study confirmed suggestion of other authors on the possible role of the pathogenesis of UC and in extraintestinal complications. Their secondary role however, cannot be excluded.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30312526,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Eurasian Elk's (Alces alces) Brain Base Arteries in View of Vascular Variation.\nThis article presents the results of analysis of the arterial vascular region of the Eurasian elk, which is a representative of the Cervidae family. The study was conducted on 39 Eurasian elks. The head arteries of 25 animals were filled with LBS 3040 synthetic latex. The head arteries of the other 14 Eurasian elks were filled with an acetone solution of stained chlorinated polyvinyl chloride and macerated. The arterial circle of the Eurasian elk's brain is composed of bilateral rostral cerebral arteries and caudal communicating arteries. The basilar artery closes the arterial circle caudally. The rostral cerebral artery first ramifies into the rostral choroidal artery, then, the middle cerebral artery and the rostral communicating artery. The caudal cerebral artery and the rostral cerebellar artery branch off the caudal communicating artery. The arterial pattern of the Eurasian elk's brain base is similar to the arteries found in other deer. Like in other Ruminantia, the rostral epidural rete mirabile is a unique structure in the Eurasian elk's arterial system. Anat Rec, 302:339-345, 2019. \u00a9 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29556648,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Rare case of single coronary artery in a patient with liver cirrhosis.\nWe report here the case of a 58-year-old male presented with atypical chest pain, dyspnea and fatigue, with a medical history of liver cirrhosis and undergoing treatment with beta-blocker. The clinical exam was normal. The 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) showed normal heart rate, without repolarization changes. Transthoracic echocardiography revealed no wall motion abnormalities of the left ventricle, moderate tricuspid regurgitation with mild pulmonary hypertension and left ventricular hypertrophy. The biochemical markers for myocardial infarction were negative. He underwent coronary angiography that revealed a single coronary artery originating from the right coronary sinus of Valsalva.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35361479,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Marital Status and Sex-Based Differences in Outcomes After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation.\nStudies have shown improved outcomes among married patients who underwent cardiovascular surgery; however, this has not been well studied in transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVi). We examined the impact of marital status and patient sex on outcomes after TAVi. Patients who underwent TAVi from January 2015 to June 2018 were reviewed and stratified into 3 groups: single, married, and widowed. The impact of marital status and sex on 30-day outcomes was assessed using a stepwise logistic regression analysis. Cumulative survival was estimated using Kaplan-Meier analysis and adjusted survival with multivariable Cox proportional hazards modeling. A total of 785 patients were included: 149 single, 413 married, and 223 widowed. Widowed patients were older (84 vs 79 years) with higher Society of Thoracic Surgeons risk scores (6.79% vs 5.51%, both p \u22640.001) than married patients. Neither marital status nor sex was associated with 30-day mortality or home discharge. However, 1-year survival revealed a differential survival penalty, with married females (p = 0.041) having lower survival and married males (p = 0.007) having higher survival than their single counterparts. This survival penalty persisted in the adjusted analyses (married females hazard ratio [HR] 2.24, p = 0.009; widowed males HR 2.42, p = 0.057). For patients who were readmitted in the first year, adjusted analysis showed widowed status was associated with higher 30-day readmissions (HR 1.91, p = 0.012) in both sexes. In conclusion, these findings suggest that marital status does not impact both sexes equally after TAVi; identifying at-risk patients and targeted interventions, such as adjusting discharge planning to ensure adequate home social support, may help improve outcomes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23448903,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Clinical phenotype and the lack of mutations in the CHRNG, CHRND, and CHRNA1 genes in two Indian families with Escobar syndrome.\nThe objective of this study was to report the clinical phenotype and genetic analysis of two Indian families with Escobar syndrome (ES). The diagnosis of ES in both families was made on the basis of published clinical features. Blood samples were collected from members of both families and used in genomic DNA isolation. The entire coding regions and intron-exon junctions of the ES gene CHRNG (cholinergic receptor, nicotinic, gamma), and two other related genes, CHRND and CHRNA1, were amplified and sequenced to search for mutations in both families. Both families show a typical form of ES. Sequencing of the entire coding regions including the intron-exon junctions of the three genes did not yield any mutations in these families. In conclusion, it is possible that the mutations in these genes are located in the promoter or deep intronic regions that we failed to identify or the ES in these families is caused by mutations in a different gene. The lack of mutations in CHRNG has also been reported in several families, suggesting the possibility of at least one more gene for this syndrome.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28684987,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"\u03b1-Acetoxyarone synthesis via iodine-catalyzed and tert-butyl hydroperoxide-mediateded self-intermolecular oxidative coupling of aryl ketones.\nWe present a metal-free method for \u03b1-acetoxyarone synthesis by self-intermolecular oxidative coupling of aryl ketones using I2-tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP). Under the optimum conditions, various aryl ketones gave the corresponding products in moderate to excellent yields. A series of control experiments were performed; the results suggest the involvement of radical pathways. Multiple radical intermediates were generated in situ and the overall process involved several different reactions, which proceeded self-sequentially in a single reactor. A labeling experiment using 18O-labeled H2O confirmed that the oxygen in the product was derived from TBHP, not from H2O in the TBHP solvent.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29549893,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Effect of Sacroiliac Joint Mobilization on the Level of Soft Tissue Pain Threshold in Asymptomatic Women.\nThis study aimed to evaluate the effect of sacroiliac joint (SIJ) mobilization and\/or self-mobilization on the level of soft tissue pain threshold in 21- to 23-year-old asymptomatic women (n = 20). The FPIX Wagner Algometer was applied to compute the pressure pain threshold (PPT) over the right and left side of the iliolumbar ligament and lumbar erector spinae (L3). Measurements were taken of the right SIJ before and after a randomized protocol of oscillating mobilization, self-mobilization, and placebo treatment. A main effect of intervention (mobilization, self-mobilization, placebo) was confirmed by analysis of variance, with increases in PPT over the iliolumbar ligament (F = 13.04, P < .05) and erector spinae (F = 12.28, P < .05) on the mobilized side. The Wilcoxon test indicated that SIJ mobilization increased PPT over the iliolumbar ligament (P < .05) and erector spinae (P < .05) on both sides. Self-mobilization increased erector spinae PPT on the exercised side (P < .05), whereas the placebo did not cause any changes in PPT (P > .05). The study provides evidence of local and global pain modulation resulting from oscillatory mobilization of the SIJ in women without pain symptoms. Self-mobilization of the SIJ has limited analgesic application.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19025459,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Integrated research into the nanoparticle-protein corona: a new focus for safe, sustainable and equitable development of nanomedicines.\nMuch contemporary nanotoxicology, nanotherapeutic and nanoregulatory research has been characterized by a focus on investigating how delivery of engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) to cells is dictated primarily by components of the ENP surface. An alternative model, some implications of which are discussed here, begins with fundamental physicochemical research into the interaction of a dynamic nanoparticle-protein corona (NPC) with biological systems. The proposed new model also requires, however, that any such fresh NPC physicochemical research approach should involve integration and targeted collaboration from the earliest stages with nanotoxicology, nanotherapeutics and nanoregulatory expertise. The justification for this integrated approach, we argue, relates not just to efficiency and promotion of innovation but to an acknowledgement that public-funded basic physicochemical research in particular should now be accepted to incorporate strong higher order public-goods elements from its inception, not merely after product development at the technology-transfer stage. Issues, such as university-research cooperation, commercialization and intellectual property protection, safety and cost-effectiveness regulatory assessment, as well as technology transfer should not be viewed as second tier considerations, even in a 'blue sky' NPC basic research agenda.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37453273,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1}}},"text":"3.0 T prostate MRI: Visual assessment of 2D and 3D T2-weighted imaging sequences using PI-QUAL score.\nComparing 2D and 3D T2 weighted sequences in terms of image quality in 3.0 T MRI with readers of varied experiences, using PI-QUAL inspired criteria. 91 male patients with suspected prostate cancer (PCa) underwent diagnostic prostate MRI on a 3.0 T MR system using a 32-channel phased-array torso coil before prostate biopsy. MRI protocol included 3D T2w images, axial 2D T2w images, axial diffusion-weighted images (DWI) with the corresponding ADC apparent diffusion coefficient maps, and axial dynamic contrast enhanced images. 3D T2w and 2D T2w imaging were compared by 4 radiologists using a Likert scale for image quality (overall anatomy, delineation of capsule, seminal vesicles, ejaculatory ducts, sphincter muscle, artifacts), tumor delimitation and conspicuity. No significant differences in terms of overall quality between 3D and 2D T2w images were found. However 2D T2w demonstrated higher rating than 3D T2w images as for the image quality of the external capsule, sphincter muscle and ejaculatory ducts delineation (p < 0.05). 3D T2w sequence can't replace 2D T2w sequence, despite good quality images but it remains more prone to artifacts. Quality of 2D T2w sequences was substantially superior to 3D sequences for delineation of key structures as external capsule, sphincter muscle. The use of PI-QUAL criteria allows reproducible analysis of the quality of T2 weighted images.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36929924,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Quantitative interstitial lung disease scores in idiopathic inflammatory myopathies: longitudinal changes and clinical implications.\nTo investigate computer-aided quantitative scores from high-resolution CT (HRCT) images and determine their longitudinal changes and clinical significance in patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIMs)-related interstitial lung disease (IIMs-ILD). The clinical data and HRCT images of 80 patients with IIMs who underwent serial HRCT scans at least twice were retrospectively analysed. Quantitative ILD (QILD) scores (%) were calculated as the sum of the extent of lung fibrosis, ground-glass opacity, and honeycombing. The individual time-estimated \u0394QILD between two consecutive scans was derived using a linear approximation of yearly changes. The baseline median QILD (interquartile range) scores in the whole lung were 28.1% (19.1-43.8). The QILD was significantly correlated with forced vital capacity (r = -0.349, P = 0.002) and diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (r = -0.381, P = 0.001). For \u0394QILD between the first two scans, according to the visual ILD subtype, QILD aggravation was more frequent in patients with usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) than non-UIP (80.0% vs 44.4%, P = 0.013). Multivariable logistic regression analyses identified UIP was significantly related to radiographic ILD progression (\u0394QILD >2%, P = 0.015). Patients with higher baseline QILD scores (>28.1%) had a higher risk of lung transplantation or death (P = 0.015). In the analysis of three serial HRCT scans (n = 41), dynamic \u0394QILD with four distinct patterns (improving, worsening, convex and concave) was observed. QILD changes in IIMs-ILD were dynamic, and baseline UIP patterns seemed to be related to a longitudinal progression in QILD. These may be potential imaging biomarkers for lung function, changes in ILD severity and prognosis in IIMs-ILD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":10207781,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Detection of telomerase activity in biopsy samples of colorectal cancer.\nTelomerase is a ribonucleoprotein that synthesizes telomeric DNA onto chromosomal ends. The expression of telomerase is thought to be required for cellular immortality and oncogenesis. To investigate the role of telomerase in the pathogenesis of colorectal cancer, we analysed telomerase activity in biopsy samples of colorectal cancer and colonic adenomas. Using a polymerase chain reaction-based assay, we examined telomerase activity in 52 samples of colorectal cancer, 12 colonic adenomas and 30 normal colonic mucosa samples obtained by endoscopic biopsy. Telomerase activity was detectable in 88.5% (46\/52) of colorectal carcinomas, in 50% (6\/12) of colonic adenomas but not in normal colorectal mucosa. There was no correlation between telomerase activity and tumour location, type, size and differentiation (P > 0.05). It was concluded that telomerase activation plays a role in the evolution of colorectal cancer, and that measurement of telomerase activity in biopsied colorectal mucosa samples may provide information both as a diagnostic marker to detect small numbers of cancer cells, and as a screening method for patients at high risk for colorectal carcinoma.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37869348,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The image quality and diagnostic performance of CT perfusion-derived CT angiography versus that of conventional CT angiography.\nThe combination of computed tomography angiography (CTA) and computed tomography perfusion (CTP) evaluation of cerebral perfusion status and vascular conditions can improve the diagnostic accuracy of infarction, ischemia, and vascular occlusion in stroke patients, as well as a comprehensive assessment of cerebral edema, collateral circulation, and blood perfusion in the lesion area. However, the consequent radiation safety and contrast agent nephropathy have aroused increasing concern. The purpose of this study was to assess the image quality and diagnostic accuracy of CTA images derived from CTP data, and to explore the feasibility of replacing conventional CTA. A total of 31 consecutive patients with suspected acute ischemic stroke were retrospectively analyzed. All patients underwent head and neck CTA and brain CTP examinations. All the CTP images were transmitted to the ShuKun artificial intelligence system, which reconstructs CTA derived from CTP (CTA-DF-CTP). The images were divided into 2 groups, including CTA-DF-CTP (Group A) and conventional CTA (Group B). The CT attenuation values, subjective image noise, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), image quality, CT volume dose index (CTDIvol), dose length product (DLP), and effective radiation dose (ED) were compared between the 2 groups. Moreover, the consistency of vascular stenosis and stenosis degree between the 2 groups were measured and evaluated. There were no significant differences in image noise, SNR, or CNR between Groups A and B (P>0.05). The CT attenuation values of the arteries were higher in Group A than in B [internal carotid artery (ICA) =548\u00b1112 vs. 454\u00b185 Hounsfield units (HU), middle cerebral artery (MCA) =453\u00b1118 vs. 388\u00b170 HU, and basilar artery (BA) =431\u00b199 vs. 360\u00b183 HU] (P<0.01). The image quality of the 2 groups met the requirement of clinical diagnosis (4.97\u00b10.18 vs. 4.94\u00b10.25). No significant difference was found in subjective evaluation (P>0.05). In Group A compared with Group B, the following reductions were observed: CTDIvol (10.7%; 100.8 vs. 112.9 mGy), DLP (23.0%; 1,613\u00b10 vs. 2,093\u00b188 mGy\u00b7cm), and ED (23.0%; 5.00\u00b10.00 vs. 6.49\u00b10.27 mSv). CTA-DF-CTP data provide diagnostic accuracy and image quality similar to those of conventional CTA of head and neck CTA.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27264674,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Genetic alterations of differentiated thyroid carcinoma in iodine-rich and iodine-deficient countries.\nBRAF V600E mutation, RET rearrangements, and RAS mutations are the common genetic alterations in differentiated thyroid carcinomas derived from follicular thyroid cells. However, the relationship between these alterations and iodine intake is still controversial. To clarify the influence of iodine intake on the occurrence of differentiated thyroid carcinomas, we performed molecular analyses for two differentiated carcinomas, papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTCs) and follicular thyroid carcinomas (FTCs), from an iodine-rich country (Japan) and an iodine-deficient country (Vietnam). We examined 120 PTCs (67 Japanese and 53 Vietnamese) and 74 FTCs (51 Japanese and 23 Vietnamese). We carried out allele-specific polymerase chain reaction (AS-PCR) for BRAF V600E, PCR and direct sequencing for RAS mutations (codon 12, 13, and 61 in NRAS, HRAS, and KRAS), and RT-PCR for RET\/PTC1 and RET\/PTC3. BRAF V600E was present in 55\/67 (82.1%) Japanese PTCs and 44\/53 (83%) Vietnamese PTCs. RET\/PTC1 was identified in only one PTC from each country, and no samples had RET\/PTC3. NRAS mutation was found in 17\/51 (33.3%) Japanese FTCs and 4\/23 (17.4%) Vietnamese FTCs. NRAS mutation was cited in codon 61 (20 cases) and codon 12 (one case). None of FTCs had KRAS or HRAS mutations. There were no significant differences in the prevalence of BRAF V600E, RET\/PTC, or RAS mutations between the two countries. Our study showed no differences in genetic alterations of thyroid cancers from iodine-rich and iodine-deficient countries, possibly suggesting that iodine intake might not affect the genetic alterations of differentiated thyroid cancer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6366684,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Our experience with Solcoseryl Eye-Gel in the treatment of corneal lesions. A randomised double-blind study (with 1 color plate).\nA comparative study of Solcoseryl Eye-Gel versus a 2.4% cysteine eye-gel was carried out under controlled conditions (randomised and double-blind) on a total of 61 patients with corneal lesions (52 foreign body injuries, 9 corneal erosions). The results showed a marked superiority of Solcoseryl Eye-Gel with respect to more rapid healing and also with respect to the possible subsequent development of a corneal macula.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23883410,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Long-term impact of positive surgical margins on biochemical recurrence after radical prostatectomy: ten years of follow-up.\nPositive surgical margins (PSMs) in men undergoing radical prostatectomy (RP) for prostate cancer are associated with an increased risk of biochemical recurrence. This study evaluated the long-term (>10 year) impact of PSMs on biochemical recurrence after RP in adjuvant treatment-na\u00efve pT2-pT4 N0 men and determined predictors of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) failure. The institutional registry of 1276 patients who underwent RP at Henri Mondor Hospital from 1988 to 2001 was reviewed, identifying 403 patients with regular follow-up at the time of analysis. The study included 108 patients with PSMs who did not receive neoadjuvant or adjuvant therapy before PSA relapse. Median follow-up was 12.2 years. PSA failure was defined by a PSA rising by more than 0.2 ng\/ml and biochemical recurrence-free survival (RFS) was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Cox proportional hazard regression models were used to analyse clinicopathological variables associated with biochemical recurrence. Biochemical recurrence 10 years after RP was 33.5% for patients regardless of the margin status. The 10-year biochemical RFS was 73% in men with negative margins compared to 49% in the case of PSM (p < 0.001). In multivariate analysis, margin status was a significantly predictive for PSA failure (hazard ratio 1.46, p = 0.04). After stratification by pathological stage, margin status was significantly predictive for biochemical RFS in pT2 (p < 0.001) and pT3a (p < 0.001), whereas the impact of PSM did not reach significance in pT3b (p = 0.16). After 10-year follow-up, PSMs remain an independent risk factor of biochemical RFS after RP with less relevant impact in pT3b disease. Randomized prospective trials are needed to determine the place of adjuvant versus delayed radiotherapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28544161,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Bone marrow-derived cells response in proximal regions of nerves after peripheral nerve injury.\nIn recent years, bone marrow-derived cells have been found to be crucial for peripheral nerve regeneration. After traumatic peripheral nerve injury, bone marrow-derived macrophages quickly infiltrate into the distal regions of nerves. To explore the changes caused by bone marrow-derived cells within the proximal regions of the nerves, sciatic nerves of chimeric mice carrying bone marrow cells expressing green fluorescent protein were crushed to observe the infiltration of invading bone marrow-derived cells. Seven days after surgery, abundant bone marrow-derived cells had infiltrated into the damaged proximal nerve segments. The numbers of these cells increased to a peak at 2 weeks and then gradually returned to normal levels within 30 weeks. Through immunofluorescence staining, many of these cells were identified as macrophages, and they showed a similar infiltration tendency toward distal nerve segments. However, fewer cells infiltrated proximal segments than distal nerve segments. In conclusion, these findings suggest that bone marrow-derived cells response not only occurs within the distal nerve segments but may also take place within the proximal segments of nerve tissues after nerve injury.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17915638,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-18":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Bioequivalence of two tablet formulations of helicidum adminstered in single dose to healthy Chinese volunteers.\nIn this 2 x 2, randomized, crossover bioequivalence study, two tablet preparations of helicidum were compared in 20 healthy Chinese male subjects. The drug was given in a single dose of three tablets (75 mg) and blood samples were withdrawn during 12 h after drug administration. Helicidum was separated and analyzed using a validated liquid chromatography-mass spectrum method. The pharmacokinetic parameters were determined from the plasma concentration-time profiles of both formulations. The primary calculated pharmacokinetic parameters were compared statistically to evaluate bioequivalence between the two preparations, using various statistical methods. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) did not show any significant difference between the two formulations and 90% confidence intervals fell within the acceptable range (80-120%) for bioequivalence. Based on these statistical inferences it can be concluded that the two tablet preparations of helicidum are likely to be bioequivalent.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3046451,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The corporate compromise: a Marxist view of health maintenance organizations and prospective payment.\nRecent developments in health care are strikingly congruent with a Marxist paradigm. For many years small scale owner producers (physicians) dominated medicine, and the corporate class supported the expansion of services. As health care expanded, corporate involvement in the direct provision of services emerged. This involvement is reflected not only in the rise of for-profit providers, but also in the influence of hospital administrators, utilization review organizations, insurance bureaucrats, and other functionaries unfamiliar with the clinical encounter, but well versed on the bottom line. Corporate providers' quest for increasing revenues has brought them into conflict with corporate purchasers of care, whose employee benefit costs have skyrocketed. This intercorporate conflict powerfully shapes health policy and has caused the rapid proliferation of health maintenance organizations and other forms of prospective payment. Corporate purchasers of care favor the incentives under prospective payment for providers to curtail care and its costs. For corporate providers, prospective payment has allowed increased profits even in the face of constrained revenues, because reimbursement is disconnected from resource use. Unfortunately, this corporate compromise serves patients and physicians poorly. Alternative policy options that challenge corporate interests could save money while improving care.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24399040,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Immunohistological localization of endogenous unlabeled stem cells in wounded skin.\nVarious types of endogenous stem cells (SCs) participate in wound healing in the skin at different anatomical locations. SCs need to be identified through multiple markers, and this is usually performed using flow cytometry. However, immunohistological identification of endogenous stem cells in the skin at different anatomical locations by co-staining multiple SC markers has been seldom explored. We examined the immunohistological localization of four major types of SCs in wounded skin by co-staining for their multiple markers. Hematopoietic SCs were co-stained for Sca1 and CD45; mesenchymal SCs for Sca1, CD29, and CD106; adipose SCs for CD34, CD90, and CD105; and endothelial progenitor cells and their differentiated counterparts were co-stained for CD34, Tie2, and von Willebrand factor. We found Sca1(+)CD45(+) SCs in the epidermis, dermis and hypodermis of wounded skin. Sca1(+)CD29(+) and Sca1(+)CD106(+) mesenchymal SCs, CD34(+)CD105(+), CD34(+)CD90(+), and CD90(+)CD105(+) adipose SCs, as well as CD34(+)Tie2(+) endothelial progenitor cells were also located in the epidermis, dermis, and hypodermis. This study demonstrates the feasibility of using immunohistological staining to determine the location of SCs in wounded skin and the intracellular distribution of their molecular markers.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30666141,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Metabolic syndrome as a risk factor for high intraocular pressure: the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2008-2010.\nHigh intraocular pressure (IOP) is well established as the most significant risk factor for both the development and progression of primary open-angle glaucoma. Elevated IOP is more frequently seen in the presence of metabolic disturbances that are associated with the components of metabolic syndrome (MetS). The aim of this study was to investigate the association between ocular hypertension and MetS. We examined the relationship between ocular hypertension and MetS in 17,160 Korean adults without glaucoma aged >19 years (7,368 men and 9,792 women) who participated in the 2008-2010 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to assess the relationship between MetS and ocular hypertension, after adjusting for age, body mass index, smoking, alcohol consumption, and regular exercise. The prevalence of MetS was 35.1% among males and 30.1% among females. The prevalence of ocular hypertension was 1.3% among males with MetS and 0.7% among females with MetS. Participants with MetS had a significantly higher IOP than those without MetS (P\u22640.001), and each component of MetS had a different effect on the IOP. Hypertension was the strongest predictor of an elevated IOP. In multivariate regression analysis, ocular hypertension was significantly associated with MetS (P=0.027 for men; P=0.015 for women). There is a statistically significant relationship between MetS and ocular hypertension.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18589992,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"PAHs, PAH-induced carcinogenic potency, and particle-extract-Induced cytotoxicity of traffic-related nano\/ultrafine particles.\nPolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) bound in nano\/ ultrafine particles from vehicle emissions may cause adverse health effects. However, little is known about the characteristics of the nanoparticle-bound PAHs and the PAH-associated carcinogenic potency\/cytotoxicity; therefore, traffic-related nano\/ultrafine particles were collected in this study using a microorifice uniform deposition impactor(MOUDI) and a nano-MOUDI. For PM0.056--18, the difference in size-distribution of particulate total-PAHs between non-after-rain and after-rain samples was statistically significant at alpha = 0.05; however, this difference was not significant for PM0.01--0.056. The PAH correlation between PM0.01--0.1 and PM0.1--1.8 was lower for the after-rain samples than forthe non-after-rain samples. The average particulate total-PAHs in five samplings displayed a trimodal distribution with a major peak in the Aitken mode (0.032--0.056 microm). About half of the particulate total-PAHs were in the ultrafine size range. The BaPeq sums of BaP, IND, and DBA (with toxic equivalence factors > or = 0.1) accounted for approximately 90% of the total-BaPeq in the nano\/ultrafine particles, although these three compounds contributed little to the mass of the sampled particles. The mean content of the particle-bound total-PAHs\/-BaPeqs and the PAH\/BaPeq-derived carcinogenic potency followed the order nano > ultrafine > fine > coarse. For a sunny day sample, the cytotoxicity of particle extracts (using 1:1 (v\/v) n-hexane\/dichloromethane) was significantly higher (p < 0.05) for the nano (particularly the 10-18 nm)\/ultrafine particles than for the coarser particles and bleomycin. Therefore, traffic-related nano and ultrafine particles are possibly cytotoxic.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":33728982,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Creating a Lactation-Friendly Learning Environment for Medical Students and Residents: A Northern Canadian Perspective.\nBackground: Lactation is a normal postpartum physiological process that can continue in excess of 3 years and is often the sole nutritional source for infants in the first 6 months of life. Breastfeeding not only provides infant nutrition, but also facilitates maternal-infantile bonding. Lactating mothers separated from their children face multiple challenges in finding and accessing appropriate spaces and time for milk expression. Maternal employment is a great barrier to breastfeeding and accordingly has led to multiple advancements in the area of breastfeeding policy. One example of a policy is the Baby-Friendly Initiative. This initiative focused on breastfeeding promotion, support, and protection. However, the impact of such campaigns on lactating medical students and residents is thought to be low. Furthermore, breastfeeding rates differ vastly according to geographic locations in North America. Trends indicate decreased rates of breastfeeding in northern rural areas in comparison with southern urban counterparts. This highlights the need for increased protection, support, and creation of safe-lactation spaces for all working mothers including medical students and residents, and especially those in rural areas. Goals: To review challenges of breastfeeding as a medical trainee and delineate the creation of a lactation policy for medical learners and residents. Methodology: We conducted a literature review of breastfeeding policy and experiences of breastfeeding while in the learning environment. Results: Challenges of breastfeeding in medical school and residency include the complex, high-paced medical working environment where taking breaks or time off is often difficult. Few medical schools across North America have any breastfeeding policy. Conclusion: The Northern Ontario School of Medicine's lactation policy serves as a possible solution to the barriers medical students and residents face when breastfeeding in the academic environment. This policy creates lactation-friendly medical learning spaces through the entitlement of dedicated space and time for milk expression.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34403423,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The sustainability of stock price fluctuations: Explanation from a recursive dynamic model.\nThe sustainability of stock price fluctuations indicated by many empirical studies hardly reconciles with the existing models in standard financial theories. This paper proposes a recursive dynamic asset pricing model based on the comprehensive impact of the sentiment investor, the information trader and the noise trader. The dynamic process of the asset price is characterized and a numerical simulation of the model is provided. The model captures the features of the actual stock price that are consistent with the empirical evidence on the sustainability of stock price fluctuations. It also offers a partial explanation for other financial anomalies, for example, asset price's overreaction, asset bubble and the financial crisis. The major finding is that investor sentiment is the key factor to understand the sustainability of stock price fluctuations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37854685,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer: an evaluation of its efficacy and research progress.\nNeoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) for breast cancer is widely used in the clinical setting to improve the chance of surgery, breast conservation and quality of life for patients with advanced breast cancer. A more accurate efficacy evaluation system is important for the decision of surgery timing and chemotherapy regimen implementation. However, current methods, encompassing imaging techniques such as ultrasound and MRI, along with non-imaging approaches like pathological evaluations, often fall short in accurately depicting the therapeutic effects of NAC. Imaging techniques are subjective and only reflect macroscopic morphological changes, while pathological evaluation is the gold standard for efficacy assessment but has the disadvantage of delayed results. In an effort to identify assessment methods that align more closely with real-world clinical demands, this paper provides an in-depth exploration of the principles and clinical applications of various assessment approaches in the neoadjuvant chemotherapy process.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11641971,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Urodynamics of the upper urinary tracts after ureteroplasty (experimental data)].\nAn experimental study on 12 mongrel dogs was made for assessment of urodynamics of the upper urinary tracts after reconstructive surgery. Ureterohydronephrosis was modelled by cryodestruction, confirmed by x-ray and radionuclide examinations. Urodynamics of the upper urinary tracts was studied by measurements of the intraluminal pressure and at multichannel impedance ureterography under thiopental anesthesia. It was found that reestablishment of normal urine passage after ureteroplasty is not accompanied by urodynamic recovery. Preoperative hyperfunction of the upper urinary tracts and their postoperative hypofunction appeared unfavourable prognostic signs for ureteroplasty outcomes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34401083,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Structural modification and biological activities of carboxymethyl Pachymaran.\nPolysaccharides are good chelating agents for metal ions, which are often used to synthesize polysaccharide metal ion complexes. With carboxymethyl pachymaran (CMP) as the substrate, carboxymethyl pachymaran iron (CMPF), carboxymethyl pachymaran selenium (CMPS), and carboxymethyl pachymaran zinc (CMPZ) were synthesized by response surface methodology, and their biological characteristics were studied. The results showed that the CMP was a \u03b2-polysaccharide, and the degree of carboxymethylation was 0.6352. The polysaccharide metal ion complexes were characterized by physicochemical methods, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, circular dichroism spectroscopy, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. All the polysaccharides and complexes possessed antioxidant activity in vitro with scavenging activities to ABTS, superoxide anions, and ferrous ions. CMPF, CMPS, and CMPZ caused significant inhibition of A2780 cell proliferation, promoted the production of reactive oxygen species, and induced apoptosis in a human ovarian cancer cell line (A2780 cells). These results suggest that the CMP complex may be an effective candidate drug for cancer treatment in the field of functional food and pharmacology.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9167302,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"von Willebrand factor: increased levels are related to poor prognosis in systemic sclerosis and not to tissue autoantibodies.\nvon Willebrand factor, C-reactive protein, rheumatoid factor, major organ involvement, antibodies to extractable nuclear antigen, anti-cardiolipin antibodies, anti-centromere antibodies and anti-nuclear antibodies were measured in 33 patients with systemic sclerosis. After five years, the nine patients who had died had initial levels of von Willebrand factor significantly higher (median 288 IU\/dL, range 150-1170) than levels in the 24 who were still alive (median 148 IU\/dL, range 65-262, Mann Whitney P = 0.0002). Increased levels of von Willebrand factor correlated with the time interval from blood sampling until the patient's death (Spearman's r = 0.73, P = 0.02). Levels of C-reactive protein, rheumatoid factor, and tissue autoantibodies, and age or the number of organs involved were unable to predict this outcome. We suggest that endothelial perturbation, as indicated by increased levels of von Willebrand factor, is a strong indicator of a poor prognosis in systemic sclerosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15264176,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Awareness of kidney disease in the US population: findings from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999 to 2000.\nThe prevalence of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in the US population has been predicted to increase by 48% during the next decade and will pose a significant health cost burden. Early identification and treatment of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is necessary to delay progression from CKD to ESRD. CKD awareness among patients is crucial to early intervention programs, but its prevalence and characteristics in the noninstitutionalized US population are unknown. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999 to 2000 was used to determine prevalence estimates of kidney disease awareness, as well as demographics, health care access, and comorbid characteristics, of participants with CKD. In participants with CKD, 40.5% of patients with stage 1, 29.3% of patients with stage 2, 22.0% of patients with stage 3, and 44.5% of patients with stage 4 CKD were aware of their kidney disease, respectively. The aware and unaware groups did not differ by health care access. In multivariate regression modeling, lack of awareness was significantly associated with sex, race-ethnicity distribution, and hypertension. Kidney disease awareness is low among a representative sample of the noninstitutionalized US population. Groups at greater risk for kidney disease, such as non-Hispanic blacks, patients with hypertension, and men, were more likely to be unaware of having kidney disease, even with health care access similar to that of the aware group. Increased efforts to promote kidney disease awareness are needed and probably should target primary care providers involved in the screening process.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35343021,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Antiapoptotic and anti-inflammatory effects of Ppar\u03b3 agonist, pioglitazone, reversed Dox-induced cardiotoxicity through mediating of miR-130a downregulation in C57BL\/6 mice.\nDoxorubicin (Dox) is an antitumor agent widely used in cancer therapy, with notable side effects of cardiac toxicity. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor \u03b3 (PPAR\u03b3), is a transcriptional factor with antiapoptotic and anti-inflammatory properties. Recently we indicated that cardiac toxicity of Dox was due to upregulation of miR-130a and further suppressive effect on cardiac Ppar\u03b3 in vitro. In this study, we extended our proposed hypothesis in vivo. To achieve this, pioglitazone (Pio) and GW9662 were used as the specific agonist and antagonist of Ppar\u03b3 to treat Dox-injected mice. Heart function, apoptosis, and inflammation in heart tissue were studied. Pretreatment of Dox-injected mice with Pio resulted in elevated expression of Ppar\u03b3 and suppression of miR-130a. However, GW9662 pretreatment was unable to increase miR-130a expression. Pio pretreatment led to partially cardiac toxicity limitation of Dox whereas GW9662 caused heart damage. Finally, our observation determined that activation of Ppar\u03b3 was not adequate to reverse the Dox-induced toxicity completely.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7921788,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Arachidonate lipoxygenase metabolite formation in gestational tissues.\nProducts of arachidonic acid metabolism via the lipoxygenase pathways have a potential role in the onset of human labor. We have determined whether activation of protein kinase C can modulate the rate of biosynthesis within the uterus of five important arachidonate lipoxygenase metabolites, i.e., leukotriene B4 (LTB4), LTC4, 5-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (5-HETE), 12-HETE and 15-HETE. Amnion, chorion laeve and decidual cells were isolated, grown to confluence and incubated with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA). PMA caused concentration-related stimulation of 5-HETE, 12-HETE and 15-HETE (but not LTB4) production; there were some stimulatory actions on decidual and amnion (but not chorion) LTC4 production. We postulate that activation of protein kinase C can result in enhanced production of arachidonate lipoxygenase metabolites that may have actions on the parturient process.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15809976,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Abnormal expression of period 1 (PER1) in endometrial carcinoma.\nThe development of endometrial carcinoma (EC) is a multiple-step process, which includes inactivation of tumour suppressor genes, activation of oncogenes, and disturbance of cancer-related genes. Recent studies have shown that the circadian cycle may influence cancer development and prognosis. In this study, the expression of a circadian gene, PER1, was examined in 35 ECs and paired non-tumour tissues by real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and immunohistochemistry. Expression levels of PER1 were significantly decreased in EC, and mutational analysis of the coding regions, together with methylation analysis of cytosine-phosphate guanosine (CpG) sites in the promoter area, was performed to investigate the possible mechanisms. The analyses detected four single nucleotide polymorphisms in both tumour and non-tumour tissues, which had no relationship with the expression of PER1. In the promoter area of the PER1 gene, the CpG sites were methylated in 31.4% of ECs, but in 11.4% of paired non-tumour tissues (p < 0.05). These results suggest that the down-regulation of PER1 expression in EC was partly due to inactivation of the PER1 gene by DNA methylation of the promoter and partly due to other factors. Analysis of the relationships between the expression of PER1, P53, c-MYC, cyclin A, cyclin B, and cyclin D1 showed no definite relationship. These results suggest that down-regulation of the PER1 gene disrupts the circadian rhythm, which may favour the survival of endometrial cancer cells.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16231124,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Absence of liver tumor-initiating activity of kojic acid in mice.\nIn order to evaluate the tumor-initiating activity of kojic acid (KA) in mouse liver, an in vivo initiation assay in liver was performed using partially hepatectomized mice. Male ICR mice were fed on a basal diet (BD) containing 0 or 3% KA for 4 weeks, followed by distilled water (DW) containing 0 or 500 ppm phenobarbital (PB) for 13 weeks. Two weeks after the treatment with PB, two-thirds partial hepatectomy was preformed in all mice in order to enhance the regeneration and proliferating activities of the hepatocytes. In microscopic examinations, no proliferative lesion was observed in any of the groups. There were no differences in the number of gamma-glutamyltransferase-positive cells, an expected marker for preneoplastic hepatocytes in mice, between the KA + DW and the KA + PB groups. In the immunohistochemical analyses of the proliferating activity of hepatocytes, significant increases in the labeling index of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) were observed in the BD + PB and KA + PB groups as compared to the BD + DW group; however, no significant difference in the positivity of PCNA was observed between the BD + PB and the KA + PB groups. These results of the present study suggest the possibility that KA has no tumor-initiating activity in the liver of mice.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36928134,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Towards a Heuristic Neuropsychological Model of Adjudicative Competency.\nThis study sought to delineate the neuropsychological processes that undergird the psycho-legal concept of competency to stand trial (CST). Accordingly, we retrospectively examined the relationship between clinical judgments of competence or incompetence of defendants committed to a maximum-security psychiatric facility and neuropsychological measures of cognitive and social intelligence and declarative memory. Results indicated that both groups (competent and incompetent) showed similar levels of depressed cognitive intelligence with Wechsler full-scale IQ levels falling in the upper end of the borderline range. Compared with defendants clinically judged as incompetent, defendants recommended as competent scored significantly higher on measures of social intelligence and episodic memory, with the most pronounced advantage occurring on tests of verbal memory that place heavy demands on encoding, consolidation, and retrieval of aurally presented narrative material. Cognitive capacities in areas of social intelligence and episodic memory may play critical roles in developing a heuristic neuropsychological model of CST. The evaluation of these domains offers implications for the assessment, restoration, and understanding of CST.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3029859,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Resistance factors in anaerobic bacteria.\nResistance transfer factors have been described in both Bacteroides and clostridia. The clindamycin (Cln) resistance transfer factors from the Bacteroides fragilis group of organisms have been best studied, including our own plasmid pBFTM10. The clindamycin resistance determinant (Cln X) of pBFTM10 can be detected in 90% of Cln resistant Bacteroides isolated from dispersed geographical areas. This determinant can be located in the chromosome and on plasmids. Recent studies from our laboratory have shown that the Cln X genes of pBFTM 10 are carried on a compound transposon, Tn4400. Bacteroides plasmids have been cloned in Escherichia coli and shuttle vectors have been developed that allow transfers of DNA from E. coli back to B. fragilis, using the broad host range plasmid RK2 to supply essential conjugation functions. We have shown that shuttle vectors containing pBFTM 10 can be retransferred from B. fragilis back to E. coli. In addition, a tetracycline transfer element from B. fragilis strain TM230 is able to promote high frequency conjugation between B. fragilis and E. coli. The results of these investigations indicate that Bacteroides has efficient mechanisms to exchange genetic material and that genetic exchange can occur between Bacteroides and E. coli, which exist in intimate contact in the human colon.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28253633,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Fatty acids penetration into human skin ex vivo: A TOF-SIMS analysis approach.\nLinoleic, oleic, palmitoleic, palmitic, and stearic fatty acids (FAs) are commonly used in dermatological formulations. They differ by their structure, presence in the skin, and mode of application in pharmaceuticals and cosmetics compounding. These FAs are also known as chemical penetration enhancers, but their mechanisms of penetration enhancement and effect on barrier characteristics of the skin require additional study. In this study, the authors conducted an ex vivo analysis of the distribution of lipid components in the epidermis and dermis of human skin after applying individual FAs. The goal was to elucidate possible mechanisms of penetration enhancement and FA effects on barrier characteristics of the skin. FA penetration studies were conducted ex vivo on human skin and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) bioimaging analysis was performed to visualize and analyze distribution of FAs in skin sections. The current study demonstrated that TOF-SIMS imaging was effective in visualizing the distribution of linoleic, oleic, palmitoleic, palmitic, and stearic acid in the human skin ex vivo after the skin penetration experiment of individual FAs. The integration of the obtained TOF-SIMS images allowed a semiquantitative comparison of the effects induced by individual FA applications on the human skin ex vivo. FAs showed varying abilities to penetrate the skin and disorder the FAs within the skin, based on their structures and physicochemical properties. Linoleic acid penetrated the skin and changed the distribution of all the analyzed FAs. Skin treatment with palmitoleic or oleic acid increased the amounts of singular FAs in the skin. Penetration of saturated FAs was low, but it increased the detected amounts of linoleic acid in both skin layers. The results indicate that application of FAs on the skin surface induce redistribution of native FAs not only in the stratum corneum layer of epidermis but also in the lipid content of full epidermis and dermis layers. The results indicate that topically applied pharmaceutical products should be evaluated for potential chemical penetration enhancement and lipid component redistribution effects during formulation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23447866,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The influence of defoamer on removal of PAHs in soil washing.\nThe use of surfactants during soil washing process can create massive foam, which has a negative impact on the effective use of equipment. A series of tests was conducted to evaluate the defoaming performance of three defoamers and to investigate the influence on removal of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) during enhanced soil washing by the addition of the defoamer. Results showed that polydimethylsiloxane oil, which is the most common biomaterial used in commercial antifoaming and defoaming agents, has the best defoaming performance. With the addition of 0.1% polydimethylsiloxane oil, the removal ratios of total 16 PAHs (SigmaPAHs) increased up to 53.48% and 75.92% when washing time was 5 min and 30 min, respectively, compared with the removal ratios of 44.12% and 67.28% with Triton X-100 solution only. This indicated that the proper selection of defoamer not only solves massive foaming problem but also brings out a positive influence on PAH removal during the soil washing process. Three kinds of defoamers (kieselguhr, dodecanol, and polydimethylsiloxane oil) were collected to destroy the foam produced by Triton X-100. Among those defoamers, the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) oil has the best defoaming performances. The surface tension of the Triton X-100 solution with the addition of PDMS was lower. The addition of PDMS could improve the removal ratio of SigmaPAHs during soil washing. That may be attributed to the addition of the nonionic surfactant Tergitol NP-10 as the emulsifier in the defoamer. After all, the results do not provide any indication of the influence on the solubilization micelles. It is thus questionable whether other components of PDMS oil could improve the PAH solubilization.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11987412,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Water quality evaluation of the Three Gorges Reservoir area].\nOne year water quality monitoring results of 16 sections alongside the Three Gorges Reservoir area were presented. From the evaluation carried out using the integrated polluted index (P value), some characteristics of the water quality were obtained. The results showed that water quality of the Three Gorges Reservoir area was slightly polluted in 1999 mainly because of the discharge of urban sewerage and industrial wastewater. Main polluted city sections were along the river banks of Chongqing, Changshou, Fuling and Wanzhou. Evaluation also showed that there were 4 indicators that, to different extent, affected the water quality: colon bacillus, TP, non-ionic ammonia and oils.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7947934,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Heparin and heparan sulfate enhancement of the inhibitory activity of plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 toward urokinase type plasminogen activator.\nTo study effects of glycosaminoglycan on the interaction between two chain urokinase type plasminogen activator (tcu-PA) (EC 184.108.40.206) and plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1) the second order rate constant (k1) between high molecular weight tcu-PA and active recombinant prokaryotic PAI-1 (rpPAI-1) was determined employing a continuous method using chromogenic substrate S-2444 either in the presence or absence of various kinds of glycosaminoglycans. k1 was (5.9 +\/- 1.6).10(6)\/mol per s in the absence of effector molecule, and following addition of heparin (1.0 U\/ml) k1 was enhanced to (3.22 +\/- 0.73).10(7). A significant enhancement of k1 was also obtained by heparan sulfate (1.87 +\/- 0.25).10(7). Dermatan sulfate or chondroitin sulfate did not show a significant effect on k1 although a slight decrease was obtained by mono-dextran sulfate (4.2 +\/- 1.2).10(6). The intrinsic fluorescence of rpPAI-1 was shown to be slightly increased following addition of heparin (1.49 +\/- 0.22%, n = 6), suggesting that heparin may enhance the inhibitory activity of PAI-1 toward tcu-PA both by a template mechanism and by a modification of PAI-1 structure.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29386886,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Renal-protective effect of thalidomide in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats through anti-inflammatory pathway.\nDiabetic nephropathy (DN) is a major microvascular complication in diabetes. An increasing body of evidence has shown that DN is related to chronic inflammation, kidney hypertrophy, and fibrosis. While thalidomide has been shown to have anti-inflammatory and antifibrotic effects, the effects of thalidomide on the pathogenesis of DN are unclear. This study was undertaken to explore whether thalidomide has renal-protective effects in diabetic rats. Male Sprague Dawley rats were injected intraperitoneally with 50 mg\/kg streptozotocin to induce diabetes. Diabetic rats were treated with thalidomide (200 mg\/kg\/d) for 8 weeks, and then blood and urine were collected for measurement of renal function-related parameters. Histopathology, immunohistochemistry, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and Western blot analyses were performed to assess renal proinflammatory cytokines, fibrotic protein, and related signaling pathways. Diabetic rats exhibited obvious renal structural and functional abnormalities, as well as renal inflammation and fibrosis. Compared with diabetic control rats, those treated with thalidomide showed significantly improved histological alterations and biomarkers of renal function, as well as reduced expression of renal inflammatory cytokines, including NF-\u03baB and MCP-1. Furthermore, renal fibrotic proteins, such as TGF-\u03b21, T\u03b2RII, T\u03b2RI, smad3, collagen IV, and fibronectin were also remarkably suppressed. Treatment with thalidomide markedly stimulated the phosphorylation of AMPK\u03b1. In this study, thalidomide suppressed the inflammatory and fibrotic processes in DN. These effects were partly mediated by the activation of AMPK\u03b1, and inhibition of the NF-\u03baB\/MCP-1 and TGF-\u03b21\/Smad signaling pathways. These results suggest that thalidomide may have therapeutic potential in diabetic renal injury through the anti-inflammatory pathway.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20370435,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Re-emergence of dog rabies in Mpumalanga province, South Africa.\nDog rabies has commonly been associated with the eastern and southern border areas in Mpumalanga province, and the Nkomazi district in the east has been most affected. In other parts of the province, canid rabies has been under control for many years; however, in 2008, dog rabies spread to other parts of the province and resulted in a widespread outbreak. The objective of this study was to genetically characterize rabies viruses in an attempt to determine the source of this recent outbreak. Fifty-five rabies viruses were recovered from domestic dogs between 2000 and 2008 from Mpumalanga province and bordering areas. The viruses were characterized through nucleotide sequencing of the cytoplasmic domain of the glycoprotein gene and the G-L intergenic region. Phylogenetic analysis of these viruses and those previously characterized from Mpumalanga province and neighboring countries and provinces clearly supported the placement of the viruses from the current outbreak and those from Nkomazi district in one lineage. This demonstrated that the recent emergence of rabies in Mpumalanga province resulted from the spread of rabies from Nkomazi district. A comparative analysis demonstrated close genetic relationships among rabies viruses from Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal provinces, Swaziland, and Mozambique. Findings from this investigation have shown that rabies continues to pose a definite public health threat in South Africa, a situation similar to other African countries.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14563906,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The public health response to the Chi-Chi earthquake in Taiwan, 1999.\nOn September 21, 1999, at 1:47 a.m., an earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale struck the middle Chi-Chi region of Taiwan. The present study examines the response of the public health sector to the earthquake. A community needs assessment using modified cluster sampling was performed in shelters of Nantou and Taichung Counties five days after the earthquake struck. Twenty-five temporary medical service systems (TMSSs) conducted surveillance for selected diseases and mortality within one week post-earthquake aided by a buddy system that allowed unaffected counties to provide support to affected counties. The number of cases of acute respiratory infections and acute gastroenteritis in the affected area was higher than that of neighboring unaffected counties in the post-earthquake phase (p<0.001). Earthquake-related deaths were estimated at 2,347 deaths (death rate 116 per 100,000 population); the mean age of the decedents was 49.7 years. No significant difference was observed between males (120\/100,000) and females (110\/100,000) (risk ratio [RR]=1.09; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.84, 1.42; p>0.05). The age-adjusted mortality rate was significantly higher in 1999 (odds ratio [OR]=2.11; 95% CI 1.99, 2.24) than in a comparable period in 1998. Emergency preparedness must be based on carefully conceived priorities, information, and communications, and improved capabilities must be developed to rapidly implement an emergency public health network. The emergency response to this event-consisting of TMSSs, a buddy system, and a communication system-should be considered in planning for future disaster events in Taiwan.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34399490,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-26":1,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Combined impact of high-pressure processing and slightly acidic electrolysed water on Listeria monocytogenes proteomes.\nSlightly acidic electrolysed water (SAEW) and high-pressure processing (HPP) are well-established non-thermal preservation technologies. This study investigated the deactivation mechanisms of Listeria monocytogenes by label-free quantitative proteomics analysis. Samples were treated through HPP (300 MPa for 3 min), SAEW (20 ppm available chlorine concentration), and their combinations. The KEGG pathway analysis found SAEW + HPP induced differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) associated to biofunctions of ribosomes, secondary metabolite biosynthesis, microbial metabolism in diverse environments, carbon metabolism, and biosynthesis of amino acid and aminoacyl-transfer RNA. The results showed these non-thermal treatments were able to induce the shifting of ribosome biogenesis to initiate translation in L. monocytogenes. During protein translation, the initiation stage was upregulated. However, subsequent elongation, termination, and recycling of used ribosomes were retarded. Comparing various treatments, the combination of hurdles showed greater deactivation of L. monocytogenes than any single one. The approaches developed in this study provided crucial information for minimally processing in the food industries on the application of foodborne listeriosis prevention.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12015423,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Conformation-dependent regulation of inward rectifier chloride channel gating by extracellular protons.\nWe have investigated the gating properties of the inward rectifier chloride channel (Cl(ir)) from mouse parotid acinar cells by external protons (H(+)(o)) using the whole-cell patch-clamp technique. Increasing the pH(o) from 7.4 to 8.0 decreased the magnitude of Cl(ir) current by shifting the open probability to more negative membrane potentials with little modification of the activation kinetics. The action of elevated pH was independent of the conformational state of the channel. The effects of low pH on Cl(ir) channels were dependent upon the conformational state of the channel. That is, application of pH 5.5 to closed channels essentially prevented channel opening. In contrast, application of pH 5.5 to open channels actually increased the current. These results are consistent with the existence of two independent protonatable sites: (1) a site with a pK near 7.3, the titration of which shifts the voltage dependence of channel gating; and (2) a site with pK = 6.0. External H(+) binds to this latter site (with a stoichiometry of two) only when the channels are closed and prevent channel opening. Finally, block of channels by Zn(2+) and Cd(2+) was inhibited by low pH media. We propose that mouse parotid Cl(ir) current has a bimodal dependence on the extracellular proton concentration with maximum activity near pH 6.5: high pH decreases channel current by shifting the open probability to more negative membrane potentials and low pH also decreases the current but through a proton-dependent stabilization of the channel closed state.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31261051,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Antibiotic Resistance in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.\nAntibiotic-resistant bacteria are an increasing problem in the NICU. Ineffective empiric antibiotic therapy is associated with increased risk for morbidity and mortality. Organisms that are resistant to multiple antimicrobial agents (multidrug-resistant organisms) are particularly problematic. These organisms may be transmitted to infants if infection control practices are not adhered to, or they may be created by antibiotic exposure. Therefore, meticulous infection prevention-including hand hygiene, surveillance cultures, contact precautions, and selective decolonization-and antibiotic stewardship are important strategies to minimize drug resistance in the NICU.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28267682,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-18":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A Retrospective, Descriptive, Comparative Study to Identify Patient Variables That Contribute to the Development of Deep Tissue Injury Among Patients in Intensive Care Units.\nDeep tissue injury (DTI) may develop in critically ill patients despite implementation of preventive interventions. A retrospective, descriptive study was conducted in a 620-bed, level 1 trauma, academic medical center with 7 adult intensive care units ([ICUs] cardiac surgery, trauma surgery, burn surgery, med-surgery, neurosurgery, medical, and transfer) among patients treated from January 1, 2010 to January 1, 2015. All patients 18 years of age or older that developed a sacral DTI that evolved into a Stage 3, Stage 4, or unstageable hospital-acquired pressure ulcers (HAPU) in the ICU were included. Control group data were obtained from a sample of ICU patients who did not develop a DTI during 1 random day during that time period. Data were extracted from electronic medical records to compare ICU patients that developed a DTI (n = 47; age 55 [range 28-93] years, 28 men) to those who did not develop a DTI (n = 72; age 58.9 [range 18-94] years, 46 men). Twenty-five (25) potential sociodemographic and clinical risk factors were identified from root cause analysis and measured for significance. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure, length of surgery, hematocrit levels, international ratio, dialysis treatments, history of shock or vasopressor use, and total Braden score were significantly (P <.05) different between the general and HAPU population. Braden scores were low for general ICU (15.0 \u00b1 0.4) and HAPU patients (12.9 \u00b1 0.3) (P = 0.03). Multivariate, univariate, and regression analysis showed patients with poor perfusion (low blood pressure) (OR 0.93; 95% CI 0.88-0.99), prolonged surgical procedures (time in surgery OR 1.20; 95% CI 1.07-1.33), or a history of dialysis (OR 4.0; 95% CI 0.060-0.99) and shock (OR 10.0; 95% CI 0.025-0.43) were at greatest risk for the development of DTI evolving into a Stage 3, Stage 4, or unstageable HAPU. For every mm Hg decrease in diastolic blood pressure, the odds of a DTI increased by approximately 7.5% (1\/0.93 = 1.075). For every hour increase in surgery, the odds of developing a DTI increased by 20%. These data suggest when all modifiable (Braden Scale-identified) risk factors are addressed, as was the case in this population, patient-related risk factors may be more important for HAPU development in ICU patients than quality of nursing care variables. Future research should focus on the role of and methods to increase perfusion to prevent DTI development, especially during dialysis and surgical procedures.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29554028,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A Drug to Prevent Pediatric Myopia-What Would it Take?\nBecause of the epidemic of myopia with both its short-term and long-term effects, we desperately need ways to slow myopic progression. In this study which was part of a myopia prevention symposium, the author answers the following question: Assuming that researchers did come up with a pharmacological treatment to slow myopic progression-what would it take to obtain regulatory approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA)? Previous publicly available information (a 2003 FDA advisory committee on this topic, International Conference on Harmonisation guidances on drug development, and published articles) as well as the author's experience is used. Development pathways including preclinical safety, chemistry, manufacturing and controls, and early- and late-stage clinical studies are presented. In particular, challenges for the conduct of multi-year controlled double-masked studies are presented. As any treatment would have to be chronic, prophylactic, and pediatric, there are a host of concerns as to efficacy, safety, and benefit\/risk (therapeutic index). Although more challenging than some short-term indications in ophthalmology, nonetheless the pharmaceutical community is investing in seemingly equally challenging conditions such as retinal degeneration. The author looks forward to working with colleagues in academia and industry to evaluate and develop novel therapies to slow the development of myopia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17823416,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Body mass index and waist circumference in midchildhood and adverse cardiovascular disease risk clustering in adolescence.\nBody mass index (BMI) may not indicate the level of central adiposity associated with the clustering of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors. Hence, it has been recommended that waist circumference be used as an alternative measure. The objective was to investigate whether waist circumference in midchildhood is more effective at predicting cardiovascular disease risk clustering in adolescence than is BMI. Anthropometric measurements were made in 342 children aged 8 y. Seven years later, anthropometric measurements were made in 290 participants, and metabolic profiles were determined in 172 participants. At 15 y, between 9.4% and 11.0% of adolescents were defined as having CVD risk clustering. Children who were overweight or obese at 8 y of age were 7 times (odds ratio: 6.9; 95% CI: 2.5, 19.0; P < 0.001) as likely to have CVD risk clustering in adolescence than were their peers who were not overweight or obese. Those with an increased waist circumference at 8 y were 4 times (3.6; 1.0, 12.9; P = 0.061) as likely to have CVD risk clustering in adolescence than were children with a smaller waist circumference. Neither BMI nor waist circumference were predictive of CVD risk clustering if adiposity was not included as a risk factor. The association between measures of adiposity in midchildhood and later adverse CVD risk is a result of the tracking of adiposity status. Our results do not support the need to measure waist circumference in children, in addition to BMI, to identify those at increased risk of CVD risk factor clustering in adolescence.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37445541,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Which of 51 Plate Designs Can Most Stably Fixate the Fragments in a Fracture of the Mandibular Condyle Base?\nIn the surgical treatment of the most common fracture of the mandible, which is a fracture of the condylar base, a great choice of different plate shapes is observed. The aim of this study was to determine which shape gives the greatest fixation stiffness. To ensure homogeneity in comparison, tests were performed on polyurethane models divided at the level of the condylar base fracture and each were fixed with 51 plates. The plates were cut from a 1 mm thick grade 23 titanium sheet. The models were then loaded and the force required for 1 mm of fracture displacement was recorded. It was noted that in addition to osteosynthesis from two simple plates, there were also two dedicated single plates with similar rigidity. Among the large number of described designs of plates, there is considerable variation in terms of the stability of the fixation performed with them. The proposed Mechanical Excellence Factor allows a pre-evaluation of the expected rigidity of fixation with a given plate shape without the need for a loading experiment. The authors expect this to be helpful for surgeons in the application of relevant plates, as well for inventors of new plates for the osteosynthesis of basal fractures in mandibular condyle.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29562610,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Comparison Study of Two Differently Clicked 18F-Folates-Lipophilicity Plays a Key Role.\nWithin the last decade, several folate-based radiopharmaceuticals for Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) and Positron Emission Tomography (PET) have been evaluated; however, there is still a lack of suitable 18F-folates for clinical PET imaging. Herein, we report the synthesis and evaluation of two novel 18F-folates employing strain-promoted and copper-catalyzed click chemistry. Furthermore, the influence of both click-methods on lipophilicity and pharmacokinetics of the 18F-folates was investigated. 18F-Ala-folate and 18F-DBCO-folate were both stable in human serum albumin. In vitro studies proved their high affinity to the folate receptor (FR). The lipophilic character of the strain-promoted clicked 18F-DBCO-folate (logD = 0.6) contributed to a higher non-specific binding in cell internalization studies. In the following in vivo PET imaging studies, FR-positive tumors could not be visualized in a maximum intensity projection images. Compared with 18F-DBCO-folate, 18F-Ala-folate (logD = -1.4), synthesized by the copper-catalyzed click reaction, exhibited reduced lipophilicity, and as a result an improved in vivo performance and a clear-cut visualization of FR-positive tumors. In view of high radiochemical yield, radiochemical purity and favorable pharmacokinetics, 18F-Ala-folate is expected to be a promising candidate for FR-PET imaging.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27477951,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1}}},"text":"Five-year outcomes following a randomized trial of femorofemoral and femoropopliteal bypass grafting with heparin-bonded or standard polytetrafluoroethylene grafts.\nCohort studies suggest superior long-term patency of luminal heparin-bonded polytetrafluoroethylene (Hb-PTFE) bypass grafts compared with standard PTFE grafts. The aim of this study was to compare the outcomes of Hb-PTFE grafts with those of standard PTFE grafts 5 years after a randomized trial. Patients with intermittent claudication or critical limb ischaemia requiring femorofemoral or femoropopliteal bypass grafting were randomized in a clinical trial of Hb-PTFE versus standard PTFE in 11 Scandinavian centres between 2005 and 2009. Patients were followed up for 5 years with clinical assessment and surveillance Duplex ultrasound imaging. The primary endpoint of this study was primary patency. Secondary endpoints included major amputation and mortality. Overall, 569 patients were enrolled in the randomized trial. Some 552 had follow-up data available for analysis of the primary outcome. Use of Hb-PTFE significantly improved patency by 37 per cent at 2 years, but 5 years after randomization there was no difference in primary patency (adjusted hazard ratio (HR) 0\u00b795, 95 per cent c.i. 0\u00b771 to 1\u00b728; P = 0\u00b7748). In patients with critical limb ischaemia the use of Hb-PTFE reduced the 5-year risk of loss of primary patency by 37 per cent (HR 0\u00b763, 0\u00b740 to 0\u00b799; P = 0\u00b7049). In this study there was no difference in primary graft patency between Hb-PTFE and standard PTFE grafts. Patients receiving Hb-PTFE grafts for critical limb ischaemia were more likely to have a patent graft at 5 years than those with standard PTFE grafts.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9549584,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The disappearing exostosis? A report of an unusual case.\nA girl aged 11 years was referred to us with a medial upper right tibial exostosis. As the lesion was asymptomatic, surgery was not undertaken. The patient defaulted from follow up, and, when reviewed 32 months later, there was no clinical or radiographic evidence of the exostosis. Spontaneous involution of an exostosis may occasionally occur in childhood.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25411821,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-10":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Isolated hamstrings fatigue alters hip and knee joint coordination during a cutting maneuver.\nThe aim of this study was to determine the effects of hamstrings fatigue on lower extremity joint coordination variability during a sidestep cutting maneuver. Twenty female recreational athletes performed five successful trials of a sidestep cutting task pre- and postfatigue. Each participant completed an isolated hamstrings fatigue protocol consisting of isokinetic maximum effort knee flexion and passive extension contractions. Vector coding was used to examine hip and knee joint couplings (consisting of various planar motions) during the impact and weight acceptance phases of the sidestep cut stance phase. Paired t tests were used to analyze differences of each phase as an effect of fatigue, where alpha was set a priori at .05. The hip rotation\/knee rotation coupling exhibited a significant decrease in coordination variability as a function of fatigue in both the impact (P = .015) and weight acceptance phases (P = .043). Similarly, the hip adduction-abduction\/knee rotation coupling exhibited a significant decrease in coordination variability in the weight acceptance phase (P = .038). Hamstrings fatigue significantly decreased coordination variability within specific lower extremity joint couplings that included knee rotation. Future studies should be conducted to determine if this decrease in coordination variability is related to lower extremity injury mechanisms.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28737245,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Exteroceptive stimuli override interoceptive state in reaction time control.\nThe processing of reaction time (RT) stimulus is modulated by its timing relative to the cardiac cycle. RT stimulus processing is also influenced by task-irrelevant stimuli: a sensory stimulus speeds RT when it accompanies a cue to react in another sensory modality. Different theories have been proposed to explain this accessory stimulus effect (ASE). However, it is unclear whether the ASE interacts with the cardiac timing effect. In the present study, the relationship of the ASE, cardiac timing, and stimulus valence was examined. Fifty-two subjects performed 400 trials of a simple RT task. Images of neutral and fear faces served as visual accessory stimuli; the RT stimulus was a 75 dB tone. Electrocardiography was recorded. Visual and auditory stimuli were presented at either cardiac systole or diastole. The stimulus onset asynchrony between visual and auditory stimuli was either 0 or 75 ms. Repeated measures ANOVAs showed that cardiac timing modulated RT, but only when accessory stimuli were absent. RT was shorter when the accessory stimulus preceded the imperative stimulus with respect to simultaneous presentation. The ASE was not influenced by visual stimulus valence or cardiac timing. Results indicate that the ASE overrides cardiac timing effects, suggesting a dynamic balance between exteroceptive stimuli and interoceptive states, and highlight the importance of embodied information processing.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28578567,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Quantitative Profiling of Endogenous Fat-Soluble Vitamins and Carotenoids in Human Plasma Using an Improved UHPSFC-ESI-MS Interface.\nAnalytical solutions enabling the quantification of circulating levels of liposoluble micronutrients such as vitamins and carotenoids are currently limited to either single or a reduced panel of analytes. The requirement to use multiple approaches hampers the investigation of the biological variability on a large number of samples in a time and cost efficient manner. With the goal to develop high-throughput and robust quantitative methods for the profiling of micronutrients in human plasma, we introduce a novel, validated workflow for the determination of 14 fat-soluble vitamins and carotenoids in a single run. Automated supported liquid extraction was optimized and implemented to simultaneously parallelize 48 samples in 1 h, and the analytes were measured using ultrahigh-performance supercritical fluid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry in less than 8 min. An improved mass spectrometry interface hardware was built up to minimize the post-decompression volume and to allow better control of the chromatographic effluent density on its route toward and into the ion source. In addition, a specific make-up solvent condition was developed to ensure both analytes and matrix constituents solubility after mobile phase decompression. The optimized interface resulted in improved spray plume stability and conserved matrix compounds solubility leading to enhanced hyphenation robustness while ensuring both suitable analytical repeatability and improved the detection sensitivity. The overall developed methodology gives recoveries within 85-115%, as well as within and between-day coefficient of variation of 2 and 14%, respectively.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23331156,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Compensatory growth, condition and food utilization in barbel Barbus barbus juveniles reared at different feeding periodicities with a dry diet.\nIn a 40 day experiment, barbel Barbus barbus juveniles were fed a dry diet continuously, or food was withheld for 2, 5 or 10 days, and then resumed feeding. Improved feed utilization efficiency allowed fish deprived of food for 2 or 5 days to fully compensate for body mass loss. Short-term food deprivation as a method of preventing negative effects of overfeeding in intensive rearing of juvenile B. barbus is proposed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28736345,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-30":1}}},"text":"Preoperative Frailty Score for 30-Day Morbidity and Mortality After Cranial Neurosurgery.\nEvaluating preoperative frailty is critical for guiding shared surgical decision-making. The purpose of this study was to develop a novel preoperative frailty index for classification of adverse outcomes following cranial neurosurgery procedures. The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database was queried for all cranial neurosurgery cases from 2006 to 2014. Sequential univariate and multivariate testing was used to identify significant independent predictors of 30-day mortality. Frailty scores were computed by summating across weighted predictors. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis quantified the discriminative capacity of the frailty score for classifying mortality and other major adverse outcomes. List-wise exclusion of patients with incomplete datasets yielded a final sample of 27,098 patients (mortality rate = 3.9%). Multivariate regression testing identified 19 independent predictors of 30-day mortality. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis revealed impressive outcome discrimination (area under the curve = 0.87, P < 0.001, optimal classification accuracy = 83.0%). Patients in the \"high-risk\" group (score \u22654, n = 5155) had significantly increased risk for mortality (15.4%) and major adverse outcomes (32.0%) compared with patients in the \"low-risk\" group (n = 21,943, mortality = 1.2%, major adverse outcomes = 4.0%). The frailty score remained highly discriminative across all age groups examined. Neurosurgical patients undergo extensive preoperative evaluation, but the field currently lacks a robust bedside scoring system for quantifying patient frailty. In this study, we introduced a novel preoperative frailty index capable of classifying 30-day morbidity and mortality outcomes following cranial neurosurgeries.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8348052,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Misclassification of genetic susceptibility biomarkers: implications for case-control studies and cross-population comparisons.\nPhenotype and genotype markers of genetic susceptibility are of increasing interest in case-control studies of cancer. It is well established that bias to the odds ratio is caused by less-than-perfect assay sensitivity and specificity and varies with risk factor prevalence. As such, the observed variation in odds ratio between studies of genetic markers and cancer risk may be real, or may be attributed, in part, to variation in assay accuracy or in risk factor prevalence (e.g., prevalence differences between racial groups). The latter can be a particular concern when the prevalence of the \"at risk\" polymorphism in one or more populations is either very high (e.g., > 85%) or very low (e.g., < 15%). For example, even very high sensitivity (e.g., 98%) can produce substantial bias to the odds ratio when the risk factor prevalence is high. Under some prevalence conditions, however, assays with only moderate accuracy are sufficient and result in minimal bias to the odds ratio. Understanding misclassification in the context of marker prevalence may help to explain disparate findings in the literature and should assist investigators in selecting markers that are appropriate for future studies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34411117,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Association study of six candidate genes with major depressive disorder in the North-Western population of Pakistan.\nPeople around the world are currently affected by Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Despite its many aspects, symptoms, manifestations and impacts, efforts have been made to identify the root causes of the disorder. In particular, genetic studies have concentrated on identifying candidate genes for MDD and exploring associations between these genes and some specific group of individuals. The aim of this research was to find out the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms in 6 candidate genes linked to the neurobiology of major depressive disorder in the North-Western population of Pakistan. We performed a case-control analysis, with 400 MDD and 232 controls. A trained psychiatrist or clinical psychologists evaluated the patients. Six polymorphisms were genotyped and tested for allele and genotype association with MDD. There were no statistical variations between MDD patients and healthy controls for genotypic and allelic distribution of all the polymorphisms observed. Thus, our analysis does not support the major role of these polymorphisms in contributing to MDD susceptibility, although it does not preclude minor impact. The statistically significant correlation between six polymorphisms and major depressive disorder in the studied population was not observed. There are inconsistencies in investigations around the world. Future research, including GWAS and association analysis on larger scale should be addressed for further validation and replication of the present findings.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23338160,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The functional assessment Berg Balance Scale is better capable of estimating fall risk in the elderly than the posturographic Balance Stability System.\nThe purpose of this study was to verify which instrument better identifies recurrent falls in the elderly. Ninety-eight old people, with an average age of 80 \u00b1 4 years, were submitted to an assessment of balance and fall risk by means of the Berg Balance Scale (BBS) and the posturographic Balance Stability System (BSS). The BBS was correlated with the BSS (r=-0.27; p=0.008), age (r=-0.38; p<0.001) and number of falls (r=-0.25; p=0.013) and the analysis of logistical regression showed that the elderly classified with fall risk on the BBS presented 2.5 (95%CI 1.08-5.78) more chance of identifying who had two falls or more over the last year. The BBS identified that the greater the age the worse the functional balance and demonstrated a greater capacity to identify falls risk suffered over the last year when compared with the BSS.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30676009,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Efficacy of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Antigen-Antibody Combination Assay as a Screening Test and Factors Causing False-Positivity].\nWe aimed to evaluate the performance of an HIV antigen-antibody combination assay (fourth-generation) by comparing it with second generation assays that detect anti-HIV. A total of 105,439 HIV screening tests were performed from January 2004 to March 2015; the second - and fourth generation assays were used for 75,302 and 30,137 samples, respectively. Samples positive on a screening test were confirmed by anti-HIV-1 western blotting (WB) and nucleic acid amplification. By the results of confirmation tests, the efficacies of the second and fourth generation assays were estimated. The clinical backgrounds with false-positive samples were examined. Of 75,302 samples, 136(0.18%) were positive by the second-generation assay; 14 were confirmed positives, and 122 were false positives. Of 30,137 samples, 18(0.06%) were positive by the fourth-generation assay; 6 were confirmed positives, and 12 were false positives. The reliability of the positives by fourth-generation assay was significantly improved (p=0.006) Samples form individuals with malignant neoplasms were frequently false positive by both the second and fourth-generation assays. Of 67 samples performed by WB, 10 samples, including 6 from patients with a malignancy, showed indeterminate results. All indeterminate samples were found to have antibodies responding to HIV core protein. The fourth-generation assay had satisfactory reliability of the positives for HIV screening. Antibodies responding to HIV core protein may result in false positive HIV screening tests. [Original]","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28272587,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Ocular complications of local anaesthesia in dentistry].\nAn estimated 1 in 1,000 local anaesthetic injections in the maxilla or the mandible lead to unwanted effects on the ipsilateral eye. We have seen a case with diplopia and lateral rectus palsy following bimaxillary anaesthesia. A systematic literature review of reports on this type of complication resulted in a total of 144 documented cases published between 1936 and 2016. The most frequently reported symptoms included diplopia (72%), partial or full ophthalmoplegia (26%), ptosis (22%), mydriasis (18%), amaurosis (13%) and orbital pain (12%). This type of complication is best understood by pathophysiological hypotheses that include intra-arterial injection, intravenous injection, autonomic dysregulation, or deep injection and diffusion. If ocular symptoms appear after local intraoral anaesthesia, the patient should be reassured. In the case of diplopia, the eye should be covered with a gauze dressing, and the patient should be instructed about associated safety risks. If symptoms persist or when vision deteriorates, referral to an ophthalmologist is advisable.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30673122,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"New pieces to the lanthanide puzzle.\nRecently, rare-earth elements lanthanides (Ln3+ ) have emerged as enzyme cofactors of methanol dehydrogenases of the XoxF type. It is now understood that XoxF enzymes can functionally replace the alternative, calcium-dependent, MxaFI-type methanol dehydrogenases, when Ln3+ are available. These rare-earth metals are not only essential for XoxF activity, but they also regulate gene expression, in a reverse fashion, activating the expression of XoxF and repressing the expression of MxaFI. This type of regulation has created multiple conundrums, including the details of the solubility, transport, sensing and selection mechanisms for Ln3+ by the bacterial cells, as well as the questions relevant to the evolution of the alternative enzymes and their potentially different redox properties. Overall, the newly discovered biological activity of Ln3+ presents a big puzzle. Ochsner et al. add several pieces to this puzzle, utilizing a model phyllosphere colonizer Methylobacterium extorquens PA1. They determine that Ln3+ sensing by this organism can take place via both XoxF-dependent and XoxF-independent mechanisms. They also identify genes for a TonB-dependent transporter and an ABC-type transporter and demonstrate that both are essential for Ln3+ -dependent methanol metabolism. The puzzle still requires multiple additional pieces for completion, but great strides have been made toward the goal of solving it.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26421548,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2017-13":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Widely tunable telecom MEMS-VCSEL for terahertz photomixing.\nWe report frequency-tunable terahertz (THz) generation with a photomixer driven by an ultra-broadband tunable micro-electro-mechanical system vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (MEMS-VCSEL) and a fixed-wavelength VCSEL, as well as a tunable MEMS-VCSEL mixed with a distributed feedback (DFB) diode. A total frequency span of 3.4 THz is covered in direct detection mode and 3.23 THz in the homodyne mode. The tuning range is solely limited by the dynamic range of the photomixers and the Schottky diode\/photoconductor used in the experiment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30657164,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Prognosis for intracerebral hemorrhage during ongoing oral anticoagulant treatment.\nIntracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is the most serious adverse effect of treatment with oral anticoagulants. Prognostic data after ICH associated with non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOAC) compared to vitamin K antagonists (VKA) are sparse. We compared 90-day survival and functional outcome following NOAC-ICH versus VKA-ICH using data from the Swedish Stroke Register (Riksstroke). Using data from Riksstroke and the Swedish Causes of Death Register between 2012 and 2016, we compared all-cause 90-day mortality for patients with NOAC-ICH versus VKA-ICH using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Log-rank test. Cox regression, with adjustment for age, sex, previous stroke, and level of consciousness (LOC) on admission, was used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) for 90-day mortality. Estimated functional outcome at 90 days, based on the modified Rankin Scale (mRS), was compared between VKA- and NOAC-associated ICH using chi-squared test. We included 2483 patients; 300 with NOAC-ICH and 2183 with VKA-ICH. In both groups, mean age was 79 years, and 58% were male. No significant difference between NOAC-ICH and VKA-ICH was found for all-cause 90-day mortality (44.3% NOAC-ICH versus 42.6% VKA-ICH; P = 0.54, HR = 0.93; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.78-1.12) or 90-day estimated functional outcome (mRS 0-2:13.7% and 15.3%; mRS 3-5:27.3% and 28.9%, respectively (P = 0.52)). Factors predicting death were increased age (HR = 1.03; 95%CI: 1.02-1.04) and reduced LOC (drowsy: HR = 3.48; 95%CI: 2.86-4.23; comatose: HR = 12.27; 95%CI: 10.13-14.87). In this large study on anticoagulant-associated ICH, we found no significant difference in mortality and functional outcome at 90 days between NOAC-ICH versus VKA-ICH.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37449793,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Rotational ankle instability: A current concept review.\nAnkle sprains are extremely common. It is important to have a clear insight of the course of recovery after such injury to evaluate the effective strategies to guide management decisions, and understand the potential risk factors involved in the development of chronic problems and recurrent ankle sprains. When a prompt diagnosis is not formulated, ligament tears can remain untreated, and chronic ankle instability can result after acute lateral or medial ankle sprain. When the medial ligament complex (MLC), in particular the anterior fascicle of the deltoid ligament, is involved, rotational ankle instability (RAI) can develop. Generally, a tear of the anterior fibres of the MCL accompanied by anterior talofibular ligament (ATFL) insufficiency has been associated with RAI, while injury of the intermediate fibres of the MLC has been associated with medial ankle instability (MAI). Conservative management is the first line of treatment, with surgery reserved for special cases or if rehabilitation has failed. Regarding surgery, several options are available, including anatomic repair, anatomic reconstruction, and tenodesis procedures. Ankle arthroscopy is increasingly used to address ligament insufficiency and to identify and treat intra-articular pathologies. Repair of MLC tears by an arthroscopic all-inside procedure is effective in both MAI and RAI.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27272095,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Repeatability and reproducibility of optic nerve head perfusion measurements using optical coherence tomography angiography.\nOptical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) has increasingly become a clinically useful technique in ophthalmic imaging. We evaluate the repeatability and reproducibility of blood perfusion in the optic nerve head (ONH) measured using optical microangiography (OMAG)-based OCTA. Ten eyes from 10 healthy volunteers are recruited and scanned three times with a 68-kHz Cirrus HD-OCT 5000-based OMAG prototype system (Carl Zeiss Meditec Inc., Dublin, California) centered at the ONH involving two separate visits within six weeks. Vascular images are generated with OMAG processing by detecting the differences in OCT signals between consecutive B-scans acquired at the same retina location. ONH perfusion is quantified as flux, vessel area density, and normalized flux within the ONH for the prelaminar, lamina cribrosa, and the full ONH. Coefficient of variation (CV) and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) are used to evaluate intravisit and intervisit repeatability, and interobserver reproducibility. ONH perfusion measurements show high repeatability [CV\u22643.7% (intravisit) and \u22645.2% (intervisit)] and interobserver reproducibility (ICC\u22640.966) in all three layers by three metrics. OCTA provides a noninvasive method to visualize and quantify ONH perfusion in human eyes with excellent repeatability and reproducibility, which may add additional insight into ONH perfusion in clinical practice.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27476946,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-26":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A Comparative Study of Vasorelaxant Effects of ATP, ADP, and Adenosine on the Superior Mesenteric Artery of SHR.\nWe investigated superior mesenteric arteries from spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) to determine the relaxation responses induced by ATP, ADP, and adenosine and the relationship between the relaxant effects of these compounds and nitric oxide (NO) or cyclooxygenase (COX)-derived prostanoids. In rat superior mesenteric artery, relaxation induced by ATP and ADP but not by adenosine was completely eliminated by endothelial denudation. In the superior mesenteric arteries isolated from SHR [vs. age-matched control Wistar Kyoto rats (WKY)], a) ATP- and ADP-induced relaxations were weaker, whereas adenosine-induced relaxation was similar in both groups, b) ATP- and ADP-induced relaxations were substantially and partly reduced by N(G)-nitro-L-arginine [a NO synthase (NOS) inhibitor], respectively, c) indomethacin, an inhibitor of COX, increased ATP- and ADP-induced relaxations, d) ADP-induced relaxation was weaker under combined inhibition by NOS and COX, and e) adenosine-induced relaxation was not altered by treatment with these inhibitors. These data indicate that levels of responsiveness to these nucleotides\/adenosine vary in the superior mesenteric arteries from SHR and WKY and are differentially modulated by NO and COX-derived prostanoids.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37457864,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Unexpected presentation of ischemic colitis: a case report and review of the literature.\nIschemic colitis accounts for many cases of bowel infarction. Usually, it has various manifestations, such as vomiting, abdominal pain, hematochezia and many other symptoms. Risk factors might include age, medications, hypercoagulable state and chronic illnesses. However, it can still occur in healthy young patients. This might make it difficult for physicians to establish a correct diagnosis and generate the appropriate treatment plan for patients suffering from ischemic colitis. In this case we report a previously healthy 37-year-old female who had a sudden onset of lower abdominal pain associated with hematochezia. This patient was treated for upper respiratory tract infection by amoxicillin-clavulanate 2 weeks prior to her symptoms. The computed tomography abdomen findings along with the exploratory laparotomy confirmed the diagnosis of ischemic colitis. Ischemic colitis is a serious condition with high mortality and morbidity rate. Therefore, prompt investigation, and if indicated, surgical intervention should be calculated in sick patients complaining of abdominal pain and lower gastrointestinal bleeding.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29387187,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of butylphthalide intervention on experimental autoimmune myositis in guinea pigs.\nIdiopathic inflammatory myopathies are a group of rare muscular diseases that are characterized by acute, subacute or chronic proximal and symmetric muscle weakness, muscle fiber necrosis and infiltration of inflammatory cells, particularly activated CD8+ cytotoxic T cells and phagocytes. 3-n-butylphthalide (NBP) protects mitochondria and reduces the inflammatory response in multiple disease models. In myositis, it has remained elusive whether NBP can protect muscle cells from muscle fiber injury. Experimental autoimmune myositis (EAM) was induced in a total of 40 guinea pigs by myosin immunization. After 4 weeks, low- or high-dose NBP solution was intraperitoneally injected. Saline solution was used as a negative control. After 10 days, the clinical manifestations were assessed by determining rodent grasping power, histopathological changes, Ca2+-adenosinetriphosphatase (ATPase) activity by an ATPase kit, and mRNA expression of interferon (IFN)-\u03b3, retinoic acid receptor-related orphan nuclear receptor (ROR)\u03b3t and forkhead box (Fox) p3 in muscle tissue by reverse-transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis. It was demonstrated that NBP improved the myodynamia of guinea pigs with EAM and reduced the pathological inflammatory cell infiltration in a dose-dependent manner. NBP improved the Ca2+-ATPase activity of the muscle mitochondrial membrane and muscle plasma membrane in animals with EAM. It also reduced the mRNA expression of IFN-\u03b3 and ROR\u03b3t, and significantly increased the mRNA expression of Foxp3 in muscle tissue. These results provided a basis for the consideration of NBP as a novel agent for the treatment of myositis and other muscular diseases associated with autoimmunity and inflammation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26478271,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Derivatization of steroids in biological samples for GC-MS and LC-MS analyses.\nThe determination of steroids in biological samples is essential in different areas of knowledge. MS combined with either GC or LC is considered the best analytical technique for specific and sensitive determinations. However, due to the physicochemical properties of some steroids, and the low concentrations found in biological samples, the formation of a derivative prior to their analysis is required. In GC-MS determinations, derivatization is needed for generating volatile and thermally stable compounds. The improvement in terms of stability and chromatographic retention are the main reasons for selecting the derivatization agent. On the other hand, derivatization is not compulsory in LC-MS analyses and the derivatization is typically used for improving the ionization and therefore the overall sensitivity achieved.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25509703,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Comparison of visual outcomes for aspheric and spherical toric intraocular lens implantation in cataract patients with pre-existing corneal astigmatism: a randomized control trial.\nWith spherical intraocular lens (IOL) implantation, unaided vision of cataract patients with pre-existing corneal astigmatism is unsatisfactory because astigmatic spectacles will always be needed for clear vision. Toric IOL has been proven to be a major improvement in cataract surgery for spectacle independence. Aspheric property, reported to improve visual quality in a non-toric IOL, has now been added to toric IOL for even better unaided vision. To compare visual and aberrometric outcomes of 2 toric IOL, spherical and aspheric, at 3 months after implantation. Cataract surgery was performed in cataract patients with pre-existing corneal astigmatism using 2 types of toric IOLs, a spherical toric IOL, Acrys of SN60T (Group A) and a aspheric toric IOL, Acrts of SN6AT, (Group B) as a randomized control trial. The uncorrected distance (UDVA) and corrected (CDVA) distance visual acuities, residual astigmatism, spherical equivalent (SE) and spherical aberration were evaluated 3 months after implantation. The present study included 44 eyes. No statistically significant difference was found in UDVA, CDVA and residual astigmatism between both groups. The UDVA of 0.1 logMAR or better was found in 78.26% in Group A and 85.71% in Group B. In Group A, 78.26% of eyes and in Group B, 76.19% had a refractive astigmatism value within 0.50 diopter at KP90 (polar value along the 90-degree meridian). The spherical equivalent (SE) was within \u00b10.5 diopter of emmetropia in 91.30% in Group A and in 80.95% in Group B. Group B had significantly lower spherical aberration Z (4, 0) than Group A. Both groups had similar clinical effectiveness for unaided visual acuity, aided visual acuity and astigmatism correction. Group B had significantly less spherical aberration induction when compared with Group A.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7945759,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Doctors' assistants and what they do in The Netherlands.\nIn the Netherlands the title \"doctor's assistant\" is used by variously qualified, or even unqualified, people who perform a range of duties in support of general practitioners. The working day of the author, a qualified assistant, is outlined below.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22660924,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Approach to cardiovascular disease prevention in patients with chronic kidney disease.\nChronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with a large burden of cardiovascular risk factors ultimately leading to increased cardiovascular events and mortality. Prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in CKD involves early identification of individuals at high-risk of renal disease. In fact, substantial evidence points to a complex bidirectional relationship between CKD and CVD. Therefore, most interventions directed at CKD prevention should include multiple risk factor interventions with the goal of preventing CVD events while slowing progression of CKD. Clearly, prevention of CVD in CKD is a complex task and requires a multidisciplinary team approach, with a well-defined program, rational targets for each risk factor, and implementation of the most effective intervention strategies. Although several interventions to prevent CVD have proven effective in the general population and in individuals at high risk for CVD, a true benefit in patients with CKD remains to be demonstrated for several of them. A few rational targets of intervention should be optimal blood pressure control, reduction of proteinuria, treatment of dyslipidemia, good control of diabetes, smoking cessation, dietary salt restriction, achievement of normal body mass index, partial correction of anemia, and management of mineral metabolism abnormalities. Lifestyle modification and pharmacological therapy with renin-angiotensin blockers, \u03b2-blockers, diuretics, statins, and aspirin should be encouraged in the early stages of CKD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17196292,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Are SPA therapy and pulsed electromagnetic field therapy effective for chronic neck pain? Randomised clinical trial. Second part: medicoeconomic approach].\nWe report the results of a cost-effectiveness evaluation of pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) therapy and spa therapy (ST) versus usual care (control) for chronic neck pain. Inclusion criteria were age 18 to 80 years with pain in the neck area of more than 3 months' duration and no contraindications for PEMF therapy and ST. Randomization to the ST (n=25) and PEMF groups (n=26) was blinded, as was collection of data. Non-included subjects (n=29) underwent usual care. The trial respected the Helsinki declaration, and informed consent was obtained from subjects. The analysis was intent to treat; the main outcome measure was increase in health dimension scores on the MOS SF-36 in terms of increase in French health care costs from 6 months preceding to 6 months after the start of the study. The increase in health care costs was less for the PEMF group (+68 euro+\/-539 [95% confidence interval (CI)]: -145.0+281) than the ST and control groups. The increase tended to be less, but not significantly, for the ST group (+373+\/-938 euro [95% CI, -14.0+76.0]) than for controls (+618+\/-2715 euro [95% CI, -434.0+167.0]). The gain of one physical MOS SF-36 unit during one year cost 3400 euro [95% CI, -6759+13 100] for the PEMF group, 29,000 euro [95% CI, -1093+59 375] for the ST group and 95076 euro [95% CI, -66 769+256 923] for the control group, but the differences were not significant. These results suggest a potential cost-effectiveness for ST and particularly PEMF as compared to usual care in chronic cervical pain. Our results perhaps lack significance probably because of lack of statistical power and do not distinguish costs related or not to chronic cervical pain.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32351160,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Microflow-Based Device for In Vitro and Ex Vivo Drug Permeability Studies.\nThis paper presents a novel microflow-based concept for studying the permeability of in vitro cell models or ex vivo tissues. Using the proposed concept, we demonstrate how to maintain physiologically relevant test conditions and produce highly reproducible permeability values for a range (31) of drug compounds. The apparent permeability coefficients (Papp) showed excellent correlation (0.89) with the values from experiments performed with a conventional Ussing chamber. Additionally, the microflow-based concept produces notably more concentrated samples than the conventional Ussing chamber-based approach, despite the fact that more than 10 times smaller quantities of test compounds and biological membranes are needed in the microflow-based concept.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25503659,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Periprocedural anticoagulation of patients undergoing pericardiocentesis for cardiac tamponade complicating catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation.\nAnticoagulation of patients with cardiac tamponade (CT) complicating catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF) is an ongoing problem. The aim of this study was to survey the clinical practice of periprocedural anticoagulation in such patients. This study analyzed the periprocedural anticoagulation of 17 patients with CT complicating AF ablation. Emergent pericardiocentesis was performed once CT was confirmed. The mean drained volume was 410.0 \u00b1 194.1 mL. Protamine sulfate was administered to neutralize heparin (1 mg neutralizes 100 units heparin) in 11 patients with persistent pericardial bleeding and vitamin K1 (10 mg) was given to reverse warfarin in 3 patients with supratherapeutic INR (INR > 2.1). Drainage catheters were removed 12 hours after echocardiography confirmed absence of intrapericardial bleeding and anticoagulation therapy was restored 12 hours after removing the catheter. Fifteen patients took oral warfarin and 10 of them were given subcutaneous injection of LMWH (1 mg\/kg, twice daily) as a bridge to resumption of systemic anticoagulation with warfarin. Two patients with a small amount of persistent pericardial effusion were given LMWH on days 5 and 13, and warfarin on days 6 and 24. The dosage of warfarin was adjusted to keep the INR within 2-3 in all patients. After 12 months of follow-up, all patients had no neurological events and no occurrence of delayed CT. The results showed that it was effective and safe to resume anticoagulation therapy 12 hours after removal of the drainage catheter. This may help to prevent thromboembolic events following catheter ablation of AF.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16998336,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Applications of bilateral vascularized femoral bone marrow transplantation for chimerism induction across the major histocompatibility (MHC) barrier: part II.\nBilateral vascularized bone marrow transplant (VBMT) model was designed to induce chimerism across the major histocompatibility (MHC) barrier under combined alphabeta T-cell receptor monoclonal antibody and cyclosporine A (alphabeta-TCRmAb\/CsA) protocol. Seventeen transplants were performed between BN(RT1) donors and Lewis(RTI) recipients. Group I, isograft controls; Group II, allografts rejection controls; Group III, allografts under 7-day protocol of alphabeta-TCRmAb\/CsA. Donor bilateral femoral bones were bilaterally anastomosed to the abdominal aorta and inferior vena cava of recipient. At day 7 posttransplantation, all bone flaps were viable. Groups I and III survived without signs of rejection. In Group III, peak level of chimerism in peripheral blood was evaluated at day 21 (24.2%), at day 63 declined to 1.5%, and was maintained at this level thereafter. Donor-derived cells were present in the bone marrow of recipients at 28.2% at day 21 posttransplant. Histology confirmed viability of bone marrow cells in isograft during the entire follow-up and up to 35 days in treatment Group III. Bilateral VBMT induced donor-specific chimerism across the MHC barrier under the immunomodulatory protocol of alphabeta-TCRmAb\/CsA.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29360064,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Overview and proposed terminology for the reverse controlled antegrade and retrograde tracking (reverse CART) techniques.\nDuring recent years, equipment and techniques for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of chronic total occlusions (CTO) have improved significantly. The retrograde approach remains critical to the improved success of CTO PCI. Currently, the reverse controlled antegrade and retrograde tracking (CART) technique has become the dominant retrograde wire crossing technique. In this article, we propose a standardised terminology and classification for this technique divided into three subtypes: a) conventional reverse CART, usually involving the use of large balloons on the antegrade wire to achieve re-entry within the CTO segment; b) \"directed\" reverse CART, which is characterised by small antegrade balloon size and more active, intentional vessel tracking and penetration with a controllable retrograde wire, still within the CTO segment; and c) \"extended\" reverse CART, in which the intimal\/subintimal dissection is extended proximal or distal to the CTO segment, achieving re-entry outside the CTO segment. The proposed standardised terminology will facilitate the communication, teaching and adoption of the reverse CART techniques.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12034040,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Expression of human PKR protein kinase in transgenic mice.\nThere is a large amount of evidence describing the expression, interaction, and mode of activation of the human interferon (IFN)-mediated double-stranded RNA-activated protein kinase (PKR) gene. Studies from Pkr-null mice have defined the kinase as a transducer of dsRNA signals that converge on transcription, translation, and apoptotic programs involved in the innate resistance to viral infection. In vitro studies also suggest that PKR may possess important cell growth regulatory and tumor suppressor properties. However, the study of Pkr-null mice has not fully elucidated the role that the kinase plays in these processes, in part because of apparent redundancies in PKR-dependent and PKR-independent regulatory pathways. To overcome such limitations and to begin to examine the role of PKR in a complex biologic system, we have generated transgenic mice overexpressing wild-type human (Hu) PKR. HuPKR was expressed and active in various tissues and associated with a small body phenotype. Spleen cells from transgenic mice were resistant to apoptosis when treated with the genotoxic agent actinomycin D and showed a decrease in proliferation in response to concanavalin A (ConA) compared with spleen cells from wild-type control mice. The initial characterization of this transgenic mouse line suggests it may be useful as a model for investigating biology and diseases relative to a number of scientific disciplines.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26423440,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Patterns of recruitment and injury in a heterogeneous airway network model.\nIn respiratory distress, lung airways become flooded with liquid and may collapse due to surface-tension forces acting on air-liquid interfaces, inhibiting gas exchange. This paper proposes a mathematical multiscale model for the mechanical ventilation of a network of occluded airways, where air is forced into the network at a fixed tidal volume, allowing investigation of optimal recruitment strategies. The temporal response is derived from mechanistic models of individual airway reopening, incorporating feedback on the airway pressure due to recruitment. The model accounts for stochastic variability in airway diameter and stiffness across and between generations. For weak heterogeneity, the network is completely ventilated via one or more avalanches of recruitment (with airways recruited in quick succession), each characterized by a transient decrease in the airway pressure; avalanches become more erratic for airways that are initially more flooded. However, the time taken for complete ventilation of the network increases significantly as the network becomes more heterogeneous, leading to increased stresses on airway walls. The model predicts that the most peripheral airways are most at risk of ventilation-induced damage. A positive-end-expiratory pressure reduces the total recruitment time but at the cost of larger stresses exerted on airway walls.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7936990,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Technique of transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt: color Doppler US-guided paraumbilical vein puncture method].\nThe transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) procedure is a percutaneous method for treating patients with symptomatic portal hypertension. One of the major technical difficulties of this procedure is the safe passage of a needle from the hepatic venous system into a major portal venous radical. The color US-guided paraumbilical vein puncture method involves percutaneous catheterization of a paraumbilical portosystemic collateral vein under sonographic guidance. We describe a method for portal venous localization that, while clearly not applicable in all candidates for TIPS, is easily and safely performed and should be considered a routine adjunct to the TIPS procedure when feasible.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28265472,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Long-Term Use and Perceived Benefits of Goal-Oriented Attentional Self-Regulation Training in Chronic Brain Injury.\nPrimary Objective. To investigate the long-term use and perceived benefit(s) of strategies included in Goal-Oriented Attentional Self-Regulation (GOALS) training (Novakovic-Agopian et al., 2011) by individuals with acquired brain injury (ABI) and chronic executive dysfunction. Research Design. Longitudinal follow-up of training. Methods and Procedures. Sixteen participants with chronic ABI participated in structured telephone interviews 20 months (range 11 to 31 months) following completion of GOALS training. Participants responded to questions regarding the range of strategies they continued to utilize, perceived benefit(s) of strategy use, situations in which strategy use was found helpful, and functional changes attributed to training. Results. Nearly all participants (94%) reported continued use of at least one trained strategy in their daily lives, with 75% of participants also reporting improved functioning resulting from training. However, there was considerable variability with respect to the specific strategies individuals found helpful as well as the perceived impact of training on overall functioning. Conclusions. GOALS training shows promising long-term benefits for individuals in the chronic phase of brain injury. Identifying individual- and injury-level factors that account for variability in continued strategy use and the perceived long-term benefits of training will help with ongoing intervention development.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28564466,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"INVERSE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FUNCTIONAL MATURITY AND EXPONENTIAL GROWTH RATE OF AVIAN SKELETAL MUSCLE: A CONSTRAINT ON EVOLUTIONARY RESPONSE.\nIn this study, we investigate whether a tissue-level constraint can explain the general inverse relationship between growth rate and precocity of development in birds. On the whole, altricial (dependent) chicks grow three to four times faster than the less dependent, more able chicks of precocial species of similar adult mass. We suggest that an antagonism between growth and acquisition of mature function in skeletal muscle constrains postnatal growth and development in most species of birds. Altricial species, represented by European starlings in this study, hatch with skeletal muscle having low capacity for generating force but grow rapidly. Conversely, precocial species (northern bobwhite quail and Japanese quail), hatch with relatively mature skeletal muscle, especially in their legs, but grow more slowly. As development proceeds in all species, exponential growth rates decrease as muscles acquire adult levels of function. Among four variables associated with muscle function, exponential growth rate (EGR) was negatively correlated with pyruvate kinase activity (glycolysis), potassium concentration (electrical potential), and dry weight fraction (contractile proteins) in both pectoral and leg muscles but not with citrate synthase activity (aerobic metabolism) in either set of muscles. For pectoral muscle, these variables accounted for 87% of the total variation in EGR in all three species combined despite a twofold difference in growth rates between the starling and quail. EGRs of leg muscle (51% of variation accounted for) were less than predicted by the pectoral-muscle equation in quail during the early part of the postnatal period and in starlings during the late postnatal period. This result would not contradict a growth rate\/maturity constraint hypothesis if EGRs were down-regulated for allometric or other considerations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36262406,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Differences in the Effects of Pentobarbital Anesthetic and Combination of Medetomidine Hydrochloride, Midazolam, and Butorphanol Tartrate Anesthetic on Electroretinogram in Spontaneously Diabetic Torii Fatty Rats.\nThe aim of this study was to investigate the effects of different anesthetic agents on electroretinograms (ERGs) in Spontaneously Diabetic Torii fatty rats (SDT fatty rats). The ERG recordings were measured under general anesthesia using pentobarbital or a combination of medetomidine hydrochloride, midazolam, and butorphanol (MMB) tartrate anesthesia in 12 9-week-old normal Sprague-Dawley rats (Jcl:SD rats) and 16 SDT fatty rats. Each animal model was divided into 2 groups, the pentobarbital group and MMB group. The amplitudes and peak times of the a- and b-waves and oscillatory potentials (OPs) were measured from 0.0001 candela per square meter (cd.s\/m2) to 10.0 cd.s\/m2. The amplitude of the a-wave was significantly higher in the MMB group of Jcl:SD rats, but there was no significant difference in amplitude between the two groups of SDT fatty rats. There was no significant difference in the OP1 amplitude between both groups of Jcl:SD rats, but the OP1 amplitude was significantly higher in the MMB group of SDT fatty rats. The OP2 amplitude was significantly higher in the pentobarbital group in both the Jcl:SD rats and SDT fatty rats. There was no significant difference in the OP3 amplitude between the Jcl:SD and SDT fatty rat groups. The amplitude of the OP4 waves was significantly higher in the MMB group for both Jcl:SD and SDT fatty rats. There was no significant difference in the sums of the OP1 to OP4 (\u03a3OPs) amplitudes between the Jcl:SD and SDT fatty rat groups. There was no significant difference in the b-wave amplitude between the Jcl:SD rat groups, but the b-wave amplitude was significantly higher in the SDT fatty rats that received pentobarbital. The peak times for a-wave, OP1, OP2, OP3, OP4, and \u03a3OPs were significantly longer in the pentobarbital group of SD rats. The peak time of the b-wave was significantly longer in the MMB group of Jcl:SD rats, but the same result was obtained in the SDT fatty rats except that there was no significant difference in the a-wave. The overall ERG results vary depending on the anesthetic agent used. The OPs can be observed in detail when using MMB. Since the SDT fatty rat is a diabetic model animal, we recommend MMB as the anesthesia of choice when studying the OP waves in detail.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9148289,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Content analysis of gay male and lesbian personal advertisements.\n396 randomly selected gay and lesbian personal advertisements were analyzed for content. Analysis supported the hypotheses that the 198 men are more interested in sexuality and physical attractiveness, while the 198 women are more concerned with the personality characteristics of prospective partners.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6928047,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nonmutational alteration in glucocorticoid sensitivity of lymphosarcoma P1798.\nThe sensitivity of lymphosarcoma P1798 to glucocorticoids varied as a function of growth conditions. Cells grown in the ascitic fluid were very sensitive to cortisol inhibition of tritiated thymidine ([3H]dThd) incorporation. When ascites cells were inoculated sc into BALB\/c mice receiving daily injections of 2 mg cortisol, tumors did not form. However, as tumors grew subcutaneously in control mice, glucocorticoid sensitivity decreased to the arrested by cortisol injection. Cortisol also did not inhibit incorporation of [3H]dThd in cells prepared from large subcutaneous tumors. Measurement of cytoplasmic receptors in cell-free extracts revealed that both ascites and subcutaneous tumor cells contained about 11-12 x 10(4) glucocorticoid binding sites per cell. Receptors in ascites cells had a higher affinity for glucocorticoids than did receptors in subcutaneous cells, which indicated that sensitive and resistant cells contain chemically different classes of receptors. Loss of sensitivity occurred as tumors attained a diameter greater than approximately 1.5 cm. The reproducibility of this transition did not appear to be consistent with a random mechanism for loss of glucocorticoid sensitivity in vivo. Thus the acquisition of resistance by lymphosarcoma P1798 in vivo was concluded to be nonmutational and probably resulted from differentiational alteration in gene expression.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17195607,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Hypertension in the elderly].\nSystolic blood pressure rises with age, and the prevalence of hypertension (systolic pressure of 140 mmHg or more and diastolic pressure below 90 mmHg) exceeds 70% after the age of 70. At any age, high systolic pressure is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular death, stroke and myocardial infarction. Antihypertensive drugs reduce cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in patients with systolic pressure exceeding 160 mmHg. The ability of blood pressure reduction to prevent cardiovascular events in elderly hypertensive patients is often compromised by poor systolic pressure control. This is due to the relatively limited efficacy of antihypertensive medications to normalize systolic blood pressure, but also to the fact that many physicians fail to follow systolic hypertension treatment guidelines.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30653632,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Diagnosis and management of acute osteoarticular infections in children.\nAcute hematogenous osteomyelitis and septic arthritis are not uncommon infections in children and should be considered as part of the differential diagnosis of limb pain and pseudoparalysis. Most bone infections in children arise secondary to hematogenous seeding of bacteria into bone. The most common pathogens are Staphylococcus aureus and Kingella kingae. Children with septic arthritis should be evaluated promptly by orthopedic specialists for aspiration and possible debridement of concomitant osteomyelitis. Optimal empiric therapy after appropriate cultures continues to be intravenous cefazolin. In most cases, conversion to oral antimicrobials should occur when the patient has clinically improved and has decreasing inflammatory markers. For most uncomplicated cases of osteomyelitis, current recommendations are 3 to 4 weeks of antimicrobial therapy compared with the 6 weeks previously recommended.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7948627,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"An adaptive algorithm for the automatic segmentation of continuous stuttered speech.\nThis paper presents an adaptive algorithm for the automatic segmentation of continuous speech into voiced, unvoiced, and silence regions (V\/U\/S). The procedure presented is based on the use of a digital filter bank with control parameters established using formant frequencies of voiced segments of speech. This procedure makes it possible to separate continuous speech into syllable like structures. The use of these speech segments makes possible the determination of stuttered speech. Special care is given to the handling of prolongations and repetitions (audible and silent) to insure they are properly handled by the segmenting algorithm. Segmentation experiments have been conducted on male and female subjects to test the reliability of the system at segmenting fluent and stuttered continuous speech.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30654714,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Risk Haplotypes Uniquely Associated with Radioiodine-Refractory Thyroid Cancer Patients of High African Ancestry.\nThyroid cancer patients with radioiodine-refractory (RAI-R) disease, resulting from insufficient RAI delivery and\/or RAI resistance, have increased mortality and limited treatment options. To date, studies have largely focused on tumor mutations associated with different stages of disease, which could provide prognostic value for RAI-R disease. It was hypothesized that germline variants contributing to intrinsic differences in iodine metabolism, tumor microenvironment, and\/or immune surveillance are associated with RAI-R disease. Whole-genome genotyping data analysis was performed on 1145 Caucasian (CAU) patients, 244 of whom were RAI-R, and 55 African American (AA) patients, nine of whom were RAI-R. Germline-variant association studies were conducted using candidate genes involved in iodine metabolism or DNA-damage repair, as well as genome-wide association analysis. Initial data indicated several notable variants in a small number of patients (n = 7), who were later determined to be AA patients of >80% African ancestry (n = 37). This led to the study focusing on germline single nucleotide polymorphisms uniquely associated with RAI-R AA patients. Sanger sequencing was performed to validate risk alleles and identify the incidence of the common somatic mutations BRAFV600E, NRASQ61R, and HRASQ61R in AA patients whose primary tumor samples were available (28\/55). TG, BRCA1, and NSMCE2 haplotypes were identified as being uniquely associated with RAI-R AA patients of >80% African ancestry. All patients with the TG haplotype (n = 4) had a biochemical incomplete response to RAI therapy. Patients with the NSMCE2 haplotype (n = 4) were diagnosed at a young age (13, 17, 17, and 26 years old) with distant metastatic disease at initial diagnosis. The BRCA1 haplotype co-occurred in three out of four patients with the NSMCE2 haplotype. The incidence of BRAFV600E appears lower in papillary thyroid carcinomas from AA patients of >80% African ancestry (3\/14; 21%) than in AA patients of <80% African ancestry (6\/9; 67%), albeit only just approaching statistical significance (p = 0.077). The tumors available from three RAI-R AA patients were negative for BRAFV600E, NRASQ61R, and HRASQ61R. The identification of candidate RAI-R risk haplotypes may allow early stratification of clinical manifestations of RAI-R disease followed by early intervention and personalized treatment strategies. Functional annotation of candidate RAI-R risk haplotypes may provide insights into the mechanisms underlying RAI-R disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18590770,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Evidence for novel viruses by analysis of nucleic acids in virus-like particle fractions from Ambrosia psilostachya.\nTo test the hypothesis that many viruses remain to be discovered in plants, a procedure was developed to sequence nucleic acids cloned randomly from virus-like particle fractions of plant homogenates. As a test of the efficiency of the procedure we targeted Ambrosia psilostachya, western ragweed, plants growing at the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve of northeastern Oklahoma. Amplifiable nucleic acid was found in the fractions from six of twelve specimens and sequences were characterized from four of them. Evidence was obtained for the presence of viruses belonging to two families (Caulimoviridae, Flexiviridae). Multiple viral species were found in two of the four specimens and their level within the isolated nucleic acid population varied from less than 1-37%. None of the sequences were derived from reported sequences of known viruses. Thus, the analysis of nucleic acid from virus-like particles is a useful tool to expand our knowledge of the universe of viruses to non-cultivated species.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34244013,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Associations of retention on buprenorphine for opioid use disorder with patient characteristics and models of care in the primary care setting.\nBuprenorphine, a medication for opioid use disorder (OUD), can be administered within primary care; however, little is known about characteristics associated with retention on buprenorphine in these settings. This study examines patient correlates of buprenorphine retention and whether an integrated, interdisciplinary treatment model (buprenorphine and behavioral health) is associated with higher odds of buprenorphine retention than a primarily medication-only treatment model. Electronic health record data from adult patients with an OUD, \u22651 buprenorphine order and \u22651 visit to either of two primary care clinics between 9\/2\/2014-6\/27\/2018 were extracted (N = 494 patients). Two research team members reviewed the medication start and stop dates for each buprenorphine order and classified as retained (\u22656 months of orders) or not retained (<6 months of orders). Logistic regressions estimated the odds of retention on buprenorphine by 1) patient characteristics and 2) timing of patient's engagement in buprenorphine treatment (pre- or post-implementation of an integrated treatment model). Of the study sample, 53% had \u22656 months of buprenorphine orders. Almost two times higher odds of retention were found among patients with \u22651 psychiatric comorbidity (versus none) and among those with buprenorphine orders in the post- versus pre-period. An integrated, interdisciplinary model of OUD treatment was associated with \u22656 months of buprenorphine orders among our study population. Continued research is needed in real-world primary care settings to understand the impact of OUD treatment models on patient outcomes. A more nuanced examination of the associations between psychiatric diagnoses and buprenorphine treatment retention is warranted.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36263818,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Splenic rupture after colonoscopy for colorectal cancer screening.\nColonoscopy is a frequently used procedure in our environment for the diagnosis, treatment and even prevention of colorectal cancer. Despite being a routine procedure, it is not exempt from possible complications. Bleeding and perforation are the main ones, with splenic rupture being extremely infrequent as well as one of the most serious complications derived from performing a colonoscopy. We present a patient with splenic rupture secondary to colorectal cancer screening colonoscopy who required urgent surgery for acute hemorrhagic shock.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37851612,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pre- and postnatal exposure to legacy environmental contaminants and sensation seeking in Inuit adolescents from Nunavik.\nDespite extensive evidence from cohort studies linking exposure to lead (Pb), mercury (Hg) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) to numerous cognitive outcomes in children and adolescents, very few studies addressed reward sensitivity, a key dimension of emotional regulation. The present study aimed to examine associations between pre- and postnatal exposure to these environmental neurotoxicants and sensation seeking, a behavioral feature of reward. A total of 207 Inuit adolescents (mean age = 18.5, SD = 1.2) from Nunavik, Canada, completed the Brief Sensation Seeking Scale (BSSS-4) and Sensation Seeking- 2 (SS-2), two self-report questionnaires assessing proneness to sensation seeking. Prenatal, childhood and adolescent exposure to Pb, Hg and PCBs were measured in cord blood at birth and blood samples at 11 years of age and at time of testing. Multiple linear regression models were performed, potential confounders including participants' sociodemographic characteristics and nutrient fish intake were considered. Results showed that higher child blood levels of Pb (b = -0.18, p = 0.01) and PCB-153 (b = -0.16, p = 0.06) were associated with lower BSSS-4 total scores, while cord and adolescent blood PCB-153 levels were significantly related to lower SS2 total scores (b = -0.15, p = 0.04; b = -0.24, p = 0.004). Such associations persisted after further adjustment for co-exposure to concurrent contaminants. These associations were influenced by self-report positive affect and marginally moderated by sex. Sex differences were only observed for child PCB exposure, with the association for risk-taking sensation seeking observed only in girls but not in boys. Further research is warranted to assess the extent to which reduced sensation seeking in chronically exposed individuals affects their behaviors, well-being, and emotional regulation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17915650,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Contributions to understanding therapeutic change: now we have a playground.\nThe understanding of therapeutic change is explored in two ways. The first is by providing a model of change that emphasizes moment-to-moment, \"local-level\" interactions in the analytic dyad. The second is to offer detailed clinical information--taken from the videotape of a child analyst's first session with a three-year-old girl--that illustrates how this change model can be useful to clinicians. The clinical material is presented in the form of verbal trascripts and descriptions of nonverbal communicative exchanges between child and analyst. Both the model of change and the technique of videotape microanalysis build upon work by infant researchers and thus show how advances in related fields can supplement traditional psychoanalytic methods.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37669661,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Thermal conductivity of van der Waals heterostructure of 2D GeS and SnS based on machine learning interatomic potential.\nvan der Waals heterostructures have provided an unprecedented platform to tune many physical properties for two-dimensional materials. In this work, thermal transport properties of van der Waals heterostructures formed by vertical stacking of monolayers GeS and SnS have been investigated systematically based on machine learning interatomic potential. The effect of van der Waals interface on the lattice thermal transport of 2D SnS and GeS can be well clarified by introducing various stacking configurations. Our results indicate that the van der Waals interface can strongly suppress the thermal transport capacity for the considered heterostructures, and either the average thermal conductivity per layer or the 2D thermal sheet conductance for the considered heterostructures is lower than that of corresponding monolayers. The suppressed thermal conductivity with tunable in-plane anisotropy in SnS\/GeS heterostructures can be ascribed to the enhanced interface anharmonic scattering, and thus exhibits obvious interface-dependent characteristics. Therefore, this work highlights that the van der Waals interface can be employed to effectively modulate thermal transport for the 2D puckered group-IV monochalcogenides, and the suppressed lattice thermal conductivity together with interface-dependent phonon transport properties in the SnS\/GeS heterostructure imply the great potential for corresponding thermoelectrical applications.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28726512,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Human milk oligosaccharide categories define the microbiota composition in human colostrum.\nHuman milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) are structurally diverse unconjugated glycans with a composition unique to each lactating mother. While HMOs have been shown to have an impact on the development of infant gut microbiota, it is not well known if HMOs also already affect milk microbial composition. To address this question, we analysed eleven colostrum samples for HMO content by high-pressure liquid chromatography and microbiota composition by quantitative PCR. Higher total HMO concentration was associated with higher counts of Bifidobacterium spp. (\u03c1=0.63, P=0.036). A distinctive effect was seen when comparing different HMO groups: positive correlations were observed between sialylated HMOs and Bifidobacterium breve (\u03c1=0.84, P=0.001), and non-fucosylated\/non-sialylated HMOs and Bifidobacterium longum group (\u03c1=0.65, P=0.030). In addition to associations between HMOs and bifidobacteria, positive correlations were observed between fucosylated HMOs and Akkermansia muciniphila (\u03c1=0.70, P=0.017), and between fucosylated\/sialylated HMOs and Staphylococcus aureus (\u03c1=0.75, P=0.007). Our results suggest that the characterised HMOs have an effect on specific microbial groups in human milk. Both oligosaccharides and microbes provide a concise inoculum for the compositional development of the infant gut microbiota.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30091959,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Intra-articular epithelioid sarcoma of the knee: a diagnostic challenge.\nEpithelioid sarcoma is a rare mesenchymal neoplasm characterized by aggregates of epithelioid cells. Intra-articular occurrence is exceedingly rare with only few reports described in the literature. A 22 year-old man presented a progressive mechanical knee pain. Initially, the investigation revealed a non-infectious unspecific synovitis. The patient gradually presented increasing knee enlargement and functional impairment. Intra-articular nodular proliferation with bone invasion was later observed on magnetic resonance imaging reevaluation. Pigmented villonodular synovitis hypothesis was considered. The biopsy ultimately revealed nodules of epithelioid cells with an immunoprofile compatible with epithelioid sarcoma diagnosis. The patient underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy and an above-knee amputation was performed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6151425,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Inhibitory effect of somatostatin on the secretion of duodenal gastrin].\nThis study covers 14 patients subjected to truncal Vagotomy + Antrectomy acc. BI, in order to ascertain whether somatostatin is capable of inhibiting duodenal gastrin release. Somatostatin infusion significantly inhibits the gastrinic response to a protein meal, but does not affect basal levels of the hormone. This suggests that facilitation of duodenal gastrin release after vagal section may be mediated by the reduced somatostatin release.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14532930,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Octreotide for enterocutaneous fistulas of Crohn's disease.\nCrohn's disease is a chronic, life-long disease and has many troublesome complications. Fistulas are a part of Crohn's disease, and although there are many therapeutic modalities used in treating these fistulas they are only partially successful. As we are still very far from being able to cure it, the aim is to improve the patients' quality of life and to reduce the iatrogenic harm that may be caused by various treatment modalities. Somatostatin is an inhibitor of intestinal secretion and has been used to treat pancreatic and surgical fistulas. Therefore, we decided to treat enterocutaneous fistulas using somatostatin. Five patients with Crohn's disease were treated with four daily injections of 300 microg octreotide. The total period of treatment was eight weeks. Closure of fistulas was achieved in four of the five patients. Somatostatin may have a role in treating Crohn's disease enterocutaneous fistulas and may prevent surgery or prolonged immunosuppressive therapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28254470,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Tackling inpatient penicillin allergies: Assessing tools for antimicrobial stewardship.\nReported penicillin allergy rarely reflects penicillin intolerance. Failure to address inpatient penicillin allergies results in more broad-spectrum antibiotic use, treatment failures, and adverse drug events. We aimed to determine the optimal approach to penicillin allergies among medical inpatients. We evaluated internal medicine inpatients reporting penicillin allergy in 3 periods: (1) standard of care (SOC), (2) penicillin skin testing (ST), and (3) computerized guideline application with decision support (APP). The primary outcome was use of a penicillin or cephalosporin, comparing interventions to SOC using multivariable logistic regression. There were 625 patients: SOC, 148; ST, 278; and APP, 199. Of 278 ST patients, 179 (64%) were skin test eligible; 43 (24%) received testing and none were allergic. In the APP period, there were 292 unique Web site views; 112 users (38%) completed clinical decision support. Although ST period patients did not have increased odds of penicillin or cephalosporin use overall (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.3; 95% CI, 0.8-2.0), we observed significant increased odds of penicillin or cephalosporin use overall in the APP period (aOR, 1.8; 95% CI, 1.1-2.9) and in a per-protocol analysis of the skin tested subset (aOR, 5.7; 95% CI, 2.6-12.5). Both APP and ST-when completed-increased the use of penicillin and cephalosporin antibiotics among inpatients reporting penicillin allergy. While the skin tested subset showed an almost 6-fold impact, the computerized guideline significantly increased penicillin or cephalosporin use overall nearly 2-fold and was readily implemented.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28711663,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Cognitive workload across the spectrum of cognitive impairments: A systematic review of physiological measures.\nOur objective was to identify the physiological measures that are sensitive to assessing cognitive workload across the spectrum of cognitive impairments. Three database searches were conducted: PubMed, PsychINFO, and Web of Science. Studies from the last decade that used physiological measures of cognitive workload in older adults (mean age >65 years-old) were reviewed. The cognitive workload of healthy older individuals was compared with the cognitive workload of younger adults, patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and patients with Alzheimer's diseases (AD). The most common measures of cognitive workload included: electroencephalography, magnetoencephalography, functional magnetic resonance imaging, pupillometry, and heart rate variability. These physiological measures consistently showed greater cognitive workload in healthy older adults compared to younger adults when performing the same task. The same was observed in patients with MCI compared to healthy older adults. Behavioral performance declined when the available cognitive resources became insufficient to cope with the cognitive demands of a task, such as in AD. These findings may have implications for clinical practice and future cognitive interventions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32374962,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Emapalumab in Children with Primary Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis.\nPrimary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis is a rare syndrome characterized by immune dysregulation and hyperinflammation. It typically manifests in infancy and is associated with high mortality. We investigated the efficacy and safety of emapalumab (a human anti-interferon-\u03b3 antibody), administered with dexamethasone, in an open-label, single-group, phase 2-3 study involving patients who had received conventional therapy before enrollment (previously treated patients) and previously untreated patients who were 18 years of age or younger and had primary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis. The patients could enter a long-term follow-up study until 1 year after allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation or until 1 year after the last dose of emapalumab, if transplantation was not performed. The planned 8-week treatment period could be shortened or extended if needed according to the timing of transplantation. The primary efficacy end point was the overall response, which was assessed in the previously treated patients according to objective clinical and laboratory criteria. At the cutoff date of July 20, 2017, a total of 34 patients (27 previously treated patients and 7 previously untreated patients) had received emapalumab; 26 patients completed the study. A total of 63% of the previously treated patients and 65% of the patients who received an emapalumab infusion had a response; these percentages were significantly higher than the prespecified null hypothesis of 40% (P = 0.02 and P = 0.005, respectively). In the previously treated group, 70% of the patients were able to proceed to transplantation, as were 65% of the patients who received emapalumab. At the last observation, 74% of the previously treated patients and 71% of the patients who received emapalumab were alive. Emapalumab was not associated with any organ toxicity. Severe infections developed in 10 patients during emapalumab treatment. Emapalumab was discontinued in 1 patient because of disseminated histoplasmosis. Emapalumab was an efficacious targeted therapy for patients with primary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis. (Funded by NovImmune and the European Commission; NI-0501-04 and NI-0501-05 ClinicalTrials.gov numbers, NCT01818492 and NCT02069899.).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28565825,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A comparison of adeB gene expression levels under conditions of induced resistance by different drugs in vitro in Acinetobacter baumannii.\nThe present study was designed to analyze the difference of the adeB gene expression levels under conditions of induced resistance and to verify the significance of the AdeABC efflux pump in the in vitro induction of Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii). Strains were isolated from blood or drainage samples in the First Hospital of China Medical University. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined by a broth microdilution method. In addition, an in vitro induction of drug-resistance tests was confirmed with the three drugs. The expression level of the adeB was determined by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), and there were 19, 17 and 25 strains isolated from this test that were susceptible to amikacin, netilmicin and imipenem, respectively. Furthermore, 11, 15 and 8 stably resistant strains generated against amikacin, netilmicin and imipenem, respectively, by in vitro induction. The MIC values of all the imipenem-sensitive and imipenem-resistant strains decreased by no more than 2-fold under carbonyl cyanide 3-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP)-containing conditions. The MIC values of 10 amikacin-resistant and 14 netilmicin-resistant strains decreased 4-fold or more under CCCP-containing conditions. Furthermore, qPCR revealed that none of the imipenem-sensitive or the imipenem-resistant strains expressed the adeB gene, but there were 10 amikacin-resistant and 5 netilmicin-resistant strains that expressed the adeB gene. In conclusion, the present study confirmed that in vitro induction of drug-resistance tests in sensitive A. baumannii strains could produce drug-resistance following long-term exposure to low doses of antibacterial drugs. In addition, amikacin and netilmicin are more prone to producing drug-resistance compared to imipenem in vitro. The results of the efflux phenotype indicate the possible application of CCCP in the inhibition of the efflux system in some drugs. The inconsistency between efflux phenotype and qPCR of adeB indicates that other mechanisms may also be included in the induction of drug-resistance that work with the active mechanism in order to increase drug resistance to common clinically-used antimicrobial drugs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11996080,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Intractable obstructive shock as a result of isolated cardiac metastases: a case report.\nCardiac metastases are uncommon and difficult to diagnose clinically; thus, they are most often found only at autopsy. Here we present a case of isolated right atrial cardiac metastasis found 7 weeks after the resection of the primary tumor, which was an adenocarcinoma of the lung. The patient presented with intractable obstructive shock, caused by a ball-valve effect of the atrial lesion that prevented forward blood flow from the right atrium. Computed tomography (CT) scans and echocardiograms failed to detect the lesion, and the patient died 2 weeks later. An autopsy revealed a large, isolated right atrial metastatic adenocarcinoma.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26424512,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Medical Researchers' Ancillary Care Obligations: The Relationship-Based Approach.\nIn this article, I provide a new account of the basis of medical researchers' ancillary care obligations. Ancillary care in medical research, or medical care that research participants need but that is not required for the validity or safety of a study or to redress research injuries, is a topic that has drawn increasing attention in research ethics over the last ten years. My view, the relationship-based approach, improves on the main existing theory, Richardson and Belsky's 'partial-entrustment model', by avoiding its problematic restriction on the scope of health needs for which researchers could be obligated to provide ancillary care. Instead, it grounds ancillary care obligations in a wide range of morally relevant features of the researcher-participant relationship, including the level of engagement between researchers and participants, and weighs these factors against each other. I argue that the level of engagement, that is, the duration and intensity of interactions, between researchers and participants matters for ancillary care because of its connection to the meaningfulness of a relationship, and I suggest that other morally relevant features can be grounded in researchers' role obligations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16987048,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Communicating indeterminate HIV Western blot test results to clients: an observational study of three community testing sites.\nThis study examined HIV test counselors' beliefs and practices regarding communicating indeterminate HIV test results to clients. There are many reasons for an indeterminate HIV antibody\/ Western blot assay including early HIV infection, infection with other contagious diseases, autoimmune diseases, and second or subsequent pregnancies in women. Field observations of three community HIV testing sites and semistructured interviews with 16 HIV test counselors were conducted from August 2002 through June 2003. Counselors defined an indeterminate test result in different ways. They also presented several different theories of causation, yet failed to mention two potential causes of an indeterminate result, association with large animals and infection with other (non-HIV-1) HIV strains. Counselors' understanding of the meaning of an indeterminate HIV test result varied a great deal. Some counselors believed that an indeterminate result truly was ambiguous while others believed it was indicative of being either HIV-positive or HIV-negative. Counselors' primary advice to clients who received an indeterminate result was to retest immediately without a waiting period. Counselors reported that communicating indeterminate test results to clients was a challenging task because clients who received such a result were confused, angry, and\/or mistrustful. Results highlight the need for further research to provide reliable estimates of the extensiveness of indeterminate HIV test results and to further assess the nature of counselor and client responses to indeterminate test results.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8350314,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Reactive arthritis induced by Vibrio parahaemolyticus.\nWe describe a case of reactive arthritis after Vibrio parahaemolyticus infection. V. parahaemolyticus is the principal bacteria involved in the causation of foodborne gastroenterocolitis outbreaks in Japan. Several bacteria have been recognized as being involved in the development of reactive arthritis and this is the first report of reactive arthritis induced by V. parahaemolyticus.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23875061,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Meta-analysis diagnostic accuracy of SNP-based pathogenicity detection tools: a case of UTG1A1 gene mutations.\nCrigler-Najjar syndrome (CNS) type I and type II are usually inherited as autosomal recessive conditions that result from mutations in the UGT1A1 gene. The main objective of the present review is to summarize results of all available evidence on the accuracy of SNP-based pathogenicity detection tools compared to published clinical result for the prediction of in nsSNPs that leads to disease using prediction performance method. A comprehensive search was performed to find all mutations related to CNS. Database searches included dbSNP, SNPdbe, HGMD, Swissvar, ensemble, and OMIM. All the mutation related to CNS was extracted. The pathogenicity prediction was done using SNP-based pathogenicity detection tools include SIFT, PHD-SNP, PolyPhen2, fathmm, Provean, and Mutpred. Overall, 59 different SNPs related to missense mutations in the UGT1A1 gene, were reviewed. Comparing the diagnostic OR, PolyPhen2 and Mutpred have the highest detection 4.983 (95% CI: 1.24 - 20.02) in both, following by SIFT (diagnostic OR: 3.25, 95% CI: 1.07 - 9.83). The highest MCC of SNP-based pathogenicity detection tools, was belong to SIFT (34.19%) followed by Provean, PolyPhen2, and Mutpred (29.99%, 29.89%, and 29.89%, respectively). Hence the highest SNP-based pathogenicity detection tools ACC, was fit to SIFT (62.71%) followed by PolyPhen2, and Mutpred (61.02%, in both). Our results suggest that some of the well-established SNP-based pathogenicity detection tools can appropriately reflect the role of a disease-associated SNP in both local and global structures.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37667811,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Experience and Reporting of Postnatal Depression Across Cultures: A Comparison Using Anchoring Vignettes of Mothers in the UK and India.\nPostnatal mental health is often assessed using self-assessment questionnaires in epidemiological research. Differences in response style, influenced by language, culture and experience, may mean that the same response may not have the same meaning in different settings. These differences need to be identified and accounted for in cross-cultural comparisons. We describe the development and application of anchoring vignettes to investigate the cross-cultural functioning of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) in urban community samples in India (n = 828) and the UK (n = 549), alongside a UK calibration sample (n = 226). Participants completed the EPDS and anchoring vignettes when their children were 12-24 months old. In an unadjusted item-response theory model, UK mothers reported higher depressive symptoms than Indian mothers (d = .48, 95% CI: .358, .599). Following adjustment for differences in response style, these positions were reversed (d = -.25, 95% CI: -.391, -.103). Response styles vary between India and the UK, indicating a need to take these differences into account when making cross-cultural comparisons. Anchoring vignettes offer a valid and feasible method for global data harmonisation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29384733,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Prevalence of agenesis of frontal sinus in human skulls with metopism.\nThe frontal bone is an anatomical structure of the skull separated by the metopic suture in the childhood. The scientific literature indicates that metopic suture consolidates with closure in the early stages of life. Metopism is the term used to describe a metopic suture that persists up to the adulthood. Persistent metopic suture is associated potentially with the agenesis of the frontal sinus. To investigate the prevalence of absent frontal sinuses in dry skulls with metopism. The present study was performed after the approval of the local Committee of Ethics in Research. The sample consisted of dry skulls (n=245), aging between 17 and 50 years old, of the Forensic Medical Institute of Goi\u00e2nia, Brazil. The skulls underwent anthropological exam in the search for metopism. Radiographic exam was performed in the skulls with metopism to verify the presence or absence of the frontal sinus. The radiographic assessment was performed with a Mobile DaRt Evolution device (Shimadzu, Kyoto, Japan) with protocol set in 64 kV and 16 mA). From the 245 dry skulls, 17 presented metopism. The length of the metopic suture in the skulls, considering the distances between nasio and bregma craniometric landmarks, ranged between 114 mm and 137 mm. Radiographic exams were performed on 16 skulls (one skull was not analysed radiographically because of extensive destruction). Only one skull (6.25%) had the frontal sinus absent. Besides the agenesis, the present study also found four (12.5%) skulls with aplasia and eight (25.0%) hyperplasia of the frontal sinus in dry skulls with metopism. The present study found a low prevalence rate of the agenesis of frontal sinuses in dry skulls with metopism.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32370777,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Evaluating the effects of a risk-adapted screening program for familial colorectal cancer in individuals between 25 and 50 years of age: study protocol for the prospective population-based intervention study FARKOR.\nColorectal cancer (CRC) is the second most common malignant disease and the second most common cause of cancer death in Germany. Official CRC screening starts at age 50. As there is evidence that individuals with a family history of CRC have an increased risk of developing CRC before age 50, there are recommendations to start screening for this group earlier. This study aims to evaluate the clinical and economic effects of a risk-adapted screening program for CRC in individuals between 25 and 50 years of age with potentially increased familial CRC risk. FARKOR (Famili\u00e4res Risiko f\u00fcr das Kolorektale Karzinom) is a population-based prospective intervention study. All members of cooperating statutory health insurance companies between 25 and 50 years of age living in a model region in Germany (federal state of Bavaria, 3.5 million inhabitants in this age group) can participate in the program between October 2018 and March 2020. Recruitment takes place through physicians and through a public campaign. Additionally, insurances contact recently diagnosed CRC patients in order to encourage their relatives to participate in the program. Physicians assess a participant's familial history of CRC using a short questionnaire. All participants with a family history of CRC are invited to a shared decision making process to decide on further screening options consisting of either undergoing an immunological test for fecal occult blood or colonoscopy. Comprehensive data collection based on self-reported lifestyle information, medical documentation and health administrative databases accompanies the screening program. Longterm benefits, harms and the cost-effectiveness of the risk-adapted CRC screening program will be assessed by decision analytic modeling. The data collected in this study will add important pieces of information that are still missing in the evaluation of the effects and the cost-effectiveness of a risk-adapted CRC screening strategy for individuals under 50 years of age. German Clinical Trials Register, DRKS-IDDRKS00015097.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30304972,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Methionine restriction for improving progeria: another autophagy-inducing anti-aging strategy?\nMethionine restriction, i.e., a partial depletion of the essential sulfur amino acid methionine from nutrition, extends lifespan in model organisms including yeast, nematodes, mice and rats. Recent results indicate that this strategy also prolongs health span and longevity in 2 short-lived strains of mice (with the LmnaG609G\/G609G or zmpste24-\/- genotypes) that represent animal models of Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS). The beneficial effects of methionine restriction on HGPS could be linked to reduced inflammation, and improved DNA stability, as well as the normalization of lipid and bile acid metabolism. Previous work has established that behavioral, nutritional, pharmacological and genetic manipulations that extend longevity in model organisms are only efficient if they induce increased autophagic flux. Methionine restriction extends lifespan in Saccharomyces cerevisiae in an Atg5- and Atg7-dependent fashion, supporting the notion that methionine restriction may indeed mediate its antiaging effects through the induction of macroautophagy\/autophagy as well. Based on these findings, we speculate that autophagy might constitute an actionable therapeutic target to treat progeroid syndromes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11999597,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"In vitro effects of 4-chloro-3-ethylphenol in skeletal muscle preparations from malignant hyperthermia susceptible and normal swine.\nThe in vitro contracture test with halothane and caffeine is the current gold standard for diagnosis of malignant hyperthermia. This test has a sensitivity of 99.0% but a specificity of only 93.6%. Therefore, an alternative drug is desirable which distinguishes between malignant hyperthermia-susceptible and malignant hyperthermia-normal subjects with a higher specificity and sensitivity. 4-chloro-3-ethylphenol has recently been shown to trigger Ca2+-induced Ca2+-release in skeletal muscle terminal cisternae and to increase the myoplasmic free Ca2+ concentration in skeletal muscle fibres. The purpose of this study was to investigate the ability of 4-chloro-3-ethylphenol to distinguish between malignant hyperthermia-susceptible and malignant hyperthermia-normal porcine muscle specimen in the in vitro contracture test. Ten malignant hyperthermia-susceptible and 14 malignant hyperthermia-normal swine were anaesthetized and muscle biopsies were taken. For the in vitro contracture test muscle specimens were exposed to cumulative concentrations of 4-chloro-3-ethylphenol (12.5 to 200 micromol L(-1)). 4-chloro-3-ethylphenol produced contractures in a concentration-dependent manner in the malignant hyperthermia-susceptible muscle bundles. In contrast, cumulative 4-chloro-3-ethylphenol did not generate contractures in malignant hyperthermia-normal specimens. Contractures were significantly greater (P < 0.05) in the malignant hyperthermia-susceptible compared to the malignant hyperthermia-normal preparations in all 4-chloro-3-ethylphenol concentration steps from 50 micromol L(-1) to 200 micromol L(-1). There was no overlap between the two groups above a concentration of 75 micromol L(-1) in cumulative 4-chloro-3-ethylphenol in vitro contracture tests. It remains to be verified whether an in vitro contracture test with 4-chloro-3-ethylphenol can also discriminate between malignant hyperthermia-susceptible and malignant hyperthermia-normal humans. Since no prior tested agent revealed a clear differentiation in contracture development without overlap, the 4-chloro-3-ethylphenol test might be a promising new approach to the diagnosis of malignant hyperthermia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16239751,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A transparent two-dimensional in situ beam-position and profile monitor for synchrotron X-ray beamlines.\nA compact, inexpensive and easy-to-construct two-dimensional in situ beam-position and profile monitor for synchrotron X-ray beamlines is presented. The device is based on the collection of spatially resolved scattered radiation from a polyimide foil. The X-ray beam passes through a foil placed in the path of the beam, which absorbs no more than 3% of the beam at 12 keV. The scattered radiation is collected at an angle of 90 degrees through a collimator located below the foil onto a CCD sensor. The device was tested on bending-magnet beamline BM26 at the ESRF synchrotron radiation source and has a positional sensitivity better than 10 microm with a large working range of 25 mm x 25 mm. Although the device is optimized for use in the range 10-12 keV, it can easily be modified for use with higher-energy beams by using a suitably chosen scattering foil.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16212674,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3,"dup_dump_count":2,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2013-20":1,"2013-48":1}}},"text":"Australian health policy on access to medical care for refugees and asylum seekers.\nSince the tightening of Australian policy for protection visa applicants began in the 1990s, access to health care has been increasingly restricted to asylum seekers on a range of different visa types. This paper summarises those legislative changes and discusses their implications for health policy relating to refugees and asylum seekers in Australia. Of particular concern are asylum seekers on Bridging Visas with no work rights and no access to Medicare. The paper examines several key questions: What is the current state of play, in terms of health screening and medical care policies, for asylum seekers and refugees? Relatedly, how has current policy changed from that of the past? How does Australia compare with other countries in relation to health policy for asylum seekers and refugees? These questions are addressed with the aim of providing a clear description of the current situation concerning Australian health policy on access to medical care for asylum seekers and refugees. Issues concerning lack of access to appropriate health care and related services are raised, ethical and practical issues are explored, and current policy gaps are investigated.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37458176,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"FIRST REPORTS OF LIGULA INTESTINALIS AND A SCHISTOCEPHALUS SP. INFECTING SMALL-BODIED FISH IN NEW BRUNSWICK, CANADA.\nMorphological characteristics and DNA sequencing were used to identify plerocercoids of a Schistocephalus sp. infecting slimy sculpin (Cottus cognatus) from northern New Brunswick and plerocercoids of Ligula intestinalis infecting blacknose dace (Rhinichthys atratulus) in Fundy National Park (FNP, New Brunswick). To our knowledge, no previous publications documented either cestode from New Brunswick, Canada. Blacknose dace represent a new host record for L. intestinalis. Identifications were made based on the presence or absence of segmentation and sequencing partial nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide dehydrogenase subunit 1 (ND1; mitochondrial DNA) and\/or partial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI; mitochondrial DNA). Plerocercoids from blacknose dace in FNP were identified as Ligula intestinalis based on >99% nucleotide identity with COI for this species in the NCBI GenBank database. Plerocercoids in slimy sculpin from northern New Brunswick were identified as a Schistocephalus sp. based on high nucleotide identity with congenerics in the NCBI GenBank database. The absence of GenBank entries with sufficient high percent identity to our specimens, and potential species hybrids in this genus, prevents species-level identification of Schistocephalus sp. plerocercoids currently. The absence of previous documentation of these cestodes might reflect recent environmental change promoting the transmission of these parasites that can modulate host fish behavior, induce sterility of host fishes, and contribute to epizootics.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28580717,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The development and integrity of equine pre-antral follicles cultured in vitro with follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) supplementation.\nThis study investigated the effects of different concentrations of FSH (10, 50, 100 and 200 ng\/ml) in supplemented MEM+ on the development of equine pre-antral follicles that were cultured in vitro for 2 or 6 days. The ovaries (n = 5) from mares in seasonal anoestrus were collected from a local abattoir. Ten ovarian tissue fragments of approximately 3 \u00d7 3 \u00d7 1 mm were obtained from each animal. The fragments were cultured in situ for 2 days (D2) or 6 days (D6) in MEM+ or MEM+ supplemented with FSH at four different concentrations, establishing the following 11 groups: control (D0); MEM + (D2); MEM + (D6); MEM + 10 ng\/ml of FSH (D2); MEM + 10 ng\/ml of FSH (D6); MEM + 50 ng\/ml of FSH (D2); MEM + 50 ng\/ml of FSH (D6); MEM + 100 ng\/ml of FSH (D2); MEM + 100 ng\/ml of FSH (D6); MEM + 200 ng\/ml of FSH (D2); and MEM + 200 ng\/ml of FSH (D6). Follicles were observed in only 9.65% (388 of 4,018) of the histological sections. Of the 861 follicles evaluated, 488 were in the primordial stage, and 373 were in various developmental stages; 59.7% were morphologically normal. Regarding the integrity of the pre-antral follicles, the groups with 100 ng\/ml FSH of 2-days culture as well as 50, 100 and 200 ng\/ml FSH of 6-days culture provided the best results. In conclusion, the in vitro culture of abattoir-derived equine ovarian fragments presented better morphological integrity when supplemented with FSH for 6 days, in comparison with the MEM culture group. However, no clear effects were observed with FSH regarding the promotion of activation from a primordial to a developing follicle.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28274866,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Application of fungal chitosan incorporated with pomegranate peel extract as edible coating for microbiological, chemical and sensorial quality enhancement of Nile tilapia fillets.\nFish are generous sources for providing man with his essential nutritional requirements, but the extreme susceptibility to quality deterioration hinders their optimal usage and storage. Natural derivatives are always the perfect alternatives for food preservation. The application of fungal chitosan (Ch), from Aspergillus niger, and pomegranate peel extract (PPE), in coating films for Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) fillets preservation \u200eand maintaining their microbiological, chemical and sensorial quality during cooled storage at 4\u00b0C for 30days, was investigated.\u200e Fish fillet were coated with Ch (2%) and combined Ch+PPE, at PPE percentages of 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0%. Fillets coating resulted in sharp decrease of the entire microbial counts during storage; the increased concentrations from PPE strengthened coating film antimicrobial activity. Additionally, fillets coating could retard the chemical spoilage parameters increasing, i.e. nitrogen volatile base (TVB-N), peroxide value (PV) and reactive substances of thiobarbituric acid (TBARS), during storage period. The sensory evaluation indicated higher preferences for the odor, texture, color and overall quality of coated samples. Fish fillets coating with Ch and Ch+PPE could be recommended for shelf life extension and maintaining the microbiological, chemical and sensorial quality through the application of safe preservatives from natural origins.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":2787875,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2013-20":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"An investigation of factors related to intoxicated driving behaviors among youth.\nThis study assessed the prevalence of driving under the influence of alcohol and marijuana among a sample of 18 and 21 year olds and examined the across-time relationships between intoxicated driving and consumption, risk-taking\/impulsive orientation, negative intrapersonal state, stress and use of alcohol and other drugs to cope with problems. Self-report data were collected from 556 men and women, ages 18 and 21, at two points in time. The data indicated that at least a minimum level of drinking and driving, as well as smoking marijuana and driving, is engaged in at least once for the majority of youth. Correlations between eight driving behaviors and consumption variables indicated that frequency of substance use was strongly related to frequency of driving while intoxicated (DWI). Regression analyses revealed that coping use of substances was the strongest predictor of driving under the influence. A path model examining the effect of stress, negative states and risk-taking orientations (T1) on driving under the influence as mediated through coping use (T2) was tested. Results showed that risk-taking orientation was the strongest predictor of DWI, both directly and indirectly (as mediated through coping use). Findings suggest that impaired driving may be part of a global syndrome of risk-taking behavior and is an activity engaged in most often by those who frequently use alcohol and other drugs to cope with problems.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27264808,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Genotype and phenotype correlation of phenylalanine hydroxylase deficiency among patients from Henan].\nTo delineate the mutation spectrum of phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) gene among patients affected with phenylalanine hydroxylase deficiency (PAHD) in Henan Province of China, and to explore the correlation between the genotype and the phenotype. A total of 155 affected children were recruited. Potential mutation of the PAH gene were analyzed by direct sequencing. The genotype-phenotype correlation was analyzed by matching the expected and observed phenotypes. Over 72 mutations and 108 genotypes have been identified. There were 7 homozygous mutations, including 1 case with EX6-96A>G\/EX6-96A>G, 1 with R241C\/R241C, 1 with R413P\/R413P, and 4 with R243Q\/R243Q. Among these, 6 patients have presented classic PKU phenotypes, except for a R241C\/R241C genotype which has led to mild PKU. In 104 patients carrying compound PAH mutations, 52 were classic, 34 were mild and 39 had mild HPA. Patients who were heterozygous for EX6-96A>G\/R241C, R243Q\/A434D, EX6-96A>G\/R413P and EX6-96A>G\/ R241C were found with both the classic PKU and mild PKU phenotypes. Common mutations associated with mild HPA have included R53H, R243Q, V399V and H107R. The common mutations associated with mild PKU included R243Q, R241C, EX6-96A>G, and IVS4-1G>A. The prevalent mutations in classic PKU were R243Q, EX6-96A>G and V399V. The consistency between prediction of the biochemical genotype and observed phenotype was 77.78%, especially in classic PKU, the consistency was up to 82.14%. Significant correlations were disclosed between pretreatment levels of phenylalanine and AV sum (r=-0.6729, P < 0.01). The mutation spectrum of PAH gene in Henan seems to differ from that of other regions. Independent assortment of mutant alleles may result in a complex genotype-phenotype correlation, but the genotypes of PAHD patients have correlated with the phenotype.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35352601,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Coexistence of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura and immune thrombocytopenic purpura in an Asian woman: a case report.\nA 33-year-old Chinese woman with a history of immune thrombocytopenic purpura presented with heavy menstrual bleeding. She was found to have thrombocytopenia, plasma ADAMTS13 activity of 0%, and positivity for the plasma ADAMTS13 inhibitor. She was diagnosed with the coexistence of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura and immune thrombocytopenic purpura. The patient was treated by plasmapheresis, a glucocorticoid, and rituximab. Her platelet level returned to normal, and she was discharged 28 days after admission. The number of plasmapheresis sessions and the timing of rituximab administration may be the key aspects of management of patients with thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura who have underlying immune dysfunction caused by diseases such as immune thrombocytopenic purpura.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14552524,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hypoglycemia complicating dehydration due to acute gastroenteritis.\nTo identify clinical variables predictive of hypoglycemia in dehydrated children with acute gastroenteritis (AGE), clinical variables were recorded for dehydrated children younger than 5 years old with AGE before measuring serum glucose. One hundred and eighty-four children were enrolled; 62 with, and 122 without, hypoglycemia. Multivariate analysis identified variables associated with hypoglycemia. Female gender, neurologic symptoms of hypoglycemia, and a greater amount of vomiting vs. diarrhea were significantly associated with hypoglycemia. Clinical variables do not have adequate sensitivity and specificity to accurately predict which children with AGE have hypoglycemia. Glucose determination should be considered for these patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22674130,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Assessment of gelatinases (MMP-2 and MMP-9) by gelatin zymography.\nGelatin zymography is a simple yet powerful method to detect proteolytic enzymes capable of degrading gelatin from various biological sources. It is particularly useful for the assessment of two key members of the matrix metalloproteinase family, MMP-2 (gelatinase A) and MMP-9 (gelatinase B), due to their potent gelatin-degrading activity. This polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis-based method can provide a reliable assessment of the type of gelatinase, relative amount, and activation status (latent, compared with active enzyme forms) in cultured cells, tissues, and biological fluids. The method can be used to investigate factors that regulate gelatinase expression and modulate zymogen activation in experimental systems. The system provides information on the pattern of gelatinase expression and activation in human cancer tissues and how this relates to cancer progression. Interpretation of the data obtained in gelatin zymography requires a thorough understanding of the principles and pitfalls of the technique; this is particularly important when evaluating enzyme levels and the presence of active gelatinase species. If properly used, gelatin zymography is an excellent tool for the study of gelatinases in biological systems.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28270257,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"New developments in probing and targeting protein acylation in malaria, leishmaniasis and African sleeping sickness.\nInfections by protozoan parasites, such as Plasmodium falciparum or Leishmania donovani, have a significant health, social and economic impact and threaten billions of people living in tropical and sub-tropical regions of developing countries worldwide. The increasing range of parasite strains resistant to frontline therapeutics makes the identification of novel drug targets and the development of corresponding inhibitors vital. Post-translational modifications (PTMs) are important modulators of biology and inhibition of protein lipidation has emerged as a promising therapeutic strategy for treatment of parasitic diseases. In this review we summarize the latest insights into protein lipidation in protozoan parasites. We discuss how recent chemical proteomic approaches have delivered the first global overviews of protein lipidation in these organisms, contributing to our understanding of the role of this PTM in critical metabolic and cellular functions. Additionally, we highlight the development of new small molecule inhibitors to target parasite acyl transferases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20372157,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"A look behind closed doors: interaction of persistent viruses with dendritic cells.\nPersistent infections with HIV, hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus are major causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. As sentinels of the immune system, dendritic cells (DCs) are crucial for the generation of protective antiviral immunity. Recent advances in our understanding of the role of DCs during infection with these viruses provide insights into the mechanisms used by these viruses to exploit DC function and evade innate and adaptive immunity. In this Review we highlight the current knowledge about the interaction between DCs and these viruses and the underlying mechanisms that might influence the outcome of viral infections.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6918043,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Sources of social support related to single-parent functioning.\nFactors related to successful functioning of single parents have not been identified. In this study, relationships among sources of social support and criterion measures of functioning were examined. To isolate the role of social support, a population was selected that was relatively homogeneous on variables considered important in coping with single parenthood: economic status, educational or vocational opportunities, access to day-care, and length of time as a single parent. A check list and structured interview were administered to 30 unmarried women to determine their sources of social support. Ratings of parenting adequacy and of the preschool child's emotional development and behavior by three professional staff members at the day-care centers were used as criterion measures of functioning. Based on the staff ratings, the adequately functioning group was distinquished from the inadequate one. Significant correlations were found between these staff ratings and one social support variable: support from talking with network the members. Key sources of social support were identified through discriminant analyses.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27287886,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Simultaneous Changes in Sleep, qEEG, Physiology, Behaviour and Neurochemistry in Rats Exposed to Repeated Social Defeat Stress.\nDepression is a heterogeneous disorder characterized by alterations at psychological, behavioural, physiological, neurophysiological, and neurochemical levels. Social stress is a prevalent stress in man, and the repeated social defeat stress model in rats has been proposed as being the rodent equivalent to loss of control, which in subordinate animals produces alterations that resemble several of the cardinal symptoms found in depressed patients. Here, rats followed a resident-intruder protocol for 4 consecutive days during which behavioural, physiological, and electroencephalographic (EEG) parameters were simultaneously monitored in subordinate rats. On day 5, prefrontal dopamine (DA) and hippocampal serotonin (5-HT) as well as corticosterone were measured in submissive rats that had visual, acoustic, and olfactory (but no physical) contact with a dominant, resident conspecific rat. Socially defeated rats demonstrated increases in ultrasonic vocalizations (20-25 KHz), freezing, submissive defensive behaviour, inactivity, and haemodynamic response, while decreases were found in repetitive grooming behaviour and body weight. Additionally, alterations in the sleep-wake architecture were associated with reduced active waking, enhanced light sleep, and increased frequency of transitions from light sleep to quiet wakefulness, indicating sleep instability. Moreover, the attenuation of EEG power over the frequency range of 4.2-30 Hz, associated with a sharp transient increase in delta oscillations, appeared to reflect increased brain activity and metabolism in subordinate animals. These EEG changes were synchronous with a marked increase in body temperature and a decrease in locomotor activity. Furthermore, psychosocial stress consistently increased 5-HT, DA, and corticosterone levels. The increased levels of cortical DA and hippocampal 5-HT during social threat may reflect a coping mechanism to promote alertness and psychological adaptation to provocative and threatening stimuli. These neurophysiological changes are hypothesized to be the consequence of dynamics in monoamine systems, which could be useful markers for disease progression in the aetiology of depression.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":950263,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The antidiuretic action of 1-deamino-8-D-arginine vasopressin (DDAVP) in man.\n1. After administration of a new vasopressin analogue (DDAVP), a marked and prolonged antidiuresis occurred in 10 patients with pituitary diabetes insipidus. 2. The antidiuretic effects of single intravenous doses of 0.04--24 mug DDAVP and single intranasal doses of 5--320 mug DDAVP were investigated. Time curves of the antidiuretic responses expressed in changes of urine osmolality (Uosm) and free water clearance per 100 ml GFR (CH2O X 100\/GFR) are described. 3. Maximal \"peak\" response was obtained after an intravenous dose of 1 mug within the first 12 hrs (Uosm was 7--800 mOsm\/KgH2O). Further increase of dosage resulted only in prolongation of duration of action (up to 48 hrs) and peak (\"plateau\") effect (up to 24 hrs). 4. There was a linear relationship between the log dose and log osmolality of urine collected in the second 12 hours after administration of single intravenous and intranasal doses of DDAVP. 5. Comparison of the effects of 1 mug lysine-vasopressin and 1 mug DDAVP revealed only slight differences in peak effects, but extreme differences in duration of action. 6. It is concluded that in the evaluation of a synthetic vasopressin analogue the maximal antidiuretic ability and the prolongation of action have to be analysed separately.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":10209459,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Malignant tumours of the maxillary complex: an 18-year review.\nOver an 18-year period, 147 patients with malignant tumours involving the maxillary complex were treated in a combined head and neck clinic, of whom 50 underwent surgery. There were 33 males and 17 females, the mean age was 57 years (range 11-87 years). The most common clinical presentations were either painful facial swelling, infraorbital anaesthesia, palatal ulceration or nasal obstruction. Preoperative investigations included EUA, biopsy and either CT or MRI scans. Of the 50 tumours, 62% were squamous cell carcinomas. Surgery consisted of either partial or total maxillectomy including craniofacial resection in nine patients. Reconstruction was by either split skin grafting or by free tissue transfer when the cranial contents had been exposed. Adjuvant radiotherapy was given in 82% of the patients. The mean follow-up was 5 years and 59% of patients are alive and disease free. The 5-year local control rate was 67%; it was greatly influenced by histological evidence of nerve invasion, local recurrence being the major cause of death. It was concluded that adequate surgical clearance, followed by planned postoperative radiotherapy, is the most effective treatment for malignant disease of the maxillary complex.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17877944,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"[Arthroscopic palliative resection of the rotator cuff in patients with unreconstructible lesions].\nThe aim of this study is to present a simple rotator cuff lesion classification that provides guidelines as to their treatment, and to evaluate the results of palliative arthroscopic resection of rotator cuff residues known as unreconstructible lesions. In addition, our therapeutic approaches were ascertained in view of their applicability to the types of lesions studied. In a five-year period (January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2004), a total of 181 arthroscopic procedures were performed on the shoulder joints of patients diagnosed with impingement or rotator cuff syndromes. In 130 cases, a tear or irritation of the rotator cuff was recorded. Rotator cuff lesions were categorized on the basis of our modification of the Gschwend classification. In 15 of the patients, in whom unreconstructible lesions were detected, arthroscopic palliative resection of rotator cuff residues was performed. The average age of these patients was 65 years, and they were followed up for 6 to 60 months. All surgery was carried out in a \"beach-chair\" position, either under general anesthesia or with an interscalene brachial plexus block. The arthroscope was inserted through the \"soft-spot\". Continuous irrigation was provided with an arthroscopic pump. In the first place, the glenohumeral joint was explored, and resection of rotator cuff residues was performed via ventral and lateral ports. The procedure was completed by subacromial decompression and partial resection of the acromion. The results were evaluated by the Constant Functional Score, as modified by us. Clinical examination was supplemented with subjective information from questionnaires provided by the patients. In a total of 130 shoulder joints with rotator cuff tears examined by arthroscopy, type I lesions were found in 90, and these were treated by arthroscopic subacromial decompression. Twenty-five type II and type III lesions underwent open rotator cuff repair and 15 type IV and type V lesions were treated by palliative arthroscopic resection of residual rotator cuff lesions, using the Apoil method. These fifteen patients were followed up for 6 to 60 months and their outcomes were evaluated. No excellent results were achieved (Constant Score, 80-100 points), but this is implicit in the nature of a palliative operation. Good (65-79 points) and satisfactory (51-64 points) results were recorded in 11 (73.3 %) and four (26.7 %) patients, respectively. No poor results were found. The average improvement in Constant scores was 21 points. A total of 130 rotator cuff lesions diagnosed arthroscopically were categorized on the basis of a modified classification system. We will continue to treat type I lesions by arthroscopic subacromial decompression, which has provided good results, as reported in our previous study. We consider the arthroscopic repair of rotator cuff tears to be an optimal procedure for type II lesions; for type III lesions we will keep using open repair surgery. The most complex problem is presented by type IV lesions. While palliative arthroscopic resection of the rotator cuff is one option, muscle transfer has also shown satisfactory outcomes, as has partial reconstruction. The use of either allografts or cadaver grafts did not give good results. Type V lesions, in our opinion, are unambiguously indicated for palliative arthroscopic resection of the rotator cuff. Their treatment by the Apoil method and detailed evaluation of the outcomes are described here; the results of this study are in agreement with those reported in the relevant international literature. Good and satisfactory results were achieved by palliative arthroscopic resection of the rotator cuff, in combination with subacromial decompression, in patients with unreconstructible lesions. The average improvement in the Constant Functional Score was 21 points. This suggests that the method can be recommended for wider use in the future. However, exact diagnosis and correct indication, i.e., type V lesion, are essential.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1685771,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The military physician assistant.\nThe origin of the physician assistant began with medically trained military personnel. Now, 25 years later, the military has over 1,100 physician assistants working in all aspects of health care delivery. This article examines the historical perspective and discusses current and emerging issues for the utilization of military physician assistants.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16240923,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Cochlear implants in obliterated or ossified cochleas].\nOur last cases of cochlear implants in obliterated or ossified cochleas are presented, and we had described the surgical technique for double-array or compressed system. In our opinion the best surgical method is the combined approach (endoaural with aticotomy view and posterior timpanotomy) for increased promontory view. This technique provides the advantage that it always preserve the posterior wall of the external ear canal, and the array is positioned easily.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28252288,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Structure, Spectra, and DFT Simulation of Nickel Benzazolate Complexes with Tris(2-aminoethyl)amine Ligand.\nBenzazolate complexes of Ni(II), [Ni(pbz)(tren)]ClO4 (pbz = 2-(2'-hydroxyphenyl)-benzimidazole (pbm), 1, 2-(2'-hydroxyphenyl)-benzoxazole (pbx), 2, 2-(2'-hydroxyphenyl)-benzothiazole (pbt), 3; tren = tris(2-aminoethyl)amine), are prepared by self-assembly reaction and structurally characterized. Theoretical DFT simulations are carried out to reproduce the features of their crystal structures and their spectroscopic and photophysic properties. The three complexes are moderately luminescent at room temperature both in acetonitrile solution and in the solid state. The simulations indicate that the absorption spectrum is dominated by two well-defined transitions, and the electronic density concentrates in three MOs around the benzazole ligands. The Stokes shifts of the emission spectra of complexes 1-3 are determined by optimizing the electronic excited state.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27283858,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Exploring visual plasticity: dietary carotenoids can change color vision in guppies (Poecilia reticulata).\nDifferences in color vision can play a key role in an organism's ability to perceive and interact with the environment across a broad range of taxa. Recently, species have been shown to vary in color vision across populations as a result of differences in regulatory sequence and\/or plasticity of opsin gene expression. For decades, biologists have been intrigued by among-population variation in color-based mate preferences of female Trinidadian guppies. We proposed that some of this variation results from variation in color vision caused by plasticity in opsin expression. Specifically, we asked about the role of dietary carotenoid availability, because carotenoids (1) are the precursors for vitamin A, which is essential for the creation of photopigments and (2) have been linked to variation in female mate choice. We raised guppies on different carotenoid-level diets and measured opsin expression. Guppies raised on high-carotenoid diets expressed higher levels of long wavelength sensitive opsin (LWS) opsins than those raised on lower levels of carotenoids. These results suggest that dietary effects on opsin expression represent a previously unaccounted for mechanism by which ecological differences across populations could lead to mate choice differences.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36936772,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Erastin inhibits porcine epidemic diarrhea virus replication in Vero cells.\nPorcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), an intestinal pathogenic coronavirus, has caused significant economic losses to the swine industry worldwide. At present, there are several treatment methods, but there is still a lack of clinically effective targeted drugs, new antiviral mechanisms and drugs need to be explored. In this study, we established a model of erastin versus ferrostatin-1 treatment of Vero cells, and then detected virus proliferation and gene expression by RT-qPCR through PEDV infection experiments. We demonstrated for the first time that erastin significantly inhibited the replication of PEDV upon entry into cells; Vero treated with erastin significantly regulated the expression of three genes, NRF2, ACSL4 and GPX4, notably erastin regulated the expression of these three genes negatively correlated with the expression induced by PEDV virus infection. Since NRF2, ACSL4 and GPX4 are classical Ferroptosis genes, this study speculates that erastin may inhibit the replication of PEDV in Vero cells in part through the regulation of ferroptosis pathway, and erastin may be a potential drug for the treatment of PEDV infection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16995894,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Brief report: development of a prescription medication information webliography for consumers.\nWebsites offering drug information vary in coverage and quality, and most health care consumers are poorly equipped to assess the quality of internet medication information. To establish a webliography of recommended prescription medication information websites for health care consumers and providers. Drug information websites were systematically identified based on recommendations from health professionals and text-word searches of MEDLINE and Google. The resulting sample of websites was evaluated in a 2-step process. Candidate websites were first screened using inclusion\/exclusion criteria representing minimum information requirements. Websites that passed the inclusion\/exclusion criteria were then rated on 16 quality criteria using a 5-point scale by 3 trained judges. Website ratings were averaged, then multiplied by the corresponding importance weight of each criterion and summed to generate a total score. Websites with the highest total scores were included in the webliography. Ten websites were selected for inclusion in the webliography. The 3 highest-scoring websites were Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield (http:\/\/home.anthemhealth.com\/topic\/drugcenter), U.S. National Library of Medicine (https:\/\/www.nlm.nih.gov\/medlineplus\/druginformation.html), and Healthvision (http:\/\/www.yourhealthinformation.com\/library\/healthguide\/en-us\/drugguide\/default.htm). Medication information websites vary widely in quality and content. The online webliography is a valuable and easily accessed tool that can be recommended by health care professionals to patients who request referral to reliable websites.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14563876,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Analysis of specific binding involved in genomic packaging of the double-stranded-RNA bacteriophage phi6.\nThe genomes of bacteriophage phi6 and its relatives are packaged through a mechanism that involves the recognition and translocation of the three different plus-strand transcripts of the segmented double-stranded-RNA genomes into preformed polyhedral structures called procapsids or inner cores. The packaging requires the hydrolysis of nucleoside triphosphates and takes place in the order segment S-segment M, segment L. Packaging is dependent upon unique sequences of about 200 nucleotides near the 5' ends of plus-strand transcripts of the three genomic segments. It appears that P1 is the determinant of the RNA binding sites. Directed mutation of P1 was used to locate regions that are important for genomic packaging. Specific binding of RNA to the exterior of the procapsid was dependent upon ATP, and a region that showed a high level of cross-linking to phage-specific RNA was located. Antibodies to peptide sequences were prepared, and their abilities to bind to the exterior of procapsids were determined. Sites sensitive to trypsin and to factor Xa were determined as well.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37462256,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Green Solvent Ethanol-Based Inks for Industrially Applicable Deposition of High-Quality Perovskite Films for Optoelectronic Device Applications.\nIncontrovertibly there is an increasing demand for the development of benign inks suitable for fabrication of high-performing perovskite-based thin film functional layers. Nevertheless, most reported perovskite precursors rely on the use of highly toxic solvents such as acetonitrile, 2-methoxyethanol, dimethylformamide, and many others. Hence, there is a strong imperative for the development of novel and greener inks, which will facilitate smoother commercialization of technologies based on functional perovskite films. Therefore, four perovskite precursors are studied, some of which consist of up to 90% ethanol. All inks are developed to fulfill the requirements of a high-throughput deposition compatible with roll-to-roll techniques at room temperature, assisted by an air knife for instant solvent removal. Two of the inks are particularly suitable for the fabrication of high-quality and densely packed multi-crystalline (CH3 NH3 )PbI3 layers, as confirmed by numerous nanoscale spectroscopic and material characterization techniques. Additionally, large-area photoluminescence (PL) imaging is demonstrated to improve the quality of the deposited perovskite films, with a route to enhance deposition uniformity when upscaling for manufacture. The genuine potential of the developed greener perovskite inks is demonstrated with the fabrication of solar cells with power conversion efficiencies above 19.5%.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26483635,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Regulation of cytoskeletal dynamics by redox signaling and oxidative stress: implications for neuronal development and trafficking.\nA proper balance between chemical reduction and oxidation (known as redox balance) is essential for normal cellular physiology. Deregulation in the production of oxidative species leads to DNA damage, lipid peroxidation and aberrant post-translational modification of proteins, which in most cases induces injury, cell death and disease. However, physiological concentrations of oxidative species are necessary to support important cell functions, such as chemotaxis, hormone synthesis, immune response, cytoskeletal remodeling, Ca(2+) homeostasis and others. Recent evidence suggests that redox balance regulates actin and microtubule dynamics in both physiological and pathological contexts. Microtubules and actin microfilaments contain certain amino acid residues that are susceptible to oxidation, which reduces the ability of microtubules to polymerize and causes severing of actin microfilaments in neuronal and non-neuronal cells. In contrast, inhibited production of reactive oxygen species (ROS; e.g., due to NOXs) leads to aberrant actin polymerization, decreases neurite outgrowth and affects the normal development and polarization of neurons. In this review, we summarize emerging evidence suggesting that both general and specific enzymatic sources of redox species exert diverse effects on cytoskeletal dynamics. Considering the intimate relationship between cytoskeletal dynamics and trafficking, we also discuss the potential effects of redox balance on intracellular transport via regulation of the components of the microtubule and actin cytoskeleton as well as cytoskeleton-associated proteins, which may directly impact localization of proteins and vesicles across the soma, dendrites and axon of neurons.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31251227,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Quantitative analysis of the distribution and content of trace metal elements in liquid samples with a three-dimensional confocal x-ray technique.\nThree-dimensional (3D) confocal x-ray fluorescence analysis technology is widely used, but the quantitative analysis of elemental spatial distributions of solid samples is complicated. This paper explores a quantitative analysis method that can be applied to solid samples. Fluorescence spectra of liquid samples are obtained on a 3D confocal x-ray fluorescence spectrometer. Curves are plotted showing the relationships between the fluorescence count intensity and the mass percentage of metal ions, and the respective fitting-curve equations are determined according to the curve morphology. Fluorescence intensity as a function of the mass percentage and depth position is derived from the samples for a particular acquisition time. These data play a potential role in the subsequent quantitative analysis of unknown mass percentages of solid samples.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17002135,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[The research advances of biomechanics of human knee joint ligaments].\nLigaments are the main parts which stabilize the knee joint. How to analog the ligaments in biomechanical model will affect the characteristics of the human knee dynamics and in the computation of the stress in ligaments between two bones. This symposium is aimed at the survey of the simplified method of the ligaments via mechanical parameters, and providing an exact method of constructing model.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1699702,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"C4b-binding protein, a regulatory component of the classical pathway of complement, is an acute-phase protein and is elevated in systemic lupus erythematosus.\nA radioimmunoassay using monoclonal and polyclonal antihuman C4b-binding protein (C4BP) antibody was developed to quantitate C4BP in serum. Using the assay, the levels of C4BP in healthy individuals, in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and in acute-phase individuals were determined. The levels of C4BP are significantly elevated in individuals with SLE (186%; p = 0.0001) and are even higher in individuals during the acute phase (286%; p = 0.0001). To confirm whether or not individuals were in the acute-phase response, serum C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were assessed. In the acute-phase response, CRP levels were 100-fold elevated over normals, but did not correlate with increases in C4BP (r = -0.031; p = 0.899). In SLE patients, the CRP levels were significantly, but moderately, elevated (5-fold; p = 0.028). The data indicate that C4BP is an acute-phase reactant and is differentially regulated from CRP during the acute-phase response.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6725572,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Normative data for two MMPI critical item sets.\nAddressed normative aspects of recent MMPI critical item sets proposed by Koss and Butcher (1973) and Lachar and Wrobel (1979). Base rates from MMPI Form R for these items were determined in samples of 123 normals, 383 inpatient alcoholics, and 567 psychiatric inpatients. Although pathological groups, as expected, generally endorsed more critical items than normals, mean differences were not large. On several critical item subsets, especially in the Koss -Butcher group, normals actually scored higher than the pathological samples. Caution is suggested when critical MMPI items are used in assessments.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27475065,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Unfolding homoclinic connections formed by corner intersections in piecewise-smooth maps.\nThe stable and unstable manifolds of an invariant set of a piecewise-smooth map are themselves piecewise-smooth. Consequently, as parameters of a piecewise-smooth map are varied, an invariant set can develop a homoclinic connection when its stable manifold intersects a non-differentiable point of its unstable manifold (or vice-versa). This is a codimension-one bifurcation analogous to a homoclinic tangency of a smooth map, referred to here as a homoclinic corner. This paper presents an unfolding of generic homoclinic corners for saddle fixed points of planar piecewise-smooth continuous maps. It is shown that a sequence of border-collision bifurcations limits to a homoclinic corner and that all nearby periodic solutions are unstable.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27479447,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Synthetic Nucleic Acids and Treatment of Neurological Diseases.\nThe ability to control gene expression with antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) could provide a new treatment strategy for disease. To review the use of ASOs for the treatment of neurological disorders. Articles were identified through a search of PubMed references from 2000 to 2016 for articles describing the use of ASOs to treat disease, with specific attention to neurological disease. We concentrated our review on articles pertaining to activation of frataxin expression (Friedreich's ataxia) and production of active survival motor neuron 2 (SMN2, spinal muscular atrophy). Many neurological diseases are caused by inappropriate expression of a protein. Mutations may reduce expression of a wild-type protein, and strategies to activate expression may provide therapeutic benefit. For other diseases, a mutant protein may be expressed too highly and methods that reduce mutant protein expression might form the basis for drug development. Synthetic ASOs can recognize cellular RNA and control gene expression. Antisense oligonucleotides are not a new concept, but successful clinical development has proceeded at a slow pace. Advances in ASO chemistry, biological understanding, and clinical design are making successful applications more likely. Both laboratory and clinical studies are demonstrating the potential of ASOs as a source of drugs to treat neurological disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11984866,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Score test for detecting linkage to quantitative traits.\nThe two most popular methods to detect linkage of a quantitative trait to a marker are the Haseman-Elston regression method and the variance components likelihood-ratio test. In the literature, these methods are frequently compared and the relative advantages and disadvantages of each method are well known. In this article, we derive a score test for the variance component attributable to a specific quantitative trait locus and show that for sib-pairs it is mathematically equivalent to a recently proposed version of the Haseman-Elston method that optimally combines the sum squared and the difference squared of the centered phenotype values of the sibs. Because score tests and likelihood-ratio tetsts are equivalent for large sample sizes, the variance components likelihood-ratio test is also asymptotically equivalent to this optimal Haseman-Elston test. This fact gives a theoretical explanation of the empirical observation from simulation studies reporting similar power of the variance components likelihood-ratio test and the optimal Haseman-Elston method. Perhaps more importantly for practical purposes, the score test can also be extended in a natural way to support the simultaneous analysis of more than two subjects and multivariate phenotypes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16984729,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Multiple tumor types may originate from bone marrow-derived cells.\nIt was believed that tumors originated from the transformation of their tissue-specific stem cells. However, bone marrow-derived cells (BMDCs), which possess an unexpected degree of plasticity and often reside in other tissues, might also represent a potential source of malignancy. To study whether BMDCs play a role in the source of other tumors, BMDCs from mice were treated with 3-methycholanthrene until malignant transformation was achieved. Here we show that transformed BMDCs could form many tumor types, including epithelial tumors, neural tumors, muscular tumors, tumors of fibroblasts, blood vessel endothelial tumors, and tumors of poor differentiation in vivo. Moreover, a single transformed BMDC has the ability to self-renew, differentiate spontaneously into various types of tumor cells in vitro, express markers associated with multipotency, and form teratoma in vivo. These data suggest that multipotent cancer stem cells seemed to originate from transformed BMDCs. Conclusively, these findings reveal that BMDCs might be a source of many tumor types, even teratoma. In addition, multipotent cancer stem cells might originate from malignant transformed BMDCs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31249865,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nutrient availability shapes methionine metabolism in p16\/MTAP-deleted cells.\nCodeletions of gene loci containing tumor suppressors and neighboring metabolic enzymes present an attractive synthetic dependency in cancers. However, the impact that these genetic events have on metabolic processes, which are also dependent on nutrient availability and other environmental factors, is unknown. As a proof of concept, we considered panels of cancer cells with homozygous codeletions in CDKN2a and MTAP, genes respectively encoding the commonly-deleted tumor suppressor p16 and an enzyme involved in methionine metabolism. A comparative metabolomics analysis revealed that while a metabolic signature of MTAP deletion is apparent, it is not preserved upon restriction of nutrients related to methionine metabolism. Furthermore, re-expression of MTAP exerts heterogeneous consequences on metabolism across isogenic cell pairs. Together, this study demonstrates that numerous factors, particularly nutrition, can overwhelm the effects of metabolic gene deletions on metabolism. These findings may also have relevance to drug development efforts aiming to target methionine metabolism.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9143997,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Bioresorbable implants: applications in orthopaedic surgery.\nThere are several new and potential uses for absorbable implants. Some will provide exciting options in the future. Ongoing animal and clinical studies will help focus future areas of development.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28290623,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sequential monitoring of pigmented lesions during dabrafenib treatment: a prospective study and a literature overview.\nTargeted therapies in melanoma have shown clinical benefit in incrementing the overall survival of metastatic patients. However, cutaneous adverse events have been frequently associated with these drugs. We report our experience in the management of patients treated with dabrafenib for metastatic melanoma, focusing on the monitoring of pigmented lesions. Dermatologic evaluation was performed during the first visit, at the start of each treatment and subsequently after every four weeks. Global nevi count, videodermoscopy of suspected lesions, and surgical excisions when necessary were performed at the beginning of the treatment and every fourth week. All other cutaneous adverse events (cAEs) were noted and documented. Eleven patients were included. The most important cAEs included palmo-plantar hyperkeratosis, diffuse xerosis and pigmented lesion changes. Regarding the latter, in 6 patients, especially in the first months of treatment, we observed hyperpigmentation and hyperkeratosis of the nevi, of the pigmented mucosae and, in one patient, hyperkeratotic changes on a cutaneous metastasis. Histopathology of the excised lesions showed one ex novo melanoma occurrence and benign changes to pre-existing nevi. The awareness of the importance of sequential monitoring of pigmented lesions, with particular attention to the lesions of new onset, is crucial for the best management of these complex patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17918891,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Polymorph selection during the crystallization of softly repulsive spheres: the inverse power law potential.\nUsing hybrid Monte Carlo molecular simulations, we study crystallization from the melt of softly repulsive spheres interacting through an inverse power law potential. We work at fixed supercooling (i.e., at a temperature 25% below the melting temperature) and consider three systems, defined by different values for the inverse power exponent n: n = 5, n = 6.67, and n = 10. Modifying the value of n allows us to study the onset of crystallization in the domain of stability of the body-centered cubic (bcc) phase (n = 5 and n = 6.67) and in the domain of stability of the face-centered cubic (fcc) phase (n = 10). We show that, for the three systems, polymorph selection does not take place during crystal nucleation since the structure of the critical nuclei obtained for the three systems is not well defined. However, our results demonstrate that polymorph selection takes place during the growth step since growth proceeds either into the stable bcc phase for the two smaller values of n (n = 5 and n = 6.67) or into the stable fcc phase for the larger value of n (n = 10). We also show that we did not achieve complete control of polymorphism for n = 10. The growth step gives rise to either slowly growing crystallites composed of two blocks of different structures (the stable fcc form and the metastable bcc form) or rapidly growing crystallites of the metastable bcc form.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34423973,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nano-Zoo Interfacial Interaction as a Design Principle for Hybrid Soil Remediation Technology.\nUsing nanotechnology to remediate contaminated agricultural soil is promising but faces notable technical and economic challenges. Importantly, widely distributed soil invertebrates can potentially act as natural mobile facilitators for in situ nanoscale remediation of contaminated soil. Herein, we have drawn inspiration from nano-bio interaction and established a hybrid remediation framework using nanoscale zerovalent iron (nZVI) and nematodes for organochlorine-contaminated soil. Approximately 80% pentachlorophenol (PCP, initially 50 mg\/kg) was synergistically degraded by nZVI and nematodes within 3 days. Mechanistically, exposure to nZVI stimulated the synthesis of reductive biomolecules (including collagen, glutathione, and l-cysteine) which acted as a bioreductive barrier and significantly mitigated the toxicity of PCP. At the microinterface, collagen distributed in the epidermis chelated nZVI; subsequently, l-cysteine and glutathione strongly accelerated nZVI-induced PCP dechlorination by facilitating the reductive dissolution of nZVI oxide shell and electron transfer from Fe0 core to PCP. On the basis of the interfacial interaction, an optimized soil remediation approach composed of nZVI, nematodes, and l-cysteine was established, demonstrating a 2.1-fold increase in removal efficiency with only 48.5% nZVI consumption compared with the nZVI treatment alone. This work provides a heuristic model for developing cost-efficient remediation technologies with the synergistic force of functional materials and indigenous biota, which may be widely applicable to a range of environmental contamination scenarios.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28274222,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Knowledge, attitudes, and practices among health care providers regarding complementary and alternative medicine in Trinidad and Tobago.\nHealth care providers are often ill prepared to interact about or make acceptable conclusions on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) despite its widespread use. We explored the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of health care providers regarding CAM. This cross-sectional study was conducted between March 1 and July 31, 2015 among health care providers working mainly in the public sector in Trinidad and Tobago. A 34-item questionnaire was distributed and used for data collection. Questionnaire data were analysed using inferential and binary logistic regression models. Response rate was 60.3% (362\/600). Responders were 172 nurses, 77 doctors, 30 pharmacists, and 83 other health care providers of unnamed categories (mainly nursing assistants). Responders were predominantly female (69.1%), Indo-Trinidadian (55.8%), Christian (47.5%), self-claimed \"very religious\" (48.3%), and had <5 years of working experience (40.6%). The prevalence of CAM use was 92.4% for nurses, 64.9% for doctors, 83.3% for pharmacists, and 77.1% for other health care providers. The majority (50-75%) reported fair knowledge of herbal, spiritual, alternative, and physical types of CAM, but had no knowledge of energy therapy and therapeutic methods. Sex, ethnicity, and type of health care provider were associated with both personal use and recommendation for the use of CAM. Predictors of CAM use were sex, religion, and type of health care provider; predictors of recommendation for the use of CAM were sex and type of health care provider. About half of health care providers (51.4%) and doctors (52%) were likely to ask their patients about CAM and <15% were likely to refer patients to a CAM practitioner. However, health care providers expressed interest in being educated on the subject. Doctors (51.9%) and pharmacists (63.3%) said that combination therapy is superior to conventional medicine alone. Less than 10% said conventional medicine should be used alone. Knowledge about CAM is low among health care providers. The majority engages in using CAM but is reluctant to recommend it. Predictors of CAM use were sex, religion, and profession; predictors of recommendation for the use of CAM were sex and profession. Health care providers feel the future lies in integrative medicine.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37461648,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Divergent Molecular Phenotypes in Point Mutations at the Same Residue in Beta-Myosin Heavy Chain Lead to Distinct Cardiomyopathies.\nIn genetic cardiomyopathies, a frequently described phenomenon is how similar mutations in one protein can lead to discrete clinical phenotypes. One example is illustrated by two mutations in beta myosin heavy chain (\u03b2-MHC) that are linked to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) (Ile467Val, I467V) and left ventricular non-compaction (LVNC) (Ile467Thr, I467T). To investigate how these missense mutations lead to independent diseases, we studied the molecular effects of each mutation using recombinant human \u03b2-MHC Subfragment 1 (S1) in in vitro assays. Both HCM-I467V and LVNC-I467T S1 mutations exhibited similar mechanochemical function, including unchanged ATPase and enhanced actin velocity but had opposing effects on the super-relaxed (SRX) state of myosin. HCM-I467V S1 showed a small reduction in the SRX state, shifting myosin to a more actin-available state that may lead to the \"gain-of-function\" phenotype commonly described in HCM. In contrast, LVNC-I467T significantly increased the population of myosin in the ultra-slow SRX state. Interestingly, molecular dynamics simulations reveal that I467T allosterically disrupts interactions between ADP and the nucleotide-binding pocket, which may result in an increased ADP release rate. This predicted change in ADP release rate may define the enhanced actin velocity measured in LVNC-I467T, but also describe the uncoupled mechanochemical function for this mutation where the enhanced ADP release rate may be sufficient to offset the increased SRX population of myosin. These contrasting molecular effects may lead to contractile dysregulation that initiates LVNC-associated signaling pathways that progress the phenotype. Together, analysis of these mutations provides evidence that phenotypic complexity originates at the molecular level and is critical to understanding disease progression and developing therapies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3064816,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Detection and identification of transient intermediates in the reactions of tryptophan synthase with oxindolyl-L-alanine and 2,3-dihydro-L-tryptophan. Evidence for a tetrahedral (gem-diamine) intermediate.\nThe reactions of 2,3-dihydro-L-tryptophan (DHT) and oxindolyl-L-alanine (OXA) with tryptophan synthase have been investigated by rapid-scanning stopped-flow (RSSF) spectroscopy and by the concentration dependence of rates measured by single-wavelength stopped-flow (SWSF) spectroscopy. The RSSF spectral changes for DHT and OXA show the disappearance of the internal aldimine (lambda max 412 nm), the formation and decay of intermediates absorbing less than or equal to 340 nm, and the appearance of the quinonoid (lambda max 492 and 480 nm, respectively). Rate constants determined by SWSF were either well resolved (i.e., k1[DHT], k-1 greater than k2, k-2 greater than k3, k-3) or indicative of a tightly coupled system (i.e., k1[OXA], k-1 greater than or equal to k2, k-2 greater than k3, k-3). The RSSF spectral changes and SWSF kinetic studies together with computer simulations of the kinetic time courses are consistent with a mechanism that includes formation of a bleached species. Detection of these shorter wavelength species in the reactions of OXA and DHT indicates that substrate analogues with tetrahedral geometry at C-3 induce new protein-substrate interactions that result in the accumulation of species not previously detected in the tryptophan synthase system. The bleached species with lambda max less than or equal to 340 nm are proposed as the gem-diamine intermediates.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16213659,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Algorithm for neuropathic pain treatment: an evidence based proposal.\nNew studies of the treatment of neuropathic pain have increased the need for an updated review of randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials to support an evidence based algorithm to treat neuropathic pain conditions. Available studies were identified using a MEDLINE and EMBASE search. One hundred and five studies were included. Numbers needed to treat (NNT) and numbers needed to harm (NNH) were used to compare efficacy and safety of the treatments in different neuropathic pain syndromes. The quality of each trial was assessed. Tricyclic antidepressants and the anticonvulsants gabapentin and pregabalin were the most frequently studied drug classes. In peripheral neuropathic pain, the lowest NNT was for tricyclic antidepressants, followed by opioids and the anticonvulsants gabapentin and pregabalin. For central neuropathic pain there is limited data. NNT and NNH are currently the best way to assess relative efficacy and safety, but the need for dichotomous data, which may have to be estimated retrospectively for old trials, and the methodological complexity of pooling data from small cross-over and large parallel group trials, remain as limitations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36935592,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Combined fine-needle aspiration with core needle biopsy for assessing thyroid nodules: a more valuable diagnostic method?\nThis study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic value of combined fine-needle aspiration (FNA) with core needle biopsy (CNB) in thyroid nodules. FNA and CNB were performed simultaneously on 703 nodules. We compared the proportions of inconclusive results and the diagnostic performance for malignancy among FNA, CNB, and combined FNA\/CNB for different nodule sizes. Combined FNA\/CNB showed lower proportions of inconclusive results than CNB for all nodules (2.8% vs. 5.7%, P<0.001), nodules \u22641.0 cm (4.9% vs. 7.3%, P=0.063), nodules >1.0 cm (2.0% vs. 5.0 %, P<0.001), nodules \u22641.5 cm (3.8% vs. 7.9 %, P<0.001), and nodules >1.5 cm (2.1% vs. 3.9 %, P=0.016). The sensitivity of combined FNA\/CNB in predicting malignancy was significantly higher than that of CNB (89.0% vs. 80.0%, P<0.001) and FNA (89.0% vs. 58.1%, P<0.001) for all nodules. Within American College of Radiology Thyroid and Imaging Reporting and Data System grades 4-5, in the subgroup of nodules \u22641.5 cm, combined FNA\/ CNB showed the best sensitivity in predicting malignancy (91.4%), significantly higher than that of CNB (81.0%, P<0.001) and FNA (57.8%, P<0.001). However, in the subgroup of nodules >1.5 cm, the difference between combined FNA\/CNB and CNB was not significant (84.2% vs. 78.9%, P=0.500). Regardless of nodule size, combined FNA\/CNB tended to yield lower proportions of inconclusive results than CNB or FNA alone and exhibited higher performance in diagnosing malignancy. The combined FNA\/CNB technique may be a more valuable diagnostic method for nodules \u22641.5 cm and nodules with a risk of malignancy than CNB and FNA alone.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21747639,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-26":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Chlamydia trachomatis immune evasion via downregulation of MHC class I surface expression involves direct and indirect mechanisms.\nGenital C. trachomatis infections typically last for many months in women. This has been attributed to several strategies by which C. trachomatis evades immune detection, including well-described methods by which C. trachomatis decreases the cell surface expression of the antigen presenting molecules major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I, MHC class II, and CD1d in infected genital epithelial cells. We have harnessed new methods that allow for separate evaluation of infected and uninfected cells within a mixed population of chlamydia-infected endocervical epithelial cells to demonstrate that MHC class I downregulation in the presence of C. trachomatis is mediated by direct and indirect (soluble) factors. Such indirect mechanisms may aid in priming surrounding cells for more rapid immune evasion upon pathogen entry and help promote unfettered spread of C. trachomatis genital infections.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25510829,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Oscillatory cerebral blood flow is associated with impaired neurocognition and functional hyperemia in postural tachycardia syndrome during graded tilt.\nWe hypothesize that upright cognitive impairment in patients with postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS) is caused by reduced cerebral blood flow (CBF). The CBF velocity (CBF(v)) measured by transcranial Doppler ultrasound decreased excessively during 70\u00b0 tilt in a minority of patients with intermittent hyperpnea\/hypocapnia. Incremental tilt showed no difference in mean CBF(v). But N-back memory tasking indicated progressive compromised memory, reduced functional hyperemia, and reduced neurovascular coupling. Orthostasis caused slow oscillations in CBF(v) linked to oscillations in arterial pressure in patients with POTS. We also hypothesize that oscillatory CBF(v) degrades neurovascular coupling. We performed 2-back testing when subjects were in supine position and during incremental tilts to 15\u00b0, 30\u00b0, 45\u00b0, and 60\u00b0 in 11 patients with POTS and 9 controls. Oscillatory arterial pressure, oscillatory CBF(v), and neurovascular coupling were similar in supine position. The oscillatory arterial pressure increased by 31%, 45%, 67%, and 93% in patients with POTS during tilt and remained unchanged in the controls. Oscillatory CBF(v) increased by 61%, 82%, 161%, and 264% in patients with POTS during tilt and remained unchanged in the controls. Functional hyperemia decreased from 4.1% to 3.0%, 1.1%, 0.2%, and to 0.04% in patients with POTS, but it was unchanged at 4% in the controls. Percent correct N-back responses decreased from 78% to 33% in patients with POTS, whereas they remained at 89% in the controls. In patients with POTS, oscillatory CBF(v) was linearly correlated with functional hyperemia (r(2)=0.76). Increased oscillatory CBF is associated with reduced neurovascular coupling and diminished cognitive performance in patients with POTS.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37656827,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-18":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Modern Patellofemoral Arthroplasty.\nThe ideal procedure for isolated patellofemoral arthritis is a controversial topic. Patellofemoral arthroplasty (PFA) is an option that aims to restore normal kinematics to the knee while preserving bone. PFA has been shown to have benefits compared with total knee arthroplasty (TKA) in this patient population but has historically had a high failure rate. Revision rates are improving with modern implants and tight indications but still remain higher than TKA. This review summarizes current thinking around PFA using modern implants and techniques in 2023, provides an implant-specific analysis, and assesses how we can improve outcomes after PFA based on the current literature. The aim was to provide an outline of the evidence around PFA on which surgeons can make decisions to optimize patient outcome in this young and active population. Four databases (MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, and SPORTDiscus) were searched for concepts of patellofemoral joint arthroplasty. After abstract and text review, a screening software was used to assess articles based on inclusion criteria for studies describing indications, outcomes, and techniques for isolated PFA using modern implants, with or without concomitant procedures. A total of 191 articles were included for further examination, with 62 articles being instructional course lectures, systematic reviews, technique articles, narrative reviews, expert opinions, or meta-analyses. The remaining articles were case reports, trials, or cohort studies. Articles were used to create a thorough outline of multiple recurrent topics in the literature. PFA is an appealing option that has the potential to provide a more natural feeling and functioning knee for those with isolated PF arthritis. The high rate of revision is a cause for concern and there are several technical details that should be stressed to optimize results. The uncertain outcome after revision to TKA also requires more investigation. In addition, the importance of strict selection criteria and firm indications cannot be stressed enough to optimize longevity and attempt to predict those who are likely to have progression of tibiofemoral osteoarthritis. The development of new third-generation implants is promising with excellent functional outcomes and a much lower rate of maltracking and implant complications compared with earlier generations. The impact of these implants and improvement in surgical techniques on the revision rate of PFA will be determined from longer-term outcomes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25522165,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of Tooth-Colored Restorative Materials on Reliability of Heat-Pressed Lithium Disilicate.\nRestorative material selection in complete mouth rehabilitation is an important factor in long-term management of potential technical complications. The aim of this study was to evaluate in vitro the reliability (fracture resistance) of lithium disilicate fatigued with different restorative materials. A step-stress accelerated life-testing model was used. Seventy disc specimens were heat-pressed. Five groups of different indenter materials fatigued the lithium-disilicate specimens: group WC (tungsten carbide served as a control), group PR (interpenetrating polymer network [IPN] resin-based denture tooth), group POM (heat-pressed leucite glass-ceramic), group LD (heat-pressed lithium disilicate), and group ZR (zirconium dioxide). Lithium-disilicate specimens were randomly divided into four groups (n = 14). Specimens were fatigued to failure according to three step-stress profiles: light, moderate, and aggressive. Use level probability Weibull plots were generated, and each group's reliability, failure rate, and mean life to failure were calculated. The IPN resin-based denture tooth group had the highest reliability and mean life to failure, and lowest failure rate as compared to lithium disilicate and zirconium dioxide. No significant difference existed between the reliability of the tungsten carbide and leucite glass-ceramic groups and the IPN resin-based denture tooth group. Lithium-disilicate specimens fatigued with IPN resin-based denture teeth exhibited higher reliability than specimens fatigued with lithium disilicate and zirconium dioxide. There was a difference in fracture characteristics in lithium-disilicate specimens fatigued with tungsten carbide, lithium disilicate, and zirconium dioxide, versus those fatigued with IPN resin-based denture teeth and leucite glass-ceramic material.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18589019,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"A large randomized individual and group intervention conducted by registered dietitians increased adherence to Mediterranean-type diets: the PREDIMED study.\nTo assess the effectiveness of an intervention aimed to increase adherence to a Mediterranean diet. A 12-month assessment of a randomized primary prevention trial. One thousand five hundred fifty-one asymptomatic persons aged 55 to 80 years, with diabetes or > or =3 cardiovascular risk factors. Participants were randomly assigned to a control group or two Mediterranean diet groups. Those allocated to the two Mediterranean diet groups received individual motivational interviews every 3 months to negotiate nutrition goals, and group educational sessions on a quarterly basis. One Mediterranean diet group received free virgin olive oil (1 L\/week), the other received free mixed nuts (30 g\/day). Participants in the control group received verbal instructions and a leaflet recommending the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III dietary guidelines. Changes in food and nutrient intake after 12 months. Paired t tests (for within-group changes) and analysis of variance (for between-group changes) were conducted. Participants allocated to both Mediterranean diets increased their intake of virgin olive oil, nuts, vegetables, legumes, and fruits (P<0.05 for all within- and between-group differences). Participants in all three groups decreased their intake of meat and pastries, cakes, and sweets (P<0.05 for all). Fiber, monounsaturated fatty acid, and polyunsaturated fatty acid intake increased in the Mediterranean diet groups (P<0.005 for all). Favorable, although nonsignificant, changes in intake of other nutrients occurred only in the Mediterranean diet groups. A 12-month behavioral intervention promoting the Mediterranean diet can favorably modify an individual's overall food pattern. The individual motivational interventions together with the group sessions and the free provision of high-fat and palatable key foods customary to the Mediterranean diet were effective in improving the dietary habits of participants in this trial.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37669812,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Identifying clusters of coexisting conditions and outcomes among adults admitted to hospital with community-acquired pneumonia: a multicentre cohort study.\nLittle is known about patterns of coexisting conditions and their influence on clinical care or outcomes in adults admitted to hospital for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). We sought to evaluate how coexisting conditions cluster in this population to advance understanding of how multimorbidity affects CAP. We studied 11 085 adults admitted to hospital with CAP at 7 hospitals in Ontario, Canada. Using cluster analysis, we identified patient subgroups based on clustering of comorbidities in the Charlson Comorbidity Index. We derived and replicated cluster analyses in independent cohorts (derivation sample 2010-2015, replication sample 2015-2017), then combined these into a total cohort for final cluster analyses. We described differences in medications, imaging and outcomes. Patients clustered into 7 subgroups. The low comorbidity subgroup (n = 3052, 27.5%) had no comorbidities. The DM-HF-Pulm subgroup had prevalent diabetes, heart failure and chronic lung disease (n = 1710, 15.4%). One disease category defined each remaining subgroup, as follows: pulmonary (n = 1621, 14.6%), diabetes (n = 1281, 11.6%), heart failure (n = 1370, 12.4%), dementia (n = 1038, 9.4%) and cancer (n = 1013, 9.1%). Corticosteroid use ranged from 11.5% to 64.9% in the dementia and pulmonary subgroups, respectively. Piperacillin-tazobactam use ranged from 9.1% to 28.0% in the pulmonary and cancer subgroups, respectively. The use of thoracic computed tomography ranged from 5.7% to 36.3% in the dementia and cancer subgroups, respectively. Adjusting for patient factors, the risk of in-hospital death was greater in the cancer (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 3.12, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.44-3.99), dementia (adjusted OR 1.57, 95% CI 1.05-2.35), heart failure (adjusted OR 1.66, 95% CI 1.35-2.03) and DM-HF-Pulm subgroups (adjusted OR 1.35, 95% CI 1.12-1.61), and lower in the diabetes subgroup (adjusted OR 0.67, 95% CI 0.50-0.89), compared with the low comorbidity group. Patients admitted to hospital with CAP cluster into clinically recognizable subgroups based on coexisting conditions. Clinical care and outcomes vary among these subgroups with little evidence to guide decision-making, highlighting opportunities for research to personalize care.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15236461,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Biodegradable polyphosphoester micelles for gene delivery.\nA new biodegradable polyphosphoester, poly[[(cholesteryl oxocarbonylamido ethyl) methyl bis(ethylene) ammonium iodide] ethyl phosphate] (PCEP) was synthesized and investigated for gene delivery. Carrying a positive charge in its backbone and a lipophilic cholesterol structure in the side chain, PCEP self-assembled into micelles in aqueous buffer at room temperature with an average size of 60-100 nm. It could bind and protect plasmid DNA from nuclease digestion. Cell proliferation assay indicated a lower cytotoxicity for PCEP than for poly-L-lysine and Lipofectamine. The IC50 determined by the WST-1 assay was 69.8, 51.6, and 12.1 microg\/mL for PCEP, Lipofectamine, and poly-L-lysine, respectively. PCEP efficiently delivered DNA to several cell lines such as HEK293, Caco-2, and HeLa. The highest efficiency was achieved when PCEP\/DNA complex was prepared in Opti-MEM with a +\/- charge ratio of 1.5-2. The transfection efficiency did not change significantly when the complex was used 3 days after preparation. The addition of chloroquine to the formulation increased transfection efficiency 10- to 50-fold compared to the complex alone. In vivo studies showed a luciferase expression by PCEP\/DNA complexes in muscle increasing with time during 3 months, although the expression level was lower than that by direct injection of naked DNA. In addition to biodegradability and lower toxicity, the PCEP micelle carrier offers structural versatility. The backbone charge density and the side chain lipophilicity are two parameters that can be varied through copolymerization and monomer variation to optimize the transfection efficiency.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25430739,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"The joint effects of water and sanitation on diarrhoeal disease: a multicountry analysis of the Demographic and Health Surveys.\nTo assess whether the joint effects of water and sanitation infrastructure, are acting antagonistically (redundant services preventing the same cases of diarrhoeal disease), independently, or synergistically; and to assess how these effects vary by country and over time. We used data from 217 Demographic and Health Surveys conducted in 74 countries between 1986 and 2013. We used modified Poisson regression to assess the impact of water and sanitation infrastructure on the prevalence of diarrhoea among children under 5. The impact of water and sanitation varied across surveys, and adjusting for socio-economic status drove these estimates towards the null. Sanitation had a greater effect than water infrastructure when all 217 surveys were pooled; however, the impact of sanitation diminished over time. Based on survey data from the past 10 years, we saw no evidence for benefits in improving drinking water or sanitation alone, but we estimated a 6% reduction of both combined (prevalence ratio = 0.94, 95% confidence limit 0.91-0.98). Water and sanitation interventions should be combined to maximise the number of cases of diarrhoeal disease prevented in children under 5. Further research should identify the sources of variability seen between countries and across time. These national surveys likely include substantial measurement error in the categorisation of water and sanitation, making it difficult to interpret the roles of other pathways.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16148648,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Management and outcome of complex hypospadias repairs.\nRepeated attempts at surgical repair of hypospadias may leave the penis scarred, hypovascular and shortened. We report on the clinical outcomes of our repaired complex hypospadias cases, often referred to as hypospadias cripples. We evaluated the records of 137 children and young adults from January 1980 through December 2002 who were referred to us after multiple unsuccessful hypospadias repairs. The records of 11 patients were inadequate. The ages of the remaining 126 patients ranged from 14 months to 35 years. The number of prior surgical procedures ranged from 2 to 23. Of the 126 cases 98 (78%) were repaired in a single stage (group 1) and 28 (22%) underwent multistage repairs (group 2). Major complications occurred in 17 cases (17%) in group 1 and in 2 (7%) in group 2. Major complications included repair breakdown, stricture, diverticulum and multiple fistulas. Minor complications occurred in 9 (9%) cases in group 1 and in 4 (14%) in group 2. Minor complications included a single small urethrocutaneous fistula, skin tethering, inclusion cysts and glandular irregularity. Urethral substitution using skin grafts and\/or bladder mucosa resulted in a high complication rate of 32% and 37%, respectively, whereas use of buccal mucosa resulted in a 15% complication rate. Preoperative psychological counseling and discussion with other parents or patients were helpful. We no longer use free skin grafts and\/or bladder mucosa for urethral substitution. Waterproofing the urethral tube was performed using either a dartos or tunica vaginalis flap. When the quality of the tissues was poor or severely scarred a 2-stage repair was performed. When resurfacing the penis local skin flaps may be insufficient or unreliable, and rotation of scrotal skin flaps or burial of the penis in the scrotum (Cecil-Culp) offers dependable skin coverage.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29358942,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Ecophysiology and Growth of White Spruce Seedlings from Various Seed Sources along a Climatic Gradient Support the Need for Assisted Migration.\nWith climate change, favorable growing conditions for tree species are shifting northwards and to higher altitudes. Therefore, local populations are becoming less adapted to their environment. Assisted migration is one of the proposed adaptive measures to reduce the vulnerability of natural populations and maintain forest productivity. It consists of moving genetic material to a territory where future climate conditions correspond to those of its current location. Eight white spruce (Picea glauca [Moench] Voss) seed sources representing as many seed orchards were planted in 2013 at three forest sites simulating a south-north climatic gradient of 1.7\u00b0C in Qu\u00e9bec, Canada. The objectives were to (1) evaluate the morpho-physiological responses of the different seed sources and (2) determine the role of genetic adaptation and physiological plasticity on the observed variation in morpho-physiological traits. Various seedling characteristics were measured, notably height growth from nursery to the fourth year on plantation. Other traits such as biomass and carbon allocation, nutritional status, and various photosynthetic traits before bud break, were evaluated during the fourth growing season. No interaction between sites and seed sources was observed for any traits, suggesting similar plasticity between seed sources. There was no change in the rank of seed sources and sites between years for height growth. Moreover, a significant positive correlation was observed between the height from the nursery and that after 4 years in the plantation. Southern seed sources showed the best height growth, while optimum growth was observed at the central site. Juvenile height growth seems to be a good indicator of the juvenile carbon sequestration and could serve as a selection criterion for the best genetics sources for carbon sequestration. Vector analysis showed no nitrogen deficiency 4 years after planting. Neither seed sources nor planting sites had a significant effect on photosynthesis before bud break. The observed results during the establishment phase under different site conditions indicate that southern seed sources may already benefit from assisted migration to cooler climatic conditions further north. While northern seed sources are likely to benefit from anticipated local global warming, they would not match the growth performance of seedlings from southern sources.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1687712,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Respiratory effects of antihypertensive agents acting on alpha adrenergic receptors].\nThere are several factors involved in the bronchial muscle tone regulation, such as biochemical, nervous and humoral mechanisms. In general, in chronic obstructive bronchopneumopathy there is a reduction in air flow, due to different physiopathologic factors which, alone or combined, produce these disorders. In particular, according to suggestive hypotheses, it seems that asthma is due to a partial or complete block of beta-receptors with a prevalence of alpha-receptors and subsequent bronchial hypertonicity and hyperactivity, while in patients with allergic asthma a deficiency of beta-2-adrenergic system and an hyperresponsiveness of alpha-adrenergic and\/or cholinergic system have been suggested. In relation to this part, alpha-1 antagonist drugs demonstrated to have a bronchodilator effect, thanks to their mechanism of action. Examples of this class of drugs are prazosin, indoramin, and an analogous of prazosin, doxazosin, which has a high antagonist and selective action for post-synaptic alpha-1 adrenergic receptors and a longer half-life. Several and recent observations show that these drugs do not interfere with the respiratory function principal parameters, both in healthy and in asthmatic or chronic bronchopathy subjects, but produce an appreciable improvement of these parameters. Presynaptic alpha-2-adrenergic receptors agonist drugs would mainly act by inhibiting the central nervous system, with a subsequent lower stimulation of post-synaptic alpha-1-adrenergic receptors. Examples of this class of drugs are clonidine, rilmenidine and guanabenz (but, in this case, the effects on the respiratory function are more controversial).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9568854,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Contrasting renal effects of nicotine in smokers and non-smokers.\nCigarette smoking is associated with acute increase in arterial pressure due to systemic vasoconstriction and decreased skin and coronary blood flow. Virtually all cardiovascular effects of cigarette smoking are due to nicotine. However, whether nicotine also affects the renal circulation and function in humans is at present unknown. In the current study the acute effects of a 4-mg nicotine gum on arterial pressure, heart rate as well as renal haemodynamics and function were assessed in non-smokers and chronic smokers. In non-smokers, mean arterial pressure (+8 +\/- 1 mmHg, P<0.001) and heart rate (+13 +\/- 3 beats\/min, P<0.001) increased whereas effective renal plasma flow (ERPF) and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) decreased by 15 +\/- 4% and 14 +\/- 4% respectively; in addition, urinary cyclic GMP decreased by 51 +\/- 12% in response to nicotine administration. In smokers, mean arterial pressure and heart rate increased similarly; however, in contrast with non-smokers, ERPF and GFR remained unchanged whereas urinary cyclic GMP rose by 87 +\/- 43%. Changes in ERPF induced by nicotine were positively correlated with changes in urinary cyclic GMP. These findings indicate that nicotine administration is associated with renal vasoconstriction in healthy non-smokers, possibly through alteration of a cyclic-GMP-dependent vasoactive mechanism. Tolerance to the renal effect of nicotine was observed in chronic smokers, despite the maintenance of the systemic response to nicotine.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9554832,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Generation of oxygen radicals from iron complex of orellanine, a mushroom nephrotoxin; preliminary ESR and spin-trapping studies.\nOrellanine, [2,2'-bipyridine]-3,3',4,4'-tetrol-1,1'-dioxide, is the toxin responsible for the lethal nephrotoxicity of some Cortinarius mushrooms. Our present ESR and spin-trapping studies of the redox properties of the system of non-illuminated orellanine, ferrous iron and dioxygen contribute to understanding the molecular mechanism of its toxicity. UV-visible spectrophotometry, cyclic voltammetry and ESR in frozen medium showed the formation of a wine-red tris complex, Fe(III)Or3. This ferric complex is easily reducible (Ep = -565 mV vs Ag\/AgCl\/3M KCl at pH 7), involving a one-electron reversible process. Spin-trapping using DMPO is employed to detect the generation of superoxide anion and hydroxyl radicals. The instantaneous one-electron oxidation of ferrous ions in the presence of the toxin under air is concomitant with dioxygen consumption as supported by dioxygen consumption. GSH involves the toxin and ferrous ions under air in a redox cycling process resulting in the production of glutathionyl and oxygen free radicals, observed for the first time with an iron complex of a mushroom toxin. In most cases, EDTA is not able to prevent the Fe(III)Or3 and radical formation. The ortho-dihydroxylated groups borne by the di-N-oxidized bipyridine structure and not the bipyridine structure itself, are responsible for the formation of a stable ferric complex at pH 7, as they are for the generation of an apparently stable ortho-semiquinone anion radical. These one-electron mechanisms may play a major role in some of the known toxic effects of orellanine.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28358512,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Lead-Based Metal-Organic Framework with Stable Lithium Anodic Performance.\nA microporous Pb-based metal-organic framework (MOF) [Pb(4,4'-ocppy)2]\u00b77H2O (Pb-MOF) has been constructed from 4-(4-carboxyphenyl)pyridine N-oxide and Pb(NO3)2. Structural analysis reveals that the Pb-MOF possesses three-dimensional framework with a one-dimensional rhombic channel. When tested as a lithium-ion battery anode, a reversible lithium storage capacity of 489 mAh g-1 was maintained after 500 cycles at 100 mA g-1 as well as excellent cycling stability. The superior electrochemical performance may be derived from the sustenance of the Pb-MOF framework and compositional features of the organic moiety.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31253810,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Early evidence of molariform hypsodonty in a Triassic stem-mammal.\nHypsodonty, the occurrence of high-crowned teeth, is widespread among mammals with diets rich in abrasive material, such as plants or soil, because it increases the durability of dentitions against wear. Hypsodont postcanine teeth evolved independently in multiple mammalian lineages and in the closely related mammaliaforms since the Jurassic period. Here, we report the oldest record, to our knowledge, of hypsodont postcanines in the non-mammaliaform stem-mammal, Menadon besairiei, from the early Late Triassic. The postcanines are long and columnar, with open roots. They were not replaced in older individuals and remained functional after the total wear of the crown enamel. Dental histology suggests that, convergently to hypsodont mammals, wear was compensated by the prolonged growth of each postcanine, resulting in dentine hypsodont teeth most similar to extant xenarthran mammals. These findings highlight the constraints imposed by limited tooth replacement and tooth wear in the evolutionary trajectories of herbivorous mammals and stem-mammals.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26435943,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Invitro Antibacterial Activity of the Prosopis Juliflora Seed Pods on Some Common Pathogens.\nProsopis juliflora is probably the most widespread species of genus Prosopis and it is a good source of compounds that have been shown to be pharmacologically active. This plant has been used as a traditional treatment for several diseases. To investigate the in-vitro antibacterial activity of the P. juliflora seed pods from Bushehr, South West of Iran. In the present study, the antibacterial activity of P. juliflora seed pods extract was tested against Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the extract was determined for each test microorganism. P. juliflora seed pods extract exhibited antibacterial activity against all four test organisms. The MIC of the extract was 0.312 mg\/ml and 0.078 mg\/ml for S. aureus and S. epidermidis, respectively and 1.25 mg\/ml for both E.coli and P.aeruginosa. P. juliflora seed pods from Bushehr, South West of Iran could be an appropriate source of antibacterial compounds that makes it a promising candidate for further studies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12020361,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Can larvae of the pod-borer, Helicoverpa armigera (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), select between wild and cultivated pigeonpea Cajanus sp. (Fabaceae)?\nExperiments were conducted to observe the feeding and food selection-behaviour of different instars of the pod-borer Helicoverpa armigera (H\u00fcbner) in response to choices between the cultivated and a wild species of Cajanus. First and second instars fed upon a cultivated variety of Cajanus cajan in preference to a wild species, C. scarabaeoides and on flowers of C. cajan, rather than pods or leaves of C. cajan. First and second instars preferred pods of C. scarabaeoides with trichomes removed to pods with trichomes present. All instars fed upon pods of C. cajan rather than those of C. scarabaeoides. Solvent extraction of the pod surfaces affected the feeding of larvae, in some instances. They preferred the unextracted pods of C. cajan; the extracted pod of C. scarabaeoides (first and second instars) or the unextracted pod of C. scarabaeoides (fourth and fifth instars). Glass-fibre disc bioassays showed that the methanol, hexane and water extracts from the pod-surface of C. cajan stimulated the feeding of fifth instars. The experiments have shown that characteristics of C. cajan, such as either the compounds present or the type and distribution of trichomes on the plant surfaces, can determine the susceptibility of C. cajan to pod-borer larvae.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26444292,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"An Organocatalytic Regiospecific Synthesis of 1,5-Disubstituted 4-Thio-1,2,3-triazoles and 1,5-Disubstituted 1,2,3-Triazoles.\nOrganocatalytic azide-ketone [3+2] cycloaddition (OrgAKC) of a variety of 1-aryl-2-(arylthio)ethanones and 1-alkyl-2-(alkylthio)ethanones with different aryl or alkyl azides is reported in dimethyl sulfoxide or solvent-free under ambient conditions to furnish 1,5-disubstituted 4-thio-1,2,3-triazoles in a regiospecific manner, which are further converted into useful 1,5-disubstituted 1,2,3-triazoles by treatment with Raney Ni at 25 \u00b0C for 1-3 h. Notable features of the OrgAKC reaction include high rate and selectivity, solvent-free conditions, easily available substrates and catalysts, a wide range of synthetic and medicinal applications, and excellent yields generating a vast library of triazoles.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34413914,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Overexpression of CXCR7 is a Novel Indicator for Enzalutamide Resistance in Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer Patients.\nTo evaluate whether the overexpression of chemokine receptor-7 (CXCR7) in prostatic tissues obtained from men with Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer (CRPC) is associated with resistance to enzalutamide (Enza). Based on the inclusion criteria of CRPC in EAU guidelines, all eligible patients treated in our hospital from January 2015 to December 2019 were included. Cases underwent radical prostatectomy, docetaxel-based chemotherapy, or new endocrine therapies (including Enza or abiraterone), and cases with severe cardiopulmonary disease or other malignant tumors were excluded. After immunohistochemical staining for CXCR7 expression in prostatic biopsy tissues, all enrolled cases were divided into two groups, namely, the CXCR7-positive group and the CXCR7-negative group. And then, PSA response to Enza treatment was recorded in detail and comparatively analyzed. In addition, the Cox proportional hazard modeling and the Kaplan-Meier analysis were used to determine PSA progression-free survival (PSAP-FS) and clinical or radiographic progression-free survival (CRP-FS) in this cohort. A total of 79 CRPC individuals were enrolled and evaluated in this study. Median follow-up durations were 24 months (range, 12-42) in the CXCR7-positive group (n = 47) and 28.5 months (range, 12-42) in the CXCR7-negative group (n = 32). The patients with lower CXCR7 expression showed much better PSA response to Enza treatment. There was 84.4% of CXCR7- cases showing decreasing PSA response, while there were 71.4% in the CXCR7\/1+ group and 31.2% in the CXCR7\/2+ group, respectively. All patients in the CXCR7\/3+ group showed increasing PSA response to Enza treatment. And the percentage of patients whose PSA decreased over 50% is significantly higher in the CXCR7-negative group than in the CXCR7-positive group (68.8% vs. 8.5%, P < 0.001), and the percentage of patients whose PSA decreased over 90% is also remarkably higher in the CXCR7-negative group (43.8% vs. 0, P < 0.001). The Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated that the oncologic outcomes of CXCR7-negative patients were improved much significantly by Enza treatment in comparison with those of CXCR7-positive patients. Significantly increased median PSAP-FS (21 months vs. 6 months, P < 0.0001) and CRP-FS (27 months vs. 9 months, P < 0.0001) were obtained in the CXCR7-negative group. The further stratified analysis in all CXCR7-positive patients demonstrated that the patients with higher CXCR7 expression showed much worse outcome. The median time of PSAP-FS was 21 months in the CXCR7\/1+ group, 9 months in the CXCR7\/2+ group, and 6 months in the CXCR7\/3+ group, while the median time of CRP-FS was 21 months in the CXCR7\/1+ group, 12 months in the CXCR7\/2+ group, and 6 months in the CXCR7\/3+ group, respectively. Overexpression of CXCR7 induced by an AR antagonist in CRPC patients displays much better treatment response to Enza. CXCR7 might be a novel therapeutic target gene for CRPC patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32373706,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Disparities in adolescent sleep health by sex and ethnoracial group.\nImproving adolescent sleep health is a national priority for ameliorating health and wellbeing (Healthy People 2020), as the majority of adolescents do not get the minimum recommended amount of 8 h of sleep per night. Prior research has identified sex and ethnoracial disparities in adolescent sleep but has been limited by data availability. National studies have collected reported sleep data, while objective sleep data has been available in community samples only. Using new data from adolescents in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a population-based birth cohort study of children born 1998-2000, we are able to characterize sex and ethnoracial disparities in sleep health in the first national sample of actigraphy-assessed sleep health among adolescents. In cross-sectional analyses, we used linear and logistic regression models to assess sex and ethnoracial disparities in weekday sleep duration, timing, and quality measured using actigraphy collected from 738 adolescents at approximately age 15. We identified sex and ethnoracial group differences in weekday and weekend adolescent sleep duration, with larger disparities on weekends than weekdays. Male adolescents had 27-min shorter nightly sleep durations than females on weeknights. Non-Hispanic black adolescents had 32-min shorter nightly sleep durations than non-Hispanic whites on weekdays and 41-min shorter nightly sleep durations on weekends. While sex disparities persisted after accounting for naps, black-white differences were attenuated by napping such that there was no statistically significant black-white disparity in 24-h sleep on either weekdays or weekends. We did not identify disparities in sleep timing or quality. Future research should investigate the pathways through which these disparities arise, including behavioral and contextual mechanisms.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16987793,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Problems and associated feelings experienced by family caregivers of stroke survivors the second and third month postdischarge.\nThis study identified problems and associated feelings experienced by family caregivers of stroke survivors during the second and third month after discharge from a rehabilitation facility to home. Safety was the most frequent problem identified by family caregivers. Other problems were managing activities of daily living (ADLs) and cognitive, behavioral, and emotional changes by stroke survivors. About half of caregivers expressed more positive feelings toward managing these problems by week 8 and the majority expressed these feelings by week 12.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6731046,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"No evidence of a lymphocytopenic state before manifestation of chronic lymphocytic leukemia.\nTotal lymphocyte counts were determined on an average 13.4 years before establishment of the diagnosis in 20 of 95 consecutive patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). The reasons for performing the white blood cell and differential counts did not include diabetes, autoimmune diseases or verified viral infections which are conditions well known to be associated with lymphocytopenia or lymphocytosis. The mean total lymphocyte count in the patient group was 2.6 X 10(9)\/l and did not differ from that of an age-matched control group. There was no significant association between the pretreatment lymphocyte count and the time between test and diagnosis. We conclude that patients with CLL have not a lymphocytopenic state antedating the diagnosis of CLL.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":33727290,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Diagnosis and resection of a giant ovarian cyst presenting in a young patient with contralateral back pain and lower limb deep vein thrombosis.\nWe present a case of a giant ovarian cyst in a 20-year-old woman who presented atypically at our Emergency Department with left-sided back pain followed by acute left leg swelling. Blood tests showed significantly raised C-Reactive Protein and D-Dimer. CT-Abdomen-Pelvis demonstrated a large mass in the region of the right ovary with suspicious heterogeneous filling defects in the left external iliac vein, confirmed as a left-sided deep-vein thrombosis on ultrasound Doppler. MRI revealed the lesion to be cystic and the deep venous thrombosis was treated with twice-daily Clexane. Prior to removal of the cyst, an Inferior Vena Cava Filter was placed to reduce thromboembolic risk. The cyst was resected without complication and the postoperative period was uneventful. This case occurred while face-to-face services were limited by COVID-19 and illustrates the need for robust systemic measures to safeguard patients against the emergency sequelae of insidious gynaecological pathology.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28348165,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Combinatorial DNA methylation codes at repetitive elements.\nDNA methylation is an essential epigenetic modification, present in both unique DNA sequences and repetitive elements, but its exact function in repetitive elements remains obscure. Here, we describe the genome-wide comparative analysis of the 5mC, 5hmC, 5fC, and 5caC profiles of repetitive elements in mouse embryonic fibroblasts and mouse embryonic stem cells. We provide evidence for distinct and highly specific DNA methylation\/oxidation patterns of the repetitive elements in both cell types, which mainly affect CA repeats and evolutionarily conserved mouse-specific transposable elements including IAP-LTRs, SINEs B1m\/B2m, and L1Md-LINEs. DNA methylation controls the expression of these retroelements, which are clustered at specific locations in the mouse genome. We show that TDG is implicated in the regulation of their unique DNA methylation\/oxidation signatures and their dynamics. Our data suggest the existence of a novel epigenetic code for the most recently acquired evolutionarily conserved repeats that could play a major role in cell differentiation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22699278,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Spherical polyelectrolyte brushes as a nanoreactor for synthesis of ultrafine magnetic nanoparticles.\nUltrafine magnetic nanoparticles (MNP, 1.4-5.8 nm) were generated within a nanoreactor of spherical polyelectrolyte brushes (SPB). SPB consist of a solid polystyrene (PS) core and densely grafted poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) chains. Due to strong chemical coordination between carboxyl groups in PAA and MNP surfaces, the obtained magnetic spherical polyelectrolyte brushes (MSPB) kept excellent stability and maintained pH sensitivity. The magnetic properties of MSPB were confirmed by a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The size and the size dispersion of MNP can be modulated by varying adding sequences (conventional coprecipitation or reverse coprecipitation), or nanoreactor structure (with or without crosslinking). MNP content in MSPB could be adjusted by multicycle reactions. This new strategy makes it possible to synthesize ultrafine inorganic nanoparticles with tunable size in SPB.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35348559,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Activity switching of Sn and In species in Heusler alloys for electrochemical CO2 reduction.\nThe electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) activity of Ni2MnIn and Ni2MnSn Heusler alloys was investigated. Although pure In, Sn and Ni2MnIn generated formate as the major product, Ni2MnSn generated H2 as the major product. The CO2RR selectivity could be controlled by selecting the constituent elements of the intermetallic catalysts.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37668416,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Upregulation of SOX9 promotes the self-renewal and tumorigenicity of cervical cancer through activating the Wnt\/\u03b2-catenin signaling pathway.\nSry-box9 (SOX9) maintains stem cell properties and plays crucial roles in many cancers. However, whether SOX9 is correlated with cervical cancer cell stemness and its detailed mechanism remains obscure. We studied the relationship between SOX9 and prognosis of cervical cancer through public database, and SOX9 was related to poor prognosis of cervical cancer. Elevated SOX9 expression enhanced the self-renewal properties and promotes tumorigenicity in cervical cancer. Overexpression of SOX9 could promote the expression of stem cell-related factors in cervical cancer cells and xenografts. Meanwhile, overexpression of SOX9 could also enhance the expressions of FZD10, \u03b2-catenin, and c-Myc in cervical cancer cells and xenografts, while inhibiting the expression of DDK1. The activation of Wnt pathway by chir-99 021 raised the tumor spheroid ability of SOX9 knockdown HeLa cells. In addition, SOX9 could transcriptional inhibit DKK1 and activate FZD10 and MYC by binding to their promoters to affect the Wnt\/\u03b2-catenin pathway. These results demonstrated SOX9 regulated the self-renewal and tumorigenicity of cervical cancer through Wnt\/\u03b2-catenin pathway by directly transcriptional activation of FZD10, MYC and transcriptional inhibition of DKK1.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30308629,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Review of East Palaearctic species of Sympycnus Loew, 1857, with a key to species.\nFour new species of Sympycnus Loew, 1857, S. ferganicus sp. nov., S. leleji sp. nov., S. stackelbergi sp. nov. and S. yakutensis sp. nov. from Russia (Yakutia), Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are described. Sympycnus convergens Negrobov, 1973 and S. urgaicus Negrobov, 1973 are placed in synonymy with S. changaicus Negrobov (syn. nov.). Lectotype and paralectotypes are designated for Sympycnus simplicipes Becker, 1908. A checklist of the East Palaearctic species of the genus is compiled and a key to males of the 14 species is provided. Five species groups are defined. New data on the distribution of known species are presented. The known distribution of East Palaearctic Sympycnus species is briefly discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22664723,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sleep-disordered breathing is an independent risk factor of aborted sudden cardiac arrest in patients with coronary artery spasm.\nSleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is often associated with sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) during sleep. Coronary artery spasm (CS) also occurs during sleep and is rarely associated with SCA, but the role of SDB in the risk of SCA is unknown in CS patients. This study evaluated the breathing patterns during sleep in CS patients with a prior history of aborted SCA. This study enrolled 24 patients (age 61.6 \u00b1 11.0 years, male\/female 19\/5) with CS proven by an acetylcholine provocation test. They were divided into 2 groups: prior history of aborted SCA due to fatal arrhythmia (SCA group; n=9) and no such history (no-SCA group; n=15). Patients underwent overnight polysomnography with ambulatory electrocardiography. The overall prevalence of SDB (apnea hypopnea index \u226515) was 45.8% in this cohort. SDB was more frequent in the SCA group than in the no-SCA group (88.9% vs. 20.0% P=0.001) and identified as a pivotal risk factor of aborted SCA (odds ratio: 38.9, 95% CI: 2.80-1,498.2, P=0.01). Very-low-frequency was significantly correlated with the apnea hypopnea index in patients with SCA (P=0.01, r=0.78) during sleep. SDB is a significant risk factor for SCA in CS patients and autonomic instability during sleep might be involved in this association.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9556032,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"NFAT interactions with the vasoactive intestinal peptide cytokine response element.\nThe vasoactive intestinal peptide cytokine response element (VIP CyRE) is responsible for mediating the transcriptional induction of the VIP gene to the neuropoietic cytokines leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) and ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF). In investigating the sequence and function of the CyRE, we found a region of DNA with homology to the distal NFAT site in the IL-2 promoter. In this paper we characterize this sequence and show that the VIP NFAT site recognizes T cell NFAT with similar affinity to the previously characterized IL-2 NFAT site. However, despite its location in the middle of the CyRE, we find no CNTF\/LIF induced binding to it. Instead we show that in NBFL neuroblastoma cells, the calcium ionophore A23187 induces a protein to bind to the VIP NFAT site. This A23187-mediated induction of nuclear protein binding to an NFAT oligonucleotide is dependent on extracellular calcium but not dependent on de novo protein synthesis. Thus, this protein has the characteristics of an NFAT-like protein and is recognized by an NFAT3-specific antiserum suggesting that it is indeed an NFAT protein. The location of the NFAT site in the VIP CyRE suggests that this may be one mechanism through which different signaling pathways engage in cross talk to alter VIP gene transcription.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17193919,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pre-registration children's and young people's nurse preparation. A SWOT analysis.\nAn investigation was undertaken into the views of nurse educators on current approaches to preparing children's and young people's nurses in the UK. A convenience sample of lead academics in 17 child health nursing departments of British universities was contacted by email and invited to liaise with colleagues to generate lists of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) of the educational system. Thirteen departments provided data that were analysed and themed. Major themes included the common foundation programme, clinical skills learning, clinical placements and employment. More detailed evaluative work should be undertaken before wholesale changes are made to a relatively new curriculum.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31261140,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":2,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-30":2,"2024-26":1}}},"text":"Towards a simplified description of thermoelectric materials: accuracy of approximate density functional theory for phonon dispersions.\nWe calculate the phonon-dispersion relations of several two-dimensional materials and diamond using the density-functional based tight-binding approach (DFTB). Our goal is to verify if this numerically efficient method provides sufficiently accurate phonon frequencies and group velocities to compute reliable thermoelectric properties. To this end, the results are compared to available DFT results and experimental data. To quantify the accuracy for a given band, a descriptor is introduced that summarizes contributions to the lattice conductivity that are available already in the harmonic approximation. We find that the DFTB predictions depend strongly on the employed repulsive pair-potentials, which are an important prerequisite of this method. For carbon-based materials, accurate pair-potentials are identified and lead to errors of the descriptor that are of the same order as differences between different local and semi-local DFT approaches.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16987072,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Reovirus strain-dependent inflammatory cytokine responses and replication patterns in a human monocyte cell line.\nMammalian Orthoreoviruses are important models for studies of viral pathogenesis. In the rat lung, Reovirus strain type 3 Dearing (T3D) induces substantially more inflammation than does strain type 1 Lang (T1L). To better understand mechanisms underlying differences in the host inflammatory response elicited by T1L and T3D, we characterized cytokine expression patterns induced by those strains after infection of THP-1 monocyte cells. THP-1 cells were adsorbed with either viable or ultraviolet- inactivated T1L and T3D and assayed for mRNA and protein production of growth-regulated oncogene-alpha (GRO-alpha), interleukin-8 (IL-8), or tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha). T3D stimulated mRNA and protein production of all three cytokines, whereas T1L stimulated mRNA and protein production of IL-8 and TNF-alpha but not GRO-alpha. In each case, T3D induced greater cytokine mRNA and protein expression than did T1L. Nonviable virus did not stimulate detectable cytokine secretion, suggesting a requirement for viral RNA synthesis in cytokine induction by THP-1 cells. A greater percentage of THP-1 cells was infected with T1L than T3D as assessed by infectious center assay, and T1L achieved higher yields of infectious progeny than did T3D in infected THP-1 cells as determined by plaque assay. These strain-dependent differences in cytokine responses and corresponding replication patterns in monocyte cells parallel findings made in studies of rat models of pneumonia and provide clues about how Reovirus interfaces with the host innate immune response to produce pulmonary disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18585349,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"The colorful history of active DNA demethylation.\nPatterns of DNA cytosine methylation are subject to mitotic inheritance in both plants and vertebrates. Plants use 5-methylcytosine glycosylases and the base excision repair pathway to remove excess cytosine methylation. In mammals, active demethylation has been proposed to operate via several very different mechanisms. Two recent reports in Nature now claim that the demethylation process is initiated by the same enzymes that establish the methylation mark, the DNA methyltransferases DNMT3A and DNMT3B (Kangaspeska et al., 2008; M\u00e9tivier et al., 2008).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7921780,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Serum PAF-acetylhydrolase in severe renal or hepatic disease in man: relationship to circulating levels of PAF and effects of nephrectomy or transplantation.\n(1) PAF-acetylhydrolases form a major pathway for the degradation of platelet-activating factor (PAF). Here we investigate the role of the kidney and the liver in the control of PAF-acetylhydrolase levels by comparing normal subjects to patients with abnormal liver or kidney function. These patients had either severe chronic liver disease, chronic renal failure or were anephric. In a few cases PAF was also measured. (2) In those patients where PAF was measured there was no evidence that circulating PAF levels determined PAF-acetylhydrolase release. (3) In anephric patients serum PAF-acetylhydrolase levels were normal or even raised. Therefore the kidney is unlikely to be the usual major source of serum PAF-acetylhydrolase in man. (4) Liver patients with chronic cholestasis had elevated serum PAF-acetylhydrolase especially in stage III or IV primary biliary cirrhosis, as well as in a patient with secondary biliary cirrhosis and one with cholangiocarcinoma. Since normalisation of liver function following liver transplantation was accompanied by a reduction to normal or near normal PAF-acetylhydrolase levels, it is likely that the liver can play an important role in regulating levels of this enzyme in serum.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15236437,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Simultaneous determination of estramustine phosphate and its four metabolites in human plasma by liquid chromatography-ionspray mass spectrometry.\nA sensitive and selective method, using liquid chromatography-ionspray mass spectrometry, was developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of Estracyt (estramustine phosphate) and its four metabolites, estramustine, estromustine, estrone and estradiol, in human plasma. Deuterated internal standards were available for all analytes. The five compounds were extracted from plasma by protein precipitation with acetonitrile. The chromatographic separation was performed using a Zorbax SB C18, (150 x 4.6 mm i.d., 5 microm) reversed-phase column under gradient conditions with a mobile phase containing 2 mm ammonium acetate buffer (pH 6.8) and acetonitrile. MS detection was by electrospray ionization with multiple reaction monitoring in the positive ion mode for estramustine phosphate, estromustine and estramustine, and in the negative ion mode for estrone and estradiol. The limit of quantitation was 10 ng\/mL for estramustine phosphate, 3 ng\/mL for estromustine, estramustine and estrone and 30 ng\/mL for estradiol. Linearity was verified from these LLOQs up to about 4000 ng\/mL for the parent drug and 2000 ng\/mL for the metabolites. Inter-day precision and accuracy values were all less than 15%. This assay was applied successfully to the routine analysis of human plasma samples collected in cancer patients administered estramustine phosphate intravenously.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17186656,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evaluation of an immunomagnetic separation-real-time PCR assay for the rapid detection of Salmonella in meat.\nThe aim of this study was the comparison of an immunomagnetic separation (IMS)-real-time PCR assay for the detection of Salmonella with the cultural reference method according to and 35 of the German Law on Food and Commodities (LMBG, L 00.00.20:1998). The IMS-real-time PCR assay includes a nonselective preenrichment step, an IMS, DNA extraction, as well as DNA purification followed by hybridization probe-based real-time PCR analysis. An accurate comparability was achieved, because both methods analyzed the same preenrichment. The evaluation was carried out using both artificially and naturally contaminated meat samples. The IMS-real-time PCR assay provides a result after 12 to 13 h. Compared with the reference method and regarding artificially contaminated meat samples, the IMS-real-time PCR assay achieved a specificity of 80% (false-positive rate of 20%) and a sensitivity of 100% (false-negative rate of 0%). The relative accuracy was 94%. The detection limit of both methods was 10 CFU\/25 g. The concordance index kappa, which defines the statistical accordance, was 0.85 and indicated the agreement of both methods on statistical criteria. Compared to the reference method and analyzing naturally contaminated meat samples (n = 491), the IMS-real-time PCR assay showed a specificity of 99.3% (false-positive rate of 0.7%) and a sensitivity of 83.7% (false-negative rate of 16.3%). The relative accuracy was 98%. The concordance index kappa had a value of 0.87 and highlighted the statistical agreement of both methods. In conclusion, the IMS-real-time PCR assay is suitable as specific, sensitive, and rapid screening method for the detection of Salmonella from meat.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9550264,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Primary structure and expression of a chicken laminin beta chain: evidence for four beta chains in birds.\nCharacterization of a full length cDNA sequence for a chicken laminin beta chain is described which is most closely related to the mammalian beta 2 chain. Comparison with published sequences shows that the chicken beta 2-like chain corresponds to a fragment of a previously described laminin beta chain called B1-2 (O'Rear, 1992). The sequence of the chicken beta 2-like chain differed from fragments of two other chicken laminin beta chains that were previously described and designated B1-1 (now called beta 1; O'Rear, 1992) and beta x (Ybot-Gonzalez et a1.,1995). In addition, the beta 2- like chain does not appear to be the chicken equivalent of the mammalian laminin beta 3 chain, since it differs markedly in cDNA sequence, possesses domain IV and has a transcript size of 6 kb. We therefore propose that there are at least four laminin beta chains in the chicken. Sequence comparison of the beta 2-like laminin chain with previously cloned beta 1 and beta 2 chains shows a somewhat closer relationship to rat and human beta 2 than to mouse and human beta 1, especially in domains I, II and alpha. In addition, two expressed fragments of the chicken beta 2-like chain were recognized by a monoclonal antibody (C4) regarded as specific for the rat beta 2 chain (Hunter et al., 1989a). The results therefore suggest that the laminin chain previously described as a potentially novel chain called B1-2 (O'Rear, 1992) is likely to be the chicken equivalent of the mammalian beta 2 chain.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30671005,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evidence-Based Brief Psychological Treatment for Emotional Disorders in Primary and Specialized Care: Study Protocol of a Randomized Controlled Trial.\nEmotional Disorders (EDs) are very prevalent in Primary Care (PC). However, general practitioners (GPs) have difficulties to make the diagnosis and the treatment of this disorders that are usually treated with drugs. Brief psychological therapies may be a new option to treat EDs in a PC context. This article aims to present a study protocol to evaluate the effectiveness and the efficiency of an adaptation to brief format of the \"Unified Protocol (UP) for the transdiagnostic treatment of EDs.\" This is a single-blinded RCT among 165 patients with EDs. Patients will be randomly assigned to receive brief psychological treatment based on UP, conventional psychological treatment, conventional psychological treatment plus pharmacological treatment, minimum intervention based on basic psychoeducational information, or pharmacological treatment only. Outcome measure will be the following: GAD-7, STAI, PHQ-9, BDI-II, PHQ-15, PHQ-PD, and BSI-18. Assessments will be carried out by blinded raters at baseline, after the treatment and 6-month follow-up. The findings of this RCT may encourage the implementation of brief therapies in the PC context, what would lead to the decongestion of the public health system, the treatment of a greater number of people with EDs in a shorter time, the reduction of the side effects of pharmacological treatment and a possible economic savings for public purse. Clinical Trial Registration: ClinicalTrial.gov, identifier NCT03286881. Registered September 19, 2017.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17911585,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Discriminating between different pathways of memory CD8+ T cell differentiation.\nDespite the rapid accumulation of quantitative data on the dynamics of CD8(+) T cell responses following acute viral or bacterial infections of mice, the pathways of differentiation of naive CD8(+) T cells into memory during an immune response remain controversial. Currently, three models have been proposed. In the \"stem cell-associated differentiation\" model, following activation, naive T cells differentiate into stem cell-like memory cells, which then convert into terminally differentiated short-lived effector cells. In the \"linear differentiation\" model, following activation, naive T cells first differentiate into effectors, and after Ag clearance, effectors convert into memory cells. Finally, in the \"progressive differentiation\" model, naive T cells differentiate into memory or effector cells depending on the amount of specific stimulation received, with weaker stimulation resulting in formation of memory cells. This study investigates whether the mathematical models formulated from these hypotheses are consistent with the data on the dynamics of the CD8(+) T cell response to lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus during acute infection of mice. Findings indicate that two models, the stem cell-associated differentiation model and the progressive differentiation model, in which differentiation of cells is strongly linked to the number of cell divisions, fail to describe the data at biologically reasonable parameter values. This work suggests additional experimental tests that may allow for further discrimination between different models of CD8(+) T cell differentiation in acute infections.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35341371,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Feasibility of telesurgery in the modern era.\nTelesurgery is not a foreign concept and dates to as early as the 1920s. The use of robots in medicine has had a very positive effect and improved outcomes with little to no adverse effects. Having global access to telemedicine and telesurgery during the COVID-19 pandemic and being able to provide top medical care to gravely ill and contagious patients without compromising the safety of the medical team would be a very big achievement. We explore the hurdles needed to make it a realistic goal and give recommendations to achieve it utilizing the major advancements that have occurred over the past few years in the fields of engineering, communication etc. The biggest issues needed to be addressed are of financial investment, legal concerns, and availability of high-speed uninterrupted data connections.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18582050,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Efficient cross-coupling of secondary alkyltrifluoroborates with aryl chlorides--reaction discovery using parallel microscale experimentation.\nMicroscale parallel experimentation was used to discover three catalyst systems capable of coupling secondary organotrifluoroborates with sterically and electronically demanding aryl chlorides and bromides. The ensuing results represent the first comprehensive study of alkylboron coupling to aryl chlorides and, in particular, using secondary alkylboron partners. A ligand-dependent beta-hydride elimination\/reinsertion mechanism was implicated in the cross-coupling of more hindered substrates, leading to isomeric mixtures of coupled products in some cases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27486371,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Antitumor activity and antioxidant status of Streblus asper bark against Dalton's ascitic lymphoma in mice.\nStreblus asper Lour (Moraceae), commonly known as Siamee Rough Brush in English is widely distributed in subtropical Asia and traditionally used for several medicinal purposes. In the present study, the ethyl acetate fraction of the methanol extract from Streblus asper bark (EASA) was evaluated for antitumor effect against Dalton's ascitic lymphoma (DAL) in Swiss albino mice. Twenty-four hours after intraperitoneal inoculation of DAL cells in mice, EASA was administered intraperitoneally at 200 and 400 mg\/kg body weight for 9 consecutive days. On the 10th day, half of the mice were sacrificed to determine the tumor growth parameters, and the rest were kept alive for survival assessment. Hematological, serum biochemical and tissue (liver, kidney) antioxidant profiles were also determined. EASA exhibited significant and dose dependent decrease in tumor growth parameters and increased survival of DAL bearing animals. EASA significantly and dose-dependently normalized the altered hematological, serum biochemical and tissue antioxidant parameters as compared with the DAL control mice. From the present study it may be concluded that S. asper bark possesses remarkable antitumor efficacy mediated by amelioration of oxidative stress by multiple mechanisms.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18577664,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Contrast-enhanced transvaginal sonography of benign versus malignant ovarian masses: preliminary findings.\nThe aim of this prospective study was to evaluate differences in contrast enhancement and contrast enhancement kinetics in benign versus malignant ovarian masses with pulse inversion harmonic transvaginal sonography. Seventeen consecutive patients with 23 morphologically abnormal ovarian masses (solid or cystic with papillary excrescences, focally thickened walls, or irregular solid areas) smaller than 10 cm received a microbubble contrast agent intravenously while undergoing pulse inversion harmonic transvaginal sonography. The following parameters were assessed in all tumors: detectable contrast enhancement, time to peak enhancement (wash-in), peak contrast enhancement, half wash-out time, and area under the enhancement curve. Tumor histologic analysis was used to distinguish benign from malignant ovarian tumors. Fourteen benign masses and 9 malignancies were studied. There was a statistically significant difference in the peak enhancement (mean +\/- SD, 23.3 +\/- 2.8 versus 12.3 +\/- 3.9 dB; P < .01), half wash-out time (139.9 +\/- 43.6 versus 46.3 +\/- 19.7 seconds; P < .01), and area under the enhancement curve (2012.9 +\/- 532.9 versus 523.9 +\/- 318 seconds(-1); P < .01) in malignant masses compared with benign disease. There was no statistically significant difference in the time to peak enhancement (26.1 +\/- 6.3 versus 24.9 +\/- 7.6 seconds; P = .07). Overall, our data showed a significant difference in the contrast enhancement kinetic parameters between benign and malignant ovarian masses.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18598753,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Paternal exposure and counselling: experience of a Teratology Information Service.\nWe describe paternal exposure and counselling in a selected population calling to an Italian Teratology Information Service (TIS). The majority of callers asked for paternal drug exposure (76%, drugs except chemotherapy) and treatment for cancer (17%, chemotherapy and\/or radiotherapy). Others asked for exposure to diagnostic radiations (4%), recreational drugs (2%) and occupational chemicals (1%). Among paternal drugs neurological compounds, immunosuppressive drugs and antiviral agents were the main reasons for calling. In humans, there are no evidences of birth defects after paternal exposures, but to minimize any possible risk, counselling in men exposed to radio and chemotherapy should recommend delaying conception for at least 3 months after the end of the therapy. Male patients treated with drugs, whose teratogenic potential has been well assessed or suspected for maternal exposure, should be advised to practice effective birth control during therapy and up to one or two cycles of spermatogenesis and to avoid semen contact with vaginal walls during first trimester of pregnancy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9149167,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Intracellular reservoir of Streptococcus pyogenes in vivo: a possible explanation for recurrent pharyngotonsillitis.\nNumerous theories have been presented that attempt to explain the frequent recurrences of pharyngotonsillitis caused by Streptococcus pyogenes; these recurrences occur after seemingly adequate antibiotic treatment. We previously have demonstrated that Spyogenes can survive for up to 7 days intracellularly in immortalized human respiratory epithelial cells grown in an antibiotic supplemented medium. Viable S pyogenes were externalized and established an extracellular infection, whenever the extracellular antibiotic was removed. We have investigated the presence of intracellular S pyogenes in two in vivo studies using respiratory epithelial cells collected from patients with tonsillitis and the tonsils of asymptomatic carriers. Electron microscopy and immunohistochemistry demonstrated intracellular S pyogenes in pharyngeal epithelial cells in 13 of 14 patients with tonsillitis (93%). Furthermore, intracellular S pyogenes were found in macrophage-like cells in eight (73%) and in epithelial cells in four (36%) tonsils from 11 asymptomatic S pyogenes carriers. These in vivo data strongly support the hypothesis that intracellular S pyogenes can constitute a reservoir of bacteria with the potential to cause reinfections.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6361288,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Improved diagnosis of unilateral renal artery lesions after captopril administration.\nCaptopril was administered (1 mg\/kg of body weight) to 37 unselected hypertensive patients undergoing bilateral renal vein catheterization to determine its safety and efficacy in diagnosing hypertension related to unilateral renal artery lesions. In the 18 patients who had a unilateral renal artery lesion demonstrated by angiography, the ratio of plasma renin activity of the involved to uninvolved renal vein rose significantly after administration of captopril, whether or not patients were taking antihypertensive medication. This postcaptopril ratio differentiated cases of unilateral lesions from cases of bilateral lesions or absence of lesions without any overlap. The test was well tolerated despite occasional large drops in blood pressure. These data show that converting enzyme inhibition increases the diagnostic accuracy of renal vein catheterization by increasing the difference between the amount of plasma renin secreted by the two kidneys in cases of unilateral renal artery lesions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37446265,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Improving Rice Leaf Shape Using CRISPR\/Cas9-Mediated Genome Editing of SRL1 and Characterizing Its Regulatory Network Involved in Leaf Rolling through Transcriptome Analysis.\nLeaf rolling is a crucial agronomic trait to consider in rice (Oryza sativa L.) breeding as it keeps the leaves upright, reducing interleaf shading and improving photosynthetic efficiency. The SEMI-ROLLED LEAF 1 (SRL1) gene plays a key role in regulating leaf rolling, as it encodes a glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored protein located on the plasma membrane. In this study, we used CRISPR\/Cas9 to target the second and third exons of the SRL1 gene in the indica rice line GXU103, which resulted in the generation of 14 T0 transgenic plants with a double-target mutation rate of 21.4%. After screening 120 T1 generation plants, we identified 26 T-DNA-free homozygous double-target mutation plants. We designated the resulting SRL1 homozygous double-target knockout as srl1-103. This line exhibited defects in leaf development, leaf rolling in the mature upright leaves, and a compact nature of the fully grown plants. Compared with the wild type (WT), the T2 generation of srl1-103 varied in two key aspects: the width of flag leaf (12.6% reduction compared with WT) and the leaf rolling index (48.77% increase compared with WT). In order to gain a deeper understanding of the involvement of SRL1 in the regulatory network associated with rice leaf development, we performed a transcriptome analysis for the T2 generation of srl1-103. A comparison of srl1-103 with WT revealed 459 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), including 388 upregulated genes and 71 downregulated genes. In terms of the function of the DEGs, there seemed to be a significant enrichment of genes associated with cell wall synthesis (LOC_Os08g01670, LOC_Os05g46510, LOC_Os04g51450, LOC_Os10g28080, LOC_Os04g39814, LOC_Os01g71474, LOC_Os01g71350, and LOC_Os11g47600) and vacuole-related genes (LOC_Os09g23300), which may partially explain the increased leaf rolling in srl1-103. Furthermore, the significant downregulation of BAHD acyltransferase-like protein gene (LOC_Os08g44840) could be the main reason for the decreased leaf angle and the compact nature of the mutant plants. In summary, this study successfully elucidated the gene regulatory network in which SRL1 participates, providing theoretical support for targeting this gene in rice breeding programs to promote variety improvement.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16235678,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Pulmonary function after complete unilateral phrenic nerve transection.\nThe status of pulmonary function following phrenic nerve transfer surgery is still largely unknown because of the high degree of variability in the accessory phrenic nerve that may be involved. In the present study, pulmonary functions were assessed in patients before and after full-length phrenic nerve transfer surgery, in whom the phrenic nerve was severed at a location just before its entry into the diaphragm. Fifteen patients (average age 27.4 years) with complete brachial plexus palsy underwent full-length phrenic nerve transfer. The phrenic nerve was harvested from the thoracic cavity by means of video-assisted thoracic surgery and then transferred to the musculocutaneous nerve. Postoperative pulmonary functions were retrospectively analyzed. Patients underwent follow-up evaluation for 42 to 48 months; four patients were eventually lost to follow up. Although no patient experienced pulmonary problems following the surgery, all sustained varying degrees of diaphragmatic paralysis and elevation (for 1-1.5 intercostal spaces) on the surgically treated side as seen on chest x-ray films. Pulmonary functional parameters, including vital capacity, vital capacity in percentage of predicted values, residual volume, total lung capacity, forced vital capacity, and forced expiratory volume in 1 second, recovered to preoperative levels by 1 year postsurgery. In contrast, the postoperative maximal inspiratory pressure value was significantly decreased compared with the predicted values (average decrease approximately 20%) in all of the patients, even at 4 years after the surgery. In young patients with healthy lung function, unilateral phrenic nerve transection surgery can cause unilateral diaphragmatic paralysis and reduce the inspiration muscle force; however, most pulmonary function parameters gradually recover to preoperative levels within 1 year.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7948419,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Direct detection of an antigen in immunoglobulin G Langmuir-Blodgett films based on a surface plasma resonance method and in a piezoelectric system].\nThe possibilities of direct antigen detection in unlabelled systems based on immunoglobulin G Langmuir-Blodgett films as a sensitive surface have been studied. It was shown that an increase in the monolayer number in an immunoglobulin G Langmuir-Blodgett film deposited onto a solid surface coated with a thin silver film (50 nm) resulted in the regeneration of the antigen-binding capacity of the upper antibody layer. This dependence can be used for the construction of a direct optical immunosensor based on surface plasmon resonance. Moreover, a model of a piesoelectric immunosensor on the basis of immunoglobulin G Langmuir-Blodgett films for direct ferritin detection has been proposed. The detection range of ferritin concentrations in solution is 10(-10)-10(-7) M.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15251933,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Challenges for biomarkers in cancer detection.\nCancer remains the leading cause of death in the United States. Biomarkers can be used to detect cancer in different stages, initiation, development, and progression. The desirable property and utility of a biomarker lie in its ability to provide an early indication of disease progression. Biomarkers should be easy to detect, measurable across populations, and useful for detection of cancer at an early stage, identification of high-risk individuals, detection of recurrence, or monitoring endpoints in intervention studies. Recent technological advances have helped develop noninvasive, sensitive, and specific biomarkers to detect cancer at early stages of the disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8347756,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Alcohol and other drug abuse in elders.\nWith the growing population of older persons, ET nurses can expect an increasing number of elderly clients in their practice settings. Elderly persons are not immune to alcohol and other drug abuse. Detection of substance abuse in this population is complex and often missed. The purposes of this article are as follows: (1) examine barriers that may prevent nurses from addressing substance abuse among the elderly population; (2) suggest risks for psychoactive substance abuse in this population; (3) identify warning signs that should alert nurses to the problem; and (4) outline treatment options for substance-abusing clients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6167855,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Propafenon therapy of arrhythmias in infancy and childhood (author's transl)].\nThe therapeutic dose range of propafenon was studied in 28 infants and children aged 5 days to 15.2 years (mean 8.8 years) with the following cardiac arrhythmias: paroxysmal tachycardia (20) atrial flutter (5) ventricular extrasystoles (2) and junctional tachycardia (1). With the intravenous administration of the drug in a dosage of 1.03-3.2 mg\/kg\/d (mean 2.28 mg\/kg\/d) in patients less than 15 kg and of 0.71-2.06 mg\/kg\/d (mean 1.26 mg\/kg\/d) in patients more than 15 kg body weight arrhythmias abolished. In the same patients the oral dosage was 12.2-22.6 mg\/kg\/d (mean 16.03 mg\/kg\/d) and 7.2-16.6 (mean 11.12 mg\/kg\/d). After 10 to 14 days a therapeutic serum level above 150 ng\/ml could be maintained by a reduced oral dosage of 5.7-13.3 mg\/kg\/d) mean 8.5 mg\/kg\/d) and 3.6-11.1 mg\/kg\/d (mean 6.33 mg\/kg\/d) respectively. There were no side effects except for transitory by elevated gamma-GT in 8 patients. During a follow-up period of 1 month to 2.2 years (mean 1.6 years) 20 patients had no more arrhythmias, in 7 the number of arrhythmic attacks was reduced, and in 1 therapy failed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":5642471,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Further observations on asymmetrical solute movement across membranes.\nThe permeability of frog skin under the influence of urea hyperosmolarity has been studied. Flux ratio asymmetry has been demonstrated again for tracer mannitol. The inhibitors DNP, CN(-), and ouabain have been used to eliminate active sodium transport and it was found that urea hyperosmolarity produces asymmetrical mannitol fluxes on frog skins having no short-circuit current. These findings suggest that flux ratio asymmetry is due to solute interaction and is unrelated to sodium transport. Studies with a synthetic membrane show clearly that bulk flow of fluid can produce a \"solvent drag\" effect and change flux ratios. When bulk flow is blocked and solute gradients allowed their full expression, then solute interaction \"solute drag\" is easily demonstrable in a synthetic system.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7925448,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Uniport of monoanionic L-malate in membrane vesicles from Leuconostoc oenos.\nL-malate transport was studied in membrane vesicles from Leuconostoc oenos MLE(-) (mutant lacking malolactic enzyme) which were fused with liposomes containing beef heart cytochrome c oxidase as a proton-motive-force-generating system. In these hybrid membranes, accumulation of L-malate was observed in response to a pH gradient (delta pH), with the inside alkaline, but was strongly inhibited by a membrane potential (delta psi) of normal polarity (inside negative). Imposition of a delta psi, with the inside positive, by means of valinomycin-mediated potassium influx, resulted in a rapid accumulation of L-malate, indicating that L-malate was taken up in an anionic form. The results are consistent with a uniport mechanism facilitating the uptake of monoanionic L-malate, the dominant species at the low pH of the experiments. Kinetic analysis of delta pH-driven L-malate uptake in the pH range 3.0-5.8, yielded apparent affinity constants that varied less than twofold when calculated on the basis of the concentrations of monoanionic L-malate, whereas the values differed 2-3 orders of magnitude for the other species. At L-malate concentrations above 1 mM, a non-saturable transport component became apparent which may reflect passive influx of L-malic acid. Substrate specificity studies indicated that citrate and L-malate (and possibly D-lactate and L-lactate) compete for a single general carboxylate transport system. The carboxylate transport system catalysed homologous L-malate and heterologous L-malate\/citrate exchange with rates similar to the rate of L-malate efflux. Since metabolic energy is conserved during malolactic fermentation in L. oenos, the underlying mechanism most likely involves electrogenic monoanionic L-malate uptake, in combination with H+ consumption in the cytoplasm, followed by diffusion outwards of lactic acid plus carbon dioxide.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9141659,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-10":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Characterization of two Streptomyces ambofaciens recA mutants: identification of the RecA protein by immunoblotting.\nThe recA gene was isolated from Streptomyces ambofaciens DSM40697. Its nucleotide sequence predicted a protein of 372 residues. Two recA mutants, NSAR1001 and NSAR57, obtained by gene disruption encoded a RecA protein lacking respectively 30 and at least 62 amino acids from the C-terminal end. NSAR1001 showed a wild-type sensitivity to UV light and oxolinic acid. In contrast, NSAR57 was highly sensitive to these agents and the loss of the inserted DNA restored the wild-type phenotype. Western blot analysis using antiserum to Escherichia coli RecA showed that overproduction of RecA was correlated with overtranscription of recA in an S. ambofaciens amplified mutant derived from genetic instability.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27483032,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Rapid Voltammetric Measurements at Conducting Polymer Microelectrodes Using Ultralow-Capacitance Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):Tosylate.\nWe use a vapor-phase synthesis to generate conducting polymer films with low apparent capacitance and high conductance enabling rapid electrochemical measurements. Specifically, oxidative chemical vapor deposition was used to create thin films of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):tosylate ( tosylate). These films had a conductance of 17.1 \u00b1 1.7 S\/cm. Furthermore, they had an apparent capacitance of 197 \u00b1 14 \u03bcF\/cm(2), which is an order of magnitude lower than current commercially available and previously reported PEDOT. Using a multistage photolithography process, these films were patterned into tosylate microelectrodes and were used to perform fast-scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV) measurements. Using a scan rate of 100 V\/s, we measured ferrocene carboxylic acid and dopamine by FSCV. In contrast to carbon-fiber microelectrodes, the reduction peak showed higher sensitivity when compared to the oxidation peak. The adsorption characteristics of dopamine at the polymer electrode were fit to a Langmuir isotherm. The low apparent capacitance and the microlithographic processes for electrode design make tosylate an attractive material for future applications as an implantable biosensor for FSCV measurements. Additionally, the integration of tosylate electrodes on plastic substrates enables new electrochemical measurements at this polymer using FSCV.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27472888,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Choosing an Advanced Therapy in Parkinson's Disease; is it an Evidence-Based Decision in Current Practice?\nIn advanced Parkinson's disease (PD), neurologists and patients face a complex decision for an advanced therapy. When choosing a treatment, the best available evidence should be combined with the professional's expertise and the patient's preferences. The objective of this study was to explore current decision-making in advanced PD. We conducted focus group discussions and individual interviews with patients (N = 20) who had received deep brain stimulation, Levodopa-Carbidopa intestinal gel, or subcutaneous apomorphine infusion, and with their caregivers (N = 16). Furthermore, we conducted semi-structured interviews with neurologists (N = 7) and PD nurse specialists (N = 3) to include the perspectives of all key players in this decision-making process. Data were analyzed by two researchers using a qualitative thematic analysis approach. Four themes representing current experiences with the decision-making process were identified: 1) information and information needs, 2) factors influencing treatment choice and individual decision strategies, 3) decision-making roles, and 4) barriers and facilitators to shared decision-making (SDM). Patient preferences were taken into account, however patients were not always provided with adequate information. The professional's expertise influenced the decision-making process in both positive and negative ways. Although professionals and patients considered SDM essential for the decision of an advanced treatment, they mentioned several barriers for the implementation in current practice. In this study we found several factors explaining why in current practice, evidence-based decision-making in advanced PD is not optimal. An important first step would be to develop objective information on all treatment options.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30305853,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Protein Expression of PDL1 Is Highly Correlated with Those of eIF2\u03b1 and ATF4 in Lung Cancer.\nThe expression of programmed death 1 (PD1) and programmed death ligand 1 (PDL1) can be induced by the interferon (IFN)\/signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) pathway. The PD1\/PDL1 reverse signaling can activate the eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2 (eIF2\u03b1)\/activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4) pathway which in turn regulates the expression of IFN regulatory factor (IRF) 7 and IFN\u03b1. The eIF2\u03b1\/ATF4 pathway is responsible for the integrated stress response (ISR) of unfolded protein response (UPR) which can affect immune cell function in tumor microenvironment. The protein levels of PDL1, IRF1, IRF7, STAT1, STAT2, IFNAR1, eIF2\u03b1, and ATF4 in the normal and tumor tissues of 27 subjects with lung cancer were determined by Western blot. The protein level of PDL1 was significantly correlated with those of IRF1, eIF2\u03b1, and ATF4 in the tissues of all subjects and the subgroup of squamous cell carcinoma but not in the normal tissue of adenocarcinoma. The protein levels of IRF1, eIF2\u03b1, and ATF4 were consistently correlated in the tumor tissues but to various extents in the normal ones. The protein level of PDL1 was not correlated with those of STAT1 and STAT2 in all the tissues. The PDL1 expression in lung cancer may be independent of STAT1 and STAT2. The PD1\/PDL1 axis and UPR\/ISR may be closely associated in the tumor tissues of lung cancer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14527272,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cell biology of the presynaptic terminal.\nThe chemical synapse is a specialized intercellular junction that operates nearly autonomously to allow rapid, specific, and local communication between neurons. Focusing our attention on the presynaptic terminal, we review the current understanding of how synaptic morphology is maintained and then the mechanisms in synaptic vesicle exocytosis and recycling.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31257266,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Allicin Induces Electrogenic Secretion of Chloride and Bicarbonate Ions in Rat Colon via the TRPA1 Receptor.\nAllicin, an antioxidant from garlic, is known to regulate intestinal contractions, but its effect on intestinal ion transport is unclear. The aim of this study was to examine the role of allicin in the regulation of electrogenic ion transport in rat intestine by measuring the transmural potential difference (\u0394PD). Allicin induced significant positive \u0394PD, when administered to the serosal side of the colonic mucosal-submucosal preparation. Allicin-induced colonic \u0394PD was largely diminished by incubation in the chloride-free solution, although the transient peak of \u0394PD after application of allicin remained. This transient peak of \u0394PD was significantly diminished in both the chloride- and the bicarbonate-free incubation solution. Induction of \u0394PD by allicin was greatly diminished by AP-18, an inhibitor of the transient receptor potential (TRP) cation channel subfamily A member 1, TRPA1. Both alliin and S-allylcysteine, the analogues of allicin, had no effect on \u0394PD and did not affect allicin-induced \u0394PD in the colon. These results suggest that allicin mainly evokes the electrogenic chloride secretion and only partially increases the electrogenic bicarbonate secretion via TRPA1.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17008781,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Urinary bactericidal activity of oral antibiotics against common urinary tract pathogens in an ex vivo model.\nIn this investigation, the urine samples obtained in a single oral-dose pharmacokinetic study were examined for their bactericidal activity against a range of relevant urinary tract pathogens. Six healthy volunteers received a single oral dose of ten oral antibiotics available in Croatia. Urine samples were taken every 2 h during the whole dosing interval of the particular antibiotic. The urinary bactericidal activity was tested by determination of urinary bactericidal titers. All antibiotics showed a significant urinary bactericidal activity against non-extended spectrum beta-lactamase Escherichia coli and Proteus mirabilis. Fluoroquinolones displayed high and persisting levels of urinary bactericidal activity against all gram-negative bacteria and Staphylococcus saprophyticus. Average urinary bactericidal activity can be predicted from in vitro susceptibility testing, but we expect that there will be patients with a low level of urinary bactericidal activity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20375177,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The diagnosis of Cushing's syndrome: an Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline: commentary from a European perspective.\nCushing's syndrome is considered a rare disease and its diagnosis can be challenging. Establishment of evidence-based recommendations is difficult. In 2008, several national and international consensus recommendations for the diagnosis or management of Cushing's syndrome were reported. The Endocrine Society, with the participation of the European Society of Endocrinology, has developed a task force to update recommendations for the diagnosis of Cushing's syndrome. The main aspects of these recommendations are presented in this article and discussed in the context of current research efforts in Europe focusing on the improvement of diagnosis and management of rare diseases including adrenal disorders such as Cushing's syndrome.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28700699,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Smoking during pregnancy in relation to grandchild birth weight and BMI trajectories.\nMaternal smoking has been linked to lower birth weight and higher risk of childhood obesity. However, it is unknown whether grand-maternal smoking during pregnancy is associated with grandchildren birth weight and body mass index (BMI) trajectories. We investigated associations of smoking during pregnancy with birth weight, risks of overweight and BMI trajectories among 46,858 mother-child dyads and 6,583 grandmother-mother-child triads of three cohort studies of related individuals. Smoking during pregnancy was reported by mothers, and anthropometric data were provided by participants in each cohort. Compared to grandchildren of non-smoking women, grandchildren of women who smoked more than 14 cigarettes per day throughout pregnancy were 70 g (95% CI: 12, 129 g; P for trend = 0.01) heavier at birth, and 18% (95% CI: 4%, 34%; P for trend = 0.01) more likely to become overweight. The mean BMI of grandchildren of women who smoked during pregnancy was 0.45 kg\/m2 (95% CI: 0.14, 0.75 kg\/m2; P for trend = 0.006) higher through adolescence and young adulthood than that of grandchildren of non-smoking mothers. Grandmothers' smoking during pregnancy was associated with higher birth weight, higher risk of overweight, and higher BMI through adolescence and young adulthood.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29360185,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Quantifying the effect of light activated outer and inner retinal inhibitory pathways on glutamate release from mixed bipolar cells.\nInhibition mediated by horizontal and amacrine cells in the outer and inner retina, respectively, are fundamental components of visual processing. Here, our purpose was to determine how these different inhibitory processes affect glutamate release from ON bipolar cells when the retina is stimulated with full-field light of various intensities. Light-evoked membrane potential changes (\u0394Vm ) were recorded directly from axon terminals of intact bipolar cells receiving mixed rod and cone inputs (Mbs) in slices of dark-adapted goldfish retina. Inner and outer retinal inhibition to Mbs was blocked with bath applied picrotoxin (PTX) and NBQX, respectively. Then, control and pharmacologically modified light responses were injected into axotomized Mb terminals as command potentials to induce voltage-gated Ca2+ influx (QCa ) and consequent glutamate release. Stimulus-evoked glutamate release was quantified by the increase in membrane capacitance (\u0394Cm ). Increasing depolarization of Mb terminals upon removal of inner and outer retinal inhibition enhanced the \u0394Vm \/QCa ratio equally at a given light intensity and inhibition did not alter the overall relation between QCa and \u0394Cm . However, relative to control, light responses recorded in the presence of PTX and PTX + NBQX increased \u0394Cm unevenly across different stimulus intensities: at dim stimulus intensities predominantly the inner retinal GABAergic inhibition controlled release from Mbs, whereas the inner and outer retinal inhibition affected release equally in response to bright stimuli. Furthermore, our results suggest that non-linear relationship between QCa and glutamate release can influence the efficacy of inner and outer retinal inhibitory pathways to mediate Mb output at different light intensities.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6165110,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of a monoclonal anti-lyt-1.1 on the functional activity of precursor, effector, and regulatory cells specific for murine alloantigens.\nA monoclonal anti-Lyt-1.1 serum has been characterized in terms of its effect on various cell populations involved in cell-mediated immune responses. The monoclonal serum was compared to a conventionally prepared anti-Lyt-1.1 serum. Cytotoxic T cell precursors and effectors were found to be Lyt-1.1+. Helper T cells which participate in the induction of a cytotoxic response were also Lyt-1.1+ as were suppressor T cells which inhibit cytotoxic responses. The T cell that is required for the production of a nonspecific stimulatory factor, costimulator, and that has been shown to bear the same Ly markers as does the helper T cell, bears Lyt-1.1. Finally, the effector cell which mediates delayed-type hypersensitivity reactions to alloantigens has been shown to be Lyt-1.1+. In all of these cases treatment with the monoclonal anti-Lyt-1.1 and complement had the same effect as did treatment with a conventional anti-Lyt-1.1 and complement. The distribution of Lyt-1.1 on various cell types as determined using the monoclonal anti-Lyt-1.1 is in complete agreement with the Lyt-1.1 distribution obtained with conventional anti-Lyt-1.1 sera, and is quite different from the reactivity of an anti-Thy-1 serum as determined by strain distribution. The distribution of the Lyt-1.1 specificity on the T cells within a given strain is identical to that seen with the conventional anti-Lyt-1.1 serum and, as reported by many others, does not differ from the distribution of Thy-1 specificities.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28737110,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Introduction of Adult Appendicitis Score Reduced Negative Appendectomy Rate.\nImplementation of a clinical risk score into diagnostics of acute appendicitis may provide accurate diagnosis with selective use of imaging studies. The aim of this study was to prospectively validate recently described diagnostic scoring system, Adult Appendicitis Score, and evaluate its effects on negative appendectomy rate. Adult Appendicitis Score stratifies patients into three groups: high, intermediate, and low risk of appendicitis. The score was implemented in diagnostics of adult patients suspected of acute appendicitis in two university hospitals. We analyzed the effects of Adult Appendicitis Score on diagnostic accuracy, imaging studies, and treatment. The study population was compared with a reference population of 829 patients suspected of acute appendicitis originally enrolled for the study of construction of the Adult Appendicitis Score. This study enrolled 908 patients of whom 432 (48%) had appendicitis. The score stratified 49% of all appendicitis patients into high-risk group with specificity of 93.3%. In the low-risk group, prevalence of appendicitis was 7%. The histologically confirmed negative appendectomy rate decreased from 18.2% to 8.7%, p<0.001, compared to the original dataset. Adult Appendicitis Score is a reliable tool for stratification of patients into selective imaging, which results in low negative appendectomy rate.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17188884,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Replacing cardiopulmonary bypass with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in lung transplantation operations.\nCardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) support is required in some lung transplantation (LTX) operations. CPB support and full-dose heparin increases the risks of bleeding and early graft dysfunction. We report our experiences of replacing CPB with heparin-bonded low-dose heparin extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support in LTX surgery. From 2003 to 2005 forty-seven patients were transplanted. Thirty-seven LTX patients were retrospectively evaluated for this study (10 patients were excluded due to heart-lung-, lung-kidney transplantation, LTX with bypass grafting, and ASD closure or emergency CPB support). Extracorporeal circulation support was necessary in 40% of the 37 LTX patients due to severe primary or secondary pulmonary hypertension (P or SPHTN), right heart dysfunction, or hemodynamic instability. There were seven LTX procedures with CPB and eight implantations with ECMO support. CPB (high-dose heparin) and ECMO support (ACT 160-220 s) was always set up through femoral veno-arterial canulation. All patients had limited access thoracotomies without transsection of the sternum. Normothermia was maintained in all patients. CPB patients: PPH 15%, COPD 15%, IPF with mean PAP>40 mmHg 70%. ECMO patients: PPH 13%, COPD 13%, IPF with severe PAP pressure elevation 74%. In patients undergoing LTX for PPH, the ECMO support was directly extended into the post-operative period. Packed red blood cell (PRBC) transfusion requirements during the operation and the first 24h were 13.25+\/-1.6 PRBC units versus 5.1+\/-2.8 PRBC units on CBP (p=0.02). Operative time was longer (p=0.11) in the ECMO LTX (451 min+\/-76 vs 346+\/-140). The increased 90-day mortality rate of the ECMO patients showed a trend toward significance (p=0.056), which was related to infectious complications (3 vs 1 patient). Severe graft ischemia\/reperfusion injury occurred in 9% in the CPB versus 13% in the ECMO group. The 1-year survival was significantly reduced in ECMO patients (p=0.004, log-rank test). The advantages of femoral canulation rather than conventional central connections in lung transplantation procedures led to an undisturbed operative field. A significantly higher blood product amount was required in ECMO patients, which might lead to increased infection and mortality rates. CPB, obviously, should remain the standard support technique if extracorporeal circulation is required in lung transplantation surgery.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8356109,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Intrasubject reliability of spinal range of motion and velocity determined by video motion analysis.\nThe purpose of this study was to investigate the repeatability of spinal range of motion (ROM) and movement velocity measurements of patients with chronic low back pain, using a two-dimensional motion analysis system. This apparatus uses reflective markers placed on anatomical landmarks and video digitization to derive ROM measurements from three segments of the spine and associated velocities through the respective ROMs. Forty-two patients with chronic LBP underwent ROM and movement velocity testing. Each subject was tested twice without removal of the markers to minimize error contribution from differences in marker placement. Results indicated that both the ROM measures and the velocity measures were highly repeatable. Intraclass correlations for the ROM measures ranged from .77 to .96. Velocity measures were also reliable, with intraclass correlation coefficients ranging from .75 to .97. Overall, the results seem to indicate that the video motion analysis system used in this study yields repeatable ROM and velocity measures on a clinical population. In practice, however, the measures may reflect greater errors due to the need of examiners to relocate markers at different testing sessions. These systems also offer distinct advantages over other means of obtaining ROM and velocity measures. The results of this study indicate that these measures may be obtained without undue concern for measurement artifact due to the instrumentation reliability.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26469520,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Genome-Wide Epigenetic Regulation of Gene Transcription in Maize Seeds.\nEpigenetic regulation is well recognized for its importance in gene expression in organisms. DNA methylation, an important epigenetic mark, has received enormous attention in recent years as it's a key player in many biological processes. It remains unclear how DNA methylation contributes to gene transcription regulation in maize seeds. Here, we take advantage of recent technologies to examine the genome-wide association of DNA methylation with transcription of four types of DNA sequences, including protein-coding genes, pseudogenes, transposable elements, and repeats in maize embryo and endosperm, respectively. The methylation in CG, CHG and CHH contexts plays different roles in the control of gene expression. Methylation around the transcription start sites and transcription stop regions of protein-coding genes is negatively correlated, but in gene bodies positively correlated, to gene expression level. The upstream regions of protein-coding genes are enriched with 24-nt siRNAs and contain high levels of CHH methylation, which is correlated to gene expression level. The analysis of sequence content within CG, CHG, or CHH contexts reveals that only CHH methylation is affected by its local sequences, which is different from Arabidopsis. In summary, we conclude that methylation-regulated transcription varies with the types of DNA sequences, sequence contexts or parts of a specific gene in maize seeds and differs from that in other plant species. Our study helps people better understand from a genome-wide viewpoint that how transcriptional expression is controlled by DNA methylation, one of the important factors influencing transcription, and how the methylation is associated with small RNAs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12035055,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Isolation and Characterization of EDAG-1, A Novel Gene Related to Regulation in Hematopoietic System.\nA novel gene, named embryonic develop associated gene 1 ( EDAG -1) and abundantly expressed in human fetal liver tissues, was isolated by screening a human fetal liver cDNA library and the 5' RACE. The full length of EDAG-1 mRNA is 2 166 bp, with an open reading frame of 1 452 bp neucleotides, encoding a 484 amino acid protein. No domain or motif was found similar with other genes by Blast program. Two copies of AUUUA motif in 3' non-translated region show instability of its mRNA. The molecular weight of the protein is 55.3 kD identified by the translation in vitro. EDAG-1 is specifically expressed in hematopoietic tissues, and is quickly down-regulated during the differentiation of K562 cells induced by hemin and EPO. These results show that EDAG-1 is related to the regulation in hematopoietic system and the development of leukemia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17004353,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Use of steroids for self-enhancement: an epidemiologic\/societal perspective.\nHumans are basically competitive. For centuries, athletes have used various substances to enhance performance, increase strength, and prolong endurance. In the early 1940s, research indicating that testosterone improved a sense of well-being, appearance, and sexual performance led to the use of anabolic steroid hormones by a select few athletes. Today, even among high school students, the use of androgenic steroid hormones is prevalent, with 1% to 2% of adolescent girls and 4% to 6% of adolescent boys having used an anabolic steroid at least once. An estimated 1 million people in the United States are current of former users of anabolic-androgenic steroid hormones, with men having a higher prevalence of use than women. Androgenic steroid use has been associated with the use of other illicit drugs, cigarette smoking, and alcohol use. Nevertheless, anabolic-androgenic steroid hormones appear to have legitimate uses in certain patients. In HIV-infected, hypogonadal men, anabolic steroid hormones optimize muscle strength and muscle mass when combined with resistance exercise. Although a large number of people have used these drugs for many years, no studies of the long-term health effects have been done. However, when taken in supraphysiologic doses, these drugs are known to cause a wide range of acute adverse effects. When used in less then supraphysiologic doses in eugonadal or hypogonadal HIV-infected patients, these drugs reverse HIV-related hypogonadism, muscle wasting, and perhaps lipodystrophy. Provided that the oral preparations are not used and patients are closely monitored, anabolic-androgenic steroid hormones offer HIV-infected patients a better quality of life and an improved sense of well-being.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37468318,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Transient hemodynamic instability caused by TIPS.\nVariceal bleeding belongs to the one of the complications of portal hypertension and is a life-threatening condition. A transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) is indicated in case of failure of the pharmacological and endoscopic therapy, even if it is associated with complications. Stent migration to the heart, is a rare event which may cause perforation of the right cardiac chambers or damage to the tricuspid valve. However, it may not be a problem in some cases. There are two approaches to extraction - percutaneous or surgical. Leaving the stent in situ is possible, especially in polymorbid patients. Choosing an optimal approach often requires interdisciplinary cooperation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25427539,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Regulation of blood coagulation factors XI and XII in patients with acute and chronic cerebrovascular disease: a case-control study.\nAnimal models have implicated an integral role for coagulation factors XI (FXI) and XII (FXII) in thrombus formation and propagation of ischemic stroke (IS). However, it is unknown if these molecules contribute to IS pathophysiology in humans, and might be of use as biomarkers for IS risk and severity. This study aimed to identify predictors of altered FXI and FXII levels and to determine whether there are differences in the levels of these coagulation factors between acute cerebrovascular events and chronic cerebrovascular disease (CCD). In this case-control study, 116 patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) or transitory ischemic attack (TIA), 117 patients with CCD, and 104 healthy volunteers (HVs) were enrolled between 2010 and 2013 at our University hospital. Blood sampling was undertaken once in the CCD and HV groups and on days 0, 1, and 3 after stroke onset in patients with AIS or TIA. Correlations between serum FXI and FXII levels and demographic and clinical parameters were tested by linear regression and analysis of variance. The mean age of AIS\/TIA patients was 70 \u00b1 12. Baseline clinical severity measured with NIHSS and Barthel Index was 4.8 \u00b1 6.0 and 74 \u00b1 30, respectively. More than half of the patients had an AIS (58%). FXI levels were significantly correlated with different leukocyte subsets (p < 0.05). In contrast, FXII serum levels showed no significant correlation (p > 0.1). Neither FXI nor FXII levels correlated with CRP (p > 0.2). FXII levels were significantly higher in patients with CCD compared with those with AIS\/TIA (mean \u00b1 SD 106 \u00b1 26% vs. 97 \u00b1 24%; univariate analysis: p < 0.05); these differences did not reach significance in multivariate analysis adjusted for sex and age. FXI levels did not differ significantly between study groups. Sex and age were significantly associated with FXI and\/or FXII levels in patients with AIS\/TIA (p < 0.05). In contrast, no statistical significant influence was found for treatment modality (thrombolysis or not), pre-treatment with platelet inhibitors, and severity of stroke. In this study, there was no differential regulation of FXI and FXII levels between disease subtypes but biomarker levels were associated with patient and clinical characteristics. FXI and FXII levels might be no valid biomarker for predicting stroke risk.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9562080,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Throwing injury of the elbow: assessment with gradient three-dimensional, fourier transform gradient-echo and short tau inversion recovery images.\nWe assessed MR findings of throwing injuries occurring in the elbow joint using three-dimensional Fourier transform (3DFT) and short tau inversion recovery (STIR) images. MR images of 63 elbows in 63 male patients aged from 10 to 32 years (mean age, 15 years 11 months) suffering from throwing injury were visually analyzed. The sequences used for the study were axial 3DFT and coronal STIR. Full-thickness tears were demonstrated in 34 elbows and undersurface tears of the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) were demonstrated in five elbows. Thirty loose bodies were detected in 14 elbows. Cartilaginous damage due to osteochondral injury was depicted in 21 elbows. Multiplanar reformatted images using the 3DFT data set were useful for assessing torn UCLs, intraarticular loose bodies, and capitellar fragments. Full-thickness tears and undersurface tears of the UCL could be differentiated with STIR images. 3DFT and STIR sequences depict various aspects of throwing injuries occurring in the elbow.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12038783,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dosing in heavy-weight\/obese patients with the LMWH, tinzaparin: a pharmacodynamic study.\nThis pharmacodynamic study examined weight-based dosing of the low molecular weight heparin (LMWH), tinzaparin, in heavyweight\/obese subjects. Single doses (175 and 75 IU\/kg) were administered subcutaneously (SC) to 37 healthy heavy-weight subjects (101-165 kg; 26-61 kg\/m2). AUA and Amax values of anti-Xa and anti-IIa activities were consistent over these body weight and body mass index (BMI) ranges, indicating that tinzaparin pharmacodynamics are not influenced by body weight or BMI. The range of AUA and Amax values in the study population overlapped that of historical control normal-weight subjects (<100 kg), indicating that weight-adjusted tinzaparin dosing yields a predictable response regardless of body weight or BMI. Tinzaparin was well tolerated, although injection site bruising was commonly reported. SC tinzaparin dosing in heavy or obese patients is appropriate based on body weight alone; the dose need not be capped at a maximal absolute dose.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20355980,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Polyamine-guided synthesis of anisotropic, multicompartment microparticles.\nColloidal particles that have nonuniform bulk or surface compositions are of emerging interest because of their potential applications involving advanced chemical storage and delivery and the self-assembly of novel functional materials. Experimental realization of anisotropic particles is much more difficult than that for particles with uniform bulk and surface composition, however. A new wet-chemical synthesis method to anisotropic microparticles is presented. This approach makes convenient use of the unusual observation of a salt-triggered separation of two water-solubilized polyamines into colloidal aggregates with nonuniform polymer composition. The anisotropic structure of these ionically cross-linked aggregates is explained by the difference in surface tensions of the contained single-polymer domains. Contacting the polymer aggregates with silicic acid or 13-nm silica nanoparticles leads to the charge-driven formation of solid or hollow microspheres, respectively. Depending on the poly(lysine)\/poly(allylamine) ratio, the nonuniformity of the polymer aggregates translates to surface patches or internal compartments found in the resultant silica\/polymer microparticles. Such hybrid materials with their unique structure could serve as a new basis for targeted chemical delivery and controlled release for potential applications in medicine, food, and cosmetics.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32368714,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Role of cytosolic, tyrosine-insensitive prephenate dehydrogenase in Medicago truncatula.\nl-Tyrosine (Tyr) is an aromatic amino acid synthesized de novo in plants and microbes downstream of the shikimate pathway. In plants, Tyr and a Tyr pathway intermediate, 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate (HPP), are precursors to numerous specialized metabolites, which are crucial for plant and human health. Tyr is synthesized in the plastids by a TyrA family enzyme, arogenate dehydrogenase (ADH\/TyrAa), which is feedback inhibited by Tyr. Additionally, many legumes possess prephenate dehydrogenases (PDH\/TyrAp), which are insensitive to Tyr and localized to the cytosol. Yet the role of PDH enzymes in legumes is currently unknown. This study isolated and characterized Tnt1-transposon mutants of MtPDH1 (pdh1) in Medicago truncatula to investigate PDH function. The pdh1 mutants lacked PDH transcript and PDH activity, and displayed little aberrant morphological phenotypes under standard growth conditions, providing genetic evidence that MtPDH1 is responsible for the PDH activity detected in M. truncatula. Though plant PDH enzymes and activity have been specifically found in legumes, nodule number and nitrogenase activity of pdh1 mutants were not significantly reduced compared with wild-type (Wt) during symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Although Tyr levels were not significantly different between Wt and mutants under standard conditions, when carbon flux was increased by shikimate precursor feeding, mutants accumulated significantly less Tyr than Wt. These data suggest that MtPDH1 is involved in Tyr biosynthesis when the shikimate pathway is stimulated and possibly linked to unidentified legume-specific specialized metabolism.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32370788,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Medical physics challenges in clinical MR-guided radiotherapy.\nThe integration of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for guidance in external beam radiotherapy has faced significant research and development efforts in recent years. The current availability of linear accelerators with an embedded MRI unit, providing volumetric imaging at excellent soft tissue contrast, is expected to provide novel possibilities in the implementation of image-guided adaptive radiotherapy (IGART) protocols. This study reviews open medical physics issues in MR-guided radiotherapy (MRgRT) implementation, with a focus on current approaches and on the potential for innovation in IGART.Daily imaging in MRgRT provides the ability to visualize the static anatomy, to capture internal tumor motion and to extract quantitative image features for treatment verification and monitoring. Those capabilities enable the use of treatment adaptation, with potential benefits in terms of personalized medicine. The use of online MRI requires dedicated efforts to perform accurate dose measurements and calculations, due to the presence of magnetic fields. Likewise, MRgRT requires dedicated quality assurance (QA) protocols for safe clinical implementation.Reaction to anatomical changes in MRgRT, as visualized on daily images, demands for treatment adaptation concepts, with stringent requirements in terms of fast and accurate validation before the treatment fraction can be delivered. This entails specific challenges in terms of treatment workflow optimization, QA, and verification of the expected delivered dose while the patient is in treatment position. Those challenges require specialized medical physics developments towards the aim of fully exploiting MRI capabilities. Conversely, the use of MRgRT allows for higher confidence in tumor targeting and organs-at-risk (OAR) sparing.The systematic use of MRgRT brings the possibility of leveraging IGART methods for the optimization of tumor targeting and quantitative treatment verification. Although several challenges exist, the intrinsic benefits of MRgRT will provide a deeper understanding of dose delivery effects on an individual basis, with the potential for further treatment personalization.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23438469,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pre-existing immunity to norovirus GII-4 virus-like particles does not impair de novo immune responses to norovirus GII-12 genotype.\nNoroviruses (NoVs) are one of the leading causes of acute nonbacterial gastroenteritis in humans of all ages. In the 1990s, NoV genotype GII-4 became responsible for the majority of NoV sporadic gastroenteritis cases and outbreaks worldwide. Vaccine development against NoV GII-4 is underway. At the same time, there is concern of new emerging NoV genotypes, such as GII-12, which has been recently associated with increasing numbers of NoV outbreaks worldwide. The specific question is whether type-specific pre-existing immunity to NoV GII-4 might impair cognate immune response induced by new viral infections or vaccines. Using GII-4 and GII-12 virus-like particles, we tested the impact of the immunity generated against NoV GII-4 on de novo antibody responses to GII-12 in mice. We found that pre-existing immunity to NoV GII-4 did not impair de novo immune response to the novel antigen, therefore suggesting lack of original antigenic sin (OAS).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35127749,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Utility of Trabecular Bone Score (TBS) in Bone Quality and Fracture Risk Assessment in Patients on Maintenance Dialysis.\nMaintenance dialysis is associated with almost universal changes in bone metabolism collectively known as chronic kidney disease-mineral and bone disorder (CKD-MBD). These are accompanied in various proportions by bone loss and altered bone quality that led to an increased risk of fracture. Osteoporosis, age-related or postmenopausal, a condition that often coexists with CKD, is also a leading cause of fracture. Dual-energy X-ray densitometry (DXA) is the main tool for assessing the bone quantity and bone loss and the associated fracture risk. It has been validated in both CKD-MBD and osteoporosis. Trabecular bone score (TBS) is a DXA-derived algorithm for the evaluation of bone microarchitecture, and its clinical value has been repeatedly demonstrated in large cohorts of osteoporotic patients. However, its utility in patients on maintenance dialysis has not been conclusively shown. Published studies showed a lower TBS score and implicitly an altered bone microarchitecture in patients on maintenance dialysis, even after adjusting for various variables. Moreover, FRAX-based fracture risk is higher after adjusting for TBS, showing promise on an algorithm better estimating the clinical fracture risk in dialysis patients. However, TBS has not been demonstrated to independently predict clinical fractures in prospective studies on dialysis patients. Also, aortic calcifications and altered fluid balance could significantly affect TBS score and could hamper the widespread clinical use in patients on maintenance dialysis. In this mini-review, we focus on the benefits and pitfalls of TBS in the management of CKD-MBD and fracture risk assessment in patients on maintenance dialysis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23334680,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Getting the word out about treating borderline personality disorder: an online information resource.\nThis column reviews the need for greater awareness among mental health clinicians regarding evidence-based treatments for borderline personality disorder (BPD) and describes an online resource that has been developed to partially address this need. This resource is the Borderline Personality Disorder Clinician Resource Centre, which can be accessed at http:\/\/www.treatingBPD.ca.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22674709,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Imaging features of bowel toxicities in the setting of molecular targeted therapies in cancer patients.\nMolecular targeted therapies are becoming ubiquitous in cancer treatment. These drugs may cause gastrointestinal toxicities including perforation, pneumatosis, enteritis, colitis and fistula formation. Knowledge of these complications and their management enables early radiological identification and appropriate intervention, reducing patient morbidity and mortality.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29360372,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Kinetics of Polymer Desorption from Colloids Probed by Aggregation-Induced Emission Fluorophore.\nPolymer adsorption and desorption are fundamental in many industrial and biomedical applications. Here, we introduce a new method to monitor the polymer desorption kinetics in situ based on the behavior of aggregation-induced emission. Poly(ethylene oxide) and colloidal silica (SiO2) were used as a model system. It was found that the aggregation-induced emission method could be successfully used to determine the polymer desorption kinetics, and the polymer desorption followed the first-order kinetics. It was also found that the polymer desorption rate constant decreased with the increasing molecular weight, which could be described by a power law function kd \u2248 M-0.28, close to that of the adsorption rate constant.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15258576,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1}}},"text":"Effector CD8+ T cells mediate inflammation and airway hyper-responsiveness.\nAllergic asthma is a complex syndrome characterized by airway obstruction, airway inflammation and airway hyper-responsiveness (AHR). Using a mouse model of allergen-induced AHR, we previously demonstrated that CD8-deficient mice develop significantly lower AHR, eosinophilic inflammation and interleukin (IL)-13 levels in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid compared with wild-type mice. These responses were restored by adoptive transfer of antigen-primed CD8(+) T cells. Previously, two distinct populations of antigen-experienced CD8(+) T cells, termed effector (T(EFF)) and central memory (T(CM)) cells, have been described. After adoptive transfer into CD8-deficient mice, T(EFF), but not T(CM), cells restored AHR, eosinophilic inflammation and IL-13 levels. T(EFF), but not T(CM), cells accumulated in the lungs, and intracellular cytokine staining showed that the transferred T(EFF) cells were a source of IL-13. These data suggest an important role for effector CD8(+) T cells in the development of AHR and airway inflammation, which may be associated with their Tc2-type cytokine production and their capacity to migrate into the lung.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25429949,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Simplicity of condensed matter at its core: generic definition of a Roskilde-simple system.\nThe isomorph theory is reformulated by defining Roskilde-simple systems by the property that the order of the potential energies of configurations at one density is maintained when these are scaled uniformly to a different density. If the potential energy as a function of all particle coordinates is denoted by U(R), this requirement translates into U(Ra) < U(Rb) \u21d2 U(\u03bbRa) < U(\u03bbRb). Isomorphs remain curves in the thermodynamic phase diagram along which structure, dynamics, and excess entropy are invariant, implying that the phase diagram is effectively one-dimensional with respect to many reduced-unit properties. In contrast to the original formulation of the isomorph theory, however, the density-scaling exponent is not exclusively a function of density and the isochoric heat capacity is not an exact isomorph invariant. A prediction is given for the latter quantity's variation along the isomorphs. Molecular dynamics simulations of the Lennard-Jones and Lennard-Jones Gaussian systems validate the new approach.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3064642,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Some aspects of antioxidant status in blood from alcoholics.\nThe effect of ethanol consumption on serum concentration of alpha-tocopherol, erythrocyte activities of superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and catalase were studied in 34 male alcoholics and 35 age-matched controls. Serum concentration of alpha-tocopherol was 30% lower in the alcoholics as compared to the controls (p less than 0.001). No significant difference was found in erythrocyte activities of Cu-Zn-containing superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, or catalase between the groups. Of the 12 alcoholics with subnormal serum alpha-tocopherol, 50% had concomitant neurological clinical scores and cerebellar atrophy, and their neurological scores were significantly higher (82%) than for alcoholics with normal alpha-tocopherol levels (p less than 0.03). However, no significant correlation was observed between levels of alpha-tocopherol and neurological clinical scores or cerebellar atrophy. When entering the study, alcoholics and controls were each randomized into two separate groups, receiving vitamin E supplementation (100 mg\/day) or placebo capsules for 10 days, respectively. In the four subgroups, alpha-tocopherol levels increased only in alcoholics receiving vitamin E supplementation (23%) (p less than 0.001). The reduced serum levels of alpha-tocopherol in alcoholics may be normalized by vitamin E supplementation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28713832,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Postnatal Growth in a Cohort of Sardinian Intrauterine Growth-Restricted Infants.\nRecent studies have shown that infants with intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) undergo catch-up growth during infancy. The aim of our study was to evaluate the postnatal growth in a cohort of IUGR infants born in a tertiary-level Obstetric University Hospital of Northern Sardinia. An observational retrospective study was conducted on 12 IUGR (group A) and 12 control infants (group B) by measuring the anthropometric parameters of weight (W), length (L) and head circumference (HC) from birth to the 3rd postnatal year. At birth, significant differences were found between group A and group B with regard to all the auxological parameters (W, mean 1846.6 versus 3170.8 g, p < 0.0001; HC, 30.1 versus 34.4 cm, p < 0.0001; L, mean 43.4 versus 49.4 cm, p < 0.0001). During the 1st year, 8 of 12 (70%) IUGR infants exhibited a significant catch-up growth in the 3 anthropometric parameters and a regular growth until the 3rd year of follow-up. The majority but not all infants born with IUGR in our series showed significant postnatal catch-up growth essentially during the first 12 months of life. An improved knowledge of the causes of IUGR will help to develop measures for its prevention and individualized treatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17888424,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Regulatable promoters and gene therapy for Parkinson's disease: is the only thing to fear, fear itself?\nGene therapy for Parkinson's disease has become a clinical reality with three different approaches currently being tested in patients. All three trials employ an adeno-associated virus with a type two serotype (AAV2). To date, no serious adverse events related to the injections of therapeutic vectors have been reported in any patient. This safety profile was predicted based upon, in some cases, exhaustive preclinical testing in both rodent and primate species. Still some argue that regulatable promoters are required so that expression of the transgene can be halted should untoward side effects arise. We argue that given the current empirical data base of AAV2, the lack of regulatable promoters that have been proven to be safe and effective, and the pressing clinical needs of PD patients, the mandatory use of regulatable vectors is not only unnecessary but, in some instances, misguided and potentially dangerous. This commentary will outline the issues related to the use of regulatable promoters for gene therapy for PD and express our opinion as to why mandating the use of such promoters might result in outcomes that are unsafe, unproductive, and counter to the progress of scientifically sound, clinical research.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1691588,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Improved avidin-biotin immunoperoxidase method for terminal deoxyribonucleotidyl transferase and immunophenotypic characterization of blood cells.\nThis report describes a simple avidin-biotin immunoperoxidase method for detection of cell surface antigens and terminal deoxyribonucleotidyl transferase (TdT) in blood, bone marrow, and body fluids. It employs enhanced sensitivity avidin-biotin complex (ABC) reagents and includes a step for quenching of endogenous peroxidase activity that does not diminish antigenic reactivity, allowing its application to specimens (such as blood or bone marrow films) that have significant levels of endogenous peroxidase. This quenching step is performed after the secondary (biotinylated) antibody incubation, which also allows for maximum sensitivity. Examples of results obtained with this method are illustrated, and advantages over other immunocytochemical methods are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11644403,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-10":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A vote for no confidence.\nThis paper considers the justifications for adhering to a principle of confidentiality within medical practice. These are found to derive chiefly from respect for individual autonomy, the doctor\/patient contract, and social utility. It is suggested that these will benefit more certainly if secrecy is rejected and the principle of confidentiality is removed from the area of health care.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3030651,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Clinical findings after zosteriform spread of herpes simplex virus to the eye of the mouse.\nWhen herpes simplex virus (HSV) is inoculated onto the snout of the inbred strain NIH mouse, clinical disease of the eye ensues only after a delay, due to spread of virus to the eye occurring via neural pathways. This report is concerned with the detailed description of eye disease. Physical signs observed include mydriasis, iritis and keratitis. The incidence of combinations of physical signs has been analysed by the computer and presented as pie-charts to show the complexity and evolution of the eye disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15267286,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Two-dimensional Raman and infrared vibrational spectroscopy for a harmonic oscillator system nonlinearly coupled with a colored noise bath.\nMultidimensional vibrational response functions of a harmonic oscillator are reconsidered by assuming nonlinear system-bath couplings. In addition to a standard linear-linear (LL) system-bath interaction, we consider a square-linear (SL) interaction. The LL interaction causes the vibrational energy relaxation, while the SL interaction is mainly responsible for the vibrational phase relaxation. The dynamics of the relevant system are investigated by the numerical integration of the Gaussian-Markovian Fokker-Planck equation under the condition of strong couplings with a colored noise bath, where the conventional perturbative approach cannot be applied. The response functions for the fifth-order nonresonant Raman and the third-order infrared (or equivalently the second-order infrared and the seventh-order nonresonant Raman) spectra are calculated under the various combinations of the LL and the SL coupling strengths. Calculated two-dimensional response functions demonstrate that those spectroscopic techniques are very sensitive to the mechanism of the system-bath couplings and the correlation time of the bath fluctuation. We discuss the primary optical transition pathways involved to elucidate the corresponding spectroscopic features and to relate them to the microscopic sources of the vibrational nonlinearity induced by the system-bath interactions. Optical pathways for the fifth-order Raman spectroscopies from an \"anisotropic\" medium were newly found in this study, which were not predicted by the weak system-bath coupling theory or the standard Brownian harmonic oscillator model.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16214901,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Structure of Ptr ToxA: an RGD-containing host-selective toxin from Pyrenophora tritici-repentis.\nTan spot of wheat (Triticum aestivum), caused by the fungus Pyrenophora tritici-repentis, has significant agricultural and economic impact. Ptr ToxA (ToxA), the first discovered proteinaceous host-selective toxin, is produced by certain P. tritici-repentis races and is necessary and sufficient to cause cell death in sensitive wheat cultivars. We present here the high-resolution crystal structure of ToxA in two different crystal forms, providing four independent views of the protein. ToxA adopts a single-domain, beta-sandwich fold of novel topology. Mapping of the existing mutation data onto the structure supports the hypothesized importance of an Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) and surrounding sequence. Its occurrence in a single, solvent-exposed loop in the protein suggests that it is directly involved in recognition events required for ToxA action. Furthermore, the ToxA structure reveals a surprising similarity with the classic mammalian RGD-containing domain, the fibronectin type III (FnIII) domain: the two topologies are related by circular permutation. The similar topologies and the positional conservation of the RGD-containing loop raises the possibility that ToxA is distantly related to mammalian FnIII proteins and that to gain entry it binds to an integrin-like receptor in the plant host.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21163941,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Global impact of RNA polymerase II elongation inhibition on alternative splicing regulation.\nThe rate of RNA polymerase II (Pol II) elongation can influence splice site selection in nascent transcripts, yet the extent and physiological relevance of this kinetic coupling between transcription and alternative splicing (AS) is not well understood. We performed experiments to perturb Pol II elongation and then globally compared AS patterns with genome-wide Pol II occupancy. RNA binding and RNA processing functions were significantly enriched among the genes with Pol II elongation inhibition-dependent changes in AS. Under conditions that interfere with Pol II elongation, including cell stress, increased Pol II occupancy was detected in the intronic regions flanking the alternative exons in these genes, and these exons generally became more included. A disproportionately high fraction of these exons introduced premature termination codons that elicited nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD), thereby further reducing transcript levels. Our results provide evidence that kinetic coupling between transcription, AS, and NMD affords a rapid mechanism by which cells can respond to changes in growth conditions, including cell stress, to coordinate the levels of RNA processing factors with mRNA levels.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28722083,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[A perception of the development trend of radiological T staging in gastric cancer through UICC\/AJCC 8th edition].\nMore and more emphases were put on pre-therapy staging following the promotion of multidisciplinary team(MDT) collaboration and individualized medicine in gastric cancer. However, the accuracy of traditional radiology staging system which applies mechanically pathological staging is not satisfactory during clinical practice, therefore, the objectivity of treatment decisions is affected. Under such conditions, the newly introduced staging system from Union for International Cancer Control\/American Joint Committee on Cancer(UICC\/AJCC)(8th edition) divided out an independent cTNM system for the first time, and summarized the application range, operation specification and staging criteria. Although there are still no unified CT signs for staging, the 8th edition staging system has pointed out the directions for future clinical studies and provides new opportunities for radiology. The recent studies published on issue of cT staging are summarized in this article, including the discrimination of T1 cancer on the basis of peptic ulcers, the cross-sectional location of serosal exposure in bare areas, new rule for cancer at esophagogastric junction and the effect of cT4b change on iconography evaluation. The future prospect of radiomics in T staging of gastric cancer is also discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29556497,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Application of Raman Spectroscopy and Univariate Modelling As a Process Analytical Technology for Cell Therapy Bioprocessing.\nCell therapies offer unquestionable promises for the treatment, and in some cases even the cure, of complex diseases. As we start to see more of these therapies gaining market authorization, attention is turning to the bioprocesses used for their manufacture, in particular the challenge of gaining higher levels of process control to help regulate cell behavior, manage process variability, and deliver product of a consistent quality. Many processes already incorporate the measurement of key markers such as nutrient consumption, metabolite production, and cell concentration, but these are often performed off-line and only at set time points in the process. Having the ability to monitor these markers in real-time using in-line sensors would offer significant advantages, allowing faster decision-making and a finer level of process control. In this study, we use Raman spectroscopy as an in-line optical sensor for bioprocess monitoring of an autologous T-cell immunotherapy model produced in a stirred tank bioreactor system. Using reference datasets generated on a standard bioanalyzer, we develop chemometric models from the Raman spectra for glucose, glutamine, lactate, and ammonia. These chemometric models can accurately monitor donor-specific increases in nutrient consumption and metabolite production as the primary T-cell transition from a recovery phase and begin proliferating. Using a univariate modeling approach, we then show how changes in peak intensity within the Raman spectra can be correlated with cell concentration and viability. These models, which act as surrogate markers, can be used to monitor cell behavior including cell proliferation rates, proliferative capacity, and transition of the cells to a quiescent phenotype. Finally, using the univariate models, we also demonstrate how Raman spectroscopy can be applied for real-time monitoring. The ability to measure these key parameters using an in-line Raman optical sensor makes it possible to have immediate feedback on process performance. This could help significantly improve cell therapy bioprocessing by allowing proactive decision-making based on real-time process data. Going forward, these types of in-line sensors also open up opportunities to improve bioprocesses further through concepts such as adaptive manufacturing.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30665351,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Overexpression of herbaceous peony HSP70 confers high temperature tolerance.\nHeat shock proteins (HSPs) are found extensively in Eukaryotes and are involved in stress tolerance. However, their functions in herbaceous peony (Paeonia lactiflora Pall.) under high temperature stress are poorly characterized. In this study, the genomic sequence of P. lactiflora HSP70, designated PlHSP70, was isolated. Its full-length was 3635 bp, and it contained a large 1440-bp intron. The encoded protein with a molecular weight of 71 kDa was localized in the cytoplasm of the cell. PlHSP70 transcription was detected in P. lactiflora and increased with the treatment of high temperature stress. The constitutive overexpression of PlHSP70 in Arabidopsis thaliana obviously conferred tolerance to high temperature stress by affecting different physiological and biochemical indices. Transgenic A. thaliana plants exhibited higher chlorophyll fluorescence values than the wild-type (WT) when exposed to high temperature stress. The accumulation of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), superoxide anion free radical (O2\u00b7-) and relative electric conductivity (REC) were significantly lower in the transgenic A. thaliana plants compared to the WT. In addition, more intact cell membranes, chloroplasts and starch grains, and fewer plastoglobuli were found in the PlHSP70-overexpressing transgenic lines than in the WT. All of these results indicated that PlHSP70 possessed the ability to improve the tolerance to high temperature in transgenic A. thaliana, which could provide a theoretical basis to improve high temperature tolerance of P. lactiflora by future genetic manipulation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17176801,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nasal cytology in the diagnosis and treatment of sinusitis in atopic and nonatopic children.\nTo investigate the value of nasal cytology in the diagnosis of sinusitis and follow-up of atopic and nonatopic children before and after treatment and to compare the nasal cytologic findings with the radiologic findings. Open randomized investigation. Ministry of Health, Ankara Diskapi Children's Hospital. Fifty-five children with bronchial asthma and\/or allergic rhinitis followed by the Allergy Department of the Ministry of Health, Ankara Diskapi Children's Education and Research Hospital and 35 control children were evaluated for the following parameters: symptoms and signs of sinusitis, total serum immunoglobulin E level and eosinophil count, skinprick tests to common allergens, paranasal sinus radiographs, and nasal cytology (by the Rhinoprobe [Synbiotics Inc. London] method and wax paper blow). Nasal cytology, radiologic findings, and treatment. There were no significant correlations between radiologic and cytologic findings in any of the groups (p > .05). In both atopic and nonatopic chronic sinusitis patients, the Rhinoprobe method had results similar to the radiologic findings, and there was a significant relationship (p < .05). Nasal cytology is still a diagnostic tool in the follow-up and evaluation of chronic sinusitis in atopic children but should not be considered an adequate alternative to sinus radiography.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9148204,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Laparoscopic versus laparotomic adrenalectomy: preliminary experiences].\nThe authors report their experience about laparoscopic surgery in the treatment of adrenal tumours. Three laparoscopic right adrenalectomies were performed. From a comparison with five open adrenalectomies, microinvasive surgery is more advantageous than traditional management: recovery is earlier, incisions are smaller, post-operative discomfort is less, physiologic functions recover in a short time, return to full professional activity in one week.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17002396,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Solution 1H NMR characterization of the axial bonding of the two His in oxidized human cytoglobin.\nSolution 1H NMR spectroscopy has been used to determine the relative strengths (covalency) of the two axial His-Fe bonds in paramagnetic, S = 1\/2, human met-cytoglobin. The sequence specific assignments of crucial portions of the proximal and distal helices, together with the magnitude of hyperfine shifts and paramagnetic relaxation, establish that His81 and His113, at the canonical positions E7 and F8 in the myoglobin fold, respectively, are ligated to the iron. The characterized complex (approximately 90%) in solution has protohemin oriented as in crystals, with the remaining approximately 10% exhibiting the hemin orientation rotated 180 degrees about the alpha-, gamma-meso axis. No evidence could be obtained for any five-coordinate complex (<1%) in equilibrium with the six-coordinate complexes. Extensive sequence-specific assignments on other dipolar shifted helical fragments and loops, together with available alternate crystal coordinates for the complex, allowed the robust determination of the orientation and anisotropies of the paramagnetic susceptibility tensor. The tilt of the major axis is controlled by the His-Fe-His vector, and the rhombic axes are controlled by the mean of the imidazole orientations for the two His. The anisotropy of the paramagnetic susceptibility tensor allowed the quantitative factoring of the hyperfine shifts for the two axial His to reveal an indistinguishable pattern and magnitudes of the contact shifts or pi spin densities, and hence, indistinguishable Fe-imidazole covalency for both Fe-His bonds.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34403156,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-22":1}}},"text":"Striatal Cholinergic Dysregulation after Neonatal Decrease in X-Linked Dystonia Parkinsonism-Related TAF1 Isoforms.\nX-linked dystonia parkinsonism is a generalized, progressive dystonia followed by parkinsonism with onset in adulthood and accompanied by striatal neurodegeneration. Causative mutations are located in a noncoding region of the TATA-box binding protein-associated factor 1 (TAF1) gene and result in aberrant splicing. There are 2 major TAF1 isoforms that may be decreased in symptomatic patients, including the ubiquitously expressed canonical cTAF1 and the neuronal-specific nTAF1. The objective of this study was to determine the behavioral and transcriptomic effects of decreased cTAF1 and\/or nTAF1 in vivo. We generated adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors encoding microRNAs targeting Taf1 in a splice-isoform selective manner. We performed intracerebroventricular viral injections in newborn mice and rats and intrastriatal infusions in 3-week-old rats. The effects of Taf1 knockdown were assayed at 4 months of age with evaluation of motor function, histology, and RNA sequencing of the striatum, followed by its validation. We report motor deficits in all cohorts, more pronounced in animals injected at P0, in which we also identified transcriptomic alterations in multiple neuronal pathways, including the cholinergic synapse. In both species, we show a reduced number of striatal cholinergic interneurons and their marker mRNAs after Taf1 knockdown in the newborn. This study provides novel information regarding the requirement for TAF1 in the postnatal maintenance of striatal cholinergic neurons, the dysfunction of which is involved in other inherited forms of dystonia. \u00a9 2021 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25414471,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"The lesser occipital nerve visualized by high-resolution sonography--normal and initial suspect findings.\nThe lesser occipital nerve (LON) supplies the lateral part of the occiput and is-together with the greater occipital nerve (GON)-involved in headache pathogenesis. While the GON was described in high-resolution ultrasound (HRUS), the same does not apply to the LON. We aimed at characterizing the LON in HRUS, and present cases of suspect findings in the course of the LON identified by HRUS. The LON was examined bilaterally in eight anatomical specimens with HRUS (n = 16). HRUS-guided ink marking and consecutive dissection was performed. Further, measurements of the LON diameter were performed in 10 healthy volunteers (n = 20), and patient charts were reviewed to identify patients who were considered to have possible pathology of the LON. The LON was identified correctly in all cadavers on both sides and all volunteers except for one side (n = 19). The average diameter was 1.08 \u00b1 0.30 mm. Four patients with pain within the LON territory and presumed peripheral origin of headache (defined as resolution of headache after diagnostic HRUS-guided selective blockade) were identified, and three of these showed interference of the LON with lymph nodes or an accessory muscle belly. We confirm the possibility of visualization of the LON using HRUS. HRUS may be a helpful adjunct tool in the assessment of patients with atypical headache.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17911311,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Desulfothermus okinawensis sp. nov., a thermophilic and heterotrophic sulfate-reducing bacterium isolated from a deep-sea hydrothermal field.\nA novel thermophilic and heterotrophic sulfate-reducing bacterium, strain TFISO9(T), was isolated from a deep-sea hydrothermal field at the Yonaguni Knoll IV in the Southern Okinawa Trough. The cells were motile rods 2.5-5.0 microm in length and 0.6-0.9 microm in width. Strain TFISO9(T) was an obligate heterotroph and reduced sulfate. It grew between 35 and 60 degrees C (optimum 50 degrees C), at pH 5.4-7.9 (optimum pH 5.9-6.4) and with 1.5-4.5 % NaCl (optimum 2.5 %). The fatty acid composition was C(16 : 0) (61.5 %) and 12Me(16 : 0) (38.5 %). The DNA G+C content was 34.9 mol%. The 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that strain TFISO9(T) belonged to the genus Desulfothermus. Based on physiological and phylogenetic characteristics, strain TFISO9(T) represents a novel species for which the name Desulfothermus okinawensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is TFISO9(T) (=JCM 13304(T)=DSM 17375(T)).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34402266,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Bimodal multispectral imaging system with cloud-based machine learning algorithm for real-time screening and detection of oral potentially malignant lesions and biopsy guidance.\nScreening and early detection of oral potentially malignant lesions (OPMLs) are of great significance in reducing the mortality rates associated with head and neck malignancies. Intra-oral multispectral optical imaging of tissues in conjunction with cloud-based machine learning (CBML) can be used to detect oral precancers at the point-of-care (POC) and guide the clinician to the most malignant site for biopsy. Develop a bimodal multispectral imaging system (BMIS) combining tissue autofluorescence and diffuse reflectance (DR) for mapping changes in oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO2) absorption in the oral mucosa, quantifying tissue abnormalities, and guiding biopsies. The hand-held widefield BMIS consisting of LEDs emitting at 405, 545, 575, and 610 nm, 5MPx monochrome camera, and proprietary Windows-based software was developed for image capture, processing, and analytics. The DR image ratio (R610\/R545) was compared with pathologic classification to develop a CBML algorithm for real-time assessment of tissue status at the POC. Sensitivity of 97.5% and specificity of 92.5% were achieved for discrimination of OPML from patient normal in 40 sites, whereas 82% sensitivity and 96.6% specificity were obtained for discrimination of abnormal (OPML + SCC) in 89 sites. Site-specific algorithms derived for buccal mucosa (27 sites) showed improved sensitivity and specificity of 96.3% for discrimination of OPML from normal. Assessment of oral cancer risk is possible by mapping of HbO2 absorption in tissues, and the BMIS system developed appears to be suitable for biopsy guidance and early detection of oral cancers.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29385614,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Induction of autophagy and interleukin 6 secretion in bystander cells: metabolic cooperation for radiation-induced rescue effect?\nWe hypothesized that radiation-induced rescue effect (RIRE) shared similar mechanisms with 'metabolic cooperation', in which nutrient-deprived cancer cells prompted normal cells to provide nutrients. Our data demonstrated that X-ray irradiation induced autophagy in HeLa cells, which could last at least 18 h, and proved that the irradiated cells (IRCs) resorted to breaking down their own intracellular components to supply the molecules required for cell-repair enhancement (e.g. to activate the NF-\u03baB pathway) in the absence of support from bystander unirradiated cells (UICs). Furthermore, autophagy accumulation in IRCs was significantly reduced when they were partnered with UICs, and more so with UICs with pre-induced autophagy before partnering (through starvation using Earle's Balanced Salt Solution), which showed that the autophagy induced in UICs supported the IRCs. Our results also showed that interleukin 6 (IL-6) was secreted by bystander UICs, particularly the UICs with pre-induced autophagy, when they were cultured in the medium having previously conditioned irradiated HeLa cells. It was established that autophagy could activate the signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) that was required for the IL-6 production in the autophagy process. Taken together, the metabolic cooperation of RIRE was likely initiated by the bystander factors released from IRCs, which induced autophagy and activated STAT3 to produce IL-6 in bystander UICs, and was finally manifested in the activation of the NF-\u03baB pathway in IRCs by the IL-6 secreted by the UICs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14525033,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nonuniversality of elastic exponents in random bond-bending networks.\nWe numerically investigate the rigidity percolation transition in two-dimensional flexible, random rod networks with freely rotating cross links. Near the transition, networks are dominated by bending modes and the elastic modulii vanish with an exponent f=3.0+\/-0.2, in contrast with central force percolation which shares the same geometric exponents. This indicates that universality for geometric quantities does not imply universality for elastic ones. The implications of this result for actin-fiber networks is discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6721303,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dialect is diagnostic.\nFolk medical language, as spoken in western Alabama, contains medical dialect terms that have an ancient lineage, with structure and meaning very similar to those of their earliest roots. The dialect has precise medical meanings and is used with astonishing accuracy by patients. Terms and phrases are often diagnostic as well as colorfully descriptive. An appreciation of medical dialect makes practice more fun, history taking and diagnosis easier, and lessens misunderstandings with patients. It sharpens the physician's senses to every level of what patients feel and say, verbal and otherwise. An appreciation of dialect heightens respect for patients and gives the physician a sense of continuity with cultures and ages past. Understanding and respect for medical dialect can be a powerful aid to patient care.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30306334,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Bone-anchored maxillary protraction in patients with unilateral complete cleft lip and palate and Class III malocclusion.\nThis prospective controlled study evaluated the effect of bone-anchored maxillary protraction therapy in cleft children with Class III malocclusion using CBCT-derived 3D surface models. Eighteen cleft patients between 10 and 12 years old were included. Intermaxillary elastics were worn after the placement of four zygoma bone plates for 18 months. Uniquely, three age-matched untreated groups including both cleft subjects and non-cleft subjects with Class III malocclusion served as controls. Profile photos and CBCT scans for each patient were taken before (T0) and 18 months after the protraction (T1). 3D measurements were made on CBCT surface models from the treatment group using tomographic color mapping method. Cephalometric measurements were made on lateral cephalogram reconstructed from the CBCT scans and were compared with those obtained from the control groups. Two thirds of the treatment subjects showed improved lip projection towards more convex facial profile. The most significant skeletal changes on 3D surface models were observed at the zygomatic regions (mean 1.5-mm forward, downward, and outward displacement) and at the maxillary complex (mean 1.5-mm forward displacement). Compared with the control groups, the treatment subjects showed significant increase in the SNA and ANB angles, increased Wits appraisal, a more forward movement of point A and overjet improvement (p < 0.05). BAMP in cleft patients gives a significant forward displacement of the zygomaxillairy complex in favor of the Class III treatment. This treatment method shows clearly favorable outcome in cleft patients after 1.5 years of BAMP.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29376467,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Diaphragmatic dysfunction in sepsis due to severe acute pancreatitis complicated by intra-abdominal hypertension.\nObjective This study aimed to examine the mechanism of diaphragmatic dysfunction in sepsis due to severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) with intra-abdominal hypertension (IAH) in a rat model. Methods The rats were assigned at random to four groups: (1) control (n = 5), (2) SAP (n = 5), (3) SAP+IAH (n = 5), and (4) SAP+IAH+SS-31 (n = 5). Length and force output of the diaphragm were analysed in vivo. Histopathological examinations were performed by haematoxylin-eosin. Oxidative stress levels related to protease in diaphragmatic mitochondria were detected with a colorimetric technique. Results In the septic rat model due to SAP complicated by IAH, myofibres were increased. Muscle contractile function was significantly lower in the SAP+IAH group compared with the SAP and control groups. Glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase levels were significantly lower and malondialdehyde levels were higher in the SAP and SAP+IAH groups compared with the control group. Notably, SS-31 could reverse atrophy of myofibres in SAP+IAH rats, as well as contractile dysfunction and mitochondrial dysfunction in the diaphragm. Conclusions Diaphragmatic structure and biomechanics are altered in septic rats due to SAP and IAH. This finding is mainly due to an increase in release of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17185790,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Lifestyle choices, diet, and insulin sensitizers in polycystic ovary syndrome.\nPolycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is significantly affected by environmental regulators impacting on genetic predisposition. Lifestyle changes can significantly modulate the phenotype of this disease. Diet, exercise, smoking, stress, and other factors adversely affect reproductive outcomes in PCOS. These influences can be modulated by structure change in an individual or group. Lifestyle choices should be discussed in this group of patients. The role of insulin sensitizers, including metformin, has still to be determined in this condition.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34418541,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-26":1}}},"text":"Combination of lentiviral and genome editing technologies for the treatment of sickle cell disease.\nSickle cell disease (SCD) is caused by a mutation in the \u03b2-globin gene leading to polymerization of the sickle hemoglobin (HbS) and deformation of red blood cells. Autologous transplantation of hematopoietic stem\/progenitor cells (HSPCs) genetically modified using lentiviral vectors (LVs) to express an anti-sickling \u03b2-globin leads to some clinical benefit in SCD patients, but it requires high-level transgene expression (i.e., high vector copy number [VCN]) to counteract HbS polymerization. Here, we developed therapeutic approaches combining LV-based gene addition and CRISPR-Cas9 strategies aimed to either knock down the sickle \u03b2-globin and increase the incorporation of an anti-sickling globin (AS3) in hemoglobin tetramers, or to induce the expression of anti-sickling fetal \u03b3-globins. HSPCs from SCD patients were transduced with LVs expressing AS3 and a guide RNA either targeting the endogenous \u03b2-globin gene or regions involved in fetal hemoglobin silencing. Transfection of transduced cells with Cas9 protein resulted in high editing efficiency, elevated levels of anti-sickling hemoglobins, and rescue of the SCD phenotype at a significantly lower VCN compared to the conventional LV-based approach. This versatile platform can improve the efficacy of current gene addition approaches by combining different therapeutic strategies, thus reducing the vector amount required to achieve a therapeutic VCN and the associated genotoxicity risk.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27282192,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The relationship between theory of mind and the executive functions: Evidence from patients with frontal lobe damage.\n\"Theory of mind\" (ToM) refers to the ability to predict others' thoughts, intentions, beliefs, and feelings. Evidence from neuropsychology and functional imaging indicates that ToM is a domain-specific or modular architecture; however, research in development psychology has suggested that ToM is the full development of the executive functions in individuals. Therefore, the relationship between ToM and the executive functions needs to be clarified. Since the frontal lobe plays a critical role in the abilities of ToM and the executive functions, patients with frontal lobe damage were recruited for the present study. Assessments of ToM and the executive functions were performed on 23 patients with frontal lobe damage and 20 healthy controls. When controlling for the executive functions, significant differences between the patient and normal groups were found in the affective component of ToM, but not in the cognitive component. The present study suggests that in various social situations, executing ToM abilities requires logical reasoning processes provided by the executive functions. However, the reasoning processes of affective ToM are independent of executive functions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17184404,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Risk-based objectives for the allocation of chemical, biological, and radiological air emissions sensors.\nThis article addresses the problem of allocating devices for localized hazard protection across a region. Each identical device provides only local protection, and the devices serve localities that are exposed to nonidentical intensities of hazard. A method for seeking the optimal allocation Policy Decisions is described, highlighting the potentially competing objectives of maximizing local risk reductions and coverage risk reductions. The metric for local risk reductions is the sum of the local economic risks avoided. The metric for coverage risk reductions is adapted from the p-median problem and equal to the sum of squares of the distances from all unserved localities to their closest associated served locality. Three graphical techniques for interpreting the Policy Decisions are presented. The three linked graphical techniques are applied serially. The first technique identifies Policy Decisions that are nearly Pareto optimal. The second identifies locations where sensor placements are most justified, based on a risk-cost-benefit analysis under uncertainty. The third displays the decision space for any particular policy decision. The method is illustrated in an application to chemical, biological, and\/or radiological weapon sensor placement, but has implications for disaster preparedness, transportation safety, and other arenas of public safety.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25430704,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Thiol-ene \"click\" reaction triggered by neutral ionic liquid: the \"ambiphilic\" character of [hmim]Br in the regioselective nucleophilic hydrothiolation.\nThiol-ene \"click\" chemistry has emerged as a powerful strategy to construct carbon-heteroatom (C-S) bonds, which generally results in the formation of two regioisomers. To this end, the neutral ionic liquid [hmim]Br has been explored as a solvent cum catalyst for the synthesis of linear thioethers from activated and inactivated styrene derivatives or secondary benzyl alcohols and thiols without the requirement of using a metal complex, base, or free radical initiator. Furthermore, detailed mechanistic investigations using (1)H NMR spectroscopy and quadrupole time-of-flight electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (Q-TOF ESI-MS) revealed that the \"ambiphilic\" character of the ionic liquid promotes the nucleophilic addition of thiol to styrene through an anti-Markovnikov pathway. The catalyst recyclability and the extension of the methodology for thiol-yne click chemistry are additional benefits. A competitive study among thiophenol, styrene, and phenyl acetylene revealed that the rate of reaction is in the order of thiol-yne>thiol-ene>dimerization of thiol in [hmim]Br.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7929989,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of creep value and occlusal force on marginal adaptation of amalgam filling.\nCreep of amalgam is thought to be a factor determining poor marginal adaptation. Clarification of the relationship between creep of amalgam in the cavity and creep value (American Dental Association specification no. 1; ADA #1) is essential to an understanding of the mechanism of marginal fracture and service life. However, only elastic stress analyses of amalgam in a cavity have been reported in the dental field. Therefore, the creep of amalgam in a class I cavity was simulated by an axisymmetric elastic creep finite-element method. The stress and time dependencies of the creep rate of amalgam were incorporated into this calculation. Creep values of 1.0 and 3.0% (ADA #1) were selected as amalgam properties. When the occlusal force on the amalgam filling was assumed in the vertical direction along the axis of the tooth, the rate of extrusion and rate of opening of the gap at the cavity margin were revealed by the simulation. The computed results show that the gap and extrusion were developed in direct proportion of the creep value and proportionally with the square of the occlusal force. Simulated results are in agreement with clinical findings of the service lives of restorations, i.e., a poor adaptation to the margin can be seen for 4-to-10-year-old amalgam fillings.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7928853,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"A volume-dependent apneic threshold during NREM sleep in the dog.\nWe determined the causes of central apnea that commonly follow the hyperpnea resulting from brief airway occlusion during non-rapid-eye-movement (NREM) sleep. Ventilation and end-tidal gases were measured before, during, and after 214 trials of 15-20 s of tracheal occlusion in three dogs during NREM sleep. Airway occlusion was accompanied by progressive increases in inspiratory effort and was followed by transient one- to four-breath hyperapneas, with subsequent central apnea [3-15 times eupneic control expiratory duration (TE)] in 62% of occlusion trials. Significant TE prolongation after hyperventilation did not occur until tidal volume (VT) was three times greater than control; i.e., there was a volume-dependent apneic threshold. Transient electroencephalogram arousal at the end of the occlusion often augmented VT, thereby contributing to the subsequent central apnea; however, arousal was not required for the apnea to occur. Significant transient hypocapnia (up to -12 Torr arterial PCO2) commonly occurred after release of airway occlusion but was not closely correlated with the length of central apnea. During vagal blockade, after release of airway occlusion, significant transient hyperventilation occurred but at VT < 40% greater than control, and TE prolongation was markedly reduced. In summary, after release of airway occlusion in NREM sleep, 1) VT greater than three times eupnea was necessary to cause central apnea, 2) transient arousal at the termination of airway occlusion caused longer apneas by augmenting VT, and 3) transient hypocapnia per se made a significant but minor contribution to the postocclusion central apnea.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19053922,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Detection of herpesviruses and periodontal pathogens in subgingival plaque of patients with chronic periodontitis, generalized aggressive periodontitis, or gingivitis.\nHerpesviruses may be related to the etiology of aggressive periodontitis (AgP) and chronic periodontitis (CP) by triggering periodontal destruction or by increasing the risk for bacterial infection. This case-control study evaluated the presence of herpes simplex virus type I (HSV-1), Epstein-Barr virus type I (EBV-1), human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (previously Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans), Porphyromonas gingivalis, Prevotella intermedia, and Tannerella forsythia (previously T. forsythensis) in patients with generalized AgP (AgP group), CP (CP group), or gingivitis (G group) and in healthy individuals (C group). Subgingival plaque samples were collected with paper points from 30 patients in each group. The nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method was used to detect HSV-1, EBV-1, and HCMV. Bacteria were identified by 16S rRNA-based PCR. HSV-1, HCMV, and EBV-1 were detected in 86.7%, 46.7%, and 33.3% of the AgP group, respectively; in 40.0%, 50.0%, and 46.7% of the CP group, respectively; in 53.3%, 40.0%, and 20.0% of the G group, respectively; and in 20.0%, 56.7%, and 0.0% of the C group, respectively. A. actinomycetemcomitans was detected significantly more often in the AgP group compared to the other groups (P <0.005). P. gingivalis and T. forsythia were identified more frequently in AgP and CP groups, and AgP, CP, and G groups had higher frequencies of P. intermedia compared to the C group. In Brazilian patients, HSV-1 and EBV-1, rather than HCMV, were more frequently associated with CP and AgP.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7936739,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The surgical approach in non-border digit complex dislocations of the metacarpophalangeal joint.\nComplex dislocations of the metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joint of the hand are uncommon. Most are irreducible by closed means and require open reduction. The structure most frequently blocking reduction is the volar plate, which is often interposed between the metacarpal head and the base of the proximal phalanx by the partially torn deep transverse metacarpal ligaments and MCP collateral ligaments. A review of the literature reveals controversy concerning which surgical approach, dorsal or volar, should be used to reduce these dislocations. We present an unusual case of a closed dorsal complex dislocation of the middle finger MCP joint to advocate the dorsal approach.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28686591,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The contribution of two isozymes to the pyruvate kinase activity of Vibrio cholerae: One K+-dependent constitutively active and another K+-independent with essential allosteric activation.\nIn a previous phylogenetic study of the family of pyruvate kinase EC (126.96.36.199), a cluster with Glu117 and another with Lys117 were found (numbered according to the rabbit muscle enzyme). The sequences with Glu117 have been found to be K+-dependent, whereas those with Lys117 were K+-independent. Interestingly, only \u03b3-proteobacteria exhibit sequences in both branches of the tree. In this context, it was explored whether these phylogenetically distinct pyruvate kinases were both expressed and contribute to the pyruvate kinase activity in Vibrio cholerae. The main findings of this work showed that the isozyme with Glu117 is an active K+-dependent enzyme. At the same substrate concentration, its Vmax in the absence of fructose 1,6 bisphosphate was 80% of that with its effector. This result is in accordance with the non-essential activation described by allosteric ligands for most pyruvate kinases. In contrast, the pyruvate kinase with Lys117 was a K+-independent enzyme displaying an allosteric activation by ribose 5-phosphate. At the same substrate concentration, its activity without the effector was 0.5% of the one obtained in the presence of ribose 5-phosphate, indicating that this sugar monophosphate is a strong activator of this enzyme. This absolute allosteric dependence is a novel feature of pyruvate kinase activity. Interestingly, in the K+-independent enzyme, Mn2+ may \"mimic\" the allosteric effect of Rib 5-P. Despite their different allosteric behavior, both isozymes display a rapid equilibrium random order kinetic mechanism. The intracellular concentrations of fructose 1,6-bisphosphate and ribose 5-phosphate in Vibrio cholerae have been experimentally verified to be sufficient to induce maximal activation of both enzymes. In addition, Western blot analysis indicated that both enzymes were co-expressed. Therefore, it is concluded that VcIPK and VcIIPK contribute to the activity of pyruvate kinase in this \u03b3-proteobacterium.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3036826,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Class II genes of the human major histocompatibility complex. Organization and evolutionary relationship of the DR beta genes.\nThe genes of the polymorphic HLA-DR molecules are located within the human major histocompatibility complex. We have studied the HLA-DR genes of an HLA homozygous individual typed to be DR4, Dw4, and DRw53. Fourteen cosmid and phage clones from genomic libraries were isolated and grouped into three clusters comprising a total of 165 kilobases. These clusters contain four DR beta genes. Nucleotide sequence determination showed that two of the genes encode beta chains that carry the DR4 and DRw53 specificities, respectively, while the other two genes are presumably pseudogenes. Comparisons of the nucleotide sequences of all four DR beta genes of the DR4 haplotype show that the genes are extensively similar, approximately 90% in both exons and introns. All four genes are equally similar to each other. These observations are consistent with the notion that the genes arose by duplications that were followed by homogenization through gene conversion. The existence of more than one DR beta gene homologue but only a single DR alpha gene homologue in mouse, rabbit, and cattle suggests that the DR beta gene duplications occurred at or early during mammalian speciation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8352844,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Litonit: evaluation of clinical effectiveness.\nClinical data are presented on a new anti-alcoholic drug, litonit. A substantial reduction in the pathological addiction to alcohol takes place under the effect of litonit, and a stable aversive reaction to alcohol develops. The new drug is distinguished by its low toxicity, good tolerance, and its failure to cause disorders of the liver and kidneys even after chronic administration.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14551211,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Separation-of-function mutants of yeast Ku80 reveal a Yku80p-Sir4p interaction involved in telomeric silencing.\nThe Saccharomyces cerevisiae Ku heterodimer comprising Yku70p and Yku80p is involved in telomere maintenance and DNA repair by the pathway of non-homologous end joining. It is also a key regulator of transcriptional silencing of genes placed in close proximity to telomeres. Here, we describe the identification of separation-of-function mutants of Yku80p that exhibit defects in silencing but not DNA repair and show that these mutations map to an evolutionarily conserved domain within Yku80p. Furthermore, we reveal that Yku80p interacts with the silent information regulator protein Sir4p and that this interaction is mediated by the N-terminal 200 amino acid residues of Sir4p. Notably, this interaction also requires the region of Yku80p that contains the sites of the silencing defective mutations. Finally, we show that these mutations impair the Yku80p-Sir4p interaction and recruitment of Sir3p to telomeric regions in vivo. Taken together with other data, these findings indicate that the Yku80p-Sir4p interaction plays a vital role in the assembly of telomeric heterochromatin.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15243308,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Vasopeptidase inhibition improves insulin sensitivity and endothelial function in the JCR:LA-cp rat.\nThe insulin-resistant, hyperinsulinemic, normoglycemic, and obese JCR:LA-cp rat was used to study the effects of ramipril (an ACE inhibitor) and AVE7688 (a dual inhibitor of ACE and neutral endopeptidases) on insulin sensitivity and vascular function. Both compounds reduced the surge of plasma insulin in a meal tolerance test by approximately 50%. Ramipril had no effect on acetylcholine-induced relaxation but increased the sensitivity to sodium nitroprus-side at low concentrations. AVE7688 significantly reduced the EC50 for acetylcholine to relax phenylephrine-contracted aortic rings. None of the compounds affected the baseline coronary flow and reactive hyperemia. Coronary flow response to bradykinin in AVE7688- and ramipril-treated rat hearts showed a significantly lower EC50 than in control rats. Maximum flow rate was not different between groups. In summary, both ramipril and AVE7688 had significant hypoinsulinemic and insulin-sensitizing effects. Whereas ramipril had limited vascular effects, AVE7688 had more marked beneficial vascular effects, probably of endothelial origin and possibly related to lowered insulin levels.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30672179,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Clinical observation on auricular magnetotherapy for convalescent stroke patients with depression].\nTo observe the effect of auricular magnetotherapy on depression and quality of life in stroke patients with depression after recovery. Ninety-three stroke patients with depression were randomly divided into a conventional group(a control group), a conventional combined with magnetotherapy group (an observation 1 group), a conventional combined with vaccaria seed group (an observation 2 group), 31 cases in each group. Conventional treatments were applied in the three groups. On the basis of conventional treatments, auricular magnetotherapy was added in the observation 1 group, and in the observation 2 group, vaccaria seed was applied at gan (CO12), xin (CO15), pi (CO13), shen (CO10), shenmen (TF4), pizhixia (AT4), press 3 times a day, replace once every 3 days, alternate ears and treating for 4 weeks. The scores of 17 Hamilton Depression Scales (HAMD-17) and stroke-specific quality of life scales (SS-QOL) were observed before and after treatment in each group. Depression was assessed at follow-up 4 weeks after treatment, and the clinical efficacy of each group was compared. A total of 83 cases completed the test. After treatment and follow-up, the scores of HAMD decreased in the observation 1 group and observation 2 group compared with that before treatment (all P<0.01). The total score of HAMD in the observation 1 group was lower than that in the observation 2 group and control group (all P<0.01). After treatment, the depression, suicide, initial insomnia, middle insomnia, final insomnia, work and interest dimension scores in the observation 1 group were lower than those in the observation 2 group and control group (P<0.05, P<0.01). Compared with that before treatment, the total score of SS-QOL in the observation 1 group increased (P<0.01), and there was no significant difference in total score of SS-QOL before and after treatment in the observation 2 group and control group (both P>0.05). After treatment, the total score of SS-QOL in the observation 1 group and observation 2 group were higher than that in the control group (P<0.01, P<0.05), there was no significant difference between the two groups (P>0.05). The scores of energy, family characters, and emotional dimensions in the observation 1 group were higher than those in the observation 2 group and control group (P<0.05, P<0.01). The score of personality and upper limb function were higher than those in the control group (P<0.05, P<0.01); the score of the family role dimension of the observation 2 group was significantly higher than that in the control group (P<0.01). The total effective rate in the observation 1 group was 72.4% (21\/29), which was higher than 44.4% (12\/27) in the observation 2 group (P<0.05) and 11.1% (3\/27) in the control group (P<0.01). Auricular magnetotherapy can improve the depressive symptoms of convalescent stroke patients with depression and improve their quality of life.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37868342,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-22":1}}},"text":"Exploring the relationship between anellovirus load and clinical variables in hospitalized COVID-19 patients: Implications for immune activation and inflammation.\nAnelloviruses have been linked with host-immunocompetence and inflammation. Here, we studied the anellovirus load in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. We collected samples of patients recruited in the DAWN-Plasma trial that received convalescent plasma (CP) therapy (four plasma units) combined with standard of care (SOC) or SOC of alone. Plasma samples were collected on day 0 and 6 of hospitalization and we quantified anellovirus load. With multivariate models, clinical variables were associated with changes in anellovirus load. Samples were collected on day 0 and 6 of 150 patients (103 CP + SOC and 47 SOC). Anellovirus load was higher on day 0 compared to day 6 and we found a significant drop in SOC patients. Patients receiving immunosuppressive drug had a lower anellovirus load (coefficient: 1.021, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.270-1.772, P = 0.008), while patients admitted to the emergency room displayed a higher abundance on day 0 (1.308, 95% CI 0.443-2.173, P = 0.003). Unspecific markers of inflammation and organ damage, D-dimer (0.001, 95% CI <0.001-0.001, P = 0.001) and lactate dehydrogenase (0.002, 95% CI 0.001-0.004, P = 0.044), were positively associated with anellovirus load. Finally, anellovirus load on day 0 (-39.9, 95% CI -75.72 to -4.27, P = 0.029) was negatively associated with SARS-CoV-2 antibody response on day. The results showed associations between clinical variables and anellovirus load in COVID-19 patients. Many variables share properties related to host immunocompetence or inflammation. Therefore, we expect that anellovirus abundance displays the net state of immune activation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27479245,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Presumed Furosemide-associated Bilateral Angle-Closure Glaucoma.\nTo report a case of presumed furosemide-associated bilateral angle-closure glaucoma. Retrospective case report with spectral domain anterior segment optical coherence tomography imaging. A 21-year-old African American woman in her 17th week of pregnancy presented with acute angle-closure glaucoma in both eyes after being started on furosemide in her first trimester for fluid overload. Intraocular pressures were elevated in the low 40s mm Hg bilateral (OU) and anterior chambers were shallow with narrow grade 1 angles on gonioscopy (Schaffer classification). Medical history included type 1 diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease, and 2 prior failed pregnancies complicated by fluid overload. She was started on 60 mg of prednisone daily along with topical brimonidine in both eyes twice daily. After 3 days, her intraocular pressures normalized. At 1 week, slit-lamp examination showed deepened anterior chambers and gonioscopy confirmed widened angles. Oral prednisone was titrated down slowly for the remainder of her uneventful pregnancy. On follow-up 1 month after delivery, intraocular pressures and best-corrected visual acuities reached preterm baseline values of 15 mm Hg OU and 20\/30 OU. This is the first reported case of furosemide-associated bilateral angle-closure glaucoma. Similar idiosyncratic reactions following exposure to other sulphonamide-containing drugs have been described. We propose discontinuation of the offending agent and treatment with oral prednisone in similar clinical settings.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12028845,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"From rapid smoking to the Internet: five decades of cessation research.\nThis review summarizes the author's smoking cessation research from the 1960s into the 21st century. Both contextual and personal factors that led the author to undertake cessation research and to move from intensive clinical interventions to brief, population-focused interventions, especially in healthcare settings, are described. Suggestions are offered as to how research can address the problem of inconsistent delivery of effective interventions in healthcare settings.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16229648,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Centered reduced moments and associate density functions applied to alkaline comet assay.\nThe single cell gel electrophoresis assay is a sensitive, rapid, and visual technique for deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) strand-break detection in individual mammalian cells, whose application has significantly increased in the past few years. The cells are embedded in agarose on glass slides followed by lyses of the cell membrane. Thereafter, damaged DNA strands are electrophoresed away from the nucleus towards the anode giving the appearance of a comet tail. Nowadays, charge coupled device cameras are attached at optical microscopes for recording the images of the cells, and digital image processing is applied for obtaining quantitative descriptors. However, the conventional software is usually expensive, inflexible and, in many cases, can only provide low-order descriptors based in image segmentation, determination of centers of mass, and Euclidean distances. Associated density functions and centered reduced moments offer an effective and flexible alternative for quantitative analysis of the comet cells. We will show how the position of the center of mass, the lengths and orientation of the main semiaxes, and the eccentricity of such images can be accurately determined by this method.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14526808,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The archives of the Canadian Dermatology Association.\nThis article describes some details of the archival material of the Canadian Dermatology Association (CDA). Covering its 75 years of existence, these archives consist of seven items: (1) 38 volumes of bound archives; (2) tri-annual issues since 1975 of the CDA Journal\/Bulletin (a socio-political historical newsletter); (3) members' files containing extensive biographical material; (4) a collection of 150 books and other pamphlets; (5) since 1995, the scientific peer-reviewed official journal of the CDA (Journal of Cutaneous Medicine and Surgery); (6) a sporadic collection of photographs, meeting tape recordings, and protocols of patient presentations at the annual meetings; and (7) a miscellany of historical articles on Canadian dermatologists, dermatology published in older medical Journals, and two books published separately.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9160594,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Long-term course and outcome in panic disorder: a naturalistic follow-up study.\nFifty-five of 102 consecutively evaluated patients with panic disorder seen in consultation at a specialty anxiety and mood disorders clinic were reinterviewed from 15 to 60 months later after naturalistic treatment in the community. Over the follow-up period, most patients displayed improvement in panic attack frequency and severity, phobic avoidance, depression, and major role functioning, although only five (10%) were asymptomatic on all measures at follow-up. The majority of patients with impaired interpersonal functioning showed no improvement on this measure. Thirty percent of the patients were panic-free at 12 months and 28% at the time of follow-up, with 43% experiencing at least three panic-free months during the follow-up period. Comorbid agoraphobia, major depression, and Axis II disorders were associated with worse outcome on selected measures of symptomatic and functional impairment. However, the strongest predictors of overall improvement were avoidance coping for outcome at 12 months and Axis I comorbidity for outcome at the time of the follow-up evaluation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37841807,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Barriers to Universal Health Coverage in India and the Strategies to Address Them: A Key Informant Study.\nIndia has adopted several policies toward improving access to healthcare and has been an enthusiastic signatory to several global health policies to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC). However, despite these policy commitments, there has been limited success in realizing these goals. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the urgent need for health system re-design and amplified the calls for such reforms. We seek to understand the views of a diverse group of policy actors in India to address the following research questions: what are the (i) conceptualizations of UHC, (ii) main barriers to realizing UHC, and (iii) policy strategies to address these barriers. We collected data through in-depth interviews with 38 policy actors from diverse backgrounds and analyzed using the Framework Method to develop themes both inductively and deductively using the Control Knob Framework of health systems. There was congruence in the conceptualization of UHC by policy actors. Quality of care, equity, financial risk protection, and a comprehensive set of services were the most commonly cited features. The lack of a comprehensive systems approach to health policies, inadequate and inefficient health financing mechanisms, and fragmentation between public and private sectors were identified as the main barriers to UHC. Contrasting views about specific strategies, health financing, provider payments, organization of the delivery system, and regulation emerged as the key policy interventions to address these barriers. This is the first systematic examination of a diverse set of policy actors' problem analyses and suggestions to advance UHC goals in India. The study underscores the need to recognize the complex and interlinked nature of health system reforms and initiate a departure from path-dependent vertical interventions to bring about transformative change.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37866894,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Inactivation efficacy of low-pressure plasma treatment against seed-borne tomato pathogen Clavibacter michiganensis and effect of seed setting position and mesh sheet usage.\nClavibacter michiganensis, a gram-positive actinomycete, is a major seed-borne tomato pathogen. We investigated the inactivation efficacy of low-pressure plasma treatment against C. michiganensis inoculated on tomato seeds by placing them on a mesh sheet above the bottom dielectric glass plate. The 2- and 5-minute plasma treatment reduced C. michiganensis populations on the tomato seeds by 0.8 and 1.8 log cfu\/seed, respectively. The reduction rates were similar to those of C. michiganensis on shirona (cruciferous) seeds, which have different shapes and surface structures. In contrast, the inactivation of C. michiganensis cells using plasma was more difficult than that of X. campestris cells. Additionally, it was found that placing seeds on a mesh sheet laid on the dielectric glass plate was remarkably effective in inactivating the pathogens on tomato seeds. Since the tomato seeds were susceptible to damage from plasma treatment, methods to reduce its damage need to be investigated.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36935669,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A qualitative study on health stigma and discrimination in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic: Lessons learnt from a public health perspective.\nStigmatisation, misinformation and discrimination have been magnified globally due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The healthcare sector was not spared from this. We conducted a transnational study, using the Health Stigma and Discrimination framework (HSDF) to explore public perception and reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic in a multicultural context. Findings from the Asian arm of the study, sited in Singapore, are reported in this paper. This phenomenological research deployed semi-structured informant interviews using non-probability sampling approaches to recruit members of the public. Interviews were coded independently by two researchers and thematic analysis was used to analyse the responses. Twenty-nine members of the public (23-80 years old) were interviewed between Oct 2020 to Feb 2021. Five major themes were identified: (i) perception of stigma amongst respondents, (ii) experiences of stigma amongst respondents, (iii) views on what drove stigma and misinformation, (iv) facilitators in preventing and reducing stigma and misinformation, and (v) ageist attitudes towards older adults. Overall, construction workers living in dormitories, healthcare workers, and to some extent tourists from China, were perceived to have been stigmatised and shunned by the public. Place-based stigmatisation was common; participants responded by avoiding places that had confirmed cases of COVID-19. Perceived stigma was temporary and not enduring, driven at the outset by fear of being infected. This study also identified the role played by trust in reducing stigmatisation. The relative absence of politicising of issues and high-quality information readily disseminated to the public were reported as factors that could have reduced and prevented stigma and misinformation on the various groups. Ageist attitudes were observed in some participants with older adults being labelled as vulnerable, susceptible to misinformation and being less able to cope during the pandemic. Through the lens of the HSDF, this study provided an exploratory account of the nature of stigma that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic in an Asian context. It also shed light on facilitators in preventing and reducing stigma during an outbreak especially the role of trust and communications during a public health crisis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9556911,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"High-level expression of bovine alpha s1-casein in milk of transgenic mice.\nThe bovine alpha s1-casein gene, isolated from a cosmid library, was introduced into the murine germline. Transgene expression occurred in all transgenic mice, and was confined to the lactating mammary gland. Half of the mouse lines (five out of ten) expressed at relatively high expression levels (> 1 mg ml-1). The highest levels of expression were obtained with a transgene containing 14.2 kb of 5' flanking sequence, in two cases expression levels comparable to (10 mg ml-1) or well above (20 mg ml-1) alpha s1-casein levels in bovine milk were obtained. Transcription initiation occurred at the same site in the bovine alpha s1-casein gene in transgenic mouse as in the cow. A marked induction of expression occurred at parturition rather than at mid-pregnancy, and thus resembled the bovine rather than the murine developmental expression pattern. Bovine alpha s1-casein specific immunoblotting and RIA were developed for characterization and quantification of the recombinant protein. Using these assays, the properties of the recombinant protein could not be distinguished from those of the natural bovine protein. In spite of the high-level tissue-specific and correctly regulated developmental expression of the transgene, expression levels were integration-site dependent. This may indicate that not all cis-acting regulatory elements involved in bovine alpha s1-casein expression were included in the transgene.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26491603,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Three-Dimensional Kinetic Adaptations of Gait throughout Pregnancy and Postpartum.\nBiomechanical adaptations that occur during pregnancy can lead to changes on gait pattern. Nevertheless, these adaptations of gait are still not fully understood. The purpose was to determine the effect of pregnancy on the biomechanical pattern of walking, regarding the kinetic parameters. A three-dimensional analysis was performed in eleven participants. The kinetic parameters in the joints of the lower limb during gait were compared at the end of the first, second, and third trimesters of pregnancy and in the postpartum period, in healthy pregnant women. The main results showed a reduction in the normalized vertical reaction forces, throughout pregnancy, particularly the third peak. Pregnant women showed, during most of the stance phase, medial reaction forces as a motor response to promote the body stability. Bilateral changes were observed in hip joint, with a decrease in the participation of the hip extensors and in the eccentric contraction of hip flexors. In ankle joint a decrease in the participation of ankle plantar flexors was found. In conclusion, the overall results point to biomechanical adjustments that showed a decrease of the mechanical load of women throughout pregnancy, with exception for few unilateral changes of hip joint moments.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23329413,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Grape RNA-Seq analysis pipeline environment.\nThe avalanche of data arriving since the development of NGS technologies have prompted the need for developing fast, accurate and easily automated bioinformatic tools capable of dealing with massive datasets. Among the most productive applications of NGS technologies is the sequencing of cellular RNA, known as RNA-Seq. Although RNA-Seq provides similar or superior dynamic range than microarrays at similar or lower cost, the lack of standard and user-friendly pipelines is a bottleneck preventing RNA-Seq from becoming the standard for transcriptome analysis. In this work we present a pipeline for processing and analyzing RNA-Seq data, that we have named Grape (Grape RNA-Seq Analysis Pipeline Environment). Grape supports raw sequencing reads produced by a variety of technologies, either in FASTA or FASTQ format, or as prealigned reads in SAM\/BAM format. A minimal Grape configuration consists of the file location of the raw sequencing reads, the genome of the species and the corresponding gene and transcript annotation. Grape first runs a set of quality control steps, and then aligns the reads to the genome, a step that is omitted for prealigned read formats. Grape next estimates gene and transcript expression levels, calculates exon inclusion levels and identifies novel transcripts. Grape can be run on a single computer or in parallel on a computer cluster. It is distributed with specific mapping and quantification tools, but given its modular design, any tool supporting popular data interchange formats can be integrated. Grape can be obtained from the Bioinformatics and Genomics website at: http:\/\/big.crg.cat\/services\/grape.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17824706,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Recoverable (R)- and (S)-binap-Ag(I) complexes for the enantioselective 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction of azomethine ylides.\nThe first enantioselective 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction of amino acid derived azomethine ylides and maleimides catalyzed by very stable and recyclable chiral (R)- or (S)-binap-AgClO(4) complexes is described. The reactions are performed at room temperature, in good yields, with high endo diastereoselectivity and enantioselectivity, the complex being recovered by simple filtration.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6363086,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Prognostic value of in vitro measurements of platelet aggregability and fibrinolytic activity in patients with reversible cerebral ischemic attacks.\nPlatelet aggregability and fibrinolytic activity were studied repeatedly in 83 patients with reversible cerebral ischemic attacks over a median follow-up period of 26 months. Platelet hyperaggregability, defined as in vitro secondary aggregation obtained by adenosine diphosphate concentration less than or equal to 1 mumol\/l, was demonstrated in 36.1% or the patients examined 5-8 days after the attack, but only in 6% of age- and sex-matched blood donors (p less than 0.001). Fibrinolytic activity was reduced in 57.8% of the patients, as compared with 20.5% of the controls. At the time of follow-up only 8% of the survivors showed platelet hyperaggregability, whereas the fibrinolytic activity was still reduced in 44.4%. Over the observation period 21.7% of the patients had a stroke or died. No significant correlation was found between abnormalities of platelet aggregability or of fibrinolytic activity, when observed 5-8 days after the ischemic episode, and the subsequent risk of stroke or death. It is concluded that in patients with recent cerebral ischemic attacks the demonstration of platelet hyperaggregability or reduced fibrinolytic activity appears to be without prognostic significance.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1680818,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Time course of in vivo insulin sensitivity after a single bout of exercise in rats.\nAfter a single bout of treadmill running (20 m.min-1, 1 hour), the time course of the in vivo insulin sensitivity was determined in previously untrained rats. The glucose infusion rate (GIR, mg.kg-1.min-1) as an index of insulin sensitivity was assessed by the euglycemic insulin clamp technique 1 (1h-post-Ex group), 3 (3h-post-Ex), 6 (6h-post-Ex) and 24 hours after exercise (24h-post-Ex), n = 8 in each group. GIRs increased with time from 5.72 +\/- 1.02 (1h-post-Ex), to 7.58 +\/- 1.07 (3h-post-Ex), 10.31 +\/- 1.52 (6h-post-Ex) and 10.23 +\/- 1.62 (24h-post-Ex) vs control (5.51 +\/- 0.63); the GIR in the 6h-post-Ex and the 24h-post-Ex were significantly higher than those in the control and the 1h-post-Ex groups (p less than 0.05). The rate of increase was equivalent to that observed after long-term training in our previous study. GIR of alpha-adrenergic blockade infused 1 hour after exercise (1h-post-Ex alpha) significantly increased (8.32 +\/- 0.96) compared to the control and no exercise alpha-blocker-infused control (C alpha) (p less than 0.05). But no significant difference was shown between 1h-post-Ex and 1h-post-Ex alpha groups. In the beta-blocker-infused group, GIR did not show a significant increase. These results indicate that an increase in the in vivo insulin sensitivity after a single bout of exercise is not evident until 6 hours post-exercise. The delay in the sensitivity might partly be explained by the suppression caused by catecholamines via the alpha-mechanism.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17001366,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Optical inclinometer based on a single long-period fiber grating combined with a fused taper.\nA new concept to measure rotation angles based on a fiber-optic modal Mach-Zehnder interferometer is demonstrated by using a nonadiabatic taper cascaded with a long-period fiber grating. Information about the magnitude of the rotation angle can be obtained from the measurement of the interference pattern visibility, and under certain conditions it is also possible to obtain the sign of the rotation angle from the induced phase variation in the fiber interferometer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29366314,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Laparoscopic or open distal pancreatectomy for benign and malignant lesions of the pancreas?\nMinimally-invasive techniques were adopted relatively late for pancreatic procedures due to their complexity. Today, minimally-invasive distal pancreatectomy is the procedure of choice for the treatment of benign or premalignant pancreatic lesions due to the advantages inherent to laparoscopy. Data on the efficacy of minimally-invasive distal pancreatectomy in oncologic surgery is still limited and larger prospective series are needed prior to its widespread use for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. This review addresses various aspects of distal pancreatectomy, with emphasis on recent developments and open controversies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36928627,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Long-Term Outcomes of Depression Treatment With Hypnotherapy or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.\nIn a recent randomized controlled trial of mild to moderate depression, hypnotherapy (HT) was noninferior to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) after 6 months of outpatient treatment. In the present article, we extended the results in a secondary analysis and investigated how HT compares with CBT 1) during the course of the self-rated depressive symptoms throughout the 12-month follow-ups, 2) with regard to the rates of full remission, and 3) for the time to remission after treatment. Of the 152 randomized patients with current depression, 136 were available for the follow-up analyses. The course of self-rated depressive symptoms during follow-ups was analyzed with linear mixed-effects models. Time to a full remission, defined as eight consecutive weeks without depression, was compared between groups in a survival analysis. The self-reported depressive symptoms could be maintained on a low symptom level during the 12-month follow-up for both HT and CBT. Overall, both treatments achieved comparably high long-term remission rates of 73% after a median of 30 weeks. Outpatient psychotherapy with HT achieved good long-term results mostly comparable to CBT.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25420243,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A deep connection between the Vapnik-Chervonenkis entropy and the Rademacher complexity.\nIn this paper, we derive a deep connection between the Vapnik-Chervonenkis (VC) entropy and the Rademacher complexity. For this purpose, we first refine some previously known relationships between the two notions of complexity and then derive new results, which allow computing an admissible range for the Rademacher complexity, given a value of the VC-entropy, and vice versa. The approach adopted in this paper is new and relies on the careful analysis of the combinatorial nature of the problem. The obtained results improve the state of the art on this research topic.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32371064,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Ameliorative effect of 2-methoxyestradiol on radiation-induced lung injury.\nRadiation-induced lung injury (RILI) is a serious complication of radiation therapy. Development of an effective drug that selectively protects normal lung tissues and sensitizes tumor cells to radiotherapy is an unmet need. 2-Methoxyestradiol (2ME2) possesses polypharmacological properties, which qualifies it as an effective radioprotector. Our aim is to explore the potential protective effects of 2ME2 against early and late stages of RILI and the underlying mechanisms. BALB\/c mice were either treated with 2ME2 (50 mg\/kg\/day i.p., for 4 weeks); or received a single dose of 10 Gy ionizing radiation (IR) delivered to the lungs; or 10 Gy IR and 2ME2. Animal survival and pulmonary functions were evaluated. Immune-phenotyping of alveolar macrophages (AM) in the broncho-alveolar lavage fluids (BALF) was determined by flow cytometry. ELISA was used to evaluate the expression levels of TNF-\u03b1, TGF-\u03b2; and IL-10 in BALF. Lung tissues were used for histopathological examination or immunofluorescence staining for CD68 (pan-macrophage marker), Arginase-1 (Arg1, M2-specific marker), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS, M1-specific marker) and HIF-1\u03b1. VEGF and \u03b3H2AX expression in lung tissues were detected by western blot. The results demonstrated that 2ME2 improved the survival, lung functions and histopathological parameters of irradiated mice. Additionally, it attenuated the radiation-induced AM polarization and reduced the pneumonitis and fibrosis markers in lung tissues. Significant reduction of TNF-\u03b1 and TGF-\u03b2 with concomitant increase in IL-10 concentrations were observed. Moreover, the expression of HIF-1\u03b1, VEGF and \u03b3H2AX declined. 2ME2 is a promising radioprotectant with fewer anticipated side effects.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37867979,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Clinical Inertia: A Wider Perspective and Proposed Classification Criteria.\nClinical inertia is very common in day-to-day practice, and the factors contributing to that can be physician-related, patient-related, or health-care-related. Clinical inertia is commonly described in chronic asymptomatic illness. We searched the PubMed and Scopus databases for original articles and reviews. Based on the search result, in this review article, we redefine various terminologies to avoid confusion and propose classification criteria for the early identification of clinical inertia. Clinical inertia is also present in acute illness and in symptomatic disease. Early identification of clinical inertia is difficult because of very vague terminologies which have been used interchangeably as well as because of the lack of definitive classification criteria. In this article, we redefine clinical inertia and propose criteria for early identification, which will be useful for both clinicians and academicians. This review will help clinicians to identify and rectify various aspects of clinical inertia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12033260,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Using stable-isotope-labeled proteins for hydrogen exchange studies in complex mixtures.\nThe use of mass spectrometry to measure hydrogen exchange rates for individual proteins in complex mixtures is described. Incorporation of stable-isotope-labeled (SIL) amino acids into a protein of interest during overexpression in bacteria produced distinctive isotope patterns in mass spectra of peptic peptides from the labeled protein. The isotope pattern was used as a signature for peptides originating from the SIL protein. In addition, stable-isotope labeling simplified identification of the peptic peptides by providing partial amino acid composition information. Despite the complex isotope patterns associated with SIL peptides, hydrogen exchange rates could still be measured for peptides from SIL protein and were found to be the same as exchange rates for unlabeled protein. Hydrogen exchange in a single protein of interest was measured in a complex mixture of proteins, a bacterial cell lysate. This methodology, which includes easy recognition of peptic peptides from the protein(s) of interest during hydrogen exchange studies in heterogeneous systems, will permit analysis of structural properties and dynamics of large protein complexes and complex protein systems.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16236352,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Impact of water temperature and stressor controllability on swim stress-induced changes in body temperature, serum corticosterone, and immobility in rats.\nThe present study compared the effects of three different water temperatures (20, 25, and 30 degrees C) and stressor controllability on several physiological and behavioral endpoints in an intermittent swim stress paradigm. The escape latency of rats in the 20 and 25 degrees C water was less than that observed for the 30 degrees C group. Both escape and yoked groups at 20 and 25 degrees C exhibited moderate to severe hypothermia following the swim stress session that returned to prestress levels 30-40 min post-stress. At 30 degrees C core body temperature (Tb) only decreased by 1 degree C for either swim group. Following swim, serum corticosterone (CORT) levels were significantly elevated in both escape and yoked groups in comparison to confined and home cage controls. The confined control group showed a significant elevation that was approximately halfway between the home cage control and the swim stress groups. At 30 degrees C, there was still a significant elevation of serum CORT in both swim groups in comparison to confined and home cage controls. Therefore, 30 degrees C appears to be the optimal water temperature to evaluate stress controllability effects in the current paradigm. In a final experiment, swim stressor controllability effects were examined in a 5 min forced swim test (FST) 24 h following the initial stress exposure. Rats exposed to yoked-inescapable swim stress at 30 degrees C exhibited more immobility than their escapable swim stress and confined counterparts, while the escape and confined controls did not differ. These results demonstrate that the behavioral deficits observed in the FST are attributable to the stress of inescapable swim and not swim stress per se.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28576090,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"On the physical interpretation of the nuclear molecular orbital energy.\nRecently, several groups have extended and implemented molecular orbital (MO) schemes to simultaneously obtain wave functions for electrons and selected nuclei. Many of these schemes employ an extended Hartree-Fock approach as a first step to find approximate electron-nuclear wave functions and energies. Numerous studies conducted with these extended MO methodologies have explored various effects of quantum nuclei on physical and chemical properties. However, to the best of our knowledge no physical interpretation has been assigned to the nuclear molecular orbital energy (NMOE) resulting after solving extended Hartree-Fock equations. This study confirms that the NMOE is directly related to the molecular electrostatic potential at the position of the nucleus.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3072202,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The build-up of the thrombospondin extracellular matrix. An apparent dependence on synthesis and on preformed fibrillar matrix.\nThrombospondin (TSP) is a multifunctional protein synthesized by several cell types in culture, among them endothelial cells, and incorporated into the extracellular matrix (ECM) of these cells. In vitro it has been detected in most interstitial spaces, and its presence has been suggested to be developmentally controlled. With the aim of elucidating the role of TSP in the extracellular matrix, we studied the build-up of this protein in the matrix as a function of cell type density and age in culture. The development of the TSP matrix was compared to that of fibronectin (FN) and of von Willebrand Factor (VWF) in the same cultures using our monoclonal anti-TSP antibody B7-3 and monospecific anti-FN or anti-VWF antibodies. In cultures of bovine aortic endothelial cells (BAEC) we observed that both the pattern and distribution of TSP in the matrix changed with cell density and time in culture; it started as a completely amorphous dense layer of protein when the cells were sparse and changed to well organized fibrils when the cells had been confluent for a while. The first appearance of the fibrillar arrays of TSP coincides perfectly with that of the FN fibers; extracellular VWF also was first detected at this point. From this time in culture, there was an increasing coincidence of the TSP with the FN and the VWF matrices suggesting the formation of a complex multicomponent structure of the fibrillar network.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30652930,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Exercise adherence: beliefs of adults with knee osteoarthritis over 2 years.\nExercise is an established treatment to alleviate pain and improve function among adults with knee osteoarthritis (KOA). However, long-term adherence to exercise is poor and effective approaches to support adherence are limited. Here, we report on an ancillary study to a randomized controlled trial (RCT) where the primary outcome was 2-year adherence to a home based strength-training program. The aims of this current study were to (i) explore experiences, feelings, and perspectives related to long-term adherence to exercise among adults with painful KOA participating in a 2-year RCT, and (ii) identify factors that influenced long-term adherence to exercise. Methods: We purposively recruited 25 subjects and conducted in-depth interviews at the 2-year RCT assessment. In the RCT participants completed a 6-week group exercise program followed by automated telephone calls. Findings: Three conceptual categories describing beliefs about exercise were identified: (1) monitoring; (2) knowledge of how to manage their exercise behaviors; and (3) benefits of exercise. Monitoring provided by peers and instructors during group exercise, and telephone technology were valued by participants. Participants who reported low adherence expressed ambivalence about the benefits of exercise and a desire for more social support. Those who reported high adherence exhibited self-determination and self-efficacy. Conclusions: A novel finding is the conceptual link of self-determination to high adherence to strength-training exercises over 2 years among adults with KOA. Implications for physical therapists include identifying patients' autonomy, competence, and relatedness needs to foster intrinsic control for exercise behavior.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35357076,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-10":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Immunotherapy and Transarterial therapy of HCC: What the interventional radiologist needs to know about the changing landscape of HCC treatment?\nHepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fourth most common cancer worldwide and its incidence is increasing in Australia. Transarterial therapy, predominantly transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) but increasingly transarterial radioembolization (TARE), plays an important role in patients with intermediate-stage disease and preserved liver function. However, despite advances in TACE, TARE and adjunctive procedures, overall survival has only modestly increased over the last 20 years. Immunotherapy has emerged as a newer cancer treatment and uses antibodies directed at checkpoint inhibitors to upregulate T-cell mediated tumour-specific death. These drugs have been shown to increase survival in patients with HCC and have changed the landscape for advanced disease. Trials are now ongoing combining transarterial therapy and immunotherapy. This manuscript introduces these trials and interventional radiologists should be aware of the changing landscape so that they can partner with immunotherapy and remain relevant in the HCC multidisciplinary group as immunotherapy use increases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36266866,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Heat engines with single-shot deterministic work extraction.\nWe introduce heat engines working in the nanoregime that allow one to extract a finite amount of deterministic work. Using the resource theory approach to themodynamics, we show that the efficiency of these cycles is strictly smaller than Carnot's, and we associate this difference with a fundamental irreversibility that is present in single-shot transformations. When fluctuations in the extracted work are allowed there is a trade-off between their size and the efficiency. As the size of fluctuations increases so does the efficiency and optimal efficiency is attained for unbounded fluctuations, while a certain amount of deterministic work is drawn from the cycle. Finally, we show that when the working medium is composed of many particles, by creating an amount of correlations between the subsystems that scale logarithmically with their number, Carnot's efficiency can also be approached in the asymptotic limit along with deterministic work extraction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28296745,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Comparative study of the transcatheter and transthoracic device closure treatments for atrial septal defect: A Chinese single-institution experience.\nThe purpose of this study was to compare patient populations, safety, feasibility, complications, and total costs of the transcatheter and transthoracic device closure treatments for secundum atrial septal defect.From January 2014 to December 2014, we enrolled 155 patients with secundum atrial septal defects in our hospital. The patients were divided into 2 groups: the 70 patients in group A underwent transcatheter device closure, and the 85 patients in group B underwent transthoracic intraoperative device closure with a right lateral mini-thoracotomy.In group A, the total occlusion rate was 94.3% immediately after the operation, 100% at 3 months, and 100% at 12 months of follow-up; the group A results were not statistically different from the group B results (94.1%, 98.8%, 98.8%, respectively). There was a statistically significant difference in the minor complication rate (P < 0.05), and there were no reported deaths. There was a greater indicated scope using the transthoracic closure device to treat atrial septal defects. In our comparative study, the patients in group B had longer intensive care unit stays and hospital stays than group A (P < 0.05).Both of the device closure treatment options for secundum atrial septal defect are safe and feasible. The transcatheter device closure approach has the advantages of more cosmetic results, less trauma, and a shorter hospital stay than the transthoracic approach. On the contrary, the transthoracic closure device is an economical alternative choice, particularly for patients who are not eligible for the transcatheter closure device.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30307107,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-26":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"First evidences that the ectomycorrhizal fungus Paxillus involutus mobilizes nitrogen and carbon from saprotrophic fungus necromass.\nFungal succession in rotting wood shows a surprising abundance of ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungi during the late decomposition stages. To better understand the links between EM fungi and saprotrophic fungi, we investigated the potential capacities of the EM fungus Paxillus involutus to mobilize nutrients from necromass of Postia placenta, a wood rot fungus, and to transfer these elements to its host tree. In this aim, we used pure cultures of P. involutus in the presence of labelled Postia necromass (15 N\/13 C) as nutrient source, and a monoxenic mycorrhized pine experiment composed of labelled Postia necromass and P. involutus culture in interaction with pine seedlings. The isotopic labelling was measured in both experiments. In pure culture, P. involutus was able to mobilize N, but C as well, from the Postia necromass. In the symbiotic interaction experiment, we measured high 15 N enrichments in all plant and fungal compartments. Interestingly, 13 C remains mainly in the mycelium and mycorrhizas, demonstrating that the EM fungus transferred essentially N from the necromass to the tree. These observations reveal that fungal organic matter could represent a significant N source for EM fungi and trees, but also a C source for mycorrhizal fungi, including in symbiotic lifestyle.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1677000,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Protein and energy requirements of animals treated with beta-adrenergic agonists: a discussion.\nMuch recent work has established the efficacy of certain beta-adrenergic agonists in promoting muscle growth. These compounds also lower the deposition of body lipid. Establishing whether treatment of animals with beta-adrenergic agonists alters their metabolism in ways that affect the efficiency of nutrient use will become important if these compounds are to find a place in animal production. Currently the biological basis of amino acid and energy requirements is being reexamined; this paper discusses whether we have sufficient information to conclude that the current dietary recommendations are appropriate for animals receiving beta-adrenergic agonists. When dietary protein is not a primary nutritional limitation to the rate of protein deposition, beta-adrenergic agonists should increase the efficiency with which the existing protein intake is used in growth. Alternatively, diets that supply a higher essential\/nonessential amino acid ratio might be desirable. Whether additional nonprotein energy should be fed to these animals remains an open question. On one hand, the compounds increase energy expenditure and probably increase the maintenance energy needs of the recipient animals; on the other, feeding diets of higher energy density may lead to the resumption of undesirably high rates of fat deposition.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6929785,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"The natural course of diabetic neuropathy. A follow-up.\nOut of an unselected group of 160 patients with diabetic neuropathy 51 patients were followed up for an average of 5, 6 years by repeated neurological examinations and by means of a questionnaire. The control of the diabetes was requested from the house physicians. The patients were classified as presenting (1) a symmetrical, predominantly sensory neuropathy (2) a mixed syndrome with additional autonomic neuropathy and (3) multiple mononeuropathy. Individual symptoms and objective signs of neuropathy revealed a remarkable variety of changes. The outlook in multiple mononeuropathy and distal paresis was favorable while autonomic failures, in particular of male sexual function, progressed. There seemed to be some beneficial effect of improved glycemic control. However, despite satisfactory metabolic control some progression of diabetic neuropathy occured.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6737009,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cortical dysplasia in congenital muscular dystrophy with central nervous system involvement (Fukuyama type).\nWe report five cases of congenital muscular dystrophy with central nervous system involvement of the Fukuyama type (FCMD) in which cerebral cortical dysplasia was not uniform even in the same brain. We have categorized the dysplasia into three major patterns, each with a predictable topography despite individual variations. Cerebellar micropolygyria was localized to the dorsal halves of each hemisphere. Aberrant fascicles of myelinated nerve fibers, closely associated with micropolygyria, were found in the subarachnoid space of the dorsal cerebellar surface in all but one case. We discuss the characteristics of the cortical dysplasia of FCMD, particularly in relation to that of Walker's lissencephaly, pathogenesis, and the relationship between lesions of the central nervous system and skeletal muscle.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20362517,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry assay for the quantification of free and total sialic acid in human cerebrospinal fluid.\nAnalysis of sialic acid (SA) metabolites in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is important for clinical diagnosis. In the present study, a high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC\/MS\/MS) method for free sialic acid (FSA) and total sialic acid (TSA) in human CSF was validated. The method utilized a simple sample-preparation procedure of protein precipitation for FSA and acid hydrolysis for TSA. Negative electrospray ionisation was used to monitor the transitions m\/z 308.2-->87.0 (SA) and m\/z 311.2--> 90.0 ((13)C(3)-SA). Conjugated sialic acid (CSA) was calculated by subtracting FSA from TSA. We established reference intervals for FSA, TSA and CSA in CSF in 217 control subjects. The method has been applied to patients' samples with known differences in SA metabolites like meningitis (n=6), brain tumour (n=2), leukaemia (n=5), and Salla disease (n=1). Limit of detection (LOD) was 0.54 microM for FSA and 0.45 mM for TSA. Intra- and inter-assay variation for FSA (21.8 microM) were 4.8% (n=10) and 10.4% (n=40) respectively. Intra- and inter-assay variation for TSA (35.6 microM) were 9.7% (n=10) and 12.8% (n=40) respectively. Tested patients showed values of TSA above established reference value. The validated method allows sensitive and specific measurement of SA metabolites in CSF and can be applied for clinical diagnoses.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22688858,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Aerographite: ultra lightweight, flexible nanowall, carbon microtube material with outstanding mechanical performance.\nAn ultra lightweight carbon microtube material called Aerographite is synthesized by a novel single-step chemical vapor deposition synthesis based on ZnO networks, which is presently the lightest known material with a density smaller than \u03bcg\/cm(3). Despite its low density, the hierarchical design leads to remarkable mechanical, electrical, and optical properties. The first experiments with Aerographite electrodes confirm its applicability.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19045810,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Experimental investigation of an American five-string banjo.\nAn experimental investigation of an American five-string banjo is reported. The acoustic spectra of the strings are analyzed and it is found that in many ways banjo strings behave in a manner similar to those on a piano. The terminating impedance presented to the strings at the bridge is reported and it is found to be generally much lower than the characteristic impedance of the strings. It is also shown that, for a properly tuned banjo, the mode shapes of the membrane are symmetric about the center even though there is a large asymmetric force due to the off-center placement of the bridge. Finally, high-speed electronic speckle-pattern interferometry was used to study the motion of the membranic head after a string is plucked, and it is found that the motion is dominated by a rocking motion of the bridge.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30661320,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Higher Binding Affinity and in vitro Potency of Reslizumab for Interleukin-5 Compared With Mepolizumab.\nReslizumab and mepolizumab are recently approved monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of severe (uncontrolled) eosinophilic asthma. Both are effective in neutralizing the function of interleukin-5 (IL-5). This study is the first to compare the binding affinity and in vitro potency of both antibodies in head-to-head assays. Two assays assessed binding affinity (using the equilibrium dissociation constant [KD]) of each drug for human IL-5. In the Biacore surface plasmon resonance assay, the association constant (kon) values for human IL-5 for reslizumab and mepolizumab were 3.93 \u00d7 10\u2076 and 1.83 \u00d7 10\u2075, respectively. The dissociation constant (koff) values were 4.29 \u00d7 10\u207b\u2074 and 2.14 \u00d7 10\u207b\u2074, respectively. Calculated KD values for human IL-5 for reslizumab and mepolizumab were 109 and 1,170 pM, respectively, representing an approximately 11-fold stronger binding affinity with reslizumab. In the Kinetic Exclusion Assay, the kon values for human IL-5 for reslizumab and mepolizumab were 3.17 \u00d7 10\u2076 and 1.32 \u00d7 10\u2075, respectively. The koff values were 1.36 \u00d7 10\u207b\u2075 and 1.48 \u00d7 10\u207b\u2075, respectively. Measured KD values for human IL-5 for reslizumab and mepolizumab were 4.3 and 112 pM, respectively, representing an approximately 26-fold stronger binding affinity for reslizumab. A human-IL-5-dependent cell proliferation assay was developed to assess in vitro potency, based on a human cell line selected for enhanced surface expression of IL-5 receptor-alpha and consistent proliferation response to IL-5. The concentration at which 50% inhibition occurred (IC\u2085\u2080) was determined for both antibodies. Reslizumab and mepolizumab inhibited IL-5-dependent cell proliferation, with IC\u2085\u2080 values of approximately 91.1 and 286.5 pM, respectively, representing on average 3.1-fold higher potency with reslizumab. In conclusion, comparative assays show that reslizumab has higher affinity binding for and in vitro potency against human IL-5 compared with mepolizumab. However, these results do not take into consideration the different methods of administration of reslizumab and mepolizumab.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25290129,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The role of the parent in adolescent substance use.\nThe overall goal of adolescent development is personal emancipation through individuation. The parent is considered an adolescent's most powerful formative influence and role model regarding health attitudes, behavioral norms, and social boundaries. For adolescents, engaging in risk-taking behaviors can be a normal maturational \"rewarding\" response or a strategy to cope with perceived stress and express emotions. Effective stress management is an important skill set for the developing adolescent who may experiment with a range of unhealthy strategies for coping or personal expression despite their high potential for hazardous consequences. Parenting the adolescent poses the immense challenge of promoting the adolescent's development of life skills while enabling stimulating healthy opportunities during a time of increased access and vulnerability to risky choices, including substance use. Effective parenting includes consistency, communication, respect and safety-based boundaries as well as monitoring the adolescents' friends and activities, particularly media use. Not only are parents important in deterring, suspecting, and at times detecting their adolescents' substance use, they can facilitate the evaluation or interventions that may be needed to stop substance use, start recovery, and sustain it. The role of parents is to guide adolescents in developing strengths and resilience, and fulfilling their fullest life potential.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32587585,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1}}},"text":"Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus V2 Protein Plays a Critical Role in the Nuclear Export of V1 Protein and Viral Systemic Infection.\nGeminiviruses are an important group of circular, single-stranded DNA viruses that cause devastating diseases in crops. Geminiviruses replicate their genomic DNA in the nucleus and the newly synthesized viral DNA is subsequently transported to the cytoplasm for further cell-to-cell and long-distance movement to establish systemic infection. Thus, nucleocytoplasmic transportation is crucial for successful infection by geminiviruses. For Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV), the V1 protein is known to bind and shuttle viral genomic DNA, however, the role of the V2 protein in this process is still unclear. Here, we report that the V1 protein is primarily localized in the nucleus when expressed but the nucleus-localized V1 protein dramatically decreases when co-expressed with V2 protein. Moreover, the V2-facilitated nuclear export of V1 protein depends on host exportin-\u03b1 and a specific V1-V2 interaction. Chemical inhibition of exportin-\u03b1 or a substitution at cysteine 85 of the V2 protein, which abolishes the V1-V2 interaction, blocks redistribution of the V1 protein to the perinuclear region and the cytoplasm. When the V2C85S mutation is incorporated into a TYLCV infectious clone, the TYLCV-C85S causes delayed onset of very mild symptoms compared to wild-type TYLCV, suggesting that the V1-V2 interaction and, thus, the V2-mediated nuclear export of the V1 protein is crucial for viral spread and systemic infection. Our data point to a critical role of the V2 protein in promoting the nuclear export of the V1 protein and viral systemic infection, likely by promoting V1 protein-mediated nucleocytoplasmic transportation of TYLCV genomic DNA.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36276562,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"HPV prevention in women aged 30-65 in Istanbul: Effect of early diagnosis of cervical cancer.\nEarlier detection and timely interventions against cancers are well known to reduce the morbidity and mortality. Screening programs provide opportunity to detect cancers as early as precancerous stages. Cancers of cervix of uterus are one of the cancers that have widely applicable screening methods and are one of the three cancer types that have population-based screening program in Turkiye. In this article, it is aimed to evaluate cervical cancer screenings in Istanbul. The study methodology for cervical cancer screening conducted between 2015 and 2020 in Istanbul, Turkiye's largest city, was introduced. The results obtained in the first round of screening of 723,068 women with the human papillomavirus (HPV) method as a new methodology are discussed. As a summary of results, the HPV positivity ratio was found to be 6.5% and the positivity rate was higher in younger women. The results also show that majority of the subjects with positive result were infected with more than 1 strains of HPV. Most prevalent subtypes detected were HPV16, HPV51, HPV31, HPV52, and HPV66, respectively. Total detection rate for any of the high-risk HPV subtypes was 29.95%. Although HPV-16 is the highest subtype to be infected and total percentage of infection with any high-risk strains is approximating to one-third of the total positivity, cytological results revealed only 8.1% meaningful results.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11987113,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A patient with an unusual complication of sliding inguinal hernia: Stercoral appendiceal fistula.\nAn unusual case of sliding inguinal hernia complicated by stercoral appendicular fistula as a result of acute appendicitis was reported in a 3-month-old boy. A diagnosis was made using barium enema. Elective appendectomy and narrowing of the internal ring using a purse-string suture were carried out safely via a right transverse infraumblical incision. Postoperative follow-up was uneventful.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25503821,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Volume-sensitive chloride channels are involved in cisplatin treatment of osteosarcoma.\nChemotherapy is the most common therapeutic strategy used to treat osteosarcoma. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of functionally activated chloride channels on cisplatin\u2011induced apoptosis of MG\u201163 human osteosarcoma cells. An MTT assay and flow cytometry were used to detect proliferation and apoptosis of the cells, respectively. Live cell imaging was used to detect volume changes in response to treatment with cisplatin and\/or chloride channel blockers. The effects of these treatments on chloride currents were also assayed using the patch\u2011clamp technique. The results of the present study indicate that chloride channel blockers may suppress cisplatin\u2011induced apoptosis. The MG\u201163 cells cultured with cisplatin demonstrated an apoptotic volume decrease, as well as suppression of cell proliferation; which were reversed by co\u2011treatment with chloride channel blockers. These results suggest that cisplatin may activate chloride channels, and that channel activation is an early signal in the pathways that lead to cisplatin\u2011induced apoptosis and inhibition of proliferation in MG\u201163 cells. In conclusion, these results indicate that chloride channels have an important role in cisplatin treatment of osteosarcoma.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11994488,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Inhibition of mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling by chloroquine.\nPreviously, we demonstrated that the anti-inflammatory drug chloroquine (CQ) inhibited LPS-induced TNF-alpha transcription. To define further the mechanism of CQ, we studied the effect of this drug on mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathways involved in regulation of TNF production. CQ interfered with phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK)1\/2 and the ERK-activating kinases mitogen-activating protein\/ERK kinase (MEK)1\/2. Both CQ and PD98059, a MEK1 inhibitor, reduced luciferase reporter activity driven by human TNF promoter sequences. However, CQ appeared to mediate these effects by deactivating Raf, the upstream activator of MEK. These findings were supported by functional data demonstrating that CQ and PD98059 interfered with TNF expression in several human and murine cell types while neither inhibitor blocked TNF production in murine RAW264.7 macrophages, a cell line that does not require MEK-ERK signaling for TNF production. Finally, we evaluated whether CQ could sensitize HeLa cells to undergo anti-Fas-mediated apoptosis, an effect observed when ERK activation is interrupted in this cell line. CQ rendered HeLa cells sensitive to anti-Fas treatment in a manner similar to PD98059. Taken together, these data argue that therapeutic concentrations of CQ interfere with ERK activation by a novel mechanism, an effect that could be responsible, at least in part, for the potent anti-inflammatory effects of this drug.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16158459,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Mechanisms of direct and TiO2-photocatalysed UV degradation of phenylurea herbicides.\nPhenylurea herbicides undergo low-yield (phi(PI) <15 %) monophotonic photoionisation upon 193-nm laser flash excitation. The so-formed radical cations (phenylurea.+) are highly acidic (-1.5 < pKa <0.5) and deprotonate readily to yield the corresponding neutral radical (phenylurea.). Pulse radiolysis experiments allowed limitation of the reduction potential of phenylurea.+ within 2.22 V versus the normal hydrogen electrode (NHE) < E degrees (phenylurea.+\/phenylurea) < 2.43 V versus NHE. The main photoproducts of UVC (lambda=193 nm) photodegradation of phenylureas correspond to a photo-Fries rearrangement. One-electron reduction with e-(aq) yields the corresponding radical anions (phenylurea.-), for which 4.3< pKa < 5.33. The rate constants for reaction with e-(aq) show that in photocatalysis the generation of phenylurea.- and O2.- on the surface of the photocatalyst may be competitive. High reactivity toward e-(aq) is predicted from linear free-energy relationships (LFER) for phenylureas bearing electron-withdrawing groups. Reaction with HO. takes place mainly via addition to the aromatic ring and\/or H. abstraction from a saturated carbon atom (98 %), rather than one-electron oxidation (2 %). High reactivity toward oxidation by HO. is predicted from LFER for phenylureas bearing electron-donating groups. Adsorption studies for TiO2 in its polymorphic forms of rutile and anatase, as well as with the commercial mixture Degussa P-25, show photocatalysis is independent of the specific area of the catalyst. A variety of compounds are generated during the photocatalytic degradation of Diuron, while only two hydroxychloro derivatives are observed upon prolonged direct 365 nm irradiation. The photocatalytic degradation proceeds mainly by oxidation of the Me group of the side chain, hydroxylation of the aromatic ring, and dechlorination. The photoproducts of photocatalytic degradation differ from one polymorphic form of TiO2 to another.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32374803,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evaluation of newborn hearing screening program.\nTo evaluate Newborn Hearing Screening Program of Hospital Regional de Sobradinho, from January 2016 to December 2017, according to Multiprofessional Committee on Auditory Health parameters and Joint Committee on Infant Hearing (JCIH) recommendations, as well as to describe the prevalence of risk factors for hearing loss within the study population and their impact on the respective program. This is a quantitative, cross-sectional and retrospective study that carefully analyzed registration books of screened newborns. It was established the prevalence of \"pass\" and \"fail\" in test and retest, retest percentage of attendance and referral for audiological diagnosis. Risk factors for hearing loss were described, as well as their influence on \"pass\" and \"fail\" rates. Inferential statistical analysis was performed using chi-square test and Anderson-Darling test, with 5% reliability index. A total of 3,981 newborns were screened; 2,963 (74.4%) presented no risk factors whereas 1,018 (25.6%) did, prematurity being the most frequent (51.6%). In the test, 166 (4.2%) failed and 118 (71.1%) attended the retest. The referral rate for diagnosis was 0.3%. Regarding the percentage of referral for diagnosis, the program reached indexes recommended by the Joint Committee on Infant Hearing and Multiprofessional Committee on Auditory Health. The most prevalent risk factor within the population was prematurity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30652839,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Exploring and visualizing the small-area-level socioeconomic factors, alcohol availability and built environment influences of alcohol expenditure for the City of Toronto: a spatial analysis approach.\nMany Canadians continue to drink alcohol in excess of the recommended low-risk guidelines. In this study, we visualized the geographic variation of licensed premises alcohol expenditures in Toronto and examined the effects of area-level socioeconomic characteristics, alcohol availability and built environment influences on alcohol expenditures at the Dissemination Area (DA) level. Dissemination Area average total household expenditures on alcohol from licensed premises, from the 2010 Survey of Household Spending, was the main outcome variable. Moran's I and Local Moran's I were used to quantify geographic variation and determine hot spots and cold spots of expenditure. We used DA-level socioeconomic characteristics from the 2006 Census of Canada, and the density of licensed premises and other built environment characteristics from the 2008 DMTI Spatial and 2010 CanMap datasets to predict alcohol expenditures in multivariate spatial regression models. The results indicated that the most significant area-level predictors of alcohol expenditure were the percentage of individuals in management or finance occupations and the percentage with postsecondary education (one-unit increases associated with 78.6% and 35.0% increases in expenditures respectively). Presence of subway lines in the immediate and neighbouring areas was also significant (one-unit increases resulted in 5% and 28% increases respectively). Alcohol outlet density was also positively associated with alcohol expenditures. The associations identified between licensed premises alcohol expenditures and small-area-level characteristics highlight the potential importance of small-area-level factors in understanding alcohol use. Understanding the small-area-level characteristics of expenditures and geographic variation of alcohol expenditures may provide avenues for alcohol use reduction initiatives and policies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29382854,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Computer-aided Discovery of Peptides that Specifically Attack Bacterial Biofilms.\nBiofilms represent a multicellular growth state of bacteria that are intrinsically resistant to conventional antibiotics. It was recently shown that a synthetic immunomodulatory cationic peptide, 1018 (VRLIVAVRIWRR-NH2), exhibits broad-spectrum antibiofilm activity but the sequence determinants of antibiofilm peptides have not been systematically studied. In the present work, a peptide library consisting of 96 single amino acid substituted variants of 1018 was SPOT-synthesized on cellulose arrays and evaluated against methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) biofilms. This dataset was used to establish quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) models relating the antibiofilm activity of these peptides to hundreds of molecular descriptors derived from their sequences. The developed 3D QSAR models then predicted the probability that a peptide would possess antibiofilm activity from a library of 100,000 virtual peptide sequences in silico. A subset of these variants were SPOT-synthesized and their activity assessed, revealing that the QSAR models resulted in ~85% prediction accuracy. Notably, peptide 3002 (ILVRWIRWRIQW-NH2) was identified that exhibited an 8-fold increased antibiofilm potency in vitro compared to 1018 and proved effective in vivo, significantly reducing abscess size in a chronic MRSA mouse infection model. This study demonstrates that QSAR modeling can successfully be used to identify antibiofilm specific peptides with therapeutic potential.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28248405,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Optical method to measure the surface of objects by using only one photo.\nWhat we believe is a novel method to measure the dimension of an object with one defocused photo of an object is presented in this paper. To do this, a photo of the object is taken by a camera. The focal plane is chosen as a reference plane. The coordinates of the object surface are obtained by using the camera's parameters and corresponding defocused distance. The depth from the reference plane is obtained by evaluating the confusion degree of the photo around an edge. The relationship between the confusion degree and the distance from the reference plane has been given theoretically and experimentally. Several objects have been measured with the method, and it is shown that the results obtained are reliable. For nontextured surfaces, the edges of objects can be used to make the measurement.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14533877,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Perioperative immunosuppression in cancer patients.\nCancer patients commonly undergo surgical procedures. The perioperative period is characterized by immunosuppression and may predispose already immunosupressed cancer patients to tumor spread. Cancer patients typically show depression of both cellular and humoral immune functions. Possible mediating factors for immunosuppression during the perioperative period include anesthetic agents, opioids, surgery, blood transfusions, temperature changes, pain, and psychological stress. A surgically mediated decrease in natural killer (NK) cell activity has been implicated as the major contributing factor associated with an increase in metastasis. The decreased NK cell activity during the perioperative period is associated with increased risk of mortality and cancer. Commonly used anesthetic agents and opioids are known to inhibit NK cell activity. Despite the in vivo evidence of anesthetic- and analgesic-agent-mediated immunosupression, surgery by itself results in a three- to four-fold increase in retention of metastasis when compared to the groups in which anesthesia and analgesia were combined. The negative consequences associated with perioperative immunosuppression may be decreased by several strategies, including aggressive pain control, selection of specific anesthetic and analgesic agents, avoidance of unnecessary transfusions, and delay of elective surgeries until the patient's nutritional and immune status is optimized. Recognizing and neutralizing its mediating factors, perioperative immunosuppression in cancer patients may be reduced.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28358318,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Simultaneous Detection of Both RNA and DNA Viruses Infecting Dry Bean and Occurrence of Mixed Infections by BGYMV, BCMV and BCMNV in the Central-West Region of Mexico.\nA multiplex reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay was developed to simultaneously detect bean common mosaic virus (BCMV), bean common mosaic necrotic virus (BCMNV), and bean golden yellow mosaic virus (BGYMV) from common bean leaves dried with silica gel using a single total nucleic acid extraction cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) method. A mixture of five specific primers was used to amplify three distinct fragments corresponding to 272 bp from the AC1 gene of BGYMV as well as 469 bp and 746 bp from the CP gene of BCMV and BCMNV, respectively. The three viruses were detected in a single plant or in a bulk of five plants. The multiplex RT-PCR was successfully applied to detect these three viruses from 187 field samples collected from 23 municipalities from the states of Guanajuato, Nayarit and Jalisco, Mexico. Rates of single infections were 14\/187 (7.5%), 41\/187 (21.9%), and 35\/187 (18.7%), for BGYMV, BCMV, and BCMNV, respectively; 29\/187 (15.5%) samples were co-infected with two of these viruses and 10\/187 (5.3%) with the three viruses. This multiplex RT-PCR assay is a simple, rapid, sensitive, and cost-effective method for detecting these viruses in the common bean and can be used for routine molecular diagnosis and epidemiological studies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3032604,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Activation of latent collagenase from polymorphonuclear leukocytes by oxygen radicals.\nPolymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) accumulating at inflammatory sites have the potential to degrade collagen by releasing the metalloproteinase collagenase (EC 22.214.171.124), which is stored within the specific granules of these cells in a latent, inactive, form. In order to elucidate the activation mechanism the latent enzyme (molecular weight 91,000) was purified from human PMN and incubated with the oxygen radical-generating system of xanthine oxidase (EC 184.108.40.206) and hypoxanthine. This coincubation resulted in the activation of the latent enzyme as assessed by the collagenolytic attack on human and bovine cartilaginous tissue. Two parameters for collagenolysis were used: loss of hydroxyproline-containing fragments, and mechanical measurements reflecting the stability of tissue specimens. Superoxide dismutase (EC 126.96.36.199) as well as catalase (EC 220.127.116.11) were capable of inhibiting the activation of latent PMN collagenase by the oxygen radical-generating system. The results indicate the hydroxyl radical to be the final oxidant responsible for the activation of latent PMN collagenase. Thus a new activation mechanism of latent collagenase is presented in this paper and discussed together with the potential relevance in pathophysiologic states of acute and chronic inflammation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28294619,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Concurrent Overexpression of Arabidopsis thaliana Cystathionine \u03b3-Synthase and Silencing of Endogenous Methionine \u03b3-Lyase Enhance Tuber Methionine Content in Solanum tuberosum.\nPotatoes (Solanum tuberosum) are deficient in methionine, an essential amino acid in human and animal diets. Higher methionine levels increase the nutritional quality and promote the typically pleasant aroma associated with baked and fried potatoes. Several attempts have been made to elevate tuber methionine levels by genetic engineering of methionine biosynthesis and catabolism. Overexpressing Arabidopsis thaliana cystathionine \u03b3-synthase (AtCGS) in S. tuberosum up-regulates a rate-limiting step of methionine biosynthesis and increases tuber methionine levels. Alternatively, silencing S. tuberosum methionine \u03b3-lyase (StMGL), which causes decreased degradation of methionine into 2-ketobutyrate, also increases methionine levels. Concurrently enhancing biosynthesis and reducing degradation were predicted to provide further increases in tuber methionine content. Here we report that S. tuberosum cv. D\u00e9sir\u00e9e plants with AtCGS overexpression and StMGL silenced by RNA interference are morphologically normal and accumulate higher free methionine levels than either single-transgenic line.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26437981,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Impaired esophageal motor function in eosinophilic esophagitis.\nEosinophilic esophagitis is a chronic immunoallergic inflammatory disease of the esophagus that represents a major cause of digestive morbidity among the pediatric and young adult populations. Despite the fact that key symptoms in adults include dysphagia and food impaction, many patients lack structural changes in the esophagus to account for their complaints, which suggests the presence of underlying motor disorders and esophageal distensibility impairment. In the last few years the esophageal motility of these patients has been studied using various approaches, most particularly high-resolution manometry, ambulatory manometry, and impedance planimetry. This review focuses on the most relevant findings and scientific evidence regarding esophageal motor disorders in eosinophilic esophagitis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9155305,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Trauma in the rural setting.\nThis article provides an overview of rural trauma, focusing on the challenges that exist for rural providers compared with those who work in urban trauma centers. The authors outline the role of a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist working in trauma care at rural hospitals and address responsibilities involved in this expanded role.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19042483,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Exploring project management as a practical solution to long-term care service.\nThe main purpose of this study is to explore the project management methodology as a practical solution for the field of long-term care management. This research was conducted by gathering data from reviewed literature and written documents. The conclusion suggests that project management methodology is applicable for long-term care service implementation. Moreover, the project management methodology discussed in this article could be applied to other Medicare practices to prove its validity in the future.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3057374,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Relationships among direct-acting mutagenicity, nitro group orientation and polarographic reduction potential of 6-nitrobenzo[a]pyrene, 7-nitrobenz[a]anthracene and their derivatives.\nThe direct-acting mutagenicity in Salmonella typhimurium strains TA98 and TA100 and the half-wave reduction potentials of 6-nitrobenzo[a]pyrene (6-nitro-BaP), 7-nitrobenz[a]anthracene (7-nitro-BA), and a series of their derivatives were compared. The common structural feature of these compounds is that their nitro substituents, in order to minimize steric hindrance, preferentially adopt an orientation perpendicular or nearly perpendicular to the aromatic rings. All of the compounds, except 7-hydroxy-6-nitro-BaP and 7-acetoxy-6-nitro-BaP, were found to exhibit very weak or no direct-acting mutagenicity. 7-Acetoxy-6-nitro-BaP and 7-hydroxy-6-nitro-BaP were also found to have the lowest reduction potentials among the tested compounds. The results suggest that a combination of the orientation of the nitro substituent and the first half-wave reduction potential of the compound may correlate with the direct-acting bacterial mutagenicity of nitro-polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11998934,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"An isolate of Bacillus circulans toxic to mosquito larvae.\nA new strain of Bacillus circulans isolated from a larva of Culex quinquefasciatus showed larvicidal activity on 3 mosquitoes of medical importance. Compared to Bacillus sphaericus strain 2362, this B. circulans isolate proved less toxic to Cx. quinquefasciatus and Anopheles gambiae but was 107 times more toxic to Aedes aegypti. Moreover, in comparison to other studies, B. circulans was at least as pathogenic as B. thuringiensis var. israelensis in Ae. aegypti. The tests have showed that the toxicity of the bacterial culture of B. circulans resulted from its spores and not from the insecticidal effect of chitinases or exotoxins.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31259167,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Fabrication of Li4Ti5O12@CN Composite With Enhanced Rate Properties.\nFolic acid is first time applied as a carbon-nitrogen precursor to fabricate Li4Ti5O12@CN composites via ball milling Nano-TiO2, Li2CO3 and folic acid with ethanol as solvent, and then followed by heating treatment in argon. XRD, SEM, TEM, XPS, charge-discharge test and EIS are used to evaluate the influence of N-doped carbon coating on its structure, morphologies and electrochemical property. It is demonstrated that the N-doped carbon coated Li4Ti5O12 composite exhibits superior high-rate performance compared with pure Li4Ti5O12. It possesses a high discharge capacity of 174, 165 mAh g-1 at 0.5 and 10 C, respectively. Additionally, an initial specific capacity of 96.2% is obtained after 200 cycles at 10 C. The remarkable performance might be put down to the N-doped carbon layer providing efficiently electron conductive network and nanosized decreasing lithium ion diffusion path.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35368934,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Role of Osthole on TGF-\u03b2-Induced Lung Epithelium Apoptosis Injury and Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition-Mediated Airway Remodeling in Pediatric Asthma.\nOsthole, a coumarin compound derived from Fructus Cnidii, exerts anti-inflammatory effects in an asthma model. But the effect of osthole on epithelial injury and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in asthma remains unclear. 16HBE cells were incubated with TGF-\u03b21 with or without osthole in vitro. Ovalbumin (OVA)-induced asthmatic mouse model was established in vivo. Cell counting kit-8 was carried out to evaluate the viability of 16HBE cells. The impact of osthole on TGF-\u03b21-evoked cell apoptosis and EMT process was measured by flow cytometry based on Annexin V-FITC\/PI staining, transwell assay, immunofluorescence, and Western blot. The regulatory role of osthole in TGF-\u03b21\/Smad and p38, ERK1\/2, and JNK MAPK signaling was detected via Western blot. Osthole treatment significantly suppressed TGF-\u03b21-induced 16HBE cell apoptosis, verified by a reduced percentage of apoptotic cells, decreased expression of proapoptotic proteins (cleaved-caspase3 and Bax), and enhanced antiapoptotic factor (Bcl-2) expression. In addition, the promotive impact of TGF-\u03b21 on the migration of 16HBE cells was reversed by osthole, accompanied by elevated E-cadherin expression and reduced Snail and N-cadherin expression. The activation of the Smad2\/3 and MAPKs pathway evoked by TGF-\u03b21 was inhibited by osthole in 16HBE cells. We also found that osthole mitigated airway epithelium injury and subepithelial fibrosis in OVA-challenged asthmatic mice in vivo. Osthole could mitigate TGF-\u03b21-induced epithelial cell injury and EMT process by suppressing the activation of MAPK and Smad2\/3 pathways separately. Our present study showed a new insight into understanding the underlying mechanism of osthole injury on epithelium injury and subepithelial fibrosis in airway remodeling. Asthma, epithelial injury, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and airway remodeling are the effects of osthole on airway remodeling.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9552268,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Personal and organizational predictors of workplace sexual harassment of women by men.\nThe authors investigated the predictors of workplace sexual harassment in 278 male university faculty and staff (M age = 45 years). Workplace variables (perceptions of organizational sanctions against harassment and perceptions of a sexualized workplace) and personal variables (adversarial sexual beliefs, sexual harassment beliefs, perspective taking, and self-esteem) were studied as predictors of sexualized and gender harassment. Social desirability was controlled. Both organizational variables and beliefs about sexual harassment predicted gender harassment and sexualized harassment. Perspective taking, adversarial sexual beliefs, and sexual harassment beliefs moderated the effects of perceived organizational sanctions against harassment on sexualized harassment. Findings are discussed as they relate to organizational efforts to reduce or prevent sexual harassment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17822324,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Could changes in the regulation of the PI3K\/PKB\/Akt signaling pathway and cell cycle be involved in astrocytic tumor pathogenesis and progression?\nThe most frequent alterations found in astrocytomas are two major groups of signaling proteins: the cell cycle and the growth factor-regulated signaling pathways. The aim of our study was to detect changes in expression of the following proteins: the tumor suppressors PTEN, p53, and p21Waf1\/Cip1, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP, as a marker of astroglial differentiation), the phosphorylated form of protein kinase B\/Akt (PKB\/Akt), which is downstream to the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), and MDM2, which degrades p53. Paraffin-embedded astrocytoma tissue samples from 89 patients were divided into low grade (grade I-II; 42 samples) and high grade astrocytomas (grade III-IV; 47 samples). Mouse monoclonal antibodies against GFAP, PTEN, PKB\/Akt phosphorylated on serine 473, EGFR, p53, p21Waf1\/Cip1 and MDM2 were used, followed by standard indirect immunohistochemical method. EGFR protein was detected in 29 % of low grade and in 60 % of high grade astrocytomas. The expression of phosphorylated PKB\/Akt was found in roughly the same proportions: in 86% of low grade and in 79% of high grade astrocytomas. PTEN was not found in most of astrocytomas, 64% of low grade and 74% of high grade tumors showed no PTEN staining. Overexpression of the mutated form of p53 or loss of p53 expression, however, was found in about 63% in both groups of astrocytomas with no differences between them. GFAP expression was decreased in tumor astrocytes compared to normal astrocytes and this decreased with grading. GFAP positive tumor cells were detected in only 50% of low grade, and 32% of high grade astrocytomas. The level of MDM2 expression was similar in both grades. Loss of p21Waf1\/Cip1 expression was shown in 20% of low and in 45% of high grade tumors. In the subgroup of high grade tumors with wild type p53, 86% showed p21Waf1\/Cip1 expression, whereas in the subgroup of high grade tumors with altered p53, only 35% displayed p21Waf1\/Cip1. We conclude that EGFR expression increases with astrocytoma grading. EGFR activation may subsequently lead to stimulation of the PKB\/Akt survival pathway. PTEN defects may also participate in aggressive tumor behaviour through activation of the PKB\/Akt pathway. The alteration of p53 supports the finding that the cell cycle regulation is also disrupted during development of astrocytomas. The changes in PTEN and p53 expression, and activation of PKB\/Akt are events in the early stages of astrocytomagenesis. EGFR is one of the factors, which drives the progression of astrocytomas from low to high grade stage.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1691783,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Comparison between the vasoactive actions of endothelin and arginine vasopressin in pithed rats after pretreatment with BAY K 8644, nifedipine or pertussis toxin.\nBoth human endothelin 1 (ET1) and rat endothelin 3 (ET3) produced dose-dependent pressor effects in the pithed rat. The pressor actions of ET3 and arginine vasopressin (AVP) were compared with one another in pithed rats in the presence of the calcium channel activator BAY K 8644 or the calcium channel antagonist nifedipine i.a. and also after pretreatment with pertussis toxin i.v. The diastolic pressure recorded in animals treated with the vehicle was 41 +\/- 1 mm Hg, and administration of BAY K 8644 increased the diastolic pressure to 53 +\/- 3 mm Hg, whereas nifedipine caused a decrease in diastolic pressure to 33 +\/- 2 mm Hg. AVP, ET1 and ET3 dose-dependently increased diastolic blood pressure, with AVP being the most potent and producing the greatest total increase in pressure. ET1 was more potent than ET3; however, the maximal increases produced by the endothelins were identical. The actions of ET3 but not AVP were potentiated in the presence of BAY K 8644. Furthermore, nifedipine significantly impaired responses induced by endothelin but not those produced by AVP. It was observed that animals treated with pertussis toxin 3 days before the conduction of the experiments had a significantly lower diastolic blood pressure as compared with saline-treated animals. Treatment with pertussis toxin caused the dose-diastolic pressure response curve to ET to be displaced to the right, whereas the dose-diastolic pressure response to AVP was not affected.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26424781,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Tinnitus Annoyance in Normal-Hearing Individuals: Correlation With Depression and Anxiety.\nTo assess and correlate tinnitus annoyance in normal-hearing patients with auditory brainstem response and with anxiety\/depression. A sample of 84 individuals with tinnitus and normal hearing levels (pure-tone thresholds \u226425 dB HL) was compared to a matched control group of 47 normal-hearing individuals without tinnitus. All participants underwent auditory brainstem response testing. Tinnitus annoyance was assessed using the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory and depression and anxiety using the Beck Depression Inventory and Beck Anxiety Inventory, respectively. We compared auditory brainstem response and anxiety\/depression symptoms between groups. In the study group, we correlated the degree of tinnitus annoyance with normal\/abnormal auditory brainstem response and presence\/level of anxiety\/depression symptoms. All controls had normal auditory brainstem response; 30 patients with tinnitus had abnormal results. Thirty-five patients with tinnitus had depression and 41 anxiety, while only 2 controls had depression and none had anxiety, with a significant between-group difference (P < .001). Normal\/abnormal auditory brainstem response showed no association with tinnitus annoyance, anxiety, or depression. A higher degree of tinnitus annoyance was associated with severity of depression and anxiety. Increased tinnitus annoyance was positively correlated with greater severity of anxiety and depression in normal-hearing patients but was unrelated to normal\/abnormal auditory brainstem response.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28728471,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-22":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Implementing technical refinement in high-level athletics: exploring the knowledge schemas of coaches.\nThis paper explores the approaches adopted by high-level field athletics coaches when attempting to refine an athlete's already well-established technique (long and triple jump and javelin throwing). Six coaches, who had all coached multiple athletes to multiple major championships, took part in semi-structured interviews focused upon a recent example of technique refinement. Data were analysed using a thematic content analysis. The coaching tools reported were generally consistent with those advised by the existing literature, focusing on attaining \"buy-in\", utilising part-practice, restoring movement automaticity and securing performance under pressure. Five of the six coaches reported using a systematic sequence of stages to implement the refinement, although the number and content of these stages varied between them. Notably, however, there were no formal sources of knowledge (e.g., coach education or training) provided to inform coaches' decision making. Instead, coaches' decisions were largely based on experience both within and outside the sporting domain. Data offer a useful stimulus for reflection amongst sport practitioners confronted by the problem of technique refinement. Certainly the limited awareness of existing guidelines on technique refinement expressed by the coaches emphasises a need for further collaborative work by researchers and coach educators to disseminate best practice.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23337206,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Indoxyl sulfate counteracts endothelial effects of erythropoietin through suppression of Akt phosphorylation.\nErythropoietin (EPO) is used to treat anemia in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). A wide variation in individual response to EPO, however, is often observed, causing EPO resistance. EPO exhibits not only hematopoietic but also extra-hematopoietic functions such as endothelial effects. Indoxyl sulfate, a uremic toxin, is involved in endothelial dysfunction, and consequently, the pathogenesis of CKD-associated cardiovascular disease. The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of indoxyl sulfate on the extra-hematopoietic functions of EPO in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). HUVECs were incubated with or without indoxyl sulfate or an Akt inhibitor, and then stimulated with or without EPO. Indoxyl sulfate suppressed EPO-induced survival\/proliferation, anti-apoptosis function, phosphorylation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase, and the expression of thrombospondin-1, an erythroid-stimulating factor, in HUVECs. Although EPO induced phosphorylation of both Akt and extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK) in HUVECs, indoxyl sulfate suppressed phosphorylation of Akt but not ERK. An Akt kinase inhibitor or Akt small interfering RNA suppressed all the EPO-induced cellular effects in HUVECs. As a site of action of indoxyl sulfate on EPO signaling, indoxyl sulfate attenuated EPO-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of EPO receptor (EPOR) in HUVECs. Indoxyl sulfate negatively regulates the EPOR-Akt pathway in endothelial cells, and might contribute to EPO resistance and endothelial dysfunction in patients with CKD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7933706,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hemodialysis for lithium intoxication: preliminary guidelines for emergency.\nIn Japan, 9 cases of severe lithium intoxication have been treated by hemodialysis so far, and the usefulness and indications of this procedure are not yet understood fully. We have recently experienced a case of lithium intoxication treated by hemodialysis. Considering this case together with those reported previously, we have prepared some preliminary guidelines for the application of hemodialysis to patients with lithium intoxication. The blood concentration of lithium, renal function, the severity of consciousness disturbance and clinical symptoms such as somatic complications are, of course, important indices for the application of this therapy. We think that the signs of intoxication and the time interval between the onset and the beginning of treatment also serve as useful indices for application of hemodialysis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28272873,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"A pH-Responsive Detachable PEG Shielding Strategy for Gene Delivery System in Cancer Therapy.\nIn this study, a pH-responsive detachable polyethylene glycol (PEG) shielding strategy was designed for gene delivery in cancer therapy. Polyethylenimine\/DNA complex (PEI\/DNA) was in situ shielded by aldehyde group-modified PEG derivatives. The aldehyde groups of PEG could react with the amino groups of PEI by Schiff base reaction. The Schiff base bond was stable in neutral pH but labile in slightly acidic pH, which made the PEG sheddable in tumors. PEG-coated nanoparticles (NPs) had distinct advantages compared to their mPEG counterpart, possessing decreased zeta potential, more compressed size, and enhanced stability. PEG\/PEI\/DNA NPs showed not only high tumor cell uptake and transfection efficiency in vitro but also efficient accumulation and gene expression in solid tumors in vivo. This pH-responsive detachable PEG shielding system has the potential to be applied to other polycationic nanoparticles that contain amino groups on their surfaces, which will have broad prospects in cancer therapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14551362,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Association between extracellular water, left ventricular mass and hypertension in haemodialysis patients.\nHypertension and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) are present in the majority of patients undergoing haemodialysis (HD). These two pathologies persist after dialysis onset, and pharmacological therapy is often required for adequate control of blood pressure (BP). Although fluid overload is a determinant of hypertension, clinical assessment of this parameter remains difficult and unsatisfactory. Bioimpedance analysis (BIA) spectroscopy and the relative determination of extracellular water (ECW%) may provide a simple and inexpensive tool for investigating fluid overload. We studied 110 patients on thrice-weekly HD to determine whether ECW body content correlates with hypertension and LVH in this patient population. Hypertension was determined according to the WHO criteria (office BP >\/= 140\/90 and\/or the use of antihypertensive therapy). Twenty-four hour BP monitoring and echocardiography were performed on midweek inter-HD days. Blood chemistries, dialysis dose (spKt\/V) and bioimpedance were analysed on midweek HD days. Hypertension was present in 74.5% of patients. There were no differences for age, spKt\/V, haemoglobin, serum creatinine and residual renal function between normotensive and hypertensive patients. Twenty-four hour systolic BP (SBP), 24 h diastolic BP and 24 h pulse pressure were higher in hypertensive patients, in spite of antihypertensive therapy. LVH was present in 61.8% of patients. BIA revealed that ECW% was increased in LVH+ patients (LVH+ = 47.5 +\/- 7.9%, LVH- = 42.4 +\/- 6.2%, P = 0.01) and in hypertensive patients compared with normotensives (46.5 +\/- 7.7% vs 43 +\/- 7.2%, P = 0.02). Dry body weights and inter-HD body weight increases did not differ between hypertensive and normotensive patients nor between patients with or without LVH. ECW was correlated with SBP (r = 0.35, P < 0.01) and with left ventricular mass index (LVMi(g\/sqm)) (r = 0.49, P < 0.001). A stepwise multiple linear regression model revealed that LVMi(g\/sqm) was significantly correlated with ECW%, SBP and male gender (r = 0.65, P < 0.001). LVH and hypertension are present in a majority of HD patients and they are closely correlated with one another. We found associations between fluid load, measured by BIA and expressed as ECW, and BP and LVM.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6174762,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Stimulating effect of alpha-adrenoceptor agonists on isoproterenol-induced amylase release in rat parotid tissue.\nIsoproterenol (ISO)-induced amylase release from rat parotid slices was increased by the addition of methoxamine to either a normal or a calcium (Ca)-free medium. The potentiating effect of methoxamine was completely blocked by the addition of phentolamine, irrespective of whether the slices were incubated in the normal or the Ca-free medium; and the effect also disappeared after prolonged preincubation (60 min) of the slices in the Ca-free medium. Both verapamil and procaine reduced methoxamine-induced amylase release, but only verapamil blocked the stimulating effect of methoxamine in the normal medium. ISO-induced accumulation of cyclic AMP in the slices was unaffected by methoxamine or phenylephrine. The results suggest a possibility that the potentiating effect of methoxamine on ISO-induced amylase release may be independent of the presence of extracellular Ca and the increased accumulation of cyclic AMP in the tissue is unnecessary.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":10205536,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Focus group interviews in health-care research.\nThe focus group interview allows researchers to obtain data about participants' feelings and opinions on a particular topic. Careful consideration must be given to the size of the group, the participants' backgrounds, the venue and the choice of moderator. It is not always appropriate to generalise the findings of focus group interviews on to a larger population.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1693352,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Early activation of heat shock genes in H2O2-treated Drosophila cells.\nDrosophila cells of a diploid clone derived from line Kc were treated with 1 mM H2O2 for 1 to 20 minutes. Dot blot and Northern blot analysis of RNAs extracted from control and treated cells showed that the transcriptional activation of the 6 heat-shock genes tested was early, and maximal within 5 minutes of H2O2 treatment. Analysis of the kinetics of induction of the heat-shock proteins (hsps) after an exposure to H2O2 of 2 or 5 minutes, followed by removal, suggests that this brief treatment was sufficient to trigger the synthesis of all the hsps, which was maximal 1.5 to 3h after this short H2O2 treatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29379339,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"The patterns of children poisoning cases in community teaching hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.\nAlthough the majority of poisoning-related cases can be managed in home settings, reduction of hospital visits and admissions are still important challenge. Thousands of interventions are involved and the appropriate management of poisoning is therefore a major task and burden to any institution. Therefore, the present study was aimed to identify the most common classes of toxic substances and route of poisoning in children and to investigate the pattern of drug and chemical poisoning in suspected case fatalities, the subsequent need for hospital admission and arrival time to hospital. A retrospective cross-sectional descriptive study of all registered poisoning cases of children reported to drug and poison information center at King Khaled University Hospital Riyadh, Saudi Arabia during the period of January 2010-December 2016. A total of 735 children presented to Pediatric Emergency Medicine with poisoning. Most of the cases were asymptomatic, and majority of children were arrived to the hospital in less than 3 h. The drugs were the most common cause of poisoning (70%) followed by chemical materials (29%), which is more common in children under 2 years comparing to other groups (p < 0.001). The route of poisoning was oral in the majority of cases (98.8%). The drugs most frequently ingested were analgesic (18.8%). Among the chemicals, pesticide products involved in (39.6%) of the cases, followed by cleaning products (25.9%) and cosmetic (22.8%). The results found that the majority of poisoning cases occurred in children under the age of six and required only observation without treatment. These results necessitate the need for close cooperation between different governmental health-sectors to establish national epidemiological surveillance of poisoning events in Saudi Arabia to help to develop national plans to decrease the financial burden of emergency department congestion and hospital crowding.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37868565,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of Parity and Postpartum Depression on Mother-Infant Bonding in the First Month Postpartum: A Retrospective Study.\nObjective This study aimed to examine the relationship between parity, postpartum depression (PPD), and mother-infant bonding (MIB) failure in the first month postpartum. Methods The study included 1,509 Japanese patients (748 primiparous and 761 multiparous). MIB was assessed using the Mother-to-Infant Bonding Scale Japanese version (MIBS-J), which was translated in 2012, and its subscales, including lack of affection (LA) and anger and rejection (AR). Postpartum depression (PPD) was assessed using the Japanese version of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and its subscales, including anxiety (ANX), anhedonia (ANH), and depression (DEP). Multiple regression analyses using interaction terms were performed to examine the association of parity with the MIBS-J and EPDS. Results Parity was significantly associated with AR. ANX and ANH were strongly associated with LA, and ANX and DEP were strongly associated with AR. The interaction term \"parity\u00d7EPDS total\" was significantly associated with MIBS-J total, LA, and AR scores. Conclusions Primiparas and mothers with high ANX had more negative emotions toward their children during the first month postpartum, and mothers with high ANX or ANH had less interest in their children.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":944882,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Supratentorial extradural hematomas following posterior fossa craniectomy (author's transl)].\nFive cases of the supratentorial extradural hematomas secondary to the posterior fossa craniectomy were reported. The site of the hematoma was far from the operative field and two cases showed acute course and three were rather mild. The symptoms of this complication were the unsuspected sensorium disturbance, anisocoria and the non-functioning ventricular drainage. Two cases died of this complication and two were severely disabled. The mechanism of this complication is not clearly understood. The lowering of the ventricular pressure by the ventricular tap during the operation may play significant role in the formation of the extradural hematoma. The younger age of the cases and the long history of increased intracranial pressure were stressed in the literature. The significance of the management of the ventricular pressure during the operation was emphasized. The prevention is the best treatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28577691,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Economic Evaluation of Complete Revascularization for Patients with Multivessel Disease Undergoing Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention.\nTo determine the cost-effectiveness of complete revascularization at index admission compared with infarct-related artery (IRA) treatment only, in patients with multivessel disease undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (P-PCI) for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction. An economic evaluation of a multicenter randomized trial was conducted, comparing complete revascularization at index admission to IRA-only P-PCI in patients with multivessel disease (12-month follow-up). Overall hospital costs (costs for P-PCI procedure(s), hospital length of stay, and any subsequent re-admissions) were estimated. Outcomes were major adverse cardiac events (MACEs, a composite of all-cause death, recurrent myocardial infarction, heart failure, and ischemia-driven revascularization) and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) derived from the three-level EuroQol five-dimensional questionnaire. Multiple imputation was undertaken. The mean incremental cost and effect, with associated 95% confidence intervals, the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio, and the cost-effectiveness acceptability curve were estimated. On the basis of 296 patients, the mean incremental overall hospital cost for complete revascularization was estimated to be -\u00a3215.96 (-\u00a31390.20 to \u00a3958.29), compared with IRA-only, with a per-patient mean reduction in MACEs of 0.170 (0.044 to 0.296) and a QALY gain of 0.011 (-0.019 to 0.041). According to the cost-effectiveness acceptability curve, the probability of complete revascularization being cost-effective was estimated to be 72.0% at a willingness-to-pay threshold value of \u00a320,000 per QALY. Complete revascularization at index admission was estimated to be more effective (in terms of MACEs and QALYs) and cost-effective (overall costs were estimated to be lower and complete revascularization thereby dominated IRA-only). There was, however, some uncertainty associated with this decision.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37442653,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-22":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Persistence Among Patients with Crohn Disease Previously Treated with an Anti-tumor Necrosis Factor Inhibitor and Switching or Cycling to Another Biologic Agent.\nNonresponse to an anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) agent in patients with Crohn disease (CD) is often managed by either a switch to a different class of biologic (ie, ustekinumab, vedolizumab) or by cycling to another anti-TNF agent (ie, adalimumab, infliximab, certolizumab pegol). Persistence after a switch to a different biologic class or after cycling within the anti-TNF class was assessed in patients with nonresponse to an anti-TNF agent. Adults with CD who discontinued from an anti-TNF agent and either switched to a different class of biologic (ie, anti-interleukin\/integrin; the switching cohort) or cycled within the anti-TNF class (the cycling cohort) between September 23, 2016, and August 1, 2019, were selected from a commercial database. The index date was defined as the date of the first claim of the subsequent-line biologic (index biologic) after an anti-TNF. The switching and cycling cohorts were balanced with regard to baseline characteristics, using inverse probability of treatment weights-average treatment effect (IPTW-ATE). Persistence with the index biologic was defined as consistent use with no gaps of >120 days (ustekinumab, vedolizumab, infliximab) or of >60 days (adalimumab, certolizumab pegol) in biologic supply. Composite end points were persistence while being corticosteroid-free (defined as no use of corticosteroids with \u226514 days of supply after day 90 post-index) and persistence while on monotherapy (no immunomodulators\/nonindex biologics). Weighted Kaplan-Meier and Cox models were used to assess outcomes at 12 months post-index. There were 444 patients in the weighted switching cohort (mean age, 40.4 years; 56.3% female) and 441 in the weighted cycling cohort (mean age, 39.5 years; 58.4% female). At 12 months post-index, the rate of persistence with the index biologic was 75.7% in the switching cohort compared to 67.5% in the cycling cohort (log-rank P = 0.023); the rate of persistence while on monotherapy was 58.2% compared to 44.2%, respectively (log-rank P < 0.001). The rate of persistence was 44% greater in the switching compared to that in the cycling cohort (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.44; 95% CI, 1.11-1.88; P = 0.007); the rate of persistence while on monotherapy was 56% greater in the switching cohort (HR = 1.56; 95% CI, 1.28-1.90; P < 0.001). The between-cohort difference in persistence while being corticosteroid-free was not statistically significant (HR = 1.08; 95% CI, 0.89-1.32; P = 0.426). Patients with CD who switched to a different biologic class were more persistent than were patients who cycled to another anti-TNF agent. These findings may be useful for physicians when considering the treatment of patients who have experienced nonresponse or loss of response to the first-line anti-TNF agent.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30671408,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Predictors of Acute Postoperative Urinary Retention after Transvaginal Uterosacral Suspension Surgery.\nTo investigate the rate of postoperative urinary retention (POUR) and identify the risk factors for this complication in women who underwent transvaginal uterosacral suspension surgery. A retrospective chart review was conducted for 75 women who underwent transvaginal uterosacral suspension surgery with vaginal hysterectomy, repair of cystocele, and levator myorrhaphy with\/without transobturator anti-incontinence surgery. POUR was defined as a need for continuous intermittent catheterization on the third day subsequent to removal of the urethral indwelling catheter. Acute POUR was reported in 18 women (24.0%). Thirty-six of the 75 patients (48.0%) had undergone anti-incontinence surgery. Crude analysis revealed significant association between the following variables and the risk of POUR: hypertension, the lower average flow rate in the pressure-flow study (PFS), greater post-void residual (PVR) urine volume in PFS, and PVR >30% of the total bladder capacity (TBC) in PFS. In the logistic regression analysis, PVR >30% of the TBC in PFS was identified as the only significant predictor of POUR (odds ratio, 15.4; 95% confidence interval, 2.5-90.9; P = 0.003). The PVR >30% of the TBC in PFS was identified as the only predictive factor of acute POUR in women who underwent transvaginal uterosacral suspension surgery.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28541234,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Psychiatric specialty training in Greece.\nThe reform and development of psychiatric services require, in addition to financial resources, reserves in specialized human resources. The role of psychiatrists in this process, and at reducing the consequences of mental morbidity is evident. Psychiatrists are required to play a multifaceted role as clinicians, as experts in multidisciplinary team environments and as advisors in the recognition of public needs in mental health issues, as teachers and mentors for students and other health professionals, as researchers in order to enrich our knowledge in the scientific field of psychiatry, and as public health specialists in the development of the mental health services system. This multifaceted role requires the continuous education of modern psychiatrists, but above all a broad, substantial and comprehensive training regime in the initial stage of their professional career, that is to say during specialization. Training in Psychiatry, as indeed has happened in all other medical specialties, has evolved considerably in recent decades, both in the content of education due to scientific advances in the fields of neurobiology, cognitive neuroscience, genetics, psychopharmacology, epidemiology and psychiatric nosology, and also because of advances in the educational process itself. Simple apprenticeship next to an experienced clinician, despite its importance in the clinical training of young psychiatrists, is no longer sufficient to meet the increased demands of the modern role of psychiatrists, resulting in the creation of educational programs defined by setting and pursuing minimum, though comprehensive educational objectives. This development has created the global need to develop organizations intended to supervise training programs. These organizations have various forms worldwide. In the European Union, the competent supervising body for medical specialties is the UEMS (European Union of Medical Specialities) and particularly in the case of the psychiatric specialty, the European Board of Psychiatry. In the US, the supervising bodies are the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, in the United Kingdom the Royal College of Psychiatrists, in Canada the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, etc. In our country, the debate on the need to reform the institutional framework for Psychiatric training has been underway since the mid-90s, with initiatives especially by the Hellenic Psychiatric Association, aiming to raise awareness and concern among psychiatrists while responding to requests from competent central bodies of the state, as well as establishing Panhellenic training programs for psychiatric trainees and continuing education programs. But what is the situation of the educational map in the country today, what would be the objectives, and how might we proceed? These questions we will try to answer in an effort initiated by Hellenic Psychiatric Association (HPA) and the journal \"Psychiatriki\" with the publication of thematic articles starting by presenting in the next issue of \"Psychiatriki\"a comparative study of the training in the specialty of psychiatry at two distinct periods of time (2000 and 2014). These time-frames are of great importance, since the first is a period that in retrospect can be considered as wealthier yet missing robust priorities, while the second, at the peak of the economic crisis, constitutes a difficult environment with limited resources. Already in the year 2000, psychiatric residency training in our country had major difficulties due to its outdated framework and its fragmentation. All areas in which training is assessed (clinical experience, theoretical training and training in psychotherapy exhibited inadequacies and limited convergence with European golden standards, in the absence of a plan and the implementation of a national education curriculum. Certain university clinics constituted an important exception, though the bulk of the country's future psychiatrists were lagging behind in educational opportunities. Fifteen years later and under the weight of the consequences of the financial crisis, the institutional framework has not yet changed, and the overall situation seems to have worsened dramatically. Nevertheless, there are positive aspects to be evaluated, reinforced, and utilized in order to minimize the adverse effects of the economic crisis and lay sound foundations for the future. Preparations of a national framework is imperative today more than ever and initiatives to amend the legislation on medical specialties as far as it concerns the field of Psychiatry, could benefit from the evidence, from the willingness of the trainers and trainees concerned, as well as from the elaborated proposals of the Hellenic Psychiatric Association (HPA).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8351827,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-18":1}}},"text":"Precision of stereoscopic depth perception from double images.\nThe increment depth discrimination function was originally described by Ogle [(1953) Journal of the Optical Society of America, 43, 906-913] as a single exponential function. In contrast, recent studies have suggested that a two-component function better describes increment depth discrimination. To determine the relative effects of stereoscopic and non-stereoscopic width cues on the form of the function, we measured increment depth discrimination under conditions where both stereoscopic and dichoptic width cues were available. We found that increment depth discrimination data were well described by two-segment functions if both stereoscopic and dichoptic width cues were available. However, when dichoptic width cues were eliminated, by randomizing the pedestal disparity (crossed or uncrossed disparity) between trials, the increment depth discrimination function was better described by a single exponential function. This result has important implications for models of stereoscopic depth processing because it shows that stereoscopic depth discrimination thresholds progressively increase as a function of distance from the horopter.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14531652,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Recurrent empty follicle syndrome.\nWe report a case of a recurrent empty follicle syndrome. The patient was admitted to our intracytoplasmic injection program because of her partner's azoospermia. Ovarian stimulation was accomplished using gonadotrophin therapy after treatment with oral contraceptive pills followed by gonadotrophin-releasing hormone agonist. Thirty-six hours after the administration of HCG (human chorionic gonadotrophins), transvaginal oocyte retrieval yielded no oocytes despite the aspiration and flushing of all available follicles. Two years later, a second treatment cycle was started using the same pituitary desensitisation and ovarian stimulation regimens. HCG from a different batch with respect to that used in the first treatment cycle was administered. Aspiration and repeated flushing of all follicles of one ovary failed to yield any identifiable oocyte. The beta-HCG and progesterone serum concentrations on the day of retrieval were 181 mIU\/mL and 3.79 ng\/mL, respectively. New oocyte retrieval was planned 6 h after the first attempt for aspiration of follicles. Again, no ova were obtained at this second trial despite the aspiration of the all follicles. As to our knowledge this is the first report of recurrent EFS (empty follicle syndrome) and managed without repeating the HCG injection on the day of unsuccessful oocyte retrieval.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23459765,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Effects of PPP1R1B (DARPP-32) Polymorphism on Feedback-Related Brain Potentials Across the Life Span.\nMaximizing gains during probabilistic reinforcement learning requires the updating of choice - outcome expectations at the time when the feedback about a specific choice or action is given. Extant theories and evidence suggest that dopaminergic modulation plays a crucial role in reinforcement learning and the updating of choice - outcome expectations. Furthermore, recently a positive component of the event-related potential about 200 ms (P2) after feedback has been suggested to reflect such updating. The efficacy of dopaminergic modulation changes across the life span. However, to date investigations of age-related differences in feedback-related P2 during reinforcement learning are still scarce. The present study thus aims to investigate whether individual differences in the feedback-related P2 would be associated with polymorphic variations in a dopamine relevant gene PPP1R1B (also known as DARPP-32) and whether the genetic effect may differ between age groups. We observed larger P2 amplitudes in individuals carrying the genotype associated with higher dopamine receptor efficacy, i.e., a allele homozygotes of a single nucleotide polymorphism (rs907094) of the PPP1R1B gene. Moreover, this effect was more pronounced in children and older adults in comparison to adolescents and younger adults. Together, our findings indicate that polymorphic variations in a dopamine relevant gene are associated with individual differences in brain-evoked potentials of outcome updating and hint at the possibility that genotype effects on neurocognitive phenotypes may vary as a function of brain maturation and aging.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28726523,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Investigational therapies for the treatment of narcolepsy.\nNarcolepsy is a chronic sleep disorder characterized by a pentad of excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), cataplexy, sleep paralysis, hypnagogic\/hypnopompic hallucinations, and disturbed nocturnal sleep. While non-pharmacological treatments are sometimes helpful, more than 90% of narcoleptic patients require a pharmacological treatment. Areas covered: The present review is based on an extensive Internet and PubMed search from 1994 to 2017. It is focused on drugs currently in development for the treatment of narcolepsy. Expert opinion: Currently there is no cure for narcolepsy, with treatment focusing on symptoms control. However, these symptomatic treatments are often unsatisfactory. The research is leading to a better understanding of narcolepsy and its symptoms. New classes of compounds with possible applications in the development of novel stimulant\/anticataplectic medications are described. H3 receptor antagonists represent a new therapeutic option for EDS in narcolepsy. JZP-110, with its distinct mechanism of action, would be a new therapeutic option for the treatment of EDS in the coming years. In the future, hypocretin-based therapies and immune-based therapies, could modify the clinical course of the disease. However, more information would be necessary to completely understand the autoimmune process and also how this process can be altered for therapeutic benefits.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14530789,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Histamine: A mediator of inflammation.\nHistamine and its receptors, including the recently discovered receptors (H(3) and H(4)), novel sources of histamine, and the place of histamine in mediator networks continue to be areas of great interest. The 4 major subtypes of histamine receptors, H(1) to H(4), differ in their location, second messengers, and histamine-binding characteristics. In addition, it would appear that different histamine receptor agonists and antagonists bind to different portions of the receptor complex. A fifth receptor subtype, the intracellular H(IC), has only been defined by its location within cell types that are not traditionally associated with histamine. In airway tissue, most cells express at least 1 subtype of histamine receptor; however, blockade of these receptors does not completely abolish the inflammatory response. In addition, some H(1)-antihistamines might also exert anti-inflammatory effects by pathways independent of H(1)-receptor binding. Studies of selected second-generation H(1)-antihistamines have shown that these agents inhibit the release of certain cytokines from basophils, acting at a point downstream from the calcium signaling pathway. It has not yet been determined whether this action represents a class effect.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30666265,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The R2R3-MYB Factor FhMYB5 From Freesia hybrida Contributes to the Regulation of Anthocyanin and Proanthocyanidin Biosynthesis.\nThe flavonoids are important and nourishing compounds for plants and human. The transcription regulation of anthocyanin and proanthocyanidin (PA) biosynthesis was extensively studied in dicot compared with monocot plants. In this study, we characterized the functionality of an R2R3-MYB gene FhMYB5 from the monocotyledonous flowering plant of Iridaceae, Freesia hybrida. Multiple sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis implied that FhMYB5 was clustered into grapevine VvMYB5b subclade. Correlation analysis indicated that the spatio-temporal expression patterns of FhMYB5 coincided well with anthocyanin and PA accumulations in Freesia per se. Furthermore, transient transfection assays in Freesia protoplasts revealed that the late flavonoid biosynthetic genes (e.g., DFR and LDOX) were slightly up-regulated by FhMYB5 alone, whereas both early and late biosynthetic genes were significantly activated when FhMYB5 were co-infected with either of the two IIIf clade bHLH genes, FhTT8L and FhGL3L. Moreover, these results were further confirmed by co-transfection of FhMYB5 with either of the bHLH genes aforementioned into protoplasts expressing GUS reporter gene driven by Freesia promoters. In addition, the overexpression of FhMYB5 in tobacco and Arabidopsis could also significantly up-regulate the expression of genes participating in the general flavonoid pathway. In conclusion, FhMYB5 was proved to function in the general flavonoid pathway in Freesia. The results implied a function conservation of flavonoid biosynthesis related MYB regulators in angiosperm plants.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15257214,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Extension of NCRP 129 to short-lived radionuclides.\nNCRP 129 contains dose conversion factors for 200 radionuclides that allow one to estimate the maximum dose to an individual based on the concentration of the radionuclide in the soil and the way in which the land is used. The methodology of NCRP 129 has been extended to be applicable to 28 common short-lived radionuclides and their progeny, and dose conversion factors were obtained for these radionuclides. In addition to applying the NCRP 129 calculational methodology to these radionuclides, holdup times from harvest or slaughter until consumption have been incorporated into the decay correction equations used to determine the maximum annual dose due to the significance of the holdup time with respect to the dose from short-lived radionuclides. These holdup times were included in the Monte Carlo sampling regimen used in NCRP 129. A test using emission rates proportional to those of the Chernobyl event indicated that areas of high dose, where rainout occurs, more than doubled in areas where short-lived radionuclides from this study were included.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":2785771,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"SCN lesions abolish ultradian and circadian components of activity rhythms in LEW\/Ztm rats.\nA trimodal locomotor activity pattern has been observed in LEW\/Ztm rats. Complete and partial lesions of the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) were used to determine whether the same neural substrate may underlie the circadian rhythms and the ultradian modulation of wheel-running activity in these rats. Whereas sham lesions had little or no effect on the wheel-running activity pattern, complete SCN lesions resulted in a complete loss of circadian and ultradian activity components under free-running or 12:12 h light-dark cycle (12:12 LD) conditions. Ultradian and circadian activity components were still present after partial SCN lesions. Periodogram analysis for any given animal revealed that the ultradian periods were always submultiples of the entrained or free-running circadian period. Furthermore there was a high correlation between the amplitudes of circadian and ultradian spectral estimates, but with a different slope in males and females. These results indicate that in LEW\/Ztm rats the SCN contributes to the control of both the circadian wheel-running rhythm and the trimodal ultradian modulation of that behavior.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9548922,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Three-dimensional structure of kappa-conotoxin PVIIA, a novel potassium channel-blocking toxin from cone snails.\nkappa-Conotoxin PVIIA from the venom of Conus purpurascens is the first cone snail toxin that was described to block potassium channels. We synthesized chemically this toxin and showed that its disulfide bridge pattern is similar to those of omega- and delta-conotoxins. kappa-conotoxin competes with radioactive alpha-dendrotoxin for binding to rat brain synaptosomes, confirming its capacity to bind to potassium channels; however, it behaves as a weak competitor. The three-dimensional structure of kappa-conotoxin PVIIA, as elucidated by NMR spectroscopy and molecular modeling, comprises two large parallel loops stabilized by a triple-stranded antiparallel beta-sheet and three disulfide bridges. The overall fold of kappa-conotoxin is similar to that of calcium channel-blocking omega-conotoxins but differs from those of potassium channel-blocking toxins from sea anemones, scorpions, and snakes. Local topographies of kappa-conotoxin PVIIA that might account for its capacity to recognize Kv1-type potassium channels are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26475688,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hypoxia alters the recruitment of tropomyosins into the actin stress fibres of neuroblastoma cells.\nNeuroblastoma is the most common extracranial solid tumor of childhood. The heterogeneous microenvironment of solid tumors contains hypoxic regions associated with poor prognosis and chemoresistance. Hypoxia implicates the actin cytoskeleton through its essential roles in motility, invasion and proliferation. However, hypoxia-induced changes in the actin cytoskeleton have only recently been observed in human cells. Tropomyosins are key regulators of the actin cytoskeleton and we hypothesized that tropomyosins may mediate hypoxic phenotypes. Neuroblastoma (SH-EP) cells were incubated \u00b1 hypoxia (1 % O2, 5 % CO2) for up to 144 h, before examining the cytoskeleton by confocal microscopy and Western blotting. Hypoxic cells were characterized by a more organized actin cytoskeleton and a reduced ability to degrade gelatin substrates. Hypoxia significantly increased mean actin filament bundle width (72 h) and actin filament length (72-96 h). This correlated with increased hypoxic expression and filamentous organization of stabilizing tropomyosins Tm1 and Tm2. However, isoform specific changes in tropomyosin expression were more evident at 96 h. This study demonstrates hypoxia-induced changes in the recruitment of high molecular weight tropomyosins into the actin stress fibres of a human cancer. While hypoxia induced clear changes in actin organization compared with parallel normoxic cultures of neuroblastoma, the precise role of tropomyosins in this hypoxic actin reorganization remains to be determined.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8345113,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Predictors of clinical performance of new graduate nurses participating in preceptor orientation programs.\nOrientation programs providing designated preceptors for graduate nurses are used widely, but few studies support their success in assisting graduates to assume staff nurse positions. This study addressed the research question: What variables are related to clinical performance among new nursing graduates? Self-evaluations of clinical performance, preceptor evaluations, and demographic information were collected from a sample of 65 new graduates. The most useful predictors of clinical performance scores were support provided by other nurse friends, preceptor skills, and emotional support provided by preceptors. Participation in formal support groups, however, was not found to be a predictor.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34239180,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"<Editors' Choice> Differential effects of combination therapy on the components of the risk stratification table in patients with idiopathic or heritable pulmonary arterial hypertension in a Japanese population.\nRisk stratification by ESC\/ERS guideline is recommended to estimate the vital prognosis and select the treatment strategy in patients with idiopathic or heritable pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH\/HPAH). However, we are not confident whether we can achieve low-risk status in the risk table at the follow-up shortly after combination therapy. Therefore, we aimed to verify the effects of combination therapy in IPAH\/HPAH on each category of the risk table at diagnosis and at the first follow-up. We retrospectively analyzed 10 consecutive patients with IPAH\/HPAH with no previous treatment history diagnosed at Nagoya University Hospital between October 2014 and January 2019. Four categories including symptoms, exercise tolerance, BNP levels and hemodynamics were validated both at baseline and at the first follow-up of right heart catheterization. Score of 1, 2 and 3 were assigned to the low risk, intermediate risk and high risk, respectively. In each category the highest score was adopted. The scores at diagnosis were compared with those at the first follow-up. The result shows that all patients were female, median age was 32 years old, and were treated with initial combination therapy. The median total risk score also was improved from 2.6 to 1.4 (p<0.01). However, the score in exercise tolerance was not improved (3 to 2.5 p=0.16). In conclusion, at the first follow up shortly after the initial combination therapy of IPAH\/HPAH, the mean total risk score was significantly improved, however, even patients in the low-risk status may not achieve improvement in exercise tolerance.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22687705,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Building China's municipal healthcare performance evaluation system: a Tuscan perspective.\nRegional healthcare performance evaluation systems can help optimize healthcare resources on regional basis and improve the performance of healthcare services provided. The Tuscany region in Italy is a good example of an institution which meets these requirements. China has yet to build such a system based on international experience. In this paper, based on comparative studies between Tuscany and China, we propose that the managing institutions in China's experimental cities can select and commission a third-party agency to, respectively, evaluate the performance of their affiliated hospitals and community health service centers. Following some features of the Tuscan experience, the Chinese municipal healthcare performance evaluation system can be built by focusing on the selection of an appropriate performance evaluation agency, the design of an adequate performance evaluation mechanism and the formulation of a complete set of laws, rules and regulations. When a performance evaluation system at city level is formed, the provincial government can extend the successful experience to other cities.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17006107,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cancer treatment, symptom monitoring, and self-care in adults: pilot study.\nA descriptive study was conducted on self-reported symptoms and self-care by 37 adults receiving chemotherapy primarily for leukemia, lymphomas, or breast cancer or radiation therapy for head and neck or lung cancers. The Therapy-Related Symptom Checklist and demographic and interview forms on self-care for identified symptoms were used. Severe symptoms on the Therapy-Related Symptom Checklist subscales fatigue, eating, nausea, pain, numbness in fingers\/toes, hair loss, and constipation were reported by patients on chemotherapy. Those on radiation therapy reported severe symptoms on the eating, fatigue, skin changes, oropharynx, and constipation subscales.Self-care strategies were in the following categories, using complementary medicine as framework: diet\/nutrition\/lifestyle change (eg, use of nutritional supplements; modifications of food and of eating habits; naps, sleep, and rest); mind\/body control (eg, relaxation methods, prayer, music, attending granddaughter's sports events); biologic treatments (vitamins); herbal treatments (green mint tea); and ethnomedicine (lime juice and garlic). The first category was predominantly used by patients in both treatment types. Medications were prescribed also to help control symptoms (eg, pain and nausea). Symptom monitoring and self-care for symptoms identified may be facilitated by the Therapy-Related Symptom Checklist; based on reported symptom severity, care providers may prioritize interventions. A larger study needs to be done on (a) the use of the Therapy-Related Symptom Checklist as a clinical tool to assess symptoms that oncology patients experience during therapy; (b) whether care providers, based on patient-reported symptom severity, can prioritize interventions--and how this influences the efficiency of care; (c) the self-care strategies used by patients on chemotherapy or radiation therapy or both; and (d) how useful these strategies are in alleviating symptoms.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28697819,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Functional characterization of single-domain cystatin-like cysteine proteinase inhibitors expressed by the trematode Fasciola hepatica.\nCystatins are small, phylogenetically conserved proteins that are tight-binding inhibitors of cysteine proteinases. The liver fluke Fasciola hepatica uses a diverse set of cysteine proteinases of the papain superfamily for host invasion, immune evasion and nutrition, but little is known about the regulation of these enzymes. The aim of this work is to characterize the cystatin repertoire of F. hepatica. For this purpose, we first surveyed the available sequence databases, identifying three different F. hepatica single-domain cystatins. In agreement with the in silico predictions, at least three small proteins with cysteine proteinase binding activity were identified. Phylogenetic analyses showed that the three cystatins (named FhStf-1, -2 and -3) are members of the I25A subfamily (stefins). Whereas FhStf-1 grouped with classical stefins, FhStf-2 and 3 fell in a divergent stefin subgroup unusually featuring signal peptides. Recombinant rFhStf-1, -2 and -3 had potent inhibitory activity against F. hepatica cathepsin L cysteine proteinases but differed in their capacity to inhibit mammalian cathepsin B, L and C. FhStf-1 was localized in the F. hepatica reproductive organs (testes and ovary), and at the surface lamella of the adult gut, where it may regulate cysteine proteinases related with reproduction and digestion, respectively. FhStf-1 was also detected among F. hepatica excretion-secretion (E\/S) products of adult flukes. This suggests that it is secreted by non-classical secretory pathway and that it may interact with host lysosomal cysteine proteinases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9154096,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Rectal cancer.\nThis synthesis of the literature on radiotherapy for rectal cancer is based on 73 scientific articles, including 1 meta-analysis, 32 randomized studies, 22 prospective studies, and 1 retrospective study. These studies involve 15042 patients. The reviewed studies show that adjuvant radiotherapy for operable rectal cancer can reduce the risk for local recurrence. A meta-analysis of 11 randomized studies reported a 25% risk reduction. The same meta-analysis suggests that adjuvant radiotherapy can reduce mortality by 10%, but this has not been statistically confirmed. The clinical effects of radiotherapy may depend on when it is given in relation to surgery. The issue of preoperative or postoperative radiotherapy is being investigated in several prospective randomized studies. Fractionation, administration of anticancer drugs during radiotherapy, and surgical methods, including associated radicality, also appear to be of importance. Local recurrence of rectal cancer is accompanied by severe suffering for the patient, eg, severe pain that is difficult to control by medication and surgery. Hence, there are major benefits from avoiding local recurrence. Given current knowledge, radiotherapy (preferably preoperative) is indicated in conjunction with operable rectal cancer, mainly Dukes' group C. External radiotherapy provides valuable palliation in many patients with locally advanced rectal cancer. In isolated cases, treatment appears to lead to prolonged disease-free survival, mainly in patients with local recurrence who have not already received pre- or postoperative radiotherapy. Experiences from different models of combination therapy involving chemotherapy and intraoperative radiotherapy are too limited to permit reliable conclusions: mainly since observation times are relatively short.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22663759,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2013-20":1}}},"text":"The effect of telephone consultation on the quality of life of patients receiving interferon therapy: a quasi-experimental study.\nThe aim of this study was to compare the effects of telephone consultation and attendance education on the quality of life of patients with hepatitis B or C receiving interferon therapy. Through a quasi-experimental study, 80 hepatitis patients were randomly assigned to one of the two educational methods. Patients completed the Quality of Life Questionnaire once upon entering the study and also 4 and 12 weeks after the treatment. Then, the results were compared. One group received education during monthly visits at the center, and another group got counseling over the telephone for 3 months. The data were analyzed using SPSS software (IBM, Armonk, NY). The results showed that the overall quality of life in both groups 4 weeks and 12 weeks after the intervention had significant differences from the pre-intervention period; however, these differences were more significant in the telephone counseling group. By virtue of the fact that no significant difference was found between the results of traditional education and telephone consultation and considering the high volume of patients in centers, remote distance between patients and centers, and also limited staff time, telephone advice can take the place of traditional education methods.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20354320,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Musculoskeletal rehabilitation and bone. Musculoskeletal atrophy, and rehabilitation medicine].\nWeightless environments such as prolonged bed rest and spaceflight are associated with dramatic losses of muscle volume and bone mass that hinder patients' or astronauts' health and reintegration into daily life. It is important that the countermeasure is effective for slow twitch fiber, and adds mechanical stress to a bone. So, we developed the hybrid training method (HYB) as a countermeasure of this musculoskeletal atrophy, which uses the contraction produced in a muscle by electrical stimulation of antagonist to resist the volitional contraction of agonist. HYB has several features. These include ; 1) simple device, 2) simultaneous contractions both agonist and antagonist musculature, 3) volitional contraction of deep layers of muscle, 4) longitudinal bone force loads. Several studies reported that, this HYB was tested successfully for increasing muscles strength and hypertrophy in the upper and lower extremities. And, a wearable HYB apparatus with a virtual reality control system was developed. Now, we are developing the hybrid ergometer with virtual reality system, which training can play while playing a game at home.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37667950,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Clinical evaluation of hysterectomy for the treatment of invasive mole in Southern Vietnam.\nThis study aimed to determine the rate of salvage chemotherapy and review associated factors in invasive mole patients treated by primary or delayed hysterectomy. This study was carried out at the Tu Du Hospital, where a total of 189 patients were diagnosed with invasive mole based on histologic examination by hysterectomy between 01\/2016 to 12\/2020. We used the life table method to estimate the cumulative rate. We applied the Cox proportional hazard model to determine the factors associated with the need for salvage chemotherapy. At 12-month follow-up, 47 patients had required salvage chemotherapy. The incidence was 24.87% (95% CI: 18.88-31.66). Applying the multivariate model, prophylactic chemotherapy (HR = 2.75, 95% Cl: 1.20-6.30) and two weeks postoperative hCG value greater than 1,900 mIU\/mL (HR = 4.30, 95% Cl: 2.08-8.87) increased the risk of requiring salvage chemotherapy. Postoperative chemotherapy decreased the risk of requiring salvage chemotherapy (HR = 0.43, 95% Cl: 0.22-0.83). Hysterectomy can be considered safe and effective in treating invasive mole patients. Although patients were treated by hysterectomy, 24.87% of patients needed salvage chemotherapy to achieve remission. This study affirms the malignant nature of invasive mole, a subtype of gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN). It is not purely a local invasion of molar villi. Postoperative chemotherapy plays an essential role in reducing the risk of requiring salvage chemotherapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17193172,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A single-molecule F\u00f6rster resonance energy transfer analysis of fluorescent DNA-protein conjugates for nanobiotechnology.\nThe development of nanobiotechnological devices requires the ability to build various components with nanometer accuracy. DNA is a well-established nanoscale building block that self assembles due to specific interactions that are encoded in its sequence. Recently, it has become possible to couple proteins to DNA, thereby expanding the capabilities of DNA for use with molecular photonics and bioelectronics. Here, we present the design and characterization of a supramolecular F\u00f6rster resonance energy transfer (FRET) system by using a fluorescent protein bound to single-stranded DNA (ssDNA), a fluorophore attached to a second ssDNA molecule, and a complementary strand for hybridizing the two fluorophores together. The FRET efficiency was studied by using both ensemble and single-pair FRET measurements. The distance between the two fluorophores was determined from the single-pair FRET efficiency and could be described by a simple cylindrical model for the DNA. Hence, DNA can be used as a scaffold for positioning fluorescent proteins, as well as traditional fluorophores, with nanometer accuracy and shows great potential for use in the future of nanobiotechnology.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27485930,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[A Cognitive Behavioural Group Therapy Manual for Elderly People with Type 2 Diabetes and Minor Depression].\nDiabetes in the elderly is often associated with depressive symptoms. This comorbidity leads to a higher risk for diabetes related complications, disability and mortality and can be observed not only in major depression but also in subthreshold or minor depression. Specific psychological interventions for this high-risk patient group were not available yet. Therefore, we developed a diabetes specific cognitive behavioral group intervention for elderly outpatients with subthreshold or minor depression and type 2 diabetes within a randomized controlled trial. The treatment goals focus on improvement in health related quality of life, depression symptoms, glycemic control and cost effectiveness. In this article we give an overview of the manualized treatment program.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26417934,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Early and mid-term outcomes of a novel Endovascular Aneurysm Sealing (EVAS) system in patients with infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysms.\nEndovascular aneurysm sealing (EVAS) using the Nellix system is a promising technology for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) treatment. Long-term data is unavailable regarding the potential modifications of the EndoBags and their content, and the polymer behavior over time. We present our initial clinical experience with this sac anchoring endoprosthesis in 24 patients with a maximum 12 months follow-up. From December 2013 to March 2015, 24 patients with an infrarenal AAA were treated with the Nellix\u2122 System. Computed tomography angiography (CTA) scan control was performed at 30 days, and follow-up magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) and ultrasounds were performed at 30 days, 6 and 12 months. Median and peak systolic velocities in the suprarenal aorta were measured preoperatively and during follow-up using phase contrast sequences and Argus (Siemens, Erlangen, Germany) software of the MRA. We achieved 100% technical success, 0% aneurysm-related mortality and 0% endoleaks. One patient (4%) experienced early acute thrombosis of a single Nellix stent, successfully treated with thrombolysis. Sac shrinkage occurred in 80% of cases with 12-months follow-up. Our preliminary clinical experience is promising, with 100% early technical success and satisfactory sealing of the aneurysm sac. Postprocedural controls during 1-year follow-up revealed no morphologic changes of the aneurysm wall, stable device and endobag position, and gradual dissolution of the air initially trapped within the EndoBags. Aneurysmal sac shrinkage occurs and probably is due to the remodeling of the thrombus around the EndoBags and the dissipation of the air bubbles into the EndoBags.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1702893,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pancreatic response to percutaneous biliary drainage: a prospective study.\nTo evaluate the effects of percutaneous biliary drainage (PBD) on the pancreas, serum amylase levels were measured for 7 consecutive days after PBD and compared with baseline values in 50 patients who underwent a total of 53 PBD procedures. Of the 45 patients with normal baseline serum amylase levels, 12 patients (24%) developed postprocedural hyperamylasemia without clinical symptoms and five patients (10%) developed postprocedural hyperamylasemia with clinical signs of pancreatitis. Five patients who presented with elevated baseline serum amylase levels demonstrated decreases into the normal range after placement of stents without initiation of bowel rest or liquid diet. The level of biliary obstruction proved insignificant, as did the nature of the obstructing disease, in determining which patients would experience hyperamylasemia or pancreatitis after PBD. It is concluded that the frequency of pancreatic insult from PBD may be more common than previously reported and that patient susceptibility is not dependent on the level of biliary obstruction or the nature of the disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25521638,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Immunoglobulins: 25 years of immunoinformatics and IMGT-ONTOLOGY.\nIMGT\u00ae, the international ImMunoGeneTics information system\u00ae (CNRS and Montpellier University) is the global reference in immunogenetics and immunoinformatics. By its creation in 1989, IMGT\u00ae marked the advent of immunoinformatics, which emerged at the interface between immunogenetics and bioinformatics. IMGT\u00ae is specialized in the immunoglobulins (IG) or antibodies, T cell receptors (TR), major histocompatibility (MH), and IgSF and MhSF superfamilies. IMGT\u00ae has been built on the IMGT-ONTOLOGY axioms and concepts, which bridged the gap between genes, sequences and three-dimensional (3D) structures. The concepts include the IMGT\u00ae standardized keywords (identification), IMGT\u00ae standardized labels (description), IMGT\u00ae standardized nomenclature (classification), IMGT unique numbering and IMGT Colliers de Perles (numerotation). IMGT\u00ae comprises seven databases, 15,000 pages of web resources and 17 tools. IMGT\u00ae tools and databases provide a high-quality analysis of the IG from fish to humans, for basic, veterinary and medical research, and for antibody engineering and humanization. They include, as examples: IMGT\/V-QUEST and IMGT\/JunctionAnalysis for nucleotide sequence analysis and their high-throughput version IMGT\/HighV-QUEST for next generation sequencing, IMGT\/DomainGapAlign for amino acid sequence analysis of IG domains, IMGT\/3Dstructure-DB for 3D structures, contact analysis and paratope\/epitope interactions of IG\/antigen complexes, and the IMGT\/mAb-DB interface for therapeutic antibodies and fusion proteins for immunological applications (FPIA).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26469784,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dengue-3 Virus Entry into Vero Cells: Role of Clathrin-Mediated Endocytosis in the Outcome of Infection.\nThe endocytic uptake and intracellular trafficking for penetration of DENV-3 strain H-87 into Vero cells was analyzed by using several biochemical inhibitors and dominant negative mutants of cellular proteins. The results presented show that the infective entry of DENV-3 into Vero cells occurs through a non-classical endocytosis pathway dependent on low pH and dynamin, but non-mediated by clathrin. After uptake, DENV-3 transits through early endosomes to reach Rab 7-regulated late endosomes, and according with the half-time for ammonium chloride resistance viral nucleocapsid is released into the cytosol approximately at 12 min post-infection. Furthermore, the influence of the clathrin pathway in DENV-3 infective entry in other mammalian cell lines of human origin, such as A549, HepG2 and U937 cells, was evaluated demonstrating that variable entry pathways are employed depending on the host cell. Results show for the first time the simultaneous coexistence of infective and non -infective routes for DENV entry into the host cell, depending on the usage of clathrin-mediated endocytosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28296898,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"A new survey to evaluate conflict of interest policies at academic medical centers.\nA majority of academic medical centers (AMCs) have now adopted conflict of interest policies (COI) to address relationships with pharmaceutical and device industries that can increase the risk of bias in patient care, education and research. However, AMCs may have little information on the impact of their policies. This paper provides a new method, which is a free, publicly-available survey, to fill this information gap and improve COI programs at AMCs. The survey, piloted in three AMCs and designed in collaboration with national conflicts of interest policy experts, covers a range of universal compliance-related concerns, which allows institutions to tailor questions to align with their own policies and culture. The survey was low-burden, and provided important data for these AMCs to evaluate their policies. A descriptive analysis of the pooled pilot site data (n = 1578) was performed, which found that a majority of respondents did not have financial ties with industry and a majority was satisfied with specific COI policies at their institutions. The analysis also showed that the survey is sensitive to differences that AMCs will find meaningful. For instance, individuals with industry ties were significantly more likely than individuals without ties to think that COI policies unnecessarily hindered interactions with industry (p = .004), were ineffective at reducing harm to patients (p < .001), and were ineffective in reducing bias in medical education (p>.001). The survey is now free and publicly available for use by any institution. AMCs can use the results to update and refine policies, and to provide ongoing education regarding existing policies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20357736,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Clinical and computerized evaluation in study of temporo-mandibular joint intracapsular disease.\nIn this work authors show a diagnostic criteria in study of TMID: neuro occlusal clinical evaluation (NOE), T-Scan 2 system and surface electromyography (sEMG). Nine patients 25-30 years old with TMID problem and 9 healthy group control have been selected and examined. On each patients it has been performed NOE, T-Scan and sEMG test. NOE has been calculated on each patient photos lateral mandibular excursion angle called: masticatory functional angle (AFM). T-Scan System is a computerized occlusal analyzer that provide in-depth understanding of the overall balance of the occlusion. At the same time of T-Scan record sEMG tests, in resting position and in maximum clench, have been performed. In healthy control there were no AFM difference. In no healthy group there were difference between the two AFM greater than 6 degrees. T-Scan COF showed how in healthy group control there was never a difference of COF greater than 5%. In no healthy group the difference were greater than 5% P<0.05. T-scan showed difference of time force in maximum intercuspidation (MIFT) in healthy respect TMID patients. In healthy patients MIFT was higher than TMID patients P<0.05. sEMG test showed in non healthy group a great asymmetrical activation of masseter (MM). MM activation were greater on side affected by joint sound than the balance side P<0.001. sEMG show how in TMID patients maximum masseter activation is always lower than maximum masseter activation of healthy subjects P<0.001. Neuro occlusal clinical evaluation (NOE) in TMID patients is supported by instrumental evaluation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36929714,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Syphilitic balanitis of Follmann in a patient with a history of previous infection.\nWe report a case of syphilitic balanitis of Follmann arising in a man with a history of prior infection with syphilis. Few cases have been described in the literature. In our case, a man with history of multiple unprotected sexual contacts presented with erosive balanitis and painless inguinal bilateral lymphadenopathy. All tests for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) performed were negative with the exception of serology for syphilis. We made the diagnosis of syphilitic balanitis of Follmann that was confirmed by prompt resolution after treatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35346368,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Transformer-based molecular optimization beyond matched molecular pairs.\nMolecular optimization aims to improve the drug profile of a starting molecule. It is a fundamental problem in drug discovery but challenging due to (i) the requirement of simultaneous optimization of multiple properties and (ii) the large chemical space to explore. Recently, deep learning methods have been proposed to solve this task by mimicking the chemist's intuition in terms of matched molecular pairs (MMPs). Although MMPs is a widely used strategy by medicinal chemists, it offers limited capability in terms of exploring the space of structural modifications, therefore does not cover the complete space of solutions. Often more general transformations beyond the nature of MMPs are feasible and\/or necessary, e.g. simultaneous modifications of the starting molecule at different places including the core scaffold. This study aims to provide a general methodology that offers more general structural modifications beyond MMPs. In particular, the same Transformer architecture is trained on different datasets. These datasets consist of a set of molecular pairs which reflect different types of transformations. Beyond MMP transformation, datasets reflecting general structural changes are constructed from ChEMBL based on two approaches: Tanimoto similarity (allows for multiple modifications) and scaffold matching (allows for multiple modifications but keep the scaffold constant) respectively. We investigate how the model behavior can be altered by tailoring the dataset while using the same model architecture. Our results show that the models trained on differently prepared datasets transform a given starting molecule in a way that it reflects the nature of the dataset used for training the model. These models could complement each other and unlock the capability for the chemists to pursue different options for improving a starting molecule.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32619386,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Monosubstituted tricationic Zn(II) phthalocyanine enhances antimicrobial photodynamic inactivation (aPDI) of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and cytotoxicity evaluation for topical applications: in vitro and in vivo study.\nAntimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) is an innovative approach to combat multi-drug resistant bacteria. It is known that cationic Zn(II) phthalocyanines (ZnPc) are effective in mediating aPDT against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Here we used ZnPc-based photosensitizer named ZnPcE previously reported by our research group to evaluate its aPDT efficacy against broad spectrum of clinically relevant MRSAs. Remarkably, in vitro anti-MRSA activity was achieved using near-infrared (NIR, >610 nm) light with minimal bactericidal concentrations ranging <0.019-0.156 \u00b5M against the panel of MRSAs. ZnPcE was not only significantly (p < .05) more potent than methylene blue, which is a clinically approved photosensitizer but also demonstrated low cytotoxicity against human fibroblasts cell line (Hs-27) and human immortalized keratinocytes cell line (HaCaT). The toxicity was further evaluated on human 3-D skin constructs and found ZnPcE did not manifest in vivo skin irritation at \u22647.8 \u00b5M concentration. In the murine MRSA wound model, ZnPcE with PDT group demonstrated > 4 log10 CFU reduction and the value is significantly higher (p < .05) than all test groups except positive control. To conclude, results of present study provide a scientific basis for future clinical evaluation of ZnPcE-PDT on MRSA wound infection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24397251,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Clinical characteristics and treatment outcome of Langerhans cell histiocytosis: 22 years' experience of 154 patients at a single center.\nLangerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a rare disease of unknown etiology. Large studies by single institutions have been infrequent because of the rarity of the disease and the diversity of clinical manifestations. In this study, the clinical characteristics, prognostic factors, and treatment outcomes were analyzed. Medical records were analyzed retrospectively for the 154 patients diagnosed and treated with LCH at Seoul National University Children's Hospital from January 1986 to December 2007. A total of 154 patients were evaluated. One hundred and six patients (68.8%) had single system disease, 48 patients (31.2%) had multisystem disease. Twenty-nine patients (18.8%) had risk organ involvement. Twenty-nine patients (18.8%) relapsed and the overall survival (OS) of the total study population was 97.1% with a median follow-up period of 7.0 years. Patients less than 4 years old, with involvement more than 2 organs and with risk organ involvement showed lower progression free survival (PFS) (P = .001, <.001, and <.001, respectively). Estimated 10-year PFS of patients with and without risk organ involvement were 52.6% and 83.8%, respectively. Patients with single system LCH had excellent prognosis showing 89.6% of PFS and 100% of OS. Patients with multisystem LCH also had a high survival rate, although the incidences of relapse remain to be solved. A new strategy to decrease the incidence of relapse is needed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7926481,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Monoclonal immunoglobulin A prevents adherence and invasion of polarized epithelial cell monolayers by Salmonella typhimurium.\nInvasion of the intestinal epithelium is considered a critical step in Salmonella pathogenesis. Infection by Salmonella of cultured monolayers of polarized Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells has been established as a simple in vitro system that mimics the invasion of intestinal enterocytes in vivo. This study analyzes the protective role of secretory immunoglobulin (Ig) A antibodies against epithelial invasion. Salmonella typhimurium was applied to MDCK cell monolayers in the presence or absence of a monoclonal, polymeric IgA antibody (Sal4) directed against an antigenic determinant exposed on the surface of wild-type S. typhimurium. In the presence of Sal4 IgA, confluent monolayers of MDCK cells were protected against apical invasion by wild-type S. typhimurium but not against a mutant strain that lacks the Sal4 epitope. Protection was Sal4-specific, dependent on the concentration of Sal4 in the apical medium, and occurred at IgA concentrations at which agglutination of IgA-bacterial complexes was observed. When MDCK cell monolayers were formaldehyde-fixed before incubation with Salmonella to prevent bacterial invasion, adhesion of Salmonella occurred in the absence of IgA and in the presence of control IgA but not in the presence of Sal4 IgA. IgA alone can prevent bacterial adherence and invasion of epithelial cells in the absence of other immune or nonimmune protective mechanisms.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15260398,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Relapsing polychondritis in an elderly male.\nA 65 years patient presented with left ear swelling, swelling of the nasal bridge with congestion of the eyes. Clinically there was evidence of left auricular chondritis, nasal chondritis and conjunctivitis with a history of multiple similar episodes in the past, features suggestive of relapsing polychondritis. The patient improved with oral prednisolone.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17876427,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Associations between fish assemblage and riparian vegetation in the Corumbata\u00ed River Basin (SP).\nThis work intends to examine if there are associations between fish species and the state of conservation of the riparian forest in the Corumbata\u00ed River Basin. Four main rivers were chosen for this study with three sites on each. Collections were carried out from March to June and from September to December 2001. Multivariate techniques were applied to determine the correlation between species richness and the order of the rivers, preservation level of the riparian forest, shade level, presence or absence of Eucalyptus, sugar cane and pastures, and surrounding declivity stability of the sites. Species richness was highest at locations with greater vegetation cover and preserved riparian forest.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25514754,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Assessment of human health risk associated with pyaemia in Danish finisher pigs when conducting visual-only inspection of the lungs.\nThe most important lesion to be overlooked when performing visual-only inspection of the lungs is embolic pneumonia. The aim of the present study was to assess the additional human health risk represented by overlooking cases of pyaemia represented by embolic pneumonia in finisher pigs, when conducting visual-only compared to palpation of the lungs, as is the traditional meat inspection procedure. An examination of bacteria isolated from 19 finisher pigs identified with embolic pneumonia at traditional meat inspection was undertaken. From each pig samples were taken from various organs (lungs, spleen, heart, liver and kidney), from the carpal joints (A. carpi) and flexor muscle (M. flexor digitorum superficialis) on the right foreleg. These data were included in a risk assessment following OIE guidelines. Bacteria were isolated from 78 out of 127 tissue and swap samples taken (61% positive samples). Staphylococcus aureus (N=37) was the most frequently isolated bacterium. The predominant site of S. aureus was the lung. S. aureus was detected although less frequently in low numbers in some organs (<100CFU\/sample) and muscle samples (<10CFU\/sample). Only one MRSA isolate was found. Staphylococcus warneri (N=24) was the second most commonly found bacterium. There was no predominant site and the number of S. warneri was less than 50CFU per sample. The risk of a food-borne intoxication from S. aureus in relation to pyaemia in pigs was considered very low due to the low quantitative numbers of S. aureus in muscle tissue samples. Implementing visual-only inspection will reduce the exposure of S. aureus due to less cross-contamination and handling of the plucks by the meat inspectors. The human health risk associated with S. warneri was considered very low, due to the limited zoonotic potential of this bacterium. In conclusion, the additional human health risk in relation to possibly overlooking pyaemia in Danish finisher pigs was considered negligible when conducting visual-only compared to traditional meat inspection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12037771,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Endosonographic evaluation in two children with esophageal stenosis.\nThe authors report the successful use of endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) for finding the etiology and subsequent treatment strategy for esophageal stenosis in 2 children. In case 1, EUS showed anterior wall thickening and multiple low echoic regions in the mp layer. These regions were believed to be cartilage. Esophageal resection therefore was performed. In case 2, EUS showed disruption of the sm and mp layers at the stenosis, leading us to speculate that the stenosis was caused by gastroesophageal reflux. After balloon dilatation, he underwent antireflux surgery of Nissen's fundoplication. EUS was useful for determining the etiology of esophageal stenosis and, thus, the appropriate treatment strategy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32364336,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Diseases with peripheral motor symptoms].\nDiseases with peripheral motor symptoms are a rare, but important subgroup of the all peripheral neuropathies, radiculopathies and neuronopathies. In these mostly progressive neuropathies, the clinical features include pure motor symptoms with weakness and wasting of the striated muscles. The differentiation of these diseases is frequently a challenge for qualified clinical neurologists. A careful history taking, the disease time course, the findings of routine clinical physical examination and the electrophysiological studies are all necessary in the diagnostic procedure. The aim of this publication is to overview the clinical characteristics of the pure motor peripheral neuropathies, to consider the diagnostic steps and the differential diagnosis, and finally to summarize the treatment options.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34422966,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Severe COVID-19 has a distinct phenotype from bacterial sepsis: a retrospective cohort study in deceased patients.\nCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused more than 2 million deaths worldwide. Viral sepsis has been proposed as a description for severe COVID-19, and numerous therapies have been on trials based upon this hypothesis. However, whether the clinical characteristics of severe COVID-19 are similar to those of bacterial sepsis has not been elucidated. We retrospectively compared the clinical data of non-surviving COVID-19 patients who were admitted to a 30-bed intensive care unit (ICU) in Wuhan Infectious Diseases Hospital (Wuhan, China) from 22 January 2020, to 28 February 2020, with those of non-surviving patients with bacterial sepsis who were admitted to the ICU in Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University (Shanghai, China) from 3 July 2018, to 30 June 2020. A total of 53 COVID-19 patients and 26 septic patients were included in the analysis. The mean ages were 65.6 [standard deviation (SD): 11.1] and 70.4 (SD: 14.3) years in the COVID-19 cohort and sepsis cohort, respectively. The proportion of participants with hypertension was higher in non-survivors with COVID-19 than in non-survivors with sepsis (41.5% vs. 15.4%, P=0.020). The Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score of non-survivors with COVID-19 was lower than that of non-survivors with sepsis at ICU admission {4.0 [interquartile range (IQR): 3.0-6.0] vs. 7.5 [IQR: 5.8-11.0], P<0.001}. The clinical parameters at ICU admission assessed with principal component analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis showed that COVID-19 patients were distinct from bacterial septic patients. Compared with non-survivors with sepsis, non-survivors with COVID-19 had a higher neutrophil\/lymphocyte ratio, total protein, globulin, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and D-dimer; a lower eosinophil count, procalcitonin, interleukin-6 (IL-6), total bilirubin, direct bilirubin, myohemoglobin, albumin\/globulin ratio, activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), prothrombin time (PT), and international normalization ratio (INR) at ICU admission. In addition, the levels of total protein, globulin, LDH, D-dimer, and IL-6 were significantly different between the two groups during the ICU stay. Patients with critical COVID-19 have a phenotype distinct from that of patients with bacterial sepsis. Therefore, caution should be used when applying the previous experience of bacterial sepsis to patients with severe COVID-19.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24394765,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Macronutrient intake of elderly people in the Padang area,West Sumatra, Indonesia.\nWe examined the macronutrient intake of residents in Padang area, West Sumatra, Indonesia. The daily energy intake (1130\u00b1420 kcal) of elderly people in a rural traditional group was significantly lower than that in an urbanised \"modernised\" group (1700\u00b1460 kcal) (p<0.01). Even in young urbanised people (younger than 60 years old), 44.2% were below 2000 kcal per day. In the case of elderly people, in rural and urbanised groups 90%, and 33% of the respondents were below 1500 kcal per day, respectively. As for individual nutrients, the daily protein intake of elderly people in both the urbanised and rural groups was rather low. However, daily fat intake and carbohydrate intake of the younger people in the urbanised group were adequate, but those in the elderly group were not. In the case of the rural elderly group, macronutrient and energy intake were extremely low. To improve dietary habits and nutrient intakes of people in the Padang area, rural elderly people need a greater energy intake and an increased intake of all macronutrients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7947719,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Modeling the hemoglobin switchpoint with cyanomet valency hybrids: Raman spectroscopic probes of tertiary and quaternary structure.\nHybrid hemoglobins with cyanomet hemes in the alpha or in the beta chains have been investigated by resonance Raman (RR) spectroscopy, using ultraviolet (230 nm) and visible (441.6 nm) excitation. For the CO adducts, the UVRR spectra are identical with that of native HbCO, showing the tyrosine and tryptophan signals to be insensitive to ligand substitution within the R state. In the absence of CO, the doubly ligated hybrids show differences in the UVRR spectra, relative to the CO adducts, which are the superposition of two difference spectra: (1) the T-R difference spectrum obtained by subtracting the spectrum of HbCO from that of deoxyHb and (2) a perturbed R state spectrum, characteristic of deligated chains within the R state. These spectra arise from alterations, respectively, in the quaternary contacts of interface aromatic residues and in the tertiary contacts of interior aromatic residues. From the amplitudes of the difference spectra, the T state population was determined to be 30% for (alpha FeII beta FeIIICN)2 and 43% for (alpha FeIIICN beta FeII)2, in good agreement with the kinetic analysis of Cassoly and Gibson [Cassoly, R., & Gibson, Q. H. (1972) J. Biol. Chem. 247, 7332]. Addition of inositol hexaphosphate (IHP) increased the T state population, but only by a modest amount, to 40 and 53%, respectively, in contrast to the frequent assumption that the T state conversion is quantitative in the presence of IHP. Since current understanding of the quaternary state dependence of the Fe-histidine stretching frequency is based on that assumption, the RR band envelope for this vibration was reexamined.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25422000,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Alternative pathways of osteoclastogenesis in inflammatory arthritis.\nOsteoclasts are cells of haematopoietic origin that are uniquely specialized to degrade bone. Under physiological conditions, the osteoclastogenesis pathway depends on macrophage colony-stimulating factor 1 (CSF-1, also known as M-CSF) and receptor activator of nuclear factor \u03baB ligand (RANKL). However, an emerging hypothesis is that alternative pathways of osteoclast generation might be active during inflammatory arthritis. In this Perspectives article, we summarize the physiological pathway of osteoclastogenesis and then focus on experimental findings that support the hypothesis that infiltrating inflammatory cells and the cytokine milieu provide multiple routes to bone destruction. The precise identity of osteoclast precursor(s) is not yet known. We propose that myeloid cell differentiation during inflammation could be an important contributor to the differentiation of osteoclast populations and their associated pathologies. Understanding the dynamics of osteoclast differentiation in inflammatory arthritis is crucial for the development of therapeutic strategies for inflammatory joint disease in children and adults.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16218624,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Covalent attachment of a transition metal coordination complex to functionalized oligo(phenylene-ethynylene) self-assembled monolayers.\nWe have investigated the reaction of tetrakis(dimethylamido)titanium, Ti[N(CH(3))(2)](4), with N-isopropyl-N-[4-(thien-3-ylethynyl) phenyl] amine and N-isopropyl-N-(4-{[4-(thien-3-ylethynyl) phenyl]ethynyl}phenyl) amine self-assembled monolayers (SAMs), on polycrystalline Au substrates. The structure of the SAMs themselves has also been investigated. Both molecules form SAMs on polycrystalline Au bound by the thiophene group. The longer-molecular-backbone molecule forms a denser SAM, with molecules characterized by a smaller tilt angle. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and angle-resolved XPS have been employed to examine the kinetics of adsorption, the spatial extent of reaction, and the stoichiometry of reaction. For both the SAMs, adsorption is described well by first-order Langmuirian kinetics, and adsorption is self-limiting from T(s) = -50 to 30 degrees C. The use of angle-resolved XPS clearly demonstrates that the Ti[N(CH(3))(2)](4) reacts exclusively with the isopropylamine end group via ligand exchange, and there is no penetration of the SAM, followed by reaction at the SAM-Au interface. Moreover, the SAM molecules remain bound to the Au surface via their thiopene functionalites. From XPS, we have found that, in both cases, approximately one Ti[N(CH(3))(2)](4) is adsorbed per two SAM molecules.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9570031,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Soothing effect of amniotic fluid smell in newborn infants.\nNewborn young of several mammalian species are attracted to the odor of amniotic fluid (AF); these chemical cues also appear to calm neonates and help them adapt to their novel postnatal environment. AF odor likewise elicits positive (head orientation) responses by human infants. The present study systematically examined whether the odors of AF and mother's breasts influence the crying of the newborn infant, when separated from its mother. The total crying time from 31-90 min postnatal was registered on tapes in 47 healthy fullterm newborns, allocated to one of three conditions; exposure to either AF or breast odor or no exposure (controls). Babies exposed to AF smell cried significantly less (median 29 s) than babies in the two other groups (breast odor--301 s, controls--135 s). The data are consistent with the hypothesis that the fetus may become familiar with chemical cues present in the intrauterine environment. Our data provide new evidence of the human baby's fine olfactory discrimination capacity, and add to the growing body of evidence indicating that naturally occurring odors play an important role in the mediation of infants' early behavior.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34240121,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"HIV infection is associated with thoracic and abdominal aortic aneurysms: a prospective matched cohort study.\nLittle is known about the prevalence of aortic aneurysms among people living with HIV (PLWH). We investigated whether HIV status is independently associated with having aortic aneurysms. Furthermore, we determined risk factors associated with aortic aneurysms in PLWH. PLWH aged \u226540 years (n = 594) were recruited from the Copenhagen Comorbidity in HIV Infection study and matched for age and sex with uninfected controls (n = 1188) from the Copenhagen General Population Study. Aortic dimensions were assessed using contrast enhanced computed tomography. Aortic aneurysms were defined according to the European Society of Cardiology guidelines, i.e. an aortic dilation of \u226550% or an infrarenal aortic diameter of \u226530 mm. Among PLWH and uninfected controls, the median (interquartile range) age was 52 (47-60) and 52 (48-61) and 88% and 90% were male, respectively. We found 46 aneurysms in 42 (7.1%) PLWH and 31 aneurysms in 29 (2.4%) uninfected controls (P < 0.001). PLWH had a significantly higher prevalence of ascending aortic aneurysms and infrarenal aortic aneurysms. In an adjusted model, HIV was independently associated with aortic aneurysms (adjusted odds ratio; 4.51 [95% confidence interval 2.56-8.08], P < 0.001). Within PLWH, obesity and hepatitis B co-infection were associated with aortic aneurysms. PLWH had four-fold higher odds of aortic aneurysms compared to uninfected controls, and HIV status was independently associated with aortic aneurysms. Among PLWH, age, obesity and hepatitis B co-infection were associated with higher odds of aortic aneurysms. Our findings suggest that increased attention to aortic aneurysms in PLWH may be beneficial.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23441759,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Analysis of the fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) signalling network with heparin as coreceptor: evidence for the expansion of the core FGFR signalling network.\nThe evolution of the fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-FGF receptor (FGFR) signalling system has closely followed that of multicellular organisms. The abilities of nine FGFs (FGF-1 to FGF-9; examples of FGF subfamilies 1, 4, 7, 8, and 9) and seven FGFRs or isoforms (FGFR1b, FGFR1c, FGFR2b, FGFR2c, FGFR3b, FGFR3c, and FGFR4) to support signalling in the presence of heparin, a proxy for the cellular heparan sulfate coreceptor, were assembled into a network. A connection between two FGFRs was defined as their mutual ability to signal with a particular FGF. The network contained a core of four receptors (FGFR1c, FGFR2c, FGFR3c, and FGFR4) with complete connectivity and high redundancy. Analysis of the wider network indicated that neither FGF-3 nor FGF-7 was well connected to this core of four receptors, and that divergence of a precursor of FGF subgroups 1, 4 and 9 from FGF subgroup 8 may have allowed expansion from a three-member FGFR core signalling system to the four-member core network. This increases by four-fold the number of possible signalling combinations. Synchrotron radiation CD spectra of the FGFs with heparin revealed no overall common structural change, suggesting the existence of distinct heparin-binding sites throughout the FGFs. The approach provides a potential method of identifying agents capable of influencing particular FGF-FGFR combinations, or areas of the signalling network, for experimental or therapeutic purposes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17886526,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Longitudinal analysis of FEV1 changes related to antibiotic therapy in children with cystic fibrosis.\nThe measurement of FEV1 in children with cystic fibrosis has been shown to be the most important objective measurement for survival. It has been observed that children receiving intravenous antibiotics usually show a significant improvement in FEV1 with therapy in the short term. We hypothesized that the FEV1 measured pre-antibiotic therapy and followed longitudinally would show a greater rate of decline and may be a better prognostic indicator than the FEV1 post antibiotic therapy. The study cohort consisted of 60 children with cystic fibrosis who attended the St. James' Hospital cystic fibrosis unit between 1993 and 1999. Mixed model regression analysis provided estimates of the average rate of change of the pre-FEV1, post-FEV1 and FEV1 difference in subgroups based on survival, sex and pseudomonas status. There was no significant difference seen in the rate of decline of the FEV1 difference when comparing those who died and those who survived (p = 0.93). This was also the case when males were compared to females (p = 0.09). Both pre-antibiotic FEV1 and post-antibiotic FEV1 measurements showed a significant difference in rate of decline when comparing those who died (FEV1 slope = -6.4, -6.3) to those who survived (FEV1 slope = -1.9, -1.7) [p = 0.001, p = 0.0005] and when males (FEV1 slope = -0.6, -0.03) were compared to females (FEV1 slope = -3.3, -3.5) [p = 0.03, p = 0.002]. Our study demonstrated that there was no additional value in measuring FEV1 pre-antibiotic therapy compared to the FEV1 post antibiotic therapy in improving the sensitivity of FEV1 as a marker of decline. This study confirms that the rate of decline in FEV1 is a strong predictor of mortality and that females in this age group decline faster than their male counterparts.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":33728851,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Specific features of immunological reactions in elderly and young patients with exacerbation of schizophrenia].\nTo identify levels of inflammation markers (the enzymatic activity of leukocyte elastase (LE), the functional activity of the \u03b11-proteinase inhibitor (\u03b11-PI), autoantibodies to neurotrophin S100b and myelin basic protein (MBP)) in blood plasma of old- and young-aged patients with schizophrenia in comparison with features of the clinical course of schizophrenia. Two age groups of patients with schizophrenia were examined. The 1st group consisted of 19 female patients, aged 60 to 78 years (mean age 67.3\u00b15.4 years), with disease duration from 0.5 months to 29 years (9.7\u00b17.6). The 2nd group comprised 24 female patients, aged 19 to 42 years (mean age 26.8\u00b16.3 years), with disease duration from 0.15 to 6.6 years (3.3\u00b12.4). Nineteen age-matched healthy women were included in two control groups. Inflammatory and autoimmune markers were measured in blood plasma using \u00abNeuro-immuno-test technology\u00bb. In the 1st group, a relative smoothness and rigidity of the productive symptoms profile, a reduction of disease progression and a tendency to the development of negative symptoms were established. The 2nd group was characterized by polymorphism, severity and dynamism of productive disorders, as well as the progression and lability of the schizophrenic process. The most significant differences in the spectrum of the analysed immune markers relate to the ratio of the activity of LE and its inhibitor \u03b11-PI, i.e. proteinase-inhibitory index (PII). The identified multidirectional changes of PII in elderly patients compared to the controls may reflect the imbalance of the inflammatory response and the role of this imbalance in shaping the characteristics of psychopathological symptoms in these patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37452692,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Oscillometry in severe asthma: the state of the art and future perspectives.\nApproximately 3-10% of people with asthma have severe asthma (SA). Patients with SA have greater impairment in daily life and much higher costs. Even if asthma affects the entire bronchial tree, small airways have been recognized as the major site of airflow limitation. There are several tools for studying small airway dysfunction (SAD), but certainly the most interesting is oscillometry. Despite several studies, the clinical usefulness of oscillometry in asthma is still in question. This paper aims to provide evidence supporting the use of oscillometry to improve the management of SA in clinical practice. In the ATLANTIS study, SAD was strongly evident across all severity. Various tools are available for evaluation of SAD, and certainly an integrated use of these can provide complete and detailed information. However, the most suitable method is oscillometry, implemented for clinical routine by using either small pressure impulses or small pressure sinusoidal waves. Oscillometry, despite its different technological implementations is the best tool for determining the impact of SAD on asthma and its control. Oscillometry will also be increasingly useful for choosing the appropriate drug, and there is ample room for a more widespread diffusion in clinical practice.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12041671,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Leukemogenic risk of hydroxyurea therapy as a single agent in polycythemia vera and essential thrombocythemia: N- and K-ras mutations and microsatellite instability in chromosomes 5 and 7 in 69 patients.\nPolycythemia vera (PV) and essential thrombocythemia (ET) are chronic myeloproliferative diseases that carry intrinsically the potential for leukemic transformation. The aims of this study were (1) to detect involvement of N- and K-ras mutations in codons 12 and 13 in the pathogenesis of the chronic and blastic phases of PV and ET, (2) to study the occurrence of microsatellite instability (MSI) in chromosomes 5 and 7 during the chronic phase and blastic transformation of the disease, and (3) to examine the incidence of leukemia in patients treated with hydroxyurea (HU). Samples of PV and ET patients were analyzed with a polymerase chain reaction. No N- or K-ras mutations were detected. A positive score for MSI in chromosome 7 was found in 1 patient with PV during leukemic transformation. Three of 69 patients developed acute myelogenous leukemia, 2 with PV and 1 with ET. As of this report, the overall incidence of leukemic transformation is 5.7% (2\/35 patients) in PV and 3.3% (1\/30 patients) in ET patients treated with HU. These results indicate that (1) MSI is a genetic marker that can be detected, even in a small group of patients, at the blastic phase of the disease and (2) no increased leukemogenicity was noted in this group of patients treated with HU.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37848399,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Synchronous percutaneous core-needle biopsy and microwave ablation for stage I non-small cell lung cancer in patients with Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: initial experience.\nThis study aimed to retrospectively evaluate the safety and feasibility of computed tomography (CT)-guided synchronous percutaneous core-needle biopsy (CNB) and microwave ablation (MWA) for stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). From January 2019 to January 2023, nineteen stage I NSCLC patients with IPF underwent CT-guided synchronous percutaneous CNB and MWA in this study. The technical success rate, complications, local tumor progression (LTP) and overall survival (OS) were observed, and the effect of synchronous percutaneous CNB and MWA were evaluated. The technical success rate of synchronous percutaneous CNB and MWA was 100%. With a median follow-up time of 20.36 months, the median OS was 25 months (95% CI: 21.79, 28.20). The six-, twelve- and eighteen-month OS rates were 94.73%, 89.47% and 57.89%, respectively. The six-, twelve- and eighteen-month LTP rates were 0%, 10.52% and 31.57%, respectively. Major complications including pneumothorax, bronchopleural fistula and pneumonia occurred in 26.32% (5\/19) patients. None of the patients died during the procedure. According to the results of the current study, CT-guided synchronous percutaneous CNB and MWA appears to be a safe and effective for stage I NSCLC in patients with IPF and providing an alternative therapeutic option for local control of pulmonary malignancy in high-risk patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28699679,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-22":2}}},"text":"One session of remote ischemic preconditioning does not improve vascular function in acute normobaric and chronic hypobaric hypoxia.\nWhat is the central question of this study? It is suggested that remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) might offer protection against ischaemia-reperfusion injuries, but the utility of RIPC in high-altitude settings remains unclear. What is the main finding and its importance? We found that RIPC offers no vascular protection relative to pulmonary artery pressure or peripheral endothelial function during acute, normobaric hypoxia and at high altitude in young, healthy adults. However, peripheral chemosensitivity was heightened 24 h after RIPC at high altitude. Application of repeated short-duration bouts of ischaemia to the limbs, termed remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC), is a novel technique that might have protective effects on vascular function during hypoxic exposures. In separate parallel-design studies, at sea level (SL; n = 16) and after 8-12 days at high altitude (HA; n = 12; White Mountain, 3800 m), participants underwent either a sham protocol or one session of four bouts of 5 min of dual-thigh-cuff occlusion with 5 min recovery. Brachial artery flow-mediated dilatation (FMD; ultrasound), pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP; echocardiography) and internal carotid artery (ICA) flow (ultrasound) were measured at SL in normoxia and isocapnic hypoxia (end-tidal PO2 maintained at 50 mmHg) and during normal breathing at HA. The hypoxic ventilatory response (HVR) was measured at each location. All measures at SL and HA were obtained at baseline (BL) and at 1, 24 and 48 h post-RIPC or sham. At SL, RIPC produced no changes in FMD, PASP, ICA flow, end-tidal gases or HVR in normoxia or hypoxia. At HA, although HVR increased 24 h post-RIPC compared with BL [2.05 \u00b1 1.4 versus 3.21 \u00b1 1.2 l min-1 (% arterial O2 saturation)-1 , P < 0.01], there were no significant differences in FMD, PASP, ICA flow and resting end-tidal gases. Accordingly, a single session of RIPC is insufficient to evoke changes in peripheral, pulmonary and cerebral vascular function in healthy adults. Although chemosensitivity might increase after RIPC at HA, this did not confer any vascular changes. The utility of a single RIPC session seems unremarkable during acute and chronic hypoxia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31251261,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Low-cost temperature- and strain-insensitive twist sensor based on a hybrid fiber grating structure.\nWe proposed and experimentally demonstrated a temperature- and strain-insensitive twist sensor based on a hybrid fiber grating structure, in which the hybrid grating structure is constructed with a 45\u00b0-tilted fiber grating and a chirped fiber Bragg grating UV-inscribed in a single-mode fiber in series. The sensing performance has been evaluated by experimental and numerical analyses, which are in good consistency. The experimental results show that the hybrid-grating-structure-based twist sensor has a maximum twist sensitivity up to 15.037 dB\/rad. Moreover, due to the invariability of the fiber birefringence and the state of polarization of the input light, such sensor has intrinsically low temperature and strain sensitivities of 7.86\u00d710-3 dB\/\u00b0C and 6.7\u00d710-5 dB\/\u03bc\u03b5, corresponding to the maximum twist measurement error resulting from temperature and strain of 5.2\u00d710-4 rad\/\u00b0C and 4.5\u00d710-6 rad\/\u03bc\u03b5, respectively.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28726063,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-18":1}}},"text":"Gaze-Based Assessments of Vigilance and Avoidance in Social Anxiety: a Review.\nA broad base of research has sought to identify the biases in selective attention which characterize social anxiety, with the emergent use of eye tracking-based methods. This article seeks to provide a review of eye tracking studies examining selective attention biases in social anxiety. Across a number of contexts, social anxiety may be associated with a mix of both vigilant and avoidant patterns of attention with respect to the processing of emotional social stimuli. Socially anxious individuals may additionally avoid maintaining eye contact and may exhibit a generalized vigilance via hyperscanning of their environment. The findings highlight the utility of eye tracking methods for increasing understanding of the gaze-based biases which characterize social anxiety disorder, with promising avenues for future research.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6176996,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Anti-influenza response achieved by immunization with a synthetic conjugate.\nThe peptide corresponding to sequence 91--108 of the hemagglutinin of type A H3N2 influenza virus has been synthesized by the solid-phase peptide synthesis method and covalently attached to several macromolecular carriers. The conjugate with tetanus toxoid was used for immunization of rabbits and mice. The immunoglobulin fraction of the rabbit antiserum showed the presence and antipeptide antibodies by both agar gel diffusion and radioimmunoassay. In the latter assay, the antibodies showed marked crossreactivity with the intact virus of the A\/Texas\/77 strain. The antibodies were also capable of inhibiting the hemagglutination of chicken erythrocytes by the virus; the highest hemagglutination inhibition titer (1:32) was achieved with a serum-resistant strain of A\/Texas\/77. When the in vitro virus plaque formation assay was used with monolayers of Madin--Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells, the number of plaques was reduced on interaction with the immunoglobulin fraction of the antiserum, which was effective up to a dilution of 1:32. Preliminary results indicate that C3H\/DiSn mice immunized with the peptide--tetanus toxoid conjugate are partially protected against a further challenge with A\/Texas mouse-adapted influenza virus. The results are thus indicative of the efficacy of the synthetic material in eliciting anti-influenza immune response.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37847645,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Early-Life Temperamental Differences as Longitudinal Predictors of Unintentional Injuries.\nUnintentional injuries are the leading cause of hospitalization and death among children. Compared to environmental factors, less attention in injury preventive efforts has been paid to how individual characteristics relate to the risk of injury. Using a large prospective cohort, the current study assessed the longitudinal impact of early-life temperament on the cumulative number of injuries until mid-adolescence. The data came from the European Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood (ELSPAC-CZ). Temperament was evaluated by mothers when children were 3 years old (N = 3,545). The main outcome was the pediatrician-reported sum of child's injuries from age 3 to 15 (seven timepoints). Latent profile analysis (LPA) was used to determine classes based on temperamental dimensions and then extended to a mixture model with a distal count outcome. The covariates included maternal conflict and attachment, sex, family structure, and maternal education. The LPA determined the existence of three classes: shy children (8.1% of the sample; lowest activity\/highest shyness), outgoing children (50.8%; highest activity\/lowest shyness), and average: children (41.1%; middle values). Results from a mixture model showed that the outgoing temperament was associated with the highest longitudinal risk for injuries, as both average children (IRR = 0.89 [0.80, 0.99]), and the shy children (IRR = 0.80 [0.68, 0.95]) had lower risk. Early childhood temperamental differences can have long-term effects on injury risk. Highly active children showed the highest risk for future injuries, suggesting that these characteristics make them more likely to be involved in novel and potentially dangerous situations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17892904,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Evaluating multi-dimensional aspects of postnatal hospital care.\nto investigate women's experiences of postnatal hospital care in relation to four different aspects: (1) interpersonal care; (2) time spent on physical check-ups; (3) time spent on information and support; and (4) time spent on assistance with breast feeding. More specifically, we aimed to establish whether typical clusters of women could be identified, and if so, whether these clusters could be related to specific outcomes of care, to the way in which care is organised, and to the individual's psychological health and socio-demographic background. longitudinal population-based survey, including three questionnaires completed in early pregnancy, at 2 months and 1 year after birth. all postnatal wards in Sweden. women (n=2338) recruited at their first booking visit at 593 antenatal clinics, who responded to questions relating to postnatal hospital care 2 months after birth. eight cluster profiles defined by the four aspects of postnatal care were identified. About half of the women were found in clusters that were satisfied with most aspects of care, and half in clusters that were dissatisfied with one aspect or more. Only 32% were very satisfied with all four dimensions. Specific groups of women, such as first-time mothers, migrants, young mothers and those with a short length of stay, were dissatisfied with different assessments of postnatal care. Psychological health in early pregnancy was associated with high ratings of all aspects of care, whereas emergency caesarean section and instrumental vaginal delivery was associated with dissatisfaction with breast feeding support and time spent on health check-ups. women's individual appraisal of specific aspects of hospital postnatal care could be grouped into response patterns that were shared by smaller or larger groups. These patterns were related to maternal characteristics, labour outcomes and the way in which care was organised. The multi-faceted approach used in this study provided details about who was dissatisfied with what, and showed that women are not necessarily either satisfied or dissatisfied with care in a general sense. In order to provide individualised care, the carer needs to be aware of these differences.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12182330,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of pre-exposure to beta rays of tritium on some biochemical parameters measured in organs of rats subsequently irradiated with fast neutrons.\nThe experiment examined biological responses produced by combined sequential exposure to low-level tritium contamination, followed by challenging irradiation with fast neutrons. Modifications of endogenous antioxidant potential of different organs in rats were discussed in relation to tissue radiosensitivity. Rats pre-contaminated to 7 cGy and 35 cGy have been additionally irradiated to 1 Gy with fast neutrons. Lipid peroxide level was determined in liver, kidney, small intestine, spleen, bone marrow, and plasma. Reduced glutathione (GSH) level and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) activity were determined in erythrocytes. An in vitro thymidine uptake assay was performed in isolated bone marrow cells. The lipid peroxide level decreased significantly only in liver and kidney from rats pre-exposed to 35 cGy. For small intestine and spleen, tissues of comparatively higher radiosensitivity, no induced radioprotection was observed, as reflected in the homeostasis of the lipid peroxides. The same behavior was observed in bone marrow, the most radiosensitive tissue studied. However, the bone marrow thymidine-incorporation assay revealed a possible adaptive-type reaction in rats pre-exposed to 35 cGy. We conclude that for radiosensitive tissues pre-exposure to chronic low doses of low linear energy transfer (LET) irradiation has no protective effect on their antioxidant status, whereas a protective effect is observed in radioresistent tissues.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28298817,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Comparative evaluation of coenzyme Q10-based gel and 0.8% hyaluronic acid gel in treatment of chronic periodontitis.\nThe anti-inflammatory and immune enhancing effects of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) and hyaluronic acid are well established in medical literature. The present study was undertaken to evaluate their role in chronic periodontitis. One hundred twenty sites in 24 patients with clinically confirmed periodontitis were included in the study. A split-mouth design was used for intrasulcular application of CoQ10 as adjunct to scaling and root planing (SRP), 0.8% hyaluronic acid as adjunct to SRP and SRP alone. Clinical parameters such as plaque index (PI), gingival color change index (GCCI), Eastman interdental bleeding index (EIBI), pocket depth (PD), and clinical attachment level (CAL) were recorded. All the clinical parameters PI, EIBI, GCCI, PD, and CAL were recorded at baseline before SRP. Only PI, EIBI, and GCCI were recorded at 1st and 2nd week. Twenty-one days post 2nd week, i.e., 6th week all the clinical parameters were recorded again. Intragroup analysis of all the clinical parameters showed clinical significant results between baseline and 6th week. However, on intergroup analysis, the results were not significant. The local application of CoQ10 and hyaluronic acid gel in conjunction with SRP may have a beneficial effect on periodontal health in patients with chronic periodontitis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6747862,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Changes in vergence mediated by saccades.\nWhen binocular fixation is shifted between two targets which require change in vergence as well as an equivalent or greater alteration in the mean visual direction, the observed eye motions do not--as asserted by Yarbus (1957) and widely accepted today--consist of slow symmetrical change in vergence, upon which a conjugate (binocularly balanced) saccade is additively superimposed. In all tested target configurations, an unexpectedly large fraction of the total change in vergence occurred during the saccades; observed values ranged from about 40% in certain tasks, to essentially 100% when large version (4 degrees) was combined with small vergence change (less than 1 degree). In these latter situations, binocular congruence can be restored within about 50 ms by appropriately unbalanced saccades, rather than about 500 ms, as expected if slow fusional vergence movement were required. When larger vergence changes are demanded, additivity between vergence movement and conjugate saccade is also violated in that the rate of vergence change during the saccades is several-fold larger than the rate before the saccade or during subsequent completion of the required change in vergence. Furthermore, the residual fusional vergence movement observed in these tests was usually strongly asymmetrical, and often almost entirely monocular. Vertical saccades are nearly as effective as horizontal saccades in mediating a large fraction of an intended change in vergence. In saccades, which contributed strongly to (or fully mediated) an intended vergence change, target-specific binocular differences in saccadic excursion of as much as 40-50% were observed; hence, these eye movements are not fully yoked, as the term 'conjugate' implies. Instead, the eyes behave in such situations as though visual information from each eye is processed separately prior to the saccade, in order to generate the neural signals which control open-loop saccadic movement of the eye.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16240957,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-18":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Treatments for excessive armpit sweating.\nMany people who complain of excessive sweating have primary hyperhidrosis. This idiopathic disorder is characterised by excessive, bilateral and roughly symmetrical sweating, most commonly affecting the axillae, palms, feet and face. For some patients, excessive sweating is intolerable as it stains and damages clothes, reduces confidence and limits social contact. Treatment options have been limited but now include botulinum toxin for severe axillary hyperhidrosis. Here we review treatments for primary focal hyperhidrosis, focusing on axillary sweating.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34407709,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A robust fuzzy multi-objective programming model to design a sustainable hospital waste management network considering resiliency and uncertainty: A case study.\nWith the increase in the number of patients and activity of hospitals, the issue of hospital waste management (HWM) is becoming more and more challenging and worrying. In addition to financial losses, there will be irreparable damage to the ecosystem and environment which will create many problems for people (because the job of some people in the area is livestock and agriculture and they have a lot to do with their surroundings). It also doubles the need to pay attention to the issue of sustainable development (simultaneous attention to social, economic and environmental dimensions) in waste management. Moreover, the climatic and geographical conditions and lack of proper waste management in this area lead to major problems. Therefore, in this research, by developing a novel multi-objective mixed integer linear programming model, HWM is addressed in the hospitals of Sari, Iran. The aim is to design an HWM network considering sustainability, resiliency and uncertainty. In order to deal with uncertainty, a robust fuzzy programming approach is employed, and then an improved goal programming technique and Lp-metric method is proposed to solve the model. It was revealed that goal programming outperforms the Lp-metric method in terms of all objectives. Furthermore, the obtained results demonstrate the applicability and efficiency of the proposed methodology to design an efficient sustainable HWM network.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":277672,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Acute frontal sinusitis as a late complication after midfacial trauma.\nThe anatomical relationships of the frontal and nasoethmoid region are reviewed, with particular emphasis on the nasofrontal drainage system. A case report is presented in which obstruction of the nasofrontal duct created a delayed frontal sinusitis in a patient with severe midfacial trauma. A brief review of the different conditions that can appear as periorbital inflammation in the posttraumatic period is given, followed by a brief discussion of the various therapeutic alternatives available to the surgeon when presented with this situation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25515273,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Asthma, allergic rhinitis, and sleep problems in urban children.\nIn this study, we examine the association of asthma (asthma symptoms, asthma control, lung function) and sleep problems in a group of urban children. The role of allergic rhinitis (AR), a comorbid condition of asthma, on children's sleep problems is also examined. Finally, we investigate whether sleep hygiene moderates the association between asthma and sleep problems, and whether there are differences in these associations based on ethnic background. Non-Latino White, Latino, and African American urban children with asthma (n = 195) ages 7-9 (47% female) and their primary caregivers participated in a baseline visit involving interview-based questionnaires on demographics, asthma and rhinitis control, and caregiver report of children's sleep problems and sleep hygiene. Children and their caregivers participated in a clinical evaluation of asthma and AR, followed by a month monitoring period of children's asthma using objective and subjective methods. Total sleep problem scores were higher in children of the sample who were from African American and Latino backgrounds, compared to non-Latino white children. Poor asthma control was predictive of higher levels of sleep problems in the entire sample. Poorer AR control also was related to more sleep problems, over and above children's asthma in the sample. This association was more robust in non-Latino white children. Poor sleep hygiene heightened the association between poor asthma control and sleep problems in the entire sample and in African American children. Multidisciplinary interventions integrating the co-management of asthma, AR, and the effects of both illnesses on children's sleep, need to be developed and tailored to children and their families' ethnic background.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24394005,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Protocol for the administration of modified FOLFOX6 (mFOLFOX6) in patients with unresectable\/recurrent colorectal cancer].\nIn patients undergoing FOLFOX6 therapy for the treatment of unresectable\/recurrent colorectal cancer, control of cumulative peripheral neuropathy is problematic. In our department, we stop using mFOLFOX6 as a primary therapy after 6 to 8 courses. Instead, we use mFOLFOX6 as a secondary therapy, and re-introduce mFOLFOX6 as a tertiary therapy; the patients undergoing this treatment protocol were included in Group A. We have studied the degree of neurotoxicity and the time of its occurrence in these patients compared to those undergoing the standard method (Group B; 12 cases). Grade 3 peripheral neuropathy was observed in both the groups. In Group B, peripheral neuropathy occurred in the primary treatment period, whereas in Group A, it appeared in the tertiary treatment period. Moreover, in Group A, we observed Grade 2 peripheral neuropathy in the primary treatment period in 3 cases, but this was promptly resolved after the therapy was shifted to the secondary treatment period. The period with neurological toxicities was shorter in Group A compared to Group B. When treating colorectal cancer with chemotherapy, it is important to elucidate how the prognosis can be improved while maintaining the quality of life( QOL). In our department, we place a greater emphasis on the QOL of the patient.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26431493,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The molecular effect of metastasis suppressors on Src signaling and tumorigenesis: new therapeutic targets.\nA major problem for cancer patients is the metastasis of cancer cells from the primary tumor. This involves: (1) migration through the basement membrane; (2) dissemination via the circulatory system; and (3) invasion into a secondary site. Metastasis suppressors, by definition, inhibit metastasis at any step of the metastatic cascade. Notably, Src is a non-receptor, cytoplasmic, tyrosine kinase, which becomes aberrantly activated in many cancer-types following stimulation of plasma membrane receptors (e.g., receptor tyrosine kinases and integrins). There is evidence of a prominent role of Src in tumor progression-related events such as the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and the development of metastasis. However, the precise molecular interactions of Src with metastasis suppressors remain unclear. Herein, we review known metastasis suppressors and summarize recent advances in understanding the mechanisms of how these proteins inhibit metastasis through modulation of Src. Particular emphasis is bestowed on the potent metastasis suppressor, N-myc downstream regulated gene 1 (NDRG1) and its interactions with the Src signaling cascade. Recent studies demonstrated a novel mechanism through which NDRG1 plays a significant role in regulating cancer cell migration by inhibiting Src activity. Moreover, we discuss the rationale for targeting metastasis suppressor genes as a sound therapeutic modality, and we review several examples from the literature where such strategies show promise. Collectively, this review summarizes the essential interactions of metastasis suppressors with Src and their effects on progression of cancer metastasis. Moreover, interesting unresolved issues regarding these proteins as well as their potential as therapeutic targets are also discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32349290,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Barriers and Facilitators to Leisure Physical Activity in Children: A Qualitative Approach Using the Socio-Ecological Model.\nDespite the benefits of engaging in physical activity during their leisure time, children do not meet the recommendations on physical activity. Following the socio-ecological model as a theoretical framework, the aim of this study was to determine the barriers and facilitators that influence physical activity participation in children's leisure time. Data collection was conducted through focus groups and individual drawings in a sample of 98 eight- to eleven-year-olds from six schools in Cuenca (Spain). Following the socio-ecological model, individual characteristics (age and sex), as well as the microsystem (parents and friends), mesosystem (timing and out-of-school schedule) and exosystem (safety and weather) influence physical activity participation. The relationships between these levels of the socio-ecological model reveal that opportunities for leisure physical activity are determined by children's schedules. This schedule is negotiated by the family and is influenced by parents' worries and necessities. This is the main barrier to physical activity participation due to the creation of more restrictive, sedentary schedules, especially for girls. Our results show the elements required to develop successful strategies to increase physical activity opportunities, namely, focusing on giving children the opportunity to choose activities, raising parents' awareness of the importance of physical activity and improving the perceived safety of parks, taking into consideration the gender perspective.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27479156,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"\"When Grief Breaks Your Heart\": A Case Study of Interpersonal Psychotherapy Delivered in a Primary Care Setting.\nDepression and anxiety, the so-called common mental disorders (CMDs), are highly prevalent and disabling, yet remain largely untreated. This treatment gap is particularly true in low- and middle-income settings, where there is significant scarcity of resources (including human resources) and treatment accessibility is complicated by stigma surrounding mental illness. To address these challenges, the MANAS trial, one of the largest to date randomized, controlled trials, aimed to test the effectiveness of a stepped care intervention led by lay health counselors in primary care settings in Goa, India. Six- and 12-month follow-up outcomes suggest that MANAS was a safe, feasible, effective, and cost-effective intervention for CMDs in that context. This article demonstrates the use of culturally adapted IPT as an intervention to treat CMDs in a 54-year-old Indian primary care patient struggling with depression and heart-related problems after his wife's death. A case formulation is presented based on core IPT principles, followed by detailed delineation of treatment from beginning through termination.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23337229,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-30":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mapping from disease-specific to generic health-related quality-of-life scales: a common factor model.\nTo develop a coherent method for estimating mappings between treatment effects on disease-specific measurement (DSM) instruments and generic health-related quality-of-life (QOL) measures, when both are subject to measurement errors. We identified three properties that must be satisfied for mappings to be logically coherent: invertability, transitivity, and invariance to linear transformation. Of the common regressions, ordinary least squares (OLS), geometric mean (GM), and orthogonal regression, only GM has all these properties, and then only in special cases. We developed a common factor model of how DSM and generic QOL scales are related, and derived expressions for coherent mapping coefficients. We showed that these are equivalent to adjusted forms of OLS or GM regressions. Where cohort data are available on just one DSM and one QOL measure, external data on the reproducibility of the DSM are required. In some circumstances, the mappings can be estimated without external data. We illustrated the estimation of mapping coefficients by using data on EuroQol five-dimensional (EQ-5D) questionnaire, 12-item short form health survey (SF-12) Mental Component Summary, and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), from a trial of treatments for depression. OLS underestimates and GM overestimates mappings from DSMs to generic QOL measures. Mappings estimated by using external data on reliability were similar to those estimated by using internal data, suggesting approximate adequacy of the common factor model. Neither OLS nor GM regression, unless corrected, is suitable for estimating mappings between disease-specific and generic QOL scales. OLS systematically underestimates mappings, but it can be adjusted by using external information on test-retest reliability.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22691521,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Extrarenal retroperitoneal angiomyolipoma mimicking metastatic melanoma: CT and FDG PET correlation.\nA 38-year-old man with melanoma of the right flank underwent a staging 18F-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose (FDG) PET\/CT scan, which demonstrated a hypermetabolic extrarenal mass in the left retroperitoneal space, concerning for metastatic melanoma. However, surgical pathology demonstrated an angiomyolipoma (AML). Although AMLs can rarely occur in an extrarenal location, extrarenal retroperitoneal AMLs are exceptional. AMLs have variable imaging appearances on multiple imaging modalities, including FDG PET, and can confound accurate diagnosis when in an extrarenal location. This case demonstrates the only known FDG PET description of an extrarenal retroperitoneal AML and highlights the challenge in accurate diagnosis based on FDG PET findings.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29366576,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Redefinition of tricuspid valve structures for successful ring annuloplasty.\nAlthough numerous reports have described suturing techniques for tricuspid annuloplasty, most studies were not based on a detailed anatomy of the tricuspid annulus. Thus, the definition of the tricuspid commissures remains unclear. This study aimed to clearly define the commissures and leaflets of the tricuspid valve and subvalvular structures, and to define a standard method for tricuspid annuloplasty. In 27 normal heart specimens without cardiac disease, the tricuspid commissure was defined using indentations of the leaflets as a point, not an area, and the length of each tricuspid annulus was measured. The relationships between the leaflets and the subvalvular structures were then examined. In most specimens, the posterior leaflet had 2 (62.9%) or 3 (29.6%) scallops, providing further evidence of posterior leaflet diversity. In addition, the posterior leaflet had 1 or 2 indentations, which can be mistaken for true commissures. The annulus of the posterior leaflet was significantly longer than the annuli of the other 2 leaflets (P < .00428). The annuli of the septal and the anterior leaflets were supported by the interventricular septum and the supraventricular crest, respectively, whereas the posterior leaflet annulus was distributed largely along the right ventricular free wall. There was a structural gap between the tricuspid leaflet indentations and the subvalvular structures. The relationships among the leaflets, commissures, and subvalvular structures differed in the septal, anterior, and posterior leaflets. This new definition of the commissural point may aid the development of a clear-cut methodology for prosthetic ring annuloplasty.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37462958,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Expression of glucocorticoid receptor in prostate cancer and its clinical significance].\nTo investigate the expression of glucocorticoid receptor (GR) in the PCa tissue and its correlation with the clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of PCa. Using immunohistochemical staining, we determined the expression of GR in the PCa tissue and analyzed its correlation with the clininicopathological features and prognosis of the malignancy. The positive expression of GR in the PCa tissue was 64%, of which the strongly positive rate was 34.7%. The GR expression was positively correlated with preoperative androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) (\u03c72 = 22.307, P < 0.01), Gleason grades (\u03c72 = 16.534, P = 0.002) and clinical stages of the tumor (\u03c72 = 9.969, P = 0.041). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that the GR expression was correlated not with the overall survival (P = 0.156), but with the PSA progression-free survival rate of the PCa patients (P = 0.042), with a shorter PSA progression-free survival time in those with a higher GR expression. Multivariate COX regression analysis revealed that the expression of GR was not an independent prognostic factor for PSA progression-free survival of the PCa patients. The expression of GR is related with preoperative ADT, and closely with the biological behavior of the malignancy and treatment resistance of the patients. GR is expected to be a new effective therapeutic target and a prognostic biomarker for PCa.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28724019,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Profile of mortality from external causes among Seventh-day Adventists and the general populations.\nThis paper aimed to compare the profile of mortality from external causes among Seventh-day Adventists and the general population of Esp\u00edrito Santo from 2003 to 2009. A search of Adventists was performed in the nominal database of the Mortality Information System containing data on Adventists provided by the administrative offices of the institution. Deaths from external causes occurred during the study period were then divided into two groups: Adventists and the general population. Adventists had lower proportional mortality from external causes (10%) than the general population (19%), and males were the main reason for this difference. In both groups, deaths prevailed in the 20-29 years age group. Deaths from accidental causes were most significant among Adventists (68.08%), while deaths from intentional causes related to assault and self-inflicted injuries were more significant in the general population (53.67% of all deaths). The standardized mortality ratio for external causes was 41.3, thus, being Adventist reduced mortality by 58.7%. It is believed that the benefit of Adventists observed for mortality from external causes is related to this group's abstinence from alcohol consumption.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29370144,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Pre-Meal Effect of Whey Proteins on Metabolic Parameters in Subjects with and without Type 2 Diabetes: A Randomized, Crossover Trial.\nDiabetic dyslipidemia with elevated postprandial triglyceride (TG) responses is characteristic in type 2 diabetes (T2D). Diet and meal timing can modify postprandial lipemia (PPL). The impact of a pre-meal of whey proteins (WP) on lipid metabolism is unidentified. We determined whether a WP pre-meal prior to a fat-rich meal influences TG and apolipoprotein B-48 (ApoB-48) responses differentially in patients with and without T2D. Two matched groups of 12 subjects with and without T2D accomplished an acute, randomized, cross-over trial. A pre-meal of WP (20 g) or water (control) was consumed 15 min before a fat-rich meal (supplemented with 20 g WP in case of water pre-meal). Postprandial responses were examined during a 360-min period. A WP pre-meal significantly increased postprandial concentrations of insulin (P < 0.0001), glucagon (P < 0.0001) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide (GIP) (P < 0.0001) in subjects with and without T2D. We detected no effects of the WP pre-meal on TG, ApoB-48, or non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) responses to the fat-rich meal in either group. Paracetamol absorption i.e. gastric emptying was delayed by the WP pre-meal (P = 0.039). In conclusion, the WP pre-meal induced similar hormone and lipid responses in subjects with and without T2D. Thus, the WP pre-meal enhanced insulin, glucagon and GIP responses but did not influence lipid or glucose responses. In addition, we demonstrated that a WP pre-meal reduced gastric emptying in both groups.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24385358,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1}}},"text":"A putative APSES transcription factor is necessary for normal growth and development of Aspergillus nidulans.\nThe nsdD gene encoding a GATA type transcription factor positively controls sexual development in Aspergillus nidulans. According to microarray data, 20 genes that were upregulated by deleting nsdD during various life cycle stages were randomly selected and deleted for functional analysis. None of the mutants showed apparent changes in growth or development compared with those of the wild-type except the AN3154 gene that encodes a putative APSES transcription factor and is an ortholog of Saccharomyces cerevisiae swi4. Deleting AN3154 resulted in retarded growth and development, and the gene was named rgdA (retared growth and development). The rgdA deletion mutant developed a reduced number of conidia even under favorable conditions for asexual development. The retarded growth and development was partially suppressed by the veA1 mutation. The conidial heads of the mutant aborted, showing reduced and irregular shaped phialides. Fruiting body development was delayed compared with that in the wild-type. The mutant did not respond to various nutritional or environmental factors that affected the development patterns. The rgdA gene was expressed at low levels throughout the life cycle and was not significantly affected by several regulators of sexual and asexual development such as nsdD, veA, stuA, or brlA. However, the rgdA gene affected brlA and abaA expression, which function as key regulators of asexual sporulation, suggesting that rgdA functions upstream of those genes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16236607,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells.\nHuman mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) contribute to the regeneration of mesenchymal tissues, and are essential in providing support for the growth and differentiation of primitive hemopoietic cells within the bone marrow microenvironment. Techniques are now available to isolate human MSCs and manipulate their expansion in vitro under defined culture conditions without change of phenotype or loss of function. Mesenchymal stem cells have generated a great deal of interest in many clinical settings, including that of regenerative medicine, immune modulation and tissue engineering. Studies have already demonstrated the feasibility of transplanted MSCs providing crucial new cellular therapy. In this review, many aspects of the MSC will be discussed, with the main focus being on clinical studies that describe the potential of MSCs to treat patients with hematological malignancies who are undergoing chemotherapy and\/or radiotherapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32365969,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Prevalence of Physical Activity among Adolescents from 105 Low, Middle, and High-income Countries.\nPhysical activity (PA) is a beneficial health behaviour, however most adolescents worldwide are physically inactive. Updated information on the prevalence and trends of PA is important to inform national and international authorities and support countries' public health policies and actions. This study aimed to present the worldwide, regional, and national prevalence of PA participation according to its frequency in adolescents. This study is based on cross-sectional surveys of adolescents' populations from several countries and all regions worldwide. The sample comprised 520,533 adolescents (251,788 boys; 268,745 girls), from 105 countries and regions. Most adolescents engaged in PA up to 3 days\/week (57.1%; 95% CI: 56.9; 57.2). The prevalence of engaging in PA every day decreases over the age from 28.2% at age of 11-12 years (95% CI: 27.4; 29.0) to 21.2% at age of 16-17 years (95% CI: 20.3; 22.0) among boys; and from 19.4% (95% CI: 18.5; 20.2) to 11.1% (95% CI: 10.1; 12.0) among girls. For boys and girls who engaged in PA 5-6 days\/week, the prevalence increases from countries with the lowest human development index to countries with the highest. Cambodia (7.3%, 95% CI: 3.8; 10.8), Philippines (7.7%, 95% CI: 5.6; 9.7), Sudan (8.8%, 95% CI: 4.7; 12.9), Timor-Leste (8.9%, 95% CI: 5.5; 12.3), and Afghanistan (10.1%, 95% CI: 6.1; 14.1) were the countries with the lowest prevalence of sufficient PA. National, regional, and worldwide data on the prevalence of physical activity in adolescents highlights the importance of improving the global levels of PA, especially in girls. Identifying the factors causing the age-related decrease in physical activity levels will permit public health entities to define priority actions and policies against physical inactivity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22665795,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2013-20":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Soluble epoxide hydrolase regulates hematopoietic progenitor cell function via generation of fatty acid diols.\nFatty acid epoxides are important lipid signaling molecules involved in the regulation of vascular tone and homeostasis. Tissue and plasma levels of these mediators are determined by the activity of cytochrome P450 epoxygenases and the soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH), and targeting the latter is an effective way of manipulating epoxide levels in vivo. We investigated the role of the sEH in regulating the mobilization and proliferation of progenitor cells with vasculogenic\/reparative potential. Our studies revealed that sEH down-regulation\/inhibition impaired the development of the caudal vein plexus in zebrafish, and decreased the numbers of lmo2\/cmyb-positive progenitor cells therein. In mice sEH inactivation attenuated progenitor cell proliferation (spleen colony formation), but the sEH products 12,13-dihydroxyoctadecenoic acid (12,13-DiHOME) and 11,12- dihydroxyeicosatrienoic acid stimulated canonical Wnt signaling and rescued the effects of sEH inhibition. In murine bone marrow, the epoxide\/diol content increased during G-CSF-induced progenitor cell expansion and mobilization, and both mobilization and spleen colony formation were reduced in sEH(-\/-) mice. Similarly, sEH(-\/-) mice showed impaired functional recovery following hindlimb ischemia, which was rescued following either the restoration of bone marrow sEH activity or treatment with 12,13-DiHOME. Thus, sEH activity is required for optimal progenitor cell proliferation, whereas long-term sEH inhibition is detrimental to progenitor cell proliferation, mobilization, and vascular repair.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34235810,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Abdominal compartment syndrome in a monochorionic-triamniotic triplet pregnancy complicated by feto-fetal transfusion syndrome.\nA 40-year-old primigravida woman with a monochorionic-triamniotic (MT) triplet pregnancy was hospitalized due to threatened abortion at 16 gestational weeks. Polyhydramnios in two fetuses and oligohydramnios in the third supported a diagnosis of feto-fetal transfusion syndrome (FFTS) at 23 weeks and 3 days of gestation. Severe dyspnea and liver dysfunction required intensive care unit admission and mechanical ventilation support, and abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS) caused by polyhydramnios was clinically diagnosed. When her general condition was not improved regardless of intensive care, the patient delivered the three fetuses by cesarean section at 23 weeks and 5 days gestation. Abdominal decompression was achieved with delivery, and the patient was discharged 13 days after operation without morbidity. This is the first case report of ACS caused by FFTS in a MT triplet pregnancy resulting in extremely preterm birth.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32368983,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Impact of Interleukin 28B and ICAM-1 Genetic Polymorphisms on Response to Direct Antiviral Treatment Among HCV Infected Patients.\nSingle nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of IL-28B and\/or ICAM-1 could have a role in expecting a response from HCV infected patients to direct antiviral agents (DAAs). The aim of the current study was to investigate the impact of IL-28B rs12979860 and rs8099917, and, ICAM-1 rs281437 SNPs on response to treatment with sofosbuvir + Daclatsvir \u00b1 Ribavirin, among HCV-infected Egyptian patients. Whole blood genomic DNA was extracted from 120 participants (80 HCV-infected patients and 40 healthy volunteers). HCV-infected patients were subdivided into responders and nonresponders to DAAs. Liver function testing, anti-HCV antibodies, HCV-RNA viral load and HCV genotyping were performed. IL-28B and ICAM-1 SNPs were evaluated by real-time PCR. ALT and AST levels were significantly higher among non-responder HCV infected patients (P = 0.001*). 90% of the patients had HCV genotype 4a and the remaining 10% had 4l genotype. Allelic discrimination revealed that IL-28B rs12979860 T, IL-28B rs809917 T and ICAM-1 rs281437 C alleles were more frequent among HCV-infected patients (responders or non-responders) than controls. However, IL-28B rs8099917 G allele was more frequent among healthy controls. Regarding the response to DAAs treatment, HCV-infected patients with IL-28B rs8099917 GG genotype showed a significantly earlier viral response compared to those carrying TT alleles. ICAM-1 rs281437 CT alleles were non significantly more frequent among responders. However, IL-28B rs12979860 alleles did not show any difference. Genotyping of IL-28B rs8099917 is a useful independent tool for expecting a response of Egyptian HCV-infected patients to DAAs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35342833,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":2,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1,"2024-26":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Plastic recycling and their use as raw material for the synthesis of carbonaceous materials.\nPollution by polymeric materials - in particular plastics - has a negative effect on the health of our planet. Approximately 4.9 billion tons of plastic are estimated to have been improperly disposed of, with the environment as their final destination. This scenario comes from a linear economic system, extraction-production-consumption and finally disposal. The alarming panorama has created the need to find technological solutions that generate new uses for discarded polymeric materials or turn them into part of the production process to produce new and novel materials, such as carbon nanotubes, graphene, or other carbonaceous materials of high added value, modifying the economy for a circular and sustainable production model. This review highlights the negative impact that the disposal of plastic materials has on the environment and the research needs that allow solving the pollution problems generated in the environment by these wastes. Also, the review highlights the current and future directions of recovery plastic waste research-based to promote innovations in the plastic production sector that could allow obtaining breakpoints in other industrial sectors with the technology-based companies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23447062,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"The GFR and GFR decline cannot be accurately estimated in type 2 diabetics.\nThere are no adequate studies that have formally tested the performance of different estimating formulas in patients with type 2 diabetes both with and without overt nephropathy. Here we evaluated the agreement between baseline GFRs, GFR changes at month 6, and long-term GFR decline measured by iohexol plasma clearance or estimated by 15 creatinine-based formulas in 600 type 2 diabetics followed for a median of 4.0 years. Ninety patients were hyperfiltering. The number of those identified by estimation formulas ranged from 0 to 24:58 were not identified by any formula. Baseline GFR was significantly underestimated and a 6-month GFR reduction was missed in hyperfiltering patients. Long-term GFR decline was also underestimated by all formulas in the whole study group and in hyper-, normo-, and hypofiltering patients considered separately. Five formulas generated positive slopes in hyperfiltering patients. Baseline concordance correlation coefficients and total deviation indexes ranged from 32.1% to 92.6% and from 0.21 to 0.53, respectively. Concordance correlation coefficients between estimated and measured long-term GFR decline ranged from -0.21 to 0.35. The agreement between estimated and measured values was also poor within each subgroup considered separately. Thus, our study questions the use of any estimation formula to identify hyperfiltering patients and monitor renal disease progression and response to treatment in type 2 diabetics without overt nephropathy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35343710,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A Multifunctional Cytochrome P450 and a Meroterpenoid Cyclase in the Biosynthesis of Fungal Meroterpenoid Atlantinone B.\nThe biosynthetic gene cluster of atlantinone B (10) was discovered in Penicillium chrysogenum MT-40. A multifunctional cytochrome P450 (AtlD) encoded by the cluster is responsible for the formation of the unique lactone-bridged ring and the 16\u03b2-hydroxyl of atlantinone B, and a new terpene cyclase (AtlC) can unprecedentedly accept the demethylated substrate epoxyfarnesyl-DMOA (4a) to generate three bicyclic meroterpenoids (5a-5c). This study paves the way for combinatorial synthesis of structurally diverse meroterpenoids for drug discovery.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21153407,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":2,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-26":2,"2024-30":1}}},"text":"Molecular variability and evolution of the pectate lyase (pel-2) parasitism gene in cyst nematodes parasitizing different solanaceous plants.\nWhile pectate lyases are major parasitism factors in plant-parasitic nematodes, there is little information on the variability of these genes within species and their utility as pathotype or host range molecular markers. We have analysed polymorphisms of pectate lyase 2 (pel-2) gene, which degrades the unesterified polygalacturonate (pectate) of the host cell-wall, in the genus Globodera. Molecular variability of the pel-2 gene and the predicted protein was evaluated in populations of G. rostochiensis, G. pallida, G. \"mexicana\" and G. tabacum. Seventy eight pel-2 sequences were obtained and aligned. Point mutations were observed at 373 positions, 57% of these affect the coding part of the gene and produce 129 aa replacements. The observed polymorphism does not correlate either to the pathotypes proposed in potato cyst nematodes (PCN) or the subspecies described in tobacco cyst nematodes. The trees reveal a topology different from the admitted species topology as G. rostochiensis and G. pallida sequences are more similar to each other than to G. tabacum. Species-specific sites, potentially applicable for identification, and sites distinguishing PCN from tobacco cyst nematodes, were identified. As both G. rostochiensis and G. pallida display the same host range, but distinct from G. tabacum, which cannot parasitize potato plants, it is tempting to speculate that pel-2 genes polymorphism may be implicated in this adaptation, a view supported by the fact that no active pectate lyase 2 was found in G. \"mexicana\", a close relative of G. pallida that is unable to develop on cultivated potato varieties.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6745756,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Long-term results of pisiform bone transposition in lunate necrosis].\nKienb\u00f6cks disease is one of the most frequent manifestations of avascular necrosis. Multiple different surgical and conservative methods for treatment have been described. The transposition of pisiform on its vascular pedicle to replace the reamed out necrotic portion of the lunate has permitted revascularization and healing of the lunate. In the following article, the operative technique is described and the results of a five year follow-up study on 32 patients who underwent this operation are presented. On the basis of this study, we found, even in advanced cases of Kienb\u00f6cks disease, that 50% of the 14 followed-up patients became free of symptoms or had pain only under stressful conditions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":10202833,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"AIDS diagnoses at higher CD4 counts in Australia following the introduction of highly active antiretroviral treatment.\nTo assess whether AIDS cases in Australia have been diagnosed at higher CD4 counts since the widespread availability of highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART) in mid-1996. Data on the CD4 count at AIDS diagnosis for AIDS cases diagnosed between 1 January 1992 and 31 December 1997, and reported to the National AIDS Registry in Australia by 31 March 1998, were analysed. The median CD4 count at AIDS diagnosis, and the proportions of AIDS diagnoses with a CD4 count above 100 cells\/microl, and above 200 cells\/microl, were calculated by the year of diagnosis, both for all AIDS-defining illnesses, and for each illness separately. Analyses were also stratified by the time interval between HIV and AIDS diagnoses (less than or equal to, or more than, 3 months) because people diagnosed with HIV close to the diagnosis of AIDS would generally not have received any antiretroviral treatment before the diagnosis of AIDS, and so no trends in CD4 counts at the diagnosis of AIDS would be expected in this group. There was an increase in CD4 count at AIDS diagnosis in 1996 and 1997, although this increase was only apparent for AIDS-defining illnesses other than Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP), and was limited to AIDS cases diagnosed with HIV more than 3 months before AIDS. In cases of AIDS other than PCP, and diagnosed with HIV more than 3 months before AIDS, the median CD4 count increased from 50 cells\/microl in 1995 to 80 cells\/microl in 1996 and 134 cells\/microl in 1997. There has been an increase in the CD4 count at AIDS diagnosis for most AIDS-defining illnesses in Australia coincident with the widespread availability of HAART.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28706758,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Solution-Based Fabrication of Polycrystalline Si Thin-Film Transistors from Recycled Polysilanes.\nCurrently, research has been focusing on printing and laser crystallization of cyclosilanes, bringing to life polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) thin-film transistors (TFTs) with outstanding properties. However, the synthesis of these Si-based inks is generally complex and expensive. Here, we prove that a polysilane ink, obtained as a byproduct of silicon gases and derivatives, can be used successfully for the synthesis of poly-Si by laser annealing, at room temperature, and for n- and p-channel TFTs. The devices, fabricated according to CMOS compatible processes at 350 \u00b0C, showed field effect mobilities up to 8 and 2 cm2\/(V s) for n- and p-type TFTs, respectively. The presented method combines a low-cost coating technique with the usage of recycled material, opening a route to a convenient and sustainable production of large-area, flexible, and even disposable\/single-use electronics.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14524143,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Recall of the prime minister for the assessment of mental status].\nA number of cognitive screening tests assess knowledge of the head of state or current prime minister. It is supposed that correct recall is a valid indicator of cognitive functioning. A consecutive sample of 259 visitors of a psychogeriatric day care center were rated for knowledge of the prime minister's name. Recall of his name was not dependent on level of education. The mean score on an independent screening test was significantly higher for those who knew the prime minister's name than for those who failed to answer the question. More men than women correctly answered the question, regardless of education level, living arrangements (living with someone versus being single and living alone), age and cognitive score. Using item response theory and Mokken scale analysis it was found that a short screening test containing the prime minister item constituted a scale of medium scalability (Loevinger's scalability coefficient H:0.50). Scores on the screening test correlated significantly with two independent measures of episodic and semantic memory. Deletion or addition of the prime minister item did not influence the degree of association between screening test and memory test scores. It is advisable to ask for the name of the prime minister in screening for cognitive impairment. Passing or failing the prime minister item correlates with intact or impaired retrieval of current information.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37662255,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Red cabbage juice-mediated gut microbiota modulation improves intestinal epithelial homeostasis and ameliorates colitis.\nGut microbiota plays a crucial role in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and has therapeutic benefits. Thus, targeting the gut microbiota is a promising therapeutic approach for IBD treatment. We recently found that red cabbage juice (RCJ) ameliorates dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis in mice. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. The current study investigated the modulation of gut microbiota in response to treatment with RCJ to ameliorate the DSS colitis. The initial results demonstrated that mice treated with DSS + RCJ showed increased body weight and decreased diarrhea and blood in feces compared to the DSS alone group. RCJ ameliorated colitis by regulating the intestinal barrier function by reducing the number of apoptotic cells, improving colonic protective mucin, and increasing tight junction protein in RCJ + DSS groups compared to the DSS group. Short-gun metagenomic analysis revealed significant enrichment of short-chain fatty acid (SCFAs)-producing bacteria (Butyrivibrio, Ruminococcaceae, Acetatifactor muris, Rosburia Sp. CAG:303 , Dorea Sp. 5-2) increased PPAR-\u00a9 activation, leading to repression of the nuclear factor \u03baB (NF\u03baB) signaling pathway, thus decreasing the production of crucial inflammatory cytokines and chemokines in the RCJ + DSS groups compared to the DSS group. Pathway abundance analysis showed an increased abundance of the SCFA pathway, reduced histidine degradation ( Bacteroides sartorii, and Bacteroides caecimuris ), and LCFA production in the RCJ+DSS treated group, suggesting the promotion of good colonic health. Furthermore, increased T-reg (FOXP3+) cells in the colon were due to SCFAs produced by the gut microbiota, which was corroborated by an increase in IL-10, a vital anti-inflammatory cytokine. Thus, our study provides the first evidence that RCJ ameliorates colonic inflammation by modulating the gut microbiota.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28714206,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Efficacy of ultrasound and nerve stimulation guidance in peripheral nerve block: A systematic review and meta-analysis.\nEvidence was controversial about whether nerve stimulation (NS) can optimize ultrasound guidance (US)-guided nerve blockade for peripheral nerve block. This review aims to explore the effects of the two combined techniques. We searched EMBASE (from 1974 to March 2015), PubMed (from 1966 to Mar 2015), Medline (from 1966 to Mar 2015), the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and clinicaltrials.gov. Finally, 15 randomized trials were included into analysis involving 1,019 lower limb and 696 upper limb surgery cases. Meta-analysis indicated that, compared with US alone, USNS combination had favorable effects on overall block success rate (risk ratio [RR] 1.17; confidence interval [CI] 1.05 to 1.30, P = 0.004), sensory block success rate (RR 1.56; CI 1.29 to 1.89, P < 0.00001), and block onset time (mean difference [MD] -3.84; CI -5.59 to -2.08, P < 0.0001). USNS guidance had a longer procedure time in both upper and lower limb nerve block (MD 1.67; CI 1.32 to 2.02, P < 0.00001; MD 1.17; CI 0.95 to 1.39, P < 0.00001) and more patients with anesthesia supplementation (RR 2.5; CI 1.02 to 6.13, P = 0.05). USNS guidance trends to result in a shorter block onset time than US alone as well as higher block success rate, but no statistical difference was demonstrated, as more data are required. \u00a9 2017 IUBMB Life, 69(9):720-734, 2017.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31263846,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"What if body fat percentage association with FINDRISC score leads to a better prediction of type 2 diabetes mellitus?\nNowadays, the efforts regarding the prevention of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are focused on decreasing overweight, obesity and visceral fat accumulation or percent body fat (PBF) risk factors. The aim of this study was to investigate whether use of bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) for measuring PBF could be a reliable method to improve risk assessment of T2DM. Participants, Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study performed in 2016 enrolled 341 healthy medical students from western Romania, aged 18 to 44 years old, 143 females and 198 males. Anthropometric measurements, PBF (BIA machine InBody720\u00ae) determination, along with the Finnish Diabetes Risk (FINDRISC) assessment form, were performed for each participant. 27.6% of the entire cohort was determined as being overweighed and 12% obese. FINDRISC score showed that 5% from the entire group have a moderate to very high risk to develop T2DM in the following 10 years. FINDRISC score was correlated with waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and PBF showing strong and positive correlations to both parameters (WHR: 0.477, p<0.001; PBF: 0.561, p<0.001). Our results indicate a stronger correlation between FINDRISC score with PBF compared to FINDRISC and WHR for the entire cohort, and for both males and females. We recommend PBF measured by BIA (respecting quality control procedures) as a potential parameter to be considered into the risk model predictions for T2DM, as it is an accessible and affordable tool to use in the primary level of healthcare.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18591716,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Insulin resistance in HIV infection: drugs, host responses, or restoration to health?\nProtease inhibitors (PIs) are widely assumed to be associated with a syndrome of insulin resistance accompanied by hyperlipidemia and fat redistribution. Insulin resistance in HIV infection has numerous other causes, however, which include not only the direct effects of antiretroviral drugs but also factors such as aging and restoration to health accompanied by fat accumulation. Studies of PIs in HIV-infected and noninfected patients indicate that some of these drugs are associated with reduced insulin sensitivity (greater acute versus chronic effects) that may be due to direct blockade of the insulin-sensitive glucose transporter in muscle and fat cells. Other studies have shown that insulin levels increase over time with antiretroviral therapy, likely the result of improved health, fat accumulation, and aging, and that increases in visceral fat and upper trunk fat are associated with a higher risk of insulin resistance in HIV-infected and -uninfected individuals alike. This article summarizes a presentation on insulin resistance in HIV infection made by Carl Grunfeld, MD, PhD, at the 10th Annual Ryan White HIV\/AIDS Program Clinical Update in Phoenix in June 2007.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6746482,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evaluation of cryogenic impact grinding technique for powdering whole fish for metal determinations.\nA cryogenic grinding technique, which involves brittle fracture of samples by impact pressure, was evaluated for the final reduction of whole-fish samples for subsequent metal determinations. The technique incorporated a number of desirable features: protection of heat-labile components; incorporation of lyophilization to facilitate handling and storage; requirement of few procedural steps; short grinding time per sample; and easy, rapid cleanup of equipment. Particle size in the ground powder was less than 100 microns. Problems associated with the technique were contamination of fish samples with Cr, Fe, Mo, and Ni; limited size of the grinding container; and powder clumping caused by the presence of lipids. Approaches to alleviate these problems are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3060202,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Organization and functions of cytoskeleton in metazoan ciliated cells.\nCiliated cells are characterized by a highly organized cytoskeleton which is connected with the ciliary apparatus. The organization of microtubules, microfilaments, and cytokeratin filaments is described and the relationships of each network with the ciliary apparatus are emphasized. Possible functions of such a complex cytoskeleton are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20364982,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Theory of activated-rate processes under shear with application to shear-induced aggregation of colloids.\nUsing an approximation scheme within the convective diffusion (two-body Smoluchowski) equation framework, we unveil the shear-driven aggregation mechanism at the origin of structure formation in sheared colloidal systems. The theory, verified against numerics and experiments, explains the induction time followed by explosive (irreversible) rise of viscosity observed in charge-stabilized colloidal and protein systems under steady shear. The Arrhenius-type equation with shear derived here, extending Kramers' theory in the presence of shear, clearly demonstrates the important role of shear drive in activated-rate processes as they are encountered in soft condensed matter.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9149846,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Antisense oligonucleotides to p53 tumor suppressor suppress the induction of apoptosis by epidermal growth factor in NCI-H 596 human lung cancer cells.\nApoptosis has become a basic tool in developing cancer research and establishing new cancer strategies. However, the molecular mechanism of apoptosis is not well understood. Recently, the authors found that epidermal growth factor (EGF) induces apoptosis in various cancer cells and that there is a novel signal pathway mediated through p53 in signal transduction of EGF. The effect of antisense gene therapy to p53 tumor suppressor on EGF-dependent apoptosis was investigated in cultured NCI-H 596 human non-small cell lung cancer cells with a wild-type p53 gene. Results showed that EGF plus p53 sense oligonucleotides induced EGF-dependent and p53-dependent apoptosis in NCI-H 596 cells within 8 hours. On the other hand, antisense gene therapy using antisense oligonucleotides to p53 tumor suppressor suppressed the induction of EGF-dependent and p53-dependent apoptosis. Mutated p53 antisense-containing mutated CG dinucleotides had the same effect as that of p53 antisense on suppression of apoptosis in NCI-H 596 cells. We found that a new nucleic acid drug, another mutated p53 antisense-containing mutation at three bases immediately 5' and 3' from the CG dinucleotides, potentiated the induction of apoptosis and failed to suppress the induction of EGF-dependent apoptosis. These results suggest that gene therapy using antisense oligonucleotides to the p53 tumor suppressor is effective on EGF-dependent apoptosis of NCI-H 596 human non-small cell lung cancer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16997514,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The effects of soy extract on the uterus of castrated adult rats.\nThe aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of different doses of a standardized soy extract on the uterus of castrated rats. Fifty-six adult castrated female Wistar rats were randomly divided into seven groups (eight animals in each) that received: GI--drug vehicle (propylene glycol); GII--soy extract 10mg\/kg per day; GIII--soy extract 50mg\/kg per day; GIV--soy extract 100mg\/kg per day; GV--soy extract 300mg\/kg per day; GVI--soy extract 600mg\/kg per day; GVII-conjugated equine estrogens (CEE) 200microg\/kg per day. After 21 days of treatment, all animals were sacrificed and fragments of the uterine horns were immediately removed, fixed in 10% formaldehyde and submitted to routine histological techniques for morphometric study. The endometrial cell proliferation index was determined with the PCNA antibody PC-10 and expressed as the percentuals of the PCNA-positive nuclei relative to the total countings. Other fragments were immediately frozen in liquid nitrogen for RNA extraction and VEGF analysis using RT-PCR technique. The minimal dose of soy extract that produced a significant increase of the morphometric parameters was 100mg\/kg (GIV). The maximum effects on endometrial and myometrial morphometry were detected in the groups treated with 300 and 600mg\/kg of soy extract (groups V and VI) and CEE (GVII). The expression of PCNA in the endometrial epithelium and stroma was increased by treatment with 100-600mg\/kg per day of soy extract (groups IV-VI) or with CCE (group VII). Doses equal to or higher than 50mg\/kg of soy extract (groups III-VI) and CEE stimulated the expression of VEGF. The treatment of adult castrated rats during 21 days with doses of 100mg\/kg per day or higher of soy extract may determine significant proliferation in the endometrium and myometrium.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37463138,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pediatric Diving-Related Injuries in Swimming Pools Presenting to US Emergency Departments: 2008-2020.\nRecreational swimming\/diving is among the most common physical activities in US children and a significant cause of morbidity across the United States. This study updates the national epidemiology of diving-related injuries. The Consumer Product Safety Commission's National Electronic Injury Surveillance System database was queried for patients aged 0 to 19 from 2008 to 2020 who presented to any of the 100 National Electronic Injury Surveillance System-participating emergency departments for a diving-related injury. Dive characteristics such as dive height, dive skill, dive direction, and dive sequence were determined from case narratives. A total of 1202 cases were identified for analysis corresponding to a total national estimate of 37,387 diving related injuries during the period from 2008 to 2020 and a national incidence of 3.6 injuries per 100,000 population. Males accounted for 64% of injuries. The average yearly incidences of injury in the 10 to 14 and 15 to 19 age groups were identical at 5.8 per 100,000. Contact with the diving board or platform was the most common cause of injury (34%). Diving backwards or attempting a flip or handstand dive were associated with increased odds of sustaining an injury resulting from contact with the diving board or platform (odds ratio, 16.0 and 6.9, respectively). In 2020, the incidence of diving-related injury fell to 1.6 per 100,000 population. Diving injuries are common in children and adolescents, especially in boys aged 10 to 19. There was a significant reduction in diving-related injury corresponding with the COVID-19 pandemic.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17181032,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[What the cardiologist should know about physical training].\nBecause of the cardiovascular stresses and the potential risks of physical training, cardiologists are often asked to give an opinion on aptitude for sport. It is therefore important to understand the fundamentals of physical training. This is based on specific rules; general physical preparation, progressive nature of the activity, individualisation of training programmes, specificity of sporting activity, recovery times and planning of exercise. The two main types of training (aerobics and weight training) are used preferentially according to the type of sport but good aerobic capacity is required in all specialities. The training implies a certain physical stress and the individual has his own limitations. The cardiologist may help identify an imbalance between the two without being an expert in all sporting disciplines. In this field, the physician is no substitute for the coach but can help in managing the sportsman's health.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25523296,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Association Between Arterial Stiffness and Skin Microvascular Function: The SUVIMAX2 Study and The Maastricht Study.\nIt has been hypothesized that arterial stiffness leads to generalized microvascular dysfunction and that individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are particularly prone to the detrimental effects of arterial stiffness. However, evidence for an association between stiffness and markers of generalized microvascular dysfunction is lacking. We therefore investigated the association between arterial stiffness and skin microvascular function in individuals without and with T2DM. Cross-sectional data were used of The Supplementation en Vitamines et Mineraux Antioxydants 2 (SUVIMAX2) Study (n = 284\/62.2 years\/48.6% women\/0% T2DM (by design)) and The Maastricht Study (n = 737\/59.7 years\/45.2% women\/28.8% T2DM (by design)). Arterial stiffness was determined by carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV). Skin capillaroscopy was used to determine capillary density at baseline, and during reactive hyperemia and venous congestion. Laser Doppler flowmetry was used to assess acetylcholine- and local heating-induced vasoreactivity, and skin flowmotion. In The SUVIMAX2 Study, cfPWV (per +1 SD) was not associated with baseline capillary density (regression coefficient: -0.48 (95% confidence interval: 2.37; 1.41)) or capillary recruitment during venous congestion (0.54% (-0.74; 1.81%)). In addition, cfPWV was not associated with acetylcholine (-0.02% (-0.14; 0.10%)) or local heating-induced vasoreactivity (0.03% (-0.07; 0.12%)). In The Maastricht Study, in individuals without T2DM, cfPWV was not associated with baseline capillary density (-1.20 (-3.17; 0.77)), and capillary recruitment during reactive hyperemia (1.22% (-0.41; 2.84%)) or venous congestion (1.50% (-0.25; 3.25%)). In addition, cfPWV was not associated with flowmotion (-0.01 (-0.07; 0.06)). Results were adjusted for age and sex. Additional adjustments for confounders did not materially change these results. Results were qualitatively similar in individuals with T2DM. Arterial stiffness is not associated with skin microvascular function, irrespective of the presence of T2DM.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14521772,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Principal component analysis and integral methods of cerebral vascular hemodynamic parameters].\nTo establish a predicting model for stroke according to cerebral vascular hemodynamic indexes and major risk factors of stroke. Participants selected from a stroke cohort with 25,355 population in China. The first step was to carry out principal component analysis using CVHI. Logistic regression with principal component and main risk factors of stroke were then served as independent variables and stroke come on as dependent variables. The predictive model was established according to coefficient of regression and probability of each participant was also estimated. Finally, ROC curve was protracted and predictive efficacy was measured. The accumulative contribution rates of four principal components were 58.1%, 79.4%, 88.4% and 94.6% respectively. Seven variables were being selected into the equation with the first to fourth principal component as history of hypertension, age and sex. Area under ROC curve was 0.855 and optimal cut-off point was probability over 0.05. Sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of stroke prediction were 80.7%, 78.5% and 78.5% respectively. The model established by principal component and regression could effectively predict the incidence of stroke coming on.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18599612,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Tg-SwDI transgenic mice exhibit novel alterations in AbetaPP processing, Abeta degradation, and resilient amyloid angiopathy.\nAlzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by the accumulation of extracellular insoluble amyloid, primarily derived from polymerized amyloid-beta (Abeta) peptides. We characterized the chemical composition of the Abeta peptides deposited in the brain parenchyma and cerebrovascular walls of triple transgenic Tg-SwDI mice that produce a rapid and profuse Abeta accumulation. The processing of the N- and C-terminal regions of mutant AbetaPP differs substantially from humans because the brain parenchyma accumulates numerous, diffuse, nonfibrillar plaques, whereas the thalamic microvessels harbor overwhelming amounts of compact, fibrillar, thioflavine-S- and apolipoprotein E-positive amyloid deposits. The abundant accretion of vascular amyloid, despite low AbetaPP transgene expression levels, suggests that inefficient Abeta proteolysis because of conformational changes and dimerization may be key pathogenic factors in this animal model. The disruption of amyloid plaque cores by immunotherapy is accompanied by increased perivascular deposition in both humans and transgenic mice. This analogous susceptibility and response to the disruption of amyloid deposits suggests that Tg-SwDI mice provide an excellent model in which to study the functional aftermath of immunotherapeutic interventions. These mice might also reveal new avenues to promote amyloidogenic AbetaPP processing and fundamental insights into the faulty degradation and clearance of Abeta in AD, pivotal issues in understanding AD pathophysiology and the assessment of new therapeutic agents.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28688152,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of mesiodens on adjacent permanent teeth: a retrospective study in Korean children based on cone-beam computed tomography.\nMesiodens can be associated with several complications. The optimal age for treatment, however, remains controversial. To investigate the three-dimensional (3D) positions of mesiodens using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) and determine the association of eruption-related complications of mesiodens with these 3D positions and delayed development of the central incisors. In total, 293 Korean children (383 supernumerary teeth) aged 4-10 years with no history of orthodontic treatment were included. CBCT and panoramic radiography data for all patients were retrospectively investigated with regard to the 3D positions of mesiodens, apical maturity of the permanent first molars, delayed development of the central incisors relative to the apical maturity of the permanent first molars (Nolla's stage), and eruption-related complications of mesiodens. Eruption-related complications were not correlated with any 3D characteristic other than the 'within the arch' position of mesiodens, while they showed a significant correlation with delayed development of the central incisors (P < 0.05). Mesiodens caused eruption-related complications in 33.7% patients. Moreover, the risk of these complications was higher when mesiodens caused delayed development of the central incisors. These findings can aid clinicians in planning appropriate and timely treatment for mesiodens, with focus on minimising patient discomfort.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17880766,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Molecular characterization of virulence determinants of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia strains isolated from patients affected by cystic fibrosis.\nStenotrophomonas maltophilia is an emerging nosocomial bacterial pathogen which is currently isolated with increasing frequency from the airways of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. In this study 13 S. maltophilia strains (11 isolated from the airways of independent CF patients, and two non-CF respiratory reference strains) have been characterized for the expression of several virulence-associated factors. In particular, the ability to form biofilm on abiotic surfaces has been determined and correlated with different features, such as motility, adherence and the ability to invade A549 respiratory epithelial cells. Moreover, the presence of a flagellum-associated gene as well as that of the StmPr1 gene, which encodes an extracellular protease, have been determined by Southern blot hybridization. Our data indicate that the different degree of biofilm formation exhibited by the 11 CF isolates does not correlate with motility, ability to adhere to and invade A549 cells, or with the presence of flagella. On the other hand, among the CF isolates the StmPr1 gene was found only in two strains, both able to establish chronic lung infections in CF patients. Moreover, only four of the strains analyzed show a temperature-independent antibiotic-resistance profile, suggesting either a different origin of these strains or an intervening adaptation to host tissues.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12040117,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"An increased standardised mortality ratio for liver cancer among polyvinyl chloride workers in Taiwan.\nTo determine the standardised mortality ratio (SMR) corresponding to different causes of death in workers from polyvinyl chloride polymerisation factories in Taiwan. Retrospective cohort study of workers from six polyvinyl chloride polymerisation factories in Taiwan. A total of 3293 male workers who had been employed for at least one year during the period 1 January 1950 to 31 December 1992, and were alive on 1 January 1985 were included for analysis. Using data acquired from Taiwan's National Mortality Registry, it was found that 144 of these workers died during the period 1985-97. The follow up rate was 99% with a total number of person-years at risk of 40 557. SMR for all causes of death was 0.78, indicating a possible \"healthy worker\" effect. The SMR for liver cancer decreased with increasing age of first exposure to vinyl chloride monomer. This association was more prominent for workers who were first employed in the industry prior to 1970 (SMR 4.82). Medical records indicated that most liver cancers in this study were hepatocellular carcinoma. Polyvinyl chloride workers may experience a higher risk of developing liver cancer, particularly hepatocelluar carcinoma.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32581685,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Features of Postnatal Hippocampal Development in a Rat Model of Sporadic Alzheimer's Disease.\nAging is the major risk factor of the most common (\u223c95% of cases) sporadic Alzheimer's disease (AD). Accumulating data indicate middle age as a critical period for the relevant pathological processes, however, the question of when AD starts to develop remains open. It has been reported only recently that in the early postnatal period-when brain development is completing-preconditions for a decrease in cognitive abilities and for accelerated aging can form. Here, we hypothesized that specific features of early postnatal brain development may be considered some of the prerequisites of AD development at an advanced age. To test this hypothesis, we used OXYS rats, which are a suitable model of sporadic AD. The duration of gestation, litter size, and weight at birth were lower in OXYS rats compared to control Wistar rats. The shortened duration of gestation may result in developmental retardation. Indeed, we noted decreased locomotor activity and increased anxiety in OXYS rats already at a young age: possible signs of altered brain development. We demonstrated retardation of the peak of postnatal neurogenesis in the hippocampal dentate gyrus of OXYS rats. Delayed neuronal maturation led to alterations of mossy-fiber formation: a shortened suprapyramidal bundle and longer infrapyramidal bundle, less pronounced fasciculation of granule cells' axons, and smaller size and irregular shape of nuclei in the CA3 pyramidal layer. These changes were accompanied by altered astrocytic migration. The observed features of early development may be considered some of the risk factors of the AD-like pathology that manifests itself in OXYS rats late in life.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16156909,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Three-dimensional reconstruction based on images from spiral high-resolution computed tomography of the temporal bone: anatomy and clinical application.\nThe aim of this study was to investigate the usefulness of a three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of computed tomography (CT) images in determining the anatomy and topographic relationship between various important structures. Using 40 ears from 20 patients with various otological diseases, a 3D reconstruction based on the image data from spiral high-resolution CT was performed by segmentation, volume-rendering and surface-rendering algorithms on a personal computer. The 3D display of the middle and inner ear structures was demonstrated in detail. Computer-assisted measurements, many of which could not be easily measured in vivo, of the reconstructed structures provided accurate anatomic details that improved the surgeon's understanding of spatial relationships. A 3D reconstruction of temporal bone CT might be useful for education and increasing understanding of the anatomical structures of the temporal bone. However, it will be necessary to confirm the correlation between the 3D reconstructed images and histological sections through a validation study.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26429235,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Thermal safety of ultrasound-enhanced ocular drug delivery: A modeling study.\nDelivery of sufficient amounts of therapeutic drugs into the eye for treatment of various ocular diseases is often a challenging task. Ultrasound was shown to be effective in enhancing ocular drug delivery in the authors' previous in vitro and in vivo studies. The study reported here was designed to investigate the safety of ultrasound application and its potential thermal effects in the eye using PZFlex modeling software. The safety limit in this study was set as a temperature increase of no more than 1.5 \u00b0C based on regulatory recommendations and previous experimental safety studies. Acoustic and thermal specifications of different human eye tissues were obtained from the published literature. The tissues of particular interest in this modeling safety study were cornea, lens, and the location of optic nerve in the posterior eye. Ultrasound application was modeled at frequencies of 400 kHz-1 MHz, intensities of 0.3-1 W\/cm(2), and exposure duration of 5 min, which were the parameters used in the authors' previous drug delivery experiments. The baseline eye temperature was 37 \u00b0C. The authors' results showed that the maximal tissue temperatures after 5 min of ultrasound application were 38, 39, 39.5, and 40 \u00b0C in the cornea, 39.5, 40, 42, and 43 \u00b0C in the center of the lens, and 37.5, 38.5, and 39 \u00b0C in the back of the eye (at the optic nerve location) at frequencies of 400, 600, 800 kHz, and 1 MHz, respectively. The ocular temperatures reached at higher frequencies were considered unsafe based on current recommendations. At a frequency of 400 kHz and intensity of 0.8 W\/cm(2) (parameters shown in the authors' previous in vivo studies to be optimal for ocular drug delivery), the temperature increase was small enough to be considered safe inside different ocular tissues. However, the impact of orbital bone and tissue perfusion should be included in future modeling efforts to determine the safety of this method in the whole orbit especially regarding potential adverse optic nerve heating at the location of the bone.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":938005,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Implications of mass automated instruments on medical practice.\nThe clinical laboratory is in a stage of change which has been the direct result of an influx of technology and the current demand for lower costs and increased productivity. There is no significant trend anticipated in the future which would forestall this particular process. The practicing physician can anticipate a fairly marked reduction in the cost of individual tests and, likewise, a marked increase in the amount of available information. There will be a larger clerical function involved in the review of such information along with a series of relevant problems related to the actual size of the new data base. One of the most significant problems related to this increase in numerical reporting will be the statistical problem of the \"abnormal-normal.\" Statistical misclassification must be considered with each abnormal test and a specific approach must be taken to these tests to minimize the inconvenience to the patient. It is recommended that any unsuspected abnormal test(s) that is discovered be repeated as a single test(s) through a reference method. Reordering of the test battery or screen will only offer another possibility for statistical misinterpretation. If the test on isolated evaluation does appear abnormal, then this should call for the routine evaluation of this particular condition. Multivariate statistical analysis could eliminate this probability dilemma, yet is presently experimental and is not in routine use within any clinical setting. We can look forward to the evolution of such a process through the mechanism of a hospital and laboratory communication system which will allow the physician to work with an evaluation process capable of handling these large volumes of numbers (22). Such programs are on the horizon and should be anticipated within the next five years in some of the larger centers that have this new instrumentation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28295089,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Active pulse shaping for end-pumped Nd:YVO4 amplifier with high gain.\nWe demonstrated the active shaping for a solid-state Nd:YVO4 amplifier with a high average gain of 39.2 dB. The average output power was 8.3 W with respect to the input power of 1 mW. A range of common and useful pulse shapes was generated at the final output. In addition, a very flat square pulse was produced with a root-mean-square less than 3% in amplitude. A numerical method was proposed to realize active shaping without an experimental test for the Nd:YVO4 amplifier, showing great potential for the design of lasers with both high peak power (>100 kW) and a desired pulse shape.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12032100,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Aspirin use and counseling about aspirin among patients with diabetes.\nDespite being a safe, effective therapy for lowering cardiovascular risk, only 20% of diabetic patients were using aspirin in the early 1990s. This study examines current physician practices and the use of aspirin therapy by individuals with diabetes. A random sample of diabetic patients receiving care in the Department of Veterans Affairs health care system were surveyed during January-March 2000. The association between aspirin counseling, aspirin use, and reported coronary vascular disease (CVD) and classical CVD risk factors were examined using logistic regression. The effect of increasing aspirin use on risk of myocardial infarction (MI) and cardiovascular mortality was demonstrated by simulation. Seventy-one percent of respondents reported being counseled about aspirin use, and 66% were taking daily aspirin. Individuals with known CVD were more likely to be counseled (odds ratio [OR] 4.9, 95% CI 2.9-8.1) and to use aspirin (2.1, 1.2-3.7). The factor most strongly associated with aspirin use was having been counseled about aspirin therapy by a doctor. We estimate that for this population, increasing daily aspirin use to 90% could prevent an additional 11,000 MIs and potentially save >8,000 lives. Compared with previous reports, a substantial proportion of these diabetic patients have been counseled about and use aspirin. Most clinicians recognize aspirin as an important treatment for patients with preexisting coronary disease. However, since diabetes is now considered a CVD equivalent, it is imperative that clinicians include counseling about aspirin therapy as a care priority for all their diabetic patients, as this simple intervention may prevent many cardiovascular events and deaths.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28344867,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2017-13":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"CD4+ and CD8+ T cells are both needed to induce paraneoplastic neurological disease in a mouse model.\nParaneoplastic neurological disorders (PNDs) are rare human autoimmune diseases that mostly affect the central nervous system (CNS). They are triggered by an efficient immune response against a neural self-antigen that is ectopically expressed in neoplastic tumors. Due to this shared antigenic expression, the immune system reacts not only to tumor cells but also to neural cells resulting in neurological damage. Growing data point to a major role of cell-mediated immunity in PNDs associated to autoantibodies against intracellular proteins. However, its precise contribution in the pathogenesis remains unclear. In this context, our study aimed at investigating the impact of anti-tumor cellular immune responses in the development of PND. To this end, we developed an animal model mimicking PND. We used a tumor cell line expressing the hemagglutinin (HA) of influenza virus to induce an anti-tumor response in CamK-HA mice, which express HA in CNS neurons. To promote and track the T cell response against the HA antigen, na\u00efve HA-specific CD8+ and\/or CD4+ T cells, originating from TCR-transgenic animals, were transferred into these mice. We demonstrate that HA-expressing tumors, but not control tumors, induce in vivo activation, proliferation and differentiation of na\u00efve HA-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cells into effector cells. Moreover, both T cell subsets were needed to control tumor growth and induce CNS inflammation in CamK-HA mice. Thus, this new mouse model provides further insight into the cellular mechanisms whereby a potent anti-tumor immunity triggers a cancer-associated autoimmune disease, and may therefore help to develop new therapeutic strategies against PND.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6746099,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Activation of murine polymorphonuclear neutrophils for fungicidal activity with supernatants from antigen-stimulated immune spleen cell cultures.\nAn in vitro model of in vivo immunological activation of murine polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) was developed. Culture supernatants of spleen cells from Blastomyces dermatitidis-immunized mice stimulated with B. dermatitidis antigens in vitro were studied. Incubation of the supernatants with thioglycolate-elicited PMN enabled the cells to significantly reduce (31 +\/- 6%) B. dermatitidis inoculum CFU. Optimum production of active supernatants occurred after 4 to 6 days of stimulation in vitro and required 200 micrograms of nonviable B. dermatitidis cells per ml. Generation of activity by immune spleen cells was shown to be antigen specific in that stimulation with a heterologous antigen or stimulation of nonimmune spleen cells with B. dermatitidis antigen did not produce active supernatants. The activity in supernatants was dose dependent, nondialyzable (molecular weight greater than or equal to 14,000), and relatively heat labile (80 degrees C, 30 min). Activation of PMN by supernatants for fungicidal activity against B. dermatitidis required only a short incubation period (1 h) followed by a 2-h coculture (challenge) period. Stimulation of normal spleen cells with concanavalin A also resulted in the production of supernatants capable of activating PMN for significant fungicidal activity (31.1 +\/- 8.5%). These findings demonstrate for the first time a link between soluble factors produced by antigen stimulation of sensitized lymphoid cells and activation of PMN for enhanced microbicidal activity. Such a process defines an additional immune defense mechanism whereby the immune host may clear specific microorganisms.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26495949,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sequential changes in Rotterdam CT scores related to outcomes for patients with traumatic brain injury who undergo decompressive craniectomy.\nOBJECT Rotterdam CT scoring is a CT classification system for grouping patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) based on multiple CT characteristics. This retrospective study aimed to determine the relationship between initial or preoperative Rotterdam CT scores and TBI prognosis after decompressive craniectomy (DC). METHODS The authors retrospectively reviewed the medical records of all consecutive patients who underwent DC for nonpenetrating TBI in 2 hospitals from January 2006 through December 2013. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses were used to determine the relationship between initial or preoperative Rotterdam CT scores and mortality at 30 days or Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) scores at least 3 months after the time of injury. Unfavorable outcomes were GOS Scores 1-3 and favorable outcomes were GOS Scores 4 and 5. RESULTS A total of 48 cases involving patients who underwent DC for TBI were included in this study. Univariate analyses showed that initial Rotterdam CT scores were significantly associated with mortality and both initial and preoperative Rotterdam CT scores were significantly associated with unfavorable outcomes. Multivariable logistic regression analysis adjusted for established predictors of TBI outcomes showed that initial Rotterdam CT scores were significantly associated with mortality (OR 4.98, 95% CI 1.40-17.78, p = 0.01) and unfavorable outcomes (OR 3.66, 95% CI 1.29-10.39, p = 0.02) and preoperative Rotterdam CT scores were significantly associated with unfavorable outcomes (OR 15.29, 95% CI 2.50-93.53, p = 0.003). ROC curve analyses showed cutoff values for the initial Rotterdam CT score of 5.5 (area under the curve [AUC] 0.74, 95% CI 0.59-0.90, p = 0.009, sensitivity 50.0%, and specificity 88.2%) for mortality and 4.5 (AUC 0.71, 95% CI 0.56-0.86, p = 0.02, sensitivity 62.5%, and specificity 75.0%) for an unfavorable outcome and a cutoff value for the preoperative Rotterdam CT score of 4.5 (AUC 0.81, 95% CI 0.69-0.94, p < 0.001, sensitivity 90.6%, and specificity 56.2%) for an unfavorable outcome. CONCLUSIONS Assessment of changes in Rotterdam CT scores over time may serve as a prognostic indicator in TBI and can help determine which patients require DC.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36275090,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Main-chain flexibility and hydrophobicity of ionenes strongly impact their antimicrobial activity: an extended study on drug resistance strains and Mycobacterium.\nThe spread of antibiotic-resistant pathogens and the resurgence of tuberculosis disease are major motivations to search for novel antimicrobial agents. Some promising candidates in this respect are cationic polymers, also known as synthetic mimics of antimicrobial peptides (SMAMPs), which act through the membrane-lytic mechanism. Development of resistance toward SMAMPs is less likely than toward currently employed antibiotics; however, further studies are needed to better understand their structure-activity relationship. The main objective of this work is to understand the cross-influence of hydrophobicity, main-chain flexibility, and the topology of ionenes (polycations containing a cationic moiety within the main-chain) on activity. To fulfill this goal, a library of ionenes was developed and compared with previously investigated molecules. The obtained compounds display promising activity against the model microorganisms and drug-resistance clinical isolates, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The killing efficiency was also investigated, and results confirm a strong effect of hydrophobicity, revealing higher activity for molecules possessing the flexible linker within the polymer main-chain.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34411173,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Health extension service utilization and associated factors in East Gojjam zone, Northwest Ethiopia: A community-based cross-sectional study.\nHealth Extension Program is a preventive, promotive, and basic curative service targeting households to improve the health status of families with the effective implementation of 16 health extension packages. We, therefore, did this study to assess health extension package utilization and associated factors in the East Gojjam zone, Northwest Ethiopia. A community-based mixed cross-sectional study was conducted on households of East Gojjam Zone, from January 1 to April 30, 2020. A multistage sampling procedure was used to select 806 study participants in this study. We used EPI info version 7 for data entry and SPSS version 24 software for cleaning and analysis. Variables having a P-value of less than 0.25 in the bivariate logistic regression analysis were fitted into the multivariable logistic regression model. The 95% confidence interval of odds ratio was computed and a variable having P-value less than 0.05 in the multivariable logistic regression analysis was considered as statistically significant. The study showed that 119 (14.8%) respondents have utilized health extension packages. Knowledge health extension package (AOR = 1.84, 95% CI: 1.22, 2.79), residence (AOR = 3.55, 95% CI: 1.99,6.33),visited health post(AOR = 1.63, 95% CI: 1.054,2.50), home visited by health extension worker (AOR = 1,68, 95% CI: 1.025,2.74) and involving in model family training(AOR = 2.10, 95% CI: 1.38,3.215) were significant factors for health extension service utilization. The magnitude of health extension service utilization was low since the Ethiopian government recommends 100% health extension service utilization coverage. Knowledge of health extension package, residence, health post-visit, home visit, and model family training were significant factors for health extension service utilization. So expanding the model family training and strict home-to-home visit especially in rural areas may increase the health extension package utilization.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26495406,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Non-Judicial Hanging in Guilan Province, Iran between 2011 and 2013.\nHanging is one of the most commonly used way to commit suicide in many countries. This method used in suicide is considered a problem in Iran too, but no clear data exists regarding hanging in different regions or the country as a whole. Because of the epidemiologic differences in non-judicial hanging in different regions, this study aimed to assess it in Gilan province, Iran between 2011 and 2013. In this cross-sectional study, profiles of hanging cases registered in Poorsina hospital in Gilan, Iran between 2011 and 2013 were evaluated. Age, sex, marital status, place of residency, level of education, occupation, history of suicide, history of clinical illness, season of suicide and hanging outcome were evaluated. 59 cases of hanging (mean age 31.4 \u00b1 13.1 years and 83.0% male) were evaluated. 12 (20.34%) suffered from psychological disorders, and 9 (15.2%) confessed to substance abuse. 7 (11.9%) had a history of suicide attempts by hanging. Hanging was significantly higher in men (p<0.001), people with an education level of less than high school diploma (p=0.02) and the unemployed (p<0.05) patients. In the end, 20 (33.9%) of these attempts resulted in death. The results of this study showed that in 2 years, 59 cases committed suicide by hanging themselves, 33.9% of which finally died. Committing suicide by hanging was significantly more prevalent in men, people with an education level of less than high school diploma and the unemployed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23453134,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Cannabinoid receptor 1 controls human mucosal-type mast cell degranulation and maturation in situ.\nBecause many chronic inflammatory and allergic disorders are intimately linked to excessive mast cell (MC) numbers and activation, it is clinically important to understand the physiologic mechanisms preventing excess MC accumulation\/degranulation in normal human tissues. Because endocannabinoids are increasingly recognized as neuroendocrine regulators of MC biology, we investigated how cannabinoid receptor (CB) 1 signaling affects human mucosal-type mast cells (hMMCs). Using organ-cultured nasal polyps as a surrogate tissue for human bronchial mucosa, we investigated how CB1 stimulation, inhibition, or knockdown affects hMMC biology using quantitative (immuno)histomorphometry and electron microscopy. Kit(+) hMMCs express functional CB1 in situ. Blockade of CB1 signaling (with the specific CB1 antagonist N-(piperidin-1-yl)-1-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)-5-(4-chlorophenyl)-4-methyl-1H-pyrazole-3-carboxamide [AM251] or CB1 gene knockdown) enhanced hMMC degranulation and increased total numbers without affecting their proliferation in situ. This suggests that inhibiting CB1 signaling induces hMMC maturation from resident progenitor cells within human mucosal stroma. hMMC maturation was induced at least in part through upregulating stem cell factor production. Both the prototypic endocannabinoid anandamide and the CB1-selective agonist arachidonyl-2-chloroethylamide effectively counteracted secretagogue-triggered excessive hMMC degranulation. The current serum-free nasal polyp organ culture model allows physiologically and clinically relevant insights into the biology and pharmacologic responses of primary hMMCs in situ. In human airway mucosa hMMC activation and maturation are subject to a potent inhibitory endocannabinoid tone through CB1 stimulation. This invites one to target the endocannabinoid system in human airway mucosa as a novel strategy in the future management of allergic diseases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14563155,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"New cell-cell adhesion inhibitors from Streptomyces sp. UMA-044.\nThree compounds, NP25301 (1), NP25302 (2) and bohemamine (3), inhibitors of cell adhesion based on LFA-1\/ICAM-1, were isolated from the cultured broth of the strain Streptomyces sp. UMA-044. New compounds 1 and 2 were identified as 2-(3'-carbamoylphenoxy)acrylic acid methyl ester and deoxybohemamine, respectively, based on spectroscopic analyses. Compounds 1 approximately 3 inhibited adhesion of HL-60 cells to CHO-ICAM-1 cells at IC50 values of 29.5 microg\/ml for 1, 24.3 microg\/ml for 2, and 27.2 microg\/ml for 3.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3068516,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[A study of portal blood flow changes in patients with early dumping syndrome and patients with oxyhyperglycemia].\nChanges of portal blood flow in patients with early dumping syndrome and those with oxyhyperglycemia were determined after oral ingestion of 300ml of 25% glucose solution by a linear-type B mode electroscanner and pulsed Doppler flowmeter. In normal volunteers, the portal blood flow increased slowly to the peak level of 201% of fasting value at 40 minutes. The portal blood flow in postgastrectomy patients reached the peak value more quickly, with the peak level of 245% at 10 minutes in patients with the early dumping syndrome, and of 172% at 15 minutes in patients without the syndrome. The portal blood flow in patients with early dumping syndrome was significantly greater than that without the syndrome. Patients with early dumping syndrome had characteristic symptoms such as general malaise, cold sweat, nausea, abdominal pain, diarrhea in accordance with increased portal blood flow. Patients with high grade oxyhyperglycemia (peak blood sugar after 75g OGTT greater than 250mg\/dl) had significantly higher portal blood flow and peripheral blood sugar than those with low grade oxyhyperglycemia (peak blood sugar less than 250mg\/dl) without difference in IRI between the two groups.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7933511,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[The effects of H2 blockers on gastric flora and sputum culture].\nGastric juice and sputum of 12 patients, who had entered the intensive care unit postoperatively and received respiratory management, were examined for bacteria and their relationship with gastric pH was investigated. Gastric bacteria were detected in only 3 specimens out of 14 (21.4%) when the pH was under 3.5, and when the pH was above 3.5, gastric bacteria were detected in 33 specimens out of 35 (94.3%). Proliferation of gastric flora was observed as the pH increased. In 7 cases, Gram-negative bacilli (important etiologically as a cause of pneumonia) were detected. Gram-negative bacilli were also detected in sputum culture and these were found to be of the same bacteria type as those found in the gastric juice. However, no evident cases of pneumonia were observed, and proliferation of gastric bacteria did not increase the incidence of postoperative pneumonia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37654695,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The background assimilation effect: Facial emotional perception is affected by surrounding stimuli.\nThe perception of facial emotion is not only determined by the physical features of the face itself but also be influenced by the emotional information of the background or surrounding information. However, the details of such effect are not fully understood. Here, the authors tested the perceived emotion of a target face surrounded by stimuli with different levels of emotional valence. In Experiment 1, four types of objects were divided into three groups (negative, unpleasant flowers and unpleasant animals; mildly negative (neutral), houses; positive, pleasant flowers). In Experiment 2, three groups of surrounding faces with different social-emotional valence (negative, neutral, and positive) were formed with the memory of affective personal knowledge. The data from two experiments showed that the perception of facial emotion can be influenced and modulated by the emotional valence of the surrounding stimuli, which can be explained by assimilation: the positive stimuli increased the valence of a target face, while the negative stimuli comparatively decreased it. Furthermore, the neutral stimuli also increased the valence of the target, which could be explained by the social positive effect. Therefore, the process of assimilation is likely to be a high-level emotional cognition rather than a low-level visual perception. The results of this study may help us better understand face perception in realistic scenarios.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8342470,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Energy metabolism during late gestation and lactation in multiparous sows in relation to backfat thickness and the interval from weaning to first oestrus.\nTen crossbred, fourth or fifth parity sows were divided into 2 groups - high (H) and low (L)- according to their backfat thickness 9 days before parturition. Body weight, backfat thickness and litter weight were recorded repeatedly during a 5 week lactation period. The length of the interval from weaning to first oestrus was also noted. All sows were fed a commercial diet (11.9 MJ\/kg, 14.5% crude protein). During gestation, daily food intake was 2.2 kg\/sow, while during lactation it was 3.0 kg\/sow plus 0.4 kg\/piglet. Blood samples were drawn on day 9 before parturition and on days 2, 7, 14 and 21 of lactation. The samples were analysed to determine concentrations of glucose, urea nitrogen, creatinine, triglycerides, free fatty acids and beta-hydroxybutyric acid. In both groups, concentrations of free fatty acids and urea nitrogen were low on day 9 before parturition while those of triglycerides were high, indicating anabolism regardless of backfat thickness. During the first week of lactation, concentrations of free fatty acids increased in the H-group but not in the L-group, and concentrations of urea nitrogen were higher in the H-group. These differences, together with the greater loss of weight observed in the H-group, indicate that catabolism of maternal fat and protein depots was more pronounced in the H-group than in the L-group during this time. On day 14 of lactation, both groups showed equally low concentrations of free fatty acids, decreasing creatinine concentrations and stable triglyceride and urea nitrogen concentrations. Furthermore, weight loss during the second and third weeks of lactation was low in both groups. These facts, taken together, indicate that the catabolic rate was decreasing in both groups during this period. No differences in return to oestrus interval were noted between the groups. The present study indicates that under a restricted feeding regime the catabolic rate during the first week of lactation is higher in sows with higher backfat thickness in late gestation. As lactation progresses, a more balanced metabolism is achieved regardless of backfat thickness, which may tend to reduce differences in return to oestrous interval.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12022236,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Impact of leflunomide versus biologic agents on the costs of care for rheumatoid arthritis in a managed care population.\nTo compare the impact of leflunomide on resource utilization and costs relative to that of etanercept and infliximab among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in a managed care setting. Data were obtained from the PharMetrics Integrated Outcomes Database for all patients newly starting 1 of the 3 medications of interest in 1999 or 2000. Claims were compiled for 180 days prior to the first prescription for study therapy and for a minimum of 90 days thereafter. Measures of interest during follow-up included the incidence of significant interventions (eg, joint injection, synovectomy), 1-year utilization of study therapy, other RA-related medications, inpatient and outpatient services, and total costs of RA-related care. Data were adjusted for variable follow-up using survival techniques. Multivariate analyses were conducted on total costs, controlling for between-group differences in demographic, clinical, and pretreatment characteristics. A total of 4069 patients were included in the study cohort (n = 2217, 1547, and 305 for leflunomide, etanercept, and infliximab, respectively). Three quarters of the cohort were female; etanercept patients were somewhat younger than leflunomide or infliximab recipients. Severity of illness (as measured by the Charlson index) was highest among infliximab patients. The incidence of significant interventions was high in all patients, but did not differ by treatment group. Use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (8.1 versus 8.9 claims) and narcotic analgesics (7.8 versus 8.5) was substantially lower for leflunomide than for etanercept. Costs of RA-related care were 42% to 53% lower among leflunomide patients for biologic medications ($9618 versus $16,534 and $20,263 for etanercept and infliximab, respectively), primarily as a result of lower medication costs. Findings persisted in multivariate analyses of cost. Leflunomide is associated with reduced costs of medications and other healthcare services relative to biologic medications among managed care patients with RA.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21144965,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-22":1,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Novel anticoagulants for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation: current clinical evidence and future developments.\nAtrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac rhythm disorder and a major risk factor for ischemic stroke. Antithrombotic therapy using aspirin or vitamin K antagonists (VKA) is currently prescribed for prevention for ischemic stroke in patients with AF. A narrow therapeutic range and the need of regular monitoring of its anticoagulatory effect impair effectiveness and safety of VKA, causing a need for alternative anticoagulant drugs. Recently developed anticoagulants include direct thrombin antagonists such as dabigatran or factor Xa inhibitors such as rivaroxaban, apixaban, betrixaban, and edoxaban. Currently, data from a phase III clinical trial are available for dabigatran only, which show the direct thrombin antagonist to be at least noninferior in efficacy to VKA for the prevention of stroke and systemic embolism in patients with AF. This review focuses on current advances in the development of directly acting oral anticoagulant drugs and their potential to replace the VKA class of drugs in patients with AF.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23444867,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Morphological aspects and histological effects of the attachment organ of Parabrachiella sp. (Copepoda: Lernaeopodidae) on the grey mullet, Mugil liza Valenciennes.\nThe genus Parabrachiella Wilson, 1915 (Lernaeopodidae) is represented by copepods that are highly adapted to a parasitic way of life. In Argentina, only P. insidiosa var. lageniformis Heller, 1865, P. chevreuxii Van Beneden, 1891 and P. spinicephala Ringuelet, 1945 have been cited, but none of these have been reported on mugilids. Recently, other species of this genus were found attached to the nasal cavities of juvenile grey mullets, Mugil liza Valenciennes, from Samboromb\u00f3n bay, Buenos Aires province. In this study, the prevalence and mean intensity of the Parabrachiella sp. on grey mullet is investigated. In addition, the damage the parasite imposes on its hosts is examined through evaluation of histological sections and immunostaining for proliferative cell nuclear antigen (PCNA). The morphology of the parasite's bulla is described from light and scanning electron micrographs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34414443,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Improvement of the comfort perception scale in oral mucositis.\nThe study was conducted to develop a valid and reliable measurement tool for determining the comfort perceptions of patients with oral mucositis. The study was carried out methodologically between April 2017 and October 2019 in outpatient chemotherapy centers and clinics in which malignant patients were treated in a university hospital and educational-research hospital in Erzurum, Turkey of the study sample comprised 380 patients who developed oral mucositis after treatment. A 'Patient Identification Information Form,' draft 'Comfort Perception Scale in Oral Mucositis' and 'General Comfort Scale' were used to collect the study data. Validity and reliability analyses were used when evaluating the data. Percentage, mean, independent groups t-test, Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis test, variance analysis and advanced analyzes were also used. In this study, while the face validity of the scale was obtained, the content validity index was found to be 0.62 Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin value of the scale for explanatory factor analysis was 0.94, and Bartlett's test x2 = 9142.156 (P < 0.05). For the confirmatory factor analysis, the corrected chi-square value was 3.54, the root-mean-square error was 0.082, and the scale structure was confirmed according to these results. As a result, the scale consisted of 31 items and 2 sub-scales. Item-total correlation values ranged from 0.83 to 0.33. As a result of similar scale validity, a significant negative correlation was found between the Comfort Perception Scale in Oral Mucositis and General Comfort Scale scores (P < 0.05). The Comfort Perception Scale in Oral Mucositis is a reliable and valid scale. In this study, it was determined that patient comfort was affected according to some variables.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16986535,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Toxicity study for acrylamide].\nAcrylamide is one of the most important chemical materials, which has been widely used in industry. It is one kind of many contaminants in occupational environments. However, it has been reported that starchy foods cooked at high temperature contain a certain amount of acrylamide. The main acrylamide exposure route for non-professional population is intaking of high-temperature starchy foods. In this review, the studies for tumorogenesity, neurotoxicity, reproductive and developmental toxicity possibly caused by acrylamide were reported.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25514391,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Taking a low glycemic index multi-nutrient supplement as breakfast improves glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a randomized controlled trial.\nDietary therapy is the mainstay of treatment for diabetes. This study examined the effect of a low glycemic index (GI) multi-nutrient supplement, consumed in place of breakfast, on glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). A total of 71 participants were randomized at a 2:1 ratio into either a breakfast replacement group or a normal breakfast group for a 12-week interventional study. The primary outcome measure was change in hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c). Nutrition status and somatometry were studied as secondary outcomes. The breakfast replacement group displayed a -0.2% absolute reduction in HbA1c (95% CI (confidence interval), -0.38% to -0.07%, p = 0.004), while the HbA1c of the control group increased 0.3% (95% CI, 0.1% to 0.5%, p = 0.005). The baseline Mini Nutritional Assessment score for both groups was 26.0 and no significant changes occurred following intervention. However, there was a statistically significant difference in body mass index between the treatment and control groups (p = 0.032) due to the weight gain in the control group (increased 0.5 kg, 95% CI was 0.2 to 0.9, p = 0.007). These data suggest that breakfast replacement with a low GI multi-nutrient supplement can improve glycemic and weight control in T2DM.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37465862,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The impact of thoracic duct resection on the long-term body composition of patients who underwent esophagectomy for esophageal cancer and survived without recurrence.\nWe have reported the possible benefits of radical esophagectomy with thoracic duct (TD) resection in elective esophageal cancer surgery. However, the effect of TD resection on the long-term nutrition status remains unclear. Patients who underwent esophagectomy at Keio University between January 2006 and December 2018 were included, and those who had no recurrence for more than three years were evaluated. Changes in each body composition (muscle mass and body fat) were comparatively assessed between those who underwent TD resection or not, before and at, one, three and five years after surgery. Computed tomography images were analyzed on postoperative year 1, 3 and 5. This study included 217 patients categorized in the TD-resected (TD-R) (156 patients) and TD-preserved (TD-P) (61 patients) groups. The loss of muscle mass was comparable between the groups. On the other hand, the loss of adipose tissues was significantly greater in the TD-R group than in the TD-P group at one and three years after surgery, while there was no statistical difference five years after surgery. Additionally, among patients with cT1N0M0 disease in whom survival advantage of TD resection has been reported previously, the loss of muscle mass did not differ between each group. The change of muscle mass between the two groups was comparable. Although body fat mass was reduced by TD resection, it eventually recovered in the long term. In patients with esophageal cancer, TD resection may be acceptable without significant impact on body composition in the long term.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27256234,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Clinical application of AMPLATZER Vascular Plug \u2161 in transcatheter closure of congenital coronary artery fistula in children].\nTo evaluate the feasibility of applying AMPLATZER Vascular Plug \u2161 (AVP \u2161) in transcatheter closure of congenital coronary artery fistula in children. Transcatheter closure procedure applying AVP \u2161 was carried out in 7 patients (3 males and 4 females, age 1.2-12.0 years) with congenital coronary artery fistula between May 2014 and September 2015 in Pediatric Cardiology Department of Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute. Selective coronary artery angiography and aortic root angiography were performed after the release of the device to evaluate the immediate therapeutic effect. Echocardiography and electrocardiography were performed at 1 day, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year post procedure and repeated once a year during the follow-up period. Transcatheter deployment of the device was successfully accomplished in all patients. The narrowest diameter of the fistula was (8.6\u00b12.8) mm (4.0-12.5 mm), and the size of the deployed device ranged from 10.0 to 16.0 mm. Immediate selective coronary artery angiography revealed no residual shunt in 5 patients and trivial residual shunt in 2 patients. During a mean follow-up period of 2.7 (1.0-16.0) months, echocardiography showed that 3 patients remained no residual shunt, while 2 patients had trivial residual shunt, 2 patients developed small residual shunt. Cardiac murmur disappeared post procedure in all patients. Electrocardiography showed no ST-T changes. No migration or detachment of the device was found. AVP \u2161 is a safe and effective choice in transcatheter closure of congenital coronary artery fistula in children.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21167184,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Mutation of mitochondrial ATP8 gene improves hepatic energy status in a murine model of acute endotoxemic liver failure.\nMitochondria not only generate and modulate bioenergy but also serve as biosensors for oxidative stress, and eventually become effector organelles for cell viability. Therefore, the implications of mitochondrial (dys)function in the development of multiple organ failure are profound. We investigated whether a mutation in the ATPase subunit-8 gene affects the course of endotoxemic acute liver failure. C57BL\/6J (ATP8 wild type) and C57BL\/6J-mt(FVB\/N) (ATP8 mutant) mice were challenged with d-galactosamine (GalN) and Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) for induction of acute liver failure, and studied 6 h thereafter. Control mice received physiological saline only. Analysis included in vivo fluorescence microscopy of hepatic microcirculation and levels of hepatocellular apoptosis, hepatic adenosine nucleotides and oxidative stress. Additionally, survival rates were assessed. Induction of endotoxemic liver failure provoked marked liver damage, which was coexistent with a drop of total adenosine nucleotide levels and increased oxidative stress. Of interest, oxidative stress was higher in the GalN\/LPS challenged ATP8 mutants compared to wild types. Concomitantly, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) levels in livers of mice carrying the ATP8 mutation remained higher than those in wild type mice. As net result, ATP8 mutants showed lower transaminase release and a tendency to better survival rate upon GalN\/LPS exposure compared to wild types. Our findings demonstrate that mutation in the ATPase subunit-8 partially protects mice against endotoxemic stress, most probably due to better hepatic energy status despite elevated oxidative stress. Thus, modulating mitochondrial function to preserve bioenergetic status may be an effective strategy to protect against sepsis-induced multiorgan dysfunction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6035508,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The time-course of the synthesis of adenosine triphosphate in Ehrlich ascites-tumour cells, and the effect of 2,4-dinitrophenol.\n1. In Ehrlich ascites-tumour cells kept in nitrogen at 20 degrees for 20-30min., the ATP concentration falls from about 15mumoles\/g. dry wt. to 2-3mumoles\/g. dry wt. 2. If oxygen is admitted to such cells, the ATP concentration rises again in 1-2min. to about 15mumoles\/g. dry wt. 3. If glucose is added, in nitrogen, there is a slower increase in ATP concentration to about 6mumoles\/g. dry wt., followed by a fall and then by a still slower rise. 4. With glucose and oxygen, the ATP concentration rises rapidly in 1min. to about 8mumoles\/g. dry wt., then falls, and finally increases slowly to reach 15mumoles\/g. dry wt. in 2hr. 5. 2,4-Dinitrophenol (0.3mm) has little effect on these processes. 6. At 1.0mm, 2,4-dinitrophenol completely inhibits the ATP synthesis dependent on the endogenous respiration, while leaving that in the presence of glucose only a little impaired in rate, and considerably greater in magnitude. 7. ATP synthesis in the presence of glucose and 1.0mm-2,4-dinitrophenol is about three times as fast in oxygen as in nitrogen.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37856486,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Integrated care in patients with atrial fibrillation- a predictive heterogeneous treatment effect analysis of the ALL-IN trial.\nIntegrated care is effective in reducing all-cause mortality in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) in primary care, though time and resource intensive. The aim of the current study was to assess whether integrated care should be directed at all AF patients equally. The ALL-IN trial (n = 1,240 patients, median age 77 years) was a cluster-randomized trial in which primary care practices were randomized to provide integrated care or usual care to AF patients aged 65 years and older. Integrated care comprised of (i) anticoagulation monitoring, (ii) quarterly checkups and (iii) easy-access consultation with cardiologists. For the current analysis, cox proportional hazard analysis with all clinical variables from the CHA2DS2-VASc score was used to predict all-cause mortality in the ALL-IN trial. Subsequently, the hazard ratio and absolute risk reduction were plotted as a function of this predicted mortality risk to explore treatment heterogeneity. Under usual care, after a median of 2 years follow-up the absolute risk of all-cause mortality in the highest-risk quarter was 31.0%, compared to 4.6% in the lowest-risk quarter. On the relative scale, there was no evidence of treatment heterogeneity (p for interaction = 0.90). However, there was substantial treatment heterogeneity on the absolute scale: risk reduction in the lowest risk- quarter of risk 3.3% (95% CI -0.4% - 7.0) compared to 12.0% (95% CI 2.7% - 22.0) in the highest risk quarter. While the relative degree of benefit from integrated AF care is similar in all patients, patients with a high all-cause mortality risk have a greater benefit on an absolute scale and should therefore be prioritized when implementing integrated care.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17189327,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Diversity and evolution of CYCLOIDEA-like TCP genes in relation to flower development in Papaveraceae.\nMonosymmetry evolved several times independently during flower evolution. In snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus), a key gene for monosymmetry is CYCLOIDEA (CYC), which belongs to the class II TCP gene family encoding transcriptional activators. We address the questions of the evolutionary history of this gene family and of possible recruitment of genes homologous to CYC in floral development and symmetry in the Papaveraceae. Two to three members of the class II TCP family were found in each species analyzed, two of which were CYC-like genes, on the basis of the presence of both the TCP and R conserved domains. The duplication that gave rise to these two paralogous lineages (named PAPACYL1 and PAPACYL2) probably predates the divergence of the two main clades within the Papaveraceae. Phylogenetic relationships among angiosperm class II TCP genes indicated that (1) PAPACYL genes were closest to Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) AtTCP18, and a duplication at the base of the core eudicot would have given rise to two supplementary CYC-like lineages; and (2) at least three class II TCP genes were present in the ancestor of monocots and eudicots. Semiquantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and in situ hybridization approaches in three species with different floral symmetry indicated that both PAPACYL paralogs were expressed during floral development. A pattern common to all three species was observed at organ junctions in inflorescences and flowers. Expression in the outer petals was specifically observed in the two species with nonactinomorphic flowers. Hypotheses concerning the ancestral pattern of expression and function of CYC-like genes and their possible role in floral development of Papaveraceae species leading to bisymmetric buds are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32349939,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Epidemiology and pathophysiology of the association between NAFLD and metabolically healthy or metabolically unhealthy obesity.\nThe prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is continuing to rise in many countries, paralleling the epidemic of obesity worldwide. In the last years, the concept of metabolically healthy obesity [MHO, generally defined as obesity without metabolic syndrome (MetS)] has raised considerable scientific interest. MHO is a complex phenotype with risks intermediate between metabolically healthy individuals with normal-weight (NWMH) and patients who are obese and metabolically unhealthy (MUO, i.e. obesity with MetS). In this review we aimed to examine the association and pathophysiological link of NAFLD with MHO and MUO. Compared to NWMH individuals, patients with obesity, regardless of the presence of MetS features, are at higher risk of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular events. Moreover, MHO patients have a greater risk of NAFLD development and progression compared to NWMH individuals. However, this risk is generally lower than that of MUO patients, suggesting a stronger adverse effect of coexisting MetS disorders than obesity per se on the severity of NAFLD. Nevertheless, since MHO is a dynamic state (with a significant proportion of MHO subjects progressing to MUO over time) and NAFLD itself may predict the transition from MHO to MUO, we believe that any effort should be made to identify NAFLD in all obese individuals, although they appear to be \"metabolically healthy\". Future research is needed to better understand the role of NAFLD and other pathogenic factors potentially involved in the transition from MHO to MUO and to elucidate how this transition may affect the presence and severity of NAFLD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15560840,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Immunoexpression of extracellular matrix proteins in human salivary gland development.\nImmunoexpression of the extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins laminin, fibronectin, tenascin and types I, III and IV collagen was analyzed in the major and minor salivary glands of seven human fetuses at different gestational ages. The results showed the presence and localization of laminin, collagen IV and fibronectin around glandular structures at all stages of development. Tenascin was only detectable around excretory ducts. In the earliest stages of development, type I and type III collagen were presented as fine fibers delineating the glandular structures and delimiting the extension of the future lobule. As glandular development proceeded, the lobule was gradually filled with collagens and glandular tissue.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17878876,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Imaging of thoracic pathology in patients with AIDS].\nThe imaging features of infectious and non-infectious pathologies in HIV patients with AIDS (less than 200 CD4\/mm3) are illustrated. Opportunistic infections, tumors and vascular pathologies have variable appearances based on the degree of immunosuppression and patient compliance with opportunistic infection prophylaxis. Because of advances in retroviral treatments and wider use of anti-infectious prophylaxis, thoracic pathologies in AIDS patients are less frequent but must nonetheless be recognized, and diagnosis should be suggested in patients with unknown serologic status.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28529420,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Long-pulsed Nd: YAG Laser and Intense Pulse Light-755 nm for Idiopathic Facial Hirsutism: A Comparative Study.\nHirsutism means excessive terminal hair growth in a female in male pattern distribution. Perception of hirsutism is subjective. Permanent laser hair reduction is a slow process taking many sessions and tracking of improvement parameters is tedious. Hence, a lot of confusion still exists regarding the type of laser most beneficial for treatment. The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness and safety profile of long-pulsed Nd: YAG laser (1064 nm) and intense pulse light (IPL)-755 nm in management of idiopathic facial hirsutism. Open-labelled, randomly allocated experimental study. The study included 33 cases of idiopathic facial hirsutism. Patients were randomly divided into Group A, treated with long-pulsed Nd: YAG laser and Group B, treated with IPL-755 for a total of six sessions at 1 month interval. Chi-square test was used in Medcalc\u00ae version 9.0 and the test of significance was taken to be P < 0.05. Average percentage of improvement in Group A, according to patients at each sessions were 46.33%, 70.66%, 81.66%, 84.67%, 85.33%, 87.33% and that in Group B were 28.06%, 39.72%, 52.22%, 64.72%, 67.78%, 71.11%, respectively. Excellent response (>75% reduction in hair) after six sessions in Group A was seen in fourteen (93.33%) out of fifteen patients, whereas in Group B, it was seen only in three (16.66%) out of eighteen patients. In Group A, erythema was seen in 26.67%, perifollicular edema and hyperpigmentation in 13.33% each. In Group B, erythema was seen in 50% patients, perifollicular edema in 16.67% and hyperpigmentation in 38.89% patients. Long-pulsed Nd: YAG Laser (1064 nm) is better than IPL-755 nm in terms of safety and effectiveness in the management of idiopathic facial hirsutism.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31258980,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Making sense of abbreviations in nursing notes: A case study on mortality prediction.\nUnstructured data from electronic health records hold potential for improving predictive models for health outcomes. Efforts to extract structured information from the unstructured data used text mining methodologies, such as topic modeling and sentiment analysis. However, such methods do not account for abbreviations. Nursing notes have valuable information about nurses' assessments and interventions, and the abbreviation use is common. Thus, abbreviation disambiguation may add more insight when using unstructured text for predictive modeling. We present a new process to extract structured information from nursing notes through abbreviation normalization, lemmatization, and stop word removal. Our study found that abbreviation disambiguation in nursing notes for subsequent topic modeling and sentiment analysis improved prediction of in-hospital and 30-day mortality while controlling for comorbidity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28303092,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Synaptic Ensemble Underlying the Selection and Consolidation of Neuronal Circuits during Learning.\nMemories are crucial to the cognitive essence of who we are as human beings. Accumulating evidence has suggested that memories are stored as a subset of neurons that probably fire together in the same ensemble. Such formation of cell ensembles must meet contradictory requirements of being plastic and responsive during learning, but also stable in order to maintain the memory. Although synaptic potentiation is presumed to be the cellular substrate for this process, the link between the two remains correlational. With the application of the latest optogenetic tools, it has been possible to collect direct evidence of the contributions of synaptic potentiation in the formation and consolidation of cell ensemble in a learning task specific manner. In this review, we summarize the current view of the causative role of synaptic plasticity as the cellular mechanism underlying the encoding of memory and recalling of learned memories. In particular, we will be focusing on the latest optoprobe developed for the visualization of such \"synaptic ensembles.\" We further discuss how a new synaptic ensemble could contribute to the formation of cell ensembles during learning and memory. With the development and application of novel research tools in the future, studies on synaptic ensembles will pioneer new discoveries, eventually leading to a comprehensive understanding of how the brain works.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17199538,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Clinical significance of incision location on guided bone regeneration: human study.\nMembrane exposure has been associated with poor clinical outcomes in guided bone regeneration. This prospective human study examined the effect of incision locations on flap survival and membrane exposure. Twenty-nine implant-associated buccal dehiscence defects in 25 patients were augmented using particulate mineralized human allograft. Ten sites received a collagen bioabsorbable membrane, 10 sites received acellular dermal matrix, and nine sites were treated with bone graft alone. All implants achieved primary stability and passive flap tension at the time of flap closure. Incision location was measured as the distance from the initial incision line to the mucogingival junction. The same measurements were made at 2 weeks and 1 month to represent the length of the flap that survived. The length of the flap that survived at 2 weeks was compared to the mean width of buccal keratinized gingiva (KG) of adjacent teeth. Other clinical parameters recorded included incidence of early membrane exposure and gingival thickness at mid-crest and 6 mm buccal and lingual to the mid-crest at baseline. At 2 weeks, 10 sites experienced early exposure. Exposed sites that were not covered by 1 month remained exposed. Membrane-treated groups showed no significant difference between the width of adjacent buccal KG and the length of the flap that survived at 2 weeks. The length of the flap that survived beyond the mean width of adjacent KG was significantly greater for the graft alone group (1.6 +\/- 0.4 mm; P = 0.002). When the gingival thicknesses of exposed and non-exposed cases were compared, only palatal\/lingual gingival thickness showed a significant difference (P = 0.002). Within the limits of the study, it was concluded that the location of the crestal incision might be a significant factor in reducing the incidence of membrane exposure by minimizing flap necrosis. The mean KG width of adjacent teeth may be used as a guide to determine the initial incision location. However, this effect may be less significant in palatal\/lingual gingiva >3.0 mm.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21158251,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Strategic planning for skills and simulation labs in colleges of nursing.\nWhile simulation laboratories for clinical nursing education are predicted to grow, budget cuts may threaten these programs. One of the ways to develop a new lab, as well as to keep an existing one on track, is to develop and regularly update a strategic plan. The process of planning not only helps keep the lab faculty and staff apprised of the challenges to be faced, but it also helps to keep senior level management engaged by reason of the need for their input and approval of the plan. The strategic planning documents drafted by those who supervised the development of the new building and Concepts Integration Labs (CILs) helped guide and orient faculty and other personnel hired to implement the plan and fulfill the vision. As the CILs strategic plan was formalized, the draft plans, including the SWOT analysis, were reviewed to provide historical perspective, stimulate discussion, and to make sure old or potential mistakes were not repeated.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17001536,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Surgical management of mediastinal lesions.\nMediastinal tumors and cysts are relatively uncommon lesions requiring histologic confirmation. This retrospective study reports the experience of our department in the diagnosis and treatment of mediastinal lesions. Mediastinal lesions that were surgically treated in 200 patients aged 6-84 years, during a period of 28 years, were included in this series. Sixty patients had an apparently non-resectable lesion or lymphadenopathy of the anterior superior mediastinum. They had an anterior mediastinotomy and biopsy of the mediastinal lesion. No perioperative deaths were recorded in those patients. There were recorded 5 (8.3%) complications. Histological diagnosis was established in all patients: lymphoma (n = 21), metastatic carcinoma (n = 16), thymic lesions (n = 10), germ cell tumor (n = 3), other lesions (n = 10). The remainder 140 patients underwent a resection of the mediastinal lesion. One (0.7%) perioperative death and 21 (15%) complications were recorded. The histological diagnosis of the excised lesions was: thymic lesions (n = 60), neural tumors (n = 21), thyroid lesions (n = 14), bronchial cysts (n = 12), pericardial cysts (n = 10), germ cell tumors (n = 6), other lesions (n = 17). Our results are compared favorably with those reported in international literature. Surgery is the management of choice for patients with mediastinal lesions. It allows for establishing certain histological diagnosis and curative excision of the lesion, when it is necessary, with low operative risk.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34414566,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Impact of comorbidities on the disability progression in multiple sclerosis.\nInvestigation of the comorbidity burden in persons with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) has become increasingly important. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships of cardiovascular disease (CVD) comorbidities and type 2 diabetes with the disability progression. The retrospective cohort study was conducted at the Clinic of Neurology, Belgrade. The Belgrade MS population Registry, which comprises 2725 active MS cases, was used as the source of data. The mean duration of the disease was 21.6 \u00b1 12.5 years. Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) was followed in all PwMS in the Registry. In the statistical analysis, the Cox proportional hazard regression analysis and Kaplan-Meier curve were performed. Hypertension statistically significantly contributed to more rapid reaching investigated levels of irreversible disability (EDSS 4.0, 6.0, and 7.0), while the presence of any of the investigated CVD comorbidities and type 2 diabetes significantly contributed to faster reaching EDSS 4.0 and EDSS 6.0. In a multivariable model, progression index (PI) was singled out (HR = 3.171, p < .001), indicating that higher progression index (PI) was an independent predictor of CVD occurrence in MS patients. In the case of type 2 diabetes, PI (p < .001) and MS phenotype (p = .015) were statistically significant in multivariable Cox regression analysis. Our study confirms the impact of CVD comorbidities and type 2 diabetes in MS on the progression of disability as measured by EDSS in the large cohort of PwMS from the population Registry.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18577041,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Buschke-Ollendorff syndrome: a 32-month-old boy with elastomas and craniosynostosis.\nA 32-month-old boy with hypotonia, developmental delay, and multiple craniofacial abnormalities including craniosynostosis presented with numerous nonspecific, flesh-colored papules on his right flank. Upon biopsy, these lesions were diagnosed as elastomas. Similar skin lesions were found in the patient's younger brother. The patient's father and brother had osteopoikilotic lesions on radiography, but the patient did not have these findings. None of the reported cases to date have included craniosynostosis in association with Buschke-Ollendorff syndrome. In addition to the case findings, the report also provides a short and current review of the syndrome.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17002868,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"GTP induces S-phase cell-cycle arrest and inhibits DNA synthesis in K562 cells but not in normal human peripheral lymphocytes.\nSince differentiation therapy is one of the promising strategies for treatment of leukemia, universal efforts have been focused on finding new differentiating agents. In that respect, we used guanosine 5'-triphosphate (GTP) to study its effects on K562 cell line. GTP, at concentrations between 25-200 microM, inhibited proliferation (3-90%) and induced 5-78% increase in benzidine-positive cells after 6-days of treatments of K562 cells. Flow cytometric analyses of glycophorine A (GPA) showed that GTP can induce expression of this marker in more mature erythroid cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner. These effects of GTP were also accompanied with inhibition of DNA synthesis (measured by [3H]-thymidine incorporation) and early S-phase cell cycle arrest by 96 h of exposure. In contrast, no detectable effects were observed when GTP administered to unstimulated human peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL). However, GTP induced an increase in proliferation, DNA synthesis and viability of mitogen-stimulated PBL cells. In addition, growth inhibition and differentiating effects of GTP were also induced by its corresponding nucleotides GDP, GMP and guanosine (Guo). In heat-inactivated medium, where rapid degradation of GTP via extracellular nucleotidases is slow, the anti-proliferative and differentiating effects of all type of guanine nucleotides (except Guo) were significantly decreased. Moreover, adenosine, as an inhibitor of Guo transporter system, markedly reduced the GTP effects in K562 cells, suggesting that the extracellular degradation of GTP or its final conversion to Guo may account for the mechanism of GTP effects. This view is further supported by the fact that GTP and Guo are both capable of impeding the effects of mycophenolic acid. In conclusion, our data will hopefully have important impact on pharmaceutical evaluation of guanine nucleotides for leukemia treatments.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28303650,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Enzymatic Electrosynthesis of Formic Acid through Carbon Dioxide Reduction in a Bioelectrochemical System: Effect of Immobilization and Carbonic Anhydrase Addition.\nThe enzymatic electrosynthesis of formic acid from the reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2 ) by using formate dehydrogenase (FDH) as a catalyst at the cathode in both its free and immobilized forms was studied in detail in a bioelectrochemical system (BES). The essential role of solubilizing CO2 for its conversion was also studied by adding carbonic anhydrase (CA) to the FDH enzyme in both its free and immobilized forms. FDH alone in the free form showed large variation in the reduction current [(-6.2\u00b13.9) A m-2 ], whereas the immobilized form showed less variation [(-3.8\u00b10.5) A m-2 ] due to increased enzyme stability. The addition of CA with FDH increased the consumption of the current in both forms due to the fact that it allowed rapid dissolution of CO2 , which made it available for the catalytic reaction with FDH. Remarkably, stable consumption of the current was observed throughout the operation if both CA and FDH were immobilized onto the electrode [(-3.9\u00b10.2) A m-2 ]. Product formation by the immobilized enzyme was also continued for three repetitive cycles, which revealed the longevity of the enzyme after immobilization. The recyclability of NADH (NAD=nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) was also clearly evidenced on the derivative voltammetric signature. Extension of this study for continuous and long-term operation may reveal more possibilities for the rapid capture and conversion of CO2 .","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12003639,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Interactive decision support in hepatic surgery.\nHepatic surgery is characterized by complicated operations with a significant peri- and postoperative risk for the patient. We developed a web-based, high-granular research database for comprehensive documentation of all relevant variables to evaluate new surgical techniques. To integrate this research system into the clinical setting, we designed an interactive decision support component. The objective is to provide relevant information for the surgeon and the patient to assess preoperatively the risk of a specific surgical procedure. Based on five established predictors of patient outcomes, the risk assessment tool searches for similar cases in the database and aggregates the information to estimate the risk for an individual patient. The physician can verify the analysis and exclude manually non-matching cases according to his expertise. The analysis is visualized by means of a Kaplan-Meier plot. To evaluate the decision support component we analyzed data on 165 patients diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma (period 1996-2000). The similarity search provides a two-peak distribution indicating there are groups of similar patients and singular cases which are quite different to the average. The results of the risk estimation are consistent with the observed survival data, but must be interpreted with caution because of the limited number of matching reference cases. Critical issues for the decision support system are clinical integration, a transparent and reliable knowledge base and user feedback.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28248091,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"High-Density Single-Layer Coating of Gold Nanoparticles onto Multiple Substrates by Using an Intrinsically Disordered Protein of \u03b1-Synuclein for Nanoapplications.\nFunctional graffiti of nanoparticles onto target surface is an important issue in the development of nanodevices. A general strategy has been introduced here to decorate chemically diverse substrates with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) in the form of a close-packed single layer by using an omni-adhesive protein of \u03b1-synuclein (\u03b1S) as conjugated with the particles. Since the adsorption was highly sensitive to pH, the amino acid sequence of \u03b1S exposed from the conjugates and its conformationally disordered state capable of exhibiting structural plasticity are considered to be responsible for the single-layer coating over diverse surfaces. Merited by the simple solution-based adsorption procedure, the particles have been imprinted to various geometric shapes in 2-D and physically inaccessible surfaces of 3-D objects. The \u03b1S-encapsulated AuNPs to form a high-density single-layer coat has been employed in the development of nonvolatile memory, fule-cell, solar-cell, and cell-culture platform, where the outlying \u03b1S has played versatile roles such as a dielectric layer for charge retention, a sacrificial layer to expose AuNPs for chemical catalysis, a reaction center for silicification, and biointerface for cell attachment, respectively. Multiple utilizations of the \u03b1S-based hybrid NPs, therefore, could offer great versatility to fabricate a variety of NP-integrated advanced materials which would serve as an indispensable component for widespread applications of high-performance nanodevices.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20352950,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Engineering the enantioselectivity of biocatalysts].\nWild-type biocatalysts usually show high activity and selectivity towards their native substrates. Since non-native substrates are often used in synthetically useful biocatalytic transformations, it is necessary to engineer enzymes for improved activity, stability and selectivity (chemo-, regio- and stereoselectivity). Herein we give an overview of the recent advances in engineering the enantioselectivity of biocatalysts, with an aim to stimulate further development of this important field in China.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16161504,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Right ventricular cavernous hemangioma: a rare cardiac primary neoplasia].\nPrimary neoplasia of the heart is rare and often diagnosed postmortem (with a prevalence < 0.2% at postmortem examinations) due to the lack of specific clinical symptoms and signs. Among benign cardiac tumors, cavernous hemangioma has a prevalence of 2.8%. Less invasive diagnostic techniques such as transthoracic echocardiography allow for the diagnosis to be made during life with definitive surgical treatment. We report a representative case of right ventricular cavernous hemangioma, which mimicked right ventricular failure associated with systolic pulmonary flow tract obstruction. Surgical treatment was indicated for symptom severity and for the unpredictable behavior of the large neoplasm.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7934048,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A comparison of prenatal drinking in two recent samples of adolescents and adults.\nThe drinking patterns of 124 pregnant teenagers are described and compared with those of 267 pregnant adults attending the same prenatal clinic in Pittsburgh. Adults had a significantly higher average daily volume of alcohol prior to pregnancy than adolescents, but that higher level was no longer significant during pregnancy. However, the rate of binge drinking during the first trimester was higher in the teenage sample than in the adult sample. Rates of binge drinking and heavy drinking were highest among the white teenage group. Use of marijuana and cocaine\/crack decreased precipitously during pregnancy for both teenagers and adults. Tobacco use also decreased among the adults, but increased from 56% to 71% during pregnancy in the teenage sample. Based on our findings, patterns of drinking among adult pregnant women do not generalize to pregnant adolescents. Offspring of white adolescents, in particular, may be at higher risk for intermittent high peak alcohol exposure farther into the pregnancy than are offspring of older women.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28713368,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The SpTransformer Gene Family (Formerly Sp185\/333) in the Purple Sea Urchin and the Functional Diversity of the Anti-Pathogen rSpTransformer-E1 Protein.\nThe complex innate immune system of sea urchins is underpinned by several multigene families including the SpTransformer family (SpTrf; formerly Sp185\/333) with estimates of ~50 members, although the family size is likely variable among individuals of Strongylocentrotus purpuratus. The genes are small with similar structure, are tightly clustered, and have several types of repeats in the second of two exons and that surround each gene. The density of repeats suggests that the genes are positioned within regions of genomic instability, which may be required to drive sequence diversification. The second exon encodes the mature protein and is composed of blocks of sequence called elements that are present in mosaics of defined element patterns and are the major source of sequence diversity. The SpTrf genes respond swiftly to immune challenge, but only a single gene is expressed per phagocyte. Many of the mRNAs appear to be edited and encode proteins with altered and\/or missense sequence that are often truncated, of which some may be functional. The standard SpTrf protein structure is an N-terminal glycine-rich region, a central RGD motif, a histidine-rich region, and a C-terminal region. Function is predicted from a recombinant protein, rSpTransformer-E1 (rSpTrf-E1), which binds to Vibrio and Saccharomyces, but not to Bacillus, and binds tightly to lipopolysaccharide, \u03b2-1,3-glucan, and flagellin, but not to peptidoglycan. rSpTrf-E1 is intrinsically disordered but transforms to \u03b1 helical structure in the presence of binding targets including lipopolysaccharide, which may underpin the characteristics of binding to multiple targets. SpTrf proteins associate with coelomocyte membranes, and rSpTrf-E1 binds specifically to phosphatidic acid (PA). When rSpTrf-E1 is bound to PA in liposome membranes, it induces morphological changes in liposomes that correlate with PA clustering and leakage of luminal contents, and it extracts or removes PA from the bilayer. The multitasking activities of rSpTrf-E1 infer multiple and perhaps overlapping activities for the hundreds of native SpTrf proteins that are produced by individual sea urchins. This likely generates a flexible and highly protective immune system for the sea urchin in its marine habitat that it shares with broad arrays of microbes that may be pathogens and opportunists.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16984738,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Possible mechanism of pesticide toxicity-related oxidative stress leading to airway narrowing.\nThe study was conducted to assess the magnitude of oxidative stress and lung function abnormalities in 34 male pesticide sprayers on exposure to pesticides in mango plantations. Biochemical studies on blood antioxidant enzymes revealed an unchanged glutathione level and increased level of malondialdehyde (P < 0.001), which indicates that pesticide sprayers may have suffered from oxidative stress. Decreased acetyl-cholinesterase levels (P < 0.001) in sprayers compared to the controls suggest inhibition of cholinesterase activity. The present study shows that pesticide toxicity might lead to oxidative stress and airway narrowing resulting in decreased peak expiratory flow rate.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32347187,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Non-technical skills in operating room nursing: Ethical aspects.\nNon-technical skills are cognitive and interpersonal skills underpinning technical proficiency. Ethical values and respect for human dignity make operating room nurses responsible for nursing decisions that are clinically and technically sound and morally appropriate. To learn what ethical issues operating room nurses perceive as important regarding non-technical skills. Qualitative individual in-depth interviews were conducted. The interviews were analysed using Braun and Clarke's six phases for thematic analysis. Eleven experienced perioperative\/operating room nurses working in an operating unit at a Norwegian university hospital. Approval was given by The Norwegian Social Science Data Service in care of the hospital's Data Protection Officer. Three main themes were found: respect and care for the patient, making the patient feel safe, and respect within the perioperative team. These features or themes, which incorporate collaboration and communication, are closely connected to patient safety. Defending the patient's dignity is part of caring for and respecting the patient. The manner in which the operating room team collaborates is important for the patient to feel safe and secure. Poor teamwork may have dire consequences. Reciprocal respect within the team includes respect for each other's tasks and responsibilities and to talk to one another in a friendly manner. Being respectful and contributing to a caring atmosphere are central ethical skills in the operating room. To patients, harmonious teamwork translates into a feeling of safety and being cared for. The nurses see respect and patient safety, and respect and reciprocal politeness among the members of the perioperative team as central ethical non-technical skills. Lack of respect influences the team negatively and is detrimental for patient safety. Good communication is an important safety measure during surgery and creates a feeling of good 'flow' within the operating room team.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3054414,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A free flap system in sheep.\nFive successful free flap transfers have been performed using the deep circumflex iliac artery system in sheep. The system is capable of providing cutaneous, myocutaneous, or osteomyocutaneous flaps, and details regarding these flaps are described.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17913766,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Spinal cord malperfusion caused by using the segmental clamp technique during descending aortic repair for chronic type B aortic dissection.\nSeveral effective strategies for spinal cord protection have been advocated in descending and thoracoabdominal aortic repairs. The segmental clamp technique has been known as a useful adjunct to shorten the duration of spinal cord ischemia. However, we experienced two cases of spinal cord malperfusion during segmental aortic clamping in descending aortic repair for chronic type B aortic dissection. In these patients, the intercostal arteries including the Adamkiewicz artery had originated from the false lumen. In one patient, spinal cord ischemia was initially detected as decreased motor-evoked potentials. Transesophageal echocardiography simultaneously revealed blood flow congestion in the false lumen during segmental aortic clamping and spinal cord ischemia had developed due to malperfusion of the intercostal arteries branching from the false lumen. Segmental clamping in patients with aortic dissection may not always be useful for shortening the duration of spinal cord ischemia. Transesophageal echocardiography as well as motor-evoked potentials is a useful modality for obtaining the details of intraoperative blood flow in dissecting lumens and malperfusion of the intercostal arteries related to spinal cord injury.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12019490,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Massive bleeding from an ectopic lingual thyroid follicular adenoma during pregnancy.\nEctopic thyroid is a rare developmental anomaly. It can be found anywhere between the foramen cecum and the normal position of the thyroid gland. Massive bleeding from an ectopic lingual thyroid is unusual and occasionally fatal. We present a case of a 22-year-old woman who had a large mass at the base of the tongue for over 6 years. In the sixth month of pregnancy, the patient experienced massive bleeding from the tongue base mass. A thyroid scan revealed that this mass was the only functioning thyroid tissue. Because of massive bleeding and her shock status, the patient received an emergent embolization of the bilateral lingual arteries. Then the huge lingual thyroid was subsequently excised via a mandible swing approach to prevent further episodes of bleeding. Pathology analysis indicated ectopic thyroid tissue with follicular adenoma. She delivered without complications in the 36th week and had a normal baby. This case was a very rare one in our review. Although ectopic lingual thyroid usually is not managed surgically, excision of ectopic lingual thyroid can be life-saving when it is causing bleeding or airway obstruction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37454513,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Spectroscopic determination of hydrophobic adulterant tadalafil by aptasensor based ellipsometry.\nTadalafil is one of the selective phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors (PDE5) and serves as the active compound in drugs used for the treatment of erectile dysfunction. These PDE5 inhibitors are prescribed under medical supervision. However, cases of adulteration of dietary supplements with PDE5 inhibitors or their unapproved analogs have been reported worldwide. The presence of the PDE5 inhibitors in such supplements poses a serious health risk to consumers, particularly when combined with certain nitrate-containing drugs, as their toxic effects have not been thoroughly assessed and may result in unpredictable adverse reactions. Therefore, it is crucial to detect adulteration in these dietary supplements. However, current methods for PDE5 inhibitor detection rely on time-consuming and expensive analytical techniques, although they are sensitive. In this study, we propose an aptasensor based on ellipsometry for the detection of PDE5 inhibitors. To enhance the detection specificity for PDE5 inhibitors, we designed an aptamer with a hydrophobic pocket that incorporates a guanine base-rich region and a three-way junction. This design is particularly effective considering the poor aqueous solubility of PDE5 inhibitors. Preliminary results demonstrate that tadalafil detection in various media can be achieved within the range of 1-2000 ng\/mL. The limit of detection for the active compound of tadalafil is as low as 1.82 ng\/mL.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35128134,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Feasibility and Efficacy of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy without Radiotherapy for Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer.\nThis retrospective study explored the feasibility of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) without radiotherapy in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC). Patients with clinical stage of T3-T4 and\/or N-positive LARC patients were included. We retrospectively analyzed patients' NAC-related and perioperative outcomes. The study enrolled 30 patients. mFOLFOX6 or SOX plus cetuximab was administered to 12 patients with the wild-type RAS gene and FOLFOXIRI or SOXIRI to 18 patients with mutant-type RAS. The NAC completion rate was 90.0%. All patients underwent total mesorectal excision, and 29 patients underwent combined bilateral lateral lymph node dissection. The R0 operation rate was 90.0%. Although the postoperative complication rate was 40%, no complications were associated with NAC. The response rate of NAC and the proportion of histological anti-tumor effect grade \u2265 2 were 56.7% and 46.7%, respectively. NAC was considered to be a safe, feasible treatment option for LARC.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17191104,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"An integrated approach to a teaching file linked to PACS.\nTo meet the educational needs of a medical imaging department with a strong teaching commitment, a teaching file that uses digital data supplied by the institutional picture archiving and communications system (PACS) was required. This teaching file had to be easily used by the end users, have a simple submission process, be able to support multiple users, be searchable on all data fields, and implementing the teaching file must not incur any additional software or hardware costs. The teaching file developed to address this problem takes advantage of the database structure and capabilities of several components included in the commercial PACS installed at the hospital. MS Access is used to seamlessly integrate with the digital imaging and communication in medicine (DICOM) database of a normal work station that is part of the PACS. This integration allows relevant patient and study demographics to be copied from images of interest and then to be stored in a separate database as the back-end of the digital teaching file. When images for a particular teaching file case need to be reviewed, they are automatically retrieved and displayed from the main PACS database using an open application programming interface (API) connection defined on the PACS web server. Utilizing this open API connection means the teaching file contains only the relevant demographic information of each teaching file case; no image data is stored locally. The open API connection allows access to imaging data usually not encountered in a teaching file, allowing more comprehensive imaging case files to be developed by the radiologist. Other advantages of this teaching file design are that it does not duplicate image data, it is small allowing simple ongoing backup, and it can be opened with multiple users accessing the database without compromising data access or integrity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25494928,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Enhancing collaborative leadership in palliative social work in oncology.\nThe Institute of Medicine (IOM) Report-Cancer Care for the Whole Patient: Meeting Psychosocial Health Needs-provided recommendations for meeting the palliative care needs of our growing population of older Americans. The IOM report highlights the demand for social work leadership across all aspects of the health care delivery system. Social workers are core interdisciplinary members of the health care team and it is important for them to be well prepared for collaborative leadership roles across health care settings. The ExCEL in Social Work: Excellence in Cancer Education & Leadership education project was created as a direct response to the 2008 IOM Report. This article highlights a sampling of palliative care projects initiated by outstanding oncology social work participants in the ExCEL program. These projects demonstrate the leadership of social workers in palliative care oncology.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":10208989,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Utilization of endoscopic inoculation in a mouse model of intrauterine infection-induced preterm birth: role of interleukin 1beta.\nA novel murine model of intrauterine infection\/inflammation-induced preterm birth based on direct endoscopic intracervical inoculation is described. Using this model, we investigated infection-induced premature pregnancy loss in normal and interleukin (IL) 1beta-deficient mice. Seventy-four CD-1, HS, C57BL\/6J wild type (IL-1beta+\/+), and C57BL\/6J IL-1beta-deficient (IL-1beta-\/-) mice were inoculated intracervically using a micro-endoscope, at a time corresponding to 70% of average gestation. Intracervical injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or Escherichia coli reliably induced premature birth: 100% of mice intracervically injected with LPS and 92% of mice with a positive endometrial E. coli culture delivered prematurely within 36 h after inoculation. No losses were observed in mice inoculated with saline. Pregnancy loss was associated with increased uterine tissue cyclooxygenase-2 gene expression and uterine content of IL-1beta, tumor necrosis factor alpha, macrophage inflammatory protein-1alpha, and IL-6, as well as elevation of nuclear factor-kappaB activity in uterine tissues. Although IL-1beta-\/- mice exhibited decreased uterine cytokine production in response to bacteria and LPS, IL-1beta deficiency did not affect the rate of pregnancy loss. This model using direct intracervical bacterial or LPS inoculation is useful for studying preterm pregnancy loss in genetically altered mice in order to develop novel interventions for infection-associated preterm labor.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14535244,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Skin grafts 2: management of donor site wounds in the community.\nSkin grafting is a surgical procedure used to quickly restore skin integrity in large wounds or those wounds which cannot be directly closed by suturing. The procedure of skin grafting necessitates the creation of a second wound; the donor site. Although often viewed as secondary importance by surgeons once skin has been harvested from the area, it is the donor site which frequently causes complications such as pain\/discomfort and slow healing (Wilkinson, 1997). Because skin graft sites and donor sites are viewed as part of a specialist practice, their wound management is regarded as being 'something different'. However, the donor site is a partial-dermal thickness wound and should be seen as such, rather than a 'special' wound. This may help to lessen the anxiety felt by both patient and nurse in dealing with donor site wounds.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28533861,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"[Cutaneous leukocytoclastic vasculitis: about 85 cases].\nClinical manifestation, etiology and outcome of leukocytoclastic vasculitis are little studied. The aim of our study was to examine epidemiological, clinical etiological, and evolutionary characteristics of this entity. We conducted a cross-sectional data collection from medical records of 85 patients with leukocytoclastic vasculitis in the Department of Dermatology at the Farhat Hached University Hospital, Sousse between January 2000 and December 2013. Epidemiological, clinical, paraclinical, etiological data sheets had been completed for each patient. The average age of patients was 47.65 years, ranging between 10 and 78 years. Fifty-three women and 32 men were registered (sex ratio = 0.6). Cutaneous manifestations were dominated by vascular purpura (88.2%). The most common causes of leukocytoclastic vasculitis were systemic diseases (51%), infection (20%) and neutrophilic dermatoses (14.5%). Other causes were drugs (9.1%) and hematologic malignancies (5.4%). The cause of leukocytoclastic vasculitis was not detected in 30 patients (35, 3%). Two predictive factors associated with the acute outcome were retained: the presence of a recent infection (p= 0.014) and drug intake before the rash (p= 0.013). Chronic evolution was positively correlated with antinuclear antibodies (p= 0.009) and cryoglobulinemia (p=0.025). Our study highlights the multitude of causes of leukocytoclastic vasculitis. The search for an underlying disease is an imperative in order to ensure better therapeutic management.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28351353,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"The impact of ocular trauma during the Nepal earthquake in 2015.\nNepal was struck by a massive earthquake on the 25th April 2015 and major aftershock on the 12th of May 2015, resulting in widespread devastation with a death toll in the thousands. The burden of ocular trauma resulting from the recent earthquakes in Nepal has not been described thus far. The aim of this study was to determine the types of ocular injuries sustained in the earthquake in Nepal and its management in Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology (TIO) in Gaushala, Kathmandu. This is a hospital-based retrospective study of patients presenting to TIO following repeated earthquake. Variables that were recorded included patients' presenting symptoms and time to presentation, visual acuities at presentation and at follow-up, diagnosis of ocular injury and surgery performed. There were 59 cases of earthquake victims visiting TIO, Gaushala, Kathmandu from April 2015 to July 2015, with 64 affected eyes due to 5 cases of bilateral involvement. The majority of patients were from the district Sindhupalchowk (14 cases, 23.7%), which was the epicenter of the main earthquake. The average duration between the earthquake and presentation was 13 \u00b7 9 days (range 1-120 days). Closed globe injury was most frequent (23 cases), followed by open globe injuries (8 cases). While 24 patients (38%) initially presented with a visual acuity <3\/60 in their affected eye, 15 patients (23%) had a visual acuity of <3\/60 on follow-up. A variety of surgical treatments were required including anterior and posterior segment repair. Immediate management of ocular trauma is critical in order to prevent blindness. Characterizing the burden of earthquake-related ocular trauma will facilitate planning for service provision in the event of a future earthquake in Nepal, or in countries, which are similarly at risk of having natural disasters.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32347656,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Preface to the Special Issue of ChemSusChem on Organic Batteries.\nAll about Organic: Guest Editors Philippe Poizot, Yan Yao, Jun Chen, and Ulrich S. Schubert provide their thoughts on organic batteries-the challenges they face, their advantages and disadvantages, and what needs to be done to make them a commercially viable option-in this preface to a special issue of ChemSusChem on organic batteries, with highly interesting contributions from scientists around the world.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28706605,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Embryonic Stem Cell Conditioned Medium Supports In Vitro Maturation of Mouse Oocytes.\nThis study aimed to investigate the maturation and fertilization rates of immature mouse oocytes using Embryonic Stem Cell Conditioned Medium (ESCM). Germinal Vesicle (GV) stage oocytes were observed in 120 NMRI mice, aged 4-6 weeks. GV oocytes with or without cumulus cells were subjected to IVM in either ESCM, Embryonic Stem Cell Growth Medium (ESGM), or \u03b1-minimum essential medium (\u03b1-MEM). After recording the Metaphase II (MII) oocyte maturation rate, the oocytes were fertilized in vitro. The fertilization success rate was recorded after 24 hr. The embryos were maintained in potassium Simplex Optimization Medium (KSOM) for 96 hr and allowed to grow until the blastocyst stage. After recording developmental competence, they were transferred into the uteri of pseudopregnant mice and their birth rates were recorded. No significant difference existed between the maturation rates in \u03b1-MEM (68.18%) and ESCM (64.67%; p>0.05), whereas this rate was significantly higher for both \u03b1-MEM and ESCM compared to ESGM (32.22%; p<0.05). A significant difference in IVF success rate existed for oocytes grown in \u03b1-MEM (69.44%), ESCM (61.53%), and ESGM (0%). A significantly higher developmental competence was observed at the blastocyst stage for oocytes grown in \u03b1-MEM (51.2%) compared to ESCM (35%; p<0.05). 17 days after embryo transfer into the uteri of pseudopregnant mice, there was a nonsignficant (p>0.05), similar birth rate between \u03b1-MEM and ESCM (47 vs. 40%). ESCM is an effective medium for preantral follicle growth, oocyte maturation, and subsequent embryo development.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35341494,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Status of malnutrition and its influencing factors in children under 5 years old in Yunnan Province from 2016 to 2017].\nTo analyzing the malnutrition status and influencing factors of children under 5 years in Yunnan Province. Multi-stage stratified sampling used in the national survey was performed. The subjects of the study were 2869 children under 5 years, selected from 13 counties(cities) in Yunnan Province from 2016 to 2017. The contents of the investigation included questionnaire survey and anthropometric measurement. Z-scores were calculated according to WHO growth standards by WHO Anthro V3.2.2 software. Non conditional Logistic regression model was used to analyze the multiple factors. SPSS 20.0 statistical software was used to calculate and analyze the malnutrition rate of children. A total of 2869 children under 5 years old were investigated in Yunnan Province, including 1433 boys(49.95%) and 1436 girls(50.05%). The prevalence of stunting, underweight and wasting of children under 5 years old were 3.46%, 6.37% and 3.42%. Logistic multifactor regression analysis showed that low birth weight(OR=4.368, 95% CI 2.057-9.275), rural area(OR=1.931, 95% CI 1.076-3.462), household use of unsanitary toilets(OR=1.688, 95% CI 1.022-2.790), children without supplemental food(OR=2.000, 95% CI 1.130-3.542) were the most important factors making the child more likely to become malnutrition in 6-23 month age group. Asking children for advice on food selection or cooking(OR=3.570, 95%CI 1.249-10.204) was the most important factors making the child more likely to become malnutrition in 6-23 month age group. The nutritional status of children under 5 years old in Yunnan Province has been improved, but the prevalence of malnutrition is still high.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7945371,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dominant negative effects of a carboxy-truncated Jak2 mutant on Epo-induced proliferation and Jak2 activation.\nMembers of the Janus family of protein tyrosine kinases are emerging as primary, receptor-associated transducing factors among numerous cytokine systems. However, little is understood regarding mechanisms of recruitment of these kinases to receptor complexes and their ligand-dependent activation. To initially address these questions, we have assessed effects of ectopically expressing a carboxy-truncated form of Jak2 (Jak2-829) in Epo-responsive DAER cells. Expression of this truncation mutant at low levels efficiently inhibited both Epo-dependent activation of endogenous Jak2 and Epo-induced mitogenesis (10% to 39% of parental DAER cells). These results suggest that amino-terminal domains of Jak2 may mediate the assembly of Jak2\/Epo receptor complexes and that integration of Jak2-829 into receptor complexes may effectively inhibit the activity of oligomeric Jak2\/receptor assemblages.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17881996,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dressing ignition and facial burns following orbital exenteration.\nA 49-year-old woman with type II diabetes mellitus and a history of smoking underwent partial eyelid-sparing exenteration of the right orbit and antifungal therapy for zygomycosis. The medial orbital wall healed with a 7-mm fistula to the ethmoid sinus and a moist granulating apex required daily dressing changes for several months. Eighteen weeks following surgery, the patient cleaned her face with an alcohol wipe and then lit a cigarette, igniting the dressing covering the exenterated eye socket. This caused severe burns to the periorbital regions of both eyes requiring debridement, allografts, and then split-thickness skin grafting. Factors predisposing to this unusual and serious complication of orbital exenteration are reviewed and the subjects of treatment and prevention are discussed. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of dressing ignition with serious facial burns in a postexenteration patient.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3053056,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Oncogene expression detected by in situ hybridization in human primary lung cancer.\nBy means of in situ hybridization using biotinylated oncogene probes and the immunohistochemical reaction of avidin-biotin complex-alkaline phosphatase with substrate, we investigated expression of c-myc oncogene in the formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sections from seven patients with squamous cell carcinoma (six cases) and small cell carcinoma (one case) of primary lung origin. The expression of c-myc oncogene was greatly enhanced in all cases studied, with individual and cell-to-cell variation. In contrast, all of the specimens incubated with deoxyribonuclease after the standard pretreatment with ribonuclease T1 were negative for the expression of c-myc oncogene. The in situ hybridization permits estimation of a heterogeneous amplification of c-myc oncogene that may be related to secondary alterations occurring during the progression of the malignant lung tumors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34413705,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Conditional love? Co-occurrence patterns of drought-sensitive species in European grasslands are consistent with the stress-gradient hypothesis.\nThe stress-gradient hypothesis (SGH) postulates that species interactions shift from negative to positive with increasing abiotic stress. Interactions between species are increasingly being recognized as important drivers of species distributions, but it is still unclear whether stress-induced changes in interactions affect continental-to-global scale species distributions. Here, we tested whether associations of vascular plant species in dry grasslands in Europe follow the SGH along a climatic water deficit (CWD) gradient across the continent. Dry grasslands in Europe. Present. Vascular plants. We built a context-dependent joint species distribution model (JSDM) to estimate the residual associations (i.e., associations that are not explained by the abiotic environment) of 161 plant species as a function of the CWD based on community data from 8,660 vegetation plots. We evaluated changes in residual associations between species for pairs and on the community level, and we compared responses for groups of species with different drought tolerances. We found contrasting shifts in associations for drought-sensitive and drought-tolerant species. For drought-sensitive species, 21% of the pairwise associations became more positive with increasing CWD, whereas 17% became more negative. In contrast, only 17% of the pairwise associations involving drought-tolerant species became more positive, whereas 27% became more negative in areas with a high CWD. Additionally, the incidence of positive associations increased with drought for drought-sensitive species and decreased for drought-tolerant species. We found that associations of drought-sensitive plant species became more positive with drought, in line with the SGH. In contrast, associations of drought-tolerant species became more negative. Additionally, changes in associations of single species pairs were highly variable. Our results indicate that stress-modulated species associations might influence the distribution of species over large geographical extents, thus leading to unexpected responses under climate change through shifts in species associations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37862125,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Memory decline, anxiety and depression in the mouse model of spinocerebellar ataxia type 3.\nSpinocerebellar ataxia type 3 (SCA3) is an autosomal dominant hereditary disorder, caused by an expansion of polyglutamine in the ataxin-3 protein. SCA3 symptoms include progressive motor decline caused by an atrophy of the cerebellum and brainstem. However, it was recently reported that SCA3 patients also suffer from the cerebellar cognitive affective syndrome. The majority of SCA3 patients exhibit cognitive decline and approximately half of them suffer from depression and anxiety. The necessity to find a combined therapy for both motor and cognitive deficits in a SCA3 mouse model is required for the development of SCA3 treatment. Here, we demonstrated that the SCA3-84Q transgenic mice exhibited anxiety over the novel brightly illuminated environment in the open field, novelty suppressed feeding, and light-dark place preference tests. Moreover, SCA3-84Q mice also suffered from a decline in recognition memory during the novel object recognition test. SCA3-84Q mice also demonstrated floating behavior during the Morris water maze that can be interpreted as a sign of low mood and aversion to activity, i. e. depressive-like state. SCA3-84Q mice also spent more time immobile during the forced swimming and tail suspension tests which is also evidence for depressive-like behavior. Therefore, the SCA3-84Q mouse model may be used as a model system to test the possible treatments for both ataxia and non-motor symptoms including depression, anxiety, and memory loss.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9571173,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Calcium modulated signaling site in type 2 rod outer segment membrane guanylate cyclase (ROS-GC2).\nThe ROS-GC subfamily of membrane guanylate cyclases is at present represented by two members: ROS-GC1 and ROS-GC2. A unique functional feature of this subfamily is that it is intracellularly modulated in low Ca2+ concentration by calmodulin-like Ca(2+)-binding proteins termed GCAPs, 1 and 2, and the modulation is consistent with its linkage to phototransduction. The present study shows that: (1) GCAP2 is a specific modulator of ROS-GC2; (2) through systematic remodeling of ROS-GC modules, the study also shows that the modulated domain resides within the amino acid segment 736-1020. This domain is distinct form the corresponding GCAP1-modulated ROS-GC1 domain. Thus, GCAP1 and GCAP2 act through different ROS-GCs and through two different cyclase domains.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1703569,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Modulation of calcium-activated non-specific cation currents by cyclic AMP-dependent phosphorylation in neurones of Helix.\n1. Currents through calcium-activated non-specific cation (CAN) channels were studied in the fast burster neurone of Helix aspersa and Helix pomatia. CAN currents were activated by reproducible intracellular injections of small quantities of Ca2+ utilizing a fast, quantitative pressure injection technique. 2. External application of forskolin (10-25 microM), an activator of adenylate cyclase, caused the endogenous bursting activity of the cells to be replaced by beating activity. These same concentrations of forskolin reduced CAN currents reversibly to about 50%. 3. External application of IBMX (3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine, 100 microM), an inhibitor of phosphodiesterase, the enzyme which breaks down cyclic AMP, reduced CAN currents reversibly to about 40%. 4. External application of the membrane-permeable cyclic AMP analogues 8-bromo-cyclic AMP and dibutyryl-cyclic AMP (100 microM) caused almost complete block of the CAN current. A marked reduction in the CAN current was also observed following quantitative injections of cyclic AMP (internal concentrations up to 50 microM) directly into the cells from a second pressure injection pipette. 5. Similar results were obtained with quantitative injections of the catalytic subunit (C-subunit) of the cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase (internal concentrations 10(-4) units of enzyme) directly into the cells from a second pressure injection pipette. 6. Injection of the non-hydrolysable GTP analogue, GTP-gamma-S (internal concentrations 100 microM), which stimulates G-proteins, produced a prolonged increase in CAN current amplitude by as much as 300%. 7. External application of serotonin (100-200 microM) caused a transition from bursting to beating activity of the neurones and mimicked cyclic AMP's effects on CAN currents. Two other neurotransmitters, dopamine and acetylcholine, were not significantly effective in reducing CAN currents. 8. Injection of a peptide inhibitor of cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase suppressed serotonin's action on bursting and on CAN current. 9. Our results indicate that CAN currents in Helix burster neurones are modulated by cyclic AMP-dependent membrane phosphorylation. They suggest that the physiological transmitter that induces this second messenger action is serotonin. The dual control of CAN channels by two second messengers, namely Ca2+ and cyclic AMP, has important functional implications. While Ca2+ activates these channels which generate the pacemaker current in these neurones, cyclic AMP-dependent phosphorylation down-regulates them, thereby resulting in modulation of neuronal bursting activity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36933251,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Impact of an early mobilization protocol on the reduction of medical complications after surgery for chronic subdural hematoma: the GET-UP Trial.\nTiming of mobilization after chronic subdural hematoma (cSDH) surgery is highly heterogeneous among neurosurgical centers. Past studies have suggested that early mobilization may reduce medical complications without increasing recurrence, but evidence remains scarce. The purpose of this study was to compare an early mobilization protocol with a 48-hour bed rest practice, with a focus on the occurrence of medical complications. The GET-UP Trial is a prospective, randomized, unicentric, open-label study with an intention-to-treat primary analysis designed to evaluate the impact of an early mobilization protocol after burr hole craniostomy for cSDH on the occurrence of medical complications and functional outcomes. A total of 208 patients were recruited and randomly assigned to either an early mobilization group where they began head-of-bed elevation within the first 12 hours after surgery and proceeded to sedestation, orthostatism, and\/or walking as rapidly as tolerated, or to a bed rest group where they remained recumbent with a head-of-bed angle inferior to 30\u00b0 for 48 hours after surgery. The primary outcome was the occurrence of a medical complication (defined as either an infection, seizure, or thrombotic event) after surgery and until clinical discharge. Secondary outcomes included length of stay measured from randomization to clinical discharge, surgical hematoma recurrence at clinical discharge and 1 month after surgery, and Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended (GOSE) assessment at clinical discharge and 1 month after surgery. A total of 104 patients were randomly assigned to each group. No significant baseline clinical differences were observed before randomization. The primary outcome occurred in 36 (34.6%) patients included in the bed rest group and 20 (19.2%) in the early mobilization group (p = 0.012). At 1 month after surgery, a favorable functional outcome (defined as GOSE score \u2265 5) was observed in 75 (72.1%) patients in the bed rest group and 85 (81.7%) in the early mobilization group (p = 0.100). Surgical recurrence occurred in 5 (4.8%) patients in the bed rest group and 8 (7.7%) in the early mobilization group (p = 0.390). The GET-UP Trial is the first randomized clinical trial to assess the impact of mobilization strategies on medical complications after burr hole craniostomy for cSDH. Early mobilization was associated with a reduction in medical complications without a significant effect on surgical recurrence, compared with a 48-hour bed rest protocol.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29370296,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Intracellular trafficking of begomoviruses in the midgut cells of their insect vector.\nBegomoviruses are exclusively transmitted by whiteflies in a persistent circulative manner and cause considerable economic losses to crop production worldwide. Previous studies have shown that begomoviruses accumulate in vesicle-like structures in whitefly midgut cells and that clathrin-mediated endocytosis is responsible for their internalization. However, the process by which begomoviruses are trafficked within whitefly midgut cells remains largely unknown. In this study, we investigated the roles of vesicle trafficking in the transport of Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV), a begomovirus that has spread to over 50 countries and caused extensive damage to a range of important crops, within midgut cells of whitefly (Bemisia tabaci). By disrupting vesicle trafficking using RNA silencing and inhibitors, we demonstrated that the early steps of endosomal trafficking are important for the intracellular transport of TYLCV in the whitefly midgut. In addition, our data show that, unlike many animal viruses, TYCLV is trafficked within cells in a manner independent of recycling endosomes, late endosomes, lysosomes, the Golgi apparatus and the endoplasmic reticulum. Instead, our results suggest that TYLCV might be transported directly from early endosomes to the basal plasma membrane and released into the hemolymph. Silencing of the sorting nexin Snx12, which may be involved in membrane tubulation, resulted in fewer viral particles in hemolymph; this suggests that the tubular endosomal network may be involved in the transport of TYLCV. Our results also support a role for the endo-lysosomal system in viral degradation. We further showed that the functions of vector early endosomes and sorting nexin Snx12 are conserved in the transmission of several other begomoviruses. Overall, our data indicate the importance of early endosomes and the tubular endosomal network in begomovirus transmission.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28304288,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Changes in Synaptic Plasticity and Glutamate Receptors in Type 2 Diabetic KK-Ay Mice.\nIn the present study, the progressive alteration of cognition and the mechanisms of reduction in long-term potentiation (LTP) in spontaneous obese KK-Ay type 2 diabetic mice were investigated. In the study, 3-, 5-, and 7-month-old KK-Ay mice were used. The results indicated that KK-Ay mice showed cognitive deficits in the Morris water maze test beginning at the age of 3 months. LTP was significantly impaired in KK-Ay mice during whole study period (3 to 7 months). The above deficits were reversible at an early stage (3 to 5 months old) by diet intervention. Moreover, we found the underlying mechanisms of LTP impairment in KK-Ay mice might be attributed to abnormal phosphorylation or expression of postsynaptic glutamate receptor subunits instead of alteration of basal synaptic transmission. The expression levels of NR1, NR2A, and NR2B subunits of N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) were unchanged while the Tyr-dependent phosphorylation of both NR2A and NR2B subunits were significantly reduced in KK-Ay mice. The level of p-Src expression mediating this process was decreased, and the level of \u03b1CaMKII autophosphorylation was also reduced. Meanwhile, the GluR1 of \u03b1-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid receptors (AMPARs) was decreased, and GluR2 was significantly increased. These data suggest that deficits in synaptic plasticity in KK-Ay mice may arise from the abnormal phosphorylation of the NR2 subunits and the alteration of subunit composition of AMPARs. Diet intervention at an early stage of diabetes might alleviate the cognitive deficits and LTP reduction in KK-Ay mice.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15263922,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1}}},"text":"Association of weight change, weight control practices, and weight cycling among women in the Nurses' Health Study II.\nTo assess the association of weight cycling with weight change, weight control practices, and bulimic behaviors. A nested study of 2476 young and middle-aged women in the Nurses' Health Study II who provided information on intentional weight losses between 1989 and 1993. In total, 224 women who were severe cyclers, 741 women who were mild cyclers, 967 age- and BMI-matched controls (noncyclers), and 544 women who did not weight cycle and maintained their weight between 1989 and 1993 completed a questionnaire in 2000-2001 assessing recent intentional weight losses, weight control practices, and weight concerns. After controlling for age and body mass index (BMI) in 1993, when weight cycling was initially assessed, mild cyclers gained an average of 6.7 pounds (lbs) more and severe cyclers gained approximately 10.3 lbs more than noncyclers between 1993 and 2001. Weight cyclers preferred to change their diet rather than to exercise to control their weight. Severe weight cyclers were less likely than noncyclers to use frequent exercise as a weight control strategy (odds ratio [OR]=0.8, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.6-1.1). Cyclers were also more likely than noncyclers to engage in binge eating (mild cyclers: OR=1.8, 95% CI 1.4-2.4; and severe cyclers: OR=2.5, 95% CI 1.7-3.5). Independent of weight cycling status, age, and BMI, women who engaged in binge eating gained approximately 5 lbs more than their peers (P<0.001). Weight cycling was associated with greater weight gain, less physical activity, and a higher prevalence of binge eating. Low levels of activity and binge eating may be partially responsible for the large amount of weight regained by weight cyclers.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20378914,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Family healthcare with King's theory of goal attainment.\nKing's conceptual system and theory of goal attainment provide a systematic approach to the thought and action of nursing that has stood the test of time with continuing utility for organizing the complex factors of healthcare. Following a brief overview of the conceptual system and theory of goal attainment, application to family healthcare is discussed and illustrated with the programs of research of three exemplar King scholars: family healthcare with a mentally-ill child, family healthcare with children with type 1 diabetes or asthma, and family healthcare when a family member has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The scientific benefit and developmental progression of a theory-driven program of research for practice is noted. Future studies are presented as well as additional sources for King's conceptual system and theory of goal attainment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31257439,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"An integrative approach to detect epigenetic mechanisms that putatively mediate the influence of lifestyle exposures on disease susceptibility.\nThere is mounting evidence that our environment and lifestyle has an impact on epigenetic regulatory mechanisms, such as DNA methylation. It has been suggested that these molecular processes may mediate the effect of risk factors on disease susceptibility, although evidence in this regard has been challenging to uncover. Using genetic variants as surrogate variables, we have used two-sample Mendelian randomization (2SMR) to investigate the potential implications of putative changes to DNA methylation levels on disease susceptibility. To illustrate our approach, we identified 412 CpG sites where DNA methylation was associated with prenatal smoking. We then applied 2SMR to investigate potential downstream effects of these putative changes on 643 complex traits using findings from large-scale genome-wide association studies. To strengthen evidence of mediatory mechanisms, we used multiple-trait colocalization to assess whether DNA methylation, nearby gene expression and complex trait variation were all influenced by the same causal genetic variant. We identified 22 associations that survived multiple testing (P < 1.89 \u00d7 10-7). In-depth follow-up analyses of particular note suggested that the associations between DNA methylation at the ASPSCR1 and REST\/POL2RB gene regions, both linked with reduced lung function, may be mediated by changes in gene expression. We validated associations between DNA methylation and traits using independent samples from different stages across the life course. Our approach should prove valuable in prioritizing CpG sites that may mediate the effect of causal risk factors on disease. In-depth evaluations of findings are necessary to robustly disentangle causality from alternative explanations such as horizontal pleiotropy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9147113,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Registers of in-vitro fertilization and assisted conception.\nMany countries now have registers of assisted conception that were initially set up to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment, to monitor pregnancy outcomes and the health of treated women, and to assess any immediate risks for the women and their children. World reports, based on information from national registers, have enabled international comparisons of the extent to which the various techniques of assisted conception are used to treat infertile couples, as well as comparisons of pregnancy outcome. The reports also provide comparative data on pregnancy rates in populations rather than in single in-vitro fertilization (IVF) centres. To determine whether newly introduced techniques such as intracytoplasmic sperm injection are associated with any increased risks of birth defects or other adverse outcomes, information notified to registers will often need to be supplemented by clinical reports or by linkage of data in IVF registers and other health data systems. Further efforts to improve the quality of information on assisted conception within each country and internationally need to be well supported so that the effectiveness of treatment and the outcomes of treated couples and their children can be evaluated properly.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25416608,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Assessment and refinement of intra-bone marrow transplantation in mice.\nIntra-bone marrow transplantation (IBMT) may improve the seeding efficiency of transplanted hematopoietic stem cells compared to the routinely used intravenous injection. Current IBMT protocols are optimized for ease of use and to improve experimental results. However, there have been no investigations to assess the impact of IBMT on animal welfare. Here, we report the results of pain assessment after IBMT and the effects of refinements to the current standard procedure. IBMT was performed in either the tibia or the femur of a recipient mouse under general anesthesia. Impact was determined using clinical scoring of different parameters (lameness, grip capacity, body weight loss, footprint analysis), behavioural tests (burrowing, open-field), monitoring of stress hormones and post-mortem histology. The results revealed that IBMT definitely induces severe post-operative distress. Although IBMT in the tibia is technically easier, the degree of impairment and the distress observed were consistently higher than for transplantation in the femur. A refinement for IBMT in the tibia was achieved by using 30- instead of 26-gauge needles and by sparing the patellar tendon. Consequently, for IBMT, we recommend either using the femur, or if the tibia is required due to its better feasibility, using our refined protocol. Furthermore, IBMT should definitely be limited to one leg per animal.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34401482,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-22":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Role of steroid injection for skin thickness and edema in rhinoplasty patients.\nThe aim of this study was to observe the effect of the triamcinolone acetonide injections in thick skinned patients with ultrasonographic measurements and to compare these results with the postoperative nasal skin thickness of patients that were not injected with steroids. A prospective study was planned with 42 thick nasal skinned rhinoplasty candidates in our clinic. Skin thickness of specific points along nose was measured and documented. On the 10th day after surgery, triamcinolone acetonide injections were performed into the supratip region of 21 patients in the study group. No injections were made for the control group. Nasal ultrasonographic measurements were repeated 40 days after the surgery for all 42 patients by the same radiologist and results were evaluated. Seventeen women (40.5%) and 25 men (59.5%) were included in the study. Patients' ages ranged from 18 to 53 with an average age of 27.9. In study group, all injections sites showed thinning on the 40th day after surgery. These findings were statistically significant at B (rhinion), D (middle of supratip), and G (middle of the tip). In the control group, all injection sites except A (nasion) displayed thickening on the 40th day after surgery. These findings were statistically significant at B (rhinion), D (middle of supratip), H (left side of the tip), and J (left alar region). Triamcinolone acetonide injections are effective in the prevention of edema and provide thinning of the post-rhinoplasty skin envelope.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29360494,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"New roles of reactive astrocytes in the brain; an organizer of cerebral ischemia.\nThe brain consists of neurons and much higher number of glial cells. They communicate each other, by which they control brain functions. The brain is highly vulnerable to several insults such as ischemia, but has a self-protective and self-repairing mechanisms against these. Ischemic tolerance or preconditioning is an endogenous neuroprotective phenomenon, where a mild non-lethal ischemic episode can induce resistance to a subsequent severe ischemic injury in the brain. Because of its neuroprotective effects against cerebral ischemia or stroke, ischemic tolerance has been widely studied. However, almost all studies have been performed from the viewpoint of neurons. Glial cells are structurally in close association with synapses. Recent studies have uncovered the active roles of astrocytes in modulating synaptic connectivity, such as synapse formation, elimination and maturation, during development or pathology. However, glia-mediated ischemic tolerance and\/or neuronal repairing have received only limited attention. We and others have demonstrated that glial cells, especially astrocytes, play a pivotal role in regulation of induction of ischemic tolerance as well as repairing\/remodeling of neuronal networks by phagocytosis. Here, we review our current understanding of (1) glial-mediated ischemic tolerance and (2) glia-mediated repairing\/remodeling of the penumbra neuronal networks, and highlight their mechanisms as well as their potential benefits, problems, and therapeutic application.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3049881,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"[Beh\u00e7et's syndrome and the digestive tract].\nGastrointestinal involvement represents only 14% of the anatomical sites of Beh\u00e7et's syndrome in France. The various segments of the gastrointestinal tract may be affected. Episodes of mucosal aphthae are more frequent in the oesophagus than in the stomach or duodenum. Intestinal involvement constitutes the major gastrointestinal localisation. Colonic or ileo-colonic lesions may appear after several years of recurrent aphthosis and present in the form of acute complications (perforation, massive haemorrhage) or by prolonged haemorrhagic diarrhoea with marked deterioration in the general state. The radiological and endoscopic signs are similar to those observed in various forms of severe acute colitis such as haemorrhagic proctocolitis or Crohn's disease. The diagnosis of an intestinal localisation of Beh\u00e7et's syndrome is based on the richness of the extra-intestinal signs and moreover on the presence of deep colonic ulcerations frequently situated in healthy mucosa, the presence of an adjacent non-specific inflammatory infiltrate affecting all of the colonic wall, lesions of vasculitis and perivasculitis with signs of leukocytoclasis and fibrinoid necrosis. Surgical treatment is frequently necessary. The high incidence of ulcerative recurrences in the anastomoses, in which fistulae may also develop, requires extensive intestinal resections or diversions by long-term ileostomies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23437667,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of soil organic matter and ageing on remediation of diesel-contaminated soil.\nBioremediation of diesel-contaminated soil was investigated for the effects of soil organic matter (SOM) and ageing time in two sets of experiments (Batch I and II, respectively). This study examined degradation efficiency in soil artificially contaminated with diesel oil (maximum total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) concentration of 9000 mg\/kg soil). Batch I data showed that the values of the first-order degradation rate, k, were relatively high in the low-SOM soil batches. The quantity of SOM negatively correlated with the TPH degradation rates and with the total TPH degradation efficiency (%). Introduction of rhamnolipid to the soil proved to be a useful solution to resolve the problem of the residual TPH in the soil with high SOM. In Batch II, the k values decreased with the length of ageing time: 0.0245, 0.0128 and 0.0090 l\/d in samples ST0 (freshly contaminated), ST38 (aged for 38 days) and ST101 (aged for 101 days), respectively. The TPH degradation efficiency (%) also decreased along with the ageing time. The research also applied molecular technology to analyse the bacterial community dynamics during the bioremediation course. Multivariate statistics based on terminal-restriction fragment length data indicated: 1) the soils with different SOM resulted in separate bacterial community structures, 2) ageing time created a variety of bacterial communities, 3) the bacterial community dynamics was associated with the hydrocarbon consumption. The SOM content in soils affected the TPH degradation rate and efficiency and the bacterial community structures. Aged soil is more difficult to remediate than freshly contaminated soil, and the resulting bacterial community was less dynamic and showed a lack of succession.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20359245,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Structure and function of intact photosystem 1 monomers from the cyanobacterium Thermosynechococcus elongatus.\nUntil now, the functional and structural characterization of monomeric photosystem 1 (PS1) complexes from Thermosynechococcus elongatus has been hampered by the lack of a fully intact PS1 preparation; for this reason, the three-dimensional crystal structure at 2.5 A resolution was determined with the trimeric PS1 complex [Jordan, P., et al. (2001) Nature 411 (6840), 909-917]. Here we show the possibility of isolating from this cyanobacterium the intact monomeric PS1 complex which preserves all subunits and the photochemical activity of the isolated trimeric complex. Moreover, the equilibrium between these complexes in the thylakoid membrane can be shifted by a high-salt treatment in favor of monomeric PS1 which can be quantitatively extracted below the phase transition temperature. Both monomers and trimers exhibit identical posttranslational modifications of their subunits and the same reaction centers but differ in the long-wavelength antenna chlorophylls. Their chlorophyll\/P700 ratio (108 for the monomer and 112 for the trimer) is slightly higher than in the crystal structure, confirming mild preparation conditions. Interaction of antenna chlorophylls of the monomers within the trimer leads to a larger amount of long-wavelength chlorophylls, resulting in a higher photochemical activity of the trimers under red or far-red illumination. The dynamic equilibrium between monomers and trimers in the thylakoid membrane may indicate a transient monomer population in the course of biogenesis and could also be the basis for short-term adaptation of the cell to changing environmental conditions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6741875,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The presence of the Ii blood group system on human platelets.\nTo examine platelets for the Ii antigens, high-titer human IgM anti-I and anti-i antibodies were affinity purified, radiolabeled with 125I, and incubated with adult and cord platelets. Saturation binding curves were performed by incubating adult platelets with serial dilutions of concentrated 125I-anti-I. Inhibition binding curves were performed by incubating adult platelets with doubling dilutions of concentrated unlabeled anti-I mixed with 125I-labeled anti-I. Adult platelets bound significantly more anti-I than anti-i, while cord platelets bound more anti-i than anti-I (P less than 0.025). Both anti-I and anti-i show a temperature-dependent dose-response curve of maximum binding at 4 degrees C. Binding of 125I-labeled anti-I was inhibited by preincubation with 100-fold concentration of unlabeled anti-I. The authors conclude that platelets express I\/i antigens in parallel with that of red blood cells.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1682032,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Comparison of molecular and cytogenetic methods in the evaluation of engraftment following allogeneic bone marrow transplantation.\nCytogenetic evaluation of patients after bone marrow transplantation (BMT) has provided a standard method of documentation of hematopoietic engraftment. More recently, recombinant DNA technology has also been applied to determine engraftment status. In order to establish the relative utility of these methods in clinical practice we have directly compared the data from cytogenetic and recombinant DNA methods, evaluating engraftment status in 68 BMT recipients. Patients were evaluated pre-transplant, 30, 60, 90, and 180 days after BMT, and yearly thereafter for 1) the presence or absence of the Y chromosome in sex-mismatched allogeneic transplant recipients, 2) the presence or absence of the Philadelphia chromosome [t(9;22)] in patients transplanted for chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), 3) restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) profiles, and\/or 4) clonal rearrangement of the bcr gene. Cytogenetic examination of unstimulated bone marrow and recombinant DNA tests of nucleated peripheral blood or bone marrow cells produce qualitatively similar data in the identification of patient and donor cells and\/or normal and tumor cells. Differences in the results obtained by the two analytic methods were most often due to the restricted cell populations evaluable by cytogenetic studies of PHA-stimulated peripheral blood specimens. DNA analyses could frequently be applied at earlier intervals after transplantation and, in cases of graft rejection, when cell counts were low. Although recombinant DNA methods required fewer cells and demonstrated greater sensitivity in detection of minor cell populations in the majority of instances, the cytogenetic evaluation may complement the DNA studies and allow detection of additional chromosomal anomalies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37444206,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Influence of Ultrasonic and Chemical Pretreatments on Quality Attributes of Dried Pepper (Capsicum annuum).\nThis study investigates the effects of ultrasound, in combination with chemical pretreatments, on the quality attributes (total phenolic and carotenoid content, antioxidant activity (2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl assay (DPPH)), ferric-reducing ability (FRAP), CIE L* a* b* color, non-enzymatic browning, rehydration ratio, textural and morphological properties) of red pepper subjected to drying (hot air drying or freeze drying). The fractional factorial design was used to assess the impact of factors. The global Derringer desirability function was used to determine the optimal conditions for the best quality attributes of dried pepper. The drying method influenced total phenolic content, a* (redness), and initial rehydration ratio; pretreatment time significantly affected FRAP antiradical activity, a*, chroma and non-browning index, while pH-value had a significant effect on the texture of dried pepper. Non-enzymatic browning was reduced to 72.6%, while the DPPH antioxidant capacity of freeze-dried peppers was enhanced from 4.2% to 71.9%. Ultrasonic pretreatment led to changes in the pepper morphology, while potassium metabisulfite (KMS) was a more effective additive than citric acid.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26443908,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A Roundtable Discussion: Combination Products: Twice the Challenge?\nCombination products are therapeutic or diagnostic medical products that combine drugs, devices, and\/or biological products with one another. FDA developed a regulation (final rule) on Current Good Manufacturing Practices (CGMP) for combination products that became effective July 22, 2013 (21 CFR Part 4). AAMI recently developed a technical information report (TIR) that provides information on how to effectively implement FDA's regulation. The overall goal of the TIR is to aid informed, risk-based decisions in establishing CGMP operating systems that support development, manufacture, premarket regulatory evaluation, and ultimately commercialization of combination products. This article, a result of an discussion with industry and FDA representatives, explores the landscape of combination products, highlights important considerations in developing and seeking marketing clearance for these innovative products, and provides insight on trends in the area.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25415108,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Postoperative analgesia by infusion of local anesthetic into the surgical wound after modified radical mastectomy: a randomized clinical trial.\nThere is no consensus on the efficacy of postoperative infusion of local anesthetics after radical mastectomy. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-groups clinical trial was conducted in a tertiary hospital. Eighty consecutive women with operable breast cancer with indications for modified radical mastectomy without breast reconstruction were assigned randomly to receive infusion of levobupivacaine (0.5%) or saline at 2 ml\/hour for 48 hours through a wound catheter. Seventy-three women finished the study (intervention group, n = 34; control group, n = 39). During surgery, all patients received 0.25% levobupivacaine (30 ml). The levobupivacaine group reported less pain (p < 0.001) than controls in the postanesthesia care unit (1.6 \u00b1 1.3 versus 6.7 \u00b1 1.8) and on the ward at 24 (0.8 \u00b1 0.9 versus 4.2 \u00b1 1.9) and 48 (0.4 \u00b1 0.7 versus 3.3 \u00b1 2.3) hours. In the postanesthesia care unit, the levobupivacaine group consumed less metamizole (0.4 \u00b1 0.5 versus 0.8 \u00b1 0.4; p < 0.001) and dexketoprofen (0.1 \u00b1 0.3 versus 0.7 \u00b1 0.4; p < 0.001), with differences in paracetamol use being insignificant (0.8 \u00b1 0.4 versus 0.9 \u00b1 0.3; p = 0.140). On the ward, the levobupivacaine group used significantly less paracetamol (0.5 \u00b1 0.7 versus 2.0 \u00b1 2.0; p < 0.001) and metamizole (0.2 \u00b1 0.4 versus 1.2 \u00b1 1.4; p < 0.001), but differences in dexketoprofen were not significant (0.03 \u00b1 0.2 versus 0.2 \u00b1 0.6; p = 0.074). In the postanesthesia care unit, the levobupivacaine and control groups consumed 0 \u00b1 0 and 0.7 \u00b1 1.2 doses of opioids (p = 0.001), respectively. The authors observed no differences in nausea and vomiting at any stage in the postanesthesia care unit (0.2 \u00b1 0.4 versus 0.4 \u00b1 0.5; p = 0.081) or on the ward (0.3 \u00b1 0.5 versus 0.4 \u00b1 0.5; p = 0.563). All participants reported high levels of satisfaction. Continuous infusion of local anesthetic reduces pain and analgesic consumption, with high satisfaction, but does not affect rates of nausea and vomiting.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1697064,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Organization and expression of the 16S, 23S and 5S ribosomal RNA genes from the archaebacterium Thermoplasma acidophilum.\nTo elucidate the organization of the transcription units encoding the 16S, 23S and 5S rRNAs in the archaebacterium Thermoplasma acidophilum, the nucleotide sequences flanking the three rRNA genes were determined, and the 5' and 3' termini of the rRNA transcripts were mapped by primer extension and nuclease S1 protection. The results show that each of the rRNAs is transcribed separately, consistent with the lack of physical proximity among them in the T. acidophilum genome. The transcription initiation sites are preceded at an interval of approximately 25 base pairs by conserved A + T-rich sequences of the form CTTATATA, which strongly resemble the archaebacterial promoter consensus, TTTAT\/AATA. In all three cases, transcription termination occurs within T-rich tracts just downstream from inverted repeats which can be folded into relatively stable stem-loop structures. While no partially processed intermediates of the 16S or 5S rRNA transcripts were detected, the 23S rRNA transcript appears to be processed by a RNase III-like activity prior to final maturation. This is the only organism known in the prokaryotic world in which the 16S, 23S and 5S rRNAs are all expressed from separate transcription units.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26473622,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Integrin \u03b21 Gene Therapy Enhances in Vitro Creation of Tissue-Engineered Cartilage Under Periodic Mechanical Stress.\nPeriodic mechanical stress activates integrin \u03b21-initiated signal pathways to promote chondrocyte proliferation and matrix synthesis. Integrin \u03b21 overexpression has been demonstrated to play important roles in improving the activities and functions of several non-chondrocytic cell types. Therefore, in the current study, we evaluated the effects of integrin \u03b21 up-regulation on periodic mechanical stress-induced chondrocyte proliferation, matrix synthesis and ERK1\/2 phosphorylation in chondrocyte monolayer culture, and evaluated the quality of tissue-engineered cartilage constructed in vitro under periodic mechanical stress combined with integrin \u03b21 up-regulation. Our results revealed that under periodic mechanical stress, pre-treatment with integrin \u03b21-wild type vector significantly enhanced chondrocyte proliferation and matrix synthesis and promoted ERK1\/2 phosphorylation in comparison to mock transfectants. Furthermore, when chondrocytes were seeded in PLGA scaffolds, more accumulated GAG and type II collagen tissue were detected after Lv-integrin \u03b21 transfection compared with sham controls exposed to periodic mechanical stress. In contrast, in the Lv-shRNA-integrin \u03b21 group, the opposite results were observed. Our findings collectively suggest that in addition to periodic mechanical stress, integrin \u03b21 up-regulation in chondrocytes could further improve the quality of tissue-engineered cartilage.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25405539,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Developing a two-step heat treatment for inactivating desiccation-adapted Salmonella spp. in aged chicken litter.\nThe effectiveness of a two-step heat treatment for eliminating desiccation-adapted Salmonella spp. in aged chicken litter was evaluated. The aged chicken litter with 20, 30, 40, and 50% moisture contents was inoculated with a mixture of four Salmonella serotypes for a 24-h adaptation. Afterwards, the inoculated chicken litter was added into the chicken litter with the adjusted moisture content for a 1-h moist-heat treatment at 65 \u00b0C and 100% relative humidity inside a water bath, followed by a dry-heat treatment in a convection oven at 85 \u00b0C for 1 h to the desired moisture level (<10-12%). After moist-heat treatment, the populations of Salmonella in aged chicken litter at 20 and 30% moisture contents declined from \u22486.70 log colony-forming units (CFU)\/g to 3.31 and 3.00 log CFU\/g, respectively. After subsequent 1-h dry-heat treatment, the populations further decreased to 2.97 and 2.57 log CFU\/g, respectively. Salmonella cells in chicken litter with 40% and 50% moisture contents were only detectable by enrichment after 40 and 20 min of moist-heat treatment, respectively. Moisture contents in all samples were reduced to <10% after a 1-h dry-heat process. Our results demonstrated that the two-step heat treatment was effective in reducing >5.5 logs of desiccation-adapted Salmonella in aged chicken litter with moisture content at or above 40%. Clearly, the findings from this study may provide the chicken litter processing industry with an effective heat treatment method for producing Salmonella-free chicken litter.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6744717,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Stress fracture of the radius following a fracture of the ulna diaphysis.\nA 70-year-old woman incurred a stress fracture of the radius following a fracture of the ulna. The patient had osteomalacia secondary to a Billroth II procedure. The primary reasons for the development of osteomalacia following a Billroth II procedure are: decreased transit time through the gut, which causes less Vitamin D and calcium absorption, and bypassing of the duodenum, where calcium absorption is highest. After treatment of the osteomalacia with calcium and Vitamin D, the fracture healed uneventfully. The present case report emphasizes the need to identify and treat diseases associated with fractures. Patients with severe osteomalacia and ulnar shaft fractures should have the forearm immobilized because motion at the fracture site may lead to a stress fracture of the radius.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3075668,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Blood-brain, blood-cerebrospinal fluid and cerebrospinal fluid-brain barriers in a marsupial (Macropus eugenii) during development.\n1. The blood-brain, blood-CSF and CSF-brain barriers to protein have been studied in post-natal tammar wallabies (newborn to 70 days) using morphological and physiological techniques. 2. Endogenous and exogenous plasma proteins, and in some experiments horseradish peroxidase, were used as indicators of barrier integrity or permeability. 3. Immunocytochemical studies of endogenous tammar proteins showed that these (e.g. albumin) were present in the lumen of vessels in the brain, in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and within some cells in the choroid plexus and brain. No staining of the brain extracellular space was obtained; in particular there was no perivascular staining. Possible artifacts that could account for this lack of staining are discussed. 4. Ultrastructural studies showed the presence of well-formed tight junctions between cerebral endothelial cells and between choroid plexus epithelial cells, even as early as the day of birth. A membrane specialization between adjacent neuropendymal cells that had the same ultrastructural appearance as the 'strap junction' previously described in human and sheep fetuses was observed. These junctions may act as a barrier (CSF-brain barrier) to the passage of protein from CSF into brain in these immature animals, as has previously been described in eutherian fetuses. 5. In experiments in which exogenous plasma proteins or horseradish peroxidase were injected intravenously, care was taken to limit both the volume and protein load injected. These proteins penetrated into CSF. The naturally occurring steady-state CSF\/plasma ratio for several proteins was approached by several of the injected (human) proteins within a few hours of I.V. injection, suggesting that much of the protein in CSF, at least when sampled from the hindbrain, originates from plasma in this species. No penetration across cerebral vessels was observed. Uptake of some proteins (e.g. albumin), occurred into neuroependymal cells at some ages. 6. These results suggest that the very immature brain of the newborn tammar is protected from protein present in the circulating plasma even at an embryonic stage of development by a combination of a well-formed blood-brain barrier to protein in the cerebral vessels and a CSF-brain barrier to protein at the level of the neuroependyma. The adult-type blood-CSF barrier to protein (tight junctions between adjacent choroid plexus epithelial cells) is present but appears to be bypassed in the immature brain, probably by a transcellular route across the choroid plexus.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14566837,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs inhibit growth of human neuroendocrine tumor cells via G1 cell-cycle arrest.\nTherapeutic options to inhibit growth of human NETs of the GEP system are limited. Since NSAIDs might provide an antiproliferative treatment alternative with acceptable toxicity, we examined the effects of different NSAIDs on growth and survival in a representative set of human GEP NET cell lines. Growth and apoptosis were determined based on cell numbers, cell-cycle analyses, kinase assays, DNA fragmentation and PARP cleavage. Expression of COX and cell cycle-regulatory molecules was examined by immunoblotting and reporter gene assays. Depending on the drug and cell line investigated, NSAID treatment resulted in profound growth inhibition of GEP NET cells. Growth-inhibitory effects were achieved with either COX-2 selective (NS398) or unselective (indomethacin, sulindac) compounds. Cell-cycle analyses documented a G1 arrest in NSAID-treated GEP NET populations. In addition, 100 microM sulindac or indomethacin induced apoptosis. All 3 COX inhibitors prevented CDK-2 activation. In parallel to the NSAID-mediated reduction of CDK-2 activity, p21(cip-1) promoter activity and cellular p21(cip-1) levels increased and p21(cip-1) was sequestered into CDK-2 complexes. Thus, the G1 arrest likely resulted from p21(cip-1)-dependent inhibition of CDK-2 activity. At therapeutically relevant concentrations, sulindac significantly reduced GEP NET cell numbers, whereas IFN-alpha and octreotide remained ineffective. The extent of growth inhibition in GEP NETs was comparable to the antiproliferative effects of sulindac in established NSAID-sensitive cell models. NSAIDs acted as potent antiproliferative agents in GEP NET cells via G1 cell-cycle arrest and might therefore offer a therapeutic alternative to current treatment modalities.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28578586,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Origin of Somatic Mutations in \u03b2-Catenin versus Adenomatous Polyposis Coli in Colon Cancer: Random Mutagenesis in Animal Models versus Nonrandom Mutagenesis in Humans.\nWnt signaling is compromised early in the development of human colorectal cancer (CRC) due to truncating nonsense mutations in adenomatous polyposis coli (APC). CRC induced by chemical carcinogens, such as heterocyclic aromatic amines and azoxymethane, in mice also involves dysregulation of Wnt signaling but via activating missense mutations in the \u03b2-catenin oncogene despite the fact that genetically modified mice harboring an inactive APC allele efficiently develop CRC. In contrast, activating mutations in \u03b2-catenin are rarely observed in human CRC. Dysregulation of the Wnt signaling pathway by the two distinct mechanisms reveals insights into the etiology of human CRC. On the basis of calculations related to DNA adduct levels produced in mouse CRC models using mutagens, and the number of stem cells in the mouse colon, we show that two nonsense mutations required for biallelic disruption of APC are statistically unlikely to produce CRC in experiments using small numbers of mice. We calculate that an activating mutation in one allele near the critical GSK3\u03b2 phosphorylation site on \u03b2-catenin is >105-times more likely to produce CRC by random mutagenesis due to chemicals than inactivating two alleles in APC, yet it does not occur in humans. Therefore, the mutagenesis mechanism in human CRC cannot be random. We explain that nonsense APC mutations predominate in human CRC because of deamination at 5-methylcytosine at CGA and CAG codons, coupled with the number of human colonic stem cells and lifespan. Our analyses, including a comparison of mutation type and age at CRC diagnosis in U.S. and Chinese patients, also indicate that APC mutations in CRC are not due to environmental mutagens that randomly damage DNA.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8342577,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Acute nephropathy of organotin compounds.\nThree patients who developed acute nephropathy following ingestion of triphenyltin acetate (TPTA) are described. All of them had significant proteinuria, azotemia, and polyuria. Mild neurological manifestations in all patients were also noted. Hematuria and pyuria were noted in 1 severely poisoned patient. Evidence for hepatitis was present in 2 patients, and for pancreatitis in 1. Renal biopsy showed focal fusion of glomerular cell processes and proximal tubular damage with cellular necrosis. Two patients survived with complete recovery of renal functions. One old patient died of aspiration pneumonia. Acute nephropathy following organotin intoxication appears to result mainly from proximal renal tubular damage with a benign and reversible clinical course.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30303377,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Fast Pairwise Approximation of Solvent Accessible Surface Area for Implicit Solvent Simulations of Proteins on CPUs and GPUs.\nWe propose a pairwise and readily parallelizable SASA-based nonpolar solvation approach for protein simulations, inspired by our previous pairwise GB polar solvation model development. In this work, we developed a novel function to estimate the atomic and molecular SASAs of proteins, which results in comparable accuracy as the LCPO algorithm in reproducing numerical icosahedral-based SASA values. Implemented in Amber software and tested on consumer GPUs, our pwSASA method reasonably reproduces LCPO simulation results, but accelerates MD simulations up to 30 times compared to the LCPO implementation, which is greatly desirable for protein simulations facing sampling challenges. The value of incorporating the nonpolar term in implicit solvent simulations is explored on a peptide fragment containing the hydrophobic core of HP36 and evaluating thermal stability profiles of four small proteins.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6171707,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Meta-phosphoric acid-its use in the selective extraction of RNA from fixed tissue sections.\nThis communication presents a new quick method for selective extraction of RNA from formalin-fixed tissues, such as kidney, intestine, ovary and testis of white rat and liver of rodents, Tatera indica and Millardia meltada and of the frog, Rana tigrina as well as of human wart. Sections of pancreas and kidney fixed in acetic acid-alcohol were also tried. The method is to treat deparaffinised sections in 20% and 15% meta-phosphoric acid at 5 degrees C for 10-20 and 20-30 min, respectively, and then to stain nuclear DNA with 0.5% aqueous solution of methyl green, methylene green, Giemsa, toluidine blue O or 0.125% pyronin G for 2 min, rinsed with water, treated with n-butanol for 2-3 min, cleared in xylene and mounted. It has been found that liver sections of rodents require 24 hours of treatment in 15% cold meta-phosphoric acid for complete removal of RNA, whereas those of the frog require only 20 min at 20% acid. It has been concluded that following treatment of sections in cold meta-phosphoric acid, RNA is extracted selectively leaving DNA in a native state. Therefore, staining of DNA in tissue sections from which RNA has been extracted is due to binding of its negatively charged phosphate groups with the positively charged dye molecules.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6735816,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Thermal adjustment to cold-water exposure in exercising men and women.\nThermoregulatory responses were studied in 10 men and 8 women during 36-W exercise for 1 h in air and water at 20, 24, and 28 degrees C. Men were classified as high (27.6%; n = 2), average (16.8%; n = 4), and low (9.2%; n = 4) percent body fat, whereas women were classified as average (25.2%; n = 4) and low (18.5%; n = 4) fat. For both men and women, exercise of about 1.7 l O2 X min-1 was beneficial in either preventing or retarding the fall in rectal temperature (Tre) observed in a previous study for the same subjects at rest. The greatest thermal strain was noted for the leanest subjects. However, in no instance did exercise facilitate a drop in Tre compared with resting conditions. Despite a larger surface area-to-mass ratio (P less than 0.05) and less effective thermoregulation for women at rest compared with men, essentially similar thermoregulatory responses were observed for both sexes during exercise at each water temperature. For both the men and women, the thermoregulatory benefits of exercise were due largely to the added heat production from physical activity. For the female, an additional benefit of exercise may in part be derived from a more favorable distribution of subcutaneous fat over the active musculature.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16225256,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Sneddon syndrome with anti-mitochondrial type M5 antibodies].\nAntimitochondrial type M5 antibodies (AMA-M5) are among the immunological abnormalities associated with Sneddon syndrome. A 45 year-old woman, hospitalized for diplopia and with a 20-year history of obstetrical accidents, internuclear ophthalmoplegia and livedo, was diagnosed with Sneddon syndrome associated with primary antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) aggravated by the presence of AMA-M5. AMA-M5 are immunological markers of APS to the same extent as antiphospholipid antibodies. This case demonstrates the interest of screening for AMA-M5 in cases of strong clinical suspicion of APS when the anticoagulant lupus test is normal and no anti-cardiolipin, anti-b2 glycoprotein I or antiprothrombin antibodies are found.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12011714,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Computer-assisted fracture reduction of pelvic ring fractures: an in vitro study.\nA newly developed software module for computer-assisted surgery based on a commercially available navigation system allows simultaneous, independent registration of two fragments and real-time navigation of both fragments while reduction occurs. To evaluate the accuracy three fracture models were used: geometric foam blocks, a pelvic ring injury with disruption of the symphysis and the sacroiliac joint, and a pelvic ring fracture with symphysis disruption and a transforaminal sacral fracture. One examiner did visual and navigated reduction and in all experiments the end point was defined as anatomic reduction. Residual displacement was measured with a magnetic motion tracking device. The results revealed a significantly increased residual displacement with navigated reduction compared with visual control. The differences were low, averaging 1 mm for residual translation and 0.7 degrees for the residual rotation, respectively. Residual displacement was small in both set-ups and may not be clinically relevant. Additional development of the software prototype with integration of surface registration may lead to improved handling and facilitated multifragment tracking. Use in the clinical setting should be possible within a short time.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25515951,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sleep and partner-specific quality of life in partners of men with lower urinary tract symptoms compared with partners of men from the general population.\nThe aims of this study were to examine differences between partners of men with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) suggestive of benign prostatic obstruction (BPO) and partners of men from the population regarding sleep and two aspects of quality of life, partner-specific quality of life and health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and to identify factors related to the partner-specific quality of life and the parameter sleep efficiency. The design was descriptive and comparative. The subjects were partners of men with LUTS suggestive of BPO (n = 126) and partners of randomly selected men from the general population (n = 131). Self-administered questionnaires about demography, comorbidity, sleep, sexuality, partner-specific quality of life and HRQoL were used. Partners of men with LUTS suggestive of BPO were significantly more affected in all variables measuring partner-specific quality of life compared with partners from the population. The most impaired aspects were compassion and worry about an operation or cancer. In logistic regression, the only explanatory factors were having a partner belonging to the LUTS group for impaired partner-specific quality of life and having a bed partner for high sleep efficiency. There were no significant differences between the two groups regarding the quantity and quality of sleep or the HRQoL. The partner-specific quality of life was impaired in partners of men with LUTS suggestive of BPO. Sleep and HRQoL did not differ between partners of men with LUTS and partners from the population.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17200742,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Differential interactions of phytochrome A (Pr vs. Pfr) with monoclonal antibodies probed by a surface plasmon resonance technique.\nPhytochromes are red- and far-red light-reversible photoreceptors for photomorphogenesis in plants. Phytochrome A is a dimeric chromopeptide that mediates very low fluence and high irradiance responses. To analyze the surface properties of phytochrome A (phyA), the epitopes of 21 anti-phyA monoclonal antibodies were determined by variously engineered recombinant phyA proteins and the dissociation constants of seven anti-phyA monoclonal antibodies with phyA were measured using a surface plasmon resonance (SPR)-based resonant mirror biosensor (IAsys). Purified oat phyA was immobilized on the sensor surface using a carboxymethyl dextran cuvette in advance, and the interactions of each chosen monoclonal antibody against phyA in either red light absorbing form (Pr) or far-red light absorbing form (Pfr) at different concentrations were monitored. The binding profiles were analyzed using the FAST Fit program of IAsys. The resultant values of dissociation constants clearly demonstrated the differential affinities between the phyA epitopes and the monoclonal antibodies dependent upon Pr vs. Pfr conformations. Monoclonal antibody mAP20 preferentially recognized the epitope at amino acids 653-731 in the Pr form, whereas mAA02, mAP21 and mAR07\/mAR08 displayed preferential affinities for the Pfr's surfaces at epitopes 494-601 (the hinge region between the N- and C-terminal domains), 601-653 (hinge in PASI domain), and 772-1128 (C-terminal domain), respectively. The N-terminal extension (1-74) was not recognized by mAP09 and mAP15, suggesting that the N-terminal extreme is not exposed in the native conformation of phyA. On the other hand, the C-terminal domain becomes apparently exposed on Pr-to-Pfr phototransformation, suggesting an inter-domain cross-talk. The use of surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy offers a new approach to study the surface properties of phytochromes associated with the photoreversible structural changes, as well as for the study of protein-protein interactions of phytochromes with their interacting proteins involved in light signaling events in plants.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12180773,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of an educational bereavement program on health care professionals' perceptions of perinatal loss.\nThe purpose of this study was to examine the differences in health care professionals' perceptions of perinatal loss situations before and after an educational program on perinatal bereavement. A quasi-experimental design was used in a pretest and posttest format. Scores were significantly higher (p = .000) on each of the posttest vignettes. Overall scores were lowest for the miscarriage pretest, whereas scores for the pretest vignettes for the stillbirth and neonatal loss were similar. A similar pattern occurred in the posttest vignette scores. Health care professionals' perceptions of the emotional care needs of families experiencing perinatal loss were significantly increased after an educational program. The miscarriage vignette had the largest change score and the lowest mean scores on the pretest and posttest, which indicates professionals do not view miscarriage as significant a loss as stillbirth and neonatal loss.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28689086,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Validation of reference genes for quantifying changes in gene expression in virus-infected tobacco.\nTo facilitate quantification of gene expression changes in virus-infected tobacco plants, eight housekeeping genes were evaluated for their stability of expression during infection by one of three systemically-infecting viruses (cucumber mosaic virus, potato virus X, potato virus Y) or a hypersensitive-response-inducing virus (tobacco mosaic virus; TMV) limited to the inoculated leaf. Five reference-gene validation programs were used to establish the order of the most stable genes for the systemically-infecting viruses as ribosomal protein L25 > \u03b2-Tubulin > Actin, and the least stable genes Ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme (UCE) < PP2A < GAPDH. For local infection by TMV, the most stable genes were EF1\u03b1 > Cysteine protease > Actin, and the least stable genes were GAPDH < PP2A < UCE. Using two of the most stable and the two least stable validated reference genes, three defense responsive genes were examined to compare their relative changes in gene expression caused by each virus.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23330416,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Postintubation tracheal injuries--case series and literature review.\nSUMMARY - Post-intubation tracheal injury is a rare and potentially fatal complication. The most common causes are overinflation ofendotracheal tube cuffs and multiple intubation attempts in emergency cases. The diagnosis is based on clinical and radiological suspicion of tracheal injury confirmed by fiberoptic bronchoscopy. Decision between conservative and surgical management of the injury depends on clinical presentation (respiratory instability, concomitant diseases), lesion characteristics (lesion site, size, and number), and time elapsed from injury to diagnosis. We present three cases ofpost-intubation tracheal injury. In two cases, the patients were treated conservatively; in the third case, the patient died from asphyxia caused by thrombus occlusion of the trachea after a longitudinal tracheal lesion. Pre-anesthetic examination did not indicate any possibility of difficult intubation in any of the patients; however, in one of the patients admitted through the emergency department, emergency intubation was performed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20367795,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Four-year study of lamivudine and adefovir combination therapy in lamivudine-resistant hepatitis B patients: influence of hepatitis B virus genotype and resistance mutation pattern.\nTo investigate the efficacy of long-term lamivudine (3TC) and adefovir dipivoxil (ADV) combination therapy in 3TC-resistant chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infected patients, we analysed 28 3TC-resistant patients treated with the combination therapy during 47 months (range, 9-75). At 12, 24, 36, and 48 months, the rates of virological response with undetectable HBV DNA (\u2264 2.6 log copies\/mL) were 56, 80, 86, and 92%, respectively. Among 17 hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-positive patients, HBeAg disappeared in 24% at 12 months, 25% at 24 months, 62% at 36 months, and 88% at 48 months. When HBV genotypes were compared, patients with genotype B achieved virological response significantly more rapidly than those with genotype C (P=0.0496). One patient developed virological breakthrough after 54 months, and sequence analysis of HBV obtained from the patient was performed. An rtA200V mutation was present in the majority of HBV clones, in addition to the 3TC-resistant mutations of rtL180M+M204V. The rtN236T ADV-resistant mutation was observed in only 25% clones. In vitro analysis showed that the rtA200V mutation recovered the impaired replication capacity of the clone with the rtL180M+M204V mutations and induced resistance to ADV. Moreover, rtT184S and rtS202C, which are known entecavir-resistant mutations, emerged in some rtL180M+M204V clones without rtA200V or rtN236T. In conclusion, 3TC+ADV combination therapy was effective for most 3TC-resistant patients, especially with genotype B HBV, but the risk of emergence of multiple drug-resistant strains with long-term therapy should be considered. The mutation rtA200V with rtL180M+M204V may be sufficient for failure of 3TC+ADV therapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36266262,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Value and Impacts of Academic Public Health Departments.\nThe academic health department (AHD) is a partnership between an academic institution and a governmental health agency. These partnerships are meant to provide mutual benefits that include opportunities for student field placements and internships, practice-informed curriculum, and practice-based research. The term academic health department dates back only to 2000, although there are several examples of academic-practice partnerships prior to that date. In addition to AHDs that have been established over the past two decades, other forms of academic-practice engagement provide similar mutual benefits, such as prevention research centers and public health training centers. Current research on AHDs explores how these partnerships matter regarding the outputs, outcomes, and impacts of the units that comprise them. This review also considers the most recent perspectives on how AHDs have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic and how they might advance public health's efforts to address structural racism and promote health equity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35362988,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Gaining Insight into the Role of the Solvent during Spray Drying of Amorphous Solid Dispersions by Studying Evaporation Kinetics.\nSpray drying is one of the most commonly used manufacturing techniques for amorphous solid dispersions (ASDs). During spray drying, very fast solvent evaporation is enabled by the generation of small droplets and exposure of these droplets to a heated drying gas. This fast solvent evaporation leads to an increased viscosity that enables kinetic trapping of an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) in a polymer matrix, which is favorable for the formulation of supersaturated, kinetically stabilized ASDs. In this work, the relation between the solvent evaporation rate and the kinetic stabilization of highly drug-loaded ASDs was investigated. Accordingly, thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) was employed to study the evaporation kinetics of seven organic solvents and the influence of solutes, i.e., poly(vinylpyrrolidone-co-vinyl acetate) (PVPVA), fenofibrate (FNB), and naproxen (NAP), on the evaporation behavior. At 10 \u00b0C below the boiling point of the respective solvent, methanol (MeOH) had the lowest evaporation rate and dichloromethane (DCM) had the highest. PVPVA decreased the evaporation rate for all solvents, yet this effect was more pronounced for the relatively faster evaporating solvents. The APIs had opposite effects on the evaporation process: FNB increased the evaporation rate, while NAP decreased it. The latter might indicate the presence of interactions between NAP and the solvent or NAP and PVPVA, which was further investigated using Fourier transform-InfraRed (FT-IR) spectroscopy. Based on these findings, spray drying process parameters were adapted to alter the evaporation rate. Increasing the evaporation rate of MeOH and DCM enabled the kinetic stabilization of higher drug loadings of FNB, while the opposite trend was observed for ASDs of NAP. Even when higher drug loadings could be kinetically stabilized by adapting the process parameters, the improvement was limited, demonstrating that the phase behavior of these ASDs of FNB and NAP immediately after preparation was predominantly determined by the API-polymer-solvent combination rather than the process parameters applied.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29566034,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Drug- and\/or trauma-induced hyperthermia? Characterization of HSP70 and myoglobin expression.\nHeat shock protein 70 (HSP70) expression could be discussed as an adaption that promotes repair and counteracts cell damage. Myoglobin is released upon muscle damage of several pathways. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether the expression of HSP70 in kidney, heart and brain and of myoglobin in the kidney were associated with the cause of death and the survival times after lethal intoxications with three of the drugs most widely used in our local area (Saxony, Germany) as well as after fatal traumatic brain injury (TBI). We retrospectively collected kidney, heart and brain samples of 50 autopsy cases with toxicological proved lethal intoxication (main drugs methamphetamine, morphine, alcohol), 14 TBI cases and 15 fatalities with acute myocardial injury in age- and gender-matched compilations. Our main findings suggest that HSP70 is associated with hyperthermal and other stress factors of most cell populations. HSP70 expressions in kidney and heart muscle are useful for a differentiation between fatal intoxications and cases without toxicological influence (p < 0.05). There were significant differences in the cerebral expression patterns between methamphetamine- and morphine-associated deaths compared to alcohol fatalities (p < 0.05). An intensive staining of HSP70 in the pericontusional zone and the hippocampus after TBI (especially neuronal and vascular) was shown even after short survival times and may be useful as an additional marker in questions of vitality or wound age. A relevant myoglobin decoration of renal tubules was only shown for methamphetamine abuse in the study presented. In sum, the immunohistochemical characteristics presented can be supportive for determining final death circumstances and minimal trauma survival times but are not isolated usefully for the detection of drug- or trauma-induced hyperthermia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37662941,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The HLA class I immunopeptidomes of AAV capsid proteins.\nCellular immune responses against AAV vector capsid represent an obstacle for successful gene therapy. Previous studies have used overlapping peptides spanning the entire capsid sequence to identify T cell epitopes recognized by AAV-specific CD8+ T cells. However, the repertoire of peptides naturally displayed by HLA class I molecules for CD8 T cell recognition is unknown. Using mRNA transfected monocyte-derived dendritic cells (MDDCs) and MHC-associated peptide proteomics (MAPPs), we identified the HLA class I immunopeptidomes of AAV2, AAV6 and AAV9 capsids. MDDCs were isolated from a panel of healthy donors that have diverse alleles across the US population. mRNA-transfected MDDCs were lysed, the peptide:HLA complexes immunoprecipitated, and peptides eluted and analyzed by mass spectrometry. We identified 65 AAV capsid-derived peptides loaded on HLA class I molecules of mRNA transfected monocyte derived dendritic cells. The HLA class I peptides are distributed along the entire capsid and more than 60% are contained within HLA class II clusters. Most of the peptides are organized as single species, however we identified twelve clusters containing at least 2 peptides of different lengths. Only 9% of the identified peptides have been previously identified as T cell epitopes, demonstrating that the immunogenicity potential for the vast majority of the AAV HLA class I immunopeptidome remains uncharacterized. In contrast, 12 immunogenic epitopes identified before were not found to be naturally processed in our study. Remarkably, 11 naturally presented AAV peptides were highly conserved among the three serotypes analyzed suggesting the possibility of cross-reactive AAV-specific CD8 T cells. This work is the first comprehensive study identifying the naturally displayed HLA class I peptides derived from the capsid of AAVs. The results from this study can be used to generate strategies to assess immunogenicity risk and cross-reactivity among serotypes during gene therapies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28350867,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dissociation between skin test reactivity and anti-aeroallergen IgE: Determinants among urban Brazilian children.\nThe dissociation between specific IgE and skin prick test reactivity to aeroallergens, a common finding in populations living in low and middle-income countries, has important implications for the diagnosis and treatment of allergic diseases. Few studies have investigated the determinants of this dissociation. In the present study, we explored potential factors explaining this dissociation in children living in an urban area of Northeast Brazil, focusing in particular on factors associated with poor hygiene. Of 1445 children from low income communities, investigated for risk factors of allergies, we studied 481 with specific IgE antibodies to any of Blomia tropicalis, Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, Periplaneta americana and Blatella germanica allergens. Data on demographic, environmental and social exposures were collected by questionnaire; serum IgG and stool examinations were done to detect current or past infections with viral, bacterial, protozoan and intestinal helminth pathogens. We measured atopy by skin prick testing (SPT) and specific IgE (sIgE) to aerollergens in serum (by ImmunoCAP). SIgE reactivity to B. tropicalis extract depleted of carbohydrates was measured by an in-house ELISA. Total IgE was measured by in house capture ELISA. SNPs were typed using Illumina Omni 2.5. Negative skin prick tests in the presence of specific IgE antibodies were frequent. Factors independently associated with a reduced frequency of positive skin prick tests were large number of siblings, the presence of IgG to herpes simplex virus, Ascaris lumbricoides and Trichuris trichiura infections, living in neighborhoods with infrequent garbage collection, presence of rodents and cats in the household and sIgE reactivity to glycosylated B. tropicalis allergens. Also, SNP on IGHE (rs61737468) was negatively associated with SPT reactivity. A variety of factors were found to be associated with decreased frequency of SPT such as unhygienic living conditions, infections, total IgE, IgE response to glycosylated allergens and genetic polymorphisms, indicating that multiple mechanisms may be involved. Our data, showing that exposures to an unhygienic environment and childhood infections modulate immediate allergen skin test reactivity, provide support for the \"hygiene hypothesis\".","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34409032,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Role of lncRNA BANCR in Human Cancers: An Updated Review.\nBeing located in a gene desert region on 9q21.11-q21.12, BRAF-activated non-protein coding RNA (BANCR) is an lncRNA with 693 bp length. It has been discovered in 2012 in a research aimed at assessment of gene expression in the melanocytes in association with BRAF mutation. Increasing numbers of studies have determined its importance in the tumorigenesis through affecting cell proliferation, migration, invasion, apoptosis, and epithelial to mesenchymal transition. BANCR exerts its effects via modulating some tumor-related signaling pathways particularly MAPK and other regulatory mechanisms such as sponging miRNAs. BANCR has been up-regulated in endometrial, gastric, breast, melanoma, and retinoblastoma. Conversely, it has been down-regulated in some other cancers such as those originated from lung, bladder, and renal tissues. In some cancer types such as colorectal cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma and papillary thyroid carcinoma, there is no agreement about BANCR expression, necessitating the importance of additional functional studies in these tissues. In the present manuscript, we review the investigations related to BANCR expression changes in cancerous cell lines, clinical samples, and animal models of cancer. We also discuss the outcome of its deregulation in cancer progression, prognosis, and the underlying mechanisms of these observations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36927217,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Improved confidence estimation for the binomial proportion with applications to clinical studies.\nIn this paper, we establish a frequentist framework that incorporates all confidence sets with guaranteed frequentist coverage probability for the binomial proportion, where different confidence sets are completely characterized by their tail functions. Based on measures of precision in the form of interval length, probability of false coverage, and a new evaluation criterion utilizing prior information, we construct the optimal confidence set for the binomial proportion. The newly proposed methodology is applied to clinical studies. It is shown that confidence intervals obtained via the tail functions are often better than prevailing confidence intervals in view of precision.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16224502,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Use of evidence-based management for acute coronary syndrome.\nThis study compared the management of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) for patients admitted to Dunedin Coronary Care with evidence-based recommendations from the American College of Cardiology \/ American Heart Association in 1999 and 2002 and with management reported in international and local registries. All patients with ACS from 2001-2002 were included. Guidelines stated that aspirin, beta-blockers, statins, and ACE-inhibitors\/angiotensin-II-blockers are appropriate treatment for acute coronary syndrome. These medications were prescribed respectively in 98%, 80%, 70% and 55% of patients on discharge. In patients with documented dyslipidaemia, Statins was prescribed in 80% on discharge. The use of ACE inhibitors was 73% in patients with impaired left ventricular function, 79% in patients with clinical heart failure and 84% in patients with anterior ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). For patients with STEMI, 67% received coronary angiography, 50% had PCI and 7% underwent inpatient coronary artery bypass grafting. For Non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI), the respective numbers were 73%, 38% and 21%. Our use of evidence-based medications was consistent with published guidelines and comparable to results of international registries (CRUSADE, EUROESPIRE II, GRACE) in 2001-2002. There is good adherence to the use of evidence-based management for acute coronary syndrome in Dunedin Coronary Care Unit.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1158331,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Immunological studies on the localization of phosphatidylglycerol in the membranes of Mycoplasma hominis.\nPhosphatidylglycerol is the main component (87%) of the membrane phospholipids of Mycoplasma hominis. It is immunologically active. Antibodies directed against phosphatidylglycerol were detected in rabbits intravenously immunised with native M. hominis or isolated M. hominis membranes. The intravenous method of immunisation was chosen in order to select for a response to surface antigenic determinants. Anti-phosphatidylglycerol antibodies were induced in rabbits by intravenously injecting the flocculated complexes of methylated bovine serum albumin and a phosphatidylglycerol\/phosphatidylcholine\/cholesterol mixture. These antibodies were specifically bound to intact M. hominis, as shown by complement fixation and Coombs tests. Native M. hominis were not agglutinated by anti-phosphatidylglycerol antibodies; but after partial digestion of the membrane proteins with Pronase, the mycoplasmas were heavily agglutinated by the anti-phosphatidylglycerol antibodies. The same amount of anti-phosphatidylglycerol antibodies was bound to intact M. hominis, containing 600 mug of phosphatidylglycerol as to 6 mug of phosphatidylglycerol in the optimal configurational arrangement of a mixed phosphatidylglycerol\/phosphatidylcholine\/cholesterol micelle. It is concluded that the major part of the phosphatidylglycerol in native M. hominis membranes is masked, probably by membrane proteins, and is not accessible to the anti-phosphatidylglycerol antibodies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3070196,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Study of T lymphocyte subpopulations in patients with leprosy, using incubation with theophylline].\nT cells and the theophylline resistant cells (the-r, helper cells) in peripheral blood of patients with different forms of leprosy were studied. Active lepromatous patients (LL+) showed a significant decrease in T lymphocytes and the-r cells. Nevertheless, in LL+ developing a reactional episode of erythema nodosum (LL-ENL) a restoration in the level of the-r cells was observed. It is concluded that in LL+ patients the depression of T cells and the-r cells represents an imbalance in the T-T cellular cooperation with a defective cellular immune response. On the other hand, the recovery of the-r cells in LL-ENL support the hypothesis of a cell mediated immune mechanism in the immunopathology of this reactional episode.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17183487,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evidence of allopolyploidy in Brachiaria brizantha (Poaceae: Paniceae) through chromosome arrangement at metaphase plate during microsporogenesis.\nIn the hexaploid (2n = 6x = 54) accession B176 of Brachiaria brizantha, one cytological characteristic differentiated it from the other accessions previously analyzed with the same ploidy level. Nearly 40% of meiocytes displayed the chromosome set arranged at two metaphase plates at the poles of the cell, close to the membrane. In these cells, both metaphase plates were arranged in an angle to form a typical tripolar spindle. Therefore, cells did not show normal chromosome segregation at anaphase I. Only nine univalent chromosomes migrated from each plate to the opposite pole with the remainder staying immobile on the plate. As a result of such spindle orientation and chromosome behavior, trinucleate telophases I were recorded. After telophase, cytokinesis eliminated the small nuclei into a microcyte. The second division proceeded normally, with the presence of microcytes in all phases. The origin of such an abnormality was explained on the hexaploid level of the accession which could have resulted by chromosome doubling of a triploid derived from species that did not display the same behavior for spindle organization. The high percentage of meiotic abnormalities recorded in this accession compromises fertility and renders it inadequate for the breeding program.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29546831,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Development of Bruton's Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors for Rheumatoid Arthritis.\nRheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease and becomes one of the major causes of disability and work force loss. The presence of abnormal B cell and autoantibodies produced by most RA patients, primarily ACPA and RF, indicate that the function of B cell was involved in the development of RA disease. Accordingly, the drug targeting B cell has become a hot spot in the treatment of RA. Studies have shown that Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) is involved in the regulation of B cell proliferation and activation process. Some small molecule BTK inhibitors have shown excellent inhibition in biological activity analysis and animal models. Therefore, this review will briefly introduce BTK and its role in cell signaling and overview recent progress of BTK inhibitors for RA treatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14557793,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The significance of protein in food intake and body weight regulation.\nTo highlight the underexposed but important role of protein in food intake and body weight regulation. Protein plays a key role in food intake regulation through satiety related to diet-induced thermogenesis. Protein also plays a key role in body weight regulation through its effect on thermogenesis and body composition. A high percentage of energy from dietary protein limits body weight (re)gain through its satiety and energy inefficiency related to the change in body composition. Protein is more satiating than carbohydrate and fat in the short term, over 24 h and in the long term. Thermogenesis plays a role in this satiety effect, but the role of satiety hormones still needs to be elucidated. On the short-term 'fast' proteins are more satiating than 'slow' proteins, and animal protein induces a higher thermogenesis than vegetable protein. In the longer term the higher postabsorptive satiety and thermogenesis are sustained irrespective of the protein source. High-protein diets affect body weight loss positively only under ad-libitum energy intake conditions, implying also a decreased energy intake. Body composition and metabolic profile are improved. Additional protein consumption results in a significantly lower body weight regain after weight loss, due to body composition, satiety, thermogenesis, and energy inefficiency, while the metabolic profile improves. Implications from these findings are: for practice, recommendations for increasing the percentage of energy from protein while reducing energy intake; for clinical research, assessment of the paradox of increasing the percentage energy from a highly satiating macronutrient; of the potential roles of protein in a negative and positive energy balance; assessment of possibilities of replacing dietary protein by effective amino acids or peptides that may show a similar impact on body weight regulation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23463930,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Extracranial association of arteriovenous and venous malformations. Case report.\nAssociation of multiple vascular malformations of the face is a rare condition. An arteriovenous malformation (AVM) with a venous malformation as the draining vein is also a rarity. We report a case of extracranial mixed vascular malformations that deformed the normal architecture of the lower face. Removal of the AVM was followed by stability of the jaw and tongue malformation, indicating the AVM used the venous malformation as its draining vein. This approach spared the patient severe cosmetic and functional sequelae.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28533936,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Synthesis and evaluation of [64Cu]PSMA-617 targeted for prostate-specific membrane antigen in prostate cancer.\nWe radiolabeled a ligand, PSMA-617, of prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) with copper-64 (64Cu), to evaluate the metabolism, biodistribution, and potential of [64Cu]PSMA-617 for PET imaging of prostate cancer. [64Cu]PSMA-617 was synthesized by heating PSMA-617 with [64Cu]CuCl2 in buffer solution at 90\u00b0C for 5 min. In vitro uptake was determined in two cell lines of prostate cancer. In vivo regional distributions were determined in normal and tumor-bearing mice. High radiolabeling efficiency of 64Cu for PSMA-617 yielded [64Cu]PSMA-617 with >99% radiochemical purity. In vitro cellular uptake experiments demonstrated the specificity of [64Cu]PSMA-617 for PSMA-positive LNCaP cells. Biodistribution observations of normal mice revealed high uptake of radioactivity in the kidney and liver. PET with [64Cu]PSMA-617 visualized tumor areas implanted by PSMA-positive LNCaP cells in the mice. Two hours after the injection of [64Cu]PSMA-617 into mice, a radiolabeled metabolite was observed in the blood, liver, urine, and LNCaP tumor tissues. [64Cu]PSMA-617 was easily synthesized, and exhibited a favorable biodistribution in PSMA-positive tumors. Although this radioligand shows slow clearance for kidney and high liver uptake, change of its chelator moiety and easy radiolabeling may enable development of new 64Cu or 67Cu-labeled PSMA ligands for imaging and radiotherapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":939199,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Partial purification of a progesterone-inducible messenger RNA (avidin) from hen oviduct.\nThe messenger RNA (mRNA) for avidin, which represents less than 0.05% of the total cellular proteins, was partially purified from hen oviduct, and the presence of avidin mRNA was shown to depend upon prior stimulation by progesterone. A total nucleic acid extract was subjected to oligo (dT)-cellulose chromatography, followed by Sepharose 4B chromatography, preparative agarose gel electrophoresis, and sucrose gradient centrifugation. The relative purity of each preparation was assessed by translation in a wheat-germ system; avidin messenger RNA activity was measured by specific immunoprecipitation of synthesized proteins. Avidin mRNA was separated from the bulk of the total messenger RNA activity of the oviduct and from all ribosomal RNAs to produce greater than a 1000-fold enrichment of avidin mRNA activity compared with total cellular RNA. Based on the translation assay, the most highly purified fraction contained about 2.5% avidin messenger RNA. Avidin mRNA activity was absent in partially purified mRNA obtained from estrogen-stimulated chick oviducts, but was detected in oviducts following progesterone administration.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17823244,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Silencing of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase in plants alters abiotic stress signal transduction.\nTransgenic plants with reduced poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) levels have broad-spectrum stress-resistant phenotypes. Both Arabidopsis thaliana and oilseed rape (Brassica napus) lines overexpressing RNA interference-PARP constructs were more resistant to various abiotic stress treatments in laboratory and greenhouse experiments without negative effects on growth, development, and seed production. This outperforming stress tolerance was initially attributed solely to a maintained energy homeostasis due to reduced NAD(+) consumption. We show that in PARP2-deficient Arabidopsis plants, the observed abiotic stress resistance can also be explained by alterations in abscisic acid levels that facilitate the induction of a wide set of defense-related genes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7928917,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Loss of diaphragm glutathione is associated with respiratory failure induced by resistive breathing.\nIt has been suggested that oxidant stress may contribute to dysfunction of respiratory muscles undergoing severe work loads. We examined changes in glutathione content and redox status in the diaphragm and intercostal muscles of anesthetized Sprague-Dawley rats exposed to prolonged inspiratory resistive loading while breathing 70% O2. These results were compared with those from control groups breathing air or 70% O2. Changes in liver glutathione were also examined. Freeze-clamping and an enzymatic recycling assay were used. Results show that 1) in controls, glutathione content was higher in the diaphragm than in the intercostals, 2) severe hypercapnic acidosis without hypoxemia was present with loading, 3) total diaphragm glutathione decreased approximately 35% with no increase in glutathione oxidation with resistive breathing, whereas intercostal and liver glutathione remained unchanged, and 4) the drop in diaphragm glutathione correlated significantly with the drop in minute ventilation and the increase in arterial PCO2, whereas it was not directly related to intensity of respiratory muscle activity. In conclusion, although diaphragm susceptibility to oxidant stress may be increased with resistive breathing, it is unlikely that the modest decrease in total glutathione contributed significantly to respiratory failure in this model.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30098525,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Socioeconomic and particulate air pollution correlates of heart disease risk.\nHow does risk of heart disease depend on age, sex, smoking, income, education, marital status, and outdoor concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5)? We join data available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance (BRFSS) System for years 2008-2012 to US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data on county-specific concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) to quantify associations among these variables and to explore possible causal interpretations. Low income is identified as a direct cause of increased heart disease risk in this data set. The effect depends on age and sex: it is most pronounced for men under age 70 and for women under age 80. Income is significantly associated with all of the other variables examined and confounds the association between PM2.5 and heart disease risk. This association is significant in regression models that exclude income, but not in regression models that include it, both in the data set as a whole and in the subset of observations with PM2.5 < 15 \u03bcg\/m3. Causal directed acyclic graph (DAG) models and non-parametric model ensemble partial dependence plots confirm that higher incomes reduce heart disease risk, consistent with previous observations of socioeconomic gradients in health risks. They support interpretation of this as a robust causal relation apparent in non-parametric analyses, and hence independent of any specific parametric modeling assumptions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16228452,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Chlorophyll breakdown in oilseed rape.\nChlorophyll catabolism accompanying leaf senescence is one of the most spectacular natural phenomena. Despite this fact, the metabolism of chlorophyll has been largely neglegted until recently. Oilseed rape has been used extensively as a model plant for the recent elucidating of structures of chlorophyll catabolites and for investigation of the enzymic reactions of the chlorophyll breakdown pathway. The key reaction which causes loss of green color is catalyzed in a two-step reaction by pheophorbide a oxygenase and red chlorophyll catabolite reductase. In this Minireview, we summarize the actual knowledge about catabolites and enzymes of chlorophyll catabolism in oilseed rape and discuss the significance of this pathway in respect to chlorophyll degradation during Brassica napus seed development.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17174044,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-30":1}}},"text":"Factors governing susceptibility to chemical allergy.\nChemical allergy describes adverse health effects that result from the stimulation of specific immune responses by chemicals. Hypersensitivity reactions are the result of normally beneficial immune responses acting inappropriately against benign antigens, causing inflammatory reactions and tissue damage. The two most frequent manifestations of chemical-induced allergy are contact hypersensitivity and respiratory sensitization, both of which can have serious impact on quality of life, and represent a common occupational health problems. Chemical agents cause approximately 30% of cases of occupational asthma and roughly 90% of these cases involve immunological mechanisms (allergy). Over the past few decades industrialized countries have witnessed a significant increase (although the rate of increase has recently slowed) in the prevalence of atopic diseases including atopic rhinitis, bronchial asthma and urticaria. Many factors, both intrinsic and extrinsic, can contribute to the development of chemical allergy. In particular, the immune response can be affected by the genetic background, pathological conditions, hormonal and central nervous system status, etc. and by chemical related factors, e.g. dose level, frequency, route and duration of exposure, biotransformation, pharmacokinetics, chemical reactivity, etc. Furthermore, chemical pollution, indoor environment, diet, vaccination programs and the \"hygiene hypothesis\" have also been implicated in the increased prevalence of asthma and atopic diseases. Following the influence of condition of exposure, heritable and acquired factors, such as age, genetic background, gender etc. on chemical allergy is discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18583347,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"TbRGG2, an essential RNA editing accessory factor in two Trypanosoma brucei life cycle stages.\nIn the mitochondria of kinetoplastid protozoa, including Trypanosoma brucei, RNA editing inserts and\/or deletes uridines from pre-mRNAs to produce mature, translatable mRNAs. RNA editing is carried out by several related multiprotein complexes known as editosomes, which contain all of the enzymatic components required for catalysis of editing. In addition, noneditosome accessory factors necessary for editing of specific RNAs have also been described. Here, we report the in vitro and in vivo characterization of the mitochondrial TbRGG2 protein (originally termed TbRGGm) and demonstrate that it acts as an editing accessory factor. TbRGG2 is an RNA-binding protein with a preference for poly(U). TbRGG2 protein levels are up-regulated 10-fold in procyclic form T. brucei compared with bloodstream forms. Nevertheless, the protein is essential for growth in both life cycle stages. TbRGG2 associates with RNase-sensitive and RNase-insensitive mitochondrial complexes, and a small fraction of the protein co-immunoprecipitates with editosomes. RNA interference-mediated depletion of TbRGG2 in both procyclic and bloodstream form T. brucei leads to a dramatic decrease in pan-edited RNAs and in some cases a corresponding increase in the pre-edited RNA. TbRGG2 down-regulation also results in moderate stabilization of never-edited and minimally edited RNAs. Thus, our data are consistent with a model in which TbRGG2 is multifunctional, strongly facilitating the editing of pan-edited RNAs and modestly destabilizing minimally edited and never-edited RNAs. This is the first example of an RNA editing accessory factor that functions in the mammalian infective T. brucei life cycle stage.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16225065,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Drug free universities--trends in illicit drugs use among Krak\u00f3w university students.\nSocial survey by questioning people is a significant source of information, valuable for planning and developing of prophylactic strategies. An illicit drugs use among a first-year students of Krak\u00f3w's universities and factors determining the usage were analysed. The research by completing the questionnaire designed by National Bureau for Drug Prevention, Poland was performed in 725 a first-year students of six Krak\u00f3w's universities. The students were asked to complete the questionnaire confidentially, while the lecture on psychoactive substances. 83.6% of those polled know some students who use a drugs, 38.3% already initiated into drugs, 61.9% reported that they needed at least one day to get drugs. The male students reach for drugs more often then females, and those first-year students being already 20 years old compared to the younger. The greater risk was also noted among students who rent apartments or when a parents earned together more than 3500 PLN. The medical students reached for drugs more rarely than the others. Our survey is one of the first source of information about trends in the drugs usage by Krak\u00f3w's students. The results will help to develop a preventive standards and creation of effective anti-drugs campaign to be accomplished by college authorities and the Krak\u00f3w Environmental Diseases Out-patient Clinic for students and academic teachers. The clinic was organised in 2004.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1700028,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Acute phase proteins in endemic chronic liver diseases.\nForty patients with chronic liver disease and ten normal controls were investigated for acute phase proteins. Mixed schistosomal cases with chronic hepatitis or cirrhosis showed more marked changes, while pure schistosomal group showed serum levels closer to normal values. This could be a differentiating point between the two categories. Also the more significant changes in the mixed groups indicate more involvement of the immune system in the pathogenesis of those groups.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31262034,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Relationship between Vitamin D Level and Lipid Profile in Non-Obese Children.\nVitamin D deficiency is associated with not only cardiovascular disease itself but also cardiovascular risk factors, including obesity, hypertension, diabetes, hyperglycemia, and dyslipidemia. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between vitamin D level and lipid profile in non-obese children. A total of 243 non-obese healthy volunteers, aged 9-18 years, were enrolled from March to May 2017. Their height and weight were measured, and body mass index was calculated. Subjects underwent blood tests, including measurements of vitamin D (25(OH)D) level and lipid panels, and were divided into either the vitamin D-deficient group (<20 ng\/mL) or normal group. The student's t-test and a simple linear regression analysis were used to estimate the association between vitamin D level and lipid profile. Overall, 69.5% of non-obese children (n = 169) had a 25(OH)D level of less than 20 ng\/mL. The vitamin D-deficient group showed higher triglyceride (TG) level and TG\/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) ratio than the normal group (TG level: 90.27 vs. 74.74 mmol\/L, p = 0.003; TG\/HDL-C ratio: 1.753 vs. 1.358, p = 0.003). Vitamin D level seems to affect the lipid profile, even in non-obese children, and a low vitamin D level may progress to dyslipidemia or obesity in non-obese children.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34242526,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Identification of Repurpose Drugs by Computational Analysis of Disease-Gene-Drug Associations.\nRepurposing of marketed drugs to find new indications has become an alternative to circumvent the risk of traditional drug development by its productivity quality. Despite many approaches, computational analysis has great potential to fuel the development of all-rounder drugs to find new classes of medicine for neglected and rare disease. The genes that can explain variations in drug response associated to disease are more important and significant in drug therapeutics necessitate elucidating the relationships of a gene, drug, and disease. The proposed computational analysis facilitates the discovery of knowledge on both target and disease-based relationships from large sources of biomedical literature spread over different platforms. It uses the utility of text mining for automatic extraction of valuable aggregated biomedical entities (disease, gene, and drug) from PubMed to serves as an input to the analysis of association prediction. The top-ranked associations considered for identification of repurposing drugs and also the hidden associations identified using concurrence principle to extrapolate the new relationships. Such findings are reported as novel and contribute to the knowledge base for pharmacogenomics, would immensely support the discovery and progress of novel therapeutic pathways and patient segment biomarkers.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29387422,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease associated with biomass fuel use in women: a systematic review and meta-analysis.\nChronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major and growing cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The global prevalence of COPD is growing faster in women than in men. Women are often exposed to indoor pollutants produced by biomass fuels burning during household activities. We conducted a meta-analysis to establish the association between COPD and exposure to biomass smoke in women.Following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, we searched MEDLINE and Scopus databases in 31December 2016, with the terms: \"wood\", \"charcoal\", \"biomass\", \"solid fuels\", \"organic fuel\", \"biofuel\", \"female\", \"women\", \"COPD\", \"chronic bronchitis\", \"emphysema\", \"chronic obstructive pulmonary disease\". Studies were eligible if they were case-control or cross-sectional studies involving exposure to indoor biomass smoke, conducted at any time and in any geographic location. Fixed-effects or random-effects meta-analysis was used to generate pooled OR. 24 studies were included: 5 case-control studies and 19 cross-sectional studies. Biomass-exposed individuals were 1.38 times more likely to be diagnosed with COPD than non-exposed (OR 1.38, 95% CI 1.28 to 1.57).Spirometry-diagnosed COPD studies failed to show a significant association (OR 1.20, 95% CI 0.99 to 1.40). Nevertheless, the summary estimate of OR for chronic bronchitis (CB) was significant (OR 2.11, 95% CI 1.70 to 2.52). The pooled OR for cross-sectional studies and case-control studies were respectively 1.82 (95% CI 1.54 to 2.10) and 1.05 (95% CI 0.81 to 1.30). Significant association was found between COPD and biomass smoke exposure for women living as well in rural as in urban areas. This study showed that biomass smoke exposure is associated with COPD in rural and urban women.In many developing countries, modern fuels are more and more used alongside traditional ones, mainly in urban area. Data are needed to further explore the benefit of the use of mixed fuels for cooking on respiratory health, particularly on COPD reduction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25504348,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"On a charitable mission.\nVolunteer physicians answered the call over the summer to care for Central American immigrants crossing the border from Mexico into Texas. Nearly 100,000 unaccompanied minors and families flooded into the United States from October 2013 to August 2014.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35126058,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A Perspective on Nrf2 Signaling Pathway for Neuroinflammation: A Potential Therapeutic Target in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Diseases.\nNeuroinflammation plays a pivotal role in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD), the leading causes of dementia. These neurological disorders are characterized by the accumulation of misfolded proteins such as amyloid-\u00df (A\u00df), tau protein and \u03b1-synuclein, contributing to mitochondrial fragmentation, oxidative stress, and neuroinflammation. Misfolded proteins activate microglia, which induces neuroinflammation, expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines and subsequently facilitates synaptic damage and neuronal loss. So far, all the proposed drugs were based on the inhibition of protein aggregation and were failed in clinical trials. Therefore, the treatment options of dementia are still a challenging issue. Thus, it is worthwhile to study alternative therapeutic strategies. In this context, there is increasing data on the pivotal role of transcription factor NF- E2 p45-related factor 2 (Nrf2) on the redox homeostasis and anti-inflammatory functions in neurodegenerative disorders. Interestingly, Nrf2 signaling pathway has shown upregulation of antioxidant genes, inhibition of microglia-mediated inflammation, and improved mitochondrial function in neurodegenerative diseases, suggesting Nrf2 activation could be a novel therapeutic approach to target pathogenesis. The present review will examine the correlation between Nrf2 signaling with neuroinflammation in AD and PD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15248192,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"DM27, an enaminone, modifies the in vitro transport of antiviral therapeutic agents.\nFor most antiviral drugs, low or variable bioavailability is attributed to poor absorption, susceptibility to efflux, or first pass metabolism. Enaminones are beta dicarbonyl compounds, which display P-glycoprotein (P-gp) substrate properties with high efflux ratios. This study investigates the influence of DM27, an enaminone, on the in vitro transport of antiviral agents and the possibility of using DM27 as a P-gp inhibitor to prevent the efflux of certain antiretroviral agents. The transport of [3H]amprenavir, [3H]saquinavir, [3H]ritonavir, [14C]zidovudine (AZT) and [3H]acyclovir was evaluated across Caco-2 cells with DM27 (10(-10)-10(-4) M). In addition, the effect of DM27 (10(-6) M) on the transport of transcellular and paracellular markers was tested to evaluate its influence on these transport pathways. The apparent permeability coefficient (Papp) for each drug or marker was calculated with\/without DM27 and toxicity evaluation for DM27 was performed using the MTS assay. The mean Papp for the investigated antiviral agents significantly increased by 22%-51% after DM27 incubation without any toxicity to the Caco-2 cells. In addition, DM27 did not influence the transcellular or paracellular transport of propranolol and mannitol, respectively. DM27, an enaminone, increased the transport of antiretroviral drugs and acyclovir in a nontoxic manner without affecting the paracellular or transcellular transport of these drugs. This study suggests that DM27 may be used as a P-gp efflux inhibitor to enhance the oral bioavailability of antiviral drugs and that drug-drug interactions will most probably be encountered upon co-administration of P-gp substrate drugs with enaminones.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9557150,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Isolated straight sinus thrombosis: clinical and neuroradiologic correlates.\nA rare case of straight sinus thrombosis in a 36-year-old female with sudden onset of status migrainosus is presented. This condition was demonstrated by a linear density in the midline on a noncontrast computed tomography scan, as a filling defect at the location of straight sinus on magnetic resonance imaging, and by the inability to visualize blood flow in the straight sinus on magnetic resonance venography, with a similar demonstration on a 4-vessel digital subtraction angiography.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6151222,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Fetal toxicity of benzodiazepines in rats.\nThis study was undertaken to evaluate fetal toxicity of benzodiazepine derivatives, nitrazepam, oxazepam, nimetazepam, clonazepam, diazepam and chlordiazepoxide. In fetotoxicities induced by the oral administration of these six drugs (100 mg\/kg), nitrazepam (NTZ) and nimetazepam caused a great damage to the fetus compared with other analogues. The fetotoxicity of NTZ was dose-dependent at a dose of 50 to 100 mg\/kg p.o. and its peak toxicity was observed in the group treated from the 8th to 10th day of gestation. Maternal serum and whole fetus concentration of NTZ were higher than that of diazepam which showed weak toxicity. It was suggested that the intensity of fetotoxicity induced by benzodiazepines was related to the amount of drug in blood of dam.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23884235,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2017-13":1}}},"text":"3D-OSEM and FP-CIT SPECT quantification: benefit for studies with a high radius of rotation?\nDopamine transporter imaging with single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) is a valuable tool for both clinical routine and research studies. Recently, it was found that the image quality could be improved by introduction of the three-dimensional ordered subset expectation maximization (3D-OSEM) reconstruction algorithm, which provides resolution recovery. The aim of this study was to systematically evaluate the potential benefits of 3D-OSEM in comparison with 2D-OSEM under critical imaging conditions, for example, scans with a high radius of rotation. Monte Carlo simulation scans of a digital brain phantom with various disease states and different radii of rotation ranging from 13 to 30 cm were reconstructed with both 2D-OSEM and 3D-OSEM algorithms. Specific striatal binding and putamen-to-caudate ratios were determined and compared with true values in the phantom. The percentage recovery of true striatal binding was similar between both reconstruction algorithms at the minimum rotational radius; however, at the maximum rotational radius, it decreased from 53 to 43% for 3D-OSEM and from 52 to 26% for 2D-OSEM. 3D-OSEM matched the true putamen-to-caudate ratios more closely than did 2D-OSEM in scans with high SPECT rotation radii. 3D-OSEM offers a promising image quality gain. It outperforms 2D-OSEM, particularly in studies with limited resolutions (such as scans acquired with a high radius of rotation) but does not improve the accuracy of the putamen-to-caudate ratios. Whether the benefits of better recovery in studies with higher radii of rotation could potentially increase the diagnostic power of dopamine transporter SPECT in patients with borderline striatal radiotracer binding, however, needs to be further examined.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11642018,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Infection due to acyclovir resistant herpes simplex virus in patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.\nOver an eight-month period from October 1997 to May 1998, four patients who had received bone marrow transplant (BMT) from unrelated donor presented with severe mucosal cutaneous infections involving acyclovir resistant herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1). The four isolates were acyclovir (ACV) resistant, three of which were also foscarnet resistant as determined by the dye uptake method. The sequencing of the thymidine kinase (TK) gene did not permit to establish a relation between mutations and resistance to ACV. Three patients were considered as clinically cured of their HSV infection by replacement of ACV or foscarnet with either valacyclovir (one case) or cidofovir (two cases) but eventually two of them died of graft vs host disease. One patient died of extensive HSV infection despite administration of cidofovir. This study emphasizes the importance of monitoring the herpes virus resistance to antiviral drugs in bone marrow transplant recipients and the usefulness of the evaluation of novel antiviral drug for treatment of infections due to strains of HSV resistant to ACV and foscarnet that occur in about 5% of immunocompromised patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9166114,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Associations between insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), IGF-binding protein-1, insulin and other metabolic measures after controlling for genetic influences: results from middle-aged and elderly monozygotic twins.\nIt has previously been shown that the serum levels of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), IGF-binding protein-1 (IGFBP-1), and insulin are influenced by genetic effects to various degrees. From a clinical and preventive point of view, however, it is important to identify potentially modifiable non-genetic factors influencing the levels of these measures. Because monozygotic twin pairs share the same genetic background, differences in phenotypic levels within monozygotic twin paris are believed to be due to non-genetic influences. Accordingly, the associations between intrapair differences in one phenotype and intrapair differences in another phenotype are also due to non-genetic influences. The present sample of 97 pairs of monozygotic twins from the population-based Swedish Adoption\/Twin Study of Aging (SATSA) provided the opportunity to assess non-genetic influences on the levels of IGF-I, IGFBP-1, and insulin. Several metabolic measures were found to account for the variation of IGF-I, IGFBP-1, and insulin after controlling for the genetic influences. IGFBP-1 and glucose were significant predictors for the levels of IGF-I. IGFBP-1 and glucose together explained about one quarter of the non-genetic variation of IGF-I. However, when IGFBP-1 was dropped from the regression model, insulin was the only independent predictor of IGF-I, and explained about 19% of the non-genetic variation for IGF-I. For IGFBP-1, insulin and IGF-I, were the significant non-genetic predictors. Insulin and IGF-I explained about 28 and 8% respectively of the non-genetic variation for IGFBP-1, while for insulin, IGF-I, triglycerides, body height, glucose, and body mass index (BMI) explained approximately 20, 12, 6, 5 and 5% respectively of the non-genetic variation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18576596,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Can undoped calcium tetraborides exist? An answer from the comparison of its density functional theory electronic structure with that of rare-earth metal tetraboride.\nPeriodic density functional theory calculations are used to discuss the existence of metal tetraborides MB4 with divalent metals. Tetraborides which contain metal atoms inserted in a three-dimensional boron network made of B6 octahedra and B2 dumbbells exhibit a pseudo energy gap for a count of 60 valence electrons per M4(B6)2(B2)2 formula unit. Such a count satisfies the stability electron requirement for B6(2-) (20 electrons) octahedra and B2(2-) (8 electrons) units and allows the filling of two supplementary low-lying bands deriving from the valence metallic d atomic orbitals. This favored electron count is not reached for CaB4 which is then formally deficient by one electron per metal atom. This indicates that CaB4 is unlikely to exist without n-doping.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3065126,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Diffuse pseudopolyposis of the colon: developmental form or cicatricial of hemorrhagic rectocolitis?].\nThe authors report the case of a patient with generalized polyposis associated with ulcerative colitis. The diagnosis of polyposis was made 20 years after the onset of colitis. The patient presented with the unusual clinical manifestations, ie poor general condition and severe denutrition, following a severe relapse of colitis. The mucosal surface of the entire colon, except the rectum, was covered by innumerable polyps, without any macroscopic or microscopic evidence of ulceration. Intestinal protein loss, as assessed by alpha-1-antitrypsin clearance, was very high (470 ml\/d). Acute mucosal inflammation, as assessed by histologic study and by 111-Indium-labelled-leukocyte scintigraphy, was also present. The patient responded dramatically to total colectomy with ileorectal anastomosis. Histologically, the polyps were filiform, with a central core, containing vessels and smooth muscle fibers. This observation demonstrates that generalized polyposis, generally considered to be an asymptomatic sequela of ulcerative colitis, can also be associated with severe attacks of colitis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37451248,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dietary habits and dietary nutrient intake in patients with age-related macular degeneration: A case-control study.\nAge-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of irreversible blindness among older adults in developed countries. Although many risk factors are known, the pathogenesis of AMD is still unclear. However, oxidative stress probably plays a vital role in the process of AMD. The increasing prevalence of AMD, risk of vision loss, limited treatment of dry form, expensive treatment of wet form, and decreased quality of life are factors that lead to considering modifiable risk factors of AMD, such as nutrition. This is the first study describing the relationship between dietary habits, dietary nutrient intake and AMD in the Czech Republic. In this research, a total of 93 cases with AMD and 58 controls without AMD and cataracts participated. All participants were ophthalmologically examined at the Clinic of Eye Treatments at the University Hospital Brno. Data were collected using a pre-tested self-report questionnaire in a face-to-face interview. Food consumption frequency was assessed by an 18-item semiquantitative food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Dietary nutrient intakes were calculated from a 24-hour recall. Patients with AMD compared with controls had significantly higher consumption of legumes and lower consumption of meat products, salt and salty products. In men, we found statistically significant differences in alcohol consumption. The case group consumed alcoholic beverages more frequently (median: 2 times a week) than the control group (median: 1-3 times a month). No differences in alcohol consumption were found in women. In comparison to the case group, the control group had a significantly higher dietary intake of energy (5,783.8 vs. 4,849.3 kJ\/day; p = 0.002), proteins (65.3 vs. 52.3 g\/day; p = 0.002), fats (57.6 vs. 49.4 g\/day; p = 0.046), saturated fatty acids (21.7 vs. 18.9 g\/day; p = 0.026), carbohydrates (150.4 vs. 127.1 g\/day; p = 0.017), dietary fibre (13.2 vs. 11.3 g\/day; p = 0.044), vitamin B2 (1.0 vs. 0.9 mg\/day; p = 0.029), vitamin B3 (13.9 vs. 10.0 mg\/day; p = 0.011), pantothenic acid (3.5 vs. 2.8 mg\/day; p = 0.001), vitamin B6 (1.3 vs. 1.0 mg\/day; p = 0.001), potassium (1,656.5 vs. 1,418.0 mg\/day; p = 0.022), phosphorus (845.4 vs. 718.7 mg\/day; p = 0.020), magnesium (176.5 vs. 143.0 mg\/day; p = 0.012), copper (1.0 vs. 0.8 mg\/day; p = 0.011), and zinc (7.1 vs. 6.1 mg\/day; p = 0.012) counted from a 24-hour recall. According to FFQ, dietary habits in the patients with AMD and controls were similar. In men from the case group, we found statistically significant higher alcohol consumption. According to a 24-hour recall, the controls achieved recommended dietary intakes rather than cases. In comparison to the case group, the control group had a significantly higher dietary intake of energy, proteins, fats, saturated fatty acids, carbohydrates, dietary fibre, vitamin B2, vitamin B3, pantothenic acid, vitamin B6, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, copper, and zinc.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11983967,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"trans-Bis[3-(2-fluorophenyl)-1-(4-nitrophenyl)triazenido-kappaN3]bis(pyridine-kappaN)palladium(II).\nIn the title complex, [Pd(C(12)H(8)FN(4)O(2))(2)(C(5)H(5)N)(2)] or trans-[Pd(FC(6)H(4)N=N-NC(6)H(4)NO(2))(C(5)H(5)N)(2)], the Pd atom lies on a centre of inversion in space group P-1. The coordination geometry about the Pd(2+) ion is square planar, with two deprotonated 3-(2-fluorophenyl)-1-(4-nitrophenyl)triazenide ions, FC(6)H(4)N=N-NC(6)H(4)NO(2)(-), acting as monodentate ligands (two-electron donors), while two neutral pyridine molecules complete the metal coordination sphere. The whole triazenide ligand is not planar, with the largest interplanar angle being 16.8 (5) degrees between the phenyl ring of the 2-fluorophenyl group and the plane defined by the N=N-N moiety. The Pd-N(triazenide) and Pd-N(pyridine) distances are 2.021 (3) and 2.039 (3) A, respectively.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7941915,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Role of intravascular ultrasound in coronary artery disease: a new gold standard? An overview.\nAlthough selective contrast coronary arteriography has been the gold standard approach for coronary imaging since more than 30 years, new coronary imaging techniques are currently under development. Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) is perhaps the most promising of these additional techniques. IVUS makes use of miniaturised crystals incorporated at catheter tips and provides real time, cross-sectional and longitudinal, high resolution images of the arterial wall with three-dimensional reconstruction capabilities (Pandian, 1989; Coy et al., 1991; Liebsen & Klein, 1992). Different devices have been constructed. Actually two types are being used: mechanical (hand-rotated or motor-driven) systems and phased array systems using high-frequency (20-30 MHz) transducers (Bom et al., 1989). Coronary ultrasound imaging performed during catheterization is feasible and safe as demonstrated in several studies examining normal and pathologic coronary arteries (De Scheerder et al., in press).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":33724508,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Captive breeding challenges posed by Malaysian and Bornean Peacock-pheasants (Polyplectron malacense and P. schleiermacheri).\nWe describe unique reproductive features of two threatened Galliformes species, the Malaysian peacock-pheasant (Polyplectron malacense) and Bornean peacock-pheasant (P. schleiermacheri). These features pose challenges to successful captive breeding to build up sustainable populations for conservation purposes. Single egg clutches in both species mean that reproductive rates are low and population increase is slow. The very rounded eggs of Bornean Peacock-pheasant cause difficulties for egg orientation in incubators. Single chicks with special requirements are poorly suited to rearing by broody bantams and successful husbandry requires increased human time, commitment, and skills.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27265402,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Fermi level position, Coulomb gap, and Dresselhaus splitting in (Ga,Mn)As.\nCarrier-induced nature of ferromagnetism in a ferromagnetic semiconductor, (Ga,Mn)As, offers a great opportunity to observe novel spin-related phenomena as well as to demonstrate new functionalities of spintronic devices. Here, we report on low-temperature angle-resolved photoemission studies of the valence band in this model compound. By a direct determination of the distance of the split-off band to the Fermi energy EF we conclude that EF is located within the heavy\/light hole band. However, the bands are strongly perturbed by disorder and disorder-induced carrier correlations that lead to the Coulomb gap at EF, which we resolve experimentally in a series of samples, and show that its depth and width enlarge when the Curie temperature decreases. Furthermore, we have detected surprising linear magnetic dichroism in photoemission spectra of the split-off band. By a quantitative theoretical analysis we demonstrate that it arises from the Dresselhaus-type spin-orbit term in zinc-blende crystals. The spectroscopic access to the magnitude of such asymmetric part of spin-orbit coupling is worthwhile, as they account for spin-orbit torque in spintronic devices of ferromagnets without inversion symmetry.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25292049,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Are so-called cancer-testis genes expressed only in testis?\nCancer-testis (CT) antigens are a group of tumor-associated antigens with restricted expression in normal tissues except for testis and expression in a wide variety of tumor tissues. This pattern of expression makes them suitable targets for immunotherapy as well as potential biomarkers for early detection of cancer. However, some genes attributed to this family are now known to be expressed in other normal tissues which put their potential applications in immunotherapy and cancer detection under question. Here we analyzed expression of two previously known CT antigens, RHOXF2 and PIWIL2, in AML patients versus normal donors and found no significant difference in the expression of these genes between the two groups. As these two genes showed expression in normal leukocytes, their expression pattern seems to be wider than to be attributed to the CT gene family. Future research should focus on the expression profiles of so called CT antigens to find those with more testis specific expression.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20366668,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"New type of vacancy-induced localized States in multilayer graphene.\nWe demonstrate the existence of a new type of zero energy state associated with vacancies in multilayer graphene that has a finite amplitude over the layer with a vacancy and adjacent layers, and the peculiarity of being quasilocalized in the former and totally delocalized in the adjacent ones. In a bilayer, when a gap is induced in the system by applying a perpendicular electric field, these states become truly localized with a normalizable wave function. A transition from a localized to an extended state can be tuned by the external gate for experimentally accessible values of parameters.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27264719,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"SIRT2 mediates NADH-induced increases in Nrf2, GCL, and glutathione by modulating Akt phosphorylation in PC12 cells.\nSIRT2 plays important roles in multiple biological processes. It is unclear whether SIRT2 affects antioxidant capacity by modulating Nrf2, a key transcription factor for multiple antioxidant genes. By studying NADH-treated differentiated PC12 cells, we found that NADH induced a significant increase in the nuclear Nrf2, which was prevented by both SIRT2 siRNA and SIRT2 inhibitor, AGK2. SIRT2 siRNA also blocked the NADH-induced increases in glutamate cysteine ligase (GCL) and glutathione. Moreover, SIRT2 siRNA and AGK2 blocked NADH-induced Akt phosphorylation, and inhibition of Akt phosphorylation prevented NADH-induced increases in the nuclear Nrf2 and glutathione. Collectively, our study shows that SIRT2 regulates nuclear Nrf2 levels by modulating Akt phosphorylation, thus modulating the levels of GCL and total glutathione.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1681542,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"High-level expression of rat PC12 tyrosine hydroxylase cDNA in Escherichia coli: purification and characterization of the cloned enzyme.\nA rat cDNA containing the complete coding sequence for rat tyrosine hydroxylase (tyrosine 3-monooxygenase, EC 188.8.131.52) was isolated from a rat PC12 cDNA library and subcloned in a bacterial expression plasmid, and large amounts of functional enzyme were produced in Escherichia coli. The recombinant enzyme was purified approximately 20-fold to a final specific activity of 1.8 mumol\/min per mg of protein, with a yield of 30%. As much as 1 mg of pure protein could be obtained from 1 g of wet bacterial cells. The purified hydroxylase was shown to be homogeneous by denaturing polyacrylamide electrophoresis and isoelectric focusing. Amino acid analysis of the N terminus (25 residues) revealed 100% identity with rat PC12 tyrosine hydroxylase, as deduced from its cDNA sequence. Several of the kinetic properties of the recombinant enzyme resembled those of the native PC12 hydroxylase. However, in contrast to the native enzyme, the purified recombinant hydroxylase was shown to be in an activated form. Phosphorylation with cAMP-dependent protein kinase resulted in stoichiometric incorporation of phosphate, but the kinetic profile of the recombinant enzyme was unaffected. Several clues to these differences are considered that may provide insight into the structural features important to the regulation of tyrosine hydroxylase.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17202542,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Service costs of caring for adolescents with mental illness in a rural community, 1993-2000.\nCosts of treating child psychiatric disorders fall on educational, primary care, juvenile justice, and social service agencies as well as on psychiatric services. The authors estimated multiagency mental health costs by integrating service unit costs with utilization rates in an 11-county area. Using psychiatric diagnoses made independently of service use records, the authors calculated costs across agencies as well as the extent of unmet need for psychiatric care. Annual parent and child reports were used to measure mental health care needs and units of service across 21 types of settings for the population-based Great Smoky Mountain Study sample of 1,420 adolescents from ages 13 to 16. Unit costs for services were generated from information from service providers and records. The authors calculated costs overall, costs by type of service, and costs by diagnosis. Average annual costs per adolescent treated were $3,146. Juvenile justice and inpatient\/residential facilities accounted for well over half of the total costs. Costs for youths with two or more diagnoses were twice as much as costs of those with a single disorder. Among adolescents with service needs, 66.9% received no services. Public health insurance was associated with higher rates of specialty mental health care than either private insurance or no insurance. Annual costs across all services were three to four times greater than recent health insurance estimates alone. Many costs for adolescents with mental health problems were borne by agencies not designed primarily to provide psychiatric or psychological services. Only one in three adolescents needing psychiatric care received any mental health services.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1690741,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Expression of simple epithelial cytokeratins in bovine pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells.\nPolypeptides of bovine aortic, pulmonary artery, and pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells, as well as vascular smooth muscle cells and retinal pericytes were evaluated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. The principal cytoskeletal proteins in all of these cell types were actin, vimentin, tropomyosin, and tubulin. Cultured pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells also expressed 12 unique polypeptides including a 41 kd acidic type I and two isoforms of a 52 kd basic type II simple epithelial cytokeratin microvascular endothelial cell expression of the simple epithelial cytokeratins was maintained in cultured in the presence or absence of retinal-derived growth factor, and regardless of whether cells were cultured on gelatin, fibronectin, collagen I, collagen IV, laminin, basement membrane proteins, or plastic. Cytokeratin expression was maintained through at least 50 population doublings in culture. The expression of cytokeratins was found to be regulated by cell density. Pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells seeded at 2.5 X 10(5) cell\/cm2 (confluent seeding) expressed 3.5 times more cytokeratins than cells seeded at 1.25 X 10(4) cells\/cm2 (sparse seeding). Vimentin expression was not altered by cell density. By indirect immunofluorescence microscopy it was determined that the cytokeratins were distributed cytoplasmically at subconfluent cell densities but that cytokeratin 19 sometimes localized at regions of cell-cell contact after cells reached confluence. Vimentin had a cytoplasmic distribution regardless of cell density. These results suggest that pulmonary microvascular endothelial cell have a distinctive cytoskeleton that may provide them with functionally unique properties when compared with endothelial cells derived from the macrovasculature. In conjunction with conventional endothelial cell markers, the presence of simple epithelial cytokeratins may be an important biochemical criterion for identifying pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17185918,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Adenocarcinomas of the ethmoid sinus: retrospective analysis of prognostic factors].\nDeterminate the different prognostic factors of survival in ethmoidal sinus adenocarcinomas (ADK). 60 patients with ethmoidal sinus ADK. 59 men and one woman. Average of 62.2 years (41-82). Retrospective study between 1985 and 2005. The following data were analyzed: exposure time to wood dust, disease incidence, primary clinical symptoms and ASA score. Radiological data were recovered by tomodensitometry and magnetic resonance imaging. Histological groups were described. TNM classification according to UICC 2002 and Roux\/Brasnu was established on clinical and radiological constatations. Different treatments used were analyzed. Estimate of survival rate and impact of different prognostic factors were based on Kaplan-Meier actuarial method and multivariate analysis. Incidence rate was 2.86 patients a year. Exposure average time to wood dust was 25.6 years (2-44). T3\/T4 stages were predominant (66.7%). the survival rate was 46.5% at 5 years. The survival rate was significantly superior respectively in T1 and T2 stages than in T3 and T4 stages, and in T4a than in T4b stages. Extension of the lesion to the sphenoid sinus was revealed as a significant bad prognostic factor. The ASA score and the exposure time to wood dust were not identified as statistically significant prognosis factors. Survival factors of ethmo\u00efd sinus ADK were T stage and the extension of the tumor to the sphenoid sinus. On the results of this study, we consider that extension in spheno\u00efd sinus could be include in TNM classification of ethmo\u00efd sinus adenocarcinomas.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37842443,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Chondrosarcoma of Iliac Bone Imaging Spectrum With Histopathological Correlation: A Case Report.\nChondrosarcoma is a rare form of carcinoma that originates in the cells of cartilage, the flexible tissue that cushions the joints and gives structure to various parts of the body. This malignant tumour primarily affects adults and is most commonly found in the bones of the arms, legs, pelvis, and ribs. The severity and prognosis of chondrosarcoma can vary widely depending on factors such as tumour size, location, and grade. We are reporting a case of an 83-year-old male patient who presented with swelling over the left hip joint. A mass was detected on radiograph and ultrasound that was further characterized using contrast-enhanced CT and MRI. Imaging findings suggested chondrosarcoma. The patient was diagnosed on histopathological examination.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36286579,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Acceptability of Implants for HIV Treatment in Young Children: Perspectives of Health Care Providers in Johannesburg, South Africa.\nIn South Africa, less than half of children receiving antiretroviral therapy are virally suppressed. Adherence challenges include poor palatability of drugs and high pill burden. Subcutaneous implants offer a long-acting alternative to daily oral dosing regimens, which may improve outcomes in children living with HIV (CLWH). Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with 24 health care providers (HCPs) in Johannesburg, South Africa. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. Data were coded and analyzed using NVivo 12 software and a Grounded Theory approach. Most HCPs welcomed an implant option for CLWH. Perceived benefits included fewer clinic visits, improved adherence, and \"normalization\" of the lives of CLWH. Concerns included painful insertion and removal, the potential for stigmatization, and caregivers' likely rejection of biodegradable implants. A single, small, non-transparent rod with some flexibility was preferred by most participants. HCP training and early outreach to mitigate potential misinformation about implants and caregivers' fears about biodegradable implants were emphasized. Further engagement with caregivers of CLWH is required and ongoing.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25409730,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"First metatarsophalangeal joint replacement with total arthroplasty in the surgical treatment of the hallux rigidus.\nThe hallux rigidus, especially in advanced stage, has always been a challenge as regards the surgical treatment. Over the years there have been various surgical techniques proposed with the aim of relieving pain, correcting deformity and maintain a certain degree of movement. For some years we have addressed the problem with the replacement metatarsophalangeal joint arthroplasty with Reflexion system. As far as our experience we have operated and monitored 25 patients (18 females and 7 males) of mean age 58.1 years, operated with this technique from June 2008 to June 2011. It reached an average ROM of 72\u00b0 (extension and flexion 45\u00b0 and 27\u00b0) with a good functional recovery in 8 patients, and this articulation was good (50\u00b0 - 40\u00b0) in 12 patients and moderate in 5 with a articular range from 40\u00b0- 30\u00b0. The clinical results, according to our experience, appear to be favorable, as even patient satisfaction is complete.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22687643,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Determination of ebselen-sensitive reactive oxygen metabolites (ebROM) in human serum based upon N,N'-diethyl-1,4-phenylenediamine oxidation.\nOxidative stress occurs through free radical- and non-radical-mediated oxidative mechanisms, but these are poorly discriminated by most assays. A convenient assay for oxidants in human serum is based upon the Fe(2+)-dependent decomposition of peroxides to oxidize N,N'-diethyl-1,4-phenylenediamine (DEPPD) to a stable radical cation which can be measured spectrophotometrically. We investigated modification of the DEPPD oxidation assay to discriminate color formation due to non-radical oxidants, including hydroperoxides and endoperoxides, which are sensitive to ebselen. Use of serum, which has been pretreated with ebselen as a reference, provides a quantitative assay for non-radical, reactive oxidant species in serum, including hydroperoxides, endoperoxides and epoxides. In a set of 35 human serum samples, non-radical oxidants largely accounted for DEPPD oxidation in 86% of the samples while the remaining 14% had considerable contribution from other redox-active chemicals. The simple modification in which ebselen-pretreated sample is used as a reference provides means to quantify non-radical oxidants in human serum. Application of this approach could enhance understanding of the contribution of different types of oxidative stress to disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19042967,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"History of the cholesterol controversy in Britain.\nThe lipid hypothesis, the concept that cholesterol plays a causal role in atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease, has been the subject of a controversy which started in the 1950s, peaked in the 1970s and 80s and then subsided in the 1990s. It was finally resolved by the positive outcome of the Scandinavian Simvastatin Survival Study, the first of 14 prevention trials using statins which showed that lowering cholesterol reduced both cardiovascular events and total mortality. This commentary focuses primarily on the events and people involved in the cholesterol controversy in Britain. The foremost critics of the lipid hypothesis are now deceased but unfortunately for many of the patients with hypercholesterolaemia and coronary heart disease it took the best part of 50 years to disprove the sceptics. This brief account relates why it took so long.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6747904,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A quantitative analysis of interactions between photoreceptors in the salamander (Ambystoma) retina.\nA quantitative description of the electrical properties of the photoreceptor layer in the salamander retina was obtained from earlier data on the characteristics of isolated rods and cones and on rod-rod coupling, and from new data on rod-cone and cone-cone coupling and on the rod photocurrent. Injecting -1 nA current into a rod elicits hyperpolarizations of about 20 mV in an adjacent rod and 4 mV in an adjacent cone. Responses of more distant receptors are smaller. Injecting -1 nA into a cone elicits hyperpolarizations of about 4 mV in an adjacent rod and 0.4 mV in a nearby cone. Depolarizing current evokes smaller responses. Assuming, in agreement with anatomical evidence, that each rod is electrically coupled to four rods and to four cones around it, and that there is no direct electrical coupling between cones, we found these results could be predicted from the properties of isolated rods and cones if adjacent rods are coupled by a resistance of 300 M omega and adjacent rods and cones are coupled by a resistance of 5000 M omega. The small cone-cone coupling seen is due to coupling via intervening rods. The two halves of double cones are not electrically coupled. The spectral sensitivity of both halves is a maximum around 620 nm wave-length. The rod photocurrent has been characterized by voltage-clamping rods isolated from the retina. In agreement with Bader, MacLeish & Schwartz (1979) we found the time course of the photocurrent to be approximately independent of voltage between -35 and -85 mV. The voltage responses of rods, single cones and double cones isolated from the retina obey the principle of univariance. Responses of receptors in the retina do not obey univariance. The main deviations from univariance observed can be explained if adjacent rods and cones are coupled by a resistance of 5000 M omega. Our data demonstrate that rod-cone coupling is relatively weak. We simplified our description of the photoreceptor network, by omitting cones, to investigate the spatiotemporal processing that the rod network is capable of. Computer simulations predict, as is found experimentally, that the rod voltage response to a large spot of bright light should show a much more pronounced initial transient hyperpolarization than the response to a small spot of light of the same intensity. This difference is produced by the combination of electrical coupling of the rods with the existence of a voltage-gated current, IA, in the rod membrane.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14559725,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Metabolic regulation of growth hormone by free fatty acids, somatostatin, and ghrelin in HIV-lipodystrophy.\nHuman immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-lipodystrophy is a syndrome characterized by changes in fat distribution and insulin resistance. Prior studies suggest markedly reduced growth hormone (GH) levels in association with excess visceral adiposity among patients with HIV-lipodystrophy. We investigated mechanisms of altered GH secretion in a population of 13 male HIV-infected patients with evidence of fat redistribution, compared with 10 HIV-nonlipodystrophic patients and 11 male healthy controls similar in age and body mass index (BMI). Although similar in BMI, the lipodystrophic group was characterized by increased visceral adiposity, free fatty acids (FFA), and insulin and reduced extremity fat. We investigated ghrelin and the effects of acute lowering of FFA by acipimox on GH responses to growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH). We also investigated somatostatin tone, comparing GH response to combined GHRH and arginine vs. GHRH alone with a subtraction algorithm. Our data demonstrate an equivalent number of GH pulses (4.1 +\/- 0.6, 4.7 +\/- 0.8, and 4.5 +\/- 0.3 pulses\/12 h in the HIV-lipodystrophic, HIV-nonlipodystrophic, and healthy control groups, respectively, P > 0.05) but markedly reduced GH secretion pulse area (1.14 +\/- 0.27 vs. 4.67 +\/- 1.24 ng.ml(-1).min, P < 0.05, HIV-lipodystrophic vs. HIV-nonlipodystrophic; 1.14 +\/- 0.27 vs. 3.18 +\/- 0.92 ng.ml(-1).min, P < 0.05 HIV-lipodystrophic vs. control), GH pulse area, and GH pulse width in the HIV-lipodystrophy patients compared with the control groups. Reduced ghrelin (418 +\/- 46 vs. 514 +\/- 37 pg\/ml, P < 0.05, HIV-lipodystrophic vs. HIV-nonlipodystrophic; 418 +\/- 46 vs. 546 +\/- 45 pg\/ml, P < 0.05, HIV-lipodystrophic vs. control), impaired GH response to GHRH by excess FFA, and increased somatostatin tone contribute to reduced GH secretion in patients with HIV-lipodystrophy. These data provide novel insight into the metabolic regulation of GH secretion in subjects with HIV-lipodystrophy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37450588,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Single-dose injectable nanovaccine-in-hydrogel for robust immunotherapy of large tumors with abscopal effect.\nCurrent cancer immunotherapy [e.g., immune checkpoint blockade (ICB)] only benefits small subsets of patients, largely due to immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME). In situ tumor vaccination can reduce TME immunosuppression and thereby improve cancer immunotherapy. Here, we present single-dose injectable (nanovaccines + ICBs)-in-hydrogel (NvIH) for robust immunotherapy of large tumors with abscopal effect. NvIH is thermo-responsive hydrogel co-encapsulated with ICB antibodies and novel polymeric nanoparticles loaded with three immunostimulatory agonists for Toll-like receptors 7\/8\/9 (TLR7\/8\/9) and stimulator of interferon genes (STING). Upon in situ tumor vaccination, NvIH undergoes rapid sol-to-gel transformation, prolongs tumor retention, sustains the release of immunotherapeutics, and reduces acute systemic inflammation. In multiple poorly immunogenic tumor models, single-dose NvIH reduces multitier TME immunosuppression, elicits potent TME and systemic innate and adaptive antitumor immunity with memory, and regresses both local (vaccinated) and distant large tumors with abscopal effect, including distant orthotopic glioblastoma. Overall, NvIH holds great potential for tumor immunotherapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37869125,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Variability of Transrectal Shear Wave Elastography in a Phantom Model.\nThis study aimed to assess the variability of transrectal shear wave elastography (SWE) using a designed phantom. In a phantom, the SWE values were examined by two radiologists using agarose and emulsion silicone of different sizes (1, 2, and 3 cm) and shapes (round, cubic) at three depths (1, 2, and 3 cm), two region of interest (ROI) and locations (central, peripheral) using two ultrasound machines (A, B from different vendors). Variability was evaluated using the coefficient of variation (CV). The CVs decreased with increasing phantom size. Significant changes in SWE values included; agarose phantom at 3 cm depth (p < 0.001; machine A), 1 cm depth (p = 0.01; machine B), emulsion silicone at 2 cm depth (p = 0.047, p = 0.020; both machines). The CVs increased with increasing depth. Significant changes in SWE values included; 1 cm agarose (p = 0.037, p = 0.021; both machines) and 2 cm agarose phantom (p = 0.047; machine A). Significant differences in SWE values were observed between the shapes for emulsion silicone phantom (p = 0.032; machines A) and between ROI locations on machine B (p \u2264 0.001). The SWE values differed significantly between the two machines (p < 0.05). The intra-\/inter-operator agreements were excellent (intraclass correlation coefficient > 0.9). The phantom size, depth, and different machines affected the variability of transrectal SWE.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15240641,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A novel point mutation of the RET protooncogene involving the second intracellular tyrosine kinase domain in a family with medullary thyroid carcinoma.\nHereditary medullary thyroid carcinoma, a tumor that arises from the parafollicular cells of the thyroid gland, occurs in isolation (as in familial medullary thyroid carcinoma), in association with hyperparathyroidism and pheochromocytoma (as in multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2A), or in association with pheochromocytoma, marfanoid habitus, and mucosal neuromas (as in multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2B). These genetic syndromes are associated with germline-activating mutations of the RET protooncogene, a cell surface tyrosine kinase receptor, which is believed to modulate specific intracellular signaling pathways involved in the regulation of C cell proliferation and apoptosis. RET-activating mutations involve two important functional areas of the receptor: the cysteine-rich extracellular domain and the intracellular tyrosine kinase domain. Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2A and familial medullary thyroid carcinoma are more commonly associated with mutations in the cysteine-rich extracellular domain, whereas multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2B is exclusively associated with mutations involving the second intracellular tyrosine kinase domain. Here, we describe a novel missense mutation of the RET protooncogene that substitutes arginine for proline at codon 912 of the intracellular tyrosine kinase domain in a family with medullary thyroid carcinoma.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1700139,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Tellurium-induced neuropathy: a model for reversible reductions in myelin protein gene expression.\nInclusion of 1.1% tellurium in the diet of developing rats causes a highly synchronous primary demyelination of peripheral nerves, which is followed closely by a period of rapid remyelination. The demyelination is related to the inhibition of squalene epoxidase activity, which results in a block in cholesterol synthesis and accumulation of squalene. We now report that the demyelination resulting from this limiting of the supply of an intrinsic component of myelin (cholesterol) leads to repression of the expression of mRNA for myelin-specific proteins. Tellurium exposure resulted in an increase in total RNA (largely rRNA) in sciatic nerve, which could not be accounted for by cellular proliferation; these increased levels of rRNA may be a reactive response of Schwann cells to toxic insult and may relate to the higher levels of protein synthesis required during remyelination. In contrast, steady-state levels of mRNA, determined by Northern blot analysis, for P0 and myelin basic protein were markedly decreased (levels after 5 days of tellurium exposure were only 10-15% of control levels as a fraction of total RNA and 25-35% of control levels when the increased levels of total RNA were taken into account). Message levels increased during the subsequent period of remyelination and reached near-normal levels 30 days after beginning tellurium exposure. Although message levels for the myelin-associated glycoprotein showed a similar temporal pattern, levels did not decrease as greatly and subsequently increased sooner than did levels for P0 and myelin basic protein. The coordinate alterations in message levels for myelin proteins indicate that Schwann cells can down-regulate and then up-regulate the synthesis of myelin in response to alterations in the supply of membrane components.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37656616,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"MnOx In Situ Growth-Induced Luminescence and Oxidase-Like Feature Bimodulation of CePO4:Tb Nanorods: Toward Ascorbic Acid-Related Bioanalysis in a \"One-Stone-Two-Birds\" Manner.\nNanozyme-based multimode detection is a useful means to improve the accuracy and stability of analytical methods. However, both multifunctional nanozymes and related multimodal sensing strategies are still very scarce. Besides, they require complex processes to fabricate and operate. To fill this gap, here we propose a spontaneous interfacial in situ growth strategy to prepare a new bifunctional material (CePO4:Tb@MnOx) featuring good oxidase-like activity and green photoluminescence for the dual-mode colorimetric\/luminescence determination of ascorbic acid (AA)-related biomarkers specifically. CePO4:Tb@MnOx was gained through the controllable redox reaction between KMnO4 and CePO4:Tb nanorods. It was interestingly found that MnOx in situ growth not only significantly enhanced the enzyme-like activity but also could reversibly regulate the luminescence of CePO4:Tb via a dual quenching mechanism. More interestingly, CePO4:Tb@MnOx exhibited a distinctive response toward AA against other reducing species. A double-coordination regulation mechanism was further verified to clarify the catalytic activity and luminescence switching behaviors in CePO4:Tb@MnOx. Based on these findings, a dual-mode colorimetric\/luminescence approach was established for AA sensing in a \"one-stone-two-birds\" manner, providing excellent selectivity, sensitivity, and practicability. Furthermore, the determination of AA-related biomarkers, including acid phosphatase activity and organophosphorus residue, was also validated by the sensing principle. Our work not only deepens the understanding of the coordinated regulation of the luminescence and enzyme-like features in lanthanide-based materials but also offers a novel way to design and develop multifunctional nanozymes for advanced bioanalytical applications.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27274121,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Presurgical nasoalveolar moulding in unilateral cleft lip and palate.\nPresurgical nasoalveolar moulding (PNAM) is a non-surgical method of reshaping the cleft lip, alveolus, palate and the nose to minimize the severity of the cleft deformity, before primary cheiloplastyand palatoplasty. In this context, PNAM proves to be an invaluable asset in the management of unilateral cleft lip and palate. The study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of PNAM in the management of unilateral cleft lip and palate with the following objectives: (1) To assess and compare the degree of reduction in the size of cleft palate and alveolus (pre-PNAM and post-PNAM). (2) To evaluate and compare the improvement in columellar length and correction of columellar deviation (pre-PNAM and post-PNAM). (3) To assess the changes in the position of the alar base and the alar cartilages. Prospective study. A prospective study consisting of, which included 20 patients with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate was conducted. The age at the start of PNAM treatment of the infants ranged from 2 to 44 days of age reporting to our institute between December 2011 and August 2013. All the patients underwent PNAM therapy before primary cheiloplasty at 6 months of age; clinical parameters were assessed pre- and post-therapy using photographs and dental study models of the maxilla. Student's t-test for paired comparisons. Results of the study showed a promising reduction in the cleft size before the surgery, significant improvement in nasal symmetry, including the columellar length on the cleft side. PNAM is a valuable adjunct to our surgical armamentarium in dealing with the challenges of primary closure of unilateral cleft lip and palate thereby enhancing the overall surgical outcome. The advantages of this method include the simplicity of the procedure and improving the quality of surgical repair, particularly in obtaining tension free muscle closure in unilateral clefts.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28560912,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hospital-associated deconditioning and dysfunction.\nA paper published in 1991 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society describes hospitalisation as a 'devastating' event for an older person. This was conceptualised as stemming from three discrete processes: the illness itself, adverse effects of treatment and the general effects of deconditioning.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26442254,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A New MRI-Based Model of Heart Function with Coupled Hemodynamics and Application to Normal and Diseased Canine Left Ventricles.\nA methodology for the simulation of heart function that combines an MRI-based model of cardiac electromechanics (CE) with a Navier-Stokes-based hemodynamics model is presented. The CE model consists of two coupled components that simulate the electrical and the mechanical functions of the heart. Accurate representations of ventricular geometry and fiber orientations are constructed from the structural magnetic resonance and the diffusion tensor MR images, respectively. The deformation of the ventricle obtained from the electromechanical model serves as input to the hemodynamics model in this one-way coupled approach via imposed kinematic wall velocity boundary conditions and at the same time, governs the blood flow into and out of the ventricular volume. The time-dependent endocardial surfaces are registered using a diffeomorphic mapping algorithm, while the intraventricular blood flow patterns are simulated using a sharp-interface immersed boundary method-based flow solver. The utility of the combined heart-function model is demonstrated by comparing the hemodynamic characteristics of a normal canine heart beating in sinus rhythm against that of the dyssynchronously beating failing heart. We also discuss the potential of coupled CE and hemodynamics models for various clinical applications.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9571150,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The two phases of regulated exocytosis in permeabilized pancreatic acini are modulated differently by heterotrimeric G-proteins.\nIn this study we examined the influence on AlF4- and GTP gamma S on amylase secretion from alpha toxin permeabilized pancreatic acini. AlF4- only activates heterotrimeric G-proteins, whereas GTP gamma S activates both small ras-like GTP-binding proteins and heterotrimeric G-proteins (Kahn, R. A., J. Biol. Chem., 266, 15595-15597, 1991). GTP gamma S, but not AlF4-, significantly stimulated Ca2(+)-independent amylase secretion, suggesting that a small GTP-binding protein controls regulated exocytosis distal to the site of action of Ca2+. In contrast, both AlF4- and GTP gamma S modulated Ca(2+)-dependent amylase secretion. AlF4- and GTP gamma S stimulated the initial rapid, ATP-independent, phase of Ca(2+)-dependent secretion but inhibited the second slower sustained, ATP-dependent, phase of release. There were significant differences in the GTP gamma S requirements for the stimulation and inhibition of Ca(2+)-dependent amylase secretion, consistent with GTP gamma S activating separate heterotrimeric G-proteins to modulate each phase of the Ca(2+)-dependent secretory response. Our studies also indicated that neither G-protein is a member of the Gi\/o class of heterotrimeric G-proteins.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":949003,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Excitability changes of the inspiratory \"off-switch\" mechanism tested by electrical stimulation in nucleus parabrachialis in the cat.\nThe time course of the excitability of the inspiratory \"off-switch\" mechanism with and without phasic vagal stretch receptor feedback has been studied in cats under light pentobarbitone anesthesia by electrical stimulation in the rostral pons using brief tetanic stimulation (300 Hz for 0.2 s). The threshold strength required just to elicit inspiratory \"off-switch\" was high early in inspiration and fell steeply with time. The threshold curves were steeper with than without phasic vagal feedback, and the difference reflects the phasic vagal contribution to the excitability of the inspiratory \"off-switch\" the absence of phasic vagal vagal feedback the time course of this threshold curve usually corresponded closely to that of the \"integrated\" phrenic activity at all PCO2 levels and body temperatures tested indicating that the \"integrated\" phrenic activity can be used as an index of the centrally generated inspiratory activity. In response to a rise in PCO2 both the rate of change of excitability of the inspiratory \"off-switch\" mechanism and its initial threshold level was increased. Changes in body temperature caused no change in the initial threshold but produced marked changes in the rate of rise of the \"off-switch\" excitability; Following an \"augmented breath\" the inspiratory \"off-switch\" threshold was markedly reduced","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31602588,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Changes in dynamic arterial elastance induced by volume expansion and vasopressor in the operating room: a prospective bicentre study.\nDynamic arterial elastance (Eadyn), defined as the ratio between pulse pressure variations and stroke volume variations, has been proposed to assess functional arterial load. We evaluated the evolution of Eadyn during volume expansion and the effects of neosynephrine infusion in hypotensive and preload-responsive patients. In this prospective bicentre study, we included 56 mechanically ventilated patients in the operating room. Each patient had volume expansion and neosynephrine infusion. Stroke volume and stroke volume variations were obtained using esophageal Doppler, and pulse pressure variations were measured through the arterial line. Pressure response to volume expansion was defined as an increase in mean arterial pressure (MAP) \u2265 10%. Twenty-one patients were pressure responders to volume expansion. Volume expansion induced a decrease in Eadyn (from 0.69 [0.58-0.85] to 0.59 [0.42-0.77]) related to a decrease in pulse pressure variations more pronounced than the decrease in stroke volume variations. Baseline and changes in Eadyn after volume expansion were related to age, history of arterial hypertension, net arterial compliance and effective arterial elastance. Eadyn value before volume expansion > 0.65 predicted a MAP increase \u2265 10% with a sensitivity of 76% (95% CI 53-92%) and a specificity of 60% (95% CI 42-76%). Neosynephrine infusion induced a decrease in Eadyn (from 0.67 [0.48-0.80] to 0.54 [0.37-0.68]) related to a decrease in pulse pressure variations more pronounced than the decrease in stroke volume variations. Baseline and changes in Eadyn after neosynephrine infusion were only related to heart rate. Eadyn is a potential sensitive marker of arterial tone changes following vasopressor infusion.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":945614,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Suceptibility of mice to audiogenic seizures is increased by handling their dams during gestation.\nFetal mice treated on days 10, 11, and 12 of gestation by injecting the mothers with (i) 50 milligrams of beta-2-thienylalanine, (ii) solvent, or (iii) sham injection had identical frequencies of audiogenic seizures when tested 23 days after birth; these frequencies were significantly higher than those of an unhandled control group. Results of the sham treatment suggest that maternal stress induced by handling, rather than the nature of the substance injected, increased the susceptibility of the offspring to seizures.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32623030,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Baseline characteristics and risk factors for short-term outcomes in 132 COVID-19 patients with diabetes in Wuhan China: A retrospective study.\nTo investigate the clinical characteristics, laboratory findings and high- resolution CT (HRCT) features and to explore the risk factors for in-hospital death and complications of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients with diabetes. From Dec 31, 2019, to Apr 5, 2020, a total of 132 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patients with diabetes from two hospitals were retrospectively included in our study. Clinical, laboratory and chest CT data were analyzed and compared between the two groups with an admission glucose level of \u226411 mmol\/L (group 1) and >11 mmol\/L (group 2). Logistic regression analyses were used to identify the risk factors associated with in-hospital death and complications. Of 132 patients, 15 died in hospital and 113 were discharged. Patients in group 2 were more likely to require intensive care unit care (21.4% vs. 9.2%), to develop acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) (23.2% vs. 9.2%) and acute cardiac injury (12.5% vs. 1.3%), and had a higher death rate (19.6% vs. 5.3%) than group 1. In the multivariable analysis, patients with admission glucose of >11 mmol\/l had an increased risk of death (OR: 7.629, 95%CI: 1.391-37.984) and in-hospital complications (OR: 3.232, 95%CI: 1.393-7.498). Admission d-dimer of \u22651.5 \u03bcg\/mL (OR: 6.645, 95%CI: 1.212-36.444) and HRCT score of \u226510 (OR: 7.792, 95%CI: 2.195-28.958) were associated with increased odds of in-hospital death and complications, respectively. In COVID-19 patients with diabetes, poorly-controlled blood glucose (>11 mmol\/L) may be associated with poor outcomes. Admission hyperglycemia, elevated d-dimer and high HRCT score are potential risk factors for adverse outcomes and death.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20366395,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hidden slow dynamics in water.\nIt is well known that the structural and dynamical properties of water are of central importance for life on our planet. However, despite this knowledge its structural and dynamical properties are still far from fully understood. In this Letter we show for the first time that water exhibits an anomalously slow relaxation process, which is about 4 orders of magnitude slower than the viscosity-related structural main relaxation. This slow Debye-like process has previously only been observed in monoalcohols and more recently also in polyalcohols, and due to its slowness it is generally believed to be caused by some kind of collective motion of hydrogen-bonded structures. The new finding has important structural and dynamical implications for water.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36262839,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Test-retest reliability of peak location in the sensorimotor network of resting state fMRI for potential rTMS targets.\nMost stroke repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) studies have used hand motor hotspots as rTMS stimulation targets; in addition, recent studies demonstrated that functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) task activation could be used to determine suitable targets due to its ability to reveal individualized precise and stronger functional connectivity with motor-related brain regions. However, rTMS is unlikely to elicit motor evoked potentials in the affected hemisphere, nor would activity be detected when stroke patients with severe hemiplegia perform an fMRI motor task using the affected limbs. The current study proposed that the peak voxel in the resting-state fMRI (RS-fMRI) motor network determined by independent component analysis (ICA) could be a potential stimulation target. Twenty-one healthy young subjects underwent RS-fMRI at three visits (V1 and V2 on a GE MR750 scanner and V3 on a Siemens Prisma) under eyes-open (EO) and eyes-closed (EC) conditions. Single-subject ICA with different total number of components (20, 30, and 40) were evaluated, and then the locations of peak voxels on the left and right sides of the sensorimotor network (SMN) were identified. While most ICA RS-fMRI studies have been carried out on the group level, that is, Group-ICA, the current study performed individual ICA because only the individual analysis could guide the individual target of rTMS. The intra- (test-retest) and inter-scanner reliabilities of the peak location were calculated. The use of 40 components resulted in the highest test-retest reliability of the peak location in both the left and right SMN compared with that determined when 20 and 30 components were used for both EC and EO conditions. ICA with 40 components might be another way to define a potential target in the SMN for poststroke rTMS treatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23873241,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-18":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Unplanned return to the operating room in patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: are we doing better with pedicle screws?\nProspective, longitudinal cohort. To evaluate the incidence, timing, and risk factors for reoperation in patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) treated with pedicle screws (PSs) compared with hybrid (Hb) constructs. Rates of return to the operating room (OR) after definitive fusion for AIS vary, with a paucity of data on PS constructs. A prospective multicenter database was retrospectively queried to identify consecutive patients with AIS who underwent posterior spinal fusion with either PS or Hb constructs with a minimum 2-year follow-up. All reoperations were stratified into an early group (<60 d) or a late group (>60 d). Univariate and multivariate logistical analyses were performed to identify potential risk factors related to reoperation. A total of 627 patients met the inclusion criteria (PS = 540, Hb = 87). There was a statistically significant difference in the rate of reoperations between the PS (3.5%) and Hb groups (12.6%), P < 0.001. Early return to the OR occurred in 2.0% of the patients with PS compared with 3.4% in the Hb group, P = 0.43. Late returns to the OR occurred in 1.5% of PS group versus 9.2% of the Hb group, P < 0.001. Multivariate analysis revealed longer operating time as an independent risk factor for an unplanned return to the OR in patients treated with PSs (P < 0.05). Our results suggest that patients with AIS treated with PS have decreased rates of unplanned return to the OR when compared with patients with Hb constructs. The majority of returns to the OR were early (<60 d) for the PS group compared with late (>60 d) for the Hb group. Longer operative times increased the risk of unplanned reoperation for the PS group. 3.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22684517,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Development of intra-vaginal matrices from polycaprolactone for sustained release of antimicrobial agents.\nMicroporous poly(\u03b5-caprolactone) matrices were loaded with an antibacterial agent, ciprofloxacin and an antifungal agent, miconazole nitrate, respectively, for investigations of their potential as controlled vaginal delivery devices. Ciprofloxacin loadings up to 15% w\/w could be obtained by increasing the drug content of the poly(\u03b5-caprolactone) solution, while the actual loadings of miconazole were much lower (1-3% w\/w) due to drug partition into methanol during the solvent extraction. The kinetics of ciprofloxacin release in simulated vaginal fluid at 37 were characterised by a small burst release phase in the first 24 h, low drug release up to 7 days (10%) and gradual release of up to 80% of the drug content by day 30. Meanwhile, the release kinetics of miconazole-loaded matrices could be effectively described by the Higuchi model with 100% drug release from the highest loaded matrices (3.2% w\/w) in 13 days. Ciprofloxacin or miconazole released over 30 and 13 days, respectively, from poly(\u03b5-caprolactone) matrices into simulated vaginal fluid retained high levels of antimicrobial activity in excess of 80% of the activity of the free drug. This study confirms the potential of poly(\u03b5-caprolactone) matrices for delivering antimicrobial agents in the form of an intra-vaginal device.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37456927,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3,"dup_dump_count":2,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1,"2024-30":1}}},"text":"Gadolinium contrast agents- challenges and opportunities of a multidisciplinary approach: Literature review.\nContrast agents is used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to improve the visibility of the details of the organ structures. Gadolinium-based contrast agent (GBCA) has been used since 1988 in MRI for diagnostic and follow-up of patients, the gadolinium good properties make it an effective choice for enhance the signal in MRI by increase its intensity and shortening the relaxation time of the proton. Recently, many studies show a gadolinium deposition in different human organs due to release of free gadolinium various body organs or tissue, which led to increased concern about the use of gadolinium agents, in this study, the potential diseases that may affect the patient and side effects that appear on the patient and related to accumulation of gadolinium were clarified, the study focused on the organs such as brain and bones in which gadolinium deposition was found and the lesions associated with it, and the diseases associated with gadolinium retention includes Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis (NSF) and Gadolinium deposition disease (GDD). Some studies tended to improve the contrast agents by developing a new non-gadolinium agents or development of next-generation gadolinium agents. In this review article the latest knowledge about MRI contrast agent.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28700654,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Body composition changes in male patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: Aging or disease process?\nChronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) mainly affects middle-age and elderly adults. It is unclear if the presence of muscle wasting and fat accumulation in patients with COPD is age or disease-related. This study investigated the effect of age and COPD disease severity on body composition with the aim of identifying a biomarker(s) for COPD. Healthy subjects and patients with COPD of different severity were recruited. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry was used to analyze total and segmental body composition. Subjects included in the analysis were classified into four groups: healthy young (aged 20-45 years) (n = 35), healthy old (aged \u2265 60 years) (n = 37), moderate COPD (n = 40), and severe COPD (n = 14). In healthy old adults, leg and limb lean masses were lower by 10.6% and 8.5%, respectively, compared with healthy young adults (P < 0.05). Appendicular lean outcomes were significantly lower in the moderate COPD compared to the healthy old group and were significant lower in subjects with severe COPD compared to those with moderate COPD. All fat depots were similar for both young and old healthy subjects and subjects with moderate COPD, but significantly decreased in patients with severe COPD. This study examined the changes in total and segmental body composition with aging and COPD severity. It found that aging and COPD altered the body composition differently, and the effect was most pronounced in leg lean mass. Remarkably, differences in appendicular lean masses were seen in mild COPD although no changes in body weight or BMI were apparent compared with healthy young adults. In contrast, fat depot changes were only observed in severe COPD. Aging and COPD processes are multifactorial and additional longitudinal studies are required to explore both the quantitative and qualitative changes in body composition with aging and disease process.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35368918,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Attentional Mechanisms and Improved Residual Networks for Diabetic Retinopathy Severity Classification.\nDiabetic retinopathy is a main cause of blindness in diabetic patients; therefore, detection and treatment of diabetic retinopathy at an early stage has an important effect on delaying and avoiding vision loss. In this paper, we propose a feasible solution for diabetic retinopathy classification using ResNet as the backbone network. By modifying the structure of the residual blocks and improving the downsampling level, we can increase the feature information of the hidden layer feature maps. In addition, attention mechanism is utilized to enhance the feature extraction effect. The experimental results show that the proposed model can effectively detect and classify diabetic retinopathy and achieve better results than the original model.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6737502,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Utilization of mental health services by the aging.\nA descriptive study of persons 55 years of age and older who were newly admitted (60 cases) or in ongoing treatment (30 cases) in a mental health center was done as an outgrowth of a utilization review study. The total population of 461 was studied from July 1, 1977, to June 30, 1978. A chart review of 90 cases was performed. The newly admitted subsample was married, was diagnosed as depressed, and had a broad range of dispositions into various treatment modalities. The chronic subsample was single, diagnosed as schizophrenic, and in treatment in a single community-support unit. These differences were statistically significant at the P<.01, P<.001, and P<.001 levels, respectively. Although the newly admitted subsample had no previous contact with psychiatric services, 44 of the 60 patients (73 percent) were on psychoactive medication prescribed by nonpsychiatric physicians. Implications for the training of general medical practitioners and mental health center staff, and the need for ongoing assessment of patients in community support units are discussed, as well as the significant risk to patients from potentially harmful drug interactions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8354721,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A comparative study of electric toothbrushes for the effectiveness of plaque removal in relation to toothbrushing duration. Timerstudy.\nThe purpose of the present study was to test the plaque-removing efficacy of 4 different toothbrushes in relation to duration of toothbrushing. The brushes studied were a manual toothbrush (M), a conventional electric toothbrush--the Blend-a-Dent (BL), the Interplak (IP) and the Braun Plak Control (BPC). For this study, 20 subjects were selected. The study was divided into 5 experiments which differed only in respect to the brushing time. The available time in experiment 1 through 5 was 7.5, 15, 30, 45, 90 s per quadrant respectively. Prior to each experiment, all subjects were asked to abstain from oral hygiene procedures for at least 24 h. The efficacy of toothbrushing in each experiment was studied while one investigator (MAL) brushed the teeth of the subjects. In each subject, all 4 brushes were tested. Each brush was assigned to a quadrant in a random order. No toothpaste was used throughout this study. The amount of dental plaque was evaluated before and after brushing by means of the Silness & L\u00f6e plaque index at 6 sites around each tooth investigated. The results show an increase in efficacy for all brushes varying from 7.5 s per quadrant to 90 s per quadrant (mean plaque reduction in terms of percentage 7.5 s-90 s: M = 40%-75%, BL = 45%-82%, BPC = 51%-94%, IP = 64%-92%). The IP removed significantly more plaque than the other 3 after 7.5 s of brushing. From 15 s through 90 s, the IP and BPC were equally effective.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30096257,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Molecular Epidemiological Characterization of Methicillin-Susceptible and -Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Isolated from Skin and Soft Tissue Infections in Bangladesh.\nGenetic background and molecular characteristics of Staphylococcus aureus collected from patients with skin and soft tissue infections were studied in the North-Central region of Bangladesh from 2015 to 2016. Among 430 clinical isolates, methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) accounted for 31% having SCCmec type IV (73%) and V (14%), and belonged mostly to coagulase (coa) genotypes IIa, IIIa, IVb, and XIa, while dominant coa type in methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) was IIIa, followed by Va, IIa, and VIa. Panton-Valentine Leukocidin genes (pvl) were detected at higher rate in MSSA (54%) than in MRSA (24%). Based on multilocus sequence typing, pvl-positive MRSA isolates were classified into clonal complex 88 (CC88) (ST88, ST2884, ST4345), CC6 (ST6, ST4350), and CC1 (ST1, ST772), while pvl-negative MRSA into CC5, CC22, CC80, CC121, and CC672. The pvl-negative ST80 MRSA isolates had SCCmec-IVa (agr-III\/coa-XIc, etd\/edinB-positive, fusB-negative), indicating that they belong to the novel CC80 clade related to the European community-acquired MRSA clone. Among MSSA, genotypes ST121\/spa-t645\/coa-Va and ST2884 (CC88)\/spa-t2393\/coa-IIIa were identified in both pvl-positive and negative isolates, and all the ST772 isolates harbored pvl. All the ST121 isolates had a variant of elastin-binding protein gene (ebpS-v) with internal 180-nucleotide deletion. The present study suggested that CC88 (ST88, ST2884) and ST772 are the putative dominant lineages of pvl-positive MRSA\/MSSA, while novel CC80 clade is one of the main pvl-negative MRSA lineages distributed endemically in Bangladesh.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7932202,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Arginine vasopressin-stimulated insulin secretion and elevation of intracellular Ca++ concentration in rat insulinoma cells: influences of a phospholipase C inhibitor 1-[6-[[17 beta-methoxyestra-1,3,5(10)-trien- 17-yl]amino]hexyl]-1H-pyrrole-2,5-dione (U-73122) and a phospholipase A2 inhibitor N-(p-amylcinnamoyl)anthranilic acid.\nThe present study investigated the mechanism by which arginine vasopressin (AVP) increases insulin secretion in rat insulinoma (RINm5F) cells by using a specific phospholipase C (PLC) inhibitor, 1-[6-[[17 beta-3-methoxyestra-1,3,5(10)-trien-17- yl]amino]hexyl]-1H-pyrrole-2,5-dione (U-73122), and a phospholipase A2 (PLA2) inhibitor, N-(p-amylcinnamoyl)anthranilic acid (ACA). AVP (0.1-100 nM) increased insulin secretion and cytosolic free Ca++ concentration ([Ca++]i) dose-dependently. AVP-induced increases in the intracellular concentration of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) and [Ca++]i were dose-dependently inhibited by U-73122 (2-8 microM). At 8 microM, U-73122 abolished AVP's effect on IP3 and [Ca++]i, but AVP-induced increases in insulin secretion were only reduced by 35%. In contrast, 8 microM U-73122 did not reduce the ionomycin (a Ca++ ionophore, 100 nM)-induced increase in [Ca++]i. The discrepancy between the results of [Ca++]i and insulin secretion in U-73122 experiments is indicative of the multiple signal transduction pathways associated with the activation of AVP receptors, specifically the Ca(++)-independent pathway. The phospholipase A2 inhibitor ACA (100 microM) did not antagonize AVP (10 nM)-induced increases in insulin secretion. These results suggested: 1) U-73122 blocks PLC activities but fails to block other signal transduction pathways that trigger insulin secretion in these cells and 2) AVP increases insulin release from RINm5F cells through both the PLC-mediated Ca(++)-dependent and Ca(++)-independent pathways.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32592026,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Ventilator-associated pneumonia in neonates: the role of point of care lung ultrasound.\nNo consensus exists regarding the definition of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in neonates and reliability of chest X-ray (CXR) is low. Lung ultrasound (LU) is a potential alternative diagnostic tool. The aim was to define characteristics of VAP in our patient population and propose a multiparameter score, incorporating LU, for VAP diagnosis. Between March 25, 2018, and May 25, 2019, infants with VAP were identified. Clinical, laboratory and microbiology data were collected. CXRs and LU scans were reviewed. A multiparameter VAP score, including LU, was calculated on Day 1 and Day 3 for infants with VAP and for a control group and compared with CXR. VAP incidence was 10.47 episodes\/1000 ventilator days. LU and CXR were available for 31 episodes in 21 infants with VAP, and for six episodes in five patients without VAP. On Day 1, a VAP score of > 4, and on Day 3 a score of > 5 showed sensitivity of 0.94, and area under the curve of 0.91 and 0.97, respectively. AUC for clinical information only was 0.88 and for clinical and CXR 0.85.Conclusion: The multiparameter VAP score including LU could be useful in diagnosing VAP in neonates with underlying lung pathology. What is Known: \u2022 Ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) is common in infants on the neonatal unit and is associated with increased use of antibiotics, prolonged ventilation and higher incidence of chronic lung disease. \u2022 Commonly used definitions of VAP are difficult to apply in neonates and interpretation of chest X-ray is challenging with poor inter-rater agreement in patients with underlying chronic lung disease. What is New: \u2022 The multiparameter VAP score combining clinical, microbiology and lung ultrasound (LU) data is predictive for VAP diagnosis in preterm infants with chronic lung disease. \u2022 LU findings of VAP in neonates showed high inter-rater agreement and included consolidated lung areas, dynamic bronchograms and pleural effusion.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35369600,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Survivability of Clostridioides difficile spores in fermented pork summer sausage during refrigerated storage.\nClostridioides difficile is a spore-forming pathogen that causes serious enteric disease in humans. Strains have been isolated from food animals and meat, including pork, which suggest a potential for foodborne transmission. Pork summer sausage is a popular fermented meat product, which is consumed cooked or cooked to a lower internal temperature due to acidification of the product. The effect of acidity and cooking on the viability of C. difficile spores in a fermented meat product has not been determined. Therefore, the aim was to study the survivability of C. difficile spores in fermented pork summer sausage. Fermented pork sausages were prepared according to a commercial recipe with or without starter culture and C. difficile spores followed by fermentation at 37\u00b0C for ~12 h under 85% relative humidity until pH 5.0 was reached and further processed as cooked (>57\u00b0C) or uncooked (\u226457\u00b0C) and stored at 4\u00b0C. C. difficile spores in sausages were enumerated at 1 h following inoculation and on days 0, 1, 7, 14, 21, 30, 60, and 90 of storage. It was observed that C. difficile spore viability in control unfermented treatment was significantly different on day 0 from the fermented, fermented cooked, and control unfermented cooked treatments (p<0.05); however, there was no significant difference among the latter three treatment groups throughout 90 days of storage (p>0.05). On day 90 of storage, the unfermented control sausages yielded ~4.0 log colony-forming unit (CFU)\/g of C. difficile spores compared to ~3.5 log CFU\/g recovered from fermented samples and the unfermented cooked control samples identifying spore viability in all treatment groups. C. difficile spores were found to survive the acidity and cooking of fermented pork summer sausage and storage at 4\u00b0C for 3 months, thereby highlighting the need for effective intervention strategies to reduce the risk of C. difficile contamination in pork products.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":945505,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Herpes simplex neuropathy.\nAtypical facial pain and permanent sensory loss in the second and third divisions of the trigeminal nerve developed in a patient who had had multiple attacks of herpes simplex neuralgia over a period of 8 years. Intravenous cytosine arabinoside failed to prevent a recurrence of the vasicular eruption, but carbamazepine produced symtomatic pain relief. This case demonstrates that herpes simplex can closely mimic herpes zoster as a cause of postherpetic neuralgia and suggests a possible etiology of atypical facial pain and\/or trigeminal sensory neuropaty in some patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16225147,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A hip wear simulator with 100 test stations.\nA novel high-capacity hip wear simulator of the pin-on-disc type was designed, built, and validated. This so-called Super-CTPOD (circularly translating pin-on-disc) device has as many as 100 separate test stations, being an advanced version of the previously validated 12-station CTPOD. A validity test was done so that in all stations the specimens and the test conditions were as similar as possible. Hence, for the first time in this field, an adequate number of similar tests was done for a proper statistical analysis of wear data. The pins were conventional, gamma-sterilized ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene, and the discs were polished CoCr. The lubricant was diluted calf serum and the test length 3 million cycles. In the course of the test, the pins became highly polished, whereas the discs remained practically unchanged. The majority of the polyethylene wear particles were rounded, with a mean diameter of 0.25 microm. The 100 wear factor values computed from the 100 steady state wear rate values of the pins were normally distributed, the mean +\/- 95 per cent confidence interval being 1.63 +\/- 0.017 x 10(-6) mm3 \/N m. The standard deviation was 5.4 per cent of the mean. There were no outliers. The wear mechanisms and the wear factor agreed well with clinical findings. Altogether, the Super-CTPOD test system was shown to be a unique combination of validity, low variation, capacity, efficiency, reliability, productivity, economy, ease of operation, and compact size.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9543573,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Association of ankylosing spondylitis, Crohn's disease and Takayasu's arteritis in a child.\nThe authors report the case of a 15-year-old, HLA-B27-positive male patient who presented a rare association of ankylosing spondylitis, Crohn's disease and Takayasu's arteritis, which resulted in death. A brief review of the literature is provided.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17173814,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Prevalence of white-coat hypertension and masked hypertension in the general population, through home blood pressure measurement].\nTo determine the prevalence of white-coat hypertension (WCH) and masked hypertension (MH) in the general population, by means of home blood pressure measurement (HBPM). Cross-sectional, descriptive study. Four primary care centres. A sample of 1400 individuals over 18 years old, selected from the Municipal Register of Inhabitants (Huelva, Spain) and randomised and stratified by age and gender. Two blood pressure (BP) measurements in clinic (CBP) and 12 measurements in a week of BP by HBPM were performed (OMRON 705-CP). Pressure was seen as normal when CBP means were <140\/90 mm Hg and HBPM was <135\/85 mm Hg. WCH was defined as when CBP was >140\/90 mm Hg and HBPM <135\/85 mm Hg, and hypertension when CBP was >140 mm Hg and HBPM >135\/85 mm Hg or patients were in treatment for hypertension. MH was when CBP was <140\/90 mm Hg and at home was >135 mm Hg and\/or 85 mm Hg. A total of 1153 individuals (82.35% of the sample) with mean age of 45.4 (SD, 16.1) were included: 560 men and 593 women. The prevalence of MH was 8.9% (CI+\/-1.6) in the general population and 9.8% (CI+\/-3.2) in individuals with hypertension. WCH prevalence was 3.6% (CI+\/-1.05) overall and 12.8% (CI+\/-3.6) in hypertense patients, with its prevalence increasing steadily as age groups rose (P = .001). The prevalence of WCH in the general population is low, whereas the prevalence of MH is high.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9140579,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"An overview of recent developments in the management and research of trauma.\nTrauma is one of the devastating problems of modern society. Each year, more than one million people die of trauma worldwide. In this paper, some of the recent developments in the management and research of trauma are presented: (1) Traumatology and injury epidemiology; (2) Trauma scoring and multiple injuries; (3) Blast injury and impact injury; (4) Mine injuries and firearm injury; (5) Classification of war wounds; and (6) Basic science research on trauma.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30314528,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Evaluating the risk for Usutu virus circulation in Europe: comparison of environmental niche models and epidemiological models.\nUsutu virus (USUV) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus, reported in many countries of Africa and Europe, with an increasing spatial distribution and host range. Recent outbreaks leading to regional declines of European common blackbird (Turdus merula) populations and a rising number of human cases emphasize the need for increased awareness and spatial risk assessment. Modelling approaches in ecology and epidemiology differ substantially in their algorithms, potentially resulting in diverging model outputs. Therefore, we implemented a parallel approach incorporating two commonly applied modelling techniques: (1) Maxent, a correlation-based environmental niche model and (2) a mechanistic epidemiological susceptible-exposed-infected-removed (SEIR) model. Across Europe, surveillance data of USUV-positive birds from 2003 to 2016 was acquired to train the environmental niche model and to serve as test cases for the SEIR model. The SEIR model is mainly driven by daily mean temperature and calculates the basic reproduction number R0. The environmental niche model was run with long-term bio-climatic variables derived from the same source in order to estimate climatic suitability. Large areas across Europe are currently suitable for USUV transmission. Both models show patterns of high risk for USUV in parts of France, in the Pannonian Basin as well as northern Italy. The environmental niche model depicts the current situation better, but with USUV still being in an invasive stage there is a chance for under-estimation of risk. Areas where transmission occurred are mostly predicted correctly by the SEIR model, but it mostly fails to resolve the temporal dynamics of USUV events. High R0 values predicted by the SEIR model in areas without evidence for real-life transmission suggest that it may tend towards over-estimation of risk. The results from our parallel-model approach highlight that relying on a single model for assessing vector-borne disease risk may lead to incomplete conclusions. Utilizing different modelling approaches is thus crucial for risk-assessment of under-studied emerging pathogens like USUV.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21160122,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Longitudinal trends in aphasia in the United States.\nFew studies have used national data to characterize the occurrence of aphasia in the U.S. The purpose of this project was to use national hospital discharge data to examine the number and characteristics of patients discharged from U.S. hospitals with a diagnosis of aphasia. We examined data from the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) (1997-2006) using ICD-9 codes for aphasia to identify the number and demographic characteristics of patients with aphasia. Between 1997 and 2006 the number of individuals with aphasia was approximately 100,000 per year. During the 10-year period, the majority of individuals with aphasia were 65 years of age and older, female, had Medicare as a primary payer source and resided in the South. The occurrence of aphasia and demographic characteristics of individuals with aphasia has been generally consistent in the U.S. from 1997 to 2006. Future studies are needed to quantify direct and indirect costs of treating individuals with aphasia as well as other factors that determine the true impact of aphasia and other neurologically based disorders of communication.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17008879,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Colocalization of glial fibrillary acidic protein, metallothionein, and MHC II in human, rat, NOD\/SCID, and nude mouse skin keratinocytes and fibroblasts.\nThe expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) by perivascular cells of many mammalian organs suggests an as yet unknown function of this intermediate filament protein in the maintenance of homeostasis and vascular permeability at the blood-tissue interface. Although a similar situation may exist at the air-tissue interface, the cellular distribution of GFAP in skin tissue has never been demonstrated. To approach this issue, we have employed immunofluorescence and Western blotting techniques to detect GFAP in skin sections of young and adult humans, normal rodents, and two types of mutant mice, as well as in rat lung sections, and in cultured human keratinocytes and fibroblasts. Colocalization with antigens known to be associated with GFAP in other tissues was also tested. Epidermal and hair follicle keratinocytes and dermal fibroblasts showed distinct staining for GFAP as well as colocalization with alpha-actin, metallothionein, and antigens of the class-II major histocompatibility complex (MHC II). GFAP was also identified in rat alveolar fibroblasts which, in common with keratinocytes, form part of the air-tissue interface. GFAP was upregulated together with MHC II in nude mice but was barely detectable in the skin of non-obese diabetic severe combined immunodeficiency mice, suggesting a possible involvement in antigen-presenting functions. The intriguing distribution of a common set of antigens both in certain cells of the integumentary system and at the blood-tissue interfaces of internal organs suggests the involvement of these proteins in universal mechanisms controlling tissue homeostasis and protection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28716744,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"A heterozygous mutation in GOT1 is associated with familial macro-aspartate aminotransferase.\nMacro-aspartate aminotransferase (macro-AST) manifests as a persistent elevation of AST levels, because of association of the protein with immunoglobulins in the circulation. Macro-AST is a rare, benign condition without a previously confirmed genetic basis. Whole exome sequencing (WES)-based screening was performed on 32 participants with suspected familial macro-AST, while validation of variants was performed on an extended cohort of 92 probands and 1,644 healthy controls using Taqman genotyping. A missense variant (p.Gln208Glu, rs374966349) in glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase 1 (GOT1) was found, as a putative causal variant predisposing to familial macro-AST. The GOT1 p.Gln208Glu mutation was detected in 50 (54.3%) of 92 probands from 20 of 29 (69%) families, while its prevalence in healthy controls was only 0.18%. In silico analysis demonstrated that the amino acid at this position is not conserved among different species and that, functionally, a negatively charged glutamate on the GOT1 surface could strongly anchor serum immunoglobulins. Our data highlight that testing for the p.Gln208Glu genetic variant may be useful in diagnosis of macro-AST. Higher than normal levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) in the bloodstream may be a sign of a health problem. Individuals with macro-AST have elevated blood AST levels, without ongoing disease and often undergo unnecessary medical tests before the diagnosis of macro-AST is established. We found a genetic variant in the GOT1 gene associated with macro-AST. Genetic testing for this variant may aid diagnosis of macro-AST.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6165555,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Age-related changes in the latency of the visual evoked potential: influence of check size.\nPattern reversal visual evoked potentials were recorded from visually normal adults between 10 and 80 years of age. Two check sizes, 12 and 48 min, were used. The results showed that the latency of the first major positive component, P1, increased with age for both check sizes. This rate of increase was nearly twice as fast for 12 min checks. This difference is most likely a reflection of the differential effects of aging processes on the various spatial frequency channels in the human visual system.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1097530,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Modulation of the immune response by antigen-reactive lymphocytes after cultivation with gangliosides.\nGM1 ganglioside isolated from mouse brain was found to be capable of inhibiting the thymocytotoxicity of AKR anti-Thy 1.2 antiserum and to a lesser extent anti-BAtheta antiserum. GD1b ganglioside of mouse brain and thymocytes inhibited the thymocytotoxicity of rabbit anti-BAtheta anti-serum for mouse thymocytes. When GM1 ganglioside, in the form of cholesterol-lecithin liposomes, was incubated with spleen cell cultures in the presence of SRBC, depressed anti-SRBC hemolytic plaque responses were observed. This effect could be neutralized by first absorbing the GM1 liposomes with anti-Thy-1.2 antibodies. The kinetics of GM1 numbers when the ganglioside was added even as late as the 4th day of culture. Results of experiments in which GM1 ganglioside was incubated with either bone marrow cells or with thymocytes suggest that the target cell for GM1 liposomes is the B lymphocytes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1156065,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Toxic-therapeutic ratio of sodium cyanate.\nSix patients with sickle cell anemia were treated with sodium cyanate (30 mg\/kg\/day). In four, treatment was stopped because of definite or suspected toxicity, and no improvement was seen in the other two. Most alarming was the sudden development of peripheral motor neuropathy in a patient whose red blood cells contained less than 0.6 mols NCO-\/mol of hemoglobin: six months after treatment was stopped, function had not completely returned in this patient. Safe oral dosage regimens may not be effective, but extra-corporeal treatment of sickle cells with cyanate, or other compounds, might circumvent that problem.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6743872,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Peripheral airways mucus clearance in stable asthma is improved by oral corticosteroid therapy.\nInhaled 99mTc-labelled particles have been used to assess mucus clearance from peripheral, intermediate and inner lung zones of 12 patients with stable asthma. The method of analysis relies on a ventilation image with 81mKr to estimate the distribution of radioaerosol alveolar deposition so that clearance from each zone can be related just to particles deposited in the ciliated conducting airways. In calculating clearance from intermediate and inner lung zones, allowance is made for particles transported into these zones from more distal regions of the lung. Peripheral zone clearance in the asthmatic subjects improved significantly (p less than 0.01) after four weeks of corticosteroid treatment (two weeks on 15 mg prednisolone orally each day, plus two weeks on 30 mg). No significant change occurred in clearance from the inner zone when all patients were considered together. However, the six patients who prior to treatment coughed relatively infrequently did show a significant (p less than 0.05) increase in clearance from the inner zone as well as from the peripheral zone.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28737896,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Interfacial Shear Strength and Adhesive Behavior of Silk Ionomer Surfaces.\nThe interfacial shear strength between different layers in multilayered structures of layer-by-layer (LbL) microcapsules is a crucial mechanical property to ensure their robustness. In this work, we investigated the interfacial shear strength of modified silk fibroin ionomers utilized in LbL shells, an ionic-cationic pair with complementary ionic pairing, (SF)-poly-l-glutamic acid (Glu) and SF-poly-l-lysine (Lys), and a complementary pair with partially screened Coulombic interactions due to the presence of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) segments and SF-Glu\/SF-Lys[PEG] pair. Shearing and adhesive behavior between these silk ionomer surfaces in the swollen state were probed at different spatial scales and pressure ranges by using functionalized atomic force microscopy (AFM) tips as well as functionalized colloidal probes. The results show that both approaches were consistent in analyzing the interfacial shear strength of LbL silk ionomers at different spatial scales from a nanoscale to a fraction of a micron. Surprisingly, the interfacial shear strength between SF-Glu and SF-Lys[PEG] pair with partially screened ionic pairing was greater than the interfacial shear strength of the SF-Glu and SF-Lys pair with a high density of complementary ionic groups. The difference in interfacial shear strength and adhesive strength is suggested to be predominantly facilitated by the interlayer hydrogen bonding of complementary amino acids and overlap of highly swollen PEG segments.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6729806,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Plasmapheresis treatment in 2 children with SSPE (subacute sclerosing panencephalitis). Various considerations on symptomatology, pathophysiology and therapy].\nSubacute sclerosing panencephalitis is a rare slowly progressive neurodegenerative disease in children and young adults. The course of the disease is 'typically' progressive until a vegetative state and death. Otherwise, the course might be 'atypical', with periods of relative stability or even some improvement. We describe two patients one of whom showed the typical course of the disease, whereas the other one showed the atypical form. Both patients were treated with plasmapheresis without noticeable favorable effects. The clinical symptomatology, the pathogenesis and the various therapeutical approaches are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29556149,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mechanical Mitral Valve Replacement during the 2nd Trimester of Pregnancy.\nWe report the case of a 44-year-old pregnant woman who was diagnosed with symptomatic severe mitral stenosis that did not respond to optimal medical therapy and balloon valvuloplasty. After a multidisciplinary team discussion on the timing and risks of interventions and postoperative optimization of peripartum anticoagulation, the patient underwent mechanical mitral valve replacement during the 2nd trimester of pregnancy. The outcome was excellent for the mother and the infant. This case emphasizes the importance of a multidisciplinary approach in managing unusual cases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28715808,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Retinoic Acid Facilitates Toll-Like Receptor 4 Expression to Improve Intestinal Barrier Function through Retinoic Acid Receptor Beta.\nVitamin A (VA) protects the intestinal epithelial barrier by improving cell migration and proliferation. Our previous studies demonstrated that VA deficiency (VAD) during pregnancy suppresses the systemic and mucosal immune responses in the intestines of offspring and that VA supplementation (VAS) during early life can increase immune cell counts. However, little is known about the mechanisms by which VA regulates intestinal epithelial barrier function. Caco-2 cells were treated with all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) for 24 hours to determine the optimum ATRA concentration to which the cells in question respond. Caco-2 cells were infected with recombinant adenoviruses carrying retinoic acid receptor beta (Ad-RAR\u03b2) and small interfering RAR\u03b2(siRAR\u03b2) to assess the effects of RAR\u03b2 signalling on the expression of specific proteins. A siTLR4 lentivirus was used to knockdown Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) in Caco-2 cells to determine its role in the protective effects of VA on the intestinal epithelial barrier, and experiments involving TLR4-knock-out mice were performed to verify the effect of TLR4. VA normal (VAN), VAD and VAS rat models were established to confirm that changes in RAR\u03b2, TLR4 and ZO-2 expression levels that occurred following decreases or increases in retinol concentrations in vivo, and the permeability of the Caco-2 cell monolayer, as well as that of the epithelial barrier of the rat intestine was detected by measuring transepithelial resistance (TER) or performing enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Retinoic acid receptor (RAR), toll like receptor (TLR) and tight junction (TJ) mRNA and protein expression levels in Caco-2 cells and the colon monolayers in the rat and mouse models were measured by PCR and western blotting, respectively. Co-immunoprecipitation (co-IP) and immunofluorescence staining were performed to assess the interactions among RAR\u03b2, TLR4 and zonula occluden-2 (ZO-2) in Caco-2 cells, and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay was performed to assess the binding between RAR\u03b2 and the TLR4 promoter sequence in Caco-2 cells. In the present study, ATRA treatment not only increased the TER of the Caco-2 monolayer but also up-regulated the expression levels of RAR\u03b2, TLR4 and ZO-2 in Caco-2 cells. The expression levels of these three proteins were significantly decreased in the colonic epithelial monolayers of VAD rats compared with those of VAN rats and were significantly increased following VAS in the corresponding group compared with the control group. Furthermore, the above changes in TLR4 and ZO-2 expression levels were augmented or attenuated by Ad-RAR\u03b2 or siRAR\u03b2 infection, respectively, in Caco-2 cells. Interestingly, siTLR4 down-regulated ZO-2 expression but did not affect RAR\u03b2 expression in Caco-2 cells, and in VAD mice the lack of TLR4 did not affect ZO-2 expression. We noted direct interactions between RAR\u03b2 and TLR4, TLR4 and ZO-2 in Caco-2 cells, and ChIP assay showed that RAR\u03b2 could bind to the TLR4 promoter but not the ZO-2 promoter in Caco-2 cells. Taken together, our results indicate that RAR\u03b2 enhanced ZO-2 expression by regulating TLR4 to improve intestinal epithelial barrier function in Caco-2 cells, as well as in rat and mouse models, but not in humans.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22685059,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of piperidine and piperideine alkaloids from the venom of red imported fire ants, Solenopsis invicta Buren, on Pythium ultimum Trow growth in vitro and the application of piperideine alkaloids to control cucumber damping-off in the greenhouse.\nPythium ultimum is a plant pathogen that causes significant yield losses on many economically important crops. Chemical treatment has been used for disease control. In searching for alternatives, venom piperidine and piperideine alkaloids from red imported fire ants were tested against P. ultimum in vitro, and piperideines were employed to control cucumber damping-off in the greenhouse as drench treatments. Results Piperidine and piperideine alkaloids of the red imported fire ant significantly inhibited mycelium growth of P. ultimum. Piperidine alkaloids were stable at both room and elevated temperatures. The inhibitory activity positively correlated with the concentrations of piperidine alkaloids in the medium, and the EC(50) = 17.0 \u00b5g ml(-1). Germination of sporangia of P. ultimum was negatively correlated with the concentrations of piperidine alkaloids in the medium, and the EC(50) = 12.3 \u00b5g ml(-1). The piperideine alkaloid drenching treatment significantly improved seedling emergence and seedling height of cucumber. This is the first report describing the use of venom alkaloids from the red imported fire ant to inhibit P. ultimum in the laboratory and the application of piperideine alkaloids to control damping-off disease caused by P. ultimum in the greenhouse. These findings may lead to the development of a new group of fungicides.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25524268,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Correlations between changes in conformational dynamics and physical stability in a mutant IgG1 mAb engineered for extended serum half-life.\nThis study compares the local conformational dynamics and physical stability of an IgG1 mAb (mAb-A) with its corresponding YTE (M255Y\/S257T\/T259E) mutant (mAb-E), which was engineered for extended half-life in vivo. Structural dynamics was measured using hydrogen\/deuterium (H\/D) exchange mass spectrometry while protein stability was measured with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and size exclusion chromatography (SEC). The YTE mutation induced differences in H\/D exchange kinetics at both pH 6.0 and 7.4. Segments covering the YTE mutation sites and the FcRn binding epitopes showed either subtle or no observable differences in local flexibility. Surprisingly, several adjacent segments in the CH2 and distant segments in the VH, CH1, and VL domains had significantly increased flexibility in the YTE mutant. Most notable among the observed differences is increased flexibility of the 244-254 segment of the CH2 domain, where increased flexibility has been shown previously to correlate with decreased conformational stability and increased aggregation propensity in other IgG1 mAbs (e.g., presence of destabilizing additives as well as upon de-glycosylation or methionine oxidation). DSC analysis showed decreases in both thermal onset (Tonset) and unfolding (Tm1) temperatures of 7\u00b0C and 6.7\u00b0C, respectively, for the CH2 domain of the YTE mutant. In addition, mAb-E aggregated faster than mAb-A under accelerated stability conditions as measured by SEC analysis. Hence, the relatively lower physical stability of the YTE mutant correlates with increased local flexibility of the 244-254 segment, providing a site-directed mutant example that this segment of the CH2 domain is an aggregation hot spot in IgG1 mAbs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29556439,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"First global transcriptome analysis of brown algae Macrocystis integrifolia (Phaeophyceae) under marine intertidal conditions.\nTo understand the physiological responses of the brown macroalga Macrocystis integrifolia during the marine tidal cycle, two RNA libraries were prepared from algal frond samples collected in the intertidal zone (0 m depth) and subtidal zone (10 m depth). Samples collected from intertidal zone during low tide was considered as abiotic stressed (MI0), while samples collected from subtidal zone was considered as control (MI10). Both RNA libraries were sequenced on Illumina NextSeq 500 which generated approx. 46.9 million and 47.7 million raw paired-end reads for MI0 and MI10, respectively. Among the representative transcripts (RTs), a total of 16,398 RTs (39.20%) from MI0 and 21,646 RTs (39.24%) from MI10 were successfully annotated. A total of 535 unigenes (271 upregulated and 264 downregulated) showed significantly altered expression between MI0 and MI10. In abiotic-stressed condition (MI0), the relative expression levels of genes associated with antioxidant defenses (vanadium-dependent bromoperoxidase, glutathione S-transferase, lipoxygenase, serine\/threonine-protein kinase, aspartate Aminotransferase, HSPs), water transport (aquaporin), photosynthesis (light-harvesting complex) protein were significantly upregulated, while in control condition (MI10) most of the genes predominantly involved in energy metabolism (NADH-ubiquinone oxidoreductase\/NADH dehydrogenase, NAD(P)H-Nitrate reductase, long-chain acyl-CoA synthetase, udp-n-acetylglucosamine pyrophosphorylase) were overexpressed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27265027,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Correlation between the acid-base properties of the La2O3 catalyst and its methane reactivity.\nDensity functional theory and coupled cluster theory calculations were carried out to study the effects of the acid-base properties of the La2O3 catalyst on its catalytic activity in the oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) reaction. The La(3+)-O(2-) pair site for CH4 activation is considered as a Lewis acid-Br\u00f6nsted base pair. Using the Lewis acidity and the Br\u00f6nsted basicity in the fluoride affinity and proton affinity scales as quantitative measures of the acid-base properties, the energy barrier for CH4 activation at the pair site can be linearly correlated with these acid-base properties. The pair site consisting of a strong Lewis acid La(3+) site and a strong Br\u00f6nsted base O(2-) site is the most reactive for CH4 activation. In addition, the basicity of the La2O3 catalyst was traditionally measured by temperature-programmed desorption of CO2, but the CO2 chemisorption energy is better regarded as a combined measure of the acid-base properties of the pair site. A linear relationship of superior quality was found between the energy barrier for CH4 activation and the CO2 chemisorption energy, and the pair site favorable for CO2 chemisorption is also more reactive for CH4 activation, leading to the conflicting role of the \"basicity\" of the La2O3 catalyst in the OCM reaction. The necessity for very high reaction temperatures in the OCM reaction is rationalized by the requirement for the recovery of the most reactive acid-base pair site, which unfortunately also reacts most readily with the byproduct CO2 to form the very stable CO3(2-) species.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12030716,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Bronchoscopic administration of bovine natural surfactant in ARDS and septic shock: impact on biophysical and biochemical surfactant properties.\nThe purpose of the present study was to investigate the impact of bronchoscopic surfactant administration, on the biochemical and biophysical surfactant properties, in patients with severe and early acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and septic shock. A total number of 27 ARDS patients received 300-500 mg x kg x body x weight(-1) of a natural bovine surfactant extract (Alveofact) via a flexible bronchoscope. Bronchoalveolar lavages were performed 3 h prior to, and 15-18 h and 72 h after surfactant administration. A comparison to healthy volunteers, undergoing an identical lavage procedure, was made (control, n=12). Severe biophysical and biochemical surfactant abnormalities were encountered throughout in the ARDS patients. These included a massive alveolar protein load, a reduced percentage of large surfactant aggregates (LA), a loss of palmitoylated phosphatidylcholine species and a significant reduction of surfactant apoprotein (SP)-A, SP-B and SP-C in the LA fraction. Both minimum (gammamin) and adsorption (gammaads) surface tension values (pulsating bubble surfactometer) were dramatically increased. Surfactant treatment resulted in a marked increase in the lavagable phospholipid (PL) pool, but predominance of the alveolar surfactant-inhibitory protein load was still encountered. Far-reaching or even complete normalization of the PL profile, the LA fraction and its SP-B and SP-C (but not SP-A) content as well as the fatty acid composition of the phosphatidylcholine class was noted. Surface tension lowering properties (gammamin and gammaads) significantly improved, but were still not fully normalized. Bronchoscopic administration of large quantities of natural bovine surfactant in severe acute respiratory distress syndrome causes far-reaching restoration of biochemical surfactant properties and significant improvement, however not full normalization, of biophysical surfactant function.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3037793,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Metabolic pool of free amino acids in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid of patients with pituitary adenoma before and after proton therapy].\nA pool of free amino acids was studied in blood and cerebrospinal fluid of 34 patients with adenoma of hypophysis before proton therapy and within 3 years after the treatment. The course of proton therapy was shown to cause a regression of the disease, a decrease in content of somatotropic hormone in blood as well as to normalize the metabolic pool of amino acids in blood and cerebrospinal fluid.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28276286,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Arsenic trioxide and all-trans-retinoic acid selectively exert synergistic cytotoxicity against FLT3-ITD AML cells via co-inhibition of FLT3 signaling pathways.\nFLT3-ITD mutations occur in approximately 30% of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and are associated with a poor outcome. Currently available FLT3 inhibitors have in vitro but limited clinical activity in FLT3-ITD AML. Reports have shown that an arsenic trioxide (ATO)\/all-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA) combination improves prognosis in acute promyelocytic leukemia, especially with FLT3-ITD, and ATO or ATRA alone enhances apoptosis in FLT3-ITD AML cells treated with FLT3 inhibitors, providing a rationale to investigate the role of ATO\/ATRA in FLT3-ITD AML. Here, we demonstrate that an ATO\/ATRA combination selectively exerts synergistic cytotoxicity against FLT3-ITD AML cell lines (MV4;11\/MOLM-13). The signaling pathways affected by ATO\/ATRA include FLT3\/STAT5\/MYC, FLT3\/STAT5\/E2F1, FLT3\/ERK\/ATF5 and FLT3\/AKT\/ATF5.ATF5 may function as an oncogene in FLT3-ITD AML. Our findings provide experimental evidence that supports further exploration of ATO\/ATRA in FLT3-ITD AML in vivo and warrants a clinical evaluation of regimens comprising an ATO\/ATRA combination.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34234988,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Clinical Outcomes and Disease Burden in Amyloidosis Patients with and Without Atrial Fibrillation-Insight from the National Inpatient Sample Database.\nAmyloidosis is a systemic illness that affects multiple organ systems, including the cardiovascular, renal, gastrointestinal, and pulmonary systems. Common manifestations include restrictive cardiomyopathy, arrhythmias, nephrotic syndrome, and gastrointestinal hemorrhage. It is unknown whether coexisting atrial fibrillation (AF) worsens the disease burden and outcomes in patients with systemic amyloidosis. In this study, those with a diagnosis of amyloidosis with and without coexisting AF were identified by querying the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project-specifically, the National Inpatient Sample for the year 2016-based on International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, Clinical Modification codes. During 2016, a total of 2,997 patients were admitted with a diagnosis of amyloidosis, including 918 with concurrent AF. Greater rates of mortality (7.4% vs. 5.6%); heart block (6.8% vs. 2.8%); cardiogenic shock (5% vs. 1.6%); placement of an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, cardiac resynchronization therapy device, or permanent pacemaker (14.5% vs. 4.5%); renal failure (29% vs. 21%); heart failure (66% vs. 30%); and bleeding complications (5.7% vs. 2.8%) were observed in patients with a diagnosis of amyloidosis and coexisting AF when compared with in patients without AF. Interestingly, patients with amyloidosis without comorbid AF had greater odds of associated stroke relative to those with concurrent AF (7.9% vs. 3.4%).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18592723,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Non invasive cardiac imaging: clinical role of newly developed modalities. Part III: non ischemic cardiac diseases].\nEchocardiography is the preferred initial noninvasive test to assess heart muscle and heart valves. Cardiac MRI has a unique capacity to directly characterise myocardial tissue with specific imaging sequences and late enhancement pattern after gadolinium injection, and has a specific role in the diagnosis of cardiomyopathies. In valvular heart diseases, cardiac MRI precisely measures the severity of aortic or pulmonary regurgitation. In pericardial heart diseases, and specifically when constrictive pericarditis is suspected, cardiac MRI and\/or CT are useful to look for pericardial thickening. Cardiac CT and MRI are very rapidly developing techniques in cardiology; the use of these expensive techniques must follow the currently accepted indications in order to be integrated in a rational diagnosis process in clinical practice.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9557490,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Congenital dysplasia of the hip in children of immigrants from developing countries].\nAim of study was to ascertain the possible presence of congenital dysplasia of the hip in infants (CDH) in the population immigrated from countries where the problem is surely neglected from the local health service and estimate its incidence. Moreover to observe the impact of the CDH problem on the parents of these children, sometimes of scarce culture or rather of scarce comprehension of the language. Finally, to verify the answer of parents to the medical prescriptions and to the not simple therapeutic formality. From 1989 to 1996, the hip has been examined by Graf ultrasounds (US) method on a population of 181 infants born from developing countries' immigrants in Italy; 77 of them were Egyptians. Even if the density of the population studied was not very high, the results presented in this paper are innovative and differ from the literature on this matter. Among the 362 hips examined with US, only 5 hips were found to be pathologic (4 Egyptians and 1 Philippine; 2 type uD and 3 type IIC of Graf), and they were treated and recovered with a harm in about 3 months. This work underlines the necessity that all immigrated infants should be studied with US hip exams and that CDH in these people should not be under-evaluated: the very low occurrence of this pathology in developing countries is probably mainly due to scarsity of studies on this matter. This allows not only to avoid hip dislocation in these subjects, but also to the society to avoid the necessary cost of the subsequent treatment of well more serious diseases such as osteoarthritis of the hip on dysplastic basis, in subjects that likely will stay in our country definitely, becoming Italian citizens to all effects.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12036197,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Decline of high hepatitis C virus prevalence in a hemodialysis unit with no isolation measures during a 6-year follow-up.\nIt has been recently suggested that isolation measures may be necessary to avoid hepatitis C virus (HCV) spread in hemodialysis units with a high HCV prevalence. To assess the variation in prevalence and long-term incidence of HCV infection, we studied our hemodialysis patients during a 6-year follow-up period. We compared anti-HCV prevalence in 1994, 1996, 1998 and 2000 according to the anti-HCV status, and we analyzed the seroconversion of anti-HCV. Strict adherence to universal precautions has been fulfilled since 1993 and systematic anti-HCV testing in blood donors has been performed since 1994. No isolation measures were adopted. In 1994,22 of 53 (41.5%) patients tested positive for anti-HCV; in 1996, 18 of 67 (26.9%); in 1998,9 of 75 (12.0%); and in 2000, 7 of 82 (8.5%) (p < 0.001). In 2000, 7 of 14 (50.0%) patients who had been attending the unit since 1994 and 0 of 68 (0%) who had entered after 1994 were anti-HCV-positive (p = 0.000). Eight of 1 71 (4.7%) patients who entered the unit and 24 of 142 (16.9%) who left it were anti-HCV-positive (p < 0.001). Two patients became anti-HCV-negative. Seroconversion of anti-HCV was observed in 3 patients. The yearly seroconversion rate was 0.5% during the period 1994-1996 (1 of 98 patients at risk), 0.5% during the period 1996-1998 (1 of 91 patients at risk), and 0.4% during the period 1998-2000 (1 of 120 patients at risk). It was possible to reduce a high HCV prevalence in a hemodialysis unit when a low incidence was achieved without taking isolation measures. All anti-HCV-positive patients in 2000 had been undergoing hemodialysis since 1994.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16229231,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Neonatal BCG protection against tuberculosis lasts for 20 years in Brazil.\nBacille Calmette-Gu\u00e9rin (BCG) efficacy against pulmonary disease is highly variable; until very recently there was no evidence of protection after 10 years. In the control arm of a trial of efficacy of revaccination of schoolchildren in Brazil we found substantial protection (39%; 95%CI 9-58) of neonatal BCG against all forms of tuberculosis (TB) 15-20 years after vaccination, much longer than previously believed. This confirms recent findings from an earlier trial, and must be considered in the design of trials of new TB vaccines and in policy decisions based on assumed lack of neonatal BCG protection with time.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28266839,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Walnut-like Porous Core\/Shell TiO2 with Hybridized Phases Enabling Fast and Stable Lithium Storage.\nTiO2 is a promising and safe anode material for lithium ion batteries (LIBs). However, its practical application has been plagued by its poor rate capability and cycling properties. Herein, we successfully demonstrate a novel structured TiO2 anode with excellent rate capability and ultralong cycle life. The TiO2 material reported here shows a walnut-like porous core\/shell structure with hybridized anatase\/amorphous phases. The effective synergy of the unique walnut-like porous core\/shell structure, the phase hybridization with nanoscale coherent heterointerfaces, and the presence of minor carbon species endows the TiO2 material with superior lithium storage properties in terms of high capacity (\u223c177 mA h g-1 at 1 C, 1 C = 170 mA g-1), good rate capability (62 mA h g-1 at 100 C), and excellent cycling stability (\u223c83 mA h g-1 was retained over 10 000 cycles at 10 C with a capacity decay of 0.002% per cycle).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8353462,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Relationship of interleukin-4 to isotypic distribution of anti-double-stranded DNA antibodies in systemic lupus erythematosus.\nIgG subclasses of anti-double-stranded DNA antibodies were determined in 182 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. All isotypes were detected, but IgG1 and IgG3 were predominant (62 and 51% of the cases, respectively). An average of 64 +\/- 27% was IgG1, 16 +\/- 22% IgG2, 16 +\/- 19% IgG3 and 4 +\/- 10% IgG4. The rank order or frequency was IgG1, IgG3, IgG2 and IgG4 in patients with musculoskeletal involvement; IgG1, IgG2, IgG3 and IgG4 in those with renal complications; IgG3, IgG1, IgG2 and IgG4 in those with cutaneous involvement; and IgG1, IgG3, IgG2 and IgG4 in those with hematological manifestations. Interleukin-4 (IL-4) was detectable in 17 of 36 selected patients, as opposed to 1 of 40 normal controls. The percentage of the total autoantibody contributed by IgG1 was significantly higher (p < 0.03) in these patients than in the remainder with undetectable levels of IL-4.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3043890,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Embryo transfer: its uses and recent developments.\nThe technique of embryo transfer is now routinely employed in several species and with several objectives. In laboratory animals the technique is used mainly in investigations of reproductive biology, whereas in human beings it is used to overcome specific forms of impaired fertility. Because embryo transfer combined with superovulation of the donor can significantly increase the female reproductive rate its greatest application to date has been in farm animals, in which it is widely used in both research and commercial production. Within the past few years there have been many advances in the techniques used in farm animals, particularly in the area of embryo manipulation. The supply of embryos can now be increased by repeated superovulation and by embryo bisection and there has been significant progress in in vitro fertilisation technology. Deep freeze (-196 degrees C) storage of embryos is now routine and may be combined with direct one-step thawing and removal of cryoprotectant. This technique allows the routine non-surgical transfer of embryos in the field. There is also evidence that a routine non-traumatic procedure for sexing embryos may soon be developed. Identical multiplets or clones have been produced by the microdissection of embryos and more recently by the transfer of nuclei from embryos into unfertilized oocytes. Transgenic animals have been produced by the microinjection of recombinant DNA into one of the pronuclei of single-cell unfertilized ova.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12020368,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Outbreaks of forest defoliating insects in Japan, 1950-2000.\nIn Japan, several forest-defoliating insects reach outbreak levels and cause serious defoliation. Stand mortality sometimes occurs after severe defoliation. However, in general, tree mortality caused by insect defoliation is low because of the prevailing moist climate in Japan. Evergreen conifers are more susceptible to tree mortality as a result of insect defoliation whereas deciduous broad-leaved trees are seldom killed. Insect defoliation occurs more frequently in man-made environments such as among shade trees, orchards, and plantations than in natural habitats. Outbreaks of some defoliators tend to occur in stands of a particular age: e.g. outbreaks of the pine caterpillar, Dendrolimus spectabilis Butler (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae) occur more frequently in young pine plantations. In contrast, defoliation caused by outbreaks of lepidopterous and hymenopterous pests in larch plantations is more frequent with stand maturation. There is a relationship between outbreaks of some defoliators and altitude above sea level. Most outbreaks of forest defoliators were terminated by insect pathogens that operated in a density-dependent fashion. Since the 1970s, Japan has been prosperous and can afford to buy timber from abroad. More recently, there has been an increasing demand for timber in Japan, that coincides with a huge demand internationally, so that the country will need to produce more timber locally in the future. The increasing pressure on the forestry industry to meet this demand will require more sophisticated methods of pest control coupled with more sustainable methods of silviculture.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37441724,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-30":1}}},"text":"Escrutinio para el c\u00e1ncer de colon: \u00bfcu\u00e1l fue el impacto en los primeros 2 a\u00f1os de la pandemia de COVID-19? Experiencia en una cl\u00ednica privada ambulatoria.\nCOVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on colorectal cancer (CRC) screening programs. The care strategy was modified throughout the pandemic, this paper evaluates its impact and short-term consequences. A retrospective, descriptive and cross-sectional study was carried out in a private ambulatory endoscopic center, in average risk subjects. The study compared two periods: pre-pandemic and pandemic (subdivided into pre-vaccination and vaccination). During this period, 54.4% of scheduled colonoscopies were due to the screening program. The average age was 60.4 \u00b1 7 years. Women were 52.0%. The overall cancellation rate was 41.1%, higher during pre-vaccination period. There were no differences in the degree of colonic cleansing, colonoscope exit time, and patient satisfaction. The adenoma detection rate (38.4% vs. 42.8% vs. 36.4%; p = 0.8) and the total number of adenomas (p = 0.02) was statistically significant during the pre-vaccination period. The rate of adenoma\/patient showed a higher trend during this period (p = 0.06). The number of colorectal cancers was 10, without differences between periods. In conclusion, the impact of the decrease in screening colonoscopy procedures for CRC detection was similar to what was seen worldwide. In this period no increase in cancer cases, although this effect may be observed in the long term.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34415080,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Carnitine deficiency among hospitalized pediatric patients: A retrospective study of critically ill patients receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation therapy.\nThe metabolic demands associated with critical illness place patients at risk for nutrition deficits. Carnitine is a small molecule essential for fatty acid oxidation and gluconeogenesis. Secondary carnitine deficiency can have clinically significant complications and has been observed anecdotally in patients receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) therapy at our institution. Guidelines for monitoring and supplementing carnitine are lacking. This retrospective study determined whether critically ill pediatric patients receiving ECMO have an increased risk of carnitine deficiency. Acylcarnitine analysis was performed on residual specimens from patients who received ECMO therapy. The control data were a convenience sample gathered by chart review of patients who had been tested for carnitine during a hospitalization. Acylcarnitines were measured in 217 non-ECMO patients and 81 ECMO patients. Carnitine deficiency, based on age-specific reference ranges, was observed in 41% of ECMO cases compared with 21% of non-ECMO cases. Multivariable analysis of age-matched patients identified that the odds of carnitine deficiency were significantly lower among patients on the floor compared with ECMO patients (odds ratio, 0.21; 95% CI, 0.10-0.44). Age-specific frequency of qualitative carnitine deficiency ranged from 15% (patients >5 years old) to 56% (patients 1 week to 1 month old) in ECMO patients and 15% (patients >5 years old) to 34% (patients 1-5 years old) in non-ECMO patients. In this study, ECMO patients were carnitine deficient more frequently compared with other inpatients, with the highest rates of deficiency among ECMO patients between 1 week and 1 month old.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31602640,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Treatment of spatial neglect in clinical practice: A nationwide survey.\nClinical research has documented a range of evidence-based treatment approaches for spatial neglect (SN), but there is a lack of research on the implementation of treatment into clinical practice. The purpose of this study is to describe the current clinical practice of SN treatment across healthcare sectors including involved professions, methods, timing and sources of evidence. This is the second part of a nationwide, anonymous, open Internet survey that was conducted among healthcare professionals in Denmark on assessment and treatment of SN. A total of 525 healthcare professionals participated in the survey of which 411 (78.3%) reported that SN treatment was provided at their workplace. Occupational and physiotherapist were most often involved in the treatment, most commonly characterized by training of activities of daily living (ADL), sensoric stimulation and cueing. Less frequently reported were evidence-based methods such as prism adaptation and visual scanning. The overall intensity of the SN treatment varied considerably across sectors and might consequently be inadequate. A minority of the participants consulted clinical research evidence in their choice of SN treatment approaches. There is a profound lack of dissemination and translation of clinical research into current clinical practice, which unarguably leads to an underuse of evidence-based treatment approaches in SN rehabilitation. The results call for international multidisciplinary clinical guidelines for the treatment of SN at different stages of rehabilitation and the tailoring of treatment approaches to the individual patient.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36936419,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Genome-wide analyses of lung cancer after single high-dose radiation at five time points (2, 6, 12, 24, and 48 h).\nBackground: An increasing number of clinicians are experimenting with high-dose radiation. This study focuses on the genomic effects of high-dose single-shot radiotherapy and aims to provide a dynamic map for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: We used whole-transcriptome sequencing to understand the evolution at molecular levels in A549 and H1299 exposed to 10 Gy X-rays at different times (2, 6, 12, 24, and 48 h) in comparison with the no radiation group. Ingenuity pathway analysis, ceRNA analysis, enrichment analysis, and cell cycle experiments are performed for molecular analyses and function analyses. Results: Whole-transcriptome sequencing of NSCLC showed a significant dynamic change after radiotherapy within 48 h. MiR-219-1-3p and miR-221-3p, miR-503-5p, hsa-miR-455-5p, hsa-miR-29-3p, and hsa-miR-339-5p were in the core of the ceRNA related to time change. GO and KEGG analyses of the top 30 mRNA included DNA repair, autophagy, apoptosis, and ferroptosis pathways. Regulation of the cell cycle-related transcription factor E2F1 might have a key role in the early stage of radiotherapy (2.6 h) and in the later stage of autophagy (24 and 48 h). Functions involving different genes\/proteins over multiple periods implied a dose of 10 Gy was related to the kidney and liver pathway. Radiation-induced cell cycle arrest at the G2\/M phase was evident at 24 h. We also observed the increased expression of CCNB1 at 24 h in PCR and WB experiments. Conclusion: Our transcriptomic and experimental analyses showed a dynamic change after radiation therapy in 48 h and highlighted the key molecules and pathways in NSCLC after high-dose single-shot radiotherapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20351882,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Toward a fully de-identified biomedical information warehouse.\nThe Information Warehouse at the Ohio State University Medical Center is a comprehensive repository of business, clinical, and research data from various source systems. Data collected here is a valuable resource that facilitates both translational research and personalized healthcare. The use of such data in research is governed by federal privacy regulations with oversight by the Institutional Review Board. In 2006, the Information Warehouse was recognized by the OSU IRB as an \"Honest Broker\" of clinical data, providing investigators with de-identified or limited datasets under stipulations contained in a signed data use agreement. In order to streamline this process even further, the Information Warehouse is developing a de-identified data warehouse that is suitable for direct user access through a controlled query tool that is aimed to support both research and education activities. In this paper we report our findings on performance evaluation of different de-identification schemes that may be used to ensure regulatory compliance while also facilitating practical database updating and querying. We also discuss how date-shifting in the de-identification process can impact other data elements such as diagnosis and procedure codes and consider a possible solution to those problems.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37466349,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Design and Evaluation of an Interprofessional Preceptor Development Mini-Fellowship Program.\nHealth professions preceptors require skills and knowledge to effectively meet the educational needs of interprofessional students in clinical environments. We implemented a mini-fellowship program to enhance the knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy of preceptors teaching students and applying quality improvement (QI) methods across disciplines and patient care settings. The design, implementation, and evaluation of the program were informed by the faculty development literature, principles of adult learning, and preceptor needs. The 3-day program included workshops on curriculum design, clinical teaching methods, QI, social determinants of health, cultural humility, and interprofessional teamwork. Quantitative and qualitative evaluation methods were used including preprogram and postprogram knowledge and self-efficacy surveys, along with end-of-session and program evaluations. Five annual cohorts involving 41 preceptors with varied demographics, professions, and clinical practices completed the mini-fellowship program. Participants' percentage of items answered correctly on a QI knowledge test increased from 79.2% (pretest) to 85.5% (post-test), a gain of 6.3% (90% CI: 2.9-9.7%; P < .003). The average QI self-efficacy scores improved from 2.64 to 3.82, a gain of 1.18 points on a five-point scale (P < .001). The average education\/teaching self-efficacy increased from 2.79 to 3.80 on a five-point scale (P < .001). Ultimately, 94% would recommend the program to other preceptors. An interprofessional preceptor development program designed to train clinicians to effectively teach in the clinical setting and to conduct QI projects with students was achievable and effective. This program can serve as a model for academic centers charged with training future health care workers and supporting their community-based preceptors' training needs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30313561,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A new species of subgenus Homoneura from Northern China, with information of 12 species newly recorded (Diptera: Lauxaniidae: Homoneura).\nHomoneura (Homoneura) hanmaensis sp. nov. is described as new to science and 12 species are recorded from China for the first time: Homoneura (Homoneura) albomarginata Czerny, 1932, Homoneura (H.) biumbrata (Loew, 1847), Homoneura (H.) cerina Shatalkin, 2000, Homoneura (H.) euaresta (Coquillett, 1898), Homoneura (H.) filiola Czerny, 1932, Homoneura (H.) kaszabi Shewell, 1971, Homoneura (H.) lamellata (Becker, 1895), Homoneura (H.) mediospinosa Merz, 2003, Homoneura (H.) patella Shewell, 1971, Homoneura (H.) shewelliana Papp, 1978, Homoneura (H.) spinicauda Sasakawa and Ikeuchi, 1982, Homoneura (H.) tenera (Loew, 1846). A few of photographs and illustrations are provided for eight species. Keys are provided to separate eight species groups and Chinese species of eight species groups of subgenus Homoneura.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31245818,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Robot-Assisted Insular Depth Electrode Implantation Through Oblique Trajectories: 3-Dimensional Anatomical Nuances, Technique, Accuracy, and Safety.\nThe insula is a deep cortical structure that has renewed interest in epilepsy investigation. Invasive EEG recordings of this region have been challenging. Robot-assisted stereotactic electroencephalography has improved feasibility and safety of such procedures. To describe technical nuances of three-dimensional (3D) oblique trajectories for insular robot-assisted depth electrode implantation. Fifty patients who underwent robot-assisted depth electrode implantation between June 2017 and December 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. Insular electrodes were implanted through oblique, orthogonal, or parasagittal trajectories. Type of trajectories, accuracy, number of contacts within insular cortex, imaging, and complication rates were analyzed. Cadaveric and computerized tomography\/magnetic resonance imaging 3D reconstructions were used to visualize insular anatomy and the technical implications of oblique trajectories. Forty-one patients (98 insular electrodes) were included. Thirty (73.2%) patients had unilateral insular coverage. Average insular electrodes per patient was 2.4. The mean number of contacts was 7.1 (SD \u00b1 2.91) for all trajectories and 8.3 (SD \u00b1 1.51) for oblique insular trajectories. The most frequently used was the oblique trajectory (85 electrodes). Mean entry point error was 1.5 mm (0.2-2.8) and target error was 2.4 mm (0.8-4.0), 2.0 mm (1.1-2.9) for anterior oblique and 2.8 mm (0.8-4.9) for posterior oblique trajectories. There were no complications related to insular electrodes. Oblique trajectories are the preferred method for insular investigation at our institution, maximizing the number of contacts within insular cortex without traversing through sulci or major CSF fissures. Robot-assisted procedures are safe and efficient. 3D understanding of the insula's unique anatomical features can help the surgeon to improve targeting of this structure.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37656545,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Highly transient stimulated Raman scattering in SrMoO4 under ultrafast laser pumping with a controllable chirp.\nFor the first time, to the best of our knowledge, we demonstrate highly transient, multiwavelength, single-pass Raman generation with combined frequency shifts on two Raman modes of an SrMoO4 crystal with high total Raman conversion efficiency of up to 48% in conditions of competition with self-phase modulation (SPM). A 58-mm-long SrMoO4 crystal was used as the active medium under pumping by the 1030-nm, 40-\u00b5J laser pulses with controllable dispersive stretching in a range of 0.25-6 ps at negative and positive chirping. The pump pulse chirping was optimized for both high- and low-frequency Raman shifts on the primary (888 cm-1) and secondary (327 cm-1) Raman modes of the crystal. At the optimal conditions, four Stokes components of stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) radiation with high- and low-frequency Raman shifts at the wavelengths of 1066, 1134, 1177, and 1261 nm were efficiently generated.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28362267,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Unintentionally retained vascular devices: improving recognition and removal.\nThe increased demand for minimally invasive placement of intravascular medical devices has led to increased procedure-related complications, including retention of all or part of the implanted device. A number of risk factors can predispose to unintentionally retained vascular devices (uRVD); most are technical in etiology. Despite best efforts to insert and remove vascular devices properly, uRVD still occur. Prevention or early identification of uRVD is ideal; however, procedural complications are not always recognized at the time of device insertion or removal. In these cases, early radiologic diagnosis is important to enable expeditious removal and reduction of morbidity, mortality, and medicolegal consequences. The diagnostic radiologist's role is to identify suspected uRVD and ensure proper communication of the findings to the referring clinician. The diagnostic radiologist can implement various strategies to increase detection of uRVD and advise the referring clinician regarding the use of minimally invasive percutaneous techniques for safe removal of uRVD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":950623,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Simultaneous discovery of osteopetrosis in a mother and fetus on the occasion of radiopelvimetry (author's transl)].\nOn the occasion of radiopelvimetry, requested for suspected narrowed pelvis, osteopetrosis was discovered simultaneously in the mother and fetus. At birth, the child was perfectly normal and subsequently showed no clinical or laboratory disorder apart from diffuse osseous condensation. The genetic enquiry proved difficult owing to the family situation and up to this day it is not complete and definitively stopped. Although the beginning of the osseous disorders starts in the fetus on an average at the 4th to 5th month of pregnancy, Albers-Schonberg disease is exceptionally diagnosed during the parenatal period. In fact, the incidence of osteopetrosis in the population remains low and on the other hand prenatal radiological examinations are sparingly requested for specific clinical indications. It is the simultaneous discovery of the condition in the mother and the fetus which makes this case a novel one. The discovery of the fetal involvement does not permit prediction concerning progress towards a benign or malignant form.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35356190,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Young woman with hypophosphatasia: A case report.\nHypophosphatasia is a rare inherited disease defined by teeth and bone mineralization impairment leading to depletion of tissue non-specific alkaline phosphatase. We define a young woman diagnosed with hypophosphatasia (after several times alkaline phosphatase levels were low) was discovered following femoral fracture. A 30-year-old woman who presented for a history of early permanent teeth loss during the last 5 years and HPP-like symptoms in family history and bone radiograph verified bowing, deficient mineralization, and symmetrical subtrochanteric stress fractures of femurs was referred to our clinic for further management. Blood test findings defined raised phosphorus levels on two occasions at 6.2 and 5.7 mg\/dl and insufficient 25-hydroxy vitamin D level. HPP early diagnosis and adequate treatment, depending on the clinical symptoms along with laboratory tests, could be effective in decreasing the suffering of the disease and side effects.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3083111,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Oncogenic response of strain A\/J mice to inhaled chemicals.\nStrain A\/J mice were exposed by inhalation for 6 h\/d, 5 d\/wk, for 6 mo to carbon disulfide, 1,2-dibromoethane, ethylene oxide, naphthalene, nitrogen dioxide, or vinyl chloride. Significant increases in pulmonary adenoma formation were observed following exposure to 300 ppm carbon disulfide; 20 and 50 ppm 1,2-dibromoethane; 70 and 200 ppm ethylene oxide; 10 ppm nitrogen dioxide; and 50, 200, and 500 ppm vinyl chloride compared to control animals. Repeated studies with 1,2-dibromoethane, ethylene oxide, and vinyl chloride gave similarly significant results. Exposure of mice to 30 ppm naphthalene did not elicit a significant adenoma response. Histopathological examination of lungs from animals in these studies revealed multiple alveolar adenomas. Results from earlier studies with these chemicals, using strain A mice and Swiss mice, and bioassay information with rats and mice were compared with these data. These results provide further information for the validation of this in vivo model as a tool for predicting oncogenic potential following chemical exposure.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1688840,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Loss of 4.5S RNA induces the heat shock response and lambda prophage in Escherichia coli.\nDuring depletion of 4.5S RNA, cells of Escherichia coli displayed a heat shock response that was simultaneous with the first detectable effect on ribosome function and before major effects on cell growth. Either 4.5S RNA is involved directly in regulating the heat shock response, or this particular impairment of protein synthesis uniquely induces the heat shock response. Several hours later, lambda prophage was induced and the cells lysed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25278531,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Complete Genome Sequence of Mycoplasma canadense Strain HAZ 360_1 from Bovine Mastitic Milk in Japan.\nBovine mycoplasmal mastitis is spreading quickly among cows. Mycoplasma canadense, a causal species of bovine mastitis, reduces milk quality and quantity via the infiltration of numerous inflammatory cells. Presented here is the complete 693,241-bp genome sequence of M. canadense strain HAZ 360_1, which was isolated in Japan.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17885070,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Computer-aided detection of solid lung nodules on follow-up MDCT screening: evaluation of detection, tracking, and reading time.\nThe purpose of this article is to assess detection, tracking, and reading time of solid lung nodules > or = 4 mm on pairs of MDCT chest screening examinations using a computer-aided detection (CAD) system. Of 54 pairs of low-dose MDCT chest examinations (1.25-mm collimation), two chest radiologists in consensus established that 25 examinations contained 52 nodules > or = 4 mm. All paired examinations were interpreted on the CAD workstation--first without and then with CAD input--for the detection and tracking of lung nodules. A subset of 33 examination pairs was later read on the clinical workstation used in daily practice, and the results were compared for reading time with those on the CAD workstation. After CAD input, the sensitivity for nodule detection increased statistically significantly for both readers (9.6% and 23%; p < or = 0.025). One cancer initially missed by one radiologist was correctly identified with CAD input. The overall reading time on the CAD workstation and clinical workstation was comparable for both radiologists. On average, readers spent 4-5 minutes per case to read the paired examinations on the CAD workstation and 6-8 seconds per CAD mark. The CAD system successfully matched 91.3% of nodules detected in both examinations. The overall rate of available CAD growth assessment was 54.9% of all nodule pairs. In the context of temporal comparison of MDCT screening examinations, the sensitivity of radiologists for detecting lung nodules > or = 4 mm increased significantly (p < or = 0.025) with CAD input without compromising reading time.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12012881,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Unreliable medical information on birth certificates.\nTo compare selected maternal, obstetric and newborn medical information on live birth certificates to medical record abstracted data. The Florida Department of Health provided a computer tape containing the Hillsborough County Florida live birth certificate data for July 1, 1992, through December 31, 1996. This information was compared to selected maternal, obstetric and newborn medical data abstracted from the hospital records of women who delivered in that county. Three hospitals provided care for 75% (44,654) of all deliveries in the county in the study period. There were no differences in age, race, gravidity or parity of patients between the data sets. There was no concurrence between the number of patients on the state-compiled birth certificate data and the medical record data in 8 maternal medical complications, 5 complications of labor and delivery, 3 obstetric procedures, 3 abnormal neonatal conditions or 7 congenital anomalies from any hospitals. There was no difference between the three hospitals in the incidence of mismatches. The medical information on the birth certificates from this county was discrepant from that abstracted directly from the patients' medical records. Caution is required in drawing conclusions from these data sets.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20353656,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"An audit of smoking behaviours among patients attending two general dental practices in South Wales: an awareness-raising exercise for the dental team and patients.\nThis audit aimed to quantify the number of smokers attending two general dental practices. It also aimed to establish the demographic characteristics of these smokers in terms of age, gender and deprivation status, and to raise the awareness of practice staff about smoking cessation. Data were collected from consecutive patients (aged over 16 years) attending two general dental practices over a period of one month. The information collected included smoking status, number of cigarettes smoked, age, gender, and postcode. A deprivation score (derived from the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation [WIMD] for 2008) was appended to each patient record in order to provide a measure of deprivation based on the postcode of the patient. Staff at both practices were involved in the audit. Staff were given a brief pre- and post-audit questionnaire to test their knowledge on smoking cessation. The audit standard was that no more than 29% of patients should be smokers. Where relevant, data were statistically tested using the chi-square test. Five hundred and sixty-one patients provided data on their smoking habits. It was found that 159 (28.3%) were smokers, smoking on average 12 cigarettes per day. The average age of the sample was 46 years and 242 (43.1%) were male. Forty-eight per cent of the sample was shown to be resident in a postcode considered to be deprived. Older patients were more likely to be nonsmokers (P=0.0001). Following the final audit meeting, correct answers among staff for knowledge of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidelines regarding effective smoking-cessation practices improved from 6% to 71%. The issue of smoking cessation has been highlighted for two dental teams. Whether the audit will result in the delivery of smoking-cessation procedures within the dental practice settings cannot be established. It is clear that the desired smoking-cessation behaviours can now be contemplated by the dental teams. Further monitoring is required to establish outcomes as a result of the actions of the teams.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26491146,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"LEAFY COTYLEDON1-CASEIN KINASE I-TCP15-PHYTOCHROME INTERACTING FACTOR4 Network Regulates Somatic Embryogenesis by Regulating Auxin Homeostasis.\nSomatic embryogenesis (SE) is an efficient tool for the propagation of plant species and also, a useful model for studying the regulatory networks in embryo development. However, the regulatory networks underlying the transition from nonembryogenic callus to somatic embryos during SE remain poorly understood. Here, we describe an upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) CASEIN KINASE I gene, GhCKI, which is a unique key regulatory factor that strongly affects SE. Overexpressing GhCKI halted the formation of embryoids and plant regeneration because of a block in the transition from nonembryogenic callus to somatic embryos. In contrast, defective GhCKI in plants facilitated SE. To better understand the mechanism by which GhCKI regulates SE, the regulatory network was analyzed. A direct upstream negative regulator protein, cotton LEAFY COTYLEDON1, was identified to be targeted to a cis-element, CTTTTC, in the promoter of GhCKI. Moreover, GhCKI interacted with and phosphorylated cotton CINCINNATA-like TEOSINTE BRANCHED1-CYCLOIDEA-PCF transcription factor15 by coordinately regulating the expression of cotton PHYTOCHROME INTERACTING FACTOR4, finally disrupting auxin homeostasis, which led to increased cell proliferation and aborted somatic embryo formation in GhCKI-overexpressing somatic cells. Our results show a complex process of SE that is negatively regulated by GhCKI through a complex regulatory network.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19037194,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Progress toward strengthening blood transfusion services--14 countries, 2003-2007.\nNearly all persons transfused with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected blood become infected, and blood transfusions are a substantial source of HIV transmission in sub-Saharan Africa, especially among women and children. Since 2004, the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has provided technical and financial support to strengthen national blood transfusion services in 14 countries in Africa and the Caribbean with high prevalence of HIV infection. PEPFAR has supported efforts to improve blood supply adequacy and safety by providing policy guidance, strengthening laboratory infrastructure, and enhancing blood donor recruitment and retention practices. To assess the progress made by these countries with PEPFAR support, CDC analyzed data collected by national blood transfusion services in the 14 countries during 2003-2007. This report summarizes the results of that analysis, which found that 1) national policies had been established in 12 of the 14 countries; 2) the number of whole blood units collected had increased in all 14 countries; 3) the percentage of collections from voluntary, non-remunerated donors had increased; and 4) the percentage of collected blood units reactive for HIV had decreased in 13 of the 14 countries. Since the start of the PEPFAR initiative, progress toward improving safe and adequate supplies of blood has been made in the 14 countries with high prevalence of HIV infection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36267001,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-22":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cost-Effectiveness of Blood-Based Brain Biomarkers for Screening Adults with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in the French Health Care Setting.\nTwo blood-based brain biomarker tests such as the combination of glial fibrillary acidic protein and ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase-L1 (GFAP+UCH-L1) or S100B have potential to reduce the need for head computed tomography (CT) scanning in patients with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). We assessed the clinical and economic impact of using GFAP+UCH-L1 versus CT scan and GFAP+UCH-L1 versus S100B to screen adults with suspected mTBI presenting to an emergency department (ED). A decision model was developed to estimate costs and health outcomes of GFAP+UCH-L1, CT scan, and S100B associated with these screening protocols. Model parameters were extracted from peer-reviewed articles, clinical guidelines, and expert opinion. Analysis was performed from a French health care system perspective (costs in 2020 euros). In the model, patients with a positive biomarker receive a CT scan to confirm the presence of intracranial lesions (ICLs). Depending on clinical state and biomarker and CT results, patients were discharged immediately, kept for observation in the ED, admitted for in-hospital stay and observation, or admitted for surgical management. Incorrect test results may lead to delayed treatment and poor outcomes or overtreatment. GFAP+UCH-L1 use was associated with an overall decrease in CT scans when compared with CT screening or S100B use (325.42 and 46.43 CTs per 1000 patients, respectively). The use of GFAP+UCH-L1 resulted in modest cost savings when compared with CT scanning and with S100B. In all cases, use of GFAP+UCH-L1 marginally improved quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) and outcomes. Thus, screening with GFAP+UCH-L1 reduced the need for CT scans when compared with systematic CT scan screening or use of S100B while maintaining similar costs and health outcomes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":2787944,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Epidemiologic cross-sectional study of the prevalence of chronic bronchitis and lung function disorders in swine breeders and milkers].\nIn an epidemiological cross-sectional study the influence of occupation in swine production confinements on development of chronic bronchitis and lung function impairments was investigated. The study population comprised 307 swine confinement workers and 165 cattle workers without significant differences in age distribution and smoking habits. For evaluation of respiratory symptoms a standardized questionnaire was used. The following lung function tests were carried out: FVC, FEV1, RV, MEF25, MEF50, PEF and Raw. Regarding the prevalence of chronic bronchitis and lung function impairments no statistically significant differences were found between the two groups. Indeed swine confinement workers indicated a distinct trend to a higher prevalence of chronic bronchitis in correlation to the duration of employment. Workers in swine confinement buildings with more than 10 y exposure showed significantly worse mean values of the measured lung function parameters and significantly more frequent pathological lung function values than the control group of cattle workers.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32582203,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Generation of Myeloid Cells in Cancer: The Spleen Matters.\nMyeloid cells are key components of the tumor microenvironment and critical regulators of disease progression. These innate immune cells are usually short-lived and require constant replenishment. Emerging evidence indicates that tumors alter the host hematopoietic system and induce the biased differentiation of myeloid cells to tip the balance of the systemic immune activities toward tumor-promoting functions. Altered myelopoiesis is not restricted to the bone marrow and also occurs in extramedullary organs. In this review, we outline the recent advances in the field of cancer-associated myelopoiesis, with a focus on the spleen, the major site of extramedullary hematopoiesis in the cancer setting. We discuss the functional specialization, distinct mechanisms, and clinical relevance of cancer-associated myeloid cell generation from early progenitors in the spleen and its potential as a novel therapeutic target.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15239277,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Double duct-to-mucosa pancreaticojejunostomy for bifid pancreatic duct.\nWe report a pancreaticojejunostomy with double duct-to-mucosa anastomotic technique after pyloruspreserving pancreaticoduodenectomy for chronic pancreatitis with bifid pancreatic duct. A 49-year-old Japanese man was diagnosed preoperatively as having chronic pancreatitis with common bile duct stricture and pseudocyst of the pancreatic head. In a pancreaticoduodenectomy, the main pancreatic duct (7mm in diameter) and a secondary pancreatic duct (4mm in diameter) were identified intraoperatively at the transected surface. Pancreatography showed the main pancreatic duct as well as thesecondary pancreatic duct that drained the remaining dorsal pancreas, allowing us to diagnose bifid pancreatic duct. The pancreaticojejunostomy was performed in an end-to-side manner to create double duct-to-mucosa anastomoses and to approximate the pancreatic parenchyma and jejunal seromuscular layers. Although bifid pancreatic duct is a rare anatomical anomaly, it behooves every surgeon who performs pancreatic resections to be aware of this entity and the techniques for dealing with it.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28701894,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Volume Measurement by Diffusion-Weighted Imaging in Cervical Cancer.\nThe aim of this paper was to evaluate the validity of tumor volume measurement using diffusion-weighted (DW) imaging in cervical cancer. In this retrospective study, 22 patients, who underwent preoperative 3.0 T MR examinations with DW imaging were evaluated. Tumor volume measurement by oblique axial (short axis to the uterine cervix) T2-weighted imaging was performed by manually outlining the tumor on the monitor. The area of tumor in each slice was multiplied by the slice profile (slice thickness plus intersection gap), and the total tumor volume was calculated by summation of these obtained volumes. Meanwhile, one experienced radiological technologist generated three-dimensional DW images of cervical cancer using a volume-rendering algorithm at a computer workstation, and tumor volume was automatically calculated in the workstation. Analysis via the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Bland-Altman plots were used to assess the validity and reliability of these methods. Between tumor volumes measured by T2-weighted imaging methods and DW imaging methods, the ICC was excellent (0.962). The 95% limits of agreement of volume measurement were -52.7 and 35.7 mL (mean difference, -8.5 mL). In regards to intra-observer variability, the ICC was excellent (0.963). The 95% limits of agreement of volume measurement were -42.2 and 47.4 mL (mean difference, 2.6 mL). DW imaging can be used to measure cervical cancer volume.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28287516,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Determination of Carbonyl Functional Groups in Bio-oils by Potentiometric Titration: The Faix Method.\nCarbonyl compounds present in bio-oils are known to be responsible for bio-oil property changes upon storage and during upgrading. Specifically, carbonyls cause an increase in viscosity (often referred to as 'aging') during storage of bio-oils. As such, carbonyl content has previously been used as a method of tracking bio-oil aging and condensation reactions with less variability than viscosity measurements. Additionally, carbonyls are also responsible for coke formation in bio-oil upgrading processes. Given the importance of carbonyls in bio-oils, accurate analytical methods for their quantification are very important for the bio-oil community. Potentiometric titration methods based on carbonyl oximation have long been used for the determination of carbonyl content in pyrolysis bio-oils. Here, we present a modification of the traditional carbonyl oximation procedures that results in less reaction time, smaller sample size, higher precision, and more accurate carbonyl determinations. While traditional carbonyl oximation methods occur at room temperature, the Faix method presented here occurs at an elevated temperature of 80 \u00b0C.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26480657,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Expression of Tcf-4, MMP7 and Survivin in Colorectal Cancer and Its Clinical Significance].\nTo explore the clinical and pathological significance and correlations among the xpressions of Tcf-4, MMP7 and survivin in colorectal cancer. The expressions of Tcf-4, MMP7 and survivin mRNA in tumor tissues and adjacent normal mucosa from 50 colorectal cancer patients were detected by reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR). The expressed proteins of Tcf-4, MMP7 and survivin were measured using mmunohistochemistry staining technique (Elivision) in 100 colorectal cancer samples and 60 normal mucosa tissue samples. We analyzed the correlations between those measurements and their associations with clinical and pathological characteristics. Positive expressions of Tcf-4, MMP7 and survivin mRNA were found in both cancer and adjacent mucosa tissues, despite a higher level of expression in the cancer tissues (P < 0.01). Expressed proteins were detected in cancer tissues of 69.00% (69\/100) of those with a positive Tcf-4 expression, 77.00% (77\/100) of those with a positive MMP7 expression, and 65.00% (65\/100) of those with a positive survivin expression. Compared with cancer tissues, lower levels of protein expression were found in normal mucosa tissues [16.67% (10\/60) for Tcf-4, 13.33% (8\/60) for MMP7 and 15.00% (9\/60) for survivin, P < 0.01]. The expressions of Tcf-4, MMP7 and survivin were all associated with lymphatic metastasis and Dukes staging (P < 0.05). MMP7 expression was associated with depth of tumor invasion (P < 0.05). Survivin expression was associated with tumor differentiation. The Spearman rank correlation analyses showed that protein expressions in colorectal cancer tissues in those with a positive Tcf-4 were correlated with those with a positive MMP7 (r = 0.302) and those with a positive survivin (r = 0.279) (P < 0.01), but not in those with a positive MMP7 and those with a positive survivin (r = 0.097, P > 0.05). The expression levels of Tcf-4, MMP7 and survivin are high in colorectal cancer, all being linked to lymph node metastasis and Dukes stages of patients. This suggests that they may be involved in the occurrence, development, malignant growth and clinical progression of colorectal cancer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30311561,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A New Linkage between the Tumor Suppressor RKIP and Autophagy: Targeted Therapeutics.\nThe complexities of molecular signaling in cancer cells have been hypothesized to mediate cross-network alterations of oncogenic processes such as uncontrolled cell growth, proliferation, acquisition of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers, and resistance to cytotoxic therapies. The two biochemically exclusive processes\/proteins examined in the present review are the metastasis suppressor Raf-1 kinase inhibitory protein (RKIP) and the cell-intrinsic system of macroautophagy (hereafter referred to as autophagy). RKIP is poorly expressed in human cancer tissues, and low expression levels are correlated with high incidence of tumor growth, metastasis, poor treatment efficacy, and poor prognoses in cancer patients. By comparison, autophagy is a conserved cytoprotective degradation pathway that has been shown to influence the acquisition of resistance to hypoxia and nutrient depletion as well as the regulation of chemo-immuno-resistance and apoptotic evasion. Evidently, a broad library of cancer-relevant studies exists for RKIP and autophagy, although reports of the interactions between pathways involving RKIP and autophagy have been relatively sparse. To circumvent this limitation, the coordinate regulatory and effector mechanisms were examined for both RKIP and autophagy. Here, we propose three putative pathways that demonstrate the inherent pleiotropism and relevance of RKIP and the microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (MAP1LC3, LC3) on cell growth, proliferation, senescence, and EMT, among the hallmarks of cancer. Our findings suggest that signaling modules involving p53, signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), nuclear factor-\u03baB (NF-\u03baB), and Snail highlight the novel roles for RKIP in the control of autophagy and vice versa. The suggested potential crosstalk mechanisms are new areas of research in which to further study RKIP and autophagy in cancer models. These should lead to novel prognostic motifs and will provide alternative therapeutic strategies for the treatment of unresponsive aggressive cancer types.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37451734,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Motor and autonomic concomitant health improvements with neuromodulation and exercise (MACHINE) training: a randomised controlled trial in individuals with spinal cord injury.\nMotor and autonomic dysfunctions are widespread among people with spinal cord injury (SCI), leading to poor health and reduced quality of life. Exercise interventions, such as locomotor training (LT), can promote sensorimotor and autonomic recovery post SCI. Recently, breakthroughs in SCI research have reported beneficial effects of electrical spinal cord stimulation (SCS) on motor and autonomic functions. Despite literature supporting the independent benefits of transcutaneous SCS (TSCS) and LT, the effect of pairing TSCS with LT is unknown. These therapies are non-invasive, customisable and have the potential to simultaneously benefit both sensorimotor and autonomic functions. The aim of this study is to assess the effects of LT paired with TSCS in people with chronic SCI on outcomes of sensorimotor and autonomic function. Twelve eligible participants with chronic (>1 year) motor-complete SCI, at or above the sixth thoracic segment, will be enrolled in this single-blinded, randomised sham-controlled trial. Participants will undergo mapping for optimisation of stimulation parameters and baseline assessments of motor and autonomic functions. Participants will then be randomly assigned to either LT+TSCS or LT+Sham stimulation for 12 weeks, after which postintervention assessments will be performed to determine the effect of TSCS on motor and autonomic functions. The primary outcome of interest is attempted voluntary muscle activation using surface electromyography. The secondary outcomes relate to sensorimotor function, cardiovascular function, pelvic organ function and health-related quality of life. Statistical analysis will be performed using two-way repeated measures Analysis of variance (ANOVAs) or Kruskal-Wallis and Cohen's effect sizes. This study has been approved after full ethical review by the University of British Columbia's Research Ethics Board. The stimulator used in this trial has received Investigation Testing Authorisation from Health Canada. Trial results will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations and seminars. NCT04726059.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26437088,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Methane and Nitrous Oxide Emissions from Flooded Rice Systems following the End-of-Season Drain.\nLarge CH and NO fluxes can occur from flooded rice ( L.) systems following end-of-season drainage, which contribute significantly to the total growing-season greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Field and laboratory studies were conducted to determine under what soil water conditions these emissions occur. In three field studies, GHG fluxes and dissolved CH in the soil pore water were measured before and after drainage. Across all fields, approximately 10% of the total seasonal CH emissions and 27% of the total seasonal NO emissions occurred following the final drain, confirming the importance of quantifying postdrainage CH and NO emissions. Preplant fertilizer N had no effect on CH emissions or dissolved CH; however, increased postdrainage NO fluxes were observed at higher N rates. To determine when postdrainage sampling needs to take place, our laboratory incubation study measured CH and NO fluxes from intact soil cores from these fields as the soil dried. Across fields, maximum CH emissions occurred at approximately 88% water-filled pore space (WFPS), but emissions were observed between 47 and 156% WFPS. In contrast, maximum NO emissions occurred between 45 and 71% WFPS and were observed between 16 and 109% WFPS. For all fields, gas samplings between 76 and 100% WFPS for CH emissions and between 43 and 78% WFPS for NO emissions was necessary to capture 95% of these postdrainage emissions. We recommend that frequent gas sampling following drainage be included in the GHG protocol of total GHG emissions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31265383,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Providing a Single Ground-Truth for Illuminant Estimation for the ColorChecker Dataset.\nThe ColorChecker dataset is one of the most widely used image sets for evaluating and ranking illuminant estimation algorithms. However, this single set of images has at least 3 different sets of ground-truth (i.e., correct answers) associated with it. In the literature it is often asserted that one algorithm is better than another when the algorithms in question have been tuned and tested with the different ground-truths. In this short correspondence we present some of the background as to why the 3 existing ground-truths are different and go on to make a new single and recommended set of correct answers. Experiments reinforce the importance of this work in that we show that the total ordering of a set of algorithms may be reversed depending on whether we use the new or legacy ground-truth data.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12000465,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Predictors of cytomegalovirus disease among pediatric transplant recipients within one year of renal transplantation.\nCytomegalovirus (CMV) is the most important opportunistic infection in renal transplant recipients and is associated with an increased risk of rejection. Infection can be acquired post-operatively (from the transplanted organ) or from re-activation of latent disease. To identify risk factors for CMV disease in a pediatric population within 1 yr of renal transplant, and to generate hypotheses for the pathogenesis of CMV disease in this population, a review of all recipients from 1992 to 1998 in a children's hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, was undertaken. Medical records of 73 transplants performed on 72 patients were reviewed: nine (12.7%) of 72 individuals, after 73 procedures developed CMV disease. Median time to onset of CMV disease was 52 days post-transplant (range = 15-95 days). Receipts of mycophenolate mofetil (MMF), demographic factors, and use of cadaveric kidneys were not associated with a significantly elevated risk of CMV disease. Positive donor CMV serostatus was associated with CMV disease (uni-variate relative risk [RR] = 8.52, Fisher's Exact Test [FET] p = 0.010). Patients with transplants in October or November had a higher risk of developing CMV disease (four of 13; 30.8%) than patients transplanted in other months (five of 60, 8.3%); RR = 3.69; p = 0.047, FET). Most transplants of patients who did not develop CMV disease were performed in January through August (48\/64; 75.0%); only 25.0% were performed in September through December. In contrast, six of nine (66.7%) transplants in patients who subsequently developed CMV disease were performed in September through December (p = 0.018, FET). Donor CMV-positive serostatus and transplant in October and November continued to be independently associated with an increased risk of CMV disease when controlled for other factors. The association of transplant in October and November with CMV disease in November-January may be related to an increased risk of seasonal community CMV exposure and primary CMV infection during the peak season for CMV circulation, with subsequent immune suppression promoting progression to disease. Alternatively, co-infection with seasonal pathogens after exposure from an infected donor during the period of immune suppression may promote progression from CMV infection to CMV disease. Further studies should be undertaken to explore these and other hypotheses, which may have implications for determination of a need for anti-viral prophylaxis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29359993,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The economic and environmental cost of delayed GM crop adoption: The case of Australia's GM canola moratorium.\nIncorporating socio-economic considerations (SECs) into national biosafety regulations regarding genetically modified (GM) crops have opportunity costs. Australia approved the cultivation of GM canola through a science-based risk assessment in 2003, but allowed state moratoria to be instituted based on potential trade impacts over the period 2004 to 2008 and 2010 in the main canola growing states. This analysis constructs a counterfactual assessment using Canadian GM canola adoption data to create an S-Curve of adoption in Australia to measure the environmental and economic opportunity costs of Australia's SEC-based moratoria between 2004 and 2014. The environmental impacts are measured through the amount of chemical active ingredients applied during pest management, the Environmental Impact Quotient indicator, and greenhouse gas emissions. The economic impacts are measured through the variable costs of the weed control programs, yield and the contribution margin. The environmental opportunity costs from delaying the adoption of GM canola in Australia include an additional 6.5 million kilograms of active ingredients applied to canola land; a 14.3% increase in environmental impact to farmers, consumers and the ecology; 8.7 million litres of diesel fuel burned; and an additional 24.2 million kilograms of greenhouse gas (GHG) and compound emissions released. The economic opportunity costs of the SEC-based moratoria resulted in foregone output of 1.1 million metric tonnes of canola and a net economic loss to canola farmers' of AU$485.6 million. The paper provides some of the first quantified, post-adoption evidence on the opportunity cost and environmental impacts of incorporating SECs into GM crop regulation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3055230,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"From cysteamine to MPTP: structure-activity studies with duodenal ulcerogens.\nCysteamine is the first chemical identified that induces acute and chronic duodenal ulcers in rodents. Structure-activity studies with cysteamine, propionitrile and their derivatives, as well as with analogues of toluene, revealed numerous alkyl and aryl duodenal ulcerogens. Among these, one of the most interesting from an etiologic and pathogenetic point of view is the dopaminergic neurotoxin MPTP, which shows structural similarities with toluene. The chemically-induced duodenal ulcers are similar and localized on the anterior and posterior wall of the duodenal bulb. Both cysteamine and MPTP affect endogenous dopamine; MPTP is especially potent in depleting central dopamine and inducing lesions in the substantia nigra. MPTP given in high doses induces Parkinson's disease-like syndrome and gastric ulcers. Cysteamine and propionitrile also cause dyskinesia in large and multiple doses. The motility disorders and duodenal ulcers are abolished by dopamine agonists. Cysteamine and MPTP have been known to increase and decrease gastric acid secretion, respectively. However, both compounds induced duodenal dysmotility, decreased bicarbonate production, and reduced its delivery from distal to proximal duodenum. These factors decrease acid neutralization in the duodenal bulb and contribute to duodenal ulceration. Thus, studies with animal models may reveal endogenous mediators and specific receptors which might be involved in the pathogenesis of duodenal ulceration. Specific structure-activity studies in toxicology may lead to new insights in the pathogenesis and pharmacology of a poorly understood human disorder such as duodenal ulceration.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9572899,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Novel thieno[2,3-d][1,3]oxazin-4-ones as inhibitors of human leukocyte elastase.\nA series of thieno[2,3-d][1,3]oxazin-4-ones was synthesized and evaluated in vitro for inhibitory activity toward human leukocyte elastase. New synthetic routes to 2-alkoxy-, 2-alkylthio-, and 2-sec-amino-substituted derivatives are reported. This study demonstrates the versatility of 2-aminothiophenes prepared by Gewald reaction as a synthetic entry to serine protease-inhibiting, fused 1,3-oxazin-4-ones. Introduction of ethoxy, n-propoxy, and ethylthio groups at C-2 delivered the most potent inhibitors of this series with Ki values lower than 11 nM. Kinetic studies and product analyses revealed the formation of acyl-enzymes as a result of the attack of the active site serine at the carbon C-4 and subsequent deacylation. This mode of action is similar to the inhibition of serine proteases by 4H-3,1-benzoxazin-4-ones. Replacement of the benzene ring in benzoxazinones by a (substituted) thiophene led to improved hydrolytic stability and retained inhibitory potency.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17179833,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Molecular characterization of an Italian patient with plasminogen deficiency and ligneous conjunctivitis.\nPlasminogen deficiency is a rare disease characterized by ligneous conjunctivitis and infections. We observed a 3-year-old Italian boy presenting ligneous conjunctivitis and low plasma levels of plasminogen. Twenty-three different mutations on the PLG gene have been reported to date, but mutation analysis had been troublesome for the presence of highly homologous genes. The aim of the study was to identify the underlying mutation avoiding coamplification of unwanted genetic materials using a long polymerase chain reaction strategy, instead of the previously reported subcloning methods. By this simple strategy the complete sequence analysis of PLG gene was performed, and a previously reported missense homozygous mutation (K19E) was identified.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29362223,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A prion-like domain in Hsp42 drives chaperone-facilitated aggregation of misfolded proteins.\nChaperones with aggregase activity promote and organize the aggregation of misfolded proteins and their deposition at specific intracellular sites. This activity represents a novel cytoprotective strategy of protein quality control systems; however, little is known about its mechanism. In yeast, the small heat shock protein Hsp42 orchestrates the stress-induced sequestration of misfolded proteins into cytosolic aggregates (CytoQ). In this study, we show that Hsp42 harbors a prion-like domain (PrLD) and a canonical intrinsically disordered domain (IDD) that act coordinately to promote and control protein aggregation. Hsp42 PrLD is essential for CytoQ formation and is bifunctional, mediating self-association as well as binding to misfolded proteins. Hsp42 IDD confines chaperone and aggregase activity and affects CytoQ numbers and stability in vivo. Hsp42 PrLD and IDD are both crucial for cellular fitness during heat stress, demonstrating the need for sequestering misfolded proteins in a regulated manner.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37445125,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"An In Vitro Evaluation of the Effects of Air-Polishing Powders on Sound and Demineralised Enamel.\nTo evaluate the effects of two air-polishing powders, during orthodontic treatment, on the surface roughness of sound and demineralised enamel. Forty-two caries-free human molars were collected, and the enamel surfaces were flattened and polished. Teeth were assigned to two groups (n = 21 each), a sound- and a demineralised-enamel group (subjected to pH-cycling over 2 weeks to create artificially induced white spot-like lesions). Within each group, teeth were further assigned to three groups (n = 7 each), air polished with either sodium bicarbonate, erythritol, or a negative control (water). Each sample was treated for 5 and 150 s. The average surface roughness (Ra) for each sample was measured using white-light-sensor profilometry. On sound enamel, the Ra was roughly 0.17 \u00b1 0.07 \u03bcm. After 150 s of air polishing, the Ra increased with erythritol (by 0.28 \u03bcm), and even more so with bicarbonate treatment (by 0.68 \u03bcm) (p < 0.01). On demineralised enamel, the Ra was roughly 0.79 \u00b1 0.56 \u03bcm. The Ra increased after 5 s of air-polishing treatment similarly with erythritol and bicarbonate powders (by 1.03 \u03bcm and 1.04 \u03bcm, respectively) (p = 0.025), and even more after 150 s (by 2.48 \u03bcm and 2.49 \u03bcm, respectively) (p < 0.001). On white spot lesions, one should be aware that enamel surface roughness will increase with both erythritol and bicarbonate air-polishing powders, especially with longer exposure times.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20349987,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Novel (glycerol)borate-based ionic liquids: an experimental and theoretical study.\nA series of newly designed (glycerol)borate based ionic liquids were synthesized and characterized. The synthesis of these ionic liquids involves, first, the preparation of the bis(glycerol)boric acid(s) followed by neutralization with the appropriate base, [cat]OH. Ionic liquids bearing inorganic (Li(+), Na(+), K(+)) or organic cations have been prepared and characterized. The ability of the bis(glycerol)borate anions to undergo dissociation reaction in the presence of water, depending on cation nature, was investigated by NMR. Theoretical calculations were also performed to evaluate the relative stability of the possible bis(glycerol)borate isomers as nude ions or as ion pairs with Li(+), Na(+), and H(+). Important information about the structural features of H[Gly(2)B] useful to rationalize the chemical behavior have been obtained.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25431618,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"How the Object of Affect Guides its Impact.\nIn this article, we examine how affect influences judgment and thought, but also how thought transforms affect. The general thesis is that the nature and impact of affective reactions depends largely on their objects. We view affect as a representation of value, and its consequences as dependent on its object or what it is about. Within a review of relevant literature and a discussion of the nature of emotion, we focus on the role of the object of affect in governing both the nature of emotional reactions and the impact of affect and emotion on cognition and action. Although emotion is always about the here and now, the capacity for abstract thought means that the human here and now includes imagination as well as perception. Indeed, the hopes and fears that dominate human lives often involve things only imagined.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28351328,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of EBI3 on radiation-induced immunosuppression of cervical cancer HeLa cells by regulating Treg cells through PD-1\/PD-L1 pathway.\nThis study aimed to investigate the effect of EBI3 on radiation-induced immunosuppression of cervical cancer HeLa cells by regulating Treg cells through PD-1\/PD-L1 signaling pathway. A total of 43 adult female Wistar rats were selected and injected with HeLa cells in the caudal vein to construct a rat model of cervical cancer. All model rats were randomly divided into the radiotherapy group ( n = 31) and the control group ( n = 12). The immunophenotype of Treg cells was detected by the flow cytometry. The protein expressions of EBI3, PD-1, and PD-L1 in cervical cancer tissues were tested by the streptavidin-peroxidase method. HeLa cells in the logarithmic growth phase were divided into four groups: the blank, the negative control group, the EBI3 mimics group, and the EBI3 inhibitors group. Western blotting was used to detect PD-1 and PD-L1 protein expressions. MTT assay was performed to measure the proliferation of Treg cells. Flow cytometry was used to detect cell cycle and apoptosis, and CD4+\/CD8+ T cell ratio in each group. Compared with before and 1 week after radiotherapy, the percentages of CD4+T cells and CD8+T cells were significantly decreased in the radiotherapy group at 1 month after radiotherapy. Furthermore, down-regulation of EBI3 and up-regulation of PD-1 and PD-L1 were observed in cervical cancer tissues at 1 month after radiotherapy. In comparison to the blank and negative control groups, increased expression of EBI3 and decreased expressions of PD-1 and PD-L1 were found in the EBI3 mimics group. However, the EBI3 inhibitors group had a lower expression of EBI3 and higher expressions of PD-1 and PD-L1 than those in the blank and negative control groups. The EBI3 mimics group showed an increase in the optical density value (0.43 \u00b1 0.05), while a decrease in the optical density value (0.31 \u00b1 0.02) was found in the EBI3 inhibitors group. Moreover, compared with the blank and negative control groups, the apoptosis rates of Treg\/CD4+T\/CD8+T cells were decreased in the EBI3 mimics group, but the EBI3 inhibitors group exhibited an increase in apoptosis rate. In conclusion, over-expression of EBI3 could reduce the apoptosis of Treg\/CD4+T\/CD8+T cells and prevent radiation-induced immunosuppression of cervical cancer HeLa cells by inhibiting the activation of PD-1\/PD-L1 signaling pathway.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25525104,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Unusual occurrence of cocoons in population of Haplodiplosis marginata (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) in Belgium.\nThe saddle gall midge, Haplodiplosis marginata (von Roser) (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), is a phytophagous species that develops in saddle-shaped galls on stems of wheat Triticum vulgare, barley Hordeum sativum, rye Secale cereale, and some other species of Poaceae. Only one generation develops per year. Full-grown larvae leave galls and drop onto the soil where they remain up to the springtime of the following year. Larvae do not usually spin cocoons. However, formation of cocoons by larvae was observed in populations developing in western Europe: in England in 1954, in the Netherlands in the 1960s, and in Belgium in 2011. On the basis of our analysis, a part of the larval population forms cocoons as protection against unfavorable weather conditions, especially drought.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16224147,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Expression of p63 in reactive hyperplasias and malignant lymphomas.\np63 is a recently described p53 homologue. It is involved in survival and differentiation of reserve\/stem cells in epithelia. To obtain new insights into the role of p63 in malignant lymphomas (MLs), immunohistochemical staining for p63 and p53 was performed in 126 cases of MLs. p63 was expressed in 38 cases of MLs (30.2%) including 32\/61 cases (52.5%) of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), 1\/8 cases (12.5%) of precursor T-lymphoblastic lymphoma (T-LBL), 4\/14 cases (28.6%) of follicular lymphoma, 1\/6 cases (16.7%) of T\/NK cell lymphoma. Among p63 positive cases, p63 was strongly expressed in 15\/32 cases of DLBCL and 1\/1 case of T-LBL. p63 was not expressed in mantle cell lymphomas, peripheral T-cell lymphomas, marginal zone B-cell lymphomas, plasma cell myelomas and Hodgkin's lymphomas. p63 was coexpressed with p53 in 18\/38 p63 positive cases in which only 4 cases were strongly coexpressed. All p63+\/p53+ cases were DLBCL. p63 overexpression (above 30%) cases showed significant poor survival (p=0.0228) in DLBCL. However, there was no statistically significant correlation between p63 expression and IPI score on Multivariate analysis. We could speculate that p63 could act indirectly as an oncogene by inhibiting p53 functions. Stage of differentiation of neoplastic lymphocytes appears to have a correlation with p63 expression in MLs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26431146,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Brachial Plexus Block for Cancer-Related Pain: A Case Series.\nNeoplastic brachial plexopathy (NBP) is caused by a cancerous infiltration into the brachial plexus, presenting often as severe pain in the affected upper extremity. Such pain can be resistant to medical treatment. Invasive interventions such as brachial plexus neurolysis with phenol or cordotomy may result in severe complications including permanent neurological damage and death. Continuous brachial plexus and paravertebral block with local anesthetic have been reported to successfully control pain from NBP, but these techniques are logistically challenging and frequently have catheter-related complications. We report a series of patients who received single-shot brachial plexus blocks with a mixture of local anesthetic and corticosteroid (bupivacaine 0.25% with methyl-prednisolone 20-120 mg) for the treatment of refractory cancer-related pain in the brachial plexus territory, mostly from NBP. Theoretically, such blocks could provide immediate analgesia from the local anesthetic and a longer-lasting analgesia from the slow-release steroids. Responders reported a sustained decrease in their pain (lasting from 2 weeks to 10 months), a significant decrease in their opioid and non-opioid (ketamine, gabapentin) consumption, overall satisfaction with the block, and unchanged or improved function of their limb. The ideal candidate for this procedure is a patient who has pain that is predominantly neuropathic from a lesion within the brachial plexus and with anatomy amenable to ultrasound-guided nerve block. Our case series suggests that, in the appropriately selected patient, this technique can safely and effectively alleviate pain from NBP. The procedure is simple, spares limb function, and can be diagnostic, predicting response to more complex procedures. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report using this technique for NBP.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9143322,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Molecular cloning and characterization of a novel putative STE20-like kinase in guinea pigs.\nProtein kinases play a key role in cell growth and differentiation. We have isolated the cDNA of a novel protein serine\/threonine kinase (referred to as STE20-like kinase (SLK) from a guinea pig liver cDNA library with a probe generated by a cloning approach based on the polymerase chain reaction. The encoded polypeptide (1231 amino acids, M(r) 141,079) contains all conserved subdomains characteristic of the protein serine threonine kinase family. A hemagglutinin-tagged SLK expressed artificially in COS7 cells was hyperphosphorylated by anisomycin. By Northern blot analysis, SLK mRNA was detected in all organs examined: brain, lung heart, liver, kidney, spleen, testis, and eosinophils. Sequence comparisons of its catalytic domain related SLK to p21-activated kinase family of protein serine\/threonine kinases. Its noncatalytic domain comprises several intriguing structural features, including the acidic region and the nuclear targeting sequence. This noncatalytic domain exhibited no extended similarity with other proteins. Thus, SLK is a protein serine\/threonine kinase which contains an unknown regulatory domain(s).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26422616,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Clarification of the Identity of the Tea Green Leafhopper Based on Morphological Comparison between Chinese and Japanese Specimens.\nTea green leafhopper is one of the most dominant pests in major tea production regions of East Asia. This species has been variously identified as Empoasca vitis (Go\u00ebthe), Jacobiasca formosana (Paoli) and Empoasca onukii Matsuda in Mainland China, Taiwan and Japan, respectively. Recent study of DNA sequence data suggested that treatment of this pest as different species in these three adjacent regions is incorrect and that they were a single species; but the correct scientific name for the species has remained unclear. Consistent with the prior molecular evidence, morphological study shows that the male genital characters of Chinese specimens are the same as those of specimens from Japan, so the correct scientific name of tea green leafhopper in China is Empoasca (Matsumurasca) onukii Matsuda.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37849399,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Developing a Prototype Pathogen Plan and Research Priorities for the Alphaviruses.\nThe Togaviridae family, genus, Alphavirus, includes several mosquito-borne human pathogens with the potential to spread to near pandemic proportions. Most of these are zoonotic, with spillover infections of humans and domestic animals, but a few such as chikungunya virus (CHIKV) have the ability to use humans as amplification hosts for transmission in urban settings and explosive outbreaks. Most alphaviruses cause nonspecific acute febrile illness, with pathogenesis sometimes leading to either encephalitis or arthralgic manifestations with severe and chronic morbidity and occasional mortality. The development of countermeasures, especially against CHIKV and Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus that are major threats, has included vaccines and antibody-based therapeutics that are likely to also be successful for rapid responses with other members of the family. However, further work with these prototypes and other alphavirus pathogens should target better understanding of human tropism and pathogenesis, more comprehensive identification of cellular receptors and entry, and better understanding of structural mechanisms of neutralization.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12034897,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Photoexcited structure of a plant photoreceptor domain reveals a light-driven molecular switch.\nThe phototropins are flavoprotein kinases that control phototropic bending, light-induced chloroplast movement, and stomatal opening in plants. Two flavin mononucleotide binding light, oxygen, or voltage (LOV) domains are the sites for initial photochemistry in these blue light photoreceptors. We have determined the steady state, photoexcited crystal structure of a flavin-bound LOV domain. The structure reveals a unique photochemical switch in the flavin binding pocket in which the absorption of light drives the formation of a reversible covalent bond between a highly conserved Cys residue and the flavin cofactor. This provides a molecular picture of a cysteinyl-flavin covalent adduct, the presumed signaling species that leads to phototropin kinase activation and subsequent signal transduction. We identify closely related LOV domains in two eubacterial proteins that suggests the light-induced conformational change evident in this structure is an ancient biomolecular response to light, arising before the appearance of plants.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9544980,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Immunologic thrombocytopenic purpura as presenting symptom of hepatitis C infection.\nWe report on 3 female patients with immunologic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) for whom diagnostic procedures evidenced a chronic Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. In 2 cases, a transfusion performed more than 10 years ago represented the probable way of contamination. One patient received a course of steroids, which normalized the platelet counts. Another one has been treated with repeated IV immunoglobulins, which induced partial responses of variable duration. HCV is responsible for many autoimmune manifestations and a search for this virus seems warranted for exploring patients with ITP.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6160192,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Development of the rat conceptus in vitro and associated changed in components of culture medium.\nRat conceptuses of pregnancy day 11 (embryonic age approximately 10-5 days) with embryos within the yolk and amniotic sacs and polar allantoic placental tissues were cultured by the 'New system' utilizing homologous serum in 60 ml roller bottles with 20% O2, 5% CO2 and 75% N2 gas environment (five conceptuses\/10 ml serum). Embryonic growth and development was assessed by external morphology and somite counts, and by measurement of DNA, RNA and protein contents. The embryonic growth was considerably retarded beyond 24 h when culture was extended to 48 h. During continuous culture of conceptuses for 48 h, the partial pressure of O2 in the medium decreased gradually with simultaneous increase of pCO2 and decline of pH values. Glucose level was depleted considerably and small quantities of urea, uric acid and creatinine accumulated in the medium. The concentrations of electrolytes (Na+, K+, Cl-) and total Ca and P, and lactic dehydrogenase activity in the medium increased during the latter part of the 48 h culture period. The growth and differentiation of embryos were significantly improved by transferring conceptuses to fresh serum medium with 40% O2, 5% CO2 and 55% N2 gas phase after 22-24 h culture and continuing the culture for an additional 24 h. Embryos grown in vitro for 48 h developed 39 somites and showed a tenfold increase in DNA content and a five- to seven-fold increase in RNA and protein contents, over initial values.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29545967,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor HS-10182 increases radiation sensitivity in non-small cell lung cancers with EGFR T790M mutation.\nTo investigate the potential of HS-10182, a second-generation epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI), as a radiosensitizer in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Two cell lines of NSCLCs, A549 that possesses wild-type (WT) EGFRs and H1975 that possesses EGFR L858R\/T790M double mutations, were treated with HS-10182 at various concentrations, and cell viabilities were determined using the MTS assay. The cells were tested by clonogenic survival assays to identify the radiosensitivity of both groups. Western blot was performed to analyze the expression of phosphorylated EGFR, AKT, DNA-dependent protein kinase, and catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs) proteins. Immunofluorescence analyses were performed to examine the formation and changes in nuclear \u03b3-H2AX foci. Cell apoptosis was examined by flow cytometry and Western blots for cleaved caspase-3, -8, -9, and cleaved poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP). Furthermore, we established xenograft models in mice and the effects of different treatments on tumor growth were then assessed. Clonogenic survival assays revealed that HS-10182 significantly enhanced the radiosensitivity of H1975 cells but not A549 cells [dose enhancement ratios (DERs)=2.36 (P < 0.05) vs. 1.43 (P > 0.05)]. Western blot results showed that HS-10182 increased the levels of cleaved caspase-3, -8, -9, and cleaved PARP in H1975 cells but not in A549 cells. In addition, flow cytometry analysis showed that HS-10182 enhanced irradiation-induced apoptosis in H1975. Immunofluorescence results found that HS-10182 increased the average number of \u03b3-H2AX foci after irradiation in H1975 cells, but not in A549 cells. Combined radiation and HS-10182 treatment increased the expression of DNA-PKcs but this increase was more significant in H1975 cells than in A549 cells. Moreover, HS-10182 suppressed the increased expression of Rad50 in H1975 cells in response to irradiation. In vivo experiments found that the combined therapy significantly inhibited tumor growth. HS-10182 enhances the radiosensitivity of H1975 cells which is possibly because that HS-10182 could enhance irradiation-induced apoptosis, increase irradiation-induced DNA damage, and cause a delay in DNA damage repair. Our findings suggest that radiotherapy combined HS-10182 is a novel treatment for lung cancer cells which have acquired the T790M mutation. HS-10182 could be brought to the clinic as a radiosensitizer in NSCLCs with the EGFR T790M mutation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11654503,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Orthodox Christian bioethics.\nWe cannot ignore the multitude of differences in Christian doctrines. There are more and more divisions and autogenetic beginnings. In talking about religion, we cannot ignore these differences, especially when we are trying to help the seeker. Neither can we ignore these differences when we talk about medical ethics. Care demands that we address both religious and medical issues. We must not, however, attempt to formulate a new religious bioethics in the context of any failure to address the differences and similarities as the record of Christian history reveals. History can reveal to us many things we may not know about ourselves as Christian. Understanding our Christian heritage is essential in order to understand our approach to any Christian bioethic. This essay will look at Christian history to articulate the differences in Orthodox and non-Orthodox formation. Primary focus will be on the Great Schism and the value of natural law theology in the development of Christian bioethics. Reference will be made to end-of-life decision making to clarify the issues.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20359009,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Growth of nanograins in TiO2 nanofibers synthesized by electrospinning.\nPresent study focuses the effect of calcination temperature and its duration on the morphology and growth of nanograins in individual TiO2 nanofibers synthesized by electrospinning method. Polyvinyl acetate and titanium tetraisopropoxide were used as chemical precursors along with other standard solvents in the synthesis process. This study shows that synthesized TiO2 nanofibers are randomly arranged and spreads uniformly over the Si substrate and possess polycrystalline nature consisting of nanograins. Similar to the sintering behavior generally observed in bulk ceramics, the nanograins coalesce and grow under higher calcination temperature and longer calcination time. The activation energy for the growth of nanograins is found to be 47.2 kJ\/mol. The dominant growth mechanism changes depending on the stages of calcination.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16984791,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Attributes of occupational injury among workers in the chemical industry and safety issues.\nCase-study research was carried out with a view to find the attributes of occupational injury among workers in the chemical industry and to enhance safety issues. Injury data were collected and processed in terms of different variables, such as age, gender, skills, type of hazard, etc. Pareto analysis was then applied to find a pattern of occupational injury among the workers. The study revealed that 79.52% of the injured workers were in the 40-59 age group; 57.14% of accidents occurred during the 1st shift; 73.26% of accidents caused injury to hands, feet, chest to thigh, arms and eyes; and 70.93% of injuries were caused by pumps, carrying and lifting, vehicles, pipelines, valves, and grinding. Surprisingly, no one was injured in the group of temporary workers. The paper also provides specific suggestions followed by some action plans.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":935726,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Irradiation of the thyroid gland: changes in its function].\nThe authors have studied some usual parameters of the evaluation of the thyroid gland function, after secondary irradiation during tele-cobaltherapy treatment in 20 patients with larynx carcinoma. The parameters studied have been iodine uptake, Hamolsky index, T4, FT4 PB127I and cholesterol. The values, statistically treated, enable the conclusion that normal adult thyroid gland has a very low clinical and analytical radiosensibility.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9571093,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Multiplicity-Selective Coherence Transfer Steps for the Design of Amino Acid-Selective Experiments-A Triple-Resonance Experiment Selective for Asn and Gln\nA multiplicity-selective coherence transfer step is discussed, that can replace the normal INEPT transfer in triple-resonance experiments. Depending on the pulse sequence in which they are implemented, amino acid-selective experiments will be created. Two experiments selective for Asn and Gln are proposed. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7927973,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Depth of transference in groups.\nAn ongoing controversy in the field of group psychotherapy is whether transference regression is greater in groups than in individual treatment. There appears to be a general consensus that group behavior may be understood as operating on at least three levels--the conscious--rational, the oedipally determined transference, and the preoedipal maternal transference level. The more rational levels are associated with transference dilution, whereas the more primitive levels accompany transference intensification. Dilution occurs as a result of reality demands and inputs of the group situation and because of multiple targets of displacement. Transference intensification is a product of mutual stimulation, contagion effect, frustrating inputs, and support of the group theme. Certain patients benefit most from the dilution features of a group, and others profit most from intensification. The therapist's technique and the patient's pathology are the main determinants of which aspect gets emphasized and utilized.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37669730,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Minimum Corneal Diameter and Anterior Steep Axis Curvature Share the Same Meridian: A Novel Finding.\nTo define the external scleral sulcus (ESS) on a Scheimpflug image and use it for a morphometric analysis of corneal diameter (CD). Retrospective, cross-sectional study of pediatric Asian-Indian eyes. One random eye of 353 subjects between 5 and 18 years underwent 25-scan Pentacam HR imaging. For all scans, densitometry values along the anterior corneal edge were recorded and differentiated. The peaks on the differentiated curve were chosen as the ESS points, and this distance between them was called CD. Vertical (vCD), maximum (maxCD), minimum (minCD) CD and their meridians were defined. Multiple regression models (MRMs) with CD and other Pentacam parameters were built to predict astigmatism and its axis, mean keratometry (Kmean), and Belin\/Ambr\u00f3sio enhanced ectasia display deviation (BAD-D). MRMs were validated using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Estimated horizontal CD (hCD) was validated against digital caliper measurement using ICC. The ICC (95% CI) between caliper and hCD was 0.96 (0.93, 0.97). MRM predictions (P < .001) used CD parameters, anterior chamber depth, corneal volume and distance from the corneal thinnest location to apex. These predictions achieved an ICC of 0.34 (0.18, 0.46), 0.82 (0.78, 0.86), 0.87 (0.84, 0.89), and 0.81 (0.76, 0.84), respectively. The astigmatism axis prediction depended on the minCD and maxCD meridians. Its within-subject SD (4.97\u00b0) was less than 2 consecutive Pentacam scan angles (7.2\u00b0). The CD metric strongly correlated with the astigmatism axis, keratometry, and BAD-D. Its spatial description may be significant in corneal treatment planning and disease diagnoses.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25279069,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Minimally invasive plate osteosynthesis in the treatment of isolated ulnar bone fractures.\nMinimally invasive internal fixation is also called \"biological internal fixation\". This concept is used widely in the treatment of various fractures but to date, there have been no report about such application in the repair of isolated ulnar bone fractures. Eleven patients with fracture of isolated ulnar bone (four AO type 22A11 and seven AO type 22A12), mean age 43.16 (range, 24- 59y), were treated using closed reduction and locking compression plate with minimally invasive plate osteosynthesis (MIPO) with the aim of minimising soft tissue damage. Fractures healed at an average of 7.8 weeks with good to excellent clinical outcomes. There were no complications such as nonunion, implant failure or neurovascular injuries. MIPO seems to be advantageous for soft tissue and bone biology. Good union was seen and fracture complications were also prevented by early mobilisation. Locking compression plate (LCP), closed reduction, isolated ulnar bone fracture, minimally invasive plate osteosynthesis (MIPO).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20364117,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Growth suppression of cervical carcinoma by pigment epithelium-derived factor via anti-angiogenesis.\nPigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF), an angiogenesis inhibitor with multiple other functions, balances angiogenesis in the eye and blocks tumor progression. Cervical cancer, an angiogenesis-dependent tumor, is the second most common cancer in women without effective treatment. It has been reported that PEDF can inhibit several types of tumors, however, the potential of PEDF for the treatment of cervical carcinoma has not been well explored. The present study was designed to investigate the effect of recombinant PEDF on the neovascularization and growth of cervical carcinoma. We found for the first time that PEDF was downregulated apparently in human cervical carcinoma nests compared to either normal cervical epithelium or nonneoplastic peritumoral epithelium, suggesting potential anti-angiogenesis function by supplement of PEDF in cervical carcinoma. Intraperitoneal injection of PEDF in xenografted cervical carcinoma mice suppressed tumor growth with 68% reduction. Microvessel density in tumor tissues treated with PEDF was significantly decreased. PEDF dose-dependently inhibited proliferation and induced apoptosis of endothelial cells, but had no direct effect on proliferation and apoptosis of Hela cells under both normoxia and hypoxia. These results suggested that PEDF suppressed tumor growth by blocking angiogenesis instead of a direct cytotoxic effect on tumor cells. VEGF, a major angiogenic stimulator, was downregulated by PEDF in Hela cells by downregulation of HIF-1\u03b1, a crucial transcriptional factor for VEGF expression. Downregulation of VEGF expression in tumor cells through inhibiting HIF-1\u03b1, thus attenuating the paracrine effect of VEGF on endothelial cells, may represent a mechanism for the anti-angiogenic activity of PEDF.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17200239,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Improvement in booster seat use in Tennessee.\nTennessee enacted an enhanced child safety restraint law in July 2004, which included new requirements for booster seat use among 4- to 8-year-old children. The goal of this study was to evaluate the appropriate use of child safety restraints and knowledge of the enhanced law before and after its implementation. On-site child safety restraint assessments and brief driver interviews for cars with passengers 0 to 8 years of age were conducted at 34 sites in 3 urban counties in Tennessee. Assessments were conducted 2 to 3 months before implementation of the law and 1 year after implementation of the law. Appropriateness of restraint use was defined on the basis of language in the enhanced law. Data were obtained for 1247 child passengers transported by 1191 drivers; 333 of the children were 0 to 3 years of age, and 914 were 4 to 8 years of age (the primary age group targeted by the enhanced law). Significant improvement in appropriate booster seat use was seen for 4- to 8-year-old passengers after implementation (39%), compared with use before implementation (29%). There was no improvement in the rate of appropriate restraint use for younger children (<4 years of age) after implementation. Black passengers 4 to 8 years of age were twice as likely as white child passengers to be unrestrained, before and after implementation. Seventy-nine percent of drivers reported awareness of the new restraint law after implementation; the majority of drivers obtained information from television advertisements. Improvements in booster seat use were seen after adoption of an enhanced state law requiring use; however, racial differences in restraint use persisted among 4- to 8-year-old passengers. Additional study of barriers to booster seat use among drivers of black child passengers and unrestrained children is warranted.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21151416,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Physical performance in middle age and old age: good news for our sedentary and aging society.\nPhysical performance often declines in middle age, but it is unclear to what extent this is due to biological aging. It can be difficult to determine whether such physical changes are truly age-related, as they might alternatively be explained as the negative consequences of a sedentary lifestyle. We assessed the endurance of a physically active subgroup of the population by performing an age- and sex-stratified analysis of over 900,000 running times of marathon and half-marathon participants aged 20 to 79. We also analyzed the responses of 13,171 marathon and half-marathon runners to a questionnaire about sports, lifestyle, and health. No significant age-related decline in performance appears before age 55. Moreover, only a moderate decline is seen thereafter; in fact, 25% of the 65- to 69-year-old runners were faster than 50% of the 20- to 54-year-old runners. Our survey also revealed that more than 25% of the 50- to 69-year-old runners had started their marathon training only in the past 5 years. Performance losses in middle age are mainly due to a sedentary lifestyle, rather than biological aging. The large contingent of older \"newcomers\" among marathon runners demonstrates that, even at an advanced age, non-athletes can achieve high levels of performance through regular training.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22675633,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Biological effects of Mammalian translationally controlled tumor protein (TCTP) on cell death, proliferation, and tumorigenesis.\nTranslationally controlled tumor protein (TCTP) is a highly conserved protein found in eukaryotes, across animal and plant kingdoms and even in yeast. Mammalian TCTP is ubiquitously expressed in various tissues and cell types. TCTP is a multifunctional protein which plays important roles in a number of cell physiological events, such as immune responses, cell proliferation, tumorigenicity, and cell death, including apoptosis. Recent identification of TCTP as an antiapoptotic protein has attracted interest of many researchers in the field. The mechanism of antiapoptotic activity, however, has not been solved completely, and TCTP might inhibit other types of cell death. Cell death (including apoptosis) is closely linked to proliferation and tumorigenesis. In this context, we review recent findings regarding the role of TCTP in cell death, proliferation, and tumorigenesis and discuss the mechanisms.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":5476387,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Sodium movements in the human red blood cell.\nMeasurements were made of the sodium outflux rate constant, (o)k(Na), and sodium influx rate constant, (i)k(Na), at varying concentrations of extracellular (Na(o)) and intracellular (Na(c)) sodium. (o)k(Na) increases with increasing [Na(o)] in the presence of extracellular potassium (K(o)) and in solutions containing ouabain. In K-free solutions which do not contain ouabain, (o)k(Na) falls as [Na(o)] rises from 0 to 6 mM; above 6 mM, (o)k(Na) increases with increasing [Na(o)]. Part of the Na outflux which occurs in solutions free of Na and K disappears when the cells are starved or when the measurements are made in solutions containing ouabain. As [Na(o)] increases from 0 to 6 mM, (i)k(Na) decreases, suggesting that sites involved in the sodium influx are becoming saturated. As [Na(c)] increases, (o)k(Na) at first increases and then decreases; this relation between (o)k(Na) and [Na(c)] is found when the measurements are made in high Na, high K solutions; high Na, K-free solutions; and in (Na + K)-free solutions. The relation may be the consequence of the requirement that more than one Na ion must react with the transport mechanism at the inner surface of the membrane before transport occurs. Further evidence has been obtained that the ouabain-inhibited Na outflux and Na influx in K-free solutions represent an exchange of Na(c) for Na(o) via the Na-K pump mechanism.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37654065,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Head-to-Head Comparison of Two Plasma Phospho-tau Assays in Predicting Conversion of Mild Cognitive Impairment to Dementia.\nAmong blood biomarkers, phospho-tau181 (pTau181) is one of the most efficient in detecting Alzheimer disease across its continuum. However, transition from research to routine clinical use will require confirmation of clinical performance in prospective cohorts and evaluation of cofounding factors. Here we tested the Lumipulse assay for plasma pTau181 in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) participants from the Baltazar prospective cohort. We compared the performance of this assay to the corresponding Simoa assay for the prediction of conversion to dementia. We also evaluated the association with various routine blood parameters indicative of comorbidities. Lumipulse and Simoa gave similar results overall, with hazard ratios for conversion to dementia of 3.48 (95% CI, 2.23-5.45) and 3.70 (95%CI, 2.39-5.87), respectively. However, the 2 tests differ somewhat in terms of the patients identified, suggesting that their use may be complementary. When combined with age, sex, and apolipoprotein E (APOE)\u03b54 status, areas under the curves for conversion detection were 0.736 (95% CI, 0.682-0.791) for Lumipulse and 0.733 (95% CI, 0.679-0.788) for Simoa. Plasma pTau181 was independently associated with renal dysfunction (assessed by creatinine and glomerular filtration) for both assays. Cardiovascular factors (adiponectin and cholesterol), nutritional, and inflammatory markers (total protein content, C-reactive protein) also impacted plasma pTau181 concentration, although more so with the Simoa than with the Lumipulse assay. Plasma pTau181 measured using the fully automated Lumipulse assay performs as well as the Simoa assay for detecting conversion to dementia of MCI patients within 3 years and Lumipulse is less affected by comorbidities. This study suggests a pathway to routine noninvasive in vitro diagnosis-approved testing to contribute to the management of Alzheimer disease. NCT01315639.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17004504,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Physiologic and hygienic principles underlying creation of clothes protecting against cold].\nThe article presents principles underlying creation of clothes protecting against cold, in accordance with specific usage conditions (ambient air temperature and speed, ergonomic traits and metabolic level of work, duration of cold exposure). The authors listed requirements to thermal protection of clothes and to separate entities (hat, gloves, shoes) in relation to various climate regions. Major steps of creation and evaluation of the clothes are demonstrated.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37668453,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Site Engineering of Covalent Organic Frameworks for Regulating Peroxymonosulfate Activation to Generate Singlet Oxygen with 100 % Selectivity.\nSinglet oxygen (1 O2 ) is an excellent reactive oxygen species (ROSs) for the selective conversion of organic matter, especially in advanced oxidation processes (AOPs). However, due to the huge dilemma in synthesizing single-site type catalysts, the control and regulation of 1 O2 generation in AOPs is still challenging and the underlying mechanism remains largely obscure. Here, taking advantage of the well-defined and flexibly tunable sites of covalent organic frameworks (COFs), we report the first achievement in precisely regulating ROSs generation in peroxymonosulfate (PMS)-based AOPs by site engineering of COFs. Remarkably, COFs with bipyridine units (BPY-COFs) facilitate PMS activation via a nonradical pathway with 100 % 1 O2 , whereas biphenyl-based COFs (BPD-COFs) with almost identical structures activate PMS to produce radicals (\u22c5OH and SO4 .- ). The BPY-COFs\/PMS system delivers boosted performance for selective degradation of target pollutants from water, which is ca. 9.4 times that of its BPD-COFs counterpart, surpassing most reported PMS-based AOPs systems. Mechanism analysis indicated that highly electronegative pyridine-N atoms on BPY-COFs provide extra sites to adsorb the terminal H atoms of PMS, resulting in simultaneous adsorption of O and H atoms of PMS on one pyridine ring, which facilitates the cleavage of its S-O bond to generate 1 O2 .","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6729811,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Monodeiodination of thyroxine in the maternal and fetal dog kidneys and placenta.\nWe studied the monodeiodinating activities of the dog placenta and the pregnant dog kidney and compared them with those of the non-pregnant dog kidney and fetal kidney. Each tissue was homogenized in 50 mM Tris\/HC1 buffer, pH 7.5. The homogenate (1 mg protein) was incubated with 1 microgram of T4 at 37 degrees C in the air for 15 min or 60 min in the presence of 5 mM DTT. The T3 and reverse T3 generated in the reaction mixture were extracted into cold ethanol and then measured by RIA. Sulfhydryl group content in each tissue was determined. The characteristics of monodeiodinating activity of the dog placenta were in good concordance with those of the rat and human placentas. Net reverse T3 production in the dog placenta was 1.4-13.2 (6.1 +\/- 5.3, mean +\/- S.D.) ng\/mg protein\/micrograms T4\/60 min but net T3 production was negligible. Although it seemed that the T3 production\/reverse T3 production ratio in the pregnant dog kidney was lower than that in the non-pregnant dog kidney, there was no statistical significance. It is conceivable that the characteristics of deiodination in the placenta are tissue specific, independent of the changes in internal conditions induced by pregnancy. In the fetal dog kidney homogenate, T3 and reverse T3 were metabolized only minimally and productions of T3 and reverse T3 were also very low. An increase in DTT concentration up to 100 mM had no effect on the production rates of these triiodothyronines . Total and non-protein SH group contents in the fetal dog kidney homogenate were about the half of those in the maternal tissue.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35355810,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Teledentistry awareness, its usefulness, and challenges among dental professionals in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.\nThis study aims to describe the perception of dental professionals in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia (SA) towards the practice of teledentistry, its usefulness and challenges. A cross-sectional study was carried out among 190 dentists from January 2021 to April 2021. The participants were included in the study using snowball sampling method. A 26-item adopted questionnaire was distributed using different social media channels. Chi-square test was used for analysis. Out of 190 participants, 46.3% were from Pakistan and 53.7% were from SA. The majority of participants in both countries agreed that teledentistry would enhance guidelines and advice (74.2%), improve peer-to-peer interaction (79.5%) and make patient's referrals more efficient (75.8%). For the usefulness, most participants agree that it is economical for the patients (61.1%), improves communication (74.7%), helps in educating the patients (86.3%), avoid unnecessary travel (76.8%), helps monitoring (71.6%), and benefits patients in remote areas (74.7%); however, more Pakistani participants perceived that time spent with the patient would increase compared to SA participants (p < 0.001) and a higher proportion of SA participants believe that it helps in communication and monitoring of patients (p < 0.001) than Pakistani participants. Regarding the challenges in the use of teledentistry, few participants think that it violates the patient's privacy (22.6%) or is difficult to use (14.7%) or have distrust towards the teledentistry equipment (24.2%). The results indicated a high awareness and a positive attitude towards teledentistry, and its adaptation in their dental practice in both countries. However, limited infrastructure, set-up cost, and information technology (IT) literacy are the main challenges in integrating teledentistry which can be overcome by strategic government initiatives, policies, and programs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29560712,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Ozonation of Para-Substituted Phenolic Compounds Yields p-Benzoquinones, Other Cyclic \u03b1,\u03b2-Unsaturated Ketones, and Substituted Catechols.\nPhenolic moieties are common functional groups in organic micropollutants and in dissolved organic matter, and are exposed to ozone during drinking water and wastewater ozonation. Although unsubstituted phenol is known to yield potentially genotoxic p-benzoquinone during ozonation, little is known about the effects of substitution of the phenol ring on transformation product formation. With batch experiments employing differing ozone\/target compound ratios, it is shown that para-substituted phenols ( p-alkyl, p-halo, p-cyano, p-methoxy, p-formyl, p-carboxy) yield p-benzoquinones, p-substituted catechols, and 4-hydroxy-4-alkyl-cyclohexadien-1-ones as common ozonation products. Only in a few cases did para-substitution prevent the formation of these potentially harmful products. Quantum chemical calculations showed that different reaction mechanisms lead to p-benzoquinone, and that cyclohexadienone can be expected to form if no such pathway is possible. These products can thus be expected from most phenolic moieties. Kinetic considerations showed that substitution of the phenolic ring results in rather small changes of the apparent second order rate constants for phenol-ozone reactions at pH 7. Thus, in mixtures, most phenolic structures can be expected to react with ozone. However, redox cross-reactions between different transformation products, as well as hydrolysis, can be expected to further alter product distributions under realistic treatment scenarios.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18593738,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"The epidemiology of human rotavirus associated with diarrhoea in Kenyan children: a review.\nRotavirus gastroenteritis still remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality among young children in developing countries, with approximately 150,000-200,000 deaths occurring annually in sub-Saharan Africa. We reviewed papers published over the last 30 years on the epidemiology of rotavirus diarrhoea among the hospitalized and out-patient children in Kenya. The analysis shows rotavirus prevalence of 6-56% with diarrhoea occurring throughout the year and generally exhibiting distinct peaks during the dry months. Among the common genotype, G1 was the most predominant up to the year 2002 but more recently there has been an emergence of genotype G9 as the most predominant genotype and to a less extent G8. It is important to continue rotavirus surveillance in Kenya to determine accurately the burden of rotavirus disease and the emerging new genotypes. This will assist policy makers in decision making on rotavirus vaccine introduction and determining the impact of the vaccine.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15264011,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The interaction of housing condition and acute immobilization stress on the elevated plus-maze behaviors of protein-malnourished rats.\nProtein malnutrition induces structural, neurochemical and functional alterations in the central nervous system, leading to behavioral alterations. In the present study, we used the elevated plus-maze (EPM) as a measure of anxiety to evaluate the interaction between acute immobilization and housing conditions on the behavior of malnourished rats. Pups (6 males and 2 females) were fed by Wistar lactating dams receiving a 6% (undernourished) or 16% (well-nourished) protein diet. After weaning, the animals continued to receive the same diets ad libitum until 49 days of age when they started to receive a regular lab chow diet. From weaning to the end of the tests on day 70, the animals were housed under two different conditions, i.e., individual or in groups of three. On the 69th day, half of the animals were submitted to immobilization for 2 h, while the other half were undisturbed, and both groups were tested 24 h later for 5 min in the EPM. Independent of other factors, protein malnutrition increased, while immobilization and social isolation per se decreased, EPM exploration. Analysis of the interaction of diet vs immobilization vs housing conditions showed that the increased EPM exploration presented by the malnourished group was reversed by acute immobilization in animals reared in groups but not in animals reared individually. The interaction between immobilization and housing conditions suggests that living for a long time in social isolation is sufficiently stressful to reduce the responses to another anxiogenic procedure (immobilization), while living in groups prompts the animals to react to acute stress. Thus, it is suggested that housing condition can modulate the effects of an anxiogenic procedure on behavioral responses of malnourished rats in the EPM.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28711603,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"MiR-139-5p inhibits proliferation and promoted apoptosis of human airway smooth muscle cells by downregulating the Brg1 gene.\nMicroRNAs have emerged as critical regulators in the pathogenesis of asthma. However, the role of microRNAs in asthma needs to be further elucidated. In this study, we found that miR-139-5p was greatly decreased in airway smooth muscle (ASM) cells from asthmatic humans as well as ASM cells stimulated with cytokines. Overexpression of miR-139-5p markedly suppressed ASM cell proliferation and promoted cell apoptosis, whereas knockdown of miR-139-5p had the opposite effect. Further study verified that Brg1, a chromatin remodeling factor, was upregulated in ASM cells treated with cytokines and acted as a direct target of miR-139-5p. Ectopic expression of Brg1 partially reversed the effect of miR-139-5p on cell proliferation and apoptosis. Moreover, overexpression of Brg1 restored miR-139-5p-induced downregulation of Akt and p70S6K phosphorylation. Together, these data indicate that miR-139-5p may function as a key regulator of ASM cell proliferation and apoptosis, potentially by targeting the Brg1 gene, and thus suggesting a potential role of miR-139-5p in the pathogenesis of asthma.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23868357,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Platinum nanopeapods: spatial control of mesopore arrangements by utilizing a physically confined space.\nSpherical mesopores: Mesoporous Pt rods containing cage-type mesopores were prepared with porous anodic alumina membranes (PAAMs). It is noteworthy that spherical mesopores are aligned in the rods due to physical confinement by the PAAM channels. Both the mesopore alignment and the morphological control are realized simultaneously, which could be important for bottom-up approaches to nanometals with desirable structural features (see figure).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":33730848,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Control of Structural Coloration by Natural Sunlight Irradiation on a Melanin Precursor Polymer Inspired by Skin Tanning.\nNatural melanin affects the reflection and absorption of light, and it is known as an important element in producing bright structural colors in nature. In this study, we prepared core-shell particles using a melanin precursor polymer, that is, polytyrosine (PTy), as a shell layer by the oxidative polymerization of tyrosine ethyl ester (Ty) in the presence of cerium oxide (CeO2) core particles. Inspired by skin tanning, irradiating the CeO2@PTy core-shell particles with UV or natural sunlight caused melanization by extending the \u03c0-conjugated length of PTy, producing colloidal particles with the ability to absorb light. The pellet samples consisting of CeO2@PTy particles appeared whitish because of multiple scattered light. In contrast, the light absorption capacity of CeO2@PTy UV or CeO2@PTy Sun particles after light irradiation suppressed scattered light, dramatically improving the visibility of the structural color of the pellet samples made from these particles. Thus, a new method has been developed to control the visualization of structural colors to the human eye by irradiating the melanin precursor polymer with light.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28697155,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Effect of a Training Strategy in Improving Medication Fallacies During Pediatric Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation: A Before-and-After Study From a Developing Country.\nThis study aims to evaluate the effect of structured training on resident performance in improving medication fallacies during pediatric cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). This before-and-after study was conducted in the pediatric acute care areas of tertiary care teaching hospitals of a developing country from August to December 2015. Case records of children younger than 18 years who underwent CPR were reviewed. Senior residents rotating through pediatric emergency department and pediatric intensive care unit were evaluated for their knowledge. Incidence of medication fallacies in pediatric CPR and change in the knowledge scores of residents posted in these areas were the main outcome measures. One-hundred records were evaluated (pre-intervention, 54; post-intervention, 46). In the pre-intervention period, 25 had medication fallacies (documentation, 16; dosing, 9). In the post-intervention period, 7 fallacies pertaining to documentation (not dosing) were found. The incidence of severe fallacies decreased from 20% pretraining to 0% posttraining. The mean (SD) knowledge scores of residents increased from 7.9 (2.9) pretraining to 13 (1.4) posttraining. On univariate analysis, fallacies were found to be less if the resident was formally trained (pediatric advanced life support certified), if the patient was older, and during morning and night shifts as compared with evening shift. On multivariate analysis, however, only status of training (posttraining) (adjusted odds ratio, 0.12; 95% confidence interval, 0.02-0.68) and the morning shift (adjusted odds ratio, 0.03; 95% confidence interval, 0.001-0.72) remained significant with lower incidence of fallacies associated with these variables. Rates of medication fallacies in pediatric CPR declined with structured training. Documentation fallacies may not be eliminated completely with only 1-time training.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7925488,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Transcriptional activity of the neuron-specific enolase (NSE) promoter in murine embryonic stem (ES) cells and preimplantation embryos.\nMouse embryonic stem (ES) cells were transfected with a plasmid composed of an E. coli lacZ gene fused to 1.8 kb of rat neuron-specific enolase (NSE) promoter sequences. While this reporter construct had been shown previously to function exclusively in postmitotic neurons and neuro-endocrine cells of transgenic mice, stably transfected ES cell clones unexpectedly displayed beta-galactosidase (beta-Gal) activity in the undifferentiated state. This transcriptional activity of the heterologous NSE promoter was confirmed by the identification of endogenous NSE mRNA in undifferentiated ES cells, mouse morulae and blastocysts. NSE protein, however, could not be found in undifferentiated ES cells. Interestingly, in ES cells which were cultured for 7 days under differentiation conditions in vitro, beta-Gal activity decreased to basal levels consistent with the parallel down-regulation of endogenous NSE mRNA. In contrast, prolonged culture of ES cells under differentiation conditions led to the reappearance of NSE mRNA and beta-Gal activity after 17 days. Significant increases in beta-Gal activity were also observed in ES cells which were cultured either on dishes coated with attachment factors such as laminin and gelatin or in the presence of nerve growth factor (NGF). These results suggest that i) transcriptional control mechanisms regulating neuronal gene expression are present at early developmental stages in the mouse and ii) ES cells provide a useful in vitro model system for the analysis of developmentally regulated cellular and molecular events coupled to neuron-specific enolase promoter activity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28720981,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cerebral Reorganization in Subacute Stroke Survivors after Virtual Reality-Based Training: A Preliminary Study.\nFunctional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a promising method for quantifying brain recovery and investigating the intervention-induced changes in corticomotor excitability after stroke. This study aimed to evaluate cortical reorganization subsequent to virtual reality-enhanced treadmill (VRET) training in subacute stroke survivors. Eight participants with ischemic stroke underwent VRET for 5 sections per week and for 3 weeks. fMRI was conducted to quantify the activity of selected brain regions when the subject performed ankle dorsiflexion. Gait speed and clinical scales were also measured before and after intervention. Increased activation in the primary sensorimotor cortex of the lesioned hemisphere and supplementary motor areas of both sides for the paretic foot (p < 0.01) was observed postintervention. Statistically significant improvements were observed in gait velocity (p < 0.05). The change in voxel counts in the primary sensorimotor cortex of the lesioned hemisphere is significantly correlated with improvement of 10 m walk time after VRET (r = -0.719). We observed improved walking and increased activation in cortical regions of stroke survivors after VRET training. Moreover, the cortical recruitment was associated with better walking function. Our study suggests that cortical networks could be a site of plasticity, and their recruitment may be one mechanism of training-induced recovery of gait function in stroke. This trial is registered with ChiCTR-IOC-15006064.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36937630,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Kounis syndrome following multiple wasp stings: A case report.\nThis is a case of Kounis syndrome with chest tightness, lightheadedness, unconsciousness, and features of shock following multiple wasp stings. Despite cardiopulmonary resuscitation and management of allergic and cardiac symptoms, the patient died. Kounis syndrome should be suspected when a patient presents with allergic symptoms and acute coronary syndrome.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19054072,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Genetic diversity of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis Beijing family in East Asia revealed through refined population structure analysis.\nThe Beijing\/W family is the endemic lineage of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in East Asia: it has disseminated worldwide. To elucidate its genetic diversity in Japan, phylogenetic reconstruction was performed using 403 M. tuberculosis Beijing family clinical isolates. Variable number of tandem repeats analysis revealed the strains from Japan to be dispersed mainly among five subgroups in a phylogenetic tree. Interestingly, the genotypes of the strains from China and Mongolia were restricted mainly to a single branch; they exhibited high clonality. IS6110 insertion in the NTF region was also analyzed. The majority (78.6%) of Japanese isolates belonged to the ancient sublineage. The modern Beijing strains were observed to correspond to the branch containing the foreign strains, although the ancient Beijing strains were dispersed among the tree's other branches. Our results reflect the singular genetic diversity and the epidemiological pattern of Beijing M. tuberculosis in Japan.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37441668,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Assessing collaboration among team scientists within a triadic research center partnership.\nFew studies have utilized qualitative methods to assess the perceived effectiveness of collaboration among research center interdisciplinary team scientists. Stages of team development served as the theoretical framework to characterize minority serving institution (MSI) and predominantly White institutions (PWI) participants' challenges and successes during a National Institutes of Health (NIH) sponsored cancer health disparities training and research program. We present the finding of an inductive analysis of four open-ended survey questions across two years. Fostering an awareness of the inherently taxing, yet centrality of group (team) development may advance an understanding of team dynamics and lead to increased team cohesion and productivity. In conclusion, we provide recommendations to assist multiple principal investigators who embark on team development.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32347141,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Conventional and Complementary Healthcare Utilization Among US Adults With Cardiovascular Disease or Cardiovascular Risk Factors: A Nationally Representative Survey.\nBackground Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and their risk factors need guideline-oriented treatment to provide the best benefit for patients. These guidelines include recommendations for regular checkups, realized by general medical practitioners. In addition, individuals with CVD or CVD risk factors tend to use complementary methods for their condition. There is limited information on the association between complementary healthcare utilization and the adherence to recommended conventional health care. Methods and Results In this cross-sectional analysis of the nationally representative 2017 National Health Interview Survey (n=26 742; response rate 80.7%) we examined the prevalence of conventional and complementary healthcare utilization within the past 12 months in individuals with CVD and\/or CVD risk factors and the interactions between the two categories of health care. Of all participants, 38.1% reported risk factors for CVD and 11.4% a CVD diagnosis (groups show an overlap). Overall prevalence of visits to conventional and complementary medicine providers and the use of mind-body medicine was high within the population analyzed. Individuals with CVD and\/or CVD risk factors using complementary health care were as likely or more likely to consult general practitioners (CVD: adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.17; 95% CI, 0.93-1.47; CVD risk: aOR, 1.21; 95% CI, 1.05-1.39) and medical specialists (CVD: aOR, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.17-1.64; CVD risk: aOR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.28-1.58) than those not using complementary health care. Those using complementary health care were as likely to adhere to medical checkup as those not using complementary health care. Conclusions Complementary healthcare utilization use was not associated with a reduced adherence to conventional health care and recommended checkups. The potential positive association of complementary and conventional healthcare utilization needs to be confirmed in further studies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7941808,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Ultrasound of the bladder neck-urethra transition before and after pelvic floor training with Kolpexin].\nIn this study we examined sonographically the position of the bladder neck in healthy control persons and patients suffering from stress incontinence before and after pelvic floor exercises supported by Kolpexin. 14 of the 20 patients are satisfied after performing the Kolpexin exercises. We found by using perineal sonography a significant decrease of the angle gamma after the pelvic floor training. The perineal sonography allows good informations about the position of the bladder neck after conservative treatment, too.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9154146,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Flow cytometry as a quantitative and sensitive method to evaluate low dose radiation induced apoptosis in vitro in human peripheral blood lymphocytes.\nHuman peripheral blood lymphocytes, irradiated in vitro, die by an apoptotic process. The number of apoptotic cells after in vitro gamma-irradiation (0, 0.1, 0.2, 1, 2 and 5 Gy) was measured by flow cytometry using Annexin V and DiOC6 (a cationic dye) after 24 and 48 h incubation. The mean dose-response curves for apoptosis of six healthy volunteers obtained with both methods were steep below 1 Gy and flatter at higher doses. A slightly higher number of apoptotic cells was observed with DiOC6, compared to Annexin V. This can be assigned to a minor DiOC6-int\/PI- population. Forty-eight hour cultures contained higher numbers of apoptotic cells compared with 24 h cultures. For both culture times, DiOC6 and Annexin V detected a statistically significant difference between a control sample and a 0.1 Gy irradiated one, illustrating the high sensitivity of the methods.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37465933,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Atomic visualization of flipped-back conformations of high mannose glycans interacting with cargo lectins: An MD simulation perspective.\nProtein-carbohydrate interactions play a crucial role in mediating several biomolecular recognition events. We attempt to unravel its intricacies by understanding how carbohydrate-binding proteins interpret the glycan code. We aim to decipher lectin-mediated recognition in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), which plays a crucial role in ER-mediated quality control (ER-QC). The ER-QC functions in three phases-protein folding, transport, and degradation. Altered protein QC leads to ER-related storage disorders. Cargo transport proteins-Ergic53 and Vip36-necessary for maintaining cellular homeostasis-are our primary focus. They recognize monoglucosylated\/high mannose N-glycans on the folded glycoproteins. This article reports on the first dynamic investigation of the ER cargo lectins in complex with the high mannose glycans using an advanced sampling technique-replica exchange molecular dynamics to decipher the inherent conformational heterogeneity and the binding mechanism. The study involves simulations for the proteins complexed with three high mannose glycans-Man8B, Man9, and mono-glucosylated glycan. The recognition process is captured using MD simulations to achieve mechanistic insights and characterize the dynamics of glycans in their native and bound states via dihedral angle analysis. Results indicate that the flipped conformation of the glycans was crucial in differentiating their interaction with the proteins. Similar conformers of the glycans are preferred for Ergic53 and Vip36 in their glycan recognition events. Ergic53 preferred Man8B while it was Man9 for Vip36, in coherence with the previous experimental reports. These simulations provide a computational microscopic purview of the mechanism at both spatial and temporal scales. The results correlate with the published experimental data on the specificities of these lectins.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36270417,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Undersampling artifact reduction for free-breathing 3D stack-of-radial MRI based on a deep adversarial learning network.\nStack-of-radial MRI allows free-breathing abdominal scans, however, it requires relatively long acquisition time. Undersampling reduces scan time but can cause streaking artifacts and degrade image quality. This study developed deep learning networks with adversarial loss and evaluated the performance of reducing streaking artifacts and preserving perceptual image sharpness. A 3D generative adversarial network (GAN) was developed for reducing streaking artifacts in stack-of-radial abdominal scans. Training and validation datasets were self-gated to 5 respiratory states to reduce motion artifacts and to effectively augment the data. The network used a combination of three loss functions to constrain the anatomy and preserve image quality: adversarial loss, mean-squared-error loss and structural similarity index loss. The performance of the network was investigated for 3-5 times undersampled data from 2 institutions. The performance of the GAN for 5 times accelerated images was compared with a 3D U-Net and evaluated using quantitative NMSE, SSIM and region of interest (ROI) measurements as well as qualitative scores of radiologists. The 3D GAN showed similar NMSE (0.0657 vs. 0.0559, p = 0.5217) and significantly higher SSIM (0.841 vs. 0.798, p < 0.0001) compared to U-Net. ROI analysis showed GAN removed streaks in both the background air and the tissue and was not significantly different from the reference mean and variations. Radiologists' scores showed GAN had a significant improvement of 1.6 point (p = 0.004) on a 4-point scale in streaking score while no significant difference in sharpness score compared to the input. 3D GAN removes streaking artifacts and preserves perceptual image details.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17003428,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Standard microlithographic mosaics to assess endothelial cell counting methods by light microscopy in eye banks using organ culture.\nTo develop standard microscopic hexagonal mosaics mimicking the human corneal endothelium for quality control of endothelial cell density (ECD) measurement and verification of cell counting strategy by light microscopy in eye banks using organ culture. A standard slide, the Keratotest, was developed with 10 laser-engraved mosaics and different predetermined \"cell\" densities representing the range of ECDs observed routinely. Horizontal and vertical micrometric scales were etched adjacently to each mosaic, and a standard microscopy resolution test pattern was included. The Keratotest was applied to assess the reliability of a computer-assisted analyzer developed for corneal endothelial evaluation based on light microscopy images. The Keratotest consisted of 10 microlithographic homogeneous mosaics of 1-mm2 printed area and 1.2-microm cell boundary thickness. The micrometric scale associated with each mosaic aided in simultaneous verification of microscope calibration, and the test pattern aided in checking the microscope resolution. The design was unalterable and reproducible, and the glass slide incorporated in a carbon fiber support ensured easy handling and safe transport. Evaluation of the Keratotest mosaics by the computer-assisted analyzer found a high level of agreement (error margin between +0.12 and -0.46%) with the laser-engraved cell density. This prototype device enabled assessment of reliability of ECD measurement in eye banks. It also allowed verification of the calibration and resolution of light microscopes. Periodic validation of counting procedure in eye banks with mosaics of known \"cell\" densities should be useful for standardization of donor corneal tissue quality control.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6908999,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteriuria.\nMethicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteriuria was detected in 11 of 41 patients colonized or infected with MRSA. The patients with bacteriuria generally were older than 40 years of age, five were diabetic, seven had prior indwelling uretheral catheters, two had undergone other urologic manipulations, and only one was clinically symptomatic. Eight patients received variable combinations of antibiotic therapy prior to the diagnosis of MRSA bacteriuria, and seven were still on antibiotic therapy at the time the bacteriuria was detected. Bacteriuria lasted four days to 14 weeks, and was eradicated promptly with cephalosporin therapy in five six patients. Bacteriuria in the untreated patients cleared spontaneously in one month. A single MRSA serotype (83A) predominated. The MRSA isolates were resistant in vitro to most antibiotics except vancomycin. Resistant colonies were observed within cephalothin disc zones of inhibition at 30C (resistance was confirmed by microtube-dilution sensitivity testing). MRSA disc sensitivity testing for cephalothin may be unreliable when performed at 35C.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14521636,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Protective effect of melatonin against fractionated irradiation-induced epiphyseal injury in a weanling rat model.\nThe effects of melatonin, a free-radical scavenger and a general antioxidant, on radiation-induced growth plate injury have not been studied previously. The purpose of this study was to determine the potential benefits of sparing longitudinal bone growth by fractionated radiotherapy alone compared with pretreatment with melatonin that provides differential radioprotection of normal cells. Weanling 4-wk-old (75-100 g) male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to one of three groups: Group R received fractionated radiation alone (n = 8); groups M5 (n = 8) and M15 (n = 7) received 5 or 15 mg\/kg melatonin prior to fractionated radiation, respectively. The distal femur and proximal tibia in the right leg of each animal were exposed to a therapeutic X-irradiation dose (25 Gy total in three fractions) with the contralateral left leg as the non-irradiated control. Melatonin was administered intraperitoneally to the animals 30 min before radiation exposure. Six weeks after treatment, the rats were killed and the lower limbs disarticulated, skeletonized, radiographed, and bone growth was calculated based on measurement of the bone lengths. Fractionated radiation resulted in a mean percent overall limb growth loss of 41.2 +\/- 9.5 and a mean percent overall limb discrepancy of 11.2 +\/- 2.2. The administration of 5 or 15 mg\/kg melatonin before each of the three fractions of radiotherapy reduced the mean percent overall limb growth loss to 33.9 +\/- 5.8 and 32.2 +\/- 4.5, respectively, and the mean percent overall limb discrepancy to 9.4 +\/- 1.6 and 8.9 +\/- 1.1, respectively; these values were significantly different compared with irradiation alone (range: P = 0.01-0.04). When compared with Group R, the growth arrest recovered by 5 or 15 mg\/kg melatonin was 19.7 and 24.1% for the tibia, 7 and 18.6% for the femur, and 17.7 and 21.8% for the total limb, respectively. These results support further investigation of melatonin in combination with fractionation for potential use in growing children requiring radiotherapy to the extremity for malignant tumors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30670512,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Environmental risk factors of leptospirosis in urban settings: a systematic review protocol.\nLeptospirosis is the most common zoonotic disease that causes morbidity and mortality worldwide. The disease can cause sporadic epidemics and recent epidemics have become more apparent in urban localities. There is lack of documented evidence on the specific risk factors of leptospirosis infection among the urbanites, thereby impeding initiatives for prevention in urban settings. We aim to systematically search published articles and synthesise evidence on the risk factors associated with leptospirosis infection among the susceptible populations in urban localities, particularly to identify the risk factors of non-recreational leptospirosis infection. We will conduct a systematic review of observational studies that investigated environmental risk factors of leptospirosis in urban localities. The search will be performed for any eligible articles from selected electronic databases from 1970 until May 2018. The study will include any studies that investigated risk factors of confirmed leptospirosis cases who acquired the infection in urban locality, particularly exposures from the non-recreational and non-water-related activities. Study selection and reporting will follow the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology guideline. All data will be extracted using a standardised data extraction form and quality of the studies will be assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale guideline. Descriptive and meta-analysis will be performed by calculating the standardised median ORs and risk ratios for types of the non-recreational risk factors stratified by social, living conditions and environmental exposures, types of reservoirs and transmissions and types of activities and employments associated with leptospirosis infection in urban locality. No primary data will be collected thus no formal ethical approval is required. The results will be disseminated though a peer-reviewed publication and conference presentation. CRD42018090820.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15266153,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Modified lateral orbitotomy for intact removal of orbital dumbbell dermoid cyst.\n: We describe a modified lateral orbitotomy for intact removal of a dumbbell dermoid cyst involving the frontozygomatic suture. The clinical features and surgical treatment of the case are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25428873,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Lethal coinfection of influenza virus and Streptococcus pneumoniae lowers antibody response to influenza virus in lung and reduces numbers of germinal center B cells, T follicular helper cells, and plasma cells in mediastinal lymph Node.\nSecondary Streptococcus pneumoniae infection after influenza is a significant clinical complication resulting in morbidity and sometimes mortality. Prior influenza virus infection has been demonstrated to impair the macrophage and neutrophil response to the subsequent pneumococcal infection. In contrast, how a secondary pneumococcal infection after influenza can affect the adaptive immune response to the initial influenza virus infection is less well understood. Therefore, this study focuses on how secondary pneumococcal infection after influenza may impact the humoral immune response to the initial influenza virus infection in a lethal coinfection mouse model. Compared to mice infected with influenza virus alone, mice coinfected with influenza virus followed by pneumococcus had significant body weight loss and 100% mortality. In the lung, lethal coinfection significantly increased virus titers and bacterial cell counts and decreased the level of virus-specific IgG, IgM, and IgA, as well as the number of B cells, CD4 T cells, and plasma cells. Lethal coinfection significantly reduced the size and weight of spleen, as well as the number of B cells along the follicular developmental lineage. In mediastinal lymph nodes, lethal coinfection significantly decreased germinal center B cells, T follicular helper cells, and plasma cells. Adoptive transfer of influenza virus-specific immune serum to coinfected mice improved survival, suggesting the protective functions of anti-influenza virus antibodies. In conclusion, coinfection reduced the B cell response to influenza virus. This study helps us to understand the modulation of the B cell response to influenza virus during a lethal coinfection. Secondary pneumococcal infection after influenza virus infection is an important clinical issue that often results in excess mortality. Since antibodies are key mediators of protection, this study aims to examine the antibody response to influenza virus and demonstrates that lethal coinfection reduced the B cell response to influenza virus. This study helps to highlight the complexity of the modulation of the B cell response in the context of coinfection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32352533,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Multi-dimensional machine learning approaches for fruit shape phenotyping in strawberry.\nShape is a critical element of the visual appeal of strawberry fruit and is influenced by both genetic and non-genetic determinants. Current fruit phenotyping approaches for external characteristics in strawberry often rely on the human eye to make categorical assessments. However, fruit shape is an inherently multi-dimensional, continuously variable trait and not adequately described by a single categorical or quantitative feature. Morphometric approaches enable the study of complex, multi-dimensional forms but are often abstract and difficult to interpret. In this study, we developed a mathematical approach for transforming fruit shape classifications from digital images onto an ordinal scale called the Principal Progression of k Clusters (PPKC). We use these human-recognizable shape categories to select quantitative features extracted from multiple morphometric analyses that are best fit for genetic dissection and analysis. We transformed images of strawberry fruit into human-recognizable categories using unsupervised machine learning, discovered 4 principal shape categories, and inferred progression using PPKC. We extracted 68 quantitative features from digital images of strawberries using a suite of morphometric analyses and multivariate statistical approaches. These analyses defined informative feature sets that effectively captured quantitative differences between shape classes. Classification accuracy ranged from 68% to 99% for the newly created phenotypic variables for describing a shape. Our results demonstrated that strawberry fruit shapes could be robustly quantified, accurately classified, and empirically ordered using image analyses, machine learning, and PPKC. We generated a dictionary of quantitative traits for studying and predicting shape classes and identifying genetic factors underlying phenotypic variability for fruit shape in strawberry. The methods and approaches that we applied in strawberry should apply to other fruits, vegetables, and specialty crops.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31263460,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Past and Current Perspectives in Modeling Bacteria and Blood-Brain Barrier Interactions.\nThe central nervous system (CNS) barriers are highly specialized cellular barriers that promote brain homeostasis while restricting pathogen and toxin entry. The primary cellular constituent regulating pathogen entry in most of these brain barriers is the brain endothelial cell (BEC) that exhibits properties that allow for tight regulation of CNS entry. Bacterial meningoencephalitis is a serious infection of the CNS and occurs when bacteria can cross specialized brain barriers and cause inflammation. Models have been developed to understand the bacterial - BEC interaction that lead to pathogen crossing into the CNS, however, these have been met with challenges due to these highly specialized BEC phenotypes. This perspective provides a brief overview and outlook of the in vivo and in vitro models currently being used to study bacterial brain penetration, and opinion on improved models for the future.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7945902,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Potential for pre-implantation determination of human platelet antigen type using DNA amplification: a strategy for prevention of allo-immune thrombocytopenia.\nTo demonstrate that fetal human platelet antigen (HPA1) type can be determined by amplification from picogram quantities of DNA, nested oligonucleotide DNA primers were designed to amplify a portion of the platelet glycoprotein GpIIIa gene which spans the polymorphic HPA site. Specific oligonucleotides were designed to hybridise either to the amplified HPA1a allele or to the HPA1b allele. DNA dilutions were used as a template and HPA1 type, determined by this method from as little as 2 pg of DNA in 6 cases, was compared to direct typing of blood from the same individuals. In each case nested polymerase chain reaction amplified the specific HPA locus from as little as 2 pg of DNA and determination of HPA1 type agreed with typing of blood.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20368396,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Low prevalence of fks1 hot spot 1 mutations in a worldwide collection of Candida strains.\nWe evaluated the prevalence of fks1 hot spot (HS) 1 mutations among 133 Candida strains from six species displaying various caspofungin MIC values (from < or =0.008 to >8 microg\/ml). Only 4 (2.9%) strains displayed FKS1 HS1 amino acid substitutions: 1 C. albicans (F641Y) among 32 isolates tested (3.1%), 1 C. glabrata (S645P) among 34 isolates tested (2.9%), and 2 C. tropicalis (F641S) among 12 isolates tested (16.7%). The 4 isolates displaying FKS1 HS1 alterations showed elevated caspofungin MIC results (1 to >8 microg\/ml) but lower anidulafungin and micafungin MIC values (0.12 to 4 microg\/ml and 0.25 to 4 microg\/ml, respectively) in some instances within the wild-type MIC population, as determined using the epidemiologic cutoff values (ECV). Candida krusei, C. parapsilosis, and C. guilliermondii isolates tested showed no FKS1 HS1 alterations regardless of echinocandin MIC result. We additionally analyzed 8 C. albicans and 7 C. glabrata strains for mutations on other HS regions of fks1 and fks2. Three C. glabrata strains showed alterations on FKS2 HS1 (two S645P and one L644W). In general, strains displaying S645P alteration showed higher echinocandin MIC values than strains harboring other mutations. Overall, Candida spp. strains showing caspofungin MIC values within the ECV did not display fks HS mutations. In contrast, strains showing alterations in this region displayed anidulafungin and\/or micafungin MIC values within the wild-type population, suggesting that caspofungin could be the most sensitive agent for detection of these resistance mutations. Furthermore, results from this large, geographically diverse Candida spp. collection demonstrated that fks1 HS1 mutations remain uncommon among isolates with various echinocandin MIC levels.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25405991,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Long-term reduction of T-cell intracellular antigens reveals a transcriptome associated with extracellular matrix and cell adhesion components.\nKnockdown of T-cell intracellular antigens TIA1 and TIAR contributes to a cellular phenotype characterised by uncontrolled proliferation and tumorigenesis. Massive-scale poly(A+) RNA sequencing of TIA1 or TIAR-knocked down HeLa cells reveals transcriptome signatures comprising genes and functional categories potentially able to modulate several aspects of membrane dynamics associated with extracellular matrix and focal\/cell adhesion events. The transcriptomic heterogeneity is the result of differentially expressed genes and RNA isoforms generated by alternative splicing and\/or promoter usage. These results suggest a role for TIA proteins in the regulation and\/or modulation of cellular homeostasis related to focal\/cell adhesion, extracellular matrix and membrane and cytoskeleton dynamics.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30672234,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Effects and mechanism of the long-snake moxibustion on ankylosing spondylitis based on Th17\/Treg\/Th1 immune imbalance].\nTo explore the effects and mechanisms of the long-snake moxibustion on ankylosing spondylitis (AS) based on Th17\/Treg\/Th1 immune imbalance. A total of 60 AS patients were randomized into an observation group and a control group, 30 cases in each one. In the observation group, the long-snake moxibustion therapy was used on the acupoints of the governor vessel from Dazhui (GV 14) to Yaoshu (GV 2) as well as the bilateral Jiaji (EX-B 2) alternatively. The moxibustion was given once a day, for 7 days continuously as one course. There were 3 days at the interval between the courses and 4 courses were required. In the control group, the routine western medication was provided, the salazosulfapyridine combined with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs were used, for 7 days continuous as one course. A total of 4 courses of medication were required. The enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was adopted to determine the levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-17 (IL-17), interleukin-23 (IL-23) and tumor necrosis factor-\u03b1 (TNF-\u03b1). The real-time quantification polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to determine the mRNA expressions of the specific transcription factors, FoxP3 and T-bet of the helper 17 cells (Th17), regulatory T cells (Treg) and T helper 1 cells (Th1). The flow cytometry was applied to determine the rates of Treg, Th1 and Th17, as well as the changes of the inflammatory reaction index, C-reactive protein (CRP), and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR). The therapeutic effects were compared between the two groups. After treatment, the total effective rate was 93.3% (28\/30) in the observation group, which was better than 86.7% (26\/30) in the control group (P<0.05). After treatment, the levels of CRP, ESR, IL-6, IL-17, IL-23 and TNF-\u03b1, as well as the rate of Th17 were reduced significantly as compared with those before treatment in the observation group (all P<0.05). The mRNA expressions of FoxP3 and T-bet and the rates of Treg and Th1 were increased as compared with those before treatment (all P<0.05). The change degree in the observation group was significant as compared with the control group (all P<0.05). In the control group, the levels of CRP, ESR, IL-6, IL-17, IL-23 and TNF-\u03b1, as well as the rate of Th17 were reduced, and the mRNA expressions of FoxP3 and T-bet and the rates of Treg and Th1 were increased after treatment. But the changes were not significant as compared with those before treatment (all P>0.05). The long-snake moxibustion effectively relieves the clinical symptoms in AS patients and regulates the Th17\/Treg\/Th1 immune imbalance. Its effect target is probably related to the modulation of the AS immune derangement and the inflammatory responses induced by immune derangement so as to achieve the dual-positive regulatory effect.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19044910,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of (18)O isotopic substitution on the rotational spectra and potential splitting in the OH-OH2 complex: improved measurements for (16)OH-(16)OH2 and (18)OH-(18)OH2, new measurements for the mixed isotopic forms, and ab initio calculations of the (2)A'-(2)A\" energy separation.\nRotational spectra have been observed for (16)OH-(16)OH(2), (16)OH-(18)OH(2), (18)OH-(16)OH(2), and (18)OH-(18)OH(2) with complete resolution of the nuclear magnetic hyperfine structure from the OH and water protons. Transition frequencies have been analyzed for each isotopic form using the model of Marshall and Lester [J. Chem. Phys. 121, 3019 (2004)], which accounts for partial quenching of the OH orbital angular momentum and the decoupling of the electronic spin from the OH molecular axis. The analysis accounts for both the ground ((2)A(')) and first electronically excited ((2)A(\")) states of the system, which correspond roughly to occupancy by the odd electron in the p(y) and p(x) orbitals, respectively (where p(y) is in the mirror plane of the complex and p(x) is perpendicular to p(y) and the OH bond axis). The spectroscopic measurements yield a parameter, rho, which is equal to the vibrationally averaged (2)A(')-(2)A(\") energy separation that would be obtained if spin-orbit coupling and rotation were absent. For the parent species, rho = -146.560 27(9) cm(-1). (18)O substitution on the water increases \/rho\/ by 0.105 29(10) cm(-1), while substitution on the OH decreases \/rho\/ by 0.068 64(11) cm(-1). In the OH-OH(2) complex, the observed value of rho implies an energy spacing between the rotationless levels of the (2)A(') and (2)A(\") states of 203.76 cm(-1). Ab initio calculations have been performed with quadratic configuration interaction with single and double excitations (QCISD), as well as multireference configuration interaction (MRCI), both with and without the inclusion of spin-orbit coupling. The MRCI calculations with spin-orbit coupling perform the best, giving a value of 171 cm(-1) for the (2)A(')-(2)A(\") energy spacing at the equilibrium geometry. Calculations along the large-amplitude bending coordinates of the OH and OH(2) moieties within the complex are presented and are shown to be consistent with a vibrational averaging effect as the main cause of the observed isotopic sensitivity of rho.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9150423,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Antisense oligodeoxynucleotide to delta opioid receptors blocks cocaine-induced place preference in mice.\nThe effect of intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) treatment with antisense oligodeoxynucleotide (A-oligo) to delta opioid receptor mRNA on cocaine-induced place preference was examined in mice. Cocaine (10 mg\/kg, s.c.) produced a significant place preference. I.c.v. treatment with A-oligo (0.001-1 microg\/mouse) dose-dependently attenuated the cocaine (10 mg\/kg, s.c.)-induced place preference, although mismatched oligodeoxynucleotide (1 microg\/mouse, i.c.v.) was ineffective. In the present study, we found that the selective reduction in number and\/or function of central delta opioid receptors by A-oligo suppresses the cocaine-induced place preference. These results suggest that the conditioned reward by cocaine may be partially mediated by central delta opioid receptors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28250393,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A Systems Biology Approach to Understanding the Mechanisms of Action of an Alternative Anticancer Compound in Comparison to Cisplatin.\nMany clinically available anticancer compounds are designed to target DNA. This commonality of action often yields overlapping cellular response mechanisms and can thus detract from drug efficacy. New compounds are required to overcome resistance mechanisms that effectively neutralise compounds like cisplatin and those with similar chemical structures. Studies have shown that 56MESS is a novel compound which, unlike cisplatin, does not covalently bind to DNA, but is more toxic to many cell lines and active against cisplatin-resistant cells. Furthermore, a transcriptional study of 56MESS in yeast has implicated iron and copper metabolism as well as the general yeast stress response following challenge with 56MESS. Beyond this, the cytotoxicity of 56MESS remains largely uncharacterised. Here, yeast was used as a model system to facilitate a systems-level comparison between 56MESS and cisplatin. Preliminary experiments indicated that higher concentrations than seen in similar studies be used. Although a DNA interaction with 56MESS had been theorized, this work indicated that an effect on protein synthesis\/ degradation was also implicated in the mechanism(s) of action of this novel anticancer compound. In contrast to cisplatin, the different mechanisms of action that are indicated for 56MESS suggest that this compound could overcome cisplatin resistance either as a stand-alone treatment or a synergistic component of therapeutics.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18597429,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A route toward the generation of thermally stable Au cluster anions supported on the MgO surface.\nOn the basis of experimental evidence and DFT calculations, we propose a simple yet viable way to stabilize and chemically activate gold nanoclusters on MgO. First the MgO surface is functionalized by creation of trapped electrons, (H (+))(e (-)) centers (exposure to atomic H or to H 2 under UV light, deposition of low amounts of alkali metals on partially hydroxylated surfaces, etc.); the second step consists in the self-aggregation of gold clusters deposited from the gas phase. The calculations show that the (H (+))(e (-)) centers act both as nucleation and activation sites. The process can lead to thermally stable gold cluster anions whose catalytic activity is enhanced by the presence of an excess electron.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16146750,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Role of the gut in the development of injury- and shock induced SIRS and MODS: the gut-lymph hypothesis, a review.\nIt has long been recognized that major trauma, shock, or burn injury can lead to an acute systemic inflammatory state (SIRS) as well as the multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS). Because of the high mortality rate associated with the development of MODS, for over two decades an intense effort has been devoted towards trying to unravel the underlying mechanisms of this complex syndrome. Although the gut has been implicated in the development of SIRS and MODS experimentally and clinically, its exact role in the pathogenesis of SIRS and MODS remains controversial. However, based on recent experimental evidence, it appears that unique gut-derived factors carried in the intestinal lymph, but not the portal vein, lead to acute injury- and shock-induced SIRS and MODS. These observations have led to the gut-lymph hypothesis of MODS, where gut-derived factors present in intestinal (mesenteric) lymph serve as the triggers that initiate the systemic inflammatory and tissue injurious responses observed after major trauma or episodes of shock.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29365099,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of Teriparatide Treatment on Circulating Periostin and Its Relationship to Regulators of Bone Formation and BMD in Postmenopausal Women With Osteoporosis.\nTreatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis with teriparatide parathyroid hormone amino terminal 1-34 increases bone formation and improves bone microarchitecture. A possible modulator of action is periostin. In vitro experiments have shown that periostin might regulate osteoblast differentiation and bone formation through Wnt signaling. The effect of teriparatide on periostin is not currently known. To determine the effect of teriparatide treatment on circulating levels of periostin and other regulators of bone formation and investigate how changes in periostin relate to changes in bone turnover markers, regulators of bone formation, and bone mineral density (BMD). Twenty women with osteoporosis; a 2-year open-label single-arm study. Teriparatide 20 \u00b5g was administered by subcutaneous injection daily for 104 weeks. Periostin, sclerostin, and Dickkopf-related protein 1, procollagen type I N-terminal propeptide (PINP), and C-telopeptide of type I collagen were measured in fasting serum collected at baseline (two visits) and then at weeks 1, 2, 4, 12, 26, 52, 78, and 104. BMD was measured at the lumbar spine, total hip, and femoral neck using dual energy x-ray absorptiometry. Periostin levels increased by 6.6% [95% confidence interval (CI), -0.4 to 13.5] after 26 weeks of teriparatide treatment and significantly by 12.5% (95% CI, 3.3 to 21.0; P < 0.01) after 52 weeks. The change in periostin correlated positively with the change in the lumbar spine BMD at week 52 (r = 0.567; 95% CI, 0.137 to 0.817; P < 0.05) and femoral neck BMD at week 104 (r = 0.682; 95% CI, 0.261 to 0.885; P < 0.01). Teriparatide therapy increases periostin secretion; it is unclear whether this increase mediates the effect of the drug on bone.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34420347,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dark Matter Freeze-Out via Catalyzed Annihilation.\nWe present a new paradigm of dark matter freeze-out, where the annihilation of dark matter particles is catalyzed. We discuss in detail the regime in which the depletion of dark matter proceeds via 2\u03c7\u21922A^{'} and 3A^{'}\u21922\u03c7 processes, where \u03c7 and A^{'} denote dark matter and the catalyst, respectively. In this regime, the dark matter number density is depleted polynomially rather than exponentially (Boltzmann suppression) as in classical weakly interacting massive particles and strongly interacting massive particles. The paradigm applies for a secluded weakly interacting dark sector with dark matter in the MeV-TeV mass range. The catalyzed annihilation paradigm is compatible with cosmic microwave background and big bang nucleosynthesis constraints, with enhanced indirect detection signals.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12040297,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Clinical characteristics of hepatocellular carcinoma with an extensive lymph node metastasis at diagnosis.\nLymph node metastasis is reported to occur only rarely in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, we have encountered patients with HCC with extensive lymph node metastases. Here we report the clinical characteristics of HCC associated with extensive lymph node metastasis at diagnosis. Ten patients with HCC in whom extensive lymph node metastases were observed at the initial medical examination were studied. The degree of disease progression was documented with ultrasonography and dynamic computed tomography. Primary liver lesions were classified in the following three types according to imaging characteristics: type A, massive type with portal vein tumor thrombus; type B, multinodular, nonencapsulated type; and type C: multinodular, encapsulated type. In patients with types A and B HCC, a large number of lymph node metastases was observed, whereas a small number of isolated metastases was observed in patients with type C. All patients with types A and B HCC died within 7 months (median survival, 4 months), whereas those with type C survived for 4 years or more after treatment with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization and surgery. A relationship exists between the type of primary HCC lesions and the pattern of lymph node metastasis. Long-term survival may be expected for patients with isolated lymph node metastases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35354398,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-18":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Gathering policymakers' perspectives as an essential step in planning and implementing palliative care services at a national level: an example from a resource-limited country.\nDespite increasing recognition of the role played by palliative care (PC) services, the priorities of policymakers in supporting PC remain unclear and have sometimes engendered controversy. There are few studies exploring policymakers' perspectives towards PC services, with most shedding light on obstacles to PC development. Furthermore, no study has explored policymakers' perspectives towards providing PC at the national level in resource-limited countries. This study provides a platform for providing PC as part of the Palestinian healthcare system (HCS) by exploring policymakers' perspectives on PC, an essential step to developing a PC programme. A descriptive qualitative study design was employed using semi-structured interviews. Participants were those identified as responsible for making executive and legislative decisions about health services (including PC) in the HCS. Data were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Twelve decision and policymakers participated in the study. Four categories were generated from the content analysis: (1) the nature of current PC healthcare services, (2) the potential benefits of PC, (3) challenges to providing PC, and (4) considerations in providing PC. The current PC services provided to Palestinian patients with life-limiting illnesses and their families are not comprehensive, and are limited to symptom management. There is a Palestinian national strategic plan for developing PC; however, the development goals are not clearly defined, and the plan's capabilities are inadequate. Several challenges to the provision of PC were found to relate to issues of education and training, the allocation of funding, and the availability of medications. Integrating PC into the Palestinian university curricula as a compulsory course and establishing higher degree programmes in PC to overcome the shortage of PC specialists is required. Developing policies aligned with national laws could help enhance health services to patients and their families and resolve several challenges. Cooperating with national and international institutions in seeking funding could boost PC development and medication availability.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3035219,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Clonal dominance and progression in Abelson murine leukemia virus lymphomagenesis.\nWe examined the clonality of tumors induced by an acutely transforming retrovirus which carries a single oncogene. Contrary to our expectation, tumors induced by the Abelson murine leukemia virus (A-MuLV) showed one to four major proviral integration events. To further investigate the process by which clonality was established, we analyzed the number of cells infected and transformed by A-MuLV at various times after in vivo infection. At the midpoint of tumor latency (14 days postinfection), we found that infection of total bone marrow cells by A-MuLV was efficient and polyclonal. However, only a minority of these infected cells were transformed as assayed in cell culture, and clonal dominance had already been established in this transformed cell population. Examination of the in vitro growth properties of transformed cells recovered from preleukemic and leukemic mice indicated that preleukemic cells had lower cloning efficiencies than primary tumor cells. Our results suggest that the rate-limiting step in this system of lymphomagenesis is the initial transformation of bone marrow target cells and that these cells undergo subsequent changes in cloning ability during the course of the disease that lead to an autonomous neoplastic state.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28541205,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Features Classification Forest: A Novel Development that is Adaptable to Robust Blind Watermarking Techniques.\nA novel watermarking scheme is proposed that could substantially improve current watermarking techniques. This scheme exploits the features of micro images of watermarks to build association rules and embeds the rules into a host image instead of the bit stream of the watermark, which is commonly used in digital watermarking. Next, similar micro images with the same rules are collected or even created from the host image to simulate an extracted watermark. This method, called the features classification forest, can achieve blind extraction and is adaptable to any watermarking scheme using a quantization-based mechanism. Furthermore, a larger size watermark can be accepted without an adverse effect on the imperceptibility of the host image. The experiments demonstrate the successful simulation of watermarks and the application to five different watermarking schemes. One of them is slightly adjusted from a reference to especially resist JPEG compression, and the others show native advantages to resist different image processing attacks.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25424336,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Socio-demographic, clinical and criminological features of a population discharged from forensic hospital and admitted to neuropsychiatric clinic, in scheme of restriction of freedom].\nOver the past twenty years, in Italy there has been an intense debate that has focused on the function, and overcoming the limits of the institution Judicial Psychiatric Hospital (ospedale psichiatrico giudiziario - OPG). Although the contribution of legislative proposals, conferences and workshops on the OPG subject has received significant, the interest focused on the development and elaboration of criminological and epidemiological research on a national scale has been proportionately less impetum. In this study a survey aimed to explore the socio-demographic, clinical and criminological features of patients discharged from the OPG and admitted to neuropsychiatric clinic, under the restriction of freedom, has been performed. The information was gathered at the time of entry in the clinical management, by means of the first clinical interview and during subsequent interviews. During hospitalization, patients were administered the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and K Axis (Axis V of Kennedy) questionaires. 23 patients from forensic hospitals of Aversa, Secondigliano and Castiglione delle Stiviere were included in the study. The main characteristics investigated delineate a profile of an individual with an average age of about 49 years, unmarried, from a low socio-economic context, unemployed at the time of internment. About the diagnosis, schizophrenic spectrum disorders prevail, there is history of substance abuse in 35% of cases, history of previous admission to psychiatric facilities in 87% of these subjects. The type of committed crimes regards crimes against the person. About 40% of individuals have exhausted the danger to society correlate at the time of admission. Despite the small sample size, the data from this study are consistent with those reported in few studies in the literature. The specificity of clinical care needs of mentally ill offenders requires greater definition that could be achieved through the development of this research area.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35127814,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dissecting the Role of SAL1 in Metabolizing the Stress Signaling Molecule 3'-Phosphoadenosine 5'-Phosphate in Different Cell Compartments.\nPlants possess the most highly compartmentalized eukaryotic cells. To coordinate their intracellular functions, plastids and the mitochondria are dependent on the flow of information to and from the nuclei, known as retrograde and anterograde signals. One mobile retrograde signaling molecule is the monophosphate 3'-phosphoadenosine 5'-phosphate (PAP), which is mainly produced from 3'-phosphoadenosine 5'-phosphosulfate (PAPS) in the cytosol and regulates the expression of a set of nuclear genes that modulate plant growth in response to biotic and abiotic stresses. The adenosine bisphosphate phosphatase enzyme SAL1 dephosphorylates PAP to AMP in plastids and the mitochondria, but can also rescue sal1 Arabidopsis phenotypes (PAP accumulation, leaf morphology, growth, etc.) when expressed in the cytosol and the nucleus. To understand better the roles of the SAL1 protein in chloroplasts, the mitochondria, nuclei, and the cytosol, we have attempted to complement the sal1 mutant by specifically cargoing the transgenic SAL1 protein to these four cell compartments. Overexpression of SAL1 protein targeted to the nucleus or the mitochondria alone, or co-targeted to chloroplasts and the mitochondria, complemented most aspects of the sal1 phenotypes. Notably, targeting SAL1 to chloroplasts or the cytosol did not effectively rescue the sal1 phenotypes as these transgenic lines accumulated very low levels of SAL1 protein despite overexpressing SAL1 mRNA, suggesting a possibly lower stability of the SAL1 protein in these compartments. The diverse transgenic SAL1 lines exhibited a range of PAP levels. The latter needs to reach certain thresholds in the cell for its impacts on different processes such as leaf growth, regulation of rosette morphology, sulfate homeostasis, and glucosinolate biosynthesis. Collectively, these findings provide an initial platform for further dissection of the role of the SAL1-PAP pathway in different cellular processes under stress conditions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12014589,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Strain differences in the spontaneous incidence of sperm morphological abnormalities in Hatano rats.\nTwo inbred strains of Hatano rats, which had been bred selectively on the basis for shuttlebox avoidance responses (high- and low-avoidance animals; HAA and LAA), were different in sperm motility. We have found that there are strain differences in the spontaneous incidence of sperm morphological abnormalities. The percentages of abnormalities were extraordinarily higher in the LAA rats, whose sperm motility was lesser. Since the high sperm abnormality was an exceptional case in rats, these rats may be useful models for sperm quality.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15259363,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Lanthanide ions promote the hydrolysis of 2,3-bisphosphoglycerate.\nThe 31P NMR studies showed that lanthanide ions promote the site-specific hydrolysis of 2,3-Bisphosphoglycerate (BPG) at pH 7.4 by cleaving the 2' phosphomonoester bond. The effect of fourteen trivalent lanthanide ions and Sc3+, and Y3+ were compared by the percentage of hydrolysis obtained by determining the inorganic phosphate produced. All the trivalent lanthanide ions promote the hydrolysis, but Sc3+ not. Among them, Ce3+ affects the reaction mostly. This was mainly attributed to the autooxidation of Ce3+ to Ce4+, since the promoting effect of Ce3+ is related to the increasing Ce4+ amount in the solution and depressed by adding sulphite. Ce4+ promotes the hydrolysis more efficiently than Ce3+ do. The pseudo first-order rate constant for the hydrolysis of BPG by Ce(SO4)2 (18.7 mM) at pH 1 and pH 2, 37 degrees C is 3.1 h(-1) and 0.65 h(-1) respectively. A mechanism with a hydroxo species as reactive intermediate was proposed for the trivalent lanthanide ions. The site-specificity was explainable by this mechanism.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31261897,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Potential Utility of Biased GPCR Signaling for Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders.\nTremendous advances have been made recently in the identification of genes and signaling pathways associated with the risks for psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. However, there has been a marked reduction in the pipeline for the development of new psychiatric drugs worldwide, mainly due to the complex causes that underlie these disorders. G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) are the most common targets of antipsychotics such as quetiapine and aripiprazole, and play pivotal roles in controlling brain function by regulating multiple downstream signaling pathways. Progress in our understanding of GPCR signaling has opened new possibilities for selective drug development. A key finding has been provided by the concept of biased ligands, which modulate some, but not all, of a given receptor's downstream signaling pathways. Application of this concept raises the possibility that the biased ligands can provide therapeutically desirable outcomes with fewer side effects. Instead, this application will require a detailed understanding of the mode of action of antipsychotics that drive distinct pharmacologies. We review our current understanding of the mechanistic bases for multiple signaling modes by antipsychotics and the potential of the biased modulators to treat mental disorders.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1690892,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Exon skipping during splicing of albumin mRNA precursors in Nagase analbuminemic rats.\nBased on the observation that albumin transcripts accumulate in the liver nuclear RNA fraction of Nagase analbuminemic rats (NAR), it was proposed [Esumi, H., Takahashi, Y., Sato, S., Nagase, S. & Sugimura, T. (1983) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 80, 95-99] [corrected] that a 7-base-pair deletion at the splice donor site of intron H-I of the albumin gene in these animals leads to impaired processing of albumin pre-mRNA. To identify the specific splicing abnormality, we examined the primary structure of cytoplasmic albumin mRNA across the junctions of exons G-H-I by RNase protection mapping, Northern blot hybridization, Southern blot analysis of polymerase chain reaction-amplified cDNA, and DNA sequencing. The major albumin mRNA species in NAR showed precise deletion of exon H, suggesting that this exon was skipped during albumin pre-mRNA processing. Since the intron G-H splice donor and acceptor sites and exon H sequence are normal, the finding of exon H skipping in NAR has important implications regarding the mechanism of splice site selection. Moreover, the NAR model provides an excellent system to study splicing in vivo in a higher animal.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6734317,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The use and effectiveness of maternal scaffolding in mother-infant games.\nMaternal behaviors within mother-infant games were examined to determine the amount, type, and functional value of maternal helping behaviors. 17 mother-infant pairs were videotaped on monthly visits from 8 to 16 months as they played 5 separate games. 2 of these games, roll the ball and peekaboo, were analyzed in terms of \"rounds\" of each game. Results show that dyads play more rounds of both games in the first months that infants perform game-relevant behaviors (e.g., returning a ball, performing uncovering or covering-uncovering). Maternal attention-getting and physical \"stage-setting\" behaviors occur in the early rounds of both games. In roll the ball, maternal hands-out and reinforcement behaviors increase in the months after the child begins to return the ball, while the percentage of rounds in which dyads play nonreturn variants decreases. Infants are more likely to return a ball when mother holds out her hands than when she does not. Infants are also able to perform returning or uncovering in game contexts before they perform similar behaviors in cognitive tests. The general similarity of findings in the peekaboo and roll-the-ball games, in spite of differences in the amounts of scaffolding, attention-getting, stage-setting, and reinforcement behaviors between the 2 games, indicates that the types and functions of maternal helping behaviors may be generalizable to other contexts of mother-infant interactions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25427016,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Association between obesity and ovarian cancer].\nObesity is a risk factor for cancer. Epidemiological evidences associate ovarian cancer with obesity. Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the most common type of ovarian cancer and accounts for a high rate of mortality. The association between ovarian cancer and obesity could be explained by molecular factors secreted by adipose tissue such as leptin. In EOC, leptin increases cell proliferation and inhibits apoptosis. Additionally, adipose tissue synthesizes endogenous estrogens, which increase cell proliferation of epithelial ovarian cells. Also, obesity associated hyperinsulinism could increase ovarian estrogen secretion.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25424406,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Breastfeeding, skin-to-skin contact, and mother-infant interactions over infants' first three months.\nThe effects of skin-to-skin contact (SSC) on the maintenance of mothers' decision to breastfeed, the effects of breastfeeding and SSC on mother-infant interactions, and whether maternal depressive symptoms mediate these effects were investigated over infants' first 3 months. When infants were 1 week, 1 month, 2 months, and 3 months of age, mothers in the SSC and control groups reported the type of infant feeding provided and completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS; J.L. Cox, J.M. Holden, & R. Sagovsky, 1987); mother-infant interactions were coded on the Nursing Child Assessment Feeding Scale (NCAFS; G. Summer & A. Spietz, 1994). Percentage of breastfeeding dyads in the SSC group was stable over the 3 months; yet, fewer dyads in the control group were breastfeeding at the 2- and 3-month visits than at the 1-week visit. Breastfeeding dyads had higher NCAFS Caregiver subscale scores, indicating more positive maternal interactions, at 1 week, 2 months, and 3 months. NCAFS scores did not differ for the SSC and control groups. EPDS scores did not mediate the effect of SSC on breastfeeding or breastfeeding on NCAFS Caregiver subscale scores.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28534854,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Methodical Challenges and a Possible Resolution in the Assessment of Receptor Reserve for Adenosine, an Agonist with Short Half-Life.\nThe term receptor reserve, first introduced and used in the traditional receptor theory, is an integrative measure of response-inducing ability of the interaction between an agonist and a receptor system (consisting of a receptor and its downstream signaling). The underlying phenomenon, i.e., stimulation of a submaximal fraction of receptors can apparently elicit the maximal effect (in certain cases), provides an opportunity to assess the receptor reserve. However, determining receptor reserve is challenging for agonists with short half-lives, such as adenosine. Although adenosine metabolism can be inhibited several ways (in order to prevent the rapid elimination of adenosine administered to construct concentration-effect (E\/c) curves for the determination), the consequent accumulation of endogenous adenosine biases the results. To address this problem, we previously proposed a method, by means of which this bias can be mathematically corrected (utilizing a traditional receptor theory-independent approach). In the present investigation, we have offered in silico validation of this method by simulating E\/c curves with the use of the operational model of agonism and then by evaluating them using our method. We have found that our method is suitable to reliably assess the receptor reserve for adenosine in our recently published experimental setting, suggesting that it may be capable for a qualitative determination of receptor reserve for rapidly eliminating agonists in general. In addition, we have disclosed a possible interference between FSCPX (8-cyclopentyl-N\u00b3-[3-(4-(fluorosulfonyl)benzoyloxy)propyl]-N\u00b9-propylxanthine), an irreversible A\u2081 adenosine receptor antagonist, and NBTI (S-(2-hydroxy-5-nitrobenzyl)-6-thioinosine), a nucleoside transport inhibitor, i.e., FSCPX may blunt the effect of NBTI.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37449222,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Application of artificial intelligence in trauma orthopedics: Limitation and prospects.\nThe varieties and capabilities of artificial intelligence and machine learning in orthopedic surgery are extensively expanding. One promising method is neural networks, emphasizing big data and computer-based learning systems to develop a statistical fracture-detecting model. It derives patterns and rules from outstanding amounts of data to analyze the probabilities of different outcomes using new sets of similar data. The sensitivity and specificity of machine learning in detecting fractures vary from previous studies. AI may be most promising in the diagnosis of less-obvious fractures that are more commonly missed. Future studies are necessary to develop more accurate and effective detection models that can be used clinically.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6165737,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Optimal fluorescein-to-protein ratios of bacterial direct fluorescent-antibody reagents.\nA number of bacterial systems were studied with specific direct fluorescent-antibody reagents prepared from rabbit antiserum fractions and having a wide range of fluorescein-to-protein ratios. These systems included Bacteroides, Bordetella, Clostridium, Escherichia, Legionella, Listeria, Salmonella, Shigella, and Streptococcus. For all systems studied, a fluorescein-to-protein ratio of 30 was optimal for conjugates prepared from ammonium sulfate fractions (greater than 75% gamma globulin) and pure immunoglobulin G desorbed from the Sepharose-bound protein A of Staphylococcus aureus. A pepsin digestion procedure is described that yielded the F(ab')2 piece of pure immunoglobulin G; this was labeled and studied at two fluorescein-to-protein ratios.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22681257,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Biochemical regulation of the inflammasome.\nThe extensively studied cytokine IL-1\u03b2 is an important mediator of the inflammatory response. However, dysregulated release of IL-1\u03b2 can be detrimental and is attributed to the progression and pathogenesis of multiple inflammatory diseases including, rhuematoid arthritis (RA), atherosclerosis, type 2 diabetes (T2D), Alzheimers disease and gout. IL-1\u03b2 is encoded as a pro-protein. A multi-protein molecular scaffold termed the \"Inflammasome\" is responsible for the tightly controlled and coordinated processing of pro-IL-1\u03b2. The activation of several NLR (nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptor) family members and PYHIN (pyrin and HIN domain) proteins can drive the formation of inflammasomes. However, the exact biochemical mechanisms governing their activation have been the subject of much research. Different inflammasomes have been demonstrated to respond to the same pathogen inducing a cooperative immune response accountable for the clearance of infection. Here, we review current knowledge surrounding the biochemical regulation of the NLRP1, NLRP3, NLRC4, AIM2 and IFI16 inflammasomes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12022681,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Beyond perception: the experience of risk and stigma in community contexts.\nConcerns about stigmatization are an important influence on the development of risk management and communication policies for a wide range of technologies and products such as those associated with hazardous waste storage, nuclear power, and genetic engineering of plants or foods. Although much attention has been placed on the adverse economic effects of stigma, we believe that the social, psychological, and cultural impacts are often at least as significant and merit greater attention from policymakers and researchers. Evidence for these impacts of stigma is found in recent studies of resource-based communities, whose residents may be shunned by local and nonlocal publics and whose products may suffer a loss of markets, which in turn creates social and economic hardship for community residents. We examine these aspects of stigma and link descriptions of the problem and prescriptions of recommended policies to five underlying characteristics of stigma, focusing on the possible insights and contributions from trade-off analysis and narrative approaches.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34421389,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A summary of surveillance, morbidity and microbiology of laboratory-confirmed cases of infant botulism in Canada, 1979-2019.\nInfant botulism is a rare toxicoinfectious disease caused by colonization of the infant's intestine with botulinum neurotoxin-producing clostridia (i.e. Clostridium botulinum or neurotoxigenic strains of C. butyricum or C. baratii). Our goal was to examine data from laboratory-confirmed cases of infant botulism reported in Canada to summarize incidence over time, over geographic distribution by province or territory, and by sex, and to compare these parameters with data from the Canadian Notifiable Disease Surveillance System (CNDSS). The average age of onset, serotype of botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT), case outcomes, length of hospitalization and suitability of clinical specimens for laboratory confirmation were also determined. We examined laboratory records from the Health Canada Botulism Reference Service and the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) Public Health Laboratory. The Discharge Abstract Database (DAD) and the Hospital Morbidity Database (HMDB) of the Canadian Institute of Health Information (CIHI) were queried for data on hospitalization of infant botulism cases. The CNDSS was queried for data on reported cases of infant botulism. From 1979 to 2019, 63 laboratory-confirmed cases of infant botulism were confirmed by the Health Canada Botulism Reference Service and the BCCDC Public Health Laboratory for an annual rate of 4.30 cases per million live births. From 1983 to 2018, 57 cases of infant botulism were reported to the CNDSS. Of the 63 cases confirmed by the reference laboratories, the median age of onset was 16 weeks with a range of 2 to 52 weeks. The majority of cases were type A (76%) and B (21%), with single cases of type F and type AB. Of the 23 laboratory-confirmed cases with matched hospital records, 13 were transferred to special care and eight needed ventilator support; no deaths were reported. Spores of C. botulinum are present naturally in the environment, thus diagnosis of infant botulism does not require a history of exposure to high-risk foods such as honey. Stool samples are the most useful diagnostic specimen.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31600909,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-10":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"One Small RNA of Fusarium graminearum Targets and Silences CEBiP Gene in Common Wheat.\nThe pathogenic fungus Fusarium graminearum (F. graminearum), causing Fusarium head blight (FHB) or scab, is one of the most important cereal killers worldwide, exerting great economic and agronomic losses on global grain production. To repress pathogen invasion, plants have evolved a sophisticated innate immunity system for pathogen recognition and defense activation. Simultaneously, pathogens continue to evolve more effective means of invasion to conquer plant resistance systems. In the process of co-evolution of plants and pathogens, several small RNAs (sRNAs) have been proved in regulating plant immune response and plant-microbial interaction. In this study, we report that a F. graminearum sRNA (Fg-sRNA1) can suppress wheat defense response by targeting and silencing a resistance-related gene, which codes a Chitin Elicitor Binding Protein (TaCEBiP). Transcriptional level evidence indicates that Fg-sRNA1 can target TaCEBiP mRNA and trigger silencing of TaCEBiP in vivo, and in Nicotiana benthamiana (N. benthamiana) plants, Western blotting experiments and YFP Fluorescence observation proofs show that Fg-sRNA1 can suppress the accumulation of protein coding by TaCEBiP gene in vitro. F. graminearum PH-1 strain displays a weakening ability to invasion when Barley stripe mosaic virus (BSMV) vector induces effective silencing Fg-sRNA1 in PH-1 infected wheat plants. Taken together, our results suggest that a small RNA from F. graminearum can target and silence the wheat TaCEBiP gene to enhance invasion of F. graminearum.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6156109,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Heterogeneity of bucco-facial apraxia].\nThe authors have studied the bucco-facial apraxia (BFA) in 20 aphasic patients, examining 10 isolated oral gesture (IOG) and 10 combined oral gesture (COG). The heterogeneity of the BFA is indicated by the qualitative analysis of the types of errors in COG in relation to IOG. It is probably that the BFA due to the posterior lesions might base on the motor programming disorders of oral gestures, and that the BFA due to the anterior lesions on the motor realization disorders of oral gestures. It remains unsolved whether there is a continuity or some varieties between two types of BFA.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28365934,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Organised cervical cancer screening programme in the Belgrade municipality of Cukarica - Evaluation of process indicators.\nTo evaluate the process indicators for monitoring the Organized Cervical Cancer Screening Programme (OCCSP) conducted in the Belgrade municipality of Cukarica within the first three-year interval, and to compare Pap test coverage for women aged 25 to 64 before and after implementing the organised programme. We analyzed the coverage by invitation, compliance with invitation and coverage by Pap test for the first three-year interval of the OCCSP (20th Dec 2012 - 19th Dec 2015) as well as the results of opportunistic screening for the same period and coverage by Pap test for women aged 25 to 64 for the last three years prior to the implementation of the OCCSP. After the first three years of the OCCSP implementation, coverage by invitation was 42.9%, compliance to invitation 66.7% and coverage by Pap test was 28.6%. During the same period, outside of the program (opportunistic screening) coverage by Pap test was 9.4%. In the last three years prior to the implementation of the OCCSP coverage by Pap test for women aged 25 to 64 was 21.4%. After the first three-year interval of the OCCSP implementation, the overall (organised + opportunistic) Pap test coverage for women aged 25-64 has almost doubled compared to the period when we conducted exclusively opportunistic screening (38.4 vs 21.4%). However, incentive payment for the smear takers and better coordination and planning of capacity-building is needed in order to achieve the 75% Pap tests coverage recommended by the National Programme for Early Detection of Cervical Cancer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3037076,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-10":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Changes in the lipid inclusion\/Sertoli cell cytoplasm area ratio during the cycle of the human seminiferous epithelium.\nThe area occupied by Sertoli cell lipid inclusions--electron-lucent lipid vacuoles (LLV) and electron-dense lipid droplets (DLD)--at each stage of the cycle of the seminiferous epithelium was measured on electron micrographs in young adults and elderly men, and expressed as the ratio \"area occupied by lipid inclusions\/area occupied by the Sertoli cell cytoplasm\". For LLV this ratio increased from stage I to stage III, and decreased from stage IV to stage VI in young adults. These results suggest that the development of LLV is synchronized with the spermatogenic process: the residual bodies released in stages I and II are phagocytized by Sertoli cells and transformed into LLV; the amounts of LLV decrease in the subsequent stages of the cycle and increase again when new residual bodies appear. In elderly men the ratio LLV\/Sertoli cell cytoplasm was 1.9-2.9 times higher than in young adults at each stage of the cycle. This increase may be related to the increased germ-cell degeneration observed in ageing testes, DLD were less abundant than LLV and the DLD\/Sertoli cell cytoplasm ratio did not undergo cyclic changes in young adults or elderly men.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17180039,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cell surface sialylation plays a role in modulating sensitivity towards APO-1-mediated apoptotic cell death.\nAPO-1\/Fas(CD95), a member of the tumour necrosis factor (TNF)\/nerve growth factor (NGF) receptor superfamily transduces apoptotic signals into apoptosis sensitive cells. In metabolic labelling experiments using the highly APO-1 positive cell lines HUT78 (adultT cell leukemia) and SKW6.4 (Blymphoblastoid cell line) APO-1 was characterised as a long living protein with a complex glycosylation pattern involving terminal sialic acid groups which account for 8-kDa of its apparent molecular weight on SDS-PAGE. APO-1 expression and the degree of sialylation were determined in additionalT and B cell lines. On the group I Burkitt's lymphoma cell line BL60 transfected with human APO-1 (K50) low sialylated species were detected only on the cell surface, suggesting that sialylation might be functionally important. Removal of terminal sialic acid groups by treatment of B and T cell lines with Vibrio cholerae neuraminidase (VCN) augmented sensitivity towards anti-APO-1 and human APO-1 ligand induced apoptosis. Similarly, VCN-treated U937 cells were rendered more sensitive to TNFalpha-induced cell death. Thus, sialylation may be one mechanism to regulate sensitivity towards ligand-mediated cell death in this receptor family.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37450596,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Overexpression of Nfe2l1 increases proteasome activity and delays vision loss in a preclinical model of human blindness.\nProteasomes are the central proteolytic machines that are critical for breaking down most of the damaged and abnormal proteins in human cells. Although universally applicable drugs are not yet available, the stimulation of proteasomal activity is being analyzed as a proof-of-principle strategy to increase cellular resistance to a broad range of proteotoxic stressors. These approaches have included the stimulation of proteasomes through the overexpression of individual proteasome subunits, phosphorylation, or conformational changes induced by small molecules or peptides. In contrast to these approaches, we evaluated a transcription-driven increase in the total proteasome pool to enhance the proteolytic capacity of degenerating retinal neurons. We show that overexpression of nuclear factor erythroid-2-like 1 (Nfe2l1) transcription factor stimulated proteasome biogenesis and activity, improved the clearance of the ubiquitin-proteasomal reporter, and delayed photoreceptor neuron loss in a preclinical mouse model of human blindness caused by misfolded proteins. The findings highlight Nfe2l1 as an emerging therapeutic target to treat neurodegenerative diseases linked to protein misfolding.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1691794,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Chronic idiopathic neutropenia improved by recombinant granulocyte colony stimulating factor].\nA 55-year-old man was admitted to our hospital for the evaluation of neutropenia. On physical examination, he had apthae and splenomegaly. CBC showed 1,000\/microliter WBC with 5% neutrophils, and microcytic anemia consistent with iron deficiency. Bone marrow examination revealed a marked decrease of mature neutrophils, but normal percentage of immature myeloid cells. There was no morphological abnormality in the hemopoietic cells. He had no drug or family history responsible for the neutropenia. Anti-neutrophil auto-antibody was negative. Hence, a diagnosis of chronic idiopathic neutropenia (CIN) was made. He developed frequent episodes of infection such as balanitis, peri-anal infection, gingivitis, and pharyngitis. He was treated with steroid pulse therapy, anabolic hormone, and high dose gamma-globulin infusion, but no significant improvement occurred. Then, recombinant granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (rG-CSF) was started. The neutrophil count was normalized by the 7th day of 5 micrograms\/kg\/day rG-CSF administration. The administration of G-CSF was discontinued after a 14-day course. Thereafter, the neutrophil count remained at near normal level (approximately 1,500\/microliter) and there have been no episodes of infection in the last 5 months. However this cannot be explained simply by the direct effect of rG-CSF on the myeloid precursors; rather, it suggests some unknown effect of G-CSF on the bone marrow microenvironment regulating myeloid hemopoiesis. We consider this to be a rare case of CIN with frequent episodes of infection, which was successfully treated with G-CSF.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28278196,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"LipidFrag: Improving reliability of in silico fragmentation of lipids and application to the Caenorhabditis elegans lipidome.\nLipid identification is a major bottleneck in high-throughput lipidomics studies. However, tools for the analysis of lipid tandem MS spectra are rather limited. While the comparison against spectra in reference libraries is one of the preferred methods, these libraries are far from being complete. In order to improve identification rates, the in silico fragmentation tool MetFrag was combined with Lipid Maps and lipid-class specific classifiers which calculate probabilities for lipid class assignments. The resulting LipidFrag workflow was trained and evaluated on different commercially available lipid standard materials, measured with data dependent UPLC-Q-ToF-MS\/MS acquisition. The automatic analysis was compared against manual MS\/MS spectra interpretation. With the lipid class specific models, identification of the true positives was improved especially for cases where candidate lipids from different lipid classes had similar MetFrag scores by removing up to 56% of false positive results. This LipidFrag approach was then applied to MS\/MS spectra of lipid extracts of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Fragments explained by LipidFrag match known fragmentation pathways, e.g., neutral losses of lipid headgroups and fatty acid side chain fragments. Based on prediction models trained on standard lipid materials, high probabilities for correct annotations were achieved, which makes LipidFrag a good choice for automated lipid data analysis and reliability testing of lipid identifications.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32581450,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Posterior Sagittal Approach for Uterovaginal Anastomosis in a Case of Congenital Cervical Atresia with Anorectal Malformation.\nCervical atresia is a rare association with anorectal malformation (ARM) which can be missed till puberty in the presence of normal vaginal orifice. A 12-year-old girl operated for ARM in neonatal age presented with primary amenorrhea. She had a normal vaginal opening, short perineal body, and prolapsed anteposed anus and was diagnosed with cervical agenesis. As the posterior sagittal approach is standard to place the rectum in correct anatomical position, reconstruction of the anus along with adequate perineal body and uterovaginal anastomosis was performed through this approach. This report highlights the utility and versatility of this approach for the management of such complex cases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9555310,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Systemic nursing intervention in couples in which one member has cardiac insufficiency].\nChronic heart failure is a family affair since the spouse's quality of life is affected as much as that of the patient. This article deals with three clinical cases exploring the couple's perceptions of how the illness affected their marital relationship and how helpful the family systems nursing interventions have been. Three themes emerged from the analysis of the relationship between the evolution of the illness and the marital dynamics, and these are: a search for a balance between protectiveness\/overprotectiveness, a reassessment of the marital relationship, and the adoption of new coping strategies. The family systems nursing interventions that were perceived as the most helpful were the systemic questionf1p4++ and the exploration of the couple's strengths and resources. These interventions allowed the couple to: 1) share their illness experience; 2) increase their understanding of the relationship between the illness and their marital dynamics, and 3) reflect on different ways to enhance their competence and resources in meeting with the challenges of this type of cardiac health problem.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37465950,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-22":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Novel Benchmark Values for Open Major Anatomic Liver Resection in Non-cirrhotic Patients: A Multicentric Study of 44 International Expert Centers.\nThis study aims at establishing benchmark values for best achievable outcomes following open major anatomic hepatectomy for liver tumors of all dignities. Outcomes after open major hepatectomies vary widely lacking reference values for comparisons among centers, indications, types of resections, and minimally invasive procedures. A standard benchmark methodology was used covering consecutive patients, who underwent open major anatomic hepatectomy from 44 high-volume liver centers from 5 continents over a 5-year period (2016-2020). Benchmark cases were low-risk non-cirrhotic patients without significant comorbidities treated in high-volume centers (\u226530 major liver resections\/year). Benchmark values were set at the 75th percentile of median values of all centers. Minimum follow-up period was 1 year in each patient. Of 8044 patients, 2908 (36%) qualified as benchmark (low-risk) cases. Benchmark cutoffs for all indications include R0 resection \u226578%; liver failure (grade B\/C) \u226410%; bile leak (grade B\/C) \u226418%; complications \u2265grade 3 and CCI \u00ae \u226446% and \u22649 at 3 months, respectively. Benchmark values differed significantly between malignant and benign conditions so that reference values must be adjusted accordingly. Extended right hepatectomy (H1, 4-8 or H4-8) disclosed a higher cutoff for liver failure, while extended left (H1-5,8 or H2-5,8) were associated with higher cutoffs for bile leaks, but had superior oncologic outcomes, when compared to formal left hepatectomy (H1-4 or H2-4). The minimal follow-up for a conclusive outcome evaluation following open anatomic major resection must be 3 months. These new benchmark cutoffs for open major hepatectomy provide a powerful tool to convincingly evaluate other approaches including parenchymal-sparing procedures, laparoscopic\/robotic approaches, and alternative treatments, such as ablation therapy, irradiation, or novel chemotherapy regimens.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19034668,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"M- and T-tropic HIVs promote apoptosis in rat neurons.\nNeuronal loss, reactive astrocytes, and other abnormalities are seen in the brain of individuals with acquired immune deficiency syndrome-associated Dementia Complex (ADC). Human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) is believed to be the main agent causing ADC. However, little is known about the molecular and cellular mechanisms of HIV-1 neurotoxicity considering that HIV-1 does not infect post-mitotic neurons and that viral load does not necessarily correlate with ADC. Various viral proteins, such as the envelope protein gp120 and the transcription activator Tat, have been shown to induce neuronal apoptosis through direct and indirect mechanisms both in vitro and in vivo. Progeny HIV-1 virions can also cause neuronal death. However, it has not been fully established yet whether HIV-1 promotes neuronal apoptosis by a direct mechanism. To explore the neurotoxic effect of HIV-1, we exposed rat cerebellar granule cells and cortical neurons in culture to two different strains of HIV-1, IIIB and BaL, T- and M-tropic strains that utilize CXCR4 and CCR5 coreceptors, respectively, to infect cells. We observed that both viruses elicit a time-dependent apoptotic cell death in these cultures without inducing a productive infection as determined by the absence of the core protein of HIV-1, p24, in cell lysates. Instead, neurons were gp120 positive, suggesting that the envelope protein is shed by the virus and then subsequently internalized by neurons. The CXCR4 receptor antagonist AMD3100 or the CCR5 receptor inhibitor D-Ala-peptide T-amide blocked HIV IIIB and HIV Bal neurotoxicity, respectively. In contrast, the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor blocker MK801 failed to protect neurons from HIV-mediated apoptosis, suggesting that HIV-1 neurotoxicity can be initiated by the viral protein gp120 binding to neuronal chemokine receptors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28538413,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A long-term survivor with esophageal melanoma and pulmonary metastasis after single-stage esophagectomy and lobectomy: Case report and literature review.\nThe optimal therapeutic regimen for primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus (PMME) need to be further elucidated. Besides, the efficacy of surgery for PMME with remote metastasis is uncertain for its rarity. Herein a previously healthy patient was admitted for dysphagia and fatigue, without significant weight loss. The pathological and molecular tests revealed his diagnosis of BRAF-mutant, advanced PMME with localized pulmonary metastasis. Single-stage Ivor-Lewis esophagectomy and lobectomy were performed successfully, followed by 4 cycles of conventional chemotherapy, and concurrent high-dose interferon lasting for 1 year. The patient survived without logo-regional recurrence or remote metastasis during the follow up of two and a half years up to now. Timely resection of localized primary and metastatic lesions might deliver a chance to obtain better prognosis for selected PMME patients; however, high-quality trials with longer follow-up are needed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37462353,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Repair of femoral fractures in calves via external skeletal fixator with intramedullary pin tie-in.\nTo describe the success rate and associated complications of external skeletal fixator\/intramedullary pin tie-in for calf femoral fracture fixation. Clinical retrospective. Ten calves, less than 30 days old, with diaphyseal\/metaphyseal femoral fractures. Medical records were reviewed from the University of Wisconsin from 2000 to 2020. Fractures were repaired using open reduction and fixation. An intramedullary Steinman pin was placed, exiting near the greater trochanter, and utilized for fracture reduction. Bicortical transfixation pins were placed distal and proximal to the fracture site. Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)-filled tubing connected the transfixation pins and proximal intramedullary pin, creating a Type 1a external skeletal fixator (ESF) tie-in. Follow up was obtained via medical records and phone interviews. Short-term survival rate was 7\/10 (70%). Postanesthetic death occurred once. Postoperative complications occurred in all remaining cases. The most common findings were transfixation pin tract lucency and lameness (6\/9 cases), implant dysfunction (5\/9 cases), and infection (4\/9 cases). Three of five cases with long-term follow up survived; all went on to productive careers. Although patients were prone to postoperative complications, short-term survival was comparable to previous reports. The external skeletal fixator\/intramedullary (ESF\/IM) pin tie-in is less expensive and offers comparable success rates to other methods, providing a lower cost option for calf femoral fracture repair.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9542797,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The effects of sensory stimulation on REM sleep duration.\nPrevious experiments have demonstrated that auditory (AS) and\/or somatosensory (SS) stimulation can increase the duration of REM sleep periods in rats, cats and humans. The objectives of this study were to determine whether repeated AS stimulation causes habituation to the stimulus and whether any additive effects could be obtained with the simultaneous application of AS and SS. Three experimental procedures were used in this study. In experiment 1, animals were recorded for 4 consecutive days with AS, followed by a post-stimulus session. In experiment 2, they were recorded for 24 hours with AS applied at each REM period, followed by a subsequent 24-hours-post-stimulus recording. In experiment 3, animals underwent AS, SS stimulation, or simultaneous application of both in a random fashion at each REM period. The results of all experiments confirm previous findings showing that auditory or somatosensory stimuli significantly increase REM sleep period duration. In addition, AS--applied with different presentations during REM and throughout the sleep-wake cycle--are capable of increasing REM duration regardless of the manner in which they were presented. However, the effects of the stimuli were not additive. It is worth noting that although REM duration increased, REM period frequency decreased, resulting in no net change of total REM sleep through time. Furthermore, no changes were observed in other sleep-wake variables. These experiments clearly demonstrate that repeated auditory stimulation does not cause habituation, and there are no evident side effects on the sleep-wake cycle. These results confirm that the mechanisms involved in REM generation and maintenance can be modulated by sensory modalities.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28286338,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Integration site selection by retroviruses and transposable elements in eukaryotes.\nTransposable elements and retroviruses are found in most genomes, can be pathogenic and are widely used as gene-delivery and functional genomics tools. Exploring whether these genetic elements target specific genomic sites for integration and how this preference is achieved is crucial to our understanding of genome evolution, somatic genome plasticity in cancer and ageing, host-parasite interactions and genome engineering applications. High-throughput profiling of integration sites by next-generation sequencing, combined with large-scale genomic data mining and cellular or biochemical approaches, has revealed that the insertions are usually non-random. The DNA sequence, chromatin and nuclear context, and cellular proteins cooperate in guiding integration in eukaryotic genomes, leading to a remarkable diversity of insertion site distribution and evolutionary strategies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25281728,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Serratia myotis sp. nov. and Serratia vespertilionis sp. nov., isolated from bats hibernating in caves.\nDuring the study of bacteria associated with bats affected by white-nose syndrome hibernating in caves in the Czech Republic, we isolated two facultatively anaerobic, Gram-stain-negative bacteria, designated strains 12(T) and 52(T). Strains 12(T) and 52(T) were motile, rod-like bacteria (0.5-0.6 \u00b5m in diameter; 1-1.3 \u00b5m long), with optimal growth at 20-35 \u00b0C and pH 6-8. On the basis of the almost complete sequence of their 16S rRNA genes they should be classified within the genus Serratia; the closest relatives to strains 12(T) and 52(T) were Serratia quinivorans DSM 4597(T) (99.5 % similarity in 16S rRNA gene sequences) and Serratia ficaria DSM 4569(T) (99.5% similarity in 16S rRNA gene sequences), respectively. DNA-DNA relatedness between strain 12(T) and S. quinivorans DSM 4597(T) was only 37.1% and between strain 52(T) and S. ficaria DSM 4569(T) was only 56.2%. Both values are far below the 70% threshold value for species delineation. In view of these data, we propose the inclusion of the two isolates in the genus Serratia as representatives of Serratia myotis sp. nov. (type strain 12(T) =CECT 8594(T) =DSM 28726(T)) and Serratia vespertilionis sp. nov. (type strain 52(T) =CECT 8595(T) =DSM 28727(T)).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28719063,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Enhanced Fibrinolysis with Magnetically Powered Colloidal Microwheels.\nThrombi that occlude blood vessels can be resolved with fibrinolytic agents that degrade fibrin, the polymer that forms between and around platelets to provide mechanical stability. Fibrinolysis rates however are often constrained by transport-limited delivery to and penetration of fibrinolytics into the thrombus. Here, these limitations are overcome with colloidal microwheel (\u00b5wheel) assemblies functionalized with the fibrinolytic tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) that assemble, rotate, translate, and eventually disassemble via applied magnetic fields. These microwheels lead to rapid fibrinolysis by delivering a high local concentration of tPA to induce surface lysis and, by taking advantage of corkscrew motion, mechanically penetrating into fibrin gels and platelet-rich thrombi to initiate bulk degradation. Fibrinolysis of plasma-derived fibrin gels by tPA-microwheels is fivefold faster than with 1 \u00b5g mL-1 tPA. \u00b5Wheels following corkscrew trajectories can also penetrate through 100 \u00b5m sized platelet-rich thrombi formed in a microfluidic model of hemostasis in \u22485 min. This unique combination of surface and bulk dissolution mechanisms with mechanical action yields a targeted fibrinolysis strategy that could be significantly faster than approaches relying on diffusion alone, making it well-suited for occlusions in small or penetrating vessels not accessible to catheter-based removal.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31244495,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Robust structured-light depth mapping via recursive decomposition of binary codes.\nStructured-light depth cameras rely on projecting and resolving coded patterns on a three-dimensional scene with high contrast. The front-end optics of such depth cameras impose a fundamental restriction on the depth-sensing range and accuracy: the patterns only remain sharp within the depth of field jointly determined by the camera and projector. We present here a robust method to improve the depth-sensing range and accuracy for a structured-light depth camera without changing the underlying optical design. Moreover, it shows the unique advantage in macrophotography of highly light-scattering objects. We analyze the proposed method theoretically and validate it in experiments.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12035355,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Plasmid mediated antibiotic resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae.\nKlebsiella pneumoniae species (108) isolated from tertiary care hospitalized patients were investigated for antibiotic resistance patter. 74% isolates were from urine, 13.5% from pus, 4.5% from blood and 8% from sputum. The resistance pattern of the organisms to various antibiotics were as follows: ampicillin 93.3%, cefotaxime 70%, ceftazidime 81%, gentamicin 68.5%, amikacin 63.75%, netilmicin 74%, norfloxacin 55%, ofloxacin 53%, chloramphenicol 82%, tetracycline 85%, sulphamethoxazole 96%, trimethoprim 94%. 2-4 drug resistance was found in 34.5%, 5-8 drug resistance was in 25.1% and 9-12 drug resistance was found in 40.4% of strains. Out of 65 strains, 25 strains could be successfully conjugated. Common drugs which were transferred to transconjugants were sulphamethoxazole, trimethoprim, gentamicin, netilmicin, amikacin, chloramphenicol, tetracycline, ampicillin, cefotaxime and ceftazidime. A large plasmid of 98.7% kb could be demonstrated in these strains by alkali denaturation method and agarose gel electrophoresis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28279037,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Role of whole-body diffusion weighted imaging (WB-DWI) in the diagnosis and monitoring of newly diagnosed multiple myeloma].\nObjective: To explore the practical value of whole-body diffusion weighted imaging (WB-DWI) in the diagnosis and monitoring of newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM) patients. Methods: The clinical data of 107 newly diagnosed MM patients at hematology department of the first affiliated hospital of Soochow's University from September 2012 to January 2016 were retrospectively analyzed. The results of all the 60 patients who were performed WB-DWI before treatment were analyzed. And the role of WB-DWI in the diagnosis and monitoring MM was discussed. Results: Of 60 patients, 57 were found to have more or less abnormal foci of osteoclasia by WB-DWI with the positive rate of 95.0% (57\/60) . Myeloma related bone lesions occurred predominantly in the axial skeleton, which were commonly seen in ribs, spines and pelvis. There were 96.5% (55\/57) patients who had osteolytic rib lesions. And the ribs were the most vulnerable organs. Thirteen patients who had no osteoclasia by computerized tomography (CT) examination were detected abnormal limited diffuse lesions by WB-DWI. Eight patients underwent more than one follow-up WB-DWI. The mean apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values of the maximal lesions from all eight patients before and after treatment were 0.984\u00d710(-3)mm(2)\/s and 1.142\u00d710(-3)mm(2)\/s, respectively. They were both higher than the normal range [ (0.516\u00b10.180) \u00d710(-3)mm(2)\/s]. Mean ADC values of the maximal lesions after treatment were higher than that before treatment. The results of WB-DWI after the induction chemotherapy were consistent with clinical therapeutic effect. Conclusions: WB-DWI has an important value in the diagnosis and monitoring of newly diagnosed MM. It has higher sensitivity than than that of CT. The results of WB-DWI after induction therapy has a nice correlation with treatment effect and it could monitor the disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19030905,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2013-20":2}}},"text":"ISCEV Standard for full-field clinical electroretinography (2008 update).\nThis document, from the International Society for Clinical Electrophysiology of Vision (ISCEV), presents an updated and revised ISCEV Standard for clinical electroretinography (ERG). The parameters for flash stimulation and background adaptation have been tightened, and responses renamed to indicate the flash strength (in cd x s x m(-2)). The ISCEV Standard specifies five responses: (1) Dark-adapted 0.01 ERG (rod response); (2) Dark-adapted 3.0 ERG (combined rod-cone response); (3) Dark-adapted 3.0 oscillatory potentials; (4) Light-adapted 3.0 ERG (cone response); (5) Light-adapted 3.0 flicker (30 Hz flicker). An additional Dark-adapted 10.0 ERG or Dark-adapted 30.0 ERG response is recommended.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9560778,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Prevalence of Listeria species in raw milk from farm bulk tanks in Nagano prefecture.\nRaw milk samples from bulk tanks of a total of 943 farms, which corresponded to approximately 60% of all dairy farms in Nagano Prefecture were examined for Listeria species between December 1990 and April 1991. Listeria spp. were isolated from 29 (3.1%) of 943 milk specimens. In the southern, central, eastern and northern areas of the prefecture, Listeria spp. were isolated from 6.1% (22\/362), 1.5% (4\/272), 1.4% (2\/143) and 0.6% (1\/166) of samples, respectively. Listeria monocytogenes was isolated from three (0.3%) bulk tanks in the southern area: two of the strains isolated from two different farm bulk tanks were serovar 4b, and the other one was 1\/2a. Besides, between February 1991 and January 1992, 504 samples of raw milk from farm bulk tanks were collected nine times from 56 farms in the southern area, where the prevalence of Listeria spp. was the highest, and examined for the seasonal variation in the presence of Listeria spp. The prevalence of Listeria spp. was higher in spring (14.3%) than in autumn (4.8%). The 56 farms were divided into three groups according to the prevalence of Listeria spp., namely, three farms in Group 1 gave a high contamination rate (50% < or =), 14 farms in Group 2 a low contamination rate and the remaining 39 farms in Group 3 no recovering of Listeria spp. Sixteen strains of L. monocytogenes serovar 4b were isolated from four farms.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16987898,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-10":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Combined photodynamic therapy and intravitreal triamcinolone injection for the treatment of choroidal neovascularisation secondary to pathological myopia: a pilot study.\nTo assess the efficacy and safety of combined intravitreal triamcinolone (IVTA) and photodynamic therapy (PDT) with verteporfin in the treatment of choroidal neovascularisation (CNV) secondary to pathological myopia. 22 eyes of 22 patients with subfoveal or juxtafoveal CNV due to pathological myopia were prospectively recruited for combined PDT with IVTA. The treatment outcomes at 1 year were compared with those in a control group of 22 eyes that received PDT monotherapy. At 1 year, the logMAR best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) for the combined PDT with IVTA group changed from 0.62 to 0.61 (p = 0.74), whereas that for the monotherapy group changed from 0.61 to 0.67 (p = 0.33). The mean logMAR BCVA and proportions of patients without losing > or =3 lines at 1 year were similar between the two groups (p = 0.68 and 0.74, respectively). Subgroup analyses showed that eyes with baseline logMAR BCVA worse than 0.6 (Snellen equivalent 20\/80) or CNV with greatest linear dimension > or =750 microm which received combined therapy had better mean logMAR BCVA at 1 year (p = 0.023 and 0.041, respectively), with a higher proportion of eyes gaining > or =2 lines of BCVA (p = 0.027 and 0.017, respectively) compared with PDT monotherapy. Combined PDT with IVTA did not seem to result in significantly better visual outcome compared with PDT monotherapy. However, combined therapy might result in better visual outcome in selected patients with worse initial visual acuity or larger myopic CNV. Further studies are warranted to investigate the role of combined PDT with IVTA in the treatment of myopic CNV, especially in patients with worse prognostic factors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3082393,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The eosinophilic granulocyte an active participant in the late phase asthmatic reaction?\nThe role of the eosinophilic granulocyte in immediate hypersensitivity reactions is generally believed to be a beneficial one since this cell may phagocytose mast cell granules and inactivate certain mast cell mediators. However it has become clear that the eosinophilic granulocyte also has potent secretory capacities, and by this property may contribute in a detrimental way to the allergic process. In studying the late phase allergen induced bronchoconstriction by means of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) an evident infiltration of eosinophilic granulocytes in the bronchioli in the beginning of the late phase asthmatic reaction was noticed. Since also eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) has been reported to be elevated in the lavage fluid an active secretory role of the eosinophil in the late phase asthmatic reaction seemed likely. Although the release of ECP and other granular proteins may contribute to epithelial damage and inflammation and thereby to an increase in bronchial hyperreactivity they do not explain the late phase bronchoconstrictive reaction. Since leukotrienes were thought possible candidates to cause this reaction it was decided to isolate eosinophils from human peripheral blood and to study their leukotriene synthesis pattern. To our surprise purified human eosinophils almost exclusively synthesize the strongly bronchoconstrictive leukotriene LTC4 in considerable quantities upon in vitro stimulation with either the calcium-ionophore A23187 or opsonized zymosan. These findings suggest that the eosinophil may play an active role in causing the late phase asthmatic reaction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29376251,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Current advance in cerebral malaria].\nCerebral malaria (CM), a severe neurological syndrome caused by Plasmodium falciparum infection, is a serious life-threatening disease with a high mortality. Survivors' persistent brain injury is manifested as long-term neurocognitive disorders. The main neuropathological feature of CM is the sequestration of parasited red blood cells (pRBCs) in cerebral microvessels. Other neuropathological features of CM include petechial hemorrhage in the brain parenchyma, annular hemorrhage, extensive brain endothelial cell activation, and focal endothelial cell injury and necrosis. However, its pathogenesis is still not clear. Currently, some studies have suggested that the pathogenesis of cerebral malaria mainly include pRBC adhesion, inflammatory reaction cascade, vascular leakage damage and brain hypoxia. Studies have shown that the biomarkers currently used as diagnostic and prognostic markers for CM include C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 10 (CXCL10), CXC chemokine ligand 4 (CXCL4), angiopoietin (Ang). In this paper, we systematically summarize the basic and clinical research for cerebral malaria in recent years and the latest literatures for drug studies, and focused on the advance of studies on cerebral malaria and its immunologic mechanism in the recent three years in the aspects of cytokines, immune cells, regulatory factors and biomarkers, so as to provide references for relevant studies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24397432,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of hesperidin dietary supplementation on hen performance, egg quality and yolk oxidative stability.\n1. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation with hesperidin (one or 3 g\/kg of feed) for 31 d on the performance, egg quality and yolk oxidative stability of brown and white laying hens (26-wk old). 2. Supplementation with hesperidin did not affect egg production, egg weight and egg quality traits. 3. No hesperidin effect on yolk and plasma cholesterol was observed. A strain effect was found with lower total and per g yolk cholesterol of brown hens in comparison to the white ones. 4. Oxidative stability of egg yolk, expressed as ng MDA\/g yolk, was significantly improved in the hesperidin groups even from the first week of supplementation. At the same time, a significant improvement in the oxidative stability of egg yolk due to the incorporation of hesperidin in hens' diet was observed after 30 and 90 d of storage at 20\u00b0C and 4\u00b0C, respectively. 5. No hesperidin by strain interaction was detected for any of the traits measured. 6. In conclusion, incorporation of hesperidin to laying hens' feed did not affect productive and egg qualitative traits. On the other hand, dietary hesperidin supplementation significantly improved oxidative stability of both fresh and stored eggs. Antioxidant properties of hesperidin seem to make it a promising natural agent for improving the shelf life of eggs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3031254,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Influences of dietary restriction and age on liver enzyme activities and lipid peroxidation in mice.\nDietary restriction extends maximum life span in rodents by unknown mechanisms. We compared livers from 12- and 24-mo-old mice fed control (C, approximately 95 kcal\/wk) or restricted (R, approximately 55 kcal\/wk) amounts of diet since 3 wk of age. We hypothesized that dietary restriction might alter the activity levels of enzymes with possible relevance to aging processes. The enzymes included several xenobiotic metabolizers, radical scavengers (catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase), superoxide sources (xanthine oxidase, peroxisomal beta-oxidation of palmitoyl-CoA) and glucose-6-phosphatase. Lipid peroxidation (LP) was also measured. Comparing 12- and 24-mo-old mice, the strongest diet or age effect was an increased catalase activity for group R (42% higher at 12 mo, 64% at 24 mo). LP was clearly lower in group R at 12 mo (a 30% decrease) and somewhat lower (13%) at 24 mo than in group C. Similarly, in 12-mo-old C and R mice injected with either the P-450 inducer beta-naphthoflavone (beta-NF in corn oil) or with corn oil alone. R mice showed higher catalase activity (40-44%) and lower LP (43-46%) in both beta-NF-injected and vehicle-injected groups. These data suggest that if free radical damage is involved in aging, it may be a particular kind of damage, that is, that in part prevented by a selective increase in catalase activity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28565761,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Clinical application of intra-aortic balloon pump in patients with cardiogenic shock during the perioperative period of cardiac surgery.\nIntra-aortic balloon pumps (IABP) have saved many patients with cardiogenic shock during the perioperative period of cardiac surgery. However, the ideal insertion timing is controversial. In the present study, we aimed to optimize the insertion timing, in order to increase the survival rate of the patients. A total of 197 patients with cardiogenic shock during the perioperative period of cardiac surgery and implemented IABP from January 2011 to October 2015 were selected for the study. Patients were divided into five groups on the basis of application timing of IABP: 0-60, 61-120, 121-180, 181-240 and >240 min. The 30-day mortality, application rate of continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT), duration of mechanical ventilation, duration of hospital stay and hospitalization charges were analyzed in the above groups. The risk factors related to mortality and the occurrence of IABP complications were also analyzed. The mortality in the 0-60, 61-120, 121-180, 181-240 and >240 min groups were 42.17, 36.6, 77.3, 72.7 and 79.3%, respectively. Earlier IABP insertion resulted in less patients receiving CRRT from acute renal failure and less daily hospitalization charges. However, the IABP application timing had no effect on indexes such as hospitalization duration, duration of mechanical ventilation and total hospitalization charges. Multifactor logistic regression analysis indicated that the independent risk factors of death in patients with cardiogenic shock during cardiac surgery were related to IABP support timing and vasoactive-inotropic score (VIS) before balloon insertion. In the first 120 min of cardiogenic shock during the perioperative period of cardiac surgery, IABP application decreased 30-day mortality. Mortality was related with VIS score of patients, which can be used to predict the prognosis of patients with cardiogenic shock.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37847896,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Natural Extracts for Antibacterial Applications.\nBacteria-induced epidemics and infectious diseases are seriously threatening the health of people around the world. In addition, antibiotic therapy has been inducing increasingly more serious bacterial resistance, which makes it urgent to develop new treatment strategies to combat bacteria, including multidrug-resistant bacteria. Natural extracts displaying antibacterial activity and good biocompatibility have attracted much attention due to greater concerns about the safety of synthetic chemicals and emerging drug resistance. These antibacterial components can be isolated and utilized as antimicrobials, as well as transformed, combined, or wrapped with other substances by using modern assistive technologies to fight bacteria synergistically. This review summarizes recent advances in natural extracts from three kinds of sources-plants, animals, and microorganisms-for antibacterial applications. This work discusses the corresponding antibacterial mechanisms and the future development of natural extracts in antibacterial fields.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25527165,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Polidocanol versus hypertonic glucose for sclerotherapy treatment of reticular veins of the lower limbs: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.\nThe prevalence of chronic venous disease is high and occurs more frequently in females. According to the clinical, etiological, anatomical, and pathological classification (CEAP) definition, the reticular veins are included in the C1 class and are mainly associated with aesthetic complaints. Several invasive techniques are used for treatment, including mini phlebectomy, laser ablation, and radiofrequency ablation. However, a wide range of sclerosing agents may serve as minimally invasive alternatives, promoting chemical sclerosis of the vein wall. Although this technique is routinely performed around the world, there is no consensus on the most efficacious and safe chemical agent to be used. Inclusion criteria are women between 18 and 69 years old with at least 10 cm long reticular veins in the lower limbs, on the outer side of the leg\/thigh. Patients with CEAP 2 to 6, or with allergies, pregnancy, performing breastfeeding, or with any dermatologic or clinical problems will be excluded. Patients with venous ultrasound mapping showing involvement of saphenous trunks and\/or a deep venous system will also be excluded. Patients will be randomized into two groups, one receiving 75% pure glucose and the other group receiving 0.2% polidocanol diluted in 70% glucose. Just one limb and one session per patient will be performed. The sclerosing agent volume will not exceed 5 mL. Clinical follow-up will include visits on days 7 and 60, always with photographic documentation. This project aims to enroll 96 patients and subject them to a double-blind treatment after the randomization process. The design is intended to evaluate efficacy through a primary end point and safety through a secondary end point. Forty-eight patients have currently been enrolled. Preliminary results for these patients showed that 25 received treatment, 2 were excluded, and 22 returned after 7 days and showed no greater adverse events. To date, establishing efficacy criteria has not been possible, and no patients have reached the 60-day return point. These data may help doctors choose the best chemical agent for the treatment of reticular veins. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02054325, 3\/02\/2014.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19049160,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects intracerebral microinjection and intraperitoneal injection of [60]fullerene on brain functions differ in rats.\nFullerenes are condensed ring aromatic compounds with extended pi systems and unique cage structures. Fullerenes are used for medical devices such as carbon nanotubes because they are very flexible and suitable for drug delivery systems. Recently, fullerene derivatives and tube-shaped materials have been used for neuroregeneration studies, and we expect that fullerenes and carbon nanotubes have potential uses as materials in novel medical devices targeting the brain. However, little information on the effects of fullerenes on brain function is available; thus, we examined the effects of [60]fullerene (C60) on the central nervous system in this study. In a V79 cell colony Asia, the IC50 of C60 was 1620 microg\/ml. In an in vivo study, 0.25 mg\/kg B.W. of C60 was injected into the lateral brain ventricle or abdominal cavity of rats. The intracerebral injection of C60 increased the locomotor behavior of the rats on days 1 and 30 after the injection. The intraperitoneal injection of C60 did not change the locomotor behavior of rats acutely, but it was decreased on day 30. The intracerebral injection of C60 affected monoamine concentrations in the rat brain. In particular, serotonin turnover rates were increased in the hypothalamus, cerebral cortex, striatum, and hippocampus, and dopamine turnover rates were increased in the hypothalamus, cerebral cortex, and striatum. The intraperitoneal injection of C60 decreased only the dopamine turnover rate in the hippocampus. These results suggest that intracerebral injection of C60 had different effects on the central nervous system than intraperitoneal injection. In conclusion, it was suggested that fullerene did not cross the blood-brain barrier. The intracerebral injection of C60 affected neurotransmission in the brain widely, and the monoamine dysbolism might be related to changes in locomotor activity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30095013,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sexual Violence-Related Pregnancy Among Internally Displaced Women in an Internally Displaced Persons Camp in Northeast Nigeria.\nSexual violence is quite common in conflict situations and puts women at risk of unintended pregnancies. In the northeast region of Nigeria with the ongoing insurgency, a substantial number of women are kidnapped and subjected to forced marriages and repeated sexual assaults. This study set out to report on the disclosure and outcomes of sexual violence-related pregnancies (SVRPs) among women liberated from insurgents and relocated to one of largest Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps located in Borno State, northeast Nigeria. The clinic records of women with SVRP were reviewed. Forty-seven women with SVRP were identified by the health care providers using a snowball technique to reach as many of the women with SVRP as possible. The mean age of the participants was 15.3 years (SD = 3.4 years), and all the participants had spent 2 years or more in captivity. Most of the women first disclosed the pregnancy to their peers before disclosure to health care providers or family members. All the women initially requested to have the pregnancy terminated; however, abortion services are not offered in the clinic in line with the country's restrictive abortion laws. Following counseling and psychosocial support offered in the clinic, 19 (40%) of the women continued with the pregnancy and were delivered in the camp clinic while the remaining 26 women left the camp shortly after disclosure and pregnancy outcomes are not known. SVRP is not uncommon in humanitarian settings with its associated stigma and unwillingness among the survivors to keep the pregnancy. There is a need for further studies to provide more insight into the extent of this problem and help-seeking for SVRPs especially for women in such difficult circumstances to provide needed empirical information to drive advocacy efforts for more comprehensive services.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37447222,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Overweight and Obesity: The Interplay of Eating Habits and Physical Activity.\nThe prevalence of overweight and obesity has been steadily increasing over the last 50 years, with worldwide obesity rates tripling since 1975, thus reaching pandemic proportions [...].","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34405490,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The family intensive care unit syndrome: A qualitative content analysis.\nHospitalization of patients in an intensive care unit (ICU) is associated with a series of psychological problems for their family members called family intensive care unit syndrome (FICUS). Nonetheless, family members of patients in ICU often receive little attention from health care providers. Exploring family members' experiences of their patients' hospitalization in ICU helps health care providers focus more clearly on their problems. This study aimed to explore FICUS-related experiences among the family members of patients in ICU. This was a qualitative content analysis study. This qualitative study was conducted in 2019. Participants were 14 family members of patients in ICU who were purposively selected from three hospitals in Tehran, Iran. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Participants' experiences of FICUS fell into four categories, that is, threat to psychological well-being (with four subcategories), threat to physical health (with three subcategories), threat to social health (with three subcategories), and change in spiritual orientation (with two subcategories). The 12 subcategories of these categories were emotional disturbances, hopelessness, changes in sleep pattern, mood changes, physical symptoms, aggravation of the existing illnesses, negligence towards personal health, alteration in social interactions, alteration in the burden of responsibility, alternation in the life process, resort to spiritual beliefs, and spiritual conflict, respectively. FICUS symptoms are not limited to psychological problems, rather they include a wide range of psychological, physical, social, and spiritual problems, which can affect the different aspects of family members' lives. Along with care delivery to patients in ICU, health care providers should provide care and support to patients' family members. FICUS is a major threat to health among the family members of patients in ICU. Careful assessment of these family members helps identify family members who are at risk for FICUS and identify FICUS effects on their decisions and health status.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36270793,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Role of small acute hyperintense lesions in long-term progression of cerebral small vessel disease and clinical outcome: a 14-year follow-up study.\nSmall hyperintense lesions are found on diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) in patients with sporadic small vessel disease (SVD). Their exact role in SVD progression remains unclear due to their asymptomatic and transient nature. The main objective is to investigate the role of DWI+lesions in the radiological progression of SVD and their relationship with clinical outcomes. Participants with SVD were included from the Radboud University Nijmegen Diffusion tensor MRI Cohort. DWI+lesions were assessed on four time points over 14 years. Outcome measures included neuroimaging markers of SVD, cognitive performance and clinical outcomes, including stroke, all-cause dementia and all-cause mortality. Linear mixed-effect models and Cox regression models were used to examine the outcome measures in participants with a DWI+lesion (DWI+) and those without a DWI+lesion (DWI-). DWI+lesions were present in 45 out of 503 (8.9%) participants (mean age: 66.7 years (SD=8.3)). Participants with DWI+lesions and at least one follow-up (n=33) had higher white matter hyperintensity progression rates (\u03b2=0.36, 95% CI=0.05 to 0.68, p=0.023), more incident lacunes (incidence rate ratio=2.88, 95% CI=1.80 to 4.67, p<0.001) and greater cognitive decline (\u03b2=-0.03, 95% CI=-0.05 to -0.01, p=0.006) during a median follow-up of 13.2 (IQR: 8.8-13.8) years compared with DWI- participants. No differences were found in risk of all-cause mortality, stroke or dementia. Presence of a DWI+lesion in patients with SVD is associated with greater radiological progression of SVD and cognitive decline compared with patients without DWI+lesions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28297601,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Catalytic Site-Selective Acylation of Carbohydrates Directed by Cation-n Interaction.\nSite-selective functionalization of hydroxyl groups in carbohydrates is one of the long-standing challenges in chemistry. Using a pair of chiral catalysts, we now can differentiate the most prevalent trans-1,2-diols in pyranoses systematically and predictably. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations indicate that the key determining factor for the selectivity is the presence or absence of a cation-n interaction between the cation in the acylated catalyst and an appropriate lone pair in the substrate. DFT calculations also provided a predictive model for site-selectivity and this model is validated by various substrates.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37457490,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Preparation of Taraxacum kok-saghyz Rubber and Biofuel Ethanol Simultaneously by the Yeast Fermentation Process.\nTaraxacum kok-saghyz(TKS) rubber is considered the most ideal alternative source of natural rubber (NR). Extracting rubber from TKS with high quality, low cost, and low pollution is the basis of commercial development. The TKS roots were subjected to morphological observation and detailed compositional analysis. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images confirm that rubber filaments are physically entangled with plant tissues due to differences in molecular polarity. Compared with the traditional solvent TKS rubber extraction process, a new rubber extraction process developed in this study, namely, the microbial extraction (\u2033ME\u2033) process, is less harmful to the environment and lower in cost. The \u2033ME\u2033 process is divided into three steps: dilute acid pretreatment process, enzyme degradation process, and fermentation process. After each step is completed, the purity of TKS rubber will gradually increase from 84.8% to 93.8 to 95.5%. The TKS rubber finally obtained fully meets the requirements of the traditional rubber industry, especially the tire industry. Besides, the yield of biofuel ethanol, a by-product of cellulose fermentation, reaches 2.05 g\/100 g of TKS roots (dry weight), which can effectively reduce the production cost of TKS rubber. In the rubber extraction process, microorganisms have little effect on the quality of TKS rubber. The results show that the molecular weight and chemical structure of TKS rubber is very close to NR, so the \u2033ME\u2033 process can be used as a new method for large-scale extraction of TKS rubber.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26488925,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-22":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Electric Destabilization of Supramolecular Lipid Vesicles Subjected to Fast Electric Pulses.\nBiological membranes are weakly permeable to hydrophilic molecules and ions and electric pulses can induce their transient permeabilization, but this process is not well characterized. We directly assay the electropermeabilization process, on the minimum model of lipid vesicles, by using a highly sensitive fluorescence method based on manganese ion transport. The approach gives access, at the single-lipid self-assembly level, to the transmembrane potential needed to detect divalent ion permeabilization on supramolecular giant unilamellar lipid vesicles. The critical values are strongly dependent on the lipid composition and are observed to vary from 10 to 150 mV. These values appear to be much lower than those previously reported in the literature for cells and vesicles. The detection method appears to be a decisive parameter as it is controlled by the transport of the reporter dye. We also provide evidence that the electropermeabilization process is a transient transition of the lipid self-organization due to the loss of assembly cohesion induced by bioelectrochemical perturbations of the zwitterionic interface with the solution.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25420727,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Physiological functions of presenilins; beyond \u03b3-secretase.\nPresenilin (PS) was identified in screens for mutations causing the early onset forms of familial Alzheimer's disease (FAD) in 1995. As catalytic units of the \u03b3-secretase complex, presenilins participate in the processing of amyloid beta protein (A\u03b2), the main component of deposits in brain of patients with AD. The more than 90 substrates of \u03b3-secretase isolated so far demonstrate its contribution to wide range of cellular processes and signaling events. However, recent findings have revealed numerous \u03b3-secretase-independent presenilin functions, including involvement in calcium homeostasis, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and autophagy. This mini-review attempts to summarize the multiple physiological and pathological functions of presenilin.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25301347,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Chylous mesenteric cyst].\nThe authors present a case report of a female patient with a recurrent mesenteric cyst. Chylous cyst is one of rare diagnoses of a cyst close to the pancreas in patients with no history of acute pancreatitis. Chylous cysts need to be managed radically; otherwise, given their nature, they are likely to recur.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22687925,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Multielemental elution behavior of metal ions adsorbed on iminodiacetic acid chelating resin by using hydrogen peroxide as an eluent.\nIn the present work, we investigated the multielemental elution behavior of metal ions absorbed on iminodiacetic acid (IDA) chelating resin by using hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) as an eluent. As a result, V(V), Mo(VI), W(VI), Nb(V) and Ta(V) were efficiently eluted by H(2)O(2). In contrast, other metal ions were rarely recovered. The oxidation states of V(V), Mo(VI), and W(VI) were not changed through the H(2)O(2) eluting process, checked by X-ray photoelectron analysis. In addition, the UV-vis adsorption spectra and IR spectra of V(V), Mo(VI) and W(VI) in the H(2)O(2) eluent suggested the formation of metal-peroxo complexes through H(2)O(2) elution. The desorption of these metal ions from IDA functional groups is explained in term of destabilization along with the coordination of peroxo-ligands to the V(V)-, Mo(VI)- and W(VI)-IDA complexes, and a decrease in the adsorption capacity by electrostatic repulsion between dissociated carboxylic groups of IDA and the oxoanions in the neutral pH shown in 30 wt% H(2)O(2). When this method was applied to the selective separation of V(V), Mo(VI) and W(VI) from other metals in an acid soluble fraction of fly-ash, 83.4 \u00b1 2.5% of V(V), 88.1 \u00b1 3.3% of Mo(VI), and 69.3 \u00b1 5.4% of W(VI) were recovered in a 30 wt% H(2)O(2) eluent.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28712765,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Losartan reverses COX-2-dependent vascular dysfunction in offspring of hyperglycaemic rats.\nThis study examined whether chronic treatment with losartan, an angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1R) antagonist, might reverse COX-2-mediated vascular dysfunction in mesenteric resistance arteries (MRA) from offspring of hyperglycaemic rats. Male 12-month-old offspring of hyperglycaemic (O-DR) and normoglycaemic (O-CR) rats were treated with losartan (15mg\u00b7kg\u00b7day-1) during 2months. Third order MRA of untreated and losartan-treated O-DR and O-CR were mounted in wire myograph for isometric tension measurements. COX-2 expression was analyzed by Western blot; TxA2, PGE2 and PGF2\u03b1 release was measured using commercial kits. O-DR showed increased blood pressure, impaired acetylcholine-induced vasodilation and increased noradrenaline-induced vasoconstriction than O-CR. All these parameters were normalized by losartan in O-DR. Pre-incubation of MRA with indomethacin (COX-1\/2 inhibitor), NS-398 (COX-2 inhibitor) or tempol (superoxide dismutase mimetic) increased relaxation to acetylcholine and reduced contraction to noradrenaline only in O-DR. COX-2 expression, TxA2, PGE2 and PGF2\u03b1 release were increased in O-DR. In losartan-treated O-DR, NS-398, indomethacin or tempol failed to produce any effect on acetylcholine or noradrenaline responses. Losartan treatment reduced COX-2 expression, TxA2, PGE2 and PGF2\u03b1 release in O-DR. The present results reveal that chronic losartan administration in O-DR normalizes endothelial function in MRA by correcting the existing COX-2 overexpression and the imbalance between endothelium-derived relaxing and contracting factors. These findings not only support the beneficial effects of AT1 receptor antagonist in O-DR, but also suggest the implication of angiotensin II as a putative mediator of hyperglycemia-programmed vascular dysfunction in rats.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28252936,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Fluorescence Approach for the Determination of Fluorescent Dissolved Organic Matter.\nExcitation-emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence spectroscopy coupled with parallel factor (PARAFAC) analysis has been widely applied to characterize dissolved organic matter (DOM) in aquatic and terrestrial systems. However, its application in environmental samples is limited because PARAFAC is not able to handle nontrilinear EEM data, leading to the overestimated number of components and incorrect decomposition results. In this work, a new method, parallel factor framework-clustering analysis (PFFCA), is proposed to resolve this problem. First, simulated data with different signal-to-noise ratios and intensities of nontrilinear structure were tested to confirm the robustness of PFFCA. The residual sum of squares (RSS) of PARAFAC was significantly higher than that of PFFCA (p < 0.037). Second, a set of data originating from a synthetic mixture of humic acid and bovine serum albumin was applied to compare with PARAFAC with known samples. PFFCA provided an estimation (R2 > 0.92) closer to actual EEM than PARAFAC (R2 > 0.81). Finally, to confirm the feasibility of PFFCA in analyzing natural samples, DOM-containing samples collected from both a polluted lake and river were tested, indicating that PFFCA provides a more precise estimation than PARAFAC. The results clearly indicate that PFFCA offers a robust approach for the unique decomposition of complex synthetic and natural samples, which is of great significance in understanding the characteristics of DOM in aqueous systems.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6365135,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Repair of membrane damage in X-irradiated E. coli.\nWhen E. coli B\/r or E. coli K12 AB1157 were X-irradiated in the presence of oxygen and incubated immediately after irradiation in broth containing penicillin in concentration that on its own was not lethal to unirradiated bacteria, substantial additional killing was caused. When treatment with penicillin was delayed for increasing times after irradiation the additional killing became progressively less. These results were interpreted as demonstrating the repair or removal of oxygen-dependent radiation-induced lesions in the bacterial membranes. Removal of these lesions was inhibited by incubation of the irradiated bacteria at low temperature before treatment with penicillin or by exposing the cells to a non-lethal concentration of toluene before irradiation. These observations suggest that an enzymatic repair process may be involved in the removal of the membrane lesions. The fatty acid mutant E. coli K 1060 proved exceptional in that some additional killing by penicillin was detectable after anaerobic as well as aerobic irradiation. This points to the importance of membrane composition in the development of those radiation lesions that are brought to light by penicillin treatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16219212,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Propofol infusion syndrome in children].\nPropofol infusion syndrome, characterised by cardiovascular collapse, metabolic acidosis, hepatomegaly, renal failure and rhabdomyolysis, is a rare and often fatal syndrome seen in critically ill children undergoing long-term propofol sedation. Propofol may impair mitochondrial free fatty acid metabolism, resulting in an imbalance between energy demand and utilisation and thus compromising cardiac and peripheral muscle cell function. Propofol should be used with caution for sedation in critically ill children, as well as for long-term anaesthesia in otherwise healthy children, and doses exceeding 4 mg\/kg\/h should be avoided.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9151477,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Generalized eigensystem techniques for the inverse problem of electrocardiography applied to a realistic heart-torso geometry.\nWe have previously proposed two novel solutions to the inverse problem of electrocardiography, the generalized eigensystem technique (GES) and the modified generalized eigensystem technique (tGES), and have compared these techniques with other numerical techniques using both homogeneous and inhomogeneous eccentric spheres model problems. In those studies we found our generalized eigensystem approaches generally gave superior performance over both truncated singular value decomposition (SVD) and zero-order Tikhonov regularization (TIK). In this paper we extend the comparison to the case of a realistic heart-torso geometry. With this model, the GES and tGES approaches again provide smaller relative errors between the true potentials and the numerically derived potentials than the other methods studied. In addition, the isopotential maps recovered using GES and tGES appear to be more accurate than the maps recovered using either SVD and TIK.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27257534,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"From Reductionism to Holism: Systems-oriented Approaches in Cancer Research.\nSomatic mutation theory of cancer has directed cancer research during the last century. A deluge of information on cellular, molecular, and genetic behavior was uncovered, but so was a mind-numbing complexity that still challenges research and concepts, and expectations in the war on cancer have by and large not been fulfilled. A change of paradigm beyond reductionism has been called for, especially as research ubiquitously points at the importance of tissue, microenvironment, extracellular matrix, embryonic and morphogenetic fields, and fields of tissue maintenance and organization in the processes of carcinogenesis, cancer control, and cancer progression, as well as in the control of cellular and genetic behavior. Holistic, organismic systems concepts open new perspectives for cancer research and treatment, as well as general biological understanding.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17877875,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A century of leishmaniasis in Alpes-Maritimes, France.\nA century of publications on leishmaniasis in Alpes-Maritimes, in southern France, is here reviewed. Autochtonous human and canine leishmaniasis were first recognised in this d\u00e9partement, which lies by the Mediterranean Sea and near the Italian border, in 1918 and 1925, respectively. The parasite responsible for the leishmaniasis, Leishmania infantum, is transmitted by Phlebotomus perniciosus and P. ariasi. The human leishmaniasis is zoonotic, with domestic dogs acting as the main 'reservoir' hosts. In prospective surveys over the last two decades, a mean of 12% of the domestic dogs checked in Alpes-Maritimes have been found seropositive for L. infantum but only about 50% of the seropositive animals showed any clinical signs of infection at the time of the surveys. During the last 30 years, 178 cases of human visceral leishmaniasis have been recorded in the area. Such cases are sporadic and often opportunistic, occurring predominantly in children (29% of the 178 cases) or HIV-positive subjects (31%). Recently, it has been demonstrated that, in Alpes-Maritimes, approximately 20% of those found seropositive in leishmanin skin tests are asymptomatic carriers, with amastigotes in their peripheral blood.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9548444,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Globotriaosyl ceramide and globoside as major glycolipid components of fibroblasts in scirrhous gastric carcinoma tissues.\nScirrhous gastric cancer is characteristic in that cancer cells proliferate and invade with prominent fibrosis. To search for the expression of specific carbohydrate chains in scirrhous gastric cancer, we have examined the glycosphingolipid composition of scirrhous cancer tissues (n=10) in comparison with that of non-scirrhous cancer tissues (n=10) by means of two-dimensional thin layer chromatography, followed by fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry of the individual glycolipids and immunostaining analysis. The major neutral glycosphingolipids from scirrhous gastric cancer tissues were identified as ceramide monohexoside, ceramide dihexoside, globotriaosyl ceramide (Gb3) and globoside (Gb4), while the major acidic glycosphingolipids were II3 NeuAcalpha-LacCer, II3 NeuAcalpha2-LacCer and sulfatide. Relative concentrations of Gb3 and Gb4 in scirrhous gastric cancer tissues (Gb3 + Gb4 = 58%) were two times higher than those in non-scirrhous gastric cancer tissues (29%). Orthotopic fibroblasts cloned from scirrhous gastric cancer tissues showed similar high concentrations of Gb3 and Gb4 to scirrhous gastric cancer tissues. Furthermore, immunohistochemical study revealed that Gb3 and Gb4 were expressed intensely on the fibroblasts. On the other hand, analysis of glycosphingolipids in four scirrhous gastric cancer cell lines yielded the following results. i) The contents of Gb3 and Gb4 were low (6%), compared with orthotopic fibroblasts (62%). ii) Significant amounts of Le(a) (pentaglycosylceramide) and Le(b) (hexa- and heptaglycosylceramides), which could not be detected in scirrhous cancer tissues, were observed. The results show that the major neutral glycosphingolipids such as Gb3 and Gb4 of scirrhous gastric cancer tissues were derived from orthotopic fibroblasts and not from the cancer cells.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29379086,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Early modulation of intra-cortical inhibition during the observation of action mistakes.\nErrors while performing an action are fundamental for learning. During interaction others' errors must be monitored and taken into account to allow joint action coordination and imitation learning. This monitoring relies on an action observation network (AON) mainly based on parietofrontal recurrent circuits. Although different studies suggest that inappropriate actions may rapidly be inhibited during execution, little is known about the modulation of the AON when an action misstep is shown. Here we used single and paired pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation to assess corticospinal excitability, intracortical facilitation and intracortical inhibition at different time intervals (120, 180, 240 ms) after the visual presentation of a motor execution error. Results show a specific and early (120 ms) decrease of intracortical inhibition likely because of a significant mismatch between the observed erroneous action and observer's expectations. Indeed, as proposed by the top-down predictive framework, the motor system may be involved in the generation of these error signals and our data show that this mechanism could rely on the early decrease of intracortical inhibition within the corticomotor system.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3079926,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evolving trends in enteral alimentation.\nNutrition has become a cornerstone of surgical patient care. With better understanding of metabolic and compositional requirements, great advances have been made in the area of total parenteral nutrition. Recent attention to full utilization of alimentary tract function has prompted a resurgence of interest in dietary formulas and methods of delivery. Three new approaches to the alimentary tract provide better access for feeding. Needle catheter jejunostomy allows early alimentary tract utilization following operations, while percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy and jejunostomy provide long-term solutions to the provision of enteral alimentation. Future utilization of these techniques will certainly lead to better patient care.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3078566,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Transforming growth factor beta-1 in acute myocardial infarction in rats.\nTGF-beta 1 has been examined in the heart during myocardial infarction caused by ligation of the left coronary artery. Infarcted and uninfarcted myocardium have been compared by immunohistochemical staining of TGF-beta 1 and by Northern blot analysis of mRNA. Normal ventricular myocytes are strongly stained by an antibody to TGF-beta 1. Progressive loss of staining of these myocytes begins within 1 hr after coronary ligation. However, by 24-48 hr after ligation, intense staining of myocytes at the margin of infarcted areas is seen. Northern blots of infarcted myocardium 48 hr after ligation show a 3- to 4-fold increase in the principal 2.4 kb TGF-beta 1 mRNA; there is also a marked increase in a minor 1.9 kb transcript. In the same tissue samples, there is a 2-fold decrease in the mRNA for the glycolytic enzyme, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase. The results indicate a significant role for TGF-beta in the response of the heart to injury.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3074110,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Life-threatening deep fascial space infections of the head and neck.\nIn the preantibiotic era, deep fascial space infections were common, and physicians were well acquainted with their complex and sometimes subtle manifestations. Widespread use of antibiotics, however, not only has significantly decreased the incidence of deep neck infections but also has altered their clinical manifestations. This article is designed to emphasize the key clinical manifestations of the several life-threatening deep neck infections and relate them to critically important anatomic structures in the neck.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22675502,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Identifying live bird markets with the potential to act as reservoirs of avian influenza A (H5N1) virus: a survey in northern Viet Nam and Cambodia.\nWet markets are common in many parts of the world and may promote the emergence, spread and maintenance of livestock pathogens, including zoonoses. A survey was conducted in order to assess the potential of Vietnamese and Cambodian live bird markets (LBMs) to sustain circulation of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus subtype H5N1 (HPAIV H5N1). Thirty Vietnamese and 8 Cambodian LBMs were visited, and structured interviews were conducted with the market managers and 561 Vietnamese and 84 Cambodian traders. Multivariate and cluster analysis were used to construct a typology of traders based on their poultry management practices. As a result of those practices and large poultry surplus (unsold poultry reoffered for sale the following day), some poultry traders were shown to promote conditions favorable for perpetuating HPAIV H5N1 in LBMs. More than 80% of these traders operated in LBMs located in the most densely populated areas, Ha Noi and Phnom Penh. The profiles of sellers operating at a given LBM could be reliably predicted using basic information about the location and type of market. Consequently, LBMs with the largest combination of risk factors for becoming virus reservoirs could be easily identified, potentially allowing control strategies to be appropriately targeted. These findings are of particular relevance to resource-scarce settings with extensively developed LBM systems, commonly found in South-East Asia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37464611,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Acoustic radiation force on a spherical thermoviscous particle in a thermoviscous fluid including scattering and microstreaming.\nWe derive general analytical expressions for the time-averaged acoustic radiation force on a small spherical particle suspended in a fluid and located in an axisymmetric incident acoustic wave. We treat the cases of the particle being either an elastic solid or a fluid particle. The effects of particle vibrations, acoustic scattering, acoustic microstreaming, heat conduction, and temperature-dependent fluid viscosity are all included in the theory. Acoustic streaming inside the particle is also taken into account for the case of a fluid particle. No restrictions are placed on the widths of the viscous and thermal boundary layers relative to the particle radius. We compare the resulting acoustic radiation force with that obtained from previous theories in the literature, and we identify limits, where the theories agree, and specific cases of particle and fluid materials, where qualitative or significant quantitative deviations between the theories arise.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28266276,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Alerting Reaction in Office Blood Pressure and Target Organ Damage: An Innocent Phenomenon?\nAn alerting reaction is a physician-induced phenomenon which produces a transient blood pressure rise in the office. To determine its relationship with target organ damage in treated hypertensives. We used three different indexes for calculating alerting reaction depending on the first, second or third office blood pressure measurement. We correlated these indexes with glomerular filtration rate, left ventricular mass index and pulse wave velocity. Thereafter, for multivariate analysis, we selected the index which better correlated with each target organ damage subtype. We included 174 adults, mean age 67(\u00b113.7) years. 75% of the patients had some degree of blood pressure fall between measurements 1-3. In multivariate linear regression models, after adjusting for classic risk factors, two out of the three systolic alerting reaction indexes showed an independent association with target organ damage. After further adjusting for office blood pressure and white coat effect (calculated with standardized home blood pressure monitoring), left ventricular mass index maintained a statistically significant association. A higher alerting reaction in the office seems to be related to increased target organ damage in treated hypertensives and should not be considered an innocent phenomenon.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17202148,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-30":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Identification of the extracellular matrix (ECM) binding motifs of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases (TIMP)-3 and effective transfer to TIMP-1.\nTissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) are the endogenous inhibitors of the zinc-dependent endopeptidases of the matrix metalloproteinase families. There are four mammalian TIMPs (TIMP-1 to -4) but only TIMP-3 is sequestered to the extracellular matrix (ECM). The molecular basis for the TIMP-3:ECM association has never been fully investigated until now. In this report, we identify the unique amino acid configuration that constitutes the basis of the ECM binding motif in TIMP-3. By systematically exchanging the subdomains of the TIMPs and exhaustive mutation of TIMP-3, we have identified the surface residues directly responsible for ECM association. Contrary to the accepted view, we have found that TIMP-3 interacts with the ECM via both its N- and C-terminal domains. The amino acids involved in ECM binding are all basic in nature: Lys-26, Lys-27, Lys-30, Lys-76 of the N-terminal domain and Arg-163, Lys-165 of the C-terminal domain. Replacement of these residues with glutamate (E) and glutamine (Q) (K26\/27\/30\/76E + R163\/K165Q) resulted in a soluble TIMP-3 devoid of ECM-adhering ability. Using the ECM binding motif derived from TIMP-3, we have also created a TIMP-1 mutant (K26\/27\/30 + K76 transplant) capable of ECM association. This is the first instance of TIMPs being intentionally rendered soluble or ECM-bound. The ability to prepare TIMPs in soluble or ECM-bound forms also opens new avenues for future TIMP research.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15258695,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Inferior vena cava filter ensnarement by central line guide wires--a report of 4 cases and brief review.\nEnsnarement of inferior vena cava filters with central line guide wires is an infrequent complication that has been sporadically reported. The authors present 4 patients who experienced this complication. They review the literature, make recommendations to avoid this preventable complication, and recommend what to do once the complication occurs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28357416,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A System for Enzymatic Lysine Methylation in a Desired Sequence Context.\nA number of lysine-specific methyltransferases (KMTs) are responsible for the post-translational modification of cellular proteins on lysine residues. Most KMTs typically recognize specific motifs in unstructured, short peptide sequences. However, we have recently discovered a novel KMT that appeared to have a more relaxed sequence specificity, namely, valosin-containing protein (VCP)-KMT, which trimethylates Lys-315 in the molecular chaperone VCP. On the basis of this, here, we explored the possibility of using the VCP-KMT\/VCP system to obtain specific lysine methylation of desired sequences grafted onto a VCP-derived scaffold. We generated VCP-derived proteins in which three amino acid residues on each side of Lys-315 had been replaced by various sequences representing lysine methylation sites in histone H3. We found that all of these chimeric proteins were subject to efficient VCP-KMT-mediated methylation in vitro, and methylation was also observed in mammalian cells. Thus, we here describe a versatile system for introducing lysine methylation into a desired peptide sequence, and the approach should be readily expandable for generating combinatorial libraries of methylated sequences.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37445802,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Exosome-Autophagy Crosstalk in Enveloped Virus Infection.\nExosomes, which are extracellular vesicles (EVs) predominantly present in bodily fluids, participate in various physiological processes. Autophagy, an intracellular degradation mechanism, eliminates proteins and damaged organelles by forming double-membrane autophagosomes. These autophagosomes subsequently merge with lysosomes for target degradation. The interaction between autophagy and endosomal\/exosomal pathways can occur at different stages, exerting significant influences on normal physiology and human diseases. The interplay between exosomes and the autophagy pathway is intricate. Exosomes exhibit a cytoprotective role by inducing intracellular autophagy, while autophagy modulates the biogenesis and degradation of exosomes. Research indicates that exosomes and autophagy contribute to the infection process of numerous enveloped viruses. Enveloped viruses, comprising viral nucleic acid, proteins, or virions, can be encapsulated within exosomes and transferred between cells via exosomal transport. Consequently, exosomes play a crucial role in the infection of certain viral diseases. This review presents recent findings on the interplay between exosomes and autophagy, as well as their implications in the infection of enveloped viruses, thereby offering valuable insights into the pathogenesis and vaccine research of enveloped virus infection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17911098,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A peptide-gated ion channel from the freshwater polyp Hydra.\nChemical transmitters are either low molecular weight molecules or neuropeptides. As a general rule, neuropeptides activate only slow metabotropic receptors. To date, only one exception to this rule is known, the FMRFamide-activated Na(+) channel (FaNaC) from snails. Until now FaNaC has been regarded as a curiosity, and it was not known whether peptide-gated ionotropic receptors are also present in other animal groups. Nervous systems first evolved in cnidarians, which extensively use neuropeptides. Here we report cloning from the freshwater cnidarian Hydra of a novel ion channel (Hydra sodium channel, HyNaC) that is directly gated by the neuropeptides Hydra-RFamides I and II and is related to FaNaC. The cells expressing HyNaC localize to the base of the tentacles, adjacent to the neurons producing the Hydra-RFamides, suggesting that the peptides are the natural ligands for this channel. Our results suggest that neuropeptides were already used for fast transmission in ancient nervous systems.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9156328,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Extensive gene flow in human populations as revealed by protein and microsatellite DNA markers.\nPopulation genetic studies are mainly based on the description of genetic variability and on interpopulational comparisons using genetic distance measures. The evolutionary dynamics of the populations are inferred from these parameters and accurate estimates of gene flow may be critical. The present study reevaluates the role of gene flow in human populations by different statistical methods from a number of microsatellite and protein polymorphism data. The estimated number of individuals exchanged per generation (Nm) was greater than 1 in all data sets with all statistical methods. The correlation between geographic and genetic distances suggests a pattern of isolation by distance, characteristic of demographic and genetic equilibrium conditions among populations worldwide. Thus the high values of Nm may be interpreted as a reflection of high gene flow between geographically close populations. As expected, gene flow appears to exert a pivotal role in the genetic history of humans.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22665755,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Orbital trauma: keep an eye for the details!\nOrbital injuries are often missed out when they occur concomitantly with other facial bone fractures. Clinical examination and plain radiographic findings alone may prove inadequate in the detection of orbital floor fractures. Refined imaging techniques like CT scans and MRI are immensely helpful in the diagnosis of orbital blowout fractures. A case of 'impure' orbital blowout fracture which went undetected at the time of initial examination and its secondary surgical reconstruction is reported here. This case report emphasizes the importance of careful clinical and radiologic evaluation in orbital injuries.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8343042,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Computerized static DNA ploidy analysis of prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia.\nThe microscopic features of prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN) are said to identify a precursor of prostatic adenocarcinoma (PC). We investigated this sequence of neoplastic progression by studying the relationship of PIN and PC by static ploidy analysis so that PIN and PC nuclei could be distinguished morphologically from each other and separately analyzed. From 51 archival cases of PC with coexistent high-grade PIN (PIN grades II and III) 50 control nuclei, 100 PIN nuclei, and 100 carcinoma nuclei per case were identified and digitized in corresponding Feulgen-stained slides. Control and PIN ploidy histograms fit a log-normal distribution, whereas malignant nuclei fit a rectangular distribution. When the histogram patterns were classified, the incidence of aneuploidy was 25% in PIN and 41% in PC. By case, the concordance of ploidy between PIN and PC was heterogeneous, yet the DNA ploidy of PIN and the corresponding PC was significantly associated. In four cases, PIN was DNA aneuploid while the associated PC was DNA diploid. These results support the hypothesis that high-grade PIN is a neoplastic precursor of prostatic adenocarcinoma and suggest that further karyotypic instability may result in invasive adenocarcinoma with different DNA content detectable by image analysis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35344967,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hippocampal Atrophy Subtypes of Alzheimer's Disease Using Automatic MRI in a Memory Clinic Cohort: Clinical Implications.\nOne pathological hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is atrophy of medial temporal brain regions that can be visualized on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), but not all patients will have atrophy. The aim was to use MRI to categorize patients according to their hippocampal atrophy status and to present prevalence of the subtypes, difference in clinical symptomatology and progression, and factors associated with hippocampal subtypes. We included 215 patients with AD who had been assessed with the clinically available MRI software NeuroQuant (NQ; CorTechs labs\/University of California, San Diego, CA, USA). NQ measures the hippocampus volume and calculates a normative percentile. Atrophy was regarded to be present if the percentile was \u22645. Demographics, cognitive measurements, AD phenotypes, apolipoprotein E status, and results from cerebrospinal fluid and amyloid positron emission tomography analyses were included as explanatory variables of the hippocampal subtypes. Of all, 60% had no hippocampal atrophy. These patients were younger and less cognitively impaired concerning global measures, memory function, and abstraction but impaired concerning executive, visuospatial, and semantic fluency, and more of them had nonamnestic AD, compared to those with hippocampal atrophy. No difference in progression rate was observed between the two groups. In mild cognitive impairment patients, amyloid pathology was associated with the no hippocampal atrophy group. The results have clinical implications. Clinicians should be aware of the large proportion of AD patients presenting without atrophy of the hippocampus as measured with this clinical MRI method in the diagnostic set up and that nonamnestic phenotypes are more common in this group as compared to those with atrophy. Furthermore, the findings are relevant in clinical trials.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":33731049,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Neonatal prophylaxis with antibiotic containing ointments does not reduce incidence of chlamydial conjunctivitis in newborns.\nNeonatal ocular prophylaxis with silver nitrate does not prevent neonatal conjunctivitis due to Chlamydia trachomatis. The efficacy of antibiotic containing preparations for prevention of neonatal chlamydial conjunctivitis (NCC) has not been established. To examine published literature to determine whether antibiotic containing preparation are efficacious for prevention of NCC and C. trachomatis in the nasopharynx. A literature search of MEDLINE and EMBASE. Articles were selected for review if their content included 4 key criteria: (1) Prospective\/comparative study. (2) Prenatal screening of mothers for C. trachomatis with results reported. (3) Follow-up of infants born to chlamydia-positive women. (4) Infants prospectively followed at regular intervals and tested for C. trachomatis in the eye\/ nasopharynx (NP). The search yielded 159 studies; 11 were selected for full reviews, eight were excluded; three addressed the four criteria. Rates of C. trachomatis conjunctivitis in infants in included studies who received silver nitrate was 20-33%; positive NP, 1-28% and pneumonia, 3-8%. Rates of C. trachomatis conjunctivitis in neonates who received erythromycin or tetracycline prophylaxis did not differ from silver nitrate; 0-15 and 11%, respectively, who received erythromycin or tetracycline developed NCC. Similarly, 4-33 and 5% of infants who received erythromycin or tetracycline, respectively, had positive NP cultures; 0-4% developed chlamydial pneumonia. Neonatal ocular prophylaxis with erythromycin or tetracycline ophthalmic ointments does not reduce incidence of neonatal chlamydial conjunctivitis or respiratory infection in infants born to mothers with C. trachomatis infection compared to silver nitrate.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23867310,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Impact of sunitinib on human thyroid cancer cells.\nThyroid cancer accounts for about 1% of all cancer cases. Multikinase inhibitors like sunitinib (S) have a promising potential in thyroid cancer therapy. Therefore, the principal aim of this study was to investigate the impact of sunitinib on the secretion of cytokines of follicular thyroid cancer cells. The effects of irradiation (R), S, and their combination (R+S) on cytokine secretion by the human thyroid cancer cell lines ML-1 and CGTH W-1 were evaluated after two (d2) and four days (d4) of treatment. Multi-Analyte Profiling of cytokine release showed a decrease after S treatment (CGTH W-1: IFN-\u03b3, IL-4, IL-8 d2, MIP-1a, MMP-2, TNF-\u03b1 and TNF-\u03b2; ML-1: IFN-\u03b3, IL-4, IL-6, IL-7, IL-8; MIP-1\u03b1, MMP-2, MCP-1, TNF-\u03b1 and TNF-\u03b2). R elevated significantly the release of cytokines (exception ML-1: MCP-1, MMP-2; CGTH W-1: IL-4, TNF-\u03b2). In contrast, R+S treatment resulted in a reduction of IFN-\u03b3, IL-4, and MMP-2 in both cell lines. IL-6, IL-8 and MCP-1 proteins in the supernatant correlated with the data obtained by quantitative RT-PCR. VEGFD mRNAs were significantly elevated by R+S. A target-based therapy with R+S changed VEGFD, IL-6 and IL-8 in follicular thyroid cancer cells. These in vitro-experiments suggest IL-6, IL-8, VEGFD and TNF-\u03b1 as interesting biomarkers to be investigated in vivo. Different reactions of the cell lines under equal treatment might be due to their different origin and characteristics.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37849103,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Electrically driven kinklike distorting waves in microsized liquid crystals.\nElectrically driven kinklike distortion regimes in a microsized liquid crystal channel have been investigated both experimentally and analytically. Kinklike distortion waves were excited by the interaction between the electric field E and the gradient \u2207n[over \u0302] of the director field in a homogeneously aligned liquid crystal (HALC) channel. Having obtained the evolution of the normalized light intensity, which was recorded by the high-speed camera, the process of excitation and evolution of the traveling wave in the HALC channel was visualized for the first time. It was shown, based on a nonlinear extension of the classical Ericksen-Leslie theory, that in the case when the electric field E\u226bE_{th}, the flow of liquid crystal material completely stops and a new mechanism for converting the electric field arises in the form of the electrically driven distorting traveling kinklike wave, which can be excited in the LC channel, composed of 4-n-pentyl-4^{'}-cyanobiphenyl molecules.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3029355,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nutrient homeostasis: long-term interrelations between pancreatic hormones, blood glucose and dietary wheat bran in men.\nPostprandial plasma somatostatin (SLI), pancreatic glucagon, insulin (IRI) and blood glucose (BG) were measured at 0, 30, 60, 120 and 180 min after a test meal in 10 healthy men before and after 1, 3 and 7 wk of ingestion of a balanced diet supplemented daily with 20 g wheat bran. BG response to the test meal was significantly and consistently lower after the first week of consuming bran, with a maximum drop after 3 wk. After 1 wk of bran, when compared with the prebran values, SLI secretion was decreased, and glucagon response was significantly enhanced at 120 and 180 min after the meal. IRI secretion did not change significantly until the third week. After consuming bran for 7 wk, postprandial SLI concentrations returned to prebran values, and glucagon levels were not significantly different from those of the first meal. IRI during the fourth test meal (after 7 wk of bran consumption) was significantly higher than after the third meal (after 3 wk of bran ingestion), at 60 min and at 120 min. BG levels remained low. Chronic bran ingestion was therefore associated with an improved glucose tolerance. Its effects on pancreatic hormones varied with time for each hormone, and somatostatin was the only one to return to the prebran values.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32362729,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Friends or foes? A compatibility assessment of bioeconomy-related Sustainable Development Goals for European policy coherence.\nIn October 2018, the European Union (EU) launched an updated bioeconomy strategy with the aim of encouraging the substitution of fossil carbon with biomass feedstock in the industry and in energy production while preserving ecosystem services. The objective of the paper is to analyse the links between the EU bioeconomy strategy and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and to assess what could be the main points of synergies and tensions between bioeconomy-related SDG targets. By semantically mapping the action plan of the 2018 EU bioeconomy strategy with the SDG targets, the paper finds that the bioeconomy strategy is aligned with 53 targets distributed in 12 of the 17 SDGs. Ex-post correlation analysis on bioeconomy-related SDGs indicators for 28 EU Member States (1990-2018) shows a predominance of synergies over trade-offs. More intense synergetic past developments (positive correlations) are found among clean energies (SDG 7), recycling (SDG 11), ecosystem preservation (SDG 15) and most of all other bioeconomy-related SDGs. Negative correlations are observed between agro-biodiversity (SDG 2), domestic material consumption of biomass (SDG 8 and 12), agriculture and industrial developments (SDG 2 and SDG 9) and a wide array of bioeconomy-related SDG indicators. The hotspots of strong correlations identified might be useful in further enrichment of ex-ante simulation models. From a policy coherence perspective, a wide range of policy instruments are already in place in the EU to foster synergies and may bring co-benefits. Policies oriented at preventing trade-offs are already in place but they have not overcome the antagonisms observed in this study yet. Change in practices, technical and technological innovations and the application of circular and 'cascading principles' are the most common fields of action.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31297254,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Early childhood development: an imperative for action and measurement at scale.\nExperiences during early childhood shape biological and psychological structures and functions in ways that affect health, well-being and productivity throughout the life course. The science of early childhood and its long-term consequences have generated political momentum to improve early childhood development and elevated action to country, regional and global levels. These advances have made it urgent that a framework, measurement tools and indicators to monitor progress globally and in countries are developed and sustained. We review progress in three areas of measurement contributing to these goals: the development of an index to allow country comparisons of young children's development that can easily be incorporated into ongoing national surveys; improvements in population-level assessments of young children at risk of poor early development; and the production of country profiles of determinants, drivers and coverage for early childhood development and services using currently available data in 91 countries. While advances in these three areas are encouraging, more investment is needed to standardise measurement tools, regularly collect country data at the population level, and improve country capacity to collect, interpret and use data relevant to monitoring progress in early childhood development.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28536529,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Activation of Sirt1\/FXR Signaling Pathway Attenuates Triptolide-Induced Hepatotoxicity in Rats.\nTriptolide (TP), a diterpenoid isolated from Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F, has an excellent pharmacological profile of immunosuppression and anti-tumor activities, but its clinical applications are severely restricted due to its severe and cumulative toxicities. The farnesoid X receptor (FXR) is the master bile acid nuclear receptor and plays an important role in maintaining hepatic metabolism homeostasis. Hepatic Sirtuin (Sirt1) is a key regulator of the FXR signaling pathway and hepatic metabolism homeostasis. The aims of this study were to determine whether Sirt1\/FXR signaling pathway plays a critical role in TP-induced hepatotoxicity. Our study revealed that the intragastric administration of TP (400 \u03bcg\/kg body weight) for 28 consecutive days increased bile acid accumulation, suppressed hepatic gluconeogenesis in rats. The expression of bile acid transporter BSEP was significantly reduced and cholesterol 7\u03b1-hydroxylase (CYP7A1) was markedly increased in the TP-treated group, whereas the genes responsible for hepatic gluconeogenesis were suppressed in the TP-treated group. TP also modulated the FXR and Sirt1 by decreasing its expression both in vitro and in vivo. The Sirt1 agonist SRT1720 and the FXR agonist obeticholic acid (OCA) were used both in vivo and in vitro. The remarkable liver damage induced by TP was attenuated by treatment with either SRT1720 or OCA, as reflected by decreased levels of serum total bile acids and alkaline phosphatase and increased glucose levels. Meanwhile, SRT1720 significantly alleviated TP-induced FXR suppression and FXR-targets involved in hepatic lipid and glucose metabolism. Based on these results, we conclude that Sirt1\/FXR inactivation plays a critical role in TP-induced hepatotoxicity. Moreover, Sirt1\/FXR axis represents a novel therapeutic target that could potentially ameliorate TP-induced hepatotoxicity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27266682,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Expression and significance of neutrophil surface adhesion molecules in renal transplant recipients with cytomegalovirus infection].\nTo study the expression and its diagnostic significance of neutrophil surface adhesion molecules including CD11b, CD15 and CD62L after renal transplantation in recipients with cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection. Blood samples were collected from 142 kidney transplant recipients, including 95 males and 47 females, who received allogeneic renal transplantation between September 2009 and January 2015 in 309th Hospital of the PLA. Healthy volunteers (22 males and 9 females) were recruited from physical examination center in 309th Hospital of the PLA from September 2009 to January 2015 as healthy control group. Renal transplant recipients were divided into high active CMV infection group, active CMV infection group and CMV negative control group according to CMV-pp65 antigen detection. Neutrophil surface adhesion molecules CD11b, CD15 and CD62L were detected by flow cytometry and their mean fluorescence intensity compared among the groups. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves of CD11b, CD15 and CD62L in detecting active infection in renal transplant recipients were made. The mean fluorescence intensity of CD15 in high active CMV infection group(n=17) and active CMV infection group(n=65)were 776.31\u00b189.53 and 554.39\u00b167.89, respectively, with significant differences compared with CMV negative control group (n=60, 334.92\u00b144.69) and healthy control group (n=31, 310.56\u00b139.67) (all P<0.05); the expression proportions of CD11b and CD62L in high active CMV infection group and were 42.31%\u00b16.11% and 40.35%\u00b16.47%, respectively, with significant differences compared with active CMV infection group(62.45%\u00b15.67% and 65.65%\u00b15.33%), CMV negative control group(70.74%\u00b16.55% and 70.37%\u00b16.71%) and healthy control group(72.52%\u00b16.48% and 72.43%\u00b16.51%) (all P<0.05). The optimal cut-off values of CD11b and CD62L in diagnosing active CMV infection group were 56.61% and 44.35%, respectively, with the sensitivity being both 100.00%, the specificity being 76.67% and 58.06% respectively, and the area under the curve (AUC) being 0.851 and 0.628 respectively; the optimal cut-off values of CD11b and CD62L in diagnosing high active CMV infection group were 66.57% and 69.56% respectively, with the sensitivity being 81.54% and 87.69% respectively, the specificity being 100.00% and 98.33% respectively, and the AUC being 1.000 and 0.991 respectively; the optimal cut-off values of mean fluorescence intensity of CD15 in diagnosing high active CMV infection group and active CMV infection group were 542.71 and 408.03 respectively, the sensitivity in the two groups being 100.00% and 98.46% respectively, the specificity being both 100.00%, and the AUC being 1.000 and 0.999 respectively. Neutrophils CD15 expression may be up-regulated in renal transplantation recipients with CMV infection, while neutrophils CD11b and CD62L expressions are down-regulated. Such changes in CD15, CD11b and CD62L expression can be used as a basis for laboratory diagnosis of active CMV infection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6745283,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"How do enzyme activities control metabolite concentrations? An additional theorem in the theory of metabolic control.\nA simple theorem is derived relating the extent to which enzymes in a metabolic pathway control the steady-state concentration of metabolites to the kinetic properties of those enzymes. The theorem gives insight into the mechanism by which the concentration of a second messenger is controlled by the enzymes that form and degrade it, and provides an alternative to the 'cross-over theorem'.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34412738,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Reverse remodeling in a heart failure patient with cardiomegaly treated with sacubitril\/valsartan: a case report.\nSacubitril\/valsartan (S\/V) has shown promise as a tool for decreasing cardiovascular hospitalization and associated mortality among certain patients with heart failure and has been found to exhibit potential renoprotective and antiarrhythmic activity. This report is describing the case of a patient that suffered acute myocardial infarction within one month after undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) stent implantation and who underwent standard guideline-directed medical treatment. Upon readmission, echocardiographic evaluation revealed enlargement of the left heart and reduced ejection fraction. While hospitalized, treatment with S\/V was begun. Following sustained treatment with this drug for five months, the patient exhibited vascular remodeling, a 30% injection fraction improvement, a 15 mm reduction in left ventricular diastolic diameter, and a significant change in functional class from class III to I. Overall, this case report emphasizes the association between S\/V treatment and reverse ventricular remodeling in a patient that experienced cardiomegaly following AMI.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14535117,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Factors of antioxidant and prooxidant activities of carotenoids].\nThe effectiveness of carotenoids as antioxidants is dependent on a number of influencing factors. It is likely that carotenoids exhibit a tendency to lose their effectiveness as antioxidants or act as prooxidants. In this paper, factors influencing the antioxidant or prooxidant activities of carotenoids such as the molecule structure of carotenoids, the location or site of action of the carotenoid molecule within the cell, the concentration of carotenoids, the properties of reactants, the partial pressure of oxygen and the interaction with other antioxidants were reviewed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37843112,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Self-Assembled Nanostructures of Homo-Oligopeptide as a Potent Ice Growth Inhibitor.\nThis study reports the formation of self-assembled nanostructures with homo-oligopeptides consisting of amino acids (i.e., alanine, threonine, valine, and tyrosine), the resulting morphologies (i.e., spherical shape, layered structure, and wire structure) in aqueous solution, and their potential as ice growth inhibitors. Among the homo-oligopeptides investigated, an alanine homo-oligopeptide (n = 5) with a spherical nanostructure showed the highest ice recrystallization inhibition (IRI) activity without showing a burst ice growth property and with low ice nucleation activity. The presence of nanoscale self-assembled structures in the solution showed superior IRI activity compared to an amino acid monomer because of the higher binding affinity of structures on the growing ice crystal plane. Simulation results revealed that the presence of nanostructures induced a significant inhibition of ice growth and increased lifetime of hydrogen bonding compared with unassembled homo-oligopeptide. These results envision extraordinary performance for self-assembled nanostructures as a desirable and potent ice growth inhibitor.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26493960,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Advancing the Precision Medicine Initiative.\nThe NIH has approved the framework to build a national research cohort of 1 million Americans, a key part of President Obama's Precision Medicine Initiative.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17883832,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Diagnostic labelling as determinant of antibiotic prescribing for acute respiratory tract episodes in general practice.\nNext to other GP characteristics, diagnostic labelling (the proportion of acute respiratory tract (RT) episodes to be labelled as infections) probably contributes to a higher volume of antibiotic prescriptions for acute RT episodes. However, it is unknown whether there is an independent association between diagnostic labelling and the volume of prescribed antibiotics, or whether diagnostic labelling is associated with the number of presented acute RT episodes and consequently with the number of antibiotics prescribed per patient per year. Data were used from the Second Dutch National Survey of General Practice (DNSGP-2) with 163 GPs from 85 Dutch practices, serving a population of 359,625 patients. Data over a 12 month period were analysed by means of multiple linear regression analysis. Main outcome measure was the volume of antibiotic prescriptions for acute RT episodes per 1,000 patients. The incidence was 236.9 acute RT episodes\/1,000 patients. GPs labelled about 70% of acute RT episodes as infections, and antibiotics were prescribed in 41% of all acute RT episodes. A higher incidence of acute RT episodes (beta 0.67), a stronger inclination to label episodes as infections (beta 0.24), a stronger endorsement of the need of antibiotics in case of white spots in the throat (beta 0.11) and being male (beta 0.11) were independent determinants of the prescribed volume of antibiotics for acute RT episodes, whereas diagnostic labelling was not correlated with the incidence of acute RT episodes. Diagnostic labelling is a relevant factor in GPs' antibiotic prescribing independent from the incidence of acute RT episodes. Therefore, quality assurance programs and postgraduate courses should emphasise to use evidence based prognostic criteria (e.g. chronic respiratory co-morbidity and old age) as an indication to prescribe antibiotics in stead of single inflammation signs or diagnostic labels.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9153145,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Bringing mind-body medicine into the mainstream.\nCenturies-old concepts concerning the mind's influence on the body are being examined with renewed interest. As awareness of the health benefits of being able to voluntarily control vital aspects of the metabolic state increases, and as our understanding of the underlying molecular mechanisms of such control also increases, mind-body medicine may move further into the mainstream of Western medical practices.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28733685,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-26":1}}},"text":"Trypanosoma brucei growth control by TNF in mammalian host is independent of the soluble form of the cytokine.\nInfection of C57Bl\/6 mice by pleomorphic African trypanosomes Trypanosoma brucei and T. congolense is characterized by parasitemia waves coupled with the production of systemic levels of TNF. This cytokine is known to control T. brucei growth, but also to contribute to tissue damage, shortening the survival time of infected mice. Using a dominant-negative version of TNF to discriminate between the effects of the membrane-form versus the soluble form of TNF, we show that the second form is involved in neither parasite control nor induction of liver injury. Therefore, soluble TNF is likely not a major contributor to disease outcome. We propose that membrane-bound TNF is responsible for both T. brucei control and host pathology.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1695184,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Studies on satellite nucleoli in human blastic cells of acute leukaemias.\nBlastic cells of acute lymphoid, acute myeloid and acute myelomonocytic leukaemias were studied by means of indirect immunofluorencence to provide more information on the presence of satellite nucleoli in blood cells. According to results, satellite nucleoli were found in a small but constant number of blastic cells disregarding their type and type of acute leukaemia. Satellite nucleoli exhibited a positive immunoreaction for fibrillarin and protein B23 which are characteristic for main nucleolar components. These findings suggest that satellite nucleoli contain fibrillar centers as well as dense fibrillar and granular components or at least proteins characteristic for these nucleolar components. Similarly as in normal and pathological cells of completely different origin, in blastic cells of acute leukaemias the number of satellite nucleoli per cells ranged between 1 and 2.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35342063,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"RBF network-based adaptive sliding mode control strategy for the tendon-sheath driven joint of a prosthetic hand.\nThe complex in-hand manipulation puts forward higher requirements for the dexterity and joint control accuracy of the prosthetic hand. The tendon-sheath drive has important application potential in the fields of prosthetic hand to obtain higher dexterity. However, the existing control methods of tendon-sheath driven joint are mainly open-loop compensation based on friction model, which makes it difficult to achieve high-precision joint control. The purpose of this work is to improve the position control accuracy of the tendon-sheath driven joint for the prosthetic hand. The structure of the prosthetic hand is introduced, and the encoder and potentiometer are mounted on the driving motor and joint respectively. Then, the transfer function of the joint is established based on the dynamic model. The adaptive sliding mode control strategy based on RBF network is applied to realize the closed-loop feedback position control of the prosthetic hand joint. The stability of the system is demonstrated by Lyapunov theorem. Under the condition of constant and variable sheath curvature, the effectiveness of the controller is demonstrated by simulation and joint motion experiments, respectively. The results show that the closed-loop control has better position tracking ability than the open-loop control, and the designed controller can reduce the tracking error more obviously than the traditional algorithm. The high-precision position control can be realized by designing the controller based on the joint angle feedback. The research content has certain theoretical and practical significance for the development of joint high-precision control of tendon-sheath driven prosthetic hand. This is beneficial to the implementation of complex in-hand manipulation for prosthetic hand.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17886285,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Prophylaxis against Pneumocystis pneumonia in patients with inflammatory bowel disease: toward a standard of care.\nPatients with Crohn's Disease and ulcerative colitis are increasingly treated with a host of immunomodulatory and immunosuppressive medications, including thiopurines and antibody-based biologic agents. Despite the known infectious complications associated with these therapies from the HIV and solid organ transplant literature, there are currently no well-defined concise guidelines to assist gastroenterologists and other physicians in the utility and indication for prophylaxis against Pneumocystis pneumonia and other infections in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients. In this article, we discuss the evidence of various infections associated with immunocompromise in HIV\/AIDS, organ transplantation, and in other immunocompromised states, and discuss the evidence for the efficacy and safety of various infectious prophylaxis protocols. In addition, we discuss the evidence for Pneumocystis and other infections in IBD patients treated with corticosteroids, azathioprine\/6-MP, biologic agents and other therapies, and we present the case for various antibiotic (and antiviral) regimens to prevent such infections. Based on the review of the literature, this discussion represents a true call for guidelines for infection prophylaxis, to help guide gastroenterologists and all practitioners who care for the challenging population of IBD patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19045189,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Measurement of absolute transition dipole moment functions of the 3 (1)Pi --> 1(X) (1)Sigma+ and 3 (1)Pi --> 2(A) (1)Sigma+ transitions in NaK using Autler-Townes spectroscopy and calibrated fluorescence.\nWe describe a two-laser experiment using optical-optical double resonance fluorescence and Autler-Townes (AT) splittings to determine the NaK 3 (1)Pi-->1(X)(1)Sigma(+), 2(A)(1)Sigma(+) absolute transition dipole moment functions. Resolved 3 (1)Pi-->A (1)Sigma(+) and 3 (1)Pi-->X (1)Sigma(+) fluorescence was recorded with the frequencies of a titanium-sapphire laser (L1) and a ring dye laser (L2) fixed to excite particular 3 (1)Pi(upsilon = 19,J = 11,f)<--A (1)Sigma(+)(upsilon('),J(') = J = 11,e)<--X (1)Sigma(+)(upsilon(\"),J(\") = J(')+\/-1,e) double resonance transitions. The coefficients of a trial transition dipole moment function mu(e)(R) = a(0)+a(1)(R(eq)\/R)(2)+a(2)(R(eq)\/R)(4)+... were adjusted to match the relative intensities of resolved spectral lines terminating on the lower A (1)Sigma(+)(upsilon('),11,e) and X (1)Sigma(+)(upsilon(\"),11,e) levels. These data provide a relative measure of the functions mu(e)(R) over a broad range of R. Next, L2 was tuned to either the 3 (1)Pi(19,11,f)<--A (1)Sigma(+)(10,11,e) or 3 (1)Pi(19,11,f)<--A (1)Sigma(+)(9,11,e) transition and focused to an intensity large enough to split the levels via the AT effect. L1 was scanned over the A (1)Sigma(+)(10,11,e)<--X (1)Sigma(+)(1,10,e) or A (1)Sigma(+)(9,11,e)<--X (1)Sigma(+)(0,12,e) transition to probe the AT line shape, which was fit using density matrix equations to yield an absolute value for mu(ik) = integral psi(vib) (i)(R)mu(e)(R)psi(vib)(k)(R)dR, where i and k represent the upper and lower levels, respectively, of the coupling laser (L2) transition. Finally, the values of mu(ik) were used to place the relative mu(e)(R) functions obtained with resolved fluorescence onto an absolute scale. We compare our experimental transition dipole moment functions to the theoretical work of Magnier et al. [J. Mol. Spectrosc. 200, 96 (2000)].","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30313723,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Earthworm diversity in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.\nThe knowledge regarding earthworm species richness in subtropical Brazil is limited, particularly in the state of Rio Grande do Sul (RS), where only a few sites have been sampled. In this study we assessed earthworm richness in different ecosystems of RS, prioritizing un-sampled regions. Fifteen ecosystems, including native vegetation and other ecosystems with variable levels of disturbance were sampled in 30 counties in RS, totaling 77 sampling points, mainly in the Pampa biome. Qualitative sampling was performed by handsorting soil monoliths and fixing the earthworms in 4% formalin solution. Species identification was based on morphological characters, and species richness and Shannon (H) and McIntosh (U) diversity indices were calculated for each ecosystem. Twenty-one earthworm species were identified, belonging to seven families: Glossoscolecidae (8), Rhinodrilidae (2), Ocnerodrilidae (4), Megascolecidae (4), Acanthodrilidae (1), Lumbricidae (1) and Criodrilidae (1). From these, ten are new species belonging to the genera: Glossoscolex (6), Fimoscolex (1), Kerriona (1), Eukerria (1), and one aquatic species of the Criodrilidae family, belonging to a new genus. Most of the native species (Urobenus brasiliensis, Fimoscolex n.sp.1 and the Glossoscolex spp.) predominated in ecosystems little altered by human activity, while exotic (Amynthas gracilis, Amynthas rodericensis, Metaphire californica, Aporrectodea trapezoides) and peregrine species (Pontoscolex corethrurus) predominated in areas with more human disturbance. Native ecosystems with lower disturbance, particularly forests and native pastures had higher diversity than disturbed sites. This is the first record of A. rodericencis for Brazil and most sites represent new collection records for the known species in RS.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":33729031,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Biphasic Hyalinizing Psammomatous Renal Cell Carcinoma: Another Provisional Entity Emerging From the Papillary Renal Cell Carcinoma Pandora's Box.\nPapillary renal cell carcinoma (especially type 2) is a Pandora's box with many newly described renal cell carcinomas emerging from it as a result of enhanced molecular techniques. Biphasic hyalinizing psammomatous renal cell carcinoma (BHPRCC) is the latest addition, which was first described a few months ago. Here, we report a case of BHPRCC to supplement the very limited literature available about this entity, and to highlight the characteristic morphology as well as the recurring molecular alterations in the neurofibromatosis 2 gene.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28271784,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"EU nurse figures in decline long before Brexit vote.\nThe falling number of European Union (EU) nurses applying to work in the UK has been widely blamed on Brexit. But figures obtained by Nursing Standard reveal interest from EU nurses was waning months before the June 2016 referendum, a trend experts say could be due to tougher language requirements introduced by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":931430,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Prostaglandin-induced diarrhoea.\nA child with chronic diarrhoea since birth responded to the prostaglandin synthetase inhibitors aspirin and indomethacin. During a period without treatment, raised levels of prostaglandins F2alpha and E2 were observed. No source for these raised prostaglandins was shown, and it is suggested that she may have an inborn defect of prostaglandin metabolism.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28263563,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Alkyne-Functionalized Coumarin Compound for Analytic and Preparative 4-Thiouridine Labeling.\nBioconjugation of RNA is a dynamic field recently reinvigorated by a surge in research on post-transcriptional modification. This work focuses on the bioconjugation of 4-thiouridine, a nucleoside that occurs as a post-transcriptional modification in bacterial RNA and is used as a metabolic label and for cross-linking purposes in eukaryotic RNA. A newly designed coumarin compound named 4-bromomethyl-7-propargyloxycoumarin (PBC) is introduced, which exhibits remarkable selectivity for 4-thiouridine. Bearing a terminal alkyne group, it is conductive to secondary bioconjugation via \"click chemistry\", thereby offering a wide range of preparative and analytical options. We applied PBC to quantitatively monitor the metabolic incorporation of s4U as a label into RNA and for site-specific introduction of a fluorophore into bacterial tRNA at position 8, allowing the determination of its binding constant to an RNA-modification enzyme.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37863287,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Prediction of key milk biomarkers in dairy cows through milk MIR spectra and international collaborations.\nAt the individual cow level, sub-optimum fertility, mastitis, negative energy balance and ketosis are major issues in dairy farming. These problems are widespread on dairy farms and have an important economic impact. The objectives of this study were: 1) to assess the potential of milk Mid Infrared (MIR) spectra to predict key biomarkers of energy deficit (citrate, isocitrate, glucose-6P, free glucose), ketosis (BHB and acetone), mastitis (NAGase and LDH), and fertility (progesterone); 2) to test alternative methodologies to partial least square regression (PLS) to better account for the specific asymmetric distribution of the biomarkers; and 3) to create robust models by merging large data sets from 5 international or national projects. Benefiting from this international collaboration, the data set comprised a total of 9,143 milk samples from 3,758 cows located in 589 herds across 10 countries and represented 7 breeds. The samples were analyzed by reference chemistry for biomarker contents while the MIR analyses were performed on 30 instruments from different models and brands, with spectra harmonized into a common format. Four quantitative methodologies were evaluated to address the strongly skewed distribution of some biomarkers. PLS was used as the reference basis, and compared with a random modification of distribution associated with PLS (Random-downsampling-PLS), an optimized modification of distribution associated with PLS (KennardStone-downsampling-PLS) and Support Vector Machine (SVM). When the ability of MIR to predict biomarkers was too low for quantification, different qualitative methodologies were tested to discriminate low vs high values of biomarkers. For each biomarker, 20% of the herds were randomly removed within all countries to be used as the validation data set. The remaining 80% of herds were used as the calibration data set. In calibration, the 3 alternative methodologies outperform the PLS performances for the majority of biomarkers. However, in the external herd validation, PLS provided the best results for isocitrate, glucose-6P, free glucose and LDH (R2v = 0.48, 0.58, 0.28, and 0.24). For other molecules, PLS-Random-downsampling and PLS-KennardStone-downsampling outperformed PLS in the majority of cases, but the best results were provided by SVM for citrate, BHB, acetone, NAGase and progesterone (R2v = 0.94, 0.58, 0.76, 0.68, and 0.15). Hence, PLS and SVM based on the entire data set provided the best results for normal and skewed distributions, respectively. Complementary to the quantitative methods, the qualitative discriminant models enabled the discrimination of high and low values for BHB, acetone, and NAGase with a global accuracy around 90%, and glucose-6P with an accuracy of 83%. In conclusion, MIR spectra of milk can enable quantitative screening of citrate as a biomarker of energy deficit and discrimination of low and high values of BHB, acetone, and NAGase, as biomarkers of ketosis and mastitis. Finally, progesterone could not be predicted with sufficient accuracy from milk MIR spectra to be further considered. Consequently, MIR spectrometry can bring valuable information regarding the occurrence of energy deficit, ketosis and mastitis in dairy cows, which in turn have major influences on their fertility and survival.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21148227,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Transforming growth factor-{beta} gene polymorphisms in different phenotypes of sarcoidosis.\nThe aetiology of sarcoidosis is unclear. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in transforming growth factor (TGF)-\u03b22 and -\u03b23 have been reported to be associated with the development of lung fibrosis in patients with sarcoidosis. SNPs in TGF-\u03b22 (rs1891467) and TGF-\u03b23 (rs3917200) were investigated in 296 patients with sarcoidosis (acute\/self remitting, n = 70 (including 62 patients with L\u00f6fgren's syndrome); chronic, n = 168; acute\/chronic, n = 58) by real-time PCR. 32 patients showed radiological signs of lung fibrosis. The genotype frequencies were compared among the sarcoidosis groups as well as to 377 healthy controls. We found a significant association with the G-allele in rs1891467 in TGF-\u03b22 and an acute\/self remitting course of sarcoidosis compared to a chronic course (p = 0.001). The results were even more evident for patients with L\u00f6fgren's syndrome (p<0.001). Moreover, we could demonstrate a borderline significance between TGF-\u03b23 (rs3917200) and lung fibrosis (p = 0.050). Carriers of the G-allele in rs1891467 might be protected from developing a chronic course. Moreover, there is evidence that rs3917200 is involved in the development of lung fibrosis in sarcoidosis. This study is the first in sarcoidosis patients to suggest a genetic implication of TGF-\u03b22 as a protective factor in the course of sarcoidosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6040896,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Orotidine-5'-phosphate decarboxylase and pyrophosphorylase of bean leaves.\nThis report includes results demonstrating the existence of orotidine-5'-phosphate decarboxylase and orotidine-5'-phosphate pyrophosphorylase in plant leaves. The decarboxylase enzyme, purified 8 fold from leaves of etiolated pinto beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), had a pH optimum of 6.3. It was strongly inhibited by 6-azauridine-5'-phosphate; a concentration of 12 mum decreased the reaction rate 60%. The enzyme was not dependent upon magnesium ions or inhibited by p-chloromercuribenzoate. It was present in other parts of the bean plant and was found in young leaves of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) and Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense L.)The enzyme orotidine-5'-phosphate pyrophosphorylase, which catalyzes the formation of orotidine-5'-phosphate from orotic acid and 5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate, was found in the etiolated bean leaves, and was also present in the leaves of tomato and Canada thistle. It was stimulated by manganous or magnesium ions and had a pH optimum of 7.2. The K(m) value obtained by varying the concentrations of 5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate was 75 mum, and when orotic acid was varied the resulting K(m) was 3.5 mum. The presence of these 2 enzymes in higher plants, combined with previous results with inhibitors and labeled metabolites, indicates that the normal pathway of pyrimidine nucleotide synthesis in higher plants proceeds through orotic acid and OMP.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37445823,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Sizes and Composition of HDL-Cholesterol Are Significantly Associated with Inflammation in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients.\nRheumatoid arthritis (RA), a chronic inflammatory disease, carries a significant burden of atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases (ASCVD). With their heterogeneous composition, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) particles have varied athero-protective properties, and some may even increase ASCVD risk. In this prospective and cross-sectional study, we aimed to examine the relationship between HDL sizes\/metabolites and inflammation in RA. Using 1H-NMR-based lipid\/metabolomics, differential HDL-related metabolites were identified between RA patients and healthy control (HC) subjects and between RA patients with and without anti-citrullinated peptide antibodies (ACPA). The correlation between the discriminative HDL-related metabolites and C-reactive protein (CRP) was evaluated in RA patients. RA patients demonstrated higher particle number, lipids, cholesterol, cholesterol ester, free cholesterol, and phospholipids in large\/very large-sized HDLs. ACPA-positive patients had higher L-HDL-C and L-HDL-CE but lower small-\/medium-sized HDL-TG levels than ACPA-negative patients. An inverse correlation was found between CRP levels and small-sized HDLs. Janus kinase inhibitor treatment was associated with increased serum small-sized HDL-related metabolites and decreased CRP levels. We are the first to reveal the significant associations between RA inflammation and HDL sizes\/metabolites. A potential link between ACPA positivity and changes in serum levels of HDL-related metabolites was also observed in RA patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23459519,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Intraoperative monitoring of motor evoked potentials during glioma removal].\nTo determine whether motor evoked potentials(MEPs)provide reliable monitoring of the motor system during resection of gliomas in or adjacent to the motor cortex or pyramidal tract. MEP recording was performed during 64 operations in 55 patients harboring gliomas. Intraoperative MEP findings were classified into 3 groups:Group A was defined as having no significant MEP changes, Group B as having reversible MEP changes(?50% amplitude decrease or loss), and Group C as having irreversible changes. Postoperative motor function was evaluated according to the presence\/absence of deterioration immediately after surgery and 1 month later, as compared to preoperative motor status Immediately after surgery, 13 of 39(33%)patients in Group A, 6 of 17(35%)in Group B, and 7 of 8(88%)in Group C experienced deterioration of motor function. One month after surgery, 4 of 39(10%)patients in Group A, 3 of 17(18%)in Group B, and 4 of 8(50%)showed deterioration of motor function. Both immediately(\u03c72=8.3, p<0.05)and 1 month(\u03c72=6.9, p<0.05)after surgery, MEP alterations correlated significantly with postoperative deterioration of motor function. Despite MEPs being stable throughout surgery(Group A), there were some patients with deterioration of motor function initially appearing to represent false negative monitoring. However, these deteriorations were confirmed to have been caused by secondary hemorrhage, venous return dysfunction, postoperative convulsion, or resection of the supplementary motor area. MEP monitoring provides reliable information on the motor system during glioma surgery. Although false negative MEP results may exist in some patients, most data were not influenced by intraoperative manipulation but rather were attributable to secondary postoperative events.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29560055,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"High Prevalence of Sterile Pyuria in the Setting of Sexually Transmitted Infection in Women Presenting to an Emergency Department.\nThe clinical presentations for sexually transmitted infections (STI) and urinary tract infections (UTI) often overlap, and symptoms of dysuria and urinary frequency\/urgency occur with both STIs and UTIs. Abnormal urinalysis (UA) findings and pyuria are common in both UTIs and STIs, and confirmatory urine cultures are not available to emergency clinicians to aid in decision-making regarding prescribing antibiotics for UTIs. The objective of this study was to determine the frequency of sterile pyuria in women with confirmed STIs, as well as whether the absolute number of leukocytes on microscopy or nitrite on urine dipstick correlated with positive urine cultures in patients with confirmed STIs. We also sought to determine how many patients with STIs were inappropriately prescribed a UTI antibiotic. We performed a retrospective chart review of patients aged 18-50 who had a urinalysis and pelvic examination in the emergency department (including cervical cultures), and tested positive for Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis, and\/or Trichomonas vaginalis. Descriptive statistics were obtained for all variables, and associations between various findings were sought using the Fisher's exact test for categorical variables. We calculated comparison of proportions using the N-1 chi-squared analysis. A total of 1,052 female patients tested positive for Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis, and\/or Trichomonas vaginalis and were entered into the database. The prevalence of pyuria in all cases was 394\/1,052, 37% (95% confidence interval [CI] [0.34-0.40]). Of the cases with pyuria, 293\/394, 74% (95% CI [0.70-0.78]) had sterile pyuria with negative urine cultures. The prevalence of positive urine cultures in our study population was 101\/1,052, 9.6% (95% CI [0.08-0.11]). Culture positive urines had a mean of 34 leukocytes per high-power field, and culture negative urines had a mean of 24 leukocytes per high-power field, with a difference of 10, (95% CI [3.46-16.15]), which was statistically significant (p=0.003). Only 123 cases tested positive for nitrite on the urinalysis dipstick; 50\/123, 41% (95% CI [0.32-0.49]) had positive urine cultures, and 73\/123, 59% (95% CI [0.51-0.68]) had negative urine cultures. Nitrite-positive urines were actually 18% more likely to be associated with negative urine cultures in the setting of positive STI cases, (95% CI [4.95-30.42], p=0.0048). Antibiotics were prescribed for 295 patients with suspected UTI. Of these, 195\/295, 66% (95% CI [0.61-0.71]) had negative urine cultures, and 100\/295, 34% (0.33, 95% CI [0.28-0.39]) had positive urine cultures. Chi-square analysis yielded a difference of these proportions of 32% (95% CI [23.92-39.62], p<0.0001). This study demonstrated that in female patients with STIs who have pyuria, there is a high prevalence of sterile pyuria. Our results suggest that reliance on pyuria or positive nitrite for the decision to add antimicrobial therapy empirically for a presumed urinary tract infection in cases in which an STI is confirmed or highly suspected is likely to result in substantial over-treatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11984157,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hepatitis B associated fulminant polyarteritis nodosa: successful treatment with pulse cyclophosphamide, prednisolone and lamivudine following emergency surgery.\nFor hepatitis B virus associated polyarteritis nodosa, alpha interferon and plasma exchanges have been proposed to be the first-line treatment. We report a case of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-positive fulminant polyarteritis nodosa with predominant gastrointestinal involvement who showed good response to pulse cyclophosphamide, prednisolone, and lamivudine therapy. The patient, a 22-year-old man, presented with a short history of epigastric pain. Initial upper gastrointestinal endoscopy revealed gastritis and duodenal erosions. His pain did not respond to H2-receptor antagonists. He had slightly impaired liver function tests, and was HBsAg and hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) positive. Around 3 weeks after initial presentation, he developed massive gastrointestinal haemorrhage requiring resuscitation and emergency laparotomy. Microscopic examination of the resection specimens revealed necrotizing vasculitis of small and medium-sized arteries in the submucosa compatible with polyarteritis nodosa. The patient was treated with pulse cyclophosphamide and prednisolone, with lamivudine being added when he showed an acute rise in liver enzymes. He subsequently developed HBeAg seroconversion, and remained well 18 months after cessation of all immunosuppressives. We believe that the efficacy of pulse cyclophosphamide, prednisolone, and lamivudine in the treatment of hepatitis B virus associated polyarteritis nodosa, especially in comparison with interferon and plasma exchanges, deserves further evaluation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17876397,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Botulinum toxin type A in refractory chronic migraine: an open-label trial.\nBotulinum toxin type A (BT-A) has been described as an important strategy to various types of pain such as cervical dystonia, myofascial pain syndrome and headache. Although BT-A efficacy has not been proven in tension type headache, its use in migraine continues controversial. In this open trial, we evaluated the efficacy of BT-A in refractory migraine. BT-A was injected in patients diagnosed with migraine who had previously used three classes of prophylactic drugs by at least one year with no response. The most important improvement was observed within 30 days, but pain intensity and frequency of headache had been decreased until the end of three months of follow up. Side effects of BT-A were mild and self limited. We conclude that BT-A seems to be a safe and effective treatment to refractory migraine patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28348663,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Acute Impact of Smoking One Cigarette on Cardiac Hemodynamic Parameters.\nThe acute impact of tobacco smoking on the cardiac hemodynamic parameters and its pathological implication in the process of arterial atherosclerosis need further exploration. This investigation was purposed to assess the acute impact of tobacco smoke on blood pressure and cardiac hemodynamic parameters. Using an Ultrasonic Cardiac Output Monitor, and DINAMAP Pro 400 Series V2 blood pressure monitor, several cardiac hemodynamic parameters and the blood pressure were assessed in 14 smokers, 11 females and 3 males, at 2 time points, before and after smoking of one cigarette. Data, in terms of ratio of the means and 95% confidence interval were analyzed using ANOVA. Single-subject design in which the subject has served as his\/her own control has been used. Tobacco smoking led to statistically significant acute increase in the means of all hemodynamic parameters, except for heart rate in female subjects, as compared to the means obtained before smoking. Cigarette smoking induces acute non-physiologic alteration in cardiac outflow forces, exposing the aortic valve and arch to mechanical injury that might be implicated in initiating and promoting the process of aortic arch atherosclerosis and associated pathological lesions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36264958,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"African American English speaking 2nd graders, verbal-s, and educational achievement: Event related potential and math study findings.\nA number of influential linguistic analyses hold that African American English (AAE) has no verbal-s, the-s that, for example, turns drink into drinks in more mainstream English varieties.On such accounts, sentences like Mary drinks coffee are ungrammatical in AAE. Previous behavioral studies suggest that in addition to being ungrammatical, AAE speaking children find these sentences cognitively demanding, and that their presence in mathematical reasoning tests can depress scores. Until now, however, no online sentence processing study nor investigation of neurophysiological markers has been done to support these findings. Aimed at addressing this gap in the literature, the auditory ERP experiment described herein revealed two different processes associated with AAE speaking 2nd graders listening to this type of sentence: a morphosyntactic structure building problem, reflected in a bilateral early anterior-central negativity; and an increase in working memory load, indicated by a bilateral late long-lasting anterior-central negativity. Study participants also took an orally administered test of math word problems. Consistent with previous findings, results showed they answered fewer questions correctly when those questions contained verbal-s than when they did not.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16211267,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Regulation of tyrosine phosphorylation during the CD40-mediated rescue of Ramos-BL B cells from BCR-triggered apoptosis.\nThe regulation of tyrosine phosphorylation is essential for BCR-triggered cellular responses during the selection process in the germinal centres. We were interested in examining the temporal regulation of tyrosine phosphorylation following CD40 cross-linking of anti-IgM-triggered Ramos-BL B cells. CD40 co-stimulation of anti-IgM-treated Ramos-BL B cells rescued them from growth inhibition and apoptosis, even when anti-CD40 Abs were added up to 12 h after the cross-linking of the BCR. The initial up-regulation of tyrosine phosphorylation triggered by BCR cross-linking is followed by tyrosine dephosphorylation after 12 h of stimulation, coinciding with pro-caspase-3 processing and PARP cleavage. We find that CD40 co-stimulation rescues BCR-triggered Ramos-BL B cells only before the irreversible inhibition of tyrosine kinase activity after 12 h of BCR cross-linking and that this is coupled with up-regulation of tyrosine phosphorylation; thus demonstrating the importance of the late regulation of tyrosine phosphorylation for CD40-mediated rescue of Ramos-BL B cells from BCR-triggered G1 growth arrest and apoptosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19034382,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"The type locality of Pan troglodytes vellerosus (Gray, 1862), and implications for the nomenclature of West African chimpanzees.\nWe show that, in 1862, Richard Burton collected the type specimen of Pan troglodytes vellerosus not on Mount Cameroon, as has been generally assumed, but in Gabon. Therefore, P. t. vellerosus is not the correct name for the chimpanzee population of western Cameroon and southern Nigeria, if that population is taxonomically distinct. As First Reviser, we choose the name Pan troglodytes ellioti for this population of chimpanzees, based on Anthropopithecus ellioti named by Matschie [Matschie P (1914) Neue Affen aus Mittelafrika. Sitzungsber Ges Naturforsch Freunde Berlin 1914:323-342] from a specimen in the Humboldt Museum, Berlin, collected in Bascho (=Basho), Cameroon, and given to the museum in 1905.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28558703,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"\"Fibromyalgia and quality of life: mapping the revised fibromyalgia impact questionnaire to the preference-based instruments\".\nThe revised version of the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQR) is one of the most widely used specific questionnaires in FM studies. However, this questionnaire does not allow calculation of QALYs as it is not a preference-based measure. The aim of this study was to develop mapping algorithm which enable FIQR scores to be transformed into utility scores that can be used in the cost utility analyses. A cross-sectional survey was conducted. One hundred and 92 Spanish women with Fibromyalgia were asked to complete four general quality of life questionnaires, i.e. EQ-5D-5 L, 15D, AQoL-8D and SF-12, and one specific disease instrument, the FIQR. A direct mapping approach was adopted to derive mapping algorithms between the FIQR and each of the four multi-attribute utility (MAU) instruments. Health state utility was treated as the dependent variable in the regression analysis, whilst the FIQR score and age were predictors. The mean utility scores ranged from 0.47 (AQoL-8D) to 0.69 (15D). All correlations between the FIQR total score and MAU instruments utility scores were highly significant (p < 0.0001) with magnitudes larger than 0.5. Although very slight differences in the mean absolute error were found between ordinary least squares (OLS) estimator and generalized linear model (GLM), models based on GLM were better for EQ-5D-5 L, AQoL-8D and 15D. Mapping algorithms developed in this study enable the estimation of utility values from scores in a fibromyalgia specific questionnaire.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30656151,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The relationship between communication competence and exercise participation type: focusing on joining clubs and using fitness applications.\nThe purpose of this study was to determine the effects of the differences in subfactors of communication competence on exercise participation types (clubs, applications use). Communication competence focus on the communication part of the individual's interpersonal competence. Therefore, communication competence can be predicted to be related to the type of exercise participation. Accordingly, the targets of this study were clubs, which had group characteristics, and fitness applications, which had individual characteristics. There was a significant difference as a result of the association between communication competence and the type of exercise participation. In terms of club membership, significant differences were found in communication competence skills according to exercise participation types in that self-disclosure of subjects who joined clubs was significant, social relaxation of subjects who intend to join a club was significant, and the immediacy of fitness applications users was significant.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9140557,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Relapsing bacteremia after blood transmission of Bartonella henselae to cats.\nTo determine persistence of bacteremia, pathogenicity, and immunoglobulin kinetics after blood transmission of Bartonella henselae in cats. 18 specific-pathogen-free (SPF) cats (16 weeks old) received blood or urine from 4 adult cats (2 SPF, 2 naturally infected with B henselae). SPF cats were inoculated with blood IV (n = 4), blood IM (n = 4), or urine sediment IM (n = 4) from 2 bacteremic cats (donors A and B). Control cats (2\/route) received inoculum from culture-negative, seronegative SPF cats (donors C and D). 6 cats (5 blood, 1 urine) were transiently febrile during the 213-day observation period. Two bacteremic cats developed CNS abnormalities. Transient anemia was the only hematologic abnormality. Bacteremia was induced in 7 of 8 blood recipients by postinoculation day (PID) 11. Urine recipients (n = 6) did not become bacteremic or seroconvert by PID 108, but when challenge exposed IV with blood, 4 of 6 became infected. All infected cats developed relapsing bacteremia. Initially, colony counts for donor-A recipients were 10(3) greater than those for donor-B recipients; however, during relapses, counts were similar. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of 16S rRNA gene and the intergenic spacer region revealed no differences among isolates derived from recipient cats. Bartonella henselae-specific antibodies were detected between PID 15 and 18 in donor-A, compared with PID 46 and 181 in donor-B recipients. The peak geometric mean titer of donor-A recipients was 1,448, versus 406 for donor-B recipients. Blood transmission of B henselae induced subtle clinical abnormalities; the biological behavior of the 2 donor strains differed; and relapsing bacteremia can persist in conjunction with variably high antibody titers.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14566633,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Prevalence and causes of blindness in Otibhor Okhae Teaching Hospital, Irrua, Edo State, Nigeria.\nThis hospital-based retrospective study was aimed at providing baseline information on the causes of blindness in the locality. The case notes of all new patients attending the Eye Clinic of Otibhor Okhae Teaching Hospital, Irrua, Edo State, Nigeria, over a six-year period (January 1995-December 2000) were retrieved and analyzed. Over 6% (555) of new patients seen during this period were uniocularly blind while 3.9% (354) were binocularly blind. The leading causes of uniocular blindness were cataract, open-angle glaucoma and corneal ulceration\/leucoma. Binocular blindness was mainly due to cataract, open-angle glaucoma and aphakia. The prevalence of blindness in the study population is high. Cataract, as the main cause of blindness, will require surgical relief, either in the teaching hospital or preferably in the patient's locality. Appropriate interventions need to be evolved (in the form of either mobile clinics or a series of surgical eye camps) to stem the present trend toward high prevalence of avoidable blindness. Prevention of ocular trauma is an essential factor in the reduction of blindness in children. Health education and bringing ophthalmological care to the doorstep of underprivileged rural dwellers will improve their level of awareness.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1097992,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Should resistance to methicillin of RH mutant staphylococci be necessarily attributed to cephalosporins?].\nThe resistance to cephalosporins of 48 heterogeneous methicillin-resistant strains (\"RH\" mutants) of Staphylococcus pyogenes var. aureus is studied in vitro with various methods: sensitivity discs test on Mueller-Hinton medium with 5 per cent NaCl at 37 degrees C; M.I.C. in solid medium by spots medium with two inocula: a light inoculum (10(7) bacterial\/ml) and a heavy inoculum (10(9) bacteria\/ml). With light inoculum all strains have M.I.C. to cephaloridin less than 2 meg\/ml and seem sensitive. With heavy inoculum 45 sc. equal or superior to 64 meg\/ml and then are resistant. These resistances occur after 3 degrees C. The varied methods of detection of mutants to cephalosporins are discussed in this paper.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11651550,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-26":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Futility: a concept in search of a definition.\nThe simplistic concepts of futility and autonomy, then, cannot adequately inform society about the kinds of health care services that are appropriately provided to patients. Health care professionals, patients, and their surrogates are left with the arduous but necessary task of communicating effectively and of searching for an equitable resolution to the treatment conflict. With these introductory remarks to help frame the discussion, we invite you to read LMHC's mini-symposium on futility [articles by Steven H. Miles; Betty Dew; Kathryn A. Koch, Bruce W. Myers and Stephen Sandroni; Ann Alpers and Bernard Lo; Edward R. Grant; and Troyen A. Brennan], and to decide for yourself about this relatively new, extremely important, but also highly dangerous, concept of medical futility.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14558954,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Effects of ulinastatin on interleukin-8 during one-lung ventilation in surgery].\nUlinastatin is a kind of broad- spectrum hydrolase inhibitors purified from urine of healthy males.There was no data showing whether ulinastatin could affect alveolar inflammatory reactions.This study was designed to investigate the changes of pulmonary alveolar interleukin-8 during one lung ventilation (OLV) in surgery and the effects of ulinastatin on alveolar IL-8. Sixty patients,ASA II- III,who underwent lobectomy, were randomly divided into two groups [30 patients in each group,surgery group(II) and control group (I)].Patients in surgery group were treated with ulinastatin 5,000 u\/kg preoperatively. Alveolar IL-8 was harvested by bronchoalveolar lavage at 0, 1, and 2 hours after one lung ventilation and at the end of surgery. The changes of concentration of IL-8 in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid were analyzed statistically. (1)Alveolar interleukin 8 was significantly higher at 2 hours after OLV [(160.85+\/-46.58)ng\/L] than before OLV [(128.26+\/-35.35)ng\/L] in control group. The results indicated that OLV and\/or the stimulation of surgery could induce the pulmonary inflammatory reaction. (2)The concentrations of alveolar IL-8 at 2 hours [(140.32+\/-41.25)ng\/L] after OLV and at the end of surgery [ (156.74+\/-43.58) ng\/L] were significantly lower in surgery group than those in control group [(160.85+\/-46.58)ng\/L and (172.41+\/-52.60)ng\/L] respectively(P< 0.05). Ulinastatin could alleviate the pulmonary alveolar inflammatory reactions in OLV.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27274468,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Active Flexion in Weight Bearing Better Correlates with Functional Outcomes of Total Knee Arthroplasty than Passive Flexion.\nCorrelations between maximum flexion and functional outcomes in total knee arthroplasty (TKA) patients are reportedly weak. We investigated whether there are differences between passive maximum flexion in nonweight bearing and other types of maximum flexion and whether the type of maximum flexion correlates with functional outcomes. A total of 210 patients (359 knees) underwent preoperative evaluation and postoperative follow-up evaluations (6, 12, and 24 months) for the assessment of clinical outcomes including maximum knee flexion. Maximum flexion was measured under five conditions: passive nonweight bearing, passive weight bearing, active nonweight bearing, and active weight bearing with or without arm support. Data were analyzed for relationships between passive maximum flexion in nonweight bearing by Pearson correlation analyses, and a variance comparison between measurement techniques via paired t test. We observed substantial differences between passive maximum flexion in nonweight bearing and the other four maximum flexion types. At all time points, passive maximum flexion in nonweight bearing correlated poorly with active maximum flexion in weight bearing with or without arm support. Active maximum flexion in weight bearing better correlated with functional outcomes than the other maximum flexion types. Our study suggests active maximum flexion in weight bearing should be reported together with passive maximum flexion in nonweight bearing in research on the knee motion arc after TKA.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8355251,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Synthesis and binding properties of MK-801 isothiocyanates; (+)-3-isothiocyanato-5-methyl-10,11-dihydro-5H-dibenzo[a,d]cyclohepten- 5,10-imine hydrochloride: a new, potent and selective electrophilic affinity ligand for the NMDA receptor-coupled phencyclidine binding site.\nThree new site-directed irreversible (wash-resistant) ligands for the high-affinity phencyclidine (PCP) binding site associated with the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor were synthesized and their binding characteristics were studied. (+)-3- And (+)-2-isothiocyanato-5-methyl-10,11-dihydro-5H-dibenzo[a,d]cycl ohepten-5,10 - imine hydrochloride ((+)-8a,b.HCl) were prepared in four steps from the corresponding nitro derivatives (+)-4a,b, which were obtained by nitration of (+)-3 (MK-801). In the same way the optical antipode (-)-8a.HCl was synthesized from (-)-3. At a concentration of 100 nM, the 3-isothiocyanate derivative (+)-8a irreversibly labeled approximately 50% of the (+)-[3H]-3 binding sites, compared to 20 microM needed for its optical antipode (-)-8a and the 2-isothiocyanate (+)-8b. The apparent Ki values for reversible inhibition of (+)-[3H]-3 binding by (+)- and (-)-8a and (+)-8b were 37,838, and 843 nM, respectively. In contrast, metaphit (1b) and etoxadrol m-isothiocyanate (2b), two previously reported irreversible ligands for the PCP binding site, label about 50% of the (+)-[3H]-3 binding sites at 100 microM and 250 nM, respectively, with apparent Ki values for reversible inhibition of 535 and 94 nM. Compound (+)-8a is also a selective affinity ligand, displaying little or no irreversible in vitro affinity at 100 microM for opioid, benzodiazepine, muscarinic, and dopamine receptors. At a 25 microM concentration, (+)-8a caused an irreversible 52% reduction of binding to sigma 1-receptors. Compound (+)-8a is the most potent known electrophilic affinity label for the PCP binding site. Its potency and selectivity should enable it to be a valuable tool for the elucidation of the structure and function of the NMDA receptor-associated PCP binding site in the mammalian central nervous system.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3041399,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cholecystokinin (CCK)-33 stimulates insulin secretion from the perfused rat pancreas: studies on the structure-activity relationship.\nCholecystokinin (CCK)-33 is known to stimulate insulin secretion. Presently, using the perfused rat pancreas, we have characterized the active site in the CCK-33 molecule that is responsible for this effect by the use of different CCK fragments. We found that CCK-33, CCK-8 and CCK-7 (1 nM) all significantly stimulated insulin secretion in the presence of 4.4 mM or 6.7 mM glucose. However, CCK-7 was much less potent than the longer forms. In contrast, CCK-4, CCK-6 and CCK-33 (1-21) had no effect on insulin secretion. We conclude that the shortest CCK-form that stimulates insulin secretion at 1 nM is the C-terminal heptapeptide CCK-7. However, CCK-8 is much more potent than CCK-7 in this respect.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23449845,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Complete genome sequence of Thermovibrio ammonificans HB-1(T), a thermophilic, chemolithoautotrophic bacterium isolated from a deep-sea hydrothermal vent.\nThermovibrio ammonificans type strain HB-1(T) is a thermophilic (Topt: 75\u00b0C), strictly anaerobic, chemolithoautotrophic bacterium that was isolated from an active, high temperature deep-sea hydrothermal vent on the East Pacific Rise. This organism grows on mineral salts medium in the presence of CO2\/H2, using NO3(-) or S(0) as electron acceptors, which are reduced to ammonium or hydrogen sulfide, respectively. T. ammonificans is one of only three species within the genus Thermovibrio, a member of the family Desulfurobacteriaceae, and it forms a deep branch within the phylum Aquificae. Here we report the main features of the genome of T. ammonificans strain HB-1(T) (DSM 15698(T)).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34398595,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evolving Role of Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation for Light Chain Amyloidosis in the Modern Era.\nMuhamed Baljevic, MD, considers the role of autologous stem cell transplantation for light chain amyloidosis in a peer perspective accompanying an article by Iuliana Vaxman, MD, and Angela Dispenzieri, MD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":5641614,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Elevated serum human growth hormone and decreased serum insulin in prediabetic males after intravenous tolbutamide and glucose.\nSerum human growth hormone (HGH), serum immunoreactive insulin (IRI), plasma free fatty acids, and blood glucose were measured during intravenous glucose and intravenous tolbutamide tolerance tests in 13 normal and 13 prediabetic (offspring of two diabetic parents) males, closely matched for weight and age. Only prediabetics with normal glucose tolerance during oral, intravenous, and cortisone-primed glucose tolerance tests were evaluated. Mean serum HGH levels were significantly higher in prediabetics in response to intravenous tolbutamide and at the end of the 3-hr intravenous glucose tolerance tests (IVGTT). This is interpreted as a hyperresponsiveness of the growth hormone-releasing mechanisms in prediabetic subjects. The insulin response during the first 10 min of an IVGTT was significantly reduced in prediabetic males as compared to normal controls, whereas the insulin response to intravenous tolbutamide was not significantly different at the same time intervals in the same subjects.It appears, therefore, that measuring IRI during an IVGTT can be valuable in detecting the earliest signs of diabetes even before any disturbance of blood glucose homeostasis is seen. The possibility that growth hormone hypersecretion in prediabetics might play a role in the pathogenesis of human diabetes mellitus is discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28580921,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Crystal structure of the active form of native human thymidylate synthase in the absence of bound substrates.\nHuman thymidylate synthase (hTS) provides the sole de novo intracellular source of thymidine 5'-monophosphate (dTMP). hTS is required for DNA replication prior to cell division, making it an attractive target for anticancer chemotherapy and drug discovery. hTS binds 2'-deoxyuridine 5'-monophosphate (dUMP) and the folate co-substrate N5,N10-methylenetetrahydrofolate (meTHF) in a pocket near the catalytic residue Cys195. The catalytic loop, which is composed of amino-acid residues 181-197, can adopt two distinct conformations related by a 180\u00b0 rotation. In the active conformation Cys195 is close to the active site, while in the inactive conformation it is rotated and Cys195 is too distant from the active site for catalysis. Several hTS structures, either native or engineered, have been solved in the active conformation in complex with ligands or inhibitors and at different salt concentrations. However, apo hTS structures have been solved in an inactive conformation in high-salt and low-salt conditions (PDB entries 1ypv, 4h1i, 4gyh, 3egy and 3ehi). Here, the structure of apo hTS crystallized in the active form with sulfate ions coordinated by the arginine residue that binds dUMP is reported.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28300735,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Comparison of femtosecond laser-assisted descemetic and predescemetic lamellar keratoplasty for keratoconus.\nThe purpose of this study is to compare the outcomes following femtosecond laser-assisted deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK) with 75% of stromal dissection (predescemetic group) and femtosecond laser-assisted DALK using big-bubble technique with total stromal resection (descemetic group) for the treatment of keratoconus. Twenty eyes of 17 patients with keratoconus were studied. There were 10 eyes of 9 patients in predescemetic group and 10 eyes of 8 patients in descemetic group. The postoperative best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), manifest refraction, keratometry, endothelial cell density (ECD), and central corneal thickness (CCT) were analyzed. All surgeries were performed uneventfully. At 1 year after surgery, the BCVA, corneal astigmatism, keratometry, CCT, and ECD between two groups were not statistically significant (all P > 0.05). However, the mean manifest refraction was -9.43 \u00b1 7.44 diopter (D) and -1.03 \u00b1 1.13D in predescemetic and descemetic groups, respectively, which was statistically significant between two groups (P < 0.05). The results of BCVA and corneal astigmatism, keratometry, ECD, and CCT were comparable between two groups. However, the mean postoperative manifest refraction was lower in descemetic group.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18593935,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"CAAT\/enhancer binding protein homologous protein-dependent death receptor 5 induction is a major component of SHetA2-induced apoptosis in lung cancer cells.\nThe flexible heteroarotinoids (Flex-Het) represent a novel type of atypical retinoids lacking activity in binding to and transactivating retinoid receptors. Preclinical studies have shown that Flex-Hets induce apoptosis of cancer cells while sparing normal cells and exhibit anticancer activity in vivo with improved therapeutic ratios over conventional retinoid receptor agonists. Flex-Hets have been shown to induce apoptosis through activation of the intrinsic apoptotic pathway. The present study has revealed a novel mechanism underlying Flex-Het-induced apoptosis involving induction of death receptor 5 (DR5). The representative Flex-Het SHetA2 effectively inhibited the growth of human lung cancer cells in cell culture and in mice. SHetA2 induced apoptosis, which could be abrogated by silencing caspase-8 expression, indicating that ShetA2 triggers a caspase-8-dependent apoptosis. Accordingly, SHetA2 up-regulated DR5 expression, including cell surface levels of DR5, and augmented tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL)-induced apoptosis. Importantly, small interfering RNA (siRNA)-mediated blockade of DR5 induction conferred cell resistance to SHetA2-induced apoptosis, as well as SHetA2\/TRAIL-induced apoptosis. These results show that DR5 induction is a key component of apoptosis induced by SHetA2 or by SHetA2 combined with TRAIL. SHetA2 exerted CAAT\/enhancer-binding protein homologous protein (CHOP)-dependent transactivation of the DR5 promoter. Consistently, SHetA2 induced CHOP expression, which paralleled DR5 up-regulation, whereas siRNA-mediated blockage of CHOP induction prevented DR5 up-regulation, indicating CHOP-dependent DR5 up-regulation by SHetA2. Collectively, we conclude that CHOP-dependent DR5 up-regulation is a key event mediating SHetA2-induced apoptosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6737534,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Traumatic cholecystectomy.\nInjury to the gallbladder following blunt abdominal trauma is an unusual finding at laparotomy, with a reported incidence of less than 2%. Avulsion from the liver and detachment from both the cystic duct and artery is an extremely rare finding. The condition of the patient and the extent of injuries will dictate the procedure performed. In the case presented, total avulsion of the gallbladder was successfully treated with identification and ligation of the cystic duct, and coagulation of small bleeding points, followed by placement of a Penrose drain.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7934967,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Does physical activity induce DNA damage?\nThe single cell gel electrophoresis (SCG) assay (comet assay) is a sensitive technique for detecting the presence of DNA strand-breaks and alkali-labile damage in individual cells. This technique was used to study peripheral blood cells from three volunteers after physical activity. The test subjects had to run on a treadmill and were checked for blood pressure and ECG, lactate concentration and creatine kinase activity. Blood was taken before and several times during and after the run. In a first multiple step test, the volunteers ran as long as possible with increasing speed. In a second test they had to run for 45 min with a fixed individual speed which was defined to ensure an aerobic metabolism. In the first test, the white blood cells of all subjects showed increased DNA migration in the SCG assay. The effect was seen 6 h after the end of the exercise and reached its maximum 24 h later. After 72 h, DNA migration decreased to about control level. The distribution of DNA migration among cells clearly demonstrated that the majority of white blood cells exhibited increased DNA migration and that the effect was not only due to a small fraction of damaged cells. From the same blood samples, blood cultures were set up to study a possible effect on the frequency of sister chromatid exchanges (SCE), another indicator for genotoxic effects. However, there was no significant increase in SCE in any of the cultures. In the second exercise, during aerobic metabolism, the effect on DNA migration was not seen.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26434116,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Furoquinoline Alkaloids from the Leaves of Evodia lepta as Potential Cholinesterase Inhibitors and their Molecular Docking.\nNine furoquinoline alkaloids (1-9) were isolated from the leaves of Evodia lepta based on bioassay-guided fractionation and chromatographic techniques. All isolates were evaluated for their cholinesterase (ChEs) inhibitory activities, in which kokusaginine (7) and melineurine (5) exhibited the highest activity toward AChE and BChE, respectively. Lineweaver-Burk plots indicated that 5 and 7 were mixed mode inhibitors of both ChE enzymes. Molecular docking studies on the binding sites of AChE and BChE were performed in order to afford a molecular insight into the mode of action of these active compounds. From this study these compounds have emerged as promising molecules for Alzheimer's disease therapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19049366,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Recursive segment-wise peak alignment of biological (1)h NMR spectra for improved metabolic biomarker recovery.\nChemical shift variation in small-molecule (1)H NMR signals of biofluids complicates biomarker information recovery in metabonomic studies when using multivariate statistical and pattern recognition tools. Current peak realignment methods are generally time-consuming or align major peaks at the expense of minor peak shift accuracy. We present a novel recursive segment-wise peak alignment (RSPA) method to reduce variability in peak positions across the multiple (1)H NMR spectra used in metabonomic studies. The method refines a segmentation of reference and test spectra in a top-down fashion, sequentially subdividing the initial larger segments, as required, to improve the local spectral alignment. We also describe a general procedure that allows robust comparison of realignment quality of various available methods for a range of peak intensities. The RSPA method is illustrated with respect to 140 (1)H NMR rat urine spectra from a caloric restriction study and is compared with several other widely used peak alignment methods. We demonstrate the superior performance of the RSPA alignment over a wide range of peaks and its capacity to enhance interpretability and robustness of multivariate statistical tools. The approach is widely applicable for NMR-based metabolic studies and is potentially suitable for many other types of data sets such as chromatographic profiles and MS data.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3037577,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Diagnostic value of the H-reflex index in alcoholic polyneuropathy].\nWe examined the H-reflex-index of triceps surae muscle (HI) and the motor nerve conduction velocity of the tibial nerve (mNLG) of 56 alcohol dependent patients. The results were compared with neurologic disorders, duration of the dependency and the type of alcoholism according to Jellinek. The HI showed significant more pathological changes than the mNLG.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14524443,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Gas-particle partitioning of semivolatile organic compounds (SOCs) on mixtures of aerosols in a smog chamber.\nThe partitioning behavior of a set of diverse SOCs on two and three component mixtures of aerosols from different sources was studied using smog chamber experimental data. A set of SOCs of different compound types was introduced into a system containing a mixture of aerosols from two or more sources. Gas and particle samples were taken using a filter-filter-denuder sampling system, and a partitioning coefficient Kp was estimated using Kp = Cp\/(CgTSP). Particle size distributions were measured using a differential mobility analyzer and a light scattering detector. Gas and particle samples were analyzed using GCMS. The aerosol composition in the chamber was tracked chemically using a combination of signature compounds and the organic matter mass fraction (f(om)) of the individual aerosol sources. The physical nature of the aerosol mixture in the chamber was determined using particle size distributions, and an aggregate Kp was estimated from theoretically calculated Kp on the individual sources. Model fits for Kp showed that when the mixture involved primary sources of aerosol, the aggregate Kp of the mixture could be successfully modeled as an external mixture of the Kp on the individual aerosols. There were significant differences observed for some SOCs between modeling the system as an external and as an internal mixture. However, when one of the aerosol sources was secondary, the aggregate model Kp required incorporation of the secondary aerosol products on the preexisting aerosol for adequate model fits. Modeling such a system as an external mixture grossly overpredicted the Kp of alkanes in the mixture. Indirect evidence of heterogeneous, acid-catalyzed reactions in the particle phase was also seen, leading to a significant increase in the polarity of the resulting aerosol mix and a resulting decrease in the observed Kp of alkanes in the chamber. The model was partly consistent with this decrease but could not completely explain the reduction in Kp because of insufficient knowledge of the secondary organic aerosol composition.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":2787790,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Cloning and characterization of the Haemophilus influenzae Rd rec-1+ gene.\nThe Haemophilus influenzae Rd rec-1+ gene was cloned from a partial chromosomal digest into a plasmid vector as a 20-kilobase-pair (kbp) BstEII fragment and then subcloned. The smallest subclone with rec-1+ activity carried a 3.1-kbp EcoRI fragment. The identity of the rec-I gene in these clones was confirmed by transforming an Rd strain carrying a leaky rec-1 mutation (recA4) to resistance to methyl methanesulfonate (MMS) by using whole or digested plasmids. It was demonstrated that the Rec+ phenotype of the MMSr transformants was linked to the strA, novAB, and mmsA loci, as expected if the recA4 allele had been replaced by rec-1+. In growing cultures (rec-1 or rec+), all rec-1+-carrying plasmids induced near-maximal levels of transformability when their hosts reached stationary phase; these levels are 100 to 1,000 times higher than the values seen with strains not carrying a Rec plasmid. Transfer of the 3.1-kbp subclone was greatly reduced compared with transfer of similarly sized vector plasmids, and the resulting transformants grew slowly; this suggests an explanation of my failure to directly clone this fragment from chromosomal DNA digests. Transfer of a rec-1+ plasmid to a very poorly genetically transformable H. influenzae Rb strain resulted in greatly increased transformability. Transfer of such plasmids to a noncompetent H. influenzae Rc strain did not render this strain competent. It is suggested that transformability of Rd and Rb strains is limited by rec-1 expression but that the noncompetence of Rc has some other basis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32368337,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Emphysematous cholecystitis following routine colonoscopy.\nCholecystitis is a rare sequela of colonoscopy, the relationship between which has not yet been defined. This case study reviews a rural elderly patient who developed right upper quadrant pain following routine colonoscopy. He developed emphysematous cholecystitis, which required laparoscopy with conversion to open via Kocher's incision and underwent a subtotal cholecystectomy due to the severity of necrosis and inflammation. He had an uncomplicated recovery. Colonoscopy is an important diagnostic procedure, the most common complications of which are haemorrhage and perforation. There are less than 10 cases of associated cholecystitis and no reports of emphysematous cholecystitis. The hypothesized pathogenesis is dehydration and lithogenesis associated with traumatic translocation of organisms, however, no definitive correlation has been determined. Due to the potential health impact, cholecystitis cannot be excluded regarding post-colonoscopy abdominal pain, however, the correlation between procedure and pathology remains unclear.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35369030,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Extracellular Cardiolipin Modulates Select Immune Functions of Astrocytes in Toll-Like Receptor (TLR) 4-Dependent Manner.\nAlzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by chronic neuroinflammation, which is partially mediated by dysregulated functions of glial cells. Cardiolipin (CL) is a phospholipid normally confined to the inner mitochondrial membrane; however, it has been detected in human sera, indicating that it can exist in the extracellular space where it may interact with nearby cells. Although CL has been shown to modulate several functions of microglia in a toll-like receptor (TLR) 4-dependent manner, the effects of extracellular CL on astrocytes are unknown. In addition to their homeostatic functions, astrocytes participate in neuroimmune responses of the brain and express TLR 4. Therefore, we hypothesized that extracellular CL (1) modulates the secretion of cytokines and cytotoxins by astrocytes, as well as their phagocytic activity, and (2) acts by interacting with astrocyte TLR 4. We demonstrate that CL inhibits the lipopolysaccharide- (LPS-) induced secretion of cytotoxins and expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) by human U118 MG astrocytic cells. CL alone upregulates the phagocytic activity of human astrocytic cells and primary murine astrocytes. CL in combination with LPS upregulates secretion of interleukin (IL)-1\u03b2 by astrocytic cells. Furthermore, CL alone increases the secretion of monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1 by astrocytic cells, which is blocked by the TLR 4-specific antagonist TAK-242. We demonstrate that CL upregulates MCP-1 secretion in the absence of its natural carrier protein, \u03b22-glycoprotein 1, indicating that CL may be bioactive in the brain where this protein is not present. Lastly, we show that CL downregulates the expression of astrocytic TLR 4, implying that CL engages this receptor, as its activation has been shown to lead to its degradation. Overall, our study extends the list of cell type functions of which CL modulates and provides evidence that CL, or liposomes containing this phospholipid can be used to modulate specific neuroimmune functions of astrocytes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30307309,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"[Palm oil and cardiovascular health: considerations to evaluate the literature critically].\nPalm oil is obtained from Elaeis guineensis, E. oleifera or the hybrid OxG palm fruits. When crude, it contains high carotenoid concentrations (responsible for the red color), tocopherols and tocotrienols, but most of them are eliminated during its refining. Palm oil main components are palmitic and oleic acids, both near 50%, but their proportion changes depending on the fraction used. Fatty acids absorption and the effect on blood lipid profile depend on the position in the triacylglycerol, especially in the sn-2 position. The location of the monounsaturated or saturated fatty acids varies depending on the type of palm oil or fraction used. We critically review the two main reviews published about palm oil, which analyze 67 publications, and several studies that are more recent. Most of the studies were performed in non-European countries where palm oil is the main culinary oil. The effect on cardiovascular risk factors depends on the fat used as counterpart. Palm oil improves lipid profile after a diet rich in trans and saturated fats, while it impairs lipid profile after a diet rich in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Relevant methodological errors have been identified, such as not differentiating between palm oil, palm kernel oil and their fractions, comparing single fatty acids with whole oils or fats, or not considering physical activity or other factors that can affect blood lipids. No studies considering palm oil as an ingredient in a Mediterranean diet context, where olive oil is the main culinary oil, were found, so extrapolation of data is currently very difficult.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28738426,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Long Term Effects of Liraglutide in Japanese Patients with type 2 Diabetes Among the Subgroups with Different Renal Functions: Results of 2-Year Prospective Study.\nAims Very few studies have ever examined the effects of long-term (>1 year) administration of liraglutide in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and renal impairment. Therefore, we conducted a 2-year study to prospectively examine the effects of liraglutide in those patients. Methods A total of 148 patients with T2DM were enrolled and treated with liraglutide (0.6 or 0.9 mg\/day). 97 patients completed the 2-year study without protocol deviations. These patients were divided into 3 groups according to the baseline estimated glomerular filtration ratio (eGFR) (in mL\/min\/1.73 m2): group A, \u226560 (n=39); group B, \u226530 to <60 (n=38); and group C, <30 (n=20). The changes in blood and urine variables, and echocardiographic left ventricular mass index (LVMI) from baseline to 2 years were analyzed in each group. Primary outcomes were changes of the renal parameters of eGFR and albuminuria after the treatment of liraglutide. Results Blood glucose and systolic blood pressure decreased significantly after 24 months of liraglutide treatment in all groups compared with baseline (p<0.05). The eGFR increased significantly in group B (p<0.05), and remained unchanged in groups A and C. Albuminuria and LVMI decreased significantly in all 3 groups compared with baseline (p<0.05). Conclusions These findings suggest that 2 years of liraglutide treatment in Japanese patients with T2DM and impaired renal function was effective in terms of suppressing the deterioration of renal function, and reducing albuminuria. Long-term liraglutide treatment also improved glycemic control and blood pressure, and reduced left ventricular hypertrophy in this study.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23448496,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The chicken hypersensitivity site 4 core insulator blocks promoter interference in lentiviral vectors.\nLentiviral vectors, including double internal promoters, can be used to express two transgenes in a single vector construct; however, transcriptional activities from double internal promoters are often inhibited by promoter interference. To determine whether the chicken hypersensitivity site 4 insulator (cHS4) could block promoter interference, lentiviral vectors including an MSCV-U3 promoter (Mp) and an EF1\u03b1 promoter (Ep) were generated, and transgene expression was evaluated among transduced cells. In the Ep-Mp configuration, transcriptional activity from Mp was much lower, while Mp-Ep had similar transcription levels from both promoters. The cHS4 core insulator increased expression levels from Mp in HeLa cells, hematopoietic cell lines, and mouse peripheral blood cells following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation transduced with the Mp-Ep configured vector. This blocking function was mainly mediated by barrier activity regions in the insulator but not by CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF) binding sites. Cytosine-phosphate-guanine (CpG) methylation did not contribute to this barrier activity. In summary, combining the cHS4 insulator in double promoter vectors can improve transgene expression levels in various cell lines and mouse hematopoietic repopulating cells. These findings are useful for developing hematopoietic stem cell gene therapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20368435,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nrf2 responses and the therapeutic selectivity of electrophilic compounds in chronic lymphocytic leukemia.\nRecent studies show that redox-active small molecules are selectively cytotoxic to chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Although elevated levels of reactive oxygen species in CLL cells have been implicated, the molecular mechanism underlying this selectivity is unclear. In other cell types, the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) signaling pathway regulates the oxidative stress response. We found elevated Nrf2 signaling in untreated CLL cells compared with normal lymphocytes. Therefore, we tested 27 known electrophilic and antioxidant compounds with drug-like properties and determined their CLL-selective cytotoxicity and effect on Nrf2 signaling. The selected compounds were from five distinct structural classes; alpha-beta unsaturated carbonyls, isothiocyanates, sulfhydryl reactive metals, flavones, and polyphenols. Our results show that compounds containing alpha-beta unsaturated carbonyls, sulfhydryl reactive metals, and isothiocyanates are strong activators of Nrf2 in a reporter assay system and in primary human CLL based on increased expression of the Nrf2 target heme oxygenase-1. alpha-beta Unsaturated carbonyl-containing compounds were selectively cytotoxic to CLL, and loss of the alpha-beta unsaturation abrogated Nrf2 activity and CLL toxicity. The alpha-beta unsaturated carbonyl containing compounds ethacrynic acid and parthenolide activated Nrf2 in normal peripheral blood mononuclear cells, but had a less potent effect in CLL cells. Furthermore, ethacrynic acid bound directly to the Nrf2-negative regulator Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (Keap1) in CLL cells. These experiments document the presence of Nrf2 signaling in human CLL and suggest that altered Nrf2 responses may contribute to the observed selective cytotoxicity of electrophilic compounds in this disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9159543,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Management of oral complications of disease-modifying drugs in rheumatoid arthritis.\nStomatitis is a troublesome adverse effect of disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD) therapy in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. This review presents data to examine the incidence, clinical features and consequences of DMARD-related stomatitis, and suggests an algorithm for its clinical management. The specific objectives of the two studies presented here were to determine the incidence of DMARD-related stomatitis and its effect on DMARD continuation, and secondly to identify the clinical and laboratory risk factors. We investigated two cohorts of patients: (i) a retrospective survey of data collected from drug monitoring clinics run for patients on DMARDs from 1987 to 1994 involving 1539 patients and 2394 drug exposures; (ii) a prospective study of 25 consecutive RA patients presenting with DMARD-related stomatitis compared to 29 RA controls with no history of DMARD stomatitis. The retrospective survey showed that 2% of DMARD patients stopped therapy because of stomatitis, but 55% of these were able to resume the same therapy. In the case control study. 24% of patients discontinued temporarily and 8% permanently. Cases of DMARD-related stomatitis differed from controls in that they had a higher incidence of previous mouth ulcers (40% vs 14%), they smoked less (8% vs 31%) and Schirmer's test was more often abnormal (44% vs 21%). There were no differences in RA severity, disease activity or oral hygiene. Haematinic deficiencies were equally common in cases and controls: 30% for iron, 8% for vitamin B12 and 24% for folic acid. Herpes simplex virus was involved in a minority (8%) of cases. In conclusion, the occurrence of stomatitis in RA patients on DMARD should not lead to cessation of drug therapy, but to a careful evaluation so that patients may be maintained on effective treatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3051392,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Effects of omega-3 fatty acids in hypertriglyceridemic states.\nIn the experimental studies reported in this review, dietary omega-3 fatty acids from fish and fish oil had profound hypolipidemic effects in normal subjects and in hypertriglyceridemic patients with combined hyperlipidemia (type IIb) and type V hyperlipidemia. In these studies, 68 adults participated in carefully controlled metabolic experiments. In all subjects and patients, there were marked reductions in plasma cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations, with triglyceride lowering being especially great. There were also reductions in VLDL, chylomicrons, remnants, LDL, apo B, and apo E. The HDL changes were inconstant and varied from subject to subject. Whereas the mechanism of the hypolipidemic action of the omega-6-rich vegetable oils containing linoleic acid, such as corn or safflower oil, still remains obscure, the mechanism of action of the omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil has been well documented within a few years of their use as hypolipidemic agents. The synthesis of triglyceride and VLDL in the liver is greatly reduced by omega-3 fatty acids. At the same time, the turnover of VLDL in plasma is greatly shortened. LDL production is decreased. Combined with other dietary manipulations, such as a reduction in saturated fat and dietary cholesterol, the use of omega-3 fatty acids to treat hyperlipidemic and especially hypertriglyceridemic patients would appear to have a well-supported rationale. Further studies are required to delineate exact doses and precise indications for different types of hyperlipidemia and to differentiate the effects of, if any, the two major omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil, EPA and DHA. Coupled with the known antithrombotic actions of omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil because of changes in prostaglandin secretion and platelet function, these hypolipidemic effects would appear to have an important potential role in the control of coronary heart disease and other atherosclerotic disorders.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9550407,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Comparison of the roles of CD8 alpha alpha and CD8 alpha beta in interaction with MHC class I.\nThe CD8 molecule is expressed either as an alpha\/alpha homodimer or an alpha\/beta heterodimer on thymocytes and cytotoxic T cells, and functions as a coreceptor in concert with TCR for binding the MHC class I\/peptide complex. Although CD8alpha\/beta heterodimers have been shown to be more effective coreceptors, the precise role of the beta-chain in TCR-mediated thymic maturation and T cell activation is not understood. To understand the role of CD8beta in mediating CD8\/MHC class I interaction, we examined whether cell surface CD8alpha\/beta heterodimer promotes better cell-cell adhesion with MHC class I than the CD8alpha\/alpha homodimer. The abilities of different forms of CD8 to adhere to MHC class I were measured with a cell-cell binding assay. Using a wild-type CD8beta and -alpha, we found that CD8alphabeta heterodimers did not mediate greater cell-cell adhesion than CD8alphaalpha homodimers. Furthermore, we found that chimeric CD8beta-alpha homodimers afforded no detectable binding. These results do not support the idea that CD8alphabeta binding to MHC class I is greater than that of CD8alphaalpha. Rather, they point to an alternative explanation in which CD8beta may play an role in promoting CD8\/TCR interaction and\/or in signaling\/regulatory pathways.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31245983,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Porous Nb4N5\/rGO Nanocomposite for Ultrahigh-Energy-Density Lithium-Ion Hybrid Capacitor.\nTo meet the increasing demands for high-performance energy storage devices, an advanced lithium-ion hybrid capacitor (LIHC) has been designed and fabricated, which delivers an ultrahigh energy density of 295.1 Wh kg-1 and a power density of 41 250 W kg-1 with superior cycling stability. The high-performance LIHC device is based on the uniform porous Nb4N5\/rGO nanocomposite, which has an intimate interface between the firmly contacted Nb4N5 and rGO through the Nb(Nb4N5)-O(rGO)-C(rGO) bonds, significantly improving the electron transport kinetics. Moreover, the introduction of rGO nanosheets can prevent the Nb4N5 nanoparticles from agglomeration, not only resulting in a larger specific surface area to provide more active sites but also accommodating the strain during Li ion insertion\/deinsertion. Therefore, the Nb4N5\/rGO nanocomposite exhibits a higher reversible specific capacity and better rate and cycling performance than the Nb4N5 nanoparticle. In view of the scalable preparation and superior electrochemical characteristics, the Nb4N5\/rGO nanocomposite would have great potential practical applications in the future energy storage devices.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14523824,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Bariatric surgery in adolescence.\nSurgical treatment for morbid obesity is relatively contraindicated in patients less than 18 years of age. However, on some occasions, there is extreme obesity in this age group that does not respond to nonsurgical treatment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the surgical management of severe morbid obesity in adolescents. During a 4-year period, the authors assessed 11 adolescent patients with severe morbid obesity. All patients underwent extensive preoperative evaluation including thorough psychological evaluation together with their families. Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) was performed in all patients. Patients underwent follow-up for a mean of 23 months. The mean age of the 11 children in this study was 15.7 years (range, 11 to 17 years). Associated conditions included heart failure and pulmonary hypertension in one patient, amenorrhea in 2 patients, and gallstones in 1 patient. Mean preoperative body mass index (BMI) was 46.4 kg\/m2 (range, 38 to 56.6). There were no operative complications. Over a mean follow-up period of 23 months (range, 6 to 36 months), the mean BMI dropped from 46.6 to 32.1 kg\/m2 with marked improvement in medical conditions and general psychologic well being. No late complications developed in any patient. Children are routinely excluded from bariatric surgery programs because of the difficulties involved in psychologically and cognitively preparing this population for surgery. However, extreme morbid obesity rarely responds to nonsurgical therapy for any extended period. This select population will benefit from bariatric surgery if an effort is made to properly prepare patients, together with their families, for the postoperative change in lifestyle and body image.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30303291,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Controlled Air-Etching Synthesis of Porous-Carbon Nanotube Aerogels with Ultrafast Charging at 1000 A g-1.\nSupercapacitors are energy storage systems capable of fast charging and discharging, thus generating superior power density. Porous carbon with high surface area and tunable pore size represents a promising candidate to construct ultrafast supercapacitors; so far, most porous carbon-based electrodes can only be charged to a moderate current density (100-200 A g-1), also with significant capacitance loss at increasing rate. Here, it is shown that a 3D aerogel consisting of interconnected 1D porous-carbon nanotubes (PCNs) can serve as a freestanding supercapacitor electrode with excellent rate performance. As a result, the PCN aerogel electrodes achieve 1) ultrafast charging at current densities up to 1000 A g-1 (corresponding to a charge period of 16 ms), which is the highest value among other porous carbon-based supercapacitors, 2) superior cycling stability at high charging rates (88% capacitance retention after 105 cycles at 1000 A g-1). Mechanism study reveals favorable kinetics including a centralized pore size distribution at 0.8 nm which is a dominant factor to allow high-rate charging, a low and linear IR drop, and a metallic feature of 1D PCNs by theoretical calculation. The results indicate that 1D PCNs with controlled porous structures have potential applications in ultrafast energy conversion and storage.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34243776,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-18":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pulmonary fibrosis and its related factors in discharged patients with new corona virus pneumonia: a cohort study.\nThousands of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients have been discharged from hospitals Persistent follow-up studies are required to evaluate the prevalence of post-COVID-19 fibrosis. This study involves 462 laboratory-confirmed patients with COVID-19 who were admitted to Shenzhen Third People's Hospital from January 11, 2020 to April 26, 2020. A total of 457 patients underwent thin-section chest CT scans during the hospitalization or after discharge to identify the pulmonary lesion. A total of 287 patients were followed up from 90 to 150 days after the onset of the disease, and lung function tests were conducted about three months after the onset. The risk factors affecting the persistence of pulmonary fibrosis were identified through regression analysis and the prediction model of the persistence of pulmonary fibrosis was established. Parenchymal bands, irregular interfaces, reticulation and traction bronchiectasis were the most common CT features in all COVID-19 patients. During the 0-30, 31-60, 61-90, 91-120 and > 120 days after onset, 86.87%, 74.40%, 79.56%, 68.12% and 62.03% patients developed with pulmonary fibrosis and 4.53%, 19.61%, 18.02%, 38.30% and 48.98% patients reversed pulmonary fibrosis, respectively. It was observed that Age, BMI, Fever, and Highest PCT were predictive factors for sustaining fibrosis even after 90 days from onset. A predictive model of the persistence with pulmonary fibrosis was developed based-on the Logistic Regression method with an accuracy, PPV, NPV, Sensitivity and Specificity of the model of 76%, 71%, 79%, 67%, and 82%, respectively. More than half of the COVID-19 patients revealed abnormal conditions in lung function after 90 days from onset, and the ratio of abnormal lung function did not differ on a statistically significant level between the fibrotic and non-fibrotic groups. Persistent pulmonary fibrosis was more likely to develop in patients with older age, higher BMI, severe\/critical condition, fever, a longer viral clearance time, pre-existing disease and delayed hospitalization. Fibrosis developed in COVID-19 patients could be reversed in about a third of the patients after 120 days from onset. The pulmonary function of less than half of COVID-19 patients could turn to normal condition after three months from onset. An effective prediction model with an average area under the curve (AUC) of 0.84 was established to predict the persistence of pulmonary fibrosis in COVID-19 patients for early diagnosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26495160,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Successful Treatment of Corticosteroid with Antiviral Therapy for a Neonatal Liver Failure with Disseminated Herpes Simplex Virus Infection.\nBackground Herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection carries one of the poorest outcomes of neonatal liver failure (NLF). Neonates with disseminated HSV infection can develop hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), and occasionally need orthotopic liver transplantation. Early interventions may be critical for the cure of NLF. Case Report We describe herewith a 6-day-old neonate with fulminant hepatic failure due to disseminated HSV-1 infection, who successfully responded to high-dose corticosteroid therapy 72 hours after the onset of disease. Preceding acyclovir, gamma globulin, and exchange blood transfusion therapies failed to control the disease. Methylprednisolone pulse therapy led to a drastic improvement of liver function and cytokine storms, and prevented the disease progression to HLH. Sustained levels of plasma and cerebrospinal fluid HSV DNA declined after prolonged acyclovir therapy. Bilateral lesions of the periventricular white matter areas, assessed by magnetic resonance imaging, disappeared at 3 months of age. The infant showed normal growth and development at 4 years of age. Conclusion Early anti-hypercytokinemia therapy using corticosteroid, and prolonged antiviral therapy might only provide the transplantation-free cure of NLF with HSV dissemination.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29378212,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Systemic blockade of LPA1\/3 lysophosphatidic acid receptors by ki16425 modulates the effects of ethanol on the brain and behavior.\nThe systemic administration of lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) LPA1\/3 receptor antagonists is a promising clinical tool for cancer, sclerosis and fibrosis-related diseases. Since LPA1 receptor-null mice engage in increased ethanol consumption, we evaluated the effects of systemic administration of an LPA1\/3 receptor antagonist (intraperitoneal ki16425, 20 mg\/kg) on ethanol-related behaviors as well as on brain and plasma correlates. Acute administration of ki16425 reduced motivation for ethanol but not for saccharine in ethanol self-administering Wistar rats. Mouse experiments were conducted in two different strains. In Swiss mice, ki16425 treatment reduced both ethanol-induced sedation (loss of righting reflex, LORR) and ethanol reward (escalation in ethanol consumption and ethanol-induced conditioned place preference, CPP). Furthermore, in the CPP-trained Swiss mice, ki16425 prevented the effects of ethanol on basal c-Fos expression in the medial prefrontal cortex and on adult neurogenesis in the hippocampus. In the c57BL6\/J mouse strain, however, no effects of ki16425 on LORR or voluntary drinking were observed. The c57BL6\/J mouse strain was then evaluated for ethanol withdrawal symptoms, which were attenuated when ethanol was preceded by ki16425 administration. In these animals, ki16425 modulated the expression of glutamate-related genes in brain limbic regions after ethanol exposure; and peripheral LPA signaling was dysregulated by either ki16425 or ethanol. Overall, these results suggest that LPA1\/3 receptor antagonists might be a potential new class of drugs that are suitable for treating or preventing alcohol use disorders. A pharmacokinetic study revealed that systemic ki16425 showed poor brain penetration, suggesting the involvement of peripheral events to explain its effects.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17192018,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Synthesis of novel N1-substituted bicyclic pyrazole amino acids and evaluation of their interaction with glutamate receptors.\nN1-substituted bicyclic pyrazole amino acids (S)-9a-9c and (R)-9a-9c, which are conformationally constrained analogues of glutamic acid, were prepared via a strategy based on a 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition. The new amino acids were tested for activity at ionotropic and metabotropic glutamate receptors. Some of them turned out to be selective for the NMDA receptors, where they behaved as weak antagonists. The biological activity is mainly due to the interaction with the glutamate binding site, and not with the glycine co-agonist site.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6749501,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Biosynthesis of Escherichia coli Braun's lipoprotein precursors in vitro and binding to membrane vesicles.\nA cell-free system only programmed by endogenous mRNA present in a 30000 X g supernatant fraction is described in which 15-40% of the material produced was constituted by two lipoprotein precursors. These two polypeptides (a) are immunologically related, (b) contain the signal peptide and (c) apparently differ by the presence in one of them of a substituent on the -SH group of the single cysteine residue. The nature of this substituent could not be determined but no evidence was obtained that it could be a glyceride. No processing of any of these prolipoprotein forms could be demonstrated by addition of either Triton X-100 or membrane vesicles. A similar binding of both precursors to inverted membrane vesicles was observed when they were provided either co-translationally or post-translationally and this reaction occurred without the help of major membrane compounds.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31258166,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Assessment of Empiric Vancomycin Regimen in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.\nVancomycin is used to treat serious gram-positive infections in neonates. Currently, there is no consensus on the preferred empiric dosing regimen or target trough vancomycin levels for neonates. The current Fraser Health empiric dosing regimen, implemented in 2010, was designed to achieve target trough levels of 5 to 15 mg\/L. To determine the percentage of neonates receiving vancomycin in whom target trough levels of 5 to 15 mg\/L were achieved, to identify the times to negative culture result and clinical resolution, and to determine the incidence of nephrotoxicity. A chart review was completed for patients who had received vancomycin in the neonatal intensive care unit of either Surrey Memorial Hospital or Royal Columbian Hospital from June 2012 to May 2017 and for whom at least 1 interpretable vancomycin level was available. A total of 87 vancomycin encounters (in 78 neonates) were identified in which the drug had been given according to the Fraser Health empiric dosing regimen. Target trough vancomycin level (5 to 15 mg\/L) was achieved in 75% of these encounters. The mean times to negative culture result and clinical resolution were 5 and 6 days, respectively. There was no statistically significant correlation between vancomycin level and time to clinical resolution (rs = 0.366, p = 0.072). Among cases in which the trough vancomycin level exceeded 15 mg\/L, the incidence of nephrotoxicity was 22% (4\/18). The current Fraser Health empiric dosing regimen for vancomycin achieved target trough levels of the drug for most neonates in this study. Targeting trough levels less than 15 mg\/L when appropriate to the infection type may limit nephrotoxicity associated with vancomycin in neonates. Further studies are needed to evaluate the clinical significance of various vancomycin levels.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23462450,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Safety and efficacy studies on trivalent inactivated vaccines against infectious coryza.\nThe safety and efficacy of an inactivated oil-emulsion infectious coryza vaccine containing three Avibacterium paragallinarum isolates (one each of Page serovars A, B, and C) was evaluated. The safety of six batches of the vaccine was confirmed by testing with chickens vaccinated with a single large dose or vaccinated repeatedly with a normal dose. Efficacy tests were carried out on three batches of vaccine using both specific pathogen free (SPF) chickens and conventional chickens. In SPF chickens given a single vaccination at 42 days of age, the protection rate against all three serovars of Av. paragallinarum was at least 80% at 30 days post vaccination. The conventional chickens, which were immunized at 42 and 110 days of age, were challenged at 9 months post the second vaccination and the protection rate was at least 80% for all three serovars. The effect of storage on the vaccine was evaluated in SPF chickens using three batches of vaccine stored at 4-8\u00b0C for 1 year. The protection rate against challenge from all three serovars (single vaccination at 42 days of age and challenge at 30 days post-vaccination) was at least 80%.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15258708,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"MR spectroscopy of cervical spinal cord in patients with multiple sclerosis.\nMR spectroscopy (MRS) of the brain in patients with multiple sclerosis has been well studied. However, in vivo MRS of the spinal cord in patients with MR spectroscopy has not been reported to our knowledge. We performed MRS of normal-appearing cervical spinal cords in multiple sclerosis patients and in healthy controls. N-acetyl aspartate was shown to be reduced within the cervical spinal cord of multiple sclerosis patients when compared with healthy controls. This finding supports axonal loss and damage within even normal-appearing spinal cords of multiple sclerosis patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23327722,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Levels of thrombin activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor in gestational diabetes mellitus.\nThrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI) is a procarboxypeptidase, which is synthesised in liver and activated by thrombin and the thrombin-thrombomodulin complex. TAFI suppresses fibrinolysis by removing carboxy-terminal lysine residues from partially degraded fibrin. In this study we aimed to assess the circulating levels of TAFI antigen, 'a fibrinolytic parameter' in women with gestational diabetes (GDM). Thirty-four pregnant women with GDM and 50 pregnant women with normal glucose tolerance were included in the study. Plasma TAFI antigen levels were significantly higher in pregnant women with GDM when compared with controls. Increased TAFI levels may contribute to the decreased fibrinolytic potency, causing a thrombophilic state. GDM is regarded as a specific form of diabetes, and it could in addition be a predictor of type 2 diabetes mellitus in the future and the risk of complications due to hypercoagulability increases in this disease. Increased TAFI levels may also have a role in increased risk of hypercoagulability.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7945099,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Efficacy against sheep lice (Bovicola ovis) and fleece wetting of six shower dip preparations.\nThe relative efficacy of 6 shower dip chemicals most frequently used for the treatment of sheep lice (Bovicola ovis) in Western Australia was examined. Groups of 20 sheep infested with lice were treated with products containing either alphamethrin, cyhalothrin, diazinon or diazinon plus piperonyl butoxide and rotenone, formulated as emulsifiable concentrates, and with products containing either coumaphos or magnesium fluorosilicate, formulated as wettable powders. All treatments were applied through a shower dip (Sunbeam model SSD). Inspections for lice were conducted until 9 months after dipping. No lice were found on sheep treated with the 4 emulsifiable concentrate products. In contrast, treatment with the wettable powders, which contained either coumaphos or magnesium fluorosilicate as the active ingredient, did not eradicate the lice infestations. The degree to which the fleece was wetted was assessed 20 minutes after dipping and showed that the wettable powder dips penetrated the fleece less than the emulsifiable concentrate dips. Less fluid was retained by wool staples in an in-vitro test when dip wash was made with the wettable powders. It was concluded that the degree of wetting attained at dipping was an important factor in achieving eradication of sheep lice.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6733063,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The efficacy of graduated compression stockings in the prevention of deep vein thrombosis after major gynaecological surgery.\nThe efficacy of graduated compression stockings in the prevention of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) after major gynaecological surgery was investigated in a controlled randomized prospective trial in 196 patients who were greater than 35 years of age. The stockings were worn by 104 of the 196 patients throughout their stay in hospital, the other 92 patients did not wear the stockings (control group). All the patients were scanned for DVT postoperatively with the 125I-labelled fibrinogen test. None of the 104 patients who wore the stockings developed a thromboembolism, but four of the 92 control patients who did not wear the stockings had DVT. This difference between the two groups was statistically significant.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28540531,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"First Occurrence of Trichogramma bruni Nagaraja (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) Parasitizing Eggs of Anticarsia gemmatalis H\u00fcbner (Lepidoptera: Erebidae) in Brazil.\nThe occurrence of Trichogramma bruni Nagaraja (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) is described for the first time parasitizing eggs of the velvetbean caterpillar Anticarsia gemmatalis H\u00fcbner (Lepidoptera: Erebidae) in Lapa, Paran\u00e1, Brazil. This parasitoid was successfully kept in the laboratory on eggs of the velvetbean caterpillar; previously, this species was mainly associated with forest and fruit trees environments, although snap beans and other annual crops were also recorded as hosting lepidopteran eggs parasitized by T. bruni. This is the sixth Trichogramma species recorded parasitizing eggs of A. gemmatalis on soybeans in Brazil.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23458590,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Integrating self blood pressure monitoring into the routine management of uncontrolled hypertension: translating evidence to practice.\nImproving hypertension control is a public health priority and could reduce health disparities. Self blood pressure monitoring (SBPM) is effective but not widely integrated into clinical care. A pragmatic study distributing blood pressure (BP) monitors was conducted to assess its effectiveness in the management of uncontrolled hypertension under conditions consistent with clinic resources. Patients, predominantly black and Hispanic adults from clinics in low-income, medically underserved communities with uncontrolled BP were enrolled. Follow-up assessments were conducted 9 months after enrollment. Approximately half (53%) of the patients had controlled hypertension at follow-up. Systolic and diastolic BP decreased by 18.7 mm Hg and 8.5 mm Hg, respectively, at follow-up. Although attenuated, decreases persisted after adjustment for regression to the mean. Clinicians were supportive of the program, although collecting follow-up data from enrolled patients was a common challenge. The integration of SBPM into routine management of uncontrolled hypertension demonstrated substantial improvements in control. Systems to identify and track patients who are self-monitoring may increase impact.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6176558,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Enhancement of the anaphylactoid reaction in rats by salicylates.\nLow doses of sodium or copper salicylate, administered at the same time as agents producing the anaphylactoid reaction in rats, significantly enhanced the onset, height and duration of the responses. The enhancement occurred after intraperitoneal or local administration. Enhanced transport of the high molecular weight agents into the bloodstream is suggested. However, the salicylates did not enhance histamine release from isolated peritoneal mast cells of rats induced by dextran and phosphatidyl serine.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26415035,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of the efficacy of treatment with zinc in children with intractable epilepsy.\nThis study was conducted to assess the efficacy of oral zinc supplementation in children with intractable epilepsy. Forty-five children aged between three and 12 years and diagnosed with idiopathic intractable epilepsy at Assiut University Hospital, Assiut, Egypt were recruited. The patients were randomly allocated to two groups: the intervention group received oral zinc supplementation (1 mg\/kg\/day) while the placebo group received placebo, each for six months. The parents of each child filled in a detailed questionnaire that covered demographic characteristics, type of seizures, frequency, duration of seizures, previous hospital admissions, postictal phenomena and the occurrence of status epilepticus. The primary outcome (frequency of seizures) was compared between the two groups. Zinc supplementation resulted in a significant reduction of seizure frequency in 31% of the treated children. Zinc is an important trace element. Our results suggest that it has mildly beneficial effects in children with intractable epilepsy. We recommend further investigation of oral zinc supplementation as an adjunctive therapy for managing intractable epilepsy in children. Zinc therapy may be an option in treatment protocols for intractable epilepsy in the near future.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23883772,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Morphology of plantar interdigital neuroma: a comparative cadaveric study of elderly Finnish and Japanese individuals.\nTo examine morphological differences in Morton's interdigital neuroma between two elderly human populations, we conducted comparative study using 40 Japanese (27 males, 13 females; mean age, 81.2 years) and 21 Finnish (6 males, 15 females; mean age, 80.5 years) cadavers. We defined the neuroma as a thickening of the nerve of at least two-fold relative to the non-pathological proximal part. The incidence of this neuroma was 25% (10\/40) in the Japanese and 33.3% (7\/21) in the Finnish cadavers. Moderate or severe hallux valgus (with an angle of more than 20 degrees) was seen in half of the 40 Japanese cadavers (7 males, 13 females), but was absent in the Finnish cadavers. Such hallux valgus was present in 7 (5 males, 2 females) of the 10 Japanese cadavers with neuroma. Moreover, in 2 Japanese cadavers, a paper-like, specialized type of neuroma was associated with the deformity. Pathogenesis of Morton's neuroma might be different between human populations with or without hallux valgus.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25404533,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hematopoietic stem cell capture and directional differentiation into vascular endothelial cells for metal stent-coated chitosan\/hyaluronic acid loading CD133 antibody.\nA series of metal stents coated with chitosan\/hyaluronic acid (CS\/HA) loading antibodies by electrostatic self-assembled method were prepared, and the types of cells captured by antibodies and their differentiation in vascular endothelial cells (ECs) evaluated by molecular biology and scanning electron microscope. The results showed that CD133 stent can selectively capture hematopoietic stem cells (HSC),which directionally differentiate into vascular ECs in peripheral blood by (CS\/HA) induction, and simultaneously inhibit migration and proliferation of immune cells and vascular smooth muscle cells (MCs). CD34 stent can capture HSC, hematopoietic progenitor cells that differentiate into vascular ECs and immune cells, promoting smooth MCs growth, leading to thrombosis, inflammation, and rejection. CD133 stent can be implanted into miniature pig heart coronary and can repair vascular damage by capturing own HSC, thus contributing to the rapid natural vascular repair, avoiding inflammation and rejection, thrombosis and restenosis. These studies demonstrated that CD133 stent of HSC capture will be an ideal coated metal stent providing a new therapeutic approach for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20365939,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Spin Hall drag in electronic bilayers.\nWe predict a new effect in electronic bilayers: spin Hall drag. The effect consists of the generation of spin accumulation across one layer by an electric current along the other layer. It arises from the combined action of spin-orbit and Coulomb interactions. Our theoretical analysis, based on the Boltzmann equation formalism, identifies two main contributions to the spin Hall drag resistivity: the side-jump contribution, which dominates at low temperature, going as T2, and the skew-scattering contribution, which is proportional to T3. The induced spin accumulation, while generally quite small, should be observable in optical rotation experiments.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26495913,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Use Of Anterolateral Thigh Flap (ALTF) For Functional Tongue Reconstruction With Postoperative Quality Of Live Evaluation.\nThe use of microsurgery for oral reconstruction of cancer patients, has become standard treatment in restoring oral function. The free anterolateral thigh flap is one of the most preferred options in reconstruction after total, subtotal or hemiresection of the tonque due to squamous cell cancer. The aim of the study was to present the reconstructive method using anterolateral thigh free flap with evaluation of quality of live. Clinical material includes 46 consecutive patients with tongue cancer, who underwent complex surgical treatment between 2009 and 2011. There were 36 males and 10 females and the M: F ratio was 3.6: 1. All of them were reconstructed using the anterolateral thigh free flap. The quality of life was evaluated 6 months after completing the treatment, based on postoperative functional and aesthetic status. The overall flap survival rate was 96%. Surgical complications were observed in 8 patients (17%). Donor site was closed primarly in 42 cases and in remaining 4 skin graft was required. In all 46 cases understandable speech and return to unrestricted diet mastication and swallowing were achieved. The mean follow-up period after treatment was 32 months. Analysis of aesthetic effects evaluated in 23 cases and shows generally very good results. According to average transformed scores the QOL can be characterized as excellent for >90, very good for 76-90, good for 51-75, moderate for 25-50 and bad for <25 points. Anterolateral thigh flap, with its versatility in design, long pedicle with a suitable vessel diameter, low donor site morbidity, and very good aesthetic effects, could be the ideal flap for functional tongue reconstruction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11644537,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Feminism's healing effect.\nHelen Bequaert Holmes and Laura M. Purdy have done medical ethicists and clinical practitioners an enormous favor by publishing in book form their edited collection of 21 essays, Feminist Perspectives in Medical Ethics. This is an anthology of articles applying feminist methods and theories to problems in medical ethics. It is a fitting initiation for healthcare professionals and theorists who have yet to introduce themselves to the methods, analyses, and diverse contributions of feminism. In one simple volume, readers can sample feminist contributions to medical ethics that otherwise would be scattered in books or journals unavailable in most medical libraries.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27287640,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Xpert(\u00ae) MTB\/RIF for improved case detection of extra-pulmonary TB in a tertiary care setting in urban India.\nDepartment of microbiology at a tertiary care hospital, Mumbai, India. To determine 1) the sensitivity and specificity of the Xpert(\u00ae) MTB\/RIF assay in comparison with microscopy and culture in extra-pulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB), and 2) the number of additional cases of EPTB and rifampicin (RMP) resistance detected using this assay. The study was conducted from July 2013 to April 2015. All consecutive patients with clinically suspected EPTB referred for microscopic examination to the Department of Microbiology that were sufficient in specimen volume were included in the study. Of the 728 specimens included in the study, respectively 5.5%, 23.5% and 20.9% were positive on smear, culture and Xpert. Compared to culture, Xpert had a sensitivity of 84.2% (95%CI 81.4-86.6) and specificity of 98.2% (95%CI 90-104). All specimens with high and medium load on assay were positive on culture; 28 (18.4%) specimens were RMP-resistant and 124 (81.6%) were Xpert-susceptible. No additional RMP-resistant cases were detected using Xpert as compared to phenotypic drug susceptibility testing. The ability of the Xpert assay to rapidly detect a significantly greater number of bacteriologically confirmed EPTB cases, including RMP-resistant cases, makes it an important diagnostic tool in a TB-endemic country.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11990036,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Factors affecting multiresidue determination of priority herbicides when using solid-phase microextraction.\nA solid-phase microextraction (SPME) procedure was developed for the determination of 10 selected organonitrogen herbicides (s-ethyl dibropylthiocarbamate [EPTC], molinate, propachlor, trifluralin, simazine, atrazine, propazine, terbuthylazine, alachlor, and prometryn) and was tested with various natural waters. Gas chromatography coupled with flame thermionic and mass spectrometric detection was used for quantitation. For this purpose, polydimethylsiloxane and polyacrylate fibers were used and the factors affecting the SPME process such as pH, ionic strength, methanol content, memory effect, stirring rate, and adsorption-time profile were investigated and optimized. By using spiked liquid chromatography water, optimal factors were determined to be 25% salt, <0.5% methanol, stirring rate of 960 rpm, pH 4, and an equilibrium time of 30 min. These conditions were used in further studies of the fibers and in analysis of natural water samples. The method was applied to spiked natural waters such as ground water, sea water, lake water, and river water at a concentration range of 0.5-10 microg\/L. Limits of detection ranged from 5 to 90 ng\/L, and precision ranged from 5 to 15% (as relative standard deviation), depending on the pesticide, fiber, and detector used. The recoveries of herbicides were 70.2-118.4%, and the average r2 values of the calibration curves were >0.99 for all analytes. The results demonstrate the suitability of the SPME method to determine these organonitrogen herbicides in various natural waters. River water samples originating from the Epirus region (Northwestern Greece) were analyzed to verify the performance of the optimized method by comparing the results obtained by SPME with those obtained by using conventional solid-phase extraction of the selected herbicides.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25509921,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Use of memantine for elderly patients in the mild stage of Alzheimer's and vascular dementia].\nTo evaluate the efficiency menantine (antagonist of NMDA-type glutamate receptor) for treatment of the mild stage of Alzheimer and vascular dementia, we conducted a comprehensive neurological, experimental psychological, neurophysiological examination of 33 patients. It was found that the treatment course with memantine, 5-10 mg daily during 3 months resulted in reducing the severity of cognitive impairment, improved bioelectric activity of the brain in patients with dementia, and also helped to improve the patients' behavior, which resulted in stress loads on the surrounding people. It is shown that the treatment was well tolerated, and memantine may be recommended as one of the drugs for treatment of cognitive impairment accompanying aging in the mild stage of dementia of different genesis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14558633,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Reproductive and contraceptive characteristics of premenopausal kidney transplant recipients.\nTo obtain information on menstrual patterns before and after transplantation, desire for future pregnancy, and use of contraception among premenopausal kidney transplant recipients. This observational study collected information using self-administered anonymous questionnaires during a routine outpatient clinic visit. Of the 107 women who completed the questionnaire, 41 identified themselves as being premenopausal. Among the 41 premenopausal women, approximately half of the women reported their current menstrual patterns as normal and 26% were not using any form of contraception. Overall, 10 women (24%) reported a desire to become pregnant and 4 women (10%) had a successful pregnancy after transplantation. Most of the women who desired a future pregnancy (8\/10) were receiving an immunosuppressive regimen that included mycophenolate mofetil. Kidney transplantation in the current era is associated with a return of normal menstrual function in the majority of female transplant recipients. A substantial fraction of women desire pregnancy after transplantation and many are using an immunosuppressive drug with limited safety data on use during pregnancy. More caution should be used with the use of newer immunosuppressive agents in sexually active premenopausal transplant recipients until more safety data are available.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6157712,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Immunocytochemical demonstration of LH-RH, somatostatin, and ACTH-like peptide in osmium-postfixed, resin-embedded median eminence.\nIn guinea pig median eminences that were fixed with a glutaraldehyde paraformaldehyde mixtures, postfixed with osmium tetroxide, and embedded in araldite, immunocytochemical stainings for luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LH-RH), somatostatin, and alpha 17-39 ACTH have been obtained on semithin sections. These positive reactions were obtained after araldite was removed with sodium methoxide and after treatment with hydrogen peroxide. These data suggest that osmium tetraoxide postfixation can be used for the detection of low molecular weight peptides such as LH-RH, somatostatin, and ACTH-like-peptides not only in the median eminence but also in the hypothalamus.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11985039,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hospice outcomes: meeting requirements and developing a national consensus.\nThis article describes the rationale for outcome measurement in hospice care and the requirements related to such measurement as stipulated by regulatory bodies, third party payers, and accreditation organizations. Also discussed are the end-result outcomes of hospice care and efforts by the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization to develop consensus related to definition and measurement of these outcomes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25419991,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"In vivo quantitative evaluation of vascular parameters for angiogenesis based on sparse principal component analysis and aggregated boosted trees.\nTo solve the multicollinearity issue and unequal contribution of vascular parameters for the quantification of angiogenesis, we developed a quantification evaluation method of vascular parameters for angiogenesis based on in vivo micro-CT imaging of hindlimb ischemic model mice. Taking vascular volume as the ground truth parameter, nine vascular parameters were first assembled into sparse principal components (PCs) to reduce the multicolinearity issue. Aggregated boosted trees (ABTs) were then employed to analyze the importance of vascular parameters for the quantification of angiogenesis via the loadings of sparse PCs. The results demonstrated that vascular volume was mainly characterized by vascular area, vascular junction, connectivity density, segment number and vascular length, which indicated they were the key vascular parameters for the quantification of angiogenesis. The proposed quantitative evaluation method was compared with both the ABTs directly using the nine vascular parameters and Pearson correlation, which were consistent. In contrast to the ABTs directly using the vascular parameters, the proposed method can select all the key vascular parameters simultaneously, because all the key vascular parameters were assembled into the sparse PCs with the highest relative importance.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29387080,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Method for the Identification of Taxon-Specific k-mers from Chloroplast Genome: A Case Study on Tomato Plant (Solanum lycopersicum).\nPolymerase chain reaction and different barcoding methods commonly used for plant identification from metagenomics samples are based on the amplification of a limited number of pre-selected barcoding regions. These methods are often inapplicable due to DNA degradation, low amplification success or low species discriminative power of selected genomic regions. Here we introduce a method for the rapid identification of plant taxon-specific k-mers, that is applicable for the fast detection of plant taxa directly from raw sequencing reads without aligning, mapping or assembling the reads. We identified more than 800 Solanum lycopersicum specific k-mers (32 nucleotides in length) from 42 different chloroplast genome regions using the developed method. We demonstrated that identified k-mers are also detectable in whole genome sequencing raw reads from S. lycopersicum. Also, we demonstrated the usability of taxon-specific k-mers in artificial mixtures of sequences from closely related species. Developed method offers a novel strategy for fast identification of taxon-specific genome regions and offers new perspectives for detection of plant taxa directly from sequencing raw reads.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6728766,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The effect of feeding a semipurified diet to chickens infected with coccidia.\nFour experiments were conducted using broiler chicks to study the effects of feeding a semipurified diet on coccidial infection. Chickens fed a semipurified diet and inoculated with E. tenella had a very mild infection with little or no mortality and no effect on body weight gain, feed intake, feed conversion ratio, and blood cell loss as judged by hematocrit. At necropsy the infected chickens had light cecal lesions. However, no difference in response was observed between chickens fed either the corn-soybean meal or the semipurified diet and inoculated with a mixture of E. acervulina, E. maxima, and E. brunetti. Chickens fed a diet composed of 25% of the corn-soybean meal diet plus 75% of the semipurified diet and inoculated with E. tenella had the same mortality as chickens fed the corn-soybean meal diet. Feeding chickens the semipurified diet as early as 6 days before inoculation did not affect the severity of E. tenella infection. No difference was observed in the intestinal or cecal pH or food passage time of noninfected chickens fed either the corn-soybean meal or the semipurified diet. No differences were found in the number of oocysts discharged between 2 and 9 hr after inoculation expressed as a percentage of the infective dose. The results of these studies show that a semipurified diet ameliorates infection of chickens with the cecal parasite E. tenella but not coccidial infections of the small intestine.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28742700,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Comparison of Postoperative Outcomes Between Donation After Circulatory Death and Donation After Brain Death Liver Transplantation Using the Comprehensive Complication Index.\nTo test the total burden of complications in the early postoperative period after liver transplantation (LT) between donation after circulatory death (DCD) and donation after brain death (DBD) grafts with the novel Comprehensive Complication Index (CCI). LT is complex surgery and the increasing use of high-risk grafts is pressuring current postoperative outcomes. DCD grafts in particular are associated with ischemic-type biliary lesions (ITBL) with subsequent impaired graft survival rates. Retrospective single-center study of all LT since the start of DCD program (2001-2015). CCI (at hospital discharge and after 6 months) was the result of all complications weighted by their Clavien-Dindo grade. A multiple logistic regression model was used to identify factors associated with a complex postoperative course (CCI at 6 months >60). In total, 441 cases were included: 115 DCD and 326 DBD grafts. Median in-hospital CCI was comparable for both groups (DCD 38.2; DBD 36.7; P = 0.429). Six-month postoperative median CCI was significantly higher for DCD grafts (53.4 vs 47.2; P = 0.041). Moreover, more DCD recipients underwent retransplantation for ITBL in this period (4% vs 1%; P = 0.031). Logistic regression identified recipient BMI (P = 0.046), recipient warm ischemia time (odds ratio, OR, 1.032; 95% CI, 1.008-1.056; P = 0.008), and DCD graft (OR 3.913; 95% CI 1.200-12.767; P = 0.024) as risk factors for a CCI >60. This analysis shows a comparable complication rate during the index hospital stay for DCD and DBD LT, but the CCI increases significantly for DCD recipients in 6 months after transplantation. Reduction of biliary complications, especially ITBL, is needed to improve the outcomes for DCD grafts.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20370909,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Anaerobic metazoans: no longer an oxymoron.\nThe sediments of a deep-sea hypersaline and sulfidic Mediterranean basin have yielded an unexpected discovery, the first multicellular animals living entirely without oxygen. Reported by Danovaro et al. in BMC Biology, these three new species of Loricifera add a new and remarkable dimension to anoxic ecosystems previously thought to support only unicellular life.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17172372,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Reinfection and relapse in early Lyme disease.\nTo determine whether recurrent episodes of appropriately treated Lyme disease are caused by reinfection or relapse, we monitored pertinent clinical manifestations and serology of residents of an endemic site each year for 14 years. Of 253 episodes of early Lyme disease recorded among 213 residents, we observed 40 recurrent episodes. Virtually all included an erythema migrans (EM) rash that appeared at body sites that differed from those of the initial rash, no subjects produced detectable levels of specific antibody between sequential episodes, all episodes occurred a year or more after the initial EM episode, and all occurred during late spring and early summer. People experiencing recurrent episodes tended to have frequent contact with vector ticks. Prompt administration of standard antibiotic therapy for early Lyme disease reliably eliminates persistent infection and prevents relapse.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28302757,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Alteration of Monoamine Receptor Activity and Glucose Metabolism in Pediatric Patients with Anticonvulsant-Induced Cognitive Impairment.\nA landmark study from the Institute of Medicine reported that the assessment of cognitive difficulties in children with epilepsy is timely and imperative. Anticonvulsant-induced cognitive impairment could influence the quality of life more than seizure itself in patients. Although the monoaminergic system is involved in the regulation of cognitive process, its role in anticonvulsant-induced cognitive impairment remains unclear. Methods: To explore in vivo monoamine receptor binding activity in patients with anticonvulsant-induced cognitive impairment, each patient underwent PET imaging with both monoamine receptor binding agent 11C-N-methylspiperone and glucose metabolic agent 18F-FDG. Tests of intelligence quotient (IQ), including verbal IQ (VIQ), performance IQ (PIQ), and full-scale IQ (FSIQ), were performed in each patient. Results: Compared with the patients with monotherapy, patients with polytherapy had significantly lower VIQ, PIQ, and FSIQ (P < 0.01 in each comparison), as well as significantly lower monoamine receptor activities detected in the caudate nucleus, prefrontal cortex, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, and amygdale (P < 0.05 in each comparison). However, regarding the glucose metabolism, there was no significant difference found in patients with monotherapy or polytherapy (P > 0.05). Conclusion: Monoamine receptor PET imaging could be a promising in vivo imaging biomarker for mapping anticonvulsant-induced cognitive impairment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28687495,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-30":1}}},"text":"Extracellular vesicles: Novel promising delivery systems for therapy of brain diseases.\nExtracellular vesicles (EVs) are cell-derived membrane vesicles virtually secreted by all cells, including brain cells. EVs are a major term that includes apoptotic bodies, microvesicles and exosomes. The release of EVs has been recognized as an important modulator in cross-talking between neurons, astrocytes, microglia and oligodendrocytes, not only in central nervous system (CNS) physiology but also in neurodegenerative and neuroinflammatory disease states as well as in brain tumors, such as glioma. EVs are able to cross the blood brain barrier (BBB), spread to body fluids and reach distant tissues. This prominent spreading ability has suggested that EVs can be exploited into several different clinical applications ranging from biomarkers to therapeutic carriers. Exosomes, the well-studied group of EVs, have been emerging as a promising tool for therapeutic delivery strategies due to their intrinsic features, such as the stability, biocompatibility and stealth capacity when circulating in bloodstream, the ability to overcome natural barriers and inherent targeting properties. Over the last years, it became apparent that EVs can be loaded with specific cargoes directly in isolated EVs or by modulation of producer cells. In addition, the engineering of its membrane for targeting purposes is expected to allow generating carriers with unprecedented abilities for delivery in specific organs or tissues. Nevertheless, some challenges remain regarding the loading and targeting of EVs for which more research is necessary, and will be discussed in this review. Recently-emerged promising derivations are also discussed, such as exosome associated with adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors (vexosomes), enveloped protein nanocages (EPNs) and exosome-mimetic nanovesicles. This article provides an updated review of this fast-progressing field of EVs and their role in brain diseases, particularly focusing in their therapeutic applications.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30674191,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mitochondria-Targetable Ratiometric Time-Gated Luminescence Probe for Carbon Monoxide Based on Lanthanide Complexes.\nAs a critical gasotransmitter, carbon monoxide (CO) has been demonstrated to be related with mitochondrial respiration, but the monitoring of CO in mitochondria remains a great challenge. In this work, a unique ratiometric time-gated luminescence (TGL) probe, Mito-NBTTA-Tb3+\/Eu3+, that can specifically respond to mitochondrial CO has been developed. The probe was designed by incorporating a mitochondria-targeting moiety, triphenylphosphonium, into a CO-activatable terpyridine polyacid derivative, 4'-(4-nitrobenzyloxy-2,2':6',2''-terpyridine-6,6''-diyl) bis(methylenenitrilo) tetrakis(acetic acid), for coordinating to Eu3+ and Tb3+ ions to construct lanthanide complex-based probe for ratiometric TGL detection of CO. Upon reaction with CO, accompanied by the conversion of nitro group to amino group, a 1,6-rearrangement-elimination reaction occurs, which leads to the cleavage of 4-nitrobenzyl group from Mito-NBTTA-Tb3+\/Eu3+, resulting in the significant increase of Tb3+ emission at 540 nm and moderate decrease of Eu3+ emission at 610 nm. After the reaction, the I540\/ I610 ratio was found to be 48-fold enhanced. This feature allowed Mito-NBTTA-Tb3+\/Eu3+ to be employed as a ratiometric TGL probe for CO detection with the I540\/ I610 ratio as a signal. In addition, the probe showed outstanding mitochondria-localization characteristic, which enabled the probe to be successfully applied to imaging CO within mitochondria of living cells under TGL and ratiometric modes. The application of Mito-NBTTA-Tb3+\/Eu3+ was demonstrated by the visualization and quantitative detection of exogenous and endogenous CO in living cells and mouse liver tissue slices, as well as in living Daphnia magna and mice. All of the results suggested the potential of Mito-NBTTA-Tb3+\/Eu3+ for the quantitative monitoring of CO in vitro and in vivo.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29563188,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Site-Specific Fat-1 Knock-In Enables Significant Decrease of n-6PUFAs\/n-3PUFAs Ratio in Pigs.\nThe fat-1 gene from Caenorhabditis elegans encodes a fatty acid desaturase which was widely studied due to its beneficial function of converting n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-6PUFAs) to n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3PUFAs). To date, many fat-1 transgenic animals have been generated to study disease pathogenesis or improve meat quality. However, all of them were generated using a random integration method with variable transgene expression levels and the introduction of selectable marker genes often raise biosafety concern. To this end, we aimed to generate marker-free fat-1 transgenic pigs in a site-specific manner. The Rosa26 locus, first found in mouse embryonic stem cells, has become one of the most common sites for inserting transgenes due to its safe and ubiquitous expression. In our study, the fat-1 gene was inserted into porcine Rosa 26 (pRosa26) locus via Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)\/CRISPR-associated 9 (Cas9) system. The Southern blot analysis of our knock-in pigs indicated a single copy of the fat-1 gene at the pRosa26 locus. Furthermore, this single-copy fat-1 gene supported satisfactory expression in a variety of tissues in F1 generation pigs. Importantly, the gas chromatography analysis indicated that these fat-1 knock-in pigs exhibited a significant increase in the level of n-3PUFAs, leading to an obvious decrease in the n-6PUFAs\/n-3PUFAs ratio from 9.36 to 2.12 (***P < 0.0001). Altogether, our fat-1 knock-in pigs hold great promise for improving the nutritional value of pork and serving as an animal model to investigate therapeutic effects of n-3PUFAs on various diseases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6721761,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cyclodeviation in acquired vertical strabismus.\nThe prevalence and pattern of cyclodeviation can differentiate among superior oblique palsy, dysthyroid ophthalmopathy, myasthenia gravis, and skew deviation. Excyclodeviation was detected in 30 of 33 patients with superior oblique palsy, eight of 15 patients with dysthyroid ophthalmopathy, three of six patients with nondysthyroid restrictive ophthalmopathy, and one of 13 patients with myasthenia. No cyclodeviation was found in cases of skew. Incyclodeviation was found in two patients with dysthyroid ophthalmopathy, two with nondysthyroid restrictive ophthalmopathy, and three with myasthenia. The amount of cyclodeviation did not vary between head-tilt positions, but did vary between primary and eccentric gaze positions, usually in the same direction as the amount of hyperdeviation. The patient's awareness of the presence of cyclodeviation varied with the degree of cyclodeviation, being 100% (4\/4) for 15 degrees, 86% (12\/14) for 10 degrees, and only 55% (11\/21) for 5 degrees.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27279469,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"EDTITRATE (Emergency Department Telemedicine Initiative to Rapidly Accommodate in Times of Emergency).\nObjective Emergency Department (ED) patient volumes are unpredictable, which can result in service delays and patients leaving without care. We initiated a programme of emergency physician (EP) telepresence in the ED with the objectives of assessing feasibility, safety, patient and provider acceptance, and throughput time. Methods This was a prospective convenience study. Patients presenting to the ED during operation of the study who were planned for placement in the waiting room were considered for enrolment. A faculty EP conducted patient evaluations via telepresence with confirmatory evaluation by the onsite faculty EP prior to disposition. Patient care was either taken to completion by the telemedicine EP or initiated and handed off to the onsite team. Measures included patient demographics, triage class (ESI 1-5), throughput time and a single question satisfaction survey (rating 1-5, 5 most favourable) completed by patients, registered nurses and EPs. Patients were called within 3 days and the electronic health record reviewed at 7 days looking for unscheduled visits and adverse events. Results In total, 130 patients were enrolled. Mean triage class was 3.9 with a median throughput of 150 minutes (IQR = 116.5, 206). Non-telemedicine patients during the same time period with similar triage classes had a median throughput of 287 minutes (IQR = 199, 408). Mean satisfaction scores were: patient 4.91, nurse 4.75, onsite EP 4.47 and telemedicine EP 4.79. There was one potential misdiagnosis and no adverse events. Conclusion Patient evaluation by EP via telepresence is feasible, safe, readily accepted by patients and providers and associated with reduced throughput time.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25302942,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Reconstruction of ancestral gene orders using probabilistic and gene encoding approaches.\nCurrent tools used in the reconstruction of ancestral gene orders often fall into event-based and adjacency-based methods according to the principles they follow. Event-based methods such as GRAPPA are very accurate but with extremely high complexity, while more recent methods based on gene adjacencies such as InferCARsPro is relatively faster, but often produces an excessive number of chromosomes. This issue is mitigated by newer methods such as GapAdj, however it sacrifices a considerable portion of accuracy. We recently developed an adjacency-based method in the probabilistic framework called PMAG to infer ancestral gene orders. PMAG relies on calculating the conditional probabilities of gene adjacencies that are found in the leaf genomes using the Bayes' theorem. It uses a novel transition model which accounts for adjacency changes along the tree branches as well as a re-rooting procedure to prevent any information loss. In this paper, we improved PMAG with a new method to assemble gene adjacencies into valid gene orders, using an exact solver for traveling salesman problem (TSP) to maximize the overall conditional probabilities. We conducted a series of simulation experiments using a wide range of configurations. The first set of experiments was to verify the effectiveness of our strategy of using the better transition model and re-rooting the tree under the targeted ancestral genome. PMAG was then thoroughly compared in terms of three measurements with its four major competitors including InferCARsPro, GapAdj, GASTS and SCJ in order to assess their performances. According to the results, PMAG demonstrates superior performance in terms of adjacency, distance and assembly accuracies, and yet achieves comparable running time, even all TSP instances were solved exactly. PMAG is available for free at http:\/\/phylo.cse.sc.edu.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28730810,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Static and Dynamic Water Motion-Induced Instability in Oxide Thin-Film Transistors and Its Suppression by Using Low-k Fluoropolymer Passivation.\nHere, we report static and dynamic water motion-induced instability in indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (IGZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) and its effective suppression with the use of a simple, solution-processed low-k (\u03b5 \u223c 1.9) fluoroplastic resin (FPR) passivation layer. The liquid-contact electrification effect, in which an undesirable drain current modulation is induced by a dynamic motion of a charged liquid such as water, can cause a significant instability in IGZO TFTs. It was found that by adopting a thin (\u223c44 nm) FPR passivation layer for IGZO TFTs, the current modulation induced by the water-contact electrification was greatly reduced in both off- and on-states of the device. In addition, the FPR-passivated IGZO TFTs exhibited an excellent stability to static water exposure (a threshold voltage shift of +0.8 V upon 3600 s of water soaking), which is attributed to the hydrophobicity of the FPR passivation layer. Here, we discuss the origin of the current instability caused by the liquid-contact electrification as well as various static and dynamic stability tests for IGZO TFTs. On the basis of our findings, we believe that the use of a thin, solution-processed FPR passivation layer is effective in suppressing the static and dynamic water motion-induced instabilities, which may enable the realization of high-performance and environment-stable oxide TFTs for emerging wearable and skin-like electronics.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15264015,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The alga Bryothamnion seaforthii contains carbohydrates with antinociceptive activity.\nBryothamnion seaforthii, a red alga common to the Northeastern coast of Brazil, was used to prepare the protein fraction F0\/60 by ammonium sulfate precipitation. The chromatography of F0\/60 on DEAE-Sephadel column resulted in two lectin fractions, PI and PII, which have antinociceptive properties in rodents. We determined the antinociceptive activity of the PII fraction and of a carbohydrate-containing fraction (CF) in mice. The CF was prepared from the dried algae, after digestion with 100 mM sodium acetate, pH 6.0, containing 5 mM cysteine, EDTA and 0.4% papain, at 60 masculine C. A 10% cetylpyridinium chloride was added to the filtrate, and the precipitate was dissolved with 2 M NaCl:ethanol (100:15, v\/v) followed by the carbohydrate precipitation with ethanol. The final precipitate, in acetone, was dried at 25 masculine C. The PII fraction markedly inhibited acetic acid-induced abdominal writhing after ip administration (control: 27.1 +\/- 2.20; PII 0.1 mg\/kg: 5.5 +\/- 1.85; 1 mg\/kg: 1.6 +\/- 0.72 writhes\/20 min) and after oral administration (control: 32.0 +\/- 3.32; PII 0.1 mg\/kg: 13.1 +\/- 2.50; 1 mg\/kg: 9.4 +\/- 3.96 writhes\/20 min). PII was also effective against both phases of pain induced by 1% formalin (control, ip: 48.2 +\/- 2.40 and 27.7 +\/- 2.56 s; PII: 1 mg\/kg, ip: 34.3 +\/- 5.13 and 5.6 +\/- 2.14 s; control, po: 44.5 +\/- 3.52 and 25.6 +\/- 2.39 s; PII 5 mg\/kg, po: 26.5 +\/- 4.67 and 15.3 +\/- 3.54 s for the 1st and 2nd phases, respectively) and in the hot-plate test. The CF (ip) also displayed significant antinociceptive properties in all tests but at higher doses (1 and 5 mg\/kg, ip and po). Thus, CF at the dose of 5 mg\/kg significantly inhibited writhes (ip: 7.1 +\/- 2.47 and po: 14.5 +\/- 2.40 writhes\/20 min) as well as the 1st (po: 19.6 +\/- 1.74 s) and 2nd (po: 7.1 +\/- 2.24 s) phases of the formalin test compared to controls ip and po. The antinociceptive effects of both the PII and CF in the formalin and hot-plate tests were prevented at least partially by pretreatment with the opioid receptor antagonist naloxone (2 mg\/kg, sc). Moreover, both fractions retained antinociceptive activity in the acetic acid-induced writhing test following heating, a procedure which abolished the hemagglutinating activity of the fraction, presumably due to lectins also present. Finally, both fractions also prolonged the barbiturate-induced sleeping time. These results indicate that carbohydrate molecules present in the PII (26.8% carbohydrate) and CF (21% of the alga dried weight) obtained from B. seaforthii display pronounced antinociceptive activity which is resistant to heat denaturation and is mediated by an opioid mechanism, as indicated by naloxone inhibition.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28344374,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Visibility Equalizer Cutaway Visualization of Mesoscopic Biological Models.\nIn scientific illustrations and visualization, cutaway views are often employed as an effective technique for occlusion management in densely packed scenes. We propose a novel method for authoring cutaway illustrations of mesoscopic biological models. In contrast to the existing cutaway algorithms, we take advantage of the specific nature of the biological models. These models consist of thousands of instances with a comparably smaller number of different types. Our method constitutes a two stage process. In the first step, clipping objects are placed in the scene, creating a cutaway visualization of the model. During this process, a hierarchical list of stacked bars inform the user about the instance visibility distribution of each individual molecular type in the scene. In the second step, the visibility of each molecular type is fine-tuned through these bars, which at this point act as interactive visibility equalizers. An evaluation of our technique with domain experts confirmed that our equalizer-based approach for visibility specification was valuable and effective for both, scientific and educational purposes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26439225,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Fast Liquid Transfer between Surfaces: Breakup of Stretched Liquid Bridges.\nIn this work, a systematic experimental study was performed to understand the fast liquid transfer process between two surfaces. According to the value of the Reynolds number (Re), the fast transfer is divided into two different scenarios, one with negligible inertia effects (Re \u226a 1) and the other with significant inertia effects (Re > 1). For Re \u226a 1, the influences of the capillary number (Ca) and the dimensionless minimum separation (H(min)* = H(min)\/V(1\/3), where H(min) is the minimum separation between two surfaces and V is the volume of liquid) on the transfer ratio (\u03b1, the volume of liquid transferred to the acceptor surface over the total liquid volume) are discussed. On the basis of the roles of each physical parameter, an empirical equation is presented to predict the transfer ratio, \u03b1 = f(Ca). This equation involves two coefficients which are affected only by the surface contact angles and H(min)* but not by the liquid viscosity or surface tension. When Re > 1, it is shown for the first time that the transfer ratio does not converge to 0.5 with the increase in the stretching speed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":2785031,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Review, discussion, and summary of epidemiological studies.\nThis paper reviews and summarizes the epidemiological studies presented at the Symposium on the Health Effects of Acid Aerosols. Two studies of acute episodes examined different indicators of respiratory morbidity before, during, and after the January 1985 air pollution event in western Europe. In the U.K. no increase in respiratory morbidity, as reported by a group of general practitioners, was observed, but measured concentrations of air pollutants failed to substantiate the existence of an identifiable episode. In the Federal Republic of Germany, the air pollution episode was documented and was associated with a 10 to 25% increase in several indicators of respiratory and cardiovascular morbidity, but could not be attributed to acidic aerosols as such. In two further studies, investigators related day-to-day variations in air pollution with admissions to acute care hospitals in southern Ontario for respiratory disease over a 9-year period, and with daily mortality in London from 1963 to 1972. In the study of hospital admissions, significant correlations were observed with sulfate, ozone, and SO2 pollution, but the data were insufficient to isolate the separate or combined effects of these pollutants. In the London mortality analysis, the strongest correlations were observed for sulfuric acid levels of the prior day, but prefiltering of the mortality data may have dampened the true relationship, and age- and cause-specific analyses would have been desirable. Finally two reports on chronic effects of residence in high air pollution areas have thus far made little contribution to the evidence for an adverse effect of specific pollutants.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17009991,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Endometrial tumor invasiveness is related to metalloproteinase 2 and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 2 expressions.\nMatrix metalloproteinase (MMPs) expression has been linked to gynecological tumor aggressiveness. The objective of this study was to determine MMP-2, MMP-7, and MMP-9 and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMP)-1 and TIMP-2 expression in endometrial malignancies and their relation to clinical and histologic parameters. Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor samples from 50 patients with endometrial carcinoma treated between 1999 and 2004 were stained with specific monoclonal antibodies. The tumors were grouped according to the FIGO classification. The staining results were compared to histologic and clinical data. Semiquantitative analysis of MMP and TIMP expression showed a significant difference in TIMP-2 expression according to the histologic subtype (P = 0.03) and also a trend towards a difference in MMP-9 expression (P = 0.05). MMP-2 expression increased and TIMP-2 expression fell as the histologic grade increased (P = 0.0007, P < 0.0001, respectively). MMP-2 expression correlated with lymph node metastasis (P = 0.04), while TIMP-2 expression correlated with the depth of myometrial invasion (P = 0.01), vasculolymphatic space involvement (P = 0.02), and lymph node metastasis (P = 0.0003). These results support the involvement of MMPs and TIMPs in endometrial tumor growth and progression. High MMP-2 and low TIMP-2 expression were the most potent markers of endometrial tumors with a high risk of local and distant spread.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6360699,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of pretreatment with hydrocortisone on insulin secretory response to catecholamines in isolated islets from rats fed with a high fat diet.\nIslets isolated from rats fed with a high fat diet for 7 days were pretreated with hydrocortisone, and in the treated-islets the effect of glucose, epinephrine and dopamine on insulin secretion was examined. Glucose-stimulated insulin secretion in the untreated islets was not changed by the fat diet. Insulin secretion stimulated by hydrocortisone (10(-6)M) in the presence of 2.8 mM glucose was twice higher in the control diet group than in the fat diet group. Pretreatment of the islets with hydrocortisone did not affect glucose-stimulated insulin secretion in the control diet group but remarkably reduced that in the fat diet group. Although the fat diet attenuated the inhibitory effect of catecholamines on insulin secretory response to glucose, pretreatment of the islets with hydrocortisone caused to restore the effect of catecholamines, especially at a low concentration. These results indicate that the combined action of a high fat diet and glucocorticoids may induce modification of alpha-adrenergic receptors in the B-cell.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6739583,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Proximal interphalangeal joint sprains.\nWe report the first series of proximal interphalangeal joint sprains and reviewed 50 sprains in 48 patients. The majority of patients were males injured at work. The radial collateral ligament was injured about twice as often as the ulnar ligaments. The little finger was injured significantly less than the others. Proximal interphalangeal joint sprains can be diagnosed by the following: pain localized to the injured ligament, swelling greatest at the site of the injured ligament, tenderness greatest at the site of the injured ligament, pain at the site of the injured ligament during lateral stress, and\/or mild lateral instability on radiographs or physical examination during stress testing. All patients required several different splints for treatment; in decreasing frequency, we used immobilizing, coupling, dynamic proximal interphalangeal flexion, dynamic proximal interphalangeal and distal interphalangeal flexion, and dynamic proximal interphalangeal extension splints. The mean active range of motion before treatment was 70 degrees and after treatment was 95 degrees. Significantly more patients had loss of full extension than had loss of full flexion. Forty-six percent of the patients had no pain after treatment, 46 percent had mild pain, 8 percent had moderate pain, and none had severe pain. Patients treated within 4 weeks of their injury (group 1) gained significantly greater range of motion (35 degrees) than those treated between 5 and 14 weeks after their injury (10 degrees) (group 2).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20349006,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"[Benzodiazepines to people with substance abuse problems?].\nBenzodiazepines are probably prescribed too often to people with substance abuse problems. The drugs often alleviate symptoms effectively on a short term, but pharmacodynamic interactions and development of dependence cause problems. Indistinct, but important side effects might be overlooked or misunderstood. Evidence-based practice should replace prescriptions based on unclear indications.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29554554,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Predominant subcortical accumulation of 18F-flortaucipir binding in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia.\nBehavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) is the most common form of frontotemporal dementia, and tau pathology can be found in 40%-50% of bvFTD patients. In this study, we sought to investigate 18F-flortaucipir-binding patterns and their correlates in clinically diagnosed bvFTD patients by comparing with results for Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. We enrolled 20 bvFTD, 20 AD, and 20 age-matched healthy subjects who underwent neuropsychological tests, magnetic resonance imaging, and tau positron emission tomography scans with 18F-flortaucipir. Regional standardized uptake value ratios for the cerebral cortex and underlying white matter were compared between the 2 groups. The bvFTD patients showed increased 18F-flortaucipir binding in the putamen and globus pallidus when compared to the healthy controls. In addition, bvFTD was associated with increased binding in the white matter regions underlying the frontal, anterior cingulate, and insula cortices. The bvFTD patients may exhibit predominantly subcortical 18F-flortaucipir-binding pattern that is distinct from the patterns seen in AD patients. We hypothesize that the clinical characteristics of bvFTD patients may be attributable to the dysfunctional frontal-subcortical networks. However, concerns remain regarding unknown \"off-target\" binding in the white matter and the basal ganglia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28733005,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Ultrasonic cavitation erosion of 316L steel weld joint in liquid Pb-Bi eutectic alloy at 550\u00b0C.\nLiquid lead-bismuth eutectic alloy (LBE) is applied in the Accelerator Driven transmutation System (ADS) as the high-power spallation neutron targets and coolant. A 19.2kHz ultrasonic device was deployed in liquid LBE at 550\u00b0C to induce short and long period cavitation erosion damage on the surface of weld joint, SEM and Atomic force microscopy (AFM) were used to map out the surface properties, and Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (EDS) was applied to the qualitative and quantitative analysis of elements in the micro region of the surface. The erosion mechanism for how the cavitation erosion evolved by studying the element changes, their morphology evolution, the surface hardness and the roughness evolution, was proposed. The results showed that the pits, caters and cracks appeared gradually on the erode surface after a period of cavitation. The surface roughness increased along with exposure time. Work hardening by the bubbles impact in the incubation stage strengthened the cavitation resistance efficiently. The dissolution and oxidation corrosion and cavitation erosion that simultaneously happened in liquid LBE accelerated corrosion-erosion process, and these two processes combined to cause more serious damage on the material surface. Contrast to the performance of weld metal, base metal exhibited a much better cavitation resistance.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37456411,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Role of Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists on the Weight Loss of Individuals With Type 2 Diabetes: A Systematic Review.\nObesity is highly associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), both of which can be simultaneously treated with glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs). There are many antidiabetic drugs that can be used for the treatment of T2DM. These drugs have vast modes of action and therapeutic uses. However, they also have different side effects. Some of these side effects, such as weight changes, are sometimes desirable while others are not. This review examines the literature on how GLP-1RA affects both blood glucose and body weight in patients with T2DM and obesity. In this context, GLP-1RA plays a critical part by controlling not only the blood glucose level but also weight. We followed Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines and searched for articles from PubMed and Google Scholar databases that reported on T2DM, obesity, and GLP-1RA functions. We selected 13 articles that showed the benefits of GLP-1RA in managing both T2DM and obesity. Our review suggests that GLP-1RA is an innovative therapy that can address both conditions simultaneously.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29364137,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Development of stereotactic radiosurgery using carbon beams (carbon-knife).\nThe aim of this research is to develop a stereotactic-radiosurgery (SRS) technique using carbon beams to treat small intracranial lesions; we call this device the carbon knife. A 2D-scanning method is adapted to broaden a pencil beam to an appropriate size for an irradiation field. A Mitsubishi slow extraction using third order resonance through a rf acceleration system stabilized by a feed-forward scanning beam using steering magnets with a 290 MeV\/u initial beam energy was used for this purpose. Ridge filters for spread-out Bragg peaks (SOBPs) with widths of 5 mm, 7.5 mm, and 10 mm were designed to include fluence-attenuation effects. The collimator, which defines field shape, was used to reduce the lateral penumbra. The lateral-penumbra width at the SOBP region was less than 2 mm for the carbon knife. The penumbras behaved almost the same when changing the air gap, but on the other hand, increasing the range-shifter thickness mostly broadened the lateral penumbra. The physical-dose rates were approximate 6 Gy s-1 and 4.5 Gy s-1 for the 10 \u00d7 10 mm2 and 5 \u00d7 5 mm2 collimators, respectively.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9147884,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Congenital scalp defect, distal limb reduction anomalies, right spastic hemiplegia and hypoplasia of the left arteria cerebri media. Further evidence that interruption of early embryonic blood supply may result in Adams-Oliver (plus) syndrome.\nIn this report we describe a male patient with the interesting combination of a large congenital scalp defect, distal limb reduction anomalies, right spastic hemiplegia and hypoplasia of the left arteria cerebri media. Follow-up data from birth up to the age of 18 years revealed positive evolution with low to normal intelligence. The findings in the present patient, i.e. an Adams-Oliver syndrome associated with a severe neurological deficit, are best explained as resulting from interruption of the early embryonic blood supply.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28730230,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Magnetic nanoparticles-based therapy for malignant mesothelioma.\nThis work was aimed to analyze the versatility of the chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) as in vivo model for the study of the malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) and the therapeutic potential of Fe3O4\u00f7salicylic acid magnetic nanoparticles (SaMNPs) on MPM cells. The antitumor effects of SaMNPs were studied by in vitro and in vivo tests on CARM-L12 TG3 rat malignant mesothelioma cells and human MPM xenografts implanted on CAMs. In order to assess the human MPM xenograft growth characteristics, calretinin, HBME-1 (Hector Battifora mesothelial epitope-1), and cytokeratins immunohistochemical stainings were performed. The human MPM xenografts continue to develop on the CAMs and xenograft MPM cells showed highly metastatic features and a particular pattern of metastasis. The SaMNPs had a specific uptake by the MPM cells and an antiproliferative effect at therapeutic doses greater than 100 \u03bcg\u00f7mL. The results confirmed the possibility to use the CAM as in vivo model to study the biology of MPM and to evaluate the antitumor potential of new therapeutic agents. They highlighted a strong antitumor effect of the SaMNPs on the rat and human MPM cells and open new perspectives in the treatment of MPM.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15239534,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mutations in CFTR gene and clinical correlation in Argentine patients with congenital bilateral absence of the vas deferens.\nCongenital bilateral absence of the vas deferens (CBAVD) is a form of male infertility in which mutations in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene have been identified. Here we identify different mutations of CFTR and the poly-T variant of intron 8 (IVS8) in Argentine patients and analyze sweat test values and clinical characteristic related to Cystic Fibrosis (CF). For counseling purposes the two most frequent mutations in Argentine CF population: deltaF508 and G542X were screened in wives. In all cases, it was possible to reduce the risk of CF\/CBAVD descendants in these couples because none of the mutation were found in the 36 samples. Eight patients (23%) showed abnormal chloride values (> 60 mmol\/l). A second group of 6 patients (18%) had borderline values of sweat chloride (40-59 mmol\/l). We defined another group with 6 patients (18%), with normal sweat chloride levels (30-39 mmo\/l) and a fourth group of 14 (41%) patients with sweat chloride below 30 mmol\/l. deltaF508, the most frequent CF mutation in the Argentine population, was found on 15 of the 72 chromosomes (21%), R117H mutation was detected on 2 of 62 chromosomes (3%). Only one R347P allele was found on 28 chromosomes analyzed (2%). On a sample of 27 patients, IVS8 analysis showed a frequency of 6\/56 chromosomes (11%) of 5T allele. Even though these findings present an improvement in the detection of mutations related to clinical correlations in Argentine CBAVD population, the search for other common and uncommon mutations should be continued.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7925823,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"(-)-Deprenyl alters the time course of death of axotomized facial motoneurons and the hypertrophy of neighboring astrocytes in immature rats.\n(-)-Deprenyl previously was shown to increase the survival of rat facial motoneurons (FMns) after a loss of muscle-derived trophic support caused by axotomy at Postnatal Day 14 (P14) and to increase reactive astrogliosis after traumatic damage to the adult rat striatum. We estimated reactive astrogliosis in facial nuclei at 1, 3, 7, 14, and 21 days after transection of the facial nerve at P14 by two methods: first, by measuring the relative optical density (OD) of GFAP immunoreaction (GFAP-OD) in the facial nuclei and second by determining the relative area of GFAP immunoreactivity (GFAP-AREA) in the same nuclei. Both measures were taken for multiple immunoreacted sections through the length of each facial nuclei by using a control half section at the same brain stem level taken from an unlesioned, age-matched animal. The experimental and control facial nuclear half sections were coimmunoreacted using the \"glued\" half brain stem method. The facial nerve transections served to axotomize all of the FMns in the ipsilateral facial nuclei. The numbers of surviving FMns were examined at the same time points as above using counts of Nissl-stained somata from serial sections taken through each facial nucleus. We found that FMn loss occurred rapidly after axotomy in saline-treated animals and could be best fitted with a decaying exponential relationship (time constant 2.7 days). In the saline-treated animals, the FMn loss plateaued between 7 and 14 days at 74.8%, and 47% of the FMns were found to be lost within 3 days. Increases in the facial nuclear GFAP-OD values and GFAP-AREA values were evident as early as 1 day following axotomy (2.5 and 3.3 times normal, respectively) and reached maximal levels by 7 days (5.7 and 37.6 times normal, respectively). The administration of (-)-deprenyl slowed the loss of the FMns by 24-48 h (time constant 3.9 days) and increased the number of surviving FMns at 21 days by 2.1 times. Treatment with (-)-deprenyl was found to significantly increase GFAP-OD and GFAP-AREA at Day 1 by 71 and 32%, respectively, and at Day 3 by 22 and 27%, respectively. In contrast, it decreased GFAP-OD and GFAP-AREA by 42 and 19%, respectively, at Day 7, and by 20 and 12%, respectively at Day 21. Accordingly, as estimated by both measures, the drug increases reactive astrogliosis in the facial nucleus during the first 3 days after facial nerve transection and decreases the gliosis thereafter.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28707961,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Encephalocraniocutaneous lipomatosis: A case report with review of literature.\nEncephalocraniocutaneous lipomatosis (ECCL) or Haberland syndrome is an uncommon sporadic neurocutaneous syndrome of unknown origin. The rarity and common ignorance of the condition often makes diagnosis difficult. The hallmark of this syndrome is the triad of skin, ocular and central nervous system (CNS) involvement and includes a long list of combination of conditions. Herein we report a case of a 5-month-old male child who presented to our centre with complaint of seizure. The patient had various cutaneous and ocular stigmatas of the disease in the form of patchy alopecia of the scalp, right-sided limbal dermoid and a nodular skin tag near the lateral canthus of the right eye. MRI of the brain was conducted which revealed intracranial lipoma and arachnoid cyst. The constellation of signs and symptoms along with the skin, ocular and CNS findings led to the diagnosis of ECCL.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12027457,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Release of snRNP and RNA from transcription sites in adenovirus-infected cells.\nSmall nuclear ribonucleoprotein (snRNP) splicing factors colocalize with nascent RNA in the nucleus of adenovirus-infected cells in a pattern that appears as a series of rings surrounding viral replication centers. We have studied the release of snRNP and RNA from transcription sites following transcription inhibition by actinomycin D. SnRNP, poly(A) RNA, and viral RNA were no longer detected in the ring pattern following transcription inhibition and were instead detected in nuclear clusters. Release of snRNP from transcription sites was blocked when transcription was inhibited at 4 degrees C, suggesting that release requires temperature-dependent processes. Release of snRNP was also inhibited when transcription was blocked in the presence of 9-beta-D-arabinofuranosyladenine, to inhibit 3'-end cleavage and polyadenylation, or staurosporine, to inhibit kinases. By contrast, release of snRNP was not inhibited when transcription was blocked in the presence of cordycepin, to inhibit RNA polyadenylation without affecting 3'-end cleavage, or okadaic acid, to inhibit phosphatase activity. Our results suggest that temperature-dependent processes involved in the release of splicing factors from transcription sites could include 3'-end cleavage of pre-mRNA and phosphorylation events inhibited by stauropsorine.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":929081,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Influence of overstimulation on temporary threshold shift and the onset of aural overload.\nThis investigation sought to examine the sensitivity of pure tone thresholds and the onset of aural overload to the fatiguing effects of broad band noise. Noise levels ranging from 35 to 110 dB SPL were presented to 8 normal hearers. Post-exposure pure tone thresholds were determined for octave frequencies 500-4000 Hz while aural overload thresholds were obtained for the fundamental frequencies of 500 and 2000 Hz. Aural overload thresholds were found to decline following exposure levels insufficient to produce measurable TTS. This was particularly evident for low-frequency stimuli (below 2000 Hz). Results suggested that the aural overload test may be a more effective indication of cochlear damage than is the traditional temporary threshold shift procedure. These findings are discussed in terms of the \"injured hair cell\" hypothesis proffered by Wever & Lawrence (1955).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20351605,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Endolymphatic sac tumors in von Hippel-Lindau disease: report of three cases.\nTo illustrate the diagnostic and pathophysiologic issues of endolymphatic sac tumors (ELSTs) and its clinical association with von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease and to demonstrate the interest of genetic testing in such cases. Retrospective analysis of 3 cases of ELST with VHL in 3 different clinical and prognostic situations. The first case was diagnosed on the concomitant finding of a central nervous system lesion. The familial genetic testing revealed the presence of the VHL mutation in an asymptomatic daughter, which justified regular follow-up. In the second case of known VHL syndromic disease, the pathophysiologic role of the endolymphatic sac was questioned, with vertigo as the initial, unique symptom of ELST. In the third case, a giant hypervascularized ELST, initially diagnosed as jugular paraganglioma, was the unique manifestation of VHL disease. The young age of the patient could explain the absence of other tumors. Diagnosis of ELSTs may be difficult especially when the original site of the lesion cannot be clearly identified. Such tumors may be revealed or may develop with VHL disease. On presentation of a lytic, vascularized tumor of the posterior face of the petrous bone, clinicians should systematically search for other manifestations of VHL disease and propose a VHL genetic testing for patients, and relatives in case of a positive test, to detect early asymptomatic other tumors. The type of VHL mutation might predict the aggressiveness.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28729267,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Draft Genome Sequence of the blaOXA-436- and blaNDM-1-Harboring Shewanella putrefaciens SA70 Isolate.\nWe sequenced a carbapenem-resistant Shewanella putrefaciens isolate cultured from the sink handle of a Pakistan hospital room. Assembly annotation indicates that the isolate has a chromosomal blaOXA-436 carbapenemase and a plasmid-borne blaNDM-1 gene. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a Shewanella species harboring blaNDM.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29384647,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Parallels in Structural Chemistry between the Molecular and Metallic Realms Revealed by Complex Intermetallic Phases.\nThe structural diversity of intermetallic phases poses a great challenge to chemical theory and materials design. In this Account, two examples are used to illustrate how a focus on the most complex of these structures (and their relationships to simpler ones) can reveal how chemical principles underlie structure for broad families of compounds. First, we show how experimental investigations into the Fe-Al-Si system, inspired by host-guest like features in the structure of Fe25Al78Si20, led to a theoretical approach to deriving isolobal analogies between molecular and intermetallic compounds and a more general electron counting rule. Specifically, the Fe8Al17.6Si7.4 compound obtained in these syntheses was traced to a fragmentation of the fluorite-type structure (as adopted by NiSi2), driven by the maintenance of 18-electron configurations on the transition metal centers. The desire to quickly generalize these conclusions to a broader range of phases motivated the formulation of the reversed approximation Molecular Orbital (raMO) approach. The application of raMO to a diverse series of compounds allowed us recognize the prevalence of electron pair sharing in multicenter functions isolobal to classical covalent bonds and to propose the 18 - n electron rule for transition metal-main group (T-E) intermetallic compounds. These approaches provided a framework for understanding the 14-electron rule of the Nowotny Chimney Ladder phases, a temperature-driven phase transition in GdCoSi2, and the bcc-structure of group VI transition metals. In the second story, we recount the development of the chemical pressure approach to analyzing atomic size and packing effects in intermetallic structures. We begin with how the stability of the Yb2Ag7-type structure of Ca2Ag7 over the more common CaCu5 type highlights the pressing need for approaches to assessing the role of atomic size in crystal structures, and inspired the development of the DFT-Chemical Pressure (CP) method. Examples of structural phenomena elucidated by this approach are then given, including the Y\/Co2 dumbbell substitution in the Th2Zn17-type phase Y2Co17, and local icosahedral order in the Tsai-type quasicrystal approximant CaCd6. We next discuss how deriving relationships between the CP features of a structure and its phonon modes provided a way of both validating the method and visualizing how local arrangements can give rise to soft vibrational modes. The themes of structural mechanisms for CP relief and soft atomic motions merge in the discovery and elucidation of the incommensurately modulated phase CaPd5. In the conclusion of this Account, we propose combining raMO and CP methods for focused predictions of structural phenomena.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22665978,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Novel image analysis approach quantifies morphological characteristics of 3D breast culture acini with varying metastatic potentials.\nPrognosis of breast cancer is primarily predicted by the histological grading of the tumor, where pathologists manually evaluate microscopic characteristics of the tissue. This labor intensive process suffers from intra- and inter-observer variations; thus, computer-aided systems that accomplish this assessment automatically are in high demand. We address this by developing an image analysis framework for the automated grading of breast cancer in in vitro three-dimensional breast epithelial acini through the characterization of acinar structure morphology. A set of statistically significant features for the characterization of acini morphology are exploited for the automated grading of six (MCF10 series) cell line cultures mimicking three grades of breast cancer along the metastatic cascade. In addition to capturing both expected and visually differentiable changes, we quantify subtle differences that pose a challenge to assess through microscopic inspection. Our method achieves 89.0% accuracy in grading the acinar structures as nonmalignant, noninvasive carcinoma, and invasive carcinoma grades. We further demonstrate that the proposed methodology can be successfully applied for the grading of in vivo tissue samples albeit with additional constraints. These results indicate that the proposed features can be used to describe the relationship between the acini morphology and cellular function along the metastatic cascade.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21162182,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Impact of alcohol abuse on the composition of serum lipids in patients with tonsillitis].\nThe purpose of the study was to assess the impact of alcohol abuse on the composition of serum lipids in patients with tonsillitis. The values of the serum lipid spectrum were studied in 100 alcohol abusers with Streptococcus-induced lacunar tonsillitis, 100 alcoholics without markers of viral hepatitis, and 50 healthy individuals. The effect of alcohol was shown in elevated triglyceride levels in patients with alcoholism and tonsillitis. Exposed to bacterial infection, the tonsillitis patients who abused alcohol had higher levels of phospholipids and free cholesterol and lower concentrations of free fatty acids and cholesterol esters than the alcoholics. The tonsillitis patients who abused alcohol were observed to have more considerable changes in the spectrum of phospholipids as a low relative content of lysophospholipids and higher levels of phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine than the alcoholics, which may be due to the predominant impact of bacterial infection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23456061,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Adaptive boundaryless finite-difference method.\nThe boundaryless beam propagation method uses a mapping function to transform the infinite real space into a finite-size computational domain [Opt. Lett.21, 4 (1996)]. This leads to a bounded field that avoids the artificial reflections produced by the computational window. However, the method suffers from frequency aliasing problems, limiting the physical region to be sampled. We propose an adaptive boundaryless method that concentrates the higher density of sampling points in the region of interest. The method is implemented in Cartesian and cylindrical coordinate systems. It keeps the same advantages of the original method but increases accuracy and is not affected by frequency aliasing.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3030706,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mutually independent effects of adrenocorticotropin on luteinizing hormone and testosterone secretion.\nIn this study, we examined the effect of ACTH on the sensitivity of the testes to gonadotropin and determined the role of the testosterone (T) negative feedback system in mediating the inhibitory effect of ACTH on LH secretion in adult male rats. ACTH infusion for 3 days reduced basal levels of serum T and the T response to GnRH, but did not alter basal levels of serum LH (immunoreactive) or the LH response to GnRH. These effects required the presence of the adrenal glands. Infusion of corticosterone (B) at a dose that increased serum B concentrations 9-fold had an effect similar to that of ACTH on basal serum T levels and the serum T response to GnRH. Basal levels of serum LH and the serum LH response to GnRH were not affected by B administration. These data suggest that ACTH administration reduces the sensitivity of the testes to LH, resulting in a lower basal level of T and a reduced T response to GnRH. This effect was independent of basal serum LH levels or the LH response to GnRH. It appears that B mediates the effect of ACTH on testicular sensitivity to gonadotropin. In another experiment, ACTH administration for 4 days did not alter serum LH values, but reduced serum T levels in sham-castrated male rats. In contrast, ACTH treatment blunted the increase in serum LH after castration by day 2 of treatment, despite the absence of detectable levels of serum T within 6 h after castration. These data suggest that T is not essential for the inhibitory effect of ACTH on LH secretion to occur. They do not support the hypothesis that ACTH enhances the sensitivity of the hypothalamus and\/or pituitary to the negative feedback effects of T.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7937574,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Is it already '5 past 12'?--Development of a scale for \"ecological hopelessness\"].\nThe article reports results from a second follow-up survey (N = 541) on existential anxieties with a sample from the Federal Republic of Germany in 1992 who had first been questionned in 1985 when their ages were between 8 and 20 years. The report focuses on data gathered with a new scale on 'ecological hopelessness'. The new scale is comprised of 10 items and shows high reliability. The results reveal that every third youth in the sample articulates ecological hopelessness. Analyses of variance show that there is a strong gender difference: Girls\/women express more hopelessness than boys\/men, correlations and regression analyses show a negative relation between hopelessness and mental health and a positive relation between hopelessness and attempted coping. It is probable that hopelessness will expand if environmental destruction becomes more intensive. Thus, psychology as a part of humanities is obliged to not only point to the dangerous consequences of hopeless per se, but also to engage in the prevention of ecological hopelessness.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21147776,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2013-48":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Electron cryomicroscopy structure of a membrane-anchored mitochondrial AAA protease.\nFtsH-related AAA proteases are conserved membrane-anchored, ATP-dependent molecular machines, which mediate the processing and turnover of soluble and membrane-embedded proteins in eubacteria, mitochondria, and chloroplasts. Homo- and hetero-oligomeric proteolytic complexes exist, which are composed of homologous subunits harboring an ATPase domain of the AAA family and an H41 metallopeptidase domain. Mutations in subunits of mitochondrial m-AAA proteases have been associated with different neurodegenerative disorders in human, raising questions on the functional differences between homo- and hetero-oligomeric AAA proteases. Here, we have analyzed the hetero-oligomeric yeast m-AAA protease composed of homologous Yta10 and Yta12 subunits. We combined genetic and structural approaches to define the molecular determinants for oligomer assembly and to assess functional similarities between Yta10 and Yta12. We demonstrate that replacement of only two amino acid residues within the metallopeptidase domain of Yta12 allows its assembly into homo-oligomeric complexes. To provide a molecular explanation, we determined the 12 \u00c5 resolution structure of the intact yeast m-AAA protease with its transmembrane domains by electron cryomicroscopy (cryo-EM) and atomic structure fitting. The full-length m-AAA protease has a bipartite structure and is a hexamer in solution. We found that residues in Yta12, which facilitate homo-oligomerization when mutated, are located at the interface between neighboring protomers in the hexamer ring. Notably, the transmembrane and intermembrane space domains are separated from the main body, creating a passage on the matrix side, which is wide enough to accommodate unfolded but not folded polypeptides. These results suggest a mechanism regarding how proteins are recognized and degraded by m-AAA proteases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20360899,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Duloxetine in the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder.\nDuloxetine is a serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) which is FDA approved for the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) in doses of 30 mg to 120 mg daily. Duloxetine has been shown to significantly improve symptoms of GAD as measured through the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAMA), the Clinical Global Impressions Scale (CGI-I), and other various outcome measures in several placebo-controlled, randomized, double blind, multi-center studies. Symptom improvement began within the first few weeks, and continued for the duration of the studies. In addition, duloxetine has also been shown to improve outcomes in elderly patients with GAD, and in GAD patients with clinically significant pain symptoms. Duloxetine was noninferior compared with venlafaxine XR. Duloxetine was found to have a good tolerability profile which was predictable and similar to another SNRI, venlafaxine. Adverse events (AEs) such as nausea, constipation, dry mouth, and insomnia were mild and transient, and occurred at relatively low rates. It was found to have a low frequency of drug interactions. In conclusion, duloxetine, a selective inhibitor for the serotonin and norepinephrine transporters, is efficacious in the treatment of GAD, and has a predictable tolerability profile, with AEs generally being mild to moderate.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3045175,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"1987 Kreshover lecture. Gene regulation in the development of oral tissues.\nThe regulatory processes associated with tooth formation are being investigated by the identification of when, where, and how cell adhesion molecules (CAMs), substrate adhesion molecules (SAMs), dentin phosphoprotein, enamel gene products, and intermediate cementum products are expressed during sequential developmental stages of morphogenesis, cytodifferentiation, dentin, enamel and cementum extracellular matrix (ECM) formation, and biomineralization. Instructive and permissive signaling is required for both morphogenesis and cytodifferentiation based upon in vitro organotypic culture studies in serumless, chemically-defined medium. Intrinsic developmental instructions, independent of exogenous growth factors, mediate tooth morphogenesis from the initiation of the dental lamina through crown and initial root development. Recent progress using recombinant DNA methods has advanced descriptions of several dental structural genes. The complete nucleic acid sequence for mouse amelogenin has been defined. This sequence is located on the mouse X chromosome and on the human X and Y chromosomes. This discussion summarizes recent results using experimental embryology, recombinant DNA technology, and immunocytology in the context of instructive epithelial-mesenchymal interactions associated with epithelial differentiation into ameloblasts, ectomesenchyme differentiation into odontoblasts, and dentin and enamel ECM biomineralization. The tooth organ provides opportunities at several levels of biological organization to investigate cellular, molecular, and developmental processes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23444898,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Gene polymorphisms, tobacco exposure and oral cancer susceptibility: a study from Gujarat, West India.\nPolymorphic variability in the enzymes involved in biotransformation of tobacco-related pro-carcinogens plays an important role in modulating oral cancer susceptibility. CYP1A1*2A, CYP1A1*2C, GSTM1 and GSTT1 polymorphisms were determined in 122 oral carcinoma cases and 127 controls from Gujarat, West India using PCR-based methods. The results revealed that the polymorphic variants of CYP1A1 gene did not show association towards oral cancer risk. The GSTM1 and GSTT1 null genotypes were found to be over-represented in patients than controls, suggesting a moderate increase in risk of oral cancer. The oral cancer risk was significantly increased in the patients having either alone or concurrent deletion of GSTM1 and GSTT1. The results also suggested significant association between tobacco habits, especially chewing, variant genotypes of CYP1A1, GSTM1 and GSTT1 and oral cancer risk. Our data have provided evidence that GST polymorphism modified the susceptibility to oral cancer and individuals with variant genotypes of the three genes with tobacco habits are at significant risk of developing oral cancer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26481837,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Treatment Outcomes in CML Patients Treated With Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors at a Tertiary Teaching Hospital in South Africa.\nChronic myeloid leukemia (CML) has become one of the most treatable hematologic neoplasms since the advent of the tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), but it was not known if similar treatment outcomes could be achieved in a resource-limited country. We tested the hypothesis that, despite challenges to access to second-generation TKIs, excellent responses could be replicated in the setting of limited resources. Records of 58 patients with newly diagnosed CML in the chronic phase treated with TKIs at a tertiary teaching hospital in Cape Town, South Africa between 2003 and 2012 were reviewed and assessed according to European LeukemiaNet (ELN) criteria. After a median follow-up of 60.5 months, progression-free survival at 60 and 96 months was 79.98% and 68.4%, respectively. Overall survival at 60 and 96 months was 92.9% and 83.6%, respectively. Progression to blast phase at 60 months was associated with poorer survival (P = .0002) but progression to accelerated phase was not (P = .1456). Attainment of a complete cytogenetic response at 12 months (P = .28) or major molecular response at 18 months (P = .268) did not have prognostic significance. Despite delays in achievement of the target responses defined according to ELN criteria, the use of imatinib mesylate as a first-line treatment can still result in treatment outcomes comparable with those in developed countries. These data suggest opportunities for improvement and success might be even greater with uninterrupted access to second-generation or newer TKIs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32617535,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Evaluating a Conditional Cash Transfer Scheme in a Maternal Health Care Utilization Program Among Rural Pregnant Women in Mysore District, India.\nBackground: According to the World Bank report in 2015, the maternal death rate in India was 174 per 100,000, which is among the highest in the world. The Indian Government launched the Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) conditional cash transfer program in 2005 to curb the adverse birth outcomes by promoting institutional delivery and providing antenatal care (ANC) services for pregnant women. This study evaluates the factors associated with JSY conditional cash transfer program in rural Mysore, India. Methods: Between 2011 and 2014, a prospective cohort study was conducted to examine the feasibility and acceptability of integrated ANC and HIV testing using mobile clinics in rural Mysore. Pregnant women in the Mysore Taluk provided an informed consent and answered an interviewer-administered questionnaire in local language, Kannada. All women underwent routine ANC services and were followed-up immediately after delivery, and 6 months and 12 months after delivery. Binary logistic regression was performed to identify factors associated with JSY benefits. Results: The mean age of the 1,806 mothers was 21.2 \u00b1 2.2 years and 58.9% of the mothers had primary education. Nearly half (51.6%) of the women reported having received JSY benefits. Factors associated with receiving JSY benefits included pregnant woman's partner not having any formal education (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 1.35; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.01-1.80), having income \u22644,000 Indian Rupees (AOR: 1.47; 95% CI: 1.04-2.09), rare visits (once in 3 months visit) with Accredited Social Health Activists (AOR: 3.55; 95% CI: 1.55-8.51), and delivery in a public institution (AOR: 1.23; 95% CI: 1.01-1.51). Conclusions: While JSY has been operational in India since 2005, there continue to remain major gaps in the receipt of JSY services in rural India. Future interventions should include targeted services and expansion of JSY scheme, specifically among rural pregnant women, who are most at need of these services.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8349175,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of testosterone on the development of endometrial tumors in female rats.\nLong-term treatment of mature virgin female rats with a high dose of testosterone (24 weeks at a total dose of 300 mg) was associated with the development of endometrial adenomatous hyperplasia and resulted in a high incidence of adenocarcinoma when administered in combination with 7,12-dimethyl-benz[a]anthracene (DMBA; 2 mg in 0.1 ml sesame oil) introduced into the uterine cavity. Adenomatous hyperplasia occurred in all testosterone-treated rats, both with and without ovaries. Testosterone may promote the induction of endometrial tumors by DMBA.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12027176,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Detailed study of silver metallic film diffusion in a soda-lime glass substrate for optical waveguide fabrication.\nWe present the study of multimode glass waveguides fabricated by a silver-ion electromigration process followed by a diffusion process. The study is concerned mainly with the diffusion process, which occurs by variation of the diffusion time. The obtained guides are analyzed by the prism-coupling technique, which determines their effective refractive indices that are treated by the inverse WKB method,assumed to be proportional to the silver ions' concentration profiles, for which a Gaussian model is attributed. Diffusion coefficients then are determined from these Gaussian profiles experimentally by both methods. These diffusion coefficients show a concentration dependence related to the variation of the diffusion time. A mathematical model representing the best fit to this dependence is also presented. Finally, our results are compared with other research results, with which we find good agreement.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14074843,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"LACTATE DEHYDROGENASE IN TESTIS: DISSOCIATION AND RECOMBINATION OF SUBUNITS.\nElectrophoretic resolution of lactate dehydrogenase in mature testes from a variety of animals revealed one or more unusual isozymes in addition to the usual five forms. Dissociation of the enzyme and recombination of the polypeptide subunits led to the formation of new isozymes and to a redistribution of activity among those normally present, indicating that lactate dehydrogenase synthesis in postpubertal testis is controlled by more than two genes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":934809,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Inoculation experiments with Bordetella bronchiseptica strains in SPF pigs.\nThe progeny of 9 SPF gilts fed a balanced ration (Table I) was used in an inoculation experiment with field strains of Bordetella bronchiseptica isolated in herds suffering atrophic rhinitis. Acute rhinitis was produced within a week after intranasal inoculation of B. bronchiseptica into 1 to 11-day-old piglets. Coughing occurred in some of the exposed pigs, but signs of pneumonia did not develop. A few pigs were killed at intervals of 1 to 3 weeks after exposure. These pigs all showed histological lesions in the turbinate and B. bronchiseptica was recovered from various parts of the respiratory tract. Pigs killed 3 weeks after inoculation showed advanced turbinate atrophy (Tables II and III). Among inoculated litter mates reared to slaughter weight, only one developed clinical signs (slight) of atrophic rhinitis, and a tendency towards an elimination of the B. bronchiseptica infection from the accessible part of the nasal cavity was noticed during the growth period. By examination of nasal swabs collected when the pigs were 10 to 13 weeks old, Mycoplasma flocculare was isolated as well from pigs inoculated with B. bronchiseptica as from the control pigs. The growth rate of the experimental pigs was high and no difference in feed consumption or feed conversion occurred between the exposed pigs and the control pigs. By post mortem examination of the snouts from the pigs slaughtered at approx. 85 kg live weight, severe atrophic rhinitis was not found. Approximately one third (32%) of the exposed pigs showed slight atrophic rhinitis lesions (Table IV). The results are discussed and it is concluded that the isolated B. bronchiseptica strains are pathogenic in young pigs and able to induce turbinate atrophy 2 to 3 weeks after inoculation. Turbinate atrophy induced in pigs a few weeks old, may apparently restore completely or almost completely during the growth period. Under the provided experimental conditions, infection with B. bronchiseptica did not result in the development of a lasting, growth-retarding atrophic rhinitis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9554800,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Augmented endothelium-dependent contraction to angiotensin II in the SHR aorta: role of an inducible cyclooxygenase metabolite.\nThe purpose of this study was to investigate the mechanisms involved in the angiotensin II-induced increase in the contractile response of the hypertensive wall after prolonged incubation in the organ-bath buffer. In 5-h incubated rings, the contractile response to angiotensin II in aortic rings with endothelium from spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) was markedly exaggerated in comparison to 2-h incubated rings. No such potentiation was observed in SHR rings after removal of the endothelium or in intact and denuded Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rat rings. Aspirin and SQ29548 inhibited and cycloheximide and actinomycin D reduced the time-dependent enhanced response to angiotensin II in rings with endothelium from SHRs. In SHR rings with endothelium incubated for 2 h, the contractions caused by angiotensin II were potently inhibited by piroxicam but were unaffected by NS-398. Conversely, in rings incubated for 5 h, the hyperresponsiveness to angiotensin II was inhibited to a greater extent by NS-398 than by piroxicam. Piroxicam but not NS-398 had a further inhibitory effect on the residual angiotensin II-induced contraction in actinomycin D-treated rings incubated for 5 h. In conclusion, our study shows that long-term incubation leads to hyperresponsiveness to angiotensin II in SHR aorta with endothelium. The enhanced response is associated with the induced release of vasoconstrictor prostanoids sensitive to the inhibitory effect of NS-398, a preferential inhibitor of COX-2.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36927506,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Enhancing Therapeutic Processes in Videoconferencing Psychotherapy: Interview Study of Psychologists' Technological Perspective.\nThe COVID-19 pandemic caused a surge in the use of telehealth platforms. Psychologists have shifted from face-to-face sessions to videoconference sessions. Therefore, essential information that is easily obtainable via in-person sessions may be missing. Consequently, therapeutic work could be compromised. This study aimed to explore the videoconference psychotherapy (VCP) experiences of psychologists around the world. Furthermore, we aimed to identify technological features that may enhance psychologists' therapeutic work through augmented VCP. In total, 17 psychologists across the world (n=7, 41% from Australia; n=1, 6% from England; n=5, 29% from Italy; n=1, 6% from Mexico; n=1, 6% from Spain; and n=2, 12% from the United States) were interviewed. We used thematic analysis to examine the data collected from a sample of 17 psychologists. We applied the Chaos Theory to interpret the system dynamics and collected details about the challenges posed by VCP. For collecting further information about the technology and processes involved, we relied on the Input-Process-Output (IPO) model. The analysis resulted in the generation of 9 themes (input themes: psychologists' attitude, trust-reinforcing features, reducing cognitive load, enhancing emotional communication, and engaging features between psychologists and patients; process themes: building and reinforcing trust, decreasing cognitive load, enhancing emotional communication, and increasing psychologist-patient engagement) and 19 subthemes. Psychologists found new strategies to deal with VCP limitations but also reported the need for more technical control to facilitate therapeutic processes. The suggested technologies (eye contact functionality, emergency call functionality, screen control functionality, interactive interface with other apps and software, and zooming in and out functionality) could enhance the presence and dynamic nature of the therapeutic relationship. Psychologists expressed a desire for enhanced control of VCP sessions. Psychologists reported a decreased sense of control within the therapeutic relationship owing to the influence of the VCP system. Great control of the VCP system could better approximate the critical elements of in-person psychotherapy (eg, observation of body language). To facilitate improved control, psychologists would like technology to implement features such as improved eye contact, better screen control, emergency call functionality, ability to zoom in and out, and an interactive interface to communicate with other apps. These results contribute to the general perception of the computer as an actual part of the VCP process. Thus, the computer plays a key role in the communication, rather than remaining as a technical medium. By adopting the IPO model in the VCP environment (VCP-IPO model), the relationship experience may help psychologists have more control in their VCP sessions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34412495,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Development of a scoring scale for predicting the risk of postoperative complications after spinal tuberculosis debridement: a retrospective cohort study of 233 patients.\nThis investigation established a scoring scale for predicting the incidence of postoperative complications in patients after spinal tuberculosis debridement. A total of 232 spinal tuberculosis patients who underwent debridement surgery between January 2012 to May 2020 were included in this retrospective study. The study cohort was divided into 2 groups according to the presence or absence of postoperative complications. The complications were defined as abnormal or impaired body function caused by surgical factors (such as nerve injury and internal fixation looseness) or other factors (such as chemotherapy and bed stay). Clinical characteristics include age, body mass index (BMI), diabetes mellitus, pulmonary tuberculosis, smoking history, preoperative serum albumin, preoperative C-reactive protein (CRP), Cobb angle correction, surgical approach, operation time, etc. operative blood loss was recorded and analyzed. The clinical characteristics of spinal tuberculosis patients who suffered postoperative complications were evaluated, and a scoring scale was established using logistic regression analysis. The performance of this scoring scale was prospectively validated. Out of 232 patients, a total of 188 (81.03%) suffered postoperative complications after surgery. Multivariate binary logistic regression analysis showed that diabetes mellitus [adjusted odds ratio (OR) =1.110, P=0.046], pulmonary tuberculosis (adjusted OR =1.181, P=0.002), low preoperative serum albumin (adjusted OR =0.789, P=0.005), anterior surgical approach (adjusted OR =5.934, P=0.035), and long operation time (adjusted OR =1.019, P<0.01) were independent risk factors of postoperative complications after spinal tuberculosis debridement surgery. The above independent risk factors were assigned to establish a scoring scale for predicting postoperative complications, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis showed that the optimal cut-off value for the scoring scale was 4 points. The sensitivity and specificity of the scoring scale were 60.8% and 81.8%, respectively, based on the validation set. Using the scoring scale, spinal tuberculosis patients with a score between 4 to 9 would be considered at high risk of postoperative complications, while patients with a score of 0 to 3 would likely be at low risk of developing postoperative complications.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3077861,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Temperature dependent factors influencing nutrient uptake: an analysis of responses at different levels of organization.\nIon fluxes show a characteristically biochemical dependence on temperature when observed at the membrane level and over short periods after a perturbation of temperature. The primary active transport systems are enzymic and are dependent both on substrate supply and on changes in protein conformation. The hydrophobic parts of the proteins are surrounded by lipid molecules whose physical state may crucially affect conformation changes. These lipids may undergo transitions from a fluid to a gel state at temperatures occurring in the natural environment. It will be noted that the concepts developed in model systems of pure phospholipid\/protein interactions cannot be very readily applied to the spatially heterogeneous assemblies of lipid molecules and transport proteins in real cell membranes. While it is obvious that ion transport rates are responsive to temperature changes in a given cell, it is difficult to explain exactly which components of the transport process become limiting. We will show that, on cooling, the membrane potential can initially be greatly disturbed when temperature is changed and that this may be related to ATP supply to H+-translocating ATPase. This affects the driving force for all other solutes. When temperature is lowered the permeability coefficients for most ions are reduced and yet it is commonly found that diffusive efflux of ions increases in the cold. We attempt to explain this paradox on the basis of driving forces and metabolic regulation of ion transport. Acclimatory changes occur on extended exposure of a cell or an organism to a reduced growth temperature. Some of these changes occur at the membrane level and relate to lipid composition and modulation of carrier activity. Others involve changes in the relative size and sometimes the morphology of the root system. We will show that these processes lessen the temperature dependence of ion transport and ensure that the intake of nutrients does not limit growth at low temperatures. These acclimatory changes are seen as part of the general process of regulation of nutrient uptake.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6918920,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The effect of oxygen inhalation on oral temperature.\nA study was conducted to determine the effect of oxygen inhalation by nasal cannula on oral temperatures. One hundred healthy adult subjects were randomly assigned to a control and to three experimental groups that received 2, 4, and 6 liters per minute of oxygen for 30 minutes. Oral temperatures were measured before and 30 minutes after oxygen treatment. The data analysis did not show any significant effect of the treatment. This study encourages review of the common empirical practice of changing temperature sites from the preferred oral to the less acceptable rectal or axillary sites in patients receiving oxygen inhalation treatments.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29385523,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"TelAP1 links telomere complexes with developmental expression site silencing in African trypanosomes.\nDuring its life cycle, Trypanosoma brucei shuttles between a mammalian host and the tsetse fly vector. In the mammalian host, immune evasion of T. brucei bloodstream form (BSF) cells relies on antigenic variation, which includes monoallelic expression and periodic switching of variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) genes. The active VSG is transcribed from only 1 of the 15 subtelomeric expression sites (ESs). During differentiation from BSF to the insect-resident procyclic form (PCF), the active ES is transcriptionally silenced. We used mass spectrometry-based interactomics to determine the composition of telomere protein complexes in T. brucei BSF and PCF stages to learn more about the structure and functions of telomeres in trypanosomes. Our data suggest a different telomere complex composition in the two forms of the parasite. One of the novel telomere-associated proteins, TelAP1, forms a complex with telomeric proteins TbTRF, TbRAP1 and TbTIF2 and influences ES silencing kinetics during developmental differentiation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28736364,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Angiotensin-(1-7) protects cardiac myocytes against high glucose-induced injury by inhibiting ClC-3 chloride channels].\nTo explore whether angiotensin-(1-7) [Ang-(1-7)] protects cardiac myocytes against high glucose (HG)-induced injury by inhibiting ClC-3 chloride channels. H9c2 cardiac cells were exposed to 35 mmol\/L glucose for 24 h to establish a cell injury model. The cells were treated with Ang-(1-7) or the inhibitor of chloride channel (NPPB) in the presence of HG for 24 h to observe the changes in HG-induced cell injury. Cell counter kit 8 (CCK-8) assay was used to test the cell viability, and the morphological changes of the apoptotic cells were detected using Hoechst 33258 staining and fluorescent microscopy. The intracellular level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was examined by DCFH-DA staining, SOD activity in the culture medium was measured using commercial kits, and the mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) of the cells was tested with rodamine 123 staining. The expression level of cardiac ClC-3 chloride channels was detected with Western blotting. Exposure of H9c2 cardiac cells to 35 mmol\/L glucose for 24 h markedly enhanced the expressions of cardiac ClC-3 channel protein (P<0.01). Co-treatment of the cells with 1 \u00b5mol\/L Ang-(1-7) and HG for 24 h significantly attenuated HG- induced upregulation of ClC-3 channel protein expression (P<0.01). Co-treatment of the cells exposed to HG with 1 \u00b5mol\/L Ang-(1-7) or 100 \u00b5mol\/L NPPB for 24 h obviously ameliorated HG-induced injuries as shown by increased cell viability, enhanced SOD activity, decreased number of apoptotic cells, and reduced intracellular ROS generation and loss of MMP (P<0.01). ClC-3 channels are involved in HG-induced injury in cardiac cells. Ang-(1-7) protects cardiac cells against HG-induced injury by inhibiting ClC-3 channels.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6737617,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Persistence of Pasteurella multocida in Nebraska wetlands under epizootic conditions.\nGleason Basin, a marsh located in the western part of the Rainwater Basin in Nebraska, was selected during the 1980 spring waterfowl migration as a study site to determine the presence and persistence of virulent Pasteurella multocida. Avian cholera mortality in migratory waterfowl using the Basin increased during a 2-wk period of a die-off beginning the first week of March when 2,409 carcasses were collected from the marsh. Study sites within the marsh were established for sampling water associated with and not associated with intact and scavenged carcasses. Isolations of virulent P. multocida were made from five of six study sites associated with either intact or scavenged carcasses for 3 days and from three of five non-carcass-associated study sites for 2 days. Recovery of these bacteria from this environment suggested a possible source of infection for susceptible waterfowl using the contaminated site.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7937943,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Frequency-dependent associative long-term potentiation at the hippocampal mossy fiber-CA3 synapse.\nThe mossy fiber-CA3 synapse displays an N-methyl-D-aspartate-receptor-independent mu-opioid-receptor-dependent form of long-term potentiation (LTP) that is thought not to display cooperativity or associativity with coactive afferents. However, because mossy fiber LTP requires repetitive synaptic activity for its induction, we reevaluated cooperativity and associativity at this synapse by using trains of mossy fiber stimulation. Moderate-, but not low-, intensity trains induced mossy fiber LTP, indicating cooperativity. Low-intensity mossy fiber trains that were normally ineffective in inducing LTP could induce mossy fiber LTP when delivered in conjunction with trains delivered to commissural-CA3 afferents. Associative mossy fiber LTP also could be induced with single mossy fiber pulses when delivered with commissural trains in the presence of a mu-opioid-receptor agonist. Our findings suggest a frequency-dependent variation of Hebbian associative LTP induction that is regulated by the release of endogenous opioid peptides.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25409507,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Study on the reutilization of clear fracturing flowback fluids in surfactant flooding with additives for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR).\nAn investigation was conducted to study the reutilization of clear fracturing flowback fluids composed of viscoelastic surfactants (VES) with additives in surfactant flooding, making the process more efficient and cost-effective. The clear fracturing flowback fluids were used as surfactant flooding system with the addition of \u03b1-olefin sulfonate (AOS) for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). The interfacial activity, emulsification activity and oil recovery capability of the recycling system were studied. The interfacial tension (IFT) between recycling system and oil can be reduced by 2 orders of magnitude to 10(-3) mN\/m, which satisfies the basic demand of surfactant flooding. The oil can be emulsified and dispersed more easily due to the synergetic effect of VES and AOS. The oil-wet surface of quartz can be easily converted to water-wet through adsorption of surfactants (VES\/AOS) on the surface. Thirteen core plug flooding tests were conducted to investigate the effects of AOS concentrations, slug sizes and slug types of the recycling system on the incremental oil recovery. The investigations prove that reclaiming clear fracturing flowback fluids after fracturing operation and reuse it in surfactant flooding might have less impact on environment and be more economical.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37666243,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Investigation of morbidity, length of stay, and healthcare costs of inpatient paediatric burns.\nBurn injuries are the third most common cause of death in children due to trauma. Hospitalizations related to burn injuries are common. Prolonged hospitalization associated with burn treatment can result in increased resource utilization, leading to higher costs. Thus, it is essential to investigate these areas to reduce costs. The study investigated the morbidity and length of hospital stay of paediatric burn patients, as well as calculated the social security costs of hospitalization and treatment. The retrospective observational descriptive study examined the medical records of 774 paediatric patients treated in a burn intensive care unit at a tertiary medical faculty hospital between 01 March 2019 and 31 March 2022. The invoice records of payments made by the Social Security Institution to the hospital in return for health services provided to patients were examined. The healthcare costs were calculated. A total of 57.6% of the participants were boys and 79.2% were between the ages of 1-4. About 90% of the cases involved burns with a total body surface area (TBSA) of less than 20% and a 2nd-degree burn depth. Scalding was the most common cause of burns (88.2%). Among all patients, the mortality rate was 2.1% (n = 16). The mean length of hospital stay was 10.29 \u00b1 9.59 days. The mean cost per day was 212.02 \u00b1 190.94 US dollars ($US), and the cost per 1% TBSA was 241.70 \u00b1 301.32 $US. According to the causes of burn injury, the mean cost of electricity was 5000.77 \u00b1 8101.85 $US, fire 4818.02 \u00b1 5852.22 $US, and chemical 3285.49 \u00b1 4503.2 $US were observed in the first 3 ranks respectively. According to this study, paediatric burn cases occur due to preventable causes, and even though the mortality rate was low, the severity of burns, TBSA%, and presence of complications caused prolonged lengths of hospital stays, which caused social security costs to rise.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7947704,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Chloride-depletion effects in the calcium-deficient oxygen-evolving complex of photosystem II.\nThe effects of Cl-depletion in photosystem II (PS-II)-enriched membranes have been investigated by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy after removal of the 17- and 23-kDa polypeptides and depletion of Ca2+ by NaCl treatment. When the salt treatment was done in the presence of a high concentration (5 mM) of the chelator [ethylenebis(oxyethylenenitrilo)]tetraacetic acid (EGTA), a modified dark-stable multiline signal was observed from the S2 state and a 13 mT wide S3 signal could be generated by illumination at 0 degrees C as reported previously for experiments conducted under these conditions [Boussac, A., Zimmermann, J.-L., & Rutherford, A. W. (1990) FEBS Lett. 277, 69-74]. The modified S2 multiline signal was lost after a further Cl- depletion in the presence of a low EGTA concentration (50 microM). Upon Cl- reconstitution, a normal S2 multiline signal could be generated by continuous illumination at 200 K. In contrast, a lowering of the EGTA concentration (50 microM) alone, in the presence of Cl- (30 mM), had no effect on the modified S2 multiline signal. These results indicate that the modification of S2 is due to binding of the chelator to PS-II and that Cl- stabilizes the chelator binding. When Cl- depletion in Ca(2+)-depleted PS-II was done in the presence of a high concentration of EGTA (5 mM), the modified S2 multiline signal disappeared but was regenerated by Cl- reconstitution in darkness. These results indicate that when Cl- depletion is done to the EGTA-modified PS-II, the S2 multiline signal disappears but the S2 state remains stable in the dark.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27287668,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Fundamentals for Future Mobile-Health (mHealth): A Systematic Review of Mobile Phone and Web-Based Text Messaging in Mental Health.\nMobile phone text messages (short message service, SMS) are used pervasively as a form of communication. Almost 100% of the population uses text messaging worldwide and this technology is being suggested as a promising tool in psychiatry. Text messages can be sent either from a classic mobile phone or a web-based application. Reviews are needed to better understand how text messaging can be used in mental health care and other fields of medicine. The objective of the study was to review the literature regarding the use of mobile phone text messaging in mental health care. We conducted a thorough literature review of studies involving text messaging in health care management. Searches included PubMed, PsycINFO, Cochrane, Scopus, Embase and Web of Science databases on May 25, 2015. Studies reporting the use of text messaging as a tool in managing patients with mental health disorders were included. Given the heterogeneity of studies, this review was summarized using a descriptive approach. From 677 initial citations, 36 studies were included in the review. Text messaging was used in a wide range of mental health situations, notably substance abuse (31%), schizophrenia (22%), and affective disorders (17%). We identified four ways in which text messages were used: reminders (14%), information (17%), supportive messages (42%), and self-monitoring procedures (42%). Applications were sometimes combined. We report growing interest in text messaging since 2006. Text messages have been proposed as a health care tool in a wide spectrum of psychiatric disorders including substance abuse, schizophrenia, affective disorders, and suicide prevention. Most papers described pilot studies, while some randomized clinical trials (RCTs) were also reported. Overall, a positive attitude toward text messages was reported. RCTs reported improved treatment adherence and symptom surveillance. Other positive points included an increase in appointment attendance and in satisfaction with management and health care services. Insight into message content, preventative strategies, and innovative approaches derived from the mental health field may be applicable in other medical specialties.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6922274,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"An early postpartum hospital discharge program: implementation and evaluation.\nThe philosophy of the FBC strengthens the concept of childbirth as a normal physiologic process. Couples are guaranteed a high level of quality nursing and medical care. Simultaneously, provisions are made to enhance the family's assertiveness in obtaining a satisfying experience in the hospital that extends to the home environment. With careful planning and decision making throughout the pregnancy, early discharge becomes a satisfying and safe alternative for families and provides a means to decrease the ever rising cost of health care.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27266291,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Removal of extracorporeal carbon dioxide in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients.\nThe use of invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) procedures in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients suffering from episodes of acute exacerbation are associated with high rates of mortality. In this case study, we describe the use of a new device for extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal (ECCO2R) that can provide partial respiratory support for patients where noninvasive ventilation (NIV) proved insufficient. The case described in this manuscript represents the first clinical feasibility study for the Hemolung device, and was also the first use and application of the device at our department.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":935113,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Acute renal failure due to rifampicin (R-ARF).\nFive episodes of acute renal failure due to rifampicin (R-ARF) were observed in four patients and the clinical and histological data were compared with the records of 52 episodes reported in the literature. The bulk of data supports the assumption that the by far most frequent renal injury responsible for R-ARF is acute tubular necrosis produced by a vasomotor mechanism. Nevertheless a few data, above all immunohistological findings, suggest the local presence of allergic process. It may be, that the development of an immunological renal lesion is prevented or blunted by the consequences of vasomotor effects.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17890937,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"In vivo safety and tolerability study of QR-441(a) using three dose formulations and three routes of administration in chickens.\nThe current study assessed the safety, tolerability, and palatability of the experimental drug QR-441(a) using three dose formulations and three routes of administration. A 4-day study was carried out using a total of 132 chickens. A total of 11 groups were formed (12 chickens per group) subjected to varying concentrations and routes of administration of QR-441(a). Chickens were given a high, medium, or low dose of QR-441(a) in either feed, water, or both for a period of 4 days. In addition, one group was dosed intranasally, one drop per nostril four times a day. Although no lesions were found to suggest toxicity or irritability, the medium- and high-dose water groups reduced their water intake. This reduction in water intake suggests that chickens may find the medium and high water doses unpalatable. There was no reduction in water intake in the low-dose water groups or in any of the formulated feed groups. There was also no evidence of toxicity or irritability in the nasal-dose group. These data support the use of the low, medium, and high doses in feed and the use of the low-dose concentration in water for the administration of QR-441(a). The data also suggest that QR-441(a) can be administered intranasally without the presence of any adverse events.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15237936,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nanocolloidal gold-based immunoassay for the detection of the N-methylcarbamate pesticide carbofuran.\nNanocolloidal gold particles were prepared and labeled to an anti-carbofuran monoclonal antibody (Mab). This conjugate was dispensed on the conjugated pad of a porous glass fiber. Ovalbumin (OVA)-carbofuran and goat anti-mouse IgG were dispensed on the nitrocellulose (NC) membrane and served as the test line and control line, respectively. The carbofuran-containing sample migrated to the NC membrane and reacted with the anti-carbofuran Mab labeled with the colloidal gold. The mixture diffused along the membrane and passed through the OVA-carbofuran in the test line via capillary action. The more analyte present in the sample, the more effectively it will compete with the carbofuran immobilized on the test line for binding to the limited amount of antibody labeled with colloidal gold. An adequate amount of carbofuran could prevent attachment of the colored conjugate to the test line. The presence or absence of a colored band on the test line could indicate a negative or positive result, respectively. When measured to the water sample spiked with carbofuran, this was obtained at or above 0.25 mg\/L of carbofuran. The major advantages of the one-step strip test are that the detection time needed was <10 min and all of the reagents are included in the test device.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12021471,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[G-CSF and GM-CSF in treatment of neutropaenia after chemotherapy in children with neoplasms].\nA total number of 608 cycles of G-CSF and\/or GM-CSF was applied in 280 patients aged from 6 months to 20 years during neutropaenia associated with chemotherapy of children's neoplasms (NHL-124, NBL-42, RMS-36, Nephroblastoma-18, Osteosarcoma-17, Ewing's Sarcoma-14, Hepatoblastoma-6, Neurofibrosarcoma-6, PNET-5, Medulloblastoma-3, Fibrohistiocytoma-3, Angiosarcoma-2, other - 4). G-CSF - Neupogen (Filgastrim, Hoffman La Roche - 492 cycles) and GM-CSF - Leucomax (Molgramostim, Shering Plough - 116 cycles) were administered 5 mg\/kg\/day s.c. Forty one children with malignancies (NHL -21 cases, solid tumours -17) treated before cytokines were in use served as a control group. Our study demonstrated that G-CSF and GM-CSF therapy, gives a shorter period of neutropaenia, reduction of the number of febrile days, decreased frequency of infection and shortened its duration.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25518642,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Pollution characteristics of carbonaceous aerosols in PM2.5 during typical winter days in Wuxi City ].\nThe purpose of this study was to investigate the process of haze in winter and the variation of carbonaceous aerosols in haze days. Continuous measurements of PM2.5 and meteorological parameters were conducted from Dec 3rd ,2013 to Jan 3rd, 2014, in Wuxi City. The carbonaceous component was quantified with the thermal\/optical transmission (TOT) method. The results showed that: Three times of haze progresses occurred during the sampling period. Cold air, wind and rainfall were the most efficient ways to improve air quality. The mass concentration of PM2.5, OC and EC were (132.38 \u00b1 87.17) \u03bcg.m-3, (22.80\u00b19.77) \u03bcg.m-3 and (2.08 \u00b1 1. 63) \u03bcg.m-3, respectively. The TC accounted for 23.57% of the PM2.5; at the same time, the TC and PM2.5 were found to be strongly correlated (correlation coefficients = 0. 730). There was a negative correlation between the ratio of carbonaceous aerosol in PM2.5 and the concentration of PM2.5, and the ratio in haze days was lower than that in normal days, which suggested that secondary inorganic particles (SO(2-)(4) , NO(-)(3), NH: ) may have a fast growth in haze days. Average OC\/EC ratio was 12. 83, and there was a poor correlation between OC and EC, indicating that secondary pollutants might exist. The secondary organic carbon (SOC) was estimated to be 9.04 \u03bcg.m -3, accounting for 40. 96% of OC.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28731795,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Plant Size and Competitive Dynamics along Nutrient Gradients.\nResource competition theory in plants has focused largely on resource acquisition traits that are independent of size, such as traits of individual leaves or roots or proportional allocation to different functions. However, plants also differ in maximum potential size, which could outweigh differences in module-level traits. We used a community ecosystem model called mondrian to investigate whether larger size inevitably increases competitive ability and how size interacts with nitrogen supply. Contrary to the conventional wisdom that bigger is better, we found that invader success and competitive ability are unimodal functions of maximum potential size, such that plants that are too large (or too small) are disproportionately suppressed by competition. Optimal size increases with nitrogen supply, even when plants compete for nitrogen only in a size-symmetric manner, although adding size-asymmetric competition for light does substantially increase the advantage of larger size at high nitrogen. These complex interactions of plant size and nitrogen supply lead to strong nonlinearities such that small differences in nitrogen can result in large differences in plant invasion success and the influence of competition along productivity gradients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1101237,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[The nucleus cervicalis lateralis in sheep].\nThe objective of the work was to determine: a) the presence of the nucleus cervicalis lateralis in the sheep, b) the extent of this nucleus in the spinal cord and medulla oblongata, and c)the number and size of its cells. The histological method of staining the nerve tissue with methylene blue according to Nissl was employed. The nucleus cervicalis lateralis of the sheep is situated in the lateral funiculus, in the caudal part of the medulla oblongata and in the first three cervical segments of the spinal cord. The total number of cells making up the studied nucleus was 1629 in sheep I, 678 in sheep II, and 732 in sheep III. The average size of the cells ranged between 18.0 and 28.0 mu. In comparison with the same nucleus examined in other animals, that of the sheep shows a number of cell-free areas. It is composed of a very small number of cells, whose average diameter is small. These characteristics make it possible to regard the nucleus cervicalis lateralis in the sheep as a rudimentary structure.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20367484,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Training in normobaric hypoxia and its effects on acute mountain sickness after rapid ascent to 4559 m.\nIn a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study, we tested a 4-week program in normobaric hypoxia that is commercially offered for the prevention of acute mountain sickness (AMS). Twenty-two male and 18 female healthy subjects [mean age 33 +\/- 7 (SD) years] exercised 70 min, 3 x \/week for 3 weeks on a bicycle ergometer at workloads of 60% VO2max either in normoxia (normoxia group, NG) or in normobaric hypoxia (hypoxia group, HG), corresponding to altitudes of 2500, 3000, and 3500 m during weeks 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Four passive exposures of 90 min in normoxia (NG) or hypoxia corresponding to 4500 m (HG) followed in week 4. Five days after the last session, subjects ascended within 24 h from sea level to 4559 m (one overnight stay at 3611 m) and stayed there for 24 h. AMS was defined as LL (Lake Louise score) > or =5 and AMS-C > or =0.70. The AMS incidence (70% in NG vs. 60% in HG, p = 0.74), LL scores (7.1 +\/- 4.3 vs. 5.9 +\/- 3.4, p = 0.34), and AMS-C scores (1.50 +\/- 1.22 vs. 0.93 +\/- 0.81, p = 0.25) at the study endpoint were not significantly different between the groups. However, the incidence of AMS at 3611 m (6% vs. 47%, p = 0.01) and the functional LL score at 4559 m were lower in HG. SpO2 at 3611 m, heart rate during ascents, and arterial blood gases at 4559 m were not different between groups. We conclude that the tested program does not reduce the incidence of AMS within a rapid ascent to 4559 m, but our data show that it prevents AMS at lower altitudes. Whether such a program would prevent AMS at higher altitudes, but with slower ascent, remains to be tested.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3061929,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[The oncogene concept: molecular biological methods and parameters for characterizing gastrointestinal tumors].\nHitherto, research on diagnosis and therapy of cancer has been mainly of empirical nature. Besides some promising results in both fields of cancer research using traditional techniques, cell biological approaches offer a better understanding of the regulation of growth and differentiation. Immunological and, particularly, molecular biological methods contribute to this optimism. However, the use of new methods does not necessarily mean that correlation studies elucidate causal relations. Besides methodological explanations this article reviews general aspects of protooncogenes, their activation and the impact of growth factors and receptors in the multistep process of malignant development. The second part focuses on clinical applications of molecular and cellular biological analyses of gastrointestinal tumors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34409984,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Structure and function of aerotolerant, multiple-turnover THI4 thiazole synthases.\nPlant and fungal THI4 thiazole synthases produce the thiamin thiazole moiety in aerobic conditions via a single-turnover suicide reaction that uses an active-site Cys residue as sulfur donor. Multiple-turnover (i.e. catalytic) THI4s lacking an active-site Cys (non-Cys THI4s) that use sulfide as sulfur donor have been biochemically characterized -- but only from archaeal methanogens that are anaerobic, O2-sensitive hyperthermophiles from sulfide-rich habitats. These THI4s prefer iron as cofactor. A survey of prokaryote genomes uncovered non-Cys THI4s in aerobic mesophiles from sulfide-poor habitats, suggesting that multiple-turnover THI4 operation is possible in aerobic, mild, low-sulfide conditions. This was confirmed by testing 23 representative non-Cys THI4s for complementation of an Escherichia coli \u0394thiG thiazole auxotroph in aerobic conditions. Sixteen were clearly active, and more so when intracellular sulfide level was raised by supplying Cys, demonstrating catalytic function in the presence of O2 at mild temperatures and indicating use of sulfide or a sulfide metabolite as sulfur donor. Comparative genomic evidence linked non-Cys THI4s with proteins from families that bind, transport, or metabolize cobalt or other heavy metals. The crystal structure of the aerotolerant bacterial Thermovibrio ammonificans THI4 was determined to probe the molecular basis of aerotolerance. The structure suggested no large deviations compared with the structures of THI4s from O2-sensitive methanogens, but is consistent with an alternative catalytic metal. Together with complementation data, use of cobalt rather than iron was supported. We conclude that catalytic THI4s can indeed operate aerobically and that the metal cofactor inserted is a likely natural determinant of aerotolerance.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15264805,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"The second triannulenylene: tri-[8]annulenylene.\nRoom-temperature dehydrohalogenation of bromocyclooctatetraene (BrC8H7) with potassium tert-butoxide followed (after a couple of minutes) by alkali metal reduction was used to generate the anion radical of tri-[8]annulenylene [(C8H6*-)3] in HMPA. EPR analysis reveals that the odd electron is primarily located in one of the three eight-membered ring systems, which is rendered planar. Excellent agreement was obtained between spin densities predicted by B3LYP\/6-31G* calculations and those observed. The neutral tri-[8]annulenylene system has a propensity toward polymerization, but it can be isolated for NMR and mass spectral analysis via the I2 oxidation of the anion radical. The NMR analysis reveals that two of the eight-membered rings are bent above the plane of the benzene ring and the other is bent below. Tri-[6]annulenylene (triphenylene) is the only other known member of the triannulenylenes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37862682,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Revealing the Chemical Instability of Mg3Sb2-xBix-Based Thermoelectric Materials.\nn-Type Mg3Sb2-xBix alloys have been regarded as promising thermoelectric materials due to their excellent performance and low cost. For practical applications, the thermoelectric performance is not the only factor that should be taken into consideration. In addition, the chemical and thermal stabilities of the thermoelectric material are of equal importance for the module design. Previous studies reported that the Mg3Sb2-xBix alloys were unstable in an ambient environment. In this work, we found that Mg3Sb2-xBix alloys reacted with H2O and O2 at room temperature and formed amorphous Mg(OH)2\/MgO and crystalline Bi\/Sb. The substantial loss of Mg resulted in a significant deterioration in thermoelectric properties, accompanied by the transition from n-type to p-type. With the increase in Bi content, the chemical stability decreased due to the higher formation energy of Mg3Bi2. A chemically stable Mg3Bi2 sample was achieved by coating it with polydimethylsiloxane to isolate H2O and O2 in the air.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19026456,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Age-related changes in cytokine expression by neutrophils of foals stimulated with virulent Rhodococcus equi in vitro.\nAlthough evidence exists that neutrophils play a vital role in resistance to infection with Rhodococcus equi, the means by which neutrophils exert their effects have not been clearly defined. In the present study we evaluated differences in cytokine expression by unstimulated and R. equi-stimulated neutrophils obtained from newborn foals and subsequently at 2-, 4-, and 8-weeks of age. Stimulation with virulent R. equi induced significantly (P<0.05) greater expression of IFNgamma, TNFalpha, IL-6, IL-8, IL-12p40, IL-12p35, and IL-23p19 mRNA relative to expression by unstimulated neutrophils, and there were significant effects of age on expression of IL-6, IL-8, IL-12p40 and IL-23p19. Neutrophil expression of IL-6 and IL-8 in newborn foals was significantly greater than expression at 2-, 4-, and 8-weeks of age. Expression of IL-12p40 by R. equi-stimulated neutrophils from newborn and 2-week-old foals did not differ from that of unstimulated neutrophils; however, expression of IL-12p40 by neutrophils from 4- and 8-week-old foals was significantly greater when stimulated by R. equi than without stimulation. These results demonstrate that foal neutrophils increase mRNA expression of many pro-inflammatory cytokines, including IFNgamma, in response to in vitro stimulation with R. equi, and that the magnitude of this expression with respect to IL-6, IL-8, IL-12p40 and IL-23p19 is influenced by age. The clinical importance of the age-related difference in R. equi-induced expression of IL-12p40 to susceptibility to R. equi pneumonia remains to be determined.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14552362,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Influence of dietary urea level on digestive function and growth performance of cattle fed steam-flaked barley-based finishing diets.\nFour Holstein steers (282 kg) with cannulas in the rumen and proximal duodenum were used in a 4 x 4 Latin square experiment to evaluate the influence of dietary urea level (0, 0.4, 0.8, and 1.2%, DM basis) in a steam-flaked barley-based finishing diet on digestive function. There were no treatment effects (P > 0.20) on ruminal digestion of OM and ADF. Increasing dietary urea level increased (linear, P < 0.01) ruminal starch digestion. Ruminal degradability of protein in the basal diet (no supplemental urea) was 60%. Increasing dietary urea level did not increase (P > 0.20) ruminal microbial protein synthesis or nonammonia N flow to the small intestine. There were no treatment effects (P > 0.20) on total-tract ADF digestion. Total tract digestion of OM (quadratic, P < 0.01) and starch (linear, P < 0.05) increased slightly with increasing urea level. Urea supplementation increased (linear, P < 0.01) ruminal pH 1 h after feeding; however, by 3 h after feeding, ruminal pH was lower (cubic, P < 0.05) with urea-supplemented diets. Urea supplementation did not affect (P > 0.20) ruminal molar proportions of acetate and propionate. One hundred twenty crossbred steers (252 kg; approximately 25% Brahman breeding) were used in an 84-d feeding trial (five pens per treatment) to evaluate treatment effects on growth performance. Daily weight gain increased (linear, P = 0.01) with increasing urea level, tending to be maximal (1.53 kg\/d; quadratic, P = 0.13) at the 0.8% level of urea supplementation. Improvements in ADG were due to treatment effects (linear, P < 0.01) on DMI. Urea supplementation did not affect (P > 0.20) the NE value of the diet for maintenance and gain. Observed dietary NE values, based on growth performance, were in close agreement with expected based on tabular values for individual feed ingredients, averaging 100.4%. We conclude that with steam-flaked barely-based finishing diets, ruminal and total-tract digestion of OM and ruminal microbial protein synthesis may not be increased by urea supplementation. In contrast, ADG was optimized by dietary inclusion of 0.8% urea. Urea supplementation may not enhance the net energy value of steam-flaked barely-based finishing diets when degradable intake protein is greater than 85% of microbial protein synthesis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12016879,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Fibrinolytic properties and thrombolytic effect of a novel fibrinolytic enzyme from Streptomyces sp. Y405].\nA novel protease (designated as SW-1) purified from the fermentation broth of Streptomyces sp. strain Y405 showed fibrinolytic activity. In vitro, on plasminogen-free fibrin plate which had been heated at 85 degrees C for 30 minutes to eliminate plasminogen, SW-1 showed the same fibrinolytic activity as the mixture of SW-1 and plasminogen. Without adding plasminogen into the fibrin clot tube SW-1 showed the same effect as with plasminogen (P > 0.05). The results might indicate that SW-1 is a fibrinolytic enzyme which degrades fibrin directly, but not a plasminogen activator which degrades fibrin by activating plasminogen. SW-1 was found also to degrade fibrinogen. In vivo, the thrombolytic effect of SW-1 (4000 u.kg-1) on venous thrombus in rat was most remarkable versus that of control(P < 0.001), but was not divergent versus that of urokinase at the some dose(P > 0.05). SW-1 was shown to enhance plasminogen and plasmin activity but did not show significant effect on endogenous t-PA or alpha 2-PI. SW-1 also caused decrease of fibrinogen level in plasma, indicating that it degrades the fibrin in thrombus and at the same time degrades the circulating fibrinogen to certain extent. The changes of these biochemical data demonstrated the thrombolytic properties of SW-1 in vivo.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28345689,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Can there be a multi-bond between noble gas and metal? A theoretical study of F2XeMoF2.\nA new noble gas compound containing a Xe-Mo double bond, F2XeMoF2, was theoretically constructed and studied based on DFT and ab initio calculations. The CCSD(T)-calculated Xe-Mo bond length of 2.518 \u00c5 was comparable to the standard value of 2.56 \u00c5. The bonding energy (32.3 kcal mol-1) was even higher than that of the Xe-Au bond in the well-known XeAuF complex (24.1 kcal mol-1). The result of natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis indicates that there is a \u03c3-bond and a \u03c0-bond between the Xe and Mo atoms in F2XeMoF2. The properties of the Xe-Mo double bond were also analyzed with the atoms in molecules (AIM) approach and natural resonance theory (NRT).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28344817,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Urinary biomarkers as indicator of chronic inflammation and endothelial dysfunction in obese adolescents.\nObesity is a pro-inflammatory state that may predispose patients to acute coronary syndrome characterized by chronic low grade inflammation resulting in endothelial dysfunction (ED). The aim of the study was to evaluate urinary biomarkers of inflammation and ED in adolescents with obesity. Sixty three subjects were recruited for the study. Twenty healthy adolescents with normal body mass (NW), 14 overweight (OW), 29 obese (OA) subjects were selected. An EndoPat 2000 device was used to measure the reactive hyperemia index (RHI). First morning fasting urine samples were tested for interleukin 6 (IL-6), endothelin 1 (ET-1), alpha-1-acid glycoprotein (AGP), tumor necrosis factor- \u03b1 (TNF-\u03b1) and corrected to urinary creatinine. Urinary TNF-\u03b1 was significantly higher in OA group (52.4 \u00b1 15.3 pg\/mg) compared to adolescents with NW (14.1 \u00b1 1.2 pg\/mg, P = 0.04). ET-1 levels were found to be higher in OW (5.18 \u00b1 1.6 pg\/mg) compared with NW (3 \u00b7 47 \u00b1 0.3 pg\/mg, P = 0.24); and higher in OA (8.48 \u00b1 3.1 pg\/mg) compared to both NW (P = 0.19) and OW (P = 0.40). Similarly a higher AGP level was observed in OW (864.8 \u00b1 156 ng\/mg) and OA (808.3 \u00b1 186 ng\/mg) compared to NW (653 \u00b1 69 ng\/mg) (P = 0.16 & 0.49 respectively). Inflammatory markers namely, TNF-\u03b1, IL-6 and AGP significantly and positively correlated with each other and with ET-1, a marker for endothelial dysfunction. This significant correlation was also observed when tested separately in the subgroups (NW, OW and OA). There were no differences in RHI levels among the study groups. Urinary TNF-alpha is significantly elevated in obese adolescents and correlates with urinary ET-1, which is recognized as a biomarker for endothelial dysfunction. Since obesity is a chronic inflammatory state, elevated urinary TNF-alpha might be used as a non invasive tool to monitor the level of that inflammation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22694202,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Breast image registration and deformation modeling.\nImage-based examination of the breast facilitates the detection of breast diseases, particularly of present benign and malignant lesions. For computer-aided processing of serial and multimodal clinical data, both for visual correlation and quantitative analysis, automated image-registration methods are an indispensable tool. The wide range of modalities and the high variability of breast appearance have led to a large diversity of proposed approaches for tissue deformation modeling and image registration. In this article, we review current developments in breast image registration techniques, and comment on their clinical relevance, individual capabilities, and open challenges.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37867508,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The fragmentomic property of plasma cell-free DNA enables the non-invasive detection of diabetic nephropathy in patients with diabetes mellitus.\nDiabetic nephropathy (DN) is one of the most prevalent complications of diabetes mellitus (DM). However, there is still a lack of effective methods for non-invasive diagnosis of DN in clinical practice. We aimed to explore biomarkers from plasma cell-free DNA as a surrogate of renal biopsy for the differentiation of DN patients from patients with DM. The plasma cell-free DNA (cfDNA) was sequenced from 53 healthy individuals, 53 patients with DM but without DN, and 71 patients with both DM and DN. Multidimensional features of plasma DNA were analyzed to dissect the cfDNA profile in the DM and DN patients and identify DN-specific cfDNA features. Finally, a classification model was constructed by integrating all informative cfDNA features to demonstrate the clinical utility in DN detection. In comparison with the DM patients, the DN individuals exhibited significantly increased cfDNA concentration in plasma. The cfDNA from the DN patients showed a distinct fragmentation pattern with an altered size profile and preferred motifs that start with \"CC\" in the cfDNA ending sites, which were associated with deoxyribonuclease 1 like 3 (DNASE1L3) expression in the kidney. Moreover, patients with DM or DN were found to carry more alterations in whole-genome cfDNA coverage when compared with healthy individuals. We integrated DN-specific cfDNA features (cfDNA concentration, size, and motif) into a classification model, which achieved an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.928 for the differentiation of DN patients from DM patients. Our findings showed plasma cfDNA as a reliable non-invasive biomarker for differentiating DN patients from DM patients. The utility of cfDNA in clinical practice in large prospective cohorts is warranted.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30673179,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Effectiveness of sunscreen against melanoma].\nMelanoma represents the fifth most common cancer in Switzerland and its incidence is rising over the past decades. A new debate is going on about the efficacy of sunscreen against the risk of developing melanoma. Few studies have proven its efficacy with a significant risk of overexposure to sunlight due to the feeling of overprotection offered by those sunscreens. The role of the physician is to explain this risk and to integrate sunscreens among a wide range of other strategies existing in primary prevention of melanoma.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18601176,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Continuous hydrolysis of olive oil by immobilized lipase in organic solvent.\nLipase (EC 126.96.36.199) from Candida rugosa was immobilized with DEAE-Sephadex A50, Sephadex G50, Sephadex LH-20, Amberlite IRA94, and Amberlite XAD-7. The enzyme immobilized with DEAE-Sephadex A50 was found to be most effective for continuous hydrolysis of olive oil in isooctane. For the continuous reaction, 0.2 g of dry immobilized enzyme was swollen with predetermined amount of water, and packed in a glass column reactor. When the organic solvent (Isooctane) containing olive oil substrate was co-currently fed with aqueous buffer, the two phases were evenly distributed throughout the packed bed without surfactant supplement or prior mixing of the two phases. A small amount of the surfactant (AOT) was used only in packing procedure, and no additional surfactant was necessary thereafter. Effects of initial water content of the swollen gel, buffer types, and strength were examined in the continuous reaction. Our results suggest that the operational half-life was affected by desorption of the bound enzyme. Under the conditions of 20% olive oil in isooctane and 25 mM triethanolamine buffer (pH 7.0), operational half life was 220 h at 30 degrees C. The reactor was also operable with n-hexane, but the operational stability of the immobilized enzyme in n-hexane was only half of that in isooctane. Our results indicate that various enzyme carrier having hydrophilic or amphiphilic properties could be used for two-phase continuous reaction in packed-bed column, reactor without any surfactant supply or prior dispersion of the two immiscible phases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32581742,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Association Between Experimentally Induced Stress, Performance Monitoring, and Response Inhibition: An Event-Related Potential (ERP) Analysis.\nPsychological stress is increasingly associated with alterations in performance and affect. Yet, the relationship between experimentally induced psychological stress and neural indices of performance monitoring and error processing, as well as response inhibition, are unclear. Using scalp-recorded event-related potentials (ERPs), we tested the relationship between experimental stress, using the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), and the error-related negativity (ERN), error positivity (Pe), and N2 ERP components. A final sample of 71 undergraduate students were randomly assigned to go through the TSST (n = 36; 18 female) or a brief mindfulness relaxation exercise (n = 35; 16 female) immediately followed by a go\/no-go task while electroencephalogram (EEG) data were collected. Salivary cortisol, heart rate, and blood pressure confirmed increased physiological stress in the TSST group relative to control. Reaction times, accuracy, and post-error slowing did not differ by stress group. Two-group (TSST, control) by 2-trial type (correct, incorrect for ERN\/Pe; go correct, no-go correct for N2) repeated measures ANOVAs for the ERN, Pe, and N2 showed the expected main effects of trial type; neither the ERN nor the N2 ERP components showed interactions with the stress manipulation. In contrast, the Pe component showed a significant Group by Trial interaction, with reduced Pe amplitude following the stress condition relative to control. Pe amplitude did not, however, correlate with cortisol reactivity. Findings suggest a reduction in Pe amplitude following experimental stress that may be associated with reduced error awareness or attention to errors following the TSST. Given the variability in the extant literature on the relationship between experimentally induced stress and neurophysiological reflections of performance monitoring, we provide another point of data and conclude that better understanding of moderating variables is needed followed by high-powered replication studies to get at the nuance that is not yet understood in the relationship between induced stress and performance monitoring\/response inhibition processes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1102614,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Clinical trials with Alice strain, live, attenuated, serum inhibitor-resistant intranasal influenza A vaccine.\nTwo clinical trials with Alice strain intranasal influenza vaccine were performed. In study no. 1 (utilizing random selection and double-blind control), 50 subjects received a bivalent inactivated influenza vaccine intramuscularly, 99 subjects received Alice strain vaccine intranasally, and 50 subjects received a placebo intranasally. No symptomatology could be attributed to the intranasal route of immunization. Convalescent-phase geometric mean titers of hemagglutination inhibition antibody were higher after intramuscular vaccination; seroconversion occurred in 16 or 17 recipients of the Alice strain, with initial titers of less than 1:8. Clinical and virologic surveillance for 20 weeks after vaccination revealed no influenza A illnesses in participants of the study. In study no. 2, 75% of the subjects with initial nasal antibody titers of less than 1:3 developed measurable nasal antibody after receiving Alice strain vaccine.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14534730,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evaluation of MUC1 splice variants as prognostic markers in patients with ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast.\nDespite intense research in the field of breast cancer it still remains the most common cancer in women in the Western world. A decreasing trend in mortality was mainly achieved by improved early detection which led to an increased incidence of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) of the breast. For the patient's prognosis and the administration of a patient-tailored therapy strategy it is crucial to identify diagnostic and prognostic markers for high-risk DCIS patients. MUC1 is associated with tumour aggressiveness in human breast cancer. Recent studies used MUC1 splice variant A to identify malignant thyroid cancer. In the present study we have examined the usefulness of MUC1 splice variants as prognostic markers in DCIS. We used laser capture microdissection of paraffin-embedded tissue to isolate RNA from isolated tumour cells and determined the MUC1 splice variant distribution by RT-PCR. In the majority of cases variant B was more highly expressed than variant A. This was true for pure DCIS (66%) as well as for DCIS with adjacent invasive cancer (66%). In 7 out of 18 cases (38%) of pure DCIS variant A was not expressed at all. In DCIS with adjacent invasive cancer only 2 samples out of 12 showed this expression pattern (16%). The situation that variant A was more highly expressed than B, or that variant B was not expressed at all, was similar for pure DCIS (27%) and for DCIS with adjacent invasive cancer (33%). The present study describes the differences of MUC1 splice variant expression in pure DCIS compared to DCIS with adjacent invasive cancer. A discriminating pattern of MUC1 splice variants could not be demonstrated.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6732463,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pantyhose prosthesis: a cosmetic alternative.\nA cosmetic prosthesis for the nonambulatory patient with unilateral or bilateral above-knee amputation is described. This device can be made with minimal cost and difficulty, and it offers advantages of durability, flexibility, and excellent appearance. Cosmetic prostheses for patients with below-knee or hip disarticulation amputations can be made in a similar manner.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6733937,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Subclinical delta status in the newborn--an unfavorable prognostic sign.\nA hitherto undescribed, unusual EEG abnormality invariably associated with a poor prognosis was reported and was called subclinical delta status. It consisted of continuous discharges of high voltage monomorphic or polymorphic delta activity occurring diffusely but often asynchronously in all leads, without sleep cycles. These discharges when monomorphic may be confused with respiratory artefacts, and when polymorphic they may be mistaken for part of the background activity. Four neonates with this abnormality all had intracranial bleeding and were mechanically ventilated because of frequent apneic attacks. Staring or deviation of the eyes was frequently observed during the EEG recording. A small dose of intravenous diazepam temporarily abolished this activity. Three infants died and the other survived with neurological sequelae.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21749294,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"In vitro selection of RNA aptamer and specific targeting of ErbB2 in breast cancer cells.\nThe ErbB family (also referred to as HER\/neu or HER) of receptor tyrosine kinases plays major roles in the formation and progression of human tumors. Amplification and\/or overexpression of ErbB2 have been reported in numerous cancers, including breast, ovarian, stomach, bladder, salivary, and lung cancers. As ErbB2 has been used as a target for the treatment of advanced cancer, RNA aptamers for the extracellular domain of the ErbB2 were selected from a RNA library consisting of 2'-fluorine-modified RNA transcripts. After 15 cycles of selection, high-affinity RNA aptamer was isolated. Binding patterns of the selected RNA aptamer clones were evaluated to choose RNA aptamers that were specific to the extracellular domain of ErbB2 protein. RNA aptamer 15-8 was the best candidate and its minimal version (mini-aptamer) was chemically synthesized. Surface plasmon resonance measurement showed that the mini-aptamer specifically bound to the ErbB2 protein with high affinity and specificity. To evaluate its potential as an ErbB2-targeting molecule in breast cancer cells, specific recognition of the mini-aptamer was confirmed with various breast cancer cell lines. We propose that the selected RNA aptamer is a potential cancer imaging agent by targeting malignant cells overexpressing the ErbB2 receptor.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28544774,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Safety, Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of Hetrombopag Olamine, a Novel TPO-R Agonist, in Healthy Individuals.\nHetrombopag olamine (hetrombopag) is a novel small-molecule, orally bioavailable, non-peptide thrombopoietin (TPO) receptor agonist that is being developed as the treatment for thrombocytopenia. Two randomized, placebo-controlled phase I studies were conducted in 72 healthy individuals to assess the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of hetrombopag. Hetrombopag was orally administered with a single dose in five dose cohorts (5 mg, 10 mg, 20 mg, 30 mg or 40 mg) in the first study, and given once daily for 10 days in three dose cohorts (2.5 mg, 5.0 mg or 7.5 mg) in the second study, respectively. Hetrombopag was well tolerated, and the majority of adverse events associated with medicine were platelet elevations significantly above the normal range in healthy individuals. The single dose-escalation study revealed a Tmax of approximate 8 hr, and a t1\/2 of 11.9 hr to 40.1 hr in a dose-prolonged manner. A dose-proportional increase in maximum concentration (Cmax ) of hetrombopag was observed, with area under the curve (AUC) increasing in a greater than dose-proportional manner. The plasma concentration of hetrombopag reached the steady-state after 7 days. The steady-state AUC0-24 hr and Cmax were dose-proportionally elevated from the 5.0 mg to 7.5 mg dose level. The potent pharmacological effect of the hetrombopag-induced platelet elevation was observed in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, the thrombopoietic response was significantly (p < 0.0001) correlated to the plasma exposure level of hetrombopag in single and multiple administration studies. Taken together, results of this study support further clinical development of hetrombopag in patients with thrombocytopenia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12015630,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Electromyographic changes of agonist and antagonist calf muscles during maximum isometric induced fatigue.\nThe purpose of this study was to examine electromyographic changes of the agonist and antagonist muscles during fatigue. Nine healthy, untrained subjects exerted a maximum voluntary heel lifting contraction with their dominant limb. The EMG activity over the soleus and the tibialis anterior muscles was recorded during the contraction. The results showed that the torque output during heel lifting and the soleus EMG activity decreased, whereas the tibialis anterior EMG revealed a small but non-significant decrease. However, the ratio of the tibialis anterior to the soleus EMG increased significantly at the end of the fatigue protocol, a fact that reveals that the decrease rate of the antagonist's activity was significantly lower than the decrease rate of the agonist activity. It is concluded that during a maximal fatigue protocol, both the agonist and antagonist muscle activity may decline, however, the slower rate of antagonist's activity decrease relative to the agonist's activity is a finding that requires further investigation. This finding may reflect a higher level of agonist and antagonist muscle co-activation and probably a relatively higher opposing torque from the antagonist muscles at the end of the fatigue session.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7925059,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Antimicrobial susceptibility and presence of extrachromosomal deoxyribonucleic acid in Salmonella and Shigella isolates from patients with AIDS.\nThe development of multi-drug resistance by enteric bacteria is an increasing problem in the developing countries. There is need to monitor antimicrobial susceptibility of these organisms in order to ensure appropriate treatment and control of infections. Antimicrobial susceptibility patterns, plasmid DNA content and restriction enzyme digests of plasmid deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) were used to study 175 Salmonella and Shigella species isolated from predominantly HIV-seropositive adult patients in Nairobi, Kenya. All the isolates were sensitive to ciprofloxacin. A significantly higher proportion of Shigella species were resistant to chloramphenicol, cotrimoxazole, streptomycin and tetracycline compared to Salmonella species (p-value < 0.001). Multi-resistant Salmonella typhimurium isolates had 60, 40 and 5 MDa plasmids, the 5 MDa plasmid was absent in gentamicin sensitive isolates. In addition to 2-10 MDa range of plasmids, multi-resistant Shigella species had a heavy 100-105 MDa plasmid. Restriction enzyme digests were similar for the 60 and 40 MDa plasmid DNA bands from Salmonella typhimurium isolates but did not show any consistency among Shigella spp. Plasmid-encoded multi-drug resistance plays a major role in the spread of resistance among enteric bacteria. It is vital to use drugs rationally in order to control the emergence and spread of multi-drug resistance.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27283046,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of Macromolecular Crowding on Alcohol Dehydrogenase Activity Are Substrate-Dependent.\nEnzymes operate in a densely packed cellular environment that rarely matches the dilute conditions under which they are studied. To better understand the ramifications of this crowding, the Michaelis-Menten kinetics of yeast alcohol dehydrogenase (YADH) were monitored spectrophotometrically in the presence of high concentrations of dextran. Crowding decreased the maximal rate of the reaction by 40% for assays with ethanol, the primary substrate of YADH. This observation was attributed to slowed release of the reduced \u03b2-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide product, which is rate-limiting. In contrast, when larger alcohols were used as the YADH substrate, the rate-limiting step becomes hydride transfer and crowding instead increased the maximal rate of the reaction by 20-40%. This work reveals the importance of considering enzyme mechanism when evaluating the ways in which crowding can alter kinetics.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28357563,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"The association of psychopathology with concurrent level of functioning and subjective well-being in persons with schizophrenia spectrum disorders.\nThe objective is to investigate the relationship between psychopathology measured by the positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS) and concurrent global assessment of functioning (GAF) and subjective well-being under neuroleptics (SWN) in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorder (SSD) regarding severity of illness and disease phase. We analyzed a sample of 202 SSD patients consisting of first episode psychosis (FEP) and multiple episode psychosis (MEP) patients followed up to 12 months using linear mixed models. All PANSS syndromes except excitement were associated with GAF scores (positive syndrome: p < 0.001, d = 1.21; negative syndrome: p = 0.029, d = 0.015; disorganized syndrome: p < 0.001, d = 0.37; anxiety\/depression syndrome: p < 0.001, d = 0.49), and positive symptoms had an increasing impact on global functioning with higher severity of illness (mildly ill: p = 0.039, d = 0.22; moderately ill: p < 0.001, d = 0.28; severely ill: p < 0.001, d = 0.69). SWN was associated with positive (p = 0.002, d = 0.22) and anxiety\/depression (p < 0.001, d = 0.38) syndromes. Subgroup analyses showed differing patterns depending on illness severity and phase. Over all our results show different patterns of associations of psychopathology and concurrent functioning and subjective well-being. These findings contribute knowledge on the possible role of specific psychopathological syndromes for the functioning and well-being of our patients and may enable tailored treatments depending on severity and phase of illness.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30100993,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"CAPER as a therapeutic target for triple negative breast cancer.\nBreast cancers (BCas) that lack expression of the estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) are referred to as triple negative breast cancers (TNBCs) and have the poorest clinical outcome. Once these aggressive tumors progress to distant organs, the median survival decreases to 12 months. With endocrine therapies being ineffective in this BCa subtype, highly toxic chemo- and radiation therapies are the only options. A better understanding of the functional role(s) of molecular targets contributing to TNBC progression could help in the design and development of new treatments that are more targeted with less toxicity. CAPER (Co-activator of AP-1 and ER) is a nuclear transcriptional co-activator that was recently involved in ER-positive BCa progression, however its role in hormone-independent cancers remains unknown. Our current report demonstrates that CAPER expression is upregulated in human TNBC specimens compared to normal breast tissue and that its selective downregulation through a lentiviral-mediated shRNA knockdown approach resulted in decreased cell numbers in MDA-MB-231 and BT549 TNBC cell lines without affecting the growth of non-tumorigenic cell line MCF-10A. Concordant with these observations, CAPER knockdown was also associated with a decrease in DNA repair proteins leading to a marked increase in apoptosis, through caspase-3\/7 activation without any changes in cell cycle. Collectively, we propose CAPER as an important signaling molecule in the development of TNBC linked to DNA repair mechanisms, which could lead to new therapeutic modalities for the treatment of this aggressive cancer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32586251,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hepatoprotective Role of Berberine on Doxorubicin Induced Hepatotoxicity - Involvement of Cyp.\nThe liver is one of the major organ involved in drug metabolism. Cytochrome P450s are predominantly involved in drug metabolism. A wide range of CYPs have been reported in the liver which have been involved in its normal as well as in diseased conditions. Doxorubicin, one of the most potent chemotherapeutic drugs, although highly efficacious, also has adverse side effects, with its targets being liver and cardiac tissue. The study aims to evaluate the reversal potentials of berberine on Doxorubicin induced cyp conversion. In the present study, the interplay between anti-oxidants, cytochrome and inflammatory markers in DOX induced liver toxicity and its possible reversal by berberine was ascertained. DOX administration significantly elevated serum as well as tissue stress, which was reverted by berberine treatment. A similar response was observed in tissue inflammatory mediators as well as in serum cytokine levels. Most profound reduction in the cytochrome expression was found in Cyp 2B1, 2B2, and 2E1. However, 2C1, 2C6, and 3A1 although showed a decline, but it did not revert the expression back to control levels. It could be concluded that berberine may be an efficient anti-oxidant and immune modulator. It possesses low to moderate cytochrome modulatory potentials.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30303035,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"\"Why Did She Talk to Him Again?\" The Effects of the Justice Motive, Relationship Type, and Degree of Postassault Contact on Perceptions of Sexual Assault.\nVictim blaming attitudes are prevalent within the criminal justice system where survivor behavior before, during, and following an assault is heavily scrutinized. Although dispositional characteristics (e.g., strength of one's justice motive) and characteristics of the assault (e.g., the type of relationship between a survivor and an offender) have been found to predict the degree of victim blaming, the effects of these variables on sexual assault myth endorsement are unclear. In addition, a variable that has not been examined in past literature is the degree of contact maintained between a survivor and offender after the assault. The purpose of the current study was to examine the extent to which the justice motive (strong vs. weak), the relationship between a fictional survivor and an offender (strangers vs. intimate partners), and contact between a survivor and offender postassault (contact vs. no contact) influenced endorsement of sexual assault myths. Undergraduate students read a vignette depicting a fictional sexual assault that varied with respect to the relationship and the amount of postassault contact between the survivor and offender and completed measures of the strength of their justice motive and their endorsement of sexual assault myths. Results indicated that participants (N = 419) who held a strong justice motive showed higher endorsement of sexual assault myths. Participants were also more likely to endorse sexual assault myths when there was postoffense contact between the survivor and offender. The implications of these findings and their relevance to the criminal justice system are discussed, including the need for further research into the creation of survivor-oriented education and training capable of counteracting bias toward survivors of sexual violence and producing sustained attitudinal changes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9570238,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Autoantibodies against a 210 kDa glycoprotein of the nuclear pore complex as a prognostic marker in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis.\nIt has been reported that the presence of anti-nuclear antibody against a 210 kDa glycoprotein of nuclear pore complex (anti-gp210) is highly specific for primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). The aim of the present study was to investigate the significance of anti-gp210, especially as a prognostic marker. The presence of anti-gp210 was ascertained in 113 patients with PBC and 162 controls by indirect immunofluorescence assay using HepG2 cells and immunoblotting analysis using nuclear extracts from HeLa cells. Anti-gp210 was detected in 25 of the 113 (22.1%) patients. None of the 162 controls was positive for anti-gp210. The appearance and titre of anti-gp210 in the patients with PBC did not vary from the time of diagnosis and through their clinical course. Anti-mitochondrial antibodies (AMA), including antibodies against pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, branched chain alpha-ketoacid dehydrogenase complex and alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase complex, were not detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in five of the 113 (4.4%) patients with PBC. However, anti-gp210 alone was positive in one of these five patients. The difference in prognosis was statistically significant; patients with PBC positive for anti-gp210 died from hepatic failure more frequently than those who were negative (P < 0.01), although there were no statistically significant differences in the frequency of jaundice and the histological stage at the time of diagnosis between the two groups. We suggest that the presence of anti-gp210 is one of the independent prognostic markers able to predict, at the time of diagnosis, a poor outcome in patients with PBC.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9154659,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Betamipron reduces cisplatin nephrotoxicity in rodents without modifying its antileukemic activity in mice.\nProtective effects of betamipron (BP, N-benzoyl-beta-alanine), one of a series of N-acyl amino acids, on cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity were examined. Since the damage observed in the kidney is localized to the proximal tubule cells, we investigated the influence of BP on urinary enzymes and excreta. Male Wistar rats and ddY mice were injected i.p. with 6 mg\/kg and 16 mg\/kg, respectively, of cisplatin combined with an i.p. 250 mg\/kg BP dose. The toxicity of cisplatin as indicated by body weight gain, blood urea nitrogen, and serum creatinine levels was significantly (p < 0.05) suppressed by administration of BP after cisplatin treatment. The increase in urinary N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase activity, increase and subsequent decrease in gamma-glutamyl transferase activities, and increase in beta 2-microglobulin level observed after treatment with cisplatin were suppressed by administration of BP after cisplatin treatment. The combination of cisplatin and BP had no apparent effect on the efficacy of cisplatin against P388 leukemic cells in mice.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28561751,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Role of Somatic L1 Retrotransposition in Human Cancers.\nThe human LINE-1 (or L1) element is a non-LTR retrotransposon that is mobilized through an RNA intermediate by an L1-encoded reverse transcriptase and other L1-encoded proteins. L1 elements remain actively mobile today and continue to mutagenize human genomes. Importantly, when new insertions disrupt gene function, they can cause diseases. Historically, L1s were thought to be active in the germline but silenced in adult somatic tissues. However, recent studies now show that L1 is active in at least some somatic tissues, including epithelial cancers. In this review, we provide an overview of these recent developments, and examine evidence that somatic L1 retrotransposition can initiate and drive tumorigenesis in humans. Recent studies have: (i) cataloged somatic L1 activity in many epithelial tumor types; (ii) identified specific full-length L1 source elements that give rise to somatic L1 insertions; and (iii) determined that L1 promoter hypomethylation likely plays an early role in the derepression of L1s in somatic tissues. A central challenge moving forward is to determine the extent to which L1 driver mutations can promote tumor initiation, evolution, and metastasis in humans.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26415467,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"ICP-AES Determination of Mineral Content in Boletus tomentipes Collected from Different Sites of China.\nP, Na, Ca, Cu, Fe, Mg, Zn, As, Cd, Co, Cr and Ni, contents have been examined in caps and stipes of Boletus tomentipes collected from different sites of Yunnan province, southwest China. The elements were determined using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) with microwave digestion. P, Ca, Mg, Fe, Zn and Cu were the most abundant amongst elements determined in Boletus tomentipes. The caps were richer in P, Mg, Zn and Cd, and the stipes in Ca, Co and Ni. Cluster analysis showed a difference between Puer (BT7 and BT8) and other places. The PCA explained about 77% of the total variance, and the minerals differentiating these places were P (PC1) together with Ca, Cu, Fe, Mg, As and Ni, Na (PC2) together with Cd, and Zn (PC3). The results of this study imply that element concentrations of a mushroom are mutative when collected from the different bedrock soil geochemistry.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28251451,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Analysis of land cover\/use changes using Landsat 5 TM data and indices.\nUrban expansion and unprecedented rural to urban transition, along with a huge population growth, are major driving forces altering land cover\/use in metropolitan areas. Many of the land cover classes such as farmlands, wetlands, forests, and bare soils have been transformed during the past years into human settlements. Identification of the city growth trends and the impact of it on the vegetation cover of an area is essential for a better understanding of the sustainability of urban development processes, both planned and unplanned. Analyzing the causes and consequences of land use dynamics helps local government, urban planners, and managers for the betterment of future plans and minimizing the negative effects.This study determined temporal changes in vegetation cover and built-up area in Istanbul (Turkey) using the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), soil-adjusted vegetation index (SAVI), and built-up area index (BUAI). The temporal data were based on Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM) images acquired in June of 1984, 2002, 2007, 2009, and 2011. The NDVI was applied to all the Landsat images, and the resulting NDVI images were overlaid to generate an NDVI layer stack image. The same procedure was repeated using the SAVI and BUAI images. The layer stack images revealed those areas that had changed in terms of the different indices over the years. To determine temporal change trends, the values of 150 randomly selected control points were extracted from the same locations in the NDVI, SAVI, and BUAI layer stack images. The results obtained from these control points showed that vegetation cover decreased considerably because of a remarkable increase in the built-up area.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11994517,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evaluation of delayed appearance of acetazolamide effect in patients with chronic cerebrovascular ischemic disease: feasibility and usefulness of SPECT method using triple injection of ECD.\nThe purpose of this study was to verify the feasibility and usefulness of a new SPECT method, called triple injection of (99m)Tc-ethylcysteinate dimer (TIE), in evaluation of the delayed or poor appearance of acetazolamide (ACZ) effects in patients with chronic cerebral ischemic disease. Three equal-volume splits of (99m)Tc-ethylcysteinate dimer were intravenously administered, and 1,000 mg ACZ were used as a vasodilator. A middle cerebral artery territory in the lateral ventricle was used as a region of interest. The data at rest and at 7.5 and 20 min after ACZ challenge (ACZ 7.5 and ACZ 20, respectively) were obtained by dynamic SPECT, and a time response curve to ACZ was obtained through the relative ratio of regional counts to the data at rest, not through regional cerebral blood flow. Nine cases of complete occlusion of the internal carotid artery (IC) and 6 cases of severe IC stenosis were analyzed. In 12 healthy volunteers (24 cerebral hemispheres) using a placebo (negative control), the values at rest and at rest 7.5 and rest 20 (corresponding to ACZ 7.5 and ACZ 20, respectively) were 100%, 100.4% +\/- 2.8%, and 99.6% +\/- 3.6%, respectively, indicating the accuracy of the TIE method. In a positive control using 24 normal cerebral hemispheres, prompt maximal vasoreactivity at ACZ 7.5 (124.5% +\/- 8.0%) was confirmed, as was continuous vasoreactivity until ACZ 20 (130.1% +\/- 12.8%). The values between ACZ 7.5 and ACZ 20 were not statistically different. Patients with complete IC occlusion exhibited a poor response at ACZ 7.5 despite a normal response at ACZ 20 (delayed response). Furthermore, in patients with severe IC stenosis, restoration of cerebrovascular reactivity after carotid endarterectomy was confirmed not only at ACZ 20 but also at ACZ 7.5. The TIE method using SPECT may be a potentially useful and sensitive strategy in clinical evaluation of the delayed or poor appearance of ACZ effects in patients with chronic cerebrovascular ischemic disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37458909,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Kinetics of humoral immune response and severity of infection after three doses of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine in a large cohort of kidney transplant recipients.\nCOVID-19 in kidney transplant recipients is associated with high morbidity and mortality. In this study we aimed to evaluate: (i) the seroconversion rate after BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, (ii) factors associated with humoral response, (iii) clinical outcome of COVID-19 in kidney transplanted patients. We enrolled a cohort of 743 kidney transplant recipients followed up from March 2020 until April 2022. A subset of 336 patients, who received three-doses of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, was analyzed in terms of kinetics of humoral immune response and compared to a control group of 94 healthcare workers. Antibody response was tested before vaccination (T0), 15 and 90 days after the second dose (T1 and T2), on the day of the third dose (T3) and one month after the third dose (T4). We observed that 66 out of 743 subjects had COVID-19 infection pre-vaccination: 65.2% had severe symptoms, 27.3% were hospitalized (9 deaths), none were asymptomatic. After three doses, 51 patients had COVID-19 infection, 60.8% were asymptomatic, 27.5% reported mild symptoms, 3.9% showed severe symptoms, 7.8% were hospitalized (2 deaths). In the subset of 336 vaccinated patients, an antibody level > 0.8 U\/ml was detected at T1, that increased at T2 and T3, peaking at T4. Independent factors associated with a negative antibody titer at T4 were decreasing estimated glomerular filtration rate, time from transplantation, and antimetabolites (all p < 0.001) and age (p = 0.007). The kinetics of humoral response after three doses of vaccine in kidney transplant patients is characterized by a late but effective immune response against SARS-CoV-2, reducing morbidity and mortality.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9572856,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Resonance raman characterization of reaction centers with an Asp residue near the photoactive bacteriopheophytin.\nQy-excitation resonance Raman (RR) studies are reported for a series of Rhodobacter capsulatus reaction centers (RCs) containing mutations at L-polypeptide residue 121 near the photoactive bacteriopheophytin (BPhL). The studies focus on the electronic\/structural perturbations of BPhL induced by replacing the native Phe with an Asp residue. Earlier work has shown that the electron-transfer properties of F(L121)D RCs are closely related to those of RCs in which BPhL is replaced by bacteriochlorophyll (BChl) (beta-type RCs) or by pheophytin. In addition to the F(L121)D single mutant, RR studies were performed on the F(L121)D\/E(L104)L double mutant, which additionally removes the hydrogen bond between BPhL and the native Glu L104 residue. The vibrational signatures of BPhL in the single and double mutants containing Asp L121 are compared with one another and with those of BPhL in both wild-type and F(L121)L RCs. The replacement of the aromatic Phe residue with Leu has no discernible effect on the vibrational properties of BPhL, a finding in concert with the previously reported absence of an effect of the mutation on the electron-transfer characteristics of the RC. In contrast, replacement of Phe with Asp significantly perturbs the vibrational characteristics of BPhL, and in a manner most consistent with Asp L121 being deprotonated and negatively charged. The negative charge of the carboxyl group of Asp L121 interacts with the pi-electron system of BPhL in a relatively nonspecific fashion, diminishing the contribution of charge-separated resonance forms of the C9-keto group to the electronic structure of the cofactor. The presence of a negative charge near BPhL is consistent with the known photochemistry of F(L121)D RCs, which indicates that the free energy of P+BPhL- is substantially higher than in wild-type RCs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15266951,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of 7-nitroindazole alone and in combination with phenobarbitone and diazepam on picrotoxin-induced convulsions in rats.\nThere are no reports on the effect of 7-nitroindazole (7-NI) on chemically-induced convulsions. Hence, in the present study, its (100 and 200 mg\/kg) action was tested alone and in combination with phenobarbitone (20 mg\/kg) and diazepam (0.25 mg\/kg) on picrotoxin (PCT)-induced convulsions in rats. The changes produced by 7-NI on nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity and nitric oxide (NO) concentration were determined in the brain. The effect of 7-NI was tested in L-arginine (1000 mg\/kg) pretreated (30 min) animals. The smaller dose (100 mg\/kg) of 7-NI did not alter NOS activity and NO concentration, but inhibited PCT-induced convulsions indicating that its anticonvulsant action was devoid of an involvement of NO. But, an inhibition of NOS activity, by a larger (200 mg\/kg) dose of it, resulted in a promotion of the convulsant action of PCT and in an impairment of the anticonvulsant effect of both phenobarbitone and diazepam. The proconvulsant action of 7-NI was reverted by L-arginine. These results suggest that 100 and 200 mg\/kg of 7-NI produce distinguishable action on PCT-induced convulsions because NOS activity is inhibited by 200 mg\/kg and not by 100 mg\/kg of it. The results further suggest that NO acts as anticonvulsant and that the NOS inhibitors, like 7-NI, cannot be used as an anticonvulsant either alone or in combination with other anticonvulsants.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28708576,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Adiponectin concentration in mid-trimester amniotic fluid varies with the \u03b1-amylase level and maternal and neonatal outcomes.\nFactors influencing intraamniotic adiponectin levels and their functional significance remain incompletely elucidated. We prospectively measured adiponectin in amniotic fluid and identified its associations with maternal parameters, mediators in amniotic fluid and pregnancy outcomes. Mid-trimester amniotic fluid from 571 women was tested for adiponectin, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8 and \u03b1-amylase by enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA), after which clinical data were obtained. Correlations between adiponectin and clinical or laboratory variables were analyzed by the Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney and Spearman rank correlation tests. As compared to median levels in 462 women with a term delivery (7.8 ng\/mL), adiponectin was elevated in 14 women who subsequently developed preterm premature rupture of membranes (pPROM) (17.3 ng\/mL) and 24 women with an iatrogenic preterm birth (IPTB) (13.9 ng\/mL) (P=0.0003), but not in 30 women who subsequently had a spontaneous preterm birth with intact membranes (8.1 ng\/mL) (P>0.05). Median adiponectin was also elevated in 13 women whose babies developed fetal growth restriction (FGR) (20.6 ng\/mL) (P=0.0055) and in 22 women whose babies had respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) (23.0 ng\/mL) (P<0.0001). The adiponectin concentration was positively correlated with amylase (P=0.0089) and inversely correlated with maternal body mass index (P=0.0045). Adiponectin is a component of mid-trimester amniotic fluid and its concentration varies with maternal body mass index and subsequent development of pPROM, IPTB, FGR and RDS.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23463698,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dysfunction of dopamine homeostasis: clues in the hunt for novel Parkinson's disease therapies.\nParkinson's disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder and, at present, has no cure. Both environmental and genetic factors have been implicated in the etiology of the disease; however, the pathogenic pathways leading to neuronal degeneration are still unclear. Parkinson's disease is characterized by the preferential death of a subset of neurons in the mesencephalon that use dopamine as neurotransmitter for synaptic communication. Dopamine is a highly reactive molecule that can lead to cytotoxicity if not properly stored and metabolized. Targeting any of the pathways that tightly control this neurotransmitter holds great therapeutic expectations. In this article we present a comprehensive overview of the cellular pathways that control dopamine fate and discuss potential therapeutic approaches to counteract or slow Parkinson's disease onset and progression.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17824852,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The process followed in the development of the paediatric food-based dietary guidelines for South Africa.\nIn 1996, a Food and Agricultural Organization\/World Health Organization expert panel proposed the development of food-based dietary guidelines (FBDGs) that would be unique and specific to the needs of the populations of different countries. In 1997, a South African FBDG Working Group was initiated to develop a single set of FBDGs aimed at optimal nutrition for all South Africans older than 5 years. Thereafter, additional working groups investigated the development of FBDGs for specific priority groups including HIV\/AIDS sufferers, the elderly, pregnant and lactating women and children under 5 years. This resulted in the formation of an expert paediatric FBDG Working Group in 2000, in Cape Town with the task to develop paediatric FBDGs (PFBDGs) for children younger than 5 years. However, it was decided to raise the 5-year-age limit to 7 years, which corresponds to one of the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) cut-offs for both genders and that would cover most pre-schoolers. Ultimately, three age subcategories were identified for developing specific PFBDGs, i.e. 0-6 months, 6-12 months and 12-84 months. In May 2003, after thorough review of the relevant literature, discussions with various stakeholders and pre-testing for comprehensibility, a set of preliminary PFBDGs for each of the subcategories was approved by the Working Group to be subjected to consumer testing. The proposed guidelines were considered to be the most appropriate ones for each age group, based on scientific and local evidence, and were evaluated utilizing qualitative methodologies. The results of these data are presented and discussed below. However, further testing is required for the diverse groups in the country.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30666269,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Prediction of Alzheimer's Disease-Associated Genes by Integration of GWAS Summary Data and Expression Data.\nAlzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia. It is the fifth leading cause of death among elderly people. With high genetic heritability (79%), finding the disease's causal genes is a crucial step in finding a treatment for AD. Following the International Genomics of Alzheimer's Project (IGAP), many disease-associated genes have been identified; however, we do not have enough knowledge about how those disease-associated genes affect gene expression and disease-related pathways. We integrated GWAS summary data from IGAP and five different expression-level data by using the transcriptome-wide association study method and identified 15 disease-causal genes under strict multiple testing (\u03b1 < 0.05), and four genes are newly identified. We identified an additional 29 potential disease-causal genes under a false discovery rate (\u03b1 < 0.05), and 21 of them are newly identified. Many genes we identified are also associated with an autoimmune disorder.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26491654,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Antioxidant Potential in Different Parts and Callus of Gynura procumbens and Different Parts of Gynura bicolor.\nPlants from Gynura family was used in this study, namely, Gynura procumbens and Gynura bicolor. Gynura procumbens is well known for its various medicinal properties such as antihyperglycaemic, antihyperlipidaemic, and antiulcerogenic; meanwhile, G. bicolor remains unexploited. Several nonenzymatic antioxidants methods were utilized to study the antioxidant capacity, which include ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay, total flavonoid content, total phenolic content, and ascorbic acid content determination. DPPH assay reveals G. procumbens shoot as the lowest (66.885%) and G. procumbens root as the highest (93.499%) DPPH radical inhibitor. In FRAP assay, reducing power was not detected in G. procumbens leaf callus (0.000 TEAC mg\/g FW) whereby G. procumbens root exhibits the highest (1.103 TEAC mg\/g FW) ferric reducing power. Total phenolic content and total flavonoid content exhibited similar trend for both the intact plants analysed. In all antioxidant assays, G. procumbens callus culture exhibits very low antioxidant activity. However, G. procumbens root exhibited highest phenolic content, flavonoid content, and ascorbic acid content with 4.957 TEAC mg\/g FW, 543.529 QE \u00b5g\/g FW, and 54.723 \u00b5g\/g FW, respectively. This study reveals that G. procumbens root extract is a good source of natural antioxidant.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11984271,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Case management guideline: Alzheimer disease and other dementias.\nCase management guidelines are an integration of information obtained from research, observations, clinical experience, and judgments of expert clinicians, scientists, and clients. This guideline integrates information from multiple practice guidelines in order to guide the case manager in managing clients with Alzheimer disease and other dementias. The guideline provides direction in recognition of symptoms or triggers, risk factors, possible complications, case management outcomes, barriers to effective outcomes, goals, providers\/practitioners, treatment options, location of treatment, estimated cost of treatment, psychosocial issues, life planning and long-term planning, vocational issues and teaching protocols. In addition, resource contacts and sources for major instruments used in measuring Alzheimer disease and dementia are presented.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14527686,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Occurrence and neuroendocrine role of D-aspartic acid and N-methyl-D-aspartic acid in Ciona intestinalis.\nProbes for the occurrence of endogenous D-aspartic acid (D-Asp) and N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) in the neural complex and gonads of a protochordate, the ascidian Ciona intestinalis, have confirmed the presence of these two excitatory amino acids and their involvement in hormonal activity. A hormonal pathway similar to that which occurs in vertebrates has been discovered. In the cerebral ganglion D-Asp is synthesized from L-Asp by an aspartate racemase. Then, D-Asp is transferred through the blood stream into the neural gland where it gives rise to NMDA by means of an NMDA synthase. NMDA, in turn, passes from the neuronal gland into the gonads where it induces the synthesis and release of a gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH). The GnRH in turn modulates the release and synthesis of testosterone and progesterone in the gonads, which are implicated in reproduction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34425301,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Impacts of K-12 school reopening on the COVID-19 epidemic in Indiana, USA.\nIn the United States, schools closed in March 2020 due to COVID-19 and began reopening in August 2020, despite continuing transmission of SARS-CoV-2. In states where in-person instruction resumed at that time, two major unknowns were the capacity at which schools would operate, which depended on the proportion of families opting for remote instruction, and adherence to face-mask requirements in schools, which depended on cooperation from students and enforcement by schools. To determine the impact of these conditions on the statewide burden of COVID-19 in Indiana, we used an agent-based model calibrated to and validated against multiple data types. Using this model, we quantified the burden of COVID-19 on K-12 students, teachers, their families, and the general population under alternative scenarios spanning three levels of school operating capacity (50 %, 75 %, and 100 %) and three levels of face-mask adherence in schools (50 %, 75 %, and 100 %). Under a scenario in which schools operated remotely, we projected 45,579 (95 % CrI: 14,109-132,546) infections and 790 (95 % CrI: 176-1680) deaths statewide between August 24 and December 31. Reopening at 100 % capacity with 50 % face-mask adherence in schools resulted in a proportional increase of 42.9 (95 % CrI: 41.3-44.3) and 9.2 (95 % CrI: 8.9-9.5) times that number of infections and deaths, respectively. In contrast, our results showed that at 50 % capacity with 100 % face-mask adherence, the number of infections and deaths were 22 % (95 % CrI: 16 %-28 %) and 11 % (95 % CrI: 5 %-18 %) higher than the scenario in which schools operated remotely. Within this range of possibilities, we found that high levels of school operating capacity (80-95 %) and intermediate levels of face-mask adherence (40-70 %) resulted in model behavior most consistent with observed data. Together, these results underscore the importance of precautions taken in schools for the benefit of their communities.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7940406,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Clastogenic effects of the dithiocarbamate fungicides thiram and ziram in Chinese hamster cell lines cultured in vitro.\nWe report here the results obtained using the dithiocarbamate fungicides thiram and ziram to investigate the induction of chromosomal aberrations (CAs) in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells both in the absence and presence of S9 metabolism, and in a Chinese hamster epithelial liver (CHEL) cells which retain metabolic competence to activate different classes of promutagens\/procarcinogens. Both thiram and ziram proved to be strong chromosome breaking agents in the CHEL cells and CHO cells in the presence of S9 metabolism. These findings suggest that thiram and ziram require metabolic conversion to become genetically active, and corroborate the evidence that CHEL cells are suitable to activate and detect a broad spectrum of chemical procarcinogens including these two pesticides.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16218695,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Model study on the effect of 15 phenolic olive mill wastewater constituents on seed germination and Vibrio fischeri metabolism.\nOlive mill wastewaters (OMW) can be a severe problem when disposed of as untreated because of their high organic load, elevated concentration of polyphenols, and moderately low biodegradability. In the present study, the acute toxicity of 15 compounds with low molecular weight (<350 Da), catechol, four benzoic acids, three phenylacetic acids, three phenylethanols, and four cinnamic acids, already isolated from the reverse osmosis in the fractionation of OMW, was assessed on the marine bacterium Vibrio fischeri and on the seeds of two dicotyledonous species Cucumis sativus and Lepidium sativum, and on one monocotyledon Sorghum bicolor. Results of phytotoxicity showed that the most toxic compounds were catechol (EC50s ranging from 0.40 mmol\/L for S. bicolor to 1.09 for C. sativus) and hydroxytyrosol, (EC50s ranging from 0.47 mmol\/L for S. bicolor to 1.55 for C. sativus) while the toxic potential on bacteria was particularly elevated with EC50 values 1 or 2 orders less than phytotoxicity. These results suggested that the risk of OMW disposal may be more elevated for the water compartment than for the soil.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11641744,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Social determinants of dietary habits in Denmark.\nTo investigate whether there is an association between socioeconomic status and a healthy diet, taking the possible influence of other social variables such as age, gender, income and household composition into consideration. Cross-sectional study. Nationwide study in Denmark, 1995. Random sample from the civil registration system. A total of 852 men and 870 women aged 18-80 y participated, a response rate of 58%. A 7 day estimated dietary record was used to obtain information about the diet. Information about social background was gained through face-to-face interview. The intake of fruit and vegetables and the percentage energy (E%) from fat in the diet were significantly associated with the educational level of both men and women. For men with only basic schooling, the mean intake of vegetables and fat was 84 g\/10 MJ and 41 E% respectively. Men with long higher education had a mean intake of 119 g\/10 MJ of vegetables and 37 E% of fat. For women, the corresponding figures for the intake of vegetables and fat were 131 g\/10 MJ and 38 E% and 175 g\/10 MJ and 37 E%, respectively. For women, age, income and household composition were also significantly associated with the intake of fruit and vegetables. Education seems to be the most important social variable to explain social differences in dietary habits. Additional variables are needed to explain dietary habits of women. Differences are seen for both foods and nutrients. The data analysis was financially supported by the Health Insurance Fund.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26424689,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Trends in the Canadian Surgery Forum (CSF): analysis of the CSF program over the past decade.\nNumerous clinical and basic science-related innovations have been presented at the Canadian Surgery Forum (CSF). We sought to define changes in both the content and methodology of the CSF scientific program over the past decade. While the total volume of CSF abstract presentations has increased dramatically, the methodological quality has remained static, with few randomized trials and minimal prospective work. Although the majority of the scientific content is associated with urban university centres, the program also encourages content from community practices. Surgical education, hepatopancreatobiliary and bariatric content have increased substantially, but remain secondary to colorectal diseases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28301448,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Trends in Suicide by Level of Urbanization - United States, 1999-2015.\nSuicide is a major and continuing public health concern in the United States. During 1999-2015, approximately 600,000 U.S. residents died by suicide, with the highest annual rate occurring in 2015 (1). Annual county-level mortality data from the National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) and annual county-level population data from the U.S. Census Bureau were used to analyze suicide rate trends during 1999-2015, with special emphasis on comparing more urban and less urban areas. U.S. counties were grouped by level of urbanization using a six-level classification scheme. To evaluate rate trends, joinpoint regression methodology was applied to the time-series data for each level of urbanization. Suicide rates significantly increased over the study period for all county groupings and accelerated significantly in 2007-2008 for the medium metro, small metro, and non-metro groupings. Understanding suicide trends by urbanization level can help identify geographic areas of highest risk and focus prevention efforts. Communities can benefit from implementing policies, programs, and practices based on the best available evidence regarding suicide prevention and key risk factors. Many approaches are applicable regardless of urbanization level, whereas certain strategies might be particularly relevant in less urban areas affected by difficult economic conditions, limited access to helping services, and social isolation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31247411,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-30":1}}},"text":"The thermal sense of blood-sucking insects: why physics matters.\nBlood-sucking arthropods exploit multimodal information for locating and recognising potential hosts. The heat emitted by the body of endothermic vertebrates constitutes a major cue for orientation. To exploit it in a reliable way, insects must be able to deal with two variants of thermal information, that is heat exchange and temperature fluctuations. Evaluating whether or not an object qualifies as a host by its temperature requires solving thermodynamic ambiguities in a context where temperature increase at the receptor level is just one, yet insufficient, piece of information. To be exploitable, this piece of information needs to be integrated with other variables. Here, I discuss the physical constraints associated to thermal orientation, as well as the way different blood-sucking insects acquire and make use of heat to recognise a host.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30304029,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Body temperature elevation during exercise is essential for activating the Akt signaling pathway in the skeletal muscle of type 2 diabetic rats.\nThis study examined the effect of changes in body temperature during exercise on signal transduction-related glucose uptake in the skeletal muscle of type 2 diabetic rats. Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty rats (25 weeks of age), which have type 2 diabetes, were divided into the following four weight-matched groups; control (CON, n = 6), exercised under warm temperature (WEx, n = 8), exercised under cold temperature (CEx, n = 8), and heat treatment (HT, n = 6). WEx and CEx animals were subjected to running on a treadmill at 20 m\/min for 30 min under warm (25\u00b0C) or cold (4\u00b0C) temperature. HT animals were exposed to single heat treatment (40-41\u00b0C for 30 min) in a heat chamber. Rectal and muscle temperatures were measured immediately after exercise and heat treatment, and the gastrocnemius muscle was sampled under anesthesia. Rectal and muscle temperatures increased significantly in rats in the WEx and HT, but not the CEx, groups. The phosphorylation levels of Akt, AS160, and TBC1D1 (Thr590) were significantly higher in the WEx and HT groups than the CON group (p < 0.05). In contrast, the phosphorylation levels of AMP-activated protein kinase, ACC, and TBC1D1 (Ser660) were significantly higher in rats in the WEx and CEx groups than the CON group (p < 0.05) but did not differ significantly between rats in the WEx and CEx groups. Body temperature elevation by heat treatment did not activate the AMPK signaling. Our data suggest that body temperature elevation during exercise is essential for activating the Akt signaling pathway in the skeletal muscle of rats with type 2 diabetic rats.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6032982,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A simple method for the isolation of adrenal chromaffin granules on a large scale.\nHighly purified chromaffin granules can be obtained from homogenates of either ox, pig, horse or rat adrenal medullae by ultracentrifugation of the large-granule fraction layered on 1.6m-sucrose solution, by using angle-head rotors. The chromaffin granules are obtained as a pink sediment that is only slightly contaminated by mitochondria and lysosomes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14527361,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Expression of platelet-endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 in human umbilical vein endothelial cells by exposure to advanced glycosylation end products and inflammatory mediators.\nTo determine whether advanced glycosylation end products modified bovine serum albumin (AGEs-BSA) affects endothelial cell lateral junction protein, platelet-endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 (PECAM-1) in the presence or absence of inflammatory mediators. Cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were exposed to AGEs-BSA for 6, 12, 24, and 36 hours, and exposed to AGEs-BSA glycosylated with different concentrations of glucose, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interferon (IFN-gamma), TNF-alpha + IFN-gamma and AGEs-BSA + TNF-alpha for 24 hours, respectively. Expression of PECAM-1 mRNA was measured by semi-quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with beta-actin as an internal standard, and sequencing of RT-PCR products was performed to confirm the specificity of amplification for PECAM-1 gene. The endothelial cell surface expression of PECAM-1 was determined by flow cytometry (FCM). There were no significant changes in the expression of PECAM-1 mRNA and protein when the cells were exposed to AGEs-BSA with different concentrations or periods (P > 0.05). However, PECAM-1 expression was reduced in the cells treated with TNF-alpha, IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha + IFN-gamma and AGEs-BSA + TNF-alpha. The level of PECAM-1 treated with AGEs-BSA + TNF-alpha was lower than that of TNF-alpha treated alone (P < 0.01). AGEs-BSA had no effect on the expression of PECAM-1 mRNA and protein in cultured HUVEC. With the presence of inflammatory mediator TNF-alpha, AGEs-BSA decreased the level of PECAM-1, which might reduce the adhesion interaction between adjacent endothelial cells, enhance the permeability of endothelial cells, and might be implicated in the endothelial dysfunction and pathogenesis of atherosclerosis in patients with diabetes mellitus. The significance of this phenomenon in intracellular signal transduction remains to be determined.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31242683,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-10":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Approaches to CNS Drug Delivery with a Focus on Transporter-Mediated Transcytosis.\nDrug delivery to the central nervous system (CNS) conferred by brain barriers is a major obstacle in the development of effective neurotherapeutics. In this review, a classification of current approaches of clinical or investigational importance for the delivery of therapeutics to the CNS is presented. This classification includes the use of formulations administered systemically that can elicit transcytosis-mediated transport by interacting with transporters expressed by transvascular endothelial cells. Neurotherapeutics can also be delivered to the CNS by means of surgical intervention using specialized catheters or implantable reservoirs. Strategies for delivering drugs to the CNS have evolved tremendously during the last two decades, yet, some factors can affect the quality of data generated in preclinical investigation, which can hamper the extension of the applications of these strategies into clinically useful tools. Here, we disclose some of these factors and propose some solutions that may prove valuable at bridging the gap between preclinical findings and clinical trials.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16999119,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Product study of the OH, NO3, and O3 initiated atmospheric photooxidation of propyl vinyl ether.\nA product study is reported on the gas-phase reactions of OH and NO3 radicals and ozone with propyl vinyl ether (PVE). The experiments were performed in a 405 L borosilicate glass chamber in synthetic air at 298 +\/- 3 K using long path in situ FTIR spectroscopy for the analysis of the reactants and products. In the presence of NO(x) (NO + NO2) the main products for the OH-radical initiated oxidation of PVE were propylformate and formaldehyde with molar formation yields of 78.6 +\/- 8.8% and 75.9 +\/- 8.4%, respectively. In the absence of NO(x) propylformate and formaldehyde were formed with molar formation yields of 63.0 +\/- 9.0% and 61.3 +\/- 6.3%, respectively. In the reaction of NO3 radicals with PVE propylformate 52.7 +\/- 5.9% and formaldehyde 55.0 +\/- 6.3% were again observed as major products. The ozonolysis of PVE led to the production of propylformate, formaldehyde, hydroxyperoxymethyl formate (HPMF; HC(O)OCH2OOH), and CO with molar formation yields of 89.0 +\/- 11.4%, 12.9 +\/- 4.0%, 13.0 +\/- 3.4%, and 10.9 +\/- 2.6%, respectively. The formation yield of OH radicals in the ozonolysis of PVE was estimated to be 17 +\/- 9%. Simple atmospheric degradation mechanisms are postulated to explain the formation of the observed products.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28251090,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Comparative analysis of the efficacy of astigmatic correction after wavefront-guided and wavefront-optimized LASIK in low and moderate myopic eyes.\nTo evaluate and compare the efficacy of the astigmatic correction achieved with laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) in eyes with myopic astigmatism using wavefront-guided (WFG) and wavefront-optimized (WFO) ablation profiles. Prospective study included 221 eyes undergoing LASIK: 99 and 122 eyes with low and moderate myopic astigmatism (low and moderate myopia groups). Two subgroups were differentiated in each group according to the ablation profile: WFG subgroup, 109 eyes (45\/64, low\/moderate myopia groups) treated using the Advanced CustomVue platform (Abbott Medical Optics Inc.), and WFO subgroup, 112 eyes (54\/58, low\/moderate myopia groups) treated using the EX-500 platform (Alcon). Clinical outcomes were evaluated during a 6-month follow-up, including a vector analysis of astigmatic changes. Significantly better postoperative uncorrected visual acuity and efficacy index was found in the WFG subgroups of each group (P\u22640.041). Postoperative spherical equivalent and cylinder were significantly higher in WFO subgroups (P\u22640.003). In moderate myopia group, a higher percentage of eyes with a postoperative cylinder \u22640.25 D was found in the WFG subgroup (90.6% vs 65.5%, P=0.002). In low and moderate myopia groups, the difference vector was significantly higher in the WFO subgroup compared to WFG (P<0.001). In moderate myopia group, the magnitude (P=0.008) and angle of error (P<0.001) were also significantly higher in the WFO subgroup. Significantly less induction of high order aberrations were found with WFG treatments in both low and moderate myopia groups (P\u22640.006). A more efficacious correction of myopic astigmatism providing a better visual outcome is achieved with WFG LASIK compared to WFO LASIK.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20353894,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2013-48":1}}},"text":"Growth of the lateral tunnel in patients who underwent a total cavopulmonary connection at less than 5 years of age.\nA lateral tunnel-total cavopulmonary connection (LT-TCPC) using a right atrial (RA) free wall is the first choice of treatment for patients with a small body weight in this institute. Whether the growth of the LT is appropriate or not according to the growth of the body remains controversial. In addition, the optimal initial diameter of an LT is unknown. The purpose of this study was to verify the growth of the LT. Ninety-one patients of a total of 267 TCPC cases underwent an LT-TCPC at less than 5 years of age in this institute between March 1991 and June 2008. The data on 47 of the 91 patients, which were available to investigate the LT growth, were retrospectively reviewed. The mean age at LT-TCPC was 37+\/-11 months (16-57 months). The mean body weight at TCPC was 12.4+\/-2.4 kg (7.6-20.0 kg). The initial LT diameter was determined with Hegar's sizer of the estimated half-pulmonary arterial (PA) diameter, which is a diameter that results in half of the dimension of the normal pulmonary valve. The measured maximum LT diameter (mm) divided by the estimated half-PA diameter (mm) was considered as the LT index. The size of the LT was evaluated using either echocardiography or angiography. The mean follow-up period was 7.4+\/-3.5 years (1.6-13.5 years). The LT index was initially 2.0+\/-0.7 (1.3-4.5), 2.0+\/-0.4 (1.3-3.2) at 1 year after operation, 2.1+\/-0.5 (1.5-3.2) at 5 years after operation, 1.9+\/-0.4 (1.5-2.8) at 10 years after operation and 2.1+\/-0.5 (1.6-2.5) at 13 years after operation, respectively. LT growth suitable for the body growth can be expected. Although there was some variation in the initial LT diameter, the LT index tended to converge at 2.0 with growth.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3061675,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Combating severe malaria in African children.\nAn initiative to reduce childhood mortality due to malaria, diarrhoea and vaccine-preventable diseases, called the Africa Child Survival Initiative-Combatting Childhood Communicable Diseases (CCCD) project, was started in 1982 and is now operating in 13 African countries, 12 of which are endemic for malaria. The project's malaria control strategy relies on the use of drugs, mainly chloroquine, to prevent severe illness and death in children less than 5 years of age; chemoprophylaxis for pregnant women is also advised to prevent low birth weight in newborns. The strategy is based on WHO recommendations which focus on improved diagnosis and treatment of cases and chemoprophylaxis for pregnant women.In 9 out of the 13 CCCD countries the sensitivity of Plasmodium falciparum to chloroquine in children was investigated and a drug sensitivity surveillance network was established. In areas with chloroquine-resistant P. falciparum, treatment with chloroquine was found to decrease the temperature in febrile children and to greatly reduce the parasite density, thus preventing severe illness and possible death. Baseline surveys in 6 countries have shown a wide range of treatment practices, e.g., use of chloroquine in various doses without standard guidelines and the excessive use of quinine and chloroquine injections in some health units. As pregnant women are often not taking chemoprophylaxis, research has been started on alternative approaches to drug treatment to prevent the adverse effects of malaria on the fetus.Only 4 of the 12 malarious countries had malaria control units when their CCCD programme began and these were concerned mainly with vector control issues; 11 of 12 countries now have such units and a written CCCD malaria plan. These countries have now integrated malaria control activities into primary health care and have begun to implement standardized treatment and prevention practices that are described in their national CCCD malaria plans.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21162506,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Total knee arthroplasty in younger patients: a 13-year follow-up study.\nTotal knee arthroplasty (TKA) is a well-established treatment at the end stage of a degenerated knee joint. This operative treatment generally relieves pain, improves physical function, and has a high level of patient satisfaction, especially in the elderly. Younger patients, however, are demanding and have a higher level of physical activity compared to elderly patients. One could therefore expect more mechanical problems such as prosthetic loosening and polyethylene wear after long-term follow-up. The goal of this retrospective cohort study was to determine the survival and long-term results of TKA in young patients. Patients who received a TKA at age 60 years or younger for any reason were included. Minimum follow-up was 10 years. Thirty-nine TKAs (Anatomic Graduate Components; Biomet, Warsaw, Indiana) in 31 patients were included. Average patient age was 52.6 years. There were 3 revisions because of infection; in 1 knee the patella was revised because of aseptic loosening. After an average 13-year follow-up, the survival rate was 89.7% and function scores showed a reasonably functioning TKA. There was no difference in survival rate and function scores between patients with rheumatoid arthritis and those with primary or secondary (posttraumatic) osteoarthritis. Our experience with TKA in a younger patient population has been encouraging. The risk of loosening and wear of the implant in our study is low, and this type of TKA also seems to be an effective and safe treatment for younger patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28260832,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Justifications for Non-Consensual Medical Intervention: From Infectious Disease Control to Criminal Rehabilitation.\nA central tenet of medical ethics holds that it is permissible to perform a medical intervention on a competent individual only if that individual has given informed consent to the intervention. Yet it occasionally seems morally permissible to carry out non-consensual medical interventions on competent individuals for the purpose of infectious disease control (IDC). We describe two different moral frameworks that have been invoked in support of non-consensual IDC interventions and identify five desiderata that might be used to guide assessments of the moral permissibility of such interventions on either kind of fundamental justification. We then consider what these desiderata imply for the justifiability of carrying out non-consensual medical interventions that are designed to facilitate rehabilitation amongst serious criminal offenders. We argue that these desiderata suggest that a plausible case can be made in favor of such interventions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16995837,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Detection of heterozygous nonsense mutations in genes of interest using an Escherichia coli-based stop codon assay.\nSince nonsense mutations are closely associated with severe conditions of genetic disorders, including familial cancers, rapid and precise detection of those mutations is very important for research purposes and molecular diagnosis. Currently, screening methods such as the FASAY (functional analysis of separated alleles in yeast) and the Y-SC (stop codon assay in yeast) are used for functional detection of nonsense mutations in genes of interest. But these yeast-based approaches are time-consuming, expensive and complicated. In order to circumvent these problems, we, in the present study, devised a novel Escherichia coli-based screening method, the E-SC (E. coli stop codon assay) for the detection of heterozygous nonsense mutations in genes of interest. Our strategy was based on the fact that the plasmid replicating with a low copy number in E. coli allows an effective separation of normal and mutant alleles. Moreover, it relies on the expression vector, resulting in the formation of white and blue colonies for mutant and normal alleles through the expression of PCR-amplified fragment\/lacZ fusion protein respectively. To evaluate the applicability of the E-SC method for the detection of the heterozygous truncating mutation, PCR-amplified exon 7 of the StAR [steroidogenic acute regulatory protein; causative gene of the CAH (congenital lipoid adrenal hyperplasia)] and RT (reverse transcription)-PCR-amplified full-length cDNA of MeCP2 (methyl-CpG-binding protein 2; causative gene of Rett syndrome) were used. The E-SC showed an almost 1:1 ratio of blue\/white colonies in all patients examined, whereas the control samples produced blue colonies only. These results demonstrate that the E-SC system is useful for rapid and precise detection of known and unknown heterozygous truncation mutations in genes that cause genetic disorders and familial cancers.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35369341,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Carotid Artery Stiffness: Imaging Techniques and Impact on Cerebrovascular Disease.\nArterial stiffness is an important measure of vascular aging and atherosclerosis. Though it is measured in many well-known epidemiologic cohort studies, arterial stiffness is often overlooked in routine clinical practice for a number of reasons including difficulties in measurement, variations in definition, and uncertainties surrounding treatment. Central arterial stiffness, a surrogate for aortic stiffness, is the most commonly measured marker of arterial stiffness. In addition to central stiffness, there are also a number of ultrasound based techniques to measure local vascular stiffness, including carotid stiffness. There is evidence that both local carotid stiffness and central arterial stiffness measures are associated with multiple cerebrovascular processes, including stroke and cognitive dysfunction. Mechanistic explanations supporting this association include increased flow load experienced by the cerebral microvasculature leading to cerebral parenchymal damage. In this article, we review definitions of carotid artery stiffness measures and pathophysiologic mechanisms underpinning its association with plaque development and downstream cerebral pathology. We will review the evidence surrounding the association of carotid stiffness measures with downstream manifestations including stroke, cerebral small vessel disease detected on brain MR such as white matter hyperintensities and covert brain infarctions, brain atrophy, and cognitive dysfunction. With consistent definitions, measurement methods, and further scientific support, carotid stiffness may have potential as an imaging-based risk factor for stroke and cognitive decline.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30662778,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"An Unusual Coexistence of Primary Central Nervous System Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia.\nAcute promyelocytic leukemia and primary central nervous system lymphoma are uncommon hematological malignancies. The co-occurrence of acute myeloid leukemia with various lymphoproliferative diseases is an extremely rare condition, especially in the absence of previous chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Herein, we provide a comprehensive characterization of a patient with concomitant diagnosis of extranodal high-grade non-Hodgkin B-cell neoplasm confined to the central nervous system and acute promyelocytic leukemia. We describe the efficacy and feasibility of the consecutive use of all-trans retinoic acid and arsenic trioxide-containing regimen for the treatment of promyelocytic leukemia and high-dose methotrexate plus cytarabine to treat lymphoproliferative involvement of the central nervous system.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7946162,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Elevated blood pressures in obese young men with mild hypertension are sustained during the day and night.\nThe major goal of this study was to determine if the elevated blood pressures in obese men < 45 years old with mild hypertension persist outside the clinic. A secondary aim was to determine if hyperinsulinemia is associated with accentuated diurnal changes of blood pressure. To address these objectives, the clinic and ambulatory blood pressures as well as a 75-g, 2-h oral glucose tolerance test measurements were obtained from 9 lean normotensive, 9 lean hypertensive, and 22 obese hypertensive men < 45 years old. The week before study, volunteers ate an isocaloric diet with 220 mEq of NaCl\/day. Obese hypertensives, subdivided by high (n = 11) and low (n = 11) insulin areas-under-the-curve (AUCs) in response to oral glucose, and lean hypertensives maintained higher ambulatory blood pressure than lean normotensives (130 +\/- 3\/74 +\/- 1, 136 +\/- 4\/78 +\/- 2, 132 +\/- 5\/77 +\/- 3 v 118 +\/- 4\/65 +\/- 2 mm Hg, respectively, P < .05). As expected, the insulin AUC during the glucose tolerance test was higher in obese hypertensives with higher insulin AUCs than in obese hypertensives with lower insulin AUCs, lean hypertensives, or lean normotensives (13.9 +\/- 1.2 v 7.9 +\/- 0.3, 7.2 +\/- 0.7, 5.7 +\/- 0.7 mU-min\/dL, P < .05). Insulin AUCs were not significantly different in obese hypertensives with lower insulin levels, lean hypertensives, or lean normotensives. The diurnal increases of systolic and diastolic blood pressure as well as heart rate and pressure-rate product were similar in all four groups.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25430355,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Magnetic field measurements via visible spectroscopy on the Z machine.\nSandia's Z Machine uses its high current to magnetically implode targets relevant to inertial confinement fusion. Since target performance is highly dependent on the applied drive field, measuring magnetic field at the target is essential for accurate simulations. Recently, the magnetic field at the target was measured through splitting of the sodium 3s-3p doublet at 5890 and 5896 \u00c5. Spectroscopic dopants were applied to the exterior of the target, and spectral lines were observed in absorption. Magnetic fields in excess of 200 T were measured, corresponding to drive currents of approximately 5 MA early in the pulse.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6930203,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Clinical settings in pseudomembranous colitis.\nRenewed interest in pseudomembranous colitis (PMC) has occurred in recent years due to an increased incidence following the introduction of the antibiotics clindamycin and lincomycin. However, the disease was well known before the antibiotic era. In this paper the histopathological features are reemphasised and the similarity to early amoebic colitis is stressed. From a background of 32 patients, some unusual clinical settings are described. These consist of an association with renal transplantation; the demonstration of the lesion on the mucosal surface of rectal polypi and metaplastic bladder mucosa; its occurrence in an area of isolated ileum presenting as a \"blind loop syndrome\"; and examples suggesting that this disease can exist for quite long periods of time or may recur several times in the same patient.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":10209846,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Thoracoscopy versus thoracotomy. The dilemma of the comparison and its meaning for quality assurance in thoracic surgery].\nThe need for scientific investigation into the benefits of thoracoscopy in comparison to thoracotomy as well as State intervention to assure quality in the field of surgery motivated the members of the commission of endoscopic surgery of the German Society of Thoracic Surgery to conduct a pilot project at their hospitals. This pilot project was expected to analyse data on the outcome and a selection of variables concerning trauma and postoperative quality of life of some 400 patients treated between 8\/95 and 10\/95 at 5 thoracic surgical clinics. On completion of the pilot project the course of 141 patients undergoing different thoracic operations at 4 thoracic surgery departments had been documented to various degrees. 60 patients for various indications received a thoracoscopy, 72 a thoracotomy. In 9 patients thoracoscopy was converted to thoracotomy (6.4%). Eight of the 141 patients died in the postoperative course (5.7%), overall morbidity was 15.6%. There was a slight but statistically not significant difference concerning mortality and morbidity in favor of thoracoscopy (1.7 vs. 9.7% and 10 vs. 19.4%). But, there was a selection of malignant diseases, higher age and high risk patients towards thoracotomy. In subgroups of patients undergoing operations not bigger than the resection of three lung wedges only time of operation and length of incision revealed to be significantly shorter for thoracoscopy (69(25-190) min vs. 128(24-240)min, p = 0.0013; 6(4-8)cm vs. 23(12-35)cm, p = 0.0001). Borderline significance was reached by the Spitzer-Index in advantage for thoracoscopy (8(2-10)points vs. 7(0-10)points, p = 0.0728). Thoracotomy and thoracoscopy are access procedures used with different indications in different patients. Differences concerning trauma and quality of life if present are marginal and will need studies to be outlined. Quality assurance in thoracic surgery using a standardized documentation will not succeed under the given circumstances.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9562169,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Assessment of the flexibility of elite athletes using the modified Thomas test.\nTo analyse the modified Thomas test and obtain measures of flexibility for the iliopsoas, quadriceps and tensor fascia lata\/iliotibial band. The modified Thomas test was used to determine the range of flexibility of 117 elite athletes in tennis, basketball, rowing, and running. The study has provided objective data for a clinical test measuring flexibility of the iliopsoas, quadriceps, and tensor fascia lata\/iliotibial band. It is recommended that sufficient flexibility is obtained to perform a specific sport and that asymmetries between limbs are addressed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21752171,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Temperature dependence of the functional response.\nThe Arrhenius equation has emerged as the favoured model for describing the temperature dependence of consumption in predator-prey models. To examine the relevance of this equation, we undertook a meta-analysis of published relationships between functional response parameters and temperature. We show that, when plotted in lin-log space, temperature dependence of both attack rate and maximal ingestion rate exhibits a hump-shaped relationship and not a linear one as predicted by the Arrhenius equation. The relationship remains significantly downward concave even when data from temperatures above the peak of the hump are discarded. Temperature dependence is stronger for attack rate than for maximal ingestion rate, but the thermal optima are not different. We conclude that the use of the Arrhenius equation to describe consumption in predator-prey models requires the assumption that temperatures above thermal optima are unimportant for population and community dynamics, an assumption that is untenable given the available data.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28251156,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Maternal Prepregnancy BMI and Glucose Level at 24-28 Gestational Weeks on Offspring's Overweight Status within 3 Years of Age.\nObjective. To examine the relative impact of maternal prepregnancy body mass index (BMI) and glucose level at 24-28 gestational weeks on offspring's overweight status from birth to 3 years of age in China. Methods. Health care records of 21,354 mother-child pairs were collected. The single and joint associations of maternal prepregnancy BMI and glucose level at 24-28 gestational weeks with 0-3-year-old offspring's overweight status were assessed. Results. The odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) of offspring's macrosomia at birth and overweight\/obesity at the 12th month, 24th month, and 36th month were 1.12 (1.11-1.13), 1.05 (1.04-1.06), 1.07 (1.06-1.08), and 1.11 (1.10-1.12) for each 1-unit increase (km\/m2) in maternal prepregnancy BMI and 1.13 (1.10-1.17), 1.01 (0.99-1.03), 0.99 (0.96-1.01), and 1.00 (0.97-1.02) for each 1-unit increase (mmol\/L) in maternal glucose level at 24-28 gestational weeks, respectively. The positive association of maternal glucose level with macrosomia at birth was similar between prepregnancy normal weight (BMI < 24 kg\/m2) and overweight (BMI \u2265 24 kg\/m2); however, the positive association of high maternal glucose level with childhood overweight was only seen among prepregnancy normal weight mothers but not among overweight mothers. Conclusions. The impact of maternal gestational hyperglycemia on offspring's overweight before 3 years of age can be modified by prepregnancy BMI.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37442869,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Validation of real-time inside-out tracking and depth realization technologies for augmented reality-based neuronavigation.\nConcomitant with the significant advances in computing technology, the utilization of augmented reality-based navigation in clinical applications is being actively researched. In this light, we developed novel object tracking and depth realization technologies to apply augmented reality-based neuronavigation to brain surgery. We developed real-time inside-out tracking based on visual inertial odometry and a visual inertial simultaneous localization and mapping algorithm. The cube quick response marker and depth data obtained from light detection and ranging sensors are used for continuous tracking. For depth realization, order-independent transparency, clipping, and annotation and measurement functions were developed. In this study, the augmented reality model of a brain tumor patient was applied to its life-size three-dimensional (3D) printed model. Using real-time inside-out tracking, we confirmed that the augmented reality model remained consistent with the 3D printed patient model without flutter, regardless of the movement of the visualization device. The coordination accuracy during real-time inside-out tracking was also validated. The average movement error of the X and Y axes was 0.34 \u00b1 0.21 and 0.04 \u00b1 0.08 mm, respectively. Further, the application of order-independent transparency with multilayer alpha blending and filtered alpha compositing improved the perception of overlapping internal brain structures. Clipping, and annotation and measurement functions were also developed to aid depth perception and worked perfectly during real-time coordination. We named this system METAMEDIP navigation. The results validate the efficacy of the real-time inside-out tracking and depth realization technology. With these novel technologies developed for continuous tracking and depth perception in augmented reality environments, we are able to overcome the critical obstacles in the development of clinically applicable augmented reality neuronavigation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28293132,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Stokes phenomena in discrete Painlev\u00e9 II.\nWe consider the asymptotic behaviour of the second discrete Painlev\u00e9 equation in the limit as the independent variable becomes large. Using asymptotic power series, we find solutions that are asymptotically pole-free within some region of the complex plane. These asymptotic solutions exhibit Stokes phenomena, which is typically invisible to classical power series methods. We subsequently apply exponential asymptotic techniques to investigate such phenomena, and obtain mathematical descriptions of the rapid switching behaviour associated with Stokes curves. Through this analysis, we determine the regions of the complex plane in which the asymptotic behaviour is described by a power series expression, and find that the behaviour of these asymptotic solutions shares a number of features with the tronqu\u00e9e and tri-tronqu\u00e9e solutions of the second continuous Painlev\u00e9 equation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29361487,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Novel Approach for In Vivo Detection of Vulnerable Coronary Plaques Using Molecular 3-T CMR Imaging With an Albumin-Binding Probe.\nThis study sought to investigate the potential of the noninvasive albumin-binding probe gadofosveset-enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance (GE-CMR) for detection of coronary plaques that can cause acute coronary syndromes (ACS). ACS are frequently caused by rupture or erosion of coronary plaques that initially do not cause hemodynamically significant stenosis and are therefore not detected by invasive x-ray coronary angiography (XCA). A total of 25 patients with ACS or symptoms of stable coronary artery disease underwent GE-CMR, clinically indicated XCA, and optical coherence tomography (OCT) within 24 h. GE-CMR was performed approximately 24 h following a 1-time application of gadofosveset-trisodium. Contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) was quantified within coronary segments in comparison with blood signal. A total of 207 coronary segments were analyzed on GE-CMR. Segments containing a culprit lesion in ACS patients (n = 11) showed significant higher signal enhancement (CNR) following gadofosveset-trisodium application than segments without culprit lesions (n = 196; 6.1 [3.9 to 16.5] vs. 2.1 [0.5 to 3.5]; p < 0.001). GE-CMR was able to correctly identify culprit coronary lesions in 9 of 11 segments (sensitivity 82%) and correctly excluded culprit coronary lesions in 162 of 195 segments (specificity 83%). Additionally, segmented areas of thin-cap fibroatheroma (n = 22) as seen on OCT demonstrated significantly higher CNR than segments without coronary plaque or segments containing early atherosclerotic lesions (n = 185; 9.2 [3.3 to 13.7] vs. 2.1 [0.5 to 3.4]; p = 0.001). In this study, we demonstrated for the first time the noninvasive detection of culprit coronary lesions and thin-cap fibroatheroma of the coronary arteries in vivo by using GE-CMR. This method may represent a novel approach for noninvasive cardiovascular risk prediction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20366910,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Proposal of a robust measurement scheme for the nonadiabatic spin torque using the displacement of magnetic vortices.\nA spin-polarized current traversing a ferromagnet with continuously varying magnetization exerts a torque on the magnetization. The nonadiabatic contribution to this spin-transfer torque is currently under strong debate, as its value differs by orders of magnitude in theoretical predictions and in measurements. Here, a measurement scheme is presented that allows us to determine the strength of the nonadiabatic spin torque accurately and directly. Analytical and numerical calculations show that the scheme is robust against the uncertainties of the exact current direction and Oersted fields.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6732950,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Oral load test with beta-carotene in normal and dysthyroid subjects].\nAn oral load of beta-carotene (500 mg) was administered to four normal, four hypo and four hyperthyroid subjects. Plasma beta-carotene content was determined at the 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, 10th, 12th and 24th hour after administration and at every 24th hour thereafter for 5 consecutive days. Plasma assays were performed by HPLC. No significant differences were revealed by Student's T test for one group to the other. The authors sustain that, as there is no impairment in intestinal uptake of beta-carotene in disthyroid subjects, the elsewhere described increase in carotinemia in hypothyroids is due to other mechanisms.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25518027,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Comparison of Virtual Nutri Plus\u00ae and Dietpro 5i\u00ae software systems for the assessment of nutrient intake before and after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass.\nThe assessment of nutritional intake before and after bariatric surgery assists in identifying eating disorders, nutritional deficiencies and weight loss\/maintenance. The 7-day record is the gold standard for such an assessment and is interpreted using specialized software. This study sought to compare the Virtual Nutri Plus\u00ae and Dietpro 5i\u00ae software systems in assessing nutrient intake in obese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus who underwent a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. Nutritional intake was assessed in 10 obese women with type 2 diabetes mellitus before and 3 months after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. The 7-day record was used to assess food intake and then, the Virtual Nutri Plus\u00ae and Dietpro 5i\u00ae software systems were used to calculate calorie, macronutrient and micronutrient intake based on validated food chemical composition databases. Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT01251016. During the preoperative period, deficits in the ingestion of total fiber and 15 out of 22 estimated micronutrients were observed when using the Virtual Nutri Plus\u00ae, compared to deficiencies in total fiber and 4 micronutrients when using the Dietpro 5i\u00ae. During the postoperative period, both the Virtual Nutri Plus\u00ae and Dietpro 5i\u00ae systems detected deficits in the ingestion of total fiber, carbohydrates and 19 micronutrients, but only the Virtual Nutri Plus\u00ae detected deficits in complex B vitamins (except B12) and minerals. Virtual Nutri Plus\u00ae was more sensitive than Dietpro 5i\u00ae for the identification of deficits in nutrient intake in obese, type 2 diabetes mellitus patients undergoing Roux-en-Y gastric bypass.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25278820,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Overview of emerging nonvolatile memory technologies.\nNonvolatile memory technologies in Si-based electronics date back to the 1990s. Ferroelectric field-effect transistor (FeFET) was one of the most promising devices replacing the conventional Flash memory facing physical scaling limitations at those times. A variant of charge storage memory referred to as Flash memory is widely used in consumer electronic products such as cell phones and music players while NAND Flash-based solid-state disks (SSDs) are increasingly displacing hard disk drives as the primary storage device in laptops, desktops, and even data centers. The integration limit of Flash memories is approaching, and many new types of memory to replace conventional Flash memories have been proposed. Emerging memory technologies promise new memories to store more data at less cost than the expensive-to-build silicon chips used by popular consumer gadgets including digital cameras, cell phones and portable music players. They are being investigated and lead to the future as potential alternatives to existing memories in future computing systems. Emerging nonvolatile memory technologies such as magnetic random-access memory (MRAM), spin-transfer torque random-access memory (STT-RAM), ferroelectric random-access memory (FeRAM), phase-change memory (PCM), and resistive random-access memory (RRAM) combine the speed of static random-access memory (SRAM), the density of dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), and the nonvolatility of Flash memory and so become very attractive as another possibility for future memory hierarchies. Many other new classes of emerging memory technologies such as transparent and plastic, three-dimensional (3-D), and quantum dot memory technologies have also gained tremendous popularity in recent years. Subsequently, not an exaggeration to say that computer memory could soon earn the ultimate commercial validation for commercial scale-up and production the cheap plastic knockoff. Therefore, this review is devoted to the rapidly developing new class of memory technologies and scaling of scientific procedures based on an investigation of recent progress in advanced Flash memory devices.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17202785,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Antibody engineering-based approach for hapten immunometric assays with high sensitivity].\nThe trace characterization of physiologically active substances with low molecular weight (e.g., steroids, catecholamines, prostaglandins, and oligopeptides), which are classified as \"haptens\", is an important subject in clinical analysis, and competitive immunoassays have conventionally been used for this purpose. However, the subfemtomole-range determination of haptens is very difficult, as the sensitivity of competitive immunoassays is essentially limited by the affinity of the anti-hapten antibodies that barely reaches the range of 10(11) (l\/mol) as the affinity constant (K(a)). Although a noncompetitive \"immunometric assay\" format, the two-site immunometric assay (sandwich immunoassay), enables even subattomole-range measurements of macromolecules such as proteins, this principle can not be directly applied to haptens, as their low molecular mass prohibits simultaneous binding by two antibody molecules. To overcome such limitations, we are required either to create artificial antibodies showing ultrahigh affinity to haptens by protein engineering of antibody molecules (\"antibody engineering\") or establishment of novel immunometric assay formats applicable to haptens. This review surveys the background and recent approach for subfemtomole-range determination of haptens using novel immunometric assay methods. Our studies for the development of hapten immunometric assays are also described.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15240281,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Initial reaction(s) in biotransformation of CL-20 is catalyzed by salicylate 1-monooxygenase from Pseudomonas sp. strain ATCC 29352.\nCL-20 (2,4,6,8,10,12-hexanitro-2,4,6,8,10,12-hexaazaisowurtzitane) (C(6)H(6)N(12)O(12)), a future-generation high-energy explosive, is biodegradable by Pseudomonas sp. strain FA1 and Agrobacterium sp. strain JS71; however, the nature of the enzyme(s) involved in the process was not understood. In the present study, salicylate 1-monooxygenase, a flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD)-containing purified enzyme from Pseudomonas sp. strain ATCC 29352, biotransformed CL-20 at rates of 0.256 +\/- 0.011 and 0.043 +\/- 0.003 nmol min(-1) mg of protein(-1) under anaerobic and aerobic conditions, respectively. The disappearance of CL-20 was accompanied by the release of nitrite ions. Using liquid chromatography\/mass spectrometry in the negative electrospray ionization mode, we detected a metabolite with a deprotonated mass ion [M - H](-) at 345 Da, corresponding to an empirical formula of C(6)H(6)N(10)O(8), produced as a result of two sequential N denitration steps on the CL- 20 molecule. We also detected two isomeric metabolites with [M - H](-) at 381 Da corresponding to an empirical formula of C(6)H(10)N(10)O(10). The latter was a hydrated product of the metabolite C(6)H(6)N(10)O(8) with addition of two H(2)O molecules, as confirmed by tests using (18)O-labeled water. The product stoichiometry showed that each reacted CL-20 molecule produced about 1.7 nitrite ions, 3.2 molecules of nitrous oxide, 1.5 molecules of formic acid, and 0.6 ammonium ion. Diphenyliodonium-mediated inhibition of salicylate 1-monooxygenase and a comparative study between native, deflavo, and reconstituted enzyme(s) showed that FAD site of the enzyme was involved in the biotransformation of CL-20 catalyzed by salicylate 1-monooxygenase. The data suggested that salicylate 1-monooxygenase catalyzed two oxygen-sensitive single-electron transfer steps necessary to release two nitrite ions from CL-20 and that this was followed by the secondary decomposition of this energetic chemical.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26442018,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nuclear localization of the dehydrin OpsDHN1 is determined by histidine-rich motif.\nThe cactus OpsDHN1 dehydrin belongs to a large family of disordered and highly hydrophilic proteins known as Late Embryogenesis Abundant (LEA) proteins, which accumulate during the late stages of embryogenesis and in response to abiotic stresses. Herein, we present the in vivo OpsDHN1 subcellular localization by N-terminal GFP translational fusion; our results revealed a cytoplasmic and nuclear localization of the GFP::OpsDHN1 protein in Nicotiana benthamiana epidermal cells. In addition, dimer assembly of OpsDHN1 in planta using a Bimolecular Fluorescence Complementation (BiFC) approach was demonstrated. In order to understand the in vivo role of the histidine-rich motif, the OpsDHN1-\u0394His version was produced and assayed for its subcellular localization and dimer capability by GFP fusion and BiFC assays, respectively. We found that deletion of the OpsDHN1 histidine-rich motif restricted its localization to cytoplasm, but did not affect dimer formation. In addition, the deletion of the S-segment in the OpsDHN1 protein affected its nuclear localization. Our data suggest that the deletion of histidine-rich motif and S-segment show similar effects, preventing OpsDHN1 from getting into the nucleus. Based on these results, the histidine-rich motif is proposed as a targeting element for OpsDHN1 nuclear localization.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35357819,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Virtual Screening for the Discovery of Microbiome \u03b2-Glucuronidase Inhibitors to Alleviate Cancer Drug Toxicity.\nDespite the potency of most first-line anti-cancer drugs, nonadherence to these drug regimens remains high and is attributable to the prevalence of \"off-target\" drug effects that result in serious adverse events (SAEs) like hair loss, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Some anti-cancer drugs are converted by liver uridine 5'-diphospho-glucuronosyltransferases through homeostatic host metabolism to form drug-glucuronide conjugates. These sugar-conjugated metabolites are generally inactive and can be safely excreted via the biliary system into the gastrointestinal tract. However, \u03b2-glucuronidase (\u03b2GUS) enzymes expressed by commensal gut bacteria can remove the glucuronic acid moiety, producing the reactivated drug and triggering dose-limiting side effects. Small-molecule \u03b2GUS inhibitors may reduce this drug-induced gut toxicity, allowing patients to complete their full course of treatment. Herein, we report the discovery of novel chemical series of \u03b2GUS inhibitors by structure-based virtual high-throughput screening (vHTS). We developed homology models for \u03b2GUS and applied them to large-scale vHTS against nearly 400,000 compounds within the chemical libraries of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences at the National Institutes of Health. From the vHTS results, we cherry-picked 291 compounds via a multifactor prioritization procedure, providing 69 diverse compounds that exhibited positive inhibitory activity in a follow-up \u03b2GUS biochemical assay in vitro. Our findings correspond to a hit rate of 24% and could inform the successful downstream development of a therapeutic adjunct that targets the human microbiome to prevent SAEs associated with first-line, standard-of-care anti-cancer drugs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":5843870,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Middle-ear disease in Indians of the Mount Currie Reservation, British Columbia.\nComplete otological examinations, including audiograms, were carried out on 504 British Columbia Indians of the Mount Currie Reservation. Of these, 79 were found to have evidence of current middle ear pathology, while 226 were known to have had previous disease. Among 364 subjects who could be formally tested, 112 had a 15-decibel or greater hearing loss in the speech frequencies. Among these Indians, middle-ear disease began early in life and recurrences were frequent. The prevalence of aural disease was related to poor social conditions, family history and presence of nasal discharge. No other relationships could be demonstrated, and there was no evident benefit from adenotonsillectomy. No secretory otitis or otosclerosis and almost no sensorineural high-tone hearing loss were discovered.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14565915,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[A critical review of the pragmatic clinical trial].\nSchwartz and Lellouch proposed in 1967 to differentiate between pragmatic and explanatory clinical trials. The pragmatic approach has been understood in different ways and has also been the object of some criticism. Yet different authors have asked to perform pragmatic clinical trials, especially in issues requiring a therapeutical decision. In order to clarify the present situation of the pragmatic trial, a bibliographic review has been performed. Between 1976 and 2002, 95 original articles on clinical trials conducted following a pragmatic design have been found. Only four followed strictly the approach developed by Schwartz et al. In a pragmatic clinical trial, it is usually not possible to blind the interventions and for this reason randomization is imperfect. This limitation casts doubts about the validity of the frequentistic methods in the intention-to-treat evaluation of the results of a pragmatic trial. This experimental approach demands an evaluation according to the decision-making theory. Following the Bayes theorem, the credibility and the previous probability of a hypothesis conditions its posterior probability. It has been agreed that Bayesian statistics is a suitable instrument for the evaluation of a pragmatic clinical trial, but the lack of adequate informatics' programs has limited seriously its application. Recently,some new programs (WinBUGS, TreeAge) have been developed and applied to the decision analysis in some primary care therapeutic questions. It seems possible to predict that, thanks to the new informatics'programs on Bayesian statistics, the pragmatic clinical trial will experience, in the short term, an important revival.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16241029,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"HIV-associated primary pulmonary hypertension: a first case report in Thailand and literature review.\nA 32-year-old woman had asymptomatic HIV infection diagnosed with primary pulmonary hypertension simultaneously. She presented after a three-month rapid progression of symptoms and hemodynamic change. Physical examination and laboratory findings were compatible with pulmonary hypertension. No sensible cause could be found for the pulmonary hypertension except the HIV seropositivity; therefore, HIV-associated primary pulmonary hypertension was diagnosed. She was treated with diltiazem and oral anti-coagulation. After four months, her functional status improved from a NYHA functional class of II to I and improved in right venticular function. Since HIV is epidemic, the authors recommend HIV testing in cases of primary pulmonary hypertension.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25496264,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Regioselective glucuronidation of gingerols by human liver microsomes and expressed UDP-glucuronosyltransferase enzymes: reaction kinetics and activity correlation analyses for UGT1A9 and UGT2B7.\nTo determine the reaction kinetics for regioselective glucuronidation of gingerols (i.e. 6-, 8- and 10-gingerol) by human liver microsomes and expressed UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) enzymes, and to identify the main UGT enzymes involved in regioselective glucuronidation of gingerols. The rates of glucuronidation were determined by incubating the gingerols with uridine diphosphoglucuronic acid-supplemented microsomes. Kinetic parameters were derived by fitting an appropriate model to the data. Activity correlation analyses were performed to identify the main UGT enzymes contributing to hepatic metabolism of gingerols. Glucuronidation at the 4'-OH group was much more favoured than that at 5-OH. The degree of position preference was compound-dependent; the catalytic efficiency ratios of 4'-O- to 5-O-glucuronidation were 9.1, 19.7 and 2.9 for 6-, 8- and 10-gingerol, respectively. UGT1A8 (an intestinal enzyme), UGT1A9 and UGT2B7 were the enzymes showing the highest activity towards gingerols. Formation of 5-O-glucuronide was mainly catalysed by UGT1A9. UGT2B7 was the only enzyme that generated glucuronides at both 4'-OH and 5-OH sites, although a strong position preference was observed with 4'-OH (\u226580.2%). Further, activity correlation analyses indicated that UGT2B7 and UGT1A9 were primarily responsible for 4'-O-glucuronidation and 5-O-glucuronidation of gingerols in the liver, respectively. Gingerols were metabolized by multiple hepatic and gastrointestinal UGT enzymes. Also, UGT1A9 and 2B7 were the main contributors to regioselective glucuronidation of gingerols in the liver.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27473698,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL EXPOSURE TO FUKUSHIMA RESIDENTS.\nThe Great East Japan Earthquake of 11 March 2011, caused the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident, which resulted in the release of a large amount of radioactive materials into the environment, and there is a serious concern about the radiation effects on the health of residents living in the affected areas. The evaluation of exposure dose is fundamental for the estimation of health effects, and whenever possible, the exposure dose should be evaluated by actual measurements as opposed to estimations. Here, the outline of the exposure doses of residents estimated from surveys or obtained by measurements is described. Fukushima Health Management Survey reported the results for 460 408 residents during the first 4 months after the accident; 66.3% received doses <1 mSv, 94.9% received <2 mSv, 99.7% received <5 mSv and the maximum dose was 25 mSv. Thus, it was demonstrated that the results from personal dosemeter measurements were comparable to the estimations. The dose assessment of internal exposure of 184 205 residents conducted by Fukushima Prefecture by using whole body counter showed that 99.986% received <1 mSv, with the maximum dose being 3 mSv. Regarding exposure of the thyroid, there is not enough data for the Fukushima accident, but it is presumed that thyroid doses are much lower than those from Chernobyl. The outline of exposure doses of residents in result of the accident is still being clarified, questions and uncertainties in dose assessment remain and further efforts for more accurate dosimetry are required continuously.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35360525,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Assessment of C-Shaped Canal Morphology in Mandibular and Maxillary Second Molars in an Iraqi Subpopulation Using Cone-Beam Computed Tomography.\nEndodontic treatment is basically dependent on knowledge of the root canal anatomy. The goal of this study was to use cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) imaging to examine the C-shaped canal configuration of mandibular and maxillary second molars in an Iraqi subpopulation. The prevalence and configurations of C-shaped canals were evaluated in 368 mandibular second molars and 369 maxillary second molars using CBCT scans. The effects of gender, age, and unilateral\/bilateral on the presence of C-shaped canals were investigated. Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests were used to determine the level of significance (p \u2264 0.05), and kappa value was used to check reliability of results of the research. In mandibular second molars, the prevalence of C-shaped canals was 17.4%. The prevalence was significantly higher in females (23%) than males (10.4%) using the chi-square test. There is no significant difference in the prevalence of C-shaped canal depending on age and tooth position. The C2 type was the most common (56.3%). This prevalence did not differ with gender, age, or tooth position. In maxillary second molars, C-shaped canals were present in 7.9%. Type I (subtype C) (fusion of 2 root canals MB-DB) was the most common type of fused root (65.5%). There is no significant difference in the prevalence of C-shaped canal depending on the type of fused root, age, and tooth position. The majority of C-shaped canals in mandibular second molars were bilateral in both genders, but unilateral presence was more common in maxillary second molars in both genders. Within the limits of this study, C-shaped canals were found to be more common in mandibular second molars than in maxillary second molars in an Iraqi subpopulation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17199359,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Aging correlation functions of the interrupted fractional Fokker-Planck propagator.\nThe authors explore aging in a general semi-Markov process with arbitrary waiting time distributions and discuss the role of trapping phenomenon in glasses in determining the waiting time distributions. In certain limits, they obtain a two-time propagator for the fractional Fokker-Planck equation through coordination, but one can generalize the construction to incorporate cutoffs in the aging of the system, i.e., the interrupted aging. The construction allows the incorporation of cutoffs in the aging of the system, and the exploration of signatures of aging effects in systems that eventually achieve equilibrium. Cutoffs in aging effects are illustrated for interrupted fractional diffusion in a harmonic potential and for the on-time probability of a quantum dot system.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1700839,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Low dose 5-azacytidine is ineffective for remission induction in patients with acute myeloid leukemia.\nLow dose 5-azacytidine was administered to 11 patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in hopes of achieving complete remissions by inducing differentiation of leukemic blasts. The patient population included both patients who had received no prior therapy (two patients), as well as patients refractory to primary therapy (five patients) and patients who had relapsed after achieving complete remission (four patients). Both previously untreated patients had a history of myelodysplastic syndrome, and two of the primarily refractory patients had leukemia following chemotherapy for other malignancies. The median age was 55 years (range 36-78 years). Twenty-one courses of 5-azacytidine were administered as 7-day continuous infusions at a dose of 75 mg\/m2\/day. Significant nonhematologic toxicity was not observed. No patient had a response as defined by bone marrow remission or improvement in transfusion requirement for red blood cells or platelets. Although some patients developed bone marrow hypocellularity (six courses in five patients), none became aplastic, and eight courses in six patients were associated with increased bone marrow cellularity percentage of blasts. Five courses in three patients were inevaluable (one central nervous system hemorrhage, one central nervous system leukemia, three courses in one patient who refused bone marrow aspiration). It is unlikely that low dose 5-azacytidine will be of benefit to patients with AML, and there was no evidence of clinically significant induction of differentiation noted.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21141237,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A cool head ensures smooth MRI delivery.\nPioneering \"state-of-the-art mobile\" diagnostic technology, Cobalt claims its mobile MRI service is among the world's most sophisticated charity-run operations of its kind. However, with its fleet of units constantly deployed at, or moving between, hospitals across the South West of England and Wales, the charity faces a potential logistical nightmare. Here, Andy Downton, co-owner and MD of the company's logistics provider, Downton, describes the critical strategic planning and estates expertise fundamental to the success of this \"unique service\".","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12180698,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Molecular methods for identification and detection of bacterial food pathogens.\nThe polymerase chain reaction (PCR) shortens conventional microbiological methods for the detection of food pathogens either by replacing the conventional biochemical and serological identification or by its direct use on pre-enrichment media or food products. PCR allows fast and highly reliable identification of bacterial taxa, particularly phenotypically atypical bacterial strains. For reliablity, PCR primers and reaction conditions must be thoroughly optimized and evaluated, appropriate sample preparations must be developed, and a stringent laboratory protocol must be followed. Positive control systems are used to monitor possible inhibition of the reaction and negative controls are needed to monitor for contamination. The most recent developments involve messenger RNA-based (mRNA-based) detection of viable bacterial pathogens and real-time PCR quantitation of pathogens.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7943672,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Alcohol and aggression: effects of personal threat on human aggression and affective arousal.\nTheorists have attempted to account for the relationship between alcohol intoxication and a wide range of aggressive behaviors by ascribing alcohol-related aggression to the disinhibiting effects of alcohol and to its disruptive effects on cognitive processes. Allocation of attention and situational threat have been thought to mediate alcohol-related aggression. In the present study, 72 male social drinkers received either alcohol, a placebo, or a nonalcoholic beverage and were exposed to either threatening or nonthreatening personal information. Measuring levels and duration of aggressive responses on a Taylor-Buss aggression machine, intoxicated subjects were found to be generally more aggressive under threatening than under nonthreatening information conditions. Intoxicated subjects also reported relatively large increases in anger, depression, and tension following the aggression task, which appeared to be affected by the type of information received. These findings concur with and refine previous models suggesting that alcohol focuses the drinker's attention to salient cues in threatening circumstances, thus increasing the likelihood of aggressive behavior.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28564163,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"HIGH LEVELS OF GENETIC VARIABILITY IN THE HAPLOID MOSS PLAGIOMNIUM CILIARE.\nHorizontal starch-gel electrophoresis was used to measure variability at 14 enzyme loci from 13 natural populations of the dioecious moss Plagiomnium ciliare. Overall levels of genetic polymorphism were unexpectedly high for a haploid organism. Using a 1% frequency criterion, 71% of the loci surveyed were polymorphic for the species as a whole. The number of alleles per polymorphic locus for the species as a whole was 2.82 \u00b1 0.34 (mean \u00b1 standard error), and mean gene diversity per locus was 0.078 \u00b1 0.035. While total gene diversity (HT = 0.178) was similar to that observed for highly outcrossed diploid plants such as pines, the variance within (HS = 0.098 \u00b1 0.027) and among (DST = 0.080 \u00b1 0.033) populations was more evenly distributed than that reported for populations of conifers. Genetic distances between populations ranged from 0.0002 to 0.2064, with mosses from the Piedmont region of the southeastern United States showing less differentiation among populations than did mosses from the Appalachian Mountains. Gene diversity was much reduced in populations from disturbed, secondary forests in the Piedmont (0.058 \u00b1 0.018) relative to those from minimally disturbed, primary forests in the mountains (0.146 \u00b1 0.048). Intensive sampling within populations revealed heterogeneity even within small (5 \u00d7 5 cm) clumps. The discovery of high levels of genetic variability in a plant with a dominant haploid life cycle challenges the traditional view of bryophytes as a genetically depauperate group. Multipleniche selection is proposed as a possible explanation for this anomaly, but the data are also consistent with the view that allozyme polymorphisms are selectively neutral.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17880433,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A haemophilia treatment centre-administered disease management programme in patients with bleeding disorders.\nThe objective of this study is to describe a disease management programme (DMP) for the bleeding disorder population insured by Indiana's high-risk insurance plan, and to assess the associated costs and outcomes. All bleeding disorder patients, covered by the state plan as their primary health insurance, were enrolled into a DMP administered by the Indiana Hemophilia & Thrombosis Center (IHTC). A pre\/post-intervention study design was used, with 1-year pre-enrollment serving as the baseline period and 1-year post-enrollment as the study period. Claims data were used to assess hospitalizations, emergency room (ER) visits, total medical and clotting factor costs and factor units dispensed. Medical records were used to assess disease severity and other comorbidities. Thirty-one continuously enrolled patients had complete data over 2 years. Approximately 84% of the population was male, 81% with haemophilia. The average costs of care in the baseline year and the first year of the programme were $161 441 and $118 293, respectively. The decrease in the total costs was primarily attributed to a decrease in outpatient factor costs, which resulted from decreased factor utilization and lower per unit factor costs. The mean number of inpatient hospital days and ER visits for the DMP population decreased from 1.3 and 1.4 to 0.4 and 0.6, baseline and first year, respectively. Owing to the small sample size and high variability of the population, the differences were not statistically significant. The DMP appears to have reduced the total costs and resource utilization, although the study was underpowered.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27256704,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Reduction of Candida tropicalis biofilm by photoactivation of a Heterophyllaea pustulata extract.\nBiofilm formation is an important problem, since this growth mode confers resistance to drugs usually used in therapeutics. In vitro antifungal activity of extracts obtained from Heterophyllaea pustulata Hook f. (Rubiaceae) were studied against Candida tropicalis biofilms, evaluating the effect of irradiation and the oxidative and nitrosative stresses as possible mechanisms of action. Hexane, benzene, ethyl acetate and ethanol extracts were evaluated at three concentrations (0.2, 0.1 and 0.05 mg\/mL) over mature biofilm, under darkness and irradiation. After 48 h of incubation, biofilm quantitation was performed by the O'Toole and Kolter method. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) was measured by nitro-blue tetrazolium (NBT) reaction and reactive nitrogen intermediates (RNI) by the Griess reagent. Superoxide dismutase activation (SOD, NBT assay) and total antioxidant system (FRAP test) were studied. Only the benzene extract at 0.2 mg\/mL reduced the biofilms formation. The slight decrease achieved in darkness (17.06 \u00b1 2.80% reduction) was increased by light action (39.31 \u00b1 3.50% reduction), clearly observing a photostimulation. This great reduction was confirmed by confocal microscopy. In darkness, biofilm reduction was mediated by an increase in RNI, whereas under irradiation, the ROS action was most important. Although no SOD activation was observed, a strong stimulation of the total antioxidant system was detected. HPLC analysis established a high content of several anthraquinones in this extract. Biofilm reduction by benzene extract was mainly mediated by oxidative stress triggered under light action, confirming a photodynamic sensitization, which could be attributed to its high content of photosensitizing anthraquinones.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17007933,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3,"dup_dump_count":2,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1,"2024-18":1}}},"text":"Antibiotic treatment of community acquired pneumonia varies widely across Germany.\nCommunity Acquired Pneumonia (CAP) is a frequent and potentially fatal infectious disease which, in the majority of cases, needs an antibiotic intervention. Aim was to evaluate antibiotic treatment patterns regarding all types of mono- and combination-therapy throughout the local clinical centres (LCCs) represented in the German competence network CAPNETZ (=Community Acquired Pneumonia Network) and to identify clinical indicators for regional differences. We analysed outpatients and inpatients recruited between March 2003 and April 2005. Patient and treatment details were registered online using standardised data entry forms. A logistic regression model was issued for the 4 most frequently applied antibiotics, adjusting for potentially relevant confounders. The study sample consisted of 3221 patients at the age of 18 to 102 years. Overall, aminopenicillins plus betalactamase inhibitor (20.4%), fluoroquinolone (17.0%), macrolides combined with cephalosporins third generation (10.6%) and cephalosporins third generation (8.9%) were most frequently prescribed. After control for potential confounders, significant treatment differences remained between study sites. Regional variability of antibiotic CAP-treatment could not be attributed to a number of clinical or sociodemographic factors. The presented treatment variability ranges within given guidelines, but indicates the need for an ongoing implementation of evidence-based guidelines in order to avoid potential negative clinical or economic consequences.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26486162,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Analysis of Cervical Sagittal Balance Parameters in MRIs of Patients with Disc-Degenerative Disease.\nThe aim of this study was to explore the correlations between the different parameters of the cervical sagittal balance in magnetic resonance images (MRI) and evaluate the criteria for their clinical application in disc-degenerative diseases. We conducted a retrospective review of the MRIs of 125 adult outpatients with disc-degenerative diseases of the cervical spine; the images were obtained between May and July 2014 at our institute. The control group comprised 50 volunteers whose MRIs were also obtained. The parameters measured in the MRIs were: neck tilt (NT), T1 slope (T1S), thoracic inlet angle (TIA), and Cobb's angle (C2-7). The correlation between the various parameters was analyzed using the Pearson correlation coefficient. The outpatients group showed moderate correlation between TIA and T1S, a significant correlation between TIA and NT, a weak correlation between T1S and Cobb's angle, and a weakly negative correlation between T1S and NT. Further, the TIA showed no significant difference between the outpatient group and the control group, as per the sample t test. Our findings indicate that TIA, T1S, and NT could be used as indices for the evaluation of cervical sagittal balance and that the TIA could be used as a reference to assess the cervical compensation. Restoration of the NT and T1S should be considered as a goal of surgical treatment during the preoperative planning in patients with disc-degenerative diseases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27475345,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The relative entropy is fundamental to adaptive resolution simulations.\nAdaptive resolution techniques are powerful methods for the efficient simulation of soft matter systems in which they simultaneously employ atomistic and coarse-grained (CG) force fields. In such simulations, two regions with different resolutions are coupled with each other via a hybrid transition region, and particles change their description on the fly when crossing this boundary. Here we show that the relative entropy, which provides a fundamental basis for many approaches in systematic coarse-graining, is also an effective instrument for the understanding of adaptive resolution simulation methodologies. We demonstrate that the use of coarse-grained potentials which minimize the relative entropy with respect to the atomistic system can help achieve a smoother transition between the different regions within the adaptive setup. Furthermore, we derive a quantitative relation between the width of the hybrid region and the seamlessness of the coupling. Our results do not only shed light on the what and how of adaptive resolution techniques but will also help setting up such simulations in an optimal manner.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37464729,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pubertal Stage-Dependent Anthropometric Variations in Turkish Children with Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis: An In-Depth Analysis.\nBACKGROUND Identifying predictive factors for anthropometric changes during puberty in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is critical for prognosis and management. This study aimed to discern these factors in the Turkish AIS population, by analyzing variations against female breast development stages and male testicular volume, benchmarked against national standards. MATERIAL AND METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted between 2018 and 2022, involving children aged 10 to 18 years from the Orthopedics and Pediatrics Clinics. AIS patients and controls were assessed concerning pubertal status (Tanner stage), chronological age, skeletal maturation (Tanner-Whitehouse), and anthropometric parameters (height, weight, and body mass index). RESULTS AIS patients were compared to controls, stratified by pubertal stages. In girls across all stages, significant differences emerged in bone age, BMI, and weight between AIS and controls (p<0.01). In boys, AIS patients significantly differed in bone age from controls across all stages (p<0.001). At stage V, controls demonstrated higher BMI than AIS boys (p<0.001), while at stage I, AIS boys had significantly higher height and weight compared to controls (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS AIS patients demonstrate distinctive pubertal growth abnormalities, with males and females presenting divergent patterns. Understanding these variations could inform better management of AIS during the critical pubertal growth period.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1683389,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Perfusion scan in pulmonary tumor microembolism: report of a case.\nA 76-year-old male patient was admitted to our hospital with the chief complaint of dyspnea. A chest CT scan showed pericardial effusion, mediastinal lymphadenopathy and a tumor in the right ventricle with invasion to the main trunk of the pulmonary artery. A 99mTc MAA perfusion lung scan revealed multiple small subsegmental peripheral defects and a \"fissure sign\", while the 133Xe ventilation scan was normal. After the chest CT scan and scans of both lungs, tumor microembolism was highly suspected. Open chest surgery was performed. A huge tumor in the right ventricle involving the main trunk of the pulmonary artery was found. In addition, multiple tumor thrombi in the pulmonary arteries and veins were also noted. The pathology was metastatic squamous cell carcinoma. Thereafter, the primary lesion was found by bronchoscopy. The final diagnosis was squamous cell carcinoma of the right lower lobe bronchus with metastases to the right ventricle and pulmonary vessels, and in association with pulmonary tumor microembolism. We present this uncommon case and describe the pulmonary perfusion pattern of the tumor microembolism.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16239874,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Toward the emergence of nanoneurosurgery: part I--progress in nanoscience, nanotechnology, and the comprehension of events in the mesoscale realm.\nSince its original conception in 1959, the notion of nanotechnology and its potential ramifications have not only created fascination, but also intense scientific effort and scrutiny. Currently, research activities are being principally conducted in mesoscale, the realm between nanoscale and macroscale, with the rudiments of nanoscience being defined in realities and principles that will determine activities and discoveries in the future. This paper reviews and discusses the evolution of nanoscience, its contemporary status, and the discoveries that currently constitute the main components of the body of knowledge from a neurosurgical perspective. Specific attention is given to the developments in imaging, fabrication, nanostructures, nanoelectromechanical systems, molecular manufacturing, nanocomputation, and emerging physical and chemical concepts in mesoscale, as they will establish foundations for the realization of nanomedicine and nanoneurosurgery.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16984457,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Transition from fetal to adult repair occurring in mouse forelimbs maintained in organ culture.\nIn previous wound healing experiments with the use of midgestation murine fetal forelimb explants, wounds were made before or immediately after amputation from the fetus. This experimental technique allows one to ask the question: do circulatory elements initiate or sustain the repair process in vitro? The hypotheses tested in the current study were that repair occurs in organ culture in the absence of systemic influences and that the in vivo transition from fetal-like to adult-type repair persists in an unperfused in vitro system. Gestational day-14 mouse forelimbs were harvested and placed in serum-free culture medium. Before amputation, control forelimbs received linear full-incision microscalpel wounds that were closed primarily. The animals in the other group were not immediately wounded but cultured for 4 days and then wounded with primary wound closure. All limbs were cultured for 7 days after wounding and then processed for histologic analysis. In the immediately wounded limbs, scarless healing occurred with collagen fibers deposited in a reticular form. In contrast, the delay-wounded limbs had collagen organized in parallel arrays (disordered), constituting repair by scarring. Wound repair proceeded as a local phenomenon in the absence of systemic mediators. We conclude that day-14 gestation forelimbs undergo maturation in culture, causing a transition from scarless to adult scar repair.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37657336,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Simultaneous analysis of advanced glycation end products using dansyl derivatization.\nHerein, new pre-column derivatization based on dansylation is present to resolve analytical difficulties, such as chromatographic separation difficulty, in identifying and quantifying advanced glycation end products (AGEs) owing to their high hydrophilicity, wide variety, and structural similarity. The proposed analytical method facilitated the separation of 14 AGEs, including structural isomers. Limits of detection of 1.0-43.3 ng\/mL and linear ranges of the double- or triple-digit were achieved. Intra- and inter-day precisions of 1.1-3.0% and 1.3-3.1%, respectively, were achieved for standard solutions, while those for food specimens were 1.4-11.2% and 1.7-15.7%, respectively. The matrix effect was insignificant with regard to the percent recoveries and differences between slopes for both the standard solutions and food specimens. Furthermore, the quantitation results of AGEs in foods (coffee, beer, and sausage) and glycated proteins revealed the potential applicability of the developed method in various fields of food chemistry and biochemistry.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19031648,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Inflammation markers in healthy and periodontitis patients: a preliminary data screening.\nAdvances in diagnostic research are moving towards methods whereby the periodontal risk can be identified and quantified by objective measures using biomarkers. Patients with periodontitis may have elevated circulating levels of specific inflammatory markers that can be correlated to the severity of the disease. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether differences in the serum levels of inflammatory biomarkers are differentially expressed in healthy and periodontitis patients. Twenty-five patients (8 healthy patients and 17 chronic periodontitis patients) were enrolled in the study. A 15 mL blood sample was used for identification of the inflammatory markers, with a human inflammatory flow cytometry multiplex assay. Among 24 assessed cytokines, only 3 (RANTES, MIG and Eotaxin) were statistically different between groups (p<0.05). In conclusion, some of the selected markers of inflammation are differentially expressed in healthy and periodontitis patients. Cytokine profile analysis may be further explored to distinguish the periodontitis patients from the ones free of disease and also to be used as a measure of risk. The present data, however, are limited and larger sample size studies are required to validate the findings of the specific biomarkers.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36278253,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Awareness and management of intra-abdominal hypertension and abdominal compartment syndrome by paediatric intensive care physicians: a national survey.\nThis study aimed to evaluate the current awareness and management of intra-abdominal hypertension (IAH) and abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS) among paediatric intensivists. A web-based electronic survey was sent to all physicians working in paedia-tric intensive care units (PICUs) in Saudi Arabia. The survey questions obtained information regarding awareness of ACS and IAH, recognition criteria, monitoring of intra-abdominal pressure (IAP), and experience in managing ACS. A total of 79 physicians responded to the survey (response rate: 53%). Among respondents 48% were consultants. 85% of respondents were familiar with IAP\/IAH\/ACS. Only 35% and 10% were aware of the Abdominal Compartment Society consensus definitions for IAH and ACS in the paediatric population, respectively. Most respondents considered the cut-off for IAH to be \u2265 15 mm Hg, and approximately two-thirds thought that the cut-off for ACS was higher than the currently suggested consensus definition (10 mm Hg). More than two-thirds of respondents monitored IAP in the PICU, and it was measured almost exclusively via the bladder (96%); the majority (70%) reported that they instilled volumes well above the current recommendations. Medical management was the most frequent therapeutic approach to treat IAH\/ACS, while surgical decompression was the least attempted option. Decisions to decompress the abdomen were predominantly based on the presence of organ dysfunction (74.4%). This survey showed that although most responding physicians claim to be familiar with IAH and ACS, their knowledge of published consensus definitions, measurement techniques, and clinical management must be updated.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36279856,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Prevalence of Erosive Tooth Wear and Associated Dietary Factors among a Group of Finnish Adolescents.\nThe aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and severity of erosive tooth wear (ETW) among Finnish adolescents and to evaluate how frequency as well as amount of the use of erosive products is associated with ETW. The study population consisted of 328 voluntary, >15-year-old secondary school students (males 49.1%, females 50.9%) in three municipalities in Finland. Clinical examination to measure ETW (BEWE index) was carried out by trained and calibrated dentists. Piloted questionnaires included questions on consumption of drinks, fruits and berries, as well as tooth brushing frequency. Means and medians of frequencies and amounts of consumed erosive products were calculated and associations with ETW severity were analysed by logistic regression models. One-third (36.9%) of the participants were in need of at least preventive measures for ETW (BEWE sum score \u22653), but severe ETW (BEWE sum score >9) was rare (2.1%). Boys had severe ETW significantly more frequently than girls (p < 0.001). Habitual consumption of erosive drinks was common especially among boys compared to girls (p = 0.001). ETW was significantly associated with the amount of consumed erosive drinks, fruits, or berries. The prevalence of ETW among adolescences in Finland seems to be at the same level as in other Nordic and European countries. Consumption of erosive products is common and thus, the risk for tooth erosion is high, especially in boys. In addition to erosive drinks, also berries and fruits are associated with ETW and should be included in individual dietary counselling when early signs of ETW are clinically detected.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26417792,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Psychiatric disorders associated with Cushing's syndrome.\nCushing's syndrome is the term used to describe a set of symptoms associated with hypercortisolism, which in most cases is caused by hypophysial microadenoma over-secreting adrenocorticotropic hormone. This endocrine disorder is often associated with psychiatric comorbidities. The most important include mood disorders, psychotic disorders, cognitive dysfunctions and anxiety disorders. The aim of this article was to review the prevalence, symptoms and consequences of psychiatric disorders in the course of Cushing's syndrome. We therefore performed a literature search using the following keywords: Cushing's syndrome and psychosis, Cushing's syndrome and mental disorders, Cushing's syndrome and depression, Cushing's syndrome and anxiety. The most prevalent psychiatric comorbidity of Cushing's syndrome is depression. Psychiatric manifestations can precede the onset of full-blown Cushing's syndrome and therefore be misdiagnosed. Despite the fact that treatment of the underlying endocrine disease in most cases alleviates psychiatric symptoms, the loss of brain volume persists. It is important to be alert to the symptoms of hypercortisolism in psychiatric patients to avoid misdiagnosis and enable them receiving adequate treatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15254610,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Evaluation of malignant mesothelioma in central Anatolia: a study of 67 cases.\nMalignant mesothelioma (MM) is a fatal neoplasm which frequently results from exposure to asbestos or erionite. Sixty-seven patients with MM were seen between 1990 and 2001. Their clinical and radiological features, as well as the therapy, were retrospectively evaluated. In 51 patients (76.1%), the MM was confined to the pleura, in 14 patients it was exclusively peritoneal and in two patients, it involved both areas. Of the 67 cases, 35 (52.2%) were women. The mean (+\/- SD) age for all cases was 57.6+\/-11.5 years. Dyspnea (67.2%), cough (55.2%) and chest pain (50.7%) were the most frequent symptoms of onset. Pleural effusion (92.4%) was the most common chest x-ray finding, whereas pleural effusion (60.8%), pleural nodules (34.7%) and pleural thickening (34.7%) were the most common computed tomography findings in pleural MM patients. The histological subtypes of MM were determined as epithelial in 60 patients (89.5%), sarcomatous in four patients (5.9%) and mixed in three patients (4.4%). Although 50.7% and 25.4% of the cases were exposed to erionite and asbestos, respectively, 23.9% of the cases recalled no exposure to asbestos or erionite. Exposures were environmental as opposed to occupational. Thirty-five patients (52.2%) were administered chemotherapy, and follow-up data were available for 22 patients. For these patients, the two-year survival rate was 22% and the two-year progression-free interval was 15.7%. There were no differences between patients with asbestos and erionite exposure. MM should be considered when exudative pleural effusion is detected in a patient who has been exposed to asbestos or erionite. MM is a major public health problem in parts of Turkey and compulsory environmental control of fibrous mineral should be considered.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26421057,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Suicidality among adolescents engaging in nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) and firesetting: the role of psychosocial characteristics and reasons for living.\nCo-occurrence of problem behaviors, particularly across internalizing and externalizing spectra, increases the risk of suicidality (i.e., suicidal ideation and attempt) among youth. We examined differences in psychosocial risk factors across levels of suicidality in a sample of 77 school-based adolescents engaging in both nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) and repeated firesetting. Participants completed questionnaires assessing engagement in problem behaviors, mental health difficulties, negative life events, poor coping, impulsivity, and suicidality. Adolescents endorsing suicidal ideation reported greater psychological distress, physical and sexual abuse, and less problem solving\/goal pursuit than those with no history of suicidality; adolescents who had attempted suicide reported more severe NSSI, higher rates of victimization and exposure to suicide, relative to those with suicidal ideation but no history of attempt. Additional analyses suggested the importance of coping beliefs in protecting against suicidality. Clinical implications and suggestions for future research relating to suicide prevention are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27263854,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Overall safety and efficacy of high-dose and low-dose intravenous glucocorticoid therapy in patients with moderate-to-severe active Graves' ophthalmopathy.\nThe objective of this study was to compare the safety and efficacy of high-dose and low-dose intravenous (iv) glucocorticoid (GC) therapy in patients with Graves' ophthalmopathy (GO) and to investigate which factors may help determine appropriate iv GC doses. The medical records of 43 patients who received different doses of iv GCs for GO were retrospectively reviewed. Twenty patients received high-dose iv GCs (HD group, cumulative dose 9.0-12.0 g) and 18 received low-dose iv GCs (LD group, cumulative dose 4.5 g). Five patients with previous treatment for GO were excluded. Changes in ophthalmic parameters after treatment and frequencies of adverse effects due to GCs of the 2 groups were compared. We also reviewed the incidence of GO progression and hepatic dysfunction after patients were discharged. We evaluated correlations among pretreatment (before treatment) ophthalmic parameters and investigated useful predictive factors for determining iv GC doses. There were no significant differences in ophthalmic parameters reflecting treatment efficacy or overall safety between the groups. Among baseline ophthalmic parameters, corrected signal intensity ratio (cSIR) correlated well with magnetic resonance imaging findings and were more strongly associated with changes in ophthalmic parameters after treatment in the HD group than in the LD group, indicating that pretreatment cSIR might be useful for determining iv GC doses. In conclusion, there were no significant differences in overall safety and efficacy between high-dose and low-dose iv GC therapy in patients with active GO. Further randomized clinical trials with longer observation periods are required to establish the optimal treatment regimen of GO.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15243938,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Tissue-associated cytokine expression in HIV-positive persons with oropharyngeal candidiasis.\nOropharyngeal candidiasis (OPC), caused by Candida albicans, is the most common infection in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive persons. Although CD4(+) T cells are considered to be important for host defense against C. albicans at the oral mucosa, a recent immunohistochemical evaluation of T cells in OPC lesions of HIV-positive persons with reduced CD4(+) T cells showed high numbers of CD8(+) T cells. The present study investigated tissue-associated expression of cytokine and chemokine mRNA at the site of infection. Results showed some effects of HIV (primarily increased chemokine mRNA levels) but little effect of blood CD4(+) T cells. In contrast, mRNA for several proinflammatory, T helper, and CD8(+) T cell-associated cytokines and chemokines were increased in subjects with OPC versus those without. These results support the presence of CD8(+) T cells in OPC lesions and suggest evidence for a response against OPC, despite reduced levels of CD4(+) T cells.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20356312,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"NMR structural and dynamical investigation of the isolated voltage-sensing domain of the potassium channel KvAP: implications for voltage gating.\nThe structure and dynamics of the isolated voltage-sensing domain (VSD) of the archaeal potassium channel KvAP was studied by high-resolution NMR. The almost complete backbone resonance assignment and partial side-chain assignment of the (2)H,(13)C,(15)N-labeled VSD were obtained for the protein domain solubilized in DPC\/LDAO (2:1) mixed micelles. Secondary and tertiary structures of the VSD were characterized using secondary chemical shifts and NOE contacts. These data indicate that the spatial structure of the VSD solubilized in micelles corresponds to the structure of the domain in an open state of the channel. NOE contacts and secondary chemical shifts of amide protons indicate the presence of tightly bound water molecule as well as hydrogen bond formation involving an interhelical salt bridge (Asp62-R133) that stabilizes the overall structure of the domain. The backbone dynamics of the VSD was studied using (15)N relaxation measurements. The loop regions S1-S2 and S2-S3 were found mobile, while the S3-S4 loop (voltage-sensor paddle) was found stable at the ps-ns time scale. The moieties of S1, S2, S3, and S4 helices sharing interhelical contacts (at the level of the Asp62-R133 salt bridge) were observed in conformational exchange on the micros-ms time scale. Similar exchange-induced broadening of characteristic resonances was observed for the VSD solubilized in the membrane of lipid-protein nanodiscs composed of DMPC, DMPG, and POPC\/DOPG lipids. Apparently, the observed interhelical motions represent an inherent property of the VSD of the KvAP channel and can play an important role in the voltage gating.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3048039,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Large segmental necrosis of the tibia with deep infection after open fracture.\nFifteen patients with large segmental necrosis of the tibia with deep infection, following open fractures, were treated according to the Burri-Papineau protocol. After radical debridement, the segmental bone defects averaged 8.4 (5-15) cm. Necrectomy, external fixation, and open cancellous grafting, in a two-stage procedure, gave infection control in 14 cases and bone healing in 12. Additional procedures, i.e., plating and posterolateral bone grafting, provided union in another 2 cases. One patient underwent amputation. Functional results in the other 14, after a follow-up averaging 4 years, were good in 9 cases, fair in 3, and poor in 2.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3048191,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Feeding behavior disorders in man].\nDiagnosis of anorexia nervosa is easily made using symptom lists. It is mandatory to check that the weight loss is due to no somatic cause. The prevalence of bulimia and syndromes associating bulimia and anorexia is increasing considerably. In these latter syndromes, while not in typical anorexia, major affective disorders are often found. Endocrinological abnormalities are numerous. However the part of denutrition itself in these abnormalities is not clear. Pathogenesis of these eating disorders remains mysterious. But most probably, the endogenous opioid system is involved, at least in their perpetuation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34242932,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Analysis of 2438 cycles for the impact of endometrioma and its surgery on the IVF outcomes.\nManagement of ovarian endometrioma before IVF treatment is still challenging. We aimed to assess the effect of the pre-cycle surgical removal of endometriomas on IVF outcomes in a large number of cycles in patients undergoing IVF\/ICSI treatment. Besides this, we also proposed to compare the cycle outcomes within both normo and poor responder patients to evaluate the impact of endometrioma and its surgery. A retrospective cohort study was conducted in a private IVF clinic between September 2014 and December 2018. A total of 2438 IVF\/ICSI cycles of 1936 patients were reviewed. Patients who had previous endometrioma surgery (Group 1), patients with non-operated endometrioma (Group 2), and patients without endometriosis, including tubal factor infertility confirmed by laparoscopy and unexplained infertility without endometrioma (Group 3) were analyzed in this study. Total dose of gonadotropins was significantly higher in group 1 than others (p < 0.05). However, antral follicle counts, estradiol levels on the day of hCG trigger, the number of retrieved and metaphase II oocytes were significantly lower in group 1 than in other groups (p < 0.05). Poor response to gonadotropins was more frequent in group 1 as compared to other groups (47.9%, 34.3%, 35.5%, respectively) (p < 0.05). Cycle cancellation rates were significantly higher in group 1 than in other groups (6.7%, 1.4%, and 2.8%, respectively) (p < 0.05). Clinical pregnancy (CPR) and live birth rates (LBR) per cycle and embryo transfer were not different among groups. However, CPR per cycle and embryo transfer were significantly higher in the operated endometrioma group within unexpected poor responders (p = 0.023, p = 0.010, respectively). CPR and LBR per cycle and per embryo transfer were similar within normo-responder patients. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that female age and poor response to gonadotropins were the significant variables in predicting live birth (OR: 0.946, CI: 0.926-0.966, p < 0.001 and OR: 3.294, CI: 2.336-4.645, p < 0.001, respectively). Pre-cyle removal of endometrioma may have an adverse impact on ovarian reserve, and pregnancy outcomes seem to be similar with or without surgery in patients undergoing IVF treatment. However, endometrioma surgery may be considered in the subsequent IVF cycles of patients with lower than expected ovarian response.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37444890,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Interpretable Predictive Modelling of Basalt Fiber Reinforced Concrete Splitting Tensile Strength Using Ensemble Machine Learning Methods and SHAP Approach.\nBasalt fibers are a type of reinforcing fiber that can be added to concrete to improve its strength, durability, resistance to cracking, and overall performance. The addition of basalt fibers with high tensile strength has a particularly favorable impact on the splitting tensile strength of concrete. The current study presents a data set of experimental results of splitting tests curated from the literature. Some of the best-performing ensemble learning techniques such as Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), Light Gradient Boosting Machine (LightGBM), Random Forest, and Categorical Boosting (CatBoost) have been applied to the prediction of the splitting tensile strength of concrete reinforced with basalt fibers. State-of-the-art performance metrics such as the root mean squared error, mean absolute error and the coefficient of determination have been used for measuring the accuracy of the prediction. The impact of each input feature on the model prediction has been visualized using the Shapley Additive Explanations (SHAP) algorithm and individual conditional expectation (ICE) plots. A coefficient of determination greater than 0.9 could be achieved by the XGBoost algorithm in the prediction of the splitting tensile strength.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28303687,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Design Principles for Covalent Organic Frameworks in Energy Storage Applications.\nCovalent organic frameworks (COFs) are an exciting class of porous materials that have been explored as energy-storage materials for more than a decade. This review discusses efforts to develop these materials for applications in gas and electrical power storage. Some of the design strategies for developing the gas sorption properties of COFs and mechanistic studies on their formation are also discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23453714,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3,"dup_dump_count":2,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-26":1,"2024-30":1}}},"text":"Nocardia spp infections among hematological patients: results of a retrospective multicenter study.\nTo describe the clinical characteristics and prognostic factors of hematological patients affected by Nocardia spp infections. We retrospectively evaluated all the cases diagnosed in four Italian institutions. Between 2002 and 2012, 10 cases of nocardiosis were recorded. The median age of the patients was 66 years (range 24-85 years). The underlying hematological disease was a lymphoproliferative disorder in all but two patients. Eight patients (80%) showed active underlying hematological disease, relapsed or refractory in five (50%); one patient had a history of previous allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. Eight patients (80%) were on steroid therapy; lymphopenia was present in 8\/10 (80%) patients. All patients showed lung involvement. Six patients were affected by disseminated nocardiosis. Three patients (30%) were nocardemic and three (30%) showed central nervous system involvement. Skin, lymph nodes, and bone were involved in one patient each. The median overall survival was 65 days. Older age, a longer period between hematological diagnosis and Nocardia spp infection, and relapsed\/refractory hematological disease were associated with a worse prognosis. Although rare, nocardiosis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of pulmonary and central nervous system lesions among hematological patients. Lymphoproliferative disorders, prolonged steroid treatment, lymphopenia, and active hematological disease are the conditions that are worth considering as predisposing factors for the development of this disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18599465,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A comprehensive assay for targeted multiplex amplification of human DNA sequences.\nWe developed a robust and reproducible methodology to amplify human sequences in parallel for use in downstream multiplexed sequence analyses. We call the methodology SMART (Spacer Multiplex Amplification Reaction), and it is based, in part, on padlock probe technology. As a proof of principle, we used SMART technology to simultaneously amplify 485 human exons ranging from 100 to 500 bp from human genomic DNA. In multiple repetitions, >90% of the targets were successfully amplified with a high degree of uniformity, with 70% of targets falling within a 10-fold range and all products falling within a 100-fold range of each other in abundance. We used long padlock probes (LPPs) >300 bases in length for the assay, and the increased length of these probes allowed for the capture of human sequences up to 500 bp in length, which is optimal for capturing most human exons. To engineer the LPPs, we developed a method that generates ssDNA molecules with precise ends, using an appropriately designed dsDNA template. The template has appropriate restriction sites engineered into it that can be digested to generate nucleotide overhangs that are suitable for lambda exonuclease digestion, producing a single-stranded probe from dsDNA. The SMART technology is flexible and can be easily adapted to multiplex tens of thousands of target sequences in a single reaction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34411017,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Craniosynostosis With Preoperative Iron Supplementation Exposure: A Retrospective Cohort Study Examining Preoperative Iron Supplementation and Transfusion Practice in a National Paediatric Craniofacial Centre.\nBlood loss and subsequent transfusion are key concerns in the surgical management of craniosynostosis, and have been associated with increased morbidity, requirement for intensive care admission and increased length of hospital stay. Patient blood management guidelines advocate treatment of anemia before elective surgical procedures where significant blood loss is anticipated. At present there is little evidence in the literature investigating the clinical value of this practice in pediatric craniofacial surgery. The authors examined the effect of preoperative oral iron supplementation on blood loss and transfusion rates in a national pediatric craniofacial unit. A total of 157 patients were included in a retrospective and prospective observational cohort study conducted between July 2011 and November 2016. Eighty-five (85) patients included in the preoperative iron supplementation group were prescribed oral ferrous fumarate before total cranial vault reconstruction, frontal-orbital advancement or extended strip cranial vault remodeling procedures. This cohort was retrospectively compared to seventy-two (72) consecutive patients who did not receive iron supplementation. Calculated blood loss was 51.3 mL\/kg in the intervention group, and 56.65 mL\/kg in the control group. Transfusion rate and mean volumes for the intervention group were 85.9% and 25 mL\/kg. The control group had transfusion rate of 86.1% with mean transfused volume of 24.7 mL\/kg. These differences were not statistically significant. Intraoperative tranexamic acid was associated with significantly reduced transfusion volumes overall. This study did not show a statistically significant benefit to preoperative iron supplementation. Secondary outcomes of this study showed a statistically significant difference in estimated versus calculated intraoperative blood loss. Further research in to specific iron supplementation protocols is indicated.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32348429,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"miR-378a-5p and miR-630 induce lens epithelial cell apoptosis in cataract via suppression of E2F3.\nCataract, an eye disease that threatens the health of millions of people, brings about severe economic burden for patients and society. MicroRNA (miR)-378a-5p and miR-630 were recognized as essential regulators in multiple cancers. However, the exact functions of miR-378a-5p and miR-630 in cataract are still unclear. The expression of miR-378a-5p, miR-630, and E2F transcription factor 3 (E2F3) in tissues and cells was measured by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. The 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide assay was used to evaluate cell viability. Flow cytometry was conducted to analyze cell apoptosis. The interaction between E2F3 and miR-378a-5p or miR-630 was confirmed by dual-luciferase reporter assay. The expression of proteins E2F3, B cell lymphoma (Bcl-2), Bcl-2 associated X (Bax), and cleaved caspase 3 was detected by western blot assay. The expression of miR-378a-5p and miR-630 was up-regulated whereas E2F3 was down-regulated in human cataract lens tissues compared with normal lens tissues. Depletion of miR-378a-5p or miR-630 enhanced proliferation and reduced apoptosis of human lens epithelial cells. Interestingly, up-regulation of E2F3 exhibited the same trend. Next, dual-luciferase reporter assay validated the interaction between E2F3 and miR-378a-5p or miR-630. The rescue experiments further revealed that E2F3 knockdown could recover miR-378a-5p, and miR-630 inhibitor induced promotion of cell proliferation and inhibition of apoptosis in cataract. miR-378a-5p and miR-630 repressed proliferation and induced apoptosis of lens epithelial cells by targeting E2F3 in cataract, representing a prospective alternative therapy for cataract.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22678749,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Biosynthesis of mycobacterial methylglucose lipopolysaccharides.\nMycobacterial pathogenesis is closely associated with a unique cell envelope rich in complex carbohydrates and unique lipids, among which are the mycolic acids. Mycobacteria also synthesize unique intracellular polymethylated polysaccharides (PMPSs), namely methylglucose lipopolysaccharides (MGLPs), which are acylated with short-chain fatty acids, and methylmannose polysaccharides (MMPs). Since PMPSs modulate the synthesis of long-chain fatty acids in vitro, the possibility of a similar role in vivo and the regulation of mycolic acids assembly have been anticipated. Unlike MGLPs, MMPs have been identified in M. smegmatis and other fast-growing mycobacteria but not in M. tuberculosis, implying an essential role for MGLPs in this pathogen and turning the biosynthetic enzymes into attractive drug targets. The genome of M. tuberculosis was decoded 14 years ago but only recently has the identity of the genes involved in MGLPs biosynthesis been investigated. Two gene clusters (Rv1208-Rv1213 and Rv3030-Rv3037c) containing a few genes considered to be essential for M. tuberculosis growth, have initially been proposed to coordinate MGLPs biosynthesis. Among these genes, only the product of Rv1208 for the first step in the MGLPs pathway has, so far, been crystallized and its three-dimensional structure been determined. However, recent results indicate that at least three additional clusters may be involved in this pathway. The functional assignment of authentic roles to some of these M. tuberculosis H37Rv genes sheds new light on the intricacy of MGLPs biogenesis and renewed interest on their biological role.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26492421,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Solution-Processable Organic Molecule for High-Performance Organic Solar Cells with Low Acceptor Content.\nA new planar D2-A-D1-A-D2 structured organic molecule with bithienyl benzodithiophene (BDT) as central donor unit D1 and fluorine-substituted benzothiadiazole (BTF) as acceptor unit and alkyl-dithiophene as end group and donor unit D2, BDT-BTF, was designed and synthesized for the application as donor material in organic solar cells (OSCs). BDT-BTF shows a broad absorption in visible region, suitable highest occupied molecular orbital energy level of -5.20 eV, and high hole mobility of 1.07 \u00d7 10(-2) cm(2)\/(V s), benefitted from its high coplanarity and strong crystallinity. The OSCs based on BDT-BTF as donor (D) and PC71BM as acceptor (A) at a D\/A weight ratio of 3:1 without any extra treatment exhibit high photovoltaic performance with Voc of 0.85 V, Jsc of 10.48 mA\/cm(2), FF of 0.66, and PCE of 5.88%. The morphological study by transmission electron microscopy reveals that the blend of BDT-BTF and PC71BM (3:1, w\/w) possesses an appropriate interpenetrating D\/A network for the exciton separation and charge carrier transport, which agrees well with the good device performance. The optimized D\/A weight ratio of 3:1 is the lowest acceptor content in the active layer reported so far for the high-performance OSCs, and the organic molecules with the molecular structure like BDT-BTF could be promising high-performance donor materials in solution-processable OSCs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6174047,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Prostaglandin E2-histamine in interactions on cAMP, cGMP, and acid production in isolated fundic glands.\nRelations among cAMP, cGMP, acid production [measured by the intraglandular accumulation of [14C]aminopyrine (AP)], and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) activity were studied in isolated glands from rabbit fundic mucosa. AP, cAMP, and cGMP responses to histamine, PGE2, and 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine (IMX) were compared with controls. Histamine and PGE2 significantly increased glandular cAMP levels twofold, and histamine and IMX stimulated AP uptake two- to fourfold. PGE2 significantly inhibited both histamine- and IMX-stimulated AP accumulation, but it did not alter basal AP uptake. PGE2 also decreased histamine-stimulated cAMP production but only at a low concentration (10(-7) M). This dose of PGE2 was near to the endogenous PGE2 content found in unstimulated glands (10(-8) M). Intraglandular cGMP levels in unstimulated glands (10(-8) M). Intraglandular cGMP levels were increased by IMX but not by PGE2 or histamine. It is concluded that histamine stimulation of acid secretion is mediated by cAMP, that secretory and biochemical responses to histamine are modulated by PGE2 because PGE2 antagonized histamine-stimulated cAMP and AP uptake, and that the rise in cAMP induced solely by PGE2 appears to be localized within nonparietal cells because PGE2 alone did not stimulate AP accumulation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28369207,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pentatomidae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) in Herbaceous and Shrub Strata of Atlantic Forest Remnants in Northeastern Brazil.\nMost pentatomids are phytophagous, many of which are economically important crop pests. The family may also be a potentially important group to monitor the health of neotropical forests. However, there is a lack of biological inventories of Pentatomidae, especially in forest remnants of the Brazilian Atlantic forest. This is the first systematic survey of pentatomids reported in three Atlantic forest fragments in northeastern Brazil. In total, 997 individuals belonging to 38 species were recorded, some of which are considered economically important pests. Singletons and doubletons represented 45.9% of all species collected. The most abundant genera were Mormidea Amyot & Serville, 1843; Stictochilus Bergroth, 1918; Xynocoris Garbelotto & Campos 2014; and Edessa F., 1803. Species richness differed among fragments, with a richness gradient correlated with decreased urbanization and increased fragment size. The species abundance distribution fitted the logseries function but not the lognormal, in accordance with what is found for other assemblages in southern Brazil. Species composition also changed, in association with changes in temperature (revealed by the canonical correspondence analysis [CCA]), among fragments. Murici is one of the last remaining dense forests with high plant diversity in the region, having higher pentatomid species richness and a distinctive fauna. This first diversity study for Pentatomidae in fragments of tropical Atlantic Forest in northeastern Brazil reveals richness comparable with those from subtropical southern Brazil, with some species in common as well.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35361033,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Candida meningitis\/ventriculitis over a decade. Increased morbidity and length of stay a concern.\nThe primary aim of this study was to review the diagnosis, management and outcome of Candida meningitis\/ventriculitis in our hospital over a ten-year period. We retrospectively reviewed all culture and 18s rRNA nucleic acid positive CSF specimens processed between 1st January 2010 and 31st December 2020. Patient records were subsequently reviewed to assess the significance of the isolate. Of 851 culture-positive cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimens, Candida spp. were isolated from 29 (3.4%), representing infection in 12 patients. One culture-negative specimen was positive for Candida on 18s rRNA testing. Of the 13 patients, eight were male; 61.5% and the median age was 47 years; range: 20-70. The median interval from admission to onset of infection and culture positivity was 24 days (range: 1-63 days). All patients had a central nervous system (CNS) device in situ (external ventricular drain: 11; ventriculoperitoneal shunt: 1; lumbar drain: 1). Four were colonised with Candida spp. before meningitis\/ventriculitis diagnosis, from wounds (n = 3), respiratory (n = 3), and urine (n = 1) specimens. On culture, the most common species was Candida albicans (n = 8), followed by C. parapsilosis (n = 2), C. tropicalis (n = 1), and C. dubliniensis (n = 1). The median number of follow-up CSFs per patient was nine (range; 3-22), with a median of 6 days to CSF sterility (range 3-10 days). Treatment included; liposomal amphotericin B (n = 5), fluconazole (n = 2), liposomal amphotericin B, and flucytosine (n = 2), liposomal amphotericin B, fluconazole and flucytosine (n = 3), and intra-ventricular amphotericin B (n = 1). Median treatment duration was 25 days (range 11-76) and CNS device removal occurred in 12 patients. The median length-of-stay (LOS) was 58 days (range 24-406). On discharge, moderate to severe disability (Modified Rankin Scale [mRS] 3-5) was evident in eight patients. Two patients died and one was lost to follow-up. Meningitis\/ventriculitis due to Candida spp. is an uncommon but challenging infection, usually associated with a device, increased morbidity, LOS, and necessitating prolonged treatment. Neurosurgeons need to be aware of these issues in managing and in communicating with such complex patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16148256,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sensitization to common allergens in adults with asthma.\nTo estimate the prevalence of atopy (ie, allergen sensitization) in a sample of adult asthma outpatients. Population consisted of a total of 218 patients, 18 to 55 years of age, who were currently receiving care for asthma; and 13 physicians, whose specialties were Family Practice, Allergy, or Pulmonology and who were providing care to at least 10 to 15 asthma patients weekly. Patients provided a blood sample for quantification of total and allergen-specific IgE. Outcomes were the proportion of patients with atopy and the proportions of patients with elevated serum IgE specific to each of 8 specific common allergens. The patients' mean age was 42 years, and 74% were women; 68% of patients met the study definition of atopy. Total serum IgE > or = 114 kU\/L was observed in 48% of patients, and 59% had elevated levels of IgE specific to one or more of 8 common allergens. The majority of adult asthma outpatients had evidence of atopy and most were sensitive to a specific identifiable allergen. Awareness of the high prevalence of atopy among asthma patients might improve patient management.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34409734,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Regulation of the Tpo, Tg, Duox2, Pds, and Mct8 genes involved in the synthesis of thyroid hormones after subchronic exposure to sodium nitrate in female Wistar rats.\nNitrates are natural compounds present in soil and water; however, the intense use of fertilizers has increased their presence in groundwater with deleterious effects on human health. There is evidence of nitrates acting as endocrine disruptors; however, the underlying molecular mechanisms have not been fully described. Here, we investigated the effect of subchronic exposure to different concentrations of sodium nitrate in female Wistar rats, evaluating thyroid hormonal parameters, such as Nis transporter (Na+ \/I- symporter, Slc5a5) and Tsh-R receptor protein expression, as well as transcription of the Tpo (thyroperoxidase), Tg (tiroglobulin), Duox2 (dual oxidase 2), Pds (pendrin), and Mct8 (Mct8 transporter, Slc16a2) genes. Hematological and histochemical changes in the liver and thyroid were also explored. Significant differences were found in platelet and leukocyte counts; although a significant increase in the weight of the thyroid gland was observed, no differences were found in the levels of the hormones Tsh, T3, and T4, but a modulation of the mRNA expression of the Tg, Tpo, Duox2, Mct8, and Pds genes was observed. Morphological changes were also found in liver and thyroid tissue according to the exposure doses. In conclusion, subchronic exposure to sodium nitrate induces leukocytosis consistent with an inflammatory response and upregulation of Sod2 in the liver and increases the expression of genes involved in the synthesis of thyroid hormones, keeping thyroid hormone levels stable. Histological changes in the thyroid gland suggest a goitrogenic effect.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22682339,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Genetic polymorphisms of human platelet antigens-1 to -6, and -15 in the Malaysian population.\nHuman platelet antigens (HPA) are determinant in several platelet-specific alloimmune disorders, such as neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia, post-transfusion purpura and platelet transfusion refractoriness. The distribution of HPA systems in the Malaysian population is not known. Defining the patterns of HPA systems provides a basis for risk assessment and management of the above complications. The aim of this study was to investigate the distribution of HPA -1 to -6 and -15 in the three major ethnic groups (Malay, Chinese and Indian) in the Malaysian population. A total of 600 random donor samples, 200 from each of the three ethnic groups, were genotyped by means of real time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with hydrolysis probes and PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). The most common genotype observed in this study was HPA-1a\/1a-2a\/2a-3a\/3b-4a\/4a-5a\/5a-6a\/6a-15a\/15b (17%) followed by HPA-1a\/1a-2a\/2a-3a\/3a-4a\/4a-5a\/5a-6a\/6a-15a\/15b (14.33%). The allele frequencies of HPA in Malays and Chinese were found to be similar those of other East and South-East Asian populations, while those of Indians were comparable to the frequencies found in Europeans. The results of this study have been useful for determining the distribution of HPA polymorphisms in this region and for potential clinical implications.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28581562,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Parallel and antiparallel cyclic d\/l peptide nanotubes.\nNanotubes made from H-bonded cyclic d\/l peptide (CP) subunits have great potential for the construction of nanomaterials of wide chemical and structural diversity but, to date, difficulties in structural characterisation have restricted development of these materials. We present the first crystal structures of continuous CP nanotubes with antiparallel and parallel stacking arrangements, assembled separately from two peptides; cyclo[(Asp-d-Leu-Lys-d-Leu)2] and cyclo[(Asp-d-Ala-Lys-d-Ala)2].","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37450736,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Silicon multi-mode micro-ring modulator for improved robustness to optical nonlinearity.\nDue to the resonant nature and silicon's strong optical nonlinearity, the system's performance of silicon micro-ring modulators can be seriously affected by the input optical power. In this Letter, we proposed and experimentally demonstrated a multi-mode silicon micro-ring modulator to mitigate its optical nonlinear effects by operating in the TE1 mode. The TE1 mode features a high nonlinear threshold compared with the TE0 mode because of its larger waveguide loss and larger mode effective area. Under the condition of 10 mW optical input power, the resonance spectrum maintains a good symmetric Lorentz shape. The resonant wavelength shifts less than one resonance linewidth, showing an improved robustness to optical nonlinearity compared with regular silicon micro-ring modulators.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28293671,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pilot phase evaluation of the elective general practice class: results of student surveys of the first two years.\nBackground: Primary health care in rural regions is currently undergoing a global crisis in respect of the next generation of practitioners. National and international recommendations advise placing greater emphasis upon practical skills and competences in medical studies. It is also in the interest of training the next generation to include mentoring and longitudinal integration of contact to teaching practices for general medicine in an early stage. Consequently, the General Practice Class (KAM) was introduced in Halle in 2011 as an elective with 20 individually mentored students per year, beginning with the first subject-related semester. We are now reporting on the results of the evaluation for the first two years. Method: A standardised online survey was carried out with all students who took part in the KAM in the two years 2011 and 2012 (N=38). For both years the survey was made at the end of the first summer semester on the basis of an adapted version of the Heidelberger Inventar zur Lehrevaluation (Heidelberg Inventory for the Evaluation of Teaching, HILVE-II) and the Berliner Evaluationsinstrument f\u00fcr selbsteingesch\u00e4tzte, studentische Kompetenzen (Berlin Evaluation Instrument for the self-assessment of student competences, BEvaKomp). Furthermore, each year the preference for the choice of specialty and location of a medical practice was queried. Predictors for the preference of the chosen specialty and the location of a medical practice were estimated by binary logistic regression analysis. Via univariate evaluations the number of students who reported an increase in knowledge in different areas of competence as a result of the KAM was counted. Correlations between the intention to remain in the KAM and the quality of teaching were evaluated on the basis of bivariate correlations. Results: 48% of the students agreed partly or fully that the KAM seminars enhanced their specialist competence. This individual acquiring of competence in the model project represented a significant predictor for the preferred choice of the area (OR 7.98; 95% CI [1.27-50.27], p=0.027). Students who assessed the commitment (r=0.504), support (r=0.526) and interaction management (r=0.529) of the mentors positively were more likely inclined to continue their participation in the KAM. Conclusion: The successful conveyance of care-relevant competences to students proved to be an important predictor in our project for the preference of the specialty general practice. This requires that the medical mentors are suitably trained and that the students are specifically prepared for practical experience.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37859233,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Design and characterization of a varifocal camera system with an extended depth of field and focal range.\nThis paper presents the design and characterization of a compact and affordable varifocal camera system. With its entrance pupil located in front as the first element for easy access, the camera system offers a working F\/# as low as 2, is capable of focusing across a wide depth range from optical infinity to as close as 4 diopters through an electrically tunable lens, and maintains nearly constant angular magnification through the focus range by placing the focusing element at proximity to the entrance pupil. These unique features can find a myriad of applications such as image-based head-mounted display calibration and extended depth of field (EDOF) imaging. The paper further demonstrates a single-shot EDOF imaging function by utilizing its property of nearly constant angular magnification through focus scanning.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":4129805,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Crosslinking of the glycoproteins in human erythrocyte membranes.\nThe glycoproteins of human erythrocyte membranes were crosslinked with dimethyl adipimidate dihydrochloride. On sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoregrams of the crosslinked solubilized membranes, at least three new glycoprotein complexes appeared in addition to the normal glycoprotein species. One of the new glycoprotein complexes was shown to contain two of the three species of membrane glycoproteins.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9558730,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Modulation of pro-inflammatory cytokine biology by unsaturated fatty acids.\nThe production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as interleukins 1 and 6 and tumour necrosis factors, occurs rapidly following trauma or invasion of the body by pathogenic organisms. The cytokines mediate the wide range of symptoms associated with trauma and infection, such as fever, anorexia, tissue wasting, acute phase protein production and immunomodulation. In part, the symptoms result from a co-ordinated response, in which the immune system is activated and nutrients released, from endogenous sources, to provide substrate for the immune system. Although the cytokine mediated response is an essential part of the response to trauma and infection, excessive production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, or production of cytokines in the wrong biological context, are associated with mortality and pathology in a wide range of diseases, such as malaria, sepsis, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, cancer and AIDS. Cytokine biology can be modulated by antiinflammatory drugs, recombinant cytokine receptor antagonists and nutrients. Among the nutrients, fats have a large potential for modulating cytokine biology. A number of trials have demonstrated the anti-inflammatory effects of fish oils, which are rich in n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, in rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, psoriasis and asthma. Animal studies, conducted by ourselves and others, indicate that a range of fats can modulate pro-inflammatory cytokine production and actions. In summary fats rich in n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids enhance IL1 production and tissue responsiveness to cytokines, fats rich in n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids have the opposite effect, monounsaturated fatty acids decrease tissue responsiveness to cytokines and IL6 production is enhanced by total unsaturated fatty acid intake. There are a large number of potential cellular mechanisms which may mediate the effects observed. The majority relate to the ability of fats to alter the composition of membrane phospholipids. As a consequence of alterations in phospholipid composition, membrane fluidity may change, altering binding of cytokines to receptors and G protein activity. The nature of substrate for various signalling pathways associated with cytokine production and actions may also be changed. Consequently, alterations in eicosanoid production and activation of protein kinase C may occur. We have examined a number of these potential mechanisms in peritoneal macrophages of rats fed fats with a wide range of fatty acid composition. We have found that the total C18:2 and 20:4 diacyl species of phosphatidylethanolamine in peritoneal macrophages relates in a positive curvilinear fashion with dietary linoleic acid intake; that TNF induced IL1 and IL6 production relate in a positive curvilinear fashion to linoleic acid intake; that leukotriene B4 production relates positively with dietary linoleic acid intake over a range of moderate intakes and is suppressed at high intakes, while PGE2 production is enhanced. There was no clear relationship between linoleic acid intake and membrane fluidity, however fluidity was influenced in a complex manner by the type of fat in the diet, the period over which the fat was fed and the presence of absence of TNF stimulation. None of the proposed mechanisms, acting alone, can explain the positive effect of dietary linoleic acid intake on pro-inflammatory cytokine production. However each may be involved, in part, in the modulatory effects observed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28283000,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Characterization and evaluation of a self-microemulsifying drug delivery system containing tectorigenin, an isoflavone with low aqueous solubility and poor permeability.\nThe purpose of this study was to characterize and evaluate tectorigenin-loaded self-microemulsifying drug delivery system (TG-SMEDDS), a previously studied preparation, and further confirm the improvement of TG in solubility and bioavailability. The appearance of TG-SMEDDS was clear and transparent, with good mobility. The microemulsion formed by TG-SMEDDS was globular, edge smooth, clear-cut, and distribution homogeneous under transmission electron microscope. The stability studies revealed that TG-SMEDDS remained stable at room temperature for at least 3 months. TG-SMEDDS showed excellent dissolution behavior that more than 90% of TG was released in only 5 min. The in situ intestinal perfusion studies indicated enhancement of absorption in four tested intestinal segments, and the main absorption site of TG was changed to duodenum. In addition, TG-SMEDDS showed significantly higher Cmax and AUC values (11-fold and 5-fold higher values, respectively; P < 0.05) than TG, and the absolute oral bioavailability of TG-SMEDDS was 56.33% (5-fold higher than that of crude TG). What's more, the AUC0-t of crude TG and TG-SMEDDS in bile duct non-ligation rats were 6.05 and 2.80 times, respectively, than that in bile duct ligation rats, indicating the existence of enterohepatic circulation and the secretion of bile could significantly affect the absorption of TG. Further studies showed that even the bile duct was ligation, TG-SMEDDS can still keep a better oral bioavailability (179.67%, compared with crude TG in the bile duct non-ligation rats). Therefore, our study implies that SMEDDS containing TG could be an effective strategy for the oral administration of TG.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37842141,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Treatment strategy for maturity-onset diabetes of the young 3 (MODY3): Experience with two sisters and their mother.\nMaturity onset diabetes of the young (MODY) is a relatively young-onset diabetes mellitus with an autosomal dominant inheritance. Among these phenotypes, MODY3, caused by mutations in HNF1A, is one of the most frequent. Although MODY3 is known to respond markedly to sulfonylureas (SU), many cases require insulin therapy. However, there are no clear guidelines for factors to consider when introducing antidiabetic drugs and insulin. This report describes a familial case in which an older sister was diagnosed with diabetes and subsequently with MODY3, followed by the onset of diabetes in the younger sister and mother. The elder sister initially denied insulin treatment and exhibited a suboptimal response to SU but finally agreed to insulin use. The mother initially selected insulin therapy because of the challenges associated with adherence to strict dietary therapy. Conversely, the younger sister responded positively to SU and maintained effective glycemic control. The management of MODY3, even though they have the same single-gene mutation and similar residual insulin secretion at diagnosis, should be flexibly individualized for each family member to ensure long-term adherence and appropriate glycemic control.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25509153,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Influence of cholesterol on macrophage foam cells formation at zymosan-induced inflammation of mice].\nIt has been shown recently that significant number (to 40% from total population) of macrophage foam cells (MFC) is formed during early time (24 h) of zymosan-induced peritonitis resolution and agonists of peroxisome proliferation activated receptors-\u03b1, -\u03b3 (PPAR-\u03b1, -\u03b3) exert anti-inflammatory action, protecting their formation (Dushkin et al., 2007). The work is devoted to investigate of the influence of cholesterol-containing liposomes (CHL) on dinamic of zimozan-induced peritonitis in C57Bl\/6 mice. The accumulation of cholesterol, the change of cytokine production, PPAR-\u03b3 activity and cholesterol efflux in macrophages of C57Bl\/6 mice has been investigated. The infiltration of neutrophils, amounts of mononuclear cells and MFC formation were significantly increased in peritonel cavity of zymosan-induced mice that led to in expansion of the period of inflammatory resolution and of the period of MFC resolution. If macrophages obtained after zymosan injection mainly accumulated triglycerides (TG) and at high speed incorporated [1-14C]oleate into TG, the injection of CHL after zymosan-indused inflammation lead to dramatic promotion MFC containing primarily free cholesterol and Ch ethers and been aggravation of [1-14C]oleate incorporation into cholesterol ethers in macrophages (mainly for 2 days). It has to shown that CHL against a background of inflammation promoted reduction of fluorescent NBD-cholesterol efflux from macrophages throughout the studied period (5 days) whereas zymosan inhibited cholesterol efflux at the early stages of inflammation (1 and 2 days), then, on 3ed day, the cholesterol efflux was recovered and increased on day 5. At the same time CHL stimulated the production of TNF\u03b1 and TGF\u03b2 and inhibited the production of IL-10 and DNA-binding activity of PPAR-\u03b3 macrophages obtained at early as well as late stages of zymosan-induced peritonitis (compared with injection zymosan only). Thus, accumulation of cholesterol in inflammatory macrophages and promotion of MFC formation prolog timely resoluti- on of acute inflammation inducing alteration of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine balance and evoking the repression of macrophage DNA-binding activity of PPAR-\u03b3 and cholesterol efflux.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20367119,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Experimental study of prognosis of chronic compartment syndrome.\nThere is little in the literature concerning the pathobiology and repair processes of impaired skeletal muscle after decompressive operation for chronic compartment syndrome (CCS), which would be valuable for prognosis. Repeated tourniquet compression through cuff inflation on rabbits' claves was performed daily for 2 hr, then stopped for 30 min, and applied for another 2 hr. The contralateral hindlimb, which was not compressed, served as a control. Rabbits were allocated to four groups: groups I and II were pressured with 80 and 120 mmHg for 3 days, and groups III and IV were pressured with 80 and 120 mmHg for 14 days. Skeletal muscle specimens from each group were obtained for histological and ultrastructural observation at day 1, 7, 14, and 28 post-compression. In groups I and II, a few necrotic fibers were observed and basal lamina was intact at 1 day after compression. Seven days after compression, there was an observable increase in the proliferation of satellite cells and development of myotube structures. Fourteen days after compression, regeneration of muscles was complete, and there was no significant difference compared with the control group. In groups III and IV, 1 day post-compression examination revealed a large area of necrotic fibers, fibrotic interstitium, and disintegratin basal lamina. Seven days later, proliferation of satellite cells was observed around the surviving basal lamina, and 28 days after compression we could see a large area of fibrosis. The degree of recovery of impaired muscle in rabbit's CCS-induced tissues is related to pressure and duration of compression. Complete recovery of the impaired muscle is determined by survival of basal lamina.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28737885,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Classics in Chemical Neuroscience: Memantine.\nMemantine was the first breakthrough medication for the treatment of moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients and represents a fundamentally new mechanism of action (moderate-affinity, uncompetitive, voltage-dependent, N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist that exhibits fast on\/off kinetics) to modulate glutamatergic dysfunction. Since its approval by the FDA in 2003, memantine, alone and in combination with donepezil, has improved patient outcomes in terms of cognition, behavioral disturbances, daily functioning, and delaying time to institutionalization. In this review, we will highlight the historical significance of memantine to AD (and other neuropsychiatric disorders) as well as provide an overview of the synthesis, pharmacology, and drug metabolism of this unique NMDA uncompetitive antagonist that clearly secures its place among the Classics in Chemical Neuroscience.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6166477,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Influence of plasma protease inhibitors and Trasylol on trypsin-induced bradykinin-release in vitro and in vivo. Protease inhibitors and trypsin-induced bradykinin release.\nThe release in dog plasma of bradykinin in an experimental model in vitro and in vivo secondary to the addition of increasing amounts of trypsin was studied. The release was correlated with the degree of saturation of the plasma protease inhibitors, alpha 2-macroglobulin and alpha 1-antitrypsin, without and in the presence of Trasylol. There was a good correlation between the saturation of alpha 2-macroglobulin with trypsin and the release of bradykinin. A simultaneous fall in blood pressure was seen in the in vivo experiments. alpha 1-Antitrypsin was unable to block this tryptic activity in the absence of free alpha 2-macroglobulin. In the presence of Trasylol, the saturation of alpha 2-macroglobulin was not followed by any significant kinin liberation and the blood pressure remained stable.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30653532,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Automated low-cost terrestrial laser scanner for measuring diameters at breast height and heights of plantation trees.\nA terrestrial laser scanner is a fast, high-precision data acquisition device, which has been applied more and more to the research area of forest inventory. In this study, a type of automated low-cost terrestrial laser scanner was designed and implemented based on a SICK LMS-511 two-dimensional laser scanning sensor and a stepper motor. The new scanner was named BEE(developed by the department of Electronic Engineering, Beijing Forestry University), which can scan the forest trees in three dimensions. The BEE scanner and its supporting software are specifically designed for forest inventory. The specific software was developed to smoothly control the BEE scanner and to acquire the data, including the angular data, range data, and intensity data, and the data acquired by the BEE scanner could be processed into point cloud data, a range map, and an intensity map. Based on the point cloud data, the trees were detected by a single slice of the single scan in a plot, and the local ground plane was fitted for each detected tree. Then the diameter at breast height (DBH), tree height, and tree position could be estimated automatically by using the specific software. The experiments have been performed by using the BEE scanner in an artificial ginkgo forest which was located in the Haidian District of Beijing. Four 10 m \u00d7 10 m square plots were selected for the experiments. The BEE scanner scanned in the four plots and acquired the single-scan data, respectively. The DBH, tree height, and tree position of the trees in the four plots were estimated and analyzed. For comparison, manually-measured data was also collected in the four plots. The trunk detection rate for all four plots was 92.75%; the root mean square error of the DBH estimation was 1.27 cm; the root mean square error of the tree height estimation was 0.24 m; and the tree position estimation was in line with the actual position. The scanner also was tested in more natural forest in the JiuFeng Forest Park. Two plots with a radius of 5 meters were scanned. Eleven trees in the plot with a flat ground were detected and DBH were estimated. But tree detection was failed in the other plot because of the undulating ground. Experimental results show that the BEE scanner can efficiently estimate the structure parameters of plantation trees and has good potential in practical applications of forest inventory.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":2784961,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Search for optimal frequencies and amplitudes of therapeutic electrical carotid sinus nerve stimulation by application of the evolution strategy.\nIn humans, electrical, bipolar, bilateral carotid sinus nerve stimulation (CSNS; impulse duration 0.35 ms) was applied, using frequencies between 10 and 110 Hz and voltages between individual thresholds and maximal amplitudes of stimulation. Ten anginal patients and two hypertensive patients were studied at an interval of up to 12 years after implantation of electrodes and a radiofrequency receiver for chronic therapeutic CSNS. In search of combinations of frequency and voltage of CSNS, eliciting largest (\"optimal\") depressor responses of blood pressure and heart rate in the individual patient, Rechenberg's evolution strategy was applied. This strategy simulates mutation and selection of biological evolution. In each patient and on each test stimulation, a value of quality was computed from actual heart rate and blood pressure values as a selection criterion for the strategy. Either responses to uninterrupted CSNS were investigated, while stimulation parameters were adjusted every 3 min, according to the strategy, or responses to 3 min of CSNS after a change in stimulation parameters were compared to intercalated 3-min control periods. In each patient, one or more combined settings of frequency and voltage elicited \"optimal\" responses. In principle, \"optimal\" CSNS frequencies ranged between 35 and 105 Hz with large interindividual differences. Due to chronic implantation of electrodes and technical features of radiofrequency transmitted stimulation energy, interindividually different voltages led to an optimal response to CSNS. Also according to the present results, the frequency of CSNS has to be determined individually. It is concluded that the evolution strategy was applied successfully, because voltage and frequency settings leading to \"optimal\" responses were found within 90-180 min, whereas intraindividual systematic investigations would not be feasible due to their necessarily very long duration. So far, only short-term responses have been evaluated. A broader use of the strategy in other applications is encouraged, as for example in pacemaker optimization and especially in functional electrostimulation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26438797,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Pathophysiological changes induced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection are involved in MMP-12 and MMP-13 upregulation in human carcinoma epithelial cells and a pneumonia mouse model.\nPseudomonas aeruginosa infections persist in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) and drive lung disease progression. P. aeruginosa potently activates the innate immune system mostly through the recognition of pathogen-associated molecular patterns, such as flagellin. Matrix metalloproteinases 12 and 13 (MMP-12 and MMP-13, respectively) exacerbate chronic lung infection and inflammation by promoting uncontrolled tissue rearrangements and fibrosis, yet the underlying molecular mechanisms by which this occurs remain largely unknown. In this study, we used quantitative bacteriology, histological examination, and proinflammatory cytokine levels to evaluate the effects of MMP-12 and MMP-13 on P. aeruginosa strain K-induced infection and pneumonia in H292 epithelial cells and mice, respectively. Under inflammatory stimulation, mRNA and protein expression levels of proinflammatory mediators were higher in strain K-infected mice and cells than in uninfected counterparts, in which MMP-12 and MMP-13 expression reached levels similar to those observed in epithelial cells. Moreover, we also found that the NF-\u03baB pathway might be involved in the induction of cytokines in response to strain K infection. Taken together, these data suggest that MMP-12 and MMP-13 alter strain K infection in mice and play a role in inflammatory regulation by modulating cytokine levels.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24400008,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Type I Interferons as Stimulators of DC-Mediated Cross-Priming: Impact on Anti-Tumor Response.\nInduction of potent tumor-specific cytotoxic T-cell responses is a fundamental objective in anticancer therapeutic strategies. This event requires that antigen-presenting cells present tumor-associated antigens (Ag) on their MHC class-I molecule, in a process termed cross-presentation. Dendritic cells (DC) are particularly keen on this task and can induce the cross-priming of CD8(+) T cells, when exposed to danger or inflammatory signals that stimulate their activation. Type I interferons (IFN-I), a family of long-known immunostimulatory cytokines, have been proven to produce optimal activation signal for DC-induced cross-priming. Recent in vitro and in vivo evidences have suggested that IFN-I-stimulated cross-priming by DC against tumor-associated Ag is a key mechanism for cancer immunosurveillance and may be usefully exploited to boost anti-tumor CD8(+) T-cell responses. Here, we will review the cross-presentation properties of different DC subsets, with special focus on cell-associated and tumor Ag, and discuss how IFN-I can modify this function, with the aim of identifying more specific and effective strategies for improving anticancer responses.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17173425,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Coordination preference of Ga in hydrides.\nAluminum and gallium show some interesting differences in their coordination chemistry. Solid GaH3 is unknown, in contrast to solid AlH3. Ga equivalents of Li3AlH6, Na3AlH6, and other hydrides whose structure contain AlH(3-)6 ions, are unknown. We relate these differences to an instability of the hexacoordinated gallium moiety.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16231820,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Primary lymphoma of the breast].\nPrimary non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the breast accounts for fewer than 3% of extranodal lymphomas. As compared to extranodal lymphomas in other sites they are characterised by more rapid progression and a worse prognosis. The aim of the study was to investigate 5 cases of primary lymphoma of the breast and review previous studies in a search for any preoperative characteristics that could assist in the management of lymphoma of the breast. All patients (n = 5) who were diagnosed with lymphomatous involvement of the breast between 1996 and 2004 were evaluated retrospectively. All patients staged IE (breast involvement only) or IIE (limited to the breast and ipsilateral armpit) were included. Most of the primary breast lymphomas were of intermediate grade. Patients received some combination of surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. The mean follow-up was 48 months (range 24 to 72 months). All 5 patients survived at least 6 years from the time of diagnosis. Long-term survival in patients with primary non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the breast is possible. The clinical outcome of patients with breast lymphoma depends on the histology and appears to parallel that of patients with lymphoma of similar histology involving other sites.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28559873,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"New Strategies in the New Millennium: Servant Leadership As Enhancer of Service Climate and Customer Service Performance.\nIn a world in which customers are increasingly looking for solutions to their own concerns on how to make a better globalized world, new organizational strategies are emerging to approach the customer in the current third millennium. Servant leadership, which involves putting employees' needs first and serving the broader society, is emerging as a new strategic mechanism to approach the customer in line with the new social values-driven Marketing 3.0 era. Yet research has ignored the role and the various mechanisms servant leadership might utilize to improve customer service performance of their service units. Spanning 185 hotels located in Spain, a sample of 247 service units -in close contact with customers- was used to investigate whether servant leadership enhances customer service performance through shaping a service climate within the service unit. Results revealed that service climate mediates the positive influence of servant leadership on customer service performance. Managers can use these findings to note the value of leading the service unit in a servant friendly direction, which is better aligned with the new aspirations of customers today.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37665795,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Exploiting Chirality in Confined Nanospaces.\nSpatial organization using confinement has been of great interest since the early ages of supramolecular chemistry. Application such as sensing, catalysis and delivery are continuously emerging. This minireview highlights the evolution of chiral supramolecular cages (CSC) applications in the fields of catalysis, sensing and chiroptical properties. More in detail, beside the description of the strategies adopted for the preparation of chiral supramolecular cages, either of purely organic supramolecular architectures or prepared using metal-ligand coordination bonds, recent findings on their applications, with particular attention to stereodynamic systems, are presented to highlight the recent scientific interests and the future opportunities.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28255500,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pencil Graphite Electrodes: A Versatile Tool in Electroanalysis.\nDue to their electrochemical and economical characteristics, pencil graphite electrodes (PGEs) gained in recent years a large applicability to the analysis of various types of inorganic and organic compounds from very different matrices. The electrode material of this type of working electrodes is constituted by the well-known and easy commercially available graphite pencil leads. Thus, PGEs are cheap and user-friendly and can be employed as disposable electrodes avoiding the time-consuming step of solid electrodes surface cleaning between measurements. When compared to other working electrodes PGEs present lower background currents, higher sensitivity, good reproducibility, and an adjustable electroactive surface area, permitting the analysis of low concentrations and small sample volumes without any deposition\/preconcentration step. Therefore, this paper presents a detailed overview of the PGEs characteristics, designs and applications of bare, and electrochemically pretreated and chemically modified PGEs along with the corresponding performance characteristics like linear range and detection limit. Techniques used for bare or modified PGEs surface characterization are also reviewed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23871056,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Optimisation of aqueous two-phase extraction of anthocyanins from purple sweet potatoes by response surface methodology.\nAqueous two-phase extraction (ATPE) method was investigated for extraction of anthocyanins from purple sweet potatoes using response surface methodology (RSM). Results showed that the optimal conditions for anthocyanin extraction were that, 45:1 (mL\/g) liquid-solid ratio, 25% (W\/W) ethanol, 22% (W\/W) concentration of ammonium sulphate and pH3.3; the anthocyanin yield and partition coefficient under the optimal conditions were 90.02% and 19.62, respectively. The result of HPLC-ESI-MS analysis revealed eight kinds of compounds, and the major anthocyanins as cyanidi-caffeoy-fumaroy-sophoroside-3-O-glucoside, peonidin-caffeoyl-hydroxybenzoyl-3-O-glucoside, peonidin-caffeoyl-sophoroside-3-O-glucoside, and peonidin-caffeoyl-fumaroyl-sophorosid-3-O-glucoside. Meanwhile, we found a compound as a dimer of galloyl procyanin. These results suggest that ATPE is efficient in extracting anthocyanins and has the potential to be used in natural anthocyanin extraction industry.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":276636,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Relationship between epidemiologic and endocrinologic aspects of cervical cancer.\nIn search of etiologic relevancy of the steroid deviations in urine, we compared the reproductive activities of patients having cervical cancer with those of normal controls. A premenopausal patient experienced the birth of her first child significantly earlier than did the urban control of corresponding age, despite their similarity of age at menarche. However, when the same patient was compared with the premenopausal rural control, this differences was not found. The same parameter also failed to differentiate a postmenopausal patient from the corresponding control of urban origin. The premenopausal patient who was indistinguishable from the rural control by age at first delivery was distinguished from the rural control by reduced excretions of adrenal steroids including 11-deoxy-17 ketosteroids and some corticosteroid metabolites. The spectrum and the degree of deviation of urinary steroids for a patient coincided with the spectrum and the degree of age dependency of the urinary steroids for a normal woman during and after adolescence. These findings indicated that the inability of the reproductive parameter to discriminate a patient was associated with growth retardation in a population, and a maturation deficiency of the adrenal gland (arrest of adrenarche) was implicated in the genesis of cervical cancer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28271296,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-18":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cross-Cultural Translation, Adaptation and Reliability of the Danish M. D. Andeson Dysphagia Inventory (MDADI) in Patients with Head and Neck Cancer.\nThe objectives were to translate and culturally adapt the M.D. Anderson Dysphagia Inventory (MDADI) into Danish and subsequently test the reliability of the Danish version. The MDADI was translated into Danish and cross culturally adapted through cognitive interviews. The final version was test-retest evaluated in a group of head and neck cancer (HNC) patients who responded to the questionnaire twice with a mean of eight days apart. Interclass correlation coefficient, Cronbach's alpha, floor and ceiling effects, standard error of measurement and minimal detectable change were investigated. Fourteen patients were interviewed on the comprehensibility of the Danish MDADI, and all found the questionnaire meaningful, easy to understand, non-offensive and to include relevant aspects of dysphagia related to HNC. Sixty-four patients were included in the test-retest study. Especially, one item in the emotional scale (E7) appeared to be often misinterpreted, and ceiling effects were found in all four subdomains (global, emotional, functional and physical). The four subdomains and the composite score showed acceptable test-retest reliability and internal consistency in a Danish population of HNC patients. The Danish MDADI is reliable in terms of internal consistency and test-retest reproducibility and can be used in assessing the health-related quality of life in head and neck cancer patients with dysphagia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34400959,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Food Additive (Sodium benzoate)-induced Damage on Renal Function and Glomerular Cells in Rats; Modulating Effect of Aqueous Extract of Atriplex halimus L.\nThe aim of the current study was to investigate the preventive and curative effect of Atriplex halimus L. (Ah) extract against the kidney damages induced by Sodium benzoate (SB) in rats. Thirty male albino rats were divided into five groups of 6 rats each: Control, Ah, SB, AhP+SB and SB+AhC. SB (100 mg\/kg b.w) was added to drinking water for 15 weeks. Aqueous extract of aerial parts of Atriplex halimus received intragastrically during the last 30 days of SB exposure for curative treatment (AhC) and all the duration of SB exposure for preventive treatment (AhP). Some Biochemical markers, oxidative stress parameters and histopathology of kidney tissue were studied. Administration of Sodium benzoate to rats caused a loss of weight and a significant elevation in creatinine, urea, renal malondialdehyde levels and lactate dehydrogenase activity. These changes were accompanied by decreasing in antioxidant defenses, like reduced glutathione level, catalase and glutathione S transferase activities in the kidney. Histopathological studies showed a massive degeneration in kidney tissue in SB-exposed rats. However, treatment with Atriplex halimus (A. halimus) restored the altered of biochemical and oxidative stress markers. A. halimus also regenerated the architectural kidneys lesions to near control. With more protection offered in the curative than preventive models of treatment. In conclusion, the results demonstrate that Sodium benzoate damages kidney structure and function and is a nephrotoxic substance. Atriplex halimus was able to improve the renal damage as an antioxidant and a nephroprotective agent.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6739151,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Comparative bacteriostatic activity of ticarcillin, alone and combined with clavulanic acid, 5 cephalosporins and metronidazole against 100 strains of Bacteroides fragilis].\nIn vitro activity against 100 strains of Bacteroides fragilis of ticarcillin alone and combined with 4 or 8 mg of clavulanic acid was compared with those of cefoxitin, cefotaxime, ceftazidime, lamoxactam , ceftriaxone and metronidazole. The Cl 90 was 29.7 mg\/l for ticarcillin alone, and 1.3 and 0.5 mg\/l for ticarcillin combined with 4 and 8 mg of clavulanic acid respectively. Every strain was susceptible to ticarcillin combined with clavulanic acid (CMI less than or equal to 16 mg\/l) and metronidazole (CMI less than or equal to 4 mg\/l). Among the cephalosporins tested, lamoxactam (Cl 90 : 1 mg\/l) was the most active, followed by cefotaxime (22.7 mg\/l), cefoxitin (23 mg\/l), ceftriaxone (51.2 mg\/l) and ceftazidime (347 mg\/l).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":923859,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nucleoli in human pseudostratified columnar epithelium cells. (Microscopic classification of nucleoli).\nThe human pseudostratified epithelium was investigated to provide more information on the incidence of main nucleolar types in its epithelial cells. The compact nucleoli or nucleoli with nucleolonemas investigated by light microscopy were usually present in epithelial cells with highly basophilic cytoplasm. The absence of these nucleoli and the presence of ring-shaped nucleoli and\/or micronucleoli (reflecting the decrease or inhibition of the RNA synthesis) were observed in epithelial cells which were characterized by the diminished or disappeared basophilic properties of the cytoplasm. These observations indicating the gradual inhibition of the nucleolar (ribosomal) RNA suggest that similar maturation processes may occur in investigated human pseudostratified columnar epithelium which are known for cell lines of the mesenchymal origin.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28537786,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Designing a Community-Based Population Health Model.\nThe pace of change from volume-based to value-based payment in health care varies dramatically among markets. Regardless of the ultimate disposition of the Affordable Care Act, employers and public-private payers will continue to increase pressure on health care providers to assume financial risk for populations in the form of shared savings, bundled payments, downside risk, or even capitation. This article outlines a suggested road map and practical considerations for health systems that are building or planning to build population health capabilities to meet the needs of their local markets. The authors review the traditional core capabilities needed to address the medical determinants of health for a population. They also share an innovative approach to community service integration to address the social determinants of health and the engagement of families to improve their own health and well-being. The foundational approach is to connect insurance products, the health care delivery system, and community service agencies around the family's well-being goals using human-centered design strategy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25512567,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Refined secondary-structure models of the core of yeast and human telomerase RNAs directed by SHAPE.\nTelomerase catalyzes the addition of nucleotides to the ends of chromosomes to complete genomic DNA replication in eukaryotes and is implicated in multiple diseases, including most cancers. The core enzyme is composed of a reverse transcriptase and an RNA subunit, which provides the template for DNA synthesis. Despite extensive divergence at the sequence level, telomerase RNAs share several structural features within the catalytic core, suggesting a conserved enzyme mechanism. We have investigated the structure of the core of the human and yeast telomerase RNAs using SHAPE, which interrogates flexibility of each nucleotide. We present improved secondary-structure models, refined by addition of five base triples within the yeast pseudoknot and an alternate pairing within the human-specific element J2a.1 in the human pseudoknot, both of which have implications for thermodynamic stability. We also identified a potentially structured CCC region within the template that may facilitate substrate binding and enzyme mechanism. Overall, the SHAPE findings reveal multiple similarities between the Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Homo sapiens telomerase RNA cores.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37462575,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Systems Analysis by a Cross-sector Workgroup to Address Housing Insecurity in Cancer Survivorship.\nCancer survivors face many financial burdens that generate additional stress such as housing insecurity or homelessness. Because this leads to worse health outcomes, it is essential for health care and housing organizations to begin mobilizing resources to support this vulnerable population. Create a \"Housing in Cancer\" workgroup to conduct systems-led analysis of housing insecurity in cancer survivorship in the Greater New Orleans area. A cross-sector workgroup employed a systems analysis toolkit to explore the system. The group engaged in systems analysis exercises and generated observations on the current system. The problem was discerned into three components. Through reflection, the group created a new focus to support housing policies in cancer survivors and one group member was awarded a grant to provide financial assistance to cancer survivors. The workgroup's insights identified systemic policies and additional funding for sponsoring organizations who expressed authority over this issue.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17887909,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Narrative in a nutshell: sharing hopes, fears, and dreams with self-advocates.\nThe grand narrative of modernism is a dominating story with profound sociopolitical implications in the lives of people with the label of intellectual disabilities. In this article, we throw light on the life stories and interpretive theories of self-advocates, which usually remain hidden between the story-lines of life. Professionals in the field are being pressed to address self-advocates' existential challenges and move us, as theoretical allies, towards deeper conversations about disability theory. Here, we search for a useful theoretical framework to support the circulation of their wisdom and knowledge. We experiment with poststructuralist and feminist pointers and, in particular, some of the notions of Deleuze and Guattari's (1987) rhizome.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1698157,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Simian immunodeficiency virus reverse transcriptase. Purification and partial characterization.\nNative reverse transcriptase from simian immunodeficiency virus was purified from virus with good recovery to near homogeneity. The optimum reaction conditions of the enzyme were determined with respect to divalent cations, pH and ionic strength. The enzyme was shown to possess both RNA-dependent and DNA-dependent DNA synthesis activity. In addition, we could demonstrate an associated RNase H activity. Employing novel assay conditions, activated DNA as a heteropolymeric substrate was used more efficiently than the homopolymeric substrate poly(rA).oligo(dT) which in turn was used twofold more effectively as the template primer than poly(dC).oligo(dG). Other homopolymeric substrates, including poly(rC).oligo(dG), were also tested but were found to be poorly used by the reverse transcriptase. The Miachaelis-Menten constants were determined for each of the four nucleotides needed to elongate a natural template primer. Simultaneously, using dideoxyadenosine triphosphate as nucleotide analogue, we could show that this compound acts as a competitive inhibitor with respect to dATP, whereas it acts as a non-competitive inhibitor with respect to the other nucleotides. Gel electrophoretic analysis showed the enzyme to consist of two polypeptides with apparent molecular masses of 64 and 48 kDa. Using activity gel electrophoresis, we were able to demonstrate that both subunits exhibit DNA synthesis activity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28708936,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hybrid model for the personal exposure meter response in an outdoor environment.\nWhen a personal exposure meter (PEM) is worn by a human subject, the electric-field strength measured at the PEM is affected by a body shadowing effect. In our study, a hybrid model is proposed for modeling the body shadowing effect for when the PEM is used in an outdoor environment. The hybrid model contains responses to direct and diffused waves, the factors related to the transmission path and cross-polarization discrimination, respectively. To derive the hybrid model, responses for the direct and diffused waves are measured using a human phantom in an anechoic chamber and a reverberation chamber, respectively. Responses are measured at multiple locations in an outdoor environment and compared to the responses of the hybrid model. The hybrid model response has quartiles that deviate by an average of only 2.2 dB (1.29) from the same quartiles of the outdoor responses. Such quartile deviations are significantly smaller than those of the previous model with a body shadowing effect. Bioelectromagnetics. 38:626-647, 2017. \u00a9 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18576989,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy coupled with multivariate analysis for measurement of acesulfame-K in diet foods.\nFourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was investigated as a method for analysis of acesulfame-K content after a simple extraction procedure for certain commercial diet food samples. Partial least squares (PLS) models were developed for prediction of acesulfame-K using select spectral ranges on the basis of relevant IR absorption bands associated with acesulfame-K. The acesulfame-K content of test food samples was predicted accurately in the fingerprint region between 1100 and 1300 cm(-1) with a maximum prediction error of 9.82% when compared with conventional HPLC method. The PLS was found to be a consistently better predictor when both PLS and principal component regression (PCR) analyses were used for quantification of acesulfame-K. The developed procedure was further validated by comparing with HPLC results as well as recovery studies. As a quick tool, the method developed is expected to be used for routine estimation of acesulfame-K in commercial products.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36264608,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Automatic Assessment of Intelligibility in Noise in Parkinson Disease: Validation Study.\nMost individuals with Parkinson disease (PD) experience a degradation in their speech intelligibility. Research on the use of automatic speech recognition (ASR) to assess intelligibility is still sparse, especially when trying to replicate communication challenges in real-life conditions (ie, noisy backgrounds). Developing technologies to automatically measure intelligibility in noise can ultimately assist patients in self-managing their voice changes due to the disease. The goal of this study was to pilot-test and validate the use of a customized web-based app to assess speech intelligibility in noise in individuals with dysarthria associated with PD. In total, 20 individuals with dysarthria associated with PD and 20 healthy controls (HCs) recorded a set of sentences using their phones. The Google Cloud ASR API was used to automatically transcribe the speakers' sentences. An algorithm was created to embed speakers' sentences in +6-dB signal-to-noise multitalker babble. Results from ASR performance were compared to those from 30 listeners who orthographically transcribed the same set of sentences. Data were reduced into a single event, defined as a success if the artificial intelligence (AI) system transcribed a random speaker or sentence as well or better than the average of 3 randomly chosen human listeners. These data were further analyzed by logistic regression to assess whether AI success differed by speaker group (HCs or speakers with dysarthria) or was affected by sentence length. A discriminant analysis was conducted on the human listener data and AI transcriber data independently to compare the ability of each data set to discriminate between HCs and speakers with dysarthria. The data analysis indicated a 0.8 probability (95% CI 0.65-0.91) that AI performance would be as good or better than the average human listener. AI transcriber success probability was not found to be dependent on speaker group. AI transcriber success was found to decrease with sentence length, losing an estimated 0.03 probability of transcribing as well as the average human listener for each word increase in sentence length. The AI transcriber data were found to offer the same discrimination of speakers into categories (HCs and speakers with dysarthria) as the human listener data. ASR has the potential to assess intelligibility in noise in speakers with dysarthria associated with PD. Our results hold promise for the use of AI with this clinical population, although a full range of speech severity needs to be evaluated in future work, as well as the effect of different speaking tasks on ASR.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36284970,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Serological Detection of Helicobacter pylori Infection in Pregnant Women Related to ABO Blood Group.\nHelicobacter pylori was known as a pathogen related to peptic ulcers and gastric carcinoma. Some researches confirmed that the infected pregnant women with H. pylori have poor pregnancy outcomes so that its effects extended to other systems other than gastrointestinal tracts. This study aimed to evaluate H. pylori infection in pregnant women who had morning sickness (nausea and vomiting) related to the ABO blood group. In total, 202 pregnant women within the age range of 15-45 years with severe nausea and vomiting attended the outpatient and specialized clinic. The seroprevalence of H. pylori was 62% in pregnant women, especially at the age group of 20-24 years with 32.5% of the cases who had epigastric pain, nausea, vomiting, flatulence, and burning of the stomach, the majority of which related to O+ (33.3%), followed by A+ and B+ (25.39%) blood groups. Most infected pregnant women with H. pylori were during the first (41.26%) and second trimesters (34.12%), especially in multigravida (68.25%) cases. This study found that hyperemesis (severe nausea and vomiting), dyspepsia, and other gastrointestinal symptoms during pregnancy were related to the infection with H. pylori; therefore, it is a risk factor for complications in pregnancy and its poor outcomes, especially in developing countries, such as Iraq. These results can be minimized by improving the socioeconomic and sanitation conditions. H. pylori infection in pregnancy is considered a health problem and should be treated before and during pregnancy. Further investigations are required in this regard and researchers are recommended to conduct studies on the RBC antigens to recognize the pathophysiology related to H. pylori infection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12031071,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3,"dup_dump_count":2,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-18":1,"2024-26":1}}},"text":"Levels and causes of maternal mortality in Senegal.\nTo report the findings of a direct, community-based, assessment of maternal mortality and medical causes of death using verbal autopsy in three unique cohorts in rural Senegal. Methods from ongoing demographic surveillance systems. We obtained records of all deaths and births in women of age 15-49 over a period of 14 years in Niakhar, 10 years in Bandafassi and 13 years in Mlomp. Relatives of all women who died were interviewed using a standard questionnaire. Causes of death were assigned by three physicians independently. Maternal deaths were defined according to the ninth and tenth revisions of the International Classification of Diseases. The maternal mortality ratio was similar in Mlomp [436 per 100 000 live births (95% confidence interval 209-802)] and Niakhar [516 per 100 000 (413-636)] but significantly higher in the more remote area of Bandafassi [852 (587-1196)] [relative risk compared with Niakhar 1.6 (1.0-2.4)]. Two-thirds of the maternal deaths were from direct obstetric causes, haemorrhage being the most common. Abortion was rare. Demographic surveillance systems are useful tools for the measurement of maternal mortality provided special studies are carried out to arrive at the levels and causes of maternal death. The estimates of maternal mortality reported here are lower than those published by the WHO and UNICEF but remain extremely high, particularly in the very remote areas with very limited health infrastructure, where as many as one in 19 women may be expected to die as a consequence of childbirth.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23461590,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Effect of allergen inhalation on airway oxidant stress, using exhaled breath condensate 8-isoprostane, in mild asthma.\nExhaled breath condensate (EBC) 8-isoprostane concentrations are increased in asthma, but it is not known if they acutely change following bronchoprovocation. The objective of this study was to evaluate EBC 8-isoprostane concentrations following allergen-induced bronchoprovocation in asthma. This comparison study included eight mild atopic asthmatics and six controls. Asthmatics were challenged with inhaled specific allergen, methacholine, and irrelevant allergen in random order. Controls were challenged with irrelevant allergen. EBCs collected at 0, 3, 6, 9, and 23 hours by the R-tube method were measured for 8-isoprostanes by ELISA technique. Repeated measures ANOVA technique was used for analysis. EBC 8-isoprostane concentrations did not change following any inhalational challenge, as compared to baseline, in either asthmatics or controls. EBC 8-isoprostane concentrations do not acutely change following bronchoprovocation in subjects with mild asthma.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28580053,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Persistent proatlas with additional segmentation of the craniovertebral junction - The Tsuang-Goehmann-Malformation.\nCase study description and analysis of a complex craniovertebral dysplasia in an 8-year-old male patient, in which conventional cervical spine radiographs demonstrated a regularly differentiated occipital base, as well as the presence of two lateral masses of the proatlas vertebra and two lateral masses of the atlas vertebra. Further assessment included computed tomography of the occipital base and the upper cervical spine as well as three-dimensional reconstruction. Malsegmentation of the fourth occipital vertebra can result in various anomalies that are known as 'manifestation of the proatlas'. The occurrence of a persistent proatlas with additional segmentation of the craniovertebral junction represents an extremely rare dysplasia. To our knowledge, it is the second report concerning the persistence of a complete human proatlas vertebra. We consider the biomechanical and embryological particularities of this complex dysplasia to represent sufficient basis for future differentiation from other malformations of the fourth occipital vertebra. Comprehensive literature review and discussion about the entity will be provided.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28543320,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Processes in acceptance and commitment therapy and the rehabilitation of chronic fatigue.\nAcceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) has never been tested for patients with chronic fatigue. We aimed to test if a 3.5-week ACT rehabilitation program for patients with chronic fatigue improved quality of life (QoL), fatigue, and psychological flexibility. Further, to test if improvements in QoL and fatigue were associated with improvement in psychological flexibility, and if psychological flexibility explained variance above and beyond maladaptive cognitions typically targeted in CBT for fatigue. Patients (n = 140) who had been on sick leave > 8 weeks due to chronic fatigue received a 3.5-week non-controlled inpatient rehabilitation program based on ACT. A physician and a psychologist examined the patients, assessing medication use and SCID-I diagnoses. Patients completed questionnaires about somatic complaints, psychological complaints, and maladaptive cognitions before and after treatment. At post-treatment, patients reported improved QoL (p < 0.001; g = 1.07) and less fatigue (p < 0.001; g = 1.08), but not increased psychological flexibility (p = 0.6). Changes in psychological flexibility was associated with improved QoL, but not fatigue, in hierarchical regression analyses. When adjusting for other cognitions, changes in fear-avoidance cognitions and all-or-nothing thoughts, but not psychological flexibility, were associated with improved QoL and fatigue. The ACT-based treatment improved QoL and reduced fatigue for patients with chronic fatigue with large effect sizes. Improvement was associated with a reduction in fear-avoidance cognitions and all-or-nothing thoughts, but not psychological flexibility.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32349626,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hyperinsulinemia rather than insulin resistance itself induces blood pressure elevation in high fat diet-fed rats.\nTo investigate if insulin resistance per se or the accompanying hyperinsulinemia induced hypertension and its underlying mechanisms. Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized into normal diet-fed group (ND group) and high-fat diet-fed group (HFD group). Then, the HFD group was further randomly divided into the control group (HFD_C group), the PIO group (treated with pioglitazone), the STZ_DM group (to induce diabetes with streptozotocin) and the DM+Ins group (streptozotocin injection followed by insulin treatment). Insulin sensitivity, plasma insulin, endothelin-1, norepinephrine, aldosterone, angiotensin\u2161 and 24-h urinary sodium excretion (USE) levels of the groups were measured and analyzed. A multiple stepwise regression analysis method was applied to exam our hypothesis. Compared to HFD_C group, the groups with lower plasma insulin, the PIO group and STZ_DM group, showed higher USE and lower blood pressure. The groups with higher plasma insulin (but same level of insulin resistance), the HFD_C group and DM+Ins group, showed lower USE and higher blood pressure. The 24-h urinary sodium excretion was the most important contributor to the significant changes of blood pressure with an R2 of 25.2% in this animal experiment. It is the compensatory hyperinsulinemia rather than insulin resistance per se that causes blood pressure elevation. The urinary sodium excretion is the key mediator among the multiple mechanisms. Therapies targeting hyperinsulinemia and restricting salt intake may favor a better control of hypertension associated with insulin resistance.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35362257,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A new strategy to count and sort neutrophil-derived extracellular vesicles: Validation in infectious disorders.\nNewly recognized polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMNs) functions include the ability to release subcellular mediators such as neutrophil-derived extracellular vesicles (NDEVs) involved in immune and thrombo-inflammatory responses. Elevation of their plasmatic level has been reported in a variety of infectious and cardiovascular disorders, but the clinical use of this potential biomarker is hampered by methodological issues. Although flow cytometry (FCM) is currently used to detect NDEVs in the plasma of patients, an extensive characterization of NDEVs has never been done. Moreover, their detection remains challenging because of their small size and low antigen density. Therefore, the objective of the present study was first to establish a surface antigenic signature of NDEVs detectable by FCM and therefore to improve their detection in biological fluids by developing a strategy allowing to overcome their low fluorescent signal and reduce the background noise. By testing a large panel of 54 antibody specificities already reported to be positive on PMNs, we identified a profile of 15 membrane protein markers, including 4 (CD157, CD24, CD65 and CD66c) never described on NDEVs. Among them, CD15, CD66b and CD66c were identified as the most sensitive and specific markers to detect NDEVs by FCM. Using this antigenic signature, we developed a new strategy combining the three best antibodies in a cocktail and reducing the background noise by size exclusion chromatography (SEC). This strategy allowed a significant improvement in NDEVs enumeration in plasma from sepsis patients and made it feasible to efficiently sort NDEVs from COVID-19 patients. Altogether, this work opens the door to a more valuable measurement of NDEVs as a potential biomarker in clinical practice. A similar strategy could also be applied to improve detection by FCM of other rare subpopulations of EVs generated by tissues with limited access, such as vascular endothelium, cancer cells or placenta.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16211624,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evolutionary relationship and application of a superfamily of cyclic amidohydrolase enzymes.\nCyclic amidohydrolases belong to a superfamily of enzymes that catalyze the hydrolysis of cyclic C-N bonds. They are commonly found in nucleotide metabolism of purine and pyrimidine. These enzymes share similar catalytic mechanisms and show considerable structural homologies, suggesting that they might have evolved from a common ancestral protein. Homology searches based on common mechanistic properties and three-dimensional protein structures provide clues to the evolutionary relationships of these enzymes. Among the superfamily of enzymes, hydantoinase has been highlighted by its potential for biotechnological applications in the production of unnatural amino acids. The enzymatic process for the production of optically pure amino acids consists of three enzyme steps: hydantoin racemase, hydantoinase, and N-carbamoylase. For efficient industrial application, some critical catalytic properties such as thermostability, catalytic activity, enantioselectivity, and substrate specificity require further improvement. To this end, isolation of new enzymes with desirable properties from natural sources and the optimization of enzymatic processes were attempted. A combination of directed evolution techniques and rational design approaches has made brilliant progress in the redesign of industrially important catalytic enzymes; this approach is likely to be widely applied to the creation of designer enzymes with desirable catalytic properties.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30091283,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Connection between organizational culture and climate and empowerment: The perspective of nurse managers.\nHealth-care organizations differ from other institutions due to their unique structure and management. Organizational culture and climate are the key constructs that compose the organizational social context, and might have an impact on employees, such as nurse managers, and the organization itself. The aim of this study was to analyze the connections between organizational culture and climate and work-related empowerment, and also to present culture and climate profiles at team and organization levels. The research was carried out in Lithuania among 193 nurse managers in seven hospitals using a questionnaire that measured organizational culture and climate (Organizational Social Context instrument), and work-related empowerment (Conditions for Work Effectiveness Questionnaire-II and Work Empowerment Questionnaire). The findings showed that nurse managers were both structurally and psychologically empowered when the organizational culture was proficient and resistant, and the climate was engaged and functional. These results suggest that nurse managers are more likely to be empowered when there is an appropriate organizational culture and climate in the workplace. Creating an empowering work environment might have a positive impact on individual and organizational outcomes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28570652,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Prediction model for 30-day morbidity after gynecological malignancy surgery.\nThe potential risk of postoperative morbidity is important for gynecologic cancer patients because it leads to delays in adjunctive therapy and additional costs. We aimed to develop a preoperative nomogram to predict 30-day morbidity after gynecological cancer surgery. Between 2005 and 2015, 533 consecutive patients with elective gynecological cancer surgery in our center were reviewed. Of those patients, 373 and 160 patients were assigned to the model development or validation cohort, respectively. To investigate independent predictors of 30-day morbidity, a multivariate Cox regression model with backward stepwise elimination was utilized. A nomogram based on this Cox model was developed and externally validated. Its performance was assessed using the concordance index and a calibration curve. Ninety-seven (18.2%) patients had at least one postoperative complication within 30 days after surgery. After bootstrap resampling, the final model indicated age, operating time, and serum albumin level as statistically significant predictors of postoperative morbidity. The bootstrap-corrected concordance index of the nomogram incorporating these three predictors was 0.656 (95% CI, 0.608-0.723). In the validation cohort, the nomogram showed fair discrimination [concordance index: 0.674 (95% CI = 0.619-0.732] and good calibration (P = 0.614; Hosmer-Lemeshow test). The 30-day morbidity after gynecologic cancer surgery could be predicted according to age, operation time, and serum albumin level. After further validation using an independent dataset, the constructed nomogram could be valuable for predicting operative risk in individual patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":33726955,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Richard Pfeiffer's typhoid vaccine and Almroth Wright's claim to priority.\nFollowing the 1892 cholera pandemic, Richard Pfeiffer, Director of the science section of Robert Koch's Institute for Hygiene in Berlin, began laboratory-based studies on the pathogenesis of the disease using an animal model. These investigations resulted in his discovery of bacterial endotoxin; recognition of the bacteriolytic properties of both animal and human immune sera; and identification of the specific nature of protective immune responses. His research led naturally from cholera to typhoid fever and in November 1896 Pfeiffer published the results of experimental studies on a typhoid vaccine. In September 1896 Almroth Wright, a professor of pathology in the British Army Medical School, published a short note entitled \"Typhoid Vaccination\". It was appended to a review on the use of styptics to control defective blood coagulation: his previous research studies had a physiological basis that stemmed from earlier studies on tissue fibrinogen. In December 1895, Wright had been commissioned by the Army Medical Department to develop a typhoid vaccine and he later admitted that such work began only after he had spoken with Pfeiffer. In January 1897 Wright published a further paper in which he claimed precedence over Pfeiffer in the introduction of anti-typhoid vaccination. This self-entitlement has subsequently been accepted, primarily because the British Army approved typhoid vaccination in 1914 at the beginning of the First World War. That time has been used as their starting point by many of Wright's biographers, but without any attempt to confirm Wright's claim to priority. This paper concludes Richard Pfeiffer, not Almroth Wright, provided the first account of human typhoid vaccination. It also provides early examples of laboratory-based responses to pandemic and epidemic infectious diseases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28579068,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"The Impact of Age on Urethroplasty Success.\nTo determine if age is an independent predictor of surgical success in patients undergoing urethroplasty. Urethroplasty performed by excision and primary anastomosis depends on vascular collateralization. Successful augmented urethroplasty depends on graft neovascularization. Older patients have more comorbid conditions including peripheral vascular disease associated with reduced penile blood flow. This is a retrospective review of urethroplasties from 11 institutions. Primary outcome was functional success at 1 year from surgery, defined as freedom from post-urethroplasty procedures. Secondary outcome was freedom from cystoscopic evidence of stricture recurrence at 3 months. Study outcomes were compared between 2 age cohorts (<60 years old and \u226560 years old). Multivariable logistic regression analysis evaluated the influence of patient factors on our primary and secondary outcomes, using age as a continuous variable. Of 322 urethroplasties, 258 were performed in patients <60 years and 64 in patients \u226560 years. Median follow-up was 1.8 years. The following were not significantly different between groups: stricture length or location, smoking status, number of previous urethrotomies or dilations, and urethroplasty type. The following were more common in patients \u226560 years: diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, coronary artery and peripheral vascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and cancer. There was no difference in need for repeat procedures or anatomic recurrence between age groups or with increasing age. Stricture length was the only statistically significant clinical factor. Urethroplasty success may be affected by comorbidities but not age. Age alone should not be used as an absolute exclusion criterion for men needing urethral reconstruction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28255377,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pathophysiological changes of inflammatory syndrome in multiple sclerosis after instituting therapeutic plasmapheresis.\nIn autoimmune conditions affecting the central and peripheral CNS as well as in multiple sclerosis (MS), the inflammatory syndrome is present with the onset of this disease. The present paper aimed to highlight the inflammatory syndrome based on the leukergia test, the total blood viscosity test, blood filterability test as well as on other tests. The early instituting of the therapeutic plasmapheresis beneficially modified the clinical status, the biological and pathophysiological behavior of the patient's illness. Objective of the paper: The aim was to highlight the importance, advantages, and pathophysiological changes after therapeutic plasmapheresis in five cases, in patients hospitalized with the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. Material and method: In order to emphasize the inflammatory syndrome, the determination of leukergia assay, the total blood viscosity test and the blood filterability test were added to regular examinations, conducted on the batch of patients included in the study. Results and discussions: As a result of using therapeutic plasmapheresis, the inflammatory parameters in patients with multiple sclerosis improved beneficially as it was proven by the values of inflammatory tests before and after plasmapheresis. Conclusions: In the treatment of multiple sclerosis, plasmapheresis proved to be a medical method that significantly reduced autoimmune inflammatory \"installed\" syndrome.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12016884,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Isolation, purification and physico-chemical properties of immunoactive constituents from the fruit of Lycium barbarum L].\nThree glycoconjugates, LbGp3, LbGp4 and LbGp5, were isolated from the fruit of Lycium barbarum L. Molecular weights of LbGp3, LbGp4 and LbGp5 were 9.25 x 10(4), 21.48 x 10(4) and 2.37 x 10(4), respectively. Carbohydrate contents of LbGp3, LbGP4 and LbGp5 were 93.6%, 85.6%, 8.6%, respectively. LbGp3 was composed of Ara and Gal in a molar ratio of 1:1. LbGp4 was composed of Ara, Gal, Rha and Glc in a molar ratio of 1.5:2.5:0.43:0.23. LbGp5 was composed of Rha, Ara, Xyl, Gal, Man and Glc in a molar ratio of 0.33:0.52:0.42:0.94:0.85:1. Elemental analysis of N contents: LbGp3 0.83%, LbGp4 1.72%, LbGp5 9.58%. The linkage between the glycan and protein may be of O-linkage in LbGp4.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23335676,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Lack of compliance of European Public Assessment Reports to guidelines for paediatric drug development before the introduction of paediatric investigation plans.\nAccording to the International Conference on Harmonisation (ICH) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines for paediatric clinical trials, bridging procedures can be used if disease progression, exposure-response relationships, and clinical endpoints are similar in adults and children. In these circumstances, confirmatory efficacy trials are not necessary; the evaluation of pharmacokinetics and safety ought to be sufficient for drug approval. The aim of this study was to assess whether the clinical trials and strategy for market approval authorisation (MAAs) in paediatric indications reflect the guidelines for bridging of adult data. A total of 95 European Public Assessment Reports (EPARs) published between 1995 and 2007 were reviewed. From every report, data extraction was performed according to the phase of development, scope of analysis, number of dose levels, dosage form, and demographics of the subjects enrolled in the trial. Data analysis consisted of an initial grouping of the studies by the degree of compliance to bridging guidelines. Our analysis reveals that only 66% of the trials (n = 174) can be classified as needed, while 22% of the trials (n = 59) could have been designed and performed differently from the approved protocol (partially required). Moreover, 12% (n = 30) of the studies were deemed completely unnecessary. A potential limitation in our study was that the dates of start and completion of the clinical studies were not available. Therefore, some EPARs have been included that may reflect common practice in the period that precedes the introduction of the ICH E11 guidelines. Yet, this should not obscure the points identified with regard to the lack of compliance to guidelines before the introduction of the paediatric legislation and the requirements for a paediatric investigation plan. Paediatric trials are desirable and necessary to address important unmet medical needs. However, the types of studies supporting regulatory approval do not always reflect the recommendations available in paediatric guidelines, which allow for extrapolation and bridging approaches. This situation may be explained by the lack of awareness about the prerequisites for the use of bridging concepts and of a clear process for evaluating different strategies in paediatric development.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":946584,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The effect of various forms of milk on gastric-acid secretion. Studies in patients with duodenal ulcer and normal subjects.\nMilk is commonly recommended as therapy for patients with peptic ulcer. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of various forms of milk and 0.15 M NaCl (control) on gastric-acid secretion in five patients with duodenal ulcer during a period of remission and in five normal subjects. A significant (P less than 0.05) increase in acid secretion in both groups was produced by 240 ml of whole, low-fat, and nonfat milk. The acid secretory responses to milk were equivalent to approximately 20% to 35% of maximal betazole - or pentagastrin-stimulated acid output. Gastric-acid secretion produced a significant (P less than 0.05) increase in acid secretion in the patients with duodenal ulcer but not in the normal subjects. Because milk contains both protein and calcium, and each are stimulants of gastric-acid secretion, there is reason to question its frequent ingestion by patients with peptic ulcer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15265406,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Pharyngo-colonic anastomosis for esophageal reconstruction in the treatment of diffuse corrosive esophageal stricture].\nTo observe the experience and the outcome of pharyngo-colonic anastomosis for esophageal reconstruction in diffuse corrosive esophageal stricture involving hypopharynx. This retrospective report reviews the experience and results of 14 patients who underwent esophageal reconstruction by pharyngo-colonic anastomosis without resection of intra thoracic stricture esophagus. The left half colonic segment was pulled up to the neck through the substernal space in all patients. There was no operative or hospital death. Postoperative complications include cervical anastomotic fistula in four patients, rupture of the abdominal incision in 1. The length of follow-up ranged from half year to 10 years with an average of 4 years. Anastomotic stenosis occurred in 2 patients. One case improved after dilatation and the other one healed by plastic operation. One patient began to vomit after diet in seven months later with barium swallowing the abdominal colon graft was redundant and this patient was cured with side by side between the colon and the stomach. The successful reconstruction for hypo-pharyngo-esophageal stricture requires a correct and larger hypopharyngeal opening and a good anastomotic technique. From our experience this procedure is shown to be safe and effective.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35367252,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-22":1,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Breastfeeding is related to atypical autonomic and behavior regulation in infants with a history of excessive crying.\nThe study investigated autonomic regulation during feeding in six-month old infants with a history of excessive crying (EC) and social-behavioral development at 12 and 24 months. When contrasted with non-EC infants (NEC), EC infants had atypical autonomic responses observed as dampened reductions in respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and decreases in heart period (HP) during feeding. EC infants demonstrated atypical autonomic regulation only if they were bottle-fed, while breastfed EC infants had patterns of autonomic regulation similar to NEC infants. Behavioral data suggest that while a history of EC was related to social-emotional behaviors at 12 and 24 months, breastfeeding may buffer the behavioral effects of EC on sociability at 24 months.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37852240,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Synthesis and Bioevaluation of 2-Styrylquinoxaline Derivatives as Tau-PET Tracers.\nThis study focused on designing and evaluating Tau-PET tracers for noninvasive positron emission computed tomography (PET) imaging of neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), a hallmark pathology of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The tracers were synthesized with a 2-styrylquinoxaline scaffold and varying lengths of FPEG chains. The compound [18F]15, which had two ethoxy units, showed high affinity for recombinant K18-Tau aggregates (Ki = 41.48 nM) and the highest selectivity versus A\u03b21-42 aggregates (8.83-fold). In vitro autoradiography and fluorescent staining profiles further validated the binding of [18F]15 or 15 toward NFTs in brain sections from AD patients and Tau-transgenic mice. In normal ICR mice, [18F]15 exhibited an ideal initial brain uptake (11.21% ID\/g at 2 min) and moderate washout ratio (2.29), and micro-PET studies in rats confirmed its ability to penetrate the blood-brain barrier with the peak SUV value of 1.94 in the cortex. These results suggest that [18F]15 has the potential to be developed into a useful Tau-PET tracer for early AD diagnosis and evaluation of anti-Tau therapeutics.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16146039,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pregnancy during lamivudine therapy in chronic hepatitis B--case report.\nIn case of a pregnancy in a patient infected with hepatitis B virus there is a risk of intrauterine fetus infection, which rises significantly with the serological profile of positive hepatitis B surface antigen, hepatitis Be antigen and in the presence of HBV DNA in serum. Therefore, in clinical practice the monitoring of antiviral therapy in chronic hepatitis B in women of reproductive age is becoming especially important. The safety of lamivudine use in pregnant women infected with hepatitis B virus has not yet been proven. In this case, the patient became pregnant during the treatment with lamivudine and when hepatitis B virus replication markers were present in the serum (hepatitis B surface antigen, hepatitis Be antigen, hepatitis B virus DNA). Treatment with lamivudine lasted through the first 6 weeks of pregnancy, which was complicated by a possibility of intrauterine hepatitis B virus infection, did not cause any fetus injury.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24397358,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Significance of RBP4 in patients with gestational diabetes mellitus: a case-control study of Han Chinese women.\nThe role of retinol binding protein 4 (RBP4) in insulin resistance was recently identified. Our study investigated the correlation between RBP4 levels with lipid and glucose metabolism in a case-control study of women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Between May 2008 and May 2010, 70 pregnant women (24-28 weeks gestation) were recruited, including 35 women with GDM and 35 healthy controls. Blood samples were collected prior to and after oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTT) to detect serum RBP4, insulin, glycated hemoglobin, triglyceride (TG) and total cholesterol (TC) levels; the insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR) was calculated. Serum RBP4 levels in the GDM group were significantly higher than the control group (22.9 \u00b1 3.09 \u00b5g\/ml versus 17.9 \u00b1 3.91 \u00b5g\/ml; p < 0.01). Insulin, TC and TG levels in the GDM group and the control group were all significantly higher than the control group (p < 0.05). Serum RBP4 levels in the GDM group were correlated with HOMA-IR, TG and blood glucose levels at 1 h and 2 h after glucose was administered (r = 0.49, 0.49, 0.52,0.52, respectively; p < 0.01). In conclusion, serum RBP4 levels are elevated in GDM cases than controls. In addition, RBP4 correlates with abnormalities of insulin resistance, glucose and lipid metabolism.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25517274,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The mothers' experiences in the pediatrics hemodialysis unit.\nThe need for hemodialysis exerts a deep impact on the lives of children and adolescents with end-stage kidney chronic failure and their mothers, who predominantly assume the care related to treatment. The hemodialysis requires that the mother accompanies the child during sessions at least three times a week and, since it is not a healing practice, they also experience the waiting for a kidney transplant, attributing different meanings to this experience. To understand what it means for the mothers to accompany the child in a Pediatric Hemodialysis Unit and to construct a theoretical model representing this experience. The Symbolic Interactionism was adopted as a theoretical model and the Grounded Theory as a methodological framework. Data were collected through interviews with 11 mothers. The comparative analysis of the data enabled the identification of two phenomena that compose the experience: \"Seeing the child\u00b4s life being sucked by the hemodialysis machine\" expresses the experiences of the mothers that generates new demands to comprehend the new health conditions of their children and \"Giving new meaning to the dependence of the hemodialysis machine\" that represents the strategies employed to endure the experience. The relationship of these phenomena allowed the identification of the main category: \"Having the mother's life imprisoned by the hemodialysis machine\", from which we propose a new theoretical model. The results of the study allow us to provide a theoretical ground for planning an assistance that meets the real needs of the mothers, identifying aspects that require intervention.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37862228,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Prevalence of Brucella melitensis and Brucella abortus Fluoroquinolones Resistant Isolates: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.\nBackground: Brucellosis impact both animals and humans worldwide. However, using antibiotics for brucellosis remains controversial despite decades of research. Relapse can complicate treatment in this area. Since the mid-1980s, microbiologists, and physicians have studied fluoroquinolones' use for treating human brucellosis. The principal advantages of fluoroquinolones are their intracellular antimicrobial activity, low nephrotoxicity, good pharmacokinetics, and the lack of drug-level monitoring. Fluoroquinolones inhibit disease recurrence. In vitro and clinical data were used to study the prevalence of Brucella melitensis and Brucella abortus fluoroquinolone-resistant isolates. Methods: The PubMed, Scopus, Embase, and Web of Science databases were carefully searched until August 6, 2022, for relevant papers. The number of resistant isolates and sample size were used to estimate the proportion of resistant isolates, fitting a model with random effects, and DerSimonian-Laird estimated heterogeneity. Furthermore, meta-regression and subgroup analyses were used to assess the moderators to identify the sources of heterogeneity. Meta-analysis was performed using R software. Results: Forty-seven studies evaluated fluoroquinolone resistance in Brucella spp. Isolates. Fluoroquinolones have shown high in vitro efficacy against Brucella spp. The resistance rates to ofloxacin, sparfloxacin, fleroxacin, pefloxacin, and lomefloxacin were 2%, 1.6%, and 4.6%, respectively. Conclusion: Clinical in vitro tests demonstrated that fluoroquinolones can eradicate Brucella spp. Owing to first-line medication resistance, recurrence, and toxicity, it is essential to standardize the Brucella antimicrobial susceptibility test method for a more precise screening of resistance status. Fluoroquinolones are less resistant to fluoroquinolone-based treatments in modern clinical practice as alternatives to standard therapy for patients with brucellosis relapse after treatment with another regimen and in patients who have developed toxicity from older agents.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12000440,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Is low-intensity anticoagulant therapy possible with an open pivot valve?: analysis of its development.\nIn 1976, the authors became the codevelopers of the first successful bileaflet heart valve which has become the standard in valvular surgery. However, there still remains a significant rate of thromboembolism and thrombosis which can be attributed to the inherent design of cavities in the pivot area. These cavities contribute to stagnant areas that lead to thrombus formation. The literature indicates that this rate is approximately 2% to 2.5% per patient year. To maintain these thromboembolism rates, certain levels of warfarin have had to be used leading to a significant rate of bleeding complications. We present the theory and development of the new generation of heart valves without cavities and with an open semisphere pivot area. Results of 912 years of clinical studies of almost 50,000 valves, as well as additional features that have been incorporated to improve hemodynamics and quality of life for the patient, are discussed. The clinical results of the European Community Certification and U.S. Food and Drug Administration premarket application (PMA) studies also are given. The differences in the pivot area suggest that a reduction in thromboembolism is possible at anticoagulant levels as low as 1.5 international normalization ratio (INR) resulting in virtually no bleeding complications. Midterm clinical results are encouraging, and studies are being conducted presently to eliminate totally anticoagulants in certain patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19031515,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Experimental reactivation of equine herpesvirus-3 following corticosteroid treatment.\nState of latency, well known for several herpesviruses, has been proposed for equine herpesvirus-3 (EHV-3) and supported by epidemiological observations. No detailed assessment about reactivation, patterns of excretion and reexcretion has been formally reported. An experimental reactivation study by corticosteroid treatment in previously naturally infected horses was therefore carried out. Two polo mares with clinical and virologically confirmed history of equine coital exanthema were injected with dexamethasone and prednisolone on 3 successive days. Clinical signs, body temperature and clinical samples for virological and serological studies were obtained daily. Mares did not show any systemic clinical signs or hyperthermia. EHV-3 shedding, seroconversion and the presence of a small lesion were observed in one of the mares under study 2 weeks after corticosteroid treatment. The results demonstrate that this virus exhibits a latency-reactivation behaviour similar to that of other alpha herpesviruses. Reactivation of latency may have an important bearing on the appearance of clinical signs in mares and\/or stallions during the breeding season without the actual evidence of transfer from mare to stallion or vice versa.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15264680,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Pure primary prostate transitional cell carcinoma. A review of our series].\nPrimary prostate transitional cell carcinoma is a very uncommon tumor, that represents about 1% of all prostate tumours. In our institution, only six patients have been diagnosed with pure transitional cell prostate carcinoma until 2002. Bladder origin of the neplasic was ruled out in all cases. We report a study about the progression and survival of prostate transitional cell carcinoma. These prostatic tumours carry a poor prognostic (median survival is 4.6 months) with a strong tendency to metastatic spread. Therefore, we suggest a radical prostatectomy (without cystectomy) when it rules out bladder origin tumour.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28728508,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Immunodeficiency and autoimmunity coming together: a nearly missed diagnosis.\nThe coexistence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) appears to be unusual and the prevalence of patients who carry the dual diagnosis is currently unknown. We hereby present a case of a C4 deficient HIV-1 positive Caucasian female under highly active antiretroviral therapy for the past eight years, admitted to hospital with an aggressive and potentially fatal clinical presentation of SLE. There was a favorable outcome despite a significant diagnostic delay. Despite its rarity, the case highlights that this association is remarkable and may be overlooked by clinicians familiar with either condition.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12017516,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-26":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sensitivity of different ADL measures to apraxia and motor impairments.\nTo determine whether specifically designed activities of daily living (ADL) observations can measure disability due to apraxia with more sensitivity than the Barthel ADL Index, a conventional functional scale. Cross-sectional study. Rehabilitation centres and nursing homes. One hundred and six left hemisphere stroke patients with apraxia, hospitalized in rehabilitation centres and nursing homes. ADL observations, Barthel ADL Index, an apraxia test, Motricity Index, Functional Motor Test. Multivariate analyses showed that the specific ADL observations were associated with severity of apraxia (and not with motor impairments). The Barthel ADL Index was associated with motor impairments (and not with severity of apraxia). The assessment of disability in stroke patients with apraxia cannot rely only on the Barthel ADL Index. In addition, the specific ADL observation procedure is needed to measure disability due to apraxia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34237115,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Definition of the immune evasion-replication interface of rabies virus P protein.\nRabies virus phosphoprotein (P protein) is a multifunctional protein that plays key roles in replication as the polymerase cofactor that binds to the complex of viral genomic RNA and the nucleoprotein (N protein), and in evading the innate immune response by binding to STAT transcription factors. These interactions are mediated by the C-terminal domain of P (PCTD). The colocation of these binding sites in the small globular PCTD raises the question of how these interactions underlying replication and immune evasion, central to viral infection, are coordinated and, potentially, coregulated. While direct data on the binding interface of the PCTD for STAT1 is available, the lack of direct structural data on the sites that bind N protein limits our understanding of this interaction hub. The PCTD was proposed to bind via two sites to a flexible loop of N protein (Npep) that is not visible in crystal structures, but no direct analysis of this interaction has been reported. Here we use Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, and molecular modelling to show N protein residues, Leu381, Asp383, Asp384 and phosphor-Ser389, are likely to bind to a 'positive patch' of the PCTD formed by Lys211, Lys214 and Arg260. Furthermore, in contrast to previous predictions we identify a single site of interaction on the PCTD by this Npep. Intriguingly, this site is proximal to the defined STAT1 binding site that includes Ile201 to Phe209. However, cell-based assays indicate that STAT1 and N protein do not compete for P protein. Thus, it appears that interactions critical to replication and immune evasion can occur simultaneously with the same molecules of P protein so that the binding of P protein to activated STAT1 can potentially occur without interrupting interactions involved in replication. These data suggest that replication complexes might be directly involved in STAT1 antagonism.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36269677,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Lipopolysaccharides and hydrogen peroxide induce contrasting pathological conditions in dental pulpal cells.\nTo determine the effects of lipopolysaccharides (LPS), hydrogen peroxide (H2 O2 ), and both combined on cell proliferation\/differentiation, inflammation, mitochondrial dynamics as indicated by mitochondrial fission\/fusion, antioxidants as indicated by superoxide dismutase 2 (SOD2), and apoptosis of human dental pulpal cells (HDPCs). Pulpal tissues from eight healthy subjects (n = 8) were collected from Faculty of Dentistry, Chiang Mai University. Isolated HDPCs from healthy donors were divided into four experimental groups: vehicle, 20 \u03bcg\/ml LPS, 400 \u03bcM H2 O2 , and the two combined. All experimental groups were investigated to assess cell proliferation, mineralization, differentiation, inflammation, mitochondrial dynamics, antioxidants, and apoptosis. H2 O2 and combined agents decreased cell proliferation of HDPCs equally. LPS, H2 O2, and both combined decreased mineralization and differentiation with an increase in tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-\u03b1) levels. Surprisingly, LPS and combined agents increased SOD2 expression and caused an imbalance in mitochondrial dynamics. A significant increase in apoptosis was observed in the case of H2 O2 and combined agents. These findings suggest that LPS induced inflammation, imbalanced mitochondrial dynamics, and reduced cell differentiation without altering apoptosis and cell proliferation. However, H2 O2 decreased cell proliferation, and differentiation, and increased inflammation, and apoptosis without interfering with mitochondrial dynamics. Based on our findings, combining LPS and H2 O2 could be potentially used as the inducers in in vitro study to mimic the clinical pulpitis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9559408,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Tuberculosis due to drug-resistant Mycobacterium bovis in pregnancy.\nWe describe the management practices adopted in a case of pulmonary and extra-pulmonary tuberculosis caused by an isoniazid\/pyrazinamide resistant strain of Mycobacterium bovis in a 26-week pregnant woman. She was initially treated with rifampin, isoniazid and ethambutol, pre-term delivery was induced and streptomycin was then added to the regimen. Screening of the new-born revealed no signs of either disease or infection. Isoniazid prophylaxis was not administered and the new-born was vaccinated and isolated from the mother for two months; however she continued to be fed with her mother's milk for the whole period.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17176181,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Development and initial validation of an instrument to measure perceived coercion to enter treatment for substance abuse.\nThe present study involved 3 phases that led to the development and initial validation of the Perceived Coercion Questionnaire (PCQ), a scale that researchers use to measure perceptions of coercion of drug and alcohol users to enter drug and alcohol treatment. In Phase 1, the authors used focus groups to generate 48 pilot items. In Phase 2, the items were administered to a sample of 158 drug and alcohol users who were in residential treatment within a therapeutic community setting. Item and exploratory factor analyses reduced the number of items to 32, which represented 6 homogeneous and internally reliable subscales. In Phase 3, the PCQ was administered to a second sample of 362 drug and alcohol users. Confirmatory factor analysis led to a final scale of 30 items across 6 subscales that demonstrated sound consistency and validity. Implications for research and practice are highlighted.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18586999,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Examining relationships between receiving mental health services in the Pennsylvania prison system and time served.\nThis study examined a cohort of 7,046 men who were released from the Pennsylvania State prison system between 1999 and 2002 to Philadelphia County to assess the relationships between receipt of mental health services in prison and prison exit. Administrative data on prison stays for 7,046 men released from Pennsylvania prisons to Philadelphia locations were analyzed. Of the 7,046 men, 8.7% received ongoing or intensive mental health services and 25.9% received mental health services while incarcerated. Multivariate analyses indicate that use of mental health services was positively associated with increased odds of serving the full prison sentence (as opposed to receiving parole), although the relationship between mental health services received and length of prison episode was inconclusive. Dynamics related to prison release warrant further attention in efforts to reduce the prevalence of mental illness in prisons and to facilitate community reentry for persons so diagnosed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8341948,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Ogilvie's syndrome and non-mechanical obstructions].\nOgilvie's syndrome and chronic intestinal pseudo-obstructions are two aspects of non-mechanical obstruction. The syndrome consists of acute colonic obstruction due to multiple causes and is characterized by passive dilatation of the colon without downstream obstacle. Treatment is primarily medical, except in cases with complications such as perforation by symptomatic treatment and, sometimes, by decompression colonoscopy. The most severe complication is perforation of the colon which may require colonic excision. Chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction is characterized by chronic disorders mostly due to abnormalities of nervous plexuses and smooth muscle of the small and large bowels. It occurs in children and surgical abstention may lead to repeated but unfortunately ineffective operations. The only treatment recognized is digestive tract bypass combined with total parenteral feeding.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28251380,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Identification of host factors potentially involved in RTM-mediated resistance during potyvirus long distance movement.\nThe long distance movement of potyviruses is a poorly understood step of the viral cycle. Only factors inhibiting this process, referred to as \"Restricted TEV Movement\" (RTM), have been identified in Arabidopsis thaliana. On the virus side, the potyvirus coat protein (CP) displays determinants required for long-distance movement and for RTM-based resistance breaking. However, the potyvirus CP was previously shown not to interact with the RTM proteins. We undertook the identification of Arabidopsis factors which directly interact with either the RTM proteins or the CP of lettuce mosaic virus (LMV). An Arabidopsis cDNA library generated from companion cells was screened with LMV CP and RTM proteins using the yeast two-hybrid system. Fourteen interacting proteins were identified. Two of them were shown to interact with CP and the RTM proteins suggesting that a multiprotein complex could be formed between the RTM proteins and virions or viral ribonucleoprotein complexes. Co-localization experiments in Nicotiana benthamiana showed that most of the viral and cellular protein pairs co-localized at the periphery of chloroplasts which suggests a putative role for plastids in this process.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35343254,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Efficacy of Drug-Eluting Beads Transarterial Chemoembolization Plus Camrelizumab Compared With Conventional Transarterial Chemoembolization Plus Camrelizumab for Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma.\nThe purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy and safety of drug-eluting beads transarterial chemoembolization plus camrelizumab (D-TACE-C) with conventional transarterial chemoembolization plus camrelizumab (C-TACE-C) in the treatment of patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This was a retrospective study that evaluated the consecutive medical records of patients with unresectable HCC who had undergone D-TACE-C or C-TACE-C from April 2020 to August 2021. Efficacy of treatment was evaluated using tumor response, progression-free survival (PFS) and survival rates. The adverse events were recorded. A total of 54 patients were included in this study, including 27 patients who had received D-TACE-C treatment, and 27 patients who had received C-TACE-C treatment. The median PFS and DCR in the D-TACE-C group were significantly longer than those for the C-TACE-C group (PFS: 10 vs. 3 months, P=.017; DCR: 70.4% vs. 40.7%, P = .028). Cox regression analysis showed that D-TACE-C was the only protective factor for PFS. The 6-month and 12-month survival rates in D-TACE-C group and C-TACE-C group were 85.2% versus 79.4% (P = .646) and 65.2% versus 65.1% (P = .903), respectively. Reactive cutaneous capillary endothelial proliferation was the most common adverse event associated with the treatment. There was no significant difference in the adverse events related to TACE and camrelizumab between the two groups. No treatment-related deaths occurred in this study. D-TACE-C is a safe and well-tolerated treatment, and may produce better PFS and tumor response in patients with unresectable HCC than C-TACE-C.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21752170,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Linn\u00e9's floral clock is slow without pollinators--flower closure and plant-pollinator interaction webs.\nTemporal patterns of flower opening and closure within a day are known as Linn\u00e9's floral clock. Time of flower closure has been explained mainly by light in the traditional botanical literature. We show with a set of experiments that Asteraceae flower heads can close within three hours after pollination, whereas un-pollinated flower heads stay open until the late afternoon. This suggests that closing time strongly depends on pollinators. Using plant-pollinator interaction webs we further demonstrate that the daily pattern of flower opening and the rapid response to pollination can impose strong temporal dynamics on interspecific interactions within a single day. We observed pollinator species turnover and changes in facilitation vs. competition among plants. Our results show for the first time that pollination induces rapid flower closure on the community level. This causes imprecision in Linn\u00e9's floral clock with far-reaching consequences for plant-pollinator interactions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15254639,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2013-20":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The synthesis and properties of oligoribonucleotide-spermine conjugates.\nPolyamines stabilise nucleic acids against chemical and enzymatic degradation, facilitate the formation of secondary and tertiary structures and enhance cellular uptake. Therefore methods for the syntheses of polyamine-nucleic acid conjugates are of interest. A route for the syntheses of RNA-spermine conjugates has been developed. The polyamine was introduced to the C-5 position of uridine via an ethyl tether and the molecule elaborated into a synthon suitable for oligoribonucleotide assembly. The resultant oligomers were components of the hairpin ribozyme. Characterisation of the spermine-conjugated catalytic RNA revealed that attachment of the polyamine was well tolerated in three of four positions, namely U41, U37 and U34, suggesting that conjugation to C-5 brings about minimal structural perturbation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37442979,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-30":1}}},"text":"Safety analysis of new medications in clinical trials: a simulation study to assess the differences between cause-specific and subdistribution frameworks in the presence of competing events.\nSafety is an essential part of the evaluation of new medications and competing risks that occur in most clinical trials are a well identified challenge in the analysis of adverse events. Two statistical frameworks exist to consider competing risks: the cause-specific and the subdistribution framework. To date, the application of the cause-specific framework is the standard practice in safety analyses. Here we analyze how the safety analysis results of new medications would be affected if instead of the cause-specific the subdistribution framework was chosen. We conducted a simulation study with 600 participants, equally allocated to verum and control groups and a 30 months follow-up period. Simulated trials were analyzed for safety in a competing risk (death) setting using both the cause-specific and subdistribution frameworks. Results show that comparing safety profiles in a subdistribution setting is always more pessimistic than in a cause-specific setting. For the group with the longest survival and a safety advantage in a cause-specific setting, the advantage either disappeared or a disadvantage was found in the subdistribution analysis setting. These observations are not contradictory but show different perspectives. To evaluate the safety of a new medication over its comparator, one needs to understand the origin of both the risks and the benefits associated with each therapy. These requirements are best met with a cause-specific framework. The subdistribution framework seems better suited for clinical prediction, and therefore more relevant for providers or payers, for example.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25524371,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Influence of bariatric surgery on the expression of nesfatin-1 in rats with type 2 diabetes mellitus.\nBariatric surgery has been reported to be very effective in the remission of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). However, the mechanism is still under debate. Nesfatin-1, a recently discovered anorexigenic neuropeptide, was reported to be very important in glucose metabolism and regulating food intake. In this study, the effects of bariatric surgery on the expression and regulation of nesfatin-1 were discussed. T2DM was induced in SD rats by a diet high in sugar and fat plus a low dose of streptozotocin (STZ) (25 mg\/kg) injection. Bariatric surgeries, including Roux-En-Y Gastric Bypass (RYGB) and sleeve gastrectomy (SG), were performed on these rats. Two months after the surgery, the plasma nesfatin-1 level and the expression of nesfatin-1 in different organs of the rats were tested. Next, in vivo administration of nesfatin-1 after surgery was performed to investigate the role of nesfatin-1 in bariatric surgery. Both RYGB and SG could reduce the weight of the rats. However, only RYGB had significant effects on the blood glucose level. Neither surgeries seemed to affect the blood concentration of insulin. However, RYGB significantly improved insulin sensitivity. Expression of nesfatin-1 in the plasma and relative organs decreased in T2DM rats and rose again after RYGB; however, this pattern did not occur in SG. Injection of nesfatin-1 after SG significantly improved insulin resistance and reduced blood glucose levels. Nesfatin-1 may improve insulin sensitivity in T2DM rats and thus plays a very important role in the remission of T2DM after RYGB. This neuropeptide could be a new target for directing future improvements in the bariatric surgical process.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17918578,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Influence of attention manipulation on emotion and autonomic responses.\nPsychopathologies such as depression and anxiety have been associated with self-consciousness, a trait focusing on the self in terms of emotions and social images. A technique designed to shift attention away from the self tends to reduce anxiety, so the present purpose was to assess the effect of self body-state information on an individual's emotional and autonomic activity. 24 undergraduate and graduate students (10 men and 14 women), ages 19 to 27 years (M = 22.1, SD = 2.5), were recruited as subjects. Focusing on body-state during an anxiety-inducing situation led to an increase of low to high frequency ratio of heart-rate variability which reflected cardiac sympathovagal balance. That is, attending to one's own bodily states enhanced relative sympathetic activity compared to parasympathetic activity, which can be interpreted as one of the physiological emotional responses elicited by anxiety.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28362106,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Synthesis of a NbO Type Homochiral Cu(II) Metal-Organic Framework: Ferroelectric Behavior and Heterogeneous Catalysis of Three-Component Coupling and Pechmann Reactions.\nA chiral tetracarboxylic acid ligand, H4L, incorporating the (S)-(+)-2-methylpiperazine moiety in its middle, solvothermally forms a homochiral Cu(II) framework, {[Cu2(L)(H2O)2]\u00b7(4DMF)(4H2O)}n (LCu). It forms a non-interpenetrated structure consisting of [Cu2(COO)4] paddle-wheel secondary bonding units (SBUs) with NbO topology. Interestingly, the framework LCu exhibits excellent ferroelectric properties. It shows a remnant polarization (Pr) of \u223c3.5 \u03bcC cm-2 and a coercive field (Ec) of \u223c12 kV cm-1 with a distinct electric hysteresis loop. Dielectric studies of LCu reveal almost frequency-independent behavior with a dielectric constant (\u03b5r) of \u223c42 and a low dielectric loss (tan \u03b4) of \u223c0.04 up to 106 Hz, for potential use in high-frequency applications. In addition, activated framework LCu' having uncoordinated metal sites acts as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst in the three-component coupling of amines, aldehydes, and alkynes, as well as in Pechmann reactions of phenols with \u03b2-ketoesters.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12006074,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Generalized synchronization in directionally coupled systems with identical individual dynamics.\nA simple chaotic flow is presented, which when driven by an identical copy of itself, for certain initial conditions, is able to display generalized synchronization instead of identical synchronization. Being that the drive and the response are observed in exactly the same coordinate system, generalized synchronization is demonstrated by means of the auxiliary system approach and by the conditional Lyapunov spectrum. This is interpreted in terms of changes in the structure of the system stationary points, caused by the coupling, which modify its global behavior.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20377145,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The efficacy of low-dose intranasal scopolamine for motion sickness.\nScopolamine is an effective motion sickness prophylactic, but oral and transdermal formulations are slowly absorbed. To enhance absorption and potentially efficacy, an intranasal formulation of scopolamine (INSCOP) was tested. There were 16 motion sickness susceptible subjects with an average age of 23.5 +\/- 3.0 yr and an average score of 11.3 +\/- 4.7 on the Modified Motion Sickness Susceptibility Questionnaire-Short Form who volunteered to participate in the study. Each subject was given 0.4 mg of INSCOP and a placebo in a randomized, double-blind crossover design and, at 40 min post-dose, experienced Coriolis cross-coupling in a staircase progression until moderate nausea. Efficacy data and cognitive, physiological, and alertness assessments were collected during baseline control and throughout experimental testing. Intranasal scopolamine significantly increased the mean number of head movements tolerated [INSCOP 275.9 +\/- 120.5, Placebo 230.7 +\/- 76.4; t (15) = 2.21]. Estimation of medication absorption via plasma concentration indicated the drug was absorbed relatively rapidly to measurable levels by 15 min post-administration. Diastolic blood pressures and heart rate were significantly lower after administration of INSCOP compared to placebo. No significant cognitive or medication side effects were reported. Subjects reported no significant decrease in alertness as indicated by the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale. Results of the current study strongly suggest that intranasal scopolamine is efficacious for the treatment of motion sickness in susceptible individuals with no significant cognitive or sedative effects. Intranasal delivery offers a promising alternative for use in dynamic operational environments without cognitive detriment or increased side effects.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25500493,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Essential oils have different effects on human pathogenic and commensal bacteria in mixed faecal fermentations compared with pure cultures.\nA static batch culture system inoculated with human faeces was used to determine the influence of essential oil compounds (EOCs) on mixed faecal microbiota. Bacteria were quantified using quantitative PCR of 16S rRNA genes. Incubation for 24 h of diluted faeces from six individuals caused enrichment of Bifidobacterium spp., but proportions of other major groups were unaffected. Thymol and geraniol at 500 p.p.m. suppressed total bacteria, resulting in minimal fermentation. Thymol at 100 p.p.m. had no effect, nor did eugenol or nerolidol at 100 or 500 p.p.m. except for a slight suppression of Eubacterium hallii. Methyl isoeugenol at 100 or 500 p.p.m. suppressed the growth of total bacteria, accompanied by a large fall in the molar proportion of propionate formed. The relative abundance of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii was unaffected except with thymol at 500 p.p.m. The ability of EOCs to control numbers of the pathogen Clostridium difficile was investigated in a separate experiment, in which the faecal suspensions were amended by the addition of pure culture of C. difficile. Numbers of C. difficile were suppressed by thymol and methyl isoeugenol at 500 p.p.m. and to a lesser extent at 100 p.p.m. Eugenol and geraniol gave rather similar suppression of C. difficile numbers at both 100 and 500 p.p.m. Nerolidol had no significant effect. It was concluded from these and previous pure-culture experiments that thymol and geraniol at around 100 p.p.m. could be effective in suppressing pathogens in the small intestine, with no concern for beneficial commensal colonic bacteria in the distal gut.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3082377,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Markers of atresia in ovarian follicular components from rhesus monkeys treated with estradiol-17 beta.\nA new model for the investigation of atresia in rhesus monkeys is presented. This model is based upon the reliable induction of an atresia-like process in the dominant preovulatory follicle (DF) by estradiol-17 beta administered subcutaneously via Silastic capsules for 24 h. Data obtained from follicular contents aspirated from treated animals demonstrated alterations in the putative markers of atresia similar to those described in other models of atresia. Although follicle size and appearance and volume of follicular fluid (FF) were unaltered in treated animals, FF was much more viscous than that aspirated from follicles in untreated animals; this was apparently due to a greater quantity of intercellular matrix that was sensitive to digestion by hyaluronidase. In treated animals, FF concentrations of estrogen (E) and progesterone (P) were depressed 3- and 6.6-fold, respectively. Viability of granulosa cells (GC) from these animals was reduced by 40%, as was their ability to release basal amounts of E and P in vitro. Accumulation of P by GC from treated animals approximated unstimulated control levels when human follicle-stimulating hormone (hFSH) was included in the culture. Therefore, FSH may have a limited capability to \"rescue\" GC from atresia induced by estradiol. The percentage of cells that bound 125I-hFSH maximally, as measured by autoradiography following 72 h in culture, was not altered by treatment. Oocytes from animals treated with estradiol showed signs of degeneration at aspiration, and deteriorated further in culture. This model is unique in that atresia can be induced in the single DF of a primate species, and thus avoids the disadvantages inherent to studying atresia of heterogeneous follicles in polytocous species.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30302578,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effective temperature of active fluids and sheared soft glassy materials.\nThe dynamics within active fluids, driven by internal activity of the self-propelled particles, is a subject of intense study in non-equilibrium physics. These systems have been explored using simulations, where the motion of a passive tracer particle is followed. Similar studies have been carried out for a soft glassy material that is driven by shearing its boundaries. In both types of systems the non-equilibrium motion have been quantified by defining a set of \"effective temperatures\", using both the tracer particle kinetic energy and the fluctuation-dissipation relation. We demonstrate that these effective temperatures extracted from the many-body simulations fit analytical expressions that are obtained for a single active particle inside a visco-elastic fluid. This result provides testable predictions and suggests a unified description for the dynamics inside active systems.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17815623,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Birch's Law: Why Is It So Good?\nBirch's law arises in the physics of solids as a linear approximation, in a certain range of density, of a power law. For a change of chemical composition within the same crystal structure, the velocity-density relation is constant with a slope of nearly -0.5 in the first-order approximation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23334035,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-30":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Comparison of three screening methods to select mixed-microbial inoculum for mixed-acid fermentations.\nUsing a mixed culture of microorganisms, the carboxylate platform converts biomass into hydrocarbons and chemicals. To develop a method that identifies the highest performing inoculum for carboxylate fermentations, five bacterial communities were screened and ranked by three fermentation performance tests: (1) 30-day batch screen, (2) 28-day continuum particle distribution model (CPDM), and (3) 5-month continuous countercurrent fermentation trains. To screen numerous inocula sources, these tests were used sequentially in an aseptic environment. For the batch-fermentation screen, Inoculum 1 achieved the highest conversion. For the CPDM evaluation, the operating map for Inoculum 1 had the highest performance. For the continuous countercurrent fermentation, the train resulting from Inoculum 1 was among the best performers. This study suggests that the three screens are a useful and predictive method for choosing optimal inocula sources. The bacterial community with optimal performance in these three screens could be considered for use in commercial-scale fermentations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28703589,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Metabolic Pathways Regulated by Chitosan Contributing to Drought Resistance in White Clover.\nIncreased endogenous chitosan (CTS) could be associated with improved drought resistance in white clover (Trifolium repens). Plants were pretreated with or without 1 mg\/mL CTS and then were subjected to optimal or water-limited condition in controlled growth chambers for 6 days. Phenotypic and physiological results indicated that exogenous CTS significantly improved drought resistance of white clover. Metabolome results showed that exogenous CTS induced a significant increase in endogenous CTS content during dehydration accompanied by the maintenance of greater accumulation of sugars, sugar alcohols, amino acids, organic acids, and other metabolites (ascorbate, glutathione, flavonoids, putrescine, and spermidine). These compounds are associated with osmotic adjustment, antioxidant defense, stress signaling, and energy metabolism under stress condition. Similarly, transcriptome revealed that many genes in relation to amino acid and carbohydrate metabolism, energy production and conversion, and ascorbate-glutathione and flavonoid metabolism were significantly up-regulated by CTS in response to dehydration stress. CTS-induced drought resistance was associated with the accumulation of stress protective metabolites, the enhancement of ascorbate-glutathione and tricarboxylic acid cycle, and increases in the \u03b3-aminobutyric acid shunt, polyamine synthesis, and flavonoids metabolism contributing to improved osmotic adjustment, antioxidant capacity, stress signaling, and energy production for stress defense, thereby maintaining metabolic homeostasis under dehydration stress.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12008667,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Family history and colorectal cancer screening: a survey of physician knowledge and practice patterns.\nRisk stratification is essential to effective implementation of colorectal cancer (CRC) screening strategies. The objectives of this study were to assess and compare the current knowledge and practice patterns of gastroenterologists and primary care physicians regarding familial risk of CRC. We conducted a survey of regional gastroenterologists and a sample of university- and community-based primary care physicians. The survey instrument assessed physician knowledge of screening recommendations and current practices for individuals with family histories of CRC, adenomatous polyps (APs), familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), and hereditary nonpolyposis cancer (HNPCC). The instrument also elicited data about familial risk assessment, documentation, and notification of at-risk family members. Thirty-five gastroenterologists (65%) and 58 primary care physicians (92%) completed the survey. Most gastroenterologists and primary care physicians (85% vs 72%) chose age 40 as the appropriate age to begin screening for a family history of CRC, but relatively few (37% vs 36%) recommended screening at age 40 for a family history of APs. Gastroenterologists were significantly more likely to recommend screening for FAP at puberty (80% vs 27%, p < 0.001) and for HNPCC at age 25 (73% vs 50%, p = 0.04). Colonoscopy was the preferred screening strategy by both groups for family histories of CRC (97%), HNPCC (97%), and APs (77%); primary care physicians also preferred colonoscopy for family histories of CRC (72%) and HNPCC (76%) but flexible sigmoidoscopy plus fecal occult blood testing for a family history of APs (38%). Gastroenterologists were more likely to recommend genetic testing for persons at risk of FAP (91% vs 71%, p = 0.03) and HNPCC (72% vs 57%, p = 0.18), routinely inquire about a family history of CRC or APs (93% vs 63%, p < 0.001), and recommend notification of at-risk first-degree relatives with family histories of CRC (94% vs 55%, p < 0.001) or AP (53% v.s 6%, p < 0.001). Although gastroenterologists are more likely than primary care physicians to elicit a family history of colorectal neoplasia and implement appropriate screening strategies, overall compliance with recommended guidelines and notification of at-risk relatives are suboptimal. Novel approaches for improving awareness of the available screening guidelines are needed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36279884,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Postdiagnosis body fatness, weight change and breast cancer prognosis: Global Cancer Update Program (CUP global) systematic literature review and meta-analysis.\nPrevious evidence on postdiagnosis body fatness and mortality after breast cancer was graded as limited-suggestive. To evaluate the evidence on body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, waist-hip-ratio and weight change in relation to breast cancer prognosis, an updated systematic review was conducted. PubMed and Embase were searched for relevant studies published up to 31 October, 2021. Random-effects meta-analyses were conducted to estimate summary relative risks (RRs). The evidence was judged by an independent Expert Panel using pre-defined grading criteria. One randomized controlled trial and 225 observational studies were reviewed (220 publications). There was strong evidence (likelihood of causality: probable) that higher postdiagnosis BMI was associated with increased all-cause mortality (64 studies, 32 507 deaths), breast cancer-specific mortality (39 studies, 14 106 deaths) and second primary breast cancer (11 studies, 5248 events). The respective summary RRs and 95% confidence intervals per 5 kg\/m2 BMI were 1.07 (1.05-1.10), 1.10 (1.06-1.14) and 1.14 (1.04-1.26), with high between-study heterogeneity (I2 = 56%, 60%, 66%), but generally consistent positive associations. Positive associations were also observed for waist circumference, waist-hip-ratio and all-cause and breast cancer-specific mortality. There was limited-suggestive evidence that postdiagnosis BMI was associated with higher risk of recurrence, nonbreast cancer deaths and cardiovascular deaths. The evidence for postdiagnosis (unexplained) weight or BMI change and all outcomes was graded as limited-no conclusion. The RCT showed potential beneficial effect of intentional weight loss on disease-free-survival, but more intervention trials and well-designed observational studies in diverse populations are needed to elucidate the impact of body composition and their changes on breast cancer outcomes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35362635,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The ecosystem impacts of dominant species exclusion in a prairie restoration.\nDominant species often have disproportionately high abundance in restored communities compared to native remnants, which potentially could reduce the conservation value of restorations. Research is needed to determine how the abundance of dominant species in restoration plantings affects community assembly, species diversity, and ecosystem function. Most studies of dominant species in grasslands were modeled after experiments on keystone species, using the short-term experimental removal of dominants to test their functional role in ecosystems. However, the removal of established dominants constitutes a major disturbance that may influence the interpretation of their long-term functional impact. To address this, we experimentally assembled high-diversity tallgrass prairie communities that included or excluded the predicted dominant species (Andropogon gerardii and Sorghastrum nutans) from the seed mix at the time of planting, but without further manipulation of community composition. From 2013 to 2019, we measured several ecosystem functions and community dynamics in the presence or absence of dominants. Communities that included the dominant species had lower species richness, greater aboveground biomass, and reduced light availability at the soil surface. Dominant species presence also increased soil nutrient availability and rates of litter decomposition, although dominant grass litter decomposed more slowly than litter from other common species in both treatments. In the absence of the dominant grasses, communities were instead dominated by a common unplanted forb, Solidago altissima, and there was partial compensation in ecosystem functioning in these forb-dominated communities. The effects of dominant species exclusion may only be apparent in long-term studies of experimentally assembled communities that avoid the legacy effects associated with removal experiments. Furthermore, our results suggest that prairie restorations that limit or exclude the dominant grasses in seed mixes may achieve higher species diversity, increasing the conservation value of these systems.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30092913,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Molecular characterisation of oestrogen receptor ER\u03b1 and the effects of bisphenol A on its expression during sexual development in the Chinese giant salamander (Andrias davidianus).\nThe aim of this study was to characterise the molecular structure of the oestrogen receptor ER\u03b1 and to evaluate the effect of bisphenol A (BPA) on ER\u03b1 expression during sexual development of the Chinese giant salamander (Andrias davidianus). The ER\u03b1 cDNA of A. davidianus includes an open reading frame of 1755bp (encoding 584 amino acids), a 219-bp 5' untranslated region (UTR) and a 611-bp 3'UTR. A polyadenylation signal was not found in the 3'UTR. Amino acid sequence analysis showed high homology between ER\u03b1 of A. davidianus and that of other amphibians, such as Andrias japonicas (99.66% identity) and Rana rugose (81.06% identity). In 3-year-old A. davidianus, highest ER\u03b1 expression was observed in the liver and gonads. During different developmental stages in A. davidianus (from 1 to 3 years of age), ER\u03b1 expression in the testes increased gradually. ER\u03b1 was localised in the epithelial cells of seminiferous lobules and in interstitial cells. ER\u03b1-positive cells were more abundant in the interstitial tissue during testicular development. ER\u03b1 was located in the nucleus of oocytes during ovary development. We found that the sex of 6-month-old A. davidianus larvae could not be distinguished anatomically. The sex ratio did not change after larvae were treated with 10\u03bcM BPA for 1 month. However, BPA treatment reduced bodyweight and ER\u03b1 expression in the gonads in male larvae.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35360576,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Temperament Types at Age 3 and Smartphone Overdependence at Age 10.\nFew studies have addressed the longitudinal links between early temperament types and later problematic smartphone use. This study aims to identify children's early temperament types at age 3 and to examine the link between the temperament types and smartphone overdependence at age 10. This study utilized a population-based data set presented by the Panel Study on Korean Children. Based on emotionality, activity, and sociability levels at age 3, children were clustered into similar temperament types. Links between the early temperament types and the risks of smartphone overdependence at age 10 were identified through analyses of covariances and binary logistic regressions. Three early temperament types were identified among Korean children: reactive (28.1%), sociable (37.2%), and cautious (34.8%). Children's smartphone dependence at age 10 differed according to the temperament types identified at age 3. Compared to children with the sociable temperament type, children with the reactive type or the cautious type had an increased risk of smartphone overdependence. The link between temperament types at age 3 and smartphone overdependence at age 10 was meaningful. The cautious children were the most vulnerable group to the risk of smartphone overdependence. Temperament type identification in early years may be a useful measure for screening groups of children who are at risk for problematic smartphone use and need proactive interventions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37851758,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Improvement project to reduce surgical site infections: a retrospective cohort study.\nSurgical site infections are one of the main problems related to health care. In Brazil, they are responsible for 14 to 16% of infections related to health care. This study sought to analyze the effect of implementing a package of measures to reduce surgical site infections (SSI) in heart surgeries, kidney transplants and herniorrhaphies and to evaluate adherence to the safe surgery checklist in a university hospital. this is a retrospective cohort study with data collection in a time series for the period from 2018 to 2020. we analyzed 222 medical records referring to the surgeries under study performed in the year 2020, in which data were collected from the patients and the care package prevention measures. SSI data and adherence to the safe surgery checklist were analyzed in the years 2018, 2019 and 2020, totaling 268, 300 and 222 procedures analyzed, respectively. the study showed a significant reduction in the SSI rate with greater adherence to the protocol, which was not maintained and was influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, the sustainability of this action represents a challenge to be overcome, in order to establish a safer environment for the patient and a better quality of service.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6747679,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Functional maturation of tactile sensory fibers in the kitten.\nThe maturation of tactile coding capacities was investigated in sensory fibers supplying the forelimb footpads in anesthetized kittens. Fibers were isolated by microdissection from the median or ulnar nerves of neonatal kittens (1st to 5th postnatal day) and kittens in the age categories 10-15, 25-30, 55-63, and 83-90 days. The use of quantitative, reproducible tactile stimuli, in particular, cutaneous vibration, and objective analytical procedures enabled response parameters to be quantified and compared at different ages with those of adult fibers. While three classes of myelinated tactile sensory fibers are associated with the footpads in adult cats, one of them slowly adapting (SA) and two, the rapidly adapting (RA) and pacinian corpuscle (PC) classes, showing pure dynamic sensitivity, this breakdown into three classes is not apparent until 10-15 days after birth. In all age groups, the SA fibers displayed responses that were graded depending on the magnitude of the skin indentation. However, in younger kittens (less than 25-30 days) plateau levels of response were sometimes attained over a narrow range (0.5 mm) of indentation. From 10-15 days, when RA fibers are identifiable, their sensitivity, as measured by absolute and 1:1 thresholds to cutaneous vibration, was independent of age at low vibration frequencies, less than or equal to 80 Hz. However, at high frequencies, e.g., 200 Hz, their thresholds appeared to decrease during the 1st postnatal month with a resulting expansion in their bandwidth of vibratory sensitivity. At their best frequency, around 30 Hz, RA fibers appear mature by 10-15 days in their capacity for encoding vibratory frequency information. The PC class of tactile afferents displayed the most striking functional changes with age. Their vibratory bandwidths, at 50-micron amplitude, expand from an upper limit of about 200-300 Hz in the neonate to mature values of about 800-1,000 Hz over a 2-mo postnatal period.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6740378,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Atypical lymphocyte in dengue hemorrhagic fever: its value in diagnosis.\nSimple peripheral and buffy coat smear were studied in 40 serological confirmed dengue hemorrhagic fever patients, and in other patients with viral and bacterial infections. Atypical lymphocytosis was found in majority of dengue hemorrhagic fever both associated with secondary and also in dengue fever with primary infection as compared to other infections. The time course relationship of atypical lymphocytosis, platelet and hematocrit level were discussed, concerning their value as diagnostic and prognostic criteria in dengue hemorrhagic fever.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32363945,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Clinical characteristics, treatment patterns, disease burden, and persistence\/adherence in patients with asthma initiating inhaled triple therapy: real-world evidence from Japan.\nObjectives: To help optimize triple therapy use, treatment patterns and disease burden were investigated in patients in Japan with persistent asthma who initiated multi-inhaler triple therapy (inhaled corticosteroid\/long-acting \u03b22-agonist\/long-acting muscarinic antagonist; ICS\/LABA\/LAMA).Methods: This retrospective, observational cohort study using health insurance claims data included adults with persistent asthma who initiated triple therapy in 2016. Patients who were prescribed ICS\/LABA in 2016 were included as an ICS\/LABA-matched cohort. Patients were stratified into those with asthma only and those with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) codes (asthma-COPD overlap [ACO]). Patient data from 1-year prior to 1 year post index date were analyzed.Results: For patients with asthma only in the triple therapy and ICS\/LABA cohorts, baseline demographics were similar. A higher proportion of the triple-therapy cohort than the ICS\/LABA cohort was receiving high-dose ICS at index (68.2% and 27.6%, respectively), and had experienced an exacerbation in the last year (64.0% and 29.4%, respectively). The proportion of patients with asthma only who developed any exacerbation was lower in the year following initiation of triple therapy compared with the year prior to initiation of triple therapy (45.8% vs 64.0%, respectively). For asthma only patients receiving triple therapy, the mean (standard deviation) proportion of days covered and medication possession ratio was 0.51 (0.36) and 0.86 (0.16), respectively. Similar trends were seen in patients with ACO in the triple-therapy and ICS\/LABA cohorts.Conclusion: Evidence from this study may serve as a reference for the use of inhaled triple therapy for asthma.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34413247,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Weight Loss Interventions for Adolescents With Intellectual Disabilities: An RCT.\nIn this randomized trial, we compared the effectiveness of 2 diets (enhanced stop light diet [eSLD] versus conventional meal plan diet [CD]) and 2 delivery strategies (face-to-face [FTF] versus remote delivery [RD]) on weight loss across 6 months in adolescents with intellectual and developmental disabilities who were overweight or obese. Participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 arms (FTF\/CD, RD\/CD, or RD\/eSLD) and asked to attend one-on-one sessions with a health educator every 2 weeks to aid in maintaining compliance with recommendations for a reduced-energy diet and increased physical activity. The CD followed the US dietary guidelines. The eSLD used the stop light guide and was enhanced with portion-controlled meals. The FTF arm was delivered during in-person home visits. The RD arms were delivered by using video conferencing. A total of 110 adolescents with intellectual and developmental disabilities (aged \u223c16 years, 53% female, BMI 33) were randomly assigned to the FTF\/CD (n = 36), RD\/CD (n = 39), or RD\/eSLD (n = 35) group. Body weight at 6 months was obtained from 97%, 100%, and 86% of participants in the FTF\/CD, RD\/CD, and RD\/eSLD arms, respectively. The eSLD elicited significantly greater weight loss than the CD: RD\/eSLD (-5.0 \u00b1 5.9 kg; -6.4%) versus RD\/CD (-1.8 \u00b1 4.0 kg; -2.4%) (P = .01). However, weight loss did not differ by delivery strategy: FTF\/CD (-0.3 \u00b1 5.0 kg; -0.2%) versus RD\/CD (-1.8 \u00b1 4.0 kg; -2.4%) (P = .20). The eSLD elicited significantly greater 6-month weight loss compared with a CD when both interventions were delivered remotely. Minimal 6-month weight loss, which did not differ significantly between FTF delivery and RD, was observed with a CD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17882822,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Turpentine baths in rehabilitation of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease].\nWe have investigated effects of turpentine baths with white emultion, yellow solution and mixed on the course of inflammation, immunocompetent system, external respiration function, pulmonary cardiohemodynamics, physical performance in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. We developed differential indications for each bath variant depending on the features of a clinical picture of the disease, comorbid pathology and revealed contraindications to their administration.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15243652,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Glutamatergic neurotransmission, depression and antidepressants].\nDepression is a psychiatric disorder that affects 20% of the population. Despite the efforts aimed to identify the mechanisms underlying its behavioral and affective symptoms, no consensus has been reached. In the last years two new theories, the glutamatergic and the genomic ones, have been proposed. Upon the first, the exposition to stressful stimuli increases hippocampal glutamatergic neurotransmission and triggers excitotoxic changes. The second one postulates that depression is closely correlated with neuronal atrophy due to a decrease in BDNF. The aim of this work is to review recent findings about the glutamatergic neurotransmission and its implication in animal models of depression, depressed patients and in both conditions after the antidepressant treatment. We also tried to identify possible links between these observations and the genomic theory.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25505835,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Frequency of the allelic variant c.1150T > C in exon 10 of the fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) gene is not increased in patients with pathogenic mutations and related chondrodysplasia phenotypes.\nMutations in the FGFR3 gene cause the phenotypic spectrum of FGFR3 chondrodysplasias ranging from lethal forms to the milder phenotype seen in hypochondroplasia (Hch). The p.N540K mutation in the FGFR3 gene occurs in \u223c70% of individuals with Hch, and nearly 30% of individuals with the Hch phenotype have no mutations in the FGFR3, which suggests genetic heterogeneity. The identification of a severe case of Hch associated with the typical mutation c.1620C > A and the occurrence of a c.1150T > C change that resulted in a p.F384L in exon 10, together with the suspicion that this second change could be a modulator of the phenotype, prompted us to investigate this hypothesis in a cohort of patients. An analysis of 48 patients with FGFR3 chondrodysplasia phenotypes and 330 healthy (control) individuals revealed no significant difference in the frequency of the C allele at the c.1150 position (p = 0.34). One patient carrying the combination `pathogenic mutation plus the allelic variant c.1150T > C' had a typical achondroplasia (Ach) phenotype. In addition, three other patients with atypical phenotypes showed no association with the allelic variant. Together, these results do not support the hypothesis of a modulatory role for the c.1150T > C change in the FGFR3 gene.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9156783,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evidence for GAP-43 within descending spinal axons in the North American opossum, Didelphis virginiana.\nWe have shown previously that GAP-43, a growth associated protein characteristically present in growing and regenerating axons, is relatively abundant in the spinal cord of adult opossums. In the present study, we combined the orthograde transport of the fluorescent marker Fluoro-Ruby with immunofluorescence for GAP-43 to determine if any of it is present within descending spinal axons. When Fluoro-Ruby was injected into the red nucleus and midbrain tegmentum, the medial pontine or medullary reticular formation, the medullary raphe or the lateral vestibular nucleus, axons were labeled in the expected areas of the spinal cord, but in most cases none showed evidence for GAP-43. In two of the four cases with rubral injections, however, a few labeled axons within the rubrospinal tract showed GAP-43 immunofluorescence, and in one case with an injection of the gigantocellular reticular nucleus and adjacent raphe, labeled axons within lamina IX immunostained for the protein. Since serotoninergic neurons are present within the gigantocellular reticular nucleus and adjacent raphe, and axons of the same phenotype are abundant within lamina IX, we asked whether serotoninergic axons contain GAP-43. When sections of the spinal cord were immunostained for both serotonin and GAP-43, many axons within lamina IX showed evidence for both substances. Such axons appeared to contact presumptive motoneurons. In cases with Fluoro-Ruby injections of the forelimb motor cortex, labeled axons were present within the pyramidal tract, and some of them showed evidence for GAP-43.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17180742,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Immunohistochemical localization of estrogen receptors ERalpha and ERbeta in the spiny mouse (Acomys cahirinus) ovary during postnatal development.\nThis study was designed to determine the expression pattern of estrogen receptor (ER) subtypes in the Acomys cahirinus ovarian cells during its postnatal development. Immunohistochemical studies revealed the presence of ERalpha and ERbeta in germinal epithelium cells and interstitial tissue. Both these ER subtypes were also seen in granulosa cells and oocytes of growing follicles, however, the level of ERbeta expression was higher in comparison with ERalpha. In contrast to ERbeta, ERalpha protein was also present in theca cells. The expression of ERs increased with animals' age, but it decreased during follicular maturation. Moreover, the immunolocalization of ER subtypes in luteal cells showed that not ERbeta, but ERalpha expression is up-regulated throughout corpus luteum development. These immunohistochemical studies demonstrate, for the first time, that ERalpha is also expressed in the mouse granulosa cells and it may be a mediator of estrogen action in granulosa cells proliferation and differentiation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7932396,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Efficacy of CO2 laser surgery in treating squamous intraepithelial lesions. An analysis of clinical and virologic results.\nThis paper reports the clinical and virologic results of CO2 laser treatment for squamous intraepithelial lesions in 154 patients. On the basis of cervical canal involvement, vaporization or conization was performed. Failure rates following the first and second treatments were 4.5% and 0%, respectively. However, human papillomavirus persistence in several women with completely normal follow-up suggests that one of the possible mechanisms of failure could be reexposure of the healing area to a viral reservoir within the \"normal\" epithelium.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26467004,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Optimizing buffering chemistry to maintain near neutral pH of broiler feed during pre-enrichment for Salmonella.\nSalmonella is a human pathogen that can accompany live broilers to the slaughter plant, contaminating fully processed carcasses. Feed is one potential source of Salmonella to growing broilers. Monitoring feed for the presence of Salmonella is part of good agricultural practice. The first step in culturing feed for Salmonella (which may be at low numbers and sub-lethally stressed) is to add it to a pre-enrichment broth which is incubated for 24 h. During the course of pre-enrichment, extraneous bacteria metabolize carbohydrates in some feed and excrete acidic byproducts, causing the pH to drop dramatically. An acidic pre-enrichment pH can injure or kill Salmonella resulting in a failure to detect, even if it is present and available to infect chickens. The objective of this study was to test an array of buffering chemistries to prevent formation of an injurious acidic environment during pre-enrichment of feed in peptone water. Five grams of feed were added to 45 mL of peptone water buffered with carbonate, Tris pH 8, and phosphate buffering ingredients individually and in combination. Feed was subjected to a pre-enrichment at 35\u00b0C for 24 h; pH was measured at 0, 18, and 24 h. Standard phosphate buffering ingredients at concentrations up to 4 times the normal formulation were unable to fully prevent acidic conditions. Likewise, carbonate and Tris pH 8 were not fully effective. The combination of phosphate, carbonate, and Tris pH 8 was the most effective buffer tested. It is recommended that a highly buffered pre-enrichment broth be used to examine feed for the presence of Salmonella.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6159598,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Two kinetically distinct tRNAile isoacceptors in Escherichia coli C6.\nThe isoleucine acceptance of tRNA from Escherichia coli C6 was previously shown to be influenced by the synthetase level (Marashi, F. and Harris, C.L. 1977. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 477, 84-88). We show here that the increased acceptance observed at higher enzyme levels is accompanied by an increase in the aminoacylation of one tRNAile species. Hence, tRNAile, a minor species at low enzyme levels, is a major isoacceptor after full aminoacylation. The two major isoleucine species have been purified using a combination of BD-cellulose, DEAE-Sephadex A-50 and methylated albumin kieselguhr chromatography. tRNAile (1511 pmoles ile\/A260 of tRNA) was found to be slowly acylated, with 2a Vmax one-seventh that observed with tRNAil3le (1475 pmoles ile\/A260). Two-dimensional TLC analysis of RNase T2 digests revealed differences in nucleotide content between the purified tRNAs. These results are discussed in terms of the presence of slow and fast tRNAile species in E. coli.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6915834,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Tinnitus in children with hearing loss.\nThe results are reported of a survey of tinnitus in deaf children in secondary-school age. Of 158 children in five units for the partially hearing and two schools for the deaf. 78 were found to have tinnitus. The tinnitus was constant in two children and intermittent in the remaining 76. The frequency with which the tinnitus occurred, and its duration and loudness, are reported. Some children claimed that tinnitus reduced their hearing ability and speech discrimination. It some, tinnitus was associated with headache or vertigo. When it was unilateral, tinnitus was more commonly on the side of the better-hearing ear. A group of children was defined in whom the tinnitus had features that made it a particularly troublesome symptom.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25518928,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"MicroRNA-26a regulates RANKL-induced osteoclast formation.\nOsteoclasts are unique cells responsible for the resorption of bone matrix. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in the regulation of a wide range of physiological processes. Here, we examined the role of miR-26a in RANKL-induced osteoclastogenesis. The expression of miR-26a was up-regulated by RANKL at the late stage of osteoclastogenesis. Ectopic expression of an miR-26a mimic in osteoclast precursor cells attenuated osteoclast formation, actin-ring formation, and bone resorption by suppressing the expression of connective tissue growth factor\/CCN family 2 (CTGF\/CCN2), which can promote osteoclast formation via up-regulation of dendritic cell-specific transmembrane protein (DC-STAMP). On the other hand, overexpression of miR-26a inhibitor enhanced RANKL-induced osteoclast formation and function as well as CTGF expression. In addition, the inhibitory effect of miR-26a on osteoclast formation and function was prevented by treatment with recombinant CTGF. Collectively, our results suggest that miR-26a modulates osteoclast formation and function through the regulation of CTGF.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17890242,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Rhythmic and light-inducible appearance of clock-associated pseudo-response regulator protein PRR9 through programmed degradation in the dark in Arabidopsis thaliana.\nIn Arabidopsis thaliana, it is currently believed that the members of a small family of PSEUDO-RESPONSE REGULATOR (PRR) proteins, including TOC1 (TIMING OF CAB EXPRESSION 1), coordinately play roles close to the circadian clock. Among these PRR members, the PRR9 gene is unique in that not only does its transcription oscillate diurnally, but it is also rapidly induced by light in a manner dependent on phytochromes. These events at the level of transcription must be crucial for the clock-associated functions of PRR9. Nonetheless, little is known about the expression of the PRR9 protein product itself in plant cells. Here, we show that PRR9 polypeptides themselves oscillate diurnally, and that they accumulate rapidly in response to light. Our work further suggests that the presence of PRR9 polypeptides is controlled through proteasome-mediated programmed degradation in the dark.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28723446,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Critical Review of Outcomes from Radical Cystectomy: Can Complications from Radical Cystectomy Be Reduced by Surgical Volume and Robotic Surgery?\nRadical cystectomy (RC) is a highly complex procedure with multiple risks for perioperative complications. We reviewed the literature to report perioperative outcomes and the incidence of complications in contemporary RC series. We focused on the potential impact of surgical approach and surgeon volume on these outcomes. A systematic literature search was performed in December 2015 using the Medline, Embase, and Web of Science databases for articles published in English between 2005 and 2015. The search strategy included the terms complications, cystectomy, robotic assisted radical cystectomy, and surgical volume, alone or in combination. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses guidelines were followed. Our searches retrieved 49 papers. Open RC (ORC) and robot-assisted RC (RARC) are morbid procedures with consistent risk of perioperative complications (mean weighted incidence: 48.7%; range: 27.0-72.5%). Higher hospital and surgeon volumes were associated with reduced risks of perioperative complications. Prior robotic expertise in radical prostatectomy showed a beneficial protective risk on development of complications after RARC. Surgical volume appears to be a good predictor of safety in ORC and RARC. RARC is associated with reduced estimated blood loss and lower perioperative transfusion rates compared with ORC. Further evidence is needed to support the reproducibility of intracorporeal diversion during RARC, beyond large tertiary referral centers. Several strategies have been demonstrated to be effective for reducing the risk of incurring perioperative complications and should be pursued by physicians. Despite improvements in quality of care, RC remains a challenging procedure with high morbidity, regardless of surgical approach. RARC is a safe procedure with potential advantages in terms of reduced blood loss and transfusion rates. Surgical volume appears to be related to the improvement of perioperative outcomes and complications. Radical cystectomy is a challenging and morbid procedure. The robotic approach has gained popularity and proved to be safe and effective in tertiary referral centers, although further studies are needed to confirm its wide reproducibility. Centers with higher surgical volume have lower incidence of perioperative complications.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29555118,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Estradiol and reproduction in the South American toad Rhinella arenarum (Amphibian, Anura).\nRhinella arenarum is a South American toad with wide geographic distribution. Testes of this toad produce high amount of androgens during the non reproductive season and shift steroid synthesis from androgens to 5\u03b1-pregnanedione during the breeding. In addition, plasma estradiol (E2) in males of this species shows seasonal variations but, since testes of R. arenarum do not express aromatase, the source of plasma E2 remained unknown for several years. However, the Bidder's organ (BO), a structure located at one pole of each testis, is proposed to be the main source of E2 in male's toads since it expresses several steroidogenic enzymes and is able to produce E2 from endogenous substrates throughout the year. In addition, there were significant correlations between plasma E2 and total activity of BO aromatase, and between plasma E2 and the amount of hormone produced by the BO in vitro. In the toad, apoptosis induced by in vitro treatment with E2 was mostly detected in spermatocytes during the breeding and in spermatids during the post-reproductive season, suggesting that this steroid has an important role in controlling spermatogenesis. However, in vitro treatment with E2 had no effect on proliferation. This evidence suggests that the mechanism of action of E2 on amphibian spermatogenesis is complex and more studies are necessary to fully understand the role of estrogens regulating the balance between cellular proliferation and apoptosis. In addition, in R. arenarum in vitro studies suggested that E2 has no effect on CypP450c17 protein levels or enzymatic activity, while it reduces 3\u03b2-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase\/isomerase (3\u03b2-HSD\/I) activity during the post reproductive season. As well, E2 regulates FSH\u03b2 mRNA expression all over the year suggesting a down regulation process carried out by this steroid. The effect on LH\u03b2 mRNA is dual, since during the reproductive season estradiol increases the expression of LH\u03b2 mRNA while in the non-reproductive season it has no effect. In conclusion, the effect of E2 on gonadotropins and testicular function is complex, not clearly understood and probably varies depending on the species. The aim of the current article is to review evidence on reproductive endocrinology and on the role of estradiol regulating reproduction in amphibians, with emphasis on the South American species Rhinella arenarum.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37843208,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Skeletal muscle as a molecular and cellular biomarker of disease progression in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a narrative review.\nAmyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a fatal multisystemic neurodegenerative disease with motor neurons being a primary target. Although progressive weakness is a hallmark feature of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, there is considerable heterogeneity, including clinical presentation, progression, and the underlying triggers for disease initiation. Based on longitudinal studies with families harboring amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-associated gene mutations, it has become apparent that overt disease is preceded by a prodromal phase, possibly in years, where compensatory mechanisms delay symptom onset. Since 85-90% of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is sporadic, there is a strong need for identifying biomarkers that can detect this prodromal phase as motor neurons have limited capacity for regeneration. Current Food and Drug Administration-approved therapies work by slowing the degenerative process and are most effective early in the disease. Skeletal muscle, including the neuromuscular junction, manifests abnormalities at the earliest stages of the disease, before motor neuron loss, making it a promising source for identifying biomarkers of the prodromal phase. The accessibility of muscle through biopsy provides a lens into the distal motor system at earlier stages and in real time. The advent of \"omics\" technology has led to the identification of numerous dysregulated molecules in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis muscle, ranging from coding and non-coding RNAs to proteins and metabolites. This technology has opened the door for identifying biomarkers of disease activity and providing insight into disease mechanisms. A major challenge is correlating the myriad of dysregulated molecules with clinical or histological progression and understanding their relevance to presymptomatic phases of disease. There are two major goals of this review. The first is to summarize some of the biomarkers identified in human amyotrophic lateral sclerosis muscle that have a clinicopathological correlation with disease activity, evidence of a similar dysregulation in the SOD1G93A mouse during presymptomatic stages, and evidence of progressive change during disease progression. The second goal is to review the molecular pathways these biomarkers reflect and their potential role in mitigating or promoting disease progression, and as such, their potential as therapeutic targets in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16155195,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"The phenotypic spectrum in patients with arginine to cysteine mutations in the COL2A1 gene.\nThe majority of COL2A1 missense mutations are substitutions of obligatory glycine residues in the triple helical domain. Only a few non-glycine missense mutations have been reported and among these, the arginine to cysteine substitutions predominate. To investigate in more detail the phenotype resulting from arginine to cysteine mutations in the COL2A1 gene. The clinical and radiographic phenotype of all patients in whom an arginine to cysteine mutation in the COL2A1 gene was identified in our laboratory, was studied and correlated with the abnormal genotype. The COL2A1 genotyping involved DHPLC analysis with subsequent sequencing of the abnormal fragments. Six different mutations (R75C, R365C, R519C, R704C, R789C, R1076C) were found in 11 unrelated probands. Each mutation resulted in a rather constant and site-specific phenotype, but a perinatally lethal disorder was never observed. Spondyloarthropathy with normal stature and no ocular involvement were features of patients with the R75C, R519C, or R1076C mutation. Short third and\/or fourth toes was a distinguishing feature of the R75C mutation and brachydactyly with enlarged finger joints a key feature of the R1076C substitution. Stickler dysplasia with brachydactyly was observed in patients with the R704C mutation. The R365C and R789C mutations resulted in classic Stickler dysplasia and spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita (SEDC), respectively. Arginine to cysteine mutations are rather infrequent COL2A1 mutations which cause a spectrum of phenotypes including classic SEDC and Stickler dysplasia, but also some unusual entities that have not yet been recognised and described as type II collagenopathies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6738490,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Experimental study on lymphatic spread in subcutaneously inoculated cancer with special reference to surgery and nutrition].\nTwo strains of ascitic tumor (AH109A, AH272 ) were subcutaneously injected into the foot of normally feed and protein deficient rats to study lymphatic spread of cancer. Survival and incidence of lymphatic metastases were determined following surgery for tumor-inoculated rats. In the normally fed rats, tumor cells were always demonstrated in popliteal lymph nodes 2 hours after AH109A inoculation. Sixty-seven percent survival was obtained in the control rats with amputation of the foot 2 hours after AH109A inoculation whereas 100% survival was obtained in the protein deficient rats with the similar treatment. Moreover 100% survival was achieved in both groups when foot amputation with popliteal lymphadenectomy was performed. On the other hand, no survival was obtained, and obvious distant lymph nodes metastases were observed in the rats in which the popliteal lymph node was excised prior to AH109A inoculation. Similar results were obtained after surgery in the AH272 inoculated rats. These findings suggest that the regional lymph nodes serve as a mechanical and functional barrier against the early spread of cancer cells within the lymphatic systems.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37464660,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Understanding the phase behavior of a protobiomembrane.\nThe rich thermotropic behavior of lipid bilayers is addressed using phenomenological theory informed by many experiments. The most recent experiment not yet addressed by theory has shown that the tilt modulus in DMPC lipid bilayers decreases dramatically as the temperature is lowered toward the main transition temperature T_{M}. It is shown that this behavior can be understood by introducing a simple free energy functional for tilt that couples to the area per molecule. This is combined with a chain melting free energy functional in which the area is the primary order parameter that is the driver of the main transition. Satisfactory agreement with experiment is achieved with values of the model parameters determined by experiments, but the transition is directly into the gel phase. The theory is then extended to include the enigmatic ripple phase by making contact with the most recent experimentally determined ripple structure.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29382338,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Modeling livestock population structure: a geospatial database for Ontario swine farms.\nInfectious diseases in farmed animals have economic, social, and health consequences. Foreign animal diseases (FAD) of swine are of significant concern. Mathematical and simulation models are often used to simulate FAD outbreaks and best practices for control. However, simulation outcomes are sensitive to the population structure used. Within Canada, access to individual swine farm population data with which to parameterize models is a challenge because of privacy concerns. Our objective was to develop a methodology to model the farmed swine population in Ontario, Canada that could represent the existing population structure and improve the efficacy of simulation models. We developed a swine population model based on the factors such as facilities supporting farm infrastructure, land availability, zoning and local regulations, and natural geographic barriers that could affect swine farming in Ontario. Assigned farm locations were equal to the swine farm density described in the 2011 Canadian Census of Agriculture. Farms were then randomly assigned to farm types proportional to the existing swine herd types. We compared the swine population models with a known database of swine farm locations in Ontario and found that the modeled population was representative of farm locations with a high accuracy (AUC: 0.91, Standard deviation: 0.02) suggesting that our algorithm generated a reasonable approximation of farm locations in Ontario. In the absence of a readily accessible dataset providing details of the relative locations of swine farms in Ontario, development of a model livestock population that captures key characteristics of the true population structure while protecting privacy concerns is an important methodological advancement. This methodology will be useful for individuals interested in modeling the spread of pathogens between farms across a landscape and using these models to evaluate disease control strategies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18587138,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nervus medianus evoked potentials and bispectral index during repeated transitions from consciousness to unconsciousness.\nWe investigated the relationship between median nerve somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEPs) and the bispectral index (BIS) during alternating periods of consciousness and propofol-induced unconsciousness. Loss of consciousness (LOC) was repetitively induced by bolus injections of propofol in 24 patients undergoing elective surgery in spinal anaesthesia. SSEP and the BIS were recorded during LOC and recovery of consciousness (ROC). The level of consciousness was clinically assessed by the observer's assessment of alertness\/sedation scale. Propofol venous plasma concentrations were measured simultaneously. At LOC, all SSEPs latency components were prolonged (P<0.001), whereas amplitudes of the components > or = 45 ms were smaller (P=0.008) and the BIS values were lower (P<0.001). None of the EEG variables regained baseline levels during ROC. Regression analyses revealed that the SSEP components (five latencies and five amplitudes) explained 33% of the variance when predicting ROC; the BIS explained 12%. The combination of SSEP and BIS explained 37% of variance in this patient sample. Propofol venous plasma concentration was 1.2 (0.8) microg ml(-1) during LOC and 0.4 (0.5) microg ml(-1) during ROC. The present results indicate the usefulness of combining variables of the evoked and spontaneous EEG to measure different levels of consciousness, because the SSEP provide additional information beyond the BIS. Inter-individual variability of all the EEG variables limits their predictive potency of ROC after propofol infusion.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21142971,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Genetically diverse coronaviruses in captive bird populations in a Brazilian zoological park.\nThis study aimed to investigate the occurrence of coronaviruses (CoVs) in captive birds placed inside a zoological park in Brazil. The role of captive birds in the epidemiology of CoVs in the tropics is poorly understood. A total of 25 (n=25) different species were tested for viral RNA using individual fecal samples collected from healthy birds. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction targeting the 3' untranslated region was used to detect CoV RNA, and positive samples were submitted for sequence analysis. The phylogenetic search revealed nine mutations in the black shouldered peafowl (Pavus cristatus) CoV sequence, which clustered separately from samples previously described in England. This is the first report on the detection of the CoV genome in captive birds in Brazil.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28298148,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Shaking Up Biotech\/Pharma: Can Cues Be Taken from the Tech Industry?\nThe biotech and pharma (biotech\/pharma) industry is in dire need of finding ways to increase efficacy, efficiency, and affordability of its products. The information and technology industry (\"tech\") industry, which is an industry similarly founded on inventions and innovation, may provide some food for thought. This perspective will demonstrate the shift that biotech\/pharma is already making and will propose that the industry has an opportunity to compel change by adopting some aspects of the tech industry with regards to models for technology\/product development and leadership attributes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25283388,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Binding of scandium ions to metalloporphyrin-flavin complexes for long-lived charge separation.\nA porphyrin-flavin-linked dyad and its zinc and palladium complexes (MPor-Fl: 2-M, M=2 H, Zn, and Pd) were newly synthesized and the X-ray crystal structure of 2-Pd was determined. The photodynamics of 2-M were examined by femto- and nanosecond laser flash photolysis measurements. Photoinduced electron transfer (ET) in 2-H2 occurred from the singlet excited state of the porphyrin moiety (H2 Por) to the flavin (Fl) moiety to produce the singlet charge-separated (CS) state (1) (H2 Por(.+) -Fl(.-) ), which decayed through back ET (BET) to form (3) [H2 Por]*-Fl with rate constants of 1.2\u00d710(10) and 1.2\u00d710(9) s(-1) , respectively. Similarly, photoinduced ET in 2-Pd afforded the singlet CS state, which decayed through BET to form (3) [PdPor]*\uf8ffFl with rate constants of 2.1\u00d710(11) and 6.0\u00d710(10) s(-1) , respectively. The rate constant of photoinduced ET and BET of 2-M were related to the ET and BET driving forces by using the Marcus theory of ET. One and two Sc(3+) ions bind to the flavin moiety to form the Fl-Sc(3+) and Fl-(Sc(3+) )2 complexes with binding constants of K1 =2.2\u00d710(5) M(-1) and K2 =1.8\u00d710(3) M(-1) , respectively. Other metal ions, such as Y(3+) , Zn(2+) , and Mg(2+) , form only 1:1 complexes with flavin. In contrast to 2-M and the 1:1 complexes with metal ions, which afforded the short-lived singlet CS state, photoinduced ET in 2-Pd\u22c5\u22c5\u22c5Sc(3+) complexes afforded the triplet CS state ((3) [PdPor(.+) -Fl(.-) \uf8ff(Sc(3+) )2 ]), which exhibited a remarkably long lifetime of \u03c4=110 ms (kBET =9.1 s(-1) ).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25428636,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Surgical aspects of decompression craniectomy in malignant stroke: review.\nSpace-occupying malignant stroke of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) is associated with a high mortality rate of up to 80% under conservative treatment. Although there is convincing evidence that decompression craniectomy can significantly reduce mortality rate and improve neurological outcome in young patients (<60 years), many surgeons are still hesitant to recommend hemicraniectomy for stroke patients. This review addresses some major issues that appear to be an obstacle to decompression craniectomy, in particular, indicating surgery for patients >60 years or with infarcts of the dominant hemisphere. Furthermore, it emphasizes technical issues such as timing and size of the craniectomy, additional temporal lobectomy, and resection of the temporal muscle, as well as duraplasty and cranioplasty. According to the current literature, decompression craniectomy in older patients can increase survival without most severe disabilities, although, most survivors need assistance in most bodily needs. Involvement of the dominant hemisphere results in aphasia that might partly recover in younger patients, although, considering the neuropsychological deficits caused by infarctions of the nondominant hemisphere, involvement of the dominant hemisphere does not pose as a contraindication for decompression craniectomy. Furthermore, there is convincing evidence that surgery should be performed within 48 h after the onset of symptoms and the size of the craniectomy should be at least 12 cm as a minimum. An additional lobectomy or the resection of the temporal muscle, however, can only be part of individual treatment options. Conceding the weak evidence, it is recommended to close the dura by some form of a duraplasty avoiding cerebrospinal fluid leakages or scarring between the cortex and the scalp leading to injuries during reimplantation of the bone-flap. Complications associated with decompression surgery (hemorrhages, infections, 'sinking skin-flap syndrome', cerebrospinal fluid leakages, hydrocephalus, seizures), with the infarction itself, or with those that occur during the ICU course (cardiac and pulmonary complications) appear acceptable and are mostly treatable, especially considering the fatal course of conservative treatment. Key Message: This review summarizes the current state of the literature about decompression craniectomy of patients with malignant stroke addressing, in particular, critical surgical issues, and thus, help surgeons to make decisions confidently for\/or against performing surgery.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29560052,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Variations in Cardiac Arrest Regionalization in California.\nThe development of cardiac arrest centers and regionalization of systems of care may improve survival of patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). This survey of the local EMS agencies (LEMSA) in California was intended to determine current practices regarding the treatment and routing of OHCA patients and the extent to which EMS systems have regionalized OHCA care across California. We surveyed all of the 33 LEMSA in California regarding the treatment and routing of OHCA patients according to the current recommendations for OHCA management. Two counties, representing 29% of the California population, have formally regionalized cardiac arrest care. Twenty of the remaining LEMSA have specific regionalization protocols to direct all OHCA patients with return of spontaneous circulation to designated percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI)-capable hospitals, representing another 36% of the population. There is large variation in LEMSA ability to influence inhospital care. Only 14 agencies (36%), representing 44% of the population, have access to hospital outcome data, including survival to hospital discharge and cerebral performance category scores. Regionalized care of OHCA is established in two of 33 California LEMSA, providing access to approximately one-third of California residents. Many other LEMSA direct OHCA patients to PCI-capable hospitals for primary PCI and targeted temperature management, but there is limited regional coordination and system quality improvement. Only one-third of LEMSA have access to hospital data for patient outcomes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37860286,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Giant primary liposarcoma of the mediastinum: A case report and review of the literature.\nLiposarcoma is a carcinomatous mesenchymal tumor with various histologic features and is the most common soft tissue sarcoma originating in adipose tissue. Liposarcoma commonly occurs in the lower extremities and retroperitoneum but rarely in the mediastinum, specially extending into the thoracic cavity. We report a giant primary liposarcoma of the posterior mediastinum in a 63-year-old female who complained of cough, sputum, and pain in the right chest wall. A computed tomography scan of the chest showed a giant mass of 24 \u00d7 15 \u00d7 24 cm in the posterior mediastinum of the right thoracic cavity. After a thorough examination, no suspected lipomatous lesions were found elsewhere in the patient's body. The patient underwent a thoracotomy to remove the mediastinal mass through a right thoracic approach. Subsequently, hematoxylin-eosin staining revealed dedifferentiated liposarcoma (DDL), immunohistochemistry showed positive expression of cyclin-dependent kinase 4, and murine double minute 2 (MDM2), in addition, fluorescence in situ hybridization for the MDM2 gene was also positive, which suggested DDL. The patient was discharged without any complications, and no metastasis or recurrence was observed after 19 months of follow-up. To provide a reference for clinical diagnosis and treatment, we reviewed and discussed the literature on primary liposarcoma of the mediastinum.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37864647,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"PCNL vs RIRS in management of stones in calyceal diverticulum: outcomes from a global multicentre match paired study that reflects real world practice.\nCalyceal diverticulum (CD) is the outpouching of a calyx into the renal parenchyma, connected by an infundibulum. Often associated with recurrent stones, common surgical options include percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) or retrograde intrarenal surgery (RIRS). We aim to present the real-world practises and outcomes comparing both approaches and the technical choices made. Retrospective data including 313 patients from 11 countries were evaluated. One hundred and twenty-seven underwent mini-PCNL and one hundred and eighty-six underwent RIRS. Patient demographics, perioperative parameters, and outcomes were analysed using either T test or Mann-Whitney U test. Categorical data between groups were analysed using the Chi-squared test. Propensity score matching (PSM) was performed matching for baseline characteristics. Subgroup analyses for anomalous\/malrotated kidneys and difficult diverticulum access were performed. After PSM, 123 patients in each arm were included, with similar outcomes for stone-free rate (SFR) and complications (p < 0.001). Hospitalisation was significantly longer in PCNL. Re-intervention rate for residual fragments (any fragment > 4 mm) was similar. RIRS was the preferred re-intervention for both groups. Intraoperative bleeding was significantly higher in PCNL (p < 0.032) but none required transfusion. Two patients with malrotated anatomy in RIRS group required transfusion. Lower pole presented most difficult access for both groups, and SFR was significantly higher in difficult CD accessed by RIRS (p < 0.031). Laser infundibulotomy was preferred for improving diverticular access in both. Fulguration post-intervention was not practised. The crux lies in identification of the opening and safe access. Urologists may consider a step-up personalised approach with a view of endoscopic combined approach where required.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7943209,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Ontogeny of cationic amino acid transport systems in rat placenta.\nGestational regulation of the placental transfer of amino acids from maternal to fetal circulations is essential for the proper development of the fetus. The cationic amino acid transport systems of the microvillous (maternal facing) and basal (fetal facing) membranes of the rat placental syncytiotrophoblast were examined. Inhibition analysis documented the presence of three kinetically distinct cationic amino acid transport mechanisms: a single Na(+)-dependent mechanism in the microvillous membrane, which increased in activity from 14 to 20 days gestation but was absent from the basal membrane throughout the entire gestational period (system Bo,+), and two Na(+)-independent transport systems in both membrane domains, one that is completely inhibited by leucine, which increased in activity in both the microvillous and basal membrane domains, and the other that is leucine insensitive, which remained fairly constant in the basal membrane and increased throughout gestation in the microvillous membrane (system y1+). Northern analysis with the system y1+ cDNA revealed a specific band of approximately 7.4-7.9 kb, which increased with increasing gestational age.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6364488,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Studies in renal preservation using a rat kidney transplant model: II. The effect of reflushing with citrate.\nThis study investigated the possible beneficial effects of reflushing renal grafts with isotonic citrate solution. Rat kidneys were initially flushed with isotonic citrate or with Hartmann's solutions at O C. After 2 hr, half the kidneys of each group were reflushed with isotonic citrate; 22 hr later, all kidneys were transplanted into rats of the same inbred strain. All animals receiving kidneys flushed with Hartmann's solution died, whereas reflushing such kidneys with isotonic citrate significantly ameliorated the deleterious effects of Hartmann's solution. All animals receiving citrate-flushed kidneys survived with relatively good renal function and morphology. However, reflushing itself is not a beneficial procedure and is only of value where an ineffective preserving solution has been used to flush the kidneys initially. There is evidence that some of the adverse effects of flushing develop in the renal medulla.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15257667,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Speech-in-noise perception in high-functioning individuals with autism or Asperger's syndrome.\nHigh-functioning individuals with autism (HFA) or Asperger's syndrome (AS) commonly report difficulties understanding speech in situations where there is background speech or noise. The objective of this study was threefold: (1) to verify the validity of these reports; (2) to quantify the difficulties experienced; and (3) to propose possible mechanisms to explain the perceptual deficits described. Speech-in-noise perception abilities were measured using speech reception thresholds (SRTs), defined as the speech-to-noise ratio (SNR) at which approximately 50% of the speech is correctly identified. SRTs were measured for 11 individuals with HFA\/AS and 9 age\/IQ-matched normal-hearing control subjects, using an adaptive procedure, in a non-reverberant sound-attenuating chamber. The speech materials were standardised lists of everyday sentences spoken by a British male speaker. The background sounds were: (1) a single female talker; (2) a steady speech-shaped noise; (3) a speech-shaped noise with temporal dips; (4) a steady speech-shaped noise with regularly spaced spectral dips; and (5) a speech-shaped noise with temporal and spectral dips. SRTs for the HFA\/AS group were generally higher (worse) than those for the controls, across the five background sounds. A statistically significant difference in SRTs between the subject groups was found only for those background sounds that contained temporal or spectro-temporal dips. SRTs for the HFA\/AS individuals were 2 to 3.5 dB higher than for the controls, equivalent to a substantial decrease in speech recognition. Expressed another way, the HFA\/AS individuals required a higher SNR, whenever there were temporal dips in the background sound, to perform at the same level as the controls. The results suggest that the speech-in-noise perception difficulties experienced by individuals with autism may be due, in part, to a reduced ability to integrate information from glimpses present in the temporal dips in the noise.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18605784,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Helminths collected from imported pet murids, with special reference to concomitant infection of the golden hamsters with three pinworm species of the genus Syphacia (Nematoda: oxyuridae).\nA total of 210 individuals of 13 species belonging to 4 subfamilies of Muridae imported into Japan as pets were examined; 5 species of Syphacia (Nematoda: Oxyuridae), Aspiculuris tetraptera (Nematoda: Heteroxynematidae), and Rodentolepis nana (Cestoidea: Hymenolepididae) were collected. Concurrent infection with 3 pinworm species, Syphacia mesocriceti, Syphacia stroma, and Syphacia peromysci, was recorded for the first time in the golden hamster, Mesocricetus auratus. Syphacia mesocriceti was also identified in the desert hamster, Phodopus roborovskii, and S. peromysci was recovered from the fat-tailed gerbil, Pachyuromys duprasi, and the Cairo spiny mouse, Acomys cahirinus. From the pygmy mouse, Mus minutoides, an undetermined species closely resembling Syphacia megaloon and Syphacia ohtaorum, both parasitic in Mus spp., was collected. Females of another undetermined Syphacia sp. were observed in the greater Egyptian gerbil, Gerbillus pyramidum. All of the host-Syphacia associations, except S. mesocriceti in the golden hamsters, were recorded for the first time. It is suggested that overlapping breeding situations provided the opportunity for host switching by the pinworms.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28544856,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Recent advances in connective tissue disease related interstitial lung disease.\nInterstitial lung disease (ILD) is a common manifestation of connective tissue disease (CTD). Although the majority of patients with CTD-ILD are stable or slowly progressive, a significant group exhibits a more severe and progressive decline. Interstitial pneumonia with autoimmune features (IPAF) describes the subset of patients with interstitial pneumonia who have features suggesting underlying autoimmunity, but whose features fall short of a clear diagnosis of CTD. Areas covered: In this focused review, we discuss recent advances in early detection, prognostic evaluation, and management of autoimmune forms of ILD. Expert commentary: Early detection of ILD and a better understanding of factors that impact prognostication may be helpful when making decisions regarding therapeutic interventions. The treatment of CTD-ILD should be comprehensive, is often fraught with challenges and can be complicated by comorbid conditions and extra-thoracic disease activities. Several large randomized studies have examined the impact of immunosuppressive therapy for CTD-ILD, however, additional studies are needed to determine the optimal treatment strategies. Future studies may provide additional information about the best treatments in patients with IPAF.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37655662,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Autotaxin suppresses cytotoxic T cells via LPAR5 to promote anti-PD-1 resistance in non-small cell lung cancer.\nNon-small cell lung cancers that harbor concurrent KRAS and TP53 (KP) mutations are immunologically warm tumors with partial responsiveness to anti-PD-(L)1 blockade; however, most patients observe little or no durable clinical benefit. To identify novel tumor-driven resistance mechanisms, we developed a panel of KP murine lung cancer models with intrinsic resistance to anti-PD-1 and queried differential gene expression between these tumors and anti-PD-1-sensitive tumors. We found that the enzyme autotaxin (ATX), and the metabolite it produces, lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), were significantly upregulated in resistant tumors and that ATX directly modulated antitumor immunity, with its expression negatively correlating with total and effector tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T cells. Pharmacological inhibition of ATX, or the downstream receptor LPAR5, in combination with anti-PD-1 was sufficient to restore the antitumor immune response and efficaciously control lung tumor growth in multiple KP tumor models. Additionally, ATX was significantly correlated with inflammatory gene signatures, including a CD8+ cytolytic score in multiple lung adenocarcinoma patient data sets, suggesting that an activated tumor-immune microenvironment upregulates ATX and thus provides an opportunity for cotargeting to prevent acquired resistance to anti-PD-1 treatment. These data reveal the ATX\/LPA axis as an immunosuppressive pathway that diminishes the immune checkpoint blockade response in lung cancer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37853881,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Progression of Pre-Existing Vitiligo during Secukinumab Treatment for Psoriasis.\nVitiligo has been considered an unexplained paradoxical phenomenon during biologics use. Herein, we report an adult case of progression of pre-existing vitiligo during secukinumab treatment for psoriasis, and we also examined the immunohistochemical changes in relation to biologics use. He was being administered monthly secukinumab of 300 mg dose for 2 years, and all psoriatic lesions were cleared, but pre-existing hypopigmented lesions became more distinct and larger than before unlike when using adalimumab. A skin biopsy of the hypopigmented lesion showed loss of epidermal melanocytes and absence of gp100 immune activities, and he was finally diagnosed with progression of pre-existing vitiligo. Immunohistochemical staining of vitiligo lesion showed decrease in interleukin-17 and tumor necrosis factor-\u03b1 and increase in CD8+ T cells, interferon-\u03b3, and CXCL10 after the use of secukinumab. In this study, we suggest that biologics-induced cytokine imbalance play a critical role in vitiligo progression in patients with chronic inflammatory diseases, including psoriasis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28723790,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Relationship of medial gastrocnemius relative fascicle excursion and ankle joint power and work performance during gait in typically developing children: A cross-sectional study.\nMuscle fascicles lengthen in response to chronic passive stretch through in-series sarcomere addition in order to maintain an optimum sarcomere length. In turn, the muscles' force generating capacity, maximum excursion, and contraction velocity is enhanced. Thus, longer fascicles suggest a greater capacity to develop joint power and work. However, static fascicle length measurements may not be taking sarcomere length differences into account. Thus, we considered relative fascicle excursions through passive ankle dorsiflexion may better correlate with the capacity to generate joint power and work than fascicle length. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to determine if medial gastrocnemius relative fascicle excursions correlate with ankle joint power and work generation during gait in typically developing children. A sample of typically developing children (n = 10) were recruited for this study and data analysis was carried out on 20 legs. Medial gastrocnemius relative fascicle excursion from resting joint angle to maximum dorsiflexion was estimated from trigonometric relations of medial gastrocnemius pennation angle and thickness obtained from B-mode real-time ultrasonography. Furthermore, a three-dimensional motion capture system was used to obtain ankle joint work and power during the stance phase of gait. Significant correlations were found between relative fascicle excursion and peak power absorption (-) r(14) = -0.61, P = .012 accounting for 31% variability, positive work r(18) = 0.56, P = .021 accounting for 31% variability, and late stance positive work r(15) = 0.51, P = .037 accounting for 26% variability. The large unexplained variance may be attributed to mechanics of neighboring structures (e.g., soleus or Achilles tendon mechanics) and proximal joint kinetics which may also contribute to ankle joint power and work performance, and were not taken into account. Further studies are encouraged to provide greater insight on the relationship between relative fascicle excursions and joint function.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37467763,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Grafting zwitterionic brushes from the surface of an epoxy-based transparent hydrogel for antifouling performance.\nNon-specific biofilm formation (biofouling) commonly occurs to the surface of biomedical devices, which causes infection to the human tissues and function loss after implantation. To enhance the antifouling properties on the bioinert hydrogel-based biomaterials, a novel surface grafting approach was developed using surface radical chain-transfer reaction mediated by DL-dithiothreitol (DTT), rather than catalyzed by cytotoxic metal ions. Zwitterionic poly(2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine) (PMPC) brushes were grafted on the surface of poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate-co-glycidyl methacrylate) (PHG) to obtain PHG-graft-PMPC (PHG-g-PMPC) hydrogel, which were shown to have tunable surface hydrophilicity while maintaining high water content and transparency. Elemental composition analysis and micromorphology demonstrated the success of surface grafting. Protein adhesion assays were carried out, showing the reduction of bovine serum albumin, lactoferrin, and lysozyme adhesion by \u223c90%, 80%, and 70%, respectively, compared to the pristine hydrogels. Significant resistance of bacterial attachment was observed on the surface-modified hydrogels using gram-negativeEscherichia. coliand gram-positiveStaphylococcus aureus, respectively. The PHG-g-PMPC hydrogel is potentially feasible in various biomedical applications, especially for preventing surface biofouling of ophthalmic implants and devices. Furthermore, this de novo approach provides a universal platform for surface functionalization via thiol-epoxy click chemistry and surface radical chain-transfer reaction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11641131,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Integration of gastric distension and gustatory responses in the parabrachial nucleus.\nPalatable gustatory stimuli promote feeding, whereas gastric distension generally inhibits this behavior. We explored a neural basis for integration of these opposing sensory signals by evaluating the effect of gastric distension on gustatory responses in the parabrachial nucleus (PBN) of anesthetized rats. Sixteen percent of 92 taste cells were coactivated; they responded to independent taste or gastric distension stimulus application. Modulation of taste responses by distension was more prevalent; taste responses declined 37% in response to distension in 25% of the cells and increased by 46% in 10% of cells. Across the whole population, however, the suppressive effect of distension on taste responses was small (6%). The incidence of modulation did not vary as a simple hedonic function of gustatory sensitivity, i.e., similar proportions of sucrose-, citric-acid-, and QHCl-best, but not NaCl-best, neurons were modulated by gastric distension. Coactivated, modulated, and nonmodulated gustatory-responsive cells were intermingled in the gustatory zone of the caudal PBN. The suppression of PBN taste responses by visceral stimulation may reflect a mechanism for satiation and further implicates the PBN in the control of ingestive function.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1702844,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Inactivation of the Moloney murine leukemia virus long terminal repeat in murine fibroblast cell lines is associated with methylation and dependent on its chromosomal position.\nThe expression of a retroviral vector with the Moloney murine leukemia virus (Mo-MuLV) long terminal repeat (LTR) promoter after integration into the genome of murine fibroblast cell lines was monitored with the Escherichia coli-derived beta-galactosidase (beta-gal) gene as the reporter. Monoclonal cell lines derived after retroviral infection exhibited a marked heterogeneity in their expression of the reporter gene. We studied two monoclonal cell lines with a single unrearranged copy of the vector provirus integrated into their genome. The first, BB10, expressed the marker enzyme in only 8% of its cell population, whereas in the second, BB16, beta-gal expression could be detected in over 98% of the cells. Treatment of BB10 with the DNA-demethylating agent 5-azacytidine raised the number of beta-gal-positive cells to over 60%. Transfection experiments showed that the Mo-MuLV LTR promoter-enhancer is potentially fully functional in both the BB10 and BB16 cell lines. The inactivated provirus from BB10 cells was cloned and subsequently used to generate retrovirus stocks. The promoter-enhancer activity of its LTR after infection with these BB10-derived viruses showed a variation similar to that of the original virus stocks. Our data showed that (1) inactivation of the Mo-MuLV LTR is a frequent event in murine fibroblast cell lines, (2) inactivation is associated with de novo methylation of cytidine residues, (3) the frequency of inactivation of the provirus must be determined by its chromosomal position, (4) the process of methylation of sequences within the LTR is not necessarily the same as the transcription-repression mechanism that is operating in undifferentiated embryonal carcinoma cells.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22662453,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Recording violent incidents in the emergency department.\nTo evaluate the quality of record-keeping by nursing staff after violent incidents in one emergency department in the UK. This study was undertaken between August 2007 and May 2009 in the emergency department of one acute NHS hospital. A retrospective documentary analysis of violent incident forms completed by nursing staff (n = 38), semi-structured interviews (n = 9) and periods of non-participatory, unstructured general observation (52 hours) was conducted. From the documentary analysis, 25 incident forms (n = 38, 66%) were incomplete or lacking detail. Semi-structured interviews with study participants suggested that many violent incidents went unreported. It was widely accepted by the participants that the reporting process did not capture the reality of clinical practice, and the lack of a robust reporting process suggested that incident reporting was seen as a low priority. This study's findings support those of previous studies examining the quality of record-keeping in clinical practice. Poor record-keeping is a common breach of the Nursing and Midwifery Council code of conduct, potentially compromising patient safety. Strategies need to be formulated to improve record-keeping. Avoiding individual blame and consideration of the working environment may encourage staff to complete incident forms.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15240342,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Shear stress modulates the interaction of platelet-secreted matrix proteins with tumor cells through the integrin alphavbeta3.\nInteraction of tumor cells with the vascular wall is required for metastasis from the bloodstream. The precise interaction among metastatic cells, circulating platelets, the vessel wall, and physiological flow conditions remains to be determined. In this study, we investigated the interaction of shear on metastatic cell lines adherent to lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated endothelium. Tumor cells were perfused over LPS-treated human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) at incremental venous shear rates from 50 to 800 s(-1). At a venous shear rate of 400 s(-1), 3% of adherent tumor cells formed pseudopodia under shear, a process we termed shear-induced activation. Because platelets promote tumor dissemination, we then investigated the effect of pretreating tumor cells with platelet releasate collected from activated platelet concentrate. We found that in the presence of platelet releasate, the number of tumor cells adhering to HUVECs increased and tumor \"activation\" occurred at a significantly lower shear rate of 50 s(-1). This was inhibited with acetylsalicylic acid. Depletion of fibronectin or vitronectin from the platelet releasate resulted in significantly less adhesion at higher venous shear rates of 600 and 800 s(-1). The integrin alphavbeta3 has been shown to mediate cell adhesion primarily through vitronectin and fibronectin proteins. Inhibition of alphavbeta3, followed by the addition of platelet releasate to the tumor cells, resulted in significantly less adhesion at higher venous shear rates of 600 and 800 s(-1). Collectively, our data suggest that alphavbeta3 promotes the metastatic phenotype of tumor cells through interactions with the secreted platelet proteins vitronectin and fibronectin under venous shear conditions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1695654,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Aerosol vaccination with a sendai virus temperature-sensitive mutant (HVJ-pB) derived from persistently infected cells.\nExperimental infections of mice with a Sendai virus temperature-sensitive (ts) mutant (HVJ-pB) were studied. Infection with the ts mutant induced the priming effect of interferon production and both humoral and cellular immune responses, although the ts mutant virus neither multiplied satisfactorily in the respiratory tracts of mice nor caused appreciable histopathologic lesions. Inoculation with the ts mutant protected mice from subsequent challenge with a parental wild-type virus. The efficacy of this protection began as little as 1 day after vaccination and continued for at least 12 weeks. It is suggested that serum antibodies were efficacious in the nasal turbinates, while specific immune spleen cells act more protectively in the lungs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8350600,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Origin of urinary fibronectin.\nFibronectin (FN) is a major component of the glomerular extracellular matrix and it is also abundant in plasma. In physiologic conditions, FN fragments are excreted into urine. Increased urinary FN excretion has been observed in renal diseases raising the question whether urinary FN could reflect changes in the renal extracellular matrix. This study examines whether urinary FN is filtered from plasma or derived from the kidney and it attempts to specify the potential renal source of urinary FN. (a) To investigate whether urinary FN is filtered from plasma, labeled, biotinylated FN (b-FN) was injected into rats and urine samples were specifically analyzed for b-FN by an immunoblot procedure. (b) To specify the renal source of urinary FN and to evaluate possible alterations of this protein during passage into final urine, tubular fluid was collected from distinct localizations of the nephron by micropuncture techniques. The samples were analyzed for endogenous FN by a highly sensitive immunoblot system, and the pattern was compared with that normally found in final urine. (a) Urine samples collected over a period of 5 days after injection of b-FN contained no labeled FN. Control experiments in rats with highly elevated glomerular permeability confirmed that the plasma levels of injected b-FN were sufficiently high since b-FN was detected in urine in this condition. (b) The FN fragment pattern, with two protein bands at 75 and 45 kilodaltons, that is normally found in final urine, was already present in samples taken from the early proximal tubule and the distal tubule. The fibronectin fragments normally found in urine originate from the kidney and are not derived from plasma. Since these fragments are already observed in early proximal tubular fluid, the glomerulus is the probable source of urinary FN. The FN fragment pattern of early proximal tubular fluid is not substantially altered during passage into final urine, thus reflecting glomerular FN release in urine. It is suggested that examination of urinary FN excretion could be helpful in the assessment of altered glomerular extracellular matrix in pathologic conditions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22691778,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3,"dup_dump_count":2,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2013-48":1,"2014-10":1}}},"text":"Structure of a hexameric form of RadA recombinase from Methanococcus voltae.\nArchaeal RadA proteins are close homologues of eukaryal Rad51 and DMC1 proteins and are remote homologues of bacterial RecA proteins. For the repair of double-stranded breaks in DNA, these recombinases promote a pivotal strand-exchange reaction between homologous single-stranded and double-stranded DNA substrates. This DNA-repair function also plays a key role in the resistance of cancer cells to chemotherapy and radiotherapy and in the resistance of bacterial cells to antibiotics. A hexameric form of a truncated Methanococcus voltae RadA protein devoid of its small N-terminal domain has been crystallized. The RadA hexamers further assemble into two-ringed assemblies. Similar assemblies can be observed in the crystals of Pyrococcus furiosus RadA and Homo sapiens DMC1. In all of these two-ringed assemblies the DNA-interacting L1 region of each protomer points inward towards the centre, creating a highly positively charged locus. The electrostatic characteristics of the central channels can be utilized in the design of novel recombinase inhibitors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22676465,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"HIV risk behavior and access to services: what predicts HIV testing among heterosexually active homeless men?\nHIV is a serious epidemic among homeless persons, where rates of infection are estimated to be three times higher than in the general population. HIV testing is an effective tool for reducing HIV transmission and for combating poor HIV\/AIDS health outcomes that disproportionately affect homeless persons, however, little is known about the HIV testing behavior of homeless men. This study examined the association between individual (HIV risk) and structural (service access) factors and past year HIV testing. Participants were a representative sample of 305 heterosexually active homeless men interviewed from meal programs in the Skid Row region of Los Angeles. Logistic regression examined the association between past year HIV testing and demographic characteristics, HIV risk behavior, and access to other services in the Skid Row area in the past 30 days. Despite high rates of past year HIV testing, study participants also reported high rates of HIV risk behavior, suggesting there is still significant unmet need for HIV prevention among homeless men. Having recently used medical\/dental services in the Skid Row area (OR: 1.91; CI: 1.09, 3.35), and being a military veteran (OR: 2.10; CI: 1.01-4.37) were significantly associated with HIV testing service utilization. HIV testing was not associated with HIV risk behavior, but rather with access to services and veteran status, the latter of which prior research has linked to increased service access. We suggest that programs encouraging general medical service access may be important for disseminating HIV testing services to this high-risk, vulnerable population.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28587502,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Ethical values in nurse education perceived by students and educators.\nEducation is considered the first function and mission of the university, and observing educational ethics guarantees the health of the teaching-learning process in the university. The aim of this study was to explore ethical values in nursing education from the perspective of Iranian nursing students and educators. This qualitative study was conducted using the Thematic Content Analyses method. The data were collected from seven semi-structured individual interviews and three focus group discussions from July to November 2015. Participants and research context: The participants were faculty educators of nursing and nursing students in Tehran, capital of Iran, who were selected through purposive sampling. They were recruited gradually. Sampling was continued until data saturation when no new codes were extracted. Ethical committee: This study was conducted after obtaining the approval of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences Ethics Committee, and informed consent were ensured before conducting the research. The principles of voluntariness, confidentiality, and anonymity were respected during the research process. Seven major themes emerged: human dignity, constructive human relations, educational justice, competency enhancement, excellence view, wisdom, and commitment and accountability. The results of this study indicated that although many of the values, as universal values, were similar to those of other countries-which can be a reflection of the globalization process in the nursing profession and the presence of humanistic and spiritual approaches at the roots of the discipline, some differences could be found in the content of values due to factors such as the people's beliefs, culture, and religion. Iranian nursing students and educators revealed a unique and culture-based set of ethical values.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25497970,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-26":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Increasing burden of urinary tract infections due to intrinsic colistin-resistant bacteria in hospitals in Marseille, France.\nThe emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) Gram-negative bacteria has become a major public health problem, eliciting renewed interest in colistin, an old antibiotic that is now routinely used to treat MDR bacterial infections. Here we investigated whether colistin use has affected the prevalence of infections due to intrinsic colistin-resistant bacteria (CRB) in university hospitals in Marseille (France) over a 5-year period. All data from patients infected by intrinsic CRB were compiled from January 2009 to December 2013. Escherichia coli infections were used for comparison. Colistin consumption data were also collected from pharmacy records from 2008 to 2013. A total of 4847 intrinsic CRB infections, including 3150 Proteus spp., 847 Morganella spp., 704 Serratia spp. and 146 Providencia spp., were collected between 2009 and 2013. During this period, the annual incidence rate of hospital-acquired CRB infections increased from 220 per 1000 patients to 230 per 1000 patients and that of community-acquired CRB infections increased from 100 per 1000 patients to 140 per 1000 patients. In parallel, colistin consumption increased 2.2-fold from 2008 to 2013, mainly because of an increase in the use of colistin aerosol forms (from 50 unitary doses to 2926 unitary doses; P<10(-5)) that was significantly correlated with an increase in the number of patients positive for CRB admitted to ICUs and units of long-term care between 2009 and 2013 (r=0.91; P=0.03). The global rise in infections due to intrinsic CRB is worrying and surveillance is warranted to better characterise this intriguing epidemiological change.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25401124,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Identification and evaluation of strain B37 of Bacillus subtilis antagonistic to sapstain fungi on poplar wood.\nDevaluation of poplar products by sapstain accounts for huge and unpredictable losses each year in China. We had isolated four poplar sapstain fungi, Ceratocystis adiposa Hz91, Lasiodiplodia theobromae YM0737, L. theobromae Fx46, and Fusarium sp. YM05, from five poplar varieties and 13 antagonistic bacteria from nine diverse varieties. After being experimented with agar plates, wood chips, and enzyme activities, strain B37 was identified as the best poplar sapstain biocontrol bacterium. The strain B37 was identified as Bacillus subtilis using sequences of the 16S rRNA gene, physiological biochemical, and morphological characteristics.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25429351,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hemorrhagic Stroke in an Adolescent Female with HIV-Associated Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura.\nHIV-1 infection can trigger acute episodes of Idiopathic Thrombocytoponic Purpura (ITP), and Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (TTP), particularly in populations with advanced disease and poor adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART). These diseases should be distinguished because they respond to different treatments. Previous studies done in adults with HIV-TTP have recommended the prompt initiation or re-initiation of ART in parallel with plasma exchange therapy to improve the clinical outcome of these patients. Here, we describe a case of HIV-TTP resulting in an acute hemorrhagic stroke in a 16 year old female with perinatally acquired HIV infection and non-adherence to ART, who presented with severe thrombocytopenia, microangiopathic hemolytic anemia, and a past medical history of HIV-ITP. Both differential diagnosis and treatments for HIV-ITP and HIV-TTP were considered simultaneously. A decrease in plasma ADAMTS13 activity (<5%) without detectable inhibitory antibodies confirmed the diagnosis of HIV-TTP. Re-initiation of ART and plasma exchange resulted in a marked decrease in the HIV-RNA viral load, recovery of the platelet count, and complete recovery was achieved with sustained virologic suppression.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6738933,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Outcome of induced labor in 931 term pregnancies.\nAn analysis of 931 consecutive inductions of labor over an eight-year period is presented. The success rate was 90.4%. Spontaneous vaginal delivery was achieved in 83.5% of cases and the induction-delivery interval was less than 12 hours in 82.6% of cases. The preinduction state of the cervix most significantly influenced the outcome of labor, followed by maternal age and parity. Provided induction of labor was by synchronous use of forewater amniotomy and oxytocin titration, labor outcome was regularly predictable two hours after induction using the concept of latent period of labor and the cervical dilatation at eight hours from the induction. When the latent period was two hours or less, 64.2% of the patients delivered within eight hours, and vaginal delivery was achieved in all women in whom the cervical dilatation was 8 cm or more at eight hours from the induction of labor. The maternal complication rate was 12.1%, the early neonatal morbidity was 11.6%, and the stillbirth rate was 2.3%.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28266225,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Stereotactic radiosurgery and stereotactic fractionated radiotherapy for metastatic tumors of the spine.\nThe objectives of this paper are to describe pain control, neurologic improvement, local tumor control, progression-free survival, and overall survival of spine SRS\/SFRT patients, and to compare our outcomes with other studies on spine stereotactic radiotherapy for metastatic tumors. A chart review of patients who underwent spine SRS\/SFRT was done. Information was collected on patient age, sex, histology, site treated, pain relief, local control, neurologic function, prescription dose, and complications. Descriptive statistics, median local control rates, progression-free survival, and overall survival were calculated. Twenty eight SRS and 3 SFRT target volumes in 21 patients were studied. Eighteen underwent SRS and 3 underwent SFRT for metastasis from August 2012 to February 2016. Follow-up ranged from 4 to 41 months. Average dose was 16.6 \u00b1 3.9 Gy. Spine SRS mean target volume was 31.1 cc (95% CI, 21.7-40.6 cc). Median overall survival after treatment was 16 months (95% CI, 9.7-22.3 months) and median progression-free survival was 13 months (95% CI, 8.4-17.6 months). Local control was 46%, 30%, and 15% at 6, 8, and 10 months, respectively. Average onset of pain relief is 4.9 days (95% CI, 0.8-8.9 days). One patient (5%) developed post SRS vertebral compression fracture. SRS\/SFRT is a safe and effective alternative to EBRT for the treatment of spine metastasis. Improvement in pain control and motor strength and incidence of adverse events are comparable with other studies. Local tumor control was lower in our series due to a lower mean prescribed dose.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17003108,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Disruption of MEF2 activity in cardiomyoblasts inhibits cardiomyogenesis.\nMyocyte enhancer factors (MEF2s) bind to muscle-specific promoters and activate transcription. Drosophila Mef2 is essential for Drosophila heart development, however, neither MEF2C nor MEF2B are essential for the early stages of murine cardiomyogenesis. Although Mef2c-null mice were defective in the later stages of heart morphogenesis, differentiation of cardiomyocytes still occurred. Since there are four isoforms of MEF2 factors (MEF2A, MEF2B, MEF2C and MEF2D), the ability of cells to differentiate may have been confounded by genetic redundancy. To eliminate this variable, the effect of a dominant-negative MEF2 mutant (MEF2C\/EnR) during cardiomyogenesis was examined in transgenic mice and P19 cells. Targeting the expression of MEF2C\/EnR to cardiomyoblasts using an Nkx2-5 enhancer in the P19 system resulted in the loss of both cardiomyocyte development and the expression of GATA4, BMP4, Nkx2-5 and MEF2C. In transiently transgenic mice, MEF2C\/EnR expression resulted in embryos that lacked heart structures and exhibited defective differentiation. Our results show that MEF2C, or genes containing MEF2 DNA-binding sites, is required for the efficient differentiation of cardiomyoblasts into cardiomyocytes, suggesting conservation in the role of MEF2 from Drosophila to mammals.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15260390,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Psoriatic arthritis.\nTo evaluate the clinical pattern of psoriatic arthritis in patients attending a tertiary referral centre in South India. Case records of one hundred and sixteen patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) who had attended our Rheumatology Department were analysed using demographic, clinical, laboratory and radiographic variables and the data were compared with other studies. Among 116 patients, 78 were males and 38 were females (ratio 2:1). Peak incidence (69%) was in the fourth and fifth decades. One patient had juvenile psoriatic arthritis (onset <16 years of age). Symmetric polyarthritis (48.3%) was the commonest subtype. Arthritis followed the skin lesions in 50.8% of patients, preceded in 12.1% and occurred simultaneously in 37.1%. Knee (66.4%) was the commonest joint involved. Extra-articular features like sausage digits (19%), enthesitis (7.8%) and eye manifestations (1.7%) like conjunctivitis and uveitis were observed. Psoriasis vulgaris (81%) was the commonest psoriatic lesion. Scalp (57.8%) was the most common hidden site. All the three patients with DIP arthritis alone had nail lesions. ESR and C-reactive protein were elevated in 51.7% and 43.9% of patients respectively. Rheumatoid factor was positive in 3.4 % and antinuclear antibody (ANA) was present in 5.4% (3\/56) of patients. HIV infection was detected in 2.3% (1\/44) of patients. Radiographic features like sacroiliitis (11.2%), calcaneal spur (7.8%), erosions (5.2%) and syndesmophytes (5.2%) were observed. One patient had 'pencil-in-cup deformity'. Psoriatic arthritis is more common in males. Symmetric polyarthritis is the commonest subtype. Arthritis commonly follows the skin lesions. Psoriasis vulgaris is the most common skin lesion and scalp is the commonest hidden site. ESR and CRP can be normal in psoriatic arthritis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28537872,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Painful erythematous, infiltrated papulonodules in a middle aged man.\nCutaneous leiomyomas (CL) often present as painful tumors in the skin. Herein we report an adult man who presented with multiple, erythematous papulonodules in both segmental and non-segmental distribution.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8341005,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A case of dilated cardiomyopathy manifested by exercise-induced left bundle branch block.\nWe report an extremely rare case of dilated cardiomyopathy manifested by exercise-induced left bundle branch block. A 63-year-old female came to our hospital because supraventricular arrhythmia had been detected at a check-up. A treadmill exercise test induced left bundle branch block. However, chest X-ray and echocardiography revealed no abnormal finding. Two years later, the patient experienced exertional dyspnea. A chest X-ray examination showed cardiomegaly, and echocardiography showed a moderate impairment of left ventricular function with left ventricular dilatation. The diagnosis of dilated cardiomyopathy was made by left ventricular myocardial biopsy. No previous cases have initially shown exercise-induced left bundle branch block which was followed by left ventricular dysfunction due to dilated cardiomyopathy. Careful long-term observation of the clinical course is necessary in patients with exercise-induced left bundle branch block which shows no significant underlying disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34420226,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Why should we screen for male fertility?\nAn increasing number of studies show declining sperm counts; however, semen analyses are uncommon until the evaluation for infertility. Semen analysis is a safe, reliable and relatively inexpensive screening test, assessing male fertility and directing further work-up. In young men, the use of semen analysis may identify disease prior to attempted conception and result in improved fertility potential when combined with lifestyle changes, medical or surgical therapy. Furthermore, if sperm counts are significantly low, evaluation and management for genetic causes can be initiated. Our commentary outlines why screening for male infertility in young adult men may be beneficial. We discuss options for early intervention, including sperm cryopreservation, if defects in sperm parameters are identified.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28539884,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Analysis of Two BDNF Polymorphisms G196A\/C270T in Chinese Sporadic Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.\nAmyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is an ethnically heterogeneous motor neuron disease that results from the selective death of motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is widely distributed across the central and peripheral nervous systems and plays neurotrophic and other physiological roles in various brain regions. Alterations of neurotrophin availability have been proposed as a pathogenic mechanism underlying ALS neurodegeneration. Several genetic studies have shown a significant association between schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease and certain BDNF polymorphisms, specifically G196A (rs6265) and C270T (rs56164415). However, the relationship between the G196A and C270T polymorphisms and ALS has never been investigated. We hypothesized that sporadic ALS (sALS) and disease susceptibility could arise due to BDNF polymorphisms and investigated the relationship between ALS and the BDNF polymorphisms G196A and C270T in a large Chinese cohort. We demonstrate that the frequency of the CT genotype and of the C270T T allele was significantly higher in the ALS group than in controls, although G196A was not associated with sALS. These data provide the first demonstration that the BDNF C270T polymorphism may be a candidate susceptibility locus for sALS, at least in Han Chinese.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23464122,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Gated photon correlation spectroscopy for acoustical particle velocity measurements in free-field conditions.\nThe measurement of acoustic pressure at a point in space using optical methods has been the subject of extensive research in airborne acoustics over the last four decades. The main driver is to reliably establish the acoustic pascal, thus allowing the calibration of microphones with standard and non-standard dimensions to be realized in an absolute and direct manner. However, the research work so far has mostly been limited to standing wave tubes. This Letter reports on the development of an optical system capable of measuring acoustic particle velocities in free-field conditions; agreement within less than 0.6 dB was obtained with standard microphone measurements during these initial experiments.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28577330,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Treated wastewater effluent as a source of pyrethroids and fipronil at todos santos bay, Mexico: Its impact on sediments and organisms.\nPyrethroids are insecticides widely used to control pests and disease vectors in residential areas and agricultural lands. Pyrethroids are emerging pollutants, and their use is a growing concern because of their toxicity potential to aquatic organisms. Todos Santos Bay and the Punta Banda estuary, 2 coastal bodies located to the south of the Southern California Bight, were studied to establish a baseline of the current conditions of pollution by pyrethroids and fipronil. Eight pyrethroids, along with fipronil and its 2 metabolites, were determined in effluents from wastewater-treatment plants (n = 3), surface sediments (n = 32), and 3 locations with mussels (Mytilus californianus, n = 9). Bifenthrin, permethrin, and cypermethrin were the most common pyrethroids found in the study areas and were widespread in sediments, mussels, and wastewater-treated effluents. Fipronil and its metabolites were detected in mussels and wastewater-treated effluents only. Total pyrethroid concentrations in sediments ranged from 0.04 to 1.95 ng\/g dry weight in the Punta Banda estuary (n = 13) and from 0.07 to 6.62 ng\/g dry weight in Todos Santos Bay (n = 19). Moreover, total pyrethroids in mussels ranged from 1.19 to 6.15 ng\/g wet weight. Based on the toxic unit data calculated for pyrethroids and fipronil for Eohaustorius estuarius and Hyalella azteca, little to no impact is expected to the benthic population structure. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:3057-3064. \u00a9 2017 SETAC.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9151393,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Monoclonal antibodies specific for porcine monocytes\/macrophages: macrophage heterogeneity in the pig evidenced by the expression of surface antigens.\nMacrophages are widely distributed in most tissues of the body, where they play important roles in host defense and repair of tissue damage. In this report we describe the production and characterization of a panel of six monoclonal antibodies (mAb) against porcine macrophages and their use for phenotyping tissue macrophages. All mAbs were produced by immunizing mice with porcine alveolar macrophages. Three of them (2A10\/11, 3B11\/11 and 3F7\/11) react mainly with macrophages and, at a lower extent, blood monocytes, whereas the others (1E12\/11, 2C12\/10 and 4E9\/11) also recognize granulocytes. Antigens recognized by these antibodies could be characterized by Western blot and\/or immunoprecipitation, with the exception of that one recognized by 2C12\/10. By their behavior in SDS-PAGE under reducing and nonreducing conditions, all seem to be single polypeptides, whose apparent molecular weight under reducing conditions are: 1E12\/11 and 3B11\/11 larger than 204 kDa; 2A10\/11, 150 kDa; 4E9\/11, 125-170 kDa; and 3F7\/11, 135 kDa. Immunohistochemical analyses of both lymphoid and non-lymphoid organs using these mAbs reveal important antigenic heterogeneity among tissue macrophages. These mAbs are, therefore, useful tools for the study of porcine macrophage maturation and differentiation and for determining their heterogeneity both in normal and pathological conditions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35344461,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Randomized, Controlled Trial of an Intervention Combining Self-Care and Self-Hypnosis on Fatigue, Sleep, and Emotional Distress in Posttreatment Cancer Patients: 1-Year Follow-Up.\nCancer can provoke fatigue, sleep disturbances, and emotional distress. Hypnosis interventions have shown positive short-term effects on these symptoms. However, less is known about their long-term effects. This study assessed the short- and long-term effects of a group intervention combining self-care and self-hypnosis on these symptoms in posttreatment cancer patients. Ninety-five female cancer survivors were randomized to either a hypnosis group intervention or wait-list control. Results showed significant decreases in fatigue, sleep difficulties and emotional distress after intervention for the hypnosis group intervention in comparison to the wait-list control. Most of these positive effects were maintained at 1-year follow-up. Most participants received the hypnosis group intervention approximately 10.65 months after diagnosis, and it is possible that delivering the intervention earlier after diagnosis could have achieved a more robust impact. Further studies are needed to replicate these results in comparison to an active control condition and investigate the best time postdiagnosis for initiating the intervention.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6176796,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Positive relationship between the dosage of pindolol and its antihypertensive effect.\nPindolol was given once a day to 15 patients with mild to moderate hypertension to investigate whether once-daily dosage controls blood pressure for 24 h and whether a paradoxical rise in blood pressure occurs with increasing dosage. Placebo and pindolol, 10, 20, and 30 mg, were administered in double-blind or single-blind fashion. Blood pressure and heart rate were determined under identical and strictly standardized conditions 24-26 h after giving the last capsule. Blood pressure levels were significantly lower during all periods of active treatment compared with placebo levels. There was a clear relation between dosage of pindolol and its antihypertensive effect. These results demonstrate the pindolol can be given once daily in the treatment of hypertension and that a paradoxical rise of blood pressure does not occur with dosages up to 30 mg pindolol daily.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26429740,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Virus-Specific Cellular Response in Hepatitis C Virus Infection.\nStudies performed on chimpanzees and humans have revealed that strong, multispecific and sustained CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cell immune responses is a major determinant of hepatitis C virus (HCV) clearance. However, spontaneous elimination of the virus occurs in minority of infected individuals and cellular response directed against HCV antigens is not persistent in individuals with chronic infection. This review presents characteristics of the HCV-specific T cell response in patients with different clinical course of infection, including acute and chronic infection, persons who spontaneously eliminated HCV and non-infected subjects exposed to HCV. Detection of HCV-specific response, especially in non-infected subjects exposed to HCV, may be indicative of HCV prevalence in population and rate of spontaneous viral clearance. Understanding the mechanisms and role of HCV-specific cellular immune response would contribute to better understanding of HCV epidemiology, immunopathogenesis and may help to design an effective vaccine.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7939162,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cytotaxonomy of the Simulium damnosum complex and description of new cytotypes in the Tukuyu focus, southwest Tanzania.\nLarvae of Simulium damnosum complex collected from rivers draining Tukuyu onchocerciasis focus were chromosomally examined. Of the 970 larvae analysed, 910 were identified as Kiwira form, a newly described cytotype found in all S. damnosum larval habitats in the Tukuyu area, while 51 were classified as a new subpopulation, tentatively named as Kasyabone form. The F1 larval progeny obtained from wild caught human biting S. damnosum and reared in the laboratory were chromosomally examined. 509 F1 larvae from 70 females blood fed on human volunteers were identified as Kiwira form. As the main human-biting member of the complex in the Tukuyu area, and because some of the wild caught females had developing filarial larvae indistinguishable from those of Onchocerca volvulus, Kiwira form is thus incriminated as the local vector of onchocerciasis. These observations are discussed with respect to previous literature.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28276247,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Inducible Sequential Oxidation Process in Water-Soluble Copper Nanoclusters for Direct Colorimetric Assay of Hydrogen Peroxide in a Wide Dynamic and Sampling Range.\nDirect and fast detection methods for H2O2 have great demand in materials science, biology, and medicine. Colorimetric assay of H2O2 has been regarded as one versatile approach that can avoid tedious operation and complicated setup. In this report, we provided a cost-effective and time-saving H2O2 colorimetric assay strategy based on a mercaptosuccinic acid (MSA)-stabilized Cu nanocluster (NC) probe without using any chromogenic reagent. Direct and fast colorimetric detection of H2O2 was realized based on the color change of MSA-capped Cu NCs in aqueous medium. It was found that the Cu NCs presented eligible resistance to natural oxidation either in concentrated solution or in the powder state. However, the dissolved oxygen in a highly diluted solution of the Cu NCs could trigger the aggregation of the Cu NCs and their further fusion into small Cu nanoparticles (NPs). When this diluted solution served as a probe solution for detecting H2O2, a sequential oxidation process occurred in the newly formed Cu NPs, including the cleavage of MSAs on the surface and conversion of Cu into Cu2O, leading to the probe with capacity for H2O2 assay in a wide dynamic and sampling range. The sensitive solution color change was attributed to the growth of the Cu NPs (fading of plasmonic absorption) upon the addition of low levels of H2O2 and the transition of the valence states of Cu (color reactions) upon the addition of high levels of H2O2. A concentration range of H2O2 from 1 \u03bcM to 1 M could be detected by a small dose of the probe. Moreover, the Cu NCs powder subsequent to storage for 10 months could maintain a similar sensitivity for H2O2 assay, which provides possibilities for a wide range of practical applications in water samples.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17885850,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Teacher asthma management and information seeking scale.\nThis article presents the design and evaluation of the Teacher Asthma Management and Information Seeking Scale. Based on a sample of 593 kindergarten to eighth grade teachers, the scale yielded two factors: the Asthma Management (= 0.90) and the Information Seeking Factor (= 0.71). This scale fills a needed gap in the literature regarding assessment tools for school-based asthma management that focus on teacher behavior.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25521264,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Responsiveness of clinical and laboratory measures to intervention effects in children with developmental coordination disorder.\nTo compare responsiveness of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2 (MABC-2) and segment kinematics and center of pressure measures in detecting intervention effects in children with developmental coordination disorder. Motion Analysis Laboratory (MAL) data from 21 children with developmental coordination disorder (mean age 11.0 years) in a randomized control trial were analyzed using effect size, minimal detectable difference, and parent and child report of meaningfulness (\u03c72 tests). The MABC-2 and MAL data showed moderate-large effect sizes (0.7-1.8). The MABC-2 detected large portions of children whose change exceeded the minimal detectable difference (47.6%-71.4%); MAL data detected small portions (0%-19.0%). Neither tool correlated well with meaningfulness (\u03c72 = 0.186-5.724; P > .10). Both tools detected change in the overall group; however, only the MABC-2 detected individual change exceeding potential measurement error. Although both assessment tools are responsive, they may be responsive to different types of change. Therefore, assessment constructs should be matched to intervention goals.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17183634,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Vaccinia scars associated with improved survival among adults in rural Guinea-Bissau.\nIn urban Guinea-Bissau, adults with a vaccinia scar had better survival but also a higher prevalence of HIV-2 infection. We therefore investigated the association between vaccinia scar and survival and HIV infection in a rural area of Guinea-Bissau. In connection with a study of HIV in rural Guinea-Bissau, we assessed vaccinia and BCG scars in 193 HIV-1 or HIV-2 infected and 174 uninfected participants. Mortality was assessed after 2(1\/2)-3 years of follow-up. The analyses were adjusted for age, sex, village, and HIV status. The prevalence of vaccinia scar was associated with age, village, and HIV-2 status but not with sex and schooling. Compared with individuals without any scar, individuals with a vaccinia scar had better survival (mortality rate ratio (MR) = 0.22 (95% CI 0.08-0.61)), the MR being 0.19 (95% CI 0.06-0.57) for women and 0.40 (95% CI 0.04-3.74) for men. Estimates were similar for HIV-2 infected and HIV-1 and HIV-2 uninfected individuals. The HIV-2 prevalence was higher among individuals with a vaccinia scar compared to individuals without a vaccinia scar (RR = 1.57 (95% CI 1.02-2.36)). The present study supports the hypothesis that vaccinia vaccination may have a non-specific beneficial effect on adult survival.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35363599,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Bereavement in Pakistan during the COVID-19 pandemic: Psychometric analysis of the Pandemic Grief Scale-Urdu Version (PGS-UV).\nWith nearly 4 million deaths worldwide, COVID-19 has resulted in a great loss of life. For many of the bereaved, the grieving process has been especially difficult due to COVID-19 spatial distancing procedures and the traumatic circumstances of this particular form of loss. Consequently, a large number of the world's bereaved are experiencing dysfunctional levels of grief. To assess such grief, the Pandemic Grief Scale (PGS) was created to identify those affected who may benefit from professional support. This study aimed to psychometrically analyze the properties of the Urdu version of the scale, among a sample of 272 Pakistanis who lost a loved one to COVID-19 from March to June 2021. Results revealed that the scale was found to be a reliable and valid tool for assessing dysfunctional pandemic grief for both men and women. However, unique gender differences were found. Additional research should further confirm the psychometric properties of the PGS on other culturally diverse samples.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25517536,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Endoparasites of horses from the Formiga city, located in center-west region of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil.\nWith the aim of studying the endoparasite fauna of horses from the Formiga city, located in center-west region of the state of Minas Gerais, 25 animals that were naturally infected with helminths were evaluated. By means of parasitological necropsies, different endoparasites were found. The subfamily Cyathostominae presented the highest incidence, followed by Trichostrongylus axei, Oxyuris equi, Triodontophorus serratus, Strongyloides westeri, Strongylus edentatus, Habronema muscae, Parascaris equorum, Probstmayria vivipara, Strongylus vulgaris, Gasterophilus nasalis, Anoplocephala magna and Anoplocephala perfoliata. In the present study, if the species Probstmayria vivipara was not considered in the prevalence, the frequency of Cyathostominae was equivalent to 94.85%. The results obtained in this study allowed us to detect and identify different species of helminths in horses, and confirmed the high incidence of nematodes belonging to the subfamily Cyathostominae in the center-west region of Minas Gerais.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21141919,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Incorporation of biaryl units into the 5' and 3' ends of sense and antisense strands of siRNA duplexes improves strand selectivity and nuclease resistance.\nSmall interfering RNA (siRNA) is a noncoding RNA with considerable potential as a new therapeutic drug for intractable diseases. siRNAs can be rationally designed and synthesized if the sequences of the disease-causing genes are known. In this paper, we describe the synthesis and properties of siRNAs modified with biaryl units. We found that incorporation of biaryl units into the 5' and 3' ends of sense and antisense strands of siRNA duplexes improved strand selectivity and nuclease resistance.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37665746,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Using a chat-based informed consent tool in large-scale genomic research.\nWe implemented a chatbot consent tool to shift the time burden from study staff in support of a national genomics research study. We created an Institutional Review Board-approved script for automated chat-based consent. We compared data from prospective participants who used the tool or had traditional consent conversations with study staff. Chat-based consent, completed on a user's schedule, was shorter than the traditional conversation. This did not lead to a significant change in affirmative consents. Within affirmative consents and declines, more prospective participants completed the chat-based process. A quiz to assess chat-based consent user understanding had a high pass rate with no reported negative experiences. Our report shows that a structured script can convey important information while realizing the benefits of automation and burden shifting. Analysis suggests that it may be advantageous to use chatbots to scale this rate-limiting step in large research projects.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7927489,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"T lymphocytes and mast cells express messenger RNA for interleukin-4 in the nasal mucosa in allergen-induced rhinitis.\nWe have investigated the phenotype of interleukin-4 (IL-4) mRNA+ cells in the nasal mucosa of six subjects with allergic rhinitis before and 24 hr after local allergen provocation with grass pollen extract. Serial cryostat sections were cut from paraformaldehyde-fixed snap-frozen nasal biopsies, and immunocytochemistry (APAAP) followed by in situ hybridization performed on the same sections. For immunocytochemistry, antibodies against CD3, tryptase, major basic protein (MBP) and CD68 were used to identify T cells, mast cells, eosinophils and macrophages, respectively. Hybridization studies were performed using a digoxigenin-labelled IL-4 riboprobe. Nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) and X-phosphate-5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indoly phosphate (BCIP) served as chromogens to detect hybridization IL-4 mRNA signals. Significant increases in T lymphocytes and eosinophils and in the number of IL-4 mRNA+ cells were observed after allergen challenge. Double immunocytochemistry\/in situ hybridization demonstrated that the majority of IL-4 mRNA+ cells after allergen challenge were CD3+ (73.7% +\/- 1.6). Lower numbers of IL-4 mRNA hybridization signals were co-localized to tryptase+ cells (26.0% +\/- 1.6). In contrast, no IL-4 mRNA hybridization signals were co-localized to either eosinophils or macrophages. These results indicate that after allergen challenge T cells are the principal cellular source of IL-4 mRNA transcripts during human late nasal responses, with a lesser contribution from mast cells.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30310003,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Omental Flap for the Device Infection of the HeartMate II].\nCase 1:An 18-year-old male underwent emergent left extracorporeal ventricular assist device(eVAD) implantation for a cardiogenic shock because of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). After listing for heart transplant, he underwent a HeartMate II implantation as bridge-to-bridge(BTB) therapy. The omental flap was simultaneously used to prevent device infection that could have been induced by the infected malgranulation around the cannulas of the eVAD. Eventually, he was discharged and waiting for transplantation. Case 2:A 30-year-old male with DCM underwent emergent eVAD implantation for left ventricular support, centrifugal veno-pulmonary artery extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for right ventricular and respiratory support, and mitral valve replacement. After weaning of ECMO, he was listed for a heart transplant and underwent a HeartMate II implantation as BTB therapy. However, liver dysfunction and malnutrition prolonged wound healing. Despite applying vacuum assist closure device to promote wound healing, part of the driveline and pump housing were exposed. Therefore, radical debridement and omentopexy were performed for infection control. He was discharged after complete wound healing.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36263773,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Arrhythmias in Repaired Tetralogy of Fallot: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association.\nArrhythmia and sudden cardiac death remain common in repaired tetralogy of Fallot and affect even those with excellent anatomic repairs. Atrial arrhythmia often has mechanisms different from those in acquired heart disease. Ventricular arrhythmia remains a major source of mortality in repaired tetralogy of Fallot. Noninvasive risk stratification is important to identify patients who may benefit from ablation or primary prevention implantable cardioverter defibrillators. Multiple noninvasive risk factors are associated with ventricular arrhythmia, but no universally accepted risk stratification algorithm exists. The mechanism of ventricular arrhythmia is usually attributable to a consistent and discrete set of slowly conducting anatomic isthmuses related to both the native anatomy and the consequences of the surgical repair, which interact with ventricular remodeling to provide arrhythmic substrate. This substrate can be identified during electroanatomic mapping and prophylactically ablated in appropriate patients. This scientific statement discusses the mechanisms and treatment of arrhythmia in repaired tetralogy of Fallot.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37456603,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Frontal Sinus Cholesteatoma Presenting with Intracranial and Orbital Complications: Diagnosis and Treatment.\nFrontal sinus keratoma or cholesteatoma is a rare disease of paranasal sinuses and presents as a slow-growing mass that becomes symptomatic as it grows to the surrounding structures. Intracranial complications are not a common presentation and are potentially life-threatening. Frequently the final diagnosis is only made intraoperatively because several other frontal sinus tumors behave likewise. Definitive treatment requires complete removal of the keratoma, and a combined endoscopic and external frontal sinus approach is a good treatment option. In this report, we presented a 68-year-old female with frontal sinus cholesteatoma with diagnostic and therapeutic features of this pathology with the review of the literature.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21749221,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The spectrum of worry in the community-dwelling elderly.\nIn this study, we examine the prevalence and distribution of worry, its content, and its associations with quality of life and depression, based on a large sample of community-dwelling elderly. We will attempt to distinguish between pathological and non-pathological worry based on these associations. Community survey. Inner-city population. A total of 2136 people aged between 65 and 96, of whom 66% were women, were recruited through general practitioners and interviewed in their own homes. The GMS-AGECAT structured psychiatric interview was used to rate symptoms which were classified into five levels of severity of worry ranging from simple, non-excessive to generalised anxiety disorder (GAD). In this study, 79% of the participants reported worrying, 37% worrying excessively, while 20% reported excessive, uncontrollable worry and 6.3% met criteria for GAD. Prevalence of all types of worry declined with age and was lower in men. The prevalence of depressed mood was similar in those without worry and those with non-severe worry (Wald post hoc test, p = 0.06) but rose significantly with each level of severe worry (Wald post hoc tests, all p < 0.05). Major depressive disorder was absent in those who did not worry, and had a prevalence of only 0.2% in those with non-severe worry (p = 0.552, Fisher's exact test). It has a significantly elevated prevalence at all levels of excessive worry, and a significantly higher prevalence in those with GAD. All levels of excessive worry were associated with reduced quality of life. Severe worry is highly prevalent in the elderly; most severe worriers do not meet criteria for GAD, but have a reduced quality of life and an increased prevalence of depression.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1680195,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dopamine autoreceptor agonists as potential antipsychotics. 3.6-Propyl-4,5,5a,6,7,8-hexahydrothiazolo[4,5-f]quinolin-2-amine.\nA series of rigid tricyclic analogues of the dopamine (DA) agonist PD 118440 [4-(1,2,5,6-tetrahydro-1-propyl-3-pyridinyl)-2-thiazolamine] was synthesized and evaluated for dopaminergic activity and DA autoreceptor selectivity. (R)-(+)-6-Propyl-4,5,5a,6,7,8-hexahydrothiazolo[4,5-f]quinolin+ ++-2-amine [+)-6) was identified as the most selective DA autoreceptor agonist from this group of compounds. It inhibited spontaneous locomotor activity (LMA) in rodents, reversed the gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) induced accumulation of rat striatal DOPA and inhibited brain DA neuronal firing, all suggestive of direct DA autoreceptor agonist activity. However, (+)-6 is not completely free of postsynaptic DA activity, as evidenced by its stimulation of LMA in rats at high doses and its ability to produce stereotypy. On the other hand, (-)-6 appears to be a weak partial DA agonist with some effects on brain DA synthesis only at high doses. Like other DA autoreceptor agonists and DA antagonists, (+)-6 inhibited Sidman conditioned avoidance in squirrel monkeys, a test predictive of clinical antipsychotic activity. However, unlike classical antipsychotics, (+)-6 did not induce dystonias in haloperidol-sensitized squirrel monkeys, suggesting a minimal propensity toward extrapyramidal side effects (EPS).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34412064,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Subtype maturation of spiral ganglion neurons.\nWe review recent progress in the characterization of spiral ganglion neurons (SGNs), the afferent neurons that transmit sound information from mechanosensory hair cells in the inner ear to the central nervous system. Single-cell ribonucleic acid sequencing studies of murine SGNs have demonstrated that SGNs consist of molecularly distinct subtypes. The molecularly defined SGN subtypes likely correspond to SGN subtypes previously identified on the basis of physiological properties, although this has not been experimentally demonstrated. Subtype maturation is completed postnatally in an activity-dependent manner and is impaired in several models of hearing loss. The recent molecular studies open new avenues to rigorously test whether SGN subtypes are important for the encoding of different sound features and if they show differential vulnerability to genetic factors and environmental insults. This could have important implications for the development of therapeutic strategies to treat hearing loss.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3048487,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Optimal time interval between myeloablative whole body irradiation and reconstitution with syngeneic bone marrow graft.\nThe optimal time interval between termination of radiation therapy and marrow grafting has been studied in an animal model of syngeneic bone marrow transplantation, using a limiting number of bone marrow cells. Optimal survival was achieved when reconstitution took place 24 h following termination of radiation therapy at all cell doses studied, including 5 x 10(4), 2 x 10(5) and 1 x 10(6) cells\/recipient. The worst results were observed when bone marrow cells were infused immediately after irradiation. These results suggest that reconstitution of lethally irradiated recipients requires migration of irradiated host marrow cells and establishment of adequate 'bone marrow space', which is optimal at 24 h following termination of whole body irradiation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15245128,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Creation of an antiferromagnetic exchange spring.\nWe present evidence for the creation of an exchange spring in an antiferromagnet due to exchange coupling to a ferromagnet. X-ray magnetic linear dichroism spectroscopy on single crystal Co\/NiO(001) shows that a partial domain wall is wound up at the surface of the antiferromagnet when the adjacent ferromagnet is rotated by a magnetic field. We determine the interface exchange stiffness and the antiferromagnetic domain wall energy from the field dependence of the direction of the antiferromagnetic axis, the antiferromagnetic pendant to a ferromagnetic hysteresis loop. The existence of a planar antiferromagnetic domain wall, proven by our measurement, is a key assumption of most exchange bias models.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12027129,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Adynamic cardiomyoplasty: effect on cardiac efficiency and contractile reserve in dogs with adriamycin-induced cardiomyopathy.\nThe girdling effect of the skeletal muscle wrap seems to be the primary mechanism of action of cardiomyoplasty. It is associated with a myocardial sparing effect. Myocardial sparing effect has been shown with an active muscle wrap or an active muscle wrap acutely turned \"OFF\". The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effect of a passive skeletal muscle wrap on cardiac energetics parameters and contractile reserve in a canine model of cardiomyopathy. Six dogs with adriamycin-induced cardiomyopathy were studied. Three dogs underwent right latissimus dorsi adynamic cardiomyoplasty and 3 served as controls. Cardiac and coronary sinus catheterizations were performed at 0 and 6 weeks. A dobutamine stress test was performed at 6 weeks. Myocardial oxygen consumption was not reduced in the cardiomyoplasty group (139.20+\/-86.90 Joules\/min) compared to the control group (95.10+\/-12.60 Joules\/min, P = 0.27) at 6 weeks. Mechanical cardiac efficiency was increased in the cardiomyoplasty group (33.15+\/-4.40%) compared to the control group (24.50+\/-2.70%, P = 0.049) at 6 weeks. Left ventricular end diastolic diameter index was reduced in the cardiomyoplasty group (38.00+\/-1.70 mm\/m2) compared to the control group (46.30+\/-1.55 mm\/m2, P = 0.049) at 6 weeks. Indices of diastolic function -dp\/dt, and tau were not significantly affected by adynamic cardiomyoplasty. Max dp\/dt was increasing more in the cardiomyoplasty group than in the control group (P = 0.07) during dobutamine stress test. Mechanical cardiac efficiency was better preserved by the adynamic cardiomyoplasty. Myocardial contractile reserve might be better preserved with cardiomyoplasty.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30677273,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[The effect of hyperglycemia on indices of biochemical blood analysis in vitro.]\nThe purpose of study was to detect possible deviations between the results of biochemical analysis of blood and true values in conditions of hyperglycemia in vitro and dependences of the given alterations from group belonging of analyzed blood. The biochemical analysis was applied to blood samples of patients with various blood groups according system AB0 in conditions of normo- and hyperglycemia in vitro. The criterion for choice was established the content of main biochemical indices of blood (total protein, total bilirubin, glucose, total cholesterol, urea, creatinine, activity of hylaninamitotransferase (ALT), aspartataminotransferase (AST), lactatedehydrogenase (LDG)) within the reference limits. The hyperglycemia was developed in vitro using 5% glucose solution and corresponded to 20,49\u00b10,05 and 46,37\u00b10,63 mmol\/l. The content of total protein and total cholesterol turned out to be the most stable indices. The effect of increased level of glucose to following analytes was established: total bilirubin (+10,5%), ALT activity (\u00b113,4%), AST activity (+11,1%) and creatinine (+51,4%). The alterations of indices up to level of \u00b110% and higher are clinically significant and have to be taking into account by physicians of clinical laboratory diagnostic and clinical physicians during interpretations of the results of biochemical analysis of blood for evaluation of true picture of condition of patient. The AB0-group specific characteristics of biochemical analysis of blood are established in conditions of hyperglycemia. The hyperglycemia is an interfering factor during implementation of laboratory analysis that is especially actual at interpretations of results of biochemical analysis of blood in patients of reanimation department and individuals suffering of persistent and severe diabetes mellitus with its complication with nephropathy. Besides, the established group-specific characteristics of hyperglycemia effecting the results of biochemical analysis of blood can be accounted in development of standards and guidelines of personified medicine.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17918815,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Theoretical study of the dissociation of nitric acid at a model aqueous surface.\nThe issue of acid dissociation of nitric acid at an aqueous surface is relevant in various portions of the atmosphere in connection with ozone depletion. This proton-transfer reaction is studied here via electronic structure calculations at the HF\/SBK+(d) level of theory on the HNO(3) x (H(2)O)(3) model reaction system embedded in clusters comprising 33, 40, 45, and 50 classical, polarizable waters with an increasing degree of solvation of the nitrate group. Free energy estimates for all the cases examined favor undissociated, molecular nitric acid over the 0-300 K temperature range, including that relevant for the upper troposphere, where it is connected to the issue of the mechanism of nitric acid uptake by water ice aerosols. The presence of molecular HNO(3) at 300 K at the surface is further supported by vibrational band assignments in good agreement with a very recent surface-sensitive vibrational spectroscopy study of diluted HNO(3)\/H(2)O solutions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28718760,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"CD25 expression and outcomes in older patients with acute myelogenous leukemia treated with plerixafor and decitabine.\nWe investigated CD25 expression in older (\u226560 years) patients with new acute myelogenous leukemia treated with decitabine and plerixafor. Patients resistant to therapy or survival \u22641 year had significantly higher percentages of CD25pos myeloid blasts in baseline bone marrow. CD25pos patients had an increased odds of resistance compared to CD25neg patients (p = .015). In univariate analysis, we found CD25pos patients had inferior survival compared to CD25neg (p = .002). In patients with intermediate risk cytogenetics, CD25pos status stratified patients associating with inferior survival (p = .002). In multivariable analysis, CD25 and TP53 mutations trended towards predicting remission to therapy but were not predictive of survival. Only remission status, ASXL1 and TET2 mutations were found to independently predict overall survival (OS). We conclude CD25 expression identifies patients at risk for resistance to hypomethylating chemotherapy but does not independently predict OS in an older AML population treated with decitabine and plerixafor.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20376730,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Repair of huge left ventricular pseudoaneurysm after sutureless repair.\nA 72-year-old man underwent sutureless repair of an oozing-type left ventricular free wall rupture. Echocardiography 8 months after sutureless repair revealed a huge left ventricular pseudoaneurysm and severe mitral regurgitation (MR). Therefore, left ventricular reconstruction and restrictive mitral annuloplasty were performed. The patient's clinical condition was improved and no residual MR has been detected for 12 months. We conclude that left ventricular reconstruction and restrictive mitral annuloplasty could be useful for left ventricular pseudoaneurysm with MR.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25514229,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Total synthesis and anti-viral activities of an extract of Radix isatidis.\nRadix isatidis (Banlangen), a famous traditional Chinese medicine, has been used for thousands of years in China due to its anti-viral activity. Through our research, we inferred that the anti-viral activity of Radix isatidis depended on the water-soluble part. Among the components of this extract, the isoquinoline derivative 1 was isolated for the first time and has shown better anti-viral activity than other constituents. In this study, to solve the problem of sourcing sufficient quantities of compound 1, a total synthesis route is described, and several analogues are also evaluated for their anti-viral activities. Among them, compound 8 shown potent anti-viral activity with an IC50 value of 15.3 \u00b5g\/mL. The results suggested that isoquinoline derivatives possessed potent anti-viral activity and are worthy further development.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28569341,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Health inequalities and inadequate housing: the case of exceptions to hygienic requirements for dwellings in Italy.\nIn the past decades, Italian hygienic requirements for dwellings have been modified by multiple derogations. Aim of the present work is to analyse the derogations introduced at a national, regional, and local level. The most important derogations were related to the habitable use of semi-basements and garrets, and building restoration. The paper also describes the regulations regarding indemnity for infringement of building abuses. The authors underline the need for more uniformity and clarity in the determination of health standards of dwellings, as well as for a simplification of the existing legislation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14555403,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of neonatal rat bisphenol a exposure on performance in the Morris water maze.\nBisphenol A (BPA), an environmental estrogen, is a component of many food and beverage containers and can leach into the container contents over time. Due to its estrogenic properties, exposure to BPA during development could alter the appropriate maturation of pathways essential for normal cognitive function at later ages. To investigate this, the effects of repeated postnatal exposure of male and female rats to BPA on spatial learning and memory were investigated using a Morris water maze. Breeders and offspring were maintained on a standard phytoestrogen-free diet. Oral administration of 72 microg\/kg 17 beta-estradiol (E(2)), 100 microg\/kg BPA (low BPA), 250 microg\/kg BPA (high BPA), or the safflower oil vehicle was performed daily from postnatal d 1 (PND1) through PND14. There were no treatment-related effects on swimming ability or motivation (PND33) or on acquisition of maze solution (PND34-37). However, acquisition of maze performance was significantly better in control males than in control females. Treatment with E(2) and low BPA disrupted this normal gender-dependent pattern of acquisition, while treatment with high BPA did not. In a probe trial (PND40), females treated with high BPA spent significantly less time in the escape quadrant. These data indicate that E(2) and low dosages of BPA can alter the normal gender-dependent pattern of acquisition, while higher dosages of BPA alter the retention of spatial information without significantly affecting acquisition.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25430172,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Optical layout and mechanical structure of polarimeter-interferometer system for Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak.\nA Far-InfaRed (FIR) three-wave POlarimeter-INTerferometer (POINT) system for measurement current density profile and electron density profile is under development for the EAST tokamak. The FIR beams are transmitted from the laser room to the optical tower adjacent to EAST via \u223c20 m overmoded dielectric waveguide and then divided into 5 horizontal chords. The optical arrangement was designed using ZEMAX, which provides information on the beam spot size and energy distribution throughout the optical system. ZEMAX calculations used to optimize the optical layout design are combined with the mechanical design from CATIA, providing a 3D visualization of the entire POINT system.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31261813,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Investigating the Effects of Fiber Reinforced Concrete on the Performance of End-Zone of Pre-Stressed Beams.\nThis paper presents the results of the behavior of end zone of post-tensioned (PT) beams made of fiber reinforced concrete (FRC). The principal aim of using FRC was to enhance the ductility and post-cracking behavior of end-zone of post-tensioned beams. A stronger and tougher end-zone of PT-beams is necessary when it is subjected to dynamic loading. Post-tensioned (PT) beams are typically used for the construction of bridges and industrial buildings, which are often subjected to vibrations and cyclic loading. Pre-mature cracking of the end zone (EZ) of a PT-beam is considered the type of problem that may cause the structural collapse. In this research program, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and copper-coated steel (CCS) fibers were used in concrete for improving the EZ performance of PT-beams. The use of FRC caused a 50% reduction in the shear reinforcement within the end zone of the PT-beam, which also avoided the congestion of steel in the end zone. Hence, the concrete was placed homogeneously, and smooth finished surfaces of the beams were obtained. FRC controlled the bursting of the end zone during the transfer of the full pre-stress force, and approximately 25% increment in the strain energy of the end zone was observed, which was also found efficient in strain diminution along the length of the beam.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15262722,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"New techniques for management of the crooked nose.\nThe crooked or twisted nose results from a complex deformity of the bony pyramid, the upper and lower cartilaginous vaults, and the septum and causes functional and aesthetic problems. The forces of scar contracture coupled with long-standing cartilage deformation may make the crooked nose resistant to conventional surgical intervention. The middle vault of the nose may exhibit deformities that are due to atrophy, deviations, and skewing in relationship to the other regions of the nose. We report a series of 79 cases of significantly crooked noses to highlight 5 techniques not widely discussed in the facial plastic surgery literature.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26441251,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Use of physiologically based kinetic (PBK) modeling to study interindividual human variation and species differences in plasma concentrations of quercetin and its metabolites.\nBiological activities of flavonoids in vivo ultimately depend on the systemic bioavailability of the aglycones and their metabolites. We aimed to develop physiologically based kinetic (PBK) models to predict plasma concentrations of the flavonoid quercetin and its metabolites in individual human subjects and to define species differences compared with male rat. The human models were developed based on in vitro metabolic parameters derived from incubations with pooled and 20 individual human tissue fractions and by fitting kinetic parameters to available in vivo data. The outcomes obtained were compared to a previously developed model for quercetin and its metabolites formation in male rat. Quercetin-3'-O-glucuronide was predicted to be the major circulating metabolite in 19 out of 20 individuals, while in male rat di- and tri-conjugates of quercetin containing a glucuronic acid, sulfate and\/or methyl moieties are the major metabolites. Significant species differences occur in major circulating metabolites of quercetin suggesting that rat is not an adequate model to study effects of quercetin in man. The defined PBK models can be used to guide the experimental design of in vitro experiments with flavonoids, especially to better take into account the relevance of metabolism and the contribution of metabolites to the biological activity in humans.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28259946,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"\u03b3\u03b4TCR immunoglobulin constant region domain exchange in human \u03b1\u03b2TCRs improves TCR pairing without altering TCR gene-modified T cell function.\nThe adoptive genetic transfer of T cell receptors (TCRs) has been shown to be overall feasible and offer clinical potential as a treatment for different types of cancer. However, this promising clinical approach is limited by the serious potential consequence that exogenous TCR mispairing with endogenous TCR chains may lead to the risk of self-reactivity. In the present study, domain\u2011exchange and three\u2011dimensional modeling strategies were used to create a set of chimeric TCR variants, which were used to exchange the partial or complete constant region of \u03b1\u03b2TCR with corresponding \u03b3\u03b4TCR domains. The expression, assembly and function of the chimeric TCR variants were examined in Jurkat T cells and peripheral mononuclear blood cells (PBMCs). Genetically\u2011encoded chimeras were fused with a pair of fluorescent proteins (ECFP\/EYFP) to monitor expression and the pairing between chimeric TCR\u03b1 chains and TCR\u03b2 chains. The fluorescence energy transfer based on confocal laser scanning microscopy showed that the introduction of \u03b3\u03b4TCR constant sequences into the \u03b1\u03b2TCR did not result in a global reduction of mispairing with endogenous TCR. However, the TCR harboring the immunoglobulin\u2011like domain of the \u03b3\u03b4TCR constant region (i.e., TCR\u2206IgC), showed a higher expression and preferential pairing, compared with wild\u2011type (wt)TCR. The function analysis showed that TCR\u2206IgC exhibited the same levels of interferon-\u03b3 production and cytotoxic activity, compared with wtTCR. Furthermore, these modified TCR-transduced T cells retained the classic human leukocyte antigen restriction of the original TCR. The other two chimeric TCRs, had either exchange of the cp+tm+ic domain or exchange of the whole C domain (Fig. 1). Ultimately, exchange of these domains demonstrated defective function in the transduced T cells. Taken together, these findings may provide further understanding of the \u03b3\u03b4TCR constant domain with implications for the improvement of TCR gene transfer therapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9545257,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A calcium-dependent tyrosine kinase splice variant in human monocytes. Activation by a two-stage process involving adherence and a subsequent intracellular signal.\nFreshly isolated human monocytes do not express p125(FAK) but upon adherence to substrata activate the highly related calcium-dependent tyrosine kinase (CADTK), also known as Pyk2, CAKbeta, RAFTK, and FAK2. The monocyte CADTK was 5 kDa smaller than protein from epithelial cells; isolation and sequencing of the monocyte CADTK cDNA revealed a predicted 42-amino acid deletion between the two proline-rich domains of the enzyme. The nucleic acid sequence suggests that the deletion is caused by alternative RNA splicing. This species was also found in T and B lymphocytes and appears to be the predominant form of cytoskeletal associated tyrosine kinase in non-neoplastic, circulating, hematopoietic cells. CADTK was not activated when monocytes maintained in suspension were treated with agents that produce an intracellular calcium (thapsigargin) or protein kinase C (phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate) signal including a chemokine, RANTES, that binds to the HIV co-receptor, CCK5. In contrast, monocyte adherence to tissue culture plastic-stimulated CADTK tyrosine phosphorylation, a process that was enhanced by thapsigargin, phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate, and RANTES but that was completely blocked by preincubation with cytochalasin D. When compared with plastic, adherence to fibronectin- or collagen-coated surfaces produced only minimal CADTK activation but permitted significant stimulation by added thapsigargin. These data suggest that in a cell type that lacks p125(FAK), CADTK plays an early role in post-adherence signaling. Its activation involves two stages, cytoskeletal engagement, which is permissive, and co-stimulatory signals (calcium or protein kinase C) generated by extensive cell surface engagement, agonists, or inflammatory chemokines.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37664566,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"TIMP-2 and IGFBP7 in human kidney biopsies in renal disease.\nTissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (TIMP-2) and insulin-like growth factor binding protein 7 (IGFBP7) are markers of tubular stress and urinary [TIMP-2]*[IGFBP7] is an established biomarker for risk assessment of acute kidney injury. There are no studies of expression profiles or localization of these markers in human renal tissue with confirmed renal disease. We analysed 37 kidney biopsies of patients with renal disease and 10 non-diseased control biopsies for TIMP-2 and IGFBP7 expression using immunohistochemistry. Changes in glomerular morphology were evaluated by a semi-quantitative glomerulosclerosis score (GSI) and tubular interstitial changes were graded by the tubular injury score (TSI) using periodic acid-Schiff-stained paraffin sections. Interstitial fibrosis and tubular atrophy (IF\/TA) were graded according to the Banff classification. Urinary [TIMP-2]*[IGFBP7] was collected at the time of biopsy. TIMP-2 and IGFBP7 had significantly greater expression in kidney biopsies from patients with renal disease compared with control tissue, especially in the tubular compartment. Here, IGFBP7 was detected in proximal and distal tubules while TIMP-2 was predominantly localized in the collecting ducts. Renal injury significantly correlated with staining intensity for TIMP-2 and IGFBP7: GSI weakly correlated with glomerular TIMP-2 (r = 0.36) and IGFBP7 (r = 0.35) and TSI correlated with tubular TIMP-2 (r = 0.41) and IGFBP7 (r = 0.43). Urinary [TIMP-2]*[IGFBP7] correlated weakly with the histopathological damage score but not with glomerular and tubular expression. Our findings underline the role of TIMP-2\/IGFBP7 as an unspecific marker of renal injury that is already in use for early detection of acute kidney injury.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27270309,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Aberrant methylation-mediated silencing of microRNAs contributes to HPV-induced anchorage independence.\nCervical cancer and a subset of anogenital and head-and-neck carcinomas are caused by high-risk types of the human papillomavirus (hrHPV). During hrHPV-induced malignant transformation keratinocytes become able to grow anchorage independently, a tumorigenic trait at least partly associated with inactivation of tumor suppressor genes. We used hrHPV-containing keratinocytes to investigate the role of DNA methylation-mediated silencing of microRNAs (miRNAs) in the acquisition of anchorage independence.Anchorage dependent (n=11) and independent passages (n=19) of 4 hrHPV-immortalized keratinocyte cell lines were treated with 2'-deoxy-5-azacytidine (DAC). Genome-wide miRNA expression profiles before and after treatment were compared to identify miRNAs silenced by methylation. Bisulfite sequencing and methylation-specific PCR showed increased methylation of hsa-mir-129-2\/-137\/-935\/-3663\/-3665 and -4281 in anchorage independent HPV-transformed keratinocytes and cervical cancer cell lines. Mature miRNAs derived from hsa-mir-129-2\/-137\/-3663 and -3665 showed functional relevance as they decreased anchorage independence in cervical cancer cell lines. Cervical (pre)cancerous lesions demonstrated increased methylation of hsa-mir-129-2\/-935\/-3663\/-3665 and -4281, underlining the clinical relevance of our findings.In conclusion, methylation-mediated silencing of tumor suppressive miRNAs contributes to acquisition of an anchorage independent phenotype. This study further substantiates the importance of miRNAs during early stages of carcinogenesis and underlines their potential as both disease markers and therapeutic targets.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3042751,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"In vivo studies of repair of 2-aminopurine in Escherichia coli.\nThe repair of the base analog 2-aminopurine has been studied in vivo by using a temperature-sensitive mutant of the cloned mutH gene of Escherichia coli. Our results suggest that the lethal event in killing of dam mutants by 2-aminopurine does not result simply from incorporation of 2-aminopurine into the DNA and its subsequent repair. Furthermore, a 10-fold increase in the level of 2-aminopurine incorporated into the DNA of a dam mutH double mutant has little effect on the mutation frequency of this strain. An alternative mechanism for the mutagenicity of 2-aminopurine in E. coli is proposed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9556042,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"First 10,000 chorionic villus samplings performed on singleton pregnancies by a single operator.\nChorionic villus sampling (CVS) was performed in 10,000 consecutive singleton pregnancies by a single principal operator, working in two institutions. The procedure was performed between 8 and 32 gestational weeks: transabdominal (TA) sampling was carried out in 8479 cases and transcervical (TC) in 1521. Patients were referred for chromosomal risk in 89.1 per cent of cases, Mendelian disorders in 10.5 per cent, and DNA investigations for paternity or infectious agents in 0.4 per cent of cases. The sampling success rate for both TA and TC techniques by the second insertion was 99.8 and 99.2 per cent, respectively. TA sampling succeeded in a higher number of cases at the first insertion (98 per cent vs. 86.8 per cent) and was associated with smaller samples (< 10 mg) in fewer cases (3.2 per cent vs. 4.9 per cent). Cytogenetic analysis was highly successful (99.4 per cent) and accurate; however, in one case a de novo structural rearrangement of chromosome I was not recognized. Mosaicism or rare trisomies were reported in 1.30 per cent of cases. Five diagnostic errors in DNA investigation (0.51 per cent) ended with the birth of affected fetuses. Fetal loss through 28 weeks' gestation in the pregnancies intended to continue was 2.58 per cent; the rate increased with maternal age (1.22 per cent at less than 30 years to 3.8 per cent at 40 years or more), while gestational age affected the abortion rate only at 8 weeks (odds ratio=2.22, P<0.05). Rates of premature delivery, low birth weight, and perinatal mortality did not differ from the Italian standards. By comparison with the Italian Birth Defects Registry data, no differences were found for the major malformations, including transverse limb reduction defects (TLRDs) (4.34 vs. 3.28 x 10,000). Total malformations and TLRDs did not show any pattern relation to either maternal age or gestational age.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37850066,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Out-of-hospital rescue medication in dogs with emergency seizure disorders: an owner perspective.\nEmergency seizure disorders such as status epilepticus and cluster seizures are unlikely to cease spontaneously while prolonged seizure activity become progressively more resistant to treatment. Early administration of rescue medication in canine epileptic patients, in particular benzodiazepines, at seizure onset by the owners can be life-saving and brain protecting. Clinical studies in dogs evaluating the use of rescue medication in hospital environment exist, however, the owner perspective has not been assessed to date. To evaluate the use of rescue medication in dogs with seizure emergencies by the owner at home. Observational study based on online surveys of owners of dogs with emergency seizure disorders. The questionnaire was answered by 1,563 dog owners, of which 761 provided complete and accurate answers suitable for analysis. Of these, 71% administered diazepam, 19% midazolam, 6% levetiracetam, 3% lorazepam, and 4% more than one rescue or other medication. Overall, the success rates based on owners' perspective for intranasal midazolam and rectal diazepam were 97 and 63%, respectively. Owners reported a compliance level of 95 and 66% for intranasal midazolam and rectal diazepam administration, respectively. Even though rectal diazepam was the most used rescue medication in this survey population, intranasal midazolam was perceived by the owners as a better option regarding effectiveness, time to seizure cessation and owner compliance.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32589206,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-30":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"How Workers Fared under the ACA.\nMany politicians, policy makers, and analysts have debated whether the Affordable Care Act (ACA) would have negative effects on the labor market, such as reducing employment, earnings, or hours worked. Building on the existing literature, we investigated how workers' coverage changed under the ACA and whether coverage gains were associated with changes in labor market outcomes across occupations through 2017. We also examined whether occupations experiencing increased coverage through nonemployment sources (i.e., Medicaid or individual plans purchased on the ACA's Marketplaces) also experienced offsetting declines in employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) coverage. Finally, we investigated whether the employer mandate was associated with changes in ESI offers to workers. Among workers in occupations experiencing larger coverage gains under the ACA, we found no evidence that employment, hours worked, or earnings fell relative to workers in occupations that had little change in coverage rates over the same period. Moreover, ESI offers remained stable, even among workers in firms likely subject to the employer mandate. Overall, we found that predictions that the coverage provisions and mandates of the ACA would lead to adverse labor market effects did not materialize.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25495616,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Low prevalence of Neospora caninum and Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in dogs in Jilin, Henan and Anhui Provinces of the People's Republic of China.\nNeospora caninum and Toxoplasma gondii are important pathogens of worldwide distribution. N. caninum is a major cause of abortion in cattle and dogs are main reservoirs because they excrete the environmentally resistant oocysts. Toxoplasmosis is a worldwide zoonosis and dogs are considered as sentinels for this parasite because of their close contact with people and cats; additionally dog meat is also used for human consumption in China. The aim of the present study was to assess the prevalence of N. caninum and T. gondii infection in dogs from China. A total of 425 countryside dog hearts in Jilin, Henan and Anhui provinces of the People's Republic of China were collected from slaughter houses in two batches; the first batch of 96 in October 2013, and the second batch of 329 in April 2014. Serum samples extracted from 96 dog hearts were tested for antibodies to N. caninum and from 425 dog hearts were tested for T. gondii antibodies in the modified agglutination tests (cut-off 1:25 for both), using respective antigens. Antibodies to N. caninum were 6 of 96 (6.25%) of dogs with titers of 1:25 in 2, 1:50 in 3, and 1:100 in 1. All seropositive dogs were more than 1 year old. Antibodies to T. gondii were found in 35 of 425 (8.24%) dogs with titers of 1:25 in 15, 1:50 in 14; and 1:100 in 6. The results of the present study indicated low prevalence of N. caninum and T. gondii antibodies in dogs of China, compared with Europe and America. Identification of the risk factors that underlie these differences may help prevention of neosporosis and toxoplasmosis. This is the first report of N. caninum infection in dogs from China.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23869230,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Assessing the fecal microbiota: an optimized ion torrent 16S rRNA gene-based analysis protocol.\nAssessing the distribution of 16S rRNA gene sequences within a biological sample represents the current state-of-the-art for determination of human gut microbiota composition. Advances in dissecting the microbial biodiversity of this ecosystem have very much been dependent on the development of novel high-throughput DNA sequencing technologies, like the Ion Torrent. However, the precise representation of this bacterial community may be affected by the protocols used for DNA extraction as well as by the PCR primers employed in the amplification reaction. Here, we describe an optimized protocol for 16S rRNA gene-based profiling of the fecal microbiota.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32374990,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Insights into the Structural Chemistry of Anhydrous and Hydrous Hexavalent Uranium and Neptunium Dinitrato, Trinitrato, and Tetranitrato Complexes.\nA systematic investigation is presented which examines the structural chemistry of anhydrous and hydrous ternary hexavalent uranium and neptunium dinitrato, trinitrato, and tetranitrato complexes. Using slow evaporation methods under acidic conditions the uranium and neptunium nitrate complexes \u03b3-K[UO2(NO3)3], K2[UO2-cis-(NO3)4], [NpO2(NO3)2(H2O)2]\u00b74H2O, and Cs[NpO2(NO3)3] have been synthesized and their structures refined using single-crystal X-ray diffraction data. \u03b3-K[UO2(NO3)3] adopts an orthorhombic structure in space group Pbca consisting of antiparallel aligned [UO2(NO3)3]- moieties. K2[UO2-cis-(NO3)4] adopts a monoclinic structure in space group P21\/c consisting of [UO2(NO3)4]2- moieties with two monodentate and two bidentate nitrate ligands that are arranged in a cis configuration about the uranyl, UO22+, center. Previous investigations have only identified trans variants of this monoclinic structure, and this is the first report of the cis form and also the occurrence of geometric isomerism in uranyl nitrates. [NpO2(NO3)2(H2O)2]\u00b74H2O adopts an orthorhombic structure in space group Cmc21 consisting of parallel aligned [NpO2(NO3)2(H2O)2] moieties that are in a trans configuration with respect to the bidentate nitrate ligands. Cs[NpO2(NO3)3] adopts a hexagonal structure in space group R3c consisting of parallel aligned [NpO2(NO3)3]- moieties. It was found that despite using a Np(V) nitrate solution as the starting reagent, Np(VI) nitrate structures were consistently recovered under acidic conditions. These observations are discussed and rationalized with respect to standard reduction potentials, particularly how redox conditions and acidity affect the oxidation state of Np and subsequent structure formation. The structures uncovered in this investigation are discussed comparatively and systematically in detail with other reported anhydrous and hydrous ternary hexavalent uranium and neptunium dinitrato, trinitrato, and tetranitrato complexes, particularly with respect to how synthesis conditions, including pH and geometric isomerism, affect the structural chemistry.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28537132,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Correlates of the Attitude Toward Life-Sustaining Treatment: A Study With Older Adults in South Korea.\nThe goal of the present study was to examine factors associated with the attitude toward life-sustaining treatment among older adults in South Korea. Focus was given to sociodemographic characteristics (age, gender, education, financial status, and religious affiliation), family-related variables (presence of a spouse, children, and a living parent [or in-law]), and health-related variables (chronic conditions, functional disability, and self-rated health). Using data from 6,895 participants (aged 65-97) in the 2014 Korean National Elderly Survey, logistic regression model was tested. The proportion of the sample that endorsed a strong disagreement with the provision of life-sustaining treatment was 53.2%. The increased odds of having a strong disagreement was found in those with younger age (<75), higher education, a living parent (or in-law), and more favorable ratings of health. Findings shed light on programs and services on end-of-life care planning for older adults in South Korea.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23443457,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Comparison of the NCRA and NAACCR Strategic Management Plans.\nThe Strategic Management Plans of the National Cancer Registrars Association (NCRA) and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR) were compared, and differences noted. No uncovered subject areas were found.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18601519,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Low-cost, multimodal, portable screening system for early detection of oral cancer.\nOral cancer is an important global health problem. There is an urgent need for improved methods to detect oral cancer and its precursors, because early detection is the best way to reduce oral cancer mortality and morbidity. In this work, we describe simple modifications to a surgical headlight system that enables direct visualization and digital image acquisition from oral tissue in multiple imaging modalities including fluorescence, white-light reflectance, and orthogonal polarization reflectance. Images obtained with the system in-vivo demonstrate that it is an attractive technology to explore for oral cancer screening in low-resource environments where clinical expertise is often unavailable.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6742972,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Evolution of the mortality rate of newborn infants transferred to a Parisian intensive care service from 1969 to 1978].\nThis study reports on the trend in neonatal death rates in a Paris intensive care unit between 1969 and 1978. Three time-periods were compared: 1969-1971, 1972-1974, and 1975-1978. These limits were chosen to take into account the introduction of continuous airway positive pressure in the unit in 1972, and the gradual implementation, from 1972 onwards, of a new perinatal care policy in France. The mortality rate was significantly lower in the second period than in the first, after adjustment on birthweight and type of disease. This trend varied according to type of disease: the death decreased significantly in case of membrane disease or foetal distress, but not in case of admission for amniotic inhalation or congenital anomalies. The gradual improvement in newborn's condition on arrival in the unit played a part in the improvement in survival, as well as the use of the continuous airway positive pressure.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28742196,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sociological histories on epilepsy as \"causes for disqualification\" stipulated in the Japanese Road Traffic Act of 1960 and Revised Road Traffic Act of 2001.\nIn the wake of successive cases of fatal accidents caused by patients behind the wheel whose driving was likely to be hindered due to paroxysmal diseases, including epilepsy, there has been an outcry from victims demanding stricter criminal penalties against the perpetrators due to negligence. As a result of this action, a revised Road Traffic Act was put into effect in Japan on June 14, 2013. This act established new penal provisions against any person who provides false statements on his\/her medical condition(s) when acquiring or renewing a driver's license. In this paper, the social circumstances will be introduced regarding road traffic in Japan when the Road Traffic Act, the origin of today's revised Road Traffic Act, was enacted in 1960. An overview of the reasons behind the enactment of the original act will be provided. Additionally, the handling of patients with \"provisions for disqualification,\" whose driving is likely to be hindered due to paroxysmal diseases, including \"epilepsy,\" will be reviewed. This handling attracted repeated controversy during the enactment of the original act and will also be reviewed. One significant change in wording from \"absolute causes for disqualification\" in the Road Traffic Act of 1960 to \"relative causes for disqualification\" in the Revised Road Traffic Act of 2001 also will be discussed from a medical sociology perspective. Finally, the social status and socio-economic position of drivers with paroxysmal diseases, as it pertains to influences on lawmakers, will be discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25516725,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Automatic Selection of Order Parameters in the Analysis of Large Scale Molecular Dynamics Simulations.\nGiven the large number of crystal structures and NMR ensembles that have been solved to date, classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have become powerful tools in the atomistic study of the kinetics and thermodynamics of biomolecular systems on ever increasing time scales. By virtue of the high-dimensional conformational state space that is explored, the interpretation of large-scale simulations faces difficulties not unlike those in the big data community. We address this challenge by introducing a method called clustering based feature selection (CB-FS) that employs a posterior analysis approach. It combines supervised machine learning (SML) and feature selection with Markov state models to automatically identify the relevant degrees of freedom that separate conformational states. We highlight the utility of the method in the evaluation of large-scale simulations and show that it can be used for the rapid and automated identification of relevant order parameters involved in the functional transitions of two exemplary cell-signaling proteins central to human disease states.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34415344,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Massive Transfusion Protocol in a 69 Year Old Woman with Alloantibodies.\nUnlike routine blood transfusions that are managed by attending providers and rely on compatibility testing, massive transfusions are managed by the trauma team members, who usually do not have immediate access to compatibility testing. Incompatible C or E antigens, when present in uncrossmatched O positive blood, require transfusion support so that health care professionals can manage potential causes for extravascular hemolysis. Herein, we describe a massive transfusion situation in which immediate patient management was required to mitigate potentially fatal clinical consequences of transfused red blood cell antibodies. In addition, this case study shows how the utility of chemistry and hematology laboratory results can illustrate the complexities of massive transfusion management in the context of incompatible C or E antigens.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12021309,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The CD8+ dendritic cell subset selectively endocytoses dying cells in culture and in vivo.\nDendritic cells (DCs) are able in tissue culture to phagocytose and present antigens derived from infected, malignant, and allogeneic cells. Here we show directly that DCs in situ take up these types of cells after fluorescent labeling with carboxyfluorescein succinimidyl ester (CFSE) and injection into mice. The injected cells include syngeneic splenocytes and tumor cell lines, induced to undergo apoptosis ex vivo by exposure to osmotic shock, and allogeneic B cells killed by NK cells in situ. The CFSE-labeled cells in each case are actively endocytosed by DCs in vivo, but only the CD8+ subset. After uptake, all of the phagocytic CD8+ DCs can form major histocompatibility complex class II-peptide complexes, as detected with a monoclonal antibody specific for these complexes. The CD8+ DCs also selectively present cell-associated antigens to both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. Similar events take place with cultured DCs; CD8+ DCs again selectively take up and present dying cells. In contrast, both CD8+ and CD8- DCs phagocytose latex particles in culture, and both DC subsets present soluble ovalbumin captured in vivo. Therefore CD8+ DCs are specialized to capture dying cells, and this helps to explain their selective ability to cross present cellular antigens to both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9154092,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Brain tumors.\nThis synthesis of the literature on radiotherapy for brain tumors, ie, cancer originating in the central nervous system (CNS), is based on 81 scientific articles, including 25 randomized studies, 13 prospective studies, and 25 retrospective studies. These studies involve 11,081 patients. A more comprehensive chapter on brain tumors may be ordered from SBU. Curative treatment is not available for patients with highly malignant glioma (grades III and IV). Postoperative radiotherapy for highly malignant glioma extends patients' survival, with good quality of life, by several weeks to several months. Virtually all patients die from this disease. Although the clinical benefits from radiotherapy, measured as survival, appear to be modest, it is more effective than any chemotherapy tested thus far. The clinical effects of radiotherapy for highly malignant glioma are improved only marginally by altering factors such as absorbed dose, fractionation, irradiated tissue volume, radiation quality, or by adding radiosensitizing substances. Radiotherapy alone usually provides a clear but temporary improvement in patients with highly malignant glioma, hence it clearly has a palliative benefit. Postoperative radiotherapy for low-grade malignant gliomas (grades I and II) may extend survival. It also reduces tumor volume. No evidence shows that radiotherapy alone or postoperatively can lead to cure. In patients who have undergone subtotal meningioma resection, postoperative radiotherapy substantially reduces the risk for recurrence and extends life, and is thereby indicated. Radiotherapy is not indicated following macroscopic radical meningioma surgery. Patients with brain metastases experience rapid neurological improvement following radiotherapy to the whole brain, and this palliative effect often remains throughout the remainder of the patient's life. Palliative radiotherapy, often to large volumes of the CNS, is therefore motivated in a large proportion of the patient groups. In a smaller group of patients with solitary metastases, radiotherapy may be given postoperatively following radical neurosurgery. Life may be extended in this group, otherwise radiotherapy does not influence survival. Stereotactic radiotherapy of solitary, mainly spherical metastases in the brain is often superior to other known methods with respect to palliation and survival. The number of patients is, however, relatively small.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34236812,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mitral Valve-In-Valve: Defining the Indication Limits by in vitro Hydrodynamic Tests in a Brazilian Transcatheter Prosthesis.\nReoperations in cardiac surgery represent a clinical challenge, particularly because of the higher rate of perioperative morbidity and mortality. Mitral valve reoperation owing to bioprosthesis dysfunction, transcatheter treatment with a prosthesis implantation over the prosthesis has emerged as an alternative, especially for patients with a previous approach. In this study, we analyzed the hydrodynamic behavior of transcatheter prosthesis implantation in conventional mitral bioprostheses through hydrodynamic tests and produced a recommendation for the size of transcatheter valve most adequate for valve-in-valve procedure. Mitral bioprostheses were attached to a flow duplicator and different combinations of transcatheter prostheses were implanted inside. The equipment simulates the hydrodynamic behavior of the valves submitted in vitro and determines transvalvular pressures and flow parameters. All tests could be performed. Better hydrodynamic performance occurred for transcatheter prostheses 1 mm smaller than bioprostheses, except for the 27-mm bioprostheses. Effective valve areas (cm\u00b2) and transvalvular gradients (mmHg) were, respectively: Bioprosthesis \u00d7 Inovare: 27 \u00d7 28 mm: 1.65 and 5.95\/29 \u00d7 28 mm and 31 \u00d7 30 mm: 2.15 and 3.6. The mitral valve-in-valve implantation proved to be feasible in vitro. The use of 27-mm bioprostheses should be judicious, with preference for a 26-mm transcatheter valve. In the 29 and 31-mm bioprostheses, the implantation was very satisfactory, with good effective valve areas and transvalvular gradients, with preference for smaller transcatheter valves.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34397948,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Creation of a linked cohort of children and their parents in a large, national electronic health record dataset.\nTo examine which parental health care and health factors are most strongly associated with a child's receipt of recommended care we must be able to link children to their parents in electronic health record data. Yet, there is not an easy way to link these data.To identify a national cohort of children that link to at least one parent in the same electronic health record dataset and describe their demographics.Methodology to link parents and children in electronic health records and descriptive sociodemographic data.Children with at least one encounter with a primary care clinician between Januray 1, 2007 and December 12, 2018 to a community health center in the OCHIN national network. We identified parents of these children who also had at least one encounter to a community health center in the network using emergency contact and guarantor record fields.A total of 227,552 children had parents with a linkable patient record. After exclusions, our final cohort included 213,513 distinct children with either one or two parent-links. 82% of children linked to a mother only, 14% linked to a father only, and 4% linked to both a mother and a father. Most families consisted of only one linked child (61%).We were able to link 33% of children to a parent in electronic health record data from a large network of community health centers across the United States. Further analyses utilizing these linkages will allow examination of the multi-level factors that impact a child's receipt of recommended health care.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14532161,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Bone buffering of acid and base in humans.\nThe sources and rates of metabolic acid production in relation to renal net acid excretion and thus acid balance in humans have remained controversial. The techniques and possible errors in these measurements are reviewed, as is the relationship of charge balance to acid balance. The results demonstrate that when acid production is experimentally increased among healthy subjects, renal net acid excretion does not increase as much as acid production so that acid balances become positive. These positive imbalances are accompanied by equivalently negative charge balances that are the result of bone buffering of retained H+ and loss of bone Ca2+ into the urine. The data also demonstrate that when acid production is experimentally reduced during the administration of KHCO3, renal net acid excretion does not decrease as much as the decrease in acid production so that acid balances become negative, or, in opposite terms, there are equivalently positive HCO3- balances. Equivalently positive K+ and Ca2+ balances, and thus positive charge balances, accompany these negative acid imbalances. Similarly, positive Na+ balances, and thus positive charge balances, accompany these negative acid balances during the administration of NaHCO3. These charge balances are likely the result of the adsorption of HCO3- onto the crystal surfaces of bone mineral. There do not appear to be significant errors in the measurements.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7923338,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Study on risk factors of 292 pregnant women infected with HCMV].\nThis paper is to determine the risk factors of reactivation by HCMV during pregnancy for improving child birth and bringing-up. A total of 292 paired sera were collected from mothers and their infants in Shanghai and were tested for IgG and IgM by ELISA. The positive rates of HCMV IgG and IgM were 98.97%, 96.97% and 3.77%, 1.71%, respectively in mothers and infants. The rate of IgM was 1.49% in infants whose mothers' education were above the high school level, whereas it was 4.17% whose mothers' educational degree was lower than that grade, and the relative ratio (RR) was 2.8. The number of previous pregnancies were closely associated with the positive rate of IgM. In infants born to mothers at first pregnancy, the positive rate was 1.96%, whereas in infants born to mothers at third pregnancy it increased to 3.70%, RR was 1.89. In pregnant women who were known to have postmortem or premature deliveries before the positive rate was 9.09%, whereas it was 2.53% in pregnant women at first pregnancy, the RR was 3.59. The rates of their infants were 3.03% and 1.90%, respectively, the RR was 1.59. The frequency of IgM antibody in 292 sera of mothers was correlated with that in their infants. It showed that HCMV might be transmitted from mother to fetus.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32583703,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The prevalence and associated factors of lower urinary tract symptoms suggestive of benign prostatic hyperplasia in aging males.\nTo investigate the prevalence and associated factors of lower urinary tract symptoms suggestive of benign prostatic hyperplasia (LUTS\/BPH) in Chinese aging males. Data downloaded from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) was subjected to descriptive statistics followed by univariate logistic regression and multivariate logistic regression. A total of 8563 participants with an overall LUTS\/BPH prevalence of 11.97% were enrolled. With aging, the LUTS\/BPH prevalence increased (p < 0.001). Men aged over 70 years suffered the highest prevalence of 22.70%. Marital status did nothing to the suffering of LUTS\/BPH. Subjects receiving more education or assessed as depression displayed higher incidence of LUTS\/BPH (p < 0.001). In rural villages, settlers showed lower prevalence of 10.00% compared to 16.49% for urban residents. Smoking, sleeping time and alcohol consumption seemed to play a protective role in the occurrence of LUTS\/BPH. One who slept more than 8 h, was smoking, and drank more than once a month had the lowest prevalence (p \u2264 0.001). For Chinese aging population, LUTS\/BPH prevalence increased with aging and was interfered by educational level, depression, sleeping time, geographical region, smoke and alcohol consumption.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20364671,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Antiviral activity of sulfated polysaccharide from the brown algae Laminaria japonica against avian influenza A (H5N1) virus infection in the cultured cells].\nThe antiviral activity of the sulfated polysaccharide fucoidan from the brown sea algae Laminaria japonica against infection caused by highly virulent avian influenza virus (Alduck\/Novosibirsk\/02\/05, H5N1) in the sensitive pig embryo kidney cell cultures was studied. Fucoidan was ascertained to have no cytotoxic activity and to show virucidal activity against influenza A\/H5N1 virus. When given at concentrations of 50 to 500 microg\/ml, fucoidan protected the cell cultures from the cytopathogenic activity of influenza virus in a dose of 0.01 TCID50\/1.0 ml and was able to suppress influenza A\/H5N1 virus production within 24 hours of infection when prophylactic and therapeutic-and-prophylactic treatment regimens were used.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19050031,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Semantic access dysphasia resulting from left temporal lobe tumours.\nUnlike semantic degradation disorders, the mechanisms and the anatomical underpinnings of semantic access disorders are still unclear. We report the results of a case series study on the effects of temporal lobe gliomas on semantic access abilities of a group of 20 patients. Patients were tested 1-2 days before and 4-6 days after the removal of the tumour. Their semantic access skills were assessed with two spoken word-to-picture matching tasks, which aimed to separately control for rate of presentation, consistency and serial position effects (Experiment 1) and for word frequency and semantic distance effects (Experiment 2). These variables have been held to be critical in characterizing access in contrast to degraded-store semantic deficits, with access deficits characterized by inconsistency of response, better performance with slower presentation rates and with semantically distant stimuli, in the absence of frequency effects. Degradation deficits show the opposite pattern. Our results showed that low-grade slowly growing tumours tend not to produce signs of access problems. However, high-grade tumours especially within the left hemisphere consistently produce strong semantic deficits of a clear access type: response inconsistency and strong semantic distance effects in the absence of word frequency effects were detected. However, effects of presentation rate and serial position were very weak, suggesting non-refractory behaviour in the tumour patients tested. This evidence, together with the results of lesion overlapping, suggests the presence of a type of non-refractory semantic access deficit. We suggest that this deficit could be caused by the disconnection of posterior temporal lexical input areas from semantic system.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22699905,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dynamics of macaque MT cell responses to grating triplets.\nNeurons in area MT are sensitive to the direction of motion of gratings and of plaids made by summing 2 gratings moving in different directions. MT component direction-selective (CDS) neurons respond to the individual gratings of a plaid. Pattern direction-selective (PDS) neurons on the other hand, combine component information and respond selectively to the resulting pattern motion. Adding a third grating creates a \"triplaid,\" which contains 3 grating and 3 plaid motions and is perceptually multistable. To examine how direction-selective mechanisms parse the motion signals in triplaids, we recorded MT responses of anesthetized and awake macaques to stimuli in which 3 identical moving gratings whose directions were separated by 120\u00b0 were introduced in 3 successive epochs, going from grating to plaid to triplaid. CDS and PDS neurons-selected based on their responses to gratings and plaids-had strikingly different tuning properties in the triplaid epoch. CDS neurons were strongly tuned for the direction of motion of individual gratings, but PDS neurons nearly lost their selectivity for either the gratings or the plaids in the stimulus. We explain this reduced motion selectivity with a model that relates pattern selectivity of PDS neurons to a broad pooling of V1 afferents with a near-cosine weighting profile. Because PDS neurons signal both component and pattern motion in gratings and plaids, their reduced selectivity for motion in triplaids may be what makes these stimuli perceptually multistable.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28295579,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Estimating freshwater turtle mortality rates and population declines following hook ingestion.\nFreshwater turtle populations are susceptible to declines following small increases in the mortality of adults, making it essential to identify and understand potential threats. Freshwater turtles ingest fish hooks associated with recreational angling, and this is likely a problem because hook ingestion is a source of additive mortality for sea turtles. We used a Bayesian-modeling framework, observed rates of hook ingestion by freshwater turtles, and mortality of sea turtles from hook ingestion to examine the probability that a freshwater turtle in a given population ingests a hook and subsequently dies from it. We used the results of these analyses and previously published life-history data to simulate the effects of hook ingestion on population growth for 3 species of freshwater turtle. In our simulation, the probability that an individual turtle ingests a hook and dies as a result was 1.2-11%. Our simulation results suggest that this rate of mortality from hook ingestion is sufficient to cause population declines. We believe we have identified fish-hook ingestion as a serious yet generally overlooked threat to the viability of freshwater turtle populations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3080964,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Antitumor effect of interferons with chemotherapeutic agents].\nThe combined effect of human interferons and chemotherapeutic agents on human gastric cancer cell lines and a human pancreatic cancer cell line was studied in vitro. Interferons, when used as a single drug, showed inhibitory effects in the order, gamma greater than beta greater than alpha. However, there was no significant difference between the effects of natural and recombinant interferon. In combination therapy, the chemotherapeutic agents should be administered first, followed by administration of interferon(s), since this method showed the most inhibitory effect. Low concentration of 5-FU (0.001-0.01 microgram\/ml) or methotrexate (0.01-1 microgram\/ml) was able to inhibit the growth of cell lines when combined with interferon. These results suggested that in clinical use, low amounts of chemotherapeutic agents followed by administration of interferon(s) could be available with minimum side effects and with more pronounced anticancer effects.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":10207368,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"An Eimeriid origin of isosporoid coccidia with Stieda bodies as shown by phylogenetic analysis of small subunit ribosomal RNA gene sequences.\nMorphological and life cycle features of the tissue cyst-forming coccidia have been difficult to interpret in devising taxonomic classifications for the various genera. In this study, we amplified the full small subunit rRNA gene sequence of Isospora robini McQuistion and Holmes, 1988, and the partial sequence of Isospora gryphoni Olsen, Gissing, Barta, and Middleton, 1998 by PCR. Both of these species vary from Isospora species of mammals in having Stieda bodies on the sporocysts. The sequences were cloned and sequenced and were incorporated into an alignment with other Isospora species lacking Stieda bodies as well as with other coccidia. Maximum parsimony analysis of these sequences produced a single most parsimonious tree that placed I. robini and I. gryphoni in a clade containing various other eimeriid species. The Isospora species lacking Stieda bodies were in the sarcocystid clade. Similar results were found by maximum likelihood analysis. These findings indicate that the genus Isospora as defined by several authors is polyphyletic. Taxonomic changes to the genus Isospora would have to incorporate the 2 major clades found by molecular phylogenetic analysis. Isospora species with Stieda bodies should be classified in the family Eimeriidae, whereas those without Stieda bodies should remain in the family Sarcocystidae.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28701193,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Do elections matter for private-sector healthcare management in Brazil? An analysis of municipal health policy.\nThis study analyzed several political determinants of increased private-sector management in Brazilian health care. In Brazil, the poor depend almost exclusively on the public Unified Health System (the SUS), which remains severely underfunded. Given the overhead costs associated with privately contracted health services, increased private management is one driver of higher expenditures in the system. Although left parties campaign most vocally in support of greater public control of the SUS, the extent to which their stated positions translate into health care policy remains untested. Drawing on multiple publicly available data sources, we used linear regression to analyze how political party-in-power and existing private sector health care contracting affect the share of privately managed health care services and outsourcing in municipalities. Data from two election periods-2004 to 2008 and 2008 to 2012-were analyzed. Our findings showed that although private sector contracting varies greatly across municipalities, this variation is not systematically associated with political party in power. This suggests that electoral politics plays a relatively minor role in municipal-level health care administration. Existing levels of private sector management appear to have a greater effect on the public-private makeup of the Brazilian healthcare system, suggesting a strong role of path dependence in the evolution of Brazilian health care delivery. Despite campaign rhetoric asserting distinct positions on privatization in the SUS, factors other than political party in power have a greater effect on private-sector health system management at the municipal-level in Brazil. Given the limited effect of elections on this issue, strengthening participatory bodies such as municipal health councils may better enfranchise citizens in the fundamental debate over public and private roles in the health care sector.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23328040,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Diagnosis and treatment of pharyngoesophageal diverticulum].\nTo investigate the diagnosis, differential diagnosis and the treatment of Zenker diverticulum (pharyngo esophagus diverticulum) in thyroid operation. Seven cases suffering from thyroid masses diagnosed Zenker diverticulum in thyroid operation between July 2001 and December 2011 were reviewed. Zenker diverticula in the patients were resected. Only one case was complicated with the formation of false capsular bag, infection and fistula postoperatively, but cured with draining eventually. Zenker diverticulum may exist in some patients with thyroid mass. Resection of diverticulum may be performed in thyroid operation, with a good prognosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23438698,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[New developments on the serotonin hypothesis of depression: shunt of tryptophan].\nSince the late 1960s, the serotonin deficiency, as demonstrated in major depression, was related to an increased activity of the liver enzyme tryptophan-pyrrolase stimulated by an excess of circulating corticosteroids, which would shift the metabolism of tryptophan from serotonin to kynurenine production. The finding that the kynurenine causes different effects in central nervous system suggested that an up-regulation of the tryptophan-kynurenine pathway determined not only a deficiency of serotonin, but could also play a role in the development of anxiety, psychotic symptoms and cognitive impairment associated with depression. This review aims to evaluate the different hormonal and genetic factors regulating the metabolism of tryptophan via kynurenine, and to highlight how this metabolic pathway may be involved in depression pathogenesis. Rate-limiting enzymes of kynurenine formation are two: tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenas (TDO) activated by stress hormones, and indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), activated by proinflammatory cytokines. The increased expression of the genes that produce inflammatory cytokines (interferon-gamma and tumor necrosis factor alpha) would determine a genetic predisposition to develop depression by up-regulating the IDO pathway, while environmental stressors would activate TDO via hormonal activation. Therefore, it can be reasonably assumed that the pathway of tryptophan-kynurenine represents one of the main melting points of the interaction between genetic and environmental factors involved in the pathophysiology of depression, as well as new targets for future antidepressant strategies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32348121,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Fabrication of Hierarchical Co9S8@ZnAgInS Heterostructured Cages for Highly Efficient Photocatalytic Hydrogen Generation and Pollutants Degradation.\nIn the present study, a hierarchical Co9S8@ZnAgInS heterostructural cage was developed for the first time which can photocatalytically produce hydrogen and degrade organic pollutants with high efficiency. First, the Co9S8 dodecahedron was synthesized using a metal-organic framework (MOFs) material, ZIF-67, as a precursor, then two kinds of metal sulfide semiconductors were elaborately integrated into a hierarchical hollow heterostructural cage with coupled heterogeneous shells and 2D nanosheet subunits. The artfully designed hollow heterostructural composite exhibited remarkable photocatalytic activity without using any cocatalysts, with a 9395.3 \u03bcmol g-1 h-1 H2 evolution rate and high degradation efficiency for RhB. The significantly enhanced photocatalytic activity can be attributed to the unique architecture and intimate-contact interface between Co9S8 and ZnAgInS, which promote the transfer and separation of the photogenerated charges, increase light absorption, and offer large surface area and active sites. This work presents a new strategy to design highly active semiconductor photocatalysts by using MOF materials as precursors and coupling of metal sulfide semiconductors to form hollow architecture dodecahedron cages with an intimate interface.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30308064,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-26":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Human and entomologic investigations of chikungunya outbreak in Mandera, Northeastern Kenya, 2016.\nChikungunya is a reemerging vector borne pathogen associated with severe morbidity in affected populations. Lamu, along the Kenyan coast was affected by a major chikungunya outbreak in 2004. Twelve years later, we report on entomologic investigations and laboratory confirmed chikungunya cases in northeastern Kenya. Patient blood samples were received at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) viral hemorrhagic fever laboratory and the immunoglobulin M enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (IgM ELISA) was used to test for the presence of IgM antibodies against chikungunya and dengue. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) utilizing flavivirus, alphavirus and chikungunya specific primers were used to detect acute infections and representative PCR positive samples sequenced to confirm the circulating strain. Immature mosquitoes were collected from water-holding containers indoors and outdoors in the affected areas in northeastern Kenya. A total of 189 human samples were tested; 126 from Kenya and 63 from Somalia. 52.9% (100\/189) tested positive for Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) by either IgM ELISA or RT-PCR. Sequence analysis of selected samples revealed that the virus was closely related to that from China (2010). 29% (55\/189) of the samples, almost all from northeastern Kenya or with a history of travel to northern Kenya, tested positive for dengue IgM antibodies. Entomologic risk assessment revealed high house, container and Breteau indices of, 14.5, 41.9 and 17.1% respectively. Underground water storage tanks were the most abundant, 30.1%, of which 77.4% were infested with Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. These findings confirm the presence of active chikungunya infections in the northeastern parts of Kenya. The detection of dengue IgM antibodies concurrently with chikungunya virus circulation emphasizes on the need for improved surveillance systems and diagnostic algorithms with the capacity to capture multiple causes of arbovirus infections as these two viruses share common vectors and eco-systems. In addition sustained entomological surveillance and vector control programs targeting most productive containers are needed to monitor changes in vector densities, for early detection of the viruses and initiate vector control efforts to prevent possible outbreaks.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9158741,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Beta-Lactam antibiotic resistance in gram-positive bacterial pathogens of the upper respiratory tract: a brief overview of mechanisms.\nStreptococcus pneumoniae and Group A Streptococci are frequent colonizers and major causative agents of disease in the upper respiratory tract of humans. In spite of the immense and common selective pressure of beta-lactam antibiotics against both of these bacterial species during the last four to five decades, penicillin-resistant strains of group A streptococci have not been described in the clinical literature as of 1994. This is particularly puzzling since penicillin-resistant mutants of this bacterium have been isolated repeatedly in the laboratory and such mutants carry altered penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) with reduced drug affinities, i.e., a basic mechanism identical to the one seen in penicillin-resistant isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae that have emerged in large numbers and at numerous locations and have spread explosively all over the globe by the beginning of the 1990s. The reasons for this contrasting situation are not clear. In Streptococcus pneumoniae the resistance mechanism to penicillin appears to originate in recombinational events between ancestral pneumococcal cells and as yet unidentified extra species DNA donors and probably involves the process of genetic transformation for which this bacterium has a remarkable hormonally controlled mechanism. The integration of foreign DNA sequences in the pneumococcal PBP genes leads to the remodeling of at least four of the five PBPs that change in their kinetic properties and increase in the penicillin resistance level of the bacteria also seems to involve increased production of the low-affinity binding proteins.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28693632,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Longitudinal study of parasite-induced mortality of a long-lived host: the importance of exposure to non-parasitic stressors.\nHosts face mortality from parasitic and environmental stressors, but interactions of parasitism with other stressors are not well understood, particularly for long-lived hosts. We monitored survival of flour beetles (Tribolium confusum) in a longitudinal design incorporating cestode (Hymenolepis diminuta) infection, starvation and exposure to the pesticide diatomaceous earth (DE). We found that cestode cysticercoids exhibit increasing morphological damage and decreasing ability to excyst over time, but were never eliminated from the host. In the presence of even mild environmental stressors, host lifespan was reduced sufficiently that extensive degradation of cysticercoids was never realized. Median host lifespan was 200 days in the absence of stressors, and 3-197 days with parasitism, starvation and\/or DE. Early survival of parasitized hosts was higher relative to controls in the presence of intermediate concentrations of DE, but reduced under all other conditions tested. Parasitism increased host mortality in the presence of other stressors at times when parasitism alone did not cause mortality, consistent with an interpretation of synergy. Environmental stressors modified the parasite numbers needed to reveal intensity-dependent host mortality, but only rarely masked intensity dependence. The longitudinal approach produced observations that would have been overlooked or misinterpreted if survival had only been monitored at a single time point.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28541518,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mapping healthcare systems: a policy relevant analytic tool.\nIn the past decade, an international consensus on the value of well-functioning systems has driven considerable health systems research. This research falls into two broad categories. The first provides conceptual frameworks that take complex healthcare systems and create simplified constructs of interactions and functions. The second focuses on granular inputs and outputs. This paper presents a novel translational mapping tool - the University of California, San Francisco mapping tool (the Tool) - which bridges the gap between these two areas of research, creating a platform for multi-country comparative analysis. Using the Murray-Frenk framework, we create a macro-level representation of a country's structure, focusing on how it finances and delivers healthcare. The map visually depicts the fundamental policy questions in healthcare system design: funding sources and amount spent through each source, purchasers, populations covered, provider categories; and the relationship between these entities. We use the Tool to provide a macro-level comparative analysis of the structure of India's and Thailand's healthcare systems. As part of the systems strengthening arsenal, the Tool can stimulate debate about the merits and consequences of different healthcare systems structural designs, using a common framework that fosters multi-country comparative analyses.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34424604,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"O-to-S Substitution Enables Dovetailing Conflicting Cyclizability, Polymerizability, and Recyclability: Dithiolactone vs. Dilactone.\nDeveloping chemically recyclable polymers represents a greener alternative to landfill and incineration and offers a closed-loop strategy toward a circular materials economy. However, the synthesis of chemically recyclable polymers is still plagued with certain fundamental limitations, including trade-offs between the monomer's cyclizability and polymerizability, as well as between polymer's depolymerizability and properties. Here we describe the subtle O-to-S substitution, dithiolactone monomers derived from abundant feedstock \u03b1-amino acids can demonstrate appealing chemical properties different from those of dilactone, including accelerated ring closure, augmented kinetics polymerizability, high depolymerizability and selectivity, and thus constitute a unique class of polythioester materials exhibiting controlled molecular weight (up to 100.5 kDa), atactic yet high crystallinity, structurally diversity, and chemical recyclability. These polythioesters well addresses the formidable challenges of developing chemically recyclable polymers by having an unusual set of desired properties, including easy-to-make monomer from ubiquitous feedstock, and high polymerizability, crystallinity and precise tunability of physicochemical performance, as well as high depolymerizability and selectivity. Computational studies explain why O-to-S modification of polymer backbone enables dovetailing desirable, but conflicting, performance into one polymer structure.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28585818,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Oxidation of Secondary Methyl Ethers to Ketones.\nWe present a mild way of converting secondary methyl ethers into ketones using calcium hypochlorite in aqueous acetonitrile with acetic acid as activator. The reaction is compatible with various oxygen- and nitrogen-containing functional groups and afforded the corresponding ketones in up to 98% yield. The use of this methodology could expand the application of the methyl group as a useful protecting group.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32619368,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pain assessment in cerebral palsy: a systematic review of measurement properties and evaluation using the COSMIN checklist.\nThis systematic literature review aims to analyse the methodological quality of instruments available to assess pain in Cerebral Palsy (CP), according to the COSMIN guidelines and checklist. Electronic literature searches were conducted in PubMed, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, PEdro, Scielo, Scopus and Academic Search Complete (EBSCO host) for articles on measurement properties of self-report, proxy or observational instruments. A total of 14 instruments were identified. Of these, 8 were self-report instruments, 4 were observational instruments and 2 could be used both as self-report or proxy-report. The quality of the manuscripts was inadequate or doubtful in 45.5%, adequate in 15.9% and very good in 38.6% of the cases. No instrument was assessed for all the properties recommended by COSMIN. The quality of the evidence for the measurement properties of the pain assessment instruments ranged from very low to moderate. There is scarce and low-quality evidence on the measurement properties of instruments used to assess pain in individuals with cerebral palsy. Further research is needed designed in line with the COSMIN recommendations.Implications for rehabilitationThere is scarce and low-quality evidence on the measurement properties of instruments used to assess pain in individuals with cerebral palsy;Clinicians need to carefully choose instruments to assess pain in individuals with cerebral palsy as there is insufficient evidence on the quality of instruments;Self-report pain intensity scales may be a useful instrument for a subgroup of individuals with cerebral palsy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29366423,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Therapeutic Approach to Patients with Heart Failure with Reduced Ejection Fraction and End-stage Renal Disease.\nSeveral risk factors including Ischemic heart disease, uncontrolled hypertension, high output Heart Failure (HF) from shunting through vascular hemodialysis access, and anemia, contribute to development of HF in patients with End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD). Guidelinedirected medical and device therapy for Heart Failure with Reduced Ejection Fraction (HFrEF) has not been extensively studied and may have limited safety and efficacy in patients with ESRD. Maintenance of interdialytic and intradialytic euvolemia is a key component of HF management in these patients but often difficult to achieve. Beta-blockers, especially carvedilol which is poorly dialyzed is associated with cardiovascular benefit in this population. Despite paucity of data, Angiotensin-converting Enzyme Inhibitors (ACEI) or Angiotensin II Receptor Blockers (ARBs) when appropriately adjusted by dose and with close monitoring of serum potassium can also be administered to these patients who tolerate beta-blockers. Mineralocorticoid receptors in patients with HFrEF and ESRD have been shown to reduce mortality in a large randomized controlled trial without any significantly increased risk of hyperkalemia. Implantable Cardiac-defibrillators (ICDs) should be considered for primary prevention of sudden cardiac death in patients with HFrEF and ESRD who meet the implant indications. Furthermore in anemic iron-deficient patients, intravenous iron infusion may improve functional status. Finally, mechanical circulatory support with leftventricular assist devices may be related to increased mortality risk and the presence of ESRD poses a relative contraindication to further evaluation of these devices.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32585218,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Disorders on cardiovascular parameters in rats and in human blood cells caused by Lachesis acrochorda snake venom.\nIn Colombia, Lachesis acrochorda causes 2-3% of all snake envenomations. The accidents promote a high mortality rate (90%) due to blood and cardiovascular complications. Here, the effects of the snake venom of L. acrochorda (SVLa) were analyzed on human blood cells and on cardiovascular parameters of rats. SVLa induced blood coagulation, as measured by the prothrombin time test, but did not reduce the cell viability of neutrophils and platelets evaluated by the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) reduction assay and by the lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) enzyme assay. In fact, SVLa increased the absorbance in tests made with platelets subjected to the MTT assay. SVLa induced platelet aggregation whose magnitude was comparable to that of the positive control adenosine diphosphate (ADP), and occurred earlier with increasing SVLa concentration. Acetylsalicylic acid (ASA, a cyclooxygenase inhibitor) or clopidogrel (an ADP receptor blocker) inhibited the aggregating effect of SVLa. Inhibition of SVLa-elicited platelet aggregation also resulted from the treatment with disodium ethylenediaminetetraacetate (Na2-EDTA; metalloproteinase inhibitor) and with 4-(2-aminoethyl) benzenesulfonyl fluoride hydrochloride (AEBSF, serine protease inhibitor). In isolated right atrium of rats, SVLa increased slightly, but significantly, the magnitude of the spontaneous contractions and, in isolated rat aorta, SVLa relaxed KCl- or phenylephrine-induced contractions. In vivo, SVLa induced hypotension and bradycardia in rats, with detection of hemorrhage in pulmonary and renal tissues. Altogether, under experimental conditions, SVLa induced blood coagulation, platelet aggregation, hypotension and bradycardia. Part of the effects presented here may be explained by the presence of snake venom metalloproteinases (SVMPs) and snake venom serine proteases (SVSPs), constituents of SVLa.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8343628,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Is screening and intervention for microalbuminuria worthwhile in patients with insulin dependent diabetes?\nTo analyse the cost-benefit of screening for and antihypertensive treatment of early renal disease indicated by microalbuminuria in patients with insulin dependent diabetes mellitus. Previously published data were used to estimate transition probabilities for each step from normoalbuminuria until death. The effect of intervention on urinary albumin excretion rate by antihypertensive treatment was arbitrarily set at three different levels. All direct costs (screening, antihypertensive treatment, treatment of end stage renal failure) were included in the cost-benefit analysis by using real discount rates of 2.5% and 6%. Computer simulation. Simulated cohort of 8000 patients. Mortality, incidence of diabetic nephropathy, incidence of end stage renal failure, and costs versus savings. Assuming treatment effects of 33% and 67% median life expectancy increased by four to 14 years, respectively, and the need for dialysis or transplantation decreased by 21% to 63%. Costs and savings would balance if the annual rate of increase of albuminuria was decreased from 20% to 18% a year. Screening and intervention programmes are likely to have life saving effects and lead to considerable economic savings.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31257975,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Arsenic trioxide and tetraarsenic oxide induce cytotoxicity and have a synergistic effect with cisplatin in paclitaxel-resistant ovarian cancer cells.\nBackground: Arsenic compounds (As2O3 and As4O6) have demonstrated anticancer effects in various malignancies. In this study, the cytotoxicity of arsenic compounds on ovarian cancer cell lines and the anticancer activity of the combination of arsenic compounds and cisplatin IN chemoresistant ovarian cancer cells were investigated.Methods: We investigated the cytotoxicity of As2O3 and As4O6 and their combinations with cisplatin in the paclitaxel-sensitive ovarian cancer cell lines SKOV3ip1 and HeyA8 and paclitaxel-resistant ovarian cancer cell lines SKOV3TRip2 and HeyA8-MDR. Growth and apoptosis were evaluated by MTT assay and annexin V assay using flow cytometry, respectively. For detection of apoptotic cells, immunofluorescence was performed using a cleaved caspase-3 antibody. Cell-cycle distribution was determined by propidium iodide staining and flow cytometry.Results: Treatment of each cell line with As2O3 or As4O6 led to a marked dose-dependent inhibition of cell growth. As2O3 and As4O6 treatment induced caspase-3-dependent apoptosis in all cell lines compared to the respective control groups (p < .05). As2O3 and As4O6 induced apoptosis of paclitaxel-sensitive and -resistant cancer cell lines following G2\/M cell cycle arrest (p < .05). A synergistic effect was achieved by combining cisplatin with As2O3 or As4O6 in the paclitaxel-resistant ovarian cancer cell lines.Conclusions: As2O3 and As4O6 can inhibit cell growth and induce apoptosis in paclitaxel-sensitive and -resistant ovarian cancer cell lines. Their combination with cisplatin resulted in a synergistic effect in paclitaxel-resistant cancer cell lines. These results suggest that arsenic compounds may be given in monotherapy or combination therapy with cisplatin for treating paclitaxel-resistant ovarian cancer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25415833,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Motor performance in the third, not the second month, predicts further motor development.\nThe aim was to verify if motor performance at second or third month of life better predicts further development. The global motor development was assessed by a neurologist and by a physiotherapist in 111 children at 2, 3, 6, and 9 months. At 2 and 3 months a physiotherapist also performed the assessment of qualitative elements. The physiotherapeutic assessment in the third month showed higher compatibility with the neurological assessment. Proper motor performance at third month could ensure the level of at least 7 months in the ninth month of life. Qualitative score above 7 of 15 points in the third month ensured proper development in ninth month. Third month of life is a better predictor of further motor development.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7936961,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Factor analysis and reliability of the Movement Imagery Questionnaire.\nThe purpose of this work was to analyze the factor structure, estimate reliability of the Movement Imagery Questionnaire of Hall and Pongrac, and examine differences between men and women on factor scores. The results for 63 men and 47 women supported the bifactorial structure and reliability of this self-report and its adequacy in comparisons of visual and kinesthetic imagery scores.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28290928,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Indications of Recruitment Challenges in Research with U.S. Military Service Members: A ClinicalTrials.gov Review.\nThe success of military-relevant health research often depends on recruiting adequate numbers of U.S. military service members as research participants. Researchers have reported difficulties in recruiting service member research participants. Reviews of ClinicalTrials.gov, an online clinical trial registry of publicly and privately sponsored studies, have identified challenges in participant recruitment and barriers to study completion in various research populations. The purpose of this study was to identify indications of difficulty recruiting U.S. military service members as research participants based on data from study records in ClinicalTrials.gov. Records of studies starting between 2005 and 2014 were collected from ClinicalTrials.gov and updated through January 2016. Three hundred and two studies that included \u226525% U.S. military service member research participants were (1) compared to a comparison group of 302 studies, each with <5% service member participants and (2) compared by the proportion of service member participants within studies in the military group (\"many\" \u226525% but <100% service members and \"all\" 100% service members). Groups were evaluated and compared for recruitment status; reasons for study withdrawal, termination, or suspension; achievement of \u226585% of the anticipated enrollment; and differences in achieving recruitment goals according to study sponsor. Twelve percent of studies in the military group had been withdrawn, terminated, or suspended; enrollment and funding problems were the most common reasons. The comparison group had 11% of studies withdrawn, terminated, or suspended; the most common reasons were enrollment problems and sponsor decision. All study groups had indications of difficulty adequately achieving participant enrollment goals. Among studies with known anticipated and actual enrollment, approximately half in both the military group (47.9%) and comparison group (50.3%) achieved \u226585% of the anticipated enrollment (p = 0.722). Half of studies with many service members and 44% of studies with all service members achieved \u226585% of the anticipated enrollment (p = 0.600). In comparing the many and all service member subgroups, significant differences were found in the median values for anticipated enrollment and actual enrollment, even when accounting for Bonferroni correction. Evaluations of mean values did not show a statistical difference between the military subgroups. There were no significant differences according to study sponsor (military, academic, Veterans Affairs, National Institutes of Health, nonprofit organization, or industry) for a study achieving or not achieving \u226585% of the anticipated enrollment. This review supports anecdotal reports of difficulty recruiting service members as research participants. However, the findings also indicate that in many regards, there is not much difference in the difficulties recruiting service members versus other research participants. Findings suggest that it is often difficult to recruit research participants regardless of the specific population or type of study sponsor, and that studies with either many or all service member participants have similar achievement of recruitment goals. Findings in this study may be useful for those who design research that includes service members or for those who are apprehensive about including service members in their research.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":930532,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Endogenous acid releases secretin in man.\nIn search of a physiological stimulus for secretin release, the effect of gastric acid secretion was investigated. In six healthy volunteers, pentagastrin (1.5 microgram\/kg, hr i.v.) was administered without and with aspiration of gastric contents, and plasma secretin was estimated by radioimmunoassay. Administration of pentagastrin without aspiration of gastric juice resulted in steadily increasing plasma secretion which was significantly elevated at the end of 60 min of pentagastrin infusion and also in the post-infusion hour. These results are compatible with the concept that endogenous acid being delivered from the stomach to the duodenum does contribute to the release of secretin which in turn may serve as a physiological stimulus for pancreatic bicarbonate secretion.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28564347,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"RELATEDNESS AND POPULATION STRUCTURE OF THE PRIMITIVELY EUSOCIAL BEE LASIOGLOSSUM ZEPHYRUM (HYMENOPTERA: HALICTIDAE) IN KANSAS.\nLasioglossum zephyrum is a primitively eusocial bee, which nests in small colonies of up to 20 individuals. The nests occur in patchily distributed aggregations of from a few to over 1,000 nests along periodically disturbed stream and river banks in eastern North America. We used five polymorphic allozyme loci to test for geographic structure and estimate relatedness in eight patches of nests from five aggregations in Douglas Co., Kansas. Autocorrelation analysis of gene frequencies, plus a multilocus G test, revealed a low but significant tendency for differentiation among nests within patches, among patches within aggregations, and among aggregations. Small numbers of nests restricted estimation of relatedness to three patches, of which only one had a sample size large enough to yield confidence limits narrow enough to be informative. The limits from this patch of 20 nests are 0.64 < 0.8245 < 1.01. While these limits are consistent with the true value being 0.75 (that expected under male-haploidy if each nest results from the reproduction of a single, once-mated female), the occurrence of some nests with three or more genotypes shows that nest makeup is more complex than this, so that a lower value, say 0.7, is more plausible. This value is sufficiently high to indicate that kin selection is probably important in these populations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26419782,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"3D RuO\u2082 Microsupercapacitors with Remarkable Areal Energy.\nLarge areal capacitance electrodes made of ruthenium oxide on highly porous gold current collectors are realized by an attractive approach. The hybrid structure exhibits a capacitance in excess of 3 F cm(-2) and an areal energy density for all-solid-state microsupercapacitors that is comparable to those of microbatteries.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17186100,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Prevalence of microtia and anotia at the maternity of the University of Chile Clinical Hospital].\nMicrotia is a congenital defect characterized by disturbances in the size and form of the ear lobe. Anotia corresponds to the absence of the ear lobe. To study the prevalence of microtia and anotia at the Maternity of the University of Chile Clinical Hospital. Analysis of the database of the Latin American Collaborative Study of Congenital Defects (ECLAMC). All newborns and stillborns with congenital defects are incorporated to this database. The prevalence of microtia-anotia in the period 1982-2001 was 8.7 per 10,000 born alive. Chilean hospitals have an uniform prevalence of 5.2 per 10,000 born alive. Thirty seven percent presented as isolated malformations and the rest were associated to other defects. Eighty six percent of non isolated cases were part of a syndrome. Sixty eight percent were mild or moderate forms and the rest, severe forms. Two cases were stillborns and two newborns died before hospital discharge. The prevalence of microtia in this hospital and in the rest of Chilean hospitals is significantly higher than in the rest of non Chilean hospitals participating in the ECLAMC, that is 4.1 per 10,000 born alive.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31244211,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"An Ovarian Protein Involved in Passive Avoidance of an Endoparasitoid To Evade Its Host Immune Response.\nThrough a combination of transcriptomic and proteomic analyses, we identified 817 secreted ovarian proteins from an endoparasitoid wasp, Cotesia chilonis, of which five proteins are probably involved in passive evasion. The results of an encapsulation assay revealed that one of these passive evasion-associated proteins (Crp32B), a homologue of a 32-kDa protein (Crp32) from C. rubecula, could protect resin beads from being encapsulated by host hemocytes in a dose-dependent manner. Crp32B is transcribed in ovarian cells, nurse cells, follicular cells, and oocytes, and the protein is located throughout the ovary and on the egg surface. Moreover, Crp32B has antigenic similarity to several host components. These results indicate that C. chilonis may use molecular mimicry as a mechanism to avoid host cellular immune response.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14521791,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Study on the immuno-effects of recombinant hepatitis B vaccination in adults].\nTo evaluate the immuno-effects of hepatitis B (HB) vaccination in adults. Five groups were sampled by means of cluster sampling, and serum HBsAg, anti-HBs and anti-HBc were tested in every group at people aged from 18 to 50. Recombinant HB vaccine was injected to the ones that HBsAg, anti-HBs and anti-HBc were all negative. Concentration of anti-HBs in serum was tested after one year and three years of vaccination. Immuno-effects of recombinant HB vaccination in adults at different ages and between sexes, were then calculated. Good immuno-effects of recombinant HB vaccination in adults were noticed. After one year and three years of vaccination with 5 micro g recombinant HB vaccine, the anti-HBs positive rates were 82.76%, 70.77% while the serum concentrations of anti-HBs were 55.91 mIU\/ml and 35.41 mIU\/ml respectively. When 10 micro g was used, the concentrations were 83.74%, 72.22%, 56.89 mIU\/ml and 30.29 mIU\/ml respectively. The effects did not show significant differences between different doses on 10 micro g and of 5 micro g. Concentration of anti-HBs reduced when time went by. The factors such as age and sex influenced the effects of immunity on recombinant HB vaccination. Good immunity could be obtained when recombinant hepatitis B was vaccinated in vulnerable population aged 18 to 50.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25413657,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Longitudinal models for studying multivariate changes and dynamics.\nIn this paper, we describe a longitudinal modeling approach for examining multivariate changes and dynamics. This technique is based on latent change scores and is executed using a structural equation modeling framework. We provide an overview of the model, describing desirable features for identifying dynamics among multiple processes. We then illustrate its application using empirical data consisting of longitudinal processes and conclude the paper with some potential steps for advancing the modeling possibilities.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29561754,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-30":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Integrated Oxidized-Hyaluronic Acid\/Collagen Hydrogel with \u03b2-TCP Using Proanthocyanidins as a Crosslinker for Drug Delivery.\nThe susceptibility of guided bone regeneration (GBR) material to infection by pathogens at wound sites during bone healing has often been overlooked. The objective of this study was the synthesis and characterization of a potential material for antibacterial GBR application. In the current study, the mechanical strength and biocompatibility of a composite restoration material-made of oxidized hyaluronic acid (HA)\/type I collagen hydrogel integrated with tricalcium phosphate (\u03b2-TCP) using a natural crosslinking agent, oligomeric proanthocyanidins (OPCs)-were evaluated. The suitability of the material as a carrier matrix for antibacterial applications was evaluated by following the drug-release profile of tetracycline loaded within the composite. Results indicated that this composite material had a high swelling ratio of 420% and mechanical strength of 25 kPa while remaining at more than 60% of the weight after 30 days of an in vitro degradation test with good biocompatibility in promoting the proliferation of MG-63 cells. Drug release studies further showed that 93% of the tetracycline was released after 5 days, which supports this GBR material's capability to release antibacterial drugs while keeping other required GBR material design functions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9154316,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Megakaryocytes and platelets in myeloproliferative disorders.\nIncreased megakaryocyte (MK) proliferation in bone marrow is a feature common to the three Ph-negative myeloproliferative disorders (MPDs), i.e. essential thrombocythaemia (ET), polycythaemia vera (PV), and myelofibrosis with splenic myeloid metaplasia (MMM), and to chronic myelocytic leukaemia (CML). Enlarged MKs with multilobulated nuclei and cell clustering in close proximity are the hallmark of all the Ph negative MPDs. Clonality of haematopoietic cells, based on X chromosome inactivation, can now be studied in a majority of female patients in all nucleated cell fractions as well as in platelets. Cytofluorometric studies have demonstrated a shift towards higher ploidy classes in PV and ET MKs which may be useful in discriminating between both primary and reactive thrombocytosis and CML patients which show a significant shift to lower MK ploidy values. The role of MK proliferation on the evolution of myelofibrosis common to MPDs has been firmly established. Implication of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) in myelofibrosis has already been demonstrated. More recently transforming growth factor beta (TGF beta) synthesized and secreted by MK has been implicated in fibroblasts stimulation. A significant increase in circulating colony-forming units of MKs (CFU-MK) has been repeatedly observed in MPDs as well as a spontaneous MK colony formation in a majority of ET patients. Hypersensitivity to thrombopoietin (TPO) in relation to a functional defect of the TPO-MPL pathway may play a major role in spontaneous MK growth. There is no currently available test of platelet functions able to predict the risk of occurrence of thrombotic or haemorrhagic complications in MPD patients. However, the role of platelet activation in the pathogenesis of ischaemic erythromelalgia has been established and a correlation between presenting haemorrhagic manifestations and platelet counts in excess of 1000 x 10(9)\/l has been found.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":5478947,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Acquired hepatocerebral degeneration: report of an atypical case.\nA case of acquired hepatocerebral degeneration secondary to biliary cirrhosis is described. It differs from the conventional type because of the clinical predominance of cerebellar symptomatology and because the principal neuropathological abnormalities were restricted to the pallidum and to the cerebellum.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6172885,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Differentiation of specific DNA binding activity of SLE sera from non-specific binding by an addition of dextran sulfate and calcium chloride to the Farr assay system.\nA new method for differentiation of specific DNA-binding by human sera from non-specific binding was evaluated with sera from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus in different stages of the disease. An addition of dextran sulfate or calcium chloride to Farr's radioimmunoassay mixture reduced non-specific binding of thermally denatured [3H]DNA of the patient sera without much effect on the specific binding. The measurement of DNA-binding value by the sera in these addition systems provides accurate information with regard to the pathophysiological state of the disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26417198,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Alview: Portable Software for Viewing Sequence Reads in BAM Formatted Files.\nThe name Alview is a contraction of the term Alignment Viewer. Alview is a compiled to native architecture software tool for visualizing the alignment of sequencing data. Inputs are files of short-read sequences aligned to a reference genome in the SAM\/BAM format and files containing reference genome data. Outputs are visualizations of these aligned short reads. Alview is written in portable C with optional graphical user interface (GUI) code written in C, C++, and Objective-C. The application can run in three different ways: as a web server, as a command line tool, or as a native, GUI program. Alview is compatible with Microsoft Windows, Linux, and Apple OS X. It is available as a web demo at https:\/\/cgwb.nci.nih.gov\/cgi-bin\/alview. The source code and Windows\/Mac\/Linux executables are available via https:\/\/github.com\/NCIP\/alview.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31246469,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Kinetics and Energetics of Ultrafast Bimolecular Photoinduced Electron Transfer Reactions in Pluronic-Surfactant Supramolecular Assemblies.\nUnderstanding the kinetics and energetics of photoinduced electron transfer (PET) reactions in constrained media has attracted considerable research interest, as constrained media provide a handle to tune the microenvironments and consequently the mechanisms of PET reactions. In this study, PET reactions between excited 7-aminocoumarin acceptors and ground-state N,N-dimethylaniline (DMAN) donor have been investigated in mixed micellar media composed of triblock copolymer, P123, and anionic surfactant, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), with varying SDS-to-P123 molar ratios (n values). The objective is to elucidate the role of the n values in the rates and energetics of PET reactions over the entire time range from the subpicosecond to the subnanosecond domain, especially in regard to the applicability of the two-dimensional ET (2DET) mechanism. It is observed that by changing the n values, there is a significant change in the hydration characteristics of the SDS-P123 mixed micelles, which in turn changes the kinetics to energetic correlations for the PET reactions. Fluorescence from the excited coumarin acceptors undergoes substantial quenching due to PET from DMAN donor in all of the studied micelles as evidenced from steady-state, subnanosecond time-resolved (TR) and ultrafast (subpicosecond\/femtosecond) fluorescence up-conversion measurements. The quenching rate constants (kq), estimated from subnanosecond TR fluorescence studies, and the individual component-wise decay rates (\u03c4i-1), estimated from up-conversion measurements, increase gradually with increasing n value, corroborating well with the sequentially increased micropolarity of the mixed micelles. Interestingly, it is observed that the correlations of either kq (from subnanosecond studies) or \u03c4i-1 (from femtosecond studies) with the reaction exergonicity (-\u0394G\u00b0) show the noteworthy Marcus inversion (MI) behavior in a very consistent and similar manner for the entire time window, from subpicoseconds to subnanoseconds. The onset of MI always appears at an exergonicity (-\u0394G\u00b0MI) much lower than solvent reorganization energy (\u03bbs), suggesting the involvement of 2DET mechanism throughout the subpicosecond to subnanosecond time domains. The present results thus provide a comprehensive picture of the kinetics and energetics of the PET reactions in constrained media for the whole time span and unequivocally establish the applicability of 2DET mechanism for the PET reactions in constrained media, eliminating any apprehensions about the effect of time resolution of the subnanosecond setup on the observed Marcus inversion behavior. This is indeed an important finding, providing valuable insights for PET reactions in constrained media, which has not been explored explicitly in any of the previous studies. Observation of MI behavior and the modulations in the PET reactions by simply changing the composition of SDS in the SDS-P123 mixed micelles are noteworthy findings of the present study and are expected to find suitable applications for better utilization and outcome of the PET reactions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32587587,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"CTL Attenuation Regulated by PS1 in Cancer-Associated Fibroblast.\nObjective: Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) were associated with tumor progression in the tumor microenvironment (TME). However, their immunosuppressive roles in protecting cancer cells from the attack by cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) are not fully clear. In this study, we investigated whether and how CAFs regulate tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes as well as their role in tumor immunosuppression. Methods: Eighty-three cases of ovarian cancer and 10 controls were analyzed for CAFs and CD8+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes by gene array and immunohistochemistry. We evaluated presenilin 1 (PS1) expression in CAFs, CTL penetration, tumor burden, dendritic cell function, and migration of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and their function in vivo and in vitro after silencing PS1. In addition, the pathway via which PS1 affects the TME was also evaluated. Results: PS1 was highly expressed in CAFs, and its silencing significantly promoted CD8+ CTL proliferation and penetration in multiple ovarian models (p < 0.05), resulting in tumor regression and growth inhibition. Interleukin (IL)-1\u03b2 was identified as a major immune inhibitor in the TME, and it was significantly decreased after PS1 silencing (p < 0.05), which was regulated by the WNT\/\u03b2-catenin pathway. It was also showed that high expression of IL-1\u03b2 in CAFs inhibits CTL penetration significantly (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Highly expressed PS1 in CAFs plays a crucial role in regulating tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte populations in the TME via the WNT\/\u03b2-catenin pathway. Targeting PS1 may retrieve functional CTLs in the TME and improve the efficacy of current immunotherapies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25430619,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Effect of ethnicity on weight loss after bariatric surgery.\nPrevious studies have reported better weight loss after bariatric surgery among non-Hispanic whites (NHW) versus non-Hispanic blacks (NHB) and Hispanics. The majority of these studies took place in areas where NHW are the majority. This study aimed to compare post-surgery weight outcomes by ethnicity in a geographic area where Hispanics are the majority. A retrospective medical chart review of 3268 patients (1561 Hispanic, 660 NHB, and 1047 NHW) who underwent Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) or Adjustable Gastric Band (AGB) placement from 2002 to 2012 were analyzed. Percentages of excess weight loss (EWL) and body mass index (BMI) changes at 6, 12, and 24 months post-surgery were compared by ethnic group. At 6 months, EWL was significantly different by ethnicity (52.7 \u00b1 15.9 Hispanics, 49.7 \u00b1 15.7 NHW, 43.0 \u00b1 17.3 NHB, P < 0.001). These differences remained at 1 year (66.0 \u00b1 20.3 Hispanics, 64.0 \u00b1 20.3 NHW, 54.1 \u00b1 21.3 NHB, P < 0.001) and 2 years (68.6 \u00b1 24.1 Hispanics, 69.5 \u00b1 21.2 NHW, 57.6 \u00b1 25.4 NHB, P < 0.001). Ethnic group changes in BMI were similar to EWL changes. Analysis stratified by gender, type of surgery, and BMI category (<40, 40-49.99, \u226550 kg\/m(2)) showed lower EWL in NHB than Hispanics and NHW. NHW had higher EWL than Hispanics only when they underwent AGB and had a BMI >40 kg\/m(2). Up to 2 years after RYGB, mean EWL and BMI reduction patterns are similar among NHW and Hispanics and significantly better than NHB. These patterns were comparable but not as pronounced among patients with AGB surgery. Our findings suggest that social factors may contribute to successful weight loss after bariatric surgery.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27273466,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A Green Approach to High-Performance Supercapacitor Electrodes: The Chemical Activation of Hydrochar with Potassium Bicarbonate.\nSustainable synthesis schemes for the production of porous carbons with appropriate textural properties for use as supercapacitor electrodes are in high demand. In this work a greener option to the widely used but corrosive KOH is proposed for the production of highly porous carbons. Hydrochar products are used as carbon precursors. It is demonstrated that a mild alkaline potassium salt such as potassium bicarbonate is very effective to generate porosity in hydrochar to lead to materials with large surface areas (> 2000 m(2) g(-1) ) and a tunable pore size distribution. Furthermore, the use of KHCO3 instead of KOH gives rise to a significant 10 % increase in the yield of activated carbon, and the spherical morphology of hydrochar is retained, which translates into better packing properties and reduced ion diffusion distances. These features lead to a supercapacitor performance that can compete with, and even surpass, that of KOH-activated hydrochar in a variety of electrolytes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22690079,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Health-related quality of life evaluated by tumor node metastasis staging system in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.\nTo investigate and evaluate the change in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) by tumor node metastasis (TNM) staging system in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). A total of 140 patients diagnosed with HCC between June 2008 and April 2009 in our department were enrolled to this study. One hundred and thirty-five (96.5%) patients had liver cirrhosis secondary to hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, 73 (54.07%) of them being HBV DNA positive; the other etiologies of liver cirrhosis were alcoholic liver disease (1.4%), hepatitis C (1.4%) or cryptogenic (0.7%). All subjects were fully aware of their diagnosis and provided informed consent. HRQoL was assessed before treatment using the functional assessment of cancer therapy-hepatobiliary (FACT-Hep) questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to evaluate demographics and disease-specific characteristics of the patients. One-way analysis of variance and independent samples t tests were used to compare the overall FACT-Hep scores and clinically distinct TNM stages. Scores for all FACT-Hep items were analyzed by frequency analyses. The mean scores obtained from the FACT-Hep in different Child-Pugh classes were also evaluated. The mean FACT-Hep scores were reduced significantly from TNM Stage I to Stage II, Stage IIIA, Stage IIIB group (687 \u00b1 39.69 vs 547 \u00b1 42.57 vs 387 \u00b1 51.24 vs 177 \u00b1 71.44, P = 0.001). Regarding the physical and emotional well-being subscales, scores decreased gradually from Stage I to Stage IIIB (P = 0.002 vs Stage I; P = 0.032 vs Stage II; P = 0.033 vs Stage IIIA). Mean FACT-Hep scores varied by Child-Pugh class, especially in the subscales of physical well-being, functional well-being and the hepatobiliary cancer (P = 0.001 vs Stage I; P = 0.036 vs Stage II; P = 0.032 vs Stage IIIA). For the social and family well-being subscale, only Stage IIIB scores were significantly lower as compared with Stage I scores (P = 0.035). For the subscales of functional well-being and hepatobiliary cancer, there were significant differences for Stages II\u0399, IIIA and IIIB (P = 0.002 vs Stage I). HRQoL of patients with HCC worsens gradually with progression of TNM stages. The most impaired subscales of HRQoL, as measured by FACT-Hep, were physical and emotional well-being.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22685528,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Exposures to conditioned flavours with different hedonic values induce contrasted behavioural and brain responses in pigs.\nThis study investigated the behavioural and brain responses towards conditioned flavours with different hedonic values in juvenile pigs. Twelve 30-kg pigs were given four three-day conditioning sessions: they received three different flavoured meals paired with intraduodenal (i.d.) infusions of 15% glucose (F(Glu)), lithium chloride (F(LiCl)), or saline (control treatment, F(NaCl)). One and five weeks later, the animals were subjected to three two-choice feeding tests without reinforcement to check the acquisition of a conditioned flavour preference or aversion. In between, the anaesthetised pigs were subjected to three (18)FDG PET brain imaging coupled with an olfactogustatory stimulation with the conditioned flavours. During conditioning, the pigs spent more time lying inactive, and investigated their environment less after the F(LiCl) than the F(NaCl) or F(Glu) meals. During the two-choice tests performed one and five weeks later, the F(NaCl) and F(Glu) foods were significantly preferred over the F(LICl) food even in the absence of i.d. infusions. Surprisingly, the F(NaCl) food was also preferred over the F(Glu) food during the first test only, suggesting that, while LiCl i.d. infusions led to a strong flavour aversion, glucose infusions failed to induce flavour preference. As for brain imaging results, exposure to aversive or less preferred flavours triggered global deactivation of the prefrontal cortex, specific activation of the posterior cingulate cortex, as well as asymmetric brain responses in the basal nuclei and the temporal gyrus. In conclusion, postingestive visceral stimuli can modulate the flavour\/food hedonism and further feeding choices. Exposure to flavours with different hedonic values induced metabolism differences in neural circuits known to be involved in humans in the characterization of food palatability, feeding motivation, reward expectation, and more generally in the regulation of food intake.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28693059,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[The effects and mechanisms of berberine on proliferation of papillary thyroid cancer K1 cells induced by high glucose].\nObjective: To study the effect and mechanisms of berberine (BBR) on the proliferation of papillary thyroid cancer K1 cells induced by high glucose. Methods: K1 cells were cultured under 5.5 mmol\/L or 25 mmol\/L glucose condition with or without different concentration of BBR (0, 10, 40 and 80 \u03bcmol\/L) for 24 hours. The proliferations of K1 cells in each condition were detected by MTT. Western blot was used to measure the expression of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2(Nrf2), phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), protein kinase B (Akt) and phosphorylated-Akt (p-Akt). The distribution pattern of Nrf2 in K1 cells was determined using immunofluorescent staining. Results: Compared with 5.5 mmol\/L condition, the proliferation rate [(126.64\u00b15.41) % vs (87.31\u00b13.67)%], expression levels of PI3K (0.425\u00b10.019 vs 0.272\u00b10.039), p-Akt\/Akt (0.446\u00b10.021 vs 0.168\u00b10.035) and Nrf2 (0.597\u00b10.014 vs 0.308\u00b10.026), and Nrf2 distribution (93.0% vs 23.1%) in nuclear of K 1 cells under 25 mmol\/L condition were significantly elevated, respectively (all P<0.01). Addition of BBR in 25 mmol\/L condition dose dependently (10, 40, 80 \u03bcmol\/L) lowered the proliferation rate of K1 cells [(111.76\u00b14.10)%, (70.03\u00b12.18)%, (32.41\u00b13.76)% vs (126.64\u00b15.41)%, all P<0.05], and suppressed the expression of PI3K, p-Akt\/Akt, Nrf2, and Nrf2 nuclear distribution (P<0.05). Conclusions: BBR dose dependently inhibited the proliferation of high glucose-induced K1 cells. This effect was associated with the suppression on of PI3K\/Akt signaling activation, Nrf2 expression and its nuclear translocation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32352837,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"IL-12B Polymorphisms Are Associated with the Presence of Premature Coronary Artery Disease and with Cardiovascular Risk Factors: The Genetics of Atherosclerotic Disease Mexican Study.\nThe aim of this study was to evaluate the association of the IL-12B polymorphisms with the presence of premature coronary artery disease (pCAD) and with cardiovascular risk factors. The study included 2163 individuals (1133 patients with pCAD and 1030 healthy controls). Seven IL-12B polymorphisms (rs1363670, rs3212220, rs3212227, rs6887695, rs1433048, rs2853694, and rs1368439) were determined by TaqMan assays. The associations were evaluated by logistic regression using inheritance models adjusted for confounding variables. The rs1363670 was associated with a low risk of pCAD (odds ratio [OR] 0.718, pdominant = 0.034; OR 0.701, pheterozygote = 0.024; OR 0.702, pcodominant1 = 0.025). The association of the polymorphisms with cardiovascular risk factors was evaluated independently in each group. In controls, the rs3212227, rs3212220, and rs6887695 polymorphisms were associated with subcutaneous abdominal fat > p75, whereas the rs6887695 was associated with a high risk of central obesity. In pCAD patients, the rs2853694 was associated with a low risk of insulin resistance; and association of rs3212227 and rs3212220 with a low risk of metabolic syndrome was found, and the rs6887695 polymorphism was nominally associated with a high risk of hyperuricemia. In conclusion, the IL-12B rs1363670 polymorphism was associated with a low risk of pCAD, and in both pCAD patients and healthy controls, some IL-12B polymorphisms were associated with cardiovascular risk factors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21155330,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Assassination of Henri IV, mental disorders and criminal responsibility].\nOn 14th May 1610, Fran\u00e7ois Ravaillac, a delusional mystic, assassinated King Henri IV. Under the Ancien Regime, regicide was considered as a supreme act of patricide and received the ultimate punishment even if the perpetrator showed obvious signs of insanity. What would the situation be today? A study of this notorious historical episode provides a reflection on the way dangerousness linked to mental disorders has been viewed and treated over the last four centuries.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14555509,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evaluation of pre-existent immunity in patients with primary breast cancer: molecular and cellular assays to quantify antigen-specific T lymphocytes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells.\nBreast cancers are known to frequently (over)express several well-characterized tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) such as carcinoembryonic antigen, MUC-1, Her-2\/neu, and cancer\/testis antigens such as NY-ESO-1, SSX-2, and members of the MAGE family. Whereas in melanoma patients, the detection of pre-existing T cell responses to tumor-associated differentiation antigens was a rationale to initiate several vaccination strategies, little is known thus far concerning tumor-specific immunity in breast cancer patients. The objectives of our study were (a) to modify and compare different immunodiagnostic T cell assays with regard to their suitability for clinical applications and (b) to determine endogenous TAA-specific T cell immunity of breast cancer patients at the time point of primary diagnosis. Using MUC-1- and Her-2\/neu-derived HLA-A*0201-restricted peptides as model antigens, we analyzed antigen-dependent IFN-gamma release of T cells by enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISpot) assay, intracellular cytokine flow cytometry (CytoSpot), and quantitative real-time PCR. As an assay independent of T cell function, we performed tetramer staining. In our hands, the quantitative real-time PCR method is most sensitive and a feasible screening test to perform an \"immunological staging\" of cancer patients. By doing this, we detected in 7 of 13 (54%) of HLA-A*0201(+) breast cancer patients a pre-existent specific cellular immune response to at least one of the investigated TAAs (MUC-1, Her-2\/neu, carcinoembryonic antigen, NY-ESO-1, and SSX-2). Four of 21 patients (19%) were found to have a significant Her-2\/neu-specific T cell response as defined by a stimulation index >\/==\" BORDER=\"0\"> 2 (range, 10-88). Although the clinical relevance of endogenous TAA-specific immunity remains unclear, our findings suggest that patients with primary breast cancer can mount a T cell immune response to their tumor that might be beneficially enhanced by TAA-dependent vaccination strategies in the adjuvant situation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35369478,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Development of a Rapid and Efficient RPA-CRISPR\/Cas12a Assay for Mycoplasma pneumoniae Detection.\nMycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) is a one of most common pathogen in causing respiratory infection in children and adolescents. Rapid and efficient diagnostic methods are crucial for control and treatment of MP infections. Herein, we present an operationally simple, rapid and efficient molecular method for MP identification, which eliminates expensive instruments and specialized personnel. The method combines recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) with clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)\/CRISPR associated proteins (Cas) 12a-based detection, with an optimal procedure less than 1 h from sample to result including DNA extraction (25 min), RPA reaction (39\u00b0C for 15-20 min), CRISPR\/Cas12a detection (37\u00b0C for 10 min) and visual detection by naked eyes (2 min). This diagnostic method shows high sensitivity (two copies per reaction) and no cross-reactivity against other common pathogenic bacteria. Preliminary evaluation using 201 clinical samples shows sensitivity of 99.1% (107\/108), specificity of 100% (93\/93) and consistency of 99.5% (200\/201), compared with real-time PCR method. The above data demonstrate that our developed method is reliable for rapid diagnosis of MP. In conclusion, the RPA-CRISPR\/Cas12a has a great potential to be as a useful tool for reliable and quick diagnosis of MP infection, especially in primary hospitals with limited conditions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17821590,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Earth's Mantle: Evidence of Non-Newtonian Flow.\nRecent information from experimentally deformed dunite coupled with a reanalysis of data on the Fennoscandian postglacial rebound suggest that the rheological behavior of the upper mantle is distinctly non-Newtonian, and that the shear strain rate is proportional to the shear stress raised to about the third power.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15559826,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Decomposition dynamic of higher plant pigments by HPLC analysis.\nThe fate of the litter of dominant vegetation(willows and reeds) is one of the aspects studied in the frame of the project \"Onderzoek Milieu Effecten Sigmaplan\". One of the questions to be considered is how long the litter stays within the estuary. In this paper, the time the leaf litter (Salix triandra and Phragmites australis) stayed in the Schelde estuary was studied by using plant pigment as biomarkers with HPLC application. After analyzing the original data from the incubation experiment described by Dubuison and Geers (1999), the decomposition dynamics patterns of pigments were analyzed and described, and these decomposition dynamics patterns were used as calibration patterns. By using Spearman Rank Order Correlation, the calibration patterns of the pigments which were significant (p < 0.05) were grouped. In this way, several groups of the calibration patterns of pigment decomposition were achieved. The presence or absence of these groups of pigments (whether they can be detected or not from HPLC) was shown to be useful in determining the time the litter has stayed in the water. Combining data of DW and POC, more precise timing can be obtained.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22689655,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3,"dup_dump_count":2,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2013-20":1,"2013-48":1}}},"text":"Aberrant substrate engagement of the ER translocon triggers degradation by the Hrd1 ubiquitin ligase.\nLittle is known about quality control of proteins that aberrantly or persistently engage the endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-localized translocon en route to membrane localization or the secretory pathway. Hrd1 and Doa10, the primary ubiquitin ligases that function in ER-associated degradation (ERAD) in yeast, target distinct subsets of misfolded or otherwise abnormal proteins based primarily on degradation signal (degron) location. We report the surprising observation that fusing Deg1, a cytoplasmic degron normally recognized by Doa10, to the Sec62 membrane protein rendered the protein a Hrd1 substrate. Hrd1-dependent degradation occurred when Deg1-Sec62 aberrantly engaged the Sec61 translocon channel and underwent topological rearrangement. Mutations that prevent translocon engagement caused a reversion to Doa10-dependent degradation. Similarly, a variant of apolipoprotein B, a protein known to be cotranslocationally targeted for proteasomal degradation, was also a Hrd1 substrate. Hrd1 therefore likely plays a general role in targeting proteins that persistently associate with and potentially obstruct the translocon.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28355442,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Association Between Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule 1 and Atrial Fibrillation.\nAccumulating evidence links inflammation and atrial fibrillation (AF). To assess whether markers of systemic and atrial inflammation are associated with incident AF in the general population. The Bruneck Study is a prospective, population-based cohort study with a 20-year follow-up (n = 909). The population included a random sample of the general community aged 40 to 79 years. Levels of 13 inflammation markers were measured at baseline in 1990. Findings were replicated in a case-control sample nested within the prospective Salzburg Atherosclerosis Prevention Program in Subjects at High Individual Risk (SAPHIR) study (n = 1770). Data analysis was performed from February to May 2016. Levels of 13 inflammation markers. Incident AF over a 20-year follow-up period in the Bruneck Study. Of the 909 participants included in the Bruneck Study, mean [SD] age was 58.8 (11.4) years and 448 (49.3%) were women. Among the 880 participants free of prevalent AF (n = 29) at baseline, 117 developed AF during the 20-year follow-up period (incidence rate, 8.2; 95% CI, 6.8-9.6 per 1000 person-years). The levels of soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1) and osteoprotegerin were significantly associated with incident AF (hazard ratio [HR], 1.49; 95% CI, 1.26-1.78; and 1.46; 95% CI, 1.25-1.69, respectively; P < .001 with Bonferroni correction for both), but osteoprotegerin lost significance after age and sex adjustment (HR, 1.05; 95% CI, 0.87-1.27; P > .99 with Bonferroni correction). Matrix metalloproteinase 9, metalloproteinase inhibitor 1, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, P-selectin, fibrinogen, receptor activator of nuclear factor-\u03baB ligand, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, adiponectin, leptin, soluble intercellular adhesion molecule 1, and E-selectin all fell short of significance (after Bonferroni correction in unadjusted and age- and sex-adjusted analyses). The HR for a 1-SD higher soluble VCAM-1 level was 1.34 (95% CI, 1.11-1.62; Bonferroni-corrected P = .03) in a multivariable model. The association was of a dose-response type, at least as strong as that obtained for N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (multivariable HR for a 1-SD higher N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide level, 1.15; 95% CI, 1.04-1.26), internally consistent in various subgroups, and successfully replicated in the SAPHIR Study (age- and sex-adjusted, and multivariable odds ratios for a 1-SD higher soluble VCAM-1 level, 1.91; 95% CI, 1.24-2.96, P = .003; and 2.59; 95% CI, 1.45-4.60; P = .001). Levels of soluble VCAM-1, but not other inflammation markers, are significantly associated with new-onset AF in the general community. Future studies should address whether soluble VCAM-1 is capable of improving AF risk classification beyond the information provided by standard risk scores.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9548874,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Modified Monoterpenes from Biotransformation of (-)-Isopiperitenone by Suspension Cell Culture of Mentha piperita\nThe biotransformation of (-)-(4R)-isopiperitenone (1) by suspension cell culture of Mentha piperita yielded three new hydroxylated derivatives, 4-6, and two new epoxidized derivatives, 7 and 8. (-)-7-Hydroxyisopiperitenone (2) and its glucoside were previously isolated from the culture. The structures of 4-8 were elucidated using spectral methods, and their absolute stereochemistry was established by NMR experiments and correlation with compounds of known configuration.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26475573,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Acknowledging tissue donation: Human cadaveric specimens in musculoskeletal research.\nHuman cadaveric specimens are an important resource for research, particularly in biomechanical studies, but their use also raises ethical questions and cannot simply be taken for granted. It was asked how much information authors publishing musculoskeletal research actually give about such specimens and about how they were acquired. The aim was to formulate recommendations on how this reporting might be improved. Relevant articles published between 2009 and 2012 in four North American or European journals were scanned for information regarding the characteristics of the human specimens used, their institutional source and the ethical or legal context of their acquisition. While the majority of articles report biological characteristics of specimens (sex, age at death, preservation method), only 40% of articles refer to body donation, only 23% report the institution that provided specimens, and only 17% refer to some kind of formalized approval of their research. There were regional and journal-to-journal differences. No standard for reporting studies involving human specimens could be detected. It is suggested that such a standard be developed by researchers and editors. Information on the source of specimens and on the ethical or legal basis should be regularly reported to acknowledge this unique research resource and to preserve the good relationship between researchers and the communities, that provide the required specimens by body donation and upon which researchers depend.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16157014,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Identification of nitrated proteins in the normal rat brain using a proteomics approach.\nThe nitration of tyrosine has been suggested to play a role in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorders such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson's disease (PD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). In the present study, we identified four targets of protein nitration, T-complex polypeptide 1 alpha subunit (TCP-1), neurofilament L (NFL), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and clathrin heavy chain (CHC), in the normal rat cortex using a proteomics approach. There have been no reports on these proteins being identified by proteomics as nitrated forms in the brain. For further study, we have to investigate alterations in these nitrated proteins during aging and in neurodegenerative disorders.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26468211,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The trans-kingdom identification of negative regulators of pathogen hypervirulence.\nModern society and global ecosystems are increasingly under threat from pathogens, which cause a plethora of human, animal, invertebrate and plant diseases. Of increasing concern is the trans-kingdom tendency for increased pathogen virulence that is beginning to emerge in natural, clinical and agricultural settings. The study of pathogenicity has revealed multiple examples of convergently evolved virulence mechanisms. Originally described as rare, but increasingly common, are interactions where a single gene deletion in a pathogenic species causes hypervirulence. This review utilised the pathogen-host interaction database (www.PHI-base.org) to identify 112 hypervirulent mutations from 37 pathogen species, and subsequently interrogates the trans-kingdom, conserved, molecular, biochemical and cellular themes that cause hypervirulence. This study investigates 22 animal and 15 plant pathogens including 17 bacterial and 17 fungal species. Finally, the evolutionary significance and trans-kingdom requirement for negative regulators of hypervirulence and the implication of pathogen hypervirulence and emerging infectious diseases on society are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18606609,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Immunohistochemical analysis of myosin heavy chain expression in laryngeal muscles of the rabbit, cat, and baboon.\nWe studied myosin heavy chain (MyHC) expression and fiber type distribution in laryngeal muscles in the rabbit, cat, and baboon using immunohistochemistry with highly MyHC-specific antibodies. Two types of variation in MyHC expression were found: between muscles of different function within species and within specific muscles between species. Within species, thyroarytenoid (Ta), an adductor, had faster MyHCs and fiber type profiles than the abductor, posterior cricoarytenoid (PCA), which expressed faster MyHCs than the vocal fold tensor, cricothyroid (CT). Between species, laryngeal muscles generally expressed faster MyHCs in small animals than in larger ones: extraocular (EO) MyHC was expressed in the Ta and PCA of the rabbit but not in the cat and baboon, whereas 2B MyHC was expressed in these muscles of the cat but not of the baboon. The CT expressed only MyHC isoforms and fiber types found in the limb muscles of the same species. These results are discussed in light of the hypothesis that the between-species variations in laryngeal muscle fiber types are evolutionary adaptations in response to changes in body mass and respiratory frequency. Within-species variations in fiber types ensure that protective closure of the glottis is always faster than movements regulating airflow during respiration.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16987057,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Serological profiles after consecutive experimental infections of pigs with European H1N1, H3N2, and H1N2 swine influenza viruses.\nSwine influenza viruses (SIVs) of H1N1, H3N2, and H1N2 subtypes, with antigenically different hemagglutinins, are currently cocirculating in pigs in Europe. This study aimed to determine whether the hemagglutination inhibition (HI) test, which is the primary serological test for SIV, is sufficiently specific to discriminate between infections with the three subtypes. In experiment 1, pigs were consecutively inoculated with European H1N1, H3N2, and H1N2 SIVs by the intranasal route, or with the respective subtypes only. In a second experiment, a commercial, inactivated H1N1- and H3N2- based SIV vaccine was administered once to pigs previously infected with one to three SIV subtypes or to influenza-naive pigs. Sequential serum samples were examined in HI and virus-neutralizing (VN) tests to the three strains used for pig inoculations. Of the 160 sera collected after infection with one or two SIV subtypes, only 8 showed cross-reactive antibodies to the remaining subtype(s) in the HI test, and 11 in the VN test. Consecutive inoculations with H1N1 and H1N2 or vice versa were followed by a significant rise in preexisting antibody titers to the first subtype after the second inoculation. When dually infection-immune pigs were inoculated with the third, remaining SIV subtype, nasal virus excretion was undetectable or reduced and the serological response was absent to moderate. A single vaccination of infection-immune pigs resulted in a dramatic rise in HI and VN antibody titers to any of the previously encountered subtypes, whereas SIV-naive pigs barely seroconverted. Most important, pigs previously infected with H1N1 but not with H1N2 developed crossreactive antibodies to H1N2 after the vaccination. In conclusion, the HI test remains adequate for the differential diagnosis of infections with H1N1, H3N2, and H1N2 in European swine populations if it is properly used and if the SIV vaccination status is taken into account.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31258344,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Impact of a Newly Established Multidisciplinary Team on the Interventional Treatment of Patients With Emphysema.\nThe emphysema interventional treatment involves mainly lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS) and endobronchial valve (EBV) implantation. Few institutes discuss these cases at a dedicated emphysema multidisciplinary team (MDT) meeting. To investigate the impact of a newly established dedicated emphysema MDT meeting on the interventional treatment of such patients. During a study period of 4 years, the outcome of 44 patients who underwent intervention according to the proposal of the emphysema MDT (group A) was compared with the outcome of 44 propensity score matched patients (group B) treated without the emphysema MDT proposal. More LVRS and less EBV insertions were performed in group A (P = .009). In group B, the interventions were performed sooner than in group A (P = .003). Postoperative overall morbidity and length of in-hospital stay were similar in the 2 groups (P = .918 and .758, respectively). Improvement of breathing ability was reported in more patients from group A (P = .012). In group B, the total number of re-interventions was higher (P = .001) and the time to re-intervention had the tendency to be less (P = .069). Survival was similar between the 2 groups (P = .884). Intervention without discussion at the MDT and EBV as initial intervention was an independent predictor of re-intervention. Interventional treatment for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) after discussion at a dedicated MDT involved more LVRS performed, required fewer interventions for their disease, and had longer re-intervention-free intervals and better breathing improvement.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20365689,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Coarse-grained protein-protein stiffnesses and dynamics from all-atom simulations.\nLarge protein assemblies, such as virus capsids, may be coarse-grained as a set of rigid units linked by generalized (rotational and stretching) harmonic springs. We present an ab initio method to obtain the elastic parameters and overdamped dynamics for these springs from all-atom molecular-dynamics simulations of one pair of units at a time. The computed relaxation times of this pair give a consistency check for the simulation, and we can also find the corrective force needed to null systematic drifts. As a first application we predict the stiffness of an HIV capsid layer and the relaxation time for its breathing mode.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24387324,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Secondary organic aerosol in residences: predicting its fraction of fine particle mass and determinants of formation strength.\nIndoor secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation may contribute to particle concentrations within residences, but little systematic work has investigated its magnitude or the determinants of its formation. This work uses a time-averaged modeling approach to predict the indoor SOA mass formed in residences due to the oxidation of 66 reactive organic compounds by ozone or the hydroxyl radical, parameterizing SOA formation with the aerosol mass fraction. Other organic and inorganic aerosols owing to outdoor and indoor sources were also predicted. Model inputs were represented as distributions within a Monte Carlo analysis, so that result distributions and sensitivity of results to inputs could be quantified, using a dataset developed from the study of Relationships between Indoor, Outdoor and Personal Air and other sources. SOA comprised a large amount of indoor organic and total fine particles for a subset of the results (e.g., >47% of indoor organic and >30% of fine aerosol for 10% of the modeled cases), but was often a small fraction. The sensitivity analysis revealed that SOA formation is driven by high terpene emission rates (particularly by d-limonene) and outdoor ozone, along with low air exchange and ozone and particle deposition rates. This study predicts that indoor SOA formation can be a substantial fraction of indoor aerosols in residences, for certain combinations of building and reactant parameters. The model herein can predict SOA for risk analyses or be used to design experiments to study indoor SOA formation. The terpene, d-limonene, contributes by far the most to formation, and eliminating this particular compound indoors would be impactful on indoor aerosol concentrations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16229807,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Imaging of VEGF receptor kinase inhibitor-induced antiangiogenic effects in drug-resistant human adenocarcinoma model.\nSmall molecule vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor tyrosinase kinase inhibitors (VEGFR-TKIs) show great promise in inducing antiangiogenic responses in tumors. We investigated whether antiangiogenic tumor responses induced by an experimental VEGFR-TKI (AG013925; Pfizer Global Research and Development) could be reported by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) during the initial phase of treatment. We used MRI and superparamagnetic nanoparticles for measuring relative vascular volume fraction (rVVF) in a drug-resistant colon carcinoma model. Athymic mice harboring MV522 xenografts were treated with VEGFR-TKI (25 mg\/kg, p.o., with a 12-hour interval in between treatments) and were imaged after three consecutive treatments. Relative tumor blood volume fractions were calculated using deltaR2* maps that were scaled by the known VVF value of an in-plane skeletal muscle (1.9%). There was a pronounced and statistically significant (P < .001) decrease of tumor rVVF in treated animals (0.95 +\/- 0.24%; mean +\/- SEM, n = 66 slices, eight mice) compared to mice that received a placebo (2.91 +\/- 0.24%; mean +\/- SEM, n = 66 slices, nine mice). Tumor histology confirmed a three-fold decrease of vascular density and a concomitant increase of apoptotic cell index. Hence, we demonstrated that: 1) the VEGFR-TKI resulted in antiangiogenic effects that were manifested by a decrease or rVVF; and 2) iron oxide nanoparticles and steady-state MRI enable an early detection of tumor response to antiangiogenic therapies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31252529,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"New 20 m Progressive Shuttle Test Protocol and Equation for Predicting the Maximal Oxygen Uptake of Korean Adolescents Aged 13-18 Years.\nBackground: Although several equations for predicting VO2max in children and adolescents have been reported, the validity of application of these equations to the Korean population has not been verified. The purpose of study was to develop and validate regression models to estimate maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) using a newly developed 20 m progressive shuttle test (20 m PST) protocol in Korean male (n = 80, 15.3 \u00b1 1.86 years) and female (n = 81, 15.5 \u00b1 1.73 years) adolescents aged 13-18 years. Methods: The modified 20 m PST was performed and the VO2max was assessed in a sample of 161 participants. The participants underwent a treadmill test (TT) in the laboratory and the modified 20 m PST in a gymnasium. For the validation study, the participants performed the TT with a stationary metabolic cart and the 20 m PST with a portable metabolic cart once. In addition, they performed the 20 m PST two more times to establish test-retest reliability. Results: The mean VO2max (49.6 \u00b1 8.7 mL\u00b7kg-1\u00b7min-1) measured with the potable metabolic cart was significantly higher than that measured in the graded exercise test with the stationary metabolic cart (46.6 \u00b1 8.9 mL\u00b7kg-1\u00b7min-1, p < 0.001) using the new 20 m PST protocol. The standard error of the estimate (SEE) between these two measurements was 1.35 mL\u00b7kg-1\u00b7min-1. However, the VO2max derived from the newly developed equation was 46.7 \u00b1 7.3 mL\u00b7kg-1\u00b7min-1 (p > 0.05) and the SEE was 2.90 mL\u00b7kg-1\u00b7min-1. The test and retest trials of the 20 m PST yielded comparable results (laps, r = 0.96; last speed, r = 0.93). Conclusions: Our data suggest that the new 20 m PST protocol is valid and reliable and that the equation developed in this study provides a valid estimate of VO2max in Korean male and female adolescents aged 13-18 years.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15264979,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"The motivating impact of informing women smokers of a link between smoking and cervical cancer: the role of coherence.\nThis research assessed the role of having a coherent explanation of the link between smoking and cervical cancer in motivating women to stop smoking. In the 1st study, women were given a leaflet with either a detailed or a minimal explanation of the link or no leaflet. The leaflets were similarly effective at providing a coherent explanation. In a cross-sectional analysis, having a coherent explanation moderated the relationship between perceived vulnerability and intention: Higher perceived vulnerability to cervical cancer was associated with greater intention to quit smoking only amongst women with a more coherent explanation of the link between smoking and cervical cancer. This finding was replicated in a 2nd study. These results are consistent with H. Leventhal et al.'s (1997) self-regulatory model, which suggests that motivation to change behavior depends not only on perceiving a threat but also on having a coherent model linking the behavior with the threat.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28266787,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pipette-tip solid-phase extraction based on deep eutectic solvent modified graphene for the determination of sulfamerazine in river water.\nA green and novel deep eutectic solvent modified graphene was prepared and used as a neutral adsorbent for the rapid determination of sulfamerazine in a river water sample by pipette-tip solid-phase extraction. Compared with conventional graphene, deep eutectic solvent modified graphene can change the surface of graphene with wrinkled structure and higher selective extraction ability. The properties of deep eutectic solvent modified graphene and graphene were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. Static adsorption showed deep eutectic solvent modified graphene had a higher adsorption ability (18.62 mg\/g) than graphene. Under the optimum conditions, factors such as kinds of washing solvents and elution solvents and volume of elution solvent were evaluated. The limits of detection and quantification were 0.01 and 0.03 \u03bcg\/mL, respectively. The method recoveries of sulfamerazine were in the range of 91.01-96.82% with associated intraday relative standard deviations ranging from 1.63 to 3.46% and interday relative standard deviations ranging from 0.68 to 3.84%. Deep eutectic solvent modified graphene showed satisfactory results (recovery was 95.38%) and potential for rapid purification of sulfamerazine in river water sample in combination with the pipette-tip solid-phase extraction method.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28269872,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Toward Medical Documentation That Enhances Situational Awareness Learning.\nThe purpose of writing medical notes in a computer system goes beyond documentation for medical-legal purposes or billing. The structure of documentation is a checklist that serves as a cognitive aid and a potential index to retrieve information for learning from the record. For the past 50 years, one of the primary organizing structures for physicians' clinical documentation have been the SOAP note (Subjective, Objective, Assessment, Plan). The cognitive check list is well-suited to differential diagnosis but may not support detection of changes in systems and\/or learning from cases. We describe an alternative cognitive checklist called the OODA Loop (Observe, Orient, Decide, Act. Through incorporation of projections of anticipated course events with and without treatment and by making \"Decisions\" an explicit category of documentation in the medical record in the context of a variable temporal cycle for observations, OODA may enhance opportunities to learn from clinical care.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34411349,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Circadian rhythm disruption with high-fat diet impairs glycemic control and bone quality.\nBiological functions, including glycemic control and bone metabolism, are highly influenced by the body's internal clock. Circadian rhythms are biological rhythms that run with a period close to 24 hours and receive input from environmental stimuli, such as the light\/dark cycle. We investigated the effects of circadian rhythm disruption (CRD), through alteration of the light\/dark schedule, on glycemic control and bone quality of mice. Ten-week-old male mice (C57\/BL6, n = 48) were given a low-fat diet (LFD) or a high-fat diet (HFD) and kept on a dayshift or altered schedule (RSS3) for 22 weeks. Mice were divided into four experimental groups (n = 12\/group): Dayshift\/LFD, Dayshift\/HFD, RSS3\/LFD, and RSS3\/HFD. CRD in growing mice fed a HFD resulted in a diabetic state, with a 36.2% increase in fasting glucose levels compared to the Dayshift\/LFD group. Micro-CT scans of femora revealed a reduction in inner and outer surface expansion for mice on a HFD and altered light schedule. Cancellous bone demonstrated deterioration of bone quality as trabecular number and thickness decreased while trabecular separation increased. While HFD increased cortical bone mineral density, its combination with CRD reduced this phenomenon. The growth of mineral crystals, determined by small angle X-ray scattering, showed HFD led to smaller crystals. Considering modifications of the organic matrix, regardless of diet, CRD exacerbated the accumulation of fluorescent advanced glycation end-products (fAGEs) in collagen. Strength testing of tibiae showed that CRD mitigated the higher strength in the HFD group and increased brittleness indicated by lower post-yield deflection and work-to-fracture. Consistent with accumulation of fAGEs, various measures of toughness were lowered with CRD, but combination of CRD with HFD protected against this decrease. Differences between strength and toughness results represent different contributions of structural and material properties of bone to energy dissipation. Collectively, these results demonstrate that combination of CRD with HFD impairs glycemic control and have complex effects on bone quality.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28268962,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Biomarker discovery based on BBHA and AdaboostM1 on microarray data for cancer classification.\nIn this paper, a new approach based on Binary Black Hole Algorithm (BBHA) and Adaptive Boosting version Ml (AdaboostM1) is proposed for finding genes that can classify the group of cancers correctly. In this approach, BBHA is used to perform gene selection and AdaboostM1 with 10-fold cross validation is adopted as the classifier. Also, to find the relation between the biomarkers for biological point of view, decision tree algorithm (C4.5) is utilized. The proposed approach is tested on three benchmark microarrays. The experimental results show that our proposed method can select the most informative gene subsets by reducing the dimension of the data set and improve classification accuracy as compared to several recent studies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3032815,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Delta hepatitis virus infection in China.\nTo assess the prevalence, epidemiological features and prognostic implications of hepatitis D (Delta) in Sichuan Province, The People's Republic of China, 649 sera (515 from HBsAg positive patients and 134 from HBsAg negative subjects) were tested by radioimmunoassay (RIA) for antibody to the hepatitis D virus (anti-HD). Forty-seven sera (7.2%) showed some degree of reactivity. Serial dilutions of these sera indicated that prozoning was not responsible for the equivocal results. Thirty-four of the 47 sera were submitted under code to a second laboratory for independent analysis. According to those results anti-HD antibodies were detected in four of these sera. The overall prevalence of anti-HD in the HBsAg positive patients therefore was 0.8% (4\/515). On the basis of clinical, biochemical and histological data 427 HBsAg positive sera were further divided into acute Type B hepatitis, chronic Type B hepatitis, healthy carrier state and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) subgroups. Two of 65 (3.1%) anti-HD positive sera belonged to the acute Type B hepatitis group; one of 104 (0.9%), the chronic Type B hepatitis group and one of 246 (0.4%), the healthy carrier group. No antibody was detected in sera from 12 HBsAg positive HCC patients. All HBsAg negative patients were negative for anti-HD antibody. The results of this study indicate that despite a high prevalence of hepatitis B virus infection, positive serology for delta virus is uncommon in Sichuan Province, The People's Republic of China.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17190981,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Outcome of meningomyelocele\/lipomeningomyelocele in children of northern India.\nTo evaluate the clinical profile, associated anomalies and surgical outcome of children with meningomyelocele (MMC)\/lipomeningomyelocele. Out of a total of 181 cases of spinal dysraphism treated at our Institute between 1996 and 2004, 102 (56.35%) cases of MMC\/lipomeningomyelocele were analyzed retrospectively and prospectively. The clinical profile and radiological findings of these children were recorded. Craniospinal MRI was the essential investigation and was done as a management protocol at our Institute for these children. Eighty-two out of 102 (80.3%) cases had pure MMC\/lipomeningomyelocele and 20\/102 (19.6%) had associated split cord malformation (SCM; complex spina bifida). All these children underwent surgery for their primary and associated malformations as indicated. They were clinically assessed over a mean follow-up period of 3.6 years ranging from 1.5 months to 8 years. No urodynamic or evoked potential studies were done to assess the sphincteric outcome following surgery. Forty-six (45.1%) of children with MMC had other associated tethering lesions, including the presence of SCM. Craniospinal axis screening remained an important tool to understand the associated tethering lesions and malformations. Only 58.8% of children had hydrocephalus; thus the incidence was much lower compared with reports from the western literature (80-96%). 63.3% of children with overt hydrocephalus required shunt surgery prior to the definitive surgery; however, 23.3% of cases required a shunt after the MMC has been closed. Improvement in clinical profile following microneurosurgery was observed in 42.8% of cases with motor involvement, 46.8% of cases with sensory dysfunction and 39.5% of cases with sphincteric involvement. Motor improvement was seen in 43.6% of cases of pure MMC\/lipomeningomyelocele as compared to only 40.0% of cases of complex spina bifida. Sensory improvement was also better in pure MMC\/lipomeningomyelocele group being seen in 48.0% of cases as compared to only 42.9% of cases of complex spina bifida. Presence of SCM with MMC is referred to as complex spina bifida and is seen in a significant proportion (19.6%) of all cases of MMC. Thorough assessment of the craniospinal imaging needs to be done to look for the presence of multiple tethering lesions which could be present in the same case. Not all children with spinal dysraphism with hydrocephalus required shunt surgery or CSF diversion but a constant and vigilant follow up could avoid it in 13.3% of cases. Improvement in motor and sensory dysfunction was better in the pure MMC\/lipomeningomyelocele group than in the complex spina bifida group. Improvement in sphincteric dysfunction, although seen in significant cases, was less compared with improvement in motor and sensory dysfunction. This probably represents a lack of definitive objective criteria for urodynamic improvement and a lack of proper rehabilitation. Electromyographic studies and uroflowmetry are required to asses the true sphincteric outcome following surgery.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20378753,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Coexpression of the T-cell receptor constant alpha domain triggers tumor reactivity of single-chain TCR-transduced human T cells.\nTransfer of tumor antigen-specific T-cell receptors (TCRs) into human T cells aims at redirecting their cytotoxicity toward tumors. Efficacy and safety may be affected by pairing of natural and introduced TCRalpha\/beta chains potentially leading to autoimmunity. We hypothesized that a novel single-chain (sc)TCR framework relying on the coexpression of the TCRalpha constant alpha (Calpha) domain would prevent undesired pairing while preserving structural and functional similarity to a fully assembled double-chain (dc)TCR\/CD3 complex. We confirmed this hypothesis for a murine p53-specific scTCR. Substantial effector function was observed only in the presence of a murine Calpha domain preceded by a TCRalpha signal peptide for shuttling to the cell membrane. The generalization to a human gp100-specific TCR required the murinization of both C domains. Structural and functional T-cell avidities of an accessory disulfide-linked scTCR gp100\/Calpha were higher than those of a dcTCR. Antigen-dependent phosphorylation of the proximal effector zeta-chain-associated protein kinase 70 at tyrosine 319 was not impaired, reflecting its molecular integrity in signaling. In melanoma-engrafted nonobese diabetic\/severe combined immunodeficient mice, adoptive transfer of scTCR gp100\/Calpha transduced T cells conferred superior delay in tumor growth among primary and long-term secondary tumor challenges. We conclude that the novel scTCR constitutes a reliable means to immunotherapeutically target hematologic malignancies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26470320,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of Neonicotinoids and Crop Rotation for Managing Wireworms in Wheat Crops.\nSoil-dwelling insects are severe pests in many agroecosystems. These pests have cryptic life cycles, making sampling difficult and damage hard to anticipate. The management of soil insects is therefore often based on preventative insecticides applied at planting or cultural practices. Wireworms, the subterranean larvae of click beetles (Coleoptera: Elateridae), have re-emerged as problematic pests in cereal crops in the Pacific Northwestern United States. Here, we evaluated two management strategies for wireworms in long-term field experiments: 1) treating spring wheat seed with the neonicotinoid thiamethoxam and 2) replacing continuous spring wheat with a summer fallow and winter wheat rotation. Separate experiments were conducted for two wireworm species--Limonius californicus (Mannerheim) and Limonius infuscatus (Motschulsky). In the experiment with L. californicus, spring wheat yields and economic returns increased by 24-30% with neonicotinoid treatments. In contrast, in the experiment with L. infuscatus, spring wheat yields and economic returns did not increase with neonicotinoids despite an 80% reduction in wireworms. Thus, the usefulness of seed-applied neonicotinoids differed based on the wireworm species present. In experiments with both species, we detected significantly fewer wireworms with a no-till summer fallow and winter wheat rotation compared with continuous spring wheat. This suggests that switching from continuous spring wheat to a winter wheat and summer fallow rotation may aid in wireworm management. More generally, our results show that integrated management of soil-dwelling pests such as wireworms may require both preventative insecticide treatments and cultural practices.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18600899,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hydrolysis of butteroil by immobilized lipase using a hollow-fiber reactor: part III. Multiresponse kinetic studies.\nA lipase from Aspergillus niger immobilized by adsorption on microporous, polypropylene hollow fibers was used to effect the continuous hydrolysis of the glycerides of butter oil at 40 degrees C and pH 7.0. The effluent concentrations of 10 different free fatty acid products were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Multiresponse nonlinear regression methods were used to fit the data to a multisubstrate rate expression derived from a Ping Pong Bi Bi mechanism in which the rate-controlling step is deacylation of the lipase. Thermal deactivation of the enzyme was also included in the mathematical model of reactor performance. A postulated normal distribution of v(max) with respect to the chain length of the fatty acid (with an additive correction for the degree of unsaturation) was tested for statistical significance. The model is useful for predicting the free fatty acid profile of the lipolyzed butteroil product over a wide range of flow rates.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23869382,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A simple green route to prepare stable silver nanoparticles with pear juice and a new selective colorimetric method for detection of cysteine.\nIn this work, a new cost-effective, rapid and simple method for the preparation of stable silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) was developed, which can be completed within 15 minutes at room temperature by oxidizing the reductants in pear juice with AgNO3. Compared with the most used citrate-capped AgNPs, the as-prepared AgNPs showed high stability, good biocompatibility and enhanced antibacterial activity. Based on the formation of Ag-S covalent bonds between cysteine and AgNPs as well as the electrostatic interaction of COO(-) and NH4(+) between cysteine molecules, which selectively lead to the aggregation of the as-prepared AgNPs and give a specific yellow-to-red colour change, a new selective colorimetric method for detection of cysteine was proposed with the as-prepared AgNPs by coupling the decrease of the characteristic localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) absorption at 406 nm of the as-prepared AgNPs and the increase of the new aggregation-induced band at 530 nm. The ratio of the absorbance at 530 nm to 406 nm (A530\/A406) was found to be linearly dependent on the cysteine concentrations in the range of 5.0 \u00d7 10(-7) to 1.0 \u00d7 10(-5) M with a limit of detection of 6.8 \u00d7 10(-8) M.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28733985,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"LALF32-51 -E7, a HPV-16 therapeutic vaccine candidate, forms protein body-like structures when expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves.\nHigh-risk human papillomaviruses (HPVs) cause cervical cancer, and while there are good prophylactic vaccines on the market, these are ineffective against established infections, creating a clear need for therapeutic vaccines. The HPV E7 protein is one of the essential oncoproteins for the onset and maintenance of malignancy and is therefore an ideal therapeutic vaccine target. We fused the HPV-16 E7 protein to the Limulus polyphemus antilipopolysaccharide factor (LALF32-51 ), a small hydrophobic peptide that can penetrate cell membranes and that has immunomodulatory properties. LALF32-51 -E7 was transiently expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana, and we previously determined that it accumulated better when targeted to chloroplasts compared to being localized in the cytoplasm. Subsequently, we aimed to prove whether LALF32-51 -E7 was indeed associated with the chloroplasts by determining its subcellular localization. The LALF32-51 -E7 gene was fused to one encoding enhanced GFP to generate a LG fusion protein, and localization was determined by confocal laser scanning microscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The fluorescence observed from chloroplast-targeted LG was distinctively different from that of the cytoplasmic LG. Small spherical structures resembling protein bodies (PBs) were seen that clearly localized with the chloroplasts. Larger but less abundant PB-like structures were also seen for the cytoplasmic LG. PB-like structure formation was confirmed for both LG and LALF32-51 -E7 by TEM. LALF32-51 -E7 was indeed targeted to the chloroplasts by the chloroplast transit peptide used in this study, and it formed aggregated PB-like structures. This study could open a new avenue for the use of LALF32-51 as a PB-inducing peptide.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22666221,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Microbial Iron(II) Oxidation in Littoral Freshwater Lake Sediment: The Potential for Competition between Phototrophic vs. Nitrate-Reducing Iron(II)-Oxidizers.\nThe distribution of neutrophilic microbial iron oxidation is mainly determined by local gradients of oxygen, light, nitrate and ferrous iron. In the anoxic top part of littoral freshwater lake sediment, nitrate-reducing and phototrophic Fe(II)-oxidizers compete for the same e(-) donor; reduced iron. It is not yet understood how these microbes co-exist in the sediment and what role they play in the Fe cycle. We show that both metabolic types of anaerobic Fe(II)-oxidizing microorganisms are present in the same sediment layer directly beneath the oxic-anoxic sediment interface. The photoferrotrophic most probable number counted 3.4\u00b710(5) cells\u00b7g(-1) and the autotrophic and mixotrophic nitrate-reducing Fe(II)-oxidizers totaled 1.8\u00b710(4) and 4.5\u00b710(4) cells\u00b7g(-1) dry weight sediment, respectively. To distinguish between the two microbial Fe(II) oxidation processes and assess their individual contribution to the sedimentary Fe cycle, littoral lake sediment was incubated in microcosm experiments. Nitrate-reducing Fe(II)-oxidizing bacteria exhibited a higher maximum Fe(II) oxidation rate per cell, in both pure cultures and microcosms, than photoferrotrophs. In microcosms, photoferrotrophs instantly started oxidizing Fe(II), whilst nitrate-reducing Fe(II)-oxidizers showed a significant lag-phase during which they probably use organics as e(-) donor before initiating Fe(II) oxidation. This suggests that they will be outcompeted by phototrophic Fe(II)-oxidizers during optimal light conditions; as phototrophs deplete Fe(II) before nitrate-reducing Fe(II)-oxidizers start Fe(II) oxidation. Thus, the co-existence of the two anaerobic Fe(II)-oxidizers may be possible due to a niche space separation in time by the day-night cycle, where nitrate-reducing Fe(II)-oxidizers oxidize Fe(II) during darkness and phototrophs play a dominant role in Fe(II) oxidation during daylight. Furthermore, metabolic flexibility of Fe(II)-oxidizing microbes may play a paramount role in the conservation of the sedimentary Fe cycle.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28689415,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Thermophilic Enzyme or Mesophilic Enzyme with Enhanced Thermostability: Can We Draw a Line?\nAminoglycoside nucleotidyltransferase 4' (ANT) is a homodimeric enzyme that modifies the C4'-OH site of aminoglycoside antibiotics by nucleotidylation. A few single- and double-residue mutants of this enzyme (T130K, D80Y, and D80Y\/T130K) from Bacillus stearothermophilus show increased thermostability. This article investigates how such residue replacements, which are distant from the active site and monomer-monomer interface, result in various changes of the thermostability of the enzyme. In this work, we show that the thermodynamic properties of enzyme-ligand complexes and protein dynamics may be indicators of a thermophilic behavior. Our data suggests that one of the single-site mutants of ANT, D80Y, may be a thermophilic protein and the other thermostable mutant, T130K, is actually a more heat-stable variant of the mesophilic wild type (WT) with a higher Tm. Our data also suggest that T130K and D80Y adopt different global dynamics strategies to achieve different levels of thermostability enhancement and that the differences between the properties of the species can be described in terms of global dynamics rather than in terms of specific structural features. Thermophilicity of the D80Y comes at the cost of less favorable thermodynamic parameters for ligand binding relative to WT. On the other hand, the T130K species exhibits the same affinity to ligands and the same thermodynamic parameters of complex formation as the WT enzyme. These observations suggest that a quantitative characterization of ligand binding and protein dynamics can be used to differentiate thermophilic proteins from their simply more heat-stable mesophilic counterparts.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12002277,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A case of diabetes, deafness, cardiomyopathy, and central sleep apnea: novel mitochondrial DNA polymorphisms.\nWe describe a case of diabetes mellitus complicated by neurosensory hearing loss, cardiomyopathy, and sleep apnea syndrome. A 48-year-old man who was admitted for treatment of a lacerated tendon of the right shoulder was also found to require preoperative control of diabetes, a condition that had been diagnosed 4 years earlier. The family pedigree suggested maternal inheritance of diabetes. The patient also had neurosensory hearing loss and the central type of sleep apnea syndrome. His myocardium was hypertrophic and the ultrastructural analysis showed morphologically abnormal mitochondria. On the basis of the apparent characteristic manifestations, we speculated that he had a mitochondrial disease. To elucidate the responsible mutation of mitochondrial DNA, we sequenced the patient's entire mitochondrial DNA derived from blood leukocytes and found 40 sequence variants. Three of those, 5466 A\/G, 7912 G\/A, and 10601 T\/C, have not yet been reported. Nine of the 40 variants were accompanied by an amino acid replacement, including 5466 A\/G. Although we could not determine the most significant mutation, the variants of mitochondrial DNA may have been associated with this patient's unusually variable clinical manifestations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3071341,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The effect of human recombinant GM-CSF on the myelopoiesis in a long-term bone marrow culture (LTBMC).\nThe long-term bone marrow culture (LTBMC) allows continuous self-renewal of a myeloid precursor population from an adherent stromal cell layer. We investigated the effect of human recombinant GM-CSF (100 ng\/ml) on the in vitro hemopoiesis in a LTBMC. After a culture period of 14 days we observed a 2.3-fold increase in the total number of non-adherent cells in the cultures containing GM-CSF. Whereas the total cell number in the cultures without GM-CSF decreased after 28 days, proliferation continued in the cultures with GM-CSF. During the first 14 days there was a slight decrease of the number of CFU-GM in the cultures with GM-CSF. Thereafter no significant difference in the numbers of committed progenitors present in two culture systems could be observed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":941846,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Fetal and neonatal rat pancreas in organ culture: age-related effects of corticosterone on the acinar cell component.\nFetal rat pancreas (ages 16 to 22 days postcoitum) and neonatal pancreas (4 days postnatal) were grown in organ culture for four days. The medium consisted of chick embryo extract and rooster serum either with or without the addition of corticosterone (3 X 10(-5) M). Acinar cell differentiation was assessed using quantitative light microscopic linear scanning of tissue sections and enzymatic analysis of amylase in the culture media and in the explants. In the younger fetal tissue of 16 and 18 days postcoitum exocrine differentiation continued in vitro. The effect of corticosterone was an enhancement of the degree of in vitro differentiation. Even with corticosterone, however, the degree of differentiation in vitro was less than that observed during a similar period in vivo. In differentiated pancreas (20- and 22-day fetal neonatal) the acinar pancreas degenerated under control conditions and a selective growth of the endocrine pancreas was observed. The addition of corticosterone to the media resulted in a maintenance of the differentiated state of the acini except in 22-day fetal tissue in which the acini were not preserved. The differences between these results and the work of other investigators and the possible in vivo role of adrenocorticosteroids in exocrine pancreatic differentiation is discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9564403,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Central nervous system toxicity attributable to epidural ropivacaine hydrochloride.\nRopivacaine, a new local anaesthetic agent, has been demonstrated to have less potential than bupivacaine for central nervous system toxicity on the basis of human and animal studies. We report a case of a convulsion secondary to presumed inadvertent intravascular injection of 20 mg of ropivacaine in a 44 kg patient during an epidural for chronic pain. There were minimal signs of cardiovascular toxicity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25496240,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A series of M(II)Cu(II)3 stars (M = Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn) exhibiting unusual magnetic properties.\nThe work in this report describes the syntheses, electrospray ionization mass spectromtery, structures, and experimental and density functional theoretical (DFT) magnetic properties of four tetrametallic stars of composition [M(II)(Cu(II)L)3](ClO4)2 (1, M = Mn; 2, M = Ni; 3, M = Cu; 4, M = Zn) derived from a single-compartment Schiff base ligand, N,N'-bis(salicylidene)-1,4-butanediamine (H2L), which is the [2 + 1] condensation product of salicylaldehyde and 1,4-diaminobutane. The central metal ion (Mn(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), or Zn(II)) is linked with two \u03bc2-phenoxo bridges of each of the three [Cu(II)L] moieties, and thus the central metal ion is encapsulated in between three [Cu(II)L] units. The title compounds are rare or sole examples of stars having these metal-ion combinations. In the cases of 1, 3, and 4, the four metal ions form a centered isosceles triangle, while the four metal ions in 2 form a centered equilateral triangle. Both the variable-temperature magnetic susceptibility and variable-field magnetization (at 2-10 K) of 1-3 have been measured and simulated contemporaneously. While the Mn(II)Cu(II)3 compound 1 exhibits ferromagnetic interaction with J = 1.02 cm(-1), the Ni(II)Cu(II)3 compound 2 and Cu(II)Cu(II)3 compound 3 exhibit antiferromagnetic interaction with J = -3.53 and -35.5 cm(-1), respectively. Variable-temperature magnetic susceptibility data of the Zn(II)Cu(II)3 compound 4 indicate very weak antiferromagnetic interaction of -1.4 cm(-1), as expected. On the basis of known correlations, the magnetic properties of 1-3 are unusual; it seems that ferromagnetic interaction in 1 and weak\/moderate antiferromagnetic interaction in 2 and 3 are possibly related to the distorted coordination environment of the peripheral copper(II) centers (intermediate between square-planar and tetrahedral). DFT calculations have been done to elucidate the magnetic properties. The DFT-computed J values are quantitatively (for 1) or qualitatively (for 2 and 3) matched well with the experimental values. Spin densities and magnetic orbitals (natural bond orbitals) correspond well with the trend of observed\/computed magnetic exchange interactions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29562012,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Hand hygiene management among nurses: collective health challenges.\nTo describe the determining factors in hand hygiene management among nurses and identify associated collective health challenges. Cross-sectional descriptive study. Data were collected using a questionnaire that was applied in four internal medicine units of a hospital of reference in Portugal. The sample was composed of 50 nurses aged 26 to 55 years (mean age of 34.88 years); 80% were women, 58% had a Bachelor's degree, and had 5-30 years of nursing practice (X\u0304 =11.94;\u00b15.92). The vast majority of nurses (90%) reported complying with the existing recommendations on hand hygiene in pre-established moments. However, none of the nurses were able to identify all the moments for hand hygiene using water and soap or alcohol-based handrub. This study shows that continuous training, adequate materials\/structures in the units, and redesigned administration\/supervision practices are determining factors to achieve higher levels of adherence to hand hygiene among nurses, as well as increased quality and safety in care delivery, which is a current collective health challenge.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25284666,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Comparison of the structure and musculature of male terminalia in the tribe Cidariini Duponchel (Lepidoptera: Geometridae: Larentiinae) once again throws into doubt a sister relationship with the Xanthorhoini.\nThe structure and musculature of the male terminalia are described and illustrated in 11 genera of the tribe Cidariini (Lepidoptera, Geometridae, Larentiinae) from the Holarctic and Oriental regions. Nine genital muscles were identified: m1, m2(10), m3(2), m4, m5(7), m6(5), m7(6), m8(3) and m21. Variation in the insertion of the muscles m1, m3(2), m4, m5(7), m6(5) and m8(3) on the sclerites in several generic groups of the tribe Cidariini is discussed, revealing that the Thera species group does not share some apparently cidariine characters. A comparative analysis of the musculature in the tribes Cidariini and Xanthorhoini questions the sister relationship of these tribes that was suggested by earlier studies. The application of the terms 'anellus lobes' and 'labides' is discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21752960,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cyclosporin A inhibits the replication of diverse coronaviruses.\nLow micromolar, non-cytotoxic concentrations of cyclosporin A (CsA) strongly affected the replication of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), human coronavirus 229E and mouse hepatitis virus in cell culture, as was evident from the strong inhibition of GFP reporter gene expression and a reduction of up to 4 logs in progeny titres. Upon high-multiplicity infection, CsA treatment rendered SARS-CoV RNA and protein synthesis almost undetectable, suggesting an early block in replication. siRNA-mediated knockdown of the expression of the prominent CsA targets cyclophilin A and B did not affect SARS-CoV replication, suggesting either that these specific cyclophilin family members are dispensable or that the reduced expression levels suffice to support replication.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34422815,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"m6A Modification Mediates Mucosal Immune Microenvironment and Therapeutic Response in Inflammatory Bowel Disease.\nAccumulating evidence links m6A modification with immune infiltration. However, the correlation and mechanism by which m6A modification promotes intestinal immune infiltration in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is unknown. Here, genomic information from IBD tissues was integrated to evaluate disease-related m6A modification, and the correlation between the m6A modification pattern and the immune microenvironment in the intestinal mucosa was explored. Next, we identified hub genes from the key modules of the m6Acluster and analyzed the correlation among the hub genes, immune infiltration, and therapy. We found that IGF2BP1 and IGF2BP2 expression was decreased in Crohn's disease (CD) tissues and that IGF2BP2 was decreased in ulcerative colitis (UC) tissues compared with normal tissues (P < 0.05). m6Acluster2, containing higher expressions of IL15, IL16, and IL18, was enriched in M0 macrophage, M1 macrophage, native B cells, memory B cells, and m6Acluster1 with high expression of IL8 and was enriched in resting dendritic and plasma cells (P < 0.05). Furthermore, we reveal that expression of m6A phenotype-related hub genes (i.e., NUP37, SNRPG, H2AFZ) was increased with a high abundance of M1 macrophages, M0 macrophages, and naive B cells in IBD (P < 0.01). Immune checkpoint expression in the genecluster1 with higher expression of hub genes was increased. The anti-TNF therapeutic response of patients in genecluster1 was more significant, and the therapeutic effect of CD was better than that of UC. These findings indicate that m6A modification may affect immune infiltration and therapeutic response in IBD. Assessing the expression of m6A phenotype-related hub genes might guide the choice of IBD drugs and improve the prediction of therapeutic response to anti-TNF therapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31600848,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Irregularities in genetic variation and mutation rates with environmental stresses.\nThe appearance of new mutations is determined by the equilibrium between DNA error formation and repair. In bacteria like Escherichia coli, stresses are thought shift this balance towards increased mutagenesis. Recent findings, however, suggest a very uneven relationship between stress and mutations. Only a subset of stressful environments increase the net rate of mutation and different forms of nutritional stress (such as oxygen, carbon or phosphorus limitations) result in markedly different mutation rates after similar reductions in growth rate. Moreover, different stresses result in altered mutational spectra, with some increasing transposition and others increasing indel formation. Single-base substitution rates are lower with some stresses than in unstressed bacteria. Indeed, changes to the mix of mutations with stress are more widespread than a marked increase in net mutation rate. Much remains to be learned on how environments have unique mutational signatures and why some stresses are more mutagenic than others. Even beyond stress-induced genetic variation, the fundamental unresolved question in the stress-mutation relationship is the adaptive value of different types of mutations and mutation rates; is transposition, for example, more advantageous under anaerobic conditions? It remains to be investigated whether stress-specific genetic variation impacts on evolvability differentially in distinct environments.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21750984,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Phosphorylation of maize eukaryotic translation initiation factor on Ser2 by catalytic subunit CK2.\nAlignment of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5A (eIF5A) sequences has shown, for plants, in contrast to most other eukaryotes, the presence of N-terminal serine residue (Ser2) which could be phosphorylated by CK2. Using point directed mutagenesis, we demonstrate here that in recombinant maize ZmeIF5Awt Ser2 is exclusively phosphorylated by catalytic subunit of CK2 (CK2\u03b1), whereas its mutated variant Ser2Ala is not phosphorylated. To shed light on the physiological significance of this Ser2 phosphorylation, transient expression of fluorescence-labeled proteins was performed in maize protoplast. Wild-type ZmeIF5A was distributed evenly between nucleus and cytoplasm, but the replacement of Ser2 by aspartic acid, which mimics the phosphorylated serine, influences its intracellular localization. We postulate that phosphorylation of Ser2 in maize eIF5A, and most probably in other plant cells, plays a role in specific regulation of nuclear export of eIF5A-bound mRNAs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15244811,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Noise suppression and spectral decomposition for state-dependent noise in the presence of a stationary fluctuating input.\nIt recently has been shown that the observed noise amplitude of an intrinsically noisy system may be reduced by causing the underlying state to fluctuate [Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 950 (2001)]]. This paper extends the previous theory by considering the full power spectrum of the output signal, interpreting noise reduction in terms of the low-frequency end of the spectrum as well as the integrated spectrum. Our treatment accounts for arbitrarily sized fluctuations and deals with both continuous and discretely sampled observations. We show that noise suppression is possible if and only if the stationary average of the intensity of state-dependent noise decreases. We apply our analysis to an example involving saturable electrical conduction discussed in the original paper by Vilar and Rub\u00ed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28295200,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Isothiocyanates are important as haptens in contact allergy to chloroprene rubber.\nContact allergy to chloroprene rubber products is well known. Thiourea compounds are considered the cause of allergy. Diethylthiourea commonly occurs in this type of product and can decompose to the sensitizer ethyl isothiocyanate. To investigate the clinical importance of degradation products and metabolites from organic thioureas in contact allergy to chloroprene rubber with a focus on isothiocyanates and isocyanates. Patients with contact allergy to diphenylthiourea were patch tested with phenyl isothiocyanate and phenyl isocyanate. Patients with known contact allergy to diethylthiourea were retested with diethylthiourea, while chemical analyses of their chloroprene rubber products were performed. The stability of diethylthiourea, diphenylthiourea and dibutylthiourea in patch-test preparations was investigated. Liquid chromatography\/mass spectrometry and solid-phase microextraction\/gas chromatography were used for determination of organic thioureas and isothiocyanates. All patients allergic to diphenylthiourea reacted to phenyl isothiocyanate, two of eight reacted to phenyl isocyanate and six of eight reacted to diphenylthiourea. Four patients allergic to diethylthiourea reacted at retest; diethylthiourea was detected in all chloroprene rubber samples, with levels of 2-1200 nmol cm-2 . At 35 \u00b0C, ethyl isothiocyanate was emitted from all samples. Patch-test preparations of diethylthiourea, diphenylthiourea and dibutylthiourea all emitted the corresponding isothiocyanate, with diethylthiourea showing the highest rate of isothiocyanate emission. Thiourea compounds are degraded to isothiocyanates, which are generally strong or extreme sensitizers, thus acting as prehaptens. This process occurs in both chloroprene rubber products and patch-test preparations. Positive reactions to phenyl isocyanate indicate cutaneous metabolism, as the only known source of exposure to phenyl isocyanate is through bioactivation of diphenylthiourea.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23335058,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Can incident reporting improve safety? Healthcare practitioners' views of the effectiveness of incident reporting.\nRecent critiques of incident reporting suggest that its role in managing safety has been over emphasized. The objective of this study was to examine the perceived effectiveness of incident reporting in improving safety in mental health and acute hospital settings by asking staff about their perceptions and experiences. Qualitative research design using documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews. Two large teaching hospitals in London; one providing acute and the other mental healthcare. Sixty-two healthcare practitioners with experience of reporting and analysing incidents. Incident reporting was perceived as having a positive effect on safety, not only by leading to changes in care processes but also by changing staff attitudes and knowledge. Staff discussed examples of both instrumental and conceptual uses of the knowledge generated by incident reports. There are difficulties in using incident reports to improve safety in healthcare at all stages of the incident reporting process. Differences in the risks encountered and the organizational systems developed in the two hospitals to review reported incidents could be linked to the differences we found in attitudes to incident reporting between the two hospitals. Incident reporting can be a powerful tool for developing and maintaining an awareness of risks in healthcare practice. Using incident reports to improve care is challenging and the study highlighted the complexities involved and the difficulties faced by staff in learning from incident data.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28282939,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Oral Health Status of Patients with Lysosomal Storage Diseases in Poland.\nPatients with lysosomal storage diseases (LSDs) suffer from physical and mental disabilities, which together with poor access to professional care may lead to impaired oral health. This cross-sectional case-control study characterized the status of oral health in patients with LSDs in Poland. Thirty-six children and young adults with various forms of LSDs were examined. The data were compared with those from age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Exemplary cases were presented to highlight typical problems in oral care associated with LSDs. When possible, saliva was collected and analyzed for total protein, inflammatory mediators, and antioxidant status. Generally, patients with LSDs had significantly higher prevalence of caries, inferior gingival status, and inadequate oral hygiene. The severity of oral health impairment in mucopolysaccaridoses, the most common LSD in Poland, was similar to that seen in patients with mannosidoses or Pompe disease. Saliva could be collected only from few less handicapped patients. In MPS, it did not appear to differ significantly from the controls, but in patients with Pompe disease it contained lower concentrations of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), but higher levels of tumor necrosis factor receptors 1 and 2 (TNF-R1, TNF-R2) and myeloperoxidase (MPO). In conclusion, Polish patients with LSDs have an inadequate level of oral hygiene and substantially deteriorated oral health.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11996662,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Simplest kinetic schemes for biochemical oscillators.\nThe topological structure of the simplest critical fragments in biochemical systems has been characterized. The conditions are considered where the critical fragments induce oscillations of the concentrations of the system participants. To illustrate, three biochemical systems (transport of ions through a membrane, protein phosphorylation, and two-substrate reaction) are discussed. The kinetic schemes of these systems contain one of the discovered critical fragments. Relaxation oscillations of the concentrations of the system participants were demonstrated using the numerical integration method.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12040014,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"NUBIScan, an in silico approach for prediction of nuclear receptor response elements.\nNuclear receptors (NRs) are transcription factors activated by a multitude of hormones, other endogenous substances, and exogenous molecules. These proteins modulate the regulation of target genes by contacting their promoter or enhancer sequences at specific recognition sites. The identification of these response elements is the first step toward detailed insight into the regulatory mechanisms affecting a gene. We have developed NUBIScan, a computer algorithm to predict DNA recognition sites for NRs in the regulatory regions of genes. The algorithm is based on weighted nucleotide distribution matrices and combines scores from both half-sites necessary for NR dimer binding. It provides more specific identification of functional sites than previous in silico approaches, as evidenced by scanning published regulatory regions of drug-inducible genes and comparing the obtained predictions with experimental results. In prospective analyses, NUBIScan consistently identified new functional NR binding sites in sets of large sequences, which had eluded previous analyses. This is exemplified by the detailed functional analysis of the flanking region of two genes. This approach therefore facilitates the selection of likely sites of gene regulation for subsequent experimental analysis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27283984,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"High expression of TROP2 characterizes different cell subpopulations in androgen-sensitive and androgen-independent prostate cancer cells.\nProgression of castration-resistant tumors is frequent in prostate cancer. Current systemic treatments for castration-resistant prostate cancer only produce modest increases in survival time and self-renewing Tumor-Initiating Cells (TICs) are suspected to play an important role in resistance to these treatments. However it remains unclear whether the same TICs display both chemo-resistance and self-renewing abilities throughout progression from early stage lesions to late, castration resistant tumors. Here, we found that treatment of mice bearing LNCaP-derived xenograft tumors with cytotoxic (docetaxel) and anti-androgen (flutamide) compounds enriched for cells that express TROP2, a putative TIC marker. Consistent with a tumor-initiating role, TROP2high cells from androgen-sensitive prostate cancer cell lines displayed an enhanced ability to re-grow in culture following treatment with taxane-based chemotherapy with or without androgen blockade. TROP2 down-regulation in these cells reduced their ability to recur after treatment with docetaxel, in the presence or absence of flutamide. Accordingly, in silico analysis of published clinical data revealed that prostate cancer patients with poor prognosis exhibit significantly elevated TROP2 expression level compared to low-risk patients, particularly in the case of patients diagnosed with early stage tumors. In contrast, in androgen-independent prostate cancer cell lines, TROP2high cells did not exhibit a differential treatment response but were characterized by their high self-renewal ability. Based on these findings we propose that high TROP2 expression identifies distinct cell sub-populations in androgen-sensitive and androgen-independent prostate tumors and that it may be a predictive biomarker for prostate cancer treatment response in androgen-sensitive tumors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37846268,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Neglected Proximal Tibiofibular Joint Dislocation Treated With a Cortical Button Suspension Device: A Case Report.\nProximal tibiofibular joint dislocation is a rare knee injury. Hence, its diagnosis is often missed. Herein, we have reported a case of posterior lateral proximal tibiofibular joint dislocation that was initially missed because it was associated with a fibula diaphyseal fracture. Our patient was a 23-year-old male with a complaint of left lateral knee pain and a history of fall from a motorcycle. He was treated with a cortical button suspension device. The patient reported no symptoms or complications at the one-year follow-up. Proximal tibiofibular joint dislocation is easily neglected if not considered as a diagnosis during clinical assessment. Half of these cases present with symptoms such as chronic pain and peroneal nerve palsy that require surgical treatment. A detailed physical examination and close review of imaging findings are important to establish a definitive diagnosis. A cortical bone button suspension device could be the appropriate treatment for cases requiring surgical management.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17006081,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Severe toxic damage to the rabbit spinal cord after intrathecal administration of preservative-free S(+)-ketamine.\nKetamine and S(+)-ketamine have been advocated for neuraxial use in the management of postoperative pain and severe intractable pain syndromes unresponsive to opioid escalation. Although clinical experience has accumulated with S(+)-ketamine, safety data on toxicity in the central nervous system after neuraxial administration of S(+)-ketamine are conflicting. In this study, neurologic and toxicologic effects on the spinal cord from repeated daily intrathecal administration of commercially available, preservative-free S(+)-ketamine were evaluated against placebo in a randomized, blinded design. Eighteen white New Zealand rabbits were assigned to two groups receiving either 0.5 ml intrathecal S(+)-ketamine, 0.5% solution (12 rabbits), or 0.5 ml saline (6 rabbits) once a day for 7 consecutive days. During general anesthesia, an intrathecal catheter was placed between the fifth and sixth spinous processes (lumbar). Neurologic (according to Tarlov criteria) and histopathologic assessments were performed after 7 days of treatment. Postmortem investigation of the spinal cord and nerve roots revealed histopathologic lesions suggestive of toxic damage in 11 rabbits, from the group of 12 animals receiving S(+)-ketamine. These results were significantly different compared with 5 control animals (no histologic changes observed). There was no significant difference in neurologic status between the two groups after 7 days of intrathecal treatment. The authors conclude that repeated intrathecal administration of preservative-free S(+)-ketamine in a clinically relevant concentration and dosage has, considering the extent and severity of the lesions, a toxic effect on the central nervous system of rabbits.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20365710,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Partition function zeros of the square-lattice Ising model with nearest- and next-nearest-neighbor interactions.\nThe distributions of the partition function zeros in the complex a=e2betaJ1 plane of the square-lattice Ising model with nearest-neighbor (J1) and next-nearest-neighbor (J2) interactions are investigated as a function of R=J2\/J1. Starting from the well-known two-circle distribution of the zeros a=+\/-1+sqrt[2]eitheta for R=0 , finally the partition function zeros lie on the unit circle a=eitheta for R=infinity . Between these two ends, the changes in the zero distributions are described. Using the partition function zeros, the critical point ac(R) and the thermal scaling exponent yt(R) are estimated for the Ising ferromagnet (equivalently, antiferromagnet) and superantiferromagnet. For the special case of R=1\/2 , the possible implications of the zero distributions are also discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31600867,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-22":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Oligomer Model of PB1 Domain of p62\/SQSTM1 Based on Crystal Structure of Homo-Dimer and Calculation of Helical Characteristics.\nAutophagy is an important process for protein recycling. Oligomerization of p62\/SQSTM1 is an essential step in this process and is achieved in two steps. Phox and Bem1p (PB1) domains can oligomerize through both basic and acidic surfaces in each molecule. The ZZ-type zinc finger (ZZ) domain binds to target proteins and promotes higheroligomerization of p62. This mechanism is an important step in routing target proteins to the autophagosome. Here, we determined the crystal structure of the PB1 homo-dimer and modeled the p62 PB1 oligomers. These oligomer models were represented by a cylindrical helix and were compared with the previously determined electron microscopic map of a PB1 oligomer. To accurately compare, we mathematically calculated the lead length and radius of the helical oligomers. Our PB1 oligomer model fits the electron microscopy map and is both bendable and stretchable as a flexible helical filament.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25505191,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Jasmine flower extract lowers prolactin.\nAntipsychotic drugs frequently cause amenorrhoea and galactorrhoea. Jasmine flowers used topically were as effective as oral Bromocriptine in suppressing puerperal lactation. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of intranasal jasmine flower extract (JFE) to reduce prolactin levels of patients on stable doses of antipsychotic drugs. This is a randomized, double blind, crossover clinical trial. An aqueous-ethanol extract of jasmine flowers was prepared and used as nasal drops. A decrease in serum prolactin of \u226525 ng\/mL was considered a significant response. Ten out of 35 women had a significant drop in the serum prolactin while on the JFE. The non-responders to JFE were on higher doses of antipsychotic drugs. The main side effect was a transient and mild burning sensation in the nose. A cost analysis favoured JFE over dopamine agonists. JFE contains a prolactin-lowering substance which needs further characterisation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22677762,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Intensive glycemia control in the first day of the acute cerebral blood flow disturbance in patients with diabetes mellitus type 2].\nForty-seven patients with cerebral stroke and diabetes mellitus type 2 were included in the study. To maintain the target values of glycemia on the level 7.8-10.2 mmol\/l, patients of the main group received the continuous intravenous infusion of insulin and patients of the control group received frequent (every 3h) subcutaneous injections of insulin during the first 24 h after the acute cerebral blood flow disturbance. The results obtained have shown that continuous intravenous insulin infusion reduces the risk of hypoglycemia, accelerates positive neurologic dynamics, reduces terms of hospitalization and decreases mortality in patients with diabetes mellitus type 2.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29373795,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Asymmetric Synthesis of Chiral Acyclic Purine Nucleosides Containing a Hemiaminal Ester Moiety via Three-Component Dynamic Kinetic Resolution.\nAn efficient route to construct chiral acyclic purine nucleosides containing a hemiaminal ester moiety is reported via three-component dynamic kinetic resolution of purines, aldehydes, and acid anhydrides. The procedure provides diverse chiral acyclic purine nucleoside analogues in a regioselective manner with good yields (up to 93% yield) and excellent enantioselectivities (up to 95% ee). Furthermore, the chiral (acyloxyalkyl)-5-fluorouracil could also be generated as a potential prodrug of 5-fluorouracil.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9165798,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Application of Nursing Interventions Classification (NIC) in a cardiovascular critical care unit.\nThe nursing profession is moving toward developing a standardized language. Benefits of such a language are outlined. Nursing Interventions Classification (NIC) (Iowa Intervention Project, 1992), a standardized language for nursing interventions, has been recently developed by the Iowa Intervention Project. This article describes how NIC was incorporated into a nursing care plan in a tertiary acute care facility. Teaching strategies, which include aspects of adult learning theory and motivational theory, are discussed. Utilization of creativity and variability in the planning and implementation of a unit based inservice program were the most beneficial strategies used.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32350939,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Clinging on to alpine life: Investigating factors driving the uphill range contraction and population decline of a mountain breeding bird.\nClimate change and anthropogenic nitrogen deposition are widely regarded as important drivers of environmental change in alpine habitats. However, due to the difficulties working in high-elevation mountain systems, the impacts of these drivers on alpine breeding species have rarely been investigated. The Eurasian dotterel (Charadrius morinellus) is a migratory wader, which has been the subject of uniquely long-term and spatially widespread monitoring effort in Scotland, where it breeds in alpine areas in dwindling numbers. Here we analyse data sets spanning three decades, to investigate whether key potential drivers of environmental change in Scottish mountains (snow lie, elevated summer temperatures and nitrogen deposition) have contributed to the population decline of dotterel. We also consider the role of rainfall on the species' wintering grounds in North Africa. We found that dotterel declines-in both density and site occupancy of breeding males-primarily occurred on low and intermediate elevation sites. High-elevation sites mostly continued to be occupied, but males occurred at lower densities in years following snow-rich winters, suggesting that high-elevation snow cover displaced dotterel to lower sites. Wintering ground rainfall was positively associated with densities of breeding males two springs later. Dotterel densities were reduced at low and intermediate sites where nitrogen deposition was greatest, but not at high-elevation sites. While climatic factors explained variation in breeding density between years, they did not seem to explain the species' uphill retreat and decline. We cannot rule out the possibility that dotterel have increasingly settled on higher sites previously unavailable due to extensive snow cover, while changes associated with nitrogen deposition may also have rendered lower lying sites less suitable for breeding. Causes of population and range changes in mountain-breeding species are thus liable to be complex, involving multiple anthropogenic drivers of environmental change acting widely across annual and migratory life cycles.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37859154,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Flexible dynamic quantitative phase imaging based on division of focal plane polarization imaging technique.\nThis paper proposes a flexible and accurate dynamic quantitative phase imaging (QPI) method using single-shot transport of intensity equation (TIE) phase retrieval achieved by division of focal plane (DoFP) polarization imaging technique. By exploiting the polarization property of the liquid crystal spatial light modulator (LC-SLM), two intensity images of different defocus distances contained in orthogonal polarization directions can be generated simultaneously. Then, with the help of the DoFP polarization imaging, these images can be captured with single exposure, enabling accurate dynamic QPI by solving the TIE. In addition, our approach gains great flexibility in defocus distance adjustment by adjusting the pattern loaded on the LC-SLM. Experiments on microlens array, phase plate, and living human gastric cancer cells demonstrate the accuracy, flexibility, and dynamic measurement performance for various objects. The proposed method provides a simple, flexible, and accurate approach for real-time QPI without sacrificing the field of view.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17004797,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Determination of the interfacial characteristics of a series of bolaamphiphilic poly(fluorooxetane) surfactants through molecular dynamics simulation.\nConstant surface tension (NgammaT) and constant volume (NVT) molecular dynamics simulations have been conducted on a series of bolaamphiphilic alpha,varpi-(diammonium disulfato)poly(fluorooxetane)s and on a typical \"long-chain\" anionic fluorosurfactant used to improve the flow-and-leveling characteristics of aqueous coatings, to compare their behavior at a water\/air interface. Recent research has shown that the poly(fluorooxetane) surfactants considered in this paper could serve as an effective substitute for traditional fluorosurfactants used in flow-and-leveling applications.(1) From molecular dynamics simulation, we have determined the saturated interfacial area per surfactant, interfacial area per surfactant as a function of surface tension, density profiles, the degree of hydration for various atoms in each surfactant, the degree of counterion binding, and order parameters. Our results for saturated interfacial area per surfactant molecule are greater than what has been obtained by other researchers through parametric fitting of interfacial area from experimental surface tension data using the Davies isotherm. Possible explanations for this difference are discussed. The low interfacial areas occupied by each poly(fluorooxetane) at the water\/air interface are the result of their ability to adopt a \"looped\" conformation, in which the carbon and oxygen backbone of each surfactant and the attached perfluoroalkyl chains are forced into the air phase. A geometrically defined penetration parameter was calculated from the density profiles, which reveals that each poly(fluorooxetane) surfactant is more effective at separating the air and water phases than the \"long-chain\" anionic fluorosurfactant. The degree of hydration measured for different atoms in poly(fluorooxetane) during simulation confirms that a \"looped\" conformation is adopted in which the surfactant backbone and the perfluoroalkyl chains are lifted away from the water surface. Calculation of order parameters revealed a much lower degree of ordering for the perfluoroalkyl side chains in each bolaamphiphile than in the \"long chain\" anionic fluorosurfactant. When viewed in the context of the penetration parameter analysis, the density profiles and hydration data suggest why each poly(fluorooxetane) is capable of significantly reducing surface tension when other fluorosurfactants with similarly short perfluoroalkyl moieties provide inadequate surface tension reduction for practical flow-and-leveling applications.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12032165,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Secretion of a lysophospholipase D activity by adipocytes: involvement in lysophosphatidic acid synthesis.\nThe aim of the present work was to depict the metabolic pathways involved in extracellular production of lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) by adipocytes. LPA was followed by quantifying the accumulation of LPA in the incubation medium (conditioned medium, CM) of 3T3F442A adipocytes or human adipose tissue explants using a radioenzymatic assay. Surprisingly, after separation from the cells, the amount of LPA present in CM could be significantly increased by further incubation at 37 degrees C. This suggested the presence of a LPA-synthesizing activity (LPA-SA) in CM. LPA-SA appeared as a soluble activity which was inhibited by divalent ion chelators EDTA and phenanthrolin. The effect of EDTA was preferentially reverted by CoCl2, as described for a lysophospholipase D (lyso-PLD) activity previously identified in rat plasma. LPA concentration could also be increased by treatment with a bacterial PLD, demonstrating the presence of PLD-sensitive LPA precursors (mainly lysophosphatidylcholine) in adipocyte CM. LPA-SA could be increased by the addition of exogenous lysophosphatidylcholine, lysophosphatidylglycerol, or lyso-platelet activating factor, demonstrating that LPA-SA resulted from the action of a lyso-PLD. LPA-SA was not inhibited, but rather activated, by primary alcohol (ethanol and 1-butanol), suggesting that adipocyte lyso-PLD was not a classical PLD. Finally, LPA-SA was found to be weaker in CM of undifferentiated adipocyte (preadipocytes) compared with CM of differentiated adipocytes. In conclusion, our results reveal the existence of a secreted lyso-PLD activity regulated during adipocyte-differentiation and involved in extra cellular production of synthesis of LPA by adipocytes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34421593,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Trigonelline, An Alkaloid From Leonurus japonicus Houtt., Suppresses Mast Cell Activation and OVA-Induced Allergic Asthma.\nTrigonelline, one of the active compounds from Leonurus japonicus Houtt., has been proven to have pharmacological value in diabetes, the central nervous system and cardiovascular diseases. Recent studies have shown that it may also be beneficial in controlling inflammation. However, the mechanism of the antiallergic effects of trigonelline has not been well studied. As the key effector cells participating in the development of allergies, mast cells have been linked to the pathogenesis of asthma for ages. In this study, we demonstrated the inhibitory effect of trigonelline on activated bone marrow-derived mast cells (BMMCs) and verified its anti-inflammatory properties using an ovalbumin (OVA)-induced asthma model. Trigonelline suppressed BMMC degranulation and decreased the production of the cytokines, prostaglandin D2 (PGD2) and leukotriene C4 (LTC4) in a dose-dependent manner. The potent mechanism is mainly through the suppression of the nuclear factor kappa B (NF-\u03baB) and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways. Trigonelline can alleviate pathological damage in lung tissue and reduce the levels of serum immunoglobulin E (IgE) and T helper 2 (Th2) cytokines. RNA-seq results revealed the HIF-1\u03b1 to be a potential target for the allergic reaction. Taken together, our study demonstrated that trigonelline can inhibit allergic inflammation in vitro and in vivo, which may provide a basis for novel anti-inflammatory drug development.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26477895,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"The complete mitochondrial genome of the butterfly Herona marathus (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae).\nThe complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of Herona marathus was sequenced and analyzed in the study. The mitogenome is 15 487 bp in size, including 37 genes and a putative control region. Thirteen protein-coding genes (PCGs) all start with a typical ATN codon, expect that COI gene uses CGA as its initial codon. Majority of the 13 PCGs have a complete termination codon (TAA or TAG) except for COII and ND4 have a single T-- residue. All tRNAs have typical clover-leaf secondary structure, except for tRNASer(AGN), in which the dihydrouridine (DHU) arm is a simple loop. Bayesian analyses support the monophyly of butterflies and recover high supports for the following family level relationships: (Papilionidae + Hesperioidea + (Pieridae + Lycaenidae + (Danaidae + Nymphalidae))).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28247412,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Modification and application of an in vitro assay to examine inositol phosphate degradation in the digestive tract of poultry.\nAn in vitro assay was modified to study the disappearance of inositol hexakisphosphate (InsP6 ) and the formation of lower inositol phosphate (InsP) isomers in the poultry digestive tract, and three experiments investigated the influence of diets with different ingredients and additives. Using the poultry diet as a matrix, the assay simulated the conditions (e.g. pH, temperature, proteolytic enzymes, water content, and retention time) of the crop, stomach, and small intestine, and extraction and analysis of InsP isomers were immediately conducted. The assay produced highly reproducible results with coefficients of variation \u226410% for an InsP isomer concentration \u22650.4 \u00b5mol g-1 DM (n = 3), and it was sensitive to the factors that varied in the three experiments. The described assay is a suitable tool that can be used to screen feed enzymes and to investigate the effects of supplements in the absence of endogenous phytases. The ease of handling and high reproducibility of the assay indicated that the assay is a rapid and feasible method that can be used to examine the degradation pathway of phytate in feed under gastrointestinal conditions. \u00a9 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18586598,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2017-13":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Genomic analysis in nephrology--towards systems biology and systematic medicine?\nWith the advent of transcriptome profiling techniques, an enormous amount of data has been generated in the field of molecular nephrology. We will review analysis tools and challenges for genomic approaches and present their application in gene-expression studies on kidney biopsies. The findings in this rapidly evolving field may ultimately complement histopathological analysis, the current diagnostic and prognostic gold standard. Altogether, genomics may bring nephrology one-step closer to a systematic understanding of biological processes involved in renal disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20355816,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Patterned growth and field-emission properties of AlN nanocones.\nPatterned growth of AlN nanocones on a Ni-coated Si substrate is demonstrated through the reaction between AlCl(3) and NH(3) at 700 degrees C with Mo grid as a mask. The AlN nanocones are selectively deposited in the hollow region of the mask with diameters of approximately 10 nm at the tips and 50-60 nm at the roots. The field-emission (FE) performance is effectively enhanced by the patterned growth mainly because of the decreased screening effect, and both turn-on and threshold fields are dramatically decreased, less than half of the corresponding ones for the unpatterned product with similar sizes. The results indicate that patterned growth is an efficient and reproducible way to enhance the FE performance of AlN nanocones, which could be applied to optimize the FE properties of other nanoscale field emitters.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28271312,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":2,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-18":1,"2024-26":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Chronic effects of superimposed electromyostimulation during cycling on aerobic and anaerobic capacity.\nTo examine if chronic endurance training by means of simultaneously applied, superimposed electromyostimulation (EMS) can be used to improve performance and physiological core parameters compared to the traditional cycling. Twenty-one male subjects (VO2peak 55.2 \u00b1 5.1 ml min- 1 kg- 1) were assigned to either a cycling (C) or cycling with superimposed EMS (C + E) group. Before and after the 4-week training period, including 14 sessions of moderate cycling [60 min at 60% peak power output (PPO)], participants performed a 20-min time-trial, a step test to exhaustion, a 30-s isokinetic sprint test, and maximum force- and power-tests. Markers of muscle damage and metabolic condition were assessed during the training period. Step test results revealed increases in PPO, VO2peak, lactate threshold 1, and the anaerobic threshold for both groups (p < 0.05). Mean power output (MPO) obtained from time-trial was improved in C and C + E (p < 0.05). Isokinetic sprint test revealed increased PPO in both groups, whereas MPO was only changed in C (p < 0.05). Strength parameters were unaffected. Although metabolic stimuli and markers of muscle damage were higher in C + E compared to C, improvements of endurance performance and capacity were not significantly different between C and C + E. Despite a higher metabolic, respiratory, and muscular demand, chronic additional superimposed EMS during cycling does not result in superior improvements in endurance and strength performance compared to the traditional cycling.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7933897,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Ocular findings in former premature infants at the age of 11 to 14 years].\nFunctional disturbances as well as morphologic changes can be various in regressed retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). To investigate the incidence and the degree of such changes, we examined prematurely born infants in the age of 11 to 14 years. Of the 142 prematures (birthweight < or = 2000 g), who were cared for in their first weeks of life in the University Children's Hospital at the Klinikum Mannheim in 1977 to 1979, 48 could be reexamined. Of 48 infants (mean birth weight 1808 +\/- 211 g, gestational age 34.6 +\/- 3.1 weeks) six (12.5%; birth weight 1742 +\/- 218 g, gestational age 32.2 +\/- 2.5) had had acute ROP (stage 2 or 3). When reexamined in school age 10 (21%) of the children had physical deficits. Eight (17%) visited a school for handicapped children. Eight (17%) children had a squint. In 13 out of 96 (14%) eyes visual acuity was reduced to 0.8 or less. Thirteen eyes (14%) were emmetropic, 67 (70%) hyperopic, 16 (17%) myopic and 15 (16%) astigmatic. The intraocular pressure was normal in all eyes (15 +\/- 4 mm Hg). The anterior segments did not show findings caused by ROP. The fundus findings in the 12 eyes, in which the diagnosis of acute ROP was established in the first weeks of life, showed in 5 (42%) eyes a slightly reduced angle kappa between the vascular arcades and avascular retina in the temporal fundus periphery in all of the 12 (100%) eyes. In 1 (8%) eye the retinal periphery showed extensive scarring after cryotherapy because of acute ROP. None of the eyes which had had acute ROP showed macular ectopia or retinal folds (amotio falciformis). In 16 of the 84 (19%) eyes, which did not have a history of acute ROP, minor changes of the retinal periphery, the peripheral retinal vessels and the pigment epithelium were present, which were caused by prematurity. Prematurely born infants examined in school age, who were comparatively mature preterms at birth (mean birth weight 1800 g; mean gestational age 34.6 weeks), did not show a higher risk of refractive errors, i.e. myopia. However, they were at higher risk having squint. The functional disturbances found in the prematurely born infants in this study were not caused by morphologic changes due to ROP.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27275634,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Delivery room hospice.\nAdvances in perinatal science over the past five decades have reduced the practical 'threshold of viability' by approximately one week every 10 years such that survivors are expected as early as 22 weeks. Ethical standards regarding treatment of this periviable patient population remain enigmatic. We review limitations in the current ethical rationale for caring for these infants in the delivery room and introduce an alternative utilising a delivery room hospice care approach involving the administration of opioids.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37844888,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-22":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Predestinative role acidic cerebrospinal fluid on the destiny of central channel in spinal cord following subarachnoid hemorrhage: an experimental study.\nAcidosis is the most dangerous complication in subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). This study aimed to investigate the effect of acidic cerebrospinal fluid on central canal structures after SAH. Twenty-eight hybrid rabbits were studied. Blood and cerebrospinal fluid pH values were recorded before\/during\/after the experimental procedures. The structures related to the central canals at the level of C5 of the cervical spinal cord were then examined histopathologically. The relationship between pH values of ependymal cells and degenerated epithelial cell densities was statistically analyzed. Mean blood pH values and degenerated ependymal cell density (n\/mm2) were as follows: 7.351 \u00b1 0.033\/23 \u00b1 7 in control, 7.322 \u00b1 0.059\/78 \u00b1 13 in SHAM, and 7.261 \u00b1 0.048\/254 \u00b1 62 in study animals. Gross examinations revealed swelling, edema, pia-arachnoid adhesions, ventral canal dilatation, arachnoiditis, central canal hemorrhage, occlusions, and dilatation in the spinal cord. Cerebrospinal fluid acidosis-induced central channel pathologies should be considered an important complication of SAH following SAH.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3082626,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Biosynthesis of the wall acidic polysaccharide in Bacillus cereus AHU 1356.\nBiosynthetic studies on an acidic polysaccharide, comprising galactose, rhamnose, N-acetylglucosamine and sn-glycerol 1-phosphate, were carried out with a membrane system obtained from Bacillus cereus AHU 1356. Incubation of the membranes with UDP-[14C]Gal, TDP-[14C]Rha and UDP-[14C]GlcNAc resulted in the formation of four or more labeled-sugar-linked lipids and a labeled polysaccharide. Data on structural analysis of the sugar moieties released from the glycolipids, together with results of enzymatic conversion of [14C]galactose-linked lipid and [14C]Rha-Gal-linked lipid to higher-oligosaccharide-linked lipids and polysaccharide, led to the conclusion that the acidic polysaccharide is probably synthesized through the following pathway: (sequence in text) The glycerophosphate residues seem to be derived from phosphatidylglycerol.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32365893,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-22":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Role of Chemokines and Chemokine Receptors in Diabetic Nephropathy.\nKidney function decline is one of the complications of diabetes mellitus and may be indicated as diabetic nephropathy (DN). DN is a chronic inflammatory disease featuring proteinuria and a decreasing glomerular filtration rate. Despite several therapeutic options being currently available, DN is still the major cause of end-stage renal disease. Accordingly, widespread innovation is needed to improve outcomes in patients with DN. Chemokines and their receptors are critically involved in the inflammatory progression in the development of DN. Although recent studies have shown multiple pathways related to the chemokine system, the specific and direct effects of chemokines and their receptors remain unclear. In this review, we provide an overview of the potential role and mechanism of chemokine systems in DN proposed in recent years. Chemokine system-related mechanisms may provide potential therapeutic targets in DN.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23438255,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-22":1}}},"text":"The use of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) in a major cancer center for the treatment of severe cancer-related pain and associated disability.\nCancer pain is difficult to treat, often requiring a multimodal approach. While medication management remains the mainstay for the treatment of cancer pain, medications are often associated with undesired side effects. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) provides a potential adjunctive method for treating cancer pain with minimal side effects. Few studies have been performed evaluating the efficacy of TENS on cancer pain. We sought to examine the usefulness of TENS on all cancer patients and to specifically look at the use of TENS as a goal-directed therapy to improve functionality. Retrospective cohort study. Since 2008, patients with chronic cancer pain and on multimodal pain regimens were trialed with TENS. Those patients who showed an improvement in pain symptoms or severity were educated about and provided with a TENS unit for use at home. Pain symptoms and scores were monitored with the visual analog scale (VAS), the numerical rating pain (NRP) scale, and Short-Form McGill Questionnaire at the start of TENS treatment and at 2 months follow-up. TENS proved beneficial in 69.7% of patients over the course of 2 months. In TENS responsive patients, VAS scores decreased by 9.8 on a 0-100 mm scale (P < 0.001), and NRP scores decreased by 0.8 on a 1-10 scale (P < 0.001). Lack of placebo and lack of blinding of physician and patient. TENS provides a beneficial adjunct for the treatment of cancer pain, especially when utilized as a goal-directed therapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23336343,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Interactive effects of water, light and heat stress on photosynthesis in Fremont cottonwood.\nFremont cottonwood seedlings are vulnerable to water stress from rapid water-table decline during river recession in spring. Water stress is usually cited as the reason for reduced establishment, but interactions of water stress with microclimate extremes are more likely the causes of mortality. We assessed photosynthetic responses of Fremont cottonwood seedlings to water, light and heat stresses, which commonly co-occur in habitats where seedlings establish. Under moderate temperature and light conditions, water stress did not affect photosynthetic function. However, stomatal closure during water stress predisposed Fremont cottonwood leaves to light and heat stress, resulting in greatly reduced photosynthesis beginning at 31 \u00b0C versus at 41 \u00b0C for well-watered plants. Ontogenetic shifts in leaf orientation from horizontal to vertical, which occur as seedlings mature, reduce heat and light stress, especially during water stress. When compared with naturally occurring microclimate extremes, seedling stress responses suggest that reduced assimilation and photoprotection are common for Fremont cottonwood seedlings on exposed point bars where they establish. These reductions in photosynthesis likely have negative impacts on growth and may predispose young (<90-day-old) seedlings to early mortality during rapid water-table declines. Interactions with heat and light stress are more important in these effects than water stress alone.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22669569,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mechanisms of cadmium-induced proximal tubule injury: new insights with implications for biomonitoring and therapeutic interventions.\nCadmium is an important industrial agent and environmental pollutant that is a major cause of kidney disease. With chronic exposure, cadmium accumulates in the epithelial cells of the proximal tubule, resulting in a generalized reabsorptive dysfunction characterized by polyuria and low-molecular-weight proteinuria. The traditional view has been that as cadmium accumulates in proximal tubule cells, it produces a variety of relatively nonspecific toxic effects that result in the death of renal epithelial cells through necrotic or apoptotic mechanisms. However, a growing volume of evidence suggests that rather than merely being a consequence of cell death, the early stages of cadmium-induced proximal tubule injury may involve much more specific changes in cell-cell adhesion, cellular signaling pathways, and autophagic responses that occur well before the onset of necrosis or apoptosis. In this commentary, we summarize these recent findings, and we offer our own perspectives as to how they relate to the toxic actions of cadmium in the kidney. In addition, we highlight recent findings, suggesting that it may be possible to detect the early stages of cadmium toxicity through the use of improved biomarkers. Finally, some of the therapeutic implications of these findings will be considered. Because cadmium is, in many respects, a model cumulative nephrotoxicant, these insights may have broader implications regarding the general mechanisms through which a variety of drugs and toxic chemicals damage the kidney.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3056909,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Role of the leader peptide of maltose-binding protein in two steps of the export process.\nDuring the process of export of maltose-binding protein to the periplasm of Escherichia coli, the leader peptide is involved in at least two steps. The presence of the leader portion of maltose-binding protein was shown to be necessary to mediate initial binding of the precursor to the membrane. However, the presence of a mutationally altered leader which does not sustain export in vivo was sufficient to allow this interaction. Thus, the defect in export which is manifested in vivo by this mutational substitution occurs at a step that follows membrane association, most likely the translocation step. Translocation occurs at discrete sites that are not uniformly distributed over the cytoplasmic membrane. A large proportion of the membrane involved in translocation has a higher density than that of bulk cytoplasmic membrane.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9545691,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[A case of tuberculous pyothorax after an interval of four years of finishing with the first treatment for pulmonary tuberculosis].\nWe reported a case of tuberculous pyothorax which developed at four years after finishing with the first treatment for pulmonary tuberculosis. A 50-year-old female was admitted to our hospital with right chest pain. Tuberculous pyothorax was diagnosed by means of polymerase chain reaction (PCR method) of pleural effusion and of histological findings of the pleural section. She was cured by operation, pleural drainage and anti-tuberculous drugs. The bone scincigram of 99mTc revealed accumulation in the right 9th rib, tuberculous empyema might have been a secondary development from osteomyelitis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11981123,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Prevention of alcohol-related deaths in middle-aged heavy drinkers.\nAlcohol as a cause of death in middle-aged patients is well-known from clinical studies. A similarly important correlation in the general population of urban middle-aged men is highly underestimated. Health screening investigations have shown that mortality related to alcohol is five times more common in nonparticipants than in participants. From the mid-70s, the Malmoe Screening and Intervention Study (MSIS) commenced screening investigations including a large number of residents of Malmoe. One goal was to find intervention programs for individuals in an early development of problem drinking, thereby preventing development of serious complications of endstage alcoholism. Herein, we report on the mortality of heavy drinkers (drinking more than 40 g alcohol\/day) who were randomized to an intervention or control procedure and whose median survival was 13 years postentry into the MSIS. Health-screened men, aged 45-49 years at the initial screening examination and displaying serum gamma-glutamyltransferase (GT) in the top decentile of the GT distribution, were included. A total of 978 out of 11,257 participants met this criteria. A randomized intervention and control study was performed for four years and consisted of men (n = 667) who were born between 1927-1937 and who had two consecutive high GT values within 3 weeks along with heavy alcohol consumption. Half the individuals were informed of the test results and invited for further assessment by a senior physician (n = 365). The principles for brief intervention (DiClemente et al.,1991; Miller and Sanchez, 1993; National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 1999) were applied. The other half of the men (n = 302) were left with the information that they had a high GT value and were followed up with laboratory checkups every 2nd year. Mortality was followed up until 1991 and information on deaths was obtained from hospital and police records, necropsy reports, and death certificates. Long-term follow-up of mortality for 10-16 years (median, 13 years) showed that 124 of the 978 men had died (12.7%). Autopsy was performed in 96.5% of the cases. In 59 men (48%), death was alcohol-related. In the intervention group (n = 365), 38 (10.4%) men were dead and in the control group (n = 302), 42 (13.9%) men had died. There was a statistically significant difference (p = 0.026), with advantage for treatment. Less alcohol-related deaths and deaths occurring later during follow-up were found in the intervention group compared with the control group. The difference between the groups in total mortality, coronary heart disease, and cancer death was not statistically significant. These findings support previous results from the MSIS study indicating that long-term intervention in urban males with alcohol-induced GT increases may be beneficial in terms of survival.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34236284,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Heavy metals in bamboo shoots from Southeastern China and risk assessment.\nBamboo shoot is an indispensable vegetable in Southeastern China, so a survey of heavy metals in bamboo shoots is a relevant topic of interest. The present study sought to analyse the content of seven heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Pb and Zn) in six bamboo shoot species from Southeastern China. Percentages of 3.8% (Cd) and 8.9% (Pb) of the samples exceeded the maximum limits as established by the Chinese legislation. Further health risk assessment exhibited that the Cd intake contribution of these samples could not be negligible. The hazard index (HI) at average exposure was less than one. The average HI values in moso bamboo shoot were significantly higher than those of other bamboo shoot species. Overall, the results indicated that the intake of bamboo shoots is safe for consumers in Southeastern China.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":33728847,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[The evaluation of the efficacy of Alflutop in the complex treatment of patients with chronic lower back pain (the observational study ZEITNOT)].\nTo analyze the effect of Alflutop on neuroinflammation in patients with chronic lower back pain (CBP). Forty-one patients with a verified CBP diagnosis were enrolled in the study. Alflutop was used for treating CBP, 1 ml once\/day, for 20 days. Treatment efficacy was monitored using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), DN4 test; the Roland-Morris questionnaire; the index of pain activity in the lumbar spine; and the level of tumor necrosis factor-\u03b1 (TNF-\u03b1) in blood plasma. There were three visits in total: screening (visit 0), treatment start (visit 1, 0-3 days after screening) and visit 2 (3 months later (\u00b17 days) from the start of treatment). Before the start of therapy, in some patients (group 1, n=14 (34.1%) the TNF-\u03b1 concentration in the blood plasma was below the detectable level (less than 4.0 pg\/ml), while in group 2 (n=27 (659%)), the expression of TNF-\u03b1 in peripheral blood was observed at the level of 6.3 [4.9; 7.4] pg\/ml. Patients in group 2 significantly (p<0.05) differed from patients in group 1 by the greater number of CBP exacerbations over the last year as well as by the results of testing on DN4 (higher values) and SBI (greater discomfort). In group 2, a significant relationship was found between the TNF-\u03b1 level in blood plasma and the number of exacerbations as well as between the TNF-\u03b1 level and the number of DN4 points. At visit 2, patients in group 2 had a significant (p<0.05) decrease in pain intensity according to VAS, an improvement in the quality of life according to the Roland-Morris questionnaire, a decrease in the severity of the neuropathic component of pain according to DN4 test as well as subjective condition improvement associated with the activity of pain in the lumbar spine. A significant relationship was found between the level of TNF-\u03b1 and the number of DN4 points after treatment and the period of active observation. In the majority of CBP patients, the high relapse rate and neuropathic nature of pain may be associated with persistent neuroinflammation due to TNF-\u03b1 synthesis. Alflutop inhibits the TNF-\u03b1 expression substantially, which significantly correlates with a decrease in the neuropathic pain syndrome component according to the DN4 questionnaire. The use of Alflutop can be considered as an effective method of treating patients with CBP, which has an impact on the process of neuroinflammation as one of the leading causes of changes in the pain nature and its chronicity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35370945,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Androgen Excess Induced Mitochondrial Abnormality in Ovarian Granulosa Cells in a Rat Model of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.\nAndrogen excess could profoundly lead to follicular dysplasia or atresia, and finally result in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS); however, the exact mechanism remains to be fully elucidated. PCOS model rats were induced by dehydroepiandrosterone, and their fertility was assessed. The ovarian granulosa cells (GCs) from matured follicles of PCOS model rats were collected and identified by immunofluorescence. The mitochondrial ultrastructure was observed by transmission electron microscope and the mitochondrial function was determined by detecting the adenosine triphosphate (ATP) content and mtDNA copy number. Besides, the expressions of respiratory chain complexes and ATP synthases in relation to mitochondrial function were analyzed. The PCOS model rats were successfully induced, and their reproductive outcomes were obviously adverse. The GCs layer of the ovarian was apparently cut down and the mitochondrial ultrastructure of ovarian GCs was distinctly destroyed. The ATP content and mtDNA copy number of ovarian GCs in PCOS model rats were greatly reduced, and the expressions of NDUFB8 and ATP5j were significantly down-regulated without obvious deletion of mtDNA 4834-bp. Androgen excess could damage mitochondrial ultrastructure and function of GCs in rat ovary by down-regulating expression of NDUFB8 and ATP5j in PCOS.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9543161,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The use of a sensitive equilibrium dialysis method for the measurement of free testosterone levels in healthy, cycling women and in human immunodeficiency virus-infected women.\nMeasurements of total and free testosterone levels in women have lacked precision and accuracy because of limited assay sensitivity. The paucity of normative data on total and free testosterone levels in healthy women has confounded interpretation of androgen levels in women with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and other disease states. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to develop sensitive assays for the measurement of the low total and free testosterone levels in women to define the range for these hormones during the normal menstrual cycle and assess the total and free testosterone levels in HIV-infected women. By using a larger volume of serum, increasing the incubation time, and reducing the antibody concentration, the sensitivity of the total testosterone assay was increased to 0.008 nmol\/L, and that of the free testosterone assay was increased to 2 pmol\/L. The mean percent free testosterone was 1.0 +\/- 0.1% of the total testosterone. Serum total and free testosterone levels in the follicular and luteal phases were not significantly different, but both demonstrated a modest preovulatory increase, 3 days before the LH peak. Serum total [0.50 +\/- 0.32 (14.60 +\/- 9.22) vs. 1.2 +\/- 0.7 nmol\/L (34.3 +\/- 21.0 ng\/dL); P < 0.0001] and free testosterone levels (5.56 +\/- 2.70 (1.58 +\/- 0.80) vs. 12.8 +\/- 5.5 pmol\/L (3.4 +\/- 1.7 pg\/mL); P < 0.0001) were significantly lower in HIV-infected women (n = 37) than in healthy women (n = 34). Serum total and free testosterone levels were also significantly lower in HIV-infected women who were menstruating normally. There were no significant differences in serum total and free testosterone levels between those who had lost weight and those who had not. Testosterone levels correlated inversely with plasma HIV ribonucleic acid copy number. Serum FSH, but not LH, levels were significantly higher in HIV-infected women than in controls. Using assays with sufficient sensitivity, we defined the range for total and free testosterone levels during the normal menstrual cycle. Serum total and free testosterone levels are lower in HIV-infected women and correlate inversely with plasma HIV ribonucleic acid levels. The hypothesis that androgen deficiency contributes to wasting in HIV-infected women remains to be tested.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22693959,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Feasibility of bidimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography for strain analysis in consecutive patients in daily clinical practice.\nWe aimed to analyze the feasibility of two-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography (2DSTE) in evaluating myocardial strain in consecutive, nonselected patients in daily clinical practice. Strain analysis using 2DSTE was attempted in 59 consecutive patients: 24 patients with severe aortic stenosis, 28 patients with dilated cardiomyopathy, and 7 healthy controls. The analysis was done by four expert echocardiographers and one cardiology resident. It was possible to obtain reliable data for radial strain in 175 of 354 segments (49%), circumferential strain in 192 of 354 segments (54%), and longitudinal strain in 319 of 354 segments (90%). Experienced echocardiographers felt assessment of radial and circumferential strain was appropriate in more segments than did the cardiology resident (57% and 58% vs. 23% and 40%, respectively, P < 0.01). Longitudinal strain analysis with 2DSTE is feasible in most segments, but the radial and circumferential strain evaluation was only feasible in approximately half of the patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15238875,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Does atazanavir cause lipodystrophy?\nAtazanavir is a once-a-day non-pepsidic inhibitor of HIV protease which is licensed for use in the UK and the USA. One of its major advantages is that it does not produce lipid abnormalities in patients who receive it. This feature has been widely interpreted as implying that in the future there will be no abnormalities associated with fat redistribution when the drug is administered. This article explores that view.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15252781,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Tetrahedral chalcogenide clusters and open frameworks.\nBy integrating porosity with electrical or optical properties, microporous chalcogenides may have unique applications. Here we review recent advances and discuss concepts in the synthesis and crystal structure of tetrahedral clusters and their frameworks. These chalcogenides can be viewed as trivalent metal chalcogenides doped with tetra-, di-, or monovalent metal cations. Low-valent cations help to increase the cluster size, while high-valent cations have the opposite effect.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28737000,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Chemoprofile and functional diversity of fungal and bacterial endophytes and role of ecofactors - A review.\nEndophytes represent a hidden world within plants. Almost all plants that are studied harbor one or more endophytes, which help their host to survive against pathogens and changing adverse environmental conditions. Fungal and bacterial endophytes with distinct ecological niches show important biological activities and ecological functions. Their unique physiological and biochemical characteristics lead to the production of niche specific secondary metabolites that may have pharmacological potential. Identification of specific secondary metabolites in adverse environment can also help us in understanding mechanisms of host tolerance against stress condition such as biological invasions, salt, drought, temperature. These metabolites include micro as well as macromolecules, which they produce through least studied yet surprising mechanisms like xenohormesis, toxin-antitoxin system, quorum sensing. Therefore, future studies should focus on unfolding all the underlying molecular mechanisms as well as the impact of physical and biochemical environment of a specific host over endophytic function and metabolite elicitation. Need of the hour is to reshape the focus of research over endophytes and scientifically drive their ecological role toward prospective pharmacological as well as eco-friendly biological applications. This may help to manage these endophytes especially from untapped ecoregions as a useful undying biological tool to meet the present challenges as well as lay a strong and logical basis for any impending challenges.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37447388,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Association between Liver Enzymes and Mortality Stratified by Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: An Analysis of NHANES III.\nAssociations between liver enzymes or De Ritis ratio (DRR; aspartate aminotransferase (AST)\/alanine aminotransferase (ALT)) and mortality stratified by non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which have rarely been analyzed in previous studies, were investigated using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) III (1988-1994). Participants without risk factors for liver diseases other than NAFLD were linked with National Death Index records through 2019 (n = 11,385) and divided into two cohorts with or without NAFLD, based on ultrasound examination. Liver enzyme concentrations were categorized into sex-specific deciles and subsequently grouped (AST and ALT: 1-3, 4-9, 10; gamma glutamyltransferase (GGT): 1-8, 9-10). DRR was categorized into tertiles. Cox proportional hazards regression models adjusted for confounders were fitted to estimate associations with mortality. Compared with low levels, high GGT and DRR in participants with and without NAFLD had significantly higher hazard ratios for all-cause mortality. Compared with intermediate concentrations, low ALT showed higher all-cause mortality in participants with and without NAFLD, whereas low AST had higher HR in participants without NAFLD and high AST in those with NAFLD. Mortality was associated with liver enzymes or DRR in participants both with and without NAFLD, indicating that the relationship is not mediated solely by hepatocellular damage.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23446960,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Supplementing monosodium glutamate to partial enteral nutrition slows gastric emptying in preterm pigs(1-3).\nEmerging evidence suggests that free glutamate may play a functional role in modulating gastroduodenal motor function. We hypothesized that supplementing monosodium glutamate (MSG) to partial enteral nutrition stimulates gastric emptying in preterm pigs. Ten-day-old preterm, parenterally fed pigs received partial enteral nutrition (25%) as milk-based formula supplemented with MSG at 0, 1.7, 3.0, and 4.3 times the basal protein-bound glutamate intake (468 mg\u00b7kg(-1)\u00b7d(-1)) from d 4 to 8 of life (n = 5-8). Whole-body respiratory calorimetry and (13)C-octanoic acid breath tests were performed on d 4, 6, and 8. Body weight gain, stomach and intestinal weights, and arterial plasma glutamate and glutamine concentrations were not different among the MSG groups. Arterial plasma glutamate concentrations were significantly higher at birth than after 8 d of partial enteral nutrition. Also at d 8, the significant portal-arterial concentration difference in plasma glutamate was substantial (\u223c500 \u03bcmol\/L) among all treatment groups, suggesting that there was substantial net intestinal glutamate absorption in preterm pigs. MSG supplementation dose-dependently increased gastric emptying time and decreased breath (13)CO2 enrichments, (13)CO2 production, percentage of (13)CO2 recovery\/h, and cumulative percentage recovery of (13)C-octanoic acid. Circulating glucagon-like peptide-2 (GLP-2) concentration was significantly increased by MSG but was not associated with an increase in intestinal mucosal growth. In contrast to our hypothesis, our results suggest that adding MSG to partial enteral nutrition slows the gastric emptying rate, which may be associated with an inhibitory effect of increased circulating GLP-2.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23337623,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Acyclovir reduces the duration of fever in patients with infectious mononucleosis-like illness.\nAcyclovir is known for its antiviral activity against some pathogenic viruses such as the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) that causes infectious mononucleosis (IM) and IM-like illness. Therefore, we empirically administered acyclovir to patients with suspected EBV-IM and IM like-illness, upon their admission to our hospital. We admitted 25 patients, who were hospitalized for fever and lymphadenopathy, to the Tohoku University Hospital Infectious Disease Ward. As part of treatment, 8 of these patients were given acyclovir (750 mg\/day) with their consent and were assigned to the acyclovir group; the remaining 17 patients were assigned to the control group. The mean age of acyclovir patients (all men) was 42\u00b15.2 years, and that of control patients (13 men and 4 women) was 31\u00b13.0 years. The cause of illness was confirmed as EBV-IM in 6 patients (1, acyclovir; 5, control), and remained unknown for the other 19 IM-like illness patients (7, acyclovir; 12, control). A shorter duration of hospitalization and fever was observed in the acyclovir compared to that in the control patients (hospitalization duration: 16\u00b13.7 vs. 27\u00b17.7 days, P=0.36; fever duration: 4.5\u00b11.8 vs. 18\u00b16.5 days, P=0.04). Additionally, serum amyloid A (SAA) levels were lower in acyclovir than that in control patients (98\u00b137 vs. 505\u00b1204 \u00b5g\/mL, P=0.02). Therefore, we propose that acyclovir is a potential therapeutic agent for both EBV-IM and IM like-illnesses. Future studies should further examine its mechanism of action.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19036032,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Generation of Chlamydomonas strains that efficiently express nuclear transgenes.\nThe unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is both an invaluable model organism for plant biology and an attractive biotechnological production system. Despite the availability of efficient methods for introduction of foreign genes into the nuclear genome of the alga, transgene expression levels are usually very poor. This is a serious limitation that has severely hampered both post-genomics research in Chlamydomonas and use of the alga in molecular farming. Here we report a solution to this problem. We have designed a genetic screen that facilitates isolation of algal strains that efficiently express introduced transgenes. The levels of accumulation of foreign protein in our expression strains are almost uniformly high in all transgenic clones and are little influenced by position effects. The possibility of expressing transgenes to high levels will greatly facilitate post-genomics research in Chlamydomonas, and will also boost exploitation of the alga as an inexpensive production host for biopharmaceuticals and other valuable compounds.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22692039,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sequential MR imaging of denervated and reinnervated skeletal muscle as correlated to functional outcome.\nTo prospectively assess the short inversion time inversion-recovery (STIR) magnetic resonance (MR) signal intensity changes of denervated and reinnervated skeletal muscle over time in clinical patients. This study was approved by the institutional review board, and informed consent was obtained from all patients. Twenty-three patients with complete traumatic transection of the median or ulnar nerve in the forearm were prospectively followed for 12 months after surgical nerve repair. STIR MR images of selected intrinsic hand muscles were obtained 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months after nerve repair, and signal intensities of denervated and reinnervated muscles were measured semiquantitatively. After 12 months, hand function was assessed. Signal intensity ratios were correlated to functional outcome with analysis of variance. Of the 23 patients, 10 had good function recovery, while 13 had poor recovery. For the group with good function recovery, mean signal intensity ratios of 1.267 \u00b1 0.060 (standard deviation), 1.357 \u00b1 0.116, 1.297 \u00b1 0.111, 1.205 \u00b1 0.096, and 1.086 \u00b1 0.104 were found at 1-, 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-month follow-up, respectively. In the group with poor recovery, mean signal intensity ratios of 1.299 \u00b1 0.056, 1.377 \u00b1 0.094, 1.419 \u00b1 0.117, 1.398 \u00b1 0.111, and 1.342 \u00b1 0.095 were found at 1-, 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-month follow-up, respectively. Comparison of the group with poor function recovery and the group with good function recovery showed significant differences at 6-, 9-, and 12-month follow-up (P = .035, P = .001, and P < .001, respectively), with normalizing signal intensities in the group with good function recovery and sustained high signal intensity in the group with poor function recovery. STIR MR imaging can be used to differentiate between denervated and reinnervated muscles for at least 12 months after nerve transection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37458952,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-26":1}}},"text":"Cognitive enhancing effects of pazopanib in D\u2011galactose\/ovariectomized Alzheimer's rat model: insights into the role of RIPK1\/RIPK3\/MLKL necroptosis signaling pathway.\nNecroptosis, a programmed form of necrotic cell death carried out by receptor-interacting serine\/threonine protein kinase 1 (RIPK1) and RIPK3, has been found to be implicated in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). An FDA-approved anti-cancer drug, pazopanib, is reported to possess potent inhibitory effect against necroptosis via interfering with RIPK1. So far, there are no existing data on the influence of pazopanib on necroptotic pathway in AD. Thus, this study was designed to explore the impact of pazopanib on cognitive impairment provoked by ovariectomy (OVX) together with D-galactose (D-Gal) administration in rats and to scrutinize the putative signaling pathways underlying pazopanib-induced effects. Animals were allocated into four groups; the first and second groups were exposed to sham operation and administered normal saline and pazopanib (5 mg\/kg\/day, i.p.), respectively, for 6 weeks, while the third and fourth groups underwent OVX then were injected with D-Gal (150 mg\/kg\/day, i.p.); concomitantly with pazopanib in the fourth group for 6 weeks. Pazopanib ameliorated cognitive deficits as manifested by improved performance in the Morris water maze besides reversing the histological abnormalities. Pazopanib produced a significant decline in p-Tau and amyloid beta (A\u03b2) plaques. The neuroprotective effect of pazopanib was revealed by hampering neuroinflammation, mitigating neuronal death and suppressing RIPK1\/RIPK3\/MLKL necroptosis signaling pathway. Accordingly, hindering neuroinflammation and the necroptotic RIPK1\/RIPK3\/MLKL pathway could contribute to the neuroprotective effect of pazopanib in D-Gal\/OVX rat model. Therefore, this study reveals pazopanib as a valuable therapeutic agent in AD that warrants future inspection to provide further data regarding its neuroprotective effect.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37463209,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Modulation of inner junction proteins contributes to axoneme differentiation.\nCilia build distinct subdomains with variable axonemal structures to perform diverse functions in cell motility and signaling. In sensory cilia across species, an axoneme differentiates longitudinally into a middle segment with nine microtubule (MT) doublets and a distal segment with nine MT singlets that extends from the A tubules of the doublets. Here, we study axoneme differentiation in Caenorhabditis elegans by analyzing the flagellar inner junction protein FAP20 and PCRG1 that connect A and B tubules in Chlamydomonas. The nematode CFAP-20 is restricted to the middle segment with doublets, and its loss disconnects A and B tubules. However, PCRG-1 is absent from most sensory cilia, and its deletion does not disrupt cilia. Ectopic introduction of PCRG-1 into cilia generated abnormal MT doublets in the distal segment and reduced intraflagellar transport and animal sensation. Thus, the absence of an inner junction protein prevents B-tubule extension, which contributes to axoneme differentiation and ciliary function.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30658997,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Unified interpretation of liver stiffness measurement by M and XL probes in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.\nThe latest model of vibration-controlled transient elastography (VCTE) automatically selects M or XL probe according to patients' body built. We aim to test the application of a unified interpretation of VCTE results with probes appropriate for the body mass index (BMI) and hypothesise that this approach is not affected by hepatic steatosis. We prospectively recruited 496 patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease who underwent VCTE by both M and XL probes within 1 week before liver biopsy. 391 (78.8%) and 433 (87.3%) patients had reliable liver stiffness measurement (LSM) (10 successful acquisitions and IQR:median ratio \u22640.30) by M and XL probes, respectively (p<0.001). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curves was similar between the two probes (0.75-0.88 for F2-4, 0.83-0.91 for F4). When used in the same patient, LSM by XL probe was lower than that by M probe (mean difference 2.3 kPa). In contrast, patients with BMI \u226530 kg\/m2 had higher LSM regardless of the probe used. When M and XL probes were used in patients with BMI <30 and \u226530 kg\/m2, respectively, they yielded nearly identical median LSM at each fibrosis stage and similar diagnostic performance. Severe steatosis did not increase LSM or the rate of false-positive diagnosis by XL probe. High BMI but not severe steatosis increases LSM. The same LSM cut-offs can be used without further adjustment for steatosis when M and XL probes are used according to the appropriate BMI.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28539358,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Protein kinase C \u03f5 stabilizes \u03b2-catenin and regulates its subcellular localization in podocytes.\nKidney disease has been linked to dysregulated signaling via PKC in kidney cells such as podocytes. PKC\u03b1 is a conventional isoform of PKC and a well-known binding partner of \u03b2-catenin, which promotes its degradation. \u03b2-Catenin is the main effector of the canonical Wnt pathway and is critical in cell adhesion. However, whether other PKC isoforms interact with \u03b2-catenin has not been studied systematically. Here we demonstrate that PKC\u03f5-deficient mice, which develop proteinuria and glomerulosclerosis, display lower \u03b2-catenin expression compared with PKC wild-type mice, consistent with an altered phenotype of podocytes in culture. Remarkably, \u03b2-catenin showed a reversed subcellular localization pattern: Although \u03b2-catenin exhibited a perinuclear pattern in undifferentiated wild-type cells, it predominantly localized to the nucleus in PKC\u03f5 knockout cells. Phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate stimulation of both cell types revealed that PKC\u03f5 positively regulates \u03b2-catenin expression and stabilization in a glycogen synthase kinase 3\u03b2-independent manner. Further, \u03b2-catenin overexpression in PKC\u03f5-deficient podocytes could restore the wild-type phenotype, similar to rescue with a PKC\u03f5 construct. This effect was mediated by up-regulation of P-cadherin and the \u03b2-catenin downstream target fascin1. Zebrafish studies indicated three PKC\u03f5-specific phosphorylation sites in \u03b2-catenin that are required for full \u03b2-catenin function. Co-immunoprecipitation and pulldown assays confirmed PKC\u03f5 and \u03b2-catenin as binding partners and revealed that ablation of the three PKC\u03f5 phosphorylation sites weakens their interaction. In summary, we identified a novel pathway for regulation of \u03b2-catenin levels and define PKC\u03f5 as an important \u03b2-catenin interaction partner and signaling opponent of other PKC isoforms in podocytes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6163400,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Exposure of motor vehicle examiners to carbon monoxide: a historical prospective mortality study.\nThe National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) investigated the health effects of chronic exposure to low concentrations of carbon monoxide by conducting a historical prospective cohort study of mortality patterns among 1,558 white male motor vehicle examiners who were employed in New Jersey for a minimum of 6 months between 1944 and 1973. Industrial hygiene surveys indicated that the examiners were exposed to carbon monoxide at a time-weighted average (TWA) of 10-24 ppm; the exposure level recommended by NIOSH is 35 ppm TWA. A modified life table technique was used to calculate cause-specific expected deaths for the cohort adjusted for age and calendar time periods. The expected deaths were compared to the number of observed deaths through August 1973. The cohort demonstrated a slight overall increase in cardiovascular disease deaths (124 observed vs. 118.4 expected), but a more pronounced excess was observed within the first 10 yr. following employment (28 observed vs. 20.9 expected). A statistically significant excess of cancer mortality was found for motor vehicle examiners after 30 yr latency (13 observed vs. 6.9 expected, P < 0.5); this excess, however, was not confined to any particular organ site. The number of deaths due to accidents was significantly lower than expected (8 observed vs. 19.6 expected, P < .01).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9145135,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The gracilis myofasciocutaneous flap: vascular anatomy and clinical application.\nUnreliable skin perfusion has been reported frequently in the gracilis myocutaneous flap, resulting in moderately high partial flap necrosis. We modified the traditional myocutaneous operative technique by including all available regional fascia and created a myofasciocutaneous flap with increased skin viability. In addition, we defined the arterial anatomy of the flap that contributes to enhanced flap survival. In a cadaver study, blue latex was injected into the external iliac arteries of 11 cadaveric legs and the gracilis myofasciocutaneous flap dissected. Selective ink injection of the pedicle and perforating vessels also was performed in 8 legs. Two additional legs were injected with a barium-latex mixture, cut into 2-cm-thick transverse sections, and radiographed. Dissections demonstrated arterial connections between the pedicle vessel (medial femoral circumflex artery) and fasciocutaneous perforating vessels from the superficial femoral artery. Perforating vessels contribute to an axially oriented fascial network that supplies the overlying skin. Selective ink injections demonstrated the individual primary cutaneous vascular territories for each perforator. Radiographs of 2-cm-thick transverse sections confirmed the presence of arterial connections between the pedicle and the superficial femoral artery perforators. Twelve patients, previously pelvically irradiated, then underwent harvest of 18 large, longitudinally oriented (8-cm-wide, up to 30-cm-long) gracilis myofasciocutaneous flaps. All fascia beneath the skin paddle was taken in continuity with the deep fascia surrounding the gracilis muscle to minimize disturbance of any connecting vasculature held within the fascia. Patients were followed for an average of 12.1 months (range 3 to 31 months). Minor complications related to the flaps occurred in 6 of 12 patients (50 percent), i.e., seromas, mild wound infections, and a partial dehiscence; however, vascularity was excellent with no partial or complete flap necrosis. All wounds healed completely.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29558332,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Implementation of a Research Information Management System in a Pediatric Hospital.\nFaculty publications have been collected in universities, health, and medical institutions for many years, and Cincinnati Children's is no exception. Since 1949, a yearly list of faculty publications was manually compiled using multiple data sources and disseminated by the Edward L. Pratt Research Library. Products to centralize faculty publication collection and analysis with bibliometric tools are growing in popularity. This article will review the collaborative decision to choose a Research Information Management System and the implementation process including successes, challenges, and future opportunities.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3056468,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Intra-operative digital angiography as a control of the in situ saphenous vein by-pass grafts.\nForty-two patients undergoing in situ saphenous vein by-pass grafting procedures, in two patients bilaterally, were examined intra-operatively with digital subtraction angiography. In 19 (43%) of the examinations the graft and the anastomoses appeared adequate. In 8 cases (18%) significant abnormalities were found, including stenoses (11%), deficient anastomoses (5%) and graft kinking (2%). Remaining arteriovenous fistulas were found in 17 patients (39%). In most cases immediate correction was possible avoiding later re-operation. At follow up 11 of the 44 grafts were occluded, 10 of these during the first five months and of these five during the first week.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15251750,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Improved glycemic control with use of oral hypoglycemic therapy with or without insulin.\nTo determine whether combination oral hypoglycemic therapy in insulin-using patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) can improve glycemic control for a prolonged period. We expanded and extended an earlier study to include 130 patients with NIDDM for 10 to 30 years who had been using twice-daily mixed insulin for less than 10 years. Reduction and eventual elimination of the insulin therapy and substitution of metformin and a sulfonylurea were attempted. At follow-up visits, patients were weighed, random plasma glucose levels were determined, and glycosylated hemoglobin values were obtained. Of 130 C-peptide-positive patients with NIDDM receiving twice-daily mixed insulin, 100 were successfully transferred to combination oral hypoglycemic therapy with glyburide originally and later glimepiride and metformin--a primary failure rate of 23.1%. Secondary failure occurred in 20 patients after a mean duration of 6.4 months. Two patients with successful conversion to oral combination therapy resumed insulin treatment because of cost. Of the patients with primary failures, 6 had gastrointestinal side effects, 10 were successfully managed on combination oral therapy plus evening mixed insulin, and 14 ultimately received twice-daily insulin and metformin. Of the secondary failures, 13 were controlled on combination oral therapy plus evening insulin and 7 on twice-daily insulin in conjunction with metformin. No difference was found in the original C-peptide levels among these three groups. Glycosylated hemoglobin levels were significantly less on combined oral hypoglycemic therapy (9.8% versus 8.3%; P = 0.0001), on combination oral therapy plus evening insulin (11.2% versus 9.7%; P = 0.001), and on return to twice-daily mixed insulin with metformin (11.0% versus 9.9%; P = 0.04). Those eight patients who resumed twice-daily insulin therapy alone, however, had a nonsignificant increase in glycosylated hemoglobin (9.3% versus 9.9%). Improvement in glycosylated hemoglobin level in insulin-using patients with NIDDM can be obtained with combination oral therapy alone, combination oral therapy with once-daily evening insulin, or twice-daily mixed insulin with metformin in comparison with twice-daily insulin alone.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17198021,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Conjunctival provocation test for the diagnosis of ocular hypersensitivity to chlorobutanol.\nConjunctival provocation test (CPT) is a useful tool for the determination of the reagent in patients with allergic conjunctivitis. Our aim is to present an unusual reaction of ocular hypersensitivity to chlorobutanol by using this technique. This case describes a 56-year-old woman who presented intense ocular pruritus and conjunctival hyperemia with each instillation of Colircusi Fluotest (Alcon, El Masnou, Spain). Skin tests and CPTs were considered. Skin tests were all negative. CPTs were performed with commercially available ophthalmic products that were selected for their compositions. Chlorobutanol was presumed as the reagent through elimination. Positive CPT with purified chlorobutanol confirmed this hypothesis. CPT performed with commercially available products can be a useful, accessible, and inexpensive technique to orient the diagnosis of suspected ocular hypersensitivity to a pharmacologic component. To our knowledge, this is the first report of ocular hypersensitivity to chlorobutanol.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6742288,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Coracoacromial ligament division.\nThe object of this paper is to report on the findings of a retrospective study of 40 patients with 41 shoulders with persistent painful arc syndrome secondary to a chronic coracoacromial ligament inflammation who underwent simple coracoacromial ligament division at the Toronto East General and Orthopaedic Hospital between January 1973 and June 1979. Initial therapy was always nonoperative. Surgical intervention was reserved for patients who did not respond to conservative management and who had a painful arc with tenderness of the coracoacromial ligament. The aim of the coracoacromial ligament division was to relieve impingement by releasing the coracoacromial arch. Patients were carefully examined to rule out associated neck pathology, rotator cuff problems, and lesions of the acromioclavicular joint. Any patients with significantly large osteophytes under the anterior acromion were excluded. Forty patients (41 shoulders) were questioned and examined in followup. There were 29 males and 11 females. The ages ranged from 21 to 72 years (average 43.5 years). In 21 shoulders (51%), there was a history of trauma as the initiating factor. The follow-up ranged from 8 to 76 months (average 36.3 months). According to a described rating system, the results were satisfactory to excellent in 39 of 41 shoulders (95%) and unsatisfactory in two of 41 shoulders (5%). The back to work time ranged from 1 to 16 weeks (average 5.7 weeks).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16161003,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Successful treatment of recalcitrant nonunions with combined magnetic field stimulation.\nNonunions and delayed unions have been classically defined by Bassett as an arrest of the fracture healing process at an intermediary stage of repair, at which time the fracture gap is bridged by fibrocartilage. It is estimated that approximately 10-20 % of long bone fractures in the United States will result in delayed unions when compared to the average rate of healing for the location and type of fracture. Many of these will go on to a nonunion if biological or biomechanical factors are not optimized to enhance healing. Additional commorbities such as smoking, ethanol abuse, malnutrition, malabsorption and altered neurologic conditions can contribute to delayed unions or nonunions. Even despite appropriate and aggressive early management of long bone fractures, a certain percentage still lack progression of healing and go on to nonunion. Classical surgical management of nonunions includes obtaininjg fracture stabilization with ORIF techniques and bone grafting, with reported clinical successes ranging from 50-80%. Those that fail to achieve union despite classical management are indeed recalcitrant nonunions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1101329,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol on mouse spleens.\nA study was undertaken to ascertain the effects of delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol on the plaque forming cell response of mice immunized with sheep erythrocytes. It was found that a marked suppression of plaque forming cells occurred concomitant with a general loss of spleen cellularity following administration of delta-9-THC. These results suggest rather marked effects of this drug on antibody synthesis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9559422,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A case of severe verapamil overdose.\nWe report here on a 73-year-old woman who ingested 3.6 g (40 mg x 90 tablets) of verapamil in a suicide attempt. On arrival, the patient was awake and well oriented. Two and a half hours after ingestion, she lost consciousness, as her heart rate and blood pressure began to decrease. Cardiac monitoring showed atrioventricular dissociation. Although she suffered from extreme hypotension, an echocardiogram revealed that the wall motion of the heart was almost normal, and cardiac output measured with a Swan-Ganz catheter was well preserved. The plasma verapamil concentration in this patient was 1499 ng\/ml 4 h after ingestion. Hyperglycemia and hypokalemia, laboratory data revealed, continued for 18 h after admission. The patient was successfully resuscitated with intravenous saline, dopamine, and norepinephrine. Besides reporting on this case, we also report on a treatment for severe verapamil overdose.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9572061,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Potential therapeutic value of drugs inhibiting semicarbazide-sensitive amine oxidase: vascular cytoprotection in diabetes mellitus.\nSemicarbazide-sensitive amine oxidase (SSAO) is a copper-containing enzyme found in large amounts in blood plasma and in vascular smooth muscle. The catalytic activity of this enzyme is elevated in diabetes mellitus and some substrates, such as aminoacetone and methylamine also occur in increased amounts in this disease. After deamination by SSAO highly angiotoxic products are formed, methylglyoxal and formaldehyde, respectively. Moreover, hydrogen peroxide is also formed as a side-product. These products arising from SSAO-catalysed reactions may partially explain late-diabetic damages in the kidneys, eyes and peripheral nerves, as well as other cardiovascular disorders. It is therefore proposed that inhibition of SSAO may decrease the formation of these cytotoxic products and therefore prevent or slow the development of late-diabetic complications.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24398273,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Soy and other legumes: 'Bean' around a long time but are they the 'superfoods' of the millennium and what are the safety issues for their constituent phytoestrogens?\nThe recognition that legumes and, in particular, soybeans provide not only an excellent source of vegetable protein but also contain appreciable amounts of a number of phytoprotectants has increased general awareness of their potential nutritional and health properties. Since the discovery that soybeans are one of the richest dietary sources of bioavailable phytoestrogens, this legume has been elevated to the forefront of clinical nutritional research. These natural 'selective oestrogen receptor modulators' have been shown to be bioactive. The recent approval by the Food and Drug Administration in the United States for a health claim for soy protein reducing risk for heart disease by its effects on lowering cholesterol levels has led to the increased awareness of the health benefits of soy protein. However, the presence of high levels of phytoestrogens in soybeans has also led to concerns over the potential safety of soy foods. This review will focus on the cardioprotective benefits of legumes and discuss the hypothetical concerns regarding the constituent phytoestrogens.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28697661,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Safety of a proteoliposome from Neisseria meningitides as adjuvant for a house dust mite allergy vaccine.\nThe proteoliposome (PL) of Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B has been reported as a safe and potent vaccine adjuvant, inducing a TH1-skewed response. The present study describes a pre-clinical safety evaluation of an allergy therapeutic vaccine candidate based on purified allergens from Dermatophagoides siboney house dust mite and PL as adjuvant, both components adsorbed onto aluminum hydroxide gel. Two separate studies of acute toxicity evaluation were performed in mice and rabbits, and two repeat-dose studies were conducted in non-sensitized and allergen-sensitized Balb\/c mice, respectively. The study in sensitized mice intends to model a therapeutic setting. Aerosolized allergen challenge was used in both settings to model natural respiratory exposure. In the therapeutic setting, mice were administered with three doses containing 2 \u03bcg allergen at weekly intervals [subcutaneous route] and subsequently challenged with aerosolized allergen for 6 consecutive days. Parameters of general toxicity effects were assessed via measures of behavior, body weight, food and water consumption, and macroscopic evaluation of organs. Histological examination of organs and the injection site was performed. Potential immunotoxicity effects at the systemic level were assessed by blood eosinophil counting and serum allergen specific IgE by ELISA The vaccine did not produce general or functional toxic effects of significance, at a dose up to 100 \u03bcg allergen per kg body weight. An expected local reaction at the injection site was observed, which could be attributed mostly to the immunological effect of aluminum hydroxide. The models implemented here suggest an acceptable safety profile of this vaccine for testing in clinical trials of allergy immunotherapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17197879,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Circumcision and HIV transmission.\nTo review the recent literature on male circumcision and its effect on HIV acquisition. The report from the randomized clinical trial of male circumcision in South Africa demonstrating a 60% protective effect in preventing HIV acquisition provided the first clinical trial evidence of efficacy of male circumcision in protecting men against HIV infection. This protective effect was consistent with both ecological and epidemiologic studies which also show a protective effect of 50-70% in men at high risk for HIV infection. Biological studies also demonstrate an increased number of HIV receptor cells in the mucosa of foreskin providing additional evidence of HIV susceptibility in the uncircumcised male. Male circumcision may also have a beneficial effect in preventing HIV acquisition in women and lowering selected sexually transmitted infections in both sexes. The results of two ongoing randomized clinical trials of male circumcision in Kenya and Uganda are awaited with interest, however male circumcision should be carefully considered as a potential public health tool in preventing HIV acquisition. If other trials confirm the results of the South African trial, implementation of this surgical procedure will need to be carefully scaled up and integrated into other prevention programs with emphasis on surgical training, aseptic techniques, acceptability, availability and cultural considerations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12181901,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Effects of habitat fragmentation on nesting site selection of red-crowned crane].\nDuring April and May of 1985, 1995 and 1998, red-crowned crane's nesting and variation of breeding population quantities in Shuangtaihekou National Natural Reserve in Liaoning, and also the habitat fragmentation there were investigated. Associated with previous data of the reserve, red-crowned crane's nesting habitat had been seriously fragmentated into 91 patches from one integrated reed wetland. The area of the smallest patch was 0.37 km2, and the minimum distance of two nests was 304 m. Compared with records of previous data, the minimum area of nesting habitat reduced by 0.72 km2. However, the breeding population quantities of red-crowned crane had maintained at about 30 pairs for a long period. The red-crowned crane adapted to the changed environment by the ecological adaptation strategy of reducing area of nesting habitat.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28302233,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"An Unusual Case of Caecal Volvulus due to Appendicitis, Successfully Managed by Caecopexy.\nCaecal volvulus is a rare cause of intestinal obstruction. Caecal volvulus precipitated by acute appendicitis is even rarer. We report an unusual case of caecal volvulus with acute appendicitis as a cause. A 55-year female presented in surgical emergency with 3 days history of abdominal pain, distension and absolute constipation; and 2 days history of vomiting. Her past surgical history was significant for hysterectomy 5 years back. On examination, abdomen was distended and bowel sounds exaggerated. X-ray abdomen erect showed a single large air fluid level in the right hemiabdomen. A preoperative diagnosis of intestinal obstruction due to adhesions was made and patient prepared for exploratory laparotomy. On exploration, a huge caecum was lying in the midline and was twisted around a band arising from the appendix and attached deep into the pelvis. The appendix was densely inflammed. The volvulus was de-twisted in a counter clockwise manner. Viability of the caecum was confirmed and appendectomy was done. Caecopexy was performed and abdomen was closed. Postoperative recovery of the patient was uneventful and she was safely discharged on 5th postoperative day.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37852250,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-18":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Electron Dynamics in Open Quantum Systems: The Driven Liouville-von Neumann Methodology within Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory.\nA first-principles approach to describe electron dynamics in open quantum systems driven far from equilibrium via external time-dependent stimuli is introduced. Within this approach, the driven Liouville-von Neumann methodology is used to impose open boundary conditions on finite model systems whose dynamics is described using time-dependent density functional theory. As a proof of concept, the developed methodology is applied to simple spin-compensated model systems, including a hydrogen chain and a graphitic molecular junction. Good agreement between steady-state total currents obtained via direct propagation and those obtained from the self-consistent solution of the corresponding Sylvester equation indicates the validity of the implementation. The capability of the new computational approach to analyze, from first principles, non-equilibrium dynamics of open quantum systems in terms of temporally and spatially resolved current densities is demonstrated. Future extensions of the approach toward the description of dynamical magnetization and decoherence effects are briefly discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27280130,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Simulating a patient's fall as a means to improve routine communication: Joint training for nursing and fifth-year medical students.\nPhysicians and nursing staff interact as a team on a daily basis in hospital settings. However, both educational paths offer few opportunities to establish contact with the other professional group. Neither professional group can practice its later role with the other group in a \"safe\" learning environment. Routine interprofessional collaboration is described as being in need of great improvement and carries with it the potential for conflict. To improve interprofessional communication and task management, a simulation-based emergency training session for nursing students and fifth-year medical students was developed at the KRH Klinikum Nordstadt in Hanover, Germany. As a pilot project, the course was held twice in the form of a one-day session with ten nursing and four medical students. Using the example of a patient's fall, course participants were able to observe and actively treat multiple simulated patients. Following each simulation the trainer conducted a comprehensive debriefing. The course was then evaluated using a questionnaire. The evaluation of the team training showed a high level of acceptance among the two participating professional groups. On a scale of 1 (hardly applicable) to 5 (strongly applicable), the course was given a 4 by both professional groups for its relevance to daily work. In the open-ended written responses praise was specifically given for the opportunity to learn how to switch perspectives as a result of the simulation exercises. A common emergency on the hospital ward offers a good opportunity to establish and practice interprofessional team skills. With the knowledge gained about communication and the ability to change viewpoints, participants are able to improve their team skills. Participants demonstrated a high degree of acceptance for the training program.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26469129,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Three-Dimensional Superlocalization Imaging of Gliding Mycoplasma mobile by Extraordinary Light Transmission through Arrayed Nanoholes.\nIn this paper, we describe super-resolved sampling of live bacteria based on extraordinary optical transmission (EOT) of light. EOT is produced by surface plasmon confinement and coupling with nanostructures. Bacterial fluorescence is excited by the localized fields for subdiffraction-limited sampling. The concept was applied to elucidating bacterial dynamics of gliding Mycoplasma mobile (M. mobile). The results analyzed with multiple M. mobile bacteria show individual characters and reveal that M. mobile undergoes a significant axial variation at 94 nm. The sampling error of the method is estimated to be much smaller than 1\/10 of the diffraction limit both in the lateral and depth axis. The method provides a powerful tool for investigation of biomolecular dynamics at subwavelength precision.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34239344,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Disruption of myofibroblastic Notch signaling attenuates liver fibrosis by modulating fibrosis progression and regression.\nThe phenotypic transformation of hepatic myofibroblasts (MFs) is involved in the whole process of the progression and regression of liver fibrosis. Notch signaling has been demonstrated to modulate the fibrosis. In this study, we found that Notch signaling in MFs was overactivated and suppressed with the progression and regression of hepatic fibrosis respectively, by detecting Notch signaling readouts in MFs. Moreover, we inactivated Notch signaling specifically in MFs with Sm22\u03b1CreER-RBPjflox\/flox mice (RBPjMF-KO), and identified that MFs-specific down-regulation of Notch signaling significantly alleviated CCl4-induced liver fibrosis during the progression and regression. During the progression of liver fibrosis, MFs-specific blockade of Notch signaling inhibited the activation of HSCs to MFs and increases the expression of MMPs to reduce the deposition of ECM. During the regression of fibrosis, blocking Notch signaling in MFs increased the expression of HGF to promote proliferation in hepatocytes and up-regulated the expression of pro-apoptotic factors, Ngfr and Septin4, to induce apoptosis of MFs, thereby accelerating the reversal of fibrosis. Collectively, the MFs-specific disruption of Notch signaling attenuates liver fibrosis by modulating fibrosis progression and regression, which suggests a promising therapeutic strategy for liver fibrosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":33731423,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Frequency and source of prescription eyewear insurance coverage in Ontario: a repeated population-based cross-sectional study using survey data.\nInsurance coverage may reduce cost barriers to obtain vision correction. Our aim was to determine the frequency and source of prescription eyewear insurance to understand how Canadians finance optical correction. We conducted a repeated population-based cross-sectional study using 2003, 2005 and 2013-2014 Canadian Community Health Survey data from respondents aged 12 years or older from Ontario, Canada. In this group, the cost of prescription eyewear is not covered by the government unless one is registered with a social assistance program or belongs to a specific population. We determined the frequency and source of insurance coverage for prescription eyewear in proportions. We used survey weights provided by Statistics Canada in all analyses to account for sample selection, a complex survey, and adjustments for seasonal effect, poststratification, nonresponse and calibration. We compared unadjusted proportions and adjusted prevalence ratios (PRs) of having insurance. Insurance covered all or part of the costs of prescription eyewear for 62% of Ontarians in all 3 survey years. Of those insured, 84.1%-86.0% had employer-sponsored coverage, 9.0%-10.3% had government-sponsored coverage, and 5.7%-6.8% had private plans. Employer-sponsored coverage remained constant for those in households with postsecondary graduation but decreased significantly for those in households with less than secondary school graduation, from 67.0% (95% confidence interval [CI] 63.2%-70.8%) (n = 175 000) in 2005 to 54.6% (95% CI 50.1%-59.2%) (n = 123 500) in 2013-2014. Government-sponsored coverage increased significantly for those in households with less than secondary school graduation, from 29.2% (95% CI 25.5%-32.9%) (n = 76 400) in 2005 to 41.7% (95% CI 37.2%-46.1%) (n = 93 900) in 2013-2014. In 2013-2014, Ontarians in households with less than secondary school graduation were less likely than those with secondary school graduation to report employer-sponsored coverage (adjusted PR 0.79, 95% CI 0.75-0.84) but were more likely to have government-sponsored coverage (adjusted PR 1.27, 95% CI 1.06-1.53). Sixty-two percent of Ontarians had prescription eyewear insurance in 2003, 2005 and 2013-2014; the largest source of insurance was employers, primarily covering those with higher education levels, whereas government-sponsored insurance increased significantly among those with lower education levels. Further research is needed to elucidate barriers to obtaining prescription eyewear and the degree to which affordability impairs access to vision correction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18601165,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"A theoretical analysis of cellulase product inhibition: effect of cellulase binding constant, enzyme\/substrate ratio, and beta-glucosidase activity on the inhibition pattern.\nTheoretical analysis of cellulase product inhibition (by cellobiose and glucose) has been performed in terms of the mathematical model for enzymatic cellulose hydrolysis. The analysis showed that even in those cases when consideration of multienzyme cellulase system as one enzyme (cellulase) or two enzymes (cellulase and beta-glucosidase) is valid, double-reciprocal plots, usually used in a product inhibition study, may be nonlinear, and different inhibition patterns (noncompetitive, competitive, or mixed type) may be observed. Inhibition pattern depends on the cellulase binding constant, enzyme concentration, maximum adsorption of the enzyme (cellulose surface area accessible to the enzyme), the range in which substrate concentration is varied, and beta-glucosidase activity. A limitation of cellulase adsorption by cellulose surface area that may occur at high enzyme\/substrate ratio is the main reason for nonlinearity of double-reciprocal plots. Also, the results of calculations showed that material balance by substrate, which is usually neglected by researchers studying cellulase product inhibition, must be taken into account in kinetic analysis even in those cases when the enzyme concentration is rather low.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12021085,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A view on beta cell transplantation in diabetes.\nOrgan donors also offer a source of insulin-producing tissue that might be used for the treatment of diabetes. Clinical protocols for transplantation of this tissue aim for the prevention of chronic diabetes complications without introducing new serious side effects. Pancreas and islet cell transplantation are discussed in this perspective. The future of islet cell implants looks favorable but depends on finding ways to induce immune tolerance to the donor beta cells. Clinical trials can take advantage of relevant progress in animal models. In a limited study, recipient treatment with antilymphocyte antibodies and culture of donor cell preparations appeared useful to induce a state of operational immune tolerance in type 1 diabetic patients, as indirectly judged by graft survival and by analysis of auto- and alloreactivities in recipients. Use of cultured beta cell preparations also allows donor cell recruitment from suboptimal donor organs and increases the degree of standardization and quality control of islet cell grafts. The future of these grafts will depend on the development of techniques for the neogenesis of beta cells.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28724937,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-30":1,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Bootstrap quantification of estimation uncertainties in network degree distributions.\nWe propose a new method of nonparametric bootstrap to quantify estimation uncertainties in functions of network degree distribution in large ultra sparse networks. Both network degree distribution and network order are assumed to be unknown. The key idea is based on adaptation of the \"blocking\" argument, developed for bootstrapping of time series and re-tiling of spatial data, to random networks. We first sample a set of multiple ego networks of varying orders that form a patch, or a network block analogue, and then resample the data within patches. To select an optimal patch size, we develop a new computationally efficient and data-driven cross-validation algorithm. The proposed fast patchwork bootstrap (FPB) methodology further extends the ideas for a case of network mean degree, to inference on a degree distribution. In addition, the FPB is substantially less computationally expensive, requires less information on a graph, and is free from nuisance parameters. In our simulation study, we show that the new bootstrap method outperforms competing approaches by providing sharper and better-calibrated confidence intervals for functions of a network degree distribution than other available approaches, including the cases of networks in an ultra sparse regime. We illustrate the FPB in application to collaboration networks in statistics and computer science and to Wikipedia networks.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9139988,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Estrogen reduces proliferation and agonist-induced calcium increase in coronary artery smooth muscle cells.\nEpidemiological evidence and estrogen replacement studies suggest that estrogen has a protective effect on the cardiovascular system against coronary artery disease. Vascular smooth muscle (VSM) cell replication has been shown to play a causative role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the effect of chronic treatment of cultured guinea pig coronary artery VSM cells with physiological concentrations of 17beta-estradiol (E2) on thymidine incorporation, cell proliferation, and bradykinin-stimulated cytosolic calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i). Bradykinin at physiological concentrations causes contraction of endothelium-denuded guinea pig coronary artery rings in a concentration-dependent manner. VSM cells were first treated with low doses of E2 (10 pg\/ml) for 1-2 days followed by treatment for 4-6 days with 50 pg\/ml of E2, a concentration similar to that found in pregnancy. Using these protocols, we consistently observed the presence of E2-receptor mRNA in VSM cells by a ribonuclease protection assay. Fetal calf serum-stimulated [3H]thymidine incorporation was significantly reduced (P < 0.05) in E2-treated cells compared with untreated control cells. Similarly, E2 treatment significantly inhibited fetal calf serum-stimulated VSM cell proliferation compared with untreated control cells (P < 0.05). We also tested the hypothesis that E2 treatment attenuates agonist-stimulated [Ca2+]i in VSM cells because acute E2 treatment has been shown to produce relaxation of precontracted isolated coronary artery preparations. E2 treatment of VSM cells resulted in a significant decrease in bradykinin-stimulated [Ca2+]i compared with untreated cells (P < 0.05). In conclusion, our data demonstrate that estrogen at physiological concentrations directly regulates coronary VSM cell function.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37465689,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hericium erinaceus, in combination with natural flavonoid\/alkaloid and B3\/B8 vitamins, can improve inflammatory burden in Inflammatory bowel diseases tissue: an ex vivo study.\nHericium erinaceus, berberine, and quercetin are effective in experimental colitis. It is unknown whether they can ameliorate inflammatory bowel diseases in humans. This ex vivo study aimed to evaluate the anti-inflammatory potential of a nutraceutical compound of HBQ-Complex\u00ae (H. erinaceus, berberine, and quercetin), biotin, and niacin in inflammatory bowel disease patients. Tissue specimens were obtained either from Normal-Appearing Mucosa (NAM) or from Inflamed Mucosa (IM) in 20 patients with inflammatory bowel disease. mRNA and protein expression of COX-2, IL-10, and TNF-\u03b1 were determined in NAM and IM biopsy samples (T0). IM samples were then incubated in HBQ-Complex\u00ae (with the addition of niacin and biotin), and COX-2, IL-10, and TNF-\u03b1 tissue levels were evaluated at 120 minutes (T1) and 180 minutes (T2). Incubation with this compound resulted in a progressive decrease in gene and protein COX-2 and TNF-\u03b1 expression at T1\/T2 in the IM. IL-10 showed an opposite trend, with a progressive increase of mRNA and protein expression over the same time window. HBQ-Complex\u00ae (with the addition of niacin and biotin) decreased the expression of proinflammatory cytokines at the mRNA and protein levels in IBD tissue. On the contrary, mRNA and protein expression of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 showed a progressive increase.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6733393,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dextroamphetamine and individual susceptibility to reinforcement in verbal operant conditioning.\nThe present investigation was designed to study the relationships between extraversion, d-amphetamine and modes of reinforcement in verbal operant conditioning. A factorial design involving two levels of extraversion (extraverts and introverts), two reinforcement conditions ('good' and 'electric shock') and three treatments (placebo and two doses, 7.5 and 12.5 mg, of d-amphetamine) with repeated measures on the last factor was used. Sixty postgraduate female students were individually subjected to Taffel's verbal conditioning procedure. The study supported the following conclusions: (1) under the placebo condition, the extraverted subjects condition better with the rewarding reinforcer while the introverted subjects condition better with the punishing reinforcer; (2) under the influence of d-amphetamine, the extraverted subjects condition better with the punishing reinforcer while the conditioning scores of introverted subjects decrease with the punishing reinforcer but are not influenced with the rewarding reinforcer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28688184,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Root surface temperature variation during mechanical removal of root canal filling material. An in vitro study.\nThe aim of this study was to analyze in vitro temperature changes on the outer surface of the dental root during mechanical filling removal procedures. Thirty recently extracted single-rooted lower premolars were cut transversally at 16 mm from the apex in order to standardize sample length. Endodontic treatment was performed on them. The filling material was subsequently removed using Gates Glidden (G1, G2, G3); Peeso (P1, P2, P3) and PostecPlus FRC (FRC) reamers while temperatures were measured on the outer surface using a digital device with thermocouple at 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 15 seconds. Temperatures were compared using repeated measures ANOVA followed by pairwise comparison with Tukey's test. All reamers caused significant temperature variation between different times (p<0.05). Pairwise comparisons indicated that temperature increased with time for all reamers (p<0.05). Significant differences in temperature were found between different reamers after 0, 2, 4, 6, 8,10 and 15 seconds (p<0.05). Temperature at the root surface increased considerably. Values higher than 50\u00b0C were recorded, the greatest increase from baseline being 16\u00b0C. Accordingly, if the procedure were begun at 37\u00b0C (physiological temperature), the temperature in the surrounding tissues - cementum, periodontium and bone - would rise to 53\u00b0C. An increase in 10\u00b0C above body temperature at the root surface may cause lesions in surrounding tissues. While removing filling material, it is essential to cool, control action time and use instruments in perfect condition, all of which may contribute to reducing the heat generated and transmitted to the outer root surface.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7938766,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Endovaginal sonographic appearance of benign ovarian masses.\nThis article illustrates the different appearances of benign ovarian and paraovarian masses at endovaginal sonography. A retrospective study was performed of the records for 118 patients with 140 surgically proved benign adnexal masses, including dermoid cysts (n = 27), endometriomas (n = 40), epithelial inclusion cysts (n = 14), serous cystadenomas (n = 11), mucinous cystadenomas (n = 14), fibromas (n = 11), cystadenofibromas (n = 12), paratubal cysts (n = 5), hydrosalpinges (n = 3), and tubo-ovarian abscesses (n = 3). Preoperative diagnosis was made in 96% of the dermoid cysts on the basis of a hyperechoic attenuating component or multiple small horizontal interfaces and in 100% of uncomplicated fibromas on the basis of a hypoechoic attenuating mass. There was an overlap among the endovaginal sonographic appearances of the other condition.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9149572,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The usefulness of diagnostic tests on pericardial fluid.\nTo determine the physical, chemical, and cellular characteristics of pericardial fluid in various disease states and to assess their diagnostic accuracies. A metropolitan university hospital. Consecutive case series. One hundred seventy-five hospital patients, aged 1 month to 87 years, who had undergone pericardiocentesis (n = 165) or control subjects who had undergone open heart surgery (n = 10) between 1984 and 1996. The appearance of pericardial fluid and results of chemistry tests, cell counts, cytologic studies, Gram's stain, and microbial cultures were obtained by chart review. The etiology of each pericardial fluid sample was determined using prospective diagnostic criteria. Exudates differed from transudates by higher leukocyte counts and ratios of fluid to serum lactate dehydrogenase levels. Fluid glucose levels were significantly less in exudates. Sensitivity for detecting exudates was high for specific gravity > 1.015 (90%), fluid total protein > 3.0 g\/dL (97%), fluid to serum protein ratio > 0.5 (96%), fluid lactate dehydrogenase ratio > 0.6 (94%), and fluid to serum glucose ratio < 1.0 (85%). None of these indicators were specific. Fluid total protein and specific gravity were moderately correlated (r = 0.56). Fluid cytologic study had a sensitivity of 92% and specificity of 100% for malignant effusion. No other test was diagnostic for a specific etiology. Among infection-associated effusions, culture-positive fluid had more neutrophils, higher lactate dehydrogenase levels, and lower ratios of fluid to serum glucose than culture-negative (parainfective) fluid. Evaluation of pericardial fluid might be limited to cell count, glucose, protein, and lactate dehydrogenase determinations plus bacterial culture and cytology. While not used routinely, other tests that may be highly specific for particular diseases should be ordered only to confirm a high clinical suspicion.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20351445,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Concrete, abstract, formal, and systematic operations as observed in a \"Piagetian\" balance-beam task series.\nWe performed a Rasch analysis of cross-sectional developmental data gathered from children and adults who were presented with a task series derived from Inhelder's and Piaget's balance beam. The partial credit model situates both participants and items along a single hierarchically ordered dimension. As the Model of Hierarchical Complexity predicted, order of hierarchical complexity accurately predicted item difficulty, with notable exceptions at the formal and systematic levels. Gappiness between items was examined using the saltus model. A two level saltus model, which examined the gap between the concrete\/abstract and formal\/systematic items, was a better predictor of performance than the Rasch analysis (chi square = 71.91, df = 4, p < .01).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20365385,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Microbeam resonant x-ray scattering from bromine-substituted bent-core liquid crystals.\nWe studied the local layer structure in the B2 phase of bromine-substituted bent-core liquid crystals in the cell geometry using microbeam resonant x-ray scattering. In the homochiral state of B2 phase, the 3\/2 order satellite peak was observed only when the incident x-ray energy is at the K absorption edge of bromine. This result clearly indicates that the B2 homochiral domain forms two-layer superlattice in adjacent layers, the same as in the rodlike Sm-C(A) phase. The work reports on microbeam resonant x-ray scattering experiment from the local layer of the bent-core liquid crystal in the device geometry. Moreover, we can say that bromine is also useful for the analysis of the superstructure of soft materials using resonant x-ray scattering.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17176361,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Do selective COX-2 inhibitors increase the risk of cerebrovascular events? A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.\nTo evaluate the risk of cerebrovascular events (CVEs) associated with selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors (coxibs). Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). A fixed-effect model was used to estimate the odds ratios (ORs) for risk of CVE associated with coxibs compared against placebo, non-selective non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and other coxibs. Forty trials (88 116 patients) were included in the meta-analysis. The overall pooled OR for CVE for any coxib against placebo was 1.03 (95% CI: 0.71, 1.50). Comparing individual coxibs against placebo, we found that celecoxib, rofecoxib, etoricoxib and lumiracoxib were associated with higher CVE risks and valdecoxib was associated with a lower CVE risk, although there were no significant differences detected. There was also no significant difference in risk of CVE when comparing coxibs against any non-selective NSAIDs; the corresponding pooled OR was 0.86 (95% CI: 0.64, 1.16). On the basis of a detailed analysis of available RCTs, there does not appear to be any significant difference in risk of CVEs associated with coxibs when compared against placebo or non-selective NSAIDs. It is likely that the increased risk of thrombotic vascular events associated with coxibs is largely attributable to an increased risk of myocardial infarction, rather than CVEs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29383898,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[10 Years of Experience in Living Donation for Liver Transplantation in Pediatric Patients - A Single Centre Study].\nLiving donor liver transplantation poses new issues related to the performance of a major surgery on a healthy person - the living donor. Thus, it requires precise logistics to ensure positive outcome for both the donor and the recipient, outweighing the risks associated with donation and transplantation. For this purpose, we developed an original three phase protocol for evaluation of candidate donors with set of mandatory assays. This paper aims to analyze the outcomes of this protocol. 89 candidates have been examined for the performance of 23 living donor liver transplantations. The procedure was successfully completed by 25 candidates (28.1%), including two cases of procedure suspension due to occurrence of a suitable deceased donor. The majority of exclusions occurred in the third phase, generally due to anatomical variations: arterial (17%), portal (9.68%), venous (18.15%) and biliary (18.15%), and for several reasons simultaneously (6.7%). NO exclusions occurred due to inadequate potential graft or residual volume. All living donors underwent left lateral resection and the measured volumes were enough for both the recipients and the donors. No significant complications occurred in the donors (Clavien 1: 21%, Clavien II: 4%), with no need of transfusion, reoperation or re-hospitalization. The laboratory parameters were restored to normal values within the 10th postoperative day as the average hospital stay was 14.7 days. All donors were discharged with normal laboratory, instrumental and physical parameters. No abnormalities were observed at long-term follow-up. No primary graft dysfunction was observed. The large proportion of declined candidates requires strict adherence to the precise sequence of the evaluation protocol. The main reasons for decline are anatomical variation. Los level of complicatons was registered, with short postoperative stay, normal laboratory results at discharge and normal physiological parameters at long-term follow-up. The concept of donor advocate was introduced for the first time in Bulgaria. His task is to defend the interests of the candidate donor and to provide assistance in making an informed decision.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15246490,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Prognostic correlative values of the late-infancy MRI pattern in term infants with perinatal asphyxia.\nThe aim of this study was to define the risk ratios of the late-infancy magnetic resonance imaging pattern for long-term outcome in term infants with perinatal asphyxia. We evaluated 65 term infants with perinatal asphyxia and performed magnetic resonance imaging examinations between 4-12 months of age. Magnetic resonance imaging scans were classified as follows: (1) periventricular leukomalacia in 21 (32%) infants, (2) marked cortical atrophy in 17 (26%) infants, (3) multicystic encephalomalacia in 10 (15%) infants, (4) deep gray matter involvement in 8 (12%) infants, (5) focal cortical involvement in 6 (9%) infants, (6) myelination delay in 3 (5%) infants. The overall outcome was favorable in 19 (29%) of 65 infants. Infants with diffuse cortical involvement (multicystic encephalomalacia and marked cortical atrophy) are four times (odds ratio: 4.4 and 4.1 respectively) more likely to attain the unfavorable outcome than the infants with other patterns of magnetic resonance imaging. Infants with focal cortical involvement had relatively favorable outcome in 60% of the cases. In conclusion, it appears that the overall outcome of infants with perinatal asphyxia correlated well with the magnetic resonance imaging patterns obtained between 4 and 12 months of age.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3073205,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Morphological studies on clinical isolates of Aspergillus fumigatus.\nMorphological variation was examined in 19 strains of Aspergillus fumigatus Fres. isolated from the sputum of five patients with aspergilloma. For each patient a series of variant strains was obtained which exhibited gross differences in growth rate, colour and texture of the colony. On microscopical examination, some of the strains were found to produce markedly abnormal fruiting heads which were uncharacteristic for the species. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that the variant produced conidia of anomalous size, shape and surface-sculpturing. The significance of the isolation of morphological variants of A. fumigatus in sputum and their selection in vivo are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8346019,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Purification of a HeLa cell nuclear protein that binds selectively to DNA irradiated with ultra-violet light.\nUltraviolet (UV) light induces a variety of lesions in DNA of which the pyrimidine dimer represents the major species. Pyrimidine dimers exist as both a cyclobutane type and a 6-4' (pyrimidine-2'-one) photoproduct. We have purified a protein of M(r) approximately 125,000 from HeLa cell nuclei which binds efficiently to double-stranded DNA irradiated with UV light but not to undamaged DNA. This protein was designated UVBP1 (UV damage binding protein 1). UVBP1 did not recognise DNA damaged by cisplatin. Using oligonucleotides with a single dipyrimidine site for induction of UV photoproducts, binding of UVBP1 to a TC-containing substrate was shown to be more efficient than to substrates containing a TT, a CT or a CC pair. This binding specificity implies selective recognition of the 6-4' photoproduct. Further evidence for this was provided by the finding that hot alkali treatment of the substrate (which selectively hydrolyses 6-4' photoproducts) abrogated binding of UVBP1, whereas incubation with DNA photolyase to remove cyclobutane dimers did not. No detectable DNA helicase, ATPase or exonuclease activity was associated with the purified protein. We suggest that UVBP1 may be involved in the lesion recognition step of DNA excision repair and could contribute to the preferential repair of 6-4' photoproducts from the DNA of UV-irradiated mammalian cells.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37458205,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Antihypertensive effect of patulitrin and other constituents from Tagetes patula L. (French marigold) in acute L-NAME induced hypertensive rats.\nThe work is aimed to evaluate the blood pressure reducing effect of constituents from methanol extract and associated constituents of Tagetes patula flowers in normotensive and L-NAME induced hypertensive rats. The HPLC analysis of methanol extract of Tagetes patula flowers (JFM) resulted in the quantitative identification and percent comparison of four phenolic constituents, protocatechuic acid (PA), methyl protocatechuate (MPA), patulitrin (TRIN) and patuletin (PAT). All the extracts, fractions and compounds examined showed significant blood pressure lowering activity. Patulitrin (TRIN) which has emerged as the major constituent (15.33%) of T. patula flowers showed significant 30% and 68% fall in blood pressure in normotensive and L-NAME induced hypertensive rats respectively. The patuletin (PAT), which is an aglycone of TRIN displayed high percentage (84%) of antihypertensive activity. Further, comprehensive and advanced studies on these constituents may result in preparation of an effective blood pressure lowering medicine with active precious rare flavonoids, patuletin and patulitrin.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9544219,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pharmacophoric requirements for cannabinoid side chains: multiple bond and C1'-substituted delta 8-tetrahydrocannabinols.\nAccumulated evidence indicates that within the cannabinoid structure the aliphatic side chain plays a pivotal role in determining cannabimimetic activity. We describe the synthesis and affinities for the CB1 and CB2 receptors of a series of novel delta 8-THC analogues in which the side-chain pharmacophores are conformationally more defined than in the parent molecule. No analogue has the side-chain pharmacophore in a fully restricted conformation. However, our design serves to narrow down the scope of options for conformational requirements at the receptor active sites. All the analogues tested showed nanomolar or subnanomolar affinities for the receptors; 2-(6a,7,10,10a-tetrahydro-6,6,9-trimethyl-1-hydroxy-6H- dibenzo[b,d]pyranyl)-2-hexyl-1,3-dithiolane was found to possess very high affinity for both cannabinoid receptors (CB1, Ki = 0.32 nM; CB2, Ki = 0.52 nM).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28280010,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Complete Genome Sequence of a Wild-Type Measles Virus Isolated during a 2016 Winter Outbreak in a Refugee Settlement in Calais, France.\nMeasles outbreaks are regularly reported in European countries despite efforts to improve vaccination coverage. In January 2016, an outbreak occurred in a refugee settlement in Calais, France. We report here the complete genome sequence of a wild-type measles virus isolated from a health care worker (MVi\/Calais. FRA\/01.16) infected during this outbreak.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6917767,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of acute perinatal asphyxia on development of the lung and brain in the rat.\nFetal rats were exposed to asphyxia by compression of the umbilical vessels, and the animals were studied shortly after delivery, close to term (21st fetal day). Following asphyxia on the 20th fetal day, the lungs appeared immature. The surface active phospholipids, disaturated lecithin and phosphatidylglycerol, as well as the elastic tissue around the alveoli were lower than in the control littermates. However, lung maturity was little affected following asphyxia on the 17th-18th fetal day. As studied in the brain, hemorrhages in the periventricular area, sometimes intraventricular hemorrhages, were evident (asphyxia on the 17-18 and 20th fetal days). In addition, cells in cerebral cortex were altered following asphyxia of 17 - to 18-day-old fetuses. The present animal model clarifies the mechanism of increased incidence of respiratory distress syndrome following acute asphyxia and may prove to be useful in studies of pathogenesis of periventricular hemorrhages.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31264947,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Impact of Respiratory Compromise in Inpatient Interventional Radiology Procedures with Moderate Sedation in the United States.\nBackground Despite increased use of moderate sedation in interventional radiology (IR), patient reactions to moderate sedation are difficult to predict. The rate, risk factors, and burden of respiratory compromise in patients who undergo IR procedures with moderate sedation in the United States are poorly understood. Purpose To identify risk factors and quantify the clinical and economic burden of respiratory compromise in inpatient IR procedures in the United States. Materials and Methods Primary inpatient IR procedures with moderate sedation conducted from October 1, 2012, to September 30, 2015, were analyzed by using a retrospective claims database. Exclusions included age younger than 18 years, use of anesthesia, pre-existing cardiac or respiratory arrest, and respiratory failure. Respiratory compromise was defined as use of naloxone or flumazenil, nonmechanical or cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or endotracheal intubation on the day of the IR procedure. Propensity score matching was performed to risk adjust patients for cost and outcomes analysis, including hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) length of stay, invasive mechanical ventilation, and death before hospital discharge. Results This study analyzed 525 151 patients (mean age, 60 years \u00b1 17 [standard deviation]; 278 576 women). Respiratory compromise occurred in 1.0% (5235 of 525 151) of patients, predicted by long-term opioid therapy or active substance abuse (odds ratio [OR], 2.7; P < .001), age 65 years or older (OR, 1.4; P < .001), and sleep apnea (OR, 1.3; P < .001). Risk-adjusted patients with respiratory compromise compared with patients without respiratory compromise had $6904 higher costs (P < .001), 1.1-day longer hospital length of stay (P < .001), and higher rates of ICU admission (69.7% [3125 of 5235] vs 25.5% [1333 of 5235], respectively; P < .001), invasive mechanical ventilation (33.6% [1758 of 5235] vs 1.6% [85 of 5235], respectively; P < .001), and death (27.1% [1421 of 5235] vs 3.2% [166 of 5235], respectively; P < .001). Conclusion In the United States, respiratory compromise in interventional radiology procedures with moderate sedation contributes to worse clinical outcomes and higher costs. Respiratory compromise risk factors including long-term opioid therapy or active substance abuse, age 65 years or older, and sleep apnea should be preassessed and used to help guide intraprocedural monitoring to prevent respiratory compromise, improve patient outcomes, and reduce costs. \u00a9 RSNA, 2019 See also the editorial by Rosen and Walz in this issue. Online supplemental material is available for this article.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37461294,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sex-related patterns in the electroencephalogram and their relevance in machine learning classifiers.\nDeep learning is increasingly being proposed for detecting neurological and psychiatric diseases from electroencephalogram (EEG) data but the method is prone to inadvertently incorporate biases from training data and exploit illegitimate patterns. The recent demonstration that deep learning can detect the sex from EEG implies potential sex-related biases in deep learning-based disease detectors for the many diseases with unequal prevalence between males and females. In this work, we present the male- and female-typical patterns used by a convolutional neural network that detects the sex from clinical EEG (81% accuracy in a separate test set with 142 patients). We considered neural sources, anatomical differences, and non-neural artifacts as sources of differences in the EEG curves. Using EEGs from 1140 patients, we found electrocardiac artifacts to be leaking into the supposedly brain activity-based classifiers. Nevertheless, the sex remained detectable after rejecting heart-related and other artifacts. In the cleaned data, EEG topographies were critical to detect the sex, but waveforms and frequencies were not. None of the traditional frequency bands was particularly important for sex detection. We were able to determine the sex even from EEGs with shuffled time points and therewith completely destroyed waveforms. Researchers should consider neural and non-neural sources as potential origins of sex differences in their data, they should maintain best practices of artifact rejection, even when datasets are large, and they should test their classifiers for sex biases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36932514,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Simulation of reversible molecular mechanical logic gates and circuits.\nLandauer's principle places a fundamental lower limit on the work required to perform a logically irreversible operation. Logically reversible gates provide a way to avoid these work costs and also simplify the task of making the computation as a whole thermodynamically reversible. The inherent reversibility of mechanical logic gates would make them good candidates for the design of practical logically reversible computing systems if not for the relatively large size and mass of such systems. In this paper we outline the design and simulation of reversible molecular mechanical logic gates that come close to the limits of thermodynamic reversibility even under the effects of thermal noise, and outline associated circuit components from which arbitrary combinatorial reversible circuits can be constructed and simulated. We demonstrate that isolated components can be operated in a thermodynamically reversible manner, and explore the complexities of combining components to implement more complex computations. Finally, we demonstrate a method to construct arbitrarily large reversible combinatorial circuits using multiple external controls and signal boosters with a working half-adder circuit.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21754728,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"2-[(E)-(2,4-Dihy-droxy-benzyl-idene)aza-nium-yl]-3-phenyl-propano-ate.\nThe title compound, C(16)H(15)NO(4), exists as a zwitterion in the solid state, with the carb-oxy-lic acid group being deprotonated and the imine N atom being protonated. The mol-ecule adopts an E configuration about the C=N double bond. The dihedral angle between the benzene rings is 46.34 (4)\u00b0. An intra-molecular N-H\u22efO hydrogen bond generates an S(6) ring motif. In the crystal, adjacent mol-ecules are connected by inter-molecular O-H\u22efO and C-H\u22efO hydrogen bonds, forming supra-molecular ribbons along the a axis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28247640,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[The history of discovery of bulbourethral glands].\nThe article outlines the chronology of the discovery of the bulbourethral glands. Their first image appeared in 1600 in a collection of anatomical tables by Italian anatomist Hieronymus Fabricius of Acquapendente. In the scientific literature, they were first mentioned in one of the editions of \"Journal des scavans\" in 1684 as discovered by the French surgeon Jean Mry. The first detailed description of the structure, topography and function of these glands was presented in the work of English physician and anatomist William Cowper in 1699.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12003327,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dietary L-carnitine increases plasma insulin-like growth factor-I concentration in chicks fed a diet with adequate dietary protein level.\n1. The effect of L-carnitine supplemented into experimental diets with varying dietary protein concentrations (50, 200 and 400 g\/kg) on body weight gain and plasma insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) concentration in chicks was examined. 2. Dietary L-carnitine supplementation provided 0, 200, 500 and 1000 mg\/kg. Chicks were given the diet ad libitum for 10 d. 3. When L-carnitine was provided as 500 or 1000 mg\/kg, body weight gain was significantly improved in birds receiving the 200 and 400 g protein\/kg diets. 4. There was an interaction between dietary L-carnitine and protein content on plasma IGF-I concentration. L-carnitine supplementation had little influence on plasma IGF-I concentrations in birds receiving the low protein (50 g\/kg) diet. When dietary L-carnitine concentrations were increased from 0 to 1000 mg\/kg in the adequate protein (200 g\/kg) diet, plasma IGF-I concentrations were also increased. However, when dietary L-carnitine content was more than 500 mg\/kg in the 400 g\/kg protein group, plasma IGF-I concentration decreased with increasing dietary L-carnitine content. 5. Body weight change correlated significantly with the alteration in plasma IGF-I concentrations in chicks given diets with adequate dietary protein. 6. In conclusion, the improvement in body weight gain caused by dietary L-carnitine supplementation was achieved when chicks were given their dietary protein requirement, which may be partially explained by an increase in plasma IGF-I concentration.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6738078,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Comparative biochemical and ultrastructural study of the hepatic response induced in the rat by 2 hypolipemic agents: clofibrate and itanoxone].\nA comparative biochemical and ultrastructural investigation o hepatic response induced in rats by clofibrate and itanoxone, a new hypolipemic agent, was performed. Normocholesterolemic Sprague-Dawley male rats were distributed into homogeneous groups and orally treated on 10 successive days either by the vehicle alone (1%--carboxymethylcellulose), or by clofibrate (300 mg\/kg\/day) or by itanoxone (100 and 300 mg\/kg\/day). On the eleventh day, a last dose was applied after about 16 hours fasting, one hour before sacrificing the animals. Biochemical parameters (total serum cholesterol, hepatic catalase activity) and morphological ones (liver weight, ultrastructural analysis of the hepatic cell with especially cytochemical evaluation and counting of peroxisomes) were studied. The treatment with clofibrate gave the following results: fall in total serum cholesterol (-25%), increase in liver weight (+89%) and hepatic catalase activity (+69%), high proliferation of hepatic peroxisomes (+246%). These data are in agreement with literature. The following observations were noted with itanoxone: a decrease in total serum cholesterol proportional to the dose applied and of higher intensity as compared to clofibrate (-36,5% at 100 mg\/kg; -54% at 300 mg\/kg), a moderate increase in liver weight (+25% at 100 mg\/kg; +41% at 300 mg\/kg) and hepatic peroxisomes (+12% at 100 mg\/kg; +85% at 300 mg\/kg), no effect on hepatic catalase activity. The moderate feature of the hepatic response induced by itanoxone in spite of a marked hypocholesterolemic activity was discussed: first in connection with the hypothesis about a relation between the proliferation of hepatic peroxisomes induced by many hypolipemic agents and the advent of tumors in rats, then, in connection with the association sometimes assumed between the increased number of hepatic peroxisomes and the effect on lipids of several hypolipemic substances related or not to clofibrate.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28730910,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Brief Peer Conflict Scale: Psychometric Properties Among a Sample of Incarcerated Male Juvenile Offenders.\nAggression can be considered a multidimensional construct that influences various forms of antisocial behavior, including juvenile delinquency and conduct problems. The aim of the present study was to assess the psychometric properties of the Brief Peer Conflict Scale-20 item version (PCS-20) among a Portuguese forensic sample (N = 192) of incarcerated male juvenile offenders ( M = 16.62 years; SD = 1.52 years; age range = 13-18 years). The PCS-20 demonstrated good psychometric properties in terms of its four-factor structure, internal consistency, convergent validity, and discriminant validity that generally justify its use among incarcerated male youth. The findings provide additional support for the extension of the PCS-20 across different cultures, ethnic groups, and samples.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28261963,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Phosphoproteome analysis of synoviocytes from patients with rheumatoid arthritis.\nTo explore disease-associated molecules in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), we comprehensively analyzed phosphoproteins purified from RA synoviocytes. Synoviocytes were obtained from three patients with RA and three patients with osteoarthritis (OA). Profiles of phosphoproteins purified from the synoviocytes were compared by two-dimensional differential gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE) between the RA and OA groups. Protein spots with significantly different phosphorylation levels were identified by mass spectrometry. Recombinant protein of annexin A4 (ANXA4), one of the identified phosphoproteins, was transfected into synoviocytes from an OA patient to mimic RA synoviocytes and humoral factor secretion was compared between rANXA4-transfected and non-transfected synoviocytes under a tumor necrosis factor-\u03b1 (TNF\u03b1)-stimulated condition. In 2D-DIGE, 318 phosphoprotein spots were detected, of which 94 spots showed significantly different intensities between the two groups (P < 0.05). Among the 94 spots, 22 spots showed two-fold or higher intensity and one spot showed less than 1\/2-fold intensity in the RA group compared to the OA group. From the 22 spots, 11 phosphoproteins were identified, which included kinases, carrier and chaperone proteins, cytoskeletal proteins, proteases and calcium-binding proteins. One of the identified calcium-binding proteins was ANXA4, an exocytosis-regulating protein. The transfected rANXA4 was found to be phosphorylated intracellularly, and secretion of chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 1 and interleukin-8 induced by TNF\u03b1 stimulation was significantly suppressed by the transfection (P < 0.01). The phosphoprotein profile of RA synoviocytes was different from that of OA synoviocytes. This difference would reflect the different pathophysiologies of the diseases. ANXA4 may be one of therapeutic targets in RA.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9546103,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Late embryonic and early posthatch growth of heart and lung in White Leghorn lines of chickens.\nGrowth and development of heart and lungs were measured from day 15 of incubation to 25 days after hatch in lines of chickens that had undergone long-term selection for high (HAS) or low (LAS) antibody titers to sheep erythrocytes. A correlated response to this selection was heavier 28-day body weights for LAS than HAS chickens. In this experiment body weights were heavier in line LAS than HAS from 15 days of incubation to 5 days after hatch and again at 25 days after hatch. Absorption of residual yolk was greater in HAS than LAS chicks. Although there were no differences between lines for absolute heart weights, lungs were heavier in line LAS than HAS at all ages except 20 days after hatch. Relative to body weight, both heart and lung weights declined with age, however, the pattern of decline differed. For this criterium, hearts were larger in line HAS than LAS to 5 days after hatch with no difference thereafter; for lungs lines were similar until 5 days after hatch after which they were larger in LAS than HAS chicks. In all but one case (HAS at hatch) the left:right relationship for lung weights exhibited fluctuating asymmetry with the left minus right character difference having a normal distribution and mean zero. The degree of fluctuating asymmetry, however, varied with age.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16222364,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Some basics for operating and analyzing data using the thickness shear mode resonator.\nThe promises of obtaining meaningful measurements on physical systems loading the quartz crystal microbalance are extremely bright. The two aspects of this process, namely the gathering of faithful data and reductions of these data by way of modelling, need careful consideration to avoid some very common missteps which could frustrate this effort. The experimental techniques are emphasized here but a brief introduction to the basic methodologies of modelling is also given.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28349577,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Critical appraisal of clinical practice guidelines for adult cancer patients with febrile neutropenia.\nTo critically appraise published international clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) for management of febrile neutropenia in adult patients with cancer and to determine opportunities for improved development and reporting. A literature search identified CPGs for adult cancer patients with febrile neutropenia. Four independent assessors evaluated each included CPG according to the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation II instrument. Standardized scores were calculated for each guideline and polled collectively. Reliability of assessment was determined using a two-way random model intraclass correlation coefficients. Eight CPGs were independently evaluated by four assessors. Collectively, the highest scoring domain was editorial independence (83.3), followed by clarity of presentation (55.4), scope and purpose (53.4), stakeholder involvement (53.1), rigour of development (52.7) and applicability (47.8). Overall assessments ranged from 28.6 to 96.4 of 100 possible points. Three (37.5%) guidelines were recommended for use without alterations, two (25%) guidelines were recommended with alterations, and three (37.5%) guidelines were not recommended for implementation into practice. Reliability varied between guidelines with intraclass correlation coefficients ranging from 0.41 to 0.82. Clinical practice guidelines for febrile neutropenia in adult patients with cancer were moderately rated with a 37.5% of guidelines being recommended for use in practice. Guideline developers should focus on improving CPG applicability and rigour in the development and reporting processes. Critical appraisal of guidelines should become a standard practice prior to implementation into clinical settings.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37856658,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine Clinical Protocol #21: Breastfeeding in the Setting of Substance Use and Substance Use Disorder (Revised 2023).\nBackground: The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine (ABM) revised the 2015 version of the substance use disorder (SUD) clinical protocol to review the evidence and provide updated literature-based recommendations related to breastfeeding in the setting of substance use and SUD treatments. Key Information: Decisions around breastfeeding are an important aspect of care during the peripartum period, and there are specific benefits and risks for substance-exposed mother-infant dyads. Recommendations: This protocol provides breastfeeding recommendations in the setting of nonprescribed opioid, stimulant, sedative-hypnotic, alcohol, nicotine, and cannabis use, and SUD treatments. Additionally, we offer guidance on the utility of toxicology testing in breastfeeding recommendations. Individual programs and institutions should establish consistent breastfeeding approaches that mitigate bias, facilitate consistency, and empower mothers with SUD. For specific breastfeeding recommendations, given the complexity of breastfeeding in mothers with SUD, individualized care plans should be created in partnership with the patient and multidisciplinary team with appropriate clinical support and follow-up. In general, breastfeeding is recommended among mothers who stop nonprescribed substance use by the time of delivery, and they should continue to receive ongoing postpartum care, such as lactation support and SUD treatment. Overall, enhancing breastfeeding education regarding substance use in pregnancy and lactation is essential to allow for patient-centered guidance.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23869738,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Renin angiotensin system blockage associates with insertion\/deletion polymorphism of angiotensin-converting enzyme in patients with hypertensive emergency.\nHypertensive crisis (HC) stands out as a form of acute elevation of blood pressure (BP). It can manifest itself as hypertensive emergency (HE) or hypertensive urgency (HU), which is usually accompanied with levels of diastolic BP \u2265120 mmHg. Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene insertion\/deletion (I\/D) polymorphism may influence manifestations of HC. Thus, this study evaluated the influence of ACE I\/D polymorphism in individuals with HC. A total of 187 patients admitted with HC (HU [n=69] and HE [n=118]) and 75 normotensive individuals were included in the study. Peripheral blood was drawn for a biochemical and genetic analysis of the ACE I\/D polymorphism by Polymerase Chain Reaction. HC group showed higher systolic BP, body mass index (BMI), glycemia, creatinine, and lower high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol compared with normotensive individuals. The use of renin-angiotensin system (RAS) blockers was more frequent in the HU group than in the HE group (p=0.020). The II genotype was more predominant in normotensive and HU individuals than among HE individuals (18.7%, 11.6%, and 2.5%, respectively; p=0.004). Higher BMI and glycemia were associated with HC in the logistic regression model. ACE II genotype (odds ratio [OR] 0.14; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.04-0.51) and HDL cholesterol were protective for the development of HE. ACE II genotype was present in the HU group, compared with the HE group (OR 0.18; 95% CI 0.04-0.88). This study shows an association between the low prevalence of ACE I\/D polymorphism II genotype and a greater occurrence of HE in Brazilian individuals. The lower blockage of RAS, which was detected in the HE group, may interact with the low frequency of II genotype, conferring an increased risk for HE.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26487858,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Protective effects of components of the Chinese herb grassleaf sweetflag rhizome on PC12 cells incubated with amyloid-beta42.\nThe major ingredients of grassleaf sweetflag rhizome are \u03b2-asarone and eugenol, which can cross the blood-brain barrier and protect neurons. This study aimed to observe the neuroprotective effects and mechanisms of \u03b2-asarone and eugenol, components of the Chinese herb grassleaf sweetflag rhizome, on PC12 cells. First, PC12 cells were cultured with different concentrations (between 1 \u00d7 10(-10) M and 1 \u00d7 10(-5) M) of \u03b2-asarone and eugenol. Survival rates of PC12 cells were not significantly affected. Second, PC12 cells incubated with amyloid-beta42, which reduced cell survival, were cultured under the same conditions (1 \u00d7 10(-6) M \u03b2-asarone and eugenol). The survival rates of PC12 cells significantly increased, while expression levels of the mRNAs for the pro-apoptotic protein Bax decreased, and those for the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl mRNA increased. In addition, the combination of \u03b2-asarone with eugenol achieved better results than either component alone. Our experimental findings indicate that both \u03b2-asarone and eugenol protect PC12 cells through inhibiting apoptosis, and that the combination of the two is better than either alone.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37444738,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Internet Healthcare Policy Analysis, Evaluation, and Improvement Path: Multidimensional Perspectives.\nInternet healthcare is a crucial component of the healthcare industry's digital transformation and plays a vital role in achieving China's Healthy China strategy and promoting universal health. To ensure the development of internet healthcare is guided by scientifically sound policies, this study analyzes and assesses current policy texts, aiming to identify potential issues and inadequacies. By examining 134 national-level policy documents, utilizing multiple research methods, including policy bibliometrics, content analysis, and the PMC Index Model, the study investigates policy characteristics, distribution of policy instruments, and evaluation outcomes related to internet healthcare. The study findings reveal that internet healthcare policies place emphasis on enhancing service quality, driving technological innovation, and promoting management standardization. Although policy instruments align with the current stage of internet healthcare development in China, they are plagued by imbalances in implementation. While policies are generally well-formulated, there are discernible discrepancies among them, necessitating the reinforcement and refinement of certain provisions. Hence, it is imperative to strategically optimize the amalgamation and implementation of policy instruments while concurrently endeavoring to achieve a dynamic equilibrium in policy combinations. Furthermore, policymakers should diligently refine the policy content pertaining to its nature and effectiveness in order to fully maximize policy utility.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28252353,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Investigation of Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) in Australian commercial milk using qPCR.\nThis technical research communication describes the first study to use quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) to investigate the presence of Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) in Australian pasteurised milk. MAC is the most common NTM responsible for human illnesses and includes M. avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP). MAC is a causative agent of lymphadenitis in children, with contaminated food and water considered as a likely source. As such the presence of MAC in milk would have public health significance. MAP has been linked to Crohn's disease and is also the causative agent of Johne's disease in cattle. Previous studies have detected MAP in pasteurised milk from Brazil, India, Czech Republic, USA, Argentina, UK, Iran, Ireland and the United Kingdom. This study investigated a total of 180 commercially available Australian pasteurised milk samples which were tested for MAC DNA in triplicate using PCR. All samples were negative for MAC DNA. An additional 14 milk samples were tested, incubated for 3 weeks at 37 \u00b0C to potentially increase the concentration of any viable MAC that may be present and then retested. All samples were again negative for MAC DNA. This could be due to concentrations below the limit of detection, limited sample size or could be reflective of the Australian biosecurity control protocols and surveillance of Johne's disease in ruminant animals.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11983209,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Serum time course of two brain-specific proteins, alpha(1) brain globulin and neuron-specific enolase, in tick-born encephalitis and Lyme disease.\nTime courses of the serum concentrations of two brain-specific proteins (BSP), alpha(1) brain globulin (alpha(1)BG, an astroglial marker) and neuron-specific enolase (NSE), were studied in patients with severe tick-born encephalitis (TBE) and Lyme disease (LD; neuroborreliosis). The concentrations were determined on the second day of the acute phase and then on the 7th, 12th, 18th, and 23rd days. Apparent rate constants for the elimination of the BSP from blood (k(e)) were calculated with the non-linear regression. In patients with TBE, the highest serum concentrations of alpha(1)BG and NSE, observed on the second day, were followed by their monotonic decrease to the normal levels reached by the 23rd day. The mean k(e) values for alpha(1)BG and NSE were found to be significantly different (0.086+\/-0.003 vs. 0.057+\/-0.006 day(-1), respectively; p<0.05). Higher serum levels of both BSP were observed in the more severe clinical cases and in the cases with unfavorable outcomes. Similar profiles were also observed for the serum alpha(1)BG and NSE in LD. These results suggest that, in the patients examined, the blood-brain barrier was partially impaired; the quantitative parameters of the serum BSP time courses can be indicative of the extents of the neuronal and\/or glial lesions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16146665,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Uveitis associated with thyro\u00efditis in HTLV-1 carriers].\nThe oncovirus HTLV-1 is aetiologically associated with uveitis and autoimmune thyroiditis in endemic areas. The association of uveitis with autoimmune thyroiditis in HTLV-1 carriers is less common moreover in non-endemic area. We report two original cases of simultaneous uveitis and autoimmune thyroiditis in HTLV-1 carriers, without other disease due to HTLV-1. The visual outcome was favorable in both cases. A significant correlation exists between hyperthyroidism, uveitis and HTLV-1, but still needs to be confirmed. The autoimmune or immune mediated mecanism of HTLV-1 may be involved in the uveitis and the thyroidits.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":33729778,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Uncertainty Quantification and Sensitivity Analysis of Partial Charges on Macroscopic Solvent Properties in Molecular Dynamics Simulations with a Machine Learning Model.\nThe molecular dynamics (MD) simulation technique is among the most broadly used computational methods to investigate atomistic phenomena in a variety of chemical and biological systems. One of the most common (and most uncertain) parametrization steps in MD simulations of soft materials is the assignment of partial charges to atoms. Here, we apply uncertainty quantification and sensitivity analysis calculations to assess the uncertainty associated with partial charge assignment in the context of MD simulations of an organic solvent. Our results indicate that the effect of partial charge variance on bulk properties, such as solubility parameters, diffusivity, dipole moment, and density, measured from MD simulations is significant; however, measured properties are observed to be less sensitive to partial charges of less accessible (or buried) atoms. Diffusivity, for example, exhibits a global sensitivity of up to 22 \u00d7 10-5 cm2\/s per electron charge on some acetonitrile atoms. We then demonstrate that machine learning techniques, such as Gaussian process regression (GPR), can be effective and rapid tools for uncertainty quantification of MD simulations. We show that the formulation and application of an efficient GPR surrogate model for the prediction of responses effectively reduces the computational time of additional sample points from hours to milliseconds. This study provides a much-needed context for the effect that partial charge uncertainty has on MD-derived material properties to illustrate the benefit of considering partial charges as distributions rather than point-values. To aid in this treatment, this work then demonstrates methods for rapid characterization of resulting sensitivity in MD simulations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11999326,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Antigestogens: the holy grail of contraception.\nProgesterone is essential for the establishment and maintenance of pregnancy. The discovery of antagonists of progesterone offered the possibility of developing new methods of fertility regulation. It was very quickly demonstrated that antigestogens would induce bleeding in early pregnancy, and mifepristone in combination with a prostaglandin is used as a method of abortion in several countries. Mifepristone will also inhibit ovulation, prevent implantation and induce menstrual bleeding at the time of expected menses. However, the development of these contraceptive uses of antigestogens has been inhibited by political and ethical controversy surrounding abortion. Surely the time has come to dissociate the ongoing debate about the ethics of abortion from the method so that the full therapeutic potential of this class of drugs can be exploited fully.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9157535,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Procedures and technical aptitude of primary care physicians: which practice?].\nThere is little knowledge of the practices of private physicians in Switzerland. However, this knowledge is a prerequisite for definition of the learning objectives in post-graduate and continuous education. To ascertain the procedural skills of family physicians and general internists and compare them with variables such as education and the location of practice. Questionnaire containing 68 procedural skills sent to all family physicians and general internists in the Cantons of Valais (VS) and Geneva (GE). 142\/204 questionnaires (69%) were analyzed. A mean of 28.7 skills are practiced by the physicians. The internists use fewer procedures than the generalists. There is no difference between generalists practising in VS and GE, nor between location of the practice (urban or rural). The internists in GE and\/or those practising in urban settings use fewer procedures than those practising in VS and in rural locations. Internists practising in rural setting use the same number of procedures than the generalists. Fifteen procedures are used by > or = 75% of physicians, 6 of these concern X-ray procedures. 60% of the procedures are used more frequently by the generalists, in particular surgical, ENT and gynecological procedures. There is no difference between generalists and internists as far emergency procedures or procedures in the cardiological and pneumological domain are concerned. The number of procedures depends nor only on the speciality of the private physician (generalist or general internist), but also and mainly on the location of the practice, the density of physicians and emergency practice. These findings can be used in defining the learning objectives of the primary care curriculum.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28693225,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dynamic MRI follow-up of radiation encephalopathy in the temporal lobe following nasopharyngeal carcinoma radiotherapy.\nThe natural course of radiation encephalopathy following nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) radiotherapy remains poorly understood. The present study aimed to investigate the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) characteristics and evolution of radiation encephalopathy. A series of 162 follow-up MRI examinations from 68 NPC patients with radiation encephalopathy in the temporal lobes were analyzed retrospectively. Each component of radiation encephalopathy was defined as follows: i) contrast enhanced lesions were enhanced lesions on contrast enhanced T1-weighted images (T1WI); ii) white matter lesions were lesions of homogeneous hyperintensity on T2-weighted images (T2WI) and hypointensity on T1WI; iii) cysts were round or oval well-defined lesions of hyperintensity on T2WI; iv) hemosiderin deposition were nodular or annular hypointense lesions with lower hypointense than normal white matter on both T1WI and T2WI; v) gray matter lesions were defined as disruption or erosion of hyperintensity in the cortex on T2WI. Contrast enhanced lesions, white matter lesions, gray matter lesions, cysts and hemosiderin deposition were detected in 105 (100.0%), 98 (93.3%), 94 (89.5%), 2 (1.7%) and 2 (1.7%) cases of the 105 initial diagnosed temporal lobe lesions. Contrast enhanced lesions were the most commonly observed, followed by white matter lesions, gray matter lesions, temporal lobe atrophy, cysts and hemosiderin deposition. In addition, 12 new lesions were identified during the follow-up, 4 of which presented as solid enhanced nodular lesions. Importantly, in 11 of the 117 (9.4%) affected temporal lobes, solid enhanced nodular lesions were observed to be the only initial abnormalities to occur. For those enhanced nodular lesions measuring <0.8 cm, no necrosis could be detected. On the contrary, all the contrast enhanced lesions measuring >2.0 cm exhibited a necrotic core. To the best of our knowledge, the present study revealed for the first time solid enhanced nodular lesions as the earliest MRI abnormalities of radiation encephalopathy following NPC radiotherapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28738307,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-30":1}}},"text":"Pharmacological characterization and binding modes of novel racemic and optically active phenylalanine-based antagonists of AMPA receptors.\nIn order to map out molecular determinants for the competitive blockade of AMPA receptor subtypes, a series of racemic aryl-substituted phenylalanines was synthesized and pharmacologically characterized in vitro at native rat ionotropic glutamate receptors. Most of the compounds showed micromolar affinity and preference for AMPA receptors. Individual stereoisomers of selected compounds were further evaluated at recombinant homomeric rat GluA2 and GluA3 receptors. The most potent compound, (-)-2-amino-3-(6-chloro-2',5'-dihydroxy-5-nitro-[1,1'-biphenyl]-3-yl)propanoic acid, the expected R-isomer showing Ki of 1.71 \u03bcM at the GluA2 subtype, was found to competitively antagonize GluA2(Q)i receptors in TEVC electrophysiological experiments (Kb = 2.13 \u03bcM). Molecular docking experiments allowed us to compare two alternative antagonist binding modes for the synthesized phenylalanines at the GluA2 binding core, showing the direction for further structural modifications.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17200250,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"SunSafe in the Middle School Years: a community-wide intervention to change early-adolescent sun protection.\nRising rates of skin cancer associated with early-life sun exposure make it important to improve adolescent sun-protection practices. Our study objective was to determine if a multicomponent community-wide intervention could alter the decline in sun protection that begins in early adolescence. A randomized, controlled trial was conducted in 10 communities to assess the impact of the SunSafe in the Middle School Years program. The intervention sought to (1) educate and activate adults and peers to role model and actively promote sun-protection practices and (2) create a pro-sun protection community environment. It targeted school personnel, athletic coaches, lifeguards, and clinicians and enlisted teens as peer advocates. Annual observations of cross-sectional samples of teens at community beach\/pool sites were used to assess the impact of 1 and 2 years of intervention exposure compared to grade-matched controls. The outcome was percent of body surface protected by sunscreen, clothing, or shade. Observers determined the sun protection level of 1927 adolescents entering 6th to 8th grades. After 2 years of intervention exposure, adolescents at the beach\/pool in intervention communities were significantly better protected than those in control communities. Over 2 years, the percent of body surface area protected declined by 23% in the control arm but only 8% in intervention arm. After intervention, the average percent of body surface protected at intervention sites (66.1%) was significantly greater than control sites (56.8%). Teens in intervention communities reported sun-protection advice from more adult sources, were more likely to use sunscreen, and applied it more thoroughly than control-site teens. Our multicomponent model addressing adolescent sun protection shows the power of engaging teens and adults from across the community as role models and educators. This new ecological approach shows promise in changing adolescent sun protection behaviors and reducing skin cancer risks.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6902754,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The dynamic focus of nursing: a challenge to nursing administration.\nNursing administrators are challenged to establish a climate that facilitates the use of appropriate frameworks to guide nursing. The author presents an extension of a self-care practice model demonstrating that the focus of nursing strategies changes as the patient's health state changes. Practical application of the proposed model is included.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23461114,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[The development and transplantation of LCD module-based interface for medical diagnosis instrument].\nBased on LCD Module and Visual C++ development environment, this paper proposes a new method which can quickly develop the human-machine interface .We define a LCD module programming interface by designing Serial Communication Class(SCS). On this basis,we achieve the transplantation on an Embedded ARM Platform to fulfil the requirements of Medical Diagnostic Instruments (MDI). Experimental results show that this method has advantages of short development cycle and high level transplantation which has broad application prospects in the field of Medical Diagnosis Instrument.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32362167,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-22":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Clinical and Hemodynamic Associations and Prognostic Implications of Ventilatory Efficiency in Patients With Preserved Left Ventricular Systolic Function.\nVentilatory efficiency (minute ventilation required to eliminate carbon dioxide, VE\/VCO2) during exercise potently predicts outcomes in advanced heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, but its prognostic significance for at-risk individuals with preserved left ventricular systolic function is unclear. We aimed to characterize mechanistic determinants and prognostic implications of VE\/VCO2 in a single-center dyspneic referral cohort (MGH-ExS [Massachusetts General Hospital Exercise Study]) and in a large sample of community-dwelling participants in the FHS (Framingham Heart Study). Maximum incremental cardiopulmonary exercise tests were performed. VE\/VCO2 was assessed as the slope pre- and post-ventilatory anaerobic threshold (VE\/VCO2pre-VATslope, VE\/VCO2post-VATslope), the slope throughout exercise (VE\/VCO2overall-slope), and as the lowest 30-second value (VE\/VCO2nadir). In the MGH-ExS (N=493, age 56\u00b115 years, 61% women, left ventricular ejection fraction 64\u00b18%), higher VE\/VCO2nadir was associated with lower peak exercise cardiac output and steeper increases in exercise pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (both P<0.0001). VE\/VCO2nadir (hazard ratio, 1.34 per 1-SD unit [95% CI, 1.10-1.62] P=0.003) was associated with future cardiovascular hospitalization\/death and outperformed classical VE\/VCO2 measures used in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (VE\/VCO2overall-slope). In FHS (N=1936, age 54\u00b19 years, 53% women), VE\/VCO2 measures taken in low-to-moderate intensity exercise (including VE\/VCO2pre-VATslope, VE\/VCO2nadir) were directly associated with cardiovascular risk factor burden (smoking, Framingham cardiovascular disease risk score, and lower fitness; all P<0.001). Impaired ventilatory efficiency is associated with cardiovascular risk in the community and with adverse hemodynamic profiles and future hospitalizations\/death in a referral population, highlighting the prognostic importance of easily acquired submaximum exercise ventilatory gas exchange measurements in broad populations with preserved left ventricular systolic function.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6906469,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nursing care for the relinquishing mother.\nUnmarried adolescents with unplanned pregnancies face, along with the usual physiologic and psychologic changes, parental force and\/or peer pressure to leave home and live elsewhere and a decision about the relinquishment of the infant. An important figure during the parental and immediate postpartum periods is the nurse. Nursing care required by relinquishing mothers is outlined and recommendations are given.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28256640,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Boron monoxide dimer as a building block for boroxine based buckyballs and related cages: a theoretical study.\nB3LYP\/DZP level calculations are used to predict B2O2 cage oligomers, which are constructed from polyhedra by locating their B-B bonds at edge midpoints and three oxygen atoms at each degree 3 vertex. The stability of such cage oligomers depends highly on the B2nOn (n = 3, 4, 5) cavities corresponding to the polyhedral faces. All such polyhedral oligomers are found to have larger cohesive energies (Ec's) than corresponding planar structures, except for the smallest (B2O2)6 tetrahedron with extremely high strain arising from the four B6O3 cavities forming the tetrahedron faces. Promising (B2O2)n cages with the highest cohesive energies include pentagonal dodecahedral (B2O2)30 (c-B30) with B10O5 cavities, truncated octahedral (B2O2)36 (t-B36-2) with B8O4 cavities, and truncated icosahedral (B2O2)90 (t-B90) with B10O5 cavities. However, smaller (B2O2)n oligomers are also expected to exhibit cage structures having B8O4 or even B6O3 cavities because of their large Ec(s).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24394014,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[A case of transverse colon cancer mimicking urachal cancer].\nA 55-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of abdominal distension. Computed tomography revealed an abscess in the anterior abdominal wall and invasion of the large intestine. Biopsy of the large intestine revealed adenocarcinoma. Immunohistochemically, the antigen expression profile of the tumor was positive for cytokeratin 7, cytokeratin 903 (34\u03b2E12), and cytokeratin 20. We diagnosed the tumor as urachal cancer and performed surgery. Examination of the resected specimen showed that the tumor was located in the transverse colon. Finally, the patient was diagnosed as having transverse colon cancer with urachal abscess.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20366942,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dislocation mobility in a quantum crystal: the case of solid 4He.\nWe investigate the structure and mobility of dislocations in hcp 4He crystals. In addition to fully characterizing the five elastic constants of this system, we obtain direct insight into dislocation core structures on the basal plane, which demonstrates a tendency toward dissociation into partial dislocations. Moreover, our results suggest that intrinsic lattice resistance is an essential factor in the mobility of these dislocations. This insight sheds new light on the possible correlation between dislocation mobility and the observed macroscopic behavior of crystalline 4He.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12016053,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Binary analysis and optimization-based normalization of gene expression data.\nMost approaches to gene expression analysis use real-valued expression data, produced by high-throughput screening technologies, such as microarrays. Often, some measure of similarity must be computed in order to extract meaningful information from the observed data. The choice of this similarity measure frequently has a profound effect on the results of the analysis, yet no standards exist to guide the researcher. To address this issue, we propose to analyse gene expression data entirely in the binary domain. The natural measure of similarity becomes the Hamming distance and reflects the notion of similarity used by biologists. We also develop a novel data-dependent optimization-based method, based on Genetic Algorithms (GAs), for normalizing gene expression data. This is a necessary step before quantizing gene expression data into the binary domain and generally, for comparing data between different arrays. We then present an algorithm for binarizing gene expression data and illustrate the use of the above methods on two different sets of data. Using Multidimensional Scaling, we show that a reasonable degree of separation between different tumor types in each data set can be achieved by working solely in the binary domain. The binary approach offers several advantages, such as noise resilience and computational efficiency, making it a viable approach to extracting meaningful biological information from gene expression data.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28692781,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Depression as a Risk Factor of Organic Diseases:An International Integrative Review.\nThis integrative review offers a systematic synthesis of the international literature regarding the role of depression as a risk factor in physical illnesses and the mechanisms of this connection. Special attention is paid to those modifiable factors. Published studies of depression and physical illness and disease(N = 24) from five countries that were indexed in PubMed, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), APA PsycNET, Scopus, Dialnet, and CUIDEN were examined. Results suggest that depression is a significant risk factor for the development of physical illnesses and diseases. More commonly studied were the connections between depression and cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, biochemical alterations, diabetes, dementia, cognitive impairment, Alzheimer's disease, somatization and chronic pain, asthma, arthritis, and hyperlipidemia. Less frequently studied conditions connected to depression were cancer, infections, allergies, autoimmune disease, gastric ulcer, rhinitis, thyroiditis, bronchitis, migraines, fractures, and osteoporosis. Mechanisms connecting depression to physical illness appear to involve alterations in the hypothalamic-pituitary axis, unhealthy lifestyle, chronic or acute stressors including posttraumatic stress, an increase in C-reactive protein (CRP) in men, taking antidepressant medication, and social and emotional loneliness. A good patient-provider relationship can help to promote decreased acute or chronic stressors, increased family and social support, decreased loneliness, modification of unhealthy lifestyles such as smoking, obesity, physical inactivity, alcohol, control of CRP, and antidepressant medication. Nurses are well placed to help prevent physical diseases through detection and referral of patients who are depressed or undiagnosed and not receiving adequate mental health treatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26427718,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"One-Step Conversion of Methyl Ketones to Acyl Chlorides.\nTreatment of aromatic and heteroaromatic methyl ketones with sulfur monochloride and catalytic amounts of pyridine in refluxing chlorobenzene leads to the formation of acyl chlorides. Both electron-rich and electron-poor aryl methyl ketones can be used as starting materials. The resulting C1-byproduct depends on the precise reaction conditions chosen.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28259886,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Post-Stroke Seizures Is Associated with Low Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score.\nIschemic stroke is a leading cause of new-onset seizures. Cortical ischemia and large ischemic lesion size are among the most consistently reported risk factors for post-stroke seizures. Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score (ASPECTS) is a simple and reliable tool for quantifying the extent of cerebral ischemia and may function as a screening tool for patients with high risk of seizure development. We investigated the association of post-stroke seizures with the extent of ischemia assessed by ASPECTS and with cortical involvement identified on non-contrast CT (NCCT). This cohort study was based on a prospectively maintained clinical database of acute ischemic stroke patients who were given intravenous tissue plasminogen activator treatment. We included patients with anterior circulation stroke admitted between January 2008 and October 2014. Patients with pre-stroke seizures were excluded. Clinical data and seizure follow-up data were collected. NCCT scans acquired both on stroke admission and at 24 h were analyzed. Logistic regression and cox regression were performed in statistical analysis. A total of 348 patients (median age 73 years, interquartile range [IQR] 63-80, 55% male) were included. During follow-up (median duration 559 days, IQR 107.5-1188.5 days), 22 (6.3%) patients developed post-stroke seizures. Median time from stroke to seizure onset was 138 days (IQR 10-342 days). In univariate logistic regression, both ASPECTS on admission (OR 0.69 per 1-point increase; 95% CI 0.55-0.86; p = 0.001) and at 24 h (OR 0.80 per 1-point increase; 95% CI 0.70-0.92; p = 0.002) were significantly associated with post-stroke seizures. Cortical involvement at 24 h also correlated with seizure occurrence (OR 3.01; 95% CI 1.08-8.34; p = 0.03). Cox regression confirmed the higher risk of developing seizures at any time point in patients with lower ASPECTS value and cortical ischemia. Of note, ASPECTS was the only independent predictor for post-stroke seizures in multivariate logistic regression. The extent of ischemia assessed by ASPECTS and cortical involvement identified on NCCT were associated with the development of post-stroke seizures.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32584569,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Structural and Lattice-Dynamical Properties of Tb2O3 under Compression: A Comparative Study with Rare Earth and Related Sesquioxides.\nWe report a joint experimental and theoretical investigation of the high pressure structural and vibrational properties of terbium sesquioxide (Tb2O3). Powder X-ray diffraction and Raman scattering measurements show that cubic Ia3\u0305 (C-type) Tb2O3 undergoes two phase transitions up to 25 GPa. We observe a first irreversible reconstructive transition to the monoclinic C2\/m (B-type) phase at \u223c7 GPa and a subsequent reversible displacive transition from the monoclinic to the trigonal P3\u0305m1 (A-type) phase at \u223c12 GPa. Thus, Tb2O3 is found to follow the well-known C \u2192 B \u2192 A phase transition sequence found in other cubic rare earth sesquioxides with cations of larger atomic mass than Tb. Our ab initio theoretical calculations predict phase transition pressures and bulk moduli for the three phases in rather good agreement with experimental results. Moreover, Raman-active modes of the three phases have been monitored as a function of pressure, while lattice-dynamics calculations have allowed us to confirm the assignment of the experimental phonon modes in the C- and A-type phases as well as to make a tentative assignment of the symmetry of most vibrational modes in the B-type phase. Finally, we extract the bulk moduli and the Raman-active mode frequencies together with their pressure coefficients for the three phases of Tb2O3. These results are thoroughly compared and discussed in relation to those reported for rare earth and other related sesquioxides as well as with new calculations for selected sesquioxides. It is concluded that the evolution of the volume and bulk modulus of all the three phases of these technologically relevant compounds exhibit a nearly linear trend with respect to the third power of the ionic radii of the cations and that the values of the bulk moduli for the three phases depend on the filling of the f orbitals.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29553287,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Decreasing Inappropriate Use of Mobile Devices in Urban High School Classrooms: Comparing an Antecedent Intervention With and Without the Good Behavior Game.\nAs the capabilities of portable technology continue to advance and become more accessible, educators express concern about the impact of the inappropriate use of mobile devices on academic engagement and learning. An alternating treatments design was used to compare the effectiveness of an antecedent (Clear Box) intervention and an interdependent group contingency (Clear Box + Good Behavior Game [GBG]) intervention to typical classroom management techniques (Control) in increasing the academic engagement and decreasing mobile device use of high school students during instruction. The results indicate an increase in academic engagement and a decrease in the inappropriate presence of mobile devices in both classrooms with the implementation of the Clear Box + GBG, as compared with the Clear Box and Control conditions. In addition, teacher and student social validity data suggested that teachers and students viewed the Clear Box + GBG intervention favorably. Discussion focuses on contributions to the current literature, implications for practice, and suggestions for future areas of research.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35126503,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A Study on Regional GDP Forecasting Analysis Based on Radial Basis Function Neural Network with Genetic Algorithm (RBFNN-GA) for Shandong Economy.\nGross domestic product (GDP) is an important indicator for determining a country's or region's economic status and development level, and it is closely linked to inflation, unemployment, and economic growth rates. These basic indicators can comprehensively and effectively reflect a country's or region's future economic development. The center of radial basis function neural network and smoothing factor to take a uniform distribution of the random radial basis function artificial neural network will be the focus of this study. This stochastic learning method is a useful addition to the existing methods for determining the center and smoothing factors of radial basis function neural networks, and it can also help the network more efficiently train. GDP forecasting is aided by the genetic algorithm radial basis neural network, which allows the government to make timely and effective macrocontrol plans based on the forecast trend of GDP in the region. This study uses the genetic algorithm radial basis, neural network model, to make judgments on the relationships contained in this sequence and compare and analyze the prediction effect and generalization ability of the model to verify the applicability of the genetic algorithm radial basis, neural network model, based on the modeling of historical data, which may contain linear and nonlinear relationships by itself, so this study uses the genetic algorithm radial basis, neural network model, to make, compare, and analyze judgments on the relationships contained in this sequence.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28692961,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Places: A 10 Million Image Database for Scene Recognition.\nThe rise of multi-million-item dataset initiatives has enabled data-hungry machine learning algorithms to reach near-human semantic classification performance at tasks such as visual object and scene recognition. Here we describe the Places Database, a repository of 10 million scene photographs, labeled with scene semantic categories, comprising a large and diverse list of the types of environments encountered in the world. Using the state-of-the-art Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), we provide scene classification CNNs (Places-CNNs) as baselines, that significantly outperform the previous approaches. Visualization of the CNNs trained on Places shows that object detectors emerge as an intermediate representation of scene classification. With its high-coverage and high-diversity of exemplars, the Places Database along with the Places-CNNs offer a novel resource to guide future progress on scene recognition problems.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12037411,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Cesarean section on demand--an equivalent alternative to spontaneous delivery?].\nDue to advances in perioperative management, surgical techniques as well as anaesthesia, caesarean section has become a very safe intervention for mother and child. In certain high-risk situations, an early delivery by caesarean section can prevent serous morbidity and mortality of the fetus and newborn. It has been postulated that a planned caesarean section is a true alternative to vaginal birth, and in the absence of a specific medical reason the woman's demand may be an indication for the operation. A critical review of studies based on large regional perinatal datasets shows that the risk for minor as well as serious complications in the mother and the newborn is increased after planned caesarean section. Serious consequences for subsequent pregnancies like uterine rupture or placenta praevia, which may be associated with accreta or abruptio of the placenta, are of major concern. On the other hand, trauma to the pelvic floor with urinary or anal incontinence is more frequent after vaginal birth. The balance of these risks including the very rare cases of severe intrapartal asphyxia, which might be prevented by a planned caesarean section, must be carefully evaluated together with the patient on an individual basis. These risks must be carefully balanced and the final decision about the type of delivery requires a detailed informed consent.critical review of studies based on large regional perinatal datasets shows that the risk for minor as well as serious complications in the mother and the newborn is increased after planned caesarean section. Serious consequences for subsequent pregnancies like uterine rupture or placenta praevia, which may be associated with accreta or abruptio of the placenta, are of major concern. On the other hand, trauma to the pelvic floor with urinary or anal incontinence is more frequent after vaginal birth. The balance of these risks including the very rare cases of severe intrapartal asphyxia, which might be prevented by a planned caesarean section, must be carefully evaluated together with the patient on an individual basis. These risks must be carefully balanced and the final decision about the type of delivery requires a detailed informed consent.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27473407,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Competing Principles for Allocating Health Care Resources.\nWe clarify options for conceptualizing equity, or what we refer to as justice, in resource allocation. We do this by systematically differentiating, expounding, and then illustrating eight different substantive principles of justice. In doing this, we compare different meanings that can be attributed to \"need\" and \"the capacity to benefit\" (CTB). Our comparison is sharpened by two analytical tools. First, quantification helps to clarify the divergent consequences of allocations commended by competing principles. Second, a diagrammatic approach developed by economists Culyer and Wagstaff offers a visual and conceptual aid. Of the eight principles we illustrate, only two treat as relevant both a person's initial health state and a person's CTB per resource unit expended: (1) allocate resources so as to most closely equalize final health states and (2) allocate resources so as to equally restore health states to population norms. These allocative principles ought to be preferred to the alternatives if one deems relevant both a person's initial health state and a person's CTB per resource unit expended. Finally, we examine some possibilities for conceptualizing benefits as relative to how badly off someone is, extending Parfit's thought on Prioritarianism (a prioritizing of the worst off). Questions arise as to how much intervention effects accruing to the worse off count for more and how this changes with improving health. We explicate some recent efforts to answer these questions, including in Dutch and British government circles. These efforts can be viewed as efforts to operationalize need as an allocative principle. Each effort seeks to maximize in the aggregate quanta of effect that are differentially valued in favor of the worst off. In this respect, each effort constitutes one type of Prioritarianism, which Parfit failed to differentiate from other types.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3076349,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Assessment of the amount of palladium-silver alloy used for cast posts and veneer crowns].\nAverage amounts of palladium-silver alloy were assessed in a sample of 966 veneer crowns and 667 casted posts. The mean weight values of the samples under study were compared in relation to particular types of anterior teeth. The specimens cast in Auropal SE were weight by the precise balance, Tehtnica, type 6215. Results were analyzed by weight according to the type of the sample under study, and classified according to age, and to the anterior teeth of the upper and lower jaws. On an average, the heaviest posts and veneer crowns were measured on upper canines, whereas the lighest were those on lower incisors. A cast post was found to be by about 40% heavier than a veneer crown on the same tooth.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36263162,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hepatic FGF21: Its Emerging Role in Inter-Organ Crosstalk and Cancers.\nFibroblast growth factor (FGF) 21 is one of the FGF members with special endocrine properties. In the last twenty years, it has attracted intense research and development for its physiological functions that respond to dietary manipulation, pharmacological benefits of improving the macronutrient metabolism, and clinical values as a biomarker of various human diseases. Generally, FGF21 can be produced by major metabolic organs, but only the subgroup from the liver shows canonical endocrine properties, which emphasizes the special value of delineating the unique secretory and functional characteristics of hepatic FGF21. There has been a growth in literature to address the extra-hepatic activities of FGF21, and many striking findings have therefore been published. Yet, they are fragmented and scattered, and controversies are raised from divergent findings. For this reason, there is a need for a systematic and critical evaluation of current research in this aspect. In this review, we focus on the current knowledge about the molecular biology of endocrine FGF21, especially present details on the regulation of circulating levels of FGF21. We also emphasize its emerging roles in inter-organ crosstalk and cancer development.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18589999,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Perkinsus olseni detected in Vietnamese aquacultured reef clams Tridacna crocea imported to the USA, following a mortality event.\nMorbidity and mortality were observed in a group of 30 reef clams Tridacna crocea that were imported to Florida, USA, from a Vietnamese culture facility and held in research facility aquaria. Clinical signs included an incompletely extended mantle, slow mantle responses to stimuli, and sloughing of byssal tissue beginning 2 to 5 d prior to death. Necropsy findings included emaciation, visceral mass edema, and rare multifocal 1 mm off-white to light-tan gill nodules. Histopathology revealed marked inflammation and necrosis within the visceral mass and gills, with interstitial edema and atrophy of glandular, gonadal, and muscular tissues. Inflamed tissues contained large numbers of 10 to 15 microm extracellular round organisms consistent with Perkinsus sp. trophozoites. The organisms often formed clusters of 1 to 4 cells and were surrounded by a 1 to 3 microm rim of eosinophilic material variably forming a radiating corona pattern and by 3 to 4 host hemocytes with dense round nuclei. Polymerase chain reaction assays indicated the presence of Perkinsus sp. DNA in these animals, and species-specific assays indicated the presence of P. olseni, and possibly other Perkinsus spp., but not P. marinus. Identification of Perkinsus spp. other than P. marinus in T. crocea imported from Vietnam confirms that importation of untested and unquarantined ornamental reef clams has possibly allowed incursion of P. olseni into the USA.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35349157,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"In Vivo Visualization of Mobile mRNA Particles in Plants Using BglG.\nCells have developed mechanisms for cytoplasmic RNA transport and localization that participate in the regulation and subcellular localization of protein synthesis. In addition, plants can exchange RNA molecules between cells through plasmodesmata and to distant tissues in the phloem. These mechanisms are hijacked by RNA viruses to establish their replication complexes and to disseminate their genomes throughout the plant organism with the help of virus-encoded movement proteins (MP). Live imaging of RNA molecules is a fundamental approach to understand the regulation and molecular basis of these processes. The most widely used experimental systems for the in vivo visualization of genetically encoded RNA molecules are based on fluorescently tagged RNA binding proteins that bind to specific motifs inserted into the RNA, thus allowing the tracking of the specific RNA molecule by fluorescent microscopy. Recently, we developed the use of the E. coli RNA binding protein BglG for the imaging of RNAs tagged with BglG-binding sites in planta. We describe here the detailed method by which we use this in vivo RNA tagging system for the real-time imaging of Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) MP mRNA.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37446827,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Quantitative Analysis of Flavonoids in Fruiting Bodies of Sanghuangporus Using Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Coupled with Triple Quadrupole Mass Spectrometry.\nA rapid, precise, and dependable method for quantifying flavonoids in the fruiting bodies of Sanghuangporus was established using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QQQ-MS\/MS). Separation was achieved using a ZORBAX Eclipse Plus C18 column (1.8 \u03bcm, 3.0 mm \u00d7 100 mm) with a 15 min gradient of a mobile phase consisting of 0.01% aqueous formic acid and 2 mm\/L ammonium formate (mobile phase A), and 0.01% formic acid and 2 mm\/L ammonium formate in methanol (mobile phase B). A mass spectrometry analysis was performed using the multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode with an electrospray ion source. This method enabled the simultaneous detection of 10 flavonoids (sakuranetin, quercitrin, myricitrin, kaempferol, luteolin, rutin, hyperoside, kaempferol-3-O-rutinoside, catechin, and catechin gallate) in the fruiting bodies of Sanghuangporus. Additionally, we applied this method to analyze the flavonoid content in fruiting bodies of various Sanghuangporus species. The results revealed substantial variations in flavonoid content, up to a 100-fold difference, among different species, with myricitrin, hyperoside, and rutin identified as the most abundant flavonoids. This protocol serves as a valuable tool for quantifying flavonoid compounds in different Sanghuangporus species or under diverse cultivation conditions, particularly for identifying species with high levels of specific flavonoid compounds.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19032427,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of growth hormone on nuclear maturation of ovine oocytes and subsequent embryo development.\nThe objective of this study was to determine the effect of the presence of recombinant ovine growth hormone either alone or together with follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) during ovine oocyte in vitro maturation (IVM) on nuclear maturation and subsequent embryo development. Moreover, the effect of growth hormine (GH) on embryo development whether influenced by the presence of foetal bovine serum (FBS) was assessed. The abattoir-derived oocytes were randomly divided into four treatment groups and cultured in maturation medium supplemented with: (i) 0.05 IU\/ml FSH; (ii) 300 ng\/ml roGH; (iii) FSH + roGH; and (iv) no FSH and GH (control). The percentages of germinal vesicle-stage oocytes in GH-treated group after 8 h of culture was significantly higher than the FSH and FSH + GH groups and lower than control (22.4%, 8.7%, 9.1%, and 32% respectively). The percentage of MII-stage oocytes was significantly increased in the presence of GH after 16 and 24 h of culture compared to the control (44.7% and 83.1% vs 32.6% and 73.6% respectively). There was no significant synergism between GH and FSH in terms of nuclear maturation. The blastocyst rates in serum-supplemented groups were enhanced by the presence of FSH and GH compared to the control (35.4% and 31.3 vs 11.4% respectively). Compared with either GH or FSH alone, the subsequent embryo development (blastocyst rate), however, was negatively influenced by co-presence of both hormones (22.8%). In contrast, the corresponding values were not affected in the absence of serum. In conclusion, GH had positive effect on nuclear maturation of sheep oocytes. Moreover, the pattern of the effect of GH on embryo development was influenced by the presence of FBS during IVM.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27277795,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Experimental Cortical Spreading Depression Induces NMDA Receptor Dependent Potassium Currents in Microglia.\nCortical spreading depression (CSD) is a propagating event of neuronal depolarization, which is considered as the cellular correlate of the migraine aura. It is characterized by a change in the intrinsic optical signal and by a negative DC potential shift. Microglia are the resident macrophages of the CNS and act as sensors for pathological changes. In the present study, we analyzed whether microglial cells might sense CSD by recording membrane currents from microglia in acutely isolated cortical mouse brain slices during an experimentally induced CSD. Coincident with the change in the intrinsic optical signal and the negative DC potential shift we recorded an increase in potassium conductance predominantly mediated by K(+) inward rectifier (Kir)2.1, which was blocked by the NMDA receptor antagonist D-AP5. Application of NMDA and an increase in extracellular K(+) mimics the CSD-induced Kir activation. Application of D-AP5, but not the purinergic receptor antagonist RB2, blocks the NMDA-induced Kir activation. The K(+) channel blocker Ba(2+) blocks both the CSD- and the NMDA-triggered increase in Kir channel activity. In addition, we could confirm previous findings that microglia in the adult brain do not express functional NMDA receptors by recording from microglia cultured from adult brain. From these observations we conclude that CSD activates neuronal NMDA receptors, which lead to an increase in extracellular [K(+)] resulting in the activation of Kir channel activity in microglia. Cortical spreading depression (CSD) is a wave of neuronal depolarization spreading through the cortex and is associated with the aura of migraine. Here we show that microglial cells, which are viewed as pathologic sensors of the brain, can sense this wave. The increase in the extracellular potassium concentration associated with that wave leads to the activation of an inward rectifying potassium conductance in microglia. The involvement of neuronal NMDA receptors is crucial because NMDA mimics that response and microglia do not express functional NMDA receptors. Although it is now evident that CSD leads to a signal in microglia, the consequences of this microglial activation during CSD needs to be explored.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28531791,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"An innovative brioche enriched in protein and energy improves the nutritional status of malnourished nursing home residents compared to oral nutritional supplement and usual breakfast: FARINE+ project.\nTo compare the effects of a 12-week nutritional intervention, in which an innovative protein-and-energy-enriched brioche, an oral nutritional supplement or a usual breakfast were eaten, on food intake and nutritional status in nursing home residents. Three-armed, multicentre, controlled trial. Eight nursing homes in Burgundy, France. Sixty-eight malnourished participants aged between 70 and 99 years old. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups according to the breakfast provided: brioche group, one portion of 65 g brioche enriched in protein and energy (12.8 g and 180 kcal) added to usual breakfast; supplement group, 200-ml of a ready-to-use, energy-dense liquid (14 g protein and 200 kcal) added to usual breakfast or control group, a usual breakfast only. Total energy intakes were assessed for three days at different periods of the study (day 0, day 30 and day 90); blood parameters, nutritional status (mini nutritional assessment, weight) and functional capacities (grip strength and activity level) were measured at the beginning and at the end of the nutritional intervention study (day 0 and day 90). The participants of the brioche group had higher total energy intakes at day 30 (p value 0.004) and at day 90 (p value 0.018) compared with the supplement group and the control group. At the end of the interventional study, 72% of the participants in the brioche group had reached the recommended minimum level of protein of 0.8 g\/kg\/day, compared with 53% in the supplement group and 36% in the control group (p value 0.036). In addition, between day 0 and day 90 in the brioche group, blood levels of vitamins B9, B2, D (all p value <0.001), B6 (p value 0.026) and B12 (p value 0.036) had increased and plasma homocysteine had decreased (p value 0.024). The protein-and-energy-enriched brioche effectively increased energy and protein intakes and improved the nutritional status of elderly people living in nursing homes. It could be a good alternative to oral liquid nutritional supplements to counteract protein-energy-malnutrition.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3071527,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Three-dimensional structure of aspartate aminotransferase from Escherichia coli at 2.8 A resolution.\nThe crystal structure of aspartate aminotransferase of Escherichia coli was determined by X-ray structure analysis at 2.8 A resolution. The structure was solved by the molecular replacement method and refined to an R-factor of 0.27, and it was found that the overall structure of AspAT of E. coli is similar to that of those of higher animals.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29374944,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[The affinity between Le family of Tong Ren Tang and acu-moxibustion as viewed from Mian xue tang zhen jiu ji cheng (Mian Xuetang's Synthetic Work of Acu-moxibustion)].\nThis compilation process of Mian xue tang zhen jiu ji cheng(Mian Xuetang's Synthetic Work of Acu-moxibustion)was quite mysterious, the book's advent coincidentally met with several major historical events which made its value of decoding its historical functions far beyond its academic value. The editor of this book is Le Xianyang, the founder of Tong Ren Tang. While compiling this book, he also made a replica of Ming-Dynasty's Zhengtong bronze statue. More than 200 years later, Le Jingyu, the 12th generation of the Le family revised Ming Tang Tuinherited from his ancestors and engraved Ming Tang Tuon the stone for its standardization. This great achievement of Le family was no less than the recasting of the Tiansheng bronze statue and the reengraving Tong ren shu xue zhen jiu tu jing(Illustrated Manual of Acupuncture Points of the Bronze Figure) by support of state power for building the Beijing Imperial Hospital in the eighth year of the Zhengtong reign (1443).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37654411,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evaluation of Wound Healing Property of the Ethanolic Extract of Glycyrrhiza Glabra on Vero Cell Lines Using In Vitro Scratch Assay Test.\nThe successful restoration of damaged tissue requires a complicated, dynamic process called wound healing, which is supported by a wide range of cellular activities. Natural materials generated from medicinal plants have been identified, and their therapeutic potential evaluation has resulted in the development of novel, affordable medicines that can be used to treat a variety of illnesses, including chronic wounds, with limited side effects. This study aimed to assess the wound-healing property of Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Athimathuram) plant extracts by using an in vitro scratch assay test, as well as to evaluate their cellular toxicity. Using the Soxhlet device, ethanolic extraction of the plant material was done, and the cytotoxicity of the extract on the Vero cell line was examined using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. One of the most often utilized mammalian in vitro cell lines in research was Vero cells. To assess the wound healing properties of G. glabra plant extract, an in vitro scratch assay was used, and their potential mechanisms of action were examined. Even at higher concentrations, the MTT assay showed that G. Glabra plant extracts had no cytotoxic effects on the cells. In vitro scratch assay showed that the healing process of the cell line was increased by 23.33% when compared with the controlled cell lines. Our research demonstrated that G. glabra has in vitro wound healing capabilities. As a result, G. glabra can be suggested as a possible source of compounds that treat wounds.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":2789409,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Functional electrical stimulation and lower extremity bracing for ambulation exercise of the spinal cord injured individual: a medically prescribed system.\nThe purpose of this study was to determine whether commercially available electrical muscle stimulators could provide functional ambulation exercise for the spinal cord injured individual. Commercially available electrical muscle stimulators were used for functional electrical stimulation and interfaced with reciprocating gait orthoses so that a new system has been developed. Advantages of the system include commercially available subsystems and subsystems for applications such as gait training. The system involves six electrical stimulation units worn on a belt; controlled by remote switches; and interfacing to electrodes placed over the quadriceps femoris, hamstring, and gluteal muscle groups of each leg. Four electrical stimulation units (for quadriceps femoris muscle stimulation) function primarily for stand-up and sit-down activities. Two other units (for stimulation of the hip extensor muscles) function primarily for ambulation. The system is described for use with a C7-level quadriplegic individual. The patient successfully performed over 20 repetitions of stand-up and sit down exercises with the system. An average walking distance of about 0.8 km was routinely traversed at velocities ranging from 1.2 to 2.0 km per hour. It was concluded that muscle fatigue, rather than battery power, was the functionally limiting factor for the quadriplegic patient. A recommendation is that application of the system for walking exercise should be preceded by a physical conditioning program of functional electrical stimulation. Specific medical criteria should be satisfied prior to formally prescribing the system for an individual. Finally, the steps involved in the writing of the walking system prescription are outlined.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28726339,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dielectric screening effect of electronic polarization and intramolecular hydrogen bonding.\nRecent site-resolved hydrogen exchange measurements have uncovered significant discrepancies between simulations and experimental data during protein folding, including the excessive intramolecular hydrogen bonds in simulations. This finding indicates a possibility that intramolecular charge-charge interactions have not included sufficient dielectric screening effect of the electronic polarization. Scaling down peptide atomic charges according to the optical dielectric constant is tested in this study. As a result, the number of intramolecular hydrogen bonds is lower than using unscaled atomic charges while reaching the same levels of helical contents or \u03b2-hairpin backbone hydrogen bonds, because van der Waals interactions contribute substantially to peptide folding in water. Reducing intramolecular charge-charge interactions and hydrogen bonding increases conformational search efficiency. In particular, it reduces the equilibrium helical content in simulations using AMBER force field and the energy barrier in folding simulations using CHARMM force field.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1702115,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Extrinsic projections from area CA1 of the rat hippocampus: olfactory, cortical, subcortical, and bilateral hippocampal formation projections.\nHippocampal area CA1 provides the major cortical output of the hippocampus, but only its projections to the subiculum and lateral septal nucleus are well characterized. The present study reexamines these extrinsic projections by using anterograde and retrograde tracing techniques. Injections of the anterograde tracer Phaseolus vulgaris leucoagglutinin (PHA-L) in the septal one-third of CA1 label axons and terminals in subicular, postsubicular, retrosplenial, perirhinal, and entorhinal cortices, lateral septal nucleus, and diagonal band of Broca. The septal CA1 injections also label terminal fields in contralateral CA1, and in contralateral subicular, postsubicular, perirhinal, and entorhinal cortices. Injections into the splenial one-third of CA1 label axons and terminals in subiculum, postsubiculum, ventral area infraradiata, and lateral septal nucleus, but they do not label axons and terminals on the contralateral side of the brain. Injections in the temporal one-third of CA1 label axons and terminals in subicular, parasubicular, entorhinal, and infraradiata cortices, anterior olfactory nucleus, olfactory bulb, lateral septal nucleus, nucleus accumbens, amygdala, and hypothalamus. The temporal CA1 injections label no axons on the contralateral side of the brain. These data demonstrate that CA1 has more widespread projections than previously appreciated, and they provide the first clear evidence that CA1 projects to the contralateral cortex and to the ipsilateral olfactory bulb, amygdala, and hypothalamus. The results also demonstrate a heterogeneity in the efferent projections originating in different septotemporal levels of CA1.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23337839,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Accuracy of stress myocardial perfusion imaging to diagnose coronary artery disease in end stage liver disease patients.\nPatients with end-stage liver disease (ESLD) who also have underlying coronary artery disease (CAD) may be at increased risk for undergoing hemodynamically challenging orthotopic liver transplantation. Noninvasive single-photon emission computed tomographic (SPECT) imaging is often used to determine whether a patient with ESLD has unsuspected CAD. The objective of this study was to determine the accuracy of SPECT imaging for detection of CAD in patients with ESLD. Patients with ESLD who underwent coronary angiography and SPECT imaging before orthotopic liver transplantation were analyzed retrospectively. The predictive accuracy of clinical risk factors was calculated and compared to the results of SPECT imaging. There were 473 SPECT imaging studies. Adenosine SPECT imaging had a sensitivity of 62%, specificity of 82%, positive predictive value of 30%, and negative predictive value of 95% for diagnosing severe CAD. Regadenoson SPECT imaging had a sensitivity of 35%, specificity of 88%, positive predictive value of 23%, and negative predictive value of 93% for diagnosing severe CAD. The accuracy of a standard risk factor analysis showed no statistical difference in predicting CAD compared with adenosine (sensitivity McNemar's p = 0.48, specificity McNemar's p = 1.00) or regadenoson (sensitivity McNemar's p = 0.77, specificity McNemar's p = 1.00) SPECT studies. In conclusion, the 2 pharmaceutical agents had low sensitivity but high specificity for diagnosing CAD. However, because the sensitivity of the test is low, the chances of missing patients with ESLD with CAD is high, making SPECT imaging an inaccurate screening test. A standard risk factor analysis as a predictor for CAD in patients with ESLD is less expensive, has no radiation exposure, and is as accurate as SPECT imaging.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15239617,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Multispiral computed tomographic angiography of renal arteries of live potential renal donors: a review of 118 cases.\nReview of the angiographic data of 118 live kidney donors was performed to assess the renal vessel anatomy; compare the findings with the perioperative findings using multislice spiral (MS) computed tomographic angiography (CTA) with the use of 50 mL of intravenous contrast; determine the sensitivity of this technique in the workup of live potential renal donors; and finally to discuss and compare the results of the present study with the reported results using single-slice spiral (SS) CTA, magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), and conventional angiography (CA). Retrospective analysis of the angiographic data of 118 of prospective live kidney donors was performed. All donors underwent renal angiography on MSCTA scanning using 50 mL of intravenous contrast with 1.25-mm slice thickness followed by maximum intensity projection and virtual rendering techniques postprocessing algorithms. Analysis was made on imaging and intraoperatively for the number of renal arteries as well as their bifurcation pattern, location, vessel caliber, length, and venous anatomy, and these were then compared with each other. MSCTA showed clear delineation of the main renal arteries in all the donors with detailed vessel morphology. The study also revealed a 100% sensitivity in the detection of accessory renal vessels, which had an overall incidence of 26.67%, with the most common distribution in the perihilar region. The present study showed a 100% sensitivity and specificity in the visualization and detection of main and accessory renal vessels with the use of only 50 mL of intravenous contrast with similar results seen with CA which has so far been considered the \"gold standard.\" The results on MSCTA were also better than those with the use of SSCTA and MRA in the workup of liver renal donors, with the above technique also proving to be more cost effective. The overall incidence of supernumerary vessels was the same as reported in the literature; however, a higher incidence of single aberrant vessels was seen on the right side, contrary to what has been suggested so far and was attributable to improved detection of accessory vessels less then 2 mm in diameter.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28588367,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Neuroscience Symposium and Workshop on SAAPCON-2016, Nepal.\nPhysiological Society of Nepal, with support from the South Asian Association of Physiologists (SAAP), organized the 5th Biennial Conference of the South Asian Association of Physiologists in conjunction with the 2nd Annual Conference of Physiological Society of Nepal. The purpose of this conference is to bring the scientists, researchers, and students from the South Asian countries in one platform to share and discuss the recent advances and achievements in the field of physiology. Since physiology is the backbone of medical science which deals with the functions of the human body, the theme of the conference was given as \"Redefining health in nature.\" Giving the emphasis on this theme, the conference was organized on November 10-14, 2016, in Kathmandu University, Dhulikhel, Nepal. A total of 300 participants from 15 countries including the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and Non-SAARC countries participated in the conference. The scientific program of main conference, which ran for 2 days, was divided into 7 symposia - neuroscience, cardiopulmonary physiology, cellular and integrative physiology, health and lifestyle, role of physiology and medical education, endocrine and reproductive physiology, and high altitude and respiratory physiology - to highlight the latest progresses made in the field of physiology around the globe. Neuroscience symposium held on the second day consisted of 7 advance lectures and 3 young scientist presentations and poster session. Post-conference workshop on system neuroscience was held in BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Nepal.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7940691,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Activation antigen expression on peripheral blood neutrophils following rat small bowel transplantation. NKR-P1 is a novel antigen preferentially expressed during allograft rejection.\nThis study used flow cytometric analyses to monitor activation antigen expression (MHC class II; interleukin-2 receptor, p55IL-2R and 3.2.3\/NKR-P1 antigen) on peripheral blood neutrophils following rat small bowel transplantation. The rat 3.2.3 antigen is a member of the NKR-P1 family of natural killer (NK) cell-associated molecules, which are expressed at high levels on NK cells and lymphokine-activated killer cells, and low levels on at least one T cell subset. Peripheral blood neutrophils in normal animals express very low or undetectable levels of NKR-P1. Detectable levels of NKR-P1 were induced as early as day 1 following small bowel transplantation in all allografted animals, whereas expression was only rarely detected in isografted animals. In addition, NKR-P1 density was significantly higher in allografted animals and was maintained as rejection developed. MHC class II and p55IL-2R expression was also induced following transplantation. The mechanisms of induction and functional relevance of NKR-P1 expression on neutrophils remain to be defined. However, the concomitant increased expression of MHC class II and p55IL-2R suggest NKR-P1 to be a neutrophil activation marker and implicate a potential role for NKR-P1+ neutrophils in small bowel allograft rejection. This hypothesis is further supported by the loss of detectable peripheral blood neutrophils only with developing rejection. Flow cytometric analysis of neutrophil activation antigen expression may be useful for monitoring human small bowel transplant recipients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17909660,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Coronary artery fistula diagnosed by transthoracic Doppler echocardiography.\nA 47-year-old Malay woman complained of an episode of shortness of breath after a shower. There was no previous complaint of shortness of breath or chest pain. Physical examination revealed a wide pulse pressure. Blood pressure was 160\/66 mmHg, and heart rate was 77\/minute and regular. What was initially thought to be a loud pansystolic murmur was heard over the precordium. Electrocardiography showed left ventricular hypertrophy with a volume overload pattern. Transthoracic Doppler echocardiography revealed a right coronary artery-right ventricular fistula, arising from the right coronary artery and draining into the right ventricular cavity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6734891,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of X-radiation on the retina of the albino rabbit as viewed with the transmission electron microscope.\nThe eyes of albino rabbits were exposed in vivo to 7,000 rad of X-radiation. The retinae were dissected and examined with a transmission electron microscope 24 and 72 h following irradiation. Damage after 24 h was minimal, but after 72 h it was very pronounced. In both cases the damage was restricted to the photoreceptors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27485918,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Novel variant in the TP63 gene associated to ankyloblepharon-ectodermal dysplasia-cleft lip\/palate (AEC) syndrome.\nAnkyloblepharon-ectodermal dysplasia-cleft lip\/palate (AEC) syndrome is a disorder resulting from anomalous embryonic development of ectodermal tissues. There is evidence that AEC syndrome is caused by mutations in the TP63 gene, which encodes the p63 protein. This is an important regulatory protein involved in epidermal proliferation and differentiation. Genome sequencing was performed in DNA from peripheral blood leukocytes of a newborn with AEC syndrome and her parents. Variants were searched in all coding exons and intron-exon boundaries of the TP63 gene. A heterozygous missense variant (NM_003722.4:c.1063G>C (p.Asp355His) was found in the newborn patient. No variants were found in either of the parents. We identified a previously unreported variant in TP63 gene which seems to be involved in the somatic malformations found in the AEC syndrome. The absence of this variant in both parents suggests that the variant appeared de novo.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15809767,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Carbonic anhydrase IX (CA IX) mediates tumor cell interactions with microenvironment.\nExpression of CA IX is normally restricted to the mucosa of alimentary tract, but on the other hand, it takes place in a high percentage of human cancers derived from tissues which are normally CA IX-negative. It is a transmembrane protein with two extracellular domains: carbonic anhydrase (CA) with a high catalytic activity and a proteoglycan-like segment (PG), mediating cell-cell adhesion. Both CA and PG domains interact with the microenvironment and they could play a role in tumorigenesis, but their roles are poorly understood. The present work characterizes some newly recognized properties of the PG. One of them is a prevalently negative charge, caused by a high proportion of dicarboxylic amino acids. This is reflected by easy dissociation of complexes formed by PG either with monoclonal antibody M75 or with the cell surface receptor already at slightly acidic pH. This property might facilitate separation of cells from the primary tumor. Released cells may subsequently attach elsewhere in the organism and eventually start metastatic growth. Another aim of the present study was to identify human tumor cell lines which are expressing the presumed CA IX receptor molecule. The same cell lines were also tested for the presence of CA IX protein; we found that expression of CA IX and of the receptor is independent of each other. In addition, we examined the species specificity of CA IX receptors. The PG domain, which contains the epitope of mAb M75 -PGEEDLP- overlapping with the binding site for putative receptor is relatively conserved in evolution: human and rat CA IX cross-react with M75 antibody on western blots. Consistently with this, human and rat cells can attach to purified human CA IX protein. On the other hand, murine CA IX contains an entirely different equivalent of PG sequence and it does not react with M75 antibody or attach to human CA IX protein. This is suggestive of the co-evolution of CA IX protein together with its receptor.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29363934,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The ratio of ubiqiunon redox forms in the liver mitochondria under toxic hepatitis induced on the background of alimentary protein deficiency.\nThe level of the total ubiqiunon and redox forms CoQ in the rat liver mitochondria under the conditions of alimentary protein deficiency and toxic hepatitis, induced on the background protein deficiency has been investigated. Research has been carried out on 36 white non-linear rats, divided into 4 groups: 1 \u2013 rats, maintained on the complete semisynthetic ration; 2 \u2013 rats, fed low-protein ration; 3 \u2013 rats with acute acetaminophen-induced hepatitis, maintained on complete ration; 4 \u2013 rats with acetaminophen-induced hepatitis, maintained under the conditions of protein deficiency. The content of total and oxidized ubiqiunon was determined spectrophotometrically at \u03bb=275 nm (molar extinction coefficient 12.25 Mm-1\u00d7sm-1). Reduced ubiqiunon content was determined by the difference between total and oxidized ubiqiunon content. The amount of tyrosine in the liver was measured in deproteinised by 6% sulfosalicylic acid extracts of liver tissue on an automated amino acid analyzer. The decrease of the total ubiqiunon content in liver mitochondria by 35% on the background of 2-fold decrease of oxidized ubiqiunon and preservation of reduced ubiqiunon amount has been estimated under the conditions of low-protein diet. Simultaneously the 5-fold decrease of liver content of tyrosine \u2013 the ubiqiunon precursor \u2013 has been observed. It has been shown, that under the conditions of acetaminophen-induced hepatitis the content of total ubiqiunon and its redox forms in the liver mitochondria of rats fed complete diet didn't change significantly comparing to control. A decrease of total ubiqiunon by 60% on the background of acute (18-fold) decrease of reduced ubiqiunon in liver mitochondria of rats with hepatitis, fed low-protein diet, has been observed. Established changes of the content of redox ubiquinone forms (a key component of the oxidative phosphorylation system in the liver mitochondria) can be considered as one of the mechanisms of malfunction of energy biotransformation system under the conditions of toxic liver injury in animals with protein deficiency.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17917424,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"[Structural and functional studies on proteins as potential drug discovery targets].\nStructural biology teaches us about the fundamental nature of biological molecules. Drug design is the most immediate medical application of structural biology. Therefore our studies have been focused on structural and functional studies of human disease-related proteins and proteins essential for the growth and development of pathogenic organisms. The present paper describes 1) structural biological studies of human autocrine motility factor, 2) structural biological studies of human ribonuclease L, and 3) structural biological studies of Plasmodium falciparum S-adenosyl- L-homocysteine hydrolase.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23328533,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Integration of exercise response and allometric scaling in endotherms.\nThe relationship between heart beat frequency and the rate of oxygen consumption for different species of birds and mammals is influenced by body size, the type of exercise being undertaken and its intensity. Here a model is presented combining allometric scaling and exercise-induced variations in oxygen consumption and blood flow, when birds and mammals undergo their primary mode of locomotion. Novel relationships, common to the regulatory systems of all endotherms, are found to relate the rate of oxygen consumption, heart-rate, body and heart mass in 24 species of endotherms spanning 5 orders of body mass. We show that these relationships can be derived from linearity between heart-rate and the arteriovenous oxygen difference, present in data from exercise-attuned humans. We find that the metabolic rate of endotherms undergoing their primary mode of locomotion across a range of exercise intensities is quadratically related to heart-rate and that body mass is inferior to heart mass as a predictive scaling variable. The model facilitates graphical comparisons between species, and enables metabolic costs to be extrapolated from heart-rate data whenever direct measurements of oxygen consumption prove prohibitively challenging.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9144925,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Expression pattern of an axolotl floor plate-specific fork head gene reflects early developmental differences between frogs and salamanders.\nGastrulation is one of the most important stages of animal development and, as such, tends to be remarkably conserved. Therefore it is interesting to see that the two amphibian species, Xenopus laevis (frog) and Ambystoma mexicanum (axolotl), are different in the arrangement of cell types just before and during gastrulation. In Xenopus, the cells that will form dorsal mesoderm are located deep in the dorsal marginal zone, while in the axolotl, these are on the surface of the embryo. In this study we investigated whether homologous genes known to be involved in the formation of dorsal structures show a different pattern of expression in these two species. For this purpose, we isolated a fork head gene (AxFKH 1) from the axolotl, which is likely to be the homologue of the Xenopus fork head gene, XFKH 1 (Pintallavis, XFD-1). We find that AxFKH 1 and XFH 1 have a similar pattern of expression, but there are some important differences. In early gastrulae, transcripts are detected in the organizer region of both species. In late gastrulae, the transcripts in Xenopus are located in both the superficial and deep layers, but they are only found in the superficial layer of axolotl embryos. During neurulation, XFKH 1 is expressed in notochord and neural floor plate, whereas AxFKH 1 is expressed in the neural floor plate only. We propose that the differences in expression pattern of these two genes are due to a difference in formation of dorsal structures between these two species. Furthermore, the expression pattern of these two genes early in gastrulation is consistent with the idea that at least some of the neural floor plate cells are already determined at this time.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25417874,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Cladribine for 13 cases refractory high-risk children Langerhans cell histiocytosis].\nTo observe the efficacy and adverse reaction of the improvement program of cladribine combined with cytarabine (2-CdA+Ara-C) in treatment of children with refractory high-risk Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH). 13 patients with refractory high-risk LCH or recurrent LCH were treated by combined 2-CdA+Ara-C chemotherapy. The treatment efficacy and the disease state in the process were evaluated according to the Histiocyte Society Evaluation and Treatment Guidelines (2009). The drug toxicity was evaluated according to the Common Terminology Criteria Adverse Events Version 4.0 (CTCAE v4.0, 2009). Of 13 patients, 10 cases achieved non active disease (NAD); 2 patients with liver cirrhosis before the improvement program with CIP-LCH-2012 gave up the treatment after 1 course of therapy; 1 patient died of infectious shock after chemotherapy with severe pulmonary infection and intestinal infection. All 13 patients had grade 3 of blood and lymphatic system toxicity; 10 patients had grade 1 of hepatobiliary and gastrointestinal side effects; 3 patients with liver cirrhosis before the improvement program had grade 2 or grade 3 of hepatobiliary system and gastrointestinal system side effects, including 1 patient of death. The improvement program of CIP-LCH-2012 had significant efficacy for children with refractory high-risk and relapsed LCH. The cladribine-associated toxicity was of significant myelosuppression, which may be tolerated in the most children patients. The program could be considered as a recommended salvage therapy for multi-system LCH (MS-LCH) after failure of first-line therapy, and as a first-line therapy for MS-LCH with risk organ injury. The program should be used with caution or dose-adjustment consideration for pre-treatment of severe organ damage exist, especially cirrhosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9158647,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Genetic susceptibility to experimental cerebral aneurysm formation in the rat.\nThe susceptibility to experimental cerebral aneurysm formation in arteries of the circle of Willis was studied in four strains of rats presenting different susceptibilities to the spontaneous rupture of the internal elastic lamina in extracerebral arteries: Brown-Norway (BN) > Wistar > Long-Evans (LE) > LOU. Rats (150 g body weight) of the four strains were subjected to hypertension and a change in local cerebral blood flow by ligation of one common carotid artery for about 7 months. Six-month-old BN and LE rats were subjected to carotid ligation only for 11 to 13.5 months and treated or not (from 3 to 7 months of age) with an inhibitor of connective tissue fiber maturation, beta-aminopropionitrile (BAPN). Aneurysmal structures (AS) occurred mainly in the anterior cerebral\/anterior communicating arterial complex and proximal part of the posterior artery. In hypertensive rats, the AS incidence was LE, 56%; Wistar, 33%; BN, 17%; and LOU, 11%. When normotensive and subjected to carotid ligation only, LE rats showed an even greater susceptibility to AS formation (86%) than BN (7%). BAPN treatment did not influence AS formation: LE (60%) versus BN (8%). These results suggest that genetic factors are involved in cerebral aneurysm formation in the rat. The susceptibility of the internal elastic lamina of extracerebral arteries to spontaneous rupture does not appear to be a determinant genetic trait in the propensity to develop aneurysms in arteries of the circle of Willis. The comparison of these different rat strains may be very useful for studying factors contributing to cerebral aneurysm pathogenesis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27287220,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"SGK1 inhibitor reverses hyperglycemia partly through decreasing glucose absorption.\nThis study investigates the effectiveness and mechanisms of a serum- and glucocorticoid-inducible kinase 1 (SGK1) inhibitor in counteracting hyperglycemia. In an in vivo experiment, we demonstrated that after an 8-week treatment with an SGK1 inhibitor, the fasting blood glucose and HbA1c level significantly decreased in db\/db mice. RT-PCR and western blot analyses revealed that intestinal SGK1 and sodium glucose co-transporter 1 (SGLT1) expression were enhanced in db\/db mice. Treatment with an SGK1 inhibitor decreased excessive SGLT1 expression in the intestine of db\/db mice. In vitro experiments with intestinal IEC-6 cells showed that the co-administration of an SGK1 inhibitor partly reversed the SGLT1 expression and glucose absorption that were induced by dexamethasone. In conclusion, this study revealed that the favorable effect of an SGK1 inhibitor on hyperglycemia is partly due to decreased glucose absorption through SGLT1 in the small intestine. These data collectively suggest that SGK1 may be a potent target for the treatment of diabetes and other metabolic disorders.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8351858,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Indications for cornary angiography].\nThis is a summary of relative indications for the selection of patients for coronary angiography. Coronary angiography is an important part of clinical evaluation of patients with ischemic heart disease, valve heart disease, cardiomyopathies. Main groups of patients with ischemic heart disease are: angina pectoris after low levels of effort despite a good medical treatment, unstable angina, variant angina, angina with high risk of acute coronary syndromes from noninvasive exercise testing. In addition coronary angiography is indicated in patients with unexplained congestive heart failure, in patients with acute myocardial infarction with mechanical complication requiring cardiac surgery such as hemodynamically important mitral insufficiency, large ventricular septal defect or a large aneurysm leading to heart failure. Also in patients with sudden death syndrome unrelated to acute myocardial infarction. Patients with silent ischemia with known coronary artery disease and with known risk factors should undergo coronary angiography. Indication for coronary angiography is also in patients with hemodynamically important valvular, subvalvular or supravalvular heart disease in whom corrective surgery is contemplated.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35343957,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Quantification of Vascular Parameters in Whole Mount Retinas of Mice with Non-Proliferative and Proliferative Retinopathies.\nRetinopathies are a heterogeneous group of diseases that affect the neurosensory tissue of the eye. They are characterized by neurodegeneration, gliosis and a progressive change in vascular function and structure. Although the onset of the retinopathies is characterized by subtle disturbances in visual perception, the modifications in the vascular plexus are the first signs detected by clinicians. The absence or presence of neovascularization determines whether the retinopathy is classified as either non-proliferative (NPDR) or proliferative (PDR). In this sense, several animal models tried to mimic specific vascular features of each stage to determine the underlying mechanisms involved in endothelium alterations, neuronal death and other events taking place in the retina. In this article, we will provide a complete description of the procedures required for the measurement of retinal vascular parameters in adults and early birth mice at postnatal day (P)17. We will detail the protocols to carry out retinal vascular staining with Isolectin GSA-IB4 in whole mounts for later microscopic visualization. Key steps for image processing with Image J Fiji software are also provided, therefore, the readers will be able to measure vessel density, diameter and tortuosity, vascular branching, as well as avascular and neovascular areas. These tools are highly helpful to evaluate and quantify vascular alterations in both non-proliferative and proliferative retinopathies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28304029,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Convenient preparation of 4-diazoisochroman-3-imines and 3-subsituted 3,5-dihydroisochromeno[3,4-d][1,2,3]triazoles.\nA novel and convenient preparation of 4-diazoisochroman-3-imines through the copper(i)-catalyzed cascade reaction of (2-ethynylphenyl)-methanols with sulfonyl azides is described. The synthesized cyclical \u03b1-diazo imidates could readily react with a variety of primary amines to furnish 3-substituted 3,5-dihydroisochromeno[3,4-d][1,2,3]-triazoles under catalyst-free conditions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34422656,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-10":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hepatoid Adenocarcinoma of the Lung: A Systematic Review of the Literature From 1981 to 2020.\nWe report the first case of hepatoid adenocarcinoma of the lung (HAL) with PIK3CA mutation. In addition, we analyzed data from HAL cases over the past 40 years to study its main treatment methods, prognosis, and the relationship between prognosis and the serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) level before treatment. We report a 66-year-old male case who was diagnosed with locally advanced HAL with PIK3CA mutation and carried out a systematic literature search for HAL cases documented between 1981 and 2020. General patient information including case characteristics was extracted and summarized. The median OS (mOS) of HAL patients was determined using the KM survival curve. The Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to evaluate the effect of tumor size, location, and serum AFP value before treatment and radical surgery (RS) on the prognosis of patients. A total of 46 studies including 51 HAL patients was included in our review. Our study revealed that 52.9% of tumors were located in the upper lobe of the right lung. The proportion of serum AFP-positive patients before treatment, early-stage patients (TNM stage I and II), and patients who had received surgery were 69.2%, 34.1%, and 40%, respectively. The mOS of HAL patients was 16.0 months. The 2-year and 5-year survival rates of the patients were 35.3% and 8.0%, respectively. In the subgroup analysis, the 2-year survival rate for patients who received RS was 62.5%, while for patients who were unable to undergo RS, it was only 12.5% (p = 0.009). The Cox proportional hazards regression model indicated that RS can significantly improve the prognosis of HAL patients (p = 0.011), although the location and size of tumor as well as the serum AFP value before treatment had no significant effect on their prognosis (p = 0.82, p = 0.96, p = 0.25). HAL patients have a poor prognosis, and the survival benefits for patients receiving chemoradiotherapy or chemotherapy alone appear to be limited. We demonstrate statistically for the first time that pretreatment serum AFP values are not related to the prognosis of HAL patients and RS can significantly improve patient prognosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32581170,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Spontaneous Intracranial Hypotension with a Reversible Splenial Lesion after Swimming.\nSpontaneous intracranial hypotension (SIH) is an important cause of headache mainly associated with spinal cerebrospinal fluid leakage. We herein report the case of a 51-year-old man who developed SIH after swimming. Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a transient high-intensity lesion in the splenium of the corpus callosum (SCC), in addition to bilateral subdural hematomas (SDH) and pseudo-subarachnoid hemorrhage on brain computed tomography. The splenial lesion disappeared and SDH improved after an epidural blood patch. This case emphasizes that transient SCC lesions could coexist with SIH and that SIH should be considered in the differential diagnosis of SCC lesions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17199617,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A mechanistic model for the superglue fuming of latent fingerprints.\nThe use of superglue vapors to detect latent fingerprints, known as superglue fuming, is a chemical process that has not been fully described. The role of the fingerprint material in the process, leading to formation of methyl cyanoacrylate polymer at the site of the fingerprint, remains to be established. Films of liquid alkanes respond similarly to actual fingerprints in the fuming experiment. Their responses depended on the hydrocarbon used, viscosity, and film thickness. Aspects such as film thickness appear to be relevant for actual fingerprints as well. A model was proposed in light of these observations. The model compares the process with gas chromatography, in which molecules partition between the gas phase and a stationary phase. Aspects such as accumulation of superglue monomers by partitioning into a thin film (or wax) are consistent with the preferential response of fingerprints on surfaces relative to the background.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25403232,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Verification of the utility of the social responsiveness scale for adults in non-clinical and clinical adult populations in Japan.\nRecently great attention has been paid to the still unmet clinical needs of most adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who live in the community, an increasing number of whom visit psychiatric clinics to seek accurate diagnosis and treatment of concurrent psychiatric symptoms. However, different from the case of children diagnosed with ASD in childhood, it is difficult in adults to identify the ASD symptoms underlying psychopathology and to differentiate ASD from other psychiatric disorders in general psychiatric practice. This study aimed to verify the utility of the Social Responsiveness Scale-Adult version (SRS-A), a quantitative measure for identifying ASD symptoms, in non-clinical and clinical adult populations in Japan. The total sample aged 19 to 59 years consisted of a non-clinical population (n =592) and clinical population with and without ASD (n =142). We examined score distributions of the Japanese version of the scale, and the effects of gender, age, and rater on the distribution. We analyzed factor structure and internal consistency in the non-clinical normative sample, and analyzed convergent, divergent, and discriminative validities in the clinical sample. We applied receiver operator characteristic (ROC) analysis to determine optimal cutoff scores discriminating the ASD clinical population from the non-ASD clinical population. The score distributed continuously, which replicated findings in children. For non-clinical adults, except in men aged 19 to 24 years, we found no or few gender, age, or rater effects. Both single- and two-factor models were supported for adults. Total SRS-A scores demonstrated high internal consistency and capably discriminated adults with ASD from those with non-ASD psychiatric disorders such as major depressive disorder, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder with an overlap across diagnoses. Moderate to high correlations of the SRS-A with other-rated ASD measures indicated sufficient convergent validity. Based on the ROC analysis, we recommend cutoff points by gender for use in clinical settings. This study provides additional supportive evidence that the Japanese version SRS-A can reliably and validly measure ASD symptoms in non-clinical and clinical adult populations, and thus can serve as a useful tool for ASD research as well as for secondary screening in Japanese adults.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28301996,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Management of Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Prevention, Surveillance, Diagnosis, and Staging.\nMore than 600 000 people die from hepatocellular carcinoma each year. Worldwide, research on the disease needs to be intensified in both the medical and pharmaceutical fields, with a focus on providing help to geographic areas where resources are limited. Treatment approaches depend on the stage of the disease at diagnosis and on access to complex treatment regimens. However, advanced disease is not curable, and treating these patients is expensive and only marginally effective for increasing quality-adjusted life-years. Although the Milan criteria are often used to determine which patients will benefit from liver transplantation, many centers have their own criteria for patient selection. According to criteria developed by Ba\u015fkent University in Ankara, Turkey, patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and a cirrhotic liver but without extrahepatic disease should be candidates for liver transplant when possible, and living-donor liver transplant should be considered as an alternative rescue therapy for many of these patients. Tumor size and number should not be the sole criteria for excluding liver transplant. Although significant vascular invasion and extrahepatic dissemination definitely indicate major tumor dissemination, until sensitive tests for measuring circulating tumor cells are developed, we continue to recommend liver transplant regardless of tumor size and number. Various locoregional therapies for hepatocellular carcinoma are used before transplant to prevent tumor progression and to decrease the risk of recurrence after transplant. In turn, response to locoregional therapy to decrease tumor stage in hepatocellular carcinoma may be an indicator of tumor behavior and may determine a patient's selection for liver transplant. The delivery of healthcare services for hepatocellular carcinoma could be improved by developing centers of excellence. Concentrating medical care in this way can lead to an increased level of expertise so that resections are performed by surgeons who understand liver disease and the limitations of these and other procedures.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16983502,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evaluation of alpha-glutathione-S-transferase as a biomarker of lamivudine therapy for chronic hepatitis B.\nHepatic damage associated with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) relies on measurement of serum transaminases and asssessment of hepatic histology. We determined if serum hepatic function tests, including alpha-glutathione-S-transferase ((GST), were of value in monitoring or predicting the effect of lamivudine therapy for CHB. Thirty-nine patients received orally 100 mg of lamivudine daily for 48 weeks. Blood samples were obtained at baseline and at 24 and 48 weeks. At the end of the treatment period the patients were then divided into four groups according to the pattern of HBs and HBe antigens. At baseline and at 24 weeks ALT, AST, and (GST had lower values in the complete response compared to the complete failure groups. Using ROC analysis, only ALT at 24 weeks (area under the curve = 0.803) had significant diagnostic ability in detecting responders. These results reaffirm the value of measuring serum ALT as an indicator of treatment response and provide information on the potential use of (GST as an additional prognostic biomarker in this patient group.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26433132,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Pseudotumoral presentation of fungating mycetoma caused by Phaeoacremonium fuscum in a renal transplant patient.\nEumycetoma is an unusual infection in immunocompromised patients outside the tropics, caused by a variety of fungal pathogens. We describe the case of a 51-year-old renal transplant recipient who presented with a large pseudotumoral foot lesion necessitating complete surgical excision of the lesion. Cultures and molecular diagnosis confirmed Phaeoacremonium fuscum. This is the first case, to our knowledge, of fungating mycetoma caused by this fungal species in a solid organ transplant recipient.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28588487,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"GYF-21, an Epoxide 2-(2-Phenethyl)-Chromone Derivative, Suppresses Innate and Adaptive Immunity via Inhibiting STAT1\/3 and NF-\u03baB Signaling Pathways.\nMultiple sclerosis is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease of the central nervous system characterized by demyelinating plaques and axonal loss. Inhibition on over activation of innate and adaptive immunity provides a rationale strategy for treatment of multiple sclerosis. In the present study, we investigated the inhibitory effects of GYF-21, an epoxide 2-(2-phenethyl)-chromone derivative isolated from Chinese agarwood, on innate and adaptive immunity for revealing its potential to treat multiple sclerosis. The results showed that GYF-21 markedly inhibited the activation of microglia, and dendritic cells as well as neutrophils, all of which play important roles in innate immunity. Furthermore, GYF-21 significantly suppressed adaptive immunity via inhibiting the differentiation of naive CD4+ T cells into T helper 1 (Th1) and T helper 17 (Th17) cells, and suppressing the activation, proliferation, and IFN-\u03b3 secretion of CD8+ T cells. The mechanism study showed that GYF-21 evidently inhibited the activation of STAT1\/3 and NF-\u03baB signaling pathways in microglia. In conclusion, we demonstrated that GYF-21 can significantly inhibit innate and adaptive immunity via suppressing STAT1\/3 and NF-\u03baB signaling pathways, and has potential to be developed into therapeutic drug for multiple sclerosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":33729256,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Complex fluids in animal survival strategies.\nAnimals have evolved distinctive survival strategies in response to constant selective pressure. In this review, we highlight how animals exploit flow phenomena by manipulating their habitat (exogenous) or by secreting (endogenous) complex fluids. Ubiquitous endogenous complex fluids such as mucus demonstrate rheological versatility and are therefore involved in many animal behavioral traits ranging from sexual reproduction to protection against predators. Exogenous complex fluids such as sand can be used either for movement or for predation. In all cases, time-dependent rheological properties of complex fluids are decisive for the fate of the biological behavior and vice versa. To exploit these rheological properties, it is essential that the animal is able to sense the rheology of their surrounding complex fluids in a timely fashion. As timing is key in nature, such rheological materials often have clearly defined action windows matching the time frame of their direct biological behavior. As many rheological properties of these biological materials remain poorly studied, we demonstrate with this review that rheology and material science might provide an interesting quantitative approach to study these biological materials in particular in context towards ethology and bio-mimicking material design.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31250880,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"A phase II feasibility study of palbociclib in combination with adjuvant endocrine therapy for hormone receptor-positive invasive breast carcinoma.\nThe CDK4\/6 inhibitor palbociclib prolongs progression-free survival in hormone receptor-positive\/HER2-negative (HR+\/HER2-) metastatic breast cancer when combined with endocrine therapy. This phase II trial was designed to determine the feasibility of adjuvant palbociclib and endocrine therapy for early breast cancer. Eligible patients with HR+\/HER2- stage II-III breast cancer received 2 years of palbociclib at 125 mg daily, 3 weeks on\/1 week off, with endocrine therapy. The primary end point was discontinuation from palbociclib due to toxicity, non-adherence, or events related to tolerability. A discontinuation rate of 48% or higher would indicate the treatment duration of 2 years was not feasible, and was evaluated under a binomial test using a one-sided \u03b1 = 0.025. Overall, 162 patients initiated palbociclib; over half had stage III disease (52%) and most received prior chemotherapy (80%). A total of 102 patients (63%) completed 2 years of palbociclib; 50 patients discontinued early for protocol-related reasons (31%, 95% CI 24% to 39%, P = 0.001), and 10 discontinued due to protocol-unrelated reasons. The cumulative incidence of protocol-related discontinuation was 21% (95% CI 14% to 27%) at 12 months from start of treatment. Rates of palbociclib-related toxicity were congruent with the metastatic experience, and there were no cases of febrile neutropenia. Ninety-one patients (56%) required at least one dose reduction. Adjuvant palbociclib is feasible in early breast cancer, with a high proportion of patients able to complete 2 years of therapy. The safety profile in the adjuvant setting mirrors that observed in metastatic disease, with approximately half of the patients requiring dose-modification. As extended duration adjuvant palbociclib appears feasible and tolerable for most patients, randomized phase III trials are evaluating clinical benefit in this population. NCT02040857.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28692229,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Zika virus : from research to vaccine].\nZika virus has recently emerged as new teratogenic agent. Research is drastically increasing to allow a better comprehension of the role of this emerging virus in the induction of fetal cerebral anomalies. Several epidemiological and microbiological aspects may explain a higher virulence of the current strain. Various animal models have been developed and confirm the materno-fetal transmission as well as the induction of cerebral development's disorders. In parallel, various companies are working to develop a vaccine and antiviral medicine against Zika virus. Despite promising results, the road remains long until a vaccine or antiviral medicines are available.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20379616,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Independent association of smoking with postoperative cardiac events and thirty-day mortality].\nFew studies have demonstrated the association of smoking, as an independent risk factor, with postoperative cardiac events. To evaluate the association of smoking, as an independent variable, with postoperative cardiovascular complications and 30-day mortality in noncardiac surgeries. A retrospective cohort from a general hospital was studied, which included 1,072 patients stratified as current smokers (n=265), ex-smokers (n=335) and nonsmokers (n=472). These three groups were analyzed regarding the combined cardiovascular outcomes in the postoperative period (infarction, pulmonary edema, arrhythmia with hemodynamic instability, unstable angina and cardiac death) and 30-day mortality. The Chi-square test and logistic regression were used, considering a p value < 0.05 as statistically significant. When current smokers are compared to ex-smokers and nonsmokers, the combined cardiovascular outcomes in the postoperative period and the 30-day mortality were, respectively: 71 (6.6%) and 34 (3.2%). The current smokers and ex-smokers presented 53 (8.8%) combined cardiac events, whereas the nonsmokers presented 18 (3.8%), with p = 0.002. Regarding mortality, current smokers and ex-smokers presented 26 (4.3%), whereas nonsmokers presented 8 (1.7%), p = 0.024. At the multivariate analysis, age range, emergency surgery, heart failure, left ventricular overload, myocardial revascularization and ventricular extrasystoles were independently associated with perioperative cardiovascular events, whereas age range, emergency surgery, heart failure, laboratory alterations, history of hepatopathy, surgeries due to neoplasia and smoking were associated with 30-day mortality in the postoperative period. Current smoking was independently associated with 30-day mortality in high-risk noncardiac surgeries, but not to postoperative cardiac events.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27287663,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Role of renal function in cardiovascular risk assessment: A retrospective cohort study in a population with low incidence of coronary heart disease.\nEarly-stage chronic kidney disease (CKD), a marker of cardiovascular risk, is susceptible to therapeutic intervention but need further study in populations with low incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD). Incorporating glomerular filtration rate (GFR) could improve cardiovascular risk prediction in these patients. To determine if decreased GFR is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity and all-cause mortality and to analyse GFR effect on cardiovascular risk prediction in a population with low CHD incidence. Retrospective, observational, population-based study of 1,081,865 adults (35-74years old). Main exposure variable: GFR. CHD, cerebrovascular disease, cardiovascular diseases, all-cause mortality. Association between GFR categories of CKD (G1-G5) and outcomes was tested with Cox survival models. G1 was defined as the reference category. Predictive value of GFR was evaluated by integrated discrimination improvement (IDI) and net reclassification improvement (NRI) indices. Beginning at stage-3a CKD, increased risk was observed for coronary (HR 1.27 (95%CI 1.14-1.43)), cerebrovascular (HR 1.19 (95%CI 1.06-1.34)), cardiovascular (HR 1.23 (95%CI 1.13-1.34)) and all-cause mortality risk (HR 1.17 (95%CI 1.07-1.27)). GFR did not increase discrimination and reclassification indices significantly for any outcome. In general population with low CHD incidence and stage-3 CKD, impaired GFR was associated with increased risk of all cardiovascular diseases studied and all-cause mortality, but adding GFR values did not improve cardiovascular risk calculation. Despite a four-fold higher rate of CHD incidence at GFR G3a compared to G1, this represents moderate cardiovascular risk in our context.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37854849,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Simultaneous Electrochemical Exfoliation and Functionalization of 2H-MoS2 for Supercapacitor Electrodes.\nMoS2 is a promising semiconducting material that has been widely studied for applications in catalysis and energy storage. The covalent chemical functionalization of MoS2 can be used to tune the optoelectronic and chemical properties of MoS2 for different applications. However, 2H-MoS2 is typically chemically inert and difficult to functionalize directly and thus requires pretreatments such as a phase transition to 1T-MoS2 or argon plasma bombardment to introduce reactive defects. Apart from being inefficient and inconvenient, these methods can cause degradation of the desirable properties and introduce unwanted defects. Here, we demonstrate that 2H-MoS2 can be simultaneously electrochemically exfoliated and chemically functionalized in a facile and scalable procedure to fabricate functionalized thin (\u223c4 nm) MoS2 layers. The aryl diazonium salts used for functionalization have not only been successfully covalently grafted onto the 2H-MoS2, as verified by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Raman spectroscopy, but also aid the exfoliation process by increasing the interlayer spacing and preventing restacking. Electrochemical energy storage is one application area to which this material is particularly suited, and characterization of supercapacitor electrodes using this exfoliated and functionalized material revealed that the specific capacitance was increased by \u223c25% when functionalized. The methodology demonstrated for the simultaneous production and functionalization of two-dimensional (2D) materials is significant, as it allows for control over the flake morphology with increased repeatability. This electrochemical functionalization technique could also be extended to other types of transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), which are also typically chemically inert with different functional species to adjust to specific applications.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36275104,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Seed layer-free hydrothermal synthesis of porous tungsten trioxide nanoflake arrays for photoelectrochemical water splitting.\nThe simple preparation of efficient nano-photoanodes has been a key issue in the development of photoelectrochemical water splitting. In this work, a convenient and seed layer-free hydrothermal approach has been developed to synthesize vertically aligned porous WO3 nanoflakes on a fluorine-doped tin oxide conductive glass substrate. The morphology of WO3 nanoflakes could be manipulated by changing the annealing time, which further affected the performance of WO3 nanoflakes as photoanodes. Under optimum conditions, the obtained photoanode can lead to a high photocurrent density of 2.34 mA cm-2 at 1.4 V vs. Ag\/AgCl under one sun irradiation (100 mW cm-2) and an incident photon to current conversion efficiency of 60% at 300 nm. The excellent photoelectrochemical performance can be mainly attributed to the larger active surface area, single crystal structure with an optimum thickness and the exposed highly active facets.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14555654,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Riboflavin uptake and FAD synthesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae mitochondria: involvement of the Flx1p carrier in FAD export.\nWe have studied the functional steps by which Saccharomyces cerevisiae mitochondria can synthesize FAD from cytosolic riboflavin (Rf). Riboflavin uptake into mitochondria took place via a mechanism that is consistent with the existence of (at least two) carrier systems. FAD was synthesized inside mitochondria by a mitochondrial FAD synthetase (EC 184.108.40.206), and it was exported into the cytosol via an export system that was inhibited by lumiflavin, and which was different from the riboflavin uptake system. To understand the role of the putative mitochondrial FAD carrier, Flx1p, in this pathway, an flx1Delta mutant strain was constructed. Coupled mitochondria isolated from flx1Delta mutant cells were compared with wild-type mitochondria with respect to the capability to take up Rf, to synthesize FAD from it, and to export FAD into the extramitochondrial phase. Mitochondria isolated from flx1Delta mutant cells specifically lost the ability to export FAD, but did not lose the ability to take up Rf, FAD, or FMN and to synthesize FAD from Rf. Hence, Flx1p is proposed to be the mitochondrial FAD export carrier. Moreover, deletion of the FLX1 gene resulted in a specific reduction of the activities of mitochondrial lipoamide dehydrogenase and succinate dehydrogenase, which are FAD-binding enzymes. For the flavoprotein subunit of succinate dehydrogenase we could demonstrate that this was not due to a changed level of mitochondrial FAD or to a change in the degree of flavinylation of the protein. Instead, the amount of the flavoprotein subunit of succinate dehydrogenase was strongly reduced, indicating an additional regulatory role for Flx1p in protein synthesis or degradation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11995887,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Fatal retroperitoneal hemorrhage caused by perforation of a guidewire pin for proximal femur fixation.\nA 77-year-old woman with a slightly displaced intertrochanteric two-fragment fracture of the left hip was treated by internal fixation using a screw-nail device (gamma nail). After the operation she became hemodynamically unstable, and ultrasound revealed a large retroperitoneal fluid accumulation in the left lower abdomen. A contrast computed tomogram revealed active hemorrhage next to the quadrilateral surface of the left acetabulum. Selective angiography and embolization were immediately initiated and stopped the bleeding. However, despite the successful treatment of the retroperitoneal hemorrhage, the patient developed an oligosymptomatic myocardial infarction associated with clinical evidence of a cerebrovascular insult and pulmonary decompensation and died 2 weeks after her accident. The hemorrhage in this patient was most likely caused by surgical damage to the obturator artery during placement of the guidewire pin (with threaded tip) to position the screw of the implant.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27480854,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Peak Plasma Concentration of Azithromycin and Treatment Responses in Mycobacterium avium Complex Lung Disease.\nMacrolides, such as azithromycin (AZM) and clarithromycin, are the cornerstones of treatment for Mycobacterium avium complex lung disease (MAC-LD). Current guidelines recommend daily therapy with AZM for cavitary MAC-LD and intermittent therapy for noncavitary MAC-LD, but the effectiveness of these regimens has not been thoroughly investigated. This study evaluated associations between microbiological response and estimated peak plasma concentrations (Cmax) of AZM. The AZM Cmax was measured in patients receiving daily therapy (250 mg of AZM daily, n = 77) or intermittent therapy (500 mg of AZM three times weekly, n = 89) for MAC-LD and daily therapy for Mycobacterium abscessus complex LD (MABC-LD) (250 mg of AZM daily, n = 55). The AZM Cmax was lower with the daily regimen for MAC-LD (median, 0.24 \u03bcg\/ml) than with the intermittent regimen for MAC-LD (median, 0.65 \u03bcg\/ml; P < 0.001) or daily therapy for MABC-LD (median, 0.53 \u03bcg\/ml; P < 0.001). After adjusting for confounding factors, AZM Cmax was independently associated with favorable microbiological responses in MAC-LD patients receiving a daily regimen (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.58; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01 to 2.48; P = 0.044) but not an intermittent regimen (aOR, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.58 to 1.23, P = 0.379). With the daily AZM-based multidrug regimen for MAC-LD, a low AZM Cmax was common, whereas a higher AZM Cmax was associated with favorable microbiologic responses. The results also suggested that the addition of rifampin may lower AZM Cmax When a daily AZM-based multidrug regimen is used for treating severe MAC-LD, such as cavitary disease, the currently recommended AZM dose might be suboptimal. (This study has been registered at ClinicalTrials.gov under identifier NCT00970801.).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28574985,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Economic evaluation of multidisciplinary rehabilitation treatment versus cognitive behavioural therapy for patients with chronic fatigue syndrome: A randomized controlled trial.\nA multi-centre RCT has shown that multidisciplinary rehabilitation treatment (MRT) is more effective in reducing fatigue over the long-term in comparison with cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), but evidence on its cost-effectiveness is lacking. To compare the cost-effectiveness of MRT versus CBT for patients with CFS from a societal perspective. A multi-centre randomized controlled trial comparing MRT with CBT was conducted among 122 patients with CFS diagnosed using the 1994 criteria of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and aged between 18 and 60 years. The societal costs (healthcare costs, patient and family costs, and costs for loss of productivity), fatigue severity, quality of life, quality-adjusted life-year (QALY), and cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) were measured over a follow-up period of one year. The main outcome of the cost-effectiveness analysis was fatigue measured by the Checklist Individual Strength (CIS). The main outcome of the cost-utility analysis was the QALY based on the EuroQol-5D-3L utilities. Sensitivity analyses were performed, and uncertainty was calculated using the cost-effectiveness acceptability curves and cost-effectiveness planes. The data of 109 patients (57 MRT and 52 CBT) were analyzed. MRT was significantly more effective in reducing fatigue at 52 weeks. The mean difference in QALY between the treatments was not significant (0.09, 95% CI: -0.02 to 0.19). The total societal costs were significantly higher for patients allocated to MRT (a difference of \u20ac5,389, 95% CI: 2,488 to 8,091). MRT has a high probability of being the most cost effective, using fatigue as the primary outcome. The ICER is \u20ac856 per unit of the CIS fatigue subscale. The results of the cost-utility analysis, using the QALY, indicate that the CBT had a higher likelihood of being more cost-effective. The probability of being more cost-effective is higher for MRT when using fatigue as primary outcome variable. Using QALY as the primary outcome, CBT has the highest probability of being more cost-effective. ISRCTN77567702.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18605513,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Stress urinary incontinence: prevention, management, and provider education.\nThe costs of urinary incontinence (UI) are financially and socially substantial to those who are living with its effects. When looking at the dramatic costs associated with UI and associated pelvic floor disorders, prevention of these disorders or management at the earliest possible level is indicated. Determining which modifiable factors cause UI and pelvic floor disorders is complicated. Listening to patients in an effort to improve their quality of life may be a reasonable starting point. Educating future health care providers to approach these topics with sensitivity will positively impact the care patients receive.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14561669,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Differences in body shape representations among young adults from a biracial (Black-White), semirural community: the Bogalusa Heart Study.\nIn this study, the authors examined body image perception and body mass index (weight (kg)\/height (m)(2)) among race-gender groups in a biracial (Black-White) population of young adults in Bogalusa, Louisiana. A mail-out survey was completed in 1994 by 3,698 (65%) participants aged 18.5-35 years in the Bogalusa Heart Study (mean age = 27.6 years). As part of the survey, body image perception was determined in terms of body shape representations from a figure rating scale. A body image discrepancy score was calculated from the difference between z-standardized values of body image perception and body mass index. A stepwise proportional odds model including the covariates income, employment, education, and physical activity was used to identify factors influencing lower perception of body shape. Mean body mass index was highest among Black females (p < 0.001). The odds of having a lower perception of body shape (vs. body mass index) were 1.72 times higher in Blacks (p < 0.001), 0.80 times lower in persons who were currently employed (p < 0.001), and 0.86 times lower in persons with a higher education (p = 0.032). Gender, income, and physical activity were not found to be significant predictors of body image perception (p > 0.05). The authors conclude that significant differences exist within racial groups concerning body image perception in relation to overweight status among young adults. This has implications for prevention and education programs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29372094,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Broad Ligament Lipoleiomyoma Masses: Two curious cases masquerading as ovarian carcinomas.\nLipoleiomyomas are an extremely rare form of uterine leiomyoma; moreover, the occurrence of this type of tumour on the broad ligament is even rarer. We report two cases of broad ligament lipoleiomyomas in 15- and 38-year-old female patients who presented to the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital in New Delhi, India, between 2016 and 2017. In both cases, the preoperative diagnosis was of a solid ovarian malignancy. Most broad ligament tumours are mistaken for ovarian masses as they are difficult to diagnose radiologically.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28562247,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Neurodevelopment: The Impact of Nutrition and Inflammation During Preconception and Pregnancy in Low-Resource Settings.\nThe rapid pace of fetal development by far exceeds any other stage of the life span, and thus, environmental influences can profoundly alter the developmental course. Stress during the prenatal period, including malnutrition and inflammation, impact maternal and fetal neurodevelopment with long-term consequences for physical and mental health of both the mother and her child. One primary consequence of maternal malnutrition, inflammation, and other sources of prenatal stress is a poor birth outcome, such as prematurity or growth restriction. These phenotypes are often used as indications of prenatal adversity. In fact, the original evidence supporting the fetal programming hypothesis came from studies documenting an association between birth phenotype and the development of subsequent physical and mental health problems. Fetal growth restriction in both term and preterm infants is associated with neonatal morbidities and a wide variety of behavioral and psychological diagnoses in childhood and adolescence, including attention-deficit\/hyperactivity disorder, anxiety, depression, internalizing and thought problems, poor social skills, and autism spectrum disorder. Improving maternal-child health requires interventions that begin before pregnancy and continue throughout gestation and into the postpartum period. Such interventions might include supporting pregnancy intention, maternal nutrition, health\/medical care, mental health, and providing social support. This article discusses the impact of maternal nutrition and inflammation during preconception and pregnancy among women living in low-resource settings, with an emphasis on key knowledge gaps that need to be addressed to guide program and policy decisions at local, regional and global levels.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3042157,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Shoulder and elbow injuries in the young athlete.\nThe skeletally immature athlete sustains upper extremity injuries unique to the epiphyseal plate, articular cartilage, musculotendinous units, and specific to the sport itself. Specific shoulder and elbow conditions can be predicted based on the biomechanics of the sport and age of the patient. In the young athlete, recognition of these unique injury patterns with early activity modification and treatment can prevent permanent deformity and functional disability.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9555864,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Sex and topographic differences in associations between large-artery wall thickness and coronary risk profile in a French working cohort: the AXA Study.\nPrevious reports have investigated associations between carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and cardiovascular risk factors. Our objective was to investigate this question in greater depth by measuring both femoral and carotid IMT in relation to sex and multifactorial coronary risk. We investigated carotid and femoral artery IMT by using ultrasonography in 326 men and 462 women, 17 to 65 years old. We also evaluated body mass index, blood pressure, blood lipids, glucose, smoking, and Framingham coronary risk. In both vessels, IMT was lower in women than in men. Significant relations between carotid and femoral IMT existed with age and most risk factors in both sexes. After adjustment for age, carotid IMT was related to risk factors in both sexes except for diastolic blood pressure, HDL cholesterol, and smoking in women, whereas femoral IMT was related to triglycerides and smoking in both sexes, systolic blood pressure and blood glucose in men, and total and HDL cholesterol in women. Significant unadjusted and age-adjusted relations of Framingham risk existed with carotid and femoral IMT in both sexes, but slopes of these relations were greater (1) before than after age adjustment, (2) in men than in women at both sites, except the femoral artery after age adjustment, and (3) at the carotid than at the femoral site in both sexes before age adjustment. Carotid IMT in men appears to be a more powerful predictor than it is in women and femoral IMT in both sexes in reflecting multifactorial coronary risk burden, but these differences are partly conditional on age.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7948239,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Weight limitations for weekly urea clearances using various exchange volumes in continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis.\nTo calculate the relationships of weekly KT\/V urea to standard body weight with different exchange volumes (2, 2.5, or 3 L) for continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) in functionally anephric patients and to display the results in graphic form. Theoretical calculations using previously measured 24-hour dialysate\/plasma urea values in 77 CAPD patients and other defined components of weekly KT\/V urea. Measurements and calculations in theoretical patients doing standard CAPD with four daily exchanges. Theoretical functionally anephric patients on standard CAPD as above. Theoretical calculations based on instillation of 2-, 2.5-, and 3-L exchange volumes. Weekly urea clearances normalized to total body water (weekly KT\/V urea). The values using different exchange volumes were related to standard body weight. Although a minimum recommended weekly KT\/V urea target is arbitrary, the results illustrate the range of flexibility of CAPD relative to KT\/V urea values with variations in exchange volume. The standard weights above which anephric patients on CAPD using four exchanges per day with 2-, 2.5-, and 3-L exchanges cannot reach a weekly KT\/V urea target of 1.7, have been identified. The range of weekly KT\/V urea levels possible with different exchange-volume programs has been graphically illustrated. Weights above which a weekly KT\/V urea of 1.7 cannot be reached in functionally anephric patients are 64, 77.6, and 91 kg for CAPD using 2-, 2.5-, and 3-L exchanges, respectively.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37859638,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"One-stage Reconstruction with the Composite Anterolateral Thigh Flap for Skin and Extensor Tendon Defects of the Thumb by Snakebite.\nVenomous snakebites can cause severe injury. The loss of tendon and skin of the hand is incredibly challenging for the surgeon. A single-staged reconstruction with the free composite anterolateral thigh flap is an acceptable option for a complex thumb injury. In this case, reconstruction for a 23-year-old patient with a complex cobra-induced thumb injury had failed to cover the defect with a skin graft. There was a limitation in choice, and the patient was treated with the free composite anterolateral thigh (ALT) flap and fascia lata flap in one stage to reconstruct both the extensor tendon and the soft tissue coverage. The flap was well-vascularized, and no complications were reported. A single-stage reconstruction with a composite ALT flap with vascularized fascia was chosen as a suitable alternative. The result is satisfying both aesthetically and functionally. This technique can help shorten treatment time and restore function quickly, allowing patients to return to work in less time. The disadvantages of this technique are flap thickness, which can affect finger movement and aesthetics. The composite ALT flap with vascularized fascia lata shows that it is a reliable procedure for single-staged reconstruction, especially combined with the tendon preparation in the hand.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21162326,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[A cooperative project in the district of Mettmann: preventive assistance for mentally ill parents and their children].\nMentally ill parents are impaired in their ability to care for their children. To support the affected families from the perspective of the parents and the children alike a close cooperation between the institutions of psychiatry and child-welfare is of utmost importance. In the district of Mettmann a cooperation agreement was concluded to realize a cross-system concept to care for the families with mentally ill parents. To prevent children from developing psychiatric disorders the taboo of the psychiatric diseases has to be overcome, an early diagnostic clarification to be reached, and multiinstitutional help to be implemented. In the article the experience in dealing with the affected families in a multidisciplinary context is described.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9166427,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Selective suppression of interleukin-12 induction after macrophage receptor ligation.\nInterleukin (IL)-12 is a monocyte- and macrophage-derived cytokine that plays a crucial role in both the innate and the acquired immune response. In this study, we examined the effects that ligating specific macrophage receptors had on the induction of IL-12 by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). We report that ligation of the macrophage Fcgamma, complement, or scavenger receptors inhibited the induction of IL-12 by LPS. Both mRNA synthesis and protein secretion were diminished to near-undetectable levels following receptor ligation. Suppression was specific to IL-12 since IL-10 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) production were not inhibited by ligating macrophage receptors. The results of several different experimental approaches suggest that IL-12 downregulation was due to extracellular calcium influxes that resulted from receptor ligation. First, preventing extracellular calcium influxes, by performing the assays in EGTA, abrogated FcgammaR-mediated IL-12(p40) mRNA suppression. Second, exposure of macrophages to the calcium ionophores, ionomycin or A23187, mimicked receptor ligation and inhibited IL-12(p40) mRNA induction by LPS. Finally, bone marrow-derived macrophages from FcR gamma chain-deficient mice, which fail to flux calcium after receptor ligation, failed to inhibit IL-12(p40) mRNA induction. These results indicate that the calcium influxes that occur as a result of receptor ligation are responsible for inhibiting the induction of IL-12 by LPS. Hence, the ligation of phagocytic receptors on macrophages can lead to a dramatic decrease in IL-12 induction. This downregulation may be a way of limiting proinflammatory responses of macrophages to extracellular pathogens, or suppressing the development of cell-mediated immunity to intracellular pathogens.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28299194,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Recent trends in airway management.\nTracheal intubation remains a life-saving procedure that is typically not difficult for experienced providers in routine conditions. Unfortunately, difficult intubation remains challenging to predict and intubation conditions may make the event life threatening. Recent technological advances aim to further improve the ease, speed, safety, and success of intubation but have not been fully investigated. Video laryngoscopy, though proven effective in the difficult airway, may result in different intubation success rates in various settings and in different providers' hands. The rescue surgical airway remains a rarely used but critical skill, and research continues to investigate optimal techniques. This review highlights some of the new thoughts and research on these important topics.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37446843,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Antioxidant Activities, Anticancer Activity, Physico-Chemistry Characteristics, and Acute Toxicity of Alginate\/Lignin Polymer.\nAlginate\/lignin is a synthetic polymer rich in biological activity and is of great interest. Alginate is extracted from seaweed and lignin is extracted from corn stalks and leaves. In this paper, antioxidant activities of alginate\/lignin were evaluated, such as total antioxidant activity, reducing power activity, DPPH free radical scavenging activity, and \u03b1-glucosidase inhibition activity. Anticancer activity was evaluated in three cell lines (Hep G2, MCF-7, and NCI H460) and fibroblast. Physico-chemistry characteristics of alginate\/lignin were determined through FTIR, DSC, SEM_EDS, SEM_EDS mapping, XRD, XRF, and 1H-NMR. The acute toxicity of alginate\/lignin was studied on Swiss albino mice. The results demonstrated that alginate\/lignin possessed antioxidant activity, such as the total antioxidant activity, and reducing power activity, especially the \u03b1-glucosidase inhibition activity, and had no free radical scavenging activity. Alginate\/lignin was not typical in cancer cell lines. Alginate\/lignin existed in a thermally stable and regular spherical shape in the investigated thermal region. Six metals, three non-metals, and nineteen oxides were detected in alginate\/lignin. Some specific functional groups of alginate and lignin did not exist in alginate\/lignin crystal. Elements, such as C, O, Na, and S were popular in the alginate\/lignin structure. LD0 and LD100 of alginate\/lignin in mice were 3.91 g\/kg and 9.77 g\/kg, respectively. Alginate\/lignin has potential for applications in pharmaceutical materials, functional foods, and supporting diabetes treatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30659140,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Reducing neurodisparity: Recommendations of the 2017 AAN Diversity Leadership Program.\nMany advances in prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of neurologic disease have emerged in the last few decades, resulting in reduced mortality and decreased disability. However, these advances have not benefitted all populations equally. A growing body of evidence indicates that barriers to care fall along racial and ethnic lines, with persons from minority groups frequently having lower rates of evaluation, diagnosis, and intervention, and consequently experiencing worse neurologic outcomes than their white counterparts. The American Academy of Neurology (AAN) challenged its 2017 Diversity Leadership Program cohort to determine what the AAN can do to improve quality of care for racially and ethnically diverse patients with neurologic disorders. Developing a fuller understanding of the effect of disparities in neurologic care (neurodisparity) on patients is an important prerequisite for creating meaningful change. Clear insight into how bias and trust affect the doctor-patient relationship is also crucial to grasp the complexity of this issue. We propose that the AAN take a vital step toward achieving equity in neurologic care by enhancing health literacy, patient education, and shared decision-making with a focus on internet and social media. Moreover, by further strengthening its focus on health disparities research and training, the AAN can continue to inform the field and aid in the development of current and future leaders who will address neurodisparity. Ultimately, the goal of tackling neurodisparity is perfectly aligned with the mission of the AAN: to promote the highest-quality patient-centered neurologic care and enhance member career satisfaction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32374620,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Paternal deficiency of complement component C1q leads to a preeclampsia-like pregnancy in wild-type female mice and vascular adaptations postpartum.\nPreeclampsia is a spontaneously occurring, pregnancy-specific syndrome that is clinically diagnosed by new onset hypertension and proteinuria. Epidemiological evidence describes an association between a history of preeclampsia and increased risk for cardiovascular disease in later life; however, the mechanism(s) driving this relationship are unclear. Our study aims to leverage a novel preeclampsia-like mouse model, the C1q-\/- model, to help elucidate the acute and persistent vascular changes during and following a preeclampsia-like pregnancy. Female C57BL\/6J mice were mated to C1q-\/- male mice to model a preeclampsia-like pregnancy (\"PE-like\"), and the maternal cardiovascular phenotype (blood pressure, renal function, systemic glycocalyx, and ex vivo vascular function) was assessed in late pregnancy and postpartum at 6 and 10 mo of age. Uncomplicated, normotensive pregnancies (female C57BL\/6J bred to male C57BL\/6J mice) served as age-matched controls. In pregnancy, PE-like dams exhibited increased systolic and diastolic pressure during mid- and late gestation, renal dysfunction, fetal growth restriction, and reduced placental efficiency. Ex vivo wire myography studies of mesenteric arteries revealed severe pregnancy-specific endothelial-dependent and -independent vascular dysfunction. At 3 and 7 mo postpartum (6 and 10 mo old, respectively), hypertension resolved in PE-like dams, whereas mild vascular dysfunction persisted at 3 mo postpartum. In conclusion, the female C57BL\/6J-by-male C57BL\/6J C1q-\/- model recapitulates many aspects of the human preeclampsia syndrome in a low-risk, wild-type female mouse. The pregnancy-specific phenotype results in systemic maternal endothelial-dependent and -independent vascular dysfunction that persists postpartum.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14520944,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Efficacy of antihelicobacter therapy in NSAID-induced gastropathies].\nThe aim was to evaluate antihelicobacter therapy in the treatment and prophylaxis of NSAID-induced gastropathy recurrences in patients with rheumatic diseases (RD). 66 patients with RD (58 females and 8 males, mean age 53.6 +\/- 12.6 years) participated in the study. They met the following criteria: the presence of ulcers or multiple (more than 10) erosions of gastric or duodenal erosions, administration of nonsteroid anti-inflammatory drugs, Helicobacter pylori (HP) in gastric mucosa biopsies. The patients were randomized into two groups matched by sex, features of RD, antirheumatic therapy, history of ulcer, GIT disease. All the patients received omeprazol in a dose 40 mg\/day. Patients of group 1 took also amoxicillin (1 g\/day) and klarythromycin (0.5 g\/day) for 10 days. Group 2 was control. EGDS was conducted 2, 4 weeks and 6 months after the treatment. HP eradication and dynamics of morphological changes were examined in biopsies of the antral gastric mucosa and mucosa of gastric body. The efficacy of 4-week treatment (ulcer scarring and epithelization of erosions), rate of ulcer recurrences and erosions 6 months after treatment were compared. The efficacy of the treatment was 88 and 95% in group 1 and 2, respectively. HP eradication was achieved in 88% of patients of group 1. In 6 months, recurrences arose in 50 and 48.3% of patients of groups 1 and 2, HP was detected in 22% of patients of group 1. Morphological changes in group 1 patients was characterized by alleviation of chronic active gastritis. HP eradication does not raise the efficacy of the treatment and does not lower the risk of recurrences in patients with NSAID-induced gastropathies. Active chronic gastritis is not the background for recurrences of NSAID-induced gastropathy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9556295,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Identification of a mutation in the low density lipoprotein receptor gene associated with recessive familial hypercholesterolemia in swine.\nElevated blood plasma cholesterol (hypercholesterolemia) is a major risk factor for coronary artery disease (CAD) in humans. Genetic dissection of polygenic lipid and lipoprotein disorders in swine, a key animal model for the study of familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) and CAD, led to the isolation of a monogenic subphenotype (FH-r), that is inherited in the recessive (r) manner. A genome scan mapped the FH-r locus close to the centromere of chromosome 2. Comparative mapping showed that this region shares homology with a part of human chromosome 19 that harbors the low density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) locus, and therefore suggested LDLR as the prime candidate gene for FH-r. Cloning and sequencing of hepatic LDLR cDNA from two FH-r\/r and one normal (N\/N) animals disclosed a single missense mutation (R84C) in a region that corresponds to human exon 4. The C84 mutation cosegregates invariantly with hypercholesterolemia, which strongly suggests that this mutation is responsible for the observed hyperlipidemia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12037166,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Bimodality of theta phase precession in hippocampal place cells in freely running rats.\nThe firing of hippocampal principal cells in freely running rats exhibits a progressive phase retardation as the animal passes through a cell's \"place\" field. This \"phase precession\" is more complex than a simple linear shift of phase with position. In the present paper, phase precession is quantitatively analyzed by fitting multiple (1-3) normal probability density functions to the phase versus position distribution of spikes in rats making repeated traversals of the place fields. The parameters were estimated by the Expectation Maximization method. Three data sets including CA1 and DG place cells were analyzed. Although the phase-position distributions vary among different cells and regions, this complexity is well described by a superposition of two normal distribution functions, suggesting that the firing behavior consists of two components. This conclusion is supported by the existence of two distinct maxima in the mean spike density in the phase versus position plane. In one component, firing phase shifts over a range of about 180 degrees. The second component, which occurs near the end of the traversal of the place field, exhibits a low correlation between phase and position and is anti-phase with the phase-shift component. The functional implications of the two components are discussed with respect to their possible contribution to learning and memory mechanisms.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20352447,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Parasitic contamination in wastewater and sludge samples in Tunisia using three different detection techniques.\nThe limited availability of water results in the reuse of wastewater or sludge. The Tunisian wastewater regulatory guidelines have specific limits for ova of helminths (<1 egg\/l) but none for protozoan parasites. We assessed the presence and loads of parasites in 20 samples of raw, treated wastewater and sludge collected from six wastewater treatment plants. Samples were tested by microscopy using the modified Bailenger method (MBM), immunomagnetic separation (IMS) followed by immunofluorescent assay microscopy, and PCR and sequence analysis for the protozoa Cryptosporidium and Giardia. The seven samples of raw wastewater had a high diversity of helminth and protozoa contamination. Giardia spp., Entamoeba histolytica\/dispar, Entamoeba coli, Ascaris spp., Enterobius vermicularis, and Taenia saginata were detected by MBM, and protozoan loads were greater than helminth loads. Cryptosporidium and Giardia were also detected by IMS microscopy and PCR. Six of the eight samples of treated wastewater had parasites: helminths (n = 1), Cryptosporidium (n = 1), Giardia (n = 4), and Entamoeba (n = 4). Four of five samples of sludge had microscopically detectable parasites, and all had both Cryptosporidium and Giardia. The genotypes and subtypes of Cryptosporidium and Giardia were of both human and animal origin. These findings suggest that it may be important to monitor the presence of protozoan parasites in treated wastewater and sludge in Tunisia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29383481,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Patterns and timing of artificial urinary sphincter failure.\nTo assess population-based trends in artificial urinary sphincter (AUS) placement after prostatectomy and determine the effect of timing on device survival and complications. We identified patients who underwent prostatectomy and AUS placement in SEER-Medicare from 2002 to 2011. We analyzed factors affecting the time of reoperation from AUS implantation and prostatectomy using multivariable Cox proportional hazard models. In total, 841 men underwent AUS placement at a median 23 months after prostatectomy. Patients who underwent reoperation (28.5%) had higher clinical stage, more likely underwent open prostatectomy, or had prior sling placement (p < 0.03). There were no differences in rates of diabetes, smoking status, prior radiation therapy, or Charlson Comorbidity Index between those requiring reoperation vs. not (all p > 0.15). Patients with AUS placement > 15 months after prostatectomy (75%) initially experienced less need for operative reinterventions. Patients with later AUS placement were significantly more likely to have received radiation therapy [22.9 vs. 3.8% (p < 0.01)]. Nonetheless, late implantation was confirmed to be protective on multivariate analysis during the first 5 years after AUS placement [HR 0.79 (95% CI 0.67-0.92); p < 0.01]. Factors independently associated with a shorter interval time until reoperation included history of radiation [HR 1.93 (95% CI 1.33-2.80); p < 0.01] and history of prior sling [HR 1.70 (95% CI 1.08-2.68); p = 0.02]. Even for patients who underwent radiation therapy, delayed AUS implantation reduced reoperative risk. Late AUS implantation in the Medicare population is associated with prolonged device survival initially, while radiation and prior sling surgery predict for earlier reoperation. Patients with delayed AUS implantation experience less immediate complications. Further work is required to identify patient-specific factors which may explain variability in timing for AUS.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19045378,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"In situ nanocalorimetry of thin glassy organic films.\nIn this work, we describe the design and first experimental results of a new setup that combines evaporation of liquids in ultrahigh vacuum conditions with in situ high sensitivity thermal characterization of thin films. Organic compounds are deposited from the vapor directly onto a liquid nitrogen cooled substrate, permitting the preparation and characterization of glassy films. The substrate consists of a microfabricated, membrane-based nanocalorimeter that permits in situ measurements of heat capacity under ultrafast heating rates (up to 10(5) K\/s) in the temperature range of 100-300 K. Three glass forming liquids-toluene, methanol, and acetic acid-are characterized. The spikes in heat capacity related to the glass-transition temperature, the fictive temperature and, in some cases, the onset temperature of crystallization are determined for several heating rates.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29376971,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[One-time effects of drinking mineral water and tap water enriched with silver nanoparticles on the biochemical markers of liver condition and metabolic parameters in healthy rats].\nThe objective of the present research was to study the influence of tap water enriched with silver nanoparticles (NP) as well as that of \u00abKrasnoarmeysky\u00bb and \u00abEssentuki \u211617\u00bb mineral waters after their single administration through the oral gavage to the rats on the metabolism of carbohydrates and lipids, the biochemical markers of the liver condition, and the endocrine profile in the healthy animals. The laboratory animals (130 male Wistar rats) were allocated to thirteen groups comprised of 10 rats each as follows: 1st group (n=10) intact animals, 2nd group (5 minutes after the administration of silver NP (n=10), 3rd group (15 minutes after the of silver NP), 4th group (60 minutes after the administration of silver NP), 5th group (n=10) (5 minutes after the introduction of the \u00abKrasnoarmeysky\u00bb mineral water), 6th group (n=10) (15 min after the introduction of the \u00abKrasnoarmeysky\u00bb mineral water), 7th group (n=10), (60 minutes after the introduction of the \u00abKrasnoarmeysky\u00bb mineral water) 8th group (n=10) (5 minutes after the introduction of the \u00abEssentuki \u2116 17\u00bb mineral water), 9th group (n=10) (15 min after the introduction of the \u00abEssentuki \u2116 7\u00bb mineral water) , 10th group (n=10) (60 minutes after the introduction of the \u00abEssentuki \u211617\u00bb mineral water), 11th group (n=10) (5 minutes after administration of tap water (control),12th group (n=10) (15 minutes after administration of tap water (control), and 13th (n=10) group 60 minutes after administration of tap water (control). The study has demonstrated that the tap water enriched with silver nanoparticles similar to the mineral waters caused stress reactions that are inferior to those induced by \u00abEssentuki \u211617\u00bb mineral water in terms of the magnitude; however, the effect provoked by the tap water was of longer duration. Moreover, the tap water enriched with silver nanoparticles stimulates prooxidant reactions, and inhibit the activity of antioxidant protection. Silver nanoparticles appear to produce some destructive effect on the hepatocytes. The silver nanoparticles present in the tap water have a significant biological potential of their own. Moreover, their one-time action is apt to alter the biological potential of the water into which they are administered. The single intake of the tap water enriched with silver nanoparticles by the healthy laboratory animals produces the response that resembles that of the drinking mineral water.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28581844,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mucociliary Transport in Living Tissue: The Two-Layer Model Confirmed in The Mussel Mytilus edulis L.\nThe present study combined video confocal laser microscopy (1) and tissue reflectance and autofluorescence to visualize mucus position and mucociliary transport in excised living gill tissue from the blue mussel Mytilus edulis. Rafts of mucus and embedded particles were transported atop a periciliary space traversed by frontal cilia, which engaged the mucus layer and moved it during the effective stroke, disengaging and completing the cycle during the recovery stroke. These results confirm the two-layer model for mucociliary transport in the mussel gill. Given the conservative nature of ciliated epithelial structure and function (2, 3), and the structural similarity of mucociliary surfaces as diverse as terrestrial vertebrate respiratory epithelium and molluscan gill, the two-layer mechanism of mucociliary transport may be a general feature of Metazoan biology.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6727879,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Syndrome of supravalvular aortic stenosis (Williams-Beuren syndrome) in association with changes in the kidney and efferent urinary tract].\nWe investigated the urinary tract in 19 out of 30 children having the Williams-Beuren-Syndrome. 14 of these children showed all signs of the syndrome, whereas 8 children had only the typical cardiological findings without the pathognomonic facies and without major mental retardation. These two different types will be designed as type I and type II respectively. In 12 of the children belonging to type I there were anomalies of the kidneys and the lower urinary tract including 1 child having nephrocalcinosis. The various anomalies were found as single or combined lesions. As for type II there was only 1 child (out of 5) that showed a stenosis of the urethra and at the origin of the ureter in combination with a hydronephrosis. The frequency of anomalies of the urinary tract appears to be very high in type I. However, because of the small number of patients it is impossible to reach statistical significance in comparing the different frequencies within type I and type II. Further investigations are necessary to clarify the problem.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23329427,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Valuing benefits to inform a clinical trial in pharmacy : do differences in utility measures at baseline affect the effectiveness of the intervention?\nThe generic health-related quality-of-life (HR-QOL) utility measures the EQ-5D and SF-6D are both commonly used to inform healthcare policy developments. However, their application to pharmacy practice is limited and the optimal method to inform policy developments is unknown. Our objective was to test the sensitivity of the EQ-5D and SF-6D within pharmacy when measuring whether changes in health status or other co-variates at baseline affect the effectiveness of the intervention at follow-up. A further objective was to consider the implications of the findings for pharmacy research and policy. The EQ-5D and SF-6D utility measures were employed within a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of community pharmacy-led medicines management for patients with coronary heart disease. The intervention covered a baseline visit with the potential for follow-up. Simultaneous quantile regression assessed the impact of the intervention on both EQ-5D and SF-6D measures at follow-up, controlling for baseline health, appropriateness of treatment, personal characteristics and self-reported satisfaction. No statistically significant difference in HR-QOL across the intervention and control groups at follow-up was reported for either measure. Increased health gain was however associated with the baseline utility score (with the EQ-5D more sensitive for those in worse health) and the appropriateness of treatment, but not patient characteristics or self-reported satisfaction. Neither generic measure detected a gain in HR-QOL as a result of the introduction of an innovative pharmacy-based service. This finding supports other work in the area of pharmacy, where health gains have not changed following interventions. Disease-specific utility measures should be investigated as an alternative to generic approaches such as the EQ-5D and SF-6D. Given that the RCT found an increase in self-reported satisfaction, broader measures of benefit that value patient experiences, such as contingent valuation and discrete-choice experiments, should also be considered in pharmacy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19035847,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Photoproteins: important new tools in drug discovery.\nThe G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) family is a major target for drug discovery, and most, if not all, GPCRs can couple to Ca2+ signaling. Consequently, there are a number of cellbased, primary, high-throughput screening (HTS) assays used for drug discovery that assess changes in intracellular Ca2+ as a functional readout of GPCR activation. Historically, changes in intracellular Ca2+ levels have been readily detected using fluorescent dyes that emit light in proportion to changes in intracellular Ca2+ concentration. An alternative approach to indirectly measure changes in Ca2+ concentrations involves the use of recombinantly expressed biosensor photoproteins, of which aequorin is a prototypic example. These biosensors have the advantage that they provide an intense luminescent signal in response to elevations in intracellular Ca2+. This exquisite sensitivity, the high signal-to-noise ratios, and the ability to target expression to discrete subcellular sites (in order to detect Ca2+ microdomains) have made photoproteins a principal choice in a wide range of GPCR drug discovery programs. Photoproteins are also finding increasing use in detecting activation of other molecular target classes such as ligand-gated ion channels and transporters. This review focuses upon the use of calcium photoproteins principally for use in GPCR drug discovery and HTS.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23450420,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Literature memories about diphtheria: Mark Twain, W.G. Sebald and Stendhal syndrome].\nMemories of W.G. Sebald from the diphtheria he suffered as a child, gave rise to a discussion about the origin of classic clinical descriptions and the traps memory tends. Good examples of the latter are some experiences of Stendhal, who must also be distrusted given his hypersensitivity, which gave name to a psychosomatic syndrome. Mark Twain, a more practical man, brings us back to reality with a funny story about the terror the disease caused in the late nineteenth century. This leads us to remember isolation measures and topical treatments from the period immediately preceding the antitoxin. They included manual removal of the pseudo membranes, maneuver that led Mara\u00f1\u00f3n to misinterpret a painting by Goya on a scene of \"Lazarillo de Tormes\".","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7930496,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Definition and differential diagnosis of treatment-resistant depression.\nThere are no agreed criteria for treatment-resistant depression, but the failure to respond adequately to two successive courses of monotherapy with pharmacologically different antidepressants, given in an adequate dose for sufficient time is one pragmatic definition. Inherent within this definition are notions of what constitutes an adequate dose of drug, the length of treatment and pharmacological specificity of treatments. When these factors are accounted for, treatment resistance may be encountered in 15-20% of patients. In attempting to treat such patients a number of pharmacological strategies have been adopted and some are briefly reviewed. Psychosurgery may have a role to play in cases of absolute treatment resistance.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36936107,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Predictors of bioprosthetic valve dysfunction after transcatheter aortic valve implantation.\nRecently, the Valve Academic Research Consortium (VARC)-3 criteria redefined bioprosthetic valve dysfunction (BVD) after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). However, the rate of BVD is scarcely reported in current practice. We aimed to evaluate the rate and predictors of BVD after TAVI based on the VARC-3 criteria. We retrospectively analysed patients who had undergone TAVI using single-centre data. BVD was reported as exposure-adjusted event rates with a patient-year unit (per 100 patient-years). Predictors of BVD after TAVI were analysed using Fine-Gray competing risk regression to account for the competing risk of death. Among 514 patients, the rate of BVD was 7.5 events per 100 patient-years (n=74) at a median follow-up of 1.9 years. The main cause of BVD was moderate or severe prosthesis-patient mismatch (PPM; n=59). The Fine-Gray model demonstrated that predilatation was associated with a lower rate of BVD, mainly moderate or severe PPM (adjusted subdistribution hazard ratio [sub-HR] 0.42, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.21-0.88). In a subgroup analysis, the patients with a small aortic annulus (area <400 mm2 or perimeter <72 mm) tended to benefit from predilatation (p for interaction=0.03). The same regression model also demonstrated that a small balloon-expandable valve (BEV; \u226423 mm) was associated with a higher rate of BVD (adjusted sub-HR 2.46, 95% CI: 1.38-4.38). Our study suggested that the rate of BVD in patients undergoing TAVI is relatively low at midterm follow-up. Predilatation, particularly in small annuli and small BEV might have an impact on BVD, mainly caused by moderate or severe PPM, after TAVI.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8346457,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Excellent therapeutic results in an \"apparently hopeless case\"--an example of good interprofessional cooperation].\nThe authors demonstrate on the example of a patient the correct procedure as regards collaboration between different departments with excellent results--survival and cure of the patient. It was a serious case where the patient with the basic diagnosis (acute phlegmon of the neck with an abscedent mediastinitis) and several serious associated complications theoretically did not have a chance of survival. The authors emphasize the importance of collaboration of different departments where each played in a certain stage of the disease a leading role in therapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15559634,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[The effect of ladasten on the activation-induced expression of Fas receptor on T-lymphocytes and their sensitivity to Fas-induced apoptosis].\nThe effects of ladasten on the activation-induced expression of Fas-receptor on T-lymphocytes, their sensitivity to Fas-induced apoptosis, and the expression of mitogen-activated ERKI\/ERK2 protein kinases have been studied. In the range of concentrations 0.1-10 microM, ladasten exhibited a comitogenic effect on the TCR-mediated stimulation of T-lymhocytes ion the peripheral human blood, which was accompanied by an increase in the level of phosphorylated form of ERK-2. At the same time, ladasten virtually did not change the activation-induced expression of Fas-receptor on T-lymphocytes, but reduced the rate of the Fas-induced apoptosis. It was concluded that the immunoprotective effect of ladasten is probably based on a decrease in the rate of Fas-induced apoptosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37853653,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of enamel moistening and repositioning guide color on tooth whitening outcomes: A clinical trial.\nThis clinical trial investigated the effects of pre-application enamel moistening on the impact of a 37% carbamide peroxide whitener on tooth color changes and the influence of repositioning guide colors. Forty participants were randomly assigned to in-office tooth bleaching with either moistened enamel (experimental) or dry enamel (control). The whitener was applied for 45 min over two sessions. Tooth color was visually measured or assessed using a spectrophotometer with purple or green silicone guides. Tooth bleaching was assessed using CIE76 (\u0394Eab ) and CIEDE2000 (\u0394E00 ) formulas and by whitening and bleaching index score changes. Moistening the enamel did not significantly affect tooth color. However, the guide color choice only impacted tooth color when measured instrumentally. At baseline, the green guide resulted in statistically significantly whiter teeth than the purple guide. Less pronounced differences in the b* coordinate between baseline and final measurements were found using the green guide. The green guide also produced lower \u0394Eab values and less change in indexes. In conclusion, moistening the enamel did not significantly impact tooth color changes. However, the repositioning guide color influenced the tooth bleaching measured instrumentally, except for \u0394E00 .","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32356801,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Broadband two-dimensional hyperbolic metasurface for on-chip photonic device applications.\nHyperbolic metasurfaces have attracted much interest due to novel optical properties including self-focusing, diffraction-less propagation, and negative refraction. However, conventional hyperbolic metasurfaces employing transverse-magnetic-like (TM-like) guided modes operate limited to short wavelengths. Here, we propose a broadband hyperbolic metasurface utilizing the transverse-electric-like (TE-like) guided modes of silver nanowires. The symmetric TE-like mode of the nanowire metasurface supports strong near-field coupling through the metallic element for hyperbolicity from visible to near-infrared wavelengths. Using numerical simulations, we examine the modal and dispersion properties depending on the wavelength and geometry. Particularly, negative refraction at the interface between a hyperbolic metasurface and the normal-dispersion planar waveguide is also demonstrated.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15256184,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Patient-specific seizure onset detection.\nThis article presents an automated, patient-specific method for the detection of epileptic seizure onset from noninvasive electroencephalography. We adopt a patient-specific approach to exploit the consistency of an individual patient's seizure and nonseizure electroencephalograms. Our method uses a wavelet decomposition to construct a feature vector that captures the morphology and spatial distribution of an electroencephalographic epoch, and then determines whether that vector is representative of a patient's seizure or nonseizure electroencephalogram using the support vector machine classification algorithm. Our completely automated method was tested on noninvasive electroencephalograms from 36 pediatric subjects suffering from a variety of seizure types. It detected 131 of 139 seizure events within 8.0+\/-3.2 seconds of electrographic onset, and declared 15 false detections in 60 hours of clinical electroencephalography. Our patient-specific method can be used to initiate delay-sensitive clinical procedures following seizure onset, for example, the injection of a functional imaging radiotracer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31265300,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Intrinsic and Defect-Related Elastic Moduli of Boron Nitride Nanotubes As Revealed by in Situ Transmission Electron Microscopy.\nBoron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) are promising for mechanical applications owing to the high modulus, high strength, and inert chemical nature. However, up to now, precise evaluation of their elastic properties and their relation to defects have not been experimentally established. Herein, the intrinsic elastic modulus of BNNTs and its dependence on intrinsic and deliberately irradiation-induced extrinsic defects have been studied via an electric-field-induced high-order resonance technique inside a high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM). Resonances up to fourth order for normal modes and third order for parametric modes have been initiated in the cantilevered tubes, and the recorded frequencies are well consistent with the theoretical calculations with a discrepancy of \u223c1%. The elastic moduli of the BNNTs measured from high-order resonance is about 906.2 GPa on average, with a standard deviation of 9.3%, which is found to be closely related to the intrinsic defect as cavities in the nanotube walls. Furthermore, electron irradiation in HRTEM has been used to study the effects of defects to elastic moduli and to evaluate the radiation resistance of the BNNTs. Along with an increase in the irradiation dose, the outer diameter has linearly reduced due to the knock-on effects. A defective shell with nearly constant thickness has been formed on the outer surface, and as a result, the elastic modulus decreases gradually to \u223c662.9 GPa, which is still 3 times that of steel. Excellent intrinsic elastic properties and decent radiation-resistance prove that BNNTs could be a material of choice for applications in extreme environments, such as those existing in space.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16154740,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-26":1}}},"text":"A protein canyon in the FGF-FGF receptor dimer selects from an \u00e0 la carte menu of heparan sulfate motifs.\nHeparan sulfate (HS) is an essential and dynamic regulator of fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signaling. Two fundamentally different crystallographic models have been proposed to explain, at the molecular level, how HS\/heparin enables FGF and FGF receptor (FGFR) to assemble into a functional dimer on the cell surface. In the symmetric 'two-end' model, the heparin-binding sites of FGF and FGFR merge to form a basic canyon that recruits two HS for binding. Within this canyon, the HS molecules primarily act to orchestrate and fortify multivalent and cooperative protein-protein contacts within the dimer that are the foundations of dimerization. In contrast, in the asymmetric model, which mechanistically resembles the previously proposed trans FGF dimer model, a single heparin molecule facilitates dimerization by cross-linking two FGFs into a trans dimer that brings together the two FGFRs. Interestingly, the crystal structure upon which the asymmetric model is based contains a symmetric dimer reminiscent of the symmetric two-end model, suggesting that a different interpretation of the crystal structure has led to the postulation of the asymmetric model. Importantly, the symmetric two-end model provides an intriguing solution to the problem of how HS selectivity is achieved in FGF signaling. The model reveals that, within the canyon, FGF and FGFR no longer adhere to their individual HS binding specificities, but instead act in unison to search for a unique HS motif from a plethora of HS epitopes that are expressed in a tissue-specific and developmentally regulated fashion. Primary sequence differences within the heparin-binding sites of FGFs and FGFRs, together with ligand-induced changes in FGFR conformation, lead to the formation of distinct canyons with unique HS specificity for individual FGF-FGFR complexes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1698395,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"The postsynaptic 43K protein clusters muscle nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in Xenopus oocytes.\nNicotinic acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) are localized at high concentrations in the postsynaptic membrane of the neuromuscular junction. A peripheral membrane protein of Mr 43,000 (43K protein) is closely associated with AChRs and has been proposed to anchor receptors at postsynaptic sites. We have used the Xenopus oocyte expression system to test the idea that the 43K protein clusters AChRs. Mouse muscle AChRs expressed in oocytes after injection of RNA encoding receptor subunits are uniformly distributed in the surface membrane. Coinjection of AChR RNA and RNA encoding the mouse muscle 43K protein causes AChRs to form clusters of 0.5-1.5 microns diameter. AChR clustering is not a consequence of increased receptor expression in the surface membrane or nonspecific clustering of all membrane proteins. The 43K protein is colocalized with AChRs in clusters when the two proteins are expressed together and forms clusters of similar size even in the absence of AChRs. These results provide direct evidence that the 43K protein causes clustering of AChRs and suggest that regulation of 43K protein clustering may be a key step in neuromuscular synaptogenesis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36926581,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Palladium nanoparticle based smart hydrogels for NIR light-triggered photothermal\/photodynamic therapy and drug release with wound healing capability.\nTumor recurrence and wound repair are two major challenges following cancer surgical resection that can be addressed through precision nanomedicine. Herein, palladium nanoparticles (Pd NPs) with photothermal and photodynamic therapy (PTT\/PDT) capacity were successfully synthesized. The Pd NPs were loaded with chemotherapeutic doxorubicin (DOX) to form hydrogels (Pd\/DOX@hydrogel) as a smart anti-tumor platform. The hydrogels were composed of clinically approved agarose and chitosan, with excellent biocompatibility and wound healing ability. Pd\/DOX@hydrogel can be used for both PTT and PDT with a synergistic effect to kill tumor cells. Additionally, the photothermal effect of Pd\/DOX@hydrogel allowed the photo-triggered drug release of DOX. Therefore, Pd\/DOX@hydrogel can be used for near-infrared (NIR)-triggered PTT and PDT as well as for photo-induced chemotherapy, efficiently inhibiting tumor growth. Furthermore, Pd\/DOX@hydrogel can be used as a temporary biomimetic skin to block the invasion of foreign harmful substances, promote angiogenesis, and accelerate wound repair and new skin formation. Thus, the as-prepared smart Pd\/DOX@hydrogel is expected to provide a feasible therapeutic solution following tumor resection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26469589,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Photonic microwave quadrature filter with low phase imbalance and high signal-to-noise ratio performance.\nA photonic microwave quadrature filter is presented. It has a very simple structure, very low phase imbalance, and high signal-to-noise ratio performance. Experimental results are presented that demonstrate a photonic microwave quadrature filter with a 3 dB operating frequency range of 10.5-26.5 GHz, an amplitude and phase imbalance of less than \u00b10.3 dB and \u00b10.15\u00b0, and a signal-to-noise ratio of more than 121 dB in a 1 Hz noise bandwidth.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28567123,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-30":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Identification of Protease Specificity Using Biotin-Labeled Substrates.\nProteolysis constitutes a major post-translational modification. For example, proteases regulate the activation or inactivation of various proteins, such as enzymes, growth factors, and peptide hormones. Proteases have substrate specificity, and protease expression regulates the specific and regional activation or inactivation of several functional proteins. We demonstrate a novel method for determining protease specificity through the use of MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry with biotin-labeled substrates. This method was able to determine the specificity of TPCK-trypsin, V8 protease, elastase and cyanogen bromide cleavage, and the results were similar to previous reports. In addition, the method can be used to measure crude samples, such as tumor extracts. We demonstrated that this method could identify protease specificity after simple processing, even for crude samples.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11982768,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Multiple cutaneous and uterine leiomyomas: refinement of the genetic locus for multiple cutaneous and uterine leiomyomas on chromosome 1q42.3-43.\nCutaneous leiomyomas, rare benign tumors originating from the arrector pili muscle of the hair follicle, can be associated with the common uterine fibroids in a syndrome called multiple cutaneous and uterine leiomyomas. Multiple cutaneous and uterine leiomyomas are inherited as an autosomal dominant trait, providing an excellent opportunity for the study of the common non-Mendelian manifestation of isolated uterine fibroids. This study reports the clinical and molecular characterization of an extended family with multiple cutaneous and uterine leiomyomas. Linkage analysis has shown that the disease in this family is linked to the recently reported genetic locus for multiple cutaneous and uterine leiomyomas, with a maximum two-point LOD score of 4.453 for markers D1S2670, D1S2785, D1S547, and D1S1609. The identification of key recombination events has allowed us to refine substantially the location of the genetic locus for multiple cutaneous and uterine leiomyomas, from 14 cM to an interval of 4.55 or 7.19 cM, depending on the final phenotype of a young family member in which one of the key recombination events has occurred. In addition, we provide a description of the interesting pattern and progression of the skin phenotype in this four-generation kindred. The refinement of the genetic locus for multiple cutaneous and uterine leiomyomas and the availability of an extended multigeneration pedigree will facilitate the identification of the mutated gene responsible for multiple cutaneous and uterine leiomyomas, which, in turn, may provide key information for the understanding of the molecular basis of the common uterine fibroids.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11640931,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Effect of transgenic overexpression of NR2B on NMDA receptor function and synaptic plasticity in visual cortex.\nThe NMDA receptor (NMDAR) is a heteromer comprised of NR1 and NR2 subunits. Mice that overexpress the NR2B subunit exhibit enhanced hippocampal LTP, prolonged NMDAR currents, and improved memory ( Tang et al., 1999). In the current study, we explored visual cortex plasticity and NMDAR function in NR2B overexpressing transgenic mice. Unlike the hippocampus, in vitro synaptic plasticity of the visual cortex was unaltered by NR2B overexpression. Consistent with the plasticity findings, NMDAR excitatory postsynaptic current (EPSC) durations from layer 2\/3 pyramidal cells were similar in wild-type (wt) and transgenic (tg) mice. Furthermore, temporal summation of NMDAR EPSCs to 10, 20, and 40 Hz stimulation did not differ between cells from wt and tg mice. Finally, although in situ studies clearly demonstrate overexpression of NR2B mRNA in visual cortex, we failed to observe a significant elevation in the synaptic expression of NR2B protein. We conclude that the synaptic ratio of NR2B over NR2A in the NMDA receptor complex in the visual cortex is not significantly influenced by the transgene overexpression. These data suggest that mRNA availability is not a limiting factor for the synthesis of NR2B protein in the visual cortex, and support the hypothesis that levels of NR2A, rather than NR2B, normally determine the subunit composition of NMDARs in visual cortex.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29551004,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-18":1}}},"text":"Feasibility of fluorescence lymph node imaging in colon cancer: FLICC.\nIn colon cancer, appropriate tumour excision and associated lymphadenectomy directly impact recurrence and survival outcomes. Currently, there is no standard for mesenteric lymphadenectomy, with a lymph node yield of 12 acting as a surrogate quality marker. Our goal was to determine the safety and feasibility of indocyanine green (ICG) fluorescence imaging to demonstrate lymphatic drainage in colon cancer in a dose-escalation study. A prospective pilot study of colon cancer patients undergoing curative laparoscopic resection was performed. At surgery, peritumoural subserosal ICG injection was done to demonstrate lymphatic drainage of the tumour. A specialized fluorescence system excited the ICG and assessed lymphatics in real time. The primary outcome was the feasibility of ICG fluorescent lymphangiography for lymphatic drainage in colon cancer. Secondary outcomes were the optimal protocol for dose, injection site, and ICG lymphatic mapping timing. Ten consecutive patients were evaluated (six males, mean age 69.5 years). In all, lymphatic channels were seen around the tumour to a varying extent. Eight (80%) had drainage to the sentinel node. In all cases where the lymphatic map was seen, there was no further spread 10 min after injection. In 2 patients (20%), additional lymph nodes located outside of the proposed resection margins were demonstrated. In both cases the resection was extended to include the nodes and in both patients these nodes were positive on histopathology. Factors contributing to reduced lymphatic visualization were inadequate ICG concentrations, excess India ink blocking drainage, and inflammation from tattoo placement. ICG can be safely injected into the peritumoural subserosal and demonstrate lymphatic drainage in colon cancer. This proof of concept and proposed standards for the procedure can lead to future studies to optimize the application of image-guided precision surgery in colon cancer. Furthermore, this technique may be of value in indicating the need for more extended lymphadenectomy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12003117,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Varieties of centralized intake: the Portland Target Cities Project experience.\nTo assess the possible influence of centralized intake on client outcomes, initial, six- and twelve-month Addiction Severity Index composite scores (in the alcohol, drug, legal and psychiatric areas) for clients who experienced provider intake were compared with scores for those going through two different models of centralized intake. Centralized intake clients were more likely than provider intake clients to have legal problems, and those legal problems became fewer over time. Clients from in-jail intake, including pretreatment services and accompanied placement, showed a greater initial and lower subsequent prevalence of drug, psychiatric and legal problems than the clients of the freestanding centralized intake. For all clients, psychiatric composite scores were powerful predictors of problems in alcohol, drug medical and legal areas, and psychiatric symptoms decreased over time. Since baseline differences in demographics and service assignment existed among the three groups, it was difficult to identify whether the outcome differences were due to the nature of the participants, the nature of the intake intervention, or both. However, the Portland Target Cities Projects's emphasis on in-jail centralized intake was associated with enhanced client outcomes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18601269,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Physical and computational analysis of the yeast Kluyveromyces lactis secreted proteome.\nSecretion of proteins is the most common approach to protein expression in Kluyveromyces lactis. A proteomic analysis was performed on spent fermentation medium following bioreactor propagation of a wild-type industrial strain to identify proteins naturally secreted by K. lactis cells. Multidimensional separations were conducted and RP online ESI-MS\/MS analysis identified 81 secreted proteins. In addition, an in silico analysis predicted 178 K. lactis proteins to be secreted via the general secretory pathway (GSP). These two datasets were compared and approximately 70% of the K. lactis proteins detected in the culture medium possessed a GSP sequence. The detected proteins included those involved with cell wall structure and synthesis, carbohydrate metabolism, and proteolysis, a result that may have significant bearing on heterologous protein expression. Additionally, both the experimental and in silico datasets were compared to similar, previously published datasets for Candida albicans. With the methodology presented here, we provide the deepest penetration into a yeast secretome yet reported.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37859644,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A new record of the genus Froggattiella Leonardi (Hemiptera, Coccomorpha, Diaspididae) in South Korea.\nThe genus Froggattiella Leonardi, 1900 belongs to the family Diaspididae, and five species of Froggattiella have been recorded worldwide. In this study, Froggattiellapenicillata (Green, 1905), which attacks bamboos, is newly recorded in South Korea. The colonies of F.penicillata were collected on a bamboo forest located in Gajwa-dong, Jinju-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea (35.1599, 128.1029). Description of the adult female, host plant, adult female illustrations, and global distribution of this species are provided. Froggattiellapenicillata (Green, 1905) is reported for the first time in South Korea. This species occurrs under sheathing bases of the leaves and is observed attached on the stem and not on the leaf.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22667324,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Engineering folate-drug conjugates to target cancer: from chemistry to clinic.\nThe folate receptor (FR) is a potentially useful biological target for the management of many human cancers. This membrane protein binds extracellular folates with very high affinity and, through an endocytic process, physically delivers them inside the cell for biological consumption. There are now many examples of how this physiological system can be exploited for the targeted delivery of biologically active molecules to cancer. In fact, strong preclinical as well as emerging clinical evidence exists showing how FR-positive cancers can be (i) anatomically identified using folate conjugates of radiodiagnostic imaging agents and (ii) effectively treated with companion folate-targeted chemotherapies. While the biological results are compelling, it is of equal importance to understand the conjugation chemistries that were developed to produce these active molecules. Therefore, this review will focus on the methods utilized to construct folate-based small-molecule drug conjugates (SMDCs), with particular attention focused on modular design, hydrophilic spacers, and self-immolative linkers.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15260136,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"NF-kappaB prevents TNF-alpha-induced apoptosis in an oligodendrocyte cell line.\nNuclear factor kappa beta (NF-kappaB) inhibits apoptosis in sensory, hippocampal, and striatal neurons of the central nervous system. Although several apoptotic stimuli have been shown to activate NF-kappaB in oligodendrocytes, the function of NF-kappaB in this cell type remains unknown. In this study, we introduced plasmids expressing either the p50- or p65-subunit of human NF-kappaB into Central Glia-4 (CG-4)--a rat oligodendrocyte precursor cell line-and determined the influence of NF-kappaB function on tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha)-induced apoptosis. Expression of NF-kappaB markedly prevented CG-4 apoptosis, with p50 being more effective than p65. This anti-apoptotic activity was repressed by IkappaB-alpha, an inhibitor of NF-kappaB. These results imply that NF-kappaB acts as a potent inhibitor of TNF-induced apoptosis in oligodendrocytes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6726611,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Drug distribution and binding to muscle in rat.\nDrug binding to rat skeletal muscle homogenate was studied using quinidine and quinine as basic drugs, and furosemide and phenylbutazone as anionic drugs. Characteristically different binding fashions were observed among basic and anionic drugs. Quinidine and quinine which are stereoisomers bound to muscle not depending on drug concentration and showed similar binding ratios, while furosemide and phenylbutazone bound to muscle depending on drug concentration. Quinidine and quinine bound mainly to 1000 x g precipitates of muscle homogenate while furosemide and phenylbutazone bound exclusively to cytosol fraction. Binding to 1000 x g precipitates was not explained by binding to actin and myosin alone, while the second protein fraction eluted from cytosol by Sephadex G-75 gel filtration was found to have binding properties for furosemide.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6154200,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The hypernoradrenergic state in vasodilator drug-treated hypertensive patients: effect of clonidine.\nWe studied 11 previously refractory hypertensive subjects who were treated with minoxidil, propranolol, and diuretics for 2--7 years. During this time 70 random blood samples were collected in the supine position and analyzed for plasma norepinephrine (PNE) and plasma renin activity (PRA). The mean PNE was 546 pg\/ml (normal mean +\/- SE, 173 +\/- 10) and was reciprocally related to log PRA. To determine if this elevated PNE would respond to clonidine, 5 of the patients were admitted to the General Clinical Research Center for administration of placebo and later of clonidine (0.1 or 0.2 mg). A single dose of clonidine suppressed PNE (p less than 0.01) and lowered mean blood pressure (p less than 0.02) for 12 hr. The PRA was not altered significantly by clonidine. Thus, high PNE in these treated patients can be suppressed by clonidine, and this suppression of PNE and blood pressure occurs without alteration of PRA.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26479388,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"\"Chickens Are a Lot Smarter than I Originally Thought\": Changes in Student Attitudes to Chickens Following a Chicken Training Class.\nA practical class using clicker training of chickens to apply knowledge of how animals learn and practice skills in animal training was added to an undergraduate course. Since attitudes to animals are related to their perceived intelligence, surveys of student attitudes were completed pre- and post- the practical class, to determine if (1) the practical class changed students' attitudes to chickens and their ability to experience affective states, and (2) any changes were related to previous contact with chickens, training experience or gender. In the post- versus pre-surveys, students agreed more that chickens are easy to teach tricks to, are intelligent, and have individual personalities and disagreed more that they are difficult to train and are slow learners. Following the class, they were more likely to believe chickens experience boredom, frustration and happiness. Females rated the intelligence and ability to experience affective states in chickens more highly than males, although there were shifts in attitude in both genders. This study demonstrated shifts in attitudes following a practical class teaching clicker training in chickens. Similar practical classes may provide an effective method of teaching animal training skills and promoting more positive attitudes to animals.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28527773,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Prevalence, Management, and Long-Term (6-Year) Outcomes of Atrial Fibrillation Among Patients Receiving Drug-Eluting Coronary Stents.\nThis study sought to investigate the incidence, management, and clinical relevance of atrial fibrillation (AF) during and after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with drug-eluting stents (DES) and evaluate outcomes of different antithrombotic strategies. Uncertainty exists regarding the optimal antithrombotic strategy in patients with AF who are undergoing PCI with DES. Using a consecutive series of 10,027 patients who underwent DES implantation between 2003 and 2011, we evaluated the overall prevalence and clinical impact of AF. In addition, we compared the efficacy and safety of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) (aspirin plus clopidogrel) and triple therapy (DAPT plus warfarin) among patients with AF. The primary outcome was a composite of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke. Overall, 711 (7.1%) patients had a diagnosis of AF at the index PCI. Patients with AF were older, had more comorbid conditions, and more often had a history of strokes; most patients with AF (88.4%) received DAPT rather than triple therapy (10.5%) at discharge. The rate of primary outcome after PCI during the 6-year follow-up period was significantly higher in patients with AF than in those without AF (22.1% vs. 8.0%; p < 0.001). This trend was consistent for major bleeding (4.5% vs. 1.5%; p < 0.001). After multivariable adjustment, the presence of AF was significantly associated with a higher risk of primary outcome (hazard ratio [HR]: 2.33; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.95 to 2.79; p < 0.001) and major bleeding (HR: 2.01; 95% CI: 1.32 to 3.06; p = 0.001). Among patients with AF, adjusted risk for the primary outcome was similar between the DAPT group and the triple therapy group (HR: 1.01; 95% CI: 0.60 to 1.69; p = 0.98), but triple therapy was associated with a significantly higher risk of hemorrhagic stroke (HR: 7.73; 95% CI: 2.14 to 27.91; p = 0.002) and major bleeding (HR: 4.48; 95% CI: 1.81 to 11.08; p = 0.001). Among patients receiving DES implantation, AF was not rare and was associated with increased ischemic and bleeding risk. In patients with AF, triple therapy was not associated with decreased ischemic events but was associated with increased bleeding risk compared to DAPT.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16145675,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Fasting serum sulfate levels before and after development of osteoarthritis in participants of the veterans administration normative aging longitudinal study do not differ from levels in participants in whom osteoarthritis did not develop.\nTo determine whether the development of osteoarthritis (OA) in men over a 33-year period is related to lower sulfate levels in stored serum collected during that time interval. Stored serum samples from participants in the Veterans Administration Normative Aging Study were assayed for sulfate by ion-exchange chromatography. Samples had been obtained every 3-5 years during part or all of a 33-year portion of the study. Sulfate levels were determined in serum from all participants who underwent knee replacement surgery and had evidence of radiographic hand OA, from some of the participants who had evidence of radiographic hand OA but had not undergone knee replacement surgery, from all participants who underwent knee replacement surgery but had no evidence of radiographic hand OA, and from age-matched participants who had no evidence of OA by history, physical examination, or hand radiography. Serum sulfate levels in participants, with or without radiographic hand OA and\/or knee replacements, who were ages 34-72 years at the first examination, ranged from 0.21 mM to 0.51 mM over the course of a maximum of 33 years. Both the overall mean and median sulfate levels rose from 0.32 mM at age 40-50 years to 0.38 mM at age 70-80 years, and the overall mean and median for all ages was 0.36 mM. There were no significant differences in sulfate levels between subjects in any of the 4 groups. There was no evidence of a relationship between these serum sulfate levels and the development of OA. However, all samples were collected after overnight fasting, and no participant was younger than age 34 years at the initiation of the study. It remains to be determined whether differences in the time of ingestion of daily dietary protein providing sulfate are related to the development of OA, or whether sulfate levels measured at an earlier age could be a factor.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12039642,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Fast determination of retinol and alpha-tocopherol in plasma by LC.\nA fast, selective and economical method for the determination of retinol and alpha-tocopherol is presented. Both vitamins are separated by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in less than 4 min using an isocratic elution with methanol. The robustness of the method was checked in real samples, obtaining relative standard deviation lower than 3%. The described method was satisfactorily applied to serum samples proceeding of patients enrolled in a METHADONE maintenance treatment program. The retinol concentrations in the serum of these patients fell into the normal interval of concentrations; however, the serum alpha-tocopherol contents were higher than the normal values.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21745696,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Changes in sunburn and tanning attitudes among lifeguards over a summer season.\nSkin cancer is one of the most common cancers in the United States. Lifeguards are at increased risk of excessive sun exposure and sunburn. We sought to examine changes in: (1) sunburn frequency over a summer while controlling for sun exposure, sun protection habits, and participation in a skin cancer prevention program; and (2) tanning attitudes while controlling for participation in the program. Participants in this study were lifeguards (n = 3014) at swimming pools participating in the Pool Cool program in 2005. Lifeguards completed surveys at the beginning and end of the summer. Sequential regression analyses were used to assess changes in sunburn frequency and tanning attitudes. Sunburn frequency decreased between baseline and follow-up. Having a sunburn over the summer was significantly predicted by baseline sunburn history, ethnicity, skin cancer risk, and sun exposure. The tanning attitude, \"People are more attractive if they have a tan,\" was significantly predicted from baseline tanning attitude and ethnicity. The second tanning attitude, \"It helps to have a good base suntan,\" was significantly predicted by baseline tanning attitude, ethnicity, basic\/enhanced group, and moderate skin cancer risk. Self-reported data and limited generalizability to lifeguards at other outdoor pools are limitations. The findings showed that previous sunburn history is an important predictor of sunburn prospectively. In addition, a more risky tanning attitude is an important predictor of future attitudes toward tanning. Active involvement in targeted prevention programs may help to increase preventive behavior and health risk reduction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19023644,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Methylprednisolone versus triamcinolone in painful shoulder using ultrasound-guided injection.\nThere is little evidence about the comparative efficacy of corticosteroids in the treatment of painful shoulder. The main aim was to compare the efficacy of methylprednisolone (MTP) versus triamcinolone (TMC) in the treatment of painful shoulder using an ultrasound-guided injection. Patients with painful shoulder due to subacromial bursitis and partial or full-thickness rotator cuff tears demonstrated by musculoskeletal ultrasound received a guided-injection of MTP acetate 40 mg (12 patients) or TMC acetonide 40 mg (12 patients). Range of motion and pain visual analogue scale were registered at 10 and 30 min, 1 and 2 weeks postinjection. Two weeks postinjection, both groups reported a mean improvement in range of motion (33%) and relief of pain (61%). Relief of pain of 50% or more was observed in 92% of patients in MTP group and 50% of TMC group (p = 0.02). Two months postinjection, 50% of the patients in MTP group and 25% in TMC group reported total relief of pain (p = 0.3). Patients with painful shoulder receiving an ultrasound-guided injection of MTP or TMC have a rapid and sustained overall response. Relief of pain tends to be more rapid with MTP than TMC.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25421100,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Hartmann's procedure in rectal cancer: a population-based study of postoperative complications.\nHartmann's procedure for rectal cancer patients is increasingly performed but few studies have reported the postoperative outcome. The purpose was to report postoperative complications and analyse risk factors in rectal cancer patients operated with Hartmann's procedure. To describe the selection and postoperative complication patterns, all bowel-resected rectal cancer patients were included. Population-based data were from the county of V\u00e4stmanland, Sweden. All rectal cancer patients operated with an elective bowel resection between 1996 and 2012 were included. Demographics and postoperative complications were prospectively registered and data retrospectively analysed. Of the 624 patients included, 396 (64%) were operated with an anterior resection, 159 (25%) with an abdominoperineal excision and 69 (11%) a Hartmann's procedure of which 90% were low Hartmann's. Patients operated with a Hartmann's procedure were significantly older, had higher ASA-score, poorer WHO performance score and lower serum albumin levels. Operative time for Hartmann's procedure was a median of 49 and 99 min shorter than after anterior resection and abdominoperineal excision, respectively, and entailed less bleeding. Complications related to the pelvic and perineal dissections were more common after abdominoperineal excision compared with anterior resection and Hartmann's procedure (32 vs. 9 and 13%, p < 0.001). Few rectal cancer patients, operated with Hartmann's procedure, developed pelvic complications despite a higher age, more co-morbidities, metastases in different localities and functional inferiority when compared with the patients operated with anterior resection or abdominoperineal excision. Hartmann's procedure is a valid alternative procedure in the old and frail rectal cancer patient.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17192513,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) has two very similar semenogelin genes as the result of gene conversion.\nThe semen coagulum proteins have undergone substantial structural changes during evolution. In primates, these seminal vesicle-secreted proteins are known as semenogelin I (SEMG1) and semenogelin II (SEMG2). Previous studies on the common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) showed that ejaculated semen from this New World monkey contains semenogelin, but it remained unclear whether it carries both genes or only SEMG1 and no SEMG2, like the closely related cotton-top tamarin (Saguinus oedipus). In this study we show that there are two genes, both expressed in the seminal vesicles. Surprisingly, the genes show an almost perfect sequence identity in a region of 1.25 kb, encompassing nearly half of the genes and containing exon 1, intron 1, and the first 0.9 kb of exon 2. The underlying molecular mechanism is most likely gene conversion, and a phylogenetic analysis suggests that SEMG1 is the most probable donor gene. The marmoset SEMG1 in this report differs from a previously reported cDNA by a lack of nucleotides encoding one repeat of 60 amino acids, suggesting that marmoset SEMG1 displays allelic size variation. This is similar to what was recently demonstrated in humans, but in marmosets the polymorphism was generated by a repeat duplication, whereas in humans it was a deletion. Together, these studies shed new light on the evolution of semenogelins and the mechanisms that have generated the structural diversity of semen coagulum proteins.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37851918,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"\"Three-in-One\" Nanozyme Composite for Augmented Cascade Catalytic Tumor Therapy.\nCascade catalytic reaction exhibits simple procedure and high efficiency, such as that from the orderly assembly of different enzymes in biological systems. Mimicking of the natural cascade procedure becomes critical, but the orderly assembly of different enzymes is still challenging. Herein, single Au-Pt nanozyme is reported with \"three-in-one\" functions to initiate cascade conversions for O2 supply as mimic catalase, H2 O2 production with its glucose oxidase-like property, and \u2022 OH generation as mimic peroxidase for chemodynamic therapy (CDT). Thus, the complex assembly and cross-talk among the different enzymes are avoided. To this end, metastable Cu2 O NPs, as scaffolds, are used to anchor ultrasmall Au-Pt nanozyme, while metal-organic framework (MOF) is used to encapsulate the nanozyme for tumor microenvironment response and shielding protein adsorption. Pluronic F127 is then modified on the surface to improve hydrophilicity and biocompatibility of the composite. The endogenous acidity and glutathione in tumor degrade MOF to expose nanozyme for cascade catalytic CDT. The high photothermal conversion ability also enhances the CDT, while Cu2+ ions consume GSH to further improve CDT efficiency as augmented cascade catalytic tumor therapy. Thus, a new paradigm is provided with drug-free single nanozyme for improving tumor therapeutic efficacy and minimizing side effects.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20363005,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Firearm suicide decedents in the Republic of Ireland, 1980-2005.\nTo compare the sociodemographic characteristics of firearms suicide decedents and other suicide decedents in the Republic of Ireland between 1980 and 2005. A cross-sectional study of sociodemographic characteristics of those who committed suicide with a firearm and those who committed suicide by an alternative method. Suicide data from 1980 to 2005 inclusive, provided by the Central Statistics Office of Ireland, were analysed. For the purpose of this paper, suicide method was collapsed into two groups: firearm-assisted suicide (FAS) and non-firearm-assisted suicide (n-FAS). Differences in gender, marital status (married vs not married), area of residence (urban vs rural), agri-employment (agri-employed vs not agri-employed) and age were examined between the two groups. A logistic regression is presented using suicide method (FAS vs n-FAS) as the criterion variable and individual factors as predictors. In total, 9674 suicides were recorded from 1 January 1980 to 31 December 2005. Seven hundred and ninety-three of these were FAS and 8881 were n-FAS. For both suicide profiles, the deceased were predominantly male, living in a rural setting and not married. However, this profile was more salient in the FAS group. In comparison with the n-FAS group, a greater proportion of the FAS decedents were male [chi(2)(1)=152.5, P< or =0.0001, odds ratio (OR)=4.5, 95% confidence interval (CI) 3.4-6.1], from a rural setting [chi(2)(1)=153.5, P< or =0.0001, OR=4.4, 95%CI 3.2-5.6) and agri-employed [chi(2)(1)=21.3, P< or =0.0001, OR=1.5, 95%CI 1.3-1.8). FAS decedents were significantly younger than n-FAS victims, although the size of this effect was small (z=-8.4, P<0.0005, r=-0.1). There was no difference in marital status between the two groups. Risk factors for FAS should inform policy-making in this area, with particular attention paid to protecting young males resident in rural settings. Consideration should be given to targeting agri-employed individuals as a specific at-risk group.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":33731416,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Development of a Measles and Rubella Multiplex Bead Serological Assay for Assessing Population Immunity.\nSerosurveys are important tools for estimating population immunity and providing immunization activity guidance. The measles and rubella multiplex bead assay (MBA) offers multiple advantages over standard serological assays and was validated by comparison with the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and the measles plaque reduction neutralization (PRN) assay. Results from a laboratory-produced purified measles virus whole-virus antigen MBA (MeV WVAL) correlated better with ELISA and PRN than results from the baculovirus-expressed measles nucleoprotein (N) MBA. Therefore, a commercially produced whole-virus antigen (MeV WVAC) was evaluated. Serum IgG antibody concentrations correlated significantly with a strong linear relationship between the MeV WVAC and MeV WVAL MBAs (R = 0.962 and R2 = 0.926). IgG concentrations from the MeV WVAC MBA showed strong correlation with PRN titers (R = 0.846), with a linear relationship comparable to values obtained with the MeV WVAL MBA and PRN assay (R2 = 0.716 and R2 = 0.768, respectively). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis of the MeV WVAC using PRN titer as the comparator resulted in a seroprotection cutoff of 153 mIU\/ml, similar to the established correlate of protection of 120 mIU\/ml, with a sensitivity of 98% and a specificity of 83%. IgG concentrations correlated strongly between the rubella WVA MBA and ELISA (R = 0.959 and R2 = 0.919). ROC analysis of the rubella MBA using ELISA as the comparator yielded a cutoff of 9.36 IU\/ml, similar to the accepted cutoff of 10 IU\/ml for seroprotection, with a sensitivity of 99% and a specificity of 100%. These results support use of the MBA for multiantigen serosurveys assessing measles and rubella population immunity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3084120,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The effect of macrophage development on the release of reactive oxygen intermediates and lipid oxidation products, and their ability to induce oxidative DNA damage in mammalian cells.\nInflammation and the release of potentially damaging substances, such as reactive oxygen intermediates (ROI) and lipid oxidation products from inflammatory cells, have been linked to the potentiation of carcinogenesis. Murine macrophages when stimulated with phorbol esters induce 5,6 ring saturated thymine residues (T'), a lesion of known oxidative origin, in co-cultivated mammalian cells. Induction of this damage was inhibited by catalase and induced in target cells by reagent H2O2 alone. In the present studies, we used defined populations of macrophages with high, low and intermediate capacities for the release of H2O2 or metabolites of arachidonic acid (AA) to assess the relative contribution of these classes of compounds to the induction of saturated thymines. Macrophages activated with Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG), which have the highest capacity for the release of H2O2 and the lowest for the release of metabolites of AA, induced the lowest levels of saturated thymines. Resident macrophages from the unmanipulated peritoneum, which have the lowest capacity for the production of H2O2 and the highest capacity for release of AA metabolites, induced more saturated thymines than did the BCG macrophages. Inflammatory macrophages elicited by casein, which have an intermediate capacity for release of H2O2 and AA metabolites, induced the highest level of saturated thymines. Zymosan, which induced more release of AA metabolites than release of H2O2, was a better stimulant for the induction of T' than TPA, which is a better stimulant for secretion of H2O2. Nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA), an inhibitor of the lipoxygenase and cyclooxygenase pathways for metabolism of AA, inhibited the induction of T' by resident macrophages. Indomethacin, an inhibitor of the cyclo-oxygenase path, enhanced induction of T'. Taken together, the data suggest that while H2O2 has the capacity to induce T' in 3T3 cells, it may not be the only mediator of DNA damage and that lipoxygenase generated metabolites of AA may (alone or in concert with ROI) play an important role in the induction of oxidative DNA damage by macrophages.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11641895,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Analysis of occurrence of Chlamydophila pneumoniae infection serological markers in patients with bronchial asthma].\nNumerous publications pointing the role of Chlamydophila pneumoniae infections in etiopathogenesis of bronchial asthma have appeared in recent years. Up to the presence the diagnostics of Chlamydophila pneumoniae infections has been based on the serological examinations especially on indirect microimmunofluorescence which is regarded to be a \"gold standard\". The aim of the paper was to compare the occurrence of Chlamydophila pneumoniae infection serological markers in the group of patients with asthma (N = 38) and in the control group (N = 38). The obtained results have allowed making the following conclusions: 1. The increased level of IgG class anti-Chlamydophila pneumoniae antibodies in the group of patients with asthma, which proves more frequent contact with Chlamydophila pneumoniae in that group, seems to support the hypothesis about the role of chlamydial infections in etiopathogenesis of bronchial asthma. 2. The single assessment of anti-Chlamydophila pneumoniae antibodies in the ELISA test has not allowed determining the type of chlamydial infection in unambiguous way. However, with reference to the entire clinical picture, the statement of the contact with Chlamydophila pneumoniae can be helpful especially in the treatment of severe asthma.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25514176,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Relationship between immune parameters and organ involvement in children with Henoch-Schonlein purpura.\nHenoch-Schonlein purpura (HSP) is the most common type of connective tissue diseases which increasingly occurs in children in recent years and its pathogenesis remains unclear. In order to explore the immune parameters and underlying pathogenesis mechanism of children with HSP, the study involved 1232 patients with HSP having different clinical symptoms and their laboratory indicators were evaluated. Th1\/Th2 imbalance and overactivity of Th2 cells can cause increase in the synthesis and release of immunoglobulins in children with HSP. The number of red blood cells and white blood cells in urine was directly proportional to the level of IgA and inversely proportional to the level of serum complements (C3 and C4). Activation of these complements caused by immunoglobulin in patients with HSP plays an important role in renal injury. The urinary protein content in children with HSP along with proteinuria was positively correlated with IgE level, and IgE mediated type 1 hypersensitivity can cause increase in capillary permeability and weakened the charge barrier; hence, it could be considered as one of the causes of proteinuria in HSP. Additionally, the NK cells percentage was reduced and impaired immune function of NK cells were related to the immune injury of the digestive tract and kidney.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1679091,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Radiotoxicity of 125I-iododeoxyuridine in pre-implantation mouse embryos.\nThe radiotoxicity of DNA incorporated 125I in cultured pre-implantation two-cell mouse embryos was investigated and compared with external gamma-irradiation. The uptake of 125IdU in the two-cell stage embryos was determined as a function of incubation time and concentration of radioactivity (MBq\/ml) in the medium. The absorbed dose to the embryos was calculated using conventional procedures. The embryo survival curves show that the dose at 37% survival is only about 15 cGy for 125IdU, whereas for 137Cs-photons it is 175 cGy. The extreme toxicity observed is thought to be due to the localized energy deposition of the numerous low energy Auger electrons emitted in the decay of 125I. These results are consistent with earlier observations in mouse testis and cultured cells and point to the need for assessing the radiation risk from incorporated Auger electron emitting radionuclides based on their subcellular distribution.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37442436,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Hospitalization of Patients With Diabetes Due to Ketoacidosis Before and After the Initiation of Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter-2 Inhibitors.\nDiabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a rare side effect related to sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2I). This study investigated the incidence of people with diabetes hospitalized because of DKA after the implementation of SGLT2I (2015-2019), compared with the pre-SGLT2I era. In this retrospective cohort study, medical records of all adult patients hospitalized with a diagnosis of DKA in a tertiary referral center from 2011-2019 were reviewed. The incidence of DKA was compared between the periods 2011-2014 and 2015-2019. Demographic and clinical data of patients hospitalized with DKA as well as SGLT2I use were extracted. During 2011-2019, there were 186 hospitalizations because of DKA. The rate of hospitalization was stable during 2011-2019 at 0.22% \u00b1 0.04% (95% CI, 0.18-0.25). The clinical characteristics of people hospitalized with DKA in 2011-2014 were similar to those of people hospitalized during 2015-2019. Only 7 people (6.1%) in the 2015-2019 cohort had SGLT2I-related DKA, and their clinical characteristics were similar to those of the rest of the cohort. The rate of hospitalizations because of DKA remained stable before and 5 years after SGLT2I were implemented for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Larger, multi-institutional studies with longer follow-ups are needed to study the effect of SGLT2I on the rate of hospitalizations because of DKA among people with diabetes. Although DKA events associated with SGLT2I are rare, they should be strongly considered in the differential diagnosis of people treated with these medications.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22668778,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-26":1}}},"text":"LRRK2 kinase activity mediates toxic interactions between genetic mutation and oxidative stress in a Drosophila model: suppression by curcumin.\nParkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by selective loss of dopaminergic neurons and the presence of Lewy bodies. The pathogenesis of PD is believed to involve both genetic susceptibility and environmental factors. Mutations in Leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) cause genetic forms of PD, and the LRRK2 locus contributes to sporadic PD. Environmental toxins are believed to act in part by causing oxidative stress. Here we employed cell and Drosophila models to investigate the interaction between LRRK2 genetic mutations and oxidative stress. We found that H(2)O(2) increased LRRK2 kinase activity and enhanced LRRK2 cell toxicity in cultured cells and mouse primary cortical neurons. Furthermore, a sub-toxic dose of H(2)O(2) significantly shortened the survival of LRRK2 transgenic flies and augmented LRRK2-induced locomotor defects and dopamine neuron loss. Treatment with a LRRK2 kinase inhibitor (GW5074) or an anti-oxidant (curcumin) significantly suppressed these PD-like phenotypes in flies. Moreover, curcumin significantly reduced LRRK2 kinase activity and the levels of oxidized proteins, and thus acted as not only an antioxidant but also a LRRK2 kinase inhibitor. These results indicate that LRRK2 genetic alterations can interact with oxidative stress, converging on a pathogenic pathway that may be related to PD. These studies also identified curcumin as a LRRK2 kinase inhibitor that may be a useful candidate for LRRK2-linked PD intervention.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34412082,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Epigenetic marks in suicide: a review.\nSuicide is a complex phenomenon and a global public health problem that involves several biological factors that could contribute to the pathophysiology of suicide. There is evidence that epigenetic factors influence some psychiatric disorders, suggesting a predisposition to suicide or suicidal behavior. Here, we review studies of molecular mechanisms of suicide in an epigenetic perspective in the postmortem brain of suicide completers and peripheral blood cells of suicide attempters. Besides, we include studies of gene-specific DNA methylation, epigenome-wide association, histone modification, and interfering RNAs as epigenetic factors. This review provides an overview of the epigenetic mechanisms described in different biological systems related to suicide, contributing to an understanding of the genetic regulation in suicide. We conclude that epigenetic marks are potential biomarkers in suicide, and they could become attractive therapeutic targets due to their reversibility and importance in regulating gene expression.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28690232,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Progress in sleep-disordered breathing in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis].\nIdiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is one of the most common idiopathic interstitial pneumonia. The main symptoms for IPF are dry cough and exertional shortness of breath, which is worsen gradually with the development of pulmonary fibrosis. Patients with IPF often suffer from sleep disordered breathing (SDB). Sleep architecture for these patients including the sleep efficiency, deep sleep, rapid eye movement sleep and arousal index, are changed, which seriously affects the quality of life. In the absence of effective therapies, optimizing the quality of life may become a major therapeutic target for IPF. The diagnosis and treatment of SDB can significantly improve the quality of life for patients with IPF.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31603365,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Clinical Relevance of the High Prevalence of MYD88 L265P Mutated Vitreoretinal Lymphoma Identified by Droplet Digital Polymerase Chain Reaction.\nPurpose: To investigate the frequency and clinical relevance of missense mutation at position 265 changing leucine to proline in the myeloid differentiation factor 88 gene (MYD88 L265P) in the vitreous of Chinese patients with vitreoretinal lymphoma (VRL) using droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR).Methods: Vitreous fluid (VF) from 29 eyes of 20 VRL patients at the North Huashan Hospital were included. MYD88 L265P analysis of VF was performed using ddPCR. Associations between clinicopathologic characteristics and MYD88 mutation were analyzed using t-test or Fisher's exact test.Results: MYD88 L265P mutations were detected in 22 of 29 samples from 14 patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphomas and one patient with lymphoplasmacytoid lymphoma. However, no significant associations were found between MYD88 L265P mutation status and age, sex, lymphoma subtype or location of the primary lesion.Conclusion: The high prevalence of MYD88 L265P identified by ddPCR suggests that this method of evaluating the frequency of MYD88 L265P is a promising tool for accurate diagnosis of VRL.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":945653,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Secondary amenorrhoea and oral contraceptives.\nEight-seven cases of secondary amenorrhoea of more than 6 months' duration developing after treatment with oral contraceptives (group I) were compared with 227 cases of secondary amenorrhoea not preceded by treatment with combined tablets (group II). The two groups were collected during the same period. The average age of the patients was 4 years higher in group I than in group II. Oligomenorrhoea and previously occurred in 30% of group I and in 46% of group II. Pronounced predisposing factors., such as psychogenic trauma and stress with or without considerable change in body weight, were encountered in 26% in group I and 56% in group II. The incidence of increased urinary output of 17-keto steroids, 17-ketogenic steroids and of hirsutism was slightly higher in group II. The percentage of eosinophilic cells in vaginal scrapings was low in 20% in group I as compared with 46% in group II. Spontaneous return of pituitary-ovarian function occurred in 40% in both groups. Patients recovering spontaneously in group I presented a maximum during the first few months, followed by a steady and fairly uniform decline. Spontaneous recovery in group II was more or less independent of time. It seems reasonable to believe that oral contraceptives did promote or contribute to the development of secondary amenorrhoea in about 50%, representing cases with various predisposing factors. A causal relation between oral contraceptives and secondary amenorrhoea was indicated in the remaining 50% because of perfectly normal ovarian function before treatment and absence of predisposing factors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9564935,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Facile minimally invasive cardiac surgery via ministernotomy.\nThe public's and surgeons' perception of minimally invasive operations are frequently at odds. Nevertheless, real or perceived benefits may result from limiting skin and skeletal trauma. Beginning in January 1996, we began approaching most infant and pediatric open heart procedures through an upper sternal split incision using a 1- to 3-inch skin opening and then extended this technique using a 2.5- to 3.5-inch incision for adult aortic and mitral valve replacement. A total of 82 patients, 57 infants and children and 25 adults, have been operated on using this approach (age range, newborn to 81 years). Operations accomplished through ministernotomy have included aortic valvotomy, arterial switch, tetralogy of Fallot, atrial or ventricular septal defect closure, aortic valve replacement, mitral valve replacement and repair, redo aortic or mitral valve replacement, double valve replacement, aortic root replacement, and complex arch reconstruction. In adults, the sternum was divided and then a T incision was made at the second, third, or fourth intercostal space. The mitral valve was reached through the roof of the left atrium. In children, a lower sternal split was used for atrial septal defect repairs. All cannulas were introduced through the ministernotomy incision, eliminating femoral cannulation. No new instruments, retractors, or ports were used. Mediastinal drainage was accomplished through a Blake drain connected to Heimlich-valved grenade suction. All but 2 patients were extubated immediately. Hospital stay was from 1 to 20 days (median 2 days). Patient and family acceptance is very high. On the basis of this initial experience, we attempt all congenital cardiac and isolated adult valve operations through ministernotomy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16235982,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"GSTT1 and GSTM1 deletions, NQO1 C609T polymorphism and risk of chronic myelogenous leukemia in Japanese.\nWe conducted a prevalent case-control study with 51 chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) cases and 476 controls to investigate the associations between glutathione S-transferase T1 (GSTT1), glutathione S-transferase M1 (GSTM1) deletions, and the NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) C609T polymorphism with risk of chronic myelocytic leukemia in Japanese. For the GSTT1 deletion, when the GSTT1 positive genotype was defined as the reference, the OR for the GSTT1 deletion genotype was 1.32 (95%CI; 0.74-2.36). For the GSTM1 deletion, when the GSTM1 positive genotype was defined as the reference, the OR for the GSTM1 deletion genotype was 0.95 (95%CI; 0.53-1.69). For NQO1 C609T polymorphism, when the NQO1 609CC genotype was defined as the reference, the ORs for the CT genotype, TT genotype, and CT and TT genotypes combined together were 2.37 (95%CI, 1.21-4.67, P=0.012), 1.44 (0.55-3.74, P=0.012) and 2.12 (1.10-4.08, P=0.025), respectively. The present study revealed that the risk of CML was modulated little by GSTT1 and GSTM1 deletions, but a statistically significant association between NQO1 C609T polymorphism and CML was observed for Japanese. Incidence case-control studies with a larger statistical power are now required to confirm our findings.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37857397,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Letournel ilioinguinal approach in the management of acetabular fractures].\nThe ilioinguinal approach described by Emile Letournel in 1961 allows an extensive exposure of the anterior elements of the pelvis and acetabular fractures involving the anterior wall and\/or column, pubic symphysis, and sacroiliac joint. It also facilitates a rapid recovery of muscle function and leaves a cosmetic scar.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22670867,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Piebaldism.\nPiebaldism is an uncommon autosomal dominantly inherited pigment anomaly characterized by a congenital white forelock and leukoderma on the frontal scalp, forehead, ventral trunk and extremities. It is caused by a loss-of-function mutation in the KIT gene. Genetic analyses reveal a consistent genotype-phenotype relationship in piebaldism. However, recently reported cases of piebaldism that are milder or severer than genetically expected indicate that other factors, such as a modifier gene of MC1R, influence skin and hair color. The KIT ligand\/KIT that triggers the Ras\/mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway play essential functions in the migration, proliferation, survival, melanogenesis and melanosome transfer of the melanocytes. We summarize current research progress in piebaldism and related disorders.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16158048,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The proapoptotic tumor suppressor protein kinase C-delta is lost in human squamous cell carcinomas.\nProtein kinase C (PKC)-delta is proapoptotic in human keratinocytes, and is downregulated or inactivated in keratinocytes expressing the activated Ha-ras oncogene, making it a candidate tumor suppressor gene for squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). We evaluated the significance of PKC-delta loss in transformed human keratinocytes using tumorigenic HaCaT Ras II-4 cells that have significantly reduced PKC-delta levels. Re-expression of PKC-delta by retrovirus transduction caused an increase in apoptosis and growth inhibition in culture. The growth inhibition induced by PKC-delta could be partially reversed by Bcl-x(L) expression, indicating that apoptosis was in part responsible for PKC-delta-induced growth inhibition. PKC-delta re-expression suppressed the tumorigenicity of HaCaT Ras II-4 cells in nude mice (P<0.05), and the small tumors that did form contained elevated levels of activated caspase-3, indicating increased apoptosis. In addition, we found that 29% (12\/42) of human Bowen's disease (squamous carcinoma in situ) or SCC cases had absent or reduced PKC-delta when compared to the surrounding normal epidermis. These results indicate that PKC-delta inhibits transformed keratinocyte growth by inducing apoptosis, and that PKC-delta may function as a tumor suppressor in human SCCs where its loss in cells harboring activated ras could provide a growth advantage by conferring resistance to apoptosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29364891,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Move faster, think later: Women who play action video games have quicker visually-guided responses with later onset visuomotor-related brain activity.\nA history of action video game (AVG) playing is associated with improvements in several visuospatial and attention-related skills and these improvements may be transferable to unrelated tasks. These facts make video games a potential medium for skill-training and rehabilitation. However, examinations of the neural correlates underlying these observations are almost non-existent in the visuomotor system. Further, the vast majority of studies on the effects of a history of AVG play have been done using almost exclusively male participants. Therefore, to begin to fill these gaps in the literature, we present findings from two experiments. In the first, we use functional MRI to examine brain activity in experienced, female AVG players during visually-guided reaching. In the second, we examine the kinematics of visually-guided reaching in this population. Imaging data demonstrate that relative to women who do not play, AVG players have less motor-related preparatory activity in the cuneus, middle occipital gyrus, and cerebellum. This decrease is correlated with estimates of time spent playing. Further, these correlations are strongest during the performance of a visuomotor mapping that spatially dissociates eye and arm movements. However, further examinations of the full time-course of visuomotor-related activity in the AVG players revealed that the decreased activity during motor preparation likely results from a later onset of activity in AVG players, which occurs closer to beginning motor execution relative to the non-playing group. Further, the data presented here suggest that this later onset of preparatory activity represents greater neural efficiency that is associated with faster visually-guided responses.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19045019,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Theoretical study of the D-->C emission spectrum of NO(2).\nThe 3 (2)A(')(D)-->1 (2)A(\")(C) emission spectrum of NO(2) has been calculated by means of exact dynamics calculations and an accurate potential energy surface for the C state. The potential energy surface has been obtained by electronic structure calculations employing the internally contracted multireference configuration interaction method plus Davidson correction and the augmented correlation consistent polarized quadruple zeta basis set. The calculated spectrum, based on energies as well as intensities, agrees well with the measured one. Despite the two asymmetric C(s) potential wells of the C potential energy surface, the spectrum is best described by a C(2v) assignment in terms of symmetric stretch, bending, and antisymmetric stretch quantum numbers. The barrier separating the two wells is merely of the order of 500 cm(-1) with the consequence that only the two lowest states, (0,0,0) and (0,0,1), show a tunneling splitting. Essential for the correct assignment of the spectrum is the pronounced negative anharmonicity of the antisymmetric stretch mode. Excitation of the symmetric stretch mode is not directly seen in the main part of the spectrum.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7944012,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Diagnostic test for lymphoproliferative disease virus infection of turkeys, using the polymerase chain reaction.\nLymphoproliferative disease virus, a type-C retrovirus, is the etiologic agent of a naturally acquired lymphoproliferative disorder in turkeys. The disease is characterized by rapid induction of lymphoproliferative lesions with morphologic and histopathologic features resembling those of reticuloendotheliosis. Owing to lack of overt clinical manifestations, early detection of lymphoproliferative disease virus is essential for preventing the rapid horizontal spread of the disease that can decimate flocks. We describe development of a simple, rapid, sensitive, and highly specific assay, using the polymerase chain reaction, capable of providing differential diagnosis of the disease soon after infection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28363627,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Evaluation of a Nurse-Initiated Acute Gastroenteritis Pathway in the Pediatric Emergency Department.\nAcute gastroenteritis (AGE) is a common illness treated in the emergency department. Delays in initiating rehydration for children with mild or moderate dehydration from AGE can lead to prolonged ED visits and increased resource utilization that do not provide prognostic value or support family-centered care. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to promote early oral rehydration therapy (ORT) for persons with AGE in an attempt to reduce unnecessary resource utilization and length of stay (LOS). This prospective quality improvement project used a nurse-initiated waiting room ORT pathway for patients 6 months to 21 years of age who presented to the emergency department with diarrhea with or without vomiting. Outcomes related to nurse-initiated ORT, intravenous fluid use, laboratory studies or diagnostic imaging, and LOS were measured before and after implementation. Of 643 patients for whom the pathway was initiated, 392 received nurse-initiated care. The proportion of intravenous fluid use was 10.2% lower (odds ratio [OR], 0.43; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.27-0.68) and laboratory test ordering was 7.4% lower (OR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.43-0.94) in patients receiving nurse-initiated care. Time to discharge after provider examination was 46 minutes faster in the nurse-initiated care group (P < .001), resulting in an overall LOS reduction by 40 minutes (P < .001). Nurse autonomy in using an AGE pathway facilitates evidence-based practice, improves ED efficiency, and decreases resource utilization and LOS. Future research should focus on family satisfaction and ED revisits within 72 hours of discharge.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8346085,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pediatric education in emergency medicine residency programs--10 years later.\nThe purpose of this study is to examine the changes in the pediatric emergency medicine education of emergency medicine (EM) residents over the last decade. Questionnaires were mailed to the training directors of all EM residency programs. Sixty-five programs (79%) responded. While children represent 29 +\/- 2% of all patients seen in the institutions surveyed, only 17 programs (26%) provide more than six months of pediatric education, ie, no increase in the last decade. EM residents frequently rotate through pediatric emergency departments (72%), inpatient pediatric wards (51%), and pediatric intensive care units (88%). Most physicians in charge of pediatric emergency medicine education are emergency medicine trained (75% vs 29% in 1981), and only 12% are pediatric emergency medicine fellowship trained. Despite several improvements and the increased satisfaction of program directors, the pediatric component of EM residents' training continues to be disproportionate to the number of children in the emergency medicine patient population. Specialists in pediatric emergency medicine should strive to play a more significant role in the pediatric education of EM residents.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16239523,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Partially assembled K99 fimbriae are required for protection.\nAntibodies to K99 fimbriae afford protection to F5+ bovine enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC). Previous studies show that murine dams immunized with Salmonella vaccine vectors stably expressing K99 fimbriae confer protection to ETEC-challenged neonatal pups. To begin to address adaptation of the K99 scaffold to display heterologous B- and T-cell epitopes, studies were conducted to determine how much of the assembled K99 fimbria is required to maintain protective immunity. Sequential deletions in the K99 gene clusters were made, resulting in diminished localization of the K99 fimbrial subunit in the outer membrane. As placement of the K99 fimbrial subunit became progressively contained within the vaccine vector, diminished immunoglobulin A (IgA) and IgG1 antibody titers, as well as diminished Th2-type cytokine responses, were observed in orally immunized mice. Deletion of fanGH, which greatly reduced the export of the fimbrial subunit to the outer membrane, showed only partial reduction in protective immunity. By contrast, deletion of fanDEFGH, which also reduced the export of the fimbrial subunit to the outer membrane but retained more subunit in the cytoplasm, resulted in protective immunity being dramatically reduced. Thus, these studies showed that retention of K99 fimbrial subunit as native fimbriae or with the deletion of fanGH is sufficient to confer protection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23449320,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of using stencil masks made by focused ion beam milling on permalloy (Ni81Fe19) nanostructures.\nFocused ion beam (FIB) milling is a common fabrication technique to make nanostencil masks which has the unintended consequence of gallium ion implantation surrounding milled features in silicon nitride membranes. We observe major changes in film structure, chemical composition, and magnetic behaviour of permalloy nanostructures deposited by electron beam evaporation using silicon nitride stencil masks made by a FIB as compared to stencil masks made by regular lithography techniques. We characterize the stenciled structures and both types of masks using transmission electron microscopy, electron energy loss spectroscopy, energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, magnetic force microscopy and kelvin probe force microscopy. All these techniques demonstrate distinct differences at a length scale of a 1-100 nm for the structures made using stencil mask fabricated using a FIB. The origin of these differences seems to be related to the presence of implanted ions, a detailed understanding of the mechanism however remains to be developed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16146330,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"New questions regarding bioequivalence of levothyroxine preparations: a clinician's response.\nA recent decision by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to declare various brands of levothyroxine bioequivalent has provoked objections from several physicians' organizations. These organizations assert that the method of testing bioequivalence is flawed, and that indiscriminate switching among preparations could lead to serious instances of undertreatment and overtreatment of hypothyroid patients. In this review we first list common indications for thyroid hormone administration, distinguishing its use as replacement therapy in hypothyroidism from its use to suppress thyrotropin (TSH) secretion in cases of thyroid cancer, nodules, and goiter. The dangers associated with changing to a preparation with different bioavailability are summarized, noting the particular danger of giving a more active preparation to a patient receiving TSH-suppressive doses of levothyroxine. However, these dangers are part of a larger problem: there are data showing that large numbers of patients are already receiving an improper dosage of levothyroxine, as judged from measurements of serum TSH. The recent history of FDA actions concerning levothyroxine bioequivalence and the arguments of those in disagreement are summarized. The immediate response to these problems should be better education of both patients and physicians. It is also recommended that there be further discussion of the problems in determining bioequivalence, and that consideration be given to more accurate and clinically relevant methods. Such methods should include assessment of the changes in TSH induced by each preparation in athyrotic patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20371975,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"A method for sampling and tissue preparation of the parathyroid glands in miniature pigs for toxicity studies.\nMiniature swine (minipigs) are often used in non-rodent toxicity studies. However, unlike other animal species, the parathyroid glands of minipigs are often covered with thymic tissue and are similar in color, making macroscopical identification difficult. We investigated a method for sampling and tissue preparation of the parathyroid glands using 5- to 7-month-old minipigs. The glands were identified by finding the insertion site of a branch from the carotid artery into the cervical part of the thymus. Then the glands were marked and sampled. In a preliminary study, the glands were macroscopically and microscopically detected in 3\/8 animals. The glands were not identified macroscopically in 5\/8 animals but were detected in 3 of these animals. In total, we succeeded in detection of the glands in 6\/8 animals (75%). The method was applied in the main toxicity study, and we succeeded in 100% detection through technical advancement. The method described herein enables high rate of detection and is useful in the pathological evaluation of the parathyroid glands of minipigs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18598044,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations on the quantitative protein composition of wheat grain.\nThe continuing increase in atmospheric CO 2 concentration is predicted to enhance biomass production and to alter biochemical composition of plant tissues. In the present study, winter wheat ( Triticum aestivum L. cv. 'Batis') was grown under ambient air (BLOW, CO 2 concentration: 385 muL L (-1)) and free-air CO 2 enrichment (FACE, CO 2 concentration: 550 muL l (-1)) and two different nitrogen (N) fertilization levels (normal N supply: N100, 50% of normal N supply: N50). Mature kernels were milled into white flour and analyzed for the contents of crude protein, Osborne fractions, single gluten protein types and glutenin macropolymer. Elevated CO 2 caused significant reductions in crude protein and all protein fractions and types ( p < 0.001) except albumins and globulins. Effects were more pronounced in wheat samples supplied with normal amounts of N fertilizer. Crude protein was reduced by 14% (N100) and 9% (N50), gliadins by 20% and 13%, glutenins by 15% and 15% and glutenin macropolymer by 19% and 16%, respectively. Within gliadins, omega5-gliadins (-35\/-22%) and omega1,2-gliadins (-27\/-14%) were more affected than alpha-gliadins (-21\/-13%) and gamma-gliadins (-16\/-12%). Within glutenins, HMW subunits (-23\/-18%) were more affected than LMW subunits (-12\/-15%). According to these results, flour from high CO 2 grown grain will have a diminished baking quality. To our knowledge, these are the first results of elevated CO 2 concentrations impacts on wheat grain protein composition gained under relevant growing conditions at least for Central Europe.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14086092,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"PHOSPHORUS DISTRIBUTION IN PLEUROPNEUMONIA-LIKE AND L-TYPE ORGANISMS.\nLangenfeld, M. G. (University of South Dakota, Vermillion) and P. F. Smith. Phosphorus distribution in pleuropneumonia-like and L-type organisms. J. Bacteriol. 86:1216-1219. 1963.-Sterol-requiring and sterol-nonrequiring pleuropneumonia-like organisms, salt-requiring and salt-nonrequiring L forms, and their parent bacteria, were analyzed for total, acid-soluble, lipid, and nucleic acid phosphorus. Total phosphorus in all types of organisms was equivalent, except for salt-requiring L forms in which it was greatly elevated. The elevated total phosphorus reflected a great increase in acid-soluble phosphorus in the salt-requiring L forms. The lipid phosphorus content of pleuropneumonia-like organisms and salt-nonrequiring L forms was significantly greater than in the other types of organisms. The nucleic acid phosphorus content of salt-requiring L forms was lower than that of all other organisms","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34243582,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Model-free adaptive sliding mode control with adjustable funnel boundary for robot manipulators with uncertainties.\nConsidering that the nominal dynamics model or numerous parameters of robotics are usually unsuitable for real applications, a model-free adaptive sliding mode control with an adjustable funnel boundary is proposed for robot manipulators with uncertainties. First, time delay estimation (TDE) technique is utilized to estimate the unknown dynamics of the control system, which ensures an attractive model-free advantage. Furthermore, a modified funnel function is introduced to transform the trajectory tracking error fall within an adjustable funnel boundary strictly. Then, based on the transformed error variable, a novel funnel nonsingular fast terminal sliding mode control scheme is developed to enhance the transient and steady-state tracking performance of the closed-loop control system. To cope with the TDE error, an adaptive update method is designed with only one adaptive parameter, which is adaptively tuned according to the sliding surface. Finally, the simulation and experimental results are presented to illustrate the superiority and high-precision tracking performance of the proposed approach.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20373926,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Umbilical cord prolapse: a 10-year retrospective study in two civil hospitals, North Jordan.\nUmbilical cord prolapse (UCP) is an obstetric emergency. The objective of our study was to determine the frequency of cord prolapse, its aetiological factors and to evaluate fetal prognosis. This was a retrospective review of cord prolapse deliveries in the main two civil hospitals in North Jordan between 1995 and 2005, at Princess Badeea Hospital and at King Abdullah University Hospital (KAUH) in Irbid, North Jordan. There were 146 patients identified with UCP among a total of 64,192 consecutive births. The incidence of cord prolapse was one in 440 cases (146\/64,192). It occurred mostly in women over 25 years, and significantly more in pre-term births, low birth weight babies, multigravida, and only a few were associated with induced cases. It was not associated with higher rates of perinatal mortality and this supports the benefit of clinical management of UCP by emergency (crash) delivery.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9148177,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Contribution to the microanatomy of the proximal part of the arteria centralis longa (Heubner's artery)].\nThe anterior communicating artery complex is one of the most frequent intracranial aneurysm sites. Pterional craniotomy is the usual way to expose this region. While exposing of the aneurysmal dome, the posterior part of the gyrus rectus is frequently resected. In this stage of the procedure and later during clipping of the aneurysm, the surgeon's manipulation is closely related to the proximal part of the Heubner's artery. This vessel feeds important structures in the region of the basal ganglia. The anatomy of the Heubner's artery was described by many authors. However the intraoperative identification of this artery is still not clear. Therefore we performed detailed microanatomical investigation of the proximal part of the Heubner's artery in 40 brain hemispheres. It was found that during resection of the posterior part of the gyrus rectus two arteries are exposed. The recurrent Heubner's artery runs posteriorly to the gyrus rectus. The second artery runs on the medial and inferior surface of gyrus rectus supplying cerebral cortex. This artery frequently originates from the A1\/A2 junction or the proximal part of the A2 segment of the anterior cerebral artery. Because of it, this cortical artery is difficult to distinguish from the recurrent Heubner's artery. This artery can branch out from the recurrent Heubner's artery or the frontopolar artery. In conclusion, the greatest probability of the injury to the recurrent Heubner's artery may occur during resection of the posterior part of the gyrus rectus.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17882869,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[A biomechanical study on different fixation of cortical bone plate allograft].\nTo explore the biomechanical difference between the different fixations of cortical bone plate allograft. Twenty-seven cadaveric femurs were harvested and were made into the simulated fracture models, which were equally divided into Groups A, B and C. In Group A, the models were fixed with 2 bone plate allografts (110 mm x 10 mm x 3 mm); in Group B, the models were fixed with 2 struts (110 mm x 10 mm x 3 mm) and 5 bone screws; in Group C, the models were fixed with 1 strut (110 mm X 10 mm x 3 mm) and 5 bone screws. The biomechanical tests for the three-piont bending, torsion, and compression were performed. The parameters studied included the values of the displacements in the three-piont bending tests and the compression tests, and the maximum loads during the bending, the compression, and the torsion. As for all the stiffness parameters tested, Group A showed the greatest displacements among the three groups (P<0.05), except the compressive stiffness parameter, which was similar to that in Group B. The maximum loads of the three-point bending, the torsion, and the compression in Group A were 1.65+\/-0.34 kN, 554.3+\/-49.34 N, and 7.78 +\/-0.82 Nm, respectively; in Group B, they were 1. 12+\/-0.37 kN, 428.00+\/-37.40 N, and 3.39+\/-0.22 Nm, respectively; in Group C, they were 0.71+\/-0.46 kN, 218.67+\/-36.53 N, and 1.74+\/-0.12 Nm, respectively. Group A had a significantly greater strength than the other 2 groups (P< 0.05). The strength of the cortical bone plate allograft is related to its different fixations. The two cortical bone plate allografts have a greater strength and stiffness than the struts fixed with the bone screws, which can meet the clinical requirement.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29376001,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Genes and genetics in eye diseases: a genomic medicine approach for investigating hereditary and inflammatory ocular disorders.\nPast 25y have witnessed an exponential increase in knowledge and understanding of ocular diseases and their respective genetic underpinnings. As a result, scientists have mapped many genes and their variants that can influence vision and health of our eyes. Based on these findings, it is becoming clear that an early diagnosis employing genetic testing can help evaluate patients' conditions for instituting treatment plan(s) and follow-up care to avoid vision complications later. For example, knowing family history becomes crucial for inherited eye diseases as it can benefit members in family who may have similar eye diseases or predispositions. Therefore, gathering information from an elaborate examination along with complete assessment of past medical illness by ophthalmologists followed by consultation with geneticists can help create a roadmap for making diagnosis and treatment precise and beneficial. In this review, we present an update on ocular genomic medicine that we believe has tremendous potential towards unraveling genetic implications in ocular diseases and patients' susceptibilities. We also discuss translational aspects of genetic ophthalmology and genome engineering that may help advance molecular diagnostics and therapeutics.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37865966,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Are subjective language complaints in memory clinic patients informative?\nTo diagnose mild cognitive impairment, it is crucial to understand whether subjective cognitive complaints reflect objective cognitive deficits. This question has mostly been investigated in the memory domain, with mixed results. Our study was one of the first to address it for language. Participants were 55-to-93-year-old memory clinic patients (n = 163). They filled in a questionnaire about subjective language and memory complaints and performed two language tasks (naming-by-definition and sentence comprehension). Greater language complaints were associated with two language measures, thus showing a moderate value in predicting language performance. Greater relative severity of language versus memory complaints was a better predictor, associated with three language performance measures. Surprisingly, greater memory complaints were associated with better naming, probably due to anosognosia in further disease progression or personality-related factors. Our findings highlight the importance of relative complaint severity across domains and, clinically, call for developing self-assessment questionnaires asking specific questions about multiple cognitive functions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35351800,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Emergency department presentations in palliative care patients: a retrospective cohort study.\nTo map the patient journey for individuals known to palliative care presenting to the emergency department (ED). A linked dataset from the CUREd database and palliative care services in a region in the North of England was used. The study describes day and time of presentations, events occurring in the ED, mode of leaving the department and length of hospital admissions for presentations occurring within 90 days of a contact with palliative care. Findings were compared with the wider population in the CUREd database. A significant proportion of individuals known to palliative care (29.4%) presented to the ED. Presentations typically occurred in working hours. Most presented by ambulance (84.4%) and were admitted to hospital (75.1%); these observations persisted across age groups. Most presentations involved investigations (88.5%) and\/or treatment (84.1%). Palliative patients exhibit significant use of the ED; some have the potential to benefit from attendances, but there is a minority for whom ED is unlikely to have improved their care. Advance care planning and communication between services are important for empowering those who stand to benefit from ED, while ensuring appropriate care is planned for those who prefer to avoid presenting.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20358946,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Design and modeling of an efficiency horizontal thermal micro-actuator with integrated piezoresistors for precise control.\nAn integrated system made up of a double-hot arm electro-thermal microactuator and a piezoresistor embedded at the base of the 'cold arm' is proposed. The electro-thermo-mechanical modeling and optimization is developed to elaborate the operation mechanism of the hybrid system through numerical simulations. For given materials, the geometry design mostly influences the performance of the sensor and actuator, which can be considered separately. That is because thermal expansion induced heating energy has less influence on the base area of the 'cold arm,' where is the maximum stress. The piezoresistor is positioned here for large sensitivity to monitor the in-plane movement of the system and characterize the actuator response precisely in real time. Force method is used to analyze the thermal induced mechanical expansion in the redundant structure. On the other hand, the integrated actuating mechanism is designed for high speed imaging. Based on the simulation results, the actuator operates at levels below 5 mA appearing to be very reliable, and the stress sensitivity is about 40 MPa per micron.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27263416,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Physiological recordings from the zebrafish lateral line.\nDuring sensory transduction, external physical stimuli are translated into an internal biological signal. In vertebrates, hair cells are specialized mechanosensory receptors that transduce sound, gravitational forces, and head movements into electrical signals that are transmitted with remarkable precision and efficiency to afferent neurons. Hair cells have a conserved structure between species and are also found in the lateral line system of fish, including zebrafish, which serve as an ideal animal model to study sensory transmission in vivo. In this chapter, we describe the methods required to investigate the biophysical properties underlying mechanosensation in the lateral line of the zebrafish in vivo from microphonic potentials and single hair cell patch-clamp recordings to single afferent neuron recordings. These techniques provide real-time measurements of hair-cell transduction and transmission following delivery of controlled and defined stimuli and their combined use on the intact zebrafish provides a powerful platform to investigate sensory encoding in vivo.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34410015,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Does phosphorus influence performance of a native hemiparasite and its impact on a native legume?\nPhosphorus (P) is an essential plant nutrient and can become limiting in terrestrial ecosystems where parasitic plant:host associations occur. Yet little is known on how P availability influences parasite performance and its impact on hosts. We investigated the performance of the Australian native stem hemiparasite Cassytha pubescens and its impact on the native leguminous shrub Acacia paradoxa in high or low P conditions in a glasshouse experiment. Infected plants had significantly lower total, shoot, root and nodule biomass and shoot:root ratio than uninfected plants, regardless of P supply. The significant negative effect of infection on arbuscular mycorrhizal colonisation of host roots was more severe in the high P treatment. Infection significantly decreased predawn quantum yield of A. paradoxa in low P but not high P conditions. This finding may be due to the parasite-induced significant enrichment of aluminium in host foliage in low P but not high P treatments. A. paradoxa had significantly lower foliar phosphorus concentration [P] and nitrogen concentration in low P than high P conditions. Parasite biomass and photosynthetic performance were unaffected by P, whereas C. pubescens had significantly lower stem [P] in the low P than high P treatment. Parasite carbon isotope composition was significantly higher than that of the host, especially in low P conditions. Our results show that: (a) native parasite growth and its negative impact on growth of this native shrub was unaffected by P supply and (b) soil P conditions may have no influence on stem hemiparasite:host associations in nature.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15258176,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Rapid analysis of mitochondrial DNA depletion by fluorescence in situ hybridization and immunocytochemistry: potential strategies for HIV therapeutic monitoring.\nNucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) have been a mainstay in the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus since the introduction of azidothymidine (AZT) in 1987. However, none of the current therapies can completely eradicate the virus, necessitating long-term use of anti-retroviral drugs to prevent viral re-growth. One of the side effects associated with long-term use of NRTIs is mitochondrial toxicity stemming from inhibition of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) polymerase gamma, which leads to mtDNA depletion and consequently to mitochondrial dysfunction. Here we report the use of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and immunocytochemistry (ICC) to monitor mtDNA depletion in cultured fibroblasts treated with the NRTI 2',3'-dideoxycytidine (ddC). These techniques are amenable to both microscopy and flow cytometry, allowing analysis of populations of cells on a single-cell basis. We show that, as mtDNA depletion progresses, a mosaic population develops, with some cells being depleted of and others retaining mtDNA. These techniques could be useful as potential therapeutic monitors to indicate when NRTI therapy should be interrupted to prevent mitochondrial toxicity and could aid in the development of less toxic NRTIs by providing an assay suitable for pharmacodynamic evaluation of candidate molecules.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9553138,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Multidrug resistance protein. Identification of regions required for active transport of leukotriene C4.\nMultidrug resistance protein (MRP) is a broad specificity, primary active transporter of organic anion conjugates that confers a multidrug resistance phenotype when transfected into drug-sensitive cells. The protein was the first example of a subgroup of the ATP-binding cassette superfamily whose members have three membrane-spanning domains (MSDs) and two nucleotide binding domains. The role(s) of the third MSD of MRP and its related transporters is not known. To begin to address this question, we examined the ability of various MRP fragments, expressed individually and in combination, to transport the MRP substrate, leukotriene C4 (LTC4). We found that elimination of the entire NH2-terminal MSD or just the first putative transmembrane helix, or substitution of the MSD with the comparable region of the functionally and structurally related transporter, the canalicular multispecific organic anion transporter (cMOAT\/MRP2), had little effect on protein accumulation in the membrane. However, all three modifications decreased LTC4 transport activity by at least 90%. Transport activity could be reconstituted by co-expression of the NH2-terminal MSD with a fragment corresponding to the remainder of the MRP molecule, but this required both the region encoding the transmembrane helices of the NH2-terminal MSD and the cytoplasmic region linking it to the next MSD. In contrast, a major part of the cytoplasmic region linking the NH2-proximal nucleotide binding domain of the protein to the COOH-proximal MSD was not required for active transport of LTC4.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36264163,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Impulsive reaction to social distress.\nPsycho-physiological studies suggest that social rejection leads to social distress and favours impulsivity. We therefore investigated changes in behavioural impulsivity after exposure to social rejection by taking into account impulsive personality traits and changes to affective states. 30 university students were recruited. The Go\/No-go task assessed behavioural impulsivity, the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale measured impulsive personality traits, and Likert scales measured affective states. A video clip and a writing exercise were used to induce stress. We found that impulsive error responses increased significantly after exposure. Decreased level of excitement and of loneliness were reported after stress. Distress caused by social rejection increased impulsive behaviour, but the degree of this change could not be associated with trait impulsivity, and was reported subjectively.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":2784574,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Some physical factors influencing the accuracy of convolution scatter correction in SPECT.\nSome important physical factors influencing the accuracy of convolution scatter correction techniques in SPECT are presented. In these techniques scatter correction in the projection relies on filter functions, QF, evaluated by Fourier transforms, from measured scatter functions, Qp, obtained from point spread functions. The spatial resolution has a marginal effect on Qp. Thus a single QF can be used in the scatter correction of SPECT measurements acquired with the low energy high resolution or the low energy general purpose collimators and over a wide range of patient-collimator distances. However, it is necessary to examine the details of the shape of point spread functions during evaluation of Qp. QF is completely described by scatter amplitude AF, slope BF and filter sum SF. SF is obtained by summation of the values of QF occupying a 31 x 31 pixels matrix. Regardless of differences in amplitude and slope, two filter functions are shown to be equivalent in terms of scatter correction ability, whenever their sums are equal. On the basis of filter sum, the observed small influence of ellipticity on QF implies that an average function can be used in scatter correcting SPECT measurements conducted with elliptic objects. SF is shown to increase with a decrease in photon energy and with an increase in window size. Thus, scatter correction by convolution may be severely hampered by photon statistics when SPECT imaging is done with low-energy photons. It is pointless to use unnecessarily large discriminator windows, in the hope of improving photon statistics, since most of the extra events acquired will eventually be subtracted during scatter correction. Regardless of the observed moderate reduction in SF when a lung-equivalent material replaces a portion of a water phantom, further studies are needed to develop a technique that is capable of handling attenuation and scatter corrections simultaneously. Whenever superficial and inner radioactive distributions coexist the observed reduction of SF close to the phantom surface indicates that scatter correction of such distributions has to rely on two distinct filter functions. Corrections based on a surface function produce accurate results in the superficial region, while the central distributions are substantially overestimated. Surface radioactive distributions introduce appreciable errors in the determination of central distributions when corrections are based on central filter function. This function introduces a reduction of about 40% in the measured surface concentration.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27483457,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The carbon fertilization effect over a century of anthropogenic CO2 emissions: higher intracellular CO2 and more drought resistance among invasive and native grass species contrasts with increased water use efficiency for woody plants in the US Southwest.\nFrom 1890 to 2015, anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions have increased atmospheric CO2 concentrations from 270 to 400 mol mol-1 . The effect of increased carbon emissions on plant growth and reproduction has been the subject of study of free-air CO2 enrichment (FACE) experiments. These experiments have found (i) an increase in internal CO2 partial pressure (ci ) alongside acclimation of photosynthetic capacity, (ii) variable decreases in stomatal conductance, and (iii) that increases in yield do not increase commensurate with CO2 concentrations. Our data set, which includes a 115-year-long selection of grasses collected in New Mexico since 1892, is consistent with an increased ci as a response to historical CO2 increase in the atmosphere, with invasive species showing the largest increase. Comparison with Palmer Drought Sensitivity Index (PDSI) for New Mexico indicates a moderate correlation with \u039413 C (r2 = 0.32, P < 0.01) before 1950, with no correlation (r2 = 0.00, P = 0.91) after 1950. These results indicate that increased ci may have conferred some drought resistance to these grasses through increased availability of CO2 in the event of reduced stomatal conductance in response to short-term water shortage. Comparison with C3 trees from arid environments (Pinus longaeva and Pinus edulis in the US Southwest) as well as from wetter environments (Bromus and Poa grasses in New Mexico) suggests differing responses based on environment; arid environments in New Mexico see increased intrinsic water use efficiency (WUE) in response to historic elevated CO2 while wetter environments see increased ci . This study suggests that (i) the observed increases in ci in FACE experiments are consistent with historical CO2 increases and (ii) the CO2 increase influences plant sensitivity to water shortage, through either increased WUE or ci in arid and wet environments, respectively.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28692504,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"The Effect of External Approach Septoplasty on Olfactory Function.\nSeptal deviation-induced nasal obstruction is frequently accompanied by hyposmia. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of external approach septoplasty on olfactory function. Thirty patients (23 males, 7 females) who had external approach septoplasty were included in the study. The age interval was 18 to 60 years (mean 33\u00b112 years). All subjects had olfactory function and acoustic rhinometry tests in both the pre- and postoperative periods (mean interval 6 weeks \u00b1 3 weeks). Olfactory function was determined by the \"Sniffin Sticks\" test. The minimum cross-sectional area from the nostril to 2.20 cm backward was referred to as MCA1, and the minimum cross-sectional area from 2.20 to 5.40 cm was referred to as MCA2, determined by acoustic rhinometry. Olfactory threshold, discrimination, and identification function improved significantly after external approach septoplasty. A statistically significant difference was also detected between pre- and postoperative left MCA1 and left MCA2 of the nasal cavities. Postoperative hyposmic and anosmic patient improvement was statistically significant. External approach septoplasty has a beneficial effect on olfaction and this effect may be partly due to interactions between the increased perception of nasal air flow, as well as surgery-associated improvement in the internal nasal valve area.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23879359,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Avoiding type III, IV, and V errors through collaborative research.\nMajor types of empirical errors reviewed by a number of leading research textbooks include discussions of Type I and Type II errors. However, applied human service researchers can commit other types of errors that should be avoided. The potential benefits of the applied, collaborative research (in contrast to traditional participatory research) include an assurance that the study begins with the \"right\" questions that are important for community residents. Such research practice also helps generate useful research findings for decisions regarding redistribution of resources and resolving community issues. The aim of collaborative research is not merely to advance scientific understanding, but also to produce empirical findings that are usable for addressing priority needs and problems of distressed communities. A review of a case example (Garfield Community Assessment Study) illustrates the principles and practices of collaborative research.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20373221,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Advocacy for neuropsychology in the public sector: the VA experience.\nIn this paper important advocacy areas for the VA are described with implications for other psychologists working in institutional settings in the public sector, and some advice is provided concerning how best to advocate in the VA. Distinctions among advocacy issues that are of concern to the general public, those that are of concern to all psychologists involved in healthcare, and those specifically related to clinical neuropsychology are made.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17885249,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Treatment of carotid cavernous fistulas using covered stents: midterm results in seven patients.\nCarotid cavernous fistulas (CCF) can be effectively treated by using different therapeutic alternatives such as detachable balloons and detachable coils, alone or in combination with N-butyl-2-cyanoacrylate (n-BCA) or Onyx. Stents have also been used in an attempt to improve preservation of the parent artery while still occluding the fistula. We present our experience using balloon-expandable covered stents to treat CCF, focusing on arterial wall reconstruction. To our knowledge, this is the first series with midterm follow-up between 3 months and 3.5 years. From the 46 CCF treated at our institution between November 1998 and September 2006, a total of 7 posttraumatic direct CCF were treated using polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)-covered stents between April 2003 and September 2006. Five were treated with covered stents alone. One patient with transection of the internal carotid artery (ICA) first underwent bare stent placement to provide support for the covered stent. One patient had to be treated with coils and n-BCA. Control angiograms obtained in the 7 patients demonstrated occlusion of the fistula and preservation of the ICA in all cases. There was no mortality and no immediate postprocedural morbidity. There was 1 case of morbidity identified at 1-month follow-up with asymptomatic occlusion of the ICA; the other 6 patients had angiographic follow-up between 3 and 42 months (mean, 18.4 months), with persistent occlusion of the fistulas, patent stent grafts, and no significant intimal hyperplasia. PTFE-covered stents are evolving as a promising intracranial therapeutic alternative to treat CCF and preserve the parent artery by reconstructing the arterial wall. They should be considered in patients in whom fistulas cannot be successfully occluded with detachable balloons or detachable coils. More investigation is required to further develop their specifications and indications.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12003567,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"An efficient synthesis of the new benzo[c]pyrido[2,3,4-kl]acridine skeleton.\nA series of molecules of therapeutic interest, possessing the new skeleton of 1H-benzo[c]pyrido[2,3,4-kl]acridine with acyl or aminoacyl and methoxy or aminoalkoxy substituents on the aromatic homocycles were synthesized by means of a Friedl\u00e4nder-type reaction. The requisite 5-aminodihydroquinoline-4-ones 1, whose preparation is described, were reacted with the appropriate alpha-tetralones 2 using an acidic catalyst (PPTS) under azeotropic conditions. Optimized reaction time and yield depend on temperature, which must not be below 90 degrees C.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25518841,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The role of chorion on toxicity of silver nanoparticles in the embryonic zebrafish assay.\nThis study was designed to investigate how the size- and surface coating-dependent toxicity of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) is influenced by the presence and absence of the chorion in an embryonic zebrafish assay. Normal and dechorinated embryos were exposed to four different AgNPs, 20 or 110 nm in size, with polypyrrolidone (PVP) or citrate surface coatings in a standard zebrafish embryo medium (EM). This was then compared to a 62.5 \u03bcM calcium chloride (CaCl2) solution where agglomeration was controlled. Embryonic toxicity in the absence of the chorion was greater than in its presence. The smaller 20 nm AgNPs were more toxic than the larger 110 nm AgNPs, regardless of the chorion and test media. However, surface coating affected toxicity, since PVPcoated AgNPs were more toxic than citrate-coated AgNPs; this was strongly affected by the presence of the chorion in both EM and CaCl2. Our results demonstrate the permeability function of the chorion on the size- and surface coating-dependent toxicity of AgNPs. Thereafter, careful experiment should be conducted to assess nanoparticle toxicity in zebrafish embryos.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27476741,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Prediction of hERG Potassium Channel Blocking Actions Using Combination of Classification and Regression Based Models: A Mixed Descriptors Approach.\nA set of 242 compounds with diverse molecular structures and having different mechanisms of therapeutic actions was used to develop classification and regression based QSAR models for the identification of potential hERG channel blockers. The developed in silico models made it possible to obtain a quantitative interpretation of the structural information and physicochemical properties of the molecules for their hERG binding affinity along with exploration of the discriminant functions differentiating between lower and higher hERG blocking potency compounds by the classification approach. The developed models were rigorously validated internally as well as externally with the application of the principles of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for the validation purpose. The test for domain of applicability was also carried out for checking reliability of the predictions. Pharmacological distribution diagrams (PDDs) were employed as a visualizing technique for the classification approach. Important fragments relevant to hERG binding affinity were identified through critical analysis and interpretation of the developed models. Finally, the developed models were implemented to screen hERG channel blocking properties for a huge number compounds of the DrugBank database. In silico prediction for hERG channel blocking potential for each of the DrugBank compounds is possible from the developed models.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1156483,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Low voltage electrocardiogram after acute myocardial infarction.\nIn a retrospective study of patients with acute myocardial infarction admitted to a coronary monitoring unit in 1971 12 per cent (39 patients) had low voltage electrocardiograms within 72 hours of admission. Of these, 7 patients (18%) died while in hospital and a further 9 (23%) died within one year of their infarction. Of the 23 patients who survived, 16 were severely incapacitated by their symptoms at the one-year follow-up. A low voltage electrocardiogram in association with acute myocardial infarction appears to imply a poor prognosis in terms of both mortality and morbidity, independently of other prognostic indices.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17878537,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Microdevices in mass spectrometry.\nMiniaturization of laboratory instrumentation is becoming critical in achieving the speed and throughput required by the current revolutionary progress in biology. This mini review critically summarizes the present status of microfluidic devices designed for use in mass spectrometry.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32587803,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Quantitatively assessing mekosuchine crocodile locomotion by geometric morphometric and finite element analysis of the forelimb.\nMorphological shifts observed in the fossil record of a lineage potentially indicate concomitant shifts in ecology of that lineage. Mekosuchine crocodiles of Cenozoic Australia display departures from the typical eusuchian body-plan both in the cranium and postcranium. Previous qualitative studies have suggested that these crocodiles had a more terrestrial habitus than extant crocodylians, yet the capacity of mekosuchine locomotion remains to be tested. Limb bone shape, such as diaphyseal cross-section and curvature, has been related to habitual use and locomotory function across a wide variety of taxa. Available specimens of mekosuchine limbs, primarily humeri, are distinctly columnar compared with those of extant crocodylians. Here we apply a quantitative approach to biomechanics in mekosuchine taxa using both geomorphic morphometric and finite element methods to measure bone shape and estimate locomotory stresses in a comparative context. Our results show mekosuchines appear to diverge from extant semi-aquatic saltwater and freshwater crocodiles in cross-sectional geometry of the diaphysis and generate different structural stresses between models that simulate sprawling and high-walk gaits. The extant crocodylians display generally rounded cross-sectional diaphyseal outlines, which may provide preliminary indication of resistance to torsional loads that predominate during sprawling gait, whereas mekosuchine humeri appear to vary between a series of elliptical outlines. Mekosuchine structural stresses are comparatively lower than those of the extant crocodylians and reduce under high-walk gait in some instances. This appears to be a function of bending moments induced by differing configurations of diaphyseal curvature. Additionally, the neutral axis of structural stresses is differently oriented in mekosuchines. This suggests a shift in the focus of biomechanical optimisation, from torsional to axial loadings. Our results lend quantitative support to the terrestrial habitus hypothesis in so far as they suggest that mekosuchine humeri occupied a different morphospace than that associated with the semi-aquatic habit. The exact adaptational trajectory of mekosuchines, however, remains to be fully quantified. Novel forms appear to emerge among mekosuchines during the late Cenozoic. Their adaptational function is considered here; possible applications include navigation of uneven terrain and burrowing.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25498023,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Triterpenoid saponins from root bark of Zanha golungensis (Sapindaceae).\nThe chemical investigation of the methanolic extract from root bark of Zanha golungensis Hiern led to the isolation of five new and one known triterpenoid saponins. Their structures were elucidated by full analysis of their spectroscopic data and by partial hydrolysis. These glycosides contain zanhic acid as aglycone, a rare oleanane-type triterpenoid found in species belonging to Sapindaceae, Caryophyllaceae, Asteraceae, and Fabaceae. Two new saponins are esterified saponins by 3,3-dimethylacryloyl and 3-hydroxy-2-methyl-butanoyl residues located on the sugar part. The new compounds were named zanhasaponins D-H following previous isolation of similar compounds from Zanha africana.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29377288,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3,"dup_dump_count":2,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-18":1,"2024-26":1}}},"text":"Effects of anti-inflammatory drugs on the expression of tryptophan-metabolism genes by human macrophages.\nSeveral lines of evidence link macrophage activation and inflammation with (monoaminergic) nervous systems in the etiology of depression. IFN treatment is associated with depressive symptoms, whereas anti-TNF\u03b1 therapies elicit positive mood. This study describes the actions of 2 monoaminergic antidepressants (escitalopram, nortriptyline) and 3 anti-inflammatory drugs (indomethacin, prednisolone, and anti-TNF\u03b1 antibody) on the response of human monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs) from 6 individuals to LPS or IFN-\u03b1. Expression profiling revealed robust changes in the MDM transcriptome (3294 genes at P < 0.001) following LPS challenge, whereas a more limited subset of genes (499) responded to IFN\u03b1. Contrary to published reports, administered at nontoxic doses, neither monoaminergic antidepressant significantly modulated the transcriptional response to either inflammatory challenge. Each anti-inflammatory drug had a distinct impact on the expression of inflammatory cytokines and on the profile of inducible gene expression-notably on the regulation of enzymes involved in metabolism of tryptophan. Inter alia, the effect of anti-TNF\u03b1 antibody confirmed a predicted autocrine stimulatory loop in human macrophages. The transcriptional changes were predictive of tryptophan availability and kynurenine synthesis, as analyzed by targeted metabolomic studies on cellular supernatants. We suggest that inflammatory processes in the brain or periphery could impact on depression by altering the availability of tryptophan for serotonin synthesis and\/or by increasing production of neurotoxic kynurenine.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28272988,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Chlorophyllide-a-Oxygenase (CAO) deficiency affects the levels of singlet oxygen and formation of plasmodesmata in leaves and shoot apical meristems of barley.\nIn plants, organogenesis and specification of cell layers and tissues rely on precise symplastic delivery of regulatory molecules via plasmodesmata. Accordingly, abundance and aperture of plasmodesmata at individual cell boundaries should be controlled by the plant. Recently, studies in Arabidopsis established reactive oxygen species as major regulators of plasmodesmata formation and gating. We show that in a barley mutant deficient in the synthesis of chlorophyll b, the numbers of plasmodesmata in leaves and in the shoot apical meristem are significantly higher than in the corresponding wild type, probably due to redox imbalance in the mutant. The resulting disturbance of symplasmic transport is likely to be the reason for the observed delayed floral transition in these mutants.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28300009,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Prenatal diagnosis of aortopulmonary window associated with aberrant subclavian artery.\nAortopulmonary window is a rare cardiac developmental anomaly characterised by a communication between the ascending aorta and the pulmonary artery. Aortopulmonary window may be isolated or associated with cardiac defects such as ventricular septal defect, atrial septal defect, interrupted aortic arch, and tetralogy of Fallot. We report a case of aortopulmonary window associated with aberrant subclavian artery based on fetal two-dimensional echocardiogram. The mother was referred for fetal echocardiography because of multiple fetal anomalies. Prenatal echocardiography at 30 weeks of gestation revealed a defect between the main and right pulmonary arteries and the ascending aorta (type III). The patient was born at 38 weeks of gestation via caesarean delivery, and was admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit because of respiratory failure and multiple congenital anomalies. Postnatal echocardiogram and cardiac MRI confirmed the prenatal findings. In addition, this patient had severe Dandy-Walker malformation and renal anomalies with poor prognosis. The family decided to withdraw respiratory care support on day of life 4, and the neonate passed away shortly after.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12040963,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Groundwater management by watershed agencies: an evaluation of the capacity of Ontario's conservation authorities.\nWatershed-based resource management organizations around the world are becoming more involved in groundwater management. This reflects, among other considerations, growing awareness of the critical role that these local agencies can and should play in the management of groundwater resources. Ontario's conservation authorities (CAs) are an important example. CAs are taking on new responsibilities for groundwater data collection, monitoring and planning. Unfortunately, not all local organizations are equally capable of participating effectively in groundwater management. This certainly is the case among Ontario's 38 CAs, which have highly variable levels of financial and staff resources. Local capacity for water management can be explored from the perspective of the institutional environment, the watershed community, and the financial, technical and staff resources of the organizations. This paper presents an evaluation of the groundwater management capacity of Ontario's conservation authorities, drawing on two detailed case studies (the Upper Thames River CA and the Ganaraska Region CA), and additional data gathered from all 38 CAs. Institutional issues, such as the clarity of management roles and senior government commitment to local management, as well as resourcing concerns, local working relationships, and public support, largely determine the capacity of CAs to expand their involvement in groundwater management. Strengthening the capacity of watershed-based agencies to participate in groundwater management is an important challenge in all jurisdictions, as these agencies are well placed to reinforce municipal groundwater management by identifying local needs and trends, facilitating communication and cooperation, and promoting best management practices.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22663162,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Molecular mechanism of specific ion interactions between alkali cations and acetate anion in aqueous solution: a molecular dynamics study.\nSpecific ion interactions between alkali cations (i.e., Li(+), Na(+), and K(+)) and an acetate anion in aqueous solution were studied using molecular dynamics simulation techniques and polarizable potential models. The ions-acetate systems were used as a model for understanding the interactions between ions and protein surfaces. We computed free energy profiles for different ion pairs using constrained mean force methods. Upon analyzing the computed free energy profiles for the Na(+)\/K(+)-acetate ion-pairs, we observed a deeper contact ion minimum and also a larger association constant for the Na(+)-acetate pair as compared to the corresponding K(+)-acetate pair. These observations help to demonstrate the preferential binding of Na(+) over K(+) to protein surfaces. We also applied various rate theories to study the kinetics of ion pair interconversion.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18597504,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Presence of lithium ions in MgO lattice: surface characterization by infrared spectroscopy and reactivity towards oxidative conversion of propane.\nThe surface morphology of Li-promoted MgO catalysts prepared using the sol-gel method (sg) and wet impregnation procedure (imp), respectively, has been studied by low-temperature infrared spectroscopy of adsorbed CO molecules. The results show that step sites, as unselective catalytic centers, are the major features existing on the surface of pure MgO, and those are active toward the oxidative conversion of propane. However, the concentration of these sites is drastically reduced by the incorporation of lithium ions in the MgO lattice. In fact, the incorporated Li (+) ions tend to move into the surface region and occupy sites associated with lower coordination number (e.g., step sites). Li\/MgO-sg catalysts are characterized by a higher concentration of incorporation of lithium compared to Li\/MgO-imp. In the case of oxidative dehydrogenation\/cracking of propane, Li\/MgO-sg catalysts show higher activity and selectivity to olefins compared to materials prepared using wet impregnation. Catalytic performance differs strongly regarding (i) the amount of olefins formed, and (ii) the ratio of C(3)H(6)\/C(2)H(4). It is shown that high density of active sites is essential for further oxidative dehydrogenation of propyl radicals to propylene and suppression of cracking reactions pathway.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9146002,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Interstitial cystitis: unexplained associations with other chronic disease and pain syndromes.\nTo determine the prevalence of concomitant disease in individuals with interstitial cystitis and to compare these results to the general population. We used a questionnaire-based study evaluating 12 disease processes and a survey of interstitial cystitis characteristics. The population was 2,405 individuals with interstitial cystitis who responded to the initial survey and an additional 277 individuals who were randomly selected and individually contacted. Allergies, irritable bowel syndrome, and sensitive skin were the most common diseases in the interstitial cystitis population. In comparison to the general population, individuals with interstitial cystitis are 100 times more likely to have inflammatory bowel disease and 30 times more likely to have systemic lupus erythematosus. In addition, allergies, irritable bowel syndrome, sensitive skin, and fibromyalgia have an increased association with interstitial cystitis. Interstitial cystitis has, as yet, an unexplained association with certain other chronic disease and pain syndromes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1157271,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Response of patients and physicians to mass screening for coronary risk factors.\nQestionnaires were sent to 1,817 adults screened twice for coronary risk factors 10 to 11 months apart and to their physicians. Physician questionnaires returned on 1,764 persons indicated that 359 (20.4%) of the total group and 227 of 1,191 persons (19.1%) with one or more abnormal risk factors during the first screen did not return for follow-up care. Only persons with one or more risk factors were given advice or medication. When the 227 patients that did not return for follow-up are removed from the group with one or more risk factors, the 239 patients who received advice or treatment comprise 24.8% of those who could have been treated. Of the total 1,764 patients, 13.5% recieved treatment or advice. Qestionnaires returned by 1,396 persons who received follow-up care by their physicians confirmed that only those who had one or more risk factors received advice or treatment. Results of the patient questionnaires show that 223 persons received advice or treatment (23.2% of all with risk factors who returned for follow-up; 16.0% of the 1,396 persons). Furthermore, of 116 persons prescribed medication for risk factor control, 60 (51.7%) were not taking this medication. Of 20, persons given advice for reduction of risk factors, 162 (78.9%) were not following this advice. These data indicate physician indifference and patient apathy to reduction of coronary risk factors in asymptomatic individuals.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30657007,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The impact of in utero HIV exposure on gut microbiota, inflammation, and microbial translocation.\nHIV-exposed but uninfected (HEU) children represent a growing population and show a significantly higher number of infectious diseases, several immune alterations, compromised growth, and increased mortality rates when compared to HIV-unexposed children. Considering the impact that the gut microbiota has on general host homeostasis and immune system development and modulation, we hypothesized that HEU children present altered gut microbiota that is linked to the increased morbidity and the immune system disorders faced by them. Our experiments revealed no differences in beta and alpha diversity of the gut microbiota between HEU and unexposed children or between HIV-infected and uninfected mothers. However, there were differences in the abundance of several taxa from the gut microbiota between HEU and unexposed children and between HIV-infected and uninfected mothers. Functional prediction based on 16S rRNA sequences also indicated differences between HEU and unexposed children and between infected and uninfected mothers. In addition, we detected no differences between HEU and unexposed children in relation to weight, weight-for-age z scores, albumin serum levels, or microbial translocation and inflammation markers. In summary, HIV-infected mothers and their HIV-exposed children present alterations in the abundance of several taxa in the gut microbiome and the predicted functional metagenome when compared to uninfected mothers and unexposed children. Knowledge about the gut microbiome of HEU children in different settings is essential in order to determine better treatments for this susceptible population.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25410532,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The neuroprotective effects of \u03b2-hydroxybutyrate on A\u03b2-injected rat hippocampus in vivo and in A\u03b2-treated PC-12 cells in vitro.\nAlzheimer's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder associated with the deposition of the peptide amyloid-beta (A\u03b2) in senile plaques and cerebral vasculature. The neurotoxic mechanisms of this condition have been linked to oxidative-stress-induced apoptosis leading to widespread neuronal loss. Herein, we demonstrate the neuroprotective effects of a ketone body D-\u03b2-hydroxybutyrate (\u03b2-HB) in neural cell lines and an animal model induced by injecting A\u03b2 into the hippocampus. Using histological examination and the TUNEL assay, we show that administration of exogenous \u03b2-HB effectively prevents A\u03b2 deposition and neuron apoptosis in this rat model. \u03b2-HB pretreatment also relieves the oxidative stress in A\u03b2-induced PC-12 cells, as shown by decreased intracellular reactive oxygen species and Ca(2+) levels, activated Nrf2 and recovered superoxide dismutase and catalase activities. Consequently, the apoptotic pathway is also inhibited in these cells, with decreased levels of p53, caspase-12, caspase-9, caspase-3; a decreased Bax\/Bcl-2 ratio; and decreased cytochrome c release. Taken together, our study provides a molecular basis for the neuroprotective effects of \u03b2-HB in line with the suppression of oxidative stress and the inhibition of apoptotic protein activation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7933834,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Effects of different antihypertensive treatments on morphologic progression of diabetic nephropathy in uninephrectomized dogs.\nWe previously reported the renal hemodynamic effects of different antihypertensive regimens in uninephrectomized, alloxan-induced, diabetic (DM) beagle dogs following one year of treatment. Dogs were prospectively randomized to one of five groups (N = 26): nondiabetic controls, Group I; dogs with DM on no antihypertensive drugs, Group II; dogs on a converting enzyme inhibitor, lisinopril (L), Group III; dogs on a calcium antagonist, TA3090 (diltiazem-like), Group IV; and dogs on a combination of each drug, in reduced doses, Group V. The current paper extends our previous studies by describing the morphologic changes that occurred within each group of dogs studied. More than 100 glomeruli from the renal cortex of each dog were evaluated for increases in mesangial volume fraction (Vv), glomerulosclerosis (GS) and ateriolar hyalinosis. The interstitium was also evaluated for associated changes. Increases in Vv were attenuated in all treated groups (0.28 +\/- 0.04, DM alone versus 0.16 +\/- 0.05 L; 0.21 +\/- 0.07, TA-3090; 0.19 +\/- 0.06 micron 2\/micron 2, L+TA 3090; P < 0.05) compared to untreated DM. An attenuated increase in Vv also correlated with a blunted rise in proteinuria in Groups III (r = 0.79) and V (r = 0.81) but not Group IV (r = 0.29). Development of focal GS was blunted in all treated groups; however, global GS was fourfold greater in Group IV compared to untreated DM. The degree of interstitial fibrosis also correlated with the degree of global GS. These data support the concept that both a converting enzyme inhibitor and heart rate lowering calcium antagonist attenuate morphologic progression of diabetic renal disease.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23464657,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Variations in pectoral girdle muscles in dogs.\nMuscle variations take the form of additional muscle bundle or belly, unusual muscle origin or termination, as well as complete muscle absence. Knowledge of such variations not only has clinical importance for guiding surgery, but also can help reveal phylogenetic relationships. To improve our understanding of muscle variations in dogs, 57 medium-sized, cross-breed male and female adult animals were dissected as part of a gross anatomy course between 2005 and 2011. Variations in pectoral girdle muscles were observed in 7 (12.3%) dogs and took the form of an additional muscle bundle in the brachiocephalicus muscle (n = 2), in the omotransversarius muscle (n = 2), in the cervical part of the rhomboideus muscle (n = 2) and in the cervical part of the serratus ventralis muscle (n = 1). Muscle variation was bilateral in only one dog; it involved the omotransversarius muscle. The variations did not seem to be sex dependent. Such variations can appear regularly in dogs and should be taken into consideration during anatomical dissection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7922970,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Bias in the design of studies which examine genetic and environmental influences on behaviour.\nGenetic and environmental factors may interact to influence the development of complex disorders such as schizophrenia, depression and alcoholism. Twin and adoption studies are used to examine the relative influence of these factors on such behaviours. We propose a set of guidelines for critiquing these studies. Results of the methodologically sound studies may be useful in identifying high risk populations and designing and implementing prevention and treatment programs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19045327,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Electronic structure of organic diradicals: Evaluation of the performance of coupled-cluster methods.\nThe performance of (i) the reduced multireference (RMR) coupled-cluster (CC) method with singles and doubles (RMR CCSD) that employs a modest-size MR CISD wave function as an external source for the most important (primary) triples and quadruples in order to account for the nondynamic correlation effects in the presence of quasidegeneracy, (ii) the RMR CCSD(T) method that adds a perturbative correction for the remaining (secondary) triples to the RMR CCSD energy, and (iii) the recently developed partially linearized MR CCSD method, which determines primary triples and quadruples using a subset of linear CC equations projected onto the corresponding higher-than-doubly excited configurations, are tested by considering the singlet-triplet splitting for several diradicals, ranging from a prototypical methylene radical to trimethylenemethane, and benzyne and pyridynium cation isomers. Both RHF and multiconfigurational self-consistent field molecular orbitals are employed. The equilibrium geometries for the lowest-lying singlet and triplet states are determined using both the density functional theory (DFT) and various CC approaches, and a comparison with both the experiment and other theoretical results, wherever available, is made. The RMR CCSD(T) results provide the most satisfactory description in all cases. The dependence of the MR diradical character on a spatial separation of radical centers, as well as the artifactual DFT geometry in the case of benzyne and pyridynium meta-isomers, is also pointed out.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3031785,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of fenoterol on secretions of an isolated single submucosal gland from the trachea.\nThe mechanism of secretion of airway submucosal glands is not known. Although the existence of cyclic AMP in the submucosal gland has been reported, the effect of stimulation of the gland by exogenous cyclic AMP has been denied. We hypothesize that the negative effect of exogenous cyclic AMP is due to the modified influence of ciliated epithelium on the submucosal gland, because epithelium releases chemical mediators. We isolated a single submucosal gland from a cat trachea. We measured mucous glycoprotein labeled with [3H]-glucosamine from the isolated submucosal glands. With stimulation of dibutyryl cyclic AMP, a percent increase of the secretion above control was about 3 times in isolated glands. Methacholine and fenoterol secreted mucus largely in isolated glands. We suggest that cyclic AMP increased the secretion in the glands. The difference of quantity of secretions between methacholine and fenoterol has been investigated further.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15246397,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Thermal and cold neutron phase-contrast radiography.\nIn this paper, we will discuss a phase-contrast imaging method that avoids the complications of interferometry to provide phase contrast in weakly absorbing samples. A transversely coherent neutron beam is used with the traditional radiography scheme. Images taken with this scheme show dramatic intensity variations due to sharp changes in the neutron wave refractive index. With some numerical processing these images may be used to reconstruct a quantitative phase radiograph of specimens imaged with this technique.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7922634,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[The Ca(2+)-pump in erythrocytes is inhibited by glucose: a possible role in the pathogenesis of chronic complications in diabetes].\nAn animal model in vitro condition was used in experiments, the aim of which was to test the effect of typical diabetes glucose concentration on the purified and reactivated Ca(2+)-ATPase with a defined phospholipid composition. Inhibition of Ca(2+)-ATPase activity depends on glucose concentration in a time-dependent manner. It does not depend on phospholipid content, which suggests direct glycation of the enzyme. The altered activity of erythrocyte Ca(2+)-ATPase by glycation may lead in vivo to imbalance in the ionic transport and may contribute to the development of chronic complications of diabetes. (Tab. 2, Fig. 2, Ref. 16.)","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23327477,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Role of lysine during protein modification by HOCl and HOBr: halogen-transfer agent or sacrificial antioxidant?\nAlthough protein degradation by neutrophil-derived hypochlorous acid (HOCl) and eosinophil-derived hypobromous acid (HOBr) can contribute to the inactivation of pathogens, collateral damage to host proteins can also occur and has been associated with inflammatory diseases ranging from arthritis to atherosclerosis. Though previous research suggested halotyrosines as biomarkers of protein damage and lysine as a mediator of the transfer of a halogen to tyrosine, these reactions within whole proteins are poorly understood. Herein, reactions of HOCl and HOBr with three well-characterized proteins [adenylate kinase (ADK), ribose binding protein, and bovine serum albumin] were characterized. Three assessments of oxidative modifications were evaluated for each of the proteins: (1) covalent modification of electron-rich amino acids (assessed via liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry), (2) attenuation of secondary structure (via circular dichroism), and (3) fragmentation of protein backbones (via sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis). In addition to forming halotyrosines, HOCl and HOBr converted lysine into lysine nitrile (2-amino-5-cyanopentanoic acid), a relatively stable and largely overlooked product, in yields of up to 80%. At uniform oxidant levels, fragmentation and loss of secondary structure correlated with protein size. To further examine the role of lysine, a lysine-free ADK variant was rationally designed. The absence of lysine increased yields of chlorinated tyrosines and decreased yields of brominated tyrosines following treatments with HOCl and HOBr, respectively, without influencing the susceptibility of ADK to HOX-mediated losses of secondary structure. These findings suggest that lysine serves predominantly as a sacrificial antioxidant (via formation of lysine nitrile) toward HOCl and as a halogen-transfer mediator [via reactions involving \u03b5-N-(di)haloamines] with HOBr.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34427418,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Noticing of cannabis health warning labels in Canada and the US.\nProduct labelling and health warnings are important components of regulatory frameworks for consumer products such as tobacco, alcohol and food. However, evidence in the cannabis domain is limited. This study aimed to examine the reach of mandated health warnings on cannabis products using a natural experimental design. Data are from the online International Cannabis Policy Study 2018 and 2019 surveys. Respondents were men and women aged 16 to 65 years in Canada and US states with illegal and legal nonmedical cannabis (\"illegal\" and \"legal\" states, respectively) (n = 72 549). Regression models tested differences in noticing health warnings on cannabis packages pre- and post-legalization in Canada, with comparisons to US states, adjusting for cannabis use, cannabis source and sociodemographics. Respondents in Canada showed a greater increase in noticing warnings (+8.9%) in 2019 (14.7%) versus 2018 (5.8%) than respondents in US \"illegal\" states (+2.8%) and \"legal\" states (+3.2%). In 2019, consumers residing in jurisdictions with legal recreational cannabis who purchased from legal retail sources were more likely to report noticing warnings than consumers who obtained cannabis from illegal\/unstated sources (Canada: 40.4% vs. 15.3%; US \"legal\" states: 35.3% vs. 17.0%). Regular cannabis consumers were more likely to notice warnings than less frequent consumers. Mandating warning labels on cannabis products may increase exposure to messages communicating the health risks of cannabis, especially among frequent consumers and those who access the legal market.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":33728349,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Diabetic Macular Edema Treatment with Bevacizumab Does Not Depend on the Retinal Nonperfusion Presence.\nThis study evaluated the relationship between the retinal nonperfusion area (NPA) presence and the effectiveness of bevacizumab treatment (IVB) in patients with diabetic macular edema (DME). It also tested the prognostic usefulness of ultra-wide-field fluorescein angiography (UWFFA) and OptosAdvance software for diabetic retinopathy monitoring. Eighty-nine patients with DME with a macular central subfield thickness (CST) \u2265 250 \u03bcm, with (N = 49 eyes) and without (N = 49 eyes) retinal NPA, underwent nine bevacizumab injections over 12 months. NPA distribution, leakage area distribution, microaneurysm (MA) count, macular CST, diabetic retinopathy severity, and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) were assessed. The results show that bevacizumab reduced the macular CST from 420 to 280 \u03bcm (p < 0.001) and improved BCVA (p < 0.001) by about 10 ETDRS letters in both groups of patients. Additionally, the therapy reduced total retinal NPA from 29 (14-36) mm2 to 12 (4-18) mm2 (Me (Q1-Q3); p < 0.001) in patients with diagnosed nonperfusion. The effect of the therapy measured with vascular leakage, MA count, BCVArelative, and CSTrelative strongly depended on the zone of the retina and the NPA distribution. We conclude that the bevacizumab treatment had a positive effect on DME and BCVA in both study groups and on the size of retinal NPA in patients with retinal nonperfusion.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9154698,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[The correlation between interleukin-10 and interferon-gamma produced by peripheral blood mononuclear cells stimulated by house dust mite antigen in atopic dermatitis].\nThe production of interleukin (IL)-10 and interferon (IFN)-gamma by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) stimulated by house dust mite (HDM)antigen and concanavaln A (Con A) was measured in patients with atopic dermatitis (AD). The HDM-stimulated PBMC from AD patients revealed to produce significantly higher levels of IL-10 (12 h: 918.4 +\/- 206.5, 24 h: 1252.5 +\/- 145.8, 72 h: 1332.7 +\/- 123.9 pg\/ml) than those from normal control subjects (12 h: 231.1 +\/- 139.0, 24 h: 585.7 +\/- 196.2, 72 h: 813.5 +\/- 181.8 pg\/ml). Con A-stimulated AD-PBMC also showed significantly higher levels of IL-10 production than those from normal controls, although they were lower than the productions induced by HDM antigen. By contrast, the levels of IFN-gamma from AD PBMC stimulated with HDM or Con A, were significantly lower than those from normal controls. IFN-gamm production might be down-regulated by IL-10 in AD-PBMC. The overproduction of IL-10 seems to show that helper T type 2 (Th2) cells are rather dominantly activated than Th1 cells and Th2 cells might contribute to produce the cytokines in response to HDM antigen in AD patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11985047,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Disturbance of lipid metabolism].\nThe disturbance of lipid metabolism is seen in some inherited diseases and also in patients with some kinds of underlying diseases. The presence of its disturbance can be detected by measuring the concentrations of cholesterol and triglyceride in serum. Although hyperlipidemia or hypolipidemia is the result of abnormal lipid metabolism, hyperlipidemia is of more concern to physicians because of the close association with atherosclerosis. Responsible genes for some primary (or hereditary) hyperlipidemic diseases have been confirmed as follows; LPL or apo C-II for primary chylomicronemia, LDL receptor for familial hypercholesterolemia and apo B-100 for familial defective apo B-100. However, the responsible gene remains controversial for familial combined hyperlipidemia, though AI\/CIII\/AIV cluster is one of the possible candidate genes. Secondary hyperlipidemia is caused by various diseases such as diabetes mellitus, renal diseases and cholestasis. This type of hyperlipidemia is improved by therapy for the underlying diseases. To date, the mechanism of lipid metabolism has been defined in a molecular basis. In fact, sterol regulatory element-binding protein (SREBP), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) and ATP-binding cassette transporter subfamily A, member 1(ABCA1) were recently identified and it was demonstrated that these regulate lipid metabolism.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29384653,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Surface and Electrochemical Studies on Silicon Diphosphide as Easy-to-Handle Anode Material for Lithium-Based Batteries-the Phosphorus Path.\nThe electrochemical characteristics of silicon diphosphide (SiP2) as a new anode material for future lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are evaluated. The high theoretical capacity of about 3900 mA h g-1 (fully lithiated state: Li15Si4 + Li3P) renders silicon diphosphide as a highly promising candidate to replace graphite (372 mA h g-1) as the standard anode to significantly increase the specific energy density of LIBs. The proposed mechanism of SiP2 is divided into a conversion reaction of phosphorus species, followed by an alloying reaction forming lithium silicide phases. In this study, we focus on the conversion mechanism during cycling and report on the phase transitions of SiP2 during lithiation and delithiation. By using ex situ analysis techniques such as X-ray powder diffraction, formed reaction products are identified. Magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy is applied for the characterization of long-range ordered compounds, whereas X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy gives information of the surface-layer species at the interface of active material and electrolyte. Our SiP2 anode material shows a high initial capacity of about 2700 mA h g-1, whereas a fast capacity fading during the first few cycles occurs which is not necessarily expected. On the basis of our results, we conclude that besides other degradation effects, such as electrolyte decomposition and electrical contact loss, the rapid capacity fading originates from the formation of a low ion-conductive layer of LiP. This insulating layer hinders lithium-ion diffusion during lithiation and thereby mainly contributes to fast capacity fading.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24395028,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A case of gross haematuria due to an ureteric-iliac artery fistula.\nA case of gross haematuria due to an ureteric-iliac artery fistula We report a case of a 75-year-old man presented with gross haematuria and left hydronephrosis due to an ureteric iliac- artery fistula . Medical history included a previous positioning of aorto-bisiliac graft and an iliac artery stent placed to exclude an hypogastric aneurysm. A retrograde pyelography revealed a compression of the middle ureter and an extravasation of contrast at that level, for this reason a double J stent was inserted. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography showed the presence of a fistula between the left ureter and the internal iliac. The patient underwent endovascular treatment using a stent-graft with the subsequent patient's recovery. Ureteric iliac-artery fistula is a rare condition and it generally manifests with life threatening gross bleeding. We suggest a multidisciplinary clinical approach in order to achieve the best results for the patient and to avoid severe complications. Endovascular techniques have been demonstrated to be effective and rapid in the treatment of this emergency condition; ureteral stenting is also recommended.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35346962,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"P3b Does Not Reflect Perceived Contrasts.\nIt has been shown that P3b is not a signature of perceptual awareness per se but is instead more closely associated with postperceptual processing (Cohen et al., 2020). Here, we seek to investigate whether human participants' attentional states are different in the report and the no-report conditions. This difference in attentional states, if exists, may lead to degraded consciousness of the stimuli in the no-report condition, and it therefore remains unknown whether the disappearance of P3b is because of a lack of reportability or degraded consciousness. Results of our experiment 1 showed that participants did experience degraded contents of consciousness in the no-report condition. However, results of experiment 2 showed that the degraded contents of consciousness did not influence the amplitude of P3b. These findings strengthen the claim that P3b is not a signature of perceptual awareness but is associated with postperceptual processing.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35343780,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Complete Genome Sequences of Five Bacteriophages That Infect Enterobacteriales Hosts.\nFull genome sequences of five bacteriophages that were isolated from raw sewage samples and infect Enterobacteriales hosts are presented. Brookers is a P22-like Proteus phage, OddieOddie is a 9g-like Escherichia coli phage, Diencephelon is a Kp3-like Klebsiella phage, and Rgz1 and Lilpapawes are classic T4-like and T7-like virulent Proteus phages, respectively.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18584093,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of viscoelasticity on the flow pattern and the volumetric flow rate in electroosmotic flows through a microchannel.\nMany lab-on-a-chip based microsystems process biofluids such as blood and DNA solutions. These fluids are viscoelastic and show extraordinary flow behaviors, not existing in Newtonian fluids. Adopting appropriate constitutive equations these exotic flow behaviors can be modeled and predicted reasonably using various numerical methods. In the present paper, we investigate viscoelastic electroosmotic flows through a rectangular straight microchannel with and without pressure gradient. It is shown that the volumetric flow rates of viscoelastic fluids are significantly different from those of Newtonian fluids under the same external electric field and pressure gradient. Moreover, when pressure gradient is imposed on the microchannel there appear appreciable secondary flows in the viscoelastic fluids, which is never possible for Newtonian laminar flows through straight microchannels. The retarded or enhanced volumetric flow rates and secondary flows affect dispersion of solutes in the microchannel nontrivially.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35368237,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"A nationwide survey of 20 legacy brominated flame retardants in indoor dust from China: continuing occurrence, national distribution, and implication for human exposure.\nDespite the restrictions on polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDDs), these chemicals are still ubiquitous environmental pollutants. In this study, we measured the concentrations and profiles of 17 PBDE congeners and 3 HBCDD isomers in indoor dust samples collected from 23 provinces and cities across China. The summed concentrations of PBDEs (\u03a317PBDEs) ranged from 4.19 to 817 ng\/g, with an average of 171 \u00b1 184 ng\/g. BDE-209 was the most abundant congener. The concentrations of HBCDDs ranged from 6.65 to 1335 ng\/g, with an average of 236 \u00b1 324 ng\/g. Unlike commercial HBCDD formulations, \u03b1-HBCDD was the predominant isomer in the indoor dust samples analyzed. Geographical distributions showed that the concentrations of PBDEs and HBCDDs varied significantly among different regions. Higher PBDE and HBCDD levels were observed in samples from eastern coastal and economically developed regions. Further, we estimated the daily intakes of PBDEs and HBCDDs through the routes of dust ingestion and dust dermal absorption for different age groups. Dust dermal absorption is an unneglectable exposure pathway to PBDEs and HBCDs for the Chinese population. Among the age groups, infants had the highest exposure via dust dermal absorption, and toddlers had the highest exposure via dust ingestion. Compared with the threshold values, the exposure doses of PBDEs and HBCDDs are unlikely to pose significant health concerns for both infants and adults in China. This is the first national survey of PBDEs and HBCDDs in indoor dust samples across China after the restriction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20365881,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Relativistic quantum corrections to laser wakefield acceleration.\nThe influence of quantum effects on the interaction of intense laser fields with plasmas is investigated by using a hydrodynamic model based on the framework of the relativistic quantum theory. Starting from the covariant Wigner function and Dirac equation, the hydrodynamic equations for relativistic quantum plasmas are derived. Based on the relativistic quantum hydrodynamic equations and Poisson equation, the perturbations of electron number densities and the electric field of the laser wakefield containing quantum effects are deduced. It is found that the corrections generated by the quantum effects to the perturbations of electron number densities and the accelerating field of the laser wakefield cannot be neglected. Quantum effects will suppress laser wakefields, which is a classical manifestation of quantum decoherence effects, however, the contribution of quantum effects for the laser wakefield correction will been partially counteracted by the relativistic effects. The analysis also reveals that quantum effects enlarge the effective frequencies of plasmas, and the quantum behavior appears a screening effect for plasma electrons.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22664924,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sucking improvement following blood transfusion for anemia of prematurity.\nTo determine whether correction of anemia of prematurity by packed red blood cell transfusion improves sucking. Nonexperimental intervention study. Neonatal intensive care unit of Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel, between July 23, 2006, and December 16, 2007. Thirty-six neonates at a gestational age of 34 weeks or younger, feeding orally, who developed anemia of prematurity. Packed red blood cell transfusion, 15 mL\/kg. Change in sucking parameters recorded with the Kron Nutritive Sucking Apparatus for 5 minutes and ingested volume, prior to and 1 to 2 days after intervention. The mean (SD) gestational age was 30.1 (2.1) weeks, and the mean (SD) birth weight was 1436 (45) g. At the time of the study, the mean (SD) postnatal age was 46 (26) days, the mean (SD) weight was 2311 (36) g, and the mean (SD) hematocrit was 26.7% (2.6%). Overall, there was no change in the number of sucks, number of bursts, or maximum negative pressure generated. Daily weight gain increased after transfusion (mean [SD] weight gain, 30.9 [10.0] g before transfusion vs 36.5 [13.0] g after transfusion; P=.02). The babies were then stratified into those below the median number of sucks (109 sucks) before transfusion (poor feeders) and those at or above the median (better feeders). In the former subgroup only, changes from before transfusion to after transfusion were found in the number of sucks (mean [SD] sucks, 73.4 [29.5] vs 108.9 [53.3], respectively; P=.006; mean [SD] sucks per burst, 3.4 [1.4] vs 4.9 [2.8], respectively; P=.01) and volume consumed (mean [SD] volume, 17.1 [9.8] mL vs 23.2 [12.8] mL, respectively; P=.004). Correction of anemia of prematurity with blood transfusion improved sucking and volume ingested in premature infants who were poor feeders prior to the transfusion. It also enhanced overall weight gain.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35369579,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Zebrafish as an experimental model for the simulation of neurological and craniofacial disorders.\nZebrafish have gained momentum as a leading experimental model in recent years. At present, the zebrafish vertebrate model is increasingly used due to its multifactorial similarities to humans that include genetic, organ, and cellular factors. With the emergence of novel research techniques that are very expensive, it is necessary to develop affordable and valid experimental models. This review aimed to highlight some of the most important similarities between zebrafish and humans by emphasizing the relevance of the first in simulating neurological disorders and craniofacial deformity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28725270,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Inter-segmental motions of the foot: differences between younger and older healthy adult females.\nAlthough accumulative evidence exists that support the applicability of multi-segmental foot models (MFMs) in evaluating foot motion in various pathologic conditions, little is known of the effect of aging on inter-segmental foot motion. The objective of this study was to evaluate differences in inter-segmental motion of the foot between older and younger adult healthy females during gait using a MFM with 15-marker set. One hundred symptom-free females, who had no radiographic evidence of osteoarthritis, were evaluated using MFM with 15-marker set. They were divided into young (n = 50, 20-35 years old) and old (n = 50, 60-69 years old) groups. Coefficients of multiple correlations were evaluated to assess the similarity of kinematic curve. Inter-segmental angles (hindfoot, forefoot, and hallux) were calculated at each gait phase. To evaluate the effect of gait speed on intersegmental foot motion, subgroup analysis was performed according to the similar speed of walking. Kinematic curves showed good or excellent similarity in most parameters. Range of motion in the sagittal (p < 0.001) and transverse (p = 0.001) plane of the hallux, and sagittal (p = 0.023) plane of the forefoot was lower in older females. The dorsiflexion (p = 0.001) of the hallux at terminal stance and pre-swing phases was significantly lower in older females. When we compared young and older females with similar speed, these differences remained. Although the overall kinematic pattern was similar between young and older females, reduced range of inter-segmental motion was observed in the older group. Our results suggest that age-related changes need to be considered in studies evaluating inter-segmental motion of the foot.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37445208,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Multi-Level 3D Surgery for Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Could It Be the Future?\n(1) Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is the most common sleep-related breathing disorder and is characterized by recurrent episodes of complete or partial obstruction of the upper airway, leading to reduced or absent breathing during sleep. A nocturnal upper airway collapse is often multi-levelled. The aim of this communication is to describe a 3D multi-level surgery setting in OSA pathology, introducing new surgical approaches, such as 4K-3D endoscopic visualization for the tongue base approach with the aid of a coblator and exoscopic visualization in the palatal approach. (2) Methods: Seven patients affected by OSA underwent 3D Barbed Reposition Pharyngoplasty (BRP) surgery associated with transoral coblation tongue base reduction and nose surgery. (3) Results: No patients experienced intra-operative, post-operative or delayed complications. For OSA multi-level 3D surgery, it took less than 2 h: the median 3D system setting time was 12.5 \u00b1 2.3 min; the overall procedure time was 59.3 \u00b1 26 min. (4) Conclusions: The use of the 4K-3D endoscope and coblator for tongue base resectioning and of the 3D exoscope for lateral pharyngoplasty represents an excellent system in multi-level OSA related surgery that could reduce the time and the costs compared to those of robotic surgery.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28702345,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Hierarchical disruption in the Bayesian brain: Focal epilepsy and brain networks.\nIn this opinion paper, we describe a combined view of functional and effective brain connectivity along with the free-energy principle for investigating persistent disruptions in brain networks of patients with focal epilepsy. These changes are likely reflected in effective connectivity along the cortical hierarchy and construct the basis of increased local functional connectivity in focal epilepsy. We propose a testable framework based on dynamic causal modelling and functional connectivity analysis with the capacity of explaining commonly observed connectivity changes during interictal periods. We then hypothesise their possible relation with disrupted free-energy minimisation in the Bayesian brain. This may offer a new approach for neuroimaging to specifically develop and address hypotheses regarding the network pathomechanisms underlying epileptic phenotypes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9548554,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Immunohistochemical localization of metabotropic glutamate receptors, mGluR7a and mGluR7b, in the central nervous system of the adult rat and mouse: a light and electron microscopic study.\nThe distributions of two alternative splicing variants of metabotropic glutamate receptor mGluR7, mGluR7a and mGluR7b, were examined immunohistochemically in the rat and mouse by using variant-specific antibodies raised against C-terminal portions of rat mGluR7a and human mGluR7b. Many regions throughout the central nervous system (CNS) showed mGluR7-like immunoreactivities (LI). The distribution patterns of mGluR7-LI in the rat were substantially the same as those in the mouse, although some species differences were observed in a few regions. Intense mGluR7a-LI was seen in the main and accessory olfactory bulbs, anterior olfactory nucleus, islands of Calleja, superficial layers of the olfactory tubercle, piriform cortex and entorhinal cortex, periamygdaloid cortex, amygdalohippocampal area, hippocampus, layer I of the neocortical regions, globus pallidus, superficial layers of the superior colliculus, locus coeruleus, and superficial layers of the medullary and spinal dorsal horns. The distribution of mGluR7b was more restricted. It was intense in the islands of Calleja, substantia innominata, hippocampus, ventral pallidum, and globus pallidus. The medial habenular nucleus also showed intense mGluR7a-LI in the rat but not in the mouse. For both mGluR7a- and mGluR7b-LI, localization in the active zones of presynaptic axon terminals was confirmed electron microscopically at synapses of both the asymmetrical and symmetrical types. It is noteworthy that mGluR7a-LI is seen preferentially in relay nuclei of the sensory pathways and that both mGluR7a- and mGluR7b-LI are observed not only in presumed glutamatergic axon terminals, but also in non-glutamatergic axon terminals including presumed inhibitory ones. Thus, mGluR7 may play roles not only as an autoreceptor in glutamatergic axon terminals, but also as a presynaptic heteroreceptor in non-glutamatergic axon terminals in various CNS regions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31252410,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The evolving (epi)genetic landscape of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours.\nNeuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) are a relatively rare group of heterogeneous tumours originating from neuroendocrine cells found throughout the body. Pancreatic NENs (PanNENs) are the second most common pancreatic malignancy accounting for 1-3% of all neoplasms developing in the pancreas. Despite having a low background mutation rate, driver mutations in MEN1, DAXX\/ATRX and mTOR pathway genes (PTEN, TSC1\/2) are implicated in disease development and progression. Their increased incidence coupled with advances in sequencing technologies has reignited the interest in PanNEN research and has accelerated the acquisition of molecular data. Studies utilising such technological advances have further enriched our knowledge of PanNENs' biology through novel findings, including higher-than-expected presence of germline mutations in 17% of sporadic tumours of no familial background, identification of novel mutational signatures and complex chromosomal rearrangements and a dysregulated epigenetic machinery. Integrated genomic studies have progressed the field by identifying the synergistic action between different molecular mechanisms, while holding the promise for deciphering disease heterogeneity. Although our understanding is far from being complete, these novel findings have provided the optimism of shaping the future of PanNEN research, ultimately leading to an era of precision medicine for NETs. Here, we recapitulate the existing knowledge on pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours (PanNETs) and discuss how recent, novel findings have furthered our understanding of these complex tumours.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28539963,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Role of Propolis in Oxidative Stress and Lipid Metabolism: A Randomized Controlled Trial.\nAlthough there is evidence of the benefits of propolis on human health, the vast majority of studies have been conducted using animal models. The present study includes the chemical characterization and clinical evaluation of the effects of the oral administration of propolis solution on the oxidative status and modulation of lipids in a human population in Talca, Chile. Chemical characterization of propolis, total phenol, flavonoids, and total antioxidant capacity were determined by ORAC. Identification of phenols and flavonoids in propolis was assessed by HPLC-DAD. A double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial was conducted. Subjects provided informed consent form and the Bioethics Committee of the Universidad de Talca approved protocol. Eligible subjects (n = 67) were randomized in two groups: propolis (n = 35) and placebo (n = 32). All subjects were evaluated at 0 (baseline), 45, and 90 days. In the propolis group, we observed that increases in HDL-c went from 53.9 \u00b1 11.9 to 65.8 \u00b1 16.7 mg\/dL (p < 0.001) from baseline to 90 days. Compared to placebo subjects, consumption of propolis induced a net increase in GSH levels (p < 0.0001) and a decrease (p < 0.001) in TBARS levels for the propolis group. Our findings indicate potential benefits of propolis use in human health. The use of propolis appears to have positive effects on oxidative status and improvement of HDL-c, both of which contribute to a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20359805,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Context, evidence and attitude: the case for photography in medical examinations of asylum seekers in the Netherlands.\nCan photographs of scars serve as evidence of torture? Amnesty International's Medical Examination Group in the Netherlands (AI-MEG) has, for more than a decade, been photographing torture scars to supplement the testimonies of asylum seekers who have been denied refuge. AI-MEG only intervenes at this point, when asylum seekers face extradition. Proving allegations of torture is of vital importance, as asylum seekers face rising anti-immigrant sentiment in European countries. All victims examined by AI-MEG present a combination of mental, physical and emotional scars. We summarize five cases where AI-MEG used photography in their medical examinations, and consider the ethical role physicians play in helping asylum seekers obtain refuge. Though photographs cannot capture all forms of trauma, as visual documents, they are a compelling form of concrete evidence of torture. In this way, photographs complement verbal testimonies and help doctors and immigration authorities to see and understand physical scars left by various forms of torture. AI-MEG explains in medical terms the connections between the visible late sequelae of torture and victims' testimonies. They then assess whether or not the physical scars are consistent with the forms of torture recounted by victims, using the terminology of the Istanbul Protocol (1999), the United Nations-adopted manual of guidelines that explains how to document torture. This paper outlines the medical examination process and argues for the use of photography as medical evidence on behalf of asylum seekers.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11982337,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"DNA sequence and functional analysis of Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. lactis plasmids pN42 and pJBL2.\nThe plasmids pN42 and pJBL2 were isolated from the Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. lactis strains NCC88 and JCL414. DNA sequence determination and bioinformatic analysis revealed a strikingly conserved genetic organization containing five major, highly conserved open reading frames (ORFs). Transformation studies indicated that ORF2 (consisting of a primase fused to a replicative DNA helicase), ori, and ORF3 constitute the minimal requirements for replication of pN42 in the heterologous host Lactococcus lactis. The ORF1's are predicted to encode type I restriction-modification (R-M) system HsdS subunits with different specificities on either plasmid, suggesting that these plasmids may be involved in host defense by expanding their host R-M system repertoire. These plasmids constitute the basis for the construction of novel L. delbrueckii vectors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9564925,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Prospective trial of catheter irrigation and muscle flaps for sternal wound infection.\nSternal wound infection is a relatively rare but potentially devastating complication of open heart operations. The most common treatments after debridement are rewiring with antibiotic irrigation and muscle flaps. Here we present the results of a prospective trial to determine the appropriate roles of closed-chest catheter irrigation and muscle flap closure for sternotomy infection and to assess the effect of internal mammary artery bypass grafting on the outcome of each treatment modality. Between 1990 and 1994, 5,658 sternotomies were performed at the University of Washington Medical Center. Sternal dehiscence occurred in 43 patients, 25 of whom had infection (overall incidence, 0.44%). Because of the infrequency of this complication, a prospective, randomized trial was developed in which the initial approach to sternal dehiscence was rewiring and catheter irrigation. Muscle flaps were used as the primary treatment if the sternum could not be restabilized or as secondary treatment if catheter irrigation failed. Wound resolution, length of hospital stay, and complications were evaluated. Sterile dehiscences were successfully closed with irrigation in 17 of 18 patients; the other patient required flap closure. Of the 25 patients with infection, 19 had irrigation and 6, closure with flaps primarily. In the group of infected patients, 17 of the 19 who received irrigation also had internal mammary artery bypass grafting. Irrigation failed in 15 (88.2%) of these 17 patients, and salvage was accomplished with muscle flap closure. All 6 patients with infection who were closed primarily with muscle flaps had a successful outcome. Hospitalization averaged 10.2 days when muscle flaps were used primarily and 14.3 additional days for unsuccessful irrigation. When irrigation was successful, the hospital stay averaged 11.2 days. Catheter irrigation should be reserved for patients without infection or patients with infection but without internal mammary artery bypass grafts in whom dehiscence occurs less than 1 month after sternotomy. All others should have closure with muscle flaps.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37463159,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Inference and quantile regression for the unit-exponentiated Lomax distribution.\nIn probability theory and statistics, it is customary to employ unit distributions to explain practical variables having values between zero and one. This study suggests a brand-new distribution for modelling data on the unit interval called the unit-exponentiated Lomax (UEL) distribution. The statistical aspects of the UEL distribution are shown. The parameters corresponding to the proposed distribution are estimated using widely recognized estimation techniques, such as Bayesian, maximum product of spacing, and maximum likelihood. The effectiveness of the various estimators is assessed through a simulated scenario. Using mock jurors and food spending data sets, the UEL regression model is demonstrated as an alternative to unit-Weibull regression, beta regression, and the original linear regression models. Using Covid-19 data, the novel model outperforms certain other unit distributions according to different comparison criteria.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12029773,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Grandpa's radical neck surgery: a historical memory.\nThis article is a professional and personal stroll down memory lane. The sister authors investigated one of the first radical neck procedures for cancer, performed in the early 1950s on their grandfather. The historical Operating Room Nurse role is briefly reviewed, and some of the effects of the surgery on the family are discussed. The surgeries today on ears, nose, and throat would not be possible without the brave pioneer patients, physicians, and nurses of the past.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25506591,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Contribution of Crk adaptor proteins to host cell and bacteria interactions.\nThe Crk adaptor family of proteins comprises the alternatively spliced CrkI and CrkII isoforms, as well as the paralog Crk-like (CrkL) protein, which is encoded by a different gene. Initially thought to be involved in signaling during apoptosis and cell adhesion, this ubiquitously expressed family of proteins is now known to play essential roles in integrating signals from a wide range of stimuli. In this review, we describe the structure and function of the different Crk proteins. We then focus on the emerging roles of Crk adaptors during Enterobacteriaceae pathogenesis, with special emphasis on the important human pathogens Salmonella, Shigella, Yersinia, and enteropathogenic Escherichia coli. Throughout, we remark on opportunities for future research into this intriguing family of proteins.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19051784,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Advocacy and hope for the patient with pityriasis rubra pilaris.\nPityriasis rubra pilaris (PRP) is a rare skin disease that can cause severe physical and psychological manifestations. A short case study of an adult with PRP who was denied access to medications and his journey towards improved health is discussed. Through advocacy and support, health care providers can make a difference in the care of patients with PRP and improve their quality of life.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34411088,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Neutrophils promote T-cell activation through the regulated release of CD44-bound Galectin-9 from the cell surface during HIV infection.\nThe interaction of neutrophils with T cells has been the subject of debate and controversies. Previous studies have suggested that neutrophils may suppress or activate T cells. Despite these studies, the interaction between neutrophils and T cells has remained a largely unexplored field. Here, based on our RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis, we found that neutrophils have differential transcriptional and functional profiling depending on the CD4 T-cell count of the HIV-infected individual. In particular, we identified that neutrophils in healthy individuals express surface Galectin-9 (Gal-9), which is down-regulated upon activation, and is consistently down-regulated in HIV-infected individuals. However, down-regulation of Gal-9 was associated with CD4 T-cell count of patients. Unstimulated neutrophils express high levels of surface Gal-9 that is bound to CD44, and, upon stimulation, neutrophils depalmitoylate CD44 and induce its movement out of the lipid raft. This process causes the release of Gal-9 from the surface of neutrophils. In addition, we found that neutrophil-derived exogenous Gal-9 binds to cell surface CD44 on T cells, which promotes LCK activation and subsequently enhances T-cell activation. Furthermore, this process was regulated by glycolysis and can be inhibited by interleukin (IL)-10. Together, our data reveal a novel mechanism of Gal-9 shedding from the surface of neutrophils. This could explain elevated plasma Gal-9 levels in HIV-infected individuals as an underlying mechanism of the well-characterized chronic immune activation in HIV infection. This study provides a novel role for the Gal-9 shedding from neutrophils. We anticipate that our results will spark renewed investigation into the role of neutrophils in T-cell activation in other acute and chronic conditions, as well as improved strategies for modulating Gal-9 shedding.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28262035,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Lesions of the posterior limb of the internal capsule in neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder.\nPosterior limb of the internal capsule lesions (PLICL) are one of the MRI features of neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD). However, there is no evidence that such lesions are pathogenically related to NMOSD. We retrospectively analyzed features of PLICL in NMOSD, and other central nervous system inflammatory disorders, in 561 patients. We also examined the pathological samples of six patients. Of the 561 patients investigated, PLICL were found in 65 patients (11.6%). Lesions were bilateral in 26 cases (40%) and unilateral in 39 cases (60%). Unilateral lesions were mainly located on the left side (74.3%, 29\/39). Of the 65 patients with PLICL, 46 patients had NMOSD (70.8%) and were positive for anti-aquaporin (AQP4-IgG), four had NMOSD (6.2%) and were AQP4-IgG negative, 10 patients had multiple sclerosis (MS), three patients had NMDAR encephalitis, and two had autoimmune meningoencephalitis. Of the six patients whose pathological samples were evaluated, all had PLICL and were negative for AQP4-IgG, and none had pathological NMOSD lesion features. These cases included three patients with multiple sclerosis, one with anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis, and two with autoimmune meningoencephalitis. In conclusion, PLICL are found not only in patients with NMOSD, but also in MS and other disorders.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27487204,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Recombinant expression of porcine lactoferrin peptide LF-6 with intein technology and its immunomodulatory function in ETEC K88-infected mice.\nLF-6 is a modified antibacterial peptide derived from LFP-20, a major active ingredient of porcine lactoferrin, whose antibacterial activity is 200 times higher than its native protein counterpart. Moreover, LF-6 displays even higher antibacterial activity than LFP-20 and negligible toxic adverse effects, make it a potential therapeutic agent for antibacterial purposes. Escherichia coli expression system has been a preferred choice and workhorse for most recombinant proteins. However, LF-6 must be coexpressed with a fusion partner to avoid its potentially fatal toxicity which would threat E. coli expression system. In this study, we successfully introduced intein system to solve this problem, which LF-6 was N-terminally fused to dithiothreitol (DTT)-induced self-cleavable intein, and it conduct cleavage when the intein-fusion peptide passing through a chromatography column filled with chitin, then the spliced peptide was purified with RP-HPLC and identified with mass spectroscopy. A bacteriostatic test showed that the recombinant LF-6 displayed nearly the same antibacterial activity as the chemically synthetized LF-6, and an in vivo immunoprotection analysis showed that the recombinant LF-6 exerted protective effects on Escherichia coli (ETEC)-K88-infected mice, which significantly reduced the pro-inflammatory cytokines level in plasma and intestine, and resistant to intestinal mucosal injury compared to the infective alone groups. Our study indicates that the intein system allows a safe and efficient method to produce recombinant LF-6, which not only has antibacterial activity, but more importantly, has an immunomodulatory function.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32617697,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Does the third molar position influence periodontal status and overall condition of patients with acute pericoronitis? A cross-sectional study.\nThe teeth positioning may be an important associated factor for the pericoronitis' clinical signs. Our objective was to verify the association between lower third molar position according to the Pell and Gregory classification and clinical variables in patients with pericoronitis. Cross-sectional analysis of panoramic radiographs and medical records of patients with pericoronitis. Primary outcomes: pain and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL); secondary outcomes: mouth opening, edema\/erythema extension, visible plaque index, bleeding on probing index, periodontal pocket probing depth, and distal alveolar bone crest height of the adjacent second molar. The edema\/erythema extension was higher in the IIA position compared with the IA position (p = 0.03). Regarding the OHRQoL, the OHIP-14 score was 21.0 (\u00b1 9.26, range from 4 to 44). The most scored domain was physical pain (5.24), followed by psychological discomfort (4.43). Third molars in IIA position are associated with worse OHRQoL than IB and IIB positions (p = 0.03). There was a higher extension of edema\/erythema and worse OHRQoL when the third molar was in IIA position. Prophylactic removal of mandibular third molar in position IIA may avoid the onset of mucosal edema\/erythema and prevent pericoronitis from promoting impairment of individuals' quality of life.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29360032,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Clinicians' Need for an Ecological Approach to Violence Reduction.\nWe now know that harmful social policies, such as those that deny health care to some people, can generate structural violence and be far more harmful than any type of direct violence. A health professional who engages in public health promotion must thus consider the adverse effects of structural violence generated by bad policies. On this view, the dictum, \"first, do no harm,\" can be interpreted as a mandate to protect patients from injustice. Health care professionals' responsibilities extend to motivating policies that prevent avoidable deaths and disabilities. As we exist within an ecology, we must each recognize our responsibility to care for one another and for the larger human community.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28248384,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Expanding color gamut of reflective liquid crystal displays from filtering undesirable wavelengths of a light source by an embedded etalon.\nThis work demonstrates a method to reduce the intensity of the undesirable wavelengths of blue (B-) and green (G-) ambient lights to expand the color gamut of reflective liquid crystal displays (LCDs) by an embedded etalon. The built-in reflector of the reflective LCDs is replaced by the blue-green overlapping wavelengths filtering etalon, which is used to reduce the intensity of undesirable B- and G-primaries, thereby decreasing the color cross talk of B- and G-color filters. After etalon adoption, the color gamut can be expanded from 105.96% to 121.81% of National Television System Committee (NTSC) in International Commission on Illumination (CIE) 1976 color space. Compared with the color gamut of the display without the blue-green overlapping wavelength etalon, the maximum expansion of color gamut is \u223c15.85%. Moreover, the balance between light loss and color gamut expansion should be taken into consideration.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6366618,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Cigarette smoking. A pilot project of dehabituation and experimental research].\nAn interdisciplinary approach was adopted in a pilot programme research project as the most effective way to obtain concrete results in curing tobacco-addiction. The various stages and effects of the treatment are analysed as a means of identifying the most appropriate techniques. The early results are reported under separate headings according to treatment type (psychological, neurophysiological, dietary, clinical, chemical).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37868962,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-18":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"CD4+CD25+FOXP3+ regulatory T cells: a potential \"armor\" to shield \"transplanted allografts\" in the war against ischemia reperfusion injury.\nDespite the advances in therapeutic interventions, solid organ transplantation (SOT) remains the \"gold standard\" treatment for patients with end-stage organ failure. Recently, vascularized composite allotransplantation (VCA) has reemerged as a feasible treatment option for patients with complex composite tissue defects. In both SOT and VCA, ischemia reperfusion injury (IRI) is inevitable and is a predominant factor that can adversely affect transplant outcome by potentiating early graft dysfunction and\/or graft rejection. Restoration of oxygenated blood supply to an organ which was previously hypoxic or ischemic for a period of time triggers cellular oxidative stress, production of both, pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, infiltration of innate immune cells and amplifies adaptive alloimmune responses in the affected allograft. Currently, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved drugs for the treatment of IRI are unavailable, therefore an efficacious therapeutic modality to prevent, reduce and\/or alleviate allograft damages caused by IRI induced inflammation is warranted to achieve the best-possible transplant outcome among recipients. The tolerogenic capacity of CD4+CD25+FOXP3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs), have been extensively studied in the context of transplant rejection, autoimmunity, and cancer. It was not until recently that Tregs have been recognized as a potential cell therapeutic candidate to be exploited for the prevention and\/or treatment of IRI, owing to their immunomodulatory potential. Tregs can mitigate cellular oxidative stress, produce anti-inflammatory cytokines, promote wound healing, and tissue repair and prevent the infiltration of pro-inflammatory immune cells in injured tissues. By using strategic approaches to increase the number of Tregs and to promote targeted delivery, the outcome of SOT and VCA can be improved. This review focuses on two sections: (a) the therapeutic potential of Tregs in preventing and mitigating IRI in the context of SOT and VCA and (b) novel strategies on how Tregs could be utilized for the prevention and\/or treatment of IRI.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28717450,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"An ambient stable core-substituted perylene bisimide dianion: isolation and single crystal structure analysis.\nHere we report the first example of an isolable, ambient stable perylene bisimide (PBI) dianion which was synthesized by catalytic reduction of a highly electron deficient PBI derivative. The remarkable stability of this unprecedented dianion in air for months facilitated its complete characterization by different methods, including single crystal X-ray analysis. Furthermore, solvent dependent cyclic and square wave voltammetry studies revealed that the formation of PBI dianions is preferred in more polar solvents, whereas the generation of PBI radical anions should be favoured in less polar solvents.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12042627,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Single coronary artery and sick sinus syndrome.\nWe report 2 patients with recurrent syncope and dizziness, later noted to have single coronary arteries. Both had right heart strain, one having pulmonary hypertension and the other having right ventricular outflow obstruction, which resulted in sinus node dysfunction. Patients were refractory to medical therapy and improved after pacemaker implantation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6172556,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The physicochemical properties of infectious hepatitis A virions.\nThe propagation of hepatitis A virus (HAV) in the cell line PLC\/PRF\/5 made possible the radiolabelling in vivo of mature, infectious hepatitis A virions and the determination of their physicochemical properties. In contrast to poliovirus type 2 (160S, 1.340 g\/ml), HAV had a sedimentation coefficient of 156 +\/- 2S and a buoyant density of 1.332 g\/ml in CsCl. The genome of HAV consisted of linear single-stranded RNA which sedimented at 32.5S under non-denaturing conditions. Compared to the size and sedimentation behaviour of poliovirus RNA (2.6 X 10(6) mol. wt., 35S) this corresponds to a mol. wt. of 2.3 X 10(6). Electrophoresis under fully denaturing conditions, however, revealed a mol. wt. of 2.8 X 10(6) and indicates the existence of relatively extended regions with secondary structure. The purified virus genome, containing a poly(A) sequence, served as a messenger for the synthesis of virus antigen in PLC\/PRF\/5 cells. Finally, in accordance with previous observations, the capsid of the virion was found to be constructed of three major polypeptides (VP1, 31 X 10(3); VP2, 26 X 10(3); VP3, 21 X 10(3) mol. wt.) and of two less readily demonstrable components probably corresponding to VP4 (8 X 10(3) to 10 X 10(3) mol. wt.) and the precursor polypeptide VP0 (40 X 10(3) mol. wt.).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29386980,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Rare Clinical Presentation of Tuberculous Meningitis: A Case Report.\nTuberculosis is the second leading cause of death under the category of infectious diseases, after the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Tuberculous meningitis (TBM) constitutes about 5% of all extrapulmonary disease worldwide. This report describes a case of Tuberculous meningitis with rare presentation in a 28-year-old woman, who was treated based on a collection of her social background, clinical findings and Multiplex PCR of tuberculosis. A 28-year-old Malay woman with no significant medical history presented to HUSM with one month history of on and off fever, two weeks history of generalised limbs weakness and one week history of dysphagia. She was reported to have experienced visual hallucination and significant weight loss. Her laboratory result is significant for leukocytosis, elevated ESR and hypernatremia. Non-enhanced and contrast CT scan of the brain showed severe bilateral frontal cerebral atrophy. Cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) for multiplex PCR for Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex was positive. She was promptly started on anti-TB regime combined with dexamethasone. Subsequent follow-up showed significant improvement. This is a rare clinical manifestation of Tuberculous meningitis that demonstrates the importance of recognising and initiating the treatment early to reduce disabilities and improve clinical outcome.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30304834,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Migration Energy Barriers for the Surface and Bulk of Self-Assembly ZnO Nanorods.\nPost-annealing treatment is a necessary process to create\/eliminate\/repair defects in self\u207bassembly (SA) metal oxide by providing enough thermal energy to the O atoms to overcome the migration energy barrier in ZnO. The height of migration energy barrier is dependent on the depth from the surface, which is hard to be estimated by theoretical calculations, as well as the optical analyses. SA ZnO nanorods (ZNRs) have high surface-to-volume ratio to provide complete picture between the optical and surface properties obtained by photoluminescence (PL) and ultraviolet\/X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (UPS\/XPS), which is used to investigate the evolution of structure and chemical states of the surface layers to reveal mutual agreement on all observations in PL, XPS, and UPS. We demonstrate variation of the surface structure of SA-ZNRs by scanning over a range of annealing temperatures and time to regulate the structure variation of SA-ZNRs, and their optical analyses agrees well with PL, XPS and UPS, which indicates the dependence of migration energy barriers on the depth from the surface of ZNR. The results reveal the well ZNRs formed at 570 \u00b0C and the further oxidation process and the formation of hydroperoxide on the Zn-rich surface of ZNRs at 640 \u00b0C.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6728910,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The effect of fluperlapine in acute psychotic patients.\nFluperlapine (NB 106 689), a dibenzazepine chemically and pharmacologically similar to clozapine, was investigated in 28 patients with regard to antipsychotic efficacy and occurrence of adverse effects. In an open early phase II study patients were given fluperlapine over a period of 26 days. The average daily dosage was 300 mg. Five patients had to be withdrawn from the trial during the first week due to side effects or therapeutic inefficacy, 23 patients were examined during the period planned. The substance proved to have fast-acting antipsychotic effect with few adverse effects and no extrapyramidal motor disturbances.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29562207,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"A practical comparison of algorithms for the measurement of multiscale entropy in neural time series data.\nThere is a broad family of statistical methods for capturing time series regularity, with increasingly widespread adoption by the neuroscientific community. A common feature of these methods is that they permit investigators to quantify the entropy of brain signals - an index of unpredictability\/complexity. Despite the proliferation of algorithms for computing entropy from neural time series data there is scant evidence concerning their relative stability and efficiency. Here we evaluated several different algorithmic implementations (sample, fuzzy, dispersion and permutation) of multiscale entropy in terms of their stability across sessions, internal consistency and computational speed, accuracy and precision using a combination of electroencephalogram (EEG) and synthetic 1\/\u0192 noise signals. Overall, we report fair to excellent internal consistency and longitudinal stability over a one-week period for the majority of entropy estimates, with several caveats. Computational timing estimates suggest distinct advantages for dispersion and permutation entropy over other entropy estimates. Considered alongside the psychometric evidence, we suggest several ways in which researchers can maximize computational resources (without sacrificing reliability), especially when working with high-density M\/EEG data or multivoxel BOLD time series signals.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36258382,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Quantum noise ciphered optical stealth communication based on equivalent spectral encoding.\nTo provide secure and covert transmission for optical communication system at the same time, a quantum-noise stream ciphered optical stealth communication approach is proposed for the first time. In the proposed system, the optical pulses are time spread by a chromatic dispersion device and then phase modulated with optical codes at chip rate to realize an equivalent spectral encoding. Binary optical codes are converted to multiple level phase-shift keying signal according to Y-00 protocol. The encoded optical signals are attenuated to mesoscopic coherent states and sent to a public channel. The ciphered signals are stealthy transmitted under public channel noise. The availability and covertness of the optical stealth channel is verified by system simulations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28261948,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Diversity Profile and Dynamics of Peptaibols Produced by Green Mould Trichoderma Species in Interactions with Their Hosts Agaricus bisporus and Pleurotus ostreatus.\nCertain Trichoderma species are causing serious losses in mushroom production worldwide. Trichoderma aggressivum and Trichoderma pleuroti are among the major causal agents of the green mould diseases affecting Agaricus bisporus and Pleurotus ostreatus, respectively. The genus Trichoderma is well-known for the production of bioactive secondary metabolites, including peptaibols, which are short, linear peptides containing unusual amino acid residues and being synthesised via non-ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs). The aim of this study was to get more insight into the peptaibol production of T. aggressivum and T. pleuroti. HPLC\/MS-based methods revealed the production of peptaibols closely related to hypomurocins B by T. aggressivum, while tripleurins representing a new group of 18-residue peptaibols were identified in T. pleuroti. Putative NRPS genes enabling the biosynthesis of the detected peptaibols could be found in the genomes of both Trichoderma species. In vitro experiments revealed that peptaibols are potential growth inhibitors of mushroom mycelia, and that the host mushrooms may have an influence on the peptaibol profiles of green mould agents.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17811501,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"OBSERVATIONS ON THE BIOLOGICAL VALUE OF A MIXTURE OF ESSENTIAL AMINO ACIDS.\n(1) A mixture of \"essential\" amino acids, fed to rats, was found to be inferior from a nutritional point of view to enzymatic or acid casein hydrolysates or casein fed at comparable levels. (2) Evidence is presented which suggests that the nutritive inadequacy of the essential amino-acid diet may be due in part to toxic effects of unnatural forms of certain amino acids that can not be utilized.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32350122,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption\/Ionization-Mass Spectrometry Imaging of Metabolites during Sorghum Germination.\nDhurrin is the most abundant cyanogenic glucoside found in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) where it plays a key role in chemical defense by releasing toxic hydrogen cyanide upon tissue disruption. Besides this well-established function, there is strong evidence that dhurrin plays additional roles, e.g. as a transport and storage form of nitrogen, released via endogenous recycling pathways. However, knowledge about how, when and why dhurrin is endogenously metabolized is limited. We combined targeted metabolite profiling with matrix-assisted laser desorption\/ionization-mass spectrometry imaging to investigate accumulation of dhurrin, its recycling products and key general metabolites in four different sorghum lines during 72 h of grain imbibition, germination and early seedling development, as well as the spatial distribution of these metabolites in two of the lines. Little or no dhurrin or recycling products were present in the dry grain, but their de novo biosynthesis started immediately after water uptake. Dhurrin accumulation increased rapidly within the first 24 h in parallel with an increase in free amino acids, a key event in seed germination. The trajectories and final concentrations of dhurrin, the recycling products and free amino acids reached within the experimental period were dependent on genotype. Matrix-assisted laser desorption\/ionization-mass spectrometry imaging demonstrated that dhurrin primarily accumulated in the germinating embryo, confirming its function in protecting the emerging tissue against herbivory. The dhurrin recycling products, however, were mainly located in the scutellum and\/or pericarp\/seed coat region, suggesting unknown key functions in germination.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28567868,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"ASSOCIATION BETWEEN QUANTITATIVE TRAITS AND ALLOZYME HETEROZYGOSITY IN A TETRASOMIC SPECIES: DACTYLIS GLOMERATA.\nTetraploid individuals of orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L. subsp. hispanica Roth.) sampled from a natural population were used to evaluate the correlation between both single and multilocus heterozygosity at 7 enzyme loci, and several quantitative traits (plant size at time of collection, leaf weight, and panicle number in experimental trials). Four hundred and forty-eight plants were studied at the 7 loci and 288 of these individuals were scored for an additional eighth locus. Five genotype classes (monogenic, simplex, and duplex digenic, trigenic, and tetragenic) were distinguished according to their heterozygosity level. Multilocus heterozygosity showed a significant positive correlation with both leaf and panicle yield in experimental conditions, but not with original plant size, which was found to be markedly influenced by environmental microheterogeneity. Multilocus heterozygosity, estimated from both the number of heterozygous loci and the number of distinct alleles per locus, had a significant influence on plant performance. Individual locus effects were positive and significant at two loci (GOT1 and PX1). Panicle number increased regularly with heterozygosity level (from monogenics to tetragenics) at the GOT1 locus, as did leaf weight and panicle number at the PX1 locus. Such variation would be predicted by overdominance at these loci or at linked loci. Significant relationships between leaf yield and heterozygosity level at the GOT1 locus distinguished the homozygotes from the heterozygotes (of any class) and was thus more consistent with inbreeding effects. No significant differences were observed among the five genotype classes for any quantitative trait at the six remaining loci. At both the GOT1 and PX1 loci, heterozygosity had a significant independent effect on leaf weight and panicle number even when the correlation between these traits was removed by analysis of covariance.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9146099,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Comparing efficacies of neurocognitive treatment and homework assistance programs for children with learning difficulties.\nThe purpose of the study was to analyze the relative efficacies of two treatments for children with learning difficulties. The first treatment consisted of multiple training components targeting specific cognitive and behavioral factors; the second treatment provided emotional support and supervision of school tasks. The participants were 94 Chilean schoolchildren (6 to 11 years of age). The efficacies were compared on (a) neurocognitive tests, (b) school achievement tests, and (c) behavior in school and at home. The results indicated that both groups improved on most of the outcome measures. The first group showed best results in parents' rating of home behavior, and the second group in reading. The findings also emphasized the importance of emotional support and the inclusion of a parents' group in treatment for children with learning difficulties.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28742098,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pathological manifestations in lymphatic filariasis correlate with lack of inhibitory properties of IgG4 antibodies on IgE-activated granulocytes.\nHelminth parasites are known to be efficient modulators of their host's immune system. To guarantee their own survival, they induce alongside the classical Th2 a strong regulatory response with high levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines and elevated plasma levels of IgG4. This particular antibody was shown in different models to exhibit immunosuppressive properties. How IgG4 affects the etiopathology of lymphatic filariasis (LF) is however not well characterized. Here we investigate the impact of plasma and affinity-purified IgG\/IgG4 fractions from endemic normals (EN) and LF infected pathology patients (CP), asymptomatic microfilaraemic (Mf+) and amicrofilaraemic (Mf-) individuals on IgE\/IL3 activated granulocytes. The activation and degranulation states were investigated by monitoring the expression of CD63\/HLADR and the release of granule contents (neutrophil elastase (NE), eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) and histamine) respectively by flow cytometry and ELISA. We could show that the activation of granulocytes was inhibited in the presence of plasma from EN and Mf+ individuals whereas those of Mf- and CP presented no effect. This inhibitory capacity was impaired upon depletion of IgG in Mf+ individuals but persisted in IgG-depleted plasma from EN, where it strongly correlated with the expression of IgA. In addition, IgA-depleted fractions failed to suppress granulocyte activation. Strikingly, affinity-purified IgG4 antibodies from EN, Mf+ and Mf- individuals bound granulocytes and inhibited activation and the release of ECP, NE and histamine. In contrast, IgG4 from CP could not bind granulocytes and presented no suppressive capacity. Reduction of both the affinity to, and the suppressive properties of anti-inflammatory IgG4 on granulocytes was reached only when Fc\u03b3RI and II were blocked simultaneously. These data indicate that IgG4 antibodies from Mf+, Mf- and EN, in contrast to those of CP, natively exhibit Fc\u03b3RI\/II-dependent suppressive properties on granulocytes. Our findings suggest that quantitative and qualitative alterations in IgG4 molecules are associated with the different clinical phenotypes in LF endemic regions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14556322,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pre and post treatment mucociliary function in allergic rhinitis in three different treatment modalities.\nAllergic rhinitis causes an impairment of the mucociliary function in the nose. It is hoped that treatment of perennial allergic rhinitis would be able to revert mucociliary function to normal. This study aims to compare pre and post treatment mucociliary transport time in 3 different treatment modalities. Ninety-two newly diagnosed patients with allergic rhinitis were randomised into 3 groups and started on different treatment regimes. At the end of 8 weeks, the group treated with only intranasal beclomethasone showed some, though not significant, improvement in the mucociliary function. There were no changes in the mucociliary function in the other two groups treated with beclomethasone and loratidine or loratidine alone.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37465918,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Unveiling the mechanisms behind surface degradation of dental resin composites in simulated oral environments.\nDental resin composites are widely used as restorative materials due to their natural aesthetic and versatile properties. However, there has been limited research on the degradation mechanisms of these composites in gastric acid environments, which would be common in patients with gastroesophageal reflux. This study aims to investigate the degradation behavior of dental composites immersed in simulated oral environments, including acid, saliva, and water. Mechanical and morphological properties of the composites, upon immersion in the simulated environments, were thoroughly examined using hardness testing and SEM imaging. Qualitative analyses of the ions leached from the polymer matrix and fillers were conducted using XPS and ICP-MS. In addition, the thermodynamic stability of the inorganic fillers of the composites in aqueous solutions across a wide range of pH values was theoretically studied through construction of Pourbaix diagrams. This study proposed a mechanism for composite leaching involving interactions between the matrix's hydrophilic groups and the aqueous immersion media, leading to swelling and chemical degradation of the composites. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that filler leaching was followed by ion exchange with Ca and P, resulting in the formation of hard calcified layers on the composite surface. The current findings provide valuable insights into the development of new composite materials with improved durability and resistance to degradation, especially for patients suffering from gastroesophageal reflux.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20366585,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Measurement of |V{ub}| from inclusive charmless semileptonic B decays.\nWe present the partial branching fraction for inclusive charmless semileptonic B decays and the corresponding value of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix element |V{ub}|, using a multivariate analysis method to access approximately 90% of the B-->X{u}lnu phase space. This approach dramatically reduces the theoretical uncertainties from the b-quark mass and nonperturbative QCD compared to all previous inclusive measurements. The results are based on a sample of 657x10{6} BB[over ] pairs collected with the Belle detector. We find that DeltaB(B-->X{u}lnu;p(l){*B}>1.0 GeV\/c)=1.963x(1+\/-0.088{stat}+\/-0.081{syst})x10{-3}. Corresponding values of |V{ub}| are extracted using several theoretical calculations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20353817,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":3,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2013-48":1,"2013-20":1,"2014-10":1}}},"text":"Inflammatory cytokines are associated with the development of symptom burden in patients with NSCLC undergoing concurrent chemoradiation therapy.\nElevations in cancer treatment-induced circulating inflammatory cytokines may be partially responsible for the development of significant symptom burden (e.g., pain, fatigue, distress, disturbed sleep) during concurrent chemoradiation therapy (CXRT). Sixty-two patients undergoing CXRT for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) reported symptoms weekly for 15 weeks via the M. D. Anderson Symptom Inventory (MDASI). Serum inflammatory cytokines were assessed weekly during therapy via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Dynamic changes in cytokines and associated symptom profiles were estimated using mixed-effect models. MDASI symptom severity increased gradually as CXRT dose accumulated and peaked at week 8. Serum concentrations of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-10, and serum soluble receptor 1 for tumor necrosis factor (sTNF-R1) increased significantly by week 8 (all p<.05). During CXRT, controlled for age, sex, race, body mass index, cancer recurrence, previous treatment status, total radiotherapy dose, and CXRT delivery technique, an increase in sTNF-R1 was significantly related to an increase in the mean score for all 15 MDASI symptoms (estimate, 1.74; SE, 0.69; p<.05) and to a larger radiation dose to normal lung volume (estimate, 1.77; SE, 0.71; p<.01); an increase in serum IL-6 was significantly related to increased mean severity for the five most severe symptoms (pain, fatigue, disturbed sleep, lack of appetite, sore throat) (estimate, 0.32; SE, 0.16; p<.05). These results suggest a role for over-expressed pro-inflammatory cytokines in significant worsening of symptoms in NSCLC patients undergoing CXRT, and warrant further study to identify biological targets for ameliorating treatment-related symptom burden.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17917213,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Bis(mu-4-carboxy-2-sulfonatobenzoato)bis[aqua(2,2'-bipyridyl)manganese(II)].\nIn the title compound, [Mn(2)(C(8)H(4)O(7)S)(2)(C(10)H(8)N(2))(2)(H(2)O)(2)], pairs of hexacoordinated manganese(II) centres are bridged by 2-sulfonatoterephthalate(2-) anions to form cyclic centrosymmetric dimers, which are linked into sheets by O-H...O hydrogen bonds.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7949866,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Integrated ambulatory care resource scheduling in oncology.\nIn a modern managed-care environment, the scheduling of ambulatory care activities must be viewed as a series of closely related activities rather than a group of unique and independent events. These activities must be sequenced in a logical manner, and linked with a variety of information on other clinical, operational, and administrative activities. This article focuses on such an integrated scheduling system which supports the ambulatory care services at the Johns Hopkins Oncology Center.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7930122,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Likert or Rasch? Nothing is more applicable than good theory.\nIn nursing research many concepts are measured by questionnaires. Respondents are asked to respond to a set of related statements or questions. In unidimensional scaling these statements or questions are indicants of the same concept. Scaling means to assign numbers to respondents, according to their position on the continuum underlying the concept. It is very common to use the summative Likert scaling procedure. The sumscore of the responses to the items is the estimator of the position of the patient on the continuum. The rationale behind this procedure is classical test theory. The main assumption in this theory is that all items are parallel instruments. The Rasch model offers an alternative scaling procedure. With Rasch both respondents and items are scaled on the same continuum. Whereas in Likert scaling all items have the same weight in the summating procedure, in the Rasch model items are differentiated from each other by 'difficulty'. The model holds that the probability of a positive response to an item is dependent on the difference between the difficulty of the item and the value of the person on the latent trait. The rationale behind this procedure is item response theory. In this paper both scaling procedures and their rationales are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23335385,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Pain distribution and predictors of widespread pain in the immediate aftermath of motor vehicle collision.\nMusculoskeletal pain is common after motor vehicle collision (MVC). The study objective was to evaluate distribution of pain and predictors of widespread musculoskeletal pain in the early aftermath (within 48 h) of collision. European American adults aged 18-65 years presenting to the emergency department (ED) after collision who were discharged to home after evaluation were eligible. Evaluation included an assessment of reported pre-collision psychological characteristics, crash characteristics, current pain severity and location, and current psychological symptoms. Adjusted risk ratios were estimated using generalized linear models. Among 890 participants included in the study, 589\/890 (66%) had pain in three or more regions, and 192\/890 (22%) had widespread musculoskeletal pain (pain in seven or more regions). In adjusted analyses, the presence of widespread pain was strongly associated with depressive and somatic symptoms prior to collision, pain catastrophizing, and acute psychological symptoms, and was not associated with most collision characteristics (road speed limit, extent of vehicle damage, collision type, driver vs. passenger, airbag deployment). The reported number of body regions that struck an object during the collision was associated with both reported pre-collision depressive symptoms and with widespread pain. More than one in five individuals presenting to the ED in the hours after MVC have widespread pain. Widespread pain is strongly associated with patient characteristics known to be modulated by supraspinal mechanisms, suggesting that stress-induced hyperalgesia may influence acute widespread pain after collision.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16990162,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Socioeconomic factors, country of birth, and years in Sweden are associated with first birth fertility trends during the 1990s: a national cohort study.\nDecreasing fertility rates and postponement of first birth are of considerable public health concern in many industrialized countries. Previous studies suggest that this will increase involuntary childlessness in the population. The general aim was to examine the association between sociodemographic factors and first birth fertility trends in Sweden during the 1990s. This Swedish national study examined changes in first birth rates and mean age at first birth between 1991 and 1992 (n = 452,000) and 1997-98 (n = 495,756). The impact of socioeconomic factors and years in Sweden on first birth fertility was examined among Swedish-born and 19 subgroups of foreign-born women aged 20-41 years. Poisson regression was used in the analysis. First birth rates decreased and mean age at first birth increased between the two periods among the Swedish-born and most foreign-born women. Non-employment and low income were associated with decreased first birth fertility, and low educational status was associated with slightly increased first birth fertility. Interaction tests revealed that, in contrast to Swedish-born women, several groups of foreign-born women increased their first birth fertility even if they were non-employed or had a low income. Among foreign-born women fewer years in Sweden was significantly associated with increased first birth fertility. Public health information should emphasize that postponement of first birth could lead to involuntary childlessness. Health care workers need to consider the woman's socioeconomic characteristics, country of birth, and years in Sweden when such information is given.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6176503,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Determination of the galactokinase activity of erythrocytes of swine of various ages].\nIn view of the fact that the ability of pig erythrocytes to use galactose will decrease with growing age, the galactokinase activity in pig erythrocytes of different age was determined by means of a spectrophotometrical method. A total of 5 pig fetuses (112th day of gestation) and 45 piglets at the age of 8 hours to 35 days belonging to different broods as well as 10 pigs for slaughter whose blood was collected after slaughtering out were included in the examination. In 5 piglets of one brood a progress examination was made during the suckling period. In the erythrocytes of all examined animals of different age groups the activity of the enzyme could be identified. There are great differences in the galactokinase activity of haemolysates of pig erythrocytes in different broods irrespective of their age. Therefore, an enzyme age dependence can only be recognized as a tendency from the comparison of the enzyme activities in erythrocytes of animals taken from different broods. In the erythrocyte haemolysate of 5 piglets of one brood the age dependence on galactokinase activity during the suckling period was determined in such a way that newborn piglets show a 30% higher enzyme activity than piglets at an age of 35 days. The enzyme activity in them, however, is still 1.6 times higher than in pigs for slaughtering. Thus, it may be concluded tht a postnatal decrease of galactokinase activity will occur in pig erythrocytes similarly to human erythrocytes. However, it is not responsible for a decrease of galactose utilization because no direct relations exist between both procedures. Parallel to glucose the decrease of galactose membrane permeability is assumed to play the decisive role here.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":2483394,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cutaneous late phase responses--an allergic inflammatory response.\nCutaneous late phase responses have been demonstrated to occur secondary to either immune or nonimmune mast cell activation. In this article I will review studies from our laboratory that support the concept that inflammatory cells, migrating into the allergic reaction secondary to mast cell activation, are themselves activated. These activated cells release mediators that then can induce edematous, indurated cutaneous responses occurring hours after mast cell activation that have been termed \"late phase cutaneous responses.\"","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37655216,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Case report: Isolated dissection of the left gastric artery: an unusual cause of acute abdominal pain.\nSpontaneous and isolated dissection of the left gastric artery is a rare occurrence, with only a handful of cases reported in the medical literature. Clinical presentation may mimic more common intra-abdominal pathologies; however, it is imperative to identify this condition promptly due to its potential serious consequences. This underscores the importance of maintaining a high level of clinical suspicion and including this pathology in the differential diagnosis of patients presenting with acute abdominal symptoms. Hence, this case report aims to increase awareness among clinicians about the importance of identifying and treating this rare condition promptly. A 69-year-old female experienced severe epigastric pain while attending a yoga class, prompting her admission to the emergency department 24 h later due to the persistence of her symptoms. Following imaging work-up utilizing computed tomography angiography (CTA), she was diagnosed with a dissection of the left gastric artery. Notably, there was no associated aneurysm or any evidence of ischemia in the esophageal or gastric wall. Conservative management, including low-dose aspirin and blood pressure control, was implemented. After 6 months of follow-up, CTA demonstrated expansion of the true lumen and the absence of secondary aneurysm formation, leading to discontinuation of aspirin. The management of spontaneous dissection of visceral arteries is primarily determined by the presence of complications and organ ischemia. In the case of uncomplicated visceral artery dissections, first-line treatment comprises surveillance and antiaggregation. Nevertheless, the optimal duration of antiplatelet therapy and the necessity for long-term follow-up remain unclear. Endovascular or surgical interventions should be reserved for patients exhibiting deteriorating symptoms or complications, and the decision to pursue these interventions should be made on a case-by-case basis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21159911,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Keratocystic odontogenic tumour: systematic review.\nThe aim of this review is to evaluate the principal clinical and conventional radiographic features of non-syndromic keratocystic odontogenic tumour (KCOT) by systematic review (SR), and to compare the frequencies between four global groups. The databases searched were the PubMed interface of Medline and LILACS. Only those reports of KCOTs that occurred in a series of consecutive cases, in the reporting authors' caseload, were considered. 51 reports, of 49 series of cases, were included in the SR. 11 SR-included series were in languages other than English. KCOTs affected males more frequently and were three times more prevalent in the mandible. Although the mean age at first presentation was 37 years, the largest proportion of cases first presented in the third decade. The main symptom was swelling. Over a third were found incidentally. Nearly two-thirds displayed buccolingual expansion. Over a quarter of cases recurred. Only a quarter of all SR-included reported series of cases included details of at least one radiological feature. The East Asian global group presented significantly as well-defined, even corticated, multilocular radiolucencies with buccolingual expansion. The KCOTs affecting the Western global group significantly displayed an association with unerupted teeth. Long-term follow-up of large series that would have revealed detailed radiographic description and long-term outcomes of non-syndromic KCOT was lacking.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19049875,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Local injection of BDNF producing mesenchymal stem cells increases neuronal survival and synaptic stability following ventral root avulsion.\nThe present study proposed to graft mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which continuously produce BDNF, into the spinal cord ventral horn, after ventral root avulsion. Neurotrophin expression was naturally achieved by culturing MSCs in an undifferentiated state for at least 10 weeks. Lewis rats were subjected to unilateral avulsion of lumbar ventral roots, receiving 3 x 10(5) cells injected through the lateral funiculus. Two weeks after surgery, the animals were sacrificed and neuronal survival, astroglial reaction and synaptic inputs within the motor nucleus analyzed. The results indicated that the MSCs treatment significantly rescued avulsed motoneurons. Such neuronal survival was related to in vivo mRNA up regulation as well as expression of BDNF and GDNF. Such increase was correlated to the preservation of synaptophysin- positive nerve terminals. Thus it was proposed that when maintained undifferentiated for a period of 10 weeks, MSCs may be used as a continuous source of BDNF, positively influencing neuronal survival and synaptic plasticity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12032197,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Low-pressure environment and remodelling of the forearm vein in Brescia-Cimino haemodialysis access.\nThe aim of the study was to determine which, and to what extent, haemodynamic parameters contribute to the remodelling of the venous limb of the Brescia-Cimino haemodialysis access. The dimensions of the radial artery and the venous limb of the haemodialysis access were measured by an echo-tracking technique. In six ESRD patients undergoing primary arteriovenous fistula (AVF) formation, vessel diameter, wall thickness, blood pressure and blood flow were measured after the operation, and at 1 and 3 months follow-up. The contralateral forearm vessels in their native position served as baseline values for comparison. The diameter of the proximal antecubital vein progressively increased over the study period without reaching significant differences (4430, 5041 and 6620 microm at weeks 1, 4 and 12 respectively), whereas the intima-media thickness remained unchanged. The venous dilatation was associated with a reduction of the mean shear stress that culminated after the operation and progressively returned to normal venous values at 3 months (24.5 vs 10.4 dyne\/cm(2), P<0.043). Thus the venous limb of the AVF undergoes eccentric hypertrophy as demonstrated by the increase in wall cross-sectional area (4.42 vs 6.32 mm(2) at week 1 vs week 12, P<0.028). At the time of the operation, the blood pressure in the AVF was 151+\/-14\/92.4+\/-11 mmHg vs 49+\/-19\/24.5+\/-6 mmHg (means+\/-SEM) for the radial artery and the venous limb of the vascular access, respectively. One year after the operation the blood pressure in the venous limb had not changed: 42+\/-14\/25.3+\/-7 mmHg (means+\/-SEM). Under these conditions, the systolo-diastolic diameter changes observed in the radial artery and the antecubital vein were within a similar range at all time points: 56+\/-17 vs 90+\/-26 microm (means+\/-SEM) at week 12. The increased circumferential stress resulting from the flow-mediated dilatation rather than the elevation of blood pressure appears to represent the main contributing factor to the eccentric hypertrophy of the venous limb of Brescia-Cimino haemodialysis access.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6365715,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Female sex hormone and nephropathy in Cohen diabetic rat (genetically selected sucrose-fed).\nIn the Cohen diabetic rat (genetically-selected sucrose-fed) ovariectomy resulted in a significantly decreased incidence of nephropathy, while estradiol treatment to the ovariectomized animal increased the rate of nephropathy to the levels occurring in the uncastrated untreated diabetic female. In the male diabetic animal orchidectomy caused a slight decrease in the rate of nephropathy whereas estradiol treatment to the orchidectomized animal resulted in a slight increase in the rate. No difference was found between the ovariectomized and the uncastrated diabetic female as to the spontaneous blood glucose, plasma insulin, serum cholesterol or TG levels, but a significant difference was found in their plasma estradiol levels.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25405797,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Future nanomedicine for the diagnosis and treatment of osteoarthritis.\nCurrent treatments for osteoarthritis (OA) are largely palliative until the joints become totally dysfunctional and prosthetic replacement becomes necessary. Effective methods are needed for diagnosing OA and monitoring its progression during its early stages, when the effects of therapeutic drugs or biological agents are most likely to be effective. Theranostic nanosomes and nanoparticles have the potential to noninvasively detect, track and treat the early stages of OA. As articular cartilage does not regenerate once it is degraded, cell-based treatments aided by superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticle tracking are attractive future treatment modalities for the later stages of OA progression, when significant cartilage replacement is needed. This article will describe the current and future translational approaches for the detection and noninvasive treatment of degenerative OA.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23878787,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Targeted Gene Therapy of Cancer: Second Amendment toward Holistic Therapy.\nIt seems solid tumors are developing smart organs with specialized cells creating specified bio-territory, the so called \"tumor microenvironment (TME)\", in which there is reciprocal crosstalk among cancer cells, immune system cells and stromal cells. TME as an intricate milieu also consists of cancer stem cells (CSCs) that can resist against chemotherapies. In solid tumors, metabolism and vascularization appears to be aberrant and tumor interstitial fluid (TIF) functions as physiologic barrier. Thus, chemotherapy, immunotherapy and gene therapy often fail to provide cogent clinical outcomes. It looms that it is the time to accept the fact that initiation of cancer could be generation of another form of life that involves a cluster of thousands of genes, while we have failed to observe all aspects of it. Hence, the current treatment modalities need to be re-visited to cover all key aspects of disease using combination therapy based on the condition of patients. Perhaps personalized cluster of genes need to be simultaneously targeted.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17189240,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Tendency to catastrophize somatic sensations: pain catastrophizing and anxiety sensitivity in predicting headache.\nGeneral catastrophic thinking styles about uncomfortable bodily sensations may predispose the development of common health pathologies, such as persistent headache. The purpose of this research was to explore the relationships between the Pain Catastrophizing (PC) Scale and Anxiety Sensitivity (AS) Index, which measure tendencies to catastrophize pain- and anxiety-related somatic sensations, respectively. A non-clinical sample completed the PC Scale, AS Index, and health outcome questionnaires regarding headache (n = 1018). Results revealed that: (i) AS and PC are empirically separate constructs; (ii) the overlap between PC and AS lies within the domain of fearing physical catastrophe; (iii) AS independently predicts weekly headache, headache pain intensity, and the number of a wide range of physical symptoms associated with headache; and (iv) PC independently predicts the presence of weekly headache. Limitations and implications of this research, as well as recommendations for future research directions are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36265851,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Changing Epidemiology of Varicella Outbreaks in the United States During the Varicella Vaccination Program, 1995-2019.\nWe describe the changing epidemiology of varicella outbreaks informed by past and current active and passive surveillance in the United States by reviewing data published during 1995-2015 and analyzing new data from 2016 to 2019. Varicella outbreaks were defined as \u22655 varicella cases within 1 setting and \u22651 incubation period. During the 1-dose varicella vaccination program (1995\u20122006), the number of varicella outbreaks declined by 80% (2003-2006 vs 1995-1998) in 1 active surveillance area where vaccination coverage reached 90.5% in 2006. During the 2-dose program, in 7 states with consistent reporting to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of outbreaks declined by 82% (2016-2019 vs 2005-2006). Over the entire program (1995-2019), outbreak size and duration declined from a median of 15 cases\/outbreak and 45 days duration to 7 cases and 30 days duration. The proportion of outbreaks with <10 cases increased from 28% to 73%. During 2016\u20122019, most (79%) outbreak cases occurred among unvaccinated or partially vaccinated persons eligible for second-dose vaccination, highlighting the potential for further varicella control.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16156666,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Identification and characterization of ERK MAP kinase phosphorylation sites in Smad3.\nSmad3 is phosphorylated by ERK MAP kinase upon EGF treatment. We have mapped the ERK phosphorylation sites to Ser 207, Ser 203, and Thr 178 in Smad3. We show that, upon EGF treatment, Smad3 is rapidly phosphorylated in these sites, peaking at approximately 15-30 min and that MEK1 inhibitors PD98059 and U0216 inhibit Smad3 phosphorylation induced by EGF. Ser 207 is the best ERK site in Smad3. Its phosphorylation shows the highest EGF induction in Smad3. It is also a very sensitive site to EGF treatment, significantly responding to low concentrations of EGF. These three sites are also phosphorylated by recombinant ERK2 in vitro. We have compared the kinetic parameters of Smad3 with those of ELK1 and MBP for ERK2. We further show that mutation of the ERK phosphorylation sites increases the ability of Smad3 to stimulate a Smad target gene, suggesting that ERK phosphorylation inhibits Smad3 activity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25502896,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The tibial eminence fracture in skeletally immature patients.\nAlthough tibial eminence fractures are uncommon, their importance cannot be overemphasized in skeletally immature patients because of the fracture's close proximity to both the tibial physis as well as the attachment between the tibial eminence and the anterior cruciate ligament, the latter being a key component in maintaining knee stability. This review focuses on recent trends in treatment concepts and devices. Recent literature on this topic addresses the existence of a variety of treatment modalities, but the majority of these articles analyzed a limited number of cases and insisted on the merits of their own methods. Nevertheless, some consensus has been reached regarding treatment direction and how much laxity should be considered acceptable. Although the review failed to reveal a gold standard modality in treating tibial eminence fractures, most studies agreed on several issues. Displaced intra-articular fractures should be fixed operatively.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37447338,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"New Food Frequency Questionnaire to Estimate Vitamin K Intake in a Mediterranean Population.\nVitamin K is a multifunctional micronutrient essential for human health, and deficiency has been linked to multiple pathological conditions. In this study, we aimed to develop and validate a new food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) to estimate total vitamin K intake, over the course of a 30-day interval, in a Portuguese, Mediterranean-based, population. We conducted a prospective study in a non-random sample of 38 healthy adult volunteers. The FFQ was designed based on a validated Portuguese FFQ used in nationally representative studies and on literature reviews, to include foods containing \u22655 \u03bcg of vitamin K\/100 g and foods with a lower vitamin K content, yet commonly included in a Mediterranean diet. Vitamin K intake was estimated from 24 h recalls and six days of food records. The final FFQ included 54 food items which, according to regression analyses, explains 90% of vitamin K intake. Mean differences in vitamin K intake based on food records (80 \u00b1 47.7 \u03bcg\/day) and on FFQ (96.5 \u00b1 64.3 \u03bcg\/day) were statistically non-significant. Further, we found a strong correlation between both methods (r = 0.7; p = 0.003). Our results suggest that our new FFQ is a valid instrument to assess the last 30 days of vitamin K intake in the Portuguese Mediterranean population.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14533059,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Cranial arteritis - An Overview].\nCranial arteritis is one of the most important emergency situations in ophthalmology. Recommendations of the literature how to diagnose and how to treat the disease are described. The basic diagnostic steps such as the \"Five Criteria Classification\" together with certain exceptions of the classification criteria and the recognition of different facets of the varying clinical picture are emphasised. Special arteritic appearances of the facial artery, the occipital artery and the vertebral artery should be noted and identified. It is pointed out that an arteritis without headache is of great clinical importance, known as occult arteritis, because of the lack of classical symptoms, often leading to a wrong diagnosis. Anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy (AION) is the most frequent cause of blindness. Differential diagnosis between non-arteritic and arteritic AION is emphasised. The different arguments concerning the performance of unilateral or bilateral arterial resection (\"biopsy\") and the findings of colour duplex ultrasonography in comparison to the histological results are discussed. It is also pointed out that some new diagnostic procedures such as the MRI examination with gadolinium and the PET-Scan examination may be helpful in supporting the diagnosis. Cranial arteritis is more often diagnosed in recent years. The diagnosis should be made in cooperation by the ophthalmologist and internists and neurologists. Blindness caused by cranial arteritis is preventable in the majority of patients if diagnosed early and treated properly. For decades of clinical experience it has been well established that early diagnosis and systemic treatment with high doses of systemic corticosteroids are essential in preventing blindness in one or both eyes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17915326,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Schizophrenia sex offenders: a clinical and epidemiological comparison study.\nWhile the incidence of criminal offense in individuals with schizophrenia does not necessarily differ from that of the normal population, in contrast, the rate of sexual crimes among individuals with schizophrenia is relatively low. Due to low numbers, description of sexual criminal behavior among schizophrenia patients remains relatively unexplored. In order to investigate clinical, socio-demographic and sexual factors associated with deviant sexual behavior in schizophrenia sex offenders we retrospectively compared a large subgroup of schizophrenia sex offenders with a group of schizophrenia patients incarcerated for other criminal behaviors and a group of sex offenders without schizophrenia. Results indicated significant differences distinguishing schizophrenia sex offenders from schizophrenia non-sex offenders, the former of whom were more likely to be married, employed, non-heterosexual (homosexual and bisexual orientations) and demonstrated less hospitalization, antisocial personality, substance abuse, negative symptoms and overall illness severity. Individuals with schizophrenia had a tendency towards female victims compared to non-schizophrenia sex offenders whose victims tended to be male. Study observations indicate important differences between the 3 subgroups suggesting that the schizophrenia sex offender subpopulation may be a unique subgroup of comorbid conditions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23436395,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Maturation of peptide-positive synaptic arbors in the medicinal leech requires rhythmic target activity.\nThe formation and refinement of synaptic connections are dependent on the activity that emerges from nascent synaptic connections. Such activity has the effect of regulating the production and release of specific neurotransmitters. To determine the role of activity in regulating the production of peptide-positive synapses, we used antibodies against Phe-Met-Arg-Phe-NH\u2082 and acetylated \u03b1-tubulin as well as intracellular injections of Neurobiotin to examine varicosities belonging to heart excitor (HE) neurons on the heart tubes of medicinal leeches, Hirudo spp. We found that the production of peptide-positive varicosities increased considerably during the last week of embryogenesis, which coincided with the emergence of rhythmic activity of the heart tube. When we compromised central input to HE neurons with bicuculline or by surgical ablation of the central pattern generator during early embryogenesis, we found that activity in the heart tubes and its rhythmicity were greatly diminished. Furthermore, the activity of HE neurons had also lost its rhythmicity and appeared tonic, and production of peptide-positive varicosities was substantially reduced as well. Partial surgical ablations that preserved rhythmic activity in the heart tube while disrupting heart tube innervation by some HE neurons still resulted in peptide-positive varicosity production. Taken together, our results suggest that postsynaptic rhythmic activity of the heart tube is necessary and sufficient for the development and maturation of peptide-positive synapses.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3049532,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Two regions of mature periplasmic maltose-binding protein of Escherichia coli involved in secretion.\nSix mutations in malE, the structural gene for the periplasmic maltose-binding protein (MBP) from Escherichia coli, prevent growth on maltose as a carbon source, as well as release of the mutant proteins by the cold osmotic-shock procedure. These mutations correspond to insertion of an oligonucleotide linker, concomitant with a deletion. One of the mutations (malE127) affects the N-terminal extension (the signal peptide), whereas the five others lie within the mature protein. As expected, the export of protein MalE127 is blocked at an early stage. This protein is neither processed to maturity nor sensitive to proteinase K in spheroplasts. In contrast, in the five other mutants, the signal peptide is cleaved and the protein is accessible to proteinase K added to spheroplasts. This indicates that the five mutant proteins are, at least in part, exported through the inner membrane. We propose that the corresponding mutations define two regions of the mature protein (between residues 18 and 42 and between residues 280 and 306), which are important for release of the protein from the inner membrane into the periplasm. We discuss the results in terms of possible conformational changes at this late step of export to the periplasm.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3055208,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Identification, cloning, and purification of protein antigens of Treponema pallidum.\nDifficulties in culturing the bacterium Treponema pallidum have greatly hindered syphilis research. In recent years, several laboratories have begun applying recombinant DNA technology to the study of this organism. Recent work is summarized concerning the expression of T. pallidum DNA in Escherichia coli. A number of E. coli clones expressing treponemal protein antigens have been identified. In one instance, a recombinant protein was purified to homogeneity and shown to be identical to a highly immunogenic, native T. pallidum membrane protein of molecular weight 39,000, which was designated the basic membrane protein (BMP) of this organism. In addition, recent experiments are described that were designed to identify cell-surface proteins that would serve as the primary focus of our cloning efforts. Results obtained with use of several different approaches strongly suggest that the outer membrane of T. pallidum is an antigenically inert structure largely devoid of protein. However, a class of low-molecular-weight protein antigens have been identified that are actively secreted into the extracellular medium. Attempts currently are being made to clone these secreted proteins and investigate their roles in the pathogenesis and immunobiology of syphilis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34235151,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sox9 Determines Translational Capacity During Early Chondrogenic Differentiation of ATDC5 Cells by Regulating Expression of Ribosome Biogenesis Factors and Ribosomal Proteins.\nIn addition to the well-known cartilage extracellular matrix-related expression of Sox9, we demonstrated that chondrogenic differentiation of progenitor cells is driven by a sharply defined bi-phasic expression of Sox9: an immediate early and a late (extracellular matrix associated) phase expression. In this study, we aimed to determine what biological processes are driven by Sox9 during this early phase of chondrogenic differentiation. Sox9 expression in ATDC5 cells was knocked down by siRNA transfection at the day before chondrogenic differentiation or at day 6 of differentiation. Samples were harvested at 2 h and 7 days of differentiation. The transcriptomes (RNA-seq approach) and proteomes (Label-free proteomics approach) were compared using pathway and network analyses. Total protein translational capacity was evaluated with the SuNSET assay, active ribosomes were evaluated with polysome profiling, and ribosome modus was evaluated with bicistronic reporter assays. Early Sox9 knockdown severely inhibited chondrogenic differentiation weeks later. Sox9 expression during the immediate early phase of ATDC5 chondrogenic differentiation regulated the expression of ribosome biogenesis factors and ribosomal protein subunits. This was accompanied by decreased translational capacity following Sox9 knockdown, and this correlated to lower amounts of active mono- and polysomes. Moreover, cap- versus IRES-mediated translation was altered by Sox9 knockdown. Sox9 overexpression was able to induce reciprocal effects to the Sox9 knockdown. Here, we identified an essential new function for Sox9 during early chondrogenic differentiation. A role for Sox9 in regulation of ribosome amount, activity, and\/or composition may be crucial in preparation for the demanding proliferative phase and subsequent cartilage extracellular matrix production of chondroprogenitors in the growth plate in vivo.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16983723,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Maintenance of CCL5 mRNA stores by post-effector and memory CD8 T cells is dependent on transcription and is coupled to increased mRNA stability.\nImmunological memory is associated with the display of improved effector functions by cells of the adaptive immune system. The storage of untranslated mRNA coding for the CCL5 chemokine by CD8 memory cells is a new process supporting the immediate display of an effector function. Here, we show that, after induction during the primary response, high CCL5 mRNA levels are specifically preserved in CD8 T cells. We have investigated the mechanisms involved in the long-term maintenance of CCL5 mRNA levels by memory CD8 T cells. We demonstrate that the CCL5 mRNA half-life is increased in memory CD8 T cells and that these cells constitutively transcribe ccl5 gene. By inhibiting ccl5 transcription using IL-4, we demonstrate the essential role of transcription in the maintenance of CCL5 mRNA stores. Finally, we show that these stores are spontaneously reconstituted when the inhibitory signal is removed, indicating that the transcription of ccl5 is a default feature of memory CD8 T cells imprinted in their genetic program.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25512222,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Expression of NALPs in adipose and the fibrotic progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in obese subjects.\nVisceral obesity is often accompanied by non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Activation of NACHT, LRR and PYD domains-containing proteins (NALPs) may contribute to the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines by adipose and the obesity-associated progression of NAFLD to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). We analyzed visceral adipose expression of various NALPs and its downstream effectors caspase-1, ASC (Apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a CARD), IL-18 (Interleukin-18) and IL-1\u03b2 (Interleukin- 1Beta) in obese subjects (BMI \u2265 35) with biopsy proven NAFLD. In adipose samples collected from NASH and pericellular fibrosis patients cohorts, expression levels of NALPs and IL-1\u03b2 were lower than that in non-NASH patients. In portal fibrosis, the levels of mRNA encoding anti-inflammatory NALP6 were upregulated. The expression levels of all NALPs were significantly co-correlated. Circulating IL-18 levels were associated with increased liver injury markers AST and ALT and portal fibrosis. Our observations point at a possible shift in inflammation and fibrotic response from adipose tissue to liver and a possible negative feedback regulation of tissue inflammation that may instigate NAFLD severity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23882008,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Identification of specific language impairment in bilingual children: I. Assessment in English.\nThis study was designed to derive cut scores for English testing for use in identifying specific language impairment (SLI) in bilingual children who were learning English as a second language. In a 1-gate design, 167 children received comprehensive language assessments in English and Spanish during their first-grade year. The reference standard was identification by a team of expert bilingual speech-language pathologists. Receiver operating curve (ROC) analyses were used to identify the optimal prediction model for SLI. The original, English EpiSLI criteria (Tomblin, Records, & Zhang, 1996) yielded a sensitivity of .95 and a specificity of .45 (LR+ = 1.73, LR- = 0.11, and AUC = .79) for our bilinguals. Revised cutoff scores yielded a sensitivity of .86 and a specificity of .68 (LR+ = 2.67, LR- = 0.21, and AUC = .77). An optimal prediction model yielded a sensitivity of .81 and a specificity of .81 (LR+ = 4.37, LR- = 0.23 and AUC = .85). The results of English testing could be used to make a reasonably accurate diagnostic decision for bilingual children who had attended public school for at least 1 year and were using English at least 30% of the time.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35351909,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Exploring a blue-light-sensing transcription factor to double the peak productivity of oil in Nannochloropsis oceanica.\nOleaginous microalgae can produce triacylglycerol (TAG) under stress, yet the underlying mechanism remains largely unknown. Here, we show that, in Nannochloropsis oceanica, a bZIP-family regulator NobZIP77 represses the transcription of a type-2 diacylgycerol acyltransferase encoding gene NoDGAT2B under nitrogen-repletion (N+), while nitrogen-depletion (N-) relieves such inhibition and activates NoDGAT2B expression and synthesis of TAG preferably from C16:1. Intriguingly, NobZIP77 is a sensor of blue light (BL), which reduces binding of NobZIP77 to the NoDGAT2B-promoter, unleashes NoDGAT2B and elevates TAG under N-. Under N+ and white light, NobZIP77 knockout fully preserves cell growth rate and nearly triples TAG productivity. Moreover, exposing the NobZIP77-knockout line to BL under N- can double the peak productivity of TAG. These results underscore the potential of coupling light quality to oil synthesis in feedstock or bioprocess development.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21747425,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Interactions between gastric and enteric infections: clues to the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease?\nWhereas the worldwide incidence of Crohn's disease (CD) continues to rise, Maori and Pacific Islanders living in New Zealand remain largely unaffected. The reason for this is currently unknown but may be linked to emerging evidence suggesting a role for Campylobacter spp in the aetiology of CD. Rates of campylobacteriosis are notably lower among Maori and Pacific Islanders and while this may reflect poorer access to primary care and diagnostic services, resulting in lower rates of notified disease, we consider it may also reflect a level of protective immunity in Maori and Pacific Islanders as a result of chronic infection from an early age with the closely related gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori. Understanding the interactions between these antigenically-related bacteria may provide us with clues that ultimately help unravel the complex aetiology of CD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37857572,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Bakuchiol modulates acetylcholine synthesis and alleviates A\u03b2 proteotoxicity.\nThe transmission of acetylcholine (ACh) is critically important for memory, learning, and behaviour. The most promising approaches for the treatment of cholinergic dysfunction involve the enhancement of ACh via nootropic phytomolecules. In the same line, the present study identifies the active molecule Bakuchiol derived from Psoralea corylifolia. Bakuchiol demonstrated significant elevation of ACh transmission, reduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, and extension of lifespan. Further investigation indicated that modulation of mRNA expression of genes encoding choline transporter, choline acetyltransferase, and acetylcholine transporter as possible effectors of amassed neural transmission. Moreover, Bakuchiol showed efficacy in reducing amyloid \u03b2 and lipid levels, possibly through the upregulation of heat shock transcription factor 1 (hsf-1) and autophagy (lgg-1) genes. Overall, our findings establish the efficacy of Bakuchiol in modulating cholinergic dysfunction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1697556,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Intratubular germ cell neoplasia of the testis: identification by placental alkaline phosphatase immunostaining and argyrophilic nucleolar organizer region quantification.\nWe assessed the value of placental alkaline phosphatase (PLAP) immunostaining and argyrophilic nucleolar organizer region (AgNOR) quantification as techniques for the identification of intratubular germ cell neoplasia (ITGCN), and compared them with hematoxylin-eosin and periodic acid-Schiff staining. We examined 46 malignant testicular germ cell tumors for the presence of ITGCN; 43 had sufficient tubules available for assessment. We also examined 16 cryptorchid testes, 16 testicular biopsies from 10 subfertile men, and 12 normal adult intrascrotal testes. In tubules adjacent to invasive tumors, hematoxylin-eosin staining identified 30 cases (70%) of ITGCN, while PLAP and AgNOR staining identified 36 cases (84%). All the seminomas (18) and 22 of 28 nonseminomatous germ cell tumors were PLAP-positive and had high AgNOR counts. Intratubular germ cell neoplasia was not identified in the other groups examined; germ cells in these groups were PLAP-negative and had low AgNOR counts. Cells of ITGCN showed cytoplasmic block positivity with periodic acid-Schiff staining but this was not a consistent finding. We conclude that ITGCN is present adjacent to most invasive germ cell tumors, and is reliably identified by hematoxylin-eosin staining when fully developed. Periodic acid-Schiff staining was not helpful as normal spermatogonia were also positive. Staining with PLAP and AgNOR were useful diagnostic adjuncts, but results with PLAP were easier to interpret.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14556385,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Multixenobiotic defense mechanism (MDMX) in bivalves].\nMultixenobiotic defence mechanism (MXDM) consists in a cellular system that functions as membrane extrusion pumps effluxing organic compounds out of the cells. In bivalves, it represents a primordial protection against toxic effects of organic xenobiotics in preventing their cellular accumulation. It has raised attention during the last decade for its potential to be used as a biomarker of pollution. This article reviews the fundamental knowledge on the MXDM system in bivalves and the methods proposed to assess its activity. Finally, it reviews the major results of laboratory and field studies that enabled to hypothesise that MXDM could be used as a biomarker of environmental stress rather than of pollutant exposure.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30100205,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Positive regulatory role of c-Src-mediated TRIM25 tyrosine phosphorylation on RIG-I ubiquitination and RIG-I-mediated antiviral signaling pathway.\nRetinoic acid-inducible gene I (RIG-I) detects viral RNAs and induces antiviral responses. During viral RNA recognition by RIG-I, tripartite motif protein 25 (TRIM25) plays a critical regulatory role by inducing K63-linked RIG-I polyubiquitination. Previous proteomics analysis revealed several phosphorylation sites on TRIM25, including tyrosine 278 (Y278), yet the roles of these modifications remain elusive. Here, we demonstrated that TRIM25 interacted with c-Src and underwent tyrosine phosphorylation by c-Src kinase upon viral infection and the phosphorylation is required for the complete activation of RIG-I signaling. Analysis using a c-Src inhibitor and TRIM25 mutant, in which tyrosine 278 is substituted by phenylalanine (Y278F), suggested that the phosphorylation positively regulates K63-linked polyubiquitination of RIG-I and subsequent antiviral signaling. The TRIM25 Y278F mutant displayed decreased E3-ubiquitin ligase activity in vitro, suggesting that this phosphorylation event affects the E3-ligase activity of TRIM25. Thus, we provide a molecular mechanism of c-Src-mediated positive regulation of RIG-I signaling.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17177580,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effectiveness and satisfaction with zolmitriptan 5 mg nasal spray for treatment of migraine in real-life practice: results of a postmarketing surveillance study.\nAddressing the needs of migraineurs by actively seeking patient feedback on disease-related disability and treatment satisfaction may lead to improved management and treatment outcomes. Patient feedback can be collected in postmarketing surveillance (PMS) studies. The objective of this PMS study was to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of zolmitriptan 5 mg nasal spray in the acute treatment of migraine attacks. Patients received zolmitriptan 5 mg nasal spray to treat migraine attacks of any severity and were followed up after a maximum of 4 months. Patients evaluated the efficacy and tolerability of zolmitriptan nasal spray, and were asked whether they wished to continue using zolmitriptan nasal spray and their preference compared with previous treatments. Physicians also assessed the efficacy and tolerability of zolmitriptan nasal spray. A total of 1838 patients (84.8% females) participated in the study. Within 30 minutes of administration of zolmitriptan nasal spray, 85.0% of patients reported improvements in headache pain, with 25.1% reporting an improvement within 10 minutes. At 1 hour post-dose, 57.9% of patients were pain free and 61.7% were able to resume usual daily activities. Most patients (72.9%) rated zolmitriptan nasal spray as 'better' than previous therapy. The majority (88.8%) expressed a wish to continue using zolmitriptan nasal spray. Physicians evaluated the efficacy of zolmitriptan nasal spray as 'excellent' or 'good' in 89.4% of patients. Tolerability was evaluated as 'excellent' or 'good' in 91.6% of patients. Zolmitriptan 5 mg nasal spray provides favourable efficacy and tolerability in the acute treatment of migraine attacks. Most patients assessed zolmitriptan nasal spray as 'better' than previous treatment, with nearly all wishing to continue using it.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17000500,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Labour management: an appraisal of the role of false labour and latent phase on the delivery mode.\nAchieving normal vaginal delivery requires an orderly transition from early labour to an established active labour. We analysed retrospectively the outcome of labour and the delivery mode based on the diagnosis of labour from the first examination of 3,130 parturients. A total of 1,847 (59.1%) delivered mothers had the first vaginal examination performed by the senior house officer (SHO). The majority (74.4%) of the mothers presented in established labour (cervical dilatation > or =4 cm), 25.6% in early labour, while 11.3% in latent phase. Patients who presented in established labour had a statistically significant higher spontaneous vertex delivery (SVD) rate (Pearson chi2 = 29.74, p = 0.000). A total of 62 parturients (17.5%) who presented in the latent phase and 204 (29.1%) in early labour had an unfavourable delivery mode; 46 had a caesarean section. There was a significant correlation between delivery mode and prolonged latent phase (Pearson correlation coefficient R = -0.066, p = 0.000). Linear regression analysis showed that the total number of VEs was the most significant predictor of the delivery mode of SVD (Regression beta-coefficient = 0.278, t = 10.37, p = 0.000). Early admissions in labour and a prolonged (abnormal) latent phase are significant predictors of difficult mode of delivery (poor labour outcome). We suggest that the first vaginal examination should be undertaken by the most experienced medical personal present at admission.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31247991,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Gas6 Prevents Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition in Alveolar Epithelial Cells via Production of PGE2, PGD2 and Their Receptors.\nThe epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is important in organ fibrosis. We hypothesized that growth arrest-specific protein 6 (Gas6) and its underlying mechanisms play roles in the prevention of EMT in alveolar epithelial cells (ECs). In this study, to determine whether Gas6 prevents TGF-\u03b21-induced EMT in LA-4 and primary alveolar type II ECs, real-time PCR and immunoblotting in cell lysates and ELISA in culture supernatants were performed. Migration and invasion assays were performed using Transwell chambers. Pretreatment of ECs with Gas6 inhibited TGF-\u03b21-induced EMT based on cell morphology, changes in EMT marker expression, and induction of EMT-activating transcription factors. Gas6 enhanced the levels of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2)-derived prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and PGD2 as well as of their receptors. COX-2 inhibitors and antagonists of PGE2 and PGD2 receptors reversed the inhibition of TGF-\u03b21-induced EMT, migration, and invasion by Gas6. Moreover, knockdown of Axl or Mer reversed the enhancement of PGE2 and PGD2 and suppression of EMT, migration and invasion by Gas6. Our data suggest Gas6-Axl or -Mer signalling events may reprogram ECs to resist EMT via the production of PGE2, PGD2, and their receptors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34421728,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3,"dup_dump_count":2,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1,"2024-30":1}}},"text":"COVID-19-Fear Affects Current Safety Behavior Mediated by Neuroticism-Results of a Large Cross-Sectional Study in Germany.\nObjectives: Although many research studies concerning changes in personality and behavior in time of COVID-19 pandemic emerged, important questions still have not been answered. This study with a large sample aimed to give insights into the impact of personality on pandemic fear and behavior by investigating the Big Five traits, COVID-19-fear, and associated behavioral changes in a large German-speaking sample. Methods: About 14,048 healthy respondents (65.5% female, 34.2% male, and 0.32% other gender\/gender queer; range = 18-85 years, median age 35-44 years) participated in the survey during the COVID-19 pandemic. Two scales, \"adherent\" safety behavior (ASB, \u03b1 = 0.857) and \"dysfunctional\" safety behavior (DSB, \u03b1 = 0.876), three items each, measured pandemic-associated behavior. The Big Five Inventory-10 (BFI-10) tested personality traits. Results: While ASB correlated negatively with extraversion (rho = -0.053, \u2264 0.001), the other four traits were positively associated, with the highest association for neuroticism (rho = 0.116, \u2264 0.001), whereas neuroticism showed a positive correlation (rho = 0.142, \u2264 0.001) with DSB, extraversion (rho = -0.042, \u2264 0.001), agreeableness (rho = -0.028, \u2264 0.001), and conscientiousness (rho = -0.025, \u2264 0.001) correlated negatively with it. Regression analyses showed a small extent of the effect of personality traits. Moreover, neuroticism mediated the association between COVID-19-fear and DSB (positive-directed). Conclusions: Even though our results on correlations between personality, pandemic fear, and related behavior are in line with the existing literature studies, the analyses clearly show that the impact of personality traits, including neuroticism, on pandemic behavior is very small. Rather, pandemic fear has a much larger influence on the safety behavior mediated through neuroticism. Further studies should bear in mind that personality traits can not only have influencing effects but also mediating effects.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28290154,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"The role of calpains in ventilator-induced diaphragm atrophy.\nControlled mechanical ventilation (CMV) is associated with diaphragm dysfunction. Dysfunction results from muscle atrophy and injury of diaphragm muscle fibers. Enhanced proteolysis and reduced protein synthesis play an important role in the development of atrophy. The current study is to evaluate the effects of the calpains inhibitor calpeptin on the development of diaphragm atrophy and activation of key enzymes of the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway in rats under CMV. Three groups of rats were studied: control animals (CON, n = 8), rats subjected to 24 h of MV (CMV, n = 8), and rats subjected to 24 h of MV after administration of the calpain inhibitor calpeptin (CMVC, n = 8). The diaphragm was analyzed for calpain activity, myosin heavy chain (MHC) content, and cross-sectional area (CSA) of diaphragmatic muscle fibers as a marker for muscle atrophy. In addition, key enzymes of the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway (MAFbx and MuRF1) were also studied. CMV resulted in loss of both MHCfast and MHCslow. Furthermore, the CSA of diaphragmatic muscle fibers was significantly decreased after 24 h of CMV. However, calpain inhibitor calpeptin prevented loss of MHC and CSA after CMV. In addition, calpeptin prevented the increase in protein expression of calpain1 and calpain2 and reduced calpain activity as indicated by reduced generation of the calpain cleavage product \u03b1II-spectrin in the diaphragm. CMV-induced upregulation of both MAFbx and MuRF1 protein levels was attenuated by treatment with calpeptin. The calpain inhibitor calpeptin prevents MV-induced muscle atrophy. In addition, calpeptin attenuated the expression of key proteolytic enzymes known to be involved in ventilator-induced diaphragm atrophy, including MAFbx and MuRF1.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34417666,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Immunotherapy-on-Chip Against an Experimental Sepsis Model.\nLipopolysaccharide (LPS) is commonly used in murine sepsis models, which are largely associated with immunosuppression and collapse of the immune system. After adapting the LPS treatment to the needs of locally bred BALB\/c mice, the present study explored the protective role of Micrococcus luteus peptidoglycan (PG)-pre-activated vaccine-on-chip technology in endotoxemia. The established protocol consisted of five daily intraperitoneal injections of 0.2 \u03bcg\/g LPS, allowing longer survival, necessary for a therapeutic treatment application. A novel immunotherapy technology, the so-called vaccine-on-chip, consists of a 3-dimensional laser micro-textured silicon (Si) scaffold loaded with macrophages and activated in vitro with 1 \u03bcg\/ml PG, which has been previously shown to exert a mild immunostimulatory activity upon subcutaneous implantation. The LPS treatment significantly decreased CD4 + and CD8 + cells, while increasing CD11b + , Gr1 + , CD25 + , Foxp3 + , and class II + cells. These results were accompanied by increased arginase-1 activity in spleen cell lysates and C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin (PCT), IL-6, TNF-a, IL-10, and IL-18 in the serum, while acquiring severe sepsis phenotype as defined by the murine sepsis scoring. The in vivo application of PG pre-activated implant significantly increased the percentage of CD4 + and CD8 + cells, while decreasing the percentage of Gr1 + , CD25 + , CD11b + , Foxp3 + cells, and arginase-1 activity in the spleen of LPS-treated animals, as well as all serum markers tested, allowing survival and rescuing the severity of sepsis phenotype. In conclusion, these results reveal a novel immunotherapy technology based on PG pre-activated micro-texture Si scaffolds in LPS endotoxemia, supporting thus its potential use in the treatment of septic patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28361105,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Single-nucleotide substitution T to A in the polypyrimidine stretch at the splice acceptor site of intron 9 causes exon 10 skipping in the ACAT1 gene.\n\u03b2-ketothiolase (T2, gene symbol ACAT1) deficiency is an autosomal recessive disorder, affecting isoleucine and ketone body metabolism. We encountered a patient (GK03) with T2 deficiency whose T2 mRNA level was <10% of the control, but in whom a previous routine cDNA analysis had failed to find any mutations. Genomic PCR-direct sequencing showed homozygosity for c.941-9T>A in the polypyrimidine stretch at the splice acceptor site of intron 9 of ACAT1. Initially, we regarded this variant as not being disease-causing by a method of predicting the effect of splicing using in silico tools. However, based on other findings of exon 10 splicing, we eventually hypothesized that this mutation causes exon 10 skipping. cDNA analysis was performed using GK03's fibroblasts treated with\/without cycloheximide (CHX), since exon 10 skipping caused a frameshift and nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD). Minigene splicing experiment was done to confirm aberrant splicing. cDNA analysis using fibroblasts cultured with cycloheximide indeed showed the occurrence of exon 10 skipping. A minigene splicing experiment clearly showed that the c.941-9T>A mutant resulted in transcripts with exon 10 skipping. There are few reports describing that single-nucleotide substitutions in polypyrimidine stretches of splice acceptor sites cause aberrant splicing. We showed that c.941-9T>A induces aberrant splicing in the ACAT1 gene. Our ability to predict the effects of mutations on splicing using in silico tools is still limited. cDNA analysis and minigene splicing experiments remain useful alternatives to reveal splice defects.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12037334,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nucleophilic addition reaction in coordinated non-linear pseudohalides: experimental charge density analysis in trans-bis(cyanamidonitrato-N:O)bis-(imidazole-N(3))copper(II) complex.\nThe experimental crystal charge density of the complex [Cu(iz)(2)(can)(2)] (I) (where iz = imidazole, can = cyanamidonitrate anion), [Cu(C(3)H(4)N(2))(2)(CN(3)O(2))(2)], crystallizing in centrosymmetric space group P2(1)\/c, has been determined at 120.0 (2) K, using Hansen and Coppens' aspherical atom multipole model. The central Cu atom is pseudo-octahedrally coordinated by four N atoms in an equatorial plane [two from iz molecules, 1.9660 (4) A, two from can anions, 2.0273 (5) A] and by two O atoms (from two adjacent molecules) in axial positions [2.5566 (5) A]. The d-orbital population analysis shows that the oxidation state for the copper is +2 with the d(9) configuration and that there is a hole in the d(x(2) - y(2)) orbital, located in the plane of the four nitrogen-ligating atoms. Electron lone pairs of these four N atoms are pointing into these regions of depleted electron density. In accordance with the medium-length Cu-O axial bonds, the d(z(2)) orbital is almost fully occupied [1.79 (3) electrons]. The non-bonding d(xy) orbital is fully occupied [2.05 (3) electrons]. Analysis of the atomic charges does indicate a deficit of +0.35 (4) e(-) on the nitrile carbon, which provides evidence of beta-carbon activation for a possible nucleophilic addition reaction. This reaction has been indirectly confirmed experimentally.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":2789605,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Characteristics of medical schools related to the choice of family medicine as a specialty.\nPrevious research has identified five characteristics of medical schools that are related to the choice of family medicine as a specialty: (1) the amount of time devoted to required training in family medicine, (2) the timing of the required family medicine training, (3) the type of ownership of the school (public or private), (4) the geographic location of the school, and (5) the administrative structure of family medicine within the school. These five characteristics of U.S. medical schools during the mid-1980s, together with the school tuition levels, were examined with both univariate and multivariate analysis to observe their relationships to the percentage of U.S. medical graduates entering family medicine between July 1986 and December 1987. With univariate analysis, each characteristic was significantly related to the percentage of graduates entering family medicine. Using multivariate analysis, only the number of weeks required and the type of ownership of the school were significantly related to the percentage of graduates entering family medicine, with the higher percentages related to greater numbers of required weeks of family medicine training and to public ownership of the school.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25401285,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Characteristics of colored passive layers on titanium: morphology, optical properties, and corrosion resistance.\nElectrochemically formed colored passive layers on titanium and their optical, surface morphology, and corrosion properties are presented and discussed. With the application of progressively higher AC voltages (VAC) during preparation of these passive layers, they are found to become more protective of the underlying metal, as determined from corrosion resistance measurements employing electrochemical polarization curve and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry experiments. The passive layers on titanium were found to be uniform in their surface morphology with no apparent cracks or pits. Surface morphology, and its relation to optical properties, was also investigated using visible light microscopy, profilometry, and near-infrared ultraviolet visible reflectance spectroscopy measurements. A correlation between the light reflected from the entire sample surface and the coloration of surface grains was also observed through these measurements. The reflectance spectra showed a red-shift of wavelength maxima (\u03bbmax) values as AC voltages and, therefore, thicknesses were increased. Overall, these passive layers are protective of an already remarkable metal, and with greater knowledge of the properties of colored protective layers, their potential may be employed in a wide range of applications.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16145104,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Correlation of penicillin Binding protein 2a detection with oxacillin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus and discovery of a novel penicillin binding protein 2a mutation.\nWe compared a rapid slide latex agglutination test (LAT; Oxoid, Basingstoke, United Kingdom) that detects penicillin binding protein 2a (PBP2a) with MicroScan conventional panels (Dade Behring, West Sacramento, CA) for detection of oxacillin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus. The PBP2a LAT demonstrated 99% agreement with MicroScan oxacillin MIC results for 388 isolates of S. aureus. All 249 oxacillin-resistant isolates gave strong positive reactions in the LAT (100% sensitivity). Three of the 139 oxacillin-susceptible isolates were also strongly positive and one was weakly positive in the LAT (97.1% specificity). The three oxacillin-susceptible isolates with strongly positive reactions were further characterized. The mecA gene was detected in all three by PCR; one isolate was determined to be resistant to oxacillin by reference broth microdilution testing (MIC, 8 microg\/ml), one isolate was inducibly resistant to oxacillin (MIC of 16 microg\/ml after overnight induction), and one isolate remained susceptible regardless of the method used for testing. Sequence analysis of a 2.1-kb gene fragment of the mecA gene from the susceptible isolate revealed a one-base substitution at nucleotide position 1449 which results in a Met-to-Ile change for amino acid residue 483. This amino acid substitution has not been previously reported and may be associated with a change in the function of PBP2a resulting in oxacillin susceptibility. An additional 487 isolates were tested in parallel with the both the LAT and MicroScan panels using criteria in which only strong (3 to 4+) or repeatedly weak (1 to 2+) LAT reactions were considered positive, and the results showed 99.4% agreement. The PBP2a LAT provided rapid and reliable detection of oxacillin resistance and proved a useful adjunct to the phenotypic method. Both methods provided reliable detection of oxacillin-resistant S. aureus and facilitated the discovery of a novel, functionally impaired form of PBP2a.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35345306,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pretreatment inflammatory markers predicting treatment outcomes in colorectal cancer.\nWe aimed to review whether pretreatment inflammatory markers reflect the short- and long-term outcomes of patients with colon cancer, rectal cancer, colon and rectal cancers, and metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC). We found that pretreatment complete blood count and blood chemistry tests reflect short-term and long-term oncological outcomes in patients with CRC. Specifically, in patients with colon cancer, hypoalbuminemia was associated with worse postoperative morbidity, mortality, and inferior survival. In patients with rectal cancer, elevated neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and thrombocytosis were associated with postoperative complications, poor overall survival (OS), and disease-free survival (DFS). A high C-reactive protein\/albumin ratio (CAR) was associated with poor OS and DFS. In patients with metastatic CRC, increased NLR and platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) were associated with poor OS, DFS, and progression-free survival (PFS). In addition, high CAR and a low albumin\/globulin ratio on blood chemistry tests were associated with poor OS and PFS. Although universal cut-off values were not available, various types of pretreatment laboratory markers could be utilized as adjuncts to predict prognosis in patients with CRC.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16998245,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Autoimmune pancreatitis diagnosed on the basis of immunohistology alone. A case report.\nThe differential diagnosis between autoimmune pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer is sometimes difficult, especially for those patients in whom laboratory and radiological criteria are lacking. A 72-year-old woman was found to have a tumor in the head of the pancreas. Laboratory data showed no abnormal values, including gammaglobulins or autoantibodies. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography showed extrinsic stenosis of the main pancreatic and lower common bile ducts. Computed tomography showed a lesion in the head of the pancreas. With a tentative diagnosis of head of the pancreas cancer, the patient underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy. Macroscopically, a tumor 2 cm in diameter not having clear margins was evident in the head of the pancreas. Histological examination showed the infiltration of lymphocytes, plasma cells, and eosinophils with lymphoid follicles around the main pancreatic duct. Immunohistological examination demonstrated that the main pancreatic duct was surrounded by abundant IgG4-positive plasma cells. The patient was diagnosed as having autoimmune pancreatitis on the basis of the immunohistological findings alone, without any well-defined criteria such as high serum level of IgG4 and presence of autoantibodies before or after surgery.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16163640,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Accuracy of clinical diagnosis of influenza in outpatient children.\nIn a prospective study, children < or =13 years of age with respiratory infections were examined. At each visit, a nasal swab specimen was obtained for the detection of influenza, and the physician recorded his or her opinion on whether the child had influenza. Among 2288 infections, the overall sensitivity of the clinical diagnosis of influenza was 38% and the positive predictive value was 32%.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17908719,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-22":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Potential misdiagnosis of 3-methylcrotonyl-coenzyme A carboxylase deficiency associated with absent or trace urinary 3-methylcrotonylglycine.\nWe report 2 patients with isolated 3-methylcrotonyl-coenzyme A carboxylase deficiency whose urine was devoid of, or contained only trace, 3-methylcrotonylglycine, the pathognomonic marker for this disorder. The first patient, a girl with trisomy 21, was detected through newborn screening with an elevated 5 carbon hydroxycarnitine species level, and the second patient came to clinical attention at the age of 5 months because of failure to thrive and developmental delay. Investigation of urinary organic acids revealed an elevated 3-hydroxyisovaleric acid level but no demonstrable 3-methylcrotonylglycine in both patients. Enzyme studies in cultured fibroblasts confirmed isolated 3-methylcrotonyl-coenzyme A carboxylase deficiency with residual activities of 5% to 7% and 12% of the median control value, respectively. Incorporation of 14C-isovaleric acid into intact fibroblasts was essentially normal, showing that the overall pathway was at least partially functional and potentially explaining the absence of 3-methylcrotonylglycine in urine. Mutation analysis of the MCCA and MCCB genes revealed that both patients were compound heterozygous for a missense mutation, MCCB-c.1015G-->A (p.V339M), and a second mutation that leads to undetectable MCCB messenger (poly A+) RNA. Absent or trace 3-methylcrotonylglycine levels in urine raises the potential for misdiagnosis in the clinical biochemical genetics laboratory based solely on urine organic acid analysis using combined gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17006849,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[The role of scintigraphy with the use of 99mTc-HYNIC-TOC in the diagnosis of medullary thyroid carcinoma].\nRecently a new somatostatin analogue labelled with (99m)Tc ((99m)Tc-HYNIC-TOC) has been synthetized. Aim of this study was to evaluate the utility of (99m)Tc-HYNIC-TOC in the radionuclide imaging in patients with medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC). 30 patients with MTC aged 22-83 years in different stages of the disease were investigated. In 6 patients (group 1) scintigraphy was performed before surgery directly after diagnosis of MTC. Four patients (group 2) were qualified to the study in the phase of remission after surgical treatment that had been confirmed by low concentrations of calcitonin. Twenty patients (group 3) were investigated due to stagnation or recurrence confirmed by persistent hypercalcitoninemia. The scintigraphy using (99m)Tc-HYNIC-TOC (Tektrotyd, POLATOM) was performed 2 and 4 hours post injection of 20 mCi (740 MBq) of the tracer. Other imaging techniques were also employed and analysed in individual cases (US, CT, (99m)Tc(V)-DMSA, (131)I-MIBG, (99m)Tc-MDP, (111)In-octreotide and FDG-PET). Images obtained 2 and 4 hours p.i. were similar. In group 1, uptake of the tracer was found in the primary tumour of MTC in all patients. In group 2, a false positive result was found in 1 of 6 patients. In the remaining 5 of 6 cases no pathological foci were visualised. In group 3, uptake in the thyroid bed was found in 3 of 20 cases and in the lymph nodes in 14 of 20 patients. In 3 of 20 cases uptake in the bone metastases was found. Globally, sensitivity of the scintigraphy using (99m)Tc-HYNIC-TOC was 86.4%, specificity - 75.0%, and accuracy - 84.6%. The scintigraphy using (99m)Tc-HYNIC-TOC showed high utility in the diagnosis of MTC. Confirmation of the presence of somatostatin receptors with this method may be used for treatment planning: surgery or radionuclide therapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16983941,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Experience of 100 surgical cases of encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis: investigation of recurrent cases after surgery.\nSince 1993, we have performed enterolysis for encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis (EPS) in 86 patients. Five patients died after surgery, but the remaining 81 patients achieved symptomatic improvement. However, some of the surviving patients developed symptoms of intestinal obstruction after several months, and EPS recurrence remains our greatest challenge. In the present study, we identified factors related to recurrence by clinically comparing 47 recurrent and nonrecurrent patients that we were able to follow for more than 2 years after surgery. In the 47 patients we followed, 11 (23.4%) experienced recurrence, and 10 of those patients underwent a second surgery. Four patients needed a third surgery. The mean time to recurrence was 15.2 months, and all patients with recurrence, except one, experienced their recurrence within 20 months. We observed no differences between the recurrent and nonrecurrent patients in follow-up period, age, history of peritoneal dialysis, use or nonuse of steroids after surgery, thickness of the submesothelial compact zone, or inflammatory cell infiltration. However, the number of microvessels was significantly higher in the recurrent patients. Our surgical experience with EPS shows recurrence in approximately 23% of patients. The results of the present study suggest that peritoneal microvascular hyperplasia is a factor involved in recurrence, and that patients with recurrence may have an irreversible pathologic condition and may experience repeated recurrences.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6364200,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hyperthermic survival of Chinese hamster ovary cells as a function of cellular population density at the time of plating.\nThe survival of synchronous G1 or asynchronous Chinese hamster ovary cells in vitro to heat treatment may depend on the cellular population density at the time of heating and\/or as the cells are cultured after heating. The addition of lethally irradiated feeder cells may increase survival at 10(-3) by as much as 10- to 100-fold for a variety of conditions when cells are heated either in suspension culture or as monolayers with or without trypsinization. The protective effect associated with feeder cells appears to be associated with close cell-to-cell proximity. However, when cells are heated without trypsinization about 24 hr or later after plating, when adaptation to monolayer has occurred, the protective effect is reduced; i.e., addition of feeder cells enhances survival much less, for example, about 2- to 3-fold at 10(-2)-10(-3) survival. Also, the survival of a cell to heat is independent of whether the neighboring cell in a microcolony is destined to live or die. Finally, if protective effects associated with cell density do occur and are not controlled, serious artifacts can result as the interaction of heat and radiation is studied; for example, survival curves can be moved upward, and thus changed in shape as the number of cells plated is increased with an increase in the hyperthermic treatment or radiation dose following hyperthermia. Therefore, to understand mechanisms and to obtain information relevant to populations of cells in close proximity, such as those in vivo, these cellular population density effects should be considered and understood.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37447935,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Efficient Fine Tuning for Fashion Object Detection.\nPre-trained models have achieved success in object detection. However, challenges remain due to dataset noise and lack of domain-specific data, resulting in weaker zero-shot capabilities in specialized fields such as fashion imaging. We addressed this by constructing a novel clothing object detection benchmark, Garment40K, which includes more than 140,000 human images with bounding boxes and over 40,000 clothing images. Each clothing item within this dataset is accompanied by its corresponding category and textual description. The dataset covers 2 major categories, pants and tops, which are further divided into 15 fine-grained subclasses, providing a rich and high-quality clothing resource. Leveraging this dataset, we propose an efficient fine-tuning method based on the Grounding DINO framework to tackle the issue of missed and false detections of clothing targets. This method incorporates additional similarity loss constraints and adapter modules, leading to a significantly enhanced model named Improved Grounding DINO. By fine-tuning only a small number of additional adapter module parameters, we considerably reduced computational costs while achieving performance comparable to full parameter fine tuning. This allows our model to be conveniently deployed on a variety of low-cost visual sensors. Our Improved Grounding DINO demonstrates considerable performance improvements in computer vision applications in the clothing domain.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20368596,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Lessons premier hospitals learned about implementing electronic health records.\nImplementing health information technology (IT) is a major strategic objective for providers. To pinpoint considerations that tie to success, the Premier health care alliance surveyed hospitals to develop an electronic health record best-practices library. Compiled from diverse health care organizations, the library outlines considerations to support \"meaningful use\" in the areas of computerized physician order entry, medication management, clinical documentation, reporting of measures, privacy, information exchange, management of populations' health, and personal health records. Best practices also uncovered strategies for securing executive leadership, culture change, communication, and support for clinicians. This paper summarizes lessons from the library, providing recommendations to speed up health IT implementation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22681163,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Lack of data on depression-like states and antidepressant pharmacotherapy in patients with epilepsy: randomised controlled trials are badly needed.\nThe prevalence of depression in patients with epilepsy (PWE) is high. To elucidate the nature of depression in PWE, a comparison was made between PWE and patients with idiopathic depression (PWID), applying 3 test batteries: Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II), Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BAQ). The former 2 rating scales were developed to measure depressive symptoms, while the latter was designed to detect anger and aggressive states. As a result, the group of patients with PWE showed significantly higher BAQ scores in comparison to those with PWID. Further, the BAQ and BDI scores were closely related within a group of PWE, while BAQ and BDI scores were not correlated with each other within a group of PWID. With regard to pharmaceutical therapy, the safety of antidepressants, especially SSRIs, is well established. However, there has been only one randomized controlled trial (RCT) thus far, which failed to show a significant difference in efficacy between placebo and various antidepressants. In contrast, there are two RCTs regarding the efficacy of LTG. The clinical profile of the depressiolytic effects of LTG in PWE may be different from that of antidepressants in patients with idiopathic depression, in that BAQ is more sensitive measure than BDI or CES-D. It is now widely recognized that the failure to treat depression in PWE can result in serious consequences. However, even a fundamental question, such as whether antidepressants are as effective in this population as in PWID, remains to be answered.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26430929,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Consumption of Synbiotic Bread Containing Lactobacillus sporogenes and Inulin Affects Nitric Oxide and Malondialdehyde in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial.\nTo our knowledge, no reports are available indicating the effects of synbiotic bread consumption on nitric oxide (NO), biomarkers of oxidative stress, and liver enzymes among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). This study was performed to determine the effects of the daily consumption of synbiotic bread on NO, biomarkers of oxidative stress, and liver enzymes in patients with T2DM. This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was performed among 81 patients with diabetes, aged 35-70 years old. After a 2-week run-in period, patients were randomly divided into 3 groups: group A (n = 27) received synbiotic bread containing viable and the heat-resistant probiotic Lactobacillus sporogenes (1 \u00d7 108 CFU) and 0.07 g inulin per 1 g, group B (n = 27) received probiotic bread containing Lactobacillus sporogenes (1 \u00d7 108 CFU), and group C (n = 27) received control bread for 8 weeks. Patients were asked to consume the synbiotic, probiotic, or control breads 3 times a day in 40 g packages for a total of 120 g\/day. Fasting blood samples were taken at baseline and after an 8-week intervention for quantificationof related markers. After 8 weeks, the consumption of synbiotic bread compared to the probiotic and control breads resulted in a significant rise in plasma NO (40.6 \u00b1 34.4 vs 18.5 \u00b1 36.2 and -0.8 \u00b1 24.5 \u00b5mol\/L, respectively, p < 0.001) and a significant reduction in malondialdehyde (MDA) levels (-0.7 \u00b1 0.7 vs 0.6 \u00b1 1.7 and 0.5 \u00b1 1.5 \u00b5mol\/L, respectively, p = 0.001). We did not find any significant effect of the synbiotic bread consumption on plasma total antioxidant capacity (TAC), plasma glutathione (GSH), catalase, serum liver enzymes, calcium, iron, magnesium levels, and blood pressure compared to the probiotic and control breads. In conclusion, consumption of the synbiotic bread for 8 weeks among patients with T2DM had beneficial effects on plasma NO and MDA levels; however, it did not affect plasma TAC, GSH, catalase levels, serum liver enzymes, calcium, iron, magnesium levels, and blood pressure.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20371826,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Chronic morphine treatment impaired hippocampal long-term potentiation and spatial memory via accumulation of extracellular adenosine acting on adenosine A1 receptors.\nChronic exposure to opiates impairs hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP) and spatial memory, but the underlying mechanisms remain to be elucidated. Given the well known effects of adenosine, an important neuromodulator, on hippocampal neuronal excitability and synaptic plasticity, we investigated the potential effect of changes in adenosine concentrations on chronic morphine treatment-induced impairment of hippocampal CA1 LTP and spatial memory. We found that chronic treatment in mice with either increasing doses (20-100 mg\/kg) of morphine for 7 d or equal daily dose (20 mg\/kg) of morphine for 12 d led to a significant increase of hippocampal extracellular adenosine concentrations. Importantly, we found that accumulated adenosine contributed to the inhibition of the hippocampal CA1 LTP and impairment of spatial memory retrieval measured in the Morris water maze. Adenosine A(1) receptor antagonist 8-cyclopentyl-1,3-dipropylxanthine significantly reversed chronic morphine-induced impairment of hippocampal CA1 LTP and spatial memory. Likewise, adenosine deaminase, which converts adenosine into the inactive metabolite inosine, restored impaired hippocampal CA1 LTP. We further found that adenosine accumulation was attributable to the alteration of adenosine uptake but not adenosine metabolisms. Bidirectional nucleoside transporters (ENT2) appeared to play a key role in the reduction of adenosine uptake. Changes in PKC-alpha\/beta activity were correlated with the attenuation of the ENT2 function in the short-term (2 h) but not in the long-term (7 d) period after the termination of morphine treatment. This study reveals a potential mechanism by which chronic exposure to morphine leads to impairment of both hippocampal LTP and spatial memory.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30655981,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Prediction of survival benefit when deciding between chemotherapy and best supportive therapy in elderly patients with advanced gastric cancer: A retrospective cohort study.\nIt remains unclear whether elderly patients (EPs) with advanced gastric cancer (AGC) benefit from chemotherapy. The aim of the present study was to examine the prognostic factors for EPs with AGC in order to generate a prognosis-predicting scoring system. This single-center retrospective study examined consecutive patients with AGC between April 2012 and July 2017. Risk factors for survival in EPs aged \u226575 years were identified using a Cox proportional hazards model, and a prognostic scoring system was generated and retrospectively evaluated to determine its usefulness for predicting patient prognosis. A total of 61 patients were enrolled as EPs (mean age, 81 years) and compared with 80 non-EPs (mean age, 66 years). The median survival time (MST) was significantly longer for non-EPs compared with that for EPs (3.8 vs. 10.1 months, respectively; P=0.0447). Among the EPs, 29 (48%) received chemotherapy and 32 received best supportive care (BSC). A total of 68 non-EPs (85%) received chemotherapy and 12 non-EPs received BSC. Among EPs with AGC, age-adjusted multivariate analysis revealed that performance status (PS), neutrophil\/lymphocyte ratio (NLR)<4, intestinal-type histology and chemotherapy were significant prognostic factors. To predict EPs too frail for chemotherapy prior to treatment, one point was assigned for a PS of 1, diffuse-type histology and NLR\u22654, whereas 2 points were assigned for PS\u22652, and the point totals for each patient were calculated. A cut-off point of 2 had the best P-value by the log-rank test and was used to divide the patients into low-risk (LoR: Score 0-1) and high-risk (HiR: Score 2-4) groups. The MST of the LoR and HiR groups was 23.6 and 3.6 months, respectively (P<0.001). As regards treatment strategies and risk groups, the LoR chemotherapy group had the best prognosis (P=0.0010), and LoR EPs who were administered chemotherapy had a longer MST (30.3 months) compared with EPs who received BSC (8.7 months). In conclusion, scoring systems using PS, histology and NLR may be useful when considering chemotherapy in EPs with AGC.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26468539,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Natural Killer Cells and Innate Interferon Gamma Participate in the Host Defense against Respiratory Vaccinia Virus Infection.\nIn establishing a respiratory infection, vaccinia virus (VACV) initially replicates in airway epithelial cells before spreading to secondary sites of infection, mainly the draining lymph nodes, spleen, gastrointestinal tract, and reproductive organs. We recently reported that interferon gamma (IFN-\u03b3) produced by CD8 T cells ultimately controls this disseminated infection, but the relative contribution of IFN-\u03b3 early in infection is unknown. Investigating the role of innate immune cells, we found that the frequency of natural killer (NK) cells in the lung increased dramatically between days 1 and 4 postinfection with VACV. Lung NK cells displayed an activated cell surface phenotype and were the primary source of IFN-\u03b3 prior to the arrival of CD8 T cells. In the presence of an intact CD8 T cell compartment, depletion of NK cells resulted in increased lung viral load at the time of peak disease severity but had no effect on eventual viral clearance, disease symptoms, or survival. In sharp contrast, RAG(-\/-) mice devoid of T cells failed to control VACV and succumbed to infection despite a marked increase in NK cells in the lung. Supporting an innate immune role for NK cell-derived IFN-\u03b3, we found that NK cell-depleted or IFN-\u03b3-depleted RAG(-\/-) mice displayed increased lung VACV titers and dissemination to ovaries and a significantly shorter mean time to death compared to untreated NK cell-competent RAG(-\/-) controls. Together, these findings demonstrate a role for IFN-\u03b3 in aspects of both the innate and adaptive immune response to VACV and highlight the importance of NK cells in T cell-independent control of VACV in the respiratory tract. Herein, we provide the first systematic evaluation of natural killer (NK) cell function in the lung after infection with vaccinia virus, a member of the Poxviridae family. The respiratory tract is an important mucosal site for entry of many human pathogens, including poxviruses, but precisely how our immune system defends the lung against these invaders remains unclear. Natural killer cells are a type of cytotoxic lymphocyte and part of our innate immune system. In recent years, NK cells have received increasing levels of attention following the discovery that different tissues contain specific subsets of NK cells with distinctive phenotypes and function. They are abundant in the lung, but their role in defense against respiratory viruses is poorly understood. What this study demonstrates is that NK cells are recruited, activated, and contribute to protection of the lung during a severe respiratory infection with vaccinia virus.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6729653,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Gunshot injuries seen at Johannesburg Hospital during 1982.\nGunshot injuries seen at Johannesburg Hospital during 1982 are reviewed. The incidence of these injuries has been increasing over the last few years, and they now cause a significant problem in terms of workload and number of beds occupied. The use of a rifle or handgun is becoming more common, not only for suicidal purposes but also as a weapon of assault.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":2789165,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Induced antibodies to von Willebrand factor.\nPlasma from 15 patients with haemophilia A and 4 patients with von Willebrand's disease (VWD) has been investigated for the presence of antibodies to von Willebrand factor (VWF) using ELISA and immunoblotting systems. All plasma samples were also analyzed for anticoagulant activity against factor VIII coagulant activity (FVIII:C) and ristocetin co-factor activity of VWF (RCof). The patients were on regular prophylaxis or treated 'on demand' with different commercial FVIII-VWF complex concentrates. Neutralizing activity against FVIII:C was only found in haemophiliacs (in 3 out of 15), whereas anti-RC of was only found in VWD patients (in 2 out of 4). In ELISA, antibodies to VWF were detected in 3 of the VWD patients. However, using the immunoblotting system, antibodies to the multimeric structure of VWF were found not only in VWD patients (in 3 out of 4); remarkably 9 out of 15 haemophiliacs also reacted with VWF, including some that did not show FVIII:C inhibitors. The pattern of VWF multimers obtained with the antibodies showed differences among the patients. These findings are discussed together with the mechanisms by which such antibodies could have developed in haemophilia A patients who are not deficient in this particular protein (VWF).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29364768,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"The Effectiveness of Internet- and Field-Based Methods to Recruit Young Adults Who Use Prescription Opioids Nonmedically.\nNonmedical prescription opioid (NMPO) use is a problem among young adults, yet young NMPO users are a diverse population that has been challenging to engage in overdose prevention and harm reduction programs. This study compared the effectiveness and characteristics of persons recruited through two different sampling strategies to inform research and intervention efforts with young adult NMPO users. We analyzed data from the Rhode Island Young Adult Prescription Drug Study (RAPiDS), which enrolled persons aged 18 to 29 who reported past 30-day NMPO use. We compared the characteristics of two samples recruited simultaneously between February 2015 and February 2016. One sample was recruited using field-based strategies (e.g., respondent-driven sampling, transit ads), and a second from internet sources (e.g., online classifieds). Among 198 eligible participants, the median age was 25 (IQR: 22, 27), 130 (65.7%) were male, 123 (63.1%) were white, and 150 (78.1%) resided in urban areas. A total of 79 (39.9%) were recruited using field-based strategies and 119 (60.1%) were recruited from internet sources. Internet-recruited persons were younger (median = 24 [IQR: 21, 27] vs. 26 [IQR: 23, 28] years) and more likely to reside in rural areas (16.2% vs. 5.3%), although this finding was marginally significant. Field-recruited participants were more likely to have been homeless (36.7% vs. 17.7%), have been incarcerated (39.7% vs. 21.8%), and engage in daily NMPO use (34.6% vs. 14.5%). Multipronged outreach methods are needed to engage the full spectrum of young adult NMPO users in prevention and harm reduction efforts.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6154514,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Rhinitis medicamentosa.\nRhinitis medicamentosa, the syndrome of rebound nasal congestion secondary to prolonged topical intranasal use of vasoconstrictors, is reviewed. In this condition, the nasal airway is very obstructed; atrophic rhinitis is the most serious complication. Management consists of withdrawing the offending nasal spray and alleviating the nasal obstruction by means of any of several treatment modalities.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9140726,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-10":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Reactivity to tyrosinase: expression in cancer (melanoma) and autoimmunity (vitiligo).\nAnti-tyrosinase antibodies are found in the sera of patients with diffuse vitiligo, metastatic melanoma and in sera of patients with melanoma and hypopigmentation (MAH). The autoantigen is tyrosinase itself, the enzyme that participates in pigment (melanin) formation by both melanocytes and melanoma cells. The production of autoantibodies in both diseases is associated with the development of white patches on the patients' skin. The presence of these autoantibodies in patients with melanoma may suggest a better prognosis. Cross-antigenicity between melanoma cells and normal melanocytes is most probably the key mechanism leading to the appearance of MAH. Anti-tyrosinase antibodies are absorbed by melanocytes and by melanoma cells in all the 3 situations (melanoma, vitiligo, MAH). However, since the production of antibodies in vitiligo exceeds that in melanoma or MAH, the antibodies are detected in significantly higher levels only in vitiligo. It is suggested here that anti-tyrosinase antibodies may be responsible, or at least participate in destruction of normal melanocytes during the immune response to melanoma antigens. This mechanism may be responsible for the phenomenon of MAH in patients with melanoma, and for the formation of the autoimmune vitiligo. Anti-tyrosinase antibodies may serve for two clinical applications. One is a marker for monitoring and follow up of patients with melanoma treated by immune therapy. The second is active (or passive) immunotherapy. We have recently shown that C57BL\/6J mice immunized with tyrosinase generated a high titer of antityrosinase antibodies, and following the inoculation of melanoma cells developed lower number of lung metastases, compared to the unvaccinated control group.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25302415,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A natural heme-signature variant of CYP267A1 from Sorangium cellulosum So ce56 executes diverse \u03c9-hydroxylation.\nA novel naturally occurring heme-signature variant of CYP267A1 from myxobacterium Sorangium cellulosum So ce56 and its mutant L366F, the actual mimic of the 'conserved' heme-signature of cytochromes P450, were heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli in a soluble form and purified. The UV-visible characteristics of both variants were highly similar. Although leucine replaced the phenylalanine in the heme-signature domain of CYP267A1, EPR measurements of the ligand-free wild-type CYP267A1 and the mutant L366F showed low-spin rhombic species suggesting a conserved heme environment of the P450s. The need of primary redox partners for the orphan P450 was sustained by the bovine redox system and a class-I electron transfer path was provided during fatty acid hydroxylation. CYP267A1 showed higher activity and produced more diverse \u03c9-hydroxylated products compared with L366F. In both enzymes the regioselectivity of the fatty acid hydroxylation shifted towards the inner carbon atoms of the fatty acid chains with increasing carbon chain lengths. Our docking results in a homology model of the protein showed that longer fatty acids need to be folded to fit into the binding pocket. In the mutant L366F, the \u03c9-1 and \u03c9-2 positions which exhibit the largest electron density of the highest occupied molecular orbital are preferred. It is speculated that the leucine heme-signature variant of P450 might have evolved under selective evolutionary pressure, which confers an increased advantage to generate a broader spectrum of related alcohols and carboxylic acids required for the bacterial homeostasis or metabolism in a particular ecological niche.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":33728969,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Maternal ancestry and hematological cancer risk: case-control study in an Argentinean population.\nAim: We investigated the role of maternal ancestry in neoplastic hematological malignancies (HMs) risk in a population from Central Argentina. Materials & methods: We analyzed 125 cases with HMs and 310 controls from a public hospital, and a set of 202 colorectal, breast, lung, and hematologic cancer patients from a private hospital. Results: A decreased risk for HMs was associated with the Native American haplogroup B2 (odds ratio = 0.49; 95% CI: 0.25-0.92; p = 0.02). The sub-Saharan African parahaplogroup L was associated with higher susceptibility for disease (odds ratio = 3.10; 95% CI: 1.04-9.31; p = 0.043). Although the mean ancestral proportions in the total studied population was as published (61.7% Native American, 34.6% European and 3.7% African), an unequal distribution was observed between hospitals. Conclusion: We confirmed the tri-hybrid nature of the Argentinean population, with proportions varying within the country. Our finding supports the notion that associated haplogroup is population and cancer specific.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25425135,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-22":1}}},"text":"Using record linkage to investigate perinatal factors and neonatal thyroid-stimulating hormone.\nStudies examining the relationship between maternal and infant thyroid parameters have shown conflicting results. Record linkage provides an opportunity to examine the association between maternal and infant thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels. Our aim was to demonstrate the feasibility of record linkage of newborn screening (NBS), laboratory and birth databases for research by investigating the association between maternal and newborn TSH levels. The records of 2802 women with first trimester serum TSH concentrations were linked with population-based birth data and NBS data containing infant TSH levels. Association between moderately high neonatal TSH levels (>5 mIU\/L) and maternal and infant characteristics was evaluated. The correlation and association between maternal and infant TSH levels were assessed using Pearson's correlation coefficient and multivariable linear regression, respectively. Of maternal and birth records, 99.3% linked with an NBS record. Mother's country of birth, gestational age (>41 weeks) and lower birthweight were associated with neonatal TSH levels >5 mIU\/L. Neonatal and maternal first trimester TSH levels were not correlated, although statistically significant (r = 0.05, P = 0.008). The association between neonatal TSH and maternal TSH, after adjusting for maternal age, gestational age and age at NBS testing, was also small (b = 0.039, P = 0.009). Record linkage is a feasible and cost-efficient way to investigate the association between maternal factors and neonatal hormone levels. First trimester maternal thyroid levels are not correlated with neonatal TSH levels. This method of outcome assessment can be used for future research examining long-term outcomes for infants with different NBS results.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9152394,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"The pyrethroids permethrin and cyhalothrin are potent inhibitors of the mitochondrial complex I.\nThe synthetic pyrethroid derivatives permethrin and cyhalothrin are widely used insecticides that are considered to be relatively nontoxic to higher animals. However, a variety of toxic effects on mammals have been reported. We investigated the effect of these drugs on energy coupling by mitochondria and on the activity of the individual respiratory complexes. Using isolated rat liver mitochondria, a concentration-dependent inhibition of glutamate and succinate sustained state 3 respiration was found for both compounds in the micromolar range. The effect of pyrethroids on the activities of the complexes I to V were assessed individually in submitochondrial particles (complex I) and in freeze-thawed mitochondria (complexes II-V). Complex I (EC 22.214.171.124) was found to be the most sensitive link within the electron transport chain. Half-maximal inhibition was observed at 0.73 microM permethrin and 0.57 microM cyhalothrin, respectively, and exhibited sigmoidal inhibition kinetics. Complexes II, III, IV and V (EC 188.8.131.52, 184.108.40.206, 220.127.116.11, 188.8.131.52) were not significantly inhibited by up to 50 microM of these drugs. Thus, our results reveal a model of action of synthetic pyrethroid insecticides not previously reported.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35356266,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Anti-Inflammatory and Antinociceptive Effects of Boesenbergia rotunda Polyphenol Extract in Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathic Rats.\nDiabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is still one of the most prevailing complication of diabetes and it affects a huge diabetic population. Boesenbergia rotunda is a ginger species that has both culinary and medicinal applications. Recent studies have revealed that B. rotunda has potential applications in diabetes, pain and inflammatory related disorders. As such this study investigated the potential of B. rotunda extract (EBR) in attenuating DPN in rats. DPN was induced in male Sprague Dawley rats using a combination of 30% fructose solution and streptozotocin (40 mg\/kg). Afterwards diabetic rats were treated with EBR (100 and 400 mg\/kg) for 5 weeks. DPN was assessed using thermal hyperalgesia, cold and mechanical allodynia and rotarod test, while nociceptive responses were assessed by formalin and acetic acid test. In addition, serum proinflammatory cytokine levels were determined using ELISA kits. EBR displayed hypoglycemic effect by significantly reducing the blood glucose concentration of treated diabetic rats, while simultaneously alleviating the reduced body weight. Furthermore, EBR markedly alleviated thermal hyperalgesia, cold and mechanical allodynic responses as well as ameliorated motor coordination in the treated diabetic rats. In addition, EBR significantly reduced nociceptive responses in the formalin and acetic acid test, as well as decreased serum levels of proinflammatory cytokines (TNF-\u03b1 and IL-1\u03b2). The results suggested that EBR exerted anti-inflammatory and anti-nociceptive effects, thus alleviating diabetic painful neuropathy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32349974,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Capmatinib Could Alter NSCLC Treatment Landscape.\nCapmatinib may be effective in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer who have MET exon 14 skipping mutations. In the phase II GEOMETRY mono-1 trial, the drug elicited high overall response rates and relatively durable responses in newly diagnosed and previously treated patients, including those with brain metastases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14561195,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-10":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The glucocorticoid receptor: molecular mechanism and new therapeutic opportunities.\nSynthetic glucocorticoids are among the most effective anti-inflammatory drugs available. The activity of this drug class is mediated by the glucocorticoid receptor, a nuclear steroid receptor whose endogenous ligand is the adrenal hormone cortisol. Chronic glucocorticoid treatment is accompanied by serious side-effects, reflecting the symptoms of cortisol excess seen in Cushing's syndrome patients. During the past 50 years advances to this drug class have been limited largely to reducing systemic exposure through inhaled delivery and increasing glucocorticoid receptor selectivity. However, a safer oral drug for the treatment of conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and transplant rejection, still represents a major unmet medical need. Over the past 20 years, mechanisms of glucocorticoid receptor action have been elucidated. Before the gene was even cloned, the glucocorticoid receptor was known to be a ligand-induced DNA binding protein. Identification of hormone response elements in the promoters of metabolic target genes in the liver provided a model for its broad activities. It was since revealed that much of its anti-inflammatory activity is not DNA-dependent after all, but instead is the result of a complex set of protein-protein interactions which lead to transcriptional inhibition of pro-inflammatory targets. Thus, a glucocorticoid receptor ligand that dissociates the DNA binding and protein interaction mediated activities is expected to show improved safety. This review will focus on the scientific advances, which impact the development of this hypothesis and will present a survey of current preclinical drug candidates employing this strategy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7936505,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Prognostic value of clinical variables in invasive cervical cancer.\nTo test the hypothesis that clinical variables, such as patients' symptoms, symptom severity, and co-morbidity, affect the survival rate of patients with invasive cervical cancer. From the medical records of 251 cases of invasive cervical cancer treated at Yale-New Haven Hospital between 1984 and 1988, information was extracted for patients' demographic characteristics, symptoms, symptom severity, comorbidity, physical findings, laboratory data, treatment, and subsequent course. Three-year survival data were available for 250 (99%) of the 251 cases. For a composite clinical predictive system based on symptom status and co-morbidity, the 3-year survival rates were as follows: 85% (64 of 75) for the patients who were asymptomatic without co-morbidity; 63% (58 of 92) for the group that was either symptomatic or co-morbid, but not both; and 40% (33 of 83) for symptomatic patients with co-morbidity or patients with systemic, metastatic, or severe symptoms (P < .0001, chi 2 for linear trend). When entered into a Cox proportional hazards model along with other variables that might affect prognosis, including International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage, the composite symptom-co-morbidity stage remained statistically significant. Our findings demonstrate the importance of clinical variables, such as symptoms and co-morbidity, in estimating prognosis in cervical cancer, even after stage and other factors are controlled. Unless the clinical variables are suitably analyzed, prognostic estimates based on morphology alone will be imprecise and therapeutic evaluations may be misleading.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6741334,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Studies on the mycotic and bacterial risk of contamination and the use of nipagin in the artificial insemination of cryosperm].\nPrimary bacterial and mycological contamination was studied in random human ejaculates. After various phases of cryopreservation secondary microbiological contamination was investigated. Furthermore, semen samples of several donors were inoculated with suspension of different concentrations of yeasts and with the test bacteria Escherichia coli K12 and Staphylococcus aureus SG 511. Microbiological results were then compared before an after cryopreservation. The cryopreserving process was carried out with and without antibiotics to test the antibacterial effectiveness of antibiotics under these conditions. Moreover, we investigated the usability of a chemical preservative (Nipagin) at cryopreservation. The following results were obtained: 9.8 per cent of samples showed primary mycological contamination (1.9 per cent with Candida albicans). Cryopreservation reduced the concentration of fungi by more than 90 per cent on average. The bacteriological investigations have shown, that with one exception the semen was without pathogenetic bacteria. This situation was altered scarcely during the cryopreserving process (also by use of cryoprotective medium without antibiotics). Out of 25 ejaculates 11 had primary non-pathogenetic bacteria. Test bacteria inoculated into semen were not influenced by the addition of antibiotics to the cryoprotective medium (CPM). Nipagin prevented respectively reduced a bacterial or a mycological contamination of the CPM during a storage of 14 days dependent of nipagin concentration but reduced the motility of human spermatozoa after cryopreservation. The results suggest the conclusion to prefer a portionate storage without nipagin at a temperature of nearly + 1 degree C, thereby the microbiological contamination may be neglected.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28368003,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-18":1}}},"text":"Enzyme catalysed Pictet-Spengler formation of chiral 1,1'-disubstituted- and spiro-tetrahydroisoquinolines.\nThe Pictet-Spengler reaction (PSR) involves the condensation and ring closure between a \u03b2-arylethylamine and a carbonyl compound. The combination of dopamine and ketones in a PSR leads to the formation of 1,1'-disubstituted tetrahydroisoquinolines (THIQs), structures that are challenging to synthesize and yet are present in a number of bioactive natural products and synthetic pharmaceuticals. Here we have discovered that norcoclaurine synthase from Thalictrum flavum (TfNCS) can catalyse the PSR between dopamine and unactivated ketones, thus facilitating the facile biocatalytic generation of 1,1'-disubstituted THIQs. Variants of TfNCS showing improved conversions have been identified and used to synthesize novel chiral 1,1'-disubstituted and spiro-THIQs. Enzyme catalysed PSRs with unactivated ketones are unprecedented, and, furthermore, there are no equivalent stereoselective chemical methods for these transformations. This discovery advances the utility of enzymes for the generation of diverse THIQs in vitro and in vivo.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36940349,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Talking with Patients about Surgical Trainees.\nAbstractTraining of resident physicians is essential for the care of future patients. While surgical trainee involvement is necessary, its disclosure to patients can often be omitted or underplayed by surgeons. The informed consent process and the underlying ethical principles make evident that patients should be informed of trainee involvement. In this review we explore the importance of disclosure, current themes in practice, and the optimal discussion for which we should strive.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27258579,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Alloimmune-induced intragraft lymphoid neogenesis promotes B-cell tolerance breakdown that accelerates chronic rejection.\nAntibody-mediated rejection (AMR) has emerged as a leading cause of allograft loss in solid organ transplantation. A better understanding of AMR immunopathology is a prerequisite to improve its management. The prevalent dogma considers that AMR is the consequence of a thymo-dependent B-cell response against donor-specific polymorphic antigens (mainly mismatched human leukocyte antigen molecules).Nevertheless, antibodies directed against nonpolymorphic antigens expressed by the graft are also generated during chronic rejection and can contribute to allograft destruction. This implies that a breakdown of self-tolerance occurs during chronic rejection. Accumulating evidence suggests that this event occurs inside the ectopic 'tertiary' lymphoid tissue that develops within rejected allografts.Thus, AMR should be viewed as a complex interplay between allo- and autoimmune humoral responses. The interplay between allo- and autoimmune humoral responses in chronic rejection highlights several unmet medical issues like better diagnosis tools are needed to screen recipients for nonhuman leukocyte antigen alloantibodies and autoantibodies, therapeutic strategies shall aim at blocking the response against alloantigens but also the breakdown of self-tolerance that occurs within tertiary lymphoid tissue.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23435587,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Infectious risk assessment of unsafe handling practices and management of clinical solid waste.\nThe present study was undertaken to determine the bacterial agents present in various clinical solid wastes, general waste and clinical sharp waste. The waste was collected from different wards\/units in a healthcare facility in Penang Island, Malaysia. The presence of bacterial agents in clinical and general waste was determined using the conventional bacteria identification methods. Several pathogenic bacteria including opportunistic bacterial agent such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella spp., Klebsiella pneumoniae, Serratia marcescens, Acinetobacter baumannii, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Enterococcus faecalis, Streptococcus pyogenes were detected in clinical solid wastes. The presence of specific pathogenic bacterial strains in clinical sharp waste was determined using 16s rDNA analysis. In this study, several nosocomial pathogenic bacteria strains of Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus mirabilis, Lysinibacillus sphaericus, Serratia marcescens, and Staphylococcus aureus were detected in clinical sharp waste. The present study suggests that waste generated from healthcare facilities should be sterilized at the point of generation in order to eliminate nosocomial infections from the general waste or either of the clinical wastes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9141735,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of gestational age misclassification on the pattern of low birthweight in Aborigines.\nAre most births of Aboriginal babies with low birthweight preterm or full term? There is no consensus because of the difficulty in obtaining valid measurements of gestational age. In Queensland, between 1988 and 1992, there were 519 births of Aboriginal babies with low birthweight in excess of the number expected if aborigines had the same risk of low birthweight as whites. Most of these were preterm (males 76 per cent, females 65 per cent). Sensitivity analyses were used to investigate whether this result was robust to gestational age misclassification. Implausibly large misclassification proportions were required to make preterm low birthweight an insignificant contributor to the low birthweight excess in Aborigines. Therefore, efforts to reduce the number of preterm births should be given high priority. Unfortunately, significant reductions in the number of preterm births will not be achieved by reducing the prevalence of traditional risk factors for full-term low birthweight (for example, maternal smoking, teenage pregnancy). More work is needed to identify potentially modifiable risk factors for preterm birth.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21154671,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Carbohydrate synthesis by disaccharide phosphorylases: reactions, catalytic mechanisms and application in the glycosciences.\nDisaccharide phosphorylases are glycosyltransferases (EC 2.4.1.\u03b1) of specialized carbohydrate metabolism in microorganisms. They catalyze glycosyl transfer to phosphate using a disaccharide as donor substrate. Phosphorylases for the conversion of naturally abundant disaccharides including sucrose, maltose, \u03b1,\u03b1-trehalose, cellobiose, chitobiose, and laminaribiose have been described. Structurally, these disaccharide phosphorylases are often closely related to glycoside hydrolases and transglycosidases. Mechanistically, they are categorized according the stereochemical course of the reaction catalyzed, whereby the anomeric configuration of the disaccharide donor substrate may be retained or inverted in the sugar 1-phosphate product. Glycosyl transfer with inversion is thought to occur through a single displacement-like catalytic mechanism, exemplified by the reaction coordinate of cellobiose\/chitobiose phosphorylase. Reaction via configurational retention takes place through the double displacement-like mechanism employed by sucrose phosphorylase. Retaining \u03b1,\u03b1-trehalose phosphorylase (from fungi) utilizes a different catalytic strategy, perhaps best described by a direct displacement mechanism, to achieve stereochemical control in an overall retentive transformation. Disaccharide phosphorylases have recently attracted renewed interest as catalysts for synthesis of glycosides to be applied as food additives and cosmetic ingredients. Relevant examples are lacto-N-biose and glucosylglycerol whose enzymatic production was achieved on multikilogram scale. Protein engineering of phosphorylases is currently pursued in different laboratories with the aim of broadening the donor and acceptor substrate specificities of naturally existing enzyme forms, to eventually generate a toolbox of new catalysts for glycoside synthesis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":33729498,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The complex role of adipokines in obesity, inflammation, and autoimmunity.\nThe global obesity epidemic is a major contributor to chronic disease and disability in the world today. Since the discovery of leptin in 1994, a multitude of studies have characterized the pathological changes that occur within adipose tissue in the obese state. One significant change is the dysregulation of adipokine production. Adipokines are an indispensable link between metabolism and optimal immune system function; however, their dysregulation in obesity contributes to chronic low-grade inflammation and disease pathology. Herein, I will highlight current knowledge on adipokine structure and physiological function, and focus on the known roles of these factors in the modulation of the immune response. I will also discuss adipokines in rheumatic and autoimmune diseases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7890200,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Should intrastate funding formulae for the Older Americans Act include a rural factor?\nMost states maintain an Intrastate Funding Formula (IFF) to allocate Older Americans Act funds to planning and service areas within their state. The intention of these formulae is to target resources to those elders in the greatest economic and social need. To achieve this objective, the vast majority of states include measures of age, income, and race in their IFFs. In contrast, the inclusion of a geographic or rural factor is much more controversial. This research was initiated to determine if there was empirical support for the argument that residence influences the need for services after controlling for those factors commonly used by most states in their IFFs. Using data from the Supplement on Aging to the 1984 National Health Interview Survey, the results demonstrate that residing in a nonmetropolitan area increases the likelihood of poor health and the need for services after controlling for age, income, and race. Results also indicate that collectively the four predictor variables account for a very small proportion of the variance in need.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34235929,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Rational Design of Dipicolylamine-Containing Carbazole Amphiphiles Combined with Zn2+ as Potent Broad-Spectrum Antibacterial Agents with a Membrane-Disruptive Mechanism.\nAntibiotic resistance has become one of the most urgently important problems facing healthcare providers. A novel series of dipicolylamine-containing carbazole amphiphiles with strong Zn2+ chelating ability were synthesized, biomimicking cationic antimicrobial peptides. Effective broad-spectrum 16 combined with 12.5 \u03bcg\/mL Zn2+ was identified as the most promising antimicrobial candidate. 16 combined with 12.5 \u03bcg\/mL Zn2+ exhibited excellent antimicrobial activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria (MICs = 0.78-3.125 \u03bcg\/mL), weak hemolytic activity, and low cytotoxicity. Time-kill kinetics and mechanism studies revealed 16 combined with 12.5 \u03bcg\/mL Zn2+ had rapid bacterial killing properties, as evidenced by disruption of the integrity of bacterial cell membranes, effectively preventing bacterial resistance development. Importantly, 16 combined with 12.5 \u03bcg\/mL Zn2+ showed excellent in vivo efficacy in a murine keratitis model caused by Staphylococcus aureus ATCC29213 or Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC9027. Therefore, 16 combined with 12.5 \u03bcg\/mL Zn2+ could be a promising candidate for treating bacterial infections.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23326860,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Reevaluation of (241)Am content in the USTUR case 0102 leg phantom.\nThe (241)Am contents in the United States Transuranium and Uranium Registries' (USTUR) case 0102 leg phantom were previously estimated to be 1,243 \u00b1 11 Bq. Recent analysis of the computed tomography images of the phantom revealed multiple bone structures missing from various regions of the phantom skeleton including: posterior ilium, anterior ilium, ischium, femur proximal end, femur middle shaft, femur distal end, patella, tibia distal shaft, fibula distal shaft, and fibula distal end. Additionally, the fifth metatarsal and all of the fifth-digit phalanges were found to be completely missing from the foot. A three-dimensional (3D) model of the leg phantom was created using 3D-Doctor software. Volumes of missing bone structures were outlined separately based on the anatomical assessment of those structures. Weights of the missing bone samples were calculated. Consequently, the value of total( 241)Am activity in the USTUR leg phantom is 1,218 \u00b1 11 Bq. This activity is about 2.0% less than the previously published value of 1,243 \u00b1 11 Bq. External gamma detector response was simulated considering both activity values (1,243 and 1,218 Bq) across the five different locations along the USTUR leg phantom: foot, middle leg, knee, middle thigh, and hip. Each counting position was chosen such that it was above the missing bone structure locations. The highest difference observed between the two counting efficiencies (each corresponding to the two different quantities of estimated activity) was 8.2% and 9.4% for locations above the foot and middle thigh, respectively. Other counting locations (middle leg, knee, and hip) showed efficiency variations of about 1%.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37445149,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dimensional Stability and Reproducibility of Varying FFF Models for Aligners in Comparison to Plaster Models.\nTo test the impact of FFF filaments, printing parameters, thermoforming foils, repeated thermoforming cycles, and type of jaw on the dimensional stability of FFF models for aligners and to compare them with plaster models, FFF models (maxilla, n = 48; mandible, n = 48) from two filaments (SIMPLEX aligner and Renfert PLA HT, both Renfert GmbH) were fabricated using four printing parameters (one, two, or three loops; four loops acted as the default) and conventional plaster models (n = 12) based on a young, female dentition. All models were thermoformed under pressure three times in total using two different thermoforming foils, namely 0.75 mm \u00d7 125 mm \u00d8 aligner foil (CA Pro+ Clear Aligner, Scheu Dental) and 1.0 mm \u00d7 125 mm \u00d8 Duran foil (Duran+, Scheu Dental). Aligner foil was heated at 220 \u00b0C for 25 s and Duran foil at 220 \u00b0C for 30 s. All models were scanned after fabrication as well as after each thermoforming cycle. The obtained STL datasets were analyzed using the local best-fit method (GOM Inspect Pro, Carl Zeiss Metrology GmbH). Data were analyzed using a Kolmogorov-Smirnov-test, a one-way ANOVA with post-hoc Scheff\u00e9, and a t-test (p < 0.05). The dimensional stability of the models was most strongly affected by the printing parameters (number of loops; \u03b7p2 = 0.768, p < 0.001) followed by the thermoforming foil used (\u03b7p2 = 0.663, p < 0.001) as well as the type of model (\u03b7p2 = 0.588, p < 0.001). In addition, various interactions showed an influence on the dimensional stability (\u03b7p2 = 0.041-0.386, p < 0.035). SIMPLEX maxillary models (default; four loops), thermoformed using aligner foil, showed higher deformation stability than did plaster models. These initial FFF models provide comparable precision to plaster models, but the dimensional stability of the FFF models, in contrast to that of plaster models, decreases with increasing numbers of thermoforming cycles.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25516238,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Determination of three antidepressants in urine using simultaneous derivatization and temperature-assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction followed by gas chromatography-flame ionization detection.\nThis paper presents a fast and simple method for the extraction, preconcentration and determination of fluvoxamine, nortriptyline and maprotiline in urine using simultaneous derivatization and temperature-assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (TA-DLLME) followed by gas chromatography-flame ionization detection (GC-FID). An appropriate mixture of dimethylformamide (disperser solvent), 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane (extraction solvent) and acetic anhydride (derivatization agent) was rapidly injected into the heated sample. Then the solution was cooled to room temperature and cloudy solution formed was centrifuged. Finally a portion of the sedimented phase was injected into the GC-FID. The effect of several factors affecting the performance of the method, including the selection of suitable extraction and disperser solvents and their volumes, volume of derivatization agent, temperature, salt addition, pH and centrifugation time and speed were investigated and optimized. Figures of merit of the proposed method, such as linearity (r(2) > 0.993), enrichment factors (820-1070), limits of detection (2-4 ng mL(-1)) and quantification (8-12 ng mL(-1)), and relative standard deviations (3-6%) for both intraday and interday precisions (concentration = 50 ng mL(-1)) were satisfactory for determination of the selected antidepressants. Finally the method was successfully applied to determine the target pharmaceuticals in urine.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26432670,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3,"dup_dump_count":2,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1,"2024-18":1}}},"text":"Molecular diagnosis of hypophosphatasia and differential diagnosis by targeted Next Generation Sequencing.\nHypophosphatasia (HPP) is a rare inherited skeletal dysplasia due to loss of function mutations in the ALPL gene. The disease is subject to an extremely high clinical heterogeneity ranging from a perinatal lethal form to odontohypophosphatasia affecting only teeth. Up to now genetic diagnosis of HPP is performed by sequencing the ALPL gene by Sanger methodology. Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) and campomelic dysplasia (CD) are the main differential diagnoses of severe HPP, so that in case of negative result for ALPL mutations, OI and CD genes had often to be analyzed, lengthening the time before diagnosis. We report here our 18-month experience in testing 46 patients for HPP and differential diagnosis by targeted NGS and show that this strategy is efficient and useful. We used an array including ALPL gene, genes of differential diagnosis COL1A1 and COL1A2 that represent 90% of OI cases, SOX9, responsible for CD, and 8 potentially modifier genes of HPP. Seventeen patients were found to carry a mutation in one of these genes. Among them, only 10 out of 15 cases referred for HPP carried a mutation in ALPL and 5 carried a mutation in COL1A1 or COL1A2. Interestingly, three of these patients were adults with fractures and\/or low BMD. Our results indicate that HPP and OI may be easily misdiagnosed in the prenatal stage but also in adults with mild symptoms for these diseases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21747034,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Enlarged substantia nigra hyperechogenicity and risk for Parkinson disease: a 37-month 3-center study of 1847 older persons.\nTo evaluate whether enlarged substantia nigra hyperechogenicity (SN+) is associated with an increased risk for Parkinson disease (PD) in a healthy elderly population. Longitudinal 3-center observational study with 37 months of prospective follow-up. Individuals 50 years or older without evidence of PD or any other neurodegenerative disease. Of 1847 participants who underwent a full medical history, neurological assessment, and transcranial sonography at baseline, 1535 could undergo reassessment. Incidence of new-onset PD in relation to baseline transcranial sonography status. There were 11 cases of incident PD during the follow-up period. In participants with SN+ at baseline, the relative risk for incident PD was 17.37 (95% confidence interval, 3.71-81.34) times higher compared with normoechogenic participants. In this prospective study, we demonstrate for the first time a highly increased risk for PD in elderly individuals with SN+. Transcranial sonography of the midbrain may therefore be a promising primary screening procedure to define a risk population for imminent PD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7923110,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Volume-activated chloride current is not related to P-glycoprotein overexpression.\nIt has been suggested that P-glycoprotein (P-gp), an ATP-dependent transporter responsible for classical multidrug resistance, is also a volume-regulated chloride channel. We reexamined this hypothesis by use of whole-cell patch clamp recordings of three matched pairs of cell lines, which were either drug-sensitive or drug-resistant due to P-gp overexpression. We demonstrate here that volume-regulated chloride-selective currents can be induced in cells with or without P-gp expression. Overexpression of either P-gp or cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator, the protein product of the CF gene and another member of the ATP-dependent transporters, is associated with a hypotonicity-induced, rapid onset, transient current prior to onset of the volume-sensitive chloride-selective current, an apparent nonspecific effect related to the overexpression of an integral membrane protein. These results suggest that there is no relationship between P-gp and the chloride channel activated by cell swelling.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9567351,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Treatment of Paget's disease with olpadronate. Its efficacy in partial responders to oral pamidronate].\nBisphosphonates are the treatment of choice in patients with Paget's disease. However in patients with an extensive disease it has been difficult to achieve complete biochemical remission. We studied the efficacy of the new bisphosphonate: olpadronate (dimethyl APD) in 37 patients (21 men and 16 women) with Paget's disease of (mean +\/- 1SD) 68 +\/- 8 years of age: Group I: 12 patients without previous specific treatment. Group II: 25 patients who had been treated before (time free of treatment before olpadronate: 11 +\/- 8 months). (Table 1). Olpadronate was given orally in doses of 100 to 200 mg\/day. Initial dose and\/or increment of the dose during treatment were decided accordingly to the biochemical response. The length of therapy was (mean +\/- 1SD) 3.5 +\/- 2.4 months (range 0.5-13 months) and was adjusted to the changes produced upon the biochemical indexes of bone turnover. Olpadronate was well tolerated by all the patients except for one who discontinued the treatment due to gastrointestinal symptoms. Mean alkaline phosphatase (APh) decreased in both groups of patients as follows: Group I: basal: 36 +\/- 20 KAU, final: 12 +\/- 3 KAU (normal range: 5 to 15 KA units) and group II: basal 45 +\/- 30 KAU final 14 +\/- 10 KAU. (Table 2). Normalization of APh was observed in all patients of group I and in 21\/25 patients of group II. Three patients of group II had partial responses (60% of diminution of APh without reaching normal values) and treatment was not effective in 1 patient. The length of remission was 8.7 +\/- 5.7 months in group I and 10.4 +\/- 8.1 months in group II. There was a significant inverse correlation between duration of remission and APh level post treatment. Fourteen patients of group II (7 women and 7 men) had previously received oral pamidronate (APD) in different cycles during a period of 6.6 +\/- 4.2 years. After the first APD cycle, only 2 out of 14 achieved normal APh values and none of the 14 achieved complete biochemical remission after the last APD cycle. Olpadronate caused a significant decrease of serum APh and THP compared to the lowest values observed during APD treatment. Normalization of APh was observed in 12\/14 of these partial responders to APD. (Table 3 and Figure 1). In conclusion, oral Olpadronate in a dose of 100 to 200 mg was well tolerated and effective in the treatment of Paget's disease even in those previous partial responders to APD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17005491,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Speech masking release in listeners with flat hearing loss: effects of masker fluctuation rate on identification scores and phonetic feature reception.\nConsonant identification was measured for a stationary and amplitude-modulated noise masker in four listeners with flat cochlear hearing loss, and four age-matched normal-hearing listeners. The masker modulation rate was systematically varied between 2 and 128 Hz. Masking release (MR), that is better identification performance in fluctuating, than in stationary noise, was highest in a masker fluctuating at 8-16 Hz in all normal-hearing listeners. In comparison, MR was only observed in two out of the four impaired listeners. In these listeners, MR was poorer than normal, and peaked at lower rates, that is 2 or 8 Hz. MR corresponded to increased reception of information for voicing, place, and manner between 2 and 64 Hz in all normal-hearing listeners. In impaired listeners, increased reception of information was mainly observed for manner, and mainly reduced for place, but these differences were not significant. For all phonetic features, MR was observed at lower masker fluctuation rates (< or =32 Hz) than in normal-hearing listeners. This study therefore shows that cochlear damage affects MR, both quantitatively and qualitatively.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11988590,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sex differences in US mortality rates for stroke and stroke subtypes by race\/ethnicity and age, 1995-1998.\nIschemic stroke accounts for 70% to 80% of all strokes, but intracerebral and subarachnoid hemorrhagic strokes have greater fatality. Age-standardized death rates from overall stroke are higher among men than women, but little is known about sex differences in stroke subtype mortality by race\/ethnicity. We analyzed 1995 to 1998 national death certificate data to compare sex-specific age-standardized death rates (per 100 000) for ischemic stroke (n=507 256), intracerebral hemorrhagic stroke (n=98 709), and subarachnoid hemorrhagic stroke (n=27 334) among whites, blacks, American Indians\/Alaska Natives, Asians\/Pacific Islanders, and Hispanics. We calculated rate ratios and 95% CIs comparing women with men within age and racial\/ethnic groups. Age-specific rates of ischemic and intracerebral hemorrhagic stroke deaths were lower for women than for men aged 25 to 44 and 45 to 64 years but were higher for ischemic stroke among older women, aged > or =65 years. Only among whites did women have higher age-standardized rates of ischemic stroke. Age-standardized death rates for intracerebral hemorrhagic stroke among women were lower than or similar to those among men in all racial\/ethnic groups. Women had higher risk of death from subarachnoid hemorrhagic; this sex differential increased with age. The female-to-male mortality ratio differs for stroke subtypes by race\/ethnicity and age. A primary public health effort should focus on increasing the awareness of stroke symptoms, particularly among people at high risk, to decrease delay in early detection and effective stroke treatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1678697,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Interleukin-1 beta modulates the acute release of growth hormone-releasing hormone and somatostatin from rat hypothalamus in vitro, whereas tumor necrosis factor and interleukin-6 have no effect.\nThere is clear evidence for communication between the immune and neuroendocrine systems. However, the effect of cytokines as major immune mediators on the hypothalamic growth peptides, GHRH and somatostatin (SRIH), is not well established. To investigate a possible hypothalamic action of the cytokines interleukin-1 beta (IL-1), interleukin-6, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha, on the release of GHRH and SRIH, we used a previously validated acute rat hypothalamic explant system. IL-1 caused a pronounced dose-dependent stimulation of SRIH in the dose-range 1-100 U\/ml (P less than 0.01). GHRH showed a slight, but significant, increase in response to IL-1 tested in the dose-range 10-100 U\/ml. Similar studies with mediobasal hypothalamic (GHRH and SRIH) or median eminence (SRIH) fragments produced no change in either GHRH or SRIH release. The effects of IL-1 were antagonized by the cyclo-oxygenase inhibitor, indomethacin (10 micrograms\/ml). Stimulation of GHRH and SRIH could not be blocked by the CRH-antagonist alpha-helical CRH (9-41) at 10(-6) M. Interleukin-6, in the dose range 10-100 U\/ml, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha, in the dose range 10-10,000 U\/ml, had no effect on the acute hypothalamic release of either GHRH or SRIH. It is concluded that IL-1 stimulates the acute hypothalamic release of GHRH and SRIH, and that this effect is mediated by cyclo-oxygenase products. The marked IL-1 stimulation of hypothalamic SRIH release may override the minor increase of GHRH increase, and may thus contribute to disturbances in growth seen in the presence of chronic inflammation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37445005,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Influence of Traps and Lorentz Force on Charge Transport in Organic Semiconductors.\nCharge transport characteristics in organic semiconductor devices become altered in the presence of traps due to defects or impurities in the semiconductors. These traps can lead to a decrease in charge carrier mobility and an increase in recombination rates, thereby ultimately affecting the overall performance of the device. It is therefore important to understand and mitigate the impact of traps on organic semiconductor devices. In this contribution, the influence of the capture and release times of trap states, recombination rates, and the Lorentz force on the net charge of a low-mobility organic semiconductor was determined using the finite element method (FEM) and Hall effect method through numerical simulations. The findings suggest that increasing magnetic fields had a lesser impact on net charge at constant capture and release times of trap states. On the other hand, by increasing the capture time of trap states at a constant magnetic field and fixed release time, the net charge extracted from the semiconductor device increased with increasing capture time. Moreover, the net charge extracted from the semiconductor device was nearly four and eight times greater in the case of the non-Langevin recombination rates of 0.01 and 0.001, respectively, when compared to the Langevin rate. These results imply that the non-Langevin recombination rate can significantly enhance the performance of semiconductor devices, particularly in applications that require efficient charge extraction. These findings pave the way for the development of more efficient and cost-effective electronic devices with improved charge transport properties and higher power conversion efficiencies, thus further opening up new avenues for research and innovation in this area of modern semiconductor technology.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8349841,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Electron microscopic analysis of the rod pathway of the rat retina.\nTwo immunocytochemical markers were used to label the rod pathway of the rat retina. Rod bipolar cells were stained with antibodies against protein kinase C and AII-amacrine cells with antibodies against parvalbumin. The synaptic circuitry of rod bipolars in the inner plexiform layer (IPL) was studied. Rod bipolar cells make approximately 15 ribbon synapses (dyads) in the IPL. Both postsynaptic members of the dyads are amacrine cells; one is usually the process of an AII-amacrine cell and the other one frequently provides a reciprocal synapse. No direct output from rod bipolar cells into ganglion cells was found. AII-amacrine cells make chemical output synapses with cone bipolar cells and ganglion cells in sublamina a of the IPL. They make gap junctions with cone bipolar cells and other AII-amacrine cells in sublamina b of the IPL. The rod pathway of the rat retina is practically identical to that of the cat and of the rabbit retina. It is very likely that this circuitry is a general feature of mammalian retinal organization.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28706769,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Differential item functioning magnitude and impact measures from item response theory models.\nMeasures of magnitude and impact of differential item functioning (DIF) at the item and scale level, respectively are presented and reviewed in this paper. Most measures are based on item response theory models. Magnitude refers to item level effect sizes, whereas impact refers to differences between groups at the scale score level. Reviewed are magnitude measures based on group differences in the expected item scores and impact measures based on differences in the expected scale scores. The similarities among these indices are demonstrated. Various software packages are described that provide magnitude and impact measures, and new software presented that computes all of the available statistics conveniently in one program with explanations of their relationships to one another.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34411159,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Aging characteristics of asphalt binders modified with waste tire and plastic pyrolytic chars.\nGlobally, the growing volume of waste tires and plastics has posed significant concerns about their sustainable and economical disposal. Pyrolysis provides a way for effective treatment and management of these wastes, enabling recovery of energy and produces solid pyrolytic char as a by-product. The use of pyrolytic chars in asphalt binder modification has recently gained significant interest among researchers. As asphalt binder aging influences the cracking, rutting, and moisture damage performance of asphalt binder and the mixtures, evaluation of aging characteristics of char modified asphalt binders is quite important. The main objective of this study is the investigation of the aging characteristics of asphalt binders modified with waste tire pyrolytic char (TPC) and waste plastic pyrolytic char (PPC) through rheological and spectroscopic evaluations. To imitate short-term and long-term aging conditions, the asphalt binders were first treated in a rolling thin film oven (RTFO) and then in a pressure aging vessel (PAV). The aging characteristics were determined using four rheological aging indices based on complex modulus (G*), phase angle (\u03b4), zero shear viscosity (ZSV), and non-recoverable creep compliance (Jnr) from multiple stress creep and recovery (MSCR) test. The fatigue cracking potential was then measured through binder yield energy test (BYET). These parameters were measured through a dynamic shear rheometer. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) spectroscopy analyses were then used to investigate changes in chemical composition due to aging in the char modified binders. Both TPC and PPC improved the high-temperature deformation resistance properties of asphalt binder. The TPC-modified binder showed better aging resistance than the control and PPC-modified binders, based on the different rheological and spectroscopic indices. The pyrolytic char modified binders also demonstrated good fatigue performance.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19029816,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Velcade sensitizes prostate cancer cells to TRAIL induced apoptosis and suppresses tumor growth in vivo.\nInducing apoptosis via the extrinsic death receptor pathway is an attractive anti-cancer treatment strategy, however, numerous cancer cells exhibit significant resistance to death ligand stimuli. Here, we investigated the anti-neoplastic capability of proteasome inhibition, through the administration of Velcade, to synergize with a death receptor agonist in vivo. The death ligand-resistant LNCaP prostate xenograft model was utilized. Tumors were established and mice were treated with Velcade, TRAIL (TNF-Related Apoptosis Inducing Ligand) or the combined regimen. Only mice treated with a combination of Velcade and TRAIL was tumor growth inhibited with a corresponding loss of the hemorrhagic phenotype, decreased tumor cell proliferation and increased tumor cell apoptosis. Next, to determine if the extrinsic pathway is critical for mediating the anti-tumor efficacy that can be achieved in some cell types with Velcade treatment alone, the death receptor sensitive PC-3 xenograft model was used. PC-3 tumors exhibited a 54% decrease in tumor volume in response to Velcade, while c-FLIP overexpressing PC-3 xenografts were resistant to the treatment. These findings suggest that the extrinsic apoptotic pathway can mediate the anti-tumor effects of Velcade and support the therapeutic use of proteasome inhibition in combination with a death receptor stimulus in the treatment of prostate cancer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16223314,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The influence of chain dynamics on the far-infrared spectrum of liquid methanol-water mixtures.\nFar-infrared-absorption spectroscopy has been used to study the low-frequency (<or=100 cm-1) intermolecular modes of methanol in mixtures with water. With the aid of a first-principles molecular-dynamics simulation on an equivalent system, a detailed understanding about the origin of the low-frequency IR modes has been established. The total dipole spectrum from the simulation suggests that the bands appearing in the experimental spectra at approximately 55 and 70 cm-1 in methanol and methanol-rich mixtures arise from both fluctuations and torsional motions occurring within the methanol hydrogen-bonded chains. The influence of these modes on both the solvation dynamics and the relaxation mechanisms in the liquid is discussed within the context of recent experimental and theoretical results that have emerged from studies focusing on the short-time dynamics in the methanol hydrogen bond network.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28539326,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Systematic Evaluation of Protein Reduction and Alkylation Reveals Massive Unspecific Side Effects by Iodine-containing Reagents.\nReduction and alkylation of cysteine residues is part of virtually any proteomics workflow. Despite its frequent use, up to date no systematic investigation of the impact of different conditions on the outcome of proteomics studies has been performed. In this study, we compared common reduction reagents (dithiothreitol, tris-(2-carboxyethyl)-phosphine, and \u03b2-mercaptoethanol) and alkylation reagents (iodoacetamide, iodoacetic acid, acrylamide, and chloroacetamide). Using in-gel digests as well as SAX fractionated in-solution digests of cytosolic fractions of HeLa cells, we evaluated 13 different reduction and alkylation conditions resulting in considerably varying identification rates. We observed strong differences in offsite alkylation reactions at 7 amino acids as well as at the peptide N terminus, identifying single and double adducts of all reagents. Using dimethyl labeling, mass tolerant searches, and synthetic peptide experiments, we identified alkylation of methionine residues by iodine-containing alkylation reagents as one of the major factors for the differences. We observed differences of more than 9-fold in numbers of identified methionine-containing peptide spectral matches for in-gel digested samples between iodine- and noniodine-containing alkylation reagents. This was because of formation of carbamidomethylated and carboxymethylated methionine side chains and a resulting prominent neutral loss during ESI ionization or in MS\/MS fragmentation, strongly decreasing identification rates of methionine-containing peptides. We achieved best results with acrylamide as alkylation reagent, whereas the highest numbers of peptide spectral matches were obtained when reducing with dithiothreitol and \u03b2-mercaptoethanol for the in-solution and the in-gel digested samples, respectively.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30668493,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sequential Gating Ensemble Network for Noise Robust Multiscale Face Restoration.\nFace restoration from low resolution and noise is important for applications of face analysis recognition. However, most existing face restoration models omit the multiple scale issues in the face restoration problem, which is still not well solved in the research area. In this paper, we propose a sequential gating ensemble network (SGEN) for a multiscale noise robust face restoration issue. To endow the network with multiscale representation ability, we first employ the principle of ensemble learning for SGEN network architecture design. The SGEN aggregates multilevel base-encoders and base-decoders into the network, which enables the network to contain multiple scales of receptive field. Instead of combining these base-en\/decoders directly with nonsequential operations, the SGEN takes base-en\/decoders from different levels as sequential data. Specifically, it is visualized that SGEN learns to sequentially extract high-level information from base-encoders in a bottom-up manner and restore low-level information from base-decoders in a top-down manner. Besides, we propose realizing bottom-up and top-down information combination and selection with a sequential gating unit (SGU). The SGU sequentially takes information from two different levels as inputs and decides the output based on one active input. Experimental results on the benchmark dataset demonstrate that our SGEN is more effective at multiscale human face restoration with more image details and less noise than state-of-the-art image restoration models. Further utilizing an adversarial training scheme, SGEN also produces more visually preferred results than other models under subjective evaluation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3077975,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Regulation of the mid-blastula transition in amphibians.\nThe cleavage cycles during early amphibian development are synchronous, rapid, and biphasic. There is no transcription and no growth of the embryo, and the nuclear cycle is independent of the cytoplasmic cleavage cycle. All components necessary for development through the blastula stage are provided by maternal stores. At the twelfth cleavage division, a major transition occurs that involves initiation of transcription, an elongation of the cell cycle, an increase in cell movement, and asynchrony of cell division. It is probable that the major controlling factor in the regulation of all the aforementioned events is the cell cycle. During early cleavage stages, the cell cycle is both rapid (30-35 min) and synchronous. There is evidence that the cycling time may be controlled by the presence of several mitotic factors, such as MPF, CSF (cytostatic factor), and a titratable component that binds to nuclear membranes. The rapid rate of DNA synthesis may inhibit the formation of transcription complexes, resulting in the absence of detectable transcription before the MBT. Cellular movement may also be inhibited in the rapidly dividing cell. As the cell cycle elongates (possibly due to the functional loss or sequestration of one or more of the mitotic control factors), the G1 and G2 phases are incorporated into the cell cycle. Under conditions of slower rates of DNA replication and the presence of the G1 and G2 phases, the transcriptional machinery becomes functional. It is apparent that at the MBT, not all classes of transcripts are activated simultaneously in every cell, nor is their expression regulated by a common mechanism. Incorporation of the G1 and G2 phases in the cell cycle may also permit the synthesis and assembly of microtubules and cytoskeletal components necessary for the initiation of the cell movements characteristic of this stage of development. The role of the cell cycle in controlling events at the MBT is supported by evidence from studies in which perturbation of the cell cycle that results in its elongation or arrest produces subsequent initiation of events that occur normally at the MBT. The MBT therefore appears to be a window in the developmental time frame, during which a number of molecular and morphogenetic events occur independently of one another, but all are necessary for subsequent morphogenesis and cellular differentiation. It is a transition from the strict reliance on the maternal program to a dependence on the new transcription from the embryonic genetic program. It is probable that the major regulatory mechanism involved in the occurrence of this constellation of cellular events is the change in the cell cycle.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30313494,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Deronectes taron sp. n. from the eastern Anatolian region of Turkey (Coleoptera, Dytiscidae, Hydroporinae).\nDeronectes taron sp. n. from the Mu\u015f province in the eastern Anatolian region of Turkey is described and illustrated in detail. The species belongs to the D. longipes subgroup of the D. parvicollis species group and resembles in particular D. syriacus Wewalka, 1971. It can be differentiated from this and the other species of the group by the shape of the median lobe which is strongly bent in lateral view. A part of the key to species of the subgroup is updated. Together with the new species the number of the known species of the genus Deronectes Sharp, 1882 is now 59 and that of the longipes-subgroup is 13.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3070546,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Apomyoglobin as a molecular recognition surface: expression, reconstitution and crystallization of recombinant porcine myoglobin in Escherichia coli.\nRecombinant porcine myoglobin has been produced in Escherichia coli using the lambda cII fusion expression system of Nagai and Th\u00f8gersen [Nature, 309, 810-812 (1984)]. After processing and reconstitution with haem, the protein is gel-electrophoretically and spectrophotometrically indistinguishable from native pig myoglobin. Large crystals of both native and recombinant porcine myoglobin were grown from 50 mM sodium phosphate, pH 7.1, 80% ammonium sulphate. The crystals belong to space group C2 (a = 156.9 A, b = 42.0 A, c = 92.2 A, beta = 127.9 degrees) and diffract to a nominal 2.5 A resolution. We plan to explore apomyoglobin as a binding surface in studies combining site-directed mutagenesis and X-ray analysis. These experiments will be extended by studying the binding of haem analogues to the mutant apoproteins.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26428327,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1}}},"text":"Carotid Artery Stenosis in the Setting of Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement: Clinical and Technical Considerations of Carotid Stenting.\nNo consensus exists regarding the safety and efficacy of treatment of carotid stenosis before transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). Our objective was to review our series of patients treated for carotid stenosis with stenting in the setting of severe aortic valve disease and TAVR to evaluate its safety and efficacy. We reviewed patients who underwent carotid stenting in the setting of preoperative work-up or after TAVR from August 2012 through January 2015. Perioperative patient outcomes were collected to assess the safety and efficacy of carotid stenting. Five patients (4 men, 1 woman; median age, 83 years; range, 72-88 years) underwent successful carotid stenting before (median, 30 days before; range, 2 days-3 months) TAVR. The median extent of carotid stenosis was 80% (range, 75%-90%), but the diagnoses were incidental and all patients were asymptomatic. One patient suffered acute systolic heart failure during stenting requiring emergent balloon aortic valvuloplasty and vasopressor therapy. Median intensive care unit stay was 1 day (range, 1-16 days) for all patients, and 1 day for patients treated electively. The median hospital stay was 1 day (range, 1-16 days) for all patients, and 1 day for patients treated electively. All patients were discharged home. None suffered immediate or delayed neurological complications. We successfully performed carotid stenting in 5 patients before TAVR for severe aortic pathology. These patients require intensive care and careful monitoring. Larger prospective studies are needed to determine whether carotid stenting in the setting of TAVR can provide long-term neurological benefits.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":950759,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Renal prostaglandins in DOCA-sodium chloride-induced hypertension in rats].\nThe changes in arterial pressure, sodium excretion, diuresis, and content of renal prostaglandins were studied in rats with COD-salt hypertension. The administration of DOC to rats with unilateral nephrectomy resulted in more distinct hypertension than in those with both kidneys preserved. Arterial pressure elevation was accompanied by a gradual reduction of renal prostaglandins concentration, the removal of one kidney causing an earlier and more distinct reduction of their content. Unilateral nephrectomy (without DOC administration) resulted in a reduction of prostaglandins concentration in the remaining kidney, but their total content in the medullar layer of this kidney practically did not change.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12012446,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Circular dichroism spectroscopy reveals invariant conformation of guanine runs in DNA.\nWe demonstrate that the characteristic circular dichroism (CD) features of the parallel-stranded DNA tetraplex of d(G4), especially the strong band at 260 nm, are characteristic for the B and A forms of the antiparallel duplex of d(C4G4). Hence, this band evidently originates from intrastrand guanine-guanine stacking, which is therefore very similar in the duplex and tetraplex DNA. In addition, the same type of the CD spectrum is provided by the ordered single strand of d(GA)10. This observation suggests that the ordered single strand of d(GA)10 is stabilized by a core of guanines stacked like in the parallel tetraplex. This view is used to start the modeling of the molecular structure of the ordered d(GA)10 single strand. Our studies suggest that guanine itself is strong enough to stabilize various secondary structures of DNA, which is a property relevant to thinking about the origin and evolution of molecular replicators.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29362659,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Use of the blue cotton screen method with endoscopy to detect occult esophageal foreign bodies.\nMore than 20,000 cases of upper gastrointestinal foreign bodies (FBs) have been reported in the last 5 years in China. Early detection and treatment is vital in these patients. Differential diagnosis of esophageal injury and occult esophageal foreign bodies is challenging, particularly in the case of non-radio-opaque foreign bodies. A diagnostic technique with high accuracy and low risk is needed for clinical practice. We describe successful use of the \"blue cotton screen method\" to detect esophageal foreign bodies in 2 patients. The advantages and disadvantages of various diagnostic modalities in the management of patients with foreign body ingestion are presented. This technique is safer and more effective than traditional methods for foreign body impaction in the esophageal cavity. It could be applied for screening and in the differential diagnosis of esophageal injury and FBs in the esophageal lumen.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37449516,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"METTL14 mediates m6a modification on osteogenic proliferation and differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells by regulating the processing of pri-miR-873.\nN6-methyl-adenosine (m6a) is involved in the occurrence and development of various diseases such as autogenic immune disease and tumors. Methyltransferases regulate primary (pri)-microRNA (miRNA\/miR) processing by mediating m6a modifications, consequently affecting pathological processes including immune-related diseases by regulating both innate and adaptive immune cells. However, the roles of m6a on the biological functions of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) remain to be elucidated. The relative expression levels of methyltransferase-like 14 (METTL14) and other methyltransferases, demethylases, and miR-873 in bone samples from patients with osteoporosis and from normal individuals were measured by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR. Cell Counting Kit-8 assay was used to examine the proliferation of BMSCs. Co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) was used to investigate the binding of METTL14 to DiGeorge syndrome critical region 8 (DGCR8). RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) was used to examine the binding of METTL14 to pri-miR-873. METTL14 and m6a modifications were highly detected in patients with osteoporosis compared with the controls. Co-IP results indicated that silencing of METTL14 reduced METTL14 and m6a modification levels in BMSCs. Downregulation of METTL14 significantly promoted the proliferation of BMSCs. RIP results suggested that METTL14\/m6a methylation modification promoted the processing of pri-miR-873 by binding to DGCR8 in BMSCs. Furthermore, overexpression of miR-873 inhibited the proliferation of BMSCs. The results also showed that miR-873 mimics significantly inhibited the proliferation in small interfering (si)-METTL14 transfected BMSCs; however, miR-873 inhibitors markedly promoted the proliferation of si-METTL14 transfected BMSCs. METTL14 and m6a modifications were upregulated in osteoporosis samples. METTL14 promoted the processing of pri-miR-873 into mature miR-873 by regulating m6a modification. Furthermore, overexpression of miR-873 significantly inhibited the proliferation of BMSCs. Therefore, the METTL14\/m6a\/miR-873 axis may be a potential target for the treatment of osteoporosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28247660,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[The incidence of acute urinary retention as an indicator of the quality of care for patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia].\nTo evaluate the incidence of acute urinary retention as an indicator of the quality of care for patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia by the example of \"Urology\" Program implemented in the Voronezh region. As part of the program \"Urology\", the incidence of AUR was used as an indicator of quality of care for patients with BPH. Urological health care for patients with BPH was provided within a three-stage model. For each of the stages standardized packages of detailed methodological materials, including regional standards were developed. Over the 3 years of the program (2011-2013) questionnaire survey was conducted among 762 937 men 50-75 years old with 85.3-88.1% annual coverage of respondents. Over the past three years (2009-2012) there was consistent and statistically significant (p<0.05) decrease (from 11.27 to 1.5%) in the proportion of hospitalizations for AUR reaching a \"plateau\" (p>0.05) in 2012-2013. There was a significant correlation of AUR with the main indicators of effectiveness of BPH treatment: the structure of morbidity (prevalence of early BPH forms - groups 1 and 2), the number of surgical interventions, the frequency of complications (including surgical), general and specific costs for diagnosis and treatment of BPH. Acute urinary retention may be regarded as an integral indicator of the quality of care for patients with BPH.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":933074,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Influence of mechanical properties on the relation between EMG activity and torque.\nAn attempt was made to determine the average stiffness and viscosity of the muscle groups responsible, in human subjects, for the flexion and extension of the forearm, when these movements are produced intentionally. To this end, the subjects were instructed to produce sinusoidal movements by tracking acoustic and visual signals. 1. By recording simultaneously the sinusoidal angular variations and the EMG activity of both triceps and biceps it was possible to determine the phase angle between EMG and inertial torque at different frequencies (between 0.2 and 5 Hz). 2. The known phase relations between EMG and torque were then subtracted from this plot obtaining, therefore, the phase characteristics of the mechanical system (forearm-lever complex). 3. The average resonant frequency for different amounts of intentional contraction of the muscles responsible for the motion was 0.8 Hz, leading to an estimate of the average stiffness of 2.57 kgw.m\/rad. 4. The slope of the phase in proximity of the resonant frequency lends an estimate for the viscosity of 0.85 kgw.m.sec\/rad. 5. The contribution to the motion by elastic forces and the active contraction due to intentional motor commands was also considered.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15265051,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cluster headache in the Taiwanese -- a clinic-based study.\nCluster headache has not been fully investigated in Asians. One hundred and four patients (90M\/14F; mean age 39.2 +\/- 12.2 years) with cluster headache were recruited from two major headache clinics in Taiwan. They filled out a structured cluster headache questionnaire. All participants were diagnosed to have episodic cluster headache. Mean age of onset was 26.9 years; mean latency of diagnosis was 8.1 years. A trend of decrease in male\/female ratio with time was noted. Seventy-three percent were ex- or current smokers (M: 79%, F: 36%). Restlessness was reported by 51% patients. Only 1 patient (1%) reported visual aura. Patients responded well to standard acute and prophylactic treatment. The monthly incidence of cluster period was inversely related to sunshine duration. Compared to Western series, our patients were different in several aspects including the absence of chronic cluster headaches and a low prevalence of restlessness and aura. Racial and geographical factors might contribute to these discrepancies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17891491,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Magnetic resonance imaging and radiofrequency ablations.\nCardiac MRI has evolved one of the major imaging technologies in cardiology. Increasingly MRI has also been used for electrophysiological applications. Anatomically based procedures such as the circumferential pulmonary vein ablation emphasized the importance of including the individual's cardiac anatomy in a tailored ablation approach. Today, many centers routinely perform pre-ablation imaging to identify left atrial anatomy. Three-dimensional reconstructions based on MRI are frequently integrated in clinical mapping systems to provide cardiac anatomy during the ablation procedure. Similarly, MRI is a clinically very valuable tool in assessing potential ablation complications such as pulmonary vein stenosis. New innovative use of MRI is likely to occur in three areas over the next several years. During ventricular tachycardia ablations volume rendering\/fusion imaging will enable a detailed three-dimensional substrate evaluation and provide supplementary scar characterization using a combination of different imaging approaches. With the ongoing technical improvements real-time MRI will likely emerge as a stand-alone clinical modality to directly guide catheter ablation procedures. The advent of stronger field strength MRI, faster imaging protocols, and improved gating techniques will allow accurate peri- and post-procedural visualization of ablation lesions. These developments should result in shorter procedure times and decreased complications rates. Ultimately, they will enable the development of novel ablation strategies and expand the current indications for electrophysiological ablations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15560426,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Public involvement in breast cancer research: an analysis and model for future research.\nPublic involvement in health program planning has been taking place for many years, and has provided a precedent for the emergence of public involvement in research conducted since the early 1990s. Such involvement is now widely seen in breast cancer research, due to the large public concern and major social movement activity. This article reviews current practices and general models of public involvement in research and constructs a prototype. The authors interviewed researchers, program officers, and laypeople in order to understand the obstacles, processes, and benefits. They conclude that public involvement has major ramifications for the democratization of science and the construction of knowledge by teaching lay people about science and sensitizing researchers to concerns of the public. There is growing support on the part of scientists and government agents for public involvement.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35368654,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"An Effective Hypoxia-Related Long Non-Coding RNA Assessment Model for Prognosis of Lung Adenocarcinoma.\nBackground: Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) represents one of the highest incidence rates worldwide. Hypoxia is a significant biomarker associated with poor prognosis of LUAD. However, there are no definitive markers of hypoxia-related long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in LUAD. Methods: From The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the Molecular Signatures Database (MSigDB), we acquired the expression of hypoxia-related lncRNAs and corresponding clinical information of LUAD patients. The hypoxia-related prognostic model was constructed by univariable COX regression analysis, least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO), and multivariable Cox regression analysis. To assess the performance of the model, the Kaplan-Meier (KM) survival and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses were performed. Results: We found seven lncRNAs, AC022613.1, AC026355.1, GSEC, LINC00941, NKILA, HSPC324, and MYO16-AS1, as biomarkers of the potential hypoxia-related prognostic signature. In the low-risk group, patients had a better overall survival (OS). In addition, the results of ROC analysis indicated that the risk score predicted LUAD prognosis exactly. Furthermore, combining the expression of lncRNAs with clinical features, two predictive nomograms were constructed, which could accurately predict OS and had high clinical application value. Conclusion: In summary, the seven-lncRNA prognostic signature related to hypoxia might be useful in predicting clinical outcomes and provided new molecular targets for the research of LUAD patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3067101,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Ciclosporin-associated hypertrichosis is not related to sex hormone levels following renal transplantation.\nTo study a possible relationship between ciclosporin-induced hypertrichosis and sex hormone pattern, the hair growth in different areas of the body was graded and hormone levels were assayed before and up to 6 months after kidney transplantation. Increased hair growth was observed in 100% (23\/23) of the patients in skin areas connected with androgen action and in 78% of the patients in androgen-insensitive areas. After renal transplantation the pituitary, testicular and adrenal hormone levels normalized. The posttransplantation levels of these hormones would not explain the observation of increased hairgrowth. Thus, ciclosporin induces hypertrichosis via a mechanism independent of sex hormones.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37443609,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Access Cavity Preparation and Localization of Root Canals Using Guides in 3D-Printed Teeth with Calcified Root Canals: An In Vitro CBCT Study.\nPulp canal obliteration (PCO) is a significant complication in endodontics that can occur due to various factors. Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) is a useful diagnostic tool for identifying root canal anatomy and variations, and guided endodontics is emerging as an alternative treatment solution for teeth with partially or entirely obliterated pulpal canals. However, the accuracy of CBCT-guided 3D-printed guides on different materials and layer thicknesses is not well understood. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of guides prepared using CBCT images on 3D-printed teeth with stereolithography (SLA) using three different materials and two different layer thicknesses. This study found that 3D-printed guides were accurate and reliable for accessing 3D-manufactured obliterated teeth and reaching the apical area. No significant differences in distance or angle measurements were found when different guide materials were used, suggesting that materials can be selected based on availability and cost. These findings contribute to the knowledge base regarding the effectiveness of 3D printing technology in guided endodontics and can help to identify the most suitable materials and techniques for this application.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28541523,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Attraction of the Euwallacea sp. near fornicatus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) to Quercivorol and to Infestations in Avocado.\nThe Euwallacea sp. near fornicatus (Euwallacea sp. 1 hereafter) feeds on many woody shrubs and trees and is a pest of avocado, Persea americana Mill., in several countries including Israel and the United States. Quercivorol baits are commercially available for Euwallacea sp. 1 females (males do not fly), but their attractive strength compared to other pheromones and potential for mass trapping are unknown. We used sticky traps baited with quercivorol released at 0.126 mg\/d (1\u00d7) and at 0.01\u00d7, 0.1\u00d7, and 10\u00d7 relative rates to obtain a dose-response curve of Euwallacea sp. 1 attraction. The curve fitted well a kinetic formation function of first order. Naturally infested limbs of living avocado trees had attraction rates equivalent to 1\u00d7 quercivorol. An effective attraction radius (EAR) was calculated according to previous equations for each of the various baits (1\u00d7 EAR = 1.18 m; 10\u00d7 EAR = 2.00 m). A pole with six sticky traps spaced from 0.25-5.75 m in height had captures of Euwallacea sp. 1 yielding a mean flight height of 1.24 m with vertical flight distribution SD of 0.88 m (0.82-0.96 m, 95% CI). The SD with specific EAR was used to calculate EARc, two-dimensional EAR (1\u00d7 EARc = 0.99 m; 10\u00d7 EARc = 2.86 m), for comparison with other insect pheromone traps and for use in simulations. The simulation methods described previously were performed with combinations of 1-16 traps with 1-50 aggregations per 9-ha plot. The simulations indicate mass trapping with quercivorol could be effective if begun in spring before Euwallacea sp. 1 establishes competing sources of attraction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25496594,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Deregulation of Plant Cell Death Through Disruption of Chloroplast Functionality Affects Asexual Sporulation of Zymoseptoria tritici on Wheat.\nChloroplasts have a critical role in plant defense as sites for the biosynthesis of the signaling compounds salicylic acid (SA), jasmonic acid (JA), and nitric oxide (NO) and as major sites of reactive oxygen species production. Chloroplasts, therefore, regarded as important players in the induction and regulation of programmed cell death (PCD) in response to abiotic stresses and pathogen attack. The predominantly foliar pathogen of wheat Zymoseptoria tritici is proposed to exploit the plant PCD, which is associated with the transition in the fungus to the necrotrophic phase of infection. In this study virus-induced gene silencing was used to silence two key genes in carotenoid and chlorophyll biosynthesis, phytoene desaturase (PDS) and Mg-chelatase H subunit (ChlH). The chlorophyll-deficient, PDS- and ChlH-silenced leaves of susceptible plants underwent more rapid pathogen-induced PCD but were significantly less able to support the subsequent asexual sporulation of Z. tritici. Conversely, major gene (Stb6)-mediated resistance to Z. tritici was partially compromised in PDS- and ChlH-silenced leaves. Chlorophyll-deficient wheat ears also displayed increased Z. tritici disease lesion formation accompanied by increased asexual sporulation. These data highlight the importance of chloroplast functionality and its interaction with regulated plant cell death in mediating different genotype and tissue-specific interactions between Z. tritici and wheat.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37849558,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Design and Optimization of Novel Competitive, Non-peptidic, SARS-CoV-2 Mpro Inhibitors.\nThe SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro) has been proven to be a highly effective target for therapeutic intervention, yet only one drug currently holds FDA approval status for this target. We were inspired by a series of publications emanating from the Jorgensen and Anderson groups describing the design of potent, non-peptidic, competitive SARS-CoV-2 Mpro inhibitors, and we saw an opportunity to make several design modifications to improve the overall pharmacokinetic profile of these compounds without losing potency. To this end, we created a focused virtual library using reaction-based enumeration tools in the Schr\u00f6dinger suite. These compounds were docked into the Mpro active site and subsequently prioritized for synthesis based upon relative binding affinity values calculated by FEP+. Fourteen compounds were selected, synthesized, and evaluated both biochemically and in cell culture. Several of the synthesized compounds proved to be potent, competitive Mpro inhibitors with improved metabolic stability profiles.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28582676,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Cerium oxide nanoparticles alter the salt stress tolerance of Brassica napus L. by modifying the formation of root apoplastic barriers.\nRapidly growing global population adds significant strains on the fresh water resources. Consequently, saline water is increasingly tapped for crop irrigation. Meanwhile, rapid advancement of nanotechnology is introducing more and more engineered nanoparticles into the environment and in agricultural soils. While some negative effects of ENPs on plant health at very high concentrations have been reported, more beneficial effects of ENPs at relatively low concentrations are increasingly noticed, opening doors for potential applications of nanotechnology in agriculture. In particular, we found that cerium oxide nanoparticles (CeO2NPs) improved plant photosynthesis in salt stressed plants. Due to the close connections between salt stress tolerance and the root anatomical structures, we postulated that CeO2NPs could modify plant root anatomy and improve plant salt stress tolerance. This study aimed at testing the hypothesis with Brassica napus in the presence of CeO2NPs (0, 500 mg kg-1 dry sand) and\/or NaCl (0, 50 mM) in a growth chamber. Free hand sections of fresh roots were taken every seven days for three weeks and the suberin lamellae development was examined under a fluorescence microscope. The results confirmed the hypothesis that CeO2NPs modified the formation of the apoplastic barriers in Brassica roots. In salt stressed plants, CeO2NPs shortened the root apoplastic barriers which allowed more Na+ transport to shoots and less accumulation of Na+ in plant roots. The altered Na+ fluxes and transport led to better physiological performance of Brassica and may lead to new applications of nanotechnology in agriculture.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19025973,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Increases in core body temperature precede hot flashes in a prostate cancer patient.\nAn effective and safe alternative treatment to hormone replacement therapy for hot flashes is needed for cancer patients. Interventions targeting the triggering mechanisms of hot flashes hold promise. Increases in core body temperature are a precursor of most hot flashes in women, and similar findings in prostate cancer patients undergoing androgen deprivation therapy would support further research in this area. We present preliminary findings of physiological changes in a prostate cancer patient with frequent hot flashes. Physiological changes in sternal skin conductance, heart rate, and core body temperature were continuously measured during two 3.5 h laboratory sessions. Perceived characteristics of hot flashes were recorded in a diary. Five hot flashes were reported during laboratory sessions. Severity and bother ratings were low. All hot flashes were accompanied by large increases in sternal skin conductance and moderate increases in heart rate. Core body temperature increased 0.11-0.32 degrees C prior to and fell 0.23-0.44 degrees C following the peak increase in skin conductance. This case study suggests that hot flashes in men may be preceded by increases in core body temperature. Identification of behavioral factors that raise core body temperature may lead to specific treatment strategies to reduce the frequency of hot flashes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26472245,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Histological and histochemical study of the uropygial gland of chimango caracara (Milvago chimango vieillot, 1816).\nThe uropygial glands of birds are sebaceous organs that contribute to the water-repellent properties of the feather coat. We studied the histological and histochemical characteristics of the uropygial gland of chimango caracara using hematoxylin and eosin (H & E), Gomori\u00b4s trichrome, orcein, Gomori\u00b4s reticulin, periodic acid-Schiff (PAS), Alcian blue (AB) and a variety of lectins. The gland is composed of two lobes and a papilla with 20 downy feathers. It is surrounded by a capsule of dense connective tissue that contains elastic, reticular and smooth muscle fibers. The papilla is delicate and has two excretory ducts. The gland mass relative to body mass was 0.143%. Both adenomer cells and their secretions were stained with Sudan IV, PAS and AB, and were positive for numerous lectins that indicated the presence of lipids and carbohydrates. Immunohistochemical techniques to detect PCNA confirmed cell proliferation in the basal stratum of the adenomer cells. The lipids and glycoconjugates secreted by the uropygial gland serve numerous functions including protection against microorganisms.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17183891,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Near-hanging as presenting to hospitals in Queensland: recommendations for practice.\nNear-hanging is an increasing presentation to hospitals in Australasia. We reviewed the clinical management and outcome of these patients as they presented to public hospitals in Queensland. A retrospective clinical record audit was made at five public hospitals between 1991 and 2000. Of 161 patients enrolled, 82% were male, 8% were indigenous and 10% had made a previous hanging attempt. Chronic medical illnesses were documented in 11% and previous psychiatric disorders in 42%. Of the 38 patients with a Glasgow Coma Scale score (GCS) of 3 on arrival at hospital, 32% returned to independent living and 63% died. Fifty-two patients received CPR, of whom 46% had an independent functional outcome. Independent predictors of mortality were a GCS on hospital arrival of 3 (AOR 150, CI 95% 12.4-1818, P<0.001), taking plain X-rays of the cervical spine (AOR 0.06, CI 95% 0.004-0.97, P=0.047) and contact with the ground (AOR 0.03, CI 95% 0.002-0.62, P=0.02). Only 66% had imaging of the cervical spine performed with other imaging performed infrequently. There were three laryngeal, two hyoid bone and three cervical spine injuries and one carotid dissection. The number of cervical spine X-rays required to find a significant cervical spine fracture was 54. Near-hanging presenting to hospital with a poor conscious state or even cardiac arrest can have a favourable clinical outcome. Radiological investigations are infrequently performed despite a low GCS precluding early accurate assessment. Given the general favourable outcome, an aggressive approach to searching for correctable injuries is recommended.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22670107,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma of the breast: a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge.\nWe present a patient with lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma (LELC) of the breast whose diagnosis is illustrative of the pathology nuances that must be taken into account to successfully reach correct identification of the disease. We also present an overview of our patient's proposed treatment in the context of 16 other reported LELC cases. Although LELC cases are rare, a sufficient number have been reported to discern the natural history of this pathologic entity and to undertake a review of those cases and of the application of oncologic first principles in their management. Given the potential for locoregional spread and distant metastases in LELC, adjuvant therapy has a role in the treatment of this entity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7945377,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Methylmercury induces apoptosis of rat cerebellar neurons in primary culture.\nCerebellar neurons in primary culture were exposed to methylmercury, a well-established neurotoxicant known as a cause of Minamata disease, at 0.1-1.0 microM for up to 72 hours and compared with the neurons undergoing apoptosis induced by withdrawing K+ from the medium. Cerebellar neurons treated with methylmercury at up to 0.3 microM showed morphological changes characteristic to apoptosis, depending on methylmercury dose; formation of apoptotic vesicles, disappearance of neurites and condensation of nuclear chromatin. In addition, soluble DNA prepared from the methylmercury-treated cells exhibited the typical DNA fragmentation pattern similar to that in cells undergoing apoptosis induced by K+ withdrawal. At higher concentration of methylmercury, however, a non-apoptotic pathway of cell death started to predominate over the apoptotic pathway. These results indicate that the death of cerebellar granule neurons induced by methylmercury is, at least at lower doses, apoptotic.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20364929,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Selective interference on the holistic processing of faces in working memory.\nFaces and objects of expertise compete for early perceptual processes and holistic processing resources (Gauthier, Curran, Curby, & Collins, 2003). Here, we examined the nature of interference on holistic face processing in working memory by comparing how various types of loads affect selective attention to parts of face composites. In dual tasks, all loads impaired overall performance on face judgment compared with no load. However, a face load reduced holistic face processing (Experiment 1) whereas an object load did not, regardless of expertise (Experiments 2 and 3). Also, 2 types of faces produced asymmetrical interference on each other (Experiment 4), refuting the hypothesis that any faces would produce equal interference. Thus, the interference on holistic face processing in working memory does not depend on overlap in expertise or face processing, but may be modulated by limitations in encoding or maintenance of highly similar representations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6734643,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of cardiac failure on the pharmacokinetics of the diuretic tizolemide.\nTizolemide, an alkaline sulphonamide diuretic, was given i.v. in one dose and orally during one week to eight patients with compensated cardiac failure. They had essentially normal glomerular filtration rate but reduced renal plasma flow. Tizolemide was almost completely absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. The drug was mainly eliminated via tubular secretion. Renal clearance of the drug was much lower than in healthy subjects because of low renal plasma flow. As a consequence plasma half-life was prolonged considerably in some patients. It was concluded that drugs with mainly tubular renal elimination may have a reduced elimination rate in patients with cardiac diseases despite normal glomerular filtration rate.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28341205,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Autism-like behavior in the BTBR mouse model of autism is improved by propofol.\nAutism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder that is characterized by symptoms of impaired social interactions, restricted interests and repetitive behaviors. Recent studies in humans and animal-models suggest that reduced GABAergic neurotransmission in the brain may underlie autism-related behavioral symptoms. It has been shown that propofol, a commonly used anesthetic, facilitates \u03b3-aminobutyric acid-mediated inhibitory synaptic transmission. The present study investigated whether propofol improved autistic phenotypes in BTBR T + Itpr3tf\/J (BTBR) mice, a model of idiopathic autism. We found that i.p. injection of propofol in BTBR mice significantly improved aspects of social approach and repetitive behaviors without affecting reciprocal social interactions and without any detrimental effects in C57BL\/6J mice. The ability of propofol to improve autistic phenotypes in BTBR mice through GABAergic neurotransmission suggests a potential pharmacological target for interventions to treat symptoms of autism.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28560457,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Regulation of autophagy and EMT by the interplay between p53 and RAS during cancer progression (Review).\nCellular autophagy and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) are key events mostly resulted from the interplay of tumor suppressors and oncogenes during cancer progression. The master tumor suppressor p53 may control tumor cell autophagy and EMT through the transcriptional induction of multiple target genes, while the activated oncogene RAS may also play a critical role in regulating mitogenic signaling to tumor cell autophagy and EMT. Although the fundamental functions of p53 and RAS are well understood, the interactive effects of p53 and RAS on autophagy and EMT are still unclear. In this review, we highlight the recent advances in the regulation of autophagy and EMT by p53 and RAS, aiming to explore novel therapeutic targets and biomarkers in cancer treatment and prevention.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37450758,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Ultralow-quantum-defect single-frequency fiber laser.\nA single-frequency distributed-Bragg-reflector fiber laser at 980 nm with a quantum defect of less than 0.6% was developed with a 1.5-cm 12 wt% ytterbium-doped phosphate fiber pumped by a 974.5-nm laser diode. Linearly polarized single-longitude-mode laser with a polarization extinction ratio (PER) of nearly 30 dB and spectral linewidth of less than 1.8 kHz was obtained. A maximum output power of 275 mW was measured at a launched pump power of 620 mW. The performance of the single-frequency fiber laser pumped at 909 nm and 976 nm was also characterized. This research demonstrated an approach to high-power single-frequency fiber laser oscillators with mitigated thermal effects.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29388604,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-22":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Weighted Vest Use during Dietary Weight Loss on Bone Health in Older Adults with Obesity.\nTo examine the effects of daily weighted vest use during a dietary weight loss intervention, on (a) hip and spine bone mineral density (aBMD), and (b) biomarkers of bone turnover, in older adults with obesity. 37 older (70.1 \u00b1 3.0 years) adults with obesity (BMI=35.3 \u00b1 2.9) underwent a 22 week dietary weight loss intervention (1100-1300 kcal\/day) with (Diet+Vest; n=20) or without (Diet; n=17) weighted vest use (goal: 10+ h\/day; weight added incrementally based on amount of weight lost). Total body weight; DXA-acquired aBMD of the total hip, femoral neck and lumbar spine; and biomarkers of bone turnover (OC, BALP, P1NP, CTX) were measured at baseline and follow up. General linear models, adjusted for baseline values of the outcome and gender, were used to examine intervention effects. Average weight loss was significant in both groups (-11.2 \u00b1 4.4 kg and -11.0 \u00b1 6.3 kg, Diet+Vest and Diet groups, respectively), with no difference between groups (p=0.91). Average weighted vest use was 6.7 \u00b1 2.2 h\/day. No significant changes in aBMD or biomarkers were observed, although trends were noted for total hip aBMD and BALP. Loss in total hip aBMD was greater in the Diet group compared with Diet+Vest (\u0394: -18.7 [29.3, -8.1] mg\/cm2 versus -6.1 [-15.7, 3.5] mg\/cm2; p=0.08). BALP increased in the Diet+Vest group by 3.8% (\u0394: 0.59 [-0.33, 1.50] \u03bcg\/L) and decreased by -4.6% in the Diet group (\u0394: -0.70 [-1.70, 0.31] \u03bcg\/L, p=0.07). Weighted vest use during weight loss may attenuate loss of hip aBMD and increase bone formation in older adults with obesity. Further study is warranted.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37659392,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A noise-controlling method by hybrid current-stimulation and voltage-measurement for electrical impedance tomography (HCSVM-EIT).\nImage reconstruction in electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is a typical ill-posed inverse problem, from which the stability of conductivity reconstruction affects the reliability of physiological parameters evaluation. In order to improve the stability, the effect of boundary voltage noise on conductivity reconstruction should be controlled. A noise-controlling method based on hybrid current-stimulation and voltage-measurement for EIT (HCSVM-EIT) is proposed for stable conductivity reconstruction. In HCSVM-EIT, the boundary voltage is measured by one current-stimulation and voltage-measurement pattern (high-SNRpattern) with a higher signal-to-noise ratio (SNR); the sensitivity matrix is calculated by another current-stimulation and voltage-measurement pattern (low-condpattern) with a lower condition number; the boundary voltage is then transformed from thehigh-SNRpattern into thelow-condpattern by multiplying by an optimized transformation matrix for image reconstruction. The stability of conductivity reconstruction is improved by combining the advantages of thehigh-SNRpattern for boundary voltage measurement and thelow-condpattern for sensitivity matrix calculation. The simulation results show that the HCSVM-EIT increases the correlation coefficient (CC) of conductivity reconstruction. The experiment results show that theCCof conductivity reconstruction of the human lower limb is increased from 0.3424 to 0.5580 by 62.97% compared to the quasi-adjacent pattern, and from 0.4942 to 0.5580 by 12.91% compared to the adjacent pattern. In conclusion, the stable conductivity reconstruction with higherCCin HCSVM-EIT improves the reliability of physiological parameters evaluation for disease detection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36286253,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Population shifts in some faeces and rumen bacteria profiles and subsequent blood LPS and lactate concentrations in lambs in the early period of subacute ruminal acidosis.\nIt is known that ruminal acidosis can induce harmal population shifts in some ruminal bacteria profiles. However, there is little information related to alterations in faecal and ruminal bacterial communities and relevant serum lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in sheep with subacute ruminal acidosis (SARA). This study aimed to investigate alterations in the defined faecal and ruminal bacteria profiles and serum LPS and blood lactate concentrations in lambs with empirically induced SARA. Fifteen lambs were served and undergone to induce SARA during a 7-day period. Faecal and ruminal samples were taken to measure the pH and to perform the bacteriological works at 0 (just before induction), 8, 9, and 10 days of the challenge. Blood samples were collected to determine the serum LPS and lactate levels. The rumen and faecal samples were cultured to specify colony-forming units (CFU) for Escherichia coli, Streptococcus Group D (SGD), and lactic acid bacteria (LAB). Serum LPS value had no significant increase in the affected lambs with SARA. Significant increasing trends were observed in faecal E. coli and LAB populations (p < 0.01). Rumen bacteriology revealed a rising trend for LAB and a falling trend for SGD populations (p < 0.01). Unlike cattle, LPS appears to be of minor importance in the pathogenesis of SARA in sheep. The increased ruminal and faecal LAB (4.00 \u00d7 107 CFU\/ml or g) are proposed as valuable biomarkers for improving nutritional strategy and screening SARA in lambs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37456319,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Improvements of the Tada formula in estimating the intracerebral hemorrhage volume based on computed tomography.\nThe Tada formula has been used widely for assessing intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) volume. However, it is only suitable for calculating regular and small volume hematomas. Therefore, we attempted to improve the formula to increase its accuracy and maintain its efficiency. Computed tomography (CT) data of 15 balls of different shapes filled with predetermined volumes of water were collected to verify the high accuracy of FireVoxel in measuring the volume. CT data from 329 patients with ICH from two different hospitals grouped by hematoma shape and volume were retrospectively reviewed. The distinctly shaped ICH volumes of 245 patients from one of the hospitals were estimated using FireVoxel and the Tada formula grouped by the hematoma shape and volume. Taking the hematoma volumes measured by FireVoxel as the reference standard, the accuracy and reliability of the Tada formula were evaluated. Polynomial fitting was employed to determine the associations of the values calculated between the Tada formula and FireVoxel. Then, a corrected Tada formula (C-Tada formula) was produced, and the limits of agreement between the C-Tada formula and Tada formula were analyzed with Bland-Altman analysis. The C-Tada formula was validated by the CT data of 84 patients from another hospital. The volume measured by FireVoxel can be set as the reference standard. The ICH volume calculated by the Tada formula was significantly greater than that calculated by FireVoxel for different shapes and volumes. The percentage deviation between the volumes calculated by FireVoxel and the Tada formula was also statistically significant and influenced by ICH shape and volume. The limits of agreement between the C-Tada formula and FireVoxel were tighter than those between the Tada formula and FireVoxel. The percentage deviation of the C-Tada formula calculation from the FireVoxel estimate was greatly reduced relative to that for the Tada formula for each group. The C-Tada formula is more clinically valuable than the Tada formula, given its sufficient efficiency and greater accuracy and reliability in ICH volume calculation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25406080,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Multicenter epidemiological study to assess the population of CKD patients in Greece: results from the PRESTAR study.\nChronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is a relatively common condition not only associated with increased morbidity and mortality but also fuelling End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD). Among developed nations, Greece has one of the highest ESRD incidence rates, yet there is limited understanding of the epidemiology of earlier stages of CKD. Cross-sectional survey of pre-dialysis CKD outpatients in nephrology clinics in the National Health Care system between October 2009 and October 2010. Demographics, cause of CKD, blood pressure, level of renal function, duration of CKD and nephrology care, and specialty of referral physician were collected and analyzed. Different methods for estimating renal function (Cockroft-Gault [CG], CKD-Epi and MDRD) and staging CKD were assessed for agreement. A total of 1,501 patients in 9 centers were enrolled. Diabetic nephropathy was the most common nephrologist assigned cause of CKD (29.7%). In total, 36.5% of patients had self-referred to the nephrologist; patients with diabetes or serum creatinine above 220 \u00b5mol\/l (eGFR<40 ml\/min\/1.73 m2) were more likely to have been referred by a physician. Agreement between MDRD and CKD-Epi, but not between CG, the other estimating equations, was excellent. There was substantial heterogeneity with respect to renal diagnoses, referral patterns and blood pressure among participating centers. In this first epidemiologic assessment of CKD in Greece, we documented delayed referral and high rates of self-referral among patients with CKD. eGFR reporting, currently offered by a limited number of laboratories, may facilitate detection of CKD at an earlier, more treatable stage.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23444632,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Antimicrobial susceptibility of Escherichia coli isolates from river water ecosystems].\nAntimicrobial resistance is one of the biggest problems facing global public health. The emergence of resistant clinical and environmental strains worsens the situation. Among the microorganisms with antimicrobial resistance, Escherichia coil species stands out due to its dual role as fecal contamination indicator and pathogen. To isolate and identify Escherichia coil isolates from water samples from polluted rivers located in La Habana, and to determine their antimicrobial in vitro susceptibility. One hundred thirteen isolates of coliform bacteria isolated from 10 sampling stations in the capital's urban areas near Almendares, Quib\u00fa and Luyan\u00f3 rivers were studied in the period of February 2008 to June 2010. The identification of isolates, the determination of antimicrobial susceptibility and the search for extended-spectrum beta-lactamase were all performed using VITEK automated method. One hundred thirteen environmental strains of Escherichia coli were identified. It showed that 23% of the isolates were resistant to at least one of the tested antimicrobials. The highest percentages of resistance were observed to ampicilline, sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim and ciprofloxacin. The presence of E. coil isolates with multiple antimicrobial resistances in these rivers clearly indicates the biological risk involving the use of their waters.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9161720,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The structural and functional essentiality of the N-terminal alpha-helix in the phospholipase A2 of the Taiwan banded krait.\nIn order to identify the structural and functional essentiality of the N-terminal alpha-helix of Bungarus multicinctus PLA2 for its enzymatic activity, comparative studies of the biochemical properties of native and recombinant PLA2 were made. It was found that the appearance of a Met residue preceding the N-terminus Asn-1 of the recombinant protein appreciably affected PLA2 activity and the hydrophobic character of the ANS-binding site. Additionally, the charged state and the hydrophobicity of the molecular surface changed as well. However, removal of the N-terminal Met-1 from the recombinant PLA2 resulted in the production of a fully active PLA2, whose biochemical properties were indistinguishable from those of the native enzyme. These observations, together with the findings that the helical wheel plot of the N-terminal alpha-helix showed distinct hydrophobic and hydrophilic faces and that the ANS-binding site was the active site of PLA2 enzymes, suggest that the hydrophobic face of the N-terminal alpha-helix in native PLA2 should be in the interior of the enzyme molecule for binding with ANS and the phospholipid\/substrate.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23447766,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Long-term Memories: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.\nTraumatic memories haunt the lives of people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, and other illnesses. Fortunately, recent research into the changeability of long-term memories may someday develop into treatments for such individuals. But before this can happen, writes Cristina Alberini, Ph.D., of Mount Sinai School of Medicine, researchers must determine just how effectively the fear associated with older memories-especially those involved in PTSD-can be reduced and for how long. Researchers must also address the ethical issues that go hand in hand with modifying memory.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28696679,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Divergent Rhodium-Catalyzed Cyclization Reactions of Enoldiazoacetamides with Nitrosoarenes.\nThe first cyclization reactions of enoldiazo compounds with nitrosoarenes have been developed. Under the catalysis of rhodium(II) octanoate, [3 + 2]-cyclization between enoldiazoacetamides and nitrosoarenes occurred through cleavages of the enol double bond and the amide bond, thus furnishing fully substituted 5-isoxazolone derivatives. Upon changing the catalyst to rhodium(II) caprolactamate, the reaction pathway switched to an unprecedented formal [5 + 1]-cyclization that provided multifunctionalized 1,3-oxazin-4-ones with near exclusivity under otherwise identical conditions. Mechanistic studies uncovered distinct catalytic activities and reaction intermediates, which plausibly rationalized the novel reactivity and catalyst-controlled chemodivergence. Furthermore, a mechanism-inspired enantioselective rhodium-catalyzed reaction of \u03b3-substituted enoldiazoacetamide with nitrosobenzene produced highly enantioenriched heterocycle-linked trialkylamine.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29363983,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Redox-Neutral \u03b1-C-H Functionalization of Pyrrolidin-3-ol.\nA redox-neutral \u03b1-C-H oxygenation of commercially available pyrrolidin-3-ol with a monoprotected p-quinone generated an N-aryliminium ion intermediate, which reacted in situ with boronic acid nucleophiles to produce a series of cis-2-substituted pyrrolidin-3-ols. With this strategy, 8-epi-(-)-lentiginosine was synthesized from (3R,4R)-pyrrolidine-3,4-diol in three steps.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17006613,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A systematic review of the efficacy of cesarean section in the preservation of anal continence.\nElective primary cesarean section is performed largely to avoid maternal pelvic trauma that may result in anal incontinence, although its efficacy in this regard has not been thoroughly assessed. We perform a systematic review of published reports that compare anal incontinence risk by mode of delivery. PubMed was searched from 1966 through August 2005. Authors were contacted for missing data or analyses. Both randomized and nonrandomized reports were included. Eligible studies included females having vaginal delivery or cesarean section, fecal and\/or flatal incontinence was reported as an outcome, and risk was calculable from the reported data. Crude data were extracted from the reports, as well as reported odds ratios and confidence intervals. In the nonrandomized studies, adjusted odds ratios also were extracted and additional data obtained from authors to adjust risks for age and parity if not originally done. Sensitivity analyses were performed using quality indicators: age and parity adjustment, time to continence assessment, and mode of previous delivery. Fifteen studies were found eligible, encompassing 3,010 cesarean sections and 11,440 vaginal deliveries. The summary relative risk for fecal incontinence was 0.91 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.74-1.14). For flatus the relative risk was 0.98 (range, 0.86-1.13). The number needed to treat by cesarean section was 167 to prevent a single case of fecal incontinence. Five studies were judged to be of high quality. In these studies, the summary relative risk was 0.94 (range, 0.72-1.22) and number needed to treat was 198. The best evidence to assess the efficacy of cesarean section in the prevention of anal incontinence would be in randomized trials of average-risk pregnancies with few crossovers. In the absence of such trials and based on this review, cesarean section does not prevent anal incontinence. This implies that incontinence associated with delivery may be more likely incontinence caused by pregnancy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1687388,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dental trauma in children: a survey.\nThe purpose of this investigation was to determine the type and prevalence of injuries presenting to the pediatric dental service of the Child Nat Med Ctr. During the 12 months survey, 227 patients presented. This patient group consisted of 159 males (M) and 68 females (F) (2.34 M to 1.0 F); 96 (62 M, 34 F) were less than 5 y age; 85 (64 M, 21 F) were 5 to 12 y age; 46 (33 M, 13 F) were greater than or equal to 13 y age. The leading cause of injury was falls (105\/227; 46%). Approx 50% (115\/227) of the injuries occurred between May and September; 132 children sustained soft tissue injury (88 intraoral; 20 extraoral; 24 intra and extraoral); 61 permanent teeth were fractured in 44 children; 36 primary teeth were fractured in 31; 133 permanent teeth in 63 and 148 primary teeth in 79 patients sustained a displacement type of injury; 13 presented with an alveolar fracture. These observations extend earlier information regarding the epidemiology of dental injuries in childhood.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17176571,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"West Nile virus isolation from equines in Argentina, 2006.\nWest Nile virus (WNV) was isolated from the brains of 3 horses that died from encephalitis in February 2006. The horses were from different farms in central Argentina and had not traveled outside the country. This is the first isolation of WNV in South America.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32367880,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Comparison of the efficacy of kinesiotaping and extracorporeal shock wave therapy in patients with newly diagnosed lateral epicondylitis: A prospective randomized trial.\nThis study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of kinesiotaping (KT) and Extracorporeal Shock Wave therapy (ESWT) for patients with acute\/subacute (complaints exist <3 months) lateral epicondylitis(LE) in terms of pain control, hand grip strength, and functionality. In total, 40 patients with newly diagnosed LE (27 females and 13 males with a mean age of 42.6 \u00b1 8.4 years) were randomly allocated to receive a 3-week treatment of either KT for 5 days a week (n = 20) or ESWT once a week (n = 20). Patients were evaluated by the visual analog scale (VAS), hand grip strength (HGS), Roles and Maudsley scale (RMS), and quick DASHat baseline, after 4 weeks, and after 8 weeks of the treatment. Both KT and ESWT could achieve significant improvements in VAS, HGS, RMS, and Q-Dash after 4 and 8 weeks of treatment. However, these improvements were more prominent in the KT group compared with ESWT after 4 and 8 weeks. KT group achieved lower VAS scores, higher HGS, lower RMS compared with ESWT (all P < 0.05). Both KT and ESWT could significantly improve pain, hand strength, and functionality in patients with newly diagnosed LE. However, these improvements were more prominent in the KT group. Considering the feasibility and the low cost of KT compared with ESWT, we recommend that KT should be considered for treating patients with newly diagnosed LE.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16233268,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Isolation and characterization of the solvent-tolerant Bacillus cereus strain R1.\nToluene-tolerant gram-positive bacteria were isolated and identified to belong to the genus Bacillus. They grew in a medium containing yeast extract and in the presence of a separate phase of toluene or other hydrocarbons, but not when aliphatic alcohols were present. The isolate Bacillus cereus R1 did not metabolise or transform toluene. Toluene accumulation in its cells was rapid, unless the organism was supplied with glucose as energy source. In bacteria adapted to toluene, the amount of toluene accumulating in cells was one-half that in nonadapted bacteria. Valinomycin (K+ ionophore) and o-vanadate (ATPase inhibitor) as inhibitors of energy metabolism partly counteracted the effect of glucose as energy source. These results suggest the presence of an efflux mechanism for toluene in strain R1. The nature of this mechanism and its function in a solvent-tolerant gram-positive strain are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7938224,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The new cell physiology: an outline, presented against its full historical background, beginning from the beginning.\nThe primary objective of this review is to present a brief outline of the new cell physiology. First introduced in 1962 under the title of the association-induction hypothesis, the theory is now confirmed in its essence, after more than thirty years of world-wide experimental testing. While minor, and even more than minor, improvements and revisions may yet be needed, the weight and scope of the confirmatory evidence have left little doubt that a comprehensive and coherent new theory of cell physiology is established. For the first time in history we have available a realistic cell physiology, awaiting to unite and to guide future biomedical research and teaching. The review also demonstrates in passing how, as well as why, the old cell physiology has fizzled so miserably. Instead of providing the guiding light for all biomedical research it has degenerated into a fairy tale of make-believe. This degradation began with a wrong theory. The situation has grown steadily worse with time by the impact of premature progressive fragmentation on something inherently indivisible; and by the universal adoption of the peer-review system which gives to those with strong vested interests in the preservation of the status quo absolute power in determining who prospers and who is cast out (see Endnote 9). It is thus hardly surprising that up to now, despite superlative chemical engineering know-how available and the lure of great financial awards, not a single drug has been designed from understanding, an understanding that will remain forever beyond reach as long as the guiding theory of the cell physiology is basically wrong. In contrast, in its brief history, and despite its minuscule list of subscribers and their endless debilitating struggle merely to stay alive (see Endnote 9), the new cell physiology has already generated one mankind-enhancing medical technology of major proportions, magnetic resonance imaging or MRI (see Ling, 1984, p. vii; 1992, p. xxv). To this day, most biomedical research scientists, teachers as well as students, still operate under the delusion that the old cell physiology, a little battered perhaps, is still basically sound. By far the greatest majority of them simply do not know enough; and it is hard for them to find a convenient source of relevant information that will help in this regard. A second purpose of the present review is to fill this need. To a few \"true believers\" of the old cell physiology the preservation of the status quo is of overriding importance.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36933594,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Study on the preparation and biological activities of low molecular weight squid ink polysaccharide from Sepiella maindroni.\nSepiella maindroni ink polysaccharide (SIP) from the ink of cuttlefish Sepiella maindroni and its sulfated derivative (SIP-SII) have been demonstrated to possess diverse biological activities. But little is known about low molecular weight squid ink polysaccharides (LMWSIPs). In this study, LMWSIPs were prepared by acidolysis, and the fragments with molecular weight (Mw) distribution in the ranges of 7 kDa to 9 kDa, 5 kDa to 7 kDa and 3 kDa to 5 kDa were grouped and named as LMWSIP-1, LMWSIP-2 and LMWSIP-3, respectively. The structural features of LMWSIPs were elucidated, and their anti-tumor, antioxidant and immunomodulatory activities were also studied. The results showed that with the exception of LMWSIP-3, the main structures of LMWSIP-1 and LMWSIP-2 did not change compared with SIP. Though there were no significant differences in the antioxidant capacity between LMWSIPs and SIP, the anti-tumor and immunomodulatory activities of SIP were enhanced to a certain extent after degradation. It is particularly noteworthy that the activities of LMWSIP-2 in anti-proliferation, promoting apoptosis and inhibiting migration of tumor cells as well as promoting the proliferation of spleen lymphocytes were significantly higher than those of SIP and the other degradation products, which is promising in the anti-tumor pharmaceutical field.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36259096,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Right ventricular outflow tract landing zone perimeter \/ circularised diameter - new imaging standards in pulmonary valve replacement reporting.\nRight ventricular outflow tract intervention spans transcatheter, surgical, or hybrid pulmonary valve replacement methodologies. Standardised pre-procedure workup includes cardiac MRI to identify an intended valve site (landing zone). Our institutional practice includes measurement of the right ventricular outflow tract perimeter (circumference) of this site in end-systole. Our primary aim was to compare patients by their perimeter values to the palliative interventions performed (transcatheter versus surgical\/hybrid methodologies). Retrospective review of patients undergoing pulmonary valve replacement from January 2017 to 2021. We performed perimeter measurements at the intended valve site on advanced imaging; the outcomes of interventions were outlined via descriptive and statistical analyses. A total of 37 patients underwent pulmonary valve replacement that met study criteria - 21 transcatheter, 7 surgical, and 9 hybrid. Median age at intervention was 26 years (range 8-70). The mean end-systolic perimeter of the transcatheter cohort was 88.9 \u00b1 8.7 mm and in the surgical\/hybrid cohort measured 106.6 \u00b1 7.5 mm. For the transcatheter cohort, the median \"circularised\" diameter derived from the perimeter measurement (divided by \u03c0) was 27.7 mm (range 24.3-32.4). Notably, this correlated (r = 0.93, p < 0.01) with the median diameter of the narrowest region during actual transcatheter right ventricular outflow tract balloon sizing (lateral imaging) of 27.1 mm (range 23.2-30.1). Right ventricular outflow tract perimeter measurement to determine circularised diameter is useful in planning pulmonary valve replacement in terms of candidacy of transcatheter versus the need for a surgical\/hybrid approach. The circularised diameter correlates with transcatheter right ventricular outflow tract balloon sizing.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25302334,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Security enhanced EMV-based mobile payment protocol.\nNear field communication has enabled customers to put their credit cards into a smartphone and use the phone for credit card transaction. But EMV contactless payment allows unauthorized readers to access credit cards. Besides, in offline transaction, a merchant's reader cannot verify whether a card has been revoked. Therefore, we propose an EMV-compatible payment protocol to mitigate the transaction risk. And our modifications to the EMV standard are transparent to merchants and users. We also encrypt the communications between a card and a reader to prevent eavesdropping on sensitive data. The protocol is able to resist impersonation attacks and to avoid the security threats in EMV. In offline transactions, our scheme requires a user to apply for a temporary offline certificate in advance. With the certificate, banks no longer need to lower customer's credits for risk control, and users can have online-equivalent credits in offline transactions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21137664,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evaluation of serological tests using A60 antigen for diagnosis of tuberculosis.\nIdentification of acid-fast bacilli (AFB) in sputum or tissue samples is among definite diagnostic methods of tuberculosis. However, this method of diagnosis is restricted by certain limitations. Serologic diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) has been used for a long time. The aim of this study was to determine the sensitivity and, specificity of Antigen 60 (A60) IgG, IgA, IgM test results in TB diagnosis. Mycobacterial A60-based ELISA was used to measure specific IgA, IgM and IgG antibodies in the sera of 127 adult TB patients (consisted of 74 pulmonary and 53 extra-pulmonary cases), and 95 controls (46 healthy volunteers and 49 patients with various acute or chronic diseases other than tuberculosis). Data from A60 IgG-based ELISA, chest radiography, AFB culture and pathologic evaluation for AFB were obtained .The cutoff value of A60 IgG, IgA and IgM were chosen according to a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. The sensitivity, specificity and positive likelihood ratio were determined. The mean levels of IgG, IgA and IgM were significantly higher in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis when compared with control groups. Sensitivity of IgG test was 54.3 %, while the specificity was 84.2%. The IgA test showed a sensitivity of 70.1% with a specificity of 80 %. Combination of the IgG and IgA tests showed a total sensitivity of 45.7 % and a specificity of 94.7% and the positive likelihood ratio of 8.62. Chosen cutoff values of IgG, IgA, and IgM sets were 285,265 and 0.9 ELISA units respectively. Our study results showed a good specificity (94.7%) and a reasonable positive likelihood ratio (8.62) of the test when combined IgA and IgG with new cutoff points were considered on diagnosis of tuberculosis in adult patients. Combined use of both IgG and IgA tests results allows an increased accuracy in diagnostic of tuberculosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18580986,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Selenoether macrocyclic chemistry--syntheses and properties of new potentially tridentate and hexadentate Se\/O-donor macrocycles.\nTreatment of O(CH2CH2SeCN)2 with Na in NH3(l), followed by dropwise addition of a thf solution of o-C6H4(CH2Br)2 at -40 degrees C leads to formation of three mixed Se\/O-donor macrocycles which are separable by column chromatography, the [1 + 1] species L1, the [2 + 2] ring L2 and the [3 + 3] ring L3, of which L2 is by far the major species. Using the same starting materials, but in a high dilution cyclisation at room temperature with NaBH4 in thf\/EtOH gives exclusively the [1 + 1] ring, L1. The saturated ring Se\/O-donor macrocycles, L4 and L5 are obtained by simultaneous dropwise addition of solutions of O(CH2CH2SeCN)2 and Br(CH2)3Br to NaBH4 suspended in thf\/EtOH. The small tridentate Se2O-donor ring, L4, is again the dominant product under these conditions (71%), although the more flexible precursors in this reaction also give rise to the larger Se4O2-donor ring, L5, as a by-product in 8% yield. These compounds are readily separated and purified by column chromatography (ethyl acetate:hexane, 1:19). The new macrocycles have been characterised by 1H, (13)C{1H} and (77)Se{1H} NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry, together with crystal structures of L1 and L2. Complexes of L1 and L2 with late transition metals (Pd(II), Pt(II), Cu(I) and Ag(I)) are also described.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20380574,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Association of selected variants in genes involved in cell cycle and apoptosis with bladder cancer risk in North Indian population.\nPerturbations in the cell cycle and apoptotic genes have been implicated in human malignancies. Cell cycle (MDM2 and Cyclin D1) and apoptotic (Fas) genes that are differentially expressed in urinary bladder cancer (UBC) were investigated with the susceptibility to UBC in northern India. A total of 212 UBC patients and age- and sex-matched 250 controls were investigated for MDM2 G309T, Cyclin D1 G870A, and Fas A670G polymorphisms by polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism. MDM2 309GG was at reduced risk for developing UBC when compared with TT genotype (p = 0.027; odds ratio, 0.55). GG genotype was also associated with reduced risk in nonmuscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) and muscle invasive BC (p = 0.006 and p = 0.049). Cyclin D1 AA genotype was associated with high risk in NMIBC (intermediate risk) stage (p = 0.015; odds ratio, 4.55). MDM2-Cyclin D1 interaction revealed overall protective effect. The GG genotype of MDM2 also showed a protective effect and high recurrence-free survival in Bacillus Calmette-Guerin-treated NMIBC patients (log rank p = 0.008). MDM2 GG genotype had protective effect and MDM2T309G polymorphism had profound influence in Bacillus Calmette-Guerin-treated UBC patients in the North Indian population.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28730132,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Investigation of Efficacy of Lidocaine Spray for Sedated Esophagogastroduodenoscopy in Children.\nOur aim in this study is to investigate efficacy of topical lidocaine spray for sedated esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) in children. The endoscopy of children aged between 3-18 years who underwent EGD in our endoscopy unit. Intravenous (IV) midazolam and ketamine were used for sedation. Prior to sedation, endoscopy nurse applied topical lidocaine 10% with pump spray at 1 mg\/kg dose in group 1, and distilled water via identically scaled pump spray in group 2, in a double blinded fashion. Sedation was not applied in 24.1% of the cases in topical lidocaine spray group (LS group) and in 5.7% of the cases in distilled water spray group (DS group). Gag reflex was observed in 6.5% of cases in LS group and 33.3% of cases in DS group (p=0.024), increased oral secretion was observed in 9.3% of cases in LS group and 51.7% of cases in DS group (p=0.038), sore throat was observed in 3.7% of cases in LS group and 35.6% of cases in DS group (p=0.019) and the difference was statistically significant. The study showed that topical pharyngeal lidocaine reduces both requirement and amount of IV sedation before EGD in children and sore throat, gag reflex and decreased oral secretion increase.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20380446,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Green analyzer for the measurement of total arsenic in drinking water: electrochemical reduction of arsenate to arsine and gas phase chemiluminescence with ozone.\nWe describe matrix-isolated, reaction chemistry based measurement of arsenic in water down to submicrograms per liter levels in a system that requires only air, water, electricity, and dilute sulfuric acid, the bulk of the latter being recycled. Gas phase chemiluminescence (GPCL) measurement of arsenic is made in an automated batch system with arsenic in situ electroreduced to arsine that is reacted with ozone to emit light. The ozone is generated from oxygen that is simultaneously anodically produced. Of 22 different electrode materials studied, graphite was chosen as the cathode. As(V) is reduced much less efficiently to AsH(3) than As(III). Prereducing all As to As(III) is difficult in the field and tedious. Oxidizing all As to As(V) is simple (e.g., with NaOCl) but greatly reduces subsequent conversion to AsH(3) and hence sensitivity. The rate of the AsH(3)-O(3) GPCL reaction and hence signal intensity increases with [O(3)]. Using oxygen to feed the ozonizer produces higher [O(3)] and substantial signal enhancement. This makes it practical to measure all arsenic as As(V). The system exhibits an LOD (S\/N = 3) for total arsenic as As(V) of 0.36 microg\/L (5 mL sample). Comparison of total As results in native and spiked water samples with those from inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS) and other techniques show high correlation (r(2) = 0.9999) and near unity slopes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28287361,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Believing Jeny About Her Pain.\nA 19-year-old woman with cancer and excruciating pain was not easily responding to morphine. Some of the staff suspected that this pain was not physical, that it was all emotional. But when the palliative care team believed the young woman's report of her pain, they were able to arrive at the right combination of medicines to treat her pain, and to relieve her intolerable suffering.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30652832,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Gene editing].\nDevelopment of the gene engineering techniques has raised worries that they will be used for construction of organism endangering humans and environment. In 1975 at the Asilomar conference, geneticists from many countries decided that genetic engineering brings more benefits than threats. In last years a new CRISPR-Cas technique emerged . It allows to make the precise changes in genomes, e.g. to inactivate particular genes or to replace mutated genes by their wild-type alleles. Inactivation in mice of genes corresponding to those whose mutations cause the genetic diseases in man allows to get model organisms for studying the etiology of given disease and for working out the methods of its curing. This technique can be applied for repairing genes whose mutations result in metabolic diseases and cancer. Some voices were raised that the technique can be potentially used for the \"improvement\" of man, what would create many ethical and social problems. Geneticists, ethicists and lawyers gathered in 2015 at the Washington conference, discussed these problems and proposed rules for their solving.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30674297,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Spanish validation endorsement of SDM-Q-9, a new approach.\nThe Shared Decision Making (SDM) model allows the patient to be part of their own disease treatment and control. The translation to Spanish of a questionnaire that measures the patient perception of SDM will allow enlarging the range of its application. However, the essence of the questionnaire can be altered during its translation, which could curb the appreciation of the question and what the question originally asked for. The objective of this study is to evaluate the application of SDM-Q-9 in its psychometric properties, to a Spanish speaking population after its translation process. The questionnaire was given to 76 outpatients who attended a medical control at the hospital. The informed consent process was developed before the patient underwent the physician's evaluation, and the SDM-Q-9 was applied when the patient finished the medical evaluation. The reliability of the questionnaire was evaluated and its structural validity was verified by the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The SDM-Q-9 presented reliability and validity according to the following indicators. The internal consistency, measured by Cronbach's alpha, was 0.839 for the whole scale. The EFA showed a bi-dimensional solution, but the CFA indicated that the model with best indices of fit was the one-dimensional solution, excluding the first item. The indices used where: CFI 0.953, RMSEA (IC) 0.076 (0.000-0.134) for model 2, and CFI 0.961, RMSEA 0.071 (0.000-0.132) for model 5 are better. The questionnaire adaptation to the Latin American Spanish language has displayed reliability and validity according to the Cronbach's alpha indicators.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":280712,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of intestinal microflora on 2,2'-dimethyl-4-aminobiphenyl-induced carcinogenesis in F344 rats.\nThe effect of intestinal microflora on colon and breast carcinogenesis induced by 3,2'-dimethyl-4-aminobiphenyl (DMAB) was studied with the use of germfree and conventional F344 rats of both sexes. At 7 weeks of age, all animals except controls were given 20 weekly sc injections of DMAB in corn oil (100 mg\/kg body wt\/wk). Male animals were autopsied 15 weeks after the last injection, whereas female animals were autopsied 10 weeks after the last injection. Tumors were induced in the colons, duodena, breasts, ear ducts, salivary glands, and skin of conventional rats, and in the colons, breasts, ear ducts, salivary glands, and skin of germfree rats. No consistent difference was found in the incidence of tumors in the ear ducts, salivary glands, and skin between the germfree and conventional rats. None of the germfree rats showed duodenal tumors, whereas 13% of the female and 53% of the male conventional rats developed duodenal tumors. The incidence of intestinal tumors was lower in the germfree rats than in conventional animals. The mammary tumor incidence was lower in germfree female rats than in the conventional female rats than in the conventional females. DMAB induced fewer intestinal and breast tumors in germfree rats than in conventional rats.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9549831,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Paraparesis associated with mild congenital kyphoscoliosis in an adult.\nA 48-year-old man suffering from paraparesis had congenital kyphoscoliosis due to fused wedged vertebrae between T2 and T4. The kyphoscoliosis consisted of left convex scoliosis measuring 26 degrees and kyphosis measuring 27 degrees. On CT-myelograms and axial MR images, the dura and spinal cord were deviated anterolaterally to the concave side of the curve around its apex. The spinal cord was stuck and flattened against the posterolateral margin of the vertebral body to the base of the pedicle with the posterior subarachnoid space preserved. Anterior decompression from the concave side through a transthoracic approach resulted in a remarkable neurological improvement. The paraparesis may have been caused by compression of the spinal cord through a tethering effect due to its developmental tightness around the apical vertebra and the additional tension created by motions of the neck.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":949638,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Presumed glial retinal hamartomas in Usher's syndrome.\nThe presence of glial hamartomas of the retina and the optic disc in retinitis pigmentosa is discussed. This association is described in a 26 year old white male with Usher's syndrome who had at the posterior pole of each eye a mass which closely resembled the mulberry-like lesions of tuberose sclerosis. Several fine blood vessels were seen on the surface of these masses. The significance of the association of these presumed hamartomas with retinitis pigmentosa is not clear. They might be the result of a focal reactive hyperplasia of the glial cells of the retina.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23452284,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Overweight and obesity: a review of their relationship to metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, and cancer in South America.\nSocioeconomic and demographic transformations are occurring very rapidly in some areas of the world, especially in South America, and are accompanied by changes in lifestyle, dietary patterns, and the epidemiological profile of prevalent diseases. This review examines whether obesity and overweight are related to metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, and cancer in South America. Research carried out in more than 6,000 cases and controls was evaluated, along with most of the available publications related to South America. In South America, obesity and risk factors for cardiovascular disease are related mainly to aging, ethnicity effects, and preventable risky lifestyle conditions. Most of the studies that found an association between cancer and obesity are from the Southern Cone, the geographic area most affected by this pathology. Overall, the prevalence of metabolic syndrome was highest in Chile, followed in decreasing order by Colombia, Peru, Argentina, and Ecuador, with differences noted between urban and rural areas or between urban and periurban areas. Obesity and cancer may be preventable, at least in part, by healthy behavior; hence, exercise, weight control, and healthy dietary habits are important to reduce the risk of these major chronic diseases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6162231,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A \"new\" primed lymphocyte typing (PLT) defined DP-antigen associated with a private HLA--DR antigen.\nWe have recently described a \"new\" private HLA-DR antigen, DR\"LTM\", which has a frequency of approximately 0.6% in Danes. Primed Lymphocyte Typing (PLT) cells directed towards DR\"LTM\"-associated determinants were generated in vitro by haplotype primings in two unrelated families with DR\"LTM\" positive individuals. Both PLT-cells reacted in parallel and gave positive reactions with (i) two unrelated and (ii) eight related individuals, all of whom were DR\"LTM\"-positive. Both PLT-cells gave negative reactions with (i) 38 unrelated and (ii) 15 related DR\"LTM\"-negative individuals. Thus, there was total agreement between the results obtained by HLA-DR typing with the antiserum \"LTM\" and by PLT-typing with these two haplotype primed PLT-cells. None of the DP\"LTM\"-positive individuals carried more than one of the antigens HLA-Dw\/-DRw\/DP1-8 and the local specificity D\/DP\"H\". Accordingly, this \"new\" PLT-defined antigen, DP\"LTM\", most probably belongs to the series of HLA-D\/DR-associated DP-antigens previously described.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17893760,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evolution of the antimicrobial resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in Spain: second national study (2003).\nThe second national prevalence study of Pseudomonas aeruginosa has been carried out in Spain. A total of 1250 clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa were collected from 127 hospitals in 1 week in 2003 and the resistance data gathered from the isolates was compared with those of the first study in 1998 (1014 isolates from 136 hospitals). Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed in both studies in the same laboratory. The most active antimicrobials were piperacillin, piperacillin-tazobactam, and amikacin (< or =10% resistant) and resistance to these antimicrobials did not change over the time. The least active were ofloxacin and gentamicin (> or =30% resistant). From 1998 to 2003, resistance increased significantly to ciprofloxacin (23% vs. 28%, respectively, p=0.015); ofloxacin (30% vs. 37%, p=0.002); imipenem (14% vs. 18%, p=0.017) and meropenem (8% vs. 13%, p <0.001). Resistance to aztreonam (23%), ceftazidime (16%), cefepime (20%), ticarcillin (13%) and tobramycin (11%) remained stable. Isolates from inpatients were significantly more resistant than those from outpatients to all antimicrobials, with the exception of fluoroquinolones and aminoglycosides (p <0.01). Isolates from outpatients were significantly more resistant to these two groups (p <0.05) than to other antimicrobials. In Spain, from 1998 to 2003, the susceptibility pattern of P. aeruginosa to antimicrobial agents has changed. Isolates have become significantly more resistant to fluoroquinolones and carbapenems. However, resistance to beta-lactams and aminoglycosides remains stable.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16223030,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[The interrelation of chemical structure and inhibiting action of the stericly hindered phenols of ichfan groups].\nInhibitory action of spatially hindered phenol antioxidants (AO) of ICHFAN groups, phenosan derivatives, containing ethanolamine, substituted by N- alkyl substituents R3 containing various carbon chains (from C2 to C 16) was investigated using two models, initiated oxidation of the homogenous methyl oleate (MO) solution in chlorbenzene, and a water-emulsive medium containing sodium dodecyl sulphate. ICHFANs act via two mechanisms: they react with peroxide radicals with the reaction rate constant of k7 = (0.59-1.06) x 10(4) (Mxc)(-1) and destroy hydroperoxides with formation of molecular products. The action of ICHFANs substantially depends on their chemical structure and oxidation conditions. In the lipidic solution, the ICHFANs effectively reduce MO oxidation; in comparable concentrations they exceed the action of the alpha-tocopherol, dibunol, phenosan K and its ether. The most effective AO is ICHFAN-10, which has the shortest substituent R3 (CH3). Elongation of R3 significantly reduced antioxidant activity. Behavior of the oxidation kinetics may be attributed to formation of micro-heterogeneous systems, with the participation of AO, in which OH phenol groups are oriented towards the nuclear of the micelle, limiting the possibility for their interaction with RO2* radicals. In the ICHFAN group, with the length of the R3 chain from C8H17 to C16H33, the periods of inhibition are increased proportionally to R3. The is explained by the insertion of such AO in the bilayer with internal orientation within hydrophobic radicals R3, and exposure of phenol OH groups to the external and internal micelle surfaces allowing them to destroy effectively RO2* radicals. During the oxidation in the water-emulsive medium, the inhibiting action of the corresponding ICHFAN is lower than in the homogenous solution, at that, the difference in the effectiveness of AO with different structures is reduced. This phenomenon is determined by the formation and stabilization with the presence of PAF micelles, in which the active OH-groups are located inside supramolecular structure.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6929002,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Time-dependent changes in drug sensitivity expressed by mammalian cells after exposure to trypsin.\nImmediately after a 5-minute exposure to 0.025% trypsin, Chinese hamster ovary cells treated with anticancer drugs exhibited changes in drug sensitivity. Depending on the drug, cells immediately became more sensitive, less sensitive, or showed no change in sensitivity at all. The deviation from normally expected survival values ranged from fourfold to fifty-fold and varied with time (of drug treatment) after trypsinization. By the 12th hour post trypsinization, the drug survival responses had returned to values obtained with untrypsinized cells.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7922668,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dynamic pay strategies for the changing health care environment.\nIn the rush to adapt to the rapidly shifting health care environment, organizations have spent thousands of hours and dollars changing structures, processes, and jobs. Largely overlooked have been compensation strategies, which if used effectively are critical drivers of the change process. This article details the following issues: the evolution of new health care work cultures and the need for compensation strategies that are aligned with these new cultures; dynamic reward and recognition strategies, including team- and competency-based pay, and their application in the health care environment; and the changing role of the nurse manager in developing, implementing, and administering dynamic reward programs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37466053,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of Atomic Layer Coating on the Stability of Solid Myoglobin Formulations.\nThe effects of atomic layer (ALC) coating on physical properties and storage stability were examined in solid powders containing myoglobin, a model protein. Powders containing myoglobin and mannitol (1:1 w\/w) were prepared by lyophilization or spray drying and subjected to aluminum oxide or silicon oxide ALC coating. Uncoated samples of these powders as well as coated and uncoated samples of myoglobin as received served as controls. After preparation (t0), samples were analyzed for moisture content, reconstitution time, myoglobin secondary structure, crystallinity, and protein aggregate content. Samples were stored for 3 months (t3) under controlled conditions (53% RH, 40 \u00b0C) in both open and closed vials and then analyzed as above. At t3, the recovery of soluble native (i.e., monomeric) protein depended on formulation, coating type, and drying method and was up to 2-fold greater in coated samples than in uncoated controls. Promisingly, some samples with high recovery also showed low soluble aggregate content (<10%) at t3 and low total monomer loss; the latter was correlated to sample moisture content. Overall, the results demonstrate that ALC coatings can stabilize solid protein formulations during storage, providing benefits over uncoated controls.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34402605,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mechanochemistry for Energy Materials: Impact of High-Energy Milling on Chemical, Electric and Thermal Transport Properties of Chalcopyrite CuFeS2 Nanoparticles.\nChalcopyrite CuFeS2 , a semiconductor with applications in chemical sector and energy conversion engineering, was synthetized in a planetary mill from elemental precursors. The synthesis is environmentally friendly, waste-free and inexpensive. The synthesized nano-powders were characterized by XRD, SEM, EDX, BET and UV\/Vis techniques, tests of chemical reactivity and, namely, thermoelectric performance of sintered ceramics followed. The crystallite size of \u223c13 nm and the strain of \u223c17 were calculated for CuFeS2 powders milled for 60, 120, 180 and 240 min, respectively. The evolution of characteristic band gaps, Eg, and the rate constant of leaching, k, of nano-powders are corroborated by the universal evolution of the parameter SBET \/X (SBET -specific surface area, X-crystallinity) introduced for complex characterization of mechanochemically activated solids in various fields such as chemical engineering and\/or energy conversion. The focus on non-doped semiconducting CuFeS2 enabled to assess the role of impurities, which critically and often negatively influence the thermoelectric properties.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29552843,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Molecular imprinting technology and its application in terpenoids].\nMolecular imprinting technology is widely used in the separation and analysis of compounds such as flavonoids, alkaloids and polyphenols, due to its high selectivity and specific recognition and so on. However, no much of attention has been paid to the terpenoids. This paper is aimed to not only review the effects of common synthetic elements such as functional monomers, cross-linking agents and porogens on the polymer properties, but also highlight the application of terpene molecular imprinting in solid phase extraction, sensor, membrane separation and chromatographic separation by means of statistical analysis of literature. Furthermore, the shortcomings and improvement directions are discussed.We believed that this paper could provide references for better applications of molecular imprinting techniques to the analysis of terpenoid compounds.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37859231,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Integrated photonic reservoir computing with an all-optical readout.\nIntegrated photonic reservoir computing has been demonstrated to be able to tackle different problems because of its neural network nature. A key advantage of photonic reservoir computing over other neuromorphic paradigms is its straightforward readout system, which facilitates both rapid training and robust, fabrication variation-insensitive photonic integrated hardware implementation for real-time processing. We present our recent development of a fully-optical, coherent photonic reservoir chip integrated with an optical readout system, capitalizing on these benefits. Alongside the integrated system, we also demonstrate a weight update strategy that is suitable for the integrated optical readout hardware. Using this online training scheme, we successfully solved 3-bit header recognition and delayed XOR tasks at 20 Gbps in real-time, all within the optical domain without excess delays.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28686639,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Pain and pain mechanisms in patients with inflammatory arthritis: A Danish nationwide cross-sectional DANBIO registry survey.\nCentral pain mechanisms may be prominent in subsets of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and other spondyloarthritis (SpA). The painDETECT questionnaire (PDQ) identifies neuropathic pain features, which may act as a proxy for centrally mediated pain. The objectives were to quantify and characterize pain phenotypes (non-neuropathic vs. neuropathic features) among Danish arthritis patients using the PDQ, and to assess the association with on-going inflammation. The PDQ was included onto the DANBIO touch screens at 22 departments of Rheumatology in Denmark for six months. Clinical data and patient reported outcomes were obtained from DANBIO. A PDQ-score >18 indicated neuropathic pain features, 13-18 unclear pain mechanism and <13 non-neuropathic pain. Pain data (visual analogue scale, VAS) was available for 15,978 patients. 7,054 patients completed the PDQ (RA: 3,826, PsA: 1,180, SpA: 1,093). 52% of all patients and 63% of PDQ-completers had VAS pain score \u2265 30 mm. The distribution of the PDQ classification-groups (<13\/ 13-18\/ >18) were; RA: 56%\/24%\/20%. PsA: 45%\/ 27%\/ 28%. SpA: 55% \/ 24%\/ 21%. More patients with PsA had PDQ score >18 compared to RA and SpA (p<0.001). For PDQ > 18 significantly higher scores were found for all patient reported outcomes and disease activity scores. No clinical difference in CRP or swollen joint count was found. Logistic regression showed increased odds for having VAS pain \u226539 mm (the median) for a PDQ-score >18 compared to <13 (OR = 10.4; 95%CI 8.6-12.5). More than 50% of the Danish arthritis patients reported clinically significant pain. More than 20% of the PDQ-completers had indication of neuropathic pain features, which was related to a high pain-level. PDQ-score was associated with DAS28-CRP and VAS pain but not with indicators of peripheral inflammation (CRP and SJC). Thus, pain classification by PDQ may assist in mechanism-based pain treatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16212366,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Uranium(III)\/(IV) nitrile adducts including UI4(N[triple bond]CPh)4, a synthetically useful uranium(IV) complex.\nThe synthesis of complexes used to elucidate an understanding of fundamental An(III) and An(IV) coordination chemistry requires the development of suitable organic-soluble precursors. The reaction of oxide-free uranium metal turnings with 1.3 equivalents of elemental iodine in acetonitrile provided the U(III)\/U(IV) complex salt, [U(N[triple bond]CMe)9][UI6][I] (1), in which the U(III) cation is surrounded by nine acetonitrile molecules in a tricapped trigonal prismatic arrangement, a [UI6]2- counterion, and a noncoordinating iodide. The U-N distances for the prismatic and capping nitrogens are 2.55(3) and 2.71(5) A, respectively. The same reaction performed in benzonitrile afforded crystalline UI4(N[triple bond]CPh)4 (3) in 78% isolated yield. In the solid state, 3 shows an eight-coordinate U(IV) atom in a \"puckered\" square antiprismatic geometry with U-N and U-I distances of 2.56(1) and 3.027(1) A, respectively. This benzonitrile UI4 adduct is a versatile U(IV) synthon that is soluble in methylene chloride, benzonitrile, and tetrahydrofuran, and moderately soluble in toluene and benzene, but decomposes in benzonitrile at 198 degrees C to [UI(N[triple bond]CPh)8][UI]6 (4), a U(III)\/U(IV) salt analogous to 1. A toluene slurry of 3 treated with 2.2 equiv of Cp*MgCl.THF (Cp* = pentamethylcyclopentadienide) provided Cp*2UI2(N[triple bond]CPh) (5) in low yields. Single-crystal X-ray structure determination shows that the iodide ligands in 5 are in a rare cis configuration with an acute I-U-I angle of 83.16(7) degrees . Treatment of a methylene chloride solution of 3 with KTp* (Tp* = hydridotris(3,5-dimethylpyrazolylborate)) formed green TpUI3 (6) which was converted to yellow Tp*UI3(N[triple bond]CMe) (7) by rinsing with acetonitrile. Addition of 2.2 equiv of KTp* to a toluene solution of 3 followed by heating at 95 degrees C, filtration, and crystallization led to the isolation of the dinuclear species [Tp*UI(dmpz)]2[mu-O] (9) (dmpz = 3,5-dimethylpyrazolide), presumably formed by hydrolytic cleavage of excess KTp* by adventitious water. The Tp* complexes 6, 7, and 9 were characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, NMR, FT-IR, and optical absorbance spectroscopies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17914847,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"InCl3\/I2-catalyzed cross-coupling of alkyl trimethylsilyl ethers and allylsilanes via an in situ derived combined Lewis acid of InCl3 and Me3SiI.\nDirect Csp3-Csp3 coupling of various aliphatic trimethylsilyl ethers and allylsilanes is effectively catalyzed by InCl3 and I2. The transformation is thought to involve an in situ-derived combined Lewis acid of InCl3 and Me3SiI. The reaction can be used for the construction of quaternary-quaternary and quaternary-tertiary carbon-carbon bonds. This system enabled a highly chemoselective coupling to be conducted with a trimethylsilyl ether including an aryl halide moiety. Furthermore, couplings were possible using an alkynyltrimethylsilane and a trimethylsilyl ketene acetal.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28695037,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"NXP-2 Positive Dermatomyositis: A Unique Clinical Presentation.\nDermatomyositis (DM), a myopathy associated with inflammation and muscle weakness, has historically been difficult to diagnose. Recently, nuclear matrix protein (NXP-2) antibodies have been described as a myositis-specific antibody that may aid in the diagnostic evaluation. We present the case of a 21-year-old, previously healthy, African American male with DM. He presented to our outpatient clinic with periorbital swelling and a rash, for which he was started on prednisone by an ophthalmologist. Towards the end of the prednisone taper, he began to experience muscle weakness, a worsening rash, and dysphagia to solids with a resultant loss of 60 pounds within a month. He was transferred to a tertiary care hospital where he was further evaluated and ultimately diagnosed with dermatomyositis, supported by skin and muscle biopsies, and was found to be positive for NXP-2. He was given intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) and high-dose steroids with improvement.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7948405,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Inhibitory effect of enalapril on the constriction of the ductus arteriosus in newborn rats.\nCaesarean newborn rats were given subcutaneously enalapril maleate (EM), an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor, (1) immediately or (2) 180 min after delivery. The ductus arteriosus (DA) in these newborn pups was calibrated 30, 60 and 90 min after the EM-treatment. The results were as follows: (1) DA calibers of the pups given 10 or 50 mg\/kg EM just at caesarean delivery remained significantly larger than those of the controls thereafter until 90 min. (2) The DA was completely closed 180 min after caesarean delivery. However, with 50 mg\/kg EM given at this time, the DA was temporarily re-opened and then constricted. It is concluded that, in newborn rats, EM has the direct inhibitory action on the constriction of the DA, and that it also has the re-opening action on the once-constricted DA.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34237209,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Clinicopathologic Characteristics and Clinical Outcome of Localized Liposarcoma: A Single-Center Experience over 25 Years and Evaluation of PD-L1 Expression.\nFor liposarcoma (LPS), clinical course and proper treatment strategies have not been well-established. Recently, immune-checkpoint inhibitors have shown potential efficacy in LPS. We aimed to describe the clinical course of LPS and evaluate the clinical impact of programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1). We reviewed all consecutive patients (n=332) who underwent curative-intent surgery for localized LPS at Asan Medical Center between 1989 and 2017. PD-L1 testing was performed in well-differentiated and dedifferentiated LPS. The median age was 56 years with males comprising 60.8%. Abdomen-pelvis (47.6%) and well-differentiated (37.7%) were the most frequent primary site and histologic subtype, respectively. During a median follow-up of 81.2 months, recurrence was observed in 135 (40.7%), and 86.7% (117\/135) were loco-regional. Well-differentiated subtype (hazard ratio [HR], 0.38), abdomen-pelvis origin (HR, 2.43), tumor size larger than 5 cm (HR, 1.83), positive resection margin (HR, 2.58), and postoperative radiotherapy (HR, 0.36) were significantly related with recurrence-free survival as well as visceral involvement (HR, 1.84) and multifocality (HR, 3.79) in abdomen-pelvis LPS. PD-L1 was positive in 31.5% (23\/73) and 51.3% (39\/76) of well-differentiated and dedifferentiated LPS, respectively, but had no impact on survival outcomes. Clinical course of LPS was heterogeneous according to histology and anatomic location. Clear resection margin was important to lower recurrence and postoperative radiotherapy might have additional benefit. A decent portion of well-differentiated and dedifferentiated LPS were positive for PD-L1, but its prognostic role was unclear. Further research is needed to determine clinical implications of PD-L1, especially for advanced-stage LPS with unmet needs for effective systemic treatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28701793,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"The miR-29 transcriptome in endocrine-sensitive and resistant breast cancer cells.\nAberrant microRNA expression contributes to breast cancer progression and endocrine resistance. We reported that although tamoxifen stimulated miR-29b-1\/a transcription in tamoxifen (TAM)-resistant breast cancer cells, ectopic expression of miR-29b-1\/a did not drive TAM-resistance in MCF-7 breast cancer cells. However, miR-29b-1\/a overexpression significantly repressed TAM-resistant LCC9 cell proliferation, suggesting that miR-29b-1\/a is not mediating TAM resistance but acts as a tumor suppressor in TAM-resistant cells. The target genes mediating this tumor suppressor activity were unknown. Here, we identify miR-29b-1 and miR-29a target transcripts in both MCF-7 and LCC9 cells. We find that miR-29b-1 and miR-29a regulate common and unique transcripts in each cell line. The cell-specific and common downregulated genes were characterized using the MetaCore Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis algorithm. LCC9-sepecific miR-29b-1\/a-regulated GO processes include oxidative phosphorylation, ATP metabolism, and apoptosis. Extracellular flux analysis of cells transfected with anti- or pre- miR-29a confirmed that miR-29a inhibits mitochondrial bioenergetics in LCC9 cells. qPCR,luciferase reporter assays, and western blot also verified the ATP synthase subunit genes ATP5G1 and ATPIF1 as bone fide miR29b-1\/a targets. Our results suggest that miR-29 repression of TAM-resistant breast cancer cell proliferation is mediated in part through repression of genes important in mitochondrial bioenergetics.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37840882,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The genome sequence of the Lunar Hornet, Sesia bembeciformis (H\u00fcbner 1806).\nWe present a genome assembly from an individual male Sesia bembeciformis (the Lunar Hornet; Arthropoda; Insecta; Lepidoptera; Sesiidae). The genome sequence is 477.1 megabases in span. Most of the assembly is scaffolded into 31 chromosomal pseudomolecules, including the Z sex chromosome. The mitochondrial genome has also been assembled and is 16.1 kilobases in length. Gene annotation of this assembly on Ensembl has identified 15,843 protein coding genes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28260826,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-18":1}}},"text":"Hybrid Areal Interpolation of Census Counts from 2000 Blocks to 2010 Geographies.\nTo measure population changes in areas where census unit boundaries do not align across time, a common approach is to interpolate data from one census's units to another's. This article presents a broad assessment of areal interpolation models for estimating counts of 2000 characteristics in 2010 census units throughout the United States. We interpolate from 2000 census block data using 4 types of ancillary data to guide interpolation: 2010 block densities, imperviousness data, road buffers, and water body polygons. We test 8 binary dasymetric (BD) models and 8 target-density weighting (TDW) models, each using a unique combination of the 4 ancillary data types, and derive 2 hybrid models that blend the best-performing BD and TDW models. The most accurate model is a hybrid that generally gives high weight to TDW (allocating 2000 data in proportion to 2010 densities) but gives increasing weight to a BD model (allocating data uniformly within developed land near roads) in proportion to the estimated 2000-2010 rate of change within each block. Although for most 2010 census units, this hybrid model's estimates differ little from the simplest model's estimates, there are still many areas where the estimates differ considerably. Estimates from the final model, along with lower and upper bounds for each estimate, are publicly available for over 1,000 population and housing characteristics at 10 geographic levels via the National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS - http:\/\/nhgis.org).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19045110,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Molecular theory of hydrodynamic boundary conditions in nanofluidics.\nMotivated by the fundamental questions raised by the most recent experimental achievements in nanofluidics, we propose the first-ever derivation and calculation of the hydrodynamic slip length from the first principles of statistical mechanics, namely, a combination of linear response theory and equilibrium molecular theory of solvation. The slip length derived is related to the fluid organization near the solid surface, as governed by the solid-liquid interaction. In the wide range of shear rates and surface-liquid interactions, the slip length is expressed in terms of the Green-Kubo-Nakano relations as a function of the anisotropic inhomogeneous time-correlation function of density fluctuations of the liquid in contact with the surface. The time dependence of the correlation function is factored out by treating it in the hydrodynamic limit. The spatially inhomogeneous two-body correlation function is represented in the Kirkwood-type approximation as a product of the three-dimensional density distributions of interaction sites of the liquid near the surface and the site-site pair correlations of the bulk liquid. The presented treatment generalizes the phenomenological definition of the friction coefficient (as well as the slip length) to a tensor quantity, which reflects an anisotropic nature of an ordered crystalline or nanopatterned surface. This enables theoretical prediction of friction forces acting aslant to the liquid flow direction for such surfaces. We derive generic analytical expressions for the liquid-surface friction coefficient (and slip length) for an arbitrary surface-liquid interaction potential. We further illustrate it by numerical calculations for a laminar flow of nine different molecular liquids, including water, at ambient conditions in contact with the (100) face-centered cubic cell surface of gold, copper, and nickel modeled by using optimized potential for liquid simulation models for liquids and the Steele potential for crystalline surfaces. The obtained values for slip length range from few to hundreds of nanometers and microns and are consistent with experimental measurements.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23878990,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sensitivity of locally naturalized Panicum species to HPPD- and ALS-inhibiting herbicides in maize.\nUntil recently the Panicum species Panicum schinzii Hack. (Transvaal millet), Panicum dichotomiflorum Michx. (Fall panicum) and Panicum capillare L. (Witchgrass) were completely overlooked in Belgium. Since 1970, these species have gradually spread and are now locally naturalized and abundant in and along maize fields. One of the possible raisons for their expansion in maize fields might be a lower sensitivity to postemergence herbicides acting against panicoid grasses, in particular those inhibiting 4-hydroxyphenyl pyruvate dioxygenase (HPPD) and acetolactate synthase (ALS). A dose-response pot experiment was conducted in the greenhouse to evaluate the effectiveness of five HPPD-inhibiting herbicides (sulcotrione, mesotrione, isoxaflutole, topramezone, tembotrione) and two ALS-inhibiting herbicides (nicosulfuron, foramsulfuron) for controlling Belgian populations of P. schinzii, P. dichotomiflorum and P. capillare. Shortly after sowing, half of all pots were covered with a film of activated charcoal to evaluate foliar activity of the applied herbicides. In another dose-response pot experiment, sensitivity of five local P. dichotomiflorum populations to HPPD-inhibitors and nicosulfuron was investigated. Finally, the influence of leaf stage at time of herbicide application on efficacy of topramezone and nicosulfuron for Panicum control was evaluated. Large interspecific differences in sensitivity to HPPD-inhibiting herbicides were observed. Panicum schinzii was sensitive (i.e., required a dose lower than the maximum authorized field dose to achieve 90% reduction in biomass) to tembotrione but moderately sensitive (i.e. required maximum field dose) to topramezone and poorly sensitive (i.e. required three-fold higher dose than maximum field dose) to mesotrione and sulcotrione. However, P. dichotomiflorum, a species that morphologically closely resembles P. schinzii, was sensitive to mesotrione and topramezone but moderately sensitive to tembotrione. All Panicum species were sensitive to low doses of nicosulfuron and foramsulfuron. The relative contribution from soil activity to weed control resulting from postemergence applications was important for isoxaflutole, sulcotrione, tembotrione and mesotrione but not for topramezone, nicosulfuron and foramsulfuron. Naturalized Panicum dichotomiflorum populations exhibited differential herbicide sensitivity profiles. Panicum schinzii, P. capillare and P.dichotomiflorum showed a progressive decrease in sensitivity to topramezone and nicosulfuron during seedling development. A satisfactory postemergence control of Panicum species in the field will require appropriate choice of herbicide and dose, as well as a more timely application (i.e. before weeds reach the four leaves stage).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25528326,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Diet-Related Colorectal Cancer Prevention Beliefs and Dietary Intakes in an Urban Minority Population.\nIn the United States, colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third leading cause of cancer-related death and third most commonly diagnosed cancer among adults. This study is the first to examine the relationship between diet-related beliefs for colorectal cancer prevention and dietary intake among an urban, predominantly Black population (n = 169). More than two-thirds reported diet-related CRC prevention beliefs. Those with diet-related CRC prevention beliefs had healthier intakes for dietary fiber (p = .005), fruit, vegetable, bean (p = .027), red meat (p = .032), vitamin C (p = .039), and cholesterol (p = .045). Most people may already have diet-related CRC prevention beliefs and having them is associated with a more healthful dietary intake.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27259971,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Transcriptome sequences spanning key developmental states as a resource for the study of the cestode Schistocephalus solidus, a threespine stickleback parasite.\nSchistocephalus solidus is a well-established model organism for studying the complex life cycle of cestodes and the mechanisms underlying host-parasite interactions. However, very few large-scale genetic resources for this species are available. We have sequenced and de novo-assembled the transcriptome of S. solidus using tissues from whole worms at three key developmental states - non-infective plerocercoid, infective plerocercoid and adult plerocercoid - to provide a resource for studying the evolution of complex life cycles and, more specifically, how parasites modulate their interactions with their hosts during development. The de novo transcriptome assembly reconstructed the coding sequence of 10,285 high-confidence unigenes from which 24,765 non-redundant transcripts were derived. 7,920 (77 %) of these unigenes were annotated with a protein name and 7,323 (71 %) were assigned at least one Gene Ontology term. Our raw transcriptome assembly (unfiltered transcripts) covers 92 % of the predicted transcriptome derived from the S. solidus draft genome assembly currently available on WormBase. It also provides new ecological information and orthology relationships to further annotate the current WormBase transcriptome and genome. This large-scale transcriptomic dataset provides a foundation for studies on how parasitic species with complex life cycles modulate their response to changes in biotic and abiotic conditions experienced inside their various hosts, which is a fundamental objective of parasitology. Furthermore, this resource will help in the validation of the S solidus gene features that have been predicted based on genomic sequence.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29553074,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Validation of the Kit for Detecting Mycoplasma Genitalium from the Male Urethritis].\nMycoplasma genitalium is one of the pathogenic microorganisms in male urethritis as a sexually transmitted infection (STI). M.genitalium is detected in the urine specimens of 15-25% male patients with urethritis. The emergence of macrolide- or fluoroquinolone-resistant M.genitalium has become a serious problem in the treatment of male urethritis worldwide, but there is no commercial-based detecting kits accepted by the national insurance in Japan. In this study, we tested the validity of a molecular kit for detecting seven microorganisms related to STI (Anyplex\u2122 II STI-7 Detection which detects Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis, M.genitalium, Mycoplasma hominis, Ureaplasma urealyticum, Ureaplasma parvum, Trichomonas vaginalis) produced by Seegene company in Korea. Seventeen M.genitalium strains were used to determine the detection limit of M.genitalium. M.genitalium DNA samples were extracted from M.genitalium strains and the diluted DNA samples were reacted to detect M.genitalium by the Anyplex\u2122 II STI-7 Detection. The detection limit was determined as the maximum dilution of DNA samples and the number of M.genitalium DNA copies calculated. In this study, the minimum DNA copies to detect M.genitalium by the Anyplex\u2122 II STI-7 Detection was determined to be around 50 per reaction. The detection rates of M.genitalium in urine specimens were compared between MgPa gene PCR and the Anyplex\u2122 II STI-7 Detection. The positive and negative concordant rates were high as 96.4% (27\/28) and 98.6% (71\/72), respectively. The validity of the kit for detecting seven microorganisms related to STI (Anyplex\u2122 II STI-7 Detection) was high and thought to be useful for clinical uses.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37456426,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Urgency in the Treatment of Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss.\nSudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) is considered an otolaryngologic emergency that must be treated within 72 hours. Failure to treat within that time frame typically results in permanent hearing loss. Here, we present a case of SSNHL confirmed by an audiogram that was treated as eustachian tube dysfunction. Aggressive management measures started at follow-up failed to improve the hearing loss. This case demonstrates the need for early recognition and ENT referral for SSNHL.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8341308,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Interactive video conferencing: a means of providing interim care to Parkinson's disease patients.\nInequity in health care delivery is attributable to a variety of factors including geographic isolation. Patients living far from major urban centers have limited access to medical specialists. In the instance of Parkinson's disease (PD), optimal assessment and care may depend upon availability of specialty health care providers. In order to broaden health care access, interactive video conference (IVC) units are being developed for medical use. IVC allows a patient at a distant site to be \"seen and heard\" by a hospital-based physician; simultaneously, the patient can \"see and hear\" the doctor. To establish the validity of this technology in the evaluation of PD, nine patients were independently examined and scored (UPDRS) by two movement disorder specialists. One examination was performed in-person by the usual physician. The other examination was performed on the same day via IVC over a distance of 350 miles by an examiner previously unfamiliar with the patients. Individual patient scores did not differ based on examiner (Spearman Rho Correlation Coefficients: UPDRS total scores r = 0.933, p < 0.0002; Hoehn and Yahr Scale r = 0.883, p < 0.001). A standardized exit interview was conducted to assess patients' perceptions of this application of video technology. Responses were favorable and virtually all patients viewed this as a means of accessing better health care. We conclude that valid motor assessments of PD patients can be made via IVC.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31244879,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Shelf Life Potential and the Fruit Cuticle: The Unexpected Player.\nThe plant cuticle is an extracellular barrier that protects the aerial, non-lignified parts of plants from the surrounding environment, and furthermore plays important functions in organ growth and development. The role of the cuticle in post-harvest quality of fruits is a topic currently driving a lot of interest since an increasing bulk of research data show its modulating influence on a number of important traits determining shelf life and storage potential, including water transpiration and fruit dehydration, susceptibility to rots, pests and disorders, and even firmness. Moreover, the properties of fruit cuticles keep evolving after harvest, and have also been shown to be highly responsive to the external conditions surrounding the fruit. Indeed, common post-harvest treatments will have an impact on cuticle integrity and performance that needs to be evaluated for a deeper understanding of changes in post-harvest quality. In this review, chemical and biophysical properties of fruit cuticles are summarized. An overview is also provided of post-harvest changes in cuticles and the effects thereupon of some post-harvest procedures, with the purpose of offering a comprehensive summary of currently available information. Identification of natural sources of variability in relevant quality traits would allow breeding for the improvement of post-harvest life of fruit commodities.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22662601,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of pancreatic biliary reflux as a cofactor in cholecystitis.\nThis study assessed the effect of pancreatico-biliary reflux (PBR) as co-factor in the process of chronic cholecystitis by measurement of the levels of active pancreatic enzyme amylase in gallbladder bile and serum of patients undergoing cholecystectomy. Pancreatic Amylase levels in bile from the gallbladder and serum were measured during surgery in 68 patients with chronic calcular cholecystitis subjected to elective open or laparoscopic cholecystectomy in the National Hepatology and Tropical Medicine Research Institution and Theodore Bilharz Research Institute. Bile amylase was detected in 64 patients (94.1%) indicating pancreatico-biliary reflux. Biliary amylase level ranged from 20-50 IU\/L in 42 patients (61.76%), below 20 IU\/l in 14 patients (20.59%), over 50 IU\/L in 8 patients (11.76%) and undetectable in two patients. According to gallbladder bile amylase, the incidence of Occult PBR in patients operated upon for chronic calcular cholecystitis was 94.1%. The reason should be clarified by further research and wider scale study. Routinely investigating biliary amylase in every patient having cholecystitis can be a method for early detection of precancerous lesions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37848054,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Who is calling? Optimizing source identification from marmoset vocalizations with hierarchical machine learning classifiers.\nWith their highly social nature and complex vocal communication system, marmosets are important models for comparative studies of vocal communication and, eventually, language evolution. However, our knowledge about marmoset vocalizations predominantly originates from playback studies or vocal interactions between dyads, and there is a need to move towards studying group-level communication dynamics. Efficient source identification from marmoset vocalizations is essential for this challenge, and machine learning algorithms (MLAs) can aid it. Here we built a pipeline capable of plentiful feature extraction, meaningful feature selection, and supervised classification of vocalizations of up to 18 marmosets. We optimized the classifier by building a hierarchical MLA that first learned to determine the sex of the source, narrowed down the possible source individuals based on their sex and then determined the source identity. We were able to correctly identify the source individual with high precisions (87.21%-94.42%, depending on call type, and up to 97.79% after the removal of twins from the dataset). We also examine the robustness of identification across varying sample sizes. Our pipeline is a promising tool not only for source identification from marmoset vocalizations but also for analysing vocalizations of other species.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9550088,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"1-Thiopsoralen, a new photobiologically active heteropsoralen. Photophysical, photochemical and computer aided studies.\n1-Thiopsoralen (7H-thieno[3,2-g]benzofuran-7-one) 1, a lead compound of a series of heteropsoralens, was investigated. The electronic transitions involved were studied. Fluorescence quantum yield is very low, while laser flash photolysis showed that the triplet state is practically the sole transient of 1. Fluorescence quantum yield (phi F) and triplet lifetime (tau F) as well as triplet quantum yield (phi T) and lifetime (tau T) were determined. The production of singlet oxygen was also evaluated by photophysical measurements. Photophysical data suggest that DNA photobinding of 1, owing to short fluorescence lifetime value and high triplet quantum yield, occurs likely through triplet mechanism. Interactions between 1 and DNA were studied both in the ground and the excited state. In the ground state 1 undergoes intercalation inside duplex DNA. This fact is also supported by molecular modeling studies. By UVA-light activation 1 photobinds covalently to DNA forming mono and diadducts. The furan side 1-thymine monoadduct, isolated from DNA photomodified by thiopsoralen, shows a cis-syn stereochemistry, in agreement with quantum mechanics studies. Compound 1 photobinds also with linolenic acid, component of lecithins, giving a C4-cycloaddition, and supporting that this compound also induces photolesions at the level of cell membrane, like psoralen. Compound 1 exhibits strong skin-phototoxicity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20367117,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Biglycan regulates the expression of EGF receptors through EGF signaling pathways in human articular chondrocytes.\nBiglycan is a member of the family of small leucine-rich proteoglycans. It is an important structural component of articular cartilage and participates in the assembly of the chondrocyte extracellular matrix through formation of protein interactions with collagen type VI and large proteoglycan aggregates. Biglycan also possesses signaling properties. In articular chondrocytes, short-term activation of epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFR) with biglycan initiated mitogen-activated protein kinase and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) signaling events, similar to the effect of epidermal growth factor (EGF) observed in other cell types. The extent and duration of intracellular signaling resolves biological effects initiated by EGFR stimulation, thus, establishing cell fate. In this study, we elucidate a novel regulatory mechanism of EGFR expression in human articular chondrocytes that is modulated by prolonged biglycan treatment and is in contrast to changes detected in the expression of EGFR following EGF stimulation. Treatment of chondrocytes for 24 hr with biglycan upregulated EGFR mRNA and protein expression, whereas treatment with EGF downregulated EGFR message and protein levels. Biglycan and EGF treatment protracted extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK1\/2) and Akt phosphorylation, albeit to different extents. Mechanistic studies with mitogen-activated protein kinase and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase pathway-specific inhibitors revealed that biglycan and EGF distinctly modulate the expression of EGFR in chondrocytes. Biglycan promoted the coactivation of ERK1\/2 and Akt, however, phosphorylated Akt induced a prolonged inhibition of ERK1\/2. Consequently, total EGFR mRNA and protein expression was increased. This regulatory mechanism contrasts the modulation of EGFR expression by exogenous EGF, which strongly protracts ERK1\/2 activation, therefore, inducing a decrease of EGFR message and protein levels. Thus, biglycan might impinge on the expression of total EGFR and possibly, on the cell-surface expression of the receptors. These observations suggest that biglycan might play a critical role in the regulation of chondrocyte and pericellular matrix homeostasis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6726701,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Clinical utility of the relationship between fetal femur length and biparietal diameter.\nThe relationship between fetal femur length and biparietal diameter on ultrasound examination was evaluated in a large, unselected obstetric population of 12-40 weeks' gestational age. The derived ratio of fetal femur length to biparietal diameter was evaluated retrospectively as a tool for examining the technical reliability of fetal measurements obtained and as a screening mechanism for detecting asymmetric fetal development. The ratio of femur length to biparietal diameter is of value as an aid to the detection of fetal developmental anomalies and should be a routine parameter considered in the performance of an obstetric ultrasound examination.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17882877,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Releasing anterior part of spine under video-assisted thoracoscope for treatment of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis].\nTo evaluate the safety and efficacy of the operation performed under the video-assisted thoracoscope to release the anterior part of the spine of the patient with severe adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). From April 2004 to July 2006, 24 patients with AIS (Illness course, 1.5-9 years; Lenke I in 17 patients, Lenke II in 7; right scoliosis in 22, left scoliosis in 2), among whom there were 9 males and 15 females, with an average age of 14.7 years (range, 11-21 years) at the time of the operation. Before operation, the thoracic vertebral Cobb anger at the coronal plane was averaged 78.3 degrees (range, 65-125 degrees). All the patients had normal muscle strength and muscle tension in their lower limbs, but 5 of the patients had a decrease of the superficial sensation in their lower limbs. All the patients had a moderately or severely decreased lung reserve function. Under general anesthesia, the patient was placed in the lateral position to set up a work channel for thoracoscopy. The releasing of the thoracic intervertebral space and the confluence of the bone grafts were performed. During Stage I or Stage II , the orthopedic procedures for the posterior part of the scoliosis spine, the internal fixation, and the confluence of the bone grafts were completed. All the patients survived the period of perioperation. During operation, there was a hemorrhage of 50-200 ml, averaged 100 ml, with a postoperative thoracic closely-drained fluid of 100-150 ml. The incision was healed by the first intention. Each patient underwent the release of 4-6 intervertebral spaces, with an average of 5.5 spaces released. The average coronal Cobb angle was 45.6 degrees (range, 25- 75 degrees). The physiological curvature at the sagittal plane was normal, with an improved shape of the spine. The follow-up for 3-18 months averaged 9.3 months revealed that the bilateral pulmonary markings were clear, with confluence of the orthopedic segment of the spine. The patients could live and work normally, and had a significantly-improved psychological condition and an active social participation because of their improved appearance. The releasing of the anterior part of the spine under the video-assisted thoracoscope can effectively release the adolescent idiopathic scoliosis and improve the flexibility of the spine, with a smaller degree of the surgical wound and a faster and clearer exposure of the spinal column during operation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7936158,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Angiographic screening and elective surgery of familial cerebral aneurysms: a decision analysis.\nUp to 6% of cerebral aneurysms may be familial. Because the pattern of inheritance and the prevalence of aneurysms within families are unknown, the management of family members at risk of harboring a cerebral aneurysm is currently empirical. We established the prevalence of aneurysms in the second generation of individuals with familial cerebral aneurysms and determined the possible benefit of angiographic screening and elective surgery of such individuals by using a simple decision analysis model. Four consecutive families were identified in whom the mother and a child had a ruptured cerebral aneurysm. A total of 19 siblings at risk in the second generation were identified. Fifteen underwent elective cerebral angiography: one had a cerebral aneurysm and two had an infundibulum at the origin of the posterior communicating artery. Including the previously known aneurysms, the prevalence of aneurysms in the second generation was thus established at 29.4%. A decision analysis was performed with 2% as the annual risk of rupture, 72.7% as the risk of death or disability with rupture, 0.1% as the risk of angiography, and 6.5% as the risk of surgery. The benefit in years of survival free of sequelae resulting from angiographic screening and elective surgery (intervention) over natural history was computed for life expectancy corresponding to each quinquennial age group from age 15 to 100 years. Intervention equaled natural history, in terms of years of survival expected with each choice, at a life expectancy of 10.6 years, corresponding to age 76.5 years for men and 80 years for women, and produced a net gain of at least 1 year for patients whose life expectancy was 32 years or more, corresponding to age 53.5 years for women and 49 years for men. Greater benefit was achieved with increasing life expectancy (younger age). The prevalence of aneurysms in the second generation when a mother and child have an aneurysm is 29.4%. Intervention produces a benefit of at least 1 year of survival free of sequelae over natural history in such individuals if their life expectancy is 32 years or more.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37862445,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"NHC-Catalyzed Enantioselective Synthesis of Tetracyclic \u03b4-Lactones by (4 + 2) Annulation of ortho-Quinodimethanes with Activated Ketones.\nThe N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-catalyzed generation of ortho-quinodimethanes (o-QDMs) from 9H-fluorene-1-carbaldehydes followed by the interception with activated ketones resulting in the enantioselective synthesis of tetracyclic \u03b4-lactones is presented. High diastereoselectivity of products, remote C(sp3)-H functionalization, broad substrate scope, and mild reaction conditions are the notable features of the present (4 + 2) annulation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23442763,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Seropositivity and higher immunoglobulin g antibody levels against cytomegalovirus are associated with mortality in the population-based European prospective investigation of Cancer-Norfolk cohort.\nThe relationship between cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection and mortality among immunocompetent individuals is uncertain. We aimed to examine whether seropositivity for CMV and the level of CMV immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody are associated with all-cause and cause-specific mortality. We used data from a random sample of 13 090 participants aged 40-79 years at recruitment in 1993-1997 to the European Prospective Investigation of Cancer-Norfolk population-based cohort study. We measured baseline IgG antibody levels against CMV. Death certificates were obtained for all participants who died before 31 March 2011. Codes for the underlying cause of death were used to investigate cause-specific mortality. A total of 2514 deaths occurred during a mean follow-up of 14.3 years (SD, 3.3 years). Compared to seronegative participants (age- and sex-adjusted mortality rate, 12.4 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 11.3-13.2] per 1000 person-years at risk), rates increased across thirds of IgG antibody levels (score test of trend P < .0001). CMV seropositivity (prevalence 59%) was associated with increased all-cause mortality (age- and sex-adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 1.16 [95% CI, 1.07-1.26]), similarly in men and women (P for interaction = .52). The association persisted after additionally adjusting for measures of socioeconomic status and possible confounders. Cause-specific analyses suggested that increased mortality from cardiovascular disease (HR, 1.06 [95% CI, .91-1.24]), cancer (HR, 1.13 [95% CI, .98-1.31]), and other causes (HR, 1.23 [95% CI, 1.04-1.47) all appeared to contribute to the overall associations. Seropositivity and higher IgG antibody levels against CMV are associated with increased mortality and after adjustment for a range of potential confounders in the general population.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12033774,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Communication between S1N330 and a region in S2 of murine coronavirus spike protein is important for virus entry into cells expressing CEACAM1b receptor.\nThe soluble receptor-resistant (srr) mutants, srr7 and srr11, isolated from a murine coronavirus, mouse hepatitis virus (MHV) JHMV, have an amino acid mutation at positions 1114 (Leu to Phe) and 65 (Leu to His), respectively, in the spike (S) protein. These mutants failed to efficiently infect BHK cells expressing CEACAM1b (BHK-R2), due to their low entry into this cell line, although they infected cells expressing CEACAM1a (BHK-R1) in a manner similar to that of wild-type (wt) JHMV cl-2 (Matsuyama and Taguchi, Virology 273, 80-89, 2000). Following the repeated passage of these mutants through BHK-R2 cells, viruses were no longer isolated from srr11-infected cells, while two distinct mutants, srr7A and srr7B, were obtained from srr7-infected cells. Srr7A and srr7B grew 2 log10 higher than srr7 and induced fusion in BHK-R2 cells, being similar to wt virus. In addition to the amino acid change at position 1114 that stemmed from parental srr7, srr7A and srr7B had mutations around position 280, corresponding to the third region of the S1N330 receptor-binding site (S1N330-III) common to all MHV strains examined thus far. Srr7A and srr7B S proteins showed high fusogenicity in both BHK-R1 and BHK-R2 cells, like the wt virus, while srr7Aa and srr7Ba S proteins, which had mutations in S1N330-III but not at amino acid 1114, exhibited profoundly reduced fusion activity in these cell lines. These findings suggest that communication between S1N330-III and the amino acid at position 1114 is important for efficient fusion activity in BHK-R2 cells. S1N330-III is a possible region in the S1 involved in viral entry into cells.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32377314,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Renoprotective Effects of a New Free Radical Scavenger, XH-003, against Cisplatin-Induced Nephrotoxicity.\nAcute renal injury has an incidence of 25%-30% in patients with tumors who are treated with cisplatin and in patients for whom no specific drugs are available for treatment. Amifostine is the only FDA-approved chemoprotective drug; however, its clinical application is limited because of side effects. The small-molecule antioxidant XH-003, an acute radiation syndrome- (ARS-) protective drug independently developed in our laboratory, with 100% intellectual property rights, overcomes the side effects of amifostine but retains its high efficacy. In this study, XH-003 showed a chemoprotective effect similar to that of amifostine. A mechanistic study showed that XH-003 could significantly reduce cisplatin-induced increases in serum creatinine and urea nitrogen, increase the activity of antioxidant enzymes (SOD, CAT, and GSH-Px), reduce oxidative stress and tissue inflammation, and alleviate renal tissue damage by blocking the activity of the mitochondrial apoptosis pathway. Most importantly, XH-003 could reduce the accumulation of cisplatin in renal tissue by regulating the expression of proteins involved in cisplatin uptake and excretion, such as organic cation transporter 2 and MRP2. Moreover, in an in vivo xenotransplantation model, XH-003 did not interfere with the antitumor effect of cisplatin. These data provide strong evidence that the ARS-protective agent has a great potential for protecting against chemotherapy-induced toxicity. Thus, XH-003 can be considered in antitumor therapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37867213,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A Bacterial mRNA-Lysis-Mediated Cargo Release Vaccine System for Regulated Cytosolic Surveillance and Optimized Antigen Delivery.\nEngineered vector-based in vivo protein delivery platforms have made significant progress for both prophylactic and therapeutic applications. However, the lack of effective release strategies results in foreign cargo being trapped within the vector, restricting the provision of significant performance benefits and enhanced therapeutic results compared to traditional vaccines. Herein, the development of a Salmonella mRNA interferase regulation vector (SIRV) system is reported to overcome this challenge. The genetic circuits are engineered that (1) induce self-lysis to release foreign antigens into target cells and (2) activate the cytosolic surveillance cGAS-STING axis by releasing DNA into the cytoplasm. Delayed synthesis of the MazF interferase regulates differential mRNA cleavage, resulting in a 36-fold increase in the delivery of foreign antigens and modest activation of the inflammasome, which collectively contribute to the marked maturation of antigen-presenting cells (APCs). Bacteria delivering the protective antigen SaoA exhibits excellent immunogenicity and safety in mouse and pig models, significantly improving the survival rate of animals challenged with multiple serotypes of Streptococcus suis. Thus, the SIRV system enables the effective integration of various modular components and antigen cargos, allowing for the generation of an extensive range of intracellular protein delivery systems using multiple bacterial species in a highly efficient manner.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19053828,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"One-pot synthesis of substituted 2,2'-bipyrroles. A straightforward route to aryl porphycenes.\nA one-pot reaction for the synthesis of 4,4'-diaryl- and 4,4'-diheteroaryl-substituted 2,2'-bipyrroles is described. The new methodology is based on the oxidative coupling of a 2-trimethylstannylated pyrrole and does not require chromatography. These 2,2'-bipyrroles can be used as precursors in a expeditious synthesis of 2,7,12,17-tetraaryl-porphycenes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16216767,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2013-20":1}}},"text":"Paradoxical effect of isoprenaline infusion.\nIsoprenaline (isoproterenol) is a beta-adrenergic drug, used to increase the heart rate and, during electrophysiological study, to facilitate the induction of supraventricular (SVT) and ventricular tachycardias (VT). Decrease in heart rate during isoprenaline infusion is a rare phenomenon. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the incidence, the possible mechanisms, and the significance of a paradoxical bradycardia induced by isoprenaline infusion. Electrophysiological study was performed for the evaluation of tachycardias (n = 551) or dizziness\/syncope (n = 214) in 765 patients aged from 15 to 85 years. The study was negative in the basal state, and was repeated after isoprenaline infusion (2-4 microg\/min). In 714 patients, this perfusion increased the heart rate to 100-140 bpm. A bradycardia was noted in 51 patients (7%). Two bradyarrhythmias were noted: (1) sinus or junctional bradycardia (cycle length - 10%) occurred in 43 patients, aged 15-70 years, generally studied for unexplained syncope (n = 37); a young age (40+\/-16 years), syncope (n = 37) and absence of heart disease (n = 27) were more frequent than that in patients without isoprenaline-induced sinus or junctional bradycardia; another arrhythmia (SVT or VT) was induced in seven patients with syncope, five with heart disease and two without; six young patients (<50 years) had no syncope and were studied for SVT or VT; (2) eight patients, aged 65+\/-11 years, developed second-degree atrioventricular (AV) block which was supraHisian (n = 4) or infraHisian (n = 4); they were studied for exercise-related syncope; they had no signs of myocardial ischaemia and AV block was reproduced by ajmaline testing: isoprenaline revealed organic conduction disturbance. The occurrence of paradoxical bradycardia was a rare finding during isoprenaline infusion (7%); sinus or junctional bradycardia was a sign of hypervagotonia, but was without clinical significance in 35% of these patients. The development of second-degree AV block was always pathological and associated with AV conduction disturbances, which occurred spontaneously during exercise. Isoprenaline infusion appeared to be a simple means to detect organic AV conduction disturbance in patients complaining of exercise or stress-related dizziness\/syncope and unable to perform exercise test.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25495634,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Classical and nonclassical germanium environments in high-pressure BaGe5.\nA new crystalline form of BaGe(5) was obtained at a pressure of 15(2) GPa in the temperature range from 1000(100) to 1200(120) K. Single-crystal electron and powder X-ray diffraction patterns indicate a body-centered orthorhombic structure (space group Imma, Pearson notation oI24) with unit cell parameters a = 8.3421(8) \u00c5, b = 4.8728(5) \u00c5, and c = 13.7202(9) \u00c5. The crystal structure of hp-BaGe(5) consists of four-bonded Ge atoms forming complex layers with Ge-Ge contacts between 2.560(6) and 2.684(3) \u00c5; the Ba atoms are coordinated by 15 Ge neighbors in the range from 3.341(6) to 3.739(4) \u00c5. Analysis of the chemical bonding using quantum chemical techniques in real space reveal charge transfer from the Ba cations to the anionic Ge species. Ge atoms having nearly tetrahedral environments show an electron-localizability-based oxidation number close to 0; the four-bonded Ge atoms with a \u03a8-pyramidal environment adopt a value close to 1-. In agreement with the calculated electronic density of states, the compound is a metallic conductor (electrical resistivity of ca. 240 \u03bc\u03a9 cm at 300 K), and magnetic susceptibility measurements evidence diamagnetic behavior with \u03c7(0) = -95 \u00d7 10(-6) emu mol(-1).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25512616,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Tumor-suppressor role of Notch3 in medullary thyroid carcinoma revealed by genetic and pharmacological induction.\nNotch1-3 are transmembrane receptors that appear to be absent in medullary thyroid cancer (MTC). Previous research has shown that induction of Notch1 has a tumor-suppressor effect in MTC cell lines, but little is known about the biologic consequences of Notch3 activation for the progression of the disease. We elucidate the role of Notch3 in MTC by genetic (doxycycline-inducible Notch3 intracellular domain) and pharmacologic [AB3, novel histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor] approaches. We find that overexpression of Notch3 leads to the dose-dependent reduction of neuroendocrine tumor markers. In addition, Notch3 activity is required to suppress MTC cell proliferation, and the extent of growth repression depends on the amount of Notch3 protein expressed. Moreover, activation of Notch3 induces apoptosis. The translational significance of this finding is highlighted by our observation that MTC tumors lack active Notch3 protein and reinstitution of this isoform could be a therapeutic strategy to treat patients with MTC. We demonstrate, for the first time, that overexpression of Notch3 in MTC cells can alter malignant neuroendocrine phenotype in both in vitro and in vivo models. In addition, our study provides a strong rationale for using Notch3 as a therapeutic target to provide novel pharmacologic treatment options for MTC.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28740481,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Refractory Hypothyroidism Due to Improper Storage of Levothyroxine Tablets.\nA not negligible part of hypothyroid patients on levothyroxine therapy do not normalize serum thyrotropin (TSH) concentrations. \"Refractory hypothyroidism,\" i.e., a condition characterized by persistently abnormal serum TSH levels despite adequate titration of l-T4 substitution therapy, requires biochemical and instrumental investigation, but no definite etiology is found in up to 15% of cases. To report patients presenting with refractory hypothyroidism with proven improper storage of levothyroxine tablets. Patients on l-T4 substitution therapy referred to three Italian outpatient Clinics of Endocrinology between January 2013 and December 2015 for refractory hypothyroidism were investigated for levothyroxine tablet exposure to humidity, light, and high temperature. We report eight patients, accounting for approximately 1% of all hypothyroid patients and 5% of those with refractory hypothyroidism in our series. Careful anamnesis disclosed that these patients stored levothyroxine tablets inappropriately. Normalization of serum TSH concentrations was obtained in all cases by simply recommending to store the new levothyroxine tablets away from heat, light, and humidity. Refractory hypothyroidism linked to improper storage of l-T4 tablets does exist and might be an underrecognized entity. In addition to proper modalities of ingestion of l-T4 tablets, patients need to be instructed on proper modalities of storage, as well.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3082537,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Long-latency auditory event-related potentials in epilepsy.\nLong latency auditory event-related potentials have been shown to change in patients with cerebral dysfunction. Some seizure patients with no evidence of brain damage or mental retardation show altered interictal cognitive and memory function. Long-latency auditory event-related potentials to tone stimulation were recorded in nineteen control subjects and seventeen patients with complex partial or partial and secondarily generalized seizures who had no evidence of brain damage, retardation, or drug intoxication, and whose seizures were controlled when studied. The latencies of N2 and P3 components were significantly longer in seizure patients than control subjects, and the P3 waveform was significantly greater in amplitude in epileptics. These findings suggest that cognitive event-related potentials are affected by partial epilepsy. The changes may be related to the recently reported involvement of the hippocampus in ERP generation, or to loss or alteration of modulatory functions, possibly cholinergic in nature, in the temporal lobe consequent upon epileptogenesis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16991122,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-22":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Urinary biomarker profiling in transitional cell carcinoma.\nUrinary biomarkers or profiles that allow noninvasive detection of recurrent transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the bladder are urgently needed. We obtained duplicate proteomic (SELDI) profiles from 227 subjects (118 TCC, 77 healthy controls and 32 controls with benign urological conditions) and used linear mixed effects models to identify peaks that are differentially expressed between TCC and controls and within TCC subgroups. A Random Forest classifier was trained on 130 profiles to develop an algorithm to predict the presence of TCC in a randomly selected initial test set (n = 54) and an independent validation set (n = 43) several months later. Twenty two peaks were differentially expressed between all TCC and controls (p < 10(-7)). However potential confounding effects of age, sex and analytical run were identified. In an age-matched sub-set, 23 peaks were differentially expressed between TCC and combined benign and healthy controls at the 0.005 significance level. Using the Random Forest classifier, TCC was predicted with 71.7% sensitivity and 62.5% specificity in the initial set and with 78.3% sensitivity and 65.0% specificity in the validation set after 6 months, compared with controls. Several peaks of importance were also identified in the linear mixed effects model. We conclude that SELDI profiling of urine samples can identify patients with TCC with comparable sensitivities and specificities to current tumor marker tests. This is the first time that reproducibility has been demonstrated on an independent test set analyzed several months later. Identification of the relevant peaks may facilitate multiplex marker assay development for detection of recurrent disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7943494,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Patient adherence to guidelines for diabetes eye care: results from the diabetic eye disease follow-up study.\nEarly detection and treatment of diabetic eye disease can prevent blindness, yet many persons with diabetes lack regular eye care. This study followed 569 people with diabetes participating in blindness prevention programs during 1985 through 1987; it was found that 35% of subjects received dilated eye examinations before entering the programs, in comparison with 60% afterward. About 85% of participants referred for proliferative retinopathy treatment began such treatment, and, of these, 85% completed treatment. A lack of knowledge about the disease and limited finances were primary reasons for nonadherence. To improve the effectiveness of prevention programs, eye care providers and program staff must strive to eliminate these educational and financial barriers.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37850834,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A wavefront adaptive sensing beamformer for ocean acoustic waveguides.\nThis paper addresses robust adaptive beamforming for passive sonar in uncertain, shallow-water environments. Conventional beamforming is still common in passive sonar because adaptive beamformers suffer from signal mismatch in complex multipath environments. Existing approaches to robust adaptive beamforming try to model and account for the uncertainty in the beamformer's hypothesized signal subspace by using additional linear or quadratic constraints. Doing so, however, reduces the adaptivity of the beamformer and is prone to insufficiently suppressing interference. Instead, this paper uses blind source separation methods to adaptively estimate the complex spatial wavefronts of both targets and interference without requiring detailed physical modeling of the channel. By exploiting the different temporal spectra and\/or frequency-selective multipath fading of targets and interference, this approach constructs a \"signal-free\" covariance matrix without imposing directional gain constraints. In doing so, the wavefront adaptive sensing (WAS) beamformer is able to separate targets from strong interference that is within the conventional beam width of the target. Simulation results in a realistic shallow-water channel are presented as well as results using the SWellEx96 S59 data with an injected target to show that the proposed WAS beamformer outperforms conventional and minimum variance adaptive beamformers in a shallow-water scenario.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14832439,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The reduction of formaldehyde by bacterial cells.\nFormaldehyde is reduced to methyl alcohol by living cells of a creatinine-decomposing strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The amount of HCHO taken up in 30 minutes by 3 x 10(10) cells of this organism is termed its reducing capacity. It was found to be 400 to 480 microg. The reaction takes place over wide pH and temperature ranges, is independent of the concentration of formaldehyde as long as the latter is not high enough to exert a toxic effect on the cell, but depends on the number of bacteria present. In cultures, 3 to 7 days old, there is a decline in reducing capacity without a proportionate decrease in the number of viable cells. On the other hand in cultures, 2 to 4 weeks old, the number of viable cells determines the amount of HCHO taken up. N\/100 NaOH depresses the reducing capacity of the organism without affecting bacterial viability. Exposure of bacterial suspensions to temperatures of 46-52 degrees C. for 10 minutes causes a far more rapid decrease in the number of viable cells than in reducing capacity. Incubation of cellular suspensions with nutrient substances, which are able to support adequately the growth of the organism, for 30 minutes prior to the addition of HCHO, induces increases in reducing capacity. The uptake of HCHO by different microorganisms seems to be related to their gaseous and nutritional requirements. Strains of P. aeruginosa and P. fluorescens are predominantly aerobic, least fastidious in their nutritional requirements, most active against HCHO, and least susceptible to the action of aureomycin and chloromycetin. The potential significance of cellular reducing capacity is discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26479335,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Therapeutic targets for cholestatic liver injury.\nCholestasis is a reduction in bile flow that occurs during numerous pathologies. Blockage of the biliary tracts results in hepatic accumulation of bile acids or their conjugate bile salts. The molecular mechanisms behind liver injury associated with cholestasis are extensively studied, but not well understood. Multiple models of obstructive cholestasis result in a significant inflammatory infiltrate at the sites of necrosis that characterize the injury. This review will focus on direct bile acid toxicity during cholestasis, bile acid signaling processes and on the development and continuation of inflammation during cholestasis, with a focus on novel proposed molecular mediators of neutrophil recruitment. While significant progress has been made on these molecular mechanisms, a continued focus on how cholestasis and the innate immune system interact is necessary to discover targetable therapeutics that might protect the liver while leaving global immunity intact. While bile acid toxicity likely occurs in humans and other mammals when toxic bile acids accumulate, persistent inflammation is likely responsible for continued liver injury during obstructive cholestasis. Targeting molecular mediators of inflammation may help prevent liver injury during acute cholestasis both in murine models and human patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37460185,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Effect study of Sonic hedgehog overexpressed hair follicle stem cells in hair follicle regeneration].\nTo determine the expression level of Sonic hedgehog (Shh) in the passage of hair follicle stem cells (HFSCs), analyze the effect of Shh overexpression on the proliferation activity of HFSCs, and explore the survival of HFSCs after Shh overexpression and its effect on hair follicle regeneration. Hair follicles from the normal area (H1 group) and alopecia area (H2 group) of the scalp donated by 20 female alopecia patients aged 40-50 years old were taken, and the middle part of the hair follicle was cut under the microscope to culture, and the primary HFSCs were obtained and passaged; the positive markers (CD29, CD71) and negative marker (CD34) on the surface of the fourth generation HFSCs were identified by flow cytometry. The two groups of HFSCs were transfected with Shh-overexpressed lentivirus. Flow cytometry and cell counting kit 8 assay were used to detect the cell cycle changes and cell proliferation of HFSCs before and after transfection, respectively. Then the HFSCs transfected with Shh lentivirus were transplanted subcutaneously into the back of nude mice as the experimental group, and the same amount of saline was injected as the control group. At 5 weeks after cell transplantation, the expression of Shh protein in the back skin tissue of nude mice was detected by Western blot. HE staining and immunofluorescence staining were used to compare the number of hair follicles and the survival of HFSCs between groups. The isolated and cultured cells were fusiform and firmly attached to the wall; flow cytometry showed that CD29 and CD71 were highly expressed on the surface of the cells, while CD34 was lowly expressed, suggesting that the cultured cells were HFSCs. The results of real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR and Western blot showed that the expression levels of Shh protein and gene in the 4th, 7th, and 10th passages of cells in H1 and H2 groups decreased gradually with the prolongation of culture time in vitro. After overexpression of Shh, the proliferation activity of HFSCs in the two groups was significantly higher than that in the blank group (not transfected with lentivirus) and the negative control group (transfected with negative control lentivirus), and the proliferation activity of HFSCs in H1 group was significantly higher than that in H2 group before and after transfection, showing significant differences ( P<0.05). At 5 weeks after cell transplantation, Shh protein was stably expressed in the dorsal skin of each experimental group; the number of hair follicles and the expression levels of HFSCs markers (CD71, cytokeratin 15) in each experimental group were significantly higher than those in the control group, and the number of hair follicles and the expression levels of HFSCs markers in H1 group were significantly higher than those in H2 group, and the differences were significant ( P<0.05). Lentivirus-mediated Shh can be successfully transfected into HFSCs, the proliferation activity of HFSCs significantly increase after overexpression of Shh, which can secrete and express Shh continuously and stably, and promote hair follicle regeneration by combining the advantages of stem cells and Shh.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28363879,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Get+Connected: Development and Pilot Testing of an Intervention to Improve Computer and Internet Attitudes and Internet Use Among Women Living With HIV.\nFor persons living with chronic medical conditions, the Internet can be a powerful tool for health promotion, and allow for immediate access to medical information and social support. However, women living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in the United States face numerous barriers to computer and Internet use. Health behavior change models suggest that the first step towards adopting a new health behavior is to improve attitudes towards that behavior. To develop and pilot test Get+Connected, an intervention to improve computer and Internet attitudes and Internet use among women living with HIV. To develop Get+Connected, we reviewed the extant literature, adapted an existing curriculum, and conducted a focus group with HIV-positive women (n=20) at a community-based organization in the Bronx, New York. Get+Connected was comprised of five weekly sessions covering the following topics: basic computer knowledge and skills, identifying reliable health-related websites, setting up and using email and Facebook accounts, and a final review session. We recruited 12 women to participate in pilot testing. At baseline, we collected data about participants' sociodemographic information, clinical characteristics, and technology device ownership and use. At baseline, intervention completion, and three months postintervention, we collected data regarding attitudes towards computers and the Internet (Attitudes Towards Computers and the Internet Questionnaire [ATCIQ]; possible scores range from 5-50) as well as frequency of Internet use (composite measure). To examine changes in ATCIQ scores and Internet use over time, we used generalized estimating equations. We also collected qualitative data during intervention delivery. Among women in our sample, the median age was 56 years (interquartile range=52-63). All participants were black\/African American and\/or Latina. Seven participants (7\/12, 58%) had a high school diploma (or equivalent) or higher degree. Ten participants (10\/12, 83%) reported owning a mobile phone, while only one (1\/12, 8%) reported owning a computer or tablet. Only one participant (1\/12, 8%) reported having ever used the Internet or email. Internet nonusers cited lack of computer\/Internet knowledge (6\/11, 54%) and lack of access to a computer or similar device (4\/11, 36%) as the main barriers to use. Over time, we observed an improvement in attitudes towards computers and the Internet (ATCIQ scores: 33.5 at baseline, 35 at intervention completion, and 36 at three months postintervention; P=.008). No significant increase in Internet use was observed (P=.61). Qualitative findings indicated excitement and enthusiasm for the intervention. In our sample of urban, technology-inexperienced HIV-positive women, participation in Get+Connected was associated with an improvement in attitudes towards computers and the Internet, but not Internet use. Changing attitudes is the first step in many health behavior change models, indicating that with improved access to computer and Internet resources, frequency of Internet use may also have increased. Future studies should consider addressing issues of access to technology in conjunction with Get+Connected.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17916426,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Persistent central diabetes insipidus in a very low birth weight infant].\nCentral diabetes insipidus (DI) is extremely rare during the neonatal period. Most cases of central DI are secondary to a known aetiology. Substitutive treatment with desmopressin is effective with nasal or oral preparation, but doses are variable and must be tailored individually. We report on a case in a very low birth weight infant with an idiopathic central DI during the first month of life. He was successfully treated with oral desmopressin. The treatment was maintained after discharge with low doses desmospressin.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28305769,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Function of trans-acting genes of theachaete-scute complex in sensory organ patterning in the mesonotum ofDrosophila.\nCell-cell interactions play a fundamental role in the differentiation of nervous elements in constant patterns, both during embryogenesis and imaginal development. In this paper we analyse the role of genes of theachaete-scute andEnhancer of split complexes, plus the genesextramacrochaetae, Notch, Delta, andHairless in the patterning of sensory elements in the mesonotum ofDrosophila. The phenotypes of different alleles of these genes, including lethals in genetic mosaics, reveal their participation in two processes, the singling out from epidermal cells of sensory organ mother cells and their subsequent differentiation. Studies of allelic combinations of different genes lead to a model of the genetic interactions involved in the processes of pattern formation. In this model, theachaete-scute complex plays a central role, determining sensory organ mother cells and preventing neighbouring cells from following the same developmental pathway.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7945547,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Synthesis and biological activity of D-glucopyranosyl peptide T derivatives.\nThe solid phase procedure, based on the Fmoc (9-fluorenylmethyloxycarbonyl) chemistry, was used to prepare some peptide T analogues in which D-glucopyranosyl units are beta-O-glycosidically linked to Thr4 and\/or Thr5 side chains. All glycopeptides showed significant human monocyte chemotaxis and high resistance to degradation by plasma or brain enzymes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29363649,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Role of the Ca2+-Calcineurin-Nuclear Factor of Activated T cell Pathway in Mitofusin-2-Mediated Immune Function of Jurkat Cells.\nMitofusin-2 (MFN2), a well-known mitochondrial fusion protein, has been shown to participate in innate immunity, but its role in mediating adaptive immunity remains poorly characterized. In this study, we explored the potential role of MFN2 in mediating the immune function of T lymphocytes. We manipulated MFN2 gene expression in Jurkat cells via lentiviral transduction of MFN2 small interfering RNA (siRNA) or full-length MFN2. After transduction, the immune response and its underlying mechanism were determined in Jurkat cells. One-way analysis of variance and Student's t-test were performed to determine the statistical significance between the groups. Overexpression of MFN2 enhanced the immune response of T lymphocytes by upregulating Ca2+ (359.280 \u00b1 10.130 vs. 266.940 \u00b1 10.170, P = 0.000), calcineurin (0.513 \u00b1 0.014 vs. 0.403 \u00b1 0.020 nmol\/L, P = 0.024), and nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFATs) activation (1.040 \u00b1 0.086 vs. 0.700 \u00b1 0.115, P = 0.005), whereas depletion of MFN2 impaired the immune function of T lymphocytes by downregulating Ca2+ (141.140 \u00b1 14.670 vs. 267.060 \u00b1 9.230, P = 0.000), calcineurin (0.054 \u00b1 0.030 nmol\/L vs. 0.404 \u00b1 0.063 nmol\/L, P = 0.000), and NFAT activation (0.500 \u00b1 0.025 vs. 0.720 \u00b1 0.061, P = 0.012). Furthermore, upregulated calcineurin partially reversed the negative effects of MFN2 siRNA on T cell-mediated immunity evidenced by elevations in T cell proliferation (1.120 \u00b1 0.048 vs. 0.580 \u00b1 0.078, P = 0.040), interleukin-2 (IL-2) production (473.300 \u00b1 24.100 vs. 175.330 \u00b1 12.900 pg\/ml, P = 0.000), and the interferon-\u03b3\/IL-4 ratio (3.080 \u00b1 0.156 vs. 0.953 \u00b1 0.093, P = 0.000). Meanwhile, calcineurin activity inhibitor depleted the positive effects of overexpressed MFN2 on T cells function. Our findings suggest that MFN2 may regulate T cell immune functions primarily through the Ca2+-calcineurin-NFAT pathway. MFN2 may represent a potential therapeutic target for T cell immune dysfunction-related diseases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28701972,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"The Effects of a Normal Rate versus a Slow Intervalled Rate of Oral Nutrient Intake and Intravenous Low Rate Macronutrient Application on Psychophysical Function - Two Pilot Studies.\nStomach distension and energy per time are factors influencing satiety. Moreover, different rates of nutrient intake induce different stomach distension. The goal of our studies was to elucidate the influence of different oral rates of nutrient intake (normal rate versus slow intervalled rate; study I) and intravenous low rate macronutrient application (protein, carbohydrate, fat) or placebo (study II) on psychophysical function. The pilot studies investigated the effects of 1) study I: a mixed nutrient solution (1\/3 protein, 1\/3 fat, 1\/3 carbohydrates) 2) study II: intravenous macronutrient infusions (protein, carbohydrate, fat) or placebo on psychophysical function (mood, hunger, food craving, alertness, smell intensity ratings and hedonic ratings) in human subjects. In study I 10 male subjects (age range: 21-30 years) completed the study protocol participating in both test conditions and in study II 20 male subjects (age range: 19-41 years) completed the study protocol participating in all test conditions. Additionally, metabolic function was analyzed and cognitive and olfactory tests were conducted twice starting 100 min before the beginning of the intervention and 240 min after. Psychophysical (mood, hunger, fat-, protein-, carbohydrate-, sweets- and vegetable-craving), alertness and metabolic function tests were performed seven times on each examination day. Greater effects on hunger and food cravings were observed for normal rate of intake compared to slow intervalled rate of intake and intravenous low rate macronutrient application. Our findings potentially confirm that volume of the food ingested and a higher rate of energy per time contribute to satiety during normal rate of food intake, while slow intervalled rate of food intake and intravenous low rate macronutrient application showed no effects on satiation. Our results motivate the view that a certain amount of volume of the food ingested and a certain energy per time ratio are necessary to reduce hunger and food craving.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24392449,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The evaluation of bioelectrical activity of pelvic floor muscles depending on probe location: a pilot study.\nThe main objective was to determine how the depth of probe placement affects functional and resting bioelectrical activity of the PFM and whether the recorded signal might be dependent on the direction in which the probe is rotated. The study comprised of healthy, nulliparous women between the ages of 21 and 25. Bioelectric activity of the PFM was recorded from four locations of the vagina by surface EMG and vaginal probe. There were no statistically significant differences between the results during functional sEMG activity. During resting sEMG activity, the highest bioelectrical activity of the PFM was observed in the L1 and the lowest in the L4 and a statistically significant difference between the highest and the lowest results of resting sEMG activity was observed (P = 0.0043). Different electrodes placement during functional contraction of PFM does not affect the obtained results in sEMG evaluation. In order to diagnose the highest resting activity of PFM the recording plates should be placed toward the anterior vaginal wall and distally from the introitus. However, all of the PFM have similar bioelectrical activity and it seems that these muscles could be treated as a single muscle.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19042512,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Satisfaction and value: a meta-analysis in the healthcare context.\nUnderstanding healthcare performance from the patient's perspective has attracted more attention from the scholars and practitioners as consumers are becoming the driving force to the innovation of healthcare delivery in the knowledge economy (Morath 2003; Scott 2003). However, most of the studies have been constrained in the methods by which the clinical professionals assess what they perceived as the patient's value. This research attempts to examine the constructs for the conceptualization of patient value and its relationship with patient satisfaction. The results indicate that the providers' skills and knowledge and their respectful communication with the patients are the most important. These attributes followed by the providers' level of empathy and attention and the physical environment factors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9141251,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Childhood leukemia: epidemiological investigation and effectiveness in treatment in Nagasaki over the past 12 years.\nAn epidemiological investigation of childhood leukemia was performed in Nagasaki Prefecture. The objective of this investigation was to analyze the disease as a whole by studying (i) the incidence classified by year, sex, area and disease type, (ii) age of onset, (iii) effectiveness of treatment, (iv) prognosis, and (v) possible association with the atomic bombing in 1945. The annual incidence was 3.0 per 100,000 children under 15 years of age, lower than the national average. There was no significant change in the annual incidence for 12 years. No increase in incidence was observed in Nagasaki City and its surrounding areas. There was no obvious difference in age of onset and incidence by sex from those previously reported. Acute lymphocytic leukemia accounted for a large part of childhood leukemia. There was no increase in the incidence of acute non-lymphocytic leukemia, but its familial occurrence and accumulation were observed. The rate of first complete remission and the number of long-term survivors increased with the improvement of treatment for acute leukemia. The influence of the atomic bomb was not clear when the incidence of disease types was compared between areas. The comparison of the disease type ratio in patients of the second and third generations of atomic bomb victims with that of patients without a family history of atomic bomb exposure also did not show an obvious influence of the bomb.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28266783,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Analysis of selected designer benzodiazepines by ultra high performance liquid chromatography with high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry and the estimation of their partition coefficients by micellar electrokinetic chromatography.\nA new ultra high performance liquid chromatography with electrospray ionization time of flight mass spectrometry method for the selective and sensitive separation, identification, and determination of selected designer benzodiazepines (namely, pyrazolam, phenazepam, etizolam, flubromazepam, diclazepam, deschloroetizolam, bentazepam, nimetazepam, and flubromazolam) in human serum was developed. The separation of the studied designer benzodiazepines was achieved on C18 chromatographic column using gradient elution within 6 min without any significant matrix interferences. Liquid-liquid extraction with butyl acetate was applied for serum samples cleanup and preconcentration of studied designer benzodiazepines. The method was validated in terms of linearity, limit of detection, limit of quantification, matrix effects, specificity, precision, accuracy, recovery, and sample stability. The limit of detection values were 0.10-0.15 ng\/mL. The method was applied to a spiked serum sample to demonstrate its applicability for systematic toxicology analysis. Furthermore, a capillary chromatographic method with micellar electrokinetic chromatography was used for the estimation of partition coefficients of studied designer benzodiazepines as important parameters to evaluate their pharmacological and toxicological properties.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22693648,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Assembling neurospheres: dynamics of neural progenitor\/stem cell aggregation probed using an optical trap.\nOptical trapping (tweezing) has been used in conjunction with fluid flow technology to dissect the mechanics and spatio-temporal dynamics of how neural progenitor\/stem cells (NSCs) adhere and aggregate. Hitherto unavailable information has been obtained on the most probable minimum time (\u223c5 s) and most probable minimum distance of approach (4-6 \u00b5m) required for irreversible adhesion of proximate cells to occur. Our experiments also allow us to study and quantify the spatial characteristics of filopodial- and membrane-mediated adhesion, and to probe the functional dynamics of NSCs to quantify a lower limit of the adhesive force by which NSCs aggregate (\u223c18 pN). Our findings, which we also validate by computational modeling, have important implications for the neurosphere assay: once aggregated, neurospheres cannot disassemble merely by being subjected to shaking or by thermal effects. Our findings provide quantitative affirmation to the notion that the neurosphere assay may not be a valid measure of clonality and \"stemness\". Post-adhesion dynamics were also studied and oscillatory motion in filopodia-mediated adhesion was observed. Furthermore, we have also explored the effect of the removal of calcium ions: both filopodia-mediated as well as membrane-membrane adhesion were inhibited. On the other hand, F-actin disrupted the dynamics of such adhesion events such that filopodia-mediated adhesion was inhibited but not membrane-membrane adhesion.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":276873,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Interactions between adenovirus, a tumor promoter, and chemical carcinogens in transformation of rat embryo cell cultures.\nThe tumor-promoting agent 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate (TPA) caused a 2- to 3-fold enhancement of transformation of secondary rat embryo cells that had been injected with a temperature-sensitive mutant of adenovirus type 5(H5ts 125). In addition, transformed foci appeared earlier and were larger in cultures grown in the presence of TPA. The addition of TPA could be delayed until up to 7 days after viral injection and still enhancement was observed. Exposure of the cells to 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]pyrene prior to H5ts125 infection also resulted in a 2- to 4-fold enhancement of transformation, and this enhancement was further augmented 2- to 3-fold when cells were grown in TPA after virus infection. Whereas TPA did not enhance the cloning efficiency of normal rat embryo cells, it did enhance the cloning efficiency of isolated colonies of adenovirus-transformed cells when these were grown alone or cocultured with a 100-fold excess of normal rat embryo cells. The enhancement of adenovirus transformation by TPA appears to be due to its ability to facilitate expression of the transformed state rather than an effect on virus uptake or integration.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12034855,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Geometric criteria of hydrogen bonds in proteins and identification of \"bifurcated\" hydrogen bonds.\nEmpirical criteria for identification of hydrogen bonds were analyzed to produce a set of geometrically consistent criteria. For a data set of 30 structures, application of a set of purely geometrical criteria, along with exclusion of abnormal backbone conformations, also excluded a common interaction of Ser\/Thr side chains with Asp\/Glu side chains ([ST]\/[DE] pairs). These interactions were termed \"bifurcated hydrogen bonds\", which implies delocalization of a positively charged hydrogen of hydroxyl between the two acceptor atoms of the carboxylic group. These \"bifurcated\" interactions are among the most common packing patterns for [ST]\/[DE] pairs of side chains. Therefore, the identification of hydrogen bonds cannot be based on geometrical criteria only and requires introduction of some physico-chemical criteria.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16230148,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Is combined androgen blockade with bicalutamide cost-effective compared with combined androgen blockade with flutamide?\nTo determine the cost-effectiveness of combined androgen blockade (CAB) with bicalutamide versus CAB with flutamide in men with Stage D2 prostate cancer. Both bicalutamide and flutamide are commonly used in CAB for prostate cancer. Although the cost of bicalutamide is more than that of flutamide, it is important that the efficacy, quality of life, and side effects are also considered when determining whether CAB with bicalutamide is a cost-effective option. A decision model was created to compare treatment strategies. Survival and side-effect information was based on a randomized trial that directly compared bicalutamide and flutamide. The costs and quality-of-life effects related to therapy were determined from published sources. The incremental cost per quality-adjusted life year gained for bicalutamide versus flutamide was 22,000 dollars and 16,000 dollars at 5 and 10 years, respectively. If a quality adjustment was not included, the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio for CAB with bicalutamide compared with CAB with flutamide was even more favorable (20,000 dollars\/life year gained at 5 years). One-way sensitivity analysis demonstrated that the cost-effectiveness estimates were most sensitive to drug costs and survival (baseline survival was not significantly different between therapies). Multi-way uncertainty analysis revealed that the median value of the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio at 5 years was 13,637 dollars\/quality-adjusted life year when all the parameters were varied over a clinically reasonable range. Bicalutamide is cost-effective compared with flutamide when used for androgen blockade as part of CAB for men with advanced prostate cancer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27483095,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Overcorrection of a Medial Orbital Wall Fracture Using the Endonasal Approach.\nAlthough the endonasal approach is frequently used, and the inadvertent displacement of a bone fragment into the orbital cavity is possible, no reports have yet described the overcorrection of medial orbital wall fractures using the endonasal approach. The authors report 2 patients of the overcorrection of a medial orbital wall fracture using an endonasal approach.In the first patient, a 26-year-old Chinese-Korean woman experienced a fracture of the right medial orbital wall without entrapment of the medial rectus muscle. Eleven days after the trauma, endonasal reduction was performed. Postoperative computed tomography revealed overcorrection of the medial orbital wall and lateral displacement of the medial rectus muscle. On postoperative day 19, exophthalmos of the operated side was still observed (o.d. 20 mm\/o.s. 17 mm). In the second patient, a 25-year-old Korean man experienced a fracture of the left medial orbital wall without entrapment of the medial rectus muscle. Postoperative computed tomography showed overcorrection of the medial orbital wall and a laterally displaced medial rectus muscle. On postoperative day 4, exophthalmos of the operated side was observed (o.d. 23 mm\/o.s. 26 mm).For fractures of the medial wall, surgery should be performed according to the recommended indications. When the endonasal approach is used to treat medial orbital wall fractures, great care is required in reducing the herniated orbital tissue and inserting the sheet to avoid overcorrection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37465100,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Integrated analysis of the microbiome and transcriptome in stomach adenocarcinoma.\nWe aimed to characterize the stomach adenocarcinoma (STAD) microbiota and its clinical value using an integrated analysis of the microbiome and transcriptome. Microbiome and transcriptome data were downloaded from the Cancer Microbiome Atlas and the Cancer Genome Atlas databases. We identified nine differentially abundant microbial genera, including Helicobacter, Mycobacterium, and Streptococcus, which clustered patients into three subtypes with different survival rates. In total, 74 prognostic genes were screened from 925 feature genes of the subtypes, among which five genes were identified for prognostic model construction, including NTN5, MPV17L, MPLKIP, SIGLEC5, and SPAG16. The prognostic model could stratify patients into different risk groups. The high-risk group was associated with poor overall survival. A nomogram established using the prognostic risk score could accurately predict the 1, 3, and 5 year overall survival probabilities. The high-risk group had a higher proportion of histological grade 3 and recurrence samples. Immune infiltration analysis showed that samples in the high-risk group had a higher abundance of infiltrating neutrophils. The Notch signaling pathway activity showed a significant difference between the high- and low-risk groups. In conclusion, a prognostic model based on five feature genes of microbial subtypes could predict the overall survival for patients with STAD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28259255,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Eurycoma Longifolia as a potential adoptogen of male sexual health: a systematic review on clinical studies.\nEurycoma longifolia (EL) has been well recognized as a booster of male sexual health. Over the past few decades, numerous in vivo animal studies and human clinical trials have been conducted across the globe to explore the promising role of EL in managing various male sexual disorders, which include erectile dysfunction, male infertility, low libido, and downregulated testosterone levels. The aim of the present review is to analyze and summarize the literature on human clinical trials which revealed the clinical significance and therapeutic feasibility of EL in improving male sexual health. This systematic review is focused on the following databases: Medline, Wiley Online Library, BioMed Central, Hindawi, Web of Knowledge, PubMed Central and Google Scholar, using search terms such as \"Eurycoma longifolia\", \"EL\", \"Tongkat Ali\", \"male sexual health\", \"sexual infertility\", \"erectile dysfunction\", \"male libido\", and \"testosterone levels\". Notably, only human clinical studies published between 2000 and 2014 were selected and thoroughly reviewed for relevant citations. Out of 150 articles, 11 met the inclusion criteria. The majority of articles included were randomized placebo-controlled trials, multiple cohort studies, or pilot trials. All these studies demonstrated considerable effects of EL on male sexual health disorders. Among them, 7 studies revealed remarkable association between the use of EL and the efficacy in the treatment of male sexual disorders, and remaining 4 studies failed to demonstrate sufficient effects on male sexual health. In summary, there is convincing evidence for the prominence of EL in improving the male sexual health. The review also substantiates the use of current methodology in the development of novel and more rationale natural herbal medicines for the management of male sexual disorders.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28558720,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Associations between transition to retirement and changes in dietary intakes in French adults (NutriNet-Sant\u00e9 cohort study).\nFew studies have focused on the influence of retirement on dietary behaviors. Our study aimed at assessing the associations between transition to retirement and changes in dietary intake in French adults, particularly according to spousal retirement and baseline income. This prospective study included 577 French participants from the NutriNet-Sant\u00e9 cohort who retired over a 5-year follow-up (2009-2014 or 2010-2015). At baseline and every year, dietary intakes were assessed using 24 h records. Repeated measures of dietary intake were analysed using mixed models adjusted for energy with random effects of time and period (before and after retirement) to assess changes following retirement for each gender. After retirement, intakes of saturated fatty acids and sodium increased in both genders. Women showed specific changes after retirement: decrease in the score of adherence to recommendations and in intakes of fruits, proteins, vitamins; increase in intakes of fatty sweet products. In men with the lowest income at baseline, specific changes in intake were associated with retirement such as decrease in intake of dairy products and increase in intake of lipids. Transition to retirement was associated with unhealthier dietary intakes. These results may help defining interventions during this vulnerable life-period. This study was conducted according to guidelines laid down in the Declaration of Helsinki and all procedures were approved by the Institutional Review Board of the French Institute for Health and Medical Research (IRB Inserm No. 0000388FWA00005831) and the French Data Protection Authority (Commission Nationale Informatique et Libert\u00e9s No. 908450 and No. 909216). Electronic informed consents were obtained from all participants.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12034630,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"New metallic implant used for permanent contraception in women: evaluation of MR safety.\nThis ex vivo investigation evaluated the safety of using MR imaging with a new metallic implant designed to provide permanent birth control. The findings indicated that it should be safe for patients with this metallic contraceptive implant to undergo MR imaging with systems using static magnetic fields of 1.5 T or less.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19035482,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Inverse association of general joint hypermobility with hand and knee osteoarthritis and serum cartilage oligomeric matrix protein levels.\nExtensive joint hypermobility, lower serum cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) levels, and early-onset osteoarthritis (OA) are phenotypes of inherited pseudoachondroplasia and multiple epiphyseal dysplasia. However, few studies have evaluated the association between articular hypermobility and primary OA. We undertook the present study to evaluate this association and to test the hypothesis that COMP levels are associated with hypermobility in patients with OA and individuals without OA. Two separate cohorts were available for analysis, the CARRIAGE (CARolinas Region Interaction of Aging Genes and Environment) extended family and a subset of the GOGO (Genetics of Generalized Osteoarthritis) sibpair cohort. In the CARRIAGE family, we performed hand and knee examinations and hypermobility evaluations (Beighton criteria) and obtained sera for measurement of COMP and hyaluronan (HA). Data on COMP and HA levels and extensive joint radiographic and hypermobility data were also available for the GOGO cohort. The prevalence of hypermobility was 13% in the CARRIAGE family and 5% in the GOGO cohort. In the CARRIAGE family, hypermobility was associated with a significantly reduced prevalence of hand (especially proximal interphalangeal joint) and knee OA and lower mean serum COMP levels, both in the total cohort and in non-hand-OA subgroups. These results were further validated in the GOGO subsets without radiographic OA, in which hypermobility was also associated with a significantly reduced mean serum COMP level (P < 0.0001 adjusted for age). Serum HA levels did not differ in relation to hypermobility in either cohort. The present results indicate that there is an inverse relationship between hypermobility and hand and knee OA, and that hypermobility is associated with lower serum COMP levels. Genetic variations of the COMP gene may account for some subgroups of benign joint hypermobility.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1680688,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Therapeutic alternatives in dilated cardiomyopathy--a review of current options.\nIn addition to the underlying pathophysiological processes that cause myocarditis and dilated cardiomyopathy, structural, biochemical, neurohormonal and haemodynamic influences and interrelations promote progression of the heart failure syndrome. Independent of their symptomatic benefits, diuretics, digitalis, ACE inhibitors, PDE inhibitors and dopamine agonists exert specific influences on factors that retard or accelerate progression of congestive heart failure (CHF). Important factors that indicate or promote progression of CHF are discussed here, with special emphasis on therapeutic options. Interference with baroreceptor function (digitalis, ACE inhibitors), the RAA system (ACE inhibitors), the sympathetic nerve system (dopamine agonists, ACE inhibitors, digitalis) can potentially retard progression of CHF, while other therapeutic options, such as PDE inhibitors and diuretics, might accelerate progression of left ventricular dysfunction and CHF.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9167441,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"[Studies on Kochiae Fructus. I. Antipruritogenic effect of 70% ethanol extract from kochiae fructus and its active component].\nThe antipruritogenic effect of the 70% ethanol extract obtained from Kochiae Fructus (fruits of Kochia scoparia) and its active components were investigated on a compound 48\/80-induced pruritogenic model in male ddY strain mice. The extract (200, 500 mg\/kg, p.o.) inhibited the scratching behavior as a pruritogenic indicator. Oleanolic acid oligoglycoside, momordin Ic, isolated from the extract also exhibited the inhibition. These results suggest that Kochiae Fructus could be used as an antipruritogenic agent and its inhibitory effect may be partially attributed to momordin Ic.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36928629,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Psychotic symptoms in patients with mild intellectual disability: follow an integrative approach].\nIn The Netherlands, approximately 1 in 8 citizens (2.2 million) have an IQ between 70 and 85. Together the combination of a low IQ (< 70) and low adaptive functioning is referred to as mild intellectual disability (ID). People with ID are vulnerable to stress and psychological problems. The diagnosis and treatment of psychotic symptoms in patients with mild ID can prove to be a challenge. In this clinical lesson we present two different cases. We encourage physicians to adhere to a holistic approach. Furthermore the AAIDD model may guide structuring the analysis of psychotic symptoms. This enables finding the right treatment which may include medical treatment or emphasis on context improvement or a combination of both. Upon treatment initiation with antipsychotics, it's important to start low and go slow regarding the dosage. And if the context is the main problem, it is important to taper off the use of antipsychotics.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34403589,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Integration of Multiple Redox Centers into Porous Coordination Networks for Ratiometric Sensing of Dissolved Oxygen.\nThe application of porphyrin metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as a ratiometric electrochemical sensing platform is still unexplored. In this paper, we report a ratiometric electrochemical sensor by the integration of multiple redox centers into porphyrin MOFs for the detection of dissolved oxygen (DO). Specifically, the ferrocene (Fc) group was integrated into the nanosized PCN-222(Fe) (PCN = porous coordination networks) via acid-base reaction to synthesize the Fc@PCN-222(Fe) composite with two redox centers of the Fc group and Fe-porphyrin. The Fc group that is insensitive to DO serves as an internal reference, and the Fe-porphyrin in PCN-222(Fe) is a DO indicator. The ratios of the cathodic currents for the two redox centers exhibit a linear relationship with DO concentrations from 2.8 to 28.9 mg mL-1 and a limit of detection of 0.3 mg mL-1. In addition, the ratiometric electrochemical sensor has high selectivity and stability for DO sensing results from the Fc@PCN-222(Fe) composite. Because there are numerous redox centers, such as methylene blue and thionine, which can be integrated into MOFs, many MOF-based ratiometric electrochemical sensors can be simply developed for high-performance biosensing.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28701535,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Enhancement of phase-locking in rodents. I. An axonal recording study in gerbil.\nThe trapezoid body (TB) contains axons of neurons in the anteroventral cochlear nucleus projecting to monaural and binaural nuclei in the superior olivary complex (SOC). Characterization of these monaural inputs is important for the interpretation of response properties of SOC neurons. In particular, understanding of the sensitivity to interaural time differences (ITDs) in neurons of the medial and lateral superior olive requires knowledge of the temporal firing properties of the monaural excitatory and inhibitory inputs to these neurons. In recent years, studies of ITD sensitivity of SOC neurons have made increasing use of small animal models with good low-frequency hearing, particularly the gerbil. We presented stimuli as used in binaural studies to monaural neurons in the TB and studied their temporal coding. We found that general trends as have been described in the cat are present in gerbil, but with some important differences. Phase-locking to pure tones tends to be higher in TB axons and in neurons of the medial nucleus of the TB (MNTB) than in the auditory nerve for neurons with characteristic frequencies (CFs) below 1 kHz, but this enhancement is quantitatively more modest than in cat. Stronger enhancement is common when TB neurons are stimulated at low frequencies below CF. It is rare for TB neurons in gerbil to entrain to low-frequency stimuli, i.e., to discharge a well-timed spike on every stimulus cycle. Also, complex phase-locking behavior, with multiple modes of increased firing probability per stimulus cycle, is common in response to low frequencies below CF.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Phase-locking is an important property of neurons in the early auditory pathway: it is critical for the sensitivity to time differences between the two ears enabling spatial hearing. Studies in cat have shown an improvement in phase-locking from the peripheral to the central auditory nervous system. We recorded from axons in an output tract of the cochlear nucleus and show that a similar but more limited form of temporal enhancement is present in gerbil.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25526506,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Serum sirtuin 1 levels in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome.\nObjective of the study is to determine the human nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide-dependent deacetylase sirtuin 1 level in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). This cross-sectional study included 24 patients aged 20-38 years, who were diagnosed to have PCOS (patient group). The control group included 16 age- and body mass index-matched healthy female volunteers. The patients and controls were compared in terms of pre-prandial blood glucose, the homoeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) index, and cholesterol, triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), C-reactive protein (CRP) and sirtuin 1 levels. The mean sirtuin 1 level in the patient group (6.67 \u00b1 2.29 ng mL(-1)) was significantly higher than that in the control group (4.69 \u00b1 1.85 ng mL(-1)) (P = 0.007). Correlation analysis showed that there were no significant differences between the groups in fasting blood glucose, HOMA-IR index or cholesterol, triglyceride, HD, LDL and CRP levels. The sirtuin 1 level, which is associated with inflammation, the immune system and insulin metabolism, was higher in the PCOS patients than in the healthy controls.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25421084,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Getting by with less - the \"frugal tie\".\nThe ability to tie surgical knots efficiently and effectively is an essential surgical skill for medical procedures, especially pacemaker implantation. Device generators and their leads need to be safely anchored with sutures during implantation to prevent dislodgement and inadequate packaging in the pacemaker pocket. With most knot tying techniques, a generous amount of suture slack is required. We introduce a new technique that is a variation of the 2-handed surgical square knot and the 1-handed surgeon's knot that allows one to finish or tie a knot when left with little slack.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17889768,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Corneal interface contamination during laser in situ keratomileusis.\nTo measure the rate of corneal interface contamination during laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK), determine probable sources of the contamination, and evaluate how the cornea reacts to the contamination. Department of Ophthalmology, Baqyatallah Hospital, Baqyatallah University, Tehran, Iran. In this case series, 200 eyes were evaluated for the corneal interface contamination at the end of LASIK. Cultures were taken from the upper and lower eyelid margins and the inferior fornices before surgery and from the corneal interface and the instrument at the end of surgery. Media were cultured at 37 degrees C for 14 days under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. Bacteria from positive cultures were isolated and identified by biochemical procedures to determine the species of the organisms. The rate of contamination was 24.5%. The most common retrieved organism was Staphylococcus epidermidis (43 cases, 87.7%). None of the contaminated or noncontaminated cases developed corneal ulcers; however, 2 eyes developed diffuse lamellar keratitis. The corneal stroma has the ability to clear introduced microorganisms during LASIK.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18603949,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sinonasal inverted papilloma in eastern part of Nepal.\nTo evaluate the clinicopathological profile of sinonasal inverted papilloma in a tertiary referral center in eastern part of Nepal. A prospective study consisting of total 28 histologically proven cases of sinonasal inverted papilloma was conducted in the ENT department of the center. The study period was from April 2002 to November 2005. Out of 28 cases studied, 21 were males and 7 were females with male to female ratio of 3:1. The highest incidence was seen in the 5th and 6th decades of life. The duration of symptoms varied from 5 months to 20 years with mean duration of 3.9 years. The lateral nasal wall and nasal cavity involvement was seen in all 28 cases. Maxillary sinus was involved in 27(96.4%) subjects followed by ethmoid (20), sphenoid (10) and the frontal sinus (7). The principle presenting symptom was nasal obstruction seen in 96.4% of the patients. Twenty two cases were treated by lateral rhinotomy with medial maxillectomy while, orbital exenteration was done in two cases. Associated carcinoma was noticed in 10.15% of all the subjects studied. Sinonasal papilloma mostly presented in fifth to six decades of life mainly affecting the male patients. Majority of the patients were treated by lateral Rhinotomy with medial maxillectomy surgery. Early presentation would have given chances for endoscopic surgery.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17893609,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Atorvastatin donor pretreatment prevents ischemia\/reperfusion injury in renal transplantation in rats: possible role for aldose-reductase inhibition.\nThe aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of donor pretreatment with atorvastatin on ischemia\/reperfusion (I\/R) injury in renal transplantation in rats. Donor rats were pretreated orally with atorvastatin or vehicle 2 days prior to explantation. Kidneys were stored for 24 hr at 4 degrees C in University of Wisconsin solution and transplanted into isogeneic or allogeneic recipients. Donor treatment with atorvastatin improved initial graft function, reduced renal inflammation, and the number of TUNEL-positive cells in renal tissue after prolonged cold storage and isogeneic transplantation. In the allogeneic transplantation model, donor treatment with atorvastatin reduced renal inflammation in grafts harvested after 5 days, but no improvement of long-term graft survival (24 weeks) could be observed. A genome wide gene expression profile of donor kidneys from atorvastatin treated or vehicle treated rats revealed a fivefold downregulation of aldose reductase in all atorvastatin treated animals (P<0.01). Donor treatment with an aldose-reductase inhibitor improved kidney function and reduced renal inflammation after prolonged cold storage and isogeneic transplantation. Our data suggest that downregulation of aldose reductase in renal tissue might underlie the protective effect of donor atorvastatin treatment. Donor pretreatment with a statin or an aldose reductase inhibitor could offer a new treatment strategy to prevent transplantation associated tissue injury.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25518529,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Influence of diabetes mellitus on corneal thickness].\nUltrastructural changes in corneas of patients with diabetes mellitus have been previously described. The aim of this study was to compare central corneal thickness (CDR) values in diabetic patients without retinopa- thy at the stage of diabetic nonproliferative and proliferative retinopathy and CDR in a control group of healthy subjects. The study included 121 diabetic patients and 125 healthy subjects matched according to gender and age. Each patient underwent ophthalmological examination involving a dilated fundus examination and CDR measurement using the ultrasound pachymeter. The eyes of diabetic patients were classified according to Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study into three groups: without diabetic retinopathy (NDR), with nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) and a group with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). Only one eye of each subject was chosen for the study. The mean CDR value was significantly higher in the diabetic group (570.52 \u00b1 31.81 \u03bcm) compared with the control group (541.42 \u00b1 27.82 \u03bcm). The difference between the two groups was statistically significant (p<0.0001). The highest mean CDR value was recorded in the PDR group (585.97 \u00b1 28.58 \u03bcm), followed by the NPDR group (570.84 \u00b1 30.27 \u03bcm), whereas the lowest mean CDR value was recorded in the NDR group (559.80 \u00b1 31.55 \u03bcm). There was a statistically significant difference in CDR between the NDR and PDR groups, as well as between the NPDR and PDR groups (p < 0.001, p < 0.05 respectively). No significant difference was recorded between the NDR and NPDR groups (p>0.05). CDR of diabetic patients was higher compared to healthy subjects. The highest mean value of CDR was registered in the PDR group, followed by the NPDR and the NDR groups.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6732643,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The painful shoulder.\nAlthough a common symptom, shoulder pain is not always due to intrinsic disorders of the joint; it can be referred from lesions of the cervical spine or from visceral disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15265302,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Modulated fibronectin anchorage at polymer substrates controls angiogenesis.\nA set of maleic anhydride copolymer thin films exhibiting well-defined differences in hydrophobicity and reactivity was compared with respect to the capability of supporting angiogenesis of human endothelial cells grown in contact. The physicochemical surface characteristics of the polymer substrates were found to modulate the anchorage of immobilized fibronectin. This was demonstrated to determine whether endothelial cells grow as a monolayer or form capillary networks. Enhanced reorganization of predeposited fibronectin into cell-matrix adhesions and slightly elevated levels of membrane-type matrix metalloproteinase 14 (MMP-14) occurred with weakly bound fibronectin layers where angiogenesis was most obvious. The key role of fibronectin-substrate binding for angiogenesis-under otherwise constant conditions-was further confirmed by the absence of variations in the expression of angiogenesis-related integrins (alpha(v)beta(3)) and in the secretion of the metalloproteinase MMP-2. Altogether, the results of this study point at the relevance of physicochemical surface characteristics of polymer materials for the stimulation of angiogenesis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23868029,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Follicle measurements using sonography-based automated volume count accurately predict the yield of mature oocytes in in vitro fertilization\/intracytoplasmic sperm injection cycles.\nWe define criteria to predict the number of mature oocytes using automated three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound follicle measurements. Fifty in vitro fertilization\/intracytoplasmic sperm injection patients underwent automated 3D echographic monitoring by a single researcher following the stimulation procedure. Classic criteria for triggering oocyte maturation as defined in the literature were utilized. 3D parameters, including the follicular volume and follicle diameter calculated from the volume measurement, were related to the oocyte count, mature oocyte count and the number of observed fertilized oocytes. We found that when oocyte maturation was induced, 55% of the total follicles with a diameter of at least 10 mm had a volume of at least 1.5 cm\u00b3. The number of mature eggs that were retrieved was correlated with the number of follicles observed with a volume of at least 1 cm\u00b3 or a calculated follicle diameter of at least 12 mm. Sonography-based automated volume count measurements of follicle volume and reconstructed follicle diameter can be used to reliably predict the number of mature oocytes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30669042,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Biotransformation of organic micropollutants by anaerobic sludge enzymes.\nBiotransformation of organic micropollutants (OMPs) in wastewater treatment plants ultimately depends on the enzymatic activities developed in each biological process. However, few research efforts have been made to clarify and identify the role of enzymes on the removal of OMPs, which is an essential knowledge to determine the biotransformation potential of treatment technologies. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the enzymatic transformation of 35 OMPs under anaerobic conditions, which have been even less studied than aerobic systems. Initially, 13 OMPs were identified to be significantly biotransformed (>20%) by anaerobic sludge obtained from a full-scale anaerobic digester, predestining them as potential targets of anaerobic enzymes. Native enzymes were extracted from this anaerobic sludge to perform transformation assays with the OMPs. In addition, the effect of detergents to recover membrane enzymes, as well as the effects of cofactors and inhibitors to promote and suppress specific enzymatic activities were evaluated. In total, it was possible to recover enzymatic activities towards 10 out of these 13 target OMPs (acetyl-sulfamethoxazole and its transformation product sulfamethoxazole, acetaminophen, atenolol, clarithromycin, citalopram, climbazole, erythromycin, and terbutryn, venlafaxine) as well as towards 8 non-target OMPs (diclofenac, iopamidol, acyclovir, acesulfame, and 4 different hydroxylated metabolites of carbamazepine). Some enzymatic activities likely involved in the anaerobic biotransformation of these OMPs were identified. Thereby, this study is a starting point to unravel the still enigmatic biotransformation of OMPs in wastewater treatment systems.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24398636,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-26":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Alcoholic beverage preference and diet in a representative Dutch population: the Dutch national food consumption survey 2007-2010.\nThe habitual consumption of a specific type of alcoholic beverage may be related to the overall dietary pattern. The objective of this cross-sectional study was to investigate associations between alcoholic beverage preference and dietary intake in The Netherlands. A total of 2100 men and women from the Dutch National Food Consumption Survey 2007-2010 were studied. A general questionnaire assessed alcoholic beverage preference and two non-consecutive 24-h dietary recalls assessed overall diet. Mean nutrient and food group intakes, and adherence to the 2006 Dutch dietary guidelines across categories of alcoholic beverage preference were compared and adjusted for age, sex, body mass index (BMI), education, smoking, physical activity, energy intake and frequency and absolute alcohol consumption. Largest differences in dietary habits were detected between persons who preferred wine and those who preferred beer. Persons with a beer preference had a higher absolute intake of meat, soft drinks, margarine and snacks. In contrast, persons with a wine preference had a higher absolute consumption of healthy foods. However, after multiple adjustments, wine consumers still consumed less energy and more vegetables and fruit juices compared with beer consumers. Adherence to the Dutch dietary guidelines did not differ between preference categories after multiple adjustments. In this cross-sectional analysis in a representative sample of the Dutch population, a beer preference was associated with less healthy dietary behaviour, especially compared with wine preference. However, these differences were largely explained by other socio-demographic and lifestyle factors. These results suggest that alcoholic beverage preference may not be independently related to diet.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23455747,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Doloplus-2 pain assessment: an effective tool in patients over 85 years with advanced dementia and persistent pain.\nPersistent pain in the elderly with dementia is neglected and effective pain diagnostic tools still lack. The aim of the study was to re-assess pain after 1 year in a group of elderly with dementia, resident in a Nursing Home. Doloplus-2 scale was adopted to detect pain and to evaluate its adequacy to address analgesia. Thirty-six out of 90 residents were affected by moderate-severe dementia and 23 patients with persistent pain were enrolled in the study. The results showed a significant reduction of Doloplus-2 score in the observational period (p <0.001) and of its mean score below the pain threshold (p <0.0001). This case analysis confirmed the clinical utility of Doloplus-2 to detect pain in patients with very advanced age and with severe dementia. The tool also confirmed its handiness and clinical applicability by nurses in order to support a systematic pain assessment in long term care.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29376399,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of chronic beta-blocker treatment on admission haemodynamics in STEMI patients treated with primary angioplasty.\nThe association between chronic beta-blocker treatment and haemodynamics at admission in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction treated by primary percutaneous coronary intervention is not well studied. We investigated the impact of chronic beta-blocker treatment on the risk of cardiogenic shock and pre-shock at admission in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction treated by primary percutaneous coronary intervention. A total of 4907 patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention were included in the study. A total of 1148 patients (23.3%) were on chronic beta-blocker treatment. Cardiogenic shock was observed in 264 patients (5.3%). Pre-shock was defined as a shock index (the ratio of heart rate and systolic blood pressure) of 0.7 or greater, and was observed in 1022 patients (20.8%). The risk of cardiogenic shock in patients with chronic beta-blocker treatment was not increased (adjusted hazard ratio (HR) 0.97, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.65-1.46, P=0.90). Chronic beta-blocker treatment was also not associated with an increased risk of pre-shock (adjusted HR 0.86, 95% CI 0.68-1.07, P=0.19). Also after propensity score matched analysis, there was no increased risk of cardiogenic shock or pre-shock in patients with chronic beta-blocker treatment (respectively HR 0.97, 95% CI 0.61-1.51, P=0.88 and HR 0.82, 95% CI 0.65-1.06, P=0.12). In ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction, chronic beta-blocker treatment is not associated with an increased risk of cardiogenic shock or pre-shock.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27486794,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"High Spatial Inhomogeneity in the Intima-Media Thickness of the Common Carotid Artery is Associated with a Larger Degree of Stenosis in the Internal Carotid Artery: The PARISK Study.\nPurpose Inhomogeneity of arterial wall thickness may be indicative of distal plaques. This study investigates the intra-subject association between relative spatial intima-media thickness (IMT) inhomogeneity of the common carotid artery (CCA) and the degree of stenosis of plaques in the internal carotid artery (ICA). Materials and Methods We included 240 patients with a recent ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack and mild-to-moderate stenosis in the ipsilateral ICA. IMT inhomogeneity was extracted from B-mode ultrasound recordings. The degree of ICA stenosis was assessed on CT angiography according to the European Carotid Surgery Trial method. Patients were divided into groups with a low (\u2264 2 %) and a high (> 2 %) IMT inhomogeneity scaled with respect to the local end-diastolic diameter. Results 182 patients had suitable CT and ultrasound measurements. Relative CCA-IMT inhomogeneity was similar for the symptomatic and asymptomatic side (difference: 0.02 %, p = 0.85). High relative IMT inhomogeneity was associated with a larger IMT (difference: 235 \u00b5m, p < 0.001) and larger degree of ICA stenosis (difference: 5 %, p = 0.023) which remained significant (p = 0.016) after adjustment for common risk factors. Conclusion Regardless of common risk factors, high relative CCA-IMT inhomogeneity is associated with a greater degree of ICA stenosis and is therefore indicative of atherosclerotic disease. The predictive value of CCA-IMT inhomogeneity for plaque progression and recurrence of cerebrovascular symptoms will be determined in the follow-up phase of PARISK.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6363513,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A permanent tendon-to-bone suture technique in the distal phalanx.\nThis technique is used to place a permanent tendon-to-bone suture in the distal phalanx without increasing the amount of dissection beyond that needed for a Bunnell button repair. This technique has the advantage of greater strength without the problems of a percutaneous device that must be removed before full wound healing strength has developed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34406799,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Azithromycin and Doxycycline Resistance Profiles of U.S. Mycoplasma genitalium Strains and Their Association with Treatment Outcomes.\nMycoplasma genitalium is a sexually transmitted bacterium associated with nongonococcal urethritis (NGU) in men and cervicitis, endometritis, and pelvic inflammatory disease in women. Effective treatment is challenging due to the inherent, and increasingly acquired, antibiotic resistance in this pathogen. In our treatment trial conducted from 2007 to 2011 in Seattle, WA, we demonstrated poor efficacy of azithromycin (AZM) and doxycycline (DOX) against M. genitalium among men with NGU. In the present study, we cultured M. genitalium from 74 of 80 (92.5%) PCR-positive men at enrollment (V-1) and defined the MICs of AZM (N = 56 isolates) of DOX (N = 62 isolates). Susceptibility to AZM was bimodal; MICs were >8 \u03bcg\/ml (44.6%) and <0.004 \u03bcg\/ml (55.4%) for these isolates. The association of MIC with treatment efficacy was determined for men initially treated with either AZM (N = 30) or DOX (N = 24). Men treated with AZM were more likely to experience microbiologic treatment failure (P < 0.001) if infected with isolates that had AZM MICs of >8 \u03bcg\/ml (18\/18 men) than those with isolates that had AZM MICs of <0.004 \u03bcg\/ml (1\/12 men). Clinical treatment failure also was more likely to occur (P = 0.002) with AZM MICs of >8 \u03bcg\/ml (12\/18 men) than with AZM MICs of <0.004 \u03bcg\/ml (1\/12 men). In contrast, DOX MICs ranged from <0.125 to 2 \u03bcg\/ml and were not correlated with microbiologic (P = 0.71) or clinical treatment (P = 0.41) failure, demonstrating no relationship between DOX MICs and treatment efficacy. Given the rapid spread of AZM resistance and the emergence of quinolone resistance, the current second-line therapy, monitoring MICs and evaluating other potential treatments for M. genitalium will be critical.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19031043,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Congenital absence of the right common carotid artery, internal carotid artery and external carotid artery associated with anterior communicating artery aneurysm: a rare case.\nCongenital absence of the common carotid artery (CCA), internal carotid artery (ICA) and external carotid artery (ECA) is very rare. We present such a rare case in a 53-year-old woman, associated with a saccular aneurysm of anterior communicating artery (ACA) presenting with subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH). An embryological hypothesis for the anomalies of the aortic arch is proposed. The correlation between the abnormal haemodynamic stress of the circle of Willis caused by the absence of the right ICA and the development of intracranial aneurysm is discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32616627,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"National trends in bowel and upper abdominal procedures in ovarian cancer surgery.\nIn the United States, trends in the initial treatment approach for ovarian cancer reflect a shift in paradigm toward the increased use of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and interval cytoreductive surgery. The aim of this study was to evaluate the trends in surgical cytoreductive procedures in ovarian cancer patients who underwent either primary or interval cytoreductive surgery. This retrospective, population-based study examined patients with stage III\/IV ovarian cancer diagnosed between January 2000 and December 2013 identified using SEER-Medicare. Small or large bowel resection, ostomy creation, and upper abdominal procedures were identified using relevant billing codes and compared over time. A 1:1 primary and interval cytoreductive propensity matched cohort was created using demographic and clinical variables. 30-day complications and the use of acute care services were compared. A total of 5417 women were identified. 34% underwent bowel resections, 16% ostomy creation, and 8% upper abdominal procedures. There was an increase in bowel resections and upper abdominal procedures from 2000 to 2013 in patients who underwent primary cytoreductive surgery. Compared with patients who received primary cytoreduction, patients who underwent interval cytoreductive surgery were less likely to undergo bowel resection (OR=0.50; 95% CI [0.41, 0.61]) or ostomy creation (OR=0.48; 95% CI [0.42, 0.56]). Upper abdominal procedures did not differ between groups. For patients who underwent primary cytoreductive surgery, these procedures were associated with intensive care unit stay (4.6% vs <2%, P<0.01). In both primary and interval cytoreductive surgery patients, the receipt of bowel and upper abdominal procedures was associated with multiple 30-day postoperative complications and higher rates of readmission and emergency room visits. The performance of upper abdominal procedures in ovarian cancer patients increased from 2000 to 2013. Interval cytoreductive surgery was associated with decreased likelihood of bowel surgery. In matched primary and interval cytoreductive surgery cohorts, the receipt of these procedures were associated with the increased likelihood of postoperative complications and use of acute care services.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29374985,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Preptin in women with polycystic ovary syndrome.\nPolycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) patients, frequently develop metabolic complications, such as insulin resistance (IR), impaired carbohydrate metabolism, dyslipidemia, obesity. Among the new markers responsible for metabolic disorders, preptin seems to be of great significance. One hundred and thirty-four women aged 17-45 were enrolled. PCOS was diagnosed in 73 women on the basis of ESHRE-ASRM criteria. Non-PCOS group consisted of 61 women with regular menstruation matched for nutritional status. All women underwent anamnesis, physical examination, anthropometric measurements, the abdominal ultrasound examination, and dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Serum adropin levels were determined by ELISA. Biochemical and hormonal (testosterone, androstenedione, LH, FSH, estradiol) measurements were also performed. Insulin resistance indices (HOMA, QUICKI, Matsuda) and free androgen index (FAI) were calculated with the test results according to the standard formula. For all comparisons, statistical significance was defined by p \u2264 .05. Serum preptin levels were significantly higher in the PCOS group. No significant correlations between preptin level and metabolic and hormonal markers were observed. The logistic regression analysis demonstrated that serum preptin level was an independent factor differentiating the two groups. Serum preptin levels were significantly higher in women with PCOS compared with controls. This peptide might be an independent predictor of PCOS in the future.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29382608,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Metabolic syndrome, autoimmunity and rheumatic diseases.\nMetabolic syndrome (MetS) is a cluster of metabolic and cardiovascular (CV) risk factors including obesity and visceral adiposity, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia and hypertension contributing to CV mortality. The interface between the metabolic and immune systems has been of great interest recently. These interactions are regulated through genetics, nutritional status, and the intestinal microbiome. Alterations in the immune-metabolic cross-talk contribute to the development of autoimmune diseases. Adipokines exert a variety of metabolic activities contributing to the ethiopathogenesis of MetS and are involved in the regulation of both inflammatory processes and autoimmunity occurring in rheumatic diseases. Patients with autoinflammatory disease such as gout and those with autoimmune rheumatic diseases (ARD), such as systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, antiphospholipid syndrome, ankylosing spondylitis and vasculitis among others, have increased prevalence of MetS. Despite recent advances in treatment of ARD, incidence of CVD remains high. MetS and altered secretion patterns of proinflammatory adipokines could be the link between CVDs and ARD. In addition, in ARD the activation of proinflammatory signalling pathways results in the induction of several biological markers of chronic inflammation contributing to CVD. In the present paper, we review recent evidences of the interactions between MetS and ARD, as well as novel therapeutic targets.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23436224,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Diversification and senescence of Foxp3+ regulatory T cells during experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.\nThe fate of Foxp3(+) regulatory T (Treg) cells responding during autoimmunity is not well defined. We observed a marked elevation in KLRG1(+) (where KLRG1 stands for killer cell lectin-like receptor G1) CNS-infiltrating Treg cells in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), and assessed their origin and properties. KLRG1(+) Treg cells showed increased activation marker expression, Foxp3 and CD25 levels, and more rapid cell cycling than KLRG1(-) cells. KLRG1(-) Treg cells converted into KLRG1(+) cells and this was increased in autoimmune inflammation. Conversion was unidirectional; KLRG1(+) Treg cells did not revert to a KLRG1(-) state. KLRG1(+) but notKLRG1(-) Treg cells survived poorly, indicative of terminal differentiation. This was associated with diminished BCL2 and increased apoptosis of isolated cells. KLRG1 was also upregulated on iTreg cells after transfer and EAE induction or on iTreg cells developing spontaneously during EAE. KLRG1(+) Treg cells produced more IL-10 and had altered effector cytokine production compared with their KLRG1(-) counterparts. Despite their differences, KLRG1(+) and KLRG1(-) Treg cells proved similarly potent in suppressing EAE. KLRG1(+) and KLRG1(-) populations were phenotypically heterogeneous, with the extent and pattern of activation marker expression dependent both on cellular location and inflammation. Our results support an extensive diversification of Treg cells during EAE, and associate KLRG1 with altered Treg-cell function and senescence.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37848039,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Experimental validation in a neutron exposure frame of the MINAS TIRITH for cell damage simulation.\nIn the domains of medicine and space exploration, refining risk assessment models for protecting healthy tissue from ionizing radiation is crucial. Understanding radiation-induced effects requires biological experimentations at the cellular population level and the cellular scale modeling using Monte Carlo track structure codes. We present MINAS TIRITH, a tool using Geant4-DNA Monte Carlo-generated databases to study DNA damage distribution at the cell population scale. It introduces a DNA damage location module and proposes a method to convert double-strand breaks (DSB) into DNA Damage Response foci. We evaluate damage location precision and DSB-foci conversion parameters. MINAS TIRITH's accuracy is validated against\u03b3-H2AX foci distribution from cell population exposed to monoenergetic neutron beams (2.5 or 15.1 MeV) under different configurations, yielding mixed radiation fields. Strong agreement between simulation and experimental results was found demonstrating MINAS TIRITH's predictive precision in radiation-induced DNA damage topology. Additionally, modeling intercellular damage variability within a population subjected to a specific macroscopic dose identifies subpopulations, enhancing realistic fate models. This approach advances our understanding of radiation-induced effects on cellular systems for risk assessment improvement.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16219820,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Fiber density index correlates with reduced fractional anisotropy in white matter of patients with glioblastoma.\nA quantitative description of white matter fiber attenuation, the fiber density index (FDi) is described. This measure is derived from quantitative analysis of diffusion tensor imaging and reveals an index of the number of fiber paths traversing a region of interest. In this report, FDi is computed in 10 patients with glioblastoma multiforme, in white matter that is peritumoral and contralateral. FDi is shown to correlate significantly with fractional anisotropy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20376318,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"TiArA: a virtual appliance for the analysis of Tiling Array data.\nGenomic tiling arrays have been described in the scientific literature since 2003, yet there is a shortage of user-friendly applications available for their analysis. Tiling Array Analyzer (TiArA) is a software program that provides a user-friendly graphical interface for the background subtraction, normalization, and summarization of data acquired through the Affymetrix tiling array platform. The background signal is empirically measured using a group of nonspecific probes with varying levels of GC content and normalization is performed to enforce a common dynamic range. TiArA is implemented as a standalone program for Linux systems and is available as a cross-platform virtual machine that will run under most modern operating systems using virtualization software such as Sun VirtualBox or VMware. The software is available as a Debian package or a virtual appliance at http:\/\/purl.org\/NET\/tiara.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23451111,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"MDM2 SNP309 rs2279744 polymorphism and gastric cancer risk: a meta-analysis.\nMDM2 is a major negative regulator of p53, and a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the MDM2 promoter region SNP309 has been demonstrated to be associated with an increased MDM2 expression and a significantly earlier age of onset of several tumors, including gastric cancer. Several studies were published to evaluate the association between SNP309 and gastric cancer risk. However, the results remain conflicting rather than conclusive. The aim of this study was to assess the association between the MDM2 SNP309 polymorphism and gastric risk. We performed a meta-analysis to investigate this relationship. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to assess the strength of the association. The pooled ORs were performed for codominant model, dominant model, and recessive model, respectively. Five published case-control studies, including 1,621 gastric cancer cases and 2,639 controls were identified. We found that the MDM2 SNP309 polymorphism was associated with a significantly increased risk of gastric cancer risk when all studies were pooled into the meta-analysis (GG versus TT, OR = 1.54; 95%CI = 1.04-2.29, and GG versus GT\/TT, OR = 1.49, 95%CI = 1.30-1.72). Furthermore, Egger's test did not show any evidence of publication bias (P = 0.799 for GG versus TT). Our results suggest that the MDM2 SNP309 polymorphism may be a low-penetrant risk factor for the development of gastric cancer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20351336,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Which patients with cancer die at home? A study of six European countries using death certificate data.\nThis study examines the proportion of cancer deaths occurring at home in six European countries in relation to illness and to demographic and health care factors. Death certificate data of all cancer-related deaths in 2002 in Italy and 2003 in Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, England, and Wales (N = 238,216) were linked with regional health care and area statistics. Multivariate binomial logistic regressions were performed to examine factors associated with dying at home. The percentage of all cancer deaths occurring at home was 12.8 in Norway, 22.1 in England, 22.7 in Wales, 27.9 in Belgium, 35.8 in Italy, and 45.4 in the Netherlands. Having solid cancers and being married increased the chances of dying at home in all countries. Being older and being a woman decreased the chances of dying at home, except in Italy where the opposite was the case. A higher educational attainment was associated with better chances of dying at home in Belgium, Italy, and Norway (countries where information on educational attainment was available). Better chances of dying at home were also associated with living in less urbanized areas in all countries but England. The number of hospital and care home beds seemed not to be universally strong predictors of dying at home. There are large country differences in the proportion of patients with cancer dying at home, and these seem influenced by country-specific cultural, social, and health care factors. Alongside cross-national differences, country-specific aspects need to be considered in the development of policy strategies facilitating home death.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12039900,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Penetration of telithromycin (HMR 3647), a new ketolide antimicrobial, into inflammatory blister fluid following oral administration.\nThe penetration of telithromycin (HMR 3647), a novel ketolide antimicrobial, has been assessed in an open, single-dose study in eight healthy male subjects. Following a single, oral, 600 mg dose the mean ratio of the concentration of telithromycin in blister fluid over plasma was 1.38. Significant blister fluid concentrations were maintained up to 24 h post-dose. These results indicate that telithromycin penetrates well into inflammatory extracellular fluid, achieving high and sustained concentrations in this medium.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25296749,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The type of competition modulates the ecophysiological response of grassland species to elevated CO2 and drought.\nThe effects of elevated CO2 and drought on ecophysiological parameters in grassland species have been examined, but few studies have investigated the effect of competition on those parameters under climate change conditions. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of elevated CO2 and drought on the response of plant water relations, gas exchange, chlorophyll a fluorescence and aboveground biomass in four grassland species, as well as to assess whether the type of competition modulates that response. Elevated CO2 in well-watered conditions increased aboveground biomass by augmenting CO2 assimilation. Drought reduced biomass by reducing CO2 assimilation rate via stomatal limitation and, when drought was more severe, also non-stomatal limitation. When plants were grown under the combined conditions of elevated CO2 and drought, drought limitation observed under ambient CO2 was reduced, permitting higher CO2 assimilation and consequently reducing the observed decrease in aboveground biomass. The response to climate change was species-specific and dependent on the type of competition. Thus, the response to elevated CO2 in well-watered grasses was higher in monoculture than in mixture, while it was higher in mixture compared to monoculture for forbs. On the other hand, forbs were more affected than grasses by drought in monoculture, while in mixture the negative effect of drought was higher in grasses than in forbs, due to a lower capacity to acquire water and mineral nutrients. These differences in species-level growth responses to CO2 and drought may lead to changes in the composition and biodiversity of the grassland plant community in future climate conditions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29363733,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Generation of specific antisera directed against D-amino acids: focus on the neuroanatomical distribution of D-glutamate and other D-amino acids.\nThis review updates the findings about the anatomical distribution (using immunohistochemical techniques) and possible functions of D-glutamate in the central nervous system of mammals, as well as compares the distribution of D-glutamate with the distribution of the most studied D-amino acids: D-serine and D-aspartate. The protocol used to obtain highly specific antisera directed against D-amino acids is also reported. Immunoreactivity for D-glutamate was found in dendrites and cell bodies, but not in nerve fibers. Perikarya containing D-glutamate were found in the mesencephalon and thalamus. The highest density of cell bodies was found in the dorsal raphe nucleus, the mesencephalic central grey matter, the superior colliculus, and in the subparafascicular thalamic nucleus. In comparison with the distribution of immunoreactive cell bodies containing D-serine or D-aspartate, the distribution of D-glutamate-immunoreactive perikarya is less widespread. Currently, the physiological actions mediated by D-glutamate in the brain are unknown but the restricted neuroanatomical distribution of this D-amino acid suggests that D-glutamate could be involved in very specific physiological mechanisms. In this sense, the possible functional roles of D-glutamate are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20380270,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[So-called \"dense-vascularised\" peritoneal adhesions: clinical and aetiopathogenetic considerations].\nIn the daily clinical practice of surgeons operating electively or, more frequently, in the emergency setting, within the abdominal cavity and pelvis, the detection of an intestinal adhesive disorder is frequent and is capable of causing numerous complications and subsequent reintervention. We report three cases of female patients referred to our observation for bowel subocclusion due to adhesive syndrome. After laparotomy, which revealed the presence of singular tenacious fibrovascular adhesions, the patients were subjected to immunohistochemical and receptor analysis yielding a diagnosis of leiomyomatosis peritonealis disseminata. The simultaneous combination of high levels of exogenous female hormones (hormone replacement therapy or prolonged exposure to oral contraceptives) or endogenous hormones (as happens during pregnancy), a genetic predisposition (including genetic malformations) and previous surgery (peritoneal trauma), as evidenced in our patients, all seem to play a key role in the pathogenesis of so-called \"dense-vascularised\", particularly tenacious adhesions responsible for the activation of multipotent mesenchymal submesothelial peritoneal cells. This striking macroscopic picture, when related to the anatomico-pathological description, is the basis of the pathological entity known as leiomyomatosis peritonealis disseminata.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7947590,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Audit in orthodontic practice: how well do we communicate with our referring practitioners?\nA questionnaire survey of 102 dental practitioners who refer patients to our specialist practice was undertaken to determine how satisfied they were with our current communication methods. Eighty-five replies were received (83 per cent). Seventy-two per cent felt that they were kept sufficiently informed about treatment decisions and progress. Almost all the practitioners were satisfied with our current extraction letter arrangements and with our practice of referring patients requiring oral surgery procedures directly to a local oral surgeon. Forty-six per cent of respondents noted a lapse in attendance by some patients undergoing active orthodontic treatment and 40 per cent requested more information regarding our waiting list. In general, 34 per cent of our referring practitioners felt that our communication methods could be improved to some degree, and a number of suggested improvements were made. Additional information was also obtained on referral patterns and the practitioners' own involvement with providing orthodontic treatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30304786,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Molecular Dynamics Study on the Reverse Osmosis Using Multilayer Porous Graphene Membranes.\nIn this study, the reverse osmosis (RO) of a salt solution was investigated using a molecular dynamics method to explore the performance of a multilayer porous graphene membrane. The effects of the salt solution concentration, pressure, layer separation and pore offset on the RO performance of the membrane were investigated and the influences of the number of layers and the gradient structure were determined. The results show that as the salt solution concentration increases, the energy barrier of the water molecules passing through the bilayer porous graphene membranes changes slightly, indicating that the effect of the water flux on the membrane can be ignored. The salt rejection performance of the membrane improves with an increase in the concentration of the salt solution. When the pressure is increased, the energy barrier decreases, the water flux increases and the salt rejection decreases. When the layer separation of the bilayer porous graphene membrane is the same as the equilibrium spacing of the graphene membrane, the energy barrier is the lowest and the membrane water flux is the largest. The energy barrier of the bilayer porous graphene membrane increases with increasing layer separation, resulting in a decrease in the water flux of the membrane. The salt rejection increases with increasing layer separation. The water flux of the membrane decreases as the energy barrier increases with increasing pore offset and the salt rejection increases. The energy barrier effect is more pronounced for a larger number of graphene layers and the water flux of the membrane decreases because it is more difficult for the water molecules to pass through the porous graphene membrane. However, the salt rejection performance improves with the increase in the number of layers. The gradient pore structure enhances the energy barrier effect of the water molecules permeating through the membrane and the water flux of the membrane decreases. The salt rejection performance is improved by the gradient pore structure. The research results provide theoretical guidance for research on the RO performance of porous graphene membranes and the design of porous graphene membranes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":10203969,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Executive functioning and compliance in HIV patients.\n25 adult HIV patients were evaluated in a study of appointments, medication, and compliance with restrictions on sexual activity. The Executive Interview (EXIT) was useful in assessing these patients for cognitive difficulties; compliance with medication and countertransference issues were negatively correlated with EXIT scores.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30315202,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Genetic interactions between ABA signalling and the Arg\/N-end rule pathway during Arabidopsis seedling establishment.\nThe Arg\/N-end rule pathway of ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis has multiple functions throughout plant development, notably in the transition from dormant seed to photoautotrophic seedling. PROTEOLYSIS6 (PRT6), an N-recognin E3 ligase of the Arg\/N-end rule regulates the degradation of transcription factor substrates belonging to Group VII of the Ethylene Response Factor superfamily (ERFVIIs). It is not known whether ERFVIIs are associated with all known functions of the Arg\/N-end rule, and the downstream pathways influenced by ERFVIIs are not fully defined. Here, we examined the relationship between PRT6 function, ERFVIIs and ABA signalling in Arabidopsis seedling establishment. Physiological analysis of seedlings revealed that N-end rule-regulated stabilisation of three of the five ERFVIIs, RAP2.12, RAP2.2 and RAP2.3, controls sugar sensitivity of seedling establishment and oil body breakdown following germination. ABA signalling components ABA INSENSITIVE (ABI)4 as well as ABI3 and ABI5 were found to enhance ABA sensitivity of germination and sugar sensitivity of establishment in a background containing stabilised ERFVIIs. However, N-end rule regulation of oil bodies was not dependent on canonical ABA signalling. We propose that the N-end rule serves to control multiple aspects of the seed to seedling transition by regulation of ERFVII activity, involving both ABA-dependent and independent signalling pathways.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12002625,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The everyday realities of the multi-dimensional role of the high school community nurse.\nThe traditional role of the high school based community community health nurse has changed considerably over recent decades. This article describes a qualitative study, in which nine community health nurses from eight different high schools completed a diary of the interventions and events during the course of two working days in order to identify the dimensions of their role. A short demographic questionnaire was also completed by the nurses and included two open-ended questions concerning their main professional issues and concerns. The researchers sought verification of the interpretation of the data through a focus group interview with the high school nurses. Data analysis indicated that the role of the high school community health nurses (CHN) consisted of seven categories. These were provider of clinical care, counsellor\/ mediator, advocacy and support, liaison\/referral, health promotion\/education and resource agent, and professional management and research role. The findings highlight the complex and demanding aspects of the role of the high school nurse and articulate the importance of describing the contribution of such practitioners in to the promotion of health among adolescents.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37854560,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Confocal corrected attenuation coefficient imaging in phantoms and in vivo using chromatic focal shift calibration.\nOptical coherence tomography (OCT) is conventionally used for structural imaging of tissue. Calibrating the intensity values of OCT images can give information on the tissue's inherent optical properties, such as the attenuation coefficient, which can provide an additional parameter to quantify possible pathological changes. To obtain calibrated intensity values, the focus position and Rayleigh length of the incident beam need to be known. We explore the feasibility of extracting the focus position from an OCT scan acquired with a single focus setting using the chromatic aberration of the system. The chromatic focal shift of an OCT system is exploited to achieve different focus positions for sub-spectrum reconstructed OCT images. The ratios of these images are used to estimate the focus position. Reconstruction of a high-resolution B-scan from coherent addition of sub-spectrum confocal function corrected B-scans and subsequent high-resolution OCT attenuation coefficient imaging is demonstrated. Furthermore, we introduce a method to experimentally determine the chromatic focal shifts of an OCT system in phantoms and an in vivo human retina. These shifts are compared to the theoretically expected shifts calculated with ray tracing.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12182617,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A cassette ligation strategy with thioether replacement of three Gly-Gly peptide bonds: total chemical synthesis of the 101 residue protein early pregnancy factor [psi(CH(2)S)28-29,56-57,76-77].\nThe 101 residue protein \"early pregnancy factor\" (EPF), also known as human chaperonin 10, was synthesized from four functionalized, but unprotected, peptide segments by a sequential thioether ligation strategy. The approach exploits the differential reactivity of a peptide-NHCH(2)CH(2)SH thiolate with XCH(2)CO-peptides, where X = Cl or I\/Br. Initial model studies with short functionalized (but unprotected) peptides showed a significantly faster reaction of a peptide-NHCH(2)CH(2)SH thiolate with a BrCH(2)CO-peptide than with a ClCH(2)CO-peptide, where thiolate displacement of the halide leads to chemoselective formation of a thioether surrogate for the Gly-Gly peptide bond. This rate difference was used as the basis of a novel sequential ligation approach to the synthesis of large polypeptide chains. Thus, ligation of a model bifunctional N(alpha)-chloroacetyl, C-terminal thiolated peptide with a second N(alpha)-bromoacetyl peptide demonstrated chemoselective bromide displacement by the thiol group. Further investigations showed that the relatively unreactive N(alpha)-chloroacetyl peptides could be \"activated\" by halide exchange using saturated KI solutions to yield the highly reactive N(alpha)-iodoacetyl peptides. These findings were used to formulate a sequential thioether ligation strategy for the synthesis of EPF, a 101 amino acid protein containing three Gly-Gly sites approximately equidistantly spaced within the peptide chain. Four peptide segments or \"cassettes\" comprising the EPF protein sequence (BrAc-[EPF 78-101] 12, ClAc-[EPF 58-75]-[NHCH(2)CH(2)SH] 13, ClAc-[EPF 30-55]-[NHCH(2)CH(2)SH] 14, and Ac-[EPF 1-27]-[NHCH(2)CH(2)SH] 15) of EPF were synthesized in high yield and purity using Boc SPPS chemistry. In the stepwise sequential ligation strategy, reaction of peptides 12 and 13 was followed by conversion of the N-terminal chloroacetyl functional group to an iodoacetyl, thus activating the product peptide for further ligation with peptide 14. The process of ligation followed by iodoacetyl activation was repeated to yield an analogue of EPF (EPF psi(CH(2)S)(28)(-)(29,56)(-)(57,76)(-)(77)) 19 in 19% overall yield.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27276201,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Uremic Leontiasis Ossea in a Patient With Chronic Renal Insufficiency Demonstrated on Bone Scintigraphy.\nA 37-year-old woman with chronic renal insufficiency underwent bone scintigraphy to evaluate renal osteodystrophy (ROD). Markedly increased uptakes were shown in the maxilla and the mandible, which suggested extensive maxillary and mandibular hypertrophy. CT image revealed that diffuse bony thickening and ground-glass appearance in the skull, maxilla, and mandible with poor distinction of the corticomedullary junction. Whole-body bone scintigraphy images also demonstrated various skeletal characteristics of ROD. This case emphasizes the utility of bone scintigraphy for the surveillance of the whole body in ROD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12040238,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Future developments in ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and self-blood pressure monitoring in clinical practice.\nA number of factors interact to promote the increased clinical use of both ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) and self-blood pressure monitoring (SBPM). These include the phasing out of mercury, evidence of the unreliability of clinic measurements, technical advances in automated blood pressure measurement, increasing evidence that out-of-office measurements give the best risk assessment, and a gradual recognition by payers of the clinical utility of ABPM and SBPM. Both ABPM and SBPM have been endorsed by the two major guidelines for managing hypertensive patients (World Health Organization-International Society of Hypertension and Joint National Committee VI). The use of SBPM has grown enormously over the past few years, mostly because of direct sales to patients. Although SBPM may give a better estimate of the true blood pressure than clinic readings, there are concerns about the accuracy of the monitors in individual patients. The main clinical indication for ABPM is the diagnosis of white-coat hypertension. This requires the demonstration that the blood pressure is normal outside the clinic, which can be established using SBPM and confirmed by ABPM. Even though ABPM may save drug costs in patients with white-coat hypertension, its use may also lead to increased drug expenditure in others in whom it demonstrates suboptimal blood pressure control. SBPM has the potential to reduce the number of clinic visits and also to improve blood pressure control. The ultimate validation of both procedures will be whether they can prevent cardiovascular morbidity. There have been suggestions that a non-dipping pattern of nocturnal blood pressure may carry a bad prognosis, but this may apply only to certain disease end-points. The greater recognition of the relevance of dipping status should provide an additional stimulus to the growth of both procedures. It is anticipated that, in the future, hypertension will be managed by the 'virtual hypertension clinic', using ABPM for the initial diagnosis, and SBPM with electronic linkage between the patient and the health-care provider for maintenance and follow-up.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20365337,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dynamical transitions and sliding friction of the phase-field-crystal model with pinning.\nWe study the nonlinear driven response and sliding friction behavior of the phase-field-crystal (PFC) model with pinning including both thermal fluctuations and inertial effects. The model provides a continuous description of adsorbed layers on a substrate under the action of an external driving force at finite temperatures, allowing for both elastic and plastic deformations. We derive general stochastic dynamical equations for the particle and momentum densities including both thermal fluctuations and inertial effects. The resulting coupled equations for the PFC model are studied numerically. At sufficiently low temperatures, we find that the velocity response of an initially pinned commensurate layer shows hysteresis with dynamical melting and freezing transitions for increasing and decreasing applied forces at different critical values. The main features of the nonlinear response in the PFC model are similar to the results obtained previously with molecular dynamics simulations of particle models for adsorbed layers.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9565122,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Metastases to the pancreas and their surgical extirpation.\nThe pancreas is an unusual but occasionally favored site for metastases, notably from carcinomas of the kidney and lung. The pancreas may be the only identified locus of spread, and therefore may provide an opportunity for significant palliation or even cure using pancreatectomy. To report the treatment and outcome of patients presenting with metastases to the pancreas. Five-year survey. Tertiary referral center. Ten patients with apparently isolated metastases to the pancreas were identified from January 1, 1991, to December 31, 1995. All patients were followed up until death or to September 1997. The patients had been treated previously for carcinoma of the lung (n=4), renal cell carcinoma (n=2), sarcoma (n=2), breast carcinoma (n=1), and endometrial carcinoma (n=1). The interval between primary treatment and presentation of the metastases averaged 70 months (14-24 months for lung cancer, 10 and 22 years for renal cell carcinoma, 4 and 6 years for sarcoma, 8 years for breast cancer, and 36 months for endometrial carcinoma). Metastases were initially misdiagnosed as primary pancreatic cancers in 7 patients. In 4 patients (those with renal cell cancer and sarcomas), the tumor was completely resected using total pancreatectomy (n=3) or Whipple resection (n=1). Survival after diagnosis averaged 22 months. Two of the 4 patients undergoing pancreatic resection remain alive and well 20 and 25 months after pancreatectomy. The pancreas may be the presenting and perhaps sole locus for metastasis, typically years after treatment for certain extrapancreatic malignant neoplasms. Recognition and surgical treatment can provide worthwhile palliation and long-term survival.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17183510,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Are transversion mutations better? A Mutagenesis Assistant Program analysis on P450 BM-3 heme domain.\nDirected evolution represents a versatile tool to tailor enzyme properties to needs in industrial applications and to understand structure-function relationships. Genetic diversity is commonly generated using error-prone PCR. Exploration of sequence space by random mutagenesis strongly favors transitions when enzyme-based mutagenesis methods are employed (Wong, T. S., Zhurina, D., Schwaneberg, U., Comb. Chem. High Throughput Screen. 2006, 9, 271-288). The genetic code has been organized in a manner that limits chemical diversity when a single transition mutation occurs in a codon (Wong, T. S., Roccatano, D., Schwaneberg, U., Biocatal. Biotransformation 2006, in press). Are transitions more beneficial than transversions for adapting biocatalysts to non-natural process conditions? In a statistical analysis performed with the Mutagenesis Assistant Program (MAP), we compared the consequences of transition and transversion bias on amino acid substitution patterns of the P450 BM-3 heme domain. For the analysis, we used a recently introduced benchmarking system consisting of a protein structure indicator, an amino acid diversity indicator with a codon diversity coefficient, and a chemical diversity indicator. A detailed analysis for the P450 BM-3 heme domain showed that an ideal transversion bias generates more diverse amino acid substitution patterns with a significantly different chemical composition than an ideal transition bias. Emphasis is given on the theoretical analysis with a brief discussion on potential implication of transition and transversion bias in directed evolution experiments.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31246671,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Postoperative Management After Total Pharyngolaryngectomy Using the Free Ileocolon Flap: A 5-Year Surgical Intensive Care Unit Experience.\nManagement after total pharyngolaryngectomy with free ileocolon flaps can be challenging. Adequate postoperative surgical guidelines are essential to avoid complications. Factors, such as agitation, hypotension, or prolonged mechanical ventilation, might compromise final outcomes. Herein, we describe our experience in the early postoperative care of patients after total pharyngolaryngectomy with immediate reconstruction using the free ileocolon flap. This is a retrospective review of all patients who underwent total pharyngolaryngectomy and immediate reconstruction using the free Ileocolon flap. Demographics, etiology of resection, neoadjuvant therapy, surgical time, method of sedation, postoperative use of vasopressors, length of intensive care unit (ICU) stay, time of discontinuation of mechanical ventilation, and complications were recorded and analyzed. Between 2010 and 2015, a total of 34 patients underwent total pharyngolaryngectomy and immediate reconstruction using the free Ileocolon flap. The most common cause of total pharyngolaryngectomy was cancer. Twenty-eight patients had neoadjuvant therapy (radiation). The average surgical time was 11.5 hours (range, 8-14.5 hours), average length of ICU stay was 3 days (range, 2-15 days) with an average time for mechanical ventilation cessation of 3 days (range, 1-20 days). Midazolam and dexmedetomidine were the most common sedatives used during surgery and in the ICU period. Three patients required vasopressors due to hypotension, 2 had unplanned self-extubation from the tracheostomy site, 2 experienced postoperative bleeding, 1 had pneumonia, 4 required unplanned return to the operating room, 2 had partial flap loss, and 1 had complete flap loss. Overall, a majority of patients recovered well postoperatively with minimal complications and low rate of reoperation. Our research provides a foundation to develop a risk-stratified approach to determine the need for an ICU admission or early transfer to floor care.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29557065,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Cryo-EM structure of an early precursor of large ribosomal subunit reveals a half-assembled intermediate.\nAssembly of eukaryotic ribosome is a complicated and dynamic process that involves a series of intermediates. It is unknown how the highly intertwined structure of 60S large ribosomal subunits is established. Here, we report the structure of an early nucleolar pre-60S ribosome determined by cryo-electron microscopy at 3.7 \u00c5 resolution, revealing a half-assembled subunit. Domains I, II and VI of 25S\/5.8S rRNA pack tightly into a native-like substructure, but domains III, IV and V are not assembled. The structure contains 12 assembly factors and 19 ribosomal proteins, many of which are required for early processing of large subunit rRNA. The Brx1-Ebp2 complex would interfere with the assembly of domains IV and V. Rpf1, Mak16, Nsa1 and Rrp1 form a cluster that consolidates the joining of domains I and II. Our structure reveals a key intermediate on the path to establishing the global architecture of 60S subunits.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3034957,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pituitary response to intravenous hypothalamic releasing peptides in cynomolgus monkeys treated with contraceptive steroids.\nThe secretory response of the pituitary to an iv bolus dose of hypothalamic releasing peptides (HRP) was evaluated in male and cycling (CYC) or contraceptive-treated female cynomolgus monkeys. Parenteral delivery of levonorgestrel and 17 beta-estradiol by intravaginal ring (CVR) was compared with oral administration (OC) of norgestrel and ethinyl estradiol in the diet. LH secretion was suppressed in the CVR group compared to that in other groups, and the response in males was greater than that in either CYC or OC females (P less than 0.01). Elevated plasma PRL concentrations in the CVR group during the baseline period (P less than 0.05) together with their larger pituitary weights (P less than 0.01) suggested lactotroph hypertrophy or hyperplasia compared to other groups. The plasma GH response was similar in the male, CYC, and CVR groups, but plasma GH levels increased from -15 to 0 min before HRP injection in the OC group (P less than 0.001) and continued to be higher for 15 min after HRP compared to values in the other groups (P less than 0.001), suggesting a treatment effect. Neither plasma TSH nor T4 levels were different among the groups after HRP administration, but T4 was elevated (P less than 0.01) in the OC group due to increased T4-binding globulin. The greater ACTH response 15 min after HRP treatment (P less than 0.05) in the CVR group compared to that in the other groups was associated with greater adrenal weights of the CVR females (P less than 0.05), suggesting chronic tropic stimulation. However the adrenal steroid results did not support this interpretation. We conclude that the differences in pituitary hormone secretion during these studies could be attributed to the nature of the reproductive steroid environment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16146363,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Boc-protected amines via a mild and efficient one-pot Curtius rearrangement.\n[reaction: see text] The reaction of a carboxylic acid with di-tert-butyl dicarbonate and sodium azide allowed the formation of an acyl azide intermediate, which undergoes a Curtius rearrangement in the presence of tetrabutylammonium bromide and zinc(II) triflate. The trapping of the isocyanate derivative in the reaction mixture led to the desired tert-butyl carbamate in high yields at low temperature. These reaction conditions are compatible with a variety of substrates, including malonate derivatives, which provide access to protected amino acids.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9556290,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Thoracic manifestations of sickle cell disease.\nSickle cell disease is the most common inherited disease in the African American population. Multiorgan pathologic features with a predilection for thoracic organs predominate. Acute cardiopulmonary diseases include acute chest syndrome, pneumonia, and left ventricular failure. Cardiomegaly, pleural effusions, pulmonary consolidation, pulmonary edema on chest radiographs, and ground-glass opacities on computed tomographs are characteristic. Chronic changes include sickle cell lung disease with lung fibrosis, pulmonary arterial hypertension, hyperkinetic circulation related to severe anemia, and thoracic skeletal abnormalities; the latter are H-shaped vertebrae, rib infarction, and extramedullary hematopoesis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11640640,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Not Available].\nThe widespread debate about the falling birth rate and contraception in Germany and France culminated before 1914. Physicians took a considerable part in this discussion about mental modernization. They were the first to discover and describe the concrete means of reducing births. the liberal reaction to contraception was a 'laisser-faire' attitude which dominated medical responses until 1900, in France even longer. A minority of doctors became politically active Neo-Malthusians or even defenders of birth control as a means of improving race. The majority of physicians, however, remained hostile to contraception. Both groups used this issue to improve their social standing. Arguing morally, doctors took over the role of the priest; arguing scientifically, they shared the growing prestige of science; arguing nationalistically, they presented themselves as important advisors to the fatherland.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28737267,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Appearance and characterization of fruit image textures for quality sorting using wavelet transform and genetic algorithms.\nImages of four qualities of mangoes and guavas are evaluated for color and textural features to characterize and classify them, and to model the fruit appearance grading. The paper discusses three approaches to identify most discriminating texture features of both the fruits. In the first approach, fruit's color and texture features are selected using Mahalanobis distance. A total of 20 color features and 40 textural features are extracted for analysis. Using Mahalanobis distance and feature intercorrelation analyses, one best color feature (mean of a* [L*a*b* color space]) and two textural features (energy a*, contrast of H*) are selected as features for Guava while two best color features (R std, H std) and one textural features (energy b*) are selected as features for mangoes with the highest discriminate power. The second approach studies some common wavelet families for searching the best classification model for fruit quality grading. The wavelet features extracted from five basic mother wavelets (db, bior, rbior, Coif, Sym) are explored to characterize fruits texture appearance. In third approach, genetic algorithm is used to select only those color and wavelet texture features that are relevant to the separation of the class, from a large universe of features. The study shows that image color and texture features which were identified using a genetic algorithm can distinguish between various qualities classes of fruits. The experimental results showed that support vector machine classifier is elected for Guava grading with an accuracy of 97.61% and artificial neural network is elected from Mango grading with an accuracy of 95.65%. The proposed method is nondestructive fruit quality assessment method. The experimental results has proven that Genetic algorithm along with wavelet textures feature has potential to discriminate fruit quality. Finally, it can be concluded that discussed method is an accurate, reliable, and objective tool to determine fruit quality namely Mango and Guava, and might be applicable to in-line sorting systems.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20353580,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Evaluation of the rheumatoid arthritis susceptibility loci HLA-DRB1, PTPN22, OLIG3\/TNFAIP3, STAT4 and TRAF1\/C5 in an inception cohort.\nThis study investigated five confirmed rheumatoid arthritis (RA) susceptibility genes\/loci (HLA-DRB1, PTPN22, STAT4, OLIG3\/TNFAIP3 and TRAF1\/C5) for association with susceptibility and severity in an inception cohort. The magnitude of association for each genotype was assessed in 1,046 RA subjects from the Yorkshire Early RA cohort and in 5,968 healthy UK controls. Additional exploratory subanalyses were undertaken in subgroups defined by autoantibody status (rheumatoid factor and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide) or disease severity (baseline articular erosions, Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) score and swollen joint count (SJC)). In the total RA inception cohort, the HLA-DRB1 shared epitope (per-allele odds ratio (OR) = 2.1, trend P < 0.0001), PTPN22 (per-allele OR = 1.5, trend P < 0.0001), OLIG3\/TNFAIP3 locus (per-allele OR = 1.2, trend P = 0.009) and TRAF1\/C5 locus (per-allele OR = 1.1, trend P = 0.04) were associated with RA. The magnitude of association for these loci was increased in those patients who were autoantibody-positive. PTPN22 was associated with autoantibody-negative RA (per-allele OR = 1.3, trend P = 0.04). There was no evidence of association between these five genetic loci and baseline erosions or SJC in the total RA cohort, after adjustment for symptom duration. TRAF1\/C5 was significantly associated with baseline HAQ, however, following adjustment for symptom duration (P trend = 0.03). These findings support the mounting evidence that different genetic loci are associated with autoantibody-positive and autoantibody-negative RA, possibly suggesting that many of the genes identified to date are associated with autoantibody production. Additional studies with a specific focus on autoantibody-negative RA will be needed to identify the genes predisposing to this RA subgroup. The TRAF1\/C5 locus in particular warrants further investigation in RA as a potential disease severity locus.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3043244,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Treatment of atypical post-traumatic and postoperative facial neuralgias by chronic stimulation. Apropos of 2 cases, with review of the literature].\nThis article describes the case of two patients suffering from deafferentation pain after surgery or traumatic lesions in the area of the peripheric trigeminal branches on the Gasserian ganglion. Chronic electrical stimulation by an electrode implanted in the Gasserian ganglion led to a good permanent result in both cases, within a follow-up period of one year and one year and a half, respectively. The pre-operative test was carried out percutaneously via the foramen ovale, the definitive implantation by surgery with subtemporal access. This method can only be used when at least part of the ganglion cells of the Gasserian ganglion are intact. According to identical observations by other authors, it is mostly adequate for surgical and traumatic trigeminal lesions, whereas for pain due to herpes zoster, the stimulation of specific thalamus nuclei is a much better method.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34418043,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Symptomatic Os Navicular on 99mTc-MDP SPECT\/CT.\nOs navicular bone is an accessory bone of the foot, which is mainly found on the medial side of the proximal navicular bone. Os navicular bone may be symptomatic and cause medial foot pain. We report a case of a 42-year-old athlete male having right foot pain diagnosed with os navicular syndrome on 99mTc-MDP bone scintigraphy SPECT\/CT. We emphasize on the use of SPECT\/CT in not only allocating the ossicle anatomically, but also for the purpose of evaluating an active source of pain in a region of multiple complex small bones.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28250885,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[A rare cause of febrile cervical pain].\nFebrile cervical pain is often secondary to meningitis or spondylodiscitis and, exceptionally, to microcrystalline arthropathy. We here report a case. A 81-year old man with no particular personal history was hospitalized with febrile cervical pain. Initial diagnoses were meningitis and spondylodiscitis. Clinical examination showed overall stiffness of cervical rachis. Spinal MRI showed abnormality of the atlanto-axial articulation signal, enhanced after gadolinium injection with synovial hypertrophy associated with irregular and heterogeneous aspect of the dens of the axis. Serial atlanto-axial Computed Tomography (CT) scan showed peri-odontoid calcifications, confirming the diagnosis of crowned dens syndrome (CDS). Patient evolution was favorable under nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). CDS deserves to be better known; it can mimic many disorders and be responsible for long term fever.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":2483712,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Antithrombotic therapy in patients with known risk factors for thromboembolism.\nIn about 50% of the cases of spontaneous deep vein thrombosis a congenital deficiency of an inhibitor of coagulation or an insufficient fibrinolytic mechanism can be detected. In arterial thromboembolism a connection with hyperactive platelets or with a diminished availability of tissue plasminogen activator can be found in about 70%. However, in these cases the defect which provokes thrombosis is mostly acquired and is connected with hyperlipidemia and\/or with atherosclerotic alterations of the vessel wall. A study on patients with thromboembolic tendency and detectable risk factors was carried out. A total of 470 patients could be observed for 2 years under an adequate antithrombotic prophylaxis. The occurrence of thromboembolic episodes 2 years prior to prophylaxis and 2 years under prophylaxis was compared. In venous cases thrombosis could be controlled almost completely by coumarins when the underlying cause was a deficient plasmatic inhibitor. In patients with diminished fibrinolysis there was only a partial effect of oral anticoagulants. A better result could be obtained when pentosan polysulfate was administered. In arterial thromboembolism the results of prophylaxis were less convincing. The efficacy of ASA in patients with an increased platelet function was only moderate. In addition, ASA hat to be discontinued in about 20% of the patients because of gastrointestinal problems. Pentosan polysulfate in patients with a diminished fibrinolytic capacity had a fairly good effect and resulted in a 60% reduction of thromboembolic manifestations. It is shown that an exact diagnosis of the underlying deficiency which is likely to cause thrombosis can also improve the efficacy and the specificity of prophylaxis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15248809,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mucosal drug delivery: membranes, methodologies, and applications.\nIn recent years, extensive research into novel forms of drug delivery has suggested that mucosal approaches offer a promising therapeutic alternative, especially for systemically acting drugs. Transmucosal drug delivery offers many benefits, including noninvasive administration, convenience, rapid onset, as well as elimination of hepatic first-pass metabolism. The investigated absorptive surfaces consist of the nasal, buccal, ocular, vaginal, and rectal mucosae. Among these, the nasal and buccal routes have proved the most promising to date. The bioavailability achieved mainly depends upon the pathophysiological state of the mucosa and the properties of both the drug and delivery systems. Various agents can increase the efficacy of transmucosal drug delivery. These include cyclodextrins, bile salts, surfactants, fusidic acid derivatives, microspheres, liposomes, and bioadhesive agents. The mechanisms of action, effectiveness, and toxicity profiles of these enhancers have been investigated extensively in both animal and human models.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26440269,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Spherical hashing: binary code embedding with hyperspheres.\nMany binary code embedding schemes have been actively studied recently, since they can provide efficient similarity search, and compact data representations suitable for handling large scale image databases. Existing binary code embedding techniques encode high-dimensional data by using hyperplane-based hashing functions. In this paper we propose a novel hypersphere-based hashing function, spherical hashing, to map more spatially coherent data points into a binary code compared to hyperplane-based hashing functions. We also propose a new binary code distance function, spherical Hamming distance, tailored for our hypersphere-based binary coding scheme, and design an efficient iterative optimization process to achieve both balanced partitioning for each hash function and independence between hashing functions. Furthermore, we generalize spherical hashing to support various similarity measures defined by kernel functions. Our extensive experiments show that our spherical hashing technique significantly outperforms state-of-the-art techniques based on hyperplanes across various benchmarks with sizes ranging from one to 75 million of GIST, BoW and VLAD descriptors. The performance gains are consistent and large, up to 100 percent improvements over the second best method among tested methods. These results confirm the unique merits of using hyperspheres to encode proximity regions in high-dimensional spaces. Finally, our method is intuitive and easy to implement.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16210775,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Underlying mechanism of combined effect of methamphetamine and morphine on lethality in mice and therapeutic potential of cooling.\nAn increase in polydrug abuse is a major problem worldwide. A previous study showed that coadministration of methamphetamine and morphine induced lethality in rodents and humans. However, the underlying mechanisms by which the lethality is increased by the coadministration of methamphetamine and morphine have not been fully understood. Therefore, the present study was designed to determine the mechanism of increased lethality induced by methamphetamine and morphine. Coadministered methamphetamine and morphine increased the lethality by more than 70% in BALB\/c mice. Pretreatment with NMDA-receptor antagonists, such as MK-801 and 3-((R)-2-carboxypiperazin-4-yl) propyl-1-phosphonic acid (CPP), and benzamide [poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor] significantly attenuated the increased lethality induced by methamphetamine and morphine. Furthermore, the lethal effect induced by methamphetamine and morphine was completely attenuated by immediate cooling after the coadministration of methamphetamine and morphine. It has been reported that methamphetamine-induced neurotoxicity can be blocked by lowering the temperature, and this effect might be mediated by a reduction of release of free radicals. These results suggest that activation of NMDA receptors and PARP play an important role in the increased lethality induced by methamphetamine and morphine.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20353962,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Atrial autonomic innervation remodelling and atrial fibrillation inducibility after epicardial ganglionic plexi ablation.\nThe effects of ganglionated plexi (GP) ablation on atrial fibrillation (AF) inducibility and atrial autonomic innervation remodelling have not been elucidated. Thirteen dogs were randomly divided into sham-operated group and GP ablation group. All animals underwent a right thoracotomy at the fourth intercostal space. Atrial fibrillation inducibility was assessed by burst rapid pacing at right atrium (RA). After anterior right GP and inferior right GP ablation, AF inducibility was assessed in the GP ablation group. The animals were allowed to recover for 8 weeks, after which, AF was measured again. The levels of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) in blood and atrial tissues were examined by radioimmunoassay. Immunocytochemical staining of cardiac nerves was performed in tissues from the dogs. Atrial fibrillation was induced easily in the GP ablation group after 8 weeks although AF was not observed in the sham-operated group, and after instant GP ablation. Compared with that in the sham-operated group, the levels of ANP in the blood and RA increased significantly 8 weeks after GP ablation (111.4 +\/- 18.2 vs. 175.1 +\/- 25.9; 184.9 +\/- 36.3 vs. 299.1 +\/- 32.5; P < 0.05). In the GP ablation group, the density of growth-associated protein 43-positive, tyrosine hydroxylase-positive, and choline acetyltransferase-positive nerves in the RA was 821 +\/- 752, 481 +\/- 627, and 629 +\/- 644 per mm(2), respectively, which was significantly (P < 0.01) lower than the nerve density in sham-operated tissues (2590 +\/- 841, 1752 +\/- 605, and 3147 +\/- 886 per mm(2), respectively). Atrial autonomic innervations remodelling may be the mechanism of induced AF after GP ablation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28293578,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"mHealth to promote pregnancy and interconception health among African-American women at risk for adverse birth outcomes: a pilot study.\nThe use of mobile phone applications (mHealth) to provide health education and behavioral prompts is 1 of the 12 common mHealth functions identified by the World Health Organization as innovations to strengthen health systems. Among low-income pregnant and parenting women, health education is widely recognized as a way to improve maternal and infant health outcomes, but the efficacy of written health education materials to change knowledge and behavior for this population is questionable. mHealth prompts, in contrast, is a promising alternative. A team of researchers in medicine\/epidemiology, anthropology\/midwifery, computer science\/sensors, and community-based case management created and pilot tested a mHealth application (mHealth app) for African-American women at high risk for adverse birth outcomes. We tested the acceptability and feasibility of the interactive application among women during the reproductive stages of early and late pregnancy, postpartum, and interconception. Interview data from 14 women in the various reproductive stages revealed that most women found the mHealth messages helpful. Also, 62 Ob-Gyn physicians and nurses and 19 Family Medicine residents provided feedback. Women's responses to specific messages trended down over time. Women in the postpartum phase had the highest response rate to particular text messages, followed by those in the pregnancy phase. Responses dropped off dramatically during the interconception period. About 21% of women lost their phones. Unexpected findings were that all participants already had smartphones, women wanted messages about depression, and clinicians wanted the app to link to case management for individualized medical care. Logistical challenges to app management were limitations but are useful for consideration before scale-up. This study corroborates findings in the health literacy literature that women most at risk for adverse birth outcomes need additional face-to-face support with mHealth applications.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25504218,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Oxidized low-density lipoprotein increases bone sialoprotein expression in vascular smooth muscle cells via runt-related transcription factor 2.\nVascular calcification is a pivotal stage in atherosclerosis. During vascular calcification, vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) synthesize many osteogenic factors such as bone sialoprotein (BSP). Oxidative stress plays a critical role in progression of atherosclerosis and also increases extracellular matrix proteins expression. BSP overexpression has been observed during vascular calcification by oxidative stress. However, the regulatory mechanism of oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL)-mediated vascular calcification has not yet been fully defined. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2) affects the oxLDL-induced BSP expression or not. In this experimental study, we cultured VSMCs in F12K media and then treated them with oxLDL. The expression of Runx2 and BSP genes was determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction method. Protein level of each gene was investigated by Western blotting technique. To determine whether Runx2 regulates BSP gene expression at VSMCs induced by oxLDL, we suppressed Runx2 mRNA using siRNA. Transfected cells then were treated with oxLDL and expression of Runx2 and BSP genes was determined again. oxLDL increased Runx2 and BSP expression (4.8 \u00b1 0.47-fold and 4.91 \u00b1 0.56-fold, respectively) after 48 hours. Western blotting method confirmed the increased levels of Runx2 and BSP proteins after 48 hours. Runx2 overexpression alone induced BSP expression, whereas knockdown of Runx2 with small interfering siRNA blocked oxLDL-induced BSP expression. Our results showed that oxLDL-induced BSP expression was dependent on Runx2 expression, suggesting that Runx2 is required for oxLDL-induced BSP expression.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28269240,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Automated ABO Rh-D blood type detection using smartphone imaging for point-of-care medical diagnostics.\nWe present a novel methodology for automated ABO Rh-D blood typing using simple morphological image processing algorithms to be used in conjunction with a fabric strip based rapid diagnostic test. Images of the fabric strip post testing are acquired using low cost mobile phones and the proposed algorithm proceeds to automatically identify the blood type by processing the images using steps comprising of noise reduction, range filtering and empirically derived heuristics. The ultimate goal is to provide a simple mobile phone application to enable automated, rapid and accessible blood type detection at the point-of-care.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17004423,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Risky sexual behaviors of adolescents in rural Malawi: evidence from focus groups.\nLittle is known about rural Malawian adolescents' perceptions of their sexual behavior and what would constitute an effective HIV risk-reduction program. This study explored the perceptions of Malawain adolescents using qualitative description research with focus groups. A purposive sample of 144 adolescents, ranging from 10 to 19 years of age was obtained. Subjects were then placed in focus groups separated by gender Qualitative content analysis revealed that adolescents were at risk for HIV based on the select behaviors These included early sexual debut, multiple partners, non-use of condoms and among girls older partners These adolescents acknowledged peer pressure and lack of parental supervision as factors that perpetuated these behaviors and identified two components of HIV prevention programs. For example, parental involvement and support for sexual abstinence were among the issues discussed. It is essential that HIV risk-reduction programs create ways of involving parents and of enhancing adolescents' HIV risk-reduction skills by helping them to change peer norms and to develop negotiation and assertiveness skills to in order to resist peer pressure.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37854473,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Evaluation of Different Treatment Approaches in Patients With Earthquake-Related Crush Syndrome.\nOn February 6, 2023, an earthquake occurred in Kahramanmaras, Turkey, resulting in loss of life, injuries, and the displacement of thousands of people. The aim of this study is to determine the factors affecting amputation and fasciotomy decisions in patients with crush syndrome, along with clinical laboratory parameters. The study included patients over 18 years of age who presented with crush injuries and exhibited systemic symptoms. Inclusion criteria comprised patients with creatine kinase (CK) levels exceeding 1,000 IU\/L, oliguria (urine output less than 400 mL per day), elevated blood urea nitrogen (BUN) levels surpassing 40 mg\/dL, serum creatinine exceeding 1.5 mg\/dL, potassium levels over 6 mEq\/L, phosphorus levels surpassing 8 mg\/dL, and serum calcium levels below 8 mg\/dL. Multiple parameters were evaluated, including blood glucose, serum sodium, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, BUN, creatinine, uric acid, CK, albumin, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), total bilirubin, direct bilirubin, prothrombin time (international normalized ratio (INR)), urinalysis, C-reactive protein (CRP), venous blood gas, ECG, and chest radiography. Following the Mara\u015f earthquake, a total of 3,184 patients were admitted to our hospital within the first seven days. Out of these patients, 2,216 received outpatient treatment, 639 were hospitalized in the general ward, and 128 were admitted to the intensive care unit. Among the admitted patients, 237 were diagnosed with crush syndrome, with 126 being male and 111 being female. The average duration of being trapped under debris was eight hours, ranging from four to 36 hours. In the study population, extremity trauma was observed in 84 patients, thoracic trauma in 32 patients, and abdominal trauma in 20 patients. Erythrocyte replacement was administered to 123 patients, while fresh frozen plasma was given to 69 patients, for a total of 1008 units utilized. Mannitol infusions were provided to 58 patients, while bicarbonate infusions were administered to 116 patients. Among the cohort, 71 patients underwent dialysis, with nine of them receiving hemodialysis along with mannitol. Additionally, 67 patients experienced stage 3 acute kidney injury, and 41 patients were deceased. None of the patients required permanent hemodialysis. Earthquakes are considered to be one of nature's most significant and inevitable disasters. While it is impossible to prevent them, effective management strategies are crucial in mitigating the ensuing chaos and reducing casualties. In order to achieve this, it is imperative to draw lessons from past seismic events and apply appropriate treatment protocols to the affected individuals.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17885347,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Predictors of poor outcome in patients with neck pain treated by physical therapy.\nThis study evaluated predictors of poor outcome in patients with neck pain treated by physical therapy, and sought to compare the findings of empirical data with physical therapy practitioners' subjective perceptions about predictors of outcome. This study was a secondary analysis of data from a randomized controlled trial assessing physical therapy treatments for neck pain (n=346). A baseline questionnaire provided data on a number of potential risk factors of poor outcome at follow-up. Follow-up was conducted at 6 weeks and 6 months by postal questionnaire with outcome defined separately by perceived (global) change and minimal clinically important differences in the Northwick Park Neck Pain Questionnaire (MCID-NPQ). Therapists' perceptions of predictors for treatment outcome were captured using a separate questionnaire, and the ratings compared with ranks derived from the 6-month trial data. Baseline characteristics accounted for a much greater proportion of explained variance for global change compared with MCID-NPQ at 6 months. Independent biopsychosocial characteristics included manual social class, catastrophizing, anxiety and depression, low treatment expectations, severity of baseline neck pain\/disability, presence of comorbid back pain, and older age. Physical therapist ranks correlated highly with those derived from the trial data. Significant predictors of outcome were identified, particularly at 6 months, including psychosocial, functional, and demographic indicators. Our findings suggest that physical therapists are collectively aware of the relative importance of physical and psychosocial factors in predicting clinical outcome. However, a significant amount of variability in outcomes in our prognostic models remained largely unexplained, indicating that we need to explore further underlying factors to inform clinical decision-making.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17178034,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Levels of intracellular IL-6 and IFN-gamma in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia].\nTo study the changes of intracellular interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) expressions in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) at different stages, and to examine the correlation between IL-6 and IFN-gamma in ALL children. The levels of intracellular IL-6 and IFN-gamma in venous blood lymphocytes were detected by flow cytometry in 42 children with ALL at diagnosis and at remission stage. Twenty healthy children were used as the controls. The intracellular IL-6 level in ALL children at diagnosis was 81.74+\/-9.31, which was much higher than that in the Control group (5.67 +\/- 0.96 ) (P < 0.01). The intracellular IFN-gamma level in ALL children (1.31 +\/- 0.32) was significantly lower than that in the Control group (1.46 +\/- 0.49) (P < 0.01). However, the intracellular IL-6 level (27.52 +\/- 3.40) decreased remarkably in ALL patients at remission stage (P < 0.01), but was still higher than that in the Control group (P < 0.01). In contrast, the intracellular IFN-gamma level (1.97 +\/- 0.72) increased noticeably in ALL patients at remission stage, which was higher than that at diagnosis and the Control group (P < 0.01). A negative correlation was found between the intracellular IL-6 and the IFN-gamma levels in ALL patients (r=-0.476, P < 0.05). Intracellular IL-6 and IFN-gamma levels may be used as the markers for monitoring the response to treatment in ALL patients. There is a negative correlation between intracellular IL-6 and IFN-gamma levels in ALL children.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15260288,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Research methods for promotion of lung health.\nThe goal of health research is to develop new knowledge for action to improve health. Relevant health research includes study of diseases, their causes and their treatment\/prevention as well as structure and utilisation of health services and policies to improve lung health. As resources are not infinite, priorities must be established. These are determined by the relative frequency of a condition, how much dysfunction or disability it produces and whether there are cost-effective means to deal with it. Epidemiology is the discipline used to address these issues. Using it, one can describe the distribution and relative importance of a condition (the descriptive study), identify determinants and define its natural history (the analytical study), assess methods of prevention, cure and amelioration (the experimental study) and evaluate the process and outcome of services (health services or operational research). Epidemiology addresses itself to determining causation among associated variables. Characteristics associated with causation include consistency, strength of association, specificity, dose response, temporal relationship, coherence, and experimental evidence. Epidemiology can truly be described as the 'basic science of public health.' When used strategically, it can create the new knowledge that is the cornerstone for improving the health of the whole population.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28303913,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Multiple system atrophy: insights into a rare and debilitating movement disorder.\nMultiple system atrophy (MSA) is a devastating and fatal neurodegenerative disorder. The clinical presentation of this disease is highly variable, with parkinsonism, cerebellar ataxia and autonomic failure being the most common - and often debilitating - symptoms. These symptoms progress rapidly, and patients die from MSA-related complications after 9 years of symptom duration on average. Unfortunately, the course of the disease cannot be improved by drug or surgical treatment. In addition, symptomatic treatment options are currently limited, and therapeutic benefits are often only transient. Thus, further interventional studies of candidate disease-modifying and symptomatic therapies are essential to improve patient care. In the past 15 years, the understanding of MSA-specific requirements in trial methodology has improved, resulting in a substantial increase in high-quality interventional studies. In this Review, we discuss MSA risk factors, clinical presentation and neuropathology, and we provide a hypothesis on key pathophysiological events, a summary of recent randomized controlled trials, and an overview of ongoing international collaborations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6167324,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Localization of high affinity [3H]glycine transport sites in the cerebellar cortex.\nA study was made of [3H]glycine uptake sites in a preparation greatly enriched in large pieces of the cerebellar glomeruli (glomerulus particles) and in morphologically well preserved slices of rat cerebellum. Electron microscopic autoradiography revealed that of the neurones in the cerebellar cortex only Golgi cells transported [3H]glycine at the low concentration used. Glial cells also took up [3H]glycine but to a lesser extent than the Golgi neurons. It was also confirmed that under comparable conditions Golgi cells transport [3H]GABA. Kinetic studies utilizing the Golgi axon terminal-containing glomerulus particles showed that glycine is a weak non-competitive inhibitor of [3H]GABA uptake (Ki over 600 microM vs the Kt of about 20 microM) and that GABA is an even weaker inhibitor of [3H]glycine uptake. These observations indicated that glycine and GABA do not share the same carrier. Quantitative electron microscopic autoradiography showed that the uptake of the two amino acids, in terms of the unit area of labelled Golgi axon terminals, was not additive. In contrast, their uptake in terms of unit protein was strictly additive. These observations, the first relating to unit volume and the latter to the total volume of Golgi terminals, are consistent with the view that there are two biochemically separate populations of Golgi neurons, one transporting glycine the other GABA. Saturable [3H]strychnine binding was detected in the preparations of glomerulus particles, but in comparison with those from the spinal cord the affinity was lower and [3H]strychnine was not displaced by glycine. Available information on glycine receptors, however, suggest that this should not exclude the possibility of strychnine resistant glycine receptors in the rat cerebellum.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34427513,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Split Personality of Beauveria bassiana: Understanding the Molecular Basis of Fungal Parasitism and Mutualism.\nFungal pathogenicity toward insects has independently evolved several times, resulting in specialist and generalist pathogens, some of whom have maintained aspects of their previous lifestyles. Being able to grow as an endophyte (engaging in a mutualistic interaction with plants) or saprophyte (recycling nutrients back into the environment), the generalist (broad-host-range) fungus Beauveria bassiana does not need to rely on insect hosts to complete its life cycle. The diverse lifestyles of this fungus, saprophyte, pathogen, and symbiont, provide a unique system, with available genetic tools, to examine host-pathogen interactions, plant-fungus mutualistic relationships, and fungal development. This commentary highlights overlooked pathogenic and mutualistic aspects of B. bassiana that assist this fungus in shifting along the saprobe\/parasite\/mutualist continuum. Addressing these knowledge gaps and scrutinizing valuable players driving such a spectrum of ecological interactions will enrich our knowledge of fundamental environmental microbiology and help develop new approaches to pest control and sustainable farming.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3059279,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Hydroxylation of androgenic steroids in their target organs].\nEnzymatic transformations of androgenic steroids in their target tissues lead to molecules which are androgenically more or less active than testosterone. Among such enzymes, and depending with organs, hydroxylases selectively act upon several androgenic steroids. In testes, the 7 alpha-hydroxylation of biosynthesized testosterone and androstenedione gives molecules implied in the regulation of male hormone production. In prostate, epididymis, sebaceous glands and pituitary, 6 alpha- and 7 alpha-hydroxylations only occur with 5 alpha-reduced and 3 beta-hydroxylated derivatives of 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone. The cells preferentially dispose of such hydroxylated metabolites, but their formation is decreased by estradiol. The position of hydroxylations in the steroid hormone metabolism of each tissue is shown, and their implication in hormone-dependent pathologic growths are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25525798,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Can wide consultation help with setting priorities for large-scale biodiversity monitoring programs?\nClimate and other global change phenomena affecting biodiversity require monitoring to track ecosystem changes and guide policy and management actions. Designing a biodiversity monitoring program is a difficult task that requires making decisions that often lack consensus due to budgetary constrains. As monitoring programs require long-term investment, they also require strong and continuing support from all interested parties. As such, stakeholder consultation is key to identify priorities and make sound design decisions that have as much support as possible. Here, we present the results of a consultation conducted to serve as an aid for designing a large-scale biodiversity monitoring program for the province of Qu\u00e9bec (Canada). The consultation took the form of a survey with 13 discrete choices involving tradeoffs in respect to design priorities and 10 demographic questions (e.g., age, profession). The survey was sent to thousands of individuals having expected interests and knowledge about biodiversity and was completed by 621 participants. Overall, consensuses were few and it appeared difficult to create a design fulfilling the priorities of the majority. Most participants wanted 1) a monitoring design covering the entire territory and focusing on natural habitats; 2) a focus on species related to ecosystem services, on threatened and on invasive species. The only demographic characteristic that was related to the type of prioritization was the declared level of knowledge in biodiversity (null to high), but even then the influence was quite small.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17173841,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Medical audit on asthma in an emergency department.\nTo determine the management of acute bronchial asthma in an adult emergency department. A retrospective medical audit of 46 consecutive adult patients with acute asthma exacerbations was performed. We collected information from 48 episodes of acute asthma over a 5-month period. Using classical audit methodology, four indicators were examined: severity evaluation, diagnostic tests, specific treatment, and discharge treatment plans. The least recorded severity indicators were respiratory rate (27 %), heart rate (50 %) and peak expiratory flow (20 %). Heart and respiratory auscultation were recorded in all patients and oxygen saturation was recorded in 93 %. Laboratory blood test and chest radiograph were performed in all patients. Arterial blood gas was tested in 57 %, electrocardiography in 17 %, and coagulation in 39 %. No treatment was provided in 12 % of patients. Bronchodilator medications were administered in all treated patients and oxygen was prescribed in 60 %. Systemic corticosteroids (methylprednisolone or hydrocortisone) were administered in 80 % of treated patients. Seventeen percent of patients were discharged from hospital with no change to their usual treatment. The following weak points were identified: 1) Severity assessment is inadequate, 2) use of diagnostic tests is excessive, 3) patients discharged to home with no treatment plan. Opportunities for improvement consisted of: 1) greater availability of peak expiratory flow meters, 2) individualized use of diagnostic tests, and 3) management protocols.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23443250,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Association between the endothelial nitric oxide synthase gene Glu298Asp polymorphism and coronary heart disease: a meta\u2011analysis of 39 case\u2011control studies.\nNumerous studies have indicated that the human endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) gene Glu298Asp polymorphism is associated with coronary heart disease (CHD) susceptibility, however, their conclusions are inconsistent. The present meta\u2011analysis aimed to evaluate the precise result by searching the PubMed database and using 39 case\u2011control studies comprising 7489 cases and 7051 controls.Each study tested the association between the eNOS Glu298Asp polymorphism and CHD. A meta\u2011analysis was then conducted using the Comprehensive Meta Analysis 2.2 software to calculate the pooled odds ratios (ORs) of five genetic models with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Publication bias was also explored. The meta\u2011analysis showed a significant association between the eNOS Glu298Asp polymorphism and CHD susceptibility for all the genetic models [Asp vs. Glu, OR 1.26, 95% CI 1.14\u20111.40, P<0.001; Asp\/Asp vs. Glu\/Glu, OR 1.58, 95% CI 1.23\u20112.02, P<0.001; Glu\/Asp vs. Glu\/Glu, OR 1.12, 95% CI 1.03\u20111.22, P=0.001; (Glu\/Asp+Asp\/Asp) vs. Glu\/Glu, OR 1.17, 95% CI 1.07\u20111.27, P<0.001; Asp\/Asp vs. (Glu\/Glu+Glu\/Asp), OR 1.59, 95% CI 1.25\u20112.03, P<0.001]. Subgroup and sensitivity analyses indicated that the result was robust. A weak publication bias was detected. The results indicated that the eNOS Glu298Asp polymorphism is a risk factor for developing CHD, particularly in the Asian population.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27265023,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Inflammation Causes Resistance to Anti-CD20-Mediated B Cell Depletion.\nB cells play a central role in antibody-mediated rejection and certain autoimmune diseases. However, B cell-targeted therapy such as anti-CD20 B cell-depleting antibody (aCD20) has yielded mixed results in improving outcomes. In this study, we investigated whether an accelerated B cell reconstitution leading to aCD20 depletion resistance could account for these discrepancies. Using a transplantation model, we found that antigen-independent inflammation, likely through toll-like receptor (TLR) signaling, was sufficient to mitigate B cell depletion. Secondary lymphoid organs had a quicker recovery of B cells when compared to peripheral blood. Inflammation altered the pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) of aCD20 therapy by shortening drug half-life and accelerating the reconstitution of the peripheral B cell pool by bone marrow-derived B cell precursors. IVIG (intravenous immunoglobulin) coadministration also shortened aCD20 drug half-life and led to accelerated B cell recovery. Repeated aCD20 dosing restored B cell depletion and delayed allograft rejection, especially B cell-dependent, antibody-independent allograft rejection. These data demonstrate the importance of further clinical studies of the PK\/PD of monoclonal antibody treatment in inflammatory conditions. The data also highlight the disconnect between B cell depletion on peripheral blood compared to secondary lymphoid organs, the deleterious effect of IVIG when given with aCD20 and the relevance of redosing of aCD20 for effective B cell depletion in alloimmunity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9153235,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Flotillin and epidermal surface antigen define a new family of caveolae-associated integral membrane proteins.\nCaveolae are plasmalemmal microdomains that are involved in vesicular trafficking and signal transduction. We have sought to identify novel integral membrane proteins of caveolae. Here we describe the identification and molecular cloning of flotillin. By several independent methods, flotillin behaves as a resident integral membrane protein component of caveolae. Furthermore, we have identified epidermal surface antigen both as a flotillin homologue and as a resident caveolar protein. Significantly, flotillin is a marker for the Triton-insoluble, buoyant membrane fraction in brain, where to date mRNA species for known caveolin gene family members have not been detected.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16241681,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2013-20":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Z2 topological order and the quantum spin Hall effect.\nThe quantum spin Hall (QSH) phase is a time reversal invariant electronic state with a bulk electronic band gap that supports the transport of charge and spin in gapless edge states. We show that this phase is associated with a novel Z2 topological invariant, which distinguishes it from an ordinary insulator. The Z2 classification, which is defined for time reversal invariant Hamiltonians, is analogous to the Chern number classification of the quantum Hall effect. We establish the Z2 order of the QSH phase in the two band model of graphene and propose a generalization of the formalism applicable to multiband and interacting systems.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9552459,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Accelerated conditions for stability assessment of bulk and formulated cefaclor monohydrate.\nThe stability of cefaclor monohydrate drug substance and formulated products was studied under accelerated conditions in order to provide a rapid indication of differences that might result from a change in manufacturing process or source of the sample. The USP stability-indicating related substances assay was used to assess the extent of sample degradation. An Arrhenius study of drug substance stability from 45 to 70 degrees C predicted a degradation rate consistent with that observed in room-temperature studies. Qualitative degradation profiles of samples held at 65 degrees C for 2 weeks were also very similar to those of samples held at room temperature for 2 years. Based on these results, additional studies were conducted at 65 degrees C for 2 weeks on drug substance and formulated product samples. Stability differences were observed among some capsule formulations that had also exhibited real time differences. In some studies, rapid degradation after 5 days was observed at 65 degrees C followed by a slower rate from 5 to 15 days. Similar behavior was observed for cefaclor monohydrate containing high amounts of amorphous cefaclor, suggesting that differences in amorphous content could be an explanation for stability differences observed in various samples. The accelerated conditions were shown to differentiate samples and can provide a rapid indication of relative stability.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14552690,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Change of the erythrocyte chemokine receptor binding activity in scalded rats with Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection].\nTo explore the influence of infection on the erythrocyte chemokine receptor (ECKR) binding activity in severely scalded rats. The Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into three group: sham scald group (A), burn and infection group (B) and infection group (C). The B group rats were scalded with 30% total body surface area (TBSA) of III degree, and the rats ECKR binding activity with interleukin-8 (IL-8) as ligand were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) at 1, 2, 4, 6 and 8 hours after infection. Compared to that in A group, ECKR binding activities declined significantly (both P<0.01) after infection in both of B and C groups, but they increased at 8 hours (P<0.01). ECKR binding activity in B group was significantly less at 2, 8 hours than that in C group after infection (both P<0.05). The declining range of ECKR binding activity was more in B group, in which the decline of ECKR binding activity appeared earlier (2 hours) than that in C (6 hours) group. The infection lead to the decline of ECKR binding activity in burned rats, and the erythrocytes might participate in the chemokine regulation and play a novel role in the infection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21750092,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Luminal expression of cubilin is impaired in Imerslund-Grasbeck syndrome with compound AMN mutations in intron 3 and exon 7.\nJuvenile megaloblastic anaemia 1 (OMIM # 261100) is a rare autosomic disorder characterized by selective cobalamin mal-absorption and inconstant proteinuria produced by mutations in either CUBN or AMN genes. Amnionless, the gene product of AMN, is a transmembrane protein that binds tightly to the N-terminal end of cubilin, the gene product of CUBN. Cubilin binds to intrinsic factor-cobalamin complex and is expressed in the distal intestine and the proximal renal tubule. We report a compound AMN heterozygosity with c.742C>T, p.Gln248X and c.208-2A>G mutations in 2 siblings that led to premature termination codon in exon 7 and exon 6, respectively. It produced a dramatic decrease in receptor activity in urine, despite absence of CUBN mutation and normal affinity of the receptor for intrinsic factor binding. Heterozygous carriers for c.742T and c.208-2G had no pathological signs. These results indicate that amnionless is essential for the correct luminal expression of cubilin in humans.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12019642,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Geostatistics and Bayesian updating for transmissivity estimation in a multiaquifer system in Manitoba, Canada.\nIn ground water flow and transport modeling, the heterogeneous nature of porous media has a considerable effect on the resulting flow and solute transport. Some method of generating the heterogeneous field from a limited dataset of uncertain measurements is required. Bayesian updating is one method that interpolates from an uncertain dataset using the statistics of the underlying probability distribution function. In this paper, Bayesian updating was used to determine the heterogeneous natural log transmissivity field for a carbonate and a sandstone aquifer in southern Manitoba. It was determined that the transmissivity in m2\/sec followed a natural log normal distribution for both aquifers with a mean of -7.2 and - 8.0 for the carbonate and sandstone aquifers, respectively. The variograms were calculated using an estimator developed by Li and Lake (1994). Fractal nature was not evident in the variogram from either aquifer. The Bayesian updating heterogeneous field provided good results even in cases where little data was available. A large transmissivity zone in the sandstone aquifer was created by the Bayesian procedure, which is not a reflection of any deterministic consideration, but is a natural outcome of updating a prior probability distribution function with observations. The statistical model returns a result that is very reasonable; that is homogeneous in regions where little or no information is available to alter an initial state. No long range correlation trends or fractal behavior of the log-transmissivity field was observed in either aquifer over a distance of about 300 km.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30304936,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A randomized controlled study of intervention to improve continuity care engagement among HIV-infected persons after release from jails.\nShort-term stay, multiple jail admissions and social and financial difficulties are significant obstacles for continuity care engagement (CCE) after release among HIV-infected jail detainees. However, data existing on interventions or strategies to increase post-release CCE among this population are limited. We conducted a randomized controlled study among HIV-infected detainees at Cook County Jail during 2011-2014. The intervention group received telephone contact within 2-4 days of release by a continuity clinic coordinator, who scheduled and informed the ex-detainees of their appointment date within 6 weeks post-release plus standard of care, while the control group received standard of care. The standard of care included comprehensive discharge planning, offering substance abuse treatment and provision of information on how to self-schedule an appointment with the chosen clinics. Of the 166 detainees enrolled, 56 were excluded due to being sent to prison or re-incarcerated within 6 weeks. The final cohort included 55 detainees in each of the groups. The rate of CCE within 6 weeks after release was significantly higher in the intervention group compared to the control group (58% vs. 33%; P = .007). In multivariable logistic regression analysis, being in the control group was the only factor associated with no CCE within 6 weeks (adjusted odds ratio 2.66; 95% confidence interval 1.18-6.00; P = .02). The study findings suggest that the simple telephone contact intervention significantly improved CCE among HIV-infected jail detainees.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37846628,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Levels of tPSA and fPSA and count of peripheral blood neutrophils in the diagnosis of prostate cancer].\nTo investigate the value of combined detection of tPSA, fPSA and peripheral blood neutrophil count (Neut#) in the diagnosis of PCa. This study included 238 cases of PCa, 328 cases of BPH and 303 normal men as healthy controls present at our hospital for medical or physical examination from August 2018 to December 2021. We detected the levels of serum tPSA and fPSA and Neut# of the subjects, and assessed the value of the combined detection in the diagnosis of PCa using logistic regression analysis, ROC curves, Pearman correlation analysis and nonparametric test. There were significant differences in the tPSA and fPSA levels and Neut# between any two of the PCa, BPH and healthy control groups (P < 0.05). The index N of the combined detection of tPSA, fPSA and Neut# showed an evidently higher diagnostic value than that of any single-item detection. The Gleason scores of the subjects were correlated positively with the tPSA and fPSA levels and index N, with the correlation coefficients of 0.184, 0.245 and 0.166 respectively, P < 0.05), and negatively with the Neut#, with the correlation coefficient of -0.168, P < 0.05). Statistically significant differences were observed in the tPSA and fPSA levels, Neut# and index N in those with different Gleason scores (P < 0.05). The combined detection of tPSA, fPSA and Neut# improves the diagnosis of PCa and can be applied clinically as an auxiliary diagnostic method.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14525093,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Overlapping of nonlinear resonances and the problem of quantum chaos.\nThe motion of a nonlinearly oscillating particle under the influence of a periodic sequence of short impulses is investigated. We analyze the Schr\u00f6dinger equation for the universal Hamiltonian. It is shown that the quantum criterion of overlapping of resonances is of the form lambdaK>or=1, where K is the classical coefficient of stochasticity and lambda is the functional defined with the use of Mathieu functions. The area of the maximal values of lambda is determined. The idea about the emerging of quantum chaos due to the adiabatic motion along the curves of Mathieu characteristics at multiple passages through the points of branching is advanced.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20353013,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Study of hepatic energy metabolism on rats by six cold property traditional Chinese medicines].\nTo investigate the common rule hepatic energy metabolism on rats by six cold property of traditional Chinese medicines (TCM). The activities of Na+ - K+ - ATPase, Ca2+ - ATPase and SDH, the content of hepatic glycogen, and the mRNA expression of hepatic uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2) were measured after the rats and been administrated with water extracts of Radix Sophorae Flavescentis, Fructus Gardeniae, Cortex Phellodendri, Radix Scutellariae, Rhizoma Coptidis, Radix Gentianae respectively at 6.0, 7.0, 8.4, 6.0, 7.0, 4.0 g x kg(-1) doses for 30 days, twice a day. The activities of Na+ - K+ - ATPase, Ca2+ - ATPase and SDH were depressed significantly by six cold property TCM. The decreased tendency of SDH was observed by six cold property of TCM, while statistical significance was obtained in Cortex Phellodendri, Radix Scutellariae, Rhizoma Coptidis, Radix Gentianae. The increased tendency of hepatic glycogen content was found by six cold property TCM, while statistical significance was not obtained in six groups. The decreased tendency of the mRNA expression of UCP2 was found by six cold property TCM, while statistical significance was obtained in Radix Sophorae Flavescentis, Cortex Phellodendri, and Radix Scutellariae groups. The six cold property TCM have the good effects on hepatic energy metabolism by decreasing the activity of mitochondria SDH to reduce the production of ATP by decreasing the activities of Na+ - K+ - ATPase, Ca2+ - ATPase to cut down the consumption of ATP, by decreasing the mRNA expression of hepatic UCP2 to decrease the heat production.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37662163,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-30":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Measuring calcium content in plants using NEXAFS spectroscopy.\nCalcium is important for the growth and development of plants. It serves crucial functions in cell wall and cell membrane structure and serves as a secondary messenger in signaling pathways relevant to nutrient and immunity responses. Thus, measuring calcium levels in plants is important for studies of plant biology and for technology development in food, agriculture, energy, and forest industries. Often, calcium in plants has been measured through techniques such as atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS), inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), and electrophysiology. These techniques, however, require large sample sizes, chemical extraction of samples or have limited spatial resolution. Here, we used near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy at the calcium L- and K-edges to measure the calcium to carbon mass ratio with spatial resolution in plant samples without requiring chemical extraction or large sample sizes. We demonstrate that the integrated absorbance at the calcium L-edge and the edge jump in the fluorescence yield at the calcium K-edge can be used to quantify the calcium content as the calcium mass fraction, and validate this approach with onion epidermal peels and ICP-MS. We also used NEXAFS to estimate the calcium mass ratio in hypocotyls of a model plant, Arabidopsis thaliana, which has a cell wall composition that is similar to that of onion epidermal peels. These results show that NEXAFS spectroscopy performed at the calcium edge provides an approach to quantify calcium levels within plants, which is crucial for understanding plant physiology and advancing plant-based materials.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9151214,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Conditional, tissue-specific expression of Q205L G alpha i2 in vivo mimics insulin action.\nDeficiency of the G protein subunit G alpha i2 that is known to mediate the inhibitory control of adenylylcyclase impairs insulin action [11]. Using the promoter for the phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase gene, conditional tissue-specific expression of the constitutively active mutant form (Q205L) of G alpha i2 was achieved in mice harboring the transgene. Expression of Q205L G alpha i2 was detected in liver and adipose tissue of transgenic mice. Whereas the G alpha i2 deficient mice displayed blunted glucose tolerance, the Q205L G alpha i2 expressing mice displayed enhanced glucose tolerance. Hexose transport and the recruitment of GLUT4, but not GLUT1, transporters to the membrane were elevated in adipocytes from Q205L G alpha i2 expressing mice in the absence of insulin. Additionally, hepatic glycogen synthase was found to be activated in Q205L G alpha i2 expressing mice, in the absence of the administration of insulin. Serum insulin levels in transgenic mice fasted overnight were equivalent to those of their control littermates. These data demonstrate that much as G alpha i2 deficiency leads to insulin resistance, expression of Q205L constitutively active G alpha i2 mimics insulin action in vivo, reflecting a permissive role of G alpha i2 in signaling via this growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase linked pathway.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25289015,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Biological Control of Meloidogyne hapla Using an Antagonistic Bacterium.\nWe examined the efficacy of a bacterium for biocontrol of the root-knot nematode (RKN) Meloidogyne hapla in carrot (Daucus carota subsp. sativus) and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). Among 542 bacterial isolates from various soils and plants, the highest nematode mortality was observed for treatments with isolate C1-7, which was identified as Bacillus cereus based on cultural and morphological characteristics, the Biolog program, and 16S rRNA sequencing analyses. The population density and the nematicidal activity of B. cereus C1-7 remained high until the end of culture in brain heart infusion broth, suggesting that it may have sustainable biocontrol potential. In pot experiments, the biocontrol efficacy of B. cereus C1-7 was high, showing complete inhibition of root gall or egg mass formation by RKN in carrot and tomato plants, and subsequently reducing RKN damage and suppressing nematode population growth, respectively. Light microscopy of RKN-infected carrot root tissues treated with C1-7 showed reduced formation of gall cells and fully developed giant cells, while extensive gall cells and fully mature giant cells with prominent cell wall ingrowths formed in the untreated control plants infected with RKNs. These histopathological characteristics may be the result of residual or systemic biocontrol activity of the bacterium, which may coincide with the biocontrol efficacies of nematodes in pots. These results suggest that B. cereus C1-7 can be used as a biocontrol agent for M. hapla.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27265431,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Oral health-related quality of life in patients on chronic haemodialysis and after kidney transplantation.\nThe objective of the study was to evaluate oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) depending on dental and periodontal situation in patients on haemodialysis (HD) and after kidney transplantation (KTx) compared to healthy controls (HC). OHRQoL was assessed using the German short form of Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP G14). Dental health was estimated using the decayed, missing and filled teeth index (DMF-T). Periodontal health was classified as healthy\/mild or moderate\/severe periodontitis. Mann-Whitney U-test, Kruskal-Wallis test, chi-square test and Fisher's test. Eighty-seven HD patients, 39 KTx patients and 91 HC were included. Significant differences in DMF-T, D-T, M-T and F-T scores were identified between groups (P < 0.001). The prevalence of moderate\/severe periodontitis was significantly higher in the HD and KTx group compared to HC (P = 0.002). Differences in OHIP G14 between groups were neither clinical relevant nor statistically significant (P = 0.199). A significant effect of DMF-T (P = 0.012), M-T (P < 0.001) and periodontitis (P = 0.023) on the OHIP G14 scores was identified only in HC. Improvement in dental care of HD and KTx patients is required. OHIP G14 values provide a subjectively considered low importance of oral health in HD and KTx patients, leading to need of motivation and sensitisation of these patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28739627,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Reconstruction of urethra using appendix in a patient with cloacal malformation.\nWe report a case of 21-year-old young woman with congenital cloacal malformation. She was operated at the age of 1.5 years separating the rectum from common opening as a two-stage repair. She was incontinent in the earlier part of her life but she became continent to some extent later in early adulthood. She presented with urinary stress incontinence following delivery of dead fetus of 6 months. She underwent multiple investigations revealing common opening of bladder neck and vagina. A multidisciplinary evaluation was done and she underwent closure of common channel and neourethra reconstruction using pedicled appendix. Patient was continent and voiding by herself on discharge.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37450478,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-10":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hepmarc: A 96 week randomised controlled feasibility trial of add-on maraviroc in people with HIV and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.\nMaraviroc may reduce hepatic inflammation in people with HIV and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (HIV-NAFLD) through CCR5-receptor antagonism, which warrants further exploration. We performed an open-label 96-week randomised-controlled feasibility trial of maraviroc plus optimised background therapy (OBT) versus OBT alone, in a 1:1 ratio, for people with virologically-suppressed HIV-1 and NAFLD without cirrhosis. Dosing followed recommendations for HIV therapy in the Summary of Product Characteristics for maraviroc. The primary outcomes were safety, recruitment and retention rates, adherence and data completeness. Secondary outcomes included the change in Fibroscan-assessed liver stiffness measurements (LSM), controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) and Enhanced Liver Fibrosis (ELF) scores. Fifty-three participants (53\/60, 88% of target) were recruited; 23 received maraviroc plus OBT; 89% were male; 19% had type 2 diabetes mellitus. The median baseline LSM, CAP & ELF scores were 6.2 (IQR 4.6-7.8) kPa, 325 (IQR 279-351) dB\/m and 9.1 (IQR 8.6-9.6) respectively. Primary outcomes: all individuals eligible after screening were randomised; there was 92% (SD 6.6%) adherence to maraviroc [target >90%]; 83% (95%CI 70%-92%) participant retention [target >65%]; 5.5% of data were missing [target <20%]. There were noo Serious Adverse Reactions; mild-moderate intensity Adverse Reactions were reported by five participants (5\/23, 22% (95%CI 5%-49%)) [target <10%]. All Adverse Reactions resolved. Secondary outcomes: no important differences were seen by treatment group for the change from baseline in LSM, CAP or ELF scores. This feasibility study provides preliminary evidence of maraviroc safety amongst people with HIV-NAFLD, and acceptable recruitment, retention, and adherence rates. These data support a definitive randomised-controlled trial assessing maraviroc impact on hepatic steatosis and fibrosis. Clinical trial registry: ISCRTN, registration number 31461655.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27482309,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Surgical site infection after colorectal surgery according to the main anesthetic agent: a retrospective comparison between volatile anesthetics and propofol.\nAnesthetic agents used for general anesthesia are emerging possible influential factors for surgical site infection (SSI). In this retrospective study, we evaluated the incidence of SSI after colorectal surgery according to the main anesthetic agents: volatile anesthetics vs. propofol. A total 1,934 adult patients, who underwent elective colorectal surgery under general anesthesia between January 2011 and December 2013, were surveyed to evaluate the incidence of SSI: 1,519 using volatile anesthetics and 415 using propofol for main anesthetic agents. Patient, surgery, and anesthesia-related factors were investigated from all patients. Propensity-score matching was performed to reduce the risk of confounding and produced 390 patients in each group. Within the propensity-score matched groups, the incidence of SSI was higher in the volatile group compared with the propofol group (10 [2.6%] vs. 2 [0.5%], OR = 5.0 [95% CI = 1.1-2.8]). C-reactive protein was higher in the volatile group than in the propofol group (8.4 \u00b1 5.6 vs. 7.1 \u00b1 5.3 mg\/dl, P = 0.001), and postoperative white blood cells count was higher in the volatile group than in the propofol group (9.2 \u00b1 3.2 \u00d7 10(3)\/\u00b5l vs. 8.6 \u00b1 3.4 \u00d7 10(3)\/\u00b5l, P = 0.041). The results of this study suggest that intravenous anesthesia may have beneficial effects for reducing SSI in colorectal surgery compared to volatile anesthesia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8347906,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"High transdermal fentanyl requirements in a patient with chronic cancer pain.\nTo report a case of high transdermal fentanyl dosage requirements in a patient with chronic cancer pain. Clinical studies, review articles, and relevant laboratory information. A 42-year-old woman with cervical cancer was admitted for control of her pain. Her outpatient analgesic regimen was a continuous intravenous infusion of morphine sulfate (MS) via an ambulatory infusion device. Upon admission, supplemental doses of intravenous MS were administered in an effort to eliminate the pain. Transdermal fentanyl therapy was initiated on hospital day 1 at 100 micrograms\/h and the MS continuous intravenous infusion dosage was increased. Over the next four days, the patient experienced episodes of inadequate pain control and the transdermal fentanyl dosage was increased in increments of 100 micrograms\/h. On hospital day 4 the MS continuous infusion was converted to patient-controlled analgesia (PCA). The patient reported acceptable pain control with a regimen of transdermal fentanyl 500 micrograms\/h and MS via PCA and she was discharged home on hospital day 7. This patient's high transdermal fentanyl dosage requirement was related to disease progression. She experienced an acute pain episode that may have been effectively managed by increasing the dosage of her continuous intravenous MS infusion.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37467118,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The tertiary service for psychosis: Holistic recommendations for people with complex psychosis.\nTo describe (i) the clinical characteristics of individuals referred to the Tertiary Referral Service for Psychosis (TRSP) and (ii) the recommendations TRSP made for future treatment across psychopharmacological and other intervention domains. Retrospective audit of clinical data collected during the assessment process of individuals who accessed TRSP between 02\/06\/2020 and 31\/12\/2022. Categories of recommendations made following collaborative care planning comprised psychopharmacological, neuropsychological, psychological, psychosocial, physical health, substance misuse and other domains. Eighty-two individuals were included, with diagnoses most commonly of schizophrenia (54.9%) and schizoaffective disorder (30.5%). The median PANSS score was 88.0 (73-100). Social occupational functioning was very poor (SOFAS M = 37.0, SD = 15.1). Cognitive functioning was poor (RBANS: M = 74.6; SD: 15.0). 67.1% had physical health comorbidities, with high prevalence of smoking (52.4%) and substance misuse (25.6%). Psychopharmacological recommendations (made for 81.7%) included clozapine trial (25.6%), clozapine dose change\/augmentation (22.0%) and rationalisation of polypharmacy (12.2%). Neuropsychological (73.2%), psychological (39.0%) and psychosocial (85.4%) recommendations included access to cognitive remediation, psychological therapy and disability support. Physical health and substance misuse interventions were recommended for 91.5% and 20.7%, respectively. Individuals referred to the TRSP had marked clinical and functional impairments. Holistic collaborative care planning complemented psychopharmacological interventions with psychological, psychosocial and physical healthcare recommendations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36929827,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Feasibility Study of Cord Tissue Derived Mesenchymal Stromal Cells in COVID-19-Related Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.\nTreatment options for patients with COVID-19-related acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) are desperately needed. Allogeneic human umbilical cord derived mesenchymal stromal cells (hCT-MSCs) have potential therapeutic benefits in these critically ill patients, but feasibility and safety data are lacking. In this phase I multisite study, 10 patients with COVID-19-related ARDS were treated with 3 daily intravenous infusions of hCT-MSCs (1 million cells\/kg, maximum dose 100 million cells). The primary endpoint assessed safety. Ten patients (7 females, 3 males; median age 62 years (range 39-79)) were enrolled at 2 sites and received a total of 30 doses of study product. The average cell dose was 0.93 cells\/kg (range 0.56-1.45 cells\/kg and total dose range 55-117 million cells) with 5\/30 (17%) of doses lower than intended dose. Average cell viability was 85% (range 63%-99%) with all but one meeting the >70% release criteria. There were no infusion-related reactions or study-related adverse events, 28 non-serious adverse events in 3 unique patients, and 2 serious adverse events in 2 unique patients, which were expected and unrelated to the study product. Five patients died: 3 by day 28 and 5 by day 90 of the study (median 27 days, range 7-76 days). All deaths were determined to be unrelated to the hCT-MSCs. We were able to collect relevant safety outcomes for the use of hCT-MSCs in patients with COVID-19-related ARDS. Future studies to explore their safety and efficacy are warranted.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6363547,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-22":1}}},"text":"Antigen and antibody attachment in ELISA for Aspergillus fumigatus IgG antibodies.\nFour commercial antigen extracts of Aspergillus fumigatus were evaluated for use in a rapid enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for anti-A. fumigatus IgG. Initial binding of both somatic and culture filtrate preparations to a polyvinyl chloride solid phase was concentration dependent and increased with incubation time. Antigen binding to the solid phase was reproducible. Binding of A. fumigatus precipitin-positive serum to bound antigen was rapid. All four A. fumigatus antigens demonstrated similar dose-response curves when tested against pooled sera containing a high titre of A. fumigatus antibodies. Detectable activity in precipitin test-negative sera decreased rapidly with dilution. All the antigen preparations were found to be suitable for ELISA procedures and permit the rapid determination of IgG antibodies to A. fumigatus.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":278595,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Acute traumatic tetraplegia during pregnancy.\nA case of acute traumatic tetraplegia during pregnancy resulting in maternal death is presented, and problems of management are discussed. Difficulties experienced by the mother were intractable urinary tract infection and respiratory insufficiency; those in the neonate were prematurity and the effects of drugs administered to the mother.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14530907,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Characterization of the transport of the bicyclic peptide phalloidin by human hepatic transport proteins.\nPhalloidin, the major phallotoxin of the mushroom Amanita phalloides, enters hepatocytes by a carrier-mediated mechanism. The molecular identity of the transport proteins mediating phalloidin uptake was so far unknown. Earlier studies in rat liver indicated that phalloidin may share a common mechanism of uptake with organic anions like bile salts. In the current study on human transporters, we analyzed the uptake of phalloidin into transfected HEK293 cells stably expressing the recombinant hepatocyte-specific organic anion uptake transporters OATP2 (also termed OATP1B1, OATP-C, LST1, symbol SLC21A6) or OATP8 (OATP1B3 or SLC21A8). Time-dependent uptake of phalloidin was observed with SLC21A6-expressing cells and was inhibited by typical substrates of SLC21A6 such as bromosulfophthalein or cholyltaurine. A K(m) value of 39+\/-11 micro M was determined for SLC21A6-mediated phalloidin uptake. Additional inhibitors of phalloidin uptake mediated by SLC21A6 included the immunosuppressive drugs cyclosporin A, FK506, and rapamycin, whereas alpha-amanitin was only a weak inhibitor. Cyclosporin A was a most potent competitive inhibitor for SLC21A6-mediated phalloidin transport with a K(i) value of 51 nM.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9567413,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"[Avulsion of the skin of the penis and scrotum].\nThe authors present a case report of traumatic avulsion of the skin of the penis and scrotum. Surgical treatment was performed in one surgical stage a few hours after the accident. The skin repair of the penis was carried out with a skin graft, while scrotum reconstruction was performed with fasciocutaneous flaps of the inner face of the thighs, with supero-medial pedicle, achieving a good result. The authors justify their choice of procedure, also mentioning the other methods most employed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24389854,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Full open-framework batteries for stationary energy storage.\nNew types of energy storage are needed in conjunction with the deployment of renewable energy sources and their integration with the electrical grid. We have recently introduced a family of cathodes involving the reversible insertion of cations into materials with the Prussian Blue open-framework crystal structure. Here we report a newly developed manganese hexacyanomanganate open-framework anode that has the same crystal structure. By combining it with the previously reported copper hexacyanoferrate cathode we demonstrate a safe, fast, inexpensive, long-cycle life aqueous electrolyte battery, which involves the insertion of sodium ions. This high rate, high efficiency cell shows a 96.7% round trip energy efficiency when cycled at a 5C rate and an 84.2% energy efficiency at a 50C rate. There is no measurable capacity loss after 1,000 deep-discharge cycles. Bulk quantities of the electrode materials can be produced by a room temperature chemical synthesis from earth-abundant precursors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20351869,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A systematic approach to using case studies in health informatics education.\nThe complexity of health informatics (HI) projects necessitates a solid base of skills and knowledge in a variety of different fields. Case studies are an excellent way to introduce this complexity without overwhelming students. This paper makes a contribution to HI education by presenting a systematic approach to introducing HI concepts to future health informatics professionals (HIPs) and to health care professionals and administrators who need a solid grounding to participate in HI projects.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23867814,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Leisure time physical activity and mortality.\nSome studies indicate that a large part of the beneficial effect of physical activity on mortality is confined to a threshold effect of participation. Self-reported physical activity was investigated in relation to all-cause mortality in the Danish Diet, Cancer and Health cohort, including 29,129 women and 26,576 men aged 50-64 years at baseline 1993-1997. Using Cox proportional hazards models we investigated the associations between mortality rate and leisure time physical activity by exploring 1) participation (yes\/no) in each type of activity; 2) a simple dose-response relationship with hours spent on each activity, supplemented with indicators of participation in each activity; and 3) inflexion or nonmonotonic dose-response relationships using linear splines. A total of 2696 women and 4044 men died through March 2010. We found lower mortality with participation in sports (for women, mortality rate ratio = 0.75, 95% confidence interval = 0.69-0.81; for men, 0.78, 0.73-0.84), cycling (for women, 0.77, 0.71-0.84; for men, 0.90, 0.84-0.96), or gardening (for women, 0.84, 0.78-0.91; for men, 0.73, 0.68-0.79) and in men participating in do-it-yourself activity (0.77, 0.71-0.84). A weak adverse dose response was seen for walking and gardening, but the association was small (1-2% increase in mortality per additional hour). We found no signs of inflexion or nonmonotonic effects of additional hours spent on each activity. Mortality was lower with participation in specific leisure time physical activities, but not with more time spent on those activities. This could suggest that avoiding a sedative lifestyle is more important than a high volume of activity. Nonparticipation in these types of physical activity may be considered as risk factors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25405417,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Comparison of conventional and sustained delivery of antioxidants to suppress the caov-3 cell lin in ovarian cancer.\nThe objective of this study was to investigate the synergistic effect of Thymoquinone (TQ) and Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) using Caov-3 cell line as a model. A total of 144 wells were plated with 10^5 Caov-3 ovarian cancer cells. The wells were divided into groups of 72 wells for conventional and sustained delivery, respectively. Each group was subdivided into 4 groups of 6 wells. Group 1 served as control and groups 2, 3, and 4 were treated with TQ (16 \u00b5M), EGCG (3 \u00b5g\/ml), and TQ plus EGCG, respectively. Biomarkers evaluations were performed following standard lab techniques. The results of the study revealed: conventional delivery of TQ, EGCG, and the combination did not induce intracellular oxidative stress (glutathione levels) at 24, 48, and 72 hours; however, sustained delivery of all agents showed significant difference from the control at 72 hours; and there was no significant difference at 24 and 48 hours. Overall conclusion: the route of potent agents to manipulate ovarian cancer cells is highly dependent on the route of administration.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6720242,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Contribution of the superior atrioventricular cushion to the left ventricular infundibulum. Experimental study on the chick embryo.\nThe role of the superior atrioventricular cushion in the normal development of the left ventricular infundibulum was experimentally studied in the chick embryo. 178 embryos at stages 19-24 of Hamburger and Hamilton were selectively labeled using gelatin-india ink; afterward embryos were reincubated until the mature heart stage, in which the final location of the labels was determined. In addition, anatomical microscopic studies were carried out on the chick embryo heart at different stages of the development. 91 embryos were obtained at the mature heart stage, 46 of which were normal. In 82,6% of these 46 embryos labels were found in the left ventricular infundibulum and were distributed in the following regions: (1) base of the free portion of the anteroseptal mitral leaflet (mitroaortic continuity); (2) the same region plus the left surface of the anterior basal portion of the ventricular septum, and (3) the left surface of the anterior basal portion of the ventricular septum. Anatomical microscopic studies showed that the superior atrioventricular cushion appears at stage 18, fusing with the inferior cushion at stage 28. Our results permit us to conclude that the superior atrioventricular cushion plays an important role in the normal development of the left ventricular infundibulum, and it contributes in the posterolateral and anteromedial wall formation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3065721,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Bochdalek's diaphragmatic hernia with delayed symptomatology].\nWe report a case of congenital diaphragmatic hernia detected in an 8-month-old boy with previously normal pulmonary X ray. This case shows that some Bochdalek hernias may appear at a later date and are sometimes intermittent.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16151259,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The effect of diuretics on red blood cell microrheological parameters in female hypertensive patients.\nThis study was designed to examine changes of hemorheological parameters and red cell aggregation particularly in essential arterial hypertension subjects receiving antihypertensive diuretic therapy. Fifty six female subjects were enrolled in this study. Thirty seven subjects (group I) were treated for four weeks with Hydrochlorothiaszide (25 mg\/day); Nineteen patients (group II) were infused with dose of furosemide 40 mg i.v. Both prior to and following drug treatment for four weeks and four hours after furosemide infusion hemorheological measurements included plasma viscosity; hematocrit, total plasma protein, red cell rigidity index (Tk) and RBC aggregation indices. In addition to this protocol the erythrocytes of patients of group II were incubated with furosemide (0.03 mM; for 30 min at 37 degrees C) to study a direct furosemide effect on red cell aggregation. Treatment and infusion with each of the two drugs significantly (p<0.05) reduced blood pressure in both groups. However, the hemorheological effects of hydrochlorothiaszide therapy were not significant. The effect of furosemide infusion and red cell incubation with it led to significant RBCA elevation. These results thus suggest that the rheologic effects of saluretic diuretics therapy were not significant. Single furosemide infusion and using it in vitro resulted in strong effect of red cell aggregation increase.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37666237,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Spontaneous improvement of bilateral clinodactyly of the little finger with trapezoidal phalanx: a case report with a 15-year follow-up.\nClinodactyly can be produced by a longitudinal epiphyseal bracket that generates either a 'delta' or 'trapezoidal' phalanx. We present a case with a 15-year follow-up of bilateral clinodactyly of the little finger, to emphasize a 'wait-and-see' approach as self-remodelling of his phalanges occurred during growth.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28697984,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Potential mechanisms of CD133 in cancer stem cells.\nCancer stem cells (CSCs) have emerged as an underlying cause of cancer relapse and resistance to treatment. Initially, biomarkers were used to identify and isolate distinct cell populations. Several CSC markers have been identified from many types of tumors, and these markers are also being used for isolation and enrichment of CSCs. Cluster of differentiation CD133 is a well-characterized CSC marker, and it is involved in tumor cell proliferation, metastasis, tumorigenesis, and recurrence, as well as chemo- and radio-resistance. However, the mechanisms involved in CD133-mediated induction of CSC properties have not yet been elucidated. Here, we introduce and summarize the functions of CD133 in CSCs and suggest new mechanisms that may be of note in our approach to developing novel cancer therapies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32357136,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Footprint of a Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold in Computed Tomography Coronary Angiogram at 5-Year Follow-up.\nThe Absorb bioresorbable vascular scaffold (Abbott Vascular) does not have an artifact on computed tomography coronary angiography (CTCA); the extent\/location of the stent in situ can only be assessed by localizing its radiopaque platinum markers in a non-contrast CTCA. The characteristic appearance of BVS on CTCA should be interpreted as the footprint of a resorbed BVS, instead of a calcified plaque.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17878808,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Creation of a regional stroke network in Tours hospital (France): consequences for stroke care and thrombolysis].\nOur university hospital serves a population of 300 000 inhabitants. Stroke is the leading cause of admission in our department of neurology. In June 2003, when the Emergency Department (ED) was closed in our institution, was created an acute stroke network (ASN), comprising 2 beds of direct admission and thrombolysis in the intensive care unit, and 4 beds dedicated to stroke care in the department of neurology, in which standardized stroke care protocols were implemented. The aim of this study was to evaluate changes in stroke care related to the creation of the ASN in terms of delays of arrival, imaging, use of intravenous (IV) thrombolysis, and outcome of patients. We conducted a prospective study during 18 months to evaluate characteristics of patients admitted with suspected stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) in the newly created ASN and to assess conditions of treatment with IV thrombolysis in terms of safety and efficacy. We also compared the outcome data before and after the creation of the ASN. For each patient admitted in our hospital for suspected stroke or TIA, were prospectively collected clinical and outcome data (age, mode of transport, delay of arrival after the onset of symptoms (OS), treatment with IV thrombolysis, outcome and discharge). This study was conducted in the ED during six months in 2002, and in the ASN during 18 months, for all patients admitted for stroke. Three hundred and sixty four patients were admitted in the ASN. Emergency medical services (EMS) were used in half of cases for transport, and median delay of admission after the OS was 2h and 52 min. Median delay of imaging was 1 h and 45 min. Seventeen patients (8.5 p. 100 of ischemic stroke patients) were treated with IV thrombolysis, with an initial good outcome in 9 patients, 7 with a dramatic recovery). The main reason for therapeutic abstention for untreated patients admitted in the first 3 hours was a mild deficit with a NIHSS<6. Compared with the previous management in the ED, patients in the ASN were younger, had more severe neurological symptoms, the EMS transport was the main mode of transport (versus used in 17 p. 100 of cases in 2002), and the delay of admission was significantly lower: 2 h 52 versus 5 h 10 (p<0.02). After adjustment on the main predictive factors, only patients with hemorrhagic strokes had a better outcome after the creation of the ASN. Creation of an ASN was associated with a significant decrease of admission and imaging delays, due to a strong collaboration with EMS, and with a better outcome for hemorrhagic stroke patients. Treatment with intravenous thrombolysis in the first 3 hours could be used widely and was efficient and safe. However, the creation of dedicated stroke units for all stroke patients remains necessary to improve quality of care and outcome.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20353093,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Production of anti-recombinant human arrest defective 1 protein (hARD1) monoclonal antibodies for assaying human breast cancer tissues].\nHuman arrest defective 1(hARD1) is an acetyltransferase catalyzing the N-terminal acetylation of proteins after translation. The high expression of hARD1 could be an indicator of the breast cancer. In current study, we produced an anti-hARD lp monoclonal antibody that could specifically recognize ARD1 in breast cancer tissues by using the immunohistochemical assay. The full-length His-tag hARD1 protein (1-235 aa) was over-expressed in Escherichia coli, and purified recombinant protein was injected into Balb\/c mice to perform immunization procedure. Eight stable positive monoclonal cell lines were isolated. ELISA results demonstrated that all light chains of antibodies were kappa, and the heavy chains displayed three subtypes IgG1, IgG2a and IgG2b, respectively. A monoclonal antibody, which could specifically recognize hARD1 protein in breast cancer tissues, was identified by screening different cancer tissues using antibody-specificity method. Further, the specificity of the antibody was confirmed by Western blotting analysis. Our study would facilitate breast cancer diagnosis by using this ARD1 monoclonal antibody in clinic. Also, this antibody could be used as an important tool for further investigating the role of ARD1 in tumorigenesis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17181732,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Population genetic signatures of diffuse co-evolution between leaf-cutting ants and their cultivar fungi.\nSwitching of symbiotic partners pervades most mutualisms, despite mechanisms that appear to enforce partner fidelity. To investigate the interplay of forces binding and dissolving mutualistic pairings, we investigated partner fidelity at the population level in the attine ant-fungal cultivar mutualism. The ants and their cultivars exhibit both broad-scale co-evolution, as well as cultivar switching, with short-term symbiont fidelity maintained by vertical transmission of maternal garden inoculates via dispersing queens and by the elimination of alien cultivar strains. Using microsatellite markers, we genotyped cultivar fungi associated with five co-occurring Panamanian attine ant species, representing the two most derived genera, leaf-cutters Atta and Acromyrmex. Despite the presence of mechanisms apparently ensuring the cotransmission of symbiont genotypes, different species and genera of ants sometimes shared identical fungus garden genotypes, indicating widespread cultivar exchange. The cultivar population was largely unstructured with respect to host ant species, with only 10% of the structure in genetic variance being attributable to partitioning among ant species and genera. Furthermore, despite significant genetic and ecological dissimilarity between Atta and Acromyrmex, generic difference accounted for little, if any, variance in cultivar population structure, suggesting that cultivar exchange dwarfs selective forces that may act to create co-adaptive ant-cultivar combinations. Thus, binding forces that appear to enforce host fidelity are relatively weak and pairwise associations between cultivar lineages and ant species have little opportunity for evolutionary persistence. This implicates that mechanisms other than partner fidelity feedback play important roles in stabilizing the leafcutter ant-fungus mutualism over evolutionary time.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32619074,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Simultaneous pectus excavatum correction and lung transplantation-A case series.\nSevere chest wall deformities are considered an absolute contraindication for lung transplantation. The significantly impaired chest compliance associated with pectus excavatum is thought to result in a high risk of postoperative respiratory complications and significant morbidity and mortality. We herein report our pooled institutional experience consisting of 3 patients who underwent bilateral lung transplantation and simultaneous correction of a pectus excavatum. Two of the patients were children and 1 patient had severe asymmetric pectus. All patients received a size-reduced double lung transplant and the deformity was corrected by a Nuss or modified Ravitch procedure. The perioperative course was complicated by prolonged weaning requiring tracheostomy in 2 of the 3 patients. However, long-term results were good and all 3 patients are alive in excellent clinical condition 72, 60, and 12 months after the transplantation. This case series demonstrates that patients with severe chest wall deformities should not a priori be excluded from lung transplantation, and a combined approach is feasible for selected patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15256670,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The limb bud Shh-Fgf feedback loop is terminated by expansion of former ZPA cells.\nVertebrate limb outgrowth is driven by a positive feedback loop involving Sonic Hedgehog (Shh), Gremlin, and Fgf4. By overexpressing individual components of the loop at a time after these genes are normally down-regulated in chicken embryos, we found that Shh no longer maintains Gremlin in the posterior limb. Shh-expressing cells and their descendants cannot express Gremlin. The proliferation of these descendants forms a barrier separating the Shh signal from Gremlin-expressing cells, which breaks down the Shh-Fgf4 loop and thereby affects limb size and provides a mechanism explaining regulative properties of the limb bud.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1698182,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Characterization of a monoclonal antibody that selectively recognizes a subset of Entamoeba histolytica isolates.\nMonoclonal antibody 2D7.10 recognized an antigen present in seven of nine isolates of axenically cultured Entamoeba histolytica and absent in all other Entamoeba isolates studied. The antigen was absent in two isolates: 200:NIH and Rahman. All nine isolates belonged to pathogenic zymodeme II. Western blot (immunoblot) analysis and treatment with periodate and the proteolytic enzyme trypsin suggest that the antigen recognized by 2D7.10 is a carbohydrate moiety.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30304565,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"SIRT1-ZEB1-positive feedback promotes epithelial-mesenchymal transition process and metastasis of osteosarcoma.\nOsteosarcoma is the most common malignant bone cancer that mainly affects children and young adults. Recently, the NAD+ -dependent deacetylase, sirtuin 1 (SIRT1), has been reported to play a key role in the development of malignant tumors. The study aimed to investigate the role of SIRT1 in osteosarcoma and explore its underlying oncogenic mechanisms. The prognostic value of SIRT1 in osteosarcoma was assessed through detection of SIRT1 expression based on osteosarcoma biopsy tissue. Then, to further investigate the effect of SIRT1 in osteosarcoma, osteosarcoma cells were treated with small interfering RNA SIRT1 and overexpressed SIRT1 to detect the cell migration, invasion, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). The levels of SIRT1 expression were significantly higher in osteosarcoma tissues than those in adjacent normal tissues, and the SIRT1 protein level may be coupled with metastatic and poor prognosis risk in patients with osteosarcoma. Moreover, SIRT1 silencing inhibited the migration as well as invasion ability of osteosarcoma cells in vitro, and SIRT1 upregulation reversed those effects. Finally, we found that SIRT1-ZEB1-positive feedback enhanced the EMT process and metastasis of osteosarcoma. Altogether, the results of the current study revealed that high levels of SIRT1 might be a biomarker for a high metastatic rate in patients with osteosarcoma, which suggested that inhibition of SIRT1 might be promising for the therapeutics of osteosarcoma.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9150827,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The prevalence of current major depression and dysthymia in a Norwegian general practice.\nExisting studies suggest that depression is underdiagnosed and undertreated in general practice, and that the known prevalence of this mood disorder in a primary care population may represent only the \"tip of the iceberg'. A total of 100 consecutive patients in an average Norwegian general practice were tested, of whom 31 patients were diagnosed as having a depressive illness in this study; 28 patients were diagnosed as having current major depression and three as having dysthymia. In total, 21 of the 28 patients with current major depression presented with other symptoms as their major complaints at the consultation in which they were tested. Twelve of these 21 patients had some kind of pain problem.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28352463,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Pervasive antibiotic misuse in the Cambodian community: antibiotic-seeking behaviour with unrestricted access.\nAntibiotic misuse is widespread in resource-limited countries such as Cambodia where the burden of infectious diseases is high and access to antibiotics is unrestricted. We explored healthcare seeking behaviour related to obtaining antibiotics and drivers of antibiotic misuse in the Cambodian community. In-depth interviews were held with family members of patients being admitted in hospitals and private pharmacies termed pharmacy attendants in the catchment areas of the hospitals. Nurses who run community primary healthcare centres located within the hospital catchment areas were invited to attend focus group discussions. Nvivo version 10 was used to code and manage thematic data analysis. We conducted individual interviews with 35 family members, 7 untrained pharmacy attendants and 3 trained pharmacists and 6 focus group discussions with 30 nurses. Self-medication with a drug-cocktail was widespread and included broad-spectrum antibiotics for mild illness. Unrestricted access to antibiotics was facilitated by various community enablers including pharmacies or drug outlets, nurse suppliers and unofficial village medical providers referred to as \"village Pett\" whose healthcare training has historically been in the field and not at university. These enablers supplied the community with various types of antibiotics including broad spectrum fluoroquinolones and cephalosporins. When treatment was perceived to be ineffective patients would prescriber-shop various suppliers who would unfailingly provide them with antibiotics. The main driver of the community's demand for antibiotics was a mistaken belief in the benefits of antibiotics for a common cold, high temperature, pain, malaria and 'Roleak' which includes a broad catch-all for perceived inflammatory conditions. For severe illnesses, patients would attend a community healthcare centre, hospital, or when their finances permitted, a private prescriber. Pervasive antibiotic misuse was driven by a habitual supplier-seeking behaviour that was enabled by unrestricted access and misconceptions about antibiotics for mild illnesses. Unofficial suppliers must be stopped by supporting existing regulations with tough new laws aimed at outlawing supplies outside registered pharmacies and fining registered pharmacist\/owners of these pharmacies for supplying antibiotics without a prescription. Community primary healthcare centres must be strengthened to become the frontline antibiotic prescribers in the community thereby enabling the community's access to inexpensive and appropriate healthcare. Community-based education program should target appropriate health-seeking pathways and the serious consequences of antibiotic misuse.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6744665,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Immunological abnormalities in the tonsils of patients with IgA nephropathy: inversion in the ratio of IgA: IgG bearing lymphocytes and increased polymeric IgA synthesis.\nIn the last few years the mucosal origin of the IgA deposited in the kidneys of patients with IgA nephropathy has been examined by several investigators. We have previously presented evidence that polymeric IgA may have a predominant role in the pathogenesis of IgA nephropathy. Taking into account that these patients often present with macroscopic haematuria following respiratory tract infections we have studied the possible existence of immunological abnormalities in the tonsils of patients with IgA nephropathy. Six patients and 13 controls suffering from chronic tonsillitis were submitted to tonsillectomy. Patients with IgA nephropathy showed a significant increase (P less than 0.00025) in IgA bearing lymphocytes (14.4 +\/- 2.3) and a significant decrease (P less than 0.025) in IgG bearing lymphocytes (20.5 +\/- 4.6) compared to the control group (2.9 +\/- 1.4 and 31.6 +\/- 3.6, respectively). After 7 days of culture with pokeweed mitogen the percentage of tonsillar cells producing polymeric IgA was significantly higher in the patients than in the controls (66.5 +\/- 12.6 vs 33.4 +\/- 10.3; P less than 0.005). These results also suggest a mucosal origin for the IgA deposited in the kidneys of these patients. Our data are consistent with the existence of an immunoregulatory dysfunction in the secretory immune system of patients with IgA nephropathy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7945064,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Peri-operative anticoagulant effects of heparinization for carotid endarterectomy.\nThe question of whether or not to reverse heparin following carotid endarterectomy is a topic of debate. The potential reduction of the risk of thrombosis at the endarterectomy site with non-reversal has to be measured against a potential increase in the risk of wound haematoma. This study prospectively followed activated clotting time (ACT) of 42 consecutive patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy. A standard heparin dose of 100 units\/kg was used, and heparin reversal was employed only if the wound appeared excessively haemorrhagic at the procedure's completion. Heparin was reversed in 11 patients. Following heparin administration, ACT increased to a mean 2.72 +\/- 0.09 times baseline (range 1.84-4.07), and fell with time, until at 3 h after heparin administration mean ACT in the non-reversed patients was 1.48 +\/- 0.03 times baseline (range 1.1-2.03). There was one postoperative neurological event (2%), a contralateral hemisphere stroke. No patient developed a frank wound haematoma requiring evacuation, although three patients (7% of the total study group, 9% of patients not receiving heparin reversal) developed neck swelling and symptoms of airway compromise, and were intubated. Measurements of ACT suggest that a heparin dose of 100 units\/kg achieves an adequate anticoagulant level in the operative and early postoperative phase, when thrombosis is most likely to occur, and is not associated with an increased risk of wound haematoma. If heparin is to be selectively reversed in patients felt to be at high risk of postoperative haematoma, the decision should be based on an objective measurement such as ACT, and not the surgeon's impression of wound haemostasis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29563202,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Next-Generation Sequencing for Characterizing Drug Resistance-Conferring Mycobacterium tuberculosis Genes from Clinical Isolates in the Ukraine.\nThe Ukraine ranks among the top 20 countries with the highest number of multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug resistant (XDR) Mycobacterium tuberculosis cases in the world. However, little is known of the genetic diversity, i.e., resistance signatures, in clinical isolates from this region. We analyzed seven of most prevalent MDR\/XDR antibiotic resistance-conferring genes from clinical isolates (n = 75) collected from geographically diverse Ukrainian oblasts and the southern Crimean peninsula. Genomic analysis revealed that 6 (8%) were sensitive, 3 (4%) were resistant to at least one antibiotic but were not MDR, 40 (53%) were MDR, and 26 (35%) were XDR. The majority of isolates (81%) were of the Beijing-like lineage. This is the first study to use next-generation sequencing (NGS) of clinical isolates from the Ukraine to characterize mutations in genes conferring M. tuberculosis drug resistance. Several isolates harbored drug resistance signatures that have not been observed in other countries with high-burden tuberculosis. Most notably, the absence of inhA gene promoter mutations, a diversity of mutation types in the rpoB resistance-determining region, and detection of heteroresistance provide a broader understanding of MDR\/XDR from this area of the world.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28263025,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-18":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerases regulate cell division and development in Arabidopsis roots.\nRoot organogenesis involves cell division, differentiation and expansion. The molecular mechanisms regulating root development are not fully understood. In this study, we identified poly(adenosine diphosphate (ADP)-ribose) polymerases (PARPs) as new players in root development. PARP catalyzes poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation of proteins by repeatedly adding ADP-ribose units onto proteins using nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+ ) as the donor. We found that inhibition of PARP activities by 3-aminobenzomide (3-AB) increased the growth rates of both primary and lateral roots, leading to a more developed root system. The double mutant of Arabidopsis PARPs, parp1parp2, showed more rapid primary and lateral root growth. Cyclin genes regulating G1-to-S and G2-to-M transition were up-regulated upon treatment by 3-AB. The proportion of 2C cells increased while cells with higher DNA ploidy declined in the roots of treated plants, resulting in an enlarged root meristematic zone. The expression level of PARP2 was very low in the meristematic zone but high in the maturation zone, consistent with a role of PARP in inhibiting mitosis and promoting cell differentiation. Our results suggest that PARPs play an important role in root development by negatively regulating root cell division.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28573368,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"How common is depression in patients with polymyalgia rheumatica?\nDepression is common in inflammatory disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus and negatively impacts on outcomes. Given the long-term nature of polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) and its glucocorticoid treatment, these patients may be at an increased risk of depression, although few studies exist to date. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of, and factors associated with, depression in PMR patients. Prevalent PMR patients (with a first diagnostic code for PMR in the last 3 years) were mailed a postal questionnaire (n = 704) examining PMR symptoms, glucocorticoid use and patient reported comorbidities. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-8 (PHQ-8), with a score of \u226510 defined as current depressive symptoms. Logistic regression was used to examine association between demographics, comorbidity and current depressive symptoms. Five hundred fifty (78%) patients responded, of which 365 (66%) were female, with a mean (SD) age of 74.1 years (8.4). The prevalence of current depressive symptoms was 15% (n = 81) and was significantly associated with female gender: OR 1.87 (95%CI 1.08-3.22), current PMR symptoms: OR 2.1 (1.11-3.97), self-reported acid reflux: OR 1.75 (1.05-2.93) and diabetes: OR 2.86 (1.6-5.09). Older patients were less likely to report current depressive symptoms (OR 0.35 (0.13-0.9) for those >80 years versus those aged 50-59 years). Depressive symptoms are common in patients with PMR patients, especially younger patients and those with comorbidities. Clinicians should consider screening these patients for depressive symptoms and managing them appropriately, as untreated depression may negatively impact on health-related outcomes and quality of life.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37657053,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Banxia Xiexin decoction: A review on phytochemical, pharmacological, clinical and pharmacokinetic investigations.\nBanxia Xiexin decoction (BXD), a famous traditional Chinese prescription constituted by Pinelliae Rhizoma, Zingiberis Rhizoma, Scutellariae Radix, Coptidis Rhizoma, Ginseng Radix et Rhizoma, Jujubae Fructus and Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma Praeparata Cum Mell, has notable characteristics of acrid-opening, bitter down-bearing and sweet-tonification, interfering with tumors, gastrointestinal diseases, central nervous system diseases and much more. Based on the wide clinical applications, current investigations of BXD focused on several aspects: chemical analysis to explore the underlying substrates responsible for the therapeutic effects; basic studies on pharmacological actions of the whole prescription or of those representative ingredients to demonstrate the intriguing molecular targets for specific pathological processes; pharmacokinetic feature studies of single or all components of BXD to reveal the chemical basis and synergistic actions contributing to the pharmacological and clinically therapeutic effects. In this review, we summarized the main achievements of phytochemical, pharmacological, clinical and pharmacokinetic profiles of BXD and its herbal or pharmacologically active chemicals, as well as discussions of our understanding which further reveals the significance of BXD clinically.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26440847,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cryptococcus neoformans and Streptococcus pneumoniae co-infection in post-traumatic meningitis in a patient with unknown HIV status.\nMeningitis is a serious disease associated with considerable morbidity and mortality. Mixed meningeal infections due to bacteria and fungi are exceptionally rare. Here we report a case of meningeal co-infection with cryptococcus neoformans and streptococcus pneumoniae in a patient with unknown human immunodeficiency virus status. Because of the rarity of such cases, stringent screening of every cerebrospinal fluid specimen to exclude the presence of multiple pathogens is imperative. Assessment of patients for immunodeficiencies in case of isolation of an opportunistic organism like cryptococcus is also needed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35128327,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Prognostic Role of Measurement of Renal Resistive Index in Systemic Sclerosis.\nThe spectrum of vascular involvement in systemic sclerosis (SSc) includes digital ulcers, gangrene, Raynaud's phenomenon, renovascular disease, and pulmonary hypertension (PH). Recognition of markers of subclinical vascular disease in SSc is an area of active research, but such studies are limited. This study assesses the role of measurement of the renal resistive index (RRI) as an early marker of renal and systemic vasculopathy. It is a step forward towards examining the possibility of a \"unified vascular phenotype' in SSc. In this single-centre prospective study, RRI was calculated for SSc patients >18 years age. Elevated RRI (>0.7) was correlated with renal function (eGFR and proteinuria) and systemic vasculopathy manifestations like digital ulcers, digital infarcts, and PH. A total of 73 patients with mean (SD) age 41.8(10.9) years were included. Mean (SD) RRI in the right and left renal artery was 0.65(0.08) and 0.66(0.07), respectively. 16 (21.9%) patients had elevated RRI (>0.7). A strong negative correlation was noted between elevated RRI and eGFR (r= -0.96, p=0.03). The percentage of patients with overt proteinuria was higher in the group with elevated RRI (20% versus 7%) (p=0.16). Similarly, digital ulcers (56% vs 33%) and digital pitting (50% vs 35%.) were numerically higher in the group with raised RRI, although statistical significance was not reached because of small numbers (p=0.09 and 0.28, respectively). No correlation of RRI with PH was identified. RRI correlates well with asymptomatic renal dysfunction and holds promise in the assessment of systemic vasculopathy. However, validation in studies with a larger sample size is needed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28722643,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Aural Rehabilitation for Older Adults with Hearing Loss: Impacts on Quality of Life-A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.\nFew systematic reviews have been conducted regarding aural rehabilitation for adults with hearing loss, with none specifically targeting the older adult population. With prevalence rates of hearing loss being highest in older adults, examining the effects of aural rehabilitation on this population is warranted. To evaluate the effects of aural rehabilitation on quality of life in an older adult population presenting with hearing loss. Studies with adults presenting with hearing loss, \u226550 yr of age, with or without hearing aids, receiving interventions such as auditory training, speech-reading, communication strategies training, speech tracking, counseling, or a combination of approaches, and measuring outcomes related to quality of life, in an individual or group format, with or without significant others and with no limitations as to year of publication. Searches in six databases, as well as results from hand-searching, gray literature, and cross-referencing of articles, yielded 386 articles. Of the 145 assessed as full-text articles for eligibility, 8 studies met inclusion criteria. A component-based risk of bias assessment, as recommended by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement. No effect sizes were found in group interventions measuring outcomes related to quality of life, such as mental and emotional functions, environmental factors, participation restrictions, and activity limitations. An intervention effect regarding participation was found for a self-administered home training program, but an effect size was unavailable. Small-to-medium effect sizes were found in one of two individual communication training programs, for which outcomes related to quality of life, such as emotional functions, activities, participation, and environmental factors were measured. The results of the component-based risk of bias assessment indicated that the quality of reporting was poor, thus compromising the internal validity of included primary studies. Our results indicate that the combined body of evidence in support of aural rehabilitation for older adults with hearing loss is not sufficient to draw any firm conclusions. We identify a need for more rigorous research to guide clinical decision-making.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35365647,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3,"dup_dump_count":2,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-26":1,"2024-30":1}}},"text":"Platicon microcomb generation using laser self-injection locking.\nThe past decade has witnessed major advances in the development and system-level applications of photonic integrated microcombs, that are coherent, broadband optical frequency combs with repetition rates in the millimeter-wave to terahertz domain. Most of these advances are based on harnessing of dissipative Kerr solitons (DKS) in microresonators with anomalous group velocity dispersion (GVD). However, microcombs can also be generated with normal GVD using localized structures that are referred to as dark pulses, switching waves or platicons. Compared with DKS microcombs that require specific designs and fabrication techniques for dispersion engineering, platicon microcombs can be readily built using CMOS-compatible platforms such as thin-film (i.e., thickness below 300 nm) silicon nitride with normal GVD. Here, we use laser self-injection locking to demonstrate a fully integrated platicon microcomb operating at a microwave K-band repetition rate. A distributed feedback (DFB) laser edge-coupled to a Si3N4 chip is self-injection-locked to a high-Q ( > 107) microresonator with high confinement waveguides, and directly excites platicons without sophisticated active control. We demonstrate multi-platicon states and switching, perform optical feedback phase study and characterize the phase noise of the K-band platicon repetition rate and the pump laser. Laser self-injection-locked platicons could facilitate the wide adoption of microcombs as a building block in photonic integrated circuits via commercial foundry service.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29377101,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Can there be a moral obligation to participate in biomedical research?\nIn clinical medicine, the moral obligation to care for the individual patient is absolute. Patient care means at least and by negative terms to minimize any risk of treatment. In this context, the question arises about the compatibility of clinical ethics and human biomedical research ethics. Or conversely, is there a common ground between the two? At the opposite end of the field between clinical ethics and biomedical research ethics is the proposal of an obligation to participate in biomedical research, which is argued for on the basis of biomedical knowledge being a public good available to the community as a whole. While patient accrual during a clinical investigation would certainly be facilitated by obligatory research participation, and the data obtained would be-at first sight-more representative for the population studied, the still feasible refusal to participate would be stigmatizing and as such detrimental for the patient-physician relation. This essay seeks to provide a reply to the titled question by focusing on aspects such as individual vs common medical claims, shared grounds between the two and an important document of medical research ethics, that is the Nuremberg code.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19026149,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2013-20":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mortality in systemic sclerosis.\nSystemic sclerosis is a rare and potentially devastating connective tissue disease. It is highly heterogeneous in terms of clinical presentation, extent and severity of organ involvement, immunologic abnormalities, and clinical course. Although clinical outcomes appear to have improved in recent years, the disease continues to cause substantial excess mortality. In this review, we have systematically collected the published studies addressing the mortality burden in patients with scleroderma in comparison with the general population, as well as studies exploring the most important potential predictors of mortality. Results of these studies are presented and discussed, with emphasis on methodological limitations. Suggestions are made for the design, conduct, and reporting of further research on these themes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23337979,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Newcastle disease virus Malaysian strain AF2240 induces apoptosis in MCF-7 human breast carcinoma cells at an early stage of the virus life cycle.\nNewcastle disease virus (NDV) AF2240 Malaysian strain is a very virulent avian virus. NDV strain AF2240 was previously demonstrated to induce apoptosis in human breast carcinoma MCF-7 cells. However, at which stage of the NDV life cycle apoptosis is induced and whether NDV replication and protein synthesis are involved in apoptosis induction have yet to be determined. In the present study, we investigated the time course of NDV strain AF2240 nucleoprotein (NP) gene expression and the early apoptotic signs in the form of activation of caspase-8 and mitochondrial transition pore opening. In addition, the induction of apoptosis by both ultraviolet-inactivated and cycloheximide-treated NDV-infected MCF-7 cells were examined. Our findings showed that NDV strain AF2240 induced apoptosis at 1 h post-infection (pi) through activation of mitochondrial transition pore opening and at 2 h through activation of caspase-8, while the NP gene was expressed at 6 h pi. The induced apoptosis was independent of both virus replication and protein synthesis. In conclusion, NDV strain AF2240 induces apoptosis at an early stage of its life cycle, possibly during virus binding or fusion with the cell membrane. The mitochondrial-related pathway may be the central activator in NDV strain AF2240-induced apoptosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23878432,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The fatigued anesthesiologist: A threat to patient safety?\nUniversally, anesthesiologists are expected to be knowledgeable, astutely responding to clinical challenges while maintaining a prolonged vigilance for administration of safe anesthesia and critical care. A fatigued anesthesiologist is the consequence of cumulative acuity, manifesting as decreased motor and cognitive powers. This results in impaired judgement, late and inadequate responses to clinical changes, poor communication and inadequate record keeping. With rising expectations and increased medico-legal claims, anesthesiologists work round the clock to provide efficient and timely services, but are the \"sleep provider\" in a sleep debt them self? Is it the right time to promptly address these issues so that we prevent silent perpetuation of problems pertinent to anesthesiologist's health and the profession. The implications of sleep debt on patient safety are profound and preventive strategies are quintessential. Anesthesiology governing bodies must ensure requisite laws to prevent the adverse outcomes of sleep debt before patient care is compromised.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29546823,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Impact of Socioeconomic Risk Exposure on Maternal Sensitivity, Stress and Family Functionality].\nImpact of Socioeconomic Risk Exposure on Maternal Sensitivity, Stress and Family Functionality Parental stress exposure can influence the parent-child relationship, child development and child wellbeing in negative ways. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of socio-economic risk exposure on the quality of the mother-child-interaction and family functionality. A sample of 294 mother-infant dyads at psychosocial risk was compared with a lower-risk, middle-class sample of 125 mother-infant-dyads in regard to maternal sensitivity\/child's cooperation (CARE-Index), maternal stress (PSI-SF) and family functionality (FB-K). Lower levels of maternal sensitivity\/child's cooperation and by trend also of the family functionality were found among the mothers from the at-risk sample in comparison to the low-risk sample. The level of maternal stress was similar in both samples. The results underpin the negative effects of a socio-economic risk exposure on the mother-child relationship. An early, sensitivity-focused family support could be encouraged to counteract the negative effects of early socioeconomic stress.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11999093,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Giant pulmonary artery aneurysm with right ventricular outflow tract obstruction.\nAneurysm of the main pulmonary artery is rare. Its natural history is not well understood and there are no clear guidelines regarding its optimal treatment. We present a case of a huge saccular aneurysm of the main pulmonary artery which was associated with infundibular and valvular pulmonary stenosis. It was repaired using a pericardial patch with concomitant pulmonary valvotomy and infundibular resection. Postoperative recovery was uneventful and the patient is doing well. Follow-up echocardiogram revealed good repair.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37842683,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Novel hybrid QSPR-GPR approach for modeling of carbon dioxide capture using deep eutectic solvents.\nIn recent years, deep eutectic solvents (DESs) have garnered considerable attention for their potential in carbon capture and utilization processes. Predicting the carbon dioxide (CO2) solubility in DES is crucial for optimizing these solvent systems and advancing their application in sustainable technologies. In this study, we presented an evolving hybrid Quantitative Structure-Property Relationship and Gaussian Process Regression (QSPR-GPR) model that enables accurate predictions of CO2 solubility in various DESs. The QSPR-GPR model combined the strengths of both approaches, leveraging molecular descriptors and structural features of DES components to establish a robust and adaptable predictive framework. Through a systematic evolution process, we iteratively refined the model, enhancing its performance and generalization capacity. By incorporating experimental CO2 solubility data in varied DES compositions and temperatures, we trained the model to capture the intricate solubility behaviour precisely. The analytical capability of the evolving hybrid model was validated against an extensive dataset of experimental CO2 solubility values, demonstrating its superiority over individual QSPR and GPR models. The model achieves high accuracy, capturing the complex interactions between CO2 and DES components under varying thermodynamic conditions. The versatility of the evolving hybrid model was highlighted by its ability to accommodate new experimental data and adapt to different DES compositions and temperatures. The proposed QSPR-GPR model presented a powerful tool for predicting CO2 solubility in DES, providing valuable insights for designing and optimizing solvent systems in carbon capture technologies. The model's remarkable performance enhances our understanding of CO2 solubility mechanisms and contributes to sustainable solutions for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. As research in DESs progresses, the evolving hybrid QSPR-GPR model offers a versatile and accurate means for predicting CO2 solubility, supporting advancements in carbon capture and utilization processes towards a greener and more sustainable future.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26420789,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Global poplar root and leaf transcriptomes reveal links between growth and stress responses under nitrogen starvation and excess.\nNitrogen (N) starvation and excess have distinct effects on N uptake and metabolism in poplars, but the global transcriptomic changes underlying morphological and physiological acclimation to altered N availability are unknown. We found that N starvation stimulated the fine root length and surface area by 54 and 49%, respectively, decreased the net photosynthetic rate by 15% and reduced the concentrations of NH4+, NO3(-) and total free amino acids in the roots and leaves of Populus simonii Carr. in comparison with normal N supply, whereas N excess had the opposite effect in most cases. Global transcriptome analysis of roots and leaves elucidated the specific molecular responses to N starvation and excess. Under N starvation and excess, gene ontology (GO) terms related to ion transport and response to auxin stimulus were enriched in roots, whereas the GO term for response to abscisic acid stimulus was overrepresented in leaves. Common GO terms for all N treatments in roots and leaves were related to development, N metabolism, response to stress and hormone stimulus. Approximately 30-40% of the differentially expressed genes formed a transcriptomic regulatory network under each condition. These results suggest that global transcriptomic reprogramming plays a key role in the morphological and physiological acclimation of poplar roots and leaves to N starvation and excess.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28582770,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The protective effect of Epimedii Folium and Curculiginis Rhizoma on Alzheimer's disease by the inhibitions of NF-\u03baB\/MAPK pathway and NLRP3 inflammasome.\nThe purpose of the current study was to explore the effects of the water extracts of Epimedii Folium and Curculiginis Rhizoma (EX) on A\u03b2-induced Alzheimer's disease. A\u03b21-42 was stereotaxically injected bilaterally into the dorsal hippocampus, and then the rats were orally received EX at the doses of 2 g\/kg and 6 g\/kg for 30 days. Behavior was monitored through Morris water maze test. The neuroprotective effect of EX were examined with methods of histochemistry and biochemistry. EX reduced the contents of pro-inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-\u03b1), interleukin-1 beta (IL-1\u03b2) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in hippocampus and cortex. EX also reduced the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and increased superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione (GSH) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) in the serum. Immunohistochemical analysis demonstrated that EX inhibited the expressions of NLRP3. In addition, we further confirmed that EX suppressed the expression of the NLRP3 inflammasome. EX inhibited the phosphorylations MAPKs, nuclear factor \u03baB (NF-\u03baB), myeloid differentiation factor 88(MyD88), cathepsin B. In conclusion, these results suggest that EX may be a potential agent for treating Alzheimer's disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34411461,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-10":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Photon Recycling in Semiconductor Thin Films and Devices.\nPhoton recycling (PR) plays an important role in the study of semiconductor materials and impacts the properties of their optoelectronic applications. However, PR has not been investigated comprehensively and it has not been demonstrated experimentally in many different kinds of semiconductor materials and devices. In this review paper, first, the authors introduce the background of PR and describe how this phenomenon was originally identified in semiconductors. Then, the theory and modelling of PR is reviewed and some of the important parameters that are used to quantify PR are highlighted. Next, a variety of the methods used to achieve and characterize PR in materials and devices are discussed. Examples of how the performance parameters of different types of optoelectronic devices are affected by PR are described. Finally, a summary of the roles of PR in semiconductor materials and devices and an outlook on how PR can be used to solve existing problems and challenges in the field of optoelectronics are provided. From this review, it is apparent that PR can have a positive impact on optoelectronic device performance, and that further in-depth theoretical and experimental studies are needed to rigorously demonstrate the advantages and importance of PR.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17192285,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Upregulation of Na+\/Ca2+ exchanger contributes to the enhanced Ca2+ entry in pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells from patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension.\nA rise in cytosolic Ca(2+) concentration ([Ca(2+)](cyt)) in pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMC) is a trigger for pulmonary vasoconstriction and a stimulus for PASMC proliferation and migration. Multiple mechanisms are involved in regulating [Ca(2+)](cyt) in human PASMC. The resting [Ca(2+)](cyt) and Ca(2+) entry are both increased in PASMC from patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH), which is believed to be a critical mechanism for sustained pulmonary vasoconstriction and excessive pulmonary vascular remodeling in these patients. Here we report that protein expression of NCX1, an NCX family member of Na(+)\/Ca(2+) exchanger proteins is upregulated in PASMC from IPAH patients compared with PASMC from normal subjects and patients with other cardiopulmonary diseases. The Na(+)\/Ca(2+) exchanger operates in a forward (Ca(2+) exit) and reverse (Ca(2+) entry) mode. By activating the reverse mode of Na(+)\/Ca(2+) exchange, removal of extracellular Na(+) caused a rapid increase in [Ca(2+)](cyt), which was significantly enhanced in IPAH PASMC compared with normal PASMC. Furthermore, passive depletion of intracellular Ca(2+) stores using cyclopiazonic acid (10 microM) not only caused a rise in [Ca(2+)](cyt) due to Ca(2+) influx through store-operated Ca(2+) channels but also mediated a rise in [Ca(2+)](cyt) via the reverse mode of Na(+)\/Ca(2+) exchange. The upregulated NCX1 in IPAH PASMC led to an enhanced Ca(2+) entry via the reverse mode of Na(+)\/Ca(2+) exchange, but did not accelerate Ca(2+) extrusion via the forward mode of Na(+)\/Ca(2+) exchange. These observations indicate that the upregulated NCX1 and enhanced Ca(2+) entry via the reverse mode of Na(+)\/Ca(2+) exchange are an additional mechanism responsible for the elevated [Ca(2+)](cyt) in PASMC from IPAH patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26427271,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Advance Directives in Some Western European Countries: A Legal and Ethical Comparison between Spain, France, England, and Germany.\nWe have studied national laws on advance directives in various Western European countries: Romance-speaking countries (Italy, France, Portugal, and Spain), English-speaking countries (Ireland and the United Kingdom), and German-speaking countries (Austria, Germany, and Switzerland). We distinguish two potentially complementary types of advance medical declaration: the 'living will' and the nomination of a legal proxy. After examining the similarities and differences between countries, we analyse in detail the legislation of four countries (Spain, France, England, and Germany), since the other countries in this survey have similar legal principles and\/or a similar political approach. In conclusion, we note that in all the countries examined, advance directives have been seen as an instrument to enable the patient's right to self-determination. Notwithstanding, in Romance-speaking countries, the involvement of physicians in the end-of-life process and risks arising from the execution of advance directives were also considered.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23330954,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Broadly neutralizing antiviral antibodies.\nA fascinating aspect of viral evolution relates to the ability of viruses to escape the adaptive immune response. The widely held view has been that the great variability of viral glycoproteins would be an absolute obstacle to the development of antibody-based therapies or vaccines that could confer broad and long-lasting protection. In the past five years, new approaches have been developed to interrogate human memory B cells and plasma cells with high efficiency and to isolate several broadly neutralizing antiviral antibodies against highly variable pathogens such as HIV-1 and influenza virus. These antibodies not only provide new tools for prophylaxis and therapy for viral diseases but also identify conserved epitopes that may be used to design new vaccines capable of conferring broader protection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9555398,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Designing learning activities.\nIn the fifth part of this series on teaching skills, Dai Hall suggests some ways of organising your material when imparting information or when organising a discussion.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3073355,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Human tolerability and pharmacodynamic study of Tisacid tablet in duodenal ulcer patients. A prospective, randomized, self-controlled clinicopharmacological study.\nA randomized, prospective, crossing-over clinico-pharmacological study was conducted on the tolerability by humans, of TISACID (Al-Mg-hydroxy-carbonate), a new antacid of up-to-date composition produced in Hungary. Even a relatively high dose of the preparation is tolerated by the human organism. During a 6-week continuous treatment neither subjective nor objective side-effects were observed. The tablet is immediately decomposed in the gastric juice, a considerable portion of it will permanently stick to the mucosa of the stomach and duodenum. Depending on the dose, it rapidly and permanently reduces the acidity of the gastric content and increases serum gastrin concentration only moderately and for a short time. Administered together with cimetidine, it promotes healing of duodenal ulcer and the cessation of complaints. It does not increase the aluminium and magnesium concentrations of the plasma not even on prolonged administration, and clinical symptoms and laboratory changes characterizing the phosphate depletion syndrome do not develop either. Based on the results, authors consider Tisacid a beneficial preparation as regards both effectivity and tolerability.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28588773,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Target volume dose and clinical outcome in radiotherapy for primary marginal zone lymphoma of the ocular adnexa.\nThe aim of the present study was to determine the optimal dose and optimal target volume for marginal zone lymphoma of the ocular adnexa. Between January, 2008 and December, 2013, 40 patients with histologically proven primary marginal zone lymphoma of the ocular adnexa who underwent radiotherapy at the Tokyo Medical University were evaluated. The prescribed dose was 30 Gy in 15 fractions to the iso-center. Doses to the gross tumor volume (GTV), conjunctiva, bulbus oculi, retina and retrobulbar space were investigated, and the association between dose-volume factors and clinical outcome was analyzed. The overall and local progression-free survival rates at 3 and 5 years were 100% during a median observation period of 32 months. Two patients relapsed in the contralateral ocular adnexa. The progression-free survival rates at 3 and 5 years were 100 and 93.3%, respectively. The mean dose was 2.0 and 1.9 Gy for targets receiving 95% of the GTV dose (D95). The minimum dose was 0.9-2.0 Gy (median, 1.8 Gy). Thus, primary marginal zone lymphoma of the ocular adnexa favorably responded to lower doses of radiation, compared with prescribed doses to the iso-center. A radiation dose of 27 Gy in 15 fractions at D95 of GTV appeared to be optimal.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21143974,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2015-11":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"In vivo trafficking and immunostimulatory potential of an intranasally-administered primary dendritic cell-based vaccine.\nCoccidioidomycosis or Valley fever is caused by a highly virulent fungal pathogen: Coccidioides posadasii or immitis. Vaccine development against Coccidioides is of contemporary interest because a large number of relapses and clinical failures are reported with antifungal agents. An efficient Th1 response engenders protection. Thus, we have focused on developing a dendritic cell (DC)-based vaccine for coccidioidomycosis. In this study, we investigated the immunostimulatory characteristics of an intranasal primary DC-vaccine in BALB\/c mouse strain that is most susceptible to coccidioidomycosis. The DCs were transfected nonvirally with Coccidioides-Ag2\/PRA-cDNA. Expression of DC-markers, Ag2\/PRA and cytokines were studied by flow cytometry, dot-immunoblotting and cytometric bead array methods, respectively. The T cell activation was studied by assessing the upregulation of activation markers in a DC-T cell co-culture assay. For trafficking, the DCs were co-transfected with a plasmid DNA encoding HSV1 thymidine kinase (TK) and administered intranasally into syngeneic mice. The trafficking and homing of TK-expressing DCs were monitored with positron emission tomography (PET) using 18F-FIAU probe. Based on the PET-probe accumulation in vaccinated mice, selected tissues were studied for antigen-specific response and T cell phenotypes using ELISPOT and flow cytometry, respectively. We found that the primary DCs transfected with Coccidioides-Ag2\/PRA-cDNA were of immature immunophenotype, expressed Ag2\/PRA and activated na\u00efve T cells. In PET images and subsequent biodistribution, intranasally-administered DCs were found to migrate in blood, lung and thymus; lymphocytes showed generation of T effector memory cell population (T(EM)) and IFN-\u03b3 release. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that the intranasally-administered primary DC vaccine is capable of inducing Ag2\/PRA-specific T cell response. Unique approaches utilized in our study represent an attractive and novel means of producing and evaluating an autologous DC-based vaccine.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37465366,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Fiberoptic hemodynamic spectroscopy reveals abnormal cerebrovascular reactivity in a freely moving mouse model of Alzheimer's disease.\nMany Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients suffer from altered cerebral blood flow and damaged cerebral vasculature. Cerebrovascular dysfunction could play an important role in this disease. However, the mechanism underlying a vascular contribution in AD is still unclear. Cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) is a critical mechanism that maintains cerebral blood flow and brain homeostasis. Most current methods to analyze CVR require anesthesia which is known to hamper the investigation of molecular mechanisms underlying CVR. We therefore combined spectroscopy, spectral analysis software, and an implantable device to measure cerebral blood volume fraction (CBVF) and oxygen saturation (SO2) in unanesthetized, freely-moving mice. Then, we analyzed basal CBVF and SO2, and CVR of 5-month-old C57BL\/6 mice during hypercapnia as well as during basic behavior such as grooming, walking and running. Moreover, we analyzed the CVR of freely-moving AD mice and their wildtype (WT) littermates during hypercapnia and could find impaired CVR in AD mice compared to WT littermates. Our results suggest that this optomechanical approach to reproducibly getting light into the brain enabled us to successfully measure CVR in unanesthetized freely-moving mice and to find impaired CVR in a mouse model of AD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8345470,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Relationship between iron-catalysed lipid peroxidation potential and human sperm function.\nThe relationship between lipid peroxidation and the functional competence of human spermatozoa has been investigated in a cohort of 31 infertility patients. Lipid peroxidation was assessed using a sensitive fluorometric assay for the generation of malondialdehyde in response to the presence of a ferrous ion promoter. Sperm function was evaluated by monitoring the movement characteristics of these cells and their capacity for sperm-oocyte fusion. Each sample was separated into high- and low-density sperm populations on discontinuous, two-step (40%:80%), Percoll gradients prior to analysis. The way in which individual ejaculates fractionated on these gradients was highly positively correlated (P < 0.001) with the lipoperoxidation status of the spermatozoa; the greater the potential for malondialdehyde generation, the higher the proportion of cells entering the low density region of the gradients. The lipoperoxidation potential of the freshly prepared spermatozoa was also highly predictive (P = 0.0001) of their capacity for movement at 3 and 24 h and their ability to exhibit sperm-oocyte fusion in response to the ionophore A23187. The potential for malondialdehyde generation in the 40% and 80% Percoll fractions was positively associated with midpiece abnormalities in the spermatozoa. These results emphasize the importance of lipid peroxidation in the pathophysiology of male infertility and suggest a mechanism by which such damage might arise.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36937282,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Therapeutic developments for SARS-CoV-2 infection-Molecular mechanisms of action of antivirals and strategies for mitigating resistance in emerging variants in clinical practice.\nThis article systematically presents the current clinically significant therapeutic developments for the treatment of COVID-19 by providing an in-depth review of molecular mechanisms of action for SARS-CoV-2 antivirals and critically analyzing the potential targets that may allow the selection of resistant viral variants. Two main categories of agents can display antiviral activity: direct-acting antivirals, which act by inhibiting viral enzymes, and host-directed antivirals, which target host cell factors that are involved in steps of the viral life cycle. We discuss both these types of antivirals, highlighting the agents that have already been approved for treatment of COVID-19, and providing an overview of the main molecules that are currently in drug development. Direct-acting antivirals target viral enzymes that are essential in the viral life cycle. Three direct-acting antivirals are currently in use: two are nucleoside analogs that inhibit the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase of SARS-CoV-2, i.e., remdesivir and molnupiravir, and the third one, nirmatrelvir\/ritonavir, is an inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 main protease. The potential for induction of viral resistance is discussed for each of these antivirals, along with their clinical activity on each of the SARS-CoV-2 variants and sublineages that have been dominant over the course of the pandemic, i.e., Alpha, Delta, as well as Omicron and its sublineages BA.1, BA.2, BA.5, BQ.1 and XBB. Host-directed antivirals are currently in preclinical or clinical development; these agents target host cell enzymes that are involved in facilitating viral entry, replication, or virion release. By blocking these enzymes, viral replication can theoretically be effectively stopped. As no SARS-CoV-2 host-directed antiviral has been approved so far, further research is still needed and we present the host-directed antivirals that are currently in the pipeline. Another specific type of agents that have been used in the treatment of COVID-19 are neutralizing antibodies (NAbs). Their main binding site is the spike protein, and therefore their neutralization activity is influenced by mutations occurring in this region. We discuss the main changes in neutralization activity of NAbs for the most important dominant SARS-CoV-2 variants. Close monitoring of emerging variants and sublineages is still warranted, to better understand the impact of viral mutations on the clinical efficiency of antivirals and neutralizing antibodies developed for the treatment of COVID-19.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34408624,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Diurnal Variation in Trigeminal Pain Sensitivity in Mice.\nManagement of time and circadian disruption is an extremely important factor in basic research on pain and analgesia. Although pain is known to vary throughout the day, the mechanism underlying this circadian variation remains largely unknown. In this study, we hypothesized that the process of pain transmission to the central nervous system (after receiving nociceptive stimuli from outside the body) would show day-night differences. Ten-week-old male mice were kept under a strict 12\/12-h light\/dark cycle for at least 10 days. Formalin was then injected into the second branch region of the trigeminal nerve and the duration of pain-related behaviors (PRBs) was assessed. Immunohistochemical staining was then performed, and the c-Fos-immunopositive cells in the trigeminal spinal tract subnucleus caudalis (Sp5C) were counted. The results showed that the duration of PRBs was longer and the number of c-Fos immunopositive cells in the Sp5C was higher at nighttime than during the day. In addition, the trigeminal ganglia (TG) were extracted from the mice and examined by quantitative real-time PCR to evaluate the daytime and nighttime expression of nociceptive receptors. The results showed that the mRNA expression of transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 in the TG was significantly higher at night than during the day. These results suggest that pain in the trigeminal nerve region is more intense at nighttime, when rodents are active, than during the daytime, partly due to differences in nociceptor expression.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6150454,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Central neurotransmitter effects of organotin compounds: trials, tribulations and observations.\nAdministration of trimethyltin (TMT) or triethyltin (TET) compounds to rats during postnatal development has known behavioral and neuropathological consequences. By measuring the concentrations of dopamine, norepinephrine, homovanillic acid, dihydroxyphenylacetic acid, gamma-aminobutyric acid, acetylcholine, and choline in different brain areas of TMT and TET-treated animals, an attempt was made to correlate these functional deficits with changes in CNS neurotransmitter alterations in vivo. TET had no effect on any of the substances measured whereas TMT significantly decreased gamma-aminobutyric acid and dopamine levels, but only in hippocampus and striatum, respectively. All other neurotransmitter substances measured were not affected. These findings illustrate the complexity inherent in attempting to use neurochemical techniques alone as an index of toxicity in the absence of specific defined hypotheses.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22664446,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The first case of Staphylococcus aureus ST398 causing bacteremia in an immunocompromised patient in Greece.\nWe describe a case of catheter-related bloodstream infection, in a patient with colon cancer, caused by a methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus strain, nontypeable by pulsed field gel electrophoresis of SmaI macrorestriction fragment analysis, belonging to ST398. The patient recovered after daptomycin therapy. This is the first report that documents the emergence of ST398 in Greece.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28712203,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Now Or Never: \"Public Health Issues Requiring Urgent Attention\".\nPakistan is a developing country and most of its population is based in rural areas. Over the last two decades' significant changes have occurred in the health system in an attempt to improve the health care in general with a particular emphasis in the health of people living in rural areas. Despite these efforts, significant development and planning is required to improve the health of nation. Undoubtedly ministry of health has taken practical steps in tacking some serious health issues such as polio. However, the fact remains that there are a number of public health issues which if not addressed on an urgent basis, there is a great danger that the implications would be huge with unbearable consequences. Among various issues, only those are discussed here which are in a dire need of attention of government, ministry of health, department of public health, disaster management authorities, health education authorities, health institutions and health professionals.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17914731,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evaluation of hydrate-screening methods.\nThe purpose of this work is to evaluate the effectiveness and reliability of several common hydrate-screening techniques, and to provide guidelines for designing hydrate-screening programs for new drug candidates. Ten hydrate-forming compounds were selected as model compounds and six hydrate-screening approaches were applied to these compounds in an effort to generate their hydrate forms. The results prove that no screening approach is universally effective in finding hydrates for small organic compounds. Rather, a combination of different methods should be used to improve screening reliability. Among the approaches tested, the dynamic water vapor sorption\/desorption isotherm (DVI) method and storage under high humidity (HH) yielded 60-70% success ratios, the lowest among all techniques studied. The risk of false negatives arises in particular for nonhygroscopic compounds. On the other hand, both slurry in water (Slurry) and temperature cycling of aqueous suspension (TCS) showed high success rates (90%) with some exceptions. The mixed solvent systems (MSS) procedure also achieved high success rates (90%), and was found to be more suitable for water-insoluble compounds. For water-soluble compounds, MSS may not be the best approach because recrystallization is difficult in solutions with high water activity. Finally, vapor diffusion (VD) yielded a reasonably high success ratio in finding hydrates (80%). However, this method suffers from experimental difficulty and unreliable results for either highly water-soluble or water-insoluble compounds. This study indicates that a reliable hydrate-screening strategy should take into consideration the solubility and hygroscopicity of the compounds studied. A combination of the Slurry or TCS method with the MSS procedure could provide a screening strategy with reasonable reliability.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20354628,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Towards Langmuir-Blodgett films of magnetically interesting materials: solution equilibria in amphiphilic iron(II) complexes of a triazole-containing ligand.\nAs a first step towards amphiphilic spin crossover (SCO) systems where the hydrophobic part of the system is introduced by a non-coordinating anion (i.e. where no modification of the ligands to introduce hydrophobic substituents is required), [Fe(II)(OH(2))(2)(C(16)SO(3))(2)] and [Co(II)(OH(2))(2)(C(16)SO(3))(2)] have been prepared and reacted with the triazole-containing ligands adpt and pldpt (C(16)SO(3) = hexadecanesulfonate anion, adpt = 4-amino-3,5-bis(2-pyridyl)-1,2,4-triazole, pldpt = 4-pyrrolyl-3,5-bis(2-pyridyl)-1,2,4-triazole). In the solid state, two HS complexes of the form [Fe(II)(Rdpt)(2)(C(16)SO(3))(2)] and two of the form [Co(II)(Rdpt)(2)(CH(3)OH)(2)](C(16)SO(3))(2) are obtained, even when a six-fold excess of ligand is used (Rdpt = adpt or pldpt). In solution, the cobalt complexes remain in this form as evidenced by colour, Visible\/NIR and IR spectroscopy. For the iron complexes, there is an equilibrium in solution between the neutral high-spin form of the complex [Fe(II)(Rdpt)(2)(C(16)SO(3))(2)] and the dicationic low-spin tris form [Fe(II)(Rdpt)(3)](C(16)SO(3))(2). Polar solvents favour the dicationic form, while less polar solvents favour the neutral form (as evidenced by solution colour and solution IR spectroscopy). Visible\/NIR spectroscopy and Evans' method NMR spectroscopy show the equilibrium can be shifted towards the [Fe(II)(Rdpt)(3)](C(16)SO(3))(2) form by adding additional ligand to the solution. The X-ray crystal structures of [Fe(II)(adpt)(2)(C(16)SO(3))(2)] and [Co(II)(adpt)(2)(CH(3)OH)(2)](C(16)SO(3))(2).1.33CH(3)OH are presented. [Fe(II)(adpt)(2)(C(16)SO(3))(2)] has a 2D bilayer structure with alternating layers of polar Fe(adpt)(2) centres, and hydrophobic alkyl chains. The complex cations in [Co(II)(adpt)(2)(CH(3)OH)(2)](C(16)SO(3))(2).1.33CH(3)OH form 1-D columns in the solid state. The capacity of the amphiphilic complexes [Fe(II)(pldpt)(2)(C(16)SO(3))(2)] and [Fe(II)(adpt)(2)(C(16)SO(3))(2)] to self-assemble has been probed at the air-water interface using Langmuir techniques. The pertinent pressure-area isotherms reveal only a low tendency of the complexes to form films.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6364801,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Autologous marrow transplantation for patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) in blast crisis.\nEven patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) in blast crisis were treated with chemotherapy, followed by infusion of autologous bone marrow that had been collected during the chronic phase of the disease and cryopreserved at -198 degrees C. The mean age of the nine females and two males in this study was 34 years with an average duration of the chronic phase of the disease of 5.5 years. Seven out of the 11 patients had a splenectomy prior to intensive chemotherapy. The median survival of the first four patients who received 6-thioguanine, cytosine arabinoside, daunorubicin (TAD) chemotherapy was 2.6 weeks and no patient reachieved the chronic phase of CML. The second group of seven patients received more intensive chemotherapy (MAdHAT), which included melphalan 30 mg\/m2 days 1, 2, and 3; Adriamycin 50 mg\/m2 intravenously (iv) day 1, hydroxyurea 1500 mg\/m2 by mouth for 5-7 days, cytosine arabinoside 100 mg\/m2 continuous infusion for 5-7 days, and VM-26 100 mg\/m2 iv on day 3. Six out of these seven patients reachieved chronic phase CML after bone marrow reinfusion. The median survival was 29.9 weeks for all patients and 33 weeks for the six patients who reachieved chronic phase CML. All patients subsequently died of recurrent blast crisis. There was no correlation between the time of bone marrow storage and the duration of subsequent chronic phase CML. These studies have shown that autologous bone marrow transplantation after high-dose chemotherapy can result in bone marrow engraftment with reestablishment of chronic phase CML, and prolongation of survival.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17176524,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Identification with sport teams as a function of the search for certainty.\nBased on ideas from subjective uncertainty reduction theory, we examined the extent to which individuals hold similar sport team preferences to their family and friends. We also assessed the extent to which perceived sport importance and personal need for structure are influential in the development of team identification. Australian high school students aged 15.5+\/-1.0 years (mean+\/-s) completed questionnaires containing the Personal Need for Structure Scale, the Relational-Interdependent Self-Construal scale, a Team Identification Scale, and items assessing perceptions of sport importance and team preferences. As expected, correlations indicated that preferences for sport teams were significantly related to the preferences of family and friends. Separate analyses of variance confirmed the remaining hypotheses. More specifically, individuals who perceived that sport was important identified with the team more than individuals who perceived sport to be less important. Also, individuals high in personal need for structure scored higher in cognitive\/affective team identification than those low in this need. Individuals with differing needs for structure did not differ in their scores on other dimensions of team identification. The results support the notion that cognitive\/emotional attachments to sport teams are influenced by perceptions of the importance of sport and by needs for subjective structure. It is possible that other psychological motives, such as the desire for self-esteem, facilitate the development of evaluative dimensions of team identification.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26440793,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Tumor DNA Index and \u03b1-Fetoprotein Level Define Outcome following Liver Transplantation for Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma.\nPatients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) beyond the Milan criteria are expected to have inferior outcome after liver transplantation (LT) and are therefore currently not considered for LT in many countries. The purpose of this study was to identify predictive factors for overall survival following LT for HCC that may support the Milan criteria in the selection of appropriate transplant candidates. Clinicopathological data on 364 patients with HCC who underwent LT between 1989 and 2010 were retrospectively evaluated. Predictors of overall survival in the entire cohort as well as in subsets of patients within (n = 214) and beyond (n = 150) the Milan criteria were analyzed. Multivariate analysis in the entire cohort identified DNA index >1.5 (p < 0.0001), \u03b1-fetoprotein level (AFP) >200 ng\/ml (p = 0.005), and HCC beyond the Milan criteria (p = 0.002) to be associated with worse overall survival. In patients within the Milan criteria (median survival: 170 months), DNA index >1.5 (p < 0.0001) was the only predictor of worse overall survival in multivariate analysis. In patients beyond the Milan criteria (median survival: 44 months), DNA index >1.5, AFP >200 ng\/ml, microvascular invasion, patient age >60 years, and DNA index >1.5 concomitant with AFP >200 ng\/ml were associated with worse overall survival in univariate analysis. Multivariate analysis identified DNA index >1.5 concomitant with AFP >200 ng\/ml (p < 0.0001) as the only independent predictor of worse overall survival. Consequently, patients beyond the Milan criteria with a combined favorable DNA index \u22641.5 and AFP \u2264200 ng\/ml had a median survival (147 months) comparable to that of patients within the Milan criteria. DNA index and AFP level predict overall survival following LT in patients with advanced HCC beyond the Milan criteria. A combined assessment of these markers during the evaluation of transplant candidates can contribute to the selection of patients with HCC who may benefit from LT independently of their tumor burden.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16156101,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Controlled agitation during hybridization: surface acoustic waves are shaking up microarray technology.\nMicroarray hybridization experiments are mostly based on quite small sample volumes being confined between the microarray itself and a cover slip or lifter slip on top of the narrow fluid layer. Under such conditions, the system is governed by the rules of microfluidics, i.e., by the regime of small Reynold's numbers. Here, diffusion is the only source for moving sample molecules toward their target spots. However, for a typical macromolecule such as that used in microarray hybridization experiments, the diffusion constant is very small. Hence, because they are driven by diffusion only, traveling over typical distances on a microarray may take them a very long time. Additionally, the slow time constants associated with the diffusion limit lead to pronounced depletion effects, which strongly influence the dynamics of a hybridization assay. In this report, we describe a novel technique to overcome the diffusion limit in microarray hybridization experiments. Surface acoustic waves on a piezoelectric substrate are coupled with the sample fluid on a microarray, where they act as a highly efficient agitation source. We demonstrate that the diffusion limit can be overcome in this fashion, leading to a remarkable increase in signal intensity and homogeneity in fluorescence-labeled microarray assays.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6721673,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Comparative diagnostic criteria for melancholia and endogenous depression.\nFive scales were evaluated for the diagnosis of melancholia or endogenous depression. Of 21 total items, none appeared in all five scales, but four items occurred in four of the scales: autonomy of mood, prevasive anhedonia, psychomotor change, and guilt. Vegetative changes were represented inconsistently, with anorexia and weight loss in three scales, as was distinct quality of mood. Thereafter, item agreement between the scales fell off. Scale performance was tested in 50 depressive patients. Major differences were found in frequency of melancholia and scale orientation toward inpatients and outpatients. A number of old controversies remain dormant in these scales. Unresolved are the relationship between melancholia and severity of depression; the relevance of precipitating events, previous depressive episodes, type of onset, and adequacy of personality; and whether to classify by category or continuum. The merits of statistically and consensually derived scales also need to be evaluated.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15240846,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"New aspects on reperfusion injury to liver--impact of organ harvest.\nThe aetiology of primary graft non-function and dysfunction is unknown but most likely involves Kupffer cell-dependent reperfusion injury; however, reasons for transplant failure are complex and involve organ retrieval, preservation and transplantation. Important factors include the donor's condition, cold and warm ischaemic times, operative complications in the recipient, the immune status of the recipient and surgical experience. The donor operation and surgical technique also have an effect on outcome after transplantation. This is important, since surgical organ manipulation of the liver during harvest cannot be prevented completely with standard procedures. This is especially true during organ harvest for living-donor liver transplantation and split-liver transplantation in general. Most recently, an experimental setting has conclusively demonstrated that gentle in situ organ manipulation by touching, retracting and moving liver lobes gently during harvest dramatically reduces survival after transplantation via Kupffer cell-dependent mechanisms. These mechanisms involve disturbances of hepatic microcirculation, a hypermetabolic state of the liver, hypoxia and almost complete denudation of endothelial lining cells. Glycine, a non-essential, non-toxic amino acid, which prevents activation of Kupffer cells, prevented all effects of harvest-related injury to the liver when given before transplantation. Based on these data, intravenous glycine has been administered to patients before reperfusion of their liver transplant. Both serum transaminases and the rate of primary non-function have been dramatically reduced, compared with historic controls. These preliminary clinical results with glycine before reperfusion are promising for further improvement of the overall outcome after liver transplantation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17007876,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Conserved small non-coding RNAs that belong to the sigmaE regulon: role in down-regulation of outer membrane proteins.\nEnteric bacteria respond to misfolded proteins by activating the transcription of \"heat shock\" genes. These genes are arranged in two major regulons controlled by the alternative sigma factors sigmaH and sigmaE. The two transcription factors coordinate the stress response in different cellular compartments; the sigmaH regulon is induced by stress in the cytoplasm whereas the sigmaE regulon is activated by stress signals in the cell envelope. In Escherichia coli sigmaE plays a central role in maintaining cell envelope integrity both under stress conditions and during normal growth. Previous work established that sigmaE is essential for viability of the bacterium and up-regulates expression of approximately 100 protein-encoding genes that influences nearly every aspect of the cell envelope. Moreover, the expression of several outer membrane proteins is down-regulated upon sigmaE activation. Here, we show that two Hfq-binding small RNAs, MicA and RybB, are under positive control of sigmaE. Transient induction of RybB resulted in decreased levels of the mRNAs encoding OmpC and OmpW. sigmaE -mediated regulation of ompC and ompW expression was abolished in strains lacking RybB or Hfq. Recently MicA was shown to act in destabilizing the ompA transcript when rapidly grown cells entered the stationary phase of growth. Also, the alternative sigma factor down-regulates this message in a small non-coding RNA-dependent fashion. These findings add the sigmaE regulon to the growing list of stress induced regulatory circuits that include small regulatory RNAs and provide insight in a homeostatic loop that prevent a build-up of unassembled outer membrane proteins in the envelope.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17010186,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Functional expression of a single-chain antibody to ErbB-2 in plants and cell-free systems.\nAberrant signaling by ErbB-2 (HER 2, Neu), a member of the human Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF) receptor family, is associated with an aggressive clinical behaviour of carcinomas, particularly breast tumors. Antibodies targeting the ErbB-2 pathway are a preferred therapeutic option for patients with advanced breast cancer, but a worldwide deficit in the manufacturing capacities of mammalian cell bioreactors is foreseen. Herein, we describe a multi-platform approach for the production of recombinant Single chain Fragments of antibody variable regions (ScFvs) to ErbB-2 that involves their functional expression in (a) bacteria, (b) transient as well as stable transgenic tobacco plants, and (c) a newly developed cell-free transcription-translation system. An ScFv (ScFv800E6) was selected by cloning immunoglobulin sequences from murine hybridomas, and was expressed and fully functional in all the expression platforms, thereby representing the first ScFv to ErbB-2 produced in hosts other than bacteria and yeast. ScFv800E6 was optimized with respect to redox synthesis conditions. Different tags were introduced flanking the ScFv800E6 backbone, with and without spacer arms, including a novel Strep II tag that outperforms conventional streptavidin-based detection systems. ScFv800E6 was resistant to standard chemical radiolabeling procedures (i.e. Chloramine T), displayed a binding ability extremely similar to that of the parental monovalent Fab' fragment, as well as a flow cytometry performance and an equilibrium binding affinity (Ka approximately 2 x 10(8) M(-1)) only slightly lower than those of the parental bivalent antibody, suggesting that its binding site is conserved as compared to that of the parental antibody molecule. ScFv800E6 was found to be compatible with routine reagents for immunohistochemical staining. ScFv800E6 is a useful reagent for in vitro biochemical and immunodiagnostic applications in oncology, and a candidate for future in vivo studies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28341572,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cell and region specificity of Aryl hydrocarbon Receptor (AhR) system in the testis and the epididymis.\nAryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) plays multiple important functions in adaptive responses. Exposure to AhR ligands may produce an altered metabolic activity controlled by the AhR pathways, and consequently affect drug\/toxin responses, hormonal status and cellular homeostasis. This research revealed species-, cell- and region-specific pattern of the AhR system expression in the rat and human testis and epididymis, complementing the existing knowledge, especially within the epididymal segments. The study showed that AhR level in the rat and human epididymis is higher than in the testis. The downregulation of AhR expression after TCDD treatment was revealed in the spermatogenic cells at different stages and the epididymal epithelial cells, but not in the Sertoli and Leydig cells. Hence, this basic research provides information about the AhR function in the testis and epididymis, which may provide an insight into deleterious effects of drugs, hormones and environmental pollutants on male fertility.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28567460,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Ni and Cu-catalyzed one pot synthesis of unsymmetrical 1,3-di(hetero)aryl-1H-indazoles from hydrazine, o-chloro (hetero)benzophenones, and (hetero)aryl bromides.\nThe nickel-catalyzed cyclization of in situ generated ortho-chlorobenzophenone hydrazone derivatives, to afford 3-(hetero)aryl-1H-indazoles, is documented for the first time. The product 1H-indazoles can be transformed subsequently in a one-pot procedure into 1,3-di(hetero)aryl-1H-indazoles via copper-catalyzed N-arylation with (hetero)aryl bromides.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9571750,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Scrub typhus associated with multiorgan failure: a case report.\nThe spectrum of clinical severity for scrub typhus ranges from inapparent, mild, to severe or fatal. The pathologic changes are focal or disseminated multiorgan vasculitis of the small blood vessels, a fact that helps explain the great diversity of clinical manifestations that can be encountered. We reported a case of scrub typhus with unusual and serious multiorgan involvement, including tubulointerstitial nephritis (TIN) with acute renal failure (ARF), interstitial pneumonitis with adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), liver function impairment, upper gastrointestinal bleeding, prolonged hyperamylasaemia and hyperlipasaemia. Chloramphenicol administration rapidly altered the clinical course, but with sequelae of renal impairment and prolonged hyperamylasaemia and hyperlipasaemia for 10 months.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9554636,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Arterial blood pressure response to transient arousals from NREM sleep in nonapneic snorers with sleep fragmentation.\nTo assess the hemodynamic effects of graded arousals during nonrapid eye movement (NREM) sleep in patients with partial upper airway obstruction during sleep without obstructive sleep apnea\/hypopnea, overnight beat-to-beat BP was recorded in six patients. At the end of each nonapneic obstructive event, EEG responses were graded as follows: grade 2, grade 1, and grade 0 were defined as increased high-frequency EEG lasting >15 s, 3 to 15 s, and no EEG arousals according to the American Sleep Disorders Association, respectively. The following were observed during grade 0, 1, and 2 EEG patterns (mean+\/-SD): systolic pressure increased by 7.1+\/-1.5, 11.7+\/-1.9, and 14.2+\/-3.4 (p<0.005), respectively; diastolic pressure increased by 4.6+\/-0.6, 6.7+\/-1.7, and 9.4+\/-3.0 (p<0.005), respectively; heart rate increased by 2.9+\/-0.4, 3.9+\/-2.2, and 8.6+\/-4.6 (p<0.005), respectively. We conclude that nonapneic-nonhypopneic obstructive events are followed by arterial systemic pressure increases whose magnitude varies with the grade of the arousal.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29553482,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Gold decorated porous biosilica nanodevices for advanced medicine.\nDiatomite is a fossil material made of amorphous porous silica. In this work, polyethylene glycol (PEG)-modified diatomite NPs (PEG-DNPs) are decorated with gold NPs (AuNPs) by one-pot liquid-phase synthesis. Nanocomplexes (PEG-DNPs@AuNPs), with an average size of about 450 nm, are characterized by dynamic light scattering, electron microscopy, nitrogen adsorption\/desorption analysis, UV-vis and photoluminescence spectroscopies. Preliminary studies on the use of the nanocomplex in nanomedicine are also presented. Tests performed incubating PEG-DNPs@AuNPs in physiological conditions reveal a good stability of material. Cellular uptake of labeled PEG-DNPs@AuNPs is investigated by confocal microscopy after incubation with human cervix epithelioid carcinoma (HeLa) cells up to 48 h: an efficient cytoplasmic localization is observed. In vitro cytotoxicity of nanocomplexes with a concentration up to 400 \u03bcg ml-1 for 72 h is also evaluated. The results suggest the use of PEG-DNPs@AuNPs as advanced nanodevices adding imaging features to the nanocomplexes, due to AuNPs as contrast agent.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22669996,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Uterine myxoid leiomyosarcoma with an underlying haematological disorder--case report and review of literature.\nUterine myxoid leiomyosarcoma is an exceptionally unusual variant of leiomyosarcoma with only 34 cases having been reported in the literature. The authors describe a case of myxoid leiomyosaroma with an underlying haematological profile that has not been described previously. A 38-year-old Caucasian woman with a known uterine fibroid discovered during pregnancy presented to the emergency department with heavy per vaginal bleeding. On examination, she had a large abdominal mass. She had a haemoglobin level of 5.2, platelets of 16 and a low white cell count. She received multiple blood and platelet transfusions, despite which her haemoglobin and platelet count levels remained low. She underwent two bone marrow biopsies, which were inconclusive. She underwent laparotomy for abdominal hysterectomy, bilateral salphingo-oohphorectomy, omentectomy and appendicectomy. Histological examination showed uterine myxoid leiomyosarcoma (International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics stage IIIA). Her haematological profile improved significantly following surgical resection of the tumour, reappearing with the recurrence of the disease. The authors hence, consider that pancytopaenia in this patient was a manifestation of paraneoplastic syndrome.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25422323,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"The Mycobacterium tuberculosis Clp gene regulator is required for in vitro reactivation from hypoxia-induced dormancy.\nMycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is the leading cause of death from an infectious disease worldwide and is the causative agent of tuberculosis (Chao, M. C., and Rubin, E. J. (2010) Annu. Rev. Microbiol. 64, 293-311). Throughout infection, Mtb encounters a variety of host pressures. Thus, responding to these host stresses via the induction of multiple regulatory networks is needed for survival within the host. The Clp protease gene regulator, Rv2745c (clgR), is induced in response to environmental stress conditions, implicating its potential role in Mtb pathogenesis. Transcriptional activation of genes downstream of Rv2745c occurs in a condition-dependent manner. Our isogenic Mtb:\u0394Rv2745c mutant expresses a significantly different phenotype upon reaeration conditions. Transcriptional analysis revealed differential gene expression profiles relative to wild-type Mtb. Rv2745c is strongly induced in response to hypoxic and reaeration conditions, implicating a role of Rv2745c in vivo during both establishment of infection and reactivation. We found dysregulation of downstream genes within both the \u03c3(H)\/\u03c3(E) regulon as well as the dosR regulon in the isogenic mutant, Mtb:\u0394Rv2745c. Upon hypoxic and reaeration conditions, Clp protease induction occurred within wild-type Mtb, indicating that activation of clgR, which subsequently leads to Clp protease induction, is crucial for degradation of misfolded proteins and ultimately survival of Mtb upon specific stress conditions. Our data indicate the diverse response of Rv2745c, \u03c3(H) and \u03c3(E) in response to a variety of stress conditions. Activation of Rv2745c in response to various stress conditions leads to differential activation of downstream genes, indicating the diverse role of Rv2745c and its importance for Mtb survival in vivo.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34401387,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"A systematic review of the engagement with social media-delivered interventions for improving health outcomes among sexual and gender minorities.\nSexual and gender minority (SGM) persons face a number of physical and mental health disparities closely linked to discrimination, social stigma, and victimization. Despite the acceptability and increasing number of digital health interventions focused on improving health outcomes among SGM people, there is a lack of reviews summarizing whether and how researchers assess engagement with social media-delivered health interventions for this group. The objective of this systematic review was to synthesize and critique the evidence on evaluation of engagement with social media-delivered interventions for improving health outcomes among SGM persons. We conducted a literature search for studies published between January 2003 and June 2020 using 4 electronic databases. Articles were included if they were peer-reviewed, in English language, assessed engagement with a social media-delivered health intervention for improving health outcomes among sexual and gender minorities. A minimum of two authors independently extracted data from each study using an a priori developed abstraction form. We assessed quality of data reporting using the CONSORT extension for pilot and feasibility studies and CONSORT statement parallel group randomized trials. We included 18 articles in the review; 15 were feasibility studies and 3 were efficacy or effectiveness randomized trials. The quality of data reporting varied considerably. The vast majority of articles focused on improving HIV-related outcomes among men who have sex with men. Only three studies recruited cisgender women and\/or transgender persons. We found heterogeneity in how engagement was defined and assessed. Intervention usage from social media data was the most frequently used engagement measure. In addition to the heterogeneity in defining and assessing engagement, we found that the focus of assessment was often on measures of intervention usage only. More purposeful recruitment is needed to learn about whether, how, and why different SGM groups engage with social media-interventions. This leaves significant room for future research to expand evaluation criteria for cognitive and emotional aspects of intervention engagement in order to develop effective and tailored social media-delivered interventions for SGM people. Our findings also support the need for developing and testing social media-delivered interventions that focus on improving mental health and outcomes related to chronic health conditions among SGM persons.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9153253,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Translesional synthesis on DNA templates containing a single abasic site. A mechanistic study of the \"A rule\".\nSite-specifically modified oligodeoxynucleotides containing a single natural abasic site or a chemically synthesized (tetrahydrofuran or deoxyribitol) model abasic site were used as templates for primer extension reactions catalyzed by the Klenow fragment of Escherichia coli DNA polymerase I or by calf thymus DNA polymerase alpha. Analysis of the fully extended products of these reactions indicated that both polymerases preferentially incorporate dAMP opposite the natural abasic site and tetrahydrofuran, while DNA templates containing the ring-opened deoxyribitol moiety block translesional synthesis, promoting sequence context-dependent deletions. The frequency of nucleotide insertion opposite the three types of abasic sites follows the order dAMP > dGMP > dCMP > dTMP. The frequency of chain extension was highest when dAMP was positioned opposite a natural abasic site. The frequency of translesional synthesis past abasic sites follows the order tetrahydrofuran > deoxyribose > deoxyribitol. The Klenow fragment promotes blunt end addition of dAMP; this reaction was much less efficient than insertion of dAMP opposite an abasic site. We conclude that the miscoding potential of a natural abasic site in vitro closely resembles that of its tetrahydrofuran analog. Ring-opened abasic sites favor deletions. Studies with polymerase alpha in vitro predict preferential incorporation of dAMP at abasic sites in mammalian cells.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36926307,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Construction of a mini-RNA replicon in Escherichia coli.\nHow the ribonucleic acid (RNA) world transited to the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) world has remained controversial in evolutionary biology. At a certain time point in the transition from the RNA world to the DNA world, 'RNA replicons', in which RNAs produce proteins to replicate their coding RNA, and 'DNA replicons', in which DNAs produce RNA to synthesize proteins that replicate their coding DNA, can be assumed to coexist. The coexistent state of RNA replicons and DNA replicons is desired for experimental approaches to determine how the DNA world overtook the RNA world. We constructed a mini-RNA replicon in Escherichia coli. This mini-RNA replicon encoded the \u03b2 subunit, one of the subunits of the Q\u03b2 replicase derived from the positive-sense single-stranded Q\u03b2 RNA phage and is replicated by the replicase in E. coli. To maintain the mini-RNA replicon persistently in E. coli cells, we employed a system of \u03b1 complementation of LacZ that was dependent on the Q\u03b2 replicase, allowing the cells carrying the RNA replicon to grow in the lactose minimal medium selectively. The coexistent state of the mini-RNA replicon and DNA replicon (E. coli genome) was successively synthesized. The coexistent state can be used as a starting system to experimentally demonstrate the transition from the RNA-protein world to the DNA world, which will contribute to progress in the research field of the origin of life.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28364513,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-22":1}}},"text":"Sleep Duration and Adiposity in Early Childhood: Evidence for Bidirectional Associations from the Born in Bradford Study.\nTo examine independent associations of sleep duration with total and abdominal adiposity, and the bidirectionality of these associations, in a young biethnic sample of children from a disadvantaged location. Child sleep duration (h\/day) was parent-reported by questionnaire and indices of total (body weight, body mass index, percent body fat (%BF), sum of skinfolds) and abdominal adiposity (waist circumference) were measured using standard anthropometric procedures at approximately 12, 18, 24, and 36 months of age in 1,338 children (58% South Asian; 42% White). Mixed effects models were used to quantify independent associations (expressed as standardised \u03b2-coefficients (95% confidence interval (CI)) of sleep duration with adiposity indices using data from all four time-points. Factors considered for adjustment in models included basic demographics, pregnancy and birth characteristics, and lifestyle behaviours. With the exception of the sum of skinfolds, sleep duration was inversely and independently associated with indices of total and abdominal adiposity in South Asian children. For example, one standard deviation (SD) higher sleep duration was associated with reduced %BF by -0.029 (95% CI: -0.053, -0.0043) SDs. Higher adiposity was also independently associated with shorter sleep duration in South Asian children (for example, %BF: \u03b2 = -0.10 (-0.16, -0.028) SDs). There were no significant associations in White children. Associations between sleep duration and adiposity are bidirectional and independent among South Asian children from a disadvantaged location. The results highlight the importance of considering adiposity as both a determinant of decreased sleep and a potential consequence.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17185189,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Outcomes of pulmonary endarterectomy surgery.\nChronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension has emerged as one of the leading causes of severe pulmonary hypertension. This disease is estimated to occur in approximately 1 to 5% of all patients who have previously developed an acute pulmonary embolism, although the true prevalence is suspected to be much higher. Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension is characterized by intraluminal thrombus organization, fibrous stenosis, and vascular remodeling of pulmonary vessels. Pulmonary endarterectomy is an operation that is considered curative for thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension and is therefore superior to transplantation for this condition. This article focuses on the surgical outcomes of patients undergoing pulmonary endarterectomy for chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension and discusses the currently known factors that affect survival after this operation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23876893,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Efficacy of mouth opening exercises in treating trismus after maxillectomy.\nPatients with maxillary tumor often suffer from trismus after maxillectomy, which could turn out to be a permanent sequela without proper intervention. In this study, the efficacy of mouth opening exercises in preventing and treating trismus was observed in patients with maxillary tumor early after their operations. At the same time, radiotherapy as an influencing factor for the mouth opening exercises was evaluated. In this study, 22 patients with maxillary oncology began their mouth opening exercises at an early stage (1-2 weeks) after maxillectomy. They were divided into two groups based on the principle of voluntariness: 11 patients in group 1 chose TheraBites as their instruments of mouth opening exercises, and the other 11 in group 2 chose stacked tongue depressors to help their exercises. All participants were trained to exercise 3-5 times a day, 30-40 oscillations at one time, with a 2-second pause at their maximum possible mouth open position. The maximal interincisor distances (MID) of patients were measured and recorded by a single investigator every week after the beginning of the mouth opening exercises. Medical information and the responses of patients were also recorded. Initial and final MIDs were calculated by SPSS 13.0. The changes of the mouth aperture every week during exercises in both groups were described in figures, and there were statistical increases in the final MIDs compared with the initial ones. However, no significant differences were achieved between groups 1 and 2 (P > 0.05). Radiotherapy seemed to have no negative impact on the mouth opening results during the exercises. Physical mouth opening exercises should be executed early after maxillectomy for the prevention and treatment of trismus, especially for those who had radiotherapy as part of antitumor treatments.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3049535,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Aspartate taxis mutants of the Escherichia coli tar chemoreceptor.\nThe Tar protein of Escherichia coli belongs to a family of methyl-accepting inner membrane proteins that mediate chemotactic responses to a variety of compounds. These transmembrane signalers monitor the chemical environment by means of specific ligand-binding sites arrayed on the periplasmic side of the membrane, and in turn control cytoplasmic signals that modulate the flagellar rotational machinery. The periplasmic receptor domain of Tar senses two quite different chemoeffectors, aspartate and maltose. Aspartate is detected through direct binding to Tar molecules, whereas maltose is detected indirectly when complexed with the periplasmic maltose-binding protein. Saturating levels of either aspartate or maltose do not block behavioral responses to the other compound, indicating that the detection sites for these two attractants are not identical. We initiated structure-function studies of these chemoreceptor sites by isolating tar mutants which eliminate aspartate or maltose taxis, while retaining the ability to respond to the other chemoeffector. Mutants with greatly reduced aspartate taxis are described and characterized in this report. When present in single copy in the chromosome, these tar mutations generally eliminated chemotactic responses to aspartate and structurally related compounds, such as glutamate and methionine. Residual responses to these compounds were shifted to higher concentrations, indicating a reduced affinity of the aspartate-binding site in the mutant receptors. Maltose responses in the mutants ranged from 10 to 80% of normal, but had no detectable threshold shifts, indicating that these receptor alterations may have little effect on maltose detection sensitivity. The mutational changes in 17 mutants were determined by DNA sequence analysis. Each mutant exhibited a single amino acid replacement at residue 64, 69, or 73 in the Tar molecule. The wild-type Tar transducer contains arginines at all three of these positions, implying that electrostatic forces may play an important role in aspartate detection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28346803,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Carbapenemase-Producing Aeromonas veronii Disseminated in the Environment of an Equine Specialty Hospital.\nThe emergence of bacterial resistance to carbapenem antibiotics is an urgent public health threat. Carbapenem drugs are a last resort treatment option for life-threatening infections. The frequent use of broad-spectrum antibiotics to treat hospitalized patients provides significant selection pressure favoring the emergence and dissemination of resistant organisms, including carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE). CREs have been reported in animal populations, but only rarely in horses. Our objective was to determine the prevalence of CRE in the environment of a referral equine specialty hospital. Environmental samples were collected on seven different sampling dates. Four clonal carbapenemase-producing Aeromonas veronii were recovered from 315 sampled surfaces (1.3%). All four isolates harbored the carbapenemase-producing, metallo-\u03b2-lactamase gene blacphA, although corresponding minimum inhibitory concentrations were within the susceptible range for imipenem and meropenem. All had an identical multilocus sequence type with a previously unreported allelic profile and contained multiple plasmids. To our knowledge, this recovery of blacphA-harboring A. veronii is the first report of carbapenemase-producing bacteria in the environment of an equine veterinary hospital. However, the low recovery rate suggests that environmental contamination is uncommon. Appropriate hospital cleaning and disinfection protocols are necessary to maintain a low risk of contamination for patients and personnel.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32370234,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Study on the Microstructure of the New Paste of Recycled Aggregate Self-Compacting Concrete.\nPrevious literature indicates a decrease in the mechanical properties of various concrete types that contain recycled aggregates (RA), due to their porosity and to their interface of transition zone (ITZ). However, other components of the RA concrete microstructure have not yet been explored, such as the modification of the new paste (NP) with respect to a reference concrete. This paper deals with the microstructure of the new paste of self-compacting concrete (SCC) for different levels of RA. The water to binder ratio (w\/b) was kept constant for all concrete mixtures, and equal to 0.5. The SCC mixtures were prepared with percentages of coarse RA of 0%, 30%, 50% and 100%. Mercury intrusion porosimetry test (MIP) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) observations were conducted on the new paste of each concrete. The results indicated that the porosity of the new paste presents a significant variation for replacement percentages of 50% and 100% with respect to NP0 and NP30. However, RA contributed to the refinement of the pore structure of the new paste. The amount of macrospores the diameter of which is in the 50-10,000 nm range was reduced to 20% for NP50 and NP100, while it was about 30% for NP0 and NP30, attributed to the water released by RA. Compressive strength loss for SCC50 and SCC100 concretes are both influenced by porosity of RA, and by the NP porosity. The latter is similar for these two concretes with the 26% increase compared to a reference concrete.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15248768,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Combinatorial selection and edited combinatorial selection of phosphorothioate aptamers targeting human nuclear factor-kappaB RelA\/p50 and RelA\/RelA.\nNuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) transcription factors are important in regulating the immune response and play critical roles in the pathogenesis of chronic inflammatory diseases and a variety of human cancers. Agents that target specific NF-kappaB dimers may serve as therapeutic agents for the prevention of pathogenic immune responses. We have selected monothiophosphate-modified aptamers, or \"thioaptamers\", to the NF-kappaB p50\/RelA heterodimer using combinatorial selection techniques. We also utilized a \"double sieve\" or editing approach for the generation of thioaptamers with enhanced selectivity to the RelA\/RelA homodimer. The thioaptamers from these selections and our previous selections on the p50\/p50 and RelA\/RelA homodimers all had unique sequences and bound tightly to the recombinant NF-kappaB dimers against which they were selected. The selected thioaptamers also appear to maintain their selectivity and specificity among other cellular proteins, because they have the ability to bind NF-kappaB proteins within nuclear extracts from lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced macrophages and B cells.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3051417,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"From vice to madness: the semantics of naturalistic and personalistic understandings in Trinidadian local medicine.\nWhilst the common analytical distinction between 'naturalistic' and 'personalistic' paradigms of medical knowledge has some immediate heuristic value and may indeed closely resemble the explicit schema elaborated by informants, interpretation of the semantics of bush medicine and madness in Creole Trinidad suggests that the two types of knowledge are not incompatible, nor mutually exclusive, nor distinct. The vices of ganja and rum use may be interpreted within the hot-cold classification of bush medicine but, like other vices and like the more 'intrapersonal' categories of pressure, grinding, studiation and tabanka, they may be understood as leading to madness. A common idiom of opposition and catharsis unites them, providing a higher level of analytical generality manifest in a range of local social institutions, and one rooted in post-colonial Afro-Caribbean experience and ideology.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1098441,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cutaneous infection due to a rough variant of Mycobacterium marinum.\nSpreading lesions clinically resembling lymphangitic sporotrichosis developed on the right arm and chest of a 60-year-old man with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Acid-fast bacilli were seen in exudates from lesions and in biopsies, and were cultured from them. The isolant grew initially as a yellowish-orange scotochromogen on Lowenstein-Jensen medium at room temperature and at 35 C., but failed to grow at 37 C. It failed to grow on 7-H-10 medium. On repeated subculturing over a 2-year period it gradually converted to a photochromogen. Histologically, there was ulceration with extensive acute and chronic inflammation with fibrosis. Organisms occurred intracellularly as dense, compact, cigar-like packets resembling lepara bacilli. The appeared to have a predilection for the nucleus. The patient was anergic to PPD S, B, Y and G, and lacked antibodies to BCG phosphoglycolipids. The mycobacteriosis was alleviated by combined INH and ethambutol therapy. The isolant was identified as a rough variant of Mycobacterium marinum. It may have been transmitted by an insect vector.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6747898,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Electrophysiological evidence for facilitatory control of oxytocin neurones by oxytocin during suckling in the rat.\nAntidromically identified paraventricular neurones were recorded simultaneously with intramammary pressure in urethane (1.2 g\/kg) anaesthetized rats during suckling. The correlation of the firing pattern of these neurones with milk ejection enabled distinction between oxytocin and vasopressin neurones. Oxytocin neurones displayed a short (2-6 s) characteristic high-frequency burst of spikes. This activation probably occurred simultaneously in all oxytocin neurones 12-18 s before milk ejection and was regular in both frequency and amplitude (total number of spikes). The role of neurohypophysial peptides and analogues in the control of these characteristics was studied. Injecting 10 pg, 100 pg and 1 ng of oxytocin into the 3rd ventricle increased background activity of slow-firing oxytocin neurones (less than 3 spikes\/s) and had a strong dose-dependent facilitatory effect on the milk ejection reflex, increasing both the amplitude and frequency of neurosecretory bursts. No effect was observed on non-neurosecretory neurones. Such injection also triggered the milk ejection reflex when it had not appeared an hour after suckling began. Oxytocin did not itself induce neurosecretory activation, which only appeared if the young rats were sucking. Injecting oxytocin into the lateral ventricle was less effective than into the 3rd ventricle. No effect was observed after injection into the venous blood or into the 4th ventricle, which suggested that oxytocin acts in the hypothalamus. Injecting mesotocin or isotocin into the 3rd ventricle had a facilitatory effect similar to that of oxytocin but vasopressin, vasotocin, MIF I (pro-leu-gly-NH2, terminal triplet oxytocin) or bovine neurophysins I and II did not modify neurosecretory activation or the milk ejection pattern. Injecting an oxytocin antagonist, ([1(beta-mercapto-beta, beta cyclopentamethylene propionic acid), 8-ornithine] vasotocin, d(CH2)5OVT) into the 3rd ventricle decreased milk ejection frequency and considerably delayed the reappearance of the first milk ejection. This resulted from a decrease in both frequency and amplitude of neurosecretory bursts, which were too small to induce detectable oxytocin release. Moreover, d(CH2)5OVT suppressed the facilitatory effect of exogenous oxytocin. Under normal conditions, endogenous oxytocin seemed to be involved in the control of neurosecretory activation. Injecting 1 ng oxytocin or 1 or 10 ng vasopressin into the 3rd ventricle did not modify the firing pattern of vasopressin neurones whether activated by hyperosmotic stimulation (1 ml NaCl, 9% solution (w\/v) I.P.) or not.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6367571,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Synthesis of complement by guinea pig bronchoalveolar macrophages. Effect of acute and chronic infection with Pseudomonas aeruginosa.\nIn order to assess the potential role of local production of complement in pulmonary host defenses against bacterial infection, this aspect of bronchoalveolar macrophage function was studied in guinea pigs challenged with Pseudomonas aeruginosa in an acute and chronic infection model. Acute infection resulted in an increase in bronchoalveolar macrophage cell number and an increase in synthesis and secretion rates for the second (C2) and fourth (C4) complement components per macrophage. Manipulation of the airway without introduction of Pseudomonas also increased synthesis of both C2 and C4 when studied 60 h after control solutions were administered. Pseudomonas aeruginosa delivered in agar beads to induce chronic inflammation resulted in specific stimulation of C2 and C4 synthesis at 2 wk and to a lesser extent at 4 wk postchallenge. This increase in local complement synthesis by bronchoalveolar macrophages, in addition to enhancing the local inflammatory response, may serve to facilitate recruitment of intravascular cellular and humoral mediators of host defense against bacterial infection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28697740,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Incorporating biological information in sparse principal component analysis with application to genomic data.\nSparse principal component analysis (PCA) is a popular tool for dimensionality reduction, pattern recognition, and visualization of high dimensional data. It has been recognized that complex biological mechanisms occur through concerted relationships of multiple genes working in networks that are often represented by graphs. Recent work has shown that incorporating such biological information improves feature selection and prediction performance in regression analysis, but there has been limited work on extending this approach to PCA. In this article, we propose two new sparse PCA methods called Fused and Grouped sparse PCA that enable incorporation of prior biological information in variable selection. Our simulation studies suggest that, compared to existing sparse PCA methods, the proposed methods achieve higher sensitivity and specificity when the graph structure is correctly specified, and are fairly robust to misspecified graph structures. Application to a glioblastoma gene expression dataset identified pathways that are suggested in the literature to be related with glioblastoma. The proposed sparse PCA methods Fused and Grouped sparse PCA can effectively incorporate prior biological information in variable selection, leading to improved feature selection and more interpretable principal component loadings and potentially providing insights on molecular underpinnings of complex diseases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3039679,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Inhibition of established rat fibrosarcoma growth by the glucose antagonist 2-deoxy-D-glucose.\nSarcoma cells exhibit higher rates of glycolysis than normal tissues and may be dependent on glucose utilization for growth. Accordingly, we tested the ability of the glucose antimetabolite 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) to inhibit the growth of an established methylcholanthrene-induced rat fibrosarcoma in three groups of F344 rats with increasing subcutaneous inoculations of tumor (2 X 10(6) cells, 1 X 10(7) cells, and 1 mm tumor fragments). Rats were randomized to receive 2-DG or saline solution at doses of 0.75 gm\/kg, 1.5 gm\/kg, or 1.75 gm\/kg, beginning 3 days after tumor implantation and continuing for 10 days. Tumors were removed and weighed on day 14. We measured tissue [14C]-2-DG levels in tumor, brain, liver, and muscle after intraperitoneal injection of radiolabeled 2-DG. In these same tissues we determined the activity of glucose-6-phosphatase (G-6-Pase), an enzyme which dephosphorylates the intracellular glycolytic inhibitor 2-DG-6-phosphate, thus reversing the antitumor effect of 2-DG. All groups treated with 2-DG had a significant reduction in tumor weight of 50% to 70% when compared with saline solution-treated controls. Toxicity was substantial at the highest dose of 2-DG, but minimal toxicity was noted at intermediate and low doses. Tumor had the greatest uptake of [14C]-2-DG, with low levels of G-6-Pase leading to prolonged retention and highest tissue levels of radiolabeled 2-DG. Use of 2-DG inhibits established sarcoma growth because it is rapidly transported into tumors, cannot be metabolized after phosphorylation, and is dephosphorylated and released slowly from tumor cells. Rat sarcoma growth is dependent on glucose utilization and can be effectively inhibited by glucose antagonism.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30310335,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Accurate empathy of romantic partners increases pain ratings but promotes recovery.\nPerceived empathy is a commonly used strategy to cope with pain and is crucial for maintaining intimacy in dyadic relationships. This study used the cold pressor test to investigate how perceived empathy and relationship type interact with the subjective perception of pain and objective measures of recovery time, using heart rate as an index. One hundred and ninety participants were recruited, including 49 friend dyads and 46 romantic partner dyads. Perceived empathy was manipulated by adopting three levels as the experimental conditions: high, accurate, and low. In the subjective perception stage, the results showed a significant interaction of relationship type and empathy with pain reporting, indicating that romantic partners reported more pain than friends under the accurate empathy condition. There were no differences between the two groups in the high and low perceived empathy conditions. In the self-recovery stage, the results showed that romantic partners had less pain tolerance than friends in all three perceived empathy conditions. On the other hand, romantic partners recovered faster than friends under the accurate empathy condition, but not under the high and low perceived empathy conditions. These results suggest that perceived accurate empathy is necessary for romantic relationships when coping with pain. The findings deepen our understanding of the mechanism of perceived empathy, and the ways in which it modulates psychological and physiological responses in a social context.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17173255,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Predictive value of cytokine gene polymorphisms for the development of end-stage renal disease.\nCytokines play a crucial role in different immunopathological conditions. Cytokine secretion is reported to be determined by polymorphisms in the cytokine genes. Since TNF-alfa and IL-10 are involved in regulation of inflammation, and TGF-beta 1 can induce fibrosis and renal insufficiency - dominant features of end-stage renal disease (ESRD), we explored the hypothesis that polymorphisms of these cytokine genes may be possible genetic susceptibility factors for the progression of renal failure. We studied the IL-10 (-1082), TNF-alfa (-308), TGF-beta 1 (codon 10;25) gene single nucleotide polymorphisms in 118 healthy donors and 103 patients with ESRD (44 hemodialysis patients with diabetic nephropathy and 59 hemodialysis patients with glomerulonephritis) using PCR-SSP. Significant associations of ESRD with the TGF-beta 1 (codon 10) TT (odds ratio [OR] = 5.31; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 3.77-7.02; p<0.001) and IL-10 (-1082) GG (OR=2.35; 95% CI, 1.67-3.15; p<0.01) genotypes were found. Statistical analysis of genotype frequencies made separately for the underlying renal disease (diabetes or glomerulo-nephritis) revealed the same linkage trend: TGF-beta 1 (codon 10) TT and IL-10 (-1082) GG were associated with type 2 diabetic nephropathy (p<0.001 and p<0.05, respectively) and chronic glomerulonephritis (p<0.001 and p<0.01, respectively). No significant differences in the TNF-alfa , TGF-beta 1 (codon 25) genotype distribution between healthy controls and patients with diabetic nephropathy- or glomerulonephritis-associated ESRD were detected. Carriage of the TGF-beta 1 (codon 10) TT and IL-10 (-1082) GG genotypes may increase susceptibility to ESRD in German patients with type 2 diabetes or glomerulonephritis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29363770,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Assessment of image quality and scatter and leakage radiation of an integrated MR-LINAC system.\nTo assess the image quality, scatter, and leakage radiation of an integrated magnetic resonance linear accelerator (MR-LINAC or MRL) system. A large American College of Radiology (ACR) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) accreditation phantom was used to evaluate the MRI capabilities of the integrated MRL system compared with those of other diagnostic MRI systems. Multiple sets of T1 and T2\/PD images were acquired with the linear accelerator positioned at various angles and with the radiation beam on and off. Images also were acquired on three different occasions over a period of about 12 months. Scatter and leakage radiation were measured with a large (150 cm3 ) ion chamber recalibrated for MV energy. For scatter measurements, a 25-cm stack of solid-water materials was placed at the isocenter on the patient couch to simulate a patient. The head leakage was measured at 1 m from the linear accelerator head in directions determined to produce the maximum leakage. All measurements were repeated with the magnetic field turned off to study the effects of the magnetic field. The geometric distortion, slice thickness accuracy, image uniformity, ghosting ratio, and high-contrast detectability were comparable to other 1.5 T diagnostic MRI scanners. No observable changes in image quality and no appreciable differences were found between radiation beam-on and beam-off images. The measured leakage and scattered radiation changed by less than 5% when the magnetic field was on compared to measurements with the field off. The beam stopper leakage was approximately 0.3 R\/1000 MU, and because there was no direct beam imparted on the walls, a vault designed for a modern-day LINAC should have enough required radiation shielding to house the MRL. The image quality generated by the MRI system of the integrated MRL was similar to that of a diagnostic MRI scanner. Interference from the MV radiation was minimal, and there was no measurable difference in image quality with the beam on and off. Scatter radiation and leakage radiation of the MRL system were within the expected range of a comparable MV-LINAC.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31266439,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hepatic Computed Tomography Volumetry for Noninvasive Detection of Hepatic Steatosis and Steatohepatitis in Living Liver Donors.\nDetection of hepatic steatosis in donors is an important step for selection of a suitable liver allograft in living-donor transplant. This study aimed to investigate the role of hepatic computed tomography volumetry as a noninvasive method for detection of hepatic steatosis in living liver donors. In a cross-sectional study, individuals who had undergone liver biopsy as a pretransplant checkup before living-donor liver transplant were included. The segmental liver volumes were measured by computed tomography scan with intravenous contrast enhancement. Our study included 179 individuals. Mean total volume of the liver was 1705.2 \u00b1 256.5 cm\u00b3 in those with steatohepatitis and 1419.4 \u00b1 241.2 cm\u00b3 in those without steatohepatitis (P < .001). Higher total volume of the liver (odds ratio of 1.005; 95% confidence interval, 1.001-1.010; P = .012) and total liver volume-to-standard liver volume ratio (odds ratio of 1.090; 95% confidence interval, 1.021-1.163; P = .009) were independent predictors of steatohepatitis. A cutoff value of 1531 cm\u00b3 for total liver volume was a predictor of presence of steatohepatitis in liver biopsies of donors (sensitivity = 83%; specificity = 71%; area under the curve = 0.809; P < .001). Computed tomography volumetry may be considered as an auxiliary noninvasive method for estimation of hepatic steatosis\/steatohepatitis and may be used as a guide to select donor candidates for liver biopsy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14522826,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-30":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Protocadherin alpha3 acts at sites distinct from classic cadherins in rat testis and sperm.\nThe testis expresses a variety of cadherin superfamily members including classic cadherins and protocadherins. This report describes the first localization of a protocadherin protein in testis and sperm. After cloning rat cDNAs for protocadherin alpha3 and alpha4, isoform-specific polyclonal antibodies were generated against protocadherin alpha3. Western blotting of rat testis showed that protocadherin alpha3 was solubilized completely by Triton X-100, in contrast to the adhesion junction components N-cadherin, beta-catenin, and p120 catenin. Corroborating this data, protocadherin alpha3 was immunolocalized to the spermatid acrosomal area, intercellular bridge, and flagellum, but not classic cadherin-based adhesion junctions. Acrosome-associated protocadherin alpha3 was first detected at step 8 of spermiogenesis, and this association remained on cauda epididymal sperm. Acrosome immunostaining was reduced, but present, in acrosome-reacted sperm. Spermatid intercellular bridges became positive for protocadherin alpha3 coincident with the appearance of plectin, occurring at spermiogenic steps 8 to 9, and elongate spermatid bridges remained positive throughout spermatogenesis. The developing flagellum was uniformly immunostained for protocadherin alpha3 up to approximately spermiogenic step 17. Subsequently, flagellar immunostaining was confined to the principal piece, and this pattern continued in cauda epididymal sperm. These data show that protocadherin alpha3 performs functions unique from classic cadherins in spermatogenesis and suggest a role for protocadherin alpha3 in organizing germ cell-specific structures including the intercellular bridge, flagellum, and acrosome.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17004207,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[An experience promoting evidence-based nursing at a medical center in central Taiwan].\nIn the 21st Century, evidence-based nursing (EBN) may provide a mechanism by which nurses can manage the explosion in published information in the literature, introduce new techniques, effectively control healthcare costs, and increase attention on nursing quality and health outcomes. The objective of this paper is to share the experience implementing evidence-based nursing. We had applied strategies to implement evidence-based nursing care in our hospital since 2002. Over a more than three-year period (January 2002 to October 2005), we held 46 basic course sessions (around 1,840 attendees) and 58 advanced course sessions (around 500 attendees). There are 445 clinical questions with answered reports, Most questions related to foley care, central vein care and peripheral intravenous injection. Our nursing department revised three guidelines on nursing care skills related to suction and foley and nasal-gastric feeding to meet local conditions. Based on our subjective experience, promotion and implementation of EBN is feasible and helpful to update knowledge and decrease variance in clinical nursing care. However, further outcome research is needed in the future in order to obtain more objective evidence.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37445364,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effectiveness of Physical Therapy Interventions for Temporomandibular Disorders Associated with Tinnitus: A Systematic Review.\nTemporomandibular disorders (TMDs) refers to different clinical conditions affecting the temporomandibular joints, masticatory muscles, and adjacent structures. Although TMDs signs and symptoms (e.g., pain and limited mouth opening) are common, otological symptoms, such as tinnitus, might also be present. This study aims to summarize the evidence of the effectiveness of physical therapy interventions in individuals with TMDs associated with tinnitus. Randomized controlled trials investigating the effectiveness of physical therapy in individuals of both genders aged 18 or older with TMDs associated with tinnitus were included. The electronic search was performed in the following databases: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PEDro and CENTRAL. A total of four studies were included. All studies showed that physical therapy reduced the intensity of tinnitus, and two trials showed a decrease in the pain intensity caused by TMDs, an increase in the pressure pain thresholds in the masticatory muscles and an improvement of mandibular function. Two studies presented a low risk of bias. Despite a low certainty of the evidence, this review showed that physical therapy reduces the intensity or severity of tinnitus associated with TMDs. Results may support future research on the topic and evidence-based practice by recommending the best physical therapy approach for patients, clinicians, researchers, and health system managers.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16234342,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"G-protein-coupled receptors in drug discovery: nanosizing using cell-free technologies and molecular biology approaches.\nSignal transduction by G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) underpins a multitude of physiological processes. Ligand recognition by the receptor leads to activation of a generic molecular switch involving heterotrimeric G-proteins and guanine nucleotides. Signal transduction has been studied extensively with both cell-based systems and assays comprising isolated signaling components. Interest and commercial investment in GPCRs in areas such as drug targets, orphan receptors, high throughput screening, biosensors, and so on will focus greater attention on assay development to allow for miniaturization, ultra-high throughput and, eventually, microarray\/biochip assay formats. Although cell-based assays are adequate for many GPCRs, it is likely that these formats will limit the development of higher density GPCR assay platforms mandatory for other applications. Stable, robust, cell-free signaling assemblies comprising receptor and appropriate molecular switching components will form the basis of future GPCR assay platforms adaptable for such applications as microarrays. The authors review current cell-free GPCR assay technologies and molecular biological approaches for construction of novel, functional GPCR assays.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7936406,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Human brain potential signs of selection by location and frequency in an auditory transient attention situation.\nEvent-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded in human subjects receiving tones. Each tone was preceded by a visual cue indicating a to-be-attended feature. In one part of the experiment, subjects had to attend to tones of the indicated frequency, whereas they had to attend to tones delivered at the designated ear in the other part. ERPs to attended tones showed enhanced frontal negativities as compared with ERPs to unattended tones. Additionally, in the location selection condition, a negative difference (Nd) between attended and unattended EPRs occurred between 100 and 200 ms at parietal areas. This parietal Nd seems to be characteristic for transient spatial attention.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15261833,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"her7 and hey1, but not lunatic fringe show dynamic expression during somitogenesis in medaka (Oryzias latipes).\nEpithelialized somites form repeatedly from the unsegmented presomitic mesoderm (PSM) in the tailbud of vertebrate embryos. Mutant analysis has shown that the Delta-Notch pathway is essential for the temporal and spatial control of somite formation. Several components of this pathway show cyclic transcription, which is driven by a molecular oscillator. This oscillator is thought to act similarly in different vertebrates. In this study, we used the Japanese Medaka (Oryzias latipes) to examine the expression of three factors of the Delta-Notch cascade that are known to show cyclic expression in the PSM of higher vertebrates. We report that in contrast to the situation in mice, lunatic fringe (lfng) in medaka is expressed in a non-dynamic fashion in the rostral halves of the formed somites and the anteriormost PSM. On the other hand, her7, a member of the hairy\/Enhancer-of-split related (Her) gene family, shows cyclic expression in the medaka PSM. Although this is similar in zebrafish, there are important differences in the distribution of transcripts in the PSM indicating different modes of regulation in both fish species. Finally, we show that hey1, another Delta-Notch regulated bHLH gene, is dynamically expressed in the PSM of medaka, similar to hey1 in zebrafish and the hey2 orthologs in mice and chicken. Interestingly, medaka hey1 is also expressed in the dorsal aorta and the heart, two tissues where hey2, but not hey1, is expressed in zebrafish. This shows that several components of the Delta-Notch pathway are differently regulated during somitogenesis in different species.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7932569,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Antipodal alpha-N-(methyl through decyl)-N-normetazocines (5,9 alpha-dimethyl-2'-hydroxy-6,7-benzomorphans): in vitro and in vivo properties.\nThe enantiomeric (-)- and (+)-N-(methyl through decyl) normetazocines (5,9 alpha-dimethyl-2'-hydroxy-6,7-benzomorphans) were synthesized and their in vitro and in vivo activities determined. Increasingly bulky enantiomeric N-alkyl homologs were prepared until their interaction with the sigma 1 receptor decreased and their insolubility became a hindrance to their evaluation in vivo and\/or in vitro. The (-)-methyl, -pentyl, -hexyl, and -heptyl homologs were essentially as potent as, or more potent than, morphine in the tail-flick, phenylquinone, and hot-plate assays for antinociceptive activity; the (-)-propyl homolog had narcotic antagonist activity between that of nalorphine and naloxone in the tail-flick vs morphine assay, and it also displayed antagonist properties in the single-dose suppression assay in the rhesus monkey. The antinociceptively potent (-)-heptyl homolog did not substitute for morphine in monkeys but did show morphine-like properties in a primary physical-dependence study in continuously infused rats. All five potent compounds showed high affinity for the mu opioid receptor from both rat and monkey preparations and the kappa opioid receptor (< 0.05 microM), and all except the (-)-methyl homolog interacted reasonably well at the delta receptor (K(i) < 0.1 microM). The (-)-propyl compound was equipotent (K(i) 1.5-2.0 nM) at mu and kappa receptors. The pattern of interaction of the (-)-enantiomeric homologs with mu receptors from rat and monkey preparations was similar, but not identical. The enantioselectivity of the homologs for mu receptors was greater in the rat than in the monkey preparation for all but the N-H and butyl compounds, and the enantioselectivity of the lower homologs (methyl through butyl) for the mu (monkey) receptor was greater than for the kappa or delta receptors. However, bulkier homologs (hexyl through decyl) displayed higher enantioselectivity at kappa or delta receptors than at the mu (monkey) receptor. The (+)-butyl through (+)-octyl homologs were essentially equipotent with, or more potent than, (+)-pentazocine at the sigma receptor. Only the (+)-H and (+)-methyl homologs had high affinity (< 0.05 microM) at PCP binding sites.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28541535,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Genome-Wide SNP Analysis Reveals Distinct Origins of Trypanosoma evansi and Trypanosoma equiperdum.\nTrypanosomes cause a variety of diseases in man and domestic animals in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. In the Trypanozoon subgenus, Trypanosoma brucei gambiense and Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense cause human African trypanosomiasis, whereas Trypanosoma brucei brucei, Trypanosoma evansi, and Trypanosoma equiperdum are responsible for nagana, surra, and dourine in domestic animals, respectively. The genetic relationships between T. evansi and T. equiperdum and other Trypanozoon species remain unclear because the majority of phylogenetic analyses has been based on only a few genes. In this study, we have conducted a phylogenetic analysis based on genome-wide SNP analysis comprising 56 genomes from the Trypanozoon subgenus. Our data reveal that T. equiperdum has emerged at least once in Eastern Africa and T. evansi at two independent occasions in Western Africa. The genomes within the T. equiperdum and T. evansi monophyletic clusters show extremely little variation, probably due to the clonal spread linked to the independence from tsetse flies for their transmission.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17916457,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Prevention and management of venous thromboembolism in pregnancy.\nNormal pregnancy is accompanied by an increase in clotting factors. The resulting hypercoagulable state has likely evolved to protect women from hemorrhage at the time of miscarriage and childbirth. During pregnancy, women are 4 times more likely to suffer from venous thromboembolism (VTE) compared with when they are not pregnant. Relative to pregnancy, the risk postpartum is even higher. The incidence of VTE is approximately 2 per 1,000 births, and VTE accounts for 1 death per 100,000 births, or approximately 10% of all maternal deaths. The most important risk factors during pregnancy are thrombophilia and a history of thrombosis. A history of thrombosis increases the risk for VTE to 2% to 12%. Thrombophilia increases not only the risk for maternal thrombosis but also the risk of poor pregnancy outcome. Despite the increased risk for thrombosis during pregnancy and the postpartum period, most women do not require anticoagulation. Those who do require anticoagulation include women with current VTE, women on lifelong anticoagulation, and many women with thrombophilia or a history of thrombosis. Recommended options for anticoagulation in pregnancy are limited to heparins, which do not cross the placenta. Low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) is preferred over unfractionated heparin because LMWH has a longer half-life and is presumed to have fewer side effects. The longer half-life is a disadvantage around the time of delivery, when unfractionated heparin, with its shorter half-life, is easier to manage. For women who develop or are at high risk for heparin-induced thrombocytopenia or severe cutaneous reactions, fondaparinux is probably the agent of choice. Women who do not require lifelong anticoagulation, but require anticoagulation during pregnancy, will still require anticoagulation for the first 6 weeks postpartum.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23879978,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Methods of eliminating putrefaction in TCM surgery].\nEliminating putrefaction is a characteristic therapy in TCM surgery. It is more inclusive, reliable and safer nowadays after development for thousands of years. From the 20(th) century, with the development of science and technology, personal injury resulting from heavy metals has drawn more and more attention. Many drugs with heavy metal ingredients such as arsenic, mercury and lead were forbidden in clinical practice. This therapy had played an important role in Chinese medical history and it should not be abandoned as refraining from treatment with a necessary method for fear of a slight risk. With a long history, various methods of eliminating putrefaction have been developed by doctors, especially doctors in Ming and Qing Dynasties. The thoughts and experience of those doctors are still well worth learning and researching.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36263681,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Neurogenic Lower Urinary Tract Dysfunction in the First Year After Spinal Cord Injury: A Descriptive Study of Urodynamic Findings.\nWe aimed to provide a real-world description of neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction within the first year after spinal cord injury with a focus on unfavorable urodynamic parameters that are associated with urological morbidity. Urodynamic investigations from 97 patients with traumatic or ischemic acute spinal cord injury and managed according to the European Association of Urology Guidelines on Neuro-Urology were analyzed at a single university spinal cord injury center at 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months after injury. Unfavorable urodynamic parameters were defined as detrusor overactivity in combination with detrusor sphincter dyssynergia, maximum storage detrusor pressure of 40 cm H2O or higher, bladder compliance less than 20 mL\/cm H2O, and vesicoureteral reflux of any grade. One or more unfavorable urodynamic parameter was observed in 87 out of 97 patients (90%) within the first year after spinal cord injury. Eighty-eight percent of the patients showed detrusor overactivity with detrusor sphincter dyssynergia, 39% a maximum storage detrusor pressure of 40 cm H2O or higher, and 7% vesicoureteral reflux. No patient developed a low-compliance bladder. Using a standardized urodynamic follow-up schedule, we found unfavorable urodynamic parameters in a majority of the population within the first year after spinal cord injury. As early treatment based on urodynamic findings might reduce the risk of deterioration of upper and lower urinary tract function, thereby improving long-term outcomes, there is need for further research regarding recommendations for a urodynamic follow-up schedule during the first year after spinal cord injury.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29388355,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Extraction of bioactive compounds against cardiovascular diseases from Lentinula edodes using a sequential extraction method.\nThree extraction methods were sequentially combined to obtain fractions from Lentinula edodes (shiitake mushrooms) containing bioactive compounds against cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Fruiting bodies were first extracted with plain water, obtained residue was then submitted to supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) and remaining residue submitted to hot water extraction. Sequential design allowed reutilization of the nonextracted material as raw material for the successive extractions increasing extraction yields and separating interesting compounds. Obtained fractions contained different amounts of \u00df-glucans, chitins, eritadenine, lenthionine, ergosterol, proteins\/peptides and phenolic compounds conferring them different bioactivities. Water soluble fractions showed high antioxidant activities (ABTS+\u2022 and DPPH\u2022 scavenging capacity and reducing power), they were also able to inhibit one of the main enzymes involved in hypertension (angiotensin-I converting enzyme) and the key enzyme of cholesterol metabolism (3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase). The latter inhibitory activity was also noticed in SFE extracts although ergosterol and other lipid-like molecules were isolated. Dietary fibers were separated in the third extraction. Therefore, with this sequential extraction procedure bioactive compounds against CVDs can be selectively separated from a single batch of shiitake powder. \u00a9 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 34:746-755, 2018.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30676684,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Intellectual property-The Foundation of Innovation: A scientist's guide to intellectual property.\nIncreasingly, the activities of the practicing scientist inextricably intersect with the business world. Science is central to the development and delivery of many goods or services, and scientific discovery can directly, or indirectly, lead to substantial revenue generation. Scientists, however, have little training in the complex issues of intellectual property (IP), and often little understanding of their rights and obligations. Here, we define IP and disuss what it means to be an inventor or creator of IP. We define and differentiate between the primary forms of IP-trade secrets, copyright, trademarks, and patents-and discuss their implementation and implications for the practicing scientist.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16148626,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Homonymous hemianopia caused by occipital lobe infarction in heparin-induced thrombocytopenia and thrombosis syndrome.\nA 73-year-old woman developed mental confusion and finger pain after treatment with enoxaparin following arthroplasty. A platelet count was 163,000\/microL. Because digital embolism was suspected, she was emergently treated with heparin and recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rTPA). During rTPA infusion, she reported sudden hemifield loss, so the infusion was aborted. Brain CT disclosed a non-hemorrhagic occipital infarct. Platelets had fallen to 63,000 over eight days, and antibodies against a complex of heparin and platelet factor 4 were detected. These findings led to the diagnosis of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia and thrombosis syndrome (HITTS), an immune-mediated disorder in which venous and arterial thromboses occur. Right lower extremity deep venous thromboses were later diagnosed, and an MRI disclosed multiple cerebral infarcts of recent onset but different ages. Previous reports have documented brain arterial strokes in HITTS, mostly in the distribution of the middle cerebral artery, but clinical documentation is sparse, and there have been no imaging reports. This is the first report to document the clinical and imaging features of a HITTS stroke and the first to describe a stroke presumptively caused by a low molecular weight heparin. It emphasizes that HITTS may cause stroke even when the platelet count is normal. Diagnosis of HITTS should prompt immediate cessation of heparin treatment and substitution of a direct thrombin inhibitor or fondaparinux.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17825335,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"5Alpha-androstane-3beta,7alpha,17beta-triol and 5alpha-androstane-3beta,7beta,17beta-triol as substrates for the human 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1.\nSeveral studies have shown that the native 7alpha-hydroxy-dehydroepiandrosterone (7alpha-hydroxy-DHEA) is a substrate for the human 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11beta-HSD1) which converts the 7alpha- into the 7beta-epimer through an oxido-reduction process. Research on the 11beta-HSD1 has investigated its function and structure through using native glucocorticoid substrates and known inhibitors. Other steroid substrates are also of interest. Among testosterone metabolites, 5alpha-androstane-3beta,17beta-diol (Adiol) is a substrate for the cytochrome P450 7B1 which produces 5alpha-androstane-3beta,7alpha,17beta-triol (7alpha-Adiol). This steroid may be a substrate for the 11beta-HSD1. We used recombinant yeast-expressed 11beta-HSD1 with NADP(H)-regenerating systems for examining the products obtained after incubation with 7alpha-Adiol, 7beta-Adiol or 7-oxo-Adiol. Oxidative conditions for the 11beta-HSD1 provided no trace of 7-oxo-Adiol but the inter-conversion of 7alpha- and 7beta-hydroxy-Adiol with V(max)\/K(M) (pmol min(-1) microg(-1)\/microM) values of 2 and 0.5, respectively. This state was maintained under reductive conditions. The use of a 7-oxo-Adiol substrate under reductive conditions led to the production of both 7alpha- and 7beta-hydroxy-Adiol with V(max)\/K(M) values of 3.43 and 0.22, respectively. These findings support the hypothesis that the oxido-reductase and epimerase activities of 11beta-HSD1 depend on the positioning of the steroid substrates within the active site and may provide insight into its fine structure and mechanism of action.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34421808,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Multimodal Image Integration for Epilepsy Presurgical Evaluation: A Clinical Workflow.\nMultimodal image integration (MMII) is a promising tool to help delineate the epileptogenic zone (EZ) in patients with medically intractable focal epilepsies undergoing presurgical evaluation. We report here the detailed methodology of MMII and an overview of the utility of MMII at the Cleveland Clinic Epilepsy Center from 2014 to 2018, exemplified by illustrative cases. The image integration was performed using the Curry platform (Compumedics Neuroscan\u2122, Charlotte, NC, USA), including all available diagnostic modalities such as Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), Positron Emission Tomography (PET), single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and Magnetoencephalography (MEG), with additional capability of trajectory planning for intracranial EEG (ICEEG), particularly stereo-EEG (SEEG), as well as surgical resection planning. In the 5-year time span, 467 patients underwent MMII; of them, 98 patients (21%) had a history of prior neurosurgery and recurring seizures. Of the 467 patients, 425 patients underwent ICEEG implantation with further CT co-registration to identify the electrode locations. A total of 351 patients eventually underwent surgery after MMII, including 197 patients (56%) with non-lesional MRI and 223 patients (64%) with extra-temporal lobe epilepsy. Among 269 patients with 1-year post-operative follow up, 134 patients (50%) had remained completely seizure-free. The most common histopathological finding is focal cortical dysplasia. Our study illustrates the usefulness of MMII to enhance SEEG electrode trajectory planning, assist non-invasive\/invasive data interpretation, plan resection strategy, and re-evaluate surgical failures. Information presented by MMII is essential to the understanding of the anatomo-functional-electro-clinical correlations in individual cases, which leads to the ultimate success of presurgical evaluation of patients with medically intractable focal epilepsies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15255440,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Bilateral parotid swelling in a child--a case report.\nNumerous causes for bilateral parotid swellings have been identified. It must be assumed that systemic factors play a key role, thereby the attainment of a definitive diagnosis requires a familiarity with full range of possible etiologies for these swellings. Differential diagnostic skills must be implemented to achieve a precise diagnosis. A case of bilateral parotid swelling in a child is presented and differential diagnosis is discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28530058,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[SOLAR URTICARIA].\nSolar urticaria is a rare photodermatosis. It belongs to the group of physical urticarias. In this particular urticarial, erythema and whealing accompanied by pruritus occur seconds to minutes after exposure to light. The disease might have a severe impact on the patient's quality of life. A correct diagnosis is important in order to allow proper treatment, which is often challenging. A characteristic patient is described with a review of the epidemiology, clinical manifestations, etiology, diagnosis, treatment course and prognosis of this rare disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12002931,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The effect of a disposable probe cover on pulse oximetry.\nThe re-use of pulse oximeter probes presents the possibility of between-patient contamination. Use of a disposable polyethylene cover may reduce this risk. In a controlled, prospective study we examined the effect of such a cover on the accuracy of pulse oximetry. Each of ten volunteer subjects was monitored simultaneously by two identical Nellcor pulse oximeters, one with a plastic cover and the other, without a cover, used as a control. The pulse oximetry (SpO2) reading for each probe was recorded while subjects breathed 21% O2 and again while they breathed 10% O2. The probe cover was then swapped onto the other probe and the recordings were repeated. Ninety-five per cent limits of agreement in SpO2 (mean difference in SpO2 (1.95 x standard deviation of difference) between covered and non-covered probes were -0.6% to 0.6% while breathing 21% oxygen and -2.0% to 2.9% while breathing 10% oxygen. We conclude that a protective plastic sheath may induce a small error in pulse oximetry reading that is most marked during hypoxaemia. This error is unlikely to be of clinical significance.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19023814,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Microbial transformation of testosterone by Rhizopus stolonifer and Fusarium lini.\nThe microbial transformation of testosterone by the fungi Rhizopus stolonifer and Fusarium lini has been investigated for the first time. The bioconversion reactions observed from R. stolonifer included oxidation of a 17beta-hydroxyl group, a hydroxylation at equatorial 11alpha position, reduction of the double bond at C-4 with oxidation of the methylene at C-6 to the corresponding keto group, and lactonisation of ring D; the latter is the first report of this reaction by a Rhizopus species. Fusarium lini promoted 1-dehydrogenation of the steroid, which has been rarely observed in fungi cultures. The other routes of biotransformations included oxidation of the 17beta-hydroxyl group and the hydroxylation at 11alpha position. These reactions are not common for Fusarium species.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19036651,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Use of colonoscopy in the management of patients with Crohn's disease: appropriateness and diagnostic yield.\nColonoscopy is a necessary tool in the management of Crohn's disease, but the benefit achieved by the procedure is a matter of debate. In the present study we evaluate the clinical impact of performing colonoscopy in Crohn's disease patients. Consecutive patients with Crohn's disease undergoing colonoscopy were considered. The following issues were considered: appropriateness of indications; relevant findings able to change the management of the patients; the endoscopist's management decisions based on patient's clinical picture, i.e. increased, maintained or decreased treatment, compared with those selected after performing endoscopy. 204 patients (116 male\/88 female, mean age 41 years) were included. Colonoscopy was judged indicated in 52.9% cases, according to current guidelines. In 54% of patients, endoscopy revealed a significant lesion, and this rate was significantly lower for non-indicated procedures (25.9%, p<0.0001). The endoscopic findings were in disagreement with symptoms in about 25% of cases, but the impact of the endoscopic findings on the endoscopist's decision was likely to be very small without any differences between appropriate and inappropriate procedures. Endoscopy is a potent tool in the management of Crohn's disease, if correctly used, but in the majority of cases a correct therapeutic decision may be established simply on the basis of clinical picture and non-invasive markers, whilst relevant endoscopic findings have a relatively low impact on the medical treatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11639699,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[The transition of the standards and the test-methods of cocain hydrochloride between JP I (1886) and JP XII (1991)].\nIn 1886, Japanese pharmacopoeia (JP.I) has been published as the 21st pharmacopoeia in the world, and now we have the twelfth revised Pharmacopoeia (JP.XII) published in 1991. During the period of about one century between JP.I and JP.XII, pharmaceutical science has shown remarkable progress in Japan as well as the U.S.A. and Europe. In this report, we have studied the transition of the standards and the test-methods of cocain hydrochloride between JP.I and JP.XII. The test-methods of cocain hydrochloride were gradually progressed. Since the World War II, JP.VI (1951) has been revised in wide range by adjusting into the U.S.A. XIV (1950) and then, many old tests have been eliminated and new tests have been regulated. For instance, optical-rotation test in JP.VI and assay in JP.VIII (1976) were good examples of how JP has been revised. Recently, many local-anaesthetic medicines have become very popular. So, the clinical market of cocain hydrochloride will not be so wide in the future in the Japanese medical field.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11998340,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[The surveillance system of decubital lesions of the University Polyclinic in Udine: results of an incidence study].\nA retrospective study of the incidence of pressure sores was one of the principal component of the ad hoc program of surveillance, prevention and treatment of pressure sores started in 1996 at University Hospital of Udine. Data were collected from the nursing records of patients defined at risk according to the Waterlow scale and admitted during 1998-99. Aims of the study were to quantify the number of patients who developed a pressure sore while in hospital and their risk level; stage of the lesions; to qualify the main risk factors and the management strategies adopted (i.e. mattresses, medications). Overall, 151 subjects (20.7% of those recruited) developed a pressure sore the greatest majority (96%) were classified as transient and reactive redness or superficial sore, while 14 patients (4%) developed a severe sore. For 50.4% of the lesions a regression to a lower risk level or healing were documented.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30311639,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Implementation of planar proton minibeam radiation therapy using a pencil beam scanning system: A proof of concept study.\nProton minibeam radiation therapy (pMBRT) is an innovative approach that combines the advantages of minibeam radiation therapy with the more precise ballistics of protons to further reduce the side effects of radiation. One of the main challenges of this approach is the generation of very narrow proton pencil beams with an adequate dose-rate to treat patients within a reasonable treatment time (several minutes) in existing clinical facilities. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the feasibility of implementing pMBRT by combining the pencil beam scanning (PBS) technique with the use of multislit collimators. This proof of concept study of pMBRT with a clinical system is intended to guide upcoming biological experiments. Monte Carlo simulations (TOPAS v3.1.p2) were used to design a suitable multislit collimator to implement planar pMBRT for conventional pencil beam scanning settings. Dose distributions (depth-dose curves, lateral profiles, Peak-to-Valley Dose Ratio (PVDR) and dose-rates) for different proton beam energies were assessed by means of Monte Carlo simulations and experimental measurements in a water tank using commercial ionization chambers and a new p-type silicon diode, the IBA RAZOR. An analytical intensity-modulated dose calculation algorithm designed to optimize the weight of individual Bragg peaks composing the field was also developed and validated. Proton minibeams were then obtained using a brass multislit collimator with five slits measuring 2 cm \u00d7 400 \u03bcm in width with a center-to-center distance of 4 mm. The measured and calculated dose distributions (depth-dose curves and lateral profiles) showed a good agreement. Spread-out Bragg peaks (SOBP) and homogeneous dose distributions around the target were obtained by means of intensity modulation of Bragg peaks, while maintaining spatial fractionation at shallow depths. Mean dose-rates of 0.12 and 0.09 Gy\/s were obtained for one iso-energy layer and a SOBP conditions in the presence of multislit collimator. This study demonstrates the feasibility of implementing pMBRT on a PBS system. It also confirms the reliability of RAZOR detector for pMBRT dosimetry. This newly developed experimental methodology will support the design of future preclinical research with pMBRT.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29380031,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":3,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-26":1,"2024-10":1,"2024-30":1}}},"text":"Temperature and nutrients as drivers of microbially mediated arsenic oxidation and removal from acid mine drainage.\nMicrobial oxidation of iron (Fe) and arsenic (As) followed by their co-precipitation leads to the natural attenuation of these elements in As-rich acid mine drainage (AMD). The parameters driving the activity and diversity of bacterial communities responsible for this mitigation remain poorly understood. We conducted batch experiments to investigate the effect of temperature (20 vs 35 \u00b0C) and nutrient supply on the rate of Fe and As oxidation and precipitation, the bacterial diversity (high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA gene), and the As oxidation potential (quantification of aioA gene) in AMD from the Carnoul\u00e8s mine (France). In batch incubated at 20 \u00b0C, the dominance of iron-oxidizing bacteria related to Gallionella spp. was associated with almost complete iron oxidation (98%). However, negligible As oxidation led to the formation of As(III)-rich precipitates. Incubation at 35 \u00b0C and nutrient supply both stimulated As oxidation (71-75%), linked to a higher abundance of aioA gene and the dominance of As-oxidizing bacteria related to Thiomonas spp. As a consequence, As(V)-rich precipitates (70-98% of total As) were produced. Our results highlight strong links between indigenous bacterial community composition and iron and arsenic removal efficiency within AMD and provide new insights for the future development of a biological treatment of As-rich AMD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28255484,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Surgical Management of Multijoint Septic Arthritis due to Rat-Bite Fever in a Pediatric Patient: A Case Study.\nIn the United States, rat-bite fever is a rare systemic illness principally caused by Streptobacillus moniliformis, an organism found in the nasopharyngeal flora of rodents. Infection through direct exposure to rat excreta such as saliva, urine, or feces can lead to fever, rash, and an asymmetric migratory polyarthritis. As rodents are becoming more popular as pets, more pediatric cases are being documented. We report a pediatric case of delayed onset septic arthritis in the left wrist and right knee due to S. moniliformis from a rat bite. Previously reported pediatric case studies of suppurative arthritis due to S. moniliformis have only involved the hip. This case study demonstrates the importance of a thorough exposure history and consideration of zoonotic infections as a cause of septic arthritis in a pediatric patient that requires antibiotics and surgical intervention.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25423980,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Travel distance and the utilisation of out-of-hours services].\nIt has been documented from a number of out-of-hours primary health care services that the utilisation of the services declines with increasing travel distances. In this study we have investigated the correlation between travel distances and the use of out-of-hours medical services for all Norwegian municipalities that provide such services at a single permanent casualty clinic round the clock. In addition, we have sought to reveal any differences in consultation rates between municipalities that maintain single-municipality or inter-municipal out-of-hours services, as well as between municipalities in which the casualty clinics are co-located with a hospital or located separately. Information on the types of out-of-hours services existing in 2011 was retrieved from the Norwegian Emergency Primary Health Care Registry, and 315 municipalities with single permanent casualty clinic premises were included. Rates for various types of utilisation of these clinics were calculated on the basis of statistics generated from reimbursement claims. The number of medical consultations and house calls per inhabitant fell by 48 % and 55 % respectively when average travel distance increased from 0 to 50 kilometres. The use of telephone\/letter contact was not significantly associated with distances. Single-municipality casualty clinics located outside hospitals had the highest consultation rate for out-of-hours medical services when adjusted for distance. This supports previous findings to the fact that distance is a crucial factor for the utilisation of out-of-hours medical services. Establishing inter-municipal casualty clinics and co-locating them with hospitals may contribute to a lower rate of use of out-of-hours medical services.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9146776,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Lansoprazole versus omeprazole: influence on meal-stimulated gastric acid secretion.\nTo investigate, by means of meal-stimulated acid secretion, the extent to which differences in plasma half-life, bioavailability and the recommended therapeutic dose can influence the antisecretory potency of lansoprazole and omeprazole. In this double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study, 10 healthy male volunteers received 15 mg or 30 mg lansoprazole, 20 mg or 40 mg omeprazole or placebo for 5 days, in a randomized order. Meal-stimulated acid secretion was determined by means of a homogenized test meal and intragastric titration. On day 1, meal-stimulated acid secretion was decreased by 35% and 45% after administration of 15 mg or 30 mg lansoprazole, and by 16% and 42% after 20 mg or 40 mg omeprazole. After 3 and 5 days of dosing the decreases were 53% and 48% with 15 mg lansoprazole, 82% and 82% with 30 mg lansoprazole, 43% and 39% with 20 mg omeprazole, and 76% and 83% with 40 mg omeprazole. At all measuring points during the 5-day dosing periods, lansoprazole 15 mg and 30 mg proved superior to 20 mg omeprazole in inhibiting meal-stimulated gastric acid secretion, but the differences were only statistically significant for the lansoprazole 30 mg dose, 30 mg lansoprazole and 40 mg omeprazole proved equipotent. On day 1 only 30 mg lansoprazole was significantly better than placebo. This study demonstrated the following order of antisecretory potency: 30 mg lansoprazole = 40 mg omeprazole > 15 mg lansoprazole approximately 20 mg omeprazole.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31265210,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Effects of VEGF inhibitors on human retinal pigment epithelium under high glucose and hypoxia.\nRetinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is known to secrete factors important for retinal homeostasis. How this secretome changes in diabetic eyes treated with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitors is unclear. Diabetic conditions were simulated in vitro using ARPE-19 cell-line culture, with high glucose (25 mM) culture media, and hypoxia was chemically induced using cobalt chloride. Stress was assessed using cell viability assays as well as Western blots and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for production of HIF-1a and VEGF-A. Production of neurotrophic factors was quantified once conditions were established using ELISA under stress with and without the addition of VEGF inhibitors. Changes were analysed with one-way ANOVA. Hypoxia downregulated pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) expression. The addition of bevacizumab, ranibizumab and aflibercept in normoxic conditions all led to a significant downregulation of PEDF. Glucose concentration had no effect on secretion of PEDF. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) secretion was downregulated in high glucose and was upregulated in hypoxia. Placental growth factor (PlGF) secretion by ARPE-19 was undetectable by ELISA. We found that hypoxia, high glucose or VEGF inhibitors affected secretion of neurotrophic factors. This variation under different conditions may influence neuron and photoreceptor survival in the diabetic state and VEGF inhibitor treated eyes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28362331,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Review on the Processing and Properties of Polymer Nanocomposites and Nanocoatings and Their Applications in the Packaging, Automotive and Solar Energy Fields.\nFor the last decades, nanocomposites materials have been widely studied in the scientific literature as they provide substantial properties enhancements, even at low nanoparticles content. Their performance depends on a number of parameters but the nanoparticles dispersion and distribution state remains the key challenge in order to obtain the full nanocomposites' potential in terms of, e.g., flame retardance, mechanical, barrier and thermal properties, etc., that would allow extending their use in the industry. While the amount of existing research and indeed review papers regarding the formulation of nanocomposites is already significant, after listing the most common applications, this review focuses more in-depth on the properties and materials of relevance in three target sectors: packaging, solar energy and automotive. In terms of advances in the processing of nanocomposites, this review discusses various enhancement technologies such as the use of ultrasounds for in-process nanoparticles dispersion. In the case of nanocoatings, it describes the different conventionally used processes as well as nanoparticles deposition by electro-hydrodynamic processing. All in all, this review gives the basics both in terms of composition and of processing aspects to reach optimal properties for using nanocomposites in the selected applications. As an outlook, up-to-date nanosafety issues are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9562107,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The use of restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis for epidemiological studies of tuberculosis in developing countries.\nDNA fingerprinting, of which restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) typing is the most common method used, has permitted novel investigations of the epidemiology and pathogenesis of tuberculosis. The use of IS6110, an insertion sequence which is present in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is generally considered to be the standard RFLP method, but other molecular typing techniques may be used as adjuncts in selected circumstances. A number of epidemiologic studies using RFLP typing have been done in both industrialized and developing countries. The major findings include the confirmation or identification of chains of transmission (of both drug-sensitive and drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis), distribution of strain clusters within populations, differentiation of relapse from exogenous reinfection, better understanding of the pathogenesis of tuberculosis, identification of laboratory cross-contamination, and insight into the molecular evolution of the species. For developing countries, where the burden of tuberculosis is greatest, three major areas of investigation for the use of RFLP analysis in epidemiologic studies of tuberculosis have been identified: 1) community transmission, 2) nosocomial transmission, and 3) human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related tuberculosis. Elements of protocols are suggested which can be used by investigators to perform well-designed epidemiologic studies which will be relevant to developing countries and which are likely to have an impact on control programmes in these settings.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6150619,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The appearance of isometamidium resistant Trypanosoma congolense in West Africa.\nThe frequent reappearance of patent parasitemia, mainly Trypanosoma congolense, in cattle maintained under isometamidium prophylaxis in the Upper Volta indicated that drug-resistant forms might be appearing. To investigate this possibility, trypanosome stocks were isolated in mice, their isometamidium sensitivity estimated and compared to that of stocks isolated before drug use was widespread. Most T. congolense stocks isolated in 1982-1983 were 4-8 times less sensitive to isometamidium than those isolated in 1979-1980.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37840394,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Role of Aplnr Signaling in the Developmental Regulation of Mesenchymal Stem Cell Differentiation from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells.\nStem cells are invaluable resources for personalized medicine. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have received great attention as therapeutic tools due to being a safe, ethical, and accessible option with immunomodulatory and controlled differentiation properties. Apelin receptor (Aplnr) signaling is reported to be involved in biological events, including gastrulation, mesoderm migration, proliferation of MSCs. However, the knowledge about the exact role and mechanism of Aplnr signaling during mesoderm and MSCs differentiation is still primitive. The current study aims to unveil the role of Aplnr signaling during mesoderm and MSC differentiation from pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) through peptide\/small molecule activation, overexpression, knock down or CRISPR\/Cas9 mediated knock out of the pathway components. Morphological changes, gene and protein expression analysis, including antibody array, LC\/MS, mRNA\/miRNA sequencing, reveal that Aplnr signaling promotes mesoderm commitment possibly via EGFR and TGF-beta signaling pathways and enhances migration of cells during mesoderm differentiation. Moreover, Aplnr signaling positively regulates MSCs differentiation from hPSCs and increases MSC characteristics and differentiation capacity by regulating pathways, such as EGFR, TGF\u03b2, Wnt, PDGF, and FGF. Osteogenic, chondrogenic, adipogenic, and myogenic differentiations are significantly enhanced with Aplnr signaling activity. This study generates an important foundation to generate high potential MSCs from PSCs to be used in personalized cell therapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27476282,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"INTRACELLULAR ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF A STREPTOMYCES SP. 8812 SECONDARY METABOLITE, 6,7-DIHYDROXY-3,4-DIHYDROISOQINO- LINE-3-CARBOXYLIC ACID, AND ITS SYNTHETIC DERIVATIVES.\nThe aim of this study was to determine the antioxidant properties of 6,7-dihydroxy-3,4-dihydroiso- quinoline-3-carboxylic acid (1) and its derivatives in living cells against reactive forms of oxygen and nitrogen, i.e., hydrogen peroxide and nitric oxide. Four of tested compounds scavenged the reactive form of nitrogen more efficiently or similarly to Trolox (EC50 = 55.80 \u00b5M). Two compounds exhibited antioxidant activity against reactive oxygen species better than Trolox (EC50 = 51.88 \u00b5M). The most active derivative of 1 was the compound containing an iodine atom at position 8 (6,7-dihydroxy-8-iodo-3,4-dihydroisoquinoline-3-carboxylic acid). Our studies showed that some of the derivatives had the ability to cross the cell membrane and scavenge free radicals inside living cells. Thus, they are able to protect DNA and other cellular structures from the dam- aging effects of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species. In addition, some molecular descriptors of the tested compounds were determined with the use of ICM Pro (Molsoft L.L.C.).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17007072,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mathematical modeling of living cell metabolism using the method of steady-state stoichiometric flux balance.\nThis approach uses a set of algebraic linear equations for reaction rates (the method of steady-state stoichiometric flux balance) to model the purposeful metabolism of the living self-reproducing biochemical system (i.e. cell), which persists in steady-state growth. Linear programming (SIMPLEX method) is used to derive the solution for the model equations set (determining reaction rates which provide flux balance at given conditions). Here, we demonstrate the approach through the mathematical modeling of steady-state metabolism in Saccharomyces cerevisiae mitochondria.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32588301,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Exposure assessment to road traffic noise levels and health effects in an arid urban area.\nRoad traffic noise exposures have been recognized as serious environmental health concerns, especially in most developing countries with arid climate conditions, rapid increase in vehicle population, and limited traffic management systems. The excessive noise exposure level is associated with increase in the incidence of cardiovascular diseases and anxiety, including annoyance. This study aimed at determining traffic noise levels in residential areas, including the assessment of its annoyance and health effects based on the people's perception and reportage. To do so, field measurement and traffic noise modeling were carried out in six road points to estimate the current noise levels along various roads close to human inhabitants in Muscat Governorate, Sultanate of Oman. The detailed measured noise levels in urban residential areas across the selected roads showed that noise levels have exceeded the local and international threshold limits at all locations during the entire day. The high sound levels (48.0-56.3 dBA) were observed using the US Federal Highway Administration's Traffic Noise Model (TNM, version 2.5) results, which were in agreement with the observed (56.3-60.4 dBA) data. To assess health implication to residents through interviews (n = 208), annoyance at home was found to be little (32%), moderate (28%), and high (9%) in comparison with workplace settings of 42%, 43%, and 15%, respectively. Nineteen percent of the interviewees had difficulties in sleeping, while 19.8% experienced stress due to road traffic noise exposures. Moreover, a strong association (p < 0.05) was established between the use and objection of noise barriers. The study revealed high noise levels and the prevalence of annoyance and health effects among the exposed population. Therefore, immediate action is required to tackle the current noise levels.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32353759,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-30":1}}},"text":"Power of 1 Malaysian Ringgit: A Low-Cost Prescription Cost-Sharing Model in Malaysia.\nTo calculate the total revenue under a hypothetical 1 Malaysian Ringgit (MYR) prescription cost sharing model in government healthcare facilities in Pahang, Malaysia. A cross-sectional study was conducted at outpatient pharmacy in all government healthcare facilities in Pahang from year 2013 to 2017. Each dispensed medication was calculated as 1 MYR and contributed to the total revenue. A total of 11 hospitals and 81 health clinics were recruited into the study. A hospital could generate 0.311 million MYR per year, and a district health department could generate 0.623 million MYR per year, giving a total of 10.268 million MYR revenue every year in Pahang, Malaysia. Under the prescription medicines cost sharing scheme, it was shown that an average of 9.4% of the total pharmaceutical spending could be recovered. The recovery percentage was approximately fourfold higher in health clinics (16.5%-21.7%) when compared with that in hospitals (4.3%-5.2%). An estimated 10 million MYR or 10% from the total Ministry of Health pharmaceutical spending could be collected under the proposed 1 MYR prescription cost sharing model.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12037316,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Purification, crystallization and X-ray analysis of swine vesicular disease virus.\nSwine vesicular disease virus (SVDV) is the etiological agent of swine vesicular disease, a highly contagious disease in pigs, and is related to coxsackie B virus. Crystalline arrays of SVDV can be observed in the cytoplasm of cells 4.5 h after inoculation to porcine kidney cells (IBRS-2 cells). Crystals of the JX\/78 strain of SVDV were obtained from virus in two wells of crystallization conditions and present preliminary X-ray data to 3.6 A resolution.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28702162,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Plant performance was greater in the soils of more distantly related plants for an herbaceous understory species.\nGrowing evidence suggests that plant-soil interactions have important implications for plant community composition. However, the role of phylogenetic relatedness in governing interactions between plants and soil biota is unclear, and more case studies are needed to help build a general picture of whether and how phylogeny might influence plant-soil interactions. We performed a glasshouse experiment to test whether degree of phylogenetic relatedness between Aquilegia canadensis and six co-occurring heterospecifics affects A. canadensis biomass through soil legacy effects. We also compared performance of A. canadensis in soils conditioned by invasive Alliaria petiolata versus native heterospecifics, hypothesizing that conditioning by A. petiolata would suppress the performance of the focal native plant. A. canadensis performed significantly better in distant relatives' soils than in close relatives' soils, and this effect disappeared with soil sterilization, consistent with close relatives sharing similar pathogens. Contrary to our expectations, soils conditioned by the invasive species A. petiolata versus by native species had similar effects on A. canadensis. The greater performance of A. canadensis in soils of more versus less distant relatives is consistent with a hypothesis of phylogenetically constrained pathogen escape, a phenomenon expected to promote coexistence of phylogenetically distant species. However, pairwise plant-soil feedback experiments are needed to create a stronger coexistence prediction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37441720,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Comparison of fit and trueness of zirconia crowns fabricated by different combinations of open CAD-CAM systems.\nThis study aims to clinically compare the fitness and trueness of zirconia crowns fabricated by different combinations of open CAD-CAM systems. Total of 40 patients were enrolled in this study, and 9 different zirconia crowns were prepared per patient. Each crown was made through the cross-application of 3 different design software (EZIS VR, 3Shape Dental System, Exocad) with 3 different processing devices (Aegis HM, Trione Z, Motion 2). The marginal gap, absolute marginal discrepancy, internal gap(axial, line angle, occlusal) by a silicone replica technique were measured to compare the fit of the crown. The scanned inner and outer surfaces of the crowns were compared to CAD data using 3D metrology software to evaluate trueness. There were significant differences in the marginal gap, absolute marginal discrepancy, axial and line angle internal gap among the groups (P < .05) in the comparison of fit. There was no statistically significant difference among the groups in terms of occlusal internal gap. The trueness ranged from 36.19 to 43.78 \u00b5m but there was no statistically significant difference within the groups (P > .05). All 9 groups showed clinically acceptable level of marginal gaps ranging from 74.26 to 112.20 \u00b5m in terms of fit comparison. In the comparison of trueness, no significant difference within each group was spotted. Within the limitation of this study, open CAD-CAM systems used in this study can be assembled properly to fabricate zirconia crown.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":33726137,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"High-order exceptional point based optical sensor.\nExceptional points (EPs) could potentially enhance the sensitivity of an optical sensing system by orders of magnitude. Higher-order EP systems, having more complex physics, can further boost this parameter. In this paper, we investigate the response order of high-order non-Hermitian systems and provide a guideline for designing a sensor with high response order. Based on this design rule, we propose and demonstrate an optical sensor with a fourth-order response, and analyze its associated properties. The four resonant wavelengths of our optical sensor simultaneously collapse at a high-order exceptional point in the parameter space, providing a fourth root relation between the amount of wavelength splitting and the amplitude of the perturbation. A large sensitivity enhancement factor over 100, is observed when the wavelength splitting is compared with traditional single resonator-based sensors under small perturbation conditions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15809747,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Expression of cell proliferating genes in patients with non-small cell lung cancer by immunohistochemistry and cDNA profiling.\nThymidine kinase 1 (TK1) is a key enzyme involved in the synthesis of DNA precursors and thus, cell proliferation-dependent. Antibodies against TK1 have provided attractive tools for cancer diagnosis. Expression of TK1 in 158 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with 59 adenocarcinoma (AC) and 99 squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) was determined by anti-TK1 monoclonal antibody (mAb) 1E3 (AC, n=50; SCC, n=70). Parallel tumor sections were stained for Ki-67 (MIB-1), and TK1 expression was also investigated with anti-TK1 chicken IgY Ab (AC, n=9; SCC, n=29; normal lung tissues, n=10). In one AC and one SCC patient, gene profiling was done by cDNA array. Using the mAb 1E3, a significantly higher TK1 labeling index (LI) of AC patients was found (68%) compared to the LI of Ki-67 (36%). This difference was due to a significantly higher TK1 LI of tumor stage II and grade 2. Although no difference in the LI of TK1 and Ki-67 of SCC patients was found (54 vs. 53%), significantly higher TK1 LI of SCC patients of tumor grade 1 was found. Using the anti-TK1 IgY Ab, a higher TK1 LI of AC patients (78%) and SCC patients (66%) was found compared to staining with mAb 1E3 (68 vs. 54%), but it was not significantly different. Samples stained only for TK1 represented mostly tumor stages I and II and grades 1 and 2 of both AC and SCC. AC patients whose samples stained only for Ki-67 were found to be in stage I and grade 1. cDNA profiling showed that the expression of BRCA1, cyclin B1 and cdc2p34 was higher in AC compared to SCC, while the expression of IGFBP-3 and EGFR was higher in SCC. TK1 is apparently a more reliable marker in AC patients than Ki-67. However, a combination of the two markers may help identify patients of different stages and grades more efficiently, and cyclin\/kinase complexes and growth factors\/receptors may be useful markers in distinguishing AC from SCC.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23885067,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) anti-G protein F(ab')2 monoclonal antibody suppresses mucous production and breathing effort in RSV rA2-line19F-infected BALB\/c mice.\nRespiratory syncytial virus (RSV) belongs to the family Paramyxoviridae and is the single most important cause of serious lower respiratory tract infections in young children, yet no highly effective treatment or vaccine is available. Increased airway resistance and increased airway mucin production are two manifestations of RSV infection in children. RSV rA2-line19F infection induces pulmonary mucous production and increased breathing effort in BALB\/c mice and provides a way to assess these manifestations of RSV disease in an animal model. In the present study, we investigated the effect of prophylactic treatment with the F(ab')2 form of the anti-G protein monoclonal antibody (MAb) 131-2G on disease in RSV rA2-line19F-challenged mice. F(ab')2 131-2G does not affect virus replication. It and the intact form that does decrease virus replication prevented increased breathing effort and airway mucin production, as well as weight loss, pulmonary inflammatory-cell infiltration, and the pulmonary substance P and pulmonary Th2 cytokine levels that occur in mice challenged with this virus. These data suggest that the RSV G protein contributes to prominent manifestations of RSV disease and that MAb 131-2G can prevent these manifestations of RSV disease without inhibiting virus infection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":938589,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Induction of peripheral blood lymphocyte transformation by autologous synovial fluid lymphocytes and synovial fluid.\nSynovial fluid lymphocytes and synovial fluid from most patients with rheumatoid arthritis induced blastogenesis of autologous peripheral blood lymphocytes. In vitro transfer of the mitogenic activity of the synovial fluid to peripheral blood lymphocytes was not accomplished, but diminished response of the peripheral blood lymphocytes to phytohemagglutinin stimulation after incubation in synovial fluid was demonstrated. These findings suggest that a similar blastogenic response in vivo may induce the lymphoid hyperplasia regularly observed in rheumatoid arthritis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3083437,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-10":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Inhibition of 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate-induced epidermal ornithine decarboxylase activity and tumor promotion by N-(6-aminohexyl)-5-chloro-1-naphthalenesulfonamide (W-7) in mouse skin.\nN-(6-aminohexyl)-5-chloro-1-naphthalenesulfonamide (W-7) inhibited epidermal ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) induction caused either by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) or teleocidin in CD-1 mice. Inhibitory effect of W-7 on TPA-caused ODC induction was also observed in 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA)-initiated skin and even after repetitive TPA treatment. TPA-induced skin tumor promotion was also suppressed by W-7. Meanwhile, W-7 showed only slight inhibitory effects on calcium-activated, phospholipid-dependent protein kinase (protein kinase C) activity of mouse epidermis stimulated either by Ca2+ or TPA in the presence of phosphatidylserine. Thus, it is unlikely that the anti-ODC-inducing and anti-tumor-promoting actions of W-7 are due to its inhibitory effect on protein kinase C. It may be possible that a calmodulin-mediating process is involved in the mechanism of epidermal ODC induction and tumor promotion caused by tumor promoters such as TPA and teleocidin.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32619553,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Dexamethasone inhibits pancreatic tumor growth in preclinical models: Involvement of activating glucocorticoid receptor.\nGlucocorticoid receptor (GR) modulates extensive biological and pathological processes including tumor progression through diverse mechanisms. The regulatory effects of dexamethasone (DEX), a synthetic glucocorticoid, as well as its interaction with GR have been recognized beyond hematologic cancers. In the present study, we investigated the anti-cancer efficacy of DEX and the correlation with GR in pancreatic cancer, a most aggressive malignancy threatening human health. The differential levels of GR expression were examined in two human pancreatic cancer cell lines, PANC-1 and SW1990, as well as in xenografts and patient tumor tissues. DEX significantly inhibited colony formation, migration, and tumor growth of PANC-1 cells expressing abundant GR. The underlying mechanisms involved suppression of nuclear factor \u03baB (NF-\u03baB) phosphorylation and down-regulation of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), interleukin 6 (IL-6) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). The anti-cancer effects of DEX were partially reversed by GR silencing or combinational administration of GR antagonist, RU486. The dose-dependent efficacy of DEX in tumor growth inhibition was also demonstrated in a GR-positive patient-derived xenograft model along with safety in mice. DEX was less potent, however, in SW1990 cells with poor GR expression. Our findings suggest that DEX effectively inhibits pancreatic tumor growth partially through GR activation. The potential correlation between GR expression and anti-cancer efficacy of DEX may have some clinical implications.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28269837,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Prioritization and Refinement of Clinical Data Elements within EHR Systems.\nStandardization of clinical data element (CDE) definitions is foundational to track, interpret, and analyze patient states, populations, and costs across providers, settings and time - critical activities to achieve the Triple Aim: improving the experience of care, improving the health of populations, and reducing per capita healthcare costs. We defined and implemented two analytical methods to prioritize and refine CDE definitions within electronic health records (EHRs), taking into account resource restrictions to carry out the analysis and configuration changes: 1) analysis of downstream data needs to identify high priority clinical topics, and 2) gap analysis of EHR CDEs when compared to reference models for the same clinical topics. We present use cases for six clinical topics. Pain Assessment and Skin Alteration Assessment were topics with the highest regulatory and non-regulatory downstream data needs and with significant gaps across documention artifacts in our system, confirming that these topics should be refined first.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7936241,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Clinical characteristics of a family with chromosome 17-linked disinhibition-dementia-parkinsonism-amyotrophy complex.\nWe studied the clinical features, pathology, and molecular genetics of a family (Mo) with an autosomal dominant disinhibition, frontal lobe dementia, parkinsonism, and amyotrophy. We examined seven affected members and gathered clinical information on another six. The mean onset was at age 45 years. Personality and behavioral changes (disinhibition, withdrawal, alcoholism, hyperphagia) were the first symptoms in twelve. There was early memory loss, anomia, and poor construction with preservation until late of orientation, speech, and calculations. All affected members examined had rigidity, bradykinesia, and postural instability. Mean duration to death was 13 years. We studied the neuropathology of six individuals, five of whom had been examined in life. There was atrophy and spongiform change in the frontotemporal cortex, and neuronal loss and gliosis in the substantia nigra and amygdala. Two individuals, including one with fasciculations and muscle wasting, had anterior horn cell loss. There were no Lewy bodies, neurofibrillary tangles, or amyloid plaques. We call this disorder the \"disinhibition-dementia-parkinsonism-amyotrophy complex\" (DDPAC), based on the clinical syndrome found in this family and linkage to chromosome 17.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25517873,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Three Molecular Subtypes of Gastric Adenocarcinoma Have Distinct Histochemical Features Reflecting Epstein-Barr Virus Infection Status and Neuroendocrine Differentiation.\nCurrent histopathologic classification schemes for gastric adenocarcinoma have limited clinical utility and are difficult to apply due to tumor heterogeneity. Elucidation of molecular subtypes of gastric cancer may contribute to our understanding of gastric cancer biology and to the development of new molecular markers that may lead to improved diagnosis, therapy, or prognosis. We previously demonstrated that Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-infected gastric cancers have a distinct human gene expression profile compared with uninfected cancers. We now examine the histopathologic features characterizing infected (n=14) and uninfected (n=89) cancers; the latter of which are now further divided into 2 major molecular subtypes based on expression patterns of 93 RNAs. One uninfected gastric cancer subtype was distinguished by upregulation of 3 genes with neuroendocrine (NE) function (CHGA, GAST, and REG4 encoding chromogranin, gastrin, and the secreted peptide REG4 involved in epithelial cell regeneration), implicating hormonal factors in the pathogenesis of a major class of gastric adenocarcinomas. Evidence of NE differentiation (molecular, immunohistochemical, or morphologic) was mutually exclusive of EBV infection. EBV-infected tumors tended to have solid-type morphology with lymphoid stroma. This study reveals novel molecular subtypes of gastric cancer and their associated morphologies that demonstrate divergent NE features.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37849753,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Tumor-infiltrating CCR2+ inflammatory monocytes counteract specific immunotherapy.\nTumor development and progression is shaped by the tumor microenvironment (TME), a heterogeneous assembly of infiltrating and resident host cells, their secreted mediators and intercellular matrix. In this context, tumors are infiltrated by various immune cells with either pro-tumoral or anti-tumoral functions. Recently, we published our non-invasive immunization platform DIVA suitable as a therapeutic vaccination method, further optimized by repeated application (DIVA2). In our present work, we revealed the therapeutic effect of DIVA2 in an MC38 tumor model and specifically focused on the mechanisms induced in the TME after immunization. DIVA2 resulted in transient tumor control followed by an immune evasion phase within three weeks after the initial tumor inoculation. High-dimensional flow cytometry analysis and single-cell mRNA-sequencing of tumor-infiltrating leukocytes revealed cytotoxic CD8+ T cells as key players in the immune control phase. In the immune evasion phase, inflammatory CCR2+ PDL-1+ monocytes with immunosuppressive properties were recruited into the tumor leading to suppression of DIVA2-induced tumor-reactive T cells. Depletion of CCR2+ cells with specific antibodies resulted in prolonged survival revealing CCR2+ monocytes as important for tumor immune escape in the TME. In summary, the present work provides a platform for generating a strong antigen-specific primary and memory T cell immune response using the optimized transcutaneous immunization method DIVA2. This enables protection against tumors by therapeutic immune control of solid tumors and highlights the immunosuppressive influence of tumor infiltrating CCR2+ monocytes that need to be inactivated in addition for successful cancer immunotherapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28537728,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Antimalarial Inhibitors Targeting Serine Hydroxymethyltransferase (SHMT) with in Vivo Efficacy and Analysis of their Binding Mode Based on X-ray Cocrystal Structures.\nTarget-based approaches toward new antimalarial treatments are highly valuable to prevent resistance development. We report several series of pyrazolopyran-based inhibitors targeting the enzyme serine hydroxymethyltransferase (SHMT), designed to improve microsomal metabolic stability and to identify suitable candidates for in vivo efficacy evaluation. The best ligands inhibited Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) and Arabidopsis thaliana (At) SHMT in target assays and PfNF54 strains in cell-based assays with values in the low nanomolar range (3.2-55 nM). A set of carboxylate derivatives demonstrated markedly improved in vitro metabolic stability (t1\/2 > 2 h). A selected ligand showed significant in vivo efficacy with 73% of parasitemia reduction in a mouse model. Five new cocrystal structures with PvSHMT were solved at 2.3-2.6 \u00c5 resolution, revealing a unique water-mediated interaction with Tyr63 at the end of the para-aminobenzoate channel. They also displayed the high degree of conformational flexibility of the Cys364-loop lining this channel.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9145374,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Toward understanding insulin fibrillation.\nFormation of insulin fibrils is a physical process by which partially unfolded insulin molecules interact with each other to form linear aggregates. Shielding of hydrophobic domains is the main driving force for this process, but formation of intermolecular beta-sheet may further stabilize the fibrillar structure. Conformational displacement of the B-chain C-terminal with exposure of nonpolar, aliphatic core residues, including A2, A3, B11, and B15, plays a crucial role in the fibrillation process. Recent crystal analyses and molecular modeling studies have suggested that when insulin fibrillates this exposed domain interacts with a hydrophobic surface domain formed by the aliphatic residues A13, B6, B14, B17, and B18, normally buried when three insulin dimers form a hexamer. In rabbit immunization experiments, insulin fibrils did not elicit an increased immune response with respect to formation of IgG insulin antibodies when compared with native insulin. In contrast, the IgE response increased with increasing content of insulin in fibrillar form. Strategies and practical approaches to prevent insulin from forming fibrils are reviewed. Stabilization of the insulin hexameric structure and blockage of hydrophobic interfaces by addition of surfactants are the most effective means of counteracting insulin fibrillation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28584871,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"\"History, Theory and Ethics of Medicine\": The Last Ten Years. A Survey of Course Content, Methods and Structural Preconditions at Twenty-nine German Medical Faculties.\nObjective: \"History, Theory, Ethics of Medicine\" (German: \"Geschichte, Theorie, Ethik der Medizin\", abbreviation: GTE) forms part of the obligatory curriculum for medical students in Germany since the winter semester 2003\/2004. This paper presents the results of a national survey on the contents, methods and framework of GTE teaching. Methods: Semi-structured questionnaire dispatched in July 2014 to 38 institutions responsible for GTE teaching. Descriptive analysis of quantitative data and content analysis of free-text answers. Results: It was possible to collect data from 29 institutes responsible for GTE teaching (response: 76%). There is at least one professorial chair for GTE in 19 faculties; two professorial chairs or professorships remained vacant at the time of the survey. The number of students taught per academic year ranges from <100 to >350. Teaching in GTE comprises an average of 2.18 hours per week per semester (min: 1, max: 6). Teaching in GTE is proportionally distributed according to an arithmetic average as follows: history: 35.4%, theory 14.7% and ethics 49.9%. Written learning objectives were formulated for GTE in 24 faculties. The preferred themes of teaching in history, theory or ethics which according to respondents should be taught comprise a broad spectrum and vary. Teaching in ethics (79 from a max. of 81 possible points) is, when compared to history (61\/81) and theory (53\/81), attributed the most significance for the training of medical doctors. Conclusion: 10 years after the introduction of GTE the number of students and the personnel resources available at the institutions vary considerably. In light of the differences regarding the content elicited in this study the pros and cons of heterogeneity in GTE should be discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31264189,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Morning chronotype is a protective factor against chemotherapy-induced hot flashes in premenopausal women with breast cancer.\nAdjuvant chemotherapy in patients with breast cancer often causes hot flashes, impairing quality of life. However, the chronobiological or psychiatric factors associated with the development of chemotherapy-induced hot flashes (CIHFs) remain undetermined. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether chronotype was associated with the incidence of CIHFs. A total of 119 premenopausal women with non-metastatic breast cancer awaiting adjuvant chemotherapy after surgery without hot flashes were included. The presence of CIHF was defined as having moderate to severe hot flashes, as measured by the subscale of hot flashes in the Menopause Rating Scale, at 4 weeks after the completion of chemotherapy. Chronotype (Morning\/Intermediate\/Evening) was assessed with the Composite Scale of Morningness before adjuvant chemotherapy. To examine the association between chronotype and CIHF, we built logistic regression models, adjusting for age, body mass index, sleep quality, and radiation therapy. CIHF occurred in 50.4% of participants. Morning type was inversely associated with CIHF (reference: Intermediate type, odds ratio [OR], 0.37; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.16-0.94; p = 0.040) in the univariate model, and the association remained significant (OR, 0.37; CI, 0.13-0.96; p = 0.045) after adjusting for age, body mass index, sleep quality, and radiation therapy. Morning chronotype is a protective factor against the development of CIHF in patients with breast cancer. Chronotypes should be assessed and considered in the prediction and management of CIHF.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6152893,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Molecular characterization of the recombination region of six murine major histocompatibility complex (MHC) I-region recombinants.\nUsing Southern DNA hybridization techniques, restriction enzyme site polymorphisms have been used to correlate the molecular maps of the murine major histocompatibility complex (MHC) I region with the genetic map derived from analyses of recombinant mouse strains. The data indicated that the DNA that maps between the I-A and I-E subregions is limited to 3.4 kilobases (kb) and includes the 3' end of the E beta gene. According to classical genetic mapping by recombinational analysis of serological markers, this region should encode the I-B and I-J subregions. These observations are surprising in two respects. First, 3.4 kb is a small amount of DNA to encode even one complete murine gene. Second, this region, which putatively encodes the I-J gene, appears to reside at least partially within the E beta gene. To analyze these apparent paradoxes, further, we cloned the 3.4-kb region in question from six I-region combinant strains [B10.A(3R), B10.a(5R), B10.A(4R), B10.GD, B10.HTT, and B10.S(9R)] and four strains used in the derivation of the recombinants (B10.D2, B10.A, C57BL\/10, and ASW) into a lambda phage vector. By direct restriction enzyme mapping of polymorphic sites, we have confirmed the previously identified boundaries of the I-A and I-E subregions and have narrowed the estimate of the distance between these subregions to approximately 2.0 kb of DNA. This 2.0-kb region encompasses part of the intron between the first- (beta 1) and second-domain (beta 2) exons and the second-domain exon (beta 2) of the E beta gene.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6724720,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Influence of naturally occurring human immune complexes on monocyte movement in vitro.\nThe influence of naturally occurring immune complexes (IC) on monocyte motility has been investigated. Both chemokinesis and chemotaxis have been measured, using modified Boyden chambers, in response to sera containing IC and to the same sera depleted of IC with 2% polyethylene glycol. Chemokinetic activity was markedly increased in the presence of IC-containing sera, and this increased activity was largely abolished, following IC depletion. The chemotactic activity of the IC-containing sera was largely independent of the IC content, since IC depletion only resulted in a modest decrease in stimulated movement. The chemotactic response to a standard chemoattractant (zymosan-treated sera) was significantly increased with the cells in the presence of IC-containing sera, and this effect was abolished following IC depletion. There was no relationship between the total IC concentration and changes in monocyte movement. These results indicate that circulating IC may markedly alter monocyte locomotion in such a way that more cells may be attracted more rapidly to an inflammatory focus.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23455966,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Detachable fiber optic tips for use in thulium fiber laser lithotripsy.\nThe thulium fiber laser (TFL) has recently been proposed as an alternative to the Holmium:YAG (Ho:YAG) laser for lithotripsy. The TFL's Gaussian spatial beam profile provides higher power transmission through smaller optical fibers with reduced proximal fiber tip damage, and improved saline irrigation and flexibility through the ureteroscope. However, distal fiber tip damage may still occur during stone fragmentation, resulting in disposal of the entire fiber after the procedure. A novel design for a short, detachable, distal fiber tip that can fit into an ureteroscope's working channel is proposed. A prototype, twist-lock, spring-loaded mechanism was constructed using micromachining methods, mating a 150-\u03bcm-core trunk fiber to 300-\u03bcm-core fiber tip. Optical transmission measuring 80% was observed using a 30-mJ pulse energy and 500-\u03bcs pulse duration. Ex vivo human calcium oxalate monohydrate urinary stones were vaporized at an average rate of 187 \u03bcg\/s using 20-Hz modulated, 50% duty cycle 5 pulse packets. The highest stone ablation rates corresponded to the highest fiber tip degradation, thus providing motivation for use of detachable and disposable distal fiber tips during lithotripsy. The 1-mm outer-diameter prototype also functioned comparable to previously tested tapered fiber tips.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32368968,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"The Roles of Dietary, Nutritional and Lifestyle Interventions in Adipose Tissue Adaptation and Obesity.\nThe obesity and the associated non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are globally increasing in their prevalence. While the modern-day lifestyle required less ventilation of metabolic energy through muscular activities, this lifestyle transition also provided the unlimited accession to foods around the clock, which prolong the daily eating period of foods that contained high calorie and high glycemic load. These situations promote the high continuous flux of carbon substrate availability in mitochondria and induce the indecisive bioenergetic switches. The disrupted bioenergetic milieu increases the uncoupling respiration due to the excess flow of the substrate-derived reducing equivalents and reduces ubiquinones into the respiratory chain. The diversion of the uncoupling proton gradient through adipocyte thermogenesis will then alleviate the damaging effects of free radicals to mitochondria and other organelles. The adaptive induction of white adipose tissues (WAT) to beige adipose tissues (beAT) has shown beneficial effects on glucose oxidation, ROS protection and mitochondrial function preservation through the uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1)-independent thermogenesis of beAT. However, the maladaptive stage can eventually initiate with the persistent unhealthy lifestyles. Under this metabolic gridlock, the low oxygen and pro-inflammatory environments promote the adipose breakdown with sequential metabolic dysregulation, including insulin resistance, systemic inflammation and clinical NCDs progression. It is unlikely that a single intervention can reverse all these complex interactions. A comprehensive protocol that includes dietary, nutritional and all modifiable lifestyle interventions, can be the preferable choice to decelerate, stop, or reverse the NCDs pathophysiologic processes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18579962,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Real-time finite element modeling for surgery simulation: an application to virtual suturing.\nReal-time finite element (FE) analysis can be used to represent complex deformable geometries in virtual environments. The need for accurate surgical simulation has spurred the development of many of the new real-time FE methodologies that enable haptic support and real-time deformation. These techniques are computationally intensive and it has proved to be a challenge to achieve the high modeling resolutions required to accurately represent complex anatomies. The authors present a new real-time methodology based on linear FE analysis that is appropriate for a wide range of surgical simulation applications. A methodology is proposed that is characterized by high model resolution, low preprocessing time, unrestricted multipoint surface contact, and adjustable boundary conditions. These features make the method ideal for modeling suturing, which is an element common to almost every surgical procedure. This paper describes constraints in the context of a Suturing Simulator currently being developed by the authors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9546433,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1}}},"text":"Abl protein kinase abrogates the response of multipotent haemopoietic cells to the growth inhibitor macrophage inflammatory protein-1 alpha.\nThe clonogenic cells of chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML), unlike normal haemopoietic progenitor cells, are resistant to the growth inhibitory effects of the chemokine macrophage inflammatory protein-1 alpha (MIP-1alpha). CML is also relatively resistant to chemotherapy and the disease is difficult to cure using conventional therapeutic routes. CML is associated with increased abl oncogene protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) activity. Here, we have tested the hypothesis that these aberrant responses to MIP-1alpha and the relative resistance to chemotherapy are directly related to this increased abl PTK activity in primitive haemopoietic cells. To do this we have expressed a temperature sensitive abl PTK in a growth factor dependent, multipotent stem cell line (FDCP-Mix) in which growth is normally suppressed by MIP-1alpha. In FDCP-Mix cells expressing the ts v-abl PTK and grown at the restrictive temperature for PTK activity the cells were relatively sensitive to cytotoxic agents such as cytosine arabinoside and 5-fluorouracil but MIP-1alpha could induce growth inhibition and confer some degree of protection from these agents. At the permissive temperature for abl PTK, the cells were relatively resistant to cytotoxic drugs and MIP-1alpha treatment neither induced growth inhibition nor protected the cells from cytotoxic drug induced cell death. This lack of response to MIP-1alpha was not due to receptor down modulation as neither the affinity nor the number of 125I-MIP-1alpha binding sites was altered by activating Abl PTK. However, MIP-1alpha mediated increases in cytosolic Ca2+ levels were abrogated by switching cells to the permissive temperature for Abl PTK activity. These data suggest that the relative resistance of CML progenitor cells to therapeutic drugs and the lack of response to MIP-1alpha occurs as a direct consequence of abl PTK activity and involves desensitisation of signal transduction events stimulated by MIP-1alpha receptors. Thus one contributory mechanism to transformation of primitive haemopoietic cells is abrogation of response to a growth inhibitor.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32620004,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-18":1}}},"text":"Hippocampal subfield morphology in monozygotic twins discordant for affective disorders.\nUnipolar and bipolar disorders aggregate in families and have been associated with a reduced gray-matter volume in hippocampal and prefrontal cortex. Here we used structural MRI to clarify whether abnormalities in hippocampal subfield and prefrontal cortical morphology are associated with familial vulnerability (i.e., changes present both in patients and unaffected relatives compared to healthy individuals), resilience (i.e., changes differentiating unaffected relatives and patients), or sequalae of illness in a sample of monozygotic twins. We investigated regional differences in gray-matter volume extracted using FreeSurfer 6.0 between remitted affected twins (AT) with either unipolar or bipolar disorder (n = 67), unaffected discordant co-twins (UT, n = 39), and low-risk twins (LT, n = 31) with no personal or first-degree family history of affective disorders. The UT showed greater bilateral hippocampal volumes compared to AT. Between group differences in left hippocampal volume were driven by greater cornu ammonis 1-3 and 4, subiculum and subfield of dentate gyrus. For the right hippocampus, differences were driven by greater hippocampal tail and subiculum. There was a trend for UT having a larger left hippocampus than LT, but no significant differences in hippocampal volumes between AT and LT. Outside the hippocampus, AT showed a smaller volume of left dorsomedial prefrontal cortex compared to LT. Our results suggest that larger volume of specific hippocampal subfields may be associated with resilience in healthy relatives of patients with an affective illness. Moreover, a smaller volume of left dorsomedial prefrontal cortex may reflect a sequalae of illness.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28559265,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hepatitis B Virus Capsid Assembly Modulators, but Not Nucleoside Analogs, Inhibit the Production of Extracellular Pregenomic RNA and Spliced RNA Variants.\nThe hepatitis B virus (HBV) core protein serves multiple essential functions in the viral life cycle, and antiviral agents that target the core protein are being developed. Capsid assembly modulators (CAMs) are compounds that target core and misdirect capsid assembly, resulting in the suppression of HBV replication and virion production. Besides HBV DNA, circulating HBV RNA has been detected in patient serum and can be associated with the treatment response. Here we studied the effect of HBV CAMs on the production of extracellular HBV RNA using infected HepaRG cells and primary human hepatocytes. Representative compounds from the sulfonamide carboxamide and heteroaryldihydropyrimidine series of CAMs were evaluated and compared to nucleos(t)ide analogs as inhibitors of the viral polymerase. The results showed that CAMs blocked extracellular HBV RNA with efficiencies similar to those with which they blocked pregenomic RNA (pgRNA) encapsidation, HBV DNA replication, and Dane particle production. Nucleos(t)ide analogs inhibited viral replication and virion production but not encapsidation or production of extracellular HBV RNA. Profiling of HBV RNA from both culture supernatants and patient serum showed that extracellular viral RNA consisted of pgRNA and spliced pgRNA variants with an internal deletion(s) but still retained the sequences at both the 5' and 3' ends. Similar variants were detected in the supernatants of infected cells with and without nucleos(t)ide analog treatment. Overall, our data demonstrate that HBV CAMs represent direct antiviral agents with a profile differentiated from that of nucleos(t)ide analogs, including the inhibition of extracellular pgRNA and spliced pgRNA.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37668259,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Poly(p-phenylenediamine)-Coated Metal-Organic Frameworks for High-Performance Sodium-Ion Batteries: The Balance of Capacity and Stability.\nMetal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with well-defined porous structures and highly active frameworks are considered as promising electrode materials for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs). However, the structure pulverization upon sodiation\/desodiation impacts on their practical application in SIBs. To address this issue, poly(p-phenylenediamine) (PPA) was uniformly coated onto the surface of MIL-88A, a typical Fe-based MOF through in situ polymerization initiated by the metal ions (Fe3+) of MIL-88A. Used as an anode material for SIBs, the PPA-coated MIL-88A, denoted as PPA@MIL-88A, showed significantly improved electrochemical performance. A reversible capacity as high as 230 mAh g-1 was achieved at 0.2 A g-1 even after 500 cycles. MIL-88A constructed with electrochemically active Fe3+ and fumaric acid ligands guarantees the high specific capacity, while the PPA polymer coating effectively inhibits the pulverization of MIL-88A. This work provides an efficient strategy for improving the structure and cycling stability of MOFs-based electrode materials.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32587663,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"(-)-Epicatechin Modulates Mitochondrial Redox in Vascular Cell Models of Oxidative Stress.\nDiabetes mellitus affects 451 million people worldwide, and people with diabetes are 3-5 times more likely to develop cardiovascular disease. In vascular tissue, mitochondrial function is important for vasoreactivity. Diabetes-mediated generation of excess reactive oxygen species (ROS) may contribute to vascular dysfunction via damage to mitochondria and regulation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS). We have identified (-)-epicatechin (EPICAT), a plant compound and known vasodilator, as a potential therapy. We hypothesized that mitochondrial ROS in cells treated with antimycin A (AA, a compound targeting mitochondrial complex III) or high glucose (HG, global perturbation) could be normalized by EPICAT, and correlate with improved mitochondrial dynamics and cellular signaling. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) were treated with HG, AA, and\/or 0.1 or 1.0 \u03bcM of EPICAT. Mitochondrial and cellular superoxide, mitochondrial respiration, and cellular signaling upstream of mitochondrial function were assessed. EPICAT at 1.0 \u03bcM significantly attenuated mitochondrial superoxide in HG-treated cells. At 0.1 \u03bcM, EPICAT nonsignificantly increased mitochondrial respiration, agreeing with previous reports. EPICAT significantly increased complex I expression in AA-treated cells, and 1.0 \u03bcM EPICAT significantly decreased mitochondrial complex V expression in HG-treated cells. No significant effects were seen on either AMPK or eNOS expression. Our study suggests that EPICAT is useful in mitigating moderate ROS concentrations from a global perturbation and may modulate mitochondrial complex activity. Our data illustrate that EPICAT acts in the cell in a dose-dependent manner, demonstrating hormesis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27262553,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Real-time monitoring of beta-d-glucuronidase activity in sediment laden streams: A comparison of prototypes.\nDetection of enzymatic activities has been proposed as a rapid surrogate for the culture-based microbiological pollution monitoring of water resources. This paper presents the results of tests on four fully automated prototype instruments for the on-site monitoring of beta-d-glucuronidase (GLUC) activity. The tests were performed on sediment-laden stream water in the Hydrological Open Air Laboratory (HOAL) during the period of March 2014 to March 2015. The dominant source of faecal pollution in the stream was swine manure applied to the fields within the catchment. The experiments indicated that instrument pairs with the same construction design yielded highly consistent results (R(2) = 0.96 and R(2) = 0.94), whereas the results between different designs were less consistent (R(2) = 0.71). Correlations between the GLUC activity measured on-site and culture-based Escherichia coli analyses over the entire study period yielded R(2) = 0.52 and R(2) = 0.47 for the two designs, respectively. The correlations tended to be higher at the event scale. The GLUC activity was less correlated with suspended sediment concentrations than with E. coli, which is interpreted in terms of indicator applicability and the time since manure application. The study shows that this rapid assay can yield consistent results over a long period of on-site operation in technically challenging habitats. Although the use of GLUC activity as a proxy for culture-based assays could not be proven for the observed habitat, the study results suggest that this biochemical indicator has high potential for implementation in early warning systems.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28728712,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Diagnostic Imaging and Newer Modalities for Thoracic Diseases: PET\/Computed Tomographic Imaging and Endobronchial Ultrasound for Staging and Its Implication for Lung Cancer.\nModalities to detect and characterize lung cancer are generally divided into those that are invasive [endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS), esophageal ultrasound (EUS), and electromagnetic navigational bronchoscopy (ENMB)] versus noninvasive [chest radiography (CXR), computed tomography (CT), positron emission tomography (PET), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)]. This chapter describes these modalities, the literature supporting their use, and delineates what tests to use to best evaluate the patient with lung cancer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17008744,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"2,6-Dibromo-3,5-dimethylpyridine and 2,6-diiodo-3,5-dimethylpyridine.\nThe title compounds 2,6-dibromo-3,5-dimethylpyridine, C7H7Br2N, (I), and 2,6-diiodo-3,5-dimethylpyridine, C7H7I2N, (II), constitute the first structurally characterized examples of 2,6-dihalo-3,5-dimethylpyridines. Compound (I) crystallizes as a racemic twin with two symmetry-independent molecules in the asymmetric unit, while (II) is non-planar with the pyridine ring slightly deformed into a saddle shape, and exhibits crystallographically imposed twofold symmetry. Both (I) and (II) exhibit aromatic face-to-face pi-stacking in the solid state, although there are no other long-range interactions. In (I), alternate molecules are oriented at 90 degrees, resulting in X-shaped columns, while in (II), molecules pack in a parallel fashion, leading to a zigzag array.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17007269,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Evaluation of effectiveness of the micrographia's therapy in Parkinson's disease patients].\nMicrographia is one of the characteristic symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Its cause is hypokinesia (reduced movement's amplitude). The methods of management of micrographia are founded on the assumption that the important cause of prolonged hypokinesia in Parkinson's disease patients is impairment of attention. The aim of the work was to analyse relationship between an occurrence and intensity of micrographia and others clinical features of Parkinson's disease. The another aim was to assessment of effectiveness of micrographia's management. 40 Parkinson's disease patients (19 women and 21 men) aged from 49 to 82 years (mean--65.5) were examined. In the analysis age, duration of disease, predominance of right- or left - side symptoms, impairments of concentration of attention, dosage of levodopa, UPDRS score, and the level on the Hoehn and Yahr's scale were taken into account. In therapy of micrographia three methods were managed: writing between lines determining desired height of letters, writing with a big dot as a guide for letter's size and regular reminding the patient of the need to write at bigger size. micrographia was occurred in 30 of 40 Parkinson's disease patients (75%). The better writing magnitude was obtained in all patients, but in 16 patients the effect was much better and maintained to 6 hours, whereas in 14 patients the effect was worse and maintained only short time. No relationship was found between an applied method of therapy and its effect. A significant statistical relationship was established between impairments of concentration of attention and a worse effect micrographia's therapy. Micrographia occurs in 75% Parkinson's disease patients. The therapy is successful in more than 50% of patients. Impairments of concentration of attention exert an adverse effect on micrographia's therapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37447368,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Association between Vitamin D Deficiency and Clinical Parameters in Men and Women Aged 50 Years or Older: A Cross-Sectional Cohort Study.\nVitamin D deficiency (VDD) is increasingly prevalent on a global scale and is connected to chronic health issues including diabetes, obesity, and inflammation. This study aimed to investigate the association between VDD and various clinical parameters including glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), body mass index (BMI), and inflammatory markers. This cross-sectional cohort study included Korean men and women aged 50 years and older (290 men, 125 women); VDD was classified as serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) levels below 20 ng\/mL. Vitamin D deficiency was more prevalent in men (64.5%) compared to that in women (35.2%). Men with VDD had higher fat mass and HbA1c levels, lower muscle strength, and worse physical performance. Among women, VDD was associated with higher BMI, HbA1c, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-\u03b1), and creatinine levels. In women, 25(OH)D levels exhibited an inverse relationship with HbA1c, BMI, and TNF-\u03b1 concentrations. However, there were no differences in the levels of interleukin-6 and interleukin-1 beta according to vitamin D status in both men and women. Vitamin D deficiency is linked to higher HbA1c, BMI, and inflammatory markers in older Korean women, thus warranting the maintenance of sufficient vitamin D levels for overall health.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36936889,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Impact of the Community Psychiatric Treatment Program on the User's Quality of Life - experience of the Study Participants.\nCommunity psychiatric treatment (CPT) is a novelty in the primary health care system for the people with mental health problems. The service operates according to the Flexible Assertive Community Treatment (FACT) model. FACT is a rehabilitation-oriented clinical case management model based on the ACT model (Assertive Community Treatment). This study aimed to assess how involvement in a community psychiatry program affects the quality of life of program participants. Between December 2020 and March 2021 we conducted a qualitative study. To obtain information, semi-structured interviews with twelve patients treated in the Community Psychiatric Treatment program were conducted. All restriction regarding COVID pandemic were considered at the research. Content analysis of the text was used for data analysis, which means that we interpreted the analysed text and determine the meaning of individual parts of the text. Twelve persons participated in the interviews, six of which were women (50%) and six men (50%). All the participants were of Slovenian nationality. They were from 28 to 80 years old, with a mean age of 47 years. We identified twelve categories and four themes: treatment problems, principles of operating of CPT program, satisfaction with inclusion in the CPT and improvement of quality of life through inclusion in the program. Quality of life is essential for every individual, as well as for people with mental health problems. In our study we have proved that the Community psychiatric programs could significantly impact the quality of life of people with mental health problems.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19037944,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Stress regulation in adolescents: physiological reactivity during the adult attachment interview and conflict interaction.\nThe current study examined whether adolescents' attachment representations were associated with differences in emotion regulation during the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI; C. George, N. Kaplan, & M. Main, 1996) and during a mother-adolescent conflict interaction task (Family Interaction Task [FIT]; J. P. Allen et al., 2003). Participants were one hundred and fifty-six 14-year-old adolescents. Dismissing adolescents showed less interbeat interval (IBI) reactivity (indicating less stress) during the AAI than secure adolescents. However, during the FIT, dismissing adolescents showed more IBI reactivity. No differences in physiological reactivity were found between individuals with resolved or unresolved loss or trauma during the AAI or FIT. The results indicate that dismissing adolescents may effectively use a defensive strategy during the AAI but less so in direct conflict interaction with their attachment figure.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16156258,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Preparation of controlled release microsphere incorporating bFGF and its effect on Schwann cells].\nTo study the preparation method of bFGF microspheres and to investigate the bioactivities of bFGF, which were released from the bFGF microspheres, on the cultured schwann cells. bFGF was microcapsulated with the multiple emulsion encapsulative method using PLGA as coating material. Its morphology, particle size distribution, drug loading-embedding rate and in vitro release property were studied. The cultured schwann cells were grouped according to the different ingredients being added to the culture medium: bFGF group, bFGF-PLGA group. Then the number, the viability and the cell cycle of schwann cells were measured. The morphology and the particle size distribution of the bFGF-PLGA microspheres were even and good; the drug-loading and drug-embedding rate of microspheres were (27.18 x 10(-3)) % +\/- (0.51 x 10(-3)) %, 66. 43% +\/- 1.24%; the release property of microspheres in vitro was good and the overall release rate was 72. 47% in 11 days. The in vitro cellular study showed: 1, 2 days after plate culture, the cell number and cell viability of bFGF group was much better than that of bFGF-PLGA group; 3, 4 days after plate culture, the cell number and cell viability of bFGF group and bFGF-PLGA group were not different statistically; 6, 8 days after plate culture, the cell number and cell viability of bFGF-PLGA group was much better than that of bFGF group. Through the flow cytometry examination: 2 days after plate culture, the GJ\/M+S percentage of bFGF group was higher than that of bFGF-PLGA group; 4, 8 days after plate culture, the G2\/M+S percentage of bFGF-PLGA group was higher than that of bFGF group. So, it is practical to prepare the bFGF-PLGA microspheres with the multiple emulsion encapsulative method. bFGF-PLGA microspheres can preserve the bioactivities of bFGF effectively and promotes the proliferation of schwann cells in a long period because of the controlled release of bFGF from microspheres.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28267608,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-26":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Analysis of the miRNA profile in C6\/36 cells persistently infected with dengue virus type 2.\nDengue virus (DENV) is the most important arbovirus in the world; DENV is transmitted by the Aedes genus of mosquitoes and can establish a life-long persistent infection in mosquitoes. However, the exact mechanism by which persistent infection is established remains unknown. In this study the differential expression of miRNAs was analysed by deep sequencing and RT-qPCR using a previously established C6\/36-HT cell line persistently infected with DENV 2 (C6-L) as a model. miR-927, miR-87, miR-210, miR-2a-3p, miR-190 and miR-970 were up-regulated, whereas miR-252, miR-263a-3p, miR-92b, miR-10-5p miR-9a-5p, miR-9a-1, miR-124, miR-286a and miR-286b were down-regulated in C6-L cells compared with C6\/36 cells acutely infected with the same virus or mock-infected cells. Deep sequencing results were validated by RT-qPCR for the highly differentially expressed miR-927 and miR-9a-5p, which were up- and down-regulated, respectively, compared with both acutely and mock-infected C6\/36 cells. The putative targets of these miRNAs include components of the ubiquitin conjugation pathway, vesicle-mediated transport, autophagy, and the JAK-STAT cascade as well as proteins with endopeptidase activity. Other putative targets include members of the Toll signalling pathway and proteins with kinase, ATPase, protease, scavenger receptor or Lectin C-type activity or that participate in fatty acid biosynthesis or oxidative stress. Our results suggest that several specific miRNAs help regulate the cellular functions that maintain equilibrium between viral replication and the antiviral response during persistent infection of mosquito cells. This study is the first report of a global miRNA profile in a mosquito cell line persistently infected with DENV.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6733982,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Interferon-alpha regulation of lymphocyte function in systemic lupus erythematosus.\nInterferon (IFN) production and responsiveness are abnormal in some patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The present investigation was designed to further delineate these abnormalities of IFN response. The response to IFN-alpha was determined in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) using the natural killer (NK) cell assay, the concanavalin A (Con A)-induced T-cell proliferation assay, and the pokeweed mitogen (PWM) blastogensis system. The average NK cell activity was impaired in SLE patients (19.7 +\/- 3.8 LU\/10(7) cells; n = 22) compared to 24 normal controls (45.6 +\/- 7.2 LU\/10(7) cells; n = 24) (P less than 0.05). In addition, the response to IFN in the NK cell system was impaired in SLE (110.0 +\/- 38.0% enhancement) compared to controls (320.0 +\/- 94.0% enhancement; +\/- SD P less than 0.05). In contrast to the impaired IFN response of the NK cell in SLE, the effect of IFN on Con A- and PWM-induced blastogenesis in SLE was normal (P greater than 0.1). Thus, the defect in IFN response in SLE appeared to be confined to the NK cell system, but was not present in the other assay systems. To determine if the impaired IFN response might be secondary to impaired release of natural killer cytotoxic factor (NKCF) induced by IFN, NKCF was generated from PBMC in the presence of IFN. IFN-induced NKCF release was markedly impaired in SLE (8.9 +\/- 11.7%) relative to normal controls (22.3 +\/- 11.2%) (P less than 0.05). IFN-induced release of NKCF in SLE also closely correlated with IFN-induced NK enhancement (r = .83, P less than 0.05). No depletion of NK cells was noted using the monoclonal antibody HNK-1. Thus, this study demonstrates for the first time that the insensitivity to IFN in SLE is not a universal lymphocyte defect but appears to be isolated to the NK cell which is functionally abnormal.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1098622,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Analysis of certain nodal features of regenerative reactions].\nThe increased degree of death of cells due to increased functional stresses may serve as a starting factor responsible for the compensatory growth. This fact allows considering reparative regeneration and compensatory growth as phenomena of the same class. Different forms of reparative growth (intracellular regeneration and proliferation of cells, endomorphosis and epimorphosis) serve to concrete tasks of reparation at different levels of organization of the morphological substrate. They are sustained by endogeneous morphogenetical mechanisms developing independently of other levels and of environment. In the subsystem of lover levels of organization the involved morphogenetical mechanisms may sustain not only compensation of the lost structures but also their overproduction. As a rule the program of reparative processes may be realized on higher (e. g. organic) level but partly. Among available criteria of regeneration at the present time the calculation of mitoses should be considered the most adequate one. The systemic approach may prove to be a perspective method both for estimation of regeneratory effect and for deeper analysis of reparative phenomena in general.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28361159,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evaluation of Adjusted and Unadjusted Indirect Comparison Methods in Benefit Assessment. A Simulation Study for Time-to-event Endpoints.\nWith the Act on the Reform of the Market for Medicinal Products (AMNOG) in Germany, pharmaceutical manufacturers are obliged to submit a dossier demonstrating added benefit of a new drug compared to an appropriate comparator. Underlying evidence was planned for registration purposes and therefore often does not meet the appropriate comparator as defined by the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA). For this reason AMNOG allows indirect comparisons to assess the extent of added benefit. The aim of this study is to evaluate the characteristics and applicability of adjusted indirect comparison described by Bucher and Matching-Adjusted Indirect Comparison (MAIC) in various situations within the early benefit assessment according to \u00a735a Social Code Book 5. In particular, we consider time-to-event endpoints. We conduct a simulation study where we consider three different scenarios: I) similar study populations, II) dissimilar study populations without interactions and III) dissimilar study populations with interactions between treatment effect and effect modifiers. We simulate data from a Cox model with Weibull distributed survival times. Desired are unbiased effect estimates. We compare the power and the proportion of type 1 errors of the methods. I) Bucher and MAIC perform equivalently well and yield unbiased effect estimates as well as proportions of type 1 errors below the significance level of 5 %. II) Both Bucher and MAIC yield unbiased effect estimates, but Bucher shows a higher power for detection of true added benefit than MAIC. III) Only MAIC, but not Bucher yields unbiased effect estimates. When using robust variance estimation MAIC yields a proportion of type 1 error close to 5 %. In general, power of all methods for indirect comparisons is low. An increasing loss of power for the indirect comparisons can be observed as the true treatment effects decrease. Due to the great loss of power and the potential bias for indirect comparisons, head-to-head trials using the appropriate comparator as defined by the Federal Joint Committee should be conducted whenever possible. However, indirect comparisons are needed if no such direct evidence is available. To conduct indirect comparisons in case of a present common comparator and similar study populations in the trials to be compared, both Bucher and MAIC can be recommended. In case of using adjusted effect measures (such as Hazard Ratio), the violation of the similarity assumption has no relevant effect on the Bucher approach as long as interactions between treatment effect and effect modifiers are absent. Therefore Bucher can still be considered appropriate in this specific situation. In the authors' opinion, MAIC can be considered as an option (at least as sensitivity analysis to Bucher) if such interactions are present or cannot be ruled out. Nevertheless, in practice MAIC is potentially biased and should always be considered with utmost care.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19047743,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Isolation and analysis of differentially expressed genes in Penicillium glabrum subjected to thermal stress.\nPenicillium glabrum is a filamentous fungus frequently involved in food contamination. Numerous environmental factors (temperature, humidity, atmospheric composition, etc.) or food characteristics (water activity, pH, preservatives, etc.) could represent potential sources of stress for micro-organisms. These factors can directly affect the physiology of these spoilage micro-organisms: growth, conidiation, synthesis of secondary metabolites, etc. This study investigated the transcriptional response to temperature in P. glabrum, since this factor is one of the most important for fungal growth. Gene expression was first analysed by using suppression subtractive hybridization to generate two libraries containing 445 different up- and downregulated expressed sequence tags (ESTs). Expression of these ESTs was then assessed for different thermal stress conditions, with cDNA microarrays, resulting in the identification of 35 and 49 significantly up- and downregulated ESTs, respectively. These ESTs encode heat-shock proteins, ribosomal proteins, superoxide dismutase, trehalose-6-phosphate synthase and a large variety of identified or unknown proteins. Some of these may be molecular markers for thermal stress response in P. glabrum. To our knowledge, this work represents the first study of the transcriptional response of a food spoilage filamentous fungus under thermal stress conditions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25511130,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Highly regio- and enantioselective synthesis of \u03b3,\u03b4-unsaturated amido esters by catalytic hydrogenation of conjugated enamides.\nAn efficient and highly regio- and enantioselective catalytic asymmetric hydrogenation of \u03b1,\u03b3-dienamido esters to \u03b3,\u03b4-unsaturated amido esters has been achieved using Rh\/TangPhos as the catalyst. A series of \u03b3,\u03b4-unsaturated amido acids were furnished in excellent yields with up to 99% ee. This effective methodology was applied in the asymmetric synthesis of key intermediate of Ramipril, an ACE inhibitor.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23443668,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"High performance amorphous ZnMgO\/carbon nanotube composite thin-film transistors with a tunable threshold voltage.\nHere we report the fabrication and characterization of high mobility amorphous ZnMgO\/single-walled carbon nanotube composite thin film transistors (TFTs) with a tunable threshold voltage. By controlling the ratio of MgO, ZnO and carbon nanotubes, high performance composite TFTs can be obtained with a field-effect mobility of up to 135 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1), a low threshold voltage of 1 V and a subthreshold swing as small as 200 mV per decade, making it a promising new solution-processed material for high performance functional circuits. A low voltage inverter is demonstrated with a functional frequency exceeding 5 kHz, which is only limited by parasitic capacitance rather than the intrinsic material speed. The overall device performance of the composite TFTs greatly surpasses not only that of the solution-processed TFTs, but also that of the conventional amorphous or polycrystalline silicon TFTs. It therefore has the potential to open up a new avenue to high-performance, solution-processed flexible electronics which could significantly impact the existing applications, and enable a whole new generation of flexible, wearable, or disposable electronics.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28695258,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Environmental Impacts and Recovery After the Hebei Spirit Oil Spill in Korea.\nThe Hebei Spirit oil spill (HSOS) on December 7, 2007 was the worst oil spill recorded in Korea, with the release of approximately 10,900 tons of crude oil and 375 km of coastline polluted along the west coast of Korea. Cleanup operation was conducted by official and contract responders as well as volunteers for massive oil containment and removal of heavy accumulations of stranded oil. Together with the oil cleanup, a long-term environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the HSOS was initiated based on the Marine Environmental Management Act, which covers oil contamination in a multimedia environment, toxic effects on organisms, and ecosystem injury. This review summarizes the long-term monitoring results of HSOS EIA focused on (1) pollution status of seawater, sediment, and bivalves, (2) ecotoxicological effects, and (3) ecosystem recovery. Overall, concentrations of petroleum hydrocarbons in the environment indicated that their concentrations were well down to at or near background or pre-spill contamination levels at most sites after 1 year. The potential toxic effects of residual oils in sediments have decreased to background levels in most coastal areas of Taean. The entire ecosystem in the most affected area of the Taean coasts appear to be considerably, but not fully, recovered at present, namely after 8 years of the HSOS. The presence of lingering oil and elevated contamination levels at several sites still require continuous long-term monitoring.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36926414,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"How and When Perpetrators Reflect on and Respond to Their Workplace Ostracism Behavior: A Moral Cleansing Lens.\nThis study investigates the association between the previous workplace ostracism of employees and their subsequent helping behavior by drawing on moral cleansing theory in the Chinese context, exploring the mediating roles of employees' guilt and perceived loss of moral credit and the moderating role of their moral identity symbolization. The data were collected from a two-stage time-lagged survey of 284 Chinese employees. Regression analysis and the bootstrapping method are used in this article to examine the theoretical hypotheses. The results indicate that employees' previous ostracism behaviors positively affected their guilt experience and perceived loss of moral credit. Subsequently, the relationship between employees' workplace ostracism and their helping behavior is mediated by guilt experience and perceived loss of moral credit. Furthermore, moral identity symbolization positively moderated the indirect \"workplace ostracism-helping behavior\" linkage via guilt and perceived loss of moral credits; in other words, for employees who have a higher degree of moral identity symbolization, the mediating effect is more significant, and vice versa. This study does not merely clarify the theoretical relationship between perpetrators' workplace ostracism and their helping behavior, which enriches the explanatory logic of related research on workplace ostracism and the cause of helping behavior, but also expand the application scope of moral cleansing theory. Further, we aim practically to bring enlightenment to human resource management reform, corporate culture construction, and positive behavior management.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36282919,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Morphological growth dynamics, mechanical stability, and active microtubule mechanics underlying spindle self-organization.\nThe spindle is a dynamic intracellular structure self-organized from microtubules and microtubule-associated proteins. The spindle's bipolar morphology is essential for the faithful segregation of chromosomes during cell division, and it is robustly maintained by multifaceted mechanisms. However, abnormally shaped spindles, such as multipolar spindles, can stochastically arise in a cell population and cause chromosome segregation errors. The physical basis of how microtubules fail in bipolarization and occasionally favor nonbipolar assembly is poorly understood. Here, using live fluorescence imaging and quantitative shape analysis in Xenopus egg extracts, we find that spindles of varied shape morphologies emerge through nonrandom, bistable self-organization paths, one leading to a bipolar and the other leading to a multipolar phenotype. The bistability defines the spindle's unique morphological growth dynamics linked to each shape phenotype and can be promoted by a locally distorted microtubule flow that arises within premature structures. We also find that bipolar and multipolar spindles are stable at the steady-state in bulk but can infrequently switch between the two phenotypes. Our microneedle-based physical manipulation further demonstrates that a transient force perturbation applied near the assembled pole can trigger the phenotypic switching, revealing the mechanical plasticity of the spindle. Together with molecular perturbation of kinesin-5 and augmin, our data propose the physical and molecular bases underlying the emergence of spindle-shape variation, which influences chromosome segregation fidelity during cell division.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16147856,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Triple helical collagen-like peptides: engineering and applications in matrix biology.\nCollagen, a large insoluble protein with a characteristic triple helical structure, is found as the most prominent component of extracellular matrix. The functions of collagen are not limited to providing mechanical strength to various tissues and organs as a structural protein, as it has been pointed out that collagen exhibits various biological functions through specific interactions with other macromolecules. However, the use of native triple helical collagen is often troublesome because of its insolubility and gelating properties. Instead, triple helical collagen-like peptides have been designed and are used as collagen surrogates in studies on collagen structure, stability, and biological functions including binding to other proteins and cultured cells. This article reviews recent progress in peptide design, synthesis, and the applications of collagen-like peptides in current matrix biology, while emphasizing the advantages of the peptide-based strategy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7921431,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Role of nitric oxide and superoxide anions in interleukin-1 beta-induced airway hyperresponsiveness to bradykinin.\nWe investigated the role of endogenous nitric oxide (NO) and superoxide anions in recombinant human interleukin-1 beta (rhIL-1 beta)-induced bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) and neutrophilia in Brown-Norway rats. Aminoguanidine (100 mg\/kg\/d) administered subcutaneously for 3 d, an inhibitor of inducible NO synthase, L-arginine (100 mg\/kg\/d administered subcutaneously for 3 d, a specific precursor for the synthesis of NO, and apocynin (5 mg\/kg\/orally), an inhibitor of superoxide anion (O2-)-generating NADPH oxidase in macrophages and neutrophils, were administered prior to administration of rhIL-1 beta (500 U) intratracheally. Aminoguanidine in addition to another inhibitor of NO synthase, NW-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) 100 mg kg\/d administered subcutaneously for 3 d augmented bronchial responsiveness to inhaled bradykinin (BK) but not to acetylcholine (ACh), an effect reversed by L-arginine. rhIL-1 beta-treated rats also demonstrated BHR to BK but not to ACh, associated with neutrophilia in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). rhIL-1 beta-induced BHR and neutrophilia were neither further increased by aminoguanidine nor inhibited by L-arginine. Apocynin, however, significantly inhibited rhIL-1 beta-induced BHR but not the BALF neutrophilia. Suppression of NO generation and generation of O2- from macrophages and infiltrating neutrophils may be important in rhIL-1 beta-induced airway hyperresponsiveness to bradykinin.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34406285,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Phylogeography of the neotropical epiphytic orchid, genus Dracula.\nThe tropical Andes constitute a natural barrier between the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic; in these mountains, are a great variety of Ecosystems, defined by factors such as orography, winds, humidity, temperature, among others. Some of these Ecosystems have different environmental conditions from tropical ones. In them, there is a great Biodiversity, in some cases endemic and associated with relatively small geographic areas. An example of this biodiversity is the orchids of the genus Dracula, about which discussions are currently generated due to the difficulty in classifying their members. The present work shows a study where DNA was isolated and sequenced from plant samples obtained from 52 species of orchids of the genus Dracula, which were analyzed using the MEGA7 software. Phylogenetic analysis of the DNA sequences showed a well-resolved topology that reflects a geographical pattern of several major clades of the Pacific and Atlantic watersheds. Geophysical conditions of the Andes have generated greater biodiversity of the genus Dracula on the side of the Pacific. Although the species Dracula cordobae and alessandroi reported on both sides of the study site belong to the same clade and show limited mobility through the drier area to the South of the mountain range.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3046171,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Use of cultured keratinocytes in the treatment of severe burns.\nA 6 1\/2-year-old child was admitted to the emergency ward for third degree burn injuries representing 40% of body surface. Shock therapy was first applied. After d\u00e9bridement and in a series of operating sessions hands were grafted with full-thickness skin and most other wounds were covered with mesh grafts. On the 14th day after admission a piece of approximately 5 cm2 split thickness scalp skin was used to expand the keratinocytes by cell culture techniques according to the method of Rheinwald and Green (7). After 20 days 4 sheets of cells of first subculture, each 10 cm in diameter, representing a surface of approximately 300 cm2, were implanted on the front of the left thigh, which was burnt third-degree deep. Light microscopy of punch biopsies from mesh grafted and keratinocyte implanted sites taken 5 months after grafting showed a well differentiated epidermis overlying scar tissue. The following conclusions were drawn: Autologous keratinocytes did take on a third degree wound. No basic difference was observed neither clinically nor histologically between mesh-grafted and keratinocyte-implanted sites. The epidermis formed by keratinocyte implantation lacked pigmentation but presented an aesthetically better appearance than the mesh-graft treated sites. Given the scarcity of donor sites and the results obtained by implanting keratinocyte cultures, this latter technique may be resorted to in any extended and deep burn injury.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22690069,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Leaky gut and the liver: a role for bacterial translocation in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.\nGut flora and bacterial translocation (BT) play important roles in the pathogenesis of chronic liver disease, including cirrhosis and its complications. Intestinal bacterial overgrowth and increased bacterial translocation of gut flora from the intestinal lumen predispose patients to bacterial infections, major complications and also play a role in the pathogenesis of chronic liver disorders. Levels of bacterial lipopolysaccharide, a component of gram-negative bacteria, are increased in the portal and\/or systemic circulation in several types of chronic liver disease. Impaired gut epithelial integrity due to alterations in tight junction proteins may be the pathological mechanism underlying bacterial translocation. Preclinical and clinical studies over the last decade have suggested a role for BT in the pathogenesis of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Bacterial overgrowth, immune dysfunction, alteration of the luminal factors, and altered intestinal permeability are all involved in the pathogenesis of NASH and its complications. A better understanding of the cell-specific recognition and intracellular signaling events involved in sensing gut-derived microbes will help in the development of means to achieve an optimal balance in the gut-liver axis and ameliorate liver diseases. These may suggest new targets for potential therapeutic interventions for the treatment of NASH. Here, we review some of the mechanisms connecting BT and NASH and potential therapeutic developments.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21158377,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Eyelid abscess arising from an epidermal inclusion cyst.\nA 72-year-old woman presented with a 3-day history of focal pain and swelling of the left upper eyelid. A cystic lesion had been present in this area for longer than 7 years, and a lesion consistent with an epidermal inclusion cyst was present on the contralateral upper eyelid. An erythematous, tender, fluctuant mass was noted on the left upper eyelid consistent with abscess. It was drained and cultured, and the infection resolved with oral amoxicillin\/clavulanate potassium followed by surgical excision. Histopathologic examination demonstrated an epidermal inclusion cyst and cultures grew anaerobic gram-positive cocci. Epidermal inclusion cysts are common eyelid lesions, yet infection is rare and may result from the spread of normal flora through the pore often found on the anterior surface of these lesions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31248354,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Malignant Leydig cell tumor in dogs: two cases and a review of the literature.\nMalignant Leydig cell tumor (MLCT) is a rare testicular tumor in dogs. We report herein 2 dogs with MLCT and cutaneous metastasis. Grossly, marked enlargement and distortion of the involved testes were noted; on cut surface, the parenchyma was completely replaced by neoplastic tissue. In addition, these tumors had extensive necrosis and hemorrhage. Case 1 had a rapidly growing cutaneous mass in the left angle of the mouth; the lesion was well-circumscribed and had an indistinct lobular pattern. Case 2 had multiple cutaneous masses in the dorsal neck region, the thoracic back region, and the right hindlimb. Microscopically, the tumor lobules were composed of oval-to-polyhedral cells with eosinophilic cytoplasm and resembled testicular tumors. By immunohistochemistry, the neoplastic cells in both the testicular and cutaneous tumors were positive for inhibin-alpha and melan A. The mitotic counts of the primary tumors from cases 1 and 2 were 21 and 11 per 10 high-power fields, respectively. Based on these findings, the cases were diagnosed as MLCT with cutaneous metastasis. Ki-67 expression in the neoplastic cells of the 2 cases was higher than in benign Leydig cell tumors. Our findings may be helpful for the diagnosis of canine MLCT.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7949404,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Experimental thyroiditis in guinea pigs and rabbits. Immunization with thyroglobulin and bovine thyroid gland suspension.\nMorphological changes in the thyroid glands of the guinea pigs with autoimmune thyroiditis (EAT) experimentally induced by thyroglobulin (TGL) or immunization by the suspension of thyroid gland cells with CFA manifested mainly by atrophy and alterations of follicular cells, fibrotic tissue changes, formation of inflammatory lymphoplasmocytic infiltrations, multiplication of C-cells and by the increase in the proportion of lymphocytes with activated nucleoli in the tissue. The antigenic effects of TGL differed from those of the cell suspension; the effects of TGL participated especially in the formation of the infiltrates, the effects of cell suspension participated in the diapedesis of mononuclears and in the multiplication of C-cells. The findings correspond to the principal findings in human autoimmune lymphocytic thyroiditis. In an electron microscope, strongly dilated cisterns of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and multiplied mitochondria in the cytoplasm of altered follicular cells were found. The wall of the follicles exhibited fully intact or altered C-cells. The latter had a large number of granules in cytoplasm with an unusually clear medullary substance. In the rabbit thyroid glands no morphological changes were observed following the immunization with both antigens. TGL antibodies examined immunohistochemically in the sera were present in all the sera of guinea pigs immunized with TGL and CFA. The antibodies determined by dot immunodetection were present in the sera of all guinea pigs immunized with TGL+CFA, the titres reached the level of 1:81 to 1:729; the highest titres were observed in the guinea pigs following the immunization by dose of 7.7 mg\/kg after 12 weeks of immunization.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12029961,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Tackling the problem of poor ward cleanliness.\nBoth the environment and equipment used in health-care facilities have been identified as sources of infection. The cleaning of any hospital environment must be carried out in a pre-planned, clearly structured and defined manner. Domestic staff need thorough basic training and regular updates.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25430740,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Obesity increases risk of anticoagulation reversal failure with prothrombin complex concentrate in those with intracranial hemorrhage.\nNot all patients with warfarin-related acute intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) achieve full reversal of international normalized ratio (INR) after the first dose of weight-based prothrombin complex concentrate (PCC). We sought to identify factors associated with anticoagulation reversal failure after the first dose of PCC. Consecutive patients who were hospitalized with warfarin-related acute ICH at a tertiary center between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2012 were studied. Anticoagulation reversal failure was defined as INR \u2265 1.5 after the first dose of PCC. Logistic regression was performed to determine the predictors of anticoagulation reversal failure. Fifty-one patients with acute ICH received PCC for warfarin reversal using a weight-based protocol. Overall, 23 (45%) patients did not achieve full reversal of INR after the first dose. Those with anticoagulation reversal failure were obese (body mass index > 30 kg\/m(2)) (41% vs. 14%, p = 0.03), had a higher initial INR (3.0 \u00b1 1.4 vs. 2.0 \u00b1 0.7, p = 0.001), and had a higher prevalence of initial INR >2.0 (22% vs. 67%, p = 0.001), compared with those who were successfully reversed. Multivariable logistic regression identified obesity (odds ratio 7.88, 95% CI 1.12 to 55.68) and initial INR >2.0 (odds ratio 12.49, 95% CI 2.27 to 68.87) as independent predictors of anticoagulation reversal failure. Obesity and elevated initial INR are independently associated with anticoagulation reversal failure using the weight-based PCC protocol in patients with warfarin-related acute ICH. Further studies are needed to determine more effective dosing protocols and individualized strategies for anticoagulation reversal after acute ICH, especially among obese patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9542792,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Prolactin response to D-fenfluramine challenge test as a predictor of treatment response to haloperidol in acute schizophrenia.\nD-fenfluramine has been identified as a highly selective serotonin (5-HT) releaser and re-uptake inhibitor. The objective of our study was to investigate prolactin response to D-fenfluramine challenge in non-medicated, first episode schizophrenics. We hypothesized that 5-HT reactivity can predict a response to the neuroleptic treatment. Twenty-three inpatients, 11 males and 12 females, at the Prague Psychiatric Center participated in the study. Inclusion criteria were: ICD-10 diagnosis of schizophrenia, first episode or duration of illness shorter than 36 months. D-fenfluramine challenge test was performed before 4 weeks of the haloperidol treatment. During the test, prolactin plasma levels were measured. The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) was administered before and after the treatment. A statistically significant negative correlation was found between prolactin response to the D-fenfluramine challenge and improvement of psychopathology measured by the change in total BPRS score (p = 0.0004), in positive (p = 0.0403), negative (p = 0.0267), and anxiety-depression symptoms of BPRS (p = 0.0014). Our data support the original hypothesis that there is a relationship between 5-HT system activity and treatment response. The higher responsiveness of the 5-HT system in first episode, non-medicated schizophrenics, was associated with a poorer treatment response to haloperidol, an antidopaminergic neuroleptic.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6743058,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Thromboembolism in patients with atrial fibrillation.\nOn retrospective review of records of 150 patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), 31% experienced a stroke or peripheral embolism. The AF was not associated with cardiac valvular disease in 80% of the 150 patients. Most of the cerebral infarcts were large, disabling, and unheralded by transient ischemic attack. The thromboembolism typically occurred in patients whose AF was undetected prior to the infarction. Half of the patients with an ischemic event suffered multiple events, with one fourth of the recurrences arising within two weeks.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9572282,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Enhanced [3H]DOPA and [3H]dopamine turnover in striatum and frontal cortex in vivo linked to glutamate receptor antagonism.\nWe tested the hypothesis that blockade of NMDA glutamate receptors in brain enhances dopamine turnover. We blocked this class of glutamate receptors in the rat brain in vivo with dizocilpine (MK-801) and measured the accumulation of radiolabeled DOPA and its metabolites as functions of time after intravenous bolus injection. Using the time courses of the accumulated metabolites, we calculated the turnover constants of enzymes mediating dopamine synthesis and catabolism. Dizocilpine treatment for 8 days enhanced the rates of DOPA decarboxylation and dopamine oxidation (monoamine oxidation) 4- and 16-fold, respectively, in neostriatum and 10- and 3-fold, respectively, in frontal cortex. The findings are not inconsistent with the hypothesis that the psychotomimetic properties of dizocilpine may be the manifestation of denervation hypersensitivity linked to activation of key enzymes of dopamine turnover in striatum.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28558675,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Development of plant-produced protein body vaccine candidates for bluetongue virus.\nBluetongue is a disease of domestic and wild ruminants caused by bluetongue virus serotypes (BTV), which have caused serious outbreaks worldwide. Commercially available vaccines are live-attenuated or inactivated virus strains: these are effective, but there is the risk of reversion to virulence or reassortment with circulating strains for live virus, and residual live virus for the inactivated vaccines. The live-attenuated virus vaccines are not able to distinguish naturally infected animals from vaccinated animals (DIVA compliant). Recombinant vaccines are preferable to minimize the risks associated with these vaccines, and would also enable the development of candidate vaccines that are DIVA-compliant. In this study, two novel protein body (PB) plant-produced vaccines were developed, Zera\u00ae-VP2ep and Zera\u00ae-VP2. Zera\u00ae-VP2ep contained B-cell epitope sequences of multiple BTV serotypes and Zera\u00ae-VP2 contained the full-length BTV-8 VP2 codon-optimised sequence. In addition to fulfilling the DIVA requirement, Zera\u00ae-VP2ep was aimed at being multivalent with the ability to stimulate an immune response to several BTV serotypes. Both these candidate vaccines were successfully made in N. benthamiana via transient Agrobacterium-mediated expression, and in situ TEM analysis showed that the expressed proteins accumulated within the cytoplasm of plant cells in dense membrane-defined PBs. The peptide sequences included in Zera\u00ae-VP2ep contained epitopes that bound antibodies produced against native VP2. Preliminary murine immunogenicity studies showed that the PB vaccine candidates elicited anti-VP2 immune responses in mice without the use of adjuvant. These proof of concept results demonstrate that Zera\u00ae-VP2ep and Zera\u00ae-VP2 have potential as BTV vaccines and their development should be further investigated.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1691495,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Immunophenotype of vascular rejection in renal transplants.\nUnderstanding of the pathogenesis of vascular rejection processes encountered in renal transplants is limited. Although initially and still widely thought to be antibody mediated, it is commonly difficult to demonstrate deposition of immunoglobulin (Ig) in affected arteries. We studied the vascular lesions present in 22 transplanted human kidneys with a panel of antibodies and lectins to evaluate the presence of granulocytes (Leu M1), leukocytes (anti-CD45), B cells (L26), T cells (UCHL-1), monocyte\/macrophages (HAM 56), endothelial proliferation (Ulex I factor VIII-related antigen), and smooth muscle proliferation (HHF 35). Active (cellular) vascular rejection showed intimal infiltration of T lymphocytes and monocytes\/macrophages (Mac) but not B lymphocytes. Lesions of greater chronicity (reduction in cellularity, increase in intimal stromal matrix) showed progressive diminution of the T cell infiltrate but persistence of Mac accompanied by increased smooth muscle cells. Endothelial alterations were limited to disruption and lifting from supporting stroma by infiltrating inflammatory cells; proliferative changes as detected by increased numbers of cells binding Ulex I were not identified. The cell infiltrates were similar in large (renal artery) and small (interlobular) arteries. Evidence for specific deposition of Ig was not present in cases studied by immunofluorescence studies. These studies suggest vascular rejection is commonly mediated by cellular immune mechanisms and the general supposition equating vascular rejection occurring beyond the peritransplant period with humoral rejection is mistaken. Persistent Mac in chronic lesions may be limited to scavenger functions, but their presence suggests activity in modulating intimal proliferation analogous to current hypotheses for such a role for Mac in atherosclerosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26426520,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Comparison of the effectiveness of whole-brain radiotherapy plus temozolomide versus whole-brain radiotherapy in treating brain metastases based on a systematic review of randomized controlled trials.\nTemozolomide (TMZ) combination with whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT) has been tested by many randomized controlled trials in the treatment of brain metastases (BMs) in China and other countries. We performed an up-to-date meta-analysis to determine (i) the log odds ratios (LORs) of objective response (ORR) and adverse effects (AEs) for all-grade, and (ii) the T value of mean overall survival in patients with BMs treated with WBRT combined with TMZ versus WBRT alone. PubMed, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, and WanFang Data were searched for articles published up to 28 January 2015. Eligible studies were selected according to the PRISMA statement. ORR, AEs, and 95% confidence intervals were calculated using random-effects models. Eighteen studies were included in our analysis. A total of 1028 participants were enrolled. Summary LORs of ORR were 1.0239 (P<0.0001) on comparing WBRT plus TMZ with WBRT ORR (n=17). The overall mean difference of mean overall survival (n=17) between TMZ plus WBRT and WBRT was 2.2505 weeks (P=0.02185). There was a significant difference between WBRT plus TMZ and WBRT alone with a LOR of AEs for all-grade of (i) 0.923 for gastrointestinal toxicity and (ii) 0.7978 for myelosuppression. Sensitivity analysis and subgroup analysis were also performed. The 18 eligible randomized controlled trials demonstrated that the combination of WBRT and TMZ significantly improves the ORR and is statistically insignificant in prolonging the survival of patients with BMs. In addition, an increase in the incidence of gastrointestinal toxicity and myelosuppression was significant for all-grade.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29367889,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Progresses and challenges of utilizing traditional birth attendants in maternal and child health in Nigeria.\nDespite advances in modern healthcare, Traditional Birth Attendants (TBA) have continued to be heavily utilized in rural communities in Nigeria. Major disparities in maternal health care in Nigeria remain present despite the goal of the United Nations Millennium Development Goal to reduce maternal mortality by 2015. The objective of this study is to review the contribution of TBAs in the birthing process in Nigeria, and to examine barriers and opportunities for utilizing TBAs in improving maternal and child health outcomes in Nigeria. A literature review of two major electronic databases was conducted using the PRISMA framework to identify English language studies conducted between 2006 and 2016. Inclusion criteria included articles that examined the role of traditional birth attendants as a factor influencing maternal health in Nigeria. The value of TBAs has not been fully examined as few studies have aimed to examine its potential role in reducing maternal mortality with proper training. Eight manuscripts that were examined highlighted the role of TBAs in maternal health including outcomes of utilizing trained versus non-trained TBAs. Specific areas of training for TBAs that were identified and recommended in review including: recognizing delivery complications, community support for TBA practices through policy, evaluation of TBA training programs and increasing collaboration between healthcare facilities and TBAs. Policies focused on improving access to health services and importantly, formal health education training to TBAs, are required to improve maternal health outcomes and underserved communities.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":5473904,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Segregational respiratory-deficient mutants of a \"petite negative\" yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe 972h-.\nNo viable respiratory-deficient mutants of Schizosaccharomyces pombe 972h(-) could be obtained by acriflavine and ethidium bromide treatments. These mutagens induce 15 to 70% of microcolonies which, after a growth-lag of a few days, further develop into normal, respiratory-competent colonies. These results suggest that unstable petites were induced. Segregational respiratory-deficient mutants resistant to cobalt sulfate inhibition were isolated. Some of these strains are deficient in cytochrome a + a(3) and respire at low rates. The morphology of their mitochondrial membranes is modified: either the cristae are absent or they show aberrant concentric or tubular structures. Segregational mutants resistant to the respiratory inhibitors, 2,4-dinitrophenol or decamethylene diguanidine, were obtained. Neither mitochondrial structure nor function seems to be modified in these mutants. A segregational mutant resistant to benzimidazole inhibition does not grow on glycerol, although neither growth on glucose nor respiration appear to be affected.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12015044,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Influence of MRI on the T, N staging system of nasopharyngeal carcinoma].\nTo investigate the influence of MRI on the T, N staging system, 5(th) edition, UICC and the 92 staging system, China by comparing CT and MRI of the nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). From 1993 to Dec. 2000, fifty-six NPC patients proved by pathology underwent CT and MRI examination with Philip T5-II ultra-magnetic system (0.5T) and Elscient CT twin flash. Routine axial scans by CT and SE sequence with axial, sagittal and coronal scans by MRI from oral pharynx (lower border of second cervical vertebra) to supracellar cistern were done with enhancement (50\/56). The tumor beyond the nasopharyngeal cavity was accurately defined because the pharyngobasilar fascia could be seen by MRI which appeared to be more sensitive than CT in revealing the invaded soft tissues surrounding the nasopharyngeal cavity, such as longus colli (14 by CT and 26 by MRI), tensor veli palatini and levator veli palatini (17 by CT and 42 by MRI), the skull base erosion (15 by CT and 23 by MRI) and enlargement of retropharyngeal lymph nodes (13 by CT and 24 by MRI). As a result, 28.6% (16\/56) of NPC staging system, UICC and 33.9% (19\/56) of the 92 staging system of China should undergo changes. MRI is able to reveal the invasion extent into the structures around the tumor mass more accurately than CT, with the pharyngobasilar fascia readily seen and the infiltration and\/or destruction of the skull base more easily visualized by MRI than by CT. The impact of MRI upon the 92 staging system of China lies in the differentiation of direct infiltration by the tumor from the enlargement of the retropharyngeal lymph node and the early detection of skull base erosion. The Influence of MRI on the staging system of NPC is more pronounced than that of CT.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20367061,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evaluation and analysis of formation of bone at the palate in patients with cleft lip and palate after palatoplasty based on computed tomograms and three-dimensional data.\nThere are various techniques for palatoplasty, but no studies of postoperative osteogenesis at the palatal fissure. In the cranial and maxillofacial region it is thought to develop from the periosteum, so palatoplasty with mucoperiosteal flaps may encourage new bone to form at the fissure. We evaluated the status of osteogenesis in the hard palate after palatoplasty on computed tomograms (CT). We studied 29 patients (22 boys and 7 girls) with unilateral cleft lip and palate who had pushback palatoplasty with the use of CT obtained between May 2003 and March 2007. Age at the time of operation was recorded. The width of the palatal fissure at the first premolar, the first molar, and the maxillary posterior region were measured on coronal CT. The mean (SD) age at the time of palatoplasty was 16 (2) months. The mean (SD) width of the fissure at the first molar was 3.96 (3.1) mm, and bony union was seen in four patients. The width of the fissure was significantly less at the first molar than at the other sites (p = 0.006). The shape of the margin of the fissure was irregular in nearly all patients. The width of the fissure at the first molar became significantly less, suggesting that osteogenesis had occurred. In some patients the height of the fissure differed. Given the results of previous studies, bony regeneration from the periosteum most likely happens together with regeneration from the margins of the fissure.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28344167,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Protection and antibody reactivity following vaccination of lumpfish (Cyclopterus lumpus L.) against atypical Aeromonas salmonicida.\nAtypical Aeromonas salmonicida is frequently associated with disease and mortality in farmed lumpfish (Cyclopterus lumpus L). Challenge experiments using different modes of exposure identified both high and low pathogenic isolates. Intraperitoneal vaccination induced production of high levels of specific antibodies particularly in fish given multiple injections. The immune sera contained antibodies cross reactive with both high and low pathogenic isolates. SDS-PAGE and LC\/MSMS analyses showed that the highly virulent isolate expressed the virulence array protein (A-layer) while the less virulent isolate did not. Vaccines, containing the highly virulent isolate, formulated as a monovalent or as a trivalent vaccine, provided 73 and 60 relative percent survival (RPS) respectively, following intraperitoneal challenge. The detection of high levels of specific antibodies in immune sera and the protection provided by the test vaccines strongly indicate that it is possible to vaccinate lumpfish against atypical A. salmonicida and most probably also against other infectious bacterial diseases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18577234,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"A formylpeptide receptor, FPRL1, acts as an efficient coreceptor for primary isolates of human immunodeficiency virus.\nMore than 10 members of seven-transmembrane G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) have been shown to work as coreceptors for human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), HIV type 2 (HIV-2), and simian immunodeficiency viruses (SIVs). As a common feature of HIV\/SIV coreceptors, tyrosine residues are present with asparagines, aspartic acids or glutamic acids in the amino-terminal extracellular regions (NTRs). We noticed that a receptor for N-formylpeptides, FPRL1, also contains two tyrosine residues accompanied by glutamic acids in its NTR. It was reported that monocytes expressing CCR5 and FPRL1 in addition to CD4 are activated by treatment with ligands or agonists of FPRL1. Activated monocytes down-modulate CCR5 and become resistant to infection by HIV-1 strains. Thus, FPRL1 plays important roles in protection of monocyptes against HIV-1 infection. However, its own coreceptor activity has not been elucidated yet. In this study, we examined coreceptor activities of FPRL1 for HIV\/SIV strains including primary HIV-1 isolates. A CD4-transduced human glioma cell line, NP-2\/CD4, is strictly resistant to HIV\/SIV infection. We have reported that when NP-2\/CD4 cells are transduced with a GPCR having coreceptor activity, the cells become susceptible to HIV\/SIV strains. When NP-2\/CD4 cells were transduced with FPRL1, the resultant NP-2\/CD4\/FPRL1 cells became markedly susceptible to some laboratory-adapted HIV\/SIV strains. We found that FPRL1 is also efficiently used as a coreceptor by primary HIV-1 isolates as well as CCR5 or CXCR4. Amino acid sequences linked to the FPRL1 use could not be detected in the V3 loop of the HIV-1 Env protein. Coreceptor activities of FPRL1 were partially blocked by the forymyl-Met-Leu-Phe (fMLF) peptide. We conclude that FPRL1 is a novel and efficient coreceptor for HIV\/SIV strains. FPRL1 works as a bifunctional factor in HIV-1 infection. Namely, the role of FPRL1 in HIV-1 infection is protective and\/or promotive in different conditions. FPRL1 has been reported to be abundantly expressed in the lung, spleen, testis, and neutrophils. We detected mRNA expression of FPRL1 in 293T (embryonal kidney cell line), C8166 (T cell line), HOS (osteosarcoma cell line), Molt4#8 (T cell line), U251MG (astrocytoma cell line), U87\/CD4 (CD4-transduced glioma cell line), and peripheral blood lymphocytes. Roles of FPRL1 in HIV-1 infection in vivo should be further investigated.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19045052,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Brownian dynamics simulations of two-dimensional model for hopping times.\nBrownian dynamics simulations are used to study the mean first passage time for a hard disk diffusing in a channel. The disk has to hop pass another disk with the same diameter sigma but fixed in contact with the wall. This mean first passage time is expected to diverge with an exponent eta as the channel width (2R(p)) approaches that of the nonpassing limit (2sigma) for one disk to hop pass another. Our one disk model is similar to a disk diffusing in a two-dimensional container, shaped as a simplified configuration space of two passing disks in a flat channel of Kalinay. The Kalinay model was proposed recently to elucidate the disagreements between two different theoretical predictions for the exponent eta of the two disk hopping time divergences. For the one disk model, simple transition state theory and a Fick-Jacobs type of dimensional reduction approach predict exponents of 1 and 12, respectively. Our Brownian dynamics simulation, results are consistent with a value of 1.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28287519,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Endobronchial Ultrasound-guided Intratumoral Injection of Cisplatin for the Treatment of Isolated Mediastinal Recurrence of Lung Cancer.\nIsolated hilar and mediastinal recurrence (IMHR) following external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) in patients with lung cancer is common. These patients do not have many treatment options and are usually offered palliative chemotherapy or best supportive care. Endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS)-guided intratumoral injection of cisplatin (ITC) is a novel approach for these patients. The procedure is performed under conscious sedation. The lesion is located with a bronchoscopy using EBUS, and a 22-gauge EBUS needle is advanced through the working channel of the scope and locked in position. Under ultrasound guidance, the wall of the tracheobronchial tree is punctured and the needle is moved into the target lesion. The needle stylet is then removed and cisplatin (40 mg\/40 mL) is injected into the lesion. One to two sites are treated per session. Details of the procedure are described in the protocol section of paper. At our center, 50 sites were treated in 36 patients (19 males, 17 females). The mean age of our cohort was 61.9 \u00b18.5 years. We performed final analyses on 35 patients and 41 sites. 24\/35 (69%) had complete or partial response (responders), whereas 11\/35 (31%) had stable or progressive disease (non-responders). Overall, survival in our group was 8 months (95% CI of 6-11 months), with patients who responded having significantly better survival than the ones who did not.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23333492,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of total glucosides of paeony for delaying onset of Sjogren's syndrome: an animal study.\nTo investigate the effectiveness of total glucosides of paeony (TGP) on Sjogren's syndrome (SS) using non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice model. Twenty-seven 8-week-old female NOD mice were assigned into TGP group, hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) group and normal saline (NS) group, receiving corresponding drugs respectively and sacrificed at 24-week-old. Saliva flow rate (SFR), ration of regulatory T cells, level of anti-SSA\/SSB, histological changes in submandibular glands (SMG) and microarray analysis were assessed. The data were analyzed using SPSS. Compared to NS group, in TGP group, SFR, SMG index and the ration of regulatory T cells were significantly higher, while anti-SSA\/SSB and lymphocytic foci were significantly lower. HCQ group demonstrated similar results except SMG index. Altered gene expression was found in 10.71% of TGP and 13.09% of HCQ of the profile. TGP demonstrated a similar effectiveness as HCQ in delaying the onset of SS-like disease in NOD mice.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35352370,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Oxacillinases and antimicrobial susceptibility of Ralstonia pickettii from pharmaceutical water systems in Croatia.\nThis study evaluated antibiotic susceptibility and presence of blaOXA22 and blaOXA60 genes in 81 isolates of Ralstonia pickettii obtained from different purified and ultra-pure water systems in two different geographical areas of Croatia. E-test and disc diffusion test were performed to determine antibiotic susceptibility. Polymerase chain reaction was applied to detect genes encoding OXA-22 and OXA-60 oxacillinases previously identified in R. pickettii. The isolates were genotyped by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. The results revealed variable susceptibility\/resistance profiles. Our isolates exhibited high susceptibility rates to ceftriaxone, cefotaxime, piperacillin-tazobactam, ciprofloxacin, imipenem, cefepime and in lesser extent to ceftazidime. High rates of susceptibility were also observed for sulphamethoxazole-trimethoprim and piperacillin. High resistance rates were noticed for ticarcillin-clavulanate, aztreonam and meropenem, as well as for all aminoglycosides tested. Modified Hodge test was positive in 51\u00b79% strains, indicating production of carbapenemases. blaOXA22 and blaOXA60 genes were detected in 37\u00b70 and 80\u00b73% strains, respectively. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis identified three major clusters containing subclusters. R. pickettii should be taken seriously as a possible cause of nosocomial infections to ensure adequate therapy, to prevent the development of resistant strains and to try to reduce the possibility of R. pickettii surviving in clean and ultra clean water systems.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17878283,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Isolation and characterization of mu-calpain, m-calpain, and calpastatin from postmortem muscle. I. Initial steps.\nEvidence has indicated that mu-calpain, m-calpain, and calpastatin have important roles in the proteolytic degradation that results in postmortem tenderization. Simple assays of these 3 proteins at different times postmortem, however, has shown that calpastatin and mu-calpain both rapidly lose their activity during postmortem storage, so that proteolytic activity of mu-calpain is nearly zero after 3 d postmortem, even when assayed at pH 7.5 and 25 degrees C, and ability of calpastatin to inhibit the calpains is 30% or less of its ability when assayed at death. m-Calpain, however, retains much of its proteolytic activity during postmortem storage, but the Ca(2+) requirement of m-calpain is much higher than that reported to exist in postmortem muscle. Consequently, it is unclear how the calpain system functions in postmortem muscle. To clarify this issue, we have initiated attempts to purify the 2 calpains and calpastatin from bovine semitendinosus muscle after 11-13 d postmortem. The known properties of the calpains and calpastatin in postmortem muscle have important effects on approaches that can be used to purify them. A hexyl-TSK hydrophobic interaction column is a critical first step in separating calpastatin from the 2 calpains in postmortem muscle. Dot-blot assays were used to detect proteolytically inactive mu-calpain. After 2 column chromatographic steps, 5 fractions can be identified: 1) calpastatin I that does not bind to an anion-exchange matrix, that does not completely inhibit the calpains, and that consists of small polypeptides <60 kDa; 2) calpastatin II that binds weakly to an anion-exchange matrix and that contains polypeptides <60 kDa; all these polypeptides are smaller than the native 115- to 125-kDa skeletal muscle calpastatin; 3) proteolytically active mu-calpain even though very little mu-calpain activity can be detected in zymogram assays of muscle extracts from 11- to 13-d postmortem muscle; this mu-calpain has an autolyzed 76-kDa large subunit but the small subunit consists of 24-, 26- and a small amount of unautolyzed 28-kDa polypeptides; 4) proteolytically active m-calpain that is not autolyzed; and 5) proteolytically inactive mu-calpain whose large subunit is autolyzed to a 76-kDa polypeptide and whose small subunit contains polypeptides similar to the proteolytically active mu-calpain. Hence, loss of calpastatin activity in postmortem muscle is due to its degradation, but the cause of the loss of mu-calpain activity remains unknown.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23460456,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Development of a Chinese childbearing attitude questionnaire for infertile women receiving in vitro fertilization treatment.\nThe purpose of this study was to report the second phase of instrument development, a culturally sensitive questionnaire of childbearing attitudes to assess the psychosocial responses of infertile women. Using a nonexperimental quantitative design, we investigated 238 women who are undergoing in vitro fertilization treatment. Data collection and relevant planning occurred in two phases: in-depth interviews of women to generate items for the questionnaire and establishing the questionnaire's content and construct validity. Through factor analysis, five factors were extracted from the \"attitude toward childbearing questionnaire\": gender identification with self and society, insurance of marriage and inheritance, happy family life, spiritual investment, and continuing the family line and procreation. The total variance of these five factors was 64.31%. Cronbach's \u03b1 and test-retest reliability were between .72 and .87 and between .60 and .76, respectively, demonstrating acceptable internal consistency and stability. The information obtained through the questionnaire could be used to provide infertile women with personal counseling and appropriate psychological support during and after assisted reproductive technology.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":939763,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Limited hydrolysis of the polypeptide chain elongation factor Tu by trypsin. Isolation and characterization of the polypeptide fragments.\nThe digestion of EF-Tu-GDP (or EF-Tu-GTP) by trypsin [EC 18.104.22.168] under native conditions has been shown to proceed through two different and characteristic stages. 1. In the first phase, the protein is transformed into a fragment (Fragment A) with a molecular weight of 39,000 by exposure to trypsin for a relatively short period of time. Fragment A is unable to catalyze the binding of aminoacyl-tRNA to ribosomes. The ability to promote two partial steps of the binding reaction, i.e., formation of the aminoacyl-tRNA-EF-Tu-GTP ternary complex as well as the methanol-stimulated, ribosome dependent GTPase reaction, was rapidly destroyed. On the other hand, the ability to interact with guanine nucleotides as well as EF-Ts survived well during prolonged digestion. 2. In the second phase of digestion, a nick is introduced in Fragment A to yield two subfragments (Fragments B and C). These two fragments exist as a hybrid molecule which migrates as a single peak on a Sephadex G-75 column, and which dissociates into Fragments B and C only in the presence of 6 M guanidine hydrochloride or 5% sodium dodecyl sulfate. The molecular weights of Fragments B and C, as determined by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate, were 22,000 and 12,000 respectively. The hybrid molecule still retained one mole of bound guanine nucleotide and was resistant to further tryptic digestion. 3. Three sulfhydryl groups of EF-Tu were found to be present in Fragment B, both by amino acid analysis of the purified fragments and also by electrophoresis of tryptic digests labeled with N-ethyl[14C]maleimide. 4. The tryptic digestion of EF-Tu-GDP (or EF-Tu-GTP) labeled with N-(1-anilinonaphthyl-4)maleimide (ANM) at SH2 (the second SH), caused a 30% decrease in the fluorescence emission during the first rapid phase of digestion. This indicates that destruction of the hydrophobic environment near SH2 of EF-Tu occurred in the early phase of tryptic digestion. 5. The kinetic studies on the reaction of ANM with EF-Tu before and after tryptic digestion indicated that both Fragment A and the hybrid molecule reacted with ANM in the presence of GTP three to four times more rapidly than in the presence of GDP. Thus, it appears that the ability to induce conformational transition near SH2 by a change of nucleotide ligands is still retained in the hybrid molecule consisting of Fragments B and C.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34410111,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Identification and Differentiation of Wide Edible Mushrooms Based on Lipidomics Profiling Combined with Principal Component Analysis.\nMushroom, as a kind of higher fungus, is a precious homology resource of medicine and foods. In this study, total lipids were extracted from eight wild edible mushrooms and subsequently characterized by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-Quadrupole-Exactive Orbitrap mass spectrometry. 20 lipid classes and 173 molecular species were identified and quantified. Lipid molecules and their concentrations in Boletus speciosus, Boletus bainiugan, and Tricholoma matsutake exhibited significantly different behaviors compared with the remaining mushrooms. Hierarchical cluster analysis revealed that lipid profiles of B. bainiugan were most similar to B. speciosus followed by T. matsutake, Canthar-ellus cibarius, Sarcodon aspratu, Termitomyces eurrhizus, Laccaria laccata, and Thelephora ganbajun. In addition, several differential lipids can be considered as potential biomarkers to distinguish different mushroom species, for instance, lysophosphatidylethanolamine (16:1) and ceramide non-hydroxy fatty acid-dihydrosphingosine (d23:0-10:0). This study provided a new perspective to discriminate the mushroom species from the perspective of lipidomics.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32615216,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Identification and first insights into the structure of chitin from the endemic freshwater demosponge Ochridaspongia rotunda (Arndt, 1937).\nStudies on the identification, properties and function of chitin in sponges (Porifera), which are recognized as the first multicellular organisms on Earth, continue to be of fundamental scientific interest. The occurrence of chitin has so far been reported in 21 marine sponge species and only in two inhabiting fresh water. In this study, we present the discovery of \u03b1-chitin in the endemic demosponge Ochridaspongia rotunda, found in Lake Ohrid, which dates from the Tertiary. The presence of chitin in this species was confirmed using special staining, a chitinase test, FTIR, Raman and NEXAFS spectroscopy, and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). In contrast to the case of marine sponges, chitin in O. rotunda has been found only within its holdfast, suggesting a role of chitin in the attachment of the sponge to the hard substratum. Isolated fibrous matter strongly resemble the shape and size of the sponge holdfast with membrane-like structure.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28366802,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"In vivo EPR pharmacokinetic evaluation of the redox status and the blood brain barrier permeability in the SOD1G93A ALS rat model.\nAmyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder affecting the motor pathways of the central nervous system. Although a number of pathophysiological mechanisms have been described in the disease, post mortem and animal model studies indicate blood-brain barrier (BBB) disruption and elevated production of reactive oxygen species as major contributors to disease pathology. In this study, the BBB permeability and the brain tissue redox status of the SOD1G93A ALS rat model in the presymptomatic (preALS) and symptomatic (ALS) stages of the disease were investigated by in vivo EPR spectroscopy using three aminoxyl radicals with different cell membrane and BBB permeabilities, Tempol, 3-carbamoyl proxyl (3CP), and 3-carboxy proxyl (3CxP). Additionally, the redox status of the two brain regions previously implicated in disease pathology, brainstem and hippocampus, was investigated by spectrophotometric biochemical assays. The EPR results indicated that among the three spin probes, 3CP is the most suitable for reporting the intracellular redox status changes, as Tempol was reduced in vivo within minutes (t1\/2 =2.0\u00b10.5min), thus preventing reliable kinetic modeling, whereas 3CxP reduction kinetics gave divergent conclusions, most probably due to its membrane impermeability. It was observed that the reduction kinetics of 3CP in vivo, in the head of preALS and ALS SOD1G93A rats was altered compared to the controls. Pharmacokinetic modeling of 3CP reduction in vivo, revealed elevated tissue distribution and tissue reduction rate constants indicating an altered brain tissue redox status, and possibly BBB disruption in these animals. The preALS and ALS brain tissue homogenates also showed increased nitrilation, superoxide production, lipid peroxidation and manganese superoxide dismutase activity, and a decreased copper-zinc superoxide dismutase activity. The present study highlights in vivo EPR spectroscopy as a reliable tool for the investigation of changes in BBB permeability and for the unprecedented in vivo monitoring of the brain tissue redox status, as early markers of ALS.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6363070,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Purification and properties of a thiol protease from rat liver nuclei.\nA thiol protease was purified about 800-fold from the chromatin fraction of rat liver by employing Sepharose 6B gel filtration, chromatofocusing and Sephadex G-100 gel filtration. It was nearly homogeneous on sodium dodecyl sulfate\/polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and its molecular weight was about 29000. The isoelectric point of the enzyme was 7.1. The pH optimum for degradation of 3H-labelled ribosomal proteins was 4.5. It is noticeable that the maximal activity was shifted to pH 5.5 by DNA, and that 30-40% of the maximal activity was observed at neutral pH in the presence of DNA. The activity was increased about twice by 2-4 mM dithiothreitol. The protease may be specific for the nuclei because it is different from all lysosomal thiol proteases ever known.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37846912,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A MIXTURE OF NALBUPHINE, AZAPERONE, AND MEDETOMIDINE FOR IMMOBILIZING RINGTAILS (BASSARISCUS ASTUTUS).\nWe evaluated a combination of nalbuphine HCl (40 mg\/mL), azaperone tartrate (10 mg\/mL), and medetomidine HCl (10 mg\/mL), a combination known as NAM or NalMed-A, in 23 ringtails (Bassariscus astutus) during 29 handling events for a radio-collaring study in southern Oregon, US, from August 2020 to March 2022. The combination was delivered to ringtails by hand injection at 0.075 mL NAM per estimated 1 kg body mass. The mean (\u00b1 standard deviation, SD) dosage calculated post hoc was 3.366 (\u00b10.724) mg\/kg nalbuphine, 0.841 (\u00b10.181) mg\/kg medetomidine, and 0.841 (\u00b10.181) mg\/kg azaperone. All captured ringtails were effectively immobilized with a mean (SD) induction time of 13.24 (\u00b13.57) min. The medetomidine and nalbuphine components were antagonized with a combination of atipamezole and naltrexone HCl with a mean (SD) recovery time of 2.48 (\u00b11.94) min. This combination appeared to be safe and effective for immobilizing ringtails with a low volume dose, smooth antagonism, and rapid recovery. In addition, NAM does not contain any drugs that are US Drug Enforcement scheduled, which makes it useful for immobilization procedures by wildlife professionals in the US.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17002414,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Diallyl disulfide increases CDKN1A promoter-associated histone acetylation in human colon tumor cell lines.\nDiallyl disulfide (DADS) is an organosulfur compound from garlic, which inhibits colon tumor cell proliferation. In a previous study, we have shown that in Caco-2 and HT-29 cells DADS (200 microM) increases global histone acetylation, CDKN1A mRNA, and p21(waf1) protein levels and induces G2\/M cell cycle arrest. These results suggested that DADS could inhibit cell proliferation through at least in part a transcriptional activation of CDKN1A expression involving histone acetylation. In this study, using chromatin immunoprecipitation assays, we demonstrate that in Caco-2 and HT-29 cells histone H4 and\/or H3 acetylation is increased within CDKN1A promoter after 3 and 6 h treatments with DADS. These results strongly suggest that histone acetylation, a molecular mechanism implicated in the regulation of gene expression, could account for the induction of CDKN1A expression and the antiproliferating effects of DADS in colon tumor cells.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28249572,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Efficacy and safety of de-escalation therapy to ertapenem for treatment of infections caused by extended-spectrum-\u03b2-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae: an open-label randomized controlled trial.\nCarbapenem antibiotics are considered the treatment of choice for serious extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Gram-negative bacteria (GNB) infections. The study objectives were to evaluate efficacy and safety of de-escalation therapy to ertapenem for treatment of infections caused by extended-spectrum-\u03b2-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae. We conducted a randomized controlled trial of adult patients with documented ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae infections who had received any group 2 carbapenem for less than 96 h. In the intervention group, the previously-prescribed group 2 carbapenem was de-escalated to ertapenem. In the control group, the group 2 carbapenem was continued. During June 2011-December 2014, 32 patients were randomized to the de-escalation group and 34 to the control group. Most common sites of infection were urinary tract infection (42%). Characteristics of both groups were comparable. By using a 15% predefined margin, ertapenem was non-inferior to control group regarding the clinical cure rate (%\u0394 = 14.0 [95% confidence interval: -2.4 to 31.1]), the microbiological eradication rate (%\u0394 = 4.1 [-5.0 to 13.4]), and the superimposed infection rate (%\u0394 = -16.5 [-38.4 to 5.3]). Patients in the de-escalation group had a significantly lower 28-day mortality rate (9.4% vs. 29.4%; P = .05), a significantly shorter median length of stay (16.5 days [4.0-73.25] vs. 20.0 days [1.0-112.25]; P = .04), and a significantly lower defined daily dose of carbapenem use (12.9 \u00b1 8.9 vs. 18.4 \u00b1 12.6; P = .05). Ertapenem could be safely used as de-escalation therapy for ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae infections, once the susceptibility profiles are known. Future studies are needed to investigate ertapenem efficacy against ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae pneumonia to determine its applicability in life-threatening conditions. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01297842 . Registered on 14 February 2011. First patient enrolled on 27 June 2011.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22662074,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"AC-dielectrophoretic characterization and separation of submicron and micron particles using sidewall AgPDMS electrodes.\nThe recent development of microfluidic \"lab on a chip\" devices requires the need to continuously separate submicron particles. Here, we present a PDMS microfluidic device with sidewall conducting PDMS (AgPDMS) composite electrodes capable of separating submicron particles in hydrodynamic flow. In particular, the device can service dual functions. First, the AgPDMS composite electrodes embedded in a sidewall of the device channel allow for performing AC-dielectrophoretic (DEP) characterization through direct microscopic observation of particle behavior. Characterization experiments are carried out for numerous parameters including particle size, medium conductivity, and AC field frequency to reveal important dielectrophoresis DEP information in terms of the crossover frequency and positive\/negative DEP behavior under specific frequencies. Second, the device offers an advantage that sidewall AgPDMS composite electrodes can produce strong DEP effects throughout the entire channel height, and thus the robustness of the on-chip particle separation is demonstrated for continuous separation in a flowing mixture of 0.5 and 5 \u03bcm particles with 100% separation efficiency.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14524573,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Biventricular support with the Jarvik 2000 axial flow pump: a feasibility study.\nPatients with congestive heart failure who are supported with a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) may experience right ventricular dysfunction or failure that requires support with a right ventricular assist device (RVAD). To determine the feasibility of using a clinically available axial flow ventricular assist device as an RVAD, we implanted Jarvik 2000 pumps in the left ventricle and right atrium of two Corriente crossbred calves (approximately 100 kg each) by way of a left thoracotomy and then analyzed the hemodynamic effects in the mechanically fibrillated heart at various LVAD and RVAD speeds. Right atrial implantation of the device required no modification of either the device or the surgical technique used for left ventricular implantation. Satisfactory biventricular support was achieved during fibrillation as evidenced by an increase in mean aortic pressure from 34 mm Hg with the pumps off to 78 mm Hg with the pumps generating a flow rate of 4.8 L\/min. These results indicate that the Jarvik 2000 pump, which can provide chronic circulatory support and can be powered by external batteries, is a feasible option for right ventricular support after LVAD implantation and is capable of completely supporting the circulation in patients with global heart failure.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1678413,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Trichotillomania: a clinical study of 36 patients.\nTo understand the clinical characteristics of trichotillomania, 36 patients were investigated at the psychocutaneous special clinic from February 1982 to October 1990. There were 16 males and 20 females. The most prominent age was found in a group of 23 (63.9%) elementary school children, and in regards to the age of disease onset, 35 (97.2%) of our patients were under the age of 18. A 30-year-old woman with schizophrenia and a 6-year-old boy with mental retardation were noted in our study; the remaining 34 patients were generally well without signs of mental illness except for the recurrent failure to resist impulses to pull out their own hair. The common life events precipitating stress were academic problems and parent-child conflicts. The duration of follow-up was for at least 6 months. The habit of hair plucking was easily corrected if the duration of the disease was less than 6 months. Usually these patients had a satisfactory regrowth of hair within 1-3 months after our explanation and reassurance. In contrast, the patients with a hair loss of more than half a year were not easy to approach, and needed psychiatric treatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9140945,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Ultrastructure of the aqueous lining layer in hamster airways: is there a two-phase system?\nFor particle retention and clearance, the structure and surface properties of the airway lining layer are important. Due to difficulties of its preservation, structural analysis has been hampered, and, hence, the existence of two distinct and continuous phases and how much osmiophilic material is available are unclear. It was the objective of this study to investigate the ultrastructure of the aqueous lining layer in the intrathoracic conducting airways of hamsters. By means of transmission electron microscopy, we investigated the ultrastructure of the airway lining layer in hamsters whose lungs have been fixed by the application of fixative dissolved in nonpolar fluorocarbon, either by instillation via the trachea or injection into the gas exchange parenchyma, together with intravascular perfusion of aqueous fixatives. The results were compared to lungs fixed by intravascular perfusion only. In twelve hamsters, the airway lining layer was found to consist of an aqueous phase and was coated by an osmiophilic film that follows fairly closely the upper-extending contours of cilia protruding from epithelial cells. Substantially less osmiophilic material was preserved in extrapulmonary airways and when nonaqueous fixative was injected. We found that the aqueous lining layer of the intrathoracic airways in hamsters essentially surrounds and covers the cilia, the microvilli, and any other structures like macrophages or deposited particles contained in it and is coated by an osmiophilic film of variable thickness. In healthy animals, a gel phase is expected to be very thin, not clearly separated from the periciliary fluid, and located just beneath the osmiophilic film.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37658386,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-22":1}}},"text":"Stop-bang questionnaire for screening obstructive sleep apnea syndrome among hypertensive patients in Kenya.\nObstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a type of breathing problem during sleep caused by the blockage of the upper airway, which can cause cessation of airflow. There is limited research on the prevalence of OSA in hypertensive patients in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The study aimed to describe the prevalence and clinical characteristics of OSA among hypertensive patients at a tertiary hospital in Nairobi, Kenya. This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Aga Khan University Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya. Two hundred and fifty-one hypertensive patients were screened for OSA risk using the STOP-Bang questionnaire (SBQ). Patients with a SBQ score of \u2265 4 were categorized as high risk for OSA. Descriptive statistics were employed to describe both categorical and continuous variables and binary logistic regression to assess factors associated with the high risk of OSA. The study reported that 78.5% of the participants had high-risk OSA. The median age and body mass index (BMI) were 57.0 years (IQR: 50.0-64.0) and 28.3 kg\/m2, respectively. Age, neck circumference, gender, and BMI were significantly higher in the high-risk OSA group as compared to the low-risk group. The study highlights the importance of screening hypertensive patients for OSA using the SBQ in clinical settings, particularly in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). Healthcare providers can use patient characteristics such as age, gender, neck circumference, and BMI to identify those at greater risk of developing OSA. Further research could focus on developing effective OSA prevention and treatment interventions in hypertensive patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3082543,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sanfilippo disease in Greece.\nIn a series of cases collected in most parts of the world, Sanfilippo disease type A is more frequent than type B. Skin biopsies were obtained from Greek patients suspected for Sanfilippo disease and cultured fibroblasts were assayed for both N-acetyl-a-glucosaminidase and sulfamidase activity. Eleven patients with Sanfilippo disease were identified. Ten of them were type B and one type A. The 10 patients with type B came from East-Central Greece and the neighboring areas of Thessaly and Macedonia. Both parents of the type A patient were from the Greek ethnic community of Turkey. It remains unknown whether or not the higher frequency of type B than type A appears only in Greece or if it occurs in other Mediterranean countries as well.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9145210,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of nebracetam on synaptosomal monoamine uptake of striatal and hippocampal regions in rats.\nEffects of nebracetam, a novel nootorpic agent, on the synaptosomal uptake of neurotransmitter monoamines of the brain regions were examined. Striatal and hippocampal synaptosomes were isolated by the Percoll gradient method, and the striatal dopamine uptake and hippocampal serotonin uptake were measured in the presence of different concentrations (1 to 1000 microM) of nebracetam in vitro. A significant reduction in dopamine uptake in the striatum and serotonin uptake in the hippocampus was seen at concentrations of 100 microM or above. In in vivo microdialysis study, there were no appreciable changes in the extracellular concentrations of striatal dopamine and hippocampal serotonin when this agent at a dose of 30 mg\/kg, which was effective in improving ischemic brain energy metabolism, was applied i.p. to the rat. The ineffectiveness of nebracetam in the in vivo microdialysis may be due to low levels of the concentration of nebracetam when the agent was administered i.p. at a dose of 30 mg\/kg, since the brain blood concentration of this agent is pharmacokinetically estimated to be no more than 15 microM when this dose of nebracetam is employed. Thus, it is unlikely that this agent at a pharmacologically effective dose alters dopamine or serotonin uptake in the brain nerve terminal under normal conditions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28730683,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Ectopic fat accumulation in the pancreas and its biomarkers: A systematic review and meta-analysis.\nPresence of fat in the pancreas increases the risk of metabolic co-morbidities. Detection and quantification of pancreatic fat is not a routine clinical practice, at least in part because of need to use expensive imaging techniques. We aimed to systematically review common markers of pancreatic fat in blood and to investigate differences in these markers associated with fatty pancreas. The search was conducted in 3 databases (EMBASE, Scopus, and MEDLINE). Studies in humans were eligible for inclusion if they reported on biological markers and percentage of pancreatic fat or fatty pancreas prevalence. Data were pooled for correlation and effect size meta-analysis. A total of 17 studies including 11 967 individuals were eligible for meta-analysis. Markers of lipid metabolism, including circulating triglycerides (r = 0.38 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.31, 0.46]) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (r = -0.33 [95% CI -0.35, -0.31]), and markers of glucose metabolism, including glycated haemoglobin (r = 0.39 [95% CI 0.30, 0.48], insulin (r = 0.38 [95% CI 0.33, 0.43]), and homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance (r = 0.37 [95% CI 0.30, 0.44], yielded the best correlations with percentage of pancreatic fat. Further, effect size analysis showed large and medium effects for the above markers of lipid and glucose metabolism. Circulating levels of triglycerides and glycated haemoglobin appear to be the best currently available markers of pancreatic fat. The approach of non-invasive and accurate detection of pancreatic fat by blood analysis should be further explored in the future, by investigating other potential biological markers of pancreatic fat.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28570654,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Haplotypes on pig chromosome 3 distinguish metabolically healthy from unhealthy obese individuals.\nWe have established a pig resource population specifically designed to elucidate the genetics involved in development of obesity and obesity related co-morbidities by crossing the obesity prone G\u00f6ttingen Minipig breed with two lean production pig breeds. In this study we have performed genome wide association (GWA) to identify loci with effect on blood lipid levels. The most significantly associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were used for linkage disequilibrium (LD) and haplotype analyses. Three separate haploblocks which influence the ratio between high density lipoprotein cholesterol and total cholesterol (HDL-C\/CT), triglycerides (TG) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels respectively were identified on Sus Scrofa chromosome 3 (SSC3). Large additive genetic effects were found for the HDL-C\/CT and LDL-C haplotypes. Haplotypes segregating from G\u00f6ttingen Minipigs were shown to impose a positive effect on blood lipid levels. Thus, the genetic profile of the G\u00f6ttingen Minipig breed seems to support a phenotype comparable to the metabolic healthy obese (MHO) phenotype in humans.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18583404,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Susceptibility-weighted imaging findings of cortical laminar necrosis in pediatric patients.\nMR susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) is a highly sensitive technique for detection of hemorrhage, but its utility in the evaluation of children with laminar necrosis is not yet known. We assessed whether cortical laminar necrosis in pediatric patients contains hemorrhage on SWI. \"Cortical laminar necrosis\" was defined as a hyperintense cortical lesion on T1-weighted imaging in the subacute or chronic phase of brain damage in some foci involving the cerebral cortex and white matter such as hypoxic-ischemic incidents and encephalopathy. Medical records, CT, and MR images were retrospectively analyzed. Fifteen patients (7 boys, 8 girls; age range, 0-13 years) were included. The areas of signal-intensity loss on SWI that were considered to be hemorrhage were correlated with the laminar necrosis. CT was assessed to correlate with the presence of calcification at the location of the signal-intensity loss on SWI. To assess appearance or signal-intensity changes of hemorrhage in the laminar necrosis, follow-up SWI was performed. The causes of laminar necrosis included infarction in 4 patients, ischemic changes from Moyamoya disease in 2, meningoencephalitis in 2, hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy in 2, shaken baby syndrome in 1, encephalopathy from severe infection in 1, status epilepticus in 1, citrullinemia in 1, and brain injury with posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome in 1. T1-weighted imaging showed focal laminar necrosis in 8, multifocal laminar necrosis in 2, and diffuse laminar necrosis in 5. SWI findings correlated with laminar necrosis included the following: no hemorrhage in 13 patients (80.0%), dotted hemorrhage in 2 (13.3%), and laminar hemorrhage in 1 (6.7%). Follow-up SWI performed in 6 patients showed no additional hemorrhage. Most areas of cortical laminar necrosis in pediatric patients showed no hemorrhage on SWI.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25505312,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Neuronal transgene expression in dominant-negative SNARE mice.\nExperimental advances in the study of neuroglia signaling have been greatly accelerated by the generation of transgenic mouse models. In particular, an elegant manipulation that interferes with astrocyte vesicular release of gliotransmitters via overexpression of a dominant-negative domain of vesicular SNARE (dnSNARE) has led to documented astrocytic involvement in processes that were traditionally considered strictly neuronal, including the sleep-wake cycle, LTP, cognition, cortical slow waves, depression, and pain. A key premise leading to these conclusions was that expression of the dnSNARE was specific to astrocytes. Inconsistent with this premise, we report here widespread expression of the dnSNARE transgene in cortical neurons. We further demonstrate that the activity of cortical neurons is reversibly suppressed in dnSNARE mice. These findings highlight the need for independent validation of astrocytic functions identified in dnSNARE mice and thus question critical evidence that astrocytes contribute to neurotransmission through SNARE-dependent vesicular release of gliotransmitters.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31248248,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Progress in finite element analysis of meniscus].\nThe meniscus biomechanics is one of the hottest areas in medical research. Finite element analysis(FEA) provides a new method for biomechanical studies. Using the FEA, the stress force and strain distribution characteristics of the normal meniscus can be analysed by establishing the finite element model of the meniscus and utilizing finite element softwares. In addition, the finite simulation of the meniscus tears, meniscectomy, and knee tissue injury can assess the changes of meniscus biomechanical properties. These research results provide theoretical basis of biomechanics to prevent and treat knee joint injuries. However, the finite element analysis method has its limitations, future research will be aimed at establishing high quality finite element models, making the models offer more authentic simulations of the meniscus anatomy, and ensuring the FEA could be applied to research a variety of knee injuries.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15254446,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Schizophrenia risk and paternal age: a potential role for de novo mutations in schizophrenia vulnerability genes.\nHow schizophrenia (SZ) is maintained at roughly 1% of the population despite diminished reproduction is one puzzle currently facing researchers. De novo mutations were first proposed over half a century ago as a source for new SZ genes. Current evidence linking advancing paternal age to SZ risk makes revisiting this hypothesis important. Advancing paternal age is the major source of new mutations in the human population. This article will examine potential mechanisms whereby parental age may impact new mutations, as well as review recent data supporting such a hypothesis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22685563,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Pollutant-induced modulation in conformation and \u03b2-lactamase activity of human serum albumin.\nStructural changes in human serum albumin (HSA) induced by the pollutants 1-naphthol, 2-naphthol and 8-quinolinol were analyzed by circular dichroism, fluorescence spectroscopy and dynamic light scattering. The alteration in protein conformational stability was determined by helical content induction (from 55 to 75%) upon protein-pollutant interactions. Domain plasticity is responsible for the temperature-mediated unfolding of HSA. These findings were compared to HSA-hydrolase activity. We found that though HSA is a monomeric protein, it shows heterotropic allostericity for \u03b2-lactamase activity in the presence of pollutants, which act as K- and V-type non-essential activators. Pollutants cause conformational changes and catalytic modifications of the protein (increase in \u03b2-lactamase activity from 100 to 200%). HSA-pollutant interactions mediate other protein-ligand interactions, such as HSA-nitrocefin. Therefore, this protein can exist in different conformations with different catalytic properties depending on activator binding. This is the first report to demonstrate the catalytic allostericity of HSA through a mechanistic approach. We also show a correlation with non-microbial drug resistance as HSA is capable of self-hydrolysis of \u03b2-lactam drugs, which is further potentiated by pollutants due to conformational changes in HSA.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20352783,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Characterization of carbon nanofibre-reinforced polypropylene foams.\nIn this paper, carbon-nanofibre-reinforced polypropylene foams were prepared and characterized regarding their foaming behaviour, cellular structure and both thermo-mechanical as well as electrical properties. Polypropylene (PP) nanocomposites containing 5, 10 and 20 wt% of carbon nanofibres (CNF) and a chemical blowing agent were prepared by melt-mixing inside a twin-screw extruder and subsequently water-cooled and pelletized. The extruded nanocomposites were later foamed using a one-step compression-moulding process. The thermo-mechanical properties of the CNF-reinforced PP foams were studied, analyzing the influence of the carbon nanofibres on the cellular structure and subsequent thermo-mechanical behaviour of the foams. Carbon nanofibres not only seemed to act as nucleating agents, reducing the average cell size of the foams and increasing their cell density for similar expansion ratios, but also helped produce mechanically-improved foams, even reaching for the 20 wt% CNF-reinforced ones a specific modulus around 1.2 GPa x cm3\/g for densities as low as 300 kg\/m3. An increasingly higher electrical conductivity was assessed for both the solids as well as the foams with increasing the amount of carbon nanofibres.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28716987,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Control of Pathological Cardiac Hypertrophy by Transcriptional Corepressor IRF2BP2 (Interferon Regulatory Factor-2 Binding Protein 2).\nThe transcription factor NFAT1 (nuclear factor of activated T-cells 1), with the aid of transcriptional coactivators, has been recognized for its necessity and sufficiency to drive pathological cardiac hypertrophy. However, how the transcriptional activity of NFAT1 in terms of cardiac hypertrophy is controlled at the transcriptional level has not been well defined. Herein, we showed that a cardiac-enriched protein IRF2BP2 (interferon regulatory factor-2 binding protein 2) was further upregulated in both human and mouse hypertrophied myocardium and negatively regulated cardiomyocyte hypertrophic response in vitro. By generating cardiomyocyte-specific Irf2bp2 knockout and Irf2bp2-transgenic mouse strains, our in vivo experiments showed that, whereas IRF2BP2 loss-of-function exacerbated both aortic banding- and angiotensin II infusion-induced cardiac hypertrophic response, IRF2BP2 overexpression exerted a strong protective effect against these maladaptive processes. Particularly, IRF2BP2 directly interacted with the C-terminal transactivation domain of NFAT1 by competing with myocyte enhancer factor-2C and disturbing their transcriptional synergism, thereby impeding NFAT1-transactivated hypertrophic transcriptome. As a result, the devastating effect of Irf2bp2 deficiency on cardiac hypertrophy was largely rescued by NFAT1 blockage. Our study, thus, defined IRF2BP2 as a novel negative regulator in controlling pathological cardiac hypertrophy at the transcriptional level.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37857345,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Revised Centrality Measures Tell a Robust Story of Ion Conduction in Solids.\nThe three most commonly used centrality measures in network theory have been adapted to consider ion conduction time rather than the number of steps. Flow-IN centrality highlights sites with the largest flow of ions from the nearest neighbor sites. Return-flow centrality highlights sites with a fast rate of first returns for the conducting ion. Flow-through centrality highlights which sites support significant flow of conducting ions and appears more robust to removal of the most central vertices. Exploring these centrality measures with the sample system of proton conduction in yttrium doped barium zirconate shows flow-through centrality to provide a robust picture with high contrast between sites involved in the most probable long-range periodic conduction paths and kinetic Monte Carlo trajectories versus sites rarely visited. The flow-through centrality, including all paths further highlights that when the most central proton site is filled, the remaining highest flow-through centrality sites are nearby, corroborating earlier studies suggesting proton pair motion. Finally, while both return-flow and flow-through centrality measure images deteriorate with noise, image restoration is possible when a detailed balance is used to calculate the smaller rate constant in a forward\/backward pair.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6926654,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cancer as crisis: the critical elements of adjustment.\nThis study examined the course and duration of the crisis inherent in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer in women. Three groups of female patients, breast cancer, gynecological cancer, and breast biopsy patients, were compared on the variables of depression and body image. The women were assessed prior to surgery and at one- and two-month intervals in order to determine whether their crises had been resolved within the normal six-month framework. An additional follow-up was made after 20 months to evaluate any long-term effects of the diagnosis of cancer or its treatment. Results of the study revealed that only breast biopsy and mastectomy patients adapted appropriately and were able to resolve their crises. In examining the gynecological cancer patients, initial feelings of depression and body image continued to worsen even at 20 months following surgery. Implications for nursing practice are discussed, and suggestions for future research are presented.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6726124,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"In vitro synthesis of oxalic acid has no relevant influence on plasma oxalic acid levels in haemodialysis patients.\nPlasma oxalic acid concentrations were measured in 13 chronic haemodialysis patients. The mean plasma oxalic acid concentration was 128.0 +\/- 48.6 mumol\/l, being approximately 8 times higher than the plasma concentration of 14 volunteers (mean = 16.8 +\/- 5.2 mumol\/l). Ultrafiltrates obtained in vivo from these patients showed a mean oxalic acid concentration of 138.2 +\/- 56.5 mumol\/l. Since in vivo ultrafiltrates are free of erythrocytes and plasma enzymes, an in vitro synthesis of oxalic acid from precursors by erythrocytes and plasma enzymes can be excluded. As the oxalic acid concentration of plasma corresponded to that of in vivo ultrafiltrates, it is concluded that any in vitro formation of oxalic acid in haemodialysis patients must be negligibly small, and is irrelevant for the measurement of plasma oxalic acid levels in patients receiving regular haemodialysis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17821987,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"On the physical, spectral, and dosimetric characteristics of a new 125I brachytherapy source.\nA new 125I source under the name Braquibac has been developed in Argentina for interstitial brachytherapy applications. The aim of this work is to study the new seed's design and to calculate its dosimetric parameters. Radiographic and destructive tests were carried out on inactive seeds to determine the physical characteristics of the source. Values of g(r), Lambda, F(r, Theta), and phi(an)(r), were obtained in water and air by simulation using the MCNP5 Monte Carlo code according to the methodology recommended in TG-43 and updated in TG-43U1. The dose rate constant was determined to be 0.937+\/-0.004 cGy h(-1) U(-1) (overall statistical uncertainty +\/-2.7%). Sk per unity activity was calculated to be 0.671+\/-0.003 cGy cm2 h(-1) mCi(-1) by simulation of the seed in dry air using point detectors. Spectroscopic studies for both the new and the Amersham model 6711 seed were performed using an HPGe planar detector. The emission spectra of both seeds proved to be very similar. The anisotropy of the total photon intensity in air was measured in planes containing the seed's short and long axes using the HPGe detector. The minimum photon intensity for the new seed was 31.14+\/-3.10% of the transverse intensity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30093910,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Overview of the structure-based non-genomic effects of the nuclear receptor RXR\u03b1.\nThe nuclear receptor RXR\u03b1 (retinoid X receptor-\u03b1) is a transcription factor that regulates the expression of multiple genes. Its non-genomic function is largely related to its structure, polymeric forms and modification. Previous research revealed that some non-genomic activity of RXR\u03b1 occurs via formation of heterodimers with Nur77. RXR\u03b1-Nur77 heterodimers translocate from the nucleus to the mitochondria in response to certain apoptotic stimuli and this activity correlates with cell apoptosis. More recent studies revealed a significant role for truncated RXR\u03b1 (tRXR\u03b1), which interacts with the p85\u03b1 subunit of the PI3K\/AKT signaling pathway, leading to enhanced activation of AKT and promoting cell growth in vitro and in animals. We recently reported on a series of NSAID sulindac analogs that can bind to tRXR\u03b1 through a unique binding mechanism. We also identified one analog, K-80003, which can inhibit cancer cell growth by inducing tRXR\u03b1 to form a tetramer, thus disrupting p85\u03b1-tRXR\u03b1 interaction. This review analyzes the non-genomic effects of RXR\u03b1 in normal and tumor cells, and discusses the functional differences based on RXR\u03b1 protein structure (structure source: the RCSB Protein Data Bank).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20357489,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Immunoglobulin E sensitization to cross-reactive carbohydrate determinants: epidemiological study of clinical relevance and role of alcohol consumption.\nThe determinants and biologic significance of IgE-mediated sensitization to cross-reactive carbohydrate determinants (CCDs) are not entirely known. An association between alcohol consumption and CCD sensitization has been reported in studies from Spain and Portugal. To investigate the relationship of alcohol consumption with CCD sensitization, the role of alcohol dehydrogenase gene polymorphisms, and the clinical consequences of CCD sensitization. Serum-specific IgE sensitization (> or =0.1 kU\/l) to a CCD (the N-glycan from bromelain) was assessed in 1,197 adults participating in a population-based study in Copenhagen, Denmark. Alcohol consumption and atopic symptoms (rhinitis, asthma and oral allergy syndrome) were assessed by questionnaire. Examinations included skin prick tests (SPTs), qualitative multiallergen IgE test (Phadiatop), methacholine bronchial hyperreactivity, eosinophil cationic protein and alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) gene polymorphisms. Alcohol consumption was significantly associated with CCD sensitization and this was particularly evident in SPT-negative individuals. The fast-metabolizing allele of the ADH1b polymorphism was significantly associated with CCD sensitization in alcohol drinkers. CCD sensitization was associated with atopic symptoms, but associations attenuated markedly when adjusting for SPT reactivity. Our results suggest that the positive association between alcohol consumption and CCD sensitization is universal and not specific to certain populations. The observed association between the ADH1b polymorphism and CCD sensitization may support that alcohol is causally related to the risk of CCD sensitization. The observed association between CCD sensitization and atopic phenotypes did not appear to be independent of SPT reactivity indicating limited significance of CCD sensitization per se.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11636545,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Not Available].\nIn the paper a number of problems are discussed from the history of medicine--from ancient times up to the present days. The positive experience is pointed out of the centuries-long development of medicine and its enormous significance for the education and correct thinking of the doctor of today. History of medicine is considered as a living source of an exact ethics and doctrinary behaviour, as a powerful beacon enlightening the present and future of medical practice. The author supports the statement that the marxism-leninism philosophy is the only one securing correct medical thinking and action and the only one that might provide for eliminating the blind doctrinairism and various narrow-minded deviations from the research work and practice.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16216462,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-26":1}}},"text":"An investigation of DNA mismatch repair capacity under normal culture conditions and under conditions of supra-physiological challenge in human CD4+T cell clones from donors of different ages.\nT cells undergo rapid clonal expansion upon antigenic stimulation to produce an effective immune response. Any defect in the DNA mismatch repair (MMR) system may have a detrimental effect on T cell proliferation. This study employed an in vitro model of human CD4+T cell ageing to investigate MMR capacity at various stages of T cell lifespan. A novel modification of the alkaline comet assay, which utilised T4 endonuclease VII to detect single base DNA mismatches, was used to assess DNA mismatch frequency. No clear pattern in DNA mismatch frequency with increasing culture age was observed. However, the ability to repair induced DNA mismatches (following treatment with acridine mutagen ICR-191) revealed an age-related decline in the efficiency of the MMR system in clones derived from a 26 and a 45-year-old donor, but not from an 80-year-old very healthy SENIEUR donor. This study suggests that unchallenged, dividing human T cell clones have variable levels of DNA mismatches throughout their lifespan, not affecting proliferation. However, when challenged with supra-physiological levels of DNA mismatches, deficiencies were found in ageing T cell clones in MMR capacity, with the exception of T cell clones from a SENIEUR donor previously shown to maintain effective DNA excision repair.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35344625,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Dysfunctional coronavirus anxiety in nonpsychotic psychiatric outpatients during the COVID-19 pandemic: A network analysis.\nThe 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has had a profound impact on the mental health of people worldwide. This study examined dysfunctional coronavirus anxiety in nonpsychotic psychiatric outpatients during the pandemic using the coronavirus anxiety scale (CAS) and examined the relationship between coronavirus anxiety and clinical symptoms using network analysis. In this cross-sectional study, 192 patients who first visited the psychiatric outpatient clinic of Severance Hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic with chief complaints of depressed mood, anxiety, somatic symptoms, or insomnia were included. We compared the clinical characteristics of patients with and without dysfunctional coronavirus anxiety. Network analysis was conducted to estimate the network of coronavirus anxiety and depressive, anxious, and hypochondriacal psychopathology. The results showed that 7.8% of patients exhibited dysfunctional coronavirus anxiety (CAS \u2265 5). Patients with dysfunctional coronavirus anxiety showed higher levels of health worry, somatic preoccupation, and subjective anxiety compared to patients without dysfunctional coronavirus anxiety. In the network analysis, the health worry node (Item 6 of the WI) showed the greatest number of connections with coronavirus anxiety nodes. These findings suggest that health worry may be an important bridge symptom that connects coronavirus anxiety and other clinical psychopathology. Patients with elevated health worries should be carefully monitored during the COVID-19 pandemic for exacerbation of previous symptoms and COVID-19-related psychopathology. Understanding the psychological factors in the face of the pandemic and their relationships with clinical psychiatric symptoms would help people prevent and overcome mental health problems during the pandemic.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21755922,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Group 6 complexes with iron and zinc heterometals: understanding the structural, spectroscopic, and electrochemical properties of a complete series of M\u2261M\u00b7\u00b7\u00b7M' compounds.\nBinuclear quadruply bonded complexes Cr(2)(dpa)(4) (1, dpa = 2,2'-dipyridylamide), Mo(2)(dpa)(4) (2), and W(2)(dpa)(4) (3) react with anhydrous FeCl(2), yielding heterometallic compounds CrCrFe(dpa)(4)Cl(2) (4), MoMoFe(dpa)(4)Cl(2) (5), and WWFe(dpa)(4)Cl(2) (6). These molecules are structurally similar, having a linear M\u2261M\u00b7\u00b7\u00b7Fe chain that is axially capped by chloride ions and is equatorially supported by the helically twisted dpa ligands. A structurally related zinc analog, CrCrZn(dpa)(4)Cl(2) (7), can be prepared upon metalation of 1 with ZnCl(2). This reaction also persistently produces a 2:1 adduct of ZnCl(2) with 1, [Cr(2)(dpa)(4)](ZnCl(2))(2) (8), which is in equilibrium with 7 and has the two zinc ions bound externally to the Cr(2) core and axial bridging chloro ligands attached to each Cr ion. The sole isolable product of the addition of ZnCl(2) to 3 is a 1:1 adduct, [W(2)(dpa)(4)]ZnCl(2) (9). The structurally related chain complexes 4, 5, 6, and 7 are characterized by X-ray crystallography, UV-vis spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, and (57)Fe M\u00f6ssbauer spectroscopy for the iron complexes in order to gain insights into the nature of heterometallic interactions, electronic excited states, and redox properties of these compounds, which have implications for all other M\u2261M\u00b7\u00b7\u00b7M' molecules. Additionally, NMR spectroscopy has been used to gain insight into the mechanism of the metalation of 1 by Zn(II).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22811346,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Strategies for transitioning therapy to aripiprazole from other antipsychotics in schizophrenia.\nTo determine the optimal approach for transitioning therapy to aripiprazole from other antipsychotics in schizophrenia and to describe these strategies. MEDLINE (January 2000-March 2012) and PubMed (January 2000-March 2012) searches were conducted using the search terms aripiprazole, switch, and switching. Citations from references were reviewed to identify additional primary literature. Articles identified as primary literature were considered for inclusion. Case series, opinion papers, and review articles were also examined. Literature was required to be in English. For evaluation purposes, included articles were randomized trials specifically comparing different switching strategies from an alternative antipsychotic to aripiprazole. Randomized trials and single-arm studies that evaluated the effect of a change to aripiprazole and reported switching methods were also reviewed but not evaluated. Aripiprazole, an atypical antipsychotic agent with a unique mechanism of action, causes fewer adverse effects when compared with other atypical antipsychotics. Patients unable to tolerate or unresponsive to their current regimens might benefit from a change to aripiprazole, but the best method for switching is unknown. Four randomized trials were identified that compared the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of at least 2 different switching strategies. The 5 strategies used a combination of immediate or titrated initiation of aripiprazole with immediate or tapered discontinuation of the current antipsychotic. A significant worsening of symptoms in the abrupt discontinuation group when compared with the combined tapered discontinuation groups was seen in 1 trial at week 2; however, all other comparisons yielded no significant differences among switching strategies. Strategies for transitioning therapy to aripiprazole from alternative antipsychotics in schizophrenia have been investigated in randomized trials, but studies have failed to establish a preferred method. Despite the lack of evidence, experts recommend an overlap strategy that includes maintaining the current antipsychotic dosage while titrating to a therapeutic dose of aripiprazole.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7922388,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hemodynamic and oxygen transport monitoring to titrate therapy in septic shock.\nTraditionally, shock has been recognized or diagnosed by subjective signs and symptoms, particularly in septic shock, where transition from localized to systemic infection and then to septic shock may be gradual and subtle. Management has been directed toward normalizing these subjective symptoms as well as BP, heart rate, urine output, hematocrit, central venous pressure, and blood gases. The major problem is that restoration to normal values of these secondary aspects of shock do not correct the underlying tissue perfusion defect. The aim of this review is to describe a physiologic mechanistic model based on the concept that uneven vasoconstriction and maldistribution of flow are directly related to tissue hypoxia, oxygen debt, shock, shock-related organ failure, and death; second, to show that titration of therapy to optimal physiologic end-points using hemodynamic and oxygen transport monitoring is a potentially cost-effective therapeutic approach. This physiologic approach is based on the hypotheses that: a) the physiologic patterns of high-risk postoperative and septic survivors are significantly different from septic nonsurvivors; b) tissue perfusion can be evaluated by the sequential patterns of cardiac index, oxygen delivery (DO2), and oxygen consumption (VO2) measurements; c) the observed increased cardiac index and DO2 in the survivors are compensations that improve tissue oxygenation, which is reflected by the VO2 pattern; and d) the supranormal values that were documented in survivors provide objective physiologic criteria for therapeutic goals. The data suggest that a mechanistic analysis of the pathogenesis of shock may be elucidated by temporal patterns of the nonsurvivors' physiologic variables. That is, the predictive indices calculated for each variable quantitatively reflect the relationship of the early changes leading to death or survival. In essence, early changes in those variables statistically related to death may reflect pathogenic mechanisms, while early changes related to survival may be used as a first approximation to therapeutic goals. The application of this approach in prospective, randomized trials has demonstrated that prompt attainment of optimal goals (empirically defined from survivors' patterns) improved outcome in postoperative shock with and without sepsis, as well as in medical sepsis and accidental trauma. Specifically, when the optimal values of cardiac index, DO2, and VO2 used as therapeutic goals were attained in 8 to 12 hrs, there was marked and significant reduction in mortality and morbidity rates. This finding was also confirmed in 12 prospective, controlled trials, four of which were randomized. We conclude that driving septic shock patients into the survivors' patterns improves outcome, as has been shown in other shock syndromes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26436227,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Older Adults at Increased Risk as Pedestrians in Victoria, Australia: An Examination of Crash Characteristics and Injury Outcomes.\nEngaging in active transport modes (especially walking) is a healthy and environmentally friendly alternative to driving and may be particularly beneficial for older adults. However, older adults are a vulnerable group: they are at higher risk of injury compared with younger adults, mainly due to frailty and may be at increased risk of collision due to the effects of age on sensory, cognitive, and motor abilities. Moreover, our population is aging, and there is a trend for the current cohort of older adults to maintain mobility later in life compared with previous cohorts. Though these trends have serious implications for transport policy and safety, little is known about the contributing factors and injury outcomes of pedestrian collision. Further, previous research generally considers the older population as a homogeneous group and rarely considers the increased risks associated with continued ageing. Collision characteristics and injury outcomes for 2 subgroups of older pedestrians (65-74 years and 75+ years) were examined by extracting data from the state police-reported crash dataset and hospital admission\/emergency department presentation data over the 10-year period between 2003 and 2012. Variables identified for analysis included pedestrian characteristics (age, gender, activity, etc.), crash location and type, injury characteristics and severity, and duration of hospital stay. A spatial analysis of crash locations was also undertaken to identify collision clusters and the contribution of environmental features on collision and injury risk. Adults over 65 years were involved in 21% of all pedestrian collisions. A high fatality rate was found among older adults, particularly for those aged 75 years and older: this group had 3.2 deaths per 100,000 population, compared to a rate of 1.3 for 65- to 74-year-olds and 0.7 for adults below 65 years of age. Older pedestrian injuries were most likely to occur while crossing the carriageway; they were also more likely to be injured in parking lots, at driveway intersections, and on sidewalks compared to younger cohorts. Spatial analyses revealed older pedestrian crash clusters on arterial roads in urban shopping precincts. Significantly higher rates of hospital admissions were found for pedestrians over the age of 75 years and for abdominal, head, and neck injuries; conversely, older adults were underrepresented in emergency department presentations (mainly lower and upper extremity injuries), suggesting an increased severity associated with older pedestrian injuries. Average length of hospital stay also increased with increasing age. This analysis revealed age differences in collision risk and injury outcomes among older adults and that aggregate analysis of older pedestrians can distort the significance of risk factors associated with older pedestrian injuries. These findings have implications that extend to the development of engineering, behavioral, and enforcement countermeasures to address the problems faced by the oldest pedestrians and reduce collision risk and improve injury outcomes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26429606,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Plate Fixation of Proximal Fifth Metatarsal Fracture.\nIntramedullary screw fixation of fractures of the proximal fifth metatarsal bone may not be satisfactory in comminuted fractures or when the lateral metatarsal bowing has to be restored. We report our experience with plate fixation in these circumstances. Between June 1, 2009, and January 31, 2013, 13 patients who had comminuted fracture or nonunion of fracture of the proximal fifth metatarsal bone underwent plate fixation. Study patients were followed up for a mean of 500 days (range, 51-1238 days). Their medical records and radiographs were retrospectively reviewed for demographic and operative data and radiologic evidence of fracture healing. At their most recent follow-up, patients were evaluated for pain levels with a visual analog scale, for foot function with the Foot and Ankle Disability Index, and for quality of life with the 12-Item Short-Form Health Survey. Fracture union was evident in 12 patients after a mean of 56.8 days (range, 30-92 days). There was only one major complication of sural nerve neuroma and reflex sympathetic dystrophy. Four patients required reoperation for plate removal. Plate fixation of proximal fifth metatarsal comminuted fractures is associated with high union rates, relief of pain, and patient satisfaction. However, plate removal for various reasons was required in approximately one-third of the study patients. This high revision rate might be avoided by better selection of patients and meticulous intraoperative identification and preservation of the sural nerve. We recommend reserving plate fixation for proximal fifth metatarsal fractures for cases of laterally bowed fifth metatarsal or comminuted fractures.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17915515,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Insecticide resistance in potential vector mosquitoes for West Nile virus in Japan.\nCulex pipiens complex is the significant vector mosquito of West Nile virus. To take stock of the current situation of insecticide susceptibilities and design an ideal mosquito control strategy, we collected Culex pipiens pallens Coquillet, Culex pipiens form molestus Forskal, and Culex quinquefasciatus Say from fields in Japan and conducted bioassays for five larvicides (fenitrothion, temephos, etofenprox, diflubenzuron, and pyriproxyfen) by using a larval dipping method. Among five insecticides tested, obvious reduced susceptibilities were observed for etofenprox, which is the only pyrethroid compound registered as a larvicide in Japan. Twenty-two of 56 colonies exhibited a >10% survival rate at the etofenprox concentration of 5.7 microg\/ml, which is a 10 times higher concentration of the working solution. The LC50 of a colony collected from Fukuoka prefecture for etofenprox exceeded 60 microg\/ml (resistance ratio >2,307), and this colony also exhibited cross-resistance to other pyrethroids, permethrin (299-fold) and phenothrin (1,200-fold). The insect growth regulators diflubenzuron and pyriproxyfen were found to be sufficiently effective enough to control Culex larvae present, but decreased sensitivities to these insecticides were slightly detected in some colonies of Cx. p. form molestus collected from urban areas. Several etofenprox-resistant colonies of Cx. p. form molestus exhibited simultaneously decreased susceptibilities to other insecticides, including temephos, diflubenzuron, and pyriproxyfen.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28568878,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2013-20":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"POSTGLACIAL RANGE FLUCTUATION, GENETIC SUBDIVISION AND SPECIATION IN THE WESTERN NORTH AMERICAN SPOTTED FROG COMPLEX, RANA PRETIOSA.\nThe western North American complex of spotted frogs (Rana pretiosa) exhibits isolation-by-distance, genetic subdivision, and speciation in association with its extensive northward range shift in postglacial times. The southern relict populations of R. pretiosa species B existing at high altitudes or in desert springs have been subjected to restricted gene flow, high inbreeding, and bottlenecks to produce significant between-population genetic diversity. The more recently established northern populations, however, show genetic uniformity and isolation-by-distance, as estimated using Slatkin's (1993) statistic M\u0302. Middle latitude populations have higher heterozygosities than populations at either extreme. Fixed differences in allozyme variation separate 21 populations of species B from five populations of R. pretiosa species A found in southwest Washington State and the Cascades Mountains of Oregon. Morphological variation of 20 metric characters among 38 samples, examined using multiple discriminant function analysis, could partially resolve partitioning among populations but specimens from the vicinity of the type series of R. p. pretiosa could not be assigned to either species A or species B. Speciation in these frogs may not be correlated with morphological evolution since comparatively neutral allozyme changes may be established more rapidly than changes in morphology.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9556759,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hepatocyte culture utilizing porous polyvinyl formal resin maintains long-term stable albumin secretion activity.\nTo investigate the effects of culture conditions on the maintenance of metabolic functions of cultured hepatocytes, long-term hepatocyte culture lasting 20 days was performed under two different culture conditions, i.e. stationary cultures utilizing porous polymer (polyvinyl formal (PVF) resin) as a substratum and conventional monolayer dish cultures without PVF. Metabolic activities specific to hepatocytes were evaluated in terms of ammonia metabolism, urea synthesis, and albumin secretion. Concerning ammonia metabolic and urea synthetic activities, no significant differences in maintenance of these activities were found between the two culture conditions, and these activities rapidly decreased with the elapse of the culture period, especially during the early stage of the experiments. However, after day 10, these activities in the stationary cultures were maintained at a slightly more favorable level than in the monolayer cultures. On the other hand, compared with ammonia metabolism and urea synthesis, stable and well-maintained albumin secretion of hepatocytes (60% of the activity in day 1) was exhibited in the stationary culture experiments, despite that this particular activity under the monolayer culture condition gradually reduced to a very low level (5.7% of that on day 1) at the end of the culture. From the morphological observations, hepatocytes immobilized in the PVF resin revealed individual spherical shapes without forming multicellular aggregation, and it was suggested that this characteristic structure contributed to good albumin secretion of hepatocytes. In conclusion, the advantages of the hepatocyte culture technique utilizing PVF resin over the conventional dish culture in maintaining some representative metabolic function specific to hepatocytes were clarified.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14557609,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A pharmacological analysis of an associative learning task: 5-HT(1) to 5-HT(7) receptor subtypes function on a pavlovian\/instrumental autoshaped memory.\nRecent studies using both invertebrates and mammals have revealed that endogenous serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine [5-HT]) modulates plasticity processes, including learning and memory. However, little is currently known about the mechanisms, loci, or time window of the actions of 5-HT. The aim of this review is to discuss some recent results on the effects of systemic administration of selective agonists and antagonists of 5-HT on associative learning in a Pavlovian\/instrumental autoshaping (P\/I-A) task in rats. The results indicate that pharmacological manipulation of 5-HT1-7 receptors or 5-HT reuptake sites might modulate memory consolidation, which is consistent with the emerging notion that 5-HT plays a key role in memory formation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20379300,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Can preoperative anterior chamber angle width predict magnitude of intraocular pressure change after cataract surgery?\nTo determine whether preoperative anterior chamber angle width, captured by anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT), can be a predictor of intraocular pressure (IOP) change following cataract surgery. Prospective comparative observational study. Fifty-three eyes of 53 patients awaiting cataract surgery were included. Measurement of anterior chamber angle width and IOP using AS-OCT and Goldmann's applanation tonometry, respectively, were performed before and 6 months after phacoemulsification and intraocular lens implantation. Preoperative and postoperative measurements were compared using paired t test. The prediction rule defined success as > or =20% IOP reduction from the baseline preoperative IOP measurement. Multivariate regression analysis was performed to assess the association of postoperative IOP with independent variables, including age, sex, systemic hypertension, diabetes mellitus, glaucoma, and preoperative anterior chamber angle width. Data were collected from 32 females and 21 males with visually significant cataract. Mean age was 73.3 (SD 8.2) years. Mean IOP dropped from 15.1 (SD 3.1) mm Hg to 12.8 (SD 2.5) mm Hg (p < 0.0001) after cataract extraction. Mean anterior chamber angle width increased from 24.7 degrees (SD 7.1 degrees ) to 38.1 degrees (SD 6.0 degrees ) after surgery (p < 0.001). Multivariate regression analysis did not identify preoperative variables to be significantly associated with > or =20% postoperative IOP reduction. Cataract surgery results in significant and sustained mean reductions in IOP and concurrent increases in anterior chamber angle width for a period of at least 6 months after surgery. However, measurements of the preoperative anterior chamber angle width did not predict the IOP-lowering effect of cataract surgery.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15807966,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Potential ototoxicity from triamcinolone, neomycin, gramicidin and nystatin (Tri-Adcortyl) cream.\nAlthough rare, ototoxicity from the use of aminoglycoside drops is well recognized. Ototoxicity has not been described with the use of combination aminoglycoside-steroid-antifungal creams or ointments. We present the case of a 60-year-old man with a perforated tympanic membrane who suffered a total hearing loss after the instillation of cream containing triamcinolone, neomycin, gramicidin and nystatin (Tri-Adcortyl cream) into his ear canal. On balance, we believe that a number of potentially ototoxic constituents in this cream were responsible. Other possible causes of sensorineural hearing loss and the possible mechanisms of ototoxicity of this cream are discussed. The reasons why such creams may be particularly ototoxic, compared with drops, are also considered. The authors caution against the use of such creams or ointments in the ear if there is any suspicion of a tympanic membrane perforation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26486213,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1}}},"text":"An Inclusive Re-Engagement with our Nonhuman Animal Kin: Considering Human Interrelationships with Nonhuman Animals.\nAs humans increasingly acknowledge the effects that they are having on the planet, there is a realisation implicit in these effects that human interrelationships with nature are actually arbitrated and expedited exploitatively. Understanding how the different discourses and histories through which the interrelationships with nature are mediated and actually told and then retold is fundamental to appreciating how humans may relate with nature less exploitatively and in ways that are more inclusionary, particularly with nonhuman animals. Humans perceive nature and individual nonhuman animals in various ways. This paper provides an investigation of how humans have socially constructed nature and their place as either within or outside of it. Such constructions are elaborated conceptually and through narrative. More pertinently, this paper examines how nature and nonhuman animals are perceived and placed within those narratives that humans construct from reality. It is stressed here that such constructions have, and may continue, to lead to a worsening of the effects that humans have on the planet if there is no acceptance or recognition that certain realities exist beyond the exploitative bounds of any human-inspired concept or narrative. This paper therefore provides the groundwork for the foundations of an ethic that is both socially and ecologically inclusive and is based on a soft realist approach.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30654388,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dual Infection with Hepatitis B Virus and Hepatitis C Virus Correlated with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.\nConflicting data exist regarding the relationship between dual infection of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). We assessed dual infection of HBV and HCV with the levels of blood glucose and development of DM. A total of 9621 participants in a community-based study were enrolled from 18 towns in Maoli county of Taiwan. Blood samples were collected and tested for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and antibodies (HBsAb), antibodies against hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV) and fasting plasma glucose. DM was defined as fasting plasma glucose\u2265126 mg per 100 ml. Only 0.7% of total participants had HBV\/HCV coinfection. The prevalence of HBV and HCV monoinfection were 9.9 and 5.7%, respectively. Adjusted blood glucose levels and development risk of T2DM (odds ratio [OR], 2.55; p<0.001) were significantly high among HBV\/HCV coinfection group using multivariate linear regression adjusted for age, gender, education, race and BMI. Furthermore, using multivariate logistic regression models adjusted for covariates, HCV mono-and HBV\/ HCV coinfection significantly increased on blood glucose levels. Our study shows HBV\/HCV coinfection was significantly correlated with blood glucose levels. A significant proportion (28%) of participants with HBV\/HCV coinfection developed T2DM. Although the precise mechanisms of dual positive infection of HBV and HCV are unclear, there is increasing evidence that dual infection of HCV and HBV is strongly associated with the development of T2DM.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25500760,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Households with a stunted child and obese mother: trends and child feeding practices in a middle-income country, 1992-2008.\nMiddle-income countries in the intermediate stages of the nutrition transition are facing a complex picture of nutrition-related diseases with child stunting and maternal obesity coexisting within single households (SCOB). A debate exists as to whether SCOB is a true phenomenon or a statistical artefact. In this study, we examine time trends and determinants of SCOB in Egypt and test the hypothesis that increased child sugary snack consumption, and reduced fruit\/vegetable consumption (markers of poor dietary diversity) are associated with SCOB. Data on 25,065 mothers and their children from the Egyptian Demographic and Health Surveys from 1992, 1995, 2005 and 2008 are used to examine trends in child stunting, maternal obesity and child-mother household type [normal\/non-obese, stunted\/non-obese, normal\/obese, stunted\/obese (SCOB)]. The association of child sugary snack and fruit\/vegetable consumption with household type is also examined using multinomial logistic regression adjusting for maternal age, maternal education, child age, breastfeeding, household wealth and urban\/rural residence. The prevalence of SCOB increased between the periods 1992\/95 and 2005\/08 despite reductions in stunting levels. This increase paralleled a rise in maternal obesity. Child sugary snack consumption was associated with higher odds (51 %) of belonging to a SCOB household compared with normal\/non-obese households, while fruit\/vegetable consumption was associated with lower odds (24 %). The results suggest the existence of a link between the rise in maternal obesity and an increase in SCOB, and an association between child sugary snack consumption and SCOB. Addressing SCOB may require a household-rather than individual-based approach to nutrition.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26439867,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Adolescent vulnerability and the distress of rejection: Associations of adjustment problems and gender with control, emotions, and coping.\nWe examined adjustment problems as risks for patterns of emotions, appraisals, and coping with rejection, and explored whether these processes could account for sex (boy\/girl) differences in coping. Young adolescents (N = 669, grades 6-8) completed questionnaires, which assessed responses to peer rejection threat with two short scenarios. Using structural equation modeling to test a multivariate process model, adolescents with heightened social anxiety had the most maladaptive responses to rejection threat, including elevated emotional reactions, more self-blame, and coping using more social isolation, rumination and opposition. Adolescents reporting more depressive symptoms felt less control and anticipated using less adaptive coping (less support seeking, distraction, and negotiation), whereas aggressive adolescents responded with more anger and coped via opposition. Moreover, as anticipated, sex differences in coping, symptoms, emotions, and appraisals were found. However, coping differences between boys and girls were mostly nonsignificant after accounting for symptoms, aggression, emotional reactions, and appraisals.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25414538,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"EFFICIENT ALGORITHMS FOR THE OPTIMAL-RATIO REGION DETECTION PROBLEMS IN DISCRETE GEOMETRY WITH APPLICATIONS.\nIn this paper, we study several interesting optimal-ratio region detection (ORD) problems in d-D (d \u2265 3) discrete geometric spaces, which arise in high dimensional medical image segmentation. Given a d-D voxel grid of n cells, two classes of geometric regions that are enclosed by a single or two coupled smooth heighfield surfaces defined on the entire grid domain are considered. The objective functions are normalized by a function of the desired regions, which avoids a bias to produce an overly large or small region resulting from data noise. The normalization functions that we employ are used in real medical image segmentation. To our best knowledge, no previous results on these problems in high dimensions are known. We develop a unified algorithmic framework based on a careful characterization of the intrinsic geometric structures and a nontrivial graph transformation scheme, yielding efficient polynomial time algorithms for solving these ORD problems. Our main ideas include the following. We observe that the optimal solution to the ORD problems can be obtained via the construction of a convex hull for a set of O(n) unknown 2-D points using the hand probing technique. The probing oracles are implemented by computing a minimum s-t cut in a weighted directed graph. The ORD problems are then solved by O(n) calls to the minimum s-t cut algorithm. For the class of regions bounded by a single heighfield surface, our further investigation shows that the O(n) calls to the minimum s-t cut algorithm are on a monotone parametric flow network, which enables to detect the optimal-ratio region in the complexity of computing a single maximum flow.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14558093,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Accelerated, aging-dependent development of osteoarthritis in alpha1 integrin-deficient mice.\nCell-matrix interactions regulate chondrocyte differentiation and survival. The alpha1beta1 integrin is a major collagen receptor that is expressed on chondrocytes. Mice with targeted inactivation of the integrin alpha1 gene (alpha1-KO mice) provide a model that can be used to address the role of cell-matrix interactions in cartilage homeostasis and osteoarthritis (OA) pathogenesis. Knee joints from alpha1-KO and wild-type (WT) BALB\/c mice were harvested at ages 4-15 months. Knee joint sections were examined for inflammation, cartilage degradation, and loss of glycosaminoglycans (by Safranin O staining). Immunohistochemistry was performed to detect the distribution of alpha1 integrin, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), and chondrocyte apoptosis. In WT mice, the alpha1 integrin subunit was detected in hypertrophic chondrocytes in the growth plate and in a subpopulation of cells in the deep zone of articular cartilage. There was a marked increase in alpha1-positive chondrocytes in the superficial and upper mid-zones in OA-affected areas in joints from old WT mice. The alpha1-KO mice showed more severe cartilage degradation, glycosaminoglycan depletion, and synovial hyperplasia as compared with the WT mice. MMP-2 and MMP-3 expression was increased in the OA-affected areas. In cartilage from alpha1-KO mice, the cellularity was reduced and the frequency of apoptotic cells was increased. These results suggest that the alpha1 integrin subunit is involved in the early remodeling process in OA cartilage. Deficiency in the alpha1 integrin subunit is associated with an earlier deregulation of cartilage homeostasis and an accelerated, aging-dependent development of OA.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30672329,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Genetic diversity and evolutionary features of type VI secretion systems in Salmonella.\nType VI secretion systems (T6SS) play key roles in bacterial pathogenesis, but their evolutionary features remain largely unclear. In this study, we conducted systematic comparisons among the documented T6SSs in Salmonella and determined their structural diversity, phylogenetic distribution and lineage-specific properties. We screened 295 Salmonella genomes for 13 T6SS core components by hidden Markov models and identified 363 T6SS clusters covering types i1, i2, i3 and i4a. Type i3 and i4a T6SSs were restricted to Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica and Salmonella bongori, respectively. whereas type i2 T6SSs were conserved between S. enterica subspecies, arizonae and diarizonae. S. enterica subspecies salamae, indica and houtenae harbored only type i1 T6SSs, which had wide distribution and high sequence diversity. The diverse Salmonella T6SSs have undergone purifying selection pressures during the bacterial evolution and may be involved in host adaptation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9566081,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Physiologic and perceptual responses to hypercarbia during warm- and cold-water immersion.\nThermoregulatory, respiratory, and perceptual responses to acute CO2 exposure during light exercise (75 W) were assessed in 12 U.S. Navy divers clad only in swim trunks while immersed to the neck in water at 18 degrees and 34 degrees C. The CO2 exposures consisted of a linear 10-min ramp increase in the inspired fraction of CO2 (FICO2) from 0 to 6% followed by 5 min of breathing 6% CO2. The ability to detect and rate the severity of hypercarbia, as well as subjective changes in thermal comfort, were assessed by comparing subjective ratings given during the CO2 exposures with those given during immersion trials where the FICO2 was maintained at 0%. Hypercarbia was recognized earlier and, at a given PETCO2, was perceived to be greater during cold- than during warm-water immersions (P < 0.01). The CO2 exposures did not affect the thermal balance of divers as assessed by changes in heat flux and rectal temperature. However, increased feelings of warmth were reported during both the cold and warm immersions when breathing raised concentrations of CO2 (P < 0.01). During the cold immersions, acute exposure to 6% CO2 significantly decreased forearm blood flow (P < 0.05), but did not affect finger blood flow. It is concluded that PETCO2 levels can reach unacceptably high concentrations (> 60 mmHg) before hypercarbia can be reliably detected by working divers. Furthermore, the ability to detect hypercarbia is poorer when immersed in warm water than when in cold water.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1699069,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Cytologic diagnosis of background and precancerous conditions based on specimens from the uterine cervix].\nThe authors emphasize the value of cytologic diagnosis in the detection and treatment of various conditions that may be regarded as direct or indirect precursors of carcinoma of the cervix uteri. Conditions for obtaining and treatment of the material for high-quality cytologic analysis are described. Potentialities and clinical value of the cytologic diagnosis are discussed, as are specific features of the cytograms in squamous-cell metaplasia, endocervicitis, leukoplakia, virus-induced changes in the epithelium, and dysplasia of various severity. The authors point to the important role of cytologic diagnosis in examinations of women with apparent gynecologic diseases and without manifest clinical or visual changes in the cervix uteri.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12041704,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hepatic involvement of visceral larva migrans due to Toxocara canis: a case report--CT and MR findings.\nImaging findings of hepatic lesions of visceral larva migrans are reported. A 44-year-old man presented with chills, eruptions, marked leukocytosis (31,400\/microlitter), and eosinophilia (eosinophil, 72%). Multiple liver nodules were detected as low-density lesions on computed tomography (CT). They were visualized as high signal intensity lesions on T2-weighted, and as low signal intensity lesions on T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The patient was diagnosed as having visceral larva migrans due to Toxocara canis, by Toxocara immnoserological test. After antihelmintic therapy, multiple liver nodules disappeared on CT. We consider that the differential diagnosis of multiple liver nodules should include visceral larva migrans.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16221240,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Monthly access flow monitoring with increased prophylactic angioplasty did not improve fistula patency.\nRegular access monitoring is recommended to detect and treat access stenosis in order to prevent access thrombosis and failure. In 1999, we instituted monthly access blood flow monitoring using the ultrasound dilution technique (UDT). In a sequential observational trial, 222 patients were studied for the impact of UDT monitoring on patency of their first arteriovenous autogenous fistula. Group 1, the historic group (before 1999), had 146 arteriovenous fistulas (50.7% upper arm), followed for 259 access-years. Group 2, the UDT-monitored group, had 76 arteriovenous fistulas (60.5% upper arm), followed for 123 access-years. Decision to refer for angiography was based on clinical criteria for group 1, and clinical criteria plus results of UDT flow monitoring in group 2. Cumulative patency was longer (P < 0.01) and the thrombosis rate was lower (P < 0.05) in group 2. However, the improvement occurred prior to initiation of UDT flow monitoring. Comparing outcomes in group 2 patients whose fistula survived to start flow monitoring with group 1 patients whose fistula survived at least 160 days (the median time to starting UDT monitoring in group 2), there was a sevenfold increase in angioplasty procedures (0.67 vs. 0.09 per access-year) but no improvement in the thrombosis rate or cumulative fistula patency. UDT monitoring increased the rate of angioplasty procedures and thereby shortened primary unassisted patency, but did not decrease the thrombosis rate or improve cumulative fistula patency.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7945475,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Methotrexate in rheumatoid arthritis. A five-year prospective multicenter study.\nTo evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of oral methotrexate (MTX) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in a long-term prospective trial. One hundred twenty-three patients with RA who completed a 9-month multicenter randomized trial comparing MTX and auranofin enrolled in this 5-year prospective study of MTX. Significant (P = 0.0001) improvement compared with baseline was noted in all clinical disease variables, functional status, and the Westergren erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR). \"Marked improvement\" occurred in 87 (71%) and 85 (69%) of the patients, respectively, in the joint pain\/tenderness index and the joint swelling index at the last evaluable visit. Forty-four patients (36%) withdrew during the study. Eight (7%) withdrew due to lack of efficacy, and 8 (7%) due to adverse experiences, including 1 patient with cirrhosis. At 5 years, 64% of patients were still taking MTX and completed the study. This large prospective study of long-term MTX treatment demonstrates sustained clinical response and improvement in the Westergren ESR and functional assessment scores, with an acceptable toxicity profile.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28567708,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Clinical value of fluorine-18\u03b1-methyltyrosine PET in patients with gliomas: comparison with fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose PET.\nWe investigated the relationship between metabolic activity and histological features of gliomas using fluorine-18\u03b1-methyltyrosine (18F-FAMT) positron emission tomography (PET) compared with fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) PET in 38 consecutive glioma patients. The tumor to normal brain ratios (T\/N ratios) were calculated, and the relationships between T\/N ratio and World Health Organization tumor grade or MIB-1 labeling index were evaluated. The diagnostic values of T\/N ratios were assessed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses to differentiate between high-grade gliomas (HGGs) and low-grade gliomas (LGGs). Median T\/N ratio of 18F-FAMT PET was 2.85, 4.65, and 4.09 for grade II, III, and IV gliomas, respectively, with significant differences between HGGs and LGGs (p = 0.006). Both T\/N ratio (p = 0.016) and maximum standardized uptake value (p = 0.033) of 18F-FDG PET showed significant differences between HGGs and LGGs. ROC analysis yielded an optimal cut-off of 3.37 for the T\/N ratio of 18F-FAMT PET to differentiate between HGGs and LGGs (sensitivity 81%, specificity 67%, accuracy 76%, area under the ROC curve 0.776). Positive predictive value was 84%, and negative predictive value was 62%. T\/N ratio of 18F-FAMT PET was not correlated with MIB-1 labeling index in all gliomas, whereas T\/N ratio of 18F-FDG PET was positively correlated (r s = 0.400, p = 0.013). Significant positive correlation was observed between T\/N ratios of 18F-FDG and 18F-FAMT (r s = 0.454, p = 0.004), but median T\/N ratio of 18F-FAMT PET was significantly higher than that of 18F-FDG PET in all grades of glioma. The T\/N ratio of 18F-FAMT uptake has high positive predictive value for detection of HGGs. 18F-FAMT PET had higher T\/N ratio, with better tumor-normal brain contrast, compared to 18F-FDG PET in both LGGs and HGGs. Therefore, 18F-FAMT is a useful radiotracer for the preoperative visualization of gliomas.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16235550,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[The in vitro model of inhalation anesthesia using rodent ventilator].\nTo set up a method of applying inhalation anesthesia in rodent using rodent ventilator and to study the dynamic procedure of the in vitro model. The output port of the anesthesia machine was connected to the input port of the rodent ventilator, which was connected to a syringe simulating the lung. After supply of anesthetic gas, the gas samples from the input port of the ventilator and the syringe in the end-expiratory phase were collected at 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 90, 120, 180, 300, 600 and 900 seconds respectively and were determined using the gas chromatography(GC). The ratios of the anesthetic concentrations of the syringe to that of the input port were calculated (CE\/CI). In elimination phase, the gas samples from the syringe were collected at 0,10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 90, 120, 180, 300, 600 and 900 seconds respectively and were determined by GC. The ratios of the anesthetic concentrations of the gas at 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 90, 120, 180, 300, 600 and 900 seconds to that at 0 second were calculated(C'E\/C0). CE\/CI increased in the inhalation phase, there was an inverse relationship between CE\/CI and time, the correlation coefficients were 0.90, 0.95 and 0.93 respectively (P < 0.01). The mathematical fitting equations were y = -0.19 + 0.19x(-1), y = -7.75 + 0.99x(-1), and y = -7.21 + 0.97x(-1) respectively. C'E\/C0 decreased in the elimination phase,the correlation coefficients were 0.90, 0.94 and 0.95 respectively (P < 0.01). The mathematic fitting eqations were y = 5.65-0.02x(-1), y = 7.82-0.01x(-1),and y = 8.20-0.01x(-1), respectively. The in vitro model of rodent inhalation anesthesia using the rodent ventilator was set up. The establishment of this model has provided a basis for studies on inhalation anesthesia in rodents.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22667805,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Do PCL-R scores from state or defense experts best predict future misconduct among civilly committed sex offenders?\nIn a recent study of sex offender civil commitment proceedings, Murrie et al. (Psychol Public Policy Law 15:19-53, 2009) found that state-retained experts consistently assigned higher PCL-R total scores than defense-retained experts for the same offenders (Cohen's d > .83). This finding raises an important question about the validity of these discrepant scores: Which type of score, state or defense evaluator, provides the most useful information about risk? We examined the ability of PCL-R total scores from state and defense evaluators to predict future misconduct among civilly committed sex offenders (N = 38). For comparison, we also examined predictive validity when two state experts evaluated the same offender (N = 32). Agreement between evaluators was low for cases with opposing experts (ICCA,1 = .43 to .52) and for cases with two state experts (ICCA,1 = .40). Nevertheless, scores from state and defense experts demonstrated similar levels of predictive validity (AUC values in the .70 range), although scores from different types of state evaluators (corrections-contracted vs. prosecution-retained) did not. The finding of mean differences between opposing evaluator scores, but similar levels of predictive validity, suggests that scores from opposing experts in SVP cases may need to be interpreted differently depending on who assigned them. Findings have important implications for understanding how rater disagreement may relate to predictive validity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28696585,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The presence and severity of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis is associated with specific changes in circulating bile acids.\nThe histologic spectrum of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) includes fatty liver (NAFL) and steatohepatitis (NASH), which can progress to cirrhosis in up to 20% of NASH patients. Bile acids (BA) are linked to the pathogenesis and therapy of NASH. We (1) characterized the plasma BA profile in biopsy-proven NAFL and NASH and compared to controls and (2) related the plasma BA profile to liver histologic features, disease activity, and fibrosis. Liquid chromatography\/mass spectrometry quantified BAs. Descriptive statistics, paired and multiple group comparisons, and regression analyses were performed. Of 86 patients (24 controls, 25 NAFL, and 37 NASH; mean age 51.8 years and body mass index 31.9 kg\/m2 ), 66% were women. Increased total primary BAs and decreased secondary BAs (both P < 0.05) characterized NASH. Total conjugated primary BAs were significantly higher in NASH versus NAFL (P = 0.047) and versus controls (P < 0.0001). NASH had higher conjugated to unconjugated chenodeoxycholate (P = 0.04), cholate (P = 0.0004), and total primary BAs (P < 0.0001). The total cholate to chenodeoxycholate ratio was significantly higher in NAFLD without (P = 0.005) and with (P = 0.02) diabetes. Increased key BAs were associated with higher grades of steatosis (taurocholate), lobular (glycocholate) and portal inflammation (taurolithocholate), and hepatocyte ballooning (taurocholate). Conjugated cholate and taurocholate directly and secondary to primary BA ratio inversely correlated to NAFLD activity score. A higher ratio of total secondary to primary BA decreased (odds ratio, 0.57; P = 0.004) and higher conjugated cholate increased the likelihood of significant fibrosis (F\u22652) (P = 0.007). Conclusion: NAFLD is associated with significantly altered circulating BA composition, likely unaffected by type 2 diabetes, and correlated with histological features of NASH; these observations provide the foundation for future hypothesis-driven studies of specific effects of BAs on specific aspects of NASH. (Hepatology 2018;67:534-548).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11980468,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Difficult asthma.\nChildren with asthma who are not well controlled in spite of optimum therapy outlined in Asthma Management Guidelines are said to have 'difficult-to manage asthma' or 'difficult asthma'. Several phenotypes of this subset of asthma have been described. However, before any child is labeled as difficult asthma a thorough search for an alternative diagnosis should be made. Thus, one should look for recurrent aspiration pneumonia, tuberculosis, foreign body aspiration, tracheomalacia, bronchomalacia, cystic fibrosis etc. Causes of treatment failure range from unidentified exacerbating factors, noncompliance, inappropriate inhalers and spacers and true steroid dependence or resistance. Economics of the treatment and social beliefs should also be taken into consideration at the time of finalizing the management plan. Management involves recognizing and correcting the above factors. However, steroids form the main pillar of treatment. Majority of the patients can be controlled by optimizing inhaled steroid therapy and possibly adding steroid sparing agents. Thus, long acting bata-2 agonists, long acting theophyllines and leukotriene inhibiters may be useful. A few children will require continuous oral steroid therapy and an occasional one may be actually steroid steroid resistant. Such children are best managed at asthma specialist centers where experimental drugs like, methotrexate cyclosporin or IVIG may be tried on an individual basis under close monitoring.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29556260,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Curative effect of minimally invasive surgery on palmar and foot hyperhidrosis and its influence on serum-related cytokines and immunoglobulins.\nThe curative effect of minimally invasive surgery on palmar and foot hyperhidrosis and its influence on serum-related cytokines and immunoglobulins were investigated. Seventy-six patients with palmar and foot hyperhidrosis admitted to Yunnan University Hospital from August 2014 to July 2016 were selected and randomly divided into control group (n=38) and observation group (n=38) using a random number table. Patients in control group received drug therapy, while those in observation group underwent laparoscopic thoracic-4 sympathetic chain combined with thoracic-3 branch amputation. The therapeutic effects of patients in the two groups were compared. The levels of serum C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-10 and tumor necrosis factor-\u03b1 (TNF-\u03b1) of patients in the two groups were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) before treatment and at one week after treatment. The levels of immunoglobulin G (IgG), IgA and IgM were detected by immunoturbidimetry. The quality of life (QOL) in patients was evaluated by quality-of-life index (iQOL) before and after treatment. The total effective rate in the observation group was significantly higher than that in the control group (P<0.05). The serum levels of CRP, IL-6, IL-10 and TNF-\u03b1 of patients in the two groups were higher at one week after treatment than those before treatment (P<0.05), and there were no significant differences between the two groups (P>0.05). At one week after treatment, IgG, IgM and IgA levels of patients in the two groups were remarkably increased (P<0.05), and there were no significant differences between the two groups (P>0.05). After treatment, the iQQL scores of patients in the two groups were significantly decreased, and iQQL score in observation group was decreased more significantly compared with that in control group (P<0.05). Compared with drug therapy, minimally invasive surgery is more effective in the treatment of palmar and foot hyperhidrosis with smaller trauma and inflammatory reaction, and it has less influence on serum immunoglobulin levels, which is conducive to the rehabilitation of patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15244691,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Random matrix ensembles from nonextensive entropy.\nThe classical Gaussian ensembles of random matrices can be constructed by maximizing Boltzmann-Gibbs-Shannon's entropy, S(BGS) = -integral dH[P(H)]ln[P(H)], with suitable constraints. Here, we construct and analyze random-matrix ensembles arising from the generalized entropy S(q) = [1- integral dH [P(H)](q)] \/(q-1) (thus, S1 = S(BGS) ). The resulting ensembles are characterized by a parameter q measuring the degree of nonextensivity of the entropic form. Making q-->1 recovers the Gaussian ensembles. If q not equal 1, the joint probability distributions P(H) cannot be factorized, i.e., the matrix elements of H are correlated. In the limit of large matrices two different regimes are observed. When q<1, P(H) has compact support, and the fluctuations tend asymptotically to those of the Gaussian ensembles. Anomalies appear for q>1 : Both P(H) and the marginal distributions P( H(ij) ) show power-law tails. Numerical analyses reveal that the nearest-neighbor spacing distribution is also long-tailed (not Wigner-Dyson) and, after proper scaling, very close to the result for the 2 x 2 case--a generalization of Wigner's surmise. We discuss connections of these \"nonextensive\" ensembles with other non-Gaussian ones, such as the so-called L\u00e9vy ensembles and those arising from soft confinement.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28531153,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pseudorange Measurement Method Based on AIS Signals.\nIn order to use the existing automatic identification system (AIS) to provide additional navigation and positioning services, a complete pseudorange measurements solution is presented in this paper. Through the mathematical analysis of the AIS signal, the bit-0-phases in the digital sequences were determined as the timestamps. Monte Carlo simulation was carried out to compare the accuracy of the zero-crossing and differential peak, which are two timestamp detection methods in the additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel. Considering the low-speed and low-dynamic motion characteristics of ships, an optimal estimation method based on the minimum mean square error is proposed to improve detection accuracy. Furthermore, the \u03b1 difference filter algorithm was used to achieve the fusion of the optimal estimation results of the two detection methods. The results show that the algorithm can greatly improve the accuracy of pseudorange estimation under low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) conditions. In order to verify the effectiveness of the scheme, prototypes containing the measurement scheme were developed and field tests in Xinghai Bay of Dalian (China) were performed. The test results show that the pseudorange measurement accuracy was better than 28 m (\u03c3) without any modification of the existing AIS system.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17890670,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A novel role for Twist-1 in pulp homeostasis.\nThe molecular mechanisms that maintain the equilibrium of odontoblast progenitor cells in dental pulp are unknown. Here we tested whether homeostasis in dental pulp is modulated by Twist-1, a nuclear protein that partners with Runx2 during osteoblast differentiation. Our analysis of Twist-1(+\/-) mice revealed phenotypic changes that involved an earlier onset of dentin matrix formation, increased alkaline phosphatase activity, and pulp stones within the pulp. RT-PCR analyses revealed Twist-1 expression in several adult organs, including pulp. Decreased levels of Twist-1 led to higher levels of type I collagen and Dspp gene expression in perivascular cells associated with the pulp stones. In mice heterozygous for both Twist-1 and Runx2 inactivation, the phenotype of pulp stones appeared completely rescued. These findings suggest that Twist-1 plays a key role in restraining odontoblast differentiation, thus maintaining homeostasis in dental pulp. Furthermore, Twist-1 functions in dental pulp are dependent on its interaction with Runx2.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3064517,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Use of microcapsular leptospiral antigens for detecting specific antibodies].\nThe sensitivity of microcapsular leptospiral antigens, produced by Japan Lyophilization Laboratory and intended for use in tests for the detection of antibodies to leptospires in the sera of experimentally immunized laboratory animals, were studied. The comparative study of the microcapsular agglutination (MCA) test and other serological tests, such as the microagglutination (MA) test and the indirect enzyme immunoassay (EIA), was made. The leptospiral antigens under study were found to actively react with serospecific and group-specific antibodies. In infected guinea pigs and rabbits specific antibodies could be detected from days 3-4 in the MCA test and only from days 5-7 in the MA test. The average antibody level determined by titration in the MCA test was 3.3 times higher and in indirect EIA, 4.3 times higher than that determined by titration in the MA test. These data make it possible to recommend the use of microcapsular leptospiral antigens for the early diagnosis of leptospirosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":942816,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Peer review and PSRO: an update.\nThe author provides a summary of developments in peer review and Professional Standards Review Organizations (PSROs) within APA, the federal government, and the American Medical Association between June 1974 and June 1975. He discusses the reaction of the medical profession to the interim guidelines from the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare and the problems of financing PSROs. He concludes that the key issues for PSROs and peer review in general are the availability and effectiveness of local review components, and that lack of involvement on the part of psychiatry will only ensure that nonpsychiatrists will design the review procedures.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22662735,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The VA Maryland Health Care System's telemental health program.\nThe VA Maryland Health Care System introduced videoconferencing technology to provide psychiatry, evidenced-based psychotherapy, case management, and patient education at rural clinics where it was difficult to recruit providers. Telemental health services enable rural clinics to offer additional services, such as case management and patient education. Services have been expanded to urban outpatient clinics where a limited number of mental health clinic hours are available. This technology expands the availability of mental health providers and services, allowing patients to receive services from providers located at distant medical centers.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12182047,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Thyroglobulin RT-PCR method for detection of lymph node metastases during the course of differentiated thyroid cancers].\nIn patients with a suspicion of recurrence of differentiated thyroid cancer with metastases to lymph nodes, detection of thyroglobulin (Tg) mRNA in fine needle biopsy material may support the interpretation of classic cytological examination in cases where it fails to detect lymph node involvement early enough. Prospective study of thyroglobulin mRNA detection in neck lymph nodes in patients with suspected differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) metastases. 70 nodes from 60 patients with suspected DTC recurrence were investigated. Patients with suspicion of lymph node metastases of other types of cancer were included as a control group. Thyroglobulin RT-PCR was conducted in residual material left after preparation of cytological smears from fine needle biopsy specimens. Primers spanning exons 3-5 were used with 39 cycles of PCR. RNA isolation control and cDNA amplification were carried out using GADPH starters. Classical cytology confirmed nodal involvement in 22 of DTC patients, RT-PCR Tg was positive in 20 of them (91%). Among 48 patients with a suspicion of DTC recurrence and negative cytology, Tg mRNA was found twice. One positive RT-PCR result was confirmed by repeated cytology conducted 4-6 months later and followed by surgery. No positive result of RT-PCR was obtained with other head and neck malignancies. The overall specificity was estimated with 98%. RT-PCR Tg shows sufficient specificity to be applied in further studies estimating its usefulness in fine needle biopsy for early detection of lymph node metastases in differentiated thyroid cancer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28252284,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mini Mass Spectrometer Integrated with a Miniature Ion Funnel.\nPreviously, a continuous atmospheric pressure interfaced miniature mass spectrometer was developed in our lab. The continuous atmospheric pressure interface improves system robustness, stability, and scan speed, but it also results in limited ion transfer efficiency and reduced mass resolution. To solve these problems, a miniature ion funnel was designed and integrated into the miniature mass spectrometer for the first time. Besides ion transfer efficiency, dimension and power consumption of the ion funnel also need to be considered throughout the design process. After a systematic optimization, the designed miniature ion funnel could increase ion transfer efficiency by more than 10 times, while lowering the background pressure of ion trap by \u223c2 times. As a result, sensitivity and mass resolution of the second generation miniature mass spectrometer were improved by 20 times and \u223c2 times, respectively, while maintaining its high scan speed and stability. A sensitive and robust mini-MS, capable of coupling with ambient ionization sources would meet the needs of many on-site chemical analysis applications, such as in food, drug, and agricultural administrations, forensic science, homeland security, and etc.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6721491,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Secondary substrate utilization of methylene chloride by an isolated strain of Pseudomonas sp.\nSecondary substrate utilization of methylene chloride was analyzed by using Pseudomonas sp. strain LP. Both batch and continuously fed reactors demonstrated that this strain was capable of simultaneously consuming two substrates at different concentrations: the primary substrate at the higher concentration (milligrams per liter) and the secondary substrate at the lower concentration (micrograms per liter). The rate of methylene chloride utilization at trace concentrations was greater in the presence of the primary substrate, acetate, than without it. However, when the substrate roles were changed, the acetate secondary substrate utilization rate was less when methylene chloride was present. Thus, substrate interactions are important in the kinetics of secondary substrate utilization. Pseudomonas sp. strain LP showed a preference toward degrading methylene chloride over acetate, whether it was the primary or secondary substrate, providing it was below an inhibitory concentration of ca. 10 mg\/liter.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16212786,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Validation of an HPLC method for quantitation of MDMA in tablets.\nAn isocratic reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method is developed and validated for the quantitation of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) in tablets. The chromatographic separation is achieved with potassium phosphate buffer (pH 3.2)-acetonitrile (9:1, v\/v) as mobile phase, a Chromspher B column, and UV detection at 210 nm. The calibration curve is linear from 1.4 to 111 microg\/mL. The percent relative standard deviation for intra- and interday precision studies is 2.7% each. The measurement uncertainty is estimated to 9%. The method is specific and successfully used for routine quantitation of MDMA in tablets.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15265847,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Efficacy and safety of statin therapy in children with familial hypercholesterolemia: a randomized controlled trial.\nChildren with familial hypercholesterolemia have endothelial dysfunction and increased carotid intima-media thickness (IMT), which herald the premature atherosclerotic disease they develop later in life. Although intervention therapy in the causal pathway of this disorder has been available for more than a decade, the long-term efficacy and safety of cholesterol-lowering medication have not been evaluated in children. To determine the 2-year efficacy and safety of pravastatin therapy in children with familial hypercholesterolemia. Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial that recruited children between December 7, 1997, and October 4, 1999, and followed them up for 2 years. Two hundred fourteen children with familial hypercholesterolemia, aged 8 to 18 years and recruited from an academic medical referral center in the Netherlands. After initiation of a fat-restricted diet and encouragement of regular physical activity, children were randomly assigned to receive treatment with pravastatin, 20 to 40 mg\/d (n = 106), or a placebo tablet (n = 108). The primary efficacy outcome was the change from baseline in mean carotid IMT compared between the 2 groups over 2 years; the principal safety outcomes were growth, maturation, and hormone level measurements over 2 years as well as changes in muscle and liver enzyme levels. Compared with baseline, carotid IMT showed a trend toward regression with pravastatin (mean [SD], -0.010 [0.048] mm; P =.049), whereas a trend toward progression was observed in the placebo group (mean [SD], +0.005 [0.044] mm; P =.28). The mean (SD) change in IMT compared between the 2 groups (0.014 [0.046] mm) was significant (P =.02). Also, pravastatin significantly reduced mean low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels compared with placebo (-24.1% vs +0.3%, respectively; P<.001). No differences were observed for growth, muscle or liver enzymes, endocrine function parameters, Tanner staging scores, onset of menses, or testicular volume between the 2 groups. Two years of pravastatin therapy induced a significant regression of carotid atherosclerosis in children with familial hypercholesterolemia, with no adverse effects on growth, sexual maturation, hormone levels, or liver or muscle tissue.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37446837,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Strength of hERG Inhibition by Erythromycin at Different Temperatures Might Be Due to Its Interacting Features with the Channels.\nErythromycin is one of the few compounds that remarkably increase ether-a-go-go-related gene (hERG) inhibition from room temperature (RT) to physiological temperature (PT). Understanding how erythromycin inhibits the hERG could help us to decide which compounds are needed for further studies. The whole-cell patch clamp technique was used to investigate the effects of erythromycin on hERG channels at different temperatures. While erythromycin caused a concentration-dependent inhibition of cardiac hERG channels, it also shifted the steady-state activation and steady-state inactivation of the channel to the left and significantly accelerated the onset of inactivation at both temperatures, although temperature itself caused a profound change in the dynamics of hERG channels. Our data also suggest that the binding pattern to S6 of the channels changes at PT. In contrast, cisapride, a well-known hERG blocker whose inhibition is not affected by temperature, does not change its critical binding sites after the temperature is raised to PT. Our data suggest that erythromycin is unique and that the shift in hERG inhibition may not apply to other compounds.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26435143,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"An amphipathic sequence in the cytoplasmic tail of HIV-1 Env alters cell tropism and modulates viral receptor specificity.\nThe human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) 92UG046 Env protein, obtained from a CD4-independent HIV-1 primary isolate (Zerhouni et al., 2004), has the ability to initiate an infection in HeLa cells expressing CD4 when carrying the full-length (FL) Env, but uses CD8 molecules for receptor-mediated entry when carrying a truncated Env (CT84). To determine whether a specific length or structure in the cytoplasmic tail (CT) is responsible for this alteration of tropism, we compared a series of Env constructs with different CT truncations and the presence or absence of an amphipathic alpha- helical sequence. We found that truncated constructs containing the alpha-helical LLP-2 structure in their CT domains conferred a switch from CD4 to CD8 tropism. The results support the conclusion that the structure of the CT domain can play an important role in determining receptor specificity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28257787,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Red\/ox states of human protein disulfide isomerase regulate binding affinity of 17 beta-estradiol.\nHuman protein disulfide isomerase (hPDI) is a key redox-regulated thiol-containing protein operating as both oxidoreductase and molecular chaperone in the endoplasmic reticulum of cells. hPDI thiol-disulfide interchange reactions lead to the adoption of two distinct red\/ox conformations with different substrate preferences. hPDI also displays high binding capacity for some endogenous steroid hormones including 17 beta-estradiol (E2) and thus contributes to the regulation of their intracellular concentration, storage and actions. The primary focus of this study was to investigate the impact of E2 binding on functional activity of recombinant hPDI. Then, we examined the effect of E2 binding on structural alteration of hPDI red\/ox conformations and its influence on affinity and position of interaction using experimental and computational analysis. Our results revealed that interaction of one E2 per each hPDI molecule led to the inhibition of hPDI reductase activity and conformational changes in both oxidation states. Mutually, E2-binding position were also redox-regulated with higher affinity in oxidized hPDI compare to the reduced form. The importance of histidine-256 protonation states in distinct binding preferences of E2 were also demonstrated in hPDI red\/ox conformations. These findings might pave the way for better understanding of the mechanisms behind the redox-dependent hormone-binding activity of hPDI.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3038371,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Radionuclide methods for evaluating the results of thrombolytic therapy.\nIn summary, a variety of nuclear techniques may be used to investigate the effects of thrombolytic therapy and myocardial reperfusion. Assessments of global and regional ventricular function, myocardial perfusion, and metabolic integrity are available and appear to add substantially to conventional assessment. Timing of studies appears to be critical. Complementary data can be obtained in both the acute and convalescent phase of myocardial infarction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32368397,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pre-transplant cytoreductive therapy can improve overall survival of patients with MDS-AML but not MDS-EB2 receiving HLA-matched sibling donor peripheral blood stem cell transplantation.\nTo evaluate whether cytoreductive therapy is needed for myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) patients with excess blasts type 2 (MDS-EB2) and acute myeloid leukemia derived from MDS (MDS-AML) before HLA-matched sibling donor peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (MSD-PBSCT), we retrospectively analyzed 80 cases of MDS-EB2 and MDS-AML patients who received MSD-PBSCT between February 2006 and December 2019 in our hospital. The 3-years overall survival (OS) rate and disease-free survival (DFS) rate were (59.1\u00b15.8)% and (52.5\u00b15.7)%, respectively. The 3-years non-relapse mortality (NRM) rate and relapse rate (RR) were (22.4\u00b10.2)% and (25.4\u00b10.2)%, respectively. Univariate analysis showed that, hematopoietic cell transplantation comorbidity index (HCT-CI) \u2265 2, poor\/very poor karyotype and occurrence of grade III-IV acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) are risk factors for OS. Patients received pre-transplant cytoreductive therapy (PCT) and obtained complete remission (CR) had significantly higher OS rate than those who failed to achieve CR (non-CR group) and those who did not receive PCT (non-PCT group) [(80.0\u00b18.3)% versus (38.1\u00b110.6)% versus (56.1\u00b19.3)%, P=0.010]. PCT significantly increased the OS rate [(62.2\u00b110.0)% versus (20.0\u00b117.9)%, P=0.013] for MDS-AML patients but not for MDS-EB2 patients [(59.2\u00b111.1)% versus (62.9\u00b110.1)%, P=0.991]. Our findings suggest reducing tumor burden by cytoreductive therapy to obtain CR before transplant improves OS. For MDS-AML patients, PCT is beneficial, while for MDS-EB2 patients, PCT is not necessary.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26431435,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"On the Computing Potential of Intracellular Vesicles.\nCollision-based computing (CBC) is a form of unconventional computing in which travelling localisations represent data and conditional routing of signals determines the output state; collisions between localisations represent logical operations. We investigated patterns of Ca2+-containing vesicle distribution within a live organism, slime mould Physarum polycephalum, with confocal microscopy and observed them colliding regularly. Vesicles travel down cytoskeletal 'circuitry' and their collisions may result in reflection, fusion or annihilation. We demonstrate through experimental observations that naturally-occurring vesicle dynamics may be characterised as a computationally-universal set of Boolean logical operations and present a 'vesicle modification' of the archetypal CBC 'billiard ball model' of computation. We proceed to discuss the viability of intracellular vesicles as an unconventional computing substrate in which we delineate practical considerations for reliable vesicle 'programming' in both in vivo and in vitro vesicle computing architectures and present optimised designs for both single logical gates and combinatorial logic circuits based on cytoskeletal network conformations. The results presented here demonstrate the first characterisation of intracelluar phenomena as collision-based computing and hence the viability of biological substrates for computing.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31257292,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Preparation of Chondroitin Sulfate-Glycyl-Prednisolone Conjugate Nanogel and Its Efficacy in Rats with Ulcerative Colitis.\nA conjugate between chondroitin sulfate (CS) and glycyl-prednisolone (GP), named CS-GP, was produced by carbodiimide coupling at a high GP\/CS ratio. CS-GP was not water-soluble and gave a nanogel (NG) in aqueous solution. Two types of nanogels, NG(I) and NG(II), with prednisolone (PD) contents of 5.5 and 21.1% (w\/w), respectively, were obtained. They had particle sizes of approximately 280 and 570 nm, respectively, and showed negative \u03b6-potentials of approximately -40 mV. The PD release rate was slower in the nanogels than in a solution of CS-GP with a PD content of 1.4% (w\/w). The PD release rate was slower in NG(II) than in NG(I), and was elevated at pH 7.4 than at pH 6.8. NG(II) was applied in vivo to rats with trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS)-induced colitis, and its therapeutic efficacy and pharmacokinetic features were investigated. The therapeutic efficacy of NG(II) was slightly better than that of PD alone. Drug delivery to the lower intestines was enhanced with NG(II). The CS-GP nanogel has potential as a potent DDS for the treatment of ulcerative colitis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34422500,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Extradural Anesthesia in a Case of Mild Head Injury.\nWe experienced a case posted for bilateral lower limb surgery in a patient having mild traumatic brain injury (TBI), where administration of graded epidural anesthesia led to agitation, probably resulting from the transient elevation of intracranial pressure (ICP). Due to the wide range of benefits provided by regional anesthesia, an anesthetist should be aware of the possible options for perioperative management to best handle such polytrauma cases. In this case, agitation was managed with a bolus of benzodiazepine and maintenance infusion of dexmedetomidine while the six-hour-long surgery continued with epidural anesthesia. This patient was a smoker who had bronchospasm and underlying pneumonia precluding a high risk for postoperative ventilatory support if only general anesthesia was administered. Post-surgery the patient was conscious, oriented, and pain-free leading to early mobilization and discharge from the hospital. The patient did not report any neurological deterioration in a follow-up period of one month.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":33731339,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Post-Transplant Pregnancy and Contraception.\nPlaced in a historical context, this overview focuses on post-transpant pregnancy, fatherhood, and contraception in women and men. The critical importance of early reproductive counseling because of improved sexual function and the early return of ovulation and menses post-transplant is emphasized. We explain the decision making regarding contraception choices. The available data on the safety of immunosuppressive drugs in pregnancy, and for men desiring fatherhood, are detailed. The risk of maternal ingestion of mycophenolate products on the in utero fetus is considered and contrasted with the lack of concern for their use by men fathering children. Pregnancy risks to the allograft, baby, and mother are discussed. An infant's exposure to specific immunosuppressant medications through breastfeeding is reviewed. The ethics and realities of post-transplant parenthood are explored.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27277416,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Expression of FOXM1 and related proteins in breast cancer molecular subtypes.\nForkhead box (FOX) proteins constitute an extended family of transcriptional regulators. FOXM1 is ubiquitously expressed in cells undergoing proliferation, and overexpression of FOXM1 is associated with poor prognosis in various malignant tumours. FOXM1 and FOXO3a are often transcriptionally antagonistic. FOXO3a plays a critical tumour-suppressive role in breast cancer. FOXO activity is modulated by its acetylation status, which is regulated by class III histone deacetylases (sirtuins; also known as SIRTs). This study evaluated the role of FOX proteins and their regulators in each molecular subtype of breast cancer. Immunohistochemical expressions of FOXM1, FOXO3a, SIRT1 and SIRT6 were evaluated in tissue microarray blocks containing 688 consecutive breast cancer samples. Mean expression levels were used to categorize tumours according to the expression of each protein (high or low). High expression of FOXM1 was significantly correlated with high SIRT1 and SIRT6 expression, higher histologic grade and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). High expression of nuclear FOXO3a and nuclear SIRT1 was correlated with a lower histologic grade and the hormone receptor-positive\/HER2-negative subtype. In survival analysis, FOXM1 was an independent adverse prognostic factor for disease-free and overall survival in the hormone receptor-positive\/HER2-negative subtype but not in the HER2-positive subtype or TNBC. In conclusion, although high FOXM1 expression was noted in the TNBC subtype, it had no prognostic impact in TNBC. However, it had prognostic significance in the hormone receptor-positive\/HER2-negative subtype.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25420794,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract: an embryogenetic review.\nCongenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract (CAKUT) represent a broad range of disorders that result from abnormalities of the urinary collecting system, abnormal embryonic migration of the kidneys, or abnormal renal parenchyma development. These disorders are commonly found in humans, accounting for 20-30% of all genetic malformations diagnosed during the prenatal period. It has been estimated that CAKUT are responsible for 30-50% of all children with chronic renal disease worldwide and that some anomalies can predispose to adult-onset diseases, such as hypertension. Currently, there is much speculation regarding the pathogenesis of CAKUT. Common genetic background with variable penetrance plays a role in the development of the wide spectrum of CAKUT phenotypes. This review aims to summarize the possible mechanisms by which genes responsible for kidney and urinary tract morphogenesis might be implicated in the pathogenesis of CAKUT.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29373072,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cytokinins and the CRE1 receptor influence endogenous gibberellin levels in Medicago truncatula.\nGibberellins (GAs) and cytokinins (CKs) are hormones that play antagonistic roles in several developmental processes in plants. However, there has been little exploration of their reciprocal interactions. Recent work in Medicago truncatula has revealed that GA signalling can regulate CK levels and response in roots. Here, we examine the reciprocal interaction, by assessing how CKs and the CRE1 (Cytokinin Response 1) CK receptor may influence endogenous GA levels. Real-Time RT-PCR analyses revealed that the expression of key GA biosynthesis genes is regulated in response to a short-term CK treatment and requires the CRE1 receptor. Similarly, GA quantifications indicated that a short-term CK treatment decreases the GA1 pool in wild-type plants and that GA levels are increased in the cre1 mutant compared to the wild-type. These data suggest that the M. truncatula CRE1-dependent CK signaling pathway negatively regulates bioactive GA levels.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16152689,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Italian multicentric pilot study on MBL2 genetic polymorphisms in HIV positive pregnant women and their children.\nWe investigated genetic polymorphisms of MBL2 gene, in a cohort of 90 Italian HIV-1 pregnant seropositive women and their children in order to understand whether the MBL2 genotype of HIV-1 positive mothers might be related to their ability to transmit the virus to their children. DNA was extracted from Iso Code Stix cards, and MBL2 genotyping was performed by Melting Temperature Assay. The frequency of the MBL2 0\/0 homozygotes was higher in HIV-1 positive mothers than in healthy controls, the MBL2 0\/0 genotype was more frequent in children born from HIV positive mothers than healthy subjects. We have confirmed the association of polymorphisms involving a gene of the innate immunity with an increased risk of being infected by HIV. These polymorphisms were also evidenced in children born from HIV+ mothers, but the risk of infection was strongly reduced by cesarean delivery and by antiretroviral treatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1162169,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Posterior hypothalamus action on gastric secretion (author's transl)].\nThree groups of cats with surgically created total gastric pouches were employed in this experiment. They were divided as follows: in one group the innervation of the pouch was left intact; in another group the symphathetic innervation of the pouch was removed; and in the third group the pouch was completely denervated. It was seen that an infusion of histamine induced gastric secretion in all three groups. And when the secretion became constant it proved to be less acidic and more abundant in the sympathectomized group and also in the group that had suffered complete denervation. It was observed now that stimulating the posterior hypothalamus of the innervated group produced, in all of the cats, a decrease in the amount of acid secreted per unit of time. Consequently, it was seen that a symphathectomy did not eliminate the gastric effects produced when the posterior hypothalamus was stimulated. Specifically, stimulation of the posterior hypothalamus produced an increase in the amount of secretion rather than a decrease. The increase produced in these animals can be shown not to be due to irradiation of the anterior hypothalamus as the same response is obtained when a symphathectomy is combined with a vagotomy. It is, therefore, believed that it may be concluded that the Posterior hypothalamus does not produce its effect exclusively through its nervous pathways. It is believed its effect may possibly be mediated by an unknown substance liberated upon stimulation which then reaches the stomach by way of its blood supply.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32369925,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Electrospun Anion-Conducting Ionomer Fibers-Effect of Humidity on Final Properties.\nAnion-conducting ionomer-based nanofibers mats are prepared by electrospinning (ES) technique. Depending on the relative humidity (RH) during the ES process (RHES), ionomer nanofibers with different morphologies are obtained. The effect of relative humidity on the ionomer nanofibers morphology, ionic conductivity, and water uptake (WU) is studied. A branching effect in the ES fibers found to occur mostly at RHES < 30% is discussed. The anion conductivity and WU of the ionomer electrospun mats prepared at the lowest RHES are found to be higher than in those prepared at higher RHES. This effect can be ascribed to the large diameter of the ionomer fibers, which have a higher WU. Understanding the effect of RH during the ES process on ionomer-based fibers' properties is critical for the preparation of electrospun fiber mats for specific applications, such as electrochemical devices.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16218626,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Interpreting NMR data for beta-peptides using molecular dynamics simulations.\nNMR is one of the most used techniques to resolve structure of proteins and peptides in solution. However, inconsistencies may occur due to the fact that a polypeptide may adopt more than one conformation. Since the NOE distance bounds and (3)J-values used in such structure determination represent a nonlinear average over the total ensemble of conformers, imposition of NOE or (3)J-value restraints to obtain one unique conformation is not an appropriate procedure in such cases. Here, we show that unrestrained MD simulation of a solute in solution using a high-quality force field yields a conformational ensemble that is largely compatible with the experimental NMR data on the solute. Four 100 ns MD simulations of two forms of a nine-residue beta-peptide in methanol at two temperatures produced conformational ensembles that were used to interpret the NMR data on this molecule and resolve inconsistencies between the experimental NOEs. The protected and unprotected forms of the beta-peptide adopt predominantly a 12\/10-helix in agreement with the qualitative interpretation of the NMR data. However, a particular NOE was not compatible with this helix indicating the presence of other conformations. The simulations showed that 3(14)()-helical structures were present in the ensemble of the unprotected form and that their presence correlates with the fulfillment of the particular NOE. Additionally, all inter-hydrogen distances were calculated to compare NOEs predicted by the simulations to the ones observed experimentally. The MD conformational ensembles allowed for a detailed and consistent interpretation of the experimental data and showed the small but specific conformational differences between the protected and unprotected forms of the peptide.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6736389,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Computed tomography of intracranial extramedullary hematopoiesis.\nPatients with extramedullary hematopoiesis may be divided into two main groups. The first group shows paraosseous foci that may result from \"herniation\" of medullary tissue from the underlying bone. This is seen in hemolytic disorders where the marrow has tremendous activity. The second group shows extraosseous soft tissue foci, which may arise from multipotential stem cells. This occurs when the marrow activity is ineffectual, as in the myeloproliferative disorders or, rarely, with toxic or tumoral marrow destruction. We present a patient with myelosclerosis and four intracranial masses of hematopoietic tissue in the subdural space. We believe this is the first description of the cranial CT findings in this condition.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12037408,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Detecting gene-gene interactions using affected sib pair analysis with covariates.\nInterest has recently focussed on allowing for interactions between loci as a way to increase power to detect linkage. In this paper, a simplified logistic regression method was used to perform affected sib pair analyses allowing for the inclusion of data from other loci. A systematic search of two-locus disease models was carried out to determine the situations in which this was advantageous. If IBD information is available (e.g. from a genome scan), it is unlikely that allowing for interactions will give a large lod score in the absence of linkage evidence from sinlge-locus analysis. Furthermore, allowing for interactions rarely gave a significant increase in power to detect linkage over a single-locus analysis, except for heterogeneity models with low K(P). Conversely, the availability of disease-associated genotypes may greatly increase the power both to detect linkage to a second locus and interaction between the loci. These results indicate that when only IBD information is available, two-locus analysis of genome scan data should be restricted to regions giving peaks under single-locus analysis. If disease-associated genotypes are available, it may be worth re-analysing the whole genome.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29361316,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Structure and Conformational Dynamics of the Human Spliceosomal Bact Complex.\nThe spliceosome is a highly dynamic macromolecular complex that precisely excises introns from pre-mRNA. Here we report the cryo-EM 3D structure of the human Bact spliceosome at 3.4 \u00c5 resolution. In the Bact state, the spliceosome is activated but not catalytically primed, so that it is functionally blocked prior to the first catalytic step of splicing. The spliceosomal core is similar to the yeast Bact spliceosome; important differences include the presence of the RNA helicase aquarius and peptidyl prolyl isomerases. To examine the overall dynamic behavior of the purified spliceosome, we developed a principal component analysis-based approach. Calculating the energy landscape revealed eight major conformational states, which we refined to higher resolution. Conformational differences of the highly flexible structural components between these eight states reveal how spliceosomal components contribute to the assembly of the spliceosome, allowing it to generate a dynamic interaction network required for its subsequent catalytic activation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18576284,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"In situ synthesis of lipopeptides as versatile receptors for the specific binding of nanoparticles and liposomes to solid-supported membranes.\nA detailed study of the in situ coupling of small peptides such as CGGH6 (H6) and CGWK8 (K8) to maleimide functionalized phospholipid bilayers is presented. Individually addressable microstructured membranes are employed to unequivocally probe the conjugation. The in situ coupling of peptides via a terminal cysteine moiety to maleimide functionalized phospholipids is shown to be a convenient and versatile way to selectively fabricate peptide-modified phospholipid bilayers serving as specific receptor platforms for functionalized vesicles and nanoparticles. Specific binding of functional vesicles to the peptide-modified bilayers is achieved by either histidine complexation with Ni-NTA-DOGS containing vesicles or electrostatic interaction between positively charged oligolysine bearing lipopeptides and negatively charged POPC\/POPG vesicles. Peptide receptors are also found to be easily accessible from the aqueous phase and not buried within the membrane interior.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27279664,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"A pairwise interaction model for multivariate functional and longitudinal data.\nFunctional data vectors consisting of samples of multivariate data where each component is a random function are encountered increasingly often but have not yet been comprehensively investigated. We introduce a simple pairwise interaction model that leads to an interpretable and straightforward decomposition of multivariate functional data and of their variation into component-specific processes and pairwise interaction processes. The latter quantify the degree of pairwise interactions between the components of the functional data vectors, while the component-specific processes reflect the functional variation of a particular functional vector component that cannot be explained by the other components. Thus the proposed model provides an extension of the usual notion of a covariance or correlation matrix for multivariate vector data to functional data vectors and generates an interpretable functional interaction map. The decomposition provided by the model can also serve as a basis for subsequent analysis, such as study of the network structure of functional data vectors. The decomposition of the total variance into componentwise and interaction contributions can be quantified by an [Formula: see text]-like decomposition. We provide consistency results for the proposed methods and illustrate the model by applying it to sparsely sampled longitudinal data from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, examining the relationships between body mass index and blood fats.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6743873,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Reliability of the transcutaneous PO2 measurement in the adult by the TCM 1 radiometer electrode].\nThe accuracy of transcutaneous PO2 measurements (PtcO2; Radiometer TCM 1) was evaluated by comparison with arterial PO2 (PaO2) on 115 recordings in 35 patients: 20 during exercise testing (group I) and 14 during assisted ventilation at different FIO2 values (group II). The correlation coefficient between PaO2 and PtcO2 was satisfactory (r = 0.977; n = 115). However PaO2 and PtcO2 mean values were significantly different in group I, and in group II at 45% FIO2. The analysis of variance showed that the difference between PaO2 and PtcO2 was significant among the patients but did not vary with exercise and FIO2 changes (group I: F19 = 6.28, p less than 0.001; group II: F19(19) = 2.54, p less than 0.025). In the adult, transcutaneous PO2 measurement by TCM 1 radiometer electrode seems to be interesting in the context of monitoring blood gases with exercise and assisted ventilation. The significant variation with arterial PO2 sometimes registered should make one cautious in the interpretation of accurate measurements.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9150529,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Human dura mater as a wrapping material for hydroxyapatite implantation in the anophthalmic socket.\nHomologous sclera and autologous fascia lata have been accepted as common wrapping materials for hydroxyapatite implantation; however, various problems have been observed, such as the risk of transmittable diseases such as AIDS or hepatitis. This report details the use of cadaver dura mater to wrap hydroxyapatite implants. For 73 eyes of 73 patients with hydroxyapatite implantation, cadaver dura mater was used to wrap the hydroxyapatite after enucleation or secondary implantation. Of the 73 patients, 20 had conjunctival erosion; however, all of the patients but 1 healed spontaneously within an average of 22 days. Only 1 of the 73 patients progressed to implant exposure requiring a dermis graft. The authors suggest that cadaver dura mater is a suitable wrapping material for hydroxyapatite implantation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37856531,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A retrospective cohort study of prescribing outcomes in outpatients treated with nirmatrelvir-Ritonavir for COVID-19 in an interdisciplinary community clinic.\nLarge observational studies have demonstrated the real-world effectiveness of nirmatrelvir-ritonavir in preventing severe COVID-19 in higher risk individuals, but have provided limited information on other aspects of nirmatrelvir-ritonavir use. Our objective was to evaluate prescribing outcomes such as the prevalence of drug-drug interactions (DDI), adverse drug events (ADE) and treatment adherence in an outpatient community clinic setting. We conducted a single-centre retrospective cohort study of adult outpatients prescribed nirmatrelvir-ritonavir in our community COVID-19 assessment clinic in Toronto, Ontario between March 3 and September 20, 2022. We performed a descriptive analysis of the patient population, DDIs, DDI interventions, treatment adherence, ADEs and clinical outcomes of patients prescribed nirmatrelvir-ritonavir. There were 637 individuals prescribed nirmatrelvir-ritonavir during the study period. The median age was 70, the median number of risk factors for severe disease were 2, 45% were immunocompromised and 82% had received 3 or more COVID-19 vaccine doses. 95% (542\/572) completed the 5-day course of therapy with 68% (388\/572) having complete symptom resolution by 28-day. Eleven percent (60\/572) experienced recurrent symptoms following the completion of nirmatrelvir-ritonavir. Over 70% had one or more clinically significant DDIs requiring mitigation and 62% of patients experienced at least one ADE, which was most commonly dysgeusia or gastrointestinal-related. Ninety-five percent (542\/572) of patients completed therapy as prescribed. Overall, hospitalization within 28 days was 3.3% with 1.2% attributed to COVID-19 and there were no deaths. Nirmatrelvir-ritonavir was associated with a high prevalence of clinically significant DDIs, which required mitigation strategies and a high frequency of mild ADEs. Collaborative assessment to address medication alterations resulted in high treatment adherence.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31264213,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hypoxic storage of erythrocytes slows down storage lesions and prolongs shelf-life.\nConventional storage conditions of erythrocytes cause storage lesions. We propose that hypoxic storage conditions, involving removal of oxygen and replacement with helium, the changes in stored erythrocytes under hypoxic condition were observed and assessed. Erythrocytes were divided into two equal parts, then stored in conventional and hypoxic conditions, separately. Blood gas analysis, hemorheology, and hemolysis were performed once a week. Energy metabolism and membrane damage were monitored by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Phosphatidylserine exposure was measured by flow cytometry. P50 was measured and the oxygen dissociation curve (ODC) plotted accordingly. Erythrocyte morphology was observed microscopically. In the 9th week of storage, the hemolysis of the hypoxia group was 0.7%; lower (p < .05) than that of the control group and still below the threshold of quality requirements. The dissolved oxygen and pO2 were only 1\/4 of that in the control group (p < .01); the adenosine triphosphate, glucose, and lactic acid levels were decreased (p < .05), while the 2,3-diphosphoglycerate levels were increased relative to that in the control group (p < .01). There were no statistically significant differences in membrane damage, deformability, and aggregation between the two groups. In addition, the ODC of the two groups was shifted to the left but this difference was not statistically different. Basically similar to the effect of completely anaerobic conditions. Erythrocytes stored under hypoxic conditions could maintain a relatively stable state with a significant decrease in hemolysis, reduction of storage lesions, and an increase in shelf-life.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34422043,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Association of Thyroid Hormone Changes with Inflammatory Status and Prognosis in COVID-19.\nCOVID-19 infection may have multiorgan effects in addition to effects on the lungs and immune system. Recently, studies have found thyroid function abnormalities in COVID-19 cases which were interpreted as euthyroid sick syndrome (ESS) or destructive thyroiditis. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to evaluate the thyroid function status and thyroid autoimmunity in COVID-19 patients. Material and Method. 205 patients were included. The medical history and laboratory parameters at admission were collected from medical records. Serum thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), free thyroxine (FT4), free triiodothyronine (FT3), thyroid peroxidase antibody, and thyroglobulin antibody were measured, and patients were classified according to thyroid function status. 34.1% of the patients were euthyroid. Length of hospitalization (p < 0.001), rate of oxygen demand (p < 0.001), and intensive care unit (ICU) admission (p=0.022) were lower, and none of the euthyroid patients died. 108 (52.6%) patients were classified to have ESS, 57 were classified as mild, and 51 were moderate. The inflammatory parameters were higher in patients with moderate ESS. In cluster analysis, a high-risk group with a lower median FT3 value (median = 2.34 ng\/L; IQR = 0.86), a higher median FT4 value (median = 1.04 ng\/dL; IQR = 0.33), and a lower median TSH value (median = 0.62 mIU\/L; IQR = 0.59) included 8 of 9 died patients and 25 of the 31 patients that were admitted to ICU. Discussion. Length of hospitalization, oxygen demand, ICU admission, and mortality were lower in euthyroid patients. Moreover, none of the euthyroid patients died. In conclusion, evaluation of thyroid function tests during COVID-19 infection may give information about the prognosis of disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28741629,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Low-intensity shockwave therapy for erectile dysfunction: is the evidence strong enough?\nErectile dysfunction (ED) affects \u223c30% of all men above the age of 40 years and its prevalence steadily increases with age. Current nonsurgical treatment options, including phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors (PDE5I), provide temporary relief but have failed to provide a permanent improvement of the condition. Low-intensity extracorporeal shockwave therapy (Li-ESWT) is noninvasive and uses acoustic waves, which can pass through tissue and be focussed to target specific areas or organs to induce the desired effects. The use of Li-ESWT has previously been described in other disease contexts, such as ischaemic heart disease, bone fractures, and burns, in which it improves neoangiogenesis; similar principles seem to apply in the erectile tissue. The major potential advantage of the treatment, therefore, is the possibility to restore natural erectile function. Thus, Li-ESWT is the only currently marketed treatment for ED that might offer a cure, which is the most desired outcome for most men with ED. Li-ESWT has also been suggested to improve the effect of PDE5I in nonresponders, reducing the need for more invasive treatments. Several single-arm trials have shown benefit of Li-ESWT on patient-reported erectile function scores, but data from randomized trials are conflicting, and many questions remain to be answered before we can routinely offer this treatment to patients. Thus, the search for the true clinical value of Li-ESWT for ED represents a dynamic and continuing field of enquiry.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6725258,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Anti-apoprotein B monoclonal antibodies detect human low density lipoprotein polymorphism.\nImmunochemical polymorphism among human low density lipoproteins (LDL) isolated from different individuals was demonstrated through reduced binding of three monoclonal antibodies to some individual LDL using a solid phase radioimmunoassay. These three antibodies are members of a larger group of monoclonal antibodies previously shown to bind specifically to apoprotein B ( Curtiss , L.K., and Edgington , T. S. (1982) J. Biol. Chem. 257, 15213-15221; Tsao , B.P., Curtiss , L. K., and Edgington , T.S. (1982) J. Biol. Chem. 257, 15222-15228). Those antibodies which distinguished human LDL polymorphism bound to the same or adjacent epitopes on LDL, for they were mutually exclusive in competitive binding experiments. Binding was unaffected by treatment with neuraminidase, with a mixture of glycosidases, or with competing glycoproteins; thus, the carbohydrate moiety of apoprotein B did not appear to influence the epitope recognized by these antibodies. When low density lipoproteins isolated from different individuals were studied, three different phenotypes were recognized; these corresponded to strong, weak, and intermediate binding of the three monoclonal antibodies. This division into three phenotypes is demonstrated to result from a genetic polymorphism; indeed, the data fit a model consisting of two co-dominant apoprotein B alleles, and the three phenotypes then correspond to the two human homozygotes and the heterozygote. The classical Ag antigen phenotype was determined for the LDL isolated from 10 individuals who were also studied with the monoclonal antibodies, and no correspondence was found between the different epitopes recognized by the five presumptive Ag allelic pairs, x\/y, a1\/d, c\/g, t\/z, or h\/i, and the site recognized by the monoclonal antibodies. All of these data are discussed, and it is concluded that the most likely explanation for the difference in recognition of the two allelic forms of apoprotein B is an alteration in amino acid sequence resulting in a slightly different configuration of a single domain containing the epitopes recognized by the three monoclonal antibodies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":2785913,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Interleukin-1 beta increases prostaglandin E2 in rat astrocyte cultures: modulatory effect of neuropeptides.\nRecombinant human interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) significantly increased prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) in a dose-dependent manner in rat astrocyte culture. The minimum effective dose of IL-1 beta was 10(-10)M. IL-1 alpha also increased PGE2, but at a higher concentration. The minimum effective dose of IL-1 alpha was 10(-8)M, indicating it to be 100-fold less effective than IL-1 beta. On the other hand neither IL-1 beta nor IL-1 alpha increased PGE2 production by neuron cultures at any concentration tested. PGE2 response to IL-1 beta was suppressed by simultaneous addition of CRH, somatostatin-14 and LHRH, while these neuropeptides alone did not alter the basal PGE2 levels. Substance P, vasoactive intestinal polypeptide and alpha-MSH altered neither basal nor IL-1 beta-induced increase in PGE2 levels. Angiotensin II (AII) alone also increased PGE2 in cultured astrocytes. Combined addition of AII and IL-1 beta induced a synergistic effect in increasing PGE2 levels. The direct action of IL-1 beta on astrocyte culture suggests that astrocytes may be the target cells for IL-1 beta in the central nervous system. In view of the essential role of central PGE2 in IL-1 beta-induced CRH\/ACTH release, these findings suggest the presence of a sophisticated regulatory network in the immune-neuroendocrine interaction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14832441,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Experiments on the role of potassium in the blocking of neuromuscular transmission by curare and other drugs.\n1. Experiments with perfused frog muscles and with isolated frog muscles immersed in Ringer's solution have failed to show any effect of curare in liberating potassium from muscle tissue. This makes it difficult to suppose that the paralytic effect of curare can be attributed to cation exchange between curare and K whereby a labile potassium compound needed for stimulation is removed from the neuromuscular junction. 2. Similar negative results were obtained with dihydro-beta-erythroidine and myanesin. 3. A small liberation of K from perfused muscle does result from treatment with acetylcholine. This is probably due to the contracture of the muscle since the effect is largely eliminated by previous treatment of the muscle with curare. The amount of potassium lost in this way from perfused muscles is too small to detect when muscles are analyzed after immersion in Ringer's solution with and without acetylcholine. It is concluded that there is no significant cation exchange between acetylcholine and K in muscle, but only a small loss of K due to the contracture produced by the acetylcholine.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6742994,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Spinal cord injury and serum erythropoietin.\nThe origin of the temporary reduction in hematocrit and hemoglobin occurring after spinal cord injury (SCI) may be related to the neurologic dysfunction and to a change in erythropoietin (Ep) synthesis and\/or secretion. Serum Ep, vital capacities, and numerous hematologic profiles were obtained in 12 cervical SCI patients during the first 12 weeks and 13th to 27th post-injury weeks, and in 8 thoracic SCI patients during the first 8 weeks and 9th to 28th weeks. Serum iron, iron binding, and saturation were obtained in 4 cervical SIC patients and blood gases in 10 patients with cervical SCI and in 6 with thoracic SCI. The results in all patients showed increased Ep values, returning to normal after 8 weeks in the thoracic SCI patients only. The few results on iron kinetics showed a tendency to low values, suggesting the necessity for further investigation. In an attempt to explain the Ep increase in SCI patients, the relative influence of the renal pelvic nerves and of the sympathetic nerves on its secretion, are examined.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23455745,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Prosthetic hip revision: relationship between bone stock and quality of life in aseptic loosening of the femoral component].\nWe evaluated the clinical and radiographic results in the medium and long term in patients undergoing revision surgery for aseptic loosening with different bone quality at the time of the operation. We investigated how different bone quality shapes for a good clinical result. A total of 33 patients who underwent revision surgery of the hip (for aseptic loosening of the stem) evaluated radiographically and clinically at 1,6,12 and 18 months. The evaluation of clinical status preoperatively and at the end of follow-up was be made as questionnaires SF-36, Harris Hip Score and WOMAC; radiographic assessment was made using the scale of Paprosky. The data thus obtained have been related to complications arising and the status of femoral bone-loss before the surgery time. The groups PI and PII (Paprosky) showed a high level of satisfaction with an average value of reference for the postoperative rated as excellent, the absence of complications and good functional recovery at the end of follow-up. The groups PIII and PIV showed increased incidence of complications and difficulties with rehabilitation clinics and SF-36 scores and HHS inferior to other classes. Our dates confirm that bone quality at the time of surgery affects the therapeutic target. All patients with good bone quality at the time of the revision surgery (groups PI and PII) showed a distinct advantage from surgical treatment. Revision surgery had not much effect in patients with high bone loss. Preservation of bone stock should be considered a good foundation for the success of a prosthetic reimplantation with better functional and radiographic out-come associated with greater satisfaction for the patient.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37452567,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Vitamin D deficiency contributes to overtraining syndrome in excessive trained C57BL\/6 mice.\nOvertraining syndrome is a condition resulting from excessive training load associated with inadequate recovery and poor sleep quality, leading to performance decrements and fatigue. Here we hypothesized that vitamin D (VitD) deficiency is a lead factor in the development of the overtraining syndrome. To test this hypothesis, two groups of 60-week-old C57BL\/6 mice followed a 16-week excessive eccentric-based overtraining by excessive downhill running with or without dietary VitD depletion (EX and EX-D- groups). Two control groups were trained by uphill running at the same load with or without VitD depletion (CX and CX-D- groups). Handgrip strength decreased throughout the protocol for all groups but the decrease was sharper in EX-D- group (VitD \u00d7 training, p = 0.0427). At the end of the protocol, the mass of Triceps brachii muscle, which is heavily stressed by eccentric contractions, was reduced in eccentric-trained groups (training effect, p = 0.0107). This atrophy was associated with a lower concentration of the anabolic myokine IL-15 (training effect, p = 0.0314) and a tendency to a higher expression of the atrogene cathepsin-L (training effect, p = 0.0628). VitD depletion led to a 50% decrease of the fractional protein synthesis rate in this muscle (VitD effect, p = 0.0004) as well as decreased FGF21 (VitD effect, p = 0.0351) and increased osteocrin (VitD effect, p = 0.038) concentrations that would lead to metabolic defects. Moreover, the proportion of anti-inflammatory Th2 lymphocytes was significantly decreased by the combination of eccentric training with VitD depletion (vitD \u00d7 training, p = 0.0249) suggesting a systemic inflammation. Finally, exploratory behavior time of mice was decreased by VitD depletion (VitD effect, p = 0.0146) suggesting a cognitive dysfunction. Our results suggest that VitD deficiency exacerbates the effects of overtraining.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27285774,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Integrating qualitative and quantitative data analysis.\nFew texts on quantitative research pay any attention to qualitative analysis ( 1 , 2 ). Similarly, few books on qualitative analysis explore the potential of its relationship with quantitative analysis. However, Silverman ( 3 ) has suggested that numbers can provide valuable contextual material for qualitative data.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29383545,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Children's at Home: Pilot Study Assessing Dedicated Social Media for Parents of Adolescents with Neurofibromatosis Type 1.\nThe aim of this pilot study was to evaluate Children's at Home (C@H), a dedicated social media website for parents of adolescents with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). The interventional study included two phases: (1) creating video intervention\/prevention assessment (VIA) visual narratives about having an adolescent with NF1 and (2) interacting on C@H, a secure, medically moderated social media website. C@H was evaluated qualitatively at three time points. At enrollment (T0, N = 17), participants reported needing C@H to break their isolation, connect with other families, and receive accurate information, advice, and support from others facing similar challenges. At T1, after creating VIA during 6 months (N = 13, 145 videos), participants mostly valued the opportunity to speak about the challenges they face with NF1 and their journey since diagnosis. At T2, after interacting on C@H for 7 weeks (N = 10, two sign-ins\/week\/parent), participants reported connecting with other parents of children with NF1 for the first time, valuing the \"real faces\" and emotions of other parents with shared experiences providing a sense of normalcy. Qualitative analysis suggested that C@H decreased feelings of isolation, provided relief to talk about NF1 without having to explain it, provided new knowledge about NF1 and the opportunity to address non-medical issues of NF1 never discussed in clinic, and helped participants with putting their lives into perspective. C@H allowed parents of adolescents with NF1 to overcome previous isolation and connect for the first time. Innovative applications of social media dedicated to those who care for children with chronic conditions can provide peer-to-peer support, shared experience, and reliable medical information.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28260291,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Andersson lesion in ankylosing spondylitis: a clinical study of 14 cases].\nObjective: To investigate the clinical characteristics of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) combined Andersson lesion (AL). Methods: The clinical data of patients who were diagnosed as AS combined AL at Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital between January 2012 and December 2015 were reviewed retrospectively.SPSS 20.0 software was used for statistical analysis.Data of normal distribution was expressed by x\u00b1s (standard deviation) and that of abnormal distribution by median and range. Results: Fourteen patients were enrolled. Ten were male, median age (IQR, similarly hereinafter) was 46 (29-53) years, disease duration was 120 (54-150) months, 7 has symptom increased in the beginning, 6 has nerve compression symptom, 7 has kyphosis, and 4 has spinous tenderness or percussion pain in physical examination.Eleven of AL occurred in the thoracolumbar junction.Erythrocyte sedimentation rate was 24 (15-44) mm\/1 h, C-reactive protein was 10 (5-18) mg\/L, and Serum amyloid A was 19 (5-31) mg\/L.All the 14 patients were divided into 2 groups, aggravated group (n=7) and none aggravated group (n=7) according to the symptom.It was no statistic difference between them about all the above indicators. Conclusion: Imageological diagnosis should be performed to identify Andersson lesion, while ankylosing spondylitis patients combined mechanical pain based on inflammatory back pain, or mainly with nerve compression symptom, tenderness or percussion pain, or spinous, even when inflammatory markers were normal.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27486711,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Dehumanizacja wsp\u00f3\u0142czesnej medycyny: przyczyny i przeciwdzia\u0142anie].\nA discussion of causes of dehumanisation in contemporary medicine and possible methods of preventing this situation. The causes can be divided into external, associated with the influence of the environment of civilisation, and internal, which constitute a form of aunwanted side effects\" of the rapid progress of civilisation. The latter include reductionist thinking and axiological neutrality typical of natural sciences, increased import_ance of technology, and excessive specialisation combined with poor coordination of diagnostic work-up and treatment or the lack of such coordination. Possible preventive measures include a change in the model of medical education, consisting for instance in the inclusion of humanistic elements and a more holistic view of the patient, as well as a change in the health care model so that the diagnostic work-up and treatment would be coordinated mainly by the primary health care doctor.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15242252,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"AN-9 (Titan).\nTitan is developing AN-9 for the potential treatment of various cancers. AN-9 is a histone deacetylase inhibitor analog of butyric acid that causes apoptosis of cancer cells through signaling cellular differentiation. In March 2001, a phase I\/II study involving patients with liver tumors was initiated. By November 2001, enrollment had been completed in a second phase II study of refractory non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In June 2003, Titan began enrollment for a phase IIb trial of AN-9 in combination with docetaxel in patients with NSCLC.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37456499,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Clinical Significance of Pollen and Fungi Concentrations for Allergic Rhinitis: A Three-Year Study.\nThe relationship between disease severity and exposure to allergens in allergic rhinitis (AR) patients is not fully clarified presently. We aimed to detect the correlation between airborne pollen and fungi concentrations in a Mediterranean region with symptom scores. A total of 98 patients suffering from AR rated their symptoms at the time of exacerbation using the Total 5 Symptoms Score (T5SS) and the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Patients' quality of life (QoL) was estimated by using either disease-specific (Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaire (RQLQ) and mini-RQLQ) or generic (Short-Form 36 (SF-36) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI)) questionnaires. All patients' responses were correlated with aerobiological data. Skin prick tests (SPTs) were used to detect sensitivities to the most common registered pollen and fungi species. A significant positive correlation between total pollen and fungi counts and disease-specific questionnaires was found only for the RQLQ. Accordingly, a significant positive correlation was found between total pollen and fungi counts and T5SS (r = 0.655, p = 0.021), with breathing (r = 0.620, p = 0.032) and sneezing (r = 0.660, p = 0.020) being strongly affected. Moreover, a tendency toward a higher VAS score was found as total pollen and fungi counts increased (r = 0.523, p = 0.081). We found a significant correlation between patients' symptoms and pollen and fungal air concentrations. Our results emphasize the clinical significance of pollen and fungi maps in everyday clinical practice.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19040030,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[A cross-sectional study of impaired fasting glycaemia and diabetes mellitus in rural residents of Lanxi, Heilongjiang].\nTo investigate the current status of impaired fasting glycaemia (IFG), diabetes mellitus (DM) and correlated factors, as well as on the awareness, treatment and control rate of diabetes mellitus in rural residents of Lanxi, Heilongjiang. Cross-sectional and cluster sampling method was carried out on 3480 residents over 35 years of age, in rural residents of Lanxi Pingshan, Heilongjiang province. To male, female and all, the detecting rate of IFG were 5.06%, 4.38% and 4.68% respectively, and the standardization rate of IFG became 4.71%, 4.24% and 4.47% respectively. The prevalence rates of DM were 7.85%, 6.57% and 7.15% but after standardization, they became 7.22%, 6.62% and 6.80% respectively. Results did not show statistical difference between sex and the level of fasting glycaemia (chi2 = 2.725, P = 0.256). The prevalence rates of IFG and DM increased with age and difference was seen between age and fasting glycaemia level (chi2 = 58.115, P= 0.000). Data from multivariable stepwise analysis showed that age, smoking, BMI and high triglyceride were the significant factors in fasting glycaemia level, and the ORs (95% CI) were 1.518 (1.360-1.694), 1.277 (1.134-1.439), 1.187 (1.014-1.391) and 1.754 (1.385-2.220) respectively. The rates of awareness, treatment and control rate in DM were 12.74%, 9.43% and 4.72% respectively while the treatment rate among those who knew the disease was 74.07%. Our result showed that the isolating rate of IFG and the prevalence rate DM were high in this region, but the awareness, treatment and control rate in DM were low. It is essential to strengthen health promotion program on diabetic knowledge and to elevate the primary and secondary prevention in the rural of Heilongjiang, so as to raise the rate of control.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21147052,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Self-esteem, social support, collectivism, and the thin-ideal in Latina undergraduates.\nThin-ideal internalization (TII) reflects agreement that thinness equates with beauty. TII is a risk factor for body dissatisfaction and eating pathology; this phenomenon and its correlates, however, are just beginning to be studied in Latina undergraduates. This study examined the ability of self-esteem, social support, and collectivism to predict TII in 279 Latina undergraduates. It was hypothesized that higher levels of self-esteem, social support, and collectivism would predict lower levels of TII. Cross-sectional data were analyzed using multiple regression; the model was significant, p<.01. Although both self-esteem and social support negatively correlated with thin-ideal internalization, only self-esteem accounted for a significant amount of variance. Results indicate that investigations of self-esteem as a protective factor against TII in Latina undergraduates would be fruitful, as would how self-esteem and social support affect the relationship between TII and other variables. Implications and limitations are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20373872,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Past, present and future of therapies in pediatric sarcomas.\nLimited progress has been made over the past 30 years in improving the outcome of patients with high-risk pediatric sarcomas. The 5-year overall survival rate remains at 20% or less with metastatic sarcomas. Therefore, current and future research is focused on the identification and development of molecular or biological agents targeting the pathogenic pathways in sarcomas, either alone or in combination with conventional chemotherapy. To this end, the most promising activity has been seen with IGF-1 receptor antibodies and mTOR inhibitors. Other agents of interest are oncolytic viruses, epigenetic modulators (e.g., histone deacetylase inhibitors), immune modulators (e.g., muramyl tripeptide phosphatidylethanolamine) and other biological agents (e.g., trabectedin). In addition to the development of novel drugs, the other major area of recent focus is developing immune therapies, such as dendritic cell vaccines and adoptive immunotherapy for treating pediatric sarcomas. This article discusses the successes, the failures and the future direction of these therapies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25496188,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Molecular cloning and characterization of a novel carotenoid cleavage dioxygenase 1 from Lycium chinense.\nCarotenoids are key precursor for aroma compounds in plants. Although the fruit of Lycium chinense contains numerous carotenoids, the formation mechanism of aroma compounds in L. chinense is still poorly understood. In this study, a new carotenoid cleavage dioxygenase (termed LmCCD1) was identified from the leaves of L. chinense. Expression analysis by semiquantitative PCR reveals that LmCCD1 gene is expressed in different tissues of L. chinense, and dominant expression of LmCCD1 gene was found in leaves, flowers, and ripe fruits. In addition, the expression level of LmCCD1 in fruits is in accordance with the content of \u03b2-ionone. Finally, recombinantly expressed LmCCD1 can cleave \u03b2-carotene and lycopene to produce \u03b2-ionone and pseudoionone in in vitro assays. These results indicate that LmCCD1 a novel carotenoids cleavage dioxygenase gene that may regulate the metabolic pathways responsible for aroma metabolite production (such as \u03b2-ionone and pseudoionone) in L. chinense has been identified.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26426613,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pro-Inflammatory Cytokines in Nasopharyngeal Aspirate From Hospitalized Children With Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection With or Without Rhinovirus Bronchiolitis, and Use of the Cytokines as Predictors of Illness Severity.\nRespiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and human rhinovirus (HRV) respiratory infection in children induce production of inflammatory interleukins (ILs) in the respiratory epithelium. As IL(s) determine the severity of illness, the purpose of this study was to identify the pro-inflammatory IL(s) that could be predictor(s) of clinical severity. One hundred and fifteen patients <2 years old with bronchiolitis due to RSV and \/or HRV and 38 controls were selected from a hospital and an outpatient clinic. Clinical data of all patients were recorded. Severity was defined by the number of days with oxygen need. Nasopharyngeal aspirates (NPA) were collected to perform viral diagnosis by quantitative reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and to quantify ILs: TNF-\u03b1, IL-10, IL-6, IL-1\u03b2, and IL-8, by flow cytometry. Simple and multiple regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used for statistical analysis. Of the patients selected 60 were single RSV, 28 RSV associated to HRV, and 27 single HRV. All patients (115) showed significantly higher IL levels when compared with controls. Levels of IL-6, IL-1\u03b2, and IL-8 detected in NPA from RSV single and associated to HRV were significantly higher than HRV infected and positively associated with days requiring O2.Levels of IL-6, IL-1\u03b2, and IL-8 detected in NPA from patients infected with RSV only or with both RSV and HRV are increased, and any of those 3 cytokines may have a predictive value for the number of days with need of supplemental oxygen.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16160718,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"AIDS: Perceptions and Misperceptions among Students of a Nigerian University.\nThe AIDS pandemic has led to the global clamouring for its control. This work was aimed at assessing the level and factors that determine the awareness of undergraduate Students of Usmanu Dandfodiyo University, Sokoto. In a descriptive cross-sectional study, a total of 450 students were recruited by means of multistage and simple random sampling techniques. Overall, there is a knowledge gap on aetiology, mode of transmission and preventive measures with only 40.2% and 38.5% of the respondents having adequate knowledge and indicated their willingness to learn more about AIDs respectively. Age (P<0.05), Sex (P<0.005) and number of years spent in the University (P<0.025) are important determinants of level of AIDS knowledge. This finding could be as a result of strong interactions between the social environment and human sexuality. Hence, student bodies should be involved in reproductive health programmes. Key words: awareness, university students, AIDS.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26442921,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-22":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Predictors of Severe Morbidity After Cytoreductive Surgery and Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy for Patients With Colorectal Peritoneal Carcinomatosis.\nSevere morbidity after cytoreductive surgery (CRS) followed by hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) is, besides the obvious short-term consequences, associated with impaired long-term outcomes. The risk factors for severe morbidity in patients with peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC) of colorectal origin are poorly defined. This study aimed to identify risk factors for severe morbidity after CRS + HIPEC in patients with colorectal PC. Patients with colorectal PC who underwent CRS + HIPEC between 2007 and 2015 were categorized and compared between those with and those without severe morbidity. Risk factors were identified using logistic regression analysis. Morbidity was graded according to the Clavien-Dindo classification, with grade 3 or higher indicating severe morbidity. This study included 211 patients, of whom 53 patients (25.1%) experienced morbidity of grade 3 or higher. The identified risk factors for severe morbidity were extensive prior surgery [odds ratio (OR) 4.3], a positive recent smoking history (OR 4.0), a poor physical performance status (OR 2.9), and extensive cytoreduction (OR 1.2 per additional resection). Patients with a greater number of risk factors more often had severe morbidity and higher reoperation, readmission, and mortality rates. Furthermore, an internally validated preoperative prediction model for severe morbidity with an area under the curve of 70% was constructed. The current study identified risk factors for severe morbidity after CRS + HIPEC in patients with colorectal PC. Patients with a combination of risk factors have a substantial risk of severe morbidity and therefore should be carefully selected for CRS + HIPEC. The preoperative decision model can be a valuable additional tool in this process of patient selection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3046947,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Recurrent vascular myelopathy. Report of a case with autopsy.\nA case of ischemic myelopathy which was marked by two clinical episodes, separated by a 4-month interval and affecting the same level of the spinal cord, is reported. A wide-ranging search through the literature shows that the recurrent type of ischemic vascular myelopathy is very rare.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19042536,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A typology of health marketing research methods--combining public relations methods with organizational concern.\nResearch plays a critical role throughout virtually every conduit of the health services industry. The key terms of research, public relations, and organizational interests are discussed. Combining public relations as a strategic methodology with the organizational concern as a factor, a typology of four different research methods emerges. These four health marketing research methods are: investigative, strategic, informative, and verification. The implications of these distinct and contrasting research methods are examined.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9542775,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of 3-hydroxybutyrate on the hypoxic and reoxygenated atria from fed and fasted rats.\nWhen exposed to hypoxia, the isolated atria from fed rats released lactate into the medium and underwent a decline of the peak developed tension and pacemaker frequency. The atria from 24-h fasted rats showed a rise in the resting tension together with a greater decline of the pacemaker rate and a lower lactate output than those from fed rats. The exposure to 5 mM 3-hydroxybutyrate caused only a small and brief decline in the pacemaker rate in the fed rats atria indicating that ketone bodies are able to exert only a minor detrimental effect on the hypoxic atria. Since the lactate output remained unaffected, this effect cannot be ascribed to a lowering in the energy supply from anaerobic glycolysis. On the contrary, 3-hydroxybutyrate improved the post-hypoxic recovery of the peak tension in the atria from fasted rats. This finding may be reflecting an anaplerotic role of 3-hydroxybutyrate, thus suggesting that in addition to glucose a second substrate is needed to meet the energy demand in the reoxygenated atria from fasted rats.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28345005,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Chronic Enzyme Replacement to the Brain of a Late Infantile Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis Mouse Has Differential Effects on Phenotypes of Disease.\nLate infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (LINCL) is a fatal inherited neurodegenerative disease caused by loss of lysosomal protease tripeptidyl peptidase 1 (TPP1). We have investigated the effects of chronic intrathecal (IT) administration using enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) to the brain of an LINCL mouse model, in which locomotor function declines dramatically prior to early death. Median lifespan was significantly extended from 126 days to >259 days when chronic IT treatment was initiated before the onset of disease. While treated animals lived longer and showed little sign of locomotor dysfunction as measured by stride length, some or all (depending on regimen) still died prematurely. One explanation is that cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)-mediated delivery may not deliver TPP1 to all brain regions. Morphological studies support this, showing delivery of TPP1 to ventral, but not deeper and dorsal regions. When IT treatment is initiated in severely affected LINCL mice, lifespan was extended modestly in most but dramatically extended in approximately one-third of the cohort. Treatment improved locomotor function in these severely compromised animals after it had declined to the point at which animals normally die. This indicates that some pathology in LINCL is reversible and does not simply reflect neuronal death.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37467654,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3,"dup_dump_count":2,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-18":1,"2024-22":1}}},"text":"Factors associated with postpartum depressive symptoms among women who conceived with infertility treatment.\nInfertility treatment experiences may accumulate and influence postpartum psychological well-being among women with infertility. However, the association between infertility treatment experiences and postpartum depressive symptoms remained unclear. This cross-sectional survey aimed to describe depressive symptom scores of 180 women, who conceived while undergoing infertility treatment, at 2-6 months after childbirth, and to explore factors, including infertility history and treatment experiences, associated with postpartum depressive symptoms. Data were collected via telephone interviews and patient record reviews. Postpartum depressive symptoms were measured using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, with a cutoff score of 10. The prevalence of postpartum depressive symptoms was 34.4 %. Higher perceived stress levels after childbirth than before undergoing infertility treatment, a duration of infertility diagnosis longer than three years, maternal age >35 years, pregnancy conceived through in vitro fertilization (IVF), and experiencing all three lines of infertility treatment, namely ovarian stimulation, intrauterine insemination, and IVF, were associated with a higher risk of postpartum depressive symptoms. Breastfeeding, social support, and baby sex in line with stated preference were negatively associated with postpartum depressive symptoms. There were no significant interactions between the variables. The women's infertility history and treatment experiences were found to have influenced their postpartum depressive symptoms, especially among women who had a long duration of infertility, conceived through IVF, and had received all lines of infertility treatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31242189,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Validity and internal consistency of EQ-5D-3L quality of life tool among pre-dialysis patients with chronic kidney disease in Sri Lanka, a lower middle-income country.\nEQ-5D-3L is a generic QOL tool used mainly in economic evaluations. Burden of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is rising in Sri Lanka. Assessing the validity of generic QOL tools creates new opportunities of their utilization among patients with CKD. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1036 CKD patients, selected using the simple random sampling technique. The validity was tested with six a-priori hypotheses. These included construct validity assessments, evaluating convergent validity and performing known group comparisons. EQ-5D-3L, Short Form-36 (SF-36) were used to assess QOL. Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D-20) and General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12) were used to assess the presence of depression and psychological distress respectively. Internal consistency of the whole tool and when each item is removed was assessed by Cronbach alpha. The response rate was 99.2%. Majority of participants were males (n = 646,62.4%) in the age category of 41-60 (n = 530; 51.2%). Most were in either stage 4 or 5 of CKD (n = 646,75.1%). The summary measures of SF-36, positively and significantly correlated with the EQ-5D-3L index and VAS scores (p<0.001). EQ-5D-3L QOL scores were significantly different between the group with depression and without as measured by CES-D-20 (p<0.001). Assessed using GHQ-12, similar significance was detected between the group with psychological distress and without (p<0.001). The Cronbach alpha was 0.834 and when each item was removed, ranged from 0.782 to 0.832. EQ-5D-3L is a valid generic QOL tool with satisfactory internal consistency to be used among CKD patients in the pre-dialysis stage.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21748169,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"2,5-cis-2,3,5-Trisubstituted tetrahydrofurans from the diastereomixture of 2,4-disubstituted 1,3-dioxepins via stereomutation.\nA diastereoselective ring contraction of the diastereomixture of 2,4-disubstituted 1,3-dioxepins to 2,5-cis-2,3,5-trisubstituted tetrahydrofurans was achieved using TfOH in DMF. The reaction appears to proceed via a chair-like transition state, in which stereomutation of the oxocarbenium occurred, followed by an aldol-type cyclization.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1695169,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A case of erythrophagocytic T4 lymphoma. Immunological and morphological peculiarities.\nOne case of T-cell lymphoma with atypical malignant cells is reported. Some of the clinical features, morphological characteristics and functional activity (erythrophagocytosis) of malignant cells suggested malignant histiocytosis. The malignant disease started with splenomegaly and developed with hepatomegaly, bone marrow infiltration, discrete lymphadenopathy and leukaemic picture. Proliferated cells were characterized by ambiguity. In addition to phagocytic capability, presence of complement receptors and ultrastructural features proper to the macrophagic lineage, the cells expressed T-cell determinants (E receptors, T3, T4 and T11 antigens) and were peroxidase and esterase-negative. Erythrocytes were partially or completely dehaemoglobinized and presented the phenomenon of autolysis in different stages of development. Because this lymphoma is difficult to diagnose and apparently resistant to therapy, its recognition and further study are warranted.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35356229,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Case Report: Management of Recurrent Ovarian Squamous Cell Carcinoma With PD-1 Inhibitor.\nMalignant transformations, such as ovarian squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in ovarian mature cystic teratoma (OMCT), are rare tumors. The management of recurrent disease is still a challenge, and the gene mutations involved remain unclear. We herein report a recurrent case of ovarian SCC with a PIK3CA gene variation and immunohistochemical staining of programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) >10%. This patient achieved clinical remission after platinum-based effective chemotherapy and programmed death 1 (PD-1) immunotherapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22690235,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-10":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Association of IL28B SNP With Progression of Egyptian HCV Genotype 4 Patients to End Stage Liver Disease.\nIL28B single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) play important roles in the management of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections and are strongly associated with spontaneous and treatment-induced HCV clearance. In the present study, the association between IL28B variants and the progression of HCV infection in Egyptian patients infected with type 4a virus will be examined. Frequencies of the protective genotype C\/C of SNP, rs12979860 were determined in healthy subjects, spontaneous resolvers, and chronic HCV type 4 patients with low F scores and in patients with end stage liver disease (ESLD). This study included a total of 404 subjects. Patients infected with HCV type 4a (n = 304) were divided into; chronic hepatitis C (CHC) with low F scores (CHC, n = 110), end stage liver disease (n = 110), liver cirrhosis (LC) (n = 35) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients (n = 75), spontaneous resolvers of HCV infection (n = 84) were also included. A healthy group representing the Egyptian population (n = 100) was also included in the genotyping of IL28B. The later was typed via a polymerase chain reaction based restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) assay analysis on purified genomic DNA extracted from all individuals. A significant increase (P < 0.0005) was observed in frequencies of IL-28B rs12979860 C\/C genotypes in the healthy population, than in the CHC, LC and HCC groups (C\/C = 48%, 13%, 0%.and 0% respectively). On the other hand the C\/C genotype was significantly higher (P < 0.0005) in spontaneous resolvers than in healthy subjects. A comparable significant increase in the frequency of C\/T allele accompanied by mild elevation of T\/T allele frequency, were detected along the progression towards ESLD. Genotype C\/C is associated with viral clearance during acute infection. The sharp decline in the C\/C genotype from healthy to CHC subjects and the total absence of the C\/C genotype in ESLD suggests a central role of this genotype against HCV disease progression.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19029607,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Injectable bioactive calcium-magnesium phosphate cement for bone regeneration.\nNovel injectable and degradable calcium-magnesium phosphate cement (CMPC) with rapid-setting characteristic was developed by the introduction of magnesium phosphate cement (MPC) into calcium phosphate cement (CPC). The calcium-magnesium phosphate cement prepared under the optimum P\/L ratio exhibited good injectability and desired workability. It could set within 10 min at 37 degrees C in 100% relative humidity and the compressive strength could reach 47 MPa after setting for 48 h, indicating that the prepared cement has relatively high initial mechanical strength. The results of in vitro degradation experiments demonstrated the good degradability of the injectable CMPC, and its degradation rate occurred significantly faster than that of pure CPC in simulated body fluid (SBF) solution. It can be concluded that the novel injectable calcium-magnesium phosphate cement is highly promising for a wide variety of clinical applications, especially for the development of minimally invasive techniques.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18581363,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2017-13":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"NMR probes for measuring magnetic fields and field dynamics in MR systems.\nHigh-resolution magnetic field probes based on pulsed liquid-state NMR are presented. Static field measurements with an error of 10 nanotesla or less at 3 tesla are readily obtained in 100 ms. The further ability to measure dynamic magnetic fields results from using small ( approximately 1 microL) droplets of MR-active liquid surrounded by susceptibility-matched materials. The consequent high field homogeneity allows free induction decay signals lasting 100 ms or more to be readily achieved. The small droplet dimensions allow the magnetic field to be measured even in the presence of large gradients. Highly sensitive detection yields sufficient SNR to follow the relevant field evolution without signal averaging and at bandwidths up to hundreds of kHz. Transient, nonreproducible effects and drifts are thus readily monitored. The typical application of k-space trajectory mapping has been demonstrated. Potential further applications include characterization, tuning, and maintenance of gradient systems as well as the mapping of the static field distribution of MRI magnets. Connection of the probes to a standard MR spectrometer is similar to that used for imaging coils.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23437308,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2014-10":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Association between a novel mutation in SLC20A2 and familial idiopathic basal ganglia calcification.\nFamilial idiopathic basal ganglia calcification (FIBGC) is a rare, autosomal dominant disorder involving bilateral calcification of the basal ganglia. To identify gene mutations related to a Chinese FIBGC lineage, we evaluated available individuals in the family using CT scans. DNA was extracted from the peripheral blood of available family members, and both exonic and flanking intronic sequences of the SLC20A2 gene were amplified by PCR and then sequenced. Non-denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) was used to confirm the presence of mutations. Allele imbalances of the SLC20A2 gene or relative quantity of SLC20A2 transcripts were evaluated using qRT-PCR. A novel heterozygous single base-pair deletion (c.510delA) within the SLC20A2 gene was identified. This deletion mutation was found to co-segregate with basal ganglia calcification in all of the affected family members but was not detected in unaffected individuals or in 167 unrelated Han Chinese controls. The mutation will cause a frameshift, producing a truncated SLC20A2 protein with a premature termination codon, most likely leading to the complete loss of function of the SLC20A2 protein. This mutation may also lead to a reduction in SLC20A2 mRNA expression by approximately 30% in cells from affected individuals. In conclusion, we identified a novel mutation in SLC20A2 that is linked to FIBGC. In addition to the loss of function at the protein level, decreasing the expression of SLC20A2 mRNA may be another mechanism that can regulate SLC20A2 function in IBGC individuals. We propose that the regional expression pattern of SLC20A1 and SLC20A2 might explain the unique calcification pattern observed in FIBGC patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34426468,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Oral health assessment of older adults living in long-term care facilities by non-dental professionals: a systematic review protocol of instruments.\nRegular oral health assessment among older adults living in long-term care facilities (LTCF) can improve their oral health. Different instruments have been developed and used to evaluate the oral health of institutionalised older people by non-dental professionals. These instruments must demonstrate adequate measurement properties. This systematic review aims to examine the studies describing the instruments employed to assess the oral health of older adults living in LTCF by non-dental professionals. The study will also evaluate the measurement properties of such instruments using the checklist proposed by the Consensus-based Standards to select health Measurement Instruments (COSMIN). Studies describing the development of instruments for assessing oral health of institutionalised older adults by non-dental professionals will be included. Studies assessing at least one measurement property (validity, reliability or responsiveness) will be also considered. Electronic searches will be conducted on MEDLINE (PubMed, Ovid), Embase, Web of Science, Scopus and LILACS databases. Two independent reviewers will select the studies and will extract data concerning the characteristics of the research and the instrument. The measurement properties will be evaluated using the COSMIN checklist. The Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach will be used to grade the quality (or certainty) of evidence and strength of recommendations. No ethical approval is required. The results will be submitted for publication to a peer-review journal and presented at relevant conferences. CRD42020191479.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1690803,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Phenotypic characterization of lymphocytes infiltrating synovial tissue from patients with rheumatoid arthritis: analysis of lymphocytes isolated from minced synovial tissue by dual immunofluorescent staining.\nThe phenotypic markers of mononuclear cells in synovial tissue from 19 patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were identified by a dual immunofluorescent method. The mononuclear cells were isolated from synovial tissue by mechanical disaggregation and an enzymatic digestion technique. The results revealed a marked reduction in CD4+2H4+ cells (suppressor inducer T cells) and an increment in CD4+4B4+ cells (helper T cells) among CD4+ cells in synovial tissue. The percentage of CD8+CD11b+ cells (suppressor effector T cells) was significantly lower in synovial tissue than in peripheral blood from patients with RA, resulting in an increased percentage of CD8+CD11b-- cells (cytotoxic T cells). The synovial tissue had higher percentages of pan B cells (B1+ cells), differentiated B cells (B1+B2-- cells) and plasma cells (PCA-1+ cells). These findings suggest that a combination of the increment in helper T cells, the reduction in suppressor T cells, and the increment in differentiated B cells may lead to excessive production of autoantibodies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1688190,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[The biochemical profile of calves' liver in the course of diarrhea during the first 10 days of life].\nThe total protein and total bilirubin levels as well as the GOT, GPT, alkaline phosphatase, GGTP and beta-glucuronidase activity in the blood serum and faeces from 121 diarrhoeic, Friesian-Holstein calves, aged from 1 to 10 days were investigated. As a control the results obtained in the previous investigations were used. Simultaneously the microbiological and histopathological examinations were performed. The changes of certain parameters in the blood serum, in the first 10 days of life, were parallel in both healthy and sick animals. The increase in alkaline phosphatase, GOT and GPT activity in calves with diarrhoea was observed. These changes may suggest the liver function damage during the neonatal calf diarrhoea. The decrease in GGTP activity, in the light of relationship between this enzyme and alkaline phosphatase activity, indicate the disturbances in intestinal absorption of colostral fraction of GGTP. The activity of beta-glucuronidase may be the sensitive index of liver function and indicate the range and the intensity of necrotic and\/or dystrophic lesions. The activity of GOT and GPT in the faeces may be used as an indicator of liver function in the calves with diarrhoea while the additional investigations to explain the relationship between alkaline phosphatase, GGTP and beta-glucuronidase activity in faeces and intestinal lesions are needed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37468200,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Perioperative considerations of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex deficiency: a case report of two consecutive anesthesia.\nPyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDHC) deficiency is a rare mitochondrial disorder caused by a genetic mutation affecting the activity of the PDHC enzyme, which plays a major role in the tricarboxylic cycle. Few cases of surgery or anesthesia have been reported. Moreover, there is no recommended anesthetic method. A 24-month-old child with a PDHC deficiency presented to the emergency room with respiratory failure, mental decline, systemic cyanosis, and lactic acidosis. During hospitalization period, the patient presented with pneumothorax, pneumoperitoneum, and multiple air pockets in the heart. Two surgeries were performed under general anesthesia using an inhalational anesthetic agent. The patient was discharged with home ventilation. Anesthesiologists should be wary of multiple factors when administering anesthesia to patients with PDHC deficiency, including airway abnormalities, acid-base imbalance, intraoperative fluid management, selection of appropriate anesthetics, and monitoring of lactic acid levels.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1687106,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Brugia malayi and Acanthocheilonema viteae: antifilarial activity of transglutaminase inhibitors in vitro.\nThe possible involvement of transglutaminase-catalyzed reactions in survival of adult worms, microfilariae (mf), and infective larvae of the filarial parasite Brugia malayi was studied in vitro by using the specific pseudosubstrate monodansylcadaverine (MDC) and the active-site inhibitors cystamine or iodoacetamide. These inhibitors significantly inhibited parasite mobility in a dose-dependent manner. This inhibition was associated with irreversible biochemical lesions followed by filarial death. A structurally related, inactive analog of MDC, dimethyldansylcadaverine, did not affect the mobility or survival of the parasites. Adult worms failed to release mf when they were incubated in the presence of MDC or cystamine, and this inhibitory effect on mf release was concentration dependent. Similar embryostatic and macrofilaricidal effects of MDC were observed in Acanthocheilonema viteae adult worms. These studies suggest that transglutaminase-catalyzed reactions may play an important role in the growth, development, and survival of filarial parasites.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28705297,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"The Diagnosis and Treatment of Behavioral Disorders in Dementia.\nBehavioral disorders such as aggressiveness, agitation, delusions, disinhibition, affect lability, and apathy arise in more than 90% of patients with dementia. Behavioral disorders are a major challenge and the greatest stress factor in everyday life for nursing personnel and for family members caring for the patient. This review is based on relevant publications retrieved by a selective literature search in the PubMed, Cochrane Library, and German S3 guideline databases with the search terms \"behavioral disorders,\" \"non-cognitive disorders,\" and \"challenging behavior,\" in conjunction with \"dementia\" and \"behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia.\" Behavioral disorders regularly accompany dementing illness and have identifiable and treatable somatic and environment-related causes. They should be treated symptomatically, both with non-pharmacological measures and with drugs. Memory therapy (d = 0.47), ergotherapy (d = 0.72), music therapy (d = 0.62), and physical exercise (d = 0.68) are effective, as are antidementia drugs (galantamine: p = 0.04, donepezil: p = 0.01, rivastigmine: p = 0.02, memantine: p = 0.004). Risperidone is the drug of choice to combat agitation and aggressiveness (d = 0.33) as well as dementia and hallucinations (d = 0.5). Citalopram can be recommended for the treatment of depression in patients with dementia (p = 0.05). Because of an improved evidence base, the latest version of the German S3 guideline on the diagnosis and treatment of dementia places greater emphasis on non-pharmacological treatments for behavioral disorders in dementia than it did in the past. The global efficacy of such treatments against behavioral disorders is well documented. Nonetheless, because of the heterogeneity of interventions and varying standards of assessment, the evidence for the utility of certain specific methods in the treatment of specific behavioral disorders is still limited. More research is needed in this area.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28703747,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Prostate Cancer Cells Resistant to Docetaxel as in vitro Model for Discovering MicroRNAs Predictive of the Onset of Docetaxel Resistance.\nOn the grounds that miRNAs present in the blood of prostate cancer (PCa) patients are released in the growth medium by PCa cells, it is conceivable that PCa cells resistant to docetaxel (DCT) (DCTR) will release miRNAs that may be found in PCa patients under DCT therapy if resistant PCa cells appear. We isolated DCTR clones respectively from 22Rv1 and DU-145 PCa cell lines and performed through next-generation sequencing (NGS) the miRNAs profiles of the released miRNAs. The analysis of the NGS data identified 105 and 1 miRNAs which were differentially released in the growth medium of the 22Rv1\/DCTR and DU-145\/DCTR clones, respectively. Using additional filters, we selected 12 and 1 miRNA more released by all 22Rv1\/DCTR and DU-145\/DCTR clones, respectively. Moreover, we showed that 6 of them were more represented in the growth medium of the DCTR cells than the ones of DCT-treated cells. We speculated that they have the pre-requisite to be tested as predictive biomarkers of the DCT resistance in PCa patients under DCT therapy. We propose the utilization of clones resistant to a given drug as in vitro model to identify the differentially released miRNAs, which in perspective could be tested as predictive biomarkers of drug resistance in tumor patients under therapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8347978,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Late presentation of infection as a complication of Dwyer anterior spinal instrumentation.\nDelayed presentation of infection is a rare complication of anterior instrumentation and fusion for scoliosis. Three cases that followed the Dwyer procedure are reported. Pain was absent in these patients, but mild constitutional symptoms were present. An elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) is an important indicator of this complication. Two patients developed groin abscesses and sinuses as the hallmark of deep infection. Infection resolved after removal of instrumentation and local debridement.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27483130,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Acute and Long-Term Cardiovascular Effects of Stimulant, Guanfacine, and Combination Therapy for Attention-Deficit\/Hyperactivity Disorder.\nThis study examines cardiovascular (CV) effects of guanfacine immediate-release (GUAN-IR), dexmethylphenidate extended-release (DMPH), and their combination (COMB) during acute and long-term treatment of youth with attention-deficit\/hyperactivity disorder. Two hundred seven participants aged 7-14 years enrolled in an 8-week double-blind randomized trial of GUAN-IR (1-3 milligrams (mg)\/day), DMPH (5-20 mg\/day), or COMB with fixed-flexible dosing and titrated to optimal behavioral response. Heart rate, systolic blood pressure (BP), diastolic BP, and electrocardiograms were assessed at baseline, end of blinded optimization, and over a 1-year open-label maintenance phase. During acute titration, GUAN-IR decreased heart rate, systolic BP, and diastolic BP; DMPH increased heart rate, systolic BP, diastolic BP, and corrected QT (QTc) interval; COMB increased diastolic BP, but had no effects on heart rate, systolic BP, or QTc. During maintenance, GUAN-IR-associated decreases in heart rate and DMPH-associated increases in systolic BP returned to baseline values. Other variables across the three groups remained unchanged from the end of blinded titration. There were no discontinuations due to CV adverse events. GUAN-IR, DMPH, and COMB were well tolerated and safe. Expected changes in CV parameters during acute titration were seen in GUAN-IR and DMPH groups, with COMB values falling intermediately between the two other treatment groups. No serious CV events occurred in any participant. GUAN-IR- and DMPH-associated CV changes generally returned to baseline with sustained therapy. These data suggest that COMB treatment might attenuate long-term CV effects of GUAN-IR and stimulant monotherapy, possibly reducing risk of the small but statistically significant changes associated with either single treatment. Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00429273.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28271522,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The limits of intensive feeding: maternal foodwork at the intersections of race, class, and gender.\nDespite experiencing numerous barriers, mothers today confront increasing social pressure to embody perfection through their foodwork. A growing body of social science research identifies how gender and class inequality shape women's perceptions of food and their feeding strategies, but this research is thus far limited in its understanding of the roles that race and ethnic identity play in a mother's food landscape. Drawing on 60 in-depth interviews with a racially and economically diverse group of mothers, this paper examines how feeding young children is intertwined with contemporary ideas about child health as well as women's efforts to negotiate race, class, and gender hierarchies. Extending Hays' concept of intensive mothering, rich descriptions of feeding children reveal how mothers in this study are discursively engaged with what I call an 'intensive feeding ideology' - the widespread belief that good mothering is synonymous with intensive food labour. Drawing on intersectional theory, this article discusses the limits of an intensive feeding ideology, particularly for poor and middle-class mothers of colour. The findings contribute to an understanding of how power relations are embedded within food ideologies and how mothers of young children attempt to negotiate them.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22677937,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Layer-stacked tin disulfide nanorods in silica nanoreactors with improved lithium storage capabilities.\nA new structure of layered materials, layer-stacked nanorod, has been fabricated through an entirely new template-engaged structural transformation methodology. The formation of layer-stacked hexagonal tin disulfide (SnS(2)) nanorods has been demonstrated as an example by using tetragonal tin (Sn) nanorods as sacrificing templates and silica (SiO(2)) as nanoreactors. In addition, the structural transformation process probably involves the formation of orthorhombic tin sulfide (SnS) nanorods as an intermediate product. The rod-like morphology and single-crystal feature of the Sn templates are well preserved in both SnS(2) and SnS products due to the nanoscale confinement in silica. Owing to its unique structural characteristics, the SnS(2)-SiO(2) nanorod anode exhibits excellent capacity retention and improved rate capability, facilitating its application in lithium ion batteries with long cycle life and high power density.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9549495,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Human cerebral activity evoked by motion reversal and motion onset. A PET study.\nIn this PET study, we have investigated the human brain activity evoked by a visual motion paradigm commonly used to measure motion-related visual evoked potentials (VEPs). Because standard PET activation studies have been performed with motion along four axes, we first determined the pattern of brain activation when motion was restricted to a single axis. Motion back and forward along a single horizontal axis compared with a static condition revealed weak differential activations in the cuneus and the parietal cortex. Human area MT\/V5 (middle temporal area) was hardly activated at all in this subtraction. Additional functional MRI experiments proved that MT\/V5 activity is significantly higher for motion along four axes than for motion along a single axis. Secondly, we attempted to isolate the pattern of brain activity related to the reversal of motion direction and to the onset of motion, i.e. two transient motion components commonly used in measuring motion-related VEPs. To that end, we added a continuous linear contrast modulation, that reached maximum contrast at reversal or onset of motion, and compared both conditions with a contrast-modulated static or continuous motion condition. Subtraction of the static random dot pattern condition from the single-axis motion reversal condition, both contrast-modulated, revealed three significant activations: the anterior parieto-occipital sulcus, the lateral sulcus and the anterior claustrum. Additional analysis showed that these activations were not due to motion appearance or disappearance, but were due to the combination of motion reversal and contrast modulation. Hence, these activations do not reflect the motion reversal transient per se. In order to isolate a metabolic response to the reversal transient per se, we used a conjunction analysis, which suggests that activity in human MT\/V5, the cuneus and a parietal insular region could underlie the motion reversal VEP in our experiments. Subtraction of the static random dot pattern condition from the single-axis motion onset condition, both contrast-modulated, revealed a single significant activation in the posterior cingulate cortex. Although the significance of this activation is unclear, it adds further evidence for the visual function of this region.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26443479,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Who Wrote This Clinical Practice Guideline?\nThe American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation clinical practice guidelines address a variety of otolaryngologic diseases and\/or procedures. It may seem reasonable to create these guidelines by assembling a team of expert clinicians familiar with the pertinent clinical issues and the available evidence, with debate and eventual agreement leading to recommendations. However, trustworthy clinical practice guidelines are in fact created via a defined process to assemble a guideline development group composed of diverse stakeholders: clinician generalists and specialists, content experts, methodologists, physicians and nonphysicians, patients, and advocates. Such a guideline development group can create a valuable and trusted guideline for clinicians and affected patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12019601,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Winter-annual pasture as a supplement for beef cows.\nIn each of two experiments, 120 pregnant beef cows were stratified by body condition score, BW, breed, and age, randomly divided into six groups of 20, and assigned to one of six 5.1-ha bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon [L.] Pers.) pastures (two replicates\/ treatment) in early January to evaluate the use of winter-annual pasture as a supplement. All cows in Exp. 1 and 2 had ad libitum access to bermudagrass\/dallisgrass (Paspalum dilatatum Poir.) hay plus three treatments: 1) a concentrate-based supplement fed 3 d\/wk, 2) limit grazing on winter-annual pasture 2 d\/wk (7 hr\/ d; 0.04 ha x cow(-1) x grazing d(-1)), or 3) limit grazing on winter-annual pasture 3 d\/wk (7 hr\/d; 0.04 ha x cow(-1) x grazing d(-1)) sod-seeded into a portion of the pasture until mid-May. The seeded portion of pastures in Exp. 1 was planted with a mixture of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and rye (Secale cereale L.), but annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) was added to the seed mixture in Exp. 2. In mid-May, cows were blocked by treatment and the previous sorting factors, randomly assigned to six new groups of 20, and placed on the six perennial pastures until calves were weaned. Groups of cows were exposed to a bull for 60 d beginning in mid-May. In Exp. 1 and 2, limit-grazing winter-annual pasture compared to the concentrate-based supplement or limit grazing 2 vs 3 d\/wk did not affect (P > 0.15) cow BW. In Exp. 1, cows limit grazed on winter-annual pasture had a lower (P = 0.05) body condition score than cows fed the concentrate-based supplement in the early spring. However, in Exp. 2, cows limit grazed on winter-annual pasture had higher (P < or = 0.07) body condition score than cows fed the concentrate-based supplement. The conception rate of cows in Exp. 1 and 2 did not differ (P > 0.22) between cows fed concentrate-based supplements and cows limit grazed on winter-annual pasture. In Exp. 2, cows limit grazed 2 d\/wk tended to have a greater (P = 0.10) conception rate than cows limit grazed 3 d\/wk. In Exp. 1 and 2, birth weight, total gain, BW, and ADG of calves were not affected (P > 0.15) by treatment. We conclude that wheat and rye pasture is a marginal supplement for lactating beef cows. However, cows limit grazed 2 d\/wk on winter-annual pasture of wheat, rye, and annual ryegrass as a supplement maintained BW and body condition score as well as cows fed the concentrate-based supplement. But, grazing pasture 3 vs 2 d\/wk did not seem to affect performance of cows.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23450041,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"How to help the oral pathologist in making an accurate diagnosis.\nA biopsy is a valuable diagnostic tool in clinics. In this procedure, the sample tissue is obtained in order to study its structure both macro and microscopically, thus making it possible to establish a final diagnosis. Some clinicians are surprised and disappointed when the report from the oral pathologist comes as \"not from the representative area and \"inadequate specimen size\", instead of a final diagnosis. To avoid such disappointments and to make the best utilization of the skills of the oral pathologist, certain ideas have been suggested. Right from the history taking to the clinical examination to the operative findings, the clinician can pave the way to a conclusive histopathological diagnosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34241411,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Controlled syngas production by electrocatalytic CO2 reduction on formulated Au25(SR)18 and PtAu24(SR)18 nanoclusters.\nSyngas, a gaseous mixture of CO and H2, is a critical industrial feedstock for producing bulk chemicals and synthetic fuels, and its production via direct CO2 electroreduction in aqueous media constitutes an important step toward carbon-negative technologies. Herein, we report controlled syngas production with various H2\/CO ratios via the electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) on specifically formulated Au25 and PtAu24 nanoclusters (NCs) with core-atom-controlled selectivities. While CO was predominantly produced from the CO2RR on the Au NCs, H2 production was favored on the PtAu24 NCs. Density functional theory calculations of the free energy profiles for the CO2RR and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) indicated that the reaction energy for the conversion of CO2 to CO was much lower than that for the HER on the Au25 NC. In contrast, the energy profiles calculated for the HER indicated that the PtAu24 NCs have nearly thermoneutral binding properties; thus, H2 production is favored over CO formation. Based on the distinctly different catalytic selectivities of Au25 and PtAu24 NCs, controlled syngas production with H2\/CO ratios of 1 to 4 was demonstrated at a constant applied potential by simply mixing the Au25 and PtAu24 NCs based on their intrinsic catalytic activities for the production of CO and H2.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20380584,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Antibody effector mechanisms in myasthenia gravis-pathogenesis at the neuromuscular junction.\nMyasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune disorder caused by autoantibodies that are either directed to the muscle nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (AChR) or to the muscle-specific tyrosine kinase (MuSK). These autoantibodies define two distinct subforms of the disease-AChR-MG and MuSK-MG. Both AChR and MuSK are expressed on the postsynaptic membrane of the neuromuscular junction (NMJ), which is a highly specialized region of the muscle dedicated to receive and process signals from the motor nerve. Autoantibody binding to proteins of the postsynaptic membrane leads to impaired neuromuscular transmission and muscle weakness. Pro-inflammatory antibodies of the human IgG1 and IgG3 subclass modulate the AChR, cause complement activation, and attract lymphocytes; together acting to decrease levels of the AChR and AChR-associated proteins and to reduce postsynaptic folding. In patients with anti-MuSK antibodies, there is no evidence of loss of junctional folds and no apparent loss of AChR density. Anti-MuSK antibodies are predominantly of the IgG4 isotype, which functionally differs from other IgG subclasses in its anti-inflammatory activity. Moreover, IgG4 undergoes a posttranslational modification termed Fab arm exchange that prevents cross-linking of antigens. These findings suggest that MuSK-MG may be different in etiological and pathological mechanisms from AChR-MG. The effector functions of IgG subclasses on synapse structure and function are discussed in this review.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":2787396,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"SPECT perfusion imaging with 123I-HIPDM in a patient with pulmonary embolism.\nThe use of 123I-N,N,N'trimethyl-N'-2-hydroxy-3-methyl-5-iodobenzyl-1,3-propanediami ne (123I-HIPDM) as a lung perfusion tracer in a patient with pulmonary embolism is shown. 123I-HIPDM is compared with 99mTc-labeled human albumin microspheres (HAM) using both planar and tomographic (SPECT) imaging. Pulmonary segmental defects are shown by 123I-HIPDM as well as by HAM, with a slightly better definition of perfused areas. Tomograms better show segmental shape of perfusion defects. 123I-HIPDM may be proposed as lung perfusion tracer for both clinical and experimental purposes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27273474,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Abnormal reward circuitry in anorexia nervosa: A longitudinal, multimodal MRI study.\nAnorexia nervosa (AN) is a debilitating illness and existing interventions are only modestly effective. This study aimed to determine whether AN pathophysiology is associated with altered connections within fronto-accumbal circuitry subserving reward processing. Diffusion and resting-state functional MRI scans were collected in female inpatients with AN (n = 22) and healthy controls (HC; n = 18) between the ages of 16 and 25 years. Individuals with AN were scanned during the acute, underweight phase of the illness and again following inpatient weight restoration. HC were scanned twice over the same timeframe. Based on univariate and multivariate analyses of fronto-accumbal circuitry, underweight individuals with AN were found to have increased structural connectivity (diffusion probabilistic tractography), increased white matter anisotropy (tract-based spatial statistics), increased functional connectivity (seed-based correlation in resting-state fMRI), and altered effective connectivity (spectral dynamic causal modeling). Following weight restoration, fronto-accumbal structural connectivity continued to be abnormally increased bilaterally with large (partial \u03b72 = 0.387; right NAcc-OFC) and moderate (partial \u03b72 = 0.197; left NAcc-OFC) effect sizes. Increased structural connectivity within fronto-accumbal circuitry in the underweight state correlated with severity of eating disorder symptoms. Taken together, the findings from this longitudinal, multimodal neuroimaging study offer converging evidence of atypical fronto-accumbal circuitry in AN. Hum Brain Mapp 37:3835-3846, 2016. \u00a9 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29389817,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Early myocardial surgical revascularization after ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction in multivessel coronary disease: bridge therapy is the solution?\nMany ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients have a multivessel disease that initially require percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of the culprit vessel but subsequently may require coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) of nonculprit vessels. Evidence supports staged revascularization, but the identification of optimal strategies (percutaneous or surgical), the timing and the management of antiplatelet therapy after recent PCI with stenting are matters of great controversies. In our retrospective registry, we have enrolled 21 patients presenting with STEMI and multivessel disease, who underwent PCI of the culprit vessel only and then CABG of nonculprit vessels. Demographic, clinical, echocardiographic, angiographic findings, preoperative score, surgical data and postoperative complications were collected. At 21.6 \u00b1 15.6 months follow-up death, reinfarction and\/or cardiovascular and noncardiovascular events were recorded. Patients were 62 \u00b1 9 years old and had in the most cases a good ejection fraction. At angiography, the culprit lesion was right coronary artery in 16 patients (76%). Angiographic characteristics excluded a staged PCI (SYNTAX score = 31.6 \u00b1 7.4) and European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation II resulted low (1.46 \u00b1 1.01). Following the indication to cardiac surgery after Heart Team discussion, the withdrawal of oral P2Y12 inhibitor was planned and tirofiban intravenous was started. Off-pump CABG was performed after 7.2 \u00b1 3.2 days. No death, reinfarction and\/or cardiovascular and noncardiovascular events occurred at follow-up. We can conclude that a careful preoperative selection is mandatory for a good postoperative course and long-term survival and that early-staged CABG can, however, be performed using bridge therapy, also after STEMI.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7947685,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A model structure of the muscle protein complex 4Ca2+.troponin C.troponin I derived from small-angle scattering data: implications for regulation.\nWe report here a model structure for 4Ca2+.troponin C.troponin I derived from small-angle X-ray and neutron scattering data using a Monte Carlo modeling method. In this model, troponin I appears as a spiral structure that wraps around 4Ca2+.troponin C which adopts an extended dumbbell conformation similar to that observed in the crystal structures of troponin C. The troponin I spiral has the approximate dimensions of an alpha-helix and winds through the hydrophobic \"cups\" in each globular domain of troponin C. The model is consistent with a body of previously published biochemical data on the interactions between troponin C and troponin I, and suggests the molecular mechanism for the Ca(2+)-sensitive switch that regulates the muscle contraction\/relaxation cycle involves a signal transmitted via the central spiral region of troponin I.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18596130,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Monoclonal immunoglobulin deposition disease associated with membranous features.\nVery few cases of non-organized and non-Randall-type monoclonal immunoglobulin deposition disease (MIDD) associated with membranous features have been reported. Information on clinicopathological features and prognosis in this entity is limited. We reviewed 5443 renal biopsies processed at our department, and identified three patients with MIDD associated with membranous features. We evaluated clinicopathological features and outcomes in these patients. All patients had proteinuria, and one patient developed nephrotic syndrome. Renal insufficiency was not observed. Cryoglobulin or monoclonal protein in serum and urine was not detected. A renal biopsy showed thickening of the glomerular capillary walls and spike formation. Tubulointerstitial and vascular alterations were mild or absent. Immunofluorescence studies revealed granular IgG3-kappa deposits in two patients and IgG1-kappa deposits in one patient, along the glomerular capillary walls. Immunofluorescence studies using antibodies specific for gamma-heavy chain Fab containing C(H)1 domain, C(H)2 domain and C(H)3 domain did not show any apparent deletion. On confocal microscopy, glomerular colocalization of light and heavy chains was observed. Electron microscopy showed predominant subepithelial granular deposits without distinct ultrastructural organization. All patients were treated with steroids, and good effects were observed. A follow-up renal biopsy performed in one patient showed histological improvements. No patient developed myeloma or other haematological malignancy during the course of follow-up (mean 44 months). MIDD associated with membranous features is an extremely rare but distinctive entity. Our study suggests glomerular deposition of a nondeleted whole immunoglobulin molecule. Patients with this entity appear to respond well to steroid therapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35370135,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Efficacy of the Cervical Vertebral Maturation Method: A Systematic Review.\nThe present systematic review was carried out to evaluate both qualitatively and quantitatively the effectiveness of the cervical vertebral maturation (CVM) method in predicting the pubertal growth spurt. PubMed, PMC, Scopus, SciELO, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), and Web of Science databases were searched. The research included every article published from 1970 to June 2019, featuring the keywords: (\"cervical vertebrae\" OR (\"cervical\" AND \"vertebrae\") AND (\"orthodontics\" OR \"growth and development\" OR (\"growth\" AND \"development\") OR (\"growth\"). The Preferred Reporting Items for Reporting Systematic Reviews and Meta Analyses (PRISMA) protocol was adopted, and quality assessments modified from the \"Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology\" (STROBE) and the \"Standards for the Reporting of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies\" (STARD) were performed to conduct this systematic review. Initially, 1284 articles were found. All the articles were then examined, and 43 studies met the inclusion criteria. Sixteen articles had low-quality scores, 25 had moderate scores, and 2 had high scores. The results showed a moderate to high statistically significant correlation between the CVM and other maturation methods. Overall, the CVM method can be considered an effective method and may be used with other skeletal indices for the radiographic assessment of skeletal maturity, and also to identify the growth peak in growing patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25401119,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dynamic Treatment Regimes.\nA dynamic treatment regime consists of a sequence of decision rules, one per stage of intervention, that dictate how to individualize treatments to patients based on evolving treatment and covariate history. These regimes are particularly useful for managing chronic disorders, and fit well into the larger paradigm of personalized medicine. They provide one way to operationalize a clinical decision support system. Statistics plays a key role in the construction of evidence-based dynamic treatment regimes - informing best study design as well as efficient estimation and valid inference. Due to the many novel methodological challenges it offers, this area has been growing in popularity among statisticians in recent years. In this article, we review the key developments in this exciting field of research. In particular, we discuss the sequential multiple assignment randomized trial designs, estimation techniques like Q-learning and marginal structural models, and several inference techniques designed to address the associated non-standard asymptotics. We reference software, whenever available. We also outline some important future directions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29384303,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"[Overlapping, interdependence or complementarity, interprofessional collaboration between nurse practitioners and other health professionals in Ontario].\nThe Naylor Report (2015) states that nurse practitioners (NP) are still underutilized in Canada despite positive evidence of their work and the benefits they provide to health systems and, more generally, the health of the population. Why are nurse practitioners not more actively involved in the Canadian health care system? A socio-historical literature review showed that there is overlap, interdependence or complementarity between the role of NPs and that of other health professionals and that this concerns their status, training as well as the scope of their practice. The development of an interprofessional collaborative approach, although supported by most professional nursing associations in Canada, is difficult to establish in NP practice and training. This article describes the emergence of the role of NPs in Canada and provides an update on the current status of their integration in the health system with reference to the Ontario example. It provides insight into the overlap and zones of complementarity or interdependence between NPs and other health professionals. In conclusion, the authors call for improved governance by the contribution of a new collaborative contract with other health professionals. This contract should be based on the interdependence of practices and the complementarity of roles between all health professionals including NPs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17179390,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Overexpression of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I in skeletal muscle in vivo increases fatty acid oxidation and reduces triacylglycerol esterification.\nA key regulatory point in the control of fatty acid (FA) oxidation is thought to be transport of FAs across the mitochondrial membrane by carnitine palmitoyltransferase I (CPT I). To investigate the role of CPT I in FA metabolism, we used in vivo electrotransfer (IVE) to locally overexpress CPT I in muscle of rodents. A vector expressing the human muscle isoform of CPT I was electrotransferred into the right lateral muscles of the distal hindlimb [tibialis cranialis (TC) and extensor digitorum longus (EDL)] of rats, and a control vector expressing GFP was electrotransferred into the left muscles. Initial studies showed that CPT I protein expression peaked 7 days after IVE (+104%, P<0.01). This was associated with an increase in maximal CPT I activity (+30%, P < 0.001) and a similar increase in palmitoyl-CoA oxidation (+24%; P<0.001) in isolated mitochondria from the TC. Importantly, oxidation of the medium-chain FA octanoyl-CoA and CPT I sensitivity to inhibition by malonyl-CoA were not altered by CPT I overexpression. FA oxidation in isolated EDL muscle strips was increased with CPT I overexpression (+28%, P<0.01), whereas FA incorporation into the muscle triacylglycerol (TAG) pool was reduced (-17%, P<0.01). As a result, intramyocellular TAG content was decreased with CPT I overexpression in both the TC (-25%, P<0.05) and the EDL (-45%, P<0.05). These studies demonstrate that acute overexpression of CPT I in muscle leads to a repartitioning of FAs away from esterification and toward oxidation and highlight the importance of CPT I in regulating muscle FA metabolism.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3083316,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"The immune response in a dog to Encephalitozoon cuniculi infection.\nThe immune response to Encephalitozoon cuniculi infection in a dog was investigated by means of the indirect fluorescent antibody test, the leucocyte migration inhibition test and the radial immunodiffusion test for serum IgG and IgM levels. Specific antibodies were detected within 7 days of infection and they persisted for 370 days. A cell-mediated immune response was detected from Day 13 following infection until Day 97. Histopathological examination showed plasma cell infiltration of the kidneys, meninges, lung, bladder, smooth muscle and spleen.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28741433,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Immune System Involvement in Specific Pain Conditions.\nChronic pain is a significant problem worldwide and is the most common disability in the United States. It is well known that the immune system plays a critical role in the development and maintenance of many chronic pain conditions. The involvement of the immune system can be through the release of autoantibodies, in the case of rheumatoid arthritis, or via cytokines, chemokines, and other inflammatory mediators (i.e. substance P, histamine, bradykinin, tumor necrosis factor, interleukins, and prostaglandins). Immune cells, such as T cells, B cells and their antibodies, and microglia are clearly key players in immune-related pain. The purpose of this review is to briefly discuss the immune system involvement in pain and to outline how it relates to rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, complex regional pain syndrome, multiple sclerosis, and diabetic neuropathy. The immune system plays a major role in many debilitating chronic pain conditions and we believe that animal models of disease and their treatments should be more directly focused on these interactions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30668450,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Noninvasive Imaging of Epicardial and Endocardial Potentials With Low Rank and Sparsity Constraints.\nIn this study, we explore the use of low rank and sparse constraints for the noninvasive estimation of epicardial and endocardial extracellular potentials from body-surface electrocardiographic data to locate the focus of premature ventricular contractions (PVCs). The proposed strategy formulates the dynamic spatiotemporal distribution of cardiac potentials by means of low rank and sparse decomposition, where the low rank term represents the smooth background and the anomalous potentials are extracted in the sparse matrix. Compared to the most previous potential-based approaches, the proposed low rank and sparse constraints are batch spatiotemporal constraints that capture the underlying relationship of dynamic potentials. The resulting optimization problem is solved using alternating direction method of multipliers. Three sets of simulation experiments with eight different ventricular pacing sites demonstrate that the proposed model outperforms the existing Tikhonov regularization (zero-order, second-order) and L1-norm based method at accurately reconstructing the potentials and locating the ventricular pacing sites. Experiments on a total of 39 cases of real PVC data also validate the ability of the proposed method to correctly locate ectopic pacing sites.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32614845,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The role of external actors in shaping migrant health insurance in Thailand.\nThe role of external actors in national health policy in aid-independent countries has received relatively little attention in the literature, despite the fact that influence continues to be exerted once financial support is curtailed as countries graduate from lower income status. Focusing on a specific health policy in an aid-independent country, this qualitative study explores the role of external actors in shaping Thailand's migrant health insurance. Primary data were collected through in-depth interviews with eighteen key informants from September 2018 to January 2019. The data were analysed using thematic analysis, focusing on three channels of influence, financial resources, technical expertise and inter-sectoral leverage, and their effect on the different stages of the policy process. Given Thailand's export orientation and the importance of reputational effects, inter-sectoral leverage, mainly through the US TIP Reports and the EU carding decision, emerged as a very powerful channel of influence on priority setting, as it indirectly affected the migrant health insurance through efforts aimed at dealing with problems of human trafficking in the context of labour migration, especially after the 2014 coup d'\u00e9tat. This study helps understand the changed role external actors can play in filling health system gaps in aid-independent countries.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19051289,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2013-48":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Association of AKT1 with verbal learning, verbal memory, and regional cortical gray matter density in twins.\nAKT1, encoding the protein kinase B, has been associated with the genetic etiology of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. However, minuscule data exist on the role of different alleles of AKT1 in measurable quantitative endophenotypes, such as cognitive abilities and neuroanatomical features, showing deviations in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. We evaluated the contribution of AKT1 to quantitative cognitive traits and 3D high-resolution neuroanatomical images in a Finnish twin sample consisting of 298 twins: 61 pairs with schizophrenia (8 concordant), 31 pairs with bipolar disorder (5 concordant) and 65 control pairs matched for age, sex and demographics. An AKT1 allele defined by the SNP rs1130214 located in the UTR of the gene revealed association with cognitive traits related to verbal learning and memory (P = 0.0005 for a composite index). This association was further fortified by a higher degree of resemblance of verbal memory capacity in pairs sharing the rs1130214 genotype compared to pairs not sharing the genotype. Furthermore, the same allele was also associated with decreased gray matter density in medial and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (P < 0.05). Our findings support the role of AKT1 in the genetic background of cognitive and anatomical features, known to be affected by psychotic disorders. The established association of the same allelic variant of AKT1 with both cognitive and neuroanatomical aberrations could suggest that AKT1 exerts its effect on verbal learning and memory via neural networks involving prefrontal cortex.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11980005,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Mumps virus and orchitis: towards a physiopathologic approach].\nMumps orchitis is a dreaded complication of mumps is pubescent men. The literature on this subject includes epidemiological, clinical, histological and endocrine findings, indicating a marked variability of the clinical features from one patient to another, an alteration of endocrine function that can persist in the long term and finally post-mumps infertility, which is exceptional. On the other hand, relatively few studies have investigated the pathophysiological mechanisms, and suggest replication of the mumps virus in the testis. Based on these data from the literature, this article reviews or proposes various hypotheses concerning the various pathophysiological aspects of this disease and discusses the lines of research that could advance the current knowledge in order to improve the therapeutic management of patients, while also providing a better knowledge of the mumps virus and basic testicular physiology.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28585587,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Depression and anxiety in patients undergoing elective and emergency surgery: Cross-sectional study from Allama Iqbal Memorial Teaching Hospital, Sialkot.\nTo determine the frequency of depression and anxiety in post-operative patients undergoing elective and emergency surgery. The cross-sectional analytical study was conducted at the Department of Surgery and Department of Psychiatry of the Allama Iqbal Memorial Teaching Hospital, Sialkot, Pakistan, from September 2013 to April 2016, and comprised patients due for elective or emergency surgery. Patients admitted to the surgical wards, including general surgical, neurosurgical, urological and orthopaedic wards, undergoing major surgical procedures were enrolled. The patients were divided into elective surgery group 1 and emergency surgery group 2. The hospital anxiety and depression scale was used to screen for symptoms of anxiety and depression. SPSS 22 was used for data analysis. Of the 6,624 patients, 4,635(69.97%) were in group 1 and 1,989(30.03%) in group 2.The mean age of patients was 36.75\u00b110.3years in group 1 and 39.11\u00b111.4 years in group 2. There were 1,715(37%) males and 2,920(63%) females in group 1, while 518(26%) males and 1,471(74%) females were in group 2. Anxiety was present in 914(45.95%) and 656(32%) patients at 0 and 3 weeks in patients undergoing emergency surgery, while in elective surgery patients it was noted in 509(10.93%) and 1,390(29.87%) subjects, respectively. Depression was present in 218(10.96%) and 616(30.97%) patients at 0 and 3 weeks in patients undergoing emergency surgery, while in elective surgery it was noted in 463(9.98%) and 1,488(32.1%) respectively. Depression and anxiety were quite frequent in patients undergoing major surgeries. Anxiety was more common in patients who underwent emergency surgeries.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26431120,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of Systemic Magnesium on Post-operative Analgesia: Is the Current Evidence Strong Enough?\nClinical studies have been previously carried out on the efficacy of systemic magnesium to minimize postoperative pain, however, with controversial results. A quantitative meta-analysis was performed to evaluate the analgesic efficacy and safety of systemic magnesium on post-operative pain. Comprehensive systematic review of all relevant, publsished randomized controlled trials. A search was conducted of published literature in MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Scopus, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) databases from inception to Sep-Oct 2014. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared magnesium with placebo were identified. Effects were summarized using standardized mean differences (SMDs), weighed mean differences (WMD), or odds ratio (OR) with suitable effect model. Twenty-seven RCTs involving 1,504 patients were included. In total, peri-operative magnesium significantly reduced the pain score at rest (SMD, -1.43, 95% CI, -2.74 to -0.12, < 0.01). Magnesium significantly reduced analgesic consumption (SMD, -1.72, 95% CI, -3.21 to -0.23) in patients undergoing urogenital, orthopaedic, and cardiovascular surgeries, but was inconclusive for patients receiving gastrointestinal surgeries. The obvious analgesia of systemic magnesium was observed on reducing the pain score during movement at 24 hours after operation (SMD, -0.05, 95% CI, -0.43 to 0.32). Moreover, magnesium administration showed a beneficial effect with regard to intra-operative hemodynamics and reduced extubation time in the cardiovascular surgery patients (WMD, -29.34 min, 95% CI, -35.74 to -22.94, P < 0.01). Focused only on the quality of analgesia on postoperative pain with regards to surgery type. Our study suggests that systemic magnesium during general anesthesia significantly decreases post-operative pain scores without increasing adverse events. It should be noted that since there are 18 ongoing RCTs without published data, it is still premature to draw conclusions on the long-term analgesic effects of magnesium as well as potential gender or age difference.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19043819,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Comparison of hypertension and its risk factors between the Guangxi Bai Ku Yao and Han populations.\nLittle is known about the prevalence of hypertension in Bai Ku Yao, an isolated subgroup of the Yao minority in China. The aim of this study was to compare the difference in the prevalence of hypertension and its risk factors between the Guangxi Bai Ku Yao and Han populations. A cross-sectional study of hypertension in 1170 subjects of Bai Ku Yao and 1173 participants of Han Chinese aged 15-89 was conducted by a stratified randomized cluster sampling. Information on diet and lifestyle was collected with standardized questionnaires. Blood pressure, serum lipids and several anthropometric parameters were obtained in all subjects. Systolic, diastolic and pulse pressure levels and hypertension prevalence (10.85% vs 16.45%, p<0.001) were lower in Bai Ku Yao than in Han. Hypertension was positively correlated with male, age, physical activity, body mass index, waist circumference, total energy, total fat and sodium intakes, and negatively associated with education level and total dietary fibre intake in both ethnic groups (p<0.05-0.001). Hypertension was also positively associated with alcohol consumption in Han. The rates of awareness, treatment and control were lower in Bai Ku Yao than in Han (p<0.05 for all). The difference in the hypertension prevalence between the two ethnic groups might result from different diet, lifestyle, physical activity level, sodium intake and genetic factors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18597459,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Crystal plane dependent growth of aligned single-walled carbon nanotubes on sapphire.\nOn single-crystal substrates, such as sapphire (alpha-Al 2O 3) and quartz (SiO 2), single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) align along specific crystallographic axes of the crystal, indicating that the SWNT growth is influenced by the crystal surface. Here, we show that not only the orientation, but also the diameter and chirality of SWNTs are affected by the crystal plane of the sapphire substrate. The aligned SWNTs grown on the A- and R-planes of sapphire have narrower diameter distributions than randomly oriented tubes produced on the C-plane sapphire and amorphous SiO 2. Photoluminescence measurements reveal a striking difference between the aligned SWNTs: near-zigzag tubes are observed on the A-plane and near-armchair tubes on the R-plane. This study shows the route for the diameter and chirality control of SWNTs by surface atomic arrangements of a single-crystal substrate.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8341857,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Two-dimensional echocardiographic assessment of right cardiac pressure overload in patients with chronic obstructive airway disease.\nTwo-dimensional echocardiography was used to estimate right cardiac pressure overload in patients with chronic obstructive airway disease. Area measurements of the four heart chambers were carried out from the apical four-chamber view. Additionally, the respiratory behaviour of the inferior vena cava was examined from the subcostal view. A good apical imaging of the four-chamber view for area measurement was obtained in 44 out of 48 patients with chronic obstructive airway disease. The respiratory behaviour of the inferior vena cava was investigated from the subcostal view in 38 patients. Within 8 days after echocardiography, right cardiac catheterization was carried out in order to measure pulmonary artery and right atrial mean pressures and to determine pulmonary vascular resistance. A good correlation was found between pulmonary artery mean pressure and the following echocardiographic parameters: area index (area\/body surface) of the two right heart cavities (r = 0.83), right-to-left ventricular area ratio (r = 0.82) and right-to-left cardiac area ratio (ratio between the added areas of both right heart cavities on the one side and the added areas of both left heart cavities on the other; r = 0.82). Correlation between these parameters and pulmonary vascular resistance (r = 0.71, 0.66 and 0.71, respectively) and between the right atrial mean pressure and the right atrial area index was less close (r = 0.64). On the other hand, the respiratory behaviour of the inferior vena cava proved to be highly specific but not very sensitive in predicting a pathological right atrial pressure.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6749822,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Genetic and physical map of a P1 miniplasmid.\nThe prophage form of bacteriophage P1 is a unit-copy plasmid which is maintained with great fidelity in its Escherichia coli host. The plasmid maintenance functions of P1 are clustered in one region of the genome. An 11.5-kilobase fragment from this region has been cloned into a lambda delta att vector and promotes stable unit-copy plasmid maintenance. The properties of the lambda vector facilitated the isolation of deletion mutants affecting the P1 DNA. Twenty-eight deletion mutants were isolated, and their lesions were mapped by physical techniques. The genetic properties of the mutants with respect to plasmid replication, stability of plasmid maintenance, and ability to exert incompatibility effects against P1 and P7 plasmids were determined. These properties, along with those of several subfragments of the P1 insert cloned into high-copy-number plasmid vectors, allow the construction of an unambiguous genetic and physical map of the maintenance functions. A region of less than 3 kilobases, the rep region, is essential for plasmid replication and contains the incA incompatibility determinant within an 800-base-pair segment. Immediately adjacent to rep is a second region of approximately 3 kilobases which is required for stable plasmid maintenance, but not replication. This region, par, contains a second incompatibility element incB which is approximately 1 kilobase in size. The par region appears to specify equipartition of plasmid copies to daughter cells during cell division.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1673591,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mild intraoperative hypothermia increases duration of action and spontaneous recovery of vecuronium blockade during nitrous oxide-isoflurane anesthesia in humans.\nWe compared the duration of action and recovery times for vecuronium in normothermic and mildly hypothermic patients. Ten patients were actively cooled to a central body temperature near 34.5 degrees C, and ten were maintained at a normothermic central temperature (greater than 36.5 degrees C); temperature was measured in the distal esophagus. Vecuronium 0.1 mg\/kg was administered as an intravenous (iv) bolus to all patients, and the evoked mechanical response to train-of-four stimulation was recorded. Five hypothermic and five normothermic patients were allowed to recover spontaneously. In the remaining five in each group, neostigmine (40 micrograms\/kg) and atropine (20 micrograms\/kg) was administered when the first twitch (T1) height spontaneously recovered to 10% of control (T1 = 10% of the pre-vecuronium twitch tension). Vecuronium's duration of action (from injection of drug until T1 = 10%) was 28 +\/- 4 and 62 +\/- 8 min during normothermia and hypothermia, respectively (P less than 0.05). The corresponding values for spontaneous recovery from T1 = 10% to TOF ratio greater than 75% were 37 +\/- 15 and 80 +\/- 24 min (P less than 0.05), and for neostigmine-induced recovery were 10 +\/- 3 and 16 +\/- 11 min (difference not significant). We conclude that mild hypothermia increases the duration of action of and time for spontaneous recovery from vecuronium-induced neuromuscular blockade.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11980550,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Child sex differences in primary care clinicians' mental health care of children and adolescents.\nSex differences in the medical and mental health care of adults are well established. To study the effect of child patient's sex on whether primary care clinicians (PCCs), including pediatricians, family physicians, and nurse practitioners, found or treated mental health problems in primary care settings. The data were collected by clinicians and parents from 21 065 individual child visits (50.3% girls) in 204 primary care practices. Each PCC enrolled a consecutive sample of approximately 55 children and adolescents aged 4 to 15 years. Parents filled out questionnaires, including the Pediatric Symptom Checklist, before seeing the clinician. Clinicians completed a survey after the visit about the psychosocial problems and recommended treatments, but they did not see the results of the Pediatric Symptom Checklist or any other data collected from the parents. Boys were more likely to be seen for a mental health-related visit and by a clinician who identified them as \"my patient.\" Boys with parent-reported symptom profiles that were similar to those of girls were more likely to be identified as having attention-deficit\/hyperactivity problems or behavior or conduct problems and less likely to be identified as having internalizing problems. Adjusting for parent-reported symptoms, PCCs were more likely to prescribe medications for boys. Child sex differences in referrals to mental health specialists and the provision of counseling to families were not statistically significant. There are substantial sex differences in the mental health care of children in the primary care system.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36932877,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Solid-State Electron Transport Through Carbon Dots Junctions: The Role of Boron and Phosphorus Doping.\nCarbon dots (CDs) are a new class of nanoparticles that gained widespread attention recently because of their easy preparation, water solubility, biocompatibility, and bright luminescence, leading to their integration in various applications. Despite their nm-scale and proven electron transfer capabilities, the solid-state electron transport (ETp) across single CDs was never explored. Here, a molecular junction configuration is used to explore the ETp across CDs as a function of their chemical structure using both DC-bias current-voltage and AC-bias impedance measurements. CDs are used with Nitrogen and Sulfur as exogenous atoms and doped with small amounts of Boron and Phosphorous. It is shown that the presence of P and B highly improves the ETp efficiency across the CDs, yet without an indication of a change in the dominant charge carrier. Instead, structural characterizations reveal significant changes in the chemical species across the CDs: the formation of sulfonates and graphitic Nitrogen. Temperature-dependent measurements and normalized differential conductance analysis reveal that the ETp mechanism across the CDs behaves as tunneling, which is common to all CDs used here. The study shows that the conductivity of CDs is on par with that of sophisticated molecular wires, suggesting CDs as new 'green' candidates for molecular electronics applications.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9570850,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Formation of carbonyls during attack on insulin by submolar amounts of hypochlorite.\nBovine insulin was reacted at pH 4.0 with submolar amounts of hypochlorite. At least one molecule of insulin was modified per two molecules of hypochlorite added, as estimated by HPLC of native and modified insulin. About 5% of the hypochlorite-modified insulin reacted with dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH), a reagent which specifically labels carbonyl groups. The major DNPH-labeled product was isolated from the native insulin on reverse-phase HPLC, using trifluoroacetic acid\/water\/acetonitrile gradients. The UV spectrum of the major peak on the HPLC diode-array detector was representative of DNPH adducts, with lambda max = 365 nm. Several methods, including total amino acid analysis, tryptic digestion, and collision-induced dissociation-electrospray MS, indicate that the major carbonyl in the DNPH-labeled product was on the amino-terminal phenylalanine of the insulin B-chain. Amino acid analysis indicated that tyrosine was also degraded by hypochlorite, but we could not detect a carbonyl group formed at tyrosine. These findings suggest that the terminal amino groups of proteins are highly vulnerable to carbonyl formation during hypochlorite attack. The use of relatively low amounts of active oxygen species (such as hypochlorite), followed by chromatographic isolation of the protein labeled with a carbonyl-specific reagent, can be a useful approach to the study of reactive sites on proteins.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28711526,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Xpert HIV-1 point-of-care test for neonatal diagnosis of HIV in the birth testing programme of a maternity hospital: a field evaluation study.\nPoint-of-care testing (POCT) among HIV-exposed infants might improve linkage to care relative to laboratory-based testing (LABT). We evaluated HIV-1 POCT at birth in the context of universal LABT in a maternity hospital and describe our implementation experience. We did a field evaluation study between Oct 1, 2014, and April 30, 2016, at the urban Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital (RMMCH), Johannesburg, South Africa. We aimed to sample consecutive neonates at birth with POCT (Cepheid Xpert HIV-1 Qualitative test) and compared results with those of LABT (Roche COBAS TaqMan HIV-1 Qualitative test) with respect to performance in terms of sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and Cohen's \u03ba coefficient, result return, antiretroviral treatment (ART) initiation, and coverage. 18 268 women delivered livebirths at RMMCH and 4267 (23%) were HIV-positive with 4336 HIV-exposed neonates delivered. Mothers of 4141 (96%) HIV-exposed neonates were offered infant birth testing. Mothers of 4112 (99%) neonates consented. In 78 neonates with consent (2%), a test was not done due to early neonatal death (n=13), mother departing before venesection, or staff unavailability. Among 3970 infants who had LABT, 57 (1%) tested positive, 3906 (99%) tested negative, two (<1%) were indeterminate, and five (<1%) had an error result. 2238 (56%) of these infants had concurrent POCT. POCT detected all 30 HIV-infected neonates (sensitivity 100%; 95% CI 88\u00b74-100) with two additional false-positive results (specificity 99\u00b79%; 99\u00b77-100). All positive and 96\u00b72% of negative POCT results were returned compared with 88\u00b79% of positive and 52\u00b78% of negative LABT results. Although every POCT required 90 min of instrument time, 2\u00b76 h (IQR 2\u00b73-3\u00b71) elapsed between phlebotomy and result return. In days, median time of result return for POCT was 1 day, significantly earlier than 10 days for LABT (p<0\u00b70001). ART was initiated in 30 neonates (100%) with positive POCT compared with 24 (88\u00b79%, p=0\u00b710) of 27 infants who had LABT only, with initiation occurring a median of 5 days earlier in the POCT group (p<0\u00b70001). POCT implementation required additional staff and weekend cover. Compared with LABT, POCT was associated with good performance, improved rates of result return, and reduced time to ART initiation. Resources needed to integrate POCT into a routine birth testing programme require further evaluation. National Institutes of Health.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28282821,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"A comparison of the incidence of undiagnosed congenital heart disease in hospital born and home born children.\nTo evaluate the incidence of otherwise undiagnosed congenital heart disease (CHD) in a population of children born in a hospital with routine pulse oximetry (RPO) screening compared to children born at home. We reviewed 15 years of births at 2 hospitals for incidence of undiagnosed CHD with RPO. The Health Department reviewed the same data for out of hospital births. A total of 50,545 hospital births were screened and 1,274 children were born outside the hospital. There were 28 hospital-born babies diagnosed with cyanotic CHD prior to nursery discharge. Only one of these babies would not have been diagnosed without RPO. Three children were missed and there were 3 false positives. Sensitivity and positive predictive value of RPO was 25%, specificity and negative predictive value of RPO exceed 99%. The incidence of CHD requiring RPO diagnosis was roughly one birth per 50,000. Two children born at home with undiagnosed CHD were missed. One of these children presented with neonatal demise. RPO screening is still valuable in diagnosing CHD only diagnosable with RPO. However, the incidence of CHD requiring RPO to diagnose is similar to other congenital diseases which are not mandated national screening tests. In our limited experience a patient is roughly 25 times more likely to have undiagnosed CHD if they are born outside of a hospital.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1682362,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"An in situ hybridization histochemistry method for the use of alkaline phosphatase-labeled oligonucleotide probes in small intestine.\nWe have developed a method of non-radioactive in situ hybridization histochemistry using alkaline phosphatase-labeled oligonucleotide probes to detect gene expression in the intestine. Because the intestine contains a large amount of endogenous alkaline phosphatase activity, mild acid pretreatment of the tissue sections was required to inactivate the alkaline phosphatase. Acid pre-treatment dramatically reduced the endogenous activity without affecting the efficiency of hybridization or the probe's ability to reveal a positive mRNA signal. Furthermore, the addition of polyvinyl alcohol to the substrate solution helped to keep the background staining low without adversely affecting the intensity of the signal. The current protocol allows rapid and sensitive detection of sites of gene expression in intestinal tissue.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12181572,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Transcriptional co-activator PGC-1 alpha drives the formation of slow-twitch muscle fibres.\nThe biochemical basis for the regulation of fibre-type determination in skeletal muscle is not well understood. In addition to the expression of particular myofibrillar proteins, type I (slow-twitch) fibres are much higher in mitochondrial content and are more dependent on oxidative metabolism than type II (fast-twitch) fibres. We have previously identified a transcriptional co-activator, peroxisome-proliferator-activated receptor-gamma co-activator-1 (PGC-1 alpha), which is expressed in several tissues including brown fat and skeletal muscle, and that activates mitochondrial biogenesis and oxidative metabolism. We show here that PGC-1 alpha is expressed preferentially in muscle enriched in type I fibres. When PGC-1 alpha is expressed at physiological levels in transgenic mice driven by a muscle creatine kinase (MCK) promoter, a fibre type conversion is observed: muscles normally rich in type II fibres are redder and activate genes of mitochondrial oxidative metabolism. Notably, putative type II muscles from PGC-1 alpha transgenic mice also express proteins characteristic of type I fibres, such as troponin I (slow) and myoglobin, and show a much greater resistance to electrically stimulated fatigue. Using fibre-type-specific promoters, we show in cultured muscle cells that PGC-1 alpha activates transcription in cooperation with Mef2 proteins and serves as a target for calcineurin signalling, which has been implicated in slow fibre gene expression. These data indicate that PGC-1 alpha is a principal factor regulating muscle fibre type determination.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14521225,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"EPR studies of the photodynamic properties of a novel potential photodynamic therapeutic agent: photogeneration of semiquinone radical anion and active oxygen species (O2*-, OH*, H2O2 and 1O2).\nCyclohexylamino-substituted hypocrellin B (CHAHB) has been synthesized with the aim of improving the red absorption and specific affinity for malignant tumors over those of the parent compound. Irradiation of a deoxygenated DMSO solution of CHAHB generates a strong electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) signal, which is assigned to the semiquinone radical anion of CHAHB with the aid of a series of experimental results. In the presence of oxygen, superoxide radical anions (O2*-) are generated via electron transfer from CHAHB*-, the precursor, to ground-state molecular oxygen. Hydroxyl radicals were detected by spin-trapping EPR when an oxygen-saturated aqueous solution containing CHAHB and DMPO was irradiated. Singlet oxygen (1O2) is produced via energy transfer from triplet CHAHB to ground-state oxygen molecules, with a sharply decreased quantum yield, i.e. 0.11. Furthermore, cell survival studies reveal CHAHB exhibits much higher photodynamic activities than its parent hypocrellins. The strongly enhanced photodynamic activities and sharply decreased quantum yield of 1O2 generation suggest that the type I (free radical) mechanism may play a significant role in CHAHB-PDT, rather than the type II (singlet oxygen) mechanism found in photofrin-PDT.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17178734,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hyponatraemia in adults with community-acquired bacterial meningitis.\nHyponatraemia in adults with bacterial meningitis has been described as a common complication, but its true prevalence and clinical importance are unknown. To investigate the prevalence, clinical characteristics and consequences of hyponatraemia in bacterial meningitis in adults. Nationwide observational cohort study. We prospectively assessed the prevalence and clinical characteristics of hyponatraemia among 696 adults with community-acquired bacterial meningitis. Symptoms and signs on admission, blood and CSF test results, radiological examinations and complications during admission were recorded. Sodium levels were determined at admission in 685\/696 episodes of bacterial meningitis (98%). Hyponatraemia (<135 mmol\/l) was seen in 208\/685 (30%) and was classified as severe (<130 mmol\/l) in 38 (6%). Hyponatraemia developed during admission in an additional 53 episodes. Hyponatraemia was not associated with an increase in symptoms, with complications or with unfavourable outcome. Treatment for hyponatraemia was initiated in 16% of episodes, but did not influence its duration. Hyponatraemia appears both common and benign in adults with bacterial meningitis. In cases of severe hyponatraemia, we suggest the use of fluid maintenance therapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16151785,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Efficacy and tolerability of 0.2% brimonidine tartrate for the treatment of acute non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION): a 3-month, double-masked, randomised, placebo-controlled trial.\nNeuroprotection may be an option in ischemic optic nerve disease. There have been promising reports about the neuroprotective ability of topical brimonidine in animal studies. Therefore, we tested whether 0.2% brimonidine tartrate could improve the outcome of patients with non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION). The study was stopped after an interim analysis, having not proven its feasibility within practicable time frame. A 3-month, double-masked, placebo-controlled, randomised European multicenter trial conducted according to good clinical practice rules. Thirty-six patients (22 m, 14 f), older than 40 years with first eye involvement and typical signs of NAION were included in the study within the 1st week after visual loss (VA 0.05-1.0) and were randomized to treatment with either brimonidine 0.2% (Alphagan) or placebo. Visual acuity (VA, primary endpoint), visual field (VF, Humphrey 30-2 and Goldmann, quantified by a modified Esterman grid) and automated swinging flashlight test (SWIFT) were performed at baseline, 2 weeks, 4 weeks and 12 weeks after first visit. Primary analysis aimed at intention-to-treat group (ITT, n=29), secondary analysis to the per protocol population (PP, n=25). Tolerability and safety were tested in the safety group (n=36). A two-sample two-sided t-test was used for statistical analysis (alpha level at 0.05). VA did not show statistically significant difference by treatment. There were non-significant trends for better visual field results in the brimonidine group. Adverse events consisting of local irritation were observed six times in the verum and three times in the placebo group. No serious adverse events occurred. In contradiction to an open-labeled, retrospective study published by Fazzone et al., the results of this trial did not indicate any harmful effect of brimonidine in patients suffering from NAION. However, a statistically significant advantage for the patients receiving brimonidine tartrate could not be shown.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17914093,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Chromogranin A and biochemical progression-free survival in prostate adenocarcinomas submitted to radical prostatectomy.\nThe primary aim of the present study was to determine the prognostic role of elevated levels of chromogranin A (CgA) in terms of biochemical prostate-specific antigen (PSA) progression after radical prostatectomy (RRP) for prostate adenocarcinoma. Two hundred and sixty-four consecutive men with non-metastatic prostate adenocarcinoma submitted to RRP represented our population. In all cases, a blood sample for the determination of serum total PSA and CgA levels was obtained (RIA). Two different upper reference values for serum CgA levels were used: > 60 and > 90 ng\/ml. The main end point of this study was biochemical (PSA) progression-free survival. In our population, 35.0% (91\/264 cases) of cases presented a serum CgA level > 60 ng\/ml and only 6.4% (17\/264) presented CgA > 90 ng\/ml. After RRP, during a mean follow-up of 64.59 +\/- 26.34 months (median 60 months; range 12-120 months), 59 patients (22.3%) showed a biochemical (PSA) progression. Using 60 ng\/ml as upper reference value for CgA, 10.4 and 45.0% of cases showed PSA progression after RRP in the group with preoperative CgA levels < or = 60 and > 60 ng\/ml respectively. The proportion of PSA progression-free survival was significantly lower in cases with preoperative CgA > 60 ng\/ml than in cases with CgA < or = 60 ng\/ml (P < 0.0001). In addition, at the multivariate analysis, preoperative serum CgA levels were confirmed as an independent prognostic factor for PSA progression after RRP. In non-metastatic prostate carcinomas, we described a significant prognostic role of CgA in terms of biochemical progression-free survival.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17878686,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Repeated exacerbations of ocular inflammation with vitreous hemorrhage in a patient with HLA-B27 associated uveitis.\nHLA-B27 associated uveitis is characterized by recurrent alternating acute unilateral attacks of intraocular inflammation in the anterior chamber. The aim of this study was to report an unusual case of repeated exacerbations with vitreous hemorrhage in HLA-B27 associated uveitis. Thirty four-year-old man was diagnosed as HLA-B27 associated uveitis in his right eye. He showed repeated exacerbation of ocular inflammation with retinal vein dilation and small retinal hemorrhage following vitreous hemorrhage. Fluorescein fundus angiography a week before the appearance of vitreous hemorrhage showed no neovascularization. Oral prednisolone administration was started from 40mg\/day with gradual tapering. About 3 weeks after the onset, most of the vitreous hemorrhage disappeared and visual acuity was improved to 20\/20. Through the decreased vitreous hemorrhage, Weiss ring was detected later. The vitreous hemorrhage found in this patient is a severe exacerbation, and might be a consequence of the vitritis that leads to posterior vitreous detachment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12035551,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Effect of picrotoxin on the Cl-activated ATPase microsomal fraction of bream brain (Abramis brama L.)].\nIt is found that picrotoxine in range concentrations 0.1-10 microM stimulates the basal Mg(2+)-ATPase from microsomal fraction of fish bream (Abramis brama L.), however decreases activating effect of 10(-5) M GABA on the enzyme. The stimulative effect of picrotoxine dependants on duration of preincubation with microsomes. It was established that basal Mg(2+)-ATP-ase activity was activated by anions (Cl- > Br- > I-). The activated effect of anions on the Mg(2+)-ATP-ase is decreased in the presence 1 microM picrotoxine. It was shown that in the dependence on concentration of the Mg(2+)-ATP (0.2 or 1 mM) in the incubation medium the picrotoxine serves as on activator or inhibitor of the enzyme activity. It is supposed that picrotoxine allosterially influences on the enzyme by the receptor-dependent way.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26471895,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Changes in the Phosphoproteome and Metabolome Link Early Signaling Events to Rearrangement of Photosynthesis and Central Metabolism in Salinity and Oxidative Stress Response in Arabidopsis.\nSalinity and oxidative stress are major factors affecting and limiting the productivity of agricultural crops. The molecular and biochemical processes governing the plant response to abiotic stress have often been researched in a reductionist manner. Here, we report a systemic approach combining metabolic labeling and phosphoproteomics to capture early signaling events with quantitative metabolome analysis and enzyme activity assays to determine the effects of salt and oxidative stress on plant physiology. K(+) and Na(+) transporters showed coordinated changes in their phosphorylation pattern, indicating the importance of dynamic ion homeostasis for adaptation to salt stress. Unique phosphorylation sites were found for Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) SNF1 kinase homolog10 and 11, indicating their central roles in the stress-regulated responses. Seven Sucrose Non-fermenting1-Related Protein Kinase2 kinases showed varying levels of phosphorylation at multiple serine\/threonine residues in their kinase domain upon stress, showing temporally distinct modulation of the various isoforms. Salinity and oxidative stress also lead to changes in protein phosphorylation of proteins central to photosynthesis, in particular the kinase State Transition Protein7 required for state transition and light-harvesting II complex proteins. Furthermore, stress-induced changes of the phosphorylation of enzymes of central metabolism were observed. The phosphorylation patterns of these proteins were concurrent with changes in enzyme activity. This was reflected by altered levels of metabolites, such as the sugars sucrose and fructose, glycolysis intermediates, and amino acids. Together, our study provides evidence for a link between early signaling in the salt and oxidative stress response that regulates the state transition of photosynthesis and the rearrangement of primary metabolism.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17876112,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2013-20":1}}},"text":"Breaking self-tolerance to tumor-associated antigens by in vivo manipulation of dendritic cells.\nDendritic cells (DC) are extremely potent antigen-presenting cells, which can prime both naive CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In their immature state, DC continuously sample and process antigens from the surrounding environment, but only mature DC express sufficient levels of costimulatory molecules to activate naive T cells. DC present in tumors are functionally immature owing to the immunosuppressive actions of tumor-derived factors and regulatory T cells, and such immature DC promote immune tolerance to the tumor. Recent studies from animal models suggest that Toll-like receptor (TLR) agonists such as CpG can reverse the tolerogenic state of tumoral DC. Strategies that allow DC to gain access to both tumor antigens and TLR agonists, in situ, can overcome tumor tolerance leading to the induction of potent systemic antitumor immunity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25427033,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Aftereffects of 2 noninvasive brain stimulation techniques on corticospinal excitability in persons with chronic stroke: a pilot study.\nNoninvasive brain stimulation, including repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), have gained popularity in the stroke rehabilitation literature. Little is known about the time course and duration of effects of noninvasive brain stimulation on corticospinal excitability in individuals with stroke. We examined the aftereffects of a single session of high-frequency rTMS (5 Hz) and anodal tDCS on corticospinal excitability in the same sample of participants with chronic stroke. Ten individuals with chronic stroke participated in this randomized cross-over study. Participants received 1 session of rTMS and 1 session of tDCS, with 1 week between sessions. During the rTMS session, 5-Hz rTMS (total of 1200 stimuli) was administered to the ipsilesional primary motor cortex (M1). For anodal tDCS, 1 mA of direct current was delivered to the ipsilesional M1 for 20 minutes. Motor evoked potentials were measured before and after (immediately, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, and 60 minutes) each stimulation session. Both 5-Hz rTMS and anodal tDCS significantly increased corticospinal excitability for 30 to 60 minutes after stimulation. There was no statistically significant difference between the 2 stimulation techniques in their effects on motor evoked potentials. No changes in measures of motor or cognitive performance were observed. Both 5-Hz rTMS and anodal tDCS induced effects on corticospinal excitability in persons with chronic stroke lasting at least 1 hour after stimulation. In the absence of concurrent motor practice, neither form of stimulation applied in a single session was associated the changes in motor performance. These approaches to increased cortical excitability may be of value as adjuncts to training. See Video (Supplemental Digital Content 1, http:\/\/links.lww.com\/JNPT\/A83) for more insights from the authors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1161193,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Possibilities and limitations of the direct radioimmunological method with double guinea-pig antibody in the detection of serum Australia antigen].\nThe results obtained with the direct radioimmunological method and electrosyneresis in the search for Australia antigen were compared in 3100 donor sera. In a limited number of sera, the positivity of radioimmunological examination was tested by neutralization tests with human antibody and with the serum of normal guinea-pigs. Electrosyneresis proved positive in 4% of cases, while radioimmunological examination produced a clearly positive result in 6.7% of cases and a faintly positive or doubtful result in 1.8%. The presence of doubtful results is due to the fact that the distribution of values obtained shows some overlapping between normal population and population of subjects carrying the antigen. The neutralization tests have shown a high incidence (45%) of aspecific positivity between the sera proving positive at radioimmunological examination and negative at electrosyneresis. This inconvenience should be resolved by the recent introduction of a radioimmunological method which provides for use of labelled antibody of human origin.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32366135,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cocrystallization with syringic acid presents a new opportunity for effectively reducing the hepatotoxicity of isoniazid.\nObjective: With the aim of surmounting the severe hepatotoxicity induced by antituberculosis drug isoniazid (INH), a novel cocrystal of INH with hepatoprotective nutraceutical syringic acid (SYA), namely INH-SYA, was designed and prepared through cocrystallization strategy, which is an intriguing attempt to reduce the toxic side effects of INH.Significance: The study not only provides new thinking for inhibiting toxic side effects of drugs through cocrystallization strategy, but also opens a new pathway for the application of nutraceuticals in the pharmacy.Methods: INH and SYA were successfully crystallized into the same crystal lattice through combining volatilization with solvent assisted methods. The resulting cocrystal was structurally characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD), powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC).Results: The SCXRD analysis for the present cocrystal revealed that it has a 1:1 ratio of INH to SYA with two molecules INH homodimers and two SYA molecules, in which they are arranged alternately linked by hydrogen bonds to form a six molecules ring structure (R66(40)) in crystal. The systematic evaluation of the in vitro\/in vivo suggested that, owing to the formation of cocrystal, the dissolution efficiency of SYA was increased 5.85-fold compared with that of coarse SYA, and the oral bioavailability of the cocrystal in rats was enhanced by 3.66 times. As a result, the present INH-SYA cocrystal almost removed INH induced serious hepatotoxicity, which was further demonstrated by the hepatotoxicity studies in rats.Conclusion: INH-SYA cocrystal could effectively reduce the hepatotoxicity of INH.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9144217,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Clustering of meiotic double-strand breaks on yeast chromosome III.\nIn the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, meiotic recombination is initiated by transient DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) that are repaired by interaction of the broken chromosome with its homologue. To identify a large number of DSB sites and gain insight into the control of DSB formation at both the local and the whole chromosomal levels, we have determined at high resolution the distribution of meiotic DSBs along the 340 kb of chromosome III. We have found 76 DSB regions, mostly located in intergenic promoter-containing intervals. The frequency of DSBs varies at least 50-fold from one region to another. The global distribution of DSB regions along chromosome III is nonrandom, defining large (39-105 kb) chromosomal domains, both hot and cold. The distribution of these localized DSBs indicates that they are likely to initiate most crossovers along chromosome III, but some discrepancies remain to be explained.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28735573,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Chemoattractant activity of tris-(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane for Brugia pahangi infective third-stage larvae.\nUrocanic acid (UCA) is known as a major chemoattractant for Strongyloides stercoralis infective third-stage larvae (L3). Since Brugia pahangi is a skin-penetrating parasitic nematode similar to S. stercoralis, UCA was expected to be a chemoattractant for B. pahangi L3. Thus, the chemoattractant activity of UCA for B. pahangi L3 was assessed. The chemotactic responses of B. pahangi L3 to UCA or acetic acid (CH3COOH) dissolved in amine solutions were assessed using an agar-plate assay. A test solution of 200 mm UCA dissolved in aqueous 270 mm tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (Tris) significantly attracted B. pahangi L3 compared with deionized water (DW), while neither a solution of 200 mm UCA dissolved in aqueous 230 mm ammonia (NH3) nor 290 mm triethylamine (TEA) significantly attracted L3. Similarly, a test solution of 200 mm CH3COOH dissolved with 200 mm Tris significantly attracted L3, but neither a test solution of 200 mm CH3COOH plus 200 mm NH3 nor 200 mm TEA attracted L3. Furthermore, L3 were significantly attracted to 200 mm Tris alone, compared with DW, but avoided 200 mm NH3 and 200 mm TEA. Moreover, the chemoattractant activity of Tris for L3 was observed even at a low concentration of 25 mm, and it was observed in a mild alkaline condition but not in an acidic condition. The present study reveals that Tris is a potential chemoattractant for B. pahangi L3 while UCA is not. This finding will contribute to an understanding of the mechanisms of skin-penetrating infection of filarial L3.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":2483833,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Oxygen free radical-induced histamine release during intestinal ischemia and reperfusion.\nAcute mesenteric ischemia is highly lethal and therefore a serious problem for surgery and intensive care medicine; accordingly its pathophysiology warrants further study. Oxygen free radicals (OFR) play a role in the intestinal mucosal damage that develops during reperfusion after ischemia. Histamine (H) is generally released in various types of tissue ischemia. The link between H release and OFR has only been studied in in vitro systems. We tested the hypothesis that OFR may be involved in H release following reperfusion of the ischemic gut. The artery supplying a segment of the ileum was occluded for 1 or 2 h in anesthetized dogs. On reperfusion, a release of H into the venous effluent of the segment was demonstrated. Pretreatment of the animals with allopurinol (an inhibitor of xanthine oxidase), or with MTDQ-DA [6,6'-methylene-bis(2,2-dimethyl-4-methanesulfonic acid sodium-1,2-dihydroquinoline)], a superoxide anion scavenger, or with a combination of allopurinol and MTDQ-DA resulted in an inhibition of H release. We conclude that OFR may play a role in the local H release following intestinal ischemia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22679279,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Relationship between angiotensin-converting enzyme gene insertion\/deletion polymorphism, angiographically defined coronary artery disease and myocardial infarction in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.\nThe insertion\/deletion (I\/D) polymorphism of the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene has been implicated in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases. The objective of the present study was to investigate the influence of ACE gene I\/D polymorphism on the development and progression of coronary artery disease (CAD) and myocardial infarction (MI) in type 2 diabetic (T2DM) patients. We screened 283 T2DM patients, inclusive of 160 patients with angiographically defined CAD, 73 patients with MI, 89 patients without MI and 121 T2DM individuals with no evidence of CAD for ACE gene I \/D polymorphism. There was no significant difference in the distribution of genotypes and alleles of ACE gene I\/D polymorphism between T2DM+CAD and T2DM (non-CAD) groups. However, a significant association of this polymorphism with MI in T2DM+CAD patients (p=0.024) was observed. Further analysis revealed that the frequencies of the DD and ID genotypes increased with the number of stenosed coronary vessels (p=0.026). The DD genotype and the D allele were more frequent in the subgroup of T2DM patients with multivessel CAD (p=0.01) than in individuals with single vessel stenosis. These findings reveal a significant relationship between ACE gene I\/D polymorphism, multivessel CAD and also the occurrence of MI in T2DM individuals with significant coronary stenoses in our population.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34420482,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Aging alters the details recollected from emotional narratives.\nAlthough it is known that aging impairs episodic memory, the precise effect of aging on emotional memory is not fully understood. In this study, younger and older adults listened to narratives that contained general and emotional (positive, negative, or neutral) details as they viewed related images. When participants later recalled the narratives, both age groups remembered more emotional details from the negative than the positive or neutral narratives. Interestingly, the enhanced recall for the negative narratives came with a reduced ability to remember the associated images for both younger and older adults. For all narrative types, older adults recalled a similar number of general but fewer emotional details than younger adults. Although there were no age-specific emotional effects, memory functioning of the older adults related to better recall of the positive narratives and associated images. These results provide insight into the similarities and differences in how younger and older adults encode and retrieve complex emotional memories.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26416812,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Magnetic nanoparticle-mediated hyperthermia therapy induces tumour growth inhibition by apoptosis and Hsp90\/AKT modulation.\nWe have evaluated the hyperthermia efficacy of oleic acid-functionalised Fe(3)O(4) magnetic nanoparticles (MN-OA) under in vivo conditions and elucidated the underlying mechanism of tumour growth inhibition. The efficacy and mechanism of tumour growth inhibition by MN-OA-mediated magnetic hyperthermia therapy (MHT) was evaluated in a murine fibrosarcoma tumour model (WEHI-164) using techniques such as TUNEL assay, Western blotting (WB), immunofluorescence (IF) staining and histopathological examination. In addition, bio-distribution of MN-OA in tumour\/other target organs and its effect on normal organ function were studied by Prussian blue staining and serum biochemical analysis, respectively. MN-OA-induced MHT resulted in significant inhibition of tumour growth as determined by measurement of tumour volume, as well as by in vivo imaging of tumour derived from luciferase-transfected WEHI-164 cells. Histopathology analysis showed presence of severe apoptosis and reduced tumour cells proliferation, which was further confirmed by TUNEL assay, reduced expression of Ki-67 and enhanced level of cleaved caspase-3, in tumours treated with MHT. Moreover, expression of heat stress marker, Hsp90 and its client protein, AKT\/PKB was reduced by \u223c50 and 80%, respectively, in tumours treated with MHT as studied by WB and IF staining. Serum analysis suggested insignificant toxicity of MN-OA (in terms of liver and kidney function), which was further correlated with minimal accumulation of MN-OA in target organs. These results suggest the involvement of apoptosis and Hsp90\/AKT modulation in MN-OA-mediated MHT-induced tumour growth inhibition.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":926051,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Distance and location cues in retention of movements by a congenitally blind subject.\nRetention of linear arm-positioning movements in a congenitally blind university student was tested with either distance or location cues and under retention conditions of rest, location, and distance interpolated tasks. Results revealed a consistent superiority for retention with location cues. The conclusion is drawn that these data would support a dual proprioceptive storage mode hypothesis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23458033,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Interface-confined oxide nanostructures for catalytic oxidation reactions.\nHeterogeneous catalysts, often consisting of metal nanoparticles supported on high-surface-area oxide solids, are common in industrial chemical reactions. Researchers have increasingly recognized the importance of oxides in heterogeneous catalysts: that they are not just a support to help the dispersion of supported metal nanoparticles, but rather interact with supported metal nanoparticles and affect the catalysis. The critical role of oxides in catalytic reactions can become very prominent when oxides cover metal surfaces forming the inverse catalysts. The source of the catalytic activity in homogeneous catalysts and metalloenzymes is often coordinatively unsaturated (CUS) transition metal (TM) cations, which can undergo facile electron transfer and promote catalytic reactions. Organic ligands and proteins confine these CUS cations, making them highly active and stable. In heterogeneous catalysis, however, confining these highly active CUS centers on an inorganic solid so that they are robust enough to endure the reaction environment while staying flexible enough to perform their catalysis remains a challenge. In this Account, we describe a strategy to confine the active CUS centers on the solid surface at the interface between a TM oxide (TMO) and a noble metal (NM). Among metals, NMs have high electron negativity and low oxygen affinity. This means that TM cations of the oxide bind strongly to NM atoms at the interface, forming oxygen-terminated-bilayer TMO nanostructures. The resulting CUS sites at the edges of the TMO nanostructure are highly active for catalytic oxidation reactions. Meanwhile, the strong interactions between TMOs and NMs prevent further oxidation of the bilayer TMO phases, which would otherwise result in the saturation of oxygen coordination and the deactivation of the CUS cations. We report that we can also tune the oxide-metal interactions to modulate the bonding of reactants with CUS centers, optimizing their catalytic performance. We review our recent progress on oxide-on-metal inverse catalysts, mainly the TMO-on-Pt (TM = Fe, Co, and Ni) systems and discuss the interface-confinement effect, an important factor in the behavior of these catalytic systems. We have studied both model catalyst systems and real supported nanocatalysts. Surface science studies and density functional theory calculations in model systems illustrate the importance of the oxide-metal interfaces in the creation and stabilization of surface active centers, and reveal the reaction mechanism at these active sites. In real catalysts, we describe facile preparation processes for fabricating the oxide-on-metal nanostructures. We have demonstrated excellent performance of the inverse catalysts in oxidation reactions such as CO oxidation. We believe that the interface confinement effect can be employed to design highly efficient novel catalysts and that the inverse oxide-on-metal catalysts may find wide applications in heterogeneous catalysis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25405199,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Rare etiology of mechanical intestinal obstruction: Abdominal cocoon syndrome.\nAbdominal cocoon syndrome is a rare cause of intestinal obstruction with unknown etiology. Diagnosis of this syndrome, which can be summarized as the small intestine being surrounded by a fibrous capsule not containing the mesothelium, is difficult in the preoperative period. A 47-year-old male patient was referred to the emergency department with complaints of abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting for two days. The abdominal computed tomography examination detected dilated small intestinal loops containing air-fluid levels clustered in the left upper quadrant of the abdomen and surrounded by a thick, saclike, contrast-enhanced membrane. During exploratory surgery, a capsular structure was identified in the upper left quadrant with a regular surface that was solid-fibrous in nature. Abdominal cocoon syndrome is a rarely seen condition, for which the preoperative diagnosis is difficult. The combination of physical examination and radiological signs, and the knowledge of \"recurrent characteristics of the complaints\" that can be learned by a careful history, may be helpful in diagnosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15561387,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"In vivo recruitment by painful stimuli of AMPA receptor subunits to the plasma membrane of spinal cord neurons.\nThe persistent increase in pain sensitivity observed after injury, known as hyperalgesia, depends on synaptic plasticity in the pain pathway, particularly in the spinal cord. Several potential mechanisms have been proposed, including post-synaptic exocytosis of the AMPA subclass of glutamate receptors (AMPA-R), which is known to play a critical role in synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus. AMPA-R trafficking has been described in spinal neurons in culture but it is unknown if it can also occur in spinal neurons in vivo, or if it can be induced by natural painful stimulation. Here we have induced referred mechanical hyperalgesia in vivo by intracolonic instillation of capsaicin in mice and have observed a recruitment of GluR1 AMPA-R subunits to neuronal plasma membranes in the lumbar spinal cord. Intracolonic capsaicin induced a rapid (10 min) increase in GluR1, but not GluR2\/3 in the synaptosomal membrane fraction which lasted at least 3 h and a decrease in GluR1 subunit in the cytosolic fraction. Capsaicin treatment also provoked CaMKII activation and pre-treatment with a specific CaMKII inhibitor prevented the GluR1 trafficking. Brefeldin-A, an antibiotic that inhibits exocytosis of proteins, not only prevented GluR1 trafficking to the membrane but also inhibited referred hyperalgesia in capsaicin-treated mice. Our results show that delivery of GluR1 AMPA receptor subunits to the cell membrane through a CaMKII activity-dependent exocytotic regulated pathway contributes to the development of hyperalgesia after a painful stimulus. We conclude that AMPA-R trafficking contributes to the synaptic strengthening induced in the pain pathway by natural stimulation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22686387,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nutritional factors and hypospadias risks.\nWe examined whether hypospadias was associated with several aspects of the diet, including intake of animal products, intake of several nutrients and food groups related to a vegetarian diet and oestrogen metabolism, and diet quality. The study included deliveries from 1997 to 2005 that were part of the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Diet was assessed by food frequency questionnaire during maternal telephone interviews, and two diet quality indices were developed based on existing indices. Analyses included 1250 cases with second- or third-degree hypospadias (urethra opened at the penile shaft, scrotum or perineum) and 3118 male, liveborn, non-malformed controls. All odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals [CI] were estimated from logistic regression models that included several potential confounders, including energy intake. Intake of animal products was not associated with hypospadias; for example, the adjusted OR for any vs. no intake of meat was 1.0 [95% CI 0.6, 1.6]. Frequency of intake of meat or other animal products was also not associated with hypospadias, nor was intake of iron or several nutrients that are potentially related to oestrogen metabolism. Diet quality was also not associated with hypospadias; the OR for diet quality in the highest vs. lowest quartile for the two diet quality indices were 1.0 [95% CI 0.6, 1.6] and 0.9 [95% CI 0.7, 1.1]. This large study does not support an association of a vegetarian diet or worse diet quality with hypospadias.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25424792,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Immunogenicity and safety of 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine when administered to healthy Japanese adults aged \u226550 years. An open-label trial.\nThis open-label study was designed to assess immunogenicity and safety of 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) when administered to Japanese adults aged \u226550 years not previously vaccinated with 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine and to compare this Japanese study population with similar study populations in the United States (US; 50-64 years age group) and European Union (EU; \u226565 years age group). Functional antibody immune responses were measured by opsonophagocytic activity assays. Immune responses in both Japanese age groups showed significant pre\/postvaccination fold rises for each serotype. In the Japanese 50-64 years age group, immune responses for the majority of serotypes were significantly lower than in the \u226565 years Japanese age group and generally lower than in the 50-64 years age group in the US study. Immune responses in the Japanese \u226565 years age group were significantly higher for the majority of serotypes compared with the \u226565 years age group in the EU study. The safety profiles across age groups and studies were generally similar. In conclusion, PCV13 elicited robust immune responses in the Japanese study population. The unanticipated higher immune responses observed in the older age group in the Japanese study are of interest and of potential benefit given the higher incidence of pneumococcal disease in older adults. PCV13 was well tolerated and safe.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11992382,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"In vitro effects of radiation on human retinoblastoma cells.\nRetinoblastoma (Rb) is the most common intraocular tumor of childhood and has been demonstrated clinically to be very sensitive to external beam radiation (EBR). The purpose of this study was to determine the survival of Rb cell lines at different endpoints following irradiation. We also studied Rb-reconstituted cell lines postirradiation to gain insight into the role of Rb following DNA damage. Suspension cultures were exposed to single doses of 1, 2, 5, and 10 Gy. Following irradiation, cell viability and cell death was assessed for up to 72 hr using Trypan blue exclusion and acridine orange\/ethidium bromide (AO\/EB) staining, respectively. Morphological features were examined with light and electron microscopy (LM and EM). Clonogenic survival was assessed 2 weeks postirradiation. Cell cycle distribution was analyzed by flow cytometry. A time- and dose-dependent decrease in cell viability was induced in Y79 and WERI-Rb1 cells following irradiation, although not below approximately 45% for the times and doses used. A similar but much-reduced effect on viability was observed in Rb-reconstituted cells. AO\/EB staining, LM, and EM revealed features characteristic of apoptosis following irradiation and a time- and dose-dependent increase in apoptosis was observed. For Y79 and WERI-Rb1 cells, 30-40% apoptosis was observed 72 hr after 10 Gy irradiation; however, apoptosis was much reduced in Rb-reconstituted cells (approximately 8% Y79LxRb28; approximately 18% WERILxRb8). Rb cell lines were extremely sensitive to radiation, although less so in Rb-reconstituted lines, with clonogenic survivals after 2 Gy (SF2) of 0.14 for Y79, 0.06 for WERI-Rb1, 0.36 for Y79LxRb28, and 0.19 for WERILxRb8. Postirradiation, a sub-G1 population was observed, consistent with radiation-induced apoptosis, and Rb-reconstituted cells displayed a prolonged G2 phase. The clonogenic survival parameters of Rb cell lines are consistent with clinical observations, where extreme sensitivity to irradiation has been reported. Additionally, Rb protein protected cells from DNA damage and may also play a role in radiation-induced G2 delay. This in vitro approach provides a useful model for further radiobiological studies of Rb.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14519954,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Metabolite profiles of flutamide in serum from patients with flutamide-induced hepatic dysfunction.\nHepatic dysfunction due to flutamide administration has been reported and this side effect often limits the use of the agent. The prediction of flutamide-induced hepatotoxicity is attributed to the proper use of the antiandrogen. In this study, we investigated whether hepatic dysfunction could be assessed by the metabolite profile in serum from patients receiving this drug. Serum samples were obtained from 15 patients with prostate cancer, 12 patients with no sign of hepatotoxicity and 3 patients with slight hepatic dysfunction during long-term flutamide treatment. We analyzed the metabolite profiles by LC\/MS in selected ion monitoring mode and detected a new metabolite (M3) that was an oxidation product of flutamide. However, there were no consistent differences in the serum flutamide metabolites between patients with normal function and those suffering hepatic dysfunction. The metabolite profiles in the beta-glucuronidase-treated serum showed a similar pattern between normal functioning and dysfunctional groups. Thus, the profile of flutamide metabolites determined in serum may not contribute to the risk prediction of flutamide-related hepatotoxicity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7931518,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Modification in activity of medullary respiratory-related neurons for vocalization and swallowing.\n1. The medullary ventral respiratory group (VRG) in and near the nucleus ambiguus contains neurons related to respiration. Also found here are neurons related to vocalization and swallowing as well as motoneurons of laryngeal, pharyngeal, palatal, and esophageal muscles. Previous reports in anesthetized animals have characterized discharge properties of neurons as they relate to a single behavior, e.g., respiration. Relatively few studies have documented discharge properties during more than one behavior, e.g., respiration and swallowing. Neurons were recorded extracellularly from awake Macaca nemestrina monkeys engaged in a vocalization task. The present paper describes how respiratory-related neurons (RRNs) modify their discharge during vocalization and swallowing. 2. The temporal relation between vocalization, subglottal pressure (SP), and diaphragm electromyogram (EMG) was established from recordings in anesthetized monkeys. Vocalization was elicited by electrical stimulation of the midbrain periaqueductal gray (PAG). Vocalization is preceded by deep inspiration and a brief pause in diaphragm EMG and begins with a rapid increase in positive SP. 3. Extracellularly recorded neural potential from the VRG in three awake monkeys were related to respiration by correlating their discharge with EMGs from the posterior cricoarytenoid or intercostal muscles during quiet respiration. Neurons were classified as inspiratory (INSP; N = 27), phase spanning (PS; N = 20), or expiratory (N = 6) on this basis. 4. A fourth category of cells was defined as a subgroup of INSP cells on the basis of their discharge during vocalization. This group, inspiratory-pause (INSP-PS; N = 10), paused for approximately 100 ms just before vocalization and resumed their activity during vocalization. 5. Of 63 fully analyzed RRNs, 40 (63%) also modulated their activity with vocalization and 3 (5%) with swallowing. Thirteen (21%) RRNs modulated with vocalization, respiration, and swallowing. Seven (11%) cells were modulated only with respiration. 6. Most cells demonstrated a shorter period of activity and a higher discharge rate associated with vocalization in comparison with quiet respiration. Six (30%) of the PS cells demonstrated an augmenting discharge pattern before vocalization, which was different from the other PS cells and different from their pattern during quiet respiration. Thirteen RRNs showed a pause in activity during vocal fold closure associated with swallowing, whereas three cells gave a burst at this time. 7. The higher discharge rate and shorter burst duration preceding vocalization, compared with quiet respiration, may be related to the greater positive SP necessary to support vocalization.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32583094,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"The Influence of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi on Plant Reproduction.\nArbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi can influence all components of plant reproduction including pollen delivery, pollen germination, pollen tube growth, fertilization, and seed germination. AM fungi associate with plant roots, uptake nutrients, and prime plants for faster defense responses. Our literature review first identified four testable hypotheses describing how AM fungi could alter pollen delivery: (1) We hypothesize AM fungi promote floral display size. The influence of AM fungi on flower size and number is supported by literature, however there are no studies on floral color. (2) We hypothesize AM fungi promote pollen and nectar quality and quantity, and, as reported before, AM fungi promote male fitness over female fitness. (3) We hypothesize AM fungi promote both earlier and longer flowering times, but we found no consistent trend in the data for earlier or later or longer flowering times. (4) We hypothesize AM fungi alter floral secondary chemistry and VOCs, and find there is clear evidence for the alteration of floral chemistry but little data on VOCs. Second, we focus on how AM fungi could alter pollen germination, pollen tube growth, and fertilization, and present three testable hypotheses. We found evidence that AM fungi influence pollen germination and pollen tube growth, production of seeds, and seed germination. However, while most of these influences are positive they are not conclusive, because studies have been conducted in small numbers of systems and groups. Therefore, we conclude that the majority of research to date may not be measuring the influence of AM fungi on the most important components of plant reproduction: pollen germination, pollen tube growth, fertilization, and seed germination.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35362274,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Damage integral and other predictive formulas for nonisothermal heating during laser exposure.\nPhysics-based models supply simulated temperature rises to photothermal damage rate models and provide comprehensive risk assessments for laser-induced damage. As the physics-based models continue to be refined, the damage rate models have not advanced. This peculiar lack of improvement is counterintuitive considering the damage integral (\u03a9), originally derived for isothermal heating events, and fails to accurately represent the nonisothermal heating from short laser exposures. Derive a nonisothermal form of the damage integral and predict more accurately the damage induced by short laser exposures, as well as identify the role of heating rate in laser damage. From first principles, we derived a version of the damage integral specific to the shape of thermal profiles rather than the square function provided by Arrhenius plots. We used previously published threshold thermal profiles, where all nonisothermal frequency factors (Anon) solved all \u03a9non values to unity. Nonisothermal correction factors correct isothermal Aiso values. The Ea values were identical for both the isothermal and nonisothermal conventions. Correction factor values for \u03a9iso ranged from 0.0 (20-s exposures at thermal steady state) to -0.93 (0.05-s exposures). Based on empirical results, we have derived a two-dimensional empirical formula that predicts the heating rate as a function of exposure duration and ambient temperature. Threshold peak temperatures (Tpthr) and threshold critical temperatures are mathematically determined without thermal profiles when appropriate Ea and Anon values are established. We have identified a modified damage integral that does not rely on the Arrhenius plot and provides a value for the frequency factor (A) that accounts for the nonisothermal nature of short laser exposures. The method, validated in our in vitro retinal model, requires thermal profiles recorded under threshold conditions, such as at minimum visible lesions or the boundary of cell death. The method is a new option for laser damage modelers.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18589584,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Frequency of TS1494del6 polymorphism in colorectal patients from west of Mexico].\nThymidylate synthase (TYMS) converts dUMP to dTMP, the rate-limiting nucleotide in DNA synthesis. It is also the target for 5-flurouracil, the most common chemotherapy agent for treatment of colorectal cancer (CRC). We designed a case-control study to investigate the frequency of TS 1494del6 polymorphism in patients with CRC and controls from Mexican population. The study consists of 253 patients with CRC and 200 control subjects. Risk of CRC was estimated by use of Odds ratio (95% CI) analysis. The genotype 6bp-\/6bp- in CRC patients was 18% (45\/253) and in controls was 11% (22\/200) with Odds ratio of 1.8 (1 - 4) with P = 0.059. When stratifying the training groups by age (< 50 years), male gender, stage III-IV and presence of metastasis, the genotype 6bp-\/6bp- was as risk (p < 0.05). The genotype 6bp-\/6bp- in the region untranslated 3' of TS gene, in the analyzed sample participates in important way in the development of CRC of the Mexican population.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29364086,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The inositol-1,2-cyclic phosphate moiety of the cross-reacting determinant, carbohydrate chains, and proteinaceous components are all responsible for the cross-reactivity of trypanosome variant surface glycoproteins.\nSalivarian trypanosomes evade the host immune system by continually swapping their protective variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) coat. Given that VSGs from various trypanosome stocks exhibited cross-reactivity (Camargo et al., Vet. Parasitol. 207, 17-33, 2015), we analyzed here which components are the antigenic determinants for this cross-reaction. Soluble forms of VSGs were purified from four Venezuelan animal trypanosome isolates: TeAp-N\/D1, TeAp-ElFrio01, TeAp-Mantecal01, and TeGu-Terecay323. By using the VSG soluble form from TeAp-N\/D1, we found that neither the inositol-1,2-cyclic phosphate moiety of the cross-reacting determinant nor the carbohydrate chains were exclusively responsible for its cross-reactivity. Then, all four purified glycoproteins were digested with papain and the resulting peptides were separated by high-performance liquid chromatography. Dot blot evaluation of the fractions using sera from trypanosome-infected animals yielded peptides that possessed cross-reaction activity, demonstrating for the first time that proteinaceous epitopes are also responsible for the cross-reactivity of trypanosome VSGs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12036437,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Noninvasive nocturnal ventilatory support in advanced lung disease from cystic fibrosis.\nRespiratory failure is the most common cause of death among people with cystic fibrosis (CF). The role of noninvasive positive-pressure ventilation (NPPV) in severe but stable lung disease from CF has not been adequately determined. We therefore sought to determine the tolerability and efficacy of NPPV in people with advanced lung disease from CF. We studied 13 patients with CF, severe air flow limitation (mean +\/- SD forced expiratory volume in the first second 0.8 +\/- 0.3 L), and chronic respiratory failure (mean +\/- SD P(aO2) 67 +\/- 19 mm Hg and P(aCO2) 51 +\/- 8 mm Hg). All patients were awaiting lung transplantation. NPPV was prescribed for 2 months. Overnight polysomnography, arterial blood gas values, pulmonary function, exercise capacity, and health-related quality of life were evaluated at baseline, after 2 months of NPPV, and again after a 1-month wash-out period off NPPV. Eight patients completed the study and tolerated NPPV extremely well. These patients subjectively noted improvement in their symptoms and requested that they restart NPPV after completing the protocol. Nevertheless, NPPV did not improve objective measures of sleep quality, daytime blood gas values, pulmonary function, respiratory muscle strength, or exercise tolerance. All 8 patients were continued on NPPV and underwent successful lung transplantation. NPPV is well tolerated by most patients with CF and severe lung disease and may be a useful bridge to support CF patients awaiting lung transplantation. However, despite subjective improvement, standard objective measures did not improve and cannot explain the reduced symptoms reported by these patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3068153,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Serological relationship between rat and human carcinoembryonic antigen.\nEnzyme immunoassays showed that a rabbit antiserum to rat carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) had high activity with extracts containing human CEA, which was almost completely inhibited by extracts containing human or rat CEA. Little or no inhibition was obtained with extracts of normal human or rat tissues or by human blood group A or B substances. A monkey antiserum to human CEA had strong activity against extracts containing rat CEA, and little or no activity against extracts of normal rat liver or kidney or a CEA-negative rat colon tumor. Activity of the monkey antiserum against rat CEA was almost completely inhibited by extracts containing rat or human CEA. Little or no inhibition was obtained with extracts of normal rat or human tissues. These results suggest that human and rat CEA share antigenic determinants and that they may be analogous moieties.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12028516,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Investigation into the suitability and accessibility of catering practices to inpatients from minority ethnic groups in Brent.\nThe Borough of Brent has one of the largest ethnic minority populations in England, with a growing number of refugee communities from Africa and Europe. Two important issues to be considered when developing culturally sensitive services in the hospital (including food provision) are that practices meet the religious and cultural requirements of the population that the hospital serves and that staff are equipped with the skills to understand cultural differences in illness and treatment. To review accessibility and suitability of multicultural meals to minority ethnic communities across five hospital sites in Brent and determine the level of nursing staff knowledge of multicultural dietary competencies. One survey was completed in each of the five hospital sites to gather information about current catering practices. Two separate questionnaires obtained information of the level of inpatient satisfaction with multicultural meals amongst Hindu, Muslim, Caribbean and Jewish patient groups and knowledge of nursing staff about multicultural competencies. Community groups representing minority ethnic populations participated in focus groups to establish feedback about dietary requirements in hospitals. Access to multicultural meals varied across hospital sites. Of 98 patients in the inpatient satisfaction survey, 74% were aware of the availability of multicultural meals with 51% of these patients not ordering any of the Asian vegetarian, Asian halal, Caribbean or kosher meals, citing satisfaction with European food as the main reason. Those ordering multicultural meals reported satisfaction most of the time (42%), satisfied most of the time (38%) and never satisfied (19%). The African Muslim group was the least satisfied with current halal meal provision. Forty-seven per cent of nurses questioned could accurately answer questions about multicultural dietary competencies. Improvements could be made to improve accessibility and improve suitability of meal choices to inpatients from minority ethnic groups.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29375385,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Adenine Nucleotides Attenuate Murine T Cell Activation Induced by Concanavalin A or T Cell Receptor Stimulation.\nExtracellular ATP and its metabolites affect various cellular immune responses, including T cell function, but there are apparently conflicting reports concerning the effects of adenine nucleotides on T cells. For example, it has been reported that ATP-mediated activation of P2 receptor is involved in T cell activation; activation of adenosine receptors suppresses T cell function; and 1 mM ATP induces T cell death via activation of P2X7 receptor. Therefore, in this work we investigated in detail the effects of 100-250 \u03bcM ATP, ADP, or AMP on murine T cell activation. First, an in vitro study showed that pretreatment of murine splenic T cells with 100-250 \u03bcM ATP, ADP, or AMP significantly suppressed the concanavalin A (ConA)-induced release of cytokines, including IL-2. This suppression was not due to induction of cell death via the P2X7 receptor or to an immunosuppressive effect of adenosine. ATP attenuated the expression of CD25, and decreased the cell proliferation ability of activated T cells. The release of IL-2 by ConA-stimulated lymphocytes was suppressed by post-treatment with ATP, as well as by pretreatment. These results suggest that exogenous ATP suppresses the activation of T cells. Secondly, we evaluated the effect of ATP in a ConA-treated mice. Treatment with ATP attenuated the increase of IL-2 concentration in the blood. Overall, these results suggest that adenine nucleotides might have potential as supplemental therapeutic agents for T cell-mediated immune diseases, by suppressing T cell activation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31251342,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Directed evolution of a bacterial WS\/DGAT acyltransferase: improving tDGAT from Thermomonospora curvata.\nSome bacteria belonging to the actinobacteria and proteobacteria groups can accumulate neutral lipids expressing enzymes of the wax ester synthase\/acyl coenzyme A: diacylglycerol acyltransferase (WS\/DGAT) family. tDGAT is a WS\/DGAT-like enzyme from Thermomonospora curvata able to produce TAGs and WEs when heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli. In this study, a protocol for the directed evolution of bacterial lipid-producing enzymes based on fluorimetry is developed and tested. tDGAT has been successfully evolved towards the improvement of TAG production with an up to 2.5 times increase in TAG accumulation. Mutants with no ability to produce TAGs but able to accumulate waxes were also selected during the screening. The localization of the mutations that enhance TAG production in the outer surface of tDGAT points out possible new mechanisms that contribute to the activity of this family of enzymes. This Nile red-based high throughput screening provides an evolution platform for other WS\/DGAT-like enzymes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34422049,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Safety Analysis of Apatinib Combined with Chemotherapy in the Treatment of Advanced Gastric Carcinoma: A Randomised Controlled Trial.\nTo study the safety of apatinib combined with chemotherapy in the treatment of advanced gastric carcinoma (GCA). 74 patients with advanced GCA treated in the oncology department of Weifang People's Hospital (January 2019-January 2020) were enrolled in this study and equally split into study group (SG) and reference group (RG) according to the odd and even admission numbers. RG underwent chemotherapy alone, while SG received apatinib combined with chemotherapy. The clinical indicators of serum matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9), serum interleukin-2 receptor (SIL-2R), and immune cell level were detected in the two groups before and after treatment to analyze the therapeutic effect of different treatment methods on patients with advanced gastric carcinoma. No obvious differences in gender ratio, average age, average BMI, pathological staging, pathological types, organ metastasis types, and residence were observed between the two groups (P > 0.05). The short-term follow-up results showed that the disease control rate (DCR) in SG was markedly higher compared with RG (P < 0.05). The MMP-9 and SIL-2R levels in both groups after treatment decreased (P < 0.05), and the levels in SG after treatment were notably lower compared with RG (P < 0.001). Compared with RG, CD3+, CD4+, and CD4+\/CD8+ levels in SG after treatment were notably higher (P < 0.001), while the CD8+ level was notably lower (P < 0.001). The median progression-free survival (MPFS) and overall survival (OS) in SG were markedly higher compared with RG (P < 0.001). The GQOLI-74 scores in both groups after treatment increased (P < 0.001), and the GQOLI-74 score in SG after treatment was markedly higher compared with RG (P < 0.001). The total incidence of adverse reactions was lower in SG than in RG (P < 0.05). Apatinib combined with chemotherapy is superior to chemotherapy alone in effectively improving treatment outcomes in patients with advanced GCA.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37867812,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-22":1}}},"text":"Small airways dysfunction: The importance of utilising Z-scores to define MMEF abnormalities in clinical practice.\nThe small airways comprise the largest cross-sectional area of the lungs, however, assessing and reporting abnormalities for this region of the bronchial tree has been practically and scientifically uncertain. Using routinely collected spirometry data for patients with either asthma or COPD, the accuracy of % predicted values for defining small airways dysfunction was assessed. A z-score of \u2264 -1.645 of the maximal-mid expiratory flow (MMEF) was used as the gold standard for defining abnormality in the small airways. Records of 3396 patients were included in the analysis. The false positive (FP) rates were 24.6 %, 16.1 %, 11.5 %, or 7.9 % when the % predicted value of 80 %, 70 %, 65 %, or 60 % were used, respectively. Sex, age, and BMI were associated with FP rates. Males were more likely to be categorised as FP with odds ratio (OR) between 1.10 and 1.49 across % predicted groups. Age was associated with FP rates with an OR between 1.01 and 1.08. The BMI was also associated with FP rates with an OR of 1.03 across all % predicted groups. Assessing the association of age groups with FP rate showed that those above 60 years old were more likely to be categorised as FP with an OR between 1.23 and 73.2 compared to those less than 30 years old. When assessing the small airways in clinical practice or for scientific purposes, the % predicted values overestimate the actual impairment leading to FP interpretation. Utilising z-score values are recommended to assess the small airways using the spirometric index, MMEF.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28718888,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Assessing lung function using contrast-enhanced dual-energy computed tomography for potential applications in radiation therapy.\nThere is an increasing interest in the evaluation of lung function from physiological images in radiation therapy treatment planning to reduce the extent of postradiation toxicities. The purpose of this work was to retrieve reliable functional information from contrast-enhanced dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) for new applications in radiation therapy. The functional information obtained by DECT is also compared with other methods using single-energy CT (SECT) and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) with CT. The differential function between left and right lung, as well as between lobes is computed for all methods. Five lung cancer patients were retrospectively selected for this study; each underwent a SPECT\/CT scan and a contrast-injected DECT scan, using 100 and 140 Sn kVp. The DECT images are postprocessed into iodine concentration maps, which are further used to determine the perfused blood volume. These maps are calculated in two steps: (a) a DECT stoichiometric calibration adapted to the presence of iodine and followed by (b) a two-material decomposition technique. The functional information from SECT is assumed proportional to the HU numbers from a mixed CT image. The functional data from SPECT\/CT are considered proportional to the number of counts. A radiation oncologist segmented the entire lung volume into five lobes on both mixed CT images and low-dose CT images from SPECT\/CT to allow a regional comparison. The differential function for each subvolume is computed relative to the entire lung volume. The differential function per lobe derived from SPECT\/CT correlates strongly with DECT (Pearson's coefficient r = 0.91) and moderately with SECT (r = 0.46). The differential function for the left lung shows a mean difference of 7% between SPECT\/CT and DECT; and 17% between SPECT\/CT and SECT. The presence of nonfunctional areas, such as localized emphysema or a lung tumor, is reflected by an intensity drop in the iodine concentration maps. Functional dose volume histograms (fDVH) are also generated for two patients as a proof of concept. The extraction of iodine concentration maps from a contrast-enhanced DECT scan is achieved to compute the differential function for each lung subvolume and good agreement is found in respect to SPECT\/CT. One promising avenue in radiation therapy is to include such functional information during treatment planning dose optimization to spare functional lung tissues.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17183975,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Haematologic disorders and cerebral venous thrombosis.\nThis review focuses on the several coagulation disorders (the so called hypercoagulable states) that are associated with cerebral venous thrombosis. Hypercoagulable states likely explain the high percentage of cases of cryptogenic cerebral infarction in young people. The most common of the hereditary defects appear to be deficiency of antithrombin III, protein C or protein S, activated protein C resistance and prothrombin 20211A mutation. In a large majority of cases activated protein C resistance is due to the presence of factor V Leiden. Antiphospholipid antibodies (lupus anticoagulant and anticardiolipin antibodies) represent an acquired disorder of coagulation. Rare defects include heparin cofactor II (HC II), plasminogen or tissue plasminogen activator deficiency (TPA), elevated plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) and dysfibrinogenemia. Hyperhomocystinemia is responsible for both arterial and venous thrombosis. A work-up to identify one of the recognizable hypercoagulable states is indicated, especially in younger patients with stroke. Laboratory evaluation for hypercoagulable states may also often be indicated in those patients who do not have other obvious risk factors for their stroke. If from clinical history, family history and\/or laboratory studies, a patient is felt to have a hypercoagulable state, the decision for long term chronic anticoagulation needs to be individualized. If a hereditary hypercoagulable state is found, it also may be appropriate to recommend screening of other family members.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35356869,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Prevalence of anxiety and depression symptoms in adolescents with Type 1 diabetes (T1D) and their parents.\nChronic somatic diseases are significant risk factors for the development of depression. Fourteen studies identified symptoms of depression and anxiety in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus. The overall prevalence of the symptoms of depression in the study population was 30.04%. The study population has been divided into two sub-groups: the target group consisting of adolescents with T1D aged 12-18 and their parents (N = 64), and the control group consisting of somatic healthy adolescents and their parents (N = 36). Anxiety symptoms have been evaluated applying the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7) scale. Depression symptoms have been evaluated using the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) scale. 100 respondents were eligible for screening. Severe, generalised anxiety was detected in 13% adolescents suffering from T1D and 47% of their parents. In contrast, no severe anxiety was detected in the control group by any of the respondents. In adolescents with T1D, 9% of cases experienced symptoms of severe depression, 16% experiencing symptoms of moderate depression. Moderate and severe anxiety and depression symptoms were seen significantly more frequently in the study group than in the control group, both in the child and in the parent subgroups. (1) Adolescents with Type 1 diabetes and their parents are more predisposed to anxiety and depression symptoms than somatic healthy children and their parents. (2) Further multiprofessional research is necessary for children with T1D and their families, in order to avoid the development of stress-related mental health disorders.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26438422,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Glycoside hydrolase family 32 is present in Bacillus subtilis phages.\nGlycoside hydrolase family 32 (GH32) enzymes cleave the glycosidic bond between two monosaccharides or between a carbohydrate and an aglycone moiety. GH32 enzymes have been studied in prokaryotes and in eukaryotes but not in viruses. This is the first analysis of GH32 enzymes in Bacillus subtilis phage SP10, \u03d5NIT1 and SPG24. Phylogenetic analysis, molecular docking and secretability predictions suggest that phage GH32 enzymes function as levan (fructose homopolysaccharide) fructotransferase. We showed that viruses also contain GH32 enzymes and that our analyses in silico strongly suggest that these enzymes function as levan fructotransferase.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6152501,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Comparison of different models of rat liver carcinogenesis: conclusions from a systemic analysis.\nDifferent protocols of chemically induced hepatocarcinogenesis were applied to Wistar rats under identical experimental conditions. The following conclusions may be drawn after an analytic comparison of these results. Various chemical carcinogens show different carcinogenic capacities. Diethylnitrosamine is more potent than N-nitrosomorpholine which is more active than 2-acetylaminofluorene. A short-term exposure to such carcinogens is sufficient to initiate but not necessarily to complete the carcinogenic process. It can be promoted to completion by either a noncarcinogenic promoter or a carcinogen. From a systemic point of view, it appears that, as in the skin models, two-step protocols are not always equivalent to protocols using the same agent during the whole treatment. Moreover, the results observed with a multistep protocol indicate that during the initiating phase the carcinogen plays a selective role distinct both from a pure initiating role and from the promoting effect. The results obtained lead to the conclusion that the distinction between initiation and promotion remains purely operational as it still does not correspond to the nature of well-established biologic processes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26443379,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Functional analyses of phosphorylation events in human Argonaute 2.\nArgonaute 2 (Ago2) protein is a central effector of RNA interference (RNAi) pathways and regulates mammalian genes on a global level. The mechanisms of Ago2-mediated silencing are well understood, but less is known about its regulation. Recent reports indicate that phosphorylation significantly affects Ago2 activity. Here, we investigated the effect of mutating all known phospho-residues within Ago2 on its localization and activity. Ago2 associates with two different cytoplasmic RNA granules known as processing bodies (P-bodies) and stress granules, but the nature of this phenomenon is controversial. We report that replacing serine with a phospho-mimetic aspartic acid at position 798 completely abrogates association of Ago2 with P-bodies and stress granules. The effect of this mutation on its activity in gene silencing was modest, which was surprising because association of Ago2 with cytoplasmic RNA granules is thought to be a consequence of its role in RNAi. As such, our data indicate that targeting of Ago2 to P-bodies and stress granules is separable from its role in RNAi and likely requires dynamic phosphorylation of serine 798.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9562127,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Detection of anti-lipoarabinomannan antibodies for the diagnosis of active tuberculosis.\nA serological test that contributes in diagnosing tuberculosis would aid patient management. To evaluate MycoDot, a new commercially available serological test, for the detection of immunoglobulin G antibodies to lipoarabinomannan (LAM), a glycolipid common to mycobacteria. Serum samples from 102 non-human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients with no previous history of tuberculosis and with suspected active pulmonary (66) and\/or extra-pulmonary (36) tuberculosis were investigated; 50 HIV-negative healthy subjects, sputum culture-negative, tuberculin skin test negative and with no history of tuberculosis, were used as controls. In 28 patients with microbiologically ascertained tuberculosis 25\/28 serum samples were positive, whereas the test was negative in two patients with renal tuberculosis and in one with pulmonary tuberculosis. The remaining 74 serum samples were negative. The follow-up of these patients excluded a mycobacterial infection. Control subjects were negative. On the basis of our design, the MycoDot test, with its rapidity and degree of sensitivity, is suitable for routine use in laboratory diagnosis of both pulmonary and extrapulmonary tuberculosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1676376,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Degradation of cells dying by apoptosis leads to accumulation of epsilon(gamma-glutamyl)lysine isodipeptide in culture fluid and blood.\nepsilon(gamma-Glutamyl)lysine isodipeptide, the end-product of proteolytic digestion of proteins cross-linked by transglutaminase, was detected in culture fluid of neonatal rat hepatocytes and plasma of adult rats. The concentration of the isodipeptide was significantly increased in both when high rate of apoptosis with phagocytosis of dying hepatocytes was produced either by epidermal growth factor in the culture or by lead nitrate-induced hyperplasia with subsequent involution in rats. Specific induction of tissue transglutaminase and the consequent formation of highly cross-linked protein envelopes in apoptotic cells have been previously demonstrated by us in both systems.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20363808,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2013-48":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"What goes down must come up: role of the posteromedial cortices in encoding and retrieval.\nThe hypothesis that the neural network supporting successful episodic memory retrieval overlaps with the regions involved in episodic encoding has garnered much interest; however, the role of the posteromedial regions remains to be fully elucidated. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies during successful encoding typically demonstrate deactivation of posteromedial cortices, whereas successful retrieval of previously encoded information has been associated with activation of these regions. Here, we performed an event-related fMRI experiment during an associative face-name encoding and retrieval task to investigate the topography and functional relationship of the brain regions involved in successful memory processes. A conjunction analysis of novel encoding and subsequent successful retrieval of names revealed an anatomical overlap in bilateral posteromedial cortices. In this region, a significant negative correlation was found: Greater deactivation during encoding was related to greater activation during successful retrieval. In contrast, the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex demonstrated positive activation during both encoding and retrieval. Our results provide further evidence that posteromedial regions constitute critical nodes in the large-scale cortical network subserving episodic memory. These results are discussed in relation to the default mode hypothesis, the involvement of posteromedial cortices in successful memory formation and retention, as well as potential implications for aging and neurodegenerative disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7935305,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Reasons for tobacco use and symptoms of nicotine withdrawal among adolescent and young adult tobacco users--United States, 1993.\nCigarettes and other forms of tobacco are addictive because of the presence of nicotine(1). Among adults in the United States who have ever smoked daily, 91.3% tried their first cigarette and 77.0% became daily smokers before age 20 years (2). Among high school seniors who had ever tried smokeless tobacco (SLT), 73% did so by the ninth grade (2). To further characterize the development of nicotine addiction among persons aged 10-22 years, CDC analyzed data from the 1993 Teenage Attitudes and Practices Survey (TAPS-II). This report summarizes the results of that analysis and focuses on assessments of reasons for using tobacco and symptoms of nicotine withdrawal.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26415147,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Continuous Cuffless Blood Pressure Estimation Using Pulse Transit Time and Photoplethysmogram Intensity Ratio.\nPulse transit time (PTT) has attracted much interest for cuffless blood pressure (BP) measurement. However, its limited accuracy is one of the main problems preventing its widespread acceptance. Arterial BP oscillates mainly at high frequency (HF) because of respiratory activity, and at low frequency (LF) because of vasomotor tone. Prior studies suggested that PTT can track BP variation in HF range, but was inadequate to follow the LF variation, which is probably the main reason for its unsatisfactory accuracy. This paper presents a new indicator, the photoplethysmogram intensity ratio (PIR), which can be affected by changes in the arterial diameter, and, thus, trace the LF variation of BP. Spectral analysis of BP, PTT, PIR, and respiratory signal confirmed that PTT was related to BP in HF at the respiratory frequency, while PIR was associated with BP in LF range. We, therefore, develop a novel BP estimation algorithm by using both PTT and PIR. The proposed algorithm was validated on 27 healthy subjects with continuous Finapres BP as reference. The results showed that the mean \u00b1 standard deviation (SD) for the estimated systolic, diastolic, and mean BP with the proposed method against reference were -0.37 \u00b15.21, -0.08 \u00b14.06, -0.18 \u00b14.13 mmHg, and mean absolute difference (MAD) were 4.09, 3.18, 3.18 mmHg, respectively. Furthermore, the proposed method outperformed the two most cited PTT algorithms for about 2 mmHg in SD and MAD. These results demonstrated that the proposed BP model using PIR and PTT can estimate continuous BP with improved accuracy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37849214,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Inferring local structure from pairwise correlations.\nTo construct models of large, multivariate complex systems, such as those in biology, one needs to constrain which variables are allowed to interact. This can be viewed as detecting \"local\" structures among the variables. In the context of a simple toy model of two-dimensional natural and synthetic images, we show that pairwise correlations between the variables-even when severely undersampled-provide enough information to recover local relations, including the dimensionality of the data, and to reconstruct arrangement of pixels in fully scrambled images. This proves to be successful even though higher order interaction structures are present in our data. We build intuition behind the success, which we hope might contribute to modeling complex, multivariate systems and to explaining the success of modern attention-based machine learning approaches.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7932972,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Color Doppler ultrasonography in pediatric intussusception.\nCDU was used in 11 children with intussusception. Demonstration of vascular images within the \"pseudokidney\" mass was possible in none of 11 cases. Of them, eight could be treated by hydrostatic reduction. In the remaining case, marked edema of the bowel wall did not allow reduction, and surgery had to be performed: no necrosis was observed in the surgical specimen. Both patients in whom CDU failed to demonstrate vascular signals had necrosis at surgery, and bowel resection was performed. Because of the limited number of patients examined at this time, no firm conclusions can be drawn from our experience. However, CDU seems a promising technique in detecting vascular changes occurring in intussusception, with a possible role as a predictive tool of bowel necrosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20373455,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Can children catch up in growth after living donor liver transplantation?\nSeveral studies have shown improved growth after liver transplantation, but long-term follow-up data have been lacking. This study was aimed at evaluating the ability of children to catch up in height after living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) and at clarifying factors affecting growth. Growth was assessed by serial height measurements performed during follow-up. Standardized height scores (z scores) were calculated for each patient preoperatively (at the baseline) and at 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, and 15 years after LDLT. The risk potential of several preoperative and postoperative variables was evaluated. A total of 237 patients, including 159 females (67.1%), met the inclusion criteria. The mean age at the time of transplant was 3.89 +\/- 0.28 years. The mean z score was -1.70 +\/- 0.09, whereas the baseline height deficit was -6.50 +\/- 0.39 cm. After LDLT, the z score improved significantly and reached -0.64 +\/- 0.14 by the end of the first year. The best height improvement was seen after 10 years (-0.33 +\/- 0.16). However, significant growth retardation remained at 15 years (-0.47 +\/- 0.17). Height showed 3 distinct phases after transplantation: a growth spurt, a plateau phase, and a late declining phase. Univariate and multivariate analyses showed that children under 2 years and those with the most growth retardation at the time of LDLT achieved the best height gain in the first year. Late growth retardation was related to the baseline z score, ABO-incompatible grafts, and graft dysfunction. In conclusion, children have the potential ability to catch up in growth to normal levels after LDLT; they can show impressive height gains in the first year followed by protracted improvement over 10 years and then late growth retardation. Young age is a determinant for early height gain, whereas ABO-incompatible grafts and graft dysfunction are determinants for late growth retardation. In contrast, the baseline z score is a determinant for both.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22691346,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Establishment of protein fingerprint database of Salmonella paratyphi A using SELDI-TOF-MS].\nTo establish a protein fingerprint database of Salmonella paratyphi A by surface enhanced laser desorption\/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF-MS). Thirty-six clinical bacterial isolates and 96 control bacteria isolates were collected and identified using 16S rDNA sequencing. Bacterial proteins were detected by SELDI-TOF-MS, and all protein fingerprints were analyzed by ProteinChip and Biomarker Wizard software. The analysis results were used to set up a classification tree model by means of BioMarker Patterns software. At the same time, the data were tested by a blinded validation. In the range of M(r); 3 000-20 000, we obtained 104 protein peaks, of which 90 were of statistical significance (P<0.01). A protein peak with mass-to-charge ratio(M\/Z) 10 061.7 was chosen to establish the classification tree model of Salmonella paratyphi A, and the sensitivity and specificity of Salmonella paratyphi A diagnosis was 100% as shown by the blinded validation. The classification tree model of Salmonella paratyphi A can be not only established using SELDI-TOF-MS technology, but also used for the rapid identification of Salmonella paratyphi A.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24391264,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Archival tagging of subadult and adult common thresher sharks (Alopias vulpinus) off the coast of southern California.\nThe common thresher shark (Alopias vulpinus) is a secondary target species of the California drift gillnet fishery (CA-DGN) and supports a growing recreational fishery in California waters. This study used archival tags to examine the movement patterns and habitat preferences of common threshers of the size range captured in the CA-DGN (>120 cm fork length). Depth and temperature-logging archival tags were deployed on 57 subadult and adult common threshers in the Southern California Bight. Tags from five individuals (8.8%) were recovered, and 154 days of data were successfully obtained from four of these. By night, shark movements were primarily limited to waters above the thermocline, which ranged in depth from 15 to 20 m. Sharks were significantly deeper by day, and daytime vertical distribution consisted of two distinct modes: a 'shallow mode' (wherein sharks occupied only the upper 20 m of the water column) and a 'deep mode' (characterized by frequent vertical excursions below the thermocline). This modal switch is interpreted as relating to regional differences in abundance of surface-oriented prey and prey in deeper water. Maximum dive depth was 320 m, greatest dive duration was 712 min, minimum temperature experienced during a dive was 9.1\u00b0C, and dive descent rate was significantly greater than ascent rate. Sharks inhabited waters corresponding to a sea surface temperature range of 16 to 21\u00b0C. The nocturnal depth distribution of common threshers has implications for management of drift gillnet deployment depths in the CA-DGN.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28697634,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The fibrinolysis inhibitor \u03b12-antiplasmin restricts lymphatic remodelling and metastasis in a mouse model of cancer.\nRemodelling of lymphatic vessels in tumours facilitates metastasis to lymph nodes. The growth factors VEGF-C and VEGF-D are well known inducers of lymphatic remodelling and metastasis in cancer. They are initially produced as full-length proteins requiring proteolytic processing in order to bind VEGF receptors with high affinity and thereby promote lymphatic remodelling. The fibrinolytic protease plasmin promotes processing of VEGF-C and VEGF-D in vitro, but its role in processing them in cancer was unknown. Here we explore plasmin's role in proteolytically activating VEGF-D in vivo, and promoting lymphatic remodelling and metastasis in cancer, by co-expressing the plasmin inhibitor \u03b12-antiplasmin with VEGF-D in a mouse tumour model. We show that \u03b12-antiplasmin restricts activation of VEGF-D, enlargement of intra-tumoural lymphatics and occurrence of lymph node metastasis. Our findings indicate that the fibrinolytic system influences lymphatic remodelling in tumours which is consistent with previous clinicopathological observations correlating fibrinolytic components with cancer metastasis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28693349,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The wounded maternity in the fine arts.\nThe historian Fielding Garrison wrote that the history of medicine is the history of mankind, as it encompasses all of human life. This means that the history of medicine encourages us to critically reflect not only on the information (the what, the world of facts) but also invites us to move towards understanding (the who, the world of stories). Next to the historical change, there is the anthropological duration with its baggage of immutable values that art brings to light. The merit of art is to focus not only on the biological aspects, but also on the social and emotional ones that define the mother\/child relationship. The paintings that we have analyzed \"speak\" of care and caregiving, grief and suffering where maternity is experienced in solitude, in misery, in sickness. And it is to this latter aspect that we have drawn our attention. Most of the works are autobiographical or relate to events actually experienced by the artist. The theme of the wounded maternity has many facets, but all are united by the absence and loss of something precious: a son, a husband, health, affection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6361054,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Respiratory syncytial virus detection by immunofluorescence in nasal secretions with monoclonal antibodies against selected surface and internal proteins.\nSpecimens containing respiratory tract epithelial cells from infants and children with acute respiratory disease were evaluated by using an indirect immunofluorescence technique with two specific respiratory syncytial virus monoclonal antibodies. One (RS\/HN 13-1) was directed against a cell surface viral antigen, and the other (RS\/HN 25-2) was directed against viral antigen present in large cytoplasmic inclusions. The same results on presence or absence of respiratory syncytial virus were obtained by cell culture and immunofluorescence in 93% of 252 patients tested adequately by both methods. The sensitivity of indirect immunofluorescence was approximately equal to that of cell culture. A total of 84 specimens were positive for RSV by immunofluorescence; 82 of them were positive with both monoclones, and the remaining 2 were positive only with the monoclone directed against the internal protein. The fluorescence pattern of the latter monoclone was unique and easily recognized. Indirect immunofluorescence testing with monoclonal antibodies to respiratory syncytial virus proved to be a very useful diagnostic technique, and results could be obtained within 4 h of specimen collection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9559708,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Errors in the use of medication dosage equations.\nCalculation errors in prescribing are a well-recognized problem; however, no systematic studies of actual errors involving calculation or other errors in the use of drug dosage equations are available. To characterize the nature and potential adverse consequences of actual prescribing errors involving dosage equations. Analysis of the characteristics of 200 consecutive prescribing errors with potentially adverse outcomes involving dosage equations. Tertiary care teaching hospital. Potential adverse outcomes, prescribing service, medication class, and the process point at which the error was made. Errors most commonly involved children (69.5%) and antibiotics (53.5%). Forty-two percent of errors were considered to put the patient at risk for a serious or severe preventable adverse outcome. Errors in decimal point placement, mathematical calculation, or expression of dosage regimen accounted for 59.5% of dosage errors. The dosage equation was wrong in 29.5% of dosage errors. The use of equations to determine medication dosages presents considerable risk to patients for errant dosing and subsequent adverse events or therapeutic failure. Errors may occur in any component of a dosage equation. Health care organizations should implement procedures to reduce the risk for errors resulting from the use of dosage equations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25411353,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Outcome of prolonged QRS interval in dilated cardiomyopathy: role of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators on mortality.\nThe main objectives of this study were to investigate the relationship between prolonged QRS interval and its prognosis in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), and to determine the effects of cardiac pacing with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) on mortality in patients with a QRS width > 150 ms. We retrospectively queried the healthcare enterprise data warehouse and the patient medical records from January 2007 to December 2012 for 1453 cases of DCM at a university- affiliated hospital. Of the 1453 cases, 989 patients were included in the final analyses. Primary outcome variable was all-cause mortality. Of the 989 patients, 20% (n = 198) of the patients had a QRS width > 150 ms. Compared with patients who had a QRS < 120 ms, patients with a QRS > 150 ms had significantly higher rates of death (p < 0.001). Among the subgroup of 198 patients who had a QRS width > 150 ms, survival (84.3%, n = 75) was significantly higher (p < 0.001) in patients with a pacemaker inserted compared with those (45.0%, n = 49) who had not been paced. Prolonged QRS interval is significantly associated with a higher rate of mortality. However, we believe that cardiac pacing with an ICD in such patients can significantly improve outcomes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22686617,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Bilastine: in allergic rhinitis and urticaria.\nBilastine is an orally administered, second-generation antihistamine used in the symptomatic treatment of seasonal or perennial allergic rhinoconjunctivitis and urticaria. In two well designed phase III trials, 14 days' treatment with bilastine was associated with a significantly lower area under the effect curve (AUEC) for the reflective total symptom score (TSS) than placebo in patients with symptomatic seasonal allergic rhinitis. Additionally, reflective nasal symptom scores were significantly lower in bilastine than placebo recipients in patients with a history of seasonal allergic rhinitis who were challenged with grass pollen allergen in a single-centre, phase II study. Neither bilastine nor cetirizine was effective in the treatment of perennial allergic rhinitis with regard to the mean AUEC for reflective TSS in another well designed phase III trial. However, results may have been altered by differences in some baseline characteristics and placebo responses between study countries. In another well designed phase III trial, compared with placebo, bilastine was associated with a significantly greater change from baseline to day 28 in the mean reflective daily urticaria symptom score in patients with chronic urticaria. There were no significant differences in primary endpoint results between bilastine and any of the active comparators used in these trials (i.e. cetirizine, levocetirizine and desloratadine). Bilastine was generally well tolerated, with a tolerability profile that was generally similar to that of the other second-generation antihistamines included in phase III clinical trials.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37851949,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mechanism of Fluoride Ion Encapsulation by Magnesium Ions in a Bacterial Riboswitch.\nRiboswitches sense various ions in bacteria and activate gene expression to synthesize proteins that help maintain ion homeostasis. The crystal structure of the aptamer domain (AD) of the fluoride riboswitch shows that the F- ion is encapsulated by three Mg2+ ions bound to the ligand-binding domain (LBD) located at the core of the AD. The assembly mechanism of this intricate structure is unknown. To this end, we performed computer simulations using coarse-grained and all-atom RNA models to bridge multiple time scales involved in riboswitch folding and ion binding. We show that F- encapsulation by the Mg2+ ions bound to the riboswitch involves multiple sequential steps. Broadly, two Mg2+ ions initially interact with the phosphate groups of the LBD using water-mediated outer-shell coordination and transition to a direct inner-shell interaction through dehydration to strengthen their interaction with the LBD. We propose that the efficient binding mode of the third Mg2+ and F- is that they form a water-mediated ion pair and bind to the LBD simultaneously to minimize the electrostatic repulsion between three Mg2+ bound to the LBD. The tertiary stacking interactions among the LBD nucleobases alone are insufficient to stabilize the alignment of the phosphate groups to facilitate Mg2+ binding. We show that the stability of the whole assembly is an intricate balance of the interactions among the five phosphate groups, three Mg2+, and the encapsulated F- ion aided by the Mg2+ solvated water. These insights are helpful in the rational design of RNA-based ion sensors and fast-switching logic gates.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26441930,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pichia pastoris-expressed dengue 3 envelope-based virus-like particles elicit predominantly domain III-focused high titer neutralizing antibodies.\nDengue poses a serious public health risk to nearly half the global population. It causes ~400 million infections annually and is considered to be one of the fastest spreading vector-borne diseases. Four distinct serotypes of dengue viruses (DENV-1, -2, -3, and -4) cause dengue disease, which may be either mild or extremely severe. Antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE), by pre-existing cross-reactive antibodies, is considered to be the major mechanism underlying severe disease. This mandates that a preventive vaccine must confer simultaneous and durable immunity to each of the four prevalent DENV serotypes. Recently, we used Pichia pastoris, to express recombinant DENV-2 E ectodomain, and found that it assembled into virus-like particles (VLPs), in the absence of prM, implicated in the elicitation of ADE-mediating antibodies. These VLPs elicited predominantly type-specific neutralizing antibodies that conferred significant protection against lethal DENV-2 challenge, in a mouse model. The current work is an extension of this approach to develop prM-lacking DENV-3 E VLPs. Our data reveal that P. pastoris-produced DENV-3 E VLPs not only preserve the antigenic integrity of the major neutralizing epitopes, but also elicit potent DENV-3 virus-neutralizing antibodies. Further, these neutralizing antibodies appear to be exclusively directed toward domain III of the DENV-3 E VLPs. Significantly, they also lack discernible ADE potential toward heterotypic DENVs. Taken together with the high productivity of the P. pastoris expression system, this approach could potentially pave the way toward developing a DENV E-based, inexpensive, safe, and efficacious tetravalent sub-unit vaccine, for use in resource-poor dengue endemic countries.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25522317,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Conotoxin gene superfamilies.\nConotoxins are the peptidic components of the venoms of marine cone snails (genus Conus). They are remarkably diverse in terms of structure and function. Unique potency and selectivity profiles for a range of neuronal targets have made several conotoxins valuable as research tools, drug leads and even therapeutics, and has resulted in a concerted and increasing drive to identify and characterise new conotoxins. Conotoxins are translated from mRNA as peptide precursors, and cDNA sequencing is now the primary method for identification of new conotoxin sequences. As a result, gene superfamily, a classification based on precursor signal peptide identity, has become the most convenient method of conotoxin classification. Here we review each of the described conotoxin gene superfamilies, with a focus on the structural and functional diversity present in each. This review is intended to serve as a practical guide to conotoxin superfamilies and to facilitate interpretation of the increasing number of conotoxin precursor sequences being identified by targeted-cDNA sequencing and more recently high-throughput transcriptome sequencing.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16998207,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-22":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Is the occurrence of back pain in Germany decreasing? Two regional postal surveys a decade apart.\nBack pain is often perceived as an epidemic disorder with an ever-increasing prevalence. The objective of this paper is to estimate and compare point and period prevalence rates of back pain from two highly comparable postal surveys, a decade apart within a single regional population in the north of Germany. In 1991\/1992 and 2003 two systematic random samples of German residents of L\u00fcbeck aged 25-74 years were independently drawn from the municipal population registry. They received a short postal questionnaire with maximally two reminders. All data were directly standardised on the age, sex, and educational distribution of the merged samples. A sharp decrease in response rates from 81% in the early 1990s to 60% in 2003 required complex considerations of non-response bias. Both the overall and gender-specific point and 1 year prevalence rates of back pain remained fairly stable as well as the rate of severe disabling back pain. The overall prevalence (adjusted for age, sex, and education) of 'back pain today' was 39.2% (1991\/92) and 38.2% (2003), the 1 year prevalence was 75.3% (1991\/92) and 73.8% (2003), and the prevalence of severe pain was 9.9% (1991\/92) and 10.2% (2003). The data do not support the widespread public notion of a growing epidemic of back pain in Germany.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":33726158,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Butterfly-packaged multi-channel interference widely tunable semiconductor laser with improved performance.\nA multi-channel interference (MCI) widely tunable semiconductor laser is described in detail with improved performance in this paper. The MCI laser without the common phase section was packaged into a standard 14-pin butterfly package. The device realized a tuning range of more than 40 nm with side mode suppression ratios (SMSRs) higher than 48 dB and about 7 dBm fiber power. By making the gain section and the phase sections to be surface ridge waveguides, threshold currents of the laser have become less than 18 mA across the tuning range. Besides, tuning characteristics of the MCI laser were experimentally studied in detail for the first time. The MCI laser can be treated as a combination of eight Fabry-P\u00e9rot (FP) cavity lasers which share the same gain section. It is found that when the eight arm phase sections are completely in phase at the lasing wavelength, the operating currents are at maxima of the output power curves. The relationship between the lasing wavelength and the injection currents of the eight arm phase sections has been introduced and analyzed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23882890,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-26":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Current practice in acute flexor tendon repair in Israel.\nVarious methods of core suture and suture material are used successfully in acute flexor tendon repair. To assess the current practice in acute flexor tendon repair among Israeli hand surgeons. A five-question survey was conducted among certified hand surgeons in Israel regarding their preferred materials and method for performing acute flexor tendon repair. Forty-eight hand surgeons participated in the survey. The most widely used core suture in zone 2 (58.3%), as well as in zones 3 and 4 (62.5%), was the modified Kessler type. The most widely used suture material was nylon. All surgeons incorporated epitendinous sutures to augment their core sutures. The modified Kessler core suture technique is the most widely used technique among Israeli hand surgeons for repairing acute flexor tendon lacerations in zones 2, 3 and 4. This finding agrees with worldwide data and with emerging data attesting to the lower risk of adhesion formation and postoperative tendon ruptures with this method. The core suture technique initially popularized by the late Prof. Isidor Kessler, who headed our department during the years 1973-92, remains the most practiced acute flexor tendon repair technique among hand surgeons in Israel.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26439791,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Avirulence gene mapping in the Hessian fly (Mayetiola destructor) reveals a protein phosphatase 2C effector gene family.\nThe genetic tractability of the Hessian fly (HF, Mayetiola destructor) provides an opportunity to investigate the mechanisms insects use to induce plant gall formation. Here we demonstrate that capacity using the newly sequenced HF genome by identifying the gene (vH24) that elicits effector-triggered immunity in wheat (Triticum spp.) seedlings carrying HF resistance gene H24. vH24 was mapped within a 230-kb genomic fragment near the telomere of HF chromosome X1. That fragment contains only 21 putative genes. The best candidate vH24 gene in this region encodes a protein containing a secretion signal and a type-2 serine\/threonine protein phosphatase (PP2C) domain. This gene has an H24-virulence associated insertion in its promoter that appears to silence transcription of the gene in H24-virulent larvae. Candidate vH24 is a member of a small family of genes that encode secretion signals and PP2C domains. It belongs to the fraction of genes in the HF genome previously predicted to encode effector proteins. Because PP2C proteins are not normally secreted, our results suggest that these are PP2C effectors that HF larvae inject into wheat cells to redirect, or interfere, with wheat signal transduction pathways.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8350729,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"K-space substitution: a novel dynamic imaging technique.\nA rapid dynamic imaging sequence has been developed in which only the 32 phase encoding steps that encode low spatial frequencies are collected for each dynamic image. These are substituted into a previously acquired, 128 x 128 raw data set prior to image reconstruction. In this way the dynamic information is retained while the overall appearance is improved in comparison with images obtained by zero filling to 128 x 128, leading to better qualitative evaluation. The limited k-space sampling means that the technique is most effective for large homogeneous areas of signal change since fine changes in contrast are imperfectly recorded.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32589572,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Frigidibacter oleivorans sp. nov., isolated from a deep well with oil reservoir water.\nA Gram-stain-negative, rod-shaped bacterium, designated XJ4T, was isolated from oil-contaminated water, collected from Xinjiang Province, north-west PR China (45\u00b0 1' 27\u2033 N, 85\u00b0 6' 14\u2033 E). Growth occurred at 20-45 \u00b0C (optimum, 30 \u00b0C) and pH 6.0-10.0 (optimum, pH 6.0-7.0). Strain XJ4T could tolerate up to 7 % (w\/v) NaCl and grow optimally in the absence of NaCl. Phylogenetic analysis based on comparative sequence analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain XJ4T belonged to the genus Frigidibacter, and that was closely related to Frigidibacter mobilis cai42T (97.2 %), Frigidibacter albus SP32T (97.0 %) and Rhodobacter aestuarii JA296T (97.0 %). The average nucleotide identity values between XJ4T and three type strains were 77.9, 77.6 and 71.9 %, respectively. The DNA G+C content of strain XJ4T was 69.5 mol%. The sole respiratory quinone was Q-10. The major cellular fatty acid was summed feature 8 (C18 : 1 \u03c97c and\/or C18 : 1 \u03c96c), C18 : 0 and 11-methyl C18 : 1 \u03c97c. The polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, unidentified phospholipids, an unidentified aminolipid and unidentified lipids. On the basis of phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic analyses, strain XJ4T represents a novel species of the genus Frigidibacter, for which the name Frigidibacter oleivorans sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is XJ4T (=CGMCC 1.13778T=LMG 30952T).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31258070,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Recent Advances in Solid Dispersion Technology for Efficient Delivery of Poorly Water-Soluble Drugs.\nDrug discovery is generally considered as a costly affair and it takes approximately 15 years to reach a new chemical entity into the market. Among the recent potent drug molecules with most effective pharmacological properties, very few reached for Phase I clinical trial in humans. Unfortunately, the historical average reveals an almost 90% overall attrition rate in clinical trials. The solubility and permeability of a drug are the critical factors influencing the success of a drug. Oral drug delivery systems still continue to exist as the most favored, simplest and easiest administration route. A huge number of potential clinical candidates won't make it to the market or accomplish their maximum capacity except if their solubility and oral bioavailability are enhanced by formulation. The solubility of drugs will continue to exist as important aspects of formulation development. With the emergence of synthetic methods for new molecule synthesis in chemistry and better screening methods, the number of poorly water soluble compounds has dramatically expanded in the last few years. Solid dispersion is one of the most important techniques as it can be prepared by several methods. It is mostly prepared with a drug having poor water solubility and it explores hydrophilic polymers either individually or in combination for the enhancement of solubility. In comparison to the conventional formulations such as tablets or capsules, there are different methods with which solid dispersions can be prepared and also have many benefits over conventional drug delivery approaches. Solid dispersion systems are potential for increasing the solubility, oral absorption and bioavailability of drugs and the significance of the solid dispersion technology is constantly increasing. The main focus of this review is to present recent advancements in the area of solid dispersion. This review also includes an account of recent patents on solid dispersion and clinical status of solid dispersion based formulations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28726462,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Allan Urho Paivio (1925-2016).\nPresents an obituary for Allan Urho Paivio, who passed away on June 19, 2016. One of his many accomplishments was the development of a dual-coding theory. Dual-coding theory, while very influential, has, unfortunately, been discussed all too often as a theory of mental imagery, and not within its larger context wherein mental imagery and verbal processes are separable but interconnected representational systems, an academic battle in clarification that Paivio waged much of his life. He published prodigiously, even in the decades after retirement. Among his many honors, he served as president of the Canadian Psychological Association (1975) and was appointed a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (1978). (PsycINFO Database Record","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37465500,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Technique of using Cionni-modified capsular tension ring in the management of severely traumatic lens subluxation.\nTo investigate the effect of Cionni-modified capsular tension ring (CTR) implantation in patients with severely traumatic subluxated cataracts. All patients who totally had traumatic cataracts and lost zonule support and underwent cataract surgery were retrospectively analyzed. Corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA), extent of zonulysis, intraocular lens (IOL) position, intraoperative presentation, and complications were assessed. The primary outcomes included IOL centration stability and other postoperative complications. Twenty patients (20 eyes) were included in this study. The mean age in this study was 58.0\u00b111.3y, and the average follow-up time was 17.3\u00b112.8mo. Capsule bags were saved by Cionni-modified CTR. Nine eyes (45%) underwent simultaneously anterior vitrectomy due to the presence of vitreous in the anterior chamber. The preoperative mean CDVA was 0.83\u00b10.24 logMAR, and the postoperative average CDVA was 0.23\u00b10.30 logMAR (P<0.05). The horizontal and vertical IOL decentration after surgery was 0.27\u00b10.12 mm and 0.41\u00b10.19 mm, respectively; the vertical and horizontal IOL tilt after surgery was 5.5\u00b0\u00b12.5\u00b0 and 6.1\u00b0\u00b12.2\u00b0, respectively. None of the eyes had obvious IOL decentration during the follow-up time. Eight eyes (40%) had posterior capsule opacification (PCO) that was severe enough to cause poor vision. Neodymium: YAG laser capsulotomy were performed on these eyes when the CTR was stabilized. With the help of Cionni-modified CTR, capsular bag preservation and better IOL concentration can be achieved without major complications in patients with severely traumatic subluxated cataracts.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30673765,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Completion of multiple-dose travel vaccine series and the availability of pharmacist immunizers: A retrospective analysis of administrative data in Alberta, Canada.\nPharmacists in a number of countries are being trained in the administration of injections with the aim of improving access and adherence to vaccinations. However, little is known about population-level adherence to multiple-dose travel vaccines, and whether the availability of pharmacist immunizers is associated with adherence. Health administrative data from Alberta, Canada, from April 2008 to May 2017 identified adults dispensed at least one vaccine for hepatitis A, hepatitis B, Japanese encephalitis, or rabies. Individuals were coded as completers or non-completers of the vaccine series based on the number of doses dispensed over a time period comprising the duration of the standard series plus 6 months to account for late doses. The association between the proportion of Alberta pharmacists with injection authorization (according to pharmacist registration data) and completion of vaccine series was assessed using linear regression. Over the study period, 24,164 patients initiated a vaccine series for hepatitis A monovalent, 195,480 for hepatitis B monovalent, 169,802 for combined hepatitis A&B, 1,726 for Japanese encephalitis, and 1,908 for rabies. There were fewer than 5 individuals receiving Japanese encephalitis vaccine per year from 2008-2010 or rabies vaccine from 2008-2009. While statistically significant positive associations were seen across all vaccines except for Japanese encephalitis, the magnitude of these associations was small. Each 1% increase in the proportion of injections-authorized pharmacists saw a corresponding increase in the proportion of individuals with completed vaccine series by 0.31% for hepatitis A monovalent, 0.19% for hepatitis B monovalent, 0.22% for combined hepatitis A&B, and 0.21% for rabies. This may suggest that challenges remain with implementing reminder systems to ensure adherence among travellers. Strategies to develop or improve patient and clinician reminder systems in pharmacies for travel vaccines should therefore be explored.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28291947,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evaluating the Effect of Peptoid Lipophilicity on Antimicrobial Potency, Cytotoxicity, and Combinatorial Library Design.\nGrowing prevalence of antibiotic resistant bacterial infections necessitates novel antimicrobials, which could be rapidly identified from combinatorial libraries. We report the use of the peptoid library agar diffusion (PLAD) assay to screen peptoid libraries against the ESKAPE pathogens, including the optimization of assay conditions for each pathogen. Work presented here focuses on the tailoring of combinatorial peptoid library design through a detailed study of how peptoid lipophilicity relates to antibacterial potency and mammalian cell toxicity. The information gleaned from this optimization was then applied using the aforementioned screening method to examine the relative potency of peptoid libraries against Staphylococcus aureus, Acinetobacter baumannii, and Enterococcus faecalis prior to and following functionalization with long alkyl tails. The data indicate that overall peptoid hydrophobicity and not simply alkyl tail length is strongly correlated with mammalian cell toxicity. Furthermore, this work demonstrates the utility of the PLAD assay in rapidly evaluating the effect of molecular property changes in similar libraries.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28359049,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Improved Neural Regeneration with Olfactory Ensheathing Cell Inoculated PLGA Scaffolds in Spinal Cord Injury Adult Rats.\nEvery year, around the world, between 250000 and 500000 people suffer from spinal cord injury (SCI). This study investigated the potential for poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) complex inoculated with olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) to treat spinal cord injury in a rat model. OECs were identified by immunofluorescence based on the nerve growth factor receptor (NGFR) p75. The Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan (BBB) score, together with an inclined plane (IP) test were used to detect functional recovery. Nissl staining along with the luxol fast blue (LFB) staining were independently employed to illustrate morphological alterations. More so, immunofluorescence labeling of the glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and the microtubule-associated protein-2 (MAP-2), representing astrocytes and neurons respectively, were investigated at time points of weeks 2 and 8 post-operation. The findings showed enhanced locomotor recovery, axon myelination and better protected neurons post SCI when compared with either PLGA or untreated groups (P < 0.05). PLGA complexes inoculated with OECs improve locomotor functional recovery in transected spinal cord injured rat models, which is most likely due to the fact it is conducive to a relatively benevolent microenvironment, has nerve protective effects, as well as the ability to enhance remyelination, via a promotion of cell differentiation and inhibition of astrocyte formation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15260545,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"An intrinsic reaction coordinate calculation of the torsion-internal rotation potential of hydrogen peroxide and its isotopomers.\nIntrinsic reaction coordinate (IRC) calculations of the internal rotation (torsional) potentials for H(2)O(2) and its isotopomers HDO(2) and D(2)O(2) were carried out at the CCSD(T)\/CBS\/\/aug-cc-pVDZ level. Two extrapolation methods were used to obtain energies in the complete basis set (CBS) limit. The full IRC potential was constructed from scans from the C(2v) (cis) and C(2h) (trans) transition states to the equilibrium C(2) (gauche) structure. The IRC potential for H(2)O(2) was fit to a five-term Fourier function; coefficients were compared with values obtained from spectroscopic data. The twofold IRC torsional potentials were used to obtain torsional eigenvalues, which yielded values of the transitions between various ntau states. These results compare favorably with Raman and near-infrared data. Our calculations provide values of the cis and trans barriers of 2495 and 364 cm(-1), respectively, which are in good agreement with both previously calculated and experimentally derived values. It appears that coupling between torsional motion and other degrees of freedom is not significant in these molecules.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28569446,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-10":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Effect of Lithium Disilicate Opacity on Polymerization of a Dual-Cured Resin Cement.\nThe aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of different levels of opacity of the lithium disilicate framework upon polymerization of dual-cured resin cement. Four ceramic discs were used, one for each opacity framework covered by their respective ceramic veneering, and a cement group without a ceramic cover. The degree of conversion for each resin cement was estimated using the Knoop microhardness test. The group with the highest opacity showed the lowest hardness score at baseline. The study concluded that the opacity level of lithium disilicate framework could influence the degree of polymerization of a dual-cured resin cement.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17201111,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Exenatide: use in humans].\nExenatide is the first synthetic agonist of the GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide 1) receptor approved for clinical use in patients with type 2 diabetes. The multiplicity of its effects over glucose metabolism, appetite, body weight and its potential capacity to preserve the ?cell mass, makes it an attractive therapeutic alternative. This article attempts to review the current literature on pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, efficacy, and safety of exenatide in humans, derived from the early phase I and II studies, and from the clinical controlled trials that led to its approval for clinical use as a combination therapy with sulphonylureas and metformin.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1697560,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The human PDGF receptor alpha-subunit gene maps to chromosome 4 in close proximity to c-kit.\nThe gene encoding the alpha-subunit of the human platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFRA) maps to band q11-q12 of chromosome 4 by in situ hybridization, which was confirmed by Southern analysis of a Chinese hamster x human cell hybrid that retains only human chromosome 4.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31263710,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Montelukast, a Cysteinyl Leukotriene Receptor 1 Antagonist, Induces M2 Macrophage Polarization and Inhibits Murine Aortic Aneurysm Formation.\nThe pathogenesis of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is characterized by atherosclerosis with chronic inflammation in the aortic wall. Montelukast is a selective cys-LT 1 receptor antagonist that can suppress atherosclerotic diseases. We evaluated the in vitro properties of montelukast and its in vivo activities in an angiotensin II-infused apolipoprotein E-deficient (apoE-\/-) AAA mouse model. The mouse monocyte\/macrophage cell line J774A.1 was used in vitro. M1 macrophages were treated with montelukast, and gene expressions of inflammatory cytokines were measured. Macrophages were cultured with montelukast, then gene expressions of arginase-1 and IL (interleukin)-10 were assessed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction, arginase-1 was measured by fluorescence-activated cell sorting, and IL-10 concentration was analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. In vivo, one group (Mont, n=7) received oral montelukast (10 mg\/kg\/day) for 28 days, and the other group (Saline, n=7) was given normal Saline as a control for the same period. Aortic diameters, activities of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), cytokine concentrations, and the number of M2 macrophages were analyzed. Relative to control, montelukast significantly suppressed gene expressions of MMP-2, MMP-9, and IL-1\u03b2, induced gene expressions of arginase-1 and IL-10, enhanced the expression of the arginase-1 cell surface protein, and increased the protein concentration of IL-10. In vivo, montelukast significantly decreased aortic expansion (Saline vs Mont; 2.44 \u00b1 0.15 mm vs 1.59 \u00b1 0.20 mm, P<.01), reduced MMP-2 activity (Saline vs Mont; 1240 \u03bcM vs 755 \u03bcM, P<.05), and induced infiltration of M2 macrophages (Saline vs Mont; 7.51 % vs 14.7 %, P<.05). Montelukast induces M2 macrophage polarization and prevents AAA formation in apoE-\/- mice.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25422126,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Easily processable highly ordered Langmuir-Blodgett films of quaterthiophene disiloxane dimer for monolayer organic field-effect transistors.\nSelf-assembly of highly soluble water-stable tetramethyldisiloxane-based dimer of \u03b1,\u03b1'-dialkylquaterthiophene on the water-air interface was investigated by Langmuir, grazing incidence X-ray diffraction, and X-ray reflectivity techniques. The conditions for formation of very homogeneous crystalline monolayer Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films of the oligomer were found. Monolayer organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) based on these LB films as a semiconducting layer showed hole mobilities up to 3 \u00d7 10(-3) cm(2)\/(V s), on-off ratio of 10(5), small hysteresis, and high long-term stability. The electrical performance of the LB films studied is close to that for the same material in the bulk or in the monolayer OFETs prepared from water vapor sensitive chlorosilyl derivatives of quaterthiophene by self-assembling from solution. These findings show high potential of disiloxane-based LB films in monolayer OFETs for large-area organic electronics.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36262160,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Reaching for upper bound ROUGE score of extractive summarization methods.\nThe extractive text summarization (ETS) method for finding the salient information from a text automatically uses the exact sentences from the source text. In this article, we answer the question of what quality of a summary we can achieve with ETS methods? To maximize the ROUGE-1 score, we used five approaches: (1) adapted reduced variable neighborhood search (RVNS), (2) Greedy algorithm, (3) VNS initialized by Greedy algorithm results, (4) genetic algorithm, and (5) genetic algorithm initialized by the Greedy algorithm results. Furthermore, we ran experiments on articles from the arXive dataset. As a result, we found 0.59 and 0.25 scores for ROUGE-1 and ROUGE-2, respectively achievable by the approach, where the genetic algorithm initialized by the Greedy algorithm results, which happens to yield the best results out of the tested approaches. Moreover, those scores appear to be higher than scores obtained by the current state-of-the-art text summarization models: the best score in the literature for ROUGE-1 on the same data set is 0.46. Therefore, we have room for the development of ETS methods, which are now undeservedly forgotten.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37864481,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-30":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Ectoparasite presence and brood size manipulation interact to accelerate telomere shortening in nestling jackdaws.\nEarly-life conditions impact fitness, but whether the combined effect of extrinsic stressors is additive or synergistic is not well known. This is a major knowledge gap because exposure to multiple stressors is frequent. Telomere dynamics may be instrumental when testing how stressors interact because many factors affect telomere shortening, and telomere shortening predicts survival. We evaluated the effect of manipulated brood size and natural infestation by the carnid fly Carnus hemapterus on nestling growth and telomere shortening of wild jackdaws (Corvus monedula). Telomere length, measured in blood using TRF, shortened on average by 264 bp, and on average, Carnus infection induced more telomere shortening. Further analyses showed that in enlarged broods, nestlings' telomeres shortened more when parasitized, while in reduced broods there was no effect of infection on telomere shortening. We conclude that there is a synergistic effect of number of siblings and Carnus infection on telomere shortening rate: blood-sucking parasites may negatively impact telomeres by increasing cell proliferation and\/or physiological stress, and coping with infection may be less successful in enlarged broods with increased sibling competition. Larger nestlings had shorter telomeres independent of age, brood manipulation or infection. Growth was independent of infestation but in enlarged broods, nestlings were lighter at fledging. Our findings indicate that (i) evaluating consequences of early-life environmental conditions in isolation may not yield a full picture due to synergistic effects, and (ii) effects of environmental conditions may be cryptic, for example, on telomeres, with fitness consequences expressed beyond the temporal framework of the study.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25411290,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A comprehensive linear programming tool to optimize formulations of ready-to-use therapeutic foods: an application to Ethiopia.\nReady-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) is the standard of care for children suffering from noncomplicated severe acute malnutrition (SAM). The objective was to develop a comprehensive linear programming (LP) tool to create novel RUTF formulations for Ethiopia. A systematic approach that surveyed international and national crop and animal food databases was used to create a global and local candidate ingredient database. The database included information about each ingredient regarding nutrient composition, ingredient category, regional availability, and food safety, processing, and price. An LP tool was then designed to compose novel RUTF formulations. For the example case of Ethiopia, the objective was to minimize the ingredient cost of RUTF; the decision variables were ingredient weights and the extent of use of locally available ingredients, and the constraints were nutritional and product-quality related. Of the new RUTF formulations found by the LP tool for Ethiopia, 32 were predicted to be feasible for creating a paste, and these were prepared in the laboratory. Palatable final formulations contained a variety of ingredients, including fish, different dairy powders, and various seeds, grains, and legumes. Nearly all of the macronutrient values calculated by the LP tool differed by <10% from results produced by laboratory analyses, but the LP tool consistently underestimated total energy. The LP tool can be used to develop new RUTF formulations that make more use of locally available ingredients. This tool has the potential to lead to production of a variety of low-cost RUTF formulations that meet international standards and thereby potentially allow more children to be treated for SAM.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36927653,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Increased transmigration of intermediate monocytes associated with atherosclerotic burden in people with HIV on antiretroviral therapy.\nThis study evaluated the association between the transmigration of monocyte subpopulations that contributes to atherosclerosis development, along with surrogate biomarkers of inflammation and atherosclerosis, through carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) measurements of 72 people with HIV (PWH) on suppressive antiretroviral therapy (ART). We found that the transmigration of intermediate monocytes was positively correlated with D-dimer and cIMT, suggesting that intermediate monocytes may have a greater propensity to promote cardiovascular disease (CVD) in PWH on ART.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28695546,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-18":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Knockdown of Myo-Inositol Transporter SMIT1 Normalizes Cholinergic and Glutamatergic Function in an Immortalized Cell Line Established from the Cerebral Cortex of a Trisomy 16 Fetal Mouse, an Animal Model of Human Trisomy 21 (Down Syndrome).\nThe Na+\/myo-inositol cotransporter (SMIT1) is overexpressed in human Down syndrome (DS) and in trisomy 16 fetal mice (Ts16), an animal model of the human condition. SMIT1 overexpression determines increased levels of intracellular myo-inositol, a precursor of phophoinositide synthesis. SMIT1 is overexpressed in CTb cells, an immortalized cell line established from the cerebral cortex of a Ts16 mouse fetus. CTb cells exhibit impaired cytosolic Ca2+ signals in response to glutamatergic and cholinergic stimuli (increased amplitude and delayed time-dependent kinetics in the decay post-stimulation), compared to our CNh cell line, derived from the cerebral cortex of a euploid animal. Considering the role of myo-inositol in intracellular signaling, we normalized SMIT1 expression in CTb cells using specific mRNA antisenses. Forty-eight hours post-transfection, SMIT1 levels in CTb cells reached values comparable to those of CNh cells. At this time, decay kinetics of Ca2+ signals induced by either glutamate, nicotine, or muscarine were accelerated in transfected CTb cells, to values similar to those of CNh cells. The amplitude of glutamate-induced cytosolic Ca2+ signals in CTb cells was also normalized. The results suggest that SMIT1 overexpression contributes to abnormal cholinergic and glutamatergic Ca2+ signals in the trisomic condition, and knockdown of DS-related genes in our Ts16-derived cell line could constitute a relevant tool to study DS-related neuronal dysfunction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34427427,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Identification of NQO2 As a Protein Target in Small Molecule Modulation of Hepatocellular Function.\nThe utility of in vitro human disease models is mainly dependent on the availability and functional maturity of tissue-specific cell types. We have previously screened for and identified small molecules that can enhance hepatocyte function in vitro. Here, we characterize the functional effects of one of the hits, FH1, on primary human hepatocytes in vitro, and also in vivo on primary hepatocytes in a zebrafish model. Furthermore, we conducted an analogue screen to establish the structure-activity relationship of FH1. We performed affinity-purification proteomics that identified NQO2 to be a potential binding target for this small molecule, revealing a possible link between inflammatory signaling and hepatocellular function in zebrafish and human hepatocyte model systems.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19039096,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Implication of nitric oxide in the increased islet-cells vulnerability of adult progeny from protein-restricted mothers and its prevention by taurine.\nAn increased vulnerability of adult beta-cells seems to be programmed in early life as adult islets from the progeny of dams fed a low-protein diet exhibited an increased apoptotic rate after cytokine stimulation. This was prevented by maternal taurine supplementation. Here, we investigated the mechanisms implicated in such an increased vulnerability and how taurine exerts its protective role. Throughout gestation and lactation, Wistar rats were fed a 20% (control (C group)) or an isocaloric 8% protein diet (recovery (R group)) supplemented or not with taurine (control+taurine and recovery+taurine groups respectively). Offspring received a 20% protein diet after weaning. Islets from 3-month-old females were isolated and cultured for 48 h before being incubated with or without cytokines for 24 h. In unstimulated islets, apoptotic rate and NO(.) secretion were higher in R than in C. Both GADD153 mRNA and protein were increased, whereas mRNA of mitochondrial gene ATPase6 was downregulated in R group compared with C. In the RT group, taurine prevented apoptosis and restored a normal NO(.) production in GADD153 as well as ATPase6 mRNA expression. After cytokines-induction, apoptosis and NO(.) secretion were still increased in R compared with C but both parameters were normalized in the RT group. In conclusion, a maternal low-protein diet programmes a different pattern of gene expression in islet-cells of adult progeny. Higher NO(.) production by these islets could be an important factor in the subsequent cell death. The prevention of these events by maternal taurine supplementation emphasizes the importance of taurine during endocrine pancreas development.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17823269,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Definition of brainstem afferents to gonadotropin-releasing hormone neurons in the mouse using conditional viral tract tracing.\nBrainstem monoamines have long been considered to play a role in regulating the activity of GnRH neurons, although their neuroanatomical relationship with these cells has remained unclear. Using a Cre-dependent pseudorabies virus (Ba2001) technique that permits retrograde tracing selectively from GnRH neurons in the mouse, we have examined the organization of brainstem inputs to rostral preoptic area (rPOA) GnRH neurons. Two days after injection of Ba2001 into the rPOA of adult female GnRH-Cre transgenic mice, five to nine GnRH neurons located immediately adjacent to the injection site were found to express green fluorescent protein (GFP), the marker of virus infection, with no GFP expression anywhere else in the brain. In mice killed 24 h later (3 d after injection), GFP-expressing cells were identified (in order of density) in the raphe nuclei, periaqueductal grey, locus coeruleus, nucleus tractus solitarius, and area postrema. This time course is compatible with these neurons representing primary afferent inputs to the GnRH neurons. Four and 6 d after Ba2001 injection, GFP-expressing cells were found in additional brain regions. Dual-label immunofluorescence experiments in 3-d postinjection mice demonstrated that 100% of GFP-expressing neurons in the raphe were positive for tryptophan hydroxylase, whereas 100% and approximately 50% of GFP neurons in the locus coeruleus and nucleus tractus solitarius, respectively, expressed tyrosine hydroxylase. These observations demonstrate that rPOA GnRH neurons receive direct projections from brainstem A2 and A6 noradrenergic neurons and that, surprisingly, the largest afferent input from the brainstem originates from raphe serotonin neurons in the mouse.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27256162,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"A Cross-Sectional Clinic-Based Study in Patients With Side-Locked Unilateral Headache and Facial Pain.\nTo undertake the epidemiological evaluation of the patients presenting with side-locked headache and facial pain in a tertiary neurology outpatient clinic. Side-locked unilateral headache and facial pain include a large number of primary and secondary headaches and cranial neuropathies. A diagnostic approach for the patients presenting with strictly unilateral headaches is important as many of these headache disorders respond to a highly selective drug. Epidemiological data may guide us to formulate a proper approach for such patients. However, the literature is sparse on strictly unilateral headache and facial pain. We prospectively recruited 307 consecutive adult patients (>18 years) with side-locked headache and facial pain presenting to a neurology outpatient clinic between July 2014 and December 2015. All patients were subjected to MRI brain and other investigations to find out the different secondary causes. The diagnosis was carried out by at least two headache specialists together. All patients were classified according to the International Classification of Headache Disorder-third edition (ICHD-3\u03b2). The mean age at the time of examination was 42.4 \u00b1 13.6 years (range 18-80 years). Forty-eight percent of patients were male. Strictly unilateral headaches accounted for 19.2% of the total headaches seen in the clinic. Headaches were classified as primary in 58%, secondary in 18%, and cranial neuropathies and other facial pain in 16% patients. Five percent of patients could not be classified. Three percent of patients were classified as per the Appendix section of ICHD-3\u03b2. The prevalence of secondary headaches and painful cranial neuropathies increased with age. A total of 36 different diagnoses were made. Only two diseases (migraine and cluster headache) had a prevalence of more than 10%. The prevalence of 13 diseases varied between 6 and 9%. The prevalence of other 14 groups was \u22641%. Migraine was the most common diagnosis (15%). Cervicogenic headache was the most common secondary headache. Classical trigeminal neuralgias and persistent idiopathic facial pain were two most common diagnoses in the painful cranial neuropathies and other facial pain groups. Sixty-one percent fulfilled the definition of chronic daily headaches, and hemicrania continua and cervicogenic headache were the two most common diagnoses in this group. A large number of primary and secondary headaches and cranial neuropathies may present as side-locked headache and facial pain syndromes. Therefore, a sound knowledge of diagnostic approach is required for the optimal management of side locked headaches and facial pain.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23452908,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Continental phylogeography of an ecologically and morphologically diverse Neotropical songbird, Zonotrichia capensis.\nThe Neotropics are exceptionally diverse, containing roughly one third of all extant bird species on Earth. This remarkable species richness is thought to be a consequence of processes associated with both Andean orogenesis throughout the Tertiary, and climatic fluctuations during the Quaternary. Phylogeographic studies allow insights into how such events might have influenced evolutionary trajectories of species and ultimately contribute to a better understanding of speciation. Studies on continentally distributed species are of particular interest because different populations of such taxa may show genetic signatures of events that impacted the continent-wide biota. Here we evaluate the genealogical history of one of the world's most broadly-distributed and polytypic passerines, the rufous-collared sparrow (Zonotrichia capensis). We obtained control region DNA sequences from 92 Zonotrichia capensis individuals sampled across the species' range (Central and South America). Six additional molecular markers, both nuclear and mitochondrial, were sequenced for a subset of individuals with divergent control region haplotypes. Median-joining network analysis, and Bayesian and maximum parsimony phylogenetic analyses all recovered three lineages: one spanning Middle America, the Dominican Republic, and north-western South America; one encompassing the Dominican Republic, Roraima (Venezuela) and La Paz (Bolivia) south to Tierra del Fuego, Argentina; and a third, including eastern Argentina and Brazil. Phylogenetic analyses suggest that the Middle American\/north-western South American clade is sister to the remaining two. Bayesian and maximum likelihood coalescent simulations used to study lineage demographic history, diversification times, migration rates and population expansion together suggested that diversification of the three lineages occurred rapidly during the Pleistocene, with negligible gene flow, leaving genetic signatures of population expansions. The Pleistocene history of the rufous-collared sparrow involved extensive range expansion from a probable Central American origin. Its remarkable morphological and behavioral diversity probably represents recent responses to local conditions overlying deeper patterns of lineage diversity, which are themselves produced by isolation and the history of colonization of South America.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35359452,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Interplay Between TGF-\u03b2 Signaling and Cell Metabolism.\nThe transforming growth factor-\u03b2 (TGF-\u03b2) signaling plays a critical role in the development and tissue homeostasis in metazoans, and deregulation of TGF-\u03b2 signaling leads to many pathological conditions. Mounting evidence suggests that TGF-\u03b2 signaling can actively alter metabolism in diverse cell types. Furthermore, metabolic pathways, beyond simply regarded as biochemical reactions, are closely intertwined with signal transduction. Here, we discuss the role of TGF-\u03b2 in glucose, lipid, amino acid, redox and polyamine metabolism with an emphasis on how TGF-\u03b2 can act as a metabolic modulator and how metabolic changes can influence TGF-\u03b2 signaling. We also describe how interplay between TGF-\u03b2 signaling and cell metabolism regulates cellular homeostasis as well as the progression of multiple diseases, including cancer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16986952,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric allylic substitution with boronic acid nucleophiles.\nAn enantio-, regio-, and diastereoselective rhodium(I)-catalyzed desymmetrization of a meso-cyclic allylic dicarbonate with organoboronic acid nucleophiles is described. The rhodium(I) catalyst formed in situ from [Rh(cod)OH]2 and Xyl-P-PHOS allowed the S(N)2' allylic substitution product to be obtained with a range of arylboronic acids in enantiomeric excesses of up to 92% with regioselectivities of up to >20:1.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6736141,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"On-line searching: costly or cost effective? A marketing perspective.\nThe value of acquiring and using information is not well understood. Decisions to purchase information are made on the basis of the perceived need for the information, the anticipated benefit of using it, and the price. The current pricing of on-line information services, which emphasizes the connect hour as the unit of price, does not relate the price of a search to the value of a search, and the education programs of on-line vendors and database suppliers concentrate on the mechanics of information retrieval rather than on the application of information to the customer's problem. The on-line information industry needs to adopt a strong marketing orientation that focuses on the needs of customers rather than the needs of suppliers or vendors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14524993,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Order reconstruction in frustrated nematic twist cells.\nWithin the Landau-de Gennes theory of liquid crystals, we study the equilibrium configurations of a nematic cell with twist boundary conditions. Under the assumption that the order tensor Q be uniaxial on both bounding plates, we find three separate classes of solutions, one of which contains the absolute energy minimizer, a twistlike solution that exists for all values of the distance d between the plates. The solutions in the remaining two classes exist only if d exceeds a critical value d(c). One class consists of metastable, twistlike solutions, while the other consists of unstable, exchangelike solutions, where the eigenvalues of Q are exchanged across the cell. When d=d(c), the metastable solution relaxes back to the absolute energy minimizer, undergoing an order reconstruction somewhere within the cell. The critical distance d(c) equals, in general, a few biaxial coherence lengths. This scenario applies to all the values of the boundary twist but pi\/2, which thus appears as a very special case, though it is the one more studied in the literature. In fact, when the directors prescribed on the two plates are at right angles, two symmetric twistlike solutions merge continuously into an exchangelike solution at the critical value of d where the latter becomes unstable. Our analysis shows how the classical bifurcation associated with this phenomenon is unfolded by perturbing the boundary conditions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30654965,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Familial DNA searching- an emerging forensic investigative tool.\nIn recent years, jurisdictions across the United States have expressed a growing interest in aiding criminal investigations through the use of familial DNA searching (FDS)- a forensic technique to identify family members through DNA databases. The National Survey of CODIS Laboratories surveyed U.S. CODIS laboratories about their perceptions, policies, and practices related to FDS. In total, 103 crime labs completed the survey (77% response rate). Labs in 11 states reported using FDS, while labs in 24 states reported using a similar-but distinct- practice of partial matching. Although the majority of labs had positive perceptions about the ability of FDS to assist investigations, labs also reported a number of concerns and challenges with implementing FDS. Respondents reported using either practice a limited amount with modest numbers of convictions resulting from both FDS and partial matching. The article reports on varying practices related to official policies, training, eligibility, the software search, lineage testing, requirements for releasing information, and subsequent investigative work. Finally, the article discusses what can be learned from this survey, accompanying limitations, and implications for decision-makers considering using FDS.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32352861,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Detrimental Effects of Multiple Mutations in Position 240 of Fusarium graminearum \u03b22-Tubulin.\nFusarium graminearum causes Fusarium head blight (FHB), a destructive disease of cereal crops worldwide. Carbendazim (methylbenzimidazol-2-ylcarbamate [MBC]) is widely used for controlling FHB. A previous study showed that the F240L mutation in the \u03b22-tubulin of F. graminearum (Fg\u03b22-tubulin) confers hypersensitivity to MBC. Whether the substitution of phenylalanine by other amino acids in position 240 of the Fg\u03b22-tubulin gene also confers hypersensitivity to MBC is unknown. Moreover, the biological fitness of these mutants is poorly understood. In this study, we substituted position 240 of Fg\u03b22-tubulin with other amino acids. We found that the F240A, F240E, F240I, and F240Y mutations in Fg\u03b22-tubulin could also confer F. graminearum hypersensitivity to MBC, although the effective concentration resulting in 50% inhibition (EC50) differed among the mutations. The F240G mutation, in contrast, decreased the sensitivity to MBC. In addition, a molecular docking assay indicated that the binding affinity between Fg\u03b22-tubulin and MBC were increased by the F240A, F240E, F240I, and F240Y mutations but decreased by the F240G mutation. All mutants had normal conidial morphology, but the growth rates and pathogenicity of the F240A, F240E, F240G, F240I, and F240Y mutants were significantly decreased. Moreover, the F240A and F240G mutants produced twisted hyphae. In addition, microtubules were sparse and rarely observed in \u03b22F240A-EGFP, \u03b22F240E-EGFP, and \u03b22F240G-EGFP. These results indicate that position 240 (phenylalanine) is not only vital to the function of Fg\u03b22-tubulin but also plays an important role in regulating the sensitivity of F. graminearum to MBC. Any mutation in this site would be detrimental to survival.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23327070,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Aggressive angiomyxoma of the vaginal wall at the initial stage: a case report.\nAggressive angiomyxoma (AA) is a rare mesenchimal tumor usually located in the pelvic and perineal region. Less than 30 cases of aggressive angiomyxoma with vaginal location have been reported in the literature up to this date. The authors report the case of a 50-year-old female patient diagnosed with vaginal AA whose characteristics at its initial stage were macroscopically indistinguishable from those of a polypoid lesion. Therefore this case suggests that this type of tumor should be considered as part of the differential diagnosis of vaginal polypoid lesions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9155998,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Recurrent aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage: bleeding pattern and incidence of posthaemorrhagic ischaemic infarction.\nThis report is based on a consecutive series of 162 patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH), including 22 patients (14%) with recurrent SAH, who were treated within 72 h after the most recent bleed. Of the 22 patients with recurrent haemorrhage: 68% were in poor clinical condition (Hunt & Hess grade 4-5); 73% presented with intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH); 41% developed delayed ischaemic infarctions from chronic arterial spasm; 14% made a good recovery, while 41% died. Of the 140 patients with a single bleed: 34% were in poor clinical condition (Hunt & Hess grade 4-5); 33% presented with ICH; 22% developed delayed ischaemic infarctions; 53% made a good recovery, while 19% died. Our results suggest that a high incidence of intracerebral haemorrhage in conjunction with a more severe course of chronic arterial spasm substantially contributes to the high morbidity and mortality associated with recurrent SAH. In poor grade patients not suitable for acute open surgery, endovascular treatment should receive consideration for the prevention of early rebleeding.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20364239,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sorptive removal of odorous carbonyl gases by water.\nIn this study, the removal capacity of deionized water was investigated against five gaseous carbonyl compounds (i.e., acetaldehyde, propionaldehyde, butyraldehyde, valeraldehyde, and isovaleraldehyde) by means of the gas stripping method. To determine the trapping behavior of these odorants by water, gaseous working standards prepared at three different concentration levels (i.e., for acetaldehyde around 300, 500, and 1,000 ppb) were forced through pure water contained in an impinger at room temperature. The removal efficiency of the target compounds was inspected in terms of two major variables: (1) concentration levels of gaseous standard and (2) impinger water volume (20, 50, 100, and 150 mL). Although the extent of removal was affected fairly sensitively by changes in water volume, this was not the case for standard concentration level changes. Considering the efficiency of sorption media, gas stripping with aqueous solution can be employed as an effective tool for the removal of carbonyl odorants.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25431565,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Magic and memory: using conjuring to explore the effects of suggestion, social influence, and paranormal belief on eyewitness testimony for an ostensibly paranormal event.\nThis study uses conjuring to investigate the effects of suggestion, social influence, and paranormal belief upon the accuracy of eyewitness testimony for an ostensibly paranormal event. Participants watched a video of an alleged psychic seemingly bending a metal key by the power of psychokinesis. Half the participants heard the fake psychic suggest that the key continued to bend after it had been put down on a table and half did not. Additionally, participants were exposed to either a negative social influence (a stooge co-witness reporting that the key did not continue to bend), no social influence, or a positive social influence (a stooge co-witness reporting that the key did continue to bend). Participants who were exposed to the verbal suggestion were significantly more likely to report that the key continued to bend. Additionally, more participants reported that the key continued to bend in the positive social influence condition compared to the other two social influence conditions. Finally, believers in the paranormal were more likely to report that the key continued to bend than non-believers.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28302029,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"In-silico ADME Studies for New Drug Discovery: From Chemical Compounds to Chinese Herbal Medicines.\nNowadays, in silico tools are widely used to provide the potential structure of the metabolites formed depending on the site of metabolism. These methods can also highlight the molecular moieties that help to direct the molecule into the cytochrome cavity so that the site of metabolism is in proximity to the catalytic center. In this minireview, we summarized three aspects of the in silico methods in the application of prediction of ADME (absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion) properties of compounds: structure-based approaches for predicting molecular modeling of drug metabolizing enzymes; in silico metabolite prediction; and pharmacophore models for analysis substrate specificity. Moreover, we also extended the in silico studies in Chinese herbal medicines (CHM) research.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31252291,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Results of a multicentre dosimetry audit using a respiratory phantom within the EORTC LungTech trial.\nThe EORTC 22113-08113 LungTech trial assesses the safety and efficacy of SBRT for centrally located NSCLC. To insure protocol compliance an extensive RTQA procedure was implemented. Twelve centres were audited using a CIRS008A phantom. The phantom was scanned using target inserts of 7.5 mm and 12.5 mm radius in static condition. For the 7.5 mm insert a 4DCT was acquired while moving according to a cos6 function. Treatment plans were measured using film and an ionization chamber. Wilcoxon's signed-rank tests were performed to compare the three plans across institutions. A Spearman correlation was calculated to evaluate the influence of factors such as PTV, slice thickness and total number of monitor units on the dosimetric results. The reference output dose median [min, max] variation was 0.5% [-1.1, +1.5]. The median deviations between chamber doses and point-planned doses were 1.8% [-0.1; 6.7] for the 7.5 mm and 1.1% [-2.8; 5.0] for the 12.5 mm sphere in static situation and 3.2% [-3.2; 15.7] for the dynamic situation. Film gamma median pass rates were 92.0% [68.0, 99.0] for 7.5 mm static, 96.2% [73.0, 99.0] for 12.5 mm static and 71.0% [40.0, 99.0] for 7.5 mm dynamic. Wilcoxon's signed-rank tests showed that the dynamic irradiations resulted in significantly lower gamma pass rates compared to the 12.5 mm static plan (p = 0.001). The total number of MUs per plan was correlated to both film and IC results. An end-to-end audit was successfully performed, revealing important variations between institutions especially in dynamic irradiations. This shows the importance of dosimetry audits and the potentials for further technique and methodology improvements.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28559151,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Generic Imatinib in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia: Survival of the Cheapest.\nThe patent expiration of imatinib mesylate (Gleevec; Novartis) on February 1, 2016, has brought the focus back on generic versions of the drug, and an opportunity to provide a safe and cost-effective alternative. The objective of our study was to determine the molecular and cytogenetic responses, survival endpoints (event-free survival, failure-free survival, transformation-free survival, overall survival), and safety of innovator and generic brands of imatinib. In this retrospective analysis, data from 1812 patients with chronic myeloid leukemia treated with frontline imatinib mesylate (innovator\/generic) at a single institution between 2008 and 2014 is included. Of these, 445 were excluded owing to inadequate data and follow-up, and a further 156 were excluded as they were in either the accelerated phase or blast crisis at diagnosis. Thus, data from 1067 patients who were treated with Gleevec (Novartis), and 144 patients with Veenat (NATCO) were available for analysis, and included in the study. There was no significant difference in event-free survival (P = .05), failure-free survival (P = .07), transformation-free survival (P = .12), or overall survival (P = .24) between the 2 groups. The frequency of reported nonhematologic adverse events and hematologic adverse events was comparable between the study groups. The findings of the present study showed comparable efficacy and safety of the generic and innovator versions of imatinib in the treatment of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19046468,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Isolated adult Langerhans' cell histiocytosis in cervical lymph nodes: should it be treated?\nWe report an extremely rare case of Langerhans' cell histiocytosis involving isolated cervical lymph nodes, and we discuss the diagnosis and treatment of this infrequent disease. We present a case report and literature review concerning this disease entity. A 54-year-old man presented with persistent, multiple, left neck masses. Histopathological study of lymph node specimens showed proliferation of Langerhans' cells coupled with eosinophilic and neutrophilic microabscesses. Positive immunohistochemical staining for Cluster of Differentiation 1a (CD1a) in Langerhans' cells confirmed the diagnosis. No other abnormalities were noted on a series of image studies. The patient was managed with 'watchful waiting' without subsequent therapy. The neck lesions regressed gradually over time, and the patient did well over a two-year follow-up period. The clinical presentation of Langerhans' cell histiocytosis is highly variable, and the choice of treatment depends on the involved organs. Definitive diagnosis depends on identification of characteristic immunohistochemical or ultrastructural features of the biopsy specimen. Watchful waiting may be an effective management strategy in cases of adult isolated lymph node Langerhans' cell histiocytosis, due to its possible spontaneous regression.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6722044,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mortality of fire fighters in Western Australia.\nAll except 17 (1.7%) of 990 fire fighters employed by the Western Australian Fire Brigade between 1 October 1939 and 31 December 1978 were successfully followed up to 31 December 1978. Mortality from all causes was less than expected (SMR 0.80 with 95% confidence interval 0.67 to 0.96). There was evidence of the healthy worker effect but none that mortality increased with increasing duration of employment. A small proportional excess of deaths from road traffic accidents ( SPMR 1.66) appeared to be unrelated to fire service. Deaths from other accidents, poisonings, and violence were significantly less than expected (SMR 0.35 with 95% confidence interval 0.10 to 0.90) and may indicate an effect of training and experience on accident proneness. There was no evidence of increased mortality from cardiovascular or respiratory disease, or from any other cause.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25295450,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Hematological change parameters in patients with pressure ulcer at long-term care hospital.\nTo assess factors associated with the development of pressure ulcers, and to compare the effectiveness of pharmacological treatments. The factors associated with the development of pressure ulcers were compared in lesion-carrying patients (n=14) and non-carriers (n=16). Lesion-carrying patients were treated with 1% silver sulfadiazine or 0.6IU\/g collagenase and were observed for 8 weeks. The data collected was analyzed with p<0.05 being statistically relevant. The prevalence of pressure ulcers was about 6%. The comparison of carrier and non-carrier groups of pressure ulcers revealed no statistically significant difference in its occurrence with respect to age, sex, skin color, mobility, or the use of diapers. However, levels of hemoglobin, hematocrit, and red blood cells were found to be statistically different between groups, being lower in lesion-carrying patients. There was no significant difference found in lesion area between patients treated with collagenase or silver sulfadiazine, although both groups showed an overall reduction in lesion area through the treatment course. Hematologic parameters showed a statistically significant difference between the two groups. Regarding the treatment of ulcers, there was no difference in the area of the lesion found between the groups treated with collagenase and silver sulfadiazine.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11990585,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Determination of lomefloxacin, an antibacterial drug, in pharmaceutical preparations based on its polarographic catalytic wave in the presence of 2-iodoacetamide.\nIn a 0.125 mol\/L phosphate (pH 6.6)\/2.5 x 10(-4) mol\/L 2-iodoacetamide solution, lomefloxacin yields a response of a polarographic catalytic current. The second-order derivative peak current of the catalytic wave of lomefloxacin is proportional to its concentration in the range of 1.0 x 10(-8)-1.0 x 10(-6) mol\/L (r = 0.998). The sensitivity of the catalytic wave is 25-times higher than that of the corresponding reduction wave for 5.0 x 10(-7) mol\/L lomefloxacin. The proposed method was applied to the determination of lomefloxacin in pharmaceutical preparations. The polarographic reduction wave is ascribed to a one-electron reduction of the C=C bond of lomefloxacin zwitterion accompanied by an acid-base equilibrium. The catalytic wave should be caused by regeneration of the lomefloxacin molecule at electrode surface due to the one-electron reduction product being further oxidized by electroreductive intermediate products of 2-iodoacetamide.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15259564,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"L-type calcium channels mediate transmitter release in isolated, wide-field retinal amacrine cells.\nTransmitter release in neurons is triggered by intracellular Ca2+ increase via the opening of voltage-gated Ca2+ channels. Here we investigated the voltage-gated Ca2+ channels in wide-field amacrine cells (WFACs) isolated from the white-bass retina that are functionally coupled to transmitter release. We monitored transmitter release through the measurement of the membrane capacitance (Cm). We found that 500-ms long depolarizations of WFACs from -70 mV to 0 mV elicited about a 6% transient increase in the Cm or membrane surface area. This Cm jump could be eliminated either by intracellular perfusion with 10 mM BAPTA or by extracellular application of 4 mM cobalt. WFACs possess N-type and L-type voltage-gated Ca2+ channels. Depolarization-evoked Cm increases were unaffected by the specific N-type channel blocker omega-conotoxin GVIA, but they were markedly reduced by the L-type blocker diltiazem, suggesting a role for the L-type channel in synaptic transmission. Further supporting this notion, in WFACs the synaptic protein syntaxin always colocalized with the pore-forming subunit of the retinal specific L-type channels (Cav1.4 or alpha1F), but never with that of the N-type channels (Cav2.2 or alpha1B ).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37463030,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Comparing Adherence to the Experience Sampling Method Among Patients With Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder and Unaffected Individuals: Observational Study From the Multicentric DiAPAson Project.\nThe Experience Sampling Method (ESM) is a valid method of remotely recording activities and mood, but the predictors of adherence to ESM in patients with Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder (SSD) are not known. Studies on adherence are significant as they highlight the strengths and weaknesses of ESM-based study designs and allow the development of recommendations and practical guidelines for implementing future studies or treatment plans. The aim of this study was to compare the adherence to ESM in patients with SSD and unaffected control individuals, investigate their patterns, and report the predictors of adherence. In total, 131 patients with SSD (74 in residential facilities and 57 outpatients) and 115 unaffected control individuals were recruited at 10 different centers in Italy as part of the DiAPAson project. Demographic information, symptom severity, disability level, and level of function were recorded for the clinical sample. Participants were evaluated for daily time use and mood through a smartphone-based ESM 8 times a day for 7 consecutive days. Adherence was measured by the response rate to ESM notifications. Results were analyzed using the chi-square test, ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis test, and Friedman test, and a logistic regression model. The overall adherence rate in this study was 50% for residents, 59% for outpatients, and 78% for unaffected control individuals. Indeed, patients with SSD had a lower rate of adherence to ESM than the unaffected control group (P\u2264.001), independent of time slot, day of monitoring, or day of the week. No differences in adherence rates between weekdays and weekends were found among the 3 groups. The adherence rate was the lowest in the late evening time slot (8 PM to 12 AM) and days 6-7 of the study for both patients with SSD and unaffected control individuals. The adherence rate among patients with SSD was not predicted by sociodemographic characteristics, cognitive function, or other clinical features. A higher adherence rate (ie, \u226570%) among patients with SSD was predicted by higher collaboration skills (odds ratio [OR] 2.952; P=.046) and self-esteem (OR 3.394; P=.03), and lower positive symptom severity (OR 0.835; P=.04). Adherence to ESM prompts for both patients with SSD and unaffected control individuals decreased during late evening and after 6 days of monitoring. Higher self-esteem and collaboration skills predicted higher adherence to ESM among patients with SSD, while higher positive symptom scores predicted lower adherence rates. This study provides important information to guide protocols for future studies using ESM. Future clinical or research studies should set ESM monitoring to waking hours, limit the number of days of monitoring, select patients with more collaborative skills and avoid those with marked positive symptoms, provide intensive training sessions, and improve participants' self-confidence with technologies. RR2-10.1186\/s12888-020-02588-y.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3081664,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Synergistic hematopoietic growth factors.\nA number of growth factors acting on hematopoietic stem cells have now been purified and characterized. These include erythropoietin, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating activity (GM-CSA), granulocyte colony-stimulating activity and colony-stimulating factor-1 (CSF-1). Factors which act in concert with these defined factors and appear to act relatively early in the hematopoietic stem cell lineage are currently under study. Interleukin 3 appears to have both the characteristics of a differentiating hormone and the ability to generate proliferation of relatively early stem cells. Interleukin 3 acts in concert with at least CSF-1 and erythropoietin to enhance their effect on stem cell proliferation and differentiation. A new class of hematopoietic growth factor activities termed synergizing activities also exist. These activities appear to have no intrinsic capacity to stimulate hematopoietic colony formation by themselves but enhance the effects of other differentiating hormones such as GM-CSA and CSF-1. Activities which appear to represent synergizing activities have now been found to evolve from a human bladder carcinoma line, a cell line derived from murine marrow adherent cells and normal murine marrow and thymic cells. These activities may act on very primitive hematopoietic progenitors to allow them to express receptors to various differentiating hormones or alternatively they may act as commitment factors in a commitment-progression model of stem cell regulation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28360908,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Fasciola hepatica Immune Regulates CD11c+ Cells by Interacting with the Macrophage Gal\/GalNAc Lectin.\nFasciolosis, caused by Fasciola hepatica and Fasciola gigantica, is a trematode zoonosis of interest in public health and livestock production. Like other helminths, F. hepatica modulates the host immune response by inducing potent polarized Th2 and regulatory T cell immune responses and by downregulating the production of Th1 cytokines. In this work, we show that F. hepatica glycans increase Th2 immune responses by immunomodulating TLR-induced maturation and function of dendritic cells (DCs). This process was mediated by the macrophage Gal\/GalNAc lectin (MGL) expressed on DCs, which recognizes the Tn antigen (GalNAc-Ser\/Thr) on parasite components. More interestingly, we identified MGL-expressing CD11c+ cells in infected animals and showed that these cells are recruited both to the peritoneum and the liver upon F. hepatica infection. These cells express the regulatory cytokines IL-10, TNF\u03b1 and TGF\u03b2 and a variety of regulatory markers. Furthermore, MGL+ CD11c+ cells expand parasite-specific Th2\/regulatory cells and suppress Th1 polarization. The results presented here suggest a potential role of MGL in the immunomodulation of DCs induced by F. hepatica and contribute to a better understanding of the molecular and immunoregulatory mechanisms induced by this parasite.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28736729,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Factors Promoting Development of Fibrosis in Crohn's Disease.\nThe concepts on the pathophysiology of intestinal fibrosis in Crohn's disease (CD) have changed in recent years. Some years ago fibrosis was regarded to be a consequence of long-standing inflammation with subsequent destruction of the gut wall matrix followed by scar formation and collagen deposition. Fibrosis in CD patients appeared to be an irreversible process that could hardly be influenced. Therefore, the main target in CD therapy was to control inflammation to avoid fibrosis development. Many of these assumptions seem to be only partially true. Inflammation may be a necessary prerequisite for the initiation of fibrosis. However, when the pathophysiologic processes that lead to fibrosis in CD patients have been initiated fibrosis development may be independent of inflammation and may continue even when inflammation is under good medical control. Fibrosis in CD also may be reversible. After strictureplasty local collagen deposits decrease or even disappear. With new animal models for intestinal fibrosis on the horizon, we need to spend more efforts on understanding the factors influencing fibrosis in CD patients to finally find specific therapies. In this context, it will be as important to find markers and quantitative imaging tools to have reliable endpoints for clinical trials in fibrosing CD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9566046,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Thapsigargin attenuates the potentiation of positive inotropic effect of digoxin induced by pretreatment with rimalkalim in the guinea pig heart.\nThe influence of thapsigargin, a selective inhibitor of sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca2+ ATPase, on the positive inotropic effects of digoxin before and after pretreatment with rimalkalim [(3S,4R)-3-hydroxy-2,2-dimethyl-4-(oxopyrrolidinyl)-6-phenyl-su lfonylchroman hemihydrate (formerly HOE 234)], a known activator of ATP-sensitive K+ channels, was studied in the guinea pig heart. The isolated papillary muscles from the guinea pig heart were used to study these effects. The following parameters were measured: force of contraction (Fc), rate of rise (+dF\/dt) and rate of fall (-dF\/dt) of Fc, time to peak contraction (ttp) and time to 10% of the total amplitude of force (tt10). After pretreatment with rimalkalim (1 microM), digoxin caused a significant increase in the amplitude of Fc and significant shortening of ttp and tt10 (p < 0.05 compared with the values obtained with digoxin alone). Thapsigargin (1 microM), a selective inhibitor of sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ ATPase, added to rimalkalim, prevented the enhancement of the amplitude of Fc induced by digoxin after pretreatment with rimalkalim but had no significant influence on the effects of digoxin itself. The results demonstrate significant influence of activation of KATP channels on digoxin-induced positive inotropic effects in the guinea pig heart. Attenuation of this effects of rimalkalim by addition of thapsigargin suggests that activation of SR Ca2+ ATPase can be included in this interaction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30303870,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Acute Megakaryoblastic Leukemia With Diffuse Periosteal Reaction of Bilateral Lower Extremities.\nWe report the case of a 3-year-old girl diagnosed with acute megakaryoblastic leukemia, who presented after >1 year of bilateral leg pain. At times the pain was severe enough to prevent ambulation, prompting visits to her primary care provider. However, it was not until acute respiratory failure occurred with subsequent hospitalization in the pediatric intensive care unit that severe anemia and thrombocytopenia were discovered and the diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia was made. Bilateral lower extremity swelling was noted on admission and radiographs showed diffusely abnormal appearance of the long bones of her lower extremities with periosteal reaction and echogenic debris in the subperiosteal space, thought to represent leukemic cells. This case highlights the importance of recognizing atypical signs and symptoms of myelodysplastic syndrome progressing to acute leukemia in the context of abnormal bone pain and radiographic changes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28345661,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Stepwise analysis of MIR9 loci identifies miR-9-5p to be involved in Oestrogen regulated pathways in breast cancer patients.\nmiR-9 was initially identified as an epigenetically regulated miRNA in tumours, but inconsistent findings have been reported so far. We analysed the expression of miR-9-5p, miR-9-3p, pri-miRs and MIR9 promoters methylation status in 131 breast cancer cases and 12 normal breast tissues (NBTs). The expression of both mature miRs was increased in tumours as compared to NBTs (P < 0.001) and negatively correlated with ER protein expression (P = 0.005 and P = 0.003, for miR-9-3p and miR-9-5p respectively). In addition, miR-9-5p showed a significant negative correlation with PgR (P = 0.002). Consistently, miR-9-5p and miR-9 3p were differentially expressed in the breast cancer subgroups identified by ER and PgR expression and HER2 amplification. No significant correlation between promoter methylation and pri-miRNAs expressions was found either in tumours or in NBTs. In the Luminal breast cancer subtype the expression of miR-9-5p was associated with a worse prognosis in both univariable and multivariable analyses. Ingenuity Pathway Analysis exploring the putative interactions among miR-9-5p\/miR-9-3p, ER and PgR upstream and downstream regulators suggested a regulatory loop by which miR-9-5p but not miR-9-3p is induced by steroid hormone receptor and acts within hormone-receptor regulated pathways.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31254586,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-22":1,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Knockdown of lncRNA MALAT1 alleviates bupivacaine-induced neurotoxicity via the miR-101-3p\/PDCD4 axis.\nBupivacaine, a common local anesthetic, can cause neurotoxicity and abnormal neuro-disorders. However, the precise underlying mechanisms have not been fully elucidated. In this study, we investigated the function of lncRNA MALAT1 in the bupivacaine-induced neurotoxicity process. SH-SY5Y cells and neonatal mouse DRG neurons were cultured in vitro and treated with bupivacaine to establish a neurotoxicity model. Caspase3 activity and cell survival rates were detected to evaluate the function of lncRNA MALAT1. Western blotting was used to detect the expression levels of PDCD4 and cleaved-caspase-3. A dual-luciferase reporter assay was used to explore the potential binding target of lncRNA MALAT1. We found that the expression of lncRNA MALAT1 was upregulated upon exposure to bupivacaine. Knockdown of lncRNA MALAT1 significantly increased the cell death rates, and Caspase3 activity assays revealed that the apoptosis rates were manifestly increased in the MALAT1 downregulation group. In addition, we screened the possible target and found that miR-101-3p is the direct target of MALAT1 using a dual-luciferase reporter assay; these results suggest that lncRNA MALAT1 may function as a decoy to sponge miR-101-3p. Furthermore, we demonstrated that activation of the MALAT1\/miR-101-3p\/PDCD4 axis protected cells against bupivacaine treatment. We elucidated the function and mechanism of MALAT1 in bupivacaine-induced neurotoxicity. Targeting MALAT1 might provide new methods to prevent neurotoxicity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9161184,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Case report. synovitis, acne, pustulosis, hyperostosis and osteitis (SAPHO) syndrome.\nA case of the SAPHO (synovitis, acne, pustulosis, hyperostosis and osteitis) syndrome in a 35-year-old woman is presented. Ignorance of this entity on the part of the physicians treating the patient may have contributed to her having repeated diagnostic procedures and treatment, some of which may have been unnecessary. Dentists are encouraged to suspect the SAPHO syndrome when they encounter a patient with mandibular osteomyelitis together with symptoms involving other bones and skin lesions such as pustulosis or psoriasis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21154239,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Quantitative mRNA expression analysis in kidney glomeruli using microdissection techniques.\nThe introduction of new tools for molecular analysis, such as RT-qPCR and microarrays, has provided researchers with powerful applications to study renal disease and development. However, the high cellular heterogeneity of the renal tissue complicates the molecular analysis of specific cells and cell groups such as glomerular or tubular cells. In the past, glomerular sieving and manual dissection were used for the isolation of glomeruli. However, these techniques cannot be used for the isolation of specific glomeruli or for the co-isolation of additional tissue fractions. In recent decades, new microdissection techniques such as laser-assisted microdissection have been developed. These applications allow the isolation of small cell groups from heterogeneous tissue for molecular analysis, including microarray and RT-qPCR. Although very promising, some drawbacks are associated with these techniques. The isolated sample material is generally small and requires sensitive assays. In addition, the long sample processing time may result in a considerable loss of RNA integrity. Careful optimization and rigorous quality analysis should overcome these drawbacks. In the present paper, the recent literature on the application of microdissection techniques in kidney research is reviewed, together with a discussion of the critical issues that are essential for the application of quantitative mRNA expression analysis with RT-qPCR on microdissected samples.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3059099,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Phytophotodermatitis. Some photobiological aspects of psoralens].\nThe frequency of plant dermatitis, in general, depends on the type of plants, the climate, occupation and lifestyle of the local inhabitants. Many plants produce adverse effects on the skin like irritation, allergic reactions and phototoxicity. Generally, allergic contact dermatitis is emphasized but it is necessary to give more attention to phototoxicity produced by plants. The patients may be exposed not only to the phototoxic plant itself but also to its derivatives in perfumes, cosmetics and industry.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25506593,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"3D dynamic culture of rabbit articular chondrocytes encapsulated in alginate gel beads using spinner flasks for cartilage tissue regeneration.\nCell-based therapy using chondrocytes for cartilage repair suffers from chondrocyte dedifferentiation. In the present study, the effects of an integrated three-dimensional and dynamic culture on rabbit articular chondrocytes were investigated. Cells (passages 1 and 4) were encapsulated in alginate gel beads and cultured in spinner flasks in chondrogenic and chondrocyte growth media. Subcutaneous implantation of the cell-laden beads was performed to evaluate the ectopic chondrogenesis. It was found that cells remained viable after 35 days in the three-dimensional dynamic culture. Passage 1 cells demonstrated a proliferative growth in both media. Passage 4 cells showed a gradual reduction in DNA content in growth medium, which was attenuated in chondrogenic medium. Deposition of glycosaminoglycans (GAG) was found in all cultures. While passage 1 cells generally produced higher amounts of GAG than passage 4 cells, GAG\/DNA became similar on day 35 for both cells in growth media. Interestingly, GAG\/DNA in growth medium was greater than that in chondrogenic medium for both cells. Based on GAG quantification and gene expression analysis, encapsulated passage 1 cells cultured in growth medium displayed the best ectopic chondrogenesis. Taken together, the three-dimensional and dynamic culture for chondrocytes holds great potential in cartilage regeneration.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29377322,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Shared and distinct alterations of white matter tracts in remitted and nonremitted patients with schizophrenia.\nPatients with schizophrenia do not usually achieve remission state even after adequate antipsychotics treatment. Previous studies found significant difference in white matter integrity between patients with good outcomes and those with poor outcomes, but difference is still unclear at individual tract level. This study aimed to use a systematic approach to identify the tracts that were associated with remission state in patients with schizophrenia. We evaluated 91 patients with schizophrenia (remitted, 50; nonremitted, 41) and 50 healthy controls through diffusion spectrum imaging. White matter tract integrity was assessed through an automatic tract-specific analysis method to determine the mean generalized fractional anisotropy (GFA) values of the 76 white matter tract bundles in each participant. Analysis of covariance among the 3 groups revealed 12 tracts that were significantly different in GFA values. Post-hoc analysis showed that compared with the healthy controls, the nonremission group had reduced integrity in all 12 tracts, whereas the remission group had reduced integrity in only 4 tracts. Comparison between the remission and nonremission groups revealed 4 tracts with significant difference (i.e., the right fornix, bilateral uncinate fasciculi, and callosal fibers connecting the temporal poles) even after adjusting age, sex, education year, illness duration, and medication dose. Furthermore, all the 4 tracts were correlated with negative symptoms scores of the positive and negative syndrome scale. In conclusion, our study identified the tracts that were associated with remission state of schizophrenia. These tracts might be a potential prognostic marker for the symptomatic remission in patients with schizophrenia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22677813,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Comparison of toxicokinetic and tissue distribution of triptolide-loaded solid lipid nanoparticles vs free triptolide in rats.\nThe traditional Chinese medicine Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F (TWHF) is used clinically to treat some autoimmune and inflammatory disorders including rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and skin diseases. However TWHF has a high potential for toxicity, so its clinical use is limited. Solid lipid nanoparticle (SLN) delivery systems are reported to have remarkable advantages over conventional formulations of bioactive plant extracts, such as enhancing solubility and bioavailability, offering protection from toxicity, and enhancing pharmacological activity. We reported previously that a tripterygium glycoside (TG) solid lipid nanoparticle (TG-SLN) delivery system had a protective effect against TG-induced male reproductive toxicity. To better understand this issue, we used triptolide (TP) as a model drug in a comparative study of the toxicokinetic and tissue distribution of TP-SLN and free TP in rats, allowing us to observing the in vivo behavior of this nanoformulation and to assess mechanisms of SLN-related toxicity. A fast and sensitive HPLC-APCI-MS\/MS method was developed for the determination of triptolide in rat plasma. Fourteen rats were divided randomly into two groups of 7 rats each for toxicokinetic analysis, with one group receiving free TP (450\u03bcg\/kg) and the other receiving the TP-SLN formulation (450\u03bcg\/kg). Blood was obtained before dosing and 0.083, 0.17, 0.25, 0.33, 0.5, 0.75, 1, 1.5, 2, 3 and 4h after drug administration. Thirty-six rats were divided randomly into six equal groups for a tissue-distribution study. Half of the rats received intragastric administration of TP (450\u03bcg\/kg) and the other half received TP-SLN (450\u03bcg\/kg). At 15, 45, and 90min after dosing, samples of blood, liver, kidney, spleen, lung, and testicular tissue were taken. TP concentration in the samples was determined by LC-APCI-MS-MS. The toxicokinetic results for the nanoformulation showed a significant increase the area under the curve (AUC) (P<0.05), significantly longer T(max) and mean retention times (MRTs) (0-t) (P<0.05), significantly decreased C(max) (P<0.05). The nanoformulation promoted absorption with a slow release character, indicating that toxicokinetic changes may be the most important mechanism for the enhanced efficacy of nanoformulations. Tissue-distribution results suggest a tendency for TP concentrations in the lung and spleen to increase, while TP concentrations in plasma, liver, kidney, and testes tended to decrease in the TP-SLN group. At multiple time points, testicular tissue TP concentrations were lower in the TP-SLN group than in free TP group. This provides an important clue for the decreased reproductive toxicity observed with TP-SLN.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28370668,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Forecastable and Guidable Bubble-Propelled Microplate Motors for Cell Transport.\nCell transport is important to renew body functions and organs with stem cells, or to attack cancer cells with immune cells. The main hindrances of this method are the lack of understanding of cell motion as well as proper transport systems. In this publication, bubble-propelled polyelectrolyte microplates are used for controlled transport and guidance of HeLa cells. Cells survive attachment on the microplates and up to 22 min in 5% hydrogen peroxide solution. They can be guided by a magnetic field whereby increased friction of cells attached to microplates decreases the speed by 90% compared to pristine microplates. The motion direction of the cell-motor system is easier to predict due to the cell being opposite to the bubbles.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32373832,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Controlling the liberation rate of the in situ release of a chemical fuel for the operationally autonomous motions of molecular machines.\nSecond-order rate constants of the aminolysis of 2-cyano-2-phenylpropanoic anhydride 3 by a series of N-methylanilines differently substituted in the aromatic moiety (4a-d) were measured in dichloromethane. The common reaction product of aminolysis is 2-cyano-2-phenylpropanoic acid 1, which is known to be an effective fuel for acid-base driven molecular machines, but cannot be used in molar excess with respect to the machine. The motivation behind the kinetic study has been the prospect of using the aminolysis of 3 to supply the machine with fuel at a rate that is never so high as to overfeed the system, thus avoiding the malfunction of the machine with concomitant waste of fuel. Knowledge of the kinetic parameters dictated the choice of 4c as the best nucleophile in the lot for feeding acid 1 into a catenane-based molecular machine at a rate that ensured a correct operation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17913765,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Percutaneous cardioplegia delivery using the miniport in minimally invasive mitral valve surgery.\nMinimally invasive cardiac surgery involves limited exposure of cardiac structures. Extracorporeal circulation is usually conducted by peripheral cannulation. Cross-clamp can be achieved by remote ways of either balloon endoclamp or transthoracic clamp. Effective delivery of cardioplegic solution is somewhat more difficult than those above mentioned tasks. In order to prevent additional expenses, we sought to deliver cardioplegic solution in a simple, reproducible, and cost-effective way. The miniport is used for this application. The procedures are reported in detail.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37846595,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Climate change should drive mammal defaunation in tropical dry forests.\nHuman-induced climate change has intensified negative impacts on socioeconomic factors, the environment, and biodiversity, including changes in rainfall patterns and an increase in global average temperatures. Drylands are particularly at risk, with projections suggesting they will become hotter, drier, and less suitable for a significant portion of their species, potentially leading to mammal defaunation. We use ecological niche modelling and community ecology biodiversity metrics to examine potential geographical range shifts of non-volant mammal species in the largest Neotropical dryland, the Caatinga, and evaluate impacts of climate change on mammal assemblages. According to projections, 85% of the mammal species will lose suitable habitats, with one quarter of species projected to completely lose suitable habitats by 2060. This will result in a decrease in species richness for more than 90% of assemblages and an increase in compositional similarity to nearby assemblages (i.e., reduction in spatial beta diversity) for 70% of the assemblages. Small-sized mammals will be the most impacted and lose most of their suitable habitats, especially in highlands. The scenario is even worse in the eastern half of Caatinga where habitat destruction already prevails, compounding the threats faced by species there. While species-specific responses can vary with respect to dispersal, behavior, and energy requirements, our findings indicate that climate change can drive mammal assemblages to biotic homogenization and species loss, with drastic changes in assemblage trophic structure. For successful long-term socioenvironmental policy and conservation planning, it is critical that findings from biodiversity forecasts are considered.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28717279,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cystitis glandularis: Management and challenges in a renal transplant recipient.\nCystitis cystica or glandularis is a clinical and pathological entity of the bladder mucosa occurring secondary to inflammation or chronic obstruction. Its premalignant nature remains controversial, especially in an immunocompromised transplant recipient. We present a rare case where a chronic kidney disease patient was found to have cystitis glandularis while being worked up for living-related donor renal transplant and describe its subsequent management.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25278777,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Eosinophil apoptosis and clearance in asthma.\nAsthma is an increasingly common respiratory condition characterized by reversible airway obstruction, bronchial hyper-responsiveness and airway inflammation with a clear unmet need for more effective therapy. Eosinophilic asthma is a phenotype of the condition that features increased blood or sputum eosinophils whose numbers correlate with disease severity. Several lines of evidence are now emerging, which implicate increased persistence of eosinophils in the lungs of patients with asthma as a consequence of inhibition of and defects in the apoptotic process, together with impaired apoptotic cell removal mechanisms. This article will update our knowledge of the mechanisms controlling eosinophil apoptosis and clearance, together with evidence implicating defects in apoptosis and pro-inflammatory cell removal in asthma. Recent developments in novel therapies for asthma that target eosinophil apoptotic and\/or clearance pathways will also be discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28280674,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"The 4-flap Jester's Hat Technique for Nipple Reduction.\nMacrothelia, or nipple hypertrophy, is a condition that may cause severe psychological distress to those who suffer from it. Although effective in their primary goal of reducing nipple diameter and projection, previously reported techniques in nipple reduction suffer from imperfect aesthetic outcomes with noticeable scarring patterns, anatomically anomalous shape, and a smoothing of the natural ruffles of the nipple. We propose a simple technique to nipple reduction that improves upon previous techniques and creates a more naturally appearing nipple. A 4-flap technique resembling a jester's hat is described whereby suture lines are concealed within the central nipple to recreate the naturally ruffled appearance of a native nipple. Four patients have undergone this technique at a single institution with 100% patient satisfaction and no postoperative complications. Nipple sensation was maintained in all patients postoperatively. A 4-flap nipple reduction technique is a viable alternative to previously described techniques, which may offer more anatomically congruent results.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12180360,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Reflexivity and metapositions: strategies for appraisal of clinical evidence.\nAccording to Sackett, evidence-based medicine is the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of the individual patient. In this article, clinical reasoning is depicted as multilayered processes of evidence construction by means of social interaction and human interpretation. A basic set of knowledge is the doctors initial capital at the onset of the individual encounter. This is a necessary, but insufficient, presumption for the elaboration of clinical knowledge required to solve the particular problem. A diagnostic conclusion may appear to constitute the most obvious part of knowledge. Yet the formulation of hypotheses and the choice of adequate strategies for the pursuit of evidence are perhaps even more significant dimensions of clinical knowledge. Potential biases affect the ways in which evidence is gathered and used. When clinicians are not committed to appraising the evidence constituting the foundations of their enterprise, quality assessment of clinical practice becomes casual and unreliable. Reflexivity implies having a self-conscious account of the production of knowledge as it is being produced. From metapositions, critical questions can be asked and sometimes answered. Evidence-based practice in the original sense requires that doctors reflect upon their own positions as knowers, in the process of situated knowing, where certain rhetorical spaces rule.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8354590,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Lack of activities of amikacin and sulphamethoxazole against Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare.\nTwenty clinical isolates of Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare were tested with amikacin and sulphamethoxazole for in-vitro susceptibilities. The MICs and MBCs of the former drug ranged from 8 to > 64 mg\/L (median MIC: 64 mg\/L, median MBC: > 64 mg\/L). The MICs and MBCs of the latter drug were found to be > 256 mg\/L. Each of eight patients with invasive pulmonary disease due to these organisms was treated with amikacin for six months and with cotrimoxazole (sulphamethoxazole-trimethoprim) for one year. Only one patient had sustained bacteriological conversion. Three patients showed a transient reduction of bacillary load during the period of amikacin administration. The rest all failed to show response. Thus sulphamethoxazole was found to have no activity against Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare, and amikacin has doubtful activity when used alone in treatment of M. avium-intracellulare infection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18590293,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Investigation of a vapor-deposited thin silica film: morphological and spectral characterization.\nSurface modification reactions by organosilicon compounds have demonstrated great success in a wide variety of applications. However, they are of limited usefulness in that they only proceed appreciably on surfaces that have an abundance of reactive hydroxyl groups, thus preventing their application to some materials of technological relevance, such as plastics and polymers. A process capable of depositing a surface rich in reactive hydroxyl groups onto a wide variety of substrates could potentially enable the extension of organosilane surface modification reactions to new materials, but conventional processes for depositing oxide layers require temperatures that are too high for most polymers and plastics. It has been shown that silica layers can be deposited from the vapor-phase hydrolysis of tetrachlorosilane at room temperature, but little if any work has been done to characterize the resulting films. In this work, ellipsometry, atomic force microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy are employed to study the characteristics of films formed from this process. Interestingly, very different film morphologies can be obtained by changing key processing parameters. Furthermore, isotopic exchange experiments and dehydration studies show that the surfaces of the silica films obtained by this method are composed entirely of hydrogen-bonded silanol groups and do not exhibit any freely vibrating surface silanol groups, a result that is in contrast with conventionally prepared silica materials. Still, this layer has been shown to behave very similarly to conventional silica materials with respect to surface reactions. Finally, infrared spectral data and contact angle data demonstrate that this method can be employed to deposit silica layers onto poly(methyl methacrylate) and polystyrene surfaces.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8351337,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"CT-guided injection of the stellate ganglion: description of technique and efficacy of sympathetic blockade.\nStellate ganglion blockade, typically performed by using palpable osseous landmarks, is an accepted method in the diagnosis and treatment of sympathetically maintained pain and other conditions. The authors present the results of stellate ganglion injection performed with computed tomographic (CT) guidance. Thirteen CT-guided procedures were performed in seven patients. Lidocaine, bupivacaine, and buprenorphine were used to achieve the blockade. Successful blocks were achieved in all 13 cases as evidenced by production of Horner syndrome and ipsilateral hand temperature elevations. The average ipsilateral and contralateral hand temperature changes following the procedure were 7.5 degrees C and 0.5 degrees C. The ipsilateral hand temperature changes and the differences between the ipsilateral and contralateral hand temperature changes exceeded 1.5 degrees C in every case. Five patients preferred the CT-guided procedure over the conventional technique, and two patients noted no substantial difference between the approaches. With the CT-guided technique, a highly effective sympathetic block is achieved with a substantially reduced volume of anesthetic compared with the conventional approach.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17193429,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nanoengineered polymer capsules: tools for detection, controlled delivery, and site-specific manipulation.\nWe present the concept of multifunctional nanoengineered polymer capsules and outline their applications as new drug delivery systems or supramolecular toolboxes containing, for example, enzymes capable of converting nontoxic prodrugs into toxic drugs at a designated location. Such functionalized nanocontainers offer a wide range of applications including enzymatic catalysis, controlled release, and directed drug delivery in medicine due to their multifunctionality. The unique advantage of capsules in comparison to other systems is that they can be functionalized or loaded simultaneously with the above-mentioned components, thus permitting multifunctional processes in single cells.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17812985,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Rare-Earth Elements in Tektites.\nThe rare-earth element content of three tektites has been determined by neutron activation analysis. The relative abundance patterns are all nearly alike and are identical to the pattern characteristic of well-differentiated terrestrial sediments. Possible consequences of finding this pattern in truly extraterrestrial matter are considered.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26470779,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Facilitating a transition from compulsory detention of people who use drugs towards voluntary community-based drug dependence treatment and support services in Asia.\nEvidence indicates that detention of people who use drugs in compulsory centers in the name of treatment is common in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. The expansion of such practices has been costly, has not generated positive health outcomes, and has not reduced supply or demand for illicit drugs. United Nations agencies have convened several consultations with government and civil society stakeholders in order to facilitate a transition to voluntary evidence- and community-based drug dependence treatment and support services. In an effort to support such efforts, an informal group of experts proposes a three-step process to initiate and accelerate national-level transitions. Specifically, the working group recommends the establishment of a national multisectoral decision-making committee to oversee the development of national transition plans, drug policy reform to eliminate barriers to community-based drug dependence treatment and support services, and the integration of community-based drug dependence treatment in existing national health and social service systems.In parallel, the working group recommends that national-level transitions should be guided by overarching principles, including ethics, human rights, meaningful involvement of affected communities, and client safety, as well as good governance, transparency, and accountability. The transition also represents an opportunity to review the roles and responsibilities of various agencies across the public health and public security sectors in order to balance the workload and ensure positive results. The need to accelerate national-level transitions to voluntary community-based drug dependence treatment and support services is compelling--on economic, medical, sustainable community development, and ethical grounds--as extensively documented in the literature. In this context, the expert working group fully endorses initiation of a transition towards voluntary evidence- and community-based drug dependence treatment and support services across the region, as well as the steady scale-down of compulsory centers for drug users.Components of voluntary community-based drug dependence treatment and support services are being implemented in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. However, significant technical and financial support will be required to be allocated from national budgets and by international development agencies in order to complete the transition and reduce the reliance on detention of people who use drugs in Asia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28292304,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Design and implementation of electronic health record integrated clinical prediction rules (iCPR): a randomized trial in diverse primary care settings.\nClinical prediction rules (CPRs) represent a method of determining individual patient risk to help providers make more accurate decisions at the point of care. Well-validated CPRs are underutilized but may decrease antibiotic overuse for acute respiratory infections. The integrated clinical prediction rules (iCPR) study builds on a previous single clinic study to integrate two CPRs into the electronic health record and assess their impact on practice. This article discusses study design and implementation of a multicenter cluster randomized control trial of the iCPR clinical decision support system, including the tool adaptation, usability testing, staff training, and implementation study to disseminate iCPR at multiple clinical sites across two health care systems. The iCPR tool is based on two well-validated CPRs, one for strep pharyngitis and one for pneumonia. The iCPR tool uses the reason for visit to trigger a risk calculator. Provider completion of the risk calculator provides a risk score, which is linked to an order set. Order sets guide evidence-based care and include progress note documentation, tests, prescription medications, and patient instructions. The iCPR tool was refined based on interviews with providers, medical assistants, and clinic managers, and two rounds of usability testing. \"Near live\" usability testing with simulated patients was used to ensure that iCPR fit into providers' clinical workflows. Thirty-three Family Medicine and General Internal Medicine primary care clinics were recruited at two institutions. Clinics were randomized to academic detailing about strep pharyngitis and pneumonia diagnosis and treatment (control) or academic detailing plus use of the iCPR tool (intervention). The primary outcome is the difference in antibiotic prescribing rates between the intervention and control groups with secondary outcomes of difference in rapid strep and chest x-ray ordering. Use of the components of the iCPR will also be assessed. The iCPR study uses a strong user-centered design and builds on the previous initial study, to assess whether CPRs integrated in the electronic health record can change provider behavior and improve evidence-based care in a broad range of primary care clinics. Clinicaltrials.gov ( NCT02534987 ).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23875706,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Intravenous administration of mesenchymal stem cells prevents angiotensin II-induced aortic aneurysm formation in apolipoprotein E-deficient mouse.\nMesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are known to be capable of suppressing inflammatory responses. We previously reported that intra-abdominal implantation of bone marrow-derived MSCs (BM-MSCs) sheet by laparotomy attenuated angiotensin II (AngII)-induced aortic aneurysm (AA) growth in apolipoprotein E-deficient (apoE-\/-) mice through anti-inflammation effects. However, cell delivery by laparotomy is invasive; we here demonstrated the effects of multiple intravenous administrations of BM-MSCs on AngII-induced AA formation. BM-MSCs were isolated from femurs and tibiae of male apoE-\/- mice. Experimental AA was induced by AngII infusion for 28 days in apoE-\/- mice. Mice received weekly intravenous administration of BM-MSCs (n=12) or saline (n=10). After 4 weeks, AA formation incidence, aortic diameter, macrophage accumulation, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)' activity, elastin content, and cytokines were evaluated. AngII induced AA formation in 100% of the mice in the saline group and 50% in the BM-MSCs treatment group (P < 0.05). A significant decrease of aortic diameter was observed in the BM-MSCs treatment group at ascending and infrarenal levels, which was associated with decreased macrophage infiltration and suppressed activities of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in aortic tissues, as well as a preservation of elastin content of aortic tissues. In addition, interleukin (IL)-1\u03b2, IL-6, and monocyte chemotactic protein-1 significantly decreased while insulin-like growth factor-1 and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-2 increased in the aortic tissues of BM-MSCs treatment group. Multiple intravenous administrations of BM-MSCs attenuated the development of AngII-induced AA in apoE-\/- mice and may become a promising alternative therapeutic strategy for AA progression.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16984342,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Apoptosis-independent poor morphology of bovine embryos produced by multiple ovulation.\nIn multiple ovulation and embryo transfer (MOET) programmes in cattle, a considerable number of morphologically poor-quality embryos continue to be produced; this is one of the limiting factors of the technique. Apoptosis has often been implicated in developmental arrest and fragmentation; these are regarded as poor traits of embryonic quality in mammalian pre-implantation embryos. In the present study, apoptosis was assessed in morphologically poor-quality embryos in comparison with good-quality embryos that were recovered from a MOET programme. Retarded embryos (two to 16 cell stage), morulae with severe fragmentation and morphologically good-quality morulae recovered from superstimulated cows at day 7 post-insemination were subjected to TdT-mediated dUTP nick-end labelling (TUNEL) and Hoechst staining. Cell nuclei that showed both TUNEL staining and apoptotic morphology were considered to be apoptotic. Apoptotic index (AI) was calculated as the percentage of apoptotic cells per embryo. Fifteen of 17 retarded embryos and 10 of 15 morphologically poor-quality morulae did not show signs of apoptosis. The mean AIs in the morphologically poor-quality embryos (two to 16 cell stage, 2.2%; poor morulae, 1.3%) were as low as that in the good-quality embryos (2.9%). These results suggest that another mode of developmental arrest and\/or fragmentation that is independent of apoptosis occurs in morphologically poor-quality embryos recovered from MOET programmes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14084687,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"FAILED PSYCHIATRIC CLINIC APPOINTMENTS. RELATIONSHIP TO SOCIAL CLASS.\nA study was made to determine what factors might be related to failure of patients to keep appointments at a county hospital psychiatric clinic. The hypothesis that the lowest status groups would have the poorest appointment records was substantiated in that they had the highest proportion of broken appointments without notification. Contrary to expectations, however, the highest status groups had poorer records than those in the central status groups-the skilled or semi-skilled workers and those with high school education. Marital status was also found to be related to appointment status, with divorced and separated persons displaying the greatest likelihood of breaking appointments without notifying the clinic.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12038658,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Neuroprotective agents in acute ischemic stroke.\nThe concept of neuroprotection relies on the principle that delayed neuronal injury occurs after ischemia. The phenomenon of the \"ischemic cascade\" has been described, and each step along this cascade provides a target for therapeutic intervention. A wide variety of drugs have been studied in humans. Ten classes of neuroprotective agents have reached phase III efficacy trials but have shown mixed results. They included calcium channel antagonists, NMDA receptor antagonists, lubeluzole, CDP-choline, the free radical scavenger tirilazad and ebselen, enlimomab, GABA agonist clomethiazole, the sodium channel antagonist fosphenytoin, magnesium, glycine site antagonist GV150526 and piracetam. Furthermore, the mechanisms that underlie the development of focal ischemic injury continue to be discovered, opening new therapeutic perspective for neuroprotection that might clinically be applicable in the future.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16146534,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"First-line autologous stem cell transplantation in primary CNS lymphoma.\nThe treatment of primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) has been considerably improved over recent years. In this article, we report six cases of PCNSL treated by first-line induction chemotherapy followed by intensive chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT). Six immunocompetent patients presenting with a PCNSL, confirmed by thoraco-abdomino-pelvic computer tomography scan and bone marrow biopsy, were treated with induction chemotherapy followed by BEAM intensive chemotherapy and ASCT and radiotherapy. At the end of the treatment, all the patients were in complete remission. After a median follow-up of 41.5 months (17-70 months), four patients were alive without signs of relapse (median survival: 35.5 months). Two patients died from relapse at 19 and 23 months. The neurotoxicity was low with epilepsy in one patient and persistent left side dysesthesia in another one. These results are fairly encouraging. Other studies with greater numbers of patients and longer follow-up are needed to confirm this study.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15251479,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Outcome of metformin-facilitated reinitiation of oral diabetic therapy in insulin-treated patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.\nTo test the feasibility of reimplementation of oral diabetic therapy in insulin-treated patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) and to determine the characteristics of patients in whom such conversion was successful. We attempted reinitiation of combination oral therapy with metformin and a sulfonylurea in 55 consecutive C-peptide-positive patients who had had NIDDM for less than 30 years and had received insulin therapy for less than 10 years. Reinitiation of oral therapy was successful in 42 patients and unsuccessful in 13. Reinitiation of oral therapy was unsuccessful because of lack of diabetic control in nine patients and gastrointestinal side effects in four patients. The successful group had a lower insulin requirement (P = 0.004), a shorter duration of insulin therapy (P = 0.013), and a lower body mass index (P = 0.014). Baseline glycosylated hemoglobin, C-peptide level, age, and duration of diabetes were not significant predictive factors. Glycosylated hemoglobin levels were significantly lower (mean, 1.3%; P = 0.0001) after successful reinitiation of oral therapy in comparison with before. Both groups of patients (those with successful and those with unsuccessful conversion to oral therapy) lost weight. The group of patients with NIDDM in whom reinitiation of combination oral therapy is most likely to be successful are those with a shorter duration of insulin therapy, lower insulin requirements, and lower body mass index. Successful conversion to oral diabetic therapy significantly decreases the glycosylated hemoglobin level.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23450797,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Atomic force microscopy of chronic lymphatic leukaemia cells activation induced by Staphylococcus aureus.\nActivation of lymphatic cells is associated with changes in morphology, ultrastructure and adhesion force. We have investigated the activation efficiency of Staphylococcus aureus (SAC) on B-cell chronic lymphatic leukaemia (B-CLL) cells using atomic force microscopy (AFM), and found changes in the above properties. Cell viability and proliferation were measured using Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). AFM clearly showed that the volume and nuclear-cytoplasm ratio of cells increased significantly with activated time. It also showed that pseudopodia and immunological synapses began to appear at 24 h. In the activation process, nano-structures of the cell surface became aggregated, and adhesion increased. In conclusion, the results indicate a close relationship between membrane reconstruction and multiplication process of B-CLL cells.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21162286,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Activity and isoenzyme spectra of lactate dehydrogenase of plateau zokor (Myospalax baileyi) in different season].\nTo explore the adapting metabolic mechanisms of the plateau zokors to the hypoxic-hypercapnic environment. The activities of lactate dehydrogenase in serum and tissues, and the content of lactate in serum of plateau zokors in spring, summer and autumn were determined by using method of enzyme analysis. The spectrums of lactate dehydrogenase isoenzymes in serum and tissues of plateau zokors in spring, summer and autumn were analyzed by using method of the discontinuous systemic poly-acrylamide perpendicular plank gel electrophoresis. The activities of lactate dehydrogenase in serum had obvious seasonally difference that were higher in spring and lower in autumn, and the content of lactate in serum showed same changing pattern. The spectrums of lactate dehydrogenase isoenzymes in serum showed five bands that were LDH1, LDH2, LDH3, LDH4 and LDH5 from positive pole to negative pole respectively, it showed clearly two bands in serum of summer that were LDH4 and LDH5 and one band in serum of autumn that was LDH5. The activities of LDH in tissues of skeleton muscle, cardiac muscle and brain were higher compared with the other tissues, it decreased markedly from spring to summer to autumn. In tissues of liver, kidney and lungs, activities of LDH were lower. Activities of LDH in livers, were significantly higher in spring compared that in summer and autumn, which had no obvious difference between summer and autumn. Activities of LDH in kidneys and lungs, showed no obviously difference between spring and summer, which decreased markedly in autumn. The spectrums of lactate dehydrogenase isoenzymes in tissues of cardiac muscle, liver, lungs, kidney, brain and skeleton muscle showed five bands, the spectrums were obvious different in different tissues, and the content of LDH isoenzymes showed seasonal changes in different tissues. Glycolysis levels in plateau zokors had obvious seasonally change which increased in spring and decreased in autumn significantly. It related to the activity of plateau zokors in different seasons and seasonal fluctuation of oxygen and carbon dioxide in burrows of plateau zokors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22690709,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Endoplasmic reticulum factor ERLIN2 regulates cytosolic lipid content in cancer cells.\nIncreased de novo lipogenesis is a hallmark of aggressive cancers. Lipid droplets, the major form of cytosolic lipid storage, have been implicated in cancer cell proliferation and tumorigenesis. Recently, we identified the ERLIN2 [ER (endoplasmic reticulum) lipid raft-associated 2) gene that is amplified and overexpressed in aggressive human breast cancer. Previous studies demonstrated that ERLIN2 plays a supporting oncogenic role by facilitating the transformation of human breast cancer cells. In the present study, we found that ERLIN2 supports cancer cell growth by regulating cytosolic lipid droplet production. ERLIN2 is preferably expressed in human breast cancer cells or hepatoma cells and is inducible by insulin signalling or when cells are cultured in lipoprotein-deficient medium. Increased expression of ERLIN2 promotes the accumulation of cytosolic lipid droplets in breast cancer cells or hepatoma cells in response to insulin or overload of unsaturated fatty acids. ERLIN2 regulates activation of SREBP (sterol regulatory element-binding protein) 1c, the key regulator of de novo lipogenesis, in cancer cells. ERLIN2 was found to bind to INSIG1 (insulin-induced gene 1), a key ER membrane protein that blocks SREBP activation. Consistent with the role of ERLIN2 in regulating cytosolic lipid content, down-regulation of ERLIN2 in breast cancer or hepatoma cells led to lower cell proliferation rates. The present study revealed a novel role for ERLIN2 in supporting cancer cell growth by promoting the activation of the key lipogenic regulator SREBP1c and the production of cytosolic lipid droplets. The identification of ERLIN2 as a regulator of cytosolic lipid content in cancer cells has important implications for understanding the molecular basis of tumorigenesis and the treatment of cancer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1099930,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Clinical picture and morphology of orbital rhabdomyosarcomas in children].\nThe clinical course of orbital rhabdomyosarcoma is described in seven male children. A survey of the literature on the subject is given. Particular attention is paid to certain diagnostic problems of this most frequent orbital malignant primary in childhood. An adequate combination therapy which results in cure in more than half of the patients should be employed provided that an exact morphological diagnosis is made; this still causes often great difficulty. Electron microscopy is of great value in distinguishing this type of tumor from other malignancies, including the so-called reticulosarcoma. In comparison with the case material of other authors, there was a relatively high rate of late deaths in our patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37658473,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Fundamentals and Challenges of Engineering Charge Polarized Active Sites for CO2 Photoreduction toward C2 Products.\nConspectusGlobal warming and climatic deterioration are partly caused by carbon dioxide (CO2) emission. Given this, CO2 reduction into valuable carbonaceous fuels is a win-win route to simultaneously alleviate the greenhouse effect and the energy crisis, where CO2 reduction into hydrocarbon fuels by solar energy may be a potential strategy. Up to now, most of the current photocatalysts photoconvert CO2 to C1 products. It is extremely difficult to achieve production of C2 products, which have higher economic value and energy density, due to the kinetic challenge of C-C coupling of the C1 intermediates. Therefore, to realize CO2 photoreduction to C2 fuels, design of high-activity photocatalysts to expedite the C-C coupling is significant. Besides, the current mechanism for CO2 photoreduction toward C2 fuels is usually uncertain, which is possibly attributed to the following two reasons: (1) It is arduous to determine the actual catalytic sites for the C-C coupling step. (2) It is hard to monitor the low-concentration active intermediates during the multielectron transfer step.Most traditional metal-based photocatalysts usually possess charge balanced active sites that have the same charge density. In this aspect, the neighboring C1 intermediates may also show the same charge distribution, which would lead to dipole-dipole repulsion, thus preventing C-C coupling for producing C2 fuels. By contrast, photocatalysts with charge polarized active sites possess obviously different charge distributions in the adjacent C1 intermediates, which can effectively suppress the electrostatic repulsion to steer the C-C coupling. Based on this analysis, higher asymmetric charge density on the active sites would be more beneficial to anchoring between the adjacent intermediates and active atoms in catalysts, which can boost C-C coupling.In this Account, we summarize various strategies, including vacancy engineering, doping engineering, loading engineering, and heterojunction engineering, for tailoring charge polarized active sites to boost the C-C coupling for the first time. Also, we overview diverse in situ characterization technologies, such as in situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, in situ Raman spectroscopy, and in situ Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, for determining charge polarized active sites and monitoring reaction intermediates, helping to reveal the internal catalytic mechanism of CO2 photoreduction toward C2 products. We hope this Account may help readers to understand the crucial function of charge polarized active sites during CO2 photoreduction toward C2 products and provide guidance for designing and preparing highly active catalysts for photocatalytic CO2 reduction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12002789,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nutritional losses and gains during processing: future problems and issues.\nDevelopments in food technology and nutrition today are shaping our food supply in an unprecedented way. They have not only helped produce a variety of foods with varying taste and texture but also optimally retain the nutritional quality of food. Increased use of novel ingredients in the future manufacture of foods is likely to reduce the amount of micronutrients available in our diet. To combat this, food fortification may be more widely used. Collaboration between food technologists and nutritionists is imperative if we are to see the continued manufacture of wholesome food.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12012122,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Atrophy of the basal ganglia as the initial diagnostic sign of germinoma in the basal ganglia.\nGerm-cell tumors of the central nervous system generally develop in the midline, but the tumors can also occur in the basal ganglia and\/or thalamus. However, MR images have rarely been documented in the early stage of the tumor in these regions. We retrospectively reviewed MR images obtained on admission and approximately 3 years earlier in two patients with germinoma in the basal ganglia, and compared them with CT. In addition to hyperdensity on CT, both hyperintensity on T1-weighted images and a small hyperintense lesion on T2-weighted images were commonly seen in the basal ganglia. These findings may be early MRI signs of germinoma in this region, and the earliest and most characteristic diagnostic feature on MRI was atrophy of the basal ganglia, which was recognizable before development of hemiparesis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19037802,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Studies of the toxicological potential of capsinoids: VIII. A 13-week toxicity study of commercial-grade dihydrocapsiate in rats.\nDihydrocapsiate, (4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzyl 8-methylnona- noate; CAS No. 205687-03-2) is a naturally occurring capsinoid compound found in nonpungent chili peppers. Although the safety of synthetically produced dihydrocapsiate has been previously evaluated, the purpose of this 13-week gavage toxicity study is to evaluate dihydrocapsiate produced with a slightly modified manufacturing process. Sprague-Dawley rats, 10 rats\/sex\/group, 6 weeks of age at study initiation, were administered the dihydrocapsiate daily by gavage at dose levels of 0 (vehicle), 100, 300, or 1000 mg\/kg\/day. The rats were observed for antimortem and postmortem signs of toxicity, including changes in clinical signs, body weights, food consumption, water intake, ophthalmology, clinical pathology (clinical chemistry, hematology, urinalysis), tissue findings (macroscopic and microscopic examination), as well as organ weights. There were no changes observed in clinical signs, body weight, food consumption, water intake, ophthalmology, urinalysis, hematology, or blood chemistry that were attributable to the administration of dihydrocapsiate. The only change observed attributable to the dihydrocapsiate administration involved the liver and that change occurred only at the high dose (1000 mg\/kg). Both sexes had an increase in organ weights, but this increase correlated with a change in histopathology (i.e., hepatocyte hypertrophy) only in the males. No dihydrocapsiate-related histopathological changes were observed in males at doses < or = 300 mg\/kg or in females at any of the doses tested (< or = 1000 mg\/kg). It was concluded that the no observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) of dihydrocapsiate was 300 mg\/kg\/day for male rats and 1000 mg\/kg\/day for female rats in this 13 week gavage study.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28714425,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"The share of ultra-processed foods determines the overall nutritional quality of diets in Brazil.\nTo estimate the dietary share of ultra-processed foods and to determine its association with the overall nutritional quality of diets in Brazil. Cross-sectional. Brazil. A representative sample of 32 898 Brazilians aged \u226510 years was studied. Food intake data were collected. We calculated the average dietary content of individual nutrients and compared them across quintiles of energy share of ultra-processed foods. Then we identified nutrient-based dietary patterns, and evaluated the association between quintiles of dietary share of ultra-processed foods and the patterns' scores. The mean per capita daily dietary energy intake was 7933 kJ (1896 kcal), with 58\u00b71 % from unprocessed or minimally processed foods, 10\u00b79 % from processed culinary ingredients, 10\u00b76 % from processed foods and 20\u00b74 % from ultra-processed foods. Consumption of ultra-processed foods was directly associated with high consumption of free sugars and total, saturated and trans fats, and with low consumption of protein, dietary fibre, and most of the assessed vitamins and minerals. Four nutrient-based dietary patterns were identified. 'Healthy pattern 1' carried more protein and micronutrients, and less free sugars. 'Healthy pattern 2' carried more vitamins. 'Healthy pattern 3' carried more dietary fibre and minerals and less free sugars. 'Unhealthy pattern' carried more total, saturated and trans fats, and less dietary fibre. The dietary share of ultra-processed foods was inversely associated with 'healthy pattern 1' (-0\u00b716; 95 % CI -0\u00b717, -0\u00b715) and 'healthy pattern 3' (-0\u00b718; 95 % CI -0\u00b719, -0\u00b717), and directly associated with 'unhealthy pattern' (0\u00b717; 95 % CI 0\u00b715, 0\u00b718). Dietary share of ultra-processed foods determines the overall nutritional quality of diets in Brazil.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23327097,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3,"dup_dump_count":2,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2013-48":1,"2015-06":1}}},"text":"Distinct genomic organization, mRNA expression and cellular localization of members of two amastin sub-families present in Trypanosoma cruzi.\nAmastins are surface glycoproteins (approximately 180 residues long) initially described in Trypanosoma cruzi as particularly abundant during the amastigote stage of this protozoan parasite. Subsequently, they have been found to be encoded by large gene families also present in the genomes of several species of Leishmania and in other Trypanosomatids. Although most amastin genes are organized in clusters associated with tuzin genes and are up-regulated in the intracellular stage of T. cruzi and Leishmania spp, distinct genomic organizations and mRNA expression patterns have also been reported. Based on the analysis of the complete genome sequences of two T. cruzi strains, we identified a total of 14 copies of amastin genes in T. cruzi and showed that they belong to two of the four previously described amastin subfamilies. Whereas \u03b4-amastin genes are organized in two or more clusters with alternating copies of tuzin genes, the two copies of \u03b2-amastins are linked together in a distinct chromosome. Most T. cruzi amastins have similar surface localization as determined by confocal microscopy and western blot analyses. Transcript levels for \u03b4-amastins were found to be up-regulated in amastigotes from several T. cruzi strains, except in the G strain, which is known to have low infection capacity. In contrast, in all strains analysed, \u03b2-amastin transcripts are more abundant in epimastigotes, the stage found in the insect vector. Here we showed that not only the number and diversity of T. cruzi amastin genes is larger than what has been predicted, but also their mode of expression during the parasite life cycle is more complex. Although most T. cruzi amastins have a similar surface localization, only \u03b4-amastin genes have their expression up-regulated in amastigotes. The results showing that a sub-group of this family is up-regulated in epimastigotes, suggest that, in addition of their role in intracellular amastigotes, T. cruzi amastins may also serve important functions during the insect stage of the parasite life cycle. Most importantly, evidence for their role as virulence factors was also unveiled from the data showing that \u03b4-amastin expression is down regulated in a strain presenting low infection capacity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17006299,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Postinfection intravesical femoral head resulting in a vesicocutaneous fistula: A bizarre presentation and outcome.\nVesicocutaneous fistula can occur secondary to numerous factors. We present a case of 14-year-old girl who presented with a discharging sinus beside her labia majora with bony ankylosis of her left hip secondary to infection. Investigations revealed the femoral head protruding into the urinary bladder, resulting in a vesicocutaneous fistula. This case highlights the bizarre presentation of infection in the hip and the difficulty in diagnosis of a resultant vesicocutaneous fistula.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25518261,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"P-wave dispersion doesn't increase in patients with epilepsy.\nEpileptic seizures have occasionally been associated with cardiac conditions as atrioventricular blocks, long QT syndrome etc. P-wave dispersion (PWD), which is the difference between the longest (P max) and shortest P-wave duration (P min), is considered as a forerunner of atrial fibrillation. In this study, we investigated P-wave dispersion (PWD) in epileptic patients; based on the hypothesis that microthromboembolism may occur in atrial fibrillation. Seventy five patients with mixed types of epilepsy and 50 age and sex matched healthy individuals were included into the study. P max, P min and PWD values were calculated for each subject from an ECG. The mean age of subjects in the epilepsy group and control group were similar (p>0.05). P max in patients with epilepsy was 125.1\u00b10.7 ms, P min was 67.3\u00b110.3 ms, and PWD was 57.6\u00b18.3 ms while these values in the control group were 116.8\u00b111.0 ms, 66.5\u00b15.5 ms and 46.8\u00b17.1 ms, respectively. There were no statistically significant difference between two groups (p>0.05). PWD does not increase in patients with mixed types of epilepsy. Therefore we believe that microthromboembolism due to atrial fibrillation can't cause epileptic seizures in patients with no structural heart disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15809303,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mycobacterium tuberculosis heat shock proteins use diverse Toll-like receptor pathways to activate pro-inflammatory signals.\nAlthough the Toll-like receptors used by Mycobacterium tuberculosis membrane and secreted factors are known, the pathways activated by M. tuberculosis heat shock proteins are not. An efficient immune response against the intracellular pathogen M. tuberculosis is critically dependent on rapid detection of the invading pathogen by the innate immune system and coordinated activation of the adaptive immune response. Macrophage phagocytosis of M. tuberculosis is accompanied by activation of the transcription factor NF-kappaB and secretion of inflammatory mediators that play an important role in granuloma formation and immune protection during M. tuberculosis infection. The interaction between M. tuberculosis and the various Toll-like receptors is complex, and it appears that distinct mycobacterial components may interact with different members of the Toll-like receptor family. Here we show that recombinant, purified, mycobacterial heat shock proteins 65 and 70 induce NF-kappaB activity in a dose-dependent manner in human endothelial cells. Furthermore, we show that whereas mycobacterial heat shock protein 65 signals exclusively through Toll-like receptor 4, heat shock protein 70 also signals through Toll-like receptor 2. Mycobacterial heat shock protein 65-induced NF-kappaB activation was MyD88-, TIRAP-, TRIF-, and TRAM-dependent and required the presence of MD-2. A better understanding of the recognition of mycobacterial heat shock proteins and their role in the host immune response to the pathogen may open the way to a better understanding of the immunological processes induced by this important human pathogen and the host-pathogen interactions and may help in the rational design of more effective vaccines or vaccine adjuvants.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17010215,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"6-Shogaol reduced chronic inflammatory response in the knees of rats treated with complete Freund's adjuvant.\n6-Shogaol is one of the major compounds in the ginger rhizome that may contribute to its anti-inflammatory properties. Confirmation of this contribution was sought in this study in Sprague- Dawley rats (200-250 g) treated with a single injection (0.5 ml of 1 mg\/ml) of a commercial preparation of complete Freund's Adjuvant (CFA) to induce monoarthritis in the right knee over a period of 28 days. During this development of arthritis, each rat received a daily oral dose of either peanut oil (0.2 ml-control) or 6-shogaol (6.2 mg\/Kg in 0.2 ml peanut oil). Within 2 days of CFA injection, the control group produced maximum edematous swelling of the knee that was sustained up to the end of the investigation period. But, in the 6-shogaol treated group, significantly lower magnitudes of unsustained swelling of the knees (from 5.1 +\/- 0.2 mm to 1.0 +\/- 0.2 mm, p < 0.002, n = 6) were produced during the investigation period. Unsustained swelling of the knees (from 3.2 +\/- 0.6 mm to 0.8 +\/- 1.1 mm, p < 0.00008, n = 6) was also produced after 3 days of treatment with indomethacin (2 mg\/Kg\/day) as a standard anti-inflammatory drug, but during the first 2 days of drug treatment swelling of the knees was significantly larger (11.6 +\/- 2.0 mm, p < 0.0002, n = 6) than either the controls or the 6-shogaol treated group of rats. This exaggerated effect in the early stage of indomethacin treatment was inhibited by montelukast, a cysteinyl leukotriene receptor antagonist. Also, 6-shogaol and indomethacin were most effective in reducing swelling of the knees on day 28 when the controls still had maximum swelling. The effect of 6-shogaol compared to the controls was associated with significantly lower concentration of soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) in the blood and infiltration of leukocytes, including lymphocytes and monocytes\/macrophages, into the synovial cavity of the knee. There was also preservation of the morphological integrity of the cartilage lining the femur compared to damage to this tissue in the peanut oil treated control group of rats. From these results, it is concluded that 6-shogaol reduced the inflammatory response and protected the femoral cartilage from damage produced in a CFA monoarthritic model of the knee joint of rats.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37663522,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Core-Sheath Fiber-Based Triboelectric Nanogenerators for Energy Harvesting and Self-Powered Straight-Arm Sit-Up Sensing.\nFiber-based triboelectric nanogenerators (F-TENGs), a green and sustainable energy-harvesting and transformation technology, hold great potential in the areas of portable energy harvesters and smart wearable sensors. Herein, the core-sheath structure F-TENGs (CF-TENGs) are developed by using continuous production equipment. The CF-TENGs, consisting of an elastic conductive fiber (core layer) and silicone rubber (sheath layer), can simultaneously accomplish stable reversible strain and excellent electrical output performance. High outputs (an open-circuit voltage of 17.5 V and a short-circuit current of 0.1 \u03bcA at a frequency of 1 Hz) can be attained when the CF-TENGs (a length of 5 cm) are contacted with a nylon fabric. The CF-TENGs not only act as self-powered sensors for applications in motion monitoring but also efficiently transfer mechanical energy into electric energy. As self-powered wearable sensors, the CF-TENGs can accurately indicate various human physiological movements. Moreover, they can be applied on straight-arm sit-up sensing to achieve standardized sport testing. Importantly, a CF-TENG-based weaved fabric presents high electrical performance to meet requirements as an energy harvester. These CF-TENGs provide a significant insight to facilitate the development of fiber-based triboelectric applications.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26474595,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evaluation of a modified Karnofsky score to assess physical and psychological wellbeing of cats in a hospital setting.\nObjectives The Karnofsky score (KS) modified for cats, a scoring system to rate health and quality of life (QOL) in cats, is used in clinical trials, but its reliability and validity are yet to be determined. The present study aims to evaluate the scientific robustness of the KS when adapted for use in a hospital setting. Methods A list of variables to consider during the physical examination, which informs the clinician's score (CS) part of the KS, was added and clinicians were allowed to choose a score anywhere between 0 and 50. The Karnofsky QOL questionnaire was adapted for use in a hospital setting. F-tests with Bonferroni correction and Spearman rank correlation coefficients were used to evaluate reliability and validity of the KS to assess the health and wellbeing of cats in a hospital setting. The records of 54 feline immunodeficiency virus-positive cats, which were recruited for a clinical trial and hospitalised for 6 weeks, were reviewed. Four veterinarians scored the CS, and one veterinarian and a veterinary nurse assessed the QOL score. Results Mean absolute difference between observers was significantly larger for the CS than for the QOL score ( P <0.001) and two veterinarians scored significantly higher than the remaining two veterinarians ( P <0.001). Inter-observer correlation ranged from 0.45-0.75 for the CS. For the QOL score, the absolute difference between observers was small, no significant difference was found between observers and a high degree of inter-observer correlation was noted (r = 0.91). Conclusions and relevance The results indicate low inter-observer reliability for the CS, requiring additional modifications to this part of the KS. The QOL score seems more reliable, and the questionnaire may serve as a reliable tool in the assessment of QOL in cats in a hospital setting. Consequently, further adaptation of the KS is mandatory when simultaneous assessment of both the cat's clinical health and perceived wellbeing is required.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28267894,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"MD simulations and multivariate studies for modeling the antileishmanial activity of peptides.\nLeishmaniasis, a protozoan-caused disease, requires alternative treatments with minimized side-effects and less prone to resistance development. Antimicrobial peptides represent a possible choice to be developed. We report on the prospection of structural parameters of 23 helical antimicrobial and leishmanicidal peptides as a tool for modeling and predicting the activity of new peptides. This investigation is based on molecular dynamic simulations (MD) in mimetic membrane environment, as most of these peptides share the feature of interacting with phospholipid bilayers. To overcome the lack of experimental data on peptides' structures, we started simulations from designed 100% \u03b1-helices. This procedure was validated through comparisons with NMR data and the determination of the structure of Decoralin-amide. From physicochemical features and MD results, descriptors were raised and statistically related to the minimum inhibitory concentration against Leishmania by the multivariate data analysis technique. This statistical procedure confirmed five descriptors combined by different loadings in five principal components. The leishmanicidal activity depends on peptides' charge, backbone solvation, volume, and solvent-accessible surface area. The generated model possesses good predictability (q2 = 0.715, r2 = 0.898) and is indicative for the most and the least active peptides. This is a novel theoretical path for structure-activity studies combining computational methods that identify and prioritize the promising peptide candidates.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11641814,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"An introduction: oxidative phosphorylation diseases.\nOxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) is responsible for producing much of the adenosine triphosphate that is required by cells. The OXPHOS pathway incorporates over 100 polypeptides whose genes are located in either the nuclear DNA or the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). The expression of these genes and the assembly of the five OXPHOS enzyme complexes (complexes I to V) is a highly ordered and coordinated process. A broad array of human diseases result from mutations in either the nuclear or mtDNA genes or even in the systems that coordinate their interactions. Consequently, OXPHOS diseases can have complex inheritance patterns and a wide spectrum of clinical presentations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12000596,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"New optical technologies for earlier endoscopic diagnosis of premalignant gastrointestinal lesions.\nGastrointestinal malignancies continue to be the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the developed world. The early detection and treatment of gastrointestinal preneoplasms has been demonstrated to significantly improve patient survival. Conventional screening tools include standard white light endoscopy (WLE) and frequent surveillance with biopsy. Well-defined endoscopic surveillance biopsy protocols aimed at early detection of dysplasia and malignancy have been undertaken for groups at high risk. Unfortunately, the poor sensitivity associated with WLE is a significant limitation. In this regard, major efforts continue in the development and evaluation of alternative diagnostic techniques. This review will focus on notable developments made at the forefront of research in modern gastrointestinal endoscopy based on novel optical endoscopic modalities, which rely on the interactions of light with tissues. Here we present the 'state-of-the-art' in fluorescence endoscopic imaging and spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, optical coherence tomography, light scattering spectroscopy, chromoendoscopy, confocal fluorescence endoscopy, and immunofluorescence endoscopy. These new developments may offer significant improvements in the diagnosis of early lesions by allowing for targeted mucosal excisional biopsies, and perhaps may even provide 'optical biopsies' of equivalent histological accuracy. This enhancement of the endoscopist's ability to detect subtle preneoplastic changes in the gastrointestional mucosa in real time and improved staging of lesions could lead to curative endoscopic ablation of these lesions and, in the long term, improve patient survival and quality of life.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7929378,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2013-48":1}}},"text":"Functional and physical characterization of the cell cycle ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme CDC34 (UBC3). Identification of a functional determinant within the tail that facilitates CDC34 self-association.\nLike several other ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes, the yeast cell cycle enzyme CDC34 (UBC3) has a carboxyl-terminal extension or tail. These tails appear to carry out unique functions that can vary from one ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme to the next. Using biophysical techniques we have determined that the tail of CDC34 constitutes a highly structured and extended domain. Although the tail of CDC34 is the largest tail identified to date (125 residues), we have found that only 39 residues lying adjacent to the catalytic domain are necessary and sufficient for full cell cycle function and that this region fulfills a novel function that may be common to the tails of other ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes. Cross-linking studies demonstrate that this region facilitates a physical interaction between CDC34 monomers in vitro. Furthermore, phenotypic analysis of various CDC34 derivatives expressed in different cdc34 mutant strains indicates that this region facilitates the same interaction in vivo. Based on these findings, it appears that the cell cycle function of CDC34 is dependent upon the ability of CDC34 monomers to interact with one another and that this interaction is mediated by a small region of the CDC34 tail. The similarity of this region with sequences contained within the tails of the UBC1 and UBC6 enzymes suggests that these tails may function in a similar manner.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37655450,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Risk Stratification for Early-onset Colorectal Cancer Screening: Are We Ready for Implementation?\nEarly-onset colorectal cancer (EOCRC) is increasing at alarming rates and identifying risk factors is a high priority. There is a need to develop risk stratification approaches for colorectal cancer screening among younger populations. Although there is a growing body of evidence identifying risk factors for EOCRC, including the report by Imperiale and colleagues in this issue, risk stratification for EOCRC screening has not been implemented into practice. This publication highlights how essential it is to bring research findings into practice and bridge the gaps between developing risk prediction modeling in epidemiology and implementation science. While encouraging, we are still a long way off from having a clinically applicable risk prediction tool. See related article by Imperiale et al., p. 513.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28362603,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Scale-Limited Lagrange Stability and Finite-Time Synchronization for Memristive Recurrent Neural Networks on Time Scales.\nThe existed results of Lagrange stability and finite-time synchronization for memristive recurrent neural networks (MRNNs) are scale-free on time evolvement, and some restrictions appear naturally. In this paper, two novel scale-limited comparison principles are established by means of inequality techniques and induction principle on time scales. Then the results concerning Lagrange stability and global finite-time synchronization of MRNNs on time scales are obtained. Scaled-limited Lagrange stability criteria are derived, in detail, via nonsmooth analysis and theory of time scales. Moreover, novel criteria for achieving the global finite-time synchronization are acquired. In addition, the derived method can also be used to study global finite-time stabilization. The proposed results extend or improve the existed ones in the literatures. Two numerical examples are chosen to show the effectiveness of the obtained results.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32619881,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-22":1,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Genome-wide non-invasive prenatal testing in single- and multiple-pregnancies at any risk: Identification of maternal polymorphisms to reduce the number of unnecessary invasive confirmation testing.\nNon-invasive prenatal testing by targeted or genome-wide copy number profiling (cnNIPT) has the potential to outperform standard NIPT targeting the common trisomies 13, 18, and 21, only. Nevertheless, prospective results and outcome data on cnNIPT are still scarce and there is increasing evidence for maternal copy number variants (CNVs) interfering with results of both, standard and cnNIPT. We assessed the performance of cnNIPT in 3053 prospective and 116 retrospective cases with special consideration of maternal CNVs in singleton and multiple gestational pregnancies at any risk, as well as comprehensive follow-up. A result was achieved in 2998 (98.2%) of total prospective cases (89.2% analyzed genome-wide). Confirmed fetal chromosomal abnormalities were detected in 45 (1.5%) cases, of which five (11%) would have remained undetected in standard NIPTs. Additionally, we observed 4 likely fetal trisomies without follow-up and a likely phenotype associated placental partial trisomy 16. Moreover, we observed clinically relevant confirmed maternal CNVs in 9 (0.3%) cases and likely maternal clonal hematopoiesis in 3 (0.1%). For common fetal trisomies we prospectively observed a very high sensitivity (100% [95% CI: 91.96-100%]) and specificity (>99.9% [95% CI: 99.8-100%]), and positive predictive value (PPV) (97.8% [95% CI: 86.1-99.7%]), but our retrospective control cases demonstrated that due to cases of fetal restricted mosaicism the true sensitivity of NIPT is lower. After showing that 97.3% of small CNVs prospectively observed in 8.3% of genome-wide tests were mostly benign maternal variants, sensitivity (75.0% [95% CI: 19.4%-99.4%]), specificity (99.7% [99.5%-99.9%]) and PPV (30.0% [14.5%-52.1%]) for relevant fetal CNVs were relatively high, too. Maternal autoimmune disorders and medication, such as dalteparin, seem to impair assay quality. When maternal CNVs are recognized as such, cnNIPT showed a very high sensitivity, specificity and PPV for common trisomies in single and multiple pregnancies at any risk and very good values genome-wide. We found that the resolution for segmental aberrations is generally comparable to standard karyotyping, and exceeds the latter if the fetal fraction is above 10%, which allows detection of the 2.5 Mb 22q11.2 microdeletion associated with the velocardiofacial syndrome, even if the mother is not a carrier.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6168239,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Translation of chicken interferon messenger in a cell-free protein synthesis system and in a cell culture].\nA highly effective cell-free system for protein synthesis was obtained from rabbit reticulocytes and for the first time used for synthesis of biologically active chicken interferon. The optimal conditions for translation of its mRNA were developed. The translation efficacy in the cell-free system was 10-50 times higher than that in the culture of heterologous cells. The higher the purity level of RNA, the higher the translation level. With respect to poly (A+) RNA sedimenting in the sucrose gradient 9S the efficacy reached 2560 units per 1 microgram of RNA. By the content of poly (A), sequences and rate of the sedimentation, mRNA of the chicken interferon was similar to that of the human fibroblast cell interferon. The possible translation of mRNA of the chicken interferon at low concentrations of exogenic potassium ions in the cell-free system is explained by production of interferon in infected cells where the concentration of the intracellular potassium significantly decreases which is indicative of the mRNA interferon similarity with virus templates. It was found that only albino New Zealand rabbits, but also chinchilla may be used for preparation of the cell-free protein synthesizing system. Various exogenic templates in the mRNA-dependent cell-free system prepared from reticulocyte nonfractionated lysate by treatment with micrococcal nuclease stimulated the protein synthesis by 7-15 times.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36939734,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"To dimerize or not: para-aminothiophenol on a bismuth heterostructure.\nSurface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) of p-aminothiophenol (PATP) was investigated on \u03b2-Bi2O3\/Bi2O2CO3 nanoparticles, a novel bismuth based metal substrate with the lowest limit of detection of 1 mM. Unlike on noble metal surfaces where PATP gets converted to p,p'-dimercaptoazobenzene (DMAB) due to photocatalytic coupling, no such transformation of PATP was observed on \u03b2-Bi2O3\/Bi2O2CO3 nanoparticles. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations at the PW91PW91\/LANL2DZ\/6-311+G(d,p) level of theory supported the experimental results exceedingly well. Also, the charge transfer direction from PATP to \u03b2-Bi2O3\/Bi2O2CO3 nanoparticles was revealed by the projected density of states calculation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25426236,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Case report: portal and systemic venous gas in a patient with perforated duodenal ulcer: CT findings.\nGas within the portal circulation has been known to be associated with a number of conditions most commonly mesenteric ischemia and necrosis. Systemic venous gas is described with few conditions and is mostly iatrogenic in nature. We describe a case of combined portal and systemic venous gas detected by computed tomography in a patient with perforated duodenal ulcer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3062224,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Comparative evaluation of non-invasive methods of determining the minute blood volume].\nComparative value of minute flow volume measurement by radiocardiography, echocardiography, tetrapolar chest rheography and ultrasonic impulse doppler flowmetry was assessed in 30 individuals. Radiocardiography was often associated with overstated values and could not be used for minute volume monitoring. Tetrapolar chest rheography was also associated with overstated values in cases of left-ventricular insufficiency, and inadequately overstated values in 6% of normal subjects and understated values in 1%. Ultrasonic impulse doppler flowmetry was not possible in 8% of the cases because of poor echo. Ultrasonic impulse doppler flowmetry and echocardiography were found to be the most promising and clinically suitable procedures.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6928219,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Isokinetic gradient sedimentation of normal human bone marrow cells: a simple method for isolation of proliferative granulocytic and erythroid elements.\nProliferative granulocytes and erythroid precursors were isolated from cell suspensions of human normal bone marrow by sedimentation on an isokinetic gradient of continuous low-density Ficoll. A fivefold enrichment with a 70% recovery of the proliferative granulocyte cohort and of early erythroid elements was achieved, as determined by differential morphology and tritiated thymidine incorporation. Viability and in vitro proliferative capacity following gradient centrifugation remained intact. This method of cell separation, based on differences in cell diameter, affords a simple and rapid means for the purification of specific cell populations from heterologous human normal bone marrow.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6735722,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"\"Open door\" operation to raise the vertebral arch in myelopathy due to cervical spondylosis.\nThe authors discuss the various operations used in the treatment of myelopathy caused by cervical spondylosis. Recently they have used the so-called \"open door\" operation, which raises the posterior vertebral arch, in place of laminectomy, hemilaminectomy and anterior interbody fusion. The \"open door\" operation is less radical, less traumatizing and safer, and ensures considerable enlargement of the vertebral canal. This enlargement can be clearly demonstrated by tomography as well as by the traditional radiological methods.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37461817,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Attitudes Toward COVID-19 Vaccination Among Behavioral Health Service Clients.\nThe authors examined attitudes toward and uptake of COVID-19 vaccination among individuals with serious mental illness or substance use disorder. Clients of a community mental health center in Texas (N=50) participated in semistructured, in-person interviews regarding their COVID-19 vaccination decision. Thematic analysis was used to analyze interview data. Most participants (68%) reported receipt of at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose. Participants were motivated to get vaccinated mostly by a desire to protect themselves or others. Convenience of vaccination location and access to free vaccination facilitated vaccine uptake. However, concerns about the COVID-19 vaccine were common among both vaccinated and unvaccinated participants and could be reinforced or overcome by social network influences. Fear, uncertainty, and conflicting vaccine information were common themes in the COVID-19 vaccination decisions of behavioral health service clients. Improving access to information from trusted sources, including health care providers, could help to overcome vaccine concerns in this population.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36270784,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-26":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Prognostic impact of left ventricular global longitudinal strain in atrial mitral regurgitation.\nLeft atrial (LA) and left ventricular (LV) mechanics are impaired in patients with atrial functional mitral regurgitation (AFMR), but their prognostic value in this subset of patients remains unknown. The present study aimed to evaluate the association between LA and LV longitudinal strain and clinical outcomes in patients with AFMR. A total of 197 patients (mean age 73\u00b110 years, 44% men) with at least moderate AFMR were retrospectively identified. LV global longitudinal strain (GLS) and left atrial reservoir strain (LAS) were calculated by two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography. All-cause mortality was the primary endpoint of the study. The threshold value of LV GLS (\u226416.3%) to identify impaired LV mechanics was defined based on the risk excess of the primary endpoint described with a spline curve analysis. Impaired LV GLS (\u226416.3%) was found in 89 (45%) patients. During a median follow-up of 69 months, 45 (23%) subjects experienced the primary endpoint. Patients with impaired LV GLS (\u226416.3%) had a significantly lower cumulative survival rate at 5 years, as compared with patients with LV GLS (>16.3%) (74% vs 93%, p<0.001). On multivariable Cox regression analysis, LV GLS expressed as continuous variable was independently associated with the occurrence of all-cause mortality (HR 0.856, 95% CI 0.763 to 0.960; p=0.008) after adjustment for age, LAS, pulmonary artery systolic pressure and severe tricuspid regurgitation. Conversely, LAS was not significantly associated with patients' outcome. In patients with significant AFMR, the impairment of LV GLS was independently associated with worse outcomes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22814615,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Oropharyngeal teratoma, a rare cause of airway obstruction in neonates.\nOropharyngeal teratomas are extremely rare congenital tumours, and because of their location in the upper airway they represent one of the most unusual causes of airway obstruction during the neonatal period. We report a 2-month-old girl who presented with repeated vomiting, failure to thrive and recurrent bouts of stridor and cyanosis since birth. On examination there was a mass originating from the oropharynx. The mass was excised under general anaesthesia by CO(2) laser. Histopathological examination revealed a teratoma of the oropharynx. We discuss the clinical presentation, diagnosis and treatment of this case as well as a review of the literature.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34404294,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Screening Youth Soccer Players by Means of Cognitive Function and Agility Testing.\nTalent identification in sports is a heavily debated topic. Previous studies have separately explored either executive functions or gross motor skills to predict the success of top-level soccer players or, more generally, to characterize elite performance in soccer. However, at mid-childhood, the possibility to scope sport-specific requirements remains elusive. We aimed in this study to investigate a valid and simple method of testing for a unique combination of cognitive and speed abilities for identifying promising soccer players at mid-childhood. We measured cognitive functions by means of a Stroop smartphone application and agility with a T-Drill Ball-success test, in two groups of (a) elite- (n = 31) and (b) low-division (n = 37) Italian 7-year-old male soccer players. We administered the tests in a randomized order to both groups. We found better inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility and soccer-specific agility in high-division versus low-division players (p < .001). Inhibitory response and agility were positively associated with the augmented quality of the performance from low-division players to high-division players (r = .55; p = .0001). These results suggest that, even at an early age, cognitive control together with soccer-specific skills is associated with better performance.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28704597,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Are incident gallstones associated to sex-dependent changes with age? A cohort study.\nAge and female sex have repeatedly been identified as gallstone determinants but the underlying mechanisms are not clarified. The objectives of this study were to determine if changes with age in physiology, lifestyle, or reproductive hormones were associated with incident gallstones. A cohort study of a general population random sample (N = 2366) aged 30-60 years was performed. Participants were ultrasound screened for gallstones in 1982-84 and again in 1993-94. Lifestyle data and blood samples were obtained and re-analyzed in 2004. Changes with age in physiology (body mass index, blood pressure, blood lipids, self-rated health), lifestyle (smoking, alcohol and coffee consumption, dietary habits, physical activity level), and indices of reproductive function (number of births, oral contraceptive use, hormone replacement therapy, male reproductive hormones) were explored in females and males separately. Adjusted logistic regression analyses were performed. Incident gallstones (gallstones and cholecystectomy) at ultrasound examination in participants initially free of gallstones at baseline occurred in 9.9% of the study population. In females, increasing alcohol consumption (odds ratio (OR) 0.94, 95% confidence interval (CI) [0.90; 0.98]) and the cessation of hormone replacement therapy (OR 0.29, 95% CI [0.10; 0.83]) inversely determined incident gallstones. In males, increasing levels of SHBG (OR 0.97, 95% CI [0.94; 0.998]) inversely determined incident gallstones. Other changes with age in physiology, lifestyle, or reproductive hormones were not associated. High baseline free testosterone determined incident gallstones in males (OR 1.15, 95% CI [1.02; 1.30]). To conclude, changes with age in alcohol consumption in females and in reproductive hormones determined incident gallstones. Male reproductive hormones seem to have an impact on incident gallstones. Sex differences should be explored further in future studies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30312515,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Mitochondrial network structure homeostasis and cell death.\nMitochondria are the major cellular energy-producing organelles and intracellular source of reactive oxygen species. These organelles are responsible for driving cell life and death through mitochondrial network structure homeostasis, which is determined by a balance of fission and fusion. Recent advances revealed that a number of components of the fission and fusion machinery, including dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1), mitofusin1\/2 (Mfn1\/2) and Optic atrophy 1 (OPA1), that have been implicated in mitochondrial shape changes are indispensible for autophagy, apoptosis and necroptosis. Drp1 is the main regulator of mitochondrial fission and has become a key point of contention. The controversy focuses on whether Drp1 is directly involved in the regulation of cell death and, if involved, whether is it a stimulator or a negative regulator of cell death. Here, we examine the relevance of the homeostasis of the mitochondrial network structure in 3 different types of cell death, including autophagy, apoptosis and necroptosis. Furthermore, a variety of cancers often exhibit a fragmented mitochondrial phenotype. Thus, the fragmented ratio can reflect tumor progression that predicts prognosis and therapeutic response. In addition, we investigate whether the targeting of the mitochondrial fission protein Drp1 could be a novel therapeutic approach.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23885250,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Patient Characterization Protocols for Psychophysiological Studies of Traumatic Brain Injury and Post-TBI Psychiatric Disorders.\nPsychophysiological investigations of traumatic brain injury (TBI) are being conducted for several reasons, including the objective of learning more about the underlying physiological mechanisms of the pathological processes that can be initiated by a head injury. Additional goals include the development of objective physiologically based measures that can be used to monitor the response to treatment and to identify minimally symptomatic individuals who are at risk of delayed-onset neuropsychiatric disorders following injury. Research programs studying TBI search for relationships between psychophysiological measures, particularly ERP (event-related potential) component properties (e.g., timing, amplitude, scalp distribution), and a participant's clinical condition. Moreover, the complex relationships between brain injury and psychiatric disorders are receiving increased research attention, and ERP technologies are making contributions to this effort. This review has two objectives supporting such research efforts. The first is to review evidence indicating that TBI is a significant risk factor for post-injury neuropsychiatric disorders. The second objective is to introduce ERP researchers who are not familiar with neuropsychiatric assessment to the instruments that are available for characterizing TBI, post-concussion syndrome, and psychiatric disorders. Specific recommendations within this very large literature are made. We have proceeded on the assumption that, as is typically the case in an ERP laboratory, the investigators are not clinically qualified and that they will not have access to participant medical records.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6360434,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The effects of oral and combined parenteral\/oral immunization against an experimental Escherichia coli urinary tract infection in mice.\nA double oral immunization (PO\/PO) with an outer membrane protein (OMP) from a human uropathogenic strain of Escherichia coli, resulted in the partial protection of mice infected per urethrally with the same strain. Complete protection was achieved by immunizing with OMP in Freund's complete adjuvant (FCA), intramuscularly (i.m.), followed by an oral boost (i.m.\/PO). The PO\/PO protocol stimulated mainly local urinary antibody synthesis, particularly IgA, whilst the i.m.\/PO regimen resulted in the appearance of both serum and urine antibodies. A single dose of OMP, 6 days after infection, rendered the mice resistant to reinfection, in contrast to non-immunized mice, and led to a significant increase in urine, serum and bile IgA anti-OMP levels. Our results confirm previous reports that the urinary tract forms part of the common mucosal immune system and provides further evidence for immunological memory in mucosal immunity. These results also demonstrate that our OMP preparation is a highly effective immunizing antigen, and that such preparations may be suitable as oral vaccines against urinary tract infection in humans.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14566660,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Gap junctions in the human urinary bladder].\nGap junctions are intercellular contacts important for the synchronization of muscle cell activity through electrical coupling. Since the role of gap junctions for the function of smooth bladder muscle is still a matter of debate, we investigated the occurrence of gap junctions and the gap junctional protein connexin (Cx) 45 in the detrusor of the nonobstructed stable human bladder. Detrusor biopsies from 6 patients aged 64 (55-72) years with stable nonobstructed bladders were investigated for the occurrence of gap junctions by electron microscopy, molecular biological techniques and immunohistochemistry. Transmission electron microscopy and freeze fracture showed the presence of gap junction at plasma membranes of detrusor smooth muscle cells. By reverse transcriptase (RT) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and in situ hybridization, we found an expression of Cx45 in the detrusor. These data were confirmed by immunolocalization of Cx45 on smooth muscle cells. This study provides morphological as well as molecular biological and immunohistochemical evidence that bladder smooth muscle cells are electrically coupled.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36286270,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Medical versus Zoological Concept of Outflow Tract Valves of the Vertebrate Heart.\nThe anatomical elements that in humans prevent blood backflow from the aorta and pulmonary artery to the left and right ventriclesare the aortic and pulmonary valves, respectively. Each valve regularly consists of three leaflets (cusps), each supported by its valvular sinus. From the medical viewpoint, each set of three leaflets and sinuses is regarded as a morpho-functional unit. This notion also applies to birds and non-human mammals. However, the structures that prevent the return of blood to the heart in other vertebrates are notably different. This has led to discrepancies between physicians and zoologists in defining what a cardiac outflow tract valve is. The aim here is to compare the gross anatomy of the outflow tract valvular system among several groups of vertebrates in order to understand the conceptual and nomenclature controversies in the field.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28571368,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"First principles centroid molecular dynamics simulation of hydride in nanoporous C12A7:H.\nHydrides in nanoporous [Ca24Al28O64]4+(H-)4 (C12A7:H-) were investigated via first principles centroid molecular dynamics (CMD). The quality of our CMD simulations was assessed by examining the temperature dependence of the distribution of hydrides in the cages constituting the C12A7 framework. The vibrational states of C12A7:H- were analyzed by using the trajectories of the centroids generated in our CMD simulations. We find that the rattling motions of H- and D- behave qualitatively differently, resulting in non-trivial isotope effects, which are suggested to be detectable by using infrared and Raman spectroscopy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8348045,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[The effect of nitroglycerin on the Ca2+ ion level in the cytoplasm of human lymphocytes].\nFluorescence was used to examine the effects of nitroglycerin (60 microM) on basal and mitogen-induced (ConA, 25 micrograms\/ml) Ca2+ levels in the human lymphocytic cytoplasm. Calcium-blocking effect of nitroglycerin was markedly shown in the medium containing 1 mM CaCl2 and virtually absent in calcium-free buffer. It is concluded that nitroglycerin affects cellular Ca2+ entry. A 120-minute preincubation led to a complete loss of the inhibitory effects of the drug on mitogen-induced Ca2+ responses of lymphocytes. Human lymphocytes are proposed as an experimental model for investigating the effects of nitrates and the mechanisms of their tolerance development.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15245020,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Confinement of pure-electron plasmas in a toroidal magnetic-surface configuration.\nA pure-electron plasma has been confined in a toroidal magnetic-surface configuration for as long as classical diffusion time due to neutral collisions. By controlling the potential of the internal conductor, long-term stable confinement of electrons has been achieved in a toroidal geometry.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27278171,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Concurrent NP-HPTLC Determination of Shikonin and \u03b2,\u03b2-Dimethylacryl Shikonin in Arnebia benthamii.\nNaphthoquinones are important class of molecules found as a natural red color pigments in roots of Arnebia benthamii (Wall. ex G. Don) L M. Johnston. The aim of present investigation is to develop and validates a simple, cost-effective and reliable method for quantification of these compounds. Therefore, a normal phase-high performance thin-layer chromatography (NP-HPTLC) method for concurrent determination of shikonin and \u03b2,\u03b2-dimethylacryl shikonin in A. benthamii was established. Method development of naphthoquinones in the methanol extract was done using hexane-ethyl acetate-methanol (40:7.5:2.5, v\/v\/v) solvent system at 520 nm. The developed method showed good band separation for shikonin (Rf, 0.37) and \u03b2,\u03b2-dimethylacryl shikonin (Rf, 0.58). The linearity ranged between 100 and 8,000 ng spot(-1) with an average recovery of >97% in both cases. The results showed reproducible intraday and interday precision (<2.0% RSD) in quantification of naphthoquinones. The limits of detection are 12.96 and 14.65 ng spot(-1) while the limits of quantification are 39.27 and 44.39 ng spot(-1) for shikonin and \u03b2,\u03b2-dimethylacryl shikonin, respectively. The developed method is reliable, fast, easy to follow and economic in concurrent assessment of shikonin and \u03b2,\u03b2-dimethylacryl shikonin in A. benthamii root samples. In addition, it seems to be first report for identification and quantification of \u03b2,\u03b2-dimethylacryl shikonin from the A. benthamii.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22689204,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Determining the contents of protein and amino acids in peanuts using near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy.\nThe protein and amino acid contents of peanuts play a key role in determining their quality and value. Therefore, accurate, nondestructive, quick, and automated measurement of these components would be valuable in a commercial environment. This study explored the feasibility of determining the contents of protein and amino acids in peanuts using near infrared-reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS). 141 peanut samples were collected from 12 provinces in China. The spectra were scanned and obtained with an NIRS system. The determination coefficient and the ratio of the standard deviation in the validation set to the standard error of validation corresponded to 0.99 and 6.53 for protein, 0.88 and 2.52 for Asp, 0.83 and 3.00 for Thr, 0.86 and 2.40 for Ser, 0.87 and 2.57 for Glu, 0.88 and 2.36 for Gly, 0.88 and 3.00 for Leu, 0.89 and 2.88 for Arg, and 0.96 and 7.50 for Cys. NIRS combined with multivariate calibration has significant potential in determining the protein and amino acid contents of peanuts. This method is suitable for use in an industrial setting owing to its ease of use as well as the relatively low cost of obtaining and running the necessary equipment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7920964,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Unexplained syncope: diagnostic value of tilt-table testing.\nVasovagal syncope is a common syncope in patients who have no structural heart disease and occurs more often in young adults. It typically occurs in the erect posture, either standing or sitting. Upon recognition of the prodrome associated with NCS, subjects may avert syncope by lying down or putting the head between the knees. Use of head-up tilting is a recognized diagnostic tool and widely used for the evaluation of vasovagal syncope. However, cardiac diagnostic tests are not 100% accurate. This fact was recently underscored by what occurred in the recent tragic loss, due to ventricular fibrillation, of basketball star Reggie Lewis of the Boston Celtics. It is alleged that the tilt-table test was positive but that he also had structural heart disease. The most important diagnostic tool is the physician's clinical judgment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3044236,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The effect of dopamine on renal function during aortic cross clamping.\nEighteen male patients undergoing elective surgical reconstruction of the abdominal aorta were divided into two groups. Patients in Group I (nine) were given dopamine intravenously, in a dose of 2 micrograms\/kg\/min, during the first half of the period of cross-clamping, whilst those in Group II received dopamine during the second half. Each patient acted as his own control and for each, three periods were examined, namely: pre-clamp, clamping with dopamine and clamping without dopamine. Dopamine infusion during aortic clamping caused a significant rise in sodium output (P less than 0.01), potassium output (P less than 0.05), creatinine clearance (P less than 0.05) and urine output (P less than 0.05). We conclude that dopamine infusion during aortic clamping helps to protect the kidney from any deleterious effect of clamping.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14525473,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dynamics of the pi(-)p-->pi(0)pi(0)n reaction for p(pi(-))<750 MeV\/c.\nData are presented for the reaction pi(-)p-->pi(0)pi(0)n in the range from threshold to p(pi(-))=750 MeV\/c. The systematics of the data and multipole analyses are examined for sensitivity to a f(0)(600) (\"sigma\") meson. A one-pion-exchange mechanism is found to be very weak, or absent. The reaction appears to become dominated by sequential pi(0) decays through the Delta(1232) resonance as the beam momentum increases, along with substantial interference effects from several competing mechanisms.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30305386,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Designing Studies Acceptable for Abstraction and Inclusion in Evidence-Based Laboratory Practice Guidelines.\nExpansion of technologies, changing infrastructure, and dwindling resources have produced the need for health care reform and changes in clinical laboratories. The health care model will have to shift increasingly from a fee-for-service model to a value-based model. Laboratories will have to focus more on evidence-based outcome studies evaluating the effects of their preanalytical and postanalytical practices on real patient outcomes. Although well-designed clinical trials and multicenter studies are needed to determine the effects of laboratory processes on outcomes, there has been concern that too few well-designed studies have been published. To help improve the quality of study design and to facilitate reporting transparency, several method statements have been developed. The Standards for Reporting of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies (STARD) initiative was recently updated, listing 30 items deemed crucial for transparent reporting of studies, thereby allowing the creation of a robust database for clinical practice guidelines. Three methods describing the assessment of the quality of data on which to base recommendations for such guidelines are also available. Close attention must be given to study design so that parameters ensuring study quality are met, thereby allowing inclusion of the study data in the formulation of evidence-based laboratory best practices guidelines.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7944388,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Localization of the binding site on plasma kallikrein for high-molecular-weight kininogen to both apple 1 and apple 4 domains of the heavy chain.\nThe C-terminal end of the heavy chain of human plasma prekallikrein or kallikrein contains a binding site for high-molecular-weight kininogen, the nonenzymatic procofactor of contact activation. To further map this binding site, a series of overlapping peptides were synthesized. The amount of kallikrein that bound to kininogen-coated microtiter plate wells in the presence of increasing concentrations of each peptide was determined by kallikrein amidolytic activity. A peptide encompassing Lys266-Gly295 of kallikrein, conformationally constrained by a disulfide bond, displayed the lowest Kd value (approximately 67 microM). The linear peptide, Leu262-Gly295, displayed lower affinity (129 microM). N-terminal or C-terminal truncation\/extension peptides of this sequence diminished binding activity. Since the closely related protein, factor XI, has been shown to bind kininogen, a kallikrein-based peptide (Phe56-Gly86) homologous to the binding domain of FXI, was examined and found to possess less, but significant, binding affinity for kininogen (Kd 530 microM). Isothermal titration calorimetry was used to assess binding between the kallikrein-based peptides and a peptide encompassing the kallikrein binding domain in kininogen (Ser565-Lys595). Leu262-Gly295 possesses potent binding activity (Kd 52 microM), while Phe56-Gly86 displays poorer binding activity (Kd 400 microM). These interactions are endothermic and entropically favored, suggesting that a conformational rearrangement takes place upon binding. We conclude that the binding site for kininogen within prekallikrein is composed of discontinuous linear segments that form a contiguous surface in the folded protein.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25419413,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Potential role of fractional anisotropy derived from diffusion tensor imaging in differentiating high-grade gliomas from low-grade gliomas: a meta-analysis.\nIt is crucial to accurately differentiate high-grade gliomas (HGGs) from low-grade gliomas (LGGs) preoperatively, as treatment strategies vary. So we performed a meta-analysis to assess the sensitivity and specificity of fractional anisotropy (FA) value derived from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in differentiating HGGs from LGGs. Between January 2005 and June 2014, relevant articles were searched from the Embase and Medline databases for analysis. Statistical analyses were performed using Meta-Disc 1.4. A total of 221 patients included in the FA analysis: 127 with HGGs and 94 LGGs. The pooled sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) for differentiating HGGs from LGGs were 93% (95% CI 0.87-0.97), 85% (95% CI 0.76-0.92), and 55.41 (95% CI 16.77-183.07), respectively. And computation of heterogeneity metrics revealed an acceptable level of the between-study heterogeneity of DOR (I(2)=30.9%). The results of our meta-analysis present that the FA derived from DTI act as a useful diagnostic marker could be used in distinguishing the HGGs from LGGs in the preoperative and the clinical application values are to be confirmed by further larger case-control studies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37654327,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Effects of Fixed Versus Removable Orthodontic Retainers on Stability and Periodontal Health: 4-Year Follow-Up of a Randomized Controlled Trial.\nLong-term or even indefinite retention is routinely prescribed after orthodontic treatment as a preventive safeguard against post-treatment changes induced by tooth movement, physiological healing, and the aging process. Though both fixed and removable versions of retainers may be equally effective in terms of results, sufficient research to support this assumption is missing at the moment. Long-term effects of fixed and removable retention on the periodontium, and the compliance level when used for an extended period of time. For 4 years participants were given a supply of canine-to-canine retainers and vacuum-formed canine-to-canine retainers. The inter-canine, as well as inter-molar widths, the length, and the extraction space opening of the mandibular anterior portion, were measured. Gingival inflammation, calculus, and plaque were observed, as well as the attachment of clinical and the case of bleeding during probing. 42 members had returned in the follow-up period, with 21 from each of the two groups. Measurements of the modified gingival index and plaque scoring were performed on the 10 intra-oral photographs that were taken at 4-week intervals in this study to investigate the intra-examiner reliability. After controlling for confounding variables, there was a 1.64 mm (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.30, 2.98 mm) median between-groups difference among patients who utilized vacuum-formed retainers (VFRs). The treatment groups did not vary in inter-canine and intermolar widths (P = 0.52; 95% CI, -1.07, 1.05), arch length (P = 0.99; 95% CI, -1.15, 1.14), or opening of extraction spaces (P = 0.84). A long-term study demonstrates that fixed retention can preserve the alignment of the mandibular anterior over time for the first time. Gingival discomfort and higher plaque scores were reported in both types of retainers.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23445824,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Sexual stability in the nearly dioecious Pinus johannis (Pinaceae).\nEven though dioecy is a dominant sexual system among gymnosperms, little is known about its evolutionary history. Pinus johannis may represent a model system because unisexual and monoecious individuals compose its populations. The presence of unisexual individuals in other Pinus species is a consequence of sexual lability. Here we determined whether P. johannis represents the first example of a dioecious or nearly dioecious reproductive system in conifers by evaluating its sexual stability. \u2022 To assess the stability of sexual expression, we quantified the proportion of male vs. female reproductive structures produced by trees over multiple years and tested for the presence of sexual dimorphism. Sexual lability hypotheses were also examined by looking at the relationship between environmental factors and sexual expression and by comparing the reproductive behavior of P. johannis with its closest labile relative, P. edulis. \u2022 Pinus johannis is nearly dioecious: ~99% of individuals are unisexual or express a low proportion of the opposite gender with few changes in sexual expression through time. We found sexual dimorphism consistent with sexual stability. Sexual expression did not vary with tree size\/age, abiotic environment, or herbivore removal, providing evidence against sexual lability. Individuals of P. johannis tended to produce only male or female strobili, whereas those of P. edulis were mainly monoecious with a gradient in the female to male strobili ratio. \u2022 This study represents the first report of a nearly stable dioecious Pinus species. The variety of sexual morphs coexisting in the same population makes P. johannis a model for studying the evolution of dioecy in gymnosperms.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17916918,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Accuracy of voice-announcement pedometers for youth with visual impairment.\nThirty-five youth with visual impairments (13.5 +\/- 2.1 yrs, 13 girls and 22 boys) walked four 100-meter distances while wearing two units (right and left placement) of three brands of voice-announcement (VA) pedometers (Centrios Talking Pedometer, TALKiNG Pedometer, and Sportline Talking Calorie Pedometer 343) and a reference pedometer (NL2000). Registered pedometer steps for each trial were recorded, compared to actual steps assessed via digital video. Inter-unit agreement between right and left VA pedometer placement was low (ICC range .37 to .76). A systematic error was observed for the VA pedometers on the left placement (error range 5.6% to 12.2%), while right placement VA pedometers were at or below +\/- 3% from actual steps (range 2.1% to 3.3%). The reference pedometer was unaffected by placement (ICC .98, error approximately 1.4%). Overall, VA pedometers demonstrated acceptable accuracy for the right placement, suggesting this position is necessary for youth with visual impairments.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9156478,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Erythrocyte cholinesterase activity levels in desert farm workers.\nIn this study we have examined 532 migrant farm workers engaged mainly in the cultivation of vegetable crops, in both greenhouses and openfarms, and an equal number of controls. Erythrocyte acetylcholinesterase activity (AChE) was measured to determine the degree of toxicity due to exposure to organophosphate and carbamate pesticides in the farm workers employed either as foremen (41.5%) or farmers (58.5%). The mean ages of the farm workers and controls were 35.2 +\/- 7.4 (mean +\/- SD) years and 34.6 +\/- 7.1 years. AChE activity of the farm workers and controls was 3.89 +\/- 0.64 UI\/ml (mean +\/- SD) and 4.15 +\/- 0.29 UI\/ml. The haemoglobin adjusted erythrocyte cholinesterase activity (HAChE) was 29.96 +\/- 4.14 (mean +\/- SD) for farm workers and 32.10 +\/- 2.26 for controls. AChE activity was very highly significantly lower for the foremen (3.76 +\/- 0.69) compared to farmers (3.98 +\/- 0.59) (Student's t-test = 4.13, p = 0.0001). HAChE was also very highly significantly lower for foremen (29.24 +\/- 4.37) compared to farmers (30.46 +\/- 3.88) (Student's t-test = 3.64, p = 0.0001). The poorly controlled used of pesticides in the farms appeared to have caused sub-clinical intoxication in the farm workers and indicated the need for training and implementation of hygiene practices.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":276527,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Glycoproteins and proteoglycans in the predentin and dentin matrix in the rat: an ultrastructural study].\nThe ultrastructural distribution of the protein-polysaccharides was studied in the predentinal and dentinal matrices of the rat. Used for the indentification of the glycoproteins, the chromic-phosphotungstic acid mixture (Rambourt, 1967) weakly contrasted the predentine, underlined the mineralization front and impregnated the dentinal matrix. Alcian blue (Goldberg et al., 1977) as well as bismuth nitrate (Serafini-Fracassini and Smith, 1966), cationic stains for the proteoglycans, produced a strong contrast in the predentine, whereas in the dentine, which appeared clear, only 100 to 150 A granules associated with the periodic collagen striations were stained. This inverse variation between non collagenous proteoglycans and glycoproteins is discussed in relation to the mineralization process.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20370828,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Are root exudates more important than other sources of rhizodeposits in structuring rhizosphere bacterial communities?\nThis review evaluates the importance of root exudates in determining rhizosphere bacterial community structure. We present evidence that indicates that: (1) the direct influence of root exudates on rhizosphere bacterial communities is limited to small spatiotemporal windows related to root apices; (2) upon rapid assimilation by microorganisms, root exudates are modified, independent of plant influences, before rerelease into the rhizosphere by the microorganisms themselves--thus, at short distances from root apices, rhizosphere carbon pools are unlikely to be dominated by root exudates; and (3) many of the major compounds found in root exudates are ubiquitous in the rhizosphere as they are found in other pools of rhizodeposits and in microbial exudates. Following this argument, we suggest that the importance of root exudates in structuring rhizosphere bacterial communities needs to be considered in the context of the wider contribution of other rhizosphere carbon pools. Finally, we discuss the implications of rhizosphere bacterial distribution trends for the development of effective strategies to manage beneficial plant-microorganism interactions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25517151,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-22":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Biophysical properties of novel 1-deoxy-(dihydro)ceramides occurring in mammalian cells.\nCeramides and dihydroceramides are N-acyl derivatives of sphingosine and sphinganine, respectively, which are the major sphingoid-base backbones of mammals. Recent studies have found that mammals, like certain other organisms, also produce 1-deoxy-(dihydro)ceramides (1-deoxyDHCers) that contain sphingoid bases lacking the 1-hydroxyl- or 1-hydroxymethyl- groups. The amounts of these compounds can be substantial-indeed, we have found comparable levels of 1-deoxyDHCers and ceramides in RAW 264.7 cells maintained in culture. The biophysical properties of 1-deoxyDHCers have not yet been reported, although these lipids might play important roles in normal cell regulation and in the pathology of diseases in which they are elevated, such as hereditary sensory autonomic neuropathies or diabetes. This study uses several approaches, including surface-pressure measurements, differential scanning calorimetry, and confocal microscopy, to study the behavior of 1-deoxyDHCers of different N-acyl-chain lengths and their interaction with sphingomyelin (SM). The thermotropic behaviors of 1-deoxyDHCers alone and in mixtures with SM are described, together with their interactions in monolayers and giant unilamellar vesicles. The gel-fluid transition temperatures of the pure compounds increase in the order 1-deoxyceramide < ceramide \u2248 1-deoxyDHCer < 1-(deoxymethyl)DHCer. In general, canonical ceramides are more miscible with SM in bilayers than are 1-deoxyceramides, and 1-(deoxymethyl)DHCers are the most hydrophobic among them, not even capable of forming monolayers at the air-water interface. Thus, these properties suggest that 1-deoxyDHCer can influence the properties of cellular membranes in ways that might affect biological function\/malfunction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6917682,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Reduced urine kallikrein excretion and antikaliuresis by chlorazanil in rats.\nIn normal conscious female Sprague-Dawley rats chlorazanil (3 mg\/kg intraperitoneally) reduced urine kallikrein excretion by approximately 80%. Thus, urine kininogenase activity decreased from 54 +\/- 5 U\/kg\/3 hrs to 10 +\/- 2 U\/kg\/3 hrs and urine TAMe-esterase activity decreased from 34 +\/- 1.5 mEU\/kg\/3 hrs to 7.4 +\/- 1.0 mEU\/kg\/3 hrs. In addition kidney kallikrein content decreased by approximately 50% from 0.76 +\/- 0.03 U\/kidney to 0.40 +\/- 0.07 U\/kidney at three hours post treatment. Chlorazanil (3 mg\/kg intraperitoneally) increased urine sodium excretion from 0.48 +\/- 0.04 mmol\/kg\/3 hrs to 2.48 +\/- 0.98 mmol\/kg\/3 hrs and decreased the potassium excretion from 1.06 +\/- 0.45 mmol\/kg\/3 hrs to 0.29 +\/- 0.09 mmol\/kg\/3 hrs. Comparable antikaliuretic doses of amiloride (5 mg\/kg intraperitoneally) or triamterene (10 mg\/kg orally) did not change urine kallikrein excretion It is suggested that chlorazanil inhibits kidney kallikrein synthesis perhaps by an innate antimineralocorticoid-like effect.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31245658,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Establishing the global working group on Reproductive and Developmental Environmental Health (RDEH): practicum of a global resource.\nAdvocacy, training, and research for the prevention of adverse health effects from environmental exposure are the major foci of the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) Reproductive and Developmental Environmental Health (RDEH) Working Group. A critical need for a consistent global effort to address these threats to human reproductive and developmental health was identified after the publication of influential committee opinions (ACOG, Obstet Gynecol, 2013; FIGO, Int J Gynaecol Obstet, 2015) and the assembling of the FIGO 2015 Pre-Congress Workshop, \"Summit on Shaping Our Planetary Legacy: Setting an Agenda for Environmental Reproductive Health.\" RDEH's goals are to convene experts of diverse backgrounds to generate evidence-based knowledge and propose solutions to the increasing threats of harmful environmental chemicals to global human reproduction and development by prevention of harm through education, research, and advocacy. This practicum is a guide for establishing a global task force, such as FIGO RDEH, for developing collaboration among experts across disciplines and time zones, and for building accessible and vital databases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":33727849,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Engeletin Protects Against TNF-\u03b1-Induced Apoptosis and Reactive Oxygen Species Generation in Chondrocytes and Alleviates Osteoarthritis in vivo.\nOsteoarthritis (OA) is a progressive disease characterized by pain and impaired joint functions. Engeletin is a natural compound with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects on other diseases, but the effect of engeletin on OA has not been evaluated. This study aimed to elucidate the protective effect of engeletin on cartilage and the underlying mechanisms. Chondrocytes were isolated from rat knee cartilage, and TNF-\u03b1 was used to simulate OA in vitro. After treatment with engeletin, the expression of extracellular matrix (ECM) components (collagen II and aggrecan) and matrix catabolic enzymes (MMP9 and MMP3) was determined by Western blotting and qPCR. Chondrocyte apoptosis was evaluated using Annexin V-FITC\/PI and flow cytometry. Apoptosis-related proteins (Bax, Bcl-2, and cleaved caspase-3) were evaluated by Western blotting. The mitochondrial membrane potential of chondrocytes was measured with JC-1, and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels were determined with DCFH-DA. Changes in signaling pathways (Nrf2, NF-\u03baB and MAPK) were evaluated by Western blotting. In vivo, anterior cruciate ligament transection (ACLT) was used to induce the rat OA model, and engeletin was administered intraarticularly. The therapeutic effect of engeletin was analyzed by histopathological analysis. Pretreatment with engeletin alleviated TNF-\u03b1-induced inhibition of ECM components (collagen II and aggrecan) and upregulation of matrix catabolic enzymes (MMP9 and MMP3). Engeletin ameliorated chondrocyte apoptosis by inhibiting Bax expression and upregulating Bcl-2 expression. Engeletin maintained the mitochondrial membrane potential of chondrocytes and scavenged intracellular ROS by activating the Nrf2 pathway. The NF-\u03baB and MAPK pathways were inhibited by treatment with engeletin. In vivo, ACLT-induced knee OA in rats was alleviated by intraarticular injection of engeletin. Engeletin ameliorated OA in vitro and in vivo. It may be a potential therapeutic drug for OA.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36279511,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Preparation of Highly Concentrated Uniform-Sized Silver Nanoparticles via Use of Thermoresponsive Zwitterionic Surfactants.\nDespite the popular use of citrate for the reduction of silver ions, this process suffers from slow crystal growth and broad size distribution. The rapid and effective synthesis of highly concentrated and stable spherical silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) confined in the surfactant-rich phase of thermoresponsive 3-(alkyldimethylammonio)-propyl sulfate surfactants obtained after reaction with citrate ions at high temperature is described. The present approach using the zwitterionic surfactant offers an alternative rapid approach for production of AgNPs and an in situ phase separation step that serves to \"extract\" and concentrate the AgNPs in the surfactant-rich phase. Almost all (synthetic yield 99.9%, extraction efficiency 98.6%) of the synthesized AgNPs with a diameter of 21.0 \u00b1 2.5 nm were incorporated into the phase-separated surfactant-rich phase at pH 11, and the capacity (maximum concentration) was 3.4 \u00d7 1013 particles\/mL. The AgNPs were stable upon long-term storage (at least 3 months).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28363542,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Alkalization of dissolving cellulose pulp with highly concentrated caustic at low NaOH stoichiometric excess.\nWe present a quantitative study, using Raman spectroscopy combined with multivariate data analysis, to determine the degree of activation of softwood sulphite dissolving cellulose pulp by aqueous sodium hydroxide. We have chosen industrially relevant conditions, including low stoichiometric ratio of NaOH\/Anhydroglucose Unit (AGU)<2 and highly concentrated caustic (\u226545% w\/w [NaOH]). A design of experiments is used to investigate the effects of simultaneous variation of a set of key parameters on the degree of activation (i.e. transformation to alkali cellulose, denoted as DoA): (a) the NaOH\/AGU stoichiometric ratio, denoted (r); (b) the concentration of NaOH, denoted [NaOH]; (c) temperature, denoted (T); and (d) reaction time, denoted (t). Solid-state 13C CP\/MAS NMR spectroscopy was applied to investigate the reproducibility of the experiments and to select the range for (t). According to the model, (r) is found to have a statistically significant effect on DoA (increasing from DoA=6-30% at the lowest (r)=0.8, to DoA=48-87% at the highest (r)=1.8), together with [NaOH]. The influence of [NaOH] depends strongly on (r). The other studied variables are found to be insignificant in the model and has a complicated influence on the activation. In particular, (T) is found to be unimportant in the studied range (30-60\u00b0C), but increasing (t) from 5 to 25min shows a positive influence on DoA, depending on both (r) and [NaOH]. A mercerisation mechanism that is controlled by diffusion is proposed to explain these phenomena.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16161396,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Long term radiographic study of bilateral second premolars with immature root treated by apexogenesis and apexification.\nA ten-year-old girl broke the central cusps of the mandibular second premolars. The mandibular right second premolar was treated with apexification and the left with apexogenesis. These methods were chosen in view of the presented clinical symptoms, radiographic findings, and outcome of bacterial cultures of root canal samples. At postoperative 2 years 8 months, disappearance of the focus, closure of the root canal, and formation of the root apex were observed in both mandibular premolars. The mandibular left second premolar demonstrated a nearly normal root formation and root apex morphology. Immediately beneath the extracted pulp, regular, uniform, and thick hard tissue was formed. Meanwhile, in the mandibular right second premolar, root growth was suspended, making the root short, and the contour was constructed in such a way that it encircled the distal apical area from the mesial side forming the root apex.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34239416,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Emerging Concepts in Vector Development for Glial Gene Therapy: Implications for Leukodystrophies.\nCentral Nervous System (CNS) homeostasis and function rely on intercellular synchronization of metabolic pathways. Developmental and neurochemical imbalances arising from mutations are frequently associated with devastating and often intractable neurological dysfunction. In the absence of pharmacological treatment options, but with knowledge of the genetic cause underlying the pathophysiology, gene therapy holds promise for disease control. Consideration of leukodystrophies provide a case in point; we review cell type - specific expression pattern of the disease - causing genes and reflect on genetic and cellular treatment approaches including ex vivo hematopoietic stem cell gene therapies and in vivo approaches using adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors. We link recent advances in vectorology to glial targeting directed towards gene therapies for specific leukodystrophies and related developmental or neurometabolic disorders affecting the CNS white matter and frame strategies for therapy development in future.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21159674,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Population regulation of territorial species: both site dependence and interference mechanisms matter.\nSpatial patterns of site occupancy are commonly driven by habitat heterogeneity and are thought to shape population dynamics through a site-dependent regulatory mechanism. When examining this, however, most studies have only focused on a single vital rate (reproduction), and little is known about how space effectively contributes to the regulation of population dynamics. We investigated the underlying mechanisms driving density-dependent processes in vital rates in a Mauritius kestrel population where almost every individual was monitored. Different mechanisms acted on different vital rates, with breeding success regulated by site dependence (differential use of space) and juvenile survival by interference (density-dependent competition for resources). Although territorial species are frequently assumed to be regulated through site dependence, we show that interference was the key regulatory mechanism in this population. Our integrated approach demonstrates that the presence of spatial processes regarding one trait does not mean that they necessarily play an important role in regulating population growth, and demonstrates the complexity of the regulatory process.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28712863,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Harnessing the CD1 restricted T cell response for leukemia adoptive immunotherapy.\nDisease recurrence following chemotherapy and allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation is the major unmet clinical need of acute leukemia. Adoptive cell therapy (ACT) with allogeneic T lymphocytes can control recurrences at the cost of inducing detrimental GVHD. Targeting T cell recognition on leukemia cells is therefore needed to overcome the problem and ensure safe and durable disease remission. In this review, we discuss adoptive cells therapy based on CD1-restricted T cells specific for tumor associated self-lipid antigens. CD1 molecules are identical in every individual and expressed essentially on mature hematopoietic cells and leukemia blasts, but not by parenchymatous cells, while lipid antigens are enriched in malignant cells and unlike to mutate upon immune-mediated selective pressure. Redirecting T cells against self-lipids presented by CD1 molecules can thus provide an appealing cell therapy strategy for acute leukemia that is patient-unrestricted and can minimize risks for GVHD, implying potential prognostic improvement for this cancer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36275448,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dicarbonyl\/L-xylulose reductase (DCXR) producing xylitol regulates egg retention through osmolality control in Caenorhabditis elegans.\nTo support life, the osmolality of the cellular fluid is tightly regulated by various means, including osmolyte control. Dicarbonyl\/L-xylulose reductase (DCXR) is a highly conserved enzyme reducing L-xylulose to xylitol, which serves as an effective osmolyte in various mammalian and human tissues such as lung epithelium, sperm, and lens. DHS-21 is the only DCXR ortholog in Caenorhabditis elegans, and DCXR null mutant worms accumulate eggs in the uterus. However, it has been unknown how and why the mutant worms impair egg retention. In this study, we tested whether the egg-retention in dhs-21 (jh129), the DCXR null mutant worm, is sensitive to changes in osmolarity. Low osmolality reverted the egg retention phenotype of dhs-21(jh129), while high osmolarity aggravated it. Also, knock-down of either one of osr-1, osm-7, or osm-11, osmoregulatory genes, also rescued egg-retention phenotypes of the null mutants. The study indicates that DCXR functions in fluid homeostasis by regulating cellular osmolality in C. elegans and provides insights into DCXR-involved clinical conditions, such as congenital cataracts and malfunctioning lung and kidney.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30095925,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Observation of the Unconventional Photon Blockade.\nWe observe the unconventional photon blockade effect in quantum dot cavity QED, which, in contrast to the conventional photon blockade, operates in the weak coupling regime. A single quantum dot transition is simultaneously coupled to two orthogonally polarized optical cavity modes, and by careful tuning of the input and output state of polarization, the unconventional photon blockade effect is observed. We find a minimum second-order correlation g^{(2)}(0)\u22480.37, which corresponds to g^{(2)}(0)\u22480.005 when corrected for detector jitter, and observe the expected polarization dependency and photon bunching and antibunching; close by in parameter space, which indicates the abrupt change from phase to amplitude squeezing.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14551265,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hoxa11 regulates stromal cell death and proliferation during neonatal uterine development.\nIncreasing evidence indicates that the Hoxa11 gene plays a critical role in the proper development of the uterus. In this report, we describe potential altered cellular processes in the developing uterus of Hoxa11 mutants. Histologic analysis demonstrates normal uterine morphology in Hoxa11 mutants as compared with controls at the newborn stage and d 7 after birth. Stromal tissue was moderately reduced in the Hoxa11 mutant uterus by d 14 after birth and was absent by d 21 after birth. There is decreased cellular proliferation in the Hoxa11 mutant uterus both at 7 and 14 d after birth. Terminal deoxyribonucleotide transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate nick-end labeling analysis demonstrates that apoptosis was markedly increased in the Hoxa11 mutant uterus at d 14 after birth. p27 is decreased in the Hoxa11 mutant as evidenced by real-time PCR. Epidermal growth factor receptor expression is dramatically decreased as evidenced by both real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry results. These findings suggest that Hoxa11 is required for proper cellular proliferation and apoptotic responses in the developing neonatal uterus and that the regulation of epidermal growth factor receptor is critical to these processes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27273643,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification for Detection of the 5.8S Ribosomal Ribonucleic Acid Internal Transcribed Spacer 2 Gene Found in Trypanosoma brucei gambiense.\nThe loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay with its advantages of cost effectiveness, rapidity, and simplicity, has evolved as a sensitive and specific method for the detection of African trypanosomes. Highly sensitive LAMP reactions specific for Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense or that recognize but do not discriminate between Trypanosoma brucei brucei, T. b. rhodesiense, Trypanosoma brucei gambiense, and Trypanosoma evansi have been developed. A sensitive LAMP assay targeting the T. b. gambiense 5.8S ribosomal RNA internal transcribed spacer 2 (5.8S-ITS2) gene is also available but this assay does not target binding sites that span the CCCA (C3A) (557-560 bps) insertion site that further differentiates T. b. gambiense from T. b. brucei Here we describe 5.8S-ITS2-targeted LAMP assay that fit these criteria. The LAMP primer sets containing the T. b. gambiense-specific C3A tetranucleotide at the start of the outer forward primer sequences showed high specificity and sensitivity down to at least 0.1 fg T. b. gambiense genomic DNA.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15264578,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Severe paroxysmal drug eruptions].\nSome drug reactions showing cutaneous expression exhibit a paroxysmal course. These diseases encompass the toxic epidermal necrolysis, the drug hypersensitivity syndrome, and the acute generalized exanthematic pustulosis. These syndromes are associated with dismal outcome. They represent medical emergencies needing hospitalization in specialized care units.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29387731,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cardiovascular Screening for the Asymptomatic Patient with Diabetes: More Cons Than Pros.\nDiabetes mellitus is associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) morbidity and mortality. Although it frequently coexists with other cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, it confers an increased risk for CVD events on its own. Coronary atherosclerosis is generally more aggressive and widespread in people with diabetes (PWD) and is frequently asymptomatic. Screening for silent myocardial ischaemia can be applied in a wide variety of ways. In nearly all asymptomatic PWD, however, the results of screening will generally not change medical therapy, since aggressive preventive measures, such as control of blood pressure and lipids, would have been already indicated, and above all, invasive revascularization procedures (either with percutaneous coronary intervention or coronary artery bypass grafting) have not been shown in randomized clinical trials to confer any benefit on morbidity and mortality. Still, unresolved issues remain regarding the extent of the underlying ischaemia that might affect the risk and the benefit of revascularization (on top of optimal medical therapy) in ameliorating this risk in patients with moderate to severe ischaemia. The issues related to the detection of coronary atherosclerosis and ischaemia, as well as the studies related to management of CHD in asymptomatic PWD, will be reviewed here.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25279360,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Acute myocardial infarction associated to DPP-4 inhibitors.\nDiabetes mellitus is associated with cardiovascular disease. Anti-diabetic therapy has a limited capability (if any) of changing the incidence of either death or major cardiovascular disease, and cardiovascular safety concerns have been raised. We aimed at identifying episodes of acute myocardial infarction associated to a relatively new class of drugs, dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors. Retrospective study: from 954 admissions (15 month period) in the coronary care unit, we selected 200 admissions corresponding to 196 patients with myocardial infarction and diabetes. 35 of these patients were receiving therapy with dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors (the vast majority, in association to metformin). We evaluated the peak plasma cardiac troponin I as the main study parameter. Patients on dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors therapy had a mean peak cardiac troponin plasma level of 50.2\u00b1121.3 ng\/ml (n=35), the corresponding value for insulin being 39.2\u00b1108.4 ng\/ml (n=56), for metformin the value was 45.8\u00b197.3 ng\/ml (n=93) and for sulfonylureas, 42.4\u00b177.7 ng\/ml (n=52). None of these values differed significantly from the corresponding control group of patients not taking each class of drug. The linear regression study also yielded a negative result relating therapy with dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors and peak troponin values. Acute myocardial infarctions associated to dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors varied widely in the clinical characteristics of the patients. We found no evidence that peak plasma troponin I was different between patient with acute myocardial infarction and use of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors when compared to cases not under such therapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27266703,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Risky and rushed public crack cocaine smoking: the potential for supervised inhalation facilities.\nDespite the multitude of public health and community harms associated with crack cocaine use, little is known about factors associated with smoking crack in public and related risks such as rushed public crack smoking. Data were derived from two prospective cohort studies of people who use illicit drugs in Vancouver, Canada between 2010 and 2014. Multivariable generalized estimating equations were used to identify the prevalence and correlates of public crack smoking and rushed public crack smoking. In total, 1085 participants who had smoked crack in the prior six months were eligible for the analysis, of which 379 (34.9 %) reported always or usually smoking crack in public in the previous six months at some point during the study period. Factors positively and independently associated with public crack smoking included public injection drug use (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 5.42, 95 % confidence interval [CI]: 3.76-7.82), homelessness (AOR: 3.48, 95 % CI: 2.77-4.36), at least daily crack use (AOR: 2.69, 95 % CI: 2.19-3.31), crack pipe sharing (AOR: 1.98, 95 % CI: 1.60-2.46), drug dealing (AOR: 1.59, 95 % CI: 1.30-1.94), recent incarceration (AOR: 1.47, 95 % CI: 1.09-1.98), noticing police presence when buying or using drugs (AOR: 1.30, 95 % CI: 1.06-1.60), and younger age (AOR: 1.03, 95 % CI: 1.01-1.04). Rushed public crack smoking, which was reported by 216 (28.8 %) of 751 participants who had smoked crack in public at least once during the study period, was positively and independently associated with homelessness (AOR: 2.61, 95 % CI: 1.96-3.49), at least daily crack use (AOR: 1.48, 95 % CI: 1.11-1.98), crack pipe sharing (AOR: 1.44, 95 % CI: 1.10-1.89), drug dealing (AOR: 1.39, 95 % CI: 1.04-1.86), and younger age (AOR: 1.02, 95 % CI: 1.01-1.04). A high prevalence of public crack smoking and rushed public crack smoking was observed in this setting. These findings point to the need for implementing and evaluating evidence-based public health interventions, such as supervised inhalation facilities, to reduce the risks and harms associated with smoking crack in public.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16217145,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Regulated expression and function of the somatodendritic catecholamine neurotransmitter transporters.\nTermination of neurotransmission at catecholaminergic synapses is well documented by the transporters for dopamine and norepinephrine, members of the Na(+)\/Cl(-)-dependent neurotransmitter transporter family, which accumulates released transmitters within their nerve endings, respectively. Although somatodendritic expression of the transporters and the effects of cocaine and amphetamine on those have been reported, their role is still obscure. Recent findings of the transporter function as an ion channel and\/or its reverse transport property provide a clue to identify the role of these transporters in the somatodendrites and their consequential interaction with uptake inhibitors. Differences in ionic environment and maturity of the release machinery in the somatodendrites at developmental stages influence the transporter functions, resulting in the formation of both positive and negative feedback loop of catecholaminergic neurons.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9153820,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A rare intrahepatic portacaval tubular shunt in a patient with spastic paraparesis.\nAlthough there are numerous communications between the portal and systemic venous systems, intrahepatic portosystemic venous shunts are not frequently encountered in clinical practice. Here we report a patient who presented with spastic paraparesis, who was found to have chronic liver disease with tubular intrahepatic portacaval shunting.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20374075,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Adherence to disease-modifying drugs in patients with multiple sclerosis: a consensus statement from the Middle East MS Advisory Group.\nAdherence to therapy is a key issue in chronic illnesses. In addition, several features of multiple sclerosis (MS) and its treatment may increase the likelihood of patient nonadherence and discontinuation of treatment. Nonadherence will obviously compromise the efficacy of disease-modifying drugs in patients with MS. This subject was discussed by a group of local MS specialists from the Middle East. The group debated several key questions about the features and causes of patient nonadherence and its management. Further, they made recommendations for optimizing treatment adherence in this area.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3048414,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Immunogenic properties of mannose-containing ceramide tetrasaccharide from fresh-water bivalve, Hyriopsis schlegelii.\nAntiserum against GlcNAc beta 1----2Man alpha 1----3Man beta 1----4Glc beta 1----1Cer (MlOse4Cer), a mannolipid isolated from spermatozoa of the fresh-water bivalve Hyriopsis schlegelii, was elicited in rabbits by repeated injection of a mixture of hapten-bovine serum albumin with Freund's adjuvant. The specificity of the affinity-purified antibody obtained from the serum was based on two forms of enzyme-immunodetection of its binding to structurally related glycolipids, either adsorbed to microtiter plates or chromatographed on thin-layer plates. The purified antibody exhibited a significant cross-reactivity with GlcNAc beta 1----2Man alpha 1----3(Xyl beta 1----2)Man beta 1----4Glc beta 1----1Cer, (MIXOse5Cer) containing a core structure closely related to MlOse4Cer, but almost unrelated to other glycolipids. Distribution of MlOse4Cer and MlXOse5Cer in various bivalve and snail glycolipid extracts were screened in thin-layer immunobinding assays by using this purified specific antibody. The presence of the glycolipid antigens was limited to certain taxonomic orders of shellfish species.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37453417,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-18":1}}},"text":"Structure of the Schizosaccharomyces pombe Gtr-Lam complex reveals evolutionary divergence of mTORC1-dependent amino acid sensing.\nmTORC1 is a protein kinase complex that controls cellular growth in response to nutrient availability. Amino acid signals are transmitted toward mTORC1 via the Rag\/Gtr GTPases and their upstream regulators. An important regulator is LAMTOR, which localizes Rag\/Gtr on the lysosomal\/vacuole membrane. In human cells, LAMTOR consists of five subunits, but in yeast, only three or four. Currently, it is not known how variation of the subunit stoichiometry may affect its structural organization and biochemical properties. Here, we report a 3.1 \u00c5-resolution structural model of the Gtr-Lam complex in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. We found that SpGtr shares conserved architecture as HsRag, but the intersubunit communication that coordinates nucleotide loading on the two subunits differs. In contrast, SpLam contains distinctive structural features, but its GTP-specific GEF activity toward SpGtr is evolutionarily conserved. Our results revealed unique evolutionary paths of the protein components of the mTORC1 pathway.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3031840,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Misonidazole combined with radiotherapy in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer. A randomized double-blind trial.\nForty-one patients with inoperable non-small cell lung cancer were randomized to receive irradiation therapy 45 Gy in ten fractions over eight weeks, plus either placebo or misonidazole 1.2 g\/m2 orally on treatment day. The irradiated area was the primary tumour. Twenty-one patients received misonidazole and 20 received placebo. Minimal observation time for the study was 36 months. No clear difference was observed in the pattern of relapse between the groups. 43% of the patients in the misonidazole group attained a complete response (CR) or partial response (PR) as compared with 65% in the placebo group. Median survival time was twelve months in the misonidazole group and 14 months in the placebo group.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28538818,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Contributions to a Brazilian Code of Conduct for Fieldwork in Geology: an approach based on Geoconservation and Geoethics.\nWhen considering the numerous events that have prohibited the development of scientific projects or caused destruction of outcrops, it is clear that there is rapidly increasing necessity to define a Brazilian Code of Conduct for geological fieldwork. In general, this destruction is attributed to lack of knowledge as to the relevance of geological sites. The aim of this Code of Conduct is to guide geologists to adopt good practices during geoscience activities. Proposed guidelines are based on Codes of Conduct from other countries, mainly Scotland and England, on situations described in papers and on the personal experience of the authors. In this paper 29 points are suggested, in order to guarantee that fieldwork is conducted in accordance with geoethics, geoconservation and sustainability values. The proposal is structured in three parts: (1) Behavior and practices in respect to local traditions and providing information to the population; (2) Measures to minimize degradation on outcrops; and (3) Safety. The proposal seeks to broaden the debate on the need for responsible behavior during fieldwork, in order to promote respect for geodiversity. Through this code, Brazilian geoscientists will be able to contribute to the conservation of geological heritage and of outcrops with special educational relevance.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21747899,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Lactic acidosis expediting a diagnosis of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.\nWe report the finding of a low venous bicarbonate and lactic acidosis in a patient with mild pancytopenia which raised the suspicion of haematological malignancy and expedited the diagnosis of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. This report highlights the value of testing for lactic acidosis when haematological malignancies are considered and reviews the metabolism of lactic acidosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14565579,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Impact of naled on honey bee Apis mellifera L. survival and productivity: aerial ULV application using a flat-fan nozzle system.\nA study was conducted to evaluate the impact of naled on honey bees as a result of their exposure to aerial ULV applications of this insecticide during three routine mosquito spray missions by Manatee County Mosquito Control District in Florida during the summer of 1999. Naled deposits were collected on filter paper and subsequently analyzed by gas chromatography. Mortality of adult honey bees Apis mellifera L. was estimated based on numbers from dead bee collectors placed in front of the entrance of the beehives. We found that honey bees clustering outside of the beehives were subject to naled exposure. Bee mortality increased when higher naled residues were found around the hives. The highest average naled deposit was 6,227 +\/- 696 microg\/m2 at the site 1 forest area following the mosquito spray mission on July 15, 1999. The range of naled deposition for this application was 2,818-7,101 microg\/m2. The range of dead bees per hive was 0-39 prior to spraying and 9-200 within 24 h following this spray mission. The average yield of honey per hive was significantly lower (p < 0.05) for naled-exposed hives compared with unexposed hives. Because reduction of honey yield also may be affected by other factors, such as location of the hives relative to a food source and vigor of the queen bee, the final assessment of honey yield was complicated.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15238869,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Contrast ultrasound imaging in focal liver lesions: diagnostic value and guidelines].\nThe recent introduction of high quality scanners and contrast agents for ultrasound deeply modifies diagnosis strategy in focal liver lesions by using validated criteria. Non-linear imaging methods using low mechanical index (MI<0.2) and second generation contrast agents allow real-time continuous imaging with concomitant limitation in background tIssue signal and also in agent collapse for a high quality contrast imaging giving dramatic improvement in detection and characterization of lesions. Interpretation is based on the presence of contrast agent within the lesion or not (hyper-, hypo- or isosignal) and the delay after injection (arterial, portal or parenchymal or late phase) as previously used by non-ultrasound methods. This allows an easy differentiation of benign from malignant lesions. Moreover, this allows complete characterization in 85 to 95% of all focal liver lesions and 75% in hepatocellular carcinomas. Those results markedly improve ultrasound accuracy compared to conventional sonography and so put contrast-enhanced sonography among recommended non-invasive imaging methods for focal liver lesions with changes in diagnostic strategy according to the lesion type and actual place of US methods. It is recommended to use contrast ultrasound methods in cancer staging for an optimal detection of liver metastases as well as in characterization of lesions detected during conventional sonography with a consecutive decrease of cost-diagnosis ratio.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11990031,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Determination of the total nitrogen content of hard, semihard, and processed cheese by the Kjeldahl method: collaborative study.\nThe objective of this collaborative study was to determine interlaboratory performance statistics for a modified and optimized version of AOAC Method 920.123 for the determination of the total nitrogen content of hard, semihard, and processed cheese by Kjeldahl analysis. Details included addressing the issues of material homogeneity, test portion size (1 g), quantitative transfer (weighing on to filter paper), ensuring system suitability (nitrogen recoveries), and using AOAC Method 991.20 as the basis for nitrogen analysis. Fifteen laboratories tested 18 pairs of blind duplicate cheese materials with a crude protein content between 18 and 36%. Materials represented hard, semihard, and processed commercial cheeses with a wide range of composition. Statistical performance parameters expressed as crude protein (nitrogen x 6.38), g\/100 g, with invalid and outlier data removed were mean = 26.461, repeatability standard deviation (Sr) 0.111, reproducibility standard deviation (S(R)) = 0.153, repeatability relative standard deviation (RSDr) = 0.42%, reproducibility relative standard deviation (RSDR) = 0.58%, repeatability (r) = 0.312, and reproducibility (R) = 0.428. The interlaboratory study results were acceptable and comparable to those for the milk Kjeldahl nitrogen method on a relative nitrogen basis. The Study Directors recommend that this modified method for the determination of total nitrogen in hard, semihard, and processed cheese by Kjeldahl analysis be adopted First Action as an improved method to replace Method 920.123.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16990605,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A randomized comparison of bypassing agents in hemophilia complicated by an inhibitor: the FEIBA NovoSeven Comparative (FENOC) Study.\nThe development of inhibitory antibodies to factor VIII is a serious complication of hemophilia. FEIBA (factor VIII inhibitor-bypassing activity), an activated prothrombin complex concentrate (aPCC), and NovoSeven, recombinant factor VIIa (rFVIIa), are used as hemostatic bypassing agents in treating patients with inhibitors. The FENOC study was designed to test equivalence of the products in the treatment of ankle, knee, and elbow joint bleeding. A prospective, open-label, randomized, crossover, equivalency design was used. The parameters of interest were the percentage of patients who reported efficacy in response to FEIBA and the percentage that reported efficacy in response to NovoSeven. A difference in these percentages of no more than 15% was determined to be a clinically acceptable magnitude for equivalence of the 2 products. The primary outcome was evaluation 6 hours after treatment. Data for 96 bleeding episodes contributed by 48 participants were analyzed. The criterion for declaring the 2 products equivalent at 6 hours was not met; however, the confidence interval of the difference in percentages of efficacy reported for each product only slightly exceeded the 15% boundary (-11.4%-15.7%), P=.059. FEIBA and NovoSeven appear to exhibit a similar effect on joint bleeds, although the efficacy between products is rated differently by a substantial proportion of patients. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT00166309.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17881696,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Milk fatty acids. I. Variation in the concentration of individual fatty acids in bovine milk.\nData from 29 published experiments on Holstein cows, providing 120 dietary treatments, were collated to obtain means, standard deviations, and ranges for the concentrations (mg\/g) of 26 major individual fatty acids in bovine milk fat. The influence of diet type (total mixed ration- vs. pasture-based diet) on concentrations of individual fatty acids was examined. Pairwise correlations for concentrations (g\/kg) of individual fatty acids in milk showed that almost all of the individual de novo fatty acids were significantly correlated with each other and with the total concentration of de novo fatty acids. Concentrations of individual unsaturated preformed fatty acids were generally positively correlated with each other but were negatively correlated with concentrations of total de novo fatty acids. Substantial variation was found in the concentrations of individual milk fatty acids and, apart from those synthesized de novo, concentrations of individual fatty acids did not vary in concert. The adequacy of literature data for the development of a model to predict the production of the major individual fatty acids in milk is discussed. The limitations associated with the currently available studies that may be used in a predictive model are 1) failure of many publications to adequately describe dietary details, 2) reporting poorly defined milk fatty acids, 3) aggregating a number of closely related fatty acids under a single category, and 4) the selective reporting of only those fatty acids that are present in milk fat in appreciable quantities. Despite these limitations, the data are sufficient to enable development of a model to predict the concentrations and production of major individual fatty acids in milk fat. The extreme variability in concentrations of individual milk fatty acids and the complex matrix of positive and negative correlations among the concentrations of many individual fatty acids suggest that separate equations will be needed to predict the production of each individual milk fatty acid.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27283958,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Palladium-Catalyzed Aminocarbonylation of Allylic Alcohols.\nA benign and efficient palladium-catalyzed aminocarbonylation reaction of allylic alcohols is presented. The generality of this novel process is demonstrated by the synthesis of \u03b2,\u03b3-unsaturated amides including aliphatic, cinnamyl, and terpene derivatives. The choice of ligand is crucial for optimal carbonylation processes: Whereas in most cases the combination of PdCl2 with Xantphos (L6) gave best results, sterically hindered substrates performed better in the presence of simple triphenylphosphine (L10), and primary anilines gave the best results using cataCXium\u00ae PCy (L8). The reactivity of the respective catalyst system is significantly enhanced by addition of small amounts of water. Mechanistic studies and control experiments revealed a tandem allylic alcohol amination\/C-N bond carbonylation reaction sequence.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30654653,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Comparison of Plantar Pressure Distribution Between Postoperative Hallux Valgus Feet and Healthy Feet.\nProximal crescentic osteotomy (PCO) in patients with moderate-to-severe hallux valgus (HV) is a well-established and effective procedure for correcting the deformity. However, there are no published studies comparing plantar pressure in postoperative HV feet with healthy feet. This study aimed to compare the plantar pressure distribution in postoperative HV feet with healthy feet. Twenty-six patients were included in the HV group, and 24 healthy participants were included in the control (C) group. All patients in the HV group underwent unilateral PCO. After undergoing PCO, this group was defined as the OP group. All subjects were women with no significant differences in age, height, weight, and body mass index. There were no significant differences in demographic characteristics between patients in each group. We divided the subjects' feet into 8 regions and measured the peak pressure (Peak-P), maximum force (Max-F), contact time, contact area, and the force-time integral in each region. All parameters of the great toe were significantly higher in the OP group than in the HV group. All forefoot parameters were not significantly different between the 2 groups. No parameter of the great toe was significantly different between the OP and C groups. However, mean Peak-P and Max-F of the central forefoot were significantly higher in the OP group than in the C group. PCO can improve the plantar pressure of the great toe in patients with moderate-to-severe HV to a level similar to that in healthy subjects. Level III, comparative study.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28587131,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A Smart Power Electronic Multiconverter for the Residential Sector.\nThe future of the grid includes distributed generation and smart grid technologies. Demand Side Management (DSM) systems will also be essential to achieve a high level of reliability and robustness in power systems. To do that, expanding the Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) and Energy Management Systems (EMS) are necessary. The trend direction is towards the creation of energy resource hubs, such as the smart community concept. This paper presents a smart multiconverter system for residential\/housing sector with a Hybrid Energy Storage System (HESS) consisting of supercapacitor and battery, and with local photovoltaic (PV) energy source integration. The device works as a distributed energy unit located in each house of the community, receiving active power set-points provided by a smart community EMS. This central EMS is responsible for managing the active energy flows between the electricity grid, renewable energy sources, storage equipment and loads existing in the community. The proposed multiconverter is responsible for complying with the reference active power set-points with proper power quality; guaranteeing that the local PV modules operate with a Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) algorithm; and extending the lifetime of the battery thanks to a cooperative operation of the HESS. A simulation model has been developed in order to show the detailed operation of the system. Finally, a prototype of the multiconverter platform has been implemented and some experimental tests have been carried out to validate it.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34402726,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Acute Thyroiditis and Bilateral Optic Neuritis following SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination with CoronaVac: A Case Report.\nTo describe a case of acute thyroiditis and bilateral optic neuritis associated with SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. A single case report from a tertiary referral center. The patient described in the following case report developed acute thyroiditis and bilateral optic neuritis following SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. The patient underwent pulse therapy followed by oral tapering corticosteroid therapy with an improvement of the bilateral disc swelling and the visual field, and recovery of thyroid-stimulating hormone to the normal limits. Although the association between immunization and the onset of demyelinating manifestations of the central nervous system is well documented, this is the first reported case of bilateral optic neuritis and acute thyroiditis and subsequent to administration of vaccination against SARS-CoV-2.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37865398,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Caring for children with new medical technology at home: parental perspectives.\nThis qualitative descriptive study explores the experiences of family caregivers (FCs) of children with medical complexity who are initiated on new medical technology in the hospital and transition to new daily life at home. The study aims to investigate FCs' response and readiness for medical technology use, the value of education and transition support and the challenges associated with managing new medical technology in the home. A qualitative descriptive approach was used to conduct and analyse 14 semistructured interviews with a group of FCs composed of 11 mothers and 3 fathers. Content analysis was used to analyse transcripts of the caregiver interviews. The study was conducted at a tertiary paediatric hospital in Toronto, Canada. Our study revealed three main themes: FC's response and readiness for medical technology use, the value of education and transition support for initiation of new medical technology and the challenges associated with managing new medical technology in the home. FCs expressed emotional distress related to coping with the realisation that their child required medical technology. Although the theoretical and hands-on practice training instilled confidence in families, FCs reported feeling overwhelmed when they transitioned home with new medical technology. Finally, FCs reported significant psychological, emotional and financial challenges while caring for their technology-dependent child. Our study reveals the unique challenges faced by FCs who care for technology-dependent children. These findings highlight the need to implement a comprehensive education and transition programme that provides longitudinal support for all aspects of care.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9158678,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Histologically distinctive papular neutrophilic xanthomas in HIV-1 + patients.\nXanthomas may be associated with benign or malignant lymphoproliferative diseases, often with associated hypergammaglobulinema. In human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) disease, there is a high lymphoproliferative rate despite the immunodeficiency and increased cell death. We report three HIV-1-positive patients with facial papular xanthomatosis eruptions associated with hypergammaglobulinema, and an immunoglobulin A (IgA) gammopathy. Histopathologic features include lipid-laden macrophages, extracellular nuclear dust with phagocytosized nuclear debris, and hyalinization with areas of hyaline necrosis of collagen fibers. These distinctive papular xanthomas may be a marker of HIV-1 disease and of a pattern of immunodysregulation, immunodeficiency, and lymphoid proliferation seen in HIV-1 disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23880204,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Insulin clearance is associated with carotid artery intima-media thickness.\nThe aim of this study was to investigate whether insulin clearance is independently associated with carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT), a well-recognized index of vascular damage. 361 Non-diabetic Caucasian subjects were subjected to euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp to assess insulin sensitivity, and insulin clearance. IMT of the common carotid was measured by ultrasonography. Among the study group, 270 subjects had normal glucose tolerance, 33 had impaired fasting glucose, and 58 had impaired glucose tolerance. Univariate correlations showed that age, BMI, waist, blood pressure, triglycerides, fasting and 2-h post-load glucose and insulin levels were positively correlated with carotid IMT whereas HDL, insulin clearance, and insulin-stimulated glucose disposal were negatively correlated with IMT. A multivariate regression analysis in a model including, in addition to insulin clearance, age, gender, BMI, waist, blood pressure, triglycerides, HDL, fasting and 2-h post-load glucose, insulin-stimulated glucose disposal, fasting and 2-h post-load insulin showed that the traits independently associated with carotid IMT were BMI (\u03b2 = 0.42, P < 0.0001), insulin clearance (\u03b2 = -0.29, P < 0.0001), age (\u03b2 = 0.19, P < 0.0001), waist (\u03b2 = 0.18, P = 0.01), diastolic blood pressure (\u03b2 = 0.17, P = 0.01), and 2-h post-load glucose (\u03b2 = 0.12, P = 0.03). These factors explained 26% of the variance in carotid IMT. Subjects in the lowest tertile of insulin clearance had a 4.06-fold higher odds of having vascular damage (IMT > 0.9 mm) as compared with those in the highest tertile (OR 4.06, 95%CI 1.15-13.24). Insulin clearance is independently associated with carotid IMT in adult non-diabetic subjects. Individuals with lower levels of insulin clearance have a higher odds of vascular damage.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14558267,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Treatment and prevention of pneumococcal pneumonia].\nStreptococcus pneumoniae is the most commonly identified pathogen in patients with community-acquired pneumonia. 40% of isolated strains in France are of decreased sensibility to penicillin, two third being multiresistant to antibiotics. However, high doses of some beta-lactams are effective in vivo against the majority of circulating strains (MIC > 2 mg\/L). For this reason according to French guidelines amoxicillin (3 g\/day) is the first line recommended treatment. Telithromycin is an alternative, or ceftriaxone (1 g\/day) in more severe cases. If the level of resistance increases (MIC > 4 mg\/L) guidelines would be revisited. Effectiveness of pneumococcal vaccination has been confirmed in cases of bacteriemic pneumococcal pneumonia (elderly patients included). Vaccine is recommended among persons with comorbiditie(s) and 65 years old population.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1155295,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Metabolic studies in physically outstanding elderly men.\nForty-seven elderly men engaged in regular and vigorous exercise had significantly lower plasma insulin levels during oral glucose tolerance tests than their controls. Pasma-glucose and growth-hormone levels showed no difference. However, when the glucose tolerance test was extended to four hours follow up, for which 19 subjects of each group volunteered, the control subjects showed a blunted post-suppression recovery of growth-hormone secretion in comparison to the athletic group. This difference could be explained by differences in hypothalamic control of the pituitary.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28261116,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Red Flags: Clinical Signs for Identifying Autoimmune Encephalitis in Psychiatric Patients.\nAutoimmune mechanisms causing diverse psychiatric symptoms are increasingly recognized and brought about a paradigm shift in neuropsychiatry. Identification of underlying antibodies against neuronal ion channels or receptors led to the speculation that a number of patients go misdiagnosed with a primary psychiatric disease. However, there is no clear consensus which clinical signs in psychiatric patients should prompt further investigations including measurement of anti-neuronal autoantibodies. We therefore aimed to analyze the presenting symptoms in patients with autoimmune encephalitis and the time between symptom onset and initiation of antibody diagnostics. For this, we recruited 100 patients from the Charit\u00e9 Center for Autoimmune Encephalitis between May and October 2016, including all types of autoimmune encephalitides. Psychiatric abnormalities were the most common clinical symptoms and were the presenting sign in 60%. One-third of patients were initially hospitalized in a psychiatric ward. All patients positive for antibodies against the N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor showed behavioral changes, hallucinations, memory deficits, catatonia, or delusions. Patients positive for antibodies against other cell surface or intracellular antigens were often hospitalized with a psychosomatic diagnosis. The time between occurrence of first symptoms and antibody testing was often alarmingly prolonged. In patients with symptom onset between 2013 and 2016, the mean delay was 74 days, in cases diagnosed between 2007 and 2012 even 483 days, suggesting though that increased awareness of this novel disease group helped to expedite proper diagnosis and treatment. By analyzing the medical records in detail, we identified clinical signs that may help to assist in earlier diagnosis, including seizures, catatonia, autonomic instability, or hyperkinesia. Indeed, reanalyzing the whole cohort using these \"red flags\" led to a 58% reduction of time between symptom onset and diagnosis. We conclude that the timely diagnosis of an autoimmune psychiatric disease can be facilitated by use of the described clinical warning signs, likely enabling earlier immunotherapy and better prognosis. Also, the threshold for cerebrospinal fluid analysis and autoantibody testing should be low.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26432488,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Renal artery anatomy affects the blood pressure response to renal denervation in patients with resistant hypertension.\nRenal denervation (RDN) has been shown to reduce blood pressure (BP), muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) and target organ damage in patients with resistant hypertension (RH) and bilateral single renal arteries. The safety and efficacy of RDN in patients with multiple renal arteries remains unclear. We measured office and 24-hour BP at baseline, 3 and 6 months following RDN in 91 patients with RH, including 65 patients with single renal arteries bilaterally (group 1), 16 patients with dual renal arteries on either one or both sides (group 2) and 10 patients with other anatomical constellations or structural abnormalities (group 3). Thirty nine out of 91 patients completed MSNA at baseline and follow-up. RDN significantly reduced office and daytime SBP in group 1 at both 3 and 6 months follow-up (P<0.001) but not in groups 2 and 3. Similarly, a significant reduction in resting baseline MSNA was only observed in group 1 (P<0.05). There was no deterioration in kidney function in any group. While RDN can be performed safely irrespective of the underlying renal anatomy, the presence of single renal arteries with or without structural abnormalities is associated with a more pronounced BP and MSNA lowering effect than the presence of dual renal arteries in patients with RH. However, when patients with dual renal arteries received renal nerve ablation in all arteries there was trend towards a greater BP reduction. Insufficient renal sympathetic nerve ablation may account for these differences.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23457409,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Influence of vitamin D status on vertebral fractures, bone mineral density, and bone turnover markers in normocalcemic postmenopausal women with high parathyroid hormone levels.\nThe aims of the study were to analyze whether there is an association between serum PTH and the prevalence of vertebral fractures and its possible dependence on vitamin D status, and to assess the influence of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) in the relationship between PTH and bone mineral density (BMD) or bone turnover markers (BTMs). A total of 820 postmenopausal women were recruited after excluding those with any known condition that could influence serum PTH levels, except for a possible low serum 25OHD. Serum PTH and 25OHD concentrations, as well as vertebral fracture prevalence, BMD, and BTM (CTX and PINP) values were recorded. Serum PTH levels were divided into tertiles, and women were grouped into those in the highest tertile (>58 pg\/ml) and those below. Serum 25OHD levels were stratified in 3 categories (<20, 20-30, and >30 ng\/ml). Vertebral fracture prevalence was greater in women with PTH above 58 pg\/ml (odds ratio [OR], 1.72; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.04-2.84). After stratifying by 25OHD, this difference was only significant in women below 20 ng\/ml (OR, 2.00; 95% CI, 1.02-3.87), those with 25OHD between 20 and 30 ng\/ml showing a trend toward this (OR, 1.99; 95% CI, 0.92-4.36). Differences in BMD or BTM between women above and below 58 pg\/ml of PTH were also observed only in those below 20 ng\/ml. Elevated PTH levels are associated with increased prevalence of vertebral fractures, low bone mass, or higher BTM only in the presence of hypovitaminosis D. An adequate nutritional status in the vitamin appears to protect the bone from the deleterious effect of a high PTH.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20351287,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Identification of neuronal subpopulations that project from hypothalamus to both liver and adipose tissue polysynaptically.\nThe autonomic nervous system regulates fuel availability and energy storage in the liver, adipose tissue, and other organs; however, the molecular components of this neural circuit are poorly understood. We sought to identify neural populations that project from the CNS indirectly through multisynaptic pathways to liver and epididymal white fat in mice using pseudorabies virus strains expressing different reporters together with BAC transgenesis and immunohistochemistry. Neurons common to both circuits were identified in subpopulations of the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVH) by double labeling with markers expressed in viruses injected in both sites. The lateral hypothalamus and arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus and brainstem regions (nucleus of the solitary tract and A5 region) also project to both tissues but are labeled at later times. Connections from these same sites to the PVH were evident after direct injection of virus into the PVH, suggesting that these regions lie upstream of the PVH in a common pathway to liver and adipose tissue (two metabolically active organs). These common populations of brainstem and hypothalamic neurons express neuropeptide Y and proopiomelanocortin in the arcuate nucleus, melanin-concentrating hormone, and orexin in the lateral hypothalamus and in the corticotrophin-releasing hormone and oxytocin in the PVH. The delineation of this circuitry will facilitate a functional analysis of the possible role of these potential command-like neurons to modulate autonomic outflow and coordinate metabolic responses in liver and adipose tissue.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14530780,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Candidemia in a tertiary care cancer center: in vitro susceptibility and its association with outcome of initial antifungal therapy.\nSince the 1990s, changing trends have been documented in species distribution and susceptibility to bloodstream infections caused by Candida species in cancer patients. However, few data are available regarding the association between in vitro antifungal susceptibility and outcome of candidemia in this patient population. We therefore evaluated the association of in vitro antifungal susceptibility and other risk factors with failure of initial antifungal therapy in cancer patients with candidemia. Candidemia cases in cancer patients from 1998 to 2001 (n = 144) were analyzed retrospectively along with their in vitro susceptibility to amphotericin B, fluconazole, and itraconazole (National Committee for Clinical and Laboratory Standards M27-A method). Patients were evaluable for outcome analysis if they received continuous unchanged therapy with either fluconazole or amphotericin B for >\/=5 days. We excluded cases of mixed candidemia. In vitro susceptibility testing data of the first Candida bloodstream isolate were analyzed. Appropriate therapy was defined as that using an active in vitro antifungal for >\/=5 days. For fluconazole susceptible-dose dependent Candida species, we defined appropriate therapy as a fluconazole dose of >\/=600 mg\/day. The Candida species distribution was 30% Candida albicans, 24% Candida glabrata, 23% Candida parapsilosis, 10% Candida krusei, 9% Candida tropicalis, and 3% other. Overall, amphotericin B was the most active agent in vitro, with only 3% of the isolates exhibiting resistance to it (>1 mg\/L). Dose-dependent susceptibility to fluconazole and itraconazole was seen in 13% and 21% of the isolates, respectively, while resistance to fluconazole and itraconazole was seen in 13% and 26%, respectively.Eighty patients were evaluable for outcome analysis. In multivariate analysis, the following factors emerged as independent predictors of failure of initial antifungal therapy: leukemia (p = 0.01), bone marrow transplantation (p = 0.006), and intensive care unit stay at onset of infection (p = 0.02). Inappropriate antifungal therapy, as defined by daily dose and in vitro susceptibility, was not shown consistently to be a significant factor (it was significant in multivariate analysis, p = 0.04, but not in univariate analysis), indicating the complexity of the variables that influence the response to antifungal treatment in cancer patients with candidemia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35342121,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Environmental Factors Affecting the Community of Methane-oxidizing Bacteria.\nMethane-oxidizing bacteria (MOB) are ubiquitous and play an important role in the mitigation of global warming by reducing methane. MOB are commonly classified into Type I and Type II, belonging to Gammaproteobacteria and Alphaproteobacteria, respectively, and the diversity of MOB has been examined. However, limited information is currently available on favorable environments for the respective MOB. To investigate the environmental factors affecting the dominant type in the MOB community, we performed MOB enrichment using down-flow hanging sponge reactors under 38 different environmental conditions with a wide range of methane (0.01-80%) and ammonium concentrations (0.001-2,000\u200d \u200dmg N L-1) and pH 4-7. Enrichment results revealed that pH was a crucial factor influencing the MOB type enriched. Type II was dominantly enriched at low pH (4-5), whereas Type I was dominant around neutral pH (6-7). However, there were some unusual cultivated biomass samples. Even though high methane oxidation activity was observed, very few or zero conventional MOB were detected using common FISH probes and primer sets for the 16S rRNA gene and pmoA gene amplification. Mycobacterium mostly dominated the microbial community in the biomass cultivated at very high NH4+ concentrations, strongly implying that it exhibits methane oxidation activity. Collectively, the present results revealed the presence of many unknown phylogenetic groups with the capacity for methane oxidation other than the reported MOB.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23869269,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-18":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Transurethral procedures for lower urinary tract symptoms resulting from benign prostatic enlargement: a quality and meta-analysis.\nThanks to advancements in surgical techniques and instruments, many surgical modalities have been developed to replace transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP). However, TURP remains the gold standard for the surgical treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). We conducted a meta-analysis on the efficacy and safety of minimally invasive surgical therapies for BPH compared with TURP. This meta-analysis used a Medline search assessing the period from 1997 to 2011. A total of 784 randomized controlled trials were identified in an electronic search. Among the 784 articles, 36 randomized controlled trials that provided the highest level of evidence (level 1b) were included in the meta-analysis. We also conducted a quality analysis of selected articles. Only 2 articles (5.56%) were assessed as having a low risk of bias by use of the Cochrane collaboration risk of bias tool. On the other hand, by use of the Jadad scale, there were 26 high-quality articles (72.22%). Furthermore, 28 articles (77.78%) were assessed as high-quality articles by use of the van Tulder scale. Holmium laser enucleation of the prostate (HoLEP) showed the highest reduction of the International Prostate Symptom Score compared with TURP (P<0.0001). Bipolar TURP, bipolar transurethral vaporization of the prostate, HoLEP, and open prostatectomy showed superior outcome in postvoid residual urine volume and maximum flow rate. The intraoperative complications of the minimally invasive surgeries had no statistically significant inferior outcomes compared with TURP. Also, there were no statistically significant differences in any of the modalities compared with TURP. The selection of an appropriate surgical modality for BPH should be assessed by fully understanding each patient's clinical conditions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17004935,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Effects of early life stress on adult male aggression and hypothalamic vasopressin and serotonin.\nEarly life stress in humans enhances the risk for psychopathologies, including excessive aggression and violence. In rodents, maternal separation is a potent early life stressor inducing long-lasting changes in emotional and neuroendocrine responsiveness to stress, associated with depression- and anxiety-like symptoms. However, effects of maternal separation on adult male aggression and underlying neurobiological mechanisms remain unknown. Therefore, we investigated the effects of maternal separation on adult intermale aggression in Wistar rats and on hypothalamic arginine vasopressin (AVP) mRNA expression, and AVP and serotonin (5-HT) immunoreactivity, as both AVP and 5-HT have been implicated in stress-coping and aggression. We showed that maternal separation induced depression-like behaviour (increased immobility) and higher adrenocorticotropin hormone responses to an acute stressor (forced swimming). Intermale aggression (lateral threat, offensive upright and keep down) was significantly higher in maternally separated rats compared with control rats. AVP mRNA expression and AVP immunoreactivity were higher in the hypothalamic paraventricular and supraoptic nuclei upon resident-intruder test exposure, whereas 5-HT immunoreactivity was decreased in the anterior hypothalamus of maternally separated rats. Moreover, 5-HT immunoreactivity in the anterior hypothalamus and supraoptic nucleus correlated negatively with aggression. These findings show that exposure to early life stress increases adult male aggression in an animal model of maternal separation. Furthermore, the maternal separation-induced changes in hypothalamic AVP and 5-HT systems may underlie these behavioural alterations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9561923,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Eotaxin increases the expression of CD11b\/CD18 and adhesion properties in IL5, but not fMLP-prestimulated human peripheral blood eosinophils.\nA selective recruitment of eosinophils to sites of inflammation is claimed to be controlled by regulation of cytokines, chemokines and adhesion molecules. In animal models, eotaxin has been suggested to be a potent chemokine since it in cooperation with interleukin-5 induce selective chemotaxis and infiltration of eosinophils to lung tissue after an allergen provocation. We have investigated the in vitro effect of eotaxin on human peripheral blood eosinophils with respect to CD11b\/CD18 expression and adhesion properties to the matrix protein fibronectin. We did not find any effect of eotaxin per se on CD11b\/CD18 expression, neither on eosinophils from healthy subjects nor from patients with asymptomatic pollen related asthma. However, eotaxin significantly upregulated the quantitative level of CD11b\/CD18 and increased the adhesion to fibronectin in eosinophils from healthy subjects preincubated in vitro with interleukin-5, but not in eosinophils preincubated with fMLP. Moreover, eosinophils harvested 24 hours after an in vivo allergen inhalation provocation in asthmatics, upregulated CD11b\/CD18 after in vitro incubation with eotaxin alone.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25278751,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Antimicrobial nanocapsules: from new solvent-free process to in vitro efficiency.\nSkin and mucosal infections constitute recurrent pathologies resulting from either inappropriate antiseptic procedures or a lack of efficacy of antimicrobial products. In this field, nanomaterials offer interesting antimicrobial properties (eg, long-lasting activity; intracellular and tissular penetration) as compared to conventional products. The aim of this work was to produce, by a new solvent-free process, a stable and easily freeze-dryable chlorhexidine-loaded polymeric nanocapsule (CHX-NC) suspension, and then to assess the antimicrobial properties of nanomaterials. The relevance of the process and the physicochemical properties of the CHX-NCs were examined by the assessment of encapsulation efficiency, stability of the nanomaterial suspension after 1 month of storage, and by analysis of granulometry and surface electric charge of nanocapsules. In vitro antimicrobial activities of the CHX-NCs and chlorhexidine digluconate solution were compared by measuring the inhibition diameters of two bacterial strains (Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus) and one fungal strain (Candida albicans) cultured onto appropriate media. Based on the findings of this study, we report a new solvent-free process for the production of nanomaterials exhibiting antimicrobial activity, suitable stability, and easily incorporable as a new ingredient in various pharmaceutical products.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28683572,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Strategy in manipulating transglycosylation activity of glycosyl hydrolase for oligosaccharide production.\nThe increasing market demand for oligosaccharides has intensified the need for efficient biocatalysts. Glycosyl hydrolases (GHs) are still gaining popularity as biocatalyst for oligosaccharides synthesis owing to its simple reaction and high selectivity. Over the years, research has advanced mainly directing to one goal; to reduce hydrolysis activity of GHs for increased transglycosylation activity in achieving high production of oligosaccharides. This review concisely presents the strategies to increase transglycosylation activity of GHs for oligosaccharides synthesis, focusing on controlling the reaction equilibrium, and protein engineering. Various modifications of the subsites of GHs have been demonstrated to significantly modulate the hydrolysis and transglycosylation activity of the enzymes. The clear insight of the roles of each amino acid in these sites provides a platform for designing an enzyme that could synthesize a specific oligosaccharide product. The key strategies presented here are important for future improvement of GHs as a biocatalyst for oligosaccharide synthesis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25526979,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"The Lingulodinium circadian system lacks rhythmic changes in transcript abundance.\nAlmost all cells display circadian rhythms, approximately 24-hour period changes in their biochemistry, physiology or behavior. These rhythms are orchestrated by an endogenous circadian clock whose mechanism is based on transcription-translation feedback loops (TTFL) where the translated products of clock genes act to inhibit their own transcription. We have used RNA-Seq to measure the abundance of all transcripts in an RNA-Seq-derived de novo gene catalog in two different experiments. One compared midday and midnight in a light-dark cycle (ZT6 and ZT18) and under constant light (CT6 and CT18). The second compared four different times (ZT2, ZT6, ZT14 and ZT18) under a light dark cycle. We show here that despite an elaborate repertoire of biological rhythms, the unicellular dinoflagellate Lingulodinium had no detectable daily variation in the abundance of any transcript in an RNA-Seq-derived de novo gene catalog. We also examined the timing of the bioluminescence and photosynthesis rhythms in the presence of the transcription inhibitors actinomycin D and cordycepin. We found that the timing of the two rhythms was unchanged even when transcription rates had decreased to roughly 5% the levels of untreated cells. The lack of detectable daily variation in transcript levels indicates that the endogenous circadian timer of Lingulodinium does not require rhythmic RNA. If the circadian timer is considered as a limit cycle oscillator, then cellular time in this organism must be defined by variations in state variables that do not include the amount of a clock gene transcript.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7929210,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Identification of a 6-base pair element involved in the sterol-mediated transcriptional regulation of farnesyl diphosphate synthase.\nPrevious studies identified a 115-base pair (bp) region of the farnesyl diphosphate (FPP) synthase promoter which is involved in the transcriptional regulation of this gene by sterols (Spear, D. H., Kutsunai, S. Y., Correll, C. C., and Edwards, P. A. (1992) J. Biol. Chem. 267, 14462-14469). In the current study we fused a 117-bp fragment, containing this region of interest, upstream of the heterologous minimal promoter of the herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase gene linked to the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) reporter gene. Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells were stably transfected with this fusion gene and incubated in the absence or presence of sterols. Analysis of CAT mRNA by primer extension indicated that transcription of the fusion gene was under sterol-mediated control. Thus, when cellular sterols were present, the CAT mRNA levels were reduced 2-4-fold. To further localize the FPP synthase sterol-responsive element(s), additional promoter-reporter gene constructs containing either deletions or mutations were constructed and transfected into CHO or CV-1 cells. These studies localized a 6-bp region (ATTGGC) that is required for both transcriptional induction in the absence of sterols and transcriptional repression in the presence of sterols. Gel shift and footprinting analyses demonstrated that nuclear proteins isolated from CHO cells bound to six distinct regions of the promoter between nucleotides -293 to -47. Taken together, these results further define both the cis-acting elements controlling normal transcription of the FPP synthase gene and identify a novel sequence involved in sterol regulation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18576667,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Soft-landed protein voltammetry: a tool for redox protein characterization.\nMicroperoxidase-11 (MP-11) was first soft landed onto the gold surface of a screen-printed electrode. Intact protein deposition was verified by time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry. The coupling of soft landing with electrochemical techniques allowed unique information to be obtained about the deposition features. A full characterization of the direct electron-transfer properties was performed by modeling data obtained from cyclic voltammetry experiments; calculated values of kinetic electron-transfer constant, formal redox potential, and reorganization energy allow us to hypothesize the mechanism involved in soft landing immobilization and demonstrate the different conformation of the enzyme deposited from two different charged species. The strong interaction between MP-11 and the gold surface and long-term stability of the functionalized electrode characterizes the peculiar features of this procedure, which enhance its power with respect to the existing immobilization procedure and ensure its suitability for those practical applications that could benefit from an unmediated bridgeless bioeletrochemical electron transfer (e.g., biosensor transducers or electrode elements in biofuel cells).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9148892,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Leptin induces mitogen-activated protein kinase-dependent proliferation of C3H10T1\/2 cells.\nLeptin, secreted by adipocytes, regulates satiety and energy expenditure. Several forms of leptin receptors produced by alternative mRNA splicing are found in many tissues, including the hypothalamus, liver, lung, kidney, hematopoietic cells, and gonads, suggesting that leptin exerts effects in these tissues. In accordance with the distribution of leptin receptors, there is accumulating evidence that leptin plays various roles in reproduction, hematopoiesis, and the immune systems in addition to the regulation of food intake and energy expenditure. In the present study, we examined the in vitro effects of leptin on proliferation of a mouse embryonic cell line, C3H10T1\/2, and its mechanism of action. Leptin caused a dose- and time-dependent increase in mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activity that was accompanied by an increase in C3H10T1\/2 cell number. The MAPK kinase-1-specific inhibitor PD98059 completely blocked the increases in both MAPK activity and cell proliferation caused by leptin. These findings indicate that leptin stimulates the proliferation of C3H10T1\/2 cells via the MAPK cascade.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29364731,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"YC-1 Inhibits VEGF and Inflammatory Mediators Expression on Experimental Central Retinal Vein Occlusion in Rhesus Monkey.\nTo investigate the therapeutic potential of YC-1 for experimental central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) of rhesus monkey. Six adult rhesus monkeys were recruited in this study. Laser-induced CRVO was established in both eyes of all subjects. Intravitreal injection of YC-1 90 \u03bcl (200 \u03bcM with 0.01% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as vehicle) was administrated in right eye and 0.01% DMSO 90 \u03bcl in left eye respectively at 1 week after CRVO established. All eyes underwent routine examination at 1 day, 1 week, 2 week, and 1 month after intravitreal injection of YC-1 or DMSO. Meanwhile, vitreous fluid was collected at each time points to analyze concentration of VEGF, HIF-1\u03b1, IL-6, IL-8, and MCP-1 mediators by CBA or ELASA method. The experimental CRVO was successfully established in six rhesus monkeys. As expected, the thickness of macular edema significantly decreased at 1 week and 2 weeks after YC-1 injection compared with that of DMSO injection. Subsequently, the central macular thickness in all eyes was recovered to the initial levels at 1 month after photocoagulation. Intraocular pressure (IOP) was not significantly different between two groups during all follow up. Meanwhile, the concentration of IL-6, IL-8, VEGF, and HIF-1\u03b1 in vitreous fluid significantly decreased after YC-1 injection compared with that of DMSO injection, MCP-1 was not significantly different between both groups. Intravitreal injection of YC-1 significantly alleviated macular edema compared with that of DMSO control group. Meanwhile, both inflammatory factors and angiogenesis-related factors expression were inhibited in vitreous by YC-1 injection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25418889,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Targeting TRP ion channels for itch relief.\nAcute itch (pruritus) is unpleasant and acts as an alerting mechanism for removing irritants. However, severe chronic itch is debilitating and impairs the quality of life. Rapid progress has been made in recent years in our understanding of the fundamental neurobiology of itch. Notably, several temperature-sensitive transient receptor potential (thermo-TRP) ion channels have emerged as critical players in many types of itch, in addition to pain. They serve as markers that define the itch neural pathway. Thermo-TRP ion channels are thus becoming attractive targets for developing effective anti-pruritic therapies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3063910,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[The diagnostic value of immunologic findings in the differentiation of chronic liver diseases].\nVarious types of virus induced and non-virus induced chronic active hepatitis (CAH) as well as chronic non-suppurative destructive cholangitis (PBC) and primary sclerosing cholangitis have to be distinguished. Classical autoimmune type \"lupoid\" CAH is characterized by antinuclear antibodies (ANA), liver membrane antibodies (LMA) and smooth muscle antibodies (SMA). A second subgroup of autoimmune type CAH is characterized by anti liver kidney-microsomal antibodies (LKM) which are directed against a specific cytochrome p-450 isoenzyme. A third subgroup of autoimmune type CAH is identified by auto-antibodies to a soluble cytoplasmic liver antigen (SLA). Autoimmune type CAH profits from immuno-suppressive therapy, i.e. corticosteroids alone or in combination with azathioprin. Chronic hepatitis B virus infection is nowadays treated with Interferon when HBV-DNA is detectable in serum, duration of liver disease is less than 5 years and superinfection with HDV and HIV can be excluded. PBC is diagnosed through the detection of antimitochondrial antibodies (AMA) and its PBC specific subtypes anti p 62 (M2) and anti p 48. Aetiology and pathogenesis of PBC are still unknown. Liver transplantation is an established therapy for endstage PBC. This is also true for primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35360777,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Epidemic in pandemic: Fungal sinusitis in COVID-19.\nTo describe the clinical pattern of invasive fungal sinusitis in COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 cases. All patients affected by COVID-19 or having a history of COVID-19 infection with an invasive fungal lesion (mucormycosis\/aspergillosis) of the paranasal sinuses, orbit, palate, brain, lung, skin\/cheek, and dental has been evaluated for possible description in tertiary care hospital in May 2021. Twenty-four patients presented with clinical signs and symptoms of fungal infection with a history of COVID-19. Paranasal sinuses were involved in all patients. Palatal involvement was seen in seven cases. Intraorbital extension was seen in 13 cases. Intracerebral involvement was seen in three cases. Comorbid type 2 diabetes was seen in 20 patients. The use of steroids was noticed in 16 cases. Our observation revealed that uncontrolled diabetes, overuse of steroids, increased ferritin levels, and low hemoglobin percentage are the main factors aggravating mucormycosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18579742,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-26":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Coding of shape and position in macaque lateral intraparietal area.\nThe analysis of object shape is critical for both object recognition and grasping. Areas in the intraparietal sulcus of the rhesus monkey are important for the visuomotor transformations underlying actions directed toward objects. The lateral intraparietal (LIP) area has strong anatomical connections with the anterior intraparietal area, which is known to control the shaping of the hand during grasping, and LIP neurons can respond selectively to simple two-dimensional shapes. Here we investigate the shape representation in area LIP of awake rhesus monkeys. Specifically, we determined to what extent LIP neurons are tuned to shape dimensions known to be relevant for grasping and assessed the invariance of their shape preferences with regard to changes in stimulus size and position in the receptive field. Most LIP neurons proved to be significantly tuned to multiple shape dimensions. The population of LIP neurons that were tested showed barely significant size invariance. Position invariance was present in a minority of the neurons tested. Many LIP neurons displayed spurious shape selectivity arising from accidental interactions between the stimulus and the receptive field. We observed pronounced differences in the receptive field profiles determined by presenting two different shapes. Almost all LIP neurons showed spatially selective saccadic activity, but the receptive field for saccades did not always correspond to the receptive field as determined using shapes. Our results demonstrate that a subpopulation of LIP neurons encodes stimulus shape. Furthermore, the shape representation in the dorsal visual stream appears to differ radically from the known representation of shape in the ventral visual stream.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29383128,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Genome-wide identification of long non-coding RNA and mRNA profiling using RNA sequencing in subjects with sensitive skin.\nSensitive skin (SS) is a condition of subjective cutaneous hyper-reactivity. The role of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in subjects with SS is unclear. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to provide a comprehensive profile of the mRNAs and lncRNAs in subjects with SS. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis presented the characteristics of associated protein-coding genes. In addition, a co-expression network of lncRNA and mRNA was constructed to identify potential underlying regulation targets; the results were verified by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and RNA-seq analyses in patients with SS and normal samples. Compared with the normal skin group, 266 novel lncRNAs and 6750 annotated lncRNAs were identified in the SS group. A total of 71 lncRNA transcripts and 2615 mRNA transcripts were differentially expressed (P < 0.05). The heat signature of the SS samples could be distinguished from the normal skin samples, whereas the majority of the genes that were present in enriched pathways were those that participated in focal adhesion, PI3K-Akt signaling, and cancer-related pathways. Five transcripts were selected for qRT-PCR analysis and the results were consistent with RNA-seq. The results suggested that LNC_000265 may play a role in the epidermal barrier structure of patient with SS. The data suggest novel genes and pathways that may be involved in the pathogenesis of SS and highlight potential targets that could be used for individualized treatment applications.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30098946,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Possible evidence for care and treatment in the Tyrolean Iceman.\nThe Tyrolean Iceman is the world's oldest glacier mummy. He was found in September 1991 in the Italian part of the \u00d6tztal Alps. Since his discovery a variety of morphological, radiological and molecular analyses have been performed that revealed detailed insights into his state of health. Despite the various pathological conditions found in the Iceman, little is known about possible forms of care and treatment during the Copper Age in Northern Italy. A possible approach to this topic is the presence of tattoos on the mummified body. In previous work, it was already believed that the tattoos were administered as a kind of treatment for his lower back pain and degenerative joint disease of his knees, hip and wrist. In other studies, the tattoos of the Iceman have been related to an early form of acupuncture. We carefully re-evaluated the various health issues of the Iceman, including joint diseases, gastrointestinal problems and arterial calcifications and compared them to the location and number of tattoos. Together with the finding of medically effective fungi and plants, such as the birch polypore or fern in his equipment and intestines, we suggest that care and treatment was already common during the Iceman's time.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11981863,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A novel injection method for high-speed proteome analysis by capillary electrophoresis.\nWe have developed a new sample injection method for capillary electrophoresis (CE) that reduces the required migration time. We demonstrated a pressurization technique that was performed with buffer in the outlet after the electrokinetic sample injection with no buffer in the outlet. To reduce the migration time, the sample injection had to be performed with no buffer in the outlet; water should be pressurized while the buffer is in the outlet. Though the resolution was slightly decreased using this method, the addition of a separation carrier (curdlan) to the run buffer restored the resolution without delaying the migration time. The use of our new sample injection method combined with our high-quality separation carrier will enable us to improve the efficiency of the high-throughput screening (HTS) system for proteome analysis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31259160,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"In Chronic Hepatitis C Infection, Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cell Accumulation and T Cell Dysfunctions Revert Partially and Late After Successful Direct-Acting Antiviral Treatment.\nChronic HCV infection is characterized by several immunological alterations, such as the accumulation of suppressor cells and of hyperactivated T lymphocytes. However, it is unclear whether direct-acting antiviral (DAA)-mediated HCV clearance restores immune dysfunctions. We performed a phenotypic characterization by flow cytometry of different immune cell subsets, including monocytic myeloid-derived suppressor cells (M-MDSCs) and T lymphocytes in 168 patients with persistent HCV infection not treated, under DAA therapies and sustained virological responders. Chronic HCV infection prompted the accumulation of M-MDSCs independently of patient and clinical characteristics, and altered their metabolic properties. HCV RNA was undetectable in the majority of patients just after few weeks of DAA therapy, whereas M-MDSC levels normalized only 6 months after therapy. In addition, HCV infection deeply perturbed the T cell compartment since a re-distribution of memory CD4+ and CD8+ T cells was observed at the expenses of na\u00efve cells, and memory T lymphocytes displayed increased activation. Notably, these features were only partially restored by DAA therapies in the CD4, but not in the CD8, compartment as high immune activation levels persisted in the terminally differentiated memory CD8+ T cells even more than 1 year after sustained virological response. Together, these results suggest that successful DAA therapies do not lead to full immunological reconstitution as fast as viral clearance.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1677768,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor activation increases cAMP levels and voltage-gated Ca2+ channel activity in area CA1 of hippocampus.\nTetanic stimulation of the Schaffer collateral inputs into area CA1 of the hippocampus causes N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor activation, an effect that contributes to the induction of long-term potentiation (LTP) in this region. The present studies demonstrate that LTP-inducing tetanic stimulation in rat hippocampal area CA1 elicited increased levels of cAMP. The elevation of cAMP was blocked by the NMDA receptor antagonist DL-2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid (APV). Bath application of NMDA also resulted in an increase in cAMP in CA1, an effect that was blocked by both APV and removal of extracellular Ca2+. These findings suggest that activation of NMDA receptors elicits a Ca(2+)-dependent increase in cAMP, and taken together with the data from tetanic stimulation, suggest that NMDA-receptor-mediated increases in cAMP could play a role in the induction of LTP in area CA1. One role for cAMP may be to increase Ca2+ influx through voltage-gated Ca2+ channels, as it was observed that application of either 8-bromo-cAMP or NMDA increased the fractional open time of high-threshold Ca2+ channels in CA1 pyramidal cells. Our results raise the possibility that a positive-feedback loop for Ca2+ influx in area CA1 exists. In this model, NMDA receptor-mediated Ca2+ influx leads to an enhancement of further Ca2+ influx via intermediate steps of increased cAMP and subsequent increased voltage-gated Ca2+ channel activity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28281721,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Incidence of variations in human cadaveric renal vessels.\nAwareness of discrepancies of renal vasculature is crucial for some medical procedures. The present study investigated origin and course of aberrant and accessory renal vessels and any associated variations. Renal blood vessels of 63 cadavers were examined. Number of renal veins and arteries, arrangement, location where the vasculature attached to the kidneys, and presence of variations were recorded. Incidence of renal vasculature variations was determined, and associations were tested with age at death, sex, and cause of death and whether variations were more common on a specific side. Variations were found in 7 (11%; 95% confidence interval [CI] 5-22%) cadavers. For renal veins, double, triple, and quadruple veins unilaterally (5; 8%) and veins that drained the superior pole (1; 2%) or inferior pole only (5; 8%) were found. For renal arteries, double and triple arteries unilaterally (3; 5%) and arteries attached to the superior pole only (1; 2%) or inferior pole only (2; 3%) were found. Other variations (polycystic kidney, variations in the common iliac or gonadal veins) were observed. Only renal failure as a cause of death was different between those with or without variations (4\/7 [57%] vs. 1\/56 [2%]; p < 0.001). The present study found many variations in renal vasculature. Awareness of such variations may be useful for physicians concerned with this region.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17194801,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"One billion years of bZIP transcription factor evolution: conservation and change in dimerization and DNA-binding site specificity.\nThe genomic era has revealed that the large repertoire of observed animal phenotypes is dependent on changes in the expression patterns of a finite number of genes, which are mediated by a plethora of transcription factors (TFs) with distinct specificities. The dimerization of TFs can also increase the complexity of a genetic regulatory network manifold, by combining a small number of monomers into dimers with distinct functions. Therefore, studying the evolution of these dimerizing TFs is vital for understanding how complexity increased during animal evolution. We focus on the second largest family of dimerizing TFs, the basic-region leucine zipper (bZIP), and infer when it expanded and how bZIP DNA-binding and dimerization functions evolved during the major phases of animal evolution. Specifically, we classify the metazoan bZIPs into 19 families and confirm the ancient nature of at least 13 of these families, predating the split of the cnidaria. We observe fixation of a core dimerization network in the last common ancestor of protostomes-deuterostomes. This was followed by an expansion of the number of proteins in the network, but no major dimerization changes in interaction partners, during the emergence of vertebrates. In conclusion, the bZIPs are an excellent model with which to understand how DNA binding and protein interactions of TFs evolved during animal evolution.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8354965,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A selectionist approach to reinforcement.\nWe describe a principle of reinforcement that draws upon experimental analyses of both behavior and the neurosciences. Some of the implications of this principle for the interpretation of behavior are explored using computer simulations of adaptive neural networks. The simulations indicate that a single reinforcement principle, implemented in a biologically plausible neural network, is competent to produce as its cumulative product networks that can mediate a substantial number of the phenomena generated by respondent and operant contingencies. These include acquisition, extinction, reacquisition, conditioned reinforcement, and stimulus-control phenomena such as blocking and stimulus discrimination. The characteristics of the environment-behavior relations selected by the action of reinforcement on the connectivity of the network are consistent with behavior-analytic formulations: Operants are not elicited but, instead, the network permits them to be guided by the environment. Moreover, the guidance of behavior is context dependent, with the pathways activated by a stimulus determined in part by what other stimuli are acting on the network at that moment. In keeping with a selectionist approach to complexity, the cumulative effects of relatively simple reinforcement processes give promise of simulating the complex behavior of living organisms when acting upon adaptive neural networks.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25505722,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"IgG4 Levels in Bile for Distinguishing IgG4-Associated Cholangiopathy from Other Biliary Disorders: A Single Blinded Pilot Study.\nImmunoglobulin G4 (IgG4)-associated cholangiopathy (IAC) is an inflammatory disease and may mimic primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), or pancreatic cancer on cholangiography. We investigated whether IgG4 levels in bile aspirated during endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) can distinguish IAC from PSC, CCA, and pancreatic cancer. Bile was aspirated directly from the common bile duct during ERCP in patients with IAC prior to steroid therapy. For control purposes, bile was obtained from patients with PSC, CCA, pancreatic cancer, and benign biliary conditions (sphincter of oddi dysfunction\/choledocholithiasis). Biliary IgG4 levels were measured in 54 patients. The median bile IgG4 levels were markedly elevated in patients with IAC (5.5 mg\/dL; interquartile range [IQR], 5.1 to 15.6) as compared to patients with benign biliary conditions (0 mg\/dL; IQR, 0 to 0.1; p=0.003). The median biliary IgG4 levels in PSC, CCA, and pancreatic cancer were 1.2 (IQR, 0.2 to 3.8), 0.9 (IQR, 0.2 to 3.4), and 0.2 mg\/dL (IQR, 0.1 to 0.8), respectively. A cutoff value of 3.8 mg\/dL distinguished IAC from PSC and CCA patients with 100% and 76.9% sensitivity and specificity, respectively. The results of this pilot study suggest that measurement of biliary IgG4 levels may have clinical value in distinguishing patients with IAC from biliary disorders that can mimic IAC.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37843143,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Causes of Neonatal Acute Renal Injury during Critical Illnesses.\nThe aim of the study was to assess acute kidney injury (AKI) and its contributing risk factors among neonates to reduce morbidity and mortality. The study included 310 neonates who were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Serum creatinine (SCr) was elevated at admission, after 48 h, and before discharge or death. AKI was defined by either an acute rise in SCr of at least 0.3 mg\/dL within 48 h or an increasing or persistently high level of SCr >1.5 mg\/dL after 48-72 h of life. The patients who developed AKI were studied regarding the most common risk factors and outcomes. The prevalence of AKI in these neonates was 11.9%. Nephrotoxic drugs were the highest risk factor among patients with AKI, but this was not statistically significant different from patients without AKI. Perinatal asphyxia (59.5%), respiratory distress syndrome (48.6%), shock (43.2%), prematurity (40.5%), and sepsis (37.8%) were the main risk factors of AKI following the nephrotoxic drugs (64.9%). The mortality rate for cases with AKI was 62.1%, with a statistically significant difference from non-AKI neonates. The death rate was higher among neonates born before 36 weeks' gestation. There was no statistical difference between oliguric and non-oliguric neonates with AKI regarding the outcome. The overall incidence of AKI in sick neonates admitted to the NICU was 11.9%. Nephrotoxic drugs, perinatal asphyxia, shock, and prematurity were the main risk factors for developing AKI.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28537753,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Radiologic-Pathologic Correlation for Benign Results After MRI-Guided Breast Biopsy.\nThe majority of MRI-guided breast biopsies yield benign pathology. The purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive overview of benign pathologic entities commonly encountered at MRI-guided breast biopsy. Proper radiologic-pathologic correlation is an integral component of MRI-guided breast biopsy. Familiarity with the spectrum of MRI findings and key histopathologic features of common benign entities will enhance the radiologist's confidence in determining concordance and lead to improved patient management recommendations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22691285,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"7-oxygenated derivatives of dehydroepiandrosterone and obesity.\n7-hydroxy\/oxo derivatives of dehydroepiandrosterone are potential regulators of the local cortisol activity due to their competition in the cortisolcortisone balance mediated by 11\u00df-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase. 7-hydroxy-dehydroepiandrosterone is marketed as anti-obesity medication, though no clinical study aimed at the benefit of administering 7-oxygenated derivatives of dehydroepiandrosterone has appeared until now. We tried to show whether there exist differences in levels of circulating 7-hydroxy\/oxo-dehydroepiandrosterone derivatives between lean and obese boys and girls. From a cohort of adolescents investigated within the frame of anti-obesity programme 10 obese boys and 10 obese girls were compared with age-matched lean boys and girls in their anthropometric data, and concentrations of both epimers of 7-hydroxy-dehydroepiandrosterone and 7-oxo-dehydroepiandrosterone were determined by the RIA method. The basal levels of 7\u03b1-hydroxy-dehydroepiandrosterone were significantly higher in obese boys than in lean boys but not in girls. The association was found for anthropometric parameters and 7\u03b1-hydroxy-dehydroepiandrosterone, however again only in boys and not in girls. Higher levels of 7\u03b1-hydroxy-dehydroepiandrosterone its positive association with anthropometric data in obese boys may serve as a sign that, at least in boys, 7-oxygenated 5-ene-steroids may take part in regulating the hormonal signal for fat formation or distribution.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":946987,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Chemoprophylaxis for patients with colorectal cancer. Prospective study with five-year follow-up.\nThe effectiveness of a short-term fluorouracil chemopophylaxis regimen commencing four to six weeks after \"curative\" surgery was evaluated in a homogeneous group of 213 patients with colorectal cancer. In stage III disease (Dukes class C), five-year survival with no evidence of disease (NED) was 24.3% when treated by surgery alone but was 57.5% when a prophylactic regimen of fluorouracil was added (P less than .01), an increase of 33.2%. In stage II disease (Dukes class B), five-year NED survival was raised from 58.5% to 81.6%, an increase of 23.1% (P less than .02). More striking are the one-, two-, and three-year NED survivals in stage III. The one-, two-m and three-year NED survivals for the chemoprophylaxis group are 100%, 95%, and 75%, respectively, in contrast to 70.7%, 48.8%, and 34.1% in the group with surgery alone. The present data indicate that fluorouracil chemoprophylaxis offers a significant improvement of five-year cure rate of patients with stage II and III disease, an overall increase of 28.1% (P less than .01).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28352823,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Efficacy and safety of splenectomy in adult autoimmune hemolytic anemia.\nAutoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) is a rare hematologic disease, primarily affecting adults or children with immunodeficiency disease. First-line therapy consists of long course of steroids administration, with an early complete response rate (CRr) of 75-80%, but up to 20-30% of patients requires a second-line therapy. Rituximab is the first choice in refractory old AIHA patients, because of its safety and efficacy (early CRr at 80-90% and at 68% at 2-3 years). For this reason, splenectomy is even less chosen as second-line therapy in elderly, even though laparoscopic technique decreased complication and mortality rates. However, splenectomy can be still considered a good therapeutic option with a CRr of 81% at 35.6 months in patients older than 60 year-old, when rituximab administration cannot be performed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37855138,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Influence of climate factors on population density and damage of the leopard moth, Zeuzera pyrina L., in walnut orchards, Iran.\nThe effect of climate factors (temperature, humidity, precipitation, and frost days) on the population changes, damage, and infestation area of the leopard moth, Zeuzera pyrina L., was studied during 2006-2018 in four parts of Iran including Saman, Arak, Najaf-abad, and Baft. For trend analysis, the Mann-Kendall test was run on time series data of both climate and pest population. According to the results, the annual mean (Kendall's statistics, T = 0.64 and 0.48), annual minimum (T = 0.60 and 0.42), and January mean (T = 0.64 and 0.61, respectively) temperatures showed increasing trends in Saman and Najaf-abad. Moreover, the annual mean minimum and January temperatures (T = 0.41 and 0.45, respectively) in Arak and the annual mean maximum temperature (T = 0.79) in Baft showed increasing trends. The number of frost days\/year (Kendall's statistics, T = -0.63, -0.53, -0.32 and -0.37) and annual mean relative humidity (T = -0.43, -0.63, -0.64 and -0.42, respectively) showed decreasing trends in Saman, Arak, Baft, and Najaf-abad stations. Trend analysis indicated significant increases in the mean number of moths caught (T = 0.59, 0.76 and 0.90), the percentage of infested branches\/tree (T = 0.66, 0.58, and 0.90), the number of active holes\/tree (T = 0.79, 0.55, and 0.68) and the infested areas (T = 0.99, 0.73, and 0.98, respectively) in Saman, Arak and Najaf-abad stations. According to stepwise regression, the mean temperatures of January, autumn, and winter were the most effective variables for increasing Z. pyrina damage and population, while relative humidity and the number of frost days played the major role in reducing it.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11979588,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Estrogenic effect of leachates and soil extracts from lysimeters spiked with sewage sludge and reference endocrine disrupters.\nSeveral experiments were conducted to evaluate the behavior and performance of some potential endocrine disrupters (ECDs). Two in vitro screening assays, one based on MCF7-cell proliferation (E-screen test) and the other on estrogenic receptor activity [enzyme-linked receptor assay (ELRA)], were used for the tests, which were done in lysimeters 80 cm in diameter with depth of 30 cm (shallow) or 90 cm (deep). A sandy soil was used to fill in all lysimeters, which were spiked on the surface with either: (a) a sewage sludge (SS) at a dose equivalent to 20 tons ha-1; (b) a mixture of reference ECDs, comprising 17 alpha- and 17 beta-estradiol (E2), nonylphenol, octylphenol, and bisphenol A at doses 100 times higher than the maximum concentrations respectively found in the applied SS; or (c) a mixture of ECDs and SS. After percolation of the lysimeters with rain and\/or artificial water, five leachates were sampled from each lysimeter during a period of 210 days. Immediately after the lysimeter percolation experiments, four and six soil fractions were dissected from, respectively, the 30-cm and 90-cm lysimeters and extracted by water. Both the leachate and soil extract samples were analyzed for their estrogenicity using the assays indicated above. The E-screen assay was highly sensitive only for some leachate and extract samples but gave no response for most leachates and soil extracts. The results of the ELRA assay suggests a significantly higher estrogenicity of leachate samples from shallow lysimeters compared with that of leachates from deep lysimeters. In contrast, the estrogenic effect measured for soil extracts of shallow lysimeters was lower than that measured for soil extracts of deep lysimeters. The results of the E-screen assay suggests the occurrence of a fast mobilization of applied ECDs and a moderate retardation effect of native ECDs contained in applied SS in the sandy soil used in the lysimeters. In lysimeters spiked with a mixture of SS and ECDs, the washing-out effect of ECDs in the first leachate fraction decreased, but the distribution of ECDs in the lysimeters increased. The relatively high estrogenic impact measured for soil water extracts suggests that the ECDs were mostly associated with water-soluble fractions of organic matter and\/or water-suspended fractions of the mineral soil matrix. The application of SS to agricultural and forest fields may determine the immobilization of ECDs in soil or their movement to surface and\/or groundwater. Therefore, an endocrine risk of exposure exists for the water and soil organisms.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14531700,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Substrate recognition and channeling of monomodules from the pikromycin polyketide synthase.\nThe unique ability of the pikromycin (Pik) polyketide synthase to generate 12- and 14-membered ring macrolactones presents an opportunity to explore the fundamental processes underlying polyketide synthesis, specifically the mechanistic details of the chain extension process. We have overexpressed and purified PikAIII (module 5) and PikAIV (module 6) and assessed the ability of these proteins to generate tri- and tetraketide lactone products using N-acetylcysteamine-activated diketides and (14)C-methylmalonyl-CoA as substrates. Comparison of the stereochemical specificities for PikAIII and PikAIV and the reported values for the DEBS modules reveals significant differences between these systems.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":33728166,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Over-the-Scope Clip Closure of Persistent Gastrocutaneous Fistula After Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy Tube Removal: A Report of Two Cases.\nPersistent gastrocutaneous fistulas have conventionally been treated surgically. Over-the-scope clip (OTSC) was developed as an endoscopic closure device for full-thickness gastrointestinal defects and has become one of the treatment options for gastrocutaneous fistula. Herein, we report two cases of gastrocutaneous fistulas treated using OTSC. Case 1 was a 71-year-old woman and case 2 was an 88-year-old man, both of whom had severe frailty and had a persistent gastrocutaneous fistula after removal of the percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube. OTSC closure was chosen over surgical closure to reduce invasiveness. In case 1, OTSC was deployed using a suction method, which was technically successful. However, the fistula reopened two days later, indicating clinical failure of the OTSC. The cause of the failure may be due to an inadequate suction of the fistula into the applicator cap. Based on the experience of OTSC failure in case 1, OTSC in case 2 was deployed using the Anchor to pull the fistula into the cap more reliably. Fistula did not recur during the 30-month follow-up, indicating the clinical success of OTSC in case 2. The use of Anchor may increase the success rate of OTSC, but there is a dilemma that the use of Anchor increases cost. In summary, OTSC has the advantage of being less invasive compared to conventional surgery; however, the application of OTSC for chronic fistulas remains challenging due to issues regarding clinical success rate and cost.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16163582,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Brachial plexitis and myelitis and herpes-zoster lumbar plexus disorder in patient treated with infliximab].\nInfliximab, a chimeric monoclonal antibody, is a TNF-a inhibitor approved for use in refractory rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn s disease. We present the case of a patient affected by severe rheumatoid arthritis who was successfully treated with infliximab. She suffered diverse neurological complications: brachial plexitis, asymptomatic thoracic myelitis with extensive lesions in MRI study, and herpes zoster lumbar plexitis. We review the neurological adverse effects of infliximab (aseptic meningitis, opportunistic germs infections, disseminated herpes zoster) and focus in their potential adverse effect to induce central and peripheral nervous system demyelination.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8348524,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Pain management at home. Struggle, comfort, and mission.\nThis article presents findings from an exploratory, descriptive study that investigated the experiences of pain in the home from the perspective of the patient, the primary family caregiver, and the home care nurse. The following research questions are addressed: What are the special problems associated with pain management at home as identified by patients, caregivers, and nurses? What are the similarities and differences among patients, caregivers, and nurses regarding issues of managing pain at home? Qualitative techniques were used to collect and analyze data. The sample included 10 cancer patients with pain and their respective caregivers and nurses. After the in-depth interviews were transcribed, a multidisciplinary research team performed content analysis on the data. Overall, the findings suggest that patients approach pain management with a struggle for control, whereas self-denying caregivers seek to provide comfort, and nurses attempt to fulfill an urgent mission to eradicate pain.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26483262,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-18":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Smartphone for smart living: Using new technologies to cope with everyday limitations in semantic dementia.\nNew technologies have considerable potential to support people with semantic dementia-a form of progressive aphasia-in their everyday lives, but evidence is still sparse. The first objective of the study was to document day-to-day compensation strategies, including the use of a smartphone, in ND, a 56-year-old man with semantic dementia. The second objective was to explore if, 5 years after receiving his diagnosis, ND could still learn new smartphone functions. Results for objective 1 showed that ND had adopted a large number of compensation mechanisms in his everyday life, and expanded the use of one application he had learned 4 years earlier. Results for objective 2 showed that, with an errorless learning approach, he learnt to effectively use 10 smartphone functions. He was also able to verbalise semantic knowledge about those functions and still used 40% of them in daily life 6 months post-intervention. He particularly appreciated note-taking, and spontaneously expanded his abilities in using this function's features in order to reduce his semantic difficulties. This study shows the potential of new mobile technologies for semantic dementia, how they can be adapted and modified as the disease progresses, and how some patients can creatively use external technological aids.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21136932,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mass spectrometry in clinical proteomics - from the present to the future.\nMS is an important analytical tool in clinical proteomics, primarily in the disease-specific discovery, identification and characterisation of proteomic biomarkers and patterns. MS-based proteomics is increasingly used in clinical validation and diagnostic method development. The latter departs from the typical application of MS-based proteomics by exchanging some of the high performance of analysis for the throughput, robustness and simplicity required for clinical diagnostics. Although conventional MS-based proteomics has become an important field in clinical applications, some of the most recent MS technologies have not yet been extensively applied in clinical proteomics. In this review, we will describe the current state of MS in clinical proteomics and look to the future of this field.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28254391,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"An innovative method for preparation of hydrophobic ion-pairing colistin entrapped poly(lactic acid) nanoparticles: Loading and release mechanism study.\nHydrophobic ion-pairing (HIP) complexation has emerged as an efficient approach to enhance the entrapment of therapeutic peptides in the biodegradable polymer matrix. In the present study, we developed an innovative extraction method for preparation of HIP-colistin (CST, a polycationic peptide) using various water-insoluble anionic lipids. To determine the loading mechanism of HIP-CST entrapped poly(lactic acid) (PLA) nanoparticles (HIP-CST-PLA-NPs), the effects of anionic lipids and PLA molecular weight (Mw) on the unentrapped fraction (uf) of CST in PLA-NPs were investigated. And CST release mechanism from HIP-CST-PLA-NPs was also investigated by evaluating their release behavior and NP swelling. It is showed that HIP-CST retention in the PLA-NPs was imposed by their physical localization in the networks of the PLA chains, rather than the electrostatic attraction between anionic lipid and CST in serum. And HIP-CST-PLA-NPs in serum exhibited the swelling-controlled release behavior with a substantially accelerated release and NP swelling observed in comparison with that in phosphate buffer. Our results can effectively guide the preparation of biodegradable polymer based modified drug release systems with desired properties for peptides delivery.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9547773,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The progressive outer retinal necrosis syndrome: successful treatment with combination antiviral therapy.\nTo assess a two-drug combination of antiviral therapy for the progressive outer retinal necrosis syndrome (PORN), given the current poor outcome with acyclovir alone. A retrospective review was performed on six consecutive patients who were diagnosed with PORN and were treated with various combinations of intravenous or oral plus intravenous antiviral therapy. The relative efficacies of these modalities were compared. Six eyes of six patients showed active retinitis at the time of presentation. Three patients had unilateral retinitis, and the remaining patients had necrotic, end-stage disease in their fellow eye. All the patients were treated with combination therapy, consisting of either ganciclovir and acyclovir (three patients), foscarnet and ganciclovir (two patients), or foscarnet and acyclovir (one patient). Standard induction doses were employed. During the combination therapy, all six eyes showed resolution of the retinitis, manifested by complete fading of the original retinal lesions and an absence of new lesion formation. At the final follow-up, the areas of prior active retinitis had resolved and remained quiescent. A mild recurrence developed in one eye when ganciclovir and foscarnet were both tapered to a single daily dose. This recurrence promptly resolved with reinduction (twice daily) dosing. Two patients maintained a visual acuity of 20\/50 or better in their involved eye for the duration of follow-up (38 and 27 weeks, respectively). One patient maintained a visual acuity of 20\/40 for 14 weeks. The remaining three patients had macula-off retinal detachments despite resolution of active retinitis. In addition, for the duration of follow-up, one of the three patients with unilateral disease had retinitis in the uninvolved eye; all three uninvolved fellow eyes maintained a visual acuity of 20\/20. One patient had progressive optic atrophy. Prolonged combination antiviral therapy for PORN may successfully arrest the progression of retinitis, maintain remission, and prevent involvement of the fellow eye. Furthermore, if aggressive therapy is begun early, good vision may be preserved.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28559468,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Severity of Hypoxemia and Other Factors That Influence the Response to Aerosolized Prostacyclin in ARDS.\nARDS is characterized by decreased functional residual capacity (FRC), heterogeneous lung injury, and severe hypoxemia. Tidal ventilation is preferentially distributed to ventilated alveoli. Aerosolized prostaglandin I2 exploits this pathophysiology by inducing local vasodilation, thereby increasing ventilation-perfusion matching and reducing hypoxemia. Therefore, aerosolized prostaglandin I2 efficacy may depend upon FRC. Both PaO2 \/FIO2 and compliance of the respiratory system (CRS) are indirect signifiers of FRC and thus may partly determine the response to aerosolized prostaglandin I2. We reviewed the records of 208 ARDS subjects who received aerosolized prostaglandin I2 and had arterial blood gases done before and after the initiation of therapy, without other ventilator manipulations. Subjects were grouped according to baseline PaO2 \/FIO2 (lowest: < 60, intermediate: 60-90, highest: > 90 mm Hg) and CRS (< 20, 20-29, 30-39, and \u2265 40 mL\/cm H2O) and by other factors, such as sepsis. Comparisons were analyzed by paired t tests, or Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn post-tests. Multivariate logistic regression modeling was done to determine which of 18 clinically relevant factors were most predictive for responding to aerosolized prostaglandin I2. \u03b1 was set at .05. Mean PaO2 \/FIO2 increased by 33 mm Hg (42%) upon initiation of prostaglandin I2, with a responder rate of 62%. PaO2 \/FIO2 increased significantly in all oxygenation groups. The highest baseline PaO2 \/FIO2 group had the greatest improvement and responder rate (51 \u00b1 63 mm Hg, and 82%). In addition, those with sepsis had a smaller improvement in PaO2 \/FIO2 compared with those without sepsis (18 \u00b1 35 vs 40 \u00b1 55 mm Hg, P = .002). Both PaO2 \/FIO2 and responder rate increased as CRS improved, but between-group improvements were not as consistent. In the final model, the only factors that predicted a positive response to aerosolized prostaglandin I2 were baseline PaO2 \/FIO2 (odds ratio 1.10 [1.004-1.205], P = .042) and CRS (odds ratio 1.04 [1.01-1.08], P = .02). Aerosolized prostaglandin I2 improves oxygenation in approximately 60% of ARDS cases. A favorable response was most strongly associated with baseline PaO2 \/FIO2 and CRS.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19047810,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Possible new antiaging strategies related to neuroendocrine-immune interactions.\nThe aging process demonstrates gradual and spontaneous changes, resulting in maturation through childhood, puberty and young adulthood, and then decline through middle and late age. However, animals and humans are capable of reaching the extreme limit of life span characteristic for the species with a very efficient network of antiaging mechanisms. Among them, neuroendocrine-immune interactions play a pivotal role. The loss of the capacity of the organism in remodeling the neuroendocrine-immune response leads to the appearance of age-associated pathologies. We herein report some substances which can be proposed as new antiaging strategies because of their capacity to remodel some biological functions in old animals and humans. These substances are: L-deprenyl, leptin, ghrelin, carnosine and NO donors. Their role as possible antiaging strategies in healthy people in relation to neuroendocrine-immune responses and zinc ion bioavailability is reported and discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35354678,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effectiveness of graded motor imagery in subjects with frozen shoulder: a pilot randomized controlled trial.\nSubjects with frozen shoulder (FS) might not be comfortable with vigorous physical therapy. Clinical trials assessing the effect of graded motor imagery (GMI) in FS are lacking. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of GMI as an adjunct to conventional physiotherapy in individuals with painful FS. Twenty subjects aged 40-65 years having stage I and II of FS were randomly divided into two study groups. The conventional physiotherapy group (n = 10) received electrotherapy and exercises while the GMI group (n = 10) received GMI along with the conventional physiotherapy thrice a week for 3 weeks. Pre- (Session 1) and post- (Session 9) intervention analysis for flexion, abduction, and external rotation range of motion (ROM) using a universal goniometer, fear of movement using the fear avoidance belief questionnaire (FABQ), pain with the visual analogue scale, and functional disability using the shoulder pain and disability index (SPADI) was done by a blinded assessor. Statistically significant difference was seen within both the groups for all the outcomes. In terms of increasing abduction ROM as well as reducing fear of movement, pain, and functional disability, the GMI group was significantly better than control group. However, both groups were equally effective for improving flexion and external rotation ROM. Addition of GMI to the conventional physiotherapy proved to be superior to conventional physiotherapy alone in terms of reducing pain, kinesiophobia, and improving shoulder function for stage I and II of FS.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14525176,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Elliptic flow at large transverse momenta from quark coalescence.\nWe show that hadronization via quark coalescence enhances hadron elliptic flow at large p(perpendicular) relative to that of partons at the same transverse momentum. Therefore, compared to earlier results based on covariant parton transport theory, more moderate initial parton densities dN\/deta(b=0) approximately 1500-3000 can explain the differential elliptic flow v(2)(p(perpendicular)) data for Au+Au reactions at sqrt[s]=130 and 200A GeV from BNL RHIC. In addition, v(2)(p(perpendicular)) could saturate at about 50% higher values for baryons than for mesons. If strange quarks have weaker flow than light quarks, hadron v(2) at high p(perpendicular) decreases with relative strangeness content.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29381355,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Ribocyclophanes A-E, Glycosylated Cyclophanes with Antiproliferative Activity from Two Cultured Terrestrial Cyanobacteria.\nThe cell extracts of two cultured freshwater Nostoc spp., UIC 10279 and UIC 10366, both from the suburbs of Chicago, showed antiproliferative activity against MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-435 cancer cell lines. Bioassay-guided fractionation led to the isolation of five glycosylated cylindrocyclophanes, named ribocyclophanes A-E (1-5) and cylindrocyclophane D (6). The structure determination was carried out by HRESIMS and 1D and 2D NMR analyses and confirmed by single-crystal X-ray crystallography. The structures of ribocyclophanes A-E (1-5) contain a \u03b2-d-ribopyranose glycone in the rare 1 C4 conformation. Among isolated compounds, ribocyclophane D (4) showed antiproliferative activity against MDA-MB-435 and MDA-MB-231 cancer cells with an IC50 value of less than 1 \u03bcM.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32370744,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The role of SRGN in the survival and immune infiltrates of skin cutaneous melanoma (SKCM) and SKCM-metastasis patients.\nSkin cutaneous melanoma (SKCM) is one of most aggressive type of cancers worldwide. Serglycin (SRGN) is an intracellular proteoglycan that playing an important role in various tumors. However, its effect on immune infiltrates and whether it associates with survival of SKCM and SKCM-metastasis patients has not been explored. We evaluated SRGN expression via the databases of Oncomine, Tumor Immune Estimation Resource (TIMER) and Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA). The influence of SRGN expression on survival of SKCM and SKCM-metastasis patients was analyzed using TIMER database. Furthermore, the correlations between SRGN expression and immune infiltrates or gene marker sets of immune infiltrates were also analyzed via TIMER database. We found that the expression of SRGN in SKCM and SKCM-metastasis tissues was significantly increased compared to the normal skin tissues (P < 0.001). Interestingly, it was showed that lower level of SRGN expression and lower immune infiltrates of B cell, CD8+ T cell, Neutrophil, and Dendritic cell were correlated with poor survival rate of SKCM and SKCM-metastasis patients (P < 0.001) but not SKCM primary patients. We also demonstrated that SRGN expression was positively associated with the immune infiltrates and diverse immune marker sets in SKCM and SKCM-metastasis. Our findings indicated that SRGN was associated with the survival of SKCM and SKCM-metastasis patients. SRGN may be a new immune therapy target for treating SKCM and SKCM-metastasis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12016823,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[The development of an intelligent four-channel aggregometer].\nThe paper introduces the hardware and software design of the instrument. We use 89C52 single-chip computer as the microprocessor to control the amplifier, AD and DA conversion chip to realize the sampling, data process, printout and supervision. The final result is printed out in form of data and aggregation curve from PP40 plotter.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11995426,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Minimally invasive procedures. Interventional MR image-guided functional neurosurgery.\nIntraoperative MR imaging techniques have the potential to greatly improve the stereotactic methods used for functional neurosurgery. No longer are neurosurgeons and patients always constrained by uncomfortable head frames and conventional stereotaxy. Accuracy and complication avoidance are improved by intraoperative imaging. Safety of operative machinery and equipment in an MR imaging operative suite is attainable, even with deep brain stimulating electrodes in depth electrodes for epilepsy. Although cost-effectiveness remains to be determined (see article by Kucharczyk et al in this issue), the minor inconveniences of operating within an iMRI environment seem to be significantly outweighed by the benefits.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23455447,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Withania somnifera prevents acquisition and expression of morphine-elicited conditioned place preference.\nPrevious studies have reported that some of the central effects of morphine are counteracted by the administration of the methanolic extract of the root of Indian ginseng, Withania somnifera Dunal (WSE). The present study sought to determine whether WSE affects acquisition and expression of morphine-elicited conditioned place preference (CPP) in CD-1 mice. In CPP acquisition experiments, WSE (0, 25, 50, and 100 mg\/kg) was administered, during conditioning, 30 min before morphine (10 mg\/kg), whereas in expression experiments, WSE (0, 25, 50, and 100 mg\/kg) was administered 30 min before the postconditioning test. The results demonstrate (i) that WSE was devoid of motivational properties; (ii) that WSE (100 mg\/kg) was devoid of effects on spontaneous and morphine-stimulated motor activity and on spatial memory; and (iii) that WSE (50 and 100 mg\/kg) significantly prevented the acquisition and expression of CPP. Further, to characterize the receptor(s) involved in these effects, we studied, by receptor-binding assay, the affinity of WSE for \u00b5-opioid and \u03b3-aminobutyric acid B receptors. These experiments revealed a higher affinity of WSE for \u03b3-aminobutyric acid B than for \u00b5-opioid receptors. Overall, these results point to WSE as an interesting alternative tool, worthy of further investigation, to study opiate addiction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26473606,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Structural Basis for Activation and Inhibition of ZAP-70 Kinase Domain.\nZAP-70 (Zeta-chain-associated protein kinase 70) is a tyrosine kinase that interacts directly with the activated T-cell receptor to transduce downstream signals, and is hence a major player in the regulation of the adaptive immune response. Dysfunction of ZAP-70 causes selective T cell deficiency that in turn results in persistent infections. ZAP-70 is activated by a variety of signals including phosphorylation of the kinase domain (KD), and binding of its regulatory tandem Src homology 2 (SH2) domains to the T cell receptor. The present study investigates molecular mechanisms of activation and inhibition of ZAP-70 via atomically detailed molecular dynamics simulation approaches. We report microsecond timescale simulations of five distinct states of the ZAP-70 KD, comprising apo, inhibited and three phosphorylated variants. Extensive analysis of local flexibility and correlated motions reveal crucial transitions between the states, thus elucidating crucial steps in the activation mechanism of the ZAP-70 KD. Furthermore, we rationalize previously observed staurosporine-bound crystal structures, suggesting that whilst the KD superficially resembles an \"active-like\" conformation, the inhibitor modulates the underlying protein dynamics and restricts it in a compact, rigid state inaccessible to ligands or cofactors. Finally, our analysis reveals a novel, potentially druggable pocket in close proximity to the activation loop of the kinase, and we subsequently use its structure in fragment-based virtual screening to develop a pharmacophore model. The pocket is distinct from classical type I or type II kinase pockets, and its discovery offers promise in future design of specific kinase inhibitors, whilst mutations in residues associated with this pocket are implicated in immunodeficiency in humans.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25518543,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-22":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Giant epidermal cyst of the foot.\nEpidermoid inclusion cysts are usually composed of epidermal elements implanted into the dermal layers. Patients are seen in the outpatient clinics with a mass. Most of the complaints are mechanical and cosmetic problems. A 34-year-old female patient was admitted to our clinic because of swelling and pain in her right foot. A palpable mass was detected in the first web. On the x-rays of the foot no osseous lesion was detected.There was a soft tissue mass in the first web according to MRI report. Soft tissue mass was excised and sent to pathology. According to pathology report the mass was an epidermoid cyst 5 x 2 x 1.5 cm in size.There were no problems during follow-up of the patient for 6 months after surgery. The patient had no swelling in the foot and had no additional complaints on checkup. In the differential diagnosis, we should take into consideration epidermoid cyst of large soft tissue masses of the foot. Surgical excision should be done within the appropriate limits.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12036243,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Portal hypertension in a dog due to circumscribed fibrosis of the wall of the extrahepatic portal vein.\nA two-and-a-half-year-old German shepherd dog with ascites and a high concentration of blood ammonia was investigated. Sonographically, its liver was normal but the portal vein was dilated and the flow of blood within it was slow. A liver biopsy showed that the liver was normal, and did not reveal any possible cause of portal hypertension or ascites. Postmortem, the cranial part of the portal vein was dilated with a cross-striped internal surface, but the caudal part looked normal; there was a stenotic ring between the normal and dilated parts. Histology of the dilated segment revealed marked hypertrophy of both the internal circular and the external longitudinal smooth muscle layers. At the site of the stenosis, the longitudinal muscular layer was replaced by connective tissue. Circumscribed fibrosis in the wall of the portal vein was responsible for the stenosis and the subsequent prehepatic portal hypertension. The cross-striped pattern in the dilated part of the vein was the result of hypertrophy of the inner circular smooth muscle layer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1674741,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Urticarial vasculitis as a symptom of Muckle-Wells syndrome?].\nA patient is reported with a history of several years of chronic urticaria, transient fever, arthralgias and secondary systemic amyloidosis. A biopsy of an urticarial lesion showed necrotizing vasculitis and amyloid deposits in the eccrine sweat glands. Amyloid A deposits were also detected in kidney and rectum biopsies. This patient is likely to represent a variant of the Muckle-Wells syndrome (chronic relapsing urticaria, fever, arthralgia, deafness and renal amyloidosis). Hitherto undescribed is the presence of a necrotizing vasculitis as cause of the urticarial rash; further investigation will determine whether or not this finding represents the rule rather than an exception.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20349881,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pediatric trigger thumb in identical twins: congenital or acquired?\nPediatric trigger thumb is an uncommon condition with a calculated incidence of 3 per 1000 live births or less. Some reports have suggested a congenital etiology while others could not find a single case of pediatric trigger thumb at birth. This article reports the occurrence of bilateral trigger thumbs in identical twins, age 3 years and 9 months, affecting their thumbs to similar extents, which may suggest a congenital etiology.Congenital etiology for trigger thumb has been proposed for many reasons: occurrence in infants, occurrence in twins, occasional bilaterality, possible presence of triggering at birth, and absence of history of trauma. The occurrence of pediatric trigger thumb in twins has been reported 3 times in the literature; all reported cases were bilateral, as in our case.The mean age at presentation of pediatric trigger thumb is 2 years. The thumb is usually held in a fixed flexion position (mimicking a fracture). Examination usually reveals a palpable nodule in the flexor pollicis longus tendon at the metacarpal joint. This is an important clinical sign. Triggering in children, however, is rare. Macroscopically, there is a nodular thickening of the tendon itself. Pathological changes can be found in the tendon, tendon sheath, or both. A specimen taken from one of the nodules in our case showed degenerative changes while those from both pulleys were normal.Pediatric trigger thumb responds predictably to A1 pulley release, preferably before age 4 years, although milder cases may resolve spontaneously.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29548098,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Fractional Brownian motion with a reflecting wall.\nFractional Brownian motion, a stochastic process with long-time correlations between its increments, is a prototypical model for anomalous diffusion. We analyze fractional Brownian motion in the presence of a reflecting wall by means of Monte Carlo simulations. Whereas the mean-square displacement of the particle shows the expected anomalous diffusion behavior \u3008x^{2}\u3009\u223ct^{\u03b1}, the interplay between the geometric confinement and the long-time memory leads to a highly non-Gaussian probability density function with a power-law singularity at the barrier. In the superdiffusive case \u03b1>1, the particles accumulate at the barrier leading to a divergence of the probability density. For subdiffusion \u03b1<1, in contrast, the probability density is depleted close to the barrier. We discuss implications of these findings, in particular, for applications that are dominated by rare events.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17183214,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A glucose kinase from Mycobacterium smegmatis.\nCarbon metabolism and regulation is poorly understood in mycobacteria, a genus that includes some major pathogenic species like Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium leprae. Here, we report the identification of a glucose kinase from Mycobacterium smegmatis. This enzyme serves in glucose metabolism and global carbon catabolite repression in the related actinomycete Streptomyces coelicolor. The gene, msmeg1356 (glkA), was found by means of in silico screening. It was shown that it occurs in the same genetic context in all so far sequenced mycobacterial species, where it is located in a putative tricistronic operon together with a glycosyl hydrolase and a putative malonyl-CoA transacylase. Heterologous expression of glkA in an Escherichia coli glucose kinase mutant led to the restoration of glucose growth, which provided in vivo evidence for glucose kinase function. GlkA(Msm) was subsequently overproduced in order to study its enzymatic features. We found that it can form a dimer and that it efficiently phosphorylates glucose at the expense of ATP. The affinity constant for glucose was with 9 mM about eight times higher and the velocity was about tenfold slower when compared to the parallel measured glucose kinase of S. coelicolor. Both enzymes showed similar substrate specificity, which consists in an ATP-dependent phosphorylation of glucose and no, or very inefficient, phosphorylation of the glucose analogues 2-deoxyglucose and methyl alpha-glucoside. Hence, our data provide a basis for studying the role of mycobacterial glucose kinase in vivo to unravel possible catalytic and regulatory functions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22664886,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Reactions to patient death: the lived experience of critical care nurses.\nA qualitative study using phenomenological descriptive design was conducted to explore critical care nurses' experiences with patient death. Several themes emerged as a result of this study: coping, personal distress, emotional disconnect, and inevitable death. Understanding critical care nurses' reactions to patient death may help to improve the care provided to critically ill dying patients and their families and to meet the needs of the nurses who care for them.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37466067,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Textile Electronics with Laser-Induced Graphene\/Polymer Hybrid Fibers.\nThe concept of wearables is rapidly evolving from flexible polymer-based devices to textile electronics. The reason for this shift is the ability of textiles to ensure close contact with the skin, resulting in comfortable, lightweight, and compact \"always with you\" sensors. We are contributing to this polymer-textile transition by introducing a novel and simple way of laser intermixing of graphene with synthetic fabrics to create wearable sensing platforms. Our hybrid materials exhibit high electrical conductivity (87.6 \u00b1 36.2 \u03a9\/sq) due to the laser reduction of graphene oxide and simultaneous laser-induced graphene formation on the surface of textiles. Furthermore, the composite created between graphene and nylon ensures the durability of our materials against sonication and washing with detergents. Both of these factors are essential for real-life applications, but what is especially useful is that our free-form composites could be used as-fabricated without encapsulation, which is typically required for conventional laser-scribed materials. We demonstrate the exceptional versatility of our new hybrid textiles by successfully recording muscle activity, heartbeat, and voice. We also show a gesture sensor and an electrothermal heater embedded within a single commercial glove. Additionally, the use of these textiles could be extended to personal protection equipment and smart clothes. We achieve this by implementing self-sterilization with light and laser-induced functionalization with silver nanoparticles, which results in multifunctional antibacterial textiles. Moreover, incorporating silver into such fabrics enables their use as surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy sensors, allowing for the direct analysis of drugs and sweat components on the clothing itself. Our research offers valuable insights into simple and scalable processes of textile-based electronics, opening up new possibilities for paradigms like the Internet of Medical Things.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18605195,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Role of leptin in immunodeficiency in children with protein-calorie malnutrition].\nThe article based on current literature, reviews physiological properties of leptin and the influence of nutritional state on its production. Leptin is the pleiotropic hormone secreted by adipocytes. Besides participation in the regulation of energy balance, it influences the immunological system and improves the state of immunity, both inborn and acquired. In protein-caloric malnutrition leptin secretion is reduced which may cause immunity deficit, especially of the cellular type. The authors also discuss the usefulness of measuring leptin serum concentration for evaluation of treatment of malnourished children.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14566115,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nonintracranial fatal firearm injuries in children: implications for treatment.\nUnderstanding the injury characteristics of nonintracranial fatal (NIF) gunshot wounds in children treated in a statewide trauma system will help guide effective treatment strategies. This study was a retrospective analysis of children fatally injured with firearms. The review included demographic information, firearm injury characteristics, and outcome. The setting included trauma centers participating in a statewide trauma registry. Patients were all children (age < 18 years) treated in trauma centers for NIF gunshot wounds from January 1988 through December 2000. The main outcome measures were characteristics of fatal firearm injuries in children. Over the 13-year period, there were 1,954 children with firearm injuries including 368 (18.8%) children with fatal wounds. Of the fatally wounded children, 177 (48.1%) had no intracranial injury. The NIF injury population was 90.4% male, with a mean age of 14.9 years (range, <1-17 years) and an Injury Severity Score of 38.2 (range, 9-75). Over 95% of deaths in this group occurred within 24 hours of admission. Although injuries to the thorax were most common (78.5%), 48.6% of the NIF cohort had injuries to multiple body regions, including 31% with injuries in both the abdomen and thorax. Compared with all children wounded by firearms, NIF firearm injury patients had, on average, more body regions injured (1.6 vs. 1.1, p < 0.001) and a greater total number of injuries (6.0 vs. 3.5, p < 0.001). Patients with an NIF injury were more likely to suffer a major vascular injury (54.8% vs. 13.8%, p < 0.001), lung injury (56.5% vs. 12.9%, p < 0.001), or cardiac injury (44.6% vs. 4.6%, p < 0.001) than all children with a firearm injury. Most children who arrive at trauma centers alive and subsequently die from NIF firearm injuries do so rapidly from major vascular and thoracic injury. Almost half of these children have injuries to multiple body regions, further complicating management. Innovative, aggressive treatment approaches should be sought to improve survival in this extremely injured cohort of children.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29370347,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Artemisinin Therapy for Malaria in Hemoglobinopathies: A Systematic Review.\nArtemisinin derivatives are widely used antimalarial drugs. There is some evidence from in vitro, animal and clinical studies that hemoglobinopathies may alter their disposition and antimalarial activity. This review assesses relevant data in \u03b1-thalassemia, sickle cell disease (SCD), \u03b2-thalassemia and hemoglobin E. There is no convincing evidence that the disposition of artemisinin drugs is affected by hemoglobinopathies. Although in vitro studies indicate that Plasmodium falciparum cultured in thalassemic erythrocytes is relatively resistant to the artemisinin derivatives, mean 50% inhibitory concentrations (IC50s) are much lower than in vivo plasma concentrations after recommended treatment doses. Since IC50s are not increased in P. falciparum cultures using SCD erythrocytes, delayed post-treatment parasite clearance in SCD may reflect hyposplenism. As there have been no clinical studies suggesting that hemoglobinopathies significantly attenuate the efficacy of artemisinin combination therapy (ACT) in uncomplicated malaria, recommended artemisinin doses as part of ACT remain appropriate in this patient group.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32587690,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Analysis of the impact of secondary prophylaxis on Clostridioides difficile recurrence in critically ill adults.\nClostridioides (formerly Clostridium) difficile infection recurrence in patients re-exposed to antibiotics for treatment of a non-Clostridioides difficile infection is high at approximately 33%. Low-dose per os vancomycin (e.g. 125 mg q12 h) or metronidazole (e.g. 500 mg intravenous\/per osq8 h) may help prevent recurrences, but study of secondary prophylaxis in critically ill patients is needed. To determine whether critically ill adults receiving low-dose per os vancomycin for secondary Clostridioides difficile infection prophylaxis have fewer recurrences of Clostridioides difficile infection in 90 days compared with patients receiving metronidazole for secondary Clostridioides difficile infection prophylaxis or control (no secondary prophylaxis). This was a retrospective, two-center, observational study in a large academic medical center and affiliated community hospital. Included patients had a history of Clostridioides difficile infection within 1 year of receiving antibiotics for clinical care. We compared patients receiving secondary prophylaxis with vancomycin or metronidazole and control patients; in addition, an unplanned fourth group (vancomycin\/metronidazole combination) was identified and analyzed. The primary outcome was Clostridioides difficile infection recurrence within 90 days of a course of broad-spectrum antibiotic therapy. Fisher's exact, analysis of variance, and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to compare Clostridioides difficile infection recurrence with prophylaxis group and additional contributing factors. Eighty-two patients were included: 38 control (46.3%), 20 metronidazole (24.4%), 17 vancomycin (20.7%), and 7 combination (8.5%). Ten of 82 patients (12.2%) had at least one Clostridioides difficile infection recurrence; 8\/38 patients in the control group (21.1%), 1\/7 patients in the combination group (14.3%), 1\/17 patients in the per os vancomycin group (5.9%), and 0\/20 in the metronidazole group (0%; p = 0.073). As a post hoc secondary analysis, the three prophylaxis groups were coalesced into one group and compared with control (4.5% vs 21%; p = 0.039). Additional factors (e.g. age, obesity, immunosuppression, acid suppression) were not significantly associated with Clostridioides difficile infection recurrence or with prophylaxis group. There was no difference in Clostridioides difficile infection recurrence between prophylaxis groups, however, given the low recurrence rate, prospective evaluation with a larger sample of critically ill patients is necessary.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15808387,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Long-term prospective randomized study comparing two different regimens of oxybutynin as a treatment for detrusor overactivity.\nProspective randomized trial to compare two low starting doses of oxybutynin, using an incremental regimen to assess patient compliance and treatment efficacy in the long-term. Women with detrusor overactivity were included. Oxybutynin was randomly prescribed with a starting dose of either 2.5 mg bd or 5 mg nocte. Instructions were given to increase oxybutynin up to 5 mg tds over a period of 6 weeks fortnightly. After two years we re-contacted all the women, using a specific questionnaire to assess the efficacy, acceptability and compliance with these two different regimens. Twenty-two women in each group were calculated to show a 5% difference with a significance of 0.05 and a power of 0.9. The chi2-test was used to compare the two groups and a P-value < 0.05 was considered significant. Ninety-six women were included; 66 (68.75%) (mean age 57.5 years) responded to our questionnaire. Twenty-seven had a starting dose of 2.5 mg oxybutynin twice a day and 39 of 5 mg nocte. 34.8% complained of side effects. Only 19 (43.2%) out of the 44, not on medication anymore abandoned oxybutynin for adverse reactions. Most of the patients stopped oxybutynin within 4 months. 53.0% reported improvement or cure. 39.4% denied any benefit and 7.6% (none still on oxybutynin) did not answer. The two groups did not differ for duration of treatment, improvement with oxybutynin, maximum dose they reached, the present dose, and the present urinary symptoms. This study did not show any advantage in efficacy or compliance with oxybutynin when two different regimens of low starting were used. Two-thirds of patients discontinued the therapy within 4-6 months. Therefore, patients on anticholinergics should be reassessed after 6 months in clinical practice.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17000208,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-30":1}}},"text":"Allergy immunotherapy for primary care physicians.\nAllergic diseases affect a large proportion of the population of the United States. Although there are many effective pharmacologic therapies available, only allergen-specific immunotherapy has been shown to have significant and long-lasting therapeutic and immunomodulatory effects for the management of allergic rhinitis, allergic asthma, and venom hypersensitivity. Allergen immunotherapy requires a build-up phase as the dose of the vaccine is increased until a therapeutic (maintenance) level is achieved. This maintenance dose is usually continued for 3 to 5 years. Most patients tolerate immunotherapy well, but local reactions are not uncommon. Immunotherapy should only be administered in a physician's office because some patients may experience systemic anaphylactic reactions requiring immediate therapy. Even with newer therapies on the horizon, allergen immunotherapy will continue to have an important role in the treatment of allergic diseases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19031293,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The major amino acid transporter superfamily has a similar core structure as Na+-galactose and Na+-leucine transporters.\nThe sodium solute symporters (SSS) and neurotransmitter sodium symporters (NSS) are two families of secondary transporters that are not related in amino acid sequence. Nonetheless, recent crystal structures showed that the Na(+)\/galactose (SSS) and Na(+)\/leucine (NSS) transporters have similar core structures. The structural relatedness highlights the need for classification methods for membrane protein structures based on other criteria than amino acid similarity. Here, we demonstrate that a method based on hydropathy profile alignments convincingly identifies structural similarity between the NSS and SSS families. Most importantly, the method shows that one of the largest transporter families for which a crystal structure is elusive (the amino acid\/polyamine\/organocation or APC superfamily), also shares the similar core structure observed for the Na(+)\/galactose and Na(+)\/leucine transporters. The APC superfamily contains the major amino acid transporter families that are found throughout life. Insight into their structure will significantly facilitate the studies of this important group of transporters.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9158645,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cerebral infarcts related to isolated middle cerebral artery stenosis.\nThe clinical presentation of middle cerebral artery (MCA) stenosis, a rarely diagnosed condition, is not well known. The aim of this study was to analyze the stroke patterns of patients with isolated MCA stenosis. Twenty-two patients with cerebral infarcts due to isolated MCA stenosis were analyzed with respect to their clinical syndrome, and cerebral lesions were assessed by neuroimaging. MCA stenosis was diagnosed by transcranial Doppler sonography (TCD) in 16, by TCD and digital subtraction angiography (DSA) in 4, and by DSA alone in 2 patients. Ten patients (45.5%) had lacunar syndromes, suggesting small-vessel disease, and 12 patients (55.5%) showed signs and symptoms of cortical dysfunction. Cerebral CT or MRI showed no lesion in 2 patients, small deep infarcts in 10, large striatocapsular infarcts in 2, combined piomedullary and striatocapsular infarcts in 4, piomedullary branch infarcts in 3, and MCA trunk infarct in 1. The results suggest an association between MCA stenosis and (1) lacunar infarcts and (2) the occurrence of piomedullary MCA branch infarcts alone or in combination with subcortical infarcts. The clinical syndromes and the radiological findings correspond in most cases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28250709,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Perceptions of Community-Dwelling Patients and Their Physicians on OxyContin\u00ae Discontinuation and the Impact on Chronic Pain Management.\nOxyContin, formerly one of the most commonly prescribed medications for chronic pain in Canada, was discontinued, delisted from the Ontario Drug Formulary, and replaced by a tamper-resistant formulation in 2012. The impact of discontinuing OxyContin on patients formerly prescribed it to treat chronic pain was unreported. Patients with chronic pain aged 45 years and over (n = 13) were recruited from two primary care and one specialty practice sites and interviewed using a semistructured guide to capture their experiences with discontinuing OxyContin, the efficacy of alternate medications, and relationships with physicians. Additional interviews were conducted with their physicians (n = 7) to obtain physician perceptions on discontinuation and to expand understanding of the patients' experiences. Aspects of patients' pain and medical care through the discontinuation process revealed emergent themes that both converge and diverge from that of treating physicians. Areas of divergence include the motive for discontinuation, which was condemned by most patients but supported by all physicians, and the perceived impact of discontinuance on pain control, with the majority of patients experiencing a negative impact and most physicians describing it as insignificant. Perceptions of patients and physicians coincided on the need to optimize pain management practices.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19052302,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"An increase in human cases of spotted fever rickettsiosis in Yucatan, Mexico, involving children.\nThe first human case of infection caused by Rickettsia in Yucatan was detected in 1996, and it was determined that the species was R. felis. Since then, passive epidemiologic surveillance was implemented to search for human cases in the public hospitals of the state, and in 2005, the first human case of Rocky Mountain spotted fever was detected. During the following 2 years, eight new confirmed cases and one probable case were identified. Seven cases involved children younger than 12 years of age, with a fatal outcome in three of the cases. Children are a particularly vulnerable population for this serious emerging infection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25503577,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Continuous irradiation with a 633-nm light-emitting diode exerts an anti-aging effect on human skin cells.\nAccumulating evidence has indicated that the light source emitted from light\u2011emitting diode (LED) has a potential anti-aging effect on human skin. Studies using single and interval LED irradiation have documented such effects; however, to the best of our knowledge, the anti-aging effects of continuous LED irradiation have not yet been investigated. In the present study, we demonstrated that continuous irradiation with a 633\u00b13-nm LED exerted anti-aging effects in both in vitro and ex vivo experiments. More specifically, irradiation with a 633-nm LED for 2 days increased the synthesis of type 1 procollagen and decreased the expression of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)1 and MMP2 in skin fibroblasts. In addition, irradiation with a 633-nm LED decreased the expression levels of inflammatory genes, such has cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), and interleukin-1-\u03b1 (IL-1\u03b1) in keratinocytes. Furthermore, a 14-day LED irradiation moderately increased keratinocyte proliferation. Using human skin explants, we confirmed the safety of this 633-nm LED irradiation, which resulted in unaltered morphology and allergy-free potential in human tissue. Overall, these data provide insight into the anti-aging effects of continuous LED irradiation on human skin.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28252258,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"HPCO-A Phosphorus-Containing Analogue of Isocyanic Acid.\nWe describe the isolation and spectroscopic characterization of the heavier phosphorus-containing analogue of isocyanic acid (HPCO), and its isotopologue (DPCO). This fundamental small molecule, which has been postulated to exist in interstellar space, has thus far only been observed at low gas phase concentrations or in inert gas matrices. In this report we describe its synthesis, spectroscopic properties, and reactivity in solution.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15261062,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Characterization of hemoglobin immobilized on gamma-zirconium phosphate.\nThe fact that different gamma-zirconium phosphate (gamma-ZrP) preintercalation method induced varied degree and type of conformational change of the adsorption protein was confirmed by characterization techniques including circular dichroism (CD), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) analysis. The results indicated that the association of hemoglobin with gamma-ZrP preintercalated using butylamine was correlated with conformational change in the secondary structure of the protein. gamma-ZrP which was preintercalated with tetra (n-butylammonium) hydroxide caused the conformational change of Hemoglobin in both the secondary structure and the tertiary structure. X-ray powder diffraction analysis was used to analyze the crystalline structure of the nanocomposites prepared by relamination. The adsorption isotherms of Hemoglobin on different matrices were set up and fitted with Langmuir and Freundlich equations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25401041,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"In vitro and In vivo Model Systems for Hemophilia A Gene Therapy.\nHemophilia A is a hereditary disorder caused by various mutations in factor VIII gene resulting in either a severe deficit or total lack of the corresponding activity. Recent success in gene therapy of a related disease, hemophilia B, gives new hope that similar success can be achieved for hemophilia A as well. To develop a gene therapy strategy for the latter, a variety of model systems are needed to evaluate molecular engineering of the factor VIII gene, vector delivery efficacy and safety-related issues. Typically, a tissue culture cell line is the most convenient way to get a preliminary glimpse of the potential of a vector delivery strategy. It is then followed by extensive testing in hemophilia A mouse and dog models. Newly developed hemophilia A sheep may provide yet another tool for evaluation of factor VIII gene delivery vectors. Hemophilia models based on other species may also be developed since hemophiliac animals have been identified or generated in rat, pig, cattle and horse. Although a genetic nonhuman primate hemophilia A model has yet to be developed, the non-genetic hemophilia A model can also be used for special purposes when specific questions need to be addressed that cannot not be answered in other model systems. Hemophilia A is caused by a functional deficiency in the factor VIII gene. This X-linked, recessive bleeding disorder affects approximately 1 in 5000 males [1-3]. Clinically, it is characterized by frequent and spontaneous joint hemorrhages, easy bruising and prolonged bleeding time. The coagulation activity of FVIII dictates severity of the clinical symptoms. Approximately 50% of all cases are classified as severe with less than 1% of normal levels of factor VIII detected [4]. This deficiency may lead to spontaneous joint hemorrhages or life-threatening bleeding. In contrast, patients with 5-30% of normal factor VIII activity exhibit mild clinical manifestations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18607651,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1}}},"text":"Calcific discitis in children: vertebral body involvement (possible insight into etiology).\nThe aim of the study was to present our cases of calcific discitis, analyze the imaging findings, and review the literature in an attempt to formulate a possible etiology. We reviewed the imaging and clinical findings in nine patients with calcific discitis and accomplished a literature review of the condition. There were nine patients, five males and four females. Age range was 5-13 years with a mean of 9.7 years. Twenty-three discs were involved, nine cervical and fourteen thoracic. Four cervical discs were not calcified but merely swollen. One patient presented with abnormal magnetic resonance (MR) signal changes within a vertebral body. Our literature search revealed another such patient and brought up the possibility that the insult to the disc might be secondary to vertebral body involvement and disruption of the tenuous vascular\/nutritional support of the intervertebral disc from the adjacent vertebral body. In the early stages of calcific discitis, only swelling and expansion of the disc are seen. More recently, with MR imaging, vertebral body involvement has been demonstrated to also occur. As a result, it may be that the initial insult (vascular compromise) is to the vertebral body (nutritional support for the disc) rather than to the disc.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18586997,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Self-directed care for adults with serious mental illness: the barriers to progress.\nThe President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health identified self-directed care as one service innovation that could create a more consumer- and family oriented mental health system. Four years later, there are still fewer than 400 consumers in five states accessing self-directed care in the public mental health system. This Open Forum identifies three main barriers to explain this lack of progress: the absence of a strong evidence base to support the effectiveness of self-directed care for serious mental illness, uncertainty over the appropriate scope of self-directed care, and the absence of a sustainable source of funding. The introduction of the 1915(i) provision of the Social Security Act in 2007 appears to partly address the funding barrier to self-directed care. There is also a strong case for a large-scale evaluation of self-directed care for persons with serious mental illness to address the two remaining barriers to progress.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26434716,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Mucosal expression signatures of two Cathepsin L in channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) following bacterial challenge.\nThe mucosal surfaces of fish are the first line of host defense against various pathogens. The mucosal immune responses are the most critical events to prevent pathogen attachment and invasion. Cathepsins are a group of peptidases that involved in different levels of immune responses, but the knowledge of the roles of Cathepsin in mucosal immune responses against bacterial infection are still lacking. Therefore, in the present study we characterized the Cathepsin L gene family in channel catfish, and profiled their expression levels after challenging with two different Gram-negative bacterial pathogens. Here, two Cathepsin L genes were identified from channel catfish and were designated CTSL1a and CTSL.1. Comparing to other fish species, the catfish CTSL genes are highly conserved in their structural features. Phylogenetic analysis was conducted to confirm the identification of CTSL genes. Expression analysis revealed that the CTSL genes were ubiquitously expressed in all tested tissues. Following infection, the CTSL genes were significantly induced at most timepoints in mucosal tissues. But the expression patterns varied depending on both pathogen and tissue types, suggesting that CTSL genes may exert disparate functions or exhibit distinct tissue-selective roles in mucosal immune responses. Our findings here, clearly revealed the key roles of CTSL in catfish mucosal immunity; however, further studies are needed to expand functional characterization and examine whether CTSL may also play additional physiological roles in catfish mucosal tissues.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25299175,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Metagenomic approach reveals variation of microbes with arsenic and antimony metabolism genes from highly contaminated soil.\nMicrobes have great potential for arsenic (As) and antimony (Sb) bioremediation in heavily contaminated soil because they have the ability to biotransform As and Sb to species that have less toxicity or are more easily removed. In this study, we integrated a metagenomic method with physicochemical characterization to elucidate the composition of microbial community and functional genes (related to As and Sb) in a high As (range from 34.11 to 821.23 mg kg-1) and Sb (range from 226.67 to 3923.07 mg kg-1) contaminated mine field. Metagenomic analysis revealed that microbes from 18 phyla were present in the 5 samples of soil contaminated with high As and Sb. Moreover, redundancy analysis (RDA) of the relationship between the 18 phyla and the concentration of As and Sb demonstrated that 5 phyla of microbes, i.e. Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, Nitrospirae, Tenericutes and Gemmatimonadetes were positively correlated with As and Sb concentration. The distribution, diversity and abundance of functional genes (including arsC, arrA, aioA, arsB and ACR3) were much higher for the samples containing higher As and Sb concentrations. Based on correlation analysis, the results showed a positive relationship between arsC-like (R2 = 0.871) and aioA-like (R2 = 0.675) gene abundance and As concentration, and indicated that intracellular As(V) reduction and As(III) oxidation could be the dominant As detoxification mechanism enabling the microbes to survive in the environment. This study provides a direct and reliable reference on the diversity of microbial community and functional genes in an extremely high concentration As- and Sb-contaminated environment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17883935,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Comparison of drug abuse in Germany and China.\nDrug abuse has a long, but also different history in Germany and China. The Opium War largely influenced the history of China in 19th century; however, China was once recognized as a drug-free nation for 3 decades from the 1950s to the 1980s. Drug abuse has spread quickly since re-emerging as a national problem in China in the late 1980s. The number of registered drug abusers increased from 70 000 in 1990 to more than 1 million by the end of 2005. In past decades, illicit drug trafficking and production have swept most provinces in China, and drug abuse has caused many problems for both abusers and the community. One major drug-related problem is the spread of HIV, which has caused major social and economic damage in China. Germany, the largest developed European country, also faces the drug and addiction problem. Germany has about 150 000 heroin addicts, for whom HIV\/AIDS has become a serious threat since the mid 1980s. To control the drug problem, the German Government adopted the pAction Plan on Drugs and Addictionq in 2003; the China Central Government approved a similar regulation in the antidrug campaign in 2005. Germany has experience in reducing drug-related harm. The methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) program has run for more than 20 years and the public has become more tolerant of addicts. In 2003, China began the MMT program for controlling the spread of HIV\/AIDS. It is necessary for China to learn from developed countries to acquire success in its antidrug campaign. In this review, we will go over the differences and similarities in drug abuse between Germany and China. The differences are related to history, population and economics, drug policy context, drug laws, HIV\/hepatitis C virus infection, the MMT program and so on. These 2 nations have drug abuse problems with different histories and currently use different approaches to handle illicit drug marketing and use. The legal penalties for illicit drug offences reflect the social differences of these 2 nations with respect to the seriousness of particular types of crimes. The characteristics of the MMT program may also influence patterns of drug abuse in these 2 nations and China should improve the MMT program based on the successful model in Europe, the USA, and Australia. We recommend more dialogue and collaboration between Germany and China.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25405593,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Comprehensive evaluation of the response of genes to the administration of the antitumor drug S-1 using a low density array.\nS-1 is a newly developed dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase inhibitory fluoropyrimidine that exhibits high clinical efficacy against non-small cell lung cancers. To identify genes that may be associated with chemosensitivity to the antitumor drug S-1, we used a low density array representing 93 genes to analyze expression profiles in 4 orthotopically implanted lung cancers derived from human lung cancer cell lines (Lu99, Lu130, LC6 and A549). The tumor growth inhibition (TGI) rates of S-1 in orthotopically implanted tumors of the Lu99, Lu130, LC6 and A549 cell lines were 34.6, 37.5, 32.1 and 3.6%, respectively. The expression of the PRSS3, ABCC4, TXN, SHMT1 and CMPK genes was significantly promoted in the orthotopically implanted SCID mouse model of the 4 lung cancer cell lines by the administration of S-1, while the expression of the LMO7 and FOLH1 genes was significantly suppressed. The expression of the ABCC1, 2 and TST genes was negatively correlated with TGI. The expression of the TK1 and ERCC2 genes was positively correlated with TGI. The results of the present study suggest that the expression of the ABCC1, 2, TST, TK1 and ERCC2 genes is related to resistance to the antitumor drug S-1.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19030621,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"On the evolution of the DyNiO3 perovskite across the metal-insulator transition though neutron diffraction and M\u00f6ssbauer spectroscopy studies.\nThe structural changes of polycrystalline DyNiO3 perovskite across the metal-insulator transition (TMI = 564 K) have been studied by high resolution neutron diffraction techniques together with M\u00f6ssbauer spectroscopy, in a sample doped with 1.5 at.% 57Fe. In the insulating (semi-conducting) regime, below T(MI), the perovskite is monoclinic, space group (SG) P21\/n, and the crystal structure contains two chemically different Ni1 and Ni2 cations, as a result of the charge disproportionation of Ni3+ cations. The beta parameter, characterizing the low-temperature monoclinic distortion, is smaller than 90.04 degrees for T < TMI, indicating a strongly pseudo-orthorhombic symmetry, although the internal monoclinic symmetry, implying the splitting and shifts of oxygen positions around the two Ni sites is perfectly detected by neutrons. Above TMI, DyNiO3 becomes orthorhombic, SG Pbnm. Upon heating across TMI, there is an abrupt convergence of the two sets (Ni1 and Ni2) of three Ni-O bond lengths, in the monoclinic-insulating phase, to three unique Ni-O distances in the orthorhombic-metallic phase upon entering the metallic region. The 57Fe M\u00f6ssbauer spectra of an iron-doped (1.5 at.%) DyNiO3 sample recorded in the insulating, paramagnetic temperature range (TN < T < TMI) are discussed by supposing that the Fe3+ probe cations replace nickel in the two octahedral Ni1 and Ni2 sites. Electric field gradient calculations have shown that the 57Fe hyperfine parameters of Fe1 and Fe2 subspectra reflect a specificity of local structure corresponding to large (Ni1O6) and small (Ni2O6) octahedra. At T > TMI, the 57Fe spectrum gives clear evidence for the formation of an unique state for iron probe atoms and could, therefore, imply that the charge disproportionation in the (NiO6) subarray completely vanishes at the insulator-->metal transition.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14566073,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"EPR investigation of in vivo inhibitory effect of guanidine compounds on nitric oxide production in rat tissues.\nThe aim of the present study was to evaluate in vivo effects on NO production of pharmacologically widely used, commercially available NOS inhibitors, structurally related to guanidine. We compared the NO inhibitory potency and selectivity of L-NAME, aminoguanidine and guanabenz in tissues of normal and LPS-stimulated rats using ex vivo EPR measurements of the NO radical in its complex with dithiocarbamate-Fe(II). The tissues studied were the brain cortex, kidney, liver, heart and testis. Differential inhibitory effects were seen for L-NAME, aminoguanidine and guanabenz when applied during basal or LPS-stimulated conditions. Aminoguanidine exerted inhibition of NO only after stimulation with LPS. Guanabenz had little effect on NO in liver, kidney, testis and heart under normal conditions, while it reduced the basal NO in brain cortex. After stimulation with LPS guanabenz afforded a partial inhibition of the NO formation in all tissues studied. L-NAME was a potent inhibitor of NO synthesis in all tested tissues, both during basal and LPS stimulated conditions. Our results show that compounds containing a guanidine moiety might possess different NOS inhibitory profiles in vivo.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9543003,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A glutamine 67--> histidine mutation in homotetrameric R67 dihydrofolate reductase results in four mutations per single active site pore and causes substantial substrate and cofactor inhibition.\nR67 dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) is a type II DHFR produced by bacteria as a resistance mechanism to increasing clinical use of the antibacterial drug trimethoprim. Type II DHFRs are not homologous in either sequence or structure with chromosomal DHFRs. The crystal structure of R67 DHFR shows a single active site pore that spans the length of the homotetramer. Related sites (due to a 222 symmetry element at the center of the pore) are used to bind ligands, i.e. each half of the pore can accommodate either the substrate, dihydrofolate (DHF), or the cofactor, NADPH, although DHF and NADPH are bound differently. To evaluate the role of glutamine 67 (and its symmetry-related Q167, Q267 and Q367 residues which occur at the center of the active site pore), a Q67H mutation was constructed. Binary binding of dihydrofolate (DHF; monitored by isothermal titration calorimetry) displays two identical sites with a Kd value of 0.04 microM, while binding of NADPH shows two sites possessing negative cooperativity with Kd values of 0.027 and 0.62 microM. A comparison of ligand binding in Q67H versus wild-type (wt) R67 DHFR indicates both ligands bind more tightly (80-6000-fold) and DHF binding in Q67H R67 DHFR no longer displays positive cooperativity as seen in wt R67 DHFR. Ternary complex binding in the Q67H mutant indicates a total of two ligands can bind per pore. Substantial substrate and cofactor inhibition are observed during catalysis, consistent with non-productive binding of either two DHF or two NADPH molecules in Q67H R67 DHFR. Because of the symmetry-related binding sites in the active site pore, the accumulation of potentially positive mutations in R67 DHFR is limited by the balance between tighter binding of ligands (and thus potentially increased catalytic efficiency) and inhibition that arises upon tighter binding of two identical ligands at symmetry-related sites.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28348631,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Optic Neuropathy As the Initial Presenting Sign of N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) Encephalitis.\nA 52-year-old woman presented with painless vision loss for 3 months. She was in custody for allegedly robbing a bank and had recently been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. She had 20\/100 VA OD, a 2+RAPD, and optic atrophy. Extensive diagnostic workup including MRI, Fluorescein Angiography, Infectious Disease Panel, lumbar puncture, and leptomeningeal biopsy were unrevealing. Vision in her right eye declined to NLP and her left eye declined to 20\/200 VA. Anti N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) Autoimmune Encephalitis was diagnosed based on CSF serology and clinical suspicion. Her clinical course improved as she was treated with corticosteroids and rituximab.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9572888,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Syntheses and biological evaluation of indolocarbazoles, analogues of rebeccamycin, modified at the imide heterocycle.\nA series of 10 indolocarbazole derivatives, analogues to the antitumor antibiotic rebeccamycin, bearing modifications at the imide heterocycle were synthesized. They bear an N-methyl imide, N-methyl amide, or anhydride function instead of the original imide. Their inhibitory potencies toward topoisomerase I were examined using a DNA relaxation assay and by analyzing the drug-induced cleavage of 32P-labeled DNA. Protein kinase C (PKC) inhibition and interaction with DNA were also studied together with the in vitro antiproliferative activities against B16 melanoma and P388 leukemia cells. The antimicrobial activities against two Gram-positive bacteria (Bacillus cereus and Streptomyces chartreusis), a Gram-negative bacterium (Escherichia coli), and a yeast (Candida albicans) were tested as well as their antiviral activities toward HIV-1. The efficiency of the anhydride compounds was compared to that of the parent compound rebeccamycin and its dechlorinated analogue. All the compounds studied were inactive against PKC. The structural requirements for PKC and topoisomerase I inhibition are markedly different. In sharp contrast with the structure-PKC inhibition relationships, we found that an anhydride function does not affect topoisomerase I inhibition, whereas a methyl group on the indole nitrogen prevents the poisoning of topoisomerase I. The compounds exhibiting a marked toxicity to P388 leukemia cells had little or no effect on the growth of P388CPT5 cells which are resistant to the topoisomerase I inhibitor camptothecin. This study reinforces the conclusion that the DNA-topoisomerase I cleavable complex is the primary cellular target of the indolocarbazoles and significantly contributes to their cytotoxicity and possibly to their weak but noticeable anti-HIV-1 activities. The structure-activity relationships are also discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17916921,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Visual behavior and motor responses of novice and experienced wheelchair tennis players relative to the service return.\nThe purpose of this study was to determine visual behavior and motor responses between experienced and novice wheelchair tennis players relative to the return in tennis. Novice (n = 7) and Experienced (n = 5) wheelchair tennis players took part in the study. Two series of serves performed to the forehand and the backhand sides were examined in both groups. One series was performed in a video-based setting (two dimensional) and the other one on court (three dimensional). Experienced participants focused initially on the head\/shoulders and the free-arm, while novice players focused on the expected ball toss area or followed the ball from the toss to the apex. Results suggest that the experienced players obtain useful information from racket-arm cues during the stroke phase. They also performed faster motor responses as well.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30315141,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Prognostic Value of Cancer Stem Cell Markers in Potentially Malignant Disorders of Oral Mucosa: A Meta-analysis.\nOral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is usually preceded by clinically visible changes on oral mucosa categorized as oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMD). The progression of OPMD to OSCC is a multistep process that provides an opportunity for early cancer detection and interception. Recent research suggests that cancer stem cells (CSC) hold the key to unlocking effective strategies to curb initiation and growth of several malignant neoplasms, including OSCC. In this meta-analysis, we evaluated the efficacy of CSC markers CD133, podoplanin, ALDH1, and others in predicting risk of malignant transformation of OPMDs. The PubMed database was systematically reviewed for relevant articles. Quality of eligible studies was assessed as per reporting recommendations for tumor marker (REMARK) criteria. A total of 18 investigations from 12 studies evaluated clinical or prognostic significance of CSC markers in OPMDs. A reasonable number of patients (1,659) were included in this analysis. Positive expression of CSC markers in OPMDs is significantly associated with progression to OSCC [risk ratio (RR), 3.31; 95% confidence interval (CI), 2.72-4.02]. Variability in CSC population makes it difficult to understand exact biology of OPMDs based on single CSC marker investigation. Identifying CSC population is a reliable prognostic indicator in OPMDs with or without dysplasia. Multi-marker panel investigation for CSCs in OPMDs may assist in curtailing new cases of oral cancer to a great extent. The study illustrates that evaluating CSC marker expression in OPMDs is a key tool in identifying high-risk cases to prevent development of OSCC.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12028365,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Enhanced motivation to self-administer cocaine is predicted by self-grooming behaviour and relates to dopamine release in the rat medial prefrontal cortex and amygdala.\nRats, like humans, show strong individual differences in their response to anxiogenic and stressful stimuli. In the present study we evaluated whether differences in stress-induced self-grooming behaviour may predict an individual's vulnerability to engage in drug self-administration behaviour. From a population of Wistar rats, the lower and upper quartile with respect to time spent self-grooming on an elevated plus maze (EPM) were selected and trained to intravenously self-administer cocaine under fixed and progressive ratio schedules of reinforcement. High grooming (HG) rats reached considerably higher breakpoints than low grooming (LG) rats but showed no differences in acquisition rate and dose-response relationships. Further, EPM exposure elicited higher anxiety levels and enhanced plasma corticosterone secretion in HG rats. In addition, HG rats did not display enhanced novelty-seeking and still spent more time self-grooming during an EPM re-test following the cocaine self-administration procedure, indicating that stress-induced self-grooming is a stable behavioural trait marker. Neurochemically, electrically evoked [(3)H]dopamine release in vitro was profoundly lower in brain slices from the substantia nigra, medial prefrontal cortex and amygdala of naive HG rats as compared to LG rats, whereas no differences were found in the nucleus accumbens shell and core, the ventral tegmental area and caudate putamen. In conclusion, stress-induced self-grooming specifically predicts enhanced motivation to self-administer cocaine rather than sensitivity to its reinforcing effects. Responsiveness of dopaminergic nerve terminals in the medial prefrontal cortex and amygdala may represent pre-existing underlying factors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16995611,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The translational clinical practice system: a way to implement the evidence-based approach in the dental office.\nEvidence-based decision-making in dental practice is challenging and rewarding. But for many clinicians, the evidence-based approach is an abstract and even theoretical idea that sounds good, but is not very practical. The Translational Clinical Practice System provides an overriding domain and a system within which the evidence-based approach may be more effectively utilized in clinical practice. Most would agree that using good evidence, information, and data as the basis for decisions are the starting points toward reaching the best results for the patient. However, there are clearly insufficiencies in the currently available best scientific evidence for many of the procedures patients need. The good news is that the evidence environment is improving and better quality information is becoming available in the office where it is needed. This article describes a logical and straightforward approach for clinicians to use in order to put together complex and often interwoven factors involved with patient care. Specific clinical examples are provided.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3081988,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Providencia stuartii: a common cause of antibiotic-resistant bacteriuria in patients with long-term indwelling catheters.\nThe long-term-catheterized urinary tract may offer a particular niche to Providencia stuartii, which is otherwise an uncommon clinical isolate. Published accounts of bacteriuria in patients catheterized for long periods indicate that P. stuartii has often been found as frequently as familiar uropathogens such as Escherichia coli, Proteus mirabilis, enterococcus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. As in most nosocomial infections, the frequency of isolation of a given species has commonly differed among institutions. In the future P. stuartii may be more frequently encountered as a nosocomial pathogen in nursing homes and in acute care hospitals to which bacteriuric patients are transferred. This trend appears likely because of the increasingly large nursing-home population, the predilection of the bacterium for the long-term-catheterized urinary tract, the opportunity for nosocomial transmission from this reservoir, the resistance of the organism to multiple antibiotics, and the occasional systemic illness and bacteremia caused by P. stuartii.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26467684,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nanogap effects on near- and far-field plasmonic behaviors of metallic nanoparticle dimers.\nIn the field of plasmonics, the nanogap effect is often related to one aspect like the near-field enhancement at a single excitation wavelength or the far-field resonance shift. In this study, taking full advantage of finite element method (FEM) calculations, we present a comprehensive and quantitative analysis of the nanogap effect on the plasmonic behaviors of metallic nanoparticle dimers. Firstly, near-field spectroscopy is proposed in order to extract the near-field resonance wavelengths. Focusing on the bonding dipole mode, it is found that the near-field enhancement factors exhibit a weak power-law dependence on the gap size, while the near-field resonance shift decays nearly exponentially as the gap size increases, with a lower decay length than that for the far-field resonance shift. The spectral deviation between these two shifts is suggested to be taken into account for spectroscopy applications of plasmonic devices, although it may be negligible for dimer structures with rather small gaps.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37445366,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Oxidative Stress and Cellular Protein Accumulation Are Present in Keratoconus, Macular Corneal Dystrophy, and Fuchs Endothelial Corneal Dystrophy.\nThe aim of the study was to investigate oxidative stress as well as cellular protein accumulation in corneal diseases including keratoconus (KC), macular corneal dystrophy (MCD), and Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy (FECD) at their primary affecting sites. Corneal buttons from KC, MCD, and FECD patients, as well as healthy controls, were analyzed immunohistochemically to evaluate the presence of oxidative stress and the function of the proteostasis network. 4-Fydroxynonenal (4-HNE) was used as a marker of oxidative stress, whereas the levels of catalase and heat-shock protein 70 (HSP70) were analyzed to evaluate the response of the antioxidant defense system and molecular chaperones, respectively. Sequestosome 1 (SQSTM1) levels were determined to assess protein aggregation and the functionality of autophagic degradation. Basal epithelial cells of the KC samples showed increased levels of oxidative stress marker 4-HNE and antioxidant enzyme catalase together with elevated levels of HSP70 and accumulation of SQSTM1. Corneal stromal cells and endothelial cells from MCD and FECD samples, respectively, showed similarly increased levels of these markers. All corneal diseases showed the presence of oxidative stress and activation of the molecular chaperone response to sustain protein homeostasis. However, the accumulation of protein aggregates suggests insufficient function of the protective mechanisms to limit the oxidative damage and removal of protein aggregates via autophagy. These results suggest that oxidative stress has a role in KC, MCD, and FECD at the cellular level as a secondary outcome. Thus, antioxidant- and autophagy-targeted therapies could be included as supporting care when treating KC or corneal dystrophies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":946692,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Coronary arteries in children up to the age of ten years II. Intimal thickening and its role in atherosclerotic involvement.\nThe frequency, histologic feature and topographic distribution of the first foci of intimal thickening were investigated in the coronary arteries of 40 fetuses, 40 neonates and 90 children up to the age of ten years. Particular hemodynamic and mechanical stresses seem to be involved in the precocious development of these isolated foci of intimal thickening which appeared in the early fetal life as well as in their progressive extension and fusion which give rise to diffuse thickened intima. After birth the stressed areas with thickened intima might evolve toward fibrosis and the \"protected\" ones toward degenerative and necrotic processes. These processes were detected in approximately 8% of the 5-10 year-old children and appeared before the development of fatty streaks or other forms of lipid accumulation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9550383,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cyclic-AMP modulates downstream events in CD40-mediated signal transduction, but inhibition of protein kinase A has no direct effect on CD40 signaling.\nThe role of cAMP\/protein kinase A (PKA) in CD40 signal transduction is controversial, with evidence both for and against its importance. In this study we have used a tetracycline-repressible expression system to reversibly express a dominant-negative form of the PKA regulatory subunit type I (PKA-R(G324D)) in a B lymphoma line, M12. Expression of PKA-R(G324D) in M12 lymphomas inhibits both cAMP-mediated growth inhibition and cAMP-mediated induction of B7-2. This inhibition is reversed by tetracycline treatment of the cells to turn off inhibitor expression. In contrast, the expression of the PKA-R(G324D) subunit has no effect on CD40-mediated growth inhibition in M12 cells, nor on CD40-mediated induction of B7-1, CD23, Fas, ICAM-1, or LFA-1. Thus, our data do not support a direct role for cAMP\/PKA in CD40-mediated signal transduction. However, we do observe that cAMP can regulate CD40 signaling both positively and negatively. Cyclic-AMP synergizes with CD40-mediated B7-1 induction in M12 lymphomas, while inhibiting CD40-mediated CD23, Fas, and ICAM-1 induction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1673993,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Degree of coronary artery disease predicted by exercise testing.\nThe ability of exercise testing to predict the extent of coronary artery disease was examined in 268 male patients undergoing both coronary angiography and bicycle testing with electrocardiography before coronary artery bypass surgery. When maximal ST-depressions limited by symptoms increased from 0 to 4 mm or more, the percentage of patients with 'serious' coronary disease, defined as either triple vessel disease or left main stem stenosis, increased from 50% to 80% (P = 0.0001). The patients in the lowest third of physical work capacity showed only a slightly increased risk of serious disease. This tendency was abolished in patients who were using beta-blockers, whereas the relationship between ST-depression and disease was not affected by this medication. The probability of finding left main stem stenosis in a patient increased from 5 to 30% with increasing ST-depression: beta-blockers did not affect this relationship, but there was no additional predictive effect of implicating the level of physical work capacity. It is concluded that traditional electrocardiography during exercise is of value when selecting patients for angiography, but that the physical work level obtained during the test does not predict the degree of coronary pathology.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3047292,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Haemangioma of the maxilla.\nHaemangioma involving the paranasal air sinuses is rare. It presents with severe epistaxis or bleeding due to dental extraction and may mimic malignancy. A case of haemangioma of the maxilla is presented and the diagnostic and operative difficulties together with a review of literature are discussed. Bucy and Capp (1930) described primary haemangioma of bone with special reference to X-ray diagnosis. Wyke (1949) was of the opinion that haemangiomas accounted for only 10 per cent of primary benign neoplasms of skull bones. Batsakis (1979) commented that haemangioma of bone accounted for seven per cent of all osseous neoplasms and that from a review of literature he had found no more than 40 such cases. Dahlin (1967) in a review of 3,947 cases of bone tumours, found 47 cases of osseous haemangioma out of which only three involved the upper jaw. Smith (1959) reported that only 10 cases of haemangioma of the maxilla had been published by 1959 and further isolated cases have been described by Sawhney et al. (1973), Pandhi et al. (1977) and Ahad and Chisti (1977).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15810114,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Synovial chondromatosis of the distal radioulnar joint.\nSynovial chondromatosis is a rare lesion in the wrist and it is extremely uncommon in the distal radioulnar joint. This case presented with wrist pain, swelling and locking secondary to synovial chondromatosis of distal radioulnar joint.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6177771,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Characterization of antigen recognized by the monoclonal antibody (4F2): different molecular forms on human T and B lymphoblastoid cell lines.\nThe monoclonal antibody 4F2 recognizes a disulfide-linked ricin-binding glycoprotein complex (Mr congruent to 125,000) composed of a sialylated heavy subunit (Mr congruent to 85,000 on T cell lines) and an unsialylated light subunit (Mr congruent to 41,000). The antigen (T85,41) recognized by 4F2 on T cell lines is structurally distinct from the antigen (B93, 41) on B cell lines. The heavy subunits, but not the light subunits, from all T cell lines examined were uniformly smaller in size than the heavy subunits from several B cell lines. This reflects differences in carbohydrate rather than protein represent in B93,41 compared with T85,41, because both heavy subunits have a common unglycosylated form (p65) and a common partially glycosylated precursor form (p68). Among non-T, non-B hematopoietic cell lines, the monocytoid line U-937 expressed an antigen that resembles B93,41, whereas the erythroleukemic line K-562 expressed an antigen more similar to T85,41. 4F2 recognizes a protein determinant on the heavy subunit (with or without N-linked glycosylation) and also the unglycosylated heavy subunit retains the ability to associate with light subunit. The light subunit itself contains no detectable N-linked carbohydrate. Unlike the transferrin receptor, synthesis of the antigen recognized by 4F2 on the promyelocytic cell line HL-60 did not diminish upon dimethylsulfoxide-induced differentiation, and thus is not tightly correlated with cell proliferation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27256416,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Influence of patients' age at implantation on mortality and defibrillator shocks.\nPatients have increasing comorbidities and competing causes of death with advancing age, raising questions about the effectiveness of the implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD) in older age. We therefore investigated the effect of patients' age at initial device implantation on all-cause mortality and on the risk of ICD shocks in single-chamber (V-ICD), dual-chamber (D-ICD), and cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator (CRT-D) recipients. We reviewed de-identified records of 67 128 ICD recipients enrolled in the Boston Scientific ALTITUDE database of remote monitored patients [V-ICD (n = 11 422), D-ICD (n = 23 974), and CRT-D (n = 31 732)]. Over a mean follow-up of 2.3 \u00b1 1.4 years, patients in all ICD groups had increased all-cause mortality but decreased risk of defibrillator shocks and\/or anti-tachycardia pacing per 10 year increase in age. Compared with the youngest age group (<50 years), patients in the oldest age group (\u226580 years) had a 6.8-fold, 5.9-fold, and 3.4-fold increase in all-cause mortality (P < 0.001 for all comparisons) and a 31, 45, and 53% decrease in the risk of ICD shock (P \u2264 0.002 for all comparisons) for the V-ICD, D-ICD, and CRT-D groups, respectively. Older recipients of standard and CRT defibrillators have higher mortality but fewer ICD shocks and\/or therapies compared with younger patients. These data highly suggest less benefit of ICD therapy with increasing age, presumably because of competing risks of non-arrhythmic mortality. The role of defibrillator therapy in older patients may need to be evaluated with randomized controlled trials.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20365847,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Quantum corrections to fidelity decay in chaotic systems.\nBy considering correlations between classical orbits we derive semiclassical expressions for the decay of the quantum fidelity amplitude for classically chaotic quantum systems, as well as for its squared modulus, the fidelity or Loschmidt echo. Our semiclassical results for the fidelity amplitude agree with random matrix theory (RMT) and supersymmetry predictions in the universal Fermi-golden rule regime. The calculated quantum corrections can be viewed as arising from a static random perturbation acting on nearly self-retracing interfering paths, and hence will be suppressed for time-varying perturbations. Moreover, using trajectory-based methods we show a relation, recently obtained in RMT, between the fidelity amplitude and the cross-form factor for parametric level correlations. Beyond RMT, we compute Ehrenfest-time effects on the fidelity amplitude. Furthermore our semiclassical approach allows for a unified treatment of the fidelity, both in the Fermi-golden rule and Lyapunov regimes, demonstrating that quantum corrections are suppressed in the latter.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28294727,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Value of Two Dimensional Echocardiography for Assessment of Disease Severity in Patients With Pulmonary Hypertension].\nTo carry out complex assessment of the right ventricular (RV) function with two-dimensional echocardiography (2D-EchoCG) for detection of most informative markers of the disease severity in patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH). We examined 63 patients with PH (38 with idiopathic PH, 7 with corrected congenital heart defects, 6 with systemic scleroderma, 12 with chronic inoperable thromboembolic PY). Examination included right heart catheterization, 2D-EchoCG, and cardiac magnetic resonance tomography (MRT). 2D-EchoCG revealed dilation of right chambers of the heart, hypertrophy of RV anterior wall, increase of ratio of right to left ventricular end-diastolic dimensions (RV:LV), reduction of LV stroke volume, diminution of amplitude and velocity of tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion, and significant increase of myocardial performance index Tei. MRT data evidenced for lowering of RV ejection fraction. Canonical correlation was found between integral characteristic of 2D-EchoCG and integral hemodynamic characteristic (r=0.77; p=0.007). We also determined threshold values of RV: LV to be used for stratification of risk in patients with PH. In patienns with PH calculation of simple 2D-EchoCG parameters provides information important for determination of disease severity, selection of optimal method of treatment, and monitoring of patients condition.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22675955,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"The efficacy of paracetamol versus tenoxicam on postoperative pain and morphine consumption after abdominal hysterectomy: a placebo-controlled, randomized study.\nThe purpose of this study was to determine the analgesic efficacy and side-effects of paracetamol and tenoxicam in comparison with placebo in patients with postoperative pain after elective abdominal hysterectomy. A total of 120 patients were randomly divided into three groups to receive either paracetamol 1 g, tenoxicam 20 mg or placebo intravenously at the end of surgery, and then morphine was administered by a patient-controlled analgesia device postoperatively. Tenoxicam was associated with lower pain scores at the 2nd, 4th, 6th and 24th hour postoperatively. Total morphine consumption was 44.8 +\/- 17.4 mg, 64.6 +\/- 19.6 mg, 69.2 +\/- 22.1 (tenoxicam, paracetamol and placebo group, respectively) and there was a significant difference in the tenoxicam group compared with the other two groups (p < 0.05). Side-effects except for nausea were similar. A single dose of 20 mg tenoxicam provided effective analgesia and reduced total morphine consumption in comparison with paracetamol and placebo after abdominal hysterectomy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28538425,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A young man with recurrent paralysis.\nHypokalemia can cause reactions from mild muscular cramping to life-threatening paralysis and cardiac dysrhythmias. This article describes a patient whose unusual, recurrent muscular symptoms and electrolyte abnormalities were eventually identified as Gitelman syndrome, a rare genetic disorder resulting in severe refractory hypokalemia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37654826,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Linking adiponectin expression and kidney dysfunction among Indian patients with and without diabetic nephropathy.\nDiabetic kidney disease is a common cause of end stage renal disease has a high incidence rate in population with type 2 diabetes mellitus patients. Adiponectin is an adipocytokine shown to strive anti-diabetic, anti-oxidative as well as anti-inflammatory. The present study aimed to determine the serum adiponectin levels in type 2 diabetes mellitus and explore its association with nephropathy. This cross sectional study recruited 90 type 2 diabetes mellitus patients with (n = 60) and without nephropathy (n = 30). Additionally 30 age, gender, and body mass index matched healthy controls were included. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay method were used to determine adiponectin concentration. Blood sugars, glycated hemoglobin, body mass index all sounded to be brawny risk factors for nephropathy and microalbumin, e GFR showed a significant association with kidney disease progression in type 2 diabetes mellitus with nephropathy. Both the groups of type 2 diabetes mellitus patients had elevated adiponectin concentrations than controls. Serum adiponectin concentrations were significantly higher in type 2 diabetes mellitus without nephropathy and there was a significant association with nephropathy activity (P<0.0001**). The receiver operating characteristics curve analysis was used to examine the diagnostic performance of adiponectin for nephropathy shown a significant area under the curve 0.998 with sensitivity 100% and specificity 93.33% (P<0.0001**). Hence our study findings concluded that serum adiponectin concentrations considered for the early predictable and prognostic marker for nephropathy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3059311,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[The new penicillins].\nDuring recent years, new antibacterial beta-lactams have been identified. The association of beta-lactams and beta-lactamase inhibitors (clavulanic acid or sulbactam) represent a new therapeutic approach. The other drugs are classified into ureodopenicillins (mezlocillin, azlocillin, piperacillin), amidinopenicillins (mecillinam, pivmecillinam), monobactam (aztreonam) and penems (imipenem). Three mechanisms are involved in the bacterial resistance to these beta-lactams: inability to cross the bacterial membrane, inactivation of the antibiotic by a beta-lactamase, modification of the number of porines. The tolerance to these new products is good but they present a high risk for selection of resistant bacteria. These antibiotics markedly improve the treatment of beta-lactamase producing bacterial infections, particularly related to Pseudomonas aeruginosa.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17190503,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"pH-controlled reversible assembly of peptide-functionalized gold nanoparticles.\nThe assembly\/disassembly process of carboxylated peptide-functionalized gold nanoparticles (peptide-GNPs) was studied within the pH interval of 2.5 to 10. The assembly process was not well controlled at pH 2.5, leading to the formation of 3D structures of GNPs, whereas at pH 4 we observed controlled assembly with the formation of only a network of 1D chains. In the pH range of 2.5 to 4, the assembly proceeded with the formation of a combination of two extremes (i.e., having both 1D and 2D nanostructures). The assembly process was reversed on changing the pH of the medium to 10. The assembly\/disassembly process was monitored using UV-vis spectroscopy and finally confirmed by TEM analysis. This assembly resulted from the intermolecular H-bonding between two carboxylic acid groups of peptides bound to the two adjacent GNPs and were confirmed by FTIR spectroscopy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25293664,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Recurrent stroke and patent foramen ovale: a systematic review and meta-analysis.\nRecurrent cerebrovascular events are frequent in medically treated patients with patent foramen ovale (PFO), but it still remains unclear whether PFO is a causal or an incidental finding. Further uncertainty exists on whether the size of functional shunting could represent a potential risk factor. The aim of the present study was to evaluate if the presence of PFO is associated with an increased risk of recurrent stroke or transient ischemic attack and to investigate further if this relationship is related to the shunt size. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines of all available prospective studies reporting recurrent cerebrovascular events defined as cryptogenic stroke and transient ischemic attacks in medically treated patients with PFO diagnosed by echocardiography or transcranial sonography. We identified 14 eligible studies including a total of 4251 patients. Patients with stroke with PFO did not have a higher risk of the combined outcome of recurrent stroke\/transient ischemic attack (risk ratio=1.18; 95% confidence interval=0.78-1.79; P=0.43) or in the incidence of recurrent strokes (risk ratio =0.85; 95% confidence interval=0.59-1.22; P=0.37) in comparison with stroke patients without PFO. In addition, PFO size was not associated with the risk of recurrent stroke or transient ischemic attack. We also documented no evidence of heterogeneity across the included studies. Our findings indicate that medically treated patients with PFO do not have a higher risk for recurrent cryptogenic cerebrovascular events, compared with those without PFO. No relation between the degree of PFO and the risk of future cerebrovascular events was identified.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19029881,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Altered circadian rhythms regulate growth vigour in hybrids and allopolyploids.\nSegregating hybrids and stable allopolyploids display morphological vigour, and Arabidopsis allotetraploids are larger than the parents Arabidopsis thaliana and Arabidopsis arenosa-the mechanisms for this are unknown. Circadian clocks mediate metabolic pathways and increase fitness in animals and plants. Here we report that epigenetic modifications of the circadian clock genes CIRCADIAN CLOCK ASSOCIATED 1 (CCA1) and LATE ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL (LHY) and their reciprocal regulators TIMING OF CAB EXPRESSION 1 (TOC1) and GIGANTEA (GI) mediate expression changes in downstream genes and pathways. During the day, epigenetic repression of CCA1 and LHY induced the expression of TOC1, GI and downstream genes containing evening elements in chlorophyll and starch metabolic pathways in allotetraploids and F(1) hybrids, which produced more chlorophyll and starch than the parents in the same environment. Mutations in cca1 and cca1 lhy and the daily repression of cca1 by RNA interference (RNAi) in TOC1::cca1(RNAi) transgenic plants increased the expression of downstream genes and increased chlorophyll and starch content, whereas constitutively expressing CCA1 or ectopically expressing TOC1::CCA1 had the opposite effect. The causal effects of CCA1 on output traits suggest that hybrids and allopolyploids gain advantages from the control of circadian-mediated physiological and metabolic pathways, leading to growth vigour and increased biomass.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18579645,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"New-onset psychiatric disorders in individuals with autism.\nA follow-up study to at least the age of 21 years of 135 individuals with an autism spectrum disorder diagnosed in childhood and an IQ of over 30 was conducted. The study is distinctive in its large size, low attrition rate and use of systematic interviews to obtain clinical information. Questionnaires completed by caregivers asked about the development of new psychiatric disorders. For the 39 individuals with a possible new disorder, a detailed psychiatric assessment was undertaken through parental interview. Of all participants, 16 percent developed a definite new psychiatric disorder. A further 6 percent developed a possible new disorder. Five individuals developed an obsessive-compulsive disorder and\/or catatonia; eight an affective disorder with marked obsessional features; three complex affective disorders; four more straightforward affective disorders; one a bipolar disorder; and one an acute anxiety state complicated by alcohol excess. There was no case of schizophrenia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17173559,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mechanisms of TGF-beta action in connective tissue repair of rat mesenteric wounds.\nWe have recently reported that transforming growth factor-beta stimulates genuine connective tissue repair in the perforated rat mesentery and that this stimulation is not caused by increased macrophage chemotaxis. To further characterize the effect of transforming growth factor-beta(1) on the enhanced rate of wound closure, we performed a series of morphometric analyses with determination of mitotic index, fibroblast labeling index, cellular density, neovascularization, and scar tissue formation. Actin expression close to the wound margin was also evaluated morphologically. Fibroblast cell proliferation was not stimulated by transforming growth factor-beta(1) in either wounded or unwounded tissue. Transforming growth factor-beta(1) did, however, significantly increase the formation of healing tissue postoperative days 5 to 10 (p < 0.05) and angiogenesis was significantly stimulated by transforming growth factor-beta(1) postoperative days 7 and 10 (p < 0.005). The mean cellular density was significantly increased in unperforated, transforming growth factor-beta(1)-treated membranes from days 3 to 10, and increased expression of actin with time was observed close to the wound margin. Transforming growth factor-beta(1) was thus shown to be a potent stimulator of angiogenesis and healing tissue formation in connective tissue repair, but this stimulation mainly occurred after closure of perforations. The increased cellular density in the absence of stimulated proliferation and increased actin expression in wound cells indicate that contraction may be an important mechanism of connective tissue repair in the perforated rat mesentery.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28297882,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Quantum mechanical model for the anticarcinogenic effect of extremely-low-frequency electromagnetic fields on early chemical hepatocarcinogenesis.\nUsing the conventional Haberkorn approach, it is evaluated the recombination of the radical pair (RP) singlet spin state to study theoretically the cytoprotective effect of an extremely-low-frequency electromagnetic field (ELF-EMF) on early stages of hepatic cancer chemically induced in rats. The proposal is that ELF-EMF modulates the interconversion rate of singlet and triplet spin states of the RP populations modifying the products from the metabolization of carcinogens. Previously, we found that the daily treatment with ELF-EMF 120 Hz inhibited the number and area of preneoplastic lesions in chemical carcinogenesis. The singlet spin population is evaluated diagonalizing the spin density matrix through the Lanczos method in a radical pair mechanism (RPM). Using four values of the interchange energy, we have studied the variations over the singlet population. The low magnetic field effect as a test of the influence over the enzymatic chemical reaction is evaluated calculating the quantum yield. Through a bootstrap technique the range is found for the singlet decay rate for the process. Applying the quantum measurements concept, we addressed the impact toward hepatic cells. The result contributes to improving our understanding of the chemical carcinogenesis process affected by charged particles that damage the DNA.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3066122,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Carbamazepine in the treatment of aggression: a case report and a review of the literature.\nAggressive behaviour is an inescapable clinical problem confronting practitioners of medicine, neurology and psychiatry. Several drugs have been used to treat it, with limited success. Successful use of carbamazepine in the treatment of aggressive behaviour in a patient with limbic dysfunction is reported, and varieties of aggressive behaviour that respond to carbamazepine are examined. The authors suggest that carbamazepine may have a specific anti-aggressive effect perhaps due to an anti-kindling effect, but caution that double-blind studies are needed before firm conclusions are drawn.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11641615,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Inhibitory effect of short-term bile duct ligation on hepatic cytochrome P450 of bile acid-depleted rats.\nIn this study we analyzed the effect resulting from a short-term (1 h) bile duct obstruction in bile acid-depleted or taurocholate-replenished rats on liver cytochrome P450 enzyme system activity. Rats were depleted of endogenous bile acids and then subjected to a biliary obstruction for 1 h. Some of these depleted-obstructed rats were replenished previously to the obstruction with exogenous taurocholic acid (TC) and the others were treated with the solvent alone. To study the isolated effect of the bile acid, other rats were also previously depleted and then replenished with TC but they were obstructed briefly (20 min). CYP3A2-linked activity was evaluated in vivo with the aminopyrine breath test and in vitro by the measurement of nifedipine oxidase microsomal activity. The results suggested that bile flow suppression per se might inhibit this CYP-linked activity and that bile acid retention is not involved at least as a sole determinant.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9166773,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Regioselective effect of zwitterionic DNA substitutions on DNA alkylation: evidence for a strong side chain orientational preference.\nThe incorporation of zwitterionic residues (5-substituted omega-aminoalkyl-2'-deoxypyrimidines) into DNA has been reported to bend DNA as measured by aberrant gel mobility [Strauss et al. (1996) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 93, 9515-9520]. Herein we report that DNA methylation by N-methyl-N-nitrosourea at N7-guanine is regioselectively inhibited by point substitutions of the zwitterionic residues 5-(6-aminohexyl)-2'-deoxycytidine, 5-(6-aminohexyl)-2'-deoxyuridine, or 5-(3-aminopropyl)-2'-deoxyuridine. No inhibition is observed for DNA methylation by dimethyl sulfate. On the basis of inhibition patterns for methylation with the different zwitterionic substitutions and the different length tethers, the omega-aminoalkyl side chains prefer to adopt a conformation that points them toward the 3'-base. Molecular modeling grid searches, coupled with energy minimizations, and simulated annealing molecular dynamics studies indicate that unfavorable steric interactions with the 5'-base and backbone, as well as stabilizing electrostatic interactions with electronegative atoms on the 3'-side, are responsible for the observed conformational preference. No evidence for association of the cationic side chain with the phosphate backbone is observed. The observed bending of DNA induced by the tethered ammonium ions may simply arise from their localization in the major groove.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32347710,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Detection of Circulating Tumor Cells by Fluorescence Microspheres-Mediated Amplification.\nHere we describe a fluorescent microspheres-based separation and analysis that enables the isolation of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from whole blood of patients with metastatic cancer and the identification of isolated CTCs in situ without immunostaining. This approach uses antibody-functionalized fluorescent polystyrene (PS) microspheres that can selectively bind to CTCs. The binding of CTCs and fluorescent PS microspheres leads to the formation of complexes of CTCs and fluorescent PS microspheres, thereby the CTCs are size-amplified and labeled simultaneously. A pyramidal microcavity array (PMCA) is fabricated using microfabrication technology to create a precise microfilter structure with a high aspect ratio. The PMCA filter device can effectively isolate microspheres-labeled CTCs, while allow hematologic cells to deform and pass through. Using this approach, CTCs are isolated and identified in 15 of 18 patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. This approach will open new possibilities for CTCs isolation and identification and can serve a versatile platform to facilitate CTCs analysis in diverse biomedical applications.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16218351,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Effect of laser irradiation of diode laser on healing of surgical wounds in rats].\nThe aim of this work was to continue in previous study, which concerns biostimulation of skin wound healing evaluated after 24, 48, 120, 168 hours and so complete the chronological continuance of the process during the first seven days. Male, Sprague-Dawley rats (n=21) were used for the experiment. The rats were divided into 3 groups of 7 animals. In general anaesthesia (combination of xylazine, ketamine and tramadol) under aseptic condition two 3,5 cm long parallel skin incisions were performed on the left and right side of the rats spine and immediately sutured. The left wounds were daily stimulated with the diode laser (670 nm). The right wounds were not stimulated and served as control. The specimens of skin wounds were removed for histological evaluation 72, 96 and 144 hours after surgery. The biological specimens were stained with hematoxylin and eosin and histopathologically evaluated. In summary, in our histomorphological study of the influence of laser irradiation on primary wound healing evaluated after 72, 96 and 144 hours was concluded, that the healing of stimulated wounds was accelerated in comparison with controls. The histological evaluation showed earlier regress of inflammatory phase, faster finishing of reepithelization and acceleration in maturation phase. Presented experimental study completes the previous study and achieves the positive effect of biostimulation on all phases of skin wound healing in vivo.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37865954,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Advances in non-pharmacological management of Parkinson's disease complicated with blood pressure abnormalities.\nParkinson's disease (PD) often presents with autonomic dysregulation, leading to blood pressure irregularities such as neurogenic orthostatic hypotension (nOH), neurogenic supine hypertension (nSH), and postprandial hypotension (PPH). Unfortunately, these conditions remain prevalent and receive insufficient attention in scientific discourse. They not only cause complications like syncope, falls, and fractures but also result in long-term damage to vital organs, diminishing patients' quality of life. Early implementation of appropriate non-pharmacologic management is crucial to prevent severe adverse events later on. This review focuses on the types, clinical characteristics, mechanisms, and common non-pharmacologic management measures for PD complicated by abnormal blood pressure. By promoting early diagnosis, recognizing symptoms of abnormal blood pressure, and employing non-pharmacologic interventions such as health education, dietary adjustments, exercise, and Chinese medicine techniques, we aim to improve patients' symptoms and quality of life while providing practical guidance for managing PD-related blood pressure abnormalities.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35349530,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Surgical Treatment of Granulomatous Breast Deformities Caused by Injection of Foreign Substances in Transgender Women: A Case Series and Algorithm.\nDespite potentially devastating complications, free foreign substance injections for feminizing breast augmentation remain common among transgender women. To date, the literature regarding surgical treatment of these deformities among transgender women remains limited. The authors present a case series of transgender women presenting for surgical management of granulomatous breast deformities secondary to free foreign substance injections between January of 2016 and February of 2020. Seven transgender women presented for surgical management of complications secondary to free foreign substance injections of the breast. These patients ranged in age from 29 to 53 years, all identified as Hispanic\/Latinx, and five were primarily Spanish speakers. All were recipients of public insurance. Six of the seven patients received free foreign substance injections outside of the United States, with an average time from initial injections to presentation of 19.3 \u00b1 15.7 years. Three patients presented with a history of prior revisions by other surgeons. Four underwent staged reconstruction at the authors' institutions. Patients were followed for, on average, 10.7 \u00b1 12.6 months after their initial surgery. There were no major complications. The most common minor complication was delayed wound healing. In the present series, the authors illustrate that, with careful consideration and patient selection, it is possible to perform safe and successful breast reconstruction for the management of foreign substance granulomas in transgender women. They also provide an algorithm based on patient-specific factors to guide treatment decisions in this patient population. Further research is needed to determine the generalizability and applicability of this algorithm. Therapeutic, IV.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3038283,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Increased incidence of isoproterenol-induced ventricular fibrillation in aging rats.\nProlonged beta-adrenergic stimulation obtained by subcutaneous injection of isoproterenol in unanesthetized, unrestrained rats elicited ventricular fibrillation in approximately 80% of animals at 10-12 months of age. Ventricular fibrillation failed to occur in 1-month-old rats and involved only 12% of rats at 2 months. Senescence appeared not to increase the frequency of ventricular fibrillation since a similar incidence was seen in rats at 10-12 and 19-21 months. In all instances, ventricular fibrillation was preceded by ECG changes consistent with acute subendocardial ischemia. To evaluate whether acute beta-adrenergic stimulation elicits comparable cardiovascular effects in animals of different age, a dose-response curve to intravenous injection of isoproterenol was performed in anesthetized rats. Changes in heart rate, systemic arterial pressure, left ventricular pressure, and dP\/dt were not different among animal groups. It was concluded that the arrhythmogenic potential of isoproterenol may not be related to differences in cardiac beta-receptor sensitivity with age as suggested by the comparable changes in the inotropic and chronotropic actions of isoproterenol in the animal groups studied.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16240914,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Prevalence and association of porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2), porcine parvovirus (PPV) and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) in aborted fetuses, mummified fetuses, stillborn and nonviable neonatal piglets].\nPorcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) seems to cause reproductive failure in sows not only in experimental studies. A retrospective study was made with a total of 252 aborted fetuses, mummified fetuses, stillborn and nonviable neonatal piglets to determine the presence of PCV2, porcine parvovirus (PPV) and porcine respiratory and reproductive syndrome virus (PRRSV) by PCR. PCV2 was found in all stages of gestation in 27.1 percent of samples examined. A statistically significant association could be shown between the detection of PCV2 and PRRSV. However, no significant association was seen between the detection of PCV2 and PPV and between PPV and PRRSV.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9544518,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Multiple imputation for early stopping of a complex clinical trial.\nIt is desirable to have procedures available for stopping a clinical trial early if there appears to be no treatment effect. Conditional power procedures allow for early stopping in favor of the null hypothesis if the probability of rejecting H0 at the planned end of the trial given the current data and a value of the parameter of interest is below some threshold level. Lan, Simon, and Halperin (1982, Communications in Statistics C1, 207-219) proposed a stochastic curtailment procedure that calculates the conditional power under the alternative hypothesis. Alternatively, predictive power procedures incorporate information from the observed data by averaging the conditional power over the posterior distribution of the parameter. For complex problems in which explicit evaluation of conditional power is not possible, we propose treating the problem of projecting the outcome of a trial given the current data as a missing data problem. We then complete the data using multiple imputation and thus eliminate the need for explicit calculation of conditional power. We apply this method to AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) protocol 118 and to several simulated clinical trials.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":933310,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Moose milk and hair element levels and relationships.\nMilk was collected from 21 Alaskan moose (Alces alces gigas) at the Kenai Moose Research Center (MRC), Soldotna, Alaska nad analyzed by atomic absorption spectroscopy for Al, As, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, K, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Ni, Pb, Se and Zn. Hair samples were collected from 100 moose at the MRC to correspond with the lactation period and serve as a metabolic indicator of mineral elements stored in tissue. Published analyses of bovine milk were compared to moose milk; Al, Fe, Se and Zn were higher in moose milk by factors of 1.6 to 290. Elements potentially influenced by nutrition and those determined genetically were also considered. Elements in moose milk and hair values were compared, since mineral element levels in hair potentially reflect the availability and intake of these elements. Calcium and Mg were the only values in hair lower than the values in milk (factors of 4.2 and 1.5 respectively). Moose, as well as domestic cattle, apparently are subjected to lactation stress by the genetically determined levels of Ca and Mg in milk.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29553553,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Chemical Precipitation Method for the Synthesis of Nb2O5 Modified Bulk Nickel Catalysts with High Specific Surface Area.\nWe demonstrate a method for the synthesis of NixNb1-xO catalysts with sponge-like and fold-like nanostructures. By varying the Nb:Ni ratio, a series of NixNb1-xO nanoparticles with different atomic compositions (x = 0.03, 0.08, 0.15, and 0.20) have been prepared by chemical precipitation. These NixNb1-xO catalysts are characterized by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. The study revealed the sponge-like and fold-like appearance of Ni0.97Nb0.03O and Ni0.92Nb0.08O on the NiO surface, and the larger surface area of these NixNb1-xO catalysts, compared with the bulk NiO. Maximum surface area of 173 m2\/g can be obtained for Ni0.92Nb0.08O catalysts. In addition, the catalytic hydroconversion of lignin-derived compounds using the synthesized Ni0.92Nb0.08O catalysts have been investigated.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":932530,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Composition of nasal secretion in patients with cystic fibrosis.\nQuantitative examination of nasal secretion in patients with cystic fibrosis revealed a significantly greater than normal concentration of calcium, a finding in keeping with the hypothesized importance of this ion in the pathophysiology of the disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36937411,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Identification of the novel therapeutic targets and biomarkers associated of prostate cancer with cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs).\nGlobally, prostate cancer remains a leading cause of mortality and morbidity despite advances in treatment. Research on prostate cancer has primarily focused on the malignant epithelium, but the tumor microenvironment has recently been recognized as an important factor in the progression of prostate cancer. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) play an important role in prostate cancer progression among multiple cell types in the tumor microenvironment. In order to develop new treatments and identify predictive and prognostic biomarkers for CAFs, further research is needed to understand the mechanism of action of prostate cancer and CAF. In this work, we performed the single-cell RNA sequence analysis to obtain the biomarkers for CAFs, and ten genes were finally regarded as the marker genes for CAFs. Based on the ssGSEA algorithm, the prostate cancer cohort was divided into low- and high-CAFs groups. Further analysis revealed that the CAFs-score is associated with many immune-related cells and immune-related pathways. In addition, between the low- and high-CAFs tissues, a total of 127 hub genes were discovered, which is specific in CAFs. After constructing the prognostic prediction model, SLPI, VSIG2, CENPF, SLC7A1, SMC4, and ITPR2 were finally regarded as the key genes in the prognosis of patients with prostate cancer. Each patient was assigned with the risk score as follows: SLPI* 0.000584811158157081 + VSIG2 * -0.01190627068889 + CENPF * -0.317826812875334 + SLC7A1 * -0.0410213995358753 + SMC4 * 0.202544454923637 + ITPR2 * -0.0824652047622673 + TOP2A * 0.140312081524807 + OR51E2 * -0.00136602095885459. The GSVA revealed the biological features of CAFs, many cancer-related pathways, such as the adipocytokine signaling pathway, ERBB signaling pathway, GnRH signaling pathway, insulin signaling pathway, mTOR signaling pathway and PPAR signaling pathway are closely associated with CAFs. As a result of these observations, similar transcriptomics may be involved in the transition from normal fibroblasts to CAFs in adjacent tissues. As one of the biomarkers for CAFs, CENPF can promote the proliferation ability of prostate cancer cells. The overexpress of CENPF could promote the proliferation ability of prostate cancer cells. In conclusion, we discuss the potential prognostic and therapeutic value of CAF-dependent pathways in prostate cancer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7944235,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Cover flaps for loss of substance on the heel. Apropos of 8 cases].\nThe anatomical and function characteristics of the heel region explain the large number of methods used and the differences of opinion particularly in relation to the repair of weightbearing zones. Our study is based on 28 patients in whom we performed: ten regional flaps, six cross-leg flaps, sixteen microsurgical flaps. The temporal fascia free flap provides good results on the posterior surface with minimal sequelae at the donor site. The medial plantar flap appears to be the most suitable flap for weight-bearing zones. Cross-lep flaps allow satisfactory repair of the weightbearing zone, but the scarred appearance of the donor site is inaesthetic and immobilisation is uncomfortable. The problem of large defects is still not resolved and no really satisfactory method is available among the various distant, skin, myocutaneous, pure muscle or cross-leg flaps. The solution may reside in a combination of two flaps allowing better adaptation to the morphology of the heel. The importance of heel sensation, particularly in the weight-bearing zone, led to the concept of the use of sensitive or resensitised flaps. After a review of the literature and our results, we did not find any correlation between the sensitivity obtained and the success of the reconstruction. It therefore seems useless to perform microscopic nerve sutures in order to resensitise distant heel flaps. The patient's cooperation is essential in every case to compensate for the decreased sensitivity by means of increased visual surveillance and the wearing of suitable shoes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25514447,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Validation of a screening test of auditory function using the telephone.\nSeveral European countries have demonstrated successful use of telephone screening tests for auditory function. The screening test consists of spoken three-digit sequences presented in a noise background. The speech-to-noise ratios of the stimuli are determined by an adaptive tracking method that converges on the level required to achieve 50% correct recognition. A version of the three-digit telephone screening protocol for the United States was developed: the US National Hearing Test (NHT). The objective of the current study was to determine the sensitivity and specificity as well as the feasibility of the NHT for use within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Research Design and Study Sample: Using a multisite study design with convenience sampling, we used the NHT to collect data from 693 participants (1379 ears) from three geographical areas of the United States (Florida, Tennessee, and California). The NHT procedures were as follows: the participants (1) called a toll-free telephone number, (2) entered their assigned ear-specific identification code, (3) listened to 40-sets of digit triplets presented in speech-spectrum background noise, and (4) entered in the numbers that they heard on the telephone key pad. The NHT was performed on each ear, either at home or in a VA clinic. In addition to collecting data from the experimental task, we gathered demographic data and the data from other standard-of-care tests (i.e., audiometric thresholds and speech recognition tests in quiet and in noise). A total of 505 participants completed the NHT at a VA clinic, whereas 188 completed the test at home. Although the ear-specific NHT and mean pure-tone threshold all correlated significantly (p < 0.001), there were more modest correlations in the low- and high-frequency ranges with the highest correlation seen with the 2000 Hz mean pure-tone threshold. When the NHT 50% point or threshold was compared with the three-frequency PTA at 500, 1000, and 2000 Hz, the sensitivity was 0.87 and specificity was 0.54. When comparing the NHT with the four-frequency PTA at 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz, the sensitivity was 0.81 and specificity increased to 0.65. The NHT also correlated strongly with other speech-in-noise measures. The NHT was found to correlate with other audiometric measures, including pure-tone thresholds and speech recognition tests in noise, at sufficiently high correlation values to support its use as a screening test of auditory function.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23326238,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Aberration in DNA methylation in B-cell lymphomas has a complex origin and increases with disease severity.\nDespite mounting evidence that epigenetic abnormalities play a key role in cancer biology, their contributions to the malignant phenotype remain poorly understood. Here we studied genome-wide DNA methylation in normal B-cell populations and subtypes of B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma: follicular lymphoma and diffuse large B-cell lymphomas. These lymphomas display striking and progressive intra-tumor heterogeneity and also inter-patient heterogeneity in their cytosine methylation patterns. Epigenetic heterogeneity is initiated in normal germinal center B-cells, increases markedly with disease aggressiveness, and is associated with unfavorable clinical outcome. Moreover, patterns of abnormal methylation vary depending upon chromosomal regions, gene density and the status of neighboring genes. DNA methylation abnormalities arise via two distinct processes: i) lymphomagenic transcriptional regulators perturb promoter DNA methylation in a target gene-specific manner, and ii) aberrant epigenetic states tend to spread to neighboring promoters in the absence of CTCF insulator binding sites.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17191661,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mechanism of 3-deazaguanine transport in the rat heart.\nThe aim of this study was to determine the mechanism of transport of 3-deazaguanine in the rat heart. We used single-pass, paired-tracer dilution method on isolated and retrogradely perfused rat hearts. The maximal cellular uptake (Umax) and total cellular uptake (Utot) of 3-deazaguanine were determined under control conditions and under influence of possible modifiers. Both Umax and Utot were significantly reduced in the presence of unlabeled 3-deazaguanine (from 19.57 +\/- 2.02% to 8.14 +\/- 1.19% and from 16.49 +\/- 3.65% to 4.70 +\/- 1.96%, n=6, respectively). The presence of pyrimidine nucleoside thymidine caused the reduction of both Umax and Utot (from 20.03 +\/- 3.76% to 13.58 +\/- 3.16% and from 16.43 +\/- 3.58% to 11.94 +\/- 3.13%, n=6, respectively). Also, we tested the effect of the absence of sodium ions in perfusion solution (both Umax and Utot, significantly reduced from 17.95 +\/- 2.73% to 16.67 +\/- 2.16% and from 16.68 +\/- 2.97% to 14.81 +\/- 3.04%, n=6, respectively) and the effect of dinitrophenol (both Umax and Utot significantly reduced from 19.09 +\/- 3.68% to 10.58 +\/- 3.14% and from 16.86 +\/- 3.84% to 7.10 +\/- 3.11%, n=6, respectively). The results of self- and cross-inhibition studies show that the transport of 3-deazaguanine is saturable, energy- and sodium-dependent and that 3-deazaguanine uses endogenous transport systems for thymidine and adenosine for its own transport.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":5835442,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Detection by paper chromatography of imidazoles, including hydantoin-5-propionic acid, in urine after histidine dosage.\nSimple paper chromatography of urine obtained in the Figlu test has been found satisfactory for determining excess excretion of the imidazole metabolites of histidine. It has been confirmed that examination for these in addition to formiminoglutamic acid is necessary for a full assessment of this test. When excretion of the latter is not abnormal in folic-acid and\/or vitamin B(12) deficiency, that of urocanic acid, a glycine conjugate of urocanic acid and\/or imidazole propionic acid, is usually raised. An abnormally high excretion of hydantoin-5-propionic acid after histidine has also been found in these deficiencies, and its estimation may be of additional use in the evaluation of the Figlu test.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28693231,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Impact of RASSF1A gene methylation on the metastatic axillary nodal status in breast cancer patients.\nHypermethylation of CpG islands is a hallmark of cancer and occurs at an early stage in breast tumorigenesis. To gain insight into the epigenetic switches that may promote and\/or contribute to the initial neoplastic events during breast carcinogenesis, the present study focused on the DNA methylation profile of invasive breast carcinoma. The aim of the study was to evaluate the prognostic significance of Ras association domain family 1 isoform A (RASSF1A) promoter methylation status in operable breast cancer, and to analyze the utility of this biomarker regarding its association with metastatic and nonmetastatic axillary nodal status. For this purpose, formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue specimens from 116 breast cancer patients with known axillary nodal status were subjected to assessment of RASSF1A promoter methylation status by methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (MSP) and methylation-sensitive high-resolution melting assay, and the results were subsequently validated by bisulfite sequencing. A multinomial logistic regression model was used to model the dependence of distinct levels of methylation status of the RASSF1A promoter on the nodal status. Promoter region CpG hypermethylation was identified by MSP in 97 (83.6%) of 116 primary breast tumors, while hypermethylation of RASSF1A was confirmed by MS-HRM in 107 (92.2%) of 116 cases of breast cancer. Based on the results of the multinomial logistic regression model, there was no significant difference between the frequency of RASSF1A promoter methylation and axillary lymph node status of patients in general. However, upon adjustment of pN stage, an association was identified between pN0 lymph node-negative status (without axillary metastases) and percentage of RASSF1A methylation in two groups of heterogeneous methylated alleles with \u226450% methylated (P<0.05) and >50% methylated alleles (P<0.0001). If a patients' nodal status changes from pN- to pN+ then the risk of having >50% methylated alleles increases by 7%. The present study revealed a specific phenomenon, suggesting that the presence of heterogeneous methylated alleles in the RASSF1A gene is significantly associated with lymph node-negative status in breast cancer patients. Furthermore, greater significance with negative axillary nodal status was observed with a higher level of heterogeneous methylated alleles in the RASSF1A gene.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16222216,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Audiovisual speech perception in elderly cochlear implant recipients.\nThis study examined the speech perception skills of a younger and older group of cochlear implant recipients to determine the benefit that auditory and visual information provides for speech understanding. Retrospective review. Pre- and postimplantation speech perception scores from the Consonant-Nucleus-Consonant (CNC), the Hearing In Noise sentence Test (HINT), and the City University of New York (CUNY) tests were analyzed for 34 postlingually deafened adult cochlear implant recipients. Half were elderly (i.e., >65 y old) and other half were middle aged (i.e., 39-53 y old). The CNC and HINT tests were administered using auditory-only presentation; the CUNY test was administered using auditory-only, vision-only, and audiovisual presentation conditions No differences were observed between the two age groups on the CNC and HINT tests. For a subset of individuals tested with the CUNY sentences, we found that the preimplantation speechreading scores of the younger group correlated negatively with auditory-only postimplant performance. Additionally, older individuals demonstrated a greater reliance on the integration of auditory and visual information to understand sentences than did the younger group On average, the auditory-only speech perception performance of older cochlear implant recipients was similar to the performance of younger adults. However, variability in speech perception abilities was observed within and between both age groups. Differences in speechreading skills between the younger and older individuals suggest that visual speech information is processed in a different manner for elderly individuals than it is for younger adult cochlear implant recipients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27282765,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Platelets are versatile cells: New discoveries in hemostasis, thrombosis, immune responses, tumor metastasis and beyond.\nPlatelets are small anucleate blood cells generated from megakaryocytes in the bone marrow and cleared in the reticuloendothelial system. At the site of vascular injury, platelet adhesion, activation and aggregation constitute the first wave of hemostasis. Blood coagulation, which is initiated by the intrinsic or extrinsic coagulation cascades, is the second wave of hemostasis. Activated platelets can also provide negatively-charged surfaces that harbor coagulation factors and markedly potentiate cell-based thrombin generation. Recently, deposition of plasma fibronectin, and likely other plasma proteins, onto the injured vessel wall has been identified as a new \"protein wave of hemostasis\" that may occur even earlier than the first wave of hemostasis, platelet accumulation. Although no experimental evidence currently exists, it is conceivable that platelets may also contribute to this protein wave of hemostasis by releasing their granule fibronectin and other proteins that may facilitate fibronectin self- and non-self-assembly on the vessel wall. Thus, platelets may contribute to all three waves of hemostasis and are central players in this critical physiological process to prevent bleeding. Low platelet counts in blood caused by enhanced platelet clearance and\/or impaired platelet production are usually associated with hemorrhage. Auto- and allo-immune thrombocytopenias such as idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura and fetal and neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia may cause life-threatening bleeding such as intracranial hemorrhage. When triggered under pathological conditions such as rupture of an atherosclerotic plaque, excessive platelet activation and aggregation may result in thrombosis and vessel occlusion. This may lead to myocardial infarction or ischemic stroke, the major causes of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Platelets are also involved in deep vein thrombosis and thromboembolism, another leading cause of mortality. Although fibrinogen has been documented for more than half a century as essential for platelet aggregation, recent studies demonstrated that fibrinogen-independent platelet aggregation occurs in both gene deficient animals and human patients under physiological and pathological conditions (non-anti-coagulated blood). This indicates that other unidentified platelet ligands may play important roles in thrombosis and might be novel antithrombotic targets. In addition to their critical roles in hemostasis and thrombosis, emerging evidence indicates that platelets are versatile cells involved in many other pathophysiological processes such as innate and adaptive immune responses, atherosclerosis, angiogenesis, lymphatic vessel development, liver regeneration and tumor metastasis. This review summarizes the current knowledge of platelet biology, highlights recent advances in the understanding of platelet production and clearance, molecular and cellular events of thrombosis and hemostasis, and introduces the emerging roles of platelets in the immune system, vascular biology and tumorigenesis. The clinical implications of these basic science and translational research findings will also be discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37448262,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Serological and Bacteriological Surveillance of Glanders Among Horses in Central Region of Iran.\nGlanders is the oldest and very contagious disease among horses caused by Burkholderia mallei. The disease occurs as a chronic form in horses. Hence, because of the prolonged shedding, numerous horses can potentially get infected by one horse with glanders. Glanders is endemic in Iran and this causes occasional occurrence in horse population of the country. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of B.mallei infection in horses in two central provinces of Iran. A total of 517 serum samples were collected from stable horses in Tehran and Alborz provinces. Among the studied horses, seven presented fever, anorexia, dyspnea, subcutaneous abscesses, nasal and cutaneous discharges, emaciation, and lymphadenopathy. Nasal and ocular discharges and subcutaneous abscesses were sampled for bacterial culture and PCR. The sera were examined by means of complement fixation test (CFT) and indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (iELISA). Seropositive cases were further examined by Mallein test. The results derived from the present study indicated that only 1.35% of the studied horses were positive in CFT, iELISA and Mallein test, of which only in 42.85% B.mallei was successfully cultured on blood agar and glycerinated nutrient media and confirmed by PCR. Periodic serological tests along with quarantine can benefit reduction of the occurrence of the disease in horses in Iran.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32353981,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Development of an Accreditation Framework for Continuing Education Activities for Pharmacists.\nAccreditation is the recognition that an educational activity meets certain standards. The processes for accreditation vary considerably depending on the type of activity, and currently there are differing accreditation systems in place for pharmacy continuing education (CE) across different countries. Research was carried out on a selection of these systems with the aim of developing a catalogue of accreditation approaches, and exploring the possibility of developing a common framework for the accreditation of pharmacy CE activities. Accreditation processes from the countries represented by the Global Forum on Quality Assurance of Continuing Education and Continuing Professional Development (GFQACE) were reviewed to explore the themes and patterns in them. This informed the development of a proposed accreditation framework for CE activities for pharmacists. A Delphi method over four rounds involving seven participants from each GFQACE organisation was used as a consensus building technique. Agreement was achieved on including 15 items in the framework within four stages (Input, Process, Output, and Quality Improvement). The GFQACE steering group indicated their intention to use the resultant framework as the basis for the exploration of mutual recognition of accreditation between member countries.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20376304,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Synthesis and Characterization of Fused-Ring Iridapyrroles.\nTreatment of aromatic nitriles with methyllithium produces N-lithiated imine reagents which, when reacted with (\u03b7(2)-cyclooctene)(Cl)Ir(PMe(3))(3), generate fused iridaazacycles via ortho-metallation. Mono-protonation of these iridaazacycles produces fused iridapyrrole derivatives, while di-protonation leads to several different pathways.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25526283,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Atmospheric emission characteristics and control policies of five precedent-controlled toxic heavy metals from anthropogenic sources in China.\nA bottom-up inventory of atmospheric emissions of five precedent-controlled toxic heavy metals (HMs), including mercury (Hg), arsenic (As), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and chromium (Cr), from primary anthropogenic sources in China is established for the period 2000\u20132010. Total emissions of HMs demonstrate a gradually ascending trend along with the increase of coal consumption and industrial production, which are estimated at approximately 842.22 t for Hg, 4196.31 t for As, 29272.14 t for Pb, 795.29 t for Cd, and 13715.33 t for Cr for 2010. Coal combustion is found to be the primary source of HMs emissions. Owing to the dramatic differences of coal use by industrial and power sectors among provinces, spatial allocation performs remarkably uneven characteristics, and spatial distribution features are demonstrated by allocating the emissions into 0.5\u00b0 \u00d7 0.5\u00b0 grid cells with GDP and population as surrogate indexes. Further, HMs emissions from specified anthropogenic sources under three different control scenarios for the target year 2015 are projected, and collaborative and specialized control strategies are proposed to meet the demand of emission reduction goals of different regions. In the future, a whole processes control management system will be the most effective way for control of HMs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15555934,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"High-level production of recombinant sulfide-reactive hemoglobin I from Lucina pectinata in Escherichia coli. High yields of fully functional holoprotein synthesis in the BLi5 E. coli strain.\nHemoglobin I (HbI) from Lucina pectinata is a monomeric protein composed of 143 amino acids with high sulfide affinity. Its unique heme pocket contains three residues not commonly found in vertebrate globins: Phe 29 (B10), Gln 64 (E7), and Phe 68 (E11), which are thought to be important for high affinity for hydrogen sulfide. Recombinant HbI (rHbI) and several site-directed mutants were cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli yielding high amounts of protein. The highest rHbI protein yield was obtained when the HbI cDNA was cloned into the pET28 (a+) expression vector, transformed into BLi5 cells, the induction performed with 1 mM IPTG at 30 degrees C and TB medium was supplemented with 30 microg\/mL hemin chloride and 1% glucose. The highest yield obtained of HbI was 32 mg\/L of culture using Fernbach flasks. UV\/Visible spectral analysis showed that rHbI binds heme and ESI-MS shows that its molecular weight corresponds to the expected size. Kinetic studies with H2S confirmed that rHbI and HbI have identical binding properties, where the kON for the clam's Hb is 2.73x10(4)M-1s-1 and for rHbI is 2.43x10(4)M-1s-1.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12007095,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Asymmetric chelated Claisen rearrangements in the presence of chiral ligands--scope and limitations.\nClaisen rearrangements of glycine crotyl ester enolates in the presence of chelating metal salts and chiral ligands provide ,-unsaturated amino acids in a highly stereoselective fashion. Best results are obtained with electron withdrawing protecting groups, isopropylates of aluminum and magnesium, and the cinchona alkaloids as chiral ligands. While the use of quinine gives rise to the (2R)-configured amino acids, quinidine provides the opposite enantiomer. The different enantiomers can also be obtained by using only one of the chiral ligands by simply changing the reaction conditions. A mechanistic rational for the stereochemical outcome of the reaction is given, which is supported by several experiments.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28569064,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Full-Spectral Fine-Tuning Visible Emissions from Cation Hybrid Cs1-mFAmPbX3 (X = Cl, Br, and I, 0 \u2264 m \u2264 1) Quantum Dots.\nFull-color visible emissions are particularly crucial for applications in displays and lightings. In this work, we developed a facile room-temperature ligand-assisted supersaturated recrystallization synthesis of monodisperse, cubic structure Cs1-mFAmPbX3 (X = Cl, Br, and I or their mixtures Cl\/Br and Br\/I, 0 \u2264 m \u2264 1) hybrid perovskite quantum dots (QDs). Impressively, cation substitution of Cs+ by FA+ was beneficial in finely tuning the band gap and in exciton recombination kinetics, improving the structural stability, and raising the absolute quantum yields up to 85%. With further assistance of anion replacement, full-spectral visible emissions in the wavelength range of 450-750 nm; narrow full width at half-maxima, and a wide color gamut, encompassing 130% of National Television System Committee television color standard, were achieved. Finally, Cs1-mFAmPbX3-polymer films retaining multicolor luminescence are prepared and a prototype white light-emitting diode device was constructed using green Cs0.1FA0.9PbBr3 and red Cs0.1FA0.9Br1.5I1.5 QDs as color converters, certainly suggesting their potential applications in the optoelectronics field.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36264652,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Risk factors for postpartum depression among sexual minority and heterosexual parents.\nPostpartum depression (PPD), a major depressive episode with postpartum onset, develops in 15% of mothers. Although findings suggest sexual minority parents may be at risk for PPD, research among this population is scarce. We evaluated risk factors for PPD in a sample of sexual minority and heterosexual parents. Four hundred and twenty seven heterosexual and one hundred and eleven sexual minority parents responded to a questionnaire distributed via social media that included demographics, the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Sexual minority identity was not associated with increased risk for PPD. Pregnancy had no significant effect on the likelihood for PPD. Social support was negatively and significantly associated with probability for PPD. Our data suggest that sexual minority parents are not at increased risk for PPD, contrary to previous findings. The parental role, a psychosocial factor, is a more dominant risk factor than pregnancy itself, in the development of PPD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7922179,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Epidemiology and prevention of renal disease.\nMore than 40,000 new patients begin treatment for end-stage renal disease in the United States each year. The most frequent causes are diabetes and hypertension. The incidence rates for blacks and Native Americans are six- to sevenfold in excess of those for whites. Studies are seeking to determine the roles of atherosclerotic vascular disease, renal ischemia, and the amount of renal mass on the rate of progressive renal disease. Other studies seek to identify the factors that predict the development of nephropathy in patients with diabetes mellitus. Treatment of hypertension slows the rate of progressive renal disease by 40% to 50%. Meta-analysis of several European studies suggests that dietary protein restriction appears to delay the onset of end-stage renal disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21755638,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Circle of healing: traditional storytelling, part one.\nThe session began with three presenters - LouAnn Benson, Walter Porter, and Lisa Dolchok - all of whom are or have been affiliated with the Circle of Healing Program at Southcentral Foundation in Anchorage, Alaska. The Southcentral Foundation is a Native Health Corporation that administers what used to be the Indian Health Service Hospital and Medical Center. In the Circle of Healing Program, the Southcentral Foundation has designed and implemented an approach to health care that allows its patients simultaneously to access Western medicine, traditional Native healing, and other alternative approaches to health care, such as acupuncture. An important figure in this effort is Dr. Robert Morgan, a psychologist who has worked with the program for several years, and who helped suggest presenters for this part of the program. Originally, Bob planned to be present in Quebec City, but family priorities meant a change in plans. Bob's absence had a silver lining, however, because in his stead he sent LouAnn Benson, one of his able colleagues, who talked about the program from the perspective of an insider.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":33729908,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Developing Quality and Efficiency of Institutional Review Board Review Under a Human Research Protection Program at a Leading Hospital in Central Southern China: A Descriptive Analysis of the First Three Years.\nThis study analyzes the Institutional Review Board (IRB) quality and efficiency at a leading hospital in Central Southern China, under the first three years of a Human Research Protection Program (HRPP). We conducted a descriptive, retrospective analysis from 2015 through 2017. We extracted characteristics from the protocol archive in duplicate. Of 396 protocols submitted, 98% were approved. Mean protocol review time decreased from 23 to 15 calendar days, 344 serious adverse events SAEs were reviewed, and 93 conflicts of interest (COIs) were disclosed. IRB quality and efficiency mechanisms improved. Remaining needs include increased monitoring of COIs and unanticipated problem involving risks to subjects or others, distinctions between research types, and cooperation with specialized committees.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3047637,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Comparative biochemical and morphometric studies on corneal wound healing.\nComparative biochemical and morphological studies were carried out on wounded corneas in order to correlate biochemical findings with morphometric observations during the healing process. Experimental production of corneal wounds, biochemical determinations and quantitative morphometric studies are described in an attempt to correlate corneal matrix macromolecules biosynthesis during the healing process with the morphological modifications of the tissue. The central part and the peripheral part of the corneas were examined separately and compared to the central and peripheral parts of the controlateral corneas. The DNA content of the central portion of the wounded corneas progressively increased and reached after 60 days the same level as the corresponding portion of the controlateral corneas. The DNA contents of the peripheral portions of wounded and controlateral corneas are persistently higher than the DNA contents in the central portion. In peripheral portions of wounded corneas the DNA content is higher than in controlateral corneas and continues to increase steadily during the 60 days of experimentation. Cell density, as determined by morphometry, increased also during that period. The differences between the evolution of the DNA contents and cell density curves may be attributed to variations in cell sizes. The collagen content, estimated from hydroxyproline determinations remained lower in the wounded corneas as compared to the controlateral corneas, even 60 days after operation. This was true for the central as well as for the peripheral portions, suggesting a collagenolytic process as a result of wounding. This is confirmed by morphometric evaluation of fiber density.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28252178,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Isolation, identification and pathogenicity of Vibrio harveyi, the causal agent of skin ulcer disease in juvenile hybrid groupers Epinephelus fuscoguttatus \u00d7 Epinephelus lanceolatus.\nThe hybrid grouper, Epinephelus fuscoguttatus (\u2640) \u00d7 Epinephelus lanceolatus (\u2642), is a newly bred cultivated marine fish species of high economic value. However, a skin ulcer disease with high mortality has occurred, and the responsible pathogen remains unknown. In this study, we summarized the epidemic status and external signs of this disease. We screened potential pathogens and finally isolated one bacterial strain ML01 from affected fish. We subjected healthy juvenile hybrid groupers to bacterial challenge tests with the isolate by immersion, immersion after dermal abrasion and intraperitoneal injection, respectively. Within 14 days post-infection, the isolate ML01 caused mass mortality of juveniles infected via immersion after dermal abrasion or intraperitoneal injection. Diseased juveniles displayed obvious signs of skin ulcers. The median lethal dose of ML01 by intraperitoneal injection was 1.10 \u00d7 105 colony-forming units. ML01 was identified as Vibrio harveyi by bacterial morphology, analytical profile index identification, 16S rDNA sequencing and multilocus sequence analysis. Antibiotic susceptibility tests showed that ML01 was sensitive to ceftriaxone, doxycycline and minocycline. The results of this study suggest that V. harveyi is the causal agent of skin ulcer disease in juvenile hybrid groupers, thus providing a basis for effective control and prevention of this disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20371879,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The effects of the natural antioxidant quercetin and anions of the Hofmeister series on liposomes marked with chlorophyll a.\nThe unilamellar liposomes of dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC), marked with chlorophyll a (Chla), have been chosen as suitable models in studies aimed at determining the effects of natural antioxidant quercetin (QCT) and Hofmeister series anions on lipid bilayers. The variations of steady state fluorescence emission intensity of Chla have been recorded and the values of Chla fluorescence anisotropy, under constant temperature and viscosity, at pH = 7.3-7.4 have been measured. Two types of experiments have been performed. In the first type of experiment, the concentration of anions was maintained constant and the concentration of QCT was varied (from 0 to 100 micromol\/l). In the second type of experiment, the concentration of QCT was constant (30 micromol\/l) and the concentration of anions was varied (from 0 to 152 mmol\/l). The quenching of Chla fluorescence by QCT pleads in favor of QCT insertion at interface water-lipid, in the vicinity of the polar heads of lipids from liposomal bilayer at physiological pH and temperature. Fluorescence anisotropy of Chla in liposomes brought more evidences for QCT localizations at lipid\/water interface. Chla is sensing a more rigid microenvironment when QCT is added to the lipid bilayer and specific effects of the Hofmeister series anions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11981239,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Treatment of excessive daytime sleepiness in patients with Parkinson's disease with modafinil.\nExcessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) may limit the symptomatic treatment of Parkinson's disease and can alter the patient's lifestyle significantly. Ten consecutive patients with Parkinson's disease on various dopaminergic drugs and EDS were recruited to a 4-week open-label trial of modafinil. Patients were evaluated using the Epworth Sleepiness Scale and Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale part III. All but three patients, with previous history of intolerability of a dopamine agonist caused by EDS, remained on their baseline medications. Modafinil was titrated as needed to a maximum of 400 mg\/day. The mean Epworth Sleepiness Scale score at baseline of patients completing the study (n = 9) was 14.22 (+\/- 3.03). After completing the study on an average dose of 172 mg\/day, the Epworth Sleepiness Scale score was 6.0 (+\/- 4.87). Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale scores were not affected by this medication. Side effects encountered were headache, generalized paresthesias, and hallucinations (n = 1 each, the patient developing hallucinations dropped out of the trial before completing 4 weeks of the study drug). The three patients who did not tolerate any increments of dopamine agonist before modafinil were able to tolerate further upward titration of the dopamine agonist. Modafinil may be effective in reducing EDS in patients with Parkinson's disease treated with dopaminergic drugs. It does not seem to worsen parkinsonian symptoms and may allow further increase in dopaminergic therapy in patients previously unable to tolerate this because of EDS.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17188257,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Pesticide exposure on southwestern Taiwanese with MnSOD and NQO1 polymorphisms is associated with increased risk of Parkinson's disease.\nHypothetic mechanism of the individual vulnerability to oxidative stress through metabolism of environmental xenobiotics and genotypic polymorphisms has been considered to promote the development of Parkinson's disease (PD). In this case-control study, we determined the role of manganese-containing superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) and NAD(P)H: quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) genes in PD risk in a population with high prevalence of pesticide exposure. From southwestern region of Taiwan, we enrolled 153 patients with idiopathic PD and 155 healthy control subjects matched for age, sex and origin. Detailed questionnaires of face-to-face interviews among these subjects were collected. PCR-based restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) assays were used to determine the genotypes of MnSOD (-9 T>C) and NQO1 (609 C>T) genes. Exposure to pesticides associated with PD was significant among patients with an increased odds ratio (OR) of 1.69 (95%CI, 1.07-2.65), and this association remained significant after adjustment for age, sex, and cigarette smoking (aOR=1.68, 95%CI, 1.03-2.76, P=0.023). Considering genetic factors, there were no significant differences in frequencies of both genotypes of MnSOD and NQO1 polymorphisms between PD patients and the control subjects (P>0.05). However, this difference in genotype distribution was significant among subjects who had been exposed to pesticide, with aOR of 2.49 (95%CI, 1.18-5.26, P=0.0072) for MnSOD C allele and aOR of 2.42 (95%CI, 1.16-4.76, P=0.0089) for NQO1 T allele, respectively. Moreover, among subjects exposed to pesticide, the combined MnSOD\/NQO1 variant genotype was significantly associated with a 4.09-fold increased risk of PD (95%CI, 1.34-10.64, P=0.0052). Susceptible variants of MnSOD and NQO1 genes may interact with occupational pesticide exposure to increase PD risk in southwestern Taiwanese.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32583981,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cellular Interactions of Liposomes and PISA Nanoparticles during Human Blood Flow in a Microvascular Network.\nA key concept in nanomedicine is encapsulating therapeutic or diagnostic agents inside nanoparticles to prolong blood circulation time and to enhance interactions with targeted cells. During circulation and depending on the selected application (e.g., cancer drug delivery or immune modulators), nanoparticles are required to possess low or high interactions with cells in human blood and blood vessels to minimize side effects or maximize delivery efficiency. However, analysis of cellular interactions in blood vessels is challenging and is not yet realized due to the diverse components of human blood and hemodynamic flow in blood vessels. Here, the first comprehensive method to analyze cellular interactions of both synthetic and commercially available nanoparticles under human blood flow conditions in a microvascular network is developed. Importantly, this method allows to unravel the complex interplay of size, charge, and type of nanoparticles on their cellular associations under the dynamic flow of human blood. This method offers a unique platform to study complex interactions of any type of nanoparticles in human blood flow conditions and serves as a useful guideline for the rational design of liposomes and polymer nanoparticles for diverse applications in nanomedicine.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28572191,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Differentiating Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells into Embryoid Bodies in AggreWell Plates.\nEmbryonic stem (ES) cells can develop into many types of differentiated tissues if they are placed into a differentiating environment. This can occur in vivo when the ES cells are injected into or aggregated with an embryo, or in vitro if their culture conditions are modified to induce differentiation. Many times ES cell differentiation proceeds through an intermediate stage called the embryoid body (EB). EBs are round structures composed of ES cells that have undergone some of the initial stages of differentiation. EBs can then be manipulated further to generate more specific cell types. The method described here makes use of commercially available AggreWell 400 plates with prefabricated indentations that cradle each EB. Although these plates are relatively expensive, they may be suitable for some high-throughput experiments. This protocol describes the preparation of embryoid bodies of defined size and shape in a large-scale format (approximately 1200 embryoid bodies per preparation).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25505340,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Slow oscillations during sleep coordinate interregional communication in cortical networks.\nLarge-amplitude sleep slow oscillations group faster neuronal oscillations and are of functional relevance for memory performance. However, relatively little is known about the impact of slow oscillations on functionally coupled networks. Here, we provide a comprehensive view on how human slow oscillatory dynamics influence various measures of brain processing. We demonstrate that slow oscillations coordinate interregional cortical communication, as assessed by phase synchrony in the sleep spindle frequency range and cross-frequency coupling between spindle and beta activity. Furthermore, we show that the organizing role of slow oscillations is restricted to circumscribed topographical areas. These findings add importantly to our basic understanding of the orchestrating role of slow oscillations. In addition, they are of considerable relevance for accounts of sleep-dependent memory reprocessing and consolidation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32366453,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Role of Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Pre-operative Evaluation of Women Diagnosed With Atypical Endometrial Hyperplasia.\nTo evaluate the role of MRI in patients with atypical endometrial hyperplasia (AEH) and incorporate MRI findings in predictive models estimating the risk of co-existent endometrial cancer (EC). Data from 189 women diagnosed with AEH and had MRI scan prior to operation, over nine years, were retrospectively collected. Histology showed EC in 51 (27%) cases. Presence of myometrial invasion on MRI was more commonly detected in patients with EC compared to those with benign pathology (37.3% versus 10.9%, p<0.001). The sensitivity and specificity of MRI in identifying cancer were 37% and 89%, respectively. Age, menopausal status and presence of invasion on MRI were the best predictors for the presence of malignancy. Myometrial invasion on MRI is associated with increased risk of EC in women with AEH. Its accuracy in detecting malignancy improves when combined with clinical parameters. This could be of value for conservative-management candidates.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17876916,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The effects of magnesium sulphate-pretreatment on suxamethonium-induced complications during induction of general endotracheal anaesthesia.\nTo determine the effects of Magnesium-Sulphate-pretreatment on Suxamethonium-induced complications (serum potassium rise, fasciculations and apnea). Eighty-four adult patients were selected and randomly allocated into two study groups during induction of general endotracheal anaesthesia. Endotracheal intubation was facilitated with suxamethonium in group A, while in group B magnesium sulphate pretreatment and suxamethonium. Blood sample for serum potassium estimation was taken before induction and at 5 min after induction. Degree of fasciculations and duration of apnea were assessed clinically. Anaesthetic technique and monitoring of patient was standardized. This study showed statistically significant increase in serum potassium of Group A patients {average 0.34 mmol\/L} from baseline value p value 0.00. Magnesium sulphate pretreatment significantly reduced suxamethonium-induced hyperkalaemia by an average of 0.3 mmol\/L (p-value 0.01). The severity of fasciculations was also significantly reduced (p-value 0.00). There was no significant effect of magnesium pretreatment on duration of apnea during endotracheal intubation (p-value 0.41). Fourteen point six percent (14.6%) of patients that received magnesium pretreatment complained of feeling of heat or warmth but there was no life threatening dysrrhythmias observed in any of the eighteen patients that had continuous ECG monitoring. The study shows that magnesium sulphate pretreatment has significantly reduced suxamethonium-induced hyperkalaemia and severity of fasciculations during induction of general endotracheal anaesthesia, however there was no significant effect on the duration of apnea. The average of 0.034 mmol\/L in Group B was not significant {p value 0.06}. We advocate the use of magnesium pretreatment in all patients at risk of these complications.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30657317,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Isolation and Structural Characterization of Er@ C2 v(9)-C82 and Er@ C s(6)-C82: Regioselective Dimerization of a Pristine Endohedral Metallofullerene Induced by Cage Symmetry.\nTwo Er@C82 isomers have been isolated and unambiguously characterized as Er@ C2 v(9)-C82 and Er@ C s(6)-C82, respectively, by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Er@ C s(6)-C82 is identified as a dimeric structure in the crystalline state, but dimerization does not occur for Er@ C2 v(9)-C82 under identical crystallization conditions, indicating a cage-symmetry-induced dimerization process. Density functional theory calculations reveal that the major unpaired spin resides on a special C atom of Er@ C s(6)-C82, which leads to regioselective dimerization. Calculations also found that the dimeric structure of Er@ C s(6)-C82\u00b7Ni(OEP) is much more stable than the two monomers, suggesting a thermodynamically favorable dimerization process. Vis-near-IR spectrometric and electrochemical results demonstrate that the electronic structure of Er@C82 isomers is Er3+@C823-, instead of the theoretically proposed Er2+@C822-.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37867598,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"TextNetTopics Pro, a topic model-based text classification for short text by integration of semantic and document-topic distribution information.\nWith the exponential growth in the daily publication of scientific articles, automatic classification and categorization can assist in assigning articles to a predefined category. Article titles are concise descriptions of the articles' content with valuable information that can be useful in document classification and categorization. However, shortness, data sparseness, limited word occurrences, and the inadequate contextual information of scientific document titles hinder the direct application of conventional text mining and machine learning algorithms on these short texts, making their classification a challenging task. This study firstly explores the performance of our earlier study, TextNetTopics on the short text. Secondly, here we propose an advanced version called TextNetTopics Pro, which is a novel short-text classification framework that utilizes a promising combination of lexical features organized in topics of words and topic distribution extracted by a topic model to alleviate the data-sparseness problem when classifying short texts. We evaluate our proposed approach using nine state-of-the-art short-text topic models on two publicly available datasets of scientific article titles as short-text documents. The first dataset is related to the Biomedical field, and the other one is related to Computer Science publications. Additionally, we comparatively evaluate the predictive performance of the models generated with and without using the abstracts. Finally, we demonstrate the robustness and effectiveness of the proposed approach in handling the imbalanced data, particularly in the classification of Drug-Induced Liver Injury articles as part of the CAMDA challenge. Taking advantage of the semantic information detected by topic models proved to be a reliable way to improve the overall performance of ML classifiers.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14519929,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"New sphingolipids from marine sponge Iotrochota baculifera.\nChemical examination of the marine sponge Iotrochota baculifera of the Indian Ocean furnished a sphingolipid (1), a new glycosphingolipid (iotroridoside-B, 2) and a four-component mixture of sphingolipids (3a-d) with two new components. Structure elucidation was carried out by spectral and chemical methods.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23326299,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Understanding of statistical terms routinely used in meta-analyses: an international survey among researchers.\nBiomedical literature is increasingly enriched with literature reviews and meta-analyses. We sought to assess the understanding of statistical terms routinely used in such studies, among researchers. An online survey posing 4 clinically-oriented multiple-choice questions was conducted in an international sample of randomly selected corresponding authors of articles indexed by PubMed. A total of 315 unique complete forms were analyzed (participation rate 39.4%), mostly from Europe (48%), North America (31%), and Asia\/Pacific (17%). Only 10.5% of the participants answered correctly all 4 \"interpretation\" questions while 9.2% answered all questions incorrectly. Regarding each question, 51.1%, 71.4%, and 40.6% of the participants correctly interpreted statistical significance of a given odds ratio, risk ratio, and weighted mean difference with 95% confidence intervals respectively, while 43.5% correctly replied that no statistical model can adjust for clinical heterogeneity. Clinicians had more correct answers than non-clinicians (mean score \u00b1 standard deviation: 2.27\u00b11.06 versus 1.83\u00b11.14, p<0.001); among clinicians, there was a trend towards a higher score in medical specialists (2.37\u00b11.07 versus 2.04\u00b11.04, p = 0.06) and a lower score in clinical laboratory specialists (1.7\u00b10.95 versus 2.3\u00b11.06, p = 0.08). No association was observed between the respondents' region or questionnaire completion time and participants' score. A considerable proportion of researchers, randomly selected from a diverse international sample of biomedical scientists, misinterpreted statistical terms commonly reported in meta-analyses. Authors could be prompted to explicitly interpret their findings to prevent misunderstandings and readers are encouraged to keep up with basic biostatistics.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26434032,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Gluten-Free Frenzy: Fad or Fitting?\nAlthough the gluten-free diet has been recognized as therapeutic for individuals suffering from celiac disease, it has been promoted recently for other indications, such as autism, chronic fatigue syn- drome, and irritable bowel syndrome, or simply as a healthy dietary choice for anyone. The basics of the gluten-free diet are explored, with evidence-based indications and nursing implications when patients choose gluten-free.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17004844,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Phase diagram and glass transition of confined benzene.\nWe used differential scanning calorimetry, neutron scattering, and proton NMR to investigate the phase behavior, the structure, and the dynamics of benzene confined in a series of cylindrical mesoporous materials MCM-41 and SBA-15 with pore diameters, d, between 2.4 and 14 nm. With this multitechnique approach, it was possible to determine the structure and, for the first time to our knowledge, the density of confined benzene as a function of temperature and pore size. Under standard cooling rates, benzene partially crystallizes in SBA-15 matrixes (4.7 <or= d <or= 14 nm) but not in MCM-41 (2.4 <or= d <or= 3.5 nm). Structure factors of the confined phases were recorded at different temperatures and compare to those of the bulk. The confined liquid has the same structure as the bulk above the bulk melting point. In SBA-15, the confined crystals are defective and have the same structure as the bulk. In MCM-41, the liquid undergoes a glass transition at low temperature regardless of the cooling rate or the thermal history of the sample. The density as a function of temperature was measured by neutron scattering contrast matching, and the glass transition temperatures were determined from the density versus temperature curves. The pore size dependence of T(g) does not show any evidence of finite size effects. A temperature versus pore diameter phase diagram of confined benzene is proposed combining liquid, supercooled liquid, crystal states, and glassy states. NMR relaxation time measurements showed that the dynamics of the confined liquids are slower than those of the bulk above its melting point. In the partially crystallized samples, the liquid and the crystal have the same relaxation times. The activation energies of reorientation motions in the confined phases, determined from spin lattice relaxation times, are smaller than the bulk ones.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19040696,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Factors associated with the recruitment and retention of social workers in Wales: employer and employee perspectives.\nDespite acute staffing shortages in social work, workforce planning within the UK social care sector is compromised by poor workforce intelligence. This study aimed to inform the evidence base providing new data on recruitment and retention in Wales, examining what personal and organizational characteristics are associated with intentions to leave, and what initiatives or incentives might mediate that effect. A multi-method design facilitated comparisons between two data sources--a census of all 22 Welsh local authority employers about recruitment and retention practices and a survey of all social workers and senior practitioners employed in social services (n = 998; response rate 45.9%) about demography, workforce characteristics, working patterns, morale and plans and reasons for leaving one's job. Vacancy (mean 14.4%) and turnover (mean 15%) rates were statistically significantly higher in children's services than in adult services; vacancy rates were also higher in authorities that offered higher starting salaries. The provision of certain types of traineeship might also be associated with higher vacancy rates but these results should be treated with some caution. There was little evidence that recruitment and retention initiatives were associated with lower vacancy or turnover rates, despite employers' perceptions about their effectiveness. Social workers derived a lot of satisfaction from their work, but more than a quarter wanted to leave their job within 6 months, and almost as many were actively seeking alternative employment. Intention to leave was explained by job and employer satisfaction, and negative feelings about pay. Senior practitioners and staff members with longer lengths of service were less likely to want to leave, even if they were dissatisfied with their job or employer. Job and employer dissatisfaction was associated with retention initiatives related to facilities, good caseload management and home-working, suggesting that dissatisfied staff might remain in employment for longer if these initiatives were in place.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37868348,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Chimaeribacter arupi a new member of the Yersineacea family has the characteristics of a human pathogen.\nChimaeribacter arupi (heterotypic synonym: \"Nissabacter archeti\") is a facultative anaerobic, newly described Gram-negative rod and belongs to the Yersineacea family. Here, we report the case of a 19-month-old female infant patient who presented to the emergency unit with somnolence and fever. C. arupi was isolated from a positive blood culture, taken via an implanted Broviac catheter, proving a bloodstream infection by the pathogen. The objective of this study was to utilize whole genome sequencing to assess the genes encoding potential virulence associated factors, which may play a role in host tropism, tissue invasion and the subsequent stages in the pathogenesis of a bloodstream infection with C. arupi. The genome of the isolate was completely sequenced employing Illumina MiSeq and Nanopore MinION sequencing and the presumptive virulence associated factors and antimicrobial resistance genes were investigated in more detail. Additionally, we performed metabolic profiling and susceptibility testing by microdilution. The presence of predicted TcfC-like \u03b1-Pili suggests that C. arupi is highly adapted to humans as a host. It utilizes flagellar and type IV pili-mediated motility, as well as a number of \u03b31-pili and a \u03c3-pilus, which may be used to facilitate biofilm formation and adherence to host epithelia. Additionally, long polar fimbriae may aid in tissue invasion. The bacterium possesses antioxidant factors, which may enable temporary survival in phagolysosomes, and a capsule that potentially provides protection from phagocytosis. It may acquire iron ions from erythrocytes through the type 6 secretion system and hemolysins. Furthermore, the isolate exhibits beta-lactamase-mediated penicillin and aminopenicillin resistance. Based on the analysis of the whole genome, we conclude that C. arupi possesses virulence factors associated with tissue invasion and may thus be a potential opportunistic pathogen of bloodstream infections.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1688699,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Combination chemotherapy (modified CHOP-Bleo) in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma].\nTwenty-six adults with advanced non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (73% in clinical stage IV) were treated with a combination of cyclophosphamide, hydroxyldaunorubicin, vincristine, prednisolone and bleomycin (modified CHOP-Bleo), from May 1978 to July 1987. Complete remission (CR) was obtained in 12 of 26 patients (46%). The median survival time was 19.5 months (2-77 + months), Median duration of CR was 30.5 months (2-76 + months). The survival of patients with diffuse lymphoma large cell type (DL) was better than those with other diffuse lymphomas. The 50% of patients with DL are projected to be free of disease. The survival of patients with clinical stage III was significantly better than those with clinical stage IV. Major complications during chemotherapy with modified CHOP-Bleo were myelosuppression, constipation and peripheral neuropathy. These toxicities were generally mild and well tolerated.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17006919,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Significance of circulating endothelial progenitor cells in hepatocellular carcinoma.\nThis study evaluated the significance of circulating bone marrow-derived endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a solid tumor with rich neovasculature. Eighty patients with HCC were recruited for the study, and 16 patients with liver cirrhosis and 14 healthy subjects were also included for comparison. Blood samples were taken before treatment. Total mononuclear cells were isolated from peripheral blood, preplated to eliminate mature circulating endothelial cells, and colony-forming units (CFUs) formed by circulating EPCs were counted. To validate the CFU scores, FACS quantification of EPCs using CD133, VEGFR2, and CD34 as markers was performed in 30 cases. Our study showed significantly higher mean CFU scores in patients with HCC compared to patients with cirrhosis and healthy controls (P = .001 and .009, respectively). Furthermore, the CFU scores of patients with HCC positively correlated with levels of serum alpha-fetoprotein (r = .303, P = .017), plasma VEGF (r = .242, P = .035), and plasma interleukin-8 (IL-8) (r = .258, P = .025). Patients with unresectable HCC had higher CFU scores than patients with resectable tumors (P = .027). Furthermore, for those who underwent curative surgery, higher preoperative CFU scores were observed in patients with recurrence within 1 year compared with those who were disease-free after 1 year (P = .013). In conclusion, higher circulating levels of EPCs are seen in patients with advanced unresectable HCC as compared to patients with resectable HCC or those with liver cirrhosis. Our evidence supports the potential use of circulating level of EPCs as a prognostic marker in patients with HCC.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17884601,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Severe airway hyperresponsiveness was not predictable with the use of current tools in asthmatic children in general practice.\nTo evaluate whether moderate to severe airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) could be suspected with the use of routinely available clinical and environmental information. Cross-sectional study of asthma in 526 asthmatics aged 7-17 years and treated in general practice. Moderate to severe AHR was present in 48% (n=253) of the participants. The presence of inhalation allergy, nocturnal symptoms, and usage of beta2-mimetics were significantly associated with moderate to severe AHR. If all three factors were present, the probability of the presence of moderate to severe and severe AHR was 76% and 36%, respectively. If all three were absent, the probability decreased to 11% and 5%, respectively. In 319 subjects (64%) AHR could not be adequately predicted with routinely available information. Moderate and severe AHR could not be suspected with the use of routinely available clinical and environmental information in the majority of children. Except for a subgroup of children, our models were not helpful in deciding in which child an inhaled corticosteroid should be started or whether the dose should be increased or decreased. We recommend measuring the severity of AHR in these children by means of an inhalation challenge test.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6161972,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Binding of wheat gliadin in vitro to reticulum in normal and dermatitis herpetiformis skin.\nWe have demonstrated by indirect immunofluorescence that wheat gliadin binds in vitro to reticulin-like fibrils present in cryostat sections of human skin, and rat liver, kidney and stomach. Gliadin was seen to bind to fibrils throughout the dermis of both normal and dermatitis herpetiformis skin, and this was particularly striking in the dermal papillae. Serum from 2 dermatitis herpetiformis patients who did not have antireticulin antibody gave reticulin staining when retested by immunofluorescence on cryostat sections of rat tissue pretreated with gliadin. Gliadin treated sections may prove useful in screening patients with gluten sensitive enteropathy for anti-gliadin antibody. Binding of gliadin to skin sites in dermatitis herpetiformis patients and subsequent deposition of antigliadin antibody at these sites may be involved in the development of skin lesions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23445643,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Ectopic mediastinal parathyroid adenoma resected by video-assisted thoracic surgery with intraoperative methylene blue infusion].\nWe report a case of 26-year-old man treated for ectopic mediastinal parathyroid adenoma with videoassisted thoracic surgery and perioperative methylene blue intravenous injection. The patient had elevated serum calcium levels, and a history of recurrent urinary stone seizures from 8 years ago. Hypercalcemiadue to the hyperparathyroidism was suspected and am ectopic parathyroid adenoma in the mediastinum was identified by computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging(MRI).Thoracoscopic extirpation of mediastinal parathyroid adenoma was scheduled with the help of tumor staining by methylene blue intravenous injection. The lesion was identified easily during surgery, andthe thoracoscopic surgery could be safely performed. The postoperative course is well, and hypercalcemia was improved. The ureteral stone seizures did not occur subsequently.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16230400,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Alterations of choline phospholipid metabolism in ovarian tumor progression.\nRecent characterization of abnormal phosphatidylcholine metabolism in tumor cells by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) has identified novel fingerprints of tumor progression that are potentially useful as clinical diagnostic indicators. In the present study, we analyzed the concentrations of phosphatidylcholine metabolites, activities of phosphocholine-producing enzymes, and uptake of [methyl-14C]choline in human epithelial ovarian carcinoma cell lines (EOC) compared with normal or immortalized ovary epithelial cells (EONT). Quantification of phosphatidylcholine metabolites contributing to the 1H NMR total choline resonance (3.20-3.24 ppm) revealed intracellular [phosphocholine] and [total choline] of 2.3 +\/- 0.9 and 5.2 +\/- 2.4 nmol\/10(6) cells, respectively, with a glycerophosphocholine\/phosphocholine ratio of 0.95 +\/- 0.93 in EONT cells; average [phosphocholine] was 3- to 8-fold higher in EOC cells (P < 0.0001), becoming the predominant phosphatidylcholine metabolite, whereas average glycerophosphocholine\/phosphocholine values decreased significantly to < or =0.2. Two-dimensional (phosphocholine\/total choline, [total choline]) and (glycerophosphocholine\/total choline, [total choline]) maps allowed separate clustering of EOC from EONT cells (P < 0.0001, 95% confidence limits). Rates of choline kinase activity in EOC cells were 12- to 24-fold higher (P < 0.03) than those in EONT cells (basal rate, 0.5 +\/- 0.1 nmol\/10(6) cells\/h), accounting for a consistently elevated (5- to 15-fold) [methyl-14C]choline uptake after 1-hour incubation (P < 0.0001). The overall activity of phosphatidylcholine-specific phospholipase C and phospholipase D was also higher ( approximately 5-fold) in EOC cells, suggesting that both biosynthetic and catabolic pathways of the phosphatidylcholine cycle likely contribute to phosphocholine accumulation. Evidence of abnormal phosphatidylcholine metabolism might have implications in EOC biology and might provide an avenue to the development of noninvasive clinical tools for EOC diagnosis and treatment follow-up.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14558856,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Prevalence of myopia among primary school children in eastern Sydney.\nWorldwide there is concern that the prevalence of myopia is increasing but the prevalence of myopia in Australian school children has not been analysed in detail. This study examines the prevalence of refractive errors in a large unselected population of primary school children in the eastern suburbs of Sydney. Children visiting the Vision Education Centre at the School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of New South Wales, on a school excursion during the first half of the 1990s were refracted by non-cycloplegic retinoscopy. Spherical equivalents were computed and analysis of variance carried out. There were 1,459 boys and 1,076 girls in the study, a total of 2,535 children of whom approximately 40 per cent were born overseas or were first generation Australians. Overall, there was no significant difference in refractive error between girls and boys, although there were age\/gender interactions with older girls exhibiting more hyperopia than boys. The refractive error ranged from -0.25 to +1.25 D spherical equivalent in 87.3 per cent of children. Mean spherical equivalent for the group was +0.50 +\/- 0.82 D. There was a significant shift (p < 0.001) towards increasing myopia with age. The prevalence of myopia greater than -0.50 D rose from 1.0 per cent of four-year-olds to 8.3 per cent of 12-year-olds. The prevalence of myopia found in a large multi-ethnic group of non-clinical primary school children in eastern Sydney is lower than expected from other studies in the USA and Asia. Compared with Australian data from the 1970s and 1980s, only a weak increase in the prevalence of myopia is revealed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8350628,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"New xenografts of human megakaryoblastic cell line (MEG-01) for evaluating anti-tumor agents.\nA human megakaryoblastic cell line (MEG-01) was successfully transplanted into athymic nude mice. MEG-01 cells (5 x 10(7)) were inoculated subcutaneously in KSN-nu\/nu mice, none of which were pretreated with irradiation or chemotherapeutic agents. All mice developed solid tumors at the site of injection after incubation for 10-14 days reaching a size of 200-400 mm2 (product of cross-sectional diameters) after 30 days. These tumors, designated as MEG-01\/nu, were transplanted into other nude mice. The transplanted tumors infiltrated the liver and spleen, and leukemic megakaryoblastic cells appeared in the blood of some transplanted mice. Cells resuspended from MEG-01\/nu tumors exhibited almost the same megakaryocytic characteristics as the original MEG-01 cells, and underwent in vitro differentiation to a mature form of megakaryocyte upon addition of phorbol diesters. MEG-01\/nu was evaluated for sensitivity to cytosine arabinoside, vincristine, and daunorubicin in vitro and in vivo. Daunorubicin exhibited significant anti-tumor activity against MEG-01\/nu in vivo, while cytosine arabinoside did so in vitro. Vincristine showed no activity against these cells. This cell line may provide a useful model for testing the in vivo efficacy of anti-tumor agents and immunotoxins, and for studying the pathophysiological mechanisms of human megakaryoblastic leukemia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21751319,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Organocatalyzed enantioselective fluorocyclizations.\nEnantioenriched fluorinated heterocycles can be prepared through fluorocyclizations of prochiral indoles (see scheme; Ts=tosyl, Bn=benzyl, Boc=tert-butoxycarbonyl). More than twenty examples for this cascade fluorination-cyclization, which is catalyzed by cinchona alkaloids and employs N-fluorobenzenesulfonimide as the electrophilic fluorine source have been explored, and an unprecedented catalytic asymmetric difluorocyclization has also been identified.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21165560,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Chetomin induces degradation of XIAP and enhances TRAIL sensitivity in urogenital cancer cells.\nTumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) is one of the most promising anti-cancer agents, but some tumor types develop resistance to TRAIL. Here, we report that chetomin, an inhibitor of hypoxia-inducible factors, is a potent enhancer of TRAIL-induced apoptosis. TRAIL or chetomin alone weakly induced apoptosis, but the combination of chetomin and TRAIL synergistically induced apoptosis in prostate cancer PC-3 cells. The combination of chetomin and TRAIL induces the activation of caspase-3, -8, -9 and -10. Among the apoptotic factors related to the TRAIL pathway, chetomin markedly decreased the X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis (XIAP) protein levels in a dose-dependent manner, but other IAP family members, TRAIL receptors and Bcl-2 family members were not altered by chetomin. Using XIAP siRNA instead of chetomin, down-regulation of XIAP sensitized PC-3 cells to TRAIL-induced apoptosis. Conversely, transient transfection of XIAP reduced the apoptotic response to combined treatment with chetomin and TRAIL. Treatment with chetomin induced a rapid decrease in XIAP protein levels but had no effect on XIAP mRNA levels. Since chetomin-mediated XIAP down-regulation was completely prevented by proteasome inhibitors, it was suggested that chetomin induces the degradation of the XIAP protein in a proteasome-dependent manner. Additionally, chetomin also sensitized renal cancer Caki-1 cells and bladder cancer UM-UC-3 cells to TRAIL-induced apoptosis via down-regulation of XIAP. Co-treatment of chetomin and TRAIL did not enhance apoptosis in normal peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). Taken together, these findings suggest that TRAIL and chetomin synergistically induce apoptosis in human urogenital cancer cells through a mechanism that involves XIAP down-regulation by chetomin.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28266849,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Palladium(II)-Catalyzed Directed anti-Hydrochlorination of Unactivated Alkynes with HCl.\nA regioselective anti-hydrochlorination of unactivated alkynes is reported. The reaction utilizes in situ generated HCl as the source of both the Cl- and H+ and is catalyzed by palladium(II) acetate, with loadings as low as 25 ppm. Removable picolinamide and 8-aminoquinoline bidentate directing groups are used to control the regioselectivity of the chloropalladation step and stabilize the resulting alkenylpalladium(II) intermediate for subsequent protodepalladation. This method provides access to a broad array of substituted alkenyl chlorides in excellent yields and with high regioselectivity. The products from this transformation were successfully derivatized via Stille coupling to a variety of trisubstituted alkene products. Reaction progress kinetic analysis was performed, shedding light on a possible mechanism for this catalytic process.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23328501,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Update on the treatment of lupus nephritis.\nLupus nephritis occurs in as many as half of patients presenting with systemic lupus erythematosus and is a major predictor of morbidity and mortality in this patient population. Prior to the last decade, the treatment of lupus nephritis was largely limited to corticosteroids, high-dose alkylating agents, and azathioprine, and this therapy was broadly prescribed regardless of patient demographics, clinical presentation, or prior toxicities. Over the last decade, new immunomodulatory agents have emerged as effective induction and maintenance therapies in lupus nephritis. With these options, physicians are able to individualize the treatment regimens in an attempt to maximize clinical benefit and minimize adverse events. Moreover, the influence of patient demographics on disease severity and response to treatment has come to the forefront. Here, we review the recent progress made in the therapy of lupus nephritis with a focus on the randomized controlled trials which have demonstrated the efficacy of these new treatment regimens.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36281146,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Aging-related changes in knee flexor muscle strength and cross-sectional area.\nWeakening muscle strength around the knee tends to render it vulnerable to aging-related damage. This study aimed to examine the association between knee flexor muscle strength and its cross-sectional area (CSA). We also evaluated aging-related changes in flexor muscle strength and CSA. We retrospectively analyzed 252 patients with acute-onset knee pain (<1 month) between September 2006 and August 2009 in accordance with the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational studies in Epidemiology statement. The CSA of each knee flexor muscle (biceps femoris, sartorius, gracilis, semitendinosus (ST), and semimembranosus (SM)) was measured on magnetic resonance imaging axial images at the suprapatellar level. We evaluated flexor muscle strength (peak torque in N.m) using a Cybex dynamometer at 60\u00b0\/second and 180\u00b0\/second and its correlation with CSA. In total, 252 patients (mean age, 34.5 years; range, 11 to 66 years; 184 men and 68 women) were included in this study. No significant intergroup differences in demographic data such as sex or body mass index were found. Mean CSA was 605.4 mm2 for the SM, 444.7 mm2 for the biceps femoris, 282 mm2 for the sartorius, 55.4 mm2 for the ST, and 34.1 mm2 for the gracilis. Mean peak torques were 67.4 N.m and 52.7 N.m at 60\u00b0\/second and 180\u00b0\/second, respectively. CSA was positively correlated with flexion strengths of 60\u00b0\/second (R = 0.363, P < .001) and 180\u00b0\/second (R = 0.354, P < .001). Muscle strength was associated with CSA in all muscles but the gracilis (R = 0.056, P = .375). Flexion strength decreased significantly with aging from the thirties. Total CSA decreased with aging (r = -0.247, P < .001). The CSA of the biceps femoris, sartorius, SM, and ST decreased significantly, whereas that of the gracilis tended to decrease non-significantly with aging. Flexor muscle strength was associated with total muscle CSA on magnetic resonance imaging and the CSA of every muscle except the gracilis. Flexion strength decreased significantly with aging after the twenties, while total CSA decreased significantly with aging. The CSA of all flexor muscles decreased significantly with aging, whereas that of the gracilis decreased only slightly.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16234300,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Quality of care of modern health services as perceived by users and non-users in Burkina Faso.\nOnly one-fifth of the population in rural Burkina Faso uses modern health services. This article aims to identify barriers to increased use, which may help decision makers to develop policies to remove them. This article compares perceived quality of care of 853 pairs of users and non-users of modern health services. Non-users were matched to users on age, sex, occupation of the head of the household and distance to health post. Questions were structured according to four dimensions of quality of care. Nouna health care district, Burkina Faso. Both users and non-users were relatively favourable about health personnel practices and conduct (77% versus 70% of the maximum attainable score), and about health care delivery (77% versus 74%). They were less favourable about adequacy of resources and services (51% versus 46%), and financial and physical accessibility of care (57% versus 51%). Both groups were very negative regarding the availability of drugs (33% versus 27%). Users were more favourable than non-users overall (66% versus 61%), and especially regarding payment arrangements (51% versus 43%) and costs (50% versus 40%). Observed differences were generally significant. To remove barriers to increase utilization, policy makers may do good to target their attention to improve financial accessibility of modern health services and improve drugs availability. These factors seem most persistent in decisions of ill people to stay with home-based care and\/or traditional medicine, or go to consult modern health services.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34427430,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Structural Evolution of Cu\/ZnO Catalysts during Water-Gas Shift Reaction: An In Situ Transmission Electron Microscopy Study.\nSupported metal catalysts experience significant structural evolution during the activation process and reaction conditions, which is critical to achieve a desired active surface and interface enabling efficient catalytic processes. However, such dynamic structural information and related mechanistic understandings remain largely elusive owing to the limitation of real-time capturing dynamic information under reaction conditions. Here, using in situ environment transmission electron microscopy, we demonstrate the atomic-scale structural evolution of the model Cu\/ZnO catalyst under relevant water-gas shift reaction (WGSR) conditions. Under a CO gas environment, Cu nanoparticles decompose into smaller Cu species and redistribute on ZnO supports with either the crystalline Cu2O or amorphous CuOx phase due to a strong CO-Cu interaction. In addition, we visualize various metal-support interactions between Cu and ZnO under reaction conditions, e.g., ZnO clusters precipitating on Cu nanoparticles, which are critical to understand active sites of Cu\/ZnO as catalysts for WGSR. These in situ atomic-scale observations highlight the dynamic interplays between Cu and ZnO that can be extended to other supported metal catalysts.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6362662,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Preparation of [B23-D-alanine]des-(B25-B30)-hexapeptide-insulin by a combination of enzymic and non-enzymic synthesis.\nDes-(B25-B30)-hexapeptide-insulin with B23-glycine replaced by D-alanine was prepared by a combination of enzymic and non-enzymic syntheses. The purified product was homogeneous in polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis and could be crystallized. The biological activity in vivo of crystalline [B23-D-Ala]des-(B25-B30)-hexapeptide-insulin was determined as 58% of that of standard pig insulin (27 i.u.\/mg).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9155941,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Radical hysterectomy.\nRadical hysterectomy for the treatment of cervical cancer was first performed just over 100 years ago. Refinements of surgical technique and improvements in supportive measures, such as transfusions and antibiotics, have brought about a marked decrease in morbidity and mortality from surgery and improvement in overall survival. The indications for operation, pre-operative investigations and preparation, surgical technique, post-operative complications and their management, and factors influencing prognosis are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25404467,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Emotion regulation promotes persistence in a residential substance abuse treatment.\nEmotion regulation at treatment entry was evaluated among 115 patients in an inner-city substance use residential facility who either persisted (N = 94) or discontinued treatment (N = 21). Emotion regulation capacity including emotional clarity and the ability to engage in goal-directed behavior despite emotional distress, as well as lower scores on a measure of trait-negative emotionality, were associated with treatment persistence, whereas motivational variables were not. Findings indicate the importance of regulating negative emotions for treatment engagement among substance abusers.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15251692,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Triiodothyronine antibodies in patients with goiter.\nTo investigate the prevalence of triiodothyronine (T(3)) antibodies in patients with goiter, the influence of these antibodies on the results of thyroid hormone measurements, and the potential relationship between T(3) antibodies and thyroid autoantibodies. We undertook a study of 100 healthy control subjects (80 female and 20 male subjects) who had no clinical or biochemical evidence of thyroid disease and 100 patients (81 female and 19 male patients) with goiter. Serum concentrations of total T(3), total thyroxine, free T(3), and free thyroxine were measured by radioimmunoassay kits with a coated tube method. An immunoprecipitation method was used to detect anti-triiodothyronine auto-antibodies. Patients with a T(3) antibody binding ratio +3 standard deviations (SD) above the mean for the normal control group were considered to have T(3) antibodies. Normal control group binding was 2.4 +\/- 1.3%. On the basis of +3 SD, seven patients had T(3) antibodies. The mean serum total T(3) level was 1.61 +\/- 0.1 nmol\/L in patients with binding ratios above +3 SD, whereas the mean serum total T(3) level was 2.23 +\/- 0.3 nmol\/L in patients without T(3) antibodies. Thus, patients with a binding ratio above +3 SD had a significant decrement in total T(3) levels. No correlation was found between the presence of T(3) antibody and antimicrosomal and antithyroglobulin antibodies. When serum thyroid hormone concentrations are measured with a coated tube-radioimmunoassay method, antibodies can result in low T(3) concentrations. T(3) antibodies should be suspected whenever a discordance is noted between the measured thyroid hormone concentrations and the clinical status.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32352401,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Clinical features, laboratory characteristics, and outcomes of patients hospitalized with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): Early report from the United States.\nBackground Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV2), is an ongoing pandemic that has already affected millions of patients worldwide, and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality burden. Although the clinical and laboratory characteristics of this illness have been reported in patients from China and Europe, data are scant in the United States. Methods We extracted data regarding all patients hospitalized at our hospital with COVID-19 infection between March 1 and April 4, 2020. Presenting signs and symptoms, laboratory and imaging findings, treatment, and complications were recorded from electronic medical records (EMRs). The primary composite endpoint was admission to intensive care unit (ICU), shock, or death. Results We had a total of 43 patients tested for COVID-19 at the emergency room (ER) or during hospitalization, 16 (37%) of whom were admitted with COVID-19 infection. The mean age was 65.5 years and 75% were males. The most common presenting symptoms were fever (94%), cough (88%), and dyspnea (81%). A loss of smell and taste sensations were reported by three (19%) patients. Low oxygen saturation was present in 38% of patients, whilst 31% were hypotensive on admission. Hyponatremia (50%), elevated C-reactive protein (CRP; 100%), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH; 80%) were common. Acute renal failure, myocardial injury, and elevation in aminotransferases occurred in 69%, 19%, and 38% patients, respectively. The primary composite endpoint occurred in 50% of patients. A total of three patients died; all were aged 70 years or older. Conclusions Laboratory abnormalities and acute renal failure were common in hospitalized patients with SARS-CoV2 infection in our center. Admission to ICU and mechanical ventilation were common.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6732582,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Human endolymphatic duct. An ultrastructural study.\nThe fine structure of the human endolymphatic duct was observed by transmission electron microscopy. Well-preserved specimens were obtained after fixation of inner ear tissue by perilymphatic perfusion. The morphologic findings seemed to be in accordance with earlier propositions that the human endolymphatic duct may be involved in endolymph resorption. The duct was found to contain otoconialike bodies, suggesting that the endolymphatic duct and sac in man may also play a role in the turnover of macular otoconia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37656713,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":2,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1,"2024-26":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Prevalence, trend and associated factors of obesity-related cancers among U.S. adults with metabolic syndrome: Evidence from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2001-2018.\nThis study evaluated the prevalence, associated factors and trends in the prevalence of obesity-related cancer (ORC) among U.S. adults with metabolic syndrome (MetS) and age \u226520 years. This study used cross-sectional data from the 2001-2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The total period analyses included prevalence estimation, chi-square tests for comparing ORC vs non-ORC within subgroups, and a multivariable-logistic regression model to evaluate associated factors of ORC. For trend analysis, the total period was divided into three time periods: 2001-2006, 2007-2012 and 2013-2018. Age-standardized prevalence of ORC in each time period was calculated. The ORC prevalence was 35.8% representing 4463614 adults with MetS. A higher odds of ORC was observed among females (OR = 7.1, 95% CI = 4.9-10.3) vs males, Hispanic (OR = 2.9, 95% CI = 1.7-4.8) and non-Hispanic Black (OR = 2.7, 95% CI = 1.8-4) vs non-Hispanic White, age \u226560 (OR = 5.4, 95% CI = 1.9-15.4) vs age 20-39 years. Individual ORCs were thyroid (10.95%), breast (10%), uterine (9.18%), colorectal (7.86%), ovarian (5.74%), and stomach (0.80%). The age-standardized prevalence of ORC was observed stable in three time periods (30.6%, 30.3% and 30.7%). However, an increasing trend was seen for thyroid, uterine, colorectal and ovarian cancers while decreasing trend for breast cancer. Hispanic people showed a significant increasing trend of ORC (p = 0.004). ORC was found significantly higher among female, Hispanic, non-Hispanic black and older people with MetS. The stable temporal trend of overall ORC, with an increasing trend in certain ORCs, makes the disease spectrum a public health priority. The findings imply the importance of intensifying efforts to reduce the burden of MetS comorbidities among U.S. adults.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20351868,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Is Web-only self-care education sufficient for heart failure patients?\nHeart failure patients require complex, long-term care. Research shows that self-care education improves health outcomes of these patients. This study reports the results of a randomized trial which compared the effects of two remote educational interventions on heart failure patients' knowledge of self-care practices. The first group reviewed self-care content on a Web site and had email access to a cardiac nurse. The second group had access to the Web site, and participated in four telephone-based sessions with the cardiac nurse. The test scores of both groups significantly improved following the intervention. However, the post-intervention test scores of the group that included telephone sessions were significantly higher than the scores for the group that had access to the Web site only. These results show a benefit to learning of a teleconferencing intervention that is over and above the benefit of an intervention based on Web information and email access alone.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6162740,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of extracorporeal blood irradiation on lymphocytes and the lymphatic tissue in a goat.\nIn a long-term study discontinuous extracorporeal blood irradiation (ECIB) was applied to a goat using a 500 Ci-137 Caesium source. Lymphocytes of the peripheral blood were examined by light and electron microscopy. After application of a transit dose of 466,500 rad the lymphocytes in the peripheral blood were found to be decreased from 6,900\/microliter to 500\/microliter, revealing a complete dissolution of the nuclei in electron microscopic preparations. Histological examinations showed a severe atrophy of the whole lymphatic tissue.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11642582,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Intubation success rates by air ambulance personnel during 12-versus 24-hour shifts: does fatigue make a difference?\nTo determine whether the skill performance and psychomotor agility, as measured by the endotracheal intubation success rate, of air ambulance medical personnel would be affected by the potential fatigue incurred when increasing the length of their shifts from 12 to 24 hours. This was a retrospective review of all flight and intubation records from a large air medical transport system from 1997, when 24-hour shifts were in place, and six months (March-August) of 1996, during which 12-hour shifts were scheduled. Records of all intubation efforts during both periods, including multiple attempts per patient, and outcomes of all attempts, were recorded. Results of successes and failures were tabulated for both ultimate intubation outcome per patient and all attempts per patient for each calendar day and for the 12 hours between 19:00 and 07:00 when fatigue might play a role. Results from the two study periods were compared using Fisher's exact test. During the six months of 1996, 190 of 199 (95.5%) patients were ultimately successfully intubated. These patients required 237 attempts (80.1% successful). During 1997, 362 of 376 (96.3%) patients were successfully intubated, and required 438 attempts (82.6% successful). There was no statistically significant difference in the number of ultimately successful intubations (p = 0.66) or total intubation attempts (p = 0.37) between 1996 and 1997. Analysis of intubations between 19:00 and 07:00 revealed 81 of 84 (96.4%) patients successfully intubated in 1996, with 81 of 103 (78.6%) attempts successful. During 1997, 173 of 180 (96.1%) patients were ultimately successfully intubated, with 173 of 212 (81.6%) attempts successful. Again, there was no significant difference in the number of successful intubations (p = 0.99) or intubation attempts (p = 0.55) between 1996 and 1997. Psychomotor agility of air ambulance medical personnel, as measured by the success rate of endotracheal intubation, was not affected by the potential additional fatigue incurred as a result of increasing shift length from 12 to 24 hours.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34238464,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Nocturnal enuresis in children: The role of arginine-vasopressin.\nNocturnal enuresis is the involuntary pass of urine during sleep beyond the age of 5 years. It is a common condition in childhood and has an impact on the child's well-being. Research into the pathophysiology of the condition in the last decades has led to a paradigm shift, and enuresis is no longer considered a psychiatric disorder but rather a maturation defect with a somatic background. An excess urine production during sleep is a common finding in children with enuresis and disturbances in the circadian rhythm of arginine-vasopressin (AVP) is found in the majority of children with nocturnal polyuria. Children with enuresis and nocturnal polyuria lack the physiologic increase in AVP levels during sleep and treatment with the AVP analogue desmopressin can restore this rhythm and lead to dry nights. The reasons for this aberrant circadian AVP rhythm are not established. Furthermore, not all children with enuresis and nocturnal polyuria can be successfully treated with desmopressin suggesting that factors beyond renal water handling can be implicated such as natriuresis, hypercalciuria, and sleep-disordered breathing. The advances in the research of the genetic background of the condition may shed further light on the enuresis pathophysiology.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37842471,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Prognosis of Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy in HIV\/AIDS Patients Undergoing Highly Active Antiretroviral Treatment: A Systematic Review.\nProgressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), a viral infection of the central nervous system (CNS), is most commonly associated with advanced HIV infection. Although the severe neurological conditions - PML and progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (PML-IRIS) - are linked to HIV, little is known about their characteristics in the era of established antiretroviral therapy (ART). The aim of this systematic review, which was performed by adhering to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 guidelines, was to determine the prognosis of PML in patients with HIV. We gathered and examined articles, including case-control and cohort studies, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses that were published between January 1, 2013, and May 2023. These articles were compiled from the following databases: Pubmed, Pubmed Central, Google Scholar, Wiley Library, and ScienceDirect. A total of 519 records were found from these databases for our systematic review after applying the proper filters. They were then further screened and put through quality appraisal tools, which ultimately led to the selection of 10 articles for the final analysis. This research offers crucial insights into the clinical consequences of PML in HIV patients receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35355330,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Rural-urban differences in family and paid caregiving utilization in the United States: Findings from the Cornell National Social Survey.\nWhile rates of family caregiving and paid caregiving are increasing, how often they occur together (\"shared care\") and whether utilization varies geographically are unknown. We examined differences in family and paid caregiving utilization by rurality and region in the United States. The 2020 Cornell National Social Survey is an annual cross-sectional telephone-based survey of a random sample of 1,000 US adults. Participants were asked if they have been a family caregiver, including if they provided care alongside a paid caregiver. Rural-Urban Commuting Area Codes and Census areas classified rurality and region. The association between residence and the prevalence of caregiving was determined with multivariable Poisson regression. Among 857 participants with geographic and caregiving data, 11.8% (n = 101) were rural dwellers and 34.2% were family caregivers. Rural residence (vs urban) was associated with a higher prevalence of family caregiving (PR: 1.59 [1.22, 2.06]), and Western residence (vs Northeast) was associated with a lower prevalence of family caregiving (PR: 0.63 [0.46, 0.87], P = .01). Forty percent of family caregivers shared care with a paid caregiver. There was no significant difference in shared care by rural residence in unadjusted (31.8% rural vs 43.1% urban, P = .22) or adjusted models (PR: 0.85 [0.51, 1.41], P = .53). Although family caregiving was more prevalent in rural areas and certain regions, shared care did not differ by rurality or region. Studies are needed to understand why rural residents do more family caregiving without additional support from paid caregivers, and what the implications are for caregivers and care recipients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3079788,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Production and characterization of a bovine T cell-specific monoclonal antibody identifying a mature differentiation antigen.\nA monoclonal antibody (MAb), BLT-1, with specificity for bovine mature T cells was prepared by somatic cell hybridization of myeloma NS-1 and spleen cells from BALB\/c mice hyperimmunized with bovine T lymphocytes. The MAb reacted with over 92% of nylon wool-nonadherent lymphocytes (T cells) but not with nylon wool-adherent EAC-positive lymphocytes (B cells) in the indirect immunofluorescence assay. It is an IgM, with kappa-light chains, which fixed complement well and killed over 95% of mature T cells in complement-mediated cytotoxicity assays. It reacted with the same proportions of peripheral lymphoid cells (peripheral blood, lymph nodes, and spleen) as the polyclonal goat anti-bovine thymocyte serum (GABTS), but only with 25% of GABTS-positive thymocytes. Immunoperoxidase staining of frozen tissue sections showed that the BLT-1-positive cells were located in the medulla of the thymus and in the T lymphocyte areas of lymph nodes. Western immunoblotting assays showed that the BLT-1-reactive membrane antigen is a 22,000 m.w. protein which was inducible in bovine thymocytes with bovine thymic hormones, thymosin fraction 5, thymosin alpha 1, and thymopentin ORF-18150, indicating that it is a mature T lymphocyte differentiation antigen. The thymosin alpha 1 and thymopentin were found to show additive effects on mature T cell antigen expression by bovine thymocytes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28693676,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Matter - a current picture.\nA century ago, a two-part review by W. C. McC. Lewis entitled \"The Structure of Matter\" appeared in this journal, surveying the achievements that had been made to date in that field. Topics included the value of Avogadro's constant, the dimensions of a molecule, equations of state for non-ideal gases, then-current theories relating electron configurations to the Periodic Law, the then-new nuclear atom model of Rutherford, and the first findings from X-ray crystallographic studies of matter, a field then in its nascent phase. This article is a sequel to that work. As a vast quantity of research has been addressed to the topic in the intervening period, the view presented here can at best be selective and idiosyncratic. Nonetheless, it attempts to capture some of the important strides in 'matter science', broadly defined, over the past century, highlight some recent areas of interest or novelty, and give a picture of some of the mysteries that remain.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35347331,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Correction: Determination of aflatoxin M1 using an aptamer-based biosensor immobilized on the surface of dendritic fibrous nano-silica functionalized by amine groups.\nCorrection for 'Determination of aflatoxin M1 using an aptamer-based biosensor immobilized on the surface of dendritic fibrous nano-silica functionalized by amine groups' by Houman Kholafazad kordasht et al., Anal. Methods, 2019, 11, 3910-3919, DOI: 10.1039\/C9AY01185D.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17913175,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Fundus albipunctatus in a patient with achondroplasia.\nWe describe a patient with achondroplasia who presented with defective night vision due to fundus albipunctatus. We found no previous report of the association in a search of the literature.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20352837,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Direct synthesis of water-dispersible FePt nanoparticles capped with L-cysteine.\nA direct synthetic route of FePt nanoparticles (NPs) has been developed. Reduction of platinum acethylacetonate (Pt(acac)2) and thermal decomposition of iron carbonyl (Fe(CO)5) in the presence of L-cysteine produced fcc FePt NPs with a mean diameter of 2.9 nm. Capping of the FePt NPs with L-cysteine is accomplished by a thiolate linkage between the amino acid and the NP surfaces, which renders them water-dispersible rather than in organic solvents. SQUID magnetization study demonstrated that the FePt NPs exhibited superparamagnetic behavior at 300 K. For the structural model of the FePt NPs, the Fe K-edge and Pt L(III)-edge XAFS results suggest that most of the Pt atoms are preferentially located in the core region, the Fe atoms are preferentially located in the shell region.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":943180,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Reactivity of fibrinogen and fibrinopeptide A containing fibrinogen fragments with antisera to fibrinopeptide A.\nTwo antisera used in the radioimmunoassay for human fibrinopeptide A (FPA) which appear to have different immunochemical specificities have been tested for cross-reactivity with fibrinogen and with three fragments of fibrinogen which contain the FPA sequence. These fragments were the three-chain, NH2-terminal disulfide knot (N-DSK) produced by CNBr cleavage of fibrinogen, the reduced, carboxymethyl Aalpha chain portion of the N-DSK, and fragment E produced by plasmin digestion of fibrinogen. One antiserum (R-2) showed high specificity for free FPA and less than 2% cross-reactivity with fibrinogen or the FPA-containing fragments. The other antiserum (R-33) possessed a much higher degree of cross-reactivity with the FPA-containing fragments. Synthetic and native fibrinopeptides were found to be indistinguishable in the assay system with either antiserum. As a result of these studies, an hypothesis has been developed concerning the nature of the antigenic determinants on FPA which favor measurement of free FPA and limit cross-reactivity with larger, FPA-containing peptides.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15264905,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Active recombinant thioredoxin h protein with antioxidant activities from sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas [L.] Lam Tainong 57) storage roots.\nRecombinant thioredoxin h (Trx2) overproduced in Escherichia coli (M15) was purified by Ni2+-chelated affinity chromatography. The molecular mass of Trx2 is approximately 1.4 kDa as determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Total antioxidant status, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) staining, reducing power method, Fe2+-chelating ability, ferric thiocyanate (FTC) method, and protection of calf thymus DNA against hydroxyl radical-induced damage were studied. The thioredoxin h protein with a concentration of 12.5 mg\/mL exhibited the highest activity (expressed as 0.37 +\/- 0.012 mM ABTS* radical cation being cleared) in a total antioxidant status test. In the DPPH staining thioredoxin h appeared as white spots when it was diluted to 50 mg\/mL (a final amount of 15 microg). Like the total antioxidant status, the reducing power, Fe2+-chelating ability, FTC activity, and protection against hydroxyl radical-induced calf thymus DNA damage were found with the thioredoxin h protein. It was suggested that thioredoxin h might contribute to its antioxidant activities against hydroxyl and peroxyl radicals.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16146392,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A racemic synthesis of an AB-ring system of hexacyclinic acid.\n[structure: see text] An AB-ring system of the polyketide natural product hexacyclinic acid has been synthesized in racemic form. The key steps were an intramolecular Diels-Alder cyclization of an ester tethered 1,3-nonadiene-8-yne, which generated the B-ring, and a samarium diiodide mediated reductive annulation, which was used to form the A-ring.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36936893,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nifuroxazide Has Better Efficacy Than Probiotic Treatment in Adult Patients with Acute Diarrheal Syndrome.\nAcute gastroenteritis remains an extremely common problem among the general population. In Western countries, an average person will probably face one or two episodes of gastrointestinal infections every year. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of nifuroxazide and probiotic preparation containing lactic acid bacteria in the treatment of acute diarrheal syndrome. The study was prospective, comparative study. Patients who suffered from acute infective diarrhoea for \u226472 hours and had \u22653 unformed stools per day, with no administration of antibiotics during 10 days before enrolment were divided into two groups: nifuroxazide group and the lactic acid probiotic group. All patients received therapies four times a day for three days. Data was collected at the baseline visit (before the initiation of the treatment) and two follow-up examinations on the third and seventh day from the treatment start. The study included 61 patients, 36 in nifuroxazide group and 25 in probiotic group. Nifuroxazide group compared to probiotic group showed faster improvement of patients' condition with lower number of stools three and seven days after therapy start (p=0.001 and p<0.001 respectively) and faster stool consistency normalization. On the seventh day from therapy start medium mushy stool consistency was observed in the majority of patients in nifuroxazide group (n=31, 86%) and only in small number of patients in probiotic group (n=5, 20%). Patients were feeling better and there was a trend of reporting better therapy efficacy in nifuroxazide group. Subjective assessment of therapy tolerability was also better in nifuroxazide group. Compliance to therapy and recommended dietary regime was similar between groups and there were no significant differences between groups regarding age, gender, elevated body temperature, abdominal pain, cramps, nausea and vomiting. Although probiotics are sometimes used in the treatment of acute diarrheal syndrome, nifuroxazide has better efficacy and greater patients' satisfaction. Nifuroxazide can be recommended as the first choice empirical treatment in adult patients with the acute diarrheal syndrome.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27472591,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Analog optical computing based on a dielectric meta-reflect array.\nIn this Letter, we realize the concept of analog computing using an engineered gradient dielectric meta-reflect-array. The proposed configuration consists of individual subwavelength silicon nanobricks, in combination with a fused silica spacer and silver ground plane, realizing a reflection beam with full phase coverage of 2\u03c0 degrees, as well as an amplitude range of 0 to 1. Spectrally overlapping electric and magnetic dipole resonances, such high-index dielectric metasurfaces can locally and independently manipulate the amplitude and phase of the incident electromagnetic wave. This practically feasible structure overcomes substantial limitations imposed by plasmonic metasurfaces such as absorption losses and low polarization conversion efficiency in the visible range. Using such CMOS-compatible and easily integrable platforms promises highly efficient ultrathin planar wave-based computing systems that circumvent the drawbacks of conventional bulky lens-based signal processors. Based on these key properties and the general concept of spatial Fourier transformation, we design and realize broadband mathematical operators such as the differentiator and integrator in the telecommunication wavelengths.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6032975,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"The oxidation of NN-dimethyl-p-phenylenediamine by oxidizing agents and by caeruloplasmin.\n1. The oxidation of NN-dimethyl-p-phenylenediamine (DPD) by inorganic oxidants and by caeruloplasmin was studied. Some experiments were also made with NNN'N'-tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine (TPD). 2. E(mM) (550) of the first free radical oxidation product of DPD (DPD(+)) was 9.8 and E(mM) (563) of the corresponding product of TPD (TPD(+)) was 12.5. 3. The non-enzymic decomposition of DPD(+) was studied with respect to temperature, pH, concentration and DPD\/DPD(+) ratio, thus defining conditions for enzyme experiments under which DPD(+) extinction at 550mmu was proportional to enzyme activity. 4. Rates of oxidation of DPD to DPD(+) by caeruloplasmin were constant over a range of DPD concentrations. At low DPD concentrations a lag period occurred, which was eliminated by addition of DPD(+). 5. A lag period was not observed with TPD, but at low TPD concentrations the rate of TPD(+) formation was greater when TPD(+) was added. This suggests that TPD(+) may compete weakly as a substrate with TPD and may be oxidized further by the enzyme before a non-enzymic reaction with TPD to form more TPD(+). 6. With DPD sulphate or acetate or TPD sulphate as substrate, Lineweaver-Burk plots were curved. With DPD hydrochloride the chloride ion caused inhibition at higher concentrations, opposing the curvature. 7. Curved Lineweaver-Burk plots were interpreted in terms of two types of substrate binding site with different K(m) values but similar V(max.) values. 8. The apparent thermodynamic changes associated with enzyme-substrate-complex formation at the sites with higher K(m) suggest that considerable conformational change may occur on binding at these sites. 9. With substrate concentrations at which only the low-K(m) sites are involved 2mol. of DPD(+)\/mol. of caeruloplasmin are formed before a steady state is established. At higher substrate concentrations up to 3.2mol. of DPD(+)\/mol. of caeruloplasmin are formed at this initial stage. 10. Results are discussed in relation to caeruloplasmin structures in which (a) two valence-changing and two permanently cuprous copper atoms are more accessible than the remaining four copper atoms or (b) binding of substrate at one site hinders access of substrate to another site.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6746473,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Liquid chromatographic determination of aspartame in dry beverage bases and sweetener tablets with confirmation by thin layer chromatography.\nA liquid chromatographic method is described for the determination of aspartame in dry beverage bases and sweetener tablets. The sample was mixed with the mobile phase, the pH was adjusted to within +\/- 0.1 pH unit of the mobile phase, and the sample was diluted to volume with the mobile phase. The solution was filtered and a 10 microL aliquot was injected onto a C18 reverse phase column. Aspartame was quantitated with an ultraviolet detector. Recoveries of aspartame ranged from 94 to 111%. The dry beverage bases contained 5-13% aspartame and the sweetener tablets contained 19% aspartame. The presence of aspartame was confirmed by using thin layer chromatography.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6163762,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Purification and properties of 5'-nucleotidase from the membrane of Vibrio costicola, a moderately halophilic bacterium.\nTwo different Mg2+-dependent adenosine 5'-triphosphate-hydrolyzing activities were detected in membranes of Vibrio costicola, a novel 5'-nucleotidase and an N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide-sensitive adenosine triphosphatase. The former and the latter had different requirements for Mg2+ and were selectively assayed in the membranes by using, respectively, 20 and 2 mM Mg2+. The two enzymes were extracted with a combination of Triton X-100 and octylglucoside, separated on a diethylaminoethyl cellulose column, and purified on glycerol gradients. The purified 5'-nucleotidase consisted of one major polypeptide of 70,000 daltons when analyzed on polyacrylamide gels in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate. The purified 5'-nucleotidase was similar in substrate specificities, divalent cation specificities, and pH profiles to the membrane-bound N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide-insensitive nucleotide-phosphohydrolyzing activity. The enzyme hydrolyzed nucleoside 5'-tri, 5'-di, and 5'-monophosphates at comparable rates. Inorganic pyrophosphate, p-nitrophenyl phosphate, glucose 6-phosphate, beta-glycerophosphate, adenosine 5'-diphosphate glucose, adenosine 3'-monophosphate, and cyclic adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate were not hydrolyzed, either im membranes or by the purified 5'-nucleotides. Actions of NaCl and KCl on the activity of the 5'-nucleotidase were studied. The enzyme was activated by both NaCl and KCl; the activation profiles however, were different for the membrane-bound and purified 5'-nucleotidase. The purified enzyme, unlike the membrane-bound enzyme, was markedly stimulated by high concentrations of NaCl (up to 3 M).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26436998,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Tuning the Upconversion Luminescence Lifetimes of KYb2 F7 :Ho(3+) Nanocrystals for Optical Multiplexing.\nConventional luminescent color coding is limited by spectral overlap and the interference of background fluorescence, thus restricting the number of distinguishable identities that can be used in practice. Here, we demonstrate the possibility of generating diverse time-domain codes, specially designed for a single emission band, using lanthanide-doped upconversion nanocrystals. Based on the knowledge of concentration quenching, the upconversion luminescence kinetics of KYb2 F7 : Ho(3+) nanocrystals can be precisely controlled by modifying the dopant concentration of Ho(3+) ions, resulting in a tunable emission lifetime from 75.8 to 1944.5 \u03bcs, which suggests the practicality of these time-domain codes for optical multiplexing.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30656763,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Ambipolar Conjugated Polymers with Ultrahigh Balanced Hole and Electron Mobility for Printed Organic Complementary Logic via a Two-Step C\uf8ffH Activation Strategy.\nHigh mobility ambipolar conjugated polymers are seriously absent regardless their great potential for flexible and printed plastic devices and circuits. Here, ambipolar polymers with ultrahigh balanced hole and electron mobility are developed via a two-step C\uf8ffH activation strategy. Diketopyrrolopyrrole-benzothiadiazole-diketopyrrolopyrrole (DBD) and its copolymers with thiophene\/selenophene units (short as PDBD-T and PDBD-Se) are used as examples. PDBD-Se exhibits highly efficient ambipolar transport with hole and electron mobility up to 8.90 and 7.71 cm2 V-1 s-1 in flexible organic field-effect transistors, presenting a milestone for ambipolar copolymer screening. Based on this performance metrics and good solubility, PDBD-Se is investigated as inkjet-printable semiconductor ink for organic complementary logic circuits. Under ambient processing, maximum hole and electron mobilities reach 6.70 and 4.30 cm2 V-1 s-1 , respectively. Printed complementary inverter and NAND gates with transition voltages near VDD \/2 are fabricated, providing an easy-handling, general material for printed electronics and logic.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28292495,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Time to Review the Role of Surrogate End Points in Health Policy: State of the Art and the Way Forward.\nThe efficacy of medicines, medical devices, and other health technologies should be proved in trials that assess final patient-relevant outcomes such as survival or morbidity. Market access and coverage decisions are, however, often based on surrogate end points, biomarkers, or intermediate end points, which aim to substitute and predict patient-relevant outcomes that are unavailable because of methodological, financial, or practical constraints. We provide a summary of the present use of surrogate end points in health care policy, discussing the case for and against their adoption and reviewing validation methods. We introduce a three-step framework for policymakers to handle surrogates, which involves establishing the level of evidence, assessing the strength of the association, and quantifying relations between surrogates and final outcomes. Although the use of surrogates can be problematic, they can, when selected and validated appropriately, offer important opportunities for more efficient clinical trials and faster access to new health technologies that benefit patients and health care systems.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17191951,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Yucca: an efficient algorithm for small-molecule docking.\nIn this paper, we present a new algorithm, which is based on an efficient heuristic for local search, for rigid protein-small-molecule docking. We tested our algorithm, called Yucca, on the recent 100-complex benchmark, using the conformer generator OMEGA to generate a set of low-energy conformers. The results showed that Yucca is competitive both in terms of algorithm efficiency and docking accuracy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16983613,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A prospective hospital-based study of the clinical impact of non-severe acute respiratory syndrome (Non-SARS)-related human coronavirus infection.\nIn addition to the human coronaviruses (HCoVs) OC43 and 229E, which have been known for decades to cause infection in humans, 2 new members of this genus have recently been identified: HCoVs NL63 and HKU1. Their impact as a cause of respiratory tract disease in adults at risk for complications needs to be established. We prospectively assessed the clinical impact of coronavirus infection (excluding cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome) among hospitalized adults. All patients with respiratory disease for whom bronchoalveolar lavage was performed were screened by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction for the presence of all 4 HCoVs. HCoV was identified in 29 (5.4%) of 540 bronchoalveolar lavage fluid specimens from 279 subjects (mean age, 51 years; 63% male). HCoV OC43 was identified most frequently (12 isolates), followed by 229E (7 isolates), NL63 (6 isolates), and HKU1 (4 isolates). In all, 372 (69%) of 540 bronchoalveolar lavage fluid specimens were negative for bacteria, and 2 persons were coinfected with other respiratory viruses. Transplantation was the most common underlying condition. Of the 29 patients who had HCoV identified in their bronchoalveolar lavage fluid specimens, 9 (31%) were hospitalized in the intensive care unit, 22 (76%) presented to the hospital with acute respiratory symptoms, 16 (55%) presented with cough and\/or sputum, 13 (45%) presented with dyspnea, 16 (55%) had experienced prior respiratory infection, and 18 (62%) had a new infiltrate that was visible on chest radiograph. The most frequent final diagnosis was a lower respiratory tract infection. The recently discovered HCoVs NL63 and HKU1 contribute significantly to the overall spectrum of coronavirus infection. Our study also suggests that coronaviruses contribute to respiratory symptoms in most cases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25520082,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Updated meta-analysis on HER2 polymorphisms and risk of breast cancer: evidence from 32 studies.\nSeveral studies have been performed to investigate the association of the HER2 Ile655Val polymorphism and breast cancer risk. However, the results were inconsistent. To understand the precise relationship, a meta-analysis was here conducted. A search of PubMed conducted to investigate links between the HER2 Ile655Val polymorphism and breast cancer, identified a total of 32 studies, of which 29, including 14,926 cases and 15,768 controls, with odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals were used to assess any association. In the overall analysis, the HER2 Ile655Val polymorphism was associated with breast cancer in an additive genetic model (OR=1.136, 95% CI 1.043-1.239, p=0.004) and in a dominant genetic (OR=1.118, 95% CI 1.020-1.227, p=0.018), while no association was found in a recessive genetic model. On subgroup analysis, an association with breast cancer was noted in the additive genetic model (OR=1.111, 95% CI: 1.004-1.230, p=0.042) for the Caucasian subgroup. No significant associations were observed in Asians and Africans in any of the genetic models. In summary, our meta-analysis findings suggest that the HER2 Ile655Val polymorphism is marginally associated with breast cancer susceptibility in worldwide populations with additive and dominant models, but not a recessive model.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37454114,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3,"dup_dump_count":2,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1,"2024-26":1}}},"text":"pH-dependence of the Plasmodium falciparum chloroquine resistance transporter is linked to the transport cycle.\nThe chloroquine resistance transporter, PfCRT, of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum is sensitive to acidic pH. Consequently, PfCRT operates at 60% of its maximal drug transport activity at the pH of 5.2 of the digestive vacuole, a proteolytic organelle from which PfCRT expels drugs interfering with heme detoxification. Here we show by alanine-scanning mutagenesis that E207 is critical for pH sensing. The E207A mutation abrogates pH-sensitivity, while preserving drug substrate specificity. Substituting E207 with Asp or His, but not other amino acids, restores pH-sensitivity. Molecular dynamics simulations and kinetics analyses suggest an allosteric binding model in which PfCRT can accept both protons and chloroquine in a partial noncompetitive manner, with increased proton concentrations decreasing drug transport. Further simulations reveal that E207 relocates from a peripheral to an engaged location during the transport cycle, forming a salt bridge with residue K80. We propose that the ionized carboxyl group of E207 acts as a hydrogen acceptor, facilitating transport cycle progression, with pH sensing as a by-product.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27477647,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Deposits from Creams Containing 20% (w\/w) Urea and Suppression of Crystallization (Part 3): Novel Analytical Methods Based on Raman Spectroscopy for the Characterization of Deposits and Deposition Phenomena of Creams Containing 20% (w\/w) Urea.\nIn drug formulations for external application, variations in the state of pharmaceutical agents within the base formulation may affect the transfer of agents to the skin. Here, we use Raman spectroscopic methods to acquire more detailed information on the state of the active pharmaceutical ingredients within an externally applied formulation. The combination of wide-field Raman spectroscopy with an experimental method in which drug formulations are applied to glass surfaces provided a new method for characterizing the state of pharmaceutical agents within drug formulations. Here, we demonstrate the usefulness of this new method, called application to glass-wide-field Raman spectroscopy (AG-WRS). In addition to allowing rapid and easy wide-field observations, the use of WRS allows Raman imaging in a manner that is insensitive to variations in the thickness of the formulations applied to sample slides. We consider two types of urea-compound creams with different crystal deposition rates, using AG-WRS to characterize the post-application time-evolving state of deposited crystals. Differences in the base pharmaceutical produce different spectra for the deposits, indicating that the deposits differ in composition and structure. In addition, we use microscopic laser Raman measurements to demonstrate that the process of crystal formulation differs significantly for formulations with different compositions. Our results demonstrate that the combination of AG-WRS with existing analytical techniques such as powder X-ray diffraction or thermal analysis yields more detailed and timely post-application information on the state of pharmaceuticals in external application. We believe this will be a valuable analytical tool for future studies related to the development of external application.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16228636,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Medication errors in an internal medicine department. Evaluation of a computerized prescription system.\nEvaluation of a computerized physician order entry in an Internal Medicine Department, with a unit-dose distribution system. Pharmacy Department, Internal Medicine Department. S. Francisco Xavier Hospital, Lisbon, Portugal. This study was carried out in December 2001 and January 2002. After two years experience of the CPOE system, medication errors were evaluated prospectively, in an internal medical department of a 360-bed academic hospital. Data were collected once a week. Pharmacists reviewed all medical prescriptions as part of their routine work. Medication errors detected were recorded on a data collection form with a design based on the types of errors as defined by the American Society of Hospital Pharmacists (ASHP). Completed forms were reviewed and medication errors were classed according to ASHP guidelines. A total of 2268 orders were monitored (162 patients). In these orders, 73 medication errors (22.4% of the patients) were detected and documented (59 prescribing errors and 14 monitoring errors). The most common prescribing errors were deficiencies related to the right class but wrong drug (28.3%): omeprazole vs. ranitidine\/sucralfate in stress ulcer prophylaxis; incorrect dose (30%) and unclear orders (13.3%). Errors related to incorrect frequency of administration (5%); maintenance of IV route (5%); duplicated drug therapy (11.7%); drug interactions (1.7%) and length of therapy (3.3%) were also detected. The 14 monitoring errors detected were failures to review a prescribed regimen for appropriateness and detection of problems. Computerized prescription order entry has demonstrated effectiveness in eliminating medication errors related to transcribing and patient identification. Nevertheless, medication errors related to prescription and monitoring still occur. The use of clinical decision support systems and pharmacist involvement is vital to achieve maximum medication safety and reduce medication error rates.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17198253,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pancreas transplantation under alemtuzumab (Campath-1H) and tacrolimus: Correlation between low T-cell responses and infection.\nAlemtuzumab induction and tacrolimus-based immunosuppression has been effective in pancreas transplantation. Despite the encouraging results of this minimalistic approach to immunosuppression, infection still remains a significant cause of morbidity. The Cylex ImmuKnow [corrected] assay was used in this study to compare pancreas recipient clinical states (stable, rejection, infection) with T cell responses. Blood samples were taken from pancreas recipients pretransplant and at approximately three-month intervals posttransplant for analysis of T cell responses. When possible, T cell responses were also quantified during changes in clinical status (infection or rejection). A range between 100-300 ng\/ml adenosine triphosphate (ATP) was found in stable patients (mean 194+\/-123, n = 51) with good graft function and no infection or rejection. A low T cell response was highly correlated with infectious states. The fourteen patients with infections\/posttransplant lymphoproliferative disease had a mean ATP of 48 ng\/ml. Risk hazard analysis showed that patients with ATP levels <100 ng\/ml were four to seven times more susceptible to infection compared to stable patients. Four patients with rejection showed a T cell response of 550 ng\/ml ATP, which was statistically significant compared to stable patients, although the sampling numbers (9) were too small to be conclusive. The Cylex ImmuKnow [corrected] assay is a valuable tool to more precisely modulate immunosuppression in pancreas transplant patients. In particular, the assay is extremely useful in detecting overly immunosuppressed patients vulnerable to infections.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34409554,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-22":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"First Psychometric Properties of the Dutch Interview for Diagnostic Assessment of Autism Spectrum Disorder in Adult Males Without Intellectual Disability.\nFor autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in adults there are several diagnostic instruments available with a need for consideration of the psychometric properties. This study aimed to conduct a first psychometric evaluation of a new diagnostic ASD instrument, the NIDA (Dutch Interview for Diagnostic assessment of ASD in adults) in 90 adult males without intellectual disability (age 18-65 years) in the Netherlands: 30 with ASD, 30 with a Personality Disorder and 30 nonpatient controls. The interrater agreement ranged from 0.79 to 1.00, the convergent validity including sensitivity and specificity ranged from 0.76 to 1.00, and we observed an adequate concurrent criterion-related validity. These promising findings can serve as foundation for future psychometric NIDA studies in a more diverse population. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The Netherlands National Trial Register NTR6391. Registered 04 May 2017.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30656701,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pharmacokinetics of an intravenous and oral dose of enrofloxacin in white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum).\nSouth Africa currently loses over 1000 white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) each year to poaching incidents, and numbers of severely injured victims found alive have increased dramatically. However, little is known about the antimicrobial treatment of wounds in rhinoceros. This study explores the applicability of enrofloxacin for rhinoceros through the use of pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic modelling. The pharmacokinetics of enrofloxacin and its metabolite ciprofloxacin were evaluated in five white rhinoceros after intravenous (i.v.) and after successive i.v. and oral administration of 12.5 mg\/kg enrofloxacin. After i.v. administration, the half-life, area under the curve (AUCtot ), clearance and the volume of distribution were 12.41 \u00b1 2.62 hr, 64.5 \u00b1 14.44 \u03bcg ml-1 hr-1 , 0.19 \u00b1 0.04 L h-1 kg-1 , and 2.09 \u00b1 0.48 L\/kg, respectively. Ciprofloxacin reached 26.42 \u00b1 0.05% of the enrofloxacin plasma concentration. After combined i.v. and oral enrofloxacin administration oral bioavailability was 33.30 \u00b1 38.33%. After i.v. enrofloxacin administration, the efficacy marker AUC24 : MIC exceeded the recommended ratio of 125 against bacteria with an MIC of 0.5 \u03bcg\/mL. Subsequent intravenous and oral enrofloxacin administration resulted in a low Cmax: MIC ratio of 3.1. The results suggest that intravenous administration of injectable enrofloxacin could be a useful drug with bactericidal properties in rhinoceros. However, the maintenance of the drug plasma concentration at a bactericidal level through additional per os administration of 10% oral solution of enrofloxacin indicated for the use in chickens, turkeys and rabbits does not seem feasible.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16212610,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Virus-induced gene silencing is an effective tool for assaying gene function in the basal eudicot species Papaver somniferum (opium poppy).\nVirus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) is an attractive method for assaying gene function in species that are resistant to conventional genetic approaches. However, VIGS has been shown to be effective in only a few, closely related plant species. Tobacco rattle virus (TRV), a bipartite RNA virus, has a wide host range and so in principle could serve as an efficient vector for VIGS in a diverse array of plant species. Here we show that a vector based on TRV sequences is effective at silencing the endogenous phytoene desaturase (PapsPDS) gene in Papaver somniferum (opium poppy). We show that this vector does not compromise the growth or reproduction of poppy and the plants did not display viral symptoms. The silencing of PapsPDS resulted in a significant reduction in PapsPDS mRNA and a concomitant photobleached phenotype. The ability to rapidly assay gene function in P. somniferum will be valuable in manipulation of the opiate pathway in this pharmaceutically important species. We suggest that our vacuum infiltration method used to deliver TRV-based vectors into poppy is a promising approach for expanding VIGS to diverse angiosperm species in which traditional delivery methods fail to induce VIGS. Furthermore, these studies demonstrate the utility of TRV-VIGS for probing gene function in a basal eudicot species that is phylogenetically distant from model plant species.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6367161,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of plasma proteins and buffer in flushing solutions on rat kidney preservation by cold storage.\nThe isolated rat kidney perfused at 37 C was used to evaluate the effect of adding plasma proteins to, and varying osmolality of, cold-storage flushing solutions with or without buffering. Addition of albumin improved immediate poststorage kidney function (glomerular filtration rate [GFR], fractional sodium reabsorption, and fractional protein clearance) of all flushing solutions tested after 6 hr and 24 hr of storage. At 6 hr, these improvements also correlated with less weight gain. Flushing solutions containing citrate and sulfate produced significantly better return of function after 24 hr of cold storage than Krebs' or Collins'-derived solutions. Osmolality was unimportant with solutions containing citrate. Collins' solution with reduced MgSO4 yielded better poststorage function than conventional solution. An all-citrate isotonic solution buffered with 15 mmol THAM preserved poststorage function at 48 hr better than a similarly buffered solution containing both citrate and sulfate. Loss of dry weight during storage and subsequent perfusion appeared to correlate, in these experiments, with loss of poststorage function. The isolated rat kidney provides discrimination among various flushing solutions. The technique might be useful in the assay of additional variables that might affect the quality of kidney preservation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3046988,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Natural history of glandulocystic fundic polyposis in Gardner's syndrome].\nThe authors report 3 cases of fundic gland polyposis associated with Gardner's syndrome. Control endoscopies revealed fundic gland polyposis disappearance 14, 14, and 7 years respectively after discovery, and colectomy performed at ages 29, 30, and 32, respectively. This regression, described in autonomous fundic gland polyposis, is poorly documented in Gardner's syndrome. This phenomenon is not related to colectomy. However no explanation is currently available, and further studies are necessary to determine the factors related to the natural history of fundic gland polyposis in familial adenomatosis coli\/Gardner's syndrome.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12026782,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Infection control and care of the older person.\nElderly people are vulnerable to infections, particularly those linked with the use of antibiotics. Once infected, they may be a risk to others in hospital or primary care. Strict adherence to infection control measures is required in the care of these patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6727371,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Longitudinal analysis of a demonstration rural outreach alcoholism program.\nA longitudinal analysis of the nature and impact of the information and education activities of an alcoholism rural outreach program (ROP) located in a rural setting was conducted during 1973-1975 via annual community surveys and program records. The study focused on the kinds and amounts of activities conducted and on the impact of these activities on community attitudes toward and knowledge about alcohol and alcoholism as well as awareness of local resources. The community education efforts had the most impact on increasing community familiarity with treatment issues, but attitudes toward these resources as well as acceptance of the disease concept of alcoholism declined over the 3 yr of the program. Knowledge about alcohol and alcoholism also declined over time, but these scores were at chance levels during each of the three community surveys. Several factors appeared to limit the impact of the ROP: (1) trying to accomplish too many different tasks with a small staff and operating budget; (2) subcontracting the program to a local mental health center, which absorbed a large proportion of staff time for nonprogram activities; and (3) the choice of community education efforts.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21155554,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A theoretical study on interaction of cyclopentadienyl ligand with alkali and alkaline earth metals.\nAb initio and density functional theory calculations are performed on half-sandwich (M-Cp) and sandwich (Cp-M-Cp) complexes of alkali and alkaline earth metals (M = Li, Na, K, Mg, and Ca) with cyclopentadienyl ligand (Cp). A comparison of dissociation energies demonstrates the ease of dissociation of the complex as ions in solvent phase and preference for dissociation as radicals in gas phase. Atoms in molecules analysis is used to characterize this cation-\u03c0 interaction based on electron density values obtained at the cage critical point. The contribution of various components to the complex energy is estimated using reduced variational space analysis confirming maximum contribution from the coulomb exchange followed by contributions from polarization and charge transfer components of cyclopentadienyl ligand.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34401007,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Coaches' Efficacy Expectations of Youth Soccer Players with Different Maturity Status and Physical Performance.\nThis study aimed to report possible anthropometrical and physical performance differences between youth soccer players with different maturity status and to report the coaches' expectations, hypothesizing that coaches would expect more from players with advanced maturity. One hundred twenty-two (122) players completed a physical performance battery. Their maturity status was estimated and the coaches' efficacy expectations (CEEs) were assessed. Players with advanced maturation had better physical performance (F = 26.5-73.4; p < 0.01) and their CEEs for strength-related tasks were different according to the maturity status (F = 8.3-10.9; p < 0.01), but not for speed-related tests, nor for their general ability to play soccer. Normalized data showed significant differences between physical performance tests and their respective CEEs within each maturity group, especially in the Post-PHV group. This study confirms the physical advantages of players with advanced maturity while it shows controversial results of how maturation affects the coaches' perceptions and, indirectly, the coaches' identification and selection of talented players.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27275082,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Statin-induced rhabdomyolysis in patient with renal failure and underlying undiagnosed hypothyroidism.\nRhabdomyolysis is a syndrome characterized by muscle necrosis which causes the release of myoglobin into the bloodstream. The manifestations of this syndrome range from asymptomatic elevation of serum muscle enzymes to life-threatening cases associated with extremely high enzyme levels, electrolyte imbalance, and acute renal failure. Symptoms of rhabdomyolysis include dark urine, muscle weakness, and fatigue. Statins are commonly used drugs for the prevention and management of dyslipidemia. We present an interesting and critical case on statin-induced rhabdomyolysis with renal failure and previously undiagnosed idiopathic hypothyroidism.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37443684,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A Framework for Prediction of Oncogenomic Progression Aiding Personalized Treatment of Gastric Cancer.\nMutations in genes can alter their DNA patterns, and by recognizing these mutations, many carcinomas can be diagnosed in the progression stages. The human body contains many hidden and enigmatic features that humankind has not yet fully understood. A total of 7539 neoplasm cases were reported from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2021. Of these, 3156 were seen in males (41.9%) and 4383 (58.1%) in female patients. Several machine learning and deep learning frameworks are already implemented to detect mutations, but these techniques lack generalized datasets and need to be optimized for better results. Deep learning-based neural networks provide the computational power to calculate the complex structures of gastric carcinoma-driven gene mutations. This study proposes deep learning approaches such as long and short-term memory, gated recurrent units and bi-LSTM to help in identifying the progression of gastric carcinoma in an optimized manner. This study includes 61 carcinogenic driver genes whose mutations can cause gastric cancer. The mutation information was downloaded from intOGen.org and normal gene sequences were downloaded from asia.ensembl.org, as explained in the data collection section. The proposed deep learning models are validated using the self-consistency test (SCT), 10-fold cross-validation test (FCVT), and independent set test (IST); the IST prediction metrics of accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, MCC and AUC of LSTM, Bi-LSTM, and GRU are 97.18%, 98.35%, 96.01%, 0.94, 0.98; 99.46%, 98.93%, 100%, 0.989, 1.00; 99.46%, 98.93%, 100%, 0.989 and 1.00, respectively.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17178442,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Prevalence of mycoplasmas in the semen and vaginal swabs of Danish stallions and mares.\nThe reproduction rate of horses is one of the lowest within domestic livestock despite advances the veterinary medicine. Infertility in horses may be due mainly to the lack of suitable selection criteria in the breeding of horses. However, acquired infertility due to genital, bacterial infections may occur. Mycoplasmas have been implicated in genital disorders and infertility of many species including humans and horses. However, their role as commensals or pathogens of the genital tract of horses is still not determined. Bacteriological examinations made on the fossa glandis, urethra, penis and semen of stallions, showed the presence of different Mycoplasma species. Therefore our study aimed to find the prevalence of Mycoplasma species and a possible association with fertility problems in Danish riding horses. Eighty semen samples from stallions and 19 vaginal swab samples from mares were tested by PCR for presence of mycoplasmal DNA. The vaginal swab samples were also cultured in the Mycoplasma specific medium. None of the samples were positive for presence of genital mycoplasmas during the screen. The lack of genital mycoplasmas observed in this study may be due to a very extensive use of artificial insemination of modern sport horses.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28300942,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Evaluation of the feeding preference between the aquatic macrophytes Egeria densa and Chara indica by the invasive mollusk Melanoides tuberculata.\nThis study evaluated the feeding preference of the invasive mollusk Melaniudes tuberculata between the aquatic macrophytes Egeria densa and Chara indica. The experiment consisted of twelve experimental units (glass aquariums) each of which contained three liters of water and three compartments. Fragments of E. densa and C. indica were placed in separate compartments within each unit; the third compartment, which did not contain macrophytes, was used as the control. Twenty Melanoides tuberculata individuals were placed in each unit and monitored hourly over the course of 24 hours for preferential movements. Physical and chemical water variables were measured at the beginning and end of the experiment. Habitat complexity was determined through collected macrophyte fragments and determined using the Fractop program. After 24 hours, the highest average number of individuals was observed in the treatment with Chara indica (ten individuals), which differed significantly from the treatment with E. densa (four individuals) and the control treatment (two individuals). The number of individuals between the E. densa and control treatment were similar. M. tuberculata showed a clear feeding preference for C. indica.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34424254,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Determination of Mitochondrial Respiration and Glycolysis in Ex Vivo Retinal Tissue Samples.\nMitochondrial respiration is a critical energy-generating pathway in all cells, especially retinal photoreceptors that possess a highly active metabolism. In addition, photoreceptors also exhibit high aerobic glycolysis like cancer cells. Precise measurements of these metabolic activities can provide valuable insights into cellular homeostasis under physiological conditions and in disease states. High throughput microplate-based assays have been developed to measure mitochondrial respiration and various metabolic activities in live cells. However, a vast majority of these are developed for cultured cells and have not been optimized for intact tissue samples and for application ex vivo. Described here is a detailed step-by-step protocol, using microplate-based fluorescence technology, to directly measure oxygen consumption rate (OCR) as an indicator of mitochondrial respiration, as well as extracellular acidification rate (ECAR) as an indicator of glycolysis, in intact ex vivo retinal tissue. This method has been used to successfully assess metabolic activities in adult mouse retina and demonstrate its application in investigating cellular mechanisms of aging and disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16231749,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[The well-established Dalbo-Rotex-retainer and the newly developed Ticap-system. Low-cost anchorage possibilities in the removable prosthesis].\nConventional retainers for removable prostheses are frequently used in the daily practice. Financial limits, physical and mental restrictions especially among elderly or disabled patients, and\/or limited prognosis of abutment teeth may require simple and less expensive alternatives. For these indications the well-established Dalbo-Rotex-retainer and the newly developed Ticap-system are available. Both systems are options for the anchorage of removable prostheses. Their clinical use is presented; furthermore their advantages and restrictions are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11986694,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Influence of a triplex superimposed treatment on HBV replication and mutation during treating chronic hepatitis B].\nTo observe and evaluate the influence of a new antiviral treatment scheme on HBV replication and mutation during treating chronic hepatitis B. In the test group, lamivudine, IFN alpha-2b, Astragalus membranaceus were chosen as a triplex superimposed treatment scheme for treating the patients who were on the state of HBV high replication and involved in the clinical condition of chronic hepatitis B. The control group was treated with lamivudine alone. The observed parameters percentage of patients in whom HBV DNA became undetectable (serum HBV DNA<1.6 ng\/L), HBeAg\/anti-HBe seroconversion rate; HBV DNA serum level; HBV YMDD mutation rate and pre-C region mutation rate. Compared with that of the control group, HBV DNA undetectable rate of the test group increased markedly at weeks 12, 36, 48(P <0.05), HBeAg negative rate of the group increased markedly at week 36, 48(P <0.05), while anti-HBe positive rate increased only at week 48 (31.58 vs.19.23%, P <0.05). After 4 weeks of treatment, HBV DNA serum level of both the test group and the control group reduced very remarkably (P <0.01), and at week 48, reduced more significantly (P <0.001). Compared with the control group, HBV DNA serum level of the test group reduced notably at week 12 (P <0.05) and very notable at week 36 and 48(P <0.01). At week 12, the pre-C region mutation occurred in the test group, and at week 24, 36,48, the pre-C region and YMDD mutations occurred in both the test group and the control group. As to anti-viral treatment of chronic hepatitis B, the triplex superimposed treatment had better efficacy than lamivudine alone.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7936385,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Antibiotic prophylaxis with cefotaxime in gynecological endoscopy].\nIt is now well known that even short operations of limited scope lower the body's defences by influencing the immune system. As a result this leads to a change in microbial flora which encourages an increase in the number of Gram-negative, aerobic, anaerobic and enterococcal colonies. In order to prevent infective postoperative complications which might occur after endoscopic surgery, the authors suggest using a series of valuable recommendations which are reported in this paper. Among these the most important is antibiotic prophylaxis which is able to limit the episodes of infection, thus making a positive contribution to the postoperative iter. Cefotaxime was chosen by the authors since this molecule offers both reliable and efficacious prophylaxis as has also been shown by other studies in the obstetrics and gynecological field. The results obtained by this study fully concord with data reported in the literature.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37844032,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Consequences of school closures due to COVID-19 in DRC, Nigeria, Senegal, and Uganda.\nIn 2020 and 2021, Governments across the globe instituted school closures to reduce social interaction and interrupt COVID-19 transmission. We examined the consequences of school closures due to COVID-19 across four sub-Saharan African countries: the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Nigeria, Senegal, and Uganda. We conducted a qualitative study among key informants including policymakers, school heads, students, parents, civil society representatives, and local leaders. The assessment of the consequences of school closures was informed by the Diffusion of Innovations theory which informed the interview guide and analysis. Interview transcripts were thematically analysed. Across the four countries, schools were totally closed for 120 weeks and partially closed for 48 weeks. School closures led to: i) Desirable and anticipated consequences: enhanced adoption of online platforms and mass media for learning and increased involvement of parents in their children's education. ii) Desirable and unanticipated consequences: improvement in information, communication, and technology (ICT) infrastructure in schools, development and improvement of computer skills, and created an opportunity to take leave from hectic schedules. iii) Undesirable anticipated consequences: inadequate education continuity among students, an adjustment in academic schedules and programmes, and disrupted student progress and grades. iv) Undesirable unanticipated: increase in sexual violence including engaging in transactional sex, a rise in teenage pregnancy, and school dropouts, demotivation of teachers due to reduced incomes, and reduced school revenues. v) Neutral consequences: engagement in revenue-generating activities, increased access to phones and computers among learners, and promoted less structured learning. The consequences of school closures for COVID-19 control were largely negative with the potential for both short-term and far-reaching longer-term consequences. In future pandemics, careful consideration of the type and duration of education closure measures and examination of their potential consequences in the short and long term is important before deploying them.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16989456,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Head shaking test (HSN) using to diagnose vestibule damage].\nThere is described a transient nystagmus provoked by shaking the head in the horizontal plane for a few seconds in both normal subjects and patients that is called Head Shaking Test (HSN) as a diagnostic tool for vestibular dysfunction. HSN is generally accepted that is generated by an asymmetrical peripheral vestibular input and a central velocity storage mechanism, which integrate and extend the peripheral vestibular signals. Purposes 1. Creation of own modification method of stimulation and registration HSN 2. Estimation of HSN test value to show asymmetrical function of vestibular system 3. Establish possibility of HSN test to localization of damage vestibular system 4. Verification this test to use it as screening test Studied group was consisted of 111 subjects that consist of 68 women and 43 men with mean age 52,4 years. All patients and controls were submitted to audiological tests and vestibular examinations According to the results of the otoneurological tests, patients were divided into: 36 with peripheral vestibular disease, 37 with central vestibular disease, 6 with both peripheral and central vestibular disease and 32 control persons. Own modified HSN test was described. Frequency of movements was approximately 2 Hz determined by metronome. HSN was recorded using ENG apparatus produced by Hartmann. In the first study stage incidence of HSN-H and HSN-V related to localization of vestibular organ damage, symmetric and asymmetric reaction in tested. It was observed more incidence of HSN-H and HSN-V in patients with peripheral and central lesion of vestibular system than in control group. Estimation of HSN incidence related to kinetic test--acceleration-deceleration rotary test shows the same HSN frequency in compared groups, with symmetric or asymmetric reaction in rotary test. HSN frequency related to caloric test (canal paresis) showed statistic differences between normal and canal paresis reaction in caloric test. Analysis incidence of HSN-V revealed no significant differences between examined groups. In the second studied stage the sensitivity and specificity were examined. 1. It is possible to make HSN test using metronome and ENG recording 2. HSN test may be use to reveal asymmetry of vestibular function. 3. HSN is helpful to diagnose peripheral and central lesion to some extent. 4. HSN is not useful as screening test","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36281069,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"High-Field Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Studies Reveal New Structural Landscape of Sulfur-Vulcanized Natural Rubber.\nDespite intensive research efforts over the past 3 decades, the structural analysis of sulfur-vulcanized natural rubber (NR) remains challenging owing to the complexity and low population of its sulfur moieties. Herein, solid vulcanized NR samples and NR samples reacted with sulfur and other reactants in an organic solvent were analyzed by solid-state NMR with fast magic-angle spinning and solution NMR, respectively. The present high-field two-dimensional NMR analysis revealed six novel sulfur moieties in these samples, including cyclic sulfides, cyclic di\/polysulfides, and crosslinked structures with a vinylidene group. While previous studies reported a variety of sulfur-crosslinked structures in NR, our analysis identified only two dominant types of crosslinked structures that matched those reported previously. Our NMR assignments for the crosslinked structures were inconsistent to a large extent with those presented in the previous studies; thus, in the current work, the crosslinked structures were reassigned using the new data. Based on quantitative NMR analysis, this study also provides the first tangible evidence that cyclic rather than crosslinked sulfides can be the dominant sulfur moieties in vulcanized NR. These results may drastically alter the previously established structural landscape of sulfur-vulcanized NR.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20366231,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Modeling torque versus speed, shot noise, and rotational diffusion of the bacterial flagellar motor.\nWe present a minimal physical model for the flagellar motor that enables bacteria to swim. Our model explains the experimentally measured torque-speed relationship of the proton-driven E. coli motor at various pH and temperature conditions. In particular, the dramatic drop of torque at high rotation speeds (the \"knee\") is shown to arise from saturation of the proton flux. Moreover, we show that shot noise in the proton current dominates the diffusion of motor rotation at low loads. This suggests a new way to probe the discreteness of the energy source, analogous to measurements of charge quantization in superconducting tunnel junctions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28734307,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A confinement induced spectroscopic study of noble gas atoms using equation of motion architecture: Encapsulation within fullerene's voids.\nA relativistic study of spectroscopic properties of the endohedral fullerenes Ng@C60q (where Ng = He, Ne and q=0,\u00b11,\u00b12 are the charges) associated with the C60 molecule has been done using the equation of motion coupled cluster (EOM-CC) methodology. Specific properties estimated are the transition energies, dipole oscillator strengths, and transition probabilities for the low-lying excitations 1s2(1S0) \u2192 1snp (1P1) (n = 2, 3, 4) for He@C60q and 1s22s22p6 (1S0) \u2192 1s22s22p5ns\u2215nd (1P1) (n = 3, 4) for Ne@C60q, which have been compared with those for the isolated atom to depict the confinement effect of the host molecule on the encapsulated atom. This is accomplished by introducing an effective potential to the atomic Hamiltonian induced by the fullerene moiety and its charge. The EOM-CC results have been compared with those estimated with the random phase approximation (and configuration interaction singles) to understand the effect of electron correlation under such confinement. The systematic and interesting behavior of the properties is highlighted indicating the effect of fullerene cage potential on the redistribution of electron density of the guest atom.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16226872,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"C\/EBPalpha inactivation in FAK-overexpressed HL-60 cells impairs cell differentiation.\nWe previously demonstrated that focal adhesion kinase (FAK)-overexpressed (HL-60\/FAK) cells have marked resistance against various apoptotic stimuli such as oxidative stress, ionizing radiation and TNF-receptor-induced ligand (TRAIL) compared with vector-transfected (HL-60\/Vect) cells. Here, we show that HL-60\/FAK cells are highly resistant to all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA)-induced differentiation, whereas original HL-60 or HL-60\/Vect cells are sensitive. Treatment with ATRA at 1 muM for 5 days markedly inhibited the proliferation and increased the expression of differentiation markers (CD38, CD11b) in HL-60\/Vect cells, but showed no such effect in HL-60\/FAK cells. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) using an oligonucleotide for the c\/EBP consensus binding sequence showed that c\/EBPalpha was activated in ATRA-treated HL-60\/Vect cells but not in HL-60\/FAK cells, indicating that c\/EBPalpha activation by ATRA was impaired in HL-60\/FAK cells. In addition, the association of retinoblastoma protein (pRb) and c\/EBPalpha after treatment with ATRA was seen in HL-60\/Vect cells but not in HL-60\/FAK cells. Further, hyperphosphorylation of pRb was observed in HL-60\/FAK cells. Finally, the introduction of FAK siRNA into HL-60\/FAK cells resulted in the recovery of sensitivity to ATRA-induced differentiation, confirming that the inhibition of HL-60\/FAK differentiation resulted from both the induction of pRb hyperphosphorylation and the inhibition of association of pRb and c\/EBPalpha.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18596252,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Conformationally restricted nucleotides as a probe of structure-function relationships in RNA.\nWe introduce the use of commercially available locked nucleic acids (LNAs) as a functional probe in RNA. LNA nucleotides contain a covalent linkage that restricts the pseudorotation phase of the ribose to C3'-endo (A-form). Introduction of an LNA at a single site thus allows the role of ribose structure and dynamics in RNA function to be assessed. We apply LNA probing at multiple sites to analyze self-cleavage in the lead-dependent ribozyme (leadzyme), thermodynamic stability in the UUCG tetraloop, and the kinetics of recognition of U1A protein by U1 snRNA hairpin II. In the leadzyme, locking a single guanosine residue into the C3'-endo pucker increases the catalytic rate by a factor of 20, despite the fact that X-ray crystallographic and NMR structures of the leadzyme ground state reported a C2'-endo conformation at this site. These results strongly suggest that a conformational change at this position is critical for catalytic function. Functional insights obtained in all three systems demonstrate the highly general applicability of LNA probing in analysis of the role of ribose orientation in RNA structure, dynamics, and function.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28573615,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Modeling the Ebolavirus Life Cycle with Transcription and Replication-Competent Viruslike Particle Assays.\nEbolaviruses are the causative agent of a severe hemorrhagic fever with high case fatality rates, for which no approved specific therapy is available. As biosafety level 4 (BSL4) agents, work with live ebolaviruses is restricted to maximum containment laboratories. Transcription and replication-competent viruslike particle (trVLP) systems are reverse genetics-based life cycle modeling systems that allow researchers to model virtually the entire ebolavirus life cycle outside of a maximum containment laboratory. These systems can be used to dissect the virus life cycle, and thus increase our understanding of virus biology, as well as for more applied uses such as the screening and development of novel antivirals, and thus represent powerful tools for work on ebolaviruses.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35363739,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Generation of photon pairs by stimulated emission in ring resonators.\nThird-order parametric downconversion (TOPDC) describes a class of nonlinear interactions in which a pump photon is converted into a photon triplet. This process can occur spontaneously or it can be stimulated by seeding fields. Here we show that stimulated TOPDC (StTOPDC) can be exploited for the generation of quantum correlated photon pairs. We model StTOPDC in a microring resonator, predicting observable pair generation rates in a microring engineered for third-harmonic generation, and we examine the peculiar features of this approach when compared with second-order spontaneous parametric downconversion and spontaneous four-wave mixing. We conclude that if the experimental difficulties associated with implementing StTOPDC can be overcome, it may soon be possible to demonstrate this process in resonant integrated devices.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1688656,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Selective alterations of RNA in rat hippocampus after entorhinal cortex lesioning.\nIn vitro translation products from RNA of rat hippocampus after deafferentation by entorhinal cortex lesions were analyzed by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Although hippocampal total RNA yield was not affected 14 days after the lesion, analysis of the gels showed reproducible changes in the steady-state level of several transcripts. Glial fibrillary acidic protein RNA increased 2-fold over control hippocampi RNA. Moreover, seven other transcripts of unknown identity had increased prevalence in the denervated hippocampus. The changes, which ranged from 2- to 20-fold, involved mRNA encoding small slightly acidic polypeptides: 12 kDa (pI 5.6), 13 kDa (pI 6.1), 20 kDa (pI 5.8), 31 kDa (pI 5.7), 33 kDa (pI 5.7), 35 kDa (pI 5.6), and 53 kDa (pI 5.4). These results suggest new molecular markers for analyzing the complex mechanisms of synaptic reorganization in the dentate gyrus after deafferentation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3033425,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Echo acquisition during frequency-selective pulse trains for proton spectroscopy of metabolites in vivo.\nSuppression of water and fat in proton spectra of rat skeletal muscle was achieved by acquisition of the spin echoes formed in the steady state after a series of frequency-selective composite pulses of constant amplitude, phase, and interpulse interval. The method enables observation of lactate in the presence of fat without resorting to difference spectroscopy, and on spectrometers which permit data acquisition immediately prior to a pulse, enables much faster data accumulation compared to standard echo sequences.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35127916,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Concomitant Othello syndrome and impulse control disorders in a patient with Parkinson's disease: A case report.\nOthello syndrome (OS) is characterized by delusional beliefs concerning the infidelity of a spouse or sexual partner, which may lead to extreme behaviors. Impulse control disorders refer to behaviors involving repetitive, excessive, and compulsive activities driven by an intense desire. Both OS and impulse control disorders in Parkinson's disease (PD) may be side effects of dopamine agonists. At present, there are only a few case reports and studies related to PD with concomitant OS and impulse control disorders. We describe a 70-year-old male patient with PD, OS, and impulse control disorders, who presented with a six-month history of the delusional belief that his wife was having an affair with someone. He began to show an obvious increase in libido presenting as frequent masturbation. He had been diagnosed with PD ten years earlier and had no past psychiatric history. In his fourth year of PD, he engaged in binge eating, which lasted approximately one year. Both OS and hypersexuality were alleviated substantially after a reduction of his pramipexole dosage and a prescription of quetiapine. Given its potential for severe consequences, OS should be identified early, especially in patients undergoing treatment with dopamine agonists.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16211299,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Identification of candidate radioresistant genes in human squamous cell carcinoma cells through gene expression analysis using DNA microarrays.\nRadiation therapy is currently the standard adjuvant approach for oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) patients. Individual OSCCs display a wide range of radiosensitivity (RS). To identify genes associated with radioresistance (RR) of OSCC and establish a useful method of predicting radio-therapeutic effectiveness, we examined the gene expression patterns of OSCC cell lines that exhibited different responses to ionizing radiation (IR) by clonogenic survival assay using an in-house cDNA microarray consisting of 2,201 human genes and quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (QRT-PCR). Microarray analysis showed overexpression of 7 genes in the radioresistant cell line, HSC2, and 2 genes in the radiosensitive cell line, HSC3. The changes in expression levels in 7 of 9 genes (Cytokeratin18, DTNBP1, ASNA1, Tcp20, Cyclophilin F, KIAA0218, and HBp17) were confirmed with QRT-PCR. Of these, the genetic alterations of Tcp20, whose expression was remarkably elevated in radioresistant HSC2 cells after IR, were investigated. The escalation of X-ray doses resulted in an enhanced Tcp20 expression level in HSC2 cells compared to radiosensitive HSC3 cells (P<0.05, Mann-Whitney U test). These results suggest that the identified genes, which include Tcp20, may play an important role in conferring RR to OSCC, and could also be useful in identifying cases of OSCC with more radioresistance.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34422161,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Availability of PPEs and training status of health professionals on COVID-19 in Silte Zone, Southern Ethiopia.\nrecent infectious disease outbreaks like COVID-19 highlights the importance of personal protective equipments and competent professionals on public health preparedness and response in health care systems. Hence, understanding availability of personal protective equipments and training status of health professionals is very important to fill the gap of COVID-19 preparedness and response. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess availability and adequacy of personal protective equipments and health professional's training status on COVID-19 in Silte Zone, southern Ethiopia. cross sectional study was conducted from August to October 2020 in Silte Zone. First four weredas from 13 were selected randomly. Systematic sampling technique was used to select 351 health professionals from 13 health facilities of selected weredas. overall, only 36.1% of the health professionals have received adequate training on COVID-19. About 30% of the health professionals had taken training on emergency plan of COVID-19, about 33% had been taught on COVID-19 treatment procedures. Majority 80.9% of the respondents indicated that personal protective equipments are inadequately available. Face masks, hand sanitizers and eye goggles were most scarce PPEs. health professionals have been at the frontlines in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, challenges remain, such as limited availability of personal protection equipments and inadequate training of healthcare professions was identified by this study. Strengthening of training on COVID-19 and making PPEs adequately available were recommended.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25283125,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"New species of Dorcopsinema and Paralabiostrongylus (Nematoda: Chabertiidae: Cloacininae) from Indonesia, with a key to species of Dorcopsinema.\nTwo new species of nematodes (Chabertiidae: Labiostrongylinea) from Dorcopsis muelleri in Raja Ampat Island, Papua, were described and figured. Dorcopsinema longispicularis sp.nov.is most similar to D. simile, but can be distinguished from it in being a smaller worm with longer spicules and a relatively longer oesophagus, as well as in the form of the posterior lip of the genital cone, the form of the spicule tips and the spiked tip of the female tail. Paralabiostrongylus rajampatensis sp. nov. differs from its congener, P. bicollaris, in having the deirids and excretory pore at about the same level, and in the form of the dorsal ray, with lateral branches proximal to the bifurcation of the dorsal trunk, the relatively longer spicule with ala extending to the tip and the form of the posterior lip of the genital cone.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":951384,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The effect of the duration of starvation of the assay bird on true metabolizable energy values.\nAn experiment was made with adult, S.C.W.L. roosters to measure the effect of the duration of the starvation period, prior to force feeding, on the true metabolizable energy (T.M.E.) value of a laying hen diet. Lengthening the starvation period from 24 to 96 hr., by 24 hr. intervals, had no significant effect on the T.M.E. value. The excretion of metabolic fecal + endogenous urinary energy per day tended to decrease with the duration of starvation. It is therefore, essential that the duration of the starvation period is identical for control and force fed birds. It is also essential that the duration of the experimental period is identical for both groups of birds.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6728512,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Diagnosis of subgenera of the genus Dermacentor Koch by the larva and nymph and new data on the distribution of the subgenus Asiacentor (Ixodidae)].\nOn the basis of parallel study of natural and cultivated preimaginal phases of the genus Dermacentor differential diagnoses of three palaearctic subgenera were worked out: Asiacentor Filippova et Panova , 1974, Serdjukovia Dias , 1963 and Dermacentor (s. str.) 1844. The diagnoses are also based on peculiarities of chaetotaxy and other characters of small sizes. On the basis of identification of species of the subgenus Asiacentor on immature phases new sites of their distribution were found out: D. pavlovskyi : in the Issyk - Kul hollow, in the foothills from the side of Terskey - Alatau ridge; D. montanus: in Gissarsky ridge in the environs of Lake Iskander - Kul . Remoteness of these cites from the distribution borders known earlier point to ecological and geografical differential peculiarities of the subgenus and its species.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11995037,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Role of CT assessment of mediastinal lymph nodes in the preoperative staging of T1 pulmonary carcinoma].\nThe utility of the preoperative staging of T1 lung cancer is controversial. This is due to a lower prevalence of N2 metastases in tumors of small diameter. To assess the prevalence of N2 metastases in such tumors and the sensitivity and specificity of computed tomography in mediastinal sadiation, the authors reviewed CT scans and pathology reports of 56 patients who had undergone surgical resection of a T1 lung cancer so distributed: Adenocarcinoma 20 cases, adenosquamous carcinoma 14, Bronchioloalveolar carcinoma 7, Undifferentiated 7, Carcinoid 5, Small cells carcinoma 3. Mediastinal nodal metastases were present in 11 patients: 6 of them were correctly detected by CT scan. Some differences in terms of N2 prevalence and sensitivity were noted when the T1 were divided in two groups of diameter greater or smaller of 2 cm. Important considerations derived after dividing our patients according to the histological type. The prevalence of N2 metastases was greater in adenocarcinoma than in adenosquamous carcinoma but CT sensitivity was lower in adenocarcinoma (40% Vs 100%). The authors conclude that the prevalence of N2 metastases is high enough to request a preoperative sadiation, but the utility of CT in this purpose is limited by a low sensitivity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26428400,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Classification of ABO3 perovskite solids: a machine learning study.\nWe explored the use of machine learning methods for classifying whether a particular ABO3 chemistry forms a perovskite or non-perovskite structured solid. Starting with three sets of feature pairs (the tolerance and octahedral factors, the A and B ionic radii relative to the radius of O, and the bond valence distances between the A and B ions from the O atoms), we used machine learning to create a hyper-dimensional partial dependency structure plot using all three feature pairs or any two of them. Doing so increased the accuracy of our predictions by 2-3 percentage points over using any one pair. We also included the Mendeleev numbers of the A and B atoms to this set of feature pairs. Doing this and using the capabilities of our machine learning algorithm, the gradient tree boosting classifier, enabled us to generate a new type of structure plot that has the simplicity of one based on using just the Mendeleev numbers, but with the added advantages of having a higher accuracy and providing a measure of likelihood of the predicted structure.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7924644,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"High affinity melatonin receptors in the vertebrate brain: implications for the control of the endogenous oscillatory systems.\nCurrently, the melatonin receptor is depicted as a membrane-associated protein, linked to a guanine nucleotide-binding protein (G-protein), and thus the melatonin receptor represents a member of a receptor superfamily, acting through G-proteins in the first step of their signal-transduction pathways. Although on a number of occasions specific binding of radioactive melatonin has been demonstrated in a wide variety of tissues and organs, to date, high affinity G-protein-regulated melatonin binding sites, suggestive for a functional melatonin receptor, have been convincingly confirmed in the brain only. There is a significant species variation in the distribution of the melatonin receptor in the vertebrate brain. The limited number of studies prevents any definitive conclusion in terms of phylogeny, though generally speaking, the lower vertebrates' brains tend to express melatonin receptors with wider distribution. Two sites have been consistently found to express high density of melatonin receptors: the pars tuberalis of the adenohypophysis and the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN). It must be pointed out, however, that there are some exceptions. Binding in the human pars tuberalis has not been reported, and apparently, the sheep and the mustelids' suprachiasmatic nuclei do not express detectable binding. The function of melatonin in pars tuberalis is unclear, and the control of the synthesis (and release) of paracrine factors that act at site(s) distant from the melatonin target cells, have been suggested.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22696526,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Preference suppression caused by misattribution of task-irrelevant subliminal motion.\nIt is well known that subjects tend to misattribute task-irrelevant signals, incorporating them into the information on which a decision is made. Such misattribution has been reported to originate only from a social or a cognitive stage of information processing. However, we provide the initial evidence that misattribution also originates at a lower, visuomotor stage. This type of misattribution occurs only when subjects do not notice a visuomotor conflict. Misattribution at a social or a cognitive stage facilitates decision-making if the misattributed information is consistent with the decision and impedes decision-making if the information is in conflict with the decision. However, misattribution originating at a visuomotor stage only impedes decision-making, suggesting a fundamental difference between the mechanisms for the two types of misattribution. Furthermore, misattribution effects that originate in a visuomotor interaction stage also affect subjective preference ratings, suggesting that the misattribution exerts an influence on global brain processing.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6741558,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The influence of oxytocin on the fibrillation thresholds in rabbits.\nThe intravenous infusion of oxytocin in urethane anaesthetized rabbits induced marked increases of both atrial and ventricular fibrillation threshold. The heart rate and the arterial blood pressure (BP) diminished. Since there was no parallelism between the fibrillation threshold changes and those of heart rate and BP, it might be concluded that the changes of the fibrillation thresholds were very likely primary, i.e. they were due to the modifications of the electrophysiological properties of the heart. The intravenous infusion of 0.5% chlorbutol , a preservant widely used in many commercial preparations induced only minor changes of the investigated parameters.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34244263,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Online information on face masks: analysis of websites in Italian and English returned by different search engines.\nCountries have major differences in the acceptance of face mask use for the prevention of COVID-19. This work aims at studying the information online in different countries in terms of information quality and content. Content analysis. We analysed 450 webpages returned by searching the string 'are face masks dangerous' in Italy, the UK and the USA using three search engines (Bing, Duckduckgo and Google) in August 2020. The type of website and the stance about masks were assessed by two raters for each language and inter-rater agreement reported as Cohen's kappa. The text of the webpages was collected from the web using WebBootCaT and analysed using a corpus analysis software to identify issues mentioned. Most pages were news outlets, and few (2%-6%) from public health agencies. Webpages with a negative stance on masks were more frequent in Italian (28%) than English (19%). Google returned the highest number of mask-positive pages and Duckduckgo the lowest. Google also returned the lowest number of pages mentioning conspiracy theories and Duckduckgo the highest. Webpages in Italian scored lower than those in English in transparency (reporting authors, their credentials and backing the information with references). When issues about the use of face masks were analysed, mask effectiveness was the most discussed followed by hypercapnia (accumulation of carbon dioxide), contraindication in respiratory disease and hypoxia, with issues related to their contraindications in mental health conditions and disability mentioned by very few pages. This study suggests that: (1) public health agencies should increase their web presence in providing correct information on face masks; (2) search engines should improve the information quality criteria in their ranking; (3) the public should be more informed on issues related to the use of masks and disabilities, mental health and stigma arising for those people who cannot wear masks.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14523075,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Synaptic strength between motoneurons and terminals of the dorsolateral funiculus is regulated by GABA receptors in the turtle spinal cord.\nThe role of GABAA and GABAB receptors in modulation of excitatory synaptic transmission between motoneurons and terminals from dorsolateral funiculus (DLF) was studied in in vitro spinal cord slices of adult turtles. Muscimol--a GABAA receptor agonist--depressed the monosynaptic excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) induced by stimulation of the DLF and shortened its duration. The input resistance and the membrane time constant also were strongly reduced. The input membrane resistance, the amplitude, and the half-width of the EPSP were reduced at the same rate in the presence of muscimol. Bicuculline--a GABAA receptor antagonist--increased the EPSPs amplitude and the input membrane resistance. The EPSP amplitude ratio elicited by a paired-pulse protocol did not change significantly. Our results suggest that muscimol acts mainly by activation of postsynaptic GABAA receptors located on the motoneuron and the synaptic strength on motoneurons may be modulated by tonic activation of postsynaptic GABAA receptors. Baclofen--a GABAB receptor agonist--also depressed DLF-motoneuron synaptic transmission. However, it did not affect the falling phase of the EPSPs or the motoneuron membrane time constant but induced a small decrement in input resistance. In the presence of baclofen, the amplitude ratio produced by a paired-pulse protocol increased significantly. This suggests that baclofen decreased the synaptic strength by inhibition of neurotransmitter release from the DLF terminals via activation of presynaptic GABAB receptors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6169650,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Lymphokine production by PHA-stimulated human lymphocytes is enhanced by interferon.\nHuman interferon (IFN) was examined for its capacity to modify the phytohaemagglutinin (PHA)-triggered release of mitogenic factors (MF) from human lymphocytes in vitro. It was observed that the presence of partially purified leukocyte IFN (IFN-alpha) during the PHA pulsing of lymphocytes increased their subsequent release of factors which were mitogenic for fractionated T cells. A similar effect was also observed when lymphocytes were exposed to IFN-alpha prior to PHA pulsing. The possibility that substances in the IFN preparations other than IFN are responsible for the above effect is ruled out by the finding that a pure fibroblast IFN (IFN-beta) preparation also augmented the MF release by PHA-pulsed lymphocytes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3050378,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A case of lung infection caused by an unusual strain of Nocardia farcinica.\nA case of lung infection caused by an unusual strain of Nocardia farcinica is reported. This is the third case of the N. farcinica infection in this country. The strain failed to utilize rhamnose as sole carbon source, but could be identified by a numerical identification method. The mycolic acids contained 1-3 double bonds and the numbers of the carbon atoms of the mycolic acids were 50 to 60, average 56.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25428960,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Complete Genome Sequence of an H9N2 Influenza Virus Lethal to Chickens.\nAn H9N2 virus lethal to chickens was isolated from an acutely ill chicken flock in 2012. Phylogenetic analyses indicated that this virus was phylogenetically related to the Y280 lineage. Sequence analysis showed 1 amino acid deletion in HA1 and 3 amino acid deletions in the NA stalk region.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29552049,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sinapic Acid Derivatives as Potential Anti-Inflammatory Agents: Synthesis and Biological Evaluation.\nTranscription factor NF-\u03baB and relevant cytokines IL-6 and IL-8 play a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of inflammation. Sinapic acid is a natural product and was demonstrated to possess anti-inflammatory activity. In this paper, we synthesized a series of sinapic acid derivatives and evaluated their anti-inflammatory effects. The result suggested that all of the targets compounds 7a-j inhibit NF-\u03baB activation and decrease IL-6 and IL-8 expression in BEAS-2B cells. By our biological assays, we found that all of the prepared compounds displayed stronger anti-inflammatory activities than their precursor sinapic acid. Especially, compounds 7g and 7i, with electron-drawing groups (nitro and fluoro moieties) in the benzimidazole ring, exhibited remarkable anti-inflammation activity, which was even stronger than the reference drug dexamethasone.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28280417,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hydrogen peroxide attenuates refilling of intracellular calcium store in mouse pancreatic acinar cells.\nIntracellular calcium (Ca2+) oscillation is an initial event in digestive enzyme secretion of pancreatic acinar cells. Reactive oxygen species are known to be associated with a variety of oxidative stress-induced cellular disorders including pancreatitis. In this study, we investigated the effect of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) on intracellular Ca2+ accumulation in mouse pancreatic acinar cells. Perfusion of H2O2 at 300 \u00b5M resulted in additional elevation of intracellular Ca2+ levels and termination of oscillatory Ca2+ signals induced by carbamylcholine (CCh) in the presence of normal extracellular Ca2+. Antioxidants, catalase or DTT, completely prevented H2O2-induced additional Ca2+ increase and termination of Ca2+ oscillation. In Ca2+-free medium, H2O2 still enhanced CCh-induced intracellular Ca2+ levels and thapsigargin (TG) mimicked H2O2-induced cytosolic Ca2+ increase. Furthermore, H2O2-induced elevation of intracellular Ca2+ levels was abolished under sarco\/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ ATPase-inactivated condition by TG pretreatment with CCh. H2O2 at 300 \u00b5M failed to affect store-operated Ca2+ entry or Ca2+ extrusion through plasma membrane. Additionally, ruthenium red, a mitochondrial Ca2+ uniporter blocker, failed to attenuate H2O2-induced intracellular Ca2+ elevation. These results provide evidence that excessive generation of H2O2 in pathological conditions could accumulate intracellular Ca2+ by attenuating refilling of internal Ca2+ stores rather than by inhibiting Ca2+ extrusion to extracellular fluid or enhancing Ca2+ mobilization from extracellular medium in mouse pancreatic acinar cells.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30304174,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Polypharmacy and potentially inappropriate medications for elder people in gerontological nursing.\nTo identify polypharmacy and potentially inappropriate medications (PIM) for elder people with chronic health situations and its implications for gerontological nursing. Descriptive and transversal study, conducted from March to September 2016 by pharmaceutical residents in the clinic of Endocrinology of a hospital in Mid-West region of Brazil. 44 elder people with an average age of 69.5 (\u00b1 6.79) years old had their assessed prescriptions. We identified 65 medications prescribed 253 times, in which 10 PIM (15.4%) were prescribed 51 times. 33 seniors (72.7%) had at least one PIM, of those, 66.7% were polymedicated. Of the total, 22 elder people (50%) were subjected to polypharmacy and made use of at least one PIM. The results showed high incidence of PIM and polypharmacy, as well as their physiological impacts to the elder population. The study provokes discussions about that the trained nurse in human aging has skills and competencies able to enhance interventions related to pharmacotherapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12013285,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pneumoperitoneum after rough sexual intercourse.\nOur objective is to report on a case of nonsurgical pneumoperitoneum and review the mechanism\/gynecologic causes of such. We present a case report and review of the literature based on a MEDLINE search using the keywords pneumoperitoneum and nonsurgical. Radiographic evidence of free intraperitoneal air suggests hollow viscus rupture and usually warrants urgent surgical management. Findings of diffuse rebound tenderness and guarding solidify the decision for urgent surgical exploration. We present a case of a patient who presented with all of the above findings that subsequently underwent a negative laparotomy. On the day after surgery she admitted to having had rough sexual intercourse 3 days before presentation. Nonsurgical pneumoperitoneum has a number of unusual causes. Intra-abdominal, thoracic, gynecologic, iatrogenic, and miscellaneous etiologies are encountered. It was determined that the pneumoperitoneum in this case was secondary to rough sexual intercourse. We concluded that pneumoperitoneum secondary to nonsurgical causes represents a diagnostic dilemma. In the patient with free intraperitoneal air on plain X-ray one should be suspicious of less common nonsurgical etiologies. The majority of patients will require laparotomy. Thorough sexual and gynecologic\/obstetrical history is a valuable adjunct in identifying the patient who does not.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28687901,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Virological and Clinical Characteristics of Hepatitis B Virus Genotype A.\nHepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is one of the most prevalent chronic viral infections in humans. The overall prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) is reported to be 3.6%; however, it varies depending upon the geographic area. HBV is classified into ten genotypes (A through J) on the basis of an intergroup genomic divergence of > 8%. Specifically, HBV genotype A exhibits several unique virological and clinical characteristics and can be further classified into seven subtypes. Among them, subtype A2 or Ae (A2\/[e]) is occasionally responsible for nosocomial infection and among homosexual males. Regarding virological factors, the G1896A precore mutation is rarely observed in genotype A as it would disrupt an essential stem-loop structure in the \u03b5 signal essential for pregenomic RNA packaging. HBV genotype A also harbors a 6-nucleotide C-terminal insertion in the hepatitis B-e antigen (HBeAg) precursor, resulting in a variable-length HBeAg protein product observed in serum of positive patients. These molecular traits likely contribute to the specific clinical presentation of genotype A-infected patients, such as mild acute hepatitis B (AHB), longer persistence of HBsAg positivity in AHB, and increased chronicity after AHB in adults. However, genotype A shows a better response to interferon than other genotypes in chronic hepatitis B patients. Here, we review the virological and clinical characteristics of HBV genotype A that will be useful in elucidating the association among persistent viral infection, host genetic factors, and treatment in future studies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18580526,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Using transcutaneous oxygen pressure measurements as selection criteria for activated protein C use.\nLimited resources and the expense of Activated Protein C (APC) (drotrecogin alfa) may contribute to the reluctance to utilize this drug in sepsis. Employing the PROWESS criteria resulted in absolute reduction in 28-day mortality of 6.1%, representing a relative risk reduction of 19.4%. Additional patient categorization and selection may lead to less frequent drug use with the same survival advantage. We used transcutaneous partial pressure of oxygen (PtcO2) as an indicator of microcirculatory perfusion to identify which septic patients may benefit from APC. Nineteen patients consecutively admitted with severe sepsis or septic shock that fulfilled the PROWESS criteria for APC treatment. APC was administered to patients with the PROWESS selection criteria, only if the PtcO2 information demonstrated tissue ischemia. Nineteen patients met the PROWESS criteria. Ten patients demonstrated poor tissue perfusion using PtcO2 monitors and received APC. Nine patients had adequate tissue perfusion and did not receive APC. There were no differences in age, gender, APACHE II scores, lactate levels, or organ failure between the two groups. The 10 patients who received APC had a mortality of 3 of 10 (30%). The survivors of this group uniformly converted to PtcO2 values consistent with survival within 12 hours to 24 hours of drug administration. The nine patients who did not receive APC had a mortality of 2 of 9 (22%), not statistically significant from those who received the drug (p = 0.89). Withholding APC did not result in an increase in mortality from severe sepsis in those patients who demonstrated adequate PtcO2 values. The transcutaneous oxygen measurement may be a useful adjuvant in addition to the other selection criteria for better identification of patients who may benefit from APC.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28249502,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A novel CMOS transducer for giant magnetoresistance sensors.\nIn this work, an ASIC (application specific integrated circuits) transducer circuit for field modulated giant magnetoresistance (GMR) sensors was designed and fabricated using a 0.18-\u03bcm CMOS process. The transducer circuits consist of a frequency divider, a digital phase shifter, an instrument amplifier, and an analog mixer. These comprise a mix of analog and digital circuit techniques. The compact chip size of 1.5 mm \u00d7 1.5 mm for both analog and digital parts was achieved using the TSMC18 1P6M (1-polysilicon 6-metal) process design kit, and the characteristics of the system were simulated using an HSpice simulator. The output of the transducer circuit is the result of the first harmonic detection, which resolves the modulated field using a phase sensitive detection (PSD) technique and is proportional to the measured magnetic field. When the dual-bridge GMR sensor is driven by the transducer circuit with a current of 10 mA at 10 kHz, the observed sensitivity of the field sensor is 10.2 mV\/V\/Oe and the nonlinearity error was 3% in the linear range of \u00b11 Oe. The performance of the system was also verified by rotating the sensor system horizontally in earth's magnetic field and recording the sinusoidal output with respect to the azimuth angle, which exhibits an error of less than \u00b10.04 Oe. These results prove that the ASIC transducer is suitable for driving the AC field modulated GMR sensors applied to geomagnetic measurement.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20356824,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Interaction of weakly bound antibiotics neomycin and lincomycin with bovine and human serum albumin: biophysical approach.\nThe thermodynamics of interaction of neomycin and lincomycin with bovine serum albumin (BSA) and human serum albumin (HSA) has been studied using isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC), in combination with UV-visible, steady state and time resolved fluorescence spectroscopic measurements. Neomycin is observed to bind weakly to BSA and HSA whereas lincomycin did not show any evidence for binding with the native state of these proteins, rather it interacts in the presence of surfactants. The ITC results suggest 1 : 1 binding stoichiometry for neomycin in the studied temperature range. The values of the van't Hoff enthalpy do not agree with the calorimetric enthalpy in the case of neomycin, suggesting conformational changes in the protein upon ligand binding, as well as with the rise in the temperature. Experiments at different ionic strengths, and in the presence of tetrabutyl ammonium bromide and surfactants suggest the predominant involvement of electrostatic interactions in the complexation process of neomycin with BSA and HSA, and non-specific interaction behaviour of lincomycin with these proteins.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28265291,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Oral Health of Patients Treated with Acrylic Partial Dentures Using a Toothpaste Containing Bee Product.\nThis study was carried out to investigate the influence of a propolis and tee tree oil-containing hygienic agent on selected oral health parameters, oral microflora, and the condition of periodontal health. Thirty-seven patients who underwent oral rehabilitation with a removable acrylic denture were selected and randomly assigned into two groups: study group (A) which received a newly formulated propolis and tee tree oil-containing toothpaste or a control group (C) without an active ingredient. API, S-OHI, and mSBI were assessed in three subsequent stages. During each examination swabs were employed for microbiological inoculation: in the study group after 4 weeks use of the active toothpaste showed a decrease in the number of isolated microorganisms. In the control group, after 4 weeks use of the toothpaste without active ingredients resulted in increase in the number of the isolated microorganisms. Improvements in hygiene and the condition of periodontium were observed in patients using active toothpastes. In the study group the oral flora diversity was reduced by the decrease in the number of cultured microorganism species, while in the control group an increase in the number of cultured microorganisms and their species was observed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28718759,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Qualitative Investigation of the Wellness Recovery Action Plan in a UK NHS Crisis Care Setting.\nCrisis theory suggests that in addition to presenting a threat to mental well-being, crises are also opportunities where successful interventions can lead to successful outcomes. UK mental health crisis teams aim to reduce hospital admission by treating people at home and by building resilience and supporting learning from crisis, yet data on repeat crisis episodes suggest this could be improved. This qualitative study sought to explore the Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) as a means of supporting resilience-building and maximising the opportunity potential of crisis. The following themes emerged: The meaning of crisis; Engaging with the WRAP process; WRAP and self-management; and Changes and transformations. This research suggests that WRAP has potential in supporting recovery from crisis, revealing insights into the nature of crisis which can inform the further development of crisis services.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18579791,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"E-selectin receptors on human leukocytes.\nSelectins on activated vascular endothelium mediate inflammation by binding to complementary carbohydrates on circulating neutrophils. The human neutrophil receptor for E-selectin has not been established. We report here that sialylated glycosphingolipids with 5 N-acetyllactosamine (LacNAc, Galbeta1-4GlcNAcbeta1-3) repeats and 2 to 3 fucose residues are major functional E-selectin receptors on human neutrophils. Glycolipids were extracted from 10(10) normal peripheral blood human neutrophils. Individual glycolipid species were resolved by chromatography, adsorbed as model membrane monolayers and selectin-mediated cell tethering and rolling under fluid shear was quantified as a function of glycolipid density. E-selectin-expressing cells tethered and rolled on selected glycolipids, whereas P-selectin-expressing cells failed to interact. Quantitatively minor terminally sialylated glycosphingolipids with 5 to 6 LacNAc repeats and 2 to 3 fucose residues were highly potent E-selectin receptors, constituting more than 60% of the E-selectin-binding activity in the extract. These glycolipids are expressed on human blood neutrophils at densities exceeding those required to support E-selectin-mediated tethering and rolling. Blocking glycosphingolipid biosynthesis in cultured human neutrophils diminished E-selectin, but not P-selectin, adhesion. The data support the conclusion that on human neutrophils the glycosphingolipid NeuAcalpha2-3Galbeta1-4GlcNAcbeta1-3[Galbeta1-4(Fucalpha1-3)GlcNAcbeta1-3](2)[Galbeta1-4GlcNAcbeta1-3](2)Galbeta1-4GlcbetaCer (and closely related structures) are functional E-selectin receptors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30312312,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Parental costs for in-patient neonatal services for perinatal asphyxia and low birth weight in Ghana.\nThe major causes of newborn deaths in sub-Saharan Africa are well-known and countries are gradually implementing evidence-based interventions and strategies to reduce these deaths. Facility-based care provides the best outcome for sick and or small babies; however, little is known about the cost and burden of hospital-based neonatal services on parents in West Africa, the sub-region with the highest global neonatal death burden. To estimate the actual costs borne by parents of newborns hospitalised with birth-associated brain injury (perinatal asphyxia) and preterm\/low birth weight, this study examined economic costs using micro-costing bottom-up approach in two referral hospitals operating under the nationwide social health insurance scheme in an urban setting in Ghana. We prospectively assessed the process of care and parental economic costs for 25 out of 159 cases of perinatal asphyxia and 33 out of 337 cases of preterm\/low birth weight admitted to hospital on the day of birth over a 3 month period. Results showed that medical-related costs accounted for 66.1% (IQR 49% - 81%) of out-of-pocket payments irrespective of health insurance status. On average, families spent 8.1% and 9.1% of their annual income on acute care for preterm\/LBW and perinatal asphyxia respectively. The mean out-of-pocket expenditure for preterm\/LBW was $147.6 (median $101.8) and for perinatal asphyxia was $132.3 (median $124). The study revealed important gaps in the financing and organization of health service delivery that may impact the quality of care for hospitalised newborns. It also provides information for reviewing complementary health financing options for newborn services and further economic evaluations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37665343,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The efficacy of steroid-eluting stents on the local inflammation of chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis after endoscopic sinus surgery: a multicenter prospective longitudinal study.\nAttenuating local inflammation of chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) after endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) was crucial. Corticosteroids were generally exploited to ameliorate the postoperative state of CRSwNP. This study aims to verify the efficacy of steroid-eluting stents on the local inflammation of CRSwNP following ESS. 57 CRSwNP were enrolled from September 2021 to April 2022. 30 were with stents, and 27 were without stents after ESS. Eosinophilic cationic protein (ECP), myeloperoxidase (MPO), eosinophil, and neutrophil levels in nasal secretions, as well as visual analog scale (VAS) and modified perioperative sinus endoscopy (POSE) scores, were assessed preoperatively and after 2, 4, 8, and 12 weeks. All subjects of CRSwNP exhibited reduced results of eosinophil levels, neutrophil levels, nasal obstruction, nasal discharge, loss of smell, and total VAS scores after 12 weeks compared to the preoperative ones (p < 0.05). Compared with control subjects, CRSwNP with stents acquired lower levels of ECP, MPO, loss of smell, total VAS, and POSE scores at four follow-up visits, as well as reduced eosinophil and neutrophil levels in nasal secretions after 12 weeks (p < 0.05). Correlation analysis revealed that postoperative ECP and MPO levels of CRSwNP in nasal secretions correlated strongly with eosinophil and neutrophil levels, respectively, as well as POSE scores (r > 0.6). These findings indicated that steroid-eluting stents might be an acclaimed option for CRSwNP in alleviating local inflammation to acquire a superior state after ESS.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37663455,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Two-Photon Absorption Response of Functionalized BODIPY Dyes in Near-IR Region by Tuning Conjugation Length and Meso-Substituents.\nBODIPY dyes substituted by phenol or -COOMe units at the meso-position (C8) with and without a distyryl group including a methoxy moiety at the -C3 and -C5 positions of the BODIPY have been synthesized to analyze the photophysical properties. To clarify the ground-state interaction, absorption and emission features were investigated in the THF environment. Extending the \u03c0-conjugation with the methoxy moiety at -C3 and -C5 positions of BODIPY leads to a spectral shifting of the absorption maxima toward red by 120 nm. In addition, attaching the -COOMe unit at the meso-position of the BODIPY structure increases nonradiative molecular relaxation as compared to compounds possessing phenol substituents at the same position. We have investigated the effect of phenol and a -COOMe group and \u03c0-extended conjugation length with a methoxy moiety on the properties of two-photon absorption (TPA) and electron transfer dynamics by performing open-aperture (OA) Z-scan and femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy measurements, respectively. The synthesized BODIPY compounds with the distyryl group including the methoxy unit show TPA character due to the longer conjugation length and therefore intramolecular charge transfer ability. Based on the OA Z-scan experiments upon photoexcitation with 800 nm pulsed laser light, TPA cross-section values were obtained as 74 and 81 GM for the compounds possessing phenol and -COOMe units at the meso-position of BODIPY treated by distyryl group with methoxy moieties, respectively. Additionally, optical and electronic properties were calculated theoretically by using the DFT method.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16997981,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2013-20":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"New rapid and simple methods for detection of bacteria and determination of their antibiotic susceptibility by using phage mutants.\nThree new methods applying a novel approach for rapid and simple detection of specific bacteria, based on plaque formation as the end point of the phage lytic cycle, are described. Different procedures were designed to ensure that the resulting plaques were derived only from infected target bacteria (\"infectious centers\"). (i) A pair of amber mutants that cannot form plaques at concentrations lower than their reversion rate underwent complementation in the tested bacteria; the number of plaques formed was proportional to the concentration of the bacteria that were coinfected by these phage mutants. (ii) UV-irradiated phages were recovered by photoreactivation and\/or SOS repair mediated by target bacteria and plated on a recA uvrA bacterial lawn in the dark to avoid recovery of noninfecting phages. (iii) Pairs of temperature-sensitive mutants were allowed to coinfect their target bacteria at the permissive temperature, followed by incubation of the plates at the restrictive temperature to avoid phage infection of the host cells. This method allowed the omission of centrifuging and washing the infected cells. Only phages that recovered by recombination or complementation were able to form plaques. The detection limit was 1 to 10 living Salmonella or Escherichia coli O157 cells after 3 to 5 h. The antibiotic susceptibility of the target bacteria could also be determined in each of these procedures by preincubating the target bacteria with antibiotic prior to phage infection. Bacteria sensitive to the antibiotic lost the ability to form infectious centers.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6150738,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"The antagonism of histamine-induced tracheal and bronchial muscle contraction by diphenhydramine: effect of maturation.\nAirway reactivity in spontaneously breathing unanaesthetized female guinea-pigs was significantly reduced as a consequence of maturation. Threshold doses to histamine (% w\/v base) were 0.08% +\/- .01 and 0.27% +\/- .04 in immature (110 g +\/- 2; 1 week old) and mature (837 g +\/- 29; 4 months old) animals, respectively. The potency of 2-(2-thiazolyl) ethylamine in tracheal tissues from mature animals was significantly less than that in tissues from immature animals (5.06 +\/- .03 vs 5.26 +\/- .07). There was no change in the potency of this agonist in bronchial tissues (5.0 +\/- .09 vs 4.9 +\/- .13). Diphenhydramine reduced tissue contractility in tracheal (30% at 0.1 microM; 50% at 3 microM) but not bronchial tissues. The antihistamine in concentrations ranging from 0.1 microM to 3 microM reduced the potency of histamine 2 to 50 fold in both tissues. Schild plots were linear but slopes were significantly less than unity. pA2 values +\/- 95% fiducial limits derived from data from tracheal tissues of immature and mature animals using constrained Schild plots (unit slope) were 7.7 (7.6-7.7) and 7.1 (7.0-7.2), respectively (P less than 0.05). pA2 values for diphenhydramine in bronchial tissues using constrained Schild plots were 7.8 (7.7-7.9) and 7.5 (7.3-7.5), respectively (P less than 0.05). The data emphasize the unique nature of tracheal and bronchial tissues. We conclude that, with maturation, the characteristics of the histamine receptor change. We suggest that the remission of asthma which frequently occurs at puberty may be related to alteration in the properties of membrane receptors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":2788348,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Role of lymphokines in the immune response of the inner ear.\nIn secondary inner ear responses against keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH), the characterization of interleukin-2 levels in perilymph and serum developing over 5 days in Hartley guinea pigs was investigated using an immunoassay. No interleukin-2 levels were detectable at Day 0 in serum and perilymph. The earliest perilymph IL-2 levels were observed after 6 h, peaking at 18 h and decreasing to zero by Day 5. In contrast, during this observation period, no IL-2 was detectable in serum or perilymph from control ears. Since previous work has identified T-helper cells in the endolymphatic sac, this site appears to be the probable source of interleukins. This study provides further support for the existence of an inner ear immune response which is regulated by lymphokines. Furthermore, interleukins may be a chemoattractant for cells entering the cochlea during the immune response.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29560721,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Copper(II)-Catalyzed Tandem Decarboxylative Michael\/Aldol Reactions Leading to the Formation of Functionalized Cyclohexenones.\nThis work describes the development of a new single-pot copper(II)-catalyzed decarboxylative Michael reaction between \u03b2-keto acids and enones, followed by in situ aldolization, which results in highly functionalized chiral and achiral cyclohexenones. The achiral version of this Robinson annulation features a hitherto unprecedented Michael reaction of \u03b2-keto acids with sterically hindered \u03b2,\u03b2'-substituted enones and provides access to all carbon quaternary stereocenter-containing cyclohexenones (11 examples, 43-83% yield). In addition, an asymmetric chiral bis(oxazoline) copper(II)-catalyzed single-pot Robinson annulation has been devised for preparing chiral cyclohexenones, including some products that contain vicinal stereocenters (5 examples, 65-85% yield, 84-94% ee). This latter protocol has been successfully applied to the enantioselective formation of the oxygenated 10-nor-steroid core from readily available starting materials.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29387327,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Association of Limb-Girdle muscular dystrophy with multiple sclerosis: A case report.\nThe association of limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD) with other neurological disorders is uncommon. We report a 25-year-old female with LGMD who suffered from slowly progressive proximal muscular weakness and atrophy since she was 12 years of age. The patient recently presented with acute loss of left side visual acuity. After evaluation, findings were suggestive of multiple sclerosis. This is the first report of LGMD in association with MS. The simultaneous occurrence of MS with myopathies may be incidental but there may be a genetic susceptibility for both diseases. This comorbidity may influence the treatment of MS.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15255115,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Neurofibromatosis type 1 associated with central nervous system lymphoma.\nTo report the occurrence of central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma in a patients with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). Interventional case report. A 47-year-old male with a parieto-occipital lobe lesion was referred for ocular evaluation. Skin, brain, and vitreous biopsies were performed. The discovery of Lisch nodules of the iris prompted a physical examination that revealed cutaneous stigmata of NF1. Biopsy of the CNS lesion revealed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Biopsy of papules on the back and abdomen were compatible with neurofibroma. No malignant cells were found in the vitreous specimen. A clinical diagnosis of NF1 was made. This is the first report of CNS lymphoma in a patient with NF1. Additional reports may shed more light on the possible association between the two conditions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":932944,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Interference by butyl rubber stoppers in GLC analysis for theophylline.\nDuring a study of the pharmacokinetics of theophylline using GLC analysis, unexpectedly high values occurred in a random manner. The cause of there abnormal values was investigated, and significant interference was observed when blood samples were drawn using evacuated glass tubes sealed with butyl rubber stoppers. In vitro tests using distilled water showed no apparent theophylline levels due to the additives in three commonly used tubes. However, when water was allowed to remain in contact with the butyl rubber stoppers for 1 min, an apparent theophylline content of as high as 5.5 mug\/ml was observed. A contact time of 60 min resulted in apparent theophylline levels of as high as 52.3 mug\/ml. It was concluded that a substance leached from the butyl rubber stoppers accounted for the spurious results.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16220534,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Proteomics-based consensus prediction of protein retention in a bacterial membrane.\nThe availability of complete bacterial genome sequences allows proteome-wide predictions of exported proteins that are potentially retained in the cytoplasmic membranes of the corresponding organisms. In practice, however, major problems are encountered with the computer-assisted distinction between (Sec-type) signal peptides that direct exported proteins into the growth medium and lipoprotein signal peptides or amino-terminal membrane anchors that cause protein retention in the membrane. In the present studies, which were aimed at improving methods to predict protein retention in the bacterial cytoplasmic membrane, we have compared sets of membrane-attached and extracellular proteins of Bacillus subtilis that were recently identified through proteomics approaches. The results showed that three classes of membrane-attached proteins can be distinguished. Two classes include 43 lipoproteins and 48 proteins with an amino-terminal transmembrane segment, respectively. Remarkably, a third class includes 31 proteins that remain membrane-retained despite the presence of typical Sec-type signal peptides with consensus signal peptidase recognition sites. This unprecedented finding indicates that unknown mechanisms are involved in membrane retention of this class of proteins. A further novelty is a consensus sequence indicative for release of certain lipoproteins from the membrane by proteolytic shaving. Finally, using non-overlapping sets of secreted and membrane-retained proteins, the accuracy of different signal peptide prediction algorithms was assessed. Accuracy for the prediction of protein retention in the membrane was increased to 82% using a majority-vote approach. Our findings provide important leads for future identification of surface proteins from pathogenic bacteria, which are attractive candidate infection markers and potential targets for drugs or vaccines.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25283088,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Are acute infarcts the cause of leukoaraiosis? Brain mapping for 16 consecutive weeks.\nNeuroimaging of older adults commonly reveals abnormality (leukoaraiosis) in the cerebral white matter. Studies have established that extensive leukoaraiosis predicts dementia and disability, but the pathogenesis of leukoaraiosis remains unclear. We recruited 5 patients with leukoaraiosis and performed magnetic resonance mapping of the brain for 16 consecutive weeks. We observed tiny lesions arising de novo in the cerebral white matter. These lesions were clinically silent. They had the signature features of acute ischemic stroke. With time, the characteristics of these lesions approached those of pre-existing leukoaraiosis. Together, these findings suggest that tiny silent acute infarcts are a cause of leukoaraiosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17009673,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"[The role of the occupational physician in the prevention of the spreading of H5N1 virus avian influenza in exposed workers].\nAvian influenza caused by H5N1 virus can be transmitted to exposed workers from contact with infected poultry, and is thus, like other zoonoses, the responsibility of occupational physicians (OP). The high pathogenicity of H5N1 virus has caused a 30-75% mortality among infected humans. Most of those subjects were occupationally exposed in different areas of poultry raising in Asian countries. At the moment, person-to-person transmission, even though possible, is unable to start a new human influenza pandemic due to the current genetic characteristics of H5N1 virus. However, its spontaneous tendency to mutate must alert the international community to the need of eradicating avian influenza in poultry as well as preventing transmission to humans. In Italy competent OPs are required to take part in prevention of H5N1 avian influenza infection of potentially exposed workers, such as poultry sector workers, workers engaged in poultry culling, litter management, carcass disposal, zoo and nature reserve workers, gamekeepers, veterinarians, biologists, laboratory technicians, and health workers caring for possible instances of human infection. According to Italian legislations, OPs must offer the national community their long-standing experience in the fields of workplace environmental monitoring, health surveillance, choice of personal protection equipment (PPE) and training and information of workers potentially exposed to H5N1 virus about occupational risks and correct use of PPE. They must also cooperate with other involved professionals to programme antiviral and vaccine prophylaxis. Occupational physicians can have an important role in contributing to the prevention of and scientific research on H5N1 avian influenza virus.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7931668,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Assessment of residual tumor viability in thymic carcinoma by sequential thallium-201 SPECT: comparison with CT and biopsy findings.\nWe present a case of 201TI accumulating thymic carcinoma, in which sequential CT scans demonstrated a steady decrease in tumor volume. The presence of a residual mass on CT scans after the completion of therapy presented the clinical dilemma of whether or not a viable tumor remained. Sequential 201TI SPECT images demonstrated a marked decrease in tumor uptake. At 2 wk after therapy, no significant accumulation of 201TI in the region of the residual mass was observed, indicating a lack of viable tumor. A biopsy specimen revealed no tumor cells. Sequential histopathologic findings were correlated well with the findings of 201TI SPECT rather than those of CT. Thallium-201 SPECT is of great clinical value in assessing tumor viability in the course of therapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23327747,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The impact of a statewide training to increase child care providers' knowledge of nutrition and physical activity rules in Delaware.\nChildhood obesity has been recognized as a national problem of epidemic proportions. Child care represents an ideal venue in which to address this problem, as many young children spend a significant amount of time and consume the majority of their meals in this setting. Recognizing this opportunity, Delaware recently enacted reforms to statewide licensing regulations designed to improve the quality of the nutrition-, physical activity-, and screen viewing-related environments in child care settings. To facilitate the translation of these regulations into practices, a series of broad-scale trainings was held throughout the state. Attendance was required for all Child & Adult Care Food Program (CACFP)-participating facilities, although child care providers from non-CACFP facilities also attended. Pre- and posttraining surveys were used to assess changes in providers' knowledge of the regulations and satisfaction with the training. In total 1094 presurveys and 1076 postsurveys were received. Participants were highly satisfied with the training format and content, including the instructors, materials, and schedule. Data analysis demonstrates improved knowledge of all 26 regulation components from presurvey to postsurvey. Family child care providers, providers with more years of experience, CACFP-participating facilities, and facilities with food service personnel scored significantly higher than their center staff, less experienced and non-CACFP counterparts, as well as those without food service personnel. Broad-scale, in-person training can effectively increase child care providers' knowledge of the regulations and is well received by this audience. Other states and jurisdictions seeking to improve nutrition, physical activity, and screen-viewing practices in child care settings should consider this model of quality improvement.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9560364,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The lacI gene as a target for mutation in transgenic rodents and Escherichia coli.\nThe lacI gene has been used extensively for the recovery and analysis of mutations in bacteria with various DNA repair backgrounds and after exposure to a wide variety of mutagens. This has resulted in a large database of information on mutational mechanisms and specificity of many mutagens, as well as the effect of DNA repair background on mutagenicity. Most importantly, knowledge about the mutational sensitivity of the lacI gene is now available, yielding information about mutable nucleotides. This popularity and available knowledge resulted in the use of the lacI gene in transgenic rodents for the study of mutagenesis in mammals, where it resides in approximately 40 repeated copies. As the number of sequenced mutations recovered from these animals increases, we are able to analyze the sites at which mutations have been recovered in great detail and to compare the recovered sites between bacteria and transgenic animals. The nucleotides that code for the DNA-binding domain are nearly saturated with base substitutions. Even after determining the sequences of approximately 10,000 mutations recovered from the animals, however, new sites and new changes are still being recovered. In addition, we compare the nature of deletion mutations between bacteria and animals. Based on the nature of deletions in the animals, we conclude that each deletion occurs in a single copy of the gene.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8347258,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"DNA ploidy in human colorectal adenocarcinomas.\nImage cytometric determination of DNA content was performed on 207 colorectal adenocarcinomas surgically resected from 205 patients. Of these 207 tumors, 193 (93.2%) showed an aneuploid DNA distribution pattern, whereas the remaining 14 (6.8%) exhibited a DNA pattern corresponding to that found in proliferating diploid populations. The DNA content of 20 of these colorectal carcinomas was also studied by flow cytometric measurements on deparaffinized, disintegrated material. Flow cytometric measurement detected aneuploidy in only 9 of these 20 (45%) tumors, whereas 17 of the same 20 (85%) carcinomas showed aneuploidy when using image cytometric measurement on imprints. These results suggest that colorectal carcinomas are either aneuploid (vast majority) or proliferating diploid and that image cytometric DNA measurement on histologically controlled material is superior to flow cytometric measurement.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24398268,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Food and health economics in the 21st century.\nPeople are living longer and with more pain-free and comfortable lives as we begin the 21st century in 2001. Life expectancy was just 53 years (for males) in the beginning of the 20th century and is now 78 years. One in four children born in 2000 are expected to live beyond 100 years. There are many reasons for such advancement: fewer accidents, particularly work and travel related; better diets; and more and better health care. Australia's health spending is around 8.4% of gross domestic product, ranking eighth in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and has arguably one of the best value-for-money programs in the world. However, the make-up of the $50 billion expenditure in 2000 is reflecting changes from the past. We are moving away from institutional health care, embracing preventative care and 'alternative' approaches via fitness, diets, well-being programs and more natural remedies. Few, however, would suggest that pharmacology and surgery (including less invasive) are not important; they are. Food continues to play a vital role in our healthy lives. In 2000 we will expend approximately $90 billion on food and liquor prepared and consumed at home, or prepared and\/or eaten out of the home. The latter is increasing as we outsource more and more of our meals (currently one in five). Our diet is changing. We are consuming more poultry, seafood, fruit and fruit products (including juices), vegetables, grain products and wine. We are consuming less red meat and meat products, eggs, oils and fats, sugars and beer. Our lifestyles are changing dramatically as we leave the Industrial Age further and further behind. The New Age began around 1965 (and should itself be displaced around 2040). Included in these changes are working wives, outsourcing of more and more household chores, embracing the Internet and electronic 'guardian angels' and much more. It promises to be an exciting, healthier and longer living new century.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37462410,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"In Situ Surface Tension Measurement of Deliquesced Aerosol Particles.\nThe surface tension of aerosol particles can potentially affect cloud droplet activation. Hence, direct measurement of the surface tensions of deliquesced aerosol particles is essential but is challenging. Here, we report in situ surface tension measurements based on a novel method that couples a linear quadrupole electrodynamic balance (EDB) with quasi-elastic light scattering (QELS). The EDB-QELS is validated using surface tension measurements of atmospherically relevant inorganic and organic droplets. The surface tension results reasonably agree with the reference values in the range of \u223c50-90 mN m-1. We find a significant size dependence for sodium chloride droplets containing surface-active species (sodium dodecyl sulfate) in the size range of \u223c5-18 \u03bcm. The surface tension increases from \u223c55 to 80 mN m-1 with decreased size. Relative humidity (RH)-dependent surface tensions of mixed ammonium sulfate (AS) and polyethylene glycol droplets reveal the onset of liquid-liquid phase separation. Droplets containing water-soluble matter extracted from ambient aerosol samples and 2.3-2.9 M AS exhibit a \u223c30% reduction in surface tension in the presence of \u223c50 mmol-C L-1 water-soluble organic carbon, compared to pure water (\u223c72 mN m-1). The approach can offer size-resolved and RH-dependent surface tension measurements of deliquesced aerosol particles.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27280442,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Differential Incorporation of Carbon Substrates among Microbial Populations Identified by Field-Based, DNA Stable-Isotope Probing in South China Sea.\nTo determine the adapted microbial populations to variant dissolved organic carbon (DOC) sources in the marine environment and improve the understanding of the interaction between microorganisms and marine DOC pool, field-based incubation experiments were carried out using supplemental 13C-labeled typical substrates D-glucose and D-glucosamine (D-Glc and D-GlcN, respectively), which are two important components in marine DOC pool in the South China Sea. 13C- and 12C-DNA were then fractionated by ultracentrifugation and the microbial community was analyzed by terminal-restriction fragment length polymorphism and 454 pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA gene. 12C-DNA-based communities showed relatively high similarities with their corresponding in situ communities, and their bacterial diversities were generally higher than 13C-DNA-based counterparts. Distinct differences in community composition were found between 13C- and 12C-DNA-based communities and between two substrate-supplemented 13C-DNA-based communities; these differences distinctly varied with depth and site. In most cases, there were more genera with relative abundances of >0.1% in D-Glc-incorporating communities than in D-GlcN-incorporating communities. The Roseobacter clade was one of the prominent actively substrate-incorporating bacterial populations in all 13C-DNA-based communities. Vibrio was another prominent actively D-GlcN-incorporating bacterial population in most incubations. However notably, different OTUs dominated this clade or genus in different treatments at different depths. Altogether, these results suggested that there were taxa-specific differences in DOC assimilations and, moreover, their differences varied among the typical water masses, which could have been caused by the variant compositions of original bacterial communities from different hydrological environments. This implies that ecologically, the levels of labile or recalcitrance of DOC can be maintained only in a specific environmental context with specific bacterial community composition.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15261218,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"The evaluation of the proximal tibiofibular joint for patients with lateral knee pain.\nIn contrast to important functions of the proximal tibiofibular joint (PTFJ), there appear a few clinical and radiological studies concerning the PTFJ pathologies. Although almost all of the joints have been investigated in detail by MRI, review of the literature reveals none on the pathologies of PTFJ. Thirty-eight knees of 32 patients with lateral knee pain were evaluated clinically and radiologically. All had tenderness over the PTFJ and lateral hamstring tightness. MRI examination revealed effusion of the PTFJ in 22 knees and partial ruptures of anterior or posterior tibiofibular ligament, lateral collateral ligament or biceps femoris tendon in 25 knees. All patients were treated by manipulative physiotherapy of the PTFJ and strengthening and stretching exercises of the surrounding structures. All patients were followed-up 12-36 months (mean 28 months) after the treatment protocol, and complete relief of the symptoms was recorded in 28 of the 38 knees. Although spontaneous pain was not present in five patients, there was tenderness over the PTFJ by palpation. No change in the symptoms was recorded in five patients. These results suggest that PTFJ pathologies should be kept in mind in the evaluation of lateral knee pain and MRI examination provides useful information.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29553438,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"The protective role of maternal post-traumatic growth and cognitive trauma processing in Palestinian mothers and infants: a longitudinal study.\nWomen at pre partum and post partum are especially susceptible to war trauma because they struggle to protect their infants from danger. Trauma research suggests increased problems in maternal mental health and infant development. Yet many cognitive-emotional processes affect the trauma survivors' mental health, such as post-traumatic growth and post-traumatic cognition. The aim of this study was to examine whether a mother's high post-traumatic growth and optimal post-traumatic cognition could protect their own mental health and their infant's stress regulation from the effects of traumatic war experiences. This three-wave prospective study involved Palestinian women living in the Gaza Strip who were at the second trimester of pregnancy (T1), women with infants aged 4 months (T2), and women with children aged 12 months (T3) months. The participants reported their war experiences in a 30-item checklist of losses, destruction, and atrocities in the 2008-09, 2012, and 2014 military offensives. Post-traumatic growth was assessed by a 21-item scale and post-traumatic cognition by a 36-item scale. Maternal mental health was assessed by post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depressive, anxiety, and dissociation symptoms at T1 and T3, and infants' stress regulation was assessed with the Infant Behaviour Questionnaire at T2 and T3. We included 511 women at T1, 481 women at T2, and 454 women at T3. High maternal post-traumatic growth and post-traumatic cognition had protective roles. Post-traumatic growth had a protective effect on maternal mental health since severe exposure to traumatic war experiences was not associated with maternal PTSD, depression, and dissociation if women showed high post-traumatic growth, as indicated by the significant interaction effect between post-traumatic growth and war trauma on each of the three symptoms. Post-traumatic cognition had a protective effect on infant development since severe exposure was not associated with dysfunctional infant emotion regulation when mothers reported optimal post-traumatic cognition, as indicated by the significant interaction effect between post-traumatic cognition and war trauma on each of negative affectivity and surgency or extraversion. The nature of cognitive emotional processing of war trauma could explain the distinct roles of post-traumatic growth and post-traumatic cognition. High post-traumatic growth involves increased social affiliation, spiritual awareness, and psychological strengths resulting from painful and traumatic experiences. In the national struggle for independence, post-traumatic growth is often associated with heroism and even hardiness, which might benefit a mother's mental health but not their infant's wellbeing. Optimal post-traumatic cognition indicates successful and harmonious trauma processing, which enables mothers to be more reflective and sensitive to their infant's needs. Interventions to promote healthy infant development in war settings should encourage and support mothers' effective cognitive-emotional processing of traumatic experiences. The Academy of Finland and University of Tampere, Finland.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25504280,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Therapeutic apheresis for patients with cancer.\nDisease complications associated with certain malignancies may be mediated by cells or soluble molecules that traffic in the bloodstream. Because of this, therapeutic apheresis (TA) methodologies have been used to selectively remove or manipulate specific molecules, antibodies, or cellular elements to treat the underlying pathological process. For some disorders, TA is utilized as a rapid-acting and short-term adjunct to conventional chemotherapy or immunotherapy. For others, a series of scheduled treatments is recommended for optimal management. In all cases, the risks, benefits, and costs must be strongly considered. The current literature and published guidelines were reviewed to summarize the use of TA in the management of certain complications of cancer. Although TA is relatively safe and useful as a first-line or salvage modality for some disorders, few prospective, randomized clinical trials exist and the majority of evidence is derived from observational studies. Expert-based, clinical practice guidelines have been developed to inform hematology\/oncology professionals and apheresis physicians about the efficacy and limitations of TA for malignancy-related indications. Certain oncological conditions respond to TA and consensus guidelines are available to support clinical decision-making. However, well-designed, prospective intervention trials are needed to better define the role of TA for a variety of disorders.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19043196,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Brownian dynamics simulations of a wild type and mutants of bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitors.\nBrownian dynamics simulations of a wild type and mutants of bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitors were performed using the program brownian. The results of the simulations were consistent with experimentally determined stabilities of these proteins, and the computational times of the simulations were much less than those of molecular dynamics simulations. These results indicate that Brownian dynamics simulations can be useful for investigating structural features of proteins that have some mutants, such as drug-metabolizing enzymes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6367641,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Percutaneous radiofrequency glossopharyngeal rhizotomy for cancer pain.\n15 patients with pain secondary to cancer underwent radiofrequency glossopharyngeal rhizotomy by the percutaneous approach. 11 patients had complete relief while 4 patients had partial relief. All patients presented, after surgery, some impairment in glossopharyngeal function.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16152937,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Estimation of pioglitazone hydrochloride and metformin hydrochloride in tablets by derivative spectrophotometry and liquid chromatographic methods.\nTwo simple and accurate methods of analysis to determine pioglitazone hydrochloride (PIO) and mefformin hydrochloride (MET) in combined dosage forms were developed using second-derivative spectrophotometry and reversed-phase liquid chromatography (LC). PIO and MET in combined preparations (tablets) were quantified using the second-derivative responses at 227.55 nm for PIO and 257.25 nm for MET in spectra of their solutions in a mixture of methanol and acetonitrile (30 + 70). The calibration curves were linear [correlation coefficient (r) = 0.9984 for PIO and 0.9986 for MET] in the concentration range of 8-40 microg\/mL for PIO and 4-12 microg\/mL for MET. In the LC method, analysis was performed on a Hypersil ODS-C18 column with 5 microm particle size using the mobile phase acetonitrile-water-acetic acid (75 + 25 + 0.3), adjusted to pH 5.5 with liquor ammonia, at a flow rate of 0.5 mL\/min. Measurement was made at a wavelength of 230 nm. Both the drugs were well resolved on the stationary phase, and the retention times were 8.5 min for PIO and 16.0 min for MET. The calibration curves were linear (r = 0.9933 for PIO and 0.9958 for MET) in the concentration range of 4-20 microg\/mL for PIO and MET. Both methods were validated, and the results were compared statistically. They were found to be accurate, precise, and specific. The methods were successfully applied to the estimation of PIO and MET in combined tablet formulations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35364309,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Automatic 3D analysis of the ex-vivo porcine lumbar interbody fusion based on X-ray micro computed tomography data.\nSpinal fusion is a surgical procedure used to join two or more vertebrae to prevent movement between them. This surgical procedure is considered in patients suffering from a wide range of degenerative spinal diseases or vertebral fractures. The success rate of spinal fusion is frequently evaluated subjectively using X-ray computed tomography. The pig was chosen as an animal model for spinal fusion, since its spinal structure is similar to the human spine. Our paper presents an automatic approach for pig's spinal fusion evaluation in 3D. The proposed approach is based on the determination of the vertebral fused area, which reflects the fusion quality. The approach was applied and tested on microCT (\u03bcCT) data of fused porcine vertebrae ex-vivo. In our study, three types of implants were used to perform spinal fusion: the iliac crest bone graft used as the gold standard, and two types of novel scaffold implants based on the polymer\/ceramic porous foam involving either growth factors or polyphosphates. The evaluation worked automatically for all three types of used implants, and the fusion quality was determined quantitatively. The calculation is based on the detection of the fused area and area of facies intervertebralis, so the percentual representation of the vertebral joint can be determined. Since this approach is versatile and is described in detail as a guide for image processing the data of vertebrae fusion, this methodology has the potential to establish a standard approach for evaluating the fusion quality in ex-vivo samples that can be tested on clinical data.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7940436,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pleural abrasion via axillary thoracotomy in the era of video assisted thoracic surgery.\nRecurrent episodes of spontaneous pneumothorax can be managed medically or surgically by various methods, video assisted thoracoscopy being the latest and most attractive. A retrospective analysis was made of 43 pleural abrasions performed in 39 patients through a 4-6 cm axillary thoracotomy incision. There were no deaths and complications were few. At a mean follow up of 33 months there were two recurrences, neither of which required drainage. Compared with results achieved with video assisted thoracoscopic surgery, open pleural abrasion via a small thoracotomy may be the treatment of choice in most hospitals.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9166394,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"The hospital burden of vertebral fracture in Europe: a study of national register sources.\nThe aims of this study were to quantify the hospital burden of vertebral fracture in Europe and to compare this with that of hip fracture. Information on hospital discharges was sought by age and sex from Ministries of Health in Europe. Discharge rates for vertebral fracture, available from 12 countries, varied by more than 4-fold between countries, which was greater than the differences between sexes. Where the discharge rate was high for vertebral fracture the incidence of hip fracture was also high. Since nearly all cases of hip fracture are hospitalized, this suggests a relationship between hip and vertebral fracture risk that is not explained by different admission policies for vertebral fractures European countries.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34408941,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Secondary Hyperparathyroidism in Chronic Kidney Disease: Pathophysiology and Management.\nSerum calcium concentration is the main determinant of parathyroid hormone (PTH) release. Defect in the activation of vitamin D in the kidneys due to chronic kidney disease (CKD) leads to hypocalcemia and hyperphosphatemia, resulting in a compensatory increase in parathyroid gland cellularity and parathyroid hormone production and causing secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHP). Correction and maintenance of normal serum calcium and phosphate are essential to preventing SHP, hungry bone disease, cardiovascular events, and anemia development. Understanding the pathophysiology of PTH and possible therapeutic agents can reduce the development and associated complications of SHP in patients with CKD. Medical interventions to control serum calcium, phosphate, and PTH such as vitamin D analogs, calcium receptor blockers, and parathyroidectomy are needed in some CKD patients. In this review, we discuss the pathophysiology, clinical presentation, and management of SHP in CKD patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9164208,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Phase I dose escalation of paclitaxel in patients with advanced ovarian cancer receiving cisplatin: rapid development of neurotoxicity is dose-limiting.\nTo determine the maximum-tolerable dose (MTD) of paclitaxel in a phase I dose-escalation study when combined with cisplatin in patients with advanced ovarian cancer receiving filgrastim for prophylaxis of myelosuppression. A total of 23 patients with stage II (bulky residual), III, or IV epithelial ovarian cancer were treated (following debulking surgery) with paclitaxel as a 3-hour infusion followed by cisplatin (75 mg\/m2) administered over 4 hours on day 1, repeated every 21 days for six cycles. Filgrastim (5 micrograms\/kg\/d) was administered subcutaneously (SC) beginning on day 2 of each cycle through neutrophil recovery (absolute neutrophil count [ANC] > 10,000\/microL). Patients were assigned to one of six escalating dose levels of paclitaxel: 150 (n = 3), 175 (n = 3), 200 (n = 3), 225 (n = 4), 250 (n = 4), and 275 mg\/m2 (n = 6). At each paclitaxel dose level (150, 175, 200, 225, 250, and 275 mg\/m2), the numbers of patients who completed six cycles without dose reduction were three (100%), three (100%), two (66%), two (50%), three (75%), and zero (0%), respectively. The numbers of patients who experienced a grade III\/IV adverse event (hematologic or nonhematologic) were zero (0%), two (66%), two (66%), one (25%), four (100%), and five (80%), respectively. Reasons for dose reduction included neurotoxicity (225 mg\/m2, n = 1; 275 mg\/m2, n = 2), neutropenia (225 mg\/m2, n = 2), diarrhea (275 mg\/m2, n = 2), and nephrotoxicity (225 mg\/m2, n = 1). Reasons for not completing six cycles at full or reduced dose included neuropathy (200, 225, and 275 mg\/m2, n = 1 each) physician request (275 mg\/m2, n = 1), and death (275 mg\/m2, n = 1). Hematopoietic toxicity was minimal. Six patients developed grade III\/IV neutropenia. No patient developed thrombocytopenia below a level of 50,000\/microL. The MTD of paclitaxel was determined to be 225 mg\/m2 when administered as a 3-hour infusion and combined with cisplatin (75 mg\/m2). Nonhematologic dose-limiting toxicities were neuropathy and diarrhea. The neuropathy often had a rapid onset, especially at the higher dose levels.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12181243,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Increased cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression is associated with chemotherapy resistance and outcome in ovarian cancer patients.\nCyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression is associated with aggressive clinicopathological parameters and unfavourable prognosis in several human malignancies. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of COX-2 and its association with clinicopathological parameters, response to treatment, and clinical outcome in ovarian cancer patients. COX-2 expression was analysed by immunohistochemistry in 87 primary ovarian carcinomas from patients with measurable disease after primary laparotomy. COX-2 immunoreaction was observed in 39 (44.8%) cases, and did not differ in distribution according to age, FIGO stage, debulking at time of surgery, presence of ascites, histotype or tumour grade. Both in patients cytoreduced at first surgery and in those undergoing only explorative laparotomy, the percentage of COX-2 positivity was significantly higher in non-responding than in patients responding to treatment (P = 0.043 and P = 0.0018, respectively). In multivariate analysis, only COX-2 positivity and older age retained an independent role in predicting a poor chance of response to treatment. There was no significant difference of clinical outcome according to COX-2 status in patients undergoing primary debulking while, in the subgroup of patients who underwent explorative laparotomy, COX-2-positive cases showed a shorter time to progression (P = 0.025) and overall survival (P = 0.025). The assessment of COX-2 status could provide additional information in order to identify ovarian cancer patients with a poor chance of response to chemotherapy and potentially candidates for more individualised treatments.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30662185,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Prevalence of Diabetes Mellitus and its Predictors among Tuberculosis Patients Currently on Treatment.\nTuberculosis (TB) and diabetes are the world's leading public health issues. They are the cause of morbidity, mortality, and pose a burden on the healthcare system. The aim and objective of this study were to study the prevalence of diabetes and its predictors among TB patients currently on treatment. The secondary objective was to examine the self-reported blood glucose monitoring and antidiabetic drug adherence practice among diabetic TB patients. This cross-sectional study was undertaken on 275 TB cases enrolled from selected designated microscopy centers. Self-reported information on diabetes, tobacco usage, and family history of TB was collected by trained investigators. In addition, for diabetic tubercular patients, the study investigators inquired about the type of treatment taken (allopathic\/traditional), frequency of getting blood sugar tested, and daily drug adherence. For comparison between the \"diabetes TB comorbidity\" and \"TB only group,\" Chi-square test of significance was used, and odds ratios were reported. Data were analyzed using Epi Info software (CDC Atlanta). The prevalence of diabetes among TB patients was found to be 13.1% (known diabetics -9.1% and new diabetics -4.0%). There were 25.5% of current\/former smokers (70\/275) and 13.1% of current\/former smokeless tobacco users (36\/275). In logistic regression analysis, age 50 years and above emerged as a significant predictor for diabetes TB comorbidity (adjusted odds ratio = 9.8 [4.3-22.3]). Diabetes is prevalent comorbidity in TB patients. Age more than 50 years significantly increases the odds of this twin morbidity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15248131,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-30":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evolution of carnivory in Lentibulariaceae and the Lamiales.\nAs a basis for analysing the evolution of the carnivorous syndrome in Lentibulariaceae (Lamiales), phylogenetic reconstructions were conducted based on coding and non-coding chloroplast DNA (matK gene and flanking trnK intron sequences, totalling about 2.4 kb). A dense taxon sampling including all other major lineages of Lamiales was needed since the closest relatives of Lentibulariaceae and the position of \"proto-carnivores\" were unknown. Tree inference using maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian approaches resulted in fully congruent topologies within Lentibulariaceae, whereas relationships among the different lineages of Lamiales were only congruent between likelihood and Bayesian optimizations. Lentibulariaceae and their three genera (Pinguicula, Genlisea, and Utricularia) are monophyletic, with Pinguicula being sister to a Genlisea-Utricularia clade. Likelihood and Bayesian trees converge on Bignoniaceae as sister to Lentibulariaceae, albeit lacking good support. The \"proto-carnivores\" (Byblidaceae, Martyniaceae) are found in different positions among other Lamiales but not as sister to the carnivorous Lentibulariaceae, which is also supported by Khishino-Hasegawa tests. This implies that carnivory and its preliminary stages (\"proto-carnivores\") independently evolved more than once among Lamiales. Ancestral states of structural characters connected to the carnivorous syndrome are reconstructed using the molecular tree, and a hypothesis on the evolutionary pathway of the carnivorous syndrome in Lentibulariaceae is presented. Extreme DNA mutational rates found in Utricularia and Genlisea are shown to correspond to their unusual nutritional specialization, thereby hinting at a marked degree of carnivory in these two genera.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26473314,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Neurobiology of Monarch Butterfly Migration.\nStudies of the migration of the eastern North American monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) have revealed mechanisms behind its navigation. The main orientation mechanism uses a time-compensated sun compass during both the migration south and the remigration north. Daylight cues, such as the sun itself and polarized light, are processed through both eyes and integrated through intricate circuitry in the brain's central complex, the presumed site of the sun compass. Monarch circadian clocks have a distinct molecular mechanism, and those that reside in the antennae provide time compensation. Recent evidence shows that migrants can also use a light-dependent inclination magnetic compass for orientation in the absence of directional daylight cues. The monarch genome has been sequenced, and genetic strategies using nuclease-based technologies have been developed to edit specific genes. The monarch butterfly has emerged as a model system to study the neural, molecular, and genetic basis of long-distance animal migration.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31242656,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Environmental Assessment and Evaluation of Oxidative Stress and Genotoxicity Biomarkers Related to Chronic Occupational Exposure to Benzene.\nEnvironmental and occupational exposure to benzene from fuels is a major cause for concern for national and international authorities, as benzene is a known carcinogen in humans and there is no safe limit for exposure to carcinogens. The objective of this study was to evaluate the genotoxic effects of chronic occupational exposure to benzene among two groups of workers: filling station workers (Group I) and security guards working at vehicles entrances (Group II), both on the same busy highway in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Sociodemographic data on the workers were evaluated; the concentration of benzene\/toluene (B\/T) in atmospheric air and individual trans,trans-muconic acid (ttMA) and S-phenylmercapturic acid (S-PMA) were measured; oxidative stress was analyzed by catalase (CAT), glutathione S-transferase (GST), superoxide dismutase (SOD), thiol groups (THIOL) and malondialdehyde (MDA); genotoxicity was measured by metaphases with chromosomal abnormalities (MCA) and nuclear abnormalities, comet assay using the enzyme formamidopyrimidine DNA glycosylase (C-FPG), and methylation of repetitive element LINE-1, CDKN2B and KLF6 genes. Eighty-six workers participated: 51 from Group I and 35 from Group II. The B\/T ratio was similar for both groups, but Group I had greater oscillation of benzene concentrations because of their work activities. No differences in ttMA and S-PMA, and no clinical changes were found between both groups, but linearity was observed between leukocyte count and ttMA; and 15% of workers had leukocyte counts less than 4.5 \u00d7 109 cells L-1, demanding close worker's attention. No differences were observed between the two groups for THIOL, MDA, MCA, or nuclear abnormalities. A multiple linear relationship was obtained for the biomarkers MCA and C-FPG. A significant correlation was found between length of time in current job and the biomarkers C-FPG, MCA, GST, and MDA. Although both populations had chronic exposure to benzene, the filling station workers were exposed to higher concentrations of benzene during their work activities, indicating an increased risk of DNA damage.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3069260,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Silent myocardial ischemia: prognostic significance and therapeutic implications.\nEvidence is now accumulating which strongly suggests that prognosis of patients with painless myocardial ischemia determined either by ambulatory ECG monitoring or exercise testing may be no different than the prognosis of patients who have overt clinical manifestations of myocardial ischemia associated with transient ischemic ECG changes. In my view the goal of therapy for patients with clinical manifestations of coronary artery disease should be the elimination of myocardial ischemia. Medical therapy, coronary angioplasty, or coronary artery surgery should be rendered and then followed by objective documentation of therapeutic efficacy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28561132,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Safely Decreasing Rigid Bronchoscopies for Foreign-Body Aspiration in Children: An Algorithm for the Emergency Department.\nRigid bronchoscopy was traditionally performed in the management of foreign-body aspiration (FBA). More recently, since development of a less invasive method, flexible bronchoscopy has been proposed in some centers for the management of FBA. For the past few years, we have applied a decisional algorithm, privileging flexible bronchoscopy for diagnosis and, in some cases, for extraction of foreign body (FB). Our aims are first to analyze our current management of FBA and second to examine the bronchoscopic findings and complications. Retrospective medical chart review of all patients with clinical suspicion of FBA who underwent bronchoscopy (flexible and\/or rigid) from 2009 through 2014. An FB was found in 23 (33%) of the 70 patients included in the study (45 boys, 25 girls; median age: 21.5 months). Diagnosis of FBA was made on first intention in 22\/23 (96%) and extraction was performed in 7\/23 (30%) by flexible bronchoscopy. Rigid bronchoscopy was necessary for the extraction of the 16\/23 (70%) remaining FBs. The rigid procedure was performed as first intention in only two (3%) patients, and one of the two was negative. Among the clinical signs of FBA, none were > 90% specific except for apnea (100%), but which was poorly sensitive (22%). Seven clinical and radiologic signs were found to be significantly different between FB+ and FB- groups: sudden choking, cyanosis, apnea, decreased breath sounds, atelectasis, mediastinal shift, and air trapping. Conversely, when none of these symptoms or signs and no clear history of sudden choking were present (in 15\/70 patients), no FB was found. No life-threatening complications or death were observed. Our current management of FBA allows us to avoid almost all negative rigid bronchoscopies. In addition, we identified some symptoms and clinical and radiologic signs whose absence was highly predictive of negative bronchoscopy. We propose a novel algorithm for management of FBA that will help decrease the number of negative bronchoscopies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29364611,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Adipose tissue composition in puberty and postpuberty according to age, sex (gender), physical activity and alimentary behavior].\nThe study involved 110 adolescents from 15 to 22 years (35 boys, 75 girls). To assess eating habits and physical activity we used WHO questionnaires. We also analyzed anthropometry, bioimpedance data, parameters of the cardiovascular system: systolic and diastolic blood pressure, heart rate. It has been shown, that body mass index (BMI) in adolescents didn't correlate with the content of both total and visceral adipose tissue in the body and shoud not be used as a major diagnostic criterion of obesity. An excessive content of total adipose tissue was shown in 15% of the puberty and postpuberty teens. Visceral fat content was significantly higher in male, than female (3.03\u00b13.31 vs 2.11\u00b11.57%), independently of the total fat percentage (18.91\u00b116.83 and 31.72\u00b119.24% respectively). The visceral fat in the body begins to increase in age of 16. According to the authors, such an effect in boys and girls is associated with the final changes of puberty (concentration of sex steroids). Such hormons like testosterone and progesterone and estradiol have different effects on the white adipose tissue and play a key role in proceses of its differentiation and metabolism. Percentage of total adipose tissue depends on dietary habits in the first place \u2013 the predominance of fast food. A significant relationship of physical activity and the percentage of visceral fat was shown.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11983998,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Three isomeric bis(methoxycarbonyl)[2.2]paracyclophanes.\nThe title isomers 4,16- (pseudo-ortho), 4,15- (pseudo-gem) and 4,12-bis(methoxycarbonyl)[2.2]paracyclophane (pseudo-para), C(20)H(20)O(4), all show the typical structural features of [2.2]paracyclophanes (flattened boat conformation of the rings, lengthened single bonds in the bridges and narrow ring angles at the bridgehead atoms). The 4,12-isomer displays crystallographic inversion symmetry. The carbonyl groups adopt a conformation in which they are directed away from the ring systems towards the nearest bridge; the corresponding angle at the ring substituent atom is widened. Crystal packing involves C-H.pi interactions for the 4,15-isomer and weak C-H.O hydrogen bonds for the other two isomers.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18589607,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Study of inhibition effect of bovine lactoferrin in vitro on hepatitis B surface antigen].\nTo probe inhibition effect of bovine lactoferrin (BLF) in vitro on hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). Nature hepatitis B virus (HBV) was used to infect HepG2 cell, HBsAg in the culture supernatant was measured by ELISA, and MTT test was used to examine cytotoxic effect of BLF. The maximum nontoxic dose (TD0) in HepG2 cell of BLF was 3.0 g\/L,50% of toxic dose (TD50) was 11.08 g\/L. After HepG2 cell were infected with HBV, every BLF test group had effect on inhibiting HBsAg to some extent. At the highest concentration of 3.0 g\/L BLF was most effective, exhibiting 58.34% of inhibition. Mixing BLF with HBV, then HepG2 cell were infected with them, every BLF all test concentrations were not shown to inhibit HBsAg. Adding BLF to HepG2 cell, then HepG2 cell were infected with HBV after washing BLF, test groups were shown to significantly inhibite HBsAg as concentration of over 0.5 g\/L BLF, but at the concentration 0.1 g\/L of BLF inhibitious of HBsAg were not observed. HBsAg wasn't inhibited by lactoferrin hydrolysate. BLF was shown to inhibit HBV infection into HepG2 cell by protecting corresponding cell sites rather than binding to HBV. After HepG2 cell was infected, HBsAg also could be inhibited by BLF and lactoferrin hydrolysate didn't have this function. It was seemed that BLF could have structure's work, but the possible mechanism need to be lucubrated.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25518385,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Use of interferon-\u03b2 in the treatment of multiple sclerosis].\nInterferon-\u03b2 (IFN\u03b2) products are widely used as first-line treatment for multiple sclerosis and have well-established benefit-risk profiles over the short- and long-term. Commercially available agents in Japan include subcutaneous IFN\u03b2-1\u03b2 (Betaferon) and intramuscular IFN\u03b2-1a(Avonex). Although these IFN\u03b2 products differ in dosage, frequency of administration and rout of delivery, both reduce relapse rate by about 30% and new lesion activity by about 65%. In addition, IFN\u03b2 products were shown to reduce the disability progression. However, clinical studies have also demonstrated that a subset of patients respond poorly to IFN\u03b2 treatment. Thus, it is an important strategy to identify the patients who have suboptimal treatment responses early, before disability ensures, as measured by combination of clinical data and MRI measures of disease activity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28247748,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Stimulation of a spermatogenesis in men at a pathospermia and infertility].\nto investigate of the methods of treatment, directed on increase in quantity of spermatozoa in an ejaculate. MATHERIALS AND METHODS: for this purpose used clomifene and combinations of recombinant FSH with chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) in 60 men with infertility. Efficiency of monotherapy by clomiphene was higher and made 20% for conception, and 63% for oligoteratozoospermia. Efficiency of the combined therapy of HCG in combination with recombinant FSH was 40% for conception, and 87% for oligoteratozoospermia. The efficiency of the combined therapy by recombinant FSH and HCG in cases of the previous inefficiency monotherapy HCG and clomifene for oligoteratozoospermia made 65%. The combined therapy of HCG in combination with recombinant FSH is al most effective. At the same time the studied types of the stimulating therapy are safe and don't lead to development of side effects.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16161988,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Seasonal distribution of physico- chemical parameters in effluent discharge area of Uppanar estuary, Cuddalore, south-east coast of India.\nSeasonal distribution of physico-chemical characteristics such as rainfall, pH, salinity, temperature, light extinction coefficient, dissolved oxygen, biological oxygen demand and nutrients like total phosphorus, inorganic phosphate, nitrite, nitrate and reactive silicate has been studied at two stations of Uppanar estuary in relation to effluent discharges from SIPCOT industries. There are 44 industries discharges their effluents into Uppanar estuary, which may influence the biota. Nutrient concentrations were higher during monsoon season and low during summer season. The mean concentrations of nutrients were high at station 1 than station 2 due to discharges from industries, coconut husk retting grounds near the station 1. In the present study, the physico-chemical characteristic of Uppanar estuary carried out and variations are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23437120,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Calreticulin induces dilated cardiomyopathy.\nCalreticulin, a Ca(2+)-buffering chaperone of the endoplasmic reticulum, is highly expressed in the embryonic heart and is essential for cardiac development. After birth, the calreticulin gene is sharply down regulated in the heart, and thus, adult hearts have negligible levels of calreticulin. In this study we tested the role of calreticulin in the adult heart. We generated an inducible transgenic mouse in which calreticulin is targeted to the cardiac tissue using a Cre\/loxP system and can be up-regulated in adult hearts. Echocardiography analysis of hearts from transgenic mice expressing calreticulin revealed impaired left ventricular systolic and diastolic function and impaired mitral valve function. There was altered expression of Ca(2+) signaling molecules and the gap junction proteins, Connexin 43 and 45. Sarcoplasmic reticulum associated Ca(2+)-handling proteins (including the cardiac ryanodine receptor, sarco\/endoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+)-ATPase, and cardiac calsequestrin) were down-regulated in the transgenic hearts with increased expression of calreticulin. We show that in adult heart, up-regulated expression of calreticulin induces cardiomyopathy in vivo leading to heart failure. This is due to an alternation in changes in a subset of Ca(2+) handling genes, gap junction components and left ventricle remodeling.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3051555,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pulmonary function of haplotype-matched and mismatched allografts in dogs treated with total-body irradiation, autologous marrow transplantation, methotrexate, and donor blood.\nSeven beagle recipients surviving 2-11 years after allotransplantation of a left lung were available for study of pulmonary function. Significant reductions of ventilation and perfusion to the transplanted lung were documented by radionuclide scanning. These reductions in function were well-matched, however, and allowed relatively normal gas exchange, as measured by VD\/VT, arterial PO2 and shunt fraction. The vasoconstrictor response of the transplanted lung to both hypoxia and stellate ganglion stimulation was comparable to that of the native lung. An abnormal rise in graft pulmonary vascular resistance and fall in PaO2 when the normal lung was made hypoxic suggest an inability of the transplanted lung to vasodilate and recruit blood vessels normally in response to increased blood flow. The animals were sacrificed at the conclusion of the pulmonary function testing. Pathologic study of the transplanted lungs showed minimal changes of rejection in spite of the fact that these recipient animals received no immunotherapy after the second posttransplant week.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9157341,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Spiral CT: new clinical indications and special artifacts].\nAuthors describe the technical principles of volumetric CT, in comparison with the conventional method. New, quick data acquisition related artifacts are demonstrated in the different organs in order to avoid diagnostical faults. Details are given about the special examination parameter settings which are used for searching for particular pathological processes. Advantages, disadvantages, physiological and technical limitations are discussed. Authors present the new clinical applications, especially in the field of vascular and musculoskeletal imaging.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7948386,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of oral administration of bezafibrate on peroxisomes and carnitine acetyltransferase in rat hepatocytes.\nChanges in fine structure of peroxisomes and mitochondria were examined by electron microscopy in the hepatocyte of rats administered with bezafibrate, a hypolipidemic reagents. Peroxisomes increased to approximately 4.8 times in number one week after oral administration of bezafibrate in male rats. Newly induced peroxisomes showed paler matrix with frequent absence of core structure at two weeks after administration, peroxisomes further increased in number, 5.8 times in males, and were mostly devoid of core structure. Mitochondrial cristae were occasionally arranged along the long axis of mitochondria. Activity of carnitine acetyltransferase (CAT), one of the enzymes involved in beta oxidation of fatty acids, increased significantly after oral administration of bezafibrate. At two weeks after administration, it increased up to 12.0 times in males, 8.4 times in castrated males, 3.8 times in females and 5.5 times in castrated females, respectively. Cytochemically, CAT was localized in the outer compartment and inner membrane of mitochondria. CAT activity was also detected in the matrix of peroxisomes at two weeks after oral administration of bezafibrate.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1691065,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Renal handling of amylase and immunoreactive trypsin in pancreatic cancer and chronic pancreatitis.\nIn order to evaluate the renal metabolism of amylase and immunoreactive trypsin (IRT) in chronic pancreatic disease, we assayed amylase, IRT and creatinine in serum and urine and gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) in dialyzed urine as well as alpha-glucosidase (AGL) and ribonuclease (RNase) in 24 control subjects, 34 patients with pancreatic cancer, 52 with chronic pancreatitis and 32 with extra-pancreatic diseases. Urinary amylase and IRT outputs were found to be more elevated in chronic pancreatitis than in control subjects. The levels of serum amylase, its renal inputs and outputs were correlated with the corresponding IRT values. Multiple regression analyses (dependent on amylase or IRT urinary outputs, circulating levels of the two enzymes, creatinine clearance and the excretion of GGT, AGL and RNase predictor variables) showed significant correlations. The standardized partial regression coefficients found to be significant were: GGT, RNase and serum amylase for amylase, and GGT and RNase for IRT. No difference was found between amylase and IRT outputs in patients with chronic pancreatitis, taking the presence or the absence of alcohol abuse, exocrine insufficiency and pancreatic pseudocysts into consideration. Urinary GGT excretion correlated with serum amylase and IRT levels.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12035876,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Microalbuminuria is related to marked end organ damage in previously untreated, elderly hypertensive patients.\nWe wondered whether, in an elderly hypertensive population in a primary prevention setting, free from diabetes mellitus and clinical atherosclerosis, differences between end organ damage and microalbuminuria (MA) could be found using a lower level of urinary albumin excretion than that of classically defined MA. From a population survey of 173 previously untreated hypertensive patients (4x blood pressure systolic > or = 160 and < or = 220 mmHg, and\/or diastolic > or = 95 and < or = 115 mmHg), mean age 67 +\/- 4 years, were screened for MA (defined as albumin excretion between 20 and 300 mg\/24 h). End organ damage was determined by B-mode ultrasound scanning of carotid and femoral arteries and echocardiography. Out of 173 hypertensives, 14 showed MA (8%). These hypertensives had a significantly higher intima media thickness (IMT; 1.01 +\/- 0.21 vs 0.88 +\/- 0.6 mm, p < 0.05) and increased left ventricular mass index (118 +\/- 31 vs 103 +\/- 22 g\/m2, p < 0.05) than hypertensives without MA. Linear regression analysis showed that MA, age, male gender and diastolic blood pressure were independently related to IMT, while systolic blood pressure, male gender and body mass index were independently related to left ventricular mass. Even using lower levels of urinary albumin excretion rate, patients with MA had significantly higher IMT and increased left ventricular mass. Moreover, MA was independently related to IMT in these elderly hypertensives. These results suggest that the threshold value for MA should be reconsidered in hypertension.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37453847,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Small biopsies in the head and neck: Bone and soft tissue.\nBone and soft tissue lesions in the head and neck encompass not only a broad morphologic spectrum but also significant inherent clinicopathologic overlap. Epidemiology, radiology, and location - similar to the diagnostic assessment in other sites - are especially important considerations in the context of an established mesenchymal proliferation. Herein, the approach towards diagnosis is stratified by morphology (spindle, sarcomatoid, epithelioid, round cell), cellular lineage (fibroblastic, nerve sheath, rhabdomyogenic), and tumor grade (benign, low- to high-grade malignant) as the basis of further immunohistochemical or molecular investigation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3032538,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Fine-needle aspiration cytology in pancreatic endocrine tumors.\nPancreatic endocrine tumors (PETs) are relatively uncommon neoplasms. Although their histologic patterns have been widely studied, their cytologic features as they appear in fine-needle aspiration (FNA) specimens have rarely been reported. In this study, aspirates of seven PETs, four primary and three metastatic lesions (two to liver and one to bone), are described. The tumors occurred in seven men ranging in age from 37 to 72 yr. Six tumors presented as nonfunctioning masses and one produced Zollinger-Ellison syndrome. Three were located in the head of the pancreas and four in the body and tail. The pancreatic and liver aspirations were performed under computed tomographic guidance and the bone lesion, under fluoroscopy. The aspiration specimens were hypercellular. The tumor cells occurred singly and in small clusters. In three cases, there was a tendency toward acinar formations. In two cases, there were prominent, thin-walled, branching blood vessels with tumor cells attached to the vascular walls. The cells were round or polygonal with a moderate amount of finely granular, well-defined cytoplasm. The nuclei were eccentrically located and round-to-oval--with one or two small nucleoli and finely granular, evenly-dispersed chromatin. The diagnosis was confirmed by immunocytochemistry (two cases) and electron microscopy (four cases) of the aspirated material and histology sections of the resected tumors (two cases). The results of this study demonstrate that FNA is a useful method to establish the diagnosis of PETs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12033677,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-30":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evaluation of two absorbed enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays and a complement fixation test as replacements for fecal culture in the detection of cows shedding Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis.\nControl of paratuberculosis in dairy herds is based on preventing the transmission of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (Mptb) from cows to calves by management measures, supported by removal of cows excreting these bacteria by the fecal route (Mptb shedders). Fecal culture is the most accurate test for identifying Mptb shedders, but this technique is expensive and takes up to 16 weeks for results to be available. Serologic tests are inexpensive, rapid, and easy to perform. Of serologic tests, the complement fixation test (CFT) and absorbed enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) are the serologic tests used most frequently; the CFT is considered less accurate than the ELISA with respect to sensitivity and specificity. The commonly accepted absorbed ELISA is from the Australian Central Serum Laboratory. However, a European supplier has marketed a second ELISA that is supposed to be more sensitive in detecting Mptb shedders. These 2 absorbed ELISAs, designated ELISA-A and ELISA-B, and an in-house CFT were compared with data from 2 serum panels. The Mptb shedding panel consisted of sera from 198 culture-positive cows from 53 infected herds. The method used for culture of fecal samples was a modified J\u00f8rgensen method on individual samples. The Mptb shedder detection rate by the 3 serologic tests ranged from 29.8% to 39.4%. Detection rate for ELISA-A was lower than that for ELISA-B and CFT. For all 3 tests, detection rate was dependent on the level of Mptb shedding and the age of the animals. Detection rates increased as cattle age increased to 4 years. The specificity panel was initially composed of sera from 811 cows randomly selected from 41 herds without clinical paratuberculosis that were negative for Mptb based on whole-herd fecal culture. The modified J\u00f8rgensen method for culture was used on pooled fecal samples. Serologic test specificity ranged from 93.4% to 99.8%. The specificity of ELISA-A was higher than that of ELISA-B and CFT. Specificity of ELISA-B between herds was 75-100%. Specificity of CFT between herds was 62-100%. The low specificity of ELISA-B and CFT could not be explained by a higher sensitivity for Mptb-infected cows before onset of shedding, because in the 19 herds with 8 more subsequent negative whole-herd fecal cultures in the 4 years after sampling, specificity was not improved. The insufficient specificity of ELISA-B was not corrected sufficiently by heightening the cutoff value because Mptb shedder detection rate was lowered to 28.9%, equal to that of ELISA-A, and specificity only rose to 97%, much lower than that of ELISA-A. Taking into account the different test characteristics, serologic tests are a cost-effective alternative to fecal culture in high-prevalence herds. For certification programs, only ELISA-A is recommended because in a large number of nonsuspect herds specificity remained almost 100%.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6363672,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A review of projective test findings with older adults.\nThe projective test literature on aging is reviewed. It was concluded that, while much critical research remains to be done and many of the studies are flawed, projective testing has contributed a great deal to the understanding of the aging process and has yielded a core of consistent findings. Suggestions for future research which would help resolve some current ambiguities were made.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28705369,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Pelvic Masses: A Compartmental Approach.\nMagnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is often \"one stop shop\" for evaluating female pelvic masses that helps in diagnosis, staging, and restaging of these tumors. A pelvic mass can arise from any tissue present within the pelvis. Although most masses in the female pelvis arise from the reproductive organs, masses may also arise from the gastrointestinal tract, urinary system, adjacent soft tissues, peritoneum, etc. It may not always be possible to determine the site of origin or distinguish these masses based on imaging characteristics. However, familiarity with the clinicopathologic and MRI features of most common pelvic masses helps in narrowing the differential diagnosis. Diagnosis of these masses needs a holistic approach as required for any tumor including clinical history, laboratory data, and imaging characteristics. We focus on MRI characteristics of commonly encountered pelvic masses. A compartmental imaging approach is discussed in this article that helps in identifying and characterizing these masses.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37846763,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Prevalence, risk indicators, and clinical characteristics of peri-implant mucositis and peri-implantitis for an internal conical connection implant system: A multicenter cross-sectional study.\nPeri-implant disease prevalence is associated with a multifactorial etiology and distinct clinical characteristics of inflammation. The present study aimed to assess the prevalence of peri-implant diseases, identify related risk indicators, and associate specific clinical characteristics to peri-implant biological complications in the medium term. Peri-implant diseases were classified according to established case criteria. Patients' data, implant and\/or prosthetic features, and maintenance records were collected. Clinical characteristics such as bleeding on probing (BOP), suppuration (SUPP), keratinized mucosa (KM), probing depth (PD), marginal recession (MR), and modified plaque index (mPI) were recorded. Ninety-nine patients with 266 implants with a mean functional duration of 30.26 months were evaluated. Peri-implant mucositis and peri-implantitis prevalence totaled to 49.5% and 15.15% (patient level), respectively. Peri-implant mucositis was associated with osteoporosis (odds ratio [OR] 6.09), age (OR 0.97), diabetes mellitus (OR 3.09), cemented-retained prosthesis (OR 3.81), and partial prosthesis (OR 2.21). Peri-implantitis was associated with osteoporosis (OR 7.74) and periodontitis (OR 2.74), cemented prosthesis (OR 10.12), partial and full arch prostheses (OR 12.35 and 19.86), implant diameter (OR 3.64), abutment transmucosal height (OR 3.39), and hygiene difficulty (OR 3.14). Furthermore, mPI score 3 (OR 3.27) and PD scores (OR 1.64) were associated with peri-implant mucositis, while mPI score 3 (OR 16.42), KM (OR 1.53), PD (OR 1.81), MR (OR 2.61), and the relationship between KM and PD (OR 0.63) were associated with peri-implantitis. In the medium term, peri-implant diseases were correlated with factors inherent to the patient's conditions, presurgical treatment plan, and hygiene maintenance care. The knowledge of the mentioned factors and featured clinical characteristics can be crucial for disease prevention and establishment of a superior implant therapy prognosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16234507,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Immunohistochemical expression of endothelial markers CD31, CD34, von Willebrand factor, and Fli-1 in normal human tissues.\nFew systematic studies have been published comparing the expression and distribution of endothelial cell (EC) markers in different vascular beds in normal human tissues. We investigated by immunohistochemistry the expression of CD31, CD34, von Willebrand factor (vWF), and Fli-1 in EC of the major organs and large vessels. Tissue samples obtained from autopsies and biopsy specimens were routinely processed and stained immunohistochemically for CD31, CD34, and vWF. Biopsy material was also stained immunohistochemically for Fli-1, D2-40, and Lyve-1. The expression pattern of the markers was heterogeneous in some of the organs studied. In the kidney, fenestrated endothelium of the glomeruli strongly expressed CD31 and CD34 but was only focally positive or completely negative for vWF. Alveolar wall capillaries of the lung strongly stained for CD31 and CD34 but were usually negative for vWF. The staining intensity for vWF increased gradually with the vessel caliber in the lung. Sinusoids of the spleen and liver were diffusely positive for CD31. They were negative for CD34 in the spleen and only expressed CD34 in the periportal area in the liver. Fli-1 was expressed in all types of EC but also in lymphocytes. D2-40 stained lymphatic endothelium only. Lyve-1 immunostaining was too variable to be applied to routinely processed tissues. The expression of EC markers CD31, CD34, and vWF in the vascular tree is heterogeneous with a specific pattern for individual vessel types and different anatomic compartments of the same organ. D2-40 labels lymphatic EC only.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7930994,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Parathyroid hormone-related protein in human term placenta and membranes.\nParathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP), the hypercalcaemia of malignancy factor, is expressed in the tissues of the human uteroplacental unit, including the placenta, amnion and chorion. We have used three region-specific immunoassays to quantitate and compare the distribution of PTHrP in tissues obtained at term following spontaneous labour and vaginal delivery or elective Caesarean section. In non-labouring women highest PTHrP(1-86) and (37-67) immunoreactivity was found in amnion covering the placenta, rather than the decidua parietalis of the uterus (reflected amnion) (median 1020 vs 451 fmol\/g; 2181 vs 1444 fmol\/g respectively). In labouring women, the PTHrP(1-86) concentration in reflected amnion was inversely correlated with the interval between rupture of the membranes and delivery. Tissue PTHrP(1-86) concentrations were lower in placenta than in chorion and amnion (medians 12, 109 and 664 fmol\/g respectively) and, in all tissues, PTHrP(1-34) and (37-67) concentrations were significantly higher than that of PTHrP(1-86). Bioactive PTHrP(1-34) was detected in placenta, chorion and amnion using the ROS cell bioassay. The PTHrP(1-86) concentration (mean +\/- S.E.M. = 41.4 +\/- 4.5 pmol\/l) was high in amniotic fluid at term, although in maternal and cord plasma levels were only modestly increased. The molecular forms of PTHrP present in tissues and amniotic fluid were investigated by column chromatography which confirmed its molecular heterogeneity and suggested that processing is tissue-specific and occurs at both amino- and carboxy-terminals of the peptide.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28264542,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The efficacy of functional surgery associated with early intensive rehabilitation therapy in Charcot-Marie-Tooth Type 1A disease.\nCharcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) is a genetically and clinically heterogeneous disorder, and it is caused by alterations in genes with different loci that encode for proteins, resulting into metabolic and structural defects. The most common form of the disease is type 1A. Treatment of the disease, due to the absence of an effective pharmacological therapy, mainly relies on surgical treatment and rehabilitative therapy. However, the literature is still poor of evidences on this subject. The aim of the study was to describe a treatment protocol based on the integration of functional surgery and early intensive neurorehabilitation in CMT1A disease patients. Five patients with CMT1A (2 females, 3 males), 19-57 years, age 36.8\u00b114 years (mean\u00b1SD) are described in the paper. Pre - and post-treatment clinical and quantitative evaluation including muscle and balance score, patient questionnaires, and gait analysis was held. Treatment consisted in functional surgery followed (after the removal of the cast) by a three weeks intensive neurorehabilitation treatment during which patients were hospitalized. The post-treatment examination documented an overall improvement of walking and balance, and reduction of pain. A smaller reduction of fatigue and cramps was observed. Gait analysis showed decreased foot-drop, increased ankle power, and increased knee flexion as a compensatory mechanism. Even considering the heterogeneity of patients in CMT disease this clinical series study confirms that functional surgery followed by intense neurorehabilitation might be considered a valid approach to improve patients with CMT1A. Clinical impact of the study mainly relies on the detailed description of an effective method of evaluation, surgical and rehabilitative treatment of patients with CMT disease. Even taking into account the heterogeneity of CMT patients, this case series study confirms that functional surgery integrated with early intensive neurorehabilitation might be considered a valid approach to improve the performances of patients with CMT1A.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17176406,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Life history variation in the heavy metal tolerant plant Thlaspi caerulescens growing in a network of contaminated and noncontaminated sites in southern France: role of gene flow, selection and phenotypic plasticity.\n* Here we explore life history differences in a set of neighbouring metallicolous and nonmetallicolous populations of the heavy metal tolerant plant Thlaspi caerulescens. * We contrasted data from field observations and from a common garden experiment, in which soil zinc (Zn) concentration and light availability were manipulated, and data on microsatellite molecular variation. * The two ecotypes showed few differences in life history in the field, but large differences in their response to Zn concentration in the common garden. Soil toxicity affected most characters in nonmetallicolous plants, while it had no effect on metallicolous plants. The two ecotypes responded similarly to light. Genetic differentiation for quantitative characters between ecotypes contrasted with the absence of differentiation for microsatellites. Conversely, populations of the same ecotype showed similar responses to Zn, despite their high differentiation for molecular markers. * We conclude that divergent selection related to soil toxicity has had a predominant role in shaping life history differences between ecotypes, gene flow weakly opposing local adaptation despite geographical proximity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7947441,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Squamous cell carcinoma of the eyelid.\nA total of 24 patients (12 men and 12 women) with squamous cell carcinoma of the eyelid were identified from pathology records at Wills Eye Hospital from 1978 through 1987. Squamous cell carcinoma accounted for 24 of 648 (3.7%) malignant eyelid lesions submitted during the 10-year study period. The median age of patients at the time of diagnosis was 72 years (range, 55 to 96 years). Initial therapy of all tumors involved surgical excision. Four patients developed clinical recurrence of squamous cell carcinoma in a median of 7.5 months after surgery. There were no tumor recurrences when frozen section techniques were applied during the initial surgical excision. The data suggest that the risk of persistence or recurrence of tumor was increased for patients who delayed seeking medical care after the lesion was first noticed and when frozen section control was not used during surgery. None of the patients were known to have developed metastases, and there were no tumor-related deaths.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35356441,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pharmacotherapy in Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia: What Is the Evidence?\nBronchopulmonary Dysplasia (BPD) is a multifactorial disease affecting over 35% of extremely preterm infants born each year. Despite the advances made in understanding the pathogenesis of this disease over the last five decades, BPD remains one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in this population, and the incidence of the disease increases with decreasing gestational age. As inflammation is one of the key drivers in the pathogenesis, it has been targeted by majority of pharmacological and non-pharmacological methods to prevent BPD. Most extremely premature infants receive a myriad of medications during their stay in the neonatal intensive care unit in an effort to prevent or manage BPD, with corticosteroids, caffeine, and diuretics being the most commonly used medications. However, there is no consensus regarding their use and benefits in this population. This review summarizes the available literature regarding these medications and aims to provide neonatologists and neonatal providers with evidence-based recommendations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29553568,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Cryopreservation of Zebrafish Spermatogonia by Whole Testes Needle Immersed Ultra-Rapid Cooling.\nCurrent trends in science and biotechnology lead to creation of thousands of new lines in model organisms thereby leading to the necessity for new methods for safe storage of genetic resources beyond the common practices of keeping breeding colonies. The main purpose of this study was to adapt the needle immersed vitrification (NIV) procedure to cryopreserve whole zebrafish testes. Cryopreservation of early-stage germ cells by whole testes NIV offers possibilities for the storage of zebrafish genetic resources, especially since after transplantation they can mature into both male and female gametes. Testes were excised, pinned on an acupuncture needle, equilibrated in two cryoprotective media (equilibration solution containing 1.5 M methanol and 1.5 M propylene glycol; and vitrification solution containing 3 M dimethyl sulfoxide and 3 M propylene glycol) and plunged into liquid nitrogen. Samples were warmed in a series of three consequent warming solutions. The main advantages of this technique are (1) the lack of spermatozoa after digestion of warmed testes thus facilitating downstream manipulations; (2) ultra-rapid cooling enabling the optimal exposure of tissues to liquid nitrogen therefore maximizing the cooling and reducing the required concentration of cryoprotectants, thereby reducing their toxicity; (3) synchronous exposure of several testes to cryoprotectants and liquid nitrogen; and (4) repeatability demonstrated by obtaining viability of above 50% in five different zebrafish strains.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18587254,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Prevalence of prostate cancer in end-stage renal disease patients.\nWe aimed to assess the prevalence of prostate cancer in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients by a large-scale, multicentric and prospective study, and to show the difference between ESRD patients and normal healthy subjects. The level of serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) was measured in 724 male ESRD patients undergoing dialysis. Those patients whose serum PSA level was over 4.0 ng\/ml underwent a second screening test. After diagnosis, the prevalence of prostate cancer was subsequently calculated following adjustments by logistic-regression analysis. The prevalence of prostate cancer was also assessed in three control groups who had undergone health checks. The prevalence of prostate cancer in ESRD patients was found to be 1.4%. Those of the control groups (after correction for age) were 0.4, 1.4 and 0.8%. The odds ratios were 3.49, 0.96 and 1.71. The prevalence of prostate cancer in ESRD patients was equal or higher compared with that of normal healthy subjects. The result strongly indicates that the use of the serum PSA assay contributes to the early detection of prostate cancer in ESRD patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9167890,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Differences over the life span in daily life-style regularity.\nA diary-based instrument-the Social Rhythm Metric (SRM)-was used to assess the level of stability of daily social and behavioral rhythms in a group of 239 healthy subjects (112 male, 127 female) ranging in age from 20 to 89 years. Each subject completed the instrument for two consecutive weeks, which were averaged to yield one measure (SRM score) of life-style regularity [range 0 (least regular) to 7 (most regular)] and another of activity level index (ALI), corresponding to the number of (diary listed) activities done per week (max. = 119). SRM score increased reliably with age group at an average rate of 0.018 units per year. ALI showed an \"inverted U\"-shaped function with a maximum at about 50 years. SRM changes appeared not to be related to demographic differences between the age groups, although ALI differences may have been so related. No main effects or interactions were found with gender. Life-style regularity appears to increase over the life span in response to both biological and psychosocial changes and may represent an adaptation to age-related changes in the circadian system's sensitivity to entraining agents. Regular behavioral rhythms may be conducive to continued good health and well-being.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3060336,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Expression of recombinant growth hormone in Escherichia coli: effect of the region between the Shine-Dalgarno sequence and the ATG initiation codon.\nWe constructed a synthetic Escherichia coli expression system in which various promoter elements can be changed easily. In this study we investigated the effect of a number of portable Shine-Dalgarno regions (SD regions) on the synthesis of two modified recombinant human growth hormones (hGH). The production of these modified hGH was measured during exponential growth and after the bacteria had reached stationary phase. The results show that the optimal distance between the SD region (AGGAGG) and the ATG start codon is approximately 11 nucleotides. However, the nucleotide sequence in this region also influences expression: 6-10 adenines result in comparable expression levels despite the varying lengths. Two overlapping SD regions reduce expression of the growth hormones considerably, whereas two potential ATG start codons do not affect expression. Having a SD-ATG region partly or totally complementary to the 5' end of the 16S ribosomal RNA does not alter translation efficiency. Estimation of the delta G values for the association between the 16S rRNA and the ribosome-binding region suggests that these are not indicators of expression efficiency.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7938723,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Changes in the paravertebral musculature following a traditional herniated lumbar diskectomy. A computed tomographic and magnetic resonance study].\nOn the basis of previous EMG data, a retrospective study was carried out on the CT and MR features of the paravertebral musculature after lumbar spine surgery through the posterior approach. The authors reviewed the CT scans and some MR images of 35 symptomatic patients hospitalized 7 months to 42 years after operation for disc herniation. Changes in the paraspinal musculature were apparent in all of them on the surgical side. The changes were minimal or very slight in 14 patients, moderate in 13 and severe in 8. A close correlation was observed between the above changes and the surgical procedure used in every single case. Histology showed atrophy and degeneration of the muscle fibres and fibrofatty substitution. The possible responsible causes of damage to the postvertebral muscles during spinal surgery are briefly mentioned and practical implications discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28294880,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Results of Monitoring of the Plan of Measures Directed to Reduction of Ischemic Heart Disease in North Caucasus Republics. Analysis of Dynamics of Cardio-Vascular Mortality].\nComparative analysis of dynamics of cardiovascular mortality in Russia and foreign countries as well as main directions of development of cardiological service in Russia are presented in this review article. Plan of measures for reduction of mortality from ischemic heart disease (IHD) was created in 2015. This plan comprises 4 blocks of assessment of the following measures: directed at improvement of primary IHD prevention (1), directed at secondary prevention of complications of IHD (2); directed at improvement of efficacy of medical care of patients with IHD (3), and directed at monitoring of some demographic parameters (4). The article also contains results of monitoring of realization of the plan of IHD reduction in republics of North Caucasus. Realization of the program on healthy life style (HLS) lacks coordination between ministries. Mass information media are not sufficiently involved in propaganda of HLS. Mean achievement of target levels of main risk factors does not exceed 30-35%. First stage of prophylactic medical examination (dispanserization) has been fulfilled in 65%. High technology care is available both in federal and regional centers. Organization of effective urgent medical service, drug supply, and rehabilitation of patients with IHD are important aspects of improvement of secondary prevention in the region.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36935795,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Application of immersion B-scan ultrasonography in diagnosis of complex retinal detachment, persistent hyperplastic primary vitreous and intraocular tumors.\nTo evaluate the diagnostic value of panoramic immersion B-scan ultrasonography (Pano-immersion B-scan, PIB) in complex retinal detachment (RD), persistent hyperplastic primary vitreous (PHPV) and intraocular tumors. The clinical data of 44 patients collected from May 2012 to December 2019 in Chinese PLA General Hospital was retrospectively studied. All of these patients underwent PIB of the eye, because it was difficult to diagnose by routine ocular fundus examination, conventional ultrasound or\/and ultrasonic biomicroscope (UBM) due to opacity of refractive media, pupillary occlusion, large involvement or special location of the lesion. The imaging features of difficult cases in PIB were analyzed. The diagnosis accuracy rating of PIB were evaluated and contrasted with conventional ultrasound or UBM by the standard of intraoperative diagnosis or\/and pathological results. According to intraoperative diagnosis or pathological results as gold standard, among the 44 cases, there were 19 cases missed diagnosis, misdiagnosed or difficult-to-diagnose by conventional ultrasound or UBM, including 4 cases of long-standing RD difficult to diagnose, 4 cases misdiagnosed, and 11 cases incompletely observed or miss diagnosed. The diagnostic accuracy rate of PIB and conventional ultrasound or UBM were 100% (44\/44) and 56.82% (25\/44), and the sensitivity of them were 100% and 56.82%. All the patients underwent PIB and were diagnosed as RD (15 cases), retinal and choroidal detachment (4 cases), subchoroidal hematocele (1 case), vitreous opacity and\/or organic membrane formation (4 cases), PHPV (12 cases), iris and\/or ciliary body tumors (3 cases), and choroidal tumors (6 cases). According to the intraoperative diagnosis or pathological results, the diagnostic coincidence rate of PIB was 100%, which was significantly higher than conventional ultrasound and UBM. PIB can help to accurately diagnose complex RD, PHPV, and intraocular masses with special location or\/and excessive size. It has important diagnostic value for patients with equivocal findings at conventional ultrasound examination.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35362541,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Recent progress of circular RNAs in different types of human cancer: Technological landscape, clinical opportunities and challenges (Review).\nCircular RNAs (circRNAs) are a novel class of endogenous non\u2011coding RNAs that have been recently regarded as functionally active. CircRNAs are remarkably stable and known to possess several biological functions such as microRNA sponging, regulating transcription and splicing and occasionally acting as polypeptide\u2011producing templates. CircRNAs show tissue\u2011specific expression and have been reported to be associated with the progression of several types of malignancies. Given the recent progress in genome sequencing and bioinformatics techniques, a rapid increment in the biological role of circRNAs has been observed. Concurrently, the patent search from different patent databases shows that the patent number of circRNA is increasing very quickly. These phenomena reveal a rapid development of the technological landscape. In the present review, the recent progress on circRNAs in various kinds of cancer has been investigated and their function as biomarkers or therapeutic targets and their technological landscape have been appreciated. A new insight into circRNAs structure and functional capabilities in cancer has been reviewed. Continually increasing knowledge on their critical role during cancer progression is projecting them as biomarkers or therapeutic targets for various kinds of cancer. Thus, recent updates on the functional role of circRNAs in terms of the technological landscape, clinical opportunities (biomarkers and therapeutic targets), and challenges in cancer have been illustrated.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34243757,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"The mechanisms of action of Plasmodium infection against cancer.\nOur murine cancer model studies have demonstrated that Plasmodium infection activates the immune system that has been inhibited by cancer cells, counteracts tumor immunosuppressive microenvironment, inhibits tumor angiogenesis, inhibits tumor growth and metastasis, and prolongs the survival time of tumor-bearing mice. Based on these studies, three clinical trials of Plasmodium immunotherapy for advanced cancers have been approved and are ongoing in China. After comparing the mechanisms of action of Plasmodium immunotherapy with those of immune checkpoint blockade therapy, we propose the notion that cancer is an ecological disease and that Plasmodium immunotherapy is a systemic ecological counterattack therapy for this ecological disease, with limited side effects and without danger to public health based on the use of artesunate and other measures. Recent reports of tolerance to treatment and limitations in majority of patients associated with the use of checkpoint blockers further support this notion. We advocate further studies on the mechanisms of action of Plasmodium infection against cancer and investigations on Plasmodium-based combination therapy in the coming future. Video Abstract.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32366379,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-10":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Fifteen-minute consultation: Recognition and management of the child or young person who has ingested a novel psychoactive substance.\nIntoxicated children and young people (CYP) attending the paediatric emergency department (PED) are typically under the influence of alcohol or established recreational agents such as cannabis or ecstasy. The last decade or so has seen an increase in the numbers of CYP in PED who have used novel psychoactive substances (NPS). In this review, we describe four different functional classes of NPS, their legal status, clinical effects, acute management and interventions to reduce harm.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34421488,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"POCT in Developing Countries.\nPoint of Care Technology (POCT) means acquiring clinical parameters from the place where the patient is, thus generating faster test results leading to a faster turnaround time. However, improvements in patient outcomes depend on how healthcare delivery professionals and system utilize faster turnaround times. Thus, POCT, by itself, does not lead to better clinical outcomes. Throughout the last two decades, advances in POCT have been impressive, but its impact on developing countries depends on the present healthcare infrastructure. Presently, in most developing countries, POCT is delivered in remote locations or Physicians chamber or Hospital setup of Emergency rooms, Operation Theaters, ICU. It is applied for therapeutic aid (for treatment of certain diseases like diabetes or myocardial infarction), preventive measures (for targeted screening in high-risk groups) or surveillance measures (monitoring of routine blood parameters). There are several challenges in implementing POCT like poor patient demographics, lack of workforce, training, lacking healthcare infrastructure, reluctance in physicians to accept new technology and certain technological limits. Although it may take time, solutions to these challenges will lead to a proper implementation of POCT in the developing nations. Further, integrating it with mobile phone technology will lead to higher acceptance and application. The boom of POCT will depend on the overall improvement and capacity building in the healthcare infrastructure of developing nations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16230829,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Occupational morbidities and their association with nutrition and environmental factors among textile workers of desert areas of Rajasthan, India.\nIn Rajasthan 21,000 workers are engaged in hand processing textile industries (process gray\/raw cotton cloth). They are exposed to hazards of the textile industries besides the harsh conditions of the desert which contributes to adverse effects on their health. To explore the occupational health problems of the desert textile workers and their association with nutrition and environmental factors, investigations were carried-out in two districts, Jodhpur and Pali. Data on occupational disease conditions, environmental factors, nutritional deficiency signs and anemia were collected for a total of 1,240 individuals out of which 845 were textile workers and 395 were comparative group workers of the same age groups. The main disease conditions, i.e. aches (19.4%), respiratory (12.1%) and fever (7.7%), were higher in textile workers than the comparative group. Dyeing group workers suffered the most (25.5%) from aches, significantly higher than the comparative group (11.6%), may be due to a higher percentage of severe anemia, besides physical labour. Printing and bleaching group workers suffered from respiratory problems (15.5%) almost twice as much as the comparative group, possibly due to exposure to fumes of acids and use of chemical dyes. Housing conditions, personal hygiene and education showed negative associations with disease conditions but positive associations with anemia. The study revealed that in the textile industry, disease conditions vary with the categorization of work. The findings suggest the need for implementation of safety measures according to the type of work in textile industries, besides extension of health and nutrition education and welfare programs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37446696,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Investigation of the Relationship between Electronic Structures and Bioactivities of Polypyridyl Ru(II) Complexes.\nRuthenium (Ru)-based organometallic drugs have gained attention as chemotherapeutic and bioimaging agents due to their fewer side effects and excellent physical optical properties. Tuning the electronic structures of Ru complexes has been proven to increase the cytotoxicity of cancer cells and the luminescent efficiency of the analytical probes. However, the relationship between electronic structures and bioactivities is still unclear due to the potential enhancement of both electron donor and acceptor properties. Thus, we investigated the relationship between the electronic structures of Ru(II) complexes and cytotoxicity by optimizing the electron-withdrawing (complex 1), electron-neutral (complex 2), and electron-donating (complex 3) ligands through DFT calculations, bioactivities tests, and docking studies. Our results indicated that it was not sufficient to consider only either the effect of electron-withdrawing or electron-donating effects on biological activities instead of the total electronic effects. Furthermore, these complexes with electron-donating substituents (complex 3) featured unique \"off-on\" luminescent emission phenomena caused by the various \"HOMO-LUMO\" distributions when they interacted with DNA, while complex with electron-withdrawing substituent showed an \"always-on\" signature. These findings offer valuable insight into the development of bifunctional chemotherapeutic agents along with bioimaging ability.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23457813,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Superficial mycoses among psychiatric patients in Mathari Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya.\nTo determine the prevalence of superficial mycoses among psychiatric patients. Randomised Prospective study Mathari Mental Hospital, and Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Nairobi Kenya. A study was conducted on prevalence of superficial fungal infections among psychiatric patients in Mathari Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya during the period of July to November 2009. 152 patients were assessed and samples collected from 25 patients with clinically suggestive symptoms of dermatomycosis revealed a 12.5% prevalence of superficial mycosis. There was no significant difference between males and females with superficial mycosis (P>0.05). Twenty percent of the patients who were on topical application had no viable organisms. Microsporum was the predominant species isolated while the skin was the site most commonly affected (64 %). Epidermophyton was the least prevalent. Terbinafin was the most effective antifungal while ketoconazole was the least effective. All patients admitted at Mathari hospital should be screened for fungal infection and treated. Terbinafin can be used as first line treatment of dermatomycosis after screening all psychiatric patients in Mathari Mental Hospital.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8347769,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Changes in subset specificity of anti-T cell autoantibodies in systemic lupus erythematosus.\nRelative reactivity of anti-lymphocyte autoantibodies (ALA) from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) against CD4+ and CD8+ T cells was studied using C-dependent microcytotoxicity assay. Of 46 SLE sera screened for anti-T cell autoantibodies, 27 sera (59%) showed significant cytotoxic reactivity. Of these, positive correlation between the titer of anti-T cell antibody and CD4\/CD8 killing ratio (p < 0.01) was demonstrated. In time course study of individual patients, the CD4\/CD8 killing ratio increased and decreased as the disease flared and subsided and was accompanied by parallel changes in the titer of anti-T cell antibody titer. Moreover, as sera were serially diluted, the CD4\/CD8 killing ratio decreased in 5 out of 10 sera. These results suggest that discrepancy among reports concerning the subset specificity of anti-T cell antibodies may be due, in part, to differences in the titer of ALA in the sera studied and to the dilution of serum used.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24400680,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nonionic surfactant-based vesicular system for transdermal drug delivery.\nThe objective of this study was to formulate and evaluate the Ibuprofen niosomal formulation as a transdermal drug delivery system. Niosomes were prepared by a modified ethanol injection method, using Span 60, Tween 60 and Tween 65 as well as cholesterol with various cholesterol:surfactant molar ratios. The prepared vesicles were characterized for entrapment efficiency (EE), particle size, zeta potential and in vitro release study. Skin permeation studies were conducted using modified Franz diffusion cell, and excised rat skin was treated with niosomal, liposomal and conventional Carbopol 914 gel of Ibuprofen. The results showed that the type of surfactant and molar ratio of cholesterol:surfactant altered the EE, size and in vitro drug release of niosomes. Higher EE was obtained with the niosomes prepared with cholesterol and Span 60 at molar ratio of 0.5:1. It has been observed that both niosomal and liposomal formulations enhanced the drug permeation and the percentage of accumulated dose in the skin compared to control conventional gel formulation. However, niosomes prepared by Span 60 and Tween 65 exhibited higher permeation and retention of Ibuprofen, respectively. Our results suggested that niosomal formulations could be used as a promising carrier for the Ibuprofen transdermal delivery system.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15809299,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cell surface expression of 5-hydroxytryptamine type 3 receptors is promoted by RIC-3.\nRIC-3 has been identified as a molecule essential for the recruitment of functional nicotinic acetylcholine receptors composed of alpha7, but it exhibits inhibitory effects on alpha4beta2 or alpha3beta4 receptors. In this study, we investigated the role of RIC-3 in the recruitment of 5-hydroxytryptamine type 3A (5-HT(3A)) receptors to the cell surface. Although RIC-3 is not essential for the surface transport of 5-HT(3A) receptors, we found that its presence enhances both receptor transport and function in a concentration-dependent manner. RIC-3 is localized to the endoplasmic reticulum, as evidenced by co-localization with the chaperone molecule, binding protein (BiP). RIC-3 is not detected at significant levels on the cell surface when expressed alone or in the presence of 5-HT(3A). RIC-3 and 5-HT(3A) show a low level interaction that is transient (<4 h). That RIC-3 can interact with an endoplasmic reticulum-retained 5-HT(3A) construct, combined with the transient interaction observed and lack of significant surface-expressed RIC-3, suggests that RIC-3 may play a role in 5-HT(3A) receptor folding, assembly, or transport to the cell surface.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29374883,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Analysis of pregnancy outcomes of polycystic ovary syndrome patients after frozen embryo transfer].\nObjective: To investigate pregnancy outcomes of the patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) after frozen embryo transfer (FET) . Methods: Data of 2 367 PCOS patients received in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer [including fresh embryo transfer (fET) and FET] from January 2009 to December 2015 in Peking University Third Hospital were evaluated retrospectively. The basal characteristics, pregnancy complications and outcomes were analyzed, then identified the relative factors followed. Results: Totally 2 367 patients received in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer: 1 106 were treated with fET, and the rest 1 261 cases were treated with FET. The incidence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) was lower in FET group [4.04%(51\/1 261) versus 6.15%(68\/1 106)], the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). Singletons born after FET had higher birth weight than fET [(3 406\u00b1548) versus (3 360\u00b1533) g], the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). There was no difference of other pregnancy complications between the two groups (all P>0.05). fET was an independent risk factor for GDM (adjusted OR=1.570, 95%CI: 1.075-2.294). Conclusion: Compared with fET, FET could decrease the risk of GDM and receive better neonatal outcomes in patients with PCOS.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34404361,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-18":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Objectively measured physical activity and sedentary time in children with overweight, obesity and morbid obesity: a cross-sectional analysis.\nLimited physical activity (PA) and a high level of sedentary time (ST) are associated with childhood obesity and are a target for intervention. This study aimed to assess objectively measured PA and ST in Dutch children across weight categories, age groups and sex. 202 children with overweight, obesity and morbid obesity (55% girls, 12 \u00b1 3y of age, BMI z-score + 3.15 \u00b1 0.73), referred to the Centre for Overweight Adolescents and Children's Healthcare (COACH, Maastricht UMC+) were included. PA (total PA, light PA and moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA)) and ST were measured with the GT3X Actigraph accelerometer. Wear time validation was set to include at least four days, 480 min\/day, including one weekend day. PA levels in children with morbid obesity were higher compared to children with obesity, also after correction for age and sex (corrected difference (B) 118 counts per minute (cpm), p = .006). ST was lower in children with morbid obesity compared to children with obesity (B - 51 min\/day, p = .018). Girls performed significantly less MVPA than boys (B - 11 min\/day, p < .001) and for each year increase of age, children performed less PA (B - 46 cpm, p < .001) and ST increased (B 18 min\/day, p < .001). PA and ST is different in subgroups of children with overweight, obesity and morbid obesity, depending on sex, age and overweight severity. In particular, children with obesity perform less PA and more ST compared to children with morbid obesity. Future research could explore the preferences and needs for PA and ST in children in the different weight categories. The trial is registered with Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02091544 at March 19, 2014.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16156613,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Structural and magnetic properties of hexagonal perovskites La1.2Sr2.7MO7.33 (M = Ru, Ir) containing peroxide ions.\nThe structures of the new compound La(1.2)Sr(2.7)IrO(7.33) and the recently discovered La(1.2)Sr(2.7)RuO(7.33) have been solved using a combination of X-ray and neutron diffraction. Both compounds crystallize in the trigonal space group Rm and consist of isolated MO6 (M = Ru, Ir) octahedra, which are arranged in well-defined hexagonal perovskite slabs. These slabs are separated by (Sr2O(1+delta)) layers containing both O2- and (O2)2- ions. The composition can therefore be written as La(1.2)Sr(2.7)MO(7-delta)(O2)delta with delta = 0.33. Results of the magnetic susceptibility and XANES measurements show that the transition metal cations are in a pentavalent state. While in La(1.2)Sr(2.7)RuO(7.33) an antiferromagnetic interaction between the Ru5+ ions is found, La(1.2)Sr(2.7)IrO(7.33) shows a very small temperature-independent paramagnetism down to 1.8 K due to the strong spin-orbit coupling characteristic for the 5d element iridium.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34243555,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A simple method to generate arbitrary laser shapes for stimulated Raman adiabatic passage.\nStimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP) is an effective technique to transfer state coherently with the features of both high fidelity and robustness in the field of quantum information and quantum precise measurement. In this note, we present a simple method to generate arbitrary laser shapes for STIRAP by controlling the modulation depth of the electro-optic modulator (EOM) and the diffraction efficiency of the acoustic-optic modulator (AOM) simultaneously. The EOM and AOM are used to control the power ratio between the two Raman lasers (pumping laser and Stokes laser) and the total power, respectively. Compared with the traditional method by combining two Raman lasers separated in space, this method has the advantage of simple structure and insensitivity to the environment disturbance, which would degrade the relative phase noise between two Raman lasers.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16153014,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Method to detect functional estrogen receptor expression using estrogen receptor probing compound.\nA novel method to detect functional estrogen receptor expression with estrogen receptor probing compound (ERPC) has been established. ERPC is composed of estradiol-BSA-biotin. ERPC can be used to detect functional estrogen receptor expression in both Western blot and immunohistochemistry. ERPC based techniques are non-radioactive, sensitive, relatively inexpensive, and can be used with all species. The use of both ERPC and ERalpha- or ERbeta-specific antibodies provides complementary information in characterizing estrogen receptors' expression and functional binding to ligand.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12024925,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pleomorphic adenoma of lacrimal gland: diagnosis based on fine needle aspiration cytology.\nA 48 years old male patient presented with a mass in the supratemporal quadrant of orbit. Fine needle aspiration (FNAC) revealed a cellular tumour with a chondrimyxoid background and epithelial cells intermingled with mesenchymal cells in a fibrillary matrix. A diagnosis of pleomorphic adenoma of the lacrimal gland was made which was confirmed on histopathology. FNA is a rapid and accurate method in diagnosis of lacrimal gland tumours.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25420719,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Wavelength-selective dual p- and n-type carrier transport of an organic\/graphene\/inorganic heterostructure.\nA novel organic\/graphene\/inorganic -heterostructure, consisting of a graphene layer encapsulated by n- and p-type photoactive materials with complementary absorptions, enables the control of dual n- and p-typed transport behaviors of a graphene transistor under selective UV or visible light illumination. A graphene-based p-n junction created by spatially patterned wavelength-selective illumination using the organic\/graphene\/inorganic heterostructure is also demonstrated.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22672280,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Melasma in men.\nMelasma is an acquired hypermelanosis that results in localized hyperpigmentation, commonly found on the face. This condition is much more common in women than men. There are some features of melasma in men that seem to differ from those seen in women. However, there is a paucity of data on this topic. The aim of this article is to review the etiology, clinical presentation, and treatment of melasma in men. It is important for dermatologists to understand some unique aspects of melasma in this group to provide appropriate care for patients who suffer from this frustrating condition.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37846869,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Biologically inspired virtual aperture extension method of small aperture HFSWR multielement array.\nWe propose a method for extending the virtual aperture of the small aperture high-frequency surface wave radar multielement array inspired by a fly namedOrmia ochracea. Despite the tremendous incompatibility between its ear and the incoming wavelength,Ormiacan accurately local the sound of its host cricket. This ability benefits from the coupled structure ofOrmia's ears which have been modelled as a mechanical vibration system. In this paper, we first design a two-degree of freedom biologically inspired coupled system by mimickingOrmia's coupled ears. We quantitatively analyze its extension capability to the array aperture and construct the received signal model of the virtual array. We then analyze its response characteristic and available frequency band. To achieve the applications of arbitrary desired frequencies, we propose a frequency conversion algorithm. Moreover, we design two multi-degree of freedom biologically inspired coupled systems for the multielement array We summarize the criteria for extending the degree of freedom and optimize these two systems to address their respective shortcomings. Numerical results give the optimal system parameters for our desired frequency and validate the frequency conversion algorithm. By comparing the radiation pattern of the inspired arrays (arrays with the proposed systems) with that of an ordinary array, we demonstrate the virtual aperture extension capability of our proposed method. We also verify the effectiveness of proposed method by processing the actual received signals of the array.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7930718,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Determinants of antibody response after recombinant gp160 boosting in vaccinia-naive volunteers primed with gp160-recombinant vaccinia virus. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases AIDS Vaccine Clinical Trials Network.\nPriming with a live recombinant vector followed by subunit boosting is a promising strategy for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) immunization. Twenty-nine vaccinia-naive volunteers were primed with gp160-recombinant vaccinia virus (HIVAC-1e) and boosted with recombinant (r) gp160 to define factors associated with the magnitude and specificity of antibody response after booster immunization. A longer interval between inoculation and boost, two inoculations of HIVAC-1e with lesion formation occurring after the first, and Western blot-detectable antibody to gp160 after inoculation were significantly associated with higher neutralizing antibody titers and fusion-inhibiting activity after boosting. HIVAC-1e-primed vaccinees were more likely to have antibody to V3- and CD4-binding regions of gp120 and less likely to have antibody to constant regions 2 and 3 than vaccinees immunized with rgp160 alone. Priming volunteers with HIVAC-1e was a key determinant of the epitope specificity and magnitude of functional antibody responses induced by rgp160 boosting.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25500294,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1}}},"text":"Molecular characterization of a new mosaic Simian Immunodeficiency Virus in a naturally infected tantalus monkey (Chlorocebus tantalus) from Cameroon: a challenge to the virus-host co-evolution of SIVagm in African green monkeys.\nAfrican green monkeys (AGMs) represent the most widely distributed non-human primates species in Africa. SIVagm naturally infects four of the 6 AGMs species at high prevalence in a species-specific manner. To date, only limited information is available on molecular characteristics of SIVagm infecting Chlorocebus tantalus. Here, we characterized the full-length genome of a virus infecting a naturally infected captive C. tantalus from Cameroon by amplifying and sequencing sub-genomic PCR fragments. The isolate (SIVagmTAN-CM545) is 9923bp long and contained all canonical genes of a functional SIV. SIVagmTAN-CM545 showed a mosaic structure, with gag, pol, nef and accessory genes closely related to SIVagmSAB infecting Chlorocebus sabaeus monkeys from west Africa, and the env gene, closely related to SIVagmTAN infecting tantalus monkeys from Central Africa. Thus SIVagmTAN-CM545 is SIVagmSAB\/SIVagmTAN recombinant. These unexpected findings suggest that the evolution of SIVagm is more complex than previously thought and warrant further studies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37466262,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Electrostatic Linear Ion Trap Optimization Strategy for High Resolution Charge Detection Mass Spectrometry.\nSingle ion mass measurements allow mass distributions to be recorded for heterogeneous samples that cannot be analyzed by conventional mass spectrometry. In charge detection mass spectrometry (CD-MS), ions are detected using a conducting cylinder coupled to a charge sensitive amplifier. For optimum performance, the detection cylinder is embedded in an electrostatic linear ion trap (ELIT) where trapped ions oscillate between end-caps that act as opposing ion mirrors. The oscillating ions generate a periodic signal that is analyzed by fast Fourier transforms. The frequency yields the m\/z, and the magnitude provides the charge. With a charge precision of 0.2 elementary charges, ions can be assigned to their correct charge states with a low error rate, and the m\/z resolving power determines the mass resolving power. Previously, the best mass resolving power achieved with CD-MS was 300. We have recently increased the mass resolving power to 700, through the better optimization of the end-cap potentials. To make a more dramatic improvement in the m\/z resolving power, it is necessary to find an ELIT geometry and end-cap potentials that can simultaneously make the ion oscillation frequency independent of both the ion energy and ion trajectory (angular divergence and radial offset) of the entering ion. We describe an optimization strategy that allows these conditions to be met while also adjusting the signal duty cycle to 50% to maximize the signal-to-noise ratio for the charge measurement. The optimized ELIT provides an m\/z resolving power of over 300 000 in simulations. Coupled with the high precision charge determination available with CD-MS, this will yield a mass resolving power of 300 000. Such a high mass resolving power will be transformative for the analysis of heterogeneous samples.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32354909,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Influence of Preeclampsia on Induction of Labor at Term: A Cohort Study.\nEven though vaginal delivery is a feasible option in patients with preeclampsia, the cesarean section rate in those patients is high. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of preeclampsia on induction of labor at term. This historical cohort study analyzed inductions of labor in women at term having preeclampsia versus women who were induced due to other reasons. The primary outcome measure was the cesarean section rate. The cesarean section rate was higher in the preeclampsia group for both nulliparous and multiparous women after induction of labor but failed to reach statistical significane. The induction-to-delivery interval was longer in nulliparous women and the rate of vaginal birth within 48 h was lower in the nulliparous patiens with preeclampsia. However, the impact of preeclampsia on the cesarean section rate was not significant in the multivariable analysis following adjustment for BMI and parity. Preeclampsia at term did not influence the cesarean section rate in nulliparous and parous women when labor was induced.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37465382,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Unilateral cross-incompatibility between Camellia oleifera and C. yuhsienensis provides new insights for hybridization in Camellia spp.\nCamellia yuhsienensis was used to cross with Camellia oleifera to improve the resistance of oil camellia anthracnose. However, unilateral cross-incompatibility (UCI) between C. oleifera and C. yuhsienensis was found during the breeding process. Five C.oleifera cultivars and four C. uhsienensis materials were tested to confirm the UCI between C. oleifera and C. yuhsienensis. 'Huashuo' (HS) and 'Youza 2' (YZ2) were used to represent these two species to characterize the UCI, including pollen tube growth, fertilization and fruit development. The results demonstrated that UCI was prevalent between C. oleifera and C. yuhsienensis. The asynchronous flowering period was a pre-pollination barrier that limited mating between these two species under natural conditions. Interspecific pollen tubes were observed through the styles of these two plants, though the growth rates differed considerably. At 96 hours after pollination, the pollen tube of YZ2 barely entered the ovule, but remained at the base of the style and became swollen. However, the HS pollen tube entered the ovule 48 hours after pollination, double fertilization was observed, and the fruit and seeds developed commonly. Relative to compatible combinations, most unfertilized ovules in incompatible combinations failed to grow, turned brown 150 days after pollination, and the fruits were smaller than expected with uneven enlargement. Investigations on both semi-in vivo and in vitro pollen tubes gave us new idea for thought: the HS style has a stronger inhibitory effect on the interspecific pollen tubes, while calcium alleviates the inhibitory of styles but failed to prevent the appearance of abnormal pollen tube morphology. This study provides useful information on interspecific hybridization between C. oleifera and C. yuhsienensis for understanding reproductive isolation mechanisms and breeding programs in genus Camellia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31242323,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Synthesis and In Vitro Biological Evaluation of Psoralen-Linked Fullerenes.\nPhotodynamic therapy (PDT) is a widely used medicinal treatment for the cancer therapy that utilizes the combination of a photosensitizer (PS) and light irradiation. In this study, we synthesized two novel C60 fullerene derivatives, compounds 1 and 2, with a psoralen moiety that can covalently bind to DNA molecules via cross-linking to pyrimidine under photoirradiation. Along with several fullerene derivatives, the biological properties of several novel compounds have been evaluated. Compounds 1 and 2, which have been shown to induce the production of hydroxyl radicals using several ROS detecting reagents, induced DNA strand breaks with relatively weak activities in the in vitro detection system using a supercoiled plasmid. However, the psoralen-bound fullerene with carboxyl groups (2) only showed genotoxicity in the genotoxicity assay system of the umu test. Compound 2 was also seen to have cytotoxic activities in several cancer cell lines at higher doses compared to water-soluble fullerenes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30310292,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Predictive value of LDH kinetics in bevacizumab treatment and survival of patients with advanced NSCLC.\nThe combination of bevacizumab and chemotherapy is still one of the standard treatments for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients in the new era of targeted therapy. Although a high level of baseline lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) was found to predict survival benefit from bevacizumab in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, the predictive value of serum level of LDH in NSCLC patients treated with bevacizumab has not been investigated yet. Moreover, dynamic evaluation of serum level of LDH changes may be more informative and promising in predicting patients' prognosis. We thus sought to analyze LDH kinetics and evaluate its predictive role in the response and survival of advanced NSCLC patients treated with bevacizumab. We retrospectively collected and analyzed a total of 161 advanced NSCLC patients who had undergone treatment with bevacizumab. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses of serum level of LDH were used for response analyses, and Cox models for both overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival analyses (PFS). Longitudinal analysis of LDH was performed using a mixed-effect regression model. On multivariate Cox models, increase of serum level of LDH after 4 cycles with bevacizumab (INC4) treatment was shown to be the independent risk factor for OS (hazard ratio =2.17, 95% CI: 1.21-3.90, P=0.009), and the serum level of LDH after 2 cycles (LDH2) and the increase of LDH after 6 cycles with bevacizumab (INC6) treatment were the predictive factors for PFS (hazard ratio =2.33, 95% CI: 1.38-3.93, P=0.001; hazard ratio =1.96, 95% CI: 1.27-3.03, P=0.002, respectively). Patients with increase of serum level of LDH after 2 cycles of treatment with bevacizumab (INC2) (odds ratio =3.75, 95% CI: 1.83-7.68, P<0.001) were more likely to attain stable disease\/progressive disease on multivariate logistic regression analyses, while patients with complete response (CR)\/partial response (PR) experienced a reduction of serum level of LDH every 2 cycles (Coef =-0.076, std error =0.017, P<0.001) over time. Dynamic changes of LDH were superior to baseline LDH in predicting prognosis of NSCLC patients treated with bevacizumab. Serum level of LDH reducing over time was a potential biomarker for patients to achieve good clinical response (CR\/PR) to bevacizumab.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26425065,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Does Improvised Waterbed Reduce the Incidence of Pressure Ulcers in Patients with Spinal Injury?\nPressure ulcers are lesions caused by unrelieved pressure over bony prominences, resulting in damage to underlying tissues. The etiology is multifactorial including prolonged immobility. They usually complicate spinal cord injuries with long periods of bed confinement. The use of bed replacements markedly reduces the incidence of pressure ulcers, but the unaffordability of these replacements in low-income countries has necessitated the need to explore cheaper alternatives. The aim of this study was to ascertain whether the use of our cheap and locally improvised waterbeds would reduce the incidence of pressure ulcers in patients on prolonged bed confinement due to spinal injury. Over a 16-month period, 51 patients (age range 1-80 years) with spinal injuries were managed conservatively in our service using improvised waterbeds in 21 (41.2%), while using the regular hospital bed\/foam in 30 (58.8%). Biodata, the time interval between injury and presentation to the hospital, nature of the injury, use of improvised waterbed and development of pressure ulcer, were collected, collated, and analyzed. Statistical significance was calculated with the Chi-square test. Most were males (98%), in the age range of 21-30 years (25.5%), and due to fall from heights (35.3%). Of 21 patients who were managed on improvised waterbeds, 6 (28.6%) had pressure ulcers, and of the 30 who did not use the waterbed, 17 (56.7%) developed ulcers. The \u03c7(2) = 3.9381, while P = 0.0472. This difference was statistically significant. The improvised waterbed, which is much cheaper than the standard waterbed, was observed to have significantly reduced the incidence of pressure ulcers among our patients. Nonetheless, further studies would still be needed to confirm this observation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20370283,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hidden imperfect synchronization of wall turbulence.\nInstantaneous amplitude and phase concept emerging from analytical signal formulation is applied to the wavelet coefficients of streamwise velocity fluctuations in the buffer layer of a near wall turbulent flow. Experiments and direct numerical simulations show both the existence of long periods of inert zones wherein the local phase is constant. These regions are separated by random phase jumps. The local amplitude is globally highly intermittent, but not in the phase locked regions wherein it varies smoothly. These behaviors are reminiscent of phase synchronization phenomena observed in stochastic chaotic systems. The lengths of the constant phase inert (laminar) zones reveal a type I intermittency behavior, in concordance with saddle-node bifurcation, and the periodic orbits of saddle nature recently identified in Couette turbulence. The imperfect synchronization is related to the footprint of coherent Reynolds shear stress producing eddies convecting in the low buffer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9543990,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Relationship between the experience of steroids side effects and noncompliance with oral steroids treatment in collagen disease patients].\nTo analyze the relationship between the experience of side effect and the compliance with oral steroids drug treatment of the patients in Collagen Disease Clinic. A questionnaire survey through interview was conducted on 165 outpatients with various collagen disease at Saga Medical School Hospital. 94 patients (57%) had a history of noncompliance to the steroids drug. 49 patients (52.1%) adventitiously had forgotten to take the steroids as ordered and 45 patients (47.9%) intentionally had regulated their steroids dose or had discontinued the steroids drug treatment. Over 80% of the patients had experienced side effects of the steroids. The patients who experienced one or more of the following side effects, osteoporosis, bone fractures, menstrual disorders, moon face, central obesity, alopecia, acnelike eruption, manic-depressive state, and insomnia, intentionally regulated, or discontinued the steroids therapy. In addition, the patients who were not made cognizance about side effects of the steroids by their physicians and nurse tended to noncompliance group. To increase the compliance rate with oral steroids drug treatment, we must make conscious efforts to inform the patients on the condition of their medical states, the efficacy of the prescribed drugs, and the side effects and risk concerning discontinuation of the steroids. It is Also necessary to establish \"Drug information and counseling day\" in outpatient Department.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30092156,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Reactivation of human herpesviruses 6 and 7 in Kawasaki disease.\nObjectives: Kawasaki disease (KD) is one of the most common childhood vasculitides. Some serological studies have suggested an etiological relationship between KD and human herpesvirus (HHV)-6 or HHV-7. However, primary or reactivated HHV-6 and -7 has not been fully investigated in patients with KD. Methods: Twenty-three patients with KD were prospectively enrolled in this study. Peripheral blood was collected in the acute and convalescence phases, and HHV-6 and -7 viral loads were measured by real-time PCR. Results: In the acute phase, HHV-6 and -7 DNA was detected in 7 (30%) patients each, compared to 13 (57%) and 9 (39%) patients in the convalescence phase, respectively. HHV-6 and -7 DNA loads were significantly higher in the convalescence phase than in the acute phase. Significant increases in HHV-6 and -7 DNA loads were not observed in disease control patients. Taking into account HHV-6 and -7 serostatus, reactivation of HHV-6 and -7 was observed in 7 and 9 patients, respectively. KD patients with HHV-6 reactivation showed higher C-reactive protein levels and more frequently required steroid therapies than patients without reactivation. Conclusion: HHV-6 and -7 reactivation is frequent in KD patients. HHV-6 reactivation might exacerbate the severity of KD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12027488,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Controlled trial of distal radial fractures treated with a resorbable bone mineral substitute.\nThis randomized trial compared the use of hydroxyapatite cement with Kapandji wiring in distal radial fractures. Two groups of nine patients with distal radial fractures were either treated by reduction and fixation with wires or insertion of the cement into the fracture void. There was no difference between the groups before operation, on reduction or at day 1. Dorsal angle in the hydroxyapatite group was significantly worse at 6, 12 and 26 weeks. Grip strength and palmar flexion were poor in the hydroxyapatite cement group. All the clinical parameters and X-ray variables were worse at 12 and 26 weeks in the hydroxyapatite cement group. We conclude from this trial that there is nothing to support the use of this hydroxyapatite cement, without the use of additional fixation, in distal radial fractures.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9571194,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Transforming G protein-coupled receptors block insulin and ras-induced adipocytic differentiation in 3T3-L1 cells: evidence for a PKC and MAP kinase independent pathway.\nWe have used the expression of muscarinic m1 receptors in the preadipocytic 3T3-L1 cell line for dissecting the nature of the G protein-linked pathways governing adipocytic differentiation, a complex process controlled by many stimuli and their downstream targets. 3T3-L1 cells can be differentiated by insulin or by ras oncogenes, and MAP kinase has been implicated in this process. However, m1 stimulation failed to induce differentiation of 3T3-L1 cells. Furthermore, it prevented insulin or v-ras-induced adipocytic differentiation, utilizing a protein kinase C-independent pathway. m1 stimulation did not alter the phosphorylation state of the insulin receptor substrates IRS-1 and SHC, nor the recruitment of Grb-2. Interestingly, whereas m1 receptors potently activated MAP kinase, another differentiation-inhibitor, TNF alpha, did not affect it. These results suggest that the control of adipocytic differentiation can occur utilizing a biochemical route independent of protein kinase C, and acting downstream, or independently from the Ras-MAP kinase pathway.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28539034,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"[The Short-term Outcome and Safety of Laparoscopic Colorectal Cancer Resection in Very Elderly Patients].\nDue to the recent increase in elderly population, laparoscopic surgery is more frequently performed in the elderly. This study aimed to compare the short-term outcomes of laparoscopic colorectal cancer surgery between the very elderly group (VEG), categorized as those with age over 80 years and the elderly group (EG), categorized as those with age 65 to 79 years. We retrospectively compared 48 very elderly patients with 96 elderly patients (1:2 matched) who underwent laparoscopic resection for colorectal cancers at our institution between March 2010 and December 2014. The clinicopathologic parameters, surgical characteristics and short term outcomes were compared. There was no statistically significant difference in clinicopathologic characteristics between VEG and EG. Postoperative pain score (7 points vs. 6 points, p=0.264), time to first flatus (3 days vs. 3 days, p=0.335), hospital stay (15 days vs. 16.5 days, p=0.361), complication rates (47.9% vs. 26.0%, p=0.147) and major complication rate (25% vs. 20.8%, p=0.681) were not statistically different between the two groups. Before surgery, VEG had higher rate of neurologic underlying disease, such as dementia or cerebrovascular disease, than EG (25.0% vs. 7.3%, p=0.007). There was no significant difference in the clinicopathologic characteristics, short-term outcomes, and complication rates for laparoscopic colorectal resection between VEG and EG, except delirium. Age over 80 years may be relevant for the application of laparoscopic colorectal cancer resection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12007133,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Chiral separation of polychlorinated biphenyls using a combination of hydroxypropyl-gamma-cyclodextrin and a polymeric chiral surfactant.\nChiral separation of moderately to highly hydrophobic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) using a conventional chiral micelle or a polymeric chiral surfactant, as the single chiral selector is very difficult since the hydrophobic interactions between the chiral PCB and the monomeric or polymeric surfactant is very strong. Combined use of a polymeric chiral surfactant, polysodium N-undecanoyl-D-valinate (poly-D-SUV) with hydroxypropyl-gamma-cyclodextrin (HP-gamma-CD) was successful in cyclodextrin modified electrokinetic chromatography (CD-EKC) enantioseparation of PCB congeners. Addition of HP-gamma-CD to the background electrolyte containing poly-D-SUV functioned to improved chiral resolution for the PCBs and reduce the analysis time for these congeners. In addition, concentration of methanol, concentration of 2-(N-cyclohexylamino) ethanesulfonic acid (CHES) buffer and separation voltage was also varied to optimize multicomponent separation of five chiral PCBs. Simultaneous separation and enantioseparation of all five PCBs was possible in less than 50 min under optimized conditions that requires a 5 mM CHES solution buffered at about pH 10 with 1.5% w\/v (ca. 60 mM) poly-D-SUV and 16 mM HP-gamma-CD. In addition, 1 M urea and 20% v\/v methanol should be added as organic modifier and the capillary temperature maintained at 45 degrees C. As expected the polymeric surfactant showed improved chiral resolution of PCBs over conventional micelles of SUV. Under optimized conditions, when CD-EKC of chiral PCBs using poly-D-SUV was compared to sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), better resolution, higher efficiency and shorter analysis time was achieved with poly-D-SUV.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9564186,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Boerhaave syndrome: a rare cause of acute thoracic pain].\nIn a 74-year old female patient suffering from acute thoracic pain, vomiting, and dyspnoea, the diagnosis of Boerhaave's syndrome was made. After medical treatment the patient was dismissed in a sufficiently satisfactory condition. If symptoms like vomiting, severe thoracic pain, pneumomediastinum, pneumothorax or hydropneumothorax on the left side occur, a rupture of the oesophagus should be taken into account especially in case of abuse of alcohol. The early diagnosis is decisive for the course of the disease and a lethality reduction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25526555,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Proceedings of the Second Annual Deep Brain Stimulation Think Tank: What's in the Pipeline.\nThe proceedings of the 2nd Annual Deep Brain Stimulation Think Tank summarize the most contemporary clinical, electrophysiological, and computational work on DBS for the treatment of neurological and neuropsychiatric disease and represent the insights of a unique multidisciplinary ensemble of expert neurologists, neurosurgeons, neuropsychologists, psychiatrists, scientists, engineers and members of industry. Presentations and discussions covered a broad range of topics, including advocacy for DBS, improving clinical outcomes, innovations in computational models of DBS, understanding of the neurophysiology of Parkinson's disease (PD) and Tourette syndrome (TS) and evolving sensor and device technologies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8351417,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sex-related differences of acetohexamide reductase activities in the liver and kidney of various mammalian species.\nSex-related differences of acetohexamide reductase activities in cytosol and microsomes from the liver and kidney of the rat, mouse, guinea pig, hamster and rabbit were examined. Among animal species tested, the rat, guinea pig and rabbit exhibited sex-related differences in the activities. The activities in liver cytosol of the rat and rabbit were higher in the females than in the males, whereas the activity in kidney cytosol of the rabbit was higher in the male than in the female. Furthermore, the activities in liver and kidney microsomes of the rat and that in kidney microsomes of the guinea pig were much higher in the males than in the females. It is interesting to note that significant sex-related differences of acetohexamide reductase activities are found in some animal species other than the rat.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":2785903,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Chronic cavitary Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in a patient with AIDS.\nA 39-year-old man with AIDS presented with cough, chest pain, dyspnea on exertion, fever, and a cavitary lesion in the upper lobe of the left lung. The cavity increased in size over the next five months with disease involvement limited to the left upper lobe. Pneumocystis carinii infection was then diagnosed. Symptoms and cavity resolved with trimethoprim\/sulfamethoxazole therapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12014792,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The confluence of mental, physical, social, and academic difficulties in middle childhood. II: developing the Macarthur health and Behavior Questionnaire.\n(1) To evaluate the psychometric properties of the MacArthur Health and Behavior Questionnaire (HBQ) in two studies of 4- to 8-year-old children and (2) to explore the empirical and theoretical implications of HBQ-based study findings. Samples of children were recruited from (1) mental health clinics (n = 53) and community schools (n = 67) for a case-control study in three research sites and (2) a Wisconsin-based community cohort study of families and work, comprising children with high levels of internalizing and\/or externalizing behavior problems and asymptomatic children (N = 122). Combinations of mothers, fathers, and teachers completed the HBQ at one or two time points in four geographically and culturally distinctive settings. Assessment of HBQ reliability showed high test-retest stability and cross-informant agreement. The instrument discriminated strongly and significantly among symptom groups (i.e., high internalizing, high externalizing, high both, and low both) and showed moderate to large effect sizes for between-group differences. Substantial covariance was also found among the HBQ mental, physical, social, and academic problem subscales. The HBQ is a reliable and valid parent- and teacher-report instrument for assessing multiple dimensions of health and dysfunction in middle childhood and for identifying children on whom more intensive diagnostic procedures may be warranted. Confluences among the four health dimensions suggest phenomenological and perhaps etiological commonalities among traditionally partitioned childhood difficulties and suggest possible artificiality in the conventional distinction between pediatric and child psychiatric morbidities.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8342426,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Conceptual review of oncocytic lesions].\nUpdating of a series of entities which significance is not always pathological, or it is poorly known, and which are related to oxyphilic transformation of epithelial cells. Review of concepts such as \"oncocytosis\", \"oncocytic hyperplasia\" and \"oncocytoma\", establishing a hypothetical continuum of damage which could actually be contemplated within the evolution spectrum of hyperplasia-adenoma-carcinoma. Also, both the changes occurring at subcellular level and the hypothesis considered to explain them are commented.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1693445,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Sense and nonsense of tumor markers in practice].\nTumor markers can be used for screening, diagnosis, planning and monitoring of therapy, for early detection of relapse and for psychological reasons. Unfortunately none of the currently available tumor markers can be used for all these purposes. An ever increasing number of tumor markers can be determined; however, the advantage for the individual patient's management is less obvious. We therefore critically review the routine use of some tumor markers such as CEA, AFP, beta-HCG, LDH, CA-125, CA 19-9, prostate acid phosphatase, prostate specific antigen and CA 15-3. The use of tumor markers requires a sound knowledge of the biology of the marker, the neoplastic disease and the available treatment. When tumor markers do not add new information and have no diagnostic or therapeutic consequences, their use becomes an expensive medical nonsense!","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31245187,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Metformin-associated Lactic Acidosis: An Unexpected Scenario.\nAccording to the National Diabetes Statistics Report (2017) by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 9.4% of the US population, approximately 30.3 million people had diabetes while 84.1 million had pre-diabetes as of 2015. In addition to lifestyle changes, the American Diabetes Association recommends metformin as the first-line treatment for type 2 diabetes. Hence, not surprisingly, metformin is a commonly prescribed medication by most healthcare providers in all clinical settings. As a result, it remains essential that all medical professionals be aware of any adverse effects as a result of metformin therapy, no matter how uncommon. We present the case of a 42-year-old lady with type 2 diabetes mellitus who required initial admission to intensive care unit (ICU) after presenting with unilateral back and lower abdominal pain with dysuria and was noted to have an acute kidney injury with a creatinine of 7.45 mg\/dL and severe metabolic acidosis with a pH of 6.7 and an anion gap more than 50 mmol\/L. Lactic acid was elevated at 24.2 mmol\/L. Serum metformin levels were high at 14 mcg\/mL (therapeutic range: 1-2 mcg\/mL). She required emergent dialysis but subsequently, renal functions recovered. Risk of metformin-associated lactic acidosis (MALA) is reported to be an estimated 6.3 per 100,000 patient-years. Commonly encountered clinical scenarios such as hypoxemia, sepsis, alcohol abuse, renal injury, and shock can precipitate MALA. Early recognition allows timely initiation of appropriate therapy and reduces associated morbidity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28574720,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"\"Bone Development\" Is an Ontology Group Upregulated in Porcine Oocytes Before In Vitro Maturation: A Microarray Approach.\nMammalian cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) reach full developmental capability during folliculogenesis and oogenesis. It is well recognized that only gametes achieving MII stage after in vivo or in vitro maturation (IVM) are successfully fertilized by a single spermatozoon. Although the process of oocyte nuclear and\/or cytoplasmic maturation in pigs is well determined, there exist many differences that promote these processes in vivo and in vitro. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the differences in RNA expression profiles between porcine oocytes before and after IVM using microarray and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) assays. Experiments were performed on oocytes isolated from 55 pubertal crossbred Landrace gilts. The oocytes were analyzed both before and after IVM and only Brilliant Cresyl Blue (BCB)-positive gametes were used for subsequent microarray analysis (Affymetrix) and RT-qPCR analysis. The microarray assay, which measures expression of 12,258 transcripts, revealed 419 differentially expressed transcripts in porcine oocytes, from which 379 were downregulated and 40 were upregulated before IVM compared to those analyzed after IVM. After DAVID analysis, we found eight different transcripts, including IHH, BMP1, WWTR1, CHRDL1, KLF10, EIF2AK3, MMP14, and STC1. Their expression is related to the \"bone development\" ontology group and was further subjected to hierarchical clusterization. Using RT-qPCR analysis, we confirmed the results of the microarray assay, showing increased expression of the eight genes in oocytes before IVM compared to oocytes after maturation in vitro. It has been suggested that \"bone development\" belongs to one ontological group involving genes substantially upregulated in porcine oocytes before IVM. We suggest that the gamete mRNA expression profile before IVM may comprise stored transcripts, which are templates for protein biosynthesis following fertilization. We also hypothesize that these mRNAs may be a specific \"fingerprint\" of folliculogenesis and oogenesis in pigs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17202469,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Passive immunization with anti-ganglioside antibodies directly inhibits axon regeneration in an animal model.\nRecent studies have proposed that neurite outgrowth is influenced by specific nerve cell surface gangliosides, which are sialic acid-containing glycosphingolipids highly enriched in the mammalian nervous system. For example, the endogenous lectin, myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG), is reported to bind to axonal gangliosides (GD1a and GT1b) to inhibit neurite outgrowth. Clustering of gangliosides in the absence of inhibitors such as MAG is also shown to inhibit neurite outgrowth in culture. In some human autoimmune PNS and CNS disorders, autoantibodies against GD1a or other gangliosides are implicated in pathophysiology. Because of neurobiological and clinical relevance, we asked whether anti-GD1a antibodies inhibit regeneration of injured axons in vivo. Passive transfer of anti-GD1a antibody severely inhibited axon regeneration after PNS injury in mice. In mutant mice with altered ganglioside or complement expression, inhibition by antibodies was mediated directly through GD1a and was independent of complement-induced cytolytic injury. The impaired regenerative responses and ultrastructure of injured peripheral axons mimicked the abortive regeneration typically seen after CNS injury. These data demonstrate that inhibition of axon regeneration is induced directly by engaging cell surface gangliosides in vivo and imply that circulating autoimmune antibodies can inhibit axon regeneration through neuronal gangliosides independent of endogenous regeneration inhibitors such as MAG.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16210846,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"IGF-1 and retinopathy of prematurity in the preterm infant.\nRetinopathy of prematurity (ROP) continues to be a major cause of blindness in children. Although ablation of the retina reduces the incidence of blindness by suppressing the neovascular phase of ROP, the visual outcomes after treatment are often poor. Preventive therapy is required and will likely come from a better understanding of the pathophysiology of the disease. To study the role of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in both the proliferative phase of ROP (phase II) and in the early phase when blood vessels are lost. Using both a mouse model of ROP and clinical studies the relationship between IGF-1, VEGF and both vessel loss and vessels proliferation in the retina was studied. IGF-1 is required for maximum VEGF activation of vascular endothelial cell proliferation and survival pathways. IGF-1 levels are deficient after premature birth, setting the stage for retinal vascular loss and ROP. Restoration of IGF-1 to levels found in utero may help prevent ROP.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15560474,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Construction and application of a stoichiometric displacement model for retention in chiral recognition of molecular imprinting.\nTo do an extensive investigation of the chiral recognition mechanism of the molecular imprinting technique, two kinds of enantio-selective molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs), N-tert-butoxycarbonyl-L-tryptophan (N-Boc-L-Trp) and N-tert-butoxycarbonyl-L-tyramine (N-Boc-L-Tyr), were synthesized by photo-induced and thermal-induced polymerization, respectively, and were employed as the stationary phase in liquid chromatography. A stoichiometric displacement model for retention (SDM-R) was successfully constructed and applied to evaluate the chiral separation of the MIPs. The simulation results showed that the values of ln k' in the proposed SDM-R could be employed to characterize the efficiency of the MIP's total separation, and the value of n could be used to denote the space effect of the enantiomers interacting with the MIPs when the interaction between the solutes and MIPs was a hydrogen-bonding interaction. Further studies showed that the suitability of the MIP cavity structure mainly determined the chiral-recognition ability of the imprinting system, when a strong hydrogen-bond competitive solvent was added into the mobile phase.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22679057,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Size and ionic currents of unexcitable cells coupled to cardiomyocytes distinctly modulate cardiac action potential shape and pacemaking activity in micropatterned cell pairs.\nCardiac cell therapies can yield electric coupling of unexcitable donor cells to host cardiomyocytes with functional consequences that remain unexplored. We micropatterned cell pairs consisting of a neonatal rat ventricular myocyte (NRVM) coupled to an engineered human embryonic kidney 293 (HEK293) cell expressing either connexin-43 (Cx43 HEK) or inward rectifier potassium channel 2.1 (Kir2.1) and Cx43 (Kir2.1+Cx43 HEK). The NRVM-HEK contact length was fixed yielding a coupling strength of 68.9\u00b19.7 nS, whereas HEK size was systematically varied. With increase in Cx43 HEK size, NRVM maximal diastolic potential was reduced from -71.7\u00b10.6 mV in single NRVMs to -35.1\u00b11.3 mV in pairs with an HEK:NRVM cell surface area ratio of 1.7\u00b10.1, whereas the action potential upstroke ([dV(m)\/dt](max)) and duration decreased to 1.6\u00b10.7% and increased to 177\u00b132% in single NRVM values, respectively (n=21 cell pairs). Pacemaking occurred in all NRVM-Cx43 HEK pairs with cell surface area ratios of 1.1 to 1.9. In contrast, NRVMs, coupled with Kir2.1+Cx43 HEKs of increasing size, had similar maximal diastolic potentials, exhibited no spontaneous activity, and showed a gradual decrease in action potential duration (n=23). Furthermore, coupling single NRVMs to a dynamic clamp model of HEK cell ionic current reproduced the cardiac maximal diastolic potentials and pacemaking rates recorded in cell pairs, whereas reproducing changes in (dV(m)\/dt)(max) and action potential duration required coupling to an HEK model that also included cell membrane capacitance. Size and ionic currents of unexcitable cells electrically coupled to cardiomyocytes distinctly affect cardiac action potential shape and initiation with important implications for the safety of cardiac cell and gene therapies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8340912,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Reductive activation of potential antitumor mitosene compounds.\nThe reductive activation of mitosene compounds was studied with cyclic voltammetry and HPLC analysis. Reduction of mitosenes, possessing good leaving groups at C-1 and C-10, was shown to result in loss of these groups at pH 7.0 and pH 6.0. The loss of leaving groups from mitosenes occurred faster at lower pH. Mitosenes without good leaving groups were found to be stable upon reduction. In the presence of acetoxy groups at C-1 and C-10, the C-10 site is the most reactive site upon reductive activation. This is opposite to the case of mitomycin C, where the C-1 site is the first to react upon reduction. At pH 6.0 without reduction, acid degradation also caused the loss of leaving groups of mitosenes, although at a very slow rate. In contrast to reductive activation, upon acid degradation of a diacetoxymitosene the C-1 group appeared to be lost faster. Electrochemical as well as dithionite reduction of a bifunctional (diacetoxy) mitosene compound in the presence of calf thymus DNA at pH 5.5 resulted in the formation of DNA interstrand cross-links. Depending on activation method, this diacetoxymitosene was at least as efficient in DNA cross-linking as mitomycin C under comparable conditions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":2483983,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Establishment of an animal model of intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR)].\nThis paper reports the establishment of animal model of IUGR by injecting Actinomycin to pregnant rats at 0.1 micrograms\/g on the tenth, eleventh and twelfth day after pregnancy. The rats were divided into control, test A, B and C groups. The body weight of test A group rats was obviously lowered than the controls (P less than 0.01). The fetal weight, placental function and serum total proteins of A group rats were also markedly lowered (P less than 0.01). IUGR incidence in test A, B and C groups were 66.2%, 41.2% and 27.8%, respectively. It may be seen that establishment of animal model of IUGR by giving Actinomycin on the 10th day after pregnancy of the rat produced the best results and the most cases of IUGR.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22670568,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"P\/Q-type calcium channel modulators.\nP\/Q-type calcium channels are high-voltage-gated calcium channels contributing to vesicle release at synaptic terminals. A number of neurological diseases have been attributed to malfunctioning of P\/Q channels, including ataxia, migraine and Alzheimer's disease. To date, only two specific P\/Q-type blockers are known: both are peptides deriving from the spider venom of Agelenopsis aperta, \u03c9-agatoxins. Other peptidic calcium channel blockers with activity at P\/Q channels are available, albeit with less selectivity. A number of low molecular weight compounds modulate P\/Q-type currents with different characteristics, and some exhibit a peculiar bidirectional pattern of modulation. Interestingly, there are a number of therapeutics in clinical use, which also show P\/Q channel activity. Because selectivity as well as the exact mode of action is different between all P\/Q-type channel modulators, the interpretation of clinical and experimental data is complicated and needs a comprehensive understanding of their target profile. The situation is further complicated by the fact that information on potency varies vastly in the literature, which may be the result of different experimental systems, conditions or the splice variants of the P\/Q channel. This review attempts to provide a comprehensive overview of the compounds available that affect the P\/Q-type channel and should help with the interpretation of results of in vitro experiments and animal models. It also aims to explain some clinical observations by implementing current knowledge about P\/Q channel modulation of therapeutically used non-selective drugs. Chances and challenges of the development of P\/Q channel-selective molecules are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34244880,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-26":1}}},"text":"Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Early Detection of Retinitis Pigmentosa - the Most Common Inherited Retinal Degeneration.\nThe purpose of this study was to detect the presence of retinitis pigmentosa (RP) based on color fundus photographs using a deep learning model. A total of 1670 color fundus photographs from the Taiwan inherited retinal degeneration project and National Taiwan University Hospital were acquired and preprocessed. The fundus photographs were labeled RP or normal and divided into training and validation datasets (n = 1284) and a test dataset (n = 386). Three transfer learning models based on pre-trained Inception V3, Inception Resnet V2, and Xception deep learning architectures, respectively, were developed to classify the presence of RP on fundus images. The model sensitivity, specificity, and area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve were compared. The results from the best transfer learning model were compared with the reading results of two general ophthalmologists, one retinal specialist, and one specialist in retina and inherited retinal degenerations. A total of 935 RP and 324 normal images were used to train the models. The test dataset consisted of 193 RP and 193 normal images. Among the three transfer learning models evaluated, the Xception model had the best performance, achieving an AUROC of 96.74%. Gradient-weighted class activation mapping indicated that the contrast between the periphery and the macula on fundus photographs was an important feature in detecting RP. False-positive results were mostly obtained in cases of high myopia with highly tessellated retina, and false-negative results were mostly obtained in cases of unclear media, such as cataract, that led to a decrease in the contrast between the peripheral retina and the macula. Our model demonstrated the highest accuracy of 96.00%, which was comparable with the average results of 81.50%, of the other four ophthalmologists. Moreover, the accuracy was obtained at the same level of sensitivity (95.71%), as compared to an inherited retinal disease specialist. RP is an important disease, but its early and precise diagnosis is challenging. We developed and evaluated a transfer-learning-based model to detect RP from color fundus photographs. The results of this study validate the utility of deep learning in automating the identification of RP from fundus photographs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8347903,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Use of ondansetron for control of projectile vomiting in patients with neurosurgical trauma: two case reports.\nTo describe two cases of projectile vomiting that were treated successfully with ondansetron in patients with neurosurgical trauma. Causes and pharmacologic treatments for nausea and emesis are also discussed. Patient data and literature citations from published case reports, review articles, and clinical research reports as identified by MEDLINE. Ondansetron, a potent and highly selective antagonist of serotonin at the 5-HT3 (subtype 3)-receptor, possesses potent antiemetic effects. It has not been associated with the extrapyramidal adverse effects seen with traditional antiemetics. The occurrence of extrapyramidal reactions may limit the usefulness of conventional antiemetics in neurosurgical patients because such agents interfere with serial mental status examinations and lower the seizure threshold. Therefore, ondansetron may be preferable in this patient population. Two patients with head trauma and projectile vomiting were treated successfully with ondansetron following treatment failure with prochlorperazine. These represent the first reported cases of efficacious treatment with ondansetron in neurosurgical trauma patients. Ondansetron may be the preferred agent for controlling nausea and vomiting in patients with neurosurgical trauma. Controlled clinical trials are needed to evaluate its safety and efficacy in this patient population.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37656437,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Conceptual advances in nucleophilic organophosphine-promoted transformations.\nCatalysis by trivalent nucleophilic organophosphines has emerged as an essential tool in organic synthesis. Several new organic transformations promoted by phosphines substantiate and complement the existing synthetic chemistry tools. Mere design of the substrate and reagent combinations has introduced new modes of reactivity patterns, which are otherwise difficult to achieve. These design considerations have led to the rapid build-up of complex molecular entities and laid a solid foundation to synthesise bioactive natural products and pharmaceuticals. This article presents an overview of some of the conceptual advances, including our contributions to nucleophilic organophosphine chemistry. The scope, limitations, mechanistic insights, and applications of these metal-free transformations are discussed elaborately.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9147195,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A study to ascertain gynaecological patients' perceived levels of embarrassment with physical and psychological care given by female and male nurses.\nThe Sex Discrimination Act lifted the barriers which prevented men from training and practising as midwives. However, cultural attitudes perceive nursing to be a female profession, and whilst care from a male doctor is considered to be acceptable, care from a male nurse is said to be embarrassing. The purpose of the study was to identify if there was any relationship between the intimacy of a nursing interaction and the patient's level of embarrassment. Data collection was by questionnaires with rating scales. Demographic data was obtained from nursing and medical notes. Statistical analysis was performed by non-parametric methods using Mini-tab. Ninety-one questionnaires were returned from a convenience sample of patients on a gynaecological oncology ward. Analysis of the data indicates that in a population of patients who have no prior experience of hospital admission, or of being cared for by a male nurse, there is a preference for care by a female nurse. However, this preference is not demonstrated in patients who have undergone previous hospital admission within the last five years or who have been cared for by a male nurse. These findings would indicate a cultural preference for care by a female nurse in patients with gynaecological cancer that is changed by experience during hospital admission.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6741322,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Indication and technic of interlocking nailing of the femur].\nBetween 1973 and 1982 we treated 569 fractures of the femoral shaft by means of osteosynthesis. The internal nailing was performed in 41.6%. We used an interlocking nailing in 170 cases, 116 times statically and 54 times dynamically. An open reposition was performed in 48.2%. With only a very small incision we exposed the area of the fracture to insert the reamer guide under control of the fingers into the distal part of the femoral shaft. By using this technique there is no danger of disposing the fragments in order to achieve stabilisation in the correct position. 52.4% of the patients were younger than 30 years and 25.9% older than 30 years and 25.9% older than 60 years. In all cases we observed an osseous healing, twice a secondary cancellous bone craft was necessary. As complications we had an infection rate of 2.9%, loosening of the bolt in 0.6%, axial malalignment greater than 10 degrees in 0.6%, a rotary malalignment greater than 10 degrees in 1.2%. We did not observe any refracture. Less complications can be observed in interlocking nailing in comparison with plate osteosynthesis. Technique, indication, mistakes, and dangers as well as careful timing of operation are discussed. In open fractures delayed osteosynthesis by means of interlocking nailing is to be preferred to primary plate osteosynthesis. Fractures fixed by interlocking nailing had comparatively less complications in fracture healing and especially no more shortenings and rotation deformities, but the advantage of early full weightbearing. The interlocking nail has a very important value in the management of femoral shaft fractures.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34242962,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Trace elements and stable isotopes in penguin chicks and eggs: A baseline for monitoring the Ross Sea MPA and trophic transfer studies.\nMulti-tissue trace elements (TEs), C, N concentrations and stable isotopes (\u03b413C, \u03b415N) of chick carcasses and eggs of Ad\u00e9lie and Emperor penguins were studied to i) provide reference data before the recent institution of the Ross Sea Marine Protected Area (Antarctica), and ii) provide conversion factors that allow estimating C, N, \u03b413C and \u03b415N in edible tissues from non-edible ones, thus improving the use of stable isotopes in contamination and trophic transfer studies. Higher concentrations of As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mn and Pb were found in chick carcasses than in eggs, suggesting increasing contamination in recent decades and high toxicity risks for penguin consumers. Isotopic conversion factors highlighted small differences among body tissues and conspecifics. These values suggest that chick carcasses are reliable indicators of the energy pathways underlying the two penguin species, their trophic position in the food web and their exposure to TEs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25416280,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Human FMRP contains an integral tandem Agenet (Tudor) and KH motif in the amino terminal domain.\nFragile X syndrome, a common cause of intellectual disability and autism, is due to mutational silencing of the FMR1 gene leading to the absence of its gene product, fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP). FMRP is a selective RNA binding protein owing to two central K-homology domains and a C-terminal arginine-glycine-glycine (RGG) box. However, several properties of the FMRP amino terminus are unresolved. It has been documented for over a decade that the amino terminus has the ability to bind RNA despite having no recognizable functional motifs. Moreover, the amino terminus has recently been shown to bind chromatin and influence the DNA damage response as well as function in the presynaptic space, modulating action potential duration. We report here the amino terminal crystal structures of wild-type FMRP, and a mutant (R138Q) that disrupts the amino terminus function, containing an integral tandem Agenet and discover a novel KH motif.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14555339,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Metabolism and disposition of gemfibrozil in Wistar and multidrug resistance-associated protein 2-deficient TR- rats.\n1. The roles of multidrug resistance-associated protein (Mrp) 2 deficiency and Mrp3 up-regulation were evaluated on the metabolism and disposition of gemfibrozil. 2. Results from in vitro studies in microsomes showed that the hepatic intrinsic clearance (CLint) for the oxidative metabolism of gemfibrozil was slightly higher (1.5-fold) in male TR- rats, which are deficient in Mrp2, than in wild-type Wistar rats, whereas CLint for glucuronidation was similar in both strains. 3. The biliary excretion of intravenously administered [14C]gemfibrozil was significantly impaired in TR-) rats compared with Wistar rats (22 versus 93% of the dose excreted as the acyl glucuronides over 72 h). Additionally, the extent of urinary excretion of radioactivity was much higher in TR- than in Wistar rats (78 versus 2.6% of the dose). 4. There were complex time-dependent changes in the total radioactivity levels and metabolite profiles in plasma, liver and kidney, some of which appeared to be related to the up-regulation of Mrp3. 5. Overall, it was demonstrated that alterations in the expression of the transporters Mrp2 and Mrp3 significantly affected the excretion as well as the secondary metabolism and distribution of [14C]gemfibrozil.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17195958,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Role of HPV E6 proteins in preventing UVB-induced release of pro-apoptotic factors from the mitochondria.\nApoptotic elimination of UV-damaged cells from the epidermis is an important step in preventing both the emergence and expansion of cells with carcinogenic potential. A pivotal event in apoptosis is the release of apoptogenic factors from the mitochondria, although the mechanisms by which the different proteins are released are not fully understood. Here we demonstrate that UV radiation induced the mitochondrial to nuclear translocation of apoptosis inducing factor (AIF) in normal skin. The human papillomavirus (HPV) E6 protein prevented release of AIF and other apoptotic factors such as cytochrome c and Omi from mitochondria of UV-damaged primary epidermal keratinocytes and preserved mitochondrial integrity. shRNA silencing of Bak, a target for E6-mediated proteolysis, demonstrated the requirement of Bak for UV-induced AIF release and mitochondrial fragmentation. Furthermore, screening non-melanoma skin cancer biopsies revealed an inverse correlation between HPV status and AIF nuclear translocation. Our results indicate that the E6 activity towards Bak is a key factor that promotes survival of HPV-infected cells that facilitates tumor development.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9544438,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Enhancement of tumor cell lysis by natural killer cells after blocking of HLA-monomorphic determinant using F(ab')2 fragment of W6\/32.\nIt has been known that negative signal of natural killer (NK) cells is triggered by HLA-polymorphic determinant (PMD) of target cells. However, it is not clear whether or not the negative signal is triggered by HLA-monomorphic determinant (MMD). In this study, we determined the interaction of NK receptor and MMD by mean of a blocking test. For the blocking, W6\/32, which is an antibody to the MMD, was used. As target cells, we used a tumor cell line H42 and several cell lines. The H42 was established from a bladder cancer patient after radiation therapy. This cell line was demonstrated to be PMD negative but MMD positive and showed NK sensitivity. We had established one more cell line, H41, from the same patient before the radiation therapy. However, the H41 possessed both the PMD and MMD and exhibited NK resistance. Thus, the NK sensitivity of the H42 may be due to depression of the PMD. We performed a blocking test against the MMD of these cell lines. When the H42 was pretreated with F(ab')2 fragment of the W6\/32, the killing by NK cells increased. Other cell lines, EB33, KMT-1, and HMy2-C1R, which possessed low levels of PMD, were killed moderately after the pretreatment, although the H41 and other cell lines (KO, MT-2, OKM-3T), which possessed high levels of PMD, were killed only slightly. These findings suggest that the negative signal may be triggered not only by the PMD but also by the MMD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11983907,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Reverse engineering gene networks using singular value decomposition and robust regression.\nWe propose a scheme to reverse-engineer gene networks on a genome-wide scale using a relatively small amount of gene expression data from microarray experiments. Our method is based on the empirical observation that such networks are typically large and sparse. It uses singular value decomposition to construct a family of candidate solutions and then uses robust regression to identify the solution with the smallest number of connections as the most likely solution. Our algorithm has O(log N) sampling complexity and O(N(4)) computational complexity. We test and validate our approach in a series of in numero experiments on model gene networks.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37447757,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"UN-YOLOv5s: A UAV-Based Aerial Photography Detection Algorithm.\nWith the progress of science and technology, artificial intelligence is widely used in various disciplines and has produced amazing results. The research of the target detection algorithm has significantly improved the performance and role of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and plays an irreplaceable role in preventing forest fires, evacuating crowded people, surveying and rescuing explorers. At this stage, the target detection algorithm deployed in UAVs has been applied to production and life, but making the detection accuracy higher and better adaptability is still the motivation for researchers to continue to study. In aerial images, due to the high shooting height, small size, low resolution and few features, it is difficult to be detected by conventional target detection algorithms. In this paper, the UN-YOLOv5s algorithm can solve the difficult problem of small target detection excellently. The more accurate small target detection (MASD) mechanism is used to greatly improve the detection accuracy of small and medium targets, The multi-scale feature fusion (MCF) path is combined to fuse the semantic information and location information of the image to improve the expression ability of the novel model. The new convolution SimAM residual (CSR) module is introduced to make the network more stable and focused. On the VisDrone dataset, the mean average precision (mAP) of UAV necessity you only look once v5s(UN-YOLOv5s) is 8.4% higher than that of the original algorithm. Compared with the same version, YOLOv5l, the mAP is increased by 2.2%, and the Giga Floating-point Operations Per Second (GFLOPs) is reduced by 65.3%. Compared with the same series of YOLOv3, the mAP is increased by 1.8%, and GFLOPs is reduced by 75.8%. Compared with the same series of YOLOv8s, the detection accuracy of the mAP is improved by 1.1%.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1097331,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"In vivo effects of rabbit anti-mouse brain serum on theta bearing lymphocytes of AKR mice.\nThe in vivo effect of rabbit anti-AKR mouse brain-associated serum (RAMB) was determined on theta bearing lymphocytes present in the spleens and thymuses of mature C3H mice and AKR mice staged into preleukemic, leukaemic and overtly leukaemic states. Following seven daily injections of RAMB serum, the splenic plaque-forming cell (PFC) response to sheep erythrocytes (SRBC) and the percentage of theta-bearing lymphocytes in the spleen were significantly decreased in the C3H and the preleukaemic AKR mice. Decreases in thymic weight and thymocyte numbers were also apparent. Determinations of theta antigen density using in vitro cytoxicity tests indicated that splenic and thymic T lymphocytes (thymus-derived) remaining in the RAMB-treated C3H and preleukemic AKR mice consisted primarily of cells bearing less of the theta surface antigen. Histopathological studies of tissues from these two treated groups revealed cortical lymphocyte depletion in the thymus, and marginal and periarteriolar depletion in the spleen. Leukaemic AKR mice, administered seven injections of RAMB serum, demonstrated less dramatic changes in thymus weight, histopathology and theta-bearing cell percentages when compared with the data from the preleukaemic AKR or matureC3H mice. The results from testing overtly luekaemic AKR mice administered RAMB serum for the 7 or 9 days did not demonstrate differences from findings from groupsof overtly leukaemic control mice. These data indicate that the in vivo activity of RAMB serum in C3H mice and preleukaemic AKR mice is directed primarily toward the less mature T-lymphocyte population. This influence of RAMB serum is lesspronounced in leukaemic and the more overtly leukaemic mice, suggesting that a decreasedpopulation of RAMB-susceptible lymphocytes are present in these animals.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6926962,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Papillomatosis of the bile ducts: a clinical case].\nA case of diffuse papillomatosis of the bile duct, treated with external biliary drainage, is reported on account of its rarity. The extent and anatomopathological characteristics of the lesion make radical surgery impossible, so that the above-stated surgical solution appears to the Authors to be the most suitable one for resolving the biliary stasis and consequent cirrhosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36935350,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Ultrathin Dendritic Pd-Ag Nanoplates for Efficient and Durable Electrocatalytic Reduction of CO2 to Formate.\nCO2 reduction reactions (CO2 RR) powered by renewable electricity can directly convert CO2 to hydrocarbons and fix the sustainable but intermittent energy (e. g., sunlight, wind, etc.) in stable and portable chemical fuels. Advanced catalysts boosting CO2 RR with high activity, selectivity, and durability at low overpotentials are of great importance but still elusive. Here, we report that the ultrathin Pd-Ag dendritic nanoplates (PdAg DNPs) exhibited boosted activity, selectivity, and stability for producing formate from CO2 at a very low overpotential in aqueous solutions under ambient conditions. As a result, the PdAg DNPs exhibited a Faradaic efficiency (FE) for formate of 91% and a cathodic energy efficiency (EE) of \u223c90% at the potential of -0.2 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (vs. RHE), showing significantly enhanced durability as compared with pure Pd catalysts. Our strategy represents a rational catalyst design by engineering the surface geometrical and electronic structures of metal nanocrystals and may find more applicability in future electrocatalysis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28273964,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2017-13":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Biofilm Formation by Drug Resistant Enterococci Isolates Obtained from Chronic Periodontitis Patients.\nEnterococci are an important cause of opportunistic nosocomial infections and several multidrug resistant strains have emerged. The severity of periodontal diseases is managed by reduction in the pathogenic bacteria. There is a need to assess the prevalence and antibiotic susceptibility of enterococci colonizing the periodontal pocket and correlate its biofilm formation ability because oral biofilms provide a protective environment and are a reservoir of bacterial colonization of the gingival crevice. To investigate possible association between antibiotic susceptibility and biofilm formation in enterococci isolates from chronic periodontitis patients. This retrospective study was conducted at Dr. Harvansh Singh Judge Institute of Dental Sciences and Hospital, Punjab University, Chandigarh from January 2015 to October 2015. Sterile paper points were inserted in the periodontal pocket of 100 subjects and put in a transport media. Forty -six isolates were identified as enterococci. The isolates were further examined for their ability to form biofilm by microtitre plate assay and antimicrobial susceptibility testing was done by disc diffusion method for clinically relevant antibiotics. Significant relationship (p<0.001) was found between biofilm production with antibiotic resistance to Vancomycin, Erythromycin, Ciprofloxacin, Tiecoplanin, Amoxycillin and Gentamycin. The study demonstrates a high propensity among the isolates of Enterococci to form biofilm and a significant association of biofilm with multiple drug resistance.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25415292,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Illustration of a measure to combine viral suppression and viral rebound in studies of HIV therapy.\nViral load is an important tool for assessing antiretroviral treatment efficacy. However, the most common viral load end point, virologic failure, may be flawed. We illustrate an alternative end point that estimates the average time patients spent suppressed before rebound in the AIDS Clinical Trials Group A5095 trial. Patients averaged 644 days suppressed in the 3-drug arm and 686 days suppressed in the 4-drug arm, for a difference of 42 days in favor of the 4-drug regimen (95% confidence interval: -11 to 96). These results agree with results using virologic failure as the end point but better emphasize the separate suppression and rebound processes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17910251,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The removal of H2S from process air by diffusion into activated sludge.\nEmissions of H2S from publicly owned treatment works is a serious problem, therefore collection and treatment of these emissions is essential. In this work, the performance of a bench scale activated sludge system used for the removal of H2S from foul air was investigated, and the effects of H2S concentration (5 to 50 ppm,) on COD reduction and biomass settleability were studied. After biomass acclimation, the reactor was operated in a continuous mode at a hydraulic retention time of 5 h and a mean cell residence time of 6 days. Results showed that COD and H2S removal were 93.5 and 94.5%, respectively. Furthermore, H2S concentration up to 50 ppm, did not significantly affect the COD reduction. H2S loading rates of up to 7.5 mg(H2S) g(-1)MLSS, d(-1) were treated with greater than 94% efficiency. The only adverse effect of H2S that was observed was an increase in the sludge volume index at loading rates over 4.5 mg(H2S) g(-1)MLSS d(-1), at which bulking of the sludge occurred. Overall, the results indicate that H2S at concentrations usually emitted from wastewater treatment processes (lower than 50 ppm(v)), can be efficiently treated by diffusion into activated sludge without compromising the performance of the activated sludge process.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27265155,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Bilateral sensory deprivation of trigeminal afferent fibres on corticomotor control of human tongue musculature: a preliminary study.\nTranscranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has demonstrated changes in motor evoked potentials (MEPs) in human limb muscles following modulation of sensory afferent inputs. The aim of this study was to determine whether bilateral local anaesthesia (LA) of the lingual nerve affects the excitability of the tongue motor cortex (MI) as measured by TMS. The effect on MEPs after bilateral LA of the lingual nerve was studied, while the first dorsal interosseous (FDI) muscle served as a control in ten healthy participants. MEPs were measured on the right side of the tongue dorsum in four different conditions: (i) immediately prior to anaesthesia (baseline), (ii) during bilateral LA block of the lingual nerve, (iii) after anaesthesia had subjectively subsided (recovery) and (iv) 3 h after bilateral lingual block injection. MEPs were assessed using stimulus-response curves in steps of 10% of motor threshold (T). Eight stimuli were given at each stimulus level. The amplitudes of the tongue MEPs were significantly influenced by the stimulus intensity (P < 0\u00b7001) but not by condition (P = 0\u00b7186). However, post hoc tests showed that MEPS were statistically significantly higher during bilateral LA block condition compared with baseline at T + 40%, T + 50% and T + 60% (P < 0\u00b7028) and also compared with recovery at T + 60% (P = 0\u00b7010) as well as at 3 h after injection at T + 50% and T + 60% (P < 0\u00b7029). Bilateral LA block of the lingual nerve seems to be associated with a facilitation of the corticomotor pathways related to the tongue musculature.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26441857,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Functional analysis of the sporulation-specific diadenylate cyclase CdaS in Bacillus thuringiensis.\nCyclic di-AMP (c-di-AMP) is a recently discovered bacterial secondary messenger molecule, which is associated with various physiological functions. In the genus Bacillus, the intracellular level and turnover of c-di-AMP are mainly regulated by three diadenylate cyclases (DACs), including DisA, CdaA and CdaS, and two c-di-AMP-specific phosphodiesterases (GdpP and PgpH). In this study, we demonstrated that CdaS protein from B. thuringiensis is a hexameric DAC protein that can convert ATP or ADP to c-di-AMP in vitro and the N-terminal YojJ domain is essential for the DAC activity. Based on the markerless gene knock-out method, we demonstrated that the transcription of cdaS was initiated by the sporulation-specific sigma factor \u03c3(H) and the deletion of cdaS significantly delayed sporulation and parasporal crystal formation. These findings contrast with similar experiments conducted using B. subtilis, wherein transcription of its cdaS was initiated by the sigma factor \u03c3(G). Deletion of all the three DAC genes from a single strain was unsuccessful, suggesting that c-di-AMP is an indispensable molecule in B. thuringiensis. Phylogenetic analysis indicated increased diversity of CdaS in the B. cereus and B. subtilis Bacillus subgroups. In summary, this study identifies important aspects in the regulation of c-di-AMP in the genus Bacillus.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31245778,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Multivariate analysis reveals environmental and genetic determinants of element covariation in the maize grain ionome.\nThe integrated responses of biological systems to genetic and environmental variation result in substantial covariance in multiple phenotypes. The resultant pleiotropy, environmental effects, and genotype-by-environmental interactions (GxE) are foundational to our understanding of biology and genetics. Yet, the treatment of correlated characters, and the identification of the genes encoding functions that generate this covariance, has lagged. As a test case for analyzing the genetic basis underlying multiple correlated traits, we analyzed maize kernel ionomes from Intermated B73 x Mo17 (IBM) recombinant inbred populations grown in 10 environments. Plants obtain elements from the soil through genetic and biochemical pathways responsive to physiological state and environment. Most perturbations affect multiple elements which leads the ionome, the full complement of mineral nutrients in an organism, to vary as an integrated network rather than a set of distinct single elements. We compared quantitative trait loci (QTL) determining single-element variation to QTL that predict variation in principal components (PCs) of multiple-element covariance. Single-element and multivariate approaches detected partially overlapping sets of loci. QTL influencing trait covariation were detected at loci that were not found by mapping single-element traits. Moreover, this approach permitted testing environmental components of trait covariance, and identified multi-element traits that were determined by both genetic and environmental factors as well as genotype-by-environment interactions. Growth environment had a profound effect on the elemental profiles and multi-element phenotypes were significantly correlated with specific environmental variables.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26479680,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"White Light-Activated Antimicrobial Paint using Crystal Violet.\nCrystal violet (CV) was incorporated into acrylic latex to produce white-light-activated antimicrobial paint (WLAAP). Measurement of the water contact angle of the WLAAP showed that the water contact angle increased with increasing CV concentration. In a leaching test over 120 h, the amount of CV that leached from the WLAAPs was close to the detection limit (<0.03%). The WLAAPs were used to coat samples of polyurethane, and these showed bactericidal activity against Escherichia coli, which is a key causative agent of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). A reduction in the numbers of viable bacteria was observed on the painted coated polyurethane after 6 h in the dark, and the bactericidal activity increased with increasing CV concentration (P < 0.1). After 6 h of white light exposure, all of coated polyurethanes demonstrated a potent photobactericidal activity, and it was statistically confirmed that the WLAAP showed better activity in white light than in the dark (P < 0.05). At the highest CV concentration, the numbers of viable bacteria fell below the detection limit (<10(3) CFU\/mL) after 6 h of white light exposure. The difference in antimicrobial activity between the materials in the light and dark was 0.48 log at CV 250 ppm, and it increased by 0.43 log at each increment of CV 250 ppm. The difference was the highest (>1.8 log) at the highest CV concentration (1000 ppm). These WLAAPs are promising candidates for use in healthcare facilities to reduce HAIs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6176644,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Antigen receptors on murine T lymphocytes in contact sensitivity. II. Presentation and characterization of syngeneic anti-idiotype serum against DNFB-sensitized T cells.\nThis manuscript describes the preparation and characterization of a syngeneic antiserum raised in BALB\/c mice against nylon wool-purified lymph node (LN) T cells from 2,4-dinitrofluorobenzene- (DNFB) sensitized BALB\/c mice. This antiserum (anti-T DH-DNP) plus complement blocks the ability of LN or purified T cells from DNFB-sensitized donors to transfer immunity to naive recipients. The inhibitory activity of the serum is due to antibodies; these antibodies have specificity for idiotype (Id) determinants as shown by their ability to bind to purified mouse anti-DNP antibodies but not to rabbit anti-DNP or normal mouse Ig. Inhibition of transfer of immunity by the anti-Id serum is not restricted by either H-2 gene products or Igh-1 allotypes. The antiserum is antigen specific when tested on LN cells from oxazolone-sensitized mice, but has a low level of cross-reactivity against T cells from 2,4,6-trinitrochlorobenzene- (TNCB) sensitized mice. In addition, it was shown that naturally occurring anti-Id antibodies, epsilon-DNP-L-lysine, or DNP-protein (but not NIP-protein) and the anti-Id in syngeneic anti-T DH-DNP serum compete for similar binding sites on DNFB-immune T cells. We interpret these findings to indicate that immunization of mice with T cells from DNFB-sensitized syngeneic mice induces the production of anti-Id antibodies. These anti-Id antibodies are specific for determinants expressed on the T cell receptor or receptor subsite that is specific for the hapten DNP.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28722361,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Food-dependent exercise-induced anaphylaxis : a stepwise diagnosis].\nFood-dependent exercise-induced anaphylaxis (FDEIA) is a potentially severe food allergy. Physical exercise, NSAID, alcohol, infectious diseases and estrogens are recognized cofactors, able to reduce the amount of allergen needed to achieve a threshold for the induction of anaphylaxis. Various kinds of causative food but only a few responsible proteins have been identified. The best known is wheat \u03c95-gliadine. An oral food challenge remains the gold standard to prove the diagnosis. Its clinical application remains difficult and includes an allergen challenge, a cofactor challenge and a third step which integrates both of them in a single test. Gluten flour and NSAID + alcohol combination seem more efficient than respectively wheat flour and physical exercise in a provocation test condition.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37861543,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Role of MCP-1\/CCR2 axis in renal fibrosis: Mechanisms and therapeutic targeting.\nRenal fibrosis is a common pathological manifestation in various chronic kidney diseases. Inflammation plays a central role in renal fibrosis development. Owing to their significant participation in inflammation and autoimmunity, chemokines have always been the hot spot and focus of scientific research and clinical intervention. Among the chemokines, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), also known as C-C motif chemokine ligand 2, together with its main receptor C-C chemokine receptor type 2 (CCR2) are important chemokines in renal fibrosis. The MCP-1\/CCR2 axis is activated when MCP-1 binds to CCR2. Activation of MCP-1\/CCR2 axis can induce chemotaxis and activation of inflammatory cells, and initiate a series of signaling cascades in renal fibrosis. It mediates and promotes renal fibrosis by recruiting monocyte, promoting the activation and transdifferentiation of macrophages. This review summarizes the complex physical processes of MCP-1\/CCR2 axis in renal fibrosis and addresses its general mechanism in renal fibrosis by using specific examples, together with the progress of targeting MCP-1\/CCR2 in renal fibrosis with a view to providing a new direction for renal fibrosis treatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27263969,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Hormonal Modulation of Pheromone Detection Enhances Male Courtship Success.\nDuring the lifespans of most animals, reproductive maturity and mating activity are highly coordinated. In Drosophila melanogaster, for instance, male fertility increases with age, and older males are known to have a copulation advantage over young ones. The molecular and neural basis of this age-related disparity in mating behavior is unknown. Here, we show that the Or47b odorant receptor is required for the copulation advantage of older males. Notably, the sensitivity of Or47b neurons to a stimulatory pheromone, palmitoleic acid, is low in young males but high in older ones, which accounts for older males' higher courtship intensity. Mechanistically, this age-related sensitization of Or47b neurons requires a reproductive hormone, juvenile hormone, as well as its binding protein Methoprene-tolerant in Or47b neurons. Together, our study identifies a direct neural substrate for juvenile hormone that permits coordination of courtship activity with reproductive maturity to maximize male reproductive fitness.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16233810,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Development of a genetic transformation system for benzene-tolerant Rhodococcus opacus strains.\nRhodococcus opacus B-4 and B-9 are tolerant to various organic solvents including benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes and styrene, and are suitable bacterial hosts for the production of chemical products from hydrophobic substrates. A 4.4-kb endogenous plasmid (pKNR 01) was isolated from R. opacus B-4 and sequenced completely. Plasmid pKNR 01 encodes proteins that share similarity to replication proteins from the enteric bacterial and actinomycete theta-replication plasmids. A 7.4-kb chimeric plasmid, designated pKNR 01.1, was constructed by fusing XhoI-digested pKNR 01 and Escherichia coli vector pSTV 28. Plasmid pKNR 01.1 had the ability to replicate in B-4 and B-9. A protocol for transformation of B-9 by electroporation was optimized employing pKNR 01.1. Frequencies of 4.1 x 10(5) transformants per mug of plasmid DNA were obtained for B-9 cells, whereas B-4 harboring naturally occurring pKNR 01 was transformed at lower frequencies (approximately 1 x 10(4) transformants per mug of plasmid DNA). Deletion analysis of pKNR 01.1 showed that the 1.9-kb SphI-XhoI region containing the repA and rep B genes and the 0.6-kb region upstream of repA was essential for plasmid maintenance in R. opacus strains.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3040227,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Role of free radicals in an adriamycin-resistant human small cell lung cancer cell line.\nIn two Adriamycin (Adr) resistant sublines (GLC4-Adr1 and GLC4-Adr2) of a human small cell lung carcinoma cell line, GLC4, cross-resistance for radiation was found. GLC4-Adr1 has an acquired Adr resistance factor of 44 after culturing without Adr for 20 days and GLC4-Adr2, the same subline cultured without Adr for 3 months, has a decreased but stable resistance factor of 8. One of the assumed mechanisms of Adr is that the effect is mediated through the formation of free radicals. Therefore free radical scavenging might play a role in these Adr resistant cell lines. Adr, H2O2, and X-ray induced cytotoxicity were evaluated. Glutathione (GSH) levels and activities of associated enzymes were determined as well as Adr, H2O2, and X-ray induced DNA breaks and repair. GSH level was decreased in GLC4-Adr1, but restored to the normal level in GLC4-Adr2. Superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione-peroxidase, and glutathione S-transferase were not elevated in the resistant sublines. Adr induced a decreased amount of DNA breaks in GLC4-Adr1 compared to GLC4. For X-ray and H2O2 a comparable amount of DNA damage was found. GLC4-Adr1 was able to repair DNA breaks induced by Adr, X-ray, and H2O2 better than GLC4. In conclusion, no increased enzyme capacity for detoxification of free radicals could be detected in the cytosol of the resistant cells. The resistance against free radicals in the GLC4-Adr1 line may at least in part be a result of increased DNA repair.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6165821,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[The plasma turnover of 125I beta 2 microglobulin in healthy humans and patients with renal insufficiency (author's transl)].\nThe plasma turnover of 125I beta 2 microglobulin (B2m) was studied in two healthy adults, two anuric patients (one of them without kidneys) and eight patients with various degrees of renal insufficiency. Results were analyzed according to a bicompartmental model. The fractional metabolic rate was positively correlated with inulin clearance, and little (less than 3.5%) extrarenal catabolism was demonstrated. The half-life of B2m in intravascular compartment varied from 107 min in normals to more than 39 hrs in the anephric patient.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26468412,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Is There any Role of Visceral Fat Area for Predicting Difficulty of Laparoscopic Gastrectomy for Gastric Cancer?\nObesity is associated with morbidity following gastric cancer surgery, but whether obesity influences morbidity after laparoscopic gastrectomy (LG) remains controversial. The present study evaluated whether body mass index (BMI) and visceral fat area (VFA) predict postoperative complications. A total of 217 consecutive patients who had undergone LG for gastric cancer between May 2003 and December 2005 were included in the present study. We divided the patients into two groups ('before learning curve' and 'after learning curve') based on the learning curve effect of the surgeon. Each of these groups was sub-classified according to BMI (<25 kg\/m(2) and \u226525 kg\/m(2)) and VFA (<100 cm(2) and \u2265100 cm(2)). Surgical outcomes, including operative time, quantity of blood loss, and postoperative complications, were compared between BMI and VFA subgroups. The mean operative time, length of hospital stay, and complication rate were significantly higher in the before learning curve group than in the after learning curve group. In the subgroup analysis, complication rate and length of hospital stay did not differ according to BMI or VFA; however, for the before learning curve group, mean operative time and blood loss were significantly higher in the high VFA subgroup than in the low VFA subgroup (P=0.047 and P=0.028, respectively). VFA may be a better predictive marker than BMI for selecting candidates for LG, which may help to get a better surgical outcome for inexperienced surgeons.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34245099,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"What influences rural women's choices in maternity care: A qualitative exploratory study.\nRural women are likely to experience difficulties accessing maternity care that is readily available in metropolitan areas. This limited access can impede women's ability to make informed choices that enhance safety and minimize harm. This study explored the experiences of women who had given birth in a rural environment and the factors that influenced their choices regarding their maternity care. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 10 women for this qualitative, exploratory study. These women had birthed within rural areas of Victoria, Australia, between May 2016 and May 2017. Thematic analysis was undertaken. Three main themes emerged: (i) being influenced by previous childbirth experiences, (ii) feeling safe and supported with their maternity care provider, and (iii) being supported in their birthing choices. The availability of maternity care providers and travel time to facilities limited the choices of rural women. This study provided valuable insights into what was behind the decisions of rural women's choices regarding their maternity care. To assist with making informed decisions regarding their maternity care, all available models of maternity care should be presented to rural women.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1694639,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Birthweights of preterm Nigerian infants of 26-36 weeks' gestation.\nThe birthweights of 678 liveborn singleton preterm infants born at between 26 and 36 weeks of gestation are analysed. The mean (SD) birthweights and the centile chart are supplied. We believe the data may be of value to paediatricians in tropical countries who manage preterm low birthweight infants.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23884155,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Group 4 metallocene catalysed full dehydrogenation of hydrazine borane.\nA study of the full dehydrogenation of hydrazine borane (H2N-NH2\u00b7BH3) to give H2 and N2 as gaseous products catalysed by a variety of group 4 metallocene alkyne complexes of the type CpM(L)(\u03b7(2)-Me3SiC2SiMe3) (Cp' = substituted or unsubstituted \u03b7(5)-cyclopentadienyl; M = Ti, no L; M = Zr, L = pyridine) and group 4 metallocene hydrides is presented. Volumetric data show that the amount of hydrogen released is strongly dependent on both, the metal and the cyclopentadienyl ligand.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28291366,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Enantioselective Iridium-Catalyzed Allylic Alkylation Reactions of Masked Acyl Cyanide Equivalents.\nThe first enantioselective iridium-catalyzed allylic alkylation reaction of a masked acyl cyanide (MAC) reagent has been developed. The transformation allows for the use of an umpoled synthon, which serves as a carbon monoxide equivalent. The reaction proceeds with good yield and excellent selectivity up to gram scale for a wide range of substituted allylic electrophiles, delivering products amenable to the synthesis of highly desirable, enantioenriched vinylated \u03b1-aryl carbonyl derivatives.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28582427,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-18":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Imaging of Jurassic fossils from the Talbragar Fish Bed using fluorescence, photoluminescence, and elemental and mineralogical mapping.\nThe Talbragar Fish Bed is one of Australia's most important Jurassic deposits for freshwater fishes, land plants and aquatic and terrestrial insects. The site has yielded many well preserved fossils, which has led to the formal description of numerous new species and higher taxa. The excellent preservation of many fossils has allowed detailed anatomical studies, e.g. of the early teleost fish Cavenderichthys talbragarensis (Woodward, 1895). Here we report on the fluorescent characteristics and mineral composition of a range of Talbragar fossils. Most specimens fluoresce under ultraviolet, blue and green light. Elemental and mineralogical analyses revealed that the Talbragar fossils consist predominantly of quartz (SiO2), a mineral that is likely to account for the observed fluorescence, with trace kaolinite (Al2Si2O5(OH)4) in some of the fish fossils. Rock matrices are predominantly composed of quartz and goethite (FeO(OH)). Closer inspection of a plant leaf (Pentoxylon australicum White, 1981) establishes fluorescence as a useful tool for the visualisation of anatomical details that are difficult to see under normal light conditions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19046255,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Benefits to research subjects in international trials: do they reduce exploitation or increase undue inducement?\nThere is an alleged tension between undue inducement and exploitation in research trials. This paper considers claims that increasing the benefits to research subjects enrolled in international, externally-sponsored clinical trials should be avoided on the grounds that it may result in the undue inducement of research subjects. It proceeds from the premise that there are good grounds for thinking that, at least some, international research sponsors exploit trial participants because they do not provide the research population with a fair share of the benefits of research. This provides a prima facie argument for increasing the benefits for research participants. Concern over undue inducement is a legitimate moral concern; however, if this concern is to prevent research populations from receiving their fair share of benefits from research there must be sufficient evidence that these benefits will unduly influence patients' decision-making regarding trial participation. This article contributes to the debate about exploitation versus undue inducement by introducing an analysis of the available empirical research into research participants' motivations and the influence of payments on research subjects' behaviour and risk assessment. Admittedly, the available research in this field is limited, but the research that has been conducted suggests that financial rewards do not distort research subjects' behaviour or blind them to the risks involved with research. Therefore, I conclude that research sponsors should prioritize the prevention of exploitation in international research by providing greater benefits to research participants.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26467212,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"The candidate oncogene (MCRS1) promotes the growth of human lung cancer cells via the miR-155-Rb1 pathway.\nMicrospherule protein 1 (MCRS1) is a candidate oncogene and participates in various cellular processes, including growth, migration, senescence and transformation. MCRS1 is overexpressed in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and promotes the growth of cancer cells. However, the mechanisms driving these processes are not fully understood. Retrovirus-mediated RNA interference was employed to knockdown MCRS1 expression in cell lines. Cell proliferation assays and animal experiments were respectively performed to evaluate the growth of NSCLC cells in vitro and in vivo. Microarray analysis was carried out for mRNA profiling. Luciferase reporter assay and microRNA (miRNA) transfection were used to investigate the interaction between miRNA and gene. Stably knocking down MCRS1 expression inhibited the proliferation of NSCLC cells in vitro and in vivo. By comparing the mRNA expression profiles of NSCLC cells with or without MCRS1 silencing, we found that MCRS1 regulated expressions of various genes related to cell proliferation, including Rb1, TP53, cell cycle-related genes, MYC, E2F2, PCNA, and Ki67. However, MCRS1 did not directly bind to these differentially expressed genes. Here, we confirmed that Rb1, an important tumor suppression gene (TSG), is a direct target of miR-155 which is directly up-regulated by MCRS1. Furthermore, the level of Rb1 expression in NSCLC tissues was inversely correlated with those of miR-155 and MCRS1, and MCRS1 regulated expression of Rb1 via miR-155. Additionally, we found that the DNA copy number of the MCRS1 gene played a role in MCRS1 overexpression in NSCLCs. MCRS1 overexpression induced NSCLC proliferation through the miR-155-Rb1 pathway and DNA copy-number amplification is one of the mechanisms underlying MCRS1 overexpression in NSCLC. Moreover, we put forward the hypothesis that there are regulatory relationships between oncogenes and TSGs apart from the functional synergy of both; the oncogene-miRNA-TSG networks are one of mechanisms among the regulatory relationships; the regulatory relationships and the networks might play active roles in the development and progression of cancer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28351408,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Application of short message service to control blood cholesterol: a field trial.\nDespite recommendations, many middle-age adults neglect to check their blood cholesterol levels. Short message service (SMS, also known as texting) has been seldom studied for preventive education. We estimated how SMS can be a cost-effective method in encouraging people to check their blood cholesterol levels. In a field trial, 3600 cell phone users (age > 30) were randomly assigned to the intervention (N: 1200) and the control groups (N: 2400). An SMS was sent to the intervention group for five rounds every two weeks, which targeted the cognitive and affective learning and finally advised the blood cholesterol level to be checked, if not checked during the past twelve months. Two weeks after the last round, both groups were asked for the time\/level of their latest blood cholesterol, family history of early cardiac death and having a family member with coronary heart disease (CHD), and to report their attitude about whether annual blood sampling is worth the cost and time to prevent CHD. Moreover, the intervention group was asked if they remembered the SMS content. The cost-effectiveness was evaluated by estimating the \"number needed to treat\" (NNT) and calculating the cost of sending SMS to that number of people. In the intervention group, 629 individuals (72.0%) recalled the SMS content. The factors associated with cholesterol screening during the past two years were older age, diabetes, family history of coronary disease, higher education, female gender and being non-smoker. In both groups, women were significantly more aware of their blood cholesterol level (68.7% vs. 53.6%). The relative frequency of respondents who believed it was not worth checking their cholesterol annually was significantly lower in the intervention group (P < 0.001). The intervention group was significantly more likely to check its blood cholesterol levels (OR:1.22) after adjustment for age, diabetes, family history of CHD and smoking. The NNT was estimated \u2248 25 for the general population and \u2248 11 for those who received SMS and had a family member with CHD. We would postulate that SMS could affect people's adherence to preventive programs. Relatives of patients admitted with a diagnosis of CHD should be prioritized for superior cost-effectiveness and logistical feasibility.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3082686,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Von Recklinghausen neurofibromatosis and hereditary plasminogen deficiency.\nThe authors report the case of a 26-year-old man with Von Recklinghausen neurofibromatosis and hereditary plasminogen deficiency. A hypothesis of a relationship in the inheritance of these abnormalities is discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":940987,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A new principle for the cleansing of infected wounds.\nWhen dry porous hydrophilic beads, formed by a three dimensional network of dextran polymers, are placed on a discharging wound, they absorb the exudate and swell to form of a gelatinous layer. Within this gelatinous layer a separation of substances occurs according to their molecular weights, with the smaller (MW less than 1000) freely penetrating the pores of the beads and the larger (MW greater than 5 000) remaining in the interspaces. Since proteins are removed from the wound surface with the fluid, crustformation on the wound is prevented. Clotting within the gel layer does not occur, since, as shown in another study (Aberg, Hedner, Jacobsson & Rothman 1976), wound exudate contains a high amount of fibrin-fibrinogen split products and no coagulable fibrinogen. Therefore as long as dry beads are available, exudate can be sucked up. With the wound exudate bacteria, degradation products and toxins are removed from the wound surface. A substance with the above described properties Debrisan (Pharmacia AB, Sweden) was used to treat various types of wounds. The treatment was most effective for profusely discharging infected wounds. Within a few days inflammation subsided, exudate decreased and granulation tissue appeared. So far no side effects are observed and even patients, who during years of treatment of leg ulcers had become sensitized to most dressings and local antibiotics could be treated. The new technique for sampling of wound fluid also offers a model for studies on inflammatory mediators and protein loss.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18604352,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Compliance with the tobacco smoke free ambience legislation in Mexico].\nThis essay tries o develop classification criteria to identify smoke-free spaces using environmental monitoring, direct inspection and worker reports, comparing their agreement and deriving a proposal useful for the epidemiological surveillance of environmental tobacco smoke. Environmental nicotine monitoring, direct inspections and workers surveys regarding tobacco smoke presence were conducted in ten institutions. For each method, criteria were defined to classify institutions as smoke-free spaces. Results were compared to evaluate between-methods agreement. Good agreement between environmental monitoring and direct inspections were observed, although they disagreed in 20% of the cases. Worker reports were too frequent to discriminate. Combining environmental monitoring and inspection would provide the most sensitive classification. Cost-effectiveness studies are required to identify the best strategy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29550137,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Short communication: Effects of nanofiltration and evaporation on the gel properties of milk protein concentrates with different preheat treatments.\nThis study aimed to evaluate the effects of different concentration methods (nanofiltration and evaporation) and heat treatments on the gel properties of milk protein concentrate (MPC). The MPC gels were produced using glucono-\u03b4-lactone (GDL) as an acidifier with different preheat treatments (30 min at 80\u00b0C and 5 min at 92\u00b0C). We then evaluated the effect of preheat treatments on MPC gel properties, including storage modulus (G'), loss tangent (tan \u03b4), firmness, whey separation, and microstructure. The results indicated that without preheating, evaporation (EP)-MPC had higher G' and firmness, and lower tan \u03b4 and whey separation than nanofiltration (NF)-MPC. These results suggest that EP-MPC produced a better acid-induced gel than NF-MPC when no preheat treatments were performed. After preheating, however, except for a very small difference in the final G' (EP-MPC was higher), the 2 MPC did not differ significantly in firmness, final tan \u03b4, or whey separation. Additionally, compared with the gel of unheated MPC, both preheat-treated gels (NF-MPC and EP-MPC) achieved increased G' and firmness and decreased tan \u03b4 and whey separation. The preheat-treated MPC also displayed a more flexible-stranded network. These findings demonstrate that, given a suitable heating treatment, NF-MPC compares favorably with EP-MPC in achieving desired gel properties.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29376133,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Schedule dependent synergy of gemcitabine and doxorubicin: Improvement of in vitro efficacy and lack of in vitro-in vivo correlation.\nCombination chemotherapy is commonly used to treat late stage cancer; however, treatment is often limited by systemic toxicity. Optimizing drug ratio and schedule can improve drug combination activity and reduce dose to lower toxicity. Here, we identify gemcitabine (GEM) and doxorubicin (DOX) as a synergistic drug pair in vitro for the triple negative breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231. Drug synergy and caspase activity were increased the most by exposing cells to GEM prior to DOX in vitro. While the combination was more effective than the single drugs at inhibiting MDA-MB-231 growth in vivo, the clear schedule dependence observed in vitro was not observed in vivo. Differences in drug exposure and cellular behavior in vivo compared to in vitro are likely responsible. This study emphasizes the importance in understanding how schedule impacts drug synergy and the need to develop more advanced strategies to translate synergy to the clinic.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7941882,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Lesions of the major arteries of the head (a population ultrasonic study)].\nThe screening of the random sample from an open population of males aged 40-65 was performed to compare frequency and severity of hemodynamic changes in major head arteries (MHA) due to atherosclerosis in subjects with vascular diseases and clinically normal controls. 866 of the examinees were subjected to MHA ultrasonic dopplerography. Normal circulation appeared only in 13% of the examinees. The rest of them had insufficient circulation or at least one vessel affected with stenosis. The standard index of MHA stenosis amounted to 20.2%. The frequency of MHA stenosis was related to the age, vascular involvement and severity of the latter.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32363346,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Meningeal Lymphatics: A Review and Future Directions From a Clinical Perspective.\nThe recent discovery of lymphatic vessels in the meningeal layers calls into question the known mechanisms of fluid and macromolecule homeostasis and immunoregulation within the central nervous system. These meningeal lymphatic vessels and their potential role in the pathophysiology of neurological disease have become a rapidly expanding area of research, with the hopes that they may provide a novel therapeutic target in the treatment of many devastating conditions. This article reviews the current state of knowledge surrounding the anatomical structure of the vessels, their functions in fluid and solute transport and immune surveillance, as well as their studied developmental biology, relationship with the novel hypothesized \"glymphatic\" system, and implications in neurodegenerative disease in animal models. Furthermore, this review summarizes findings from the human studies conducted thus far regarding the presence, anatomy, and drainage patterns of meningeal lymphatic vessels and discusses, from a clinical perspective, advancements in both imaging technologies and interventional methodologies used to access ultrafine peripheral lymphatic vessels.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15249998,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Functional results after surface replacement of the hip: comparison between dysplasia and idiopathic osteoarthritis].\nTo determine if there are differences in function after resurfacing arthroplasty of the hip in patients with primary osteoarthritis compared to patients with secondary osteoarthritis due to developmental dysplasia of the hip. In a controlled prospective study of Birmingham Hip Resurfacing (BHR) we included all patients with primary osteoarthritis (n = 54, average age 48.4 years) and osteoarthritis due to high grade dysplasia (Eftekhar B, n = 34, average age 55.8 years). Standardized clinical (Harris hip score) and radiographic examinations were performed 6 weeks, 3 months and 6 months and then every year after the operation. All patients could be followed up to 1.5 years (1-4 years) after surgery. The average Harris hip score improved to 82-95 points in both groups 3 months postoperatively. Statistically significant differences could be found in the subscales \"function\" and \"limp\", where patients with dysplastic hips showed somewhat lower results after 6 (function) to 12 weeks (limp) postoperatively. This is probably attributable to extended non-weight-bearing after acetabular reconstruction in these cases, as the difference disappeared with full weight-bearing. Radiographically determined neck-shaft angles are slightly higher in dysplastic hips (142 degrees versus 135 degrees ), but we did not recognize any significant differences in implant positioning. The short- to mid-term results showed no clinically relevant functional differences after surface replacement in patients with primary osteoarthritis of the hip and patients with secondary osteoarthritis due to higher grade dysplasia. Long-term observation is necessary, however, to determine if these positive functional results are reflected by appropriate radiographic survival.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8345329,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Do the same stimulus-response relations influence choice reactions initially and after practice?\nA two-choice reaction task was used to evaluate changes in stimulus-response translation with practice. In Experiment 1, four groups of Ss practiced with either a direct or indirect mapping of left-right stimuli to left-right responses and either a crossed or uncrossed hand placement and transferred to one of the four Mapping x Placement conditions. Stimulus-response location and response location-effector relations affected performance initially and after practice. In Experiments 2 and 3, Ss switched every 42 trials between conditions for which only the stimulus location-effector (Experiment 2) or stimulus-response location relation (Experiment 3) remained constant. Switching produced interference in Experiment 2 but not in Experiment 3, corroborating the influence of the stimulus-response location relation on performance. Mediation based on spatial codes continues to be a factor in the performance of practiced Ss.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9547070,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-26":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Adaptational effects during human split-belt walking: influence of afferent input.\nThe modification of the normal locomotor pattern of humans was investigated using a split-belt locomotion protocol (treadmill belt speeds of 4.5 km\/h and 1.5 km\/h for the right and left legs, respectively) and also by changing afferent input from the legs (30% reduction or increase in body weight by suspending subjects in a parachute harness or by wearing a lead-filled vest). After a control-speed training period (10 min) of symmetrical walking (3 km\/h each leg) and a period (10 min) of split-belt walking, the adjustment back to the control speed resulted in a mean speed difference between the right leg and the left leg of 0.85 km\/h. Adjustment of belt speed on either side was performed by the hands using a potentiometer. For comparison, also speed adjustment by the feet via feedback derived from changes in the treadmill drive current was studied. No significant difference was obtained when both modes of adjustment were compared. Body unloading or loading during the training period resulted in an improved adjustment of treadmill belt speed. This suggests that load receptor information plays a major role in the programming of a new walking pattern.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6739581,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Thermal orbital injuries from disposable cauteries.\nForty rabbits divided in six groups and three brands of hot wire cautery with temperature ranging from 190 degrees C to 1035 degrees C were used in this experiment. A surgical procedure resembling a cosmetic blepharoplasty was performed on a total of 60 lower eyelids of the rabbits. The remaining eyelids were either shams or normal controls. Cautery application to orbital fat was carefully controlled, i.e., 10 or 20 seconds in single or double applications. Gross observation and microscopic examination of the biopsied specimens taken at 3 hours, 2 days, and 2 weeks after the procedures were performed. Evidence of thermal injury to the lacrimal gland and extraocular muscle damage was found. Although no evidence of thermal injury to the optic nerve was found, it was conceivable that either by a direct transfer of heat or by an indirect inflammatory and compressive effect the health of the optic nerve might be threatened. It is strongly recommended that hot wire cautery be used with extreme caution when working with orbital tissues.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":33726128,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Control of the spatial characteristics of femtosecond laser filamentation in glass via feedback-based wavefront shaping with an annular phase mask.\nWe propose a feedback-based wavefront shaping with an annular phase mask to control the spatial characteristics of femtosecond laser filamentation in K9 glass. A closed-loop feedback driven by a genetic algorithm was used to search for the optimal phase profile for generating the specified filaments. We demonstrate the flexibility of this method to extend or shorten filaments, improve continuity, and simultaneously control the position of filaments with specified lengths. Our approach offers a flexible regulation of the spatial characteristics of femtosecond laser filamentation for its potential applications.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9559175,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Impact of antivectorial control on malarial morbidity and mortality in a health district of the Madagascar highlands].\nAfter the dramatic increase of malaria infections from 1985 to 1988 in the Highlands of Madagascar, the vector control programme was reactivated. In order to evaluate the impact of this strategy in the district of Arivonimamo, we have analysed the morbidity and the mortality data collected in all the health care centers of this district. Since 1988, extensive residual house spraying has been carried out on a yearly basis in the eastern part of this district whereas the western part was not included in this spraying programme. Data from each area were compared. In the eastern part, a dramatic decrease of morbitity and mortality related to malaria was observed, the benefit was 69% of expected simple cases, 87% of expected serious cases and 40% of expected deaths due to malaria. It has to be noted that only presumptive cases have been reported since no laboratory facilities are available in these health centers. Nevertheless such findings provide strong support to the continuation of the spraying programme, maybe in a less intensive way, together with an accurate epidemiological surveillance.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16163038,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dehiscence of the jugular bulb and vestibular aqueduct: findings on 200 consecutive temporal bone computed tomography scans.\nTo determine the incidence of dehiscence between the vestibular aqueduct and the jugular bulb on computed tomography (CT) scans and assess its implication as a cause of dizziness or hearing loss. Two hundred temporal bone CT scans were evaluated for the prevalence of dehiscence between the jugular bulb and vestibular aqueduct. Correlation of the imaging findings and clinical data was performed. A total of 11.5% of patients had dehiscence of the jugular bulb with the vestibular aqueduct; 75% of these cases occurred on the right side and in the setting of a high jugular bulb. Nine (39.1%) of 23 patients with dehiscence had dizziness, and 11 (47.8%) had hearing loss. The correlation between the incidence of dizziness, hearing loss, and dehiscence was not significant. The incidence of a dehiscent jugular bulb with a vestibular aqueduct is 11.5%. The prevalences of vertigo and hearing loss associated with this finding are 39.1% and 47.8%, respectively. The depiction of dehiscent jugular bulb-vestibular aqueduct should be considered with caution as the sole cause of symptoms.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31265411,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Finite-Horizon H\u221e State Estimation for Periodic Neural Networks Over Fading Channels.\nThe problem of finite-horizon H\u221e state estimator design for periodic neural networks over multiple fading channels is studied in this paper. To characterize the measurement signals transmitted through different channels experiencing channel fading, a multiple fading channels model is considered. For investigating the situation of correlated fading channels, a set of correlated random variables is introduced. Specifically, the channel coefficients are described by white noise processes and are assumed to be correlated. Two sufficient criteria are provided, by utilizing a stochastic analysis approach, to guarantee that the estimation error system is stochastically stable and achieves the prescribed H\u221e performance. Then, the parameters of the estimator are derived by solving recursive linear matrix inequalities. Finally, some simulation results are shown to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":33726097,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Invariance of the r2-ln(F) relationship and attainable precision in ultrafast laser ablation experiments.\nPursuing ever-smaller feature size in laser-based lithography is a research topic of vital importance to keep this technique competitive with other micro-\/nano-fabrication methods. Features smaller than the diffraction-limited spot size can be obtained by \"thresholding\", which utilizes the deterministic nature of damage threshold with ultrashort laser pulses and is achieved by precisely tuning pulse energies so that only the central portion of the focal spot produces permanent modification. In this paper, we examine the formulation commonly used to describe thresholding and show that the relationship between feature size (r) and laser fluence (F) is invariant with respect to the nature of laser absorption. Verified by our experiments performed on metal, semiconductor, and dielectric samples, such invariance is used to predict the smallest feature size that can be achieved for different materials in a real-world system.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9572242,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-10":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Characterization of the relationship between motor end-plate jitter and the safety factor.\nA mathematical model developed for a personal computer was used to simulate the jitter phenomenon in neuromuscular transmission in order to characterize the relationship between jitter and the safety factor. Four models of normal and abnormal neuromuscular transmission were investigated. In a human experiment, the mean consecutive difference (MCD) values for stimulated single-fiber electromyography at firing rates of 1, 2, 5, and 10 Hz were measured in 137 motor end-plates of myasthenic patients. Results of the computer simulations show that the relationship between jitter and the safety factor is exponential like. Variations in jitter are most prominent in end-plates with low safety factors. This relationship agrees with results of human end-plate studies. Changes in the MCD values caused by presynaptic depression or facilitation are linearly correlated to the initial jitter, whereas the logarithmic values of MCD are not. It is very important to keep in mind this nonlinear relationship when relating single-fiber jitter to the safety factor.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16157495,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Atypical variants of nonketotic hyperglycinemia.\nClinical symptoms in atypical nonketotic hyperglycinemia (NKH) are heterogeneous, in sharp contrast to uniform severe neurological symptoms in the classical NKH. A review of the literature of atypical NKH cases reveals three forms: neonatal, infantile, and late onset. The presentation in the neonatal form is similar to the classical one but the subsequent outcome is significantly better. Mental retardation and behavioral abnormalities are prevalent in both infantile and late onset forms although the phenotype in late onset atypical NKH is more heterogeneous. Patients with the atypical NKH tend to have a lower CSF\/plasma glycine ratio when compared with the classical form, but overlap occurs. Hyperglycinemia in the neonatal and infantile atypical NKH, similar to the classical form, is caused by a deficient glycine cleavage system, whereas the cause of hyperglycinemia in late onset atypical NKH is unknown. A mutation of the T-protein AMT gene and several mutations of P-protein GLDC gene have been identified in homozygous or compound heterozygous state. Some of the GLDC mutations are associated with residual glycine decarboxylase activity when expressed in COS7 cells and early therapeutic intervention may be crucial to improve the outcome in patients harboring such mutations. Identification of more mutations causing atypical NKH and information about the mutations' effect on enzyme activity may help to predict patients with a milder phenotype as well as those who may respond to early therapeutic intervention.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12033730,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Biochemical properties of a keratan sulphate\/chondroitin sulphate proteoglycan expressed in primate pluripotent stem cells.\nWe previously identified a pericellular matrix keratan sulphate\/chondroitin sulphate proteoglycan present on the surface of human embryonal carcinoma stem cells, cells whose differentiation mimics early development. Antibodies reactive with various epitopes on this molecule define a cluster of differentiation markers for primate pluripotent stem cells. We describe the purification of a form of this molecule which is secreted or shed into the culture medium. Biochemical analysis of the secreted form of this molecule shows that the monomeric form, whilst containing keratan sulphate, resembles mucins in its structure and its modification with O-linked carbohydrate. Immunofluorescence and immunoblotting data show that monkey and human pluripotent stem cells react with antibodies directed against epitopes on either carbohydrate side chains or the protein core of the molecule.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19044267,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2013-20":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A direct plating method for estimating populations of Escherichia coli O157 in bovine manure and manure-based materials.\nEscherichia coli O157:H7 outbreaks associated with produce consumption have brought attention to livestock manures and manure-based soil amendments as potential sources of pathogens for the contamination of these crops. Procedures for enumeration of E. coli O157:H7 are needed to assess the risks of transmission from these manures and their by-products. A direct plating method employing spiral plating onto CHROMagar O157 was investigated for enumeration of E. coli O157:H7 in feedlot surface material, aged bovine manure, bovine manure compost, and manure-amended soil. In studies utilizing samples spiked with a five-strain cocktail of E. coli O157:H7 at levels ranging from 102 to 10(5) CFU\/g of sample, there were strong correlations between the observed and predicted levels of this pathogen. Although the addition of 2.5 mg\/liter potassium tellurite and 5 mg\/liter novobiocin made the medium more restrictive, these amendments enhanced the ability to identify and enumerate E. coli O157:H7 in feedlot surface material, which contained a higher proportion of fresh feces than did the other three sample types and therefore higher levels of interfering bacterial microflora. The spiral plating method was further assessed to determine its ability to enumerate E. coli O157:H7 in naturally contaminated feedlot surface material. Comparison of E. coli O157:H7 counts in feedlot surface material obtained by the spiral plating method and a most probable number technique were well correlated. We conclude that direct spiral plating onto CHROMagar O157 is effective for estimating E. coli O157:H7 levels in a variety of manures and manure-containing sample types to a lower detection limit of 200 CFU\/g. The method has application for determining E. coli O157:H7 concentrations in manures and composts before their sale and use as soil amendments and for measuring the effectiveness of manure treatment processes to reduce or inactivate this pathogen.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6154558,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Induction of osteoarthrosis in the rabbit knee joint.\nMedial meniscectomy and the creation of \"bucket-handle\" lesions of the medial meniscus induce mild to moderate osteoarthrotic changes in the knee joints of mature rabbits. The osteoarthrotic lesions studied by gross inspection and histological sections, almost exclusively involve the medial tibial articular cartilage. The pathologic changes begin superficially, pass to the deeper layers, and are characterized by a loss of the glistening of the cartilage surface, peripheral osteophytes, structural irregularities of the matrix, peripheral cloning, hypocellularity, and diminished amounts of glycosaminoglycan. Osteoarthrosis was assessed from 2 to 16 months following surgery using a grading system from 0 (normal) to 15 (severe degeneration). The mean grades at the various time periods studied range from 3.5 to 7. The mild to moderate nature of the osteoarthrosis is shown by the development of the abnormalities without rapid progression to the severely destroyed joints which characterize many other models.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28282530,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-18":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of early intervention on functional outcome at school age: Follow-up and process evaluation of a randomised controlled trial in infants at risk.\nThe long-term effect of early intervention in infants at risk for developmental disorders is unclear. The VIP project (n=46, originally) evaluated by means of a randomised controlled trial the effect of the family centred early intervention programme COPCA (Coping with and Caring for infants with special needs) in comparison to that of traditional infant physiotherapy (TIP). To evaluate the effect of early intervention on functional outcome at school age. Parents of 40 children (median age 8.3years) participated in this follow-up study. Outcome was assessed with a standardised parental interview (Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scale) and questionnaires (Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire, Child Behaviour Checklist, Utrechtse Coping List, and questions on educational approach). Quantified video information on physiotherapeutic actions during infancy was available. Child functional outcome in the two randomised groups was similar. Process evaluation revealed that some physiotherapeutic actions were associated with child mobility and parental educational approach at follow-up: e.g., training and instructing were associated with worse mobility. Functional outcome at school age after early intervention with COPCA is similar to that after TIP. However, some specific physiotherapeutic actions, in particular the physiotherapist's approach, are associated with outcome. Early intervention is generally applied in infants at risk for developing disorders, with the aim of improving overall functional outcome. However, little is known on the long-term effect. The VIP project evaluated by means of a randomised controlled trial the effect of the family centred early intervention programme COPCA (Coping with and Caring for infants with special needs) in comparison to that of traditional infant physical therapy (TIP). Outcome at 18months corrected age was virtually similar. Process evaluation of the physiotherapy actions revealed that some characteristics of COPCA were associated with improved developmental outcome at 18months. This paper presents data on functional outcome at school age (median 8.3years) in 87% of the original participants. Outcome of infants who received three months of COPCA and that of infants who received three months of TIP was similar. Yet, parents of families who had received the COPCA intervention still more often used a trial and error approach when the child learned a new skill than parents of children who had received TIP. Process evaluation showed that more time spent on caregiver training and strict instructions during early intervention was associated with worse mobility. Four other physiotherapeutic actions were associated with parental educational approach. None of the neuromotor actions were associated with child outcome at school age. We conclude that long-term outcome after three months of COPCA or TIP is similar. However, our study does suggest that the professional approach of the physiotherapist can make a difference.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3041102,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Comparative O2-. responses of lung macrophages and blood phagocytic cells in the rat. Possible relevance to IgA immune complex induced lung injury.\nIgA immune complex-induced lung injury in the rat is oxygen radical mediated and partially complement-dependent but develops fully after neutrophil depletion. The extent to which monocytes, lung interstitial macrophages, and alveolar macrophages may be involved in the development of lung injury in this model is unclear. To further understand the pathogenesis of IgA lung injury, we have examined the capacity of phagocytic cells isolated from different anatomic compartments of the lung to produce toxic oxygen-derived metabolites. [3H]Thymidine pulse labeling and autoradiography as well as in vivo phagocytosis studies were used to distinguish macrophages isolated from the alveolar and interstitial compartments. Lung interstitial macrophages were characterized ultrastructurally, cytochemically, and functionally. Interstitial macrophages were relatively uniform in size, had blunt pseudopodia, and contained almost no intracytoplasmic lamellar inclusions compared to alveolar macrophages. Similar to monocytes and alveolar macrophages, interstitial macrophages contained nonspecific esterase activity and exhibited the capacity to phagocytize latex and opsonized zymosan particles. Lung interstitial and alveolar macrophages incubated with IgA immune complexes, IgG immune complexes, or phorbol ester (PMA) produced similar amounts of O2-. in a dose-dependent manner. In contrast, peripheral blood neutrophils responded to IgG immune complexes and PMA but not to IgA immune complexes. Monocytes produced a small amount of O2-. in response to PMA but almost no O2-. in response to IgA or IgG immune complexes. These data are consistent with recent in vivo studies which indicate that IgA immune complex lung injury is neutrophil independent. The data provide direct in vitro evidence that lung interstitial and alveolar macrophages produce O2-. following incubation with PMA, IgA, or IgG immune complexes and may therefore contribute to the development of oxygen radical mediated lung injury.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20353127,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Schizophrenia: management and family burden.\nTo explore schizophrenia with respect to its management, causes, risk factors as well as the impact it has in families regarding the burden and social networks support. Desk literature reviews. The findings are that patients with schizophrenia typically have great difficulty following a medication regimen, but they also have the greatest potential for benefiting from adherence. As with other chronic diseases that lack a definitive cure, the individual's service\/recovery plan must include treatment interventions directed towards decreasing manifestations of the illness, rehabilitative services, enhancing adaptive skills, and social support mobilization aimed at optimizing function and quality of life. Finally, this paper is not exhaustive, but a pointer for further readings.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16217070,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Autoantibodies in postinfectious acute cerebellar ataxia.\nThe authors found serum immunoglobulin M (IgM) autoantibody in a patient with typical acute cerebellar ataxia (ACA) and identified the antigen molecule as triosephosphate isomerase (TPI). TPI antigenicity to the patient's antibody was the highest in the cerebellar tissue. Eight of 23 patients with ACA had increased IgM anti-TPI antibody titers vs those of healthy controls. Preceding Epstein-Barr virus infection was confirmed serologically in all 8 patients. Anti-TPI antibody decreased with clinical improvement.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35126985,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sequence-independent activation of photocycloadditions using two colours of light.\nWe exploit two reactive chromophores to establish sequence-independent photochemical activation, employing ortho-methyl benzaldehyde (oMBA) and N,N-(dimethylamino)pyrene aryl tetrazole (APAT) with N-(2-hydroxy)ethyl maleimide (NHEM), without any additives. Critically, the order of the irradiation sequence is irrelevant, as the shorter wavelength does not activate the higher wavelength activated species. Therefore, full sequence-independent \u03bb-orthogonality is achieved through differences in both the reaction quantum yields (\u03a6 r,oMBA and \u03a6 r,APAT) and wavelength-dependent reactivity profiles of the employed chromophores.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30302424,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Early-Onset Diabetes Mellitus in a Patient With a Chromosome 13q34qter Microdeletion Including IRS2.\nDiabetes mellitus is a multifactorial disease caused by a complex interaction of environmental and genetic factors. Some diabetes mellitus cases, however, are caused by a limited number of mutant genes. Chromosome 13q deletion syndrome, an extremely rare genetic disorder, is caused by structural and functional monosomy of the 13q chromosomal region. We report the case of a 38-year-old Japanese man with Chr13q deletion (a mosaic pattern with heterozygous ring Chr13q) who developed diabetes mellitus. Early-onset diabetes mellitus developed in this patient because of insulin resistance and a lack of adequate insulin secretion. Microarray analysis identified a 4.8-Mb deletion of distal Chr13q, leading to a copy number loss of 40 genes. Among those genes, the insulin receptor substrate 2 gene (IRS2) was the most likely causative candidate for the development of diabetes mellitus in this patient, based on the model of IRS2 knockout mice, which have abnormal glucose and insulin homeostasis closely resembling the human diabetes phenotype. These data provide important information regarding the contribution of a microdeletion of Chr13q, including in IRS2, to the pathogenesis of diabetes mellitus in humans.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15244456,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Chemical modification of silk sericin in lithium chloride\/dimethyl sulfoxide solvent with 4-cyanophenyl isocyanate.\nThis paper reports chemical modification of silk sericin in LiCl\/dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) solvent with 4-cyanophenyl isocyanate. Sericin is a highly hydrophilic protein secreted by Bombyx mori, serving as a protein glue in a cocoon. LiCl\/DMSO was found to be a good solvent of sericin and useful for homogeneous modification of its abundant hydroxyl groups under nonaqueous condition. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis of the modified sericins revealed that 4-cyanophenyl groups were incorporated into sericin molecules mainly through urethane linkages. Several characteristics of the modified sericins such as solubility characteristic, hygroscopic property, and thermal stability were investigated. Secondary structure analysis using FTIR spectra suggested that formation of strong intermolecular hydrogen bonds was inhibited by the modification that is probably attributable to the incorporation of bulky 4-cyanophenyl groups. These results demonstrate that chemical modification of sericin using LiCl\/DMSO solvent markedly alters its characteristics.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7949544,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Spontaneous proliferation of peripheral blood lymphocytes as an indicator of intragraft immune activation in liver transplant patients.\nThe presence of activated lymphocytes in the blood of transplant recipients is considered to be a marker of an ongoing immune process. In this study, the clinical utility of spontaneous proliferation (SP) of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) as a marker of in vivo activation was evaluated by in vitro [3H]thymidine incorporation in 22 patients in the 1st month after liver transplantation. Also immune activation in the graft was monitored by transplant aspiration cytology (TAC-A). In the study period, there were only 2 mild episodes of clinical acute rejection, where SP of PBMC was 1290 and 1541 cpm (vs. 99 cpm averaged in healthy controls). Though SP of PBMC was also increased in systemic infections, a significant positive correlation was observed between SP of PBMC and TAC-A score. In all episodes where TAC-A score was elevated to above 2, SP of PBMC was simultaneously increased to more than 1000 cpm. In 8 patients prophylactically treated with the anti-interleukin-2-receptor antibody, BT563, SP of PBMC was significantly lower compared to 7 patients treated with antithymocyte globulin. It is suggested that SP can be a reliable parameter of the in vivo activation of lymphocytes, which accompanies immune activation in liver graft, and is potentially useful as a sensitive, although rather non-specific, and non-invasive monitoring of intragraft alloresponse.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8349090,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Neisseria meningitidis transferrin-binding protein 1 expressed in Escherichia coli is surface exposed and binds human transferrin.\nA gene library of Neisseria meningitidis B15 P1.16 DNA was established in lambda Zap II and clones containing DNA encoding transferrin binding protein 1 (TBP-1) identified following hybridisation with a 63-bp DNA probe based on the codon assignment for the first 21 N-terminal amino acids of TBP-1. Sequencing of the cloned DNA demonstrated that all of the intergenic DNA (i.e. upstream of tbp-1 running through to the 3' end of the transferrin-binding protein 2 gene) and approx. 15% of tbp-1 had been cloned. The complete gene was generated using a polymerase chain reaction, with the primer for the 3' end being based on tbp-A of N. gonorrhoeae, and the approx. 2.9-kb DNA product cloned into pGem-3Z. The expressed protein (approx. 100 kDa) reacted with antiserum to an N-terminal peptide of TBP-1. In addition, the native product was surface-expressed by Escherichia coli and bound human transferrin.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25516778,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"TT genotype of GNAS1 T393C polymorphism predicts better outcome of advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients.\nTo evaluate the potential prognostic value of GNAS1 T393C polymorphism in advanced non-small cell lung cancer. We extracted genomic DNA from the peripheral blood leucocytes of 94 patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to determine the allelic discrimination. The correlation between genotype and overall survival was evaluated using the multivariate analysis and Kaplan-Meier approach. Thirty-eight out of 94 (40%) patients displayed a TT genotype, 29 out of 94 (31%) a CT genotype and 27 out of 94 (29%) a CC genotype. The median survival of TT (25 mo) genotype carriers was longer than CT (12 mo) or CC (8 mo) genotype carriers. The favorable TT genotype predicted better overall survival (OS) (2-year OS: 48%; P =0.01) compared with CT (2-year OS: 18%) or CC (2-year OS: 15%) genotype. However, dichotomization between C-genotypes (CC + CT) and T-genotypes (TT) revealed significantly lower survival rates (2-year OS: 16%; P = 0.01) for C allele carriers. Our data provided strong evidence that the GNAS1 T393C genetic polymorphism influenced the prognosis in advanced non-small lung cancer with a worse outcome for C allele carriers.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16984531,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cyclooxygenase-2 expression in squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus.\nIncreased cyclooxygenase-2 expression has been reported to be a poor prognostic indicator in a number of cancers. In this study we investigated the relationship between COX-2 expression in squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus and tumor characteristics and patient survival. The study group consisted of 90 men and 48 women who underwent esophagectomy for squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus between October 1984 and May 1985. COX-2 expression was measured by immunohistochemistry in 138 primary cancers, 23 metastatic lymph nodes and 21 normal esophageal stumps. The relationship between the extent of staining for COX-2 and clinicopathological features and survival was determined. The extent of staining for COX-2 in both primary and metastatic cancers was higher than in normal squamous epithelia (P = 0.002 and P < 0.0001 respectively), and the grade of staining in the primary tumor correlated positively with the finding of lymph node metastases (P = 0.03). The 5-year survival rate in patients with less than 10% COX-2 positive cells was 47.5% compared to 23.2% in patients with more than 10% COX-2 positive cells (P = 0.0036). The relationship between survival and COX-2 staining was not due to COX-2 being a surrogate marker for TNM stage. Our results show that the expression of COX-2 is elevated in squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus compared to normal epithelium and correlates with lymph node metastases. Survival was longer in those patients whose tumors expressed lower levels of COX-2.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9140695,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"At least three neurotransmitter systems mediate a stress-induced increase in c-fos mRNA in different rat brain areas.\n1. Protooncogene c-fos mRNA levels were determined in the rat cerebral cortex, hippocampus, and cerebellum after exposure to a combined forced swimming and confinement stress. The stress resulted in an increase in c-fos mRNA levels in all three brain areas. 2. In an effort to elucidate the neurotransmitter systems involved in this stress-induced increase, animals were injected, prior to exposure to the stress, with either diazepam, MK-801, or propranolol. 3. In both the cerebral cortex and the hippocampus the stress-induced increase in c-fos mRNA was inhibited by MK-801, suggesting that it is mediated via NMDA receptors. In the hippocampus, propranolol had a similar effect, indicating that beta-adrenergic receptors are also involved in the stress-induced increase in c-fos mRNA. 4. On the other hand, the increase in c-fos mRNA produced by the stress of the injection was inhibited in the cerebral cortex by diazepam or propranolol and in the hippocampus only by diazepam. Furthermore, administration of MK-801 resulted in an increase in c-fos mRNA in the hippocampus of the nonstressed animals. In the cerebellum no one of the three drugs employed affected c-fos mRNA levels in either stressed or nonstressed animals. 5. Our results thus show that various forms of stress activate, in different brain areas, neurons with either NMDA, beta-adrenergic, and\/or GABA-A receptors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17193985,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Specialties in dentistry. 4. Post-academic specialization in geriatric dentistry].\nIn recent years, a specialization in geriatric dentistry has been established and along with it an educational programme. A specialist in geriatric dentistry is a dentist general practitioner with special knowledge and skills for delivering oral care to frail elderly people. The educational programme aims at an increase in dentists serving in geriatric care who are well prepared for delivering care. In the programme attention is paid to the special aspects of care delivery and the special somatic, mental, and social characteristics of frail elderly people. The goal is to formulate an individual oral care programme for every frail elderly person. An individual oral care programme may contain 5 different oral care activities: continuing care, prevention, support, treatments, and evaluation. These activities define the scope of specialists in geriatric dentistry. This scope in turn defines the profile of required knowledge and skills, and the profile is the foundation of the educational objectives of the educational programme. The educational programme contains 7 modules: affinity; somatic and mental disabilities; communicative skills and coping with behavioural disturbances; emergency medical care; history taking, assessment, prevention, treatments and evaluation; organization and legislation; scientific training.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17822875,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Rapid development of auricular prosthesis using CAD and rapid prototyping technologies.\nExternal ear defects can be corrected by surgery, but this may not be feasible for personal or medical reasons. Reconstructive solutions are a good alternative, but rely on the artistry and availability of the anaplastologist. A semi-automated methodology using computer-aided design (CAD) and rapid prototyping (RP) technologies was developed for auricular prosthesis development, and demonstrated in a real-life case. The correct geometry and position of the prosthesis were ensured by stacking the computed tomography scan images of the contralateral normal ear in reverse order, and joining them using a medical modelling software program. The CAD model of the remnant portion of the defective ear was subtracted from the model of the mirrored contralateral ear, using a haptic CAD system, to obtain the final geometry of the prosthesis. Polymer models were fabricated in RP systems, and used for making a corresponding mould. Medical grade silicone rubber of the appropriate colour was packed into the mould to fabricate the final ear prosthesis and fitted to the deficient side of the patient using medical grade adhesive. The computer-aided methodology gave a high level of accuracy in terms of shape, size and position of the prosthesis, and a significantly shorter lead time compared to the conventional (manual) technique.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29564002,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Recent progress in the racemic and enantioselective synthesis of monofluoroalkene-based dipeptide isosteres.\nMonofluoroalkenes are fluorinated motifs that can be used to replace amide bonds. In order to be incorporated into peptides, it is normally necessary to first synthesize a dipeptide where the amide bond has been replaced with a monofluoroalkene. In that context, this review will present the racemic and enantioselective synthesis of monofluoroalkene-based dipeptide isosteres described since 2007. Some applications of those compounds will also be presented.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6171222,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Changes in circulating glycerol, free fatty acids and glucose levels following liver transplant in the pig.\nFemale pigs, fasted overnight, received an orthotopic liver transplant. During the nonhepatic phase, both blood glycerol and plasma free fatty acid concentrations increased, returning to basal values after the transplant, indicating that the liver is the main receptor of these products released in the blood from the glyceride breakdown in peripheral fat deposits. Blood glucose level rose during the nonhepatic phase, probably due in part to the perfusion of glucosated saline received by the animals during this phase. After liver transplant, blood glucose levels progressively decreased and this effect was greatly reduced by administering L-alanine. Our data indicate that metabolic changes in the donor's liver diminish the availability of gluconeogenetic substrates immediately following transplant, while administration of exogenous alanine permits faster restoration of gluconeogenetic function in the transplanted liver.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14564892,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A week of simulated night work delays salivary melatonin onset.\nIn most studies, the magnitude and rate of adaptation to various night work schedules is assessed using core body temperature as the marker of circadian phase. The aim of the current study was to assess adaptation to a simulated night work schedule using salivary dim light melatonin onset (DLMO) as an alternative circadian phase marker. It was hypothesised that the night work schedule would result in a phase delay, manifest in relatively later DLMO, but that this delay would be somewhat inhibited by exposure to natural light. Participants worked seven consecutive simulated 8-hour night shifts (23:00-07:00 h). By night 7, there was a mean cumulative phase delay of 5.5 hours, equivalent to an average delay of 0.8 hours per day. This indicates that partial circadian adaptation occurred in response to the simulated night work schedule. The radioimmunoassay used in the current study provides a sensitive assessment of melatonin concentration in saliva that can be used to determine DLMO, and thus provides an alternative phase marker to core body temperature, at least in laboratory studies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37854501,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effectiveness of the Sellick maneuver for painless gastroscopy in patients with esophageal hiatal hernia: A randomized, self\u2011control trial.\nThe Sellick maneuver is used for endotracheal intubation to prevent the occurrence of gastroesophageal reflux. The aim of the present study was to observe the effect of the Sellick maneuver on safety, esophageal closure status, gastric mucosal fold extension status, and positive detection rate of lesions in patients with esophageal hiatal hernia under painless gastroscopy. A total of 40 patients with esophageal hiatal hernia who underwent painless gastroscopy were screened for the use of the Sellick maneuver, in which the operator applied pressure to the cervical cricoid cartilage during the examination. The status of esophageal closure at the are pressed, examination time, gastric mucosal fold extension score, positive rate of lesion detection, and reflux of gastric juice or gastric contents, amongst other parameters were assessed. After using the Sellick maneuver, the state of esophageal closure during gastroscopy was significantly better than the no-Sellick maneuver group (P<0.05), and the extension scores of the greater curvature folds of the gastric body, the lateral folds of the lesser curvature of the gastric body, and the mucosal folds of the fundus were significantly higher than that of the no-Sellick maneuver (all P<0.05). The number of gastric polyps and gastric lesions (gastric ulcers and mucosal hyperplasia, amongst others) examined with the Sellick maneuver was significantly higher than the no-Sellick maneuver group (P<0.01). The Sellick maneuver effectively improved the extension of gastric mucosal folds during gastroscopy in patients with esophageal hiatal hernia, increased the positive detection rate of gastric lesions, and shortened the endoscopy time.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21158081,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Effects of fimbria\/fornix transection on rat's synaptic configuration of hippocampus CA3 area].\nTo observe the effect of fimbria-fornix (FF) transection on rat's hippocampal synaptic configuration. Animal models were produced by transecting rat's bilateral fimbria-fornix (FF). Y-type maze test were carried out respectively before and after the models were built, and emphasis was laid on the quantitative analyses of the parameters of synapses in the hippocampal CA3 areas. The thickness of postsynaptic density material, the curvature of synaptic interface and the occurrence of perforated synapses decreased, while the width of synaptic cleft increased. Fimbria-fornix transection resulted in evident changes of the synaptic configuration in the hippocampal CA3 areas and we presume that the normal Ach level in the hippocampus plays a key role in maintaining the normal synaptic interface ultrastructure of the hippocampus CA3 area.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21748608,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Influence of excess body weight on the surgical outcomes of total gastrectomy.\nWe conducted this retrospective study to identify the influence of excess body weight on the surgical outcome of total gastrectomy (TG) and to evaluate recent advances in this operation. The subjects were 644 consecutive gastric cancer patients who underwent TG between 1992 and 2008. Patients with a body mass index (BMI) of 25.0 kg\/m(2) or greater were defined as overweight (overweight group) and those with a BMI less than 25.0 kg\/m(2) as not overweight (non-overweight group). The operating times were longer (P = 0.005) and intraoperative blood loss was greater (P < 0.001) in the overweight group. The incidence of overall postoperative complications (P = 0.012) and of pancreatic fistula (P < 0.001) were significantly higher in the overweight group. In recent years, we achieved a reduction in operating time (P < 0.001), intraoperative blood loss (P = 0.033), and incidence of pancreatic fistula (P = 0.005), while maintaining curability, in the overweight group. Although TG for gastric cancer is technically more difficult in overweight patients, they should not be denied this operation. Conversely, we should make a greater effort to improve the surgical outcomes of overweight patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32366570,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Analytical Performance Evaluation of Aptima Herpes Simplex Virus 1 and 2 Assay Using Hologic Panther Instrument.\nHerpes simplex viruses 1 and 2 (HSV-1 and HSV-2) are responsible for a variety of human diseases. Therefore, rapid detection of these viruses in clinical laboratory is important. Recently Aptima Herpes Simplex 1 and 2 assay has been approved by the FDA. We evaluated analytical performance of this assay by comparing results obtained by analysis of cultures. Aptima Herpes Simplex assay is a nucleic acid amplification test that can be fully automated using the Hologic Panther instrument. This is a qualitative test providing either positive or negative result. We analyzed 115 specimens collected from anogenital locations using the new Aptima Herpes Simplex assay and our current tissue culture method. We observed good correlation between results obtained by using Aptima assay and the tissue culture method in 101 specimens but 14 specimens showed discordant results. Further testing in a reference laboratory using PCR (polymerase chain reaction) showed results in agreement with the Aptima assay but not the tissue culture method. The cause of discordance was misidentification of HSV-2 as HSV-1 by the tissue culture method. Aptima Herpes simplex assay on the Hologic Panther instrument is suitable for rapid detection of herpes simplex virus in clinical laboratory.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15560601,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Differential diagnosis of Raynaud's phenomenon--modern state of the problem].\nResults of examination of 108 patients with the Raynaud's phenomenon were analyzed. The differential diagnosis algorhythm for the disease and the syndrome as well was elaborated. The leading role of the clinical features and the data of the physical examination methods in the diagnosis establishing was proved. Diagnostic complex for the functional state investigation of the upper extremity microvascular bed was elaborated.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23453570,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Long term effect of surgery and radiotherapy for colorectal cancer on defecatory function and quality of life.\nSurvival from rectal cancer has improved substantially. Understanding the consequences of treatment is important to optimise patient support and minimise impact on daily life. We aimed to define the long-term prevalence of pelvic dysfunction following curative rectal cancer surgery (+\/- radiotherapy) within the context of overall quality of life. We evaluated bowel, urinary and sexual function and quality of life using three validated questionnaires in patients treated for rectal cancer. This group was compared to patients undergoing abdominal surgery without pelvic dissection for colon cancer during the same time period. The response rate was 57% (381\/667) with a median time interval of 4.4 years. A subset of rectal patients documented persistent problems with faecal leakage (16%); requiring to alter daily activities (18%); always needing to wear a protective pad (17%); rarely or never emptying their bowels fully (31%); difficulty controlling the passage of gas (32%) and requiring to modify diet (30%). Altered bowel function was found to impact on overall quality of life. Men reported increased erectile function difficulties. Pre-operative radiotherapy was associated with increased defecation problems as was low level of anastomosis (\u22646 cm). In keeping with emergent evidence, this study has quantified the extent of late adverse effects with a sub-set of rectal cancer patients reporting persistent bowel function problems. The implications are now to consider current follow-up services and to 'trial' new models of comprehensive assessment and interventions in patients who are 'at risk' of experiencing late adverse effects of treatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37656942,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Stereospecific Synthesis of Cyclohexenone Acids by [3,3]-Sigmatropic Rearrangement Route.\nHerein we report a modular synthetic method for the preparation of diaryl-substituted cyclohexenone acids starting from phenyl pyruvate and suitable enones. When the reaction is carried out in alkaline tert-butanol or toluene solutions in microwave-assisted conditions mainly anti configuration products are obtained with up to 86% isolated yield. However, when the reaction is carried out in alkaline water, a mixture of products with anti and syn conformations is obtained with up to 98% overall isolated yield. Mechanistically the product with anti conformation forms by a hemiketal-oxy-Cope type [3,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement-intramolecular aldol condensation route and syn product by an intermolecular aldol condensation-electrocyclization (disrotatory type) route.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18592724,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Cardiac radiological investigations: what risks for the patients?].\nThe volume of diagnostic or therapeutic procedures in cardiology requiring the use of ionizing radiation is continuously increasing. While most examinations involve doses relatively low and thus add a low risk to the process itself, there are situations where the doses exceed the dose where excess risk of death from cancer has been statistically demonstrated. In addition, some complex procedures can result in the emergence of deterministic effects such as burns to the skin. The aim of this contribution is to provide general practitioners with the tools required to exercise the justification of the procedure with regard to the radiation hazard involved. This information may also be useful in the framework of the informed consent of the patient.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37842569,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-18":1}}},"text":"Comprehensive analysis of the expression of the IGF2BPs gene family in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: Association with prognostic value and tumor immunity.\nHead and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) represents a predominant type of cancer found in the head and neck region, characterized by a high incidence and unfavorable prognosis. The IGF2BPs gene family, which belongs to the RNA-binding protein class, has been critically implicated in several cancers, and its involvement in HNSCC necessitates further exploration. To explore the clinical significance and potential biological functions of the IGF2BPs gene family in HNSCC. A bioinformatic methodology was employed to examine the expression profile, diagnostic and prognostic significance, and biological mechanisms of the IGF2BPs gene family in HNSCC, with a particular emphasis on its involvement in the immune function of HNSCC. This was followed by in vitro investigations to unravel the biological roles of the IGF2BPs gene family in HNSCC. This investigation has demonstrated that, in contrast with normal control tissue, HNSCC has a substantial elevation in the expression level of the IGF2BPs gene family. Patients with a high level of IGF2BPs gene family expression demonstrated higher prediction accuracy for HNSCC. Furthermore, patients with HNSCC and elevated IGF2BPs gene family expression levels exhibited poor survival outcomes. The IGF2BPs gene family displayed a significant association with a variety of immune infiltrating cells and immune genes in HNSCC. Studies conducted in vitro have confirmed that IGF2BP2 silencing suppressed the migration, proliferation, and invasion of HNSCC cells. It has been determined that the IGF2BPs gene family plays a crucial part in the onset and progression of HNSCC, and its association with tumor immunity has been established. The IGF2BPs gene family holds promising potential as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for HNSCC.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9138875,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-18":1}}},"text":"Laparoscopic retropubic cystourethropexy.\nTo evaluate the efficacy of laparoscopic retropubic urethrovesical suspension. Retrospective review of charts of 62 women over a follow-up period ranging from 8 to 30 months. A suburban hospital in a major metropolitan area. Sixty-two women, age 34 to 69 years, gravidity 0 to 8, and parity 0 to 7, with gynecologic abnormalities requiring surgical intervention and with pure genuine urinary stress incontinence. Each patient underwent a Burch or Marshall-Marchetti-Krantz procedure, modified to be performed at laparoscopy. Success was measured subjectively and objectively. Subjective success, determined by the lack of need to wear pads, was 100%. Objective success was assessed using several criteria: comparison of preoperative and postoperative symptom diaries; questionnaires; urine characteristics by straight catheter (office dipstick for nitrate, leukocyte estrace, bacteria, and white cell blood count, if suspicious urine culture and sensitivity); postvoid residual volume (<100 ml was considered complete); urethrovesical junction angle as determined by catheter or Q-Tip placement (upward, downward, or straight); bladder support; and negative standing stress test. All women reported satisfactory relief of symptoms, with subjective and objective improvement. None have noted urinary leakage during activities similar to those preoperatively associated with this condition. To date, the outcomes have been acceptable, although the limited numbers and relatively short follow-up prohibit any definitive conclusions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36927930,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Rare Compound Heterozygous Missense Mutation of the SCN5A Gene with Childhood-Onset Sick Sinus Syndrome in Two Chinese Sisters.\nSick sinus syndrome (SSS) is a group of syndromes characterized by pathological changes in the sinoatrial node and its adjacent tissues. Although several mutations in the SCN5A gene have been associated with early-onset SSS, pediatric patients are still less common. Here, we report a rare compound missense mutation in the SCN5A gene [c.2893C>T (p. R965C) and c.2431C>T (p. R811C) ] in two sisters with childhood-onset SSS in Chinese population. The proband (5 years and 5 months old) was the second child of a clinically normal and nonconsanguineous couple. Her elder sister was 12 years old and had been implanted with a pacemaker because of the diagnosis of SSS at another hospital one year ago. The proband was presented to the hospital with a slowed heart rate and reduced endurance exercise capacity for more than three months. After a comprehensive clinical examination, she was diagnosed with SSS and underwent pacemaker implantation. Exome and Sanger sequencing were used to determine the compound heterozygous missense mutation of [c.2893C>T (p. R965C) and c.2431C>T (p. R811C) ] in the SCN5A in the patient and her elder sister. Each healthy parent carried a different heterozygous missense mutation. The compound heterozygous mutation of c.2893C>T (p. R965C) and c.2431C>T (p. R811C) rather than the single mutation might be the primary cause of familial early-onset SSS in Chinese population. Our current findings expanded the current understanding of the SCN5A gene mutations. We further confirmed the essential role of the SCN5A gene on the diagnosis, family cascade screening, early intervention, and prognostic evaluation of SSS.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18582086,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Characterization of the key aroma compounds in an american bourbon whisky by quantitative measurements, aroma recombination, and omission studies.\nThirty-one of the 45 odor-active compounds previously identified by us in an American Bourbon whisky were quantified by stable isotope dilution assays. Also for this purpose, new synthetic pathways were developed for the synthesis of the deuterium-labeled whisky lactone as well as for gamma-nona- and gamma-decalactone. To obtain the odor activity values (OAVs), the concentrations measured were divided by the odor thresholds of the odorants determined in water\/ethanol (6:4 by vol.). Twenty-six aroma compounds showed OAVs >1, among which ethanol, ethyl (S)-2-methylbutanoate, 3-methylbutanal, 4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde, (E)-beta-damascenone, ethyl hexanoate, ethyl butanoate, ethyl octanoate, 2-methylpropanal, (3S,4S)- cis-whiskylactone, (E, E)-2,4-decadienal, 4-allyl-2-methoxyphenol, ethyl-3-methylbutanoate, and ethyl 2-methylpropanoate showed the highest values. The overall aroma of the Bourbon whisky could be mimicked by an aroma recombinate consisting of the 26 key odorants in their actual concentrations in whisky using water\/ethanol (6:4 by vol.) as the matrix. Omission experiments corroborated the importance of, in particular, 4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde, (3S,4S)-cis-whiskylactone, ethanol, and the entire group of esters for the overall aroma of the Bourbon whisky.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8355699,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Demethylation of somatic and testis-specific histone H2A and H2B genes in F9 embryonal carcinoma cells.\nIn contrast to many other genes containing a CpG island, the testis-specific H2B (TH2B) histone gene exhibits tissue-specific methylation patterns in correlation with gene activity. Characterization of the methylation patterns within a 20-kb segment containing the TH2A and TH2B genes in comparison with that in a somatic histone cluster revealed that: (i) the germ cell-specific unmethylated domain of the TH2A and TH2B genes is defined as a small region surrounding the CpG islands of the TH2A and TH2B genes and (ii) somatic histone genes are unmethylated in both liver and germ cells, like other genes containing CpG islands, whereas flanking sequences are methylated. Transfection of in vitro-methylated TH2B, somatic H2B, and mouse metallothionein I constructs into F9 embryonal carcinoma cells revealed that the CpG islands of the TH2A and TH2B genes were demethylated like those of the somatic H2A and H2B genes and the metallothionein I gene. The demethylation of those CpG islands became significantly inefficient at a high number of integrated copies and a high density of methylated CpG dinucleotides. In contrast, three sites in the somatic histone cluster, of which two sites are located in the long terminal repeat of an endogenous retrovirus-like sequence, were efficiently demethylated even at a high copy number and a high density of methylated CpG dinucleotides. These results suggest two possible mechanisms for demethylation in F9 cells and methylation of CpG islands of the TH2A and TH2B genes at the postblastula stage during embryogenesis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3064453,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Indications for acupuncture and electropuncture in internal medicine].\nThe acupuncture and electropuncture are no polychrest method, but integrated into other approved forms of therapy a valuable supplementation of our possibilities of treatment, since expense, utility and risk are well proportionated. The author enters the importance, the hypotheses of action, the possibilities and limits, the contraindications and the insignificant risk of treatment. With the help of own investigations and on the basis of the results of the clinical experimental and basic researches of other authors in indicated diseases a portion of success is discussed which is transgressing a pure suggestive effect.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20353374,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Posttransplant soluble CD30 as a predictor of acute renal allograft rejection.\nRecent results have indicated that high prerenal and postrenal transplant soluble CD30 levels may be associated with an increased acute rejection and graft loss. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of using serum sCD30 as a marker for predicting acute graft rejection. In this prospective study,we analyzed clinical data of 80 patients, whose pretransplant and posttransplant serum levels of sCD30 were detected by enzyme-linked immunoassay. Eight patients developed acute rejection, 7 patients showed delayed graft function, and 65 recipients experienced an uncomplicated course group. The patients were followed for 12 months, and there were no deaths. Preoperative sCD30 levels of 3 groups were 96.2 -\/+ 32.5, 80.2 -\/+ 28.3, and 76.8 -\/+ 29.8 U\/mL (P = .28). After transplant, a significant decrease in the sCD30 level was detected in 3 groups on day 14 posttransplant (P < .001), while sCD30 levels of acute rejection group remained significantly higher than delayed graft function and nonrejecting patients (28.3 -\/+ 5.2, 22.1 -\/+ 3.2, and 19.8 -\/+ 4.7 U\/mL) (P = .02). Positive panel reactive antibody was not statistically different among groups (P = .05). Also, hemodialysis did not affect sCD30 levels (P = .05). Receiver operating characteristic curve demonstrated that the sCD30 level on day 14 posttransplant could discriminate patients who subsequently suffered acute allograft rejection (area under receiver operating characteristic curve, 0.95). According to receiver operating characteristic curve, 20 U\/mL may be the optimal operational cutoff level to predict impending graft rejection (specificity 93.8%, sensitivity 83.3%). Measurement of the soluble CD30 level on day 14 after transplant might offer a noninvasive means for recognizing patients at risk of acute graft rejection during the early posttransplant period.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22689009,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2014-10":1,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Vitamin d and cardiovascular disease.\nVitamin D has received widespread attention for its potential role in preventing cardiovascular disease (CVD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Several epidemiological studies have suggested that individuals with low blood levels of vitamin D have increased risks of heart disease, stroke, hypertension, and diabetes. Yet, the revised 2011 Institute of Medicine report for intake of calcium and vitamin D, which was guided by skeletal health alone, concluded that the evidence that vitamin D prevents CVD, diabetes, or other cardiometabolic outcomes was inconsistent and inconclusive and did not meet criteria for establishing a cause and effect relationship [1\u2022, 2]. This finding was consistent with an earlier systematic review conducted by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) in 2009 [3\u2022]. Ongoing clinical trials seek to address the effects of vitamin D supplementation on CVD and other nonskeletal outcomes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20366302,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Topological entanglement R\u00e9nyi entropy and reduced density matrix structure.\nWe generalize the topological entanglement entropy to a family of topological R\u00e9nyi entropies parametrized by a parameter alpha, in an attempt to find new invariants for distinguishing topologically ordered phases. We show that, surprisingly, all topological R\u00e9nyi entropies are the same, independent of alpha for all nonchiral topological phases. This independence shows that topologically ordered ground-state wave functions have reduced density matrices with a certain simple structure, and no additional universal information can be extracted from the entanglement spectrum.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16213532,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Screening the receptorome for plant-based psychoactive compounds.\nThroughout time, humans have used psychoactive plants and plant-derived products for spiritual, therapeutic and recreational purposes. Furthermore, the investigation of psychoactive plants such as Cannabis sativa (marijuana), Nicotiana tabacum (tobacco) and analogues of psychoactive plant derivatives such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) have provided insight into our understanding of neurochemical processes and diseases of the CNS. Currently, many of these compounds are being used to treat a variety of diseases, such as depression and anxiety in the case of Piper methysticum Kava Kava (Martin et al., 2002; Singh and Singh, 2002). G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) are the most common molecular target for both psychoactive drugs and pharmaceuticals. The \"receptorome\" (that portion of the genome encoding ligand reception) encompasses more than 8% of the human genome (Roth et al., 2004) and as such provides a large number of possible targets for psychoactive drug interactions. A systematic, comprehensive study is necessary to identify novel active psychoactive plant-based compounds and the molecular targets of known compounds. Herein we describe the development of a high throughput system (HTS) to screen psychoactive compounds against the receptorome and present two examples (Salvia divinorum, the \"magic mint\" hallucinogen and Banisteriopsis caapi, the main component of Ayahuasca, a psychoactive beverage) where HTS enabled the identification of the molecular target of each compound.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29549992,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Seasonal shifts in the thermal biology of the lizard Liolaemus tandiliensis (Squamata, Liolaemidae).\nSmall lizards can accommodate to constraints imposed by temporal changes in ambient temperature through a combination of adaptive evolution and behavioral and physiological plasticity. Thermal physiology plasticity may compensate for climate variation and favor performance while minimizing behavioral costs in sub-optimal conditions. The Tandilia's lizard, Liolaemus tandiliensis, occurs in an isolated mountain range of the Argentinean temperate Pampas. In this study, we compared the thermal biology of L. tandiliensis between late spring (December) and mid-summer (February). The habitats' thermal quality was lower in late spring than in mid-summer. The lizard's field-body temperature (Tb) was 2-3 \u00b0C higher than the operative temperature (Te). Overall, the mean preferred temperature (Tsel) was 37.4 \u00b0C [preferred range (Tset): 36.2-38.7 \u00b0C], and was similar to other Liolaemus species. The Tset and Tsel of females in late spring were 1.8 \u00b0C lower than in mid-summer. In the case of males, the Tsel did not vary among seasons, while the Tset had a difference of 2.5 \u00b0C between seasons. Adults were moderate thermoregulators, but females were more efficient only in late spring (Emales = 0.69; Efemales = 0.58), compared to mid-summer (Emales = 0.68; Efemales = 0.50). Juveniles did not show temporal differences in temperature preferences and had a relatively higher efficiency in late spring (E = 0.38) compared to mid-summer (E = 0.28). An increased proportion of juveniles and adults shifted their Tb near to the Tset in late spring respect to mid-summer. The adults also matched their preferred temperatures to their current body temperature. These results suggest that seasonal shifts in the thermoregulatory parameters of L. tandiliensis may improve their thermoregulatory efficiency. Although temporal variation in ambient temperatures might influence the thermal biology of the studied lizards, other factors such as changes in the reproductive status may have also interfered.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16238433,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Interactions between nanocolloidal particles in polymer solutions: effect of attractive interactions.\nWe present a density-functional theory study of nanoparticle interactions in a concentrated polymer solution. The polymers are modeled as freely jointed tangent chains; all nonbonded interactions between polymer segments and nanoparticles are described by Lennard-Jones potentials. We test several recently proposed methods of treating attractive interactions within the density-functional theory framework by comparing theoretical results with recent simulation data. We find that the simple van der Waals approach provides the most accurate results for the polymer-mediated potential of mean force between two dilute nanoparticles. We employ this approach to study nanoparticle interactions as a function of nanoparticle-segment interaction strength and polymer solution density and temperature.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29369460,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Fluoride-Catalyzed Esterification of Amides.\nIn recent years, it has been demonstrated that amide carbon-nitrogen bonds can be activated and selectively cleaved using transition metal catalysts. However, these methodologies have been restricted to specific amides; a one-to-one relationship exists between the catalytic system and the amides and also uses large amounts of transition-metal catalysts and ligands. Hence, we now report a general strategy for esterification of common amides using fluoride as a catalyst. This method shows high functional group tolerance, and notably it requires only a slight excess of the alcohol nucleophile, which is a rare case in transition-metal-free amide transformations. Moreover, this approach may provide a new understanding for further studies on esterification of amides and is expected to stimulate the development of alternative methods for direct functionalization of amides.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14520721,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-26":1}}},"text":"Effect of long-acting beta2 agonists on exacerbation rates of asthma in children.\nThe purpose of this analysis was to examine the effect of long-acting beta(2)-adrenoceptor agonists (LABAs) on the asthma exacerbation rate in pediatric patients. Randomized controlled trials (RCT) that included the use of LABAs to treat symptoms of pediatric asthma in children on inhaled corticosteroids, that reported asthma exacerbation rates, and that were published as full papers in peer-reviewed journals were retrieved from a search of the medical literature. Eight studies were identified that fulfilled these criteria. An exacerbation was defined as deterioration in a patient's asthma requiring a change in prescribed medication or not defined but reported as an asthma exacerbation or an asthma-related hospitalization. Analysis of data from the eight studies revealed no apparent protection from an asthma exacerbation among children on a LABA compared to patients on comparator treatment. The relative risk of an asthma exacerbation for LABA compared to placebo or short-acting beta(2)-adrenoceptor agonist (SABA) ranged from 0.95-1.86. The relative risk of hospitalization for asthma in patients treated with LABAs with regular maintenance with ICS ranged from 3.3-21.6 in the three studies that reported asthma-related hospitalizations. The lack of evidence for the control of asthma exacerbations in children regularly using a LABA should bring into question its general use as add-on therapy. Studies should be designed to directly explore the implications of these observations in pediatric patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1100348,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Chemical analysis of methacrylate plastics].\nIt was the object of this study to find quick but exact methods for determining the components of quickly setting methacrylate materials for dentures, dental fillings (PMMA) and for bone surgery. Furthermore, lower-molecular components still being present in the hardened resin were tested. By measuring refraction index and by infrared spectrum and gas-chromatographical analyses the composition of the liquid is obtained. Dimethyl-p-toluidine, hydrochinon and cross-linking agents were determined spectrophotometrically. Filling agents, pigments, plasticizers and soluble components of the powder were determined gravimetrically. The presence of polystyrol is established by infrared analysis, that of benzoyl peroxide by spectroscopic analysis. As to the hardened material, the molecular weight is determined by viscosity measurements and the molecular weight distribution by gel permeability measurements. Residual monomer is found by gas chromatography.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29371724,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"How close are we? An audit of biometry of a tertiary care hospital in Karachi.\nTo evaluate the accuracy of biometry in the post-op phase of cataract surgery. This study was conducted at Liaquat National Hospital, Karachi, from June 2015 to July 2016, and comprised the audit of patients who underwent cataract surgery during the period. Keratometry was done on Haag-Strait manual keratometer and A-scan was done by applanation contact method on SonoMed machine. Theoretic-T formula was used to calculate desired intraocular lens power for all kinds of axial lengths. A single surgeon operated upon the same Alcon Constellation phacoemulsification machine. Postoperative follow-up was done by monitoring auto refraction and visual acuity on days 1, 7, 30 and 90. SPSS 21 was used for data analysis.. Of 244 patients, 121(49.60%) were males and 123(50.40%) were females. There were 123(50.40%) right eyes and 121(49.60%) left eyes. Overall, 132(54.10%) achieved postoperative refraction within \u00b10.5 D of target and 193(79.10%) within \u00b11 D of target. Age, gender and laterality had no significant effect on outcomes (p>0.05 each). Postoperative refraction corresponded quite closely with global recommendations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23456484,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Multi-allergen challenge stimulates steriod-resistant airway inflammation via NF-\u03baB-mediated IL-8 expression.\nNeutrophilic airway inflammation associated with multiple allergens has been related to steroid-resistant asthma. However, most animal models use only one allergen, which cannot simulate asthma closely as seen in patients. To determine the mechanism of inflammatory process involved in this severe condition, BALB\/c mice were repetitively challenged with the pooled extract of dust mite, ragweed, and Aspergillus species (DRA). We found that DRA increased interleukin (IL)-10 and TGF-\u03b2 levels and neutrophil recruitment in bronchial alveolar lavage fluid. We also found that although dexamethasone suppressed the release of these two cytokines, mast cells recruitment, and mucus hypersecretion, it actually increased neutrophil infiltration and the level of keratinocyte-derived chemokine (mKC), a functional homolog of human IL-8. Treatment of human lung alveolar A549 cells with Der p1, an extract of house dust mite Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, increased the expression of IL-8 and activity of NF-\u03baB. The elevated IL-8 level was suppressed by BAY11-7082, a selective NF-\u03baB inhibitor, but not by dexamethasone. These results suggest that increased IL-8 (mKC) levels may be involved in steroid-resistant neutrophilic airway inflammation through an NF-\u03baB-dependent pathway.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":931469,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of angiotensins and catecholamines on the transmembrane potential and isometric force of rattib isolated atria.\nThe action of angiotensin II (ATII), 1-des-Asp-ATII (Hepta-2-8), angiotensin I (ATI), 1-Sar,8-Gly-ATII and catecholamines on isometric force and transmembrane potential were studied in rabbit isolated atria, driven electrically. In some experiments two microelectrodes were implated to record simultaneously cjamges of intracellular electrical events in the left and in the right atrium: changes of tension were recorded isometrically. In other experiments changes of transmembrane potential were measured with floating microelectrodes. Norepinephrine and epinephrine increased tension, prolonged the plateau phase of the action potential (A.P.) in both atria, while facilitating conduction. ATII and 1-des-Asp-ATII showed similar effects on tension and greater changes on the electrical events of the left than on the right atrium, while ATI was more effective on the right than on the left atrium. 1-Sar, 8-Gly-ATII had no direct effect but prevented or reduced the action of ATII, 1-des-Asp-ATII and ATI, without influencing norepinephrine and epinephrine. All angiotensions except 1-Sar,8-Gly-ATII slightly prolonged the time of conduction. The results indicate that: a)angiotensins and catecholamines prolong the duration of the action potential and induce minor changes of potential overshoot in atrial fibers; b) ATII and 1-des-Asp-ATII act preferentially on the left and ATI on the right atrium; c) 1-Sar,8Gly-ATII inhibits secifically the effects of ATII and ATI in this preparation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29364040,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Comparison of Upper Trapezius and Infraspinatus Myofascial Trigger Point Therapy by Dry Needling in Overhead Athletes With Unilateral Shoulder Impingement Syndrome.\nChronic musculoskeletal disorders in the shoulder joint are often associated with myofascial trigger points (MTrPs), particularly in the upper trapezius (UT) muscle. Dry needling (DN) is a treatment of choice for myofascial pain syndrome. However, local lesions and severe postneedle soreness sometimes hamper the direct application of DN in the UT. Therefore, finding an alternative point of treatment seems useful in this regard. To compare the efficacy of UT versus infraspinatus (ISP) DN on pain and disability of subjects with shoulder pain. The authors hypothesized that ISP DN could be as effective as the direct application of DN in UT MTrP. Single-blind randomized clinical trial. Sports medicine physical therapy clinic. A total of 40 overhead athletes (age = 36 [16] y; 20 females and 20 males) with unilateral shoulder impingement syndrome were randomly assigned to the UT DN (n = 21) and ISP DN (n = 19) groups. An acupuncture needle was directly inserted into the trigger point of UT muscle in the UT DN group and of ISP muscle in the ISP DN group. DN was applied in 3 sessions (2-day interval between each sessions) for each group. Pain intensity (visual analog scale), pain pressure threshold, and disability in the arm, shoulder, and hand were assessed before and after the interventions. Pain and disability decreased significantly in both groups (P < .001) and pain pressure threshold increased significantly only in the ISP group (P = .02). However, none of the outcome measures showed a significant intergroup difference after treatments (P > .05). Application of DN for active MTrPs in the ISP can be as effective as direct DN of active MTrPs in the UT in improving pain and disability in athletes with shoulder pain, and may be preferred due to greater patient comfort in comparison with direct UT needling.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27262226,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Determinants of Smoking Cessation in Patients With COPD Treated in the Outpatient Setting.\nThe beneficial effects of smoking cessation on the progression of COPD are well established. Nevertheless, many patients with COPD continue to smoke. In this nationwide hospital-based prospective follow-up study, we examined rates of smoking cessation and clinical and sociodemographic determinants of smoking cessation in 3,233 patients with COPD who smoked on outpatient contact during 2008 to 2012. Using multivariate Cox regression, we calculated hazard ratios (HRs) of quitting. Within 1 and 5 years from first outpatient contact, the probability of quitting was 19% and 45%, respectively. In adjusted analyses, patients were less likely to quit if they were younger, with an HR of 0.84 (95% CI, 0.71-0.99) for patients aged 50 to 69 years and 0.53 (95% CI, 0.37-0.76) for patients aged 30 to 49, compared with those aged 70 years or older, who had lower income (HR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.67-0.94), lived alone (HR, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.64-0.88), were unemployed (HR, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.54-0.90), had milder COPD with an HR of 0.67 (95% CI, 0.53-0.84) for Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) A and 0.61 (95% CI, 0.47-0.80) for GOLD B compared with GOLD D, had Medical Research Council (MRC) dyspnea scale score < 4 (HR 0.80, 95% CI 0.68-0.95), or no history of exacerbations treated on an outpatient basis. (HR, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.68-0.93). These findings reinforce that young and socioeconomically disadvantaged patients have more difficulties achieving timely smoking cessation. A novel finding is that patients with milder COPD are less likely to quit. The findings suggest a need for interventional studies focusing on these subgroups to ensure abstinence to halt disease progression.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30315234,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Relative survival following response to 7 + 3 versus azacytidine is similar in acute myeloid leukemia and high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes: an analysis of four SWOG studies.\nHere we quantify and compare the absolute and relative overall survival (OS) benefits conveyed by complete remission (CR) in AML and high-risk MDS, and by CR with incomplete count recovery (CRi) in AML and by hematologic improvement (HI) in MDS, following treatment with 7 + 3 versus azacytidine. We compared patients receiving 7 + 3 in SWOG studies S0106 (n = 301) and S1203 (n = 261) enrolling adults \u2264 60 years, with patients receiving azacytidine therapies in S0703 (n = 133 AML patients \u2265 60) and S1117 (n = 277 MDS patients \u2265 18). Absolute survival benefit was evaluated with 1-year, 3-year, and median OS; relative benefit was evaluated with univariate and covariate-adjusted hazard ratios. CR conveyed a relative survival advantage in multivariable analysis, with a similar relative effect of CR across studies. CR also conferred an absolute survival benefit, but with a smaller magnitude of absolute benefit in the azacytidine trials. In AML, OS was similar for CRi and failure to achieve CR\/CRi. In MDS, CR conferred a survival advantage versus HI and HI versus failure. The relative survival benefit of CR was similar regardless of initial therapy for AML or high-risk MDS. With both therapies, CR has a beneficial effect on survival compared with CRi or HI.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26488533,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Pediatric otolaryngology, molecular diagnosis of hereditary hearing loss: next-generation sequencing approach.\nSensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) is the most common sensory birth defect. The purpose of this article is to review the advances in next-generation sequencing (NGS) and molecular diagnosis of hereditary hearing loss. Early diagnosis and detection of SNHL is critical for the development of appropriate speech and language, as neuroplasticity peaks in the first few years of life. There has been increased accuracy of NGS genetic testing, which has helped created a paradigm shift in the diagnosis of hearing loss. The diagnostic yield of genetic testing now approaches that of radiographic imaging; however, there remains a difference in cost and time delay. With the introduction of comprehensive genetic panels, 23-129 genes can be sequenced from the same blood sample. Diagnostic genetic testing of SNHL in the past has been confined to a few genes through Sanger sequencing. The advent of NGS allows for development of comprehensive genetic panels, which test for up to 129 genes while improving the accuracy and efficiency of testing. This type of testing may become more common as the costs decrease and more genes are discovered.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35343155,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Identification of specific peptides from Bubali Cornu by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry].\nThis paper explored the specific peptides from Bubali Cornu by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and based on mathematics set theory. Following the profile analysis of peptides from Bubali Cornu, Bovis Grunniens Cornu, Caprae Hircus Cornu, and Suis Cornu by nano LC-LTQ-Obitrap-MS after digestion with trypsin, the relationship of peptide composition among different samples was analyzed using the mathematics set theory. The ones that existed only in the Bubali Cornu set rather than in any other set were considered as the specific peptides of Bubali Cornu. The further bioinformatic analysis revealed four specific peptides from Bubali Cornu, whose specificity was verified by UPLC-QQQ-MS. The results showed that these four peptides could be used for distinguishing Bubali Cornu from Caprae Hircus Cornu and Suis Cornu. This study has provided a rapid and simple method for seeking the specific peptides in animal medicines, which can be utilized for quality evaluation of animal medicines, thus making them authenticable and traceable.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36938767,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Construction accident prevention: A systematic review of machine learning approaches.\nThe construction industry is an important productive sector worldwide. However, the industry is also responsible for high numbers of work-related accidents, which highlights the necessity for improving safety management on construction sites. In parallel, technological applications such as machine learning (ML) are used in many productive sectors, including construction, and have proved significant in process optimizations and decision-making. Thus, advanced studies are required to comprehend the best way of using this technology to enhance construction site safety. This research developed a systematic literature review using ten scientific databases to retrieve relevant publications and fill the knowledge gaps regarding ML applications in construction accident prevention. This study examined 73 scientific articles through bibliometric research and descriptive analysis. The results showed the publications timeline and the most recurrent journals, authors, institutions, and countries-regions. In addition, the review discovered information about the developed models, such as the research goals, the ML methods used, and the data features. The research findings revealed that USA and China are the leading countries regarding publications. Also, Support Vector Machine - SVM was the most used ML method. Furthermore, most models used textual data as a source, generally related to inspection reports and accident narratives. The data approach was usually related to facts before an accident (proactive data). The review highlighted improvement proposals for future works and provided insights into the application of ML in construction safety management.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12006030,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Possibility of an unequivocal test of different models of the equation of state of aluminum in the coupling regime Gamma approximately 1-50.\nThe equation of state (EOS) in regimes of density (rho) and temperature (T) which are inaccessible to experiment has to be determined using theories which may themselves be out of their range of validity. Even for Al, the EOS in the region 0.1<rho<2 g cm(-3), and 1<T<50 eV, where the ionic coupling parameter Gamma ranges from 1- approximately 50, is not unknown. We present results for the EOS using the Thomas-Fermi model (TF), the quotidian equation of state, the Sesame tabulation, and using the density-functional neutral-pseudoatom (NPA) model which is a first-principles theory applicable at strong coupling. It is found that the NPA predictions are very different from the other models, and experiments could provide an unequivocal test of the validity of the different EOS models. We report theoretical results for the Hugoniot, and the electrical conductivity in the regime of interest.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":33731308,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Novel function of PERP-428 variants impacts lung cancer risk through the differential regulation of PTEN\/MDM2\/p53-mediated antioxidant activity.\nLung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Identifying genetic risk factors and understanding their mechanisms will help reduce lung cancer incidence. The p53 apoptosis effect is related to PMP-22 (PERP), a tetraspan membrane protein, and an apoptotic effector protein downstream of p53. Although historically considered a tumor suppressor, PERP is highly expressed in lung cancers. Stable knockdown of PERP expression induces CL1-5 and A549 lung cancer cell death, but transient knockdown has no effect. Interestingly, relative to the PERP-428GG genotype, PERP-428CC was associated with the highest lung cancer risk (OR = 5.38; 95% CI = 2.12-13.65, p < 0.001), followed by the PERP-428CG genotype (OR = 2.34; 95% CI = 1.55-3.55, p < 0.001). Ectopic expression of PERP-428G, but not PERP-428C, protects lung cancer cells against ROS-induced DNA damage. Mechanistically, PERP-428 SNPs differentially regulate p53 protein stability. p53 negatively regulates the expression of the antioxidant enzymes catalase (CAT) and glutathione reductase (GR), thereby modulating redox status. p53 protein stability is higher in PERP-428C-expressing cells than in PERP-428G-expressing cells because MDM2 expression is decreased and p53 Ser20 phosphorylation is enhanced in PERP-428C-expressing cells. The MDM2 mRNA level is decreased in PERP-428C-expressing cells via PTEN-mediated downregulation of the MDM2 constitutive p1 promoter. This study reveals that in individuals with PERP-428CC, CAT\/GR expression is decreased via the PTEN\/MDM2\/p53 pathway. These individuals have an increased lung cancer risk. Preventive antioxidants and avoidance of ROS stressors are recommended to prevent lung cancer or other ROS-related chronic diseases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28274030,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Intra and Inter-Observer Variability of Transformation Zone Assessment in Colposcopy: A Qualitative and Quantitative Study.\nColposcopy is an important tool in the diagnosis of cervical precancer and early cancer. The assessment of women with abnormal cytology and selection of those who require further therapy or follow up depends on the colposcopic assessment of the Transformation Zone (TZ). Identification of the TZ is thus an important part of this examination. Intra and inter-observer variability is known to be relatively high in the colposcopic interpretation of abnormal features. However, there are hardly any studies on the observer variability in the assessment of the type of TZ. The present study was conducted with the aim to compare the intra and inter-observer variability of the TZ type classification and the Squamo-Columnar Junction (SCJ) visibility and to quantitatively measure the intra and inter-observer correlations of tracing of the TZ contours. Colposcopy images were obtained for a total of 170 cases. They were reviewed by three colposcopists independently. The colposcopists classified the TZ type and also marked the SCJ contours on the images. Each observer independently reviewed the cases on two different instances (few weeks apart) and the result was compiled for intra-observer variation. The intra and inter observer variability on the TZ type was compared using Cohen's Kappa. This was followed by a quantitative measurement of TZ observation variability using Hausdorff distance. The inter-observer agreement for the TZ type classification was moderate (Kappa= 0.53 to 0.66). The Intra-observer agreement was moderate to strong (0.60 to 0.86). Colposcopic in vivo examination increases the variability in the identification of the TZ when compared to the analysis of recorded images. The disagreement in the TZ type was mostly in categories Type 2 vs Type 3 followed by Type 1 vs Type 2. A computerized quantification method can be used for quality control and training purpose in colposcopy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37664126,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Endophytic Beauveria bassiana promotes plant biomass growth and suppresses pathogen damage by directional recruitment.\nEntomopathogenic fungi (EPF) can colonize and establish symbiotic relationships with plants as endophytes. Recently, EPF have been reported to suppress plant pathogens and induce plant resistance to diseases. However, the potential mechanisms via which EPF as endophytes control major plant diseases in situ remain largely unknown. Pot and field experiments were conducted to investigate the mechanisms via which an EPF, Beauveria bassiana, colonizes tomato, under Botrytis cinerea infection stress. B. bassiana blastospores were inoculated into tomato plants by root irrigation. Tomato resistance to tomato gray mold caused by B. cinerea was evaluated by artificial inoculation, and B. bassiana colonization in plants and rhizosphere soil under B. cinerea infection stress was evaluated by colony counting and quantitative PCR. Furthermore, the expression levels of three disease resistance-related genes (OXO, CHI, and atpA) in tomato leaves were determined to explore the effect of B. bassiana colonization on plant disease resistance performance in pot experiments. B. bassiana colonization could improve resistance of tomato plants to gray mold caused by B. cinerea. The incidence rate, lesion diameter, and disease index of gray mold decreased in both the pot and field experiments following B. bassiana colonization. B. bassiana was more likely to accumulate in the pathogen infected leaves, while decreasing in the rhizosphere soil, and induced the expression of plant resistance genes, which were up-regulated in leaves. The results indicated that plants could \"recruit\" B. bassiana from rhizosphere soil to diseased plants as directional effects, which then enhanced plant growth and resistance against pathogens, consequently inhibiting pathogen infection and multiplication in plants. Our findings provide novel insights that enhance our understanding of the roles of EPF during pathogen challenge.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14566114,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The pattern of gunshot injuries in a communal clash as seen in two Nigerian teaching hospitals.\nThe pattern of gunshot injury in the Ife-Modakeke communal clash between March 3 and May 23, 1999 was analyzed in this study. The history was recorded for each patient presenting at the hospital with gunshot injuries from the clash. Each was examined and followed up through subsequent treatment in the wards and clinics. The study included 185 patients. The male-to-female ratio was 22.1 to 1, and 45.9% of the patients ranged in age from 21 to 30 years. The mean age was 28.3 +\/- 11.2 years, and the mortality rate was 8.6%. There were 120 warriors and 65 noncombatants. Government workers and students made up most of the noncombatants (42.5%), whereas drivers and farmers constituted the vast majority of the warriors (23.3%). Injury to the lower limbs was the most commonly seen injury (54.6%). Sustained fractures and femoral fractures were the most common fracture (n = 100, 54.1%). Head and colonic injuries were the greatest cause of mortality. For civilian gunshot injuries, morbidity and mortality rates are high in the less developed countries because of inadequate prehospital and hospital care. Efforts should be made to improve these facilities.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34243013,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Etoposide, an anticancer drug involved in therapy-related secondary leukemia: Enzymes at play.\nEtoposide is a semi-synthetic glycoside derivative of podophyllotoxin, also known as VP-16. It is a widely used anticancer medicine in clinics. Unfortunately, high doses or long-term etoposide treatment can induce therapy-related leukemia. The mechanism by which etoposide induces secondary hematopoietic malignancies is still unclear. In this article, we review the potential mechanisms of etoposide induced therapy-related leukemia. Etoposide related leukemogenesis is known to depend on reactive oxidative metabolites of etoposide, notably etoposide quinone, which interacts with cellular proteins such as topoisomerases II (TOP2), CREB-binding protein (CREBBP), and T-Cell Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase (TCPTP). CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 metabolize etoposide to etoposide catechol, which readily oxidizes to etoposide quinone. As a poison of TOP2 enzymes, etoposide and its metabolites induce DNA double-stranded breaks (DSB), and the accumulation of DSB triggers cell apoptosis. If the cell survives, the DSB gives rise to the likelihood of faulty DNA repair events. The gene translocation could occur in mixed-lineage leukemia (MLL) gene, which is well-known in leukemogenesis. Recently, studies have revealed that etoposide metabolites, especially etoposide quinone, can covalently bind to cysteines residues of CREBBP and TCPTP enzymes, . This leads to enzyme inhibition and further affects histone acetylation and phosphorylation of the JAK-STAT pathway, thus putatively altering the proliferation and differentiation of hematopoietic stem cells (HSC). In brief, current studies suggest that etoposide and its metabolites contribute to etoposide therapy-related leukemia through TOP2 mediated DSB and impairs specific enzyme activity, such as CREBBP and TCPTP.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31266930,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Nutritional Status of Liver Transplantation Recipients and Factors Influencing Nutritional Status].\nThis study aimed to investigate the nutritional status of liver transplantation (LT) recipients and explore certain factors that influence nutritional status, including dietary patterns and physical activities. This was a cross-sectional, descriptive study. The subjects included 211 LT recipients at a medical center outpatient clinic located in Seoul, Korea. The nutritional status, dietary patterns, and physical activities of each subject were measured using the body mass index (BMI), Mini Dietary Assessment (MDA), and Global Physical Activity Questionnaire. Independent t-test, one-way analysis of variance, and multiple linear regression analysis were used to analyze the data. The percentages of living and deceased donor LTs were 81.0% and 19.0%, respectively. The mean BMIs pre- and post-LT were 23.88 and 23.16 kg\/m\u00b2, respectively, and the average MDA score was 36.55. More than 60.0% of the subjects had a moderate or high level of physical activity. In multivariate analysis, a higher BMI before LT (\u03b2=.72, p<.001), a lower Model for End-stage Liver Disease (MELD) score (\u03b2=-.18, p<.001), and being male (\u03b2=-.10, p=.024) contributed to better nutritional status post-LT. Patients within six months of LT were less engaged in muscle exercises than those post six months of LT (p=.020). LT recipients in Korea have good nutritional status and a good level of physical activity. To improve recipients' post-LT nutritional status, the pre-LT nutritional status should be considered, particularly in those with a higher MELD score. In addition, physical activity including muscle-strengthening exercises should be encouraged from an earlier stage.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1097493,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The water agar test: a new test to measure the bacteriological quality of cream.\nA new test, the water agar test, is described that gives a qualitative index of the presence of bacteria that indicate contamination of the cream, poor storage conditions or both of these factors. The method is simple and requires little equipment. The bacteria grow in a film of diluted cream adsorbed on the surface of a non-nutrient base. After incubation at 30 +\/- 0-5 degrees C. for 18-20 hr., a proteolytic and mucoid colony count is obtained which has the same percentage coefficient of variance as a standard plate count. An examination of the effect of storage at different temperatures on the types of bacteria present in cream showed that of all the tests done initially, only the water agar test could predict subsequent bacterial growth with any consistency. The multiplication of presumptive coliform organisms occurred even at 3-5 degrees C. Irrespective of the colony count, the methylene blue reduction time was not shorter than 7 1\/2 hr. unless the bacteria were in the logarithmic phase of growth when sampled. A survey was made of the bacterial flora of 188 retail samples of double cream of 15 different brands. The age of the samples varied from freshly separated cream to cream that had been kept in the shop for a day longer than that recommended for sale. The water agar test was compared with the colony count, the presumptive coliform test, a confirmatory coliform count in violet red-bile agar, a lipolytic colony count, a staphylococcal count and the methylene blue reduction test.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28268346,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Theranostic microwave applicator suitable for minimal invasive therapy of malignant tissue.\nA microwave applicator is presented that realizes the theranostic approach by providing two operation modes to detect and treat tumor cells, exemplary in the liver. The tool is based on a planar sensor structure with Split Ring Resonators (SRR) as key elements. For the detection, changes in dielectric properties caused by tissue abnormalities are evaluated by analyzing shifts in the resonance frequency of the SRR. For the treatment mode, the input power is amplified to the specific resonance frequency and microwave ablation is performed. The device is designed to fit into a needle like operation tool for minimal invasive therapies. From this requirement, challenges concerning size limitation, packaging, and bio compatibility can be derived. Therefore, novel shapes of the SRR and substrate materials are investigated by full wave simulations and measurements. Material models and phantoms mimicking dielectric properties of healthy and malignant tissue are introduced. Clear resonance shifts of 100 MHz are detected for loading the sensor with corresponding phantoms. In order to examine the treatment mode characteristics, thermal simulations and measurements exhibit a significant temperature increase up to 62 \u00b0C for an input power of 500 mW.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32368430,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Structural Elements of the Biomechanical System of Soft Tissue.\nIn living organisms, forces are constantly generated and transmitted throughout tissue. Such forces are generated through interaction with the environment and as a result of the body's endogenous movement. If these internally or externally originating forces exceed the ability of tissues to cope with the applied forces, (i.e. \"tissue thresholds\"), they will cause force-related tissue harm. However, biotensegrity systems act to prevent these forces from causing structural damage to cells and tissues. The mechanism and structure of soft tissues that enable them to maintain their integrity and prevent damage under constantly changing forces is still not fully understood. The current anatomical and physical knowledge is insufficient to assess and predict how, why, where, and when to expect force-related tissue harm. When including the concept of tensegrity and the related principles of the hierarchical organisation of the elements of the subcellular tensional homeostatic structure into current biomechanical concepts, it increases our understanding of the events in force handling in relation to the onset of force-related tissue harm: Reducing incident forces in tissue to a level that is not harmful to the involved structures is achieved by dissipation, transduction and transferring the force in multiple dimensions. To enable this, the biomechanical systems must function in a continuous and consistent way from the cellular level to the entire body to prevent local peak forces from causing harm. In this article, we explore the biomechanical system with a focus on biotensegrity concepts across several organisational levels, describing in detail how it may function and reflecting on how this might be applied to patient management.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12004226,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The application of percutaneous endoscopic colostomy to the management of obstructed defecation.\nWe describe the case of a 52-year woman with a 17-year history of obstructed defecation in whom all other standard treatments had failed and the patient had refused a colostomy. Her symptoms were controlled by percutaneous endoscopic colostomy with antegrade colonic irrigation. A percutaneous endoscopic colostomy tube was placed in the sigmoid colon endoscopically using a colonoscope and the patient irrigated two liters of water through the percutaneous endoscopic colostomy twice each day and was able to successfully evacuate her rectum without excess straining or discomfort. Percutaneous endoscopic colostomy is an alternative option to colostomy in the management of obstructed defecation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28575417,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Implications of electronic health record downtime: an analysis of patient safety event reports.\nWe sought to understand the types of clinical processes, such as image and medication ordering, that are disrupted during electronic health record (EHR) downtime periods by analyzing the narratives of patient safety event report data. From a database of 80 381 event reports, 76 reports were identified as explicitly describing a safety event associated with an EHR downtime period. These reports were analyzed and categorized based on a developed code book to identify the clinical processes that were impacted by downtime. We also examined whether downtime procedures were in place and followed. The reports were coded into categories related to their reported clinical process: Laboratory, Medication, Imaging, Registration, Patient Handoff, Documentation, History Viewing, Delay of Procedure, and General. A majority of reports (48.7%, n = 37) were associated with lab orders and results, followed by medication ordering and administration (14.5%, n = 11). Incidents commonly involved patient identification and communication of clinical information. A majority of reports (46%, n = 35) indicated that downtime procedures either were not followed or were not in place. Only 27.6% of incidents (n = 21) indicated that downtime procedures were successfully executed. Patient safety report data offer a lens into EHR downtime-related safety hazards. Important areas of risk during EHR downtime periods were patient identification and communication of clinical information; these should be a focus of downtime procedure planning to reduce safety hazards. EHR downtime events pose patient safety hazards, and we highlight critical areas for downtime procedure improvement.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35352554,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Photocatalytic Multielectron Reduction of Nitroarenes to Anilines by Utilizing an Electron-Storable Polyoxometalate-Based Metal-Organic Framework.\nA powerful approach to generate photocatalysts for the highly selective reduction of nitrobenzene using light as the driving force is a combination of photosensitizers and electron-storable components in a cooperative photocatalysis fashion. Herein, a new precious metal-free photocatalyst, {ZnW-TPT}, was prepared by incorporating a Zn-substituted monovacant Keggin polyanion [SiZnW11O39]6- and a photoactive organic bridging link 2,4,6-tri(4-pyridyl)-1,3,5-triazine (TPT) into a framework. In this structure, the direct coordination bond between [SiZnW11O39]6- and the TPT ligand and the \u03c0-\u03c0 interactions between TPT molecules help separate and migrate photogenerated carriers, which improves the photocatalytic activity of {ZnW-TPT}. The photoelectrochemical properties of {ZnW-TPT} were well studied by solid UV-vis absorption, fluorescence, transient photocurrent response, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy tests. {ZnW-TPT} efficiently converts using hydrazine hydrate with 99% conversion and 99% selectivity for anilines under mild conditions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3028468,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Lymphocyte phenotypes in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and human papillomavirus infection.\nLymphocyte phenotypes in cervical mucosa were studied using a panel of monoclonal antibodies. T lymphocytes were predominant both within the epithelium and in the subepithelial stroma. In the normal cervix, both the T4+ (helper\/inducer) and T8+ (suppressor\/cytotoxic) subsets were present in a ratio similar to that in the peripheral circulation. In human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) there was depletion of intraepithelial lymphocytes, especially of T4+ subset, with reversal of the ratio of T4+ to T8+ subsets to less than one. In contrast, there was no significant reduction in the number of lymphocytes in the subepithelial stroma. Tac+ (antigen primed and clonal expanding) lymphocytes were absent both within the epithelium and in the subepithelial stroma. These findings support our suggestion that there is a localized immunodeficiency in HPV infection and CIN. The aetiological and therapeutic implications are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17008375,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Modelling spinal circuitry involved in locomotor pattern generation: insights from the effects of afferent stimulation.\nA computational model of the mammalian spinal cord circuitry incorporating a two-level central pattern generator (CPG) with separate half-centre rhythm generator (RG) and pattern formation (PF) networks has been developed from observations obtained during fictive locomotion in decerebrate cats. Sensory afferents have been incorporated in the model to study the effects of afferent stimulation on locomotor phase switching and step cycle period and on the firing patterns of flexor and extensor motoneurones. Here we show that this CPG structure can be integrated with reflex circuits to reproduce the reorganization of group I reflex pathways occurring during locomotion. During the extensor phase of fictive locomotion, activation of extensor muscle group I afferents increases extensor motoneurone activity and prolongs the extensor phase. This extensor phase prolongation may occur with or without a resetting of the locomotor cycle, which (according to the model) depends on the degree to which sensory input affects the RG and PF circuits, respectively. The same stimulation delivered during flexion produces a temporary resetting to extension without changing the timing of following locomotor cycles. The model reproduces this behaviour by suggesting that this sensory input influences the PF network without affecting the RG. The model also suggests that the different effects of flexor muscle nerve afferent stimulation observed experimentally (phase prolongation versus resetting) result from opposing influences of flexor group I and II afferents on the PF and RG circuits controlling the activity of flexor and extensor motoneurones. The results of modelling provide insights into proprioceptive control of locomotion.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14524966,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mass and size effects in three-dimensional vibrofluidized granular mixtures.\nWe examine the steady state properties of binary systems of driven inelastic hard spheres. The spheres, which move under the influence of gravity, are contained in a vertical cylinder with a vibrating base. We computed the trajectories of the spheres using an event-driven molecular dynamics algorithm. In the first part of the study, we chose simulation parameters that match those of experiments published by Wildman and Parker. Various properties computed from the simulation including the density profile, granular temperature, and circulation pattern are in good qualitative agreement with the experiments. We then studied the effect of varying the mass ratio and the size ratio independently while holding the other parameters constant. The mass and size ratio are shown to affect the distribution of the energy. The changes in the energy distributions affect the packing fraction and temperature of each component. The temperature of the heavier component has a nonlinear dependence on the mass of the lighter component, while the temperature of the lighter component is approximately proportional to its mass. The temperature of both components is inversely dependent on the size of the smaller component.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6167241,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The loss of sensitization of mouse and rat mast cells by acid pH treatment.\nShort incubation of sensitized mouse and rat peritoneal mast cells at 37 degrees C in well defined acid pH (3.5 for mouse and 4.5 for rat mast cells) induces the loss of sensitization, as indicated by antigen-induced histamine release. The acid pH pretreatment of normal mouse and rat mast cells seems to facilitate their subsequent sensitization with mouse IgE antibodies. The possibility, that acid pH treatment removes non-specific IgE from the cells and thus facilitates the binding of specific IgE antibodies is discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3043951,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[In situ hybridization--an expansion of dermatologic histopathology].\nBy means of in-situ-hybridization, we are able to detect specifically the mRNAs of defined proteins at a cellular level in frozen sections. This technique not only makes it possible to characterize the biosynthesis of defined proteins at a pretranslational level but can also identify activated cells in their histological surroundings. We employed this technique in order to detect collagen mRNAs in fibrotic diseases of the skin. Using cDNA clones for collagen type I, we proved that in early stages of scleroderma the fibrosis starts in the deep dermis and the subcutaneous fatty tissue. In addition, the regulation of the collagen synthesis seems to be disturbed at a pretranslational level and accompanied by dramatically increased levels of collagen mRNA in fibroblasts. This technique offers objective parameters for collagen mRNA and may be especially useful to estimate the activity of fibrotic diseases in individual patients as well as during therapeutical trials.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6735663,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Characterization of the Palyam serogroup viruses (Reoviridae: Orbivirus).\n31 Palyam serogroup viruses were examined by complement-fixation and plaque-reduction neutralization tests and by PAGE of the segmented, double-stranded (ds) RNA genome. Although the viruses were indistinguishable by complement-fixation tests, 10 distinct virus serotypes were identified by plaque-reduction neutralization methods. Palyam group viruses which were distinct by the neutralization test had unique dsRNA profiles, whereas those agents which were indistinct by the neutralization test had identical dsRNA profiles. 20 isolations of 3 Palyam serotypes were made from bovines and Culicoides midges in Australia over a 9-year period. When the genome of these isolates was examined electrophoretically, the dsRNA profiles of virus isolates within a given serotype were identical.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18587653,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1}}},"text":"Improvement of recombinant hGM-CSF production by suppression of cysteine proteinase gene expression using RNA interference in a transgenic rice culture.\nRecombinant proteins have been previously synthesized in a transgenic rice cell suspension culture system with the rice amylase 3D promoter, which can be induced via sugar starvation. However, the secreted recombinant proteins have been shown to be rapidly decreased as the result of proteolytic degradation occurring during prolonged incubation. The secreted proteases were identified via two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) and ESI\/Q-TOF mass spectrometry analyses. The internal amino acid sequences of 8 of 37 spots corresponded to cysteine proteinase (CysP), which is encoded for by Rep1 and EP3A. This result shows that CysP is a major secreted protease in rice cell suspension cultures following induction via sugar starvation. Intron-containing self-complementary hairpin RNA (ihpRNA)-mediated post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) was applied to suppress the expression of CysP in rice cell suspension cultures. The reduction of rice CysP mRNA and the detection of siRNA specific to CysP, an initiator of RNAi, were verified via Northern blot analysis and RNase protection assays, respectively, thereby indicating that PTGS operated successfully in this system. The analysis of total secreted protease and CysP activities evidenced lower activity than was observed with the wild-type. Furthermore, suspension cultures of rice cells transformed with both hGM-CSF and the gene expressing the ihpRNA of CysP evidenced a reduction in total protease and CysP activities, and an up to 1.9-fold improvement in hGM-CSF production as compared to that observed in a rice cell line expressing hGM-CSF only. These results demonstrate the feasibility of the suppression of CysP via RNA interference to reduce protease activity and to increase target protein accumulation in rice cell suspension cultures.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11993111,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Comparative study on ecotoxicological indexes of crops exposure to reactive X-3B red dye].\nEcotoxicological indexes of wheat, Chinese cabbage and rice exposed to reactive X-3B red dye were studied using the experimental method of crop seed exposure. The results showed that reactions of the three crops to reactive X-3B red dye were different from each other. Based on the inhibition of seed gemination, the half effect concentration(IC50) of wheat, Chinese cabbage and rice was 8965, 7010 and 7514 mg.L-1. Based on the inhibition of root elongation, the IC50 of wheat, Chinese cabbage and rice was 6534, 5882 and 4570 mg.L-1. When seedlings were cultured for seven days after the gemination of seeds and the remaining seeds or husks were discarded, fresh and dry growing biomass of the three crops exposed to the dye was both decreased with the increasing the concentration of reactive X-3B red dye. However, the decrease rate of fresh biomass was higher than that of dry biomass. Biomass index of wheat was most sensitive to reactive X-3B red dye, followed by rice, and Chinese cabbage was most inertia when the crops were exposed to reactive X-3B red dye with the high concentration of 4500 and 5000 mg.L-1. As far as the tolerance of wheat, Chinese cabbage and rice to reactive X-3B red dye was concerned, wheat had the strongest tolerance, on the contrary rice had the wakestone.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29553799,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Grief Symptoms in Relatives Who Experienced Organ Donation Requests in the ICU.\nStudies show that the quality of end-of-life communication and care have a significant impact on the living long after the death of a relative and have been implicated in the burden of psychological symptoms after the ICU experience. In the case of organ donation, the patient's relatives are centrally involved in the decision-making process; yet, few studies have examined the impact of the quality of communication on the burden of psychological symptoms after death. To assess the experience of the organ donation process and grief symptoms in relatives of brain-dead patients who discussed organ donation in the ICU. We conducted a multicenter longitudinal study in 28 ICUs in France. Participants were the relatives of brain-dead patients who were approached to discuss organ donation. Relatives were followed-up by phone at three time points: at 1 month, to complete a questionnaire describing their experience of the organ donation process; at 3 months, to complete the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and the Impact of Event Scale-Revised; and at 9 months, to complete the Impact of Event Scale-Revised and the Inventory of Complicated Grief. In total, 202 relatives of 202 patients were included, of whom 158 consented to and 44 refused organ donation. Interviews were conducted at 1, 3, and 9 months with 78%, 68%, and 58% of relatives, respectively. The overall experience of the organ donation process was significantly more burdensome for relatives of nondonors. They were more dissatisfied with communication (27% vs. 10%; P = 0.021), more often shocked by the request (65% vs. 19%; P < 0.0001), and more often found the decision difficult (53% vs. 27%; P = 0.017). However, there were no significant differences in grief symptoms measured at 3 and 9 months between the two groups. Understanding of brain death was associated with grief symptoms; our results show a higher prevalence of complicated grief symptoms among relatives who did not understand the brain death process than among those who did (75% vs. 46.1%; P = 0.026). Experience of the organ donation process varied between relatives of donor versus nondonor patients, with relatives of nondonors experiencing lower-quality communication, but the decision was not associated with subsequent grief symptoms. Importantly, understanding of brain death is a key element of the organ donation process for relatives.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25512743,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The effect of surface roughness on ceramics used in dentistry: A review of literature.\nLong term clinical success of modern dental ceramics depends on a number of factors. These factors include the physical properties of the material, the laboratory fabrication process, the laboratory fabrication technique and clinical procedures that may damage these brittle materials. The surface structure and composition of a dental restorative material influences the initial bacterial adhesion, and a rough material surface will accumulate more plaque. Biomaterials for the restoration of oral function are prone to biofilm formation, affecting oral health. An up to date online database search was performed using the keywords \"bacterial biofilm,\" \"ceramic strength,\" \"dental ceramics\" and \"surface roughness.\" The searches were performed on Medline\/PubMed, and Scopus and the cross references were further searched in the databases to verify further studies. The relevant papers included original articles, systemic reviews, case reports and letters to the editor. All the papers were reviewed, and the most relevant studies were selected for referencing by the author. The aim of this paper is to highlight the influence of rougher surfaces on the ceramic strength and plaque accumulation leading to bacterial biofilm formation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3062157,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Assessment of pulmonary dynamics in normal newborns: a pneumotachographic method.\nA pneumotachographic method for assessment of pulmonary dynamics in critically ill newborns in an intensive care setting was developed in our laboratory. Before the results obtained with this method could be applied, the normal range of values were determined in 48 normal term and preterm newborns. Their body weight ranged between 1200 and 4100 g, and postnatal ages between 24 hours and 21 days. In three infants, two determinations were performed after an interval of 7 days. The studies were performed with a pneumotachograph applied to the upper airway by means of an inflatable face mask or latex nasal prongs. The air flow signal was electronically integrated to time to produce a volume signal. Airway pressure was determined proximal to the pneumotachograph. Esophageal pressure was determined with a water filled catheter placed in the lower third of the esophague. Tidal volume (VT), minute ventilation (V), Dynamic compliance (Cdyn), total pulmonary resistance (R), total pulmonary work (Wt), Elastic work (We), and flow resistive work (Wv), were determined. A significant linear correlation was found between Cdyn and body weight (r = 0.50, p less than 0.01) whereas no significative correlation was found between body weight and VT, V or R. Values for VT, V and Cdyn were corrected for body weight and means (X), standard deviation (SD) so as 10th and 90th percentiles are shown in table III. X, SD and percentiles for R were shown in table III. Wt, We and Wv were corrected for V, and X, SD and percentiles shown in table III. Values of VT\/Kg, Cdyn\/Kg and R are similar to those found by other authors with pneumotachography and plethysmography. The V\/Kg values obtained by us were higher than those reported by other authors, which together with the lack of correlation of VT and V with body weight, question the reliability of V values in our study. This could be explained by: 1) excessive increase in dead space in cases in which a face mask was used; 2) nocioceptive stimulus produced by face mask or nasal prongs; 3) inadequate selection of the moment at which the record was obtained. Whichever the explanation, our values of V cannot be considered as basal, and should be interpreted with caution. The results obtained allow us to continue with our program and apply this method to the study of newborn infants with RDS.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3042188,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Energy metabolism during chronic endotoxin infusion in the rat, with special reference to free fatty acid turnover.\nWe have studied various aspects of whole-body energy metabolism during chronic endotoxin infusion in the rat. In particular, we studied free fatty acid kinetics using bolus injections of 14C-palmitate. The general response to 7 days of chronic endotoxin infusion could be divided into an initial 3- to 4-day period of illness with loss of appetite, followed by rapid recovery. Using saline-infused, pair-fed controls, the following observations were made throughout the 7-day period of endotoxin infusion: 1) Plasma free fatty acids, glycerol and 3-hydroxybutyrate concentrations were reduced; 2) plasma glucose concentrations were elevated; 3) free fatty acid production rates were unaffected; 4) metabolic clearance of free fatty acids was unaffected on day 1 but was significantly greater on days 3 and 7; 5) haematocrits and plasma volumes were elevated. The results suggest that the observed changes in circulating free fatty acid concentrations are more likely to be a consequence of haemodynamic alterations than of metabolic alterations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25519177,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-26":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mono- and dinuclear metal complexes containing the 1,5,9-triazacyclododecane ([12]aneN3) unit and their interaction with DNA.\nThe ability of mononucleating and dinucleating macrocylic polyamines and their novel nickel, copper and zinc complexes to induce the left-handed form of poly d(GC) was evaluated. The influence of the nuclearity, the presence or absence of metals ions, the linker length in the case of dinucleating ligands and the metal ion was determined. Almost all dinuclear metal complexes efficiently induced Z-DNA, the zinc ones being the least and the copper ones the most efficient ones. Additionally, the X-ray structures of three dinuclear metal complexes and one partially protonated ligand could be determined.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30657459,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Melatonin reduced endometrial hyperplasia induced by estradiol in female albino rats.\nMelatonin, the pineal gland hormone, plays a crucial role in regulation of neuroendocrine and defensive functions, free radicals neutralization, and suppresses angiogenesis, proliferation and cancer. The purpose of designing our study is to assess the effect of estradiol benzoate and its combination with melatonin on uteri of female albino rats. For 4 weeks, the present study was conducted on thirty six female rats separated into 3 groups: Control group (rats received the vehicle), EB group (rats were treated by estradiol benzoate (600 \u03bcg\/kg intramuscular) for induction of endometrial hyperplasia), and EB+Mel group (rats were treated with estradiol benzoate (600 \u03bcg\/kg) plus melatonin (50 \u00b5g\/ml) added to drinking water. Melatonin administration reduced estradiol benzoate-induced endometrial hyperplasia and prevented the occurrence of atypia associated with a significant reduction in lipid peroxide level and NF-\u03baB mRNA and a significant rise in immune-expression of caspase-3, interleukin-2 (IL-2) mRNA and total antioxidant levels in uterine tissues. The results demonstrated that melatonin reduced estradiol benzoate action on the endometrium.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32357703,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Boron-MgO composite as an X-ray transparent pressure medium in the multi-anvil apparatus.\nX-ray transparent materials are very beneficial for in situ X-ray experiments in the multi-anvil apparatus. We sintered machinable blocks of boron-MgO composites at 800-1000 \u00b0C under atmospheric pressure from a mixture of amorphous boron and brucite or Mg(OH)2. The machinability of composite blocks improved with an increase in the brucite content in the starting material; a brucite content higher than 15 wt. % showed reasonable machinability in forming various shapes such as octahedron, cylinder, and sleeve. We confirmed the feasibility of the boron-MgO pressure medium by successfully generating lower mantle pressure (>23 GPa); its pressure generation efficiency is comparable to that of a Cr2O3 doped MgO pressure medium. The boron-MgO composite is expected to be an excellent thermal insulator owing to the extremely low thermal conductivity of amorphous boron; we confirmed its better thermal insulation performance through a comparative heating test with a zirconia sleeve in a Cr2O3 doped MgO pressure medium. Constituting light elements, the boron-MgO composite has high X-ray transparency, which enables us to conduct various cutting edge X-ray measurements in the large volume multi-anvil apparatus.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9551991,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Helminth antigens selectively differentiate unsensitized CD45RA+ CD4+ human T cells in vitro.\nHuman filarial helminth infections are characterized by type 2 immune responses to parasite Ag that can persist for the life of the individual; one possible cause for this may be prenatal exposure to the blood-borne microfilarial (Mf) stage of the parasite. To examine the relationship between early exposure to filarial Ag and subsequent immune responsiveness, CD45RA+ CD4+ cells frp, normal unsensitized donors were stimulated in vitro with soluble microfilarial Ag (MfAg) from the filarial parasite Brugia malayi in the presence of APCs. MfAg alone induced proliferation and IFN-gamma and IL-5 production in unsensitized CD45RA+ CD4+ cells, demonstrating the ability of filarial Ags to prime naive T cells in the absence of exogenous cytokines and dendritic cells. Adding exogenous cytokine(s) (particularly IL-12 and IL-4) during priming was able to alter the MfAg-specific responses of CD45RA+ CD4+ cells as well as subsequent responses to Ag. Interestingly, priming solely with MfAg led to enhanced IL-5 production following Ag restimulation, suggesting that MfAg preferentially primes for type 2 responses. These data demonstrate that filarial Ags by themselves can specifically prime CD45RA+ CD4+ cells in vitro and do so in such a way as to deviate the immune response.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21151783,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Modular and hierarchically modular organization of brain networks.\nBrain networks are increasingly understood as one of a large class of information processing systems that share important organizational principles in common, including the property of a modular community structure. A module is topologically defined as a subset of highly inter-connected nodes which are relatively sparsely connected to nodes in other modules. In brain networks, topological modules are often made up of anatomically neighboring and\/or functionally related cortical regions, and inter-modular connections tend to be relatively long distance. Moreover, brain networks and many other complex systems demonstrate the property of hierarchical modularity, or modularity on several topological scales: within each module there will be a set of sub-modules, and within each sub-module a set of sub-sub-modules, etc. There are several general advantages to modular and hierarchically modular network organization, including greater robustness, adaptivity, and evolvability of network function. In this context, we review some of the mathematical concepts available for quantitative analysis of (hierarchical) modularity in brain networks and we summarize some of the recent work investigating modularity of structural and functional brain networks derived from analysis of human neuroimaging data.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20365516,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Slow dynamics, aging, and crystallization of multiarm star glasses.\nMultiarm star polymers are model systems with tunable intermediate colloid to polymerlike character, exhibiting rich phase behavior, internal relaxations, and flow properties. An important puzzle for several years has been the lack of clear experimental proof of crystalline states despite strong theoretical predictions. We present unambiguous evidence via multispeckle dynamic light scattering (MSDLS) and small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) for such crystallization in a solvent of intermediate quality. An unexpected speed up of the short-time star diffusion observed in MSDLS was attributed by SANS to crystallization, via aging, of the multiam star glass. This delayed glass to crystal transition establishes a pathway for star crystallization that might be generic in colloidal glasses.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1690497,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Ganglioglial differentiation in medulloblastoma.\nA case of cerebellar medulloblastoma with clusters of mature ganglion cells and glial cells is described. The patient, a 15-year-old girl, underwent three operations followed each time by radiation and chemotherapy during the four-year clinical course. Histologically, the ganglion cells were clearly identifiable by their abundant eosinophilic cytoplasm, round nuclei with prominent nucleoli, tigroid granules, and argyrophilic fibrils and axons. Immunohistochemically, the cells were NSE- and NF-positive, and ultrastructurally they contained abundant tubules and filaments, neurosecretory granules and well developed rough endoplasmic reticulum. There were many cells transitional in appearance between primitive cells and mature ganglion cells. The tumor also had many mature yet atypical astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. The exact mechanism of the extensive neuronal and glial maturation of medulloblastoma cells is unclear, but the repetitive surgical interventions, radiation and chemotherapy might have had certain cytostatic effects on rapidly dividing medulloblastoma cells, giving them a chance to mature into postmitotic cells with potential for neuronal and glial differentiation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34243293,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The tungsten carbide-carbon monoxide-tungsten buffer and its use for synthesizing iron-bearing silicates in muffle furnaces.\nA new \"solid-state\" oxygen buffering reaction (WC-COW), WC + 1\/2O2 \u21cc CO + W, is presented. At atmospheric pressure, the oxygen fugacity in equilibrium with this buffer is approximated in the range of 600-1200 \u00b0C by logfO2 =1.53-21008TK\u00b10.13bar. A simple method for maintaining oxygen fugacity in standard muffle furnaces using this buffer in off-the-shelf ceramic crucibles is described. The utility of the experimental arrangement in controlling oxygen fugacity during solid-state synthesis of iron-bearing silicates is demonstrated by rapid synthesis of fayalite, Fe2SiO4, from oxide starting mixtures at 1050 \u00b0C.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28706621,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pediatric Laparoscopy and Adaptive Oxygenation and Hemodynamic Changes.\nAdaptive changes in oxygenation and hemodynamics are evaluated during pediatric laparoscopy. The children underwent laparoscopy (LAP Group, n=20) or open surgery (Open Group, n=10). Regional cerebral (rScO2) and peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2), heart rate (HR), diastolic (DP) and systolic pressure (SP) were monitored at different intervals: basal (T0); anesthesia induction (T1); CO2PP insufflation (T2); surgery (T3); CO2PP cessation (T4); before extubation (T5). At T1, in both the LAP and Open groups significant changes in rScO2, DP and SP were recorded compared with T0; a decrease in SatO2 was also observed at T5. In the LAP group, at T2, changes in HR related to CO2PP pressure and in DP and SP related to IAP were noted; at T4, a SP change associated with CO2PP desufflation was recorded. Open group, at T3 and T5 showed lower rScO2 values compared with T1. Pneuperitoneum and anesthesia are influent to induce hemodynamics changes during laparoscopy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26431670,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3,"dup_dump_count":2,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-26":1,"2024-30":1}}},"text":"The synthesis of recombinant membrane proteins in yeast for structural studies.\nHistorically, recombinant membrane protein production has been a major challenge meaning that many fewer membrane protein structures have been published than those of soluble proteins. However, there has been a recent, almost exponential increase in the number of membrane protein structures being deposited in the Protein Data Bank. This suggests that empirical methods are now available that can ensure the required protein supply for these difficult targets. This review focuses on methods that are available for protein production in yeast, which is an important source of recombinant eukaryotic membrane proteins. We provide an overview of approaches to optimize the expression plasmid, host cell and culture conditions, as well as the extraction and purification of functional protein for crystallization trials in preparation for structural studies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36929657,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Development and validation of a questionnaire on the feelings of undergraduate dental students regarding child dental care.\nThis study aimed to develop and test a questionnaire's validity and reliability to evaluate undergraduate dental students' feelings regarding child dental care. The questionnaire was developed using a focus group of 10 undergraduate dental students. This questionnaire was then structured and applied digitally via Google Forms to 90 dental students aged 22.95 years (\u00b10.89) who had already completed or were enrolled in a pediatric dentistry discipline. The test-retest was conducted with 15 students. Descriptive analysis, exploratory factorial analysis (EFA), and intraclass correlation coefficient were performed to evaluate the test-retest reliability, Cronbach's alpha (\u03b1) to measure the internal consistency, and Mann-Whitney test was used to determine the discriminant validity (p < 0.05). The final version of the questionnaire concerning the feelings of dental students when faced with pediatric dental treatment comprised three items, which evaluated anxiety, fear, and insecurity. The visual analog scale was used to evaluate the answer for each item. The questionnaire resulted in a total score that varied from 0 to 10. The higher the score on the questionnaire, the greater the negative feelings regarding pediatric dental treatment. The results of the EFA were satisfactory (Bartlett's sphericity = 0.001; Kayser-Meyer-Olkin measure = 0.725). The EFA extracted a single dimension with an eigenvalue of 2.4 and a total explained variance of 80%. The internal consistency of the questionnaire was satisfactory (\u03b1 = 0.877), and the test-retest reliability was good (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.691). Students who felt confident about carrying out invasive procedures in children demonstrated more positive feelings related to the pediatric dental treatment (average = 3.50 \u00b1 2.73) than those who did not feel such confidence (average = 5.00 \u00b1 2.35; p = 0.007). The unidimensional questionnaire proposed by this study is valid and reliable in evaluating the feelings of undergraduate dental students regarding child dental care.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7932426,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Complement activation and immune complexes in children with polyarticular juvenile rheumatoid arthritis: a longitudinal study.\nTo determine whether levels of either circulating immune complexes (IC) or complement activation fragments change as disease activity changes in children with polyarticular juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA). Twenty-six children with polyarticular JRA were examined over a time course of 4-21 months. Plasma complement activation fragments and IC were measured by commercially available enzyme linked immunoabsorbant assays. Both complement activation fragments and IC levels were lower in individual children when their articular disease was inactive. Children with persistently active disease had no change in any of these measures. Elevated levels of plasma IC and complement activation fragments are features of active polyarticular JRA. We believe our data support a role for the complement system in the pathophysiology of polyarticular JRA.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35356915,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Oral pigmentation as an adverse effect of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine use: A scoping review.\nChloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are 2 medications used to treat some systemic diseases. The aim of this scoping review was to assess the occurrence of oral pigmentation induced by chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine and to understand the pathogenic mechanism behind this phenomenon. The review was performed according to the list of PRISMA SrC recommendations and the JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis for Scoping Reviews. MEDLINE (PubMed), Scopus, EMBASE, SciELO, Web of Science, Lilacs, and LIVIVO were primary sources, and \"gray literature\" was searched in OpenThesis and Open Access Thesis and Dissertations (OATD). Studies that screened the occurrence of oral pigmentation associated to the use of chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine were considered eligible. No restrictions of year and language of publication were applied. Study selection and data extraction were performed by 2 independent reviewers. The risk of bias was assessed through the JBI tool, depending on the design of the selected studies. The initial search resulted in 2238 studies, of which 19 were eligible. Sixteen studies were case reports, 2 had case-control design and 1 was cross-sectional. Throughout the studies, 44 cases of oral pigmentation were reported. The hard palate was the anatomic region most affected with pigmentation (66%). According to the case reports, most of the lesions (44%) were bluish-gray. The minimum time from the beginning of treatment (chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine) to the occurrence of pigmentation was 6 months. The mean treatment time with the medications was 4.9 years, and the mean drug dosage was 244 mg. Most of the studies (63.1%) had low risk of bias (high methodological quality). The outcomes of this study suggest that hyperpigmentation depend on drug dosage and treatment length. Hyperpigmentation was detected after a long period of treatment with chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31250479,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"T-cell receptor and B-cell receptor repertoire profiling in adaptive immunity.\nB-cell receptors and T-cell receptors are the key molecules responsible for specific antigen recognition in adaptive immunity. The huge diversity of immune receptor repertoires constrained their comprehensive studies in the past. More recently, however, high-throughput sequencing based techniques have revolutionized the field of immune receptor repertoire profiling enabling new insights into the development and function of the adaptive immune system. In this review we describe current methods for immune receptor profiling and software tools used for repertoire reconstruction from raw sequencing data. We also provide examples of how immune repertoire profiling can be used to study adaptive immunity in disease and in the course of organ and bone marrow transplantation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34402165,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cheese and cheese infusions: ecological traps for mosquitoes and spotted wing Drosophila.\nHarnessing insect ecology for insect control is an innovative concept that seeks to exploit, among others, insect-microbe ecological interactions for improved control of pest insects. Microbe-produced cheese odour attracts several dipterans, including host-seeking mosquitoes, but this phenomenon has not been thoroughly explored for mosquito control. Here we tested the hypothesis that attraction of mosquitoes to cheese odour can be exploited as an ecological trap for mosquito control. In laboratory and\/or field experiments, we show that (i) each of five cheese varieties tested (Raclette, Pecorino, Brie, Gruyere, Limburger) strongly attracts female Aedes aegypti and Culex pipiens; (ii) cheese infusions, or headspace odourant extracts (HOEs) of cheese infusions, significantly affect oviposition choices by mosquitoes, (iii) HOEs contain at least 13 odourants; (iv) in field settings, cheese infusions more effectively stimulate mosquito oviposition than positive bluegrass infusion controls, and also capture (by drowning) the spotted wing Drosophila, Drosophila suzukii; and (v) home-made cheese infusions modulate oviposition choices by mosquito females and affect the survivorship of their offspring larvae. Our data show that microbial metabolites associated with cheese are attractive to mosquito females seeking hosts and oviposition sites and are likely toxic to mosquito larvae. These microbes and their metabolites could thus be co-opted for both the attract, and the kill, function of 'attract & kill' mosquito control tactics. Implementation of customizable and non-conventional nutritional media as microbe-based ecological traps presents a promising concept which exploits insect ecology for insect control. \u00a9 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37445689,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"An Update on MYBPC3 Gene Mutation in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.\nHypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is the most prevalent genetically inherited cardiomyopathy that follows an autosomal dominant inheritance pattern. The majority of HCM cases can be attributed to mutation of the MYBPC3 gene, which encodes cMyBP-C, a crucial structural protein of the cardiac muscle. The manifestation of HCM's morphological, histological, and clinical symptoms is subject to the complex interplay of various determinants, including genetic mutation and environmental factors. Approximately half of MYBPC3 mutations give rise to truncated protein products, while the remaining mutations cause insertion\/deletion, frameshift, or missense mutations of single amino acids. In addition, the onset of HCM may be attributed to disturbances in the protein and transcript quality control systems, namely, the ubiquitin-proteasome system and nonsense-mediated RNA dysfunctions. The aforementioned genetic modifications, which appear to be associated with unfavorable lifelong outcomes and are largely influenced by the type of mutation, exhibit a unique array of clinical manifestations ranging from asymptomatic to arrhythmic syncope and even sudden cardiac death. Although the current understanding of the MYBPC3 mutation does not comprehensively explain the varied phenotypic manifestations witnessed in patients with HCM, patients with pathogenic MYBPC3 mutations can exhibit an array of clinical manifestations ranging from asymptomatic to advanced heart failure and sudden cardiac death, leading to a higher rate of adverse clinical outcomes. This review focuses on MYBPC3 mutation and its characteristics as a prognostic determinant for disease onset and related clinical consequences in HCM.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1689133,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Clinical evaluation of high dose rate intra-cavitary irradiation in the treatment of uterine cervical cancer, combined with pepleomycin suppository in uterine cavity].\nBy means of re-irradiation using pepleomycin suppository in uterine cavity, we attained local control for one patient who had local recurrence in uterine cavity and suffered from uterine fluor in which viable cancer cells were confirmed. We were enlightened by this therapeutic experience, so we attempted combination therapy using pepleomycin suppositories to supplement intra-cavitary irradiation, for the 11 selected patients who were suffering from uterine fluor. We investigated the treatment results in 7 patients of stage III out of 11 patients (of all stages), in comparison with 13 patients of stage III who were treated by irradiation alone. Consequently, these treatment results were approximately equivalent, and the incidence of sigmoid complications could be decreased. Side effects which were followed by the combination therapy were not serious, and so we believe that pepleomycin suppository is a simple method and valuable to supplement radiation therapy of uterine cervical cancer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35367971,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Immunogenetic Determinants of Parkinson's Disease Etiology.\nParkinson's disease (PD) is increasingly recognised as a systemic disorder in which inflammation might play a causative role rather than being a consequence or an epiphenomenon of the neurodegenerative process. Although growing genetic evidence links the central and peripheral immune system with both monogenic and sporadic PD, our understanding on how the immune system contributes to PD pathogenesis remains a daunting challenge. In this review, we discuss recent literature aimed at exploring the role of known genes and susceptibility loci to PD pathogenesis through immune system related mechanisms. Furthermore, we outline shared genetic etiologies and interrelations between PD and autoimmune diseases and underlining challenges and limitations faced in the translation of relevant allelic and regulatory risk loci to immune-pathological mechanisms. Lastly, with the field of immunogenetics expanding rapidly, we place these insights into a future context highlighting the prospect of immune modulation as a promising disease-modifying strategy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7936368,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Ultrasonographic evaluation of gallbladder and gastric emptying after ingestion of water with various saline compositions].\nEvaluation of gallbladder and gastric emptying after ingestion of a saline enriched water (\"Acqua Santa\" di Chianciano) in comparison with a commercial oligomineral water. A 40-minute blind prospective study. The study was performed at the Terme of Chianciano (Siena) for subjects of group A and at the Institute of Clinica Medica Generale and Terapia Medica of the University of Bologna for subjects of group B. Two groups of healthy subjects were studied. Each group consisted of 12 subjects without gallbladder disease. Fasting subjects of group A ingested alternatively, for two consecutive mornings, 400 ml of the saline enriched water at the natural temperature of 33 degrees C or 400 ml of oligomineral water warmed to the same temperature. Subjects of group B ingested the same waters at 18 degrees C. Gastric and gallbladder emptying were evaluated, after ingestion of the different waters, by means of ultrasonography. In both groups gallbladder emptying was significantly higher after ingestion of the saline enriched water. On the other hand gastric emptying was similar with both waters. This study demonstrated that saline enriched water determines a greater emptying of the gallbladder in comparison with an oligomineral water. This effects is not related to gastric emptying but rather it is due to a higher concentration of saline components and thus to their possible effect on gallbladder motility.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9568849,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Radiocontrast-induced DNA fragmentation of renal tubular cells in vitro: role of hypertonicity.\nRadiocontrast-induced nephropathy is a clinically important complication of invasive cardiological procedures. It has been associated with DNA fragmentation of renal tubular cells, which is a hallmark feature of programmed cell death (apoptosis). We investigated the mechanism of this DNA fragmentation in an in vitro model of radiocontrast cytotoxicity on renal epithelial cells. Madin Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cell monolayers were incubated (for 2-8 h) with isoiodine doses (37-111 mg iodine\/ml) of the highly hyperosmolal, ionic radiocontrast agent diatrizoate or of the less hyperosmolal, non-ionic substance iopamidol. Mannitol, urea, and NaCl control media of corresponding hyperosmolality were used to evaluate the contribution of hypertonicity, hyperosmolality and\/or ionic strength to radiocontrast toxicity. DNA fragmentation was assessed using fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS), agarose gel electrophoresis and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine nick end labelling (TUNEL), cell morphology was analysed in Giemsa-stained cytospins. Diatrizoate induced concentration- and time-dependent DNA fragmentation of MDCK cells which was associated with morphological signs of apoptosis. Cycloheximide (1 microg\/ml) did not prevent diatrizoate-induced DNA fragmentation, indicating that it is not dependent on protein synthesis. Diatrizoate-mediated cell death was associated with cell detachment from the tissue culture matrix. However, the DNA fragmentation is not a consequence of cell detachment since the prevention of cell attachment on agarose-coated dishes induced significantly less DNA fragmentation than diatrizoate. Iopamidol caused no detectable DNA breakdown. In contrast, hypertonic mannitol and sodium chloride, but not hyperosmolal urea, induced DNA fragmentation in MDCK cells, albeit less than diatrizoate. The DNA fragmentation of MDCK cells induced by diatrizoate is related to its hypertonicity in this in vitro model of radiocontrast cytotoxicity. Nuclear disintegration with subsequent cell death may contribute to the pathophysiology of radiocontrast-induced nephropathy, particularly in the hypertonic\/hypoxic environment of the renal medulla. The present results underscore the importance of avoiding hyperosmolal urine states in patients at high risk of radiocontrast-induced nephropathy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27270599,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Impact of sludge retention time on the fine composition of the microbial community and extracellular polymeric substances in a membrane bioreactor.\nMembrane bioreactors (MBRs) are an advanced technology for wastewater treatment whose wide application has been hindered by rapid fouling of the membranes. MBRs can be operated with long sludge retention time (SRT), a crucial parameter impacting microbial selection in the reactor. This also affects filtration performance, since a major fouling agent are the extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). In this study, the impact of the SRT on the ecophysiology of the MBRs and, consequently, on membrane fouling was evaluated. A MBR was operated under a SRT of 60 days followed by a SRT of 20 days. A comprehensive analysis of the microbial community structure and EPS proteins and polysaccharide profiles of the mixed liquor and cake layer was carried out throughout both operation periods. The results of this study showed that the imposition of a shorter SRT led to a shift in the dominant bacterial populations. The mixed liquor and cake layer communities were very different, with Actinomycetales order standing out in the cake layer at SRT of 20 days. Overall, higher EPS concentrations (particularly proteins) were found at this SRT. Furthermore, EPS profiles were clearly affected by the SRT: it was possible to correlate a group of soluble EPS proteins with the SRT of 60 days, and a lower sludge age led to a lower diversity of polysaccharide sugar monomers, with an increase of glucose and galactose in the cake layer. This study improves our knowledge regarding the molecular reasons for fouling, which may contribute to improve MBR design and operation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28718039,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"A decade of atrial fibrillation ablation : Shifts in patient characteristics and procedural outcomes.\nOver the past decade, radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA) of atrial fibrillation (AF) has evolved into a frequently performed procedure. The aim of this study was to monitor changes in patient characteristics, procedural characteristics, outcomes and complications over the past 10 years. All consecutive patients who underwent primary RFCA treatment of AF in the University Medical Center Utrecht from 2005-2015 were included. In all patients, the primary ablation strategy was pulmonary vein (PV) antrum isolation without additional substrate modification. Baseline patient and procedure characteristics, and 1\u2011year follow-up data of 975 patients were prospectively collected. In 2005, 73.4% of patients suffered from paroxysmal AF, which decreased to 45.3% in 2014. Mean age increased from 54 \u00b1 9 to 61 \u00b1 10 years and CHA2DS2-VASc score \u22652 from 18 to 40.6%. History of AF decreased significantly from 7 to 4 years. Mean procedure duration was 237 \u00b1 53 min in 2005 and 163 \u00b1 41 min in 2014. Fluoroscopy time significantly decreased from 41 \u00b1 17 to 19 \u00b1 8 min and total radiation exposure from 465 (263-687) to 210 (118-376) mGy. One-year success remained similar (2005: 55.6%, 2014: 54.8%), as did the amount of PV reconnection observed during redo procedures. Due to a marked reduction in vascular complications and moderate PV stenosis, the total complication rate decreased significantly. Over the past decade, AF ablation has increasingly been performed in older patients with persistent AF and more comorbidity. Moreover, it has been performed earlier after AF diagnosis. Although several performance parameters, such as procedure duration and complication rate, improved, 1\u2011year single procedure success remained unchanged.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28585365,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Tracking a century of changes in microbial eukaryotic diversity in lakes driven by nutrient enrichment and climate warming.\nHigh-throughput sequencing of sedimentary DNA (sed-DNA) was utilized to reconstruct the temporal dynamics of microbial eukaryotic communities (MECs) at a centennial scale in two re-oligotrophicated lakes that were exposed to different levels of phosphorus enrichment. The temporal changes within the MECs were expressed in terms of richness, composition and community structure to investigate their relationships with two key forcing factors (i.e., nutrient enrichment and climate warming). Various groups, including Apicomplexa, Cercozoa, Chrysophyceae, Ciliophora, Chlorophyceae and Dinophyceae, responded to phosphorus enrichment levels with either positive or negative impacts on their richness and relative abundance. For both lakes, statistical modelling demonstrated that phosphorus concentration ([P]) was a dominant contributor to MECs modifications before the 1980s; after the mid-80s, the contribution of air temperature changes increased and potentially surpassed the contribution of [P]. Co-occurrence network analysis revealed that some clusters of taxa (i.e., modules) composed mainly of Dinophyceae and unclassified Alveolata were strongly correlated to air temperature in both lakes. Overall, our data showed that sed-DNA constitutes a precious archive of information on past biodiversity changes, allowing the study of the dynamics of numerous eukaryotic groups that were not traditionally considered in paleo-reconstructions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26489222,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"What's up with witch rings?\n'Witch rings' are well-known novelty rings that show a size-change illusion when rotated. We have replicated the illusion of expansion of the reflections in the rings in a variety of contexts with animations, though not as yet so successfully imitated the sense that the whole ring expands and contracts.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28721717,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Microbial Transglutaminase Used in Bread Preparation at Standard Bakery Concentrations Does Not Increase Immunodetectable Amounts of Deamidated Gliadin.\nThe effect of standard bakery concentrations of microbial transglutaminase (MTG) in wheat bread preparation on the immunoreactivity of sera of celiac disease (CD) patients was investigated. Immunoblotting using monoclonal antibodies specific to unmodified and\/or deamidated gliadin showed no differences between control bread and MTG bread. Deamidation of gliadin could not be detected at standard MTG concentrations. Sera of CD patients were characterized using anti-gliadin and anti-deamidated gliadin peptide (DGP) enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and grouped into DGP high- and low-titer pools. The recognition pattern obtained after using both CD sera pools for immunoblotting did not reveal differences between control and MTG-treated bread protein extracts. Our results indicate that MTG treatment of wheat bread prepared with typical MTG concentrations used in standard bakery processes does not lead to immunodetectable amounts of CD immunotoxic deamidated gliadins.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26415580,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Iron(II) spin crossover complexes with diaminonaphthalene-based Schiff base-like ligands: mononuclear complexes.\nThe synthesis of new Schiff base-like ligands with extended \u03c0-system and their iron complexes is described. Some of the iron(ii) complexes with N-heterocycles as axial ligands show spin crossover behaviour. The influence of the extended aromatic system on cooperative interactions is investigated by single crystal X-ray structure analysis, X-ray powder diffraction, and magnetic measurements. A combination of C-H\u03c0 and C-HO interactions is made responsible for up to 10 K wide thermal hysteresis loops.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9572912,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Model-independent estimation of lag times with first-order absorption and disposition.\nThe effectiveness of five model-independent procedures for the estimation of lag times (Tlag) was evaluated. Two new methods utilize early concentrations which are weighted by a term exponential in time. They estimate Tlag by weighted linear regression. One of these approaches evaluates also the time when maximum concentration is reached (Tmax). In addition, three older, empirically used procedures are considered. Two methods apply either the first two or three quantifiable concentrations and estimate the lag time by linear regression. Finally, the last unquantifiable concentration is often used as a measure of lag time. Simulations demonstrated that this procedure had large bias and generally high standard deviation. In contrast, the new methods showed small variation and negligible bias. The procedures applying linear regression had intermediate characteristics. Lag times were evaluated effectively by an average of two observations between Tlag and Tmax.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17176063,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Matrix metalloproteinase-1 takes advantage of the induced fit mechanism to cleave the triple-helical type I collagen molecule.\nThe collagenases are members of the matrix metalloproteinase family (MMP) that degrade native triple-helical type I collagen. To understand the mechanism by which these enzymes recognize and cleave this substrate, we studied the substrate specificity of a modified form of MMP-1 (FC) in which its active site region (amino acids 212-254) had been replaced with that of MMP-9 (amino acids 395-437). Although this substitution increased the activity of the enzyme toward gelatin and the peptide substrate Mca-PLGL(Dpa)AR-NH2 by approximately 3- and approximately 11-fold, respectively, it decreased the type I collagenolytic activity of the enzyme to 0.13%. The replacement of Gly233, the only amino acid in this region of FC that is conserved in all collagenase family members, with the corresponding Glu residue in MMP-9 resulted in a substantial decrease in the type I collagenolytic activity of the enzyme without affecting its general proteolytic activities. The kinetic parameters of the FC\/G233E mutant for the collagen substrate were similar to those of the chimeric enzyme. In addition, substituting Gly233 for Glu in the chimera increased the collagenolytic activity of the enzyme by 12-fold. Interestingly, replacing Glu415 in MMP-9 with Gly, its corresponding residue in FC, endowed the enzyme with type I collagenolytic activity. The catalytic activity of the MMP-9 mutant toward triple-helical type I collagen was 2-fold higher than that of the collagenase chimera. These data in conjunction with the X-ray crystal structure of FC indicate that Gly233 provides the flexibility necessary for the enzyme active site to change conformation upon substrate binding. The flexibility provided by the Gly residue is essential for type I collagenolytic activity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3055234,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Mediastinal pancreas pseudocyst].\nWe report on the diagnosis and treatment of a pancreatic pseudocyst of the mediastinum. The patterns of signs and symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of this rare disease are discussed on the basis of literature.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28743896,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-26":1}}},"text":"Rapid screening for specific glycosylation and pathogen interactions on a 78 species avian egg white glycoprotein microarray.\nThere is an urgent need for discovery of novel antimicrobials and carbohydrate-based anti-adhesive strategies are desirable as they may not promote resistance. Discovery of novel anti-adhesive molecules from natural product libraries will require the use of a high throughput screening platform. Avian egg white (EW) provides nutrition for the embryo and protects against infection, with glycosylation responsible for binding certain pathogens. In this study, a microarray platform of 78 species of avian EWs was developed and profiled for glycosylation using a lectin panel with a wide range of carbohydrate specificities. The dominating linkages of sialic acid in EWs were determined for the first time using the lectins MAA and SNA-I. EW glycosylation similarity among the different orders of birds did not strictly depend on phylogenetic relationship. The interactions of five strains of bacterial pathogens, including Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Vibrio cholera, identified a number of EWs as potential anti-adhesives, with some as strain- or species-specific. Of the two bacterial toxins examined, shiga-like toxin 1 subunit B bound to ten EWs with similar glycosylation more intensely than pigeon EW. This study provides a unique platform for high throughput screening of natural products for specific glycosylation and pathogen interactions. This platform may provide a useful platform in the future for discovery of anti-adhesives targeted for strain and species specificity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":10204222,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Subconjunctival haemorrhages in neonatal thoroughbred foals.\nA survey of 169 neonatal thoroughbred foals revealed that 8.3 per cent had subconjunctival haemorrhages, but there was no indication of a relationship between retinal and subconjunctival haemorrhages. The haemorrhages were not related to any abnormality of the foals and there was no sex or eye predisposition. In most cases the haemorrhages were fresh and red, occurred mainly dorsally or dorsonasally and extended up to the limbus; they resolved completely within four to 10 days, depending on their initial severity and extent. They had no effect on the foals' vision in the short or long term. The incidence of subconjunctival haemorrhages was associated with foaling category, multiparity and country of birth.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36269766,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The rearing environment persistently modulates mouse phenotypes from the molecular to the behavioural level.\nThe phenotype of an organism results from its genotype and the influence of the environment throughout development. Even when using animals of the same genotype, independent studies may test animals of different phenotypes, resulting in poor replicability due to genotype-by-environment interactions. Thus, genetically defined strains of mice may respond differently to experimental treatments depending on their rearing environment. However, the extent of such phenotypic plasticity and its implications for the replicability of research findings have remained unknown. Here, we examined the extent to which common environmental differences between animal facilities modulate the phenotype of genetically homogeneous (inbred) mice. We conducted a comprehensive multicentre study, whereby inbred C57BL\/6J mice from a single breeding cohort were allocated to and reared in 5 different animal facilities throughout early life and adolescence, before being transported to a single test laboratory. We found persistent effects of the rearing facility on the composition and heterogeneity of the gut microbial community. These effects were paralleled by persistent differences in body weight and in the behavioural phenotype of the mice. Furthermore, we show that environmental variation among animal facilities is strong enough to influence epigenetic patterns in neurons at the level of chromatin organisation. We detected changes in chromatin organisation in the regulatory regions of genes involved in nucleosome assembly, neuronal differentiation, synaptic plasticity, and regulation of behaviour. Our findings demonstrate that common environmental differences between animal facilities may produce facility-specific phenotypes, from the molecular to the behavioural level. Furthermore, they highlight an important limitation of inferences from single-laboratory studies and thus argue that study designs should take environmental background into account to increase the robustness and replicability of findings.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16989614,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Impact of Gag sequence variability on level, phenotype, and function of anti-HIV Gag-specific CD8(+) cytotoxic T lymphocytes in untreated chronically HIV-infected patients.\nThe role of cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses in controlling viral replication during chronic HIV infection remains controversial. Viral escape mutations driven by immune pressure have been postulated to be an important mechanism contributing to the evasion of CD8(+) T cell responses. To explore this issue in more detail, HIV-1 p17 sequence variability was examined in chronically HIV-infected patients, in parallel with the level, phenotype, and function of HIV-SL9-specific CD8(+) T cell. Thirty-one HLA-A*0201(+) (A2(+)) and 10 HLAA* 02() (A2()) patients were included. The phenotype of SL9-specific CD8(+) T cell and their ability to produce IFN-gamma were analyzed by multiparameter flow cytometry. The HIV Gag p17 was sequenced and the mean variability score for each residue within SL9 and the two epitope flanking regions were calculated using Shannon entropy. The mean variability of SL9 and the proportion of patients with amino acid changes within SL9 were similar in A2(+) and A2() patients. Patients without Tet(+) cells had a significantly higher prevalence of aminoacid changes in SL9 than patients with Tet(+) cells. Interestingly, in patients with Tet(+) cells, the Y79F mutation within SL9 tended to be associated with lower levels of Tet(+) cells. We did not find any association between amino acid changes within SL9 and the differentiation stage of Tet(+) cells, or with IFN-gamma production. A similar analysis within the epitope flanking sequences did not reveal differences in the variability of these regions. These results suggest that viral mutations driven by immune selection pressure may play an important role in evading the immunological response in chronically HIV-infected individuals.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28290741,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Associations of Physical Activity, Sedentary Time, and Screen Time With Cardiovascular Fitness in United States Adolescents: Results From the NHANES National Youth Fitness Survey.\nMost US adolescents do not meet guidelines of at least 60 daily minutes of moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity. In addition, sedentary behaviors among this age group are of increasing concern. This study examined the association of movement behaviors with cardiovascular fitness among US adolescents. Data from the 2012 NHANES National Youth Fitness Survey were used to assess the association of movement behaviors (physical activity, sedentary time, screen time) with cardiovascular fitness among adolescent males and females. Multiple logistic regressions were used to test the independent and interactive effects of movement behaviors on cardiovascular fitness. Among females, physical activity was directly associated with cardiovascular fitness; no significant association was observed between sedentary behaviors and CVF. Among males, sedentary time moderated the relationship between physical activity and cardiovascular fitness, such that a significant, direct association was only observed among those with high sedentary time (OR: 5.01; 95% CI: 1.60, 15.70). Results from this cross-sectional analysis suggest that among female US adolescents, physical activity, but not sedentary behavior, is associated with cardiovascular fitness. Among males, the interaction between physical activity and sedentary time seems to be important for cardiovascular fitness. Longitudinal studies are warranted to confirm these findings.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28365509,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Myristic acid-modified thymopentin for enhanced plasma stability and immune-modulating activity.\nNatural albumin ligand (fatty acids)-conjugated peptides can rapidly bind to circulating albumin and form complexes to control the release of peptides. The purpose of this study was to prolong the half-life and immune-modulating effects of thymopentin (TP5) by using the albumin binding strategy. We synthesized myristic acid-modified TP5 (TP5-MA) by conjugating a myristic acid-acylated lysine to a permissive site of TP5, which improved the albumin binding affinity of TP5-MA and dramatically enhanced its stability in human plasma. We observed well-preserved bioactivities of TP5-MA in RAW264.7 macrophages using a tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-\u03b1 stimulation assay. Moreover, the prolonged immune-modulating effect of TP5-MA was confirmed by the normalized CD4+\/CD8+ ratio in immune-depressed rat models, which resulted in a reduced administration frequency (twice per week). In general, the enhanced pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of TP5-MA make it a promising product for the treatment of immunodeficiency diseases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29362882,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Extended pancreatectomy as defined by the ISGPS: useful in selected cases of pancreatic cancer but invaluable in other complex pancreatic tumors.\nExtended pancreatectomy aimed at R0 resection of pancreatic tumors with adjacent vessel and organ involvement may be the only option for cure. This study was done with an objective to analyze the short- and long-term outcomes of extended pancreatic resections. All pancreatectomies performed between 2006 and 2015 were included. The pancreatectomies were classified as standard or extended, as per the International Study Group for Pancreatic Surgery. All surgical complications and terminologies were according to Clavien-Dindo classification and International Study Group for Pancreatic Surgery guidelines. Morbidity and mortality were primary outcomes and disease-free survival was a secondary outcome. Sixty-three extended and 620 standard pancreatectomies were performed. Major morbidity (Clavien grades III, IV and V) (37 vs. 29%, p = 0.21) and mortality (6 vs. 4%, p = 0.3) for extended pancreatectomies were comparable to those for standard pancreatectomies. Blood loss > 855 ml, need for blood transfusion, and tumor size were independent risk factors for morbidity, and the latter two for mortality. Standard pancreatectomies were associated with better 3-year disease-free survival than extended pancreatectomies (67 vs. 41%, p < 0.001). Extended pancreatectomies resulted in a significantly better median disease-free survival for non-pancreatic adenocarcinoma vs. pancreatic adenocarcinoma (33.3 vs. 9.5 months, p = 0.01). Extended pancreatectomies resulted in similar peri-operative morbidity and mortality compared to standard pancreatectomies. Although the survival of patients undergoing these complex procedures is inferior to standard pancreatectomies, they should be undertaken not only in selected cases of pancreatic cancer but even more so in other complex pancreatic tumors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15261004,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Sexual arousal and orgasm in subjects who experience forced or non-consensual sexual stimulation -- a review.\nThe review examines whether unsolicited or non-consensual sexual stimulation of either females or males can lead to unwanted sexual arousal or even to orgasm. The conclusion is that such scenarios can occur and that the induction of arousal and orgasm does not indicate that the subjects consented to the stimulation. A perpetrator's defence simply built upon the fact that evidence of genital arousal or orgasm proves consent has no intrinsic validity and should be disregarded.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28253334,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Comparison of the efficacy and patients' tolerability of Nepafenac and Ketorolac in the treatment of ocular inflammation following cataract surgery: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.\nAs a new ophthalmic non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) with prodrug structure, Nepafenac was supposed to have a better efficacy than conventional NSAIDs both in patients' tolerability and ocular inflammation associated with cataract surgery. However, many current studies reached contradictory conclusions on the superiority of Nepafenac over Ketorolac. The objective of our study is to evaluate the efficacy and patients' tolerability of Nepafenac and Ketorolac following cataract surgery. To clarify this, we conducted a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Eleven articles were included in this study. The dataset consisted of 1165 patients, including 1175 cataract surgeries. Among them, 574 patients were in the Nepafenac group and 591 in the Ketorolac group. Our analysis indicated that these two drugs were equally effective in controlling post cataract surgery ocular inflammation, reducing macular edema, achieving a better visual ability and maintaining intraoperative mydriasis during cataract surgery. However, Nepafenac was more effective than Ketorolac in reducing the incidence of postoperative conjunctival hyperemia and ocular discomfort. This meta-analysis indicated that topical Nepafenac is superior to Ketorolac in patients' tolerability following cataract surgery. However, these two drugs are equally desirable in the management of anterior chamber inflammation, visual rehabilitation and intraoperative mydriasis. Given the limitations in our study, more researches with larger sample sizes and focused on more specific indicators such as peak aqueous concentrations of drugs or PEG2 levels are required to reach a firmer conclusion.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37854240,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of leisure activities and general health on the survival of older people: a cohort study in China.\nThis study aimed to examine the influence of physical and cognitive leisure activities on the survival of older adults in China, while also exploring the potential mediating and moderating effects of general health. This study utilized the China Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) datasets spanning from 2008 to 2018, and 10,347 eligible participants were included. The primary study outcome was all-cause mortality, and independent variables included physical leisure activities (PLA), cognitive leisure activities (CLA), and self-rated general health. Three sets of covariates were adjusted, including socio-demographic characteristics, health behaviors, and health status. The longest survival time was the older people participating in PLA & CLA (mean = 50.31 months), while those participating in neither exhibited the lowest (mean = 29.60 months). Significant differences in survival status were observed in different types of leisure activities participation (Log-rank test, Chi-square = 576.80, p < 0.001). Cox regression indicated that PLA (HR = 0.705, 95% CI: 0.651-0.764), CLA (HR = 0.872, 95% CI: 0.816-0.933), and the both PLA & CLA (HR = 0.700, 95% CI: 0.656-0.747) were protective factors for the survival. Additionally, general health significantly moderated the relationship between PLA and reduced mortality risk (Coefficient = -0.089, p = 0.042). While CLA indirectly influenced the survival through general health (Coefficient = -0.023, p < 0.001). For the older people participating in PLA and CLA, general health played mediating (Coefficient = -0.031, p < 0.001) and moderating (Coefficient = -0.026, p = 0.013) role in the relationship between leisure activities and survival. Leisure activities and self-rated general health were important predictors of survival of the older adults, and general health exhibited a mediator and moderator in the relationship between leisure activities and survival status.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26424793,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"DISC1 Protein Regulates \u03b3-Aminobutyric Acid, Type A (GABAA) Receptor Trafficking and Inhibitory Synaptic Transmission in Cortical Neurons.\nAssociation studies have suggested that Disrupted-in-Schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) confers a genetic risk at the level of endophenotypes that underlies many major mental disorders. Despite the progress in understanding the significance of DISC1 at neural development, the mechanisms underlying DISC1 regulation of synaptic functions remain elusive. Because alterations in the cortical GABA system have been strongly linked to the pathophysiology of schizophrenia, one potential target of DISC1 that is critically involved in the regulation of cognition and emotion is the GABAA receptor (GABAAR). We found that cellular knockdown of DISC1 significantly reduced GABAAR-mediated synaptic and whole-cell current, whereas overexpression of wild-type DISC1, but not the C-terminal-truncated DISC1 (a schizophrenia-related mutant), significantly increased GABAAR currents in pyramidal neurons of the prefrontal cortex. These effects were accompanied by DISC1-induced changes in surface GABAAR expression. Moreover, the regulation of GABAARs by DISC1 knockdown or overexpression depends on the microtubule motor protein kinesin 1 (KIF5). Our results suggest that DISC1 exerts an important effect on GABAergic inhibitory transmission by regulating KIF5\/microtubule-based GABAAR trafficking in the cortex. The knowledge gained from this study would shed light on how DISC1 and the GABA system are linked mechanistically and how their interactions are critical for maintaining a normal mental state.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16236797,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Specific translocation of protein kinase Calpha to the plasma membrane requires both Ca2+ and PIP2 recognition by its C2 domain.\nThe C2 domain of protein kinase Calpha (PKCalpha) controls the translocation of this kinase from the cytoplasm to the plasma membrane during cytoplasmic Ca2+ signals. The present study uses intracellular coimaging of fluorescent fusion proteins and an in vitro FRET membrane-binding assay to further investigate the nature of this translocation. We find that Ca2+-activated PKCalpha and its isolated C2 domain localize exclusively to the plasma membrane in vivo and that a plasma membrane lipid, phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2), dramatically enhances the Ca2+-triggered binding of the C2 domain to membranes in vitro. Similarly, a hybrid construct substituting the PKCalpha Ca2+-binding loops (CBLs) and PIP2 binding site (beta-strands 3-4) into a different C2 domain exhibits native Ca2+-triggered targeting to plasma membrane and recognizes PIP2. Conversely, a hybrid containing the CBLs but lacking the PIP2 site translocates primarily to trans-Golgi network (TGN) and fails to recognize PIP2. Similarly, PKCalpha C2 domains possessing mutations in the PIP2 site target primarily to TGN and fail to recognize PIP2. Overall, these findings demonstrate that the CBLs are essential for Ca2+-triggered membrane binding but are not sufficient for specific plasma membrane targeting. Instead, targeting specificity is provided by basic residues on beta-strands 3-4, which bind to plasma membrane PIP2.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32364723,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Using Strand Displacing Polymerase To Program Chemical Reaction Networks.\nChemical reaction networks (CRNs) provide a powerful abstraction to formally represent complex biochemical processes. DNA provides a promising substrate to implement the abstract representation (or programming language) of CRNs due to its programmable nature. Prior works that used DNA to implement CRNs either used DNA-only systems or multienzyme DNA circuits. Architectures with DNA-only components had the rationale of being biologically simple systems. Multienzyme systems, on the other hand, aimed at using natural enzymes to improve circuit performance, although, at the cost of increased complexity. In this work, we explore an alternative architecture that lies along the spectrum in between DNA-only systems and multienzyme DNA systems. Our architecture relies on only a strand displacing polymerase enzyme and DNA hybridization reactions for implementing CRNs. First, we briefly introduce the theory and DNA design of simple CRNs and then explore the fundamental properties of polymerase-based strand displacement systems. Finally, we engineer a catalytic amplifier in vitro as a use-case of our framework since such amplifiers require the intricate design of DNA sequences and reaction conditions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28579954,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Linear Parameter Varying Identification of Dynamic Joint Stiffness during Time-Varying Voluntary Contractions.\nDynamic joint stiffness is a dynamic, nonlinear relationship between the position of a joint and the torque acting about it, which can be used to describe the biomechanics of the joint and associated limb(s). This paper models and quantifies changes in ankle dynamic stiffness and its individual elements, intrinsic and reflex stiffness, in healthy human subjects during isometric, time-varying (TV) contractions of the ankle plantarflexor muscles. A subspace, linear parameter varying, parallel-cascade (LPV-PC) algorithm was used to identify the model from measured input position perturbations and output torque data using voluntary torque as the LPV scheduling variable (SV). Monte-Carlo simulations demonstrated that the algorithm is accurate, precise, and robust to colored measurement noise. The algorithm was then used to examine stiffness changes associated with TV isometric contractions. The SV was estimated from the Soleus EMG using a Hammerstein model of EMG-torque dynamics identified from unperturbed trials. The LPV-PC algorithm identified (i) a non-parametric LPV impulse response function (LPV IRF) for intrinsic stiffness and (ii) a LPV-Hammerstein model for reflex stiffness consisting of a LPV static nonlinearity followed by a time-invariant state-space model of reflex dynamics. The results demonstrated that: (a) intrinsic stiffness, in particular ankle elasticity, increased significantly and monotonically with activation level; (b) the gain of the reflex pathway increased from rest to around 10-20% of subject's MVC and then declined; and (c) the reflex dynamics were second order. These findings suggest that in healthy human ankle, reflex stiffness contributes most at low muscle contraction levels, whereas, intrinsic contributions monotonically increase with activation level.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28690641,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Prostate Cancer Stem Cell Markers Drive Progression, Therapeutic Resistance, and Bone Metastasis.\nMetastatic or recurrent tumors are the primary cause of cancer-related death. For prostate cancer, patients diagnosed with local disease have a 99% 5-year survival rate; however, this 5-year survival rate drops to 28% in patients with metastatic disease. This dramatic decline in survival has driven interest in discovering new markers able to identify tumors likely to recur and in developing new methods to prevent metastases from occurring. Biomarker discovery for aggressive tumor cells includes attempts to identify cancer stem cells (CSCs). CSCs are defined as tumor cells capable of self-renewal and regenerating the entire tumor heterogeneity. Thus, it is hypothesized that CSCs may drive primary tumor aggressiveness, metastatic colonization, and therapeutic relapse. The ability to identify these cells in the primary tumor or circulation would provide prognostic information capable of driving prostate cancer treatment decisions. Further, the ability to target these CSCs could prevent tumor metastasis and relapse after therapy allowing for prostate cancer to finally be cured. Here, we will review potential CSC markers and highlight evidence that describes how cells expressing each marker may drive prostate cancer progression, metastatic colonization and growth, tumor recurrence, and resistance to treatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17172294,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The pH-dependent conformational states of kyotorphin: a constant-pH molecular dynamics study.\nAn extensive conformational study of the analgesic dipeptide kyotorphin (L-Tyr-L-Arg) at different pH values was performed using a constant-pH molecular dynamics method. This dipeptide showed a remarkable pH-dependent conformational variety. The protonation of the N-terminal amine was identified as a key element in the transition between the more extended and the more packed conformational states, as monitored by the dihedral angle defined by the atoms 1Cbeta-1Calpha-2Calpha-2Cbeta. The principal-component analysis of kyotorphin identified two major conformational populations (the extended trans and the packed cis) together with conformations that occur exclusively at extreme pH values. Other, less stable conformations were also identified, which help us to understand the transitions between the predominant populations. The fitting of kyotorphin's conformational space to the structure of morphine resulted in a set of conformers that were able to fulfill most of the constraints for the mu-receptor. These results suggest that there may be strong similarities between the kyotorphin receptor and the structural family of opioid receptors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15258851,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Physical mapping of a rice lesion mimic gene, Spl1 , to a 70-kb segment of rice chromosome 12.\nThe rice lesion mimic mutant spotted leaf 1 ( spl1) was first identified in the rice ( Oryza sativa) cultivar Asahi in 1965. This mutant displayed spontaneous disease-like lesions in the absence of any pathogen, and was found to confer resistance to multiple isolates of rice blast. We employed a map-based cloning strategy to localize the Spl1 gene. A total of ten cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence (CAPS) markers linked to the Spl1 gene were identified and mapped to an 8.5-cM region on chromosome 12. A high-resolution genetic map was developed using these ten CAPS markers and a segregating population consisting of 3202 individuals. A BAC contig containing four BAC clones was constructed, and Spl1 was localized to a 423-kb region. Seven spl1 mutants were obtained from the IR64 deletion mutant collection, and molecular analysis using these mutants delimited the Spl1 gene to a 70-kb interval, covered by two BAC clones. These results provide the basis for cloning this gene, which is involved in cell death and disease resistance in rice.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9550143,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Developmental expression of VGF mRNA in the prenatal and postnatal rat.\nVGF is a developmentally regulated, secretory peptide precursor that is expressed by neurons and neuroendocrine cells and that has its transcription and secretion induced rapidly by neurotrophins and by depolarization. To gain insight into the possible functions and regulation of VGF in vivo, we have characterized the distribution of VGF mRNA in the developing rat nervous system. VGF expression was first detectable at embryonic day 11.5 in the primordia of cranial, sympathetic, and dorsal root ganglia, and its distribution expanded throughout development to include significant expression throughout the brain, spinal cord, and retina of the adult rat. The earliest expression of VGF, therefore, appeared in the peripheral nervous system as developing neurons settled in their designated ganglia. In many regions of the brain, VGF mRNA levels were found to be highest during periods when axonal outgrowth and synaptogenesis predominate. Areas of the central nervous system that contain predominantly dividing cells never displayed any VGF mRNA expression, nor did the vast majority of nonneural tissues.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25419457,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Bioinspired amphiphilic phosphate block copolymers as non-fluoride materials to prevent dental erosion.\nInspired by the fact that certain natural proteins, e.g. casein phosphopeptide or amelogenin, are able to prevent tooth erosion (mineral loss) and to enhance tooth remineralization, a synthetic amphiphilic diblock copolymer, containing a hydrophilic methacryloyloxyethyl phosphate block (MOEP) and a hydrophobic methyl methacrylate block (MMA), was designed as a novel non-fluoride agent to prevent tooth erosion under acidic conditions. The structure of the polymer, synthesized by reversible addition-fragment transfer (RAFT) polymerization, was confirmed by gel permeation chromatography (GPC), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR). While the hydrophilic PMOEP block within the amphiphilic block copolymer strongly binds to the enamel surface, the PMMA block forms a hydrophobic shell to prevent acid attack on tooth enamel, thus preventing\/reducing acid erosion. The polymer treatment not only effectively decreased the mineral loss of hydroxyapatite (HAP) by 36-46% compared to the untreated control, but also protected the surface morphology of the enamel specimen following exposure to acid. Additionally, experimental results confirmed that low pH values and high polymer concentrations facilitate polymer binding. Thus, the preliminary data suggests that this new amphiphilic diblock copolymer has the potential to be used as a non-fluoride ingredient for mouth-rinse or toothpaste to prevent\/reduce tooth erosion.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17183155,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dopamine-induced stress signaling in COS-7 cells transfected with selectively vulnerable muscarinic receptor subtypes is partially mediated via the i3 loop and antagonized by blueberry extract.\nMuscarinic receptors (MAChRs) are intimately involved in various aspects of both neuronal and vascular functioning, and there is selective oxidative stress sensitivity (OSS) among MAChR subtypes, with M1, M2, and M4 showing>OSS. OSS was assessed by determining the loss of ability of the cell to extrude or sequester Ca2+ following oxotremorine-induced depolarization following exposure to dopamine (DA) subtypes in transfected COS-7 cells. This OSS can be prevented by pretreatment with blueberry (BB) extract. Present studies were carried out to determine BB treatment of the cells transfected with wild type, truncated or chimeric [where the i3 loop of one receptor was switched with the i3 loop of the other; i.e., M1(M3i3) and M3(M1i3)] receptors would alter DA-induced changes in calcium buffering and would confer protection through alterations in pMAPK, pCREB or PKC signaling. These findings also suggest that BB may antagonize OS effects by lowering activation of pCREB and possibly PKCgamma induced by DA. In the truncated and chimeric receptors, results indicated that BB reduced OSS in response to DA in M1-transfected cells. However, BBs were also effective in preventing these Ca2+ buffering deficits in cells transfected with M1 receptors in which the i3 loop had been removed, but only partially enhanced the protective effects of the M3 i3 loop in the M1(M3i3) chimerics. A similar partial effect of BBs was seen in the M3(M1i3) chimerics which showed increased OSS in response to DA. It appears that antioxidants found in BBs might be targeting additional sites on these chimerics to decrease OSS.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31256891,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Equine Calming Products: A Short Survey Into Their Use, Effect, and Knowledge Using a Small Sample of Horse Owners in the North of Scotland, UK.\nEquine calming products (ECPs) are often used by horse owners to alter or mitigate unwanted or dangerous behaviors in various situations. Little scientific research to date examines horse owners' knowledge surrounding these products. The objective of this pilot survey was to determine horse owners' use and perceptions of ECPs. For convenience, a survey was distributed to riding club members, livery yards, and riding instructors in the North of Scotland, UK, to ascertain the following information; the number of horse owners and caretakers who use an ECP, whether the product was considered to be effective, reasons for use and identification of the effective ingredient. Total response rate was 63% (n = 58); correctly completed questionnaires were received. Of the total respondents, 69% (n = 40) confirmed the use of an ECP and 82% would use them again, and 45% reporting regular use. Over half (59%) thought the calming effect was induced by magnesium, 9% thought the calming effect was induced by herbs, valerian, or tryptophan, and 32% did not know what ingredient had a possible calming effect. Of those using or having used an ECP, 40% felt that there was some positive effect, 30% were unsure as to whether there was any difference or not, 25% felt there was no difference, and 5% felt there was a negative effect on horse's behavior. A variety of reasons were given for using an ECP. The results suggest that horse owners are willing to use ECPs without underpinning knowledge of ingredients or scientific evidence of efficacy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26487578,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Randomized phase III trial in elderly patients comparing LV5FU2 with or without irinotecan for first-line treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer (FFCD 2001-02).\nMetastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) frequently occurs in elderly patients. However, data from a geriatric tailored randomized trial about tolerance to and the efficacy of doublet chemotherapy (CT) with irinotecan in the elderly are lacking. The benefit of first-line CT intensification remains an issue in elderly patients. Elderly patients (75+) with previously untreated mCRC were randomly assigned in a 2 \u00d7 2 factorial design (four arms) to receive 5-FU (5-fluorouracil)-based CT, either alone (FU: LV5FU2 or simplified LV5FU2) or in combination with irinotecan [IRI: LV5FU2-irinotecan or simplified LV5FU2-irinotecan (FOLFIRI)]. The CLASSIC arm was defined as LV5FU2 or LV5FU2-irinotecan and the SIMPLIFIED arm as simplified LV5FU2 or FOLFIRI. The primary end point was progression-free survival (PFS). Secondary end points were overall survival (OS), safety and objective response rate (ORR). From June 2003 to May 2010, 71 patients were randomly assigned to LV5FU2, 71 to simplified LV5FU2, 70 to LV5FU2-irinotecan and 70 to FOLFIRI. The median age was 80 years (range 75-92 years). No significant difference was observed for the median PFS: FU 5.2 months versus IRI 7.3 months, hazard ratio (HR) = 0.84 (0.66-1.07), P = 0.15 and CLASSIC 6.5 months versus SIMPLIFIED 6.0 months, HR = 0.85 (0.67-1.09), P = 0.19. The ORR was superior in IRI (P = 0.0003): FU 21.1% versus IRI 41.7% and in CLASSIC (P = 0.04): CLASSIC 37.1% versus SIMPLIFIED 25.6%. Median OS was 14.2 months in FU versus 13.3 months in IRI, HR = 0.96 (0.75-1.24) and 15.2 months in CLASSIC versus 11.4 months in SIMPLIFIED, HR = 0.71 (0.55-0.92). More patients presented grade 3-4 toxicities in IRI (52.2% versus 76.3%). In this elderly population, adding irinotecan to an infusional 5-FU-based CT did not significantly increase either PFS or OS. Classic LV5FU2 was associated with an improved OS compared with simplified LV5FU2. NCT00303771.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12036833,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Oncological diagnosis using positron coincidence gamma camera with fluorodeoxyglucose in comparison with dedicated PET.\nThe purpose of this study was to compare the utility of a dual-head positron coincidence detection gamma camera (PCD) with that of dedicated positron emission tomography (PET) in the imaging of various malignancies using (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG). 25 patients with known or suspected malignancies at various sites underwent imaging with both methods, and diagnostic performance on a lesion basis was compared. Tumour lesions were analyzed visually and semi-quantitatively using the ratio of tumour-to-background counts (T\/B ratio). FDG PCD and FDG PET visually detected 34 (72.3%) lesions and 37 (78.7%) lesions, respectively. The mean T\/B ratio and standard deviation (SD) of FDG PCD was 3.5+\/-3.3, significantly lower than that of FDG PET (8.4+\/-7.1, p<0.001). When tumour lesions were less than 2.0 cm in diameter, the sensitivity of FDG PCD was 37.5%, significantly inferior to that of FDG PET (50.0%, p<0.01). Sensitivity between FDG PCD and FDG PET in lesions of more than 2.0 cm diameter showed no statistically significant difference. This study indicates that FDG imaging with a dual-head coincidence detection gamma camera can provide suitable diagnostic performance for lesions greater than 2.0 cm diameter, but performed significantly worse than dedicated PET for lesions smaller than this.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31263564,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Papaya CpbHLH1\/2 regulate carotenoid biosynthesis-related genes during papaya fruit ripening.\nThe ripening of papaya is a physiological and metabolic process associated with accumulation of carotenoids, alternation of flesh color and flavor, which depending on genotype and external factors such as light and hormone. Transcription factors regulating carotenoid biosynthesis have not been analyzed during papaya fruit ripening. RNA-Seq experiments were implemented using different ripening stages of papaya fruit from two papaya varieties. Cis-elements in lycopene \u03b2-cyclase genes (CpCYC-B and CpLCY-B) were identified, and followed by genome-wide analysis to identify transcription factors binding to these cis-elements, resulting in the identification of CpbHLH1 and CpbHLH2, two bHLH genes. The expressions of CpbHLH1\/2 were changed during fruit development, coupled with transcript increase of carotenoid biosynthesis-related genes including CpCYC-B, CpLCY-B, CpPDS2, CpZDS, CpLCY-E, and CpCHY-B. Yeast one-hybrid (Y1H) and transient expression assay revealed that CpbHLH1\/2 could bind to the promoters of CpCYC-B and CpLCY-B, and regulate their transcriptions. In response to strong light, the results of elevated expression of carotenoid biosynthesis-related genes and the changed expression of CpbHLH1\/2 indicated that CpbHLH1\/2 were involved in light-mediated mechanisms of regulating critical genes in the carotenoid biosynthesis pathway. Collectively, our findings demonstrated several TF family members participating in the regulation of carotenoid genes and proved that CpbHLH1 and CpbHLH2 individually regulated the transcription of lycopene \u03b2-cyclase genes (CpCYC-B and CpLCY-B). This study yielded novel findings on regulatory mechanism of carotenoid biosynthesis during papaya fruit ripening.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26426558,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Use of the Learning Curve-Cumulative Summation Test for Leopold Maneuvers Assessment in a Simulator: A Pilot Study.\nSimulation enables medical students to practice clinical skills in a safe environment. Graduates in medicine must be able to correctly perform an examination on a pregnant woman using Leopold maneuvers. Learning curves-cumulative summation (LC-CUSUM) may help determine when the student has achieved a specific skill. Our objective was to perform the LC-CUSUM test regarding the ability of students to correctly carry out Leopold maneuvers; a pregnancy simulator was used, transferring the results to a clinical setting. Five medical students were trained to carry out Leopold maneuvers using the simulator. Each student performed maneuvers for 50 cases of different fetus positions; a LC-CUSUM was plotted for each student. Afterward, the students performed the Leopold maneuvers on 5 pregnant women. Of the 5 students, 3 achieved a level of proficiency; the attempts needed for reaching this level were 13, 13, and 37, respectively. The other 2 students did not reach proficiency level. Of the students who became successfully proficient with the simulator, one of them attained a 100% success rate in pregnant patients, whereas the other two had success rates of 80%. The students who did not achieve a level of competency with the simulator had only a 60% success rate with patients. Because of the differences observed between students in the number of attempts needed for achieving proficiency in Leopold maneuvers, we believe that each student should build his\/her own learning curve. Achieving competency in carrying out Leopold maneuvers using the simulator could be transferable to patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23434979,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Influence of launch-beam distribution on bandwidth in step-index plastic optical fibers.\nThe power-flow equation is employed to calculate bandwidth of step-index plastic optical fibers (POFs) for different launch conditions. The outcome specifies bandwidth as a function of the mean input angle and width of the launch-beam distribution. For small distribution widths, bandwidth is shown to decrease with increasing mean input angle of the launch-beam distribution. For large distribution widths, bandwidth becomes independent of the launch angle. Launch-beam distribution, mode-dependent attenuation, and mode dispersion and coupling in POFs strongly influence the bandwidth of data transmission systems.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21750217,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Genomic profiling in CEPH cell lines distinguishes between the camptothecins and indenoisoquinolines.\nWe have attempted to use a familial genetics strategy to study mechanisms of topoisomerase 1 (Top1) inhibition. Investigations have steadily been chipping away at the pathways involved in cellular response following Top1 inhibition for more than 20 years. Our system-wide approach, which phenotypes a collection of genotyped human cell lines for sensitivity to compounds and interrogates all genes and molecular pathways simultaneously. Previously, we characterized the in vitro sensitivity of 15 families of Centre d'Etude Polymorphisme Humain (CEPH) cell lines (n = 142) to 9 camptothecin analogues. Linkage analysis revealed a pattern of 7 quantitative trait loci (QTL) shared by all of the camptothecins. To identify which, if any, QTLs are related to the general mechanism of Top1 inhibition or should be considered camptothecin specific, we characterized the in vitro sensitivity of the same panel of CEPH cell lines to the indenisoquinolones, a structurally distinct class of Top1 inhibitors. Four QTLs on chromosomes 1, 5, 11, and 16 were shared by both the camptothecins and the indenoisoquinolines and are considered associated with the general mechanism of Top1 inhibition. The remaining 3 QTLs (chromosomes 6 and 20) are considered specific to camptothecin-induced cytotoxicity. Finally, 8 QTLs were identified, which were unique to the indenoisoquinolines.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20350756,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Metabolic evaluation in stone disease metabolic differences between the pediatric and adult patients with stone disease.\nTo determine the metabolic risk factors in children and adults with stone disease and any differences between the metabolic risk factors of children and adult patients with stone disease. Between 1999 and 2007, 285 adults with recurrent stone disease and 71 children with primary or recurrent urinary stone disease underwent metabolic evaluation in our clinic. The evaluation included blood chemistry studies and 24-hour urine collection in the pediatric and adult groups. The mean age of the children was 9.35 years (range: 1-14) and 42.1 years (range: 14-71) in the adult patients. Metabolic risk factors were demonstrated in 90.53% (n = 258) of the adult and 88.73% (n = 63) of the pediatric patients. Although hypercalciuria (50.5%, n = 144) was the most common metabolic risk factor in the adult group, hypocitraturia was the most common metabolic risk factor in the pediatric group (57.74%, n = 41). Furthermore, in the adult group, 136 patients had more than 1 risk factor, and in the pediatric group, 24 patients had more than 1 risk factor. Although hypocitraturia is the most common risk factor in pediatric urolithiasis patients and hypercalciuria is the most common risk factor in adult patients, all patients with stone formation should be given a limited metabolic evaluation because such patients may also have a metabolic abnormality.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35370228,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"The Associated Factors of Low Birthweight Among Term Singletons in Japan: A Pregnancy Birth Registry Analysis.\nProgress in reducing the global low birthweight (LBW) has been insufficient. Although the focus has been on preventing preterm birth, evidence regarding LBW in term births is limited. Despite its low preterm birth prevalence, Japan has a higher LBW proportion than other developed countries. This study aimed to examine the prevalence of LBW in term singleton births and its associated factors using a national database. We retrospectively analyzed the data of neonates registered in the Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology Successive Pregnancy Birth Registry System who were born 2013-2017. Exclusion criteria included stillbirths, delivery after 42 gestational weeks, and missing data. Logistic regression analyses were performed to investigate the maternal and perinatal factors associated with LBW in term singletons using the data of 715,414 singleton neonates. The overall prevalence of LBW was 18.3%, and 35.7% of LBWs originated from singleton term pregnancies. Multiple logistic regression analyses indicated that both modifiable and non-modifiable factors were independently associated with LBW in term neonates. The modifiable maternal factors included pre-pregnancy underweight, inadequate gestational weight gain, and smoking during pregnancy, while the non-modifiable factors included younger maternal age, nulliparity, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, cesarean section delivery, female offspring, and congenital anomalies. Using the Japanese pregnancy birth registry data, more than one-third of LBWs were found to originate from singleton term pregnancies. Both modifiable and non-modifiable factors were independently associated with LBW in term neonates. Prevention strategies on modifiable risk factor control will be effective in reducing LBW worldwide.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27486123,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Feasibility of nephrinuria as a screening tool for the risk of pre-eclampsia: prospective observational study.\nTo investigate the possibility of nephrinuria as a screening tool for the risk of pre-eclampsia (PE). Prospective observational study. A single university hospital. Changes in urinary nephrin:creatinine ratio (NCR, ng\/mg) and protein:creatinine ratio (PCR, mg\/mg) in pregnancy were determined. Significant proteinuria in pregnancy (SPIP) was defined as PCR>0.27. PE was diagnosed in women with both SPIP and hypertension. 89 pregnant women in whom neither hypertension nor SPIP was present at enrolment, providing 31, 125 and 93 random urine samples during first, second and third trimesters, respectively. PE developed in 14 of the 89 women. NCR increased with increasing PCR in 14 women with PE (correlation coefficient, 0.862; p<0.0001). In contrast, NCR did not change significantly despite significant increases in PCR in 75 women with normotensive pregnancies defined as neither SPIP nor hypertension, indicating that there was little increase in nephrinuria over the physiological range of proteinuria in pregnancy. Relative risk of later development of PE among asymptomatic second and third trimester women with NCR (ng\/mg) >122 (95th centile value for 75 women with normotensive pregnancies) was 5.93 (95% CI 2.59 to 13.6; 60% (6\/10) vs 10% (8\/79)) and 13.5 (95% CI 3.31 to 55.0; 75% (6\/8) vs 5.5% (2\/36)), respectively, compared with women with NCR\u2264122 at that time. Nephrinuria was unlikely to increase in normal pregnancy. A certain NCR cut-off may efficiently differentiate women at higher risk of PE.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3082047,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Gamma-interferon production capacity and T lymphocyte subpopulation after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation.\nT cell phenotypes after bone marrow transplantation (BMT) were investigated using monoclonal antibodies (moAbs) reactive to lymphocyte cell surface antigens. Patients' T cells showed decreased percentages of OKT4, 4A and 9.3-positive T cells, and increased percentages of OKT8, human Ia, and Leu-7-positive T cells. These changes in T cell phenotype persisted for a long period after BMT and had no correlation with the occurrence of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). No lymphocyte activation antigens such as TIA (Tac) or transferrin receptor (5E9) were detected after BMT. The capacity of the patients' lymphocytes to produce gamma-interferon (IFN-gamma) was measured after incubation of lymphocytes with mitogen. Patients' lymphocytes produced significantly lower levels of IFN-gamma than the normal controls. This failure of IFN-gamma production showed no correlation with stimulation index of mitogen blastogenesis or changes of T cell population. Thus, not only T cell phenotype but also measurement of IFN-gamma production of lymphocyte may be useful in detecting immunological abnormalities in patients who receive BMT.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20350050,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The apelinergic system: a promising therapeutic target.\nApelin is a bioactive peptide known as the ligand of the G-protein-coupled receptor APJ. In recent years, there has been a growing body of evidence regarding the importance of apelin and APJ in the pathophysiology of cardiovascular, metabolic and gastrointestinal diseases, brain signalling, HIV infection and tumor angiogenesis. Therefore, the apelinergic system is involved in the pathogenesis of several diseases that represent a major burden to our society. The goal of this paper is to give an up-to-date review of existing information on apelin\/APJ since the discovery of apelin in 1998, with particular focus on their involvement in the regulation of human body systems and potential therapeutic applications. An overview of the most important physiological functions of the apelinergic system and the diseases that may benefit in the future from its modulation as a therapeutic target. Today, the established biological effects of apelin involve major cardiovascular actions, neoangiogenesis, immunologic modulation and insulinemia control as well as body fluid and glucose homeostasis. However, the physiological and pathophysiological role of endogenous apelin is still unsettled and a better and profound knowledge of this system in humans is necessary for the development of novel apelinergic-based therapeutic targets.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35126294,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Early Microcirculatory Hemodynamic Changes Are Correlated With Functional Outcomes at Discharge in Patients With Aneurysmal SAH.\nThe technique of color-coding blood flow analysis was used to explore the correlation between the microcirculatory hemodynamic changes on digital subtraction angiography (DSA) images in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) at the early stage and functional outcomes at discharge. Data of 119 patients who underwent DSA examination due to SAH were retrospectively analyzed. The following hemodynamic parameters of the four region of interests (ROIs) [an ophthalmic segment of the internal carotid artery (ICA), frontal and parietal lobe, and superior sagittal sinus] were analyzed: the time-to-peak (TTP), the area under the curve (AUC), the full width at half maximum (FWHM), mean transit time (MTT), and circulation time. Multifactor regression analysis was performed to explore the correlation between the hemodynamic parameters and functional outcomes in patients at discharge. Of 119 patients with SAH, good and poor outcomes were found in 83 (69.7%) and 36 (30.3%) patients, respectively. The hemodynamic parameters including the FWHM, relative TTP (rTTP), and circulation time were significantly correlated with the Hunt-Hess grade (p < 0.005, p = 0.03, and p < 0.005) and the World Federation of Neurological Societies Scale grade (p < 0.005, p = 0.02, and p = 0.01). The FWHM was significantly prolonged with the increase of modified Fisher grade (p = 0.02). The multifactor analysis showed that the FWHM [odds ratio (OR) 17.56, 95% CI: 1.13-272.03, p = 0.04] was an independent risk factor predicting the functional outcomes in patients at discharge. The technique of color-coding blood flow analysis could be suitable for the qualified evaluation of disease conditions at an early stage of SAH as well as the prediction of outcomes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":10202670,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Tamoxifen and the endometrium: review of 102 cases and comparison with HRT-related and non-HRT-related endometrial pathology.\nTamoxifen, a synthetic anti-estrogen that paradoxically acts as a partial estrogen agonist on the endometrium, is associated with an increased frequency of proliferative endometrial lesions, including hyperplasias, neoplasms, and polyps. Tamoxifen-related polyps are characteristically multiple and fibrotic. A variety of metaplasias and periglandular stromal condensation may be seen. Relatively few articles have focused on the descriptive morphology of the full range of tamoxifen-associated lesions. The present study further defines the histologic features in both endometrial polyps and nonpolyp endometrium. One hundred and two specimens (including 50 polyps) were reviewed using hormone replacement therapy-related endometrial specimens and conventional polyps as the control groups. The most characteristic findings of tamoxifen-associated lesions included polarized glands along the long axis of polyps (40%), a cambium layer (72%), frequent and diverse metaplasias, staghorn glands (36%), myxoid degeneration (12%), and small glands (36%). Similar morphologic features were identified in the hormone replacement therapy and control groups but to a variable, lesser extent. Overall, the tamoxifen group consisted of 18 cases of hyperplasia (11 complex, 7 simple) and one case each of adenofibroma, adenosarcoma, endometrial stromal sarcoma, and leiomyosarcoma. Although none of the features is diagnostic, the presence of diverse metaplasias, polarized glands, staghorn glands, and a cambium layer strongly suggest tamoxifen exposure especially if a number of these features are present concurrently within the same material.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25277907,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A new genus of huntsman spiders (Araneae, Sparassidae, Sparianthinae) from the Neotropical region.\nUaiuara gen. nov. is described to include Sparianthis amazonica Simon from Brazil, Sparianthis barroana Chamberlin from Panama, and five new species, namely: Uaiuara quyguaba sp. nov. from the states of Amazonas, Par\u00e1 and Amap\u00e1; Uaiuara ope sp. nov. from Acre and Uaiuara jirau sp. nov. from Rond\u00f4nia, all in northern Brazil, Uaiuara palenque sp. nov. from Ecuador and Uaiuara dianae sp. nov. from Peru. The genus is easily distinguished from the remaining Neotropical Sparianthinae by the very recurved anterior eye row, the large number of ventral spines on tibiae of legs I-II, the retrolateral grove on the male palpal cymbium and the convoluted duct system of the female vulva. In addition, the female of S. barroana and the male of S. amazonica are described for the first time. The latter species is newly recorded from Colombia, Suriname, Ecuador and Bolivia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16990705,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Recent advances in the pathology and classification of ovarian germ cell tumors.\nIn recent years, our knowledge of ovarian germ cell tumors has increased, and their classification has evolved. The introduction of cisplatin-based chemotherapy and the discovery of tumor markers, including alpha-fetoprotein and human chorionic gonadotropin, have dramatically changed the clinical outlook for most of these patients. In this review, recent advances in the classification and pathology of ovarian germ cell tumors are discussed. Where appropriate, comparisons are made with testicular germ cell tumors. The last section of the article discusses the pathogenesis of germ cell tumors. This review will emphasize the articles written in the last 10 years and those that have significantly advanced our knowledge of germ cell tumors in past decades.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34401064,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dietary association of iron deficiency anemia and related pregnancy outcomes.\nIron deficiency anemia (IDA) is a common public health occurrence of pregnancy which is particularly prevalent in developing countries like Pakistan. During this critical period, the deficiency of iron is very common as the iron requirements are greatly enhanced. IDA during pregnancy is associated with intrauterine growth retardation, premature birth, low birthweight, increased labor time, higher risk of infection, elevated maternal and prenatal mortality, muscle dysfunction, and low physical capacity. The present study was aimed to check the prevalence, effect of diet on IDA and its association with the pregnancy outcome, that is, birthweight. Five different public sector hospitals of Rawalpindi and Islamabad were analyzed. A sample size of 500 pregnant females of third trimester was observed which were then followed after delivery from September 2020 to January 2021. A well-designed questionnaire was developed where different demographic factors, dietary recalls, biomarkers, and other determinants were obtained. The data from the questionnaires were later coded for the purpose of analysis in the statistical package (SPSS) using chi-square test. Our study indicated that IDA is a moderate public health problem among pregnant women in twin cities and more than half of study subjects have depleted iron stores. Approximately 63% of the subjects were having iron deficiency and 24.8% were facing severe iron deficiency anemia. Only 12% of the subjects were considered as normal. The high prevalence of anemia in our subjects was probably due to low iron intake and poor dietary habits. The results of the study may not be generalizable due to time constraints and other factors. Maternal anemia still remains a major public health concern that requires more attention especially in developing and underdeveloping countries.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":10202626,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The idiopathic nephrotic syndrome.\nThe nephrotic syndrome is defined by edema, hypoalbuminemia, proteinuria, and hyperlipemia with elevated cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations in serum or plasma. It may be primary or secondary to systemic disorders. Because of its incidence--between 2.0 and 7.0 cases per 100,000 children per year--this disorder is not uncommon in a busy pediatric practice, and it forms the basis of the referrals evaluated by a pediatric nephrology service. Over the 2 years since this subject was reviewed, several articles have appeared that have provided insights into the clinical features, etiology, pathology, pathogenesis, complications, and therapy of the idiopathic primary nephrotic syndrome. Nevertheless, a remarkable feature of this condition remains that the fundamental cause and pathogenesis of the most common form of primary nephrotic syndrome, minimal lesion nephrotic syndrome of childhood, is largely unknown. Hence, a huge challenge remains for researchers in the area of pediatric nephrology.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27267976,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Causation as Strategy: Interpreting Humours among Tibetan Refugees.\nThe article focuses on the incidence of humoural wind ( rlung ) disorders among Tibetan exiles in India. It investigates the reasons behind the emergence of rlung as a significant problem among Tibetan exiles, and seeks to unpack some of the local meanings of this 'epidemic'. Previous studies have generally described rlung disorders as symptomatic of political and moral concerns, highlighting the connections that Tibetans make between physical, moral and psychological states in the context of Buddhist practice and everyday life. This paper aims to further nuance these findings by showing that, while Tibetan exiles include complex causes linked to morality and psychosocial wellbeing in their explanations of rlung disorders, they also 'cut' into this explanatory network in strategic ways, sometimes bypassing religious or psychosocial interpretations of illness altogether. Drawing on this analysis, the article warns researchers against literal readings of general religious precepts when analysing people's everyday negotiations of illness and wellbeing: the attribution of causation is always strategic, and religious observance should never be assumed to be uniform, or taken as a given.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3033198,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Salutary effects of prostaglandin E1 in perfused rat lungs injured with hydrogen peroxide.\nStudies were conducted in isolated, buffer-perfused rat lungs to determine if prostaglandin (PG) E1 attenuated pulmonary edema provoked by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). When lungs were challenged by 60 min of perfusion with H2O2 (generated by the reaction between glucose and glucose oxidase) the wet weight-to-dry weight ratio increased from control by 54%, indicating development of pulmonary edema. In contrast, lungs treated simultaneously with H2O2 plus PGE1 (1 microgram\/min) failed to exhibit an elevated wet-to-dry weight ratio. H2O2-injured lungs demonstrated a modest 2 torr increase in pulmonary arterial perfusion pressure that was not influenced by simultaneous treatment with PGE1. Both radioimmunoassay (RIA) and high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) analysis detected increased amounts of (5S)-5-hydroxy-6,8,11,14 eicosatetraenoic acid in the perfusion medium of H2O2-injured lungs (RIA, 48.0 +\/- 14.7; HPLC, 54.8 +\/- 13.5) relative to controls (RIA, 6.6 +\/- 1.6; HPLC, 6.8 +\/- 1.9), and simultaneous treatment with PGE1 tended to blunt this increase (RIA, 29.2 +\/- 8.3; HPLC, 29.8 +\/- 7.6). PGE1 abolished the increase in wet weight-to-dry weight ratio induced by exogenous leukotriene C4. Production of H2O2 by the glucose-glucose oxidase reaction was not influenced by PGE1. Taken together, these observations indicate that PGE1 attenuates H2O2-induced pulmonary edema formation in buffer-perfused rat lungs by mechanisms that may relate to inhibition of lung 5'-lipoxygenase activation and\/or to inhibition of the injurious effects of endogenously produced lipoxygenase products.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3065722,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Pyogenic sacroiliac arthritis in children. Apropos of 6 cases].\nPyogenic arthritis of the sacro-iliac joint is uncommon in children; 6 cases were observed over 4 years. The diagnosis may be difficult and should include specific examination of the sacro-iliac joint. Posterior pain with a febrile illness needs radiological examination and a skeletal scintigraphy, which has always been positive in our experience. All the patients had a very good functional recovery after antibiotherapy and rest (bed or plaster).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19042851,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Open-label, add-on study of tetrahydrocannabinol for chronic nonmalignant pain.\nCannabinoids have been used for pain relief for centuries and recent studies have investigated their analgesic and anti-inflammatory mechanisms, as well as clinical efficacy, in treating chronic pain. We report an open-label study addressed to evaluate the effect and adverse events of orally administered Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Delta-9-THC) in 13 patients with chronic nonmalignant pain (CNMP) unresponsive to conventional pharmacotherapy. The effect of the treatment was assessed on an eight-item HRQoL questionnaire. Five out of 13 patients reported adequate response to the treatment while eight patients reported inadequate or no response. Seven patients did not experience any adverse events (AEs), six patients reported AEs, two of which discontinued the treatment. We conclude that oral THC may be a valuable therapeutic option for selected patients with CNMP that are unresponsive to previous treatments, though further research is warranted to characterize those patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20374028,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Management of metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer progression after adjuvant trastuzumab therapy - current evidence and future trends.\nTrastuzumab is now considered the standard of care for the adjuvant treatment of human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2)-positive breast cancer patients, yet a sizable number of HER2-positive patients do not benefit from this treatment. For patients who progress on or after completion of adjuvant trastuzumab therapy, the standard of care is uncertain. Newer tyrosine kinase inhibitors and monoclonal antibodies are being evaluated in clinical trials for optimisation of treatment in this group. The interplay of HER2 and hormonal signalling pathways is being manipulated to see if response rates can be bettered. In this reveiw we explain the present role of the new molecules with a case scenario. The new anti-HER2 drugs have the potential to change clinical practise of targeting HER2 in the future. Better understanding of HER2 functions and interactions of different signalling pathways will be essential for optimal targetted therapies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1697823,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Serum ferritin in patients with various haemolytic disorders.\n174 serum ferritin assays in 121 patients with various haemolytic disorders have been performed. The mean serum ferritin levels were significantly increased in all these disorders in contrast to healthy controls. The highest serum ferritin levels were found in pyruvate kinase (PK) deficiency, moderate increase was observed in hereditary sphaerocytosis (HS) and in autoimmune haemolytic anaemia (AIHA) with massive haemolysis and in glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G-6-PD) deficiency. Mild elevation of serum ferritin levels was depicted in paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria (PNH), in beta thalassaemia minor and in other types of haemoglobinopathies. The range of values was associated with a degree of haemolysis and its relation to duration of the disease was not apparent in most cases. Highly significant differences between serum ferritin levels in splenectomized and non-splenectomized patients with HS and between serum ferritin levels in patients with AIHA with massive haemolysis or in remission were found. As compared to normal controls, significant increase of serum ferritin levels was observed even in patients with AIHA in remission or in splenectomized patients with HS. In two patients with PK deficiency the levels exceeding 2,000 micrograms\/l indicated manifest iron overload. A reliability of serum ferritin assay as an index of iron stores in haemolytic disorders has been discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1155473,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pharmacist and physician evaluation of drug information sources.\nA survey was conducted to compare how pharmacists and physicians in Tennessee rated six sources of drug information (journals, textbooks, physicians, pharmacists, the Physicians' Desk Reference and detail men) in nine different categories. A one-page questionnaire was mailed to a 10% random sample of pharmacists and physicians. The physicians rated professional journals and the PDR consistently good and rated the pharmacist poor as a source of drug information. Pharmacists rated textbooks good and rated physicians poor for some categories of information. Both groups found the available information in certain categories to be inadequate.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20366313,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Spontaneous emergence of ordered phases in crumpled sheets.\nX-ray tomography is performed to acquire 3D images of crumpled aluminum foils. We develop an algorithm to trace out the labyrinthian paths in the three perpendicular cross sections of the data matrices. The tangent-tangent correlation function along each path is found to decay exponentially with an effective persistence length that shortens as the crumpled ball becomes more compact. In the meantime, we observed ordered domains near the crust, similar to the lamellae phase mixed by the amorphous portion in lyotropic liquid crystals. The size and density of these domains grow with further compaction, and their orientation favors either perpendicular or parallel to the radial direction. Ordering is also identified near the core with an arbitrary orientation, exemplary of the spontaneous symmetry breaking.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26433741,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Health risk assessment of heavy metals via dietary intake of wheat grown in Tianjin sewage irrigation area.\nThe possible health risks from heavy metal (Zn, Cu, Cr, Ni, Pb, and Cd) contamination to the local population through the food chain were evaluated in Tianjin, China, a city with a long history of sewage irrigation. Results showed that the continuous application of wastewater has led to an accumulation of heavy metals in the soil, and 54.5 and 18.25% soil samples accumulated Cd and Zn in concentrations exceeding the permissible limits in China. Concentrations of heavy metals in wheat grain decreased in the order of Zn > Cu > Cr > Ni > Pb > Cd, and transfer factors for the six heavy metals showed the trend as Zn > Cd > Cu > Pb > Cr > Ni. The risk assessment for the six heavy metals through wheat consumption suggests that concentrations of Cr and Cd in some wheat samples exceed their reference oral dose for adults and children. In general, no target hazard quotient value of any individual element was greater than one, which means they are within the safe interval. However, 36.4 and 63.6% hazard index values for adults and children were greater than one, respectively. The health risk due to the added effects of heavy metals was significant for children and adults, and more attention should be paid tothe potential added threat fromheavy metals to the health of children via dietary intake of wheat in Tianjin.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17822111,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Emerging technologies for identification of disinfection byproducts: GC\/FT-ICR MS characterization of solvent artifacts.\nWater samples from a local water treatment plant were analyzed, using gas chromatography Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (GC\/FT-ICR MS), to identify potential disinfection byproducts (DBPs). Both liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) and solid-phase microextraction (SPME) techniques were used for sample preparation prior to GC\/MS analyses. Based on the averaged mass measurement accuracy (MMA) of better than five parts-per-million (<5 ppm), multiple solvent artifacts were identified. It is shown that solventless SPME can be utilized to reduce potential interferences from solvent stabilizers. Six DBPs were detected and their molecular compositions were assigned at a high level of confidence. At the ppb concentration ranges and in the broadband mass spectral detection mode, internally calibrated mass spectra provided concurrent high resolution (resolving power M\/deltaM50% > 30,000 at m\/z values -110) and MMA of better than one part-per-million (MMA < 1 ppm). The use of thermochemical data, such as proton affinities, as a complementary tool to enhance analytical resolution is also demonstrated.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34421916,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Ablation of Survivin in T Cells Attenuates Acute Allograft Rejection after Murine Heterotopic Heart Transplantation by Inducing Apoptosis.\nAlthough studies in oncology have well explored the pharmacological effects of Birc5, little is known about its role in allogeneic T-cell responses. Therefore, the present study used a mouse model of acute heart allograft rejection to investigate the protective effect and mechanism of conditional knockout of Birc5 in T cells. Survivin (encoded by Birc5) was up-regulated in T cells activated in vivo and in vitro. Deletion of Birc5 in T cells attenuated acute heart allograft rejection by reducing the ratio of effector to naive T cells and Th1 to Tregs. In addition, deletion of Birc5 had no noticeable effect on proliferation but on apoptosis and the secretion of IFN-\u03b3. The results revealed a significant increase in the percentage of Annexin V positive CD4+ T cells in the Birc5-\/- group, compared to the WT. Moreover, there was significant increase in early apoptotic alloreactive T cells in Birc5-\/- mice and this was partly mediated by caspase-3. Furthermore, treatment with YM155 inhibited acute heart allograft rejection in vivo and increased T-cell apoptosis in healthy human PBMCs in vitro. The results highlight a potential therapeutic target for the prevention and treatment of acute transplant rejection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28687687,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Use of low-dose thrombolytics for treatment of intracardiac thrombus and massive pulmonary embolus after aborted liver transplant leads to recovery of right ventricular function and redo liver transplantation.\nThis is a 61-year-old man with end-stage liver disease who experienced cardiac arrest secondary to a massive pulmonary embolus and intracardiac thrombus during cannulation for veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in preparation for orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). Surgery was aborted and the patient was taken back to the intensive care unit in cardiogenic shock on multiple vasopressors. The patient was unresponsive to heparin bolus and too high risk for systemic thrombolytics or embolectomy. He was ultimately treated with 12 mg total of alteplase through his pulmonary artery catheter over 3 hours. He had subsequent resolution of his cardiogenic shock and proceeded with successful liver transplantation 5 days after his initial event without any bleeding complications. Low-dose thrombolytic therapy in the setting of absolute contraindications to thrombolysis allowed for recovery of cardiac function and, ultimately redo OLT in a patient with otherwise little hope of survival.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34405025,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A Luminacin D Analog HL142 Inhibits Ovarian Tumor Growth and Metastasis by Reversing EMT and Attenuating the TGF\u03b2 and FAK Pathways.\nEpithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is known to contribute to tumor metastasis and chemoresistance. Reversing EMT using small molecule inhibitors to target EMT associated gene expression represents an effective strategy for cancer treatment. The purpose of this study is to test whether a new luminacin D analog HL142 reverses EMT in ovarian cancer (OC) and has the therapeutic potential for OC. We chemically synthesized HL142 and tested its functions in OC cells in vitro and its efficacy in inhibiting ovarian tumor growth and metastasis in vivo using orthotopic OC mouse models. We first demonstrate that ASAP1 is co-amplified and interacts with the focal adhesion kinase (FAK) protein in serous ovarian carcinoma. HL142 inhibits ASAP1 and its interaction protein FAK in highly invasive OVCAR8 and moderately invasive OVCAR3 cells. HL142 inhibits EMT phenotypic switch, accompanied by upregulating epithelial marker E-cadherin and cytokeratin-7 and downregulating mesenchymal markers vimentin, \u03b2-catenin, and snail2 in both cell lines. Functionally, HL142 inhibits proliferation, colony formation, migration, and invasion. HL142 also sensitizes cell responses to chemotherapy drug paclitaxel treatment and inhibits ovarian tumor growth and metastasis in orthotopic OC mouse models. We further show that HL142 attenuates the TGF\u03b2 and FAK pathways in vitro using OC cells and in vivo using orthotopic mouse models.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32351747,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Psychiatric Disorders after Switching to Dolutegravir: A Case Report of a 59-Year-Old Virosuppressed HIV-1 Positive Woman.\nWe report a case of a woman who experienced psychiatric disorders after switching her antiretroviral therapy (c-ART) to dolutegravir (DTG). She is a 59-year-old HIV-1 positive woman with a recent story of cardiovascular disorders treated with beta-blockers, clopidogrel, and rosuvastatin. She underwent a c-ART switch from darunavir\/cobicistat and maraviroc to emtricitabine\/tenofovir alafenamide fumarate in association with dolutegravir due to drug-drug interactions. One week later, she started to show psychiatric symptoms that required admission to the psychiatric unit. These disorders resolved within a couple of days after DTG discontinuation to allow a regular discharge. With this case-report, we would like to analyse the possible correlation between integrase inhibitor and severe psychiatric disorders in order to confirm the evidences already published in literature.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11991783,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of exercise at three exercise intensities on salivary cortisol.\nChanges in cortisol concentration in response to exercise at 3 different intensities were quantified. Ten apparently healthy, recreationally active males participated. On 4 separate occasions, subjects were assigned a random order of 1-hour cycle ergometer bouts of exercise at 44.5 +\/- 5.5%, 62.3 +\/- 3.8%, and 76.0 +\/- 6.0% (mean +\/- SD) of VO2peak and a resting control session. Saliva samples were collected before exercise at 10, 20, 40, and 59 minutes of exercise and at 20 minutes of recovery. Differences in cortisol concentration were assessed via multivariate analysis of variance (alpha = 0.05) Tukey post hoc analysis when indicated. During the highest-intensity exercise session, cortisol was significantly higher at 59 minutes of exercise (p = 0.004) and at 20 minutes of recovery (p = 0.016) than at those same time points during the resting control session. No significant differences in cortisol concentration were noted among resting, low-, and moderate-intensity exercise. Exercise <40 minutes in duration elicited no significant differences at any intensity. These data indicate that only exercise of high intensity and long duration results in significant elevations of salivary cortisol.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":926194,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Metabolism cage for carbon dioxide trapping studies.\nThis report describes the design and construction of a metabolism cage that allows for separation of urine and feces and for trapping expired CO2. Such a cage could find use in pharmacokinetic studies of drug excretion rates where potential metabolism to CO2 should be considered. To demonstrate the separation qualities of this cage design, the radioactivity appearing in the urine, feces, and exhaust gases was determined daily for 14 days after the single oral administration of 26-[14C]cholesterol. Less than 1% of the administered radioactivity appeared in the urine, whereas 61% appeared in the feces and 19% in the expired CO2.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15242129,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Feasibility analysis of in-plant control for water minimization and wastewater reuse in a wool finishing textile mill.\nThis study evaluates the feasibility of water minimization and wastewater reuse for a wool finishing textile mill. The evaluation process is based upon a detailed analysis on water use, process profile and wastewater characterization, indicating a potential for 34% reduction in water consumption and for 23% of wastewater recovery for reuse. Wastewater reuse requires treatment and results in a remaining wastewater stream with stronger character and consequently more costly to treat. The feasibility includes technical considerations for appropriate treatment alternatives and related cost factors for water consumption, treatment for reuse and for discharge either to sewer or to receiving media.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6731663,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Low-grade papillary adenocarcinoma of palatal salivary gland origin.\nThe clinicopathologic features of five low-grade papillary adenocarcinomas of palatal salivary gland origin are presented and seven well-documented cases from the literature are reviewed. Patients in our series ranged in age from 30 to 77 years (median 48). Symptoms were nonspecific and related to a mass present for a long duration. Histologically, these were complex cystic, papillary, focally solid tumors that were partially encapsulated. Cytologically, they were composed of bland, predominantly cuboidal cells with eosinophilic or clear cytoplasm. Four tumors were initially considered to be benign mixed tumors, but long-term follow-up indicates that these are slowly growing, malignant neoplasms. Three patients developed solitary cervical lymph node metastases from 2 to 21 years after initial presentation. One tumor underwent an anaplastic transformation to solid adenocarcinoma, and this was from the only patient in our series who died with tumor. Low-grade papillary adenocarcinoma is a clinicopathologically distinctive salivary gland neoplasm, with histologic features unlike those of other papillary salivary gland tumors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28730569,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Immune Escape Mechanism is Impaired in the Microenvironment of Thyroid Lymph Node Metastasis.\nWe previously identified the infiltration of CD8+ lymphocytes and COX2 expression as an independent factor of risk for recurrence in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) patients. However, the presence of lymph node (LN) metastasis at diagnosis lost its significance in a multivariate model analysis. These results encouraged us to compare the immune cells arrangement in the microenvironment of the LN metastasis and the primary tumor. We studied 104 consecutive PTC patients. Tissue specimens of both primary tumor and LN metastasis at the time of diagnosis were available in 19 out of them. These 19 patients were followed up for 32 to 81 months (64.7 \u00b1 47.5 months). Immune cell markers were investigated using immunohistochemistry and included tumor infiltrating lymphocytes subsets such as CD3, CD4, CD8, CD16, CD20, CD45RO, GRANZYME B, CD69, and CD25. We also investigated the expression of COX2 in tumor cells. Paired t test showed an increase of GRANZYME-B+ lymphocytes density in LN metastasis compared to the corresponding primary tumor, suggesting that LN metastasis is enriched with activated immune cells. In addition, we observed a decrease in COX2 expression levels in LN metastasis compared to the corresponding primary tumors, reinforcing the idea that the immune escape mechanism is impaired in the microenvironment of thyroid LN metastasis. In conclusion, our data demonstrated that the microenvironment of PTC LN metastasis present features that favor an anti-tumor immune response. This may help to explain why the presence of LN metastasis at diagnosis is not a good predictor of PTC patients' survival or disease progression.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16228790,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Self-medication practices in two California Mexican communities.\nAlthough social scientists have taken up the study of medication use in both developing and developed nations, the medication practices of immigrants remain largely unstudied. In this study, qualitative research was employed in order to describe and compare self-medication practices in two California Mexican immigrant groups: families living along the border near Tijuana, Mexico, and migrant farm worker families residing in illegal encampments and substandard housing in San Diego's North County. Medication and health seeking practices were found to vary according to the specific political-economic, sociocultural, and geographic contexts in which different subpopulations of California Mexicans live. The California-Mexico border area was examined as an important context for considering self-medication behaviors, since it permits border-crossing into Tijuana for the purpose of buying Mexican pharmaceuticals at low cost without a prescription. The popularity of injections among California Mexicans and the cross-border purchasing of injectable antibiotics and vitamins are discussed as issues of particular relevance for immigrants living along the border.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15237355,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Free \"kite\" flap: a new flap for reconstruction of small hand defects.\nSmall, thin, and pliable flaps are frequently required in hand surgery to reconstruct defects in functionally important areas such as the pulp or the \"contact zones\" of the digits. The innervated first metacarpal artery flap (\"kite\" flap) is a reliable procedure to restore sensibility in the thumb and the digits. Four microsurgical (free) kite flaps to the hand were performed between February, 1993 and August, 1999 in male patients. Follow-up examinations were performed in three patients. The static two-point discrimination in the kite flaps ranged from 8 to 15 mm and did not show any difference compared to flaps from the foot described in the literature. Semmes-Weinstein testing results ranged from normal to protective sensation with a normal sharp vs. dull discrimination. A free kite flap provides a valuable, safe alternative to venous flaps or other free flaps for reconstruction of small defects in the hand","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31257452,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Global regurgitant volume: approaching the critical mass in valvular-driven heart failure.\nRecent progress in the diagnosis of functional valve regurgitation forms a coherent perception of severity thresholds by quantitative assessment. However, thresholds focused on either valve in isolation-not accounting for the global haemodynamic burden arising from concomitant functional regurgitation of the mitral and tricuspid valves. We sought to determine whether the global regurgitant volume is associated with adverse cardiac remodelling and mortality. This long-term observational study included 414 patients on guideline-directed medical therapy. Baseline global regurgitant load defined as the sum of mitral and tricuspid regurgitant volume was assessed by the proximal flow convergence method. All-cause mortality during 5 years follow-up served as the primary endpoint. The median global regurgitant load was 30 mL (interquartile range 15-49) with 67% accounting for mitral and 33% accounting for tricuspid regurgitant volume. The global regurgitant load had significant impact on outcome with a crude hazard ratio of 1.46 (1.28-1.66; P < 0.001) for a 1-SD increase in global regurgitant volume, results that remained virtually unchanged after bootstrap or clinical confounder-based adjustment (P < 0.001 for adjusted models). Spline curve analysis showed a linearly increasing risk with a threshold of 50 mL and sustained increasing risk thereafter. The present study demonstrates the detrimental effect of the global regurgitant load in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. The threshold where heart failure is driven by the valve lesions is a global regurgitant volume of 50 mL with continuously increasing risk beyond that threshold. Future studies need to address whether an attempt to reduce the global regurgitant volume can improve outcome.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20367551,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Factors of the Fusarium verticillioides-maize environment modulating fumonisin production.\nFumonisins are mycotoxins mainly produced by two Fusarium species: F. verticillioides and F. proliferatum. These toxins are of great concern due to their widespread contamination in maize and their adverse effects on animal and human health. In the past decade, progress was made in identifying the genes required for fumonisin biosynthesis. Additionally, molecular mechanisms involved in the regulation of fumonisin production have been very recently elucidated. By covering the latest advances concerning the factors modulating fumonisin production, this review aims at presenting an integrated approach of the overall mechanisms involved in the regulation of fumonisin biosynthesis during maize kernel colonization.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26417132,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of different types of pharyngeal packing in patients undergoing nasal surgery: A comparative study.\nPostoperative throat complaints such as postoperative sore throat (POST), dysphagia, and hoarseness frequently arises after tracheal intubation and throat packing for patient undergoing general anesthesia. This condition is very disturbing to patient. Avoiding POST is a major priority for these patients because preventing postoperative complications contributes to patient satisfaction. To describe and analyze the postoperative throat effects of nasopharyngeal packing and oropharyngeal packing in patients undergoing nasal surgery. A randomized comparative study. After obtaining approval of Ethical Committee 40 patients were included in study. After this patient were randomly allocated into two groups of 20 each. Group A - in which the oropharynx was packed and Group B - inwhich the nasopharynx was packed. General anesthesia were given and throat packing was done and patients were interviewed postoperatively for any throat complications such as sore throat, difficulty in swallowing (dysphagia), hoarseness of voice, throat irritation, and any other symptom pertaining to the study were noted and data were analyzed. T-test to compare the age, while Chi-square test and Fisher's exact test were used to compare sex distribution, sore throat, dysphagia, hoarseness, and throat irritation. Results showed statistically significant difference in incidence and severity of POST in Group A patients when compared to Group B patients to be more. Patients in Group A had a higher incidence of dysphagia when compared to their Group B counterparts. With respect to the incidence of hoarseness and throat irritation, there was no statistical significance between the groups. We concluded that the site of pharyngeal packing influences the incidence and severity of POST and as well as the incidence of dysphagia after general anesthesia. The use of nasopharyngeal packing in the patients undergoing nasal surgeries might lead to a reduction of the same.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6745195,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Regulation of luteinizing hormone secretion in male sheep by endogenous estrogen.\nBoth androgens and estrogens are implicated in the regulation of gonadotropin secretion in the male. Three experiments were conducted to determine the physiological importance of estradiol (E2) in the feedback regulation of LH secretion in male sheep. In the first experiment, LH secretion in castrate rams (wethers) was shown to be susceptible to the picomolar concentrations of E2 found in intact rams. In the second experiment, aminoglutethimide (AG) was administered to testosterone-implanted wethers to block aromatization of testosterone and ascertain the possible consequences of E2 deprivation on testosterone-mediated LH suppression. AG had no apparent effect on serum testosterone, but reduced serum E2 by half and increased serum LH approximately 3-fold. These data suggest that aromatization of testosterone to E2 is a physiologically important step in the regulation of LH secretion in the ram and that aromatization occurs, at least in part, in peripheral tissues. The relative contributions of peripherally and centrally derived E2 in the regulation of LH remain uncertain. In the third experiment, immunoneutralization of endogenous E2 in intact rams by active immunization against E2 was shown to stimulate pulsatile LH secretion and elevate basal and mean LH concentrations. Associated with this LH response was a significant increase in serum testosterone, such that immunized rams exposed to a nonstimulatory 16-h light, 8-h dark photoperiod had testosterone concentrations equivalent to those of control rams exposed to a stimulatory 8-h light, 16-h dark photoperiod. Together, these findings emphasize the importance of E2 in the control of male reproduction and suggest the possibility of improving year-round reproductive performance of the domestic ram through E2 immunoneutralization.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23438215,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Absence of the articular disc in the tasmanian devil temporomandibular joint.\nThe articular disc of the temporomandibular joint is a constant structure in mammals. According to Parsons' report in 1900, however, it is absent in four animals: the armadillo, two kinds of monotremes and the Tasmanian devil. Thereafter, no research was performed to confirm this observation. The aim of this study was to determine by anatomical and histological examination whether the Tasmanian devil has an articular disc in its temporomandibular joint. Six fresh frozen corpses and one dry skull of Tasmanian devils were obtained from the School of Zoology, University of Tasmania. The corpses were dissected and the morphology of the temporomandibular joint was carefully observed by gross anatomical and histological examination. The structure of the temporomandibular joint of the dry skull was examined macroscopically and by micro-computed tomography. In all cases, absence of the articular disc in the Tasmanian devil temporomandibular joint was morphologically confirmed. The surface layer of both the condyle and the glenoid fossa comprised a thick fibrous tissue. Micro-computed tomography revealed dense and fine trabecular bone in the condyle. The thick fibrous tissue covering the condyle and high-density trabecular bone in the condyle might play a role in absorption against powerful mastication and heavy loading of the Tasmanian devil temporomandibular joint.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17195558,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Current research problems of chronic arsenicosis in China.\nChronic arsenicosis is a newly-emerged public-health issue in China and many other Asian countries. Over 200 million people are estimated to be at the risk of high arsenic exposure from drinking-water in the Asian region. To protect people from the hazards of chronic arsenic poisoning, the Chinese Government has been providing low-arsenic drinking-water to some seriously-affected rural areas, such as Inner Mongolia autonomous province. Results of follow-up studies showed that both the average values of arsenic, including inorganic arsenic (iAs), monomethylated arsenic, dimethylated arsenic and trimethylated arsenic, and 8-hydroxydeoxyguanine in urine, decreased significantly after drinking low-arsenic water for one year, and arsenic-specific skin lesions also improved to some extent. However, a five-year follow-up study showed no more significant improvement of skin lesions, while the potential risk of arsenic-induced cancers after cutting off high-arsenic exposure was still uncertain and indefinite. The susceptibility of children compared to adults to chronic arsenic exposure and the need to re-evaluate the appropriate standard of arsenic in drinking-water were also discussed in this paper.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19055045,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Expression of alpha and beta estrogen receptors in the chicken ovary.\nThe role of estrogens in hen reproduction is well established. However, the distribution of estrogen receptors in the chicken ovary is unknown. Therefore, the mRNA expression of alpha (ERaalpha) and beta (ERbeta) estrogen receptors was examined within the ovaries of laying hens. Expression of ERs was determined by RT-PCR analysis. The presence of ERalpha and ERbeta mRNAs was found in the ovarian stroma and white, yellowish, small yellow and the largest preovulatory (F3-F1) follicles. ERalpha and ERbeta mRNAs were detected in the granulosa and theca layers of the walls of preovulatory follicles. The expression of ERalpha mRNA was markedly higher than ERbeta mRNA in all examined ovarian compartments. Within the ovary, the relative expression of both ER mRNAs depends on the follicular diameter and the layer of the follicular wall. The results demonstrate the expression of both ERalpha mRNA and ERbeta mRNA in all compartments of the chicken ovary, suggesting different pathways of estrogen action in the avian ovary. Much higher expression of ERalpha mRNA indicates that this form of estrogen receptor is predominant in the chicken ovary. The clarification of the mechanism of ERalpha and ERbeta participation in the ovarian functions of birds necessitates further experiments examining ERs at the protein level.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12001270,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-18":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Is there a code for protein-DNA recognition? Probab(ilistical)ly. . .\nTranscriptional regulation of all genes is initiated by the specific binding of regulatory proteins called transcription factors to specific sites on DNA called promoter regions. Transcription factors employ a variety of mechanisms to recognise their DNA target sites. In the last few decades, attempts have been made to describe these mechanisms by general sets of rules and associated models. We give an overview of these models, starting with a historical review of the somewhat controversial issue of a \"recognition code\" governing protein-DNA interaction. We then present a probabilistic framework in which advantages and disadvantages of various models can be discussed. Finally, we conclude that simplifying assumptions about additivity of interactions are sufficiently justified in many situations (and can be suitably extended in other situations) to allow a unifying concept of a \"probabilistic code\" for protein-DNA recognition to be defined.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12030919,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Genetic diversity of three donkey populations in the Croatian coastal region.\nGenetic variation in three Croatian donkey populations, Istrian (IS), North Adriatic (NA) and Littoral-Dinaric (LD), was analysed using eight microsatellite loci and by sequence and SSCP analysis of the proximal portion of the mtDNA D-loop region. The analysis of microsatellite loci revealed observed heterozygosities in the range of 0.37 (MPZ002 in LD) to 0.85 (AHT21 in LD) and polymorphic information content values in the range of 0.36 (MPZ002 in NA) to 0.78 (AHT21 in LD). The overall probability of exclusion was 0.991. Two populations (IS and NA) were closely related (Fst=0.0034), whereas genetic distances between IS and LD (Fst=0.021) and NA and LD (Fst=0.027) were higher. Using AMOVA, 97.6% of the total genetic variance was portioned within populations, while 2.7% was portioned between the Littoral-Dinaric population and the Istrian\/North Adriatic population group. Sequencing of the proximal part of the mtDNA D-loop region revealed 36 polymorphic sites representing 19 haplotypes which clustered into three haplotype groups (Y, W, Ws). Only the Y haplotype was found in the IS population which is characterized by a large body size. Haplotypes W and Ws were found in the NA and LD populations which include smaller animals. All three haplotypes were found in the LD population, indicating sporadic migration events from the IS into LD donkey population.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":931018,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Homologies of the anterior teeth in Indriiadae and a functional basis for dental reduction in primates.\nIn a recent paper Schwartz ('74) proposes revised homologies of the deciduous and permanent teeth in living lemuriform primates of the family Indriidae. However, new evidence provided by the deciduous dentition of Avahi suggests that the traditional interpretations are correct, specifically: (1) the lateral teeth in the dental scraper of Indriidae are homologous with the incisors of Lemuriadae and Lorisidae, not the canines; (2) the dental formula for the lower deciduous teeth of indriids is 2.1.3; (3) the dental formula for the lower permanent teeth of indriids is 188.8.131.52; and (4) decrease in number of incisors during primate evolution was usually in the sequence I3, then I2, then I1. It appears that dental reduction during primate evolution occurred at the ends of integrated incisor and cheek tooth units to minimize disruption of their functional integrity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30099513,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-22":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Occupational Exposure to Mycotoxins: Current Knowledge and Prospects.\nOccupational exposure to mycotoxins is supposedly very frequent, but it is rarely reported in the scientific literature. Several recent studies described occupational exposure to the aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) mycotoxin in different occupational settings. Previously, exposure to other mycotoxins was shown in the animal husbandry and food processing sectors, confirming that occupational exposure cannot be negligible. However, no guidelines or standard methodologies are available for helping occupational hygienists to consider mycotoxin exposure in their interventions. This article reviews the literature on this problem and recommends some actions for the better management of this risk factor in occupational settings, especially where environmental conditions are favorable to fungal presence.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36937479,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Investigating the renoprotective effect of C21 in male mice with sepsis via modulation of p-AKT\/PI3K expression.\nThis study aimed to investigate if C21 could prevent acute renal injury induced by sepsis by regulating the expression of p-AKT\/PI3K. Five equal groups of 25 adult male Swiss-albino mice were randomly divided (n=5): sham (laparotomy without CLP), CLP, vehicle (equivalent amount of DMSO one hour before CLP), and C21 (0.03 mg\/kg, one hour before CLP). ELISA was used to measure serum inflammatory mediators, and the expression of PI3K and P-AKT was determined using PCR and immunohistochemistry (IHC), respectively. TNF, TNF receptor, F8-isoprostane, urea, creatinine, and IL-6 blood levels were considerably lower in the CLP group (p<0.05) compared to the sham group, whereas the C21 treated group had significantly (p<0.05) greater levels of these inflammatory mediators. The IHC analysis revealed that P-AKT expression was significantly lower (p<0.05) in the CLP group compared to the sham group, while the C21 pretreatment group had significantly higher levels of P-AKT expression compared to the CLP group (p<0.05). The PI3K expression in the CLP group was significantly lower than in the sham group (p<0.05), according to PCR results, whereas the PI3K expression in the C21 pretreatment group was significantly greater than in the CLP group (p<0.05). This study showed that C21 might reduce levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, including TNF-, IL-6, and TNF receptor, by modulating the PI3K\/AKT signaling pathways, which can, in turn, reduce renal dysfunction during CLP-induced sepsis in male mice.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30662586,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Obesity, Dietary Factors, Nutrition, and Breast Cancer Risk.\nTo synthesize the critical role of obesity-associated inflammation, dietary factors, and nutrition in determining breast cancer risk. Obesity-associated inflammation is strongly linked to breast cancer risk and progression, largely via two processes: inflammatory pathways and dysregulated metabolism. Cytokine production in excess adipose tissues creates a chronic inflammatory microenvironment, which favors tumor development. Lifestyle factors, including diet, have long been recognized as important determinants of breast cancer risk and mortality. Obesity increases the risk of developing breast cancer in both pre- and postmenopausal women and also negatively affects breast cancer recurrence and survival. Poor dietary habits characterized by the high intake of refined starches, sugar, and both saturated and trans-saturated fats, as well as the low intake of omega-3 fatty acids, natural antioxidants, and fiber, modulate inflammation and, thereby, appear to be linked to increased risk of breast cancer and mortality.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15263555,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A versatile X-ray diffraction station at LNLS (Brazil).\nVersatility was a major consideration in the project to provide an X-ray diffraction station at LNLS. At least two techniques are possible at the station: powder diffraction and multiple single-crystal diffraction. A two-crystal monochromator based on monolithic elastic translators, developed at LNLS, with sagittal focusing by the second crystal, allows 10 mrad of a >\/=2 keV monochromatic beam to be used on the diffractometer. The station is equipped with a fast scintillation detector, imaging plates, a high-energy-resolution pin-diode detector, an ionization chamber and a high-angular-resolution soller slit. The data collection and control hardware and software were also developed at LNLS. The theta-2theta goniometry for powder diffraction on this 1 m-diameter diffractometer is based on commercial rotation tables. The multiple single-crystal goniometry is realized by an independent elastic axis driven by differential micrometers for both high- and low-resolution angular movements. At least four independent axes can be positioned as necessary on the diffractometer table. Powder diffractograms and double-crystal rocking curves collected with the synchrotron beam show the expected quality.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19049667,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Drug development for liver diseases: focus on picroliv, ellagic acid and curcumin.\nThe use of herbal drugs for the treatment of liver diseases has a long tradition in many eastern countries. The easy accessibility without the need for laborious pharmaceutical synthesis has drawn increased attention towards herbal medicines. Few herbal preparations exist as standardized extracts with major known ingredients or even as pure compounds. Some of the herbals, which show promising activity, are ellagic acid for antifibrotic treatment, phyllanthin for treating chronic hepatitis B, glycyrrhizin to treat chronic viral hepatitis and picroliv for liver regeneration. These compounds, which have proven antioxidant, antiviral or anticarcinogenic properties, can serve as primary compounds for further development as hepatoprotective drugs. This review provides the chemistry, pharmacology and future aspects of picroliv, ellagic acid and curcumin with focus on hepatoprotective properties. These phytochemicals may prove to be very useful in the treatment of hepatotoxicity induced by viral agents, toxic drugs and plant poisons. The high safety profile may be an added advantage. However, poor bioavailability and temperature and light sensitivity can reduce the efficacy of drugs like curcumin. In future, the derivatives or new combinations of these drugs may prove to be useful.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35363050,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Identifying Patients in Need of Goals of Care Conversations: Reliability, Acceptability, and Prognostic Significance of the Preference-Aligned Communication and Treatment Conversation Trigger Tool for Patients with Cancer.\nBackground: Simple methods to help teams identify patients with goals of care (GOC) conversation needs are lacking. Objectives: To develop a tool to identify hospitalized patients who may benefit from GOC conversations. Methods: The Preference-Aligned Communication and Treatment (PACT) Conversation Trigger Tool was implemented as part of a quality improvement initiative in 10 Illinois hospitals and validated in a cohort of patients admitted to the coordinating site's oncology unit (n = 135). Results: The tool was reliable and acceptable to clinicians using it across sites. Thirty percent (n = 40) of patients screened at the coordinating site's oncology unit triggered positive. These patients were more likely to have a do-not-resuscitate order (43% vs. 11%) and palliative care consult (53% vs. 20%) and had lower mean survival time (125 vs. 248 days) than those who did not trigger (p < 0.001). Conclusions: The tool is reliable, acceptable, and can identify hospitalized oncology patients who may benefit from GOC conversations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28562045,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dimerization and Structural Stability of Amyloid Precursor Proteins Affected by the Membrane Microenvironments.\nThe lipid raft microenvironment is implicated in the generation of the pathological amyloid-\u03b2 (A\u03b2) species in amyloid precursor protein (APP) that is associated with neurodegenerative diseases. Evidence shows that APP forms a transmembrane homodimer with changeable structures as a function of the membrane compositions. However, the molecular responsibility of the dimerization and structural alteration for the amyloidogenic process in segregated membranes remains largely unclear. Here, we performed multiple coarse grained (CG) simulations to explore the behavioral preference of the transmembrane domain of APP (called C99) that is affected by the lipid raft microenvironment. The results showed that C99 was anchored at the boundary of the lipid raft relying on the conserved hydrophobic motif of V710xxA713xxxV717xxxV721. Moreover, the dimerization of C99 was greatly destabilized by the lipid raft, which led to a susceptible switching packing conformation. The molecular driving forces were derived from the combined regulation of the saturated lipids and cholesterols rather than from the simple binding competition of cholesterol in the C99 dimerization. The molecular details of the differential dimerization in the raft-forming and bulk fluid bilayer environments were compared, and the structural information was helpful for further understanding the enzymolysis responsiveness of APP.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28258159,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Single-cell transcriptomics reveals specific RNA editing signatures in the human brain.\nWhile RNA editing by A-to-I deamination is a requisite for neuronal function in humans, it is under-investigated in single cells. Here we fill this gap by analyzing RNA editing profiles of single cells from the brain cortex of living human subjects. We show that RNA editing levels per cell are bimodally distributed and distinguish between major brain cell types, thus providing new insights into neuronal dynamics.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28362546,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The knowledge, attitudes and practices on influenza among medical college students in Northwest China.\nObjective This study aimed to understand the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) on seasonal influenza among medical college students in a low-income multiethnic society. Methods A cross-sectional questionnaire survey collected information of KAP related to influenza. A knowledge score was calculated according to the total number of correct points out of 9 questions. Logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with influenza vaccine uptake. Results 856 valid questionnaires were obtained. The average knowledge score was 14.8 \u00b1 3.1 out of 22 correct points. Han Chinese got higher score than minorities (p < 0.001). Knowledge score increased with grade (p < 0.001). Students majoring in pharmacy had lower score than others. Questions on mode of transmission, symptoms, precautions, high risk groups and vaccination schedule had a correct rate lower than 50%. Hand hygiene was practiced by less than 40% of students after touching objects in public areas or sneezing. The proportion of participants received influenza vaccine in the past 3 y was 4.1%, 9.2% and 6.1% respectively. Willingness to receive free vaccine (OR = 2.49, 95% CI 1.31\u223c4.28), and awareness of the vaccine effectiveness (OR = 1.67, 95% CI 1.08\u223c2.56) were significantly associated with vaccine uptake, while the general knowledge about influenza, perceived susceptibility and severity, and demographic factors were not. The top 3 reasons for not being vaccinated were poor knowledge of the vaccine (46%), no perceived need due to good health (45%) and worry about adverse reactions (33%). Conclusion Health education is needed to improve the awareness of basic facts about influenza and vaccine, and more attention should be paid to minority groups. The coverage of seasonal influenza vaccine is quite low. Besides individual level behavior change, social and structural factors should be considered to increase the uptake of influenza vaccine.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32587531,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Antidepressant Prescribing and Suicide\/Self-Harm by Young Australians: Regulatory Warnings, Contradictory Advice, and Long-Term Trends.\nIn 2004, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) controversially issued a black box warning that antidepressants were associated with an increased risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviours in people aged under 18 years. In 2007, the warning was expanded to include young adults aged under 25 years. In 2005, the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration responded to the FDA warning by requiring Product and Consumer Information leaflets to be updated to reflect the risk. However, there was considerable debate, and at times emotive backlash, in academic journals and the international media. Prominent US and Australian mental health organisations and psychiatrists challenged the FDA warning. They argued that, on balance, antidepressant use was likely to reduce the risk of suicide. Several ecological studies were cited misleadingly as evidence that decreasing antidepressant use increases suicide risk. From 2008 to 2018, Australian per-capita child, adolescent and young adult antidepressant dispensing (0-27 years of age) and suicide (0-24 years) rates have increased approximately 66% and 49%, respectively. In addition, there was a 98% increase in intentional poisonings among 5 to 19 year-olds in New South Wales and Victoria between 2006 and 2016, with substantial overlap between the most commonly dispensed psychotropics and the drugs most commonly used in self-poisoning. These results do not support claims that increased antidepressant use reduces youth suicide risk. They are more consistent with the FDA warning and the hypothesis that antidepressant use increases the risk of suicide and self-harm by young people. Causal relationships cannot be established with certainty until there is a vast improvement in post-marketing surveillance. However, there is clear evidence that more young Australians are taking antidepressants, and more young Australians are killing themselves and self-harming, often by intentionally overdosing on the very substances that are supposed to help them.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9560886,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Present knowledge of human spleen function].\nThe human spleen is an important lymphoid organ participating in immune reactions against all types of circulating antigens. It also removes particles of nonantigenic nature from blood circulation. The structure of the spleen, containing specialized cells types, provides a microenvironment where various intercellular interactions occur and determines the course of development of immune and nonimmune reactions. Though the spleen significantly participates in host defense reactions it is not inevitable for life. However, removing of the spleen increases the risk of overwhelming infections by bacteria with polysaccharide capsules.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22691989,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Suitability of Foxtail Millet (Setaria italica) and Barnyard Millet (Echinochloa frumentacea) for Development of Low Glycemic Index Biscuits.\nMillets have been neglected despite their nutritive value and therapeutic use. The present study was undertaken with the aim of preparing biscuits based on foxtail millet and barnyard millet and to evaluate their sensory quality and acceptability, nutritional value and glycemic index by comparing with biscuits made from refined wheat flour. The biscuits made from millet were prepared using 45% of millet flour and 55% of refined wheat flour. All the three types of biscuits were found to be acceptable by a trained panel and diabetic subjects. The shelf life study indicated that the biscuits made from both types of millet flour can be successfully stored for a period of 60 days in a thermally sealed single polyethylene bag at room conditions. The millet flour and biscuits had higher content of crude fibre, total ash and total dietary fibre than refined wheat flour and biscuits. Biscuits from foxtail millet flour had the lowest GI of 50.8 compared to 68 for biscuits from barnyard millet flour and refined wheat flour. Thus, besides its traditional use in making chapatti and porridge, millet can be exploited for the development of low GI therapeutic food products like biscuits. Further studies are needed to determine long term effects of consumption of foxtail millet biscuits on blood lipid profile and glycosylated haemoglobin of diabetics and cardiovascular patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20350945,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Safety and pharmacokinetics of single intravenous dose of MGAWN1, a novel monoclonal antibody to West Nile virus.\nWest Nile Virus (WNV) is a neurotropic flavivirus that can cause debilitating diseases, such as encephalitis, meningitis, or flaccid paralysis. We report the safety, pharmacokinetics, and immunogenicity of a recombinant humanized monoclonal antibody (MGAWN1) targeting the E protein of WNV in a phase 1 study, the first to be performed on humans. A single intravenous infusion of saline or of MGAWN1 at escalating doses (0.3, 1, 3, 10, or 30 mg\/kg of body weight) was administered to 40 healthy volunteers (30 receiving MGAWN1; 10 receiving placebo). Subjects were evaluated on days 0, 1, 3, 7, 14, 21, 28, 42, 56, 91, 120, and 180 by clinical assessments, clinical laboratory studies, electrocardiograms (ECGs), and pharmacokinetic and immunogenicity assays. All 40 subjects tolerated the infusion of the study drug, and 39 subjects completed the study. One serious adverse event of schizophrenia occurred in the 0.3-mg\/kg cohort. One grade 3 neutropenia occurred in the 3-mg\/kg cohort. Six MGAWN1-treated subjects experienced 11 drug-related adverse events, including diarrhea (1 subject), chest discomfort (1), oral herpes (1), rhinitis (1), neutropenia (2), leukopenia (1), dizziness (1), headache (2), and somnolence (1). In the 30-mg\/kg cohort, MGAWN1 had a half-life of 26.7 days and a maximum concentration in serum (C(max)) of 953 microg\/ml. This study suggests that single infusions of MGAWN1 up to 30 mg\/kg appear to be safe and well tolerated in healthy subjects. The C(max) of 953 microg\/ml exceeds the target level in serum estimated from hamster studies by 28-fold and should provide excess WNV neutralizing activity and penetration into the brain and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Further evaluation of MGAWN1 for the treatment of West Nile virus infections is warranted.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31260924,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Effect of increased wood harvesting and utilization on required greenhouse gas displacement factors of wood-based products and fuels.\nA displacement factor (DF) may be used to describe the efficiency of using wood-based products or fuels instead of fossil-based ones to reduce net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, the DFs of individual products and their production volumes could not be used alone to evaluate the climate impacts of forest utilization. For this reason, in this study we have developed a methodology to assess a required displacement factor (RDF) for all wood products and bioenergy manufactured and harvested in a certain country in order to achieve zero CO2 equivalent emissions from increased forest utilization over time in comparison with a selected baseline harvesting scenario. Input data for calculations were produced with the simulation model, Monsu, capable of predicting the carbon stocks of forests and wood-based products. We tested the calculations in Finnish conditions in a 100-year time horizon and estimated the current average DF of manufactured wood-based products and fuels in Finland for the interpretation of RDF results. The results showed that if domestic wood harvesting will be increased by 17-33% compared to the basic scenario, the RDF will be 2.0 to 2.4 tC tC-1 for increased wood use in 2017-2116. However, the estimated average DF of manufactured wood-based products and fuels currently in Finland was less than 1.1 tC tC-1. The results indicate strongly that the increased harvesting intensity from the current situation would represent a challenge for the Finnish forest-based bioeconomy from the viewpoint of climate change mitigation. For this reason, there is an immediate need to improve reliability and applicability of the RDF approach by repeating corresponding calculations in different circumstances and by improving estimations of DFs on country levels.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9545274,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2013-48":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Amino acid residues that define both the isoprenoid and CAAX preferences of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae protein farnesyltransferase. Creating the perfect farnesyltransferase.\nStudies of the yeast protein farnesyltransferase (FTase) have shown that the enzyme preferentially farnesylates proteins ending in CAAX (C = cysteine, A = aliphatic residue, X = cysteine, serine, methionine, alanine) and to a lesser degree CAAL. Furthermore, like the type I protein geranylgeranyltransferase (GGTase-I), FTase can also geranylgeranylate methionine- and leucine-ending substrates both in vitro and in vivo. Substrate overlap of FTase and GGTase I has not been determined to be biologically significant. In this study, specific residues that influence the substrate preferences of FTase have been identified using site-directed mutagenesis. Three of the mutations altered the substrate preferences of the wild type enzyme significantly. The ram1p-74D FTase farnesylated only Ras-CIIS and not Ras-CII(M,L), and it geranylgeranylated all three substrates as well or better than wild type. The ram1p-206DDLF FTase farnesylated Ras-CII(S,M,L) at wild type levels but could no longer geranylgeranylate the Ras-CII(M,L) substrates. The ram1p-351FSKN FTase farnesylated Ras-CIIS and Ras-CIIM but not Ras-CIIL. The ram1p-351FSKN FTase was not capable of geranylgeranylating the Ras-CII(M,L) substrates, giving this mutant the attributes of the dogmatic FTase that only farnesylates non-leucine-ending CAAX substrates and does not geranylgeranylate any substrate. These results suggest that the isoprenoid and protein substrate specificities of FTase are interrelated. The availability of a mutant FTase that lacked substrate overlap with the protein GGTase-I made possible an analysis of the role of substrate overlap in normal cellular processes of yeast, such as mating and growth at elevated temperatures. Our findings suggest that neither farnesylation of leucine-ending CAAX substrates nor geranylgeranylation by the FTase is necessary for these cellular processes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17172925,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Myocardial blood flow and oxygen consumption in patients with Friedreich's ataxia prior to the onset of cardiomyopathy.\nWe tested the hypothesis, in patients with Friedreich's ataxia and no overt structural heart disease, that impairment of cardiac oxidative metabolism may be compensated for either by increased rest myocardial blood flow or more efficient oxygen consumption in performance of external work. Friedreich's ataxia is characterized by a mutant frataxin gene, which causes mitochondrial iron overload and impaired energy production. Further, it is frequently associated with cardiomyopathy. Studies using magnetic resonance spectroscopy, however, suggest impaired cardiac energetics even in the absence of structural heart disease. Positron emission tomography measured rest myocardial blood flow (N-13-ammonia method) and myocardial oxygen consumption (11-C-acetate, Kmono) in Friedreich's ataxia patients (n=8; 31+\/-5 years, mean+\/-SD, four women) and healthy controls (n=8; 30+\/-7 years, five women) matched for stroke work index and age. Stroke work index and power were determined by electrocardiogram gated positron emission tomography N-13-ammonia using modified Simpson's rule to compute left ventricular volumes. Neither stroke work index nor rest myocardial blood flow differed significantly between the groups. Although myocardial oxygen consumption was lower in Friedreich's ataxia (P<0.001), Kmono\/rest myocardial blood flow, an index of myocardial oxygen extraction, did not differ between the groups. Power\/Kmono, an index of the efficiency of myocardial oxygen consumption, was greater in Friedreich's ataxia (P<0.04). Rest myocardial blood flow normalized to rate pressure product was lower in Friedreich's ataxia (P<0.05). Prior to the onset of cardiomyopathy, selected patients with Friedreich's ataxia may compensate for impaired cardiac energetics through more efficient oxygen consumption rather than increased rest myocardial blood flow. The data illustrate a more general mechanism pertaining to metabolic regulation of myocardial blood flow and myocardial oxygen consumption.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35128309,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Endoscopic decompression of L3 nerve root in a case of adult spinal deformity correction with post-operative neurological deficit: a case report.\nAdult spinal deformities (ASD) have a very high incidence of postoperative neurological decline. Spine surgeons all over the world are broadening the indications of endoscopic spine surgery (ESS) with similar\/better outcomes to other conventional spine surgeries. In this report we present a case of L3-radiculopathy post ASD correction and its management with ESS. A 78-year-old female operated for ASD presented with backache, and right-side-dominant radiating leg pain. Imaging showed distal junctional failure with left rod fracture between L5-S1 and screw loosening with gross sagittal imbalance. She was treated with L4 pedicle subtraction osteotomy (PSO) with T10-iliac posterior fixation with use of satellite rods at PSO site. Post-operatively she developed left-sided L3 motor deficit. Imaging revealed left L3 root compression by bone fragment near the left L3 pedicle screw-head. We presume that, since the L3 pedicular screw had to be inserted deeper than the other screws to accommodate the satellite-rod, the bone in the area near the screw head (part of either the pedicle or facet) caused compression of the left L3 nerve root. The patient was treated with interlaminar ESS under awake anaesthesia and the compressing bone was drilled out. Post-operatively, patient had rapid relief of the radicular pain and improvement in the left quadriceps (L3) power with no recurrence at 1-year follow-up. Thus, post-operative iatrogenic neurological deficits can be treated successfully using ESS when the exact cause of the deficit is identified and is amenable to endoscopic removal. We could successfully treat a case of left-sided L3-radiculopathy, caused due to protruding bony spur after ASD correction surgery with ESS.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28544333,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Image-based modeling and scoring of Howell-Jolly Bodies in human erythrocytes.\nThe spleen selectively removes cells with intracellular inclusions, for example, detached nuclear fragments in circulating erythrocytes, called Howell-Jolly Bodies (HJBs). With absent or deficient splenic function HJBs appear in the peripheral blood and can be used as a simple and non-invasive risk-indicator for fulminant potentially life-threatening infection after spleenectomy. However, it is still under debate whether counting of the rare HJBs is a reliable measure of splenic function. Investigating HJBs in premature erythrocytes from patients during radioiodine therapy gives about 10 thousand times higher HJB counts than in blood smears. However, we show that there is still the risk of false-positive results by unspecific nuclear remnants in the prepared samples that do not originate from HJBs, but from cell debris residing above or below the cell. Therefore, we present a method to improve accuracy of image-based tests that can be performed even in non-specialized medical institutions. We show how to selectively label HJB-like clusters in human blood samples and how to only count those that are undoubtedly inside the cell. We found a \"critical distance\" dcrit referring to a relative HJB-Cell distance that true HJBs do not exceed. To rule out false-positive counts we present a simple inside-outside-rule based on dcrit -a robust threshold that can be easily assessed by combining conventional 2D imaging and straight-forward image analysis. Besides data based on fluorescence imaging, simulations of randomly distributed HJB-like objects on realistically modelled cell objects demonstrate the risk and impact of biased counting in conventional analysis. \u00a9 2017 The Authors. Cytometry Part A published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of ISAC.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20351867,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Assisting the translation of SNOMED CT into French using UMLS and four representative French-language terminologies.\nTo provide a semantics-based method to assist the translation of SNOMED CT into French. To do so, we selected four French-language terminologies: ICD-10, SNOMED International, MedDRA, MeSH, as they are dedicated to different uses - epidemiology, clinical medicine, adverse reactions, medical literature, respectively - in order to map them to SNOMED Clinical Terms (CT), and thus associate French terms with SNOMED CT concepts. In this way, we measured the number of SNOMED CT concepts to be found in French-language terminologies. We used the UMLS Metathesaurus. The mapping method was based on the coincidence of identifiers and on the explicit mappings present in the Metathesaurus. The study dealt exclusively with preferred terms (PTs) in the terminologies. The terminologies are mapped with varying success as regards PTs mapped to SNOMED terms (from 52% to 96%). Conversely, 45% of SNOMED CT terms are mapped by uniting the four terminologies. A more effective mapping technique than the current method is under consideration. The method presented will be refined. It could certainly provide useful assistance in the translation of SNOMED CT into French. Due to its general nature, it could be used to translate SNOMED CT into other languages than French.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28736588,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Regulation of the Practice of Acupuncture by Physicians in the United States.\nIntroduction: The landscape of acupuncture regulation has greatly evolved since the National Institutes of Health Consensus Statement in 1997. In recent decades, acupuncture treatment has become increasingly integrated with conventional medical care. Healthcare practitioners often utilize acupuncture as an adjunctive therapy to help alleviate symptoms of many conditions, such as nausea and pain. The popularity of this complementary and alternative modality has elevated the importance and urgency for states to regulate its practice and safety. Materials and Methods: The authors comprehensively examined the regulation of the practice of acupuncture by licensed physicians in the United States. Current statutes were evaluated with respect to those from past decades. Requirements were compared with the World Health Organization's recommendations for acupuncture basic training and safety. Results: Most physicians are permitted to practice acupuncture within the scope of their medical practices. Many states mandate that they complete additional education and training. Three states require that physicians obtain acupuncture licenses through the same process as non-physicians. Compared to prior decades, many states have changed their requirements. Conclusions: This article provides current, individual state regulations for the practice of acupuncture by physicians.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12030415,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Autopsy case of the cerebellar form of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy without immunodeficiency.\nA case of the cerebellar form of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) without remarkable immune depression or immune deficiency is reported here. The patient was a 74-year-old-woman who had complications of chronic renal failure and renal anemia for several years. Seven months before her death she had symptoms of general fatigue, gait disturbance and articulation disorder. During her hospitalization period her neurological disorder gradually progressed irreversibly with failure of consciousness and she died of respiratory failure. She did not have remarkable clinical signs of immunodeficiency nor did she receive immunosuppressive therapy. Clinically she had not been diagnosed with PML. At the post-mortem examination different degrees of demyelination were observed in the brain white matter: diffuse and severe in the cerebellum, moderate and coalescent in the brainstem, and light and patchy in the cerebrum. JC virus antigen-positive cells were frequently observed in the demyelinated lesions in the cerebrum and sometimes observed in the brainstem, but were rarely found in the cerebellum. These findings suggest that PML lesions may be present with different degrees of demyelination that are inversely correlated with the number of JC virus-infected cells. This fact should be considered when evaluating the brain biopsies of PML patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17007309,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Low patient satisfaction scores: the five stages of response.\nWhen faced with poor patient satisfaction scores, emergency department physicians and medical directors have similar reactions. Ironically, the emotions experienced mimic the stages of grief.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17172371,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Retrospective serosurvey of leptospirosis among patients with acute febrile illness and hepatitis in Egypt.\nThe epidemiologic status of leptospirosis in Egypt has not been well defined because of difficulties in disease diagnosis. A retrospective study was conducted to detect leptospiral antibodies among undiagnosed acute febrile illness (AFI) and hepatitis cases. Approximately 16% of both AFI (141\/886) and acute hepatitis (63\/392) cases showed seroreactivity to Leptospira IgM by ELISA and microscopic agglutination test (MAT). Canicola, Djasiman, Grippotyphosa, Pyrogenes, Icterohemorrhagiae, and Pomona were the most commonly reactive serovars among patients with AFI. Djasiman, Grippotyphosa and Icterohemorrhagiae were the most reactive among patients with acute hepatitis. This study represents the first systematic report of Leptospira associated with patients with AFI and hepatitis in Egypt. Physicians need to have increased awareness about the importance of leptospirosis in the differential diagnosis of AFI and acute hepatitis in Egypt. In addition, laboratory capacity should be developed at fever hospitals to diagnose leptospirosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31249446,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The role of endoscopy in the management of hereditary diffuse gastric cancer syndrome.\nHereditary diffuse gastric cancer (HDGC) syndrome is an inherited cancer risk syndrome associated with pathogenic germline CDH1 variants. Given the high risk for developing diffuse gastric cancer, CDH1 carriers are recommended to undergo prophylactic total gastrectomy for cancer risk reduction. Current guidelines recommend upper endoscopy in CDH1 carriers prior to surgery and then annually for individuals deferring prophylactic total gastrectomy. Management of individuals from HDGC families without CDH1 pathogenic variants remains less clear, and management of families with CDH1 pathogenic variants in the absence of a family history of gastric cancer is particularly problematic at present. Despite adherence to surveillance protocols, endoscopic detection of cancer foci in HDGC is suboptimal and imperfect for facilitating decision-making. Alternative endoscopic modalities, such as chromoendoscopy, endoscopic ultrasound, and other non-white light methods have been utilized, but are of limited utility to further improve cancer detection and risk stratification in HDGC. Herein, we review what is known and what remains unclear about endoscopic surveillance for HDGC, among individuals with and without germline CDH1 pathogenic variants. Ultimately, the use of endoscopy in the management of HDGC remains a challenging arena, but one in which further research to improve surveillance is crucial.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12006071,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Improved stability bound for steady-state flow in a car-following model of road traffic on a circular route.\nThis note revisits a car-following model of road traffic on a circular route that was studied in recent literature, and improves a stability result for steady-state flows that was obtained in this literature. It will be shown through a counter example that the stability bound obtained in the literature only gives a sufficient condition for stability, which only becomes necessary when the number of cars on the route tends to infinity. We will further present a result that gives a necessary and sufficient condition for stability.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27287682,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Anatomic vascular considerations in uterine artery ligation at its origin during laparoscopic hysterectomies.\nPelvic pathology such as fibroids, endometriosis, adhesions from previous pelvic surgeries, or ovarian remnants can distort anatomy and pose technical challenges during laparoscopic hysterectomies. Retroperitoneal dissection to ligate the uterine artery at its vascular origin can circumvent these obstacles, resulting in a safer procedure. However, detailed anatomic knowledge of the course of the uterine artery and understanding of vascular variations are essential for optimal dissection. We frequently encounter a C-shaped uterine artery variation during retroperitoneal dissection. We describe the key steps in identification and isolation of this variant, approaching the uterine artery origin either from the pararectal space or by utilizing the medial umbilical ligament coursing through the paravesical space. We also review other known uterine artery configurations. These techniques allow for safe completion of complex laparoscopic hysterectomies performed for various gynecologic diseases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37855744,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Long-term follow-up of patients with congenital thrombotic thrombocytopenia purpura receiving a plasma-derived factor VIII (Koate) that contains ADAMTS13.\nHereditary thrombotic thrombocytopenia purpura (hTTP) is an ultra-rare disorder resulting from an inherited deficiency of ADAMTS13, a von Willebrand factor (VWF)-cleaving metalloprotease. The plasma-derived factor VIII\/VWF Koate (FVIII\/VWFKoate ) has been shown to contain ADAMTS13, allowing for its use to treat hTTP at home by the patient\/caregiver. Based on prior demonstration of safe and effective use of FVIII\/VWFKoate in eight patients with hTTP, we conducted a retrospective study to gather additional data regarding the use of FVIII\/VWFKoate for hTTP. This was a multicentre, retrospective, noninterventional chart review of patients who had received FVIII\/VWFKoate for the management of hTTP. Data collected included demographics, medical history, relevant family history, past use and tolerability of fresh frozen plasma, and details regarding FVIII\/VWFKoate therapy. The cohort included 11 patients (seven males, four females) with hTTP, ranging in age at study entry from 2 to 28 years. The average duration of FVIII\/VWFKoate therapy was 4.8 years (range, 0.5-6.5 years). Among nine patients using FVIII\/VWFKoate as prophylaxis, the normalized annual rate of breakthrough TTP episodes ranged from 0.2 to 1.1 episodes\/year. All nine patients who received FVIII\/VWFKoate prophylaxis had thrombocytopenia recorded at baseline, while eight (88.9%) did not have thrombocytopenia after using FVIII\/VWFKoate . There was one AE (unspecified) attributed to FVIII\/VWFKoate . These data suggest that FVIII\/VWFKoate is a safe and well-tolerated source of the missing ADAMTS13 enzyme in patients with hTTP, producing a marked reduction in thrombocytopenia prevalence, low frequency of TTP episodes, and with the added benefit of self- or caregiver-administration.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25512190,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Prognostic factors of survival and recurrence pattern in differentiated thyroid cancer: a retrospective study from Western Turkey.\nThe aim of this study was to determine prognostic factors in patients with well-differentiated thyroid cancer (WDTC). This retrospective study included 181 well-differentiated thyroid cancer patients who were operated between Decembers 1996-2007. Total of 181 patients [139 (76.8%) women and 42 (23.2%) men with a mean age of 46.3 years] who were subjected to a complete follow-up, were enrolled in the study. The mean follow-up period was 7.1 years (range 3.1 to 14.9 years). Medical records were reviewed regarding to age, gender, extent of surgery, tumor size, multifocality, clinical stage, capsule infiltration, extracapsular invasion, histological type, lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis, radioactive iodine treatment and prognosis. During follow-up, in 41 (22.6%) patients locoregional recurrences were detected and 5 (2.7%) patients passed away. Determined statistically significant prognostic factors were as follows; tumor size (histopathologically), extent of surgery, histological type, lymph node metastasis, tumor invasion (capsule and extracapsular) and clinical stage. Well-differentiated thyroid cancer is a disease with good prognosis when detected early and appropriate treatment applied. Despite the prognosis, it is good to apply the right treatment and reduce recurrence and mortality rates, prognostic factors are well known and must be considered in patient management.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36933390,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Nutrigenomics in the context of evolution.\nNutrigenomics describes the interaction between nutrients and our genome. Since the origin of our species most of these nutrient-gene communication pathways have not changed. However, our genome experienced over the past 50,000 years a number of evolutionary pressures, which are based on the migration to new environments concerning geography and climate, the transition from hunter-gatherers to farmers including the zoonotic transfer of many pathogenic microbes and the rather recent change of societies to a preferentially sedentary lifestyle and the dominance of Western diet. Human populations responded to these challenges not only by specific anthropometric adaptations, such as skin color and body stature, but also through diversity in dietary intake and different resistance to complex diseases like the metabolic syndrome, cancer and immune disorders. The genetic basis of this adaptation process has been investigated by whole genome genotyping and sequencing including that of DNA extracted from ancient bones. In addition to genomic changes, also the programming of epigenomes in pre- and postnatal phases of life has an important contribution to the response to environmental changes. Thus, insight into the variation of our (epi)genome in the context of our individual's risk for developing complex diseases, helps to understand the evolutionary basis how and why we become ill. This review will discuss the relation of diet, modern environment and our (epi)genome including aspects of redox biology. This has numerous implications for the interpretation of the risks for disease and their prevention.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17176974,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Organizational characteristics influencing nursing home social service directors' qualifications: a national study.\nThis research sought to identify organizational characteristics associated with the amount of professional qualifications among a nationally representative sample of nursing home social service directors. A self-administered survey was sent to directors in 675 facilities randomly sampled from a federal database, excluding facilities with fewer than 120 beds that are not required to staff a full-time social worker. The response rate was 45 percent (N = 299). Univariate results showed that most respondents possessed a social work degree, most lacked licensure, and few were clinically supervised. A multiple regression analysis found that nonprofit, independently owned facilities in rural areas staffed social service directors who were significantly more qualified than directors in for-profit, chain-affiliated facilities in urban and suburban areas. Facilities with fewer psychosocial deficiencies and higher occupancy rates employed social service directors with greater qualifications. The implications of these findings for social work education, practice, policy, and research are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25525198,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Exploring the epidemiology of carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacteria in west London and the utility of routinely collected hospital microbiology data.\nThe objective of this study was to identify carbapenem-resistant organisms using routinely collected local microbiology data and describe the epidemiology of carbapenem resistance in two London teaching hospitals. Data on inpatients infected or colonized with Gram-negative organisms between March 2009 and February 2012 were extracted. A computer algorithm was developed incorporating internationally recognized criteria to distinguish carbapenem-resistant organisms. Multivariable analysis was conducted to identify factors associated with infection or colonization with carbapenem-resistant organisms. Binomial regression was performed to detect changes in resistance trends over time. Yearly incidence of carbapenem resistance was observed to be increasing, with significant increasing trends in Acinetobacter baumannii (47.1% in 2009-10 to 77.2% in 2011-12; P<0.001) and Enterobacter spp. (2.2% in 2009-10 to 11.5% in 2011-12; P<0.001). Single-variable and multivariable analysis demonstrated differences in the proportion of carbapenem-resistant isolates across all variables investigated, including age, sex and clinical specialty; in the latter organism-specific niches were identified. Patients in the youngest age group (16-24 years old) had the highest odds of being infected or colonized with carbapenem-resistant isolates of Escherichia coli, Klebsiella spp. or Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Furthermore, proportions of carbapenem-resistant organisms differed between the hospitals. Carbapenem resistance is an emerging problem within the UK inpatient healthcare setting. This is not an issue confined to the Enterobacteriaceae and fine-resolution surveillance is needed to identify at-risk groups. Regular analysis of routinely collected data can provide insight into the evolving carbapenem-resistance threat, with the ability to inform efforts to prevent the spread of resistance.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19053812,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Proton dynamics in strong (short) intramolecular H-bond. DFT study of the KH maleate crystal.\nThe structure, harmonic frequencies, and infrared intensities of the fundamental transitions of potassium hydrogen\/deuterium maleate crystals have been computed by the density functional theory with periodic boundary conditions. Different functionals with all-electron Gaussian-type orbital (GTO) basis set have been used. It was found that BLYP\/GTO approximation provides the best results for the structural parameters of the KH maleate crystal. Within this approximation, the hydrogen-bonded potential in the KH maleate crystal is extremely shallow. Delocalization of the bridging protons complicates a strict definition of the space group of the crystal; the space groups Pbcm and Pbc2(1) represent an equivalent choice. The periodic BLYP\/GTO study provides detailed information on the nature of the internal vibrations of the hydrogen maleate anion, which are located in the range 300-1800 cm(-1). Assignment of the vibrational bands in this frequency region has been performed. The two most intensive bands in the infrared spectrum (approximately 500 and approximately 1450 cm(-1)) are caused by the \"pure\" asymmetric O...H...O stretching vibrations and the stretching motion of the bridging proton heavily mixed with the C-C stretching and CH bending vibrations, respectively. A crystalline environment is found to play an important role in the low-frequency region and is negligible above 1000 cm(-1). The H\/D substitution slightly changes the vibration frequencies, involving the stretching motion of the bridging proton because of the strong coupling between this motion and the various internal vibrations of the hydrogen maleate anion.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1680998,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-30":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mammography of breast carcinoma: experience of 108 cases.\nMammography is the radiographic imaging of the breast and includes screen-film mammography and xeromammography. From September 1987 to March 1990, 108 patients with breast carcinoma received mammographic examinations at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital. The spectrum of mammographic appearance included mass abnormalities (50.9%), calcifications (10.2%), a combination of mass abnormalities and calcifications (25%), asymmetrical increased density (4.6%), and parenchymal distortion (1.9%). The remaining 7.4% of the lesions lacked any radiologic sign of malignancy and primarily appeared as dense breast on the mammogram. In this series, mammography had a sensitivity of 86.1%, a specificity of 77.3% and a positive predictive value of 67.4%. Recognition of these mammographic appearances is beneficial in detecting breast carcinoma and in establishing a correct diagnosis. In addition, knowing the abilities, as well as limitations, of mammography will optimize the efficacy of this examining modality.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31248365,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"MicroRNA-325-3p protects the heart after myocardial infarction by inhibiting RIPK3 and programmed necrosis in mice.\nReceptor-interacting serine-threonine kinase 3 (RIPK3)-mediated necroptosis has been implicated in the progression of myocardial infarction (MI), but the underlying mechanisms, particularly whether microRNAs (miRNAs) are involved, remain largely unknown. A microarray analysis was used to screen for miR-325-3p expression in myocardial tissues from MI mice, and the expression was confirmed with qRT-PCR. The levels of myocardial enzymes were measured using commercial kits, and an echocardiography system was utilized for the detection of cardiac function parameters. The pathological features and infarction sizes of cardiac tissues were examined using H&E, TCC and Masson's trichrome staining, and the amount of cell apoptosis was determined using an in situ TUNEL assay. Cardiomyocytes were isolated and then subjected to hypoxia induction in vitro. The expression of the RIPK1, RIPK3 and phosphorylated MLKL (p-MLKL) proteins was measured using a Western blot. The mouse cardiomyocyte cell viability was analyzed by an MTT assay. The mRNA target of miR-325-3p was predicted using TargetScan v7.2 and then validated using a dual-luciferase reporter assay. The overexpression of miR-325-3p evidently decreased the expression levels of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), phosphocreatine kinase (CK), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and malondialdehyde (MDA), inhibited left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD) and left ventricular end-systolic diameter (LVESD), and promoted left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and left ventricular fractional shortening (LVES). In addition, miR-325-3p overexpression attenuated the degree of injury to the cardiac tissue, decreased the infarct sizes and downregulated the expression of the necrosis-related proteins RIPK1, RIPK3 and p-MLKL. The RIPK1\/RIPK3\/p-MLKL axis-induced necroptosis that occurred during MI was mediated by a miRNA module, miR-325-3p, which can effectively ameliorate the symptoms of MI by suppressing the expression of RIPK3.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25526728,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Rape and the Straw Man: A Response to Lindsay Kelland.\nLindsay Kelland has taken issue with a claim I made in a book titled The Second Sexism: Discrimination Against Men and Boys. In response to this claim, she has argued that when a woman is raped, it matters that her rapist is a male because \"her situation as a woman under patriarchy is partly constitutive of the harm that she suffers\" in being raped. In my response to her article, I show that she has taken my claim out of context and thereby misrepresented it. As a result, her article fails to respond to anything I said.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28575746,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"The proportion of nitrate in leaf nitrogen, but not changes in root growth, are associated with decreased grain protein in wheat under elevated [CO2].\nThe atmospheric CO2 concentration ([CO2]) is increasing and predicted to reach \u223c550ppm by 2050. Increasing [CO2] typically stimulates crop growth and yield, but decreases concentrations of nutrients, such as nitrogen ([N]), and therefore protein, in plant tissues and grains. Such changes in grain composition are expected to have negative implications for the nutritional and economic value of grains. This study addresses two mechanisms potentially accountable for the phenomenon of elevated [CO2]-induced decreases in [N]: N uptake per unit length of roots as well as inhibition of the assimilation of nitrate (NO3-) into protein are investigated and related to grain protein. We analysed two wheat cultivars from a similar genetic background but contrasting in agronomic features (Triticum aestivum L. cv. Scout and Yitpi). Plants were field-grown within the Australian Grains Free Air CO2 Enrichment (AGFACE) facility under two atmospheric [CO2] (ambient, \u223c400ppm, and elevated, \u223c550ppm) and two water treatments (rain-fed and well-watered). Aboveground dry weight (ADW) and root length (RL, captured by a mini-rhizotron root growth monitoring system), as well as [N] and NO3- concentrations ([NO3-]) were monitored throughout the growing season and related to grain protein at harvest. RL generally increased under e[CO2] and varied between water supply and cultivars. The ratio of total aboveground N (TN) taken up per RL was affected by CO2 treatment only later in the season and there was no significant correlation between TN\/RL and grain protein concentration across cultivars and [CO2] treatments. In contrast, a greater percentage of N remained as unassimilated [NO3-] in the tissue of e[CO2] grown crops (expressed as the ratio of NO3- to total N) and this was significantly correlated with decreased grain protein. These findings suggest that e[CO2] directly affects the nitrate assimilation capacity of wheat with direct negative implications for grain quality.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21164571,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dose-responses of Bacillus cereus RS87 for growth enhancement in various Thai rice cultivars.\nTo achieve the goal of reducing the levels of chemical fertilizers applied in rice production, there is a need to develop microorganisms with the capacity to enhance plant growth. Previous studies have demonstrated that Bacillus cereus RS87 promotes growth of various plants in greenhouse and field trials. The objectives of this study were to (i) evaluate the efficacy and determine the optimum concentration of B. cereus RS87 to enhance growth of various Thai rice cultivars, (ii) measure the chlorophyll content in leaves affected by strain RS87, and (iii) investigate the capacity of strain RS87 to solubilize phosphate and produce siderophores. Three concentrations of strain RS87 (log 6.0, log 7.0, and log 8.0 CFU\/mL) were applied to each rice cultivar. Superior responses (i.e., enhanced development of roots and shoots of all rice cultivars) were observed using RS87 at log 8.0 CFU\/mL compared with lower bacterial concentrations and the water-treated control treatment. In addition, log 8.0 CFU\/mL of RS87 provided the greatest root length and plant height of all rice cultivars 45 days after planting in the greenhouse. Rice leaves treated with log 8.0 CFU\/mL of RS87 yielded the highest total chlorophyll, specifically chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b, compared with the control. Strain RS87 also solubilized phosphate and produced siderophores. The results of these studies demonstrate that log 8.0 CFU\/mL is the optimum concentration of strain RS87 for growth promotion of various Thai rice cultivars.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23885349,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nanoparticle-based immunochromatographic test strip with fluorescent detector for quantification of phosphorylated acetylcholinesterase: an exposure biomarker of organophosphorus agents.\nA nanoparticle-based fluorescence immunochromatographic test strip (FITS) coupled with a hand-held detector for highly selective and sensitive detection of phosphorylated acetylcholinesterase (AChE), an exposure biomarker of organophosphate (OP) pesticides and nerve agents, is reported. In this approach, OP-AChE adducts were selectively captured by quantum dot-tagged anti-AChE antibodies (Qdot-anti-AChE) and zirconia nanoparticles (ZrO2 NPs). The sandwich-like immunoreactions were performed among the Qdot-anti-AChE, OP-AChE and ZrO2 NPs to form a Qdot-anti-AChE-OP-AChE-ZrO2 complex, which was detected by recording the fluorescence intensity of Qdots captured during the test line. Paraoxon was used as the model OP pesticide. Under optimal conditions, this portable FITS immunosensor demonstrates a highly linear absorption response over the range of 0.01 nM to 10 nM OP-AChE, with a detection limit of 4 pM, coupled with good reproducibility. Moreover, the FITS immunosensor has been validated with OP-AChE spiked human plasma samples. This is the first report on the development of ZrO2 NP-based FITS for the detection of the OP-AChE adduct. The FITS immunosensor provides a sensitive and low-cost sensing platform for on-site screening\/evaluating OP pesticides and nerve agents poisoning.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34418451,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-30":1}}},"text":"Association of depressive symptoms with ambient PM2.5 in middle-aged and elderly Chinese adults: A cross-sectional study from the China health and Retirement Longitudinal Study wave 4.\nDepressive symptoms have become a serious public health issue worldwide. Several studies showed that air pollution, especially fine particulate matter (PM2.5), may be a risk factor of mental disorders. However, existing studies reported inconsistent results and little evidence is available in developing countries, like China. To fill the gap, in this study, we explored the relationship between ambient PM2.5 exposure and depressive symptoms among middle-aged and elderly Chinese adults in the Chinese Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). The social and demographic variables and depressive symptoms were obtained from the Wave4 of CHARLS in 2018. PM2.5 concentrations were obtained from the national urban air quality real-time release platform of China Environmental Monitoring Station. We applied generalized linear mixed models to determine the association between PM2.5 exposure and depressive symptoms. A total of 15,105 middle-aged and elderly adults from CHARLS Wave4 were included in the analyses. We found positive impact of ambient PM2.5 on depressive symptoms for the exposure windows of 30-day, 60-day, 120-day, 180-day, 1-year and 2-year. The most significant increase was observed for 180-day moving average. For every 10 \u03bcg\/m3 increment in PM2.5 exposure, the incidence of depressive symptoms increased by 9% (OR = 1.09; 95%CI: 1.05, 1.14) after adjusting for age, sex and residence. In interaction analyses, we found PM2.5 had weaker effect on depressive symptoms among people who used to drink alcohol (OR = 1.05; 95%CI: 1.00, 1.10) and exercise (OR = 1.10; 95%CI: 1.02, 1.18). People living in western China (OR = 1.09; 95%CI: 1.03, 1.16) were more vulnerable than those living in eastern China (OR = 0.99; 95%CI: 0.94, 1.05). In conclusion, exposure to PM2.5 was significantly associated with depressive symptoms in middle-aged and elder Chinese adults, particularly for people who never drink, with lower physical activity levels, or lived in western China.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34409716,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hydraulic prediction of drought-induced plant dieback and top-kill depends on leaf habit and growth form.\nHydraulic failure caused by severe drought contributes to aboveground dieback and whole-plant death. The extent to which dieback or whole-plant death can be predicted by plant hydraulic traits has rarely been tested among species with different leaf habits and\/or growth forms. We investigated 19 hydraulic traits in 40 woody species in a tropical savanna and their potential correlations with drought response during an extreme drought event during the El Ni\u00f1o-Southern Oscillation in 2015. Plant hydraulic trait variation was partitioned substantially by leaf habit but not growth form along a trade-off axis between traits that support drought tolerance versus avoidance. Semi-deciduous species and shrubs had the highest branch dieback and top-kill (complete aboveground death) among the leaf habits or growth forms. Dieback and top-kill were well explained by combining hydraulic traits with leaf habit and growth form, suggesting integrating life history traits with hydraulic traits will yield better predictions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29371047,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Intracellular glutathione-depleting polymeric micelles for cisplatin prodrug delivery to overcome cisplatin resistance of cancers.\nThe intrinsic or acquired cisplatin resistance of cancer cells frequently limits the final therapeutic efficacy. Detoxification by the high level of intracellular glutathione (GSH) plays critical roles in the majority of cisplatin-resistant cancers. In this report, we designed an amphiphilic diblock copolymer composed of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and polymerized phenylboronic ester-functionalized methacrylate (PBEMA), PEG-b-PBEMA, which can self-assemble into micelles in aqueous solutions to load hydrophobic cisplatin prodrug (Pt(IV)). Pt(IV)-loaded PEG-b-PBEMA micelles (PtBE-Micelle) reverse cisplatin-resistance of cancer cells through improving cellular uptake efficiency and reducing intracellular GSH level. We found that the cellular uptake amount of platinum from PtBE-Micelle was 6.1 times higher than that of free cisplatin in cisplatin-resistant human lung cancer cells (A549R). Meanwhile, GSH concentration of A549R cells was decreased to 32% upon treatment by PEG-b-PBEMA micelle at the phenyl borate-equivalent concentration of 100\u03bcM. PtBE-Micelle displayed significantly higher cytotoxicity toward A549R cells with half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of cisplatin-equivalent 0.20\u03bcM compared with free cisplatin of 33.15\u03bcM and Pt(IV)-loaded PEG-b-poly(\u03b5-caprolactone) micelles of cisplatin-equivalent 0.75\u03bcM. PtBE-Micelle can inhibit the growth of A549R xenograft tumors effectively. Accordingly, PEG-b-PBEMA micelles show great potentials as drug delivery nanocarriers for platinum-based chemotherapy toward cisplatin-resistant cancers.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28258225,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Antimicrobial resistance in healthcare, agriculture and the environment: the biochemistry behind the headlines.\nThe crisis of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the most serious issues facing us today. The scale of the problem is illustrated by the recent commitment of Heads of State at the UN to coordinate efforts to curb the spread of AMR infections. In this review, we explore the biochemistry behind the headlines of a few stories that were recently published in the public media. We focus on examples from three different issues related to AMR: (i) hospital-acquired infections, (ii) the spread of resistance through animals and\/or the environment and (iii) the role of antimicrobial soaps and other products containing disinfectants in the dissemination of AMR. Although these stories stem from three very different settings, the underlying message in all of them is the same: there is a direct relationship between the use of antimicrobials and the development of resistance. In addition, one type of antimicrobial could select for cross-resistance to another type and\/or for multidrug resistance. Therefore, we argue the case for increased stewardship to not only cover clinical use of antibiotics, but also the use of antimicrobials in agriculture and stewardship of our crucially important biocides such as chlorhexidine.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1701911,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Action of aldosterone on cultured renal collecting duct cells during the latent period.\nThe effects of aldosterone on protein synthesis in the latent period were investigated on cultured renal collecting duct cells from neonatal rabbit kidneys. Tissue was incubated with radioactively labelled uridine and amino acids and then precipitated with trichloroacetic acid in order to determine the intracellular precursor pool and identify new synthesis of RNA and protein. During the latent period, aldosterone increased the intracellular radioactive uridine pool and total radioactive RNA content already 20 and 60 min after its application; conversely 40 min after aldosterone introduction, no stimulation was found. Further experiments revealed that the intracellular radioactive amino acid pool was generally increased by aldosterone after 20, 40 and 60 min, while a distinct increased radioactive protein content was found to be induced by aldosterone only after 40 min. This indicates that aldosterone increases the uptake of RNA and protein precursors and the new synthesis of RNA and proteins. These events seem to to be regulated not continuously but intermittently. The induced proteins possibly take part in the mediation of the early hormone response. Experiments with the aldosterone antagonist, spironolactone, provide evidence for the specificity of the described hormone effects. The results after application of the Na+ channel blocker, amiloride, and the Na+\/K(+)-ATPase inhibitor, G-strophanthin, indicate that the aldosterone effects are controlled by Na+ channels and Na+ pumps and therefore by the intracellular Na+ content. The inhibitory effect of cycloheximide on the aldosterone-induced protein synthesis indicates the role of these proteins on the hormone-stimulated Na+ transport.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27270857,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evaluation of respiratory volume monitoring (RVM) to detect respiratory compromise in advance of pulse oximetry and help minimize false desaturation alarms.\nMonitoring respiratory function is important. By continuously monitoring respiratory volumes, respiratory depression could be identified before hypoxemia and drive earlier intervention. Here, we evaluate the temporal relationship of respiratory volume monitoring (providing real-time minute ventilation [MV], tidal volume, and respiratory rate in nonintubated patients) to hypoxemic episodes and its potential to help classify true vs false desaturations (related to patient movement\/probe dislodgement). Respiratory volume monitoring data, oxygen saturation (SpO2), oxygen supplementation, and opioid use were analyzed in 259 patients following orthopedic surgery. Detection of \"low MV\" (<40% of predicted MV) in advance of low SpO2 (<90%) was used to classify true and false desaturations. Patients were also stratified based on opioid use and development of low MV. Patient's length of stay (LOS) and number of SpO2 alarms were compared across groups (\u00b1 opioids; \u00b1 low MV). The electronic health records reported 113 SpO2 alarms; 105 (93%) not preceded by low MV and considered false. Low MV preceded the eight true desaturations by 12.8 \u00b1 2.8 minutes. One hundred ninety-eight patients (76%) of 259 experienced one or more low MV events. Patients with low MV had significantly longer postanesthesia care unit (PACU) LOS than those maintaining \"adequate MV\": 2.8 \u00b1 0.1 hours vs. 2.4 \u00b1 0.1 hours (p < 0.001). Patients receiving opioids had increased likelihood of low MV (69% vs. 80%; p < 0.05) and had significantly longer PACU LOS than those without opioids (2.9 \u00b1 0.1 hours vs. 2.3 \u00b1 0.1 hours; p < 0.001). In the opioid group, PACU LOS was 75% longer in patients developing low MV versus maintaining adequate MV (3.0 \u00b1 0.1 hours vs. 1.7 \u00b1 0.2 hours; p < 0.001). Respiratory volume monitoring can provide advanced warning of impending oxygen desaturation and potentially reduce the number of false SpO2 alarms. Opioid administration increased low MV events correlating with increased LOS. Respiratory volume monitoring can help clinicians individualize patient care, decrease false alarms, adjust opioid dosing, and increase PACU throughput. Similar benefits may translate to the general care floor and prehospital and posthospital environments. Diagnostic study, level II.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27481207,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"ACCLAIM: A randomized trial of abatacept (CTLA4-Ig) for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.\nCostimulatory blockade of T lymphocytes with the CTLA4-Ig fusion protein abatacept could be an effective treatment for the immune-mediated neuroinflammatory disease relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). To evaluate efficacy and safety of abatacept in RRMS. ACCLAIM (A Cooperative Clinical Study of Abatacept in Multiple Sclerosis) was a Phase II, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi-center trial. In all, 65 of 123 planned participants with RRMS were randomized to monthly intravenous infusions of abatacept or placebo for 24 weeks in a 2:1 ratio, switched to the opposite treatment at 28 weeks, and received their final dose of study medication at 52 weeks. Enrollment was closed early due to slow accrual. The primary endpoint was the mean number of new gadolinium-enhancing (Gd+) lesions obtained on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans performed every 4 weeks. No statistically significant differences were observed in mean number of new Gd+ MRI lesions between the abatacept and placebo groups. No statistically significant differences were observed in other MRI and clinical parameters of RRMS disease activity. Abatacept was well tolerated. The ACCLAIM study did not demonstrate efficacy of abatacept in reducing the number of new Gd+ MRI lesions, or clinical measures of disease activity in RRMS.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20366728,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Surface-enhanced nonlinear four-wave mixing.\nWe report on a particularly strong third-order nonlinear response from nanostructured gold surfaces. Two incident laser beams with frequencies omega{1} and omega{2} give rise to four-wave mixing (4WM) fields with frequencies 2omega{1}-omega{2} and 2omega{2}-omega{1}. We demonstrate that the nonlinear response can be purely evanescent and that nanostructured surfaces convert the evanescent energy into propagating radiation, thereby increasing the efficiency of frequency conversion. The emitted 4WM radiation is found to be directional, polarized, coherent, and both frequency and angle tunable. The ability to perform efficient frequency conversion in reduced dimensions provides new opportunities for nanophotonics and active plasmonics.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17820170,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Bulk chemical characteristics of dissolved organic matter in the ocean.\nDissolved organic matter (DOM) is the largest reservoir of reduced carbon in the oceans. The nature of DOM is poorly understood, in part, because it has been difficult to isolate sufficient amounts of representative material for analysis. Tangential-flow ultrafiltration was shown to recover milligram amounts of >1000 daltons of DOM from seawater collected at three depths in the North Pacific Ocean. These isolates represented 22 to 33 percent of the total DOM and included essentially all colloidal material. The elemental, carbohydrate, and carbon-type (by (13)C nuclear magnetic resonance) compositions of the isolates indicated that the relative abundance of polysaccharides was high ( approximately 50 percent) in surface water and decreased to approximately 25 percent in deeper samples. Polysaccharides thus appear to be more abundant and reactive components of seawater DOM than has been recognized.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30302114,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Eosinophilic fasciitis: a case series with an emphasis on therapy and induction of remission.\nEosinophilic fasciitis is an uncommon connective tissue disorder that affects patients of all ages, resulting in significant morbidity. Systemic corticosteroids can induce remission of disease. However, there is no universally accepted treatment ladder for eosinophilic fasciitis. This case series evaluates treatment efficacy in patients with eosinophilic fasciitis seen at Wake Forest University Department of Dermatology outpatient clinics. Patient charts were screened using ICD-9 diagnosis code 710.9 (unspecified diffuse connective tissue disease) to identify patients with eosinophilic fasciitis (n=10) seen at our institution. Patients were treated for an average 24 months with a combination of methotrexate and prednisone therapy, unless one or both were contraindicated, with each medication tapered conservatively to prevent disease flares. Alternate treatments included mycophenolate mofetil with prednisone, azathioprine with prednisone, prednisone monotherapy, and methotrexate monotherapy. Disease remission off therapy and on low-dose therapy was 66 and 70%, respectively. Our first-line therapy of concomitant methotrexate and prednisone is well-tolerated and effective for managing patients with eosinophilic fasciitis. Our study was limited to cases seen at a single academic institution.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16985125,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Nonradiologist utilization of American College of Radiology Appropriateness Criteria in a preauthorization center for MRI requests: applicability and effects.\nThe purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects and applicability of use of the American College of Radiology (ACR) Appropriateness Criteria by nonradiologist physicians in an MRI preauthorization center. All MRI requests received at our preauthorization center during a 19-month period were included in the study. The study period was divided into preintervention and postintervention phases, indicating before and after introduction of the ACR criteria to the general practitioners staffing our center. ACR appropriateness values were classified into three groups: appropriate, indeterminate, and inappropriate. Requests for which a matching ACR value could not be assigned were labeled ACR-noncodable. Multiple parameters evaluated and compared for the two phases included rate of request receipt, total approval and denial rates, and approval and denial rates according to the ACR Appropriateness Criteria and by anatomic region to be evaluated. There was no significant change in rate of request receipt and total approval and denial rates. However, there was an increase in the rate of approval of appropriate requests (phase 1, 71\/96 [74%]; phase 2, 74\/76 [97%]; p < 0.001) and the rate of denial of inappropriate requests (phase 1, 0\/12 [0%]; phase 2, 9\/13 [69%]; p < 0.001). More than 40% of requests were marked \"ACR-noncodable\" because of a lack of a matching clinical condition or variant. Introduction of the ACR Appropriateness Criteria resulted in an increase in the rate of performance of appropriate MRI examinations and a decrease in the rate of performance of inappropriate MRI examinations. ACR Appropriateness Criteria were applicable to approximately 50% of MRI requests.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28529950,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Tumor-Selective Cytotoxicity of Nitidine Results from Its Rapid Accumulation into Mitochondria.\nWe identified a nitidine- (NTD-) accumulating organelle and evaluated the net cytotoxicity of accumulated NTD. To evaluate tumor cell selectivity of the drug, we evaluated its selective cytotoxicity against 39 human cancer cell lines (JFCR39 panel), and the profile was compared with those of known anticancer drugs. Organelle specificity of NTD was visualized using organelle-targeted fluorescent proteins. Real-time analysis of cell growth, proliferation, and cytotoxicity was performed using the xCELLigence system. Selectivity of NTD in the JFCR39 panel was evaluated. Mitochondria-specific accumulation of NTD was observed. Real-time cytotoxicity analysis suggested that the mechanism of NTD-induced cell death is independent of the cell cycle. Short-term treatment indicated that this cytotoxicity only resulted from the accumulation of NTD into the mitochondria. The results from the JFCR39 panel indicated that NTD-mediated cytotoxicity resulted from unique mechanisms compared with those of other known anticancer drugs. These results suggested that the cytotoxicity of NTD is only induced by its accumulation in mitochondria. The drug triggered mitochondrial dysfunction in less than 2 h. Similarity analysis of the selectivity of NTD in 39 tumor cell lines strongly supported the unique tumor cell specificity of NTD. Thus, these features indicate that NTD may be a promising antitumor drug for new combination chemotherapies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":2787571,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cystatins of human placenta.\nTwo low-molecular protein fractions inhibiting cysteine proteases were isolated from human placenta by alkalization to pH 11, acetone fractionation, affinity chromatography on CM-papain-Sepharose 4B, and Sephadex G-75 gel filtration. The results of polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, isoelectric focusing indicate that one of there fractions in a dimer of cystatins B, and another is a mixture of cystatins A and B.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3032005,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Arterial baroreceptor and vagal inputs to sympathoexcitatory neurons in rat medulla.\nLumbar sympathetic nerve discharge and unit activity of reticulospinal sympathoexcitatory (SE) neurons located in nucleus paragigantocellularis lateralis (PGCL) were recorded in rats. The sympathoinhibition produced by low-frequency stimulation of vagal afferents was abolished by bilateral microinjections of 20 pmol of bicuculline methiodide (BIC, a GABA-receptor antagonist) into PGCL and was converted into a pressor response by injections of 100 pmol. These BIC injections also inhibited the arterial baroreflex in a dose-dependent manner. In contrast the sympathoexcitation produced by high-frequency stimulation of vagal afferents was selectively blocked by bilateral injections of kynurenic acid (KYN, a Glu-receptor antagonist) into PGCL. Convergence of vagal excitatory, vagal inhibitory, and arterial baroreceptor inputs was detected in all SE neurons recorded. Single-pulse stimulation of vagal afferents produced up to two peaks of excitation of SE neurons, both blocked by iontophoretic applications of KYN and at least one inhibitory period selectively blocked by iontophoresis of BIC. The results emphasize the importance of SE neurons and surrounding area in integrating the brain vasomotor output to spinal preganglionic neurons.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25418678,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"What makes men leak? An investigation of objective and self-report measures of urinary incontinence early after radical prostatectomy.\nPelvic floor muscle training for patients having radical prostatectomy promotes contraction of these muscles in anticipation of activities that may provoke urine leakage. The aims of this study were: to determine the contribution of the individual activities comprising a standardised 1-hour pad test (1HPT) to overall urine leakage early after radical prostatectomy; and to investigate relationships between the 1HPT, 24-hour pad test (24HPT) and the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Short Form (ICIQ-SF) early after radical prostatectomy. A prospective analysis of patients having radical prostatectomy and receiving pelvic floor muscle training (n = 33). Participants completed the 1HPT, 24HPT and ICIQ-SF at 3 and 6 weeks postoperatively. Participants wore a separate, pre-weighed continence pad for each of the seven activities comprising the 1HPT; pads were weighed separately and together to calculate activity-related and overall urine leakage. Walking at a comfortable speed and drinking while sitting were the two activities contributing most to overall urine leakage, albeit these activities also comprised 75% of 1HPT time. All component activities contributed a minimum 7 \u00b1 5% of overall urine leakage. There were significant and strong to very strong correlations between all of the 1HPT, 24HPT, and ICIQ-SF at 3 weeks postoperatively. There were significant decreases in 24HPT (P = 0.032) and ICIQ-SF (P = 0.001) but no significant change in 1HPT from 3 to 6 weeks postoperatively. Pelvic floor muscle training should include contraction of these muscles in sedentary and walking postures. The 1HPT correlates well with the 24HPT, but may not be sensitive to early postoperative improvements in urinary leakage.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9550141,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Normal and injury-induced sympathetic innervation of rat dorsal root ganglia increases with age.\nIn rats, partial injury to a peripheral nerve often leads to sympathetically maintained pain (SMP). In humans, this condition is especially apparent in the elderly. Nerve injury also causes perivascular sympathetic axons to sprout into the dorsal root ganglion (DRG), forming a possible anatomical substrate for SMP. Here, we describe the effects of chronic sciatic nerve constriction injury (CCI) in young (3 months) and old (16 months) rats on neuropathic pain behavior and on sympathetic sprouting in DRG. Behavioral tests assessed changes in thermal allodynia and hyperalgesia and in mechanical allodynia. We found that 1) sympathetic innervation of the DRG increased naturally with age, forming pericellular baskets mainly around large DRG neurons, and that sympathetic fibers were often associated with myelinated sensory axons; 2) sympathetic fiber density following CCI was also greater in old than in young rats; and 3) in old rats, thermal allodynia was less pronounced than in young rats, whereas thermal hyperalgesia and mechanical allodynia were more pronounced. These results highlight the possibility that sympathetic sprouting in the DRG is responsible for the sympathetic generation or maintenance of pain, especially in the elderly.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7928454,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Female adolescents' perceptions of benefits of and barriers to using oral contraceptives.\nA study was conducted to describe 12 female adolescents' oral contraceptive perceptions that were considered first independently and then after facilitation by a nurse. A self-administered decisional balance sheet elicited 44 descriptions of oral contraceptive perceptions, and a structured interview elicited 31 additional descriptions. The data were content-analyzed for common elements. The majority of participants perceived oral contraceptive benefits related to pregnancy prevention and others' approval and barriers related to side effects and others' disapproval. Participants considered additional oral contraceptive perceptions upon facilitation by a nurse after the opportunity for independent consideration. Facilitation of female adolescents' consideration of oral contraceptive perceptions may be an appropriate nursing intervention.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7937979,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Assembly and peptide binding of major histocompatibility complex class II heterodimers in an in vitro translation system.\nIn vitro transcription\/translation of HLA-DR1 cDNAs in the presence of microsomal membranes was used to study the association of major histocompatibility complex class II molecules with peptide and invariant chain (Ii) in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). HLA-DR alpha and HLA-DR beta subunits assembled into SDS-unstable heterodimers in the absence of exogenous peptide. The inclusion of synthetic peptides during the alpha\/beta assembly process promoted their conversion to SDS-resistant heterodimers. Addition of Ii RNA during the translation of HLA-DR alpha and HLA-DR beta RNAs resulted in the formation of alpha\/beta\/Ii complexes. Peptide binding by class II molecules was detected even when excess Ii was present during alpha\/beta assembly. These findings indicate that peptides can bind alpha\/beta heterodimers in the ER microenvironment and suggest that peptides derived from cytosolic proteins that are presented by class II molecules at the cell surface may have bound to HLA-DR in the ER.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28560923,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Anti-tau vaccine is successful in clinical trial for people with Alzheimer's disease.\nAlzheimer's disease progressively impairs cognition and daily function, and death usually occurs five to ten years after diagnosis. There are drugs available to treat the disease's symptoms, but they do not halt or slow its progression.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24385747,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Methylation of SOCS3 in Myeloproliferative Neoplasms and Secondary Erythrocytosis\/Thrombocythemia.\nMyeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) like essential thrombocythemia (ET), polycythemia vera (PV), and primary myelofibrosis (PMF) are acquired clonal hematopoietic stem cell disorders and originate from a multipotent hematopoietic stem cell. The SOCS1 and SOCS3 genes are negative regulators of the JAK\/STAT signal pathway. In this study we investigate the promoter methylation of these genes in the pathogenesis of MPNs and secondary erythrocytosis\/thrombocythemia. Promoter methylation of SOCS1 and SOCS3 genes was analyzed with methylation-specific PCR. PCR products were analyzed by agarose gel electrophoresis. No disease-specific CpG island methylation of SOCS1 was observed. Hypermethylation of the SOCS3 promoter was identified in 5 out of 19 (26.3%) PV cases, 2 out of 21 (9.5%) ET cases, 1 out of 5 (20%) PMF cases, and 9 out of 42 (21.4%) cases of secondary erythrocytosis\/thrombocythemia. The results revealed that promoter methylation of the SOCS3 gene suggests a possible role for SOCS3 methylation in the pathogenesis of MPNs and secondary erythrocytosis\/thrombocythemia. None declared.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22674369,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Absence of occult hepatitis B in Colombian blood donors].\nIn Colombian blood banks, screening for the surface antigen of hepatitis B is mandatory in all units collected. Testing of antibody against core antigens is not administered, although this method may be useful to detect donors infected with the hepatitis B virus. The prevalence of occult hepatitis B was determined by applying a full-serological profile of hepatitis B virus to blood samples of blood donors. Between April 2008 and October 2009, a prospective cross sectional study was conducted using 628 samples from donors to blood banks located in four Colombian cities. Prevalence for hepatitis B had been previously recorded for these cities. Serological screening was performed for the complete virus; then nucleic acid amplification was tested in sera that were anti-HBc reactive and with a titer of anti-HBs \u226430 mUI\/ml. Of the 628 samples tested, 129 met the serological criteria established to be tested nucleic acid amplification. None of them demonstrated evidence of nucleic acid amplification of hepatitis B virus. This is the first study in Colombia to detect the presence of blood donors that may be occult hepatitis B carriers. None was detected.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1096979,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"T Cells in immunodeficiencies as evaluated by an antihuman T-cell serum.\nAn antihuman T-cell has been prepared in rabbits by infecting lymphocytes from a patient with Bruton-type agammaglobulinemia and absorption with cultured B-lymphoblast cells. Cytotoxicity of the antiserum was assayed with peripheral blood lymphocytes in the presence of rabbit complement and its specificity for T vs B cells was verified. This anti-T-cell serum killed 66% (range 49-78) of normal blood lymphocytes. In patients with Bruton-type agammaglobulinemia the percentage of cells sensitive to the antiserum was above normal (77-89%), whereas it was decreased in some patients with lepromatous leprosy or under antilymphocyte globulin therapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27267592,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Safety of concurrent treatment of cats with fluralaner and emodepsid-praziquantel.\nFluralaner is a novel systemic ectoparasiticide for cats providing immediate and persistent flea- and tick-control after a single topical dose. Emodepsid and praziquantel are routinely used to control intestinal worm infections in cats. The safety of concurrent use of fluralaner and a commercially available emodepsid-praziquantel combination topical solution was investigated using topical administrations at the maximum recommended dose rates. Few mild and transient clinical findings like erythema at the administration site and single incidences of salivation or vomiting were observed. All of which were consistent with the individual product leaflets. There were no findings suggesting an increased safety risk associated with the concurrent treatment of cats with fluralaner and emodepsid-praziquantel. Concurrent treatment with fluralaner, emodepsid and praziquantel is well tolerated in cats.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28534674,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Accurate Molecular Orientation Analysis Using Infrared p-Polarized Multiple-Angle Incidence Resolution Spectrometry (pMAIRS) Considering the Refractive Index of the Thin Film Sample.\nInfrared (IR) p-polarized multiple-angle incidence resolution spectrometry (pMAIRS) is a powerful tool for analyzing the molecular orientation in an organic thin film. In particular, pMAIRS works powerfully for a thin film with a highly rough surface irrespective of degree of the crystallinity. Recently, the optimal experimental condition has comprehensively been revealed, with which the accuracy of the analytical results has largely been improved. Regardless, some unresolved matters still remain. A structurally isotropic sample, for example, yields different peak intensities in the in-plane and out-of-plane spectra. In the present study, this effect is shown to be due to the refractive index of the sample film and a correction factor has been developed using rigorous theoretical methods. As a result, with the use of the correction factor, organic materials having atypical refractive indices such as perfluoroalkyl compounds ( n = 1.35) and fullerene ( n = 1.83) can be analyzed with high accuracy comparable to a compound having a normal refractive index of approximately 1.55. With this improved technique, we are also ready for discriminating an isotropic structure from an oriented sample having the magic angle of 54.7\u00b0.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28564863,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"PERSPECTIVE A UNITS-OF-EVOLUTION PERSPECTIVE ON THE ENDOSYMBIONT THEORY OF THE ORIGIN OF THE MITOCHONDRION.\nDiscussions of mitochondria and their hosts often conceptualize this relationship in a more or less modern form, focusing on the metabolic benefits of mitochondria to the host cell or on the possibility of intragenomic conflict. A more inclusive units-of-evolution perspective recognizes that both costs and benefits must be viewed from the level of the cells that initiated this interaction, the protomitochondrion and the primitive host cell. From this perspective, ecological and physiological considerations become central to the characterization of initial and subsequent host-mitochondria associations. Foremost among these considerations is the generation of superoxide radicals by modern mitochondria and the deleterious effects of these endogenous oxidants on modern eukaryotic cells. Because of their photosynthetic and aerobic ecologies, protomitochondria likely were relatively tolerant of such oxidants; anaerobic, heterotrophic, primitive host cells, on the other hand, likely were not. In the initial association of host and symbiont, the latter may have manipulated the former's life history by means of both endogenous oxidants and a superabundance of ATP. A resolution of this units-of-evolution conflict was necessary to continue this association, and this resolution, in a ritualized form, may have shaped the evolution of many features of modern eukaryotic cells and mitochondria, for example, the messenger functions of calcium ions, the regulatory role of phosphorylation cascades in cell-division cycles, the absence from the mitochondrial genome of replication factors, transcription factors, and adenine nucleotide carrier genes. The initial host-mitochondria interaction may have further channeled the evolution of multicellular eukaryotes, particularly animals, resulting in the association of mitochondria and the germinal plasm and in the use of extracellular ATP and endogenous oxidants as developmental signals. Evolutionary explanations for \"free-radical\" theories of development and aging are thus suggested.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28564710,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Unreported Intentional Life-Ending Acts in Physicians and Nurses].\nIntroduction Intentional life-ending acts (LA) including euthanasia and termination of life without explicit request are illegal in Germany and have not been extensively studied. In a pilot study, unreported LA administered by physicians and nurses in German health care were explored. Methods All hospitals and nursing homes registered in 2015 (n = 13 393) were contacted via mail or e-mail and physician and nursing staff were asked to complete an anonymous online-survey or the identical attached paper-pencil questionnaire. 4629 participants, including physicians (n = 356), nurses (n = 3121) und geriatric nurses (n = 1152) from a predominant in-patient working area responded to questions about LA at their workplace, requests for euthanasia and performance of LA. Results 2.25 - 4.01 % (172 participants) of all physicians and nurses indicated to have heard of euthanasia at their workplace in the last 12 months and 1.42 - 3.39 % (77 participants) indicated to have performed LA themselves. LA was more frequently administered by male participants, physicians and on intensive care units. More than one third of all participants who had administered LA (38.10 - 41.67 %) were never asked for it. Discussion This pilot study indicates that beside legal forms of passive and indirect euthanasia, illegal intentional life-ending acts are administered by physicians and nurses in all health-care areas under investigation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17199920,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Analysis of relative factors influencing recurrence of endometriosis after operation treatment].\nTo explore the relative factors influencing the recurrence of endometriosis. Three hundred and fifty-six patients of endometriosis were treated with surgery and then followed up for 3 years. Seventy-five recurrent cases among them were analyzed retrospectively. The recurrent rate was different in the <or= 24 year age group (chi(2) = 11.212, P < 0.05), while there was no difference in the other age groups. According to pathological type, the recurrent rate of mixed pattern (29.2%) was significantly higher than that of the simple chocolate cyst (17.5%; chi(2) = 4.622, P < 0.05). The higher the clinical stage of the endometriosis, the higher the recurrent rate (P < 0.05). The recurrent rate of endometriosis in the third stage was different between laparoscopy and laparotomy (31.3% vs 11.3%; chi(2) = 7.971, P < 0.01). Mifepristone could prolong the interval of recurrence after operation [(13 +\/- 4) vs (7 +\/- 3) months; t = 4.575, P < 0.01]. Individualized therapeutic regimen should be made in treatment of endometriosis according to age, pathological type, and clinical stage. The recurrent rate could be reduced and the interval of recurrence could be prolonged using ovarian function inhibiting drugs for a short time post-operation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28700821,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Gene expression profiling of prostate tissue identifies chromatin regulation as a potential link between obesity and lethal prostate cancer.\nObese men are at higher risk of advanced prostate cancer and cancer-specific mortality; however, the biology underlying this association remains unclear. This study examined gene expression profiles of prostate tissue to identify biological processes differentially expressed by obesity status and lethal prostate cancer. Gene expression profiling was performed on tumor (n = 402) and adjacent normal (n = 200) prostate tissue from participants in 2 prospective cohorts who had been diagnosed with prostate cancer from 1982 to 2005. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated from the questionnaire immediately preceding cancer diagnosis. Men were followed for metastases or prostate cancer-specific death (lethal disease) through 2011. Gene Ontology biological processes differentially expressed by BMI were identified using gene set enrichment analysis. Pathway scores were computed by averaging the signal intensities of member genes. Odds ratios (ORs) for lethal prostate cancer were estimated with logistic regression. Among 402 men, 48% were healthy weight, 31% were overweight, and 21% were very overweight\/obese. Fifteen gene sets were enriched in tumor tissue, but not normal tissue, of very overweight\/obese men versus healthy-weight men; 5 of these were related to chromatin modification and remodeling (false-discovery rate < 0.25). Patients with high tumor expression of chromatin-related genes had worse clinical characteristics (Gleason grade > 7, 41% vs 17%; P = 2 \u00d7 10-4 ) and an increased risk of lethal disease that was independent of grade and stage (OR, 5.26; 95% confidence interval, 2.37-12.25). This study improves our understanding of the biology of aggressive prostate cancer and identifies a potential mechanistic link between obesity and prostate cancer death that warrants further study. Cancer 2017;123:4130-4138. \u00a9 2017 American Cancer Society.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25429113,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Precise feedback control underlies sensorimotor learning in speech.\nAcquiring the skill of speaking in another language, or for that matter a child's learning to talk, does not follow a single recipe. People learn by variable amounts. A major component of speech learnability seems to be sensing precise feedback errors to correct subsequent utterances that help maintain speech goals. We have tested this idea in a speech motor learning paradigm under altered auditory feedback, in which subjects repeated a word while their auditory feedback was changed online. Subjects learned the task to variable degrees, with some simply failing to learn. We assessed feedback contribution by computing one-lag covariance between formant trajectories of the current feedback and the following utterance that was found to be a significant predictor of learning. Our findings rely on a novel use of information-rich formant trajectories in evaluating speech motor learning and argue for their relevance in auditory speech goals of vowel sounds.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15555288,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Intracranial metastasis of malignant tumors: clinical characteristics and MR imaging features].\nTo study the clinical characteristics and MR imaging features of intracranial metastasis from malignant tumors. 1271 patients who had history of primary tumor and suspected of cranial metastasis had MRI on Philips Gyroscan T5-NT MR scanner. The sequences included pre-contrast T(1)WI, FLAIR, and postcontrast transversal, sagittal, and coronal T(1)WI. All of the clinical data and MRI features of the patients were recorded and analyzed. Of 547 patients with intracranial metastasis, 393 came from lung cancer (71.9%), 10% of 547 patients were found to have the presenting symptoms of cranial metastasis. 526 had parenchymal cerebral metastasis, and 21 only meningeal metastasis. Of these 526 patients found to have brain metastasis, 164 had single metastasis (31.2%), and 362 multiple (68.8%). Most of the cerebral metastatic lesions showed uniform or ring enhancement after intravenous injection of contrast medium, dura-arachnoid metastasis showed continuous and thick-curve enhancement at the cerebral convex, but not extending to the sulcus, while pia-dura metastasis displayed as thin and linear or nodular enhancement extending to the adjacent sulci. The most common primary lesion with metastasis to the brain were lung cancers, followed by breast and gastrointestinal cancers. By using gadolinium-DTPA enhanced MR imaging, many single and small cerebral metastasis could be found earlier.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11983984,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"4-Methoxyphenylphosphonic acid: reactivity of Lawesson's reagent.\nThe title compound, C(7)H(9)O(4)P, obtained as a by-product of the reaction between Lawesson's reagent, (I), and CH(3)I, can be recognized as the final product of the S\/O interchange reaction at the P atom of (I). Hydrogen bonds of type P-O-H.O=P link molecules into helical chains and form ten-membered hydrogen-bonded rings with the graph-set notation R(3)(2)(10). Weaker intermolecular contacts between P-O and a phenyl H atom link the chains into a three-dimensional lattice. The parent benzenephosphonic acid [Weakley (1976). Acta Cryst. B32, 2889-2890] does not adopt an analogous structure, but its arsenic analogue [Shimada (1960). Bull. Chem. Soc. Jpn, 33, 301-304] does and can be regarded as isostructural. We rationalize these three structures in terms of their significant intermolecular interactions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22680502,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Internal nonlinear dynamics of a short lattice DNA model in terms of propagating kink-antikink solitons.\nWe study the internal nonlinear dynamics of an inhomogeneous short lattice DNA model by solving numerically the governing discrete perturbed sine-Gordon equations under the limits of a uniform and a nonuniform angular rotation of bases. The internal dynamics is expressed in terms of open-state configurations represented by kink and antikink solitons with fluctuations. The inhomogeneity in the strands and hydrogen bonds as well as nonuniformity in the rotation of bases introduce fluctuations in the profile of the solitons without affecting their robust nature and the propagation. These fluctuations spread into the tail regions of the soliton in the case of periodic inhomogeneity. However, the localized form of inhomogeneity generates amplified fluctuations in the profile of the soliton. The fluctuations are expected to enhance the denaturation process in the DNA molecule.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17173095,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Retrograde transfer of testosterone to the porcine ovary in follicular and luteal phase of the estrous cycle in vivo.\nThis study was designed to determine the efficiency and rate of testosterone (T) retrograde transfer during the follicular and luteal phase of the estrous cycle in gilts (n=27). The efficiency and the rate of the retrograde transfer of T from the ovarian effluent into blood supplying the ovary were determined for the first time under in vivo conditions. Ovarian arterial blood concentration of T was higher than that in systemic blood during both, the follicular phase (p<0.01) and luteal phase (p<0.0001). The efficiency of the retrograde transfer of T into ovarian arterial blood was not dependent on concentration of testosterone in the ovarian venous blood. However, the efficiency and the rate of the retrograde transfer of T differed between phases of the estrous cycle. The presented results suggest that local retrograde transfer enriched the porcine ovary with an additional amount of T which may affect the ovarian secretory function.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26428861,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Feeding on resistant rice leads to enhanced expression of defender against apoptotic cell death (OoDAD1) in the Asian rice gall midge.\nThe Asian rice gall midge (Orseolia oryzae) is a destructive insect pest of rice. Gall midge infestation in rice triggers either compatible or incompatible interactions leading to survival or mortality of the feeding maggots, respectively. In incompatible interactions, generation of plant allelochemicals\/defense molecules and\/or inability of the maggots to continue feeding on the host initiate(s) apoptosis within the maggots. Unraveling these molecular events, triggered within the maggots as a response to feeding on resistant hosts, will enable us to obtain a better understanding of host resistance. The present study points towards the likely involvement of a defender against apoptotic cell death gene (DAD1) in the insect in response to the host defense. The cDNA coding for the DAD1 orthologue in the rice gall midge (OoDAD1) consisted of 339 nucleotides with one intron of 85 bp and two exons of 208 and 131 nucleotides. The deduced amino acid sequence of OoDAD1 showed a high degree of homology (94.6%) with DAD1 orthologue from the Hessian fly (Mayetiola destructor)--a major dipteran pest of wheat. Southern hybridization analysis indicated that OoDAD1 was present as a single copy in the genomes of the Asian rice gall midge biotypes (GMB) 1, 4 and 4 M. In the interactions involving GMB4 with Jaya (susceptible rice host) the expression level of OoDAD1 in feeding maggots gradually increased to 3-fold at 96 hai (hours after infestation) and peaked to 3.5-fold at 96 hai when compared to that at 24 hai. In contrast, expression in maggots feeding on RP2068 (resistant host) showed a steep increase of more than 8-fold at 24 hai and this level was sustained at 48, 72 and 96 hai when compared with the level in maggots feeding on Jaya at 24 hai. Recombinant OoDAD1, expressed in E. coli cells, when injected into rice seedlings induced a hypersensitive response (HR) in the resistant rice host, RP2068, but not in the susceptible rice variety, Jaya. The results indicate that the expression of OoDAD1 is triggered in the feeding maggots probably due to the host resistance response and therefore, is likely an important molecule in the initial stages of the interaction between the midge and its rice host.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6161758,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pulmonary microvascular and alveolar epithelial permeability characteristics in N-nitroso-N-methylurethane-injected dogs.\nThe subcutaneous injection of 5 to 6 mg\/kg of body weight of N-nitroso-N-methylurethane (NNNMU) has been reported to cause acute alveolar injury in animals. To determine the permeability characteristics of the alveolar epithelium, we employed the in vivo saline-filled dog lung model and determined the time to 50 percent equilibration in minutes of a specific tracer in the blood and the lung model and determined the time to 50 percent equilibration in minutes of a specific tracer in the blood and the lung liquid (T 1\/2) for endogenous serum albumin (MW 69,000 daltons, molecular radius 35 A) and exogenously administered 500,000 MW polydispersed dextrans (molecular radius 200 A). Compared to control animals, T1\/2 decreased (permeability increased) in NNNMU-injected dogs from 3,500 +\/- 100 to 682 +\/- 160 minutes for albumin and from 20,000 +\/- 250 to 2,790 +\/- 750 minutes for 500,000 MW dextran (P less than 0.001). To determine the permeability characteristics of the pulmonary microvasculature, we employed the right lymph duct cannulation dog model and measured lymph flow\/30 minutes, lymph albumin and dextran concentration, and lymph\/plasma albumin and dextran ratios in control and NNNMU-injected dogs. Compared to control animals, lymph flow was significantly greater in NNNMU dogs, 2.07 +\/- 1.1 vs .71 +\/- .50 ml\/30 minutes (P less than 0.01), respectively. We conclude that NNNMU injection increases permeability in both the alveolar epithelium and the pulmonary microvasculature.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28357163,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Radiographic Pearls in the Evaluation of an Extradural Thoracic Meningioma: A Case Report.\nSpinal meningiomas are the most common of adult spinal tumors. Spinal meningiomas account for up to 45% of all intradural spinal tumors in adults and up to 25% of all spinal tumors. While spinal meningiomas are traditionally classified as intradural lesions, up to 14% may have an extradural component. Preoperative evaluation and directed use of imaging techniques are key in these rare but observed cases, to accurately diagnose and direct therapy. In this report, the authors present a case of a 61-year-old female with an incidentally found, exclusively extradural thoracic meningioma treated with surgical resection, highlighting key radiographic pearls in the evaluation of these uncommon lesions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25505439,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The role of visual awareness for conflict adaptation in the masked priming task: comparing block-wise adaptation with trial-by-trial adaptation.\nThis study investigated the role of participants' visual awareness in the block-wise and the trial-by-trial adaptations. We employed a subliminal response compatibility task in which a prime arrow was briefly presented before the target arrow, and the participants were requested to indicate the direction of the target arrow. The direction of the prime and direction of the target were either the same (compatible trial) or different (incompatible trial). To examine block-wise adaptation, two blocks were conducted, i.e., the Neutral block (50% compatible and 50% incompatible trials) and the Incompatible block (10% compatible and 90% incompatible trials). The results showed the existence of the block-wise adaptation without participants' visual awareness. The compatibility effect on both response time and error rate (ER) was smaller in the Incompatible block than in the Neutral block. Moreover, a separate data analysis based on the preceding trial type revealed that the trial-by-trial adaptation of cognitive control was observed only in the ER. These results suggest the different role of visual awareness in the block-wise and trial-by-trial adaptations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34425092,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Direct Interaction of Sox10 With Cadherin-19 Mediates Early Sacral Neural Crest Cell Migration: Implications for Enteric Nervous System Development Defects.\nThe enteric nervous system, which regulates many gastrointestinal functions, is derived from neural crest cells (NCCs). Defective NCC migration during embryonic development may lead to enteric neuropathies such as Hirschsprung's disease (hindgut aganglionosis). Sox10 is known to be essential for cell migration but downstream molecular events regulating early NCC migration have not been fully elucidated. This study aimed to determine how Sox10 regulates migration of sacral NCCs toward the hindgut using Dominant megacolon mice, an animal model of Hirschsprung's disease with a Sox10 mutation. We used the following: time-lapse live cell imaging to determine the migration defects of mutant sacral NCCs; genome-wide microarrays, site-directed mutagenesis, and whole embryo culture to identify Sox10 targets; and liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry to ascertain downstream effectors of Sox10. Sacral NCCs exhibited retarded migration to the distal hindgut in Sox10-null embryos with simultaneous down-regulated expression of cadherin-19 (Cdh19). Sox10 was found to bind directly to the Cdh19 promoter. Cdh19 knockdown resulted in retarded sacral NCC migration in vitro and ex vivo, whereas re-expression of Cdh19 partially rescued the retarded migration of mutant sacral NCCs in vitro. Cdh19 formed cadherin-catenin complexes, which then bound to filamentous actin of the cytoskeleton during cell migration. Cdh19 is a direct target of Sox10 during early sacral NCC migration toward the hindgut and forms cadherin-catenin complexes which interact with the cytoskeleton in migrating cells. Elucidation of this novel molecular pathway helps to provide insights into the pathogenesis of enteric nervous system developmental defects.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34241542,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Same-day versus next-day pegfilgrastim or pegfilgrastim-cbqv in patients with lymphoma receiving CHOP-like chemotherapy.\nAim: To compare the incidence of febrile neutropenia and related outcomes of prophylactic same-day versus next-day pegfilgrastim\/pegfilgrastim-cbqv in patients with lymphoma receiving cyclophosphamide, hydroxydaunorubicin, vincristine, prednisone (CHOP)-like chemotherapy. Methods: Retrospective, real-world, single-institution study. Results: 93 patients received 460 cycles of CHOP-like chemotherapy. The incidence of febrile neutropenia and grade 3\/4 chemotherapy-induced neutropenia was 5 and 16.5%, respectively. In 401 cycles pegfilgrastim was administered same-day versus 12 cycles next-day. Febrile neutropenia occurred in 17 cycles versus 0 cycles (p = 1.00) and grade 3\/4 chemotherapy-induced neutropenia in 65 cycles (16.2%) versus 1 cycle (16.7%; p = 1.00) with same-day versus next-day pegfilgrastim administration, respectively. Conclusion: Pegfilgrastim may be safely administered on the same day as chemotherapy in patients with lymphoma receiving CHOP-like chemotherapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16218345,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Intracranial meningiomas--criteria for selection of the optimum therapeutic modality].\nThe authors present their own proposal for a standard diagnostic procedure algorithm in intracranial meningiomas, which they used in their prospective, non-randomized longitudinal study in a group of 30 subjects within a year. The following four criteria were assessed in each patient: age, physical condition according the ASA classification, location of the meningioma on the MRI (superficial, the scull base) and the growth invasivity using selective DSA (ACI+ACE) and MRI (the vascularization type, the oedema index and the change in the oedema signal intensity in 3.5 hours). The criteria helped to establish the optimum therapeutic procedure for each patient: embolisation without a follow-up surgery (2 subjects), observation (2 subjects), pre-operative embolisation (5 subjects) and surgery without preceeding embolisation (21 subjects). This study did not assess the intracranial meningiomas treatment outcome. It highlights significance of the diagnostic procedures standardization in order to establish their optimum therapeutic modality.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9154097,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Prostate cancer.\nThis synthesis of the literature on radiotherapy for prostate cancer is based on 53 scientific articles, including 4 randomized studies, 3 prospective studies, and 44 retrospective studies. These studies involve 52005 patients. The literature provides no apparent evidence to motivate radiotherapy, or any treatment, for highly differentiated T0 tumors. Some findings suggest that radiotherapy or surgery may be indicated for poorly differentiated tumors. The literature however shows no differences in tumor effects between these two methods for treating T0 tumors. Radiotherapy is milder and less mutilating. Conclusions cannot be drawn from the literature concerning whether surgery (radical prostatectomy) or external radiotherapy is preferable for T1 and T2 tumors. Most probably, some patients are more suitable for surgery, others for radiotherapy. More patients are, nevertheless, candidates for radiotherapy. The value of external radiotherapy for T3 tumors is documented. Radiotherapy is valuable as palliative treatment for T4 tumors. Radiotherapy may be valuable as localized, symptom-relieving treatment for generalized prostate cancer. Treatment given via a few high fractions saves patients' time, hospitalization, and resources. Concerning individualized treatment, the differentiation grade is important for the choice of treatment method, mainly in early, but even in late clinical stages. This may involve choosing between radiotherapy and endocrine therapy, or even choosing between radiotherapy and surgery. The value of external radiotherapy increases as the differentiation grade of the tumor decreases. It is essential to treat patients at facilities that have the diagnostic potential to establish the differentiation grade of tumors. The value of postoperative radiotherapy has not yet been demonstrated at any clinical stage of prostate cancer. Treatment results from interstitial brachytherapy alone appear to be clearly inferior to the results from other methods. The value of combining interstitial\/external radiotherapy should be studied further.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22694189,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Treatment alternatives of slaughterhouse wastes, and their effect on the inactivation of different pathogens: a review.\nSlaughterhouse wastes are a potential reservoir of bacterial, viral, prion and parasitic pathogens, capable of infecting both animals and humans. A quick, cost effective and safe disposal method is thus essential in order to reduce the risk of disease following animal slaughter. Different methods for the disposal of such wastes exist, including composting, anaerobic digestion (AD), alkaline hydrolysis (AH), rendering, incineration and burning. Composting is a disposal method that allows a recycling of the slaughterhouse waste nutrients back into the earth. The high fat and protein content of slaughterhouse wastes mean however, that such wastes are an excellent substrate for AD processes, resulting in both the disposal of wastes, a recycling of nutrients (soil amendment with sludge), and in methane production. Concerns exist as to whether AD and composting processes can inactivate pathogens. In contrast, AH is capable of the inactivation of almost all known microorganisms. This review was conducted in order to compare three different methods of slaughterhouse waste disposal, as regards to their ability to inactivate various microbial pathogens. The intention was to investigate whether AD could be used for waste disposal (either alone, or in combination with another process) such that both energy can be obtained and potentially hazardous materials be disposed of.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26486375,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Quality of Life Differences in Female and Male Patients with Fecal Incontinence.\nTo explore and compare quality of life (QoL) differences in female and male patients with fecal incontinence. Ninety-one patients with fecal incontinence (60 women, mean (SD) age 64.13 (9.72) years; 31 men, mean (SD) age 63.61 (13.33) years) were assessed for pathophysiology (anorectal manometry and ultrasound), clinical severity (Wexner and Vaizey scales), QoL (Fecal Incontinence Quality of Life Score [FIQL]) and health status (EQ-5D). External and internal anal sphincter impairment rates were 96.5% and 70.2%, respectively, in women, compared to 30% and 43.3% respectively in men (P< 0.05). Clinical severity was similar in both sexes, with mean (SD) Wexner scores of 10.95 (4.35) for women and 9.81 (4.30) for men, and mean (SD) Vaizey scores of 13.27 (4.66) for women and 11.90 (5.22) for men. Scores for women were significantly lower for all FIQL depression and coping subscales (P< 0.001) and the EQ-5D depression subscale (P< 0.01). EQ-5D index was 0.687 (0.20) for women and 0.835 (0.15) for men (P< 0.001). QoL was negatively affected by female gender (?1.336), anxiety\/depression (?1.324) and clinical severity (?0.302), whereas age had a positive impact (0.055 per year) (P< 0.01). The pathophysiology of fecal incontinence differed between the sexes. For similar severity scores, impact on QoL was higher in women. Gender had the highest impact on QoL compared to other factors. QoL measurements should be part of assessment and treatment protocols.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28285343,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Impact of biogenic substrates on sulfamethoxazole biodegradation kinetics by Achromobacter denitrificans strain PR1.\nPure cultures have been found to degrade pharmaceutical compounds. However, these cultures are rarely characterized kinetically at environmentally relevant concentrations. This study investigated the kinetics of sulfamethoxazole (SMX) degradation by Achromobacter denitrificans strain PR1 at a wide range of concentrations, from ng\/L to mg\/L, to assess the feasibility of using it for bioaugmentation purposes. Complete removal of SMX occurred for all concentrations tested, i.e., 150 mg\/L, 500 \u00b5g\/L, 20 \u00b5g\/L, and 600 ng\/L. The reaction rate coefficients (kbio) for the strain at the ng\/L SMX range were: 63.4 \u00b1 8.6, 570.1 \u00b1 15.1 and 414.9 \u00b1 124.2 L\/g[Formula: see text]\u00b7day), for tests fed without a supplemental carbon source, with acetate, and with succinate, respectively. These results were significantly higher than the value reported for non-augmented activated sludge (0.41 L\/(g [Formula: see text]\u00b7day) with hundreds of ng\/L of SMX. The simultaneous consumption of an additional carbon source and SMX suggested that the energetic efficiency of the cells, boosted by the presence of biogenic substrates, was important in increasing the SMX degradation rate. The accumulation of 3-amino-5-methylisoxazole was observed as the only metabolite, which was found to be non-toxic. SMX inhibited the Vibrio fischeri luminescence after 5 min of contact, with EC50 values of about 53 mg\/L. However, this study suggested that the strain PR1 still can degrade SMX up to 150 mg\/L. The results of this work demonstrated that SMX degradation kinetics by A. denitrificans PR1 compares favorably with activated sludge and the strain is a potentially interesting organism for bioaugmentation for SMX removal from polluted waters.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6168919,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Archaebacteria and phylogeny of organisms].\nThe determination of the sequence similarity of the ribosomal 16S RNA of many bacteria and a few higher organisms has shown that the methanogenic, halophilic, and acido-thermophilic organisms are phylogenetically separated from the kingdoms of the Eubacteria and Eukaryotes thus representing a third kingdom called \"Archaebacteria\". Many biochemical and molecular biological features support this conclusion.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32356970,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Deciphering the Mechanism of the Anti-Hypertensive Effect of Isorhynchophylline by Targeting Neurotransmitters Metabolism of Hypothalamus in Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats.\nEssential hypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease that can lead eventually to structural and functional alterations in the brain. Accumulating evidence has suggested that the increased activities in renin-angiotensin system and sympathetic nerve participated in the pathogenesis of hypertension that is related to the imbalance between neurotransmitters. The potential role in essential hypertension arising from alterations of neurotransmitters in the central nervous system remains understudied. Isorhynchophylline is a major oxindole alkaloid extracted from Uncaria rhynchophylla, which has been widely used for treating hypertension and neurodegenerative diseases. Whether isorhynchophylline acts on neurotransmitters to lower blood pressure has been hypothesized but rarely demonstrated unequivocally. Here, we studied the metabolic neurotransmitter profiles in the hypothalamus using a targeted metabolomic approach in spontaneously hypertensive rats after isorhynchophylline intervention. Our study demonstrated that isorhynchophylline exhibited a strong anti-hypertensive effect in spontaneously hypertensive rats by improving the neurotransmitter imbalance in the hypothalamus and inhibiting the overactivation of the renin-angiotensin system and sympathetic nerve system. Overall, this study played an essential role in enhancing our understanding of the mechanism of isorhynchophylline in essential hypertension and in providing theoretical evidence for future research and clinical application.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28529871,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Subtle alterations in cerebrovascular reactivity in mild cognitive impairment detected by graph theoretical analysis and not by the standard approach.\nThere is growing support that cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) in response to a vasodilatory challenge, also defined as the cerebrovascular reserve, is reduced in Alzheimer's disease dementia. However, this is less clear in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The current standard analysis may not reflect subtle abnormalities in CVR. In this study, we aimed to investigate vasodilatory-induced changes in the topology of the cerebral blood flow correlation (CBFcorr) network to study possible network-related CVR abnormalities in MCI. For this purpose, four CBFcorr networks were constructed: two using CBF SPECT data at baseline and under the vasodilatory challenge of acetazolamide (ACZ), obtained from a group of 26 MCI patients; and two equivalent networks from a group of 26 matched cognitively normal controls. The mean strength of association (SA) and clustering coefficient (C) were used to evaluate ACZ-induced changes on the topology of CBFcorr networks. We found that cognitively normal adults and MCI patients show different patterns of C and SA changes. The observed differences included the medial prefrontal cortices and inferior parietal lobe, which represent areas involved in MCI's cognitive dysfunction. In contrast, no substantial differences were detected by standard CVR analysis. These results suggest that graph theoretical analysis of ACZ-induced changes in the topology of the CBFcorr networks allows the identification of subtle network-related CVR alterations in MCI, which couldn't be detected by the standard approach.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28543837,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Neurocognitive perspectives in language outcomes of Early Head Start: Language and cognitive stimulation and maternal depression.\nA neurocognitive, developmental framework was used to examine the effectiveness of Early Head Start (EHS) programs. Evidence has shown that caregiver variables impact early brain development. This study aimed to better understand this relation. Results showed that the EHS program made no significant impact, and at 3 years old, children were significantly behind population norms in language development, partially replicating previous findings with children from poverty backgrounds. EHS and parental depression were significant predictors of language and cognitive stimulation; however, depression and stimulation, but not involvement in EHS, were significant predictors of vocabulary. Implications for EHS programs are discussed, such as addressing caregiver variables (e.g., depression) and increasing focus on services to expectant families. Future directions also are discussed, such as understanding how young children's stress, within the context of caregiver variables, is related to neurocognitive outcomes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8341095,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evidence of IgE-mediated hypersensitivity in allergic fungal sinusitis.\nDespite documentation of specific immunologic hypersensitivity in a few case reports, controversy continues as to the role of allergy versus true infection in the clinical entity of allergic fungal sinusitis (AFS). Using a modified radioallergosorbent test (RAST) to multiple fungal antigens, 16 patients meeting the histologic criteria of AFS and with positive fungal cultures were compared to 5 control patients with similar preoperative clinical findings but without histologic or culture evidence of AFS. All patients were immunocompetent and none demonstrated histologic evidence of tissue invasion. All AFS patients were RAST-positive to at least one fungal antigen in the family of their cultured organism with positive defined as class 2 or greater. No control patient was RAST-positive to either dematiaceous or Aspergillus fungal antigens. Thus, modified RAST testing can aid in the routine clinical diagnosis of AFS, and it provides further serologic evidence for a type I hypersensitivity in the pathogenesis of AFS.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11988737,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Ras signalling on the endoplasmic reticulum and the Golgi.\nCurrent models evoke the plasma membrane (PM) as the exclusive platform from which Ras regulates signalling. We developed a fluorescent probe that reports where and when Ras is activated in living cells. We show that oncogenic H-Ras and N-Ras engage Raf-1 on the Golgi and that endogenous Ras and unpalmitoylated H-Ras are activated in response to mitogens on the Golgi and endoplasmic reticulum (ER), respectively. We also demonstrate that H-Ras that is restricted to the ER can activate the Erk pathway and transform fibroblasts, and that Ras localized on different membrane compartments differentially engages various signalling pathways. Thus, Ras signalling is not limited to the PM, but also proceeds on the endomembrane.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12019800,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Iowa Case Management: innovative social casework.\nThis article describes the development of an innovative approach to case management for rural clients in drug abuse treatment. This innovative approach is discussed in the context of the broader field of case management-including social casework, public health, nursing, modern case management, and managed care. Because case management has been defined in many different ways, making comparisons of programs and models is difficult. The article presents an expanded set of criteria for comparing case management models. The Iowa Case Management model is compared with these other models across several dimensions. This article also describes the philosophy and goals of the Iowa model, as well as key activities in which clients and case managers participate. The authors discuss implications for practice and issues related to evaluation of case management.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24385062,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A possible association of hypokalaemic periodic paralysis, autoimmune thyroiditis and neuromyotonia.\nAcute hypokalemic periodic paralysis (HPP), a clinical syndrome characterised by acute systemic weakness and low serum potassium (K+), is a rare but treatable cause of acute limb weakness. Hypokalemia can be caused by K+ loss via the kidneys or extra renal routes mainly the gut, or due to transcellular potassium shifts where extracellular K+ will move into the cell. In the latter situation, although there is hypokalaemia, there is no deficit of K+ in the body. The main causes for intracellular shift of K+ are familial hypokalemic periodic paralysis, thyrotoxic periodic paralysis, barium poisoning, insulin excess and alkalosis. Although the association between thyrotoxicosis and HPP is known, HPP with hypothyroidism is extremely rare. We report a case of hypokalemic periodic paralysis associated with hypothyroidism and neuromyotonia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28704107,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Asthma medication use among adults with current asthma by work-related asthma status, Asthma Call-back Survey, 29 states, 2012-2013.\nAsthma severity is defined as the intensity of treatment required to achieve good control of asthma symptoms. Studies have shown that work-related asthma (WRA) can be associated with poorer asthma control and more severe symptoms than non-WRA. Associations between asthma medications and WRA status were assessed using data from the 2012-2013 Asthma Call-back Survey among ever-employed adults (\u226518 years) with current asthma from 29 states. Persons with WRA had been told by a physician that their asthma was work-related. Persons with possible WRA had asthma caused or made worse by their current or previous job, but did not have physician-diagnosed WRA. Asthma medications were classified as controller (i.e., long-acting \u03b2-agonist, inhaled corticosteroid, oral corticosteroid, cromolyn\/nedocromil, leukotriene pathway inhibitor, methylxanthine, anti-cholinergics) and rescue (i.e., short-acting \u03b2-agonist). Demographic and clinical characteristics were examined. Associations between asthma medications and WRA status were assessed using a multivariate logistic regression to calculate adjusted prevalence ratios (PRs). Among an estimated 15 million ever-employed adults with current asthma, 14.7% had WRA and an additional 40.4% had possible WRA. Compared with adults with non-WRA, those with WRA were more likely to have taken anti-cholinergics (PR = 1.80), leukotriene pathway inhibitor (PR = 1.59), and methylxanthine (PR = 4.76), and those with possible WRA were more likely to have taken methylxanthine (PR = 2.85). Results provide additional evidence of a higher proportion of severe asthma among adults with WRA compared to non-WRA. To achieve optimal asthma control, adults with WRA may require additional intervention, such as environmental controls or removal from the workplace exposure.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6900355,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A new technique for maintaining and monitoring conscious, stress-free rabbits in a steady state: its use in the determination of glucose kinetics.\n1. A new technique is described for maintaining and monitoring conscious rabbits in a steady state. Solutions were infused and blood samples were withdrawn without major surgery and without causing stress. Cannulation, for infusion and blood sampling, was via the ear veins and arteries. 2. The validity of the technique is discussed with special reference to: the amount of blood removed from the animal; the use of a plasma substitute solution; the use of heparin; and assessing whether the animal was in a steady-state with respect to glucose. 3. The technique was used to determine glucose kinetics in the fasted rabbit after an injection of [2-(3)H]glucose with subsequent blood sampling over 2 h. A two compartment model was used to calculate certain physiological values, the two principal ones being the glucose uptake rate (3.30 +\/- 0.24 (13) mg.kg-1.min-1) and the initial volume of distribution (74.8 +\/- 7.8 (13) ml.kg-1). 4. The accuracy and precision of the results obtained from this study are discussed and shown to be more reliable than other published values.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14535955,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Caspase cleavage of the amyloid precursor protein modulates amyloid beta-protein toxicity.\nThe amyloid beta-protein precursor (APP) is proteolytically cleaved to generate the amyloid beta-protein (Abeta), the principal constituent of senile plaques found in Alzheimer's disease (AD). In addition, Abeta in its oligomeric and fibrillar forms have been hypothesized to induce neuronal toxicity. We and others have previously shown that APP can be cleaved by caspases at the C-terminus to generate a potentially cytotoxic peptide termed C31. Furthermore, this cleavage event and caspase activation were increased in the brains of AD, but not control, cases. In this study, we show that in cultured cells, Abeta induces caspase cleavage of APP in the C-terminus and that the subsequent generation of C31 contributes to the apoptotic cell death associated with Abeta. Interestingly, both Abeta toxicity and C31 pathway are dependent on the presence of APP. Both APP-dependent Abeta toxicity and C31-induced apoptotic cell death involve apical or initiator caspases-8 and -9. Our results suggest that Abeta-mediated toxicity initiates a cascade of events that includes caspase activation and APP cleavage. These findings link C31 generation and its potential cell death activity to Abeta cytotoxicity, the leading mechanism proposed for neuronal death in AD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14524827,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Exact soliton solution and inelastic two-soliton collision in a spin chain driven by a time-dependent magnetic field.\nWe investigate dynamics of exact N-soliton trains in a spin chain driven by a time-dependent magnetic field by means of an inverse scattering transformation. The one-soliton solution indicates obviously the spin precession around the magnetic field and periodic shape variation induced by the time-varying field as well. In terms of the general soliton solutions, N-soliton interaction and particularly various two-soliton collisions are analyzed. The inelastic collision by which we mean the soliton shape change before and after collision appears is generally due to the time-varying field. We, moreover, show that complete inelastic collisions can be achieved by adjusting spectrum and field parameters. This may lead to a potential technique of shape control of soliton.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29549686,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Identification of conditions which lead to unjustified requests for emergency treatment of hypertensive patients.\nAim To determine most common factors making patients with high blood pressure seek professionally unacceptable treatment of hypertension at the Emergency Department. Methods The survey was conducted at the Emergency Department of the Primary Health Care in Grada\u010dac on randomly selected 207 patients who requested medical help because of high blood pressure. For all patients arterial blood pressure and body mass index (BMI) were measured. A survey about knowledge and attitudes regarding habits that affect high blood pressure as well as the socio-economic conditions was made. Results Prevalence of 10.3% was found with regard to visits to emergency care by patients due to high blood pressure. Most patients, 127(61.4 %), were overweight and 36(17.4%) were obese. Patients who rarely controlled their blood pressure were more frequent visitors of emergency medical services. Stressful situation occurs as a factor in a variety of forms. The survey showed that 76 (36.7%) patients sought medical help even though they had no blood pressure values that required emergency care. Conclusion Poorly organized health care system with no continuous and comprehensive preventive promotional programs caused by inappropriate use of resources in health care. The reorganization of primary care with full implementation of family medicine and greater integration of family medicine with other levels of the health care system should provide a better control and treatment of other diseases such as hypertension.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26419544,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"AAOHN Competencies.\nThe AAOHN Competency document is one of the core documents that define occupational health nursing practice. This article provides a description of the process used to update the competencies, as well as a description of the new competencies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6725699,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Vacuum phenomenon within the cervical spinal canal: CT demonstration of a herniated disc.\nGas within the cervical spinal canal in association with a surgically proven herniated disc is demonstrated by computed tomography. Although rarely seen and never previously reported, this unmistakable roentgen sign provides strong evidence for a herniated disc in the cervical as well as lumbar spine.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36926407,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Facial basal cell carcinoma: A retrospective study of 67 cases.\nBasal cell carcinoma (BCC) is a slow-growing malignant tumor characterized by local invasiveness but an exceptionally rare metastatic potential. It ideally affects sun-exposed skin of older patients with more propensity for the facial region. To evaluate the different clinicopathological characteristics of the facial BCC and the efficacy and safety of diode laser for the treatment of these lesions. We retrospectively reviewed facial BCC lesions of < 1.5 cm in diameter and subjected them to diode laser ablation during the period from September 2016 to August 2021 at Al-Ramadi Teaching Hospital, Ramadi City, Iraq. Data matching the age, gender, duration, site, and clinical and histological types were registered for every subject. The functional and aesthetic outcomes and complications following diode laser ablation for each patient were also recorded. Of 67 patients with facial BCC, there was 65.67% from the age group \u2265 60 years and 58.21% males. The mean duration of the lesions was 5.15 \u00b1 1.836 mo. The most involved location was the nose (29.85%). About half of the cases belong to the noduloulcerative type. Solid histological type comprises 40.3% of the cases, while the least was keratotic (13.4%). Moreover, 65.2% of the solid cases were from the age group \u2264 60 years and 38.6% of the adenoid type from the age group > 60 years (P value = 0.007). Excellent aesthetic and functional outcomes were reported in all cases after 6 mo of follow-up. Few complications were reported after diode laser ablation. Facial BCC was mostly seen in the elderly and men. The mean duration was 5.15 mo. The nose was the commonest involved site. Noduloulcerative lesions were seen in approximately half of the lesions. The age of the patients determined the histological type of the lesion (solid type was mostly seen in the age group \u2264 60 years, while, adenoid in the age group > 60 years). Diode laser ablation showed excellent functional and aesthetic outcomes following a 6-mo follow-up.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23444821,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[CSF otorrhea: case report and management].\nMr G, sixty-seven years old, was admitted to our hospital for a liver transplant. He suffered from a cirrhosis due to an HBV infection, complicated by an hepatocellular carcinoma. During the perioperative care, a left otorrhea was discovered. According to the clinical history, this otorrhea had been present for six weeks and followed the completion of a myringotomy. The myringotomy had been performed with a view to place a transtympanic ventilation tube for the treatment of a serous otitis media inducing a conductive hearingloss. Clinical, biological, and radiological explorations revealed a CSF leak caused by the fact that the myringotomy had been done in a temporal meningo-encephalocele. A conservative treatment allowed to stop the otorrhea. We present a short discussion about temporal meningoencephalocele and, more generally, about CSF otorrhea.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34414060,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Medico-legal Closed Case Trends in Canadian Plastic Surgery: A Retrospective Descriptive Study.\nTo enhance patient safety and prevent medico-legal complaints, we need to understand current trends and impacts. We aimed to characterize Canadian plastic surgery medico-legal patterns in many dimensions. This retrospective descriptive analysis of Canadian Medical Protective Association data between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2017 included closed regulatory body complaints and civil-legal actions involving plastic surgeons. We excluded class action legal cases and hospital complaints. We collected data on patient allegations, procedure types, healthcare-related patient harms, and peer expert criticisms. The primary outcome of interest was physician medico-legal outcome. We found 414 cases that met the inclusion criteria: 253 (61.1%) cases involved cosmetic procedures and 161 (38.9%) noncosmetic procedures. The annual incidence among plastic surgeon members of regulatory body complaints and civil-legal actions was 12.1% and 6.7%, for a combined incidence of 18.8%. The most common allegations were deficient clinical assessment, inadequate informed consent, delayed or misdiagnosis, and inadequate monitoring. Leading contributing factors were physician-patient communication breakdown, deficient clinical judgments, and inadequate documentation. The top procedural complications included cosmetic deformity, poor scarring, upper extremity stiffness or deficit, major structural injury, and mental health disorder. Less than half of cases (198\/414, 47.8%) had unfavorable medico-legal outcomes for the surgeon. Patients were compensated in 86\/198 (43.4%) of civil-legal cases. Plastic surgeons experience more medico-legal complaints for cosmetic versus noncosmetic procedures. To minimize medico-legal risks, plastic surgeons should focus on strong physician-patient communication, patient education\/consent, thorough clinical assessment, minimizing potentially preventable complications, and maintaining relevant documentation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28250313,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nutritional Evaluation of Oleogel Made from Micronutrient Rich Edible Oils.\nThe present study examined the nutritional properties of trans-free edible oleogels made from oil blends of rice bran and flaxseed in animal model. Oleogels were prepared by using mixture of palm stearin (PS) with cetyl laurate (CL) and palm stearin (PS) with cetyl caprylate (CC) as oleogelators. The oleogel samples were prepared with 15 weight % oleogelators (2:1 molar ratio of PS:CC or PS:CL) at 60\u00b0C with 1 hr constant stirring in blended oil. The prepared oleogel samples were subjected to DSC and XRD studies in order to evaluate their melting and crystal characteristics. Oleogel formed by using PS and CC showed the desired thermal characteristics. The peak melting temperature of the said sample was almost 44.5\u00b0C as determined by the DSC technique. The X-ray diffraction study clearly signified that the crystals were well developed. For nutritional evaluation, Male Wister rats were fed with prepared oleogel samples along with control diet for 4 weeks. Animals were divided into four groups. The control group was fed with normal stock diet containing blend of rice bran oil and flaxseed oil (4:1); one was fed with TFA rich vanaspati (TFA content is about 11.20%); experimental groups were fed with oleogel prepared by using PS:CC and oleogel prepared by using PS:CL respectively. Analysis of the blood lipid profile of the four groups was done. In vivo study established the cholesterol lowering properties of prepared oleogel samples which further enhanced the novelty of oleogel as healthy alternative of trans fat. The positive changes were more pronounced in case of rats fed with oleogel prepared with PS:CC as oleogelators. This study provides an elegant approach of producing trans-free edible quality oleogel with recognized cholesterol lowering property.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":4123237,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Isolation of outer membranes with an ordered array of surface subunits from Acinetobacter.\nA method has been developed for the isolation of outer membranes from Acinetobacter sp. strain MJT\/F5\/199A. Washed cells were broken in a French press and, after deoxyribonuclease and ribonuclease treatment, removal of intact cells, and four washes in 20 mosmol phosphate buffer, pH 7.4, with centrifugation at 25,000 x g for 10 min, preparations of cell wall fragments from which almost all pieces of plasma membrane had been removed resulted. Treatment of the cell walls with lysozyme and further washing, in the presence of 20 mM MgCl(2), yielded preparations of outer membranes. Electron microscopy of freeze-etched preparations shows that a regular pattern of subunits is present on the outer surfaces of intact cells. After negative staining, these subunits are visible on isolated walls and outer membranes; they can be removed by brief treatment with papain. In section, the cell wall structure is that typical of gram-negative bacteria, but the subunits are not detectable on the surface of the outer membrane. The outer membrane retains the appearance of a \"unit membrane\" in the cell wall, isolated outer membrane, and papain-treated outer membrane fractions. Both cell walls and outer membranes contain a high percentage of protein (76 and 84%, respectively) and not more than 5% carbohydrate, of which glucose and galactose are constitutents. The outer membranes of this Acinetobacter thus differ in structure and composition from those of bacteria in the Enterobacteriaceae.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26473890,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Spiromastixones Inhibit Foam Cell Formation via Regulation of Cholesterol Efflux and Uptake in RAW264.7 Macrophages.\nBioassay-guided evaluation shows that a deep sea-derived fungus, Spiromastix sp. MCCC 3A00308, possesses lipid-lowering activity. Chromatographic separation of a culture broth resulted in the isolation of 15 known depsidone-based analogues, labeled spiromastixones A-O (1-15). Each of these compounds was tested for its ability to inhibit oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL)-induced foam cell formation in RAW264.7 macrophages. Spiromastixones 6-8 and 12-14 significantly decreased oxLDL-induced lipid over-accumulation, reduced cell surface area, and reduced intracellular cholesterol concentration. Of these compounds, spiromastixones 6 and 14 exerted the strongest inhibitory effects. Spiromastixones 6 and 14 dramatically inhibited cholesterol uptake and stimulated cholesterol efflux to apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) in RAW264.7 macrophages. Mechanistic investigation indicated that spiromastixones 6, 7, 12 and 14 significantly up-regulated the mRNA levels of ATP-binding cassette sub-family A1 (ABCA1) and down-regulated those of scavenger receptor CD36, while the transcription of ATP-binding cassette sub-family A1 (ABCG1) and proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR\u03b3) were selectively up-regulated by 6 and 14. A transactivation reporter assay revealed that spiromastixones 6 and 14 remarkably enhanced the transcriptional activity of PPAR\u03b3. These results suggest that spiromastixones inhibit foam cell formation through upregulation of PPAR\u03b3 and ABCA1\/G1 and downregulation of CD36, indicating that spiromastixones 6 and 14 are promising lead compounds for further development as anti-atherogenic agents.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3030542,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Immunoelectron microscopic localization of the pX gene products in human T-cell leukemia virus type 1-producing cells.\nThe location of the pX gene products in human T-cell leukemia virus type 1-producing cells, MT-2 and HUT 102, was studied by immunoelectron microscopy using the direct and indirect peroxidase-labeled antibody methods. Fab'-peroxidase conjugates were prepared for the direct method with a maleimide compound from antisera to the carboxy-terminal region of the pX gene products. Positive immunostaining in MT-2 cells was detected in the endoplasmic reticulum, the outer and inner leaflets of the nuclear membrane, and inside their cisternae, but not in the plasma membrane and viral particles. Staining in the nucleus was faint. On the other hand, positive immunostaining in HUT 102 cells was detected diffusely in the euchromatin regions of the nucleus but not in the nucleoli, nuclear envelope, and cellular membrane systems. The location of the positive immunostaining in the HUT 102 nuclei was reconfirmed by the reaction in isolated nuclei. On the basis of both the immunoelectron microscopic and immunoblotting analyses of the pX gene products, it is suggested that the Mr 40,000 to 42,000 protein (p40x) is localized mainly in the euchromatin regions of the nuclei of human T-cell leukemia virus type 1-producing cells, and the Mr 68,000 protein (p68x) is localized mainly in the nuclear envelope and the endoplasmic reticulum of MT-2 cells. p68x detected in MT-2 cells with the anti-p40x serum was deduced to be a protein consisting of p40x and a part of env gene products and to share epitopes in common with p40x.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9148391,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Hematological emergencies].\nIn this short review some important hematologic emergencies, that have been discussed at a round table on the occasion of the 22, meeting of internal medicine in central Switzerland are outlined without intention to be complete. The following emergencies are featured: Anemia, increased hematocrit (polyglobulia), severe (unexpected) neutropenia, marked hyperleukocytosis and leukemias, severe thrombocytopenia; thrombocytopathies (hereditary or acquired), von Willebrand-disease, acquired or hereditary coagulation disorders (coagulopathies), acute venous thrombosis; acute hemolytic transfusion reaction, posttransfusion purpura, severe autoimmune hemolysis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27477335,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Metallothionein Prevents Age-Associated Cardiomyopathy via Inhibiting NF-\u03baB Pathway Activation and Associated Nitrative Damage to 2-OGD.\nCardiac-specific metallothionein (MT) overexpression extends lifespan, but the mechanism underlying the effect of MT protection against age-associated cardiovascular diseases (CVD) remains elusive. To elucidate this, male wild-type and two lines of MT-transgenic (MT-TG) mice, MM and MT-1 (cardiac-specific overexpressing MT about 10- and 80-fold, respectively) at three representative ages (2-3, 9-10, and 18-20 months), were utilized. A stable human MT2A overexpressing cardiomyocytes (H9c2MT7) was also introduced. Histomorphology and echocardiographic analysis revealed that age-associated cardiac hypertrophy, remodeling, and dysfunction were ameliorated in MT-TG mice. Also, aging-accompanied NF-\u03baB activation, characterized by increased nuclear p65 translocation, elevated DNA-binding activity, and upregulation of inflammatory cytokines, was largely attenuated by MT overexpression. Treatment of H9c2 cardiomyocytes with tumor necrosis factor-\u03b1 (TNF-\u03b1), which mimicked an inflammatory environment, significantly increased NF-\u03baB activity, and some age-related phenotypes appeared. The NF-\u03baB activation was further proved to be pivotal for both age-associated and TNF-\u03b1-induced nitrative damage to cardiac 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase (2-OGD) by virtue of NF-\u03baB p65 gene silencing. MT inhibited NF-\u03baB activation and associated nitrative damage to cardiac 2-OGD in both old MT-TG hearts and TNF-\u03b1-treated H9c2MT7 cardiomyocytes; these protective effects were abolished in H9c2MT7 cardiomyocytes by MT-specific gene silencing. Innovation and Conclusion: Together, these findings indicate that the protective effects of MT against age-associated CVD can be attributed mainly to its role in NF-\u03baB inhibition and resultant alleviation of nitrative damage to 2-OGD. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 25, 936-952.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20373930,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Commonly used botanicals and vitamins and their impact on blood pressure and blood loss in surgical gynaecology patients.\nWe wanted to determine botanical and vitamin use in surgical gynaecology patients at UHWI and their effects on blood pressure and blood loss. The study was prospective and observational. Before elective surgery, we evaluated 133 patients on the use of botanicals and vitamins. We measured pre- and intraoperative blood pressure and intraoperative blood loss to determine any association with botanical use. Botanicals were used by 68.4% of patients with a 45.1% use within 2 weeks before surgery, p = 0.002). Users were older (p = 0.024) and had more chronic illnesses (p = 0.003). They also had higher mean preoperative diastolic blood pressure (p = 0.016) but no statistically significant difference in intraoperative blood pressures. Blood loss was greater with recent use of certain anticoagulant botanicals. We conclude that the use of certain botanicals may increase blood pressure or increase surgical bleeding and patients and doctors should be aware of their risk.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16231696,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Spontaneous and induced programmed cell death in suspension cell cultures of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)].\nCotton suspension cells grew well in the MS medium supplemented with 0.1 mg\/L 2,4 D and 0.1 mg\/L KT. Senescence occurred when the cells were unsubcultured. The cells began to lose their viabilities on the 17th day, and on the 21th day oligonucleosomal sized DNA fragments ( DNA ladder) could be detected. Oligonucleosomal sized DNA fragments ( DNA ladder) was the hallmark of the programmed cell death. Programmed cell death of cotton suspension cells could be induced respectively by some stress factors which included heatshock (42+\/-3 degrees C for 8 hours), 10 micromol\/L camptothecin, 20 micromol\/L fumonisin B1 and 50 mmol\/L cycloheximide. The cotton suspension cells which grew in the MS medium supplemented with 0.1 mg\/L 2,4 D and 0.1 mg\/L KT differred physiologically from the cells in the MS medium supplemented with 0.1 mg\/L IBA and 0.1 mg\/L KT, and they responded differentially to the heatshock, 10 micromol\/L camptothecin and 20 micromol\/L fumonisin B1, while the same to 50 mmol\/L cycloheximide.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12036869,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Induction of granulocytic differentiation by 2 pathways.\nThe CCAAT enhancer binding protein alpha (C\/EBP alpha) transcription factor plays a critical role in granulocytopoiesis. Mice with a disruption of the C\/EBP alpha gene demonstrate an early block in granulocytic differentiation, and disruption of C\/EBP alpha function is a common theme in many types of human acute myelogenous leukemia, which is characterized by a block in myeloid development. To characterize further the nature of this block, we derived cell lines from the fetal liver of C\/EBP alpha-deficient animals. These lines resembled morphologically the immature myeloid blasts observed in C\/EBP alpha(-\/-) fetal livers and did not express messenger RNA encoding early myeloid genes such as myeloperoxidase. Similarly, granulocytic markers such as Mac-1 and Gr-1 were not expressed; nor were erythroid and lymphoid surface antigens. Introduction of an inducible C\/EBP alpha gene into the line revealed that conditional expression of C\/EBP alpha induced the C\/EBP family members C\/EBP beta and C\/EBP epsilon and subsequent granulocyte differentiation. Similar results were obtained when C\/EBP alpha(-\/-) cells were stimulated with the cytokines interleukin-3 and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, but not with all-trans retinoic acid, supporting a model of at least 2 pathways leading to the differentiation of myeloid progenitors to granulocytes and implicating induction of other C\/EBP family members in granulopoiesis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31265908,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Single-Port\/Pneumovagina Technique for Two Further Applications.\nTo demonstrate a novel technique to surgically treat certain vaginal conditions. Technical video demonstrating 2 cases in which the technique is used. Gynecological Minimally Invasive and Robotic Surgery Unit at Cl\u00ednica Universitaria (private clinic), Concepci\u00f3n, Chile. Local institutional review board was consulted, and this study was exempted from approval. Institutional ethics committee approved the study and publication of these data. A 35-year-old woman with a bicornuate unicollis uterus presented with dyspareunia. Her examination revealed an incomplete longitudinal vaginal septum. Her right hemivagina was slightly wider than the left one. With the patient under spinal anesthesia, we performed a complete resection of the septum using the single-port\/pneumovagina technique (SPPT). A 36-year-old woman who was nulligravida presented with dyspareunia. On clinical exam she had a 3-cm leiomyoma in the proximal vaginal third. Doppler-powered pelvic ultrasound ruled out any vascular communication with the cervix. We performed a vaginal myomectomy using the SPPT under spinal anesthesia. In this particular case we used a fourth trocar in the gel cap to use a myoma screw. With this technique we created a pneumovagina occluding the introitus with the aid of a single-port device (GelPoint Path; Applied Medical, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA). We selected this particular device, designed for transanal surgery, because its access channel avoids gas leakage after applying gentle pressure on the cap. The working cannel is 4 \u00d7 4.5 cm, and up to 4 trocars can be inserted in the gel cap. We use 12 mm Hg of pressure to create the pneumovagina and 5 L\/min flow to maintain it. Similar approaches have been described for treating eroded and\/or infected sacrocolpopexy mesh [1-3]. One could question the utility of this approach over conventional vaginal surgery, and in this sense we believe it provides both the surgeon and surgical assistant a much more comfortable and ergonomic position while performing surgery. It also improves the view of anatomic structures for the surgical team, which in conventional vaginal surgery is limited only to the surgeon. Both procedures were uneventful. The operation time for the first patient was 5 minutes, and the patient was discharged 4 hours later. The operation time for the second patient lasted 35 minutes, and she was discharged 12 hours later. The creation of a pneumovagina with the application of a single-port device provides an excellent view of vaginal structures and allows the application of laparoscopic techniques to perform vaginal surgeries in a much more ergonomic fashion compared with conventional vaginal surgery.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35126340,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"From Genome Variation to Molecular Mechanisms: What we Have Learned From Yeast Mitochondrial Genomes?\nAnalysis of genome variation provides insights into mechanisms in genome evolution. This is increasingly appreciated with the rapid growth of genomic data. Mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) are well known to vary substantially in many genomic aspects, such as genome size, sequence context, nucleotide base composition and substitution rate. Such substantial variation makes mitogenomes an excellent model system to study the mechanisms dictating mitogenome variation. Recent sequencing efforts have not only covered a rich number of yeast species but also generated genomes from abundant strains within the same species. The rich yeast genomic data have enabled detailed investigation from genome variation into molecular mechanisms in genome evolution. This mini-review highlights some recent progresses in yeast mitogenome studies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26426836,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"A multicenter randomized comparison between high-definition white light endoscopy and narrow band imaging for detection of gastric lesions.\nNarrow band imaging (NBI) is generally considered to be useful for lesion characterization, but not enhanced detection of gastric lesions, because of the dark endoscopic view. We tested whether the new generation of NBI (190-NBI or 290-NBI), which is twice as bright as the previous version, would improve detection of premalignant gastric lesions compared with high-definition white light endoscopy (HD-WLE). This was a multicenter prospective randomized study involving five tertiary institutions in the Asia-Pacific region. A total of 579 patients aged older than 50 years who underwent diagnostic upper gastrointestinal endoscopy were randomized to either HD-WLE or NBI. The outcome measurements were detection of intestinal metaplasia (IM), focal gastric lesions, and gastric cancers. Focal gastric lesions were detected in 83\/286 (29%) and 119\/293 patients (40.6%) by HD-WLE and by NBI, respectively (P=0.003). IM was detected in 22\/286 patients (7.7%) by HD-WLE and in 52\/293 patients (17.7%) by NBI (P<0.001). Gastric cancer were found in 7\/286 (2.4%) and 3\/293 patients (1%) in HD-WLE and NBI groups, respectively (P=0.189). NBI increased the detection rate of IM compared with HD-WLE.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20364966,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Monte Carlo study of the phase transition in the critical behavior of the Ising model with shear.\nThe critical behavior of the Ising model with nonconserved dynamics and an external driving field mimicking a shear profile is analyzed by studying its dynamical evolution in the short-time regime. Starting from high-temperature disordered configurations (fully disordered configurations, FDC), the critical temperature Tc is determined when the order parameter, defined as the absolute value of the transversal spin profile, exhibits a power-law behavior with an exponent that is a combination of some of the critical exponents of the transition. For each value of the shear field magnitude, labeled as gamma, Tc has been estimated and two stages have been found: (1) a growing stage at low values of gamma, where Tc approximately gammapsi and psi=0.52(3), and (2) a saturation regime at large gamma. The same values of Tc(gamma) were found studying the dynamical evolution from the ground-state configuration with all spins pointing in the same direction. By combining the exponents of the corresponding power laws obtained from each initial configuration, the set of critical exponents was calculated. These values, at large external field magnitude, define a critical behavior different from that of the Ising model and of other driven lattice gases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15244483,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Properties and microstructure of thermo-pressed wheat gluten films: a comparison with cast films.\nWheat gluten films were prepared by thermo-pressing, and their mechanical properties were compared to those of cast films. The stress-strain relationship was established for films with various amounts of glycerol. Both relationships were quite different, revealing a different network organization. Thermo-pressed films presented higher stress values than cast films, but the effect of the glycerol amount was similar in both cases, an increase of the glycerol amount leading to a decrease of both films stress. The glycerol influence on the strain at break of thermo-pressed films was very limited, with strain values reaching a maximum around 200%. The role of disulfide bridges on themomoulded films mechanical properties was investigated, and it was shown that some rearrangements and a significative protein insolubilization occurred during the process. The effective flow porosity of the protein network for thermo-pressed films was estimated by water capillary rise measurements to about 7%. Scanning electron microscopy was used to obtain some information about the microstructure of both cast and thermo-pressed films.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32355177,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Anthropogenic Anoxic History of the Tuvalu Atoll Recorded as Annual Black Bands in Coral.\nAtoll islands are small, low-lying and highly vulnerable to sea level rise (SLR). Because these islands are fully composed of the skeletons from coral reef creatures, the healthy coral ecosystem plays a pivotal role in island resilience against SLR. The environmental deterioration of reefs caused by increases in the human population has been recently reported, but the timing and process are unknown. We investigated the annual black bands in a coral boring core from Fongafale Island, the capital of Tuvalu, which is a symbolic atoll country that is being submerged due to SLR. The iron redox state and microbial gene segments in the coral skeleton might be new environmental indicators that reveal the linkage between anthropogenic activity and coral reef ecosystems. Our findings provide the first demonstration that iron sulfide has formed concentrated black layers since 1991 under the seasonal anoxic conditions inside coral annual bands. Since the 1990s, increasing human activity and domestic waste-induced eutrophication has promoted sludge and\/or turf algae proliferation with the subsequent seasonal destruction, resulting in sulfate reduction by anaerobic bacteria. With the recent climate variability, these anthropogenic effects have induced the mass mortality of branching corals, deteriorated the coral reef ecosystem and deprived the resilience of the island against SLR.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27270726,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Ion Flux in Roots of Chinese Fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata (Lamb.) Hook) under Aluminum Stress.\nChinese fir is a tall, fast-growing species that is unique to southern China. In Chinese fir plantations, successive plantings have led to a decline in soil fertility, and aluminum toxicity is thought to be one of the main reasons for this decline. In this study, Non-invasive Micro-test Technology was used to study the effect of aluminum stress on the absorption of 4 different ions in the roots of the Chinese fir clone FS01. The results are as follows: with increased aluminum concentration and longer periods of aluminum stress, the H+ ion flow gradually changed from influx into efflux; there was a large variation in the K+ efflux, which gradually decreased with increasing duration of aluminum stress; and 1 h of aluminum stress uniformly resulted in Ca2+ influx, but it changed from influx to efflux after a longer period of aluminum stress. Changes in the different concentrations of aluminum had the largest influence on Mg2+.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23446526,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Meandering worms: mechanics of undulatory burrowing in muds.\nRecent work has shown that muddy sediments are elastic solids through which animals extend burrows by fracture, whereas non-cohesive granular sands fluidize around some burrowers. These different mechanical responses are reflected in the morphologies and behaviours of their respective inhabitants. However, Armandia brevis, a mud-burrowing opheliid polychaete, lacks an expansible anterior consistent with fracturing mud, and instead uses undulatory movements similar to those of sandfish lizards that fluidize desert sands. Here, we show that A. brevis neither fractures nor fluidizes sediments, but instead uses a third mechanism, plastically rearranging sediment grains to create a burrow. The curvature of the undulating body fits meander geometry used to describe rivers, and changes in curvature driven by muscle contraction are similar for swimming and burrowing worms, indicating that the same gait is used in both sediments and water. Large calculated friction forces for undulatory burrowers suggest that sediment mechanics affect undulatory and peristaltic burrowers differently; undulatory burrowing may be more effective for small worms that live in sediments not compacted or cohesive enough to extend burrows by fracture.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15559932,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"LiCl inhibits the establishment of left-right asymmetry in larvae of the direct-developing echinoid Peronella japonica.\nThe effect of LiCl on the establishment of left-right (LR) asymmetry in larvae of the direct-developing echinoid Peronella japonica was investigated with special attention to the location of the amniotic opening and ciliary band pattern. The larvae of echinoids are LR symmetric, but shortly before metamorphosis the larval LR symmetry is lost as a result of the formation of an amniotic cavity (vestibule), part of the adult rudiment, on the left side of the body. P. japonica has been considered to be the only exception among the echinoids, because the amniotic cavity forms at the midline of the larval body. In the present study we discovered the following two different LR asymmetric traits in larvae of P. japonica: the opening of the amniotic cavity initially forms at the midline of the larval body but shifts to the left dorsal side, and a looped ciliary band that initially forms with LR symmetry becomes LR asymmetric as a result of the formation of a bulge on left dorsal side. The establishment of LR asymmetry in both the location of the amniotic opening and the change in the shape of the ciliary band was influenced by exposing embryos to LiCl. Quantitative analysis of the shift in amniotic opening showed that exposure of embryos to LiCl causes repression of leftward shifting of the amniotic opening in earlier stage larvae, and leftward or rightward shifting in later stage larvae. These findings suggest that LiCl is an effective means of impairing the establishment of LR asymmetry in sea urchin embryos.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6721466,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of inoculum, pH, and medium on the activity of ciprofloxacin against anaerobic bacteria.\nThe in vitro activity of ciprofloxacin against 30 Bacteroides fragilis group, 30 Clostridium, and 30 Peptococcaceae strains was determined by the agar dilution method in two different culture media at three pH and in three inoculum densities. In Wilkins-Chalgren agar the MICs for 90% of the strains were 0.12 micrograms\/ml for B. fragilis, 0.5 micrograms\/ml for Clostridium spp., and 2 micrograms\/ml for Peptococcaceae. The pH and medium composition affected the MICs of ciprofloxacin.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27273502,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Human mesenchymal stem cells attenuate pulmonary hypertension induced by prenatal lipopolysaccharide treatment in rats.\nIntra-amniotic injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induces pulmonary hypertension in newborn rats. This study was designed to test whether human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) reduce pulmonary hypertension and alleviate cardiac hypertrophy in prenatal LPS-treated rats. Pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were injected intraperitoneally with LPS (0.5 mg\/kg per day) or untreated on gestational days 20 and 21. Human MSCs (3\u00d710(5) cells and 1\u00d710(6) cells) in 0.03 mL of normal saline (NS) were transplanted intratracheally on postnatal day 5. Four study groups were considered: normal, LPS+NS, LPS+MSCs (3\u00d710(5) cells), and LPS+MSCs (1\u00d710(6) cells). On postnatal day 14, lung and heart tissues were collected for measuring the arterial medial wall thickness (MWT) and \u03b2-myosin heavy chain (\u03b2-MHC) level as markers of pulmonary hypertension and cardiac hypertrophy, respectively. The LPS+NS group exhibited a significantly higher right ventricle (RV)\/[left ventricle (LV)+ interventricular septum (IVS)] thickness ratio and MWT, a greater cardiomyocyte width, a greater number of cardiomyocyte nuclei per squared millimeter, and higher \u03b2-MHC expression than those observed in the normal group. Human MSC transplantation (3\u00d710(5) cells and 1\u00d710(6) cells) in LPS-treated rats reduced MWT and the RV\/(LV+IVS) thickness ratio to normal levels. This improvement in right ventricular hypertrophy was accompanied by a decrease in toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), nuclear factor-\u03baB, and tumor necrosis factor-\u03b1 expression in the heart. Intratracheal human MSCs transplantation can attenuate pulmonary hypertension and right ventricular hypertrophy in prenatal LPS-treated rats; this attenuation may be associated with suppression of TLR4 expression via paracrine pathways.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30091518,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Enzymatically Powered Surface-Associated Self-Motile Protocells.\nCell motility is central to processes such as wound healing, immune cell surveillance, and embryonic development. Motility requires the conversion of chemical to mechanical energy. An active area of research is to create motile particles, such as microswimmers, using catalytic and enzymatic reactions. Here, autonomous motion is demonstrated in adhesive polymer-based protocells by incorporating and harnessing the energy production of an enzymatic reaction. Biotinylated polymer vesicles that encapsulate catalase, an enzyme which converts hydrogen peroxide to water and oxygen, are prepared and these vesicles are adhered weakly to avidin-coated surfaces. Upon addition of hydrogen peroxide, which diffuses across the membrane, catalase activity generates a differential impulsive force that enables the breakage and reformation of biotin-avidin bonds, leading to diffusive vesicle motion resembling random motility. The random motility requires catalase, increases with the concentration of hydrogen peroxide, and needs biotin-avidin adhesion. Thus, a protocellular mimetic of a motile cell.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36277744,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Secondary aerosol formation during the dark oxidation of residential biomass burning emissions.\nParticulate matter from biomass burning emissions affects air quality, ecosystems and climate; however, quantifying these effects requires that the connection between primary emissions and secondary aerosol production is firmly established. We performed atmospheric simulation chamber experiments on the chemical oxidation of residential biomass burning emissions under dark conditions. Biomass burning organic aerosol was found to age under dark conditions, with its oxygen-to-carbon ratio increasing by 7-34% and producing 1-38 \u03bcg m-3 of secondary organic aerosol (5-80% increase over the fresh organic aerosol) after 30 min of exposure to NO3 radicals in the chamber (corresponding to 1-3 h of exposure to typical nighttime NO3 radical concentrations in an urban environment). The average mass concentration of SOA formed under dark-oxidation conditions was comparable to the mass concentration formed after 3 h (equivalent to 7-10 h of ambient exposure) under ultraviolet lights (6 \u03bcg m-3 or a 47% increase over the emitted organic aerosol concentration). The dark-aging experiments showed a substantial increase in secondary nitrate aerosol (0.12-3.8 \u03bcg m-3), 46-100% of which is in the form of organic nitrates. The biomass burning aerosol pH remained practically constant at 2.8 throughout the experiment. This value promotes inorganic nitrate partitioning to the particulate phase, potentially contributing to the buildup of nitrate aerosol in the boundary layer and enhancing long-range transport. These results suggest that oxidation through reactions with the NO3 radical is an additional secondary aerosol formation pathway in biomass burning emission plumes that should be accounted for in atmospheric chemical-transport models.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9551861,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Expression and function of tap in the gustatory and olfactory organs of Drosophila.\nWe have recently described the identification of a gene, tap, which encodes a bHLH protein expressed in one neuron of each larval chemosensory organ. Here we show that tap is expressed at a late stage in the development of one type of adult chemosensory organ, the gustatory bristles of the leg, wing and proboscis. We also show that tap is expressed very early in the development of a second type of chemosensory receptors, the olfactory organs of the antenna. The results of behavioral experiments suggest that the ectopic expression of tap affects the response to sugar and salt.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25503326,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Overlapping genes: a new strategy of thermophilic stress tolerance in prokaryotes.\nOverlapping genes (OGs) draw the focus of recent day's research. However, the significance of OGs in prokaryotic genomes remained unexplored. As an adaptation to high temperature, thermophiles were shown to eliminate their intergenic regions. Therefore, it could be possible that prokaryotes would increase their OG content to adapt to high temperature. To test this hypothesis, we carried out a comparative study on OG frequency of 256 prokaryotic genomes comprising both thermophiles and non-thermophiles. It was found that thermophiles exhibit higher frequency of overlapping genes than non-thermophiles. Moreover, overlap frequency was found to correlate with optimal growth temperature (OGT) in prokaryotes. Long overlap frequency was found to hold a positive correlation with OGT resulting in an abundance of long overlaps in thermophiles compared to non-thermophiles. On the other hand, short overlap (1-4 nucleotides) frequency (SOF) did not yield any direct correlation with OGT. However, the correlation of SOF with CAIavg (extent of variation of codon usage bias measured as the mean of codon adaptation index of all genes in a given genome) and IG% (proportion of intergenic regions) indicate that they might upregulate the aforementioned factors (CAIavg and IG%) which are already known to be vital forces for thermophilic adaptation. From these evidences, we propose that the OG content bears a strong link to thermophily. Long overlaps are important for their genome compaction and short overlaps are important to uphold high CAIavg. Our findings will surely help in better understanding of the significance of overlapping gene content in prokaryotic genomes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37662858,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Helicobacter pylori intragastric colonization and migration: Endoscopic manifestations and potential mechanisms.\nAfter being ingested and entering the human stomach, Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) adopts several effective strategies to adhere to and colonize the gastric mucosa and move to different regions of the stomach to obtain more nutrients and escape from the harsher environments of the stomach, leading to acute infection and chronic gastritis, which is the basis of malignant gastric tumors. The endoscopic manifestations and pathological features of H. pylori infection are diverse and vary with the duration of infection. In this review, we describe the endoscopic manifestations of each stage of H. pylori gastritis and then reveal the potential mechanisms of bacterial intragastric colonization and migration from the perspective of endoscopists to provide direction for future research on the effective therapy and management of H. pylori infection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28743666,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Biological significance of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine in oral epithelial dysplasia and oral squamous cell carcinoma.\nThe aim of this study was to determine the levels of 5-hydroxylmethylcytosine (5-hmC) in oral epithelial dysplasia (OED) and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) compared with those in benign, reactive inflammatory lesions and to explore whether DNA hydroxymethylation may serve as a novel biomarker for early diagnosis and prognosis of OSCC. The study included normal mucosa from uninvolved margins of 9 fibromas, 10 oral lichen planus, 15 OED, and 23 OSCC. Cultured human keratinocyte lines from benign oral mucosa, OED, and OSCC, as well as a murine model in which OSCC was induced with 4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide, were also evaluated. Progressive loss of 5-hmC from benign oral mucosal lesions to OED and OSCC was documented in patient samples. Decreased levels in 5-hmC that typify OED and OSCC were also detectable in human cell lines. Moreover, we characterized similar alterations in 5-hmC in an animal model of OED\/OSCC. This study demonstrated that 5-hmC distinguishes OED and OSCC from benign lesions with high sensitivity and specificity. Consequently, loss of 5-hmC may be useful for the diagnosis of OED with potential implications for therapy of OSCC.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26467009,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of dietary L-arginine on laying performance and antioxidant capacity of broiler breeder hens, eggs, and offspring during the late laying period.\nThe effects of maternal L-arginine supplementation on laying performance and the antioxidant capacity of broiler breeder hens, egg yolk, and their one-day-old offspring were investigated. In a 9 wk experiment, 210 60-week-old Arbor Acres healthy female broiler breeders were randomly divided into 5 treatments with 6 replicates of 7 females and fed a corn and soybean meal diet with 5 arginine levels (0.96%, 1.16%, 1.36%, 1.56%, and 1.76% digestible arginine). Laying performance and anti-oxidant capacity of broiler breeder hens, eggs, and offspring were evaluated. Digestible arginine level in the broiler breeder diet had a significant effect on the laying rate (linear and quadratic effect, P<0.0001). The highest laying rate was obtained when the diet with 1.36% digestible arginine was fed. There was a significant effect of digestible arginine level in the broiler breeder diet on the total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) levels and methane dicarboxylic aldehyde (MDA) concentration in the broiler breeder serum, egg yolk and serum, and liver and breast of one-day-old offspring (linear and quadratic effect, P<0.05). The T-AOC level was highest and the MDA concentration lowest in all tissues when a diet with 1.36% digestible arginine was fed. No difference in glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX) activity in the broiler breeder serum was observed. There were significant effects of digestible arginine level in the broiler breeder diet on the GSH-PX activity of the egg yolk (linear effect, P<0.01; quadratic effect, P<0.05) and serum, liver, and breast of one-day-old offspring (linear and quadratic effect, P\u22640.01). The GSH-PX activity in all tissues measured in this experiment was highest when the dietary digestible arginine was 1.36%. These results indicate that the diet with 1.36% digestible arginine (1,972 mg\/d) is optimal to satisfy the nutritional needs of a female broiler breeder during the late laying period.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29562110,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Biosorption of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol from Aqueous Medium Using Agro-waste: Pine (Pinus densiflora Sieb) Bark Powder.\nMost industrial waste discharges are often contaminated with phenolic compounds, which constitute a major source of water pollution owing to their toxicity and low biodegradability. Development of cost-effective treatment of such industrial wastewater is therefore of paramount importance. Towards this end, we explore the efficacy of Pine bark powder (PBP), which is an agricultural solid waste material, as a low-cost biosorbent without any pre-treatment, for the adsorptive removal of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (2,4,6-TCP) from aqueous media. The PBP was thoroughly characterized and the effect of important adsorption parameters were examined in the present investigation. The batch equilibrium data were analyzed using well-known isotherm models. Freundlich isotherm model provided the best description of the equilibrium biosorption behavior. At 25 \u00b1 1 \u00b0C, the maximum biosorption capacity (qmax) was 289.09 mg\/g, which is higher than most biosorbents reported in the literature while the removal as high as 97% was obtained. Moreover, the biosorption process was fast, attaining equilibrium in less than 120 min of contact. The Elovich model accurately described the kinetics data. In view of high biosorption capacity and.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21755241,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"CMV and HSV-2 myeloradiculitis in an HIV infected patient.\nWhile CMV myeloradiculitis is a known complication in AIDS patients with severe immunosuppression, HSV-2 necrotizing myeloradiculitis is rare and often associated with disabling a fatal outcome. We hereby describe a 46 year-old HIV infected patient with profound and sustained immunosuppression who presented with an acute ascending paraparesis and urinary retention. Lumbar spine MRI showed contrast enhancement at the conus medullaris and cauda equine, and both CMV and HSV-2 CSF PCR were positive. Despite treatment, the patient died 20 days later. We review the main diagnostic and therapeutic aspects of herpes virus associated myeloradiculitis and discuss the approach in similar cases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32365155,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Coalescence of isotropic droplets in overheated free standing smectic films.\nA theoretical study of the interaction and coalescence of isotropic droplets in overheated free-standing smectic films (FSSF) is presented. Experimentally it is clear that merging of such droplets is extremely rare. On the basis of the general thermodynamic approach to the stability of FSSF, we determined the energy gains and losses involved in the coalescence process. The main contributions to the critical work of drop coalescence are due to the gain related to the decrease of the surface energy of the merging drops, which is opposed by the entropic repulsions of elementary steps at the smectic interface between them. To quantify the evolution of the merging drops, we use a simple geometrical model in which the volume of the smectic material, rearranged in the process of coalescence, is described by an asymmetrical pyramid at the intersection of two drops. In this way, the critical work for drop coalescence and the corresponding energy barrier have been calculated. The probability of the thermal activation of the coalescence process was found to be negligibly small, indicating that droplet merging can be initiated by only an external stimulus. The dynamics of drop merging was calculated by equating the capillary force driving the coalescence, and the Stokes viscous force slowing it down. For the latter, an approximation of moving oblate spheroids permitting exact calculations was used. The time evolution of the height of the neck between the coalescing drops and that of their lateral size are in good agreement with experiments.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27270577,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Diagnosis of Lobesia botrana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) Using Real-Time PCR.\nA real-time PCR assay is reported for identification of Lobesia botrana (Denis and Schifferm\u00fcller) collected in California. This assay multiplexes two independent TaqMan probe systems in a single reaction tube to reduce handling time and sample exposure to environmental contaminants. One probe system targets a segment of DNA located in the internal transcribed spacer region 2 (ITS2) that is present in the L. botrana genome but absent in native North American Tortricidae. The second probe system serves as a control for DNA quality by targeting a segment of the 18S rDNA gene that is conserved in L. botrana and all of the tested nontarget species. The assay successfully diagnosed 70 Lobesia botrana specimens and 95 nontarget specimens. No false-positive or false-negative results were observed supporting its application for identification of this pest in California.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16161710,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-22":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Different levels of work-related stress and the effects on sleep, fatigue and cortisol.\nThe aim of the study was to relate different levels of work stress to measures of sleep and the diurnal pattern of salivary cortisol and subjective sleepiness. Thirty-four white-collar workers participated under two different conditions. One workweek with a relatively high stress level (H) and one with a lower stress level (L) as measured through self-rated stress during workdays. The workers wore activity monitors, filled out a sleep diary, gave saliva samples (for cortisol), and rated their sleepiness and stress during one workday and one free day. During the week with stress the number of workhours increased and total sleep time decreased. Sleepiness showed a significant interaction between weeks and time of day, with particularly high levels towards the evenings of the stress week. Cortisol also showed a significant interaction, with a more flattened pattern, probably due to increased evening levels during the stress week. Stress (restlessness) at bedtime was significantly increased during the stress week. The results demonstrate that a workweek with a high workload and much stress increases sleepiness and workhours, impairs sleep, and affects the pattern of diurnal cortisol secretion.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24387335,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Translating mismatch repair mechanism into cancer care.\nThe first DNA mismatch repair gene was identified in Escherichia coli nearly fifty years ago. Since then, five decades of basic biomedical research on this important repair pathway have led to an extensive understanding of its molecular mechanism. The significance of this work was clearly highlighted in the early 1990's when mutations in the human homologs of the mismatch repair genes were identified as responsible for Lynch syndrome (also known as hereditary non-polyposis colon cancer), the most common form of hereditary colorectal cancer. Basic science research on mismatch repair in lower organisms directly led researchers to the discovery of this link between defective mismatch repair and cancer and continues to guide clinical decisions today. The knowledge that disrupted mismatch repair function gives rise to the nucleotide-level form of genomic instability called microsatellite instability continues to be an important diagnostic tool for identifying Lynch syndrome patients as well as sporadic cancer patients who suffer from mismatch repairdefective cancers. Today, clinicians are using the information about mismatch repair molecular mechanism to guide decisions about cancer therapy as well to devise new therapies. In this review, we will examine what is known about the molecular function of the human mismatch repair pathway. We will highlight how this information is being used in cancer diagnosis and treatment. We will also discuss strategies being designed to target the 10-15% of colorectal, endometrial, ovarian and other cancers with defective mismatch repair.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6734099,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"An evaluation of some of the methods currently available for the production of leucocyte-poor blood.\nFour methods used for the production of leucocyte-poor blood were compared: liquid nitrogen recovery and washing, washing alone, the Imugard filter and the Leuko-Pak filter. Twenty units of blood were tested by each technique. Liquid nitrogen recovery and washing, and the Imugard filter removed over 95% of white cells, and 95% and 56% respectively of platelets. Washing alone was unreliable and removed on average 47% of white cells and 85% of platelets. The Leuko-Pak filter removed on average 42% of white cells and 79% of platelets.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25516772,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Role of adiponectin and proinflammatory gene expression in adipose tissue chronic inflammation in women with metabolic syndrome.\nThe purpose of this research was to study the gene expression of interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-\u03b1 (TNF-\u03b1), nuclear factor kappa B (NF-\u03baB), vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) and adiponectin (AdipoQ) genes in the visceral (omental, mesenteric) and subcutaneous adipose tissue depots in metabolic syndrome (MS). We studied 23 women with MS, with a mean age of 50.7 \u00b1 4.5 years and mean body mass index (BMI) of 45.6 \u00b1 9.8 kg\/m(2). The control group included 10 women, with a mean age of 40.6 \u00b1 8.7 years and normal BMI (22.3 \u00b1 3.7 kg\/m(2)). The gene expression levels in the omental (OAT), mesenteric (MAT) and subcutaneous (SAT) adipose tissues were assessed by quantitative real-time PCR. Increased gene expression levels of IL-6 and TNF-\u03b1 were detected in MAT in patients with MS, compared with the control group (p < 0.05 and p < 0.005, respectively). Significant positive correlations were observed between IL-6 mRNA expression levels in OAT and the content of CD14 + cells in the peripheral blood (r = 0.55, p < 0.05), as well as between NF-\u03baB and VEGF-A mRNA levels in OAT (r = 0.43, p < 0.05) in patients with MS. The AdipoQ gene expression levels in OAT were significantly decreased in women with MS compared with the control group (p < 0.05). In addition, there were inverse correlations between AdipoQ gene levels in MAT and serum CRP levels (r = -0.63, p < 0.05), as well as between AdipoQ gene levels in MAT and serum IL-6 levels (r = -0.46, p < 0.05). These data demonstrate that proinflammatory gene expression of MAT in women with MS was increased compared with the control group. The AdipoQ gene expression levels in OAT were significantly decreased in women with MS compared with the control group.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22682271,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Free radical scavenging activity of Elsholtzia densa.\nMedicinal plants have been used traditionally to cure a variety of diseases since ancient times. Elsholtzia densa, a rare annual herb of the Kashmir valley, was assessed for its antioxidant efficacy. Antioxidant activity of the crude extracts was evaluated using 1, 1- diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl free radical (DPPH), DNA sugar damage, lipid peroxidation, ferric thiocyanate (FTC) and hydrogen peroxide scavenging assays. The maximum percentage decrease of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl radical (DPPH) standard solution was recorded for the 50% ethanolic extract (90.48%). The extracts were further evaluated using the thiobarbituric acid reactive substances assay. The methanolic extract showed the highest activity (32.02%) in reducing oxidative damage to DNA. The antioxidant activity of the extracts was also determined using the linoleic acid system and the highest antioxidant activity (49.64%) was found in the 50% ethanolic extract. In the case of the FTC assay, the 50% ethanolic extract showed the highest activity (70.14%) which was comparable to that of \u03b1-tocopherol. Moreover, total phenolics concentration was found to be 62.5mg% and 77.5mg% in the cases of absolute ethanolic and 50% ethanolic extracts, respectively. These findings indicate promising antioxidant activity of crude extracts of the plant and the need for further exploration of their effective use in both modern and traditional systems of medicine.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36262765,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Prevalence of Anxiety and Depression in the Iranian General Population during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Web-Based Cross-Sectional Study.\nObjective: This study aimed to determine prevalence of anxiety and depression and associated factors in the general population of Iran during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method : We conducted this web-based cross-sectional study on 5328 individuals in Iran between 17th and 29th of April 2020. Data were collected using the convenience sampling method through an anonymous online questionnaire via social media like WhatsApp and Telegram. The online survey collected data on demographic variables, COVID-19-related variables, and symptoms of anxiety and depression. Anxiety and depression were assessed using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), respectively. Simple and multiple logistic regression analyses were performed to determine independent predictors of anxiety and depression. Results: The mean GAD-7 and PHQ-9 total scores were 7.17 (SD = 5.42) and 7.80 (SD = 6.68), respectively. Prevalence of anxiety, depression, and comorbid anxiety-depression were 30.1%, 33.4%, and 22.1%, respectively. According to the adjusted analysis, anxiety was significantly associated with female gender, being young and middle-aged, being unemployed or a housewife, having chronic diseases, spending considerable time thinking about COVID-19, having family members, friends, and\/or relatives infected with COVID-19, and death of family members, relatives or friends due to COVID-19. Same results were also found for depression. Furthermore, depression was associated with being single, being resident in urban area, and having high risk individual in family. Conclusion: Prevalence of anxiety and depression were considerably higher in the general population of Iran during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the findings suggest that more attention needs to be paid to vulnerable groups such as women, young\/middle-aged adults, the unemployed, and people with chronic disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30302191,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Spontaneous rupture of the urinary bladder due to bacterial cystitis.\nWe report a case of spontaneous rupture of the urinary bladder (SRUB) due to bacterial cystitis in a 76-year-old woman with chief complaint of abdominal pain a day before presentation. She had fever (38.0\u00b0C), and her systolic blood pressure dropped to 70 mmHg; she was referred to our hospital, where she was admitted with a diagnosis of ileus. However, her abdominal pain worsened the following day, and abdominal CT showed free air. Emergency laparotomy was performed for suspicion of digestive tract perforation, which revealed a small hole at the dome of the urinary bladder and another at the peritoneum. Suture repair was performed. We reviewed the abdominal CT on admission and noted that the perforation of the urinary bladder was present during admission, whereas that of the peritoneum occurred the following day. SRUB is rare, and bacterial cystitis rarely causes it; thus, accurate diagnosis and proper treatment are essential.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15243790,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Is a single anterolateral screw-plate fixation sufficient for the treatment of spinal fractures in the thoracolumbar junction? A biomechanical in vitro investigation.\nControversy exists about the indications, advantages and disadvantages of various surgical techniques used for anterior interbody fusion of spinal fractures in the thoracolumbar junction. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the stabilizing effect of an anterolateral and thoracoscopically implantable screw-plate system. Six human bisegmental spinal units (T12-L2) were used for the biomechanical in vitro testing procedure. Each specimen was tested in three different scenarios: (1) intact spinal segments vs (2) monosegmental (T12\/L1) anterolateral fixation (macsTL, Aesculap, Germany) with an interbody bone strut graft from the iliac crest after both partial corpectomy (L1) and discectomy (T12\/L1) vs (3) bisegmental anterolateral instrumentation after extended partial corpectomy (L1), and bisegmental discectomy (T12\/L1 and L1\/L2). Specimens were loaded with an alternating, nondestructive maximum bending moment of +\/-7.5 Nm in six directions: flexion\/extension, right and left lateral bending, and right and left axial rotation. Motion analysis was performed by a contact-less three-dimensional optical measuring system. Segmental stiffness of the three different scenarios was evaluated by the relative alteration of the intervertebral angles in the three main anatomical planes. With each stabilization technique, the specimens were more rigid, compared with the intact spine, for flexion\/extension (sagittal plane) as well as in left and right lateral bending (frontal plane). In these planes the bisegmental instrumentation compared to the monosegmental case had an even larger stiffening effect on the specimens. In contrast to these findings, axial rotation showed a modest increase of motion after bisegmental instrumentation. To conclude, the immobilization of monosegmental fractures in the thoracolumbar junction can be secured by means of bone grafting and the implant used in this study for all three anatomical planes. After bisegmental anterolateral stabilization a sufficient reduction of the movements was registered for flexion\/extension and lateral bending. However, the observed slight increase of the range of motion in the transversal plane may lead to loosening of the implant before union. Therefore, the use of an additional dorsal fixation device should be considered.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20355474,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Thermal effect on structure organizations in cobalt-fullerene nanocomposition.\nEffect of deposition temperature (Ts) on structure of Co-C60 nanocomposite (NC) prepared by simultaneous deposition of cobalt and fullerene on sapphire is presented. The NC structure variations with Ts increasing from room temperature (RT) to 400 degrees C have been analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Raman spectroscopy. AFM and SEM show granule-like structure of the Co-C60 film. The mixture film deposited at RT includes the hills on the surface suggesting accumulation of internal stress during phase separation. Raman spectra show 25 cm(-1) downshift of Ag(2) C60 peak suggesting -Co-C60- polymerization in C60-based matrix of the NC film. Analysis of Raman spectra has revealed existence of amorphous carbon (a-C) in the NC matrix that argues C60 decomposition. The Ts increase to 200 degrees C causes the surface hills smoothing. In parallel, downshift of the Ag(2) peak decreases to 16 cm(-1) that implies more pronounced phase separation and lower -Co-C60- polymerization efficiency. Also, amount of a-C content slightly increases. Further Ts increasing to 400 degrees C changes the NC structure dramatically. AFM shows evident enlargement of the granules. According to Raman spectra the high Ts deposition yields pronounced C60 decomposition increasing the a-C content. Features of a-C Raman peak imply nucleation of graphitic islands at the NC interfaces. Abundant decomposition of C60 in the mixture film deposited at 400 degrees C is referred to cobalt catalytic effect.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14559304,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Advantages of using robotic Da Vinci system for unilateral adrenalectomy: early results].\nThe goal of this study was to report the early results of unilateral transperitoneal adrenalectomy using robotic Da Vinci system, and to compare them to the results of the laparoscopic standard adrenalectomy. Prospective study included all patients operated on for unilateral laparoscopic or robotic adrenalectomy from November 2000 to November 2002. Twenty-eight patients underwent unilateral adrenalectomy using either standard laparoscopy (14 patients) or robotic Da Vinci system (14 patients). Mean duration of robotic adrenalectomy seemed to be longer than standard laparoscopy (111 vs. 83 min; P = 0.057). This tendency decreased while surgeons' experience was increasing. Mean duration of operating room activity was similar for both types of surgery. Peroperative events without conversion, conversion rate (7%), drainage, morbidity (21%), duration of hospitalisation were similar for both types of surgery. Duration of standard laparoscopic adrenalectomy was positively correlated to patients body mass index. This correlation was absent in patients operated on by robotic Da Vinci system. This preliminary study found no objective data demonstrating that robotic Da Vinci system was superior to standard laparoscopic approach for unilateral adrenalectomy. However, we think that it is necessary to continue further evaluation of this system to demonstrate its possible superiority.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12038715,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Teaching medical communication skills: a call for greater uniformity.\nEvidence suggests that strategies used in teaching communication skills vary widely among, and within, medical education programs. Such variance also exists in the amount of emphasis placed on specific communication skills. This study examines the degree of variability among medical faculty in identifying opportunities for teaching communication skills. Sixty-seven medical faculty (physicians and behavioral scientists) reviewed a videotaped interview of a clinician with a standardized patient. Using a transcript of the interview, participants identified moments in the tape they believed warranted an instructional intervention to reinforce or modify the clinician's communication skills. Items identified by the participants were compared to items identified by a panel of experts. Frequencies and ANOVAs were used to report on consistency and on consistency as a function of faculty experience and educational background. Faculty demonstrated marked differences in identifying teachable moments across all six communication categories: (1) rapport building, (2) agenda setting, (3) information management, (4) active listening for the patient's perspective, (5) responding to emotion, and(6) skills in reaching common ground. Of 67 respondents, 29.6% identified none of the opportunities to teach rapport building, while only 31% identified all opportunities; 32.8% identified none of the information management opportunities, 26.9% identified all; 77.6% failed to identify the agenda-setting opportunity, 22% did identify the opportunity; 25.4% identified none of the active listening opportunities, 9% identified all; 57.6% identified none of the responding to emotion opportunities, 18% identified all; 35.8% did not identify the opportunity for reaching common ground, 64% did identify the opportunity. Our findings demonstrate that faculty who teach communications vary widely in the issues that they identify and about which they chose to teach. Recommendations are made for further research in this area.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29548357,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Patient engagement to enhance recovery for children undergoing surgery.\nFor over 20 years enhanced recovery protocols (ERPs) have been used to decrease the physiologic stress and inflammation of surgery using evidence-based principles. ERPs include optimizing patient preparation, creating less trauma using minimally invasive anesthetic and surgical techniques, and regular audit of outcomes. A critical aspect of ERPs is patient engagement in all phases of care, which facilitates effective team function and focused oversight of patient flow through the system. Counseling extends beyond traditional review of surgical risks and benefits, by creating clear daily patient goals, establishing pain management plans, optimizing nutrition, and defining criteria for discharge. The patient and family are provided written and visual media resources to review. This counseling and education clearly outlines the bidirectional expectations, ensures preparedness, and empowers the patient and family by explaining the logic surrounding many of the ERP interventions. The patient and family are, in turn, activated as key stakeholders in the process and have a shared vision with the healthcare team. Most patients enjoy being considered partners and agents in their own healthcare. ERPs facilitate an optimal surgical experience that can improve patient satisfaction, outcomes, and value.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31252411,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Non-canonical dimerization of the androgen receptor and other nuclear receptors: implications for human disease.\nNuclear receptors are transcription factors that play critical roles in development, homeostasis and metabolism in all multicellular organisms. An important family of nuclear receptors comprises those members that respond to steroid hormones, and which is subdivided in turn into estrogen receptor (ER) isoforms \u03b1 and \u03b2 (NR3A1 and A2, respectively), and a second subfamily of so-called oxosteroid receptors. The latter includes the androgen receptor (AR\/NR3C4), the glucocorticoid receptor (GR\/NR3C1), the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR\/NR3C2) and the progesterone receptor (PR\/NR3C3). Here we review recent advances in our understanding of the structure-and-function relationship of steroid nuclear receptors and discuss their implications for the etiology of human diseases. We focus in particular on the role played by AR dysregulation in both prostate cancer (PCa) and androgen insensitivity syndromes (AIS), but also discuss conditions linked to mutations of the GR gene as well as those in a non-steroidal receptor, the thyroid hormone receptor (TR). Finally, we explore how these recent results might be exploited for the development of novel and selective therapeutic strategies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7926571,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Conisation in stage Ia cervix cancer].\nBetween 1975 and 1988, a total of 78 patients suffering from cervical cancer stage Ia were treated by conisation based on a positive smear. According to FIGO, these 78 patients consisted of 53 (67.9%) stage Ia1 and 25 (32.1%) stage Ia2 cases. Complete removal of the tumour by conisation was achieved in 51 patients. In 23 cases (29.5%) the margin of resection was reached by a carcinoma in situ, in 4 cases (5.1%) invasive carcinoma was found. Conisation was not followed by further surgery in 10\/51 patients with complete tumour removal. One patient (1\/23) with incomplete removal underwent surgery elsewhere. In the other 67\/78 patients following hysterectomy, the pathologist diagnosed three cases of cervical cancer, 11 cases of carcinoma in situ and 53 cases (67.9%) without pathological findings. Carcinoma in situ after hysterectomy was found in only 2 cases (4.9%) with primarily free resection margins of the conus. Among the 27 patients with carcinoma in situ or invasive carcinoma reaching the conus margin, 9 cases of carcinoma in situ and 3 invasive carcinomas were diagnosed histologically after hysterectomy and one patient underwent surgery elsewhere. In this study, the value of conisation as single therapy of cervical cancer stage Ia1 and stage Ia2 with good prognosis (depth of infiltration of < 3 mm and no invasion of blood vessels) is discussed and the importance of thorough and exact histological examination is emphasised.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6922932,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of ambient temperature and exposure to 2450-MHz microwave radiation on evaporative heat loss in the mouse.\nWhole-body evaporative heat loss was measured as whole-body evaporative water loss in mice during a 90-min exposure to 2450-MHz microwave radiation at an ambient temperature of 20 degrees C and in non-exposed mice maintained at ambient temperatures of 20, 25, 30, 33, and 35 degrees C. The ambient-temperature threshold for increasing evaporative water loss was between 30 and 33 degrees C. A specific absorption rate of microwave radiation in excess of 29 W\/kg was required to produce an increase in heat loss. For absorption rates ranging from 29 to 44 W\/kg, the mouse dissipated 65% of the total absorbed heat by water evaporation; the remainder was dissipated passively. The data collected in the mouse may be extrapolated to larger species, such as man, but only by an exponential relationship. Using this relationship, it was shown that a threshold specific absorption rate of 29 W\/kg in a 0.033-kg mouse was equivalent to approximately 0.25 W\/kg in a 70-kg human.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19040556,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Ang II and Ang IV: unraveling the mechanism of action on synaptic plasticity, memory, and epilepsy.\nThe central angiotensin system plays a crucial role in cardiovascular regulation. More recently, angiotensin peptides have been implicated in stress, anxiety, depression, cognition, and epilepsy. Angiotensin II (Ang II) exerts its actions through AT(1) and AT(2) receptors, while most actions of its metabolite Ang IV were believed to be independent of AT(1) or AT(2) receptor activation. A specific binding site with high affinity for Ang IV was discovered and denominated \"AT(4) receptor\". The beneficiary effects of AT(4) ligands in animal models for cognitive impairment and epileptic seizures initiated the search for their mechanism of action. This proved to be a challenging task, and after 20 years of research, the nature of the \"AT(4) receptor\" remains controversial. Insulin-regulated aminopeptidase (IRAP) was first identified as the high-affinity binding site for AT(4) ligands. Recently, the hepatocyte growth factor receptor c-MET was also proposed as a receptor for AT(4) ligands. The present review focuses on the effects of Ang II and Ang IV on synaptic transmission and plasticity, learning, memory, and epileptic seizure activity. Possible interactions of Ang IV with the classical AT(1) and AT(2) receptor subtypes are evaluated, and other potential mechanisms by which AT(4) ligands may exert their effects are discussed. Identification of these mechanisms may provide a valuable target in the development in novel drugs for the treatment of cognitive disorders and epilepsy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7928316,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Illness beliefs and alexithymia in headache patients.\nResearch regarding psychological factors in head pain have generally focused upon personality traits and psychopathology. The role of illness beliefs offers another method of elucidating perceptions, attitudes and convictions towards a somatic complaint. One hundred patients, evaluated for head pain at a neurology clinic, were administered the illness Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ) to delineate illness beliefs; the illness Effects Questionnaire (IEQ) to quantify the disruptive aspects of head pain; and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) to assess the subjects propensity to somatize as well as the ability to identify and report emotions. The data found no difference between subjects diagnosed with migraine syndrome and those with tension head pain in the IBQ dimensions, the TAS or in reported levels of anxiety or depression. However, chronicity of symptoms was associated with increased irritability. The clinical implications of the findings suggest that patients with head pain are psychologically distressed but often possess alexithymic characteristics that make insightful associations difficult.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17171924,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Efficacy of enoximone in the management of refractory low-output states following cardiac surgery.\nFifteen consecutive patients with post-cardiac surgery low-output states refractory to catecholamine inotropic support and intra-aortic balloon counter-pulsation (seven patients), were given enoximone (MDL 17,043, a phosphodiesterase inhibitor), 1 to 2 mg\/kg, as a slow intravenous bolus injection, followed by a continuous infusion of 3 to 10 microg\/kg\/min. Enoximone resulted in a marked improvement in clinical and hemodynamic conditions. Despite the severity of their initial status, all the patients survived their acute circulatory failure and all but two were discharged from the hospital. Hemodynamic improvement was observed as early as 15 minutes after the drug administration and reflected the previously reported inotropic and vasodilatory properties of enoximone. No serious adverse effects were observed. Enoximone thus appears safe and effective in the management of post-cardiac surgery low-output states. Its effects are additive to those of high-dose catecholamines.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":33725913,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Clinical significance of prognostic nutritional index in renal cell carcinomas.\nPrognostic nutritional index (PNI) could reflect the nutrition and inflammation status in cancer patients. This study aims to identify the prognostic significance of PNI in patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC).A total of 694 RCC patients from our institution were included in this study. The prognostic correlation between PNI and overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) was analyzed respectively using Kaplan-Meier method and univariate and multivariate Cox model. Studies about the association between pretreatment or preoperative PNI and prognosis of RCC were systemically reviewed and a meta-analysis method was performed to further evaluate the pooled prognostic value of PNI in RCC.267 (38.47%) RCC patients had low PNI according to the cut off value (49.08). Low PNI was associated with poor OS (P < .001) and RFS (P < .001), respectively. In the multivariate Cox analysis, PNI was identified to be an independent prognostic factor for OS (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.13, 95%CI: 1.25-3.62, P = .005). Compared to other nutritional indexes, this risk correlation of PNI is better than that of geriatric nutritional risk index (GNRI; HR = 1.19; P = .531), while is no better than that of neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR; 1\/HR = 2.56; P < .001) and platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR; 1\/HR = 2.85; P < .001) respectively. Meanwhile, additional 4785 patients from 6 studies were included into pooled analysis. For RCC patients who underwent surgery, low preoperative PNI was significantly associated with worse OS (pooled HR = 1.57, 95%CI: 1.37-1.80, P < .001) and worse RFS (pooled HR = 1.69, 95%CI: 1.45-1.96, P < .001). Furthermore, low PNI (<41-51) was also significantly associated with poor OS (HR = 1.78, 95%CI: 1.26-2.53 P < .05) and poor RFS (HR = 2.03, 95%CI: 1.40-2.95, P < .05) in advanced cases treated with targeted therapies.The present evidences show that PNI is an independent prognostic factor in RCC. Low PNI is significant associated with poor prognosis of RCC patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15806199,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"beta-Phenylethylamines and the isoquinoline alkaloids.\nThis review covers beta-phenylethylamines and isoquinoline alkaloids derived from them, including further products of oxidation, condensation with formaldehyde and rearrangement, some of which do not contain as isoquinoline system, together with napthylisoquinoline alkaloids, which have a different biogenetic origin. The occurrence of the alkaloids with the structures of new bases, together with their reactions and syntheses, are reported. The literature from July 2003 to June 2004 is reviewed, with 145 references cited.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15236513,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pesticide exposure in dwellings near bulb growing fields in The Netherlands: an explorative study.\nAn explorative field study was conducted to assess residential exposure to pesticides, regularly applied in bulb farming. House dust floor samples were taken from homes of bulb farmers (n = 12) and from homes in close proximity to a bulb field (i.e. non-farmers) (n = 15). Samples were analysed for 7 pesticides used by bulb growers in the sampling period. Of these pesticides, chloropropham, flutolanil and vinchlozolin could be detected in non-farmers homes. All pesticides were detected in farmers' homes, except metamitron. Median concentrations for chloropropham were significantly higher in farmers' homes (0.05 vs. 0.20 microg\/m(2), p = 0.03). Logistic regression analyses showed that the odds for detecting pesticides were higher in farmers' compared to non-farmers' homes and remained higher after correction for potential confounders. Results showed no significant effect of proximity of a residence to a bulb field for median concentrations of pesticides; however, logistic regression analysis showed a borderline statistically significant effect for detecting chloropropham above the detection limit (OR = 10, p = 0.08). These findings demonstrate that, as expected, risk of exposure is higher for bulb farmers than for non-farmers. They also indicate that exposure to pesticides is not limited to bulb farmers only, and this warrants further investigation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12039919,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cell-intrinsic effects of non-MHC NOD genes on dendritic cell generation in vivo.\nGenes outside the MHC create a general susceptibility to autoimmunity in non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice. Here we describe marked differences in dendritic cell generation in vivo, caused by non-MHC NOD genes. Analyses of splenic dendritic cells from the autoimmunity-prone NOD.H-2(k) mice revealed a relative over-representation of the CD8 alpha(-) subsets, in contrast to the level of these subsets observed in the autoimmunity-resistant B10.H-2(k) congenic strain or other H-2(k) strains. The imbalance towards CD8 alpha(-) dendritic cells was selectively manifested by NOD.H-2(k)-derived cells in radiation chimeras reconstituted with equal mixtures of NOD.H-2(k) and B10.H-2(k) bone marrow cells. In addition to the cell-intrinsic imbalance in dendritic cell subsets, the myeloid lineage overall was intrinsically altered by NOD genes, as this lineage was disproportionately derived from the NOD.H-2(k) donor in mixed chimeras. These results identify a striking effect of non-MHC NOD genes upon the balance of dendritic cell subsets that may contribute to the generalized defects in self-tolerance in the NOD strain.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7949402,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Morphological changes of the rete system in the ovaries of adult bat, Scotophilus heathi, during breeding cycle.\nThe present study describes a well developed rete ovarii in the ovary of the adult Indian vespertilionid bat, Scotophilus heathi, and supports the role of the rete system in early follicular growth in the ovary. A close contacts between the rete tubules and follicles have been found at the beginning of the follicular growth in the mature ovary. Ultrastructural features of connecting rete cells indicate the active protein synthesis, while those of intraovarian rete cells suggest their role in transportation of secretory materials.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16995575,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Cardiac surgery unmasks latent hypoparathyroidism in a child with the 22q11.2 deletion syndrome.\nThe 22q11.2 deletion syndrome is a developmental field defect of the third and fourth pharyngeal pouches characterized by a spectrum of thymic and parathyroid gland abnormalities and conotruncal cardiac defects. Latent hypoparathyroidism, defined as normocalcaemia at rest but reduced ability to secrete parathyroid hormone (PTH) in response to pharmacologically evoked hypocalcaemia, is found in 30-50% of people with this syndrome. Its natural history is unknown. We describe a 1.5 year-old girl with tetralogy of Fallot, normal calcium metabolism and few facial dysmorphic features who developed transient hypoparathyroidism in the postoperative period, which lasted months and waxed and waned during this observation period. The clinical picture led us to the diagnosis of 22q11.2 deletion syndrome.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1157349,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Complications of percutaneous femoral vein catheterizations for hemodialysis.\nFive life threatening complications of percutaneous femoral vein catheterization for hemodialysis (Shaldon Technique) are presented. They occurred over a period of five years during which 700 uneventful catheterizations were carried out. In three instances femoroiliac vein thrombosis occurred, and on one occasion this was complicated by pulmonary embolism. In two other instances perforation of the inferior vena cava occurred with profuse bleeding. These complications can be aboided by early removal of the catheters after dialysis and by cautiously manipulating the wireguide when resistance or obstruction is encountered during insertion.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37867734,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A comparison of activity demands between trial matches and in-season matches across multiple teams and seasons in semi-professional, male rugby league players.\nTrial matches are frequently used for team preparation in rugby league competitions, making it essential to understand the demands experienced to assess their specificity to actual competition. Consequently, this study aimed to compare the activity demands between pre-season trial matches and early in-season rugby league matches. Following a repeated-measures observational design, 39 semi-professional, male rugby league players from two clubs were monitored using microsensors during two trial matches and the first two in-season matches across two consecutive seasons. Total distance, average speed, peak speed, absolute and relative high-speed running (HSR; > 18 km \u00b7 h-1) and low-speed running (LSR; < 18 km \u00b7 h-1) distance, as well as absolute and relative impacts, accelerations (total and high-intensity > 3 m \u00b7 s-2), and decelerations (total and high-intensity < -3 m \u00b7 s-2) were measured. Linear mixed models and Cohen's d effect sizes were used to compare variables between match types. Playing duration was greater for in-season matches (p < 0.001, d = 0.64). Likewise, higher (p < 0.001, d = 0.45-0.70) activity volumes were evident during in-season matches indicated via total distance, HSR distance, LSR distance, total accelerations, high-intensity accelerations, total decelerations, and high-intensity decelerations. Regarding activity intensities, a higher average speed (p = 0.008, d = 0.31) and relative LSR distance (p = 0.005, d = 0.31) only were encountered during in-season matches. Despite players completing less volume, the average activity intensities and impact demands were mostly similar between trial and early in-season matches. These findings indicate trial matches might impose suitable activity stimuli to assist players in preparing for early in-season activity intensities.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30304909,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Transient intubation for surfactant administration in the treatment of respiratory distress syndrome in extremely premature infants.\nTo investigate the effectiveness of transient intubation for surfactant administration and extubated to nasal continuous positive pressure (INSURE) for treatment of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) and to identify the factors associated with INSURE failure in extremely premature infants. Eighty-four infants with gestational age less than 28 weeks treated with surfactant administration for RDS for 8 years were included. Perinatal and neonatal characteristics were retrospectively reviewed, and major pulmonary outcomes such as duration of mechanical ventilation (MV) and bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) plus death at 36-week postmenstrual age (PMA) were compared between INSURE (n=48) and prolonged MV groups (n=36). The factors associated with INSURE failure were determined. Duration of MV and the occurrence of BPD at 36-week PMA were significantly lower in INSURE group than in prolonged MV group (P<0.05), but BPD plus death at 36-week PMA was not significantly different between the 2 groups. In a multivariate analysis, a reduced duration of MV was only significantly associated with INSURE (P=0.001). During the study period, duration of MV significantly decreased over time with an increasing rate of INSURE application (P<0.05), and BPD plus death at 36-week PMA also tended to decrease over time. A low arterial-alveolar oxygen tension ratio (a\/APO2 ratio) was a significant predictor for INSURE failure (P=0.001). INSURE was the noninvasive ventilation strategy in the treatment of RDS to reduce MV duration in extremely premature infants with gestational age less than 28 weeks.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20370109,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Vibrational multiconfiguration self-consistent field theory: implementation and test calculations.\nA state-specific vibrational multiconfiguration self-consistent field (VMCSCF) approach based on a multimode expansion of the potential energy surface is presented for the accurate calculation of anharmonic vibrational spectra. As a special case of this general approach vibrational complete active space self-consistent field calculations will be discussed. The latter method shows better convergence than the general VMCSCF approach and must be considered the preferred choice within the multiconfigurational framework. Benchmark calculations are provided for a small set of test molecules.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6729859,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Effect of brachytherapy and teletherapy on treatment results in primary vaginal cancer].\nFrom 1971 to 1977 99 cases of primary carcinoma of the vagina were treated at the Radiotherapy Department of the I. University Clinic for Gynecology and Obstetrics in Vienna. Radiotherapy was adapted individually as far as possible due to the different localisations and extensions of this tumor and to the vicinity of bladder and rectum, two very radiation-sensitive organs. Basically a three-phased scheme of treatment was intended: primarily a focal irradiation of the tumor by plaque-application, then combined intra-uterine and intra-vaginal radium insertion, followed by a vaginal cylinder. Thus the vaginal tissue is charged with about 32 Gy in a depth of 0,5 cm, the tumor itself with about 100 Gy. Percutaneous telecobalt irradiation was applied additionally following the method prescribed for carcinoma of the cervix uteri. A vulvo-perineal irradiation field was applied supplementarily , if the tumor was localised in the lower third of the vagina. 5-year overall remission rate amounted to 32% for the years 1971 to 1977; hence it was somewhat lower than for the total time observed (1950 to 1977), which was 39,8%. This could be explained by the sharp increase of very old patients and of progressed stages. For separate stages, the following 5-year healing rates were observed: stage I: 78%; stage II: 48%; stage III: 24% and stage IV: 19%. Recto-vaginal or vesico-vaginal fistulas occurred in 8% of the cases; less severe complications, such as cystitis or proctitis, were found in 41 and 43%, respectively. The effect of percutaneous telecobalt irradiation on the healing rate was marked in progressed cases, especially. Only 1 patient of 15 (7%), who were not treated by teletherapy, reached 5-year remission , as compared to 14 of 52 (27%), who received teletherapy. Stages I and II did not show a comparable difference. Intrauterine brachytherapy was of more importance for remission rate in early stages: 11 of 16 (69%) patients with stages I and II, who were treated with intrauterine curietherapy, survived 5 years or more; of those who did not have intrauterine insertion, only 6 of 15 (40%) reached 5-year remission . For stages III and IV, intrauterine curietherapy did not markedly change the healing rate.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37446868,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Design, Synthesis and Fungicidal Activity of Ester Derivatives of 4-(3,4-Dichloroisothiazole) 7-Hydroxy Coumarin.\nThe development of new fungicides is vital for safeguarding crops and ensuring sustainable agriculture. Building on our previous finding that 4-(3,4-dichloroisothiazole)-7-hydroxy coumarins can be used as fungicidal leads, 44 novel coumarin ester derivatives were designed and synthesized to evaluate whether esterification could enhance their fungicidal activity. In vitro fungicidal bioassays indicated that compound 2ai displayed good activity against Alternaria solani, Botrytis cinereal, Cercospora arachidicola, Physalospora piricola and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, with an EC50 value ranging from 2.90 to 5.56 \u03bcg\/mL, comparable to the lead compound 1a, with its EC50 value ranging from 1.92 to 9.37 \u03bcg\/mL. In vivo bioassays demonstrated that compounds 1a, 2ar and 2bg showed comparable, excellent efficacy against Pseudoperonospora cubensis at a dose of 25 \u00b5g\/mL. Our research shows that the esterification of 4-(3,4-dichloroisothiazole) 7-hydroxycoumarins results in a fungicidal activity equivalent to that of its lead compounds. Furthermore, our density functional theory (DFT) calculations and 3D-QSAR modeling provide a rational explanation of the structure-activity relationship and offer valuable insights to guide further molecular design.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9155508,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-10":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Tissue localization of threonine oxidation in pigs.\nTwo experiments were designed to determine the tissue distribution of threonine oxidation through the threonine dehydrogenase (EC 220.127.116.11) pathway in pigs. The first experiment was conducted on eleven Pi\u00e9train x Large White piglets. The piglets were slaughtered at 5, 12 or 20 kg after 1 h of infusion with L-[U-14C]threonine (55 kBq\/kg) mixed with unlabelled threonine (100 mg\/kg). In the second experiment, four Pi\u00e9train x Large White and four large White piglets (10 kg body weight) were infused with L-[1-13C]threonine (50 mg\/kg) mixed with 50 mg\/kg unlabelled threonine for 1 h, then killed for tissue sampling. In the two experiments, threonine dehydrogenase specific activity and threonine and glycine specific radioactivities and enrichments were measured in several tissues and in plasma. The higher level of labelling of threonine in the pancreas than in the liver suggested either a lower protein degradation rate or a faster rate of threonine transport in the liver than in the pancreas. Threonine dehydrogenase activity was found only in the liver and the pancreas. Whereas liver and pancreas threonine dehydrogenase specific activities were similar, glycine specific radioactivity and enrichment were 12- to 14-fold higher in the pancreas than in the liver. This is probably the consequence of a higher production rate of glycine from sources other than threonine (protein degradation, de novo synthesis from serine) in the liver than in the pancreas. Our results showed that Large White pigs could oxidize more threonine than Pi\u00e9train x Large White pigs. This could be related to the difference in growth performance and dietary N efficiency for protein deposition between these two genotypes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37444053,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Job Satisfaction and Perceived Structural Support in Remote Working Conditions-The Role of a Sense of Community at Work.\nChanges in work assets due to the COVID-19 pandemic posed several challenges to employees' well-being, especially in the light of the changes in the work organization, such as remote working and the massive use of IT. According to the literature on the role of technologies at work, the organization's ability to support remote working is a valuable protective factor. At the same time, social distancing due to the pandemic forced employees to use a new relational asset. This, in turn, can shed new light on how the sense of connection and belonging to an organization impacts remote working experiences. This paper will test the mediational effect of structural support and sense of community at work in the link between job demands and job satisfaction in a sample of remote workers. The study involved 635 participants aged 21 to 70 (mean = 46.7, SD = 11; females = 61%). Among them, 33% had remote working experiences before the first Italian lockdown (March 2020). The research protocol included scales from the COPSOQ-III (job demands, sense of community, job satisfaction) and a questionnaire to evaluate the structural support related to the remote working asset. Results from a structural equation model showed a partial mediating effect of sense of community, but not of structural support, in the link between job demands and job satisfaction (\u03c72(22) = 76.918, p = 0.00, CFI = 0.966, TLI = 0.944, RMSEA = 0.063 (90% CI = 0.048-0.078, p = 0.079), SRMR = 0.044). The role of such associations for future technology-based work assets is detailed in the discussion.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37461722,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hypoxia blunts angiogenic signaling and upregulates the antioxidant system in elephant seal endothelial cells.\nElephant seals experience extreme hypoxemia during diving bouts. Similar depletions in oxygen availability characterize pathologies including myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke in humans, but seals manage these repeated episodes without injury. However, the real-time assessment of the molecular changes underlying protection against hypoxic injury in seals remains restricted by their at-sea inaccessibility. Hence, we developed a proliferative arterial endothelial cell culture system to assess the molecular response to prolonged hypoxia. Seal and human cells exposed to 1% O 2 for up to 6 h demonstrated differential responses to both acute and prolonged hypoxia. Seal cells decouple stabilization of the hypoxia-sensitive transcriptional regulator HIF-1\u03b1 from angiogenic signaling at both the transcriptional and cellular level. Rapid upregulation of genes involved in the glutathione (GSH) metabolism pathway supported maintenance of GSH pools and increases in intracellular succinate in seal but not human cells during hypoxia exposure. High maximal and spare respiratory capacity in seal cells after hypoxia exposure occurred in concert with increasing mitochondrial branch length and independent from major changes in extracellular acidification rate, suggesting seal cells recover oxidative metabolism without significant glycolytic dependency after hypoxia exposure. In sum, our studies show that in contrast to human cells, seal cells adapt to hypoxia exposure by dampening angiogenic signaling, increasing antioxidant protection, and maintaining mitochondrial morphological integrity and function.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3039193,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[A case of breast cancer with a chondrosarcomatous appearance].\nA case of a breast tumor which showed the appearance of invasive ductal carcinoma and chondrosarcoma is reported. The patient was a 36-year-old female. Simple mastectomy and lymph node dissection were performed for the tumor. Local recurrence and metastases to the contralateral breast, lymph nodes, subcutaneous tissue, and bones arose after the operation. She died of the disease 2 years and 3 months after the operation. It is thought that this tumor had formed as a result of metaplasia of the carcinomatous tissue, since a histological transition between the carcinoma and sarcoma was demonstrated.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19025944,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Safety of gadoversetamide in patients with acute and chronic myocardial infarction.\nTo assess the safety data from two large, multicenter, phase 2 trials on the use of gadoversetamide (OptiMARK, Tyco Healthcare\/Mallinckrodt, St. Louis, MO) as a contrast agent in delayed hyperenhancement magnetic resonance imaging (DE-MRI) in patients with acute and chronic myocardial infarction (MI). The study population from both trials comprised 577 patients who were randomly assigned to one of four dose groups (0.05, 0.1, 0.2, or 0.3 mmol\/kg) before undergoing DE-MRI. Safety evaluations included physical and electrocardiographic (ECG) examinations. Vital signs, laboratory values, adverse events (AE), and serious adverse events (SAE) were monitored before and after contrast administration. Of the 577 patients who received gadoversetamide, 124 (21.5%) reported a total of 164 AEs; most were mild (139 AEs; 84.8%) or moderate (25 AEs; 15.2%). ECG-related changes were the most frequent AE. Site investigators judged only eight AEs as likely related to gadoversetamide and only two of the eight as clinically relevant. Further evaluation suggested neither AE was related to gadoversetamide. Two SAEs were reported, but none was judged related to gadoversetamide by the site investigators. Gadoversetamide is safe for use in patients with acute or chronic MI up to a dose of 0.3 mmol\/kg.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36275260,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Identifying factors affecting willingness to participate in floating population health volunteer services by Chinese volunteers based on the theory of the planned behavior expansion model.\nChina has the world's largest internal migrant population, called the floating population. Compared to local residents, the floating population utilizes different health services and relies heavily on health volunteer services for supplementary services. In this study, the theory of planned behavior model was used to study the willingness of volunteers to participate in floating population health volunteer services. We examined the effects of several factors on willingness to participate and found that attitude and subjective norm, but not perceived behavioral control, have significant predictive effects on willingness to participate in health volunteer services. Furthermore, altruistic values, social incentives, and personality traits not only have significant predictive effects on volunteer participation but also indirectly affect willingness through attitude and subjective norms. These findings help us understand what factors affect volunteers' willingness to provide health services to the floating population and have important implications for mobilizing volunteers for floating population health services.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31260039,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Improvement of laboratory skills of Chemical and Civil Engineering students using an interdisciplinary service-learning project for water quality and supply assessment in low-income homes.\nThe University of Buenos Aires (UBA) develops the UBANEX program, focused on service-learning projects for students involving social, environmental and public health concerns. One of the proposals was a collaborative project between UBA and the National University of General Sarmiento. Based on the hypothesis that students' voluntary involvement in social concerns improves their attitudes towards themselves and learning, the aim was to focus on the development of social and professional skills by implementing an interdisciplinary work for water quality and supply assessment in low-income homes from a southern district of the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area. Eighteen volunteers-Chemical and Civil Engineering students-were recruited during August-December 2016. Tasks were distributed according to their interests: survey making, sampling, lab analysis, infrastructure checking, etc. Volunteers were surveyed in social involvement, lab skills, data compilation and analysis, leading to a final report with recommendations for a proper water use. The survey results compiled their feedback: 72% admitted an update on water quality problems, 60% learned new lab techniques and were able to analyze results, 89% supported the University's involvement in social concerns and 56% expanded their opinion about the professional field. The students confirmed their interest in participating in the next UBANEX project.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23885347,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Bringing HIV, Substance Abuse and Homelessness into the University of Pennsylvania Anthropology Museum through Photo-Ethnography.\nIn the fall of 1994 I befriended a community of some two dozen heroin injectors and crack smokers surviving under the overpasses of a tangle of freeways six blocks from where I lived in San Francisco. The full force of the Reagan-era cutbacks from the 1980s had trickled down to the street, shredding the already rachitic U.S. welfare safety-net. Inner-cities were gentrifying (especially those linked to the epicenters of global finance capital such as San Francisco). The former skid row habitat for the unstable urban poor-cheap single-residency hotels-was being converted into multi-million dollar condominiums. Urban police forces had not yet systematized, routinized and replicated their zero-tolerance enforcement, harassment\/incarceration dragnets (Wacquant 2009) and homelessness, consequently, was at its most visible. Bourgeois residents like me could not walk down a block or drive up a freeway entrance ramp in downtown San Francisco without being solicited for spare change. I obtained a National Institutes of Health HIV prevention grant and for the next 12 years, together with a photographer\/anthropologist collaborator Jeff Schonberg and several additional ethnographic team members, we followed the social network of homeless addicts surviving in my neighborhood, documenting the unhealthy effects of indigence and substance abuse.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27478334,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Impact of Hemodialysis and Arteriovenous Access Flow on Extracranial Hemodynamic Changes in End-Stage Renal Disease Patients.\nIn this study, we characterized cerebral blood flow changes by assessment of blood flow parameters in neck arteries using carotid duplex ultrasonography and predictive factors for these hemodynamic changes. Hemodynamic variables were measured before and during hemodialysis in 81 patients with an arteriovenous access in their arm. Hemodialysis produced significant lowering in peak systolic velocity and flow volume of neck arteries and calculated total cerebral blood flow (1,221.9 \u00b1 344.9 [before hemodialysis] vs. 1,085.8 \u00b1 319.2 [during hemodialysis], P < 0.001). Effects were greater in vessels on the same side as the arteriovenous access and these changes were influenced by arteriovenous access flow during hemodialysis, both in the CCA (r = -0.277, P = 0.015) and the VA (r = -0.239, P = 0.034). The change of total cerebral blood flow during hemodialysis was independently related with age, presence of diabetes, and systemic blood pressure.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31258470,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Characterizing and Predicting Autism Spectrum Disorder by Performing Resting-State Functional Network Community Pattern Analysis.\nGrowing evidence indicates that autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neuropsychological disconnection syndrome that can be analyzed using various complex network metrics used as pathology biomarkers. Recently, community detection and analysis rooted in the complex network and graph theories have been introduced to investigate the changes in resting-state functional network community structure under neurological pathologies. However, the potential of hidden patterns in the modular organization of networks derived from resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging to predict brain pathology has never been investigated. In this study, we present a novel analysis technique to identify alterations in community patterns in functional networks under ASD. In addition, we design machine learning classifiers to predict the clinical class of patients with ASD and controls by using only community pattern quality metrics as features. Analyses conducted on six publicly available datasets from 235 subjects, including patients with ASD and age-matched controls revealed that the modular structure is significantly disturbed in patients with ASD. Machine learning algorithms showed that the predictive power of our five metrics is relatively high (~85.16% peak accuracy for in-site data and ~75.00% peak accuracy for multisite data). These results lend further credence to the dysconnectivity theory of this pathology.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12039986,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Transcription factor Ets-1 regulates gelatinase a gene expression in mesangial cells.\nEts transcription factors are involved in cell growth and angiogenesis. Ets-1 targets include members of the matrix metalloproteinase superfamily. In inflammatory glomerular diseases, the patterns and regulation of Ets expression have not been fully characterized. In the present study, nuclear binding activities to the consensus Ets-1\/PEA3 motif were detected in mesangial cells (MC), and the Ets-1 protein was positively identified by Western blotting, reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR), and DNA-binding studies. The 5' flanking regions of the human and rat gelatinase A genes contain clusters of potential Ets-1 binding motifs, one of which is evolutionarily conserved. Using a series of 5' deletion reporter constructs of the rat gelatinase A gene and an Ets-1 expression plasmid, a concentration-dependent threefold trans-activation of gene expression mapped to the conserved Ets-1 binding motif at -1004\/-1053 bps, designated responsive element-2 (RE-2). The RE-2 was operative within the context of the homologous gelatinase A promoter but not with a heterologous simian virus 40 promoter. Specific Ets-1 binding to this sequence was demonstrated by DNA-binding studies. Transient expression of an Ets-1 expression plasmid increased gelatinase A protein expression. Our findings identify an additional matrix metalloproteinase family member, gelatinase A, as an Ets-1 responsive gene in MC that may play a role in the high level expression of this enzyme in inflammatory glomerular diseases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20372837,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Collagen type I regulates beta-catenin tyrosine phosphorylation and nuclear translocation to promote migration and proliferation of gastric carcinoma cells.\nThe interaction between tumor cells and the stroma environment has crucial effects on tumor cell invasive behavior. As a major component of the stroma, collagen plays a key role on cellular adhesion and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Recently, we found that collagen type I is significantly up-regulated in gastric cancer tissues compared with their adjacent non-neoplastic tissues. However, whether collagen type I contributes to gastric cancer invasion and metastasis is not clear. Herein we show that, collagen type I induces cell scattering and cytoskeleton rearrangement, prompts cell migration and proliferation, which indicates that collagen type I is involved in promoting gastric cancer invasion and metastasis. Collagen type I is able to reduce cell-cell adhesion and enhance migration by inducing disassembly of the E-cadherin\/catenin complex in gastric carcinoma cells, which is related to tyrosine phosphorylation of beta-catenin. Tyrosine phosphorylation of beta-catenin dissociates it from E-cadherin and actin cytoskeleton and facilitates its entry into the nucleus, where beta-catenin acts as a transcriptional activator inducing genes involved in cell proliferation. In conclusion, collagen type I contributes to invasion and metastasis by regulating beta-catenin tyrosine phosphorylation and nuclear translocation to promote migration and proliferation of gastric carcinoma cells.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6743467,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Comparison of two long-acting forms of quinidine.\nThe bioequivalence of two forms of long acting quinidine compounds was assessed (Kinidin durules and Longacor) using drug plasma level and QT ECG changes. Six healthy volunteers received each preparation on two occasions in random order. The wash out period between successive experiments was at least 7 days. There was no difference in tmax, Cmax and AUC for plasma level and adjusted QT. However, between patient variability was large. A 20% difference in plasma levels could not be excluded but the difference in QT max and QT AUC between the two preparations did not exceed 20% (P less than 0.05, Westlake's method). This study illustrates the fact that pharmacodynamic equivalence, let alone therapeutic equivalence, does not necessarily imply plasma level equivalence, as assessed by the current method.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32369970,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"7,8-Dihydroxyflavone Enhances Cue-Conditioned Alcohol Reinstatement in Rats.\nAlcohol use disorder (AUD) is a detrimental disease that develops through chronic ethanol exposure. Reduced brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression has been associated with AUD and alcohol addiction, however the effects of activation of BDNF signalling in the brain on voluntary alcohol intake reinstatement and relapse are unknown. We therefore trained male and female Sprague Dawley rats in operant chambers to self-administer a 10% ethanol solution. Following baseline acquisition and progressive ratio (PR) analysis, rats were split into drug and vehicle groups during alcohol lever extinction. The animals received two weeks of daily IP injection of either the BDNF receptor, TrkB, agonist, 7,8-dihydroxyflavone (7,8-DHF), or vehicle. During acquisition of alcohol self-administration, males had significantly higher absolute numbers of alcohol-paired lever presses and a higher PR breakpoint. However, after adjusting for body weight, the amount of ethanol was not different between the sexes and the PR breakpoint was higher in females than males. Following extinction, alcohol-primed reinstatement in male rats was not altered by pretreatment with 7,8-DHF when adjusted for body weight. In contrast, in female rats, the weight-adjusted potential amount of ethanol, but not absolute numbers of active lever presses, was significantly enhanced by 7,8-DHF treatment during reinstatement. Analysis of spontaneous locomotor activity in automated photocell cages suggested that the effect of 7,8-DHF was not associated with hyperactivity. These results suggest that stimulation of the TrkB receptor may contribute to reward craving and relapse in AUD, particularly in females.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28346087,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"PubChem BioAssay: A Decade's Development toward Open High-Throughput Screening Data Sharing.\nHigh-throughput screening (HTS) is now routinely conducted for drug discovery by both pharmaceutical companies and screening centers at academic institutions and universities. Rapid advance in assay development, robot automation, and computer technology has led to the generation of terabytes of data in screening laboratories. Despite the technology development toward HTS productivity, fewer efforts were devoted to HTS data integration and sharing. As a result, the huge amount of HTS data was rarely made available to the public. To fill this gap, the PubChem BioAssay database ( https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pcassay\/ ) was set up in 2004 to provide open access to the screening results tested on chemicals and RNAi reagents. With more than 10 years' development and contributions from the community, PubChem has now become the largest public repository for chemical structures and biological data, which provides an information platform to worldwide researchers supporting drug development, medicinal chemistry study, and chemical biology research. This work presents a review of the HTS data content in the PubChem BioAssay database and the progress of data deposition to stimulate knowledge discovery and data sharing. It also provides a description of the database's data standard and basic utilities facilitating information access and use for new users.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12019016,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Prenatal and perinatal factors associated with isolated oral clefting.\nTo describe medical service utilization and maternal morbid conditions of women who carry offspring with oral clefts (OCs), to describe maternal and offspring complications during birth, and to evaluate postnatal characteristics of their newborns with isolated OCs. Two thousand four hundred thirty-seven patients with isolated OCs and 4871 unaffected matched controls meeting inclusion criteria were selected from the U.S. Natality database for 1997. Matching variables were mother's and father's race and child's race, sex, county of birth, and month of birth. Patients and controls were compared in terms of maternal demographic characteristics, gestational complications, physical characteristics of the newborns, maternal exposure to potential risk factors, and adequacy of prenatal care. Although the quality of care was very good in both groups, low gestational age, low birth weight, and low 5-minute Apgar score are more frequent among newborns with OCs than in unaffected controls. Mothers of offspring with OCs are at increased risk, compared with mothers of controls, of having hydramnios or oligohydramnios, eclampsia, and abruptio placenta. Obstetric procedures, such as amniocentesis, electronic fetal monitoring, induction of labor, tocolysis, and ultrasound, and repeat cesarean deliveries are more frequent among mothers of patients than those of controls. At birth, newborns with isolated OCs are at risk of having hyaline membrane disease and of requiring assisted ventilation, independently of gestational age. The results of this large population-based, case-control study suggest that the presence of an OC in the offspring is associated with increased risk for prenatal and perinatal complications in the mother.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28717547,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Emphysematous pyelonephritis: Changing trend of clinical spectrum, pathogenesis, management and outcome.\nTo highlight changing trend of clinical spectrum, comparing management options and predictors of outcome of emphysematous pyelonephritis. This study included patients who were diagnosed as emphysematous pyelonephritis between August, 2001 to July, 2015. We excluded other possible causes of gas in renal system. Baseline patient characteristics, clinical spectrum, serum and urinary biochemical parameters, radiological findings, management and outcomes were recorded. Patients were classified as \"responders\" and \"non-responders\". We studied a total of 74 patients and categorised them as responders (62 patients) and non-responders (12 patients). Women outnumbered men constituting 62.16% of the study population (M: F; 1: 1.6). Fever was the most common presenting symptom followed by flank pain. Diabetes mellitus (85.14%) was the most common comorbidity followed by urolithiasis (32.43%). Escherichia coli was the commonest organism grown in urine culture (79.73%). Non-responders had distinct laboratory findings relative to responders as low hemoglobin (7.8\u00b12.1\/11.2\u00b13.2 g\/dL; p=0.0007), thrombocytopenia (91.67% vs. 11.29%; p=0.0001), proteinuria >3 g\/L (50% vs. 6.45%; p=0.0008) and positive blood culture (100% vs. 67.74%; p=0.0288). Advanced age, higher body mass index, renal impairment, thrombocytopenia, altered sensorium, shock at presentation can be used as scores for poor prognosis. Emphysematous pyelonephritis management requires multidisciplinary collaboration including hydration and electrolyte management, broad spectrum antibiotics, strict glycaemic control, effective urinary drainage and lastly it may require emergency nephrectomy as a salvage procedure.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29358875,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Infiltrative xanthogranulomatous cholecystitis mimicking aggressive gallbladder carcinoma: A diagnostic and therapeutic dilemma.\nXanthogranulomatous cholecystitis (XGC) is an uncommon variant of chronic cholecystitis. The perioperative findings in aggressive cases may be indistinguishable from those of gallbladder or biliary tract carcinomas. Three patients presented mass lesions that infiltrated the hepatic hilum, provoked biliary dilatation and jaundice, and were indicative of malignancy. Surgical excision was performed following oncological principles and included extirpation of the gallbladder, extrahepatic bile duct, and hilar lymph nodes, as well as partial hepatectomy. Postoperative morbidity was minimal. Surgical pathology demonstrated XGC and absence of malignancy in all three cases. All three patients are alive and well after years of follow-up. XGC may have such an aggressive presentation that carcinoma may only be ruled out on surgical pathology. In such cases, the best option may be radical resection following oncological principles performed by expert surgeons, in order that postoperative complications may be minimized if not avoided altogether.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26436364,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Maternal separation on the ethanol-preferring adult rat liver structure.\nBackground and rationale for the study. We designed to test whether there is interaction of maternal separation (MS) on the ethanol-preferring rats liver structure. The UCh rat pups were separated daily from their mothers during the stress hyporesponsive period (SHRP), between four and 14 days-old, always at the same time for four hours in a cage containing eight subdivisions, one for each pup. Subsequently, rats that presented the highest (UChB) and the lowest (UChA) ethanol (EtOH) consumption were selected to the study. Both UChB and UChA rats received 10% (v\/v) EtOH and distilled water ad libitum until the end of the experiment (120 days-old). The liver was collected to histological routine for morphometric and stereological analyses, and immunohistochemistry. There was an interaction of MS and EtOH on the liver: increased liver mass, peritubular vessels, stellate cell numbers, steatosis and cell death, decreased necrosis, sinusoidal capillary diameters and cell proliferation. While there was a decrease in FSH, testosterone and 5\u03b1-di-hidrotestosterone, and increasing corticosterone and cholesterol. There is interaction of MS and EtOH on the liver structure, dependent on the amount of EtOH intake. Furthermore, the interaction of stress and drugs can increase or decrease their effects on the liver or indirectly via hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) and hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14555853,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-22":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Focus on cat allergen (Fel d 1): immunological and aerodynamic characteristics, modality of airway sensitization and avoidance strategies.\nThe increasing frequency of pet ownership (especially cats) in many industrialized countries has raised the level of exposure to the allergens produced by these animals. Moreover, it is likely that modern energy-saving systems and the wide use of upholstered furniture has resulted in closer contact between cats (and their allergens) and humans. Many different methods have been developed to quantify the main cat allergen (Fel d 1) in settled dust and in ambient air. The threshold levels of cat allergen inducing sensitization or triggering respiratory symptoms in sensitized patients have been calculated in settled dust, but airborne amounts of Fel d 1 probably represent a more reliable index of allergen exposure. Noticeably, the amount of Fel d 1 may be relatively high also in confined environments where cats have never been kept. It has been demonstrated that clothes of cat owners are the main source for dispersal of allergens in cat-free environments. This fact may be of relevance, because recent studies have shown that allergic sensitization to cats is more likely to develop in children exposed to moderate levels of this allergen than in children exposed to high amounts of Fel d 1. The ubiquity of cat allergen may justify the common observation that allergen avoidance is often insufficient to reduce the risk of developing allergic sensitization and\/or symptom exacerbation in highly susceptible patients. Further efforts are needed to improve the efficacy of Fel d 1 avoidance strategies to try to reduce the risk of allergic sensitization to this allergen.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27270100,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Analysis of \u03b22-agonists in cattle hair samples using a rapid UHPLC-ESI-MS\/MS method.\nA simple and efficient method was developed for simultaneous analysis of five illegal residual \u03b22-agonists in cattle hair. \u03b22-Agonists were quantified by ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionisation tandem mass spectrometry operating in positive multiple-reaction monitoring mode. The method was validated as quantitative confirmatory method according to the EU Decision 2002\/657\/EC: instrumental linearity, specificity, precision, recovery, decision limit (CC\u03b1) and detection capability (CC\u03b2) were evaluated. The recovery were greater than 90% and the method appeared suitable for the control of these \u03b22-agonists in cattle hair samples with LOQ values between 4.9 and 5.5 \u03bcg\/kg. This method could represent a simple and cheap approach to confirm \u03b22-agonists contamination of cattle for feeding in a not invasive way and before slaughter operations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":2788050,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Exercise stress alters murine lymphocyte subset distribution in spleen, lymph nodes and thymus.\nOur previous work indicated that exercise stress in mice was associated with reduced splenic lymphocyte proliferation to T cell mitogens. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of acute exercise stress and exercise training on the phenotype distribution of murine lymphocytes in the spleen, lymph nodes and thymus. In mice given an exhaustive bout of treadmill exercise, the percentage of Thy 1.2 and Lyt2 antigen bearing cells decreased in the thymus, but the percentage of L3T4-positive cells did not change significantly. Acute exercise did not alter the percentage of Thy1.2, L3T4 or Lyt2-positive cells in the secondary lymphoid compartments (nodes, spleen). By contrast, in mice given a chronic exercise training programme (8 weeks duration; 30 m\/min, 8 degrees slope, 30 min\/session, 5 daily sessions\/week) followed by a 72 h rest period, the percentage of L3T4-positive cells increased by 53% in the spleen, 19% in the lymph nodes and 29% in the thymus compared with sedentary controls; no parallel increase in the percentage of Thy1.2 antigen bearing cells was observed. These results suggest that the effect of exercise on the frequencies of lymphocyte subpopulations in murine lymphoid compartments is dependent upon the chronicity of the stress and probably on the accompanying physiological adaptations to the stress.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6367402,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Lymphocyte populations and subpopulations in some lymphoproliferative dermatoses.\nWe present a study of lymphocyte populations and subpopulations as seen in histological cuts of skin with malignant and benign lymphoproliferative alterations using the immunological and histochemical techniques later described. Disclosed are the results of samples obtained of lymphocyte populations which were used to help differentiate between said alterations. It is proven that in T cell lymphomas. The infiltrate is dominated by markers for EA IgM which correlates with the results of other authors in peripheral blood.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6741553,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Disseminated atypical mycobacteriosis.\nTwo cases of disseminated infection caused by Mycobacterium intracellulare were reported and discussed. In the first case, the patient was a fifty-seven-year-old male who complained of general fatigue, weight loss, and fever. Biopsy of the right inguinal lymph nodes and the liver revealed infiltration by histiocytes engulfing many acid-fast bacilli. At autopsy and egg-sized abscess was found is the region of the right iliac lymph nodes. Histological examination showed histiocytic infiltration in the abscess wall, neighboring lymph nodes, liver, and spleen. In the second case, the patient was a four-year-old boy, who had persistent fever and splenomegaly. Splenectomy was performed and histological examination of the spleen revealed multiple nodular infiltration by swollen histiocytes with many acid-fast bacilli in their cytoplasm. The bone marrow aspirates and liver tissue obtained in the necropsy also showed many histiocytes containing many acid-fast bacilli. The authors emphasized the importance of paying special attention to atypical mycobacteriosis in feverish patients having lesions with a proliferation of histiocytes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18607096,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Crystallization and crystallographic analysis of human NUDT16.\nHuman NUDT16, a decapping enzyme belonging to the Nudix superfamily, plays a pivotal role in U8 snoRNA stability. Recombinant NUDT16 expressed in Escherichia coli was crystallized using the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method. The crystals, which diffracted to 2.10 A resolution, belonged to space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 44.47, b = 79.32, c = 97.20 A. The Matthews coefficient and the solvent content were calculated to be 1.92 A(3) Da(-1) and 35.84%, respectively, for two molecules per asymmetric unit.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37453055,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Procoagulant genes may affect angiogenesis, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, survival prognosis and tumor immune microenvironment in patients with urothelial carcinoma.\nFactors related to coagulation regulation are closely related to angiogenesis, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, tumor proliferation and metastasis, and tumor immune microenvironment remodeling in tumors. To date, there are no quantitative indicators of coagulation associated with urothelial cancer. We classified urothelial cancer into high coagulation and low coagulation subtypes by screening for procoagulant-related molecular features and screened out relevant genes representing the coagulation state of urothelial carcinoma. Tumors with increased procoagulant gene expression were consistently associated with higher T-staging (p < 0.001), lymph node metastasis (p < 0.001), stage (p < 0.001), and grade (p = 0.046). Furthermore, high expression of procoagulant genes predicts a worse prognosis, a higher tumor proliferation rate and increased angiogenesis within the tumor. In addition, according to cibersort algorithm, the increased expression of procoagulant gene was negatively correlated with the degree of T-lymphocyte infiltration and positively correlated with the degree of M2 macrophage infiltration. Increased expression of procoagulant genes in data sets treated with immune checkpoints also predicted worse response and worse prognosis. At the same time, the expression of procoagulant genes in bladder cancer promoted the activation of coagulation, EMT, TGF-\u03b2 and WNT pathways.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28686204,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Metabolic and Blood Pressure Effects of Walnut Supplementation in a Mouse Model of the Metabolic Syndrome.\nThere is extensive evidence that walnut consumption is protective against cardiovascular disease and diabetes in the healthy population, but the beneficial effects of walnut consumption in individuals with the metabolic syndrome (MetS) remain uncertain. We compared a range of cardio-metabolic traits and related tissue gene expression associated with 21 weeks of dietary walnut supplementation in a mouse model of MetS (MetS-Tg) and wild-type (WT) mice (n = 10 per genotype per diet, equal males and females). Compared to standard diet, walnuts did not significantly alter food consumption or body weight trajectory of either MetS-Tg or WT mice. In MetS-Tg mice, walnuts were associated with reductions in oral glucose area under the curve (gAUC, standard diet 1455 \u00b1 54, walnut 1146 \u00b1 91, p = 0.006) and mean arterial blood pressure (MAP, standard diet 100.6 \u00b1 1.9, walnut 73.2 \u00b1 1.8 mmHg, p < 0.001), with neutral effects on gAUC and MAP in WT mice. However, in MetS-Tg mice, walnuts were also associated with trends for higher plasma cholesterol (standard diet 4.73 \u00b1 0.18, walnut 7.03 \u00b1 1.99 mmol\/L, p = 0.140) and triglyceride levels (standard diet 2.4 \u00b1 0.5, walnut 5.4 \u00b1 1.6 mmol\/L, p = 0.061), despite lowering cholesterol and having no effect on triglycerides in WT mice. Moreover, in both MetS-Tg and WT mice, walnuts were associated with significantly increased liver expression of genes associated with metabolism (Fabp1, Insr), cell stress (Atf6, Ddit3, Eif2ak3), fibrosis (Hgf, Sp1, Timp1) and inflammation (Tnf, Ptpn22, Pparg). In conclusion, dietary walnuts were associated with modest favourable effects in WT mice, but a combination of beneficial and adverse effects in MetS-Tg mice, and up-regulation of hepatic pro-fibrotic and pro-inflammatory genes in both mouse strains.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25402175,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"c-Myc and transforming growth factor \u03b1 enhance the development of hepatic lesions due to mutant \u03b2-catenin in transgenic mice.\nAlterations in the Wnt signaling pathway are associated with diverse cancers, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The development of HCC is thought to be a multistage process in which multiple genetic alterations are necessary. Few studies have assessed the effect of aberrant Wnt signaling activity in association with other molecular alterations in HCC. Here we sought to determine whether co-overexpression of c-Myc or TGF\u03b1, 2 signaling molecules known to contribute to HCC development, enhanced the development of hepatic lesions associated with a stabilized \u03b2-catenin. The coexpression of mutant \u03b2-catenin with either c-Myc or TGF\u03b1 within hepatocytes increased the severity of hepatic lesions compared with that associated with any of the transgenes expressed individually. The coexpression of mutant \u03b2-catenin with c-Myc or TGF\u03b1 resulted in severe hepatomegaly necessitating the euthanasia of mice by an average of 156 and 128 d, respectively, after the cessation of doxycycline. The expression of mutant \u03b2-catenin alone resulted in mild to moderate hepatomegaly that prompted the euthanasia of mice by an average of 75 d after the cessation of doxycycline. Collectively, these findings indicate that coexpression of c-Myc or TGF\u03b1 delays the onset of endstage hepatic disease yet enhances the severity of hepatic lesions due to mutant \u03b2-catenin.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28707984,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Social influences on sorority and fraternity member smoking.\nTo understand how the Greek system uniquely influences smoking attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors among college students who belong to a social sorority or fraternity. Active members of sororities (n = 16) and fraternities (n = 17) were interviewed between February 2013 and October 2015. In-depth interviews were conducted examining the social influences of the Greek system on member smoking. Transcribed interviews were coded and analyzed for themes. Sorority and fraternity members experienced different social influences on smoking. Sorority stigmatization of smoking outside bars or parties caused sorority members to hide their smoking. Fraternity members had no social penalties for smoking and allowed smoking at the fraternity house. Fraternity members influenced both fraternity members and sorority members to smoke by sharing cigarettes and smoking at parties. Sororities and fraternities have created social environments that both promote smoking and stigmatize it, presenting unique challenges in college student smoking prevention and cessation efforts.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37448386,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Integrating Psychosocial Risks With Emerging Evidence for Borderline Personality Disorders in Adolescence: An Update for Clinicians.\nBorderline personality disorder (BPD) has seen significant advances in the knowledge of its developmental phenomenology during late childhood and adolescence. Various genetic, neurobiological, psychological, and social factors are implicated in the etiology of BPD. With emerging evidence on BPD development in adolescence, the review focused on recent literature to understand the role of psychosocial risk factors. The effects of adverse familial environment, physical, emotional, verbal, and sexual abuse, intergenerational transmission of psychopathological traits, maternal neglect and rejection, low socioeconomic status, bullying victimization, and dating violence were reviewed to understand their role in the development of BPD. BPD is a highly complex, serious, and enduring mental illness that has now been widely accepted to have symptoms that onset in early adolescence and could be diagnosed as early as age 12. BPD symptoms are stable, phenomenologically distinct from externalizing and internalizing disorders, and often present with co-occurring disorders, which during assessment could not explain impairments associated with BPD. New measures like the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), detailed developmental histories, understanding of psychosocial risks, shared decision-making, and psychoeducation could assist in early diagnosis and improvement of long-term outcomes. The implementation of evidence-based treatments is a challenge given higher costs and access to services; therefore, modifications in the treatment based on the core principles of these strategies should be considered. It is imperative to screen for psychosocial factors early in higher-risk groups. The assessment of familial factors, parental histories of psychopathologies, and histories of childhood abuse is important in context with impairing symptoms of clinical presentation and dimensional aspects of self-functioning. The role of family therapies, parental psychoeducation, and the integration of trauma-informed care approaches are important for clinical outcomes. Also, coordinated efforts with multiple stakeholders like school awareness programs, anti-bullying policies, legislation, and enforcement of existing laws might be instrumental in addressing issues related to victimization by peers.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30100501,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dose frequency of prostaglandin F2\u03b1 administration to dairy cows exposed to presynchronization and either 5- or 7-day Ovsynch program durations: Ovulatory and luteolytic risks.\nWe hypothesized (1) that neither duration of the Ovsynch program nor dose frequency of PGF2\u03b1 would change the proportion of cows with complete luteolysis (progesterone <0.4 ng\/mL 72 h after PGF2\u03b1) and (2) that the additional GnRH treatment administered as part of a presynchronization program would not alter the proportion of anovulatory cows starting the timed artificial insemination (AI) program compared with an alternative shorter presynch program including only 1 GnRH treatment. Lactating Holstein cows (n = 406) were milked 3 times daily and enrolled in a 2 \u00d7 2 \u00d7 2 factorial experiment consisting of 8 treatments before the first postpartum AI. Treatments were used to test ovulatory, luteal, and luteolytic outcomes to 3 main effects: (1) 2 GnRH-PGF2\u03b1 presynchronization programs (PG-3-G vs. Double Ovsynch), (2) 2 Ovsynch program durations [5 d: GnRH (GnRH-1)-5 d-PGF2\u03b1-24 h-PGF2\u03b1-32 h-GnRH (GnRH-2)-16 h-timed AI; 7 d: GnRH-1-7 d-PGF2\u03b1-56 h-GnRH-2-16 h-timed AI], and (3) 2 PGF2\u03b1 dose frequency treatments (2 \u00d7 25 mg) 24 h apart versus 1 dose (1 \u00d7 50 mg) of PGF2\u03b1 administered 72 h before timed AI. The presynchronization treatments of PG-3-G and Double Ovsynch had no effect on the proportion of cows with luteal function at the onset of the Ovsynch treatments (87.9 vs. 86.2%). Although ovulatory responses were similar after GnRH-1 (>60%), Double Ovsynch cows tended to have greater ovulatory responses than PG-3-G after GnRH-2 (95.3 vs. 90.6%). The 2 \u00d7 25-mg doses of PGF2\u03b1 and the 1 \u00d7 50-mg dose induced luteolysis in both Ovsynch treatment durations, but the 1 \u00d7 50-mg dose was less effective in the 5-d program. More pregnancy per AI (P\/AI; 49.2%) tended to occur in the PG-3-G cows in the 7-d program compared with the other treatment combinations (range: 32.4-37.4%; Ovsynch \u00d7 presynch interaction). In addition, an Ovsynch \u00d7 PGF2\u03b1 dose frequency interaction resulted in cows receiving the 1 \u00d7 50-mg dose in the 7-d program having the greatest P\/AI (46.1%) and cows receiving the 1 \u00d7 50-mg dose in the 5-d program having the least P\/AI (30.6%). We conclude that complete luteolysis was less effective in the 5-d program when the 1 \u00d7 50-mg dose was applied, but both PGF2\u03b1 dose frequencies (1 \u00d7 50 mg and 2 \u00d7 25 mg 24 h apart) effectively induced complete luteolysis in the 7-d program. Treatments producing complete luteolysis tended to be related to subsequent pregnancy outcomes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32617983,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Mood, Anxiety and Olfactory Dysfunction in COVID-19: Evidence of Central Nervous System Involvement?\nThe objective of this study was to determine the burden of depressed mood and anxiety in COVID-19, and associated disease characteristics. This is a prospective, cross-sectional study of 114 COVID-19 positive patients diagnosed using RT-PCR-based testing over a 6-week period. The two-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-2) and the two-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder questionnaire (GAD-2) were used to measure depressed mood and anxiety level, respectively, at enrollment and for participants' baseline, pre-COVID-19 state. Severity of smell loss, loss of taste, nasal obstruction, rhinorrhea\/mucus production, fever, cough, and shortness of breath (SOB) during COVID-19 were assessed. PHQ-2 and GAD-2 significantly (P < .001) increased from baseline to enrollment. PHQ-2 was associated with smell loss (adjusted incidence rate ratio [aIRR] = 1.40, 95% CI, 1.10-1.78, P = .006), age (aIRR = 1.02, 95% CI, 1.01-1.04, P = .006), and baseline PHQ-2 score (aIRR = 1.39, 95% CI, 1.09-1.76, P = .007). GAD-2 score was associated with smell loss (aIRR = 1.29, 95% CI, 1.02-1.62, P = .035), age (aIRR = 1.02, 95% CI, 1.01-1.04, P = .025) and baseline GAD-2 score (aIRR = 1.55, 95% CI, 1.24-1.93, P < .001). Loss of taste also exhibited similar associations with PHQ-2 and GAD-2. PHQ-2 and GAD-2 scores were not associated with severities of any other symptoms during the COVID-19 course. Despite the occurrence of symptoms-such as SOB-associated with severe manifestations of COVID-19, only the severities of smell and taste loss were associated with depressed mood and anxiety. These results may raise the novel possibility of emotional disturbance as a CNS manifestation of COVID-19 given trans-olfactory tract penetration of the central nervous system (CNS) by coronaviruses. 3 Laryngoscope, 130:2520-2525, 2020.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28730615,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Vulvar cancer in high-income countries: Increasing burden of disease.\nThe aim of this study was to assess trends in the age-specific incidence of vulvar cancer in 13 high-income countries satisfying a priori conditions regarding the availability of cancer registry data over a 20-year period; these were Canada, the United States, nine European countries, Australia and Japan. Five-yearly incidence and population at risk were obtained from the International Agency for Research on Cancer's Cancer Incidence in Five Continents for the years 1988-1992 (Volume 7) to 2003-2007 (Volume 10). The 5-yearly average percent change (AvPC) over the period and standardised rate ratios (SRRs) for 2003-2007 versus 1988-1992 were used to assess changes in the age-standardised incidence rates of vulvar cancer for all ages, and for <60 years and 60+ years. During the study period, the 5-yearly AvPC across the 13 countries increased by 4.6% (p = 0.005) in women of all ages, and 11.6% (p = 0.02) in those <60 years. No change was observed in women aged 60+ years (5-yearly AvPC = 0.1%, p = 0.94). The SRR for 2003-2007 versus 1988-1992 was significantly elevated in women <60 years of age (SRR = 1.38, 95% CI: 1.30-1.46), but not in women of 60+ years (SRR = 1.01, 95% CI: 0.97-1.05). The increase in incidence in women <60 years of age drove a significant increase in the overall SRR in women of all ages (SRR = 1.14, 95% CI: 1.11-1.18). Some differences in the specific findings at the individual country level were observed. The findings are consistent with changing sexual behaviours and increasing levels of exposure to human papillomavirus (HPV) in cohorts born around\/after about 1950, but younger cohorts offered HPV vaccination are likely to receive some protection against developing vulvar cancer in the future.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24396434,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Comparative evaluation of thrombocytopenia in adult patients receiving linezolid or glycopeptides in a respiratory intensive care unit.\nLinezolid is an oxazolidinone antibiotic agent, active against gram-positive bacteria that are resistant to traditional antibiotics, including glycopeptides. Linezolid is generally well tolerated, but has been associated with hematologic adverse effects such as thrombocytopenia. The primary objective of this study was to compare the incidence of thrombocytopenia between patients receiving linezolid or glycopeptides in different age groups. The secondary objective was to assess the association between the time-to-event and occurrence of thrombocytopenia. This retrospective study reviewed the medical records of patients who were treated with linezolid or glycopeptides (vancomycin or teicoplanin) between January 2010 and June 2013 in a respiratory intensive care unit. Data were extracted from the patients' electronic medical records, which were obtained from a central database in the hospital, and multivariate analyses were performed. In total, the study included 225 patients who received linezolid or glycopeptides. The cumulative probability of thrombocytopenia was higher in the patients receiving linezolid than in those receiving glycopeptides (P<0.05), however the cumulative probability of thrombocytopenia did not differ significantly between patients receiving linezolid or glycopeptides in the subgroup whose age was <65 years (P>0.05). With a treatment duration of \u22657 days, the incidence of thrombocytopenia and the mean platelet count reduction in the patients receiving linezolid was significantly higher than in those receiving glycopeptides (P<0.05). No significant difference was identified in the mean platelet counts between the patients receiving linezolid and those receiving glycopeptides. In conclusion, it was identified that patients in a respiratory intensive care unit, aged \u226565 years or with a treatment duration of \u22657 days who were treated with linezolid were more likely to develop thrombocytopenia than patients of the same subgroup who were treated with glycopeptides.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32621654,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"OsbZIP76 interacts with OsNF-YBs and regulates endosperm cellularization in rice (Oryza sativa).\nFollowing double fertilization, plant endosperm nuclei undergo syncytial divisions, followed by synchronous cellularization. Cellularization is a key event during endosperm development, but our understanding of its regulation is limited to Arabidopsis. In this study we show that OsbZIP76 regulates cellularization in rice (Oryza sativa). Activation of OsbZIP76 coincided with the initiation of cellularization, and its knockdown or knockout mutants exhibited precocious cellularization. Genes involved in endosperm development or starch biosynthesis were prematurely activated in the osbzip76 caryopsis. As a putative transcription factor, OsbZIP76 alone lacked transcriptional activation activity; however, it interacted with the nuclear factor Y (NF-Y) family transcription factors OsNF-YB9 and OsNF-YB1 in yeast and in planta. OsbZIP76 and OsNF-YB9 were predominantly expressed in the endosperm and the proteins colocalized. Seeds of osnf-yb1 and osbzip76 mutants showed reduced size and reduced apparent amylose content. The parent-of-origin-dependent expression of OsbZIP76 is variable in different rice accessions. In summary, OsbZIP76 is an endosperm-expressed imprinted gene that regulates endosperm development in rice.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12026110,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Influence of vitamins C and E on cytotoxic activity of adriamycin in chosen cell cultures.\nInfluence of different concentrations of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and dl-alpha-tocopherol acetate (vitamin E) on in vitro cytotoxic adriamycin activity, in: embryonic human fibroblasts (CLV102), human melanoma cells (ME18) and adriamycin-resistant subline cells (ME18\/R), was studied. IC50 value for each compound (compound concentration in the culture medium, for which 50% of cells survive) was determined. Cells' survival after the used agent was examined with trypan blue test. The relationship between different concentrations of vitamin C and toxicity of adriamycin, used at appropriate IC50 concentrations, was expressed for all the examined cells as their survival decrease, being in direct proportion to the concentration increase of this vitamin in the medium. In the case of influence of vitamin E on adriamycin cytotoxicity, the protective effect of this vitamin was observed in the concentration range: from 5 to 300 microg\/ml (p < or = 0.0001), as an increase of the examined cell survival for ME18, ME18\/R as well as for CLV102, comparing to the control (p=0.05) without this vitamin. Parallelly, a statistically significant survival decrease was observed, if the concentration of vitamin E in the culture medium exceeded 500 microg\/ml. Received results showed different, in defined concentration range, effects of the vitamin C or vitamin E activity for adriamycin cytotoxicity. These effects were similar for all the examined cells.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36938660,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Whole-exome sequencing of secondary tumors arising from nevus sebaceous revealed additional genomic alterations besides RAS mutations.\nNevus sebaceous (NS) is a congenital hamartoma associated with an increased risk of secondary neoplasms in approximately 10%-20% of patients. However, additional genomic alterations underlying tumorigenesis in NS lesions have not been clarified. We performed whole-exome sequencing of archived tumor tissues (n = 8; six basal cell carcinomas and two trichoepitheliomas) and matched germline tissues (n = 7) with from seven patients with secondary tumors arising from NS. We also analyzed NS lesions without secondary tumors (n = 8). Somatic mutations and copy number alterations (CNAs) were analyzed. We identified a median of 129 somatic mutations (corresponding to 2.6\/Mb in target regions, range 26-336) for eight tumors, while a median of 118 somatic mutations (2.3\/Mb, range 1-196) for eight NS lesions. Known RAS hotspot mutations were found in seven of the eight tumors (six for HRAS p.G13R and one for HRAS p.Q61R) and in six of the eight NS lesions (four for HRAS p.G13R, one for KRAS p.G12C, and one KRAS p.G12D). Except RAS mutations, several putative driver mutations were detected in tumors: TP53 p.F134L\/p.R213*, MYCN p.P59L, OR2Z1 p.P167S, PTPN14 p.Q768*, and SMO p.W535L. As for CNAs, two tumors harbored copy-loss in regions encompassing PTCH1 gene. However, eight NS lesions did not harbor both putative driver mutations and CNAs. In conclusion, our study revealed that secondary tumors arising from NS harbor known RAS hotspot mutations and additional genomic alterations, including putative driver mutations and PTCH1 copy-loss. These results could help to define the high-risk group for tumor development in patients with NS and provide evidence for prophylactic resection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32614680,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"DNA damage and inflammatory response in workers exposed to fuels and paints.\nWorkers exposed to fuels and paints may present alterations in several parameters. Thus, we assessed potential biomarkers, with the aim of detecting early changes in gasoline station attendants and painters. Blood samples were collected for the analysis of inflammatory and DNA damage markers, besides biochemical, haematological and oxidative stress parameters. Biochemical and haematological parameters, which are assessed with routine exams, showed few changes. However, these findings could mask the workers' real health status. Besides, markers of oxidative damage were not modified. Levels of inflammatory parameters (cytokines and nitric oxide levels) and the DNA damage marker 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine were significantly changed in the workers. Our results suggest that inflammatory and DNA damage parameters can be potential biomarkers for the biological monitoring of workers exposed to fuels and paints and may contribute to the development of occupational protection standards.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34239491,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Phenotypic and Genotypic Characterization of DEPDC5-Related Familial Focal Epilepsy: Case Series and Literature Review.\nMutations in the disheveled, Egl-10 and domain-containing protein 5 (DEPDC5) recently have been identified as a common cause of focal epilepsy syndromes. The association between phenotype and genotype of DEPDC5 mutation has not been adequately characterized. We studied four families with familial focal epilepsy carrying DEPDC5 mutations. Four novel DEPDC5 mutations were identified by next-generation sequencing, including two missense mutations (c.1729 >A and c.3260G>A), one splicing mutation (c.280-1G>A), and one frameshift mutation (c.515_516delinsT). We found that patients carrying different DEPDC5 mutation have different clinical manifestations. Incomplete penetrance is a prominent feature of DEPDC5-related epilepsy, with the rate of penetrance ranging from 25 to 100%. About 21.4% of patients with DEPDC5-related familial focal epilepsy are refractory to treatments. We further reviewed the correlation of genotype and phenotype in all previous literature regarding DEPDC5-related epilepsy. Our study suggested that the type of DEPDC5 mutation might provide important information for the prognosis evaluation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37856140,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-30":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Engineering Ca2+-Dependent DNA Polymerase Activity.\nAdvancements in synthetic biology have provided new opportunities in biosensing, with applications ranging from genetic programming to diagnostics. Next generation biosensors aim to expand the number of accessible environments for measurements, increase the number of measurable phenomena, and improve the quality of the measurement. To this end, an emerging area in the field has been the integration of DNA as an information storage medium within biosensor outputs, leveraging nucleic acids to record the biosensor state over time. However, slow signal transduction steps, due to the time scales of transcription and translation, bottleneck many sensing-DNA recording approaches. DNA polymerases (DNAPs) have been proposed as a solution to the signal transduction problem by operating as both the sensor and responder, but there is presently a lack of DNAPs with functional sensitivity to many desirable target ligands. Here, we engineer components of the Pol \u03b4 replicative polymerase complex of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to sense and respond to Ca2+, a metal cofactor relevant to numerous biological phenomena. Through domain insertion and binding site grafting to Pol \u03b4 subunits, we demonstrate functional allosteric sensitivity to Ca2+. Together, this work provides an important foundation for future efforts in the development of DNAP-based biosensors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31251231,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Modulation instability induced by intermodal cross-phase modulation in step-index multimode fiber.\nBased on linear stability analysis, we theoretically investigate the onset condition and gain spectrum of intermodal cross-phase modulation-induced noise-seeded modulation instability taking place in the normal dispersion regime of step-index multimode fiber, specially designed to support four modes (LP01, LP11, LP21, LP02) at 1064 nm. For the case of total power being distributed equally in certain bimodal combinations, the peak sideband frequency scales as the square root of total power, and peak gain increases linearly with total power. For the case of total power being distributed unequally, there exists an optimal power ratio to obtain peak gain, which does not depend on total power significantly. When the mode group velocity mismatch is considered, the range and peak values of gain spectra are notably increased.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29562576,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evaluate of the effect of low tube voltage on the radiation dosage using 640-slice coronary CT angiography.\n640-slice coronary CT angiography is becoming an accurate and reliable method of diagnosing coronary heart disease. However, how to reduce the radiation dosage while ensuring the clinically acceptable image quality remains a quite challenging issue. To evaluate the effect of low tube voltage on radiation dosage under 640-slice coronary CT angiography (CCTA). Four hundred patients (236 males, 164 females) with coronary heart disease and underwent CCTA using DCVT were classified into A1 (tube voltage: 120 kV; exposure phase window: 30-80%), B1 (120 kV; 70-80%), A2 (100 kV; 30-80%) and B2 group (100 kV; 70-80%), respectively. Image qualities and effective dose (ED) were assessed and compared. No significant differences were observed among the groups in terms of age, height, weight and body mass index (BMI) (P > 0.05). ED were significantly lower in 100 kV group (P < 0.05). CT values of coronary artery in 100 kV groups were 13.5% and 17.3% higher than 120 kV group. ED in B1 group were 64.5% and 67.0% lower than A1 group. ED in B2 group were 65.4% and 65.2% lower than A2 group. When using a 640-slice CCTA prospective ECG-gating scanning mode, it is preferable to use a 100 kV tube voltage setting because compared to 120 kV tube voltage protocol, it seems to significantly decrease the mean effective radiation dose, without significantly lowering both the subjective and objective image quality.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15246944,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Clinical evaluation of allogeneic cultured dermal substitutes for intractable skin ulcers after tumor resection.\nClinical research on allogeneic cultured dermal substitute (CDS), which was newly developed at the R&D Center for Artificial Skin of Kitasato University, has been carried out in medical centers across Japan with the support of the Millennium Project of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan. Allogeneic CDS was prepared by cultivation of fibroblasts on a two-layered spongy matrix of hyaluronic acid and atelo-collagen. This paper reports the clinical results of application of allogeneic CDS in 12 patients with full-thickness skin defects after surgical resection of skin tumors. In 9 of 10 patients, healthy granulation tissue developed immediately, allowing us to perform split-thickness skin grafts at an early stage. In two cases, allogeneic CDS was used to cover an expanded mesh skin graft that had been applied to treat a large ulcer, and rapid epithelization was observed. No patient developed local infection nor local tumor recurrence after treatment with CDS. The spongy matrix itself as well as the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) released by the allogeneic CDS seemed to be beneficial for the treatment of intractable skin ulcers. Allogeneic CDS functions as an excellent biological dressing, and could dramatically change the treatment of intractable skin ulcers.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29560032,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Are collision athletes at a higher risk of re-dislocation after an open Bristow-Latarjet procedure? A systematic review and meta-analysis.\nThe primary aim of the present study was to review, summarize and compare the redislocation risk for collision athletes and noncollision athletes after an open Bristow-Latarjet procedure. Our secondary aim was to summarize return to sport, satisfaction, pain and complications. We conducted a systematic review in PubMed and EMBASE of articles until 1 July 2016. We included all studies describing Bristow-Latarjet like procedures as a result of glenohumeral instability, mentioning redislocation rates in collision athletes with >2 years of follow-up. We pooled the data using random-effects meta-analysis for redislocation risk-differences (RD) between collision and noncollision athletes, and assessed heterogeneity with I2 and Tau2 tests. From 475 titles and abstracts, 11 studies were included and eight studies were meta-analyzed. The pooled RD to develop a postoperative redislocation between collision athletes and noncollision athletes was -0.00 (95% confidence interval: -0.03 to 0.03, p = 0.370). Return to sports rates were high (67-100%), and patients reported high satisfaction scores (93-100% satisfied) and low pain scores (mean visual analogue scale score of 1.6); however, postoperative complication rates varied from 0.8% to 19.2%. Collision athletes are not more at risk for redislocation rates after an open Bristow-Latarjet procedure compared to noncollision athletes. Overall postoperative outcomes were good, although numerous complications occurred.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16983634,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Preparation and evaluation of C18-bonded 1-microm silica particles for pressurized capillary electrochromatography.\nNonporous silica spheres (1 microm) were synthesized and bonded with octadecylsilane functionality. These stationary phase particles were packed electrokinetically into fused-silica capillaries with 100 microm id for a length of 20 cm, which was evaluated by using pressurized CEC (pCEC). The efficiency of the C18 RP column was characterized through the theoretical plates of thiourea, benzyl alcohol, toluene, styrene, and naphthalene. The effects of experimental parameters such as the applied voltage, sample size, pump flow rate, pH value and the concentration of the buffer solution, and the content of methanol in the mobile phase, on-column efficiency were evaluated. Column efficiency as high as 200 000 theoretical plates per meter for naphthalene was obtained with the optimal condition of 70% v\/v methanol and 30% v\/v of 10 mmol\/L phosphate buffer (pH 7.8) at an applied voltage of 10 kV and a supplementary pressure of 500 psi.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22811028,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Insulin and fiber type in the offspring of T2DM subjects with resistance training and detraining.\nEffects of resistance training and detraining on glucose and insulin responses to an oral glucose load, muscle fiber type, and muscular performance in the offspring of those with type 2 diabetes (familial insulin resistant (FIR)) were investigated. Six FIR participants and 10 controls (C) completed 9 wk of resistance training and 9 wk of detraining. Measures of strength and power, an oral glucose tolerance test, and a muscle biopsy to determine myosin heavy chain (MHC) fiber composition were taken at baseline (T1), after training (T2), and after detraining (T3). Three-repetition maximum increased (P \u2264 0.001) similarly in both groups in all strength measures, e.g., leg press (FIR T1, T2: 121 \u00b1 34 kg, 186 \u00b1 50 kg; C T1, T2: 137 \u00b1 42 kg, 206 \u00b1 64 kg, respectively (means \u00b1 SD)). Wingate peak power increased (FIR T1, T2: 505 \u00b1 137 W, 523 \u00b1 143 W; C T1, T2: 636 \u00b1 211 W, 672 \u00b1 223 W, respectively; P \u2264 0.005 (means \u00b1 SD)). Training reduced insulin area under the curve more (P = 0.050) in FIR (T1, T2: 1219 \u00b1 734 pmol\u00b7L, 837 \u00b1 284 pmol\u00b7L, respectively (means \u00b1 SD)) than that in C (T1, T2: 647 \u00b1 268 pmol\u00b7L, 635 \u00b1 258 pmol\u00b7L, respectively (means \u00b1 SD)). MHC distribution did not change with training. Strength (three-repetition maximum measures) decreased with detraining (P \u2264 0.001) although Wingate power did not. Detraining increased insulin area under the curve (P = 0.018) in FIR (T2, T3: 837 \u00b1 285 pmol\u00b7L, 1040 \u00b1 194 pmol\u00b7L, respectively (means \u00b1 SD)) but not in C (T2, T3: 635 \u00b1 258 pmol\u00b7L, 625 \u00b1 213 pmol\u00b7L, respectively (means \u00b1 SD)). MHC IIX fibers increased with detraining (P = 0.026). FIR appears to have exaggerated responses to resistance training and detraining, with a greater reduction in insulin release with glucose ingestion after training and increase when training ceases. Resistance training has a significant effect on insulin responses and may reduce future risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus among FIR.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19051239,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-18":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Studies related to antibody fragment (Fab) production in Escherichia coli W3110 fed-batch fermentation processes using multiparameter flow cytometry.\nMicrobiology is important to industry therefore rapid and statistically representative measurements of cell physiological state, proliferation, and viability are essential if informed decisions about fermentation bioprocess optimization or control are to be made, because process performance will depend largely on the number of metabolically active viable cells. Samples of recombinant Escherichia coli W3110, containing the gene for the D1.3 anti-lysozyme Fab fragment under the control of the lac-based expression system, were taken at various stages from fed-batch fermentation processes and stained with a mixture of bis-(1,3-dibutylbarbituric acid) trimethine oxonol and propidium iodide (PI\/BOX). Where appropriate, measurements of dissolved oxygen tension (DOT), OD600nm and Fab concentration were made. Depending on time of induction the maximum amount of Fab accumulating in the supernatant varied quite markedly from 1 to 4 microg ml(-1) as did subsequent cell physiological state with respect to PI\/BOX staining with a concomitant drop in maximum biomass concentration. Depending on point of induction a fourfold increase in Fab production could be achieved accompanied by a approximately 50% drop in maximum biomass concentration but with a higher proportion of viable cells as measured by multiparameter flow cytometry.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22699747,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Surgical indications for gastrectomy combined with distal or partial pancreatectomy in patients with gastric cancer.\nThe purpose of this study was to clarify the surgical indications for gastrectomy combined with distal or partial pancreatectomy (GP) in patients with gastric cancer. From January 1994 to December 2009, 29 patients with primary gastric cancer surgically invading the pancreas without distant organ metastasis underwent GP for R0 resection. The patients' characteristics, surgical data, and clinicopathological features were used for the analysis of survival and prognostic factors. The median disease-free survival and median survival time (MST) of all patients were 15 and 30 months, respectively. Only pN3 status (characterized by 7 or more pathologically metastatic lymph nodes) according to the Japanese Classification of Gastric Carcinoma, 14th edition, was shown to be a prognostic factor in a multivariate analysis. The MST of the patients with pN3 and the other patients were 12 and 51 months, respectively (p < 0.001). We suggest that pancreas invasion should not be considered a contraindication for gastrectomy and that patients with a small number of lymph node metastases (six or fewer) might be candidates for GP in the case of gastric cancer that requires pancreatectomy for R0 resection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27269750,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Overview of gynaecological and colorectal reconstruction.\nPlastic surgeons are often required to reconstruct defects following radical pelvic surgery for advanced or recurrent anorectal and gynaecological malignancies. This article describes the most commonly used flaps for reconstruction following radical pelvic surgery and provides a treatment algorithm to facilitate decision making.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1689603,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2013-20":1}}},"text":"CNS monoamines and their metabolites in canine narcolepsy: a replication study.\nIn two separate studies a significantly greater concentration of DA (dopamine) and its metabolite, DOPAC (3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid), was observed in the amygdala of narcoleptic canines. DOPAC was also significantly elevated in the reticularis parvicellularis, whereas NE (norepinephrine) was significantly elevated in the reticularis oralis, but depressed in the preoptic hypothalamus. No changes were observed in concentrations of serotonin or its metabolite, 5-HIAA (5-hydroxyindoleauric acid) in any region in the narcoleptic canine brain. Results of the two studies were similar, except that previously observed differences between narcoleptic and control canines in DOPAC levels in the caudate and reticularis oralis failed to replicate. Thus, steady state measures of neurotransmitter\/metabolite tissue concentrations suggest region-specific alterations in DA and NE metabolism, rather than a global deficit in catecholamine neurotransmission in canine narcolepsy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9564913,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Heart retransplantation: a 23-year single-center clinical experience.\nThe main causes of allograft failure after cardiac transplantation are primary graft dysfunction, intractable acute rejection, and coronary graft disease. Despite the important progress in the last several years in graft preservation, surgical techniques, immunosuppression, and treatment of coronary graft disease, retransplantation in selected cases is the only way to achieve long-term recipient survival. We compare here in a case-control study 24 retransplantations with 47 first transplants in patients matched for date of transplantation. Between 1973 and 1996, 1,063 patients underwent cardiac transplantation in our institution. In this cohort, 22 patients had a total of 24 retransplantations (2 second-time retransplantations). The causes of retransplantations were primary graft failure (n=4), acute rejection (n=7), coronary graft disease (n=11), and miscellaneous (n=2). Survival at 1 and 5 years of patients with retransplantations is 45.5% and 31.2%, and survival of control patients is 59.4% and 38.8% (p=0.07). An interval between first transplantation and retransplantation shorter (n=11) or longer (n=13) than 1 year is associated with a 1-year survival of 27.3% and 61.5% and a 4-year survival of 27.3% and 46%, respectively (not significant). Intervals shorter than 1 year between first transplantation and retransplantation were exclusively secondary to primary graft failure or intractable acute rejection. In the face of lack of donor grafts, these and other data indicate that retransplantation should be considered cautiously, especially when the interval between the first transplantation and retransplantation is short.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9140831,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Reduction of myocardial myoglobin in bovine dilated cardiomyopathy.\nMyoglobin levels are decreased in various animal models of heart failure, a change that has been associated with compromised energy supply. The underlying mechanisms by which myoglobin content decreases in failing myocardium are unknown. Bovine hereditary cardiomyopathy (bCMP) displays several characteristics of human dilated cardiomyopathy with a marked desensitization of the beta-adrenoceptor signal cascade. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether a similar reduction of myoglobin can be seen in this animal model, and to elucidate the possible mechanism of this reduction. Myoglobin protein concentration was decreased by 46-47% (P < 0.05) in left and right ventricular myocardium of failing hearts (n = 9) compared to control hearts (n = 11). No difference was found between atria of diseased and control animals. Immunohistochemistry with a polyclonal antibody against myoglobin revealed a strong and uniform labeling in cardiomyocytes of non-failing hearts. Using microscopic densitometry, immunosignals were significantly decreased in ventricular myocytes of bCMP hearts (168 +\/- 5.3 v 118 +\/- 8.6 arbitrary units, P < 0.05). Moreover, myoglobin was heterogeneously distributed in bCMP hearts, with single myocytes showing no staining. Slot blot analysis of total RNA demonstrated a 40-50% reduction (P < 0.05) of myoglobin mRNA levels in ventricular but not in atrial myocardium of bCMP hearts. The results support the view that a decrease of myocardial myoglobin is a general phenomenon in end-stage heart failure. It appears to be primarily due to reduced gene expression but may be aggravated by leaking from single myocytes. The decrease of myoglobin may contribute to the imbalance between energy production and energy expenditure in heart failure.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15249444,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Beta 2-adrenergic receptor polymorphisms and haplotypes are associated with airways hyperresponsiveness among nonsmoking men.\nTo investigate the relationship of common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the beta(2)-adrenergic receptor (AR) gene at codons 16 and 27, and the intermediate phenotype of airways hyperresponsiveness. A case-control study in 543 white men (152 case patients and 391 control subjects), who were nested in an ongoing longitudinal cohort. Subjects were selected from the Normative Aging Study, an ongoing longitudinal cohort of healthy aging. Case patients were defined as those having a positive response to methacholine challenge testing. Control subjects were selected among those who did not have a diagnosis of asthma and who had no response to methacholine. There was a trend for an association of the Arg16 SNP genotype with airways hyperresponsiveness (odds ratio, 1.25; 95% confidence interval, 0.96 to 1.64 [in an additive model]). In stratified analyses, the effect of the Arg16 variant was seen mainly among nonsmokers. Smokers had increased risks for airway hyperresponsiveness regardless of genotype at either SNP. Using a program to estimate haplotype frequencies, three common haplotypes were identified. Adjusting for age, baseline FEV(1), serum IgE level, and smoking status, the Gly16\/Gln27 haplotype was negatively associated with airways hyperresponsiveness in the full complement of case patients and control subjects (score statistic, - 2.43; p = 0.02). The effect of the beta(2)-AR haplotypes was much stronger among lifelong nonsmokers, among whom the Gly16\/Gln27 haplotype remained negatively associated with airways hyperresponsiveness (score statistic, - 3.114; p = 0.002), whereas the Arg16\/Gln27 haplotype was positively associated with airways hyperresponsiveness (score statistic, 3.142; p = 0.002). No effects were seen among ever-smokers. In this cohort of middle-aged to older white men, beta(2)-AR polymorphisms were associated with airways hyperresponsiveness, particularly among lifelong nonsmokers. Our results illustrate an instance in which greater power is obtained by performing haplotype analyses as opposed to single SNP analysis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23879425,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Family functioning, psychosocial stress, and goal attainment in brain injury rehabilitation.\nThe study investigated the impact of family functioning (as measured by the Family Assessment Device) on goal attainment (as measured by a Goal Attainment Scale) and psychosocial distress (as measured by the Brief Symptom Inventory-18) among survivors of acquired brain injury in a community re-entry rehabilitation setting. The bivariate analysis suggests that participants had significantly greater goal attainment scores if they were members of families with stronger general functioning (r = .27, p < .05), stronger defined family roles (r = .28, p < .05), a greater capacity to respond emotionally to each other (r = .29, p < .05), and proactively solved family problems (r = .28, p < .05).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25299355,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Reading outcomes of children and adolescents with attention-deficit\/hyperactivity disorder and dyslexia following atomoxetine treatment.\nAbstract Objective: This study assessed the efficacy of atomoxetine on attention-deficit\/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms in children and adolescents having ADHD with comorbid dyslexia (ADHD+D) and the effects of the treatment on reading measures. The analyses in this report used data from a study designed to examine the effects of a nonstimulant pharmacological agent, atomoxetine, on reading in children with ADHD+D. Patients ages 10-16 years with ADHD or ADHD+D received open-label atomoxetine for 16 weeks. The ADHD Rating Scale (ADHD-RS) and reading subtests of the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement (K-TEA) were assessed. Changes in ADHD symptoms and reading scores were also analyzed by ADHD subtype. Treatment effect sizes and correlations between changes in ADHDRS and K-TEA scores were calculated. After atomoxetine treatment, both ADHD and ADHD+D patient groups showed significant reduction in ADHD symptom and improvements in K-TEA reading scores. The range of treatment effect sizes on K-TEA scores was 0.35-0.53 for the ADHD group and 0.50-0.62 for the ADHD+D group. Pearson's correlation coefficients revealed only a few weak correlations between changes in ADHD symptoms and reading scores, regardless of diagnostic group. ADHD symptoms and K-TEA reading scores improved for both the ADHD and ADHD+D groups following atomoxetine treatment. Correlation analyses indicate that improvements in reading outcomes cannot be explained by a reduction of ADHD symptoms alone. These findings support further exploration of the potential effects of atomoxetine on reading in children with ADHD and dyslexia or dyslexia alone.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30091627,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Social relationship quality buffers negative affective correlates of everyday solitude in an adult lifespan and an older adult sample.\nAging takes place in a social context but older adults also spend a significant amount of their time alone. Solitude (the objective state of being alone and without social interaction) has been associated with negative experiences but also with specific benefits. We examine the importance of social relationships for time-varying associations between affective experiences and solitude. Using repeated daily life assessments from an adult life span sample (Study 1, N = 183, age: 20-81 years) and an older adult sample (Study 2, N = 97, age: 50-85 years), we examined the moderating role of social relationship quality on within-person solitude-affect associations. Data were analyzed using multilevel models controlling for gender, age, overall amount of time in solitude, retirement status, marital status, education, and current work activity. Higher relationship quality was associated with higher average affective well-being. Compared to being with others, participants reported lower levels of high-arousal positive affect (PA) during solitude in both studies. In Study 1, solitude was also associated with higher levels of low-arousal negative affect (NA) and higher levels of low-arousal PA compared to when with others. Across both studies, individuals with higher quality relationships reported lesser increases in low-arousal NA when in solitude, as compared to individuals with lower quality relationships. Findings highlight that solitude is experienced less negatively for individuals embedded in a context of higher quality social relationships. Thus, preservation and promotion of social resources in older adulthood may be important to ward off potential negative ramifications of spending a significant amount of time alone. (PsycINFO Database Record","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28711174,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Secondhand Smoke Exposure and Preclinical Markers of Cardiovascular Risk in Toddlers.\nTo investigate relationships between secondhand smoke exposure in young children and several preclinical markers of cardiovascular risk that have been established as relevant to adult populations. There were 139 children, 2-5 years of age, enrolled in a cross-sectional study. Secondhand smoke exposure was objectively determined by hair nicotine level; a comprehensive panel of clinical markers (morning blood pressure, fasting glucose and insulin, lipid profiles, inflammation) and research markers (markers of oxidation, endothelial stress, and endothelial repair) of cardiovascular risk status were assessed. Univariate and multivariate linear regression were used to evaluate relationships between secondhand smoke exposure and cardiovascular risk markers. Hair nicotine levels were correlated directly with blood pressure and serum C-reactive protein, and inversely correlated with serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and endothelial cell progenitor cell prevalence. In multivariate analyses, these relationships remained when controlled for age, sex, body mass index z-score, maternal education, and method of payment. Additionally, in multivariate analyses, hair nicotine level was significantly negatively correlated with total antioxidant capacity. These results support the view that secondhand smoke exposure in the very young has a detectable relationship with several markers of cardiovascular risk, long before the emergence of clinical disease. Further studies to define mechanisms and strategies to prevent and mitigate these risks early in life are warranted.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37445282,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Efficacy and Safety of Low-Dose Protamine in Reducing Bleeding Complications during TAVI: A Propensity-Matched Comparison.\nWe aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of low-dose protamine in reducing access site-related complications during Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) as compared to full-dose protamine. Access site-related complications represent an independent predictor of poor outcomes of TAVI. Data regarding heparin reversal with protamine and the dosage needed to prevent bleeding complications are scarce among patients undergoing TAVI. A total of 897 patients were retrospectively included in the study. Patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention within 4 weeks before or concomitantly with TAVI (n = 191) were given 0.5 mg protamine for each 100 units of unfractionated heparin. All other patients (n = 706) were considered as a control group and 1 mg protamine for each 100 units of heparin was administered. The combined intra-hospital endpoint of death, life-threatening major bleeding, and major vascular complications were significantly more frequent in patients receiving low-dose protamine [29 (15.2%) vs. 50 (7.1%), p < 0.001]. After propensity matching (n = 130 for each group) for relevant clinical characteristics including anti-platelet therapy [19 (14.6%) vs. 6 (4.6%), p = 0.006], low-dose protamine predicted the combined endpoint (OR 3.54, 95%-CI 1.36-9.17, p = 0.009), and even in multivariable analysis, low-dose protamine continued to be a predictor of the combined endpoint in the matched model (OR 3.07, 95%-CI 1.17-8.08, p = 0.023) alongside baseline hemoglobin. In this propensity-matched retrospective analysis, a low-dose protamine regime is associated with a higher rate of major adverse events compared to a full-dose protamine regime following transfemoral TAVI.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22699786,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The development of clinical nurse specialists (CNSs) in intellectual disability nursing in Ireland.\nSince the commencement of intellectual disability nurse training in 1959, both education and service provision philosophies have changed over time in Ireland. These changes have occurred in response to national and international reports and attitudes. Coinciding with the changes in education and philosophy have been the development and advancement of the intellectual disability nursing profession. Currently undergraduate intellectual disability nurse education is unique to Ireland and the United Kingdom and, similar to the developments across other disciplines of nursing, advance practice has become a focus of development. This article traces the development of intellectual disability clinical nurse specialists (CNSs) in Ireland and identifies possible challenges and implications for future practice.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25407013,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Signal enhancement of electrochemical biosensors via direct electrochemical oxidation of silver nanoparticle labels coated with zwitterionic polymers.\nA new electrochemical label has been developed, which is made up of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) coated with a mixture of zwitterionic and biotinylated zwitterionic polymers. These polymers improve colloidal stability in physiological medium and ensure biorecognition while direct electrochemical oxidation of silver nanoparticles strongly enhances the detection signal. The resulting hybrid nanomaterials are used as labels in the electrochemical sensing of avidin using sandwich assays elaborated using the biotin-avidin biorecognition system.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6156906,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sequential metabolic expressions of the lethal process in human serum-treated Escherichia coli: role of lysozyme.\nSeveral metabolic parameters indicative of Escherichia coli function and integrity were kinetically examined in response to treatment with normal human serum in the presence and absence of functional human lysozyme. Specific inhibition of this enzyme in bacteriolytic and bactericidal reactions was accomplished by using purified rabbit anti-human lysozyme immunoglobulin G. Initiation of the complement-mediated alterations of cytoplasmic membrane integrity, as judged by the leakage of 86Rb from prelabeled cells or the hydrolysis of o-nitrophenyl-beta-D-galactopyranoside by a cryptic strain, was found to be independent of lysozyme action. Furthermore, inhibition of macromolecular synthesis by E. coli in response to serum treatment occurred at the same time regardless of the functional state of lysozyme. Although the rate and extent of bacteriolysis were reduced in the absence of lysozyme, the bactericidal kinetics was unaffected. These results demonstrate that the lethal events associated with the action of antibody and complement on gram-negative bacteria are independent of lysozyme, suggesting an accessory role for this enzyme in immune reactions. A possible temporal sequence of complement-induced effects occurring at the cell surface is presented.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29360866,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Characterization and evaluation of avermectin solid nanodispersion prepared by microprecipitation and lyophilisation techniques.\nPoorly water-soluble and photosensitive pesticide compounds are difficult to formulate as solvent-free nanoformulations with high efficacy. A avermectin solid nanodispersion with a mean particle size of 188 nm was developed by microprecipitation and lyophilisation techniques. The suspensibility and wetting time of the solid nanodispersion in water were 99.8% and 13 s, respectively, superior to those of conventional water dispersible granules and wettable powders. The anti-photolysis performance of the nanoformulation was twice that of the technical material, and the biological activity against diamondback moths was more than 1.5 times that of the conventional solid formulations while taking LC 50 as the evaluation index. Moreover, the formulation composition substantially decreased the surfactant content and avoided organic solvents. Microprecipitation combined with lyophilisation is an easy and promising method to construct solid nanoformulations for pesticides with poor water solubility and environmental sensitivity. The application of the highly effective solid nanodispersion in crop production will have a great potential in reducing chemical residues and environmental pollution.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6734621,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Intracellular pathways of native iron in the maternal part of the porcine placenta.\nIn the diffuse epitheliochorial porcine placenta iron is secreted as uteroferrin by the maternal epithelium of the areola-gland subunit of the placenta. To elucidate the intracellular pathways of physiological iron in uterine gland epithelium material from 10 sows at 15 to 111 days of gestation was processed for electron microscopy by different routine methods with or without postfixation in osmium tetroxide. Ferritin particles were identified by their size and shape and the content of iron was confirmed by X-ray energy dispersive microanalysis of accumulated ferritin particles. Distinct ferritin particles were not observed in the extracellular space either basal to or luminal to the epithelial cells. Intracellular ferritin was observed apparently free in the cytoplasm, but in variable amounts. Transfer tubules and dense bodies were located basally in the secretory cells. Both of these organelles contained ferritin particles, showed reaction sites for acid phosphatase and were stained by periodic acid-thiocarbohydrazide-silver proteinate. The ciliated cells differed by having apically located dense bodies containing numerous ferritin particles. Our finding of native ferritin in cells with hormonally regulated iron transport supports the concept that transfer tubules as part of the lysosomal complex are part of the endocytic pathway in secretory cells and indicate that ferritin here is an intracellular transport or storage intermediate.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8352224,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Habitual physical activity and health-related physical fitness in fourth-grade children.\nTo examine the relationship between habitual physical activity and components of health-related physical fitness in children. Cross-sectional survey with correlational analysis. Seven public elementary schools in a suburban southern California city. Five hundred twenty-eight healthy fourth-grade children (274 boys and 254 girls), 85% of whom were non-Hispanic whites. Ninety-eight percent of eligible students participated. None. Results of six measures of physical activity in children (monitoring by accelerometer, parent report, and child self-reports of weekday activity, weekend activity, and summer involvement in activity classes and youth sports) were combined in a physical activity index. This index of habitual physical activity was examined in relation to measures of five components of health-related fitness: the mile run, skin-fold tests, pull-ups, sit-ups, and the sit-and-reach test. The physical activity index was significantly associated with all five fitness components. The canonical correlation was .29. Active children appear to engage in a sufficient variety of activities to enhance multiple components of health-related fitness.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12021819,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"The initiation of smooth pursuit eye movements and saccades in normal subjects and in \"express-saccade makers\".\nA vast knowledge exists about saccadic reaction times (RT) and their bi- or multimodal distributions with very fast (express) and regular RT. Recently, there has been some evidence that the smooth pursuit system may show a similar RT behavior. Since moving targets usually evoke a combined pursuit\/saccade response, we asked which processes influence the initiation of pursuit and saccadic eye movements. Furthermore, we investigated whether and how the pursuit and saccadic system interact during the initiation of eye movements to moving targets. We measured the RT of the initial smooth pursuit (iSP) response and of the first corrective saccade and compared the RT behavior of both. Furthermore we compared the behavior of the corrective saccades to moving targets to that of saccades to stationary targets, known from the literature. The stimulus consisted of a target that moved suddenly at constant velocity (ramp). In addition, prior to the movement, a temporal gap, a position step or a combination of both could occur (gap-ramp, step-ramp, gap-step-ramp, respectively). Differently from most previous studies, we chose step and ramp with the same direction to provoke competition between the pursuit and saccade system. For the first time we investigated pursuit initiation in \"express-saccade makers\" (ES makers), a subject group known to produce an abnormally high percentage of short-latency saccades in saccade tasks. We compared their results with subject groups who were either naive or trained with respect to saccade tasks. The iSP started at approximately 100 ms, which corresponds to express saccade latencies. These short iSP-RT occurred reflex-like and almost independent of the experimental task. A bimodal frequency distribution of RT with a second peak of longer iSP-RT occurred exclusively in the ramp paradigm. The RT of the first corrective saccades in a pursuit task were comparable with that in a saccade task and depended on the stimulus. The ability of ES makers to produce a high number of express saccades was transferred to corrective saccades in the pursuit task, but not to pursuit initiation. In summary, short-latency pursuit responses differ from express saccades with respect to their independence of experiment and subject group. Therefore, a simple analogy to express saccades cannot be drawn, although some mechanisms seem to act similarly on both the pursuit and the saccade system (such as disengagement of attention with the gap effect). Furthermore, we found evidence that the initial pursuit response and the first corrective saccade are processed independently of each other. The first corrective saccades to moving targets behave like saccades to stationary targets. Normal pursuit but abnormal saccade RT of ES makers can be explained by recent theories of superior colliculus (SC) function in terms of retinal error handling.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26444830,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of Cold Temperature and Ethanol Content on VOC Emissions from Light-Duty Gasoline Vehicles.\nEmissions of speciated volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including mobile source air toxics (MSATs), were measured in vehicle exhaust from three light-duty spark ignition vehicles operating on summer and winter grade gasoline (E0) and ethanol blended (E10 and E85) fuels. Vehicle testing was conducted using a three-phase LA92 driving cycle in a temperature-controlled chassis dynamometer at two ambient temperatures (-7 and 24 \u00b0C). The cold start driving phase and cold ambient temperature increased VOC and MSAT emissions up to several orders of magnitude compared to emissions during other vehicle operation phases and warm ambient temperature testing, respectively. As a result, calculated ozone formation potentials (OFPs) were 7 to 21 times greater for the cold starts during cold temperature tests than comparable warm temperature tests. The use of E85 fuel generally led to substantial reductions in hydrocarbons and increases in oxygenates such as ethanol and acetaldehyde compared to E0 and E10 fuels. However, at the same ambient temperature, the VOC emissions from the E0 and E10 fuels and OFPs from all fuels were not significantly different. Cold temperature effects on cold start MSAT emissions varied by individual MSAT compound, but were consistent over a range of modern spark ignition vehicles.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29558088,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[The prevalence of diseases among persons drafted to military service].\nThe article considers dynamics of indices of suitability to military service of individuals drafted to military service in the Novosibirskaia oblast in 1997-2014. The level of suitability without limitations because of health conditions made up to in 37.7% in average. and with fluctuations according years - 31.6-43.6%. The negligible limitations of suitability included 23.4% of examined, restrictedly suitable - 33.9% and provisionally non-suitable - 1.6% of conscripts. The main classes and nosologic groups of diseases limiting suitability were determined. It is established that 86.3% of limitation of suitability resulted from morbidity of conscripts with diseases of musculoskeletal system and connective tissue, endocrine system, disorders of nutrition and metabolism, aftermaths of trauma of head and spinal cord with disorders of central nervous system, flat-footedness and foot deformation, disorders of refraction and accommodation of eyes, mental deficiency, ulcer diseases, diseases of skin, organic psychic disorders, asthma, pathology of liver and pancreas, hypertension disease, diseases of oral cavity and throat rheumatoid affections of heart. This situation predetermines implementation of corresponding curative health promoting measures with purpose of avoiding loss of servicemen during time military service and returning of this contingent because of diseases inconsistent with implementation of military duty.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24394315,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cardiovascular risk factors in elderly Koreans in Australia and Korea.\nKoreans are a recent but relatively small ethnic minority group in Australia. This descriptive cross-sectional, comparative intercountry study examines the effect of Australian acculturation among elderly Koreans on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, compared with their counterparts in Korea. Fifty-one (72.4 \u00b1 8.7 years) Australian Koreans (AK) and 48 (75.7 \u00b1 6.9 years) Koreans (K) living in Seoul participated in the study. Diabetes was reported by 10.2% of AK and 17.4% of K and hypertension by 38.8 and 29.8% of AK and K, respectively. Significantly, more AK (85.7%) than K (53.2%) reported undertaking physical activity (P = 0.0005) and fewer AK were current smokers (6% vs 26.1%; P = 0.0077). After controlling for age, body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio no differences were found in lipid profiles between AK and K men or women. The effect of acculturation may be reflected among Australian Koreans by increased physical activity and reduced smoking levels and increased levels of abdominal obesity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25401304,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"An internet-based method to elicit experts' beliefs for Bayesian priors: a case study in intracranial stent evaluation.\nBayesian methods provide an interesting approach to assessing an implantable medical device (IMD) that has evolved through successive versions because they allow for explicit incorporation of prior knowledge into the analysis. However, the literature is sparse on the feasibility and reliability of elicitation in cases where expert beliefs are used to form priors. To develop an Internet-based method for eliciting experts' beliefs about the success rate of an intracranial stenting procedure and to assess their impact on the estimated benefit of the latest version. The elicitation questionnaire was administered to a group of nineteen experts. Elicited experts' beliefs were used to inform the prior distributions of a Bayesian hierarchical meta-analysis model, allowing for the estimation of the success rate of each version. Experts believed that the success rate of the latest version was slightly higher than that of the previous one (median: 80.8 percent versus 75.9 percent). When using noninformative priors in the model, the latest version was found to have a lower success rate (median: 83.1 percent versus 86.0 percent), while no difference between the two versions was detected with informative priors (median: 85.3 percent versus 85.6 percent). We proposed a practical method to elicit experts' beliefs on the success rates of successive IMD versions and to explicitly combine all available evidence in the evaluation of the latest one. Our results suggest that the experts were overoptimistic about this last version. Nevertheless, the proposed method should be simplified and assessed in larger, representative samples.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19028628,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Bevacizumab in combination with metronomic chemotherapy in patients with anthracycline- and taxane-refractory breast cancer.\nA vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitor might enhance metronomic chemotherapy in previously treated metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patients. Anthracycline and taxane refractory MBC patients were given cyclophosphamide 50 mg p.o. daily, methotrexate 1 mg\/kg i.v. every 14 days, and bevacizumab 10 mg\/kg i.v. every 14 days. Trastuzumab was added in HER2-overexpressing tumors. 24 patients were enrolled and 22 were evaluable. All tumors had histologic grade II-III and most patients had > or =2 metastatic sites. After a median follow-up of 7.7 months the response rates were: complete response (CR) 0%, partial response (PR) 31.8% (95% CI 13.9- 54.9%), stable disease for >or =24 weeks (SD) 31.8% (95% CI 13.9-54.9%). Clinical benefit (CB= CR + PR + SD>24w) 63.6% (95% CI 40.7-82.8%). Median progression-free survival (PFS) was 7.5 months; overall survival (OS) was 13.6 months. HER2-overexpressing or high proliferative-index tumors had better 6-month PFS (75% vs. 34% in HER-negative tumors, P = 0.043; 67% vs. 0% in Ki-67 > or =20% tumors, P = 0.015). Adverse effects were mild. The combination of bevacizumab and a metronomic-based chemotherapy was effective, well tolerated and provided clinical benefit in heavilytreated MBC patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14527257,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Use of subsidies to low-income people for coverage through small employers.\nIf tax credits or other public subsidies are made available only for health insurance that is not employment-based, serious erosion of employer coverage could result. To prevent this, public subsidies targeted to low-income workers and families could be applied in ways that broaden employer coverage for low-income workers and their families by encouraging small employers with largely low-wage workforces to offer and partially fund health coverage for their workers. To accomplish this, such employers--very few of which now provide health coverage--must be allowed to contribute much less than normally required in the commercial market.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6731956,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Macrophage phagocytic function].\nDescribed a century ago by Metschnikoff , phagocytosis plays an essential role in the defence of organisms faced with bacterial infection. Phagocytosis is ensured essentially by neutrophils and macrophages. In cases of inflammatory response, chemotactic factors induce an afflux of neutrophils which predominate at the site of infection for the first few hours. Then macrophages intervene to try and eliminate the infectious agent. If the latter can be rapidly ingested and degraded, the inflammatory response will gradually dwindle . On the other hand, if the infection persists (bacteria resistant to phagocytosis, or to bactericidal agents), the inflammatory response will become chronic. Macrophage anti-bacterial activity is therefore essential and can be broken down into several stages: first chemotaxis, which initiates macrophage migration towards the inflammatory focus. Then adherence to bacteria, via opsonins and membrane receptors. This binding releases an intra-cytoplasmic signal which governs the following stages, i.e. actual ingestion (phagocytosis), then enzymatic destruction within phagolysosomes \" bactericidosis \". The phase of recognition and membrane binding to bacteria thus occupies an important place in the physiological role of macrophages. Two receptors are especially involved: the Fc receptor and the C3b receptor. The ingestion phase appears to be initiated by the redistribution of these membrane receptors, which first reform in \"micro-clusters\" (reversible small aggregates), then in \"clusters\" (irreversible larger aggregates), which finally become \"patches\" and \"caps\". \" Bactericidosis \" then ensures in most cases the disintegration of the infectious agent, by systems that can be either dependent or independent of oxygen. The main techniques for the study of macrophage phagocytosis are briefly reviewed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29370132,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Study of the Direct Red 81 Dye\/Copper(II)-Phenanthroline System.\nRecovered papers contain several chromophores, such as wood lignin and dyes. These have to be eliminated during paper recycling in order to produce white paper. Hydrogen peroxide under alkaline conditions is generally used to decolorize lignin, but its effect on dyes is limited. Copper(II)-phenanthroline (Cu-Phen) complexes can activate the oxidation of lignin by hydrogen peroxide. Hydrogen peroxide may also be activated during recycled fiber bleaching, thus enhancing its color-stripping efficiency towards unoxidizable azo dyes. The purpose of this paper was to determine the effect of Cu-Phen complexes on a model azo dye, Direct Red 81 (DR81), in aqueous solution. Different Cu-Phen solutions (with different initial Cu:Phen molar ratios) were prepared and mixed with the dye at different pHs. The geochemical computer program PHREEQC allowed precise calculation of the theoretical distribution between different possible coordinates (CuPhenOH\u207a, Cu(Phen)\u20822+, CuPhen(OH)\u2082, Cu(Phen)\u20832+, etc.) depending on pH and initial concentrations. UV-vis spectroscopic measurements were correlated with the major species theoretically present in each condition. The UV absorbance of the system was mainly attributed to the Cu-Phen complex and the visible absorbance was only due to the dye. Cu-Phen appeared to reduce the color intensity of the DR81 dye aqueous solution under specific conditions (more effective at pH 10.7 with Cu:Phen = 1:1), probably owing to the occurrence of a coordination phenomenon between DR81 and Cu-Phen. Hence, the ligand competition between phenanthroline and hydroxide ions would be disturbed by a third competitor, which is the dye molecule. Further investigation proved that the DR81 dye is able to form a complex with copper-phenanthroline, leading to partial color-stripping. This new \"color-stripping effect\" may be a new opportunity in paper and textile industries for wastewater treatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7924894,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The potentiating effect of propionyl carnitine on prostacycline prevention of thrombosis induced by endothelin (ET-1) and K-carrageenin.\nThe aim of the present experiments was to ascertain whether prostacycline could exercise a protective effect against the formation of thrombosis in the rat tail induced by endothelin and K-carrageenin and to compare the effect of prostacycline with that of carnitine and propionyl carnitine. Both prostacycline and propionyl carnitine exhibited a similar protective effect on this experimental model. A combined protective effect of prostacycline administered with carnitine was also observed and a possible interaction between these two substances is proposed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":950219,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Responsibility therapy in community psychiatry.\nThe author describes a day treatment program using responsibility therapy, a form of behaviorism based on the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous. Mental illness is conceptualized as an addiction or bad habit to be corrected through definition of the client's problems, values, and therapeutic objectives. The program, which is operated by the county, requires high client motivation and the involvement of significant others. About 100 clients enter the program each year; more than half are referrals from the county probation department. A recent study showed that the program is serving the most disabled group of clients as least as effectively as the other county services.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34404476,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Characterization and evaluation of a recombinant multiepitope peptide antigen MAG in the serological diagnosis of Toxoplasma gondii infection in pigs.\nToxoplasmosis caused by Toxoplasma gondii is a serious disease threatening human and animal health. People can be infected with T. gondii by ingesting raw pork contaminated with cysts or oocysts. Serological test is a sensitive and specific method usually used for large-scale diagnosis of T. gondii infection in humans and animals (such as pigs). Commercial pig Toxoplasma antibody ELISA diagnostic kits are expensive, which limits their use; moreover, the wide antigen composition used in these diagnostic kits is still unclear and difficult to standardize. The multiepitope peptide antigen is a novel diagnostic marker, and it has potential to be developed into more accurate and inexpensive diagnostic kits. The synthetic multiepitope antigen (MAG) cDNA encoding a protein with epitopes from five T. gondii-dominant antigens (SAG1, GRA1, ROP2, GRA4, and MIC3) was designed, synthesized, and expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) strain. The recombinant protein was detected through western blot with pig anti-T. gondii-positive and -negative serum, and then IgG enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) named MAG-ELISA was designed. The MAG-ELISA was evaluated in terms of specificity, sensitivity, and stability. The MAG-ELISA was also compared with a commercial PrioCHECK\u00ae Toxoplasma Ab porcine ELISA (PrioCHECK ELISA). Finally, the trend of pig anti-T. gondii IgG levels after artificial infection with RH tachyzoites was evaluated using MAG-ELISA and two other ELISA methods (rMIC3-ELISA and PrioCHECK ELISA). MAG antigen could be specifically recognized by pig anti-T. gondii-positive but not -negative serum. MAG-ELISA showed high diagnostic performance in terms of specificity (88.6%) and sensitivity (79.1%). MAG-ELISA could be used for detecting anti-T. gondii IgG in the early stage of T. gondii infection in pigs (at least 7 days after artificial infection). Our results suggest that MAG antigen can be applied to specifically recognize anti-T. gondii IgG in pig, and MAG-ELISA has the potential for large-scale screening tests of T. gondii infection in pig farms and intensive industries.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35348312,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Risk of gestational diabetes recurrence and the development of type 2 diabetes among women with a history of gestational diabetes and risk factors: a study among 18 clinical centers in China.\nGestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) brings health issues for both mothers and offspring, and GDM prevention is as important as GDM management. It was shown that a history of GDM was significantly associated with a higher maternal risk for GDM recurrence. The incidence of GDM recurrence was unclear because of the incidence of second-child was low before 2016 in China. We aim to investigate the prevalence of GDM recurrence and its associated high-risk factors which may be useful for the prediction of GDM recurrence in China. A retrospective study was conducted which enrolled participants who underwent regular prenatal examination and delivered twice in the same hospital of 18 research centers. All participants were enrolled from January 2018 to October 2018, where they delivered the second baby during this period. A total of 6204 women were enrolled in this study, and 1002 women with a history of GDM were analyzed further. All participants enrolled in the study had an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) result at 24 to 28 weeks and were diagnosed as GDM in the first pregnancy according to the OGTT value (when any one of the following values is met or exceeded to the 75-g OGTT: 0 h [fasting], \u22655.10 mmol\/L; 1 h, \u226510.00 mmol\/L; and 2 h, \u22658.50 mmol\/L). The prevalence of GDM recurrence and development of type 2 diabetes mellitus were calculated, and its related risk factors were analyzed. In 6204 participants, there are 1002 women (1002\/6204,16.15%) with a history of GDM and 5202 women (5202\/6204, 83.85%) without a history of GDM. There are significant differences in age (32.43 \u00b1 4.03 years vs. 33.00 \u00b1 3.34 years vs. 32.19 \u00b1 3.37 years, P < 0.001), pregnancy interval (4.06 \u00b1 1.44 years vs. 3.52 \u00b1 1.43 years vs. 3.38 \u00b1 1.35 years, P = 0.004), prepregnancy body mass index (BMI) (27.40 \u00b1 4.62 kg\/m2vs. 23.50 \u00b1 3.52 kg\/m2vs. 22.55 \u00b1 3.47 kg\/m2, P < 0.001), history of delivered macrosomia (22.7% vs. 11.0% vs. 6.2%, P < 0.001) among the development of diabetes mellitus (DM), recurrence of GDM, and normal women. Moreover, it seems so important in the degree of abnormal glucose metabolism in the first pregnancy to the recurrence of GDM and the development of DM. There are significant differences in OGTT levels of the first pregnancy such as area under the curve of OGTT value (18.31 \u00b1 1.90 mmol\/L vs. 16.27 \u00b1 1.93 mmol\/L vs. 15.55 \u00b1 1.92 mmol\/L, P < 0.001), OGTT fasting value (5.43 \u00b1 0.48 mmol\/L vs. 5.16 \u00b1 0.49 mmol\/L vs. 5.02 \u00b1 0.47 mmol\/L, P < 0.001), OGTT 1-hour value (10.93 \u00b1 1.34 mmol\/L vs. 9.69 \u00b1 1.53 mmol\/L vs. 9.15 \u00b1 1.58 mmol\/L, P < 0.001), OGTT 2-hour value (9.30 \u00b1 1.66 mmol\/L vs. 8.01 \u00b1 1.32 mmol\/L vs. 7.79 \u00b1 1.38 mmol\/L, P < 0.001), incidence of impaired fasting glucose (IFG) (fasting plasma glucose \u22655.6 mmol\/L) (31.3% vs. 14.6% vs. 8.8%, P < 0.001), and incidence of two or more abnormal OGTT values (68.8% vs. 39.7% vs. 23.9%, P < 0.001) among the three groups. Using multivariate analysis, the factors, such as age (1.07 [1.02-1.12], P = 0.006), prepregnancy BMI (1.07 [1.02, 1.12], P = 0.003), and area under the curve of OGTT in the first pregnancy (1.14 [1.02, 1.26], P = 0.02), have an effect on maternal GDM recurrence; the factors, such as age (1.28 [1.01-1.61], P = 0.04), pre-pregnancy BMI (1.26 [1.04, 1.53], P = 0.02), and area under the curve of OGTT in the first pregnancy (1.65 [1.04, 2.62], P = 0.03), have an effect on maternal DM developed further. The history of GDM was significantly associated with a higher maternal risk for GDM recurrence during follow-up after the first pregnancy. The associated risk factors for GDM recurrence or development of DM include age, high pre-pregnancy BMI, history of delivered macrosomia, the OGTT level in the first pregnancy, such as the high area under the curve of OGTT, IFG, and two or more abnormal OGTT values. To prevent GDM recurrence, women with a history of GDM should do the preconception counseling before preparing next pregnancy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34404436,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Clinicopathological and prognostic features of hepatitis B virus-associated diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: a single-center retrospective study in China.\nWhile the epidemiologic association between hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is established, little is known about the pathological characteristics and outcome of DLBCL arising in patients with HBV infection. We retrospectively studied a cohort of 420 patients with DLBCL for the incidence of HBV infection, and the clinicopathologic features and prognostic factors in HBsAg-positive DLBCL patients in China, a hepatitis B endemic area. In our study, 127 (30.2%) patients were HBsAg-positive. HBsAg-positive DLBCL displayed a younger median onset age (50 vs. 54 years, P = 0.002), more frequent involvement of the spleen (19.7% vs. 6.1%, P < 0.001), less frequent involvement of the small and large intestine (2.3% vs. 11.2%, P = 0.003), more advanced disease (stage III\/IV: 56.7% vs. 45.1%, P = 0.028), and lower expression rate of MYC (49.1% vs. 66.7%, P = 0.026). The median follow-up time was 61.9 months. Univariate analysis showed that there was no significant difference in overall survival (OS) between HBsAg-negative and -positive DLBCL (P = 0.577). In the HBsAg-positive DLBCL subgroup, age older than 60 years, advanced disease, elevated lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), spleen involvement, B symptoms (fever, night sweats, weight loss), and double expressers of MYC and BCL2 had a significantly worse outcome, and patients treated with R-CHOP (rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone) had a better prognosis. Multivariate analysis further confirmed that spleen involvement and rituximab use were independent prognostic factors in HBsAg-positive DLBCL patients. Our study indicates that HBsAg-positive DLBCL has unique clinicopathological features and independent prognostic factors. Moreover, under antiviral prophylaxis, the survival of DLBCL patients with HBV infections was comparable to that of HBV-negative patients, and the use of rituximab significantly improved OS in HBsAg-positive DLBCL patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15807758,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"The needs and experiences of family members of adult patients in an intensive care unit: a review of the literature.\nInsight into the needs and experiences of family members is an initial but necessary step in providing appropriate care for both family members and the patient. This literature review aims to structure the available scientific knowledge on needs and experiences of family members of intensive care unit patients with particular extension to coma patients. Qualitative as well as quantitative studies are discussed. Literature review. Needs are divided into four categories: cognitive, emotional, social and practical needs. The need for accurate and comprehensible information that leaves room for hope is universal. Family members want to speak to a doctor every day about the condition of and the prognosis for the patient, and want a nurse to explain to them about the care, the unit, the equipment and what they can do for the patient during visiting hours. Family members place great importance on being called at home if the condition of the patient changes. Emotional needs as hope, reassurance and being able to remain in the vicinity of the patient are crucial. Family members always give priority to the welfare of their relative. In their confused state, they often do not get around to paying attention to themselves. Caregivers underestimate all of the needs of family members and do not do enough to meet these needs. Priority needs should be central in the nurses' approach of family members. The initiative for meeting the needs must be with the caregivers. Future, focused and well-designed qualitative research over a longer period of time could clarify the process that family members go through and explain the results of quantitative studies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12015446,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Health beliefs and practices among Arab women.\nThe purpose of this article is to describe the healthcare beliefs and practices of Arab American women, specifically those regarding menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth, and family planning. The information in this paper is derived from the author's experience as a researcher, as an Arab healthcare provider, and from the literature. Guidelines for nurses who provide care to Arab American women are also presented.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34245172,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Implant-prosthetic treatment in patients with oral lichen planus: A systematic review.\nThis review is aiming on identifying the ideal implant-prosthetic treatment design in patients with OLP. A systematic review was conducted using four electronic databases; Medline (PubMed), Cochrane library, DOAJ and SCOPUS, following the PRISMA statement recommendations to answer the PICO question: \"which implant-prosthetic treatment design is most useful to ensure implant survival in OLP patients?\". The study was pre-registered in PROSPERO (CRD 42020220102). Included articles quality was assessed using the \"Newcastle-Ottawa scale\" and the JBI critical appraisal tool for case series. No article was found specifically designed to analyze the prosthetic influence on implant survival in OLP patients. Despite, information about implant-prostheses in studies designed with other goals was compiled. Eight articles that involved 141 patients and 341 implants were finally selected. The weighted mean follow-up was 38 months and the weighted mean survival of the implants 98.9%. No statistical differences were observed between cemented or screw retained prostheses and the materials employed or the technology to manufacture the prostheses. The influence of prosthetic design on implant survival in OLP patients is still poorly understood, but important clinical recommendations can be drawn. The strength of evidence was grade 3b (CEBM) or low (GRADE).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28289275,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Epigenetic programming by stress and glucocorticoids along the human lifespan.\nPsychosocial stress triggers a set of behavioral, neural, hormonal, and molecular responses that can be a driving force for survival when adaptive and time-limited, but may also contribute to a host of disease states if dysregulated or chronic. The beneficial or detrimental effects of stress are largely mediated by the hypothalamic-pituitary axis, a highly conserved neurohormonal cascade that culminates in systemic secretion of glucocorticoids. Glucocorticoids activate the glucocorticoid receptor, a ubiquitous nuclear receptor that not only causes widespread changes in transcriptional programs, but also induces lasting epigenetic modifications in many target tissues. While the epigenome remains sensitive to stressors throughout life, we propose two key principles that may govern the epigenetics of stress and glucocorticoids along the lifespan: first, the presence of distinct life periods, during which the epigenome shows heightened plasticity to stress exposure, such as in early development and at advanced age; and, second, the potential of stress-induced epigenetic changes to accumulate throughout life both in select chromatin regions and at the genome-wide level. These principles have important clinical and translational implications, and they show striking parallels with the existence of sensitive developmental periods and the cumulative impact of stressful experiences on the development of stress-related phenotypes. We hope that this conceptual mechanistic framework will stimulate fruitful research that aims at unraveling the molecular pathways through which our life stories sculpt genomic function to contribute to complex behavioral and somatic phenotypes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28357277,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"EzrA: a spectrin-like scaffold in the bacterial cell division machinery.\nMuch progress has been made in identifying the components of the divisome, the assembly of proteins that undertakes the vital process of cell division in bacteria. However, how the highly interdependent processes on either side of the membrane are coordinated during division is a major unresolved question. How is the degradation and synthesis of the cell wall on the outside of the cell coordinated with cytokinesis and membrane fission, which are driven from the inside of the cell by the tubulin homologue FtsZ? A possible key mediator of such coordination is the membrane protein EzrA, as it interacts both with FtsZ and the penicillin binding proteins (PBPs) that synthesize peptidoglycan. Cleverley et al. [Nature Communications (2014) 5, 5421] have recently solved the crystal structure of the cytoplasmic domain of B. subtilis EzrA, which points to an important scaffolding role for EzrA in the divisome. The structure resembles the eukaryotic, cytoskeletal spectrin proteins, which link actin filaments in the cytoskeleton and also connect the actin cytoskeleton to membrane-bound integrin proteins.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23450566,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Prenatal education for congenital toxoplasmosis.\nCongenital toxoplasmosis is considered a rare but potentially severe infection. Prenatal education about congenital toxoplasmosis could be the most efficient and least harmful intervention, yet its effectiveness is uncertain. To assess the effects of prenatal education for preventing congenital toxoplasmosis. We searched the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group's Trials Register (15 January 2012), PubMed (1966 to 15 January 2012), EMBASE (1980 to 15 January 2012), CINAHL (1982 to 15 January 2012), LILACS (1982 to 15 January 2012), IMEMR (1984 to 15 January 2012), and reference lists of relevant papers, reviews and websites. Randomized and quasi-randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of all types of prenatal education on toxoplasmosis infection during pregnancy. Cluster-randomized trials were included. Two review authors independently assessed trials for inclusion and study quality. Two review authors extracted data. Data were checked for accuracy. Two cluster-randomized controlled trials (involving a total of 5455 women) met the inclusion criteria. The two included trials measured the effectiveness of the intervention in different ways which meant that meta-analysis of the results was not possible One trial (432 women enrolled) conducted in Canada was judged of low methodological quality. The authors did not report measure of association but only provided P values (P less than 0.05) for all outcomes. Moreover, losses to follow-up were high (34%, 147 out of 432 women initially enrolled). The authors concluded that prenatal education can effectively change pregnant women's behavior as it increased pet, personal and food hygiene. The second trial conducted in France was also judged of low methodological quality. Losses to follow-up were high (44.5%, 2233 out of 5023 women initially enrolled) and differential (40% in the intervention group and 52% in the control group). The authors concluded that prenatal education for congenital toxoplasmoses has a significant effect on improving women's knowledge whereas it has no effect on changing women's behavior. In this trial 17\/3949 pregnant women seroconverted for toxoplasmosis: 13\/2591 (0.5%) in the intervention group and 4\/1358 (0.3%) in the control group. The number of events was too small to reach conclusions about the effect of prenatal education on seroconversion rate during pregnancy.No other randomized trials on the effect of prenatal education on congenital toxoplasmosis rate, or toxoplasmosis seroconversion rate during pregnancy were detected. Even though primary prevention of congenital toxoplasmosis is considered a desirable intervention, given the lack of related risks compared to secondary and tertiary prevention, its effectiveness has not been adequately evaluated. There is very little evidence from RCTs that prenatal education is effective in reducing congenital toxoplasmosis even though evidence from observational studies suggests it is. Given the lack of good evidence supporting prenatal education for congenital toxoplasmosis prevention, further RCTs are needed to confirm any potential benefits and to further quantify the impact of different sets of educational intervention.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28741956,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Li13Mn(SeO3)8: Lithium-Rich Transition Metal Selenite Containing Jahn-Teller Distortive Cations.\nA novel lithium-rich transition metal selenite, Li13Mn(SeO3)8, that is composed of a Jahn-Teller distortive cation, Mn3+, in the high spin d4 state, and a second-order Jahn-Teller (SOJT) distortive lone pair cation, Se4+, has been synthesized via hydrothermal and high temperature solid state reactions. The selenite is classified as a molecular compound consisting of MnO6 octahedra, SeO3 trigonal pyramids, and Li+ cations. Considering the Li-O interactions, the structure of Li13Mn(SeO3)8 may be described as a pseudo-three-dimensional framework as well. The title compound is thermally stable up to 500 \u00b0C and starts decomposing above the temperature attributable to the volatilization of SeO2. While the MnO6 octahedra in Li13Mn(SeO3)8 exhibit six identical Mn-O bond distances at room temperature due to the dynamic Jahn-Teller effect, a clear elongation of two Mn-O bonds along a specific direction is observed at 100 K. A series of isostructural selenites with different transition metals, i.e., Li13M(SeO3)8 (M = Sc, Cr, and Fe), have been also successfully obtained in phase pure forms using similar synthetic methods. Magnetic properties, spectroscopic characterizations, and local dipole moments calculations for all the synthesized selenites are presented.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9152376,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mechanism of attenuation of morphine antinociception by chronic treatment with L-arginine.\nThe effects of twice-daily injections of L-arginine or D-arginine (200 mg\/kg i.p.) for 4 days on morphine-induced antinociception, brain nitric oxide synthase activity and brain and serum distribution of morphine and brain mu-opioid receptors labeled with [3H][D-Ala2,MePhe4,Gly5-ol]enkephalin were determined in male Swiss-Webster mice. Chronic treatment with L-arginine, but not D-arginine, decreased the antinociceptive response to morphine in mice, increased the activity of nitric oxide synthase in the midbrain and decreased brain levels of morphine, compared with vehicle-injected controls. Significant decreases in morphine levels were observed in midbrain, pons and medulla, hippocampus, striatum and spinal cord of L-arginine-treated mice, in comparison with vehicle-injected mice. However, the levels of morphine in cortex, amygdala and hypothalamus of L-arginine- or D-arginine-treated mice did not differ from those of vehicle-injected controls. Acute treatment with L-arginine (200 mg\/kg i.p.) or D-arginine (200 mg\/kg i.p.) did not modify either morphine antinociception or morphine distribution in brain regions or the spinal cord. Chronic administration of L-arginine or D-arginine did not alter the Bmax or Kd values of [3H][D-Ala2,MePhe4,Gly5-ol]enkephalin binding to the mouse brain membranes. These results suggest that chronic treatment with L-arginine reduces the antinociceptive effect of morphine by increasing brain nitric oxide synthase activity and by decreasing the concentration of morphine in certain brain regions and spinal cord.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19033786,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Lower gastrointestinal bleeding diagnosed by red blood cell scintigraphy in a patient with a left ventricular assist device.\nA patient with ischemic congestive heart failure, managed with a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) as a bridge to cardiac transplantation, developed hematochezia. This article illustrates the utility of Tc-99m-labeled red blood cell scintigraphy for identification of the lower gastrointestinal bleeding site in a patient with LVAD. The study initially showed a normal biodistribution of radiotracer, with expected activity in the sac of the LVAD and its cannulae, and later identified the bleeding from the sigmoid, permitting selective angiography and therapeutic embolization. There is a prior limited illustration of red blood cell scintigraphy in the presence of LVAD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28742842,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"New hydrazonoindolin-2-ones: Synthesis, exploration of the possible anti-proliferative mechanism of action and encapsulation into PLGA microspheres.\nThe synthesis and molecular characterization of new isatin-based hydrazonoindolin-2-ones 4a-o and 7a-e are reported. The in vitro anti-proliferative potential of the synthesized compounds 4a-o and 7a-e was examined against HT-29 (colon), ZR-75 (breast) and A549 (lung) human cancer cell lines. Compounds 7b, 7d and 7e were the most active congeners against the tested human cancer cell lines with average IC50 values of 4.77, 3.39 and 2.37 \u03bcM, respectively, as compared with the reference isatin-based drug, sunitinib, which exhibited an average IC50 value of 8.11 \u03bcM. Compound 7e was selected for further pharmacological evaluation in order to gain insight into its possible mechanism of action. It increased caspase 3\/7 activity by 2.4- and 1.85-fold between 4 and 8 h of treatment, respectively, at 10 \u03bcM and it caused a decrease in the percentage of cells in the G1 phase of the cell cycle with a corresponding increase in the S-phase. In addition, compound 7e increased phosphorylated tyrosine (p-Tyr) levels nearly two-fold with an apparent IC50 value of 3.8 \u03bcM. The 7e-loaded PLGA microspheres were prepared using a modified emulsion-solvent diffusion method. The average encapsulation efficiency of the 7e-loaded PLGA microspheres was 85% \u00b1 1.3. While, the in vitro release profile of the 7e-loaded microspheres was characterized by slow and continuous release of compound 7e during 21 days and the release curve was fitted to zero order kinetics. Incorporation of 7e into PLGA microspheres improved its in vitro anti-proliferative activity toward the human cancer cell line A549 after 120 h incubation period with an IC50 value less than 0.8 \u03bcM.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3047837,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Benign cerebral angiopathies and phenylpropanolamine].\nHeroin, cocaine, amphetamines, sympathomimetic drugs can cause cerebral angiopathy. We report 2 patients with cerebrovascular disorders after ingestion of a nasal vasoconstrictor containing phenylpropanolamine (P.P.A.). The first patient had two acute repetitive attacks of severe headache and vomiting, occurring after a daily treatment with 180 mg of P.P.A. during 6 weeks. The second patient had an intracerebral hemorrhage, occurring some hours after taking for the first time 120 mg of P.P.A. In both cases, cerebral angiography, performed in the next week, demonstrated segmental narrowing and dilatations of medium-size intracranial arteries. None of the usual causes of cerebral vasculitis were present. The outcome was favorable and follow-up angiograms showed the disappearance of the beading pattern. P.P.A. is widely used over the counter in diet pills and stimulants. Cerebral vascular complications have been rarely reported, always hemorrhagic and often associated with cerebral vasculitis. They are unrelated to duration or dosage of treatment. The mechanism is unclear but could result from several factors: chronic or paroxystic high blood pressure, immuno-allergic vasculitis, arterial spasm, direct \"toxic\" effect of the P.P.A. on the arterial wall may be increased by other drugs and caffeine.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37841391,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Producing Tailocins from Phages Using Osmotic Shock and Benzalkonium Chloride.\nIn the light of the worldwide antimicrobial resistance crisis, new substitutes to antibiotics are urgently needed. Tailocins or phage tail-like bacteriocin particles, produced by bacteria for environmental competition, are a potential antimicrobial alternative to antibiotic treatment. Yet, the availability of characterized Tailocins is limited. We explored the possibility to produce new Tailocins from phage particles, using osmotic shock or chemical treatment by the ammonium quaternary compound benzalkonium chloride on Ackermannviridae phage S117 and using Straboviridae phage T4 as control. We report that phage S117 was resistant to such treatment, while successful production of Tailocins by osmotic shock was achieved for phage T4. Finally, chemical treatment with benzalkonium chloride was inefficient on phage S117 but successfully inactivated phage T4 without production of Tailocins. Further studies are needed to implement such treatments of phages for producing Tailocins with killing activity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":950988,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Substantiation of the concept of \"freshness\" with fodder rye and wheat as examples].\nIn moderately or severely damaged fodder rye and wheat, the catalase test and the acidity determination are suited for corroborating the results of the organoleptic examination; But it must be emphasized that organoleptic tests cannot be replaced by the determination of chemical parameters. The present studies indicate that the substantiation of freshness by means of chemical parameters is limited in case of light or moderate deterioration.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35362395,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Impact of Bioactive Compounds Derived from Marine Fish on Cancer.\nCancer persists as the world's leading cause of mortality, thereby making it a compelling condition to research and potentially develop prevention options. Anticancer therapies such as chemotherapy, surgery and radiation therapy are becoming highly futile and tend to have achieved a clinical deficit due to massive side effects, toxicities, and limited specificity. Anticancer agents from natural sources, such as aquatic fishes, terrestrial mammals, animal venoms, and amphibians, have mainly been focused on in recent researches. Edible marine fishes contain high contents of fatty acids, vitamins, and proteins, also having bioactive compounds. Fish derivatives naturally have the potential to target cancer cells while being less hazardous to normal tissues, making them a better choice for cancer prevention and therapy. In this review, we mainly focused on the bioactive compounds identified in marine fishes which have significant biological properties including anticancer effects, also discuss the mechanism of action.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9550112,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-22":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of hormones on sleep.\nAdministration of hormones to humans and animals results in specific effects on the sleep electroencephalogram (EEG) and nocturnal hormone secretion. Studies with pulsatile administration of various neuropeptides in young and old normal controls and in patients with depression suggest they play a key role in sleep-endocrine regulation. Growth hormone (GH)-releasing hormone (GHRH) stimulates GH and slow wave sleep (SWS) and inhibits cortisol, whereas corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) exerts opposite effects. Changes in the GHRH:CRH ratio contribute to sleep-endocrine aberrations during normal ageing and acute depression. In addition, galanin and neuropeptide Y promote sleep, whereas, in the elderly, somatostatin impairs sleep. The rapid eye movement (REM)-nonREM cycle is modulated by vasoactive intestinal polypeptide. Cortisol stimulates SWS and GH, probably by feedback inhibition of CRH. Neuroactive steroids exert specific effects on the sleep EEG, which can be explained by gamma-aminobutyric acid(A) receptor modulation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18580013,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Risk factors of erythrocytosis post renal transplantation.\nPost-transplant erythrocytosis (PTE) is characterized by persistently elevated hematocrit level >or= 51%. This complication is reported to develop in 10-20% of renal allografts recipients, mostly 2 years after kidney transplantation. PTE is self-limited in 25% of the patients; however it may persist in patients with an increased susceptibility for thrombosis and potential fatal outcome. To evaluate the prevalence and risk factors of PTE in our center, we reviewed the records of 235 patients who received renal allografts from 1999 to 2004. Polycythemia was found in 45 (19%) patients. There was no significant correlation of polycythemia and age, history of hypertension, diabetes, pre-transplant hematocrit level, pre-transplant history of transfusion, graft's function, and source of kidney. A significantly higher proportion of PTE patients were males, patients with history of polycystic kidney disease, and patients with glomerulonephritis. We conclude that PTE is an important complication of kidney transplantation. There are several risk factors that should be addressed to prevent this complication.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9165255,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Prognostic factors of the postoperative vomiting in case of hypertrophic pyloric stenosis.\nFrom January 1986 to February 1994, 198 children were operated on for hypertrophic pyloric stenosis (HPS). Postoperative follow-up have been carried out in 194 cases. The children were divided into two groups: group A (n = 134; 69.1%): without any postoperative diet troubles (n = 52) or simple regurgitations (n = 82), and group B (n = 60; 30.9%) presenting more significant vomiting requiring medical treatment (n = 52) or a prolongation of parental nutrition (n = 8). A retrospective study of the different factors which can possibly explain this postoperative vomiting was carried out. The criteria having an influence are: the age (44.5 days in group A; 35.7 days in group B; (p < 0.001) the weight at the time of the operation (3921) g in group A; 3647 in group B; p = 0.01) the thickness of the pylorus at the pre-operative ultrasound scan (5.2 mm in group A; 47 in group B; p < 0.015). The other studied criteria (prematurity, birth weight, delay in diagnosis, weight loss, hydroelectrolytic abnormalities, surgical approach way-subcostal or umbilical-, surgical difficulties and operation duration) are not statistically significant. The young age (and therefore the low weight) at the time of the pyloromyotomy can easily explain the post-operative vomiting through the physiological immaturity of the lower sphincter of the esophagus. It is more paradoxical to note that these difficulties are all the more frequent because the pyloric tumor is less thick at the ultrasound scan. But this criterion is also directly related to the child's age (average thickness of 4.5 mm before the age of one month and 5.8 mm after the age of two months; p < 0.0001). These data suggest the importance of systematic medical treatment to prevent postoperative vomiting in high-risk children, in order to decrease hospital stay (4.14 days in group A; 5.20 days in group B; p < 0.0001).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27262229,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"[Management of gastrinoma].\nGastrinoma is a very rare tumor leading to gastrin hypersecretion and characterised by Zollinger-Ellisson syndrome (ZES) i.e. severe gastric and duodenal ulceration and profuse diarrhea. This disease can be sporadic or familial within a multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN-1) syndrome. Diagnosis is based on hypergastrinemia\/hypercholrhydria. Tumors are usually located in the duodeno-pancreas. Preoperative tumor location by CT, echoendoscopy and fibroscopy is not always possible because of the small size of the lesion that are frequently multiple. The aim of gastrinoma treatment is 1\/to control the hormonal hypersecretion 2\/to remove the neoplasm when it is possible. Surgery is the only chance to cure. Gastrinoma is a slow-growing tumor, and overall survival is good with a median survival above 10years and a 5-year survival above 80 % in surgically resected patients. Recurrence is frequent, a biochemical recurrence is observed in 65 % of cases and morphological recurrence in 40 % of patients at 2years. Metastases are associated with a dismal prognosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29565163,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"[Depressive symptoms and serum levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids omega-3 and omega-6 among college students from Northern Mexico].\nPrevious studies suggest that low consumption as well as low serum levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) omega-3 and a high omega-6\/omega-3 ratio may be implicated in the etiology of depressive disorders, however, epidemiologic evidence is inconclusive. To assess the relationship of serum levels of omega-3 fatty acids (docosahexaenoic [DHA], eicosapentaenoic [EPA], alpha-linolenic fatty acid [ALA]) and the omega-6 (arachidonic acid [AA])\/EPA ratio with depressive symptoms among Mexican college students. A cross-sectional study that included 60 male and female participants (ages 18 to 24 years) with serum levels of EPA, DHA, ALA and AA. Depressive symptoms were ascertained with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) scale validated for Mexican students. Linear regression was used to assess the relationship between depressive symptoms and serum PUFA omega-3 and omega-6. Serum levels of EPA, DHA and EPA\/DHA ratio were not related to depressive symptoms, high serum ALA was related with lower depressive symptoms before and after covariate adjustment; however, these results were not statistically significant. Among women, 1% increase in EPA resulted in 5.5. (p = 0.57) increase in the depressive scale scores while 1% increase in ALA resulted in 6.7 decrease (p = 0.39) in the scores. Our results did not confirm the relationship of serum levels of PUFA omega-3 and omega-6\/omega-3 ratio with depressive symptoms; the negative correlation of serum ALA with depressive symptoms remains to be confirmed in prospective studies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30655560,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Thermopriming reprograms metabolic homeostasis to confer heat tolerance.\nHeat stress threatens agriculture worldwide. Plants acquire heat stress tolerance through priming, which establishes stress memory during mild or severe transient heat stress. Such induced thermotolerance restructures metabolic networks and helps maintain metabolic homeostasis under heat stress. Here, we used an electrospray ionization mass spectrometry-based platform to explore the composition and dynamics of the metabolome of Arabidopsis thaliana under heat stress and identify metabolites involved in thermopriming. Primed plants performed better than non-primed plants under severe heat stress due to altered energy pathways and increased production of branched-chain amino acids, raffinose family oligosaccharides (RFOs), lipolysis products, and tocopherols. These metabolites serve as osmolytes, antioxidants and growth precursors to help plants recover from heat stress, while lipid metabolites help protect membranes against heat stress. The carbohydrate (e.g., sucrose and RFOs) and lipid superpathway metabolites showed the most significant increases. Under heat stress, there appears to be crosstalk between carbohydrate metabolism (i.e., the thermomemory metabolites stachyose, galactinol, and raffinose) and tyrosine metabolism towards the production of the thermomemory metabolite salidroside, a phenylethanoid glycoside. Crosstalk occurs between two glycerophospholipid pathways (the biosynthetic pathways of the thermomemory metabolite S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine and the terpenoid backbone) and the \u03b4-tocopherol (chloroplast lipid) pathway, which favors the production of glycine betaine and other essential tocopherols, respectively, compounds which are essential for abiotic stress tolerance in plants. Therefore, metabolomic analysis can provide comprehensive insights into the metabolites involved in stress responses, which could facilitate plant breeding to maximize crop yields under adverse conditions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23878938,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Preparation, characterization and gas permeation investigation of resorcinol-formaldehyde polymer or carbon xerogels\/tubular ceramic composites.\nNew very stable composites prepared by deposition of resorcinol-formaldehyde polymer (RF-) or carbon (C-) xerogels into walls of commercial porous tubular ceramics (TiO2-ZrO2 and alphaAl2O3-gammaAl203) were obtained by a sol-gel process followed by a drying and a pyrolytic (only for C-xerogel\/ceramic composites) step. They were characterized by nitrogen adsorption-desorption, SEM and XRD, and tested for gas (H2, CH4, CO2 and CO) separation applications. Additional morpho-structural information about the open-interconnected ultramicropore structure of composites was found by gas permeation investigation. Interesting results for H2 permeance was obtained especially for RF-polymer\/ceramic composites respecting Knudsen diffusion mechanism of gas permeance: H2 > CH4 > CO > CO2. The coexistence of Knudsen and surface diffusion mechanisms were confirmed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29374885,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Clinical outcome of therapeutic cervical cerclage in short cervix syndrome].\nObjective: To investigate the clinical effect of therapeutic cervical cerclage on short cervix syndrome for anti-premature birth in the second trimester. Methods: Totally 44 singleton pregnant patients were diagnosed as short cervix syndrome, which was cervical length \u22642.5 cm without cervical dilatation, and received treatment from January 2008 and July 2015 in Peking University Third Hospital were collected. Among them, 30 patients who received therapeutic cervical cerclage were defined as cerclage group and another 14 cases who received conservative treatment were defined as un-cerclage group. The days of conservative treatment, delivery rate of different gestational weeks, birth weight of newborns, neonatal survival rate within 7 days of birth were analyzed between the two groups. Results: There were no significant differences between the two groups in days of pregnancy conservative treatment [103 (84-141) vs 105 (85-114) days], delivery weeks [38.0 (35.5-39.4) vs 38.5 (37.3-39.5) weeks], birth weight of newborns [3 120 (2 750-3 400) vs 3 130 (2 760-3 545) g], and survival rate of newborns [100% (30\/30) vs 13\/14]. The fetuses of both groups were all delivered after 28 weeks. There was no significant difference in accumulated delivery rate between the two groups after 32 weeks, 34 weeks, and 37 weeks, respectively (all P>0.05) . Conclusions: The treatment of cervical cerclage is not superior to conservative means in single pregnancy of cervical length \u22642.5 cm without cervical dilatation. For such patients with short cervix syndrome, the treatment of cervical cerclage may not be necessary, but dynamic monitoring and search for the causing factors and prompt treatment are more important.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6173750,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Familial dysalbuminemic hyperthyroxinemia: a syndrome that can be confused with thyrotoxicosis.\nWe investigated 15 euthyroid patients from eight families with a recently recognized syndrome, familial dysalbuminemic hyperthyroxinemia (FDH), that could be mistaken for thyrotoxicosis. The syndrome is characterized by elevations in serum thyroxine and the free-thyroxine index (FT4l), which are due to an abnormal serum albumin that preferentially binds thyroxine. This albumin has an abnormal binding site with a much greater affinity for thyroxine (relative to its affinity for triiodothyronine) than that of the hormone-binding site on thyroxine-binding globulin. Results of thyrotropin-releasing hormone and thyroid-suppression tests, as well as direct measurements of the free-thyroxine concentration by equilibrium dialysis, are normal in these patients, although the serum triiodothyronine concentration may be slightly elevated. Although its prevalence is uncertain, FDH may be more common than suspected; we have seen 26 cases within the past year.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25400990,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Quality of care in Crohn's disease.\nCrohn's disease (CD) is a chronic and progressive inflammatory disease of the intestine. Overall, healthcare delivery for patients with CD is not optimal at the present time and therefore needs improvement. There are evidences which suggest that there is a variation in the care provided to patients with CD by the inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) experts and community care providers. The delivery of healthcare for patients with CD is often complex and requires coordination between gastroenterologists\/IBD specialist, gastrointestinal surgeon, radiologists and IBD nurses. In order to improve the quality of health care for patients with CD, there is need that we focus on large-scale, system-wide changes including creation of IBD comprehensive care units, provision to provide continuous care, efforts to standardize care, and education of the community practitioners.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23883697,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Silk peptide intake increases fat oxidation at rest in exercised mice.\nSilk peptides (SP) have been reported to decrease body weight and accumulate fat. We investigated the effects of SP administration by using an open circuit calorimetry system on resting energy expenditure and substrate utilization in resting mice for the duration of 24 h. Seven-week-old male ICR-mice were orally administered SP (800 mg\/kg) for 2 wk and were subjected to endurance training. The results indicated that not only was oxygen uptake higher in the SP group than in the CON group (*p<0.05), but also the respiratory exchange rate was lower than that in the CON group for the duration of 24 h (**p<0.01). Moreover, fat oxidation was increased in the SP group. Body weight of the SP group was significantly decreased compared to that of the CON group (*p<0.05). These results suggest that intake of silk peptides increases fat oxidation during rest in exercised mice. Intake of silk peptides is considered to be a favorable supplement for athletes in training. In particular, it would be an effective supplement for athletes who require weight loss along with an increase in muscle mass.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20349861,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The use of implantable bone stimulators in nonunion treatment.\nDelayed or failure of bone healing in fracture, osteotomy, and arthrodesis patients continues to be a clinical dilemma. Electromagnetic stimulation is 1 modality demonstrated in many studies to aid bone healing; however, relatively few studies depict the use and complications associated with direct current implantable bone stimulators. Over a 9-year period, we studied a consecutive series of 120 adult patients who underwent implantation of a direct current bone stimulator. The goals of this study were to determine the time until healing, the presence of infection, and the need for additional nonunion surgery or salvage procedure following internal bone stimulator placement for nonunion treatment. Of the factors affecting the time until healing, tobacco smoking was a significant factor associated with increased time until healing. Tobacco smoking and duration of nonunion prior to implantable bone stimulator placement were both significant factors in the need for revision nonunion surgery or salvage procedure after implantable bone stimulator placement. Deep soft tissue infection or osteomyelitis was a significant factor predicting prolonged time to healing, subsequent infection following implantable bone stimulator placement, and the need for revision or salvage surgery. With the relative lack of complications directly attributable to electromagnetic implantable bone stimulators, their use may be an effective adjuvant to stable internal fixation and autogenous bone grafting in healing nonunions. However, the use of implantable bone stimulators in patients with nonunion prior to deep soft tissue infection or osteomyelitis exhibited an increased rate of postoperative infection in this study.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1686445,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mosquito species collected from a marsh in western Kenya during the long rains.\nA total of 475,431 mosquitoes representing 8 genera and 43 species were collected from a marsh in the western Kenya highlands to determine species composition and succession in relation to the epidemiology of Rift Valley fever virus. Culex pipiens was the most common species, totalling 92.3% of the collection, followed by Cx. zombaensis (2.2%), Anopheles coustani (1.1%), An. squamosus (0.8%), Mansonia uniformis (0.6%), Coquillettidia microannulatus (0.5%), Uranotaenia mashonaensis (0.5%), Ma. africana (0.4%) and Cq. aurites (0.4%). Aedes quasiunivittatus was the first floodwater species to emerge from newly flooded areas and was the most abundant Aedes collected, representing 88% of all Aedes specimens. Culex guiarti and Cx. zombaensis colonized newly flooded areas soon after the areas became flooded.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20353624,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Rivastigmine in the treatment of delirium in older people: a pilot study.\nDelirium is common in the elderly and is associated with high mortality and negative health outcomes. Reduced activity in the cholinergic system has been implicated in the pathogenesis of delirium. Cholinesterase inhibitors, which increase cholinergic activity, may therefore be beneficial in the treatment of delirium. This is a double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized pilot study of the treatment of delirium with a cholinesterase inhibitor of patients admitted to hospital medical wards. Patients over the age of 65 years were identified as having delirium by the Confusion Assessment Method (CAM). Patients with delirium were randomized to receive rivastigmine 1.5 mg once a day increasing to 1.5 mg twice a day after seven days or an identical placebo (two tablets after seven days). Fifteen patients entered the trial; eight received rivastigmine and seven received placebo. All of the rivastigmine group, but only three of the placebo group, were negative for delirium on the CAM when they left the study and eventually discharged home. There was no significant difference in the duration of delirium between the two groups (rivastigmine group 6.3 days versus placebo group 9.9 days, p = 0.5, 95% confidence interval -15.6-8.4). The numbers of patients who screened positive for delirium was very small and as a result the sample size was too small to make any meaningful inferences about treatment of delirium. Despite the small numbers included in the study, there are some indicators that rivastigmine may be safe and effective in treating delirium.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22682807,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Hypofractionation vs conventional radiation therapy for newly diagnosed diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma: a matched-cohort analysis.\nDespite conventional radiation therapy, 54 Gy in single doses of 1.8 Gy (54\/1.8 Gy) over 6 weeks, most children with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) will die within 1 year after diagnosis. To reduce patient burden, we investigated the role of hypofractionation radiation therapy given over 3 to 4 weeks. A 1:1 matched-cohort analysis with conventional radiation therapy was performed to assess response and survival. Twenty-seven children, aged 3 to 14, were treated according to 1 of 2 hypofractionation regimens over 3 to 4 weeks (39\/3 Gy, n=16 or 44.8\/2.8 Gy, n=11). All patients had symptoms for \u22643 months, \u22652 signs of the neurologic triad (cranial nerve deficit, ataxia, long tract signs), and characteristic features of DIPG on magnetic resonance imaging. Twenty-seven patients fulfilling the same diagnostic criteria and receiving at least 50\/1.8 to 2.0 Gy were eligible for the matched-cohort analysis. With hypofractionation radiation therapy, the overall survival at 6, 9, and 12 months was 74%, 44%, and 22%, respectively. Progression-free survival at 3, 6, and 9 months was 77%, 43%, and 12%, respectively. Temporary discontinuation of steroids was observed in 21 of 27 (78%) patients. No significant difference in median overall survival (9.0 vs 9.4 months; P=.84) and time to progression (5.0 vs 7.6 months; P=.24) was observed between hypofractionation vs conventional radiation therapy, respectively. For patients with newly diagnosed DIPG, a hypofractionation regimen, given over 3 to 4 weeks, offers equal overall survival with less treatment burden compared with a conventional regimen of 6 weeks.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28686423,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nanoparticle Uptake in Plants: Gold Nanomaterial Localized in Roots of Arabidopsis thaliana by X-ray Computed Nanotomography and Hyperspectral Imaging.\nTerrestrial plants can internalize and translocate nanoparticles (NPs). However, direct evidence for the processes driving the NP uptake and distribution in plants is scarce at the cellular level. Here, NP-root interactions were investigated after 10 days of exposure of Arabidopsis thaliana to 10 mg\u00b7L-1 of negatively or positively charged gold NPs (\u223c12 nm) in gels. Two complementary imaging tools were used: X-ray computed nanotomography (nano-CT) and enhanced dark-field microscopy combined with hyperspectral imaging (DF-HSI). The use of these emerging techniques improved our ability to detect and visualize NP in plant tissue: by spectral confirmation via DF-HSI, and in three dimensions via nano-CT. The resulting imaging provides direct evidence that detaching border-like cells (i.e., sheets of border cells detaching from the root) and associated mucilage can accumulate and trap NPs irrespective of particle charge. On the contrary, border cells on the root cap behaved in a charge-specific fashion: positively charged NPs induced a higher mucilage production and adsorbed to it, which prevented translocation into the root tissue. Negatively charged NPs did not adsorb to the mucilage and were able to translocate into the apoplast. These observations provide direct mechanistic insight into NP-plant interactions, and reveal the important function of border cells and mucilage in interactions of plants with charged NPs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35350172,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Long-Term Efficacy, Safety, and Durability of Cabotegravir and Rilpivirine as 2-Drug Oral Maintenance Therapy After 6 Years of Study.\nIn the LATTE study, daily oral cabotegravir + rilpivirine demonstrated higher rates of efficacy than efavirenz + 2 nucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) through Week 96 in antiretroviral therapy (ART)-naive adults with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1. We present the results from 6 years of continued treatment with oral cabotegravir + rilpivirine. LATTE was a phase IIb, randomized, multicenter, partially blinded, dose-ranging study in ART-naive adults with HIV-1. After a 24-week induction phase with cabotegravir + 2 NRTIs, participants with HIV-1 ribonucleic acid (RNA) <50 copies\/mL were randomized to receive cabotegravir (10, 30, or 60 mg) + rilpivirine (25 mg) in the maintenance phase through Week 96 and switched to cabotegravir 30 mg + rilpivirine 25 mg in the open-label phase through Week 312. Of 160 participants who entered the maintenance phase, 111 completed the study at Week 312. At Week 312, 105 (66%) participants maintained HIV-1 RNA <50 copies\/mL, 15 (9%) had HIV-1 RNA \u226550 copies\/mL, and 40 (25%) had no virologic data. Eight participants met protocol-defined virologic failure criteria through Week 312, 2 of whom met protocol-defined virologic failure criteria after Week 144. Six participants developed treatment-emergent resistance to 1 or both agents during the study, 3 of whom developed integrase inhibitor resistance substitutions. Two participants (1%) reported drug-related serious adverse events. Few adverse events led to withdrawal during the open-label phase (n = 5, 3%). Oral cabotegravir + rilpivirine demonstrated efficacy in the majority of participants and an acceptable safety profile through 6 years of treatment, demonstrating its durability as maintenance therapy for HIV-1.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20353153,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Immobilization of peptides with distinct biological activities onto stem cell culture substrates using orthogonal chemistries.\nWe have used the orthogonal carbodiimide condensation and copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne \"click\" cycloaddition (CuAAC) reactions to prepare self-assembled monolayers that present distinct peptides to stem cells in a bioinert background. The approach involved first forming mixed SAMs with three components: (i) an azide-terminated hexaethylene glycol alkanethiolate (HS-EG6-N3), (ii) a carboxylate-terminated hexaethylene glycol alkanethiolate (HS-EG6-COOH), and (iii) a triethylene glycol alkanethiolate (HS-EG3). An acetylene-bearing peptide and an amine-terminated peptide were then immobilized to these substrates using a \"click\" CuAAC reaction and a carbodiimide condensation reaction, respectively. Polarization-modulated infrared reflectance-absorbance spectroscopic analysis demonstrated formation of well-ordered, close-packed self-assembled monolayers (SAMs), chemoselective conjugation of amine-terminated peptides to surface carboxylate groups, and subsequent conjugation of acetylene-terminated peptides to the azide groups on SAMs. Varying the mole fraction of HS-EG6-N3, HS-EG6-COOH, and HS-EG3 during SAM formation allowed for control over the densities of each peptide on the substrate. Substrates presenting varying surface densities of RGESP (a nonfunctional peptide), RGDSP (a cell adhesion peptide), or TYRSRKY (a heparin\/heparan sulfate-binding peptide) were then used to characterize the relationship between peptide surface density and human mesenchymal stem cell (hMSC) adhesion. Results demonstrate that RGESP does not influence RGDSP-mediated adhesion of hMSCs, which indicates that a second peptide with distinct bioactivity can be immobilized alongside RGDSP to characterize the influence of two peptides on hMSC behavior. Our results also demonstrate that RGDSP and TYRSRKY act synergistically to promote hMSC adhesion in the absence of serum. Interestingly, heparin sequestered by TYRSRKY inhibits cell adhesion on substrates presenting RGDSP = 0.1% and > or = 0.1% TYRSRKY or RGDSP = 1% and > or = 0.5% TYRSRKY. Taken together, these results indicate that two peptides can be controllably presented to stem cells on the same otherwise bioinert SAM substrate, and that multiple, distinct extracellular moieties act in concert to regulate hMSC adhesion.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29365009,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A Dietary Pattern of Higher Fish, Egg, Milk, Nut, Vegetable and Fruit, and Lower Salt Intake Correlates With the Prevalence and Control of Hypertension.\nThe effects of food on the prevalence and control of hypertension are unclear. We aimed to investigate whether a dietary pattern of higher fish, egg, milk, nut, vegetable and fruit consumption, and lower salt intake was associated with hypertension in China. A total of 15,303 subjects were recruited from September 2012 to December 2014. Groups with (n = 1,604) and without (n = 13,660) hypertension were formed for a case-control study. The hypertensive participants were classified into the controlled blood pressure (BP) subgroup (n = 397) and the uncontrolled BP subgroup (n = 1,207). Data on the average weekly intake of fish, eggs, milk, nuts, vegetables, fruit, and salt in the past year were collected. Higher intake was defined as greater than or equal to median food intake. Higher fish, egg, milk, nut, vegetable, and fruit intake correlated with lower hypertension prevalence, and fish and fruit intake were the strongest associated factors. Meanwhile, higher fruit intake, the highest quartile of egg or milk intake, and the lowest quartile of salt intake correlated with better BP control. Furthermore, the dietary pattern was associated with lower hypertension prevalence (odds ratio [OR]: 0.88, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.84-0.92; P < 0.001) and better BP control (OR: 1.11, 95% CI: 1.03-1.21; P = 0.011). However, the dietary pattern did not correlate with BP control after excluding fruit intake. The dietary pattern correlated with lower hypertension prevalence and better BP control, and its association with BP control might be driven by higher fruit consumption.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28737125,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Taxanes in combination with platinum derivatives for the treatment of ovarian cancer during pregnancy: A literature review .\nOvarian cancer is one of the most common types of solid carcinoma diagnosed during pregnancy. Taxane plus a platinum derivative is a combination therapy that is predominantly used in the treatment of ovarian cancer in non-pregnant women. Pregnancy adds various complexities to a course of treatment. In pregnant patients diagnosed with cancer during the first trimester, the risks of fetal malformations and fetal loss increase following the administration of cytotoxic drugs, and this is higher with multi-agent vs. single-agent chemotherapy (~ 25 vs. 10%). Exposure during the second and third trimester has little influence on teratogenic effects but increases the risk of intrauterine growth retardation, prematurity, low birth weight, and bone marrow toxicity. The present study aimed to review the maternal and fetal safety of treatment with taxane plus platinum derivatives for ovarian cancer during pregnancy. Relevant literature was retrieved from the Embase and PubMed databases using the search terms \"ovarian cancer\", \"pregnancy\", \"taxane\", \"paclitaxel\", \"docetaxel\", \"platinum\", \"cisplatin\", and \"carboplatin\". All available data up until September 2016 was synthesized, with no language restrictions. A total of 11 articles (including 13 pregnancies and 14 newborns) were retrieved that reported on the use of standard-dose taxane and platinum chemotherapy, including 9 cases treated with paclitaxel and carboplatin, 3 cases treated with paclitaxel and cisplatin, and 1 case treated with docetaxel and cisplatin. In 13 of the 14 (92.9%) births included, a healthy neonate was born, with follow-up ranging from 2 to 160 months. The average weight of the neonates at the time of delivery was 2,442.1 g. In 7 of 9 the case reports that provided survival data, the mother was alive and disease-free at the end of follow-up (ranging from 2 to 40 months). In conclusion, combination therapy with taxanes and a platinum derivative may play a significant role in the management of pregnant patients with ovarian cancer during the second and third trimester. Exposure to this combination of agents during the second and third trimester does not appear to have a significant bearing on fetal mortality and abortion. .","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27271350,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Supramolecular protection from the enzymatic tyrosine phosphorylation in a polypeptide.\nHere we report two new artificial pseudopeptidic cages that bind the EYE peptide epitope in pure water at physiological pH (as studied by fluorescence and NMR spectroscopies). The supramolecular complexation of the Tyr residues efficiently precludes their subsequent PTK-catalysed phosphorylation. Our results show a supramolecular modulation of the PTK activity by competitive substrate caging.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26472754,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Utilising established SDL-screening methods as a tool for the functional genomic characterisation of model and non-model organisms.\nThe trend for large-scale genetic and phenotypic screens has revealed a wealth of information on biological systems. A major challenge is understanding how genes function and putative roles in networks. The majority of current gene knowledge is garnered from studies utilising the model yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We demonstrate that synthetic dosage lethal genetic array methodologies can be used to study genetic networks in other yeasts, namely the fungal pathogen Candida glabrata, which has limited forward genetic tools, due to the lack of 'natural' mating. We performed two SDL screens in S. cerevisiae, overexpressing the transcriptional regulator UME6 as bait in the first screen and its C. glabrata ortholog CAGL0F05357g in the second. Analysis revealed that SDL maps share 204 common interactors, with 10 genetic interactions unique to C. glabrata indicating a level of genetic rewiring, indicative of linking genotype to phenotype in fungal pathogens. This was further validated by incorporating our results into the global genetic landscape map of the cell from Costanzo et al. to identify common and novel gene attributes. This data demonstrated the utility large data sets and more robust analysis made possible by interrogating exogenous genes in the context of the eukaryotic global genetic landscape.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":940045,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Differences in the metabolic and hormonal response to exercise between racing cyclists and untrained individuals.\n1. Six well-trained cyclists and six untrained subjects were studied during and immediately after four successive 7 min periods of exercise at 30, 45, 60 and 75% of their maximal work capacity. 2. Venous blood samples were taken at rest, at the end of each exercise period and 5 min following the end of exercise, for estimation of metabolites in blood and plasma insulin, growth hormone, cortisol and catecholamines. 3. The results showed significant differences in the mobilization and utilization of muscle fuels between the athletically fit cyclists and the untrained group. In the cyclists, glucose, glycerol and free fatty acid concentrations were higher, but lactate, pyruvate and alanine were lower than in the untrained subjects during exercise. 4. Plasma catecholamines rose in both groups during exercise but the rise was significantly less in the racing cyclists. Plasma insulin was depressed to a greater extent in the untrained subjects during exercise and plasma glucagon rose to a greater extent during strenuous exercise and remained elevated after the end of exercise in the untrained group. Plasma human growth hormone rose to a greater extent during exercise and remained elevated after the end of exercise in the untrained group. Plasma cortisol fell at low and moderate exercise rates in both groups, but to a smaller extent in the cyclists. Cortisol values rose at higher workloads and were significantly higher in the cyclists at the end of exercise. 5. It is concluded that there are significant differences in the metabolic and hormonal responses to exercise between athletically trained and untrained individuals, even when the physically fit subjects work at the same percentage of their maximal capacity as the unfit subjects.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30676676,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Highly Resolved Pure-Shift Spectra on a Compact NMR Spectrometer.\nBenchtop NMR spectrometers experience a great success for a wide range of applications. However, their performance is highly limited by peak overlaps. Emerging \"pure-shift NMR\" (PS NMR) methods have been intensively used at high field to enhance the resolution by homodecoupling strategies. Here, different PS methods have been implemented on a compact NMR spectrometer operating at 43 MHz. Among the PS methods, the recent PSYCHE scheme appears more sensitive than Zangger-Sterk (ZS) experiments and offers a substantial resolution improvement as compared to 1D 1 H. On the other hand, despite their slightly lower sensitivity, ZS methods are more efficient to reduce broad signals and are more immune to strong couplings. Finally, the classical J-resolved pulse sequence is more efficient to reduce larger signals for bigger-sized molecules. The three approaches appear relevant for benchtop NMR and their combination forms an efficient toolbox to analyze a great diversity of samples.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20355149,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"An FTIR study of the induction and release of kiwifruit buds from dormancy.\nMany deciduous, perennial fruit crops require winter chilling for adequate budbreak and flowering. Recent research has shown that changes in sugar and amino acid profiles are associated with the release of buds from dormancy. This paper uses FTIR spectrometry to provide an alternative mechanism for tracking metabolic changes in the meristems of kiwifruit buds during winter dormancy. The results suggest that the application of multivariate analysis to FTIR spectra has the potential to be a reliable and fast method for detecting structural and compositional changes in fruit crops. Ten wave numbers of the FTIR spectra are used to calculate a bud development function. This function has been validated using data from two seasons and four orchards, and by monitoring the effects of hydrogen cyanamide application, sugar concentrations and soil temperatures on this function. These wave numbers appear to be associated with carbohydrate, pectin and cellulose levels in the meristems. It is expected that this FTIR signature can be used to advance our understanding of the influence of the various environmental and physiological factors on the breaking of bud dormancy and shoot outgrowth, including the optimum timing and concentrations of applications of budbreak regulators, such as hydrogen cyanamide.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34241347,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Improving the SAFT-\u03b3 Mie equation of state to account for functional group interactions in a structural (s-SAFT-\u03b3 Mie) framework: Linear and branched alkanes.\nThe group contribution SAFT-\u03b3 Mie EoS is based on the statistical associating fluid theory for fused heteronuclear molecules. While the chain term of the model has been modified to account for the new functional group-specific parameters, it does not impose a bonding order to these functional groups, only considering intergroup interactions in the monomer reference fluid. This leaves the model unable to account for the different physical properties of structural isomers and implicitly introducing modeling bias to species where the molecular structure mimics those used in the parameter regression. In this work, a simple but physically meaningful modification to the chain term in SAFT-\u03b3 Mie is proposed that accounts for the number of intergroup bonds, thereby encoding structural information in the model, without introducing an additional regressed parameter. The resulting structural SAFT-\u03b3 Mie (s-SAFT-\u03b3 Mie) requires reparameterization of the group parameters, which we present for linear and branched alkanes (CH3, CH2, CH, and C groups) here. Following an identical parameterization procedure to the original model, validation showed that the modification actually improves prediction accuracy for linear alkanes while addressing the original inability of the framework to distinguish between structural isomers. The good predictive performance seen in this work, for both pure component and mixture properties, lays a good foundation for expansion to other functional groups in future work.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28358419,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Oncostatin M in William's E medium is suitable for initiation of hepatocyte differentiation in human induced pluripotent stem cells.\nWilliam's E (WE) is a suitable medium for the differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells to the hepatocyte lineage. The aim of the present study was to investigate various growth factors in their ability to promote hepatocyte differentiation of iPS cells in WE medium. Human iPS 201B7 cells were cultured in WE medium supplemented with growth factors, and mRNA expression levels and promoter activities of \u03b1\u2011fetoprotein (AFP) and albumin were examined by reverse transcription\u2011quantitative polymerase chain reaction and luciferase assay, respectively. In addition, time course analysis of AFP mRNA expression was performed in 201B7 cells cultured in WE medium supplemented with oncostatin M. The results demonstrated that mRNA expression levels of AFP were significantly elevated by most growth factors tested as supplements in WE medium, except all\u2011trans retinoic acid, compared with cells cultured in ReproFF (a medium that maintains pluripotency). The highest increase in AFP mRNA expression levels was observed by oncostatin M stimulation. Albumin mRNA expression levels were increased by all\u2011trans retinoic acid and insulin\u2011transferrin\u2011selenium supplementation in WE medium compared with cells cultured in ReproFF. Oncostatin M supplementation significantly stimulated the promoter activity of the AFP gene, but no growth factor tested significantly stimulated the promoter activity of the albumin gene. By time course analysis, significant increase of AFP mRNA expression was observed on the sixth day post\u2011stimulation, compared with cells cultured in WE medium alone. In conclusion, the present study demonstrated that oncostatin M supplementation in WE medium was sufficient to initiate hepatocyte differentiation in iPS cells.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19053086,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Synthesis and structure-activity relationships of ferrocenyl tamoxifen derivatives with modified side chains.\nWe report here the synthesis and cell-proliferation properties of derivatives of the breast cancer drug tamoxifen, in which the -O(CH(2))(2)N(CH(3))(2) side chain, responsible for the drug's antiestrogenic properties, has been modified by a ferrocenyl moiety. We recently reported the diphenol compound 5, in which this amino chain had been replaced with an acyl-ferrocenyl (-O(CH(2))(2)C(O)[(eta(5)-C(5)H(4))FeCp]) group, and which showed antiproliferative effects against both the hormone-dependent MCF-7 and -independent MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell lines. We now report the results of a structure-activity relationship (SAR) study, in which the lateral chain length has been varied, the ketone group has been omitted, and the number of phenol groups has been varied. Compounds 1-4, with a side chain lacking the carbonyl function (-O(CH(2))(n)[(eta(5)-C(5)H(4))FeCp], n = 1-4) and which show a decreasing affinity for ERalpha (ER = estrogen receptor) with increasing chain length, act as estrogens on MCF-7 cells, and mild cytotoxics on PC-3 prostate cancer cells, with IC(50) values around 10 microM. The two monophenolic derivatives of 2, 2 a and 2 b, which show a reduced affinity for ERalpha compared to 2, are also estrogenic, but are only slightly cytotoxic. Finally, we have reexamined compound 5 and discovered that its antiproliferative effect against the MCF-7 cell line does not arise from antiestrogenicity as we had originally suspected, but by means of a cytotoxic pathway. This compound is also sensitive to the number of phenol groups as cell death is diminished when one of the hydroxyl groups is omitted (5 a and 5 b). Molecular modeling studies of the ligand-ERalpha binding stability are broadly consistent with the experimental binding affinity results for compounds 2, 2 a, 2 b, 5, 5 a, and 5 b. Electrochemical experiments show that 1-4, 2 a, and 2 b are stable to oxidation on the electrochemical timescale, unlike 5, 5 a, and 5 b, and that cytotoxicity is related to less positive phenol oxidation potentials. The SAR study shows that the presence of a ketone group and two phenol groups is necessary for strong receptor binding and cytotoxic effects, and that all compounds are estrogenic, despite the presence of a bulky side chain.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29380189,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Respiratory changes in subclavian vein diameters predicts fluid responsiveness in intensive care patients: a pilot study.\nThe present pilot study investigated whether respiratory variation in subclavian vein (SCV) diameters correlates with fluid responsiveness in mechanically ventilated patients. Monocentric, prospective clinical study on fluid responsiveness in adult sedated, mechanically ventilated ICU patient, monitored with the PiCCO\u2122 system (Pulsion Medical System, Germany), and requiring a fluid challenge (FC). A 10-min fluid bolus of 500 mL of 0.9% saline was administered. Cardiac output (CO) and dynamic parameters [stroke volume variation (SVV) and pulse pressure variation (PPV)] measured by transpulmonary thermodilution and pulse contour analysis (PiCCO\u2122) as well as classical hemodynamic parameters were recorded at baseline and after FC. Fluid responsiveness was described as an increase in CO of \u2265 15%. Ultrasound measurements obtained in the subclavian long-axis view were used to calculate the SCVvariability index. A cut-off value for SCV variation for the prediction of fluid responsiveness was determined using receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis. Nine of 20 FCs (45%) induced an increase in CO of \u2265 15%. At baseline, the SCVvariability index was greater in responders than in non-responders (34.0 \u00b1 21.4 vs. 9.0 \u00b1 5.5; p = 0.0005). Diagnostic performance for the SCVvariability index revealed a cut-off value of 14 with a sensitivity of 100% [Confidence interval (CI) 95% (90; 100)] and a specificity of 82% [CI 95% (48; 98)] for the prediction of fluid responsiveness. Other parameters, such as SVV and PPV, could not predict fluid responsiveness. The correlation coefficient between CO variation and the SCVvariability index was 0.73 (p < 0.001). The SCVvariability index was a reliable, non-invasive parameter for the prediction of fluid responsiveness at the bedside of mechanically ventilated, critically ill patients in this pilot study.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1690529,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Gram staining apparatus for space station applications.\nA self-contained, portable Gram staining apparatus (GSA) has been developed for use in the microgravity environment on board the Space Station Freedom. Accuracy and reproducibility of this apparatus compared with the conventional Gram staining method were evaluated by using gram-negative and gram-positive controls and different species of bacteria grown in pure cultures. A subsequent study was designed to assess the performance of the GSA with actual specimens. A set of 60 human and environmental specimens was evaluated with the GSA and the conventional Gram staining procedure. Data obtained from these studies indicated that the GSA will provide the Gram staining capability needed for the microgravity environment of space.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3041036,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2013-20":1}}},"text":"A cytomegalovirus protein with properties of herpes simplex virus ICP8: partial purification of the polypeptide and map position of the gene.\nWe demonstrated the presence of a single-stranded DNA-binding protein in human cytomegalovirus (CMV)-infected cells with properties analogous to those of herpes simplex virus (HSV) ICP8. Using monoclonal antibody specific for the CMV protein, we analyzed its fluorescence pattern and time of synthesis, mapped the gene encoding it by using a lambda gt11 library of CMV DNA fragments, and monitored its purification by phosphocellulose and DNA-Sepharose chromatography. In all characteristics we examined, the CMV protein behaved analogously to HSV ICP8. Our results are consistent with a functional role of CMV ICP8 in viral replication that is similar to that of HSV ICP8 and with the evolutionary conservation of the gene of interest in two divergent herpesviruses.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26440240,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Intraoperative aortic dissection.\nIntraoperative aortic dissection is a rare but fatal complication of open heart surgery. By recognizing the population at risk and by using a gentle operative technique in such patients, the surgeon can usually avoid iatrogenic injury to the aorta. Intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography and epiaortic scanning are invaluable for prompt diagnosis and determination of the extent of the injury. Prevention lies in the strict control of blood pressure during cannulation\/decannulation, construction of proximal anastomosis, or in avoiding manipulation of the aorta in high-risk patients. Immediate repair using interposition graft or Dacron patch graft is warranted to reduce the high mortality associated with this complication.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16989573,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Organizational and expressional uniqueness of a testis-specific mRNA transcript of protooncogene c-kit receptor in water buffalo Bubalus bubalis.\nProtooncogene c-kit receptor is implicated with spermatogenesis, melanogenesis, and hematopoeisis, and undergoes tissue\/stage specific alternate splicing. We have isolated 2973-bp full-length cDNA sequence (CDS) of this gene from testis and other tissues of water buffalo Bubalus bubalis. Upon comparison, the c-kit sequences showed tissue specific nucleotide changes resulting in novel truncated peptides. These peptides lacked intracellular and\/or transmembrane domains in all the tissues except testis. Other alternately spliced tissue-specific transcripts were also detected, which are the integral parts of the open reading frame and have been reported in other mammals. Phylogenetic analysis of the sequences revealed unique tyrosine kinase domain in buffalo. Copy number calculation and expressional analysis of c-kit using real-time PCR established its single copy status and highest expression (137-177 folds) in testis compared to that (least) in liver. c-kit expression was detected in semen samples although 10 times lesser compared to that in testis. The highest expression of c-kit in testis and the presence of mRNA transcript in sperms substantiate its predominant role in spermatogenesis. This study establishes unequivocal involvement of an autosomal gene c-kit receptor in testicular function.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16146328,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pain experienced by electric-powered chair users: a pilot exploration using pain drawings.\nMany wheelchair users experience pain or discomfort, and little is known about its severity or nature. The present study explored the feasibility of using visual analogue scales and pain drawings to assess the intensity and distribution of pain in users of electric-powered indoor and outdoor wheelchairs, and its changes over time. Five electric-powered indoor and outdoor chair (EPIOC) users, mean age 62 years (range 43-84 years) completed pain drawings and visual analogue scales two-hourly during one day. Pain intensity increased throughout the day in all users. It was most severe in the neck, back and buttocks. Pain drawings gave visual impact to the extent of the pain. Visual analogue scales and pain drawings may be useful in assessing pain experienced by EPIOC users, which may be severe and appears to increase in severity and distribution during the day.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28258234,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Polishing the tarnished silver bullet: the quest for new antibiotics.\nWe are facing a potential catastrophe of untreatable bacterial infections, driven by the inexorable rise of extensively drug-resistant bacteria, coupled with a market failure of pharmaceutical and biotech companies to deliver new therapeutic options. While global recognition of the problem is finally apparent, solutions are still a long way from being implemented. In addition to drug stewardship programmes and better diagnostics, new antibiotics are desperately needed. The question remains as to how to achieve this goal. This review will examine the different strategies being applied to discover new antibiotics.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19039082,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Lead levels in paint flakes from buildings in Nigeria: a preliminary study.\nLead is a malleable metal previously used to improve the durability and color luster of paint applied in homes and on industrial structures such as bridges. Lead has deleterious effects on multiple organs in humans. There is paucity of information on the extent of the use of lead-based paint in Nigerian houses. This study has attempted to estimate the extent of use of lead-based paint in buildings in Eastern Nigeria using 168 buildings. Flaked paint samples were collected from residential, church, commercial, and school buildings from four most populous cities in Eastern Nigeria namely Enugu, Onitsha, Aba, and Port Harcourt, and they were digested using conc HNO(3):HCLO(4) (1:1) and analyzed using atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The lead levels from buildings in Enugu ranged from 39.385 +\/- 1.111-69.843 +\/- 4.886 mg\/kg. The highest level of lead was found in Onitsha ranging from 49.503 +\/- 0.000-74.352 +\/- 0.571 mg\/kg. Residential buildings, which mainly serve the under privileged populations, has the highest lead level in this study. In Aba, the highest lead level (66.432 +\/- 0.013 mg\/kg) was found in commercial buildings aged 5-10 years. The lead levels in paint flakes from buildings in the four cities tended to decrease with increasing age of the buildings. Taken together all the building paint flakes from the four cities had lead levels higher than the United States Environmental Protection Agency permissible level of 5 mg\/kg. There is a need for primary intervention strategy to reduce the paint lead levels in Nigeria.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34424675,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Fe2TiO5\/Fe2O3 (Shell\/Shell) and (Shell\/Core) Heterostructured for Efficient Oxygen Evolution.\nA delicate synthesis strategy of Fe2TiO5\/Fe2O3 (shell\/shell (s\/s)) and (shell\/core (s\/c)) heterostructures was proposed to realize efficient photocatalytic water oxidation. The hierarchical structure increases the light absorption depth of material, the strongly coupled components promoted the separation of photoinduced excitons, and the high surface area with adequate porosity allowed the diffusion of electrolyte to adsorb at rich active sites. Furthermore, Fe2TiO5\/Fe2O3 (s\/s) was coated by graphitic carbon nitride (g-CN) subunits and exhibited good photocatalytic water reduction, resulting from the contact interface accelerating the effective separation of electrons and holes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32618059,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Testicular transposition in children before scrotal external radiotherapy.\nTesticular transposition (TT) before scrotal external radiotherapy (RT) is poorly reported in children with cancer, with only rare case reports published. TT surgical techniques, dosimetric parameters, and testicular functions are retrospectively reported in 12 children, median age 12.8 years, after scrotal RT for sarcomas. TT has low morbidity and allows a dramatic RT dose decrease in the healthy testicle. Endocrine functions seem preserved while more follow-up is needed to assess fertility. Though a rare situation, TT should be discussed in children and young adult cases when a scrotal high-dose RT is needed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15248413,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"[Screening for thyroid disorders in elderly patients].\nIn elderly patients, thyroid diseases may remain undiagnosed due to the lack of specificity of the clinical presentation. Thyroid function alterations seem to be more common in older persons than in adults. The aim of our study was to evaluate the incidence of thyroid function alterations in 300 elderly patients admitted to the division of Internal Medicine of the local hospital in Levanto, in a one-year period. Thyroid function alterations were discovered in 12.6% of the patients and considering the group of patients in whom a thyroid function alteration was demonstrated, 45% of them were affected by hypothyroidism (10.7% overt primary hypothyroidism, 28.9% sub-clinical hypothyroidism, 5.4% hypothyroidism secondary to hypopituitarism), 15.6% by hyperthyroidism (overt 7.8% , subclinical 7.8%), and 39.4% showed a low T3 syndrome. Our data confirm the high incidence of previously unrecognized thyroid diseases in the elderly patients admitted to an hospital and the profit that these patients can receive from the appropriate diagnosis at the admission and justify the cost of routine testing for FT4 and TSH in every person at hospital admission.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6736363,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nonspecificity of intraparenchymal blood-fluid levels in cerebral computed tomography.\nIn previous reports statements have been made that blood-fluid levels seen on cerebral CT were indicative of preexisting tumor or arteriovenous malformations. Three cases are presented which indicate that an intraparenchymal blood-fluid level is a nonspecific finding that may be encountered in other lesions than those previously reported.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9569167,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Type-II external fixation, using new clamps and positive-profile threaded pins, for treatment of fractures of the radius and tibia in dogs.\nA new external fixation system for repair of fractures of the radius and tibia was developed that uses positive-profile threaded pins. This system allows for addition of a fixation clamp between 2 installed clamps, predrilling of pin holes through a drill sleeve, use of positive-profile threaded pins in all locations, and easier application of full pins. Type-II external fixators were applied, using this system, to fractures in 10 client-owned dogs, and outcome was evaluated. All fractures healed without complications. Duration of surgery, mean time until radiographic evidence of a bridging callus, and mean time until removal of the external fixator were shorter, and frequency of pin loosening were less than with other techniques. Pin loosening was uncommon. This system provides an important improvement in external skeletal fixation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25514243,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Associations of NR5A2 gene polymorphisms with the clinicopathological characteristics and survival of gastric cancer.\nThe orphan nuclear receptor (NR5A2), which belongs to the NR5A subfamily of nuclear receptors, is expressed in developing and adult tissues of endodermal origin, and can contribute to the development of several cancers through regulating cell proliferation. NR5A2 (rs3790843 and rs3790844) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) genotyping were examined in DNA samples, extracted from paraffin-embedded cancer tissue. Clinicopathologic and follow-up data were collected from 944 patients with gastric cancer (GC). Associations of the 2 SNPs with the progression and prognosis in gastric cancer patients were analyzed using the SPSS version 18.0. We found that NR5A2 rs3790843 polymorphism was significantly associated with the risk of GC which had regional lymph node metastasis (p = 0.044) or distant metastasis (p = 0.020). Our results also indicated that rs3790844 polymorphism was associated with the increased overall survival (OS) of GC patients in the dominant model (GG vs. GA\/AA, HR (hazard ratio) = 0.823, 95% CI (confidence interval) = 0.679-0.997), suggesting a potential protective role of the variant A allele. Additionally, in the stratified analysis, both NR5A2 rs3790843 and rs3790844 polymorphism were associated with significantly lower risk of death in the groups of female, tumor size >5 cm in a dominant model. Our results represent the first demonstration that the NR5A2 rs3790844 polymorphism is associated with increased OS of GC patients in the dominant model, and similar results were found among the female group and tumor size >5 cm group for NR5A2 rs3790843 polymorphism. Further validation in other larger studies with different ethnic populations and functional evaluations are needed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31250060,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Multi-level regulation of coelimycin synthesis in Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2).\nDespite being a yellow pigment visible to the human eye, coelimycin (CPK) remained to be an undiscovered secondary metabolite for over 50 years of Streptomyces research. Although the function of this polyketide is still unclear, we now know that its \"cryptic\" nature is attributed to a very complex and precise mechanism of cpk gene cluster regulation in the model actinomycete S. coelicolor A3(2). It responds to the stringent culture density and timing of the transition phase by the quorum-sensing butanolide system and to the specific nutrient availability\/uptake signals mediated by the global (pleiotropic) regulators; many of which are two-component signal transduction systems. The final effectors of this regulation cascade are predicted to be two cluster-situated Streptomyces antibiotic regulatory proteins (SARPs) putatively activating the expression of type I polyketide synthase (PKS I) genes. After its synthesis, unstable, colorless antibiotic coelimycin A reacts with specific compounds in the medium losing its antibacterial properties and giving rise to yellow coelimycins P1 and P2. Here we review the current knowledge on coelimycin synthesis regulation in Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2). We focus on the regulatory feedback loop which interconnects the butanolide system with other cpk cluster-situated regulators. We also present the effects exerted on cpk genes expression by the global, pleiotropic regulators, and the regulatory connections between cpk and other biosynthetic gene clusters.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9146901,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Analysis of medication off-odors using an electronic nose.\nPackaging materials have been implicated as a source for off-odors in pharmaceutical products. A new instrumentation method employing an array of conducting polymer gas sensors was used to identify the offending packaging components in the canister of a pharmaceutical inhalant. A case study is described in which tainted inhalers as well as elastomeric components of the canisters were 'sniffed' by the electronic nose. The electronic nose was able to differentiate between tainted and untainted canisters. Signal processing algorithms performed on the raw data from the sensors suggested that specific elastomeric components were responsible for the off-odor. A further experiment suggested that the propellant (Freon) extracted the odor from the elastomeric components as the medication was expelled from the canister. These data indicate that the electronic nose is a potential tool to solve odor problems in which human odor assessment is not feasible due to excess exposure to the medically active ingredient.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3032780,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Release of leukotrienes during rapid expulsion of Trichinella spiralis from immune rats.\nRapid expulsion of the nematode Trichinella spiralis from immune rats is associated with an increase in volume of intestinal exudate and the presence of large numbers of tissue mucosal mast cells (MMC) and eosinophils. We have measured the concentrations of leukotrienes (LT) C4 (LTC4) and B4 (LTB4) in gut perfusates and mucosal homogenates at 30 min, 1, 3, 6 and 20 hr after challenge with larvae. Leukotrienes were identified by radioimmunoassay (RIA) combined with reverse-phase high-pressure liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). There were significant elevations at 30 min and 1 hr in the concentrations of LTC4 in the perfusates from the gut of challenged immune rats compared to controls (infected unchallenged and uninfected naive rats). Similar increases in immunoreactive LTC4 and LTB4 were observed in mucosal homogenates from the gut of immune challenged animals. A second peak of LTB4 was also observed at 20 hr in both immune and naive challenged rats. There were also elevations in serum concentration of the MMC-associated specific serine protease, rat mast cell protease II (RMCPII). Since LTC4 causes smooth muscle contraction, increased vascular permeability and stimulation of mucus hypersecretion, and LTB4 recruits and activates inflammatory cells, leukotrienes may participate in the process of rapid expulsion of T. spiralis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34425341,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mechanism of interactions between soyasaponins and soybean 7S\/11S proteins.\nIn this study, the proteins glycinin (11S) and \u03b2-conglycinin (7S) were mixed with soyasaponin (Ssa) Ab\/Bb to form a composite system. We used fluorescence and synchronous fluorescence spectra to demonstrate the changes in the surrounding environment and the structure of the proteins. Dynamic interface behavior analysis showed the possible interface behavior induced by the composite system. The interactions between Ssa and the proteins, along with the mode of action, were analyzed by molecular docking. The interactions between Ssa and soy protein increased with the change in concentration. The interactions between the two proteins were mediated by tryptophan (Trp) and primarily involved hydrogen bonds, which changed the microenvironment and loosened the protein structure. These results helped in understanding the mechanism underlying the interactions between Ssa Ab\/Bb and 7S\/11S. Furthermore, these results highlighted the theoretical fundamentals for the future applications of composite systems as surfactants in the food industry.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19042522,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A case study using a patient satisfaction survey to improve the delivery and effectiveness of drug addiction treatment services: marketing implications and organizational impact.\nDrug abuse and addiction continues to negatively impact many lives in this country. The United States health care system has grappled with how to best serve this vulnerable population. Since the personal and societal costs of addiction are high, all recent iterations of the United States strategic health plans (such as Healthy People 2010) have prioritized this area for improvement. At the local level, health care providers who care for those with addictions are challenged with shrinking insurance coverage for services, a difficult patient population, lack of treatment options, growing ranks of indigent patients, as well as a plethora of additional management challenges. It is known that successful treatment is integrally linked with patient satisfaction with services. The most critical factors in successful addiction treatment (from a patient's perspective) are (1) their belief that the counselor cares about them and, (2) their belief that they can recover. This paper reports a case study in the use of a patient satisfaction survey as a quality management\/service refinement tool within a methadone treatment setting. Results indicate that the use of the survey itself provides patients with a tangible cue supporting the presence of the critical success factors. Further, the use of a survey provides a baseline for future measurements and trending. The paper concludes with a discussion of the marketing and organizational implications of incorporating the patient satisfaction survey into the ongoing delivery program for addiction services.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37442606,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Interaction of Human OATP1B1 with PDZK1 Is Required for Its Trafficking to the Hepatocyte Plasma Membrane.\nUptake of xenobiotics by hepatocytes is mediated by specific proteins, including organic anion transporting polypeptides (OATPs), residing on the basolateral (sinusoidal) plasma membrane. Many of the OATPs have PDZ consensus binding sites, determined by their C-terminal 4 amino acids, while others do not. Mouse and rat OATP1A1 are associated with PDZK1, which is necessary for their trafficking to the plasma membrane. humanOATP1B1 (hOATP1B1) is a major drug transporter in human liver. Although localized to the plasma membrane, it was thought to lack a PDZ consensus motif, suggesting that the trafficking paradigm for murine OATPs is not applicable to human liver. The aim of the present study was to determine whether hOATP1B1 is a ligand for hPDZK1. hOATP1B1 immunoprecipitates with hPDZK1 following co-expression in 293T cells as well as in normal human liver. Co-expression with each of the 4 PDZ domains revealed interaction with domain 1 only. A truncated version of hOATP1B1 that lacks its terminal 4 amino acid PDZ binding motif as well as hOATP1B3, which does not contain a PDZ binding consensus motif, failed to interact with hPDZK1. Immunofluorescence microscopy of hOATP1B1 in stably transfected HeLa cells that endogenously express hPDZK1 showed that it distributes predominantly along the plasma membrane whereas hOATP1B1 lacking its terminal 4 amino acids distributes primarily intracellularly with little plasma membrane localization. Similar to findings in rats and mice, human OATP1B1 is a ligand for PDZK1 and requires interaction with PDZK1 for optimal trafficking to the hepatocyte plasma membrane. SIGNIFICANCE: Previous studies suggested that OATP1B1, a major xenobiotic transporter in human liver, does not have a PDZ binding consensus motif and does not follow the paradigm for subcellular trafficking and function that was established for OATP1A1 in murine liver. We now demonstrated that OATP1B1 but not OATP1B3 has a PDZ binding consensus motif that mediates binding to PDZK1 and is required for its trafficking to the plasma membrane. Such interaction could be an important previously unrecognized modulator of transport function.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31256446,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Acute-phase blood pressure trajectories and clinical outcomes in ischemic stroke.\nHigh blood pressure (BP) is frequent in acute ischemic stroke (IS). However, the impact of BP change patterns during acute phase on clinical outcomes is not conclusive. This study aims to investigate the association between the acute-phase BP trajectories and clinical outcomes in IS patients with high admission BP. The cohort consisted of 316 IS patients with admission systolic BP (SBP) \u2265160 mm Hg. SBP trajectories during the first 7 days after onset were characterized using a random effects model. The patients were classified into three groups based on the SBP trajectory curve parameters: sustained high SBP (T1), moderate decrease (T2), and rapid decrease in SBP (T3). Poor outcomes were defined as modified Rankin scale score \u22653 in 3 months after onset. The relationship between SBP trajectory groups and the outcome was examined in multivariable logistic regression models. The decreasing trend was greater in the favorable than in the poor outcome group (P = 0.028 for difference in linear slopes). The incidence of poor outcomes was 25.9%, 13.5%, and 9.8% in T1 (n = 54), T2 (n = 170), and T3 (n = 92) groups, respectively. Compared with T1 group, the decrease in SBP in T2 and T3 groups was significantly associated with lower risk of the poor outcome (odds ratio = 0.25, 95% confidence interval = 0.10-0.67, P = 0.006). These findings suggest that a decrease in BP in the acute phase is predictive of favorable outcomes in IS patients. BP trajectories have a greater power to detect the association than individual BP values at one time-point.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28558707,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Effect of the 2014 Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute urine-specific breakpoints on cefazolin susceptibility rates at a community teaching hospital.\nEnterobacteriaceae, which include Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Proteus mirabilis, are identified as the infectious etiology in the majority of urinary tract infections (UTIs) in community hospitals across the United States. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) is a useful tool when choosing an appropriate antibacterial agent. Recent changes to the 2014 Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines included reporting a urine-specific cefazolin breakpoint for enterobacteriaceae (susceptible \u226416 mcg\/mL). The purpose of this study was to determine the clinical and financial impact of implementing the 2014 CLSI urine-specific breakpoints for cefazolin in a community-based teaching hospital in the Southern U.S.A. A retrospective review of patients hospitalized from January 1, 2010 through October 1, 2014 was performed. Patients that met inclusion criteria had a documented initial clinical isolate of E. coli, K. pneumoniae, or P. mirabilis from urine cultures during each year. Descriptive statistics and two-proportion test of hypothesis were used in the analysis to compare susceptibility rates before and after implementation of the updated CLSI breakpoints for cefazolin. A total of 190 clinical isolates from patients were included in the study. E. coli was the most common organism isolated (63.7%), followed by K. pneumoniae (22.1%), and P. mirabilis (14.2%). 86% of the included isolates were susceptible to cefazolin using the 2010 breakpoints. Implementation of the 2014 breakpoints did not significantly impact susceptibility results for E. coli, K. pneumoniae, or P. mirabilis. Modification of breakpoints did not significantly impact susceptibility rates of cefazolin. Substituting cefazolin may decrease the overall drug cost by 77.5%. More data is needed to correlate in vitro findings with clinical outcomes using cefazolin for UTIs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29373606,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Modulation of HIV replication in monocyte derived macrophages (MDM) by steroid hormones.\nSignificant sex specific differences in the progression of HIV\/AIDS have been reported. Several studies have implicated steroid hormones in regulating host factor expression and modulating HIV transmission and replication. However, the exact mechanism exerted by steroid hormones estrogen and progesterone in the regulation of HIV-1 replication is still unclear. Results from the current study indicated a dose dependent down regulation of HIV-1 replication in monocyte derived macrophages pre-treated with high concentrations of estrogen or progesterone. To elucidate the molecular mechanisms associated with the down regulation of HIV-1 replication by estrogen and progesterone we used PCR arrays to analyze the expression profile of host genes involved in antiviral responses. Several chemokines, cytokines, transcription factors, interferon stimulated genes and genes involved in type-1 interferon signaling were down regulated in cells infected with HIV-1 pre-treated with high concentrations of estrogen or progesterone compared to untreated HIV-1 infected cells or HIV-1 infected cells treated with low concentrations of estrogen or progesterone. The down regulation of CXCL9, CXCL10 and CXCL11 chemokines and IL-1\u03b2, IL-6 cytokines in response to high concentrations of estrogen and progesterone pre-treatment in HIV-1 infected cells was confirmed at the protein level by quantitating chemokine and cytokine concentrations in the culture supernatant. These results demonstrate that a potent anti-inflammatory response is mediated by pre-treatment with high concentrations of estrogen and progesterone. Thus, our study suggests a strong correlation between the down-modulation of anti-viral and pro-inflammatory responses mediated by estrogen and progesterone pre-treatment and the down regulation of HIV-1 replication. These findings may be relevant to clinical observations of sex specific differences in patient populations and point to the need for further investigation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37444274,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Understanding the Effects of Smart-Speaker-Based Surveys on Panelist Experience in Immersive Consumer Testing.\nUtilizing immersive technologies to reintroduce the environmental context (i.e., visual, auditory, and olfactory cues) in sensory testing has been one area of research for improving panelist engagement. The current study sought to understand whether pairing smart-speaker questionnaires in immersive spaces could positively affect the panelist experience through enhanced ecological validity. To this end, subjects performed an immersive consumer test in which responses were collected using a traditional computer-based survey, a smart-speaker approach incorporating a direct translation of the computer questionnaire into a verbal survey requiring numeric responses, and an optimized smart-speaker survey with alternative question formatting requiring spoken word-based responses. After testing, participants answered the Engagement Questionnaire (EQ) to assess participant engagement during the test, and the System Usability Scale (SUS) survey to understand the ease, and potential adoption, of using the various survey technologies in the study. Results indicated that the traditional computer-based survey was the most engaging (p < 0.001) and usable (p < 0.001), with no differences found between the two smart-speaker surveys (p = 0.803 and p = 0.577, respectively). This suggests that the proposed optimizations for the smart-speaker surveys were not robust enough to influence engagement and usability, and further research is needed to enhance their conversational capabilities.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15254216,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"AX+, BX- discrimination learning in the fear-potentiated startle paradigm: possible relevance to inhibitory fear learning in extinction.\nThe neural mechanisms of fear suppression most commonly are studied through the use of extinction, a behavioral procedure in which a feared stimulus (i.e., one previously paired with shock) is nonreinforced repeatedly, leading to a reduction or elimination of the fear response. Although extinction is perhaps the most convenient index of fear inhibition, a great deal of behavioral work suggests that postextinction training conditioned stimuli are both excitatory and inhibitory, making it difficult to determine whether a neural manipulation affects inhibition, excitation, or some combination thereof. For this reason we sought to develop a behavioral procedure that would render a stimulus primarily inhibitory while at the same time avoiding some of the issues raised by the traditional conditioned inhibition paradigm, namely second-order conditioning, external inhibition, and configural learning. Using the fear-potentiated startle paradigm, we adapted an AX+, BX- training procedure in which stimuli A and X were presented simultaneously and paired with shock, and stimuli B and X were presented simultaneously in the absence of shock. In testing, high levels of fear-potentiated startle were seen in the presence of A and AX and much lower levels were seen in the presence of B and AB, as would be predicted if stimulus B were a conditioned inhibitor. We believe this method is a viable alternative to the traditional conditioned inhibition training procedure and will be useful for studying the neural mechanisms of fear inhibition.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19045298,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Identifying atomic geometry and electronic structure of (2 x 3)-Sr\/Si(100) surface and its initial oxidation.\nWe present a joint experimental and theoretical study on the geometric and electronic states and the initial oxidation of the (2x3)-Sr\/Si(100) surface. With scanning tunneling microscopy\/scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STM\/STS) measurements combined with ab initio calculations, the atomic geometry and the electronic states of the (2x3)-Sr\/Si(100) surface are identified. The dimerization of the Si atoms in the single atom row based on a (1x3) Si substrate model plays a critical role in stabilization of the surface structure and in determining the electronic properties. At the very initial oxidation of the surface, four features corresponding to the primary adsorption and oxidation sites are determined. Three of them are corresponding to the most favored oxidation sites with single oxygen molecules, whose local density of states gives semiconducting behavior. One is corresponding to the oxidation site with two oxygen molecules, whose local density of states gives metallic behavior. These features all exhibit dark spots with different shapes in the occupied state images but display either dark spots or bright protrusions depending on the different oxidation sites in the empty state images. Compared with the theoretical calculations, the plausible adsorption and oxidation models are proposed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25504284,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Familial gastrointestinal stromal tumor syndrome: report of 2 cases with KIT exon 11 mutation.\nAs with cases of sporadic gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST), familial GIST syndrome arises from mutations in KIT or PDGFRA. Only a few dozen such families have been described in the literature. Cases of 2 individuals from 2 different newly described kindreds with familial GIST syndrome were retrospectively reviewed. Pertinent immunohistochemical stains, including CD117, CD34, DOG1, desmin, and S100, were performed. Samples from each case were sent to outside facilities for molecular analysis. A review of the relevant literature was performed and the number of familial GIST syndrome cases reported was updated through July 2014. In case 1, a woman 40 years of age with a family history of GIST presented with abdominal pain and gastrointestinal bleeding. Biopsy of a gastric mass revealed spindle-cell type GIST. Molecular analysis revealed a heterozygous mutation of p.Asp579del in exon 11 of KIT. The patient was placed on imatinib therapy and an initial positive response was demonstrated by imaging. Disease regression was seen on computed tomography, and several GIST tumors were surgically resected. The patient has had stable disease since surgery. In case 2, an asymptomatic woman 29 years of age presented for screening due to a family history of GIST. One small nodule was noted in her stomach and another was noted in the duodenum; both were surgically resected. The patient recovered well following surgery. The GIST in this patient was noted to have similar histological, immunohistochemical, and molecular findings as case 1. Imatinib has often been shown to be an effective therapy in both the familial and sporadic forms of GIST. There is no standard protocol for addressing the surveillance of patients with spindle-cell type GIST seen in the setting of familial GIST syndrome and with a p.Asp579del mutation of exon 11 on KIT.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7948428,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of interleukin-2 on salivary gland morphology and function in mice.\nC57BL mice were injected intraperitoneally with 300,000 Cetus units\/day of human recombinant interleukin-2 (rIL-2) for 2, 4, and 5 days to study its effect on salivary gland function and morphology. The pilocarpine-stimulated parotid salivary flow was collected via cannulation of the glandular duct. Total salivary protein was assayed spectrophotometrically, salivary electrolytes were determined by atomic absorption, and glandular lymphoid cell infiltration was evaluated histologically. After 5 days of rIL-2 administration salivary output and total salivary protein concentrations were reduced significantly. Similar changes, albeit to a lesser extent, were observed following 2 and 4 days of rIL-2 treatment. Increased lymphoid infiltration of the salivary glands was observed, and was directly related to the duration of rIL-2 administration. The effect of the lymphokine on the parotid gland gradually dwindled after cessation of treatment: 4 days posttreatment this salivary gland showed signs of recovery, which at 10 days proved to be complete. The possible use of this animal model in the study of lymphocyte-induced salivary gland diseases is discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3082356,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Adenosine 5'-triphosphate synthesis in Escherichia coli submitted to a microsecond electric pulse.\nThe total cytoplasmic ATP content (bound and free) increased in Escherichia coli when the bacteria were submitted to electric pulses with field strengths of 1-6 kV\/cm and a decay time of 7-20 microseconds. The electron-transport chain was blocked by cyanide, and ATP synthesis was detected by a luminescence assay. The amount of newly formed ATP depends on the field strength. A total of 150 pmol of ATP was formed per milligram of bacteria submitted to a 3 kV\/cm pulse. Synthesis was blocked by uncouplers and ionophores (valinomycin). The F1F0-ATP synthase inhibitor dicyclohexylcarbodiimide blocked a large part of this synthesis. Synthesis was not induced in unc mutants (unc B, unc D). The synthesis of ATP is related to the induced transmembrane potential, not to the Joule heating. A minimum 35-50-mV increase in membrane potential must be maintained for at least 12 microseconds to trigger this synthesis. This very fast energy transduction in bacteria is in good agreement with our previous results concerning submitochondrial particles. Because of the localized character of the induced membrane potential, these results are in agreement with the recent hypothesis of \"mosaic proton coupling\".","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":2788725,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Staining of surface antigen on migrating lymphocytes in the chemotaxis membrane. I: Complement C5 attracts helper\/inducer T cell much more than suppressor\/cytotoxic T cell and NK cell.\nWe have measured various chemotactic activities for neutrophils (1-3), lymphocytes (4), macrophages (5) and eosinophils (6-11) by the modified Boyden chamber method. In the conventional method, it is necessary to purify the indicator cells in upper chamber because it is impossible to distinguish inflammatory cells on the chemotactic membrane. For example, when we estimate T lymphocyte chemotaxis, we collected nylon-wool nonadherent peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) and confirmed their purity by sheep erythrocytes rosette formation assay. Pohajdak et al (12) evaluated NK cell chemotaxis by using large granular lymphocytes (LGL) for indicator cells. LGL fractionation was confirmed by monoclonal antibodies, HNK-1, OKT11, OKT3, OKT4, OKT8, OKM1, and MO2. When we arranged the study to evaluate chemotaxis of lymphocyte subsets which were divided by surface antigens, the conventional method needed a large quantity of PBL for the indicator cells. Moreover, one or two lymphocyte subsets had to be obtained from an identical PBL donor. This was time consuming. So, we tried to identify migrating lymphocytes in the chemotaxis membrane by their surface antigens. In this communication, we report that the staining of surface antigens on migrating lymphocytes in the chemotaxis membrane is effective and useful for evaluation of lymphocyte subset chemotaxis. It prompted us to report the new findings about modification of lymphocyte subset chemotaxis by C5a.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12008914,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The role of motility as a virulence factor in bacteria.\nMany bacteria that cause diseases of humans, animals and plants use flagella to move. This review summarises recent studies that have analysed the role of motility and chemotaxis in the host-parasite relationship of pathogenic bacteria. These studies have shown that for many pathogens, motility is essential in some phases of their life cycle and that virulence and motility are often intimately linked by complex regulatory networks. Possibilities to exploit bacterial motility as a specific therapeutic antibacterial target to cure or prevent disease are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14525037,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Experimental Chua-plasma phase synchronization of chaos.\nExperimental phase synchronization of chaos is demonstrated for two different chaotic oscillators: a plasma discharge and the Chua circuit. Our technique includes real-time capability for observing synchronization-desynchronization transitions. This capability results from a strong combination of synchronization and control, and allows tuning adjustments for search and stabilization of synchronous states. A power law is observed for the mean time between 2pi phase slips for different coupling strenghts. The experimental results are consistent with the numerical simulations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25402771,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Non-plastidic, tyrosine-insensitive prephenate dehydrogenases from legumes.\nL-Tyrosine (Tyr) and its plant-derived natural products are essential in both plants and humans. In plants, Tyr is generally assumed to be synthesized in the plastids via arogenate dehydrogenase (TyrA(a), also known also ADH), which is strictly inhibited by L-Tyr. Using phylogenetic and expression analyses, together with recombinant enzyme and endogenous activity assays, we identified prephenate dehydrogenases (TyrA(p)s, also known as PDHs) from two legumes, Glycine max (soybean) and Medicago truncatula. The identified PDHs were phylogenetically distinct from canonical plant ADH enzymes, preferred prephenate to arogenate substrate, localized outside of the plastids and were not inhibited by L-Tyr. The results provide molecular evidence for the diversification of primary metabolic Tyr pathway via an alternative cytosolic PDH pathway in plants.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26441875,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nonlinear electrical impedance spectroscopy of viruses using very high electric fields created by nanogap electrodes.\nOur living sphere is constantly exposed to a wide range of pathogenic viruses, which can be either known, or of novel origin. Currently, there is no methodology for continuously monitoring the environment for viruses in general, much less a methodology that allows the rapid and sensitive identification of a wide variety of viruses responsible for communicable diseases. Traditional approaches, based on PCR and immunodetection systems, only detect known or specifically targeted viruses. We here describe a simple device that can potentially detect any virus between nanogap electrodes using nonlinear impedance spectroscopy. Three test viruses, differing in shape and size, were used to demonstrate the general applicability of this approach: baculovirus, tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), and influenza virus. We show that each of the virus types responded differently in the nanogap to changes in the electric field strength, and the impedance of the virus solutions differed depending both on virus type and virus concentration. These preliminary results show that the three virus types can be distinguished and their approximate concentrations determined. Although further studies are required, the proposed nonlinear impedance spectroscopy method may achieve a sensitivity comparable to that of more traditional, but less versatile, virus detection systems.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22691175,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Characterization of the Paracoccidioides beta-1,3-glucanosyltransferase family.\nThe cell wall of pathogenic microbes acts as an initial barrier that is in contact with hostile environments. Several proteins are associated to the cell wall, including the glucanosyltransferases, which are attached through glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchors to the wall. Here, we characterized the Paracoccidioides beta-1,3-glucanosyltranferase ( Gel ) family of proteins that showed significant homology to proteins belonging to the GH72 family. Immunoassays demonstrated Gel1p associated with the cell wall and with the nucleus. For Gel2p, immune labeling was associated with the cell wall and cytoplasm. Genetic complementation studies in Saccharomyces cerevisiae demonstrated that Gel2p is able to participate in the maintenance of fungal cell wall integrity, as it was able to restore the lack of Gas1p activity in a gas1\u0394 mutant; Gel1p was not able to do the same. On the other hand, Gel1p restores telomeric silencing in a gas1\u0394 mutant, providing strong support that Gel1p can be involved in transcriptional silencing in Paracoccidioides. Use of the in vivo yeast two-hybrid system revealed proteins that interact with Paracoccidioides Gel proteins, supporting new insights into the function of Gel family members and suggesting that they could play other roles than those established at the fungal cell wall.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28283766,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Autoantibodies to types I and IV collagen and heart valve disease in systemic lupus erythematosus\/antiphospholipid syndrome.\nIntroduction\/objectives autoantibodies to types I and IV collagen have been described in rheumatic fever and infective endocarditis. We tried to elucidate if an autoimmune response against collagens I and IV exists, associated with heart valve disease in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). A cohort of 172 patients with SLE (n = 79), primary APS (PAPS, n = 83), and secondary APS (n = 10) were assessed for valvulopathy by transthoracic echocardiograms. Autoantibodies to types I and IV collagen were assessed in patients and 50 controls, setting autoantibody positivity at two standard deviations above the mean antibody level of controls. Positive anticollagen IV antibody rate was significantly higher in SLE patients (17.7%) in respect to the rest of groups (PAPS 2.4%, controls 2%; P = 0.001). Percentage of positive autoantibodies to collagen I was similar in SLE and APS cohort of patients with and without valvular disease (48.4 vs 51.6%, respectively; P = 0.45). Percentage of positive autoantibodies to collagen IV was increased but not significantly in SLE and APS cohort of patients with respect to those without valvular disease (62.5 vs 37.5%, respectively; P = 0.08). Mean (standard deviation) levels of positive anticollagen I and IV antibodies did not differ between patients with and without valvular disease (85.6 \u00b1 55 vs 81 \u00b1 85 U\/ml, respectively; P = 0.86 for anticollagen I) (0.05 \u00b1 0.02 vs 0.12 \u00b1 0.16 U\/ml, respectively; P = 0.34 for anticollagen IV). Our data indicate a lack of association of autoantibodies to types I and IV collagen with heart valve disease in SLE and APS.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17187536,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"When the spirit leaves: Childhood death, grieving, and bereavement in Islam.\nThe death of a child has a profound and often long-lasting impact on families. The parent's relationship and their ability to bond with and take care of surviving children may be affected. It is important for healthcare workers to understand the dynamics associated with bereavement, especially when the family comes from a non-Western culture. Islam is one of the three most populous religions along with Christianity and Hinduism and the fastest growing religion in the United States but remains largely misunderstood. This paper seeks to explain what Islam is, who is a Muslim, where they live, and what they believe and practice. It also explains how Islamic beliefs contextualize the meaning of life and death for Muslims and how they are exhorted to grieve upon a child's death. Reading this paper will enable those who care for Muslim families to better attend to the social and emotional needs of Muslim parents and siblings after such a tragic event.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11639599,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Medicine, old age and public interest in historical perspective. The German case.\nThis paper outlines the history of social disinterest on old people from the perspective of medical discourse since the end of the 18th century. The following thesis is proposed: since the Enlightenment medical discourse over illnesses associated with old age has been masked by the social valuation that dying is attributable to old age and old people could not make any great demands on medical assistance. Until the end of the 19th century it was theologians, not doctors, who were responsible for old people on the threshold to death. Around 1900 great interest arose in the problem complex \"aging\" and \"rejuvenation\" from the view point of bio-chemistry. But the associated cultural circumstances, namely a dominant social interest in youth and fitness, largely prevented an original medical interest in old people. This has only developed since the 1950s, not within the medical profession but in the \"social\" professions, primarily social work. From this perspective the application of Foucault's paradigm, in which old age, actually a social problem, is defined and addressed by medicine, in other words a \"medicalization of old age\", seems to be only conditionally meaningful as a conceptual framework for analysis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3035525,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Treatment of congestive heart failure. Pathophysiologic and pharmacologic concepts.\nCongestive heart failure is a serious health problem in Western society. Understanding of both the basic pathophysiology and the design of rational and effective treatment of this syndrome has increased dramatically in the last ten years. However, congestive heart failure remains a highly lethal disease, which kills at a rate exceeding that of most cancers. Prevention is therefore of the utmost importance and has to come primarily from a reduction in the incidence and damage done from myocardial infarction. Improved understanding of the pathophysiology of idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy is also needed. Through understanding of pathophysiologic principles, effective therapy based on interference with known mechanisms that are operative in the disease is now available but can be refined in the future.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31259894,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A Uniaxial Compression Experiment with CO2-Bearing Coal Using a Visualized and Constant-Volume Gas-Solid Coupling Test System.\nInjecting carbon dioxide (CO2) into a deep coal seam is of great significance for reducing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and increasing the recovery of coalbed methane. A visualized and constant-volume gas-solid coupling system is introduced here to investigate the influence of CO2 sorption on the physical and mechanical properties of coal. Being able to keep a constant volume and monitor the sample using a camera, this system offers the potential to improve instrument accuracy and analyze fracture evolution with a fractal geometry method. This paper provides all steps to perform a uniaxial compression experiment with a briquette sample in different CO2 pressures with the gas-solid coupling test system. A briquette, cold-pressed by raw coal and sodium humate cement, is loaded in high-pressure CO2, and its surface is monitored in real-time using a camera. However, the similarity between the briquette and the raw coal still needs improvement, and a flammable gas such as methane (CH4) cannot be injected for the test. The results show that CO2 sorption leads to peak strength and elastic modulus reduction of the briquette, and the fracture evolution of the briquette in a failure state indicates fractal characteristics. The strength, elastic modulus, and fractal dimension are all correlated with CO2 pressure but not with a linear correlation. The visualized and constant-volume gas-solid coupling test system can serve as a platform for experimental research about rock mechanics considering the multifield coupling effect.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11999077,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Advanced mercury removal from gold leachate solutions prior to gold and silver extraction: a field study from an active gold mine in Peru.\nMercury contamination in the Gold-Cyanide Process (GCP) is a serious health and environmental problem. Following the heap leaching of gold and silver ores with NaCN solutions, portions of the mercury-cyano complexes often adhere to the activated carbon (AC) used to extract the gold. During the electrowinning and retorting steps, mercury can be (and often is) emitted to the air as a vapor. This poses a severe health hazard to plant workers and the local environment. Additional concerns relate to the safety of workers when handling the mercury-laden AC. Currently, mercury treatment from the heap leach solution is nonexistent. This is due to the fact that chelating ligands which can effectively work under the adverse pH conditions (as present in the heap leachate solutions) do not exist. In an effort to economically and effectively treat the leachate solution prior to passing over the AC, a dipotassium salt of 1,3-benzenediamidoethanethiol (BDET2-) has been developed to irreversibly bind and precipitate the mercury. The ligand has proven to be highly effective by selectively reducing mercury levels from average initial concentrations of 34.5 ppm (parts per million) to 0.014 ppm within 10 min and to 0.008 ppm within 15 min. X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR), Raman, and infrared (IR) spectroscopy demonstrate the formation of a mercury-ligand compound, which remains insoluble over pH ranges of 0.0-14.0. Leachate samples from an active gold mine in Peru have been analyzed using cold vapor atomic fluorescence (CVAF) and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) for metal concentrations before and after treatment with the BDET2- ligand.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37451092,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sex distinctions regarding serum zinc levels in critically ill COVID-19 patients.\nMen and women exhibit different presentations in COVID-19. In X chromosome, changes in zinc finger domains cause disorders of sex development. So, we aimed to evaluate sex distinctions regarding serum zinc in severe COVID-19. Data from electronic records of severe COVID-19 patients were correlated with serum zinc. Logistic regression investigated predictors and protectors of hypozincemia in men and women. We assessed 188 medical records (men = 114, women = 74). In men, low zinc was correlated with hypertension (cc = 0.303, p < 0.001), diabetes (cc = 0.198, p = 0.031), hemoglobin (cc = -0.258, p = 0.005), and albumin (cc = -0.219, p = 0.027). Low lymphocyte count (cc = 0.315, p = 0.005), C-reactive protein (cc = -0.248, p = 0.037), and enteral nutrition (cc = 0.269, p = 0.016) were correlated with hypozincemia in women. Age correlated with low zinc in men (c = -0.304, p = 0.001) and women (cc = -0.298, p = 0.010). In men, hypertension (OR = 4.905, p = 0.005) and lymphopenia (OR = -0.999, p = 0.019) were low zinc predictors, while lung injury > 50% was a protective factor (OR = -0.280, p = 0.025). Lymphopenia (OR = -0.999, p = 0.005) and difficult weaning from mechanical ventilation (MV) (OR = 4.359, p = 0.036) were predictors of hypozincemia in women. Difficult weaning from MV (OR = 3.012, p = 0.003) and age (OR = 1.038, p = 0.002) were hypozincemia predictors regardless sex. Hypertension, diabetes, hemoglobin and albumin were correlated with low zinc in men. Lymphopenia, reactive-C protein and enteral nutrition were correlated with low zinc in women. In men, hypertension and low lymphocytes were predictors of hypozincemia. Lymphopenia and difficult weaning from MV were predictors of low zinc in women.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28716914,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-22":1}}},"text":"Metabolic profiles of exercise in patients with McArdle disease or mitochondrial myopathy.\nMcArdle disease and mitochondrial myopathy impair muscle oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) by distinct mechanisms: the former by restricting oxidative substrate availability caused by blocked glycogen breakdown, the latter because of intrinsic respiratory chain defects. We applied metabolic profiling to systematically interrogate these disorders at rest, when muscle symptoms are typically minimal, and with exercise, when symptoms of premature fatigue and potential muscle injury are unmasked. At rest, patients with mitochondrial disease exhibit elevated lactate and reduced uridine; in McArdle disease purine nucleotide metabolites, including xanthine, hypoxanthine, and inosine are elevated. During exercise, glycolytic intermediates, TCA cycle intermediates, and pantothenate expand dramatically in both mitochondrial disease and control subjects. In contrast, in McArdle disease, these metabolites remain unchanged from rest; but urea cycle intermediates are increased, likely attributable to increased ammonia production as a result of exaggerated purine degradation. Our results establish skeletal muscle glycogen as the source of TCA cycle expansion that normally accompanies exercise and imply that impaired TCA cycle flux is a central mechanism of restricted oxidative capacity in this disorder. Finally, we report that resting levels of long-chain triacylglycerols in mitochondrial myopathy correlate with the severity of OXPHOS dysfunction, as indicated by the level of impaired O2 extraction from arterial blood during peak exercise. Our integrated analysis of exercise and metabolism provides unique insights into the biochemical basis of these muscle oxidative defects, with potential implications for their clinical management.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14556778,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Stem cell transplantation for multiple sclerosis: what is the evidence?\nExperimental and clinical observations have indicated that high-dose immunosuppression followed by autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) can induce remissions in severe, refractory, autoimmune diseases including multiple sclerosis (MS), a T cell-mediated autoimmune disorder against CNS myelin components, causing severe chronic disability. Control of the disease is unsatisfactory in most of the patients, especially those with rapidly evolving relapsing-remitting course and those with chronic progressive disease. The rationale for treating autoimmune diseases with ASCT is based on the immunosuppressive and immunomodulating effects of ASCT which may shift the immunological balance towards disease quiescence, a hypothesis supported by the results of ASCT in animal models of MS and by clinical observations in MS patients transplanted for concurrent malignancies. A number of phase I-II studies of ASCT in patients with active MS, conducted worldwide since 1995, and a comprehensive analysis of 85 patients, recently reported by the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT), have shown the feasibility of the method, a prominent anti-inflammatory effect on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) disease, and a possible clinical benefit for active and refractory cases. The impact on MRI disease parameters appears superior with ASCT than with conventional therapies but the clinical results, in terms of stabilization of disease and prevention of disability, need to be validated in prospective, controlled trials. The procedure is also associated with a transplant-related mortality risk, of about 5% in high-risk cases, i.e., in older patients, those with high disability scores, those receiving strong myeloablative conditioning regimens and those undergoing intensive in vivo or ex vivo T cell-depletion. Therefore, it could be recommended for the treatment of a chronic, non-lethal, disease like MS only if it proved superior to standard therapies. A randomized trial is now launched by the EBMT to compare ASCT to mitoxantrone, currently regarded as one of the best available treatments, in properly selected patients having high chance of response at minimal mortality risk.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36929570,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Ho-Ion-Polymer\/Graphene Heterojunctions Toward Room-Temperature Ferromagnets.\nOrganic ferromagnetic materials offer great promise for spintronic devices, carbon-based chips, and quantum communications, but remain as a challenging issue due to their low saturation magnetization and\/or unsustainable ferromagnetic properties. To date, magnetic ion polymers have displayed paramagnetism without exception at room-temperature. In this study, it is reported for the first time that, owing to the structural restriction and charge exchange of Ho ion by polymer\/graphene \u03c0-\u03c0 stacking heterojunctions, holmium ion polymer composites exhibited typical hysteresis lines of ferromagnetic materials at room temperature. The room-temperature ferromagnetic ion polymer composite presented the highest saturation magnetization value of 3.36 emu g-1 and unprecedented sustainable ferromagnetism, compared to reported room-temperature organic ferromagnetic materials. Accordingly, prepared ferromagnetic composites also achieved impressive wave absorption properties, with a maximum reflection loss of as much as -57.32 dB and a broad absorption bandwidth of 5.05 GHz. These findings may promote the development of room-temperature organic ferromagnetic materials.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8344659,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mechanism of pain in osteoid osteomas: an immunohistochemical study.\nOsteoid osteoma is a benign bone tumour characterized by pain which is relieved by non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as aspirin. To clarify the mechanism of the pain, five osteoid osteomas were studied immunohistochemically using polyclonal antibodies against prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), S-100 protein and protein gene product 9.5 (PGP 9.5). In all five cases, the pain had been relieved by NSAIDs. Nerve fibres positive for S-100 protein and PGP 9.5 were observed in the fibrous zone, especially close to the blood vessels, around the nidus in all the lesions and also within the nidus in three lesions. PGE2 immunoreactivity was variably positive in the nidus of three lesions. In one case a large number of actively proliferating osteoblasts reacted with this antibody. The other cases showed unevenly distributed PGE2 positivity which tended to be prominent in the plump osteoblasts. As control material we examined fibrous dysplasia (3 cases), osteosarcomas (3) and giant-cell tumours of bone (3). The plump osteoblastic tumour cells of three osteosarcomas and the bone-forming cells in two cases of fibrous dysplasia gave a positive reaction for PGE2. No S-100 or PGP 9.5 immunoreactive nerve fibres were seen in these lesions. It is concluded that the presence of nerve fibres alone might play a more important role in mediation of pain in osteoid osteomas than some effects of osteoblast-produced PGE2 on the nerves and proliferated blood vessels.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29374481,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Use of health services according to income before and after elimination of copayment in Germany and restriction of universal health coverage in Spain.\nIn Germany copayment for medical consultation was eliminated in 2013, and in Spain universal health coverage was partly restricted in 2012. This study shows the relationship between income and the use of health services before and after these measures in each country. Data were taken from the 2009 and 2014 Socio-Economic Panel conducted in Germany, and from the 2009 and 2014 European Health Surveys in Spain. The health services investigated were physician consultations and hospital admissions, and the measure of socioeconomic position used was household income. The magnitude of the relationship between socioeconomic position and the use of each health service in people from 16 to 74 years old was estimated by calculating the percentage ratio using binary regression. In Germany, after adjusting for age, sex, and need for care, in the model comparing the two lower income categories to the two higher categories, the percentage ratio for physician consultation was 0.97 (95% CI 0.96-0.99) in 2009 and 0.98 (95% CI 0.97-0.99) in 2014, and the percentage ratio for hospitalization was 1.01 (95% CI 0.93-1.10) in 2009 and 1.16 (95% CI 1.08-1.25) in 2014. In Spain, after adjusting for age, sex, and self-rated health, the percentage ratio for physician consultation was 0.99 (95% CI 0.94-1.05) in 2009 and 1.08 (95% CI 1.03-1.14) in 2014, and the percentage ratio for hospitalization was 1.04 (95% CI 0.92-1.18) in 2009 and 0.99 (95% CI 0.87-1.14) in 2014. The results suggest that elimination of the copayment in Germany did not change the frequency of physician consultations, whereas after the restriction of universal health coverage in Spain, subjects with lower incomes had a higher frequency of physician consultations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28264099,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Temporal Binding Window of the Sound-Induced Flash Illusion in Amblyopia.\nAmblyopia is a neurodevelopmental visual disorder caused by abnormal visual experience in childhood. In addition to known visual deficits, there is evidence for changes in audiovisual integration in amblyopia using explicit tasks. We examined audiovisual integration in amblyopia using an implicit task that is more relevant in a real-world context. A total of 11 participants with amblyopia and 16 controls were tested binocularly and monocularly on the sound-induced flash illusion, in which flashes and beeps are presented concurrently and the perceived number of flashes is influenced by the number of beeps. The task used 1 to 2 rapid peripheral flashes presented with 0 to 2 beeps, at 5 stimulus onset asynchronies, that is, beep (-200 milliseconds, -100 milliseconds) or flash leading (100 milliseconds, 200 milliseconds) or simultaneous (0 milliseconds). Participants reported the number of perceived flashes. Susceptibility was indicated by a \"2 flashes\" response to \"fission\" (1 flash, 2 beeps) or \"1 flash\" to \"fusion\" (2 flashes, 1 beep). For fission with the beep leading during binocular viewing, controls showed an expected decrease in illusion strength as stimulus onset asynchronies increased, whereas the illusion strength remained constant in participants with amblyopia, indicating a wider temporal binding window in amblyopia (P = 0.007). For fusion, participants with amblyopia showed reduced illusion strength during amblyopic eye viewing (P = 0.044) with the flash leading. Amblyopia is associated with the widening of the temporal binding window, specifically for fission when viewing binocularly with the beep leading. This suggests a developmental adaptation to delayed amblyopic eye visual processing to optimize audiovisual integration.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24395234,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sphingolipid biosynthetic pathway genes FEN1 and SUR4 modulate amphotericin B resistance.\nDeletants of the sphingolipid biosynthetic pathway genes FEN1 and SUR4 of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, as well as deletants of their orthologs in Candida albicans, were found to be 2- to 5-fold-more sensitive to amphotericin B (AmB) than parent strains. The inhibition of sphingolipid biosynthesis in parent strains by myriocin sensitized them to AmB, which can be reversed by providing phytosphingosine, an intermediate in the sphingolipid pathway. These results indicate that sphingolipids modulate AmB resistance, with implications for mechanisms underlying AmB action and resistance.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34414461,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Ulinastatin protects against sepsis\u2011induced myocardial injury by inhibiting NLRP3 inflammasome activation.\nMyocardial injury is the primary manifestation of multiple organ dysfunction during sepsis, however, the mechanisms underlying sepsis\u2011induced myocardial injury remain unclear. Similarly, no effective therapeutics have yet been developed for myocardial injury. In the present study, the role of the NOD\u2011like receptor 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome on cardiac function were characterized and the effects of different ulinastatin (UTI) doses in protecting a septic rat model from myocardial injury were elucidated. To evaluate UTI efficacy on cardiac function, its effects on anti\u2011inflammatory mediators were analyzed and its cardioprotective effects were investigated. It was demonstrated that circulatory levels of tumor necrosis factor\u2011\u03b1 and interleukin\u20111\u03b2 were elevated during sepsis. It was also observed that NLRP3 and caspase\u20111 expression enhanced post\u2011cecal ligation and puncture (CLP), and that high UTI levels protected against myocardial injury induced by sepsis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate that the mechanisms underpinning UTI\u2011mediated myocardial protection were due to the downregulation of the NLRP3\/caspase\u20111\/IL\u20111\u03b2 signaling pathway. Based on these findings, it is proposed that UTI exerts beneficial effects during sepsis\u2011induced myocardial injury.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25410562,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A retrospective, hospital-based study to determine the incidence of rotavirus hospitalizations among children less than 5 years of age over a 10-year period (2001-2011) in Akita prefecture, Japan.\nRotavirus is the most common cause of severe gastroenteritis in children worldwide. This retrospective, cross-sectional study was undertaken in a sentinel hospital that provides the only pediatric beds for the local population with an average of 4,400 children aged <5 years and determined the incidence of rotavirus hospitalizations. Medical charts that recorded acute gastroenteritis cases occurring in children aged <5 years living in the cites of Yuri-Honjo or Nikaho, Akita, Japan between 2001 and 2011 were retrieved and examined to enumerate rotavirus antigen-positive hospitalizations. Of the 1,596 acute gastroenteritis cases retrieved, antigen detection was performed in 834 cases, and 387 were positive; hence, the crude annual incidence rate of rotavirus hospitalizations was 8.8 per 1,000 person-years. The adjusted annual incidence rate of rotavirus hospitalizations was 13.7 per 1,000 person-years when untested samples collected during the peak season were extrapolated to the same rotavirus detection proportion as the tested samples (58.9%). We confirmed a high incidence of rotavirus hospitalizations in Akita Prefecture and revealed a considerable degree of annual fluctuation in the rotavirus hospitalization rates, which exceeded the degree of stochastic fluctuation. Thus, caution must be exercised when interpreting the impact of a rotavirus vaccine on the reduction of the number of rotavirus hospitalizations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12021172,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Identification of a novel first exon of prolactin receptor gene expressed in the rat brain.\nA novel first exon, E1(4), whose sequence was distinct from those of the three known first exons, E1(1), E1(2), and E1(3), of the rat PRL receptor (PRL-R) gene was identified by cDNA cloning for the 5'-end region of PRL-R mRNA expressed in the rat brain. Sequence analysis revealed the presence of two different length E1(4) cDNAs. The longer cDNA contained the 243-bp E1(4) sequence, and the shorter cDNA lacked the 139-bp sequence at the 5'-end of the longer one. Neither E1(4) cDNA has a second exon sequence, indicating that the E1(4) first exon is extensively spliced to the third exon. E1(4)-containing PRL-R mRNAs were detected only in the brain by RT-PCR and ribonuclease protection assay. The longer E1(4) mRNA was expressed as the major PRL-R mRNA species in the brain and was greatly increased in pregnant (d 18) and lactating (d 5) rats. A genomic clone containing the E1(4) first exon together with its 5'- and 3'-flanking regions was isolated from a rat kidney genomic library. Ribonuclease protection assay revealed that the position corresponding to the 5'-end of the shorter E1(4) cDNA is the major transcription start point for the E1(4) exon. The 5'-flanking region of E1(4) contained a TATA box-like element 23 bp upstream of the major transcription start point. Other putative transcription factor-binding sites, such as CCAAT, Sp1, and glucocorticoid-responsive elements, were observed at further upstream regions. These results suggest that PRL-R gene expression in rat brain is controlled by the promoter for the E1(4) first exon.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37463393,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"'A child with Malpuech-Michels-Mingarelli-Carnevale syndrome and ADHD and major depressive disorder'.\nMalpuech-Michels-Mingarelli-Carnevale (3MC) syndrome, is a rare genetic condition resulting from the combination of four autosomal recessive syndromes which were classified as separate syndromes earlier. 3MC syndrome may be accompanied by a range of other conditions including cleft lips and palate, blepharophimosis, blepharoptosis, downward-sloping palpebral fissures, hypertelorism, facial dysmorphism such as high arched eyebrows, growth retardation, hearing impairment, genital anomalies, elongated coccyx, caudal appendage, radioulnar synostosis and skeletal conditions such as craniosynostosis. The prominent causes of 3MC syndrome include homozygous mutations in the MASP1, COLEC10, or COLEC11 genes. Few cases with 3MC syndrome have been reported in the literature. Here we present a case of 11-year-old girl with 3 MC syndrome in comorbidity with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, and major depressive disorder.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":5847793,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of 2-deoxyglucose on Schizosaccharomyces pombe.\nMegnet, Roland (Institut f\u00fcr Allgemeine Mikrobiologie der Universit\u00e4t, Bern, Switzerland). Effect of 2-deoxyglucose on Schizosaccharomyces pombe. J. Bacteriol. 90:1032-1035. 1965.-Cultivation of Schizosaccaromyces pombe in a medium containing 2-deoxyglucose (100 mug\/ml) results in the death of the cells after an initial period of apparently normal growth. At higher deoxyglucose concentration (400 mug\/ml), the cells die immediately after inoculation. Only growing cells are killed, and microscopic inspection of the cultures reveals cell-wall fragments of lysed cells. A mutant resistant to 2-deoxyglucose, which cannot use glucose as a carbon source, was found to be partially deficient in hexokinase. The data constitute evidence for the inhibition of some reaction(s) in the synthesis of cell-wall polysaccharides by metabolites of 2-deoxyglucose in this organism.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11995435,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Boost glycemic control in type 2 diabetics with stress management training.\nWhy? Because studies confirm that stress can have an adverse effect on glycemic control. Individualized therapy has been proven effective in such cases, but now for the first time one study shows that a more practical, group approach to stress management can produce impressive results as well.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29547088,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Usefulness of the convexity apparent hyperperfusion sign in 123I-iodoamphetamine brain perfusion SPECT for the diagnosis of idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus.\nThe gold standard for the diagnosis of idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) is the CSF removal test. For elderly patients, however, a less invasive diagnostic method is required. On MRI, high-convexity tightness was reported to be an important finding for the diagnosis of iNPH. On SPECT, patients with iNPH often show hyperperfusion of the high-convexity area. The authors tested 2 hypotheses regarding the SPECT finding: 1) it is relative hyperperfusion reflecting the increased gray matter density of the convexity, and 2) it is useful for the diagnosis of iNPH. The authors termed the SPECT finding the convexity apparent hyperperfusion (CAPPAH) sign. Two clinical studies were conducted. In study 1, SPECT was performed for 20 patients suspected of having iNPH, and regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) of the high-convexity area was examined using quantitative analysis. Clinical differences between patients with the CAPPAH sign (CAP) and those without it (NCAP) were also compared. In study 2, the CAPPAH sign was retrospectively assessed in 30 patients with iNPH and 19 healthy controls using SPECT images and 3D stereotactic surface projection. In study 1, rCBF of the high-convexity area of the CAP group was calculated as 35.2\u201343.7 ml\/min\/100 g, which is not higher than normal values of rCBF determined by SPECT. The NCAP group showed lower cognitive function and weaker responses to the removal of CSF than the CAP group. In study 2, the CAPPAH sign was positive only in patients with iNPH (24\/30) and not in controls (sensitivity 80%, specificity 100%). The coincidence rate between tight high convexity on MRI and the CAPPAH sign was very high (28\/30). Patients with iNPH showed hyperperfusion of the high-convexity area on SPECT; however, the presence of the CAPPAH sign did not indicate real hyperperfusion of rCBF in the high-convexity area. The authors speculated that patients with iNPH without the CAPPAH sign, despite showing tight high convexity on MRI, might have comorbidities such as Alzheimer's disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34237013,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Usefulness of Procalcitonin in Diagnosing Diabetic Foot Osteomyelitis: A Pilot Study.\nInfected diabetic foot is the leading cause of hospital admissions for people with diabetes mellitus. Diabetic foot osteomyelitis (DFO) causes high morbidity and significant mortality. Current diagnostic tests for DFO are either expensive, invasive, or of low diagnostic yield. The objective of the study was to determine whether serum levels of procalcitonin (PCT), an inflammatory marker, differ between DFO and diabetic foot ulcers without osteomyelitis (ie, cellulitis) as controls. The authors also aimed to assess the usefulness of PCT in diagnosing DFO. A case-control study was designed comparing DFO with diabetic foot cellulitis as the control. Patients were classified as having osteomyelitis and cellulitis based on the International Working Group on the Diabetic Foot diagnostic criteria. Serum inflammatory markers PCT, adiponectin, C-reactive protein-1, osteoprotegerin (OPG), osteopontin (OPN), and interleukin 6 (IL-6) were analyzed in patients with DFO and controls. The median serum procalcitonin was significantly higher in the DFO group 108.5 pg\/mL (range, 65.0-124.0 pg\/mL) compared with 57.0 pg\/mL (range, 37.2-77.0 pg\/mL) controls (P = .02). Procalcitonin had a sensitivity of 79% compared with 50%, 63%, 66%, and 75% for adiponectin, OPG, OPN, and IL-6, respectively. Procalcitonin had a specificity of 70% compared with 50%, 71%, 70%, and 64%. Receiver operator characteristic curves showed a value of area under the curve of 0.73 and 0.77 for PCT and IL-6 compared with 0.4, 0.6, and 0.6 for adiponectin, OPG, and OPN, respectively. In this study, procalcitonin was a useful diagnostic test for DFOs and provided distinct diagnostic discrimination between DFO from cellulitis. It may serve as a useful marker for diagnosing DFO. Further studies in a larger population are needed to verify the findings.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14558264,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"[Community acquired pneumonia in the elderly].\nPneumonia, more frequent in the elderly, results in higher morbidity and mortality, and is a frequent cause of hospitalisation. Although the incidence of pneumonia increases with age, mainly after 70-75 years, life in institution, comorbid medical illness (heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, dementia), malnutrition and defence impairments are independent risk factors. Older patients with pneumonia complain of significantly fewer symptoms than younger patients. Streptococcus pneumonia is the most common cause of pneumonia, atypical pathogen are rare. There is a shift toward gram-negative bacteria and opportunistic flora with increasing age and severity of concomitant medical illness. Anaerobic bacteria are frequent in aspiration pneumonia. To hospitalize or not is the first decision to take, based on clinical criteria and risks factors. Use of the guidelines for empirical treatment of pneumonia is recommended. Old patients often recover slowly. Pneumococcal and influenza vaccinations are effective and warranted.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":10208918,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Reovirus type 3 clone 9 increases interleukin-1alpha level in the brain of neonatal, but not adult, mice.\nReovirus Type 3 clone 9 (T3C9)-induced lethal encephalitis is age dependent. We examined the effects of T3C9 inoculated into neonatal and adult mice by intracerebral, intramuscular, or peroral routes and the effect of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on IL-1alpha levels in the blood and the brain. In parallel, we measured mice survival to T3C9 challenge, primary replication, and growth in and spread to the brain. The results show that T3C9 infection increased IL-1alpha only in the brain of neonatal mice, whereas LPS enhanced IL-1alpha in the brain and in the blood in both neonatal and adult mice. In neonatal mice, a T3C9-induced IL-1alpha increase coincided with viral replication-induced nervous tissue injury and preceded death. Anti-IL-1alpha antibody partially protected neonatal mice against T3C9 peroral challenge, further suggesting that this cytokine is involved in the mechanisms leading to lethal encephalitis. In adult mice, T3C9 was not lethal and did not modify IL-1alpha levels although it slowly replicated in nervous tissues when inoculated directly into the brain. Together, these results suggest that differences in nervous tissue response to T3C9 replication between newborn and adult mice could account in part for the age-dependent susceptibility to T3C9-induced lethal encephalitis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26420556,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1}}},"text":"Reduction of Eu(3+) due to a change of the topological structure of the BO3 unit in borate glass.\nAdjusting and controlling an ion's chemical state has always been a focus of researchers' attention. Herein, an intense long-lasting phosphorescence of Eu(2+) is obtained without any sacrificial reductant. The remarkable self-reducing process and the unique luminescence properties stem from a variation of the topological structure of the BO3 triangle.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":2784442,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Warfarin prophylaxis to prevent mortality from pulmonary embolism after total hip replacement.\nBetween 1970 and 1987, 3000 total hip replacements were performed at the University of California at Los Angeles, and all patients were given warfarin prophylactically, in conjunction with early postoperative elevation of the lower limb in balanced suspension and the application of elastic hose. Since 1973, the first dose of warfarin has been given on the night of the operation, and the prothrombin time has been maintained between sixteen and eighteen seconds. A pulmonary embolism occurred after fourteen (0.5 per cent) of the 3000 operations. It was never fatal. Bleeding occurred after forty-four operations (1.5 per cent). The effectiveness of the protocol of the University of California at Los Angeles was demonstrated in a large number of patients over a seventeen-year period. Since 1974, the protocol has included closer monitoring of the prothrombin time. After 2595 hip replacements that were done between 1974 and 1987, the rate of pulmonary embolism was 0.2 per cent and the rate of bleeding complications was 1.0 per cent. However, recently a higher incidence of bleeding complications (2.3 per cent) has been noted after non-cemented total hip (stem-type) replacement.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17881920,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Yin and yang in cytokine regulation of corneal wound healing: roles of TNF-alpha.\nDuring wound healing, corneal tissue has to restore its transparency for proper vision. Various cytokines and growth factors are believed to orchestrate cellular behavior in a healing cornea. This review summarizes the roles of 1 such factor, the proinflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, in the process of wound healing in the cornea. Many studies have shown the anti-transforming growth factor-beta activity of TNF-alpha in cultured cell types. However, it remains unknown whether endogenous TNF-alpha has such an effect in the in vivo healing cornea. Recently, experiments that used TNF-alpha-deficient mice clearly showed that loss of TNF-alpha results in excess inflammation and fibrogenic reaction in response to external stimuli in lung and joint tissue. In the cornea, my group's experiments reveal that the lack of TNF-alpha potentiates pathogenic excess inflammation, fibrogenic response, and neovascularization in an alkali-burned mouse cornea. We uncovered the principal role of the lack of TNF-alpha in invaded macrophages, but not in corneal cells, in the development of this phenomenon by using Smad7 gene transfer, bone marrow transplantation, and cell culture experiments. These findings provide additional information for understanding the role of the cytokine network in corneal wound healing. Further studies are needed to determine if anti-TNF-alpha strategies might be effective in the treatment of ocular surface inflammatory or allergic disorders.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37838953,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Correlation of sperm DNA fragmentation index and high DNA stainability with teratospermia severity and the patient's age: A study of 1 393 infertile males].\nTo investigate the correlation of the severity of teratospermia and the age of the patient with sperm DNA fragmentation index (DFI) and high DNA stainability (HDS) in male infertility patients. We collected semen samples from 1 393 infertile males from July to December 2021. Based on the WHO Laboratory Manual for the Examination and Processing of Human Semen (5th Ed), we performed sperm morphology analysis, examined perm DFI and HDS by flow cytometry, and analyzed the impacts of the severity of teratospermia and the age of the patients on sperm DFI and HDS. Among the 1 393 male infertility patients, 124 (8.90%) were found with extremely severe, 214 (15.36%) with severe, 235 (16.87%) with moderate, 163 (11.70%) with mild teratospermia, and 657 (47.16%) with morphologically normal sperm (MNS), with statistically significant differences in sperm DFI and HDS among the five groups, and 822 (59.00%) were aged <35 years, 306 (21.97%) 35-<40 years, 223 (16.01%) 40-<45 years and 42 (3.02%) \u226545 years, with statistically significant differences in sperm DFI and HDS among different age groups (P < 0.05). Sperm DFI and HDS were correlated negatively with the percentage of MNS (P > 0.05), but positively with the age of the patients (P < 0.05). Increased severity of teratospermia and age of the patient can increase sperm DFI and HDS, and sperm nuclear chromatin integrity and maturity are important indicators of male fertility.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28255395,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The investigation of antibacterial activity of selected native plants from North of Iran.\nPlant derived products have been used for medicinal purposes during centuries. Bacterial resistance to currently used antibiotics has become a concern to public health. The development of bacterial super resistant strains has resulted in the currently used antibiotic agents failing to end many bacterial infections. For this reason, the search is ongoing for new antimicrobial agents, both by the design and by the synthesis of new agents, or through the search of natural sources for yet undiscovered antimicrobial agents. Herbal medications in particular have seen a revival of interest due to a perception that there is a lower incidence of adverse reactions to plant preparations compared to synthetic pharmaceuticals. Coupled with the reduced costs of plant preparations, this makes the search for natural therapeutics an attractive option. This research was carried out to assess the antibacterial activity aqueous and ethanolic extracts of six Azadshahr township Native plants in north of Iran against six species of pathogen bacteria by using three methods of Disk diffusion, Well method and MBC. The results of this research indicated that the effect of ethanol extracts were more than aqueous extract and among six plants, Lippia citriodora and Plantago major ethanol extract had the most antibacterial activity in any of the three methods. Gram-positive bacteria were more sensitive than gram-negative bacteria. Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus aureus were the most susceptible Gram-positive bacteria.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11993020,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Echocardiographic findings in a contemporary Afro-Caribbean population referred for evaluation of atrial fibrillation or flutter.\nAtrial fibrillation and\/or flutter is the most common and the most significant cardiac arrhythmia in the Caribbean. This study is an attempt to determine the echocardiographic findings in a current, consecutive series of Afro-Caribbean patients referred for evaluation of atrial fibrillation and flutter. Between May 1998 and June 2000, 50 patients (mean age 67 years, 58% male) had echocardiograms done. Measurements included left atrial dimension (LA), left ventricular end-systolic dimension (LVESD), LV end-diastolic dimension (LVEDD), LV posterior wall thickness (LVPWT) and ventricular septal thickness (VST). Left ventricular ejection fraction (EF) was calculated. LA > 4 cm, LVPWT or VST > 13 mm, and LVEF < 50% were considered abnormal. Atrial fibrillation was seen in 92%, atrial flutter in 8%; 60% were chronic, 40% paroxysmal; 56% had congestive heart failure. The most frequent echocardiographic finding was LV hypertrophy (19\/50, 38%). Left ventricular systolic dysfunction was present in 12\/50, 24% (25% with LV hypertrophy also). Valvular disease (abnormal appearing valve, no Doppler study), was seen in 9\/50, 18%. Normal findings (\"lone atrial fibrillation\") were seen in 10\/50, 20%. Increased LA dimension was seen in 39\/50, 78%. Patients with lone atrial fibrillation were younger (mean 56 years) than those with valvular disease (mean 64 years), LV systolic dysfunction (mean 69 years) and those with LV hypertrophy (mean 72 years). Thus, LV hypertrophy, probably secondary to hypertension, is the most frequent echocardiographic finding, with LV dysfunction (such as seen in coronary artery disease) seen less often. Valvular disease and lone atrial fibrillation rates are similar to rates in developed countries.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14528958,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Beam orientation optimization for IMRT by a hybrid method of the genetic algorithm and the simulated dynamics.\nWe have developed a new method for beam orientation optimization in intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). The problem of beam orientation optimization in IMRT is solved by a decoupled two-step iterative process: (1) optimization of the intensity profiles for given beam configurations; (2) selection of optimal beam configurations based on the ranking by an objective function score for the results of the intensity profile optimization. The simulated dynamics algorithm is used for the intensity profile optimization. This algorithm enforces both the hard constraints and dose-volume constraints. A genetic algorithm is used to select beam orientation configurations. The method has been tested for both a simulated and clinical case, and the results show that beam orientation optimization significantly improved IMRT plans within a time period that is clinically acceptable. The results also show the dependence of the optimal orientation configurations on the prescribed constraints. In addition, beam orientation optimization by the method described here can provide multiple plans with similar dose distributions. This degeneracy characteristic can be exploited to our advantage in introducing additional planning objectives, e.g., the smoothness of intensity profiles, for the selection of the optimal plan among the degenerate configurations for treatment delivery.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17915497,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Teachers' in-flight thinking in inclusive classrooms.\nThis article explores the thinking of five junior high school teachers as they teach students with learning difficulties in inclusive classrooms. Insights into the ways these teachers think about students in these inclusive secondary school contexts were obtained through triangulating data from semistructured interviews, stimulated recall of in-flight thinking, and researcher field notes. Exploration of teachers' in-flight thinking (i.e., the thinking of teachers as they engaged in classroom teaching) revealed a knowledge of individual students that was not related to categorical notions of learning difficulties. This research has implications for the practice of teaching in inclusive settings as well as for teacher preparation. Specifically, it suggests that attention to student differences should be replaced by the development of teachers' knowledge about individual students as a rich source of practical knowledge and the basis for developing effective instructional techniques.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16996417,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Intravascular ultrasound-guided bedside placement of inferior vena cava filters.\nPulmonary emboli in a critically ill patient population is an occurrence that may be reduced with appropriate utilization of inferior vena cava (IVC) filters. Complications both during transfer or transport of critically ill patients who are dependent upon multiple intravenous drips, ventilators and intensive monitoring may be reduced with bedside placement of inferior vena cava filters. Over the last decade, investigators have been developing techniques for bedside IVC filter placement based on intravascular ultrasound techniques. We discuss and detail a single venous access technique of IVC filter placement using intravascular ultrasound.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28728239,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-10":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Effect of hydrogen-rich saline on the CD4(+) CD25(+) Foxp3(+) Treg cells of allergic rhinitis guinea pigs model].\nObjective: To explore the effect of hydrogen-rich saline on the CD4(+) CD25(+) Foxp3(+) Treg cells in a guinea pig model of allergic rhinitis (AR) and investigate the underling anti-inflammatory mechanism. Methods: Using random number table, eighteen guinea pigs were divided into three groups (control group\/AR group\/HRS group, n=6 of each group). AR guinea pig model was built with ovalbumin and aluminum. The guinea pigs were injected with hydrogen-rich saline (HRS group) for ten days after sensitation. And control group was injected with equal normal saline at the same time. Number of sneezes, degree of runny nose and nasal rubbing movements were scored. Peripheral blood eosinophil count was recorded. The content of interleukin 10(IL-10) and transforming growth factor \u03b2 (TGF-\u03b2) in the serum were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Immunohistochemical method was taken to detect IL-10 and TGF-\u03b2 in nasal mucosa. The proportion of CD4(+) CD25(+) Foxp3(+) T cells in the CD4(+) T cells of spleen and peripheral blood were determined with flow cytometry. SPSS 17.0 software was used to analyze the data. Results: There was significant difference in symptom scores among them. The scores of AR group preceded control group, and HRS could decrease the scores of AR ((6.29\u00b11.79) vs (1.01\u00b10.71), (4.50\u00b10.84) vs (6.29\u00b11.79), F=24.725, all P<0.05). The highest number of eosinophils in the peripheral blood belonged to control group, and the number of eosinophils were dramatically reduced after HRS administration ((0.41\u00b10.05)\u00d710(9)\/L vs (0.25\u00b10.03 )\u00d710(9)\/L, (0.32\u00b10.03)\u00d710(9)\/L vs (0.41\u00b10.05)\u00d710(9)\/L, F=70.05, all P<0.05). The content of IL-10 and TGF-\u03b2 in control group is peak ((86.88\u00b117.17) pg\/ml, (598.28\u00b172.70) pg\/ml, respectively), and compared with AR group, HRS also increased the expression of IL-10 and TGF-\u03b2 of peripheral blood ((72.54\u00b111.75) pg\/ml vs (53.49\u00b110.07) pg\/ml, (530.23\u00b157.15) pg\/ml vs (482.69\u00b165.96) pg\/ml, F value was 28.357, 14.128, respectively, all P<0.05). The proportion of CD4(+) CD25(+) Foxp3(+) Treg cells in controls exceeded HRS group and AR group (1.81%\u00b10.10%, 1.29%\u00b10.74%, respectively), and HRS treatment increased the ratio of CD4(+) CD25(+) Foxp3(+) Treg cells than AR group of peripheral blood ((1.50%\u00b10.11%) vs (1.15%\u00b10.11%), F=168.96, P<0.05). But there was no significant diferences in splene tissue ((1.01%\u00b10.08%) vs (0.98%\u00b10.09%), F=97.381, P>0.05). Conclusion: Both the number and the cytokine secretion of CD4(+) CD25(+) Foxp3(+) Treg cells are decreased in AR group, HRS may inhibit inflammatory response and ameliorate AR via improving the number and the cytokine secretion.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34242404,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Association of Vitamin K and Non-Vitamin K Oral Anticoagulant Use and Cancer Incidence in Atrial Fibrillation Patients.\nThe association between the use of vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) and cancer risk reduction remains unclear. We aimed to assess the association between the use of VKAs or direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) and the incidence of cancer in a large cohort of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) by means of a population-based, propensity-weighted cohort study using population-wide databases including patients diagnosed with nonvalvular AF (NVAF) followed for up of 5 years (median 2.94 years). We created two cohorts based on the initiation therapy (VKA or DOAC). Initiation with VKA or DOAC was defined as filling a prescription with no previous exposure in the preceding 12 months. Cancer diagnoses of any type and for specific tumors (lung, colon, prostate, bladder, and breast). We included 39,989 patients, 31,200 (78.0%) in the VKA cohort. Incidence rate for any cancer was 12.45 per 1,000 person-year in the DOAC cohort vs. 14.55 in the VKA cohort (adjusted hazard ratio (HR): 1.16, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.02-1.32). In secondary outcomes, no differences were found for specific types of cancer, such as lung (HR: 1.28, CI: 0.89-1.83), colon (HR: 0.84, CI: 0.62-1.13), prostate (HR: 1.40, CI: 0.94-2.10), bladder (HR: 1.07, CI: 0.76-1.52), and breast (HR: 1.05, CI: 0.66-1.69). Sensitivity analyses yielded similar results. Subgroup analyses also produced consistent findings, except for men, for whom VKA was associated with a lower risk of colon cancer (HR: 0.68, 95% CI: 0.48-0.96). Our results do not confirm a chemoprotective effect of VKA when compared with DOAC in a large, real-world cohort of patients with NVAF followed for up to 5 years.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29376248,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Research progress of Chinese herbs inhibiting NADPH oxidase].\nOxidative damage mediated by the abnormal activation of NADPH oxidase and the resulting excessive ROS generation is the pathogenesis for various diseases. Chinese herbs can play a role in the antioxidant treatment by inhibiting NADPH oxidase, which is meaningful for the treatment of pathological conditions such as injury of tissues, blood vessels and nerves, atherosclerosis, ischemia reperfusion, hypertension and hyperglycemia. In this paper, different forms of Chinese herbs including monomers, compounds and Chinese patent medicines with the inhibitory effect against NADPH oxidase would be reviewed, in order to explain and generalize their possible functions and the target mechanism for inhibition.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16211313,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Comparative genomics on ROR1 and ROR2 orthologs.\nTransmembrane proteins with extracellular Frizzled domain, such as ROR1, ROR2, MUSK, MFRP, FZD1, FZD2, FZD3, FZD4, FZD5, FZD6, FZD7, FZD8, FZD9 and FZD10, are key molecules for WNT signaling network. Here, comparative integromics analyses on ROR1 and ROR2 orthologs were performed by using bioinformatics. Zebrafish ror2 gene, consisting of nine exons, was identified within CR-450684.3 genome sequence. CV490605.1 EST corresponded to the 5'-end of zebrafish ror2 mRNA, and BM533602.1 EST corresponded to the 3'-end. Zebrafish ror2 gene was found to encode a 939-aa transmembrane protein, showing 71.7% and 56.2% total amino-acid identity with human ROR2 and ROR1, respectively. Immunoglobulin-like domain, Frizzled domain, Kringle domain within the extracellular region, tyrosine kinase domain, Ror homology C-terminal (RORHC) domain and juxta-C-terminal LLGD motif within the cytoplasmic region were conserved among vertebrate ROR1 and ROR2 orthologs. SH2 binding site within the RORHC domain was conserved among vertebrate ROR2 orthologs, but not among vertebrate ROR1 orthologs. ROR1 mRNA was expressed in embryonic stem (ES) cells, infant brain, renal cancer, and colon cancer. ROR2 mRNA was expressed in parathyroid, testis, uterus, and also in diffuse type gastric cancer with signet ring cell features. ROR2 promoter rather than ROR1 promoter was more evolutionarily conserved. WNT5A and ROR family receptors, co-expressed in ES cells and gastric cancer, are implicated in the planar cell polarity (PCP) pathway. ROR1 and ROR2 are the pharmacogenomics targets in the fields of stem cell biology and oncology.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26431510,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Malnutrition in Hospitals: It Was, Is Now, and Must Not Remain a Problem!\nMalnutrition is an under-recognized problem in hospitalized patients. Despite systematic screening, the prevalence of malnutrition in the hospital did not decrease in the last few decades. The aim of our study was to evaluate the prevalence of malnutrition and to determine the explicit daily calorie intake of hospitalized patients, to identify the risk factors of developing malnutrition during hospitalization and the effect on the financial reimbursement according to the German DRG-system. 815 hospitalized patients were included in this study. The detection of malnutrition was based on the nutritional-risk-screening (NRS) and subjective-global-assessment (SGA) scores. A trained investigator recorded the daily calorie and fluid intake of each patient. Furthermore, clinical parameters, and the financial reimbursement were evaluated. The prevalence of malnutrition was 53.6% according to the SGA and 44.6% according the NRS. During hospitalization, patients received on average 759.9\u00b1546.8 kcal\/day. The prevalence of malnutrition was increased in patients with hepatic and gastrointestinal disease and with depression or dementia. The most important risk factors for malnutrition were bed rest and immobility (OR=5.88, 95% CI 2.25-15.4). In 84.5% of patient records, malnutrition was not correctly coded, leading to increased financial losses according to the DRG-system (94.908 Euros). Hospitalized patients suffer from inadequate nutritional therapy and the risk for developing malnutrition rises during the hospital stay. The early screening of patients for malnutrition would not only improve management of nutritional therapy but also, with adequate coding, improve financial reimbursement according to the DRG-system.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22661865,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Trends in scale and structure of Korea's health expenditure over last three decades (1980-2009): financing, functions and providers.\nThis paper introduces statistics related to the size and composition of Korea's total health expenditure. The figures produced were tailored to the OECD's system of health accounts. Korea's total health expenditure in 2009 was estimated at 73.7 trillion won (US$ 57.7 billion). The annual per capita health expenditure was equivalent to US$ PPP 1,879. Korea's total health expenditure as a share of gross domestic product was 6.9% in 2009, far below the OECD average of 9.5%. Korea's public financing share of total health expenditure increased rapidly from less than 50% before 2000 to 58.2% in 2009. However, despite this growth, Korea's share remained the fourth lowest among OECD countries that had an average public share of 71.5%. Inpatient, outpatient, and pharmaceutical care accounted for 32.1%, 33.0%, and 23.7% of current health expenditure in 2009, respectively. A total of 41.1% of current health expenditure went to hospitals, 28.1% to providers of ambulatory healthcare (15.9% on doctor's clinics), and 17.9% to pharmacies. More investment in the translation of national health account data into policy-relevant information is suggested for future progress.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29556979,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Is fluoroquinolone monotherapy a useful alternative treatment for Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteraemia?\nPseudomonas aeruginosa bacteraemia is associated with high mortality, and most monotherapies are beta-lactam-based. We aimed to investigate clinical outcomes of definitive fluoroquinolone monotherapy versus beta-lactam monotherapy for P. aeruginosa bacteraemia. This retrospective study enrolled adult patients receiving definitive monotherapy with beta-lactam or fluoroquinolone between November 2013 and November 2014 at Taipei Veterans General Hospital. The independent risk factors for 28-day mortality were analyzed by logistic regression and propensity score-adjusted analysis. Among the 105 patients enrolled, 78 patients received beta-lactams and 27 received fluoroquinolones (20 with ciprofloxacin and 7 with levofloxacin). Primary bacteraemia (39.0%) and urinary tract infections (37.1%) were the most common sources of bacteraemia. The 28-day mortality rate was 11.1% for those receiving fluoroquinolones and 32.1% for those receiving beta-lactams (P = 0.062). The 28-day mortality rate between the two groups stratified by APACHE II and Pitt bacteraemia scores showed no significant differences in each category. Propensity score-adjusted multivariate analysis revealed that definitive therapy with a fluoroquinolone was not associated with 28-day mortality (OR 0.42; 95% CI 0.08-2.23; P = 0.305). Fluoroquinolone might be an alternative to beta-lactam as a definitive monotherapy for P. aeruginosa bacteraemia provided they are active in vitro. Our results could be a basis for further studies and provide a possible target for antibiotic stewardship interventions in P. aeruginosa bacteraemia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37659117,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cross-trait genome-wide association analysis of C-reactive protein level and psychiatric disorders.\nC-reactive protein (CRP) tends to be elevated in individuals with psychiatric disorders. Recent findings have suggested a protective effect of the genetic liability to elevated CRP on schizophrenia risk and a causative effect on depression despite weak genetic correlations, while causal relationships with bipolar disorder were inconclusive. We investigated the shared genetic underpinnings of psychiatric disorders and variation in CRP levels. Genome-wide association studies for CRP (n = 575,531), bipolar disorder (n = 413,466), depression (n = 480,359), and schizophrenia (n = 130,644) were used in causal mixture models to compare CRP with psychiatric disorders based on polygenicity, discoverability, and genome-wide genetic overlap. The conjunctional false discovery rate method was used to identify specific shared genetic loci. Shared variants were mapped to putative causal genes, which were tested for overrepresentation among gene ontology gene-sets. CRP was six to ten times less polygenic (n = 1400 vs 8600-14,500 variants) and had a discoverability one to two orders of magnitude higher than psychiatric disorders. Most CRP-associated variants were overlapping with psychiatric disorders. We identified 401 genetic loci jointly associated with CRP and psychiatric disorders with mixed effect directions. Gene-set enrichment analyses identified predominantly CNS-related gene sets for CRP and each of depression and schizophrenia, and basic cellular processes for CRP and bipolar disorder. In conclusion, CRP has a markedly different genetic architecture to psychiatric disorders, but the majority of CRP associated variants are also implicated in psychiatric disorders. Shared genetic loci implicated CNS-related processes to a greater extent than immune processes, which may have implications for how we conceptualise causal relationships between CRP and psychiatric disorders.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23440409,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"STM imaging, spectroscopy and manipulation of a self-assembled PTCDI monolayer on epitaxial graphene.\nScanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM), Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy (STS), and manipulation studies were performed on an ordered self-assembled monolayer (SAM) of N,N'-bis(1-hexylheptyl)perylene-3,4:9,10-bis(dicarboximide) molecules on epitaxial graphene on hexagonal silicon carbide - SiC(0001). Four novel aspects of the molecular SAM on graphene are presented. Molecules adsorb in both armchair and zig-zag configurations, giving rise to six orientations of the molecular layer with respect to the underlying substrate. The interaction between the molecules and the graphene surface shifts the LUMO towards the Fermi level, inducing a charge transfer and the opening of a band gap in the graphene, with the LUMO inside. This decouples the LUMO from the surface rendering it invisible in the dI\/dV spectroscopy. The HOMO only becomes visible at short tip-surface distances, as its energy lies within the band gap of the SiC substrate. Finally, the observed molecular defects are very particular, being composed exclusively of molecular dimers. These molecular dimers have a stronger interaction with the graphene than other molecules.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28740949,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Good surgeon: A search for meaning.\nThe art and philosophy of surgery are not as often discussed as scientific discoveries and technological advances in the modern era of surgery. Although these are difficult to teach and pass on to the next generations of surgeons they are no less important for training good surgeons and maintaining their high standards. The authors of this review and opinion article tried to define what being a good surgeon really means and to look into the subject by analysing the essential conditions for being a good surgeon and the qualities that such a specialist should possess. In addition to a strong theoretic knowledge and practical skills and among the several described professional and personal characteristics, a good surgeon is expected to have common sense. It enables a surgeon to make a sound practical judgment independent of specialized medical knowledge and training. The possible ways of developing and\/or enhancing common sense during surgical training and subsequent practice require separate analysis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28298579,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Computed Tomography of Thoracolumbar Spine Trauma.\nThoracolumbar spine trauma typically occurs when high-energy forces damage bony and ligamentous spinal structures and, in severe cases, the spinal cord. These injuries often cause considerable neurological deficits as a result of the damage. Computed tomography (CT) is the imaging method of choice for determining injury severity in most victims of multiple trauma. In addition to describing various types of thoracolumbar trauma, this article discusses the role of CT in emergency diagnosis and management of thoracolumbar injuries.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28581803,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Electrothermal Transistor Effect and Cyclic Electronic Currents in Multithermal Charge Transfer Networks.\nA theory is developed to describe the coupled transport of energy and charge in networks of electron donor-acceptor sites which are seated in a thermally heterogeneous environment, where the transfer kinetics are dominated by Marcus-type hopping rates. It is found that the coupling of heat and charge transfer in such systems gives rise to exotic transport phenomena which are absent in thermally homogeneous systems and cannot be described by standard thermoelectric relations. Specifically, the directionality and extent of thermal transistor amplification and cyclical electronic currents in a given network can be controlled by tuning the underlying temperature gradient in the system. The application of these findings toward the optimal control of multithermal currents is illustrated on a paradigmatic nanostructure.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36934278,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Uncovering hidden abilities for participation in research through photo-elicitation interviews: a view on participatory research with people living in residential care facilities.\nParticipatory research has been described to improve the relevance of research findings for the society in terms of quality of healthcare services and other public benefits. Nevertheless, there is limited guidance on how to conduct participatory research, and especially in relation to persons living in residential care facilities. To make the voices of this group heard, we therefore take a stance in the democratic approach to participatory research, and we have applied the theoretical framework Model of Human Occupation (MoHO) on participation to evaluate photo-elicitation interviews as a participatory research method with this group. A total of 13 persons living in two residential care facilities were involved in the study and asked to take photographs of their everyday life over one week. They were then invited to an individual interview to narrate the meaning of the photographs and to describe how they experienced the photo-elicitation method. The interviews were analysed in the six steps of theoretically driven reflexive thematic analysis. The findings are described in the theme 'Uncovering hidden abilities for participation in research' that describes how photo elicitation interviews facilitated the older persons' participation in research. This is illustrated by four sub-themes: 'Bridging the ageing body', 'Altering habituation to everyday life', 'Empowering storytelling', and 'Negotiating the institutional culture'. Our study findings support further application and evaluation of photo-elicitation interviews as a method for participatory research in residential care facilities. The major finding is how photo-elicitation interviews were used to reduce the impact of the institutional culture on the older persons' participation in research. The method is, however, not without limitations and we encourage researchers to study the dynamic relationship between physical, social, and cultural aspects of residential care facilities in relation to the use of photo-elicitation interviews with the persons living there.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19048114,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Senescence-induced alterations of laminin chain expression modulate tumorigenicity of prostate cancer cells.\nProstate cancer is an age-associated epithelial cancer, and as such, it contributes significantly to the mortality of the elderly. Senescence is one possible mechanism by which the body defends itself against various epithelial cancers. Senescent cells alter the microenvironment, in part, through changes to the extracellular matrix. Laminins (LMs) are extracellular proteins important to both the structure and function of the microenvironment. Overexpression of the senescence-associated gene mac25 in human prostate cancer cells resulted in increased mRNA levels of the LM alpha4 and beta2 chains compared to empty vector control cells. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of these senescence-induced LM chains on tumorigenicity of prostate cancer cells. We created stable M12 human prostate cancer lines overexpressing either the LM alpha4 or beta2 chain or both chains. Increased expression of either the LM alpha4 or beta2 chain resulted in increased in vitro migration and in vivo tumorigenicity of those cells, whereas high expression of both chains led to decreased in vitro proliferation and in vivo tumorigenicity compared to M12 control cells. This study demonstrates that senescent prostate epithelial cells can alter the microenvironment and that these changes modulate progression of prostate cancer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9163588,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A novel form of hereditary sideroblastic anaemia with macrocytosis.\nWe describe a pedigree with maternally inherited sideroblastic anaemia in which the red cells are dimorphic with a raised MCV. To our knowledge, this form of hereditary sideroblastic anaemia (HSA) has not been reported previously. 16 members of the family were investigated, revealing eight affected members. Two further family members were not tested but were presumed affected on the histories available. The proband, born in 1967, presented during pregnancy with a macrocytic anaemia (Hb 7.0 g\/dl, MCV 106 fl) and a dimorphic red cell picture. Post partum, a bone marrow biopsy showed hypercellularity, mild dyserythropoiesis and ring sideroblasts. Cytogenetics were normal. Other causes of macrocytosis were excluded. Six other family members (three female, three male) have similar findings. There is no evidence of paternal transmission. An additional female relative who presented in 1992 with refractory anaemia with excess blasts in transformation and a dimorphic blood film, died from progression to AML. Affected members show a raised metal-free red cell protoporphyrin level suggestive of a defect at the level of Fe2+ incorporation into protoporphyrin. We propose that this form of HSA is due to a mitochondrial mutation. A search for deletions or point mutations in the mitochondrial DNA is currently underway.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37847655,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"scHiCDiff: detecting differential chromatin interactions in single-cell Hi-C data.\nHere, we presented the scHiCDiff software tool that provides both nonparametric tests and parametirc models to detect differential chromatin interactions (DCIs) from single-cell Hi-C data. We thoroughly evaluated the scHiCDiff methods on both simulated and real data. Our results demonstrated that scHiCDiff, especially the zero-inflated negative binomial model option, can effectively detect reliable and consistent single-cell DCIs between two conditions, thereby facilitating the study of cell type-specific variations of chromatin structures at the single-cell level. scHiCDiff is implemented in R and freely available at GitHub (https:\/\/github.com\/wmalab\/scHiCDiff).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28565189,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"COST OF GLANDULAR TRICHOMES, A \"RESISTANCE\" CHARACTER IN DATURA WRIGHTII REGEL (SOLANACEAE).\nModels regarding the evolution of plant resistance to herbivory often assume that the primary mechanism maintaining resistance polymorphisms is the balance between benefits of increased resistance to herbivores and costs associated with the production of a resistance character. However, rarely has it been demonstrated that genetically based resistance traits are costly. Here, we document costs associated with the production of glandular trichomes, a resistance character in Datura wrightii that is predominantly under the control of a single gene of large effect. In the absence of herbivores, plants with glandular trichomes (sticky) produced 45% fewer viable seeds than plants with nonglandular trichomes (velvety). Although both plant types flowered with similar frequency, sticky plants matured fewer capsules and fewer of their seeds germinated. The fitness difference between the types in herbivore-free conditions was not mitigated by the addition of water, a potentially limiting resource for sticky plants. Under herbivore pressure, there was no significant fitness difference between the types, although the fitness of velvety plants was still higher than that of sticky plants. This occurred even though velvety plants sustained more herbivore damage than sticky plants and were more likely to be attacked by most herbivore species present. The fitness difference between the plant types was especially reduced when herbivore-attacked plants were watered, which indicates that sticky plants may have higher tolerance for damage than velvety plants when supplied with a potentially limiting resource. Yet, the maintenance of a fitness deficit (albeit small and nonsignificant) for sticky plants when attacked by herbivores indicates no net benefit associated with the production of glandular trichomes in this first year of our study. These results add to our current understanding that herbivore resistance characters can be costly and raise the question of how this genetic polymorphism is maintained in wild populations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35359961,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Immunomodulatory Activity of Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Lupus Nephritis: Advances and Applications.\nLupus nephritis (LN) is a significant cause of various acute and chronic renal diseases, which can eventually lead to end-stage renal disease. The pathogenic mechanisms of LN are characterized by abnormal activation of the immune responses, increased cytokine production, and dysregulation of inflammatory signaling pathways. LN treatment is an important issue in the prevention and treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have the advantages of immunomodulation, anti-inflammation, and anti-proliferation. These unique properties make MSCs a strong candidate for cell therapy of autoimmune diseases. MSCs can suppress the proliferation of innate and adaptive immune cells, such as natural killer cells (NKs), dendritic cells (DCs), T cells, and B cells. Furthermore, MSCs suppress the functions of various immune cells, such as the cytotoxicity of T cells and NKs, maturation and antibody secretion of B cells, maturation and antigen presentation of DCs, and inhibition of cytokine secretion, such as interleukins (ILs), tumor necrosis factor (TNF), and interferons (IFNs) by a variety of immune cells. MSCs can exert immunomodulatory effects in LN through these immune functions to suppress autoimmunity, improve renal pathology, and restore kidney function in lupus mice and LN patients. Herein, we review the role of immune cells and cytokines in the pathogenesis of LN and the mechanisms involved, as well as the progress of research on the immunomodulatory role of MSCs in LN.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17181031,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[What is the athlete's heart?].\nThe different components of the cardiovascular system adapt to the stress related to physical training. These adaptations, mainly functional and partly morphological, concern both the heart and the vessels. They play a key role in physical performance improvement, especially in case of endurance sports.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37838936,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-18":1}}},"text":"A Study of the Effectiveness of Mobile Health Application in A Self-management Intervention for Kidney Transplant Patients.\nWith the development of information technology in medical treatment, mobile medical treatment has become a new way to seek treatment, follow-up, extended care, popular science, disease prevention and access to disease expertise. The application of mobile medical treatment is relatively mature in the management of chronic diseases. Currently, mobile medical intervention is also introduced in the self-management of patients after Renal Transplantation. Compared with traditional intervention methods, mobile medical treatment has the advantages of convenience, speed, low cost and no geographical restriction, and it is easy to be used by KT recipients in self-management and has good feasibility. Therefore, we conducted self-management intervention for patients after Renal Transplantation based on mobile medical procedures, so as to improve patients' satisfaction, medication compliance, follow-up rate, and ease patients' anxiety about the disease. A total of 160 discharged patients with stable recovery of transplanted Renal function who underwent renal transplantation surgery in our hospital from January 2021 to January 2023 were selected for retrospective analysis. According to the different intervention plan, the patients were divided into the intervention group and the comparison group, 80 cases each. Among them, the intervention group used the mobile medical application selfmanagement behavior intervention, and the comparison group used the conventional self-management behavior intervention. The differences of self-management behavior score, quality of life score, Basel score and anxiety score between the two groups of patients after Renal Transplantation were analyzed and compared. After intervention, there were statistically significant differences in the scores of self-management behavior scale, Quality of life related rating scale, Basel Assessment scale and Self-rating Anxiety Scale between the intervention group and the control group (P < .05). Mobile health intervention tools can provide efficient, comprehensive and accurate remote health intervention and professional support for patients, optimize the medical service system, and meet the social medical needs of high-quality nursing services. DOI: 10.52547\/ijkd.7693.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37452757,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Methamphetamine and emerging drugs of concern: A training needs analysis of Australian alcohol and other drug helplines.\nFielding greater than 100,000 calls annually, telephone helplines are an important point of entry to alcohol and other drug (AOD) support and services in Australia. Methamphetamine and emerging drugs can present a particular challenge for this workforce. We sought to identify training needs for these services, so that appropriate targeted resources can be developed. We distributed an anonymous, online, cross-sectional survey to helpline staff from New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia. Based on the WHO Hennessy-Hicks training needs analysis tool, participants were asked: to rate on a 7-point likert scale the importance of a topic to their practice and how well they perform in relation to the topic; open-ended questions specifying their own self-perceived training needs; and demographic data. Of 50 participants, 29 completed the full survey (median age 49 [IQR 30-57.5]; median time working in AOD sector 6 years [IQR 1-20]). The results identified a need for: practical community-informed population relevant information for culturally and linguistically diverse populations and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples for calls relating to methamphetamine and emerging drugs of concern; training and resources with a particular focus on families and friends of people who use methamphetamine and emerging drugs; and readily accessible up-to-date information on new and emerging drugs and treatment of related disorders. This training needs analysis provides a structured approach to supporting the first-line AOD counsellors to provide up-to-date and accurate information to assist Australians seeking information, support and advice.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26431106,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Curcumin phytosomal softgel formulation: Development, optimization and physicochemical characterization.\nCurcumin, a naturally occurring lipophilic molecule can exert multiple and diverse bioactivities. However, its limited aqueous solubility and extensive presystemic metabolism restrict its bioavailability. Curcumin phytosomes were prepared by a simple solvent evaporation method where free flowing powder was obtained in addition to a newly developed semisolid formulation to increase curcumin content in softgels. Phytosomal powder was characterized in terms of drug content and zeta potential. Thirteen different softgel formulations were developed using oils such as Miglyol 812, castor oil and oleic acid, a hydrophilic vehicle such as PEG 400 and bioactive surfactants such as Cremophor EL and KLS P 124. Selected formulations were characterized in terms of curcumin in vitro dissolution. TEM analysis revealed good stability and a spherical, self-closed structure of curcumin phytosomes in complex formulations. Stability studies of chosen formulations prepared using the hydrophilic vehicle revealed a stable curcumin dissolution pattern. In contrast, a dramatic decrease in curcumin dissolution was observed in case of phytosomes formulated in oily vehicles.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37847051,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A technology evaluation of the atypical use of a CPP-containing peptide in the formulation and performance of a clinical botulinum toxin product.\nCell-penetrating peptides (CPPs), are small peptides that facilitate cytosolic access and, thus, transport of therapeutic macromolecules to intracellular sites when conjugated to cargo proteins. As with all new delivery platforms, clinical development of CPP-containing therapeutics has faced considerable challenges. RTP004 is a novel, 35-amino acid, bi-CPP-containing excipient that binds noncovalently with its cargo (botulinum toxin type A) rather than conjugated as a fusion protein. An RTP004-containing neurotoxin formulation, daxibotulinumtoxinA-lanm for injection (DAXI), has recently been approved by the FDA. The formulation and pharmacological characteristics of RTP004 and the efficacy and safety of the RTP004-neurotoxin formulation are discussed. RTP004 is a highly positively charged lysine- and arginine-rich structure that provides formulation stability, preventing self-aggregation of the cargo protein and adsorption to container surfaces. The presence of RTP004 in the formulation also appears to increase presynaptic binding of the neurotoxin, reduces post-injection diffusion, and thus facilitates an increase in the cleavage of the intracellular substrate for the botulinum toxin, likely through enhanced cellular uptake. The RTP004-neurotoxin formulation is the first CPP-containing product approved for clinical use. The potential for RTP004 to facilitate other therapeutic cargo molecules requires further research.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1684753,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Evidence for heterogenous glycine domains but conserved multiple states of the excitatory amino acid recognition site of the NMDA receptor: regional binding studies with [3H]glycine and [3H]L-glutamate.\nThe possible heterogeneity of the agonist and glycine sites of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor-complex was examined using receptor binding techniques. Binding of [3H]L-glutamate [( 3H]GLU) and [3H]glycine to synaptic membranes of cerebral and cerebellar cortices, and membranes of a granule cell preparation of rat cerebellum, was characterized. [3H]Glycine always labelled a single population of sites; densities of binding sites (Bmax) in cortical, cerebellar and \"granule\" membranes were 3.1, 0.87 and 3.6 pmol\/mg protein, respectively. Dissociation constants (Kd) in the same three preparations were 0.13, 0.31 and 1.9 microM, respectively. In competition studies, D-cycloserine, but not D-serine and 7-chlorokynurenate, showed varying potency between the membrane preparations, and analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed a significant interaction between ligands and membrane fractions. Binding of [3H]GLU was saturable and to a single population of sites: Kd 0.5-0.9 microM and Bmax 3.2-3.6 pmol\/mg protein. In all three membrane preparations the rank order of potency of NMDA agonists as inhibitors of the binding of [3H]GLU was always L-aspartate greater than L-cysteate greater than L-cysteinesulphinate greater than L-serine-O-sulphate greater than ibotenate greater than L-homocysteate. NMDA, quinolinate and competitive NMDA antagonists were only weak inhibitors of the binding of [3H]GLU and never fully inhibited specific binding. Other subtype-selective excitatory amino acids were very weak or ineffective inhibitors of binding. Binding of NMDA agonists was better described by a two site model whereby the proportion of high affinity sites did not vary significantly across the three membrane preparations.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9569067,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Enzymatic identification of the load-bearing boundary lubricant in the joint.\nBovine articular cartilage and synovial fluid (SF) were co-incubated with one of three enzymes selected to destroy each of the three major contenders for the active ingredient imparting such remarkable load-bearing lubrication to the normal joint. Destroying hyaluronic acid (HA), alias hyaluronan, with hyaluronidase, both frictional and wear tests displayed no significant change in accordance with most previous studies of SF alone. Destroying surface-active phospholipid (SAPL) with phospholipase A2, there was a highly significant dose-dependent compromise of lubrication as recorded on both tests. Trypsin produced a somewhat surprising result in that lubrication of the cartilage actually improved. This result can be interpreted as indicating that lubricin is not the lubricant per se, but, as a water-soluble, macromolecular, proteinaceous carrier for phospholipid, its destruction caused more SAPL to be deposited as the true load-bearing lubricant. These results are discussed in the context that SAPL, lubricin and HA each have specific roles in a comprehensive lubrication system.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28297888,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Elasticity of smectic liquid crystals with in-plane orientational order and dispiration asymmetry.\nThe Nelson-Peliti formulation of the elasticity theory of isolated fluid membranes with orientational order emphasizes the interplay between geometry, topology, and thermal fluctuations. Fluid layers of lamellar liquid crystals such as smectic-C, hexatic smectics, and smectic-C^{*} are endowed with in-plane orientational order. We extend the Nelson-Peliti formulation so as to bring these smectics within its ambit. Using the elasticity theory of smectics-C^{*}, we show that positive and negative dispirations (topological defects in Smectic-C^{*} liquid crystals) with strengths of equal magnitude have disparate energies-a result that is amenable to experimental tests.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25525048,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Laboratory assessment of the anticoagulant activity of dabigatran.\nOur aim was to identify laboratory assays in order to assess the anticoagulant effects of dabigatran etexilate (DE). Twenty patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation treated on DE (110 mg per os twice daily) and 20 on acenocoumarol were studied. Conventional coagulation tests, endogenous thrombin potential (ETP), thromboelastometry (ROTEM), epinephrine-induced light transmission aggregometry (LTA), and Hemoclot Thrombin Inhibitors (HTI) were performed in all patients. In ROTEM analysis, the lysis index at 60 minutes was significantly lower in patients receiving DE (P = .011). In LTA, patients on DE showed decreased aggregation compared to those on acenocoumarol, marginally insignificant (P = .068). Regarding ETP, acenocoumarol affected thrombin generation more than dabigatran (area under the curve [AUC], P < .001), while statistically significant associations were detected between dabigatran levels, as determined by the HTI assay, and almost all parameters of ETP assay (AUC, P < .001). The role of ETP in estimating anticoagulant activity of dabigatran possibly requires further research.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16228949,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A morphometric study of the amygdala in the guinea pig.\nThe characteristic features of guinea pig amygdala (CA), as shown by volumetric comparisons of the individual nuclei, are the poor development of the basolateral (BL) and lateral olfactory tract (NLOT) nuclei as well as the strong formation of the lateral (LA) and basomedial (BM) nuclei. The central (CE), cortical (CO) and medial (ME) nuclei also appear to be well represented in this species. All these features are even more pronounced when the total number of neurons in the nuclei referred to was taken into consideration. A comparison of the densities of neurons in the individual nuclei with the mean numerical density of cells in the guinea pig CA indicates that the densities of neurons in LA, BL, BM, CE and CO are significantly lower than the mean (p < 0.05), whereas in the ME and NLOT these values are significantly higher than the mean (p < 0.05). It is noteworthy, that the densities of the neurons in CE and CO do not differ statistically from each other (p > 0.05) and are significantly higher than the respective values in LA, BL and BM (p < 0.05). Furthermore, a similar division of the guinea pig CA may to some extent be made using the size parameters of the amygdaloid neurons as a marker. Interestingly, the large neurons populate organised CA areas like LA, BL and BM less densely, whereas the small cells create ME and NLOT, where the neurons are densely arranged. CE and CO occupy intermediate positions, with the neurons similar in size to the mean for the guinea pig CA.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23461511,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Azo complexes of osmium(II): preparation and reactivity of organic azide and hydrazine derivatives.\nMixed-ligand hydride complexes OsHCl(CO)(PPh3)2L (2) [L = P(OMe)3, P(OEt)3] were prepared by allowing OsHCl(CO)(PPh3)3 (1) to react with an excess of phosphite P(OR)3 in refluxing toluene. Dichloro compounds OsCl2(CO)(PPh3)2L (3, 4) were also prepared by reacting 1, 2 with HCl. Treatment of hydrides OsHCl(CO)(PPh3)2L (2), first with triflic acid and then with an excess of RN3 afforded organic azide complexes [OsCl(\u03b7(1)-N3R)(CO)(PPh3)2L]BPh4 (5-7) [R = 4-CH3C6H4CH2, C6H5CH2, C6H5; L = P(OEt)3]. Benzylazide complexes react in CH2Cl2\/ethanol solution, leading to the imine derivative [OsCl(CO){\u03b7(1)-NH\u2550C(H)C6H4-4-CH3}(PPh3)2{P(OEt)3}]BPh4 (8b). Hydrazine complexes [OsCl(CO)(RNHNH2)(PPh3)2L]BPh4 (9-11) [R = H, CH3, C6H5; L = P(OMe)3, P(OEt)3] were prepared by allowing hydride species OsHCl(CO)(PPh3)2L (2) to react first with triflic acid and then with an excess of hydrazine. Aryldiazene derivatives [OsCl(CO)(ArN\u2550NH)(PPh3)2L]BPh4 (12, 13) were also prepared following two different methods: (i) by oxidizing arylhydrazine [OsCl(C6H5NHNH2)(CO)(PPh3)2L]BPh4 (11) with Pb(OAc)4 in CH2Cl2 at -30 \u00b0C; (ii) by allowing hydride species OsHCl(CO)(PPh3)2L (2) to react with aryldiazonium cations ArN2(+) (Ar = C6H5, 4-CH3C6H4) in CH2Cl2. The complexes were characterized spectroscopically and by X-ray crystal structure determination of OsHCl(CO)(PPh3)2[P(OEt)3] (2b) and [OsCl{\u03b7(1)-NH\u2550C(H)C6H4-4-CH3}(CO)(PPh3)2{P(OEt)3}]BPh4 (8b).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26491608,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"AN EXAMINATION OF THE GLUTEAL MUSCLE ACTIVITY ASSOCIATED WITH DYNAMIC HIP ABDUCTION AND HIP EXTERNAL ROTATION EXERCISE: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW.\nA wide variety of hip abduction and hip external rotation exercises are used for training, both in athletic performance and in rehabilitation programming. Though several different exercises exist, a comprehensive understanding of which exercises best target the gluteus maximus (Gmax) and gluteus medius (Gmed) and the magnitude of muscular activation associated with each exercise is yet to be established. The purpose of this systematic review was to quantify the electromyographic (EMG) activity of exercises that utilize the Gmax and Gmed muscles during hip abduction and hip external rotation. Pubmed, Sports Discuss, Web of Science and Science Direct were searched using the Boolean phrases (gluteus medius OR gluteus maximus) AND (activity OR activation) AND (electromyography OR EMG) AND (hip abduction OR hip external rotation). A systematic approach was used to evaluate 575 articles. Articles that examined injury-free participants of any age, gender or activity level were included. No restrictions were imposed on publication date or publication status. Articles were excluded when not available in English, where studies did not normalize EMG activity to maximum voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC), where no hip abduction or external rotation motion occurred or where the motion was performed with high acceleration. Twenty-three studies met the inclusion criteria and were retained for analysis. The highest Gmax activity was elicited during the lateral step up, cross over step up and rotational single leg squat (ranging from 79 to 113 % MVIC). Gmed activity was highest during the side bridge with hip abduction, standing hip abduction with elastic resistance at the ankle and side lying hip abduction (ranging from 81 to 103 % MVIC). The methodological approaches varied between studies, notably in the different positions used for obtaining MVIC, which could have dramatically impacted normalized levels of gluteal activation, while variation also occurred in exercise technique and\/or equipment. The findings from this review provide an indication for the amount of muscle activity generated by basic strengthening and rehabilitation exercises, which may assist practitioners in making decisions for Gmax and Gmed strengthening and injury rehabilitation programs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26467961,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Selective Capture of Transcribed Sequences: A Promising Approach for Investigating Bacterium-Insect Interactions.\nBacterial interactions with eukaryotic hosts are complex processes which vary from pathogenic to mutualistic. Identification of bacterial genes differentially expressed in the host, promises to unravel molecular mechanisms driving and maintaining such interactions. Several techniques have been developed in the past 20 years to investigate bacterial gene expression within their hosts. The most commonly used techniques include in-vivo expression technology, signature-tagged mutagenesis, differential fluorescence induction, and cDNA microarrays. However, the limitations of these techniques in analyzing bacterial in-vivo gene expression indicate the need to develop alternative tools. With many advantages over the other methods for analyzing bacterial in-vivo gene expression, selective capture of transcribed sequences (SCOTS) technique has the prospect of becoming an elegant tool for discovery of genes involved in the bacterium-host interaction. Here, we summarize the advances in SCOTS technique, including its current and potential applications in bacterial gene expression studies under a variety of conditions from in-vitro to in-vivo and from mammals to insects.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28560202,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Prevalence and Incidence of Multiple Sclerosis in Tehran, Iran.\nTehran is the capital of Iran with an increasing Multiple Sclerosis (MS) incidence. A retrospective population-based study was conducted to evaluate the status of MS prevalence and MS incidence trends in Tehran Province, Iran. A population-based study was conducted from 1991 to 2014 in Tehran Province, the capital city of Iran based on Iranian MS Society (IMSS) registry system. A structured questionnaire design to cover the important epidemiological variables, related at the individual level for MS. A Monte Carlo Permutation method was utilized to test whether the apparent change in MS trends during 1991-2014 was statistically significant. MS incidence was significantly increased during our study period. The annual percent change (APC) was 12.8% in women during 1991 to 2004 and 12.5% in men during the same period. The point prevalence of MS was 101.39 per 100000 populations in 2014. The age-adjusted prevalence rates were 134.03 and for male patients were 42.45 per 100000. MS prevalence and incidence in Tehran are markedly rising, it is crucial to elucidate the causes of the increasing trends and implement efficient policies lowering disease burden.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11989957,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"The construction of community participation: village family planning groups and the Indonesian state.\nIndonesia's family planning program has been one of the most effective in the developing world in promoting contraceptive use and contributing to fertility transition. In evaluating why the program has worked, analysts have given much credit to a network of village family planning groups that developed from the 1970s to the 1990s and that blanketed the archipelago. These groups, composed primarily of female volunteers, made contraception available to women in even the most remote parts of the country, and acted as agents of family planning motivation. They have been labeled by the Indonesian state family planning agency as an example of effective community participation on a national scale. In this paper, I investigate this claim and find it to be simplistic. I provide extensive evidence that the creation of this network was orchestrated by the Indonesian state. On the other hand, I show that these groups are not fully state entities, as they have several characteristics that mark them as socially embedded institutions. They are best labeled as unusual state-society hybrids. In my investigation I draw on one of the newest paradigms in the discipline of political science--the state-society approach--to uncover the odd nature of this family planning network. More deeply, I argue that the state-society approach ought to be adopted in family planning analysis on a comprehensive basis. The traditional organizational and social-demographic approaches that have dominated the field offer only limited understanding of the nature of family planning programs in developing countries. The state-society approach is ideally suited to identifying how family planning programs are institutions of a political nature, embedded in states and societies, and transformed by and transformative of each.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28529729,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Characterization of the novel In1059 harbouring VIM gene cassette.\nVIM-type enzyme encodes the most widely acquired metallo-\u03b2-lactamases in Gram- negative bacteria. To obtain current epidemiological data for integrons from enterobacteriae in hospital, the study characterizes the genetic structure in In1059 by comparison with In846 integrons harbouring VIM gene and other class 1 integrons including In37, In62, In843 and In1021 with the aim of identifying the putative mechanisms involved integron mobilization and infer evolution of relevant integrons. Six of 69 recombinant plasmids from clinical strains were found to be class 1 integrons by digestion with BamHI, drug susceptibility testing, conjugation experiments, PCR amplification, integron cloning and sequencing, genome comparison, and detection of carbapenemase activity. The sequences of the six recombinant plasmids encoding In1021, In843, In846, In37, In62, and the novel In1059 integron had approximate lengths of ~4.8-, 4.1-, 5.1-, 5.3-, 5.3- and 6.6- kb, respectively. The genetic structures of these integrons were mapped and characterized, and the carbapenemase activities of their parental strains were assessed. Our results suggest that the six variable integron structures and regular variations that exist in the gene cassettes provide a putative mechanism for the integron changes. Our study has also shown that the genetic features in the integrons named above fall within a scheme involving the stepwise and parallel evolution of class 1 integron variation likely under antibiotic selection pressure in clinical settings.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36935112,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"DeepMiceTL: a deep transfer learning based prediction of mice cardiac conduction diseases using early electrocardiograms.\nCardiac conduction disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. There is considerable clinical significance and an emerging need of early detection of these diseases for preventive treatment success before more severe arrhythmias occur. However, developing such early screening tools is challenging due to the lack of early electrocardiograms (ECGs) before symptoms occur in patients. Mouse models are widely used in cardiac arrhythmia research. The goal of this paper is to develop deep learning models to predict cardiac conduction diseases in mice using their early ECGs. We hypothesize that mutant mice present subtle abnormalities in their early ECGs before severe arrhythmias present. These subtle patterns can be detected by deep learning though they are hard to be identified by human eyes. We propose a deep transfer learning model, DeepMiceTL, which leverages knowledge from human ECGs to learn mouse ECG patterns. We further apply the Bayesian optimization and $k$-fold cross validation methods to tune the hyperparameters of the DeepMiceTL. Our results show that DeepMiceTL achieves a promising performance (F1-score: 83.8%, accuracy: 84.8%) in predicting the occurrence of cardiac conduction diseases using early mouse ECGs. This study is among the first efforts that use state-of-the-art deep transfer learning to identify ECG patterns during the early course of cardiac conduction disease in mice. Our approach not only could help in cardiac conduction disease research in mice, but also suggest a feasibility for early clinical diagnosis of human cardiac conduction diseases and other types of cardiac arrythmias using deep transfer learning in the future.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35359761,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Regarding Diabetic Retinopathy in an Urban Population in Northeast China.\nThis study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of diabetic subjects with diabetic retinopathy (DR) and those without DR (NDR) in an urban community in Northeast China, as well as their risk factors in subjects with DR and NDR. A community-based survey involving 1,662 subjects was conducted in Fushun, China, between July 2012 and May 2013. The subjects included diabetics with DR (n = 783) and those NDR (n = 879), and questionnaires were completed to collect information about their sociodemographic and healthcare characteristics. A Chi-square test and multiple logistic analyses were performed to analyze the data. Among the DR group, 21.88% had a good knowledge of DR, 94.15% had a positive attitude, and 68.07% followed good practice, whereas 20.98% of the NDR group had a good knowledge of DR, 94.18% had a positive attitude, and 66.92% followed good practice. There was no significant difference in the KAP of the two groups of subjects. In the NDR group, a good level of knowledge was associated with a high-level of education (OR = 0.1, 0.2; p < 0.05), a good attitude was associated with retirement (OR = 0.2; p < 0.05), and good practice was associated with being female, having a high-level of education, and the type of treatment (OR = 0.5, 0.4, 2.3, 3.1; p < 0.05). In the DR group, good practice was associated with older age and retirement (OR = 0.6, 0.4; p < 0.05). There was no significant difference between the DR and NDR subjects in the overall levels of KAP, but both groups showed a poor level of knowledge. Age, gender, education, occupation, and type of treatment were the main factors associated with the KAP scores, more risk factors in the NDR group than in the DR group. There is an urgent need for coordinated educational campaigns with a prioritized focus on the northeast region of China, especially NDR group.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9149206,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Crohn's disease and gastrocnemius vasculitis: two new cases.\nWe report two cases of gastrocnemius muscle vasculitis revealing Crohn's disease. Gastrocnemius muscle biopsy evidenced a necrotizing vasculitis resembling panarteritis nodosa in one case; a nonnecrotizing vasculitis was found in the other case. Neither of the patients had systemic vasculitic involvement, and the muscle disease resembled calf muscle-located panarteritis nodosa. Our literature review shows five cases of calf-located myalgia occurring during Crohn's disease characterized by heterogenous histopathological findings including vasculitic and myositic lesions. Thus, faced with calf-located myalgia with vasculitis or myositis, a search for Crohn's disease is probably necessary to determine precisely the frequency and the etiopathogenic mechanisms of this association.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11988107,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Characteristics and composition of the vitamin K-dependent gamma-glutamyl carboxylase-binding domain on osteocalcin.\nTwo different sites on vitamin K-dependent gamma-glutamyl carboxylase (VKC) are involved in enzyme-substrate interaction: the propeptide-binding site required for high-affinity substrate binding and the active site for glutamate carboxylation. Synthetic descarboxy osteocalcin (d-OC) is a low-K(m) substrate for the VKC, but unique since it possesses a high-affinity recognition site for the VKC, distinct from the propeptide which is essential as a binding site for VKC. However, the exact location and composition of this VKC-recognition domain on d-OC has remained unclear until now. Using a stereospecific substrate analogue [t-butyloxycarbonyl-(2S,4S)-4-methylglutamic acid-Glu-Val (S-MeTPT)] we demonstrate in this paper that the high affinity of d-OC for VKC cannot be explained by a direct interaction with either the active site or with the propeptide-binding site on VKC. It is shown using various synthetic peptides derived from d-OC that there are two domains on d-OC necessary for recognition: one located between residues 1 and 12 and a second between residues 26 and 39, i.e. at the C-terminal side of the gamma-carboxyglutamate (Gla) domain. Both internal sequences contribute substantially to the efficiency of carboxylation. On the basis of these data we postulate the presence of a second high-affinity substrate-binding site on VKC capable of specifically binding d-OC, which is the first vitamin K-dependent substrate of which the VKC binding domain is interrupted by the Gla domain.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37843319,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Comparison of four surgical methods for pediatric forearm double diaphyseal fractures: a retrospective analysis.\nOne of the most frequent fractures in children is a double forearm fracture. They make up 26% of children's long bone fractures in the upper extremities and their incidence has increased in recent years. In this study, pediatric patients with double forearm fractures were treated using plate screw, intramedullary K-wire (I-KW), intramedullary titanium elastic nails (TENs), and hybrid fixation (HF) to compare the radiographic and functional results. The printed and digital medical records were retrospectively examined from our hospital's archives after receiving consent from the regional ethics committee. Legal guardians of the patients, who were under the age of 18, gave their informed consent. Based on the surgical procedure used, the patients were split into 4 groups. Double plating was the D-P group, hybrid fixation method was the HF group, intramedullary elastic titanium nail was the TEN group, and intramedullary K-wire was the I-KW group. The study comprised 78 patients in total, with 19 patients in the HF group, 21 patients in the TEN group, 20 patients in the I-KW group, and 18 patients in the D-P group. When the mean operating times of the four approaches were compared, a substantial difference was found. The D-P group's mean operating time (65.2\u00b14.9 minutes) was noticeably longer than those of the other groups (p<0.001). The HF group's mean operating time was 55.93.4 min longer than that of the TENs and I-KW groups, which was statistically significant (p<0.001). In comparison to the other groups, the D-P group's mean intraoperative fluoroscopy time was considerably shorter (6\u00b13 sec) (p<0.001). When compared to the D-P group, it was considerably higher in the HF group (12\u00b12 sec) (p<0.001). In comparison to the TENs (20\u00b14 sec) and I-KW groups (19\u00b15 sec), it was significantly lower in the HF group (p<0.001). In comparison to the HF group, the D-P group's tourniquet use lasted much longer (p<0.001). The TENs and I-KW groups did not use a tourniquet because a mini-incision was made. The D-P group's mean blood loss (110\u00b110 ml) was substantially larger than that of the other groups (p<0.001) in the mean blood loss data. In comparison to the TENs (40\u00b15 ml) and I-KW (40\u00b15 ml) groups, the mean blood loss in the HF group (90\u00b110 ml) was considerably larger (p<0.001). All patients received an above-elbow postoperative cast. The HF group (2 weeks) and the D-P group (2 weeks) experienced significantly less postoperative immobility than the TENs and I-KW groups (4.4 weeks, p<0.001). The four fixation techniques used in the current study for juvenile diaphyseal double forearm fractures produced positive clinical and functional outcomes. The hybrid fixation technique was discovered to be comparable to the other techniques and even beneficial in some ways. So, a safe and efficient treatment option for juvenile diaphyseal double forearm fractures is hybrid fixation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1162412,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Primary adenocarcinoma of the appendix.\nA case of primary adenocarcinoma of the appendix in which the patient had the usual symptoms of acute appendicitis is presented. A review of the literature showed the potential for early extension and nodal metastasis in this lesion and led to the recommendation of right hemicolectomy as the treatment of choice. The operation should be done either primarily or secondarily after an appendectomy and should lead to a five-year survival of approximately 45%. Every effort should be made to make the diagnosis and provide definitive treatment at the primary operation by examining the appendix grossly and obtaining frozen section microscopic study of any suspicious tumor or ulceration.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8341708,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The functional form of the erythropoietin receptor is a 78-kDa protein: correlation with cell surface expression, endocytosis, and phosphorylation.\nAn abundant 70- to 78-kDa form of the erythropoietin receptor (EPOR) was observed in HC-D57 murine erythroleukemia cells deprived of erythropoietin (EPO). In contrast to the 64- and 66-kDa EPOR proteins, these high molecular mass forms of EPOR (hmm-EPOR) correlated well with the number of binding sites and endocytosis of EPO. The hypothesis that hmm-EPOR are more highly glycosylated forms of the EPOR, appear on the cell surface, and represent at least one component of the biologically active EPOR was tested. Consistent findings were as follows. (i) Only hmm-EPOR increased following withdrawal of EPO from HC-D57 cells, correlating with a 10-fold increase in binding of 125I-labeled EPO. In addition, the EPO-dependent downregulation of 125I-EPO binding and disappearance of hmm-EPOR occurred in parallel while the amount of 66-kDa EPOR did not change. (ii) The 78-kDa EPOR was detected in COS cells expressing EPOR cDNA. (iii) Probing of the intact surface of these cells with anti-NH2-terminal antibody recovered only the 78-kDa EPOR. (iv) Enzymatic deglycosylation and dephosphorylation showed that hmm-EPOR apparently resulted from additional N-linked glycosylation of a 62-kDa EPOR. (v) The hmm-EPOR turnover in HC-D57 cells was accelerated 12-fold in the presence of EPO (half-life changed from 3 hr to 15 min). (vi) Anti-phosphotyrosine antiserum detected an EPO-dependent phosphorylation of the 78-kDa EPOR. The kinetics of tyrosine phosphorylation of a 97-kDa protein correlated with the occupancy and internalization of hmm-EPOR. In summary, we suggest that the 78-kDa EPOR is directly involved in the initial biological actions of EPO.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17004988,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Localized reactive angioendotheliomatosis.\nWe present a unique case of a woman with multiple painful dermal lesions localized to the left upper quadrant of the body. Histological investigation revealed microvascular thrombosis with capillary-wall proliferation. Further investigation revealed a very high anticardiolipin IgG titre and a left subclavian stenosis, presumably providing the reduced blood flow and relative hypoxia to allow microthromboses to occur in the presence of a thrombophilic tendency. Similar clinical and histological features have been reported in patients with the antiphospholipid syndrome and cases of reactive angioendotheliomatosis (RAE). This case represents a unique variant of RAE.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1688701,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Basic study on the chemosensitivity test by miniaturized improved nucleic acid precursor incorporation assay (MINI assay)].\nMiniaturized improved nucleic acid precursor incorporation assay (MINI assay) has been developed by Kern D. H. and Tanigawa N. et al since 1985. We investigated in vitro effects of mitomycin C (MMC), cisplatin (CDDP) and bleomycin (BLM) against A 549 lung cancer cells and HeLa cells by MINI assay. 3H-thymidine (3H-TdR) uptake in the positive control was 734.2 cpm +\/- 10 cpm. The cut-off level for in vitro sensitivity was defined as more than 80% inhibition of 3H-TdR uptake in the drug treated cells compared to the positive controls. A 549 cells were sensitive to MMC (81.6%), CDDP (78.6%), but not to BLM (-57%). HeLa cells were sensitive to MMC (91%), CDDP (79.4%), but not to BLM (43%). MINI assay could be done with fewer cells than other methods and the results were obtained within 5 days. This method was considered to be useful for the chemosensitivity test with human tumors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6175269,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Human tumor xenografts in athymic (nude) mice: chemotherapy trials in serially transplanted tumors.\nIn a total of 38 consecutive attempts at transplanting freshly excised malignant human neoplasms in athymic nu\/nu mice during the past year, 12 resulted in successful xenografts. To date, all of these have been subsequently transplanted for two or more generations. These successful xenografts include two squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck, three squamous cell carcinomas and one undifferentiated large cell carcinoma of the lung, three adenocarcinomas of ovarian or endometrial origin, and one carcinoma of each of the following sites: urinary bladder, stomach, and colon. Chemotherapy trials on three different squamous cell carcinomas serially transplanted in nude mice revealed three different degrees of sensitivity to bleomycin. One tumor which was markedly sensitive to bleomycin showed only a slight response to cis-diamminedichloroplatinum (II). These chemotherapy trials will be expanded to wider panel of transplantable human squamous cells cacinomas of different origins with anti-tumor agents used singly or in combination.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25293704,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Life-threatening malnutrition after a laparoscopic gastric bypass operation reverting the gastrointestinal tract into normal anatomy].\nWe present a case report of a woman who had repeating episodes of severe life-threatening malnutrition four years after a laparoscopic gastric bypass operation for severe overweight. Despite several normal examinations her condition remained unstable. She was offered a laparoscopic operation reverting the stomach and small intestine into normal anatomy and it was performed without complications so the condition resolved. The malnutrition was probably caused by a mixture of an eating disorder and the effects of the operation influencing gut hormones. It is important to handle this category of patients in a competent multidisciplinary team.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25286338,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Total synthesis and determination of the absolute configuration of rakicidin A.\nRakicidin A is a cyclic depsipeptide that has exhibited unique growth inhibitory activity against chronic myelogenous leukemia stem cells. Furthermore, rakicidin A has five chiral centers with unknown stereochemical assignment, and thus, can be represented by one of 32 possible stereoisomers. To predict the most probable stereochemistry of rakicidin A, calculations and structural comparison with natural cyclic depsipeptides were applied. A total synthesis of the proposed structure was subsequently completed and highlighted by the creation of a sterically hindered ester bond (C1-C15) through trans-acylation from an easily established isomer (C1-C13). The analytic data of the synthetic target were consistent with that of natural rakicidin A, and then the absolute configuration of rakicidin A was assigned as 2S, 3S, 14S, 15S, 16R. This work suggests strategies for the determination of unknown chiral centers in other cyclic depsipeptides, such as rakicidin B, C, D, BE-43547, and vinylamycin, and facilitates the investigations of rakicidin A as an anticancer stem cell agent.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32366049,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of the Combination of \u03b2-Hydroxy-\u03b2-Methyl Butyrate and R(+) Lipoic Acid in a Cellular Model of Sarcopenia.\n: Sarcopenia is a clinical problem associated with several pathological and non-pathological conditions. The aim of the present research is the evaluation of the pharmacological profile of the leucine metabolite \u03b2-hydroxy-\u03b2-methyl butyrate (HMB) associated with the natural R(+) stereoisomer of lipoic acid (R(+)LA) in a cellular model of muscle wasting. The C2C12 cell line is used as myoblasts or is differentiated in myotubes, sarcopenia is induced by dexamethasone (DEX). A Bonferroni significant difference procedure is used for a post hoc comparison. DEX toxicity (0.01-300 \u00b5M concentration range) is evaluated in myoblasts to measure cell viability and caspase 3 activation after 24 h and 48 h; cell incubation with 1 \u00b5M DEX for 48 h is chosen as optimal treatment for decreasing cell viability and increasing caspase 3 activity. R(+)LA or HMB significantly prevents DEX-induced cell mortality; the efficacy is improved when 100 \u00b5M R(+)LA is combined with 1 mM HMB. Regarding myoblasts, this combination significantly reduces DEX-evoked O2- production and protein oxidative damage. During the early phase of myotube formation, the mixture preserves the number of myogenin-positive cells, whereas it completely prevents the DEX-dependent damage in a later phase of myotube differentiation (7 days), as evaluated by cell diameter and percentage of multinucleated cells. R(+)LA in association with HMB is suggested for sarcopenia therapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34420440,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Preliminary study on ultrasound-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound ablation for treatment of broad ligament uterine fibroids.\nTo investigate the feasibility, efficacy and safety of ultrasound-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) ablation for treating the broad ligament uterine fibroid (BLUF). A total of 236 patients with symptomatic uterine fibroids were enrolled and treated with JC-200 extracorporeal ultrasound-guided HIFU under conscious sedation between January 2017 and December 2018. Of them, data of 12 patients with 13 broad ligament fibroids were retrospectively analyzed. The patients' mean age was 38.6 \u00b1 6.3 years. The focused ultrasound target was deployed and moved from the deeper layer to the superficial layer of BLUFs. All patients underwent contrast-enhanced MRI (CE-MRI) before, immediate post-operation, and six months after the HIFU ablation procedure. The fibroid size, non-perfusion volume (NPV) ratio, the reduction of fibroid volumes, adverse events, symptom changes, and abnormal MRI findings associated with the HIFU treatment were analyzed. Ultrasound-guided HIFU ablation in the twelve patients was technically successful with one session treatment. The mean longest diameter of BLUFs was 6.2 \u00b1 2.3 cm. The mean NPV ratio of fibroids was 84.08%\u00b1 9.4%. After HIFU ablation, lower abdominal pain occurred in 7 cases, sacrococcygeal pain in 3 cases, and mild skin pain in 6 cases. There were no severe adverse events and complications associated with the treatment. At 6 months post-treatment follow-up, the mean fibroid volume decreased by 56.2%\u00b1 9.0% (p < 0.05), and the symptoms related to broad ligament fibroids were improved or disappeared. Ultrasound-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound ablation is feasible, effective, and safe for treating broad ligament fibroids.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31257260,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Association of Serum Vitamin D Deficiency and Metabolic Risk Factors in Chinese Adults with Prediabetes: A Cross-Sectional Study.\nThe association of serum vitamin D deficiency and metabolic risk factors in Chinese adults with prediabetes (PreDM) has not been investigated. The present study aimed to investigate the association of serum vitamin D deficiency and metabolic risk factors in Chinese adults with PreDM. In this cross-sectional study, we stratified 412 PreDM patients into vitamin D sufficient, vitamin D insufficient and vitamin D deficient subgroups. The physical examination data was collected. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 [25(OH)D3] were measured by high performance liquid chromatography. The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency in PreDM patients were 30.58% and 26.70%, respectively. Compared with the vitamin D deficient group, the prevalence of metabolic syndrome, central obesity, hyperglycemia and hypertension were higher than those in the vitamin D insufficient or sufficient group (p<0.05). Moreover, the prevalence of dyslipidemia in the vitamin D deficient group was higher than those in the vitamin D sufficient group (p<0.05). We observed an inverse relationship between 25(OH)D3 levels and waist circumference, triglyceride, and serum uric acid (\u03b2=-0.315; \u03b2=-0.134; \u03b2=-0.239), a positive relationship between 25(OH)D3 levels and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (\u03b2=0.197) after adjusting for age, sex and body mass index. Vitamin D deficiency is very common among PreDM patients in China and this deficiency is related to metabolic risk factors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27261612,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Pterostilbene, a novel natural plant conduct, inhibits high fat-induced atherosclerosis inflammation via NF-\u03baB signaling pathway in Toll-like receptor 5 (TLR5) deficient mice.\nAtherosclerosis is a specific form of an artery wall thickens, a syndrome affecting arterial blood vessels due to a chronic inflammatory response in the walls of arteries, which is promoted by fat accumulation. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play prominent roles in inflammatory responses. And TLR5 is overexpressed in several diseases. Here in our study, we investigated the effect of TLR5 in high fat-induced atherosclerosis via NF-\u03baB signaling pathway modulating pro-inflammatory cytokines releasing. Our results found that high fat induced atherosclerosis in wild type mice with fat accumulation and inflammatory response through NF-\u03baB activation. Contrastly, TLR5 knockout mice displayed lower fat accumulation and ameliorated inflammation after high fat feeding with NF-\u03baB inactivation. In addition, pterostilbene, as a natural dimethyl ether derivative of resveratrol mainly from blueberries, has diverse pharmacological activities, especially anti-inflammation. Our study also found that pterostilbene displayed inhibited role in suppressing inflammatory response through inactivating NF-\u03baB signaling pathway regulated by TLR5 down-regulation in high fat-induced mice. Moreover, in vitro experiments of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) challenged with LPS or TNF-\u03b1, further indicated that NF-\u03baB was involved in atherosclerosis progression, leading to high secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines. However, VSMCs from TLR5 deficient mice inhibited phosphorylated levels of NF-\u03baB signalilng pathway, finally resulting in down-regulation of inflammatory cytokines. Notably, pterostilbene also displayed suppressed role in inflammatory response via NF-\u03baB inactivity in LPS or TNF-\u03b1-induced VSMCs by decreasing TLR5 expression. The results above indicated a novel therapeutic strategy of pterostilbene to protect against atherosclerosis via TLR5 regulation for clinic treatment in the future.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22675950,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The majority of males with subnormal hypoosmotic test scores have normal vitality.\nTo determine if males with low hypoosmotic swelling (HOS) test scores may have normal vitality tests. Retrospective nine-year review of initial semen analyses evaluating vitality and HOS tests. Only 12.5% (45\/361) of males with low HOS test scores have low vitality. WHO seems to treat vitality and HOS as equal tests. We disagree and find that structural defects of the sperm membrane are much less common than functional impairment of the sperm membrane. Since a male with an HOS test score < 50% will rarely achieve a pregnancy with intercourse, intrauterine insemination, or IVF with conventional insemination it is important to check for the HOS test not viability because the HOS test can be easily corrected with ICSI.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19047792,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Regional expression of NAD(P)H oxidase and superoxide dismutase in the brain of rats with neurogenic hypertension.\nSingle injection of small quantities of phenol into the kidney cortex causes hypertension which is mediated by renal afferent sympathetic pathway activation. This phenomenon can be prevented by superoxide dismutase (SOD) infusion in the lateral ventricle, suggesting the role of superoxide (O(2)(-).) in noradrenergic control of arterial pressure. Since NAD(P)H oxidase is a major source of O(2)(-)., we tested the hypothesis that hypertension in this model may be associated with upregulation of NAD(P)H oxidase in relevant regions of brain. NAD(P)H oxidase subunits, mitochondrial (MnSOD) and cytoplasmic (CuZnSOD) SOD were measured in rats 4 weeks after injection of phenol or saline in the left kidney cortex. Phenol-injected rats exhibited hypertension, upregulation of gp91(phox), p22(phox), p47(phox) and p67(phox) in the medulla, gp91(phox) and p22(phox) in pons and gp91(phox) in hypothalamus. This was associated with upregulation of MnSOD with little change in CuZnSOD. Chronic hypertension in phenol-injected rats is associated with upregulation of NAD(P)H oxidase and hence increased O(2)(-). production capacity in the key regions of the brain involved in regulation of blood pressure. Since reactive oxygen species can intensify central noradrenergic activity, the observed maladaptive changes may contribute to the genesis and maintenance of the associated hypertension.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27270898,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Thyroid disorders and nitric oxide in cardiovascular adaptation to hypovolemia.\nThis study aimed to investigate whether nitric oxide participates in the cardiovascular function and haemodynamic adaptation to acute haemorrhage in animals with thyroid disorders. Sprague-Dawley rats aged 2months old treated with T3 (hyper, 20\u03bcg\/100g body weight) or 0.02% methimazole (hypo, w\/v) during 28days were pre-treated with N(G) nitro-l-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) and submitted to 20% blood loss. Heart function was evaluated by echocardiography. Measurements of arterial blood pressure, heart rate, nitric oxide synthase activity and protein levels were performed. We found that hypo decreased fractional shortening and ejection fraction and increased left ventricle internal diameter. Hyper decreased ventricle diameter and no changes in cardiac contractility. Haemorrhage elicited a hypotension of similar magnitude within 10min. Then, this parameter was stabilized at about 30-40min and maintained until finalized, 120min. L-NAME rats showed that the immediate hypotension would be independent of nitric oxide. Nitric oxide synthase inhibition blunted the changes of heart rate induced by blood loss. Hyper and hypo had lower atrial enzyme activity associated with a decreased enzyme isoform in hypo. In ventricle, hyper and hypo had a higher enzyme activity, which was not correlated with changes in protein levels. Haemorrhage induced an increased heart nitric oxide production. We concluded that thyroid disorders were associated with hypertrophic remodelling which impacted differently on cardiac function and its adaptation to a hypovolemia. Hypovolemia triggered a nitric oxide synthase activation modulating the heart function to maintain haemodynamic homeostasis. This involvement depends on a specific enzyme isoform, cardiac chamber and thyroid state.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27480295,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Analyses of clinicopathologic factors affecting neck control after postoperative radiation as adjuvant treatment for lymph node metastasis in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma].\nTo investigate the clinicopathologic factors associated with neck control and distant metastasis in patients with neck metastases in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) after postoperative radiation as adjuvant treatment. Clinicopathologic data of 208 pathologic N+ (pN+ ) patients with HNSCC initially treated with neck dissection and postoperative radiation in Bethune International Peace Hospital of China from January 2004 to December 2009 were reviewed. The clinicopathologic factors, includeding age, sex, primary tumor site, pathologic T and N stage, tumor growth pattern, histological grade, tumor resection margin, size and number of positive lymph node, number of levels with positive lymph node, and extracapsular nodal spread (ECS), were evaluated for their association with neck control and distant metastasis in patients with HNSCC after postoperative radiation. Univariate \u03c7(2) test and multiple stepwise logistic regression model were used for the analysis. Overall 5-year neck control rate after postoperative radiotherapy was 72.6% (151\/208), with 84.0% (63\/75) for SND, 72.9% (78\/107) for MRND, and 38.5% (10\/26) for RND, respectively. Univariate analysis showed that neck control after postoperative radiation was related with following factors: primary tumor site, pathologic N stage, size of positive node, number of levels with positive node, number of positive node, and ECS. Pathologic N stage and number of levels with positive lymph node were associated with distant metastasis. Multivariate analysis indicated that ECS was the most significant risk factor for neck metastasis after surgery and postoperative radiotherapy and the number of levels with positive node was the most significant risk factor for distant metastasis. ECS is the most important pathologic factor in planning postoperative adjuvant treatment for pN+ patients with HNSCC, therefore ECS should be evaluated routinely after neck dissection. The value of postoperative radiotherapy in controlling the ECS-related recurrence after surgery is limited. Postoperative concurrent chemoradiotherapy and targeted therapy can be considered in HNSCC patients with ECS.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25501468,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Modelling recurrent events: a tutorial for analysis in epidemiology.\nIn many biomedical studies, the event of interest can occur more than once in a participant. These events are termed recurrent events. However, the majority of analyses focus only on time to the first event, ignoring the subsequent events. Several statistical models have been proposed for analysing multiple events. In this paper we explore and illustrate several modelling techniques for analysis of recurrent time-to-event data, including conditional models for multivariate survival data (AG, PWP-TT and PWP-GT), marginal means\/rates models, frailty and multi-state models. We also provide a tutorial for analysing such type of data, with three widely used statistical software programmes. Different approaches and software are illustrated using data from a bladder cancer project and from a study on lower respiratory tract infection in children in Brazil. Finally, we make recommendations for modelling strategy selection for analysis of recurrent event data.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35353158,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Cystic Granulosa Cell Tumors of the Ovary: An Analysis of 80 Cases of an Often Diagnostically Challenging Entity.\nGranulosa cell tumors (GCTs) of both adult (AGCT) and juvenile (JGCT) types can rarely be completely or dominantly cystic, creating diagnostic difficulty because the cyst lining epithelium is often denuded. To describe clinical, gross, microscopic, immunohistochemical, and molecular features of cystic GCTs with an emphasis on their differential diagnosis. We report 80 cystic GCTs (24 AGCTs and 56 JGCTs) in patients from ages 3 to 83 years (average ages, 35 years for AGCT and 22 years for JGCT). Nineteen of 43 patients with known clinical information (3 AGCT and 16 JGCT) had androgenic manifestations. All tumors were greater than 8 cm (average, 17 cm) with minimal to absent gross solid component. Denudation of cells lining the cysts was prominent. Invagination of the epithelium into the cyst walls was a key diagnostic feature, was present as cords, trabeculae, solid nests, and small and large follicles, and was identified in most tumors (17 AGCTs and 45 JGCTs). Cytologic atypia was essentially absent in AGCTs, whereas 14 JGCTs showed moderate to severe atypia of bizarre type. A theca cell component was present in all tumors and was extensive in 54. A FOXL2 hotspot mutation was identified in 1 of 4 AGCTs tested. Despite extensive denudation, the finding of typical architectural patterns and cytologic features as well as, in some cases, androgenic manifestations helps differentiate cystic GCTs from follicle cysts, the most common and challenging differential diagnosis, as well as other cystic neoplasms that may enter the differential diagnosis. FOXL2 sequencing may show a false-negative result in cystic AGCT because of the limited number of cells present within the tumor sample.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8343301,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[A large vertebrobasilar junction aneurysm grown at the proximal end of basilar artery fenestration--usefulness of balloon occlusion test with 99mTc-HMPAO SPECT under induced hypotension and consideration in therapeutic strategies].\nA 48-year-old lady suffered a transient loss of consciousness. CT and MRI revealed a large vascular lesion compressing the left lower pons. Angiography revealed a large aneurysm at vertebro-basilar junction, dome of which projected anteriorly and left to midline. Her previous vertebral angiogram taken 10 years ago when she suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage from the left MCA aneurysm, had showed a fenestration of lower basilar artery without apparent aneurysm. Bilateral super-selective vertebral angiograms revealed that the aneurysm arose at the proximal end of the fenestration, and vertebrobasilar junction was incorporated into the aneurysm indicating broad neck aneurysm. The left posterior communicating artery was well developed. Balloon test occlusion (BTO) of bilateral vertebral artery was performed under normotension and induced hypotension. 99mHM-PAO SPECT was used to examine cerebral blood flow (CBF) during hypotensive BTO. The patient tolerated the test and CBF imaging showed insignificant sight decrease in bilateral cerebellar hemispheres. Exploration of the aneurysm was carried out by the right far lateral suboccipital approach. Bilateral vertebral arteries and the right segment of the basilar artery fenestration were identified. Neck clipping of the aneurysm with reconstruction of the parent vessels were tried with fenestrate clip. However, narrow operative field and large dome of the aneurysm made it hard to identify the left segment of the fenestration. Neck clipping was given up and clipping of bilateral vertebral arteries were performed distal to posterior inferior cerebellar artery with three body clippings. The patient showed moderate postoperative left lower nerve palsy, which was gradually improved in several weeks. Follow-up angiography revealed no opacification of the aneurysm.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34241164,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A reformulation of time-dependent Kohn-Sham theory in terms of the second time derivative of the density.\nThe Kohn-Sham approach to time-dependent density-functional theory (TDDFT) can be formulated, in principle, exactly by invoking the force-balance equation for the density, which leads to an explicit expression for the exchange-correlation potential as an implicit density functional. It is shown that this suggests a reformulation of TDDFT in terms of the second time derivative of the density, rather than the density itself. The result is a time-local Kohn-Sham scheme of second-order in time whose causal structure is more transparent than that of the usual Kohn-Sham formalism. The scheme can be used to construct new approximations at the exchange-only level and beyond, and it offers a straightforward definition of the exact adiabatic approximation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23437889,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Complexation of triptycene-derived macrotricyclic polyether with paraquat derivatives, diquat, and a 2,7-diazapyrenium salt: guest-induced conformational changes of the host.\nComplexation between a triptycene-derived macrotricyclic polyether containing two dibenzo-[30]-crown-10 cavities and different functionalized paraquat derivatives, diquat, and a 2,7-diazapyrenium salt in both solution and solid state was investigated in detail. It was found that depending on the guests with different terminal functional groups and structures, the macrotricyclic polyether could form 1:1 or 1:2 complexes with the guests in different complexation modes in solution and also in the solid state. Especially, the conformation of the macrotricyclic polyether was efficiently adjusted by the encapsulated guests, which was to some extent similar to substrate-induced fit of enzymes. Moreover, the binding and releasing of the guests in the complexes could be controlled by potassium ions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9561611,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The effects of temperature, light and water upon the hatching of the ova of Schistosoma japonicum.\nEggs of Schistosoma japonicum were obtained from infected patients' feces from Yujiang City, China to observe the effects of temperature, light and water on the hatching of eggs. The temperature of water and light played important roles on the hatching of S. japonicum, but the type of water did not. A constant temperature of 28 degrees C and electrical light produced the highest rate of hatching, and reproducible results, whereas a temperature of 4 degrees C or 37 degrees C, and the absence of light inhabited the hatching of eggs. The percentage of eggs hatched during the first 8 hours of 24 hours incubation was 94.90%, so that using the hatching rate of the first 8 hours could approximate the total hatching rate of samples.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30661932,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Visual Complications of Pediatric Posterior Fossa Tumors: Analysis of Outcomes.\nVisual abnormalities are common among children with posterior fossa tumors, resulting from disruption of ocular afferent and efferent systems due to the tumor or surgery. This study describes the visual complications and outcomes associated with these tumors. Clinical and radiographic data of patients who underwent index surgery for resection of posterior fossa tumor from 2007 to 2016 were reviewed. Descriptive statistics, univariate, and multivariate regression were performed to assess factors contributing to visual acuity and postoperative strabismus. There were 182 patients who underwent posterior fossa craniotomy for neoplasm were included. Ophthalmologic symptoms were the fourth most common presenting complaint; initial ophthalmologic examination was abnormal in 40% of patients. Evaluation of visual acuity demonstrated a good outcome in 88% of patients following treatment. The most common postoperative oculomotor finding was esotropia (29%) which resolved spontaneously in more than half of patients. A good outcome was obtained in all patients who underwent surgery for esotropia. Hypertropia was noted in 14% of the cohort and less than half resolved spontaneously; less than half undergoing strabismus surgery for hypertropia had a good outcome. Multivariate analysis confirmed the association between cerebellar mutism and postoperative esotropia and hypertropia. Clinically significant pathological nystagmus was seen in 8% of the cohort. Our results indicate a good visual outcome in the majority of pediatric patients undergoing resection of posterior fossa tumors. Ophthalmologic complications should be appropriately evaluated and addressed to allow for the best possible vision to survivors of posterior fossa tumors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35342398,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"miR-4731-5p Enhances Apoptosis and Alleviates Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition through Targeting RPLP0 in Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer.\nBackground\/Aim. MircoRNA-4731-5p (miR-4731-5p) is a new miRNA involved in different human cancers, but its function has not been clarified in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The present study attended to resolve the role of miR-4731-5p in NSCLC. Materials and Methods. The expression level of miR-4731-5p or ribosomal protein large P0 (RPLP0) and NSCLC clinicopathologic characteristics were analyzed. The binding between miR-4731-5p and RPLP0 was confirmed by TargetScan prediction and luciferase reporter experiment. Also, the probable role of miR-4731-5p in NSCLC via RPLP0 was elaborated by the MTT, western blotting, immunofluorescence, transwell, flow cytometry, and TUNEL assays. Moreover, in vivo verification was conducted in xenografted nude mice. Results. The level of miR-4731-5p was notably declined in vivo and in vitro, which was involved in the prognosis of lung cancer patients. The miR-4731-5p mimic could remarkably restrain cell viability, invasion, and the translational expression level of vimentin and e-cadherin, with promoted cell apoptosis in NSCLC, which were notably reversed by RPLP0 overexpression. Conclusion. miR-4731-5p\/RPLP0 axis might be an underlying therapeutic target for NSCLC.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17185130,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Comparison of the antimicrobial efficacy of 1.3% NaOCl\/BioPure MTAD to 5.25% NaOCl\/15% EDTA for root canal irrigation.\nThe purpose of this study was to compare the antimicrobial efficacy of 1.3% NaOCl\/BioPure MTAD to 5.25% NaOCl\/15% EDTA for root canal irrigation. Twenty-six bilaterally matched pairs of human teeth were collected. The teeth were incubated with Enterococcus faecalis for 4 weeks. The teeth were divided into two experimental groups and one positive control group. The canals were instrumented and irrigated with either 5.25% NaOCl\/15% EDTA or 1.3% NaOCl\/BioPure MTAD. Bacterial samples were collected after instrumentation\/irrigation and after additional canal enlargement. Statistical analysis of the data using the Wilcoxon Signed Rank test showed significant differences between the experimental groups. The first bacterial samples revealed growth in 0 of 20 samples with 5.25% NaOCl\/15% EDTA irrigation and in 8 of 20 samples with 1.3% NaOCl\/BioPure MTAD irrigation. Samples taken after additional canal enlargement revealed growth in 0 of 20 samples in 5.25% NaOCl\/15% EDTA and in 10 of 20 samples in 1.3% NaOCl\/BioPure MTAD group. This investigation showed consistent disinfection of infected root canals with 5.25% NaOCl\/15% EDTA. The combination of 1.3% NaOCl\/BioPure MTAD left nearly 50% of the canals contaminated with E. faecalis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25518763,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Primary cutaneous nocardiosis.\nNocardiosis is a rare human infection due to ubiquitous soil born gram-positive, filametous aerobic bacteria. First signs are frequently cutaneous either as part of systemic infection disseminated to the skin, or as primary cutaneous inoculation. An 88 years old man presented with a 3-day history of red papules and pustules with pain on his forehead. The combination of the unusual clinical presentation, laboratory examinations, and a favorable response to co-trimoxazole therapy were consistent with a diagnosis of primary cuteneous nocardiosis. Early recognition and treatment of the disease will improve the cure rate.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9548674,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Chronic pancreatitis: overview of medical aspects.\nBased primarily on our experience, we review current problems on etiology, pathogenesis, classification, diagnosis, and treatment of chronic pancreatitis. Much of the confusion and difficulty associated with chronic pancreatitis originates from the relative inaccessibility of this organ. A lack of specific and sensitive markers that are suitable for the follow-up of a long natural course of chronic pancreatitis also hinders our understanding of this disease. The resolution of the present imaging tests, even by the latest technology, is not good enough to detect early changes of the pancreas. In the past 10 years, several subgroups of patients with alcoholic and idiopathic pancreatitis have been identified based on the long-term follow-up study. Pain disappeared spontaneously in many patients during the course of the disease, but its mechanism is still poorly understood. Removal of pancreatic stones and protein plugs by chemical, endoscopic, or extracorporeal shock-wave therapy has been tried with some success, but their clinical values remain to be established. Attempts have been made to understand the etiology and pathogenesis of chronic pancreatitis at molecular levels. This approach, together with a prospective follow-up of patients, will improve our understanding on chronic pancreatitis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3035208,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The 160,000-Mr virion protein encoded at the right end of the herpesvirus saimiri genome is homologous to the 140,000-Mr membrane antigen encoded at the left end of the Epstein-Barr virus genome.\nThe sequence of 4.4 kilobase pairs (kbp) from the conventional right terminus of the A + T-rich light-DNA (L-DNA) sequences of the herpesvirus saimiri (HVS) genome contains a leftward-directed open reading frame (ORF) for a 1,299-residue protein. The molecular weight predicted for the protein (143,000) is in good agreement with the estimates of 150,000 to 160,000 for the major nonglycosylated polypeptide of the virion tegument (the 160K polypeptide), previously shown to be encoded by this region of the genome. The first initiation codon of the ORF is only 250 nucleotides from the junction of the L-DNA component with the G + C-rich terminal reiterations (i.e., heavy or H-DNA) of the genome. An unusually A + T-rich sequence (43 of 45 nucleotides are A or T, relative to a mean composition of 40% G + C for the ORF) occurs some 75 bp 5' to this initiation codon, and the first adenylation signal (AATAAA) on this DNA strand occurs 18 bp 3' to the termination codon. The amino acid sequence predicted for the 160K protein of HVS is homologous over most of its length to the 1,318-residue protein encoded by the leftmost major ORF of the G + C-rich genome of Epstein-Barr virus (BNRF1, the 140K nonglycosylated membrane antigen). No homology to either of these proteins is evident among the products predicted from the complete sequence of the alpha herpesvirus varicella-zoster virus. Thus gamma herpesviruses with coding sequences which differ in mean nucleotide composition by some 20% G + C have homologous proteins encoded at similar positions with respect to genome termini, with the right end of HVS being homologous to the left end of Epstein-Barr virus.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28286081,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"In vitro evaluation of the genotoxicity of poly(anhydride) nanoparticles designed for oral drug delivery.\nIn the last years, the development of nanomaterials has significantly increased due to the immense variety of potential applications in technological sectors, such as medicine, pharmacy and food safety. Focusing on the nanodevices for oral drug delivery, poly(anhydride) nanoparticles have received extensive attention due to their unique properties, such as their capability to develop intense adhesive interactions within the gut mucosa, their modifiable surface and their biodegradable and easy-to-produce profile. However, current knowledge of the possible adverse health effects as well as, toxicological information, is still exceedingly limited. Thus, we investigated the capacity of two poly(anhydride) nanoparticles, Gantrez\u00ae AN 119-NP (GN-NP) and Gantrez\u00ae AN 119 covered with mannosamine (GN-MA-NP), and their main bulk material (Gantrez\u00ae AN 119-Polymer), to induce DNA damage and thymidine kinase (TK+\/-) mutations in L5178Y TK+\/- mouse lymphoma cells after 24h of exposure. The results showed that GN-NP, GN-MA-NP and their polymer did not induce DNA strand breaks or oxidative damage at concentrations ranging from 7.4 to 600\u03bcg\/mL. Besides, the mutagenic potential of these nanoparticles and their polymer revealed no significant or biologically relevant gene mutation induction at concentrations up to 600\u03bcg\/mL under our experimental settings. Considering the non-genotoxic effects of GN-NP and GN-MA-NP, as well as their exceptional properties, these nanoparticles are promising nanocarriers for oral medical administrations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14529408,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-30":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Radiogenetic therapy: strategies to overcome tumor resistance.\nThe aim of cancer gene therapy is to selectively kill malignant cells at the tumor site, by exploiting traits specific to cancer cells and\/or solid tumors. Strategies that take advantage of biological features common to different tumor types are particularly promising, since they have wide clinical applicability. Much attention has focused on genetic methods that complement radiotherapy, the principal treatment modality, or that exploit hypoxia, the most ubiquitous characteristic of most solid cancers. The goal of this review is to highlight two promising gene therapy methods developed specifically to target the tumor volume that can be readily used in combination with radiotherapy. The first approach uses radiation-responsive gene promoters to control the selective expression of a suicide gene (e.g., herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase) to irradiated tissue only, leading to targeted cell killing in the presence of a prodrug (e.g., ganciclovir). The second method utilizes oxygen-dependent promoters to produce selective therapeutic gene expression and prodrug activation in hypoxic cells, which are refractive to conventional radiotherapy. Further refining of tumor targeting can be achieved by combining radiation and hypoxia responsive elements in chimeric promoters activated by either and dual stimuli. The in vitro and in vivo studies described in this review suggest that the combination of gene therapy and radiotherapy protocols has potential for use in cancer care, particularly in cases currently refractory to treatment as a result of inherent or hypoxia-mediated radioresistance.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34237833,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Stereospecific (Conrotatory) Photochemical Ring Opening of Alkylcyclobutenes in the Gas Phase and in Solution. Ring Opening from the Rydberg Excited State or by Hot Ground State Reaction?\nThe photochemistry of 1,2-dimethylcyclobutene and cis- and trans-1,2,3,4-tetramethylcyclobutene has been studied in the gas phase (1 atm; SF6 buffer) and in hydrocarbon solvents with 193-, 214-, and 228-nm light sources. The major products are the isomeric dienes from electrocyclic ring opening and 2-butyne + alkene (ethylene or E-\/Z- 2-butene) due to formal [2+2]-cycloreversion. The total yields of dienes relative to 2-butyne are generally higher in the gas phase than in solution but decrease with increasing excitation wavelength under both sets of conditions. In the case of cis-1,2,3,4-tetramethylcyclobutene, 228-nm photolysis results in the stereospecific formation of E,Z-3,4-dimethyl-2,4-hexadiene[Formula: see text]the isomer corresponding to ring opening by the thermally allowed (conrotatory) electrocyclic pathway[Formula: see text]in both the gas phase and solution. All three diene isomers are obtained upon 228-nm photolysis of trans-1,2,3,4-tetramethylcyclobutene, but control experiments suggest that the thermally allowed isomers (E,E- and Z,Z-3,4-dimethyl-2,3-hexadiene) are probably the primary products in this case as well. The results are consistent with cycloreversion resulting from excitation of the low-lying \u03c0,R(3s) singlet state and with ring opening proceeding by at least two different mechanisms depending on excitation wavelength. The first, which dominates at short wavelengths, is thought to involve direct reaction of the second excited singlet (\u03c0,\u03c0*) state of the cyclobutene. The second mechanism, which dominates at long wavelengths, is proposed to ensue either directly from the lowest energy (Rydberg) state or from upper vibrational levels of the ground state, populated by internal conversion from this excited state.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28733782,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1}}},"text":"Catheter Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation: An Overview for Clinicians.\nCatheter ablation (CA) of atrial fibrillation (AF) is currently one of the most commonly performed electrophysiology procedures. Ablation of paroxysmal AF is based on the elimination of triggers by pulmonary vein isolation (PVI), while different strategies for additional AF substrate modification on top of PVI have been proposed for ablation of persistent AF. Nowadays, various technologies for AF ablation are available. The radiofrequency point-by-point ablation navigated by electro-anatomical mapping system and cryo-balloon technology are comparable in terms of the efficacy and safety of the PVI procedure. Long-term success of AF ablation including multiple procedures varies from 50 to 80%. Arrhythmia recurrences commonly occur, mostly due to PV reconnection. The recurrences are particularly common in patients with non-paroxysmal AF, dilated left atrium and the \"early recurrence\" of AF within the first 2-3 post-procedural months. In addition, this complex procedure can be accompanied by serious complications, such as cardiac tamponade, stroke, atrio-esophageal fistula and PV stenosis. Therefore, CA represents a second-line treatment option after a trial of antiarrhythmic drug(s). Good candidates for the procedure are relatively younger patients with symptomatic and frequent episodes of AF, with no significant structural heart disease and no significant left atrial enlargement. Randomized trials demonstrated the superiority of ablation compared to antiarrhythmic drugs in terms of improving the quality of life and symptoms in AF patients. However, nonrandomized studies reported additional clinical benefits from ablation over drug therapy in selected AF patients, such as the reduction of the mortality and stroke rates and the recovery of tachyarrhythmia-induced cardiomyopathy. Future research should enable the creation of more durable ablative lesions and the selection of the optimal lesion set in each patient according to the degree of atrial remodeling. This could provide better long-term CA success and expand indications for the procedure, especially among the patients with non-paroxysmal AF.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37840533,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Betaine alleviates doxorubicin-induced nephrotoxicity by preventing oxidative insults, inflammation, and fibrosis through the modulation of Nrf2\/HO-1\/NLRP3 and TGF-\u03b2 expression.\nDoxorubicin (Dox) is an anthracycline antibiotic used to treat various cancers and shows severe toxicity in multiple organ systems, including kidneys. Evidence shows that betaine's antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties could prevent the onset of several disorders. Hence, the present study aims to investigate the therapeutic potential of betaine on Dox-induced nephrotoxicity (DIN). Nephrotoxicity was induced in male Sprague Dawley rats using Dox at a dose of 4 mg\/kg (cumulative dose: 20 mg\/kg) by the intraperitoneal route and cotreated with betaine through oral gavage (200 and 400 mg\/kg) for 28 days. At the end of the experiment, biochemical, oxidative stress parameters, histopathology, and qRT-PCR were performed. DIN was indicated by elevated serum creatinine, urea, and decreased albumin levels representing kidney damage; the histopathological lesions (increased capsular space, renal tubule damage, and fibrosis) in renal tissues supported these biochemical findings. Interestingly, betaine treatment improves these alterations in Dox-treated rats. Further, betaine treatment decreases the lipid peroxidation and nitrite concentration and increases the superoxide dismutases and catalase enzyme concentration in Dox-treated rats. Fascinatingly, at the molecular level, DIN in rats shows upregulation of the Nrf2\/HO-1 gene, while betaine treatment attenuated its expression along with the downregulation of inflammatory genes (NLRP3, TLR-4, TNF-\u03b1, and IL-6) and fibrosis-related genes (TGF-\u03b2 and Acta2) expression in Dox-treated rats. These results showed that betaine has reno-protective properties by reducing inflammatory and fibrotic mediators and enhancing antioxidant capacity in the renal tissue of rats treated with Dox. We believe betaine can be exploited as a dietary supplement to attenuate DIN.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32347073,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Prokaryotic expression, purification and functional identification of epidermal pattern factors in Arabidopsis thaliana].\nStomatal density is important for crop yield. In this paper, we studied the epidermal pattern factors (EPFs) related to stomatal development. Prokaryotic expression vectors were constructed to obtain EPFs. Then the relationship between EPFs and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) was established. First, AtEPF1, AtEPF2 and AtEPFL9 were cloned and constructed to pET28a vectors. Then recombinant plasmids pET28a-AtEPF1, pET28a-AtEPF2 and pET28a-AtEPFL9 were digested and sequenced, showing successful construction. Finally, they were transformed into E. coli BL21(DE3) separately and induced to express by isopropyl \u03b2-D-galactoside (IPTG). The optimized expression conditions including IPTG concentration (0.5, 0.3 and 0.05 mmol\/L), temperature (28 \u00b0C, 28 \u00b0C and 16 \u00b0C) and induction time (16 h, 16 h and 20 h) were obtained. The bands of purified proteins were about 18 kDa, 19 kDa and 14.5 kDa, respectively. In order to identify their function, the purified AtEPF2 and AtEPFL9 were presented to Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings. Interestingly, the H2S production rate decreased or increased compared with the control, showing significant differences. That is, EPFs affected the production of endogenous H2S in plants. These results provide a foundation for further study of the relationship between H2S and EPFs on stomatal development, but also a possible way to increase the yield or enhance the stress resistance.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28256906,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Rehabilitation Protocols After Isolated Meniscal Repair: A Systematic Review.\nCurrent postoperative rehabilitation protocols after isolated meniscal repair vary widely. No consensus exists with regard to the optimal amount of weightbearing, range of motion, or speed at which the patient progresses through the rehabilitation phases. Confounding factors including concomitant ligamentous or cartilaginous injuries have made studying isolated meniscal tears problematic. To systematically review and evaluate the influence of range of motion and weightbearing status during the postoperative rehabilitation period after isolated meniscal repair on clinical efficacy and outcome scores. Systematic review. A search of PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials was conducted. The selection criteria for inclusion were English-language in vivo clinical studies reporting on isolated meniscal repairs utilizing an arthroscopically assisted technique that outlined the postoperative rehabilitation protocol and included at least a 2-year follow-up. Titles, abstracts, and articles were reviewed, and data concerning patient demographics, tear type, repair technique, postoperative protocol details, clinical failures, and outcome scores were extracted from the eligible studies. Rehabilitation protocols were divided into \"accelerated,\" \"motion restricted,\" \"weight restricted,\" and \"dual restricted\" according to the limitations placed on the treatment groups. Fifteen studies, containing 17 different treatment groups, met the inclusion criteria. The 2 accelerated groups, 2 motion-restricted groups, 4 weight-restricted groups, and 9 dual-restricted groups showed similar efficacy in terms of clinical success and postoperative outcome scores. Early range of motion and weightbearing status showed no influence over clinical outcomes. Of the 17 groups, 13 reported a greater than 70% clinical success rate with significant variation in the tear type, fixation technique, and postoperative restrictions. Early range of motion and immediate postoperative weightbearing appear to have no detrimental effect on the chances for clinical success after isolated meniscal repair. Significant variation exists between postoperative protocols, with no current consensus on the ideal parameters for weightbearing and range of motion. Studies reporting outcomes regarding isolated meniscal repair are limited. Future research should include determining the ideal combination of weightbearing and range of motion for specific tear types.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32355880,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cellulose nanofiber dispersion as a new submucosal injection material for endoscopic treatment: preliminary experimental study.\nBackground and aims Although various solutions have been tested for submucosal injections during endoscopic treatment, the ideal solution has not been established. We investigated the suitability of a cellulose nanofiber (CNF) dispersion with high viscosity and thixotropy as a potential submucosal injection material for endoscopic treatment. Methods We evaluated the catheter injectability and mucosa-elevating capacity of CNF dispersion compared with sodium hyaluronate (SH) solution, which has been reported to be a promising submucosal injection solution. The catheter injectability of CNF dispersion was examined under conditions equivalent to those used clinically in endoscopic treatment. The mucosa-elevating capacity of CNF dispersion was examined in porcine stomachs. Results There was no significant difference between the catheter injectability of 0.4 % CNF dispersion and 0.4 % SH solutions; however, 0.4 % CNF dispersion maintained significantly higher and longer elevation of the submucosal layer than 0.4 % SH solution. A clear separation of the mucosal layer from the underlying muscle layer was achieved by injecting 0.4 % CNF dispersion. Conclusion This preliminary study suggests that CNF dispersion could be an ideal submucosal injection material for endoscopic treatment because of its unique high thixotropy index.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23459988,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Construction of flame retardant nanocoating on ramie fabric via layer-by-layer assembly of carbon nanotube and ammonium polyphosphate.\nA new flame retardant nanocoating has been constructed by the alternate adsorption of polyelectrolyte amino-functionalized multiwall carbon nanotube (MWNT-NH2) and ammonium polyphosphate (APP) onto flexible and porous ramie fabric. Scanning electron microscopy indicates that the adsorbed carbon nanotube coating is a randomly oriented and overlapped network structure, which is a promising candidate for flame retardancy applications. Attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis confirm that the APP is successfully incorporated into the multilayers sequentially. Assessment of the thermal and flammability properties for the pristine and nanocoated ramie fabrics shows that the thermal stability, flame retardancy and residual char are enhanced as the concentration of MWNT-NH2 suspension and number of deposition cycles increases. The enhancements are mostly attributed to the barrier effect of intumescent network structure, which is composed of MWNT-NH2 and the absorbed APP.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6724159,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Physicians' and physical therapists' evaluations of cerebral-palsied children for Achilles tendon lengthening.\nTen orthopedic surgeons and 10 physical therapists working with spastic cerebral-palsied children were interviewed about the evaluation process they used to assess surgical lengthening of the achilles tendon. Objective and subjective considerations were described and wide variations in responses were found. No single evaluation criterion or subjective factor was mentioned by the majority of either group. In addition, the extent of interprofessional collaboration in presurgical assessment was described. Those respondents who consulted with other health professionals closely agreed about the purpose of the consultation. It is concluded clinicians need to identify more precisely the essential components of the evaluation process for this type of surgery.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31247979,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"(F)uridylylated Peptides Linked to VPg1 of Foot-and- Mouth Disease Virus (FMDV): Design, Synthesis and X-Ray Crystallography of the Complexes with FMDV RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase.\nFoot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) is an RNA virus belonging to the Picornaviridae family that contains three small viral proteins (VPgs), named VPg1, VPg2 and VPg3, linked to the 5'-end of the viral genome. These VPg proteins act as primers for RNA replication, which is initiated by the consecutive binding of two UMP molecules to the hydroxyl group of Tyr3 in VPg. This process, termed uridylylation, is catalyzed by the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase named 3Dpol. 5-Fluorouridine triphosphate (FUTP) is a potent competitive inhibitor of VPg uridylylation. Peptide analysis showed FUMP covalently linked to the Tyr3 of VPg. This fluorouridylylation prevents further incorporation of the second UMP residue. The molecular basis of how the incorporated FUMP blocks the incorporation of the second UMP is still unknown. To investigate the mechanism of inhibition of VPg uridylylation by FUMP, we have prepared a simplified 15-mer model of VPg1 containing FUMP and studied its x-ray crystal structure in complex with 3Dpol. Unfortunately, the fluorouridylylated VPg1 was disordered and not visible in the electron density maps; however, the structure of 3Dpol in the presence of VPg1-FUMP showed an 8 \u00c5 movement of the \u03b29-\u03b111 loop of the polymerase towards the active site cavity relative to the complex of 3Dpol with VPg1-UMP. The conformational rearrangement of this loop preceding the 3Dpol B motif seems to block the access of the template nucleotide to the catalytic cavity. This result may be useful in the design of new antivirals against not only FMDV but also other picornaviruses, since all members of this family require the uridylylation of their VPg proteins to initiate the viral RNA synthesis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26468365,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Association of Panton-Valentine leukocidin and mecA Genes in Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Isolates From Patients Referred to Educational Hospitals in Ahvaz, Iran.\nStaphylococcus aureus, an important human pathogen is one of the main causative agents of nosocomial infection. Virulence genes play a major role in the pathogenicity of this agent and its infections. Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates are major challenge among infectious agents that can cause severe infections and mortality. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus produces a unique type of Penicillin Binding Protein 2a (PBP2a) that has low affinity for \u03b2-lactam antibiotics. Most of the MRSA bacterial strains can also produce a leukotoxin as Panton-Valentine Leukocidin (PVL) that increases the virulence of MRSA strains and can cause severe necrotic pneumonia. The presence of pvl gene is a genetic marker for the MRSA populations. The aim of this study was to explore the association of pvl and mecA genes in clinical isolates of MRSA. Fifty MRSA isolates were collected from 200 clinical samples from three different educational hospitals in Ahvaz, Iran, and identified by biochemical tests including catalase, oxidase, tube coagulase, mannitol fermentation, and sensitivity to furazolidone, resistance to bacitracin, PYR test and Voges-Proskauer test. Their resistance to methicillin was evaluated using the disc diffusion method. DNA was extracted by boiling and then the presence of pvl and mecA genes was investigated by the polymerase chain reaction method using specific primers. The results revealed that mecA and pvl genes were positive for 15 (30%) and 3 (6%) of the isolates, respectively. None of mecA positive isolates was positive for pvl gene. It can be concluded from these results that fortunately the prevalence of pvl gene is low in MRSA isolates in this region and there is no association between the presence of pvl and mecA genes in these isolates.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37467290,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Trace Tungsten Microalloying PtCuCo Medium Entropy Alloys: Substructure Reconstruction-Triggered High-Performance for PEMFC.\nRefractory metals (W, Nb, or Mo) microalloying Pt-based alloys with unprecedented performance may serve as advanced electrocatalysts for proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). These alloys are endowed with unique stabilizing substructures or lattice defects through the microalloying effect. Herein, trace W microalloying PtCuCo medium entropy alloys (W-PtCuCo) are reported via a stepwise synthesis strategy, starting with home-made Cu nanowires as sacrificial templates by anhydrous solid-phase milling route, and then followed by galvanic replacement-assisted solvothermal in ethylene glycol (EG). In PEMFC tests, the obtained W-PtCuCo exhibits an ultrahigh peak power density and mass power density (relative to cathode) reaching 2.09 W cm-2 and 20.9 W mgPt -1 , respectively. During the accelerated degradation test (ADT), the mass activity just lost only 3% after 30 k cycles, much better than the above benchmark catalyst. The microalloying-dependent performances shall be attributed to the presence of abundant stepped surfaces, twisted edges, and other lattice defects terminated by W via substructure reconstruction that indeed alters the electronic structure and strain level of the alloys. This work first provides an atomic-level insight into the microalloying-dependent electrocatalytic performance of Pt-based alloys, which is of great significance for developing next-generation efficient catalysts for PEMFC.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":2785074,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Changes in intraepithelial lymphocyte subpopulations in coeliac disease and enteropathy associated T cell lymphoma (malignant histiocytosis of the intestine).\nStudies of the morphologic and phenotypic diversity of intraepithelial T cells in human small intestine have shown them to be heterogeneous, yet distinct from most extra intestinal T cells. In this study sequential immunoenzymatic staining was used to define new intraepithelial lymphocyte subpopulations in man. In normal human jejunum approximately 6% of the intraepithelial T cells expressing CD3 (an antigen associated with the T cell receptor) do not express the T cell subset antigens CD4 or CD8. Approximately 20% of CD7+ cells (T cells and null cells) do not express CD4 or CD8 and 14% of the CD7+ cells do not express CD3 and are therefore not T cells. The CD7+, CD3+\/-, CD4-, CD8- population is concentrated in the tips of the villi. In coeliac disease, the ratios of the subsets change significantly. The percentage of CD3+, 4-, 8- cells increases to 28%, the proportion of CD7+, 4-, 8- cells remains unchanged and the CD7+, CD3- (non-T cell) population is reduced to 1.4% of the CD7+ cells. In contrast, in patients with villous atrophy of uncertain aetiology, all CD4-, CD8- lymphocyte subsets are decreased compared with normal biopsies. Finally, in enteropathy associated T cell lymphoma (malignant histiocytosis of the intestine) in which the 'uninvolved mucosa' is histologically similar to untreated coeliac disease, the changes in the intraepithelial T cell sub-sets are indistinguishable from those in coeliac disease, suggesting that the lymphoma is a complication of coeliac disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6721022,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Outbreak of illness due to volatilized asphalt coming from a malfunctioning fluorescent lighting fixture.\nWe investigated an outbreak of headache, eye irritation, sore throat, nasal congestion, and nausea in an office complex, ongoing for three months and regularly resolved upon leaving the building. Investigation suggested that the etiology of the illness was malfunctioning fluorescent light ballasts , which overheated and resulted in melting and volatilization of contained asphalt . Correction of the problem resulted in almost complete disappearance of symptoms within two weeks.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16985905,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Female pelvic floor anatomy: the pelvic floor, supporting structures, and pelvic organs.\nThe development of novel, less invasive therapies for stress urinary incontinence in women requires a thorough knowledge of the relationship between the pathophysiology of incontinence and anatomy. This article provides a review of the anatomy of the pelvic floor and lower urinary tract. Also discussed is the hammock hypothesis, which describes urethral support within the pelvis and provides an explanation of the continence mechanism.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15259652,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A procedure to determine the radiation isocenter size in a linear accelerator.\nMeasurement of radiation isocenter is a fundamental part of commissioning and quality assurance (QA) for a linear accelerator (linac). In this work we present an automated procedure for the analysis of the stars-shots employed in the radiation isocenter determination. Once the star-shot film has been developed and digitized, the resulting image is analyzed by scanning concentric circles centered around the intersection of the lasers that had been previously marked on the film. The center and the radius of the minimum circle intersecting the central rays are determined with an accuracy and precision better than 1% of the pixel size. The procedure is applied to the position and size determination of the radiation isocenter by means of the analysis of star-shots, placed in different planes with respect to the gantry, couch and collimator rotation axes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28564244,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"HYPOTHESES FOR THE PRODUCTION OF EXCESS ZYGOTES: MODELS OF BET-HEDGING AND SELECTIVE ABORTION.\nTwo hypotheses can explain the overproduction of zygotes. Bet-hedging assumes that optimal brood size varies unpredictably among breeding attempts. Excess zygotes are produced so that the number of independent offspring can be flexibly adjusted downward to the optimum number for that attempt. Selective abortion suggests that parents overproduce zygotes, identify those with the highest fitness expectations, then kill or abandon those with lower fitness in order to concentrate investment in those with the best prospects. Both hypotheses for the overproduction of zygotes work in principle, alone or together, and can lead to impressive levels of zygote overproduction. For both hypotheses, high levels of zygote overproduction are only attained when the unit cost of an aborted embryo is low relative to the cost of an independent offspring. Under bet-hedging, it is also important that the variability of environmental conditions important for breeding success be high. The two hypotheses together make clear when a parent could increase its fitness by killing or abandoning its offspring.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9553775,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"IL-4, IL-5 and IL-10 are not required for the control of M. bovis-BCG infection in mice.\nMycobacterial infections in mice are normally characterized by a profound Th1 cell-mediated immune response, in which T cells secrete large amounts of IFN-gamma. Recent evidence suggests that this response also includes a Th2 component. In order to investigate whether production of IL-4, IL-5, or IL-10 influenced the outcome of a Mycobacterium bovis-bacille Calmette-Gu\u00e9rin (BCG) infection, we intranasally infected IL-4, IL-5, and IL-10 gene-deficient and control mice and monitored the resulting immune response and bacterial clearance. IL-4, IL-5, and IL-10 deficient mice cleared the mycobacteria with the same kinetics as control mice. Furthermore, T cells of cytokine deficient and control mice produced similar levels of IFN-gamma following in vitro stimulation with purified protein derivative (PPD) from M. bovis. We conclude that the cytokines IL-4, IL-5 and IL-10 are not essential for and do not negatively influence the protective immune response against M. bovis-BCG in the lung of mice.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35348933,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"In silico analysis of nitrilase-3 protein from Corynebacterium glutamicum for bioremediation of nitrile herbicides.\nThe nitrile compounds are produced either naturally or synthetically and are highly used in many manufacturing industries such as pharmaceuticals, pesticides, chemicals, and polymers. However, the extensive use and accumulation of these nitrile compounds have caused severe environmental pollution. Nitrilated herbicides are one such toxic substance that will persist in the soil for a long time. Therefore, effective measures must be taken to avoid its pollution to the environment. A variety of nitrile-converting bacterial species have the ability to convert these toxic substances into less toxic ones by using enzymatic processes. Among the bacterial groups, actinobacteria family members show good degradation capacity on these pollutants. The soil-dwelling Gram-positive industrial microbe Corynebacterium glutamicum is one such family member and its nitrile-degradation pathway is not well studied yet. In order to understand the effectiveness of using C. glutamicum for the degradation of such nitrile herbicides, an in silico approach has been done. In this perspective, this work focus on the structural analysis and molecular docking studies of C. glutamicum with nitrilated herbicides such as dichlobenil, bromoxynil, and chloroxynil. The bioinformatics analysis using different tools and software helped to confirm that the genome of C. glutamicum ATCC 13032 species have genes (cg 3093) codes for carbon-nitrogen hydrolase enzyme, which specifically act on non-peptide bond present in the nitrile compounds. The conserved domain analysis indicated that this protein sequence was nitrilase-3 and comes under the nitrilase superfamily. The multiple sequence alignment analysis confirmed that the conserved catalytic triad residues were 40E, 115K, and 151C, and the existence of nitrilase-3 protein in the genome of Corynebacterium sp. was evaluated by a phylogenetic tree. The analysis of physico-chemical properties revealed that alanine is the most abounded amino acid (10.20%) in the nitrilase-3 protein, and these properties influence the substrate specificity of aliphatic and aromatic nitrile compounds. The homology modelled protein showed better affinity towards nitrile herbicides such as 2,6-dichlorobenzamide (BAM) and 3,5-dichloro-4-hydroxy-benzamide (CIAM) with the affinity value of - 5.8 and - 5.7 kcal\/mol respectively. The in silico studies manifested that C. glutamicum ATCC 13032 is one of the promising strains for the bioremediation of nitrilated herbicides contaminated soil.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22697039,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[The efficacy of music and music therapy in the neuromotor rehabilitation].\nThis article review includes the controlled and randomized controlled trials about the use of music and music therapy techniques in the neuromotor rehabilitation. The paper defines the music therapy and delineates the neuroscientific bases and rehabilitative potential of music and music therapy interventions. Significant results are present in the stroke and Parkinson's disease rehabilitation. The Author's conclusions suggest the need of more rigorous studies based on clear procedures and strong methodological research criteria.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17200436,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mechanisms of oxidative stress-induced increase in salt sensitivity and development of hypertension in Sprague-Dawley rats.\nHigh salt intake produces vascular changes that contribute to the development of hypertension in salt-sensitive individuals. Because reactive oxygen species play a role in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases, we investigated whether oxidative stress contributes to salt-sensitive hypertension. Sprague-Dawley rats were divided in different groups and received tap water (vehicle), 30 mmol\/L of l-buthionine sulfoximine ([BSO] an oxidant), high salt ([HS] 1% NaCl), and BSO plus HS without and with antioxidant tempol (1 mmol\/L) in drinking water for 12 days. Compared with vehicle, BSO treatment caused oxidative stress and mild increase in blood pressure. Thoracic aortic rings from BSO-treated rats exhibited decreased response to endothelium-independent vasorelaxants. In HS-treated rats, the response to vasoactive agents, as well as blood pressure, was unaffected. Concomitant treatment of rats with BSO and HS produced a marked increase in blood pressure and a decreased response to both endothelium-dependent and endothelium-independent vasorelaxants with an increase in EC(50). Incubation of aortic tissue from BSO-treated rats with sodium nitroprusside showed decreased cGMP accumulation, whereas HS rats had decreased basal NO synthase activity. Tempol decreased oxidative stress, normalized blood pressure, and restored NO signaling and responses to vasoactive compounds in BSO and BSO plus HS rats. We conclude that BSO increases oxidative stress and reduces NO signaling, whereas HS reduces NO levels by decreasing the NO synthase activity. These phenomena collectively result in reduced responsiveness to both endothelium -dependent and endothelium- independent vasorelaxants and may contribute to salt-sensitive hypertension.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28704352,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Racial and Geographic Differences in Breastfeeding - United States, 2011-2015.\nBreastfeeding provides numerous health benefits for infants and mothers alike. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends exclusive breastfeeding for approximately the first 6 months of life and continued breastfeeding with complementary foods through at least the first year (1). National estimates indicate substantial differences between non-Hispanic black (black) and non-Hispanic white (white) infants across breastfeeding indicators in the United States (2). CDC analyzed 2011-2015 National Immunization Survey (NIS) data for children born during 2010-2013 to describe breastfeeding initiation, exclusivity through 6 months and duration at 12 months among black and white infants. Among the 34 states (including the District of Columbia [DC]) with sufficient sample size (\u226550 per group), initiation rates were significantly (p<0.05) lower among black infants than white infants in 23 states; in 14 of these states (primarily in the South and Midwest), the difference was at least 15 percentage points. A significant difference of at least 10 percentage points was identified in exclusive breastfeeding through 6 months in 12 states and in breastfeeding at 12 months in 22 states. Despite overall increases in breastfeeding rates for black and white infants over the last decade, racial disparities persist. Interventions specifically addressing barriers to breastfeeding for black women are needed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11639637,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Investigation on an ancient edition of On Five Viscera unearthed in Dunhuang-Turfan].\nCareful investigation on three different ancient editions of On Five Viscera reveals that all the following editions, viz. the latter parts of A and C edition of Zhang Zhongjing's On Five Viscera, Treating humankind of classified collectics of recipes, are ancient editions of Zhang Zhongjing's On Five Viscera which are derived from a common source edition. Since the contents of Zhang Zhongjing's and Jiva's On Five Viscera are basically the same; they are all apocryphal books. This paper also summarizes the achievements of these three books, including macrocosm-microcosm unison, anatomy, three-segment theory of human body, acupoints, and herbology.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7947762,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2013-20":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"New type of linkage between a carbohydrate and a protein: C-glycosylation of a specific tryptophan residue in human RNase Us.\nWe report a new type of linkage between a carbohydrate and a protein, involving the rarely modified side chain of a tryptophan residue. An aldohexopyranosyl residue was found to be linked via a C-C bond to the indole ring of the tryptophan residue at position 7 of human RNase Us. Mass spectrometric analysis of peptides containing this residue showed a molecular mass 162 Da higher than that expected for tryptophan. The fragmentation pattern of the modified amino acid side chain was reminiscent of that of aromatic C-glycosides, suggesting a direct attachment of a hexose residue to a C-position of the tryptophan indole moiety. 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopic data confirmed this inference and unequivocally demonstrated the substituent to be an aldohexopyranosyl residue, C-glycosidically linked to the C2 atom of the indole. This mode of attachment differs from the ones known so far, in which carbohydrates are linked to an amino acid side chain by N- or O-glycosidic bonds.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28369076,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Transient chromatin properties revealed by polymer models and stochastic simulations constructed from Chromosomal Capture data.\nChromatin organization can be probed by Chromosomal Capture (5C) data, from which the encounter probability (EP) between genomic sites is presented in a large matrix. This matrix is averaged over a large cell population, revealing diagonal blocks called Topological Associating Domains (TADs) that represent a sub-chromatin organization. To study the relation between chromatin organization and gene regulation, we introduce a computational procedure to construct a bead-spring polymer model based on the EP matrix. The model permits exploring transient properties constrained by the statistics of the 5C data. To construct the polymer model, we proceed in two steps: first, we introduce a minimal number of random connectors inside restricted regions to account for diagonal blocks. Second, we account for long-range frequent specific genomic interactions. Using the constructed polymer, we compute the first encounter time distribution and the conditional probability of three key genomic sites. By simulating single particle trajectories of loci located on the constructed polymers from 5C data, we found a large variability of the anomalous exponent, used to interpret live cell imaging trajectories. The present polymer construction provides a generic tool to study steady-state and transient properties of chromatin constrained by some physical properties embedded in 5C data.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28250366,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evaluation of team-based learning in a doctor of physical therapy curriculum in the United States.\nThe purpose of this retrospective study was to evaluate students' academic outcomes after implementation of the team-based learning (TBL) approach in patient\/client management courses in an entry-level doctor of physical therapy (DPT) curriculum. The research design of this study involved comparing written and practical exam scores from DPT student cohorts taught with the traditional instructional methods (lecture-based) to those of students from subsequent cohorts taught using the TBL approach in two patient\/client management courses: basic skills and cardiopulmonary. For this comparison, the exams used, the number of contact hours and labs, and the instructors who taught these courses remained the same during the transition between these two instructional methods (traditional vs. TBL). The average of all individual course exam scores was used for data analysis. In both courses, there were no meaningful differences in the mean exam scores among students across years of cohorts receiving the same instructional method, which allowed clustering students from different years of cohorts in each course receiving the same instructional method into one group. For both courses, the mean exam score was significantly higher in the TBL group than in the traditional instruction group: basic skills course (P<0.001) and cardiopulmonary course (P<0.001). Student cohorts taught using the TBL approach academically outperformed those who received the traditional instructional method in both entry-level DPT patient\/client management courses.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37667737,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Acupuncture and Tuina Treatment for Gross Motor Function in Children with Spastic Cerebral Palsy: A Monocentric Clinical Study.\nCerebral palsy (CP) is a condition characterized by abnormal pronunciation, posture, and movement, particularly spastic CP, which involves Gross motor dysfunction due to increased muscle tone and stiffness. This monocentric clinical study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of acupuncture and tuina (AT) in improving gross motor function and alleviating associated symptoms in children diagnosed with spastic CP. A total of 83 eligible patients received AT treatment, while 85 patients received conventional rehabilitation treatment. Both groups underwent a 12-week treatment period following the research protocol. Pre- and post-treatment assessments included the Modified Ashworth Muscle Tension Scale (MAS), Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM-D and GMFM-E), 6-min walking distance measurement (6MWD), and Modified Children's Functional Independence Rating Scale (WeeFIM). After 12 weeks of treatment, when compared with baseline, the scores of MAS in both AT group and control group are decreased (p<0.01, p<0.01), the scores of GMFM-D, GMFME, 6MWD, WeeFIM in both group are increased (p<0.01 in all indicators). When compared with control group, AT group had significantly lower MAS scores compared to the control group (p<0.01), indicating reduced muscle tension. Moreover, AT group showed significantly higher scores in GMFM-D, GMFM-E, 6MWD, and WeeFIM compared to the control group (p<0.01 in all indicators), indicating improved gross motor function and functional independence. The study also revealed an inverse correlation between the children's age and treatment efficacy (r= -0.496, p<0.01 in AT group, r=-0.540, p<0.01 in control group), highlighting the importance of early intervention in the management of CP in children. These findings suggest that AT may effectively enhance gross motor function and alleviate associated symptoms in children diagnosed with spastic CP. Moreover, early initiation of treatment is crucial to maximize therapeutic efficacy in children with spastic CP. Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR2200059823. Registered on 12 May 2022.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29375013,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Comparison of visual and auditory emotion recognition in patients with cerebellar and Parkinson\u00b4s disease.\nWidespread cortical-subcortical networks are involved in the recognition and discrimination of emotional contents of facial and vocal expression, whereby the cerebellum and basal ganglia are two subcortical regions implicated in these networks with limited evidence to their specific contributions. To investigate this we compared patients with circumscribed cerebellar lesions and patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) on an approved test battery. We studied two groups with subcortical disease, focal cerebellar infarction (n = 22) and PD (n = 22), and a neurological control group with focal supratentorial ischemia (SI) (n = 16) were. Assessments were according to inpatient protocols for neuropsychological routine evaluation, including tests of memory, executive function and attention. Participants completed the Tuebingen Affect Battery, a recognized measure of recognition and discrimination of facial and vocal expression of emotion. As a result, cerebellar lesions were associated with greater impairment than PD and SI in recognition and discrimination of cues of both facial and vocal expressions of differing basic emotions. No confounding effect of other cognitive domains, particularly executive function and attention, was found. Taken together, our findings suggest a specific contribution of the cerebellum to cerebral networks that process facial and vocal emotion expression, related to rapid decisions regulating appropriate behavioral responses in social environments.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18579187,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Effects of hyperbaric oxygen therapy on tumor growth in murine model of PC-3 prostate cancer cell line.\nTo test the hypothesis that hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) has no effect on tumor growth in a murine model of indolent in vivo prostate cancer. HBO means breathing pure (100%) oxygen under increased atmospheric pressure. Human prostate PC-3 cells were injected into 40 severe combined-immunodeficient mice. They were randomized to undergo 20 sessions of either HBO or normobaric air in standardized conditions and observed for 4 weeks before histologic assessment of any palpable tumors that had developed. The analysis of the developed PC-3 tumors included tumor volume, microvessel density, apoptosis-associated markers (ie, p53, p27), and the proliferative index (Ki-67). The exposure to HBO at 2 atm for 20 treatment sessions, which comprised a daily 90-minute session, 5 d\/wk, had no effect on the prostate cancer volume (P > .05). No differences were observed in tumor microvessel density, proliferative index, or apoptosis markers compared with the non-HBO group (P > .05). HBO did not have a tumor stimulatory effect on prostate cancer and could potentially be used safely in conjunction with other therapeutic modalities.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37846086,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Remote Assessment of Real-World Surgical Safety Checklist Performance Using the OR Black Box: A Multi-Institutional Evaluation.\nLarge-scale evaluation of surgical safety checklist performance has been limited by the need for direct observation. The OR Black Box is a multi-channel surgical data capture platform that may allow for the holistic evaluation of checklist performance at scale. In this retrospective cohort study, data from 7 North American academic medical centers using the OR Black Box were collected between August 2020 and January 2022. All cases captured during this period were analyzed. Measures of checklist compliance, team engagement, and quality of checklist content review were investigated. Data from 7243 surgical procedures were evaluated. A time out was performed during most surgical procedures (98.4%, n=7127), while a debrief was performed during 62.3% (n=4510) of procedures. The mean percentage of OR staff who paused and participated during the time out and debrief were 75.5% (SD 25.1%) and 54.6% (SD 36.4%), respectively. A team introduction (performed 42.6% of the time) was associated with more prompts completed (31.3% vs. 18.7%, p<0.001), a higher engagement score (0.90 vs. 0.86, p<.001) and a higher percentage of team members who ceased other activities (80.3% vs. 72%, p<.001), during the time out. Remote assessment using OR Black Box data provides useful insight into surgical safety checklist performance. Many items included in the time out and debrief were not routinely discussed. Completion of a team introduction was associated with improved time out performance. There is potential to use OR Black Box metrics to improve intraoperative process measures.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37447035,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cloning and Functional Analysis of the VfRR17 Gene from tung tree (Vernicia fordii).\nTung tree (Vernicia fordii) is one of the four major woody oilseed species in China. However, its fruit yield is severely hampered by the low number of female flowers and the imbalanced male-to-female flower ratio, which is a problem that restricts the development of the oilseed industry. Previous research has demonstrated that the exogenous application of cytokinins can significantly augment the number of female flowers, although the underlying regulatory mechanism remains elusive. To elucidate the involvement of VfRR17, a member of the A-type ARRs family, in the exogenous cytokinin regulation of flower sexual differentiation in tung tree, this study conducted a comprehensive bioinformatic analysis of the physicochemical properties, structural characteristics, and evolutionary relationships of the protein encoded by VfRR17. Additionally, gene function analysis was performed using subcellular localization, qRT-PCR, and genetic transformation techniques. The findings revealed that the VfRR17 gene's coding region spanned 471 bp, encoding an unstable protein of 156 amino acids with a relative molecular mass of 17.4 kDa. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated a higher similarity between VfRR17 of the tung tree and the RR17 gene of Jatropha curcas, Ricinus communis, Hevea brasiliensis, and other species within the Euphorbiaceae family compared to other species, with the greatest similarity of 86% observed with the RR17 gene of Jatropha curcas. The qRT-PCR analysis indicated that VfRR17 exhibited high expression levels during the early stage of tung tree inflorescence buds following 6-BA treatment, peaking at 24 h and displaying a 3.47-fold increase compared to that at 0 h. In female and male flowers of the tung tree, the expression in female flowers during the 1 DBF period was significantly higher than in male flowers, exhibiting a difference of approximately 47.91-fold. Furthermore, notable differential expression was observed in the root, leaf, and petiole segments of the tung tree under low-temperature stress at the 12-h time point. In transgenic Arabidopsis, the VfRR17 lines and wild-type lines exhibited significantly different flowering times under an exogenous 6-BA treatment at a concentration of 2 mg\/L, with the VfRR17 lines experiencing an 11-day delay compared to the wild-type lines. Additionally, the number of fruit pods in VfRR17 transgenic Arabidopsis lines was significantly reduced by 28 compared to the wild-type lines at a 6-BA concentration of 3 mg\/L. These findings suggest that VfRR17 likely plays a critical role in regulating flower development in response to exogenous 6-BA, providing valuable insights into the mechanisms underlying exogenous 6-BA-mediated regulation of female flower development in the tung tree.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6929358,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Subacute toxicity of aclacinomycin A in rats (author's transl)].\nWistar rats, both male and female, were treated with aclacinomycin A at 4 dosage levels (0.375, 0.75, 1.5 and 3.0 mg\/kg\/day) by daily intraperitoneal injection for 30 days. Several rats died in the two higher dose groups (1.5 mg\/kg\/day: male 2\/8 and 3.0 mg\/kg: male 8\/8, female 8\/8. Piloerection, anorexia, depression of spontaneous activity, diarrhea and slight incontinence were observed in rats in 3.0 mg\/kg\/day dose group. Body weight gain decreased after day 3 in rats receiving 1.5 and 3.0 mg\/kg\/day. A significant decrease in the total WBC count and a slight decrease in RBC count were observed in animals of 1.5 mg\/kg\/day dose group which were survived for 30 days. Autopsy findings demonstrated atrophy of the thymus and spleen, and hyperemia and hemorrhage in the intestine. The atrophy of the thymus and decreased hematopoiesis in the bone marrow were histologically noted in the two highest dose groups. No cardiotoxicity was observed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27283114,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Attenuation and protection efficacy of ORF C gene-deleted recombinant of infectious laryngotracheitis virus.\nInfectious laryngotracheitis (ILT) is a highly contagious respiratory disease of chickens caused by infectious laryngotracheitis virus (ILTV). The disease is controlled by the use of live-attenuated vaccines. Previously we reported the complete nucleotide sequence of the ILTV vaccine strain (TCO) and identified a nonsense mutation in the gene encoding the ORF C protein. This suggested that the ORF C protein might be associated with viral virulence. To investigate this, an ILTV recombinant with a deletion in the gene encoding ORF C was constructed using the genome of the virulent United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) challenge strain (USDAch). Compared to the parental virus, the \u0394ORF C recombinant replicated in chicken kidney (CK) cells with similar kinetics and generated similar titres. This demonstrated that the ORF C deletion had no deleterious effects on replication efficacy in vitro. In chickens, the recombinant induced only minor microscopic tracheal lesions when inoculated via the intra-tracheal\/ocular route, while the parental strain induced moderate to severe microscopic tracheal lesions, even though virus load in the tracheas were comparable. Groups of chickens vaccinated via eye-drop with the \u2206ORFC-ILTV were protected to levels comparable to those elicited by TCO vaccination. To our knowledge, this is the first report that demonstrates the suitability of \u2206ORFC as a live-attenuated vaccine to prevent the losses caused by ILTV.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16158758,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Medical social features of women subjected to extra-corporal fertilization].\nIn municipal Center of human reproduction, city of Almaty, medical social examination of 419 women subjected to extra-corporal fertilization was organized. Clinical statistical evaluation of health of their new-born infants was carried out. It is established that females, suffering of sterility and resorting to extra-corporal fertilization, are attributed with peculiar social medical features. Mostly, these are women aged of 25-35 years, employee or housewife, highly educated, religious, living in registered or civil marriage, not poor and residing in good housing conditions. Girls are born morefrequently following the pregnancy due to extra-corporal fertilization. In comparison with population, twins are born 20 times more often, triplets--45 times more often, premature newborns--4 times more often. In addition, 39.5% of infants are born in severe and medium severe health conditions. Artificial pulmonary ventilation is needed for 29.4% of infants. Mean body mass and body height of newborns is slightly lower than in case of newborns following common pregnancy. Infants of the first year of life don't differ in their physical and mental development from their coevals. However, up to the first year of life, 28.9% of them enter group of lingering and often frequently ill patients and yet 28.2% of them suffer from chronic diseases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34424109,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Review on the current treatment status of vein of Galen malformations and future directions in research and treatment.\nVein of Galen malformations (VOGMs) represent a rare pathologic entity with often catastrophic natural history. The advances in endovascular treatment in recent years have allowed for a paradigm shift in the treatment and outcome of these high-flow shunts, even though their pathogenetic mechanisms and evolution remain in part obscure. The overall management of VOGMs requires a tailored case-to-case approach, starting with in utero detection and reserving endovascular treatment for indicated cases. Lately, the advances in translational research with whole-genome sequencing and the coupling with cellular-level hemodynamics attempt to shed more light in the pathogenesis and evolution of these lesions. At the same time the advances in endovascular techniques allow for more safety and tailored technical strategy planning. Furthermore, the advances in MRI techniques allow a better understanding of their vascular anatomy. In view of these recent advances and by performing a PUBMED literature review of the last 15 years, we attempt a review of the evolutions in the imaging, management, endovascular treatment and understanding of underlying mechanisms for VOGMs. The progress in the fields detailed in this review appears very promising in better understanding VOGMs and expanding the available therapeutic arsenal.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17824853,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Food-based dietary guidelines and nutrition interventions for children at primary healthcare facilities in South Africa.\nExisting dietary recommendations and nutrition counselling provided to mothers\/caregivers at primary healthcare (PHC) facilities are reviewed and analysed to be consistent with food-based dietary guidelines (FBDGs) that are being developed for preschool children. Recommendations provided by the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness and the provincial Paediatric Case Management Guidelines, which are currently implemented at PHC facilities were reviewed. For FBDGs to be consistent with nutrition counselling that is provided to mothers\/caregivers at these facilities, various principles need to be promoted. These include among others, exclusive and on-demand breastfeeding in the HIV-negative mother; exclusive breastfeeding with abrupt cessation preferably at 6 months or exclusive, safe and adequate formula feeding in the HIV-infected mother; the introduction of complementary feeds in all infants at 6 months; the provision of energy-dense and micronutrient-enriched (particularly, iron, zinc, calcium and vitamin A) complementary feeds; frequent visits to the healthcare facility; and physical activity aimed at encouraging a healthy lifestyle and preventing overweight and obesity in childhood. The FBDGs should be incorporated into nutrition and child health programmes and be reviewed and modified regularly.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23460977,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"[Development of glipizide push-pull osmotic pump controlled release tablets by using expert system and artificial neural network].\nThe purpose of this study is to develop glipizide push-pull osmotic pump (PPOP) tablets by using a formulation design expert system and an artificial neural network (ANN). Firstly, the expert system for the formulation design of osmotic pump of poor water-soluble drug was employed to design the formulation of glipizide PPOP, taking the dissolution test results of Glucotrol XL as the goal. Then glipizide PPOP was prepared according to the designed formulations and the in vitro dissolution was carried out. And in vivo evaluation was carried out between the samples which were similar to Glucotrol XL and the Glucotrol XL in Beagle dogs. The range of the factors of formulation and procedure, which could influence the drug release, was optimized using artificial neural network. Finally, the design space was found. It was found that the target formulation which was similar to Glucotrol XL in dissolution test could be obtained in a short period by using the expert system. The samples which were similar to Glucotrol XL were bio-equivalent to the Glucotrol XL in Beagle dogs. The design space of the key parameter coating weight gain was 9.5%-12.0%. It could be concluded that a well controlled product of glipizide PPOP was developed since the dissolution test standard of our product was more strict than that of Glucotrol XL.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37842760,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A centenary of service: 100 years of Immunology & Cell Biology.\nThis year marks the 100th year of the publication of Immunology & Cell Biology since it was first published in March 1924 as the Australian Journal of Experimental Biology and Medical Science. In this Editorial, we recount the journal from its founding, to its focus on immunology, through to the modern era.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18599980,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Conformational dimorphism of the spiropyran 1',3',3'-trimethylspiro[2H-1-benzopyran-2,2'-indoline]-6-carbaldehyde).\nThe title compound, C(20)H(19)NO(2), crystallizes from an acetone-heptane solution as two dimorphs in the space groups C2\/c and Cc. Each dimorph has two molecules in the asymmetric unit. The four molecules adopt slightly different conformations expressed by the degree of bending around a vector connecting the O and C atoms attached to the bridgehead C atom of the pyran ring. Due to the fact that all four molecules are chemically identical, the difference in bending is attributed to packing forces. This is evident from the close contacts of neighbouring molecules perpendicular to the plane of the benzopyran moiety observed in the Cc structure and not in the C2\/c structure. These observations provide a unique example that shows how packing forces can affect the conformation of a specific molecule.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":5840801,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Electron-opaque, lipid-containing bodies in mouse liver at early intervals after partial hepatectomy and sham operation.\nThe appearance and distribution of electron-opaque, lipid-containing bodies have been studied in liver of adult male mice of the C3H strain. The mice were either partially hepatectomized or sham-operated, and the liver was fixed in Veronal acetate-buffered 2 per cent osmium tetroxide at various postoperative intervals (10, 20, 40, 60, and 120 minutes). Normal, non-operated mice served as controls. As early as 10 minutes after both sham operation and partial hepatectomy, lipid-containing bodies have been observed, not only in the cytoplasm of hepatic parenchymal cells, but also in the space of Disse. At the very early postoperative intervals studied, minute lipid bodies are repeatedly found to be more numerous in the space of Disse than at later intervals. It is suggested that the lipid-containing bodies enter the parenchymal cell from the circulation. At the cell membrane, numerous invaginations, each containing a lipid body, have been observed; this suggests that the lipid bodies enter the hepatic parenchymal cells by the process of pinocytosis.The fact that only hepatic parenchymal cells contain the lipid bodies, whereas von Kupffer, endothelial lining, and Ito's fat-storing cells do not, may indicate a specific lipid mobilization response on the part of the cells of the hepatic parenchyma.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17181322,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Electrolyte screening effect on the photoprotolytic cycle of excited photoacid in ice.\nTime-resolved emission was used to measure the photoprotolytic cycle of an excited photoacid as a function of temperature, both in liquid water and in ice, in the presence of an inert salt. The inert salt affects the geminate recombination between the transferred proton with the conjugate base of the photoacid. We used the Debye-H\u00fcckel theory to express the screening of the Coulomb electrical potential by the inert salt. We find that in the liquid phase the measured screening effect is small and the Debye-H\u00fcckel expression slightly overestimates the experimental effect. In ice, the screening effect is rather large and the Debye-H\u00fcckel expression under estimates the measured effect. We explain the large screening in ice by the \"salting-out\" effect in ice that tends to concentrate the impurities to confined volumes to minimize the ice crystal energy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26474191,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hierarchically Structured Porous Poly(2-oxazoline) Hydrogels.\nA new method for fabricating hydrogels with intricate control over hierarchical 3D porosity using microfiber porogens is presented. Melt electrospinning writing of poly(\u03b5-caprolactone) is used to create the sacrificial template leading to hierarchical structuring consisting of pores inside the denser poly(2-oxazoline) hydrogel mesh. This versatile approach provides new opportunities to create well-defined multilevel control over interconnected pores with diameters in the lower micrometer range inside hydrogels with potential applications as cell scaffolds with tunable diffusion and transport of, e.g., nutrients, growth factors or therapeutics.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":4125962,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-22":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"\"L'acropathie ulc\u00e9ro-mutilante familiale\" with involvement of the distal mixed nereves and long bones fractures.\nTwo siblings are described with mutilating lesions of the feet and hands, with sensory disturbances and muscle amyotrophy. The motor and afferent nerve conduction velocities were at the lower limit of normal. The nerve action potentials disappeared, first with percutaneous stimulation of the fingers and later with more proximal direct nerve stimulation. Early in the course of the illness indolent fracture of different long bones appeared in both cases. Histology revealed severe loss of nerve fibres, especially of the thin nonmyelinated ones. Excessive proliferation of Schwann sheaths and endoneurium exceeded the amount of the usual reparation for loss of nerve fibres and could be considered as a specific feature. Obliterative vasculopathy also belongs to the picture of changes in the nerves, skin, and bones.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12181570,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2013-20":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mechanism of regulation of WAVE1-induced actin nucleation by Rac1 and Nck.\nRac signalling to actin -- a pathway that is thought to be mediated by the protein Scar\/WAVE (WASP (Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein)-family verprolin homologous protein -- has a principal role in cell motility. In an analogous pathway, direct interaction of Cdc42 with the related protein N-WASP stimulates actin polymerization. For the Rac-WAVE pathway, no such direct interaction has been identified. Here we report a mechanism by which Rac and the adapter protein Nck activate actin nucleation through WAVE1. WAVE1 exists in a heterotetrameric complex that includes orthologues of human PIR121 (p53-inducible messenger RNA with a relative molecular mass (M(r)) of 140,000), Nap125 (NCK-associated protein with an M(r) of 125,000) and HSPC300. Whereas recombinant WAVE1 is constitutively active, the WAVE1 complex is inactive. We therefore propose that Rac1 and Nck cause dissociation of the WAVE1 complex, which releases active WAVE1-HSPC300 and leads to actin nucleation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22672557,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Racial differences in B cell receptor signaling pathway activation.\nSingle-cell network profiling (SCNP) is a multi-parametric flow cytometry-based approach that simultaneously measures basal and modulated intracellular signaling activity in multiple cell subpopulations. Previously, SCNP analysis of a broad panel of immune signaling pathways in cell subsets within PBMCs from 60 healthy donors identified a race-associated difference in B cell anti-IgD-induced PI3K pathway activity. The present study extended this analysis to a broader range of signaling pathway components downstream of the B cell receptor (BCR) in European Americans and African Americans using a subset of donors from the previously analyzed cohort of 60 healthy donors. Seven BCR signaling nodes (a node is defined as a paired modulator and intracellular readout) were measured at multiple time points by SCNP in PBMCs from 10 healthy donors [5 African Americans (36-51 yrs), 5 European Americans (36-56 yrs), all males]. Analysis of BCR signaling activity in European American and African American PBMC samples revealed that, compared to the European American donors, B cells from African Americans had lower anti-IgD induced phosphorylation of multiple BCR pathway components, including the membrane proximal proteins Syk and SFK as well as proteins in the PI3K pathway (S6 and Akt), the MAPK pathways (Erk and p38), and the NF-\u03baB pathway (NF-\u03baB). In addition to differences in the magnitude of anti-IgD-induced pathway activation, racial differences in BCR signaling kinetic profiles were observed. Further, the frequency of IgD+ B cells differed by race and strongly correlated with BCR pathway activation. Thus, the race-related difference in BCR pathway activation appears to be attributable at least in part to a race-associated difference in IgD+ B cell frequencies. SCNP analysis enabled the identification of statistically significant race-associated differences in BCR pathway activation within PBMC samples from healthy donors. Understanding race-associated contrasts in immune cell signaling responses may be one critical component for elucidation of differences in immune-mediated disease prevalence and treatment responses.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29550777,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Patient navigators facilitating access to primary care: a scoping review.\nPatient navigators are a promising mechanism to link patients with primary care. While navigators have been used in population health promotion and prevention programmes, their impact on access to primary care is not clear. The aim of this scoping review was to examine the use of patient navigators to facilitate access to primary care and how they were defined and described, their components and the extent to which they were patient centred. We used the Arksey and O'Malley scoping review method. Searches were conducted in MEDLINE, Embase, ProQuest Medical, other key databases and grey literature for studies reported in English from January 2000 to April 2016. We defined a patient navigator as a person or process creating a connection or link between a person needing primary care and a primary care provider. Our target population was people without a regular source of, affiliation or connection with primary care. Studies were included if they reported on participants who were connected to primary care by patient navigation and attended or made an appointment with a primary care provider. Data analysis involved descriptive numerical summaries and content analysis. Twenty studies were included in the final scoping review. Most studies referred to 'patient navigator' or 'navigation' as the mechanism of connection to primary care. As such, we grouped the components according to Freeman's nine-principle framework of patient navigation. Seventeen studies included elements of patient-centred care: informed and involved patient, receptive and responsive health professionals and a coordinated, supportive healthcare environment. Patient navigators may assist to connect people requiring primary care to appropriate providers and extend the concept of patient-centred care across different healthcare settings. Navigation requires further study to determine impact and cost-effectiveness and explore the experience of patients and their families.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11980390,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Molecular identification of sibling Anopheles species: example of the Anopheles minimus and Anopheles dirus complexes, major malarial vectors in Southeast Asia].\nEffective control of malaria vectors requires precise identification of species. This is especially important within complexes of species that cannot be distinguished based on morphological features. Two methods based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis have been developed to identify 2 species in the Anopheles minimus complex and 5 species of the Minimums group as well as 4 species of the Anopheles dirus complex. Association of oligonucleotide couples in the form of multiplex PCR has allowed development of two simple, reliable PCR techniques adapted to each one of these species complexes that comprise the major vectors of malaria in Southeast Asia. Specifically designed to meet the needs of entomologist working in the field for reliable, cost-effective tests, these techniques will facilitate assessment of the geographical distribution of each vector. These data will help to better target vector control measures.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7944014,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cerebrospinal fluid variables in clinically normal foals from birth to 42 days of age.\nTo determine the effects of age on each analyte, CSF variables were evaluated in healthy foals from birth through 42 days of age. Cerebrospinal fluid was collected from 14 clinically normal, naturally delivered cross-bred foals and was analyzed for glucose, sodium, potassium, magnesium, and total protein concentrations, total and differential WBC counts, RBC count, and lactate dehydrogenase, aspartate transaminase, and creatine kinase activities. Samples were collected in 3 foals < 48 hours old, and at 11 to 14 days of age in 4 foals, 21 to 22 days of age in 3 foals, and 31 to 42 days of age in 4 foals. Each foal was tested only once, to avoid any effects of CSF sample collection on subsequent analysis. Regression analysis confirmed age-related effects on CSF glucose, protein, and magnesium concentrations, but did not indicate an effect of age on CSF sodium and potassium concentrations or cell counts. Results indicate that CSF glucose concentration decreases with age; foals < 2 days old had the highest CSF glucose values, 98.8 +\/- 12.0 mg\/dl (mean +\/- 1 SD). In foals 10 to 14 days old, CSF glucose concentration was 67.3 +\/- 12.0 mg\/dl, was 65.3 +\/- 4.5 mg\/dl in foals 21 to 22 days old, was 70.0 +\/- 5.4 mg\/dl in foals 31 to 42 days old, and was 51.1 +\/- 2.5 mg\/dl in adults.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28537708,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nonsynonymous Polymorphisms in the Human AS3MT Arsenic Methylation Gene: Implications for Arsenic Toxicity.\nArsenic methylation, the primary biotransformation in the human body, is catalyzed by the enzyme As(III) S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) methyltransferases (hAS3MT). This process is thought to be protective from acute high-level arsenic exposure. However, with long-term low-level exposure, hAS3MT produces intracellular methylarsenite (MAs(III)) and dimethylarsenite (DMAs(III)), which are considerably more toxic than inorganic As(III) and may contribute to arsenic-related diseases. Several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in putative regulatory elements of the hAS3MT gene have been shown to be protective. In contrast, three previously identified exonic SNPs (R173W, M287T, and T306I) may be deleterious. The goal of this study was to examine the effect of single amino acid substitutions in hAS3MT on the activity of the enzyme that might explain their contributions to adverse health effects of environmental arsenic. We identified five additional intragenic variants in hAS3MT (H51R, C61W, I136T, W203C, and R251H). We purified the eight polymorphic hAS3MT proteins and characterized their enzymatic properties. Each enzyme had low methylation activity through decreased affinity for substrate, lower overall rates of catalysis, or lower stability. We propose that amino acid substitutions in hAS3MT with decreased catalytic activity lead to detrimental responses to environmental arsenic and may increase the risk of arsenic-related diseases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26415398,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Preliminary Investigation of Medicinal Plant Resources in Kangle County, Gansu Province].\nTo study the medicinal plant resources and their diversity in Kangle County, Gansu Province, and to provide scientific basis on utilization and protection of the medicinal plant resources of the county. By field survey, sample collection, taxonomic identification and data verification methods. There were 258 species, 65 families in existing medicinal plants, of which 43 species, 39 genera and 24 families were national protection medicinal plants. Dominant families were mainly Asteraceae and Rosaceae. In this area,the plants used whole herbs and roots ( or rhizomes) as medicinal materials represented 40.31% and 25.19% respectively, and antipyretic and rheumatism medicine accounted for 28.68% and 12.79% respectively. 12 medicinal plants were cultivated and the cultivated area was 3,000 hectares. However, the reserves of most medicinal plants are less enough and the resources are diminishing increasingly in recent years. So we should accelerate the research progress as well as developing and utilizing rationally on the premise of protection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28279751,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Blockade of CCR5 receptor prevents M2 microglia phenotype in a microglia-glioma paradigm.\nMicroglia express chemokines and their cognate receptors that were found to play important roles in many processes required for tumor development, such as tumor growth, proliferation, invasion, and angiogenesis. Among the chemokine receptor, CCR5 have been documented in different cancer models; in particular, CCR5 is highly expressed in human glioblastoma, where it is associated to poor prognosis. In the present study, we investigated the effect of CCR5 receptor blockade on a paradigm of microglia-glioma interaction; the CCR5 blocker maraviroc (MRV) was used as a pharmacological tool. We found that MVR is able to reduce the gene expression and function of the M2 markers ARG1 and IL-10 in presence of both basal glioma-released factors (C-CM) and activated glioma-released factors (LI-CM), but it up-regulates the M1 markers NO and IL-1\u03b2 only if microglia is stimulated by LI-CM; the latter effect appears to be mediated by the inhibition of mTOR pathway. In addition, CCR5 blockade was associated to a significant reduction in microglia migration, an effect mediated through the inhibition of AKT pathway.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25429304,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Friends or Foes: Is Empathy Necessary for Moral Behavior?\nIn the past decade, a flurry of empirical and theoretical research on morality and empathy has taken place, and interest and usage in the media and the public arena have increased. At times, in both popular culture and academia, morality and empathy are used interchangeably, and quite often the latter is considered to play a foundational role for the former. In this article, we argue that although there is a relationship between morality and empathy, it is not as straightforward as apparent at first glance. Moreover, it is critical to distinguish among the different facets of empathy (emotional sharing, empathic concern, and perspective taking), as each uniquely influences moral cognition and predicts differential outcomes in moral behavior. Empirical evidence and theories from evolutionary biology as well as developmental, behavioral, and affective and social neuroscience are comprehensively integrated in support of this argument. The wealth of findings illustrates a complex and equivocal relationship between morality and empathy. The key to understanding such relations is to be more precise on the concepts being used and, perhaps, abandoning the muddy concept of empathy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28291425,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Long-term outcomes of epilepsy surgery in 85 pediatric patients followed up for over 10 years: a retrospective survey.\nOBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to investigate the treatment outcomes and social engagement of patients who had undergone pediatric epilepsy surgery more than 10 years earlier. METHODS Between 1983 and 2005, 110 patients younger than 16 years underwent epilepsy surgery at the National Epilepsy Center, Shizuoka Institute of Epilepsy and Neurological Disorders. The authors sent a questionnaire to 103 patients who had undergone follow-up for more than 10 years after surgery; 85 patients (82.5%) responded. The survey contained 4 categories: seizure outcome, use of antiepileptic drugs, social participation, and general satisfaction with the surgical treatment (resection of the epileptic focus, including 4 hemispherectomies). The mean patient age at the time of surgery was 9.8 \u00b1 4.2 (SD) years, and the mean duration of postoperative follow-up was 15.4 \u00b1 5.0 years. Of the 85 patients, 79 (92.9%) presented with a lesional pathology, such as medial temporal sclerosis, developmental\/neoplastic lesions, focal cortical dysplasia, and gliosis in a single lobe. RESULTS For 65 of the 85 responders (76.5%), the outcome was recorded as Engel Class I (including 15 [93.8%] of 16 patients with medial temporal sclerosis, 20 [80.0%] of 25 with developmental\/neoplastic lesions, and 27 [73.0%] of 37 with focal cortical dysplasia). Of these, 29 (44.6%) were not taking antiepileptic drugs at the time of our survey, 29 (44.6%) held full-time jobs, and 33 of 59 patients (55.9%) eligible to drive had a driver's license. Among 73 patients who reported their degree of satisfaction, 58 (79.5%) were very satisfied with the treatment outcome. CONCLUSIONS The seizure outcome in patients who underwent resective surgery in childhood and underwent followup for more than 10 years was good. Of 85 respondents, 65 (76.5%) were classified in Engel Class I. The degree of social engagement was relatively high, and the satisfaction level with the treatment outcome was also high. From the perspective of seizure control and social adaptation, resective surgery yielded longitudinal benefits in children with intractable epilepsy, especially those with a lesional pathology in a single lobe.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21750033,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Endodermal Hedgehog signals modulate Notch pathway activity in the developing digestive tract mesenchyme.\nThe digestive tract epithelium and its adjoining mesenchyme undergo coordinated patterning and growth during development. The signals they exchange in the process are not fully characterized but include ligands of the Hedgehog (Hh) family, which originate in the epithelium and are necessary for mesenchymal cells to expand in number and drive elongation of the developing gut tube. The Notch signaling pathway has known requirements in fetal and adult intestinal epithelial progenitors. We detected Notch pathway activity in the embryonic gut mesenchyme and used conditional knockout mice to study its function. Selective disruption of the Notch effector gene RBP-J\u03ba (Rbpj) in the mesenchyme caused progressive loss of subepithelial fibroblasts and abbreviated gut length, revealing an unexpected requirement in this compartment. Surprisingly, constitutive Notch activity also induced rapid mesenchymal cell loss and impaired organogenesis, probably resulting from increased cell death and suggesting the need for a delicate balance in Notch signaling. Because digestive tract anomalies in mouse embryos with excess Notch activity phenocopy the absence of Hh signaling, we postulated that endodermal Hh restrains mesenchymal Notch pathway activity. Indeed, Hh-deficient embryos showed Notch overactivity in their defective gut mesenchyme and exposure to recombinant sonic hedgehog could override Notch-induced death of cultured fetal gut mesenchymal cells. These results reveal unexpected interactions between prominent signals in gastrointestinal development and provide a coherent explanation for Hh requirements in mesenchymal cell survival and organ growth.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28742973,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Role of vitamin A oral supplementation on oxidative stress and inflammatory response in the liver of trained rats.\nThe use of dietary supplements to enhance the benefit of exercise training is a common practice. The liver is the organ where all substances are metabolized, and certain supplements have been associated with liver injury. Vitamin A (VA), a liposoluble vitamin stored in the liver, is commonly used as an antioxidant supplement. Here, we evaluated the effect of chronic VA supplementation on oxidative damage and stress parameters in trained rats. Animals were divided into the following groups: sedentary (SE), sedentary\/VA (SE+VA), exercise training (ET), and exercise training\/VA (ET+VA). During 8 weeks, animals were subjected to swimming (0%, 2%, 4%, 6% body weight) for 5 days\/week and a VA daily intake of 450 retinol equivalents\/day. Parameters were evaluated by enzymatic activity analysis, ELISA, and Western blotting. VA caused liver lipid peroxidation and protein damage in exercised rats and inhibited the increase in HSP70 expression acquired with exercise alone. The ET group showed higher levels of antioxidant enzyme activity, and VA inhibited this adaptation. Expression of the pro-inflammatory cytokines, interleukin (IL)-1\u03b2, and tumor necrosis factor-\u03b1 was reduced in the ET+VA group, while the anti-inflammatory cytokine, IL-10, was increased. Western blotting showed that both exercised groups had lower levels of the receptor for advanced glycation end products, suggesting that VA did not affect this receptor. Our study demonstrated that, although VA caused oxidative damage, a controlled administration might exert anti-inflammatory effects. Further studies with higher VA doses and longer ET interventions would elucidate more the effects of the supplementation and exercise on liver parameters.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22693161,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"An unusual case of anaemia in an octogenarian.\nOlder patients referred for further investigation of anaemia are common in a geriatric medicine clinic and it is important to consider a wide range of underlying diagnoses. We present an unusual case of anaemia in an octogenarian in whom a diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis was made. This is a rare and unusual diagnosis in this cohort of patients, especially within the UK; however, it is important to identify it, given its high mortality if left untreated. Our case, presumably contracted while in Andalucia, Spain, highlights the need for awareness in this group of patients, especially when travel within Europe is becoming commonplace.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32365786,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Differentially Expressed Genes of Natural Killer Cells Can Distinguish Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients from Healthy Controls.\nRheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one of the most prevalent autoimmune diseases, while its molecular triggers are not fully understood. A few studies have shown that natural killer (NK) cells may play either a pathogenic or a protective role in RA. In this study, we sought to explore NK cell markers that could be plausibly used in evaluating the differences among healthy controls and RA patients. Publicly available transcriptome datasets from RA patients and healthy volunteers were analyzed, in order to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between 1. different immune cells as compared to NK cells, and 2. NK cells of RA patients and healthy controls. The identified DEGs were validated using 16 healthy controls and 17 RA patients. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were separated by Ficoll density gradient method, while NK cells were isolated using RosetteSep technique. RNA was extracted and gene expression was assessed using RT-qPCR. All selected genes were differentially expressed in NK cells compared to PBMCs. CD56, CXCL16, PECAM-1, ITGB7, BTK, TLR10, and IL-1\u03b2 were significantly upregulated, while CCL2, CCR4, RELA and IBTK were downregulated in the NK cells of RA patients when compared to healthy controls. Therefore, these NK specific genes might be used as promising biomarkers for RA diagnosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14555697,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Two discrete cis elements control the Abaxial side-specific expression of the FILAMENTOUS FLOWER gene in Arabidopsis.\nOur previous studies showed that a member of the YABBY gene family, FILAMENTOUS FLOWER (FIL), plays a role in specifying the abaxial side tissues in the development of lateral organs such as cotyledons, leaves, young flower buds, and flower organs. We examined the expression pattern of FIL and found a temporal change of expression domains in the developmental process of the floral meristem. We also examined the cis control regions by constructing a series of transgenic plants that carry green fluorescent protein under the control of the FIL promoter with several types of deletions, base changes, and tandem repeats and showed that the unique expression pattern is dependent on at least two cis-acting elements in the 5' regulatory region. One element proximal to the FIL gene would be responsible for the expression of both the abaxial and adaxial sides, and the other element of the 12-bp sequence would work to repress expression on the adaxial side.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25506349,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Metabolic trade-offs between biomass synthesis and photosynthate export at different light intensities in a genome-scale metabolic model of rice.\nPreviously we have used a genome scale model of rice metabolism to describe how metabolism reconfigures at different light intensities in an expanding leaf of rice. Although this established that the metabolism of the leaf was adequately represented, in the model, the scenario was not that of the typical function of the leaf-to provide material for the rest of the plant. Here we extend our analysis to explore the transition to a source leaf as export of photosynthate increases at the expense of making leaf biomass precursors, again as a function of light intensity. In particular we investigate whether, when the leaf is making a smaller range of compounds for export to the phloem, the same changes occur in the interactions between mitochondrial and chloroplast metabolism as seen in biomass synthesis for growth when light intensity increases. Our results show that the same changes occur qualitatively, though there are slight quantitative differences reflecting differences in the energy and redox requirements for the different metabolic outputs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35363503,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Turnaround Times in Melanoma BRAF Testing and the Impact on the Initiation of Systemic Therapy at a Single Tertiary Care Cancer Center.\nThe identification of BRAF mutations in melanoma enables targeted therapy and improves patient outcomes. Barriers to BRAF molecular testing affect the quality of care and therapeutic options. This retrospective study mapped BRAF testing timelines in adult patients with melanoma at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre to identify obstacles to timely BRAF reporting and its impact on the initiation of therapy. Sixty-six cases were included. The median time between BRAF request and result was 12 days (95% CI, 8 to 15) when the BRAF test was ordered by pathology, compared with 20 days (95% CI, 16 to 23) if the test was requested by another specialist (P < .001). When the BRAF test and biopsy were performed within the same institution, the BRAF median turnaround time (TAT) was 13 days (95% CI, 6 to 19) compared with 19 days (95% CI, 16 to 21) if the sample was transferred from another institution (P = .02). Forty-seven patients received systemic therapy, and 20 had metastatic disease. In the metastatic subgroup, if the BRAF result was available at the first medical oncology visit, the initiation of treatment was 20 days (95% CI, 9.6 to 30.3), but was delayed to 31 days (95% CI, 10.8 to 51.1) if the BRAF result was not available (P = .03). This study showed variations in BRAF test results in TAT. One factor affecting this timeline is the transfer time, which can be streamlined by pathology reflex testing. Delays in TAT affect the timing and type of therapeutic intervention, especially in patients with stage IV disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37446916,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of Plant-Derived Polyphenols on the Antioxidant Activity and Aroma of Sulfur-Dioxide-Free Red Wine.\nSignificant efforts have been made in recent years to produce healthier wines, with the primary goal of reducing the use of sulfur dioxide (SO2), which poses health risks. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of three plant-derived polyphenols (dihydromyricetin, resveratrol, and catechins) as alternatives to SO2 in wine. After a three-month aging process, the wines were evaluated using analytical techniques such as high-performance liquid chromatography, colorimetry, gas chromatography-olfactometry-mass spectrometry, as well as electronic nose and electronic tongue analyses, with the purpose to assess parameters including antioxidant activity, color, contents of volatile aroma compounds, and sensory characteristics. The results demonstrated various degrees of improvement in the antioxidant activity, aromatic intensity, and sensory characteristics of wines using polyphenols. Notably, dihydromyricetin (200 mg\/L) exhibited the strongest antioxidant activity, with increases of 18.84%, 23.28%, and 20.87% in 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl, 2,2'azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid), and ferric-ion-reducing antioxidant power assays, respectively. Resveratrol (200 mg\/L) made the most significant contribution to volatile aroma compounds, with an 8.89% increase in the total content of alcohol esters. In E-nose analysis, catechins (200 mg\/L) showed the highest response to aromatic compounds and the lowest response to volatile sulfur compounds, while also exhibiting the best sensory characteristics. Therefore, the three plant-derived polyphenols investigated here exhibited the potential to enhance wine quality as alternatives to SO2. However, it is important to consider the specific impact of different polyphenols on wine; hence, suitable antioxidants should be selected in wine production according to specific requirements.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34402534,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Effect of slicing and storage temperatures on biochemical aspects of membrane integrity in two different genotypes of tomato.\nFresh-cut vegetables are subjected to multiple stressing agents including: (i) slicing, which induces cellular decompartmentalization; (ii) low refrigeration temperatures, responsible for chilling injury in the most sensitive products (e.g. tomatoes), and (iii) storage time because tissue senescence and aging can occur and reduce the shelf-life. In tomato slices, one of the most important issues is the membrane, which is responsible for several disorders related to the alteration of physiological processes, including ethylene biosynthesis. Electrolyte leakage and the content of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances in sliced tomatoes increased over time at two storage temperatures (4 \u00b0C and 15 \u00b0C) compared with intact fruit for the commercial variety (cultivar) Jama used as reference. However, in the tomato Italian landrace Canestrino, electrolyte leakage in sliced fruits increased after 120 h of storage compared to intact tomatoes, while the thiobarbituric acid reactive substance content increased rapidly over time at both storage temperatures. In the packages, higher ethylene content and carbon dioxide concentrations were detected in sliced tomatoes compared with intact fruits for both genotypes. In the most sensitive genotype for slicing (Jama), phospholipase C activity increased in tomato slices after 24 h of storage, but phospholipase D reached a higher value only at 168 h after processing at 4 \u00b0C of storage. The results evidence that the main damage in slices of full ripe tomatoes is more related to cutting, rather than chilling injury due to storage temperatures, with differences related to the genotype. Slicing enhanced membrane catabolism, ethylene production, and enzyme activity of phospholipases with a significant genotype effect. \u00a9 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28744478,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Efficient orbital structures segmentation with prior anatomical knowledge.\nWe present a fully automatic method for segmenting orbital structures (globes, optic nerves, and extraocular muscles) in CT images. Prior anatomical knowledge, such as shape, intensity, and spatial relationships of organs and landmarks, were utilized to define a volume of interest (VOI) that contains the desired structures. Then, VOI was used for fast localization and successful segmentation of each structure using predefined rules. Testing our method with 30 publicly available datasets, the average Dice similarity coefficient for right and left sides of [0.81, 0.79] eye globes, [0.72, 0.79] optic nerves, and [0.73, 0.76] extraocular muscles were achieved. The proposed method is accurate, efficient, does not require training data, and its intuitive pipeline allows the user to modify or extend to other structures.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23449330,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"cDNA cloning and functional analysis of minipig uridine diphosphate-glucuronosyltransferase 1A1.\nUridine diphosphate (UDP)-glucuronosyltransferase 1A1 (UGT1A1) plays important roles in the glucuronidation of various drugs and endogenous substances. Minipigs have been used as experimental animals in pharmacological and toxicological studies, because many of their physiological characteristics are similar to those of humans. In this study, the similarities and differences in enzymatic properties of UGT1A1 between humans and minipigs were precisely identified. Minipig UGT1A1 (mpUGT1A1) cDNA was firstly cloned by the rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) method, and the corresponding protein as well as human UGT1A1 (hUGT1A1) enzyme was expressed in insect cells. Then the kinetics of estradiol at 3-hydroxy position (E-3OH) and 7-ethyl-10-hydroxycamptothecin (SN-38) glucuronidation by recombinant UGT1A1s as well as human and minipig liver microsomes were analyzed. The homology between mpUGT1A1 and hUGT1A1 at the amino acid level was 80.9%. E-3OH and SN-38 glucuronidation by recombinant hUGT1A1 and mpUGT1A1 showed allosteric sigmoidal kinetics. The CL value (29.1 \u00b5L\/min\/mg protein) for E-3OH glucuronidation of mpUGT1A1 was significantly higher (1.4-fold) than that of hUGT1A1, whereas the CL value (0.83 \u00b5L\/min\/mg protein) for SN-38 glucuronidation was significantly lower (27%) than that of hUGT1A1; however, the kinetic models and parameter levels for E-3OH and SN-38 glucuronidation by human and minipig liver microsomes did not parallel those in the respective species. These findings suggest that the enzymatic properties of UGT1A1 are considerably different between humans and minipigs. The information on species differences in UGT1A1 function gained in this study should help with in vivo extrapolation of xenobiotic metabolism and toxicity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9161846,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Oxygen-dependent fragmentation of cellular DNA by nitric oxide.\nAlthough active oxygen species and related metabolites, such as nitric oxide (NO), have been postulated to play important roles in the apoptosis of various cells, a precise mechanism leading to cell death remains to be elucidated. Recently we found that the lifetime of NO depends greatly on the concentration of environmental oxygen and that NO reversibly inhibits mitochondrial respiration and ATP synthesis; the inhibitory effect is stronger at physiologically low oxygen tension than under atmospheric conditions (Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 323, 27-32, 1995). The present work describes the effects of the NO-generating agent, 1-hydroxy-2-oxo-3,3-bis(2-aminoethyl)-1-triazene (NOC 18) and oxygen tension on the respiration, ATP synthesis and apoptosis of HL-60 cells. When respiration was inhibited by NOC 18, cellular ATP levels decreased significantly and DNA fragmentation was elicited. Both events were enhanced by decreasing oxygen tension and suppressed by adding NO-trapping agents, such as 2-(4-carboxyphenyl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl-3-oxide (carboxy-PTIO) and oxyhemoglobin. The fragmentation of cellular DNA was inhibited in a dose dependent manner by herbimycin A, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor. Fragmentation of the DNA of HL-60 cells was also induced either by peroxynitrite, superoxide or hydroxyl radical by some mechanism which was diminished by lowering the oxygen tension. These results indicated that the decrease in cellular ATP and activation of tyrosine kinase might play important roles in NO-induced apoptosis particularly under physiologically low oxygen tensions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29379269,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Physiologic anisocoria under various lighting conditions.\nTo evaluate the measurement of anisocoria in a group of ocular healthy subjects using a standardized protocol in scotopic, mesopic, and photopic lighting conditions, and determine the optimal threshold of difference in pupil diameter in determining physiologic anisocoria. Right and left pupil diameters of 126 ocular healthy subjects with a mean age 30.5\u00b17.8 years (40 males and 86 females) were measured sequentially under photopic conditions using a monocular infrared pupillometer. A sub-group of 51 individuals had right and left pupil measurements performed under three additional lighting conditions, allowing for a 2-minute recovery between measurements. A white light emitting diode (LED) in the eyecup of the pupillometer produced three controlled light settings: scotopic (0 lux), low mesopic (0.3 lux), and high mesopic (3 lux). The criterion for anisocoria was defined as \u22650.4 mm difference in pupil diameter between the eyes. In the 126 subjects tested, 23.8% (n=30) exhibited anisocoria in photopic conditions. In the sub-group measured under three additional light settings, 43.1% (n=22) exhibited anisocoria in scotopic conditions, 43.1% (n=22) in low mesopic conditions, and 47.1% (n=24) in high mesopic conditions. Approximately 73% of subjects exhibited anisocoria in at least one light setting, while only approximately 8% had anisocoria in every light setting. When the criterion for anisocoria was shifted to \u22650.2 mm or \u22650.6 mm, the prevalence of anisocoria shifted significantly. Using a higher cutoff of \u22650.6 mm effectively reduced the number of healthy individuals who exhibit anisocoria in every light setting to almost zero. Based on our data, anisocoria is more prevalent under varied lighting conditions. To ensure the anisocoria is due to physiologic reasons, one should ensure that it is present under all lighting conditions to avoid excessive false positives.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12005527,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Biological properties of hyaluronan in aqueous solution are controlled and sequestered by reversible tertiary structures, defined by NMR spectroscopy.\nHyaluronan (HA) is a ubiquitous polysaccharide of (predominantly) animal origin that has important medical applications in joint, skin, and eye conditions. Biological activities shown by HA fragments in angiogenesis, inflammation, etc. are absent from highly polymerized HA. We propose that HA physiological properties are controlled by molecular mass dependent transitions between tertiary structures (e.g., beta sheets) and 2-fold helices, - reversible \"denaturation\", which is central to HA solution behavior. We demonstrate this phenomenon by 13C NMR. Four different acetamido C=O resonances, assigned to secondary, tertiary, and disordered HA structures, monitored \"denaturation\" by (a) warming, (b) alkalinizing to pH >12.0, (c) hyaluronidase digestion, and (d) methylation of carboxylates. (a) and (b) acted reversibly but (c) and (d) are irreversible. 1H NMR implicated H-bonded acetamido NH in (b). Temperature dependencies of other 13C chemical shifts were small and unspecific. Arrhenius plots indicate that hyaluronan tertiary structures are on the edge of instability under physiological conditions. The results help to explain the appearance of biological activities on \"denaturation\" or degradation of HA.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37664201,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Development of tissue paper-based chemosensor and demonstration for the selective detection of Cu2+ and Hg2+ ions.\nHeavy metals emanate from natural and man-made sources, such as agricultural chemicals including fertilisers and pesticides, medical waste, and chemicals released from industries. Detection and monitoring toxic metal ions is one of the challenges confronting scientists in biological, environmental, and chemical systems. This study describes the design and synthesis of a new imidazole-based fluorescent and colourimetric chemosensor (DPICDT) for highly selective sensing of Hg2+ and Cu2+ ions in aqueous acetonitrile medium. The probe was synthesised by coupling benzil and substituted aldehyde using ethanolic ammonium acetate. The structure of DPICDT was confirmed via IR spectra, NMR, and HR-MS spectra. The DPICDT probe displayed a rapid naked-eye response towards Cu2+ ions from colourless to red-purple and significant fluorescence quenching response towards Hg2+ over other competitive metal ions in both solution and solid support. The binding modes of DPICDT with Cu2+ and Hg2+ ions were found to be at a 1 : 1 ratio as determined using Job plot, ESI HR-MS, and the sensing mechanism was evolved by 1H NMR titrations, HR-MS spectra, and DFT calculations. The lower detection limit was 15.1 nM for Cu2+, eventually far less than the World Health Organization guideline for drinking water (Cu2+ - 31.5 \u03bcM) and 1.17 \u03bcM for Hg2+ (permissible concentration 2 ppb). Promisingly, the tissue paper-based DPICDT test strips and silica-supported DPICDT were developed and demonstrated for on-site application without resorting to expensive instruments.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17190306,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Implant-prosthetic treatment in HIV-infected patients receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy: report of cases.\nSince 1997, the use of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has significantly improved systemic health and life expectancy of patients who test positive for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in industrialized countries. Therefore, although implant-supported prosthetic rehabilitation has been restricted to immunocompetent individuals, it may be considered for these patients. The treatment course of implant-prosthetic rehabilitation in 3 patients is reported. Patient 1 (male, age 64 years) was under 4-drug therapy; patient 2 (male, age 38 years) and patient 3 (female, age 49 years) were under 3-drug therapy. Two patients had suffered from AIDS-defining diseases prior to HAART. Oral manifestations of HIV infection were not diagnosed throughout the observation period. Patients had CD4+ cell counts between 250 and 800\/mL, and viral load was below 50\/mL. Perioperative antibiotic treatment was not applied. Two patients presented with edentulous mandibles. In the third patient, single-tooth replacement of both mandibular first molars was performed. A total of 10 Frialit-2 implants were placed without augmentation procedures. One implant failed after 3 months and was successfully replaced. Two patients received magnet-retained overdentures in the mandible, and 1 patient was treated with single crowns. All implants and restorations are successfully in function. Neither radiographic nor clinical signs of inflammation were detected during the observation period (range, 7 to 32 months). The outcomes of the 3 patients suggest that immunologically stable HIV-positive patients on HAART may be considered for implant-prosthetic rehabilitation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21165217,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Multiple epidermal cysts in lowe syndrome.\nLowe syndrome is a rare genetic disease that appears to cause various clinical symptoms involving the eye, nervous system, and kidney. While a mutation of the OCRL1 gene is known to be responsible for this syndrome, the exact pathophysiology remains unclear. Various multi-organ symptoms are characteristic of Lowe syndrome, but skin lesions have rarely been described. Recently, mechanisms for the association of Lowe syndrome and skin lesions have been proposed. We report this case of Lowe syndrome involving multiple epidermal cysts on the scalp in a 6-year-old male child.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25404984,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Thoraco-abdominal ectopia cordis in southwest Cameroon.\nEctopia cordis is a rare congenital defect where the heart is completely displaced outside the chest wall. Cantrell's pentalogy is an embryologic anomaly with five classic midline deficiencies often associated with ectopia cordis. Here we present a case of thoraco-abdominal ectopia cordis, brief literature review, and possible implications for changes in antenatal care.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16986819,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Androgen treatment of depressive symptoms in older men: a systematic review of feasibility and effectiveness.\nTo determine the feasibility and effectiveness of androgen treatment of depressive symptoms in older men. We searched MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Eric, HealthStar, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews for potentially relevant articles. The bibliographies of relevant articles were searched for additional references and experts were consulted. Seventeen reports (8 open and 12 randomized trials; 3 articles reported studies of 2 designs) met the following inclusion criteria: original investigation; published in English or French, use of acknowledged criteria or scale for depression, and open or randomized trial of androgen treatment. Four criteria assessed study validity: randomization, double blinding, comparability of treatment and control groups at baseline, and description of dropouts. We abstracted, tabulated, and compared information from each article. Most studies had methodological limitations. With regard to feasibility, there were few reported withdrawals due to adverse events. With regard to effectiveness, 6 of 8 open trials had positive results, and 5 of 12 randomized trials had positive results, although 1 was equivocal. However, testosterone was combined with antidepressant medication in 3 of these positive randomized trials. Only 2 open trials enrolled subjects whose mean age was 60 years or over. One had positive results, and the other had negative results. Androgen therapy may be feasible in the short term, but there is little evidence that it is an effective treatment for depressive symptoms in older men.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22695537,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Remarkable fluorescence enhancement of benzo[g]chromen-2-ones induced by hydrogen-bonding interactions with protic solvents.\nA coumarin analogue, 8-methoxy-4-methyl-2H-benzo[g]chromen-2-one (MMBC), is almost non-fluorescent in non-polar media, whereas it exhibits dramatically enhanced fluorescence in polar protic solvents. This study investigates the mechanistic features of the significant solvent effects on the fluorescence properties of MMBC and a related compound, 4-methyl-2H-benzo[g]chromen-2-one (MBC), by time-resolved fluorescence and photoacoustic measurements and by theoretical calculations. Time-resolved photoacoustic measurements reveal that the extremely fast non-radiative processes of MBC and MMBC in non-polar solvents can be attributed predominantly to internal conversion. The internal conversion rates of MBC and MMBC are remarkably reduced in a rigid matrix of 3-methylpentane at 77 K, suggesting that internal conversion is a thermally activated process. The photophysical properties of MBC and MMBC examined in selected solvents with different polarities and hydrogen-bond donating abilities show that the internal conversion rate is greatly reduced by hydrogen-bonding interactions with protic solvents. Furthermore, remarkable fluorescence enhancement is observed by adding a small amount of trifluoroethanol to n-hexane solutions of MBC and MMBC, indicating that internal conversion is suppressed by formation of hydrogen-bonded complexes with protic solvents. In light of theoretical considerations based on time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) and INDO\/S-CI calculations, the occurrence of fast internal conversion in MBC and MMBC can be explained in terms of the proximity effect, i.e., pseudo Jahn-Teller coupling between energetically close S(1) and S(2) states.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27270877,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hierarchical Manipulation of Block Copolymer Patterns on 3D Topographic Substrates: Beyond Graphoepitaxy.\nTemplates of complex nanopatterns in a form of hierarchically sequenced dots and stripes can be generated in block copolymer films on lithography-free 3D topographic substrates. The approach exploits thickness- and swelling-responsive morphological behavior of block copolymers, and demonstrates novel possibilities of topography-guided registration of nanopatterns due to periodic confinement and spontaneous orthogonal flow-fields.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20372490,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Diffraction gratings: a sign convention on order numbers for use in a computer program.\nIn ray tracing an optical system containing diffraction gratings on a computer, a sign convention on order numbers is necessary. The purpose of this paper is to present a method for easily determining the sign of an order number and to compare the results of this method with those of several commercially available computer programs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26424674,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Co-trimoxazole prophylaxis in adults, including pregnant women, with HIV: a systematic review and meta-analysis.\nCo-trimoxazole prophylaxis is used to reduce morbidity and mortality in people with HIV. We systematically reviewed three topics related to co-trimoxazole prophylaxis to update WHO guidelines: initiation, discontinuation, and dose. We searched PubMed, Embase, WHO Global Index Medicus, and clinical trial registries in November, 2013, for randomised controlled trials and observational studies including co-trimoxazole prophylaxis and a comparator group. Studies were eligible if they reported death, WHO clinical stage 3 or 4 events, admittance to hospital, severe bacterial infections, tuberculosis, pneumonia, diarrhoea, malaria, or treatment-limiting adverse events. Infant mortality, low birthweight, and placental malaria were additional outcomes for the comparison of co-trimoxazole prophylaxis and intermittent preventive treatment for malaria in pregnant women (IPTp). We compared a dose of 480 mg co-trimoxazole once a day with one of 960 mg co-trimoxazole once a day. We used a 10% margin for non-inferiority and equivalence analyses. We used random-effects models for all meta-analyses. This study is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42014007163. 19 articles, published from 1995 to 2014 and including 35 328 participants, met the inclusion criteria. Co-trimoxazole prophylaxis reduced rates of death (hazard ratio [HR] 0\u00b740, 95% CI 0\u00b726-0\u00b764) when started at CD4 counts of 350 cells per \u03bcL or lower with antiretroviral therapy (ART) worldwide. Co-trimoxazole prophylaxis started at higher than 350 cells per \u03bcL without ART reduced rates of death (0\u00b750, 0\u00b730-0\u00b783) and malaria (0\u00b725, 0\u00b710-0\u00b757) in Africa. Co-trimoxazole prophylaxis was non-inferior to IPTp with respect to infant mortality (risk difference [RD] -0\u00b705, 95% CI -0\u00b712 to 0\u00b702), low birthweight (0\u00b700, -0\u00b707 to 0\u00b707), and placental malaria (0\u00b700, -0\u00b710 to 0\u00b710). Co-trimoxazole prophylaxis continuation after ART-induced recovery with CD4 counts higher than 350 cells per \u03bcL reduced admittances to hospital (HR 0\u00b742, 95% CI 0\u00b722-0\u00b780), pneumonia (0\u00b773, 0\u00b761-0\u00b788), malaria (0\u00b703, 0\u00b701-0\u00b710), and diarrhoea (0\u00b761, 0\u00b748-0\u00b778) in Africa. A dose of 480 mg co-trimoxazole prophylaxis once a day did not reduce treatment-limiting adverse events compared with 960 mg once a day (RD -0\u00b707, 95% CI -0\u00b752 to 0\u00b739). Co-trimoxazole prophylaxis should be given with ART in people with CD4 counts of 350 cells per \u03bcL or lower in low-income and middle-income countries. Co-trimoxazole prophylaxis should be provided irrespective of CD4 count in settings with a high burden of infectious diseases. Pregnant women with HIV in Africa should use co-trimoxazole rather than IPTp to prevent malaria complications in infants. Further research is needed to inform dose optimisation and co-trimoxazole use in the context of expanded ART in different epidemiological settings. None.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37457701,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Interplay between metabolic reprogramming and post-translational modifications: from glycolysis to lactylation.\nCellular metabolism plays a critical role in determining the fate and function of cells. Metabolic reprogramming and its byproducts have a complex impact on cellular activities. In quiescent T cells, oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) is the primary pathway for survival. However, upon antigen activation, T cells undergo rapid metabolic reprogramming, characterized by an elevation in both glycolysis and OXPHOS. While both pathways are induced, the balance predominantly shifts towards glycolysis, enabling T cells to rapidly proliferate and enhance their functionality, representing the most distinctive signature during activation. Metabolic processes generate various small molecules resulting from enzyme-catalyzed reactions, which also modulate protein function and exert regulatory control. Notably, recent studies have revealed the direct modification of histones, known as lactylation, by lactate derived from glycolysis. This lactylation process influences gene transcription and adds a novel variable to the regulation of gene expression. Protein lactylation has been identified as an essential mechanism by which lactate exerts its diverse functions, contributing to crucial biological processes such as uterine remodeling, tumor proliferation, neural system regulation, and metabolic regulation. This review focuses on the metabolic reprogramming of T cells, explores the interplay between lactate and the immune system, highlights the impact of lactylation on cellular function, and elucidates the intersection of metabolic reprogramming and epigenetics.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12005976,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Unusual spiral wave tip trajectories in a parametrically forced nonequilibrium system.\nThe effect of parametric modulations on spiral waves that form in a thin layer of liquid crystal under rotating magnetic field is studied in laboratory experiments and numerical simulations. Parametric forcings that are sinusoidal in time make a simply rotating spiral tip to meander, rendering a compound tip trajectory that is composed of a main circular orbit and a satellite orbit with an unusual crescent shape. No evidence of frequency locking is found. The underlying mechanism for the unusual shape of the satellite orbit is elucidated, and the dependence of the rotation frequency of the main circular orbit f(o) on the perturbation parameters are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28300730,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The enrichment of HBV immune-escape mutations during nucleoside\/nucleotide analogue therapy.\nDrug-resistant HBV mutants frequently arise during nucleoside\/nucleotide analogue (NA) therapy, while the resistance mutations on polymerase also have consequent changes in the S protein. The enrichment of immune-escape mutations was negatively correlated with hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) clearance under NA therapy. This study aims to characterize the variability of HBV polymerase and surface antigen in patients with virological breakthrough under NA therapy. From 2012 to 2014, serum samples were collected from 156 patients with chronic hepatitis B infection, who had experienced NA therapy for at least 24 weeks and displayed virological breakthrough, while 165 HBV carriers without NA treatment were also enrolled. HBV DNA was quantified and polymerase reverse transcriptase domain was amplified and sequenced. A total of 97 patients in the NA treatment group had resistance mutations, with rtM204I\/V\/S being the most common substitution (78 of 97), while no resistance mutations were detected in the treatment-naive group. Various escape mutations were detected, and the detection rate was significantly higher in the NA treatment group (38, 24.4%) than that of treatment-naive group (18, 10.9%; P<0.05). Except for the combination of sP120T+sA128V, other double combinations (n=11) were only detected in the NA treatment group, and nine of these combinations in the treatment group were detected in HBV variants without antiviral resistance mutations. Antiviral resistance mutations were selected by a long duration of NA therapy. Virological breakthrough was not only attributed to the emergence of resistance mutations, but may also be associated with the enrichment of immune-escape mutations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16990616,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Anti-inflammatory activity of inhaled IL-4 receptor-alpha antisense oligonucleotide in mice.\nThe Th2 cytokines IL-4 and IL-13 mediate allergic pulmonary inflammation and airways hyperreactivity (AHR) in asthma models through signaling dependent upon the IL-4 receptor-alpha chain (IL-4Ralpha). IL-13 has been further implicated in the overproduction of mucus by the airway epithelium and in lung remodeling that commonly accompanies chronic inflammation. IL-4Ralpha-deficient mice are resistant to allergen-induced asthma, highlighting the therapeutic promise of selective molecular inhibitors of IL-4Ralpha. We designed a chemically modified IL-4Ralpha antisense oligonucleotide (IL-4Ralpha ASO) that specifically inhibits IL-4Ralpha protein expression in lung eosinophils, macrophages, dendritic cells, and airway epithelium after inhalation in allergen-challenged mice. Inhalation of IL-4Ralpha ASO attenuated allergen-induced AHR, suppressed airway eosinophilia and neutrophilia, and inhibited production of airway Th2 cytokines and chemokines in previously allergen-primed and -challenged mice. Histologic analysis of lungs from these animals demonstrated reduced goblet cell metaplasia and mucus staining that correlated with inhibition of Muc5AC gene expression in lung tissue. Therapeutic administration of inhaled IL-4Ralpha ASO in chronically allergen-challenged mice produced a spectrum of anti-inflammatory activity similar to that of systemically administered Dexamethasone with the added benefit of reduced airway neutrophilia. These data support the potential utility of a dual IL-4 and IL-13 oligonucleotide inhibitor in allergy\/asthma, and suggest that local inhibition of IL-4Ralpha in the lung is sufficient to suppress allergen-induced pulmonary inflammation and AHR.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18576619,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Catalytic scaffolding ligands: an efficient strategy for directing reactions.\nThe design and application of a scaffolding ligand that promotes branch and diastereoselective hydroformylation of terminal olefins as well as the regio- and diastereoselective hydroformylation of disubstituted olefins is reported. It is shown that the ligand covalently and reversibly bonds to the substrate, allowing for directed hydroformylation. As the substrate ligand interaction is dynamic, hydroformylations are catalytic in ligand and do not require any additional synthetic steps to add or remove the directing group. Using a catalytic quantity of a scaffolding ligand (20-25 mol %), excellent regioselectivity for disubstituted olefins (up to 98:2) and high branch selectivity (up to 88:12) for terminal olefins were obtained.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26419191,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Minimal systemic and high faecal exposure to cadazolid in patients with severe Clostridium difficile infection.\nCadazolid is under development as an oral treatment for Clostridium difficile infection (CDI), which is the most common infectious cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhoea. Low systemic cadazolid exposures were previously reported in healthy subjects following both single and multiple oral dosing. The main objective of this study was to investigate systemic cadazolid exposure in patients with severe CDI with potential disrupted lining of the gastrointestinal tract. A single 3000 mg oral dose of cadazolid was administered to six patients with microbiologically-confirmed severe CDI. Plasma and faeces were collected up to 144 h post-dose for determination of cadazolid concentrations. Safety assessments were conducted over the 144-h investigational period. Cadazolid was well tolerated in patients with severe CDI, with no reported drug-related adverse events. Cadazolid systemic exposure following a single 3000 mg oral dose was very low, with a peak plasma concentration (C(max)) of 2.64 ng\/mL and an area under the concentration-time curve (AUC(0-144)) of 125 ng\u00d7h\/mL. The median peak daily faecal cadazolid concentration was 5675 times the C. difficile MIC(90) of 0.25 mg\/L. In subjects with severe CDI, cadazolid systemic exposure was very low following a single high oral dose. Cadazolid plasma concentrations were similar in magnitude to those previously reported for healthy subjects, whereas total systemic exposure was ca. 5-6 times higher, but was still low. Peak daily faecal cadazolid concentrations were 5675 times the 0.25 mg\/L C. difficile MIC(90), and on Day 4 five of the six patients presented a daily faecal cadazolid concentration \u22651651 times the MIC(90) [ClinicalTrial.gov ID: NCT02053181].","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20352951,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Recent trend of nonaqueous enzymology and biocatalysis in nonaqueous media].\nWith the rapid development of industrial biotechnology, breakthrough in enzymology and biocatalysis has been made in recent years, especially in areas of stability and activity of enzyme in nonaqueous media, screening, construction and modification of solvent-tolerant biocatalysts, as well as the development of green solvent with excellent biological and environmental compatibility. Recent trend and future focus include: in silico virtual screening and construction of solvent-tolerant biocatalysts based on bioinformatic technology, modification and construction of native solvent-tolerant biocatalysts, the development of environmental friendly green solvent such as ionic liquids.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29374508,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Re-engineering and evaluation of anti-DNA autoantibody 3E10 for therapeutic applications.\nA key challenge in the development of novel chemotherapeutics is the design of molecules capable of selective toxicity to cancer cells. Antibodies have greater target specificity compared to small molecule drugs, but most are unable to penetrate cells, and predominantly target extracellular antigens. A nuclear-penetrating anti-DNA autoantibody isolated from the MRL\/lpr lupus mouse model, 3E10, preferentially localizes to tumors, inhibits DNA repair, and selectively kills cancer cells with defects in DNA repair. A murine divalent single chain variable fragment of 3E10 with mutations for improved DNA binding affinity, 3E10 (D31N) di-scFv, has previously been produced in P. pastoris and yielded promising pre-clinical findings, but is unsuitable for clinical testing. The present study reports the design, expression and testing of a panel of humanized 3E10 (D31N) di-scFvs, some of which contain CDR substitution. These variants were expressed in a modified CHO system and evaluated for their physicochemical attributes and ability to penetrate nuclei to selectively cause DNA damage accumulation in and kill cancer cells with DNA repair defects. Secondary structure was conserved and most variants retained the key characteristics of the murine 3E10 (D31N) di-scFv produced in P. pastoris. Moreover, several variants with CDR substitutions outperformed the murine prototype. In conclusion, we have designed several humanized variants of 3E10 (D31N) di-scFv that have potential for application as monotherapy or conjugates for targeted nuclear drug delivery.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14562547,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Intraoperative use of an open mid-field MR scanner in the surgical treatment of cerebral gliomas].\nThe aim of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of intraoperative MRI guidance in achieving more gross-total resection in case of primary brain tumors. We studied 12 patients with low-grade glioma and 19 patients with high-grade glioma who underwent surgery within a vertically open 0.5 T MR system. After initial imaging, the resection was stopped at the point in which the neurosurgeon considered the resection complete by viewing the operation field. At this time, intraoperative MRI was repeated (\"first control\") to identify any residual tumor. Areas of tumor-suspected tissue were localized and resected, with the exception of tissue adjacent to eloquent areas. Final imaging was carried out before closing the craniotomy. Comparison of \"first control\" and final imaging revealed a decrease of residual tumor volume from 32% to 4.3% in low-grade gliomas, and from 29% to 10% in high-grade gliomas. Intraoperative MRI allows a clear optimization of microsurgical resection of both low-grade and high-grade gliomas.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12003194,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-18":1}}},"text":"Chemotherapy-induced palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia syndrome--recall following different chemotherapy agents.\nRadiation recall is a phenomenon commonly seen in patients receiving chemotherapy treatment who have previously been exposed to radiation. A phenomenon not clearly described is that of a side effect induced by one chemotherapy agent and later recalled when the patient is given a different chemotherapy regimen. Troxacitabine is an anti-leukemic agent which can be associated with palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia syndrome (PPES). Here, we report six cases of troxacitabine-induced PPES that was later recalled by various chemotherapy regimens. The recall PPES was mild to moderate and self-limiting in all cases. All of these patients recovered from the recall side effects with minimal medical intervention. We conclude that a recall phenomenon similar to that described after radiotherapy might occur after certain chemotherapy agents. This phenomenon should be considered when evaluating toxicity from chemotherapy, particularly when using new and investigational agents.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20350435,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Expression of high mobility group protein-B1 in mice with hyperoxia-induced bronchopulmonary dysplasia].\nTo study the effect of hyperoxia exposure on high mobility group protein-B1 (HMGB1) expression in neonatal mice and the role of HMGB1 in the pathogenesis of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). C57BL\/6 mice were randomly exposed to 60% O2 or air 1 day after birth. BPD was induced by 60% O2 exposure. The pulmonary tissue samples were harvested 3, 7 and 14 days after exposure. The pathologic changes of pulmonary tissues were observed by hematoxylin and eosin staining, Masson staining and radical alveolar count. The expression of HMGB1 protein in lungs was detected by immunofluorescence. The expression of HMGB1 mRNA was detected by real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR. In the BPD group, the lungs developed decreased alceolar septation, swollen alveolar epithelium, stroma edema, interstitial fibrosis and developmental lag when compared with the control group. These changes became more obvious with more prolonged hyperoxia exposure. The expression of HMGB1 protein and mRNA 7 and 14 days after exposure increased significantly in the BPD group compared with that in the control group. Hyperoxia exposure results in an increase in lung HMGB1 expression. The increased HMGB1 expression may be associated with the development of BPD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22675536,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Characterization of a conserved interaction between DNA glycosylase and ParA in Mycobacterium smegmatis and M. tuberculosis.\nThe chromosome partitioning proteins, ParAB, ensure accurate segregation of genetic materials into daughter cells and most bacterial species contain their homologs. However, little is known about the regulation of ParAB proteins. In this study, we found that 3-methyladenine DNA glycosylase I MsTAG(Ms5082) regulates bacterial growth and cell morphology by directly interacting with MsParA (Ms6939) and inhibiting its ATPase activity in Mycobacterium smegmatis. Using bacterial two-hybrid and pull-down techniques in combination with co-immunoprecipitation assays, we show that MsTAG physically interacts with MsParA both in vitro and in vivo. Expression of MsTAG under conditions of DNA damage induction exhibited similar inhibition of growth as the deletion of the parA gene in M. smegmatis. Further, the effect of MsTAG on mycobacterial growth was found to be independent of its DNA glycosylase activity, and to result instead from direct inhibition of the ATPase activity of MsParA. Co-expression of these two proteins could counteract the growth defect phenotypes observed in strains overexpressing MsTAG alone in response to DNA damage induction. Based on protein co-expression and fluorescent co-localization assays, MsParA and MsTAG were further found to co-localize in mycobacterial cells. In addition, the interaction between the DNA glycosylase and ParA, and the regulation of ParA by the glycosylase were conserved in M. tuberculosis and M. smegmatis. Our findings provide important new insights into the regulatory mechanism of cell growth and division in mycobacteria.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23879527,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Utility of transcranial sonography in the diagnosis of drug-induced parkinsonism: a prospective study.\nDrug-induced parkinsonism usually resolves after discontinuation of the causative agent. However, it persists in some patients, who actually have subclinical neurodegenerative parkinsonism. Identification of this condition is important because these patients could benefit from therapeutic measures. The objective of this study was to prove whether transcranial sonography, a technique used in the diagnosis of neurodegenerative parkinsonism, can be used for the said identification. In this prospective study, patients with drug-induced parkinsonism were followed for at least 6 months after discontinuation of the causative drug and performance of blinded transcranial sonography. Patients were categorized as having iatrogenic parkinsonism if the clinical presentation had resolved or subclinical drug-exacerbated parkinsonism if it persisted. Once the patient was classified into one of the two groups, an expert assessed the transcranial sonography findings and their agreement with the clinical diagnosis. Twenty patients composed the group for analysis of results. Assessing hyperechogenicity in the substantia nigra >20 mm2 and\/or hyperechogenic lentiform nucleus, differences were detected between the iatrogenic parkinsonism and the subclinical drug-exacerbated parkinsonism groups, although they did not reach statistical significance (Fisher's exact test 0.09). Joint assessment of sonographic alterations in both structures had a negative predictive value of 85.7% for diagnosis of drug-induced parkinsonism, with a negative likelihood ratio of 0.3. Although in our study statistically significant differences were not found between the transcranial sonography characteristics of subclinical drug-exacerbated parkinsonism and iatrogenic parkinsonism patients, we believe that transcranial sonography is a valid technique for diagnosis of drug-induced parkinsonism.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16147818,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Influence of oxygen, albumin and pH on copper dissolution in a simulated uterine fluid.\nThe aim of this paper is to study the influence of albumin content, from 5 to 45 g\/L, on copper dissolution and compounds composition in a simulated uterine solution. Experiments were performed in atmospheric pressure conditions and with an additional oxygen pressure of 0.2 atmospheres, at 6.3 and 8.0 pH values, and at a temperature of 37 +\/- 0.1 degrees C for 1, 3, 7, and 30 days experimentation time. The copper dissolution rate has been determined using absorbance measurements, finding the highest value for pH 8.0, 35 g\/L albumin, and with an additional oxygen pressure of 0.2 atmospheres: 674 microg\/day for 1 day, and 301 microg\/day for 30 days. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results show copper(II) as the main copper oxidation state at pH 8.0; and copper(I) and metallic copper at pH 6.3. The presence of albumin up to 35 g\/L, accelerates copper dissolution. For high albumin content a stabilisation on the copper dissolution takes place. Corrosion product layer morphology is poorly protective, showing paths through which copper ions can release.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27279073,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Protective effects of BMSCs in combination with erythropoietin in bronchopulmonary dysplasia-induced lung injury.\nBronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is the most common type of chronic lung disease in infancy, for which no effective therapy is currently available. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of treatment with bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) in combination with recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) on BPD\u2011induced mouse lung injury, and discuss the underlying mechanism. The BPD model was established by the exposure of neonatal mice to continuous high oxygen exposure for 14 days, following which 1x106 BMSCs and 5,000 U\/kg rHuEPO were injected into the mice 1 h prior to and 7 days following exposure to hyperoxia. The animals received four treatments in total (n=10 in each group). After 14 days, the body weights, airway structure, and levels of matrix metalloproteinase\u20119 (MMP\u20119) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were detected using histological and immunohistochemical analyses. The effect on cell differentiation was observed by examining the presence of platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule (PECAM) and VEGF using immunofluorescence. Compared with the administration of BMSCs alone, the body weight, airway structure, and the levels of MMP\u20119 and VEGF were significantly improved in the BMSCs\/rHuEPO group. The results of the present study demonstrated that the intravenous injection of BMSCs significantly improved lung damage in the hyperoxia\u2011exposed neonatal mouse model. Furthermore, the injection of BMSCs in combination with intraperitoneal injection of rHuEPO had a more marked effect, compared with BMSCs alone, and the mechanism may be mediated by the promoting effects of BMSCs and EPO. The results of the present study provided information, which may assist in future clinical trials.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25509155,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Cellular defense system of some synanthropic dipterans inhabitant of bacterially aggressive environment].\nThe hemocytic count and defense reaction within 4 families of higher Diptera: Tabanidae, Syrphidae, Muscidae and Sarcophagidae, whose larvae inhabit bacterially aggressive environment, were investigated. The least hemocytes types (3) were revealed in Tabanidae and Syrphidae larvae--prohemocytes, plasmatocytes and prophenoloxydase-containing unstable hyaline cells (oenocytoids). In Sarcophaga crassipalpis and Musca domestica stable hyaline cells and thrombocytoids or podocytoid-like cells can be added to this set. At the time of pupariation in Sarcophaga, new generation of prohemocytes is segregated into the hemolymph, which form small round or spindle-shaped hyaline cells. So, the number of plasmatocyte types in Sarcophaga increase to six. Typical to Calliphoridae juvenile plasmatocytes in the members of investigated families are absent. Among the one hemocyte type morphology also can vary, especially in unstable prophenoloxydase hyaline cells. In Drosophila there are crystal cells containing in the cytoplasm paracrystalloidal inclusions. In Calliphoridae there are big hyaline cells with homogenous cytoplasm producing circumferential bubbles. Both in Sarcophaga and Tabanidae they contain in their cytoplasm big globules. However in Sarcophaga they rapidly disintegrate, while in Tabanidae are maintained unchanged during hours. In Muscidae and Syrphidae prophenoloxydase extrusion occurs very early and these cells obtain pycnotic nuclei and very liquid cytoplasm with strings of granules. Thrombocytoids in Musca larvae are represented by big flattened anucleated irregular cytoplasm and \"naked\" nuclei and cytoplasmic fragments often with fan-like projections. Plasmatocytes in all species studied are the cells with pronounced phylopodies. In larvae they contain cytoplasmic catabolic inclusions and in pupa--ragments of apoptotic tissues. Clearance of hemolymph from alien particles in Sarcophagidae and Muscidae occur by thrombocytoides, while in Tabanidae by plasmatocyte nodulation. A differing case is Syrphidae whe-e charcoal injection produce depletion of hemolymph both from particles and all types of hemocytes. So the specimen of different higher Diptera families can use different schemes of cellular defense reaction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34404849,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-18":1}}},"text":"Combined genetic and chemical screens indicate protective potential for EGFR inhibition to cardiomyocytes under hypoxia.\nThe return of blood flow to ischemic heart after myocardial infarction causes ischemia-reperfusion injury. There is a clinical need for novel therapeutic targets to treat myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury. Here we screened for targets for the treatment of ischemia-reperfusion injury using a combination of shRNA and drug library analyses in HL-1 mouse cardiomyocytes subjected to hypoxia and reoxygenation. The shRNA library included lentiviral constructs targeting 4625 genes and the drug library 689 chemical compounds approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Data were analyzed using protein-protein interaction and pathway analyses. EGFR inhibition was identified as a cardioprotective mechanism in both approaches. Inhibition of EGFR kinase activity with gefitinib improved cardiomyocyte viability in vitro. In addition, gefitinib preserved cardiac contractility in zebrafish embryos exposed to hypoxia-reoxygenation in vivo. These findings indicate that the EGFR inhibitor gefitinib is a potential candidate for further studies of repurposing the drug for the treatment of myocardial infarction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24386111,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Robust spectral clustering using statistical sub-graph affinity model.\nSpectral clustering methods have been shown to be effective for image segmentation. Unfortunately, the presence of image noise as well as textural characteristics can have a significant negative effect on the segmentation performance. To accommodate for image noise and textural characteristics, this study introduces the concept of sub-graph affinity, where each node in the primary graph is modeled as a sub-graph characterizing the neighborhood surrounding the node. The statistical sub-graph affinity matrix is then constructed based on the statistical relationships between sub-graphs of connected nodes in the primary graph, thus counteracting the uncertainty associated with the image noise and textural characteristics by utilizing more information than traditional spectral clustering methods. Experiments using both synthetic and natural images under various levels of noise contamination demonstrate that the proposed approach can achieve improved segmentation performance when compared to existing spectral clustering methods.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35127655,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Viscoelasticity Investigation of Semiconductor NP (CdS and PbS) Controlled Biomimetic Nanoparticle Hydrogels.\nThe viscoelastic properties of colloidal nanoparticles (NPs) make opportunities to construct novel compounds in many different fields. The interparticle forces of inorganic particles on colloidal NPs are important for forming a mechanically stable particulate network especially the NP-based soft matter in the self-assembly process. Here, by capping with the same surface ligand L-glutathione (GSH), two semiconductor NP (CdS and PbS) controlled biomimetic nanoparticle hydrogels were obtained, namely, CdS@GSH and PbS@GSH. The dependence of viscoelasticity of colloidal suspensions on NP sizes, concentrations, and pH value has been investigated. The results show that viscoelastic properties of CdS@GSH are stronger than those of PbS@GSH because of stronger surface bonding ability of inorganic particles and GSH. The hydrogels formed by the smaller NPs demonstrate the higher stiffness due to the drastic change of GSH configurations. Unlike the CdS@GSH hydrogel system, the changes of NP concentrations and pH value had great influence on the PbS@GSH hydrogel system. The higher the proportion of water in the small particle size PbS@GSH hydrogel system, the greater the mechanical properties. The stronger the alkalinity in the large particle size PbS@GSH hydrogel system, the greater the hardness and storage modulus. Solution-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) indicated that the ligand GSH forms surface layers with different thickness varying from different coordination modes which are induced by different semiconductor NPs. Moreover, increasing the pH value of the PbS@GSH hydrogel system will dissociate the surface GSH molecules to form Pb2+ and GSH complexes which could enhance the viscoelastic properties.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14535349,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Some nematodes of fishes from central China, with the redescription of Procamallanus (Spirocamallanus)fulvidraconis (Camallanidae).\nThe present paper comprises a systematic survey of nematodes based on helminthological examinations of 176 specimens of freshwater fishes, belonging to 22 species, from central China (mostly lakes in Hubei Province) collected during the autumn of 2001. The following six species were recorded: Procamallanus (Spirocamallanus)fulvidraconis Li, 1935, Camallanus cotti Fujita, 1927, Dentiphilometra monopteri Moravec et Wang, 2002, Pingus sinensis Hs\u00fc, 1933, Proleptinae gen. sp. larv., and Eustrongylides sp. larv. Data on their morphology, morphological variability, host range, prevalence, intensity and distribution are provided. SEM studies of P. fulvidraconis and larval Physalopterinae, used for the first time in these species, revealed some additional morphological details and made it possible to redescribe the former. In contrast to the existing description of P. fulvidraconis, this species was found to possess two spicules and a V-shaped gubernaculum with unequal arms (originally mistaken for the left spicule), as well as deirids, whose location can be considered an important taxonomic feature. Larvae of the Physalopterinae have not previously been reported from fishes in China. The finding of larval Eustrongylides in Paramisgurnus dabryanus represents a new host record. All but one nematode species from this zoogeographically interesting region are briefly described and illustrated.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32377101,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Metachronous Bilateral Acinic Cell Carcinoma of the Parotid Gland in a Young Woman.\nBilateral involvement of major salivary glands by carcinoma of an identical histologic subtype is uncommon. In this study, a 26-year old female patient was diagnosed to have a low-grade acinic cell carcinoma (ACC) in the left parotid gland. After superficial parotidectomy, she was referred to the oncological dispensary care without further oncological therapeutic intervention. During 11 years of follow-up, she had no evidence of locoregional recurrence or metastasis. However, at the age of 37, she was recognized to have another tumor mass in the contralateral parotid gland. Right superficial parotidectomy was done, and histology confirmed an ACC showing the same picture as it was found previously. A year after the operation, no sign of tumor relapse was seen. Although metachronous bilateral ACC of the parotid gland is very rare, it is occasionally encountered in medical practice. Such an event may occur many years after a diagnosis of the initial tumor. Every patient once treated for parotid ACC warrants periodical clinical examinations and long-term follow-up (more than 10 years), even with attention to the contralateral non-affected parotid gland.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32369373,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Tailoring Solution-Processable Li Argyrodites Li6+xP1-xMxS5I (M = Ge, Sn) and Their Microstructural Evolution Revealed by Cryo-TEM for All-Solid-State Batteries.\nOwing to their high Li+ conductivities, mechanical sinterability, and solution processability, sulfide Li argyrodites have attracted much attention as enablers in the development of high-performance all-solid-state batteries with practicability. However, solution-processable Li argyrodites have been developed only for a composition of Li6PS5X (X = Cl, Br, I) with insufficiently high Li+ conductivities (\u223c10-4 S cm-1). Herein, we report the highest Li+ conductivity of 0.54 mS cm-1 at 30 \u00b0C (Li6.5P0.5Ge0.5S5I) for solution-processable iodine-based Li argyrodites. A comparative investigation of three iodine-based argyrodites of unsubstituted and Ge- and Sn-substituted solution-processed Li6PS5I with varied heat-treatment temperature elucidates the effect of microstructural evolution on Li+ conductivity. Notably, local nanostructures consisting of argyrodite nanocrystallites in solution-processed Li6.5P0.5Ge0.5S5I have been directly captured by cryogenic transmission electron microscopy, which is a first for sulfide solid electrolyte materials. Specifically, the promising electrochemical performances of all-solid-state batteries at 30 \u00b0C employing LiCoO2 electrodes tailored by the infiltration of Li6.5P0.5Ge0.5S5I-ethanol solutions are successfully demonstrated.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28356614,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A study on the physical fitness of children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.\n[Purpose] This study was conducted to assess the physical fitness of children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA). [Subjects and Methods] In total, 26 children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) and 25 healthy controls participated in this study. Using the physical fitness measurement instruments, the Inbody 720 and Quark b2, the elements of physical fitness that were assessed included muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, lung capacity, and body composition. [Results] The results revealed significant differences in muscular strength, muscular endurance, lung capacity, body composition, functional ability, and health-related quality of life between the children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) and the control group. [Conclusion] These results suggested that children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) have inferior physical fitness when compared to healthy children. The present study was conducted to develop an accurate evaluation standard to assess the physical fitness of children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25402364,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Spillover Effects in Health Service Use: Evidence From Mental Health Care Using First-Year College Housing Assignments.\nSpillover effects in health service use may represent an important externality of individual treatment decisions and are important for understanding the consequences of interventions to improve access to health care. This study is the first to our knowledge to examine causal spillover effects for mental health service use. We exploit the natural experiment of first-year student housing assignments at two universities using survey data that we collected. When the peer group is defined at the roommate level, we do not find any spillover effects on service use. When the peer group is defined at the hall level, we find positive spillover effects--peers' service use increases one's own service use--and this effect is driven by individuals with prior experience with mental health services. We also find some evidence that the mechanism behind this effect is improved beliefs about treatment effectiveness.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27274165,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Uremic Toxins - Novel Arrhythmogenic Factor in Chronic Kidney Disease - Related Atrial Fibrillation.\nAtrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with a high prevalence of AF, and uremic toxins are an important risk factor for cardiovascular diseases associated with CKD. Uremic toxins can produce pro-fibrotic, pro-hypertrophic, and pro-inflammatory effects on cardiac tissues and enhance oxidative stress or neurohormonal phenomena of cardiovascular injury, which are recognized as arrhythmogenic factors of AF. This article reviews the clinical, molecular, and electrophysiological data of uremic toxins in CKD considered to induce AF through multiple mechanisms on structural and electrical remodeling of the cardiovascular system.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8345078,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Male infertility and donor insemination: couples' decisions, reactions and counselling needs.\nThis paper reports findings of a postal survey of 205 couples belonging to the National Association for the Childless, whose infertility had been attributed to the male partner. Spontaneous resolution was seldom reported, but 36 couples had become parents by donor insemination (DI) and 28 through adoption. Almost a third of respondents had managed to resolve their childlessness. Although reasons for rejecting DI or preferring other options were offered by 60 couples, 125 had taken active steps towards it. Most of the 80 couples who had been counselled had found this helpful. Regardless of counselling, of the 76 couples who had considered whether or not to tell their children of their mode of conception, 56 (74%) stated that they had no intention of doing so. Quantitative indices from two self-report scales confirm that male infertility is commonly a source of distress, especially for the female partner. However, the data also suggest that this is not necessarily associated with chronic marital discord. Couples who had already decided for or against DI reported less distress than others. The need for mutual support may well be enhanced until the couple's quest for a child has been either achieved or abandoned.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32354900,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Significant Association of Interleukin-16 Genetic Variations to Taiwanese Lung Cancer.\nInterleukin-16 has been reported to exhibit tumoricidal effects, however, the contribution of IL-16 genotypes to lung cancer is still largely unrevealed. This study aimed at investigating whether IL-16 genotypes contribute to lung cancer susceptibility. IL-16 rs4778889, rs11556218, and rs4072111 genotypic characteristics were determined among 358 lung cancer patients and 716 controls via the polymerase chain reaction-based restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) methodology. The highlight finding is that the distributions of genotypic (p=8.6E-10) and allelic (p=0.0001) frequencies of IL-16 rs11556218 was significantly different between cases and controls. In detail, the frequencies of IL-16 rs11556218 heterozygous variant TG and homozygous variant GG were 36.6 and 7.3% among the lung cancer patients, significantly higher than those among the controls (22.5% and 2.6%). On the other way, no difference was observed regarding IL-16 rs4778889 or IL-16 rs4072111. The present study indicates IL-16 rs11556218 G allele is significantly associated with increased Taiwan lung cancer risk.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6745218,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of viloxazine on serum carbamazepine levels in epileptic patients.\nThe present study describes the interaction between carbamazepine (CBZ) and viloxazine, a recently synthesized antidepressant agent. Seven epileptic patients on chronic anticonvulsant therapy showed a significant (p less than 0.005) increase in steady-state serum CBZ levels (from 8.1 +\/- 2.5 SD to 12.1 +\/- 2.5 SD micrograms\/ml) when viloxazine (300 mg\/day) was added to the therapy. The effect was associated with the appearance of mild CBZ intoxication. The symptoms of this intoxication (i.e., dizziness, ataxia, fatigue, drowsiness) disappeared rapidly, and serum CBZ levels decreased to the basal values, when viloxazine administration was stopped.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34418559,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Guava (Psidium guajava) leaf extract enhances immunity, growth, and resistance against Vibrio parahaemolyticus in white shrimp Penaeus vannamei.\nThis study investigated the effects of guava leaf extract (GLE) on immune responses, growth performance, and resistance to Vibrio parahaemolyticus in white shrimp (Penaeus vannamei). To examine the effect of GLE on the immune response of white shrimps, they were treated with various concentrations of GLE on hemocyte (in vitro) and were orally administered (in vivo) feed containing various concentrations of 0, 1, 5, and 10 g kg-1 GLE (control, GLE1, GLE5, and GLE10, respectively) for 28 days. Furthermore, their growth performance was evaluated for 56 days. In a separate experiment, the shrimps were challenged with V. parahaemolyticus injection after 7 days of culture. In vitro experiments indicated that GLE is nontoxic and can activate immune response. In vivo experiments revealed that the GLE5 led to the highest total hemocyte count, phenoloxidase activity, phagocytic activity, and superoxide anion production and the highest upregulation of lipopolysaccharide, \u03b2-1,3-glucan-binding protein, peroxinectin, lysozyme, crustin, penaeidin 2, penaeidin 3, clotting protein, superoxide dismutase, and glutathione peroxidase. Moreover, better growth performance was observed in the GLE groups, with GLE5 exhibiting the highest specific growth rate, weight gain, and feed conversion rate. In addition, GLE5 enhanced resistance to V. parahaemolyticus, with a survival rate of 72.27%. In conclusion, GLE was found to be effective in enhancing nonspecific immune response and growth performance and in reducing V. parahaemolyticus infection in white shrimp.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":2787317,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Oxidation of alpha 1-protease inhibitor: role of lipid peroxidation products.\nPreviously we demonstrated that in vivo exposure of humans to NO2 resulted in significant inactivation of alpha 1-protease inhibitor (alpha 1-PI) in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. However, alpha 1-PI retains its elastase inhibitory activity in vitro when exposed to 10 times the concentration of NO2 used in vivo. We suggested exogenous oxidants such as O2 and NO2 exert their effect in vivo in part through lipid peroxidation. We investigated the mechanism of inactivation of alpha 1-PI in the presence or absence of lipids under oxidant atmosphere. alpha 1-PI in solutions containing phosphate buffer (control), 0.1 mM stearic acid (saturated fatty acid, 18:0), or 0.1 mM linoleic acid (polyunsaturated fatty acid, 18:2) was exposed to either N2 or NO2 (50 ppm for 4 h). Elastase inhibitory capacity of alpha 1-PI was significantly diminished in the presence of 0.1 mM linoleic acid and under NO2 atmosphere (75 +\/- 8% of control, P less than 0.01), whereas there was no change in elastase inhibitory capacity of alpha 1-PI in the presence or absence (buffer only) of 0.1 mM stearic acid under a similar condition (109 +\/- 11 and 94 +\/- 6%, respectively). The inactivated alpha 1-PI as the result of peroxidized lipid could be reactivated by dithiothreitol and methionine sulfoxide peptide reductase, suggesting oxidation of methionine residue at the elastase inhibitory site. Furthermore the inhibitory effect of peroxidized lipid on alpha 1-PI could be prevented by glutathione and glutathione peroxidase and to some extent by alpha-tocopherol.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1684995,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"(+\/-)-3-Allyl-6-bromo-7,8-dihydroxy-1-phenyl-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1H-3- benzazepin, a new high-affinity D1 dopamine receptor ligand: synthesis and structure-activity relationship.\nThe 7,8-dihydroxy-1-phenyl-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1H-3-benzazepines form a series of compounds having a high affinity at the D1 dopamine receptor. The 6-chloro derivative has been previously shown to have enhanced affinity, selectivity, and agonist activity. In an attempt to study the effect of substitution of a 6-bromo group in place of the 6-chloro, we have synthesized a series of compounds and evaluated them for their affinity for the D1 receptor. The results show that the 6-bromo derivatives have virtually identical affinities to their 6-chloro counterparts, a finding similar to that found in the D1 antagonist 7-halo-8-hydroxy-1-phenyl-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1H-3-benzazepine series. From the present work, 3-allyl-6-bromo-7,8-dihydroxy-1-phenyl-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1H-3-benzazepi ne (6-Br-APB) has been identified as a suitable candidate for further in vivo studies and resolution into its active and inactive enantiomers.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30314500,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"An update on gastrointestinal endoscopy-associated infections and their contributing factors.\nDuring clinical use, gastrointestinal endoscopes are grossly contaminated with patient's native flora. These endoscopes undergo reprocessing to prevent infectious transmission upon future use. Endoscopy-associated infections and outbreaks have been reported, with a recent focus on the transmission of multi-drug resistant organisms. This review aims to provide an update on endoscopy-associated infections, and the factors contributing to their occurrence. PubMed, ScienceDirect, and CINAHL were searched for articles describing gastrointestinal endoscopy-associated infections and outbreaks published from 2008 to 2018. Factors contributing to their occurrence, and the outcomes of each outbreak were also examined. This review found 18 articles, 16 of which described duodenoscope-associated infections, and the remaining two described colonoscope- and gastroscope-associated infection respectively. Outbreaks were reported from the United States, France, China, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The causative organisms reported were Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli and Salmonella enteritidis. A number of factors, including lapses in reprocessing, biofilm formation, endoscope design issues and endoscope damage, contribute to gastrointestinal endoscopy associated infection. Methods of improving endoscope reprocessing, screening for contamination and evaluating endoscope damage may be vital to preventing future infections and outbreaks.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28342671,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-30":1}}},"text":"Apoptosis of peritoneal leucocytes during early stages of Fasciola hepatica infections in sheep.\nSeveral immunomodulatory properties have been described in Fasciola hepatica infections. Apoptosis has been shown to be an effective mechanism to avoid the immune response in helminth infections. The aim of the present work was to study apoptosis in peritoneal leucocytes of sheep experimentally infected with F. hepatica during the early stages of infection. Five groups (n=5) of sheep were used. Groups 2-5 were orally infected with 200 metacercariae (mc) and sacrificed at 1, 3, 9 and 18days post-infection (dpi), respectively. Group 1 was used as the uninfected control (UC). Apoptosis was detected using three different methods 1) immunocytochemistry (ICC) with a polyclonal antibody anti-active caspase-3; 2) an annexin V flow cytometry assay using the Annexin V-FITC\/propidium iodide (PI); and 3) transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The differential leucocyte count revealed that the majority of peritoneal granulocytes were eosinophils, which increased significantly at 9 and 18 dpi with respect to the uninfected controls. The ICC study revealed that the percentage of caspase-3+ apoptotic peritoneal leucocytes increased significantly from 3 dpi onwards with respect to the uninfected controls. The flow cytometry annexin V assay detected a very significant (P<0.001) increase of apoptotic peritoneal macrophages, lymphocytes and granulocytes, which remained higher than in the UC until 18 dpi. Transmission electron microscopy studies also confirmed the presence of apoptosis in peritoneal eosinophils at 18 dpi. This is the first report of apoptosis induced by F. hepatica in the peritoneal leucocytes of sheep in vivo. The results of this work suggest the importance of apoptosis induction for the survival of the juvenile parasites in the peritoneal migratory stages of infection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":2483745,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Conformation limited nucleoside-5'-phosphates as termination substrates for DNA-polymerases].\nWe have investigated the ability of some nucleoside 5'-triphosphate analogues to terminate the DNA synthesis catalyzed by calf thymus DNA polymerase alpha and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase, rat liver DNA polymerase beta, E. coli DNA polymerase I (Klenow's fragment) and AMV reverse transcriptase. It has been shown that lyxoanhydronucleoside 5'-triphosphates terminate DNA synthesis catalyzed by reverse transcriptase and terminal deoxynucleotydil transferase. 2',3'-O-Isopropylidenecytidine 5'-triphosphate inhibits the DNA synthesis catalyzed by reverse transcriptase and DNA polymerase beta and its moiety was incorporated in the place of dTMP residue. Riboanhydroadenosine 5'-triphosphate reveals the properties of an effective termination substrate for all the DNA polymerases studied. This is the first attempt to investigate nucleotide analogues with the restricted conformation of the carbohydrate moiety as termination substrates for several prokaryotic and eukaryotic DNA polymerases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25285311,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Enabling ITK-based processing and 3D Slicer MRML scene management in ParaView.\nThis paper documents on-going work to facilitate ITK-based processing and 3D Slicer scene management in ParaView. We believe this will broaden the use of ParaView for high performance computing and visualization in the medical imaging research community. The effort is focused on developing ParaView plug-ins for managing VTK structures from 3D Slicer MRML scenes and encapsulating ITK filters for deployment in ParaView. In this paper, we present KWScene, an open source cross-platform library that is being developed to support implementation of these types of plugins. We describe the overall design of the library and provide implementation details and conclude by presenting a concrete example that demonstrates the use of the KWScene library in computational anatomy research at Johns Hopkins Center for Imaging Science.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15558928,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Delayed hemopericardium after penetrating chest trauma: thoracoscopic pericardial window as a therapeutic option.\nA 41-year-old male developed a hemothorax after sustaining a stab wound in the right chest. The patient was managed conservatively with thoracostomy tube drainage for 3 days and was subsequently discharged home. Two weeks later the patient returned to the hospital with pleuritic chest pain and shortness of breath. Imaging studies revealed a right-sided pleural effusion and an enlarged cardiac silhouette, which was consistent with pericardial effusion as per ultrasonography. Thoracoscopic exploration revealed an enlarged heart, that following pericardiotomy drained 400 mL of frank blood. Subsequently, cardiac contractility improved, and no further bleeding was evident.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31259929,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Plasma-mirror frequency-resolved optical gating using a liquid-sheet jet in ultraviolet region.\nWe demonstrate plasma-mirror frequency-resolved optical gating (PM-FROG) using a liquid-sheet jet of water and characterize a waveform of a high-repetition laser pulse (1 kHz) in the ultraviolet (UV) region. The measured PM-FROG trace is reconstructed by the least-squares generalized projections algorithm. The retrieved UV spectral phase is consistent with that by self-diffraction FROG. The complex reflection coefficient of a plasma mirror is discussed in terms of the free electron density dependence. The PM-FROG technique is applicable to not only the pulse characterization, but also the investigation of ionization dynamics of a liquid.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30313208,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nomenclatural changes in Ochlerini (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Pentatomidae: Discocephalinae).\nSeveral nomenclatural problems were found while studying the types of Ochlerini in the Natural History Museum, London. These problems are addressed and corrected: Hemingius Distant, 1899 syn. nov. is removed from the synonymy with Moncus St\u00e5l, 1867, and considered a new junior synonym of Ochlerus Spinola, 1837; Ochlerus scaber Walker, 1867 is removed from the synonymy with Ochlerus obscurus Dallas, 1851, and it is proposed as a senior synonym of Ochlerus cotylophorus Breddin, 1910 syn. nov. Herrichella Distant, 1911 is a senior synonym of Alitocoris Sailer, 1950 syn. nov., with the resulting new combinations: Herrichella grandis (Garbelotto Campos, 2013) comb. nov., Herrichella lateralis (Garbelotto Campos, 2013) comb. nov., Herrichella ornata (Garbelotto Campos, 2013) comb. nov., and Herrichella schraderi (Sailer, 1950) comb. nov. A key for the species of Herrichella is also given. Eritrachys antennata (Distant, 1911) comb. nov. is a senior synonym of Eritrachys bituberculata Ruckes, 1959 syn. nov. Phereclus punctatus (Dallas, 1851) is transferred to the genus Lincus St\u00e5l, 1867 as Lincus punctatus (Dallas, 1851) comb. nov.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23440939,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mobile computed tomography : three year clinical experience in Korea.\nObtaining real-time image is essential for neurosurgeons to minimize invasion of normal brain tissue and to prompt diagnosis of intracranial event. The aim of this study was to report our three-year experience with a mobile computed tomography (mCT) for intraoperative and bedside scanning. A total of 357 mCT (297 patients) scans from January 2009 to December 2011 in single institution were reviewed. After excluding post-operative routine follow-up, 202 mCT were included for analysis. Their medical records such as diagnosis, clinical application, impact on decision making, times, image quality and radiologic findings were assessed. Two-hundred-two mCT scans were performed in the operation room (n=192, 95%) or intensive care unit (ICU) (n=10, 5%). Regarding intraoperative images, extent of resection of tumor (n=55, 27.2%), degree of hematoma removal (n=42, 20.8%), confirmation of catheter placement (n=91, 45.0%) and monitoring unexpected complications (n=4, 2.0%) were evaluated. A total of 14 additional procedures were introduced after confirmation of residual tumor (n=7, 50%), hematoma (n=2, 14.3%), malpositioned catheter (n=3, 21.4%) and newly developed intracranial events (n=2, 14.3%). Every image was obtained within 15 minutes and image quality was sufficient for interpretation. mCT is feasible for prompt intraoperative and ICU monitoring with enhanced diagnostic certainty, safety and efficiency.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6158496,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hematological and clinical features of sickle cell diseases: a review.\nThe differentiation, hematologic features and clinical manifestations of patients with the various sickling disorders are reviewed. The deficiencies in our current knowledge about the spectrum of the clinical course of patients with these conditions is discussed. The interaction of alpha thalassemia with sickle cell anemia and its possible effect upon the severity of the disease is summarized. The apparent milder disease in certain groups of patients with sickle cell anemia in whom there is an associated elevation of hemoglobin F is contrasted with the controversy surrounding the effects of hemoglobin F levels in the patients of African origin.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27270589,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-18":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Loss of the co-repressor GPS2 sensitizes macrophage activation upon metabolic stress induced by obesity and type 2 diabetes.\nHumans with obesity differ in their susceptibility to developing insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes (T2D). This variation may relate to the extent of adipose tissue (AT) inflammation that develops as their obesity progresses. The state of macrophage activation has a central role in determining the degree of AT inflammation and thus its dysfunction, and these states are driven by epigenomic alterations linked to gene expression. The underlying mechanisms that regulate these alterations, however, are poorly defined. Here we demonstrate that a co-repressor complex containing G protein pathway suppressor 2 (GPS2) crucially controls the macrophage epigenome during activation by metabolic stress. The study of AT from humans with and without obesity revealed correlations between reduced GPS2 expression in macrophages, elevated systemic and AT inflammation, and diabetic status. The causality of this relationship was confirmed by using macrophage-specific Gps2-knockout (KO) mice, in which inappropriate co-repressor complex function caused enhancer activation, pro-inflammatory gene expression and hypersensitivity toward metabolic-stress signals. By contrast, transplantation of GPS2-overexpressing bone marrow into two mouse models of obesity (ob\/ob and diet-induced obesity) reduced inflammation and improved insulin sensitivity. Thus, our data reveal a potentially reversible disease mechanism that links co-repressor-dependent epigenomic alterations in macrophages to AT inflammation and the development of T2D.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":274940,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hypertension due to a renin-secreting tumour localised by segmental renal vein sampling.\nAn 18-year-old female was found to be hypertensive on routine medical examination. Further investigation disclosed persistent hypokalaemia and elevated plasma renin activity in peripheral venous blood. Segmental renal vein sampling with assay of blood samples located the source of excess renin secretion in the lower mid-zone of the left kidney. This localization was not confirmed by either angiography or by palpation of the exposed kidney before nephrectomy but macroscopic examination of the freshly sectioned kidney revealed a small tumour in the region suggested by renal vein sampling. The tumour had the morphologic pattern fo an haemangiopericytoma with abundant ultrastructural specific granules and very high renin activity by tissue assay. Plasma renin activity fell precipitously after nephrectomy and remained very low for the first week. Although the immediate post-operative blood pressure fell to normal, hypertension recurred temporarily and was associated with elevated plasma aldosteron, producing a syndrome similar to primary aldosteronism. All variables returned to normal without specific therapy and hypertension has not subsequently recurred.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23454740,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"pH sensing characteristics and biosensing application of solution-gated reduced graphene oxide field-effect transistors.\nSolution-gated reduced graphene oxide field-effect transistors (R-GO FETs) were investigated for pH sensing and biochemical sensing applications. A channel of a networked R-GO film formed by self-assembly was incorporated as a sensing layer into a solution-gated FET structure for pH sensing and the detection of acetylcholine (Ach), which is a neurotransmitter in the nerve system, through enzymatic reactions. The fabricated R-GO FET was sensitive to protons (H(+)) with a pH sensitivity of 29 mV\/pH in terms of the shift of the charge neutrality point (CNP), which is attributed to changes in the surface potential caused by the interaction of protons with OH surface functional groups present on the R-GO surface. The R-GO FET immobilized with acetylcholinesterase (AchE) was used to detect Ach in the concentration range of 0.1-10mM by sensing protons generated during the enzymatic reactions. The results indicate that R-GO FETs provide the capability to detect protons, demonstrating their applicability as a biosensing device for enzymatic reactions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23462024,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Anticipating and managing opioid side effects in the elderly.\nPain is a common complaint in the elderly, and opioids are useful agents for management of both acute and chronic pain. Opioids are known to cause a variety of adverse effects, and these adverse effects can be particularly problematic for the frail elderly patient and may limit their use. As a result, this can lead to undertreatment of pain and poor patient outcome. Understanding, anticipating, and managing opioid side effects is an important component of care for the elderly patient.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28345144,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Adapting Evaluations of Alternative Payment Models to a Changing Environment.\nTo identify the most robust methods for evaluating alternative payment models (APMs) in the emerging health care delivery system environment. We assess the impact of widespread testing of alternative payment models on the ability to find credible comparison groups. We consider the applicability of factorial research designs for assessing the effects of these models. The widespread adoption of alternative payment models could effectively eliminate the possibility of comparing APM results with a \"pure\" control or comparison group unaffected by other interventions. In this new environment, factorial experiments have distinct advantages over the single-model experimental or quasi-experimental designs that have been the mainstay of recent tests of Medicare payment and delivery models. The best prospects for producing definitive evidence of the effects of payment incentives for APMs include fractional factorial experiments that systematically vary requirements and payment provisions within a payment model.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29563660,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-26":1}}},"text":"Ethnic Diversity, Inter-group Attitudes and Countervailing Pathways of Positive and Negative Inter-group Contact: An Analysis Across Workplaces and Neighbourhoods.\nThis study advances the current literature investigating the relationship between contextual out-group exposure, inter-group attitudes and the role of inter-group contact. Firstly, it introduces the concept of contact-valence into this relationship; that is, whether contact is experienced positively or negatively. Secondly, it presents a comparative analysis of how processes of out-group exposure and frequency of (valenced) contact affect prejudice across both neighbourhoods and workplaces. Applying path analysis modelling to a nationally-representative sample of white British individuals in England, we demonstrate, across both contexts, that increasing out-group exposure is associated with higher rates of both positively- and negatively-valenced contact. This results in exposure exhibiting both positive and negative indirect associations with prejudice via more frequent inter-group mixing. These countervailing contact-pathways help explain how out-group exposure is associated with inter-group attitudes. In neighbourhoods, increasing numbers of individuals experiencing positive-contact suppress an otherwise negative effect of neighbourhood diversity (driven partly by increasing numbers of individuals reporting negative contact). Across workplaces the effect differs such that increasing numbers of individuals experiencing negative-contact suppress an otherwise positive effect of workplace diversity (driven largely by increasing numbers of individuals experiencing positive contact).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29386978,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Provision of Prosthetic Services Following Lower Limb Amputation in Malaysia.\nThe incidence of lower limb amputation is high across the globe and continues to be a major threat to morbidity and mortality. Consequently, the provision of high quality and effective prosthetics services have been known as an essential component for a successful rehabilitation outcome. In Malaysia, amputation prevalence has been increasing in which several main components of service delivering aspects (such as service intervention, prosthetic personnel) should be anticipated to accommodate for the increasing demand. This article highlights the hurdles experienced in providing prosthetic services in Malaysia from multiple aspects such as financial burden to acquire the prosthesis and lack of expertise to produce quality prosthesis. This paramount issues consequently justify for the urgency to carry out national level survey on the current statistics of lower limb amputation and to ascertain the available workforce to provide a quality prosthetics services. Only with accurate and current information from the national survey, strategies and policies aimed at enhancing the outcome from prosthetics services can be achieved.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29559564,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Overexpression of miR-202 resensitizes imatinib resistant chronic myeloid leukemia cells through targetting Hexokinase 2.\nChronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a myeloproliferative disease which uniquely expresses a constitutively active tyrosine kinase, BCR\/ABL. As a specific inhibitor of the BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase, imatinib becomes the first choice for the treatment of CML due to its high efficacy and low toxicity. However, the development of imatinib resistance limits the long-term treatment benefits of it in CML patients. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the roles of miR-202 in the regulation of imatinib sensitivity in CML cell lines and the possible mechanisms involved in this process. We found miR-202 was down-regulated in seven CML cell lines by quantitative reverse-transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis. Overexpression of miR-202 significantly suppressed proliferation rates of CML cells. By establishing imatinib resistant cell lines originating from K562 and KU812 cells, we observed expressions of miR-202 were down-regulated by imatinib treatments and imatinib resistant CML cell lines exhibited lower level of miR-202 On the contrary, imatinib resistant CML cell lines displayed up-regulated glycolysis rate than sensitive cells with the evidence that glucose uptake, lactate production, and key glycolysis enzymes were elevated in imatinib resistant cells. Importantly, the imatinib resistant CML cell lines were more sensitive to glucose starvation and glycolysis inhibitors. In addition, we identified Hexokinase 2 (HK2) as a direct target of miR-202 in CML cell lines. Overexpression of miR-202 sensitized imatinib resistant CML through the miR-202-mediated glycolysis inhibition by targetting HK2. Finally, we provided the clinical relevance that miR-202 was down-regulated in CML patients and patients with lower miR-202 expression displayed higher HK2 expression. The present study will provide new aspects on the miRNA-modulated tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) sensitivity in CML, contributing to the development of new therapeutic anticancer drugs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":5461106,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sequence studies of the Fd section of the heavy chain of rabbit immunoglobulin G.\nA partial amino acid sequence was given by Cebra, Steiner & Porter (1968b) of the N-terminal half of the heavy chain of rabbit immunoglobulin G. This was extended and in part corrected to give a continuous sequence of 136 residues, which together with other work accounts for three-quarters of the total sequence. Evidence is given suggesting that there is a limited region of 10-15 residues that are exceptionally variable in the heavy chains from pooled rabbit immunoglobulin G.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37464519,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Measurement of Sex and Gender Identity in the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey, 2014 to 2020.\nEffective measurement of sex and gender identity is challenging. Questions measuring gender identity were added as an optional module of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) in 2014 and were modified repeatedly in following years. This study examines BRFSS participant responses to gender identity and sex questions, 2014-2020. About 70% of participants who identified as transgender male-to-female reported male sex while 30% reported female sex. Participants who identified as transgender female-to-male reported female sex about 65% of the time and reported male sex 35% of the time. Despite changes in sex question wording, these percentages were consistent over time. Reported sex is used in computing health-related variables and in routing participants to questions about birth control, pregnancy, HPV vaccines, and cancer screenings. Without better measurement, it is challenging to assess health and health risks and inform guidelines, programs, and policies protecting the health of transgender people.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23329854,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Development of an environmental high-voltage electron microscope for reaction science.\nEnvironmental transmission electron microscopy and ultra-high resolution electron microscopic observation using aberration correctors have recently emerged as topics of great interest. The former method is an extension of the so-called in situ electron microscopy that has been performed since the 1970s. Current research in this area has been focusing on dynamic observation with atomic resolution under gaseous atmospheres and in liquids. Since 2007, Nagoya University has been developing a new 1-MV high voltage (scanning) transmission electron microscope that can be used to observe nanomaterials under conditions that include the presence of gases, liquids and illuminating lights, and it can be also used to perform mechanical operations to nanometre-sized areas as well as electron tomography and elemental analysis by electron energy loss spectroscopy. The new instrument has been used to image and analyse various types of samples including biological ones.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28573105,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Atypical Presentation: Metastatic Uveal Melanoma in a Young Patient without Visual Complaints.\nUveal melanoma is a rare and aggressive subtype of melanoma, with singular characteristics that separate it from the most famous cutaneous melanoma. This uncommon condition becomes even rarer if we look at young population. Common chemotherapy regimens does not work with this aggressive disease in its metastatic scenario, and the new armament like targeted and immunotherapies are still looking for more robust evidence. We report a rare case of uveal melanoma in a patient younger than 20 years, with abdominal pain as his initial complaint. He did not present the typical visual symptoms of the primary site because of an auto accident suffered 4 months before the presentation, letting him blind of the eye affected by the tumor development. There is always a possibility of the diagnosis of uveal melanoma in cases with associated isolated hepatic metastases, even in a young population, where this hypothesis is often rejected by the epidemiological frequency of other tumors. This rare case is a useful example.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3052161,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The development of the anaesthetic vaporizer. The contribution of A.G. Levy.\nThe innovatory features incorporated into A.G. Levy's regulating chloroform inhaler, and their contribution to modern vaporizer design, are examined. Levy may be credited with the important realisation that the gas mixture which leaves the vaporizing chamber is fully saturated at all flow rates; with the concept of the splitting ratio; with appreciation of the importance of the application of Reynolds' researches on laminar and turbulent flow to the design of anaesthetic apparatus; and with the provision of a facility to compensate for changes of temperature in the vaporizing chamber.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16221010,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"\"Psychotherapy\" versus \"treatment\".\nPresents a comment on \"Psychological treatments\" by D. H. Barlow. Barlow proposed that we distinguish between the terms \"treatment\" and \"psychotherapy.\" The author believes that not only is the distinction unnecessary, but that its implications could have negative consequences for the field of clinical psychology. It is the proposed distinguishing feature that treatments are \"specifically tailored to the pathological process that is causing the impairment and distress\" that is most problematic. Clinical psychology does not need a distinction that further exacerbates the split between researchers and practitioners.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28358508,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cr0.5Nb24.5O62 Nanowires with High Electronic Conductivity for High-Rate and Long-Life Lithium-Ion Storage.\nIntercalation-type TiNbxO2+2.5x (x = 2, 5, and 24) anode materials have recently become more interesting for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to their large theoretical capacities of 388-402 mAh g-1. However, the Ti4+\/Nb5+ ions in TiNbxO2+2.5x with empty 3d\/4d orbitals usually lead to extremely low electronic conductivity of <10-9 S cm-1, greatly restricting their practical capacity and rate capability. Herein, we report a class of highly conductive Cr0.5Nb24.5O62 nanowires as an intercalation-type anode material for high-performance LIBs. The as-made Cr0.5Nb24.5O62 nanowires show an open shear ReO3 crystal structure (C2 space group) with 4% tetrahedra and a conducting characteristic with ultrahigh electronic conductivity of 3.6 \u00d7 10-2 S cm-1 and a large Li+-ion diffusion coefficient of 2.19 \u00d7 10-13 cm2 s-1. These important characteristics make them deliver outstanding electrochemical properties in term of the largest reversible capacity (344 mAh g-1 at 0.1 C) in all the known niobium- and titanium-based anode materials, safe working potential (\u223c1.65 V vs Li\/Li+), high first-cycle Coulombic efficiency (90.8%), superior rate capability (209 mAh g-1 at 30 C), and excellent cycling stability, making them among the best for LIBs in niobium- and titanium-based anode materials.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36934984,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-30":1}}},"text":"Efficacy of zoledronic acid for the elimination of disseminated tumor cells in a clinically relevant, spontaneously metastatic prostate cancer xenograft model.\nBone metastases develop in >90 % of patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (PCa) through complex interactions between the bone microenvironment and tumor cells. Previous androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT), which is known to cause bone loss, as well as anti-resorptive agents such as zoledronic acid (ZA), used to prevent skeletal complications, may influence these interactions and thereby the growth of disseminated tumor cells (DTC) in the bone marrow (BM). Here, a spontaneously metastatic xenograft tumor model of human PCa was further optimized to mimic the common clinical situation of ADT (castration) combined with primary tumor resection in vivo. The effects of these interventions, alone or in combination with ZA treatment, on tumor cell dissemination to the BM and other distant sites were analyzed. Metastatic burden was quantified by human-specific Alu-qPCR, bioluminescence imaging (BLI), and immunohistochemistry. Further, bone remodeling was assessed by static histomorphometry and serum parameters. Initial comparative analysis between NSG and SCID mice showed that spontaneous systemic dissemination of subcutaneous PC-3 xenograft tumors was considerably enhanced in NSG mice. Primary tumor resection and thereby prolonged observational periods resulted in a higher overall metastatic cell load at necropsy and tumor growth alone caused significant bone loss, which was further augmented by surgical castration. In addition, castrated mice showed a strong trend towards higher bone metastasis loads. Weekly treatment of mice with ZA completely prevented castration- and tumor-induced bone loss but had no effect on bone metastasis burden. Conversely, the total lung metastasis load as determined by BLI was significantly decreased upon ZA treatment. These findings provide a basis for future research on the role of ZA not only in preventing skeletal complications but also in reducing metastasis to other organs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28693153,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Clinical outcome of brain metastases differs significantly among breast cancer subtypes.\nBrain metastases in patients with breast cancer are associated with a poor survival rate. A small number of studies have challenged this premise, suggesting that survival times following brain metastasis differ significantly between breast cancer subtypes. In the current study, overall survival (OS), brain metastases-free survival (BMFS) and survival following brain metastases (SFBM) were found to be associated with the intrinsic breast cancer subtype. A total of 1,147 patients with invasive breast cancer who were treated at the Hannover Medical School between January 2004 and December 2010 were included, from which 54 patients with brain metastases were identified. The Kaplan-Meier method or Cox regression analyses were performed for analysis of survival. OS was found to differ significantly between breast cancer subtypes: OS was significantly shorter in patients with triple-negative (TN) cancer compared with patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER2)-enriched tumors (P<0.001). In addition, median BMFS times differed significantly between luminal (1,003 days), HER2-enriched (514 days) and TN breast cancer patients (460 days) (P=0.045). The median durations of SFBM were 386 days in luminal, 310 days in HER2-enriched and 147 days in TN breast cancer patients (P=0.029). The results suggested that patients with luminal breast cancer have a lower risk of brain metastases and the most favorable outcome with regard to BMFS, whereas patients with HER2-positive or TN breast cancer have a significantly higher risk of developing brain metastases. Compared with TN breast cancer, the duration of SFBM was doubled in HER2-enriched cancers. These findings may have important implications for treatment and follow-up strategies in patients with breast cancer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28575598,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nearly Optimal Foraging in Patches Under Nutrient Constraints.\nThree feeding strategies with different rules for prey selectivity were evaluated by Monte Carlo computer simulation. The predator must obtain a minimum quantity of each of three different nutrients, and it sequentially encounters one of three kinds of prey that differ in both their nutrient compositions and their relative abundances. Within patches, prey may be randomly dispersed or aggregated with Markovian transition probabilities. Overall cost is the sum of search time plus consumption cost plus emigration (between-patch traverses) risk. The predator will emigrate if it is unsuccessful in acquiring a minimum of {Gamma} units of any needed nutrient within the T most recent prey encounters. The three strategies are (1) no discrimination-with potentially high consumption costs, (2) minimal consumption-with potentially very prolonged search times, and (3) a hybrid strategy that requires a physiological monitoring of net nutrient acquisition (or the bookkeeping of highly correlated gustatory cues). Each strategy has its characteristic dynamics and optima, but collectively these simulations show that no one strategy is superior and that over a large portion of the parameter space the differences in overall cost are relatively small.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29378893,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Regulation of the CRISPR-Associated Genes by Rv2837c (CnpB) via an Orn-Like Activity in Tuberculosis Complex Mycobacteria.\nClustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) and the CRISPR-associated proteins (Cas) provide bacteria and archaea with adaptive immunity to specific DNA invaders. Mycobacterium tuberculosis encodes a type III CRISPR-Cas system that has not been experimentally explored. In this study, we found that the CRISPR-Cas systems of both M. tuberculosis and Mycobacterium bovis BCG were highly upregulated by deletion of Rv2837c (cnpB), which encodes a multifunctional protein that hydrolyzes cyclic di-AMP (c-di-AMP), cyclic di-GMP (c-di-GMP), and nanoRNAs (short oligonucleotides of 5 or fewer residues). By using genetic and biochemical approaches, we demonstrated that the CnpB-controlled transcriptional regulation of the CRISPR-Cas system is mediated by an Orn-like activity rather than by hydrolyzing the cyclic dinucleotides. Additionally, our results revealed that tuberculosis (TB) complex mycobacteria are functional in processing CRISPR RNAs (crRNAs), which are also more abundant in the \u0394cnpB strain than in the parent strain. The elevated crRNA levels in the \u0394cnpB strain could be partially reduced by expressing Escherichia coli orn Our findings provide new insight into transcriptional regulation of bacterial CRISPR-Cas systems.IMPORTANCE Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) and the CRISPR-associated proteins (Cas) provide adaptive immunity to specific DNA invaders. M. tuberculosis encodes a type III CRISPR-Cas system that has not been experimentally explored. In this study, we first demonstrated that the CRISPR-Cas systems in tuberculosis (TB) complex mycobacteria are functional in processing CRISPR RNAs (crRNAs). We also showed that Rv2837c (CnpB) controls the expression of the CRISPR-Cas systems in TB complex mycobacteria through an oligoribonuclease (Orn)-like activity, which is very likely mediated by nanoRNA. Since little is known about regulation of CRISPR-Cas systems, our findings provide new insight into transcriptional regulation of bacterial CRISPR-Cas systems.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26414834,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Giant Cholangiolocellular Carcinoma With Early Recurrence That Was Difficult to Distinguish From Cholangiocellular Carcinoma: Report of a Case.\nCholangiolocellular carcinoma (CoCC) is a rare type of malignant liver tumor derived from hepatic stem cells, which exist in the canals of Hering. However, the characteristics of CoCC have not been clarified. In general, CoCC is associated with a better prognosis than cholangiocellular carcinoma (CCC). Here, we report a case of giant CoCC, which was difficult to distinguish from CCC and showed early recurrence and necrosis inside the tumor. A 59-year-old man was diagnosed with CCC based on preoperative imaging. The diameter of the tumor was approximately 14 cm, and he subsequently underwent extended right lobectomy of the liver. Histopathologic analysis revealed that tumor cells proliferated and replaced the surrounding normal liver cell cords in front of the tumor. Furthermore, the tumor cells were positive for cytokeratin 19 and epithelial membrane antigen. Epithelial membrane antigen staining pattern was positive on the membranous area of the lumen. Therefore, the tumor was diagnosed as CoCC. Although adjuvant chemotherapy was performed, intrahepatic recurrence occurred at 4 months after surgery. We present here the novel characteristics of CoCC that show early recurrence and necrosis within the tumor. These characteristics have not previously been reported in patients with CoCC.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28352449,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Interleukin 17A in Patients With Stable Coronary Artery Disease: Are There Differences According to Gender?\nCoronary artery disease (CAD) is a current major public health concern. Immunity and inflammation are involved in all phases of CAD and there is a dynamic balance between cells and molecules. Interleukin 17A (IL17A) concentrations are higher in male patients with acute myocardial infarction than in women. In this study, we evaluated if the IL17A concentrations in male CAD patients (MPs) differed from those in female patients (FPs) and male controls (MCs). Moreover, FPs were compared with female controls (FCs). This was a cross-sectional, prospective, and analytical study conducted between March 2012 and August 2013 that enrolled 40 patients (24 men and 16 women) with stable CAD and 20 healthy volunteers (12 men and 8 women) were selected as controls and were matched with the patients (1:2) for sex and age (\u00b1 3 years). Comparative analyses of IL17A concentrations in serum and cell culture with and without stimulation were performed between MPs and MCs, MPs and FPs, and FPs and FCs. The lower detection limit was 3.91 pg\/mL. The comparison of the IL17A concentrations showed: after 48 hours of cell culture with stimulus: MP = 451.67 (99.02 - 892.58) vs. MC = 135 (3.91 - 285), P = 0.04; after 48 hours of cell culture with stimulus: MP = 451.67 (99.02 - 892.58) vs. FP = 131.21 (3.91 - 231.97), P = 0.02; after 48 hours of cell culture with stimulus: FP = 131.21 (3.91 - 231.97) vs. FC = 173.78 (3.91 - 642), P = 0.24. This study revealed higher IL17A concentrations in the stimulated cells isolated from the MPs than in those isolated from FPs and MCs. These findings support the hypothesis that when exposed to certain stimuli, cells isolated from MPs with chronic CAD may produce higher IL17A concentrations than those from FPs and MCs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24399871,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Efficacy of WBV as a modality for inducing changes in body composition, aerobic fitness, and muscular strength: a pilot study.\nThe purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the effectiveness of whole body vibration (WBV) training as a modality for inducing changes in body composition, cardiovascular condition, and muscular strength in sedentary postmenopausal women. WBV training was compared with other training regimens, ie, aerobic training and circuit resistance training, commonly used to promote weight loss, cardiovascular conditioning, and muscular strength. Postmenopausal women (aged 48-60 years) were randomly assigned to WBV training, circuit resistance training, or aerobic training. Participants trained three times per week for 8 weeks. The training regimens were progressive in nature, with increases in training intensity and duration occurring throughout the 8-week period. Body composition was assessed using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry analyses. A modified Bruce treadmill protocol was used to assess aerobic capacity (VO2peak) and time to peak exhaustion. Upper and lower body strengths were determined by one repetition maximum (1-RM) chest and leg presses, respectively. Variables were analyzed using separate 3 (exercise mode) \u00d7 2 (time) repeated-measures analysis of variance with effect sizes due to the small sample size. No significant main effects or interactions were seen for any body composition variable; however, moderate to large effect sizes (\u03b7 (2)=0.243 and \u03b7 (2)=0.257) were detected regarding interactions for percent body fat and lean body mass favoring aerobic training and circuit resistance training. For VO2peak, no significant main effects or interactions were detected (time, \u03b7 (2)=0.150; P=0.11; time \u00d7 group, \u03b7 (2)=0.139; P=0.30); but a significant time effect was observed for time to peak exhaustion (\u03b7 (2)=0.307; P=0.017). A significant interaction for upper body strength (\u03b7 (2)=0.464; P=0.007), and main effect for time in lower body strength (\u03b7 (2)=0.663; P=0.0001) was detected. Post hoc analysis indicated a significant increase in upper body strength for circuit resistance training (P=0.023) and a decrease for WBV training (P=0.015). Our results indicate that WBV may not be an effective alternative to traditional training with regard to body composition or aerobic capacity, but could have a positive impact on lower body strength.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29555530,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Negative pressure wound therapy versus conventional wound dressings in treatment of open fractures: A systematic review and meta-analysis.\nThough several systematic reviews concerned have been published, controversy still exists. The current systematic review was designed to clarify the detailed advantages and disadvantages of the negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) in treatment of open fractures in comparison with the conventional wound dressings. A systematic search was performed in Pubmed, Cochrane Library, Embase, and Google Scholar for the published relevant clinical studies. Unpublished studies were searched in Clinicaltrials, ICTRP and ISRCTN. The outcome measures included presence of infection, wound healing process, length of the patient hospital stay, flap issues, frequency of amputation, and patient life quality. In the 8 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) (421 patients) and the 6 retrospective cohort studies (488 patients), NPWT resulted in a significantly lower infection rate, significantly shorter wound coverage time, wound healing time and hospital stay length, and the lower amputation rate. However, no statistically significant difference was found in the need for flap surgery, the proportion of free flaps, the flap failure rate or the fracture non-union rate. Only 1 RCT was reported to have a higher physical component score of short form 36 in the infected patients. NPWT can significantly reduce the risk of infection in treatment of open fractures and accelerate their wound healing process. Some but not much evidence suggests that NPWT may possibly help reduce the severity of the limb injury and therefore provide a chance for the limb to avoid amputation. Use of NPWT in the flap area is probably safe, but should be carried out with caution. The advantage of NPWT over the conventional wound dressings still requires to be confirmed in the other aspects.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3028767,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Stability and effectiveness of chlorine disinfectants in water distribution systems.\nA test system for water distribution was used to evaluate the stability and effectiveness of three residual disinfectants--free chlorine, combined chlorine, and chlorine dioxide--when challenged with a sewage contaminant. The test distribution system consisted of the street main and internal plumbing for two barracks at Fort George G. Meade, MD. To the existing pipe network, 152 m (500 ft) of 13-mm (0.5 in.) copper pipe were added for sampling, and 60 m (200 ft) of 2.54-cm (1.0 in.) plastic pipe were added for circulation. The levels of residual disinfectants tested were 0.2 mg\/L and 1.0 mg\/L as available chlorine. In the absence of a disinfectant residual, microorganisms in the sewage contaminant were consistently recovered at high levels. The presence of any disinfectant residual reduced the microorganism level and frequency of occurrence at the consumer's tap. Free chlorine was the most effective residual disinfectant and may serve as a marker or flag in the distribution network. Free chlorine and chlorine dioxide were the least stable in the pipe network. The loss of disinfectant in the pipe network followed first-order kinetics. The half-life determined in static tests for free chlorine, chlorine dioxide, and combined chlorine was 140, 93, and 1680 min.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28688336,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"The biochemical, nanomechanical and chemometric signatures of brain cancer.\nRaman spectroscopy and imaging combined with AFM topography and mechanical indentation by AFM have been shown to be an effective tool for analysis and discrimination of human brain tumors from normal structures. Raman methods have potential to be applied in clinical practice as they allow for identification of tumor margins during surgery. In this study, we investigate medulloblastoma (grade IV WHO) (n=5) and the tissue from the negative margins used as normal controls. We compare a high grade medulloblastoma (IV grade), and non-tumor samples from human central nervous system (CNS) tissue. Based on the properties of the Raman vibrational spectra and Raman images we provide a real-time feedback that is label-free method to monitor tumor metabolism that reveals reprogramming of biosynthesis of lipids, and proteins. We have found that the high-grade tumors of central nervous system (medulloblastoma) exhibit enhanced level of \u03b2-sheet conformation and down-regulated level of \u03b1-helix conformation when comparing against normal tissue. We have shown that the ratio of Raman intensities I2930\/I2845 at 2930 and 2845cm-1 is a good source of information on the ratio of lipid and protein contents. We have found that the ratio reflects the lipid and protein contents of tumorous brain tissue compared to the non-tumor tissue. Almost all brain tumors have the Raman intensity ratios significantly higher (1.99\u00b10.026) than that found in non-tumor brain tissue, which is 1.456\u00b10.02, and indicates that the relative amount of lipids compared to proteins is significantly higher in the normal brain tissue. Mechanical indentation using AFM on sliced human brain tissues (medulloblastoma, grade IV) revealed that the mechanical properties of this tissue are strongly heterogeneous, between 1.8 and 75.7kPa, and the mean of 27.16kPa. The sensitivity and specificity obtained directly from PLSDA and cross validation gives a sensitivity and specificity of 98.5% and 96% and 96.3% and 92% for cross-validation, respectively. The high sensitivity and specificity demonstrates usefulness for a proper decision for a Raman diagnostic test on biochemical alterations monitored by Raman spectroscopy related to brain cancer development.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27263617,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hematological and biochemical changes in volatile substance abusing street children in \u0130stanbul.\nThe aim of the study is to assess the hematological and biochemical changes of inhalant abusing adolescences in Istanbul, Turkey. The study subjects comprised 24 street children. Demographic characteristics, hematological markers, complete blood count tests and white blood cell differential and liver function tests (alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase, alkaline phosphatase) were evaluated. The blood cell counts and studied biochemical parameters were within normal range for age and sex matched adolescences. Anemia was observed in only one girl who had hypermenorea. The duration and the amount of substance abuse were investigated for a correlation with the blood parameters, only the amount showed the possibility of a trend associated with Hb and Hct (p<0.05). There was no significant relationship between the parameters except for the age. Although volatile abuse has been supposed to be related with anemia or other hematological abnormalities, we found no significant relation between volatile abuse and hematological or studied biochemical parameters. Alkaline phosphatase was the parameter found to be most affected, though being in normal range.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":4119674,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The vascular architecture of the porcine small intestine.\nThe vascular anatomy of the porcine small intestine was studied by injection of intestinal vessels with India Ink. Examination of transverse and longitudinal serial sections of the injected intestine facilitated a three-dimensional interpretation of the vascular pattern. An artery from the mesentery penetrated the tunica muscularis, supplied muscular branches and passed on to the submucosa where it formed an arterial rete. From the submucosal arteries, arterioles arose and followed a direct axial course to the tips of villi where they ramified into a subepithelial capillary plexus. Some of the capillaries, at the midpoint of the villus, fused into paraxial venules, which emptied into a \"transverse venule\" at the base of the villus. Other villus capillaries were continuous with those of the crypts. The pericryptal capillary plexus received a few arterial branches from the submucosal arteries. The transverse venule and the pericryptal capillary plexus emptied into large, segmentally dilated veins in the submucosa. The submucosal veins formed an extensive anastomosing network drained by large venous trunks which passed through the muscle layers to the mesentery. The observations suggest possible relationships between the vascular pattern and intestinal fluid movement.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18601587,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The biology of platelet-rich plasma and its application in oral surgery: literature review.\nPlatelet-rich plasma (PRP) is a new approach in tissue regeneration and a developing area for clinicians and researchers. It is used in various surgical fields, including oral and maxillofacial surgery. PRP is prepared from the patient's own blood and contains growth factors that influence wound healing. Of these growth factors, platelet-derived growth factor, transforming growth factor, insulin-like growth factor, and epidermal growth factor play a pivotal role in tissue repair mechanisms. Although the growth factors and mechanisms involved are still poorly understood, the easy application of PRP in the clinic and its possible beneficial outcome, including reduction of bleeding, rapid soft tissue healing, and bone regeneration, hold promise for new treatment approaches. However, animal studies and human trials demonstrate conflicting results regarding the application of PRP. Therefore the aim of this literature review is to evaluate the scientific evidence regarding the use of PRP in dentistry, to describe the different bioactive substances included in PRP and their participation in the healing process, to elucidate the different techniques and available technology for PRP preparation, to review animal and human studies, to clarify risks, and to provide guidance for future research.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32587869,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nomogram-Based Prediction of the Risk of Diabetic Retinopathy: A Retrospective Study.\nThis study is aimed at developing a risk nomogram of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in a Chinese population with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). A questionnaire survey, biochemical indicator examination, and physical examination were performed on 4170 T2DM patients, and the collected data were used to evaluate the DR risk in T2DM patients. By operating R software, firstly, the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression analysis was used to optimize variable selection by running cyclic coordinate descent with 10 times K cross-validation. Secondly, multivariable logistic regression analysis was applied to build a predicting model introducing the predictors selected from the LASSO regression analysis. The nomogram was developed based on the selected variables visually. Thirdly, calibration plot, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, and decision curve analysis were used to validate the model, and further assessment was running by external validation. Seven predictors were selected by LASSO from 19 variables, including age, course of disease, postprandial blood glucose (PBG), glycosylated haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), uric creatinine (UCR), urinary microalbumin (UMA), and systolic blood pressure (SBP). The model built by these 7 predictors displayed medium prediction ability with the area under the ROC curve of 0.700 in the training set and 0.715 in the validation set. The decision curve analysis curve showed that the nomogram could be applied clinically if the risk threshold is between 21% and 57% and 21%-51% in external validation. Introducing age, course of disease, PBG, HbA1c, UCR, UMA, and SBP, the risk nomogram is useful for prediction of DR risk in T2DM individuals.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29386985,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Co(II) Coordination in Prokaryotic Zinc Finger Domains as Revealed by UV-Vis Spectroscopy.\nCo(II) electronic configuration allows its use as a spectroscopic probe in UV-Vis experiments to characterize the metal coordination sphere that is an essential component of the functional structure of zinc-binding proteins and to evaluate the metal ion affinities of these proteins. Here, exploiting the capability of the prokaryotic zinc finger to use different combinations of residues to properly coordinate the structural metal ion, we provide the UV-Vis characterization of Co(II) addition to Ros87 and its mutant Ros87_C27D which bears an unusual CysAspHis2 coordination sphere. Zinc finger sites containing only one cysteine have been infrequently characterized. We show for the CysAspHis2 coordination an intense d-d transition band, blue-shifted with respect to the Cys2His2 sphere. These data complemented by NMR and CD data demonstrate that the tetrahedral geometry of the metal site is retained also in the case of a single-cysteine coordination sphere.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32355665,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nanoparticles in Gastrooncology.\nGastrointestinal malignancies have the greatest incidence and cancer-associated death rates worldwide. Routine therapeutic modalities include surgery, chemotherapy and radiation but they often fail to reach the goal of cancer-free survival. In the light of this urgent medical need for the treatment of GI tumors, nanotech-nology-based approaches, i.e. nanomedicine, promise new therapeutic options. Using nanoparticles instead of classically designed drugs, targeting anticancer agents directly to the tumor site may revolutionize both diagnostic and therapeutic tools thereby facilitating the identification and elimination of malignant cells. Importantly, diagnostic insight and therapeutic effects can be achieved simultaneously through the same nanoparticle. Additionally, a nanoparticle may be loaded with more than one agent, thereby further increasing the value and power of the nanotechnology approach in oncologic therapeutic concepts. Although most insight into mechanisms of nanomedicine has been gained from in vitro and preclinical in vivo models, few clinical trials have been conducted, and nanomedicine-based concepts are already part of standard treatment algorithms. However, despite substantial progress it remains a challenge to design nanoparticles that feature all desirable characteristics at the same time. This review seeks to provide substantial insight into the current status of nanomedicine-based approaches employed for diagnostic and\/or therapeutic purposes in the field of gastrointestinal cancers by highlighting achievements and pointing out unresolved issues that need to be further addressed by future research attempts.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23459425,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Perceptions of injury and prevention practices among pregnant and parenting teenagers.\nInjury is a leading cause of death for young children, and the children of teenaged parents may be at increased risk. This qualitative study explored pregnant and parenting teenagers' child safety beliefs and practices related to 4 topics: preventing accidental suffocation via safe sleeping practices, motor vehicle collision safety, prevention of inflicted head trauma, and drowning prevention. Twenty-four focus groups were held with 93 pregnant and\/or parenting teenagers. Participants reported variation in their sleeping arrangements, transportation methods, caregivers, and childcare settings. Confusion over safety information was common. Child safety practices were influenced by boyfriends\/husbands, parents, grandparents, and teachers.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":938341,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Intelligibility of speech transduced via classroom-installed FM and conventional audio induction loop amplification systems.\nThis study was designed to investigate the intelligibility of speech transduced through a classroom-installed FM system and a conventional induction loop amplification (ILA) system and to examine the applicability of an FM adapter when used with commercially available hearing aids. Findings indicate that speech reproduced via the FM system is significantly better than that of the conventional audio induction loop used in this study. It seems likely that the irregular high-frequency response of the ILA system was responsible for this difference. When an FM adapter was used in conjunction with body-type hearing aids, the frequency response of the telecoil along with the positioning of the adapter determine the total performance of the aid.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29561549,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"From small molecules to polymeric catalysts in the oscillatory carbonylation reaction: multiple effects of adding HI.\nThe oscillatory palladium-catalysed carbonylation reaction opens new horizons for applications in smart materials due to the versatility of its conditions and substrates, as well as the adjustability of amplitude and period of pH oscillations. A variety of viable substrates have been demonstrated, including polymeric alkyne-terminated substrates. However, so far, there have not been any reports of polymer-based palladium catalysts in oscillatory mode. In this paper, we demonstrate pH oscillations in various systems, using commercially available palladium acetate, a triphenylphosphine palladium acetate complex and a polymer-bound palladium catalyst. While palladium acetate was able to generate oscillations under the conditions already established in our previous research on PdI2-catalysed oscillators, the other two catalysts needed the addition of HI to induce oscillations. HI forced an initial pH drop, bringing pH into the range where oscillations generally occur. Addition of HI had a significant effect on all catalysts, modifying the amplitude and period of oscillations, oscillation mode, as well as starting material conversion and product distribution.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18601446,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Comparison of particle image velocimetry and phase contrast MRI in a patient-specific extracardiac total cavopulmonary connection.\nParticle image velocimetry (PIV) and phase contrast magnetic resonance imaging (PC-MRI) have not been compared in complex biofluid environments. Such analysis is particularly useful to investigate flow structures in the correction of single ventricle congenital heart defects, where fluid dynamic efficiency is essential. A stereolithographic replica of an extracardiac total cavopulmonary connection (TCPC) is studied using PIV and PC-MRI in a steady flow loop. Volumetric two-component PIV is compared to volumetric three-component PC-MRI at various flow conditions. Similar flow structures are observed in both PIV and PC-MRI, where smooth flow dominates the extracardiac TCPC, and superior vena cava flow is preferential to the right pulmonary artery, while inferior vena cava flow is preferential to the left pulmonary artery. Where three-component velocity is available in PC-MRI studies, some helical flow in the extracardiac TCPC is observed. Vessel cross sections provide an effective means of validation for both experiments, and velocity magnitudes are of the same order. The results highlight similarities to validate flow in a complex patient-specific extracardiac TCPC. Additional information obtained by velocity in three components further describes the complexity of the flow in anatomic structures.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28270271,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pharmacist Counseling and the Use of Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs by Older Adults.\nTo determine the impact a medication review has on the detection and use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) by older adults compared with non-NSAID users in regard to interacting drug classes, interacting comorbidities, and prior counseling by providers. Prospective, quasi-experiment without control. Ambulatory. Patients 60 years of age and older who contacted the pharmacy outreach program. In total, 83 patients consented. Twenty-eight patients were eligible for three-month follow-up. Pharmacists and pharmacy students provided NSAID counseling. Patient-reported changes of NSAID use, change from inappropriate to appropriate use, impression of risk awareness, and further discussion with health care providers. NSAID use was reported by 39 (47.6%) of 83 patients. Inappropriate use was detected in 28 (71.8%) of NSAID users; of these, 18 (64.3%) were reached for post-counseling follow-up. The number of appropriate users increased to 20 (51.3%), with a concomitant reduction of inappropriate users to 19 (48.7%). Nine (50%) reported change in the use of NSAIDs, 13 (72.2%) had a better understanding of the risks associated with NSAID use, and 10 (55.6%) had a more meaningful conversation with providers. Older adults who use NSAIDs may be unaware of potential risks. Counseling older adults may reduce potentially inappropriate use and increase patient risk awareness. Pharmacists can improve their role in recognizing and counseling patients on NSAIDs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32580491,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cinnamon-Derived Hierarchically Porous Carbon as an Effective Lithium Polysulfide Reservoir in Lithium-Sulfur Batteries.\nLithium-sulfur batteries are attractive candidates for next generation high energy applications, but more research works are needed to overcome their current challenges, namely: (a) the poor electronic conductivity of sulfur, and (b) the dissolution and migration of long-chain polysulfides. Inspired by eco-friendly and bio-derived materials, we synthesized highly porous carbon from cinnamon sticks. The bio-carbon had an ultra-high surface area and large pore volume, which serves the dual functions of making sulfur particles highly conductive and acting as a polysulfide reservoir. Sulfur was predominantly impregnated into pores of the carbon, and the inter-connected hierarchical pore structure facilitated a faster ionic transport. The strong carbon framework maintained structural integrity upon volume expansion, and the unoccupied pores served as polysulfide trapping sites, thereby retaining the polysulfide within the cathode and preventing sulfur loss. These mechanisms contributed to the superior performance of the lithium-sulfur cell, which delivered a discharge capacity of 1020 mAh g-1 at a 0.2C rate. Furthermore, the cell exhibited improved kinetics, with an excellent cycling stability for 150 cycles with a very low capacity decay of 0.10% per cycle. This strategy of combining all types of pores (micro, meso and macro) with a high pore volume and ultra-high surface area had a synergistic effect on improving the performance of the sulfur cathode.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":930179,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[The clinical significance of the risk factor hyperlipoproteinemia. Study on 2700 patients].\nIn a clinical study on 2,700 inpatients of the medical clinic of Rostock University systematic examinations of the lipids and lipoproteins were carried out. 2.5% of the examined patients showed a primary hyperlipoproteinemia, 14,8% disturbances of the lipid metabolism of different degree of severity, taking into consideration borderline regions of 300 mg\/100 ml for cholesterol and of 250 mg\/100 ml for triglycerides. In coronary sclerosis and myocardial infarction the frequency of hyperlipoproteinemia was, as we expected, very high, it was about 63 and 77%, respectively. In part groups in primary hyperlipoproteinemia as additional examinations the triglyceride content in the material of liver punction, various coagulation parameters, such as function and kinetics of the platelets were determined and examinations of the secretion of the exocrine pancreas were carried out. In patients of the programme of chronic dialysis, apart from this in temporary dependence on the treatment determinations of the heparin-induced lipoprotein lipase were performed. The consequences resulting from the mutual relations of the factor of risk hyperlipoproteinemia to the diseases of various organic systems are shown.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20370799,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The sensitivity of direct identification from positive BacT\/ALERT\u2122 (bioM\u00e9rieux) blood culture bottles by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry is low.\nRecently, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) has been presented as a novel method for the direct identification of bacteria from positive blood culture bottles. The rate of the MALDI TOF MS-based identification in the present study from positive BacT\/ALERT (bioM\u00e9rieux, Marcy l'Etoile, France) blood culture bottles was 30%, which is far below the previously reported sensitivities using the BACTEC (Becton Dickinson, Franklin Lakes, NJ, USA) system. We also found evidence that the Biotyper algorithm did not identify a second pathogen in cases of positive BacT\/ALERT blood culture bottles containing two different species.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18594820,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"The role of FDG-PET in distinguishing between septic and aseptic loosening in hip prosthesis: a review of literature.\nInfection in prosthesis surgery is very dangerous because it changes the patient's prognosis. Differential diagnosis between septic and aseptic loosening is fundamental in order to apply the correct treatment. The correct diagnostic approach is still debated in literature. The aim of this study was to perform a review of literature evaluating positron emission tomography (PET) capacity to distinguish between septic and aseptic loosening in hip prosthesis. Research was done principally among medical archives. Five studies were selected which satisfied the required characteristics, and a weighted average of sensitivity and specificity of the different studies was determined. The fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) sensitivity in individuating hip prosthesis infections was 82.8% and specificity was 87.3%. Positron emission tomography based on 2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose could be a valid option if research is able to find an uptake pattern specific for septic and aseptic loosening.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6928652,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Correlation between relaxation and automaticity in embryonic heart cell aggregates.\nDiastolic depolarization in cardiac muscle is due to a decline in potassium permeability that has been ascribed to removal of intracellular free calcium. A continued decline in tension during the pacemaker potential might therefore occur. In this study, contractile responses of chicken embryonic heart cell aggregates are recorded with a photodiode. Photodiode output is well correlated with the position of the aggregate's edge. Movements of different edges are synchronous, and their amplitude and duration vary appropriately during experimental maneuvers that alter the magnitude and duration of contractile force. Edge movement during relaxation has two phases, a rapid phase lasting about 100 msec and a slow phase that may last over 10 sec. The slow phase is not due to viscoelasticity because its time course does not depend on the magnitude or duration of the initial deformation. The rate of relaxation is correlated with the rate of depolarization during the pacemaker potential. Reduction in automaticity during cooling, spontaneous variation, and overdrive pacing are associated with impairment of the slow component of relaxation. Electrophysiological evidence suggests that the diastolic potassium permeability of the aggregates is controlled by intracellular calcium. A possible explanation for the correlation between the slope of the pacemaker potential and the slow component of relaxation is that both phenomena reflect a common physiological process-i.e., the removal of free calcium from the cytoplasm.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21165106,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Characterizations of low-temperature electroluminescence from ZnO nanowire light-emitting arrays on the p-GaN layer.\nLow-temperature electroluminescence from ZnO nanowire light-emitting arrays is reported. By inserting a thin MgO current blocking layer in between ZnO nanowire and p-GaN, high-purity UV light emission at wavelength 398 nm was obtained. As the temperature is decreased, contrary to the typical GaN-based light emitting diodes, our device shows a decrease of optical output intensity. The results are associated with various carrier tunneling processes and frozen MgO defects.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15249794,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Comprehensive lifestyle modification and blood pressure control: a review of the PREMIER trial.\nThe PREMIER trial assessed the aggregate effect on blood pressure (BP) of nationally recommended lifestyle modifications in free-living adults with high-normal (stage 1) hypertension. Participants (N=810) were randomized to the advice-only group; the established group (consisting of weight loss, increased physical activity, and reduced sodium and alcohol intake); or the established plus Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet group (consisting of the established interventions in addition to the DASH dietary pattern). The primary outcome was change in systolic BP at 6 months. Net of advice only, mean systolic BP declined by 3.7 mm Hg for members of the established group (p<0.001) and 4.3 mm Hg for the established plus DASH group (p<0.001). The prevalence of hypertension decreased from a baseline of 38% to 17% in the established group (p=0.01) and to 12% in the established plus DASH group (p<0.001) compared with a decrease to 26% in the advice-only group. The PREMIER trial demonstrated that persons with above-optimal BP and stage 1 hypertension can make multiple lifestyle changes leading to better control of BP.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25405661,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"IgG4 disease.\nImmunoglobulin (Ig) G4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is a chronic inflammatory disorder characterized by elevated serum level of IgG4 and abundant infiltration of IgG4-bearing plasmacytes and fibrosis in various organs, typically including the lacrimal glands, salivary glands, pancreas, thyroid gland, lungs, and kidneys. Lacrimal and orbital involvements are called IgG4-related ophthalmic disease, often presenting as orbital myositis, perineuritis of the optic and trigeminal nerves, and orbital inflammation. In particular, a characteristic finding is infraorbital nerve enlargement on magnetic resonance imaging. Systemic screening is necessary to establish the diagnosis of IgG4-RD, and it must be distinguished from neoplastic disease. Corticosteroid treatment is effective in inducing remission but some patients may relapse during tapering of pharmacotherapy. This review encompasses the history, clinical profile, diagnostic criteria, treatment, and prognosis of IgG4-RD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":33725819,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Gene diagnosis and pedigree analysis of two Han ethnicity families with propionic acidemia in Fujian.\nPropionic acidemia is associated with pathogenic variants in PCCA or PCCB gene. We investigated the potential pathogenic variants in PCCA or PCCB genes in Fujian Han population.Two probands and their families of Han ethnicity containing two generations were subject to newborn screening using tandem mass spectrometry, followed by diagnosis using urine gas chromatography mass spectrometry. Sanger sequencing was used to identify potential mutations in PCCA and PCCB genes.Compound heterozygous variants were identified in PCCB gene in two siblings of the first family, the youngest girl showed a novel missense variant c.1381G>C (p.Ala461Pro) in exon 13 and a heterozygous missense variant c.1301C>T (p.Ala434Val) in exon 13, which were inherited respectively from their parents. The oldest boy is a carrier with a novel missense variant c.1381G>C (p.Ala461Pro) in exon 13 which were inherited from his father. In the second family, c.1535G>A homozygous mutations were identified in the baby girl, which were inherited respectively from their parents. In silico analysis, several different types of bioinformatic software were utilized, which predicted that the novel variant c.1381G>C in PCCB gene was damaged. According to ACMG principle, the missense variant c.1381G>C (p.Ala461Pro) in exon 13 was a Variant of Undetermined Significance (VUS).One novel missense variant and two missense variants in PCCB gene were identified in the study. The novel variant of PCCB gene identified VUS was identified for the first time in the Chinese population, which enriched the mutational spectrum of PCCB gene.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28296953,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A numerical investigation of intrathecal isobaric drug dispersion within the cervical subarachnoid space.\nIntrathecal drug and gene vector delivery is a procedure to release a solute within the cerebrospinal fluid. This procedure is currently used in clinical practice and shows promise for treatment of several central nervous system pathologies. However, intrathecal delivery protocols and systems are not yet optimized. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of injection parameters on solute distribution within the cervical subarachnoid space using a numerical platform. We developed a numerical model based on a patient-specific three dimensional geometry of the cervical subarachnoid space with idealized dorsal and ventral nerve roots and denticulate ligament anatomy. We considered the drug as massless particles within the flow field and with similar properties as the CSF, and we analyzed the effects of anatomy, catheter position, angle and injection flow rate on solute distribution within the cerebrospinal fluid by performing a series of numerical simulations. Results were compared quantitatively in terms of drug peak concentration, spread, accumulation rate and appearance instant over 15 seconds following the injection. Results indicated that solute distribution within the cervical spine was altered by all parameters investigated within the time range analyzed following the injection. The presence of spinal cord nerve roots and denticulate ligaments increased drug spread by 60% compared to simulations without these anatomical features. Catheter position and angle were both found to alter spread rate up to 86%, and catheter flow rate altered drug peak concentration up to 78%. The presented numerical platform fills a first gap towards the realization of a tool to parametrically assess and optimize intrathecal drug and gene vector delivery protocols and systems. Further investigation is needed to analyze drug spread over a longer clinically relevant time frame.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15251735,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Renal cell carcinoma metastatic to the pituitary gland: clinical manifestations and successful treatment with transsphenoidal resection.\nTo describe two cases of metastatic involvement of the pituitary gland by renal cell carcinoma (RCCA) and review the medical literature regarding this entity. We present two case reports and discuss the published literature to illustrate the clinical findings, radiographic features, and recommended management of RCCA metastatic to the pituitary gland. During a 12-month period, we encountered two patients, one with visual deficits and both with anterior pituitary dysfunction, who had large sellar lesions that were histologically proved to be RCCA. Both patients were successfully treated with transsphenoidal surgical resection of the lesion, one of whom is alive and well more than 2 years later. A pituitary metastatic tumor is an uncommon complication of RCCA; it may be difficult to diagnose and potentially fatal. Anterior pituitary dysfunction and visual disturbances are more common initial features than is diabetes insipidus, in contrast to pituitary metastatic involvement from other tumors. Transsphenoidal resection is a safe and effective method of treatment of RCCA metastatic to the pituitary gland.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36929371,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Parental insightfulness is associated with mother-father-child interactions among families of preschoolers with an Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis.\nParental insightfulness underlies parental sensitive behavior and is associated with secure attachment among Typically Developing (TD) children and also among children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Moving beyond the parent-child dyad, a study of TD children and their parents linked mothers' and fathers' combined insightfulness to triadic interactions. The goal of the current study was to examine this association in families with children with ASD. The hypothesis was that the interactions in families in which both parents are insightful will be more cooperative than in families in which only one or neither parent was insightful. Eighty preschooler boys with ASD and both of their parents participated in the study. Parental insightfulness was assessed employing the Insightfulness Assessment (IA) and mother-father-child interactions were observed and coded employing the Lausanne Triadic Play (LTP) procedure. As expected, families in which both parents were insightful displayed higher parental coordinated support in the LTP than families in which one or neither parent was insightful, controlling for children's IQ and severity of symptoms. Children's engagement with their parents was associated with their IQ and severity of symptoms but not with parental insightfulness. The importance of considering paternal, in addition to maternal insightfulness as a foundation for parental coordinated support in family interactions, is discussed, as well as the contribution of the LTP in assessing family interactions with children diagnosed with ASD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28534506,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"LSD1 demethylates HIF1\u03b1 to inhibit hydroxylation and ubiquitin-mediated degradation in tumor angiogenesis.\nLysine-specific demethylase 1 (LSD1), which has been considered as a potential therapeutic target in human cancer, has been known to regulate many biological functions through its non-histone substrates. Although LSD1-induced hypoxia-inducible factor alpha (HIF1\u03b1) demethylation has recently been proposed, the effect of LSD1 on the relationship between HIF1\u03b1 post-translational modifications (PTMs) and HIF1\u03b1-induced tumor angiogenesis remains to be elucidated. Here, we identify a new methylation site of the HIF1\u03b1 protein antagonized by LSD1 and the interplay between HIF1\u03b1 protein methylation and other PTMs in regulating tumor angiogenesis. LSD1 demethylates HIF1\u03b1 at lysine (K) 391, which protects HIF1\u03b1 against ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation. LSD1 also directly suppresses PHD2-induced HIF1\u03b1 hydroxylation, which has a mutually dependent interplay with Set9-mediated HIF1\u03b1 methylation. Moreover, the HIF1\u03b1 acetylation that occurs in a HIF1\u03b1 methylation-dependent manner is inhibited by the LSD1\/NuRD complex. HIF1\u03b1 stabilized by LSD1 cooperates with CBP and MTA1 to enhance vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-induced tumor angiogenesis. Thus, LSD1 is a key regulator of HIF1\u03b1\/VEGF-mediated tumor angiogenesis by antagonizing the crosstalk between PTMs involving HIF1\u03b1 protein degradation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6164290,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hepatic oncocytes. Incidence, staining characteristics, and ultrastructural features.\nHepatocytes with orcein-positive ground-glass cytoplasm have been shown to contain abundant hepatitis B surface antigen in the cisternae of excess smooth endoplasmic reticulum. Hepatocytes with similar cytoplasmic changes that did not react with orcein were observed in 26.5% of 49 cases of cirrhosis. These cells exhibited granular, deeply eosinophilic cytoplasm that stained with phosphotungstic acid-hematoxylin and contained numerous densely packed mitochondria as demonstrated by electron microscopy. Therefore, these cells were designated hepatic oncocytes. They were detected predominantly in cases of established cirrhosis, unrelated to etiology. Hepatic oncocytes may form nodular aggregates, but they did not show evidence of regeneration. The nature and pathogenesis of these cells remain unclear. Because of similar appearance, histochemical stains may be necessary to distinguish ground-glass hepatocytes from hepatic oncocytes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3081511,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Reconstitution and poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation of proteolytically fragmented poly(ADP-ribose) synthetase.\nCalf thymus poly(ADP-ribose) synthetase (Mr = 120,000) is cleaved with papain into two fragments of M(r) = 74,000 and 46,000 and also split with chymotrypsin into two fragments of M(r) = 66,000 and 54,000. Each fragment purified to homogeneity is enzymatically inactive, but combined incubation of the 74,000 and 46,000 fragments in the presence of DNA restored 20% of the enzyme activity. In contrast, combined incubation of the 66,000 and 54,000 fragments does not restore any enzyme activity. In the former incubation, autopoly(ADP-ribosyl)ation reaction occurs exclusively on the 74,000 fragment. When each fragment is incubated with [adenine-U-14C]NAD in the presence of DNA and a catalytic amount of the native enzyme, poly(ADP-ribosyl)action occurs in the overlapped portion (22,000) of the 66,000 fragment and the 74,000 fragment. Nevertheless, the purified 22,000 fragment is a poor acceptor for poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation. The degree of poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation of the proteolytic fragments is significantly reduced by increasing NaCl concentration, probably due to the lack of the interaction between the enzyme fragments and DNA. These results, taken together, indicate that DNA is indispensable for the reconstitution of the catalytic activity as well as the poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation of the fragmented enzyme.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35369457,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Inflammatory Profiles of Tracheal Biopsies From SARS-CoV-2 Patients.\nAn increasing number of laryngotracheal complications in mechanically ventilated COVID-19 patients has been reported in the last few months. Many etiopathogenetic hypotheses were proposed but no clear explanation of these complications was identified. In this paper we evaluated the possibility that the tracheal mucosa could be a high viral replication site that could weaken the epithelium itself. Subjects for the COVID-19 group and the control group were selected retrospectively according to specific criteria. Patients' basic and clinical data were recorded and analyzed. Tracheal samples of both groups were collected during surgical tracheostomies and then analyzed from a histological and genetic-transcriptional point of view. Four COVID-19 patients were enrolled in this study and compared with four non-COVID-19 patients. No laryngotracheal complications were identified in both groups. The SARS-CoV-2 was detected in one out of four COVID-19 samples. A subepithelial inflammatory lymphomonocyte infiltrate was observed in all patients but two cases of the COVID-19 group showed vasculitis of small subepithelial vessels associated with foci of coagulative necrosis. Two gene sets (HALLMARK_INFLAMMATORY_RESPONSE and HALLMARK_ESTROGEN_RESPONSE_LATE) were significantly deregulated in COVID-19 patients compared to the control group. The altered inflammatory response of the COVID-19 patients could be another possible explanation of the increasing number of laryngotracheal complications.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32583841,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Palladium-catalyzed synthesis of 5-amino-1,2,4-oxadiazoles via isocyanide insertion.\nA convenient and efficient palladium-catalyzed approach has been developed for the synthesis of 5-amino-1,2,4-oxadiazoles from amidoximes and isocyanides. Various 5-amino-1,2,4-oxadiazoles were obtained in moderate to high yields under mild conditions. The key to the success of this strategy involves new C-N bond and C-O bond formation via palladium-catalyzed isocyanide insertion.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6364955,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Intracellular electrolytes and hormonal parameters during weight reduction.\nThe mechanisms of the blood pressure lowering effect of weight reduction have not yet been fully elucidated. In this study the intracellular electrolyte composition and hormonal parameters were monitored in 12 obese subjects during a 10-day diet with 800 kcal\/day. A decrease in intracellular free Na+ (p less than 0.05) and Mg2+ (p less than 0.01) and in total intracellular K+ (p less than 0.05) was observed. Furthermore, plasma aldosterone and renin activity (p less than 0.05) increased, probably due to a moderate simultaneous salt restriction. There was also an increase in plasma PGI2 concentration (p less than 0.05). The observed decrease in intracellular free Na+ may be caused by salt restriction. The decrease in intracellular K+ and free Mg2+ may be induced by hormonal factors, e.g. an altered insulin secretion. Possible causes for the known hemodynamic effects of weight reduction are the diminution of intracellular Na+ and the increase in plasma PGI2.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6177111,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Recent findings on the importance of vitamin A and its metabolism in man and laboratory animals].\nA survey is given concerning recent realizations of importance and metabolism of vitamin A in man and experimental animals. The transport of vitamin A from the small intestine takes place in form of esters by inclusion in chylomicrons and lipoproteins. A higher content in the blood plasma over a longer period evokes toxic effects. In the liver one part of the vitamin A in form of an ester with binding to lipoproteins is accumulated, one part is - according to the need - associated with a vitamin-A-binding protein, which forms complexes with prealbumin molecules and transports the vitamin to the various places of effect. With the help of the receptor proteins the vitamin A is included in the cells, in which it is effective and is transported into the vitamin-A-aldehyde and the vitamin-A-acid. The vitamin A and the vitamin-A-acid are transported into the cell nuclei with the help of receptor-proteins and play a role in the differentiation of the tissues and in the regulation of the synthesis of RNA. When a deficit or an abundance of vitamin A is present in the early phase of pregnancy malformations in the fetuses appear. The vitamin A and structure-similar connections have an inhibiting effect on the development of tumours.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36276288,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Red Blood Cell Membrane-Camouflaged Gold Nanoparticles for Treatment of Melanoma.\nPatients with melanoma have poor response and low long-term survival to conventional cisplatin (CP). Recently, biomimetic nanoparticles have played a significant role in tumor therapy. The purpose of this study was to mechanistically evaluate the effect of red blood cell membrane camouflaged gold nanoparticles loaded with CP (RBCm@AuNPs-CP) on enhancing chemotherapy in melanoma. Treated B16-F10 cells with RBCm@AuNPs-CP, the antimelanoma effect in vitro was explored by detecting cell viability, apoptosis rate, level of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and singlet oxygen. RBCm@AuNPs-CP was injected into the melanoma-bearing mice via tail vein, and the target-ability, therapeutic effect, and toxicity were detected in melanoma tumor-bearing mice. RBCm@AuNPs-CP had an antiproliferation and apoptosis-inducing effect on B16-F10 cells, which might be mediated by oxidative stress of ROS, and its effect was significantly enhanced compared with the CP treatment group. In vivo experiments suggested the same outcome, with better target-ability of RBCm@AuNPs-CP. The erythrocyte camouflage nanosystem RBCm@AuNPs-CP exhibited well passive tumor target-ability and promoted apoptosis of melanocytes by inducing ROS. RBCm@AuNPs-CP as a novel safe and effective targeted drug delivery system may provide a promising choice for the treatment of melanoma.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9556785,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Phase II and III clinical trials of toremifene for metastatic breast cancer.\nToremifene (Fareston) received FDA approval in 1997 for the first-line treatment of postmenopausal women with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive or -unknown metastatic breast cancer. Phase II and III trials have demonstrated that first-line therapy with toremifene, 60 mg\/d, is as effective and as well tolerated as tamoxifen (Nolvadex), 20 or 40 mg\/d, in such patients. To date, phase III trials have failed to show a statistically significant advantage of higher toremifene doses over standard doses of tamoxifen in these women. Studies appeared to indicate minimal efficacy of high toremifene doses in women with ER-negative tumors, but the number of patients studied was small. Although results of some trials of high-dose (240 mg\/d) toremifene in tamoxifen-\"refractory\" patients were negative, other trials that included prolonged (> or = 6 months) stable disease as an indication of clinical benefit yielded positive results.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36275569,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Unfolded protein response in balancing plant growth and stress tolerance.\nThe ER (endoplasmic reticulum) is the largest membrane-bound multifunctional organelle in eukaryotic cells, serving particularly important in protein synthesis, modification, folding and transport. UPR (unfolded protein response) is one of the systematized strategies that eukaryotic cells employ for responding to ER stress, a condition represents the processing capability of ER is overwhelmed and stressed. UPR is usually triggered when the protein folding capacity of ER is overloaded, and indeed, mounting studies were focused on the stress responding side of UPR. In plants, beyond stress response, accumulating evidence suggests that UPR is essential for growth and development, and more importantly, the necessity of UPR in this regard requires its endogenous basal activation even without stress. Then plants must have to fine tune the activation level of UPR pathway for balancing growth and stress response. In this review, we summarized the recent progresses in plant UPR, centering on its role in controlling plant reproduction and root growth, and lay out some outstanding questions to be addressed in the future.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14532059,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"ISLpl1 is a functional IS30-related insertion element in Lactobacillus plantarum that is also found in other lactic acid bacteria.\nWe describe the first functional insertion sequence (IS) element in Lactobacillus plantarum. ISLpl1, an IS30-related element, was found on the pLp3 plasmid in strain FB335. By selection of spontaneous mutants able to grow in the presence of uracil, it was demonstrated that the IS had transposed into the uracil phosphoribosyltransferase-encoding gene upp on the FB335 chromosome. The plasmid-carried IS element was also sequenced, and a second potential IS element was found: ISLpl2, an IS150-related element adjacent to ISLpl1. When Southern hybridization was used, the copy number and genome (plasmid versus chromosome) distribution data revealed different numbers and patterns of ISLpl1-related sequences in different L. plantarum strains as well as in Pediococcus strains. The ISLpl1 pattern changed over many generations of the strain L. plantarum NCIMB 1406. This finding strongly supports our hypothesis that ISLpl1 is a mobile element in L. plantarum. Database analysis revealed five quasi-identical ISLpl1 elements in Lactobacillus, Pediococcus, and Oenococcus strains. Three of these elements may be cryptic IS, since point mutations or 1-nucleotide deletions were found in their transposase-encoding genes. In some cases, ISLpl1 was linked to genes involved in cold shock adaptation, bacteriocin production, sugar utilization, or antibiotic resistance. ISLpl1 is transferred among lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and may play a role in LAB genome plasticity and adaptation to their environment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23328619,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-22":1,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Propolis inhibits TGF-\u03b21-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition in human alveolar epithelial cells via PPAR\u03b3 activation.\nEmerging evidence suggests that the transforming growth factor (TGF)-\u03b21-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of alveolar epithelial cells (AEC) may contribute to airway remodeling in severe asthma and fibrotic lung diseases. Studies have shown that extracts from propolis protect chemical-induced cardiac and liver fibrosis in animals. This study assesses the inhibitory effect of propolis on TGF-\u03b21-induced EMT in serum-deprived A549 cells (human AECs). Experimental results show progressive cell morphological changes, decreased E-cadherin, increased N-cadherin production, intracellular F-actin rearrangement, increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, and increased cell motility with increasing TGF-\u03b21 concentration. A549 cells pretreated with propolis and then treated with TGF-\u03b21 for 24 h regained epithelial cell morphology, decreased the production of N-cadherin and ROS, and had reduced motility. Propolis prevents the effects of TGF-\u03b21-induced Smad2 and AKT activation pathways and Snail expression. Moreover, propolis pretreatment may prevent the TGF-\u03b21-induced down-regulation of nuclear hormone receptors and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR\u03b3) protein in A549 cells, whose effect was blocked by adding PPAR\u03b3 antagonist, GW9662. Two active components of propolis, caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) and pinocembrin (PIN), only had partial effects on TGF-\u03b21-induced EMT in A549 cells. The results of this study suggest that natural propolis extracts may prevent TGF-\u03b21-induced EMT in immortalized type II AECs via multiple inhibitory pathways, which may be clinically applied in the prevention and\/or treatment of EMT-related fibrotic diseases as well as airway remodeling in chronic asthma.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14556424,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"\"I wish he hadn't told me that\": methodological and ethical issues in social trauma and conflict research.\nUndertaking research on individuals who have experienced social traumas, such as being a victim or perpetrator of genocides and wars, presents difficult decisions for qualitative researchers. Deciding how to deal with these issues becomes more problematic when the researcher is a member of the society in conflict. To do this work, and to work collaboratively with researchers from the other side, sensitive ways to collect data have to be chosen. Interpretations of the materials can be no less difficult: Analyses often lead to information and understandings that may be difficult for the researcher to deal with from ethical, moral, and personal standpoints, especially when he or she is a member of the society and culture under study. In this keynote address, the author explores methodological and ethical issues connected to these topics. She brings examples from her work on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and focuses on use of the life story methodology.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7950414,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Simultaneous multiresidue analysis of beta-lactam antibiotics in bovine milk by liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection and confirmation by electrospray mass spectrometry.\nA multiresidue analytical method was developed for the simultaneous determination of amoxicillin, cephapirin, procaine penicillin G, ampicillin, cloxacillin, and ceftiofur in bovine milk. The method involved ultrafiltration of milk diluted with an equal volume of 50% acetonitrile through a 10,000 dalton molecular mass cutoff filter. Separation of these beta-lactam antibiotics from other milk components was performed by ion-paired (octane- and dodecanesulfonate) liquid chromatography using a phenyl column eluted with acetonitrile-water solution. Ultraviolet absorbance of the column effluent was monitored in the 200-350 nm range of a photodiode-array detector. For quantitation, the chromatograms were acquired at lambda 210 nm for penicillin G, ampicillin, and cloxacillin; lambda 230 nm for amoxicillin; and lambda 290 for cephapirin, procaine, and ceftiofur. The limit of detection for the simultaneous determination of these antibiotics was estimated to be 100 ppb. Liquid chromatography\/electrospray mass spectrometry could be used to confirm these antibiotics for quantities down to 100 pg entering the mass spectrometer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29376734,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Measuring the effectiveness of patient-chosen reminder methods in a private orthodontic practice.\nTo evaluate the effectiveness of patient-chosen appointment reminder methods (phone call, e-mail, or SMS text) in reducing no-show rates. This was a retrospective case study that determined the correlation between patient-chosen appointment reminder methods and no-show rates in a private orthodontic practice. This study was conducted in a single office location of a multioffice private orthodontic practice using data gathered in 2015. The subjects were patients who self-selected the appointment reminder method (phone call, e-mail, or SMS text). Patient appointment data were collected over a 6-month period. Patient attendance was analyzed with descriptive statistics to determine any significant differences among patient-chosen reminder methods. There was a total of 1193 appointments with an average no-show rate of 2.43% across the three reminder methods. No statistically significant differences ( P = .569) were observed in the no-show rates between the three methods: phone call (3.49%), e-mail (2.68%), and SMS text (1.90%). The electronic appointment reminder methods (SMS text and e-mail) had lower no-show rates compared with the phone call method, with SMS text having the lowest no-show rate of 1.90%. However, since no significant differences were observed between the three patient-chosen reminder methods, providers may want to allow patients to choose their reminder method to decrease no-shows.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15240494,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A nanosensor for transmembrane capture and identification of single nucleic Acid molecules.\nWe have engineered a nanosensor for sequence-specific detection of single nucleic acid molecules across a lipid bilayer. The sensor is composed of a protein channel nanopore (alpha-hemolysin) housing a DNA probe with an avidin anchor at the 5' end and a nucleotide sequence designed to noncovalently bind a specific single-stranded oligonucleotide at the 3' end. The 3' end of the DNA probe is driven to the opposite side of the pore by an applied electric potential, where it can specifically bind to oligonucleotides. Reversal of the applied potential withdraws the probe from the pore, dissociating it from a bound oligonucleotide. The time required for dissociation of the probe-oligonucleotide duplex under this force yields identifying characteristics of the oligonucleotide. We demonstrate transmembrane detection of individual oligonucleotides, discriminate between molecules differing by a single nucleotide, and investigate the relationship between dissociation time and hybridization energy of the probe and analyte molecules. The detection method presented in this article is a candidate for in vivo single-molecule detection and, through parallelization in a synthetic device, for genotyping and global transcription profiling from small samples.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37840736,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nitrosopumilus as main source of isoprenoid glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether lipids in the central Baltic Sea.\nNitrososphaeria in the phylum Crenarchaeota, is a widespread archaeal class in the oceanic realm, playing an important role in the marine carbon and nitrogen cycle. Nitrososphaeria-derived membrane lipids, i.e., isoprenoid glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs), are commonly employed to reconstruct past water temperatures using the TetraEther indeX of 86 carbon atoms (TEX86). This index is of particular importance for the brackish Baltic Sea as to date it appears to be the only applicable organic temperature proxy. In this study, we investigated the distribution of intact and core GDGTs and their potential source organisms in the water column of three deep basins located in the central Baltic Sea to evaluate the application of TEX86. A lipidomic approach on suspended particulate matter was combined with the molecular techniques 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and CARD-FISH. The archaeal community was dominated by Nitrosopumilus (~83-100% of the total archaeal sequences). As other detected taxa known to produce GDGTs each represented less than 2% of the total archaeal sequences, Nitrosopumilus is likely the most dominant GDGT producer in the central Baltic Sea. However, the occurrence of phosphohexose (PH), instead of hexose-phosphohexose (HPH) headgroups, suggested that Nitrosopumilus in the Baltic Sea may differ physiologically from representatives of marine settings and other marginal seas, such as the Black Sea. In the Baltic Sea, Nitrosopumilus is most abundant in the suboxic zone, where intact cells peak according to both CARD-FISH data and intact polar lipid concentrations. The presented data therefore suggest that TEX86 reflects subsurface rather than surface temperature in the central Baltic Sea.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37459575,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Life's Essential 8 is associated with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease but not venous thromboembolism in men: a prospective cohort study.\nBackground: Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) shares several risk factors with venous thromboembolism (VTE). The American Heart Association's Life's Simple 7 (LS7), which included seven health and behavioural factors for CVD prevention, has recently been upgraded to Life's Essential 8 (LE8) score. We aimed to examine the prospective association between LE8 and the risks of ASCVD and VTE in Finland.Methods: We utilized data based on 1899 men aged 42-61 years in the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease (KIHD) prospective study. The LE8 score was generated from baselines measures of four health behaviours (physical activity, diet, nicotine exposure and sleep health) and four health factors (BMI, blood lipids, blood glucose and blood pressure). Each factor was scored from 0 to 100 and summed into a composite score. Participants were classified into quartiles (Q) based on the total LE8 score - Q1, \u2264 420; Q2, >420 to 485; Q3, >485 to 550; Q4, >550. Multivariable Cox regression models were utilized to determine the hazard ratios (HRs) along with the 95% confidence intervals (CI) for ASCVD and VTE.Results: After median follow-up durations of 24 and 25 years, 889 ASCVD and 127 VTE events were recorded, respectively. The risk of ASCVD was found to be 58% lower in men belonging to the highest LE8 quartile compared to those in the lowest quartile (HR:0.42; 95%CI: 0.34-0.51). There was no significant evidence of an association between LE8 and VTE risk (Q4 vs Q1, HR:1.02; 95%CI: 0.60-1.74).Conclusion: The risk of ASCVD was significantly lower in middle-aged and older Finnish men who had a high LE8 score, but there was no significant association with VTE. Further large-scale prospective studies conducted in women and other population groups are necessary to confirm these findings.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26426965,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Methimazole discontinuation before radioiodine therapy in patients with Graves' disease.\nAlthough radioiodine therapy (RIT) has been used for the treatment of hyperthyroidism for many decades, there is no consensus on the optimal time of methimazole (MMI) discontinuation before RIT. The aim of this clinical trial is to study the effect of three different time points of MMI discontinuation on response to RIT. Overall, 151 patients (18-65 years old), with Graves' disease who were taking MMI and referred to I-131 therapy, were consecutively assigned to one of three groups, and MMI was discontinued for 24-48, 48.1-72, and 72.1-168 h in group, 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Radioiodine uptake was measured in all patients and the radioiodine dose was calculated according to the Quimby formula to deliver 7.4 MBq of I-131 per gram of thyroid weight. Response to RIT was assessed at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after RIT. A total of 102 women and 49 men were included in the study. The mean administered dose of I-131 was 362.9\u00b1188.7 MBq (9.8\u00b15.1 mCi) and the mean time to response for radioiodine was 4.1\u00b13.6 months. There was no significant difference between the three groups in age, thyroid weight, anti-TPO level, radioactive iodine uptake level, and radioiodine dose (P>0.1). Response to RIT at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after administration was also not different between the three groups (P>0.57). No difference was found in the response to treatment between patients with MMI discontinuation for 24-48, 48.1-72, and 72.1-96 h before RIT. Shorter discontinuation of MMI before RIT may be preferable in most patients. Video Abstract: http:\/\/links.lww.com\/NMC\/A39.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28543444,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mechanistic Studies on the Peroxyoxalate Chemiluminescence Using Sodium Salicylate as Base Catalyst.\nMechanistic studies on the peroxyoxalate chemiluminescence are often conducted with imidazole as base and nucleophilic catalyst. However, it is also known that this compound, at high concentrations, leads to a drastic reduction in the chemiluminescence quantum yields, apparently due to the destruction of the high-energy intermediate. Consequently, the search for new catalysts for this transformation is of importance for mechanistic studies as well as analytical application. Therefore, we report here a study on the mechanism of the peroxyoxalate reaction with sodium salicylate as base catalyst, which has already been utilized in this reaction; however, no detailed mechanistic investigation is known. In this work, a kinetic study on the sodium salicylate-catalyzed reaction of bis(2,4,6-trichlorophenyl) oxalate with hydrogen peroxide using 9,10-diphenylanthracene as activator is reported, where observed rate constants, singlet quantum yields and activation parameters are determined in different reaction conditions, leading to the formulation of a general mechanistic reaction scheme.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15259740,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2015-18":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Time-domain mid-infrared frequency-comb spectrometer.\nA novel type of Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) is demonstrated. It is based on two Ti:sapphire lasers emitting femtosecond pulse trains with slightly different repetition frequencies. Two mid-infrared beams-derived from those lasers by rectification in GaSe-are superimposed upon a detector to produce purely time-domain interferograms that encode the infrared spectrum. The advantages of this spectrometer compared with the common FTIR include ease of operation (no moving parts), speed of acquisition (100 micros demonstrated), and not-yet-shown collimated long-distance propagation, diffraction-limited microscopic probing, and electronically controllable chemometric factoring. Extending time-domain frequency-comb spectroscopy to lower (terahertz) or higher (visible, ultraviolet) frequencies should be feasible.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37446446,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Electrochemical Promotion of CO2 Hydrogenation Using a Pt\/YSZ Fuel Cell Type Reactor.\nThe hydrogenation of CO2 is a reaction of key technological and environmental importance, as it contributes to the sustainable production of fuels while assisting in the reduction of a major greenhouse gas. The reaction has received substantial attention over the years within the catalysis and electrocatalysis communities. In this respect, the electrochemical promotion of catalysis (EPOC) has been applied successfully to the CO2 hydrogenation reaction to improve the catalytic activity and selectivity of conductive films supported on solid electrolytes. However, designing an effective electrocatalytic reactor remains a challenge due to the connections required between the electrodes and the external potentiostat\/galvanostat. This drawback could be alleviated if the catalytic reaction occurs in a reactor that simultaneously operates as a power generator. In this work, the Electrochemical Promotion of the CO2 hydrogenation reaction in a low-temperature solid oxide electrolyte fuel cell (SOFC) reactor is studied using yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) and a platinum (Pt) electrode catalyst. The system has been studied in two distinct operation modes: (i) when the necessary energy for the electrochemical promotion is produced through the parallel reaction of H2 oxidation (galvanic operation) and (ii) when a galvanostat\/potentiostat is used to impose the necessary potential (electrolytic operation). The performance of the fuel cell declines less than 15% in the presence of the reactant mixture (CO2 and H2) while producing enough current to conduct EPOC experiments. During the electrolytic operation of the electrochemical cell, the CO production rate is significantly increased by up to 50%.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18582115,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cinnamoyl inhibitors of tissue transglutaminase.\nTransglutaminases (TGases) catalyze the intermolecular cross-linking of certain proteins and tissue TGases (TG2) are involved in diverse biological processes. Unregulated, high TGase activities have been implicated in several physiological disorders, but few reversible inhibitors of TG2 have been reported. Herein, we report the synthesis of a series of novel trans-cinammoyl derivatives, discovered to be potent inhibitors of guinea pig liver transglutaminase. The most effective inhibitors evaluated can be sorted into two subclasses: substituted cinnamoyl benzotriazolyl amides and the 3-(substituted cinnamoyl)pyridines, referred to more commonly as azachalcones. Kinetic evaluation of both of these subclasses revealed that they display reversible inhibition and are competitive with acyl donor TGase substrates at IC50 values as low as 18 microM. An analysis of structure-activity relationships within these series of inhibitors permitted the identification of potentially important binding interactions. Further testing of some of the most potent inhibitors demonstrated their selectivity for TG2 and their potential for further development.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6168863,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of long-term, once-daily administration of atenolol on ambulatory blood pressure of hypertensive patients.\nWe measured intraarterial, ambulatory blood pressure over a 24-h period in 12 subjects 24--63 years (mean 47.6) of age with newly diagnosed untreated hypertension. Measurements were performed both before and after 2--9 months of once-daily treatment with atenolol, a cardioselective beta-adrenoceptor antagonist. Significant reductions in arterial pressure (p less than 0.005) during treatment with atenolol (dose range 50--200 mg) were observed over the full 24-h period.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25512564,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Spatial genome organization: contrasting views from chromosome conformation capture and fluorescence in situ hybridization.\nAlthough important for gene regulation, most studies of genome organization use either fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) or chromosome conformation capture (3C) methods. FISH directly visualizes the spatial relationship of sequences but is usually applied to a few loci at a time. The frequency at which sequences are ligated together by formaldehyde cross-linking can be measured genome-wide by 3C methods, with higher frequencies thought to reflect shorter distances. FISH and 3C should therefore give the same views of genome organization, but this has not been tested extensively. We investigated the murine HoxD locus with 3C carbon copy (5C) and FISH in different developmental and activity states and in the presence or absence of epigenetic regulators. We identified situations in which the two data sets are concordant but found other conditions under which chromatin topographies extrapolated from 5C or FISH data are not compatible. We suggest that products captured by 3C do not always reflect spatial proximity, with ligation occurring between sequences located hundreds of nanometers apart, influenced by nuclear environment and chromatin composition. We conclude that results obtained at high resolution with either 3C methods or FISH alone must be interpreted with caution and that views about genome organization should be validated by independent methods.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22680259,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Colobronchial fistula: a rare cause of chronic cough.\nWe report a colobronchial fistula in a middle-aged woman. She had been having cough with expectoration of sputum with a faeculent odour since the age of 7 years. Imaging revealed a fistulous connection between the hepatic flexure and the right bronchial tree, which was successfully repaired surgically.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28272378,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Perception of Policy and Environmental Action to Promote Healthy Behaviors in African American Communities.\nThe present study aimed to examine the perceptions of African American communities regarding the involvement of political leaders in facilitating policy and environmental change promoting healthy eating and physical activity. We selected the Metro Jackson Area comprised of Hinds, Madison and Rankin Counties because it is a combination of urban and rural communities. The sample consisted of 70 participants from seven sites. A total of seven focus groups were asked to respond to one question to assess political leaders' involvement in healthy living: \"When you think about your political leaders that you have in the Jackson, Mississippi area, do any of them promote healthy eating and physical activity?\" Focus groups consisted of six to 12 participants and were asked to comment on their participation in physical activity. The focus group interviews were digitally recorded. The recorded interviews were transcribed by a professional transcriptionist. Community members could not recollect much participation from political leaders in the health prevention\/intervention efforts. In each of the counties, there was evidence that there was some involvement by local politicians in health promotion issues, but not on a large scale. In conclusion, making healthy foods and products available in neighborhood stores has long been associated with healthy behaviors and positive health outcomes. This can make a difference in the Mississippi communities where supermarkets are not accessible and health disparities abound.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30310294,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Integrated pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic modeling to evaluate empiric carbapenem therapy in bloodstream infections.\nTreatment for nosocomial bloodstream infections (BSI) caused by multidrug-resistant (MDR) Gram-negative bacteria (GNB) is challenging. Rising antimicrobial resistance, especially in extended spectrum beta-lactamase production, inadvertently increases empiric carbapenem consumption. Three antipseudomonal carbapenems (imipenem, meropenem [MER], and doripenem [DOR]) are available commercially against MDR GNB in Singapore. The study aims to determine the most optimal empiric carbapenem dosing regimens (CDR) and evaluate their cost-effectiveness for GNB-BSI in the face of increasing MDR GNB. Carbapenem minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were generated for non-repeat GNB-BSI obtained in 2013-2014 from two hospitals. Monte Carlo simulations were used to assess the cumulative fraction of response (CFR) of various CDRs using the percentage of time above MIC for 40% (%T > MIC of 40%) as the pharmacokinetic (PK)-pharmacodynamic (PD) parameter for efficacy. Carbapenem costs were based on patient antibiotic costs. Antibiotic cost-effectiveness was calculated as total daily drug cost\/CFR. A total of 1,140 bloodstream isolates were collected. They comprised 116 Acinetobacter baumannii, 237 Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and 787 Enterobacteriaceae. All CDRs achieved ~40, ~80, and \u226590% CFRs against A. baumannii, P. aeruginosa, and Enterobacteriaceae, respectively. Against P. aeruginosa, MER 2 g every 8 h infused over 3 h and DOR 1 g every 8 h infused over 4 h achieved CFRs 84 and 81%, respectively. Against Enterobacteriaceae, the cost of MER 2 g every 8 h infused over 3 h was the lowest among the three carbapenems at $0.40\/percentage of CFR. This study demonstrates the utility of PK-PD modeling to formulate the optimal selection of a cost-effective empiric CDR in antibiotics guidelines and formulary inclusion. The findings support the selection of high MER doses of prolonged infusions as empiric coverage for GNB-BSI in our institutions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18599028,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Release of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) from beta-amyloid plaques assemblies improves the spatial memory impairments in APP-transgenic mice.\nThe major protein constituent of amyloid deposits in Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the amyloid-beta-peptide (Abeta). Amyloid deposits contain \"chaperone molecules\" which play critical roles in amyloid formation and toxicity. In the present work, we test an analog of hyperforin (IDN 5706) which releases the AChE from both the Abeta fibrils and the AChE-Abeta burdens in transgenic mice. Hyperforin is an acylphloroglucinol compound isolated from Hypericum perforatum (St. John's Wort), which is able to prevent the Abeta-induced spatial memory impairments and Abeta neurotoxicity. Altogether this gathered evidence indicates the important role of AChE in the neurotoxicity of Abeta plaques and finding new compounds which decrease the AChE-Abeta interaction may be a putative therapeutic agent to fight the disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28733442,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"89Zr-Lumretuzumab PET Imaging before and during HER3 Antibody Lumretuzumab Treatment in Patients with Solid Tumors.\nPurpose: We evaluated biodistribution and tumor targeting of 89Zr-lumretuzumab before and during treatment with lumretuzumab, a human epidermal growth factor receptor 3 (HER3)-targeting monoclonal antibody.Experimental Design: Twenty patients with histologically confirmed HER3-expressing tumors received 89Zr-lumretuzumab and underwent positron emission tomography (PET). In part A, 89Zr-lumretuzumab was given with additional, escalating doses of unlabeled lumretuzumab, and scans were performed 2, 4, and 7 days after injection to determine optimal imaging conditions. In part B, patients were scanned following tracer injection before (baseline) and after a pharmacodynamic (PD)-active lumretuzumab dose for saturation analysis. HER3 expression was determined immunohistochemically in skin biopsies. Tracer uptake was calculated as standardized uptake value (SUV).Results: Optimal PET conditions were found to be 4 and 7 days after administration of 89Zr-lumretuzumab with 100-mg unlabeled lumretuzumab. At baseline using 100-mg unlabeled lumretuzumab, the tumor SUVmax was 3.4 (\u00b11.9) at 4 days after injection. SUVmean values for normal blood, liver, lung, and brain tissues were 4.9, 6.4, 0.9 and 0.2, respectively. Saturation analysis (n = 7) showed that 4 days after lumretuzumab administration, tumor uptake decreased by 11.9% (\u00b18.2), 10.0% (\u00b116.5), and 24.6% (\u00b120.9) at PD-active doses of 400, 800, and 1,600 mg, respectively, when compared with baseline. Membranous HER3 was completely downregulated in paired skin biopsies already at and above 400-mg lumretuzumab.Conclusions: PET imaging showed biodistribution and tumor-specific 89Zr-lumretuzumab uptake. Although, PD-active lumretuzumab doses decreased 89Zr-lumretuzumab uptake, there was no clear evidence of tumor saturation by PET imaging as the tumor SUV did not plateau with increasing doses. Clin Cancer Res; 23(20); 6128-37. \u00a92017 AACR.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20366695,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Heat conduction in a three dimensional anharmonic crystal.\nWe perform nonequilibrium simulations of heat conduction in a three dimensional anharmonic lattice. By studying slabs of length N and width W, we examine the crossover from one dimensional to three dimensional behavior of the thermal conductivity kappa. We find that for large N, the crossover takes place at a small value of the aspect ratio W\/N. From our numerical data we conclude that the three dimensional system has a finite nondiverging kappa and thus provides the first verification of Fourier's law in a system without pinning.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28582753,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Changes within the stabilizing layer of ZnO nanoparticles upon washing.\nZnO nanoparticles (NPs) are highly relevant for various industrial applications, however, after synthesis of the NPs residual chemicals need to be removed from the colloidal raw product by washing, as they may influence the performance of the final device. In the present study we focus on the effect of washing by antisolvent flocculation with subsequent redispersion of the NPs on the stabilizing acetate shell. Purification of the ZnO nanoparticles is reported to be optimal with respect to zeta potential that has a maximum after one washing cycle. In this work, we will shed light on this observation using small angle X-ray and neutron scattering (SAXS, SANS) by demonstrating that after the first washing cycle the content of acetate in the ligand shell around the ZnO NPs increases. In detail, it was observed that the diffuse acetate shell shrinks to the size of a monolayer upon washing but the acetate content of this monolayer is higher than within the diffuse shell of the particles of the native dispersion. A second washing cycle reduces the acetate concentration within the stabilizing shell and the stability of the dispersion drops accordingly. After another (third) washing cycle strong agglomeration was observed for all investigated samples.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28295676,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Two-year-old girl with impacted ureteral stone successfully treated with a single session of combined percutaneous nephrostomy and ureteroscopy.\nImpacted stones frequently cause changes in the ureter, including edema of the ureteral wall, stone embedding in the ureteral mucosa or ureteral bending, which often preclude spontaneous passing of the stone and increase the risk of complications during surgery. When stone impaction is suspected preoperatively, management should be adapted accordingly. However, surgical treatment strategies remain controversial in pediatric patients because of the scarcity of cases reported. We describe the case of a 2-year-old girl with a right impacted ureteral stone who presented with gross hematuria and pyuria, but no metabolic risk factors or hematological abnormalities. Ureteroscopy was carried out in the presence of a percutaneous nephrostomy catheter. At the 7-month follow up, hydronephrosis had improved from grade 3 to grade 1, and the ureter was free from residual or recurrent stones. No complications were noted. We believe that percutaneous nephrostomy before the lithotripsy facilitates treatment for impacted stones in pediatric patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28697118,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Finding Middle Ground in Constructing a Clinically Useful Expanded Carrier Screening Panel.\nExpanded carrier screening for autosomal-recessive conditions effectively identifies more carrier couples than traditional guideline-based carrier screening. However, clinically available expanded carrier screening panels include numerous conditions, some of which have questionable clinical utility as a result of very low carrier frequency, low or unknown testing sensitivity, and mild or incompletely penetrant phenotypes. Using the 2013 American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics Position Statement on Prenatal and Preconception Expanded Carrier Screening and the 2017 American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' Committee Opinion on Carrier Screening in the Age of Genomic Medicine as guidance, we propose specific criteria for the development of expanded carrier screening panels that will maximize clinical utility and minimize patient stress, unnecessary cost of follow-up testing, and clinician time spent facilitating and performing follow-up counseling and testing. We identified 96 conditions that meet our proposed criteria, far more than current guidelines recommend. On the other hand, a considerable percentage (73%) of conditions on current expanded carrier screen panels does not meet our proposed criteria. The purpose of this commentary is to acknowledge the benefits of expanded panels, but to also recognize that in their current state, we are putting patients at risk for undue stress and spending excessive time and money on follow-up testing for remarkably rare or mild conditions and conditions with low screening performance. We encourage laboratories and clinicians to work together to create the most clinically useful screening panels for patients desiring reproductive risk information.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29383468,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"The Influence of Social Communication Impairments on Gaze in Adolescents with Social Anxiety Disorder.\nAdolescents with social anxiety disorder (SAD) often present distorted beliefs related to expected social rejection, coupled with avoidance of social stimuli including interpersonal interactions and others' gaze. Social communication (SC) deficits, often seen in SAD, may play a role in avoidance of social stimuli. The present study evaluated whether SC impairment uniquely contributes to diminished or heightened attention to social stimuli. Gaze patterns to social stimuli were examined in a sample of 41 adolescents with SAD (12-16 years of age; 68% female). Unexpectedly, no significant relationship was observed between SC impairment and fixation duration to angry or neutral faces. However, SC impairment did predict greater fixation duration to happy faces, after controlling for social anxiety severity [adjusted R 2 = 0.201, F(2, 38) = 4.536, p = 0.018]. Clinical implications are discussed, focusing on the potential utility of targeting SC impairments directly in light of the role of SC difficulties in youth with SAD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37457144,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-30":1}}},"text":"Elderberry extract improves molecular markers of endothelial dysfunction linked to atherosclerosis.\nEndothelial dysfunction (ED), secondary to diminished nitric oxide (NO) production and oxidative stress, is an early subclinical marker of atherosclerosis. Reduced NO bioavailability enhances the adhesion of monocytes to endothelial cells and promotes atherosclerosis. Elderberry extract (EB) is known to contain high levels of anthocyanins which could exert vascular protective effects. Specifically, we investigated the functional capacity of EB on various markers of ED. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) were pretreated with EB 50 \u03bcg\/mL and stimulated with TNF-\u03b1 10 ng\/mL. Cell viability, apoptosis, oxidative stress; eNOS, Akt, Nrf2, NOX-4, and NF-\u03baB at the protein level were measured. A co-culture model was used to determine whether EB could prevent the adhesion of monocytes (THP-1) to HUVECs. Moreover, the expression of adhesion molecules and pro-inflammatory cytokines were also measured. It was demonstrated that EB prevented TNF-\u03b1 induced apoptosis and reactive oxygen species production in HUVECs. Additionally, EB upregulated Akt and eNOS activity, and Nrf2 expression in response to TNF-\u03b1, whereas it decreased NOX-4 expression and NF-\u03baB activity. EB prevented the adhesion of monocytes to HUVECs, as well as reduced IL-6 and MCP-1 levels, which was associated with inhibition of VCAM-1 expression. Our results demonstrate that EB upregulates key cellular markers of endothelial function and ameliorates markers of ED. EB could be used as a potential nutritional aid for preventing atherosclerosis progression.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28251642,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"The endometrial and breast safety of menopausal hormone therapy containing micronised progesterone: A short review.\nFor a significant minority of women, menopausal symptoms can be very unpleasant; however, many are worried about taking menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) for fear of causing breast cancer. Micronised progesterone (mP4) has been available in Europe since the 1990s and clinical trials have shown that 100 mg oral daily, 200 mg oral sequentially or 100 mg vaginal every second day effectively protect the endometrium from the stimulatory effects of oestrogen. MHT containing mP4 has a significantly lower breast cancer risk than those containing progestins. Micronised progesterone does not appear to attenuate the cardiovascular benefits of oestrogen. Pharmaceutical grade, body identical MHT is now available in Australia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36926428,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A Comparative Analysis of Dominant Dietary Patterns in Patients with and without Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma.\nAs a modifiable risk factor, nutrition plays a pivotal role in the prevention or delay of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). This study was aimed to investigate and compare the dominant dietary patterns in the patients with and without OSCC. This case-control study evaluated the usual dietary intake of 80 cases and 120 controls during 2019-2020 using the 117-item Food Frequency Questionnaire, with confirmed validity and reliability. Factor analysis was used to detect the dominant dietary patterns. Data analysis was done by SPSS (version 21) using the Chi-square test, ANOVA, logistic regression analysis, and independent t-test (P < 0.05). Three dietary patterns were identified, including the western dietary pattern, health dietary pattern, and traditional dietary pattern. The odds ratio (OR) = 1.181 and confidence interval (CI) = 0.671 and 2.082 were found for the western dietary pattern, OR = 1.087 and CI = 0.617 and 1.914 were detected for the healthy dietary pattern, and OR = 0.846 and CI = 0.480 and 1.491 were reported for the traditional dietary pattern. No significant difference was found between the study groups in the dietary pattern and the risk of disease. This relationship remained insignificant after adjustment for the energy intake and confounding factors. There was no significant relationship between adherence to healthy, traditional, and western dietary patterns and OSCC. Consumption of vegetables and nuts had a protective role against the disease, but risky behaviors such as smoking and alcohol use were directly associated with the incidence of the disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32363065,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Incidence of Major Vascular Injuries with Extreme Lateral Interbody Fusion (XLIF).\nExtreme lateral interbody fusions (XLIF) and minimally invasive (MI) XLIF theoretically offer wide access to the lumbar disc space. The theoretical advantages of XLIF include; minimally disturbing surrounding structures (e.g. neural, vascular, soft-tissue), while offering stability. In addition to the well-known increased frequency of neurological deficits attributed to XLIF, here we explored how often major vascular injures occur with XLIF\/MI XLIF procedures. In 13 XLIF\/MI XLIF studies, we evaluated the frequency of major vascular injuries. The studies citing the different frequencies of vascular injuries associated with XLIF\/MI XLIF were broken down into three categories. Of the 5 small and larger case series, involving a total of 6,732 patients (e.g. range of 12 to 4,607 patients\/study), the incidence of vascular injuries ranged from 0% (3 studies) up to 0.4%. Three case reports presented major vascular injuries attributed to XLIF\/MI XLIF. Two involved the L4-L5 level. The three complications included: one fatal injury, one, a retroperitoneal hematoma with hemorrhagic shock, and one major vascular injury. For the 5 review articles, major vascular complications were just discussed in 2, one study cited 3 specific major vascular injuries (e.g. 1 fatal, 1 life threating, and 1 lumbar artery pseudoaneurysm requiring embolization), while 2 other studies stated the frequency of these injuries was 0.4% for XLIF, and 1.7 % for OLIF (Oblique Lumbar Interbody Fusion). According to 5 small and larger case series, 3 case reports, and 5 review articles, the incidence of major vascular injuries occurring during XLIF\/MI XLIF ranges from 0 to 0.03% to 0.4%.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37662240,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Enterobacterial common antigen biosynthesis in Yersinia pestis is tied to antimicrobial peptide resistance.\nResistance to antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) plays an important role in allowing Yersinia pestis to maintain a successful infection in the flea vector Xenopsylla cheopis . Mutants that are unable to modify lipid A in their outer membrane with aminoarabinose (Ara4N), showed increased sensitivity to AMPs such as polymyxin B (PB), as well as decreased survival in fleas. A deletion mutant of wecE , a gene involved in biosynthesis of enterobacterial common antigen (ECA), also displayed hypersusceptibility to PB in vitro. Additional mutants in the ECA biosynthetic pathway were generated, some designed to cause accumulation of intermediate products that sequester undecaprenyl phosphate (Und-P), a lipid carrier that is also used in numerous other pathways, including for peptidoglycan, O-antigen, and Ara4N biosynthesis. Mutants that accumulate Und-PP-linked intermediates (ECA-lipid II) showed increased susceptibility to PB, reduced Ara4N-modified lipid A, altered cell morphology, and decreased ability to maintain flea infections. These effects are consistent with a model where Y. pestis has a sufficiently limited free Und-P pool such that sequestration of Und-P as ECA-lipid II prevents adequate Ara4N biosynthesis, ultimately resulting in AMP hypersusceptibility.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23441491,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Choledochoduodenostomy in the management of dilated common bile duct due to choledocholithiasis.\nCholedochoduodenostomy (CDD) is the operative procedure for Choledocholithiasis in the presence of a dilated common bile duct (CBD). It has been reported as a most effective treatment of CBD stones than T-tube drainage but is regarded as a obsolete therapeutic method due to fears of higher morbidity, cholangitis, \"sump\" syndrome etc. This study was done prospectively to assess the aforementioned issues analyzing our two years (July 2009 - June 2011) experience.CDD was performed in 31 patients (22 females and 9 males) with aged 18 - 72 years. CBD stones were the only indications in all patients with 18 (45.1%) patients had cholangitis, 8 (35.4%) had cholecystitis and 5 (19.3%) had biliary colic. Abdominal sonogram revealed dilated CBD with single or multiple calculi. The diameter of CBD varies from 14 - 29mm with stone size being ranged from 10- 26mm.Early post operative complications were seen in 4 (12.9%) patients. Only one patient had recurrent cholangitis presented lately due to intrahepatic stones.CDD is a highly effective treatment for choledocholithiasis in all age group with low morbidity and mortality provided a wide anastomosis is accomplished.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29387100,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Toxigenic Clostridium difficile in retail packed chicken meat and broiler flocks in northeastern Iran.\nThis study was designed to evaluate the occurrence of Clostridium difficile in both broiler chicken farms and packed chicken parts sold at market places in Mashhad, the second most popular Islamic pilgrimage city after Mecca in northeastern Iran. The fresh faecal samples were obtained from broiler farms, while the chicken packs were purchased from retail outlets across the city at market places and samples were obtained from the necks, thighs, and wings. The selective culture was used for isolation of C. difficile. Out of 40 pooled fresh faecal and 65 packed chicken samples, 14 (35%) and 10 (15.3%) samples were positive, respectively. Some of the C. difficile isolates from chickens packs (7 out of 10, 70%) and faecal samples (5 out of 14, 36%) were detected as toxigenic (A, B and binary toxins) using molecular identification. From 14 isolates of the faecal samples, five isolates were tcdA and tcdB positive, and none was binary toxin positive. The results of the present study suggest that broiler chickens are a potential source of C. difficile, which may infect humans through contact or consumption of chicken meat, although the significance of food contamination is entirely unclear, the role of poultry products as a potential source of the infection should be investigated.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28706834,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Screw Fixation of Os Acetabuli: An Arthroscopic Technique.\nAn os acetabuli (OA) increases the contact area and surface area of the acetabulum and is important to maintain congruity of the hip joint. Thus preservation of this ossicle is important to prevent loss of contact area and ensure containment of the femoral head. We describe an all-arthroscopic approach to the fixation of OA with a compression screw. Initially, the fibrous tissue is debrided between the acetabular rim and the OA, a guidewire is placed through the OA up to the acetabular rim, and a screw is inserted over the wire. Compression of the OA is achieved with bone-to-bone contact. This technique prevents loss of femoral head coverage, reducing the risk of subluxation and subsequent osteoarthritis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22678436,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[The use of hydroxyapatite substance for the ostheosynthesis after comminuted thigh fractures].\nThe surgical tactics was analyzed in 102 patients operated on the comminuted thigh fractures. 95 patients were administered in a state of shock; 48 patients had multiple and combined injuries. All patients were operated on with the use of modern metal constructions. Bone fragments' fixation was performed with the use of splint (n=75) or adaptive ostheosynthesis (n=27), in aggreagation with the \"KollapAn\" fixation substance. Excellent results were acquired in 64 patients, good - in 25 patients and satisfactory - in 12 patients. The long-term results after the year were obtained in 82 patients. The results of the follow-up coincided with those, achieved in postoperative rehabilitation period.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28743728,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Imaging regiospecific lipid turnover in mouse brain with desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry.\nCompartmentalization of metabolism into specific regions of the cell, tissue, and organ is critical to life for all organisms. Mass spectrometric imaging techniques have been valuable in identifying and quantifying concentrations of metabolites in specific locations of cells and tissues, but a true understanding of metabolism requires measurement of metabolite flux on a spatially resolved basis. Here, we utilize desorption ESI-MS (DESI-MS) to measure lipid turnover in the brains of mice. We show that anatomically distinct regions of the brain have distinct lipid turnover rates. These turnover measurements, in conjunction with relative concentration, will enable calculation of regiospecific synthesis rates for individual lipid species in vivo. Monitoring spatially dependent changes in metabolism has the potential to significantly facilitate research in many areas, such as brain development, cancer, and neurodegeneration.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12037475,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"How do NPs make clinical decisions?\nThe authors conducted a study to explore the process primary care NPs use in making clinical decisions and the factors that influence the process. By delineating the process used by primary care NPs in therapeutic decision making, we can enhance clinical decision making in students and practicing NPs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17012164,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Molecular cloning and expression of the duplicated thyroid hormone responsive spot 14 (THRSP) genes in ducks.\nThyroid hormone responsive Spot 14 (THRSP) is suggested as a transcription factor involved in the regulation of adipogenic enzymes by 3 thyroid response elements in the promoter region. In the chicken genome, THRSP gene was identified to duplicate into 2 paralogs, THRSPalpha and THRSPbeta. In the current study, cDNA sequences of the duplicated duck THRSP genes were cloned by real-time PCR and rapid amplification of cDNA ends. Duck THRSPalpha and THRSPbeta were predicted to encode peptides with 133 amino acids, which had 74 and 68% sequence identity at cDNA level, 78 and 74% identity at amino acid level to the chicken counterparts, respectively. A high percentage (73.1%) of G and C nucleotides were found in the 3' untranslated region of duck THRSPbeta cDNA. Although a low similarity of peptide composition was shared between ducks and mammals, and a moderate similarity was shared between ducks and chickens, many predicted properties of THRSP, including the pI, subcellular localization and functional domains seemed to be highly conserved. The present study demonstrated that the duck THRSP gene duplicates into the 2 paralogs as in chickens. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the duplication for THRSP paralogs appeared to have taken place preceding the chicken-duck split, and the diverging rate between THRSP paralogs seemed faster in the chicken genome than that in the duck genome. Expression analysis by real-time quantitative PCR showed that THRSP paralogs in ducks were more actively transcribed in fat tissues (i.e., s.c. fat and abdominal fat) than in liver, and the mRNA concentrations of THRSPbeta were higher than that of THRSPalpha in liver and s.c. fat.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6170312,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Role of beta2-microglobulin in the intracellular processing of HLA antigens.\nThe biosynthesis of HLA-A, -B, and -C antigens was examined in the two lymphoblastoid cell lines DAUDI and RAJI. In RAJI cells the HLA-A, -B, and -C antigen heavy chains become core-glycosylated in the endoplasmic reticulum as evidenced by their sensitivity to endo-H digestion and tunicamycin treatment. Beta2-Microglobulin is present in excess in the endoplasmic reticulum of the RAJI cells and associates with the heavy chain at the time of synthesis of the heavy chain. Pulse-chase experiments demonstrated that the RAJI HLA-A, -B, and -C antigen heavy chains become terminally glycosylated since their changed characteristics included resistance to endo-H digestion, sensitivity to neuraminidase treatment, and incorporation fucose. DAUDI HLA-A, -B, and -C antigen heavy chains are synthesized normally and become core-glycosylated but not terminally glycosylated. Other glycosylated cell surface proteins, like the HLA-DR antigens, display normal glycosylation in DAUDI cells. Therefore it is unlikely that the absence of terminally glycosylated HLA-A, -B, and -C antigen heavy chains is the result of a general defect in the biosynthetic machinery of DAUDI cells. However, DAUDI cells lack the ability to synthesize beta2-microglobulin, the common subunit of all HLA-A, -B, and -C antigens. Therefore, it seems reasonable to conclude that beta2-microglobulin is of importance for intracellular transport of newly synthesized HLA-A, -B, and -C antigens.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16240673,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Measurement of iron and zinc isotopes in human whole blood: preliminary application to the study of HFE genotypes.\nMulti-collector inductively coupled plasma--sector field mass spectrometry was applied to the measurement of Fe and Zn isotopes in human whole blood samples. For the Fe present in the blood of healthy adults, enrichment of the lighter isotopes relative to a standard material was observed, in agreement with earlier studies. The level of fractionation was found to be lower in hemochromatosis patients exhibiting homozygous (C282Y\/C282Y) mutation of the HFE gene. On the one hand, this reinforces the hypothesis that Fe fractionation in blood decreases with enhanced dietary absorption. On the other hand, this contradicts predictions made on the basis of determinations of Fe fractionation in blood samples collected from subjects characterized by milder HFE mutations. In healthy subjects, the Zn in blood is depleted in lighter isotopes, consistent with the limited number of prior observations. As for Fe, the Zn isotopic composition exhibited a tendency toward lower levels of fractionation in the blood of subjects with hereditary hemochromatosis with homozygous mutation (C282Y\/C282Y) of the HFE gene. The results therefore suggest that both Fe and Zn isotopic signatures in whole blood, at least to some extent, reflect polymorphisms in the HFE gene.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17884650,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of tetrahydrobiopterin and phenylalanine on in vivo human phenylalanine hydroxylase by phenylalanine breath test.\nBH(4) administration results in the reduction of blood phenylalanine level in patients with tetrahydrobiopterin (BH(4))-responsive phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) deficiency. The mechanism underlying BH(4) response remains unknown. Here, we studied the effects of BH(4) and phenylalanine on in vivo PAH activity of normal controls using the phenylalanine breath test (PBT) by converting l-[1-(13)C] phenylalanine to (13)CO(2). Phenylalanine oxidation rates were expressed as Delta(13)C ((13)CO(2)\/(12+13)CO(2), per thousand) and cumulative recovery rates over 120min (CRR(120), %; total amount of (13)CO(2)\/the administered dose of (13)C-phenylalanine). Under physiological conditions of blood phenylalanine, BH(4) administration reduced the Delta(13)C peak from 40.8 per thousand to 21.6 per thousand and CRR(120) from 16.9% to 10.2%. Under high blood phenylalanine conditions, administration of BH(4) increased the Delta(13)C peak from 30.7 per thousand to 46.0 per thousand, while the CRR(120) was similar between phenylalanine (19.9%) and phenylalanine+BH(4) (21.1%) groups. Corrected Delta(13)C and CRR(120) were calculated against serum phenylalanine levels to remove the effects of phenylalanine loading. After BH(4) administration, the corrected Delta(13)C peak increased from 82.7 per thousand to 112.6 per thousand, while the corrected CRR(120) was similar (47.6% and 45.6%). These results indicate that phenylalanine worked as a regulator of in vivo PAH by serving as both a substrate and an activator for the enzyme. Excessive dosages of BH(4) inhibited PAH under normal phenylalanine conditions and activated PAH under conditions of high phenylalanine. The regulation system is therefore designed to maintain phenylalanine levels in the human body. Appropriate BH(4) supplementation must be reviewed in patients with BH(4)-responsive PAH deficiency.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31253754,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"In a Temporally Segmented Experience Hippocampal Neurons Represent Temporally Drifting Context But Not Discrete Segments.\nThere is widespread agreement that episodic memory is organized into a timeline of past experiences. Recent work suggests that the hippocampus may parse the flow of experience into discrete episodes separated by event boundaries. A complementary body of work suggests that context changes gradually as experience unfolds. We recorded from hippocampal neurons as male Long-Evans rats performed 6 blocks of an object discrimination task in sets of 15 trials. Each block was separated by removal from the testing chamber for a delay to enable segmentation. The reward contingency reversed from one block to the next to incentivize segmentation. We expected animals to hold two distinct, recurring representations of context to match the two distinct rule contingencies. Instead, we found that overtrained rats began each block neither above nor below chance but by guessing randomly. While many units had clear firing fields selective to the conjunction of objects in places, a significant population also reflected a continuously drifting code both within block and across blocks. Despite clear boundaries between blocks, we saw no neural evidence for event segmentation in this experiment. Rather, the hippocampal ensemble drifted continuously across time. This continuous drift in the neural representation was consistent with the lack of segmentation observed in behavior.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The neuroscience literature yet to reach consensus on how the hippocampus supports the organization of events across time in episodic memory. Initial studies reported stable hippocampal maps segmented by remapping events. However, it remains unclear whether segmentation is an artifact of cue responsivity. Recently, research has shown that the hippocampal code exhibits continuous drift. Drift may represent a continually evolving context; however, it is unclear whether this is an artifact of changing experiences. We recorded dCA1 in rats performing an object discrimination task designed to segment time. Overtrained rats could not anticipate upcoming context switches but used context boundaries to their advantage. Hippocampal ensembles showed neither evidence of alternating between stable contexts nor sensitivity to boundaries, but showed robust temporal drift.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25517641,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evaluation of patients with Alzheimer's disease before and after dental treatment.\nOral infections may play a role in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Objective To describe the orofacial pain, dental characteristics and associated factors in patients with Alzheimer's Disease that underwent dental treatment. Method 29 patients with mild AD diagnosed by a neurologist were included. They fulfilled the Mini Mental State Exam and Pfeffer's questionnaire. A dentist performed a complete evaluation: clinical questionnaire; research diagnostic criteria for temporomandibular disorders; McGill pain questionnaire; oral health impact profile; decayed, missing and filled teeth index; and complete periodontal investigation. The protocol was applied before and after the dental treatment. Periodontal treatments (scaling), extractions and topic nystatin were the most frequent. Results There was a reduction in pain frequency (p=0.014), mandibular functional limitations (p=0.011) and periodontal indexes (p<0.05), and an improvement in quality of life (p=0.009) and functional impairment due to cognitive compromise (p<0.001) after the dental treatment. Orofacial complaints and intensity of pain also diminished. Conclusion The dental treatment contributed to reduce co-morbidities associated with AD and should be routinely included in the assessment of these patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16220651,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nurse scholars program.\nThe Nurse Scholars Program was developed for two reasons: to attract highly qualified students to nursing, and to increase the retention of graduates as they enter employment in local agencies following graduation. Scholars receive dollar 10,000 for each of their junior and senior years and are asked to work for 1 year at the agency for each dollar 10,000 received. Additional monies are set aside to assist graduate and doctoral students through stipends. Scholars are paired with Mentors, nurses selected for their expertise and experience and brought into the \"family\" of the hospital through special events. Mentors are included in educational activities and related programs. To date, dollar 840,000 has been committed to the program, and data regarding the success of the program are continually being assessed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35370795,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Maternal Prepregnancy 5-Hydroxytryptamine Exposure Affects the Early Development of the Fetus.\nIn recent decades, the increasing incidence of depression has contributed to an increase in the use of serotonergic drugs, such as antidepressants, which predisposes humans to serotonin syndrome. Serotonin syndrome is caused by elevated serotonin levels in the central and peripheral nervous systems. It has been well documented that the development of offspring can be affected by maternal exposure to environmental challenges, such as stress, diseases, or an unhealthy diet during pregnancy. Serotonin, also called 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), is widely expressed in the female reproductive system and plays an important role in the development of follicles and embryos. However, whether the suffering of the mother from serotonin syndrome before pregnancy affects fetal development is still uncertain. In the present study, to explore the effect of maternal prepregnancy 5-HT exposure on the fetus, intraperitoneal injection of 5-HT was used to change maternal prepregnancy 5-HT levels. It was found that maternal prepregnancy 5-HT exposure significantly reduced the body weight and liver weight and the levels of estrogen and progesterone in female mice. Although there was no significant difference in the cleavage rate and blastocyst rate between the 5-HT and control groups, maternal prepregnancy 5-HT exposure increased the percentage of embryo resorption, decreased placental weight, and led to placental inflammation at E13.5. Notably, 5-HT exposure caused weight loss in the offspring at 2 weeks. These results suggested that maternal prepregnancy 5-HT exposure could affect the development of the offspring, which was partly caused by reduced hormonal secretion and placental inflammation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32584840,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"'One-size doesn't fit all': Understanding healthcare practitioners' perceptions, attitudes and behaviours towards sexual and reproductive health and rights in low resource settings: An exploratory qualitative study.\nAlthough progress has been made to improve access to sexual and reproductive health services globally in the past two decades, in many low-income countries, improvements have been slow. Discrimination against vulnerable groups and failure to address health inequities openly and comprehensively play a role in this stagnation. Healthcare practitioners are important actors who, often alone, decide who accesses services and how. This study explores how health care practitioners perceive sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and how background factors influence them during service delivery. Participants were a purposefully selected sample of health practitioners from five low income countries attending a training in at Lund University, Sweden. Semi-structured interviews and qualitative content analysis were used. Three themes emerged. The first theme, \"one-size doesn't fit all' in SRHR\" reflects health practitioners' perception of SRHR. Although they perceived rights as fundamental to sexual and reproductive health, exercising of these rights was perceived to be context-specific. The second theme, \"aligning a pathway to service delivery\", illustrates a reflective balancing act between their personal values and societal norms in service delivery, while the third theme, \"health practitioners acting as gatekeepers\", describes how this balancing act oscillates between enabling and blocking behaviours. The findings suggest that, even though health care practitioners perceive SRHR as fundamental rights, their preparedness to ensure that these rights were upheld in service delivery is influenced by personal values and society norms. This could lead to actions that enable or block service delivery.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7936741,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The reduction clamp: a simple device for closed reduction during intramedullary nailing.\nReduction of femoral shaft fractures prior to passing the guide pin during intramedullary fixation may be a challenging problem, especially in delayed reductions or obese patients. We describe a simple and useful instrument for obtaining and maintaining reduction for closed intramedullary fixation. It provides a three-point fixation that may be locked into position to maintain the reduction. The surgeon is not required to hold the device in position while passing the guide pin, the reamer, or the nail. It frees the surgeon's hands, minimizes the need for an assistant, and reduces harmful x-ray exposure to the hands.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23464004,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Scattering from suspended sediments having different and mixed mineralogical compositions: comparison of laboratory measurements and theoretical predictions.\nLaboratory measurements of the acoustic scattering properties of aqueous suspensions of non-cohesive sands having different and mixed mineralogical compositions are presented. Four different types of sand are examined: quartz, crushed shell, magnetite, and muscovite mica. The experimental data obtained for each type of sand are compared with theoretical scattering predictions for spheres having the same physical properties. The results show that for each type of sand, scattering is enhanced in the geometric regime relative to the sphere predictions, and for mica, scattering in the Rayleigh regime is reduced. To provide a theoretical framework for the observations, the applicability of two different modified sphere scattering models previously reported in the literature is evaluated. Measurements of the ensemble scattering properties obtained from mixtures of the different sands are also presented and compared with theoretical predictions. The results show that to accurately predict the scattering properties of compositionally diverse mixed sediment suspensions, it is necessary to know the relative proportions of each mineral present at each size within the size distribution; however, the scattering properties can be approximated for the suspensions studied by considering only the dominant mineral by mass.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19038451,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Acute oral toxicities of wildland fire control chemicals to birds.\nWildland fire control chemicals are released into the environment by aerial and ground applications to manage rangeland, grassland, and forest fires. Acute oral 24h median lethal dosages (LD50) for three fire retardants (Fire-Trol GTS-R, Phos-Chek D-75F, and Fire-Trol LCG-R) and two Class A fire suppressant foams (Silv-Ex and Phos-Chek WD881) were estimated for northern bobwhites, Colinus virginianus, American kestrels, Falco sparverius, and red-winged blackbirds, Agelaius phoeniceus. The LD50s of all chemicals for the bobwhites and red-winged blackbirds and for kestrels dosed with Phos-Chek WD881 and Silv-Ex were above the predetermined 2000mg chemical\/kg body mass regulatory limit criteria for acute oral toxicity. The LD50s were not quantifiable for kestrels dosed with Fire-Trol GTS-R, Phos-Chek D-75F, and Fire-Trol LCG-R because of the number of birds which regurgitated the dosage. These chemicals appear to be of comparatively low order of acute oral toxicity to the avian species tested.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6747508,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-26":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Soft tissue sarcomas in agriculture and forestry workers.\nThe National Cancer Register maintained by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys (OPCS) was used to investigate the relative risks of soft tissue sarcomas among farmers, agricultural workers, and related occupational groups. The relative risk for the group as a whole was 1.15 (95% confidence limits 0.83-1.59). One of the four subgroups (which comprises farmers, farm managers, and market gardeners) experienced a relative risk of 1.7 which just achieves significance at the 5% level (95% confidence limits 1.00-2.88). The risks in the other three subgroups were respectively 1.0 (agricultural workers, 003), 0.7 (gardeners and groundsmen, 005), and 1.0 (foresters and woodmen, 006). No attempt has been made in this study to determine exposure to phenoxy herbicides in cases or controls. The significance of these findings is discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9570925,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Inhibition of chondrogenesis by integrin antibody in vitro.\nIntegrins mediate cell attachment to a variety of extracellular matrix proteins. These interactions play an important role in morphogenesis and differentiation. The mediating functions of integrins during chondrogenesis in vitro were investigated by using mesenchymal cells from limb buds of day 12 mouse embryos. The cells were treated with anti-beta 1, -alpha 1, and -alpha 5 integrin antibodies (a) from day 1 to day 3 and (b) from day 3 to day 7 of cultivation. The total culture period was 7 days. The presence of exogenous anti-beta 1, but not -alpha 1 and -alpha 5 integrin antibodies, from day 1 to 3 completely inhibited the differentiation of blastemal cells to chondroblasts and the formation of cartilage matrix. On the other hand, the presence of exogenous anti-beta 1, -alpha 1, and -alpha 5 integrin antibodies from day 3 of cultivation onwards had no effect. Immunoblotting and immunomorphological findings in the cultures treated with anti-beta 1 antibody from day 1 to day 3 revealed a pattern of integrins and collagen composed of beta 1, alpha 1, alpha 5 beta 1 integrins and collagen type I. The cartilage-specific chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan (CSPG) could not be demonstrated in these cultures. The cultures treated later (day 3 to day 7) showed a pattern of beta 1, alpha 3, alpha 5 beta 1, and alpha v beta 3 integrins, collagen types I and II, and CSPG identical to that of the untreated controls. These findings indicate that beta 1-integrins play a crucial role in early cartilage differentiation and point to a possible important cell-matrix interaction in the induction of chondrogenesis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12036862,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"High incidence of cytomegalovirus infection after nonmyeloablative stem cell transplantation: potential role of Campath-1H in delaying immune reconstitution.\nNonmyeloablative conditioning is increasingly used for transplantation in a wide range of diseases, but little is known about its impact on the incidence of infections and immune reconstitution. We examined the pattern and outcome of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections monitored by polymerase chain reaction-based assays and treated preemptively in 101 patients following nonmyeloablative conditioning containing in vivo Campath-1H. Fifty-one patients (50%) had a CMV infection at a median of 27 days after transplantation with a probability of 84.8% in patients at risk of CMV infection. The probability of recurrence of CMV infection before and after 100 days was 53.6% and 46.6%, respectively, and was more common in unrelated donor transplant recipients. All 3 patients who developed CMV disease died of this complication. The 2 patients with late CMV disease had grade III to IV graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD), which occurred de novo in only 4% of patients and in another 10% following donor lymphocyte infusions. The median time to CD4(+) T-cell count more than 200\/microL was 9 months in the 48 patients studied. The probabilities of overall survival and nonrelapse mortality at 18 months were 65% and 27.8%, respectively, with no significant difference in survival between CMV-infected and -uninfected patients. The use of Campath-1H appeared to be associated with a low incidence of GVHD but a high incidence of CMV infections and prolonged immune paresis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6747169,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Small intestinal manometry in healthy elderly subjects.\nSmall intestinal manometry was performed on ten healthy elderly subjects (mean age, 72 years) and ten healthy young-adult subjects (mean age 25 years). All three phases of the migrating motor complex were observed in both groups during fasting. There were no differences in the motility index between the two groups, the frequency and the mean amplitude of contractions of phases 2 and 3, or the duration and the velocity of propagation of phase 3. After a meal the motility index and the frequency of contractions were significantly lower (P less than 0.05) in the elderly group. The results suggest that intestinal motility after a meal is less in the elderly than in young adults.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31259171,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Environmental Specification of Pluripotent Stem Cell Derived Endothelial Cells Toward Arterial and Venous Subtypes.\nEndothelial cells (ECs) are required for a multitude of cardiovascular clinical applications, such as revascularization of ischemic tissues or endothelialization of tissue engineered grafts. Patient derived primary ECs are limited in number, have donor variabilities and their in vitro phenotypes and functions can deteriorate over time. This necessitates the exploration of alternative EC sources. Although there has been a recent surge in the use of pluripotent stem cell derived endothelial cells (PSC-ECs) for various cardiovascular clinical applications, current differentiation protocols yield a heterogeneous EC population, where their specification into arterial or venous subtypes is undefined. Since arterial and venous ECs are phenotypically and functionally different, inappropriate matching of exogenous ECs to host sites can potentially affect clinical efficacy, as exemplified by venous graft mismatch when placed into an arterial environment. Therefore, there is a need to design and employ environmental cues that can effectively modulate PSC-ECs into a more homogeneous arterial or venous phenotype for better adaptation to the host environment, which will in turn contribute to better application efficacy. In this review, we will first give an overview of the developmental and functional differences between arterial and venous ECs. This provides the foundation for our subsequent discussion on the different bioengineering strategies that have been investigated to varying extent in providing biochemical and biophysical environmental cues to mature PSC-ECs into arterial or venous subtypes. The ability to efficiently leverage on a combination of biochemical and biophysical environmental cues to modulate intrinsic arterio-venous specification programs in ECs will greatly facilitate future translational applications of PSC-ECs. Since the development and maintenance of arterial and venous ECs in vivo occur in disparate physio-chemical microenvironments, it is conceivable that the application of these environmental factors in customized combinations or magnitudes can be used to selectively mature PSC-ECs into an arterial or venous subtype.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20360879,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Tumor lysis syndrome associated with chemotherapy in primary retroperitoneal soft tissue sarcoma by ex vivo ATP-based tumor chemo-sensitivity assay (ATP-TCA).\nTumor lysis syndrome (TLS), a result of rapid cell lysis following tumor therapy, is a well recognized complication during the treatment of rapidly growing tumors. TLS rarely occurs in solid tumors. We present a case report of TLS in a patient with primary retroperitoneal soft tissue sarcoma. TLS occurred in the patient after four days' combinational chemotherapy with cisplatin, adriamycin, and dacarbazine. These drugs were selected on the basis of an ex vivo ATP-based tumor sensitivity assay. TLS was properly controlled in the patient with concomitant remission of the sarcoma. Therefore, precautions should be taken to avoid this potentially fatal complication during treatment of solid tumors, especially with tumors highly sensitive to drugs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28721399,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Nutritional and functional properties of fishmeal produced from fresh by-products of cod (Gadus morhua L.) and saithe (Pollachius virens).\nFresh by-products of whitefish such as cod and saithe is processed to fishmeal (FM) on-board seagoing Norwegian trawlers. The aim of this study was to document the properties of whitefish FM (WFM) protein with respect to, physicochemical and bioactive properties. Analysis of the proximate composition of representative seasonal WFM batches show that the production is robust without much variance. The mean protein (61.9 \u00b1 1.2), fat (8.9 \u00b1 1.1%), moisture (5 \u00b1 1.2%) and ash content (22.4 \u00b1 0.8%), reflect the use of lean and bony raw-material. The WFM has a low content of free amino acids (0.7%) and biogenic amines (< 1000 mg\/kg) that confirm the high quality and freshness of the raw material. Amino-acid analysis identified the presence of all nutritionally essential amino acids. The WFM physicochemical properties was comparable to soy-bean meal (SBM) by analysis of solubility, water-holding capacity (WHC), the emulsion stability (ES). Proteolytic degradation of the WFM was used to demonstrate the presence of bioactive peptides with inhibiting activity against angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) activity, in vitro. Taken together, WFM produced from fresh by-products is an excellent protein source with attributes of interest beyond the aquafeed-market.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37863788,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Investigation of the correlation between internet addiction, obesity risk and sleep disorder in children.\nThis study was performed with the aim of investigating the correlation and the effective factors between internet addiction, obesity risk and sleep disorders in children. The sample for this descriptive and relational search type study comprised the parents of 458 children aged 7-10 years attending a primary school in Turkey. Data were collected the Parent and Child Descriptive Information Form, Family Child Internet Addiction Scale (FCIAS), Family Nutrition and Physical Activity Tool (FNPAT) and Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children (SDSC). There was a statistically significant, positive and weak correlation between the Body Mass Index (BMI) and FCIAS scores of children (p < 0.001). There was a statistically significant, negative and very weak correlation between FNPAT total score with FCIAS total score (p = 0.007). There was a statistically significant, positive and moderate correlation between SDSC total score and FCIAS total score (p < 0.001). According to regression analysis, FCIAS was a determinant at significant levels for FNPAT and SDSC (p < 0.05). There was a relationship between internet addiction and obesity and sleep quality. As a result of the study, the increase in internet use was determined to negatively impact physical activity and health nutrition behavior, and to increase sleep disturbance. Pediatric nurses are recommended to give counseling to children and families about preventing obesity and the risk of sleep disorders by identifying children at risk in terms of internet addiction in the early period.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36267398,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Association of insomnia and daytime sleepiness with low back pain: A bidirectional mendelian randomization analysis.\nPurpose: Observational research has indicated the presence of a causal relationship between sleep disturbances and low back pain (LBP). However, the link may have been biased by confounding factors. The purpose of this study was to examine the potential causal association of insomnia and daytime sleepiness with LBP by using mendelian randomization (MR). Methods: Genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary statistics of insomnia were obtained from a large-scale GWAS meta-analysis (n = 1,331,010; individuals from UK Biobank and 23andMe) or UK Biobank alone (n = 453,379). The summary statistics of daytime sleepiness were from UK Biobank (n = 452,071) and LBP were provided by the FinnGen Release 6 (210,645 individuals with 16,356 LBP cases and 194,289 controls) or UK Biobank (5,423 cases versus 355,771 controls). Linkage disequilibrium score (LDSC) regression and bidirectional MR analysis was employed to estimate genetic correlation and causal relationship. In the MR analysis, the inverse variance weighted method (IVW) was utilized as the main analysis procedure, while MR-Egger, Weighted median and Robust adjusted profile score (RAPS) were utilized for supplementary analyses. Results: LDSC analysis showed that LBP were significantly genetically correlated with insomnia (rg = 0.57, p = 2.26e-25) and daytime sleepiness (rg = 0.18, p = 0.001). The MR analysis revealed that genetically predicted insomnia was significantly associated with an increased risk of LBP (OR = 1.250, 95% CI: 1.186-1.318; p = 1.69e-16). However, the reverse causality was not confirmed. No evidence was identified supporting causality of daytime sleepiness and LBP. Conclusion: This study demonstrates a putative causal link of insomnia on LBP and a null causal effect of LBP on insomnia. Furthermore, a causal link between daytime sleepiness and LBP were not reported. This finding may stimulate new strategies for patient management in clinical practice, benefiting public health.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23436707,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Optimization of the design and preparation of nanoscale phospholipid bilayers for its application to solution NMR.\nDespite arduous efforts and recent technological developments structural investigation of integral membrane proteins remains a challenge. The primary deterrents include difficulties with their expression, low inherent solubility, and problems associated with existing membrane mimicking systems. A relatively new class of membrane mimetics, nanodiscs, is emerging as a promising alternative. Although nanodiscs have been proven successful for several biophysical applications, they yet remain to become the system of preferred choice for structure determination. We have hereby made nanodiscs more suitable for solution NMR applications by reducing the diameter of the self-assembly complex to its potential limit. We achieved a noticeable improvement in the quality of NMR spectra obtained for the transmembrane and cytoplasmic domains of integrin \u03b1IIb incorporated into these smaller discs rendering them susceptible for a thorough structural investigation. In addition, we also present an on-column method for a rapid, efficient, single-step preparation of protein incorporated nanodiscs at high concentrations. These discs have been fully characterized by transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, and differential scanning calorimetry.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20369847,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Structural evolution of colloidal gels during constricted microchannel flow.\nWe investigate the structure of colloidal gels flowing through constrictions in microchannels using confocal microscopy. As the gel traverses the constricted region, both the average velocity and particle density increase downstream. While the average flow profile is smoothly varying, stagnation zones develop at the constriction entry, leading to markedly nonuniform local flow profiles. Dense clusters undergo shear-induced yielding at intercluster boundaries, which enhances the structural heterogeneity of the suspension at the constriction outlet.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1691575,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Muscarinic supersensitivity in the rat urinary bladder after capsaicin pretreatment.\nThe effects of capsaicin on urinary bladder function have been investigated in adult rats. Ten days after capsaicin treatment immunocytochemical investigations showed a nearly complete disappearance of substance P (SP) and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) in all parts of the bladder. Recordings of micturition patterns and cytometrical investigations in conscious animals revealed no functional effects of capsaicin treatment. In-vitro experiments showed that the contractile response to substance P was similar before and after capsaicin treatment and CGRP exerted no contractile effects on the urinary bladder in either group of rats. The concentration-response curve to carbachol as well as the frequency-response curve to electrical stimulation were significantly shifted to the left in bladder muscle after capsaicin treatment. However, the maximal responses were similar in control and capsaicin-treated bladders. In the presence of scopolamine the maximal response to electrical stimulation was clearly lower in bladders subjected to capsaicin treatment than in controls. In conclusion, depletion of substance P and CGRP in the rat urinary bladder by capsaicin induced no supersensitivity to these peptides. However, the increased sensitivity to carbachol and to electrical stimulation seen after capsaicin treatment indicates the development of a supersensitivity to muscarinic receptor stimulation. Despite this supersensitivity in vitro no functional effects of capsaicin treatment were found in vivo.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27268446,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[HPV vaccination].\nHuman Papilloma Viruses are associated with genital carcinoma (of the cervix, anus, vulva, vagina and the penis) as well as with non-genital carcinoma (oropharyngeal carcinoma) and genital warts. In Switzerland two highly efficient and safe vaccines are available. The safety of these vaccines has been repeatedly subject of controversial discussions, however so far post marketing surveillance has always been able to confirm the safety. In Switzerland girls and young women have been offered the HPV vaccination within cantonal programmes since 2008. 2015 the recommendation for the HPV-vaccination for boys and young men was issued, and starting July 1, 2016 they as well will be offered vaccination free of charge within the cantonal programmes. This article discusses the burden of disease, efficacy and safety of the vaccines and presents facts which are important for vaccinating these young people. Specifically, aspects of the decisional capacity of adolescents to consent to the vaccination are presented. Finally, the future perspective with a focus on a new vaccine with an enlarged spectrum of HPV-types is discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35367220,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-22":1}}},"text":"Comparative research on neural dysfunction in children with dyslexia under different writing systems: A meta-analysis study.\nDevelopmental dyslexia is a special learning disorder which is prevalent in all languages. A central question in dyslexia is whether the neural mechanism of their defects is universal or distinct in different writing systems. Using meta-analytic approach, we created meta-images using activation abnormalities in Chinese and alphabetic children with dyslexia to find convergence and divergence under different writing systems. The results revealed that dyslexic children have a universal attention-related dysfunction with hypoactivation in the left inferior frontal cortex (IFC) and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) under different writing systems, in spite of differences of degree and spatial extent in those regions. Alphabetic dyslexic children additionally showed hypoactivation in the left occipito-temporo-parietal regions. Chinese dyslexic children showed specific hyperactivation in the right postcentral gyrus, the left rectus, and the right middle temporal gyrus. The present meta-analysis for the first time showed both shared and distinct abnormalities in children with dyslexia under Chinese and alphabetic writing systems.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26418584,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Living with lipoedema: reviewing different self-management techniques.\nAt present, there is no proven cure for lipoedema. Nevertheless, much can be done to help improve symptoms and prevent progression. Many of these improvements can be achieved by patients using self-management techniques. This article describes the range of self-management techniques that community nurses can discuss with patients, including healthy eating, low-impact exercise, compression garments, self-lymphatic drainage, and counselling.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34421424,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of Acromioplasty on Postoperative Pain Following Rotator Cuff Repair.\nBackground: The surgical treatment of rotator cuff tears traditionally involves rotator cuff repair (RCR) with concomitant acromioplasty. However, there is some doubt as to whether acromioplasty is of value to this procedure. Questions\/Purpose: We sought to evaluate whether RCR with acromioplasty provided better outcomes than RCR without acromioplasty in a cohort of more than 1000 patients. Methods: This retrospective cohort study involved 1320 patients with rotator cuff tears who subsequently received a primary arthroscopic RCR, with acromioplasty (n = 160) or without acromioplasty (n = 1160), performed by a single surgeon. Acromioplasty was performed if there was significant mechanical impingement on the rotator cuff. To assess outcomes, all patients completed a standardized, modified L'Insalata questionnaire in which they reported the level and severity of pain at rest and during activities. An examiner assessed shoulder strength and range of motion before and 1 week, 6 weeks, 12 weeks, and 6 months after surgery. Results: Patients who had RCR with concurrent acromioplasty had a greater level of pain and more frequent pain 1 week after surgery. However, at 6 months there were no differences between patients who underwent RCR with or without acromioplasty in any patient-reported outcome (level of pain with overhead activity, at rest and during sleep; frequency of pain with activity, sleep and extreme pain, difficulty of activity overhead and behind back, level of shoulder stiffness; and overall shoulder satisfaction). The postoperative re-tear rate in both groups was 13%. Conclusion: This study showed no additional benefit to acromioplasty in patients undergoing RCR.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9562187,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Tracing of fluoro-gold prelabeled microglia injected into the adult rat brain.\nIn light of a recent interest in the transplantation of cultured microglial cells, we have examined the use of the fluorescent dye Fluoro-Gold (FG) as a tracer for these cells. Following injection into the adult rat brain, FG prelabeled microglial cells were readily traceable for up to 2 weeks with minimal labeling of endogenous cell populations. Some of the injected cells differentiated into ramified microglial cells as a result of exposure to the adult CNS environment. Injection of free FG into the adult rat brain resulted in the widespread labeling of neurons and perivascular cells, but not endogenous microglial cells, indicating that perivascular cells, but not resting microglia, are actively pinocytotic cells of the CNS. Our results show that FG is an effective label for the tracing of transplanted microglial cells.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36264180,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Predicting outcomes after total knee arthroplasty using intraoperative knee kinematics measured by navigation.\nThe objective of the study is to evaluate the relationship between clinical results following posterior-stabilized total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and intraoperative kinematic pattern determined from navigation. Participants were patients with knee osteoarthritis and varus deformity who underwent primary posterior-stabilized TKA. Preoperative and post-implantation kinematic data were recorded, and all kinematic patterns were divided into two types: medial pivot (MP) or non-MP. Knees with MP and non-MP patterns after implantation were compared in terms of postoperative flexion angle, pain, patient satisfaction, expectations, and activity using the new Knee Society Score 2011 at 1 year postoperatively. This study involved 55 patients (12 men, 43 women) with a mean age of 73.1 years and mean body mass index of 26.5 kg\/m2. Preoperative kinematic measurements showed MP in 23 knees and non-MP in 32 knees. After implantation, navigation showed MP in 25 knees and non-MP in 30 knees. No significant differences were found between kinematic patterns preoperatively and after implantation. Postoperative flexion angle, pain, patient satisfaction, expectations, and activity using Knee Society Score 2011 showed no differences between MP and non-MP knees. Intraoperative knee kinematics as measured by navigation could not predict postoperative outcomes of TKA.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26441755,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Moral asymmetries in judgments of agency withstand ludicrous causal deviance.\nAmericans have been shown to attribute greater intentionality to immoral than to amoral actions in cases of causal deviance, that is, cases where a goal is satisfied in a way that deviates from initially planned means (e.g., a gunman wants to hit a target and his hand slips, but the bullet ricochets off a rock into the target). However, past research has yet to assess whether this asymmetry persists in cases of extreme causal deviance. Here, we manipulated the level of mild to extreme causal deviance of an immoral versus amoral act. The asymmetry in attributions of intentionality was observed at all but the most extreme level of causal deviance, and, as we hypothesized, was mediated by attributions of blame\/credit and judgments of action performance. These findings are discussed as they support a multiple-concepts interpretation of the asymmetry, wherein blame renders a na\u00efve concept of intentional action (the outcome matches the intention) more salient than a composite concept (the outcome matches the intention and was brought about by planned means), and in terms of their implications for cross-cultural research on judgments of agency.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17189436,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Development and evaluation of methods to detect nucleopolyhedroviruses in larvae of the Douglas-fir tussock moth, Orgyia pseudotsugata (McDunnough).\nVarious molecular methods are used to detect pathogenic microorganisms and viruses within their hosts, but these methods are rarely validated by direct comparison. Southern hybridization, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and a novel DNA extraction\/PCR assay were used to detect Orgyia pseudotsugata multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (OpMNPV) in Douglas-fir tussock moth larvae. PCR was more sensitive than Southern hybridization and ELISA at detecting semipurified virus. ELISA, however, was the most accurate method for detecting virus within larvae, given that Southern hybridization and PCR produced false-negative results (31% and 2.5%, respectively). ELISA may be preferable in some applications because virus infections can be quantified (r(2) = 0.995). These results may be applicable to both applied and academic research that seeks to accurately identify the incidence of viruses and microorganisms that regulate insect populations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28574832,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Impact of chronic unpredicted mild stress-induced depression on repaglinide fate via glucocorticoid signaling pathway.\nChronic unpredicted mild stress (CUMS)-induced depression could alter the pharmacokinetics of many drugs in rats, however, the underlying mechanism is not clear. In this work we studied the pharmacokinetics of repaglinide, and explored the role of glucocorticoid and adrenergic signaling pathway in regulating drug metabolizing enzymes (DMEs) in GK rats and BRL 3A cells. The plasma cortisol and epinephrine levels were increased, meanwhile the pharmacokinetics of repaglinide were altered significantly in depression model rats. Forty-nine genes in liver of model rats displayed significant difference comparing to control rats. The differentially expressed genes enriched in the drug metabolism and steroid hormone biosynthesis pathway significantly, and Nr1i3 matched 335 connectivity genes. CAR and Ugt1a1 protein expression were enhanced significantly in liver of model rats. The mRNA expression of Ugt1a1 and Nr1i2 were increased 2 and 4 times respectively with dexamethasone (DEX) and 8-Br-cAMP co-treatment in BRL 3A cells. The protein expression of PXR was up-regulated, too. However, RU486 reversed the up-regulated effect. The adrenergic receptor agonists had little impact on the DMEs in BRL 3A. Our data suggested that CUMS-induced depression might up-regulate DMEs expression via glucocorticoid signaling pathway, and accelerate the fate of the repaglinide in spontaneous diabetes rats.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19051858,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-10":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Long-term durability of one-step adhesive-composite systems to enamel and dentin.\nThis study evaluated the long-term durability of three one-step adhesive-composite systems to ground enamel and dentin. Twenty-seven teeth were randomly divided into three groups of nine. The first group had its crowns sectioned to expose superficial dentin, which was then ground with 600 grit SiC paper. One of three one-step adhesives: a trial bonding agent, OBF-2; i Bond or Adper Prompt L-Pop was applied to the dentin of three teeth and built-up with the corresponding resin composite (Estelite sigma, Venus or Filtek Supreme). The second group of nine teeth had their enamel approximal surfaces ground with wet 600-grit SiC paper, then one of the three one-step adhesives was applied and built-up with resin composite. The bonded specimens were sliced into 0.7 mm-thick slabs. After 24 hours and one year of water storage at 37 degrees C, the slabs were sectioned into beams for the microtensile bond strength test. Failure modes were observed using optical and electron scanning microscopy. The third group of nine teeth had approximal wedge-shaped cavities prepared above the CEJ into dentin. Two-to-three grains of rhodamine B were added to each of the three adhesives prior to restoring the cavities with resin composite. After 24 hours storage, the teeth were sectioned and their interfaces examined with a laser scanning confocal microscope. The bond strengths of the three adhesive-composite systems to both enamel and dentin significantly lessened after one year of water storage, however, there was no significant difference between the materials.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":33727775,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Serum 1,3-beta-D-glucan as a noninvasive test to predict histologic activity in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.\n1,3-beta-D-glucan (BG) is a ubiquitous cell wall component of gut micro-organisms. We hypothesized that the serum levels of BG could reflect active intestinal inflammation in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. To determine whether the serum BG concentrations correlate with intestinal inflammation. A prospective observational study was performed in a tertiary referral center, from 2016 to 2019, in which serum BG was determined in 115 patients with Crohn's disease (CD), 51 with ulcerative colitis (UC), and 82 controls using a photometric detection kit. Inflammatory activity was determined by ileocolonoscopy, histopathology, magnetic resonance enterography, and biomarkers, including fecal calprotectin (FC), C-reactive protein, and a panel of cytokines. The ability of BG to detect active vs inactive disease was assessed using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve. In subgroup analysis, serial BG was used to assess the response to therapeutic interventions. The serum BG levels were higher in CD patients than in controls (P = 0.0001). The BG levels paralleled the endoscopic activity in CD patients and histologic activity and combined endoscopic and histologic activity in both CD and UC patients. The area under the curve (AUC) in receiver operating characteristic analysis to predict endoscopic activity was 0.694 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.60-0.79; P = 0.001] in CD, and 0.662 (95%CI: 0.51-0.81; P = 0.066) in UC patients. The AUC in receiver operating characteristic analysis to predict histologic activity was 0.860 (95%CI: 0.77-0.95; P < 0.001) in CD, and 0.786 (95%CI: 0.57-0.99; P = 0.015) in UC patients. The cut-off values of BG for both endoscopic and histologic activity were 60 \u00b5g\/mL in CD, and 40 \u00b5g\/mL in UC patients. Performance analysis showed that the results based on BG of 40 and 60 \u00b5g\/mL were more specific for predicting endoscopic activity (71.8% and 87.2% for CD; and 87.5% and 87.5% for UC, respectively) than FC (53.3% and 66.7% for CD; and 20% and 80% for UC, respectively); and also histologic activity (60.5% and 76.3% for CD; and 90.0% and 95.0% for UC, respectively) than FC (41.7% and 50.0% for CD; and 25% and 50% for UC, respectively). Regarding the clinical, endoscopic, and histologic activities, the BG levels were reduced following therapeutic intervention in patients with CD (P < 0.0001) and UC (P = 0.003). Compared with endoscopic (AUC: 0.693; P = 0.002) and histologic (AUC: 0.868; P < 0.001) activity, no significant correlation was found between serum BG and transmural healing based on magnetic resonance enterography (AUC: 0.576; P = 0.192). Positive correlations were detected between BG and IL-17 in the CD (r: 0.737; P = 0.001) and the UC group (r: 0.574; P = 0.005), and between BG and interferon-gamma in the CD group (r: 0.597; P = 0.015). Serum BG may represent an important novel noninvasive approach for detecting mucosal inflammation and therapeutically monitoring inflammatory bowel diseases, particularly in CD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":10204518,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Quality of life in inflammatory bowel disease: background and definitions.\nDefining and measuring quality of life is a relatively new dimension of health care for many clinicians. The traditional method of evaluating clinical status and response to treatment has been to look at disease-specific symptoms, global assessments (e.g., impressions of the good, better, or worse condition of a patient), days missed at school, and a variety of disease activity scores. These impressions and techniques may or may not reflect how patients are functioning day to day and how they feel about the illness. To address these issues, health-related quality of life questionnaires have been developed to measure the functional effect of an illness and its treatment on a patient, as perceived by the patient. There are four broad domains that are considered part of a health-related quality-of-life questionnaire: 1) physical and occupational function, 2) psychologic state, 3) social interaction, and 4) somatic sensation. In the case of children, the perception of parents or caretakers may be added to complete the picture. Significant social and psychiatric problems have been described in children with IBD, including absenteeism from school, depression, suicide, and major disruption of family patterns. To understand fully the impact of inflammatory bowel disease and its treatment on patient and family function requires one or more quality-of-life instruments that are sensitive to the full range of symptoms, growth and development, and response (including side effects) to many new therapies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27474246,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"[Molecular diagnostic methods of respiratory infections. Has the scheme diagnosis changed?].\nLower respiratory tract infections remain one of the most common causes of mortality worldwide, which is why early diagnosis is crucial. Traditionally the microbiological diagnosis of these infections has been based on conventional methods including culture on artificial media for isolation of bacteria and fungi and cell cultures for virus and antibody or antigen detection using antigen-antibody reactions. The main drawback of the above mentioned methods is the time needed for an etiological diagnosis of the infection. The techniques based on molecular biology have drawn much attention in recent decades as tools for rapid diagnosis of infections. Some techniques are very expensive, especially those that can detect various microorganisms in the same reaction, therefore the question that arises is whether the cost of such testing is justified by the information obtained and by the clinical impact that its implementation will determine. In this article we make a review of the various techniques of molecular biology applied to the diagnosis of pneumonia and focus primarily on analysing the impact they may have on the management of patients with acute respiratory tract infections.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25408180,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Chronic disease and chronic disease risk factors among First Nations, Inuit and M\u00e9tis populations of northern Canada.\nAboriginal populations in northern Canada are experiencing rapid changes in their environments, which may negatively impact on health status. The purpose of our study was to compare chronic conditions and risk factors in northern Aboriginal populations, including First Nations (FN), Inuit and M\u00e9tis populations, and northern non-Aboriginal populations. Data were from the Canadian Community Health Survey for the period from 2005 to 2008. Weighted multiple logistic regression models tested the association between ethnic groups and health outcomes. Model covariates were age, sex, territory of residence, education and income. Odds ratios (ORs) are reported and a bootstrap method calculated 95% confidence intervals (CIs) and p values. Odds of having at least one chronic condition was significantly lower for the Inuit (OR = 0.59; 95% CI: 0.43-0.81) than for non-Aboriginal population, but similar among FN, M\u00e9tis and non-Aboriginal populations. Prevalence of many risk factors was significantly different for Inuit, FN and M\u00e9tis populations. Aboriginal populations in Canada's north have heterogeneous health status. Continued chronic disease and risk factor surveillance will be important to monitor changes over time and to evaluate the impact of public health interventions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27275603,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Functional Relationship between Sucrose and a Cariogenic Biofilm Formation.\nSucrose is an important dietary factor in cariogenic biofilm formation and subsequent initiation of dental caries. This study investigated the functional relationships between sucrose concentration and Streptococcus mutans adherence and biofilm formation. Changes in morphological characteristics of the biofilms with increasing sucrose concentration were also evaluated. S. mutans biofilms were formed on saliva-coated hydroxyapatite discs in culture medium containing 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, or 40% (w\/v) sucrose. The adherence (in 4-hour biofilms) and biofilm composition (in 46-hour biofilms) of the biofilms were analyzed using microbiological, biochemical, laser scanning confocal fluorescence microscopic, and scanning electron microscopic methods. To determine the relationships, 2nd order polynomial curve fitting was performed. In this study, the influence of sucrose on bacterial adhesion, biofilm composition (dry weight, bacterial counts, and water-insoluble extracellular polysaccharide (EPS) content), and acidogenicity followed a 2nd order polynomial curve with concentration dependence, and the maximum effective concentrations (MECs) of sucrose ranged from 0.45 to 2.4%. The bacterial and EPS bio-volume and thickness in the biofilms also gradually increased and then decreased as sucrose concentration increased. Furthermore, the size and shape of the micro-colonies of the biofilms depended on the sucrose concentration. Around the MECs, the micro-colonies were bigger and more homogeneous than those at 0 and 40%, and were surrounded by enough EPSs to support their structure. These results suggest that the relationship between sucrose concentration and cariogenic biofilm formation in the oral cavity could be described by a functional relationship.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29544056,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Synthesis and Pharmacological Evaluation of Heterocyclic Carboxamides: Positive Allosteric Modulators of the M1 Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor with Weak Agonist Activity and Diverse Modulatory Profiles.\nTargeting allosteric sites at M1 muscarinic acetylcholine receptors is a promising strategy for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Positive allosteric modulators not only may potentiate binding and\/or signaling of the endogenous agonist acetylcholine (ACh) but also may possess direct agonist activity (thus referred to as PAM-agonists). Recent studies suggest that PAM-agonists with robust intrinsic efficacy are more likely to produce adverse effects in vivo. Herein we present the synthesis and pharmacological evaluation of a series of pyrrole-3-carboxamides with a diverse range of allosteric profiles. We proposed structural modifications at top, core, or pendant moieties of a prototypical molecule. Although generally there was a correlation between the degree of agonist activity and the modulatory potency of the PAMs, some derivatives displayed weak intrinsic efficacy yet maintained strong allosteric modulation. We also identified molecules with the ability to potentiate mainly the affinity or both affinity and efficacy of ACh.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24394072,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[A case of gastric cancer accompanied by disseminated carcinomatosis of the bone marrow successfully controlled by S-1 and cisplatin combination therapy].\nWe report a case of gastric cancer accompanied by disseminated carcinomatosis of the bone marrow treated with S-1 and cisplatin( CDDP) combination chemotherapy. The patient was a 68-year-old woman who was detected as having disseminated intravascular coagulation( DIC) during an examination for gastric cancer and she was diagnosed as having disseminated carcinomatosis of the bone marrow by lumbar puncture. She was immediately treated with S-1 and CDDP combination chemotherapy( S-1, 80 mg\/body orally administered[ po] on days 1-21 and CDDP, 60 mg\/body intravenously [iv] administered on day 8) and her DIC improved on the fourth day. Subsequently, the patient was treated with 3 courses of combination chemotherapy and she survived for 184 days from the initiation of the treatment. Although disseminated carcinomatosis of the bone marrow is associated with a poor prognosis, we believe that the duration of survival of our patient was extended due to initiation of chemotherapy at an early stage.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28259996,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Combined treatment with vitamin C and methotrexate inhibits triple-negative breast cancer cell growth by increasing H2O2 accumulation and activating caspase-3 and p38 pathways.\nMethotrexate (MTX) is widely used as both an anticancer and anti-rheumatoid arthritis drug. Although MTX has been used to inhibit the growth of many cancer cells, it cannot effectively inhibit growth of triple-negative breast cancer cells (TNBC cells). Vitamin C is an antioxidant that can prevent oxidative stress. In addition, vitamin C has been applied as adjunct treatment for growth inhibition of cancer cells. Recent studies indicated that combined treatment with vitamin C and MTX may inhibit MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell growth through G2\/M elongation. However, the mechanisms remain unknown. The aim of the present study was to determine whether combined treatment with low-dose vitamin C and MTX inhibits TNBC cell growth and to investigate the mechanisms of vitamin C\/MTX-induced cytotoxicity. Neither low-dose vitamin C alone nor MTX alone inhibited TNBC cell growth. However, combined low-dose vitamin C and MTX had synergistic anti-proliferative\/cytotoxic effects on TNBC cells. In addition, co-treatment increased H2O2 levels and activated both caspase-3 and p38 cell death pathways.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22689208,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Tendons from non-diabetic humans and rats harbor a population of insulin-producing, pancreatic beta cell-like cells.\nDiabetes mellitus is a risk factor for various types of tendon disorders. The mechanisms underlying diabetes associated tendinopathies remain unclear, but typically, systemic factors related to high blood glucose levels are thought to be causally involved. We hypothesize that tendon immanent cells might be directly involved in diabetic tendinopathy. We therefore analyzed human and rat tendons by immunohistochemistry, laser capture microdissection, and single cell PCR for pancreatic \u03b2-cell associated markers. Moreover, we examined the short term effects of a single injection of streptozotocin, a toxin for GLUT2 expressing cells, in rats on insulin expression of tendon cells, and on the biomechanical properties of Achilles tendons. Tendon cells, both in the perivascular area and in the dense collagenous tissue express insulin and Glut2 on both protein and mRNA levels. In addition, glucagon and PDX-1 are present in tendon cells. Intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin caused a loss of insulin and insulin mRNA in rat Achilles tendons after only 5 days, accompanied by a 40% reduction of mechanical strength. In summary, a so far unrecognized, extrapancreatic, insulin-producing cell type, possibly playing a major role in the pathophysiology of diabetic tendinopathy is described. In view of these data, novel strategies in tendon repair may be considered. The potential of the described cells as a tool for treating diabetes needs to be addressed by further studies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20366533,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cooling and control of a cavity optoelectromechanical system.\nWe implement a cavity optoelectromechanical system integrating electrical actuation capabilities of nanoelectromechanical devices with ultrasensitive mechanical transduction achieved via intracavity optomechanical coupling. Electrical gradient forces as large as 0.40 microN are realized, with simultaneous mechanical transduction sensitivity of 1.5x10{-18} m Hz{-1\/2} representing a 3 orders of magnitude improvement over any nanoelectromechanical system to date. Optoelectromechanical feedback cooling is demonstrated, exhibiting strong squashing of the in-loop transduction signal. Out-of-loop transduction provides accurate temperature calibration even in the critical paradigm where measurement backaction induces optomechanical correlations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25410762,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Radiation-induced autophagy contributes to cell death and induces apoptosis partly in malignant glioma cells.\nRadiation-induced autophagy has been shown to play two different roles, in malignant glioma (MG) cells, cytocidal or cytoprotective. However, neither the role of radiation-induced autophagy for cell death nor the existence of autophagy-induced apoptosis, a well-known cell-death pathway after irradiation, has been verified yet. We observed both temporal and dose-dependent response patterns of autophagy and apoptosis to radiation in MG cell lines. Additionally, we investigated the role of autophagy in apoptosis through knockdown of autophagy-related proteins. Autophagic activity measured by staining of acidic vesicle organelles and Western blotting of LC-3 protein increased in proportion to radiation dose from day 1 to 5 after irradiation. Apoptosis measured by annexin-V staining and Western blotting of cleaved poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase demonstrated relatively late appearance 3 days after irradiation that increased for up to 7 days. Blocking of pan-caspase (Z-VAD-FMK) did not affect apoptosis after irradiation, but silencing of Atg5 effectively reduced radiation-induced autophagy, which decreased apoptosis significantly. Inhibition of autophagy in Atg5 knockdown cells was shown to be beneficial for cell survival. Stable transfection of GFP-LC3 cells was observed after irradiation. Annexin-V was localized in cells bearing GFP-LC3 punctuated spots, indicating autophagy in immunofluorescence. Some of these punctuated GFP-LC3 bearing cells formed conglomerated spots and died in final phase. These findings suggest that autophagy appears earlier than apoptosis after irradiation and that a portion of the apoptotic population that appears later is autophagy-dependent. Thus, autophagy is a pathway to cell death after irradiation of MG cells.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16986270,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Establishing a master's degree programme in bioinformatics: challenges and opportunities.\nThe development of the Bioinformatics MS degree program at the University of Illinois, the challenges and opportunities associated with such a process, and the current structure of the program is described. This program has departed from earlier University practice in significant ways. Despite the existence of several interdisciplinary programs at the University, a few of which grant degrees, this is the first interdisciplinary program that grants degrees and formally recognises departmental specialisation areas. The program, which is not owned by any particular department but by the Graduate College itself, is operated in a franchise-like fashion via several departmental concentrations. With four different colleges and many more departments involved in establishing and operating the program, the logistics of the operation are of considerable complexity but result in significant interactions across the entire campus.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28264022,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Age-stage, two-sex life table of Parapoynx crisonalis (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) at different temperatures.\nParapoynx crisonalis is an important pest of many aquatic vegetables including water chestnuts. Understanding the relationship between temperature variations and the population growth rates of P. crisonalis is essential to predicting its population dynamics in water chestnuts ponds. These relationships were examined in this study based on the age-stage, two-sex life table of P. crisonalis developed in the laboratory at 21, 24, 27, 30, 33 and 36\u00b0C. The results showed that the values of Sxj (age-stage-specific survival rate), fxj (age-stage-specific fecundity), lx (age specific survival rate) and mx (age-specific fecundity) increased as the temperature rose from 21 to 27\u00b0C, then decreased from 30 to 36\u00b0C. Temperature also had a significant effect on the net reproductive rate (R0), gross reproductive rate (GRR), intrinsic rate of increase (r) and finite rate of increase (\u03bb). The value of these parameters were at low levels at 21, 33, and 36\u00b0C. Further, the r value decreased as the temperature rose from 24 to 30\u00b0C, while the GRR reached its highest level at 27\u00b0C. The results indicated that optimal growth and development of P. crisonalis occurred at temperatures between 24\u00b0C to 30\u00b0C when compared to the lowest temperature (21\u00b0C) and higher temperatures of 33\u00b0C and 36\u00b0C.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32587467,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Decoy Receptor 3 Promotes Preosteoclast Cell Death via Reactive Oxygen Species-Induced Fas Ligand Expression and the IL-1\u03b1\/IL-1 Receptor Antagonist Pathway.\nInterleukin-1\u03b1 (IL-1\u03b1) is a potent cytokine that plays a role in inflammatory arthritis and bone loss. Decoy receptor 3 (DCR3) is an immune modulator of monocytes and macrophages. The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanism of DCR3 in IL-1\u03b1-induced osteoclastogenesis. We treated murine macrophages with DCR3 during receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa \u0392 ligand- (RANKL-) plus IL-1\u03b1-induced osteoclastogenesis to monitor osteoclast formation by tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) staining. Osteoclast activity was assessed using a pit formation assay. The mechanisms of inhibition were studied by biochemical analyses, including RT-PCR, immunofluorescent staining, flow cytometry, an apoptosis assay, immunoblotting, and ELISA. DCR3 suppresses IL-1\u03b1-induced osteoclastogenesis in both primary murine bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMM) and RAW264.7 cells as it inhibits bone resorption. DCR3 induces RANKL-treated osteoclast precursor cells to express IL-1\u03b1, secretory IL-1ra (sIL-1ra), intracellular IL-1ra (icIL-1ra), reactive oxygen species (ROS), and Fas ligand and to activate IL-1\u03b1-induced interleukin-1 receptor-associated kinase 4 (IRAK4). The suppression of DCR3 during RANKL- or IL-1\u03b1-induced osteoclastogenesis may be due to the abundant secretion of IL-1ra, accumulation of ROS, and expression of Fas ligand in apoptotic osteoclast precursor cells. We concluded that there is an inhibitory effect of DCR3 on osteoclastogenesis via ROS accumulation and ROS-induced Fas ligand, IL-1\u03b1, and IL-1ra expression. Our results suggested that the upregulation of DCR3 in preosteoclasts might be a therapeutic target in inflammatory IL-1\u03b1-induced bone resorption.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30675223,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Melatonin regulates tumor aggressiveness under acidosis condition in breast cancer cell lines.\nBreast cancer progression is composed of multiple steps that are influenced by tumor cell adaptations to survive under acidic conditions in the tumor microenvironment. Regulation of this cell survival behavior is a promising strategy to avoid cancer development. Melatonin is a natural hormone produced and secreted by the pineal gland capable of modulating different biological pathways in cancer. Although the anti-cancer effects of melatonin are currently widespread, its role in the acid tumor microenvironment remains poorly understood. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of low pH (6.7) on human breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231, and the effectiveness of melatonin in acute acidosis survival mechanisms. Cell viability was measured by a MTT assay and the protein expression of glucose transporter (GLUT)-1, Ki-67 and caspase-3 was evaluated by immunocytochemical (ICC) analysis following low pH media and melatonin treatment. In both cell lines the viability was decreased after melatonin treatment (1 mM) under acidosis conditions for 24 h. ICC analysis showed a significant increase in GLUT-1 and Ki-67 expression at pH 6.7, and a decrease after treatment with melatonin for 12 and 24 h. The low pH media decreased the expression of caspase-3, which was increased after melatonin treatment for 12 and 24 h. Overall, the results of the present study revealed melatonin treatment increases apoptosis, as indicated by changes in caspase-3, and decreases proliferation, indicated by changes to Ki-67, and GLUT-1 protein expression under acute acidosis conditions in breast cancer cell lines.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20356492,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[An economic evaluation of low dose recombinant human tissue-type plasminogen activator for the treatment of acute pulmonary thromboembolism].\nTo compare and evaluate the cost and effectiveness between recombinant human tissue-type plasminogen activator (rt-PA) 50 mg and 100 mg regimen for the treatment acute pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE). Based on a randomized clinical trial data, 118 cases were enrolled, 65 cases in group 50 mg and 53 cases in group 100 mg, which showed the similar efficacy and safety of rt-PA 50 mg and 100 mg. Progressive improvement in pulmonary artery obstructions was found to be similarly significant in both treatment groups, but there was no significant differences between the two groups (89.1% vs 89.6%, chi(2) = 0.007, P = 0.936). The rates of adverse events in two groups were same as well (17% vs 32%, chi(2) = 3.704, P = 0.054). We compared the cost directly and the cost-effective rate of the two groups. Based the cost saving of individual patient, prevalence rate of acute PTE, and co-pay rate of reimbursement, we calculated the cost saving of societal and payer's perspective. The cost of group 50 mg is 6352 RMB\/person, and the cost of group 100 mg is 12,704 RMB\/person. The cost-effect rates of the two groups were 7129 and 14,179 separately. With the same effect, each patient in 50 mg group can save 7050 RMB. If the PTE patients in China were treated with rt-PA 50 mg instead of 100 mg, the society cost saving would be 443,604,624 RMB. rt-PA 50 mg\/2 h regimen, compared with 100 mg\/2 h, can not only provide similar efficacy and safety, but also show a good health economic saving.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23334517,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Self-regressing S100-negative CD1a-positive cutaneous histiocytosis.\nIn the skin, the antigen-presenting cells are mainly represented by Langerhans cells, indeterminate cells, and interstitial dendritic cells, which show distinctive immunophenotype and\/or ultrastructure. We report a case of a cutaneous-limited self-regressing histiocytosis with a peculiar immunohistochemical profile (CD1a-positive and S100 protein-negative) that is not observed in any of the known cutaneous antigen-presenting cell or nowadays recognized neoplasm. This lesion is probably related to indeterminate dendritic cell tumors, but very few cases with such immunoprofile have been reported up-to-date, and their exact nosologic position and outcome remain to be clarified.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7927147,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"University-affiliated venture capital funds.\nThis paper briefly reviews university\/industry licensing and research collaborations and focuses on three university-affiliated venture capital funds, which represent the most direct participation by academic institutions in creating new ventures based on technologies invented by their faculty members. The paper provides an early perspective on these funds as mechanisms for bringing new biomedical technologies into use. Although the new models have not existed long enough to fully evaluate their effectiveness, the early evidence is sufficient to suggest helpful guidelines for development of more efficient initiatives in the future.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29385420,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"High-Resolution Tissue Mass Spectrometry Imaging Reveals a Refined Functional Anatomy of the Human Adult Adrenal Gland.\nIn the adrenal gland, neuroendocrine cells that synthesize catecholamines and epithelial cells that produce steroid hormones are united beneath a common organ capsule to function as a single stress-responsive organ. The functional anatomy of the steroid hormone-producing adrenal cortex and the catecholamine-producing medulla is ill defined at the level of small molecules. Here, we report a comprehensive high-resolution mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) map of the normal human adrenal gland. A large variety of biomolecules was accessible by matrix-assisted laser desorption\/ionization-Fourier transform-ion cyclotron resonance MSI, including nucleoside phosphates indicative of oxidative phosphorylation, sterol and steroid metabolites, intermediates of glycolysis and the tricarboxylic acid cycle, lipids, and fatty acids. Statistical clustering analyses yielded a molecularly defined adrenal anatomy of 10 distinct molecular zones including a highly structured corticomedullary interface. By incorporating pathway information, activities of carbohydrate, amino acid, and lipid metabolism as well as endocrine bioactivity were revealed to be highly spatially organized, which could be visualized as different molecularly defined zones. Together, these findings provide a molecular definition of human adult adrenal gland structure beyond classical histological anatomy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":280117,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Choice of dental care among 16--18 year olds in Oslo.\nOne of the objectives of organized school dental service is to create ability and willingness among young adults to maintain a preventive oral health care, e.g. regular dental visits. In order to investigate the decisions about and plans for dental care among school dental service leavers a questionnaire was sent to a probability sample of 258 young adults who had finished ninth grade eight months earlier. The participation rate of the Youth Dental Program (YDP) was approximately 90%. The drop-outs were made up of at least two rather distinct groups. One of them was dominated by subjects with a high social background and they chose to a great extent care in private practice. The other group was dominated by young men with a low social background. They finished school early and expressed pessimistic expectations to the life-time of their own teeth.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15555237,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[A discussion on influence of philosophical idea of Guan Zi on TCM].\nGuan Zi has substantial content and deep idea, being paid great attention among the various ancient schools of thought. After discussing the influence of its philosophical idea on TCM, it can be concluded that Guan Zi raised Yin Yan concept to a natural law earlier after Lao Zi first philosophized it. Meanwhile discussed the relationship between Yin and Yang systematically such as respecting Yang, Yang can control Yin, and relativity of Yin and Yang. It first setup Jing -Qi Theory, discussing materiality of the Nature and life from the sense of ontology. But it confused Jing Shen and Jing Qi, and could not weep the primitive color of Xing-Shen Monism. It emphasized on self-cultivation and embodied Xu (voidness), Yi (unity), Jing (tranquility) and Yin (cause) on preserving health.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37867315,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A Case Report of Oral Bisphosphonate Treatment for Osteoporosis Leading to Atypical Femoral Fracture and Pathologic Mandibular Fracture.\nBACKGROUND Bisphosphonates inhibit bone resorption in patients with postmenopausal osteoporosis and reduce osteoporotic fracture incidence. Medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaws (MRONJ) and atypical femoral fractures (AFF) are both rare but serious adverse effects of anti-resorptive drugs (ARD) such as bisphosphonates. The most advanced form of MRONJ is termed stage 3 and can lead to severe local sequelae like pathologic mandibular fractures (PMF). This study reports a case of MRONJ-related PMF and AFF with osteomyelitis secondary to bisphosphonate treatment for osteoporosis. CASE REPORT A 63-year-old white woman was diagnosed with PMF related to MRONJ stage 3 during treatment of an AFF with osteomyelitis. She had been treated for postmenopausal osteoporosis with 70 mg of alendronate weekly for 2 years. The PMF was treated by stable internal fixation combined with debridement and sequestrectomy, but further debridement was required and 2 mandibular implants were then removed. Postoperative recovery was uneventful and the mandibular infection was controlled after the second surgery. Three weeks later, she was discharged from the hospital, instructed to discontinue the use of alendronate, and referred for 30 sessions of hyperbaric oxygen therapy. At the 3-year follow-up, the PMF was completely healed without signs of mandibular infection or bone exposure. CONCLUSIONS This report raises awareness of both MRONJ and AFF as possible adverse effects of short-term bisphosphonate therapy for postmenopausal osteoporosis, and highlights the importance of dental and orthopedic follow-ups. It is crucial to emphasize the need for early diagnosis and treatment to prevent MRONJ progression to PMF.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29359052,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Anticoagulation for the Pregnant Patient with a Mechanical Heart Valve, No Perfect Therapy: Review of Guidelines for Anticoagulation in the Pregnant Patient.\nHeart valve replacement with a mechanical valve requires lifelong anticoagulation. Guidelines currently recommend using a vitamin K antagonist (VKA) such as warfarin. Given the teratogenic effects of VKAs, it is often favorable to switch to heparin-derived therapies in pregnant patients since they do not cross the placenta. However, these therapies are known to be less effective anticoagulants subjecting the pregnant patient to a higher chance of a thrombotic event. Guidelines currently recommend pregnant women requiring more than 5 mg a day of warfarin be switched to alternative therapy during the first trimester. This case report highlights a patient who was switched to alternative therapy during her first pregnancy and suffered a devastating cerebrovascular accident (CVA). Further complicating her situation was during a subsequent pregnancy; this patient continued warfarin use during the first trimester and experienced multiple transient ischemic attacks (TIAs). This case highlights the increased risk of thrombotic events in pregnant patients with mechanical valves. It also highlights the difficulty of providing appropriate anticoagulation for the pregnant patient who has experienced thrombotic events on multiple anticoagulants.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6744535,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"In vivo 31P nuclear magnetic resonance measurements in canine heart using a catheter-coil.\nWe have developed a new method of obtaining high resolution 31P nuclear magnetic resonance spectra from canine heart without the need for major surgery. This is done by passing an elliptical nuclear magnetic resonance receiver coil through a peripheral blood vessel into the right or left ventricle. This technique enables spectra to be obtained from a defined region of myocardium in less than 7 minutes (for the right ventricle) with a signal:noise ratio of greater than 9:1. With this catheter-coil, useful cardiac metabolic information will be obtainable, not only from specified regions of the heart, but also from various layers of myocardium.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25525245,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Extreme electric fields power catalysis in the active site of ketosteroid isomerase.\nEnzymes use protein architecture to impose specific electrostatic fields onto their bound substrates, but the magnitude and catalytic effect of these electric fields have proven difficult to quantify with standard experimental approaches. Using vibrational Stark effect spectroscopy, we found that the active site of the enzyme ketosteroid isomerase (KSI) exerts an extremely large electric field onto the C=O chemical bond that undergoes a charge rearrangement in KSI's rate-determining step. Moreover, we found that the magnitude of the electric field exerted by the active site strongly correlates with the enzyme's catalytic rate enhancement, enabling us to quantify the fraction of the catalytic effect that is electrostatic in origin. The measurements described here may help explain the role of electrostatics in many other enzymes and biomolecular systems.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6732064,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Univentricular heart; angiocardiographic study].\nAuthors present angiocardiographic study of 19 patients with univentricular heart. It was realized during the neonatal period in 13 cases and between the six first six months in the rest. To determine the existence of an only ventricle contrast was injected in the right and left atrium and the ventricle through the right and left atrioventricular valve. The bulbo-ventricular foramen was orientated in all cases from back-front wards. Those of left ventricle type had a right anterior, anterior-superior or left-anterior rudimentary chamber. Depending on its' morphology they were classified in three types: left, right or indeterminate. In these series fourteen patients had left ventricle morphology. All cases had a rudimentary chamber: 10 with transposition great vessel and four with normal related great vessels. Six presented normal situs (five with levocardia , and eight ambiguous situs (six with asplenia, four with dextrocardia). In nine atrio ventricular valves were anomalous. In the indeterminate type, two had a normal situs, two with polysplenia and two asplenia. Cardiac apex was oriented to the right in two (one asplenia). The two patients with polysplenia and one with normal situs and single atrium had a common ventricular valve. Four had an anterior aorta and three pulmonary obstruction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28288942,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Endemic palm species shed light on habitat shifts and the assembly of the Cerrado and Restinga floras.\nSpecies expansions into new habitats are often associated with physiological adaptations, for instance when rain forest lineages colonize dry habitats. Although such shifts have been documented for the Brazilian savanna (Cerrado), little is known about the biogeographic origin of species occupying an extreme South American habitat type, the coastal dunes (Restinga). We examined the formation of this poorly known, endangered habitat by reconstructing the evolutionary history of two endemic species. Due to the proposed recency and uniqueness of this habitat, we hypothesized that Restinga species of the palm genus Allagoptera to be recently evolved and to present derived morphological characters. To detect habit shifts in absolute time, we used one plastid and nine nuclear genes to reconstruct the phylogenetic and biogeographic history of Allagoptera. We used light microscopy and stable isotope analysis to explore whether morphological adaptations occurred concomitantly with habitat shifts. Phylogenetic relationships were well supported and we found ancestral lineages of Allagoptera to be widely distributed throughout habitats that are currently occupied by extant species. Over the last ca. 7Ma Allagoptera has shifted its preference to increasingly dry habitats. Coincident with the colonization of the Cerrado and Restinga, morphological adaptations also evolved, including subterranean stems that are fire-resistant and long underground stem and root systems that facilitate water access. We did not find differences in metabolic pathway or modifications to pollen morphology when compared to other palm lineages. Assuming that the evolutionary history of Allagoptera is indicative of the habitat in which it occurs, our results infer a recent origin for Cerrado species. Although little is known about the formation of the Restinga habitat, our results also suggest a longer history than currently proposed; with an origin of Restinga habitats dating back to the Late Pliocene.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":2788730,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Patterns and economic effects of drug overdose mortality in Texas: 1980-1986.\nDrug overdose mortality and its economic consequences are explored for ten different drug categories in this article. Data on drug overdose mortality in Texas for the years 1980-1986 are examined and a cost of mortality analysis is presented using the human capital methodology. In addition, mortality rates per 100,000 population are presented for each drug category. The results indicate that the cost of drug overdose mortality has more than doubled over the six-year period. The greatest growth in mortality cost has been for narcotics and cocaine, with commonly prescribed psychoactive drugs remaining fairly constant. The results suggest that men are at far greater risk of drug overdose than women with respect to illicit drugs. Women, however, appear to be at greater risk for overdose from commonly prescribed drugs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11998312,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"First paralytic shellfish poison (PSP) infestation of bivalves due to toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium tamiyavanichii, in the southeast coasts of the Seto Inland Sea, Japan.\nThe mussel Mytilus edulis and the cultured ark shell Anadara broughtonii in the southeast coasts of the Seto Inland Sea were contaminated with paralytic shellfish poison (PSP) following the appearance of the dinoflagellate Alexandrium tamiyavanichii in early December 1999. A. tamiyavanichii plankton collected around the Straits of Naruto on December 3, 1999 showed PSP toxicity, of which 83 mol% was accounted for by GTX2, GTX3 and GTX4. Its specific toxicity was 112.5 fmol\/cell, and one MU was equivalent to 7,200 cells. Toxicity values at the beginning of toxification were 4.7 MU\/g for the ark shell and 7.3 MU\/g for the mussel. In the former, the value remained at almost 4 MU\/g, resulting in prohibition of marketing for about two months. In the latter, it sharply decreased to less than 4 MU\/g. These bivalves collected during the toxification period were dissected into five tissues, mantle, adductor muscle, hepatopancreas, gills and \"others\", and submitted to high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The cultured ark shell accumulated GTX2, GTX3 and STX as major components and GTX1, GTX4, GTX5, neoSTX, dcSTX and PX1-3 (C1-C3) as minor ones. The amount of GTX3 decreased with time, while STX tended to increase. At the early stage of PSP toxification, toxins were accumulated in the gills and \"others\", most of which were quickly detoxified. On the other hand, PSP of the toxified mussel consisted of GTX4 as a main component, and GTX1, GTX2, GTX3, GTX5, STX and PX1-2 (C1-C2) as minor ones. Its toxin composition pattern was similar to that of the ingested causative plankton. Its total toxin decreased soon after disappearance of the dinoflagellate. During the decrease of toxicity, PSP tended to be retained in the hepatopancreas, resulting in accumulation of 50 mol% of total toxin.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18590960,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cyclobranol: a substrate for C25-methyl sterol side chains and potent mechanism-based inactivator of plant sterol methyltransferase.\nCyclobranol 8A, an analog of the cycloartenol substrate 1A for the plant sterol C24-methyltransferase (SMT), was shown to be an acceptor of the soybean SMT1 as well as an inhibitor of enzyme action. The K(m) and k(cat) for 8A was 37 microM and 0.006 min(-1), respectively. The enzyme-generated product was identified by MS and (1)H NMR to be a C24, C25-doubly alkylated Delta(24(28))-olefin 10A. Inhibitor treatment was concentration and time-dependent affording an apparent K(i) of 25 microM, a maximum rate of inactivation of 0.15 min(-1) and a partition ratio (k(cat)\/k(inact)) calculated to be 0.04.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16149068,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Global gene expression analysis in the bones reveals involvement of several novel genes and pathways in mediating an anabolic response of mechanical loading in mice.\nTo identify the genes and signal pathways responsible for mechanical loading-induced bone formation, we evaluated differential gene expression on a global basis in the tibias of C57BL\/6J (B6) mice after four days of four-point bending. We applied mechanical loads to the right tibias of the B6 mice at 9 N, 2 Hz for 36 cycles per day, with the left tibias used as unloaded controls. RNA from the tibias was harvested 24 h after last stimulation and subjected to microarray. Of the 20,280 transcripts hybridized to the array, 346 were differentially expressed in the loaded bones compared to the controls. The validity of the microarray data was established with the increased expression of bone-related genes such as pleiotrophin, osteoglycin, and legumain upon four-point bending and confirmation of increased expression of selected genes by real-time PCR. The list of differentially expressed genes includes genes involved in cell growth, differentiation, adhesion, proteolysis, as well as signaling molecules of receptors for growth factors, integrin, Ephrin B2, endothelin, and adhesion G protein coupled receptor. Pathway analyses suggested that 28 out of the 346 genes exhibited a direct biological association. Among the biological network, fibronectin and pleitrophin function as important signaling molecules in regulating periosteal bone formation and resorption in response to four-point bending. Furthermore, some expressed sequence tags (ESTs) with no prior known function have been identified as potential mediators of mechanotransduction signaling pathways. Further studies on these previously unknown genes will improve our understanding of the molecular pathways and mechanisms involved in bone's response to mechanical stress.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6169754,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Biochemical interaction of six OP delayed neurotoxicants with several neurotargets.\nFive organophosphorous insecticides: Leptophos, EPN, Cyanofenphos, trichloronate and salithion proved to cause irreversible ataxia not only to chicken but also to mice and sheep. TOCP was included as a reference. Cyanofenphos blocked the catecholamine B-receptor binding activity with 3H-norepinephrine at a level similar to that of the specific inhibitor propranolol in the mouse heart preparation. In the lamb heart preparation, the B-receptor was more sensitive to Leptophos, salithion and TOCP than to propranolol. The six compounds and their oxons were screened for their in-vitro inhibition to monamine oxidase (MAO), acetyl cholinesterase (AChE) and neurotoxic esterase (NTE) in the brain of either mouse, lamb or chicken. It is believed that their AChE inhibition stands for their acute toxicity, while NTE inhibition is responsible for their paralytic ataxia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37868570,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Efficacy and Safety of the Surgery-First Approach Compared to the Chemotherapy-First Approach for Treating Low-Risk Gestational Trophoblastic Neoplasia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.\nFor gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN) affecting women of reproductive age, the chemotherapy-first approach is often preferred over the surgery-first approach. Low-risk GTN is treated with a chemotherapy-first approach, but the number of courses required can affect fertility. A surgery-first approach may decrease the number of chemotherapy courses, but its efficacy and safety compared to a chemotherapy-first approach are unclear. Thus, we investigated the efficacy and safety of the surgery-first approach compared to the chemotherapy-first approach in treating low-risk GTN. We searched the MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, ClinicalTrials.gov, and World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform databases for relevant articles in July 2023. A systematic review and meta-analysis of outcome measures were conducted using a random-effects model. The primary outcomes were remission, the mean number of chemotherapy courses required to cure, and adverse events. The certainty of the evidence was evaluated using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation approach. This study protocol was registered in the Open Science Framework (https:\/\/osf.io\/kysvn\/). Studies for low-risk GTN included a qualitative synthesis (with 2,192 participants and ten studies, eight of which were about second uterine curettage and two about hysterectomy) and a meta-analysis (with 138 participants and two randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared first-line treatments of second uterine curettage and chemotherapy). Second uterine curettage may result in little to no difference in remission (risk ratio: 1.00, 95% confidence interval: 0.96-1.05; low certainty) and a slight reduction in adverse events (risk ratio: 0.87, 95% confidence interval: 0.47-1.60; low certainty). The evidence is very uncertain on the mean number of chemotherapy courses (mean difference: 2.84 lower, 95% confidence interval: 7.31 lower to 1.63 higher; very low certainty). Based on clinical outcomes, second uterine curettage can be comparable to the chemotherapy-first approach as a first-line treatment option for low-risk GTN; however, the overall certainty of the evidence was low or very low.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36273209,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Feasibility of point of care testing for prevention and management of breast cancer therapy associated comorbidities in 6 African countries: short communication.\nObesity and mediators of inflammation have been identified as the most important risk and predictive factors in postmenopausal breast cancer (BC) survivors using aromatase inhibitors (AIs). This study was conducted to assess the impact of point of care technology (PCOT) as part of pathology supported genetic testing (PSGT) to prevent BC therapy-associated comorbidities in African settings. The study revealed that high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and body mass index (BMI) are predictors of cardiovascular (CVD) related adverse events in obese postmenopausal patients subjected to AIs. There were statistically significant variations in total body fat (TBF), weight, hs-CRP, body mass index (BMI), homocysteine, ferritin, and calcium between baseline and after 24 months of follow-up. The above inflammatory markers can be incorporated in pathology supported genetic testing (PSGT) using HyBeacon\u00ae probe technology at POC for prediction and management of AI-associated adverse events among postmenopausal breast cancer survivors and associated comorbidities. The barriers for implementation of POCT application among six African countries for diagnosis of breast cancer were documented as insufficient of BC diagnosis and management capacity at different levels of health system.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8344277,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Localization of two myosin-subfragment-1 binding contacts in the 96-132 region of actin subdomain-1.\nMany direct observations and indirect experimental approaches have pin-pointed two segments (sequences 1-28 and 360-372) in actin subdomain-1 which bind to myosin subfragment-1. In a previous investigation [Labb\u00e9, J. P., M\u00e9jean, C., Benyamin, Y. & Roustan, C. (1990) Biochem. J. 271, 407-413], we have observed competition between myosin subfragment-1 and anti-actin antibodies specific to epitopes including Thr103. A multisite interface model has also been proposed to take into account myosin-head binding to the N-terminal and C-terminal regions and to more central 40-113 sequence of actin. In the present study, two limited actin segments encompassing residues 96-103 and 112-125 were identified as myosin-head-binding sites. Myosin subfragment-1 competed for monomeric actin with the antibodies directed against sequences 96-105 and 114-120 and its binding to the tryptic 96-113 and synthetic 112-125 actin peptides was prevented by magnesium pyrophosphate but not by calcium pyrophosphate. In the presence of ATP-Mg2+, myosin subfragment-1 was dissociated by filamin from its complex with monomeric actin or with peptide 105-120. Contact points of filamin on actin were previously located in the 105-120 and 360-372 actin sequences [M\u00e9jean, C., Lebart, M. C., Boyer, M., Roustan, C. & Benyamin, Y. (1992) Eur. J. Biochem. 209, 555-562]. The in vitro inhibitory effect of filamin on actin-activated Mg2+-ATPase would thus be explained by this competition. Furthermore, the (27-kDa-50-kDa-20-kDa) trypsin-split myosin subfragment-1 which could no longer be activated by actin, did not bind at all to the two sites located in the 96-125 region, but it still interacted with the 360-372 segment. Our results regarding the position of the myosin head on actin monomers in rigor conditions provide evidence on the presence of two topologically independent contact points in the myosin-head\/actin interface. One group exposed residues in the 1-7, 21-29, 77-95 and 96-103 actin segment, another, on the opposite side of subdomain-1, included residues from 112-125 and 360-372 sequences.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6362682,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Psoriatic arthritis: considerations on recent studies: serum beta 2 microglobulin and circulating T-gamma lymphocytes].\nThe results of two recent studies of our group have been reported. They regard two immunological parameters of psoriatic arthritis: the proportions of T gamma lymphocytes in peripheral blood and the beta 2 microglobulin in the serum. The data obtained in psoriatic arthritis patients have been compared to those found in normal controls and in rheumatoid arthritis patients. T gamma mean values in psoriatic arthritis were significantly lower than those present in healthy subjects and in rheumatoid patients. These last patients showed beta 2 microglobulin mean values significantly higher than those observed in normal controls and in psoriatic arthritis patients. Conversely, the mean of beta 2 microglobulin levels in psoriatic arthritis has been found to be similar to that observed in normal controls, but a superimposition in the range of individual values of these two groups with the concentrations determined in rheumatoid subjects has been found. These results seem to be of interest in relation to the immunopathogenetic mechanism of psoriatic arthritis, but are of little help in the clinical differentiation of the two rheumatological affections considered.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9147119,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dental anxiety among Australians.\nThis study aimed to estimate the prevalence of dental anxiety and examine its associations among a representative sample of Australians aged 18 and over. A random sub-sample of participants in a national dental telephone interview survey completed a follow-up postal questionnaire (response rate 85.2 per cent) which included Corah's Dental Anxiety Scale (DAS). The prevalence of dental anxiety (defined by a DAS score of 13 or more) in the sample was 14.9 per cent, with overall severity represented by the mean score of 9.04 (sd, 3.45). The prevalence and severity of dental anxiety were greater among women than men, and in the 35-44 age group. High-anxiety individuals reported more deferring of dental care, and more frequently reported an episodic dental visiting pattern. Although there were no differences in dental anxiety by self-reported dental status, individuals who reported impact from their oral conditions had higher dental anxiety. These associations with social impacts and deferment of care indicate that dental anxiety may be an important dental public health problem in Australia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1698022,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Tumor necrosis factor gene expression in human vascular intimal smooth muscle cells detected by in situ hybridization.\nWe used immunohistochemistry to detect tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and in situ hybridization to detect TNF messenger RNA (mRNA) in the intimal mesenchymal-appearing cells and in the medial smooth muscle cells of human atherosclerotic arteries. Medial smooth muscle cells showed localization of immunoreactive TNF on the cell surface and did not express TNF mRNA. Conversely, in intimal mesenchymal-appearing cells, TNF was localized in the cytoplasm and TNF mRNA was expressed by in situ hybridization. Thus 89% of intimal cells were immunohistochemically positive for TNF, 96% of them were positive by in situ hybridization, and 76% were positive for the smooth muscle cell marker, HHF35. Our results suggest that intimal mesenchymal-appearing cells are mostly, but not exclusively, derived from smooth muscle cells. These cells express TNF, whereas the medial smooth muscle cells in the atherosclerotic human arteries do not. The expression of TNF by these mesenchymal-appearing cells may have implications regarding the evolution of the atherosclerotic plaque.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30674944,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-22":1}}},"text":"Towards Remote Lightning Manipulation by Meters-long Plasma Channels Generated by Ultra-Short-Pulse High-Intensity Lasers.\nRemote manipulation (triggering and guiding) of lightning in atmospheric conditions of thunderstorms has been the subject of intense scientific research for decades. High power, ultrashort-pulse lasers are considered attractive in generating plasma channels in air that could serve as conductors\/diverters for lightning. However, two fundamental obstacles, namely the limited length and lifetime of such plasma channels prevented their realization to this date. In this paper, we report decisive experimental results of our multi-element broken wire concept that extends the generated plasma channels to the required tens of meters range. We obtain 13-meter-long plasma wire, limited only by our current experimental setup, with plasma conditions that could be sufficient for the leader initiation. This advance, coupled with our demonstrated method of laser heating for long time sustenance of the plasma channel, is a major, significant step towards controlling lightning.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14560447,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Uncommon mycobacterial infections in domestic and zoo animals: four cases with special emphasis on pathology].\nInfections caused by classical tubercle bacilli are rare during the last years. Nevertheless, diseases caused by other mycobacteria have to be considered clinically and in diagnostic pathology especially in cases of immunosuppression and due to their potential zoonosis risk. An infection by mycobacteria was diagnosed in four animals (Mayotte Maki, Blue-headed Parrot, Patagonian sealion, Beagle) necropsied between 1995 and 2002 in the Institute of Veterinary-Pathology of the University of Leipzig. The Maki, the blue-headed parrot and the dog showed a disseminated character of the disease caused by Mycobacterium genavense (monkey and bird) resp. Mycobacterium avium (dog), while an open chronical tuberculosis of the lungs due to a pathogenic member of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex was observed in the seal. All these bacteria are potential causes of zoonoses. So, if granulomatous or disseminated histiocytic alterations are detected in diagnostic pathology, mycobacterial infections should always be included in differential diagnoses and require careful aetiological investigations by histopathological and bacteriological methods.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9151962,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Unusual characteristics of amino-terminal and hydrophobic domains in nuclear-encoded thylakoid signal peptides.\nThylakoid transfer signals carry information specifying translocation by either a Sec- or delta pH-dependent protein translocator in the chloroplast thylakoid membrane, yet all resemble classical signal peptides in overall structural terms. Comparison of known transfer signals reveals two differences: (a) signals for the delta pH-driven system invariably contain a critical twin-arginine (Arg-Arg) motif prior to the hydrophobic (H) domain, whereas known Sec-dependent signals contain lysine, and (b) the H-domains of Sec-dependent signals are generally longer. Previous work has shown that a twin-Arg motif before the H-domain is critical for targeting by the delta pH-dependent pathway; in this report we show that the charge characteristics of this region are not important for sorting by the Sec pathway. Twin-Lys, twin-Arg or single Arg are all acceptable to the Sec system, although single Lys\/Arg is preferred. The single Lys in pre-plastocyanin can even be replaced by an uncharged residue without apparent effect. We have also generated a pre-plastocyanin mutant containing an H-domain which, in terms of hydropathy profile, is identical to that of a delta pH-dependent protein. This mutant is also transported efficiently by the Sec system, demonstrating that hydrophobicity per se is not a key sorting determinant. However, the characteristics of the H-domain may be important in avoiding a different form of mis-targeting: to the endoplasmic reticulum. Thylakoid signal peptides have undergone substantial structural changes during the evolution of the chloroplast from endosymbiotic cyanobacterium: plastid-encoded and cyanobacterial signals contain H-domains that are highly hydrophobic and enriched in Leu and aromatic residues, whereas nuclear-encoded counterparts are Ala-rich and far less hydrophobic. We speculate that this trend may reflect a need to avoid mistargeting through recognition by cytosolic signal recognition particle, which preferentially interacts with more hydrophobic signal peptides.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26466964,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"HGF and IGF-1 promote protective effects of allogeneic BMSC transplantation in rabbit model of acute myocardial infarction.\nTo explore effects of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) combined with insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) on transplanted bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs), for treatment of acute myocardial ischaemia. After ligation of the left anterior descending artery, rabbits were divided into a Control group, a Factors group (HGF+IGF-1), a BMSC group and a Factors+BMSCs group. Allogenous BMSCs (1 \u00d7 10(7)) and\/or control-released microspheres of 2 \u03bcg HGF+2 \u03bcg IGF-1 were intramyocardially injected into infarcted regions. Apoptosis and differentiation of implanted BMSCs, histological and morphological results, and cardiac remodelling and function were evaluated at different time points. In vitro, BMSCs were exposed to HGF, IGF-1 and both (50 ng\/ml) and subsequently proliferation, migration, myocardial differentiation and apoptosis induced by hypoxia, were analysed. Four weeks post-operatively, the above indices were significantly improved in Factors+BMSCs group compared to the others (P < 0.01), although Factors and BMSCs group also showed better results than Control group (P < 0.05). In vitro, HGF promoted BMSC migration and differentiation into cardiomyocytes, but inhibited proliferation (P < 0.05), while IGF-1 increased proliferation and migration, and inhibited apoptosis induced by hypoxia (P < 0.05), but did not induce myocardial differentiation. Combination of HGF and IGF-1 significantly promoted BMSCs capacity for migration, differentiation and lack of apoptosis (P < 0.05). Combination of HGF and IGF-1 activated BMSCs complementarily, and controlled release of the two factors promoted protective potential of transplanted BMSCs to repair infarcted myocardium. This suggests a new strategy for cell therapies to overcome acute ischemic myocardial injury.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28264341,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"New hexactinellid sponges from deep Mediterranean canyons.\nDuring the exploration of the NW Mediterranean deep-sea canyons (MedSeaCan and CorSeaCan cruises), several hexactinellid sponges were observed and collected by ROV and manned submersible. Two of them appeared to be new species of Farrea and Tretodictyum. The genus Farrea had so far been reported with doubt from the Mediterranean and was listed as \"taxa inquirenda\" for two undescribed species. We here provide a proper description for the specimens encountered and sampled. The genus Tretodictyum had been recorded several times in the Mediterranean and in the near Atlantic as T. tubulosum Schulze, 1866, again with doubt, since the type locality is the Japan Sea. We here confirm that the Mediterranean specimens are a distinct new species which we describe. We also provide18S rDNA sequences of the two new species and include them in a phylogenetic tree of related hexactinellids.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18597189,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[The impact factor and editorial decisions].\nAlthough it is questioned, the impact factor continues to be the indicator of quality of medical publications and a hierarchical instrument of information. The authors review the influence of the search for the highest impact factor in editorial decisions for both the journal format and in the procedure of accepting manuscripts. In addition, the role of the denominator modifications and the language of the publication as well as how the acceptance of an article may be influenced not only by the quality parameters but also in the interest of the publication are reviewed. The strategic policy of a journal influences the editorial decisions and the gamble made to achieve a growing impact factor condition these decisions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23458138,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"The Canadian National EMS Research Agenda: a mixed methods consensus study.\nResearch is essential for the development of evidence-based emergency medical services (EMS) systems of care. When resources are scarce and gaps in evidence are large, a national agenda may inform the growth of EMS research in Canada. This mixed methods consensus study explores current barriers and existing strengths within Canadian EMS research, provides recommendations, and suggests EMS topics for future study. Purposeful sampling was employed to invite EMS research stakeholders from various roles across the country. Study phases consisted of 1) baseline interviews of a subsample, 2) roundtable discussion, and 3) an online Delphi survey, in which participants scored each statement for importance. Consensus was defined a priori and met if 80% scored a statement as \"important\" or \"very important.\" Fifty-three stakeholders participated, representing researchers (37.7%), EMS administrators (24.6%), clinicians\/providers (20.7%), and educators (17.0%). Participation rates were as follows: interviews, 13 of 13 (100%); roundtable, 47 of 53 (89%); survey round 1, 50 of 53 (94%); survey round 2, 47 of 53 (89%); and survey round 3, 40 of 53 (75%). A total of 141 statements were identified as important: 20 barriers, 54 strengths\/opportunities, 31 recommendations, and 36 suggested topics for future research. Like statements were synthesized, resulting in barriers (n = 10), strengths\/opportunities (n = 24), and recommendations (n = 19), which were categorized as time, opportunities, and funding; education and mentorship; culture of research and collaboration; structure, process, and outcome of research; EMS and paramedic practice; and the future of the EMS Research Agenda. Consensus-based key messages from this agenda should be considered when designing, funding, and publishing EMS research and will advance EMS research locally, regionally, and nationally.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32582407,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"USING MACHINE LEARNING TO MITIGATE THE EFFECTS OF REVERBERATION AND NOISE IN COCHLEAR IMPLANTS.\nIn listening environments with room reverberation and background noise, cochlear implant (CI) users experience substantial difficulties in understanding speech. Because everyday environments have different combinations of reverberation and noise, there is a need to develop algorithms that can mitigate both effects to improve speech intelligibility. Desmond et al. (2014) developed a machine learning approach to mitigate the adverse effects of late reverberant reflections of speech signals by using a classifier to detect and remove affected segments in CI pulse trains. This study aimed to investigate the robustness of the reverberation mitigation algorithm in environments with both reverberation and noise. Sentence recognition tests were conducted in normal hearing listeners using vocoded speech with unmitigated and mitigated reverberant-only or noisy reverberant speech signals, across different reverberation times and noise types. Improvements in speech intelligibility were observed in mitigated reverberant-only conditions. However, mixed results were obtained in the mitigated noisy reverberant conditions as a reduction in speech intelligibility was observed for noise types whose spectra were similar to that of anechoic speech. Based on these results, the focus of future work is to develop a context-dependent approach that activates different mitigation strategies for different acoustic environments.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28581551,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Luminescence of tartrate bridged dinuclear 2,2'-bipyridine platinum(ii) complexes: emission color controlled by intra- and inter-molecular interactions in the solid state.\nNovel dinuclear PtII complexes with a chiral (l-) and an achiral (meso-) tartrate [{PtII(bpy)}2(\u03bc-x-tart)] (bpy: 2,2'-bipyridine; tartH22-: tartrate; x = l (1), meso (2)) and with a racemic (dl-) tartrate [{PtII(bpy)}2(\u03bc-d-tart)][{PtII(bpy)}2(\u03bc-l-tart)] (3) were synthesized, and the influence of their stereochemistry on their molecular and crystal structures affecting their luminescence was discussed. Effects of the dinuclearity on the structures and luminescence were revealed by comparison with those of a novel racemic mononuclear complex [PtII(bpy)(d-tartH2)][PtII(bpy)(l-tartH2)] (4). The X-ray crystallography showed the crystallization of 1 in two polymorphs, namely monoclinic 3[1\u00b76H2O] (1\u03b1) and triclinic 2[1\u00b76H2O] (1\u03b2), and those of other complexes in monoclinic hydrate crystals 2\u00b712.5H2O, 3\u00b74H2O, and 4\u00b7H2O. The chiral complexes in 1\u03b1, 1\u03b2, and 3\u00b74H2O showed clamshell-like structures with Pt-Pt and \u03c0-\u03c0 interactions, while the achiral complex in 2\u00b712.5H2O displayed a twisted form without intramolecular interactions. The complexes in 1\u03b1 were assembled in a right-handed helical arrangement through significant Pt-Pt interactions, and those in 1\u03b2 and 3\u00b74H2O were stacked in one-dimensional columns through significant and slight \u03c0-\u03c0 interactions, respectively. The complex in 2\u00b712.5H2O constructed an intermolecular dimer through Pt-Pt interactions with its adjacent complex. The crystal structure of 4\u00b7H2O displayed a three-dimensional network architecture through \u03c0-\u03c0 interactions and hydrogen bonding. These crystals exhibited luminescence depending on their molecular and crystal structures (\u03bbmax nm = 535 (4\u00b7H2O), 569 (3\u00b74H2O), 621 (2\u00b712.5H2O), 649 (1\u03b2), and 656 (1\u03b1)). The formations of intermolecular dimers and clamshell-like structures through Pt-Pt interactions in 2\u00b712.5H2O and in 3\u00b74H2O, respectively, lead to red-shifts in emissions compared to 4\u00b7H2O, and further low-energy emissions of 1\u03b1 and 1\u03b2 were derived from the intermolecular Pt-Pt and \u03c0-\u03c0 interactions, respectively.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22673518,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Knockdown of von Hippel-Lindau protein decreases lung cancer cell proliferation and colonization.\nAlthough von Hippel-Lindau protein (pVHL) is known as a tumor suppressor in kidney and other organs, it remains unclear whether pVHL plays a role in lung cancer development. We investigated the role of pVHL in lung cancer cell proliferation, migration, and colonization using stable A549 cells with knockdown of pVHL. We found that knockdown of pVHL promotes epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in lung cancer cells. Knockdown of pVHL decreased tumor colonization in a tail-vein injection model and decreased cell proliferation, whereas overexpression of constitutive active HIF increased tumor colonization, suggesting a HIF-independent function of pVHL in lung. Knockdown of pVHL decreased phosphorylation of FAK and expression of integrin, suggesting that pVHL regulates lung cancer development via integrin\/FAK signaling pathway.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37656723,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Suicide rates during and after the first COVID-19 lockdown in Germany in 2020.\nThe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and of measures implemented to curb the spread of the virus on suicidal behavior has been investigated in different regions of the world, but does not yet allow to draw conclusions for Germany. Especially lockdowns might have effects on suicide rates via impact on mental disorders, changes in the choice of suicide method, a decrease in help seeking behavior, or a deterioration in the quality of medical care for people with mental disorders. The following research questions were addressed: i) did suicide rates in Germany in 2020 change during lockdown and non-lockdown periods when compared to a ten-year baseline? ii) was there a change in the proportion of suicide methods during the lockdown compared to baseline? An interrupted time-series analysis based on a linear regression was used. For the comparisons of predicted and observed suicide rates, excess suicide mortality rates (ESMR) were chosen among others. Changes in the choice of method were analyzed by comparing the rates of different methods to those at baseline. Although the mean suicide rate in 2020 was not significantly different from baseline, the weekly analysis of suicide rates revealed a significant difference (\u03c72 = 64.16; df = 39; p = 0.007), with some weeks showing higher and others lower rates than previous years. The effects for separate weeks were attenuated to non-significance after correction for multiple testing. Suicide mortality during the first lockdown in 2020 was significantly lower than expected (ESMR = 0.933; 95% CI: 0.890; 0.985) whereas, in the post-lockdown period, the registered suicide mortality was not significantly different from the expected one (ESMR = 1.024; 95% CI: 0.997; 1.051). During lockdown, there was a significant increase of the percentage of the suicide method categories jumping and 'other methods' and a decrease of poisoning and lying in front of a moving object. Being able to determine whether the choice of more or less lethal methods during lockdown versus non-lockdown periods partly explains this finding would require a representative assessment of attempted suicides.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37467461,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Fabrication of Highly Luminescent Quasi Two-Dimensional CsPbBr3 Perovskite Films in High Humidity Air for Light-Emitting Diodes.\nPerovskite light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have attracted extensive attention in recent years due to their outstanding performance and promise in lighting and display applications. However, the fabrication of perovskite LEDs usually requires a low-humidity atmosphere, which is unfavorable for industrial production. Herein, we report an effective strategy to fabricate highly luminescent quasi two-dimensional CsPbBr3 perovskite films in an ambient atmosphere with a humidity up to 60%. We reveal that the hole transport layer (HTL) plays a significant role in the morphology and optical properties of the perovskite films. Using hydrophobic self-assembled monolayer materials as HTLs can remarkably improve the quality of the perovskite films processed in high humidity air. The resultant perovskite LEDs show reduced leakage current and significantly enhanced performance. Furthermore, surface treatment is conducted to prevent water invasion and promote radiative recombination in perovskite films and LEDs. Eventually, the perovskite LEDs exhibit bright green emission with an external quantum efficiency of 4.87%. The present work provides a feasible pathway to overcome the humidity limitation for obtaining bright perovskite films and LEDs, which would contribute to further reducing the fabrication cost of perovskite LEDs and promoting their applications.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15253811,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Ureteropelvic junction obstruction: does CT angiography allow better selection of therapeutic modalities and better patient outcome?\nTo determine whether preoperative helical CT angiography (CTA) with three-dimensional (3D) reconstructed images improves outcome in patients with ureteropelvic junction obstruction (UPJO) by identifying crossing vessels that may lead to surgical failure. Twenty-five patients with UPJO underwent imaging with CTA to identify crossing vessels. Patients with crossing vessels or severe hydronephrosis underwent laparoscopic dismembered pyeloplasty. In the absence of crossing vessels, and with >25% renal function on MAG-3 scan, the patient underwent an endopyelotomy. Procedures were assessed as successful by resolution of patient symptoms as well as relief of obstruction on renal scintography. Twenty-seven procedures (14 laparoscopic dismembered pyeloplasties [9 in the setting of a crossing vessel], 11 ureteroscopic endopyelotomies, and two antegrade endopyelotomy procedures) were performed. Follow-up ranged from 2.4 to 40 months (mean 21.6 months). Twenty-three of the primary procedures (92.0%) were successful. Primary laparoscopic pyeloplasty was successful in 100% of patients, while primary endopyelotomy had a success rate of 83.3%. Both secondary procedures were successful rendering the patients unobstructed and pain free. No complications occurred. The sensitivity and specificity of CTA in determining crossing vessels was 78% and 40%, respectively. Helical CT angiography with 3D reconstructed images provides valuable preoperative information in patients with UPJO scheduled for surgical intervention. This study may be used in selecting patients for proper operative intervention according to the anatomy of crossing vessels to attain high treatment success rates.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28347257,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Antipsychotic treatment of schizotypy and schizotypal personality disorder: a systematic review.\nSchizotypal personality disorder (SPD) is characterised by thought disorders, experiences of illusions, obsessive ruminations, bizarre or eccentric behaviour, cognitive problems and deficits in social functioning - symptoms that SPD shares with schizophrenia. Efforts have been undertaken to investigate the relationship between these conditions regarding genetics, pathophysiology, and phenomenology. However, treatment of SPD with antipsychotics has received less scientific attention. Embase and PubMed databases were searched using all known generic names of antipsychotics as search terms in combination with the following diagnostic terms: latent schizophrenia, schizotypal disorder, latent type schizophrenia, or SPD. Studies were categorised according to evidence level on the basis of their methodology from A, being the best, to E, being the worst. Five hundred and nine studies were retrieved and scrutinised. Sixteen studies, from the period 1972 to 2012, on antipsychotic treatment of SPD were extracted. Four studies were categorised as evidence level A, two as level B, six as level C and three as level D, with one study level E. Only four randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials, on subjects with well-defined diagnoses, exists. Only amisulpride, risperidone and thiothixene have been studied according to evidence level A. This result warrants further high quality studies of the effects of antipsychotic treatment of SPD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21140691,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Role of early thoracoscopy for management of penetrating wounds of the chest.\nMost nonlife-threatening penetrating wounds of the chest (PWC) are treated with a chest tube alone. This may be inadequate because missed injuries, retained hemothorax, or foreign material may be difficult to address later. Early thoracoscopy should improve outcome. We conducted a retrospective review of 88 stable patients with PWC initially treated with a chest tube and had retained a hemothorax beyond 48 hours. Twenty-seven underwent an early video-assisted thoracoscopy (VATS). Fifty-five were observed, chest tubes were manipulated, or an additional one placed. The outcome was compared with the National Trauma Data Bank and controlled for Injury Severity Score. Early VATS reduced length of stay (4.3 vs 9.4 days), days in the intensive care unit (1.3 vs 3.2), and open thoracotomy (0 vs 7). A chest tube undertreats a nonlife-threatening PWC correctable by timely VATs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16996722,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Association study between the dopamine receptor D(4) gene and obsessive-compulsive disorder.\nPharmacological and neuroanatomical evidence suggest the involvement of the dopaminergic system in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Analysis of the 48-bp dopamine receptor D(4) (DRD4) gene polymorphism in a sample of 210 OCD patients and 202 healthy control subjects showed a significant association (chi(2)=27.5, df=6, p=0.0003). This difference was attributable to a lower frequency of allele 4R in OCD patients compared with the control group (chi(2)=9.33, p=0.0027). However, we did not replicate previous findings of an association between the 7R allele and OCD patients with tics. Finally, we analyzed a sub-sample of 86 OCD families. E-TDT analysis in 70 informative parents did not confirm the association observed in our case-control analysis. In conclusion, the current study cannot exclude an association between DRD4 gene and OCD in the largest sample analyzed. However, further studies will be required to confirm if the DRD4 gene is involved in the pathogenesis of this disorder.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20376215,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A Stability-Indicating RP-HPLC Assay Method for 5-Fluorouracil.\nThe present study describes the development of a validated RP-HPLC method for the determination of 5-fluorouracil in presence of its degradation products or other pharmaceutical excipients. Stress studies were performed on 5-fluorouracil and it was found that it degrades sufficiently in alkaline conditions, while negligible degradation was observed in acidic, neutral, oxidative and photolytic conditions. The peaks of the degradation products were not observed in the chromatogram due to the nonchromophoric nature of the degradation moiety formed. The separations were carried out on a C-18 reversed phase column (Phenomenex; Prodigy ODS3V, 250x4.6 mm, 5 mu) using 50mM KH(2)PO(4) (pH, 5.0) as mobile phase at a flow rate of 1.2 ml\/min and temperature of 30 degrees . The wavelength of detection was 254 nm. A retention time of nearly 6 minutes was obtained. Analytical validation parameters such as specificity and selectivity, linearity, accuracy and precision were evaluated. The calibration curve for 5-fluorouracil was linear (r(2)=0.999+\/-0.0005) from range of 10 mug\/ml to 100 mug\/ml. Relative standard deviation values for all the key parameters, was less than 2.0 %. The recovery of the drug after standard addition to the degraded sample was found to be 104.69%. Thus, the developed RP-HPLC method was found to be suitable for the determination of 5-fluorouracil in bulk as well as stability samples of the pharmaceutical dosage forms containing various excipients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16220645,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Being a supportive presence in online courses: attending to students' online presence with each other.\nAs a teacher involved in distance education, being a supportive presence includes attending to and facilitating students' knowing and connecting with other. This creates places for learning that are safe, fair, and respectful, which reflects the concerns of the interpretive pedagogies (Diekelmann & Diekelmann, in press). Reflecting a larger issue is the importance of contemporary nurses' knowing and connecting with other team members, and with patients, online in ways that engender community and achieve desired outcomes. With this in mind, attending to the Concernful Practices that enable students to know and connect in ways other than face-to-face encounters becomes even more relevant in preparing for today's practice environments.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28267418,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"MicroRNA-125b-5p mediates post-transcriptional regulation of hepatitis B virus replication via the LIN28B\/let-7 axis.\nMicroRNAs (miRNAs) are able to modulate hepatitis B virus (HBV) replication and play an important role in the pathogenesis of HBV infection. Recently, we have identified that serum miR-125b-5p levels correlated with HBV DNA levels and liver necroinflammation. In the present study, we addressed how miR-125b-5p regulated HBV replication at the different steps, inclduing viral transcription, assembly, and virion production and investigated the underlying mechanisms. We found that miR-125b-5p overexpression increased HBV replication without altering HBV transcription. This is the first demonstration of post-transcriptional miRNA regulation of HBV replication. In contrast, transfection of miR-125b-5p inhibitor resulted in downregulation of HBV replication in hepatoma cells. Further, miR-125b-5p inhibited the phosphorylation of retinoblastoma protein and blocked cell cycle progression at the G1\/S phase in hepatoma cell lines. Our results indicate that certain miRNAs are able to arrest the cell cycle at G1 phase and may increase HBV replication. RNA sequencing revealed several liver-specific metabolic pathways regulated by miR-125b-5p, which was also found to suppress LIN28B and induce let-7 family members. Additional data demonstrated that miR-125b-5p targeted the LIN28B\/let-7 axis to stimulate HBV replication at a post-transcriptional step.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27472070,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Characterization of a new toxin from the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae: the ribotoxin anisoplin.\nMetarhizium anisopliae is an entomopathogenic fungus relevant in biotechnology with applications like malaria vector control. Studies of its virulence factors are therefore of great interest. Fungal ribotoxins are toxic ribonucleases with extraordinary efficiency against ribosomes and suggested as potential insecticides. Here we describe this ribotoxin characteristic activity in M. anisopliae cultures. Anisoplin has been obtained as a recombinant protein and further characterized. It is structurally similar to hirsutellin A, the ribotoxin from the entomopathogen Hirsutella thompsonii. Moreover, anisoplin shows the ribonucleolytic activity typical of ribotoxins and cytotoxicity against insect cells. How Metarhizium uses this toxin and possible applications are of interest.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26440663,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The N-silylation of sulfoximines.\nThe copper-catalyzed N-silylation of sulfoximines was achieved in the presence of di-tert-butyl peroxide. Notably, alkyl, phenyl and alkoxyl silanes were all suitable reaction partners. Mechanistic studies revealed that N-silyl acetamide serves as the intermediate.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29387397,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Impact of the histological phenotype of extrahepatic bile duct carcinoma.\nThe classification of histological phenotypes was originally conceived for pancreatic intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms. Recently, it has been introduced for extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. The aim of the present study was to clarify the associations between histological phenotype and clinicopathological features of extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, using 99 cases of surgically-resected extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. All cases were divided into one of two histological phenotypes: Biliary-type (BT; 56 cases, 56.6%) or metaplastic-type (MT; 43 cases, 43.4%). The clinicopathological features were compared between these two phenotypes. BT tumors exhibited significantly poorer differentiation, more frequent lymph node metastasis (BT vs. MT, 42.9 vs. 30.2%; P=0.042), more severe venous invasion (v2-3: BT vs. MT, 64.3 vs. 23.3%; P<0.001), and more severe perineural invasion (ne2-3: BT vs. MT, 78.6 vs. 48.8%, P=0.002). Furthermore, the overall (P=0.015) and disease-free (P=0.003) survival times were significantly decreased in patients with BT vs. MT tumors. In conclusion, extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma with a BT phenotype has greater malignant potential, and may be an important predictive factor for poor prognosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28726704,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Simultaneous heterotrophic nitrification and aerobic denitrification at high concentrations of NaCl and ammonia nitrogen by Halomonas bacteria.\nTo improve the efficiency of simultaneous heterotrophic nitrification and aerobic denitrification (SND) at high concentrations of NaCl and ammonia nitrogen (NH4+-N), we investigated the SND characteristics of Halomonas bacteria with the ability to synthesize the compatible solute ectoine. Halomonas sp. strain B01, which was isolated, screened and identified in this study, could simultaneously remove nitrogen (N) by SND and synthesize ectoine under high NaCl conditions. Gene cloning and sequencing analysis indicated that this bacterial genome contains ammonia monooxygenase (amoA) and nitrate reductase (narH) genes. Optimal conditions for N removal in a solution containing 600 mg\/L NH4+-N were as follows: sodium succinate supplied as organic carbon (C) source at a C\/N ratio of 5, pH 8 and shaking culture at 90 rpm. The N removal rate was 96.0% under these conditions. The SND by Halomonas sp. strain B01 was performed in N removal medium containing 60 g\/L NaCl and 4,000 mg\/L NH4+-N; after 180 h the residual total inorganic N concentration was 21.7 mg\/L and the N removal rate was 99.2%. Halomonas sp. strain B01, with the ability to synthesize the compatible solute ectoine, could simultaneously tolerate high concentrations of NaCl and NH4+-N and efficiently perform N removal by SND.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19037329,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Measuring overcast colors with all-sky imaging.\nDigital images of overcast skies as seen from the earth's surface open new windows onto the angular details of overcast colors and visible-wavelength spectra. After calibration with a spectroradiometer, a commercial CCD camera equipped with a fisheye lens can produce colorimetrically accurate all-sky maps of overcast spectra. Histograms and azimuthally averaged curves of the resulting chromaticities show consistent, but unexpected, patterns in time-averaged overcast colors. Although widely used models such as LOWTRAN7 and MODTRAN4 cannot explain these characteristic patterns, a simple semiempirical model based on the radiative transfer equation does, and it provides insights into the visible consequences of absorption and scattering both within and beneath overcasts.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34410095,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Adolescent Health: Media Use.\nDigital media use has increased rapidly during the past two decades, and media use is now a major issue in adolescent development. Online connections and communities can help foster healthy identity development and provide needed peer support, particularly for adolescents from historically marginalized communities. Online harassment, or cyberbullying, is a common phenomenon. Media use can interfere with sleep hygiene and quality, and screen-based sedentary behaviors have been associated with decreased physical activity, decreased aerobic fitness, and increased adiposity among adolescents. The literature on media use and adolescent mental health still is evolving. Some research suggests a U-shaped association between these two factors, with high and low levels of internet use associated with depression. Social media use may amplify peer pressure to engage in sexual behavior, provide exposure to a greater network of individuals with sexual experience, and increase the risk of sexual behaviors. Counseling adolescent patients about safe and healthy media use is essential. Conversations with patients and their families about media use should begin before adolescence and continue through adolescence in the context of routine preventive care. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends creation and implementation of a Family Media Use Plan.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17875625,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Smoking cessation delivered by medical students is helpful to homeless population.\nThe authors pilot a smoking-cessation outreach for the homeless that extends medical students' tobacco cessation education. In this prospective study, second-year medical students administered cognitive behavior therapy or unstructured support to homeless subjects to help them quit smoking. Self-report and biological measures (carbon monoxide) of smoking taken at baseline and follow-up were analyzed using t tests to determine intervention efficacy. Out of 11 enrolled subjects, six completed the protocol and all decreased their smoking frequency. The mean rate of smoking dropped significantly from 19 to nine cigarettes per day when pooling all subjects, and carbon monoxide mean level decreased from 28.0 to 20.2. The homeless subjects who received counseling from medical students significantly reduced their smoking frequency. Subject recruitment and retention were challenges, but a close partnership with local homeless shelters and the addition of pharmacotherapy could improve outcomes and are recommended for future efforts.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22814249,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A proteomics study of auxin effects in Arabidopsis thaliana.\nMany phytohormones regulate plant growth and development through modulating protein degradation. In this study, a proteome study based on multidimensional non-gel shotgun approach was performed to analyze the auxin-induced protein degradation via ubiquitin-proteasome pathway of Arabidopsis thaliana, with the emphasis to study the overall protein changes after auxin treatment (1 nM or 1 \u00b5M indole-3-acetic acid for 6, 12, or 24 h). More than a thousand proteins were detected by using label-free shotgun method, and 386 increased proteins and 370 decreased ones were identified after indole-3-acetic acid treatment. By using the auxin receptor-deficient mutant, tir1-1, as control, comparative analysis revealed that 69 and 79 proteins were significantly decreased and increased, respectively. Detailed analysis showed that among the altered proteins, some were previously reported to be associated with auxin regulation and others are potentially involved in mediating the auxin effects on specific cellular and physiological processes by regulating photosynthesis, chloroplast development, cytoskeleton, and intracellular signaling. Our results demonstrated that label-free shotgun proteomics is a powerful tool for large-scale protein identification and the analysis of the proteomic profiling of auxin-regulated biological processes will provide informative clues of underlying mechanisms of auxin effects. These results will help to expand the understanding of how auxin regulates plant growth and development via protein degradation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25422826,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Three-year results from a randomised controlled trial comparing prostheses supported by 5-mm long implants or by longer implants in augmented bone in posterior atrophic edentulous jaws.\nTo evaluate whether 5-mm short dental implants could be an alternative to augmentation with anorganic bovine bone and placement of at least 10-mm long implants in posterior atrophic jaws. Fifteen patients with bilateral atrophic mandibles (5 mm to 7 mm bone height above the mandibular canal) and 15 patients with bilateral atrophic maxillae (4 mm to 6 mm bone height below the maxillary sinus), and bone thickness of at least 8 mm, were randomised according to a split-mouth design to receive one to three 5-mm short implants or at least 10-mm long implants in augmented bone. Mandibles were vertically augmented with interpositional bone blocks and maxillary sinuses with particulated bone via a lateral window. Implants were placed after 4 months, submerged and loaded, after another 4 months, with provisional prostheses. Four months later, definitive provisionally cemented prostheses were delivered. Outcome measures were: prosthesis and implant failures; any complication and peri-implant marginal bone level changes. In five augmented mandibles, the planned 10-mm long implants could not be placed and shorter implants (7 mm and 8.5 mm) had to be used instead. Three years after loading, two patients, one treated in the mandible and one in the maxilla, dropped out. Three prostheses (1 mandibular and 2 maxillary) failed in the short implant group versus none in the long implant group. In mandibles, one long implant failed versus two short implants in 1 patient. In maxillae, one long implant failed versus three short implants in 2 patients. There were no statistically significant differences in the failures. Eight patients had 13 complications at short implants (1 patient accounted for 6 complications) and 11 patients had 13 complications at long implants. There were no statistically significant differences in complications (P = 0.63, difference = 0.10, 95% CI from -0.22 to 0.42). Three years after loading, patients with mandibular implants lost on average 1.44 mm at short implants and 1.63 mm at long implants of peri-implant marginal bone. This difference was not statistically significant (difference = 0.24 mm; 95% CI -0.01, 0.49 P = 0.059). In maxillae, patients lost on average 1.02 mm at short implants and 1.54 mm at long implants. This difference was statistically significant (difference = 0.41 mm; 95% CI 0.21, 0.60, P = 0.001). Three years after loading, 5-mm short implants achieved similar results as longer implants in augmented bone. Short implants might be a preferable choice to vertical bone augmentation, especially in mandibles, since the treatment is faster and cheaper, however there are still insufficient data on the long-term prognosis of short implants.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34408182,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1}}},"text":"DNA damage in circulating leukocytes measured with the comet assay may predict the risk of death.\nThe comet assay or single cell gel electrophoresis, is the most common method used to measure strand breaks and a variety of other DNA lesions in human populations. To estimate the risk of overall mortality, mortality by cause, and cancer incidence associated to DNA damage, a cohort of 2,403 healthy individuals (25,978 person-years) screened in 16 laboratories using the comet assay between 1996 and 2016 was followed-up. Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated a worse overall survival in the medium and high tertile of DNA damage (p < 0.001). The effect of DNA damage on survival was modelled according to Cox proportional hazard regression model. The adjusted hazard ratio (HR) was 1.42 (1.06-1.90) for overall mortality, and 1.94 (1.04-3.59) for diseases of the circulatory system in subjects with the highest tertile of DNA damage. The findings of this study provide epidemiological evidence encouraging the implementation of the comet assay in preventive strategies for non-communicable diseases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32352997,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Growth and health of juvenile barramundi (Lates calcarifer) challenged with DO hypoxia after feeding various inclusions of germinated, fermented and untreated peanut meals.\nPeanut (Arachis hypogaea) is mainly grown for oil extraction and the remaining oil-free seed referred as peanut meal (PM) leaves with high protein content which can be a possible substitute for fishmeal in aqua-diets. This study evaluates the suitability of three types of processed peanut seeds, namely untreated PM (UPM), fermented PM (FPM), and germinated PM (GPM) from peanut seeds to replace fishmeal in barramundi (Lates calcarifer) diets cultured under a commercial production environment. Nine formulated diets having 3 inclusion levels from the 3 different peanuts (15%, 30% and 60% fishmeal replacement) were evaluated against a control without PM. The performance of various types and levels of PMs was assessed by examining the growth, gut and liver condition and survival of fish after eight weeks of feeding the test diets. The immunological responses of juvenile barramundi were assessed by exposing the fish to the hypoxic conditions for 4 hours. The results showed that fermentation and germination significantly (P<0.05) reduced the tannins and alkaloid contents in the PMs. The fish fed 15% GPM diet grew faster and had higher survival than fish fed control diet, while fish fed diet including 60% GPM showed a significant reduction in growth and survival, and an increase in food conversion rate (FCR). FPM and UPM at any inclusion levels did not alter the growth, survival and FCR. Histology analysis revealed that fish fed 60% GPM and UPM showed higher amount of lipid droplets in liver, myodigeneration in fish muscle and a decrease number of acidic mucins in distal gut compare to all other test diets. Stress caused by reduced dissolved oxygen did not change the sodium, potassium, chlorides and alanine aminotransferase concentrations of plasma of fish fed any diet. However, the stress did increase plasma cortisol significantly (P<0.05) in fish fed 60% GPM, 30% and 60% UPM diets. These results suggest that the PMs can partly replace the fishmeal in juvenile barramundi diet and the processing further improves the PMs quality by reducing its antinutritional factors which in turn can increase either its inclusion level in the barramundi diets or improved growth and health status of the species.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30654758,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Host microRNA analysis in cyprinid Herpesvirus-3 (CyHV-3) infected common carp.\nThe mechanism of latency and the ability of the cyprinid herpesvirus 3 (CyHV-3) to establish life-long infections in carp remains poorly understood. To explain the role of miRNAs in this process we applied a range of molecular tools including high-throughput sequencing of RNA libraries constructed from the blood samples of infected fish followed by bioinformatic and functional analyses which show that CyHV-3 profoundly influences the expression of host miRNAs in vivo. We demonstrated the changed expression of 27 miRNAs in the clinical phase and 5 in the latent phase of infection. We also identified 23 novel, not previously reported sequences, from which 8 showed altered expressions in control phase, 10 in clinical phase and 5 in latent phase of infection. The results of our analysis expand the knowledge of common carp microRNAs engaged during CyHV-3 infection and provide a useful basis for the further study of the mechanism of CyHV-3 induced pathology.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14560701,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Estrogen receptors in the brain].\nEstrogen plays an important role in changes taking place in the brain through the regulation of growth and differentiation of axons and dendrites, influence on plasticity, support of survival as well cognitive and behavioral functions. The classical mode of estrogen action is through the activation of its receptors, transcription factors. Two such estrogen receptors have been cloned, ER alpha i ER beta. Several isoforms of ER beta have also been characterized, which may be a significant factor in the regulation of estrogen response in the brain. Additionally, actions of estrogens through membrane or intra-cellular receptors, are suggested. The functions played by ER alpha i ER beta in the brain may be explored by studies on ER alpha or ER beta knockout mice. The results of these studies point to the role of ER alpha in reproductive functions, while ER beta seems to be important in cognitive processes. Autoradiography, immunohistochemistry, and in situ hybridization have been employed in the localization of estrogen receptors in the brain. Aside from demonstrating differences in the localization and expression levels of both receptors, these studies have proven, that both ER alpha i ER beta are able to bind estrogen. However, the pattern of expression of estrogen receptors in the brain is not static, but undergoes rapid changes in response to injury. Many studies point to a wide range of estrogen actions in the brain. For that reason, a complementary mechanism of action of estrogen is proposed, based on their interaction with various growth factors, as well as on the synergistic action of this hormone through, both, the estrogen receptors and estrogen-independent pathways.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9562524,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The beta-hexosaminidase deficiency disorders: development of a clinical paradigm in the mouse.\nTay-Sachs disease and Sandhoff disease are severe neurodegenerative disorders caused by a deficiency of beta-hexosaminidase A and resultant accumulation of its substrate, GM2 ganglioside, in neuronal lysosomes. The three clinical forms of the disorders (infantile, juvenile and adult) are of varying severity and onset, and have been correlated with the amount of residual GM2 ganglioside-degrading activity present in patients' cells. Through targeted disruption of the murine beta-hexosaminidase genes in embryonic stem cells, we have developed a set of mice that vary in their GM2 ganglioside-degrading capacity and exhibit many of the clinical features of the human diseases. These mice are valuable for the study of pathogenic mechanisms and for devising novel therapeutic strategies in these disorders.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6746690,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The management of equinus deformity in Duchenne muscular dystrophy.\nEquinus deformity of the ankle is one of the serious orthopaedic problems associated with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Sixty-nine patients (age range 4 to 17 years) were treated, 43 conservatively and 26 operatively. They were followed up at six-monthly intervals for a minimum of two years and a maximum of six years. The patients were divided into three groups: independently mobile, mobile in calipers, and wheelchair-bound. It was found that conservative treatment could at best only minimise progression of the deformity. The indications for surgery, the operative procedure and the postoperative management are described; all varied according to the stage of the disease. The postoperative follow-up suggests that, though the deformity recurs, the patients have several years of benefit from the procedure.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23868737,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Increase in antinociceptive effect of [leu5]enkephalin after intrathecal administration of mixture of three peptidase inhibitors.\nPrevious in vitro studies have shown that the degradation of [Leu5]enkephalin during incubation with cerebral membrane preparations is almost completely prevented by a mixture of three peptidase inhibitors such as amastatin, captopril, and phosphoramidon. The present in vivo study was performed to examine the antinociceptive effect of [Leu5]enkephalin administered intrathecally under pretreatment with these three peptidase inhibitors. A tail-flick test was used to determine the nociceptive threshold after administration of [Leu5]enkephalin. The time-course profiles of the latency to flick the tail and the area under the time response curve were evaluated for the antinociceptive action of the drug. The antinociceptive effect of [Leu5]enkephalin administered intrathecally on the tail-flick test was increased more than 100-fold under i.t. pretreatment with three peptidase inhibitors. The antinociceptive effect produced by [Leu5]enkephalin in rats pretreated with any single peptidase inhibitor increased antinociception compared to that with saline. The antinociceptive potency of [Leu5]enkephalin under pretreatment with any combination of two peptidase inhibitors was smaller than that in rats pretreated with three peptidase inhibitors together. These results indicate that any residual single peptidase inactivates significant amounts of [Leu5]enkephalin. The present data, together with those of earlier studies, clearly demonstrate that amastatin-, captopril-, and phosphoramidon-sensitive enzymes play an important role in the inactivation of [Leu5]enkephalin administered intrathecally in rat.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22679049,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The dilemma of an incidental preoperative electrocardiogram showing a Brugada phenotype.\nA Brugada pattern on routine electrocardiography is one of several features that can indicate the potential for life threatening rhythm disturbances. The authors describe such a scenario in an asymptomatic 38-year-old woman who required significant surgery under anaesthesia. The diagnosis and possible management routes are outlined with an emphasis on the incumbent psychosocial and familial issues that are encountered. The patient underwent her surgery and was then further investigated to 'prove' the diagnosis. Ultimately, the patient declined further investigations and interventions. This case highlights the dilemma faced by anaesthetists and clinicians, not to mention the patients and their family when a Brugada phenotype is identified on a routine ECG. Clinicians should seek an expert opinion but ultimately, as in this case, the patient should be positioned to make an informed decision on what route to follow.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22690767,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Leadership through an occupational lens: celebrating our territory.\nThis paper addresses key qualities of leadership and describes leadership through an occupational lens. It aims to encourage individuals to identify themselves as leaders wherever they are positioned within organisations or in their professional lives. Leadership vignettes are used to highlight and celebrate how occupational therapy philosophies, as well as our theoretical and practical knowledge assisted these leaders in their current and emerging leadership roles. A number of issues that are affecting us as global citizens, including natural disasters and humanitarian crises in third world contexts are highlighted. The potential for our profession to take a leadership role in these issues is proposed. Finally, there is a call to action for all occupational therapists whatever their professional roles, recommending that all members of the profession embrace leadership opportunities no matter how big or small. In so doing it is argued that leadership will be recognised and celebrated as being very much part of our profession's territory.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25517469,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Human ESC-derived dopamine neurons show similar preclinical efficacy and potency to fetal neurons when grafted in a rat model of Parkinson's disease.\nConsiderable progress has been made in generating fully functional and transplantable dopamine neurons from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). Before these cells can be used for cell replacement therapy in Parkinson's disease (PD), it is important to verify their functional properties and efficacy in animal models. Here we provide a comprehensive preclinical assessment of hESC-derived midbrain dopamine neurons in a rat model of PD. We show long-term survival and functionality using clinically relevant MRI and PET imaging techniques and demonstrate efficacy in restoration of motor function with a potency comparable to that seen with human fetal dopamine neurons. Furthermore, we show that hESC-derived dopamine neurons can project sufficiently long distances for use in humans, fully regenerate midbrain-to-forebrain projections, and innervate correct target structures. This provides strong preclinical support for clinical translation of hESC-derived dopamine neurons using approaches similar to those established with fetal cells for the treatment of Parkinson's disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":277446,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Association between children's dental behavior and play behavior.\nThe results of this study showed that clinical distinctions can be made regarding the behavior of children in the dental setting and that these distinctions are reflected in the behavior of these children in an easily-arranged play situation. The existence of such associations of behavior presents the possibility that play behavior may be a reliable predictor of maladaptive dental behavior. If so, the incorporation of a play dental area into a dental office would be an inexpensive and convenient method of intercepting potential problem dental patients. If the results of this study can be replicated, they would support the initiation of a study to predict the behavior of children in the dental setting by means of easily scorable aspects of their play behavior in a simulated dental environment. Special management considerations could then be made to prevent disruptive behavior at subsequent appointments. The results also point up the tendency of problem patients to avoid certain aspects of the play dental experience. This suggests a possible treatment potential for the dental play area, using it as an instrument to desensitize appropriate patients to those aspects of dental treatment which distress them, and thereby reduce their anxieties, prior to actual dental treatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37446523,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Direct Optical Patterning of Quantum Dots: One Strategy, Different Chemical Processes.\nPatterning, stability, and dispersion of the semiconductor quantum dots (scQDs) are three issues strictly interconnected for successful device manufacturing. Recently, several authors adopted direct optical patterning (DOP) as a step forward in photolithography to position the scQDs in a selected area. However, the chemistry behind the stability, dispersion, and patterning has to be carefully integrated to obtain a functional commercial device. This review describes different chemical strategies suitable to stabilize the scQDs both at a single level and as an ensemble. Special attention is paid to those strategies compatible with direct optical patterning (DOP). With the same purpose, the scQDs' dispersion in a matrix was described in terms of the scQD surface ligands' interactions with the matrix itself. The chemical processes behind the DOP are illustrated and discussed for five different approaches, all together considering stability, dispersion, and the patterning itself of the scQDs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":33726870,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Real Experience and Management Strategies Analysis of Chinese Nurses Aiding COVID-19 Epidemic: A Qualitative Study.\nEmergent public health events, such as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), have been the focus of attention of researchers at home and abroad. In China, nurses are an important group contributing to the prevention and control of the COVID-19 pneumonia epidemic. Using semi-structured interviews, qualitative interviews were conducted with 23 nurses who supported the novel coronavirus pneumonia epidemic, and the data were collated and analyzed using Colaizzi analysis. The work experience of Chinese nurses can be summarized into 4 major themes: they had different emotional experiences during aiding periods, aiding work had a double impact on the nurses, there were certain difficulties in aiding work, and there were significant age differences in aiding work experience. It is necessary to strengthen the psychological construction of nurses. All hospitals must coordinate and manage various safety tasks, and ensure the precise, scientific, and streamlined deployment of rescue work. Humanized management, shift adjustment, performance allocation weight, and organizational care are also the top priorities of human resource management.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32617176,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Engineering immunomodulatory biomaterials for type 1 diabetes.\nA cure for type 1 diabetes (T1D) would help millions of people worldwide, but remains elusive thus far. Tolerogenic vaccines and beta cell replacement therapy are complementary therapies that seek to address aberrant T1D autoimmune attack and subsequent beta cell loss. However, both approaches require some form of systematic immunosuppression, imparting risks to the patient. Biomaterials-based tools enable localized and targeted immunomodulation, and biomaterial properties can be designed and combined with immunomodulatory agents to locally instruct specific immune responses. In this Review, we discuss immunomodulatory biomaterial platforms for the development of T1D tolerogenic vaccines and beta cell replacement devices. We investigate nano- and microparticles for the delivery of tolerogenic agents and autoantigens, and as artificial antigen presenting cells, and highlight how bulk biomaterials can be used to provide immune tolerance. We examine biomaterials for drug delivery and as immunoisolation devices for cell therapy and islet transplantation, and explore synergies with other fields for the development of new T1D treatment strategies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12001033,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Selected metabolic and morphologic complications associated with highly active antiretroviral therapy.\nMetabolic and morphologic changes have been described in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. In the short term, these disorders can be debilitating and may require medical intervention, including alterations in antiretroviral therapy regimens. The long-term consequences have not been fully realized, but are important, particularly in the era of durable HIV disease management with highly active antiretroviral therapy. This review focuses on 3 of the important morphologic or metabolic changes, namely alterations in body fat distribution, dyslipidemia, and lactic acidosis. The prevalence of each of these disorders remains unknown due to varied definitions and difficulty in recognition of the conditions for both the patient and the clinician. Treatment regimens directed at these abnormalities are being developed, but clinical trials are needed to fully ascertain the efficacy and safety of such interventions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":10210700,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Testing their metal.\nMetals continually rank at the top of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's annual list of agents that pose the greatest hazard to the people of the United States. Metals aren't going away, either. They do not biodegrade, and they often concentrate in human and animal cells and tissue. Many metals are known human and animal carcinogens, while many others are suspected to play a role in cancer. Little is known, however, about the mechanisms by which metals cause cancer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24387431,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Extreme ultra-violet movie camera for imaging microsecond time scale magnetic reconnection.\nAn ultra-fast extreme ultra-violet (EUV) movie camera has been developed for imaging magnetic reconnection in the Caltech spheromak\/astrophysical jet experiment. The camera consists of a broadband Mo:Si multilayer mirror, a fast decaying YAG:Ce scintillator, a visible light block, and a high-speed visible light CCD camera. The camera can capture EUV images as fast as 3.3 \u00d7 10(6) frames per second with 0.5 cm spatial resolution. The spectral range is from 20 eV to 60 eV. EUV images reveal strong, transient, highly localized bursts of EUV radiation when magnetic reconnection occurs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23448085,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Laboratory evaluation of extrinsic stain removal by a specially engineered sonic powered toothbrush with unique sensing and control technologies.\nThe purpose of this laboratory study was to evaluate extrinsic stain removal from teeth by a specially engineered sonic powered toothbrush with unique sensing and control technologies, using the Triple Clean and the Sensitive refill brush heads, in comparison to a manual flat-trim toothbrush. Twelve (12) artificially stained bovine teeth were tested with each product. The percentage of stain removed by each product was calculated by taking the ratio of the amount of stain removed by brushing for 800 strokes to the total amount of stain removed by subsequent application of a dental prophylaxis. The stain was quantified by measuring the light reflected by the stained teeth with a spectrophotometer. Data were reported as L*, lightness of the stain, and as W*, a whiteness index comprising the lightness, hue, and chroma of reflected light. Statistical analyses were performed separately for the AL* and AW* scores. Comparisons of the toothbrushes with respect to baseline-adjusted deltaL* and deltaW* scores were performed using an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). Post-ANCOVA pair-wise comparisons of the study toothbrushes were performed using Tukey's test for multiple comparisons. All statistical tests of hypotheses were two-sided, and employed a minimum level of significance of 0.05. The percentage of stain removed by the sonic powered toothbrush, using either the Triple Clean brush head or the Sensitive brush head under laboratory test conditions, is superior (p < 0.05) to the percentage of stain removed by the manual flat-trim toothbrush when analyzed for both the deltaL* and deltaW* scores. The mean percentage of stain removed was 62.10 for the power toothbrush with the Triple Clean brush head, 49.01 for the power toothbrush with the Sensitive brush head, and 30.56 for the manual flat-trim toothbrush when calculated using deltaL* scores. The mean percentage of stain removed was 59.89 for the power toothbrush with the Triple Clean brush head, 46.83 for the power toothbrush with the Sensitive brush head, and 29.25 for the manual flat-trim toothbrush when calculated using deltaW* scores. This new specially engineered sonic powered toothbrush with unique sensing and control technologies effectively removes extrinsic stains from the surface of teeth under laboratory test conditions with both the Triple Clean and the Sensitive brush heads. The effectiveness of stain removal with either brush head is significantly greater than the effectiveness of stain removal of a manual flat-trim toothbrush under these conditions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15245050,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Lattice theory for low energy fermions at nonzero chemical potential.\nWe construct a lattice theory describing a system of interacting nonrelativistic spin s=1\/2 fermions at nonzero chemical potential. The theory is applicable whenever the interparticle separation is large compared to the range of the two-body potential and does not suffer from a sign problem. In particular, the theory could be useful in studying the thermodynamic limit of fermion systems for which the scattering length is much larger than the interparticle spacing, with applications to realistic atomic systems and dilute neutron gases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":33727108,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-26":1,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Fruit-Induced Anaphylaxis: Clinical Presentation and Management.\nData are sparse regarding the clinical characteristics and management of fruit-induced anaphylaxis. To assess clinical characteristics and management of patients with fruit-induced anaphylaxis and determine factors associated with severe reactions and epinephrine use. Over 9 years, children and adults presenting with anaphylaxis to seven emergency departments in four Canadian provinces and patients requiring emergency medical services in Outaouais, Quebec were recruited as part of the Cross-Canada Anaphylaxis Registry. A standardized form documenting symptoms, triggers, and management was collected. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with severe reactions and epinephrine treatment in the pre-hospital setting. We recruited 250 patients with fruit-induced anaphylaxis, median age 10.2 years (interquartile range, 3.6-23.4 years); 48.8% were male. The most common fruit triggers were kiwi (15.6%), banana (10.8%), and mango (9.2%). Twenty-three patients reported having eczema (9.3%). Epinephrine use was low in both the pre-hospital setting and the emergency department (28.4% and 40.8%, respectively). Severe reactions to fruit were more likely to occur in spring and among those with eczema (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.12, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03-1.23; and 1.17, 95% CI, 1.03-1.34, respectively). Patients with moderate and severe reactions (aOR = 1.23; 95% CI, 1.06-1.43) and those with a known food allergy (aOR = 1.38; 95% CI, 1.24-1.54) were more likely to be treated with epinephrine in the pre-hospital setting. Severe anaphylaxis to fruit is more frequent in spring. Cross-reactivity to pollens is a potential explanation that should be evaluated further.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28722408,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Formally Copper(III)-Alkylperoxo Complexes as Models of Possible Intermediates in Monooxygenase Enzymes.\nReaction of [NBu4][LCuIIOH] with excess ROOH (R = cumyl or tBu) yielded [NBu4][LCuIIOOR], the reversible one-electron oxidation of which generated novel species with [CuOOR]2+ cores (formally CuIIIOOR), identified by spectroscopy and theory for the case R = cumyl. This species reacts with weak O-H bonds in TEMPO-H and 4-dimethylaminophenol (NMe2PhOH), the latter yielding LCu(OPhNMe2), which was also prepared independently. With the identification of [CuOOR]2+ complexes, the first precedent for this core in enzymes is provided, with implications for copper monooxygenase mechanisms.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37445797,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Thymoquinone Ameliorates Carfilzomib-Induced Renal Impairment by Modulating Oxidative Stress Markers, Inflammatory\/Apoptotic Mediators, and Augmenting Nrf2 in Rats.\nChemotherapy-induced kidney damage is an emerging problem that restricts cancer treatment effectiveness. The proteasome inhibitor carfilzomib (CFZ) is primarily used to treat multiple myeloma and has been associated with severe renal injury in humans. CFZ-induced nephrotoxicity remains an unmet medical need, and there is an urgent need to find and develop a nephroprotective and antioxidant therapy for this condition. Thymoquinone (TQ) is a bioactive compound that has been isolated from Nigella sativa seeds. It has a wide range of pharmacological properties. Therefore, this experimental design aimed to study the effectiveness of TQ against CFZ-induced renal toxicity in rats. The first group of rats was a normal control (CNT); the second group received CFZ (4 mg\/kg b.w.); the third and fourth groups received TQ (10 and 20 mg\/kg b.w.) 2 h before receiving CFZ; the fifth group received only TQ (20 mg\/kg b.w.). This experiment was conducted for 16 days, and at the end of the experiment, blood samples and kidney tissue were collected for biochemical assays. The results indicated that administration of CFZ significantly enhanced serum marker levels such as BUN, creatinine, and uric acid in the CFZ group. Similarly, it was also noticed that CFZ administration induced oxidative stress by reducing antioxidants (GSH) and antioxidant enzymes (CAT and SOD) and increasing lipid peroxidation. CFZ treatment also enhanced the expression of IL-1\u03b2, IL-6, and TNF-\u03b1 production. Moreover, CFZ increased caspase-3 concentrations and reduced Nrf2 expression in the CFZ-administered group. However, treatment with 10 and 20 mg\/kg TQ significantly decreased serum markers and increased antioxidant enzymes. TQ treatment considerably reduced IL-1\u03b2, IL-6, TNF-\u03b1, and caspase-3 concentrations. Overall, this biochemical estimation was also supported by histopathological outcomes. This study revealed that TQ administration significantly mitigated the negative effects of CFZ treatment on Nrf2 expression. Thus, it indicates that TQ may have utility as a potential drug to prevent CFZ-induced nephrotoxicity in the future.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6161960,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Plasminogen activation by normal B lymphocytes, a function associated with the cell membrane.\nWhen purified murine plasminogen was added to cultures of mouse spleen B cells, active plasmin progressively appeared in the supernatants. This reaction, resulting from the specific cleavage of the plasminogen by lymphocyte plasminogen activator (LPA), was measured in a fibrinolysis assay using 125I-fibrinogen. T cells were totally ineffective; under certain conditions, they could even antagonize the B cell action. Of the various B populations studied, i.e., obtained from spleen, lymph nodes, or blood of various mouse strains, all expressed the same property of plasminogen activation, which concerned mainly medium-sized B cells. Since only slight activities were detected in extracellular or intracellular compartments, a membrane-associated proteolytic enzyme may be responsible for plasminogen activation. Submitted to a series of group-specific antiproteases, the lymphocyte plasminogen activator essentially behaved as a serine-protease, with sensitivity to diisopropyl fluorophosphate, phenyl methyl sulfonyl fluoride, and nitro phenyl guanidino benzoate. The fast renewal of the enzyme in the membrane was also demonstrated by different techniques, using modifiers of cell physiology, like cycloheximide and dexamethasone, or following the reexpression of the enzyme by the cell kinetically.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17194169,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Drug-induced musculoskeletal disorders.\nDrug-induced musculoskeletal disorders represent a broad clinical spectrum, from asymptomatic biological abnormalities to severe and even life-threatening diseases. Since an increasing number of drugs have been implicated in inducing rheumatic symptoms and\/or syndromes, this review is not meant to be exhaustive, bearing in mind that the development of any musculoskeletal disorder should be considered as possibly related to a medication. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the more frequent drug-induced musculoskeletal disorders. These include: (i) arthralgias and arthropathies, including chondropathies and inflammatory arthritis; (ii) connective tissue diseases, especially lupus-like syndromes; (iii) periarticular disorders, including tendinopathies, enthesopathies and frozen shoulder; (iii) bone diseases, such as osteoporosis, osteomalacia and osteonecrosis; and (iv) myopathies. Although virtually all drug classes may induce musculoskeletal disorders, a significant part of them are related to corticosteroids, vaccines, antibacterials and lipid-lowering agents. Knowledge of drug-induced musculoskeletal disorders avoids carrying out unnecessary investigations, and allows optimal management of the patients, i.e. early discontinuation of the offending agent, adequate treatment monitoring and\/or intervention with appropriate preventive actions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29370695,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Autophagy and Longevity.\nAutophagy is an evolutionally conserved cytoplasmic degradation system in which varieties of materials are sequestered by a double membrane structure, autophagosome, and delivered to the lysosomes for the degradation. Due to the wide varieties of targets, autophagic activity is essential for cellular homeostasis. Recent genetic evidence indicates that autophagy has a crucial role in the regulation of animal lifespan. Basal level of autophagic activity is elevated in many longevity paradigms and the activity is required for lifespan extension. In most cases, genes involved in autophagy and lysosomal function are induced by several transcription factors including HLH-30\/TFEB, PHA-4\/FOXA and MML-1\/Mondo in long-lived animals. Pharmacological treatments have been shown to extend lifespan through activation of autophagy, indicating autophagy could be a potential and promising target to modulate animal lifespan. Here we summarize recent progress regarding the role of autophagy in lifespan regulation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6720585,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Aerosols generated by accidents: pressurized liquid release experiments.\nSafety assessments and environmental impact statements for facilities require an estimation of airborne releases from accidents. Aerosols generated by accidents are being investigated to develop the source terms for these releases. One example of a severe accidental release event is a pressurized liquid release. Pressurized liquid release experiments performed in static air measured the mass airborne as a function of source size and containment pressure. Pressurized releases with the containment breach above the liquid level were investigated. For this configuration, only containment pressure at the time of release was found to be a significant parameter. Releases in static air can be estimated using the relationships developed in this work. Weight percent of the airborne source ranged from 4 X 10(-4) to 0.15%. All of the pressurized releases produced a significant fraction of respirable particles.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23453054,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":2,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2013-20":1,"2015-06":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"BiNoM 2.0, a Cytoscape plugin for accessing and analyzing pathways using standard systems biology formats.\nPublic repositories of biological pathways and networks have greatly expanded in recent years. Such databases contain many pathways that facilitate the analysis of high-throughput experimental work and the formulation of new biological hypotheses to be tested, a fundamental principle of the systems biology approach. However, large-scale molecular maps are not always easy to mine and interpret. We have developed BiNoM (Biological Network Manager), a Cytoscape plugin, which provides functions for the import-export of some standard systems biology file formats (import from CellDesigner, BioPAX Level 3 and CSML; export to SBML, CellDesigner and BioPAX Level 3), and a set of algorithms to analyze and reduce the complexity of biological networks. BiNoM can be used to import and analyze files created with the CellDesigner software. BiNoM provides a set of functions allowing to import BioPAX files, but also to search and edit their content. As such, BiNoM is able to efficiently manage large BioPAX files such as whole pathway databases (e.g. Reactome). BiNoM also implements a collection of powerful graph-based functions and algorithms such as path analysis, decomposition by involvement of an entity or cyclic decomposition, subnetworks clustering and decomposition of a large network in modules. Here, we provide an in-depth overview of the BiNoM functions, and we also detail novel aspects such as the support of the BioPAX Level 3 format and the implementation of a new algorithm for the quantification of pathways for influence networks. At last, we illustrate some of the BiNoM functions on a detailed biological case study of a network representing the G1\/S transition of the cell cycle, a crucial cellular process disturbed in most human tumors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28352351,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"MicroRNA-302d downregulates TGFBR2 expression and promotes hepatocellular carcinoma growth and invasion.\nHepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the second leading cause of cancer-associated mortality in China and the third leading cause worldwide. A number of microRNAs (miRNAs) have been implicated in cell cycle progression, growth, apoptosis, angiogenesis and metastasis in HCC. In the present study, reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis was used to detect the levels of miR-302d expression in the tissues of 30 patients with HCC. Cell cycle, growth, apoptosis and migration were analyzed using a cell counting kit, flow cytometry and a Transwell migration assay. Dual-luciferase reporter assays and western blotting were also used to analyze the expression levels of transforming growth factor beta type II receptor (TGFBR2) in HCC cells. The present study evaluated the role of miR-302d in the development and progression of HCC. Abnormally high expression of miR-302d was observed in 80% of HCC specimens. Moreover, patients with lower levels of miR-302d expression experienced a longer survival time than those with higher levels of miR-302d expression. It was demonstrated that miR-302d promoted HCC cell growth and migration, suppressed cell apoptosis and affected cell cycle distribution in vitro, and augmented tumorigenicity in vivo. Furthermore, TGFBR2, which is a tumor suppressor, was confirmed as a target of miR-302d in HCC cells. Dual-luciferase reporter assays indicated that TGFBR2 expression was negatively regulated by miR-302d. Taken together, the results of the present study suggest that miR-302d may serve as a valuable tool for predicting the prognosis of patients with HCC.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27253462,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Solar Thermal Energy Storage in a Photochromic Macrocycle.\nThe conversion and efficient storage of solar energy is recognized to hold significant potential with regard to future energy solutions. Molecular solar thermal batteries based on photochromic systems exemplify one possible technology able to harness and apply this potential. Herein is described the synthesis of a macrocycle based on a dimer of the dihydroazulene\/vinylheptafulvene (DHA\/VHF) photo\/thermal couple. By taking advantage of conformational strain, this DHA-DHA macrocycle presents an improved ability to absorb and store incident light energy in chemical bonds (VHF-VHF). A stepwise energy release over two sequential ring-closing reactions (VHF\u2192DHA) combines the advantages of an initially fast discharge, hypothetically addressing immediate energy consumption needs, followed by a slow process for consistent, long-term use. This exemplifies another step forward in the molecular engineering and design of functional organic materials towards solar thermal energy storage and release.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1100347,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Clinical study on the contact between the partial denture and the alveolar process].\n53 clinically prepared bridges were examined with regard to the resting position of the bridge body on the alveolar ridge, before they were finally cemented. It was to be tested whether the ideal requirements of punctate or linear pressure-less resting was met and if not, how big the portion of the base resting on the gingiva was as compared to the total base. All bridge bodies were resting on the alveolar ridge without exerting pressure but with a more or less broad base. In 42 out of the 66 examined cases, the bridge body was in a 50 to 100% contact with the mucosa.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20365359,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dynamics of the solvent around a solute: generalized Langevin theory.\nThe generalized Langevin theory for a solution has been derived as the infinite dilution limit of the theory for a two component mixture. Following a similar formalism, the mode coupling approximations of the memory kernel have been also obtained. We have applied this method for one component bulk liquid of Lennard-Jones spheres and proved this approximation theoretically. The analysis of the space and time pair correlation proposed by Van Hove has been carried out as a function of solute particle sizes. It is found that the size of the solute particle is deeply related to the relaxation process of the solvation structure characterized around a solute particle at equilibrium. We have also investigated the relation between the different thermodynamic environments and relaxation process. From these studies, we have obtained the useful information about the rapidity of the relaxation of the solvation structure around a solute at equilibrium.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30307970,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Coronary artery disease genes SMAD3 and TCF21 promote opposing interactive genetic programs that regulate smooth muscle cell differentiation and disease risk.\nAlthough numerous genetic loci have been associated with coronary artery disease (CAD) with genome wide association studies, efforts are needed to identify the causal genes in these loci and link them into fundamental signaling pathways. Recent studies have investigated the disease mechanism of CAD associated gene SMAD3, a central transcription factor (TF) in the TGF\u03b2 pathway, investigating its role in smooth muscle biology. In vitro studies in human coronary artery smooth muscle cells (HCASMC) revealed that SMAD3 modulates cellular phenotype, promoting expression of differentiation marker genes while inhibiting proliferation. RNA sequencing and chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing studies in HCASMC identified downstream genes that reside in pathways which mediate vascular development and atherosclerosis processes in this cell type. HCASMC phenotype, and gene expression patterns promoted by SMAD3 were noted to have opposing direction of effect compared to another CAD associated TF, TCF21. At sites of SMAD3 and TCF21 colocalization on DNA, SMAD3 binding was inversely correlated with TCF21 binding, due in part to TCF21 locally blocking chromatin accessibility at the SMAD3 binding site. Further, TCF21 was able to directly inhibit SMAD3 activation of gene expression in transfection reporter gene studies. In contrast to TCF21 which is protective toward CAD, SMAD3 expression in HCASMC was shown to be directly correlated with disease risk. We propose that the pro-differentiation action of SMAD3 inhibits dedifferentiation that is required for HCASMC to expand and stabilize disease plaque as they respond to vascular stresses, counteracting the protective dedifferentiating activity of TCF21 and promoting disease risk.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20379929,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A Confucian reflection on genetic enhancement.\nThis essay explores a proper Confucian vision on genetic enhancement. It argues that while Confucians can accept a formal starting point that Michael Sandel proposes in his ethics of giftedness, namely, that children should be taken as gifts, Confucians cannot adopt his generalist strategy. The essay provides a Confucian full ethics of giftedness by addressing a series of relevant questions, such as what kind of gifts children are, where the gifts are from, in which way they are given, and for what purpose they are given. It indicates that Confucians should sort out different types of enhancement and bring them to the test of the Confucian values in terms of both Confucian virtue principles and specific ritual rules. It concludes that Confucians can accept some types of enhancement but must reject others.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9164499,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Current problems with intrahepatic bile duct stones in Japan--congenital biliary malformations as a cause.\nIn patients with primary intrahepatic bile duct stones, strictures of the biliary duct are often present, but the relationship between these strictures and the formation of the stones remains controversial. Intrahepatic bile duct carcinoma in association with intrahepatic bile duct stones has recently been reported. The present study attempted to ascertain whether bile stasis induced by congenital biliary strictures is the basis for the formation of stones and occurrence of carcinoma. We analyzed the location of strictures in 58 patients with strictures in the upper portion of the biliary tract including 38 patients with intrahepatic bile duct stones and 9 with intrahepatic bile duct carcinoma. The cell cycle of epithelial cells from the intrahepatic bile duct were analyzed with using proliferating cell nuclear antigen, which is a immunohistochemical staining method. Fifty six of 58 patients had congenital cystic dilatation of the common bile duct (two infant type and 54 adult type). Thirty eight patients had intrahepatic bile duct stones proximal to the strictures at the hepatic hilum. The location of the strictures were classified into four types. Nine patients had intrahepatic bile duct carcinoma and eight of the 9 carcinomas coexisted with intrahepatic bile duct stones. In the nine patients with intrahepatic bile duct carcinoma, the expression of proliferating cellular nuclear antigen (PCNA) in the carcinoma and the normal bile duct epithelium adjacent to the carcinoma was higher than that of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma without anomaly of the biliary duct. Considering the location of the strictures and clinical features, the strictures may have been formed congenitally. Furthermore, adult type cysts of the common bile duct with strictures in the upper portion of the biliary tract are thought to be the basis for the formation of primary intrahepatic bile duct stones. The most appropriate treatment for intrahepatic bile duct stones is thus suggested to be removal of the affected hepatic segment including the region of strictures, combined eventually with hepaticoenterostomy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19032699,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A genome-screen experiment to detect quantitative trait loci affecting resistance to facial eczema disease in sheep.\nFacial eczema (FE) is a secondary photosensitization disease arising from liver cirrhosis caused by the mycotoxin sporidesmin. The disease affects sheep, cattle, deer and goats, and costs the New Zealand sheep industry alone an estimated NZ$63M annually. A long-term sustainable solution to this century-old FE problem is to breed for disease-resistant animals by marker-assisted selection. As a step towards finding a diagnostic DNA test for FE sensitivity, we have conducted a genome-scan experiment to screen for quantitative trait loci (QTL) affecting this trait in Romney sheep. Four F(1) sires, obtained from reciprocal matings of FE resistant and susceptible selection-line animals, were used to generate four outcross families. The resulting half-sib progeny were artificially challenged with sporidesmin to phenotype their FE traits measured in terms of their serum levels of liver-specific enzymes, namely gamma-glutamyl transferase and glutamate dehydrogenase. In a primary screen using selective genotyping on extreme progeny of each family, a total of 244 DNA markers uniformly distributed over all 26 ovine autosomes (with an autosomal genome coverage of 79-91%) were tested for linkage to the FE traits. Data were analysed using Haley-Knott regression. The primary screen detected one significant and one suggestive QTL on chromosomes 3 and 8 respectively. Both the significant and suggestive QTL were followed up in a secondary screen where all progeny were genotyped and analysed; the QTL on chromosome 3 was significant in this analysis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22694318,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Alkaloids from the root of Isatis indigotica.\nSeventeen new alkaloids (1-17) and 14 known analogues have been isolated from an aqueous extract of the root of Isatis indigotica. The structures and absolute configurations of these compounds were determined by extensive spectroscopic data analysis, including 2D NMR, single-crystal X-ray crystallography using anomalous scattering of Cu K\u03b1 radiation, and electronic circular dichroism spectra calculations based on the quantum-mechanical time-dependent density functional theory. Compounds 1, 2, and 3 are the first examples of natural products with unique linkages between a molecule of 2-(4-methoxy-1H-indol-3-yl)acetonitrile and 2-(1H-indol-3-yl)acetonitrile, 2-(4-methoxy-1H-indol-3-yl)acetonitrile, and 4-hydroxyphenylethane, respectively. Compounds (-)-4 and (+)-4 represent the first natural products with the pyrrolo[2,3-b]indolo[5,5a,6-b,a]quinazoline skeleton. Some structural assignments for the new alkaloids suggest that the assignments made for certain previously reported alkaloids require revision. Compounds 1-3 and arvelexin (18) show antiviral activity against the influenza virus A\/Hanfang\/359\/95 (H3N2), with IC(50) values of 3.70-12.35 \u03bcM, and 17 inhibits Coxsackie virus B3 replication with an IC(50) of 6.87 \u03bcM.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28280348,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Questionable accuracy of home blood pressure measurements in the obese population - Validation of the Microlife WatchBP O3\u00ae and Omron RS6\u00ae devices according to the European Society of Hypertension-International Protocol.\nTwo oscillometric devices, the Microlife WatchBP O3\u00ae and the Omron RS6\u00ae, designed for self-blood pressure measurement were evaluated according to the European Society of Hypertension (ESH)-International Protocol (IP) Revision 2010 in the obese population. The Microlife WatchBP O3 measures blood pressure (BP) at the brachial level and the Omron RS6 measures BP at the wrist level. The ESH-IP revision 2010 includes a total of 33 subjects. The difference between observers' and device BP values was calculated for each measure. A total of 99 pairs of BP differences were classified into three categories (\u22645, \u226410, and \u226415 mmHg). The protocol procedures were followed precisely in each of the two studies. Microlife WatchBP O3 and Omron RS6 failed to fulfill the criteria of the ESH-IP. The mean differences between the device and the mercury readings were: 0.3\u00b17.8 mmHg and -1.9\u00b16.4 mmHg for systolic BP and diastolic BP, respectively, for Microlife WatchBP O3, and 2.7\u00b19.9 mmHg for SBP and 3.5\u00b111.1 mmHg for diastolic BP for Omron RS6. Microlife WatchBP O3 and Omron RS6 readings differing from the mercury standard by more than 5, 10, and 15 mmHg failed to fulfill the ESH-IP revision 2010 requirements in obese subjects. Therefore, the two devices cannot be recommended for use in obese subjects.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1681915,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Deep venous thrombosis after emergency gastrointestinal operations: a pilot study.\nIn a prospective pilot study, 30 patients over 50 years of age undergoing major emergency gastrointestinal surgery were examined with the 125I-fibrinogen uptake test for postoperative deep venous thrombosis (DVT). Prophylaxis against thrombosis was at that time not used routinely for the emergency patients. The surgeon decided for each patient whether and when prophylaxis with low-dose heparin, 5,000 units twice daily, should be given. DVT was diagnosed in 11 patients (37%; 95% confidence interval 20 to 56%), in five of them bilaterally. No thrombi occurred within seven days in the patients who received low-dose heparin from the day of surgery. Major emergency gastrointestinal surgery carries a high risk of postoperative DVT.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28366574,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Patterns of Care in Adjuvant Therapy for Resected Oral Cavity Squamous Cell Cancer in Elderly Patients.\nTo characterize the patterns of care and potential barriers to access to care for elderly patients with oral cavity cancer in the adjuvant setting. We performed a retrospective cohort study using the National Cancer Data Base and identified patients with resected oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma diagnosed between 2004 and 2012, who survived for \u22653 months after surgery. We used logistic regression models to assess the association between age (<70, 70-79, and \u226580 years) and the receipt of adjuvant therapy within 3 months of surgery. We additionally assessed the association between patient and tumor characteristics and the receipt of adjuvant therapy among those aged \u226570 years. A total of 25,829 patients were included in the study. Compared with those aged <70 years, older patients were more likely to have no neck dissection or have fewer lymph nodes dissected and were less likely to receive adjuvant therapy than younger patients. Among our cohort, 11,361 patients (44%) had pathologic T3-T4 disease or N2-N3 disease, and 4185 patients (16%) had extracapsular nodal extension or positive surgical margins. In multivariate analyses controlling for comorbidity and demographic characteristics, older age was independently associated with lower odds of receiving adjuvant radiation therapy in the subgroup with T3 or T4 disease or N2 or N3 disease and adjuvant chemoradiation therapy in the positive extracapsular nodal extension or positive surgical margin subgroup. Among elderly patients, both greater patient distance from reporting facility and older age were associated with lower odds of receiving both adjuvant radiation therapy (odds ratio 0.66; 95% confidence interval, 0.55-0.81) and chemoradiation therapy (odds ratio 0.56; 95% confidence interval, 0.40-0.79). In a national hospital-based cohort of patients with oral cavity cancer, elderly patients were less likely to receive adjuvant radiation or chemoradiation therapy. Greater patient distance from reporting facility, in addition to older age, was associated with lower odds of receiving both adjuvant radiation therapy and adjuvant chemoradiation therapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17885023,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of aging on adipose resistance artery vasoconstriction: possible implications for orthostatic blood pressure regulation.\nThe purpose of this investigation was to determine mean arterial pressure (MAP) and regional vascular conductance responses in young and aged Fisher-344 rats during orthostatic stress, i.e., 70 degrees head-up tilt (HUT). Both groups demonstrated directionally different changes in MAP during HUT (young, 7% increase; aged, 7% decrease). Vascular conductance during HUT in young rats decreased in most tissues but largely remained unchanged in the aged animals. Based on the higher vascular conductance of white adipose tissue from aged rats during HUT, resistance arteries from white visceral fat were isolated and studied in vitro. There was diminished maximal vasoconstriction to phenylephrine and norepinephrine (NE: young, 42 +\/- 5%; old, 18 +\/- 6%) in adipose resistance arteries from aged rats. These results demonstrate that aging reduces the ability to maintain MAP during orthostatic stress, and this is associated with a diminished vasoconstriction of adipose resistance arteries.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14567086,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Bronchial carcinoma. Epidemiology, diagnosis and therapy].\nBronchial carcinoma still has a dark prognosis and therapeutic progress remains painfully slow: the 5-year survival rate raised in the last 20 years from 11 to 15%. There are no early symptoms by the tumor and detection by screening is not effective. Worldwide incidence is raising, the falling rates in men in the western world have been compensated by a steep increase in eastern Europe an Asia. Cigarette smoking is in 85% the main cause of this epidemic. Better understanding of genetic predisposition may identify patients at higher risk. Tumor in stage IA-IIB of non small cell carcinoma could gain by neoadjuvant chemotherapy, what is more probable for stage IIA and IIIB. Radiation therapy in combination with chemotherapy improves survival in inoperable stage IIIB. In stage IV disease palliative chemotherapy is superior to best supportive care.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20370189,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A technique for extending the precision and the range of temperature programmed desorption toward extremely low coverages.\nIn this paper, an improvement of the temperature programmed desorption (TPD) technique is introduced, which facilitates fully automated sampling of TPD spectra with excellent reproducibility, especially useful for extremely low coverages. By averaging many sampled TPD spectra, the range of the TPD technique can be extended toward lower coverages, as well as the quality of the spectra can be improved. This allows for easy extraction of information about the adsorbate-surface bond. A state of the art TPD apparatus with a two chamber setup and a high quality quadrupole mass spectrometer was extended by automated components. These are an automated gas dosing system, ensuring precise dosing of gas, combined with a motor driven sample manipulation unit and a liquid nitrogen cryostat with automatic refilling. In addition all components were controlled by a computer. A large number of TPD cycles could be sampled without the need of interaction of an operator. Here, it is shown for up to more than 400 TPD cycles. This opens a wide range of new interesting applications for the TPD technique, especially in the limit of zero coverage. Here, basic experiments on well known adsorbate systems are shown to view the ability and limit of this approach.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15259510,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Immune escape mechanism: defective resting and stimulated leukocyte-endothelium interaction in hepatocellular carcinoma of the rat.\nHepatocellular carcinoma represents an increasing therapeutic challenge due to its high incidence and early metastasis. Numerous studies have demonstrated the influence of the vascular system on tumor growth and development. In addition, the role of leukocyte-endothelium interaction in tumor vessels is of particular significance with regard to immunological tumor therapy. In this study we used an experimental in vivo animal model that allows a quantitative analysis on vessel morphology, microcirculation, and leukocyte-endothelium interaction. The vessel architecture in tumor tissue was found to be extremely heterogeneous, with a consecutively variable blood flow velocity. Following superfusion with chemotactic factors (fMLP, LB4), the leukocyte-endothelium interaction in tumor tissue with respect to leukocyte sticking was significantly reduced in comparison to healthy liver tissue. In conclusion, one of the main mechanisms for the reduced leukocyte-endothelium interaction in tumor tissue seems to be a decreased expression of adhesion molecules such as ICAM-1, indicating an effective immune escape mechanism for this tumor.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17914589,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Apoptotic effects of signal transduction inhibitors on human tumor cells with different PTEN expression.\nAn important mechanism of antitumoral targeted therapies is the induction of apoptosis in tumor cells. Tamoxifen and trastuzumab (Herceptin), respectively, are able to trigger apoptosis in human breast cancer cells. But, frequently altered apoptotic signal cascades, for instance through PTEN mutations, help tumor cells to escape antitumoral therapy. We studied to what extent the apoptotic effect of signal-transduction inhibitors is dependent on PTEN expression. PTEN expression was analysed by Western blot analysis in tumor cell lines of the breast (BT-474, MCF-7, MDA-MB-231), ovary (BG-1, SK-OV-3) and endometrium (Ishikawa, HEC-1A). Apoptotic effects of tamoxifen, trastuzumab, ZD1839 (Iressa) and different mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAP) inhibitors were measured after 24 h of treatment. Cellular apoptosis was determined by the detection of cytoplasmic histone-DNA complexes. The tested tumor cell lines exhibited a different PTEN expression, ranging from a high expression (ovarian cancer cell line BG-1 and BT-474 breast cancer cells) to a total absence of PTEN expression (endometrial Ishikawa cells). The apoptotic effect of receptor-targeting drugs (tamoxifen, trastuzumab, ZD1839) was dependent both on receptor expression and PTEN expression. When cells were treated with MAPK inhibitors, no correlation between PTEN expression and the apoptosis rate was observed. Our data underline the importance of PTEN expression regarding the induction of apoptosis through various targeted therapies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20351273,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"An unconventional myosin required for cell polarization and chemotaxis.\nMyTH\/FERM (myosin tail homology 4\/band 4.1, ezrin, radixin, and moesin) myosins have roles in cellular adhesion, extension of actin-filled projections such as filopodia and stereocilia, and directional migration. The amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum expresses a simple complement of MyTH\/FERM myosins, a class VII (M7) myosin required for cell-substrate adhesion and a unique myosin named MyoG. Mutants lacking MyoG exhibit a wide range of normal actin-based behaviors, including chemotaxis to folic acid, but have a striking defect in polarization and chemotaxis to cAMP. Although the myoG mutants respond to cAMP stimulation by increasing persistence and weakly increasing levels of cortical F-actin, they do not polarize; instead, they maintain a round shape and move slowly and randomly when exposed to a chemotactic gradient. The mutants also fail to activate and localize PI3K to the membrane closest to the source of chemoattractant. These data reveal a role for a MyTH\/FERM myosin in mediating early chemotactic signaling and suggest that MyTH\/FERM proteins have conserved roles in signaling and the generation of cell polarity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16222743,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Immunohistochemical study on gastrointestinal endocrine cells of four reptiles.\nTo clarify the types, regional distributions and distribution densities as well as morphological features of gastrointestinal (GI) endocrine cells in various parts of the gastrointestinal track (GIT) of four reptiles, Gekko japonicus, Eumeces chinensis, Sphenomorphus indicus and Eumeces elegans. Paraffin-embedded sections (5 mum) of seven parts (cardia, fundus, pylorus, duodenum, jejunum, ileum, rectum) of GIT dissected from the four reptiles were prepared. GI endocrine cells were revealed by using immunohistochemical techniques of streptavidin-peroxidase (S-P) method. Seven types of antisera against 5-hydroxy-tryptamine (5-HT), somatostatin (SS), gastrin (GAS), glucagon (GLU), substance P (SP), insulin and pancreatic polypeptide were identified and then GI endocrine cells were photomicrographed and counted. The GI endocrine system of four reptiles was a complex structure containing many endocrine cell types similar in morphology to those found in higher vertebrates. Five types of GI endocrine cells, namely 5-HT, SS, GAS, SP and GLU immunoreactive (IR) cells were identified in the GIT of G. japonicus, E. chinensis and S. indicus; while in the GIT of E. elegans only the former three types of endocrine cells were observed. No PP- and INS- IR cells were found in all four reptiles. 5-HT-IR cells, which were most commonly found in the pylorus or duodenum, distributed throughout the whole GIT of four reptiles. However, their distribution patterns varied from each other. SS-IR cells, which were mainly found in the stomach especially in the pylorus and\/or fundus, were demonstrated in the whole GIT of E. chinensis, only showed restricted distribution in the other three species. GAS-IR cells, with a much restricted distribution, were mainly demonstrated in the pylorus and\/or the proximal small intestine of four reptiles. GLU-IR cells exhibited a limited and species-dependent variant distribution in the GIT of four reptiles. SP-IR cells were found throughout the GIT except for jejunum in E. elegans and showed a restricted distribution in the GIT of G. japonicus and S. indicus. In the GIT of four reptiles the region with the highest degree of cell type heterogeneity was pylorus and most types of GI endocrine cells along the GIT showed the peak density in pylorus as well. Some common and unique features of the distribution and morphology of different types of GI endocrine cells are found in four reptiles. This common trait may reflect the similarity in digestive physiology of various vertebrates.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18599486,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Bacillus subtilis RecO nucleates RecA onto SsbA-coated single-stranded DNA.\nSubsaturating amounts of Bacillus subtilis SsbA, independently of the order of addition, partially inhibit the single-stranded DNA-dependent dATPase activity of RecA. This negative effect is fully overcome when a substoichiometric amount of RecO is added. SsbA added prior to RecA does not stimulate the dATP-dependent DNA strand exchange activity; however, added after RecA it enhances the extent of strand exchange. The addition of RecO stimulates RecA-mediated joint molecule formation, although it limits the accumulation of final recombination products. Thus we suggest that RecO has a dual activity: RecO acts as a RecA mediator enabling RecA to utilize SsbA-coated single-stranded DNA as a polymerization substrate and controls RecA-mediated DNA strand exchange by limiting its extent. We herein discuss the possible mechanisms of RecO involvement in the regulation of double strand break repair and genetic transformation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15244781,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Scale-free networks with tunable degree-distribution exponents.\nWe propose and study a model of scale-free growing networks that gives a degree distribution dominated by a power-law behavior with a model-dependent, hence tunable, exponent. The model represents a hybrid of the growing networks based on popularity-driven and fitness-driven preferential attachments. As the network grows, a newly added node establishes m new links to existing nodes with a probability p based on popularity of the existing nodes and a probability 1-p based on fitness of the existing nodes. An explicit form of the degree distribution P(p,k) is derived within a mean field approach. For reasonably large k, P(p,k) approximately k(-gamma(p)) F(k,p), where the function F is dominated by the behavior of 1\/ln (k\/m) for small values of p and becomes k independent as p-->1, and gamma(p) is a model-dependent exponent. The degree distribution and the exponent gamma(p) are found to be in good agreement with results obtained by extensive numerical simulations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25519363,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1}}},"text":"False-positive rates in two-point parametric linkage analysis.\nTwo-point linkage analyses of whole genome sequence data are a promising approach to identify rare variants that segregate with complex diseases in large pedigrees because, in theory, the causal variants have been genotyped. We used whole genome sequence data and simulated traits provided by Genetic Analysis Workshop 18 to evaluate the proportion of false-positive findings in a binary trait using classic two-point parametric linkage analysis. False-positive genome-wide significant log of odds (LOD) scores were identified in more than 80% of 50 replicates for a binary phenotype generated by dichotomizing a quantitative trait that was simulated with a polygenic component (that was not based on any of the provided whole genome sequence genotypes). In contrast, when the trait was truly nongenetic (created by randomly assigning affected-unaffected status), the number of false-positive results was well controlled. These results suggest that when using two-point linkage analyses on whole genome sequence data, one should carefully examine regions yielding significant two-point LOD scores with multipoint analysis and that a more stringent significance threshold may be needed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17194497,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Acidification improves cryotolerance of Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus CFL1.\nThe effect of acidification of the fermented broth at the end of the culture was examined on the growth and the cryotolerance of Lactobacillus bulgaricus CFL1, as a new means to better preserve lactic acid bacteria. Cryotolerance was investigated by evaluating the loss of specific acidification activity during freezing and frozen storage. An experimental design made it possible to determine optimal acidification conditions that improved cryotolerance, such as pH 5.15 for 30min. These conditions were also conducive to high biomass productivity. By considering the type of acid used, H(2)SO(4) enabled us to obtain cells with better cryotolerance, as compared to HCl. It was also observed that increasing the pH after acidification slightly minimised the acid shock, thus improving cryotolerance. Moreover, it was concluded that this improvement was related to a physiological adaptation of L. bulgaricus CFL1 during the 30-min acidification at pH 5.15.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20352338,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Tuning multidomain hemodynamic simulations to match physiological measurements.\nIn recent years, considerable progress has been made in creating more realistic models of the cardiovascular system, often based on patient-specific anatomic data, whereas comparatively little progress has been made on incorporating measured physiological data. We have developed a method to systematically adjust the parameters of three-element windkessel outlet boundary conditions of three-dimensional blood flow models such that desired features of pressure and flow waveforms are achieved. This tuning method was formulated as the solution of a nonlinear system of equations and employed a quasi-Newton method that was informed by a reduced-order model. The three-dimensional hemodynamic models were solved using a stabilized finite-element method incorporating deformable vessel walls. The tuning method was applied to an idealized common carotid artery, an idealized iliac arterial bifurcation, and a patient-specific abdominal aorta. The objectives for the abdominal aortic model were values of the maximum and minimum of the pressure waveform, an indicator of the pressure waveform's shape, and the mean, amplitude, and diastolic mean of the flow waveform for an infrarenal measurement plane. The hemodynamic models were automatically generated and tuned by custom software with minimal user input. This approach enables efficient development of cardiovascular models for applications including detailed evaluation of cardiovascular mechanics, simulation-based design of medical devices, and patient-specific treatment planning.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25294751,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Structural and magnetic properties of CoGe(n)- (n=2-11) clusters: photoelectron spectroscopy and density functional calculations.\nA series of cobalt-doped germanium clusters, CoGe(n)(-\/0) (n=2-11), are investigated by using anion photoelectron spectroscopy combined with density functional theory calculations. For both anionic and neutral CoGe(n) (n=2-11) clusters, the critical size of the transition from exo- to endohedral structures is n=9. Natural population analysis shows that there is electron transfer from the Ge(n) framework to the Co atom at n=7-11 for both anionic and neutral CoGe(n) clusters. The magnetic moments of the anionic and neutral CoGe(n) clusters decrease to the lowest values at n=10 and 11. The transfer of electrons from the Gen framework to the Co atom and the minimization of the magnetic moments are related to the evolution of CoGe(n) structures from exo- to endohedral.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19035182,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[The effects of iodine\/selenium on the function of antigen presentation of peritoneal macrophages in rats].\nTo observe the effects of iodine\/selenium on the function of antigen presentation of peritoneal macrophages in rats and explore the immunological mechanisms of iodine\/ selenium's role in pathogenesis of autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITD). Female Lewis rats were randomly divided into four groups including (1) low selenium and normal iodine group (L(sE)N(I)) (2) low selenium and high iodine group (L(Se)H(I)) (3) normal selenium and normal iodine group (N(Se)N(I) ) (4) normal selenium and high iodine group (N(Se)H(I)). All rats were fed by a special diet with lower selenium and iodine in it and drunk ion-free water containing different levels of iodine and selenium for 3 months. Peritoneal macrophages of each group and OVA allergized T cells were prepared and cultured together. Then the function of antigen presentation were estimated by detecting the levels of IL-2 in the culture supernatant. The levels of the expression of co-stimulator CD86 in the spleen of each group were determined by RT-PCR. The level of IL-2 in the supernatant in N(Se)H(I) (43.22 +\/- 3.27) pg\/ml was much stronger than N(Se)N(I) [the level of IL-2 was (25.74 +\/- 2.45) pg\/ml, P < 0.05]. The level of IL-2 in L(Se)N(I) (15.79 +\/- 2.13) pg\/ml was significantly lower than N(Se)N(I) (P < 0.05). The expression of CD86 mRNA in N(Se)H(I) (CD86\/beta-actin: 0.52 +\/- 0.10) were higher than N(Se)N(I) (CD86\/beta-actin: 0.35 +\/- 0.04), P < 0.05. High iodine could promote the presentation function of macrophages to a higher state than normal. Therefore, high iodine intake might become an importantly inducing factor in thyroid autoimmunity. Low selenium could weaken the ability of recognizing and presenting OVA antigen of peritoneal macrophages which might destroy immunological homeostasis and thus the low selenium intake might also become an inducer of AITD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15256868,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3,"dup_dump_count":2,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-26":1,"2024-30":1}}},"text":"Composite grafts in the treatment of osteosarcoma of the proximal humerus.\nTreatment of osteosarcoma (OSA) of the proximal humerus poses many difficulties and challenges to the treating team. Between 1993 and 2000, we treated 11 patients (three women, eight men; age range, 17-74 years) suffering from OSA of the proximal humerus by 'composite': massive allografts and long humeral prosthesis. At presentation, 10 patients were at stage 2-B and one at stage 3-B of OSA. One patient presented with a pathologic fracture. All patients except patient No. 6, received preoperative chemotherapy followed by limb salvage surgery and postoperative chemotherapy.Surgical margins were graded as wide in all patients. Postoperative complications included non-union at the allograft\/host junction (which united after auto grafting) and superficial wound infections that resolved after antibiotic therapy. All surgical procedures were performed by a team headed by an orthopedic oncologist and shoulder surgeon. At latest follow-up (December 2001) all patients, with the exception of one (who was at stage 3-B at presentation) were alive, and had good function of the upper limb. It is our opinion that the team approach comprising an orthopedic oncologist and shoulder surgeon greatly contributed to the good surgical outcome, and hence the good survival and functional results of the patients. Bone allograft offers a modular malleable durable solution to the resected bone segment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27285846,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Oncologic Safety of Robot Thyroid Surgery for Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma: A Comparative Study of Robot versus Open Thyroid Surgery Using Inverse Probability of Treatment Weighting.\nThe aim of this study was to evaluate the oncologic safety of robot thyroid surgery compared to open thyroid surgery for papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). We enrolled 722 patients with PTC who underwent a total thyroidectomy with central compartment node dissection (CCND) from January 2009 to December 2010. These patients were classified into open thyroid surgery (n = 610) or robot thyroid surgery (n = 112) groups. We verified the impact of robot thyroid surgery on clinical recurrence and ablation\/control-stimulated thyroglobulin (sTg) levels predictive of non-recurrence using weighted logistic regression models with inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW). Age, sex, thyroid weight, extent of CCND, and TNM were significantly different between the two groups (p < 0.05); however, there was no significant difference in recurrence between the open and robot groups (1.5% vs. 2.7%; p = 0.608). The proportion of patients with ablation sTg < 10.0 ng\/mL and control sTg < 1.0 ng\/mL was comparable between the two groups (p > 0.05). Logistic regression with IPTW using the propensity scores estimated by adjusting all of the parameters demonstrated that robot thyroid surgery did not influence the clinical recurrence (OR; 0.784, 95% CI; 0.150-3.403, p = 0.750), ablation sTg (OR; 0.950, 95% CI; 0.361-2.399, p = 0.914), and control sTg levels (OR; 0.498, 95% CI; 0.190-1.189, p = 0.130). Robot thyroid surgery is comparable to open thyroid surgery with regard to oncologic safety in PTC patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3050512,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"AAEE minimonograph #30: electrophysiologic studies of myoclonus.\nDefinition as well as classification of myoclonus and electrophysiologic methods for investigating myoclonus were reviewed. Among the electrophysiologic techniques currently available in most laboratories, the EEG-EMG polygraph is the most essential one and can provide us with the most important information. Jerk-locked averaging and evoked potential studies are useful for further investigating the pathophysiology of myoclonus and can be performed by using the same recording electrodes as those used for the polygraph. Jerk-locked evoked potentials and double-stimulation evoked potentials can be employed only for further investigating how cerebral cortex is involved in the generation of certain myoclonia. All these techniques can be used in proper combinations depending on the clinical features of the myoclonus in question, the purpose of the study, and the facilities available in each laboratory. These techniques also will be useful for following the clinical course during the treatment with antimyoclonus agents.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32368522,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-10":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Retention and sustained viral suppression in HIV patients transferred to community refill centres in Kinshasa, DRC.\nIn 2010, M\u00e9decins Sans Fronti\u00e8res set up decentralised community antiretroviral therapy (ART) refill centres (\"poste de distribution communautaire\", PODI) for the follow-up of stable human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) patients. To assess retention in care and sustained viral suppression after transfer to three main PODI in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) (PODI Barumbu\/Central, PODI Binza Ozone\/West and PODI Masina I\/East). Retrospective cohort study using routine programme data for adult HIV patients transferred from Kabinda Hospital to PODIs between January 2015 and June 2017. A total of 337 patients were transferred to PODIs: 306 (91%) were on ART for at least 12 months; 118 (39%) had a routine \"12-month\" viral load (VL) done, 93% (n = 110) of whom had a suppressed VL <1000 copies\/ml. Median time from enrolment into PODI to 12-month routine VL was 14.6 months (IQR 12.2-20.8). Kaplan-Meier estimates of retention in care at 6, 12 and 18 months after enrolment into PODIs were respectively 96%, 92% and 88%. Retention in care and viral suppression among patients in PODI with VL results were better than patients in clinic care and national outcomes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37447747,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Metasurface-Assisted Terahertz Sensing.\nTerahertz (THz) waves, which fall between microwaves and infrared bands, possess intriguing electromagnetic properties of non-ionizing radiation, low photon energy, being highly sensitive to weak resonances, and non-polar material penetrability. Therefore, THz waves are extremely suitable for sensing and detecting chemical, pharmaceutical, and biological molecules. However, the relatively long wavelength of THz waves (30~3000 \u03bcm) compared to the size of analytes (1~100 nm for biomolecules, <10 \u03bcm for microorganisms) constrains the development of THz-based sensors. To circumvent this problem, metasurface technology, by engineering subwavelength periodic resonators, has gained a great deal of attention to enhance the resonance response of THz waves. Those metasurface-based THz sensors exhibit high sensitivity for label-free sensing, making them appealing for a variety of applications in security, medical applications, and detection. The performance of metasurface-based THz sensors is controlled by geometric structure and material parameters. The operating mechanism is divided into two main categories, passive and active. To have a profound understanding of these metasurface-assisted THz sensing technologies, we review and categorize those THz sensors, based on their operating mechanisms, including resonators for frequency shift sensing, nanogaps for enhanced field confinement, chirality for handedness detection, and active elements (such as graphene and MEMS) for advanced tunable sensing. This comprehensive review can serve as a guideline for future metasurfaces design to assist THz sensing and detection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37458509,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Patients' attitudes and preferences toward delayed disease progression in the absence of improved survival.\nCancer patients' attitudes toward progression-free survival (PFS) gains offered by treatment are not well understood, particularly in the absence of overall survival (OS) gains. The objectives were to describe patients' willingness to accept treatment that offers PFS gains without OS gains, to compare these findings with treatments offering OS gains, and to qualitatively summarize patients' reasons for their preferences. A multicenter, cross-sectional, convergent mixed-methods study design recruited patients who had received at least 3 months of systemic therapy for incurable solid tumors. A treatment trade-off exercise determined the gains in imaging PFS that patients require to prefer additional systemic treatment for a scenario of a newly diagnosed, asymptomatic, incurable abdominal tumor. A qualitative, descriptive, thematic analysis explored factors influencing patients' decisions, and a narrative method integrated the quantitative and qualitative findings. In total, 100 patients participated (63% were older than 60 years of age). If additional treatment with added toxicity offered no OS advantage, 17% would prefer it for no PFS benefit; 26% for some PFS benefit (range, 3-9 months), whereas 51% would decline it regardless of PFS benefit. Similarly, 71% preferred additional treatment offering a 6-month OS advantage dependent on described toxicity levels (P = .03). A spectrum of reasons for these preferences reflected the complexity of participants' attitudes and values. Prolongation of time to progression was not universally valued. Most patients did not prefer treatments that negatively affect quality of life for PFS gains alone. Implications for individual decision making, policy, and trials research are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37463042,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Fermi-level shift, electron separation, and plasmon resonance change in Ag nanoparticle-decorated TiO2 under UV light illumination.\nNoble metal nanoparticles are widely used as co-catalysts for storing and separating electrons in semiconductor photocatalysis. Thus, evaluating this ability is important and meaningful to understand the photocatalytic mechanism. Employing Ag nanoparticles, the present study combined in situ photoconductance and theoretical analysis to evaluate the Fermi-level (EF) shift in a UV-illuminated Ag\/TiO2 system under gaseous conditions. Based on this, the role of the Ag nanoparticles in storing and separating electrons was discussed. It was found that the EF of Ag\/TiO2 is located deeper in the gap and a variation in temperature has less effect on the EF of Ag\/TiO2 compared to the undecorated TiO2. The analysis showed that \u223c46 electrons can be stored in 10 nm Ag nanoparticles under our experimental conditions, which does not change with temperature. The electron traps in TiO2 can affect the electron distribution in the TiO2 and Ag nanoparticles. It was observed that the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of the Ag nanoparticles exhibited a blue-shift under UV light illumination, which is generally ascribed to the electron storage in the Ag nanoparticles. However, we showed that the blue-shift is not related to the electron storage in the Ag nanoparticles, and thus it cannot be used as an indicator for evaluating their electron-storage ability. The in situ XPS analysis also does not support that the LSPR blue shift is associated with the reduction in the Ag2O layer and TiO2.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1102314,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Twenty-four-hour preservation of the duct-ligated canine pancreatic allograft.\nTwenty previously pancreatectomized dogs received a duct-ligated pancreatic allograft; 16 of the grafts were preserved for 24 h, 9 with continuous hypothermic albumin perfusion, 7 with simple hypothermic storage; 4 glands were transplanted immediately and served as controls. The outcome of preservation was assessed by studying the early endocrine function of the glands. Excluding five early failures due to bleeding, all grafts showed endocrine activity after transplantation and the glucose values were on a normal level. An initial hyperglucemia caused by pancreatectomy disappeared within 24h. In the two groups with 24h preservation, no differences in graft function were found. In the control group, there was a hypoglucemic tendency the first days after transplantation and a prolonged hyperinsulinemia during glucose load. It could be concluded that duct-ligated, isolated canine pancreas well tolerated 24h of preservation both by continuous hypothermic albumin perfusion and by simple hypothermic storage in an extracellular type of fluid.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14529772,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"P105 as a prognostic indicator in patients irradiated for locally advanced head-and-neck cancer: a clinical\/laboratory correlative analysis of RTOG-9003.\nIn a previous retrospective study, p105 AD, a proliferation-associated nuclear antigen density (AD), was found to be an independent prognostic factor for patients irradiated for locally advanced head-and-neck cancer. We sought to confirm this finding by analyzing patients entered on RTOG 9003, a Phase III randomized trial of altered fractionation radiotherapy. Paraffin blocks of pretreatment biopsies of the primary tumor of patients with Stage III or IV squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity, oropharynx, or supraglottic larynx, or Stage II squamous cell carcinoma of the hypopharynx or base of tongue entered on RTOG 9003 were prospectively collected at patient entry. From these paraffin blocks, areas of tumor were selected based on histologic examinations and sectioned. Nuclear suspensions were then prepared and processed for p105 antibody and DNA staining. Flow cytometric quantification of p105 labeling indices and DNA content were then performed for correlation with local-regional control and survival. Paraffin blocks of tumor biopsies from 457 of 1073 patients entered were available for p105 determination. There was no significant difference in pretreatment characteristics between patients who had paraffin blocks available or not available. The median (range) of p105 labeling index (LI-C), p105 labeling index of cells in S phase (p105 LI-S), and p105 AD were 56 (range: 6-99), 8.255 (range: 0.913-23), and 67 (range: 5-364), respectively. Multivariate analysis of prognostic factors showed that T stage, N stage, Karnofsky performance status, and fractionation schedule were significant for local-regional control (p < 0.0001, 0.0011, <0.0001, and 0.007, respectively) and T stage, N stage, Karnofsky performance status, and tumor grade were significant for survival (p = 0.018, 0.002, <0.0001, and 0.0058, respectively). Neither p105 LI-C nor p105 LI-S nor p105 AD nor DNA ploidy was significant for local-regional control or survival. p105 labeling indices, antigen density, and DNA ploidy do not predict the outcome of patients irradiated for advanced squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37453361,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":2,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-26":2,"2024-10":1}}},"text":"Real-world assessment of immunogenicity in immunocompromised individuals following SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination: a one-year follow-up of the prospective clinical trial COVAXID.\nImmunocompromised patients have varying responses to SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination. However, there is limited information available from prospective clinical trial cohorts with respect to long-term immunogenicity-related responses in these patient groups following three or four vaccine doses, and in applicable cases infection. In a real-world setting, we assessed the long-term immunogenicity-related responses in patients with primary and secondary immunodeficiencies from the prospective open-label clinical trial COVAXID. The original clinical trial protocol included two vaccine doses given on days 0 and 21, with antibody titres measured at six different timepoints over six months. The study cohort has subsequently been followed for one year with antibody responses evaluated in relation to the third and fourth vaccine dose, and in applicable cases SARS-CoV-2 infection. In total 356\/539 patients were included in the extended cohort. Blood samples were analysed for binding antibody titres and neutralisation against the Spike protein for all SARS-CoV-2 variants prevailing during the study period, including Omicron subvariants. SARS-CoV-2 infections that did not require hospital care were recorded through quarterly in-person, or phone-, interviews and assessment of IgG antibody titres against SARS-CoV-2 Nucleocapsid. The original clinical trial was registered in EudraCT (2021-000175-37) and clinicaltrials.gov (NCT04780659). The third vaccine dose significantly increased Spike IgG titres against all the SARS-CoV-2 variants analysed in all immunocompromised patient groups. Similarly, neutralisation also increased against all variants studied, except for Omicron. Omicron-specific neutralisation, however, increased after a fourth dose as well as after three doses and infection in many of the patient subgroups. Noteworthy, however, while many patient groups mounted strong serological responses after three and four vaccine doses, comparably weak responders were found among patient subgroups with specific primary immunodeficiencies and subgroups with immunosuppressive medication. The study identifies particularly affected patient groups in terms of development of long-term immunity among a larger group of immunocompromised patients. In particular, the results highlight poor vaccine-elicited neutralising responses towards Omicron subvariants in specific subgroups. The results provide additional knowledge of relevance for future vaccination strategies. The present studies were supported by grants from the Swedish Research Council, the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, Nordstjernan AB, Region Stockholm, and Karolinska Institutet.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8355996,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The influence of host blood on infection rates in Glossina morsitans sspp. infected with Trypanosoma congolense, T. brucei and T. simiae.\nTrypanosoma congolense, T. brucei and T. simiae isolated from wild-caught Glossina pallidipes were fed to laboratory-reared G. morsitans centralis and G.m. morsitans to determine the effect of host blood at the time of the infective feed on infection rates. Bloodstream forms of trypanosomes were membrane-fed to flies either neat, or mixed with blood from cows, goats, pigs, buffalo, eland, waterbuck and oryx. The use of different bloods for the infective feed resulted in differences in infection rates that were repeatable for both tsetse subspecies and most parasite stocks. Goat, and to a lesser extent, pig blood facilitated infection, producing high infection rates at low parasitaemias. Blood from cows and the wildlife species produced low infection rates, with eland blood producing the lowest. Addition of D(+)-glucosamine (an inhibitor of tsetse midgut lectin) increased infection rates in most cases. These results indicate the presence of species-specific factors in blood that affect trypanosome survival in tsetse. In certain hosts, factors actually appear to promote infection. The nature of these factors and how they might interact with midgut lectins and proteases are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14529561,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Macrophage migration inhibitory factor: a neuroendocrine modulator of chronic inflammation.\nThe diverse actions of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) within the immuno-neuroendocrine system are yet to be fully understood, but it is clear that MIF plays a pivotal role in the regulation of both the innate and adaptive immune response. An emerging body of data presently indicates that MIF's position within the cytokine cascade is to act in concert with glucocorticoids to control the 'set point' and magnitude of the immune and inflammatory response. In this article we will review the actions of MIF within the immune system and discuss the overlapping and contrasting aspects of MIF and glucocorticoid biology. In particular we will focus on the role of MIF within the immuno-neuroendocrine interface and suggest molecular mechanisms by which MIF may counter-regulate glucocorticoid function. Finally we will discuss emerging evidence that functional MIF gene-promoter polymorphisms render one susceptible to elevated MIF expression, and the development of an exaggerated immune\/inflammatory response that potentiates the progression to chronic inflammatory disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25415421,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"How does the timing of antiretroviral therapy initiation in acute infection affect HIV reservoirs?\nThe long-lived viral reservoir is a major obstacle to achieving a cure for HIV. Therapeutic strategies, such as early antiretroviral therapy (ART), may be a prerequisite to achieving long-term control of viral replication upon ART withdrawal. HIV persistence is established early in acute HIV infection (AHI) with infection in long-lived memory CD4\u207a T cells. Studies conducted in nonhuman primates have suggested that this could occur as early as 3 days postinfection; however, the timing in humans is uncertain. ART during AHI significantly restricts the HIV reservoirs as compared with later treatment. Early ART, particularly prior to the detection of HIV immunoglobulin M, may also reduce the contribution of the long-lived central memory CD4\u207a T cells to the total HIV reservoir, a profile observed in individuals who naturally control HIV without ART. It is clear that early ART has a greater impact in limiting the HIV reservoirs than later treatment. However, latently infected long-lived memory CD4\u207a T cells persist in most early treated individuals. Therefore, additional interventions will likely be required to eliminate all cells capable of producing replication-competent virus but treatment in AHI may be the critical first step in containing the HIV reservoirs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28341520,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3,"dup_dump_count":2,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1,"2024-30":1}}},"text":"In silico prediction of the effects of mutations in the human triose phosphate isomerase gene: Towards a predictive framework for TPI deficiency.\nTriose phosphate isomerase (TPI) deficiency is a rare, but highly debilitating, inherited metabolic disease. Almost all patients suffer severe neurological effects and the most severely affected are unlikely to live beyond early childhood. Here, we describe an in silico study into well-characterised variants which are associated with the disease alongside an investigation into 79 currently uncharacterised TPI variants which are known to occur in the human population. The majority of the disease-associated mutations affected amino acid residues close to the dimer interface or the active site. However, the location of the altered amino acid residue did not predict the severity of the resulting disease. Prediction of the effect on protein stability using a range of different programs suggested a relationship between the degree of instability caused by the sequence variation and the severity of the resulting disease. Disease-associated variations tended to affect well-conserved residues in the protein's sequence. However, the degree of conservation of the residue was not predictive of disease severity. The majority of the 79 uncharacterised variants are potentially associated with disease since they were predicted to destabilise the protein and often occur in well-conserved residues. We predict that individuals homozygous for the corresponding mutations would be likely to suffer from TPI deficiency.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9562655,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Markers of tissue response to thyroid hormones in patients with hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism.\nChanges in serum cholesterol and aminoterminal type III procollagen propeptide (PIIIPN) were compared in 33 patients with hyperthyroidism, 16 patients with hypothyroidism, and 23 healthy individuals. An increase in PIIIPN was found in patients with hyperthyroidism and an increase in serum cholesterol level was associated with hypothyroidism. There was no correlation between investigated indices. It is suggested that PIIIPN changes were a result of altered connective tissue metabolism, while serum cholesterol was related to the intensity of body metabolism.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":2786618,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"2-Aminopurine abolishes epidermal growth factor-stimulated phosphorylation of complexed and chromatin-associated forms of a 33 kDa phosphoprotein.\nWe have recently reported that several purified polypeptide mitogens such as epidermal growth factor, embryonal carcinoma-derived growth factor, basic fibroblast growth factor and Bombesin induce the rapid appearance of a 33 kDa chromatin-associated phosphoprotein in the nuclei of murine fibroblasts. We show here that in both mouse and human cell lines, a second form of the 33 kDa phosphoprotein exists in a detergent-extractable complexed form which may be pelleted by ultracentrifugation. When quiescent [32P]-labelled cells are treated with EGF, both complexed and chromatin-associated forms of the labelled phosphoprotein are detectable within 10 min, the response peaking at about 1 h and being substantially over 3 h after EGF stimulation. By chymotryptic and cyanogen bromide phosphopeptide mapping studies, the two forms of the 33 kDa phosphoprotein are indistinguishable, as are the mouse and human forms of the protein. The protein kinase inhibitor 2-aminopurine, which has recently been shown to block growth factor-stimulated c-fos and c-myc induction, specifically abolishes the mitogen-stimulated appearance of both forms of the 33 kDa phosphoprotein without affecting the phosphorylation of other cellular proteins. The 33 kDa protein has been purified from Hela cells by a combination of sucrose density gradient centrifugation, preparative electrophoresis and reverse-phase HPLC during which the protein is resolved into two closely-eluting peaks which differ markedly in their specific activity. These results are discussed in relation to the possible role of these events in coupling growth factor-receptor interaction at the cell surface to the early responses of transcriptional activation in the nucleus.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37448361,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Use of Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Experimental Ovarian Damage.\nBisphenol-A (BPA) has a well-proven deleterious effect on the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis. The current study investigated the therapeutic potentials of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in a murine model of BPA-induced ovarian damage. Fifty adult female rats were divided into: Group 1; control group, Group IIa, IIb: rats were given oral gavage of BPA (25 and 50 mg\/Kg body weight respectively) on a daily basis for 15 days, and Group IIIa, IIIb; rats were intravenously treated with of MSCs (106 cells) after receiving the last dose of BPA as in group II. Plasma and ovarian tissue levels of Malondialdehyde (MDA) and gonadal axis hormones were assessed. Apoptosis was evaluated by TUNNEL assay and by apoptosis markers (FAS, FASL, Caspase 3, SLTM). A histological examination of ovarian tissue was also conducted. BPA resulted in a significant elevation in plasma levels of LH, FSH, and ovarian tissue levels of MDA and a significant decrease in estradiol and progesterone. All genetic and protein markers of apoptosis were elevated in BPA treated group with decreased oestrogen receptor expression in the ovarian tissue. Increased apoptotic cells were confirmed by TUNEL assay. A high dose of BPA was able to increase the number of atretic follicles in the ovarian tissue whereas the numbers of primordial, primary, secondary and Graafian follicles were decreased. All the laboratory and histological abnormalities were ameliorated by treatment with MSCs. The antioxidant and anti-apoptotic effects of MSCs could possibly explain the ability of this therapeutic modality to ameliorate BPA-induced-ovarian damage.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20369031,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Predisposing, Enabling, and Reinforcing Factors Associated with Mammography Referrals in U.S. Primary Care Practices.\nOBJECTIVE: We examined how predisposing, enabling and reinforcing factors influence mammography referrals by primary care physicians (PCPs). METHODS: Using the 2001-2003 National Ambulatory Medical Care and National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Surveys, we identified visits to office (n=8,756) and outpatient (n=17,067) PCPs by women\u226540 without breast symptoms or breast cancer. We examined mammography referrals by predisposing (age, race, ethnicity, education, chronic problem), enabling (income, payer, visits within 12 months, time with physician), and reinforcing factors (physician age, gender, specialty\/clinic, PCP status, region, MSA, solo\/group practice). Gender, specialty, physician age, time with physician and solo\/group were only in NAMCS. Clinic type was only in NHAMCS. We fitted logistic regression models adjusted for all factors and year. RESULTS: Office-based referrals were more likely during visits: for preventive or chronic care; with private payer vs self\/uninsured; by women with no visit within 12 months vs\u22653; lasting\u226515 minutes; to female PCPs; to PCPs aged \u226545; to gynecologists. Outpatient referrals were more likely during visits: by Hispanics; for preventive or chronic care; by women with no visit within 12 months; to one's own PCP; to gynecologic clinics; in the Northeast or Midwest. CONCLUSIONS: Reinforcing factors, in addition to predisposing and enabling factors, are associated with mammography referral. Interventions to increase referrals should consider provider factors and aspects of the healthcare environment, and recognize differences between settings. Efforts to facilitate referrals during chronic care visits or outpatient visits to non-PCP providers may provide opportunities to increase screening. Efforts are needed to ensure that uninsured women are receiving appropriate referrals.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28263374,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Determinants of Dropout and Nonadherence in a Dementia Prevention Randomized Controlled Trial: The Prevention of Dementia by Intensive Vascular Care Trial.\nTo explore and compare sociodemographic, clinical, and neuropsychiatric determinants of dropout and nonadherence in older people participating in an open-label cluster-randomized controlled trial-the Prevention of Dementia by Intensive Vascular care (preDIVA) trial-over 6 years. Secondary analysis. One hundred sixteen general practices in the Netherlands. Community-dwelling individuals aged 70 to 78 (N = 2,994). Nurse-led multidomain intervention targeting cardiovascular risk factors to prevent dementia. The associations between participant baseline sociodemographic (age, sex, education), clinical (medical history, disability, cardiovascular risk), neuropsychiatric (depressive symptoms (Geriatric Depression Scale-15), and cognitive (Mini-Mental State Examination)) characteristics and dropout from the trial and nonadherence to the trial intervention were explored using multilevel logistic regression models. Older age, poorer cognitive function, more symptoms of depression, and greater disability were the most important determinants of dropout of older people. The presence of cardiovascular risk factors was not associated with dropout but was associated with nonadherence. Being overweight was a risk factor for nonadherence, whereas people with high blood pressure or a low level of physical exercise adhered better to the intervention. The association between poorer cognitive function and symptoms of depression and dropout was stronger in the control group than in the intervention group, and vice versa for increased disability. In a large dementia prevention trial with 6-year follow-up, dropout was associated with older age, poorer cognitive function, symptoms of depression, and disability at baseline. These findings can help to guide the design of future dementia prevention trials in older adults. The associations found between cardiovascular risk factors and nonadherence need to be confirmed in other older populations receiving cardiovascular prevention interventions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9143018,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Age-related changes in the regulation of transcription factor NF-kappa B in rat brain.\nAging process involves an increase in stress at cellular level. We studied whether aging affects the regulation of stress responsive transcription factor NF-kappa B in brain samples of Wistar rats. Hippocampus, cerebellum, and temporal and frontal lobes of cortex were studied. We observed a significant up-regulation in the constitutive, nucleus-located NF-kappa B binding activity in 30-month-old Wistar rats compared to young and 18-month-old rats. The increase was most prominent in cerebellum and in frontal cortex, but age-related changes did not occur in hippocampus. Inducible, cytoplasmic NF-kappa B binding activity was not affected by aging in any of the samples studied. Western blot assays did not show any age-related changes in the nuclear level of p50, p52, and p65 protein components of NF-kappa B complex. Cytoplasmic level of inhibitory I kappa B-alpha was also unaffected. The increase in nuclear constitutive NF-kappa B binding activity during aging may be related to the NF-kappa B driven cellular response to adapt neurons against apoptotic pressure, as observed recently in several apoptotic conditions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28696260,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Biophysical analysis of Arabidopsis protein-only RNase P alone and in complex with tRNA provides a refined model of tRNA binding.\nRNase P is a universal enzyme that removes 5' leader sequences from tRNA precursors. The enzyme is therefore essential for maturation of functional tRNAs and mRNA translation. RNase P represents a unique example of an enzyme that can occur either as ribonucleoprotein or as protein alone. The latter form of the enzyme, called protein-only RNase P (PRORP), is widespread in eukaryotes in which it can provide organellar or nuclear RNase P activities. Here, we have focused on Arabidopsis nuclear PRORP2 and its interaction with tRNA substrates. Affinity measurements helped assess the respective importance of individual pentatricopeptide repeat motifs in PRORP2 for RNA binding. We characterized the PRORP2 structure by X-ray crystallography and by small-angle X-ray scattering in solution as well as that of its complex with a tRNA precursor by small-angle X-ray scattering. Of note, our study reports the first structural data of a PRORP-tRNA complex. Combined with complementary biochemical and biophysical analyses, our structural data suggest that PRORP2 undergoes conformational changes to accommodate its substrate. In particular, the catalytic domain and the RNA-binding domain can move around a central hinge. Altogether, this work provides a refined model of the PRORP-tRNA complex that illustrates how protein-only RNase P enzymes specifically bind tRNA and highlights the contribution of protein dynamics to achieve this specific interaction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6164286,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Patterns of vascular sprouting in the postnatal development of the cerebral cortex of the rat.\nLight microscopic histochemistry for alkaline phosphatase was employed in a study of the development of vascular sprouting, with respect to time and distribution, inthe rat cerebral cortex. Sprouts were counted in the full thickness of the cerebral cortex at each day from birth to 21 days of age. Several distinct bursts of sprouting activity were observed at specific times and levels of cortex. From birth to 4 days of age, sprouting was intense in the superficial third of the cortex. At 7 to 8 days, a burst of sprouting was found which was greatest in the middle third. Additional bursts of sprouting appeared at 10 and 14 days. Developing vessels with characteristics of arteries, capillaries, or sprouts were alkaline-phosphatase positive, while veins were not. It is concluded that alkaline phosphatase is a useful marker for identification of both mature and immature vasculature, as it reveals patent and nonpatent vessels, and the sprouts which are precursors of the mature vascular bed. New vessels developing in the cortex arise mainly from blind sprouts of capillaries, evidently in response to the metabolic demands imposed by the maturational process. At birth, the majority of intracortical vessels are capillaries. By 10 days of age, most perforating vessels from the surface have taken on arterial or venous characteristics. The findings are discussed in connection with morphological and biochemical differentiation and the pattern of vascularization in the mature cerebral cortex.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29565207,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"RNA Analysis as a Tool to Determine Clinically Relevant Gene Fusions and Splice Variants.\n- Technologic advances have contributed to the increasing relevance of RNA analysis in clinical oncology practice. The different genetic aberrations that can be screened with RNA include gene fusions and splice variants. Validated methods of identifying these alterations include fluorescence in situ hybridization, immunohistochemistry, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, and next-generation sequencing, which can provide physicians valuable information on disease and treatment of cancer patients. - To discuss the standard techniques available and new approaches for the identification of gene fusions and splice variants in cancer, focusing on RNA analysis and how analytic methods have evolved in both tissue and liquid biopsies. - This is a narrative review based on PubMed searches and the authors' own experiences. - Reliable RNA-based testing in tissue and liquid biopsies can inform the diagnostic process and guide physicians toward the best treatment options. Next-generation sequencing methodologies permit simultaneous assessment of molecular alterations and increase the number of treatment options available for cancer patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21750592,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Yaws in Polynesia's Wallis and Futuna Islands: a seroprevalence survey.\nWe carried out a serological and clinical survey to determine the prevalence and clinical presentation of yaws on two twin islands in Polynesia: Wallis and Futuna. A total of 264 serum samples were tested for specific Treponema pallidum haemagglutinations assay and non-specific rapid plasma reagin: 52 were positive for one or both tests; only one young adult had skin lesion consistent with yaws; and there were no observed cases of secondary or tertiary yaws. Our results contrast with findings in neighbouring islands, such as Vanuatu, where yaws has been reported to resurge. This difference might be explained by better availability and accessibility of healthcare on Wallis and Futuna, thus allowing widespread use of antibiotics for other bacterial diseases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12017347,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and safety of the 5-HT(1B\/1D) agonist eletriptan following intravenous and oral administration.\nFour separate studies were conducted to examine the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics (PK), and pharmacodynamics (PD) of eletriptan, a 5-HT(1B\/1D) receptor agonist being developed for the treatment of migraines, after oral and intravenous administration. Fifty-five males received oral (1.5-30 mg or 30-120 mg) or intravenous (1.67-50 microg\/kg or 50-102 microg\/kg) eletriptan in four double- and single-blind, placebo-controlled, ascending-dose crossover studies. The maximum plasma concentration (Cmax) and area under the concentration curve (AUC) appeared linear over all dose ranges, with an apparent terminal half-life of 4 to 5 hours. Clearance and volume of distribution remained constant with dose. The time to first occurrence of Cmax (tmax) for oral eletriptan was approximately 1 hour and was unaffected by dose. Comparison of AUC values suggested an absolute bioavailability of approximately 50%. A linear PK\/PD model, fitted to the data, predicted small, transient elevations in diastolic blood pressure following eletriptan doses > or = 60 mg. These effects were considered unlikely to be clinically significant. Eletriptan was well tolerated, and treatment-related adverse events were mild to moderate and transient. These PK properties should result in eletriptan having a rapid onset and sustained duration of action in terms of migraine efficacy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21165199,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Treatment outcomes of retrograde intrarenal surgery for renal stones and predictive factors of stone-free.\nThe aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of retrograde intrarenal surgery (RIRS) for the treatment of renal stones and to analyze the predictive factors for stone-free. We retrospectively reviewed the records of patients who underwent RIRS for renal stones from January 2000 to July 2009. We identified 66 RIRSs (63 patients with 3 bilateral renal stones) and collected data. Stone-free and success were respectively defined as no visible stones and clinically insignificant residual stones less than 3 mm on postoperative imaging; predictive factors for stone-free were evaluated. Of the 66 renal stones, 18 stones (27.3%) were located in the upper pole or midpole or renal pelvis and 48 (72.7%) in the lower pole with or without others, respectively. The mean cumulative stone burden was 168.9\u00b1392.5 mm(2). The immediate postoperative stone-free rate was 69.7%, and it increased to 72.7% at 1 month after surgery. The success rate was 80.3% both immediately after the operation and 1 month later. In the multivariate analysis, stone location except at the lower pole (p=0.049) and small cumulative stone burden (p=0.002) were significantly favorable predictive factors for the immediate postoperative stone-free rate. The overall complication rate was 6%. RIRS is a safe and effective treatment for renal stones. The stone-free rate of RIRS was particularly high for renal stones with a small burden, except for those located in the lower pole. RIRS could be considered in selective patients with renal stones.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35126683,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Intra-articular placebo effect in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis: a survey of the current clinical evidence.\nKnee osteoarthritis (KOA) is a debilitating disease characterized by chronic pain, stiffness, and decreased mobility. Intra-articular injectable therapies show good clinical efficacy in improving symptoms; however, these therapies and their comparators (intra-articular saline) have been associated with a large underlying placebo effect. We aimed to describe the existing evidence on the challenges, hypotheses, and potential solutions to mitigate the intra-articular placebo effect in clinical trials in KOA. A targeted literature review was conducted by searching Embase, MEDLINE\u00ae, and CENTRAL using predefined study selection criteria. All eligible studies identified were extracted for relevant data, and results were narratively summarized. Forty-three studies were included following screening. Challenges associated with the intra-articular placebo effect included its ability to mask the comparative efficacy of active treatments in trials (n = 7 studies), long-lasting effects (up to 6 months; n = 3), and substantial variation of placebo effect sizes across populations (n = 3). Hypotheses for the mechanism of the placebo effect included aspiration of synovial fluid during administration (n = 6) and dilution of inflammatory mediators (n = 2). Factors affecting the placebo effect size were more invasive routes of administration (e.g., injection versus oral; n = 4) and patient expectations (n = 2). Proposed solutions included the suggestion for readers to weigh the relevance of clinical trial evidence against the presence of large underlying placebo effects (n = 9), discontinuation of intra-articular saline as an appropriate placebo (n = 5), and inclusion of 'no treatment' or sham injection as a control (n = 4). The intra-articular placebo effect is a well-documented occurrence in KOA clinical trials, and it is suggested that it be accounted for when designing randomized controlled trials. Awareness and understanding of the intra-articular placebo effect in KOA are required for fair interpretation of clinical trial evidence.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31243073,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"High BMI is associated with low ALS risk: A population-based study.\nTo investigate the temporal relationship among prediagnostic body mass index (BMI), weight change, and risk of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). From the compulsory Norwegian tuberculosis screening program, we collected objectively measured BMI from 85% of all citizens (near 1.5 million) between 20 and 70 years of age living in 18 of 19 Norwegian counties between 1963 and 1975. For those who participated in later health surveys, we collected further information on weight change, lifestyle, and health. We identified ALS cases until September 2017 through national registries of diagnoses at death and at encounters with the specialist health service. Both Cox hazard models and flexible parametric survival models were fitted to address our research question. We identified 2,968 ALS cases during a mean of 33 (maximum 54) years follow-up. High prediagnostic BMI was associated with low subsequent ALS risk across the typical ALS ages in both sexes. Overall, hazard ratio (HR) for ALS per 5-unit increase in prediagnostic BMI was 0.83 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.79-0.88). After an initial increase during the first 10 years, it decreased almost linearly throughout the observation period and was 0.69 (95% CI 0.62-0.77) after 50 years. Those in the quartile with highest weight gain had lower ALS risk than those in the lowest quartile (HR 0.63, 95% CI 0.44-0.89). High BMI and weight gain are associated with low ALS risk several decades later. The strength of the association between BMI and ALS risk increases up to 50 years after BMI measurement.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28586824,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Downside of Greater Lexical Influences: Selectively Poorer Speech Perception in Noise.\nAlthough lexical information influences phoneme perception, the extent to which reliance on lexical information enhances speech processing in challenging listening environments is unclear. We examined the extent to which individual differences in lexical influences on phonemic processing impact speech processing in maskers containing varying degrees of linguistic information (2-talker babble or pink noise). Twenty-nine monolingual English speakers were instructed to ignore the lexical status of spoken syllables (e.g., gift vs. kift) and to only categorize the initial phonemes (\/g\/ vs. \/k\/). The same participants then performed speech recognition tasks in the presence of 2-talker babble or pink noise in audio-only and audiovisual conditions. Individuals who demonstrated greater lexical influences on phonemic processing experienced greater speech processing difficulties in 2-talker babble than in pink noise. These selective difficulties were present across audio-only and audiovisual conditions. Individuals with greater reliance on lexical processes during speech perception exhibit impaired speech recognition in listening conditions in which competing talkers introduce audible linguistic interferences. Future studies should examine the locus of lexical influences\/interferences on phonemic processing and speech-in-speech processing.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25430035,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Survival analysis of gastric cancer patients during 2005-2010 in Zhejiang Province, China].\nTo conduct a survival analysis of gastric cancer patients according to the data of population-based cancer registry during 2005-2010 in Zhejiang Province in order to provide information for prognosis assessment and control of this disease. The deadline of the last follow-up of 26, 536 patients was December 31st, 2012. Cumulative observed survival rate (OSR) and expected survival rate were calculated by life table and Hakulinen method. the 1-, 3-, and 5-year OSR were 58.51%, 39.07%, and 33.08%, and the 1-, 3-, and 5-year relative survival rates (RSR) were 60.24%, 42.90%, and 39.03%, respectively. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year relative survival rates of males vs. females were 60.49% vs. 59.65%, 42.88% vs. 42.96%, and 38.76% vs. 39.64%, respectively, statistically with non-significant differences (\u03c7(2) = 0.13, P > 0.05) between them. The 5-year OSR and RSR of urban patients were 39.15% and 46.30%, and the 5-year OSR and RSR of rural patients were 30.81% and 36.32%, with statistically significant differences between them (P < 0.05). The 15-44 age group had a better relative survival rate. The survival rate of gastric cancer patients in Zhejiang Province is low. Work of cancer prevention and control should be strengthened. The wide variation in gastric cancer survival rates between urban and rural patients indicates that priority should be given to rural areas in allocating medical and public health resources.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35366933,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-26":1,"unknown":3}}},"text":"A Bayesian evolutionary model towards understanding wildlife contribution to F4-family Mycobacterium bovis transmission in the South-West of France.\nIn two \"d\u00e9partements\" in the South-West of France, bovine tuberculosis (bTB) outbreaks due to Mycobacterium bovis spoligotype SB0821 have been identified in cattle since 2002 and in wildlife since 2013. Using whole genome sequencing, the aim of our study was to clarify badger contribution to bTB transmission in this area. We used a Bayesian evolutionary model, to infer phylogenetic trees and migration rates between two pathogen populations defined by their host-species. In order to account for sampling bias, sub-population structure was inferred using the marginal approximation of the structured coalescent (Mascot) implemented in BEAST2. We included 167 SB0821 strains (21 isolated from badgers and 146 from cattle) and identified 171 single nucleotide polymorphisms. We selected a HKY model and a strict molecular clock. We estimated a badger-to-cattle transition rate (median: 2.2 transitions\/lineage\/year) 52 times superior to the cattle-to-badger rate (median: 0.042 transitions\/lineage\/year). Using the maximum clade credibility tree, we identified that over 75% of the lineages from 1989 to 2000 were present in badgers. In addition, we calculated a median of 64 transition events from badger-to-cattle (IQR: 10-91) and a median of zero transition event from cattle-to-badger (IQR: 0-3). Our model enabled us to infer inter-species transitions but not intra-population transmission as in previous epidemiological studies, where relevant units were farms and badger social groups. Thus, while we could not confirm badgers as possible intermediaries in farm-to-farm transmission, badger-to-cattle transition rate was high and we confirmed long-term presence of M. bovis in the badger population in the South-West of France.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1098002,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Chronic vulvovaginitis in children due to Shigella flexneri.\nAlthough previous reports have implicated Shigella flexneri in resistant or chronic cases of vulvovaginitis in children, no authors have described the clinical findings of this condition. The report presents four cases of persistent vulvovaginitis in prepubertal Indian girls from different reservation communities in Arizona. S. flexneri was isolated in pure culture from the vaginal discharge of each patient. All four cases were characterized by a prolonged vaginitis with a bloody, purulent discharge which responded poorly or not at all to various topical modes of therapy for nonspecific vaginitis. Three cases cleared completely when treated with orally given ampicillin for one week. The striking similarity of these cases suggests that chronic Shigella vulvovaginitis is a recognizable clinical entity and should be considered in the differential diagnosis of persistent vaginitis in children, especially in those from communities where Shigella is endemic.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11984803,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Topical topic: value of fine needle aspiration biopsy in childhood rhabdomyosarcoma: twenty-six years of experience in Slovenia.\nChemotherapy (Cht) for rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) given before local treatment can prevent mutilating surgery and high-dose irradiation (RT). Fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) can confirm the diagnosis and neoadjuvant treatment can start without delay. The purpose of our study was to assess the role of FNAB in the management of childhood RMS in Slovenia. A total of 78 children and young adults were included. FNAB provided the pre-treatment diagnosis in 37 and surgical biopsy in 41 patients. In 61 cases recurrent\/metastatic disease was aspirated. Cytological diagnoses were compared to the original histological diagnoses. All case histories, cytological and histological material were reviewed and immunocytochemical staining performed when necessary. FNAB provided a correct diagnosis of malignancy in all 37 primary tumours, a specific diagnosis of RMS was given in 29 (78%). With the use of immunocytochemistry during the last 15 years, the accuracy has risen to 87%. FNAB provided the diagnosis of recurrence\/metastasis in 57\/61 cases. No complications of FNAB were noted. Review of histology reclassified five original diagnoses of RMS into one malignant rhabdoid tumour and four sarcomas NOS. In review of cytology we were able to sub classify 80% of RMS. FNAB is a safe method, which enables us to establish the pre-treatment diagnosis of RMS, and to some extent even its type, without delay. In our study, FNAB successfully replaced surgical biopsy in 87% of RMS patients during the last 15 years. Neoadjuvant Cht was started immediately, surgery was delayed and more conservative. Consequently, the risk for treatment sequelae was considerably reduced.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20365430,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cellular automaton model of damage.\nWe investigate the role of equilibrium methods and stress transfer range in describing the process of damage. We find that equilibrium approaches are not applicable to the description of damage and the catastrophic failure mechanism if the stress transfer is short ranged. In the long-range limit, equilibrium methods apply only if the healing mechanism associated with ruptured elements is instantaneous. Furthermore we find that the nature of the catastrophic failure depends strongly on the stress transfer range. Long-range transfer systems have a failure mechanism that resembles nucleation. In short-range stress transfer systems, the catastrophic failure is a continuous process that, in some respects, resembles a critical point.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37847636,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"On Exploring Multiplicity of Primitives and Attributes for Texture Recognition in the Wild.\nTexture recognition is a challenging visual task since its multiple primitives or attributes can be perceived from the texture image under different spatial contexts. Existing approaches predominantly built upon CNN incorporate rich local descriptors with orderless aggregation to capture invariance to the spatial layout. However, these methods ignore the inherent structure relation organized by primitives and the semantic concept described by attributes, which are critical cues for texture representation. In this paper, we propose a novel Multiple Primitives and Attributes Perception network (MPAP) that extracts features by modeling the relation of bottom-up structure and top-down attribute in a multi-branch unified framework. A bottom-up process is first proposed to capture the inherent relation of various primitive structures by leveraging structure dependency and spatial order information. Then, a top-down process is introduced to model the latent relation of multiple attributes by transferring attribute-related features between adjacent branches. Moreover, an augmentation module is devised to bridge the gap between high-level attributes and low-level structure features. MPAP can learn representation through jointing bottom-up and top-down processes in a mutually reinforced manner. Experimental results on six challenging texture datasets demonstrate the superiority of MPAP over state-of-the-art methods in terms of accuracy, robustness, and efficiency.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14523911,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"NMR spectroscopy of RNA.\nNMR spectroscopy is a powerful tool for studying proteins and nucleic acids in solution. This is illustrated by the fact that nearly half of all current RNA structures were determined by using NMR techniques. Information about the structure, dynamics, and interactions with other RNA molecules, proteins, ions, and small ligands can be obtained for RNA molecules up to 100 nucleotides. This review provides insight into the resonance assignment methods that are the first and crucial step of all NMR studies, into the determination of base-pair geometry, into the examination of local and global RNA conformation, and into the detection of interaction sites of RNA. Examples of NMR investigations of RNA are given by using several different RNA molecules to illustrate the information content obtainable by NMR spectroscopy and the applicability of NMR techniques to a wide range of biologically interesting RNA molecules.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28304926,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"A high-resolution morphogenetic map of the second-leg basitarsus inDrosophila melanogaster.\nThe lineages of cells on the second-leg basitarsus ofDrosophila melanogaster were analyzed by examining gynandromorphs andMinute mosaics. Bracts lie proximal to bristles on the adult basitarsus, yet bract precursor cells were found to originate lateral to bristle precursor cells. In 6 of the 8 longitudinal rows of bristles on this segment, the bract cells arise ventral to the bristle cells; in the others they arise dorsally. The lateral cell origins are interpreted as reflecting a pattern of lateral cell movements associated with evagination of the leg disc. An unusual discrepancy was observed in the relative frequencies of male vs. female bracts and bristles in gynandromorphs. The discrepancy suggests that there is a cell-autonomous sexual difference in either the time at which cells begin moving during evagination or the speed with which they move.On the basis of the results, it is reasoned that the bristle pattern of the basitarsus does not originate in its final form. Prior to evagination, the bristle cells of each row are apparently closer together than in the final pattern, and the rows are farther apart. Evidence is presented which suggests that the bristle cells of each row may originally be arranged in a jagged line which is later straightened by cell movements.The two locations where the anterior\/posterior compartment boundary of the second leg passes through the basitarsus were found to vary relative to the bristle pattern. If this boundary is assumed to be a fixed line of positional values, then the extent of the observed variability - which is estimated to be \u00b1 1 or 2 cell diameters - provides a measure of the precision of patterning around the circumference.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11641032,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Behavior in term, small for gestational age preschoolers.\nTo evaluate whether being born small for gestational age (SGA) was associated with an increased frequency of preschool behavioral problems. Follow-up study at 5 years of age. A population based cohort of 318 term infants who were SGA, defined as having a birthweight less than the 15th percentile for gestational age, and without major handicap such as cerebral palsy or mental retardation, and a random control sample of 307 appropriate for gestational age (AGA) infants. The Personality Inventory for Children and the Yale Children's Inventory (completed by the mothers), and child behavior during psychometric testing. Behavior problems was not more common among the SGA children. The results were not confounded by a wide range of parental demographic and child rearing factors, including maternal non-verbal problem solving abilities, child rearing style, and maternal psychological distress. However, the parental factors explained 13% of the variance in a summary score of child behavior compared to 1% explained by SGA vs. AGA status. The SGA children were not more sensitive to the negative impacts of parental risk factors than AGA controls. The study does not address the outcome of severely growth-retarded SGA infants. Being born moderately SGA is not a significant risk factor for preschool behavior problems.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28544124,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Secondary-Structure-Driven Self-Assembly of Reactive Polypept(o)ides: Controlling Size, Shape, and Function of Core Cross-Linked Nanostructures.\nAchieving precise control over the morphology and function of polymeric nanostructures during self-assembly remains a challenge in materials as well as biomedical science, especially when independent control over particle properties is desired. Herein, we report on nanostructures derived from amphiphilic block copolypept(o)ides by secondary-structure-directed self-assembly, presenting a strategy to adjust core polarity and function separately from particle preparation in a bioreversible manner. The peptide-inherent process of secondary-structure formation allows for the synthesis of spherical and worm-like core-cross-linked architectures from the same block copolymer, introducing a simple yet powerful approach to versatile peptide-based core-shell nanostructures.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1155168,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Selective localization of histamine to electron dense granules in antigen-challenged sensitized rat mast cells and to similar granules isolated from sonicated mast cells. An electron microscope autoradiographic study.\nThe subcellular localization of histamine was studied in sensitized rat mast cells following antigen challenge and in granules obtained from sonicated cells, using an electron microscope autoradiographic technique. The mast cells were furnished with labelled histamine by incubation in 3-H-histidine. The silver grain distribution (reflecting the radioactive histamine) was highly non-random. The highest silver grain densities occured over homogeneous, electron dense (normal) granules and moderately electron dense granules. Swollen, less electron dense (\"changed\") granules with a reticular appearance and devoid of a limiting membrane had the lowest density of all subcellular structures studied and were therefore probably almost free of histamine. There was a good correlation between the percentage of electron dense granules, the histamine content and the silver grain density insaline-washed granule fractions isolated after sonication of mast cells for different times. These results support the hypothesis that histamine release occurs during the sequential exocytosis of storage granules, and during the sonication of mast cells, probably as a cation exchange between the amine, which is ionically bound to the heparin-protein complex of the granule matrix, and cations from the extracellular fluid. The exchanges will occur as soon as the perigranular membrane becomes premeable to water and cations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25419910,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Disordered interdomain region of Gins is important for functional tetramer formation to stimulate MCM helicase in Thermoplasma acidophilum.\nThe eukaryotic MCM is activated by forming the CMG complex with Cdc45 and GINS to work as a replicative helicase. The eukaryotic GINS consists of four different proteins to form tetrameric complex. In contrast, the TaGins51 protein from the thermophilic archaeon, Thermoplasma acidophilum forms a homotetramer (TaGINS), and interacts with the cognate MCM (TaMCM) to stimulate the DNA-binding, ATPase, and helicase activities of TaMCM. All Gins proteins from Archaea and Eukarya contain \u03b1-helical A- and \u03b2-stranded B-domains. Here, we found that TaGins51 forms the tetramer without the B-domain. However, the A-domain without the linker region between the A- and B-domains could not form a stable tetramer, and furthermore, the A-domain by itself could not stimulate the TaMCM activity. These results suggest that the formation of the Gins51 tetramer is necessary for MCM activation, and the disordered linker region between the two domains is critical for the functional complex formation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9549577,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Malignant giant-cell tumours of bone. Clinico-pathological types and prognosis: a review of 29 cases.\nTwenty-nine patients with malignant giant-cell tumours of bone (GCT) were followed-up for between 6 months and 18 years. Seventeen of the tumours were primary and 12 were due to malignant degeneration of initially benign lesions. The clinical features did not differ from those of benign GCT, except for a higher incidence in the distal tibia and sacrum. Anaplastic GCTs were included in the study because their clinical and radiographic features and prognosis were no different from those of the GCT grade III of Jaffe. Eighteen of the tumours were grade III, and 11 were anaplastic. This retrospective study was intended to assess the effects of chemotherapy and surgery for malignant GCT. Three treatment groups were selected, in which treatment was either by surgery alone, surgery plus chemotherapy, or radiotherapy alone.--The prognosis was poor and the 5 year tumour-free survival rate in the series was 50%. The prognosis was the same for primary as for secondarily malignant tumours. There was no statistical difference in survival between malignant grade III and anaplastic malignant tumours. The one-year survival rate for patients treated by chemotherapy and surgery was statistically higher (chi2 test) than for persons treated by surgery alone. However, the five-year survival rate and the actuarial survival curves were not statistically different in the two groups (log rank test).--Chemotherapy appears to be of some value in the treatment of these malignant tumours but a larger series is required to confirm the efficacy of this approach.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14526570,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Sick building syndrome or fungal allergy? When houses cause illness].\nIn modern societies, the sick building syndrome (SBS) is a very common building-related complex of unspecific symptoms affecting groups of persons. Most frequently, complains include irritation of the eyes and respiratory tract that are believed to be related to negative ambient factors at the workplace. The etiology is multifactorial. In persons showing typical anxiety about the environment, SBS may also be considered a variant of a somatoform disorder. SBS must be clearly differentiated from building-related illness. Diagnostic measures and therapeutic implications are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37846638,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Concurrent Hospice Healthcare Utilization in the Hematology\/Oncology Veteran's Affairs Patient Population.\nObjectives: Concurrent care is a unique care delivery system that allows patients to receive disease modifying treatments and other supportive interventions while also receiving the traditional benefits of hospice care. The objectives of our observational study were to examine health care utilization, use of cancer-directed therapies and palliative interventions, and location of death in patients enrolled in concurrent care. Methods: 72 hematology-oncology patients at the Hines Veteran's Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) who enrolled in concurrent care from 12\/2018-4\/2021 were reviewed. Data were summarized with descriptive statistics including medians and percentages. Results: A minority of patients received cytotoxic chemotherapy (27.8%), immunotherapy (20.8%), palliative radiation (20.9%), blood products (11.1%), or invasive pain procedures (4.2%). Patients also used fewer cancer-directed treatments as they approached end of life (24.4% within 30 days of death compared to 13.3% within 14 days of death). Most patients died at home (62.9%) or in inpatient hospice (12.9%) as opposed to the hospital (2.9%). Conclusions: A minority of concurrent care patients received cancer-directed therapies or additional types of health care interventions despite the option to do so. Cancer-directed treatment utilization also decreased as patients approached end of life. Patients enrolled in concurrent care were able to appreciate its benefits for longer, as the average length of stay on concurrent care was nearly 3 months.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22666308,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Identification of functional differences in metabolic networks using comparative genomics and constraint-based models.\nGenome-scale network reconstructions are useful tools for understanding cellular metabolism, and comparisons of such reconstructions can provide insight into metabolic differences between organisms. Recent efforts toward comparing genome-scale models have focused primarily on aligning metabolic networks at the reaction level and then looking at differences and similarities in reaction and gene content. However, these reaction comparison approaches are time-consuming and do not identify the effect network differences have on the functional states of the network. We have developed a bilevel mixed-integer programming approach, CONGA, to identify functional differences between metabolic networks by comparing network reconstructions aligned at the gene level. We first identify orthologous genes across two reconstructions and then use CONGA to identify conditions under which differences in gene content give rise to differences in metabolic capabilities. By seeking genes whose deletion in one or both models disproportionately changes flux through a selected reaction (e.g., growth or by-product secretion) in one model over another, we are able to identify structural metabolic network differences enabling unique metabolic capabilities. Using CONGA, we explore functional differences between two metabolic reconstructions of Escherichia coli and identify a set of reactions responsible for chemical production differences between the two models. We also use this approach to aid in the development of a genome-scale model of Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002. Finally, we propose potential antimicrobial targets in Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Staphylococcus aureus based on differences in their metabolic capabilities. Through these examples, we demonstrate that a gene-centric approach to comparing metabolic networks allows for a rapid comparison of metabolic models at a functional level. Using CONGA, we can identify differences in reaction and gene content which give rise to different functional predictions. Because CONGA provides a general framework, it can be applied to find functional differences across models and biological systems beyond those presented here.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":10204410,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Development of a protective immunity against Ostertagia leptospicularis in trickle-infected sheep and parallel changes of serum gastrin, pepsinogen and antibody levels.\nNine lambs, approximately 9 months of age were allocated to three groups (A, B, C), with three animals in each. Sheep in Groups A and B were trickle-infected with doses of 1000 third-stage larvae (L3) of Ostertagia leptospicularis (five times per week) over periods of 7.5 and 10.5 weeks, respectively, and were subsequently treated with fenbendazole (7.5 mg\/kg). Approximately 3 weeks after anthelmintic treatment, all sheep were challenged with a single dose of 100,000 L3, whereas sheep of Group C received the same dose as a primary infection. Sheep of Groups A and B were almost completely refractory against the challenge infection, as indicated by negative faecal egg counts and adult worm burdens. A relatively high infection level was present in the sheep of Group C. The results indicate that a comparatively short immunization period of 7.5 weeks is sufficient to protect lambs against subsequent larval challenge. During immunization, the pepsinogen-, gastrin- and IgA-responses were similar in the individual sheep. In contrast to parasite-specific IgG1 and IgG2 levels, IgA decreased rapidly after cessation of trickle infection and parallel anthelmintic treatment, and may therefore indicate current exposure to parasite antigen. After challenge, the majority of the immunized sheep exhibited immediate and short-term responses of pepsinogen, gastrin and IgA in the serum. The time course and the level of each of these responses were very similar in the individual sheep, suggesting that the release of pepsinogen, gastrin and IgA into the circulation was influenced by related mechanisms.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34425721,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Organic food retailing: to what extent are foods processed and do they contain markers of ultra-processing?\nIn France, around 70% of conventional industrial foods are ultra-processed, with no data for organic foods. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the percentage of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) in industrially packaged organic (n = 8554) and conventional (n = 45,791) foods, and to describe their marker of ultra-processing (MUP) profiles. The percentage of UPFs and MUP profiles were determined with the Siga methodology. UPF percentages were 53% in organic foods and 74% in conventional foods, and there was 8% more organic UPFs in conventional stores than in organic stores. The more additive MUPs are used, the greater the quantity of nonadditive MUPs. Conventional UPFs contained twice as many total MUPs as organic UPFs. Main MUPs in organic UPFs were refined oils, extracts and natural aromas, native starches, glucose syrup, lecithins and citric acid. Organic foods are, therefore, overall less ultra-processed although still containing high levels of nonadditive MUPs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22687778,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Ferulic acid esters and weight-loss promoting effects in rats.\nWe previously fed rats with an ester (90 ppm in a powdered AIN93G diet) synthesized from gallic acid and 1,2-dioleoyl glycerol and found that it promoted weight loss more effectively than either octyl gallate or gallic acid. Here, we esterified ferulic acid (FerA) with oleic acid, monooleoyl glycerol and dioleoyl glycerol to obtain oleoyl ferulic acid (FO), feruloyl monooleoyl glycerol (FMO) and feruloyl dioleoyl glycerol (FDO) esters, respectively. A mixture of AIN93G and 90 ppm of each ester and FerA was fed to 10-week-old male Wistar rats for 12 weeks. The FMO and FDO groups weighed less than the control group starting from approximately 16 weeks of age. At 21 and 22 weeks of age, weight significantly differed between the FMO and both groups, respectively, and controls. The FO, FerA and control groups did not significantly differ in terms of body, liver, kidney and retroperitoneal fat tissue weights and serum biochemical findings. We concluded that the hydroxyl group of FerA is essential for promoting weight loss and that the carboxyl group should be esterified with alcohol. In addition, monooleoyl glycerol and dioleoyl glycerol did not show any difference as the alcohol moiety of the ester in the weight loss effect.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25429601,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"C-terminal binding proteins: central players in development and disease.\nC-terminal binding proteins (CtBPs) were initially identified as binding partners for the E1A-transforming proteins. Although the invertebrate genome encodes one CtBP protein, two CtBPs (CtBP1 and CtBP2) are encoded by the vertebrate genome and perform both unique and duplicative functions. CtBP1 and CtBP2 are closely related and act as transcriptional corepressors when activated by nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide binding to their dehydrogenase domains. CtBPs exert transcriptional repression primarily via recruitment of a corepressor complex to DNA that consists of histone deacetylases (HDACs) and histone methyltransferases, although CtBPs can also repress transcription through HDAC-independent mechanisms. More recent studies have demonstrated a critical function for CtBPs in the transcriptional repression of pro-apoptotic genes such as Bax, Puma, Bik, and Noxa. Nonetheless, although recent efforts have characterized the essential involvement of CtBPs in promoting cellular survival, the dysregulation of CtBPs in both neurodegenerative disease and cancers remains to be fully elucidated.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23885135,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"International Translation of Project EX: A Teen Tobacco Use Cessation Program.\nThere are relatively few documented teen tobacco use cessation efforts outside the United States (U.S.). Project EX is an evidence-based program that consists of eight sessions, as a school-based clinic tobacco cessation-only version and a classroom-based prevention and cessation version. This paper provides a 'snapshot' of progress on international translation of ProjectEXpilot study work in eight countries that have been approached thus far. The program was implemented in Wuhan, China; Israel and partners; Bashkortostan, Russia; and Elche, Spain. Implementation is planned for Vienna, Austria; Mumbai, India; and Bangkok, Thailand. This work will lead eventually to a greater understanding regarding preference for type of programming (e.g., clinic versus classroom modality), challenges in recruitment and retention, program receptivity, and short-term (approximately 3-month post-program) quit rates. Convenience samples are being recruited based on previous contacts with each location. A protocol was sent to each location, proposing a controlled design, in which subjects enter cessation groups or become a wait-list control, with an immediate pretest, posttest, and 3-month follow-up. Language translation of program materials was completed in seven of the eight locations. Several variations in design and implementation were demanded though. For example, youth fear of reporting tobacco publicly mandated to researchers that the prevention\/cessation classroom version be implemented in some locations (Israel and partners, and India). Program effects are suggested across countries. Ongoing partnerships with parties actively involved in tobacco control facilitate pilot testing of teen tobacco use cessation programming. The Project EX curriculum appears quite translatable, though having flexibility in implementation modality eased being able to pilot test the program. Research on this cognitive-behavioral, motivation enhancement approach continues.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12018146,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The care & feeding of employees. Putting together a winning team.\nFinding, training and ultimately retaining high quality employees is essential to the long-term growth and success of your dental practice. How should you begin this process? What are some of the key steps in the hiring process? Once you have found the \"perfect\" employee, what steps do you need to follow to insure his or her happiness as an employee? This article will explore each of these areas and provide dentists with vital information necessary for them to make the best possible hiring decisions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25512268,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Myocardial protection of remote ischemic postconditioning during primary percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction].\nTo evaluate the cardioprotection of remote ischemic postconditioning (RIPostC) in patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) who underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Forty-six STEMI patients undergoing primary PCI at Peking University Third Hospital from January to April 2014 were randomized to RIPostC group (n=23) and control group (n=23).The RIPostC protocol was started within 1 min after reflow by thrombus aspiration or balloon inflation and consisted of 3 cycles of 5 min\/5 min ischemia\/reperfusion by cuff inflation\/deflation of the lower left limb. The enzymatic infarct size, rate of complete ST segment resolution, corrected thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) frame count (CTFC) in infarct-related artery (IRA) and plasma levels of malondialdehyde(MDA), endothelin-1(ET-1), tumor necrosis factor \u03b1 (TNF\u03b1) of the two groups were compared. There was no significant difference in enzymatic infarct size between the two groups (P>0.05). The rate of complete ST-segment resolution was significantly higher in RIPostC group than in control group (60.9%vs. 30.4%,P=0.04). There was a trend toward lower CTFC in RIPostC group than that in control group, but the difference was not statistically significant(28 \u00b1 11 vs. 33 \u00b1 11, P = 0.10). However, in the subgroup of anterior wall myocardial infarction CTFC in RIPostC group was significantly lower, compared with control group (25\u00b19 vs. 39\u00b110, P=0.01).There were lower plasma levels of MDA,ET-1,TNF\u03b1 in RIPostC group than in control group at different time points after primary PCI (P<0.05). In STEMI patients undergoing primary PCI, RIPostC may improve myocardial perfusion and attenuate ischemia reperfusion injury with the underlying mechanisms involving reduction of oxidative stress, protection of endothelial function and inhibition of inflammatory response.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28713463,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cardiopulmonary Performance During Maximal Exercise in Soccer Players with Alterations in Renal Function.\nThe aim of this study was to evaluate the curves of cardiorespiratory variables during cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) in soccer players who had acute alterations in the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) after performing the pre-season training protocol. Sixteen male professional soccer players (25 \u00b1 3 years; 179 \u00b1 2 cm; and 77 \u00b1 6 kg) were evaluated for oxygen uptake (VO2), heart rate (HR) and pulse relative oxygen (relative O2 Pulse) curves with intervals corresponding to 10% of the total duration of CPET. Athletes were grouped according to the GFR and classified as decreased GFR (dGFR; n = 8) and normal GFR (nGFR; n = 8). Athletes from the dGFR group exhibited lower VO2 values (p < 0.05) when 90% (dGFR 49.8 \u00b1 4.0 vs. nGFR 54.4 \u00b1 6.1 ml\u00b7kg-1\u00b7min-1) and 100% (dGFR 52.6 \u00b1 4.1 vs. nGFR 57.4 \u00b1 5.9 ml\u00b7kg-1\u00b7min-1) of the test was complete; HR high values (p < 0.05) when 90% (dGFR 183.7 \u00b1 5.1 vs. nGFR 176.6 \u00b1 4.8 bpm-1) and 100% (dGFR 188.1 \u00b1 5.0 vs. nGFR 180.8 \u00b1 4.8 bpm-1) of the test was complete; and lower relative O2 Pulse values (p < 0.05) when 70% (dGFR 25.6 \u00b1 8.4 vs. nGFR 27.9 \u00b1 9.7 ml\u00b7beat-1\u00b7kg-1), 80% (dGFR 26.6 \u00b1 8.8 vs. nGFR 29.1 \u00b1 10.0 ml\u00b7beat-1\u00b7kg-1), 90% (dGFR 27.1 \u00b1 9.0 vs. nGFR 30.8 \u00b1 10.6 ml\u00b7beat-1\u00b7kg-1) and 100% (dGFR 28 \u00b1 9.2 vs. nGFR 31.8 \u00b1 10.9 ml\u00b7beat-1\u00b7kg-1) of the test was complete. A correlation was found (r = -0.66, R2 = 0.44, p = 0.00) between lower VO2 peak and elevated levels of urinary protein excretion. In conclusion, soccer players with reduced kidney function after performing the pre-season training protocol also presented alterations in cardiopulmonary variables. We suggest that monitoring of renal function may be used to identify less conditioned soccer players.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16230166,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor associated with renal cell carcinoma.\nA 46-year-old man was referred for evaluation of a 13-cm renal mass. Right radical nephrectomy was performed. Pathologic evaluation revealed inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT) and renal cell carcinoma. To our knowledge, only 28 cases of IMT associated with the kidney have been reported in published studies. This is the first reported case of IMT associated with malignancy in the urogenital tract. Some investigators have suggested that biopsy-proven IMT can be managed conservatively, but the findings of this report have demonstrated the need for radical nephrectomy in this patient population to rule out associated malignancy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6734211,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Vascular pathology in phenylbutazone intoxicated horses.\nThree mature Thoroughbred geldings were given 13.63 mg phenylbutazone\/Kg bodyweight intravenously for 3 days and repeated in one horse 4 days later. After 4, 7 and 10 days (double treatment), degeneration of the wall of small veins occurred in all horses. The veins were dilated and\/or showed hyalin degeneration. The phlebopathy was interpreted to be paramount in phenylbutazone intoxication. All other manifestations, including erythro- and leukodiapedesis, submucosal edema and ulceration of the gastrointestinal mucosa, phlebothrombosis and significant changes in the hemogram and serum chemistry, were considered secondary to the vein lesions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37445662,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Plastid Genome Evolution of Two Colony-Forming Benthic Ochrosphaera neapolitana Strains (Coccolithales, Haptophyta).\nCoccolithophores are well-known haptophytes that produce small calcium carbonate coccoliths, which in turn contribute to carbon sequestration in the marine environment. Despite their important ecological role, only two of eleven haptophyte plastid genomes are from coccolithophores, and those two belong to the order Isochrysidales. Here, we report the plastid genomes of two strains of Ochrosphaera neapolitana (Coccolithales) from Spain (CCAC 3688 B) and the USA (A15,280). The newly constructed plastid genomes are the largest in size (116,906 bp and 113,686 bp, respectively) among all the available haptophyte plastid genomes, primarily due to the increased intergenic regions. These two plastid genomes possess a conventional quadripartite structure with a long single copy and short single copy separated by two inverted ribosomal repeats. These two plastid genomes share 110 core genes, six rRNAs, and 29 tRNAs, but CCAC 3688 B has an additional CDS (ycf55) and one tRNA (trnL-UAG). Two large insertions at the intergenic regions (2 kb insertion between ycf35 and ycf45; 0.5 kb insertion in the middle of trnM and trnY) were detected in the strain CCAC 3688 B. We found the genes of light-independent protochlorophyllide oxidoreductase (chlB, chlN, and chlL), which convert protochlorophyllide to chlorophyllide during chlorophyll biosynthesis, in the plastid genomes of O. neapolitana as well as in other benthic Isochrysidales and Coccolithales species, putatively suggesting an evolutionary adaptation to benthic habitats.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37655988,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The pre-launch on-ground characterization of Ma_MISS spectrometer for ExoMars-Rosalind Franklin Rover mission. II. Radiometric calibration.\nThe Ma_MISS miniaturized spectrometer is integrated within the Drilling System of the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin Rover for Mars exploration. Here we focus on the on ground calibration campaign to obtain radiometric and linearity calibrations of the Ma_MISS instrument, while the first paper dealt with the spectral calibration [De Angelis et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum. 93, 123704 (2022)]. The experimental setup used to carry out radiometric calibration is described, as are the methods used for data processing and key parameter retrieval. In particular, the Spectrometer Transfer Function (Responsivity), Signal-to-Noise Ratio, and detector linearity are determined. In a third paper [De Sanctis et al., Planet. Sci. J. 3, 142 (2022)], validation of the Ma_MISS calibration results through spectral measurements performed on rock and synthetic targets during the radiometric calibration campaign is described.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28289579,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cognitive and physical functions related to the level of supervision and dependence in the toileting of stroke patients.\nThis study aimed to clarify which cognitive and physical factors are associated with the need for toileting assistance in stroke patients and to calculate cut-off values for discriminating between independent supervision and dependent toileting ability. This cross-sectional study included 163 first-stroke patients in nine convalescent rehabilitation wards. Based on their FIM\u24c7 instrument score for toileting, the patients were divided into an independent-supervision group and a dependent group. Multiple logistic regression analysis and receiver operating characteristic analysis were performed to identify factors related to toileting performance. The Minimental State Examination (MMSE); the Stroke Impairment Assessment Set (SIAS) score for the affected lower limb, speech, and visuospatial functions; and the Functional Assessment for Control of Trunk (FACT) were analyzed as independent variables. The multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the FIM\u24c7 instrument score for toileting was associated with the SIAS score for the affected lower limb function, MMSE, and FACT. On receiver operating characteristic analysis, the SIAS score for the affected lower limb function cut-off value was 8\/7 points, the MMSE cut-off value was 25\/24 points, and the FACT cut-off value was 14\/13 points. Affected lower limb function, cognitive function, and trunk function were related with the need for toileting assistance. These cut-off values may be useful for judging whether toileting assistance is needed in stroke patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20349952,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Topical delivery of interferon alpha by biphasic vesicles: evidence for a novel nanopathway across the stratum corneum.\nNoninvasive delivery of macromolecules across intact skin is challenging but would allow for needle-free administration of many pharmaceuticals. Biphasic vesicles, a novel lipid-based topical delivery system, have been shown to deliver macromolecules into the skin. Investigation of the delivery mechanism of interferon alpha (IFN alpha), as a model protein, by biphasic vesicles could improve understanding of molecular transport through the stratum corneum and allow for the design of more effective delivery systems. The interaction of biphasic vesicles with human skin and isolated stratum corneum membrane was investigated by confocal microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS and WAXS). Confocal microscopy revealed that biphasic vesicles delivered IFN alpha intercellularly, to a depth of 70 microm, well below the stratum corneum and into the viable epidermis. DSC and SAXS\/WAXS data suggest that the interaction of biphasic vesicles with SC lipids resulted in the formation of a three-dimensional cubic Pn3m polymorphic phase by the molecular rearrangement of intercellular lipids. This cubic phase could be an intercellular permeation nanopathway that may explain the increased delivery of IFN alpha by biphasic vesicles. Liposomes and submicrometer emulsion (the individual building blocks of biphasic vesicles) separately and methylcellulose gel, an alternative topical vehicle, did not induce a cubic phase and delivered low amounts of IFN alpha below the stratum corneum. Molecular modeling of the cubic Pn3m phase and lamellar-to-cubic phase transitions provides a plausible mechanism for transport of IFN alpha. It is hypothesized that induction of a Pn3m cubic phase in stratum corneum lipids could make dermal and transdermal delivery of other macromolecules also possible.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20358006,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Neuroanatomical study of periprostatic nerve distributions using human cadaver prostate.\nWe investigated the distribution and navigation of periprostatic nerve fibers and constructed a 3-dimensional model of nerve distribution. A total of 5 cadaver specimens were serially sectioned in a transverse direction with 0.5 cm intervals. Hematoxylineosin staining and immunohistochemical staining were then performed on whole-mount sections. Three representative slides from the base, mid-part, and apex of each prostate were subsequently divided into 4 sectors: two lateral, one ventral, and one dorsal (rectal) part. The number of nerve fibers, the distance from nerve fiber to prostate capsule, and the nerve fiber diameters were analyzed on each sector from the representative slides by microscopy. Periprostatic nerve fibers revealed a relatively even distribution in both lateral and dorsal parts of the prostate. There was no difference in the distances from the prostate capsule to nerve fibers. Nerve fibers in the ventral area were also thinner as compared to other areas. In conclusion, periprostatic nerve fibers were observed to be distributed evenly in the periprostatic area, with the exception of the ventral area. As the number of nerve fibers on the ventral part is fewer in comparison, an excessive high up incision is insignificant during the nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28719155,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Antipsychotic treatment is associated with inflammatory and metabolic biomarkers alterations among first-episode psychosis patients: A 7-month follow-up study.\nSecond-generation antipsychotics are commonly used to treat schizophrenia, but may cause metabolic syndrome (MetS) in a subset of patients. The mechanisms of antipsychotic-related metabolic changes remain to be established, especially in first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients. In the present study, we used a chip technology to measure metabolic (C-peptide, insulin, leptin, adiponectin and resistin) and inflammatory biomarkers (ferritin, interleukin-6, interleukin-1\u03b1, tumour necrosis factor-\u03b1 and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1) in the serum samples of a population of FEP patients before and after 7 months of antipsychotic drug treatment, compared to control subjects (CS). The comparison of these markers in antipsychotic-na\u00efve FEP patients (N = 38) and CS (N = 37) revealed significantly higher levels of ferritin (P = .004), and resistin (P = .03) and lower level of leptin (P = .03) among FEP patients group. Seven months of antipsychotic drug treatment in patients (N = 36) ameliorated clinical symptoms, but increased significantly body mass index (BMI; P = .002) and these changes were accompanied by increased levels of C-peptide (P = .03) and leptin (P = .02), as well as decreased level of adiponectin (P = .01). Seven months of antipsychotic drug treatment suppressed the clinical symptoms of psychosis whereas caused imbalance in metabolic biomarkers and increased BMI. These findings provide insight into antipsychotic-induced MetS and refer to problems in insulin processing already present in the early stage of the chronic psychotic disorder.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37867892,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3,"dup_dump_count":2,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1,"2024-30":1}}},"text":"Proposed solutions to anthropogenic climate change: A systematic literature review and a new way forward.\nHumanity is now facing what may be the biggest challenge to its existence: irreversible climate change brought about by human activity. Our planet is in a state of emergency, and we only have a short window of time (7-8 years) to enact meaningful change. The goal of this systematic literature review is to summarize the peer-reviewed literature on proposed solutions to climate change in the last 20 years (2002-2022), and to propose a framework for a unified approach to solving this climate change crisis. Solutions reviewed include a transition toward use of renewable energy resources, reduced energy consumption, rethinking the global transport sector, and nature-based solutions. This review highlights one of the most important but overlooked pieces in the puzzle of solving the climate change problem - the gradual shift to a plant-based diet and global phaseout of factory (industrialized animal) farming, the most damaging and prolific form of animal agriculture. The gradual global phaseout of industrialized animal farming can be achieved by increasingly replacing animal meat and other animal products with plant-based products, ending government subsidies for animal-based meat, dairy, and eggs, and initiating taxes on such products. Failure to act will ultimately result in a scenario of irreversible climate change with widespread famine and disease, global devastation, climate refugees, and warfare. We therefore suggest an \"All Life\" approach, invoking the interconnectedness of all life forms on our planet. The logistics for achieving this include a global standardization of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) or similar measures and the introduction of a regulatory body for verification of such measures. These approaches will help deliver environmental and sustainability benefits for our planet far beyond an immediate reduction in global warming.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25522557,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[The clinical relationship between allergic rhinitis and allergic factors and chronic rhinosinusitis with or without nasal polyps].\nTo investigate the clinical relationship between allergic rhinitis and allergic factors with chronic rhinosinusitis with or without nasal polyps. Two hundred patients were divided into A and B two groups. Group A of 110 patients was diagnosed allergic rhinitis. Group B of 90 patients was diagnosed chronic sinusitis with or without nasal polyps. Serums sIgE was detected with EUROIMMUN, and observe the recurrence rate of chronic sinusitis with or without nasal polyps patients who accept operation treatment and observe the incidence of allergic rhinitis superinduced chronic sinusitis with or without nasal polyps. The total positive rate of group A sIgE was 89.09%. The total positive rate of group B sIgE was 74.44%. The postoperative recurrence rate of sIgE positive group was 58.21% and the postoperative recurrence rate of sIgE negative group was 8.70% in the group B. In the group A, the positive rate of serums sIgE in allergic rhinitis with chronic sinusitis with or without nasal polyps (37.27%) was 97.56%, while the positive rate of serums sIgE in allergic rhinitis without chronic sinusitis (62.73%) was 79.71%, there is a significant difference in allergic rhinitis with or without chronic sinusitis (\u03c72 = 6.96, P < 0.01). There is a certain correlation between allergic rhinitis and allergic factors with chronic sinusitis with or without nasal polyps. Therefore, through avoiding allergen exposure, the treatment of allergic rhinitis can effectively control recurrence rate of chronic sinusitis and nasal polyp.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26467436,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Substrate Orientation Effect in the On-Surface Synthesis of Tetrathiafulvalene-Integrated Single-Layer Covalent Organic Frameworks.\nThe on-surface reactions of tetrathiafulvalene equipped with four benzaldehyde groups (4ATTF) and ditopic diamine molecules are investigated. 4ATTF tends to form large-scale-ordered rhombus structures when reacted with p-phenylenediamine (PPDA). A longer ditopic diamine molecule, 1,1'-biphenyl-4,4'-diamine dihydrochloride (BPDA), causes the domain size of the regular rhombus structure to decrease and triangular and irregular rhombus structures to appear upon reaction with 4ATTF. However, in the rhombus structures formed by different-length ditopic diamine molecules, the single-layer covalent organic frameworks on the graphite surface preferentially orient in alignment with the underlying HOPG substrate lattice.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":10202750,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Enterovesical fistula complicating pregnancy. A case report.\nEnterovesical fistula is a rare cause of recurrent urinary tract infections. This condition is unusual in young people as common etiologies include diverticular disease and cancer. When an enterovesical fistula occurs in women of childbearing age, Crohn's disease is a likely cause. To our knowledge, enterovesical fistula complicating pregnancy has not been reported before. A pregnant woman with recurrent urinary tract infections was evaluated. Cystoscopy was suggestive of an enterovesical fistula, which was confirmed by charcoaluria following oral charcoal administration. The prenatal course was complicated by two episodes of hemorrhagic cystitis despite antibiotic prophylaxis. The patient had an uncomplicated term spontaneous vaginal delivery. An upper gastrointestinal series performed postpartum was suggestive of Crohn's disease and confirmed an enterovesical fistula. Surgical repair was successfully performed three months following delivery, revealing Crohn's disease. Enterovesical fistula may be an unusual cause of recurrent urinary tract infections in pregnancy. In this case, enterovesical fistula was the presenting symptom of Crohn's disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16235324,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Shock wave therapy for lateral elbow pain.\nThis review is one in a series of reviews of interventions for lateral elbow pain. To determine the effectiveness and safety of extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) for lateral elbow pain. Searches of the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register (Cochrane Library Issue 2, 2004), MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and Science Citation Index (SCISEARCH) were conducted in February 2005, unrestricted by date. We included nine trials that randomised 1006 participants to ESWT or placebo and one trial that randomised 93 participants to ESWT or steroid injection. For each trial two independent reviewers assessed the methodological quality and extracted data. Methodological quality criteria included appropriate randomisation, allocation concealment, blinding, number lost to follow up and intention to treat analysis. Where appropriate, pooled analyses were performed. If there was significant heterogeneity between studies or the data reported did not allow statistical pooling, individual trial results were described in the text. Eleven of the 13 pooled analyses found no significant benefit of ESWT over placebo. For example, the weighted mean difference for improvement in pain (on a 100-point scale) from baseline to 4-6 weeks from a pooled analysis of three trials (446 participants) was -9.42 (95% CI -20.70 to 1.86) and the weighted mean difference for improvement in pain (on a 100-point scale) provoked by resisted wrist extension (Thomsen test) from baseline to 12 weeks from a pooled analysis of three trials (455 participants) was -9.04 (95% CI -19.37 to 1.28). Two pooled results favoured ESWT. For example, the pooled relative risk of treatment success (at least 50% improvement in pain with resisted wrist extension at 12 weeks) for ESWT in comparison to placebo from a pooled analysis of two trials (192 participants) was 2.2 (95% CI 1.55 to 3.12). However this finding was not supported by the results of four other individual trials that were unable to be pooled. Steroid injection was more effective than ESWT at 3 months after the end of treatment assessed by a reduction of pain of 50% from baseline (21\/25 (84%) versus 29\/48 (60%), p<0.05). Minimal adverse effects of ESWT were reported. Most commonly these were transient pain, reddening of the skin and nausea and in most cases did not require treatment discontinuation or dosage adjustment. Based upon systematic review of nine placebo-controlled trials involving 1006 participants, there is \"Platinum\" level evidence that shock wave therapy provides little or no benefit in terms of pain and function in lateral elbow pain. There is \"Silver\" level evidence based upon one trial involving 93 participants that steroid injection may be more effective than ESWT.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37450601,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-22":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Lrp1 is essential for lethal Rift Valley fever hepatic disease in mice.\nRift Valley fever virus (RVFV) is an emerging arbovirus found in Africa. While RVFV is pantropic and infects many cells and tissues, viral replication and necrosis within the liver play a critical role in mediating severe disease. The low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1 (Lrp1) is a recently identified host factor for cellular entry and infection by RVFV. The biological significance of Lrp1, including its role in hepatic disease in vivo, however, remains to be determined. Because Lrp1 has a high expression level in hepatocytes, we developed a mouse model in which Lrp1 is specifically deleted in hepatocytes to test how the absence of liver Lrp1 expression affects RVF pathogenesis. Mice lacking Lrp1 expression in hepatocytes showed minimal RVFV replication in the liver, longer time to death, and altered clinical signs toward neurological disease. In contrast, RVFV infection levels in other tissues showed no difference between the two genotypes. Therefore, Lrp1 is essential for RVF hepatic disease in mice.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28264922,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Impact of Medication Adherence on the Effect of Renal Denervation: The SYMPATHY Trial.\nRandomized trials of catheter-based renal denervation (RDN) as therapy for resistant hypertension showed conflicting results in blood pressure (BP) lowering effect. Adherence to medication is modest in this patient group and may importantly drive these conflicting results. SYMPATHY is a prospective open label multicenter trial in Dutch patients with resistant hypertension. Primary outcome was change in daytime systolic ambulatory BP at 6 months. Patients were randomly assigned to RDN on top of usual care. Adherence to BP lowering drugs was assessed at baseline and follow-up, using blood samples drawn synchronously with BP measurements. Patients and physicians were unaware of the adherence assessment. Primary analyses showed a mean difference between RDN (n=95) and control (n=44) in changes in daytime systolic ambulatory BP after 6 months of 2.0 mm Hg (95% confidence interval, -6.1 to 10.2 mm Hg) in favor of control. In 80% of patients, fewer medications were detected than prescribed and adherence changed during follow-up in 31%. In those with stable adherence during follow-up, mean difference between RDN and control for daytime systolic ambulatory BP was -3.3 mm Hg (-13.7 to 7.2 mm Hg) in favor of RDN. RDN as therapy for resistant hypertension was not superior to usual care. Objective assessment of medication use shows that medication adherence is extremely poor, when patients are unaware of monitoring. Changes over time in adherence are common and affect treatment estimates considerably. Objective measurement of medication adherence during follow-up is strongly recommended in randomized trials. URL: http:\/\/www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01850901.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29383111,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"MicroRNA-182 targets protein phosphatase 1 regulatory inhibitor subunit 1C in glioblastoma.\nGlioblastoma (GBM) is an incurable cancer, with mean post-diagnosis survival time of 14-16 months. Metagenomic analysis by The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) program has identified microRNA-182-5p (miR-182-5p or miR-182) as the only miRNA associated with favorable disease prognosis and temozolomide (TMZ) susceptibility. Previous reports have indicated that miR-182 down regulates expression of BCL2L12, c-MET, and HIF2A. However, other messenger RNA (mRNA) targets of miR-182 have not been validated which would explain its association with a favorable disease prognosis. In situ analysis revealed that protein phosphatase 1 regulatory inhibitor subunit 1C (PPP1R1C) is a putative target of miR-182. PPP1R1C protein and RNA expression as assessed by tissue microarray and quantitative real time PCR, respectively, was inversely correlated to miR-182 expression in glioblastoma patients and in the metastatic glioblastoma cell line U87-MG. Reporter assays using PPP1R1C 3' untranslated region (UTR) showed that miR-182 can interact with the wild-type but not a miR-182-5-seed mutant. Ectopic expression of miR-182 mimic in the U87-MG cell line significantly decreased proliferation as well as suppressed in vitro migration and invasion. Opposite observations were made when the non-malignant neuronal cell line HCN-2 was transfected with anti-miR-182 antagomir. The miR-182 mimic or siRNA targeting PPP1R1C induced TMZ susceptibility indicating that decreased susceptibility to TMZ in GBM patients might be attributed to high expression of PPP1R1C. Inverse correlation of PPP1R1C mRNA and miR-182 levels in 20 GBM patients confirmed the same. Cumulatively, our results indicate that loss of miR-182 leads to increased expression of PPP1R1C which in part explain disease progression and resistance to TMZ therapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28697973,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Traffic jam hypothesis: Relationship between endocytic dysfunction and Alzheimer's disease.\nMembrane trafficking pathways, like the endocytic pathway, carry out fundamental cellular processes that are essential for normal functioning. One such process is regulation of cell surface receptor signaling. A growing body of evidence suggests that \u03b2-amyloid protein (A\u03b2) plays a key role in Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathogenesis. Cleavage of A\u03b2 from its precursor, \u03b2-amyloid precursor protein (APP), occurs through the endocytic pathway in neuronal cells. In early-stage AD, intraneuronal accumulation of abnormally enlarged endosomes is common, indicating that endosome trafficking is disrupted. Strikingly, genome-wide association studies reveal that several endocytosis-related genes are associated with AD onset. Also, recent studies demonstrate that alteration in endocytosis induces not only A\u03b2 pathology but also the propagation of tau protein pathology, another key pathological feature of AD. Endocytic dysfunction can disrupt neuronal physiological functions, such as synaptic vesicle transport and neurotransmitter release. Thus, \"traffic jams\" in the endocytic pathway may be involved in AD pathogenesis and may serve as a novel target for the development of new therapeutics.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35361742,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Fate of Asymptomatic Limb after Kissing Stents in Aortoiliac Occlusive Disease.\nKissing stent angioplasty is an established endovascular treatment strategy for stenosis at the aortic bifurcation but not without its detractors. This study aimed to analyze the outcomes of kissing stents with regard to stent occlusion and complications in which an asymptomatic limb was treated. A total of 106 patients undergoing aortic bifurcation intervention from January 2015 to November 2020 were retrospectively reviewed. Only patients with at least one common iliac artery (CIA) ostium and undergoing bilateral CIA intervention were included in the study. Patients were followed up for a median period of 26 months (interquartile range, 21-51 months). The TransAtlantic InterSociety Consensus (TASC)-II classification of lesions was as follows: A, 49%; B, 41%; C, 6%; and D, 5%. The treatment indication was limited to one side in 53% of patients. Technical and procedural success rates were 99% and 90%, respectively. Ischemic events in an asymptomatic limb occurred in 6% of cases, 3% due to late stent thrombosis >30 days, and 3% due to progression of downstream infrainguinal disease. Primary and secondary patency rates at 1, 3, and 5 years were 98%, 87%, and 85%, and 99%, 94%, and 94%, respectively. Periprocedural mortality developed in two patients with no amputation. Kissing stent deployment is a safe and effective strategy for the treatment of aortoiliac bifurcation disease. Unfavorable outcomes due to stenting in the asymptomatic iliac artery are very rare. Long-term surveillance is necessary due to the risk of late thrombosis or downstream disease progression.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17172071,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Successful bone marrow transplantation in an 8-month-old patient with chronic granulomatous disease.\nAn eight-month-old boy with chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) received HLA identical sibling bone marrow transplantation (BMT) following busulphan and cyclophosphamide conditioning. No graft-versus-host disease was demonstrated. Five years after transplantation, mixed chimerism was 60% in peripheral blood, and 85% of his neutrophils had normal oxidative burst activity. He is now six years old, in very good health and growing well. In this period, he experienced no severe infectious diseases. To our knowledge, this is the first case of CGD who had BMT in Turkey. His successful outcome illustrates that BMT in a patient with CGD in the first years of life should be considered early if an HLA-matched donor is already available, before development of any recurrent life-threatening infections or irreversible organ damage.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1697288,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Childhood blindness.\nEighty five visually handicapped children who attended the eye department were assessed. The children had a mean age of 3.6 years--range 0.3-14.7 years. The aetiological factors for severe visual handicap (visual acuity less than 3\/60) were evaluated into prenatal factors; factors operating at birth and the immediate perinatal period; or factors operating in childhood. Genetic counselling and improvements in the management of pre-term infants is recommended in the reduction of childhood blindness. A national computerised childhood blind register should be established.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7929686,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Words in discourse: a dialectical approach to the acquisition of meaning and use.\nWord learning by young children is viewed as a problem of deriving meaning from the use of forms in discourse contexts. Uses of causal and temporal terms in private speech by a child studied longitudinally from 1;9 to 3;0 are analysed from this perspective. Evidence is presented that words are first constrained to uses in specific discourse contexts, and later used more flexibly and with greater control over the semantics of the terms. Derivation of meaning from discourse is described as a dialectical process, and as such it is claimed to be more consistent with the full range of observational data, and with theories of word learning applicable to older children and adults, than other current theories of lexical acquisition in early childhood.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15248668,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Chemical components of heartwood and sapwood of common Yew (Taxus baccata L.).\nCell-wall components and solubility characteristics of the heartwood and sapwood of Taxus baccata L. were determined by methods of wood analysis and the differences between heartwood and sapwood were established. When we observe the data obtained, it is seen that the amount of extractive material found in the heartwood is substantially higher than the sapwood. The extractive material in Taxus baccata L. is originated from the hidden epithelial cells surrounded by resin canals.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16229542,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Protein spreading kinetics at liquid-solid interfaces via an adsorption probe method.\nWe report the areal growth kinetics of fibrinogen adsorbed on model hydrophobic and hydrophilic surfaces measured via an adsorption probe method. This approach exploits the adsorption of probe molecules to determine the evolution of fibrinogen test molecules under conditions where the fibrinogen test molecules adsorb at relatively dilute surface conditions, minimizing interactions between them. It is found that fibrinogen test molecules spread from an average initial footprint of 100 nm2 to a final footprint near 500 nm2 per molecule on the hydrophobic surface, with a single-exponential decay of 1735 s. On a hydrophilic monolayer, the area increases from 100 to 160 nm2 with a characteristic time of 6740 s. These results demonstrate the power of the adsorption probe approach and comprise the first measurements of the averaged area relaxations of adsorbed proteins. The observation of single-exponential dynamics is remarkable, given the extensive relaxation on the hydrophobic surface, which must involve fibrinogen denaturing.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19024297,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Study on the susceptibility of the cervical carcinoma cells to CTL lysis under the stimulation of rSIFN-co and its mechanism].\nTo investigate the susceptibility of cervical carcinoma cells (HPV16+) to CTL lysis affected by rSIFN-co, consensus Interferon (Infergen), IFNalpha-2b and DDP. After CaSki cervical cancer cells were induced by rSIFN-co, Infergen, IFNalpha-2b and DDP at the concentration of 0.156 microg\/mL, 0.625 microg\/mL, 2.500 microg\/mL for 72 hours, CaSki cells which had been induced were effected by CTL, the cytotoxicity was determined and calculated by MTT assay. The expression intensity of adhesion molecules on Caski cell such as CD54 and CD40 was also determined by flow cytometry. The susceptibility of CaSki cell to CTL lysis under the stimulation of rSIFN-co was better than Infergen, IFNalpha-2b and DDP induced. The expression of CD54 and CD40 on cervical cancer cell was also increased. And this effect had positive correlation to the drug concentration. rSIFN-co can increase the expression of CD54 and CD40 on the cervical cancer cell surface, and increase the susceptibility of CaSki cell to specific effective cell lysis in a dose-dependent manner. The effect of rSIFN-co is better than same type interferon, general I type interferon and chemotherapeutic drug induced.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32372472,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Relation between vitamin D and impulse behaviours in patients with eating disorder: a pilot observational study.\nThere is growing evidence that vitamin D levels have a role not only in bone health and energy metabolism, but also for supporting nervous system and brain functions, including impulsivity. Impulsive behaviours are considered characteristics of great relevance in patients with Eating Disorders (ED) both for the course of the illness and for the treatment. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between impulsive behaviours and vitamin D in patients with ED. 236 patients with a diagnosis of ED, consecutively recruited at an ED ward between 2014 and 2018, were enrolled. Patients were classified as impulsive or non-impulsive based on the presence of clinically relevant impulsive behaviours. Impulsive patients were found to have statistically significant lower levels of vitamin D than non-impulsive (p = .007). A threshold value of 20.4 ng\/ml for discriminating impulsive from non-impulsive patients was found. This hypothesis generating study partially confirmed a relationship between vitamin D deficiency and impulsive behaviours in ED spectrum mediated by body weight, even if results were not confirmed after corrected by obesity. No definitive conclusion may be taken on whether the effect is reduced due to the loss of power. Future directions are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37856184,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Lack of benefit from premedication for pegylated asparaginase during pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia\/lymphoma therapy: A side-by-side comparison.\nPegylated l-asparaginase (PEG) is integral to treatment regimens for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and lymphoma. Hypersensitivity reactions (HSRs) to PEG are common and can preclude continued administration. Data supporting recommendations for universal premedication (UPM) prior to PEG infusion to reduce incidence of HSRs are limited; UPM has become common practice. Two free-standing children's hospitals independently implemented UPM prior to PEG infusions in 2016 and 2019, respectively. In a side-by-side retrospective analysis, incidence and severity of HSRs were analyzed pre- and postimplementation of UPM in youth \u22651 years old treated with frontline PEG-containing ALL regimens (2015-2018, 2016-2020). All HSRs were centrally reviewed within each institution to confirm and grade the HSR (Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events, v5). Planned analyses of subsets at potentially greater risk for HSRs included intensive PEG regimens (\u22655 doses), adolescent and young adults (AYA), Hispanic\/Latinx ethnicity, and obesity. In 410 patients (by institution, n = 282 and n = 128), the overall incidence of Grade \u2265 3 HSRs was 20% (56 out of 282) and 18% (23 out of 128), respectively. No difference in incidence of Grade \u2265 3 HSRs in patients with versus without UPM was found at either institution (23 vs. 19%, p = .487 and 19 vs. 17%, p = .845). UPM also did not reduce the severity of HSRs, nor influence HSR risk within any patient subset. UPM prior to PEG infusion did not alter incidence or severity of HSRs at either institution. HSR remains a common complication of PEG therapy, impacting the patient experience. Alternative strategies to reduce HSRs are urgently required.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25523889,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Toward safe accessibility of opioid pain medicines in Vietnam and other developing countries: a balanced policy method.\nModerate or severe pain is common among people with advanced cancer and other life-threatening illnesses. Yet despite agreement that pain relief is a human right, the poorest 80% of the world's population rarely have access to strong opioid analgesics. Excessively restrictive opioid policies, especially in developing countries, both stem from and propagate misguided fears about opioids, so-called opiophobia. Because opiophobia, like any norm, is historically, socially, and culturally situated, efforts to change opiophobic policies will be most effective if guided by awareness of their historical, social, and cultural determinants. We describe some of these determinants in Vietnam and report on results of an ongoing project there to allay opiophobia and improve safe access to opioids for medical uses. We used a method that entails working with committed local partners, including a high-level official from the Ministry of Health, to review all Vietnamese policies governing opioid accessibility to identify the barriers; devising an action plan to safely reduce or circumnavigate the barriers; obtaining buy-in for the plan from all stakeholders, including drug regulators and the police; and assisting the Ministry of Health to implement the plan. Since the start of the project, morphine consumption has increased each year and as of 2010 was ninefold greater than in 2003, and the number of hospitals offering palliative care has increased from three to 15. We conclude that this balanced policy method appears to be helping to reduce barriers to opioid access in Vietnam and should be used in other developing countries.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28360143,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Return to play after hamstring injuries in football (soccer): a worldwide Delphi procedure regarding definition, medical criteria and decision-making.\nThere are three major questions about return to play (RTP) after hamstring injuries: How should RTP be defined? Which medical criteria should support the RTP decision? And who should make the RTP decision? The study aimed to provide a clear RTP definition and medical criteria for RTP and to clarify RTP consultation and responsibilities after hamstring injury. The study used the Delphi procedure. The results of a systematic review were used as a starting point for the Delphi procedure. Fifty-eight experts in the field of hamstring injury management selected by 28 FIFA Medical Centres of Excellence worldwide participated. Each Delphi round consisted of a questionnaire, an analysis and an anonymised feedback report. After four Delphi rounds, with more than 83% response for each round, consensus was achieved that RTP should be defined as 'the moment a player has received criteria-based medical clearance and is mentally ready for full availability for match selection and\/or full training'. The experts reached consensus on the following criteria to support the RTP decision: medical staff clearance, absence of pain on palpation, absence of pain during strength and flexibility testing, absence of pain during\/after functional testing, similar hamstring flexibility, performance on field testing, and psychological readiness. It was also agreed that RTP decisions should be based on shared decision-making, primarily via consultation with the athlete, sports physician, physiotherapist, fitness trainer and team coach. The consensus regarding aspects of RTP should provide clarity and facilitate the assessment of when RTP is appropriate after hamstring injury, so as to avoid or reduce the risk of injury recurrence because of a premature RTP.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23453631,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1}}},"text":"Intraepithelial type 1 innate lymphoid cells are a unique subset of IL-12- and IL-15-responsive IFN-\u03b3-producing cells.\nMucosal innate lymphoid cell (ILC) subsets promote immune responses to pathogens by producing distinct signature cytokines in response to changes in the cytokine microenvironment. We previously identified human ILC3 distinguished by interleukin-22 (IL-22) secretion. Here we characterized a human ILC1 subset that produced interferon-\u03b3 (IFN-\u03b3) in response to IL-12 and IL-15 and had a unique integrin profile, intraepithelial location, hallmarks of TGF-\u03b2 imprinting, and a memory-activated phenotype. Because tissue-resident memory CD8(+) T cells share this profile, intraepithelial ILC1 may be their innate counterparts. In mice, intraepithelial ILC1 were distinguished by CD160 expression and required Nfil3- and Tbx21-encoded transcription factors for development, but not IL-15 receptor-\u03b1, indicating that intraepithelial ILC1 are distinct from conventional NK cells. Intraepithelial ILC1 were amplified in Crohn's disease patients and contributed to pathology in the anti-CD40-induced colitis model in mice. Thus, intraepithelial ILC1 may initiate IFN-\u03b3 responses against pathogens but contribute to pathology when dysregulated.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26422946,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Anesthetic Management of a Patient with Quasi-moyamoya Disease Undergoing Total Thyroidectomy for Graves' Disease].\nQuasi-moyamoya disease defined as moyamoya disease combined with autoimmune diseases such as Graves' disease is rare. We report anesthetic management of a patient with quasi-moyamoya disease undergoing total thyroidectomy for Graves' disease resistant to medical therapy. This disease is characterized by the aggravation of cerebral ischemic symptoms with hyperthyroidism. We, therefore, applied steroid pulse therapy before the operation to induce temporal normalization of the thyroid function, and could perform safe anesthetic management of this patient with quasi-moyamoya disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37852612,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The sigma-1 receptor-TAMM41 axis modulates neuroinflammation and attenuates memory impairment during the latent period of epileptogenesis.\nTherapy in the latent period is favorable for retarding the process of epileptogenesis. Recently, we have discovered that the activated sigma-1 receptor (Sig-1R) attenuates the hippocampus pathological injury and memory impairment in the latent period of epileptogenesis. But the molecular mechanism needs further investigation. PRE-084 was utilized as a research tool to highly selectively activate Sig-1R in epileptic mice. After the treatment of PRE-084, the pro-inflammatory cytokines, neuropathological traits, and the level of mitochondrial translocator assembly and maintenance 41 homolog (TAMM41) in the hippocampus were examined. The mode in which the Sig-1R interacts with TAMM41 was explored. The role of TAMM41 in the protecting effect of PRE-084 was established. PRE-084 inhibited the growth of pro-inflammatory cytokines, reduced the formation of gliosis, alleviated neuronal damage in the hippocampus, and attenuated memory impairment in the latent period of epileptogenesis. The protein level of TAMM41 decreased in the hippocampi of epileptic mice and increased in the PRE-084-treated mice. The Sig-1R bound with TAMM41 directly, maintaining the stability of TAMM41. Knockdown of TAMM41 reversed the protective effect of PRE-084, and overexpression of TAMM41 exhibited a similar protective action to that of PRE-084. We presented the concept of the \"sigma-1 receptor-TAMM41 axis\" and proposed that augmenting this axis can attenuate neuroinflammation and memory impairment in the process of epileptogenesis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28714146,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The effect of gender on transformational leadership and job satisfaction among Saudi nurses.\nTo compare nurses' job satisfaction and perceptions of transformational leadership style of their manager among four different nurse\/manager gender dyads in Saudi Arabia. Women and men differ on many behavioural characteristics and are influenced by the cultural environment. Understanding these differences may have an impact on leadership behaviours and job satisfaction. A descriptive analysis of one-time survey data collected in 2011 from Saudi nurses employed in six general public hospitals located in three cities. Three hundred and eight (51.3%) of 600 Saudi nurses solicited to participate completed anonymous questionnaires that measured their job satisfaction and perceptions of transformational leadership style of their manager. Factorial ANOVA tested the main effects of gender of the nurse, gender of the manager and the interaction term on the nurse's job satisfaction, and perceived transformational leadership style of their manager. These analyses indicated a main effect of gender of the manager on both job satisfaction and perceived transformational leadership style of the manager (p < .05) with no significant effect of the gender of the nurse or the interaction term on these variables. Post hoc analysis indicated that nurses regardless of their gender reported higher job satisfaction and perceived transformational leadership style of their manager when their manager was male. These findings contrast with what other researchers have reported that nurse job satisfaction and perceived leadership characteristics of their manager are independent of the gender of the manager. These perceptions of Saudi nurses may be a result of \"sex-role spillover\" in a male-dominated, gender-segregated society.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12031123,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Biliary administration of naked DNA encoding Fas-Fc protein prevents acute liver failure in mice.\nAcute liver failure (ALF) of infectious origin results from massive Fas-mediated hepatocyte apoptosis. To cure Fas-induced ALF in mice, we have designed a noninvasive procedure for intrahepatic transfer of a plasmid that encodes a molecule inhibiting Fas-Fas ligand interaction. For that purpose, naked pDNA encoding green fluorescent protein (GFP) or the Fas-Fc chimeric protein was transferred into mice by the biliary route. Ten percent of hepatocytes expressed GFP. After pFas-Fc transfer, about 40 ng of Fas-Fc protein per milliliter could be detected in sera from day 4 to day 28. Serum recombinant Fas-Fc could neutralize Fas-induced cell death in vitro. Furthermore, pFas-Fc biliary transfer efficiently protected mice against Fas-mediated ALF, because survival rates (p < 0.01), serum transaminase activities (p < 0.05), and histological data (p < 0.02) were improved versus control pTNFR-Fc-transfected mice. In conclusion, naked pDNA encoding Fas-Fc is efficiently expressed by hepatocytes after biliary gene transfer in mice. This method, devoid of virus-related risks, could be considered for the treatment of Fas-mediated ALF in humans.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17885026,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evaluation of two cold thermoregulatory models for prediction of core temperature during exercise in cold water.\nCold thermoregulatory models (CTM) have primarily been developed to predict core temperature (T(core)) responses during sedentary immersion. Few studies have examined their efficacy to predict T(core) during exercise cold exposure. The purpose of this study was to compare observed T(core) responses during exercise in cold water with the predicted T(core) from a three-cylinder (3-CTM) and a six-cylinder (6-CTM) model, adjusted to include heat production from exercise. A matrix of two metabolic rates (0.44 and 0.88 m\/s walking), two water temperatures (10 and 15 degrees C), and two immersion depths (chest and waist) were used to elicit different rates of T(core) changes. Root mean square deviation (RMSD) and nonparametric Bland-Altman tests were used to test for acceptable model predictions. Using the RMSD criterion, the 3-CTM did not fit the observed data in any trial, whereas the 6-CTM fit the data (RMSD less than standard deviation) in four of eight trials. In general, the 3-CTM predicted a rapid decline in core temperature followed by a plateau. For the 6-CTM, the predicted T(core) appeared relatively tight during the early part of immersion, but was much lower during the latter portions of immersion, accounting for the nonagreement between RMSD and SD values. The 6-CTM was rerun with no adjustment for exercise metabolism, and core temperature and heat loss predictions were tighter. In summary, this study demonstrated that both thermoregulatory models designed for sedentary cold exposure, currently, cannot be extended for use during partial immersion exercise in cold water. Algorithms need to be developed to better predict heat loss during exercise in cold water.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11641298,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Stroke prognosis and abnormal nocturnal blood pressure falls in older hypertensives.\nIt remains uncertain whether abnormal dipping patterns of nocturnal blood pressure influence the prognosis for stroke. We studied stroke events in 575 older Japanese patients with sustained hypertension determined by ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (without medication). They were subclassified by their nocturnal systolic blood pressure fall (97 extreme-dippers, with >\/=20% nocturnal systolic blood pressure fall; 230 dippers, with >\/=10% but <20% fall; 185 nondippers, with >\/=0% but <10% fall; and 63 reverse-dippers, with <0% fall) and were followed prospectively for an average duration of 41 months. Baseline brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) disclosed that the percentages with multiple silent cerebral infarct were 53% in extreme-dippers, 29% in dippers, 41% in nondippers, and 49% in reverse-dippers. There was a J-shaped relationship between dipping status and stroke incidence (extreme-dippers, 12%; dippers, 6.1%; nondippers, 7.6%; and reverse-dippers, 22%), and this remained significant in a Cox regression analysis after controlling for age, gender, body mass index, 24-hour systolic blood pressure, and antihypertensive medication. Intracranial hemorrhage was more common in reverse-dippers (29% of strokes) than in other subgroups (7.7% of strokes, P=0.04). In the extreme-dipper group, 27% of strokes were ischemic strokes that occurred during sleep (versus 8.6% of strokes in the other 3 subgroups, P=0.11). In conclusion, in older Japanese hypertensive patients, extreme dipping of nocturnal blood pressure may be related to silent and clinical cerebral ischemia through hypoperfusion during sleep or an exaggerated morning rise of blood pressure, whereas reverse dipping may pose a risk for intracranial hemorrhage.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17008220,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Self-assembly processes in the prebiotic environment.\nAn important question guiding research on the origin of life concerns the environmental conditions where molecular systems with the properties of life first appeared on the early Earth. An appropriate site would require liquid water, a source of organic compounds, a source of energy to drive polymerization reactions and a process by which the compounds were sufficiently concentrated to undergo physical and chemical interactions. One such site is a geothermal setting, in which organic compounds interact with mineral surfaces to promote self-assembly and polymerization reactions. Here, we report an initial study of two geothermal sites where mixtures of representative organic solutes (amino acids, nucleobases, a fatty acid and glycerol) and phosphate were mixed with high-temperature water in clay-lined pools. Most of the added organics and phosphate were removed from solution with half-times measured in minutes to a few hours. Analysis of the clay, primarily smectite and kaolin, showed that the organics were adsorbed to the mineral surfaces at the acidic pH of the pools, but could subsequently be released in basic solutions. These results help to constrain the range of possible environments for the origin of life. A site conducive to self-assembly of organic solutes would be an aqueous environment relatively low in ionic solutes, at an intermediate temperature range and neutral pH ranges, in which cyclic concentration of the solutes can occur by transient dry intervals.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14525190,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Synergy of anomalous transport and radiation in the density limit.\nThe critical plasma density n(cr) above which the edge anomalous transport in tokamaks is dominated by drift resistive ballooning instability is found analytically. In this transport regime, the drastic increase of particle losses and drop of the edge temperature provoke a strong increase in impurity radiation, and thermal equilibrium does not exist if the density is ramped up above the ultimate limit n(max). Because of the nonlinear character of impurity radiation, this density limit n(max) is very close to n(cr) and practically does not change with the ion effective charge. The importance of the synergy between the anomalous transport and impurity radiation for the density limit phenomenon is confirmed by the results of numerical simulations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17878213,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The influence of alcohol on basic motoric and cognitive disinhibition.\nIt has been proposed that alcohol weakens control processes, which in turn supports the occurrence of disinhibited behaviours. Two studies were run, in parallel (both with 32 participants) using a between-subject design to investigate any disinhibiting effects of a moderate dose of alcohol (0.6 g\/kg compared to placebo), previously found to trigger increased desire for alcohol. Disinhibiting effects were tested on basic motoric and cognitive control processes, using a go\/no-go (GNG) and the Stroop task (ST) respectively. Although a higher proportion of participants wanted more alcohol under the alcohol preload (priming effect), this effect was not found to be significant. In the GNG task, correct response latency (RL) decreased from baseline [P = 0.008] while number of incorrect hits increased [P = 0.030] irrespective of treatment, indicating the formation of a habit-like response and motoric disinhibition. Although error rate did not differ between groups, an interaction occurred with regard to erroneous RL: participants under alcohol became quicker, while those under placebo became slower [P = 0.014]. In the ST, those preloaded with alcohol made significantly more errors [P = 0.021] and were quicker to complete the task [P = 0.044] compared with those preloaded with placebo, indicating a strong alcohol effect on cognitive disinhibition. The data suggest that a moderate dose of alcohol, which induces priming to want more alcohol, had disinhibiting effects both on a basic motoric and a cognitive inhibitory task. Thus the idea that priming may be mediated by the disinhibitory effects of alcohol is supported.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3040657,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Thoughts on fiber utilization in swine.\nThere is continued incentive for the development of alternative feed resources for use in swine production. The availability of distillery by-products may be expected to increase as the use of corn and cereal grains for ethanol production expands. The acceptability of distillery by-products, milling by-products, forages and other fibrous feeds as energy sources for swine depends on such factors as cell wall content of the plant, degree of microbial fermentation in the large intestine, and extent of absorption and utilization of the volatile fatty acids produced. Physiological effects of dietary fiber, including effects on gastric emptying, rate of transit of digesta, gut motility, digestive secretions, and absorption and utilization of breakdown products need quantification. Limited evidence suggests that there are genetic differences in the response of pigs to dietary fiber and in their ability to utilize it as an energy source. Recombinant DNA technology offers the possibility of cloning cellulase genes from microorganisms for application in swine feeding programs. The extent to which biotechnology will be applied in swine feeding will depend ultimately on the economic incentive for developmental effort and on unknown biological limitations of the pig and its gastrointestinal microbial ecosystem.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30675410,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Right Upper Lobe Torsion after Right Lower Lobectomy: A Rare and Potentially Life-Threatening Complication.\nAn 84-year-old woman was referred to our institution with suspected right lung cancer. Subsequently, she underwent thoracoscopic right lower lobectomy without mediastinal lymph node dissection. Postoperatively, she complained of dyspnea and developed arterial oxygen desaturation after 12 h and acute respiratory failure (ARF). An emergency chest computed tomography revealed the right upper bronchial stenosis with hilar peribronchovascular soft tissue edema because the middle lung lobe had been pushed upward and forward and the right upper lung lobe had twisted dorsally. Emergency bronchoscopy revealed severe right upper bronchial stenosis with an eccentric rotation and severe edema. The bronchia stenosis was successfully treated with glucocorticoids and noninvasive positive pressure ventilation for ARF.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25513820,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Analysis of radio wave propagation for ISM 2.4 GHz Wireless Sensor Networks in inhomogeneous vegetation environments.\nThe use of wireless networks has experienced exponential growth due to the improvements in terms of battery life and low consumption of the devices. However, it is compulsory to conduct previous radio propagation analysis when deploying a wireless sensor network. These studies are necessary to perform an estimation of the range coverage, in order to optimize the distance between devices in an actual network deployment. In this work, the radio channel characterization for ISM 2.4 GHz Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) in an inhomogeneous vegetation environment has been analyzed. This analysis allows designing environment monitoring tools based on ZigBee and WiFi where WSN and smartphones cooperate, providing rich and customized monitoring information to users in a friendly manner. The impact of topology as well as morphology of the environment is assessed by means of an in-house developed 3D Ray Launching code, to emulate the realistic operation in the framework of the scenario. Experimental results gathered from a measurement campaign conducted by deploying a ZigBee Wireless Sensor Network, are analyzed and compared with simulations in this paper. The scenario where this network is intended to operate is a combination of buildings and diverse vegetation species. To gain insight in the effects of radio propagation, a simplified vegetation model has been developed, considering the material parameters and simplified geometry embedded in the simulation scenario. An initial location-based application has been implemented in a real scenario, to test the functionality within a context aware scenario. The use of deterministic tools can aid to know the impact of the topological influence in the deployment of the optimal Wireless Sensor Network in terms of capacity, coverage and energy consumption, making the use of these systems attractive for multiple applications in inhomogeneous vegetation environments.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12019626,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of nutrient supply and dietary bulk on O2 uptake and nutrient net fluxes across rumen, mesenteric- and portal-drained viscera in ewes.\nWe assessed the effects of nutrient supply and dietary bulk, both increasing with hay intake, on O2 uptake and nutrient net fluxes across the portal-(PDV) and mesenteric- (MDV) drained viscera, and the rumen in adult ewes. Four ewes, fitted with a ruminal cannula, with catheters in the mesenteric artery, the portal, mesenteric and right ruminal veins, and with a blood flow probe around the right ruminal artery, were used in a 4 x 4 Latin square design. Treatments consisted of 500 g DM\/d hay (LL, low bulk and low nutrient supply), 500 g DM\/d hay + infused nutrients (LH, low bulk and high nutrient supply), 750 g DM\/d hay + infused nutrients (MH, medium bulk and high nutrient supply), and 1,000 g DM\/d hay (HH, high bulk and high nutrient supply). Infused nutrients consisted of volatile fatty acids (VFA) and casein dissolved in salts and infused continuously in the rumen to provide the same amount of metabolizable energy (7.6 MJ\/d) and digestible protein (63 g\/d) for LH, MH, and HH. Both increases in bulk and nutrient supply increased O2 uptake in the MDV and PDV. Dietary bulk stimulated mainly blood flow, whereas nutrient supply stimulated mainly O2 extraction rate. The O2 uptake by the rumen was not significantly affected by hay intake, although blood flow increased due to nutrient supply. Increase in hay intake had no effects on portal net release of lactate and net uptake of glucose but increased VFA, 3-D-hydroxybutyrate, ammonia, and amino acids (AA) net release and urea net uptake across PDV. The increase in portal nutrient net fluxes with hay intake was entirely related to the increase of nutrient supply for VFA, 3-D-hydroxybutyrate, ammonia, and urea, irrespective of the amount of casein infused for AA. Dietary bulk had no effect on total energy net release in the portal vein. We conclude that despite the increase in portal O2 uptake, increasing dietary bulk had no significant impact on portal recovery of energy. In ruminal tissues, which were the main site of energy absorption, O2 uptake appeared low and was not sensitive to dietary manipulation. In contrast, in mesenteric tissues, which contribute poorly to energy absorption with forage diets, O2 uptake appeared high and very sensitive to dietary manipulation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20353699,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A naturally occurring outbreak of tuberculosis in a group of imported cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis).\nThis case report describes the diagnosis of tuberculosis (caused primarily by Mycobacterium bovis) in a group of newly imported Chinese origin cynomolgus monkeys. We also describe the use of sedation to enhance the accuracy of evaluation of the intrapalpebral tuberculin skin test using the mammalian old tuberculin reagent and report the first known diagnosis of Mycobacterium paraffinicum in a nonhuman primate. By 48 h after injection during the second tuberculin skin test, 6 of the 80 macaques had developed eyelid reactions ranging from mild (grade 1) to severe (grade 4). Given the range and severity of reactions, we suspected an outbreak of tuberculosis in the group. Because of the nature of the reactions, we sedated the animals at the 72-h evaluation to more closely observe and then palpate the injected eyelid. Evaluation of unsedated animals revealed 22 with a reaction to mammalian old tuberculin. We confirmed these 22 cases and identified an additional 11 animals with reactions when the monkeys were sedated. Mycobacterial culture of tissue from 6 macaques with reactions confirmed M. bovis in 3 animals. In addition, 1 of these 3 animals was culture-positive for both M. bovis and M. paraffinicum, and another was culture-positive for M. avium complex only. The addition of sedation to facilitate visual inspection and then palpation of the injected eyelid of these macaques increased the accuracy of evaluation and understanding of the number and severity of reactions to tuberculin skin testing.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16147697,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Metformin in the treatment of clomiphene citrate-resistant women with high BMI and primary infertility: clinical results and reproductive outcome.\nThe objective of this study was to evaluate the clinical and reproductive outcome in clomiphene-citrate (CC)-resistant women with high body mass index (BMI) and primary infertility. This was a case series based at the King Hussein Medical center, Amman, Jordan. Nineteen CC-resistant women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) who had high BMI and primary infertility were studied. All women received metformin monotherapy; 850 mg twice daily for a period of 6 months. If pregnancy occurred, metformin was continued for the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. The main outcome measures were a reduction in the BMI, resumption of regular menses, ovulation and pregnancy rates. Resumption of regular cycles was observed in 13 of 19 (68.4%) women. Ovulation and pregnancy were achieved in 9 (47.4%) and 6 (31.6%) of the 19 women, respectively. A significant reduction in the body weight after treatment reflected by a significant reduction in the BMI was noted. Metformin monotherapy is effective in CC-resistant women with morbid obesity and primary infertility and should be considered as first-line treatment in these patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17910354,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cytologic diagnosis of mastocytosis by fine needle aspiration biopsy: a case report.\nMastocytosis is an abnormal proliferation of mast cells and their subsequent accumulation in various organs. Diagnosis of mast cell disease relies on proper identification of abnormal mast cells. A 55-year-old man presented with a history of fever for several months, associated with night sweats, involuntary 20lb weight loss, progressive fatigue, weakness, worsening abdominal distention, shortness of breath, and diffuse lymphadenopathy. Physical examination and computed tomography (CT) showed hepatosplenomegaly, massive ascites, and generalized lymphadenopathy. Bone marrow biopsy with immunohistochemistry (ICH) studies revealed mastocytosis. CT-guided fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) of the retroperitoneal lymphadenopathy was performed. The smears were cellular for a mixed population of mature plasma cells, eosinophils, left-shifted granular and lymphoid cells, and abundant abnormal mast cells. The mast cells had round to oval lobulated nuclei, some of which were binucleated or eccentrically located, with coarse, evenly distributed chromatin. Abundant pale cytoplasm contained numerous metachromatic granules. IHC studies and flow cytometry confirmed the cytologic diagnosis of mastocytosis. This case highlights the cytologic features of mastocytosis in FNA specimens. IHC stains and flow cytometry are helpful to confirm the cytologic diagnosis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the second case that describes the cytologic characteristics of mastocytosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35348915,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Partial purification and characterization of a thermostable xylanase from Bacillus licheniformis isolated from hot water geyser.\nThermo-alkali stable xylanases were purified from the extracellular broth of newly isolated Bacillus licheniformis strain produced in a 5-L stirred-tank bioreactor with wheat bran as a carbon source. A high degree of purity was achieved using size exclusion chromatography resulting in 16-fold purification and 69% recovery for fraction 5 which had the highest activity. The recovery obtained after pooling fractions 5 and 6 was 99%. The Km value of xylanase was calculated as 0.05 mM, and Vmax was 125 \u03bcmol\/min\/mg protein. Purified xylanase had a high thermal and pH stability. Xylanase was found to be suitable for application in the de-inking of paper and for saccharification of lignocellulosic waste biomass.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37459700,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-22":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Protein ligand and nanotopography separately drive the phenotype of mouse embryonic stem cells.\nBiochemical and biomechanical signals regulate stem cell function in the niche environments in vivo. Current in vitro culture of mouse embryonic stem cells (mESC) uses laminin (LN-511) to provide mimetic biochemical signaling (LN-521 for human systems) to maintain stemness. Alternative approaches propose topographical cues to provide biomechanical cues, however combined biochemical and topographic cues may better mimic the in vivo environment, but are largely unexplored for in vitro stem cell expansion. In this study, we directly compare in vitro signals from LN-511 and\/or topographic cues to maintain stemness, using systematically-varied submicron pillar patterns or flat surfaces with or without preadsorbed LN-511. The adhesion of cells, colony formation, expression of the pluripotency marker,octamer-binding transcription factor 4 (Oct4), and transcriptome profiling were characterized. We observed that either biochemical or topographic signals could maintain stemness of mESCs in feeder-free conditions, indicated by high-level Oct4 and gene profiling by RNAseq. The combination of LN-511 with nanotopography reduced colony growth, while maintaining stemness markers, shifted the cellular phenotype indicating that the integration of biochemical and topographic signals is antagonistic. Overall, significantly faster (up to 2.5 times) colony growth was observed at nanotopographies without LN-511, suggesting for improved ESC expansion.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27277357,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of Serum Lipoprotein (a) [Lp(a)] in Menopausal Women.\nThe behavior of LP during the menopausal trinities and their relationship with sex hormones and body fat distribution is still unclear. The aim of this case control study was to estimate the serum lipoprotein (a) in postmenopausal women and women in reproductive age group and comparison of the above mention serum lipids between the two groups and was carried out in the Department of Biochemistry, Dhaka Medical College (DMC), Dhaka, in co-operation with the Department of Immunology, Bangladesh Institute of Research and Rehabilitation in Diabetes, Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders (BIRDEM), Dhaka from July-2005 to June 2006. A total number of 70 women were selected. Selected women were grouped as Group A and Group B. In Group A 30 postmenopausal women were selected with age range 55-70 years. In Group B, 40 women within reproductive age were selected. Group B was again divided into two groups - Group B1 & Group B2 according to their ages. In Group B1 20 women were selected with age range 25-35 years, and in Group B2 another 20 women were selected with age range 36-45 years. Serum lipoprotein (a) or Lp(a) and lipid profile of all groups were measured. Mean sLp(a) concentration were compared between groups by\" Mann Whitney U\" test. Mean concentrations of every individual components of lipid profile (sTAG, sTc, sLDL & sHDL) were compared with different groups. sLp(a) concentration of Group A compared to Group B1 was found to be significantly higher (p<0.001). In the same way mean serum Lp(a) concentration of Group A compared to Group B2 was also significantly higher (p<0.001). Mean sLp(a) concentration of B1 compared B2 did not differ significantly. Mean values of lipid profiles were slightly elevated in Group A compared to Group B1 and Group B2 except sHDL-c level. Mean concentrations HDL-c was significantly lower in Group A compared to Group B1 and Group B2. Thus the present study has revealed that there is increased Lp(a) in menopause & decreased HDL in menopause.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9548268,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Enhancement of albumin production by hepatocyte growth factor in rat hepatocytes: distinction in mode of action from stimulation of DNA synthesis.\nHepatocyte growth factor (HGF) has been shown to enhance albumin production as well as stimulate DNA synthesis in hepatocytes. The mode of action of HGF in exerting both effects is to be elucidated. We previously observed that hepatocyte proliferation occurred in normal rats given recombinant human HGF (rhHGF) intravenously. When rats received rhHGF similarly, serum albumin levels were significantly increased compared to controls. In primary culture of rat hepatocytes, albumin concentration in culture medium was significantly increased by rhHGF added at 24 h of culture compared to controls, increasing with time of culture. This effect of rhHGF was dose-related. When actinomycin D was added to the medium, the albumin concentration was reduced in a dose-related manner, but its enhancement by rhHGF was maintained. Albumin mRNA levels were not increased by rhHGF. When rhHGF was added similarly to the medium, immunocytochemically positive hepatocytes for 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation appeared 30 h later. Of these labeled hepatocytes, 12.5% were concomitantly stained for albumin. In contrast, albumin-positive hepatocytes were seen in 77% of BrdU-non-labeled hepatocytes (p<0.01). We conclude that HGF may enhance albumin production through post-transcriptional regulation in non-proliferating hepatocytes, but not in proliferating hepatocytes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6159280,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Preservation of red blood cells with purines and nucleosides. II. Uptake and utilization of purines and nucleosides by stored red blood cells.\nThe uptake of adenine, guanine, guanosine and inosine by stored red cells was investigated in whole blood and red cell resuspensions at initial concentrations of 0.25, 0.5 and 0.75 mM for adenine and 0.5 mM for the other additives using a rapid ion-exchange chromatographic microanalysis of purines and nucleosides in plasma and whole blood. Increasing adenine concentrations from 0.25 to 0.75 mM in blood elevated the adenine uptake from 0.3 up to 0.8 mmol\/l red cells during 2 hours after collecting blood. The intra-\/extracellular distribution ratio changed from 1 : 1.3 to 1: 1.7. Some 2 hours after withdrawing blood into CPD--solution with purines and nucleosides the uptake of adenine and guanine resulted in 40 per cent and 70 per cent respectively and of guanosine and inosine in 80 and 90 per cent respectively. The replacement of plasma by a resuspending solution gave the same uptake rates for purines and nucleosides. The nucleosides were rapidly split to purines and R-1-P and disappeared from blood during one week. Adenine and guanine were utilized to 80 to 90 per cent only after 3 weeks. During the same period the utilization of guanine was smaller by 40 per cent than that of adenine due to the different activity of the purine nucleoside phosphorylase for these substrates. The plasma of all analyzed blood samples contained hypoxanthine and inosine, but guanine and guanosine were detected only in those samples to which one of them was added. After 3 weeks of storage the highest concentration of hypoxanthine was found in CPD-AI blood with 600 microM in plasma and the highest concentration of synthesized inosine in CPD-AG blood with a concentration of 100 microM in plasma. Three ways of utilization of purines by stored red cells were discussed : the synthesis of nucleotide monophosphates, the formation of nucleosides, and the deamination. The portions of these ways change during storage. The most effective concentrations of adenine and guanosine in stored blood seems to be 0.25 and 0.5 mM respectively. The full utilization of the nucleoside requires the addition of inorganic phosphate.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25419725,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"3D segmentation of annulus fibrosus and nucleus pulposus from T2-weighted magnetic resonance images.\nComputational medicine aims at employing personalised computational models in diagnosis and treatment planning. The use of such models to help physicians in finding the best treatment for low back pain (LBP) is becoming popular. One of the challenges of creating such models is to derive patient-specific anatomical and tissue models of the lumbar intervertebral discs (IVDs), as a prior step. This article presents a segmentation scheme that obtains accurate results irrespective of the degree of IVD degeneration, including pathological discs with protrusion or herniation. The segmentation algorithm, employing a novel feature selector, iteratively deforms an initial shape, which is projected into a statistical shape model space at first and then, into a B-Spline space to improve accuracy.The method was tested on a MR dataset of 59 patients suffering from LBP. The images follow a standard T2-weighted protocol in coronal and sagittal acquisitions. These two image volumes were fused in order to overcome large inter-slice spacing. The agreement between expert-delineated structures, used here as gold-standard, and our automatic segmentation was evaluated using Dice Similarity Index and surface-to-surface distances, obtaining a mean error of 0.68 mm in the annulus segmentation and 1.88 mm in the nucleus, which are the best results with respect to the image resolution in the current literature.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23884222,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Comparison of glucose determinations on blood samples collected in three types of tubes.\nBecause of the metabolism of serum glucose in collection tubes containing blood samples, serum glucose levels may be found to decrease over time. Several types of collection tubes have been designed to, at least partially, block glucose metabolism by red blood cells in blood collection tubes that may not be analyzed immediately after blood collection. These include red-top collection tubes with serum separator, grey-top tubes with a fluoride glycolysis inhibitor, and heparin-containing green-top tubes which prevent clot formation. As part of a quality assurance project, we investigated whether glucose levels differed in the three tube types from each of 18 volunteers on a prolonged standing of 4 hours. We then determined the glucose concentrations of all three tubes from each of the 18 volunteers. We used refrigerated samples over a five-day period to determine if the initial values were reproducible. Surprisingly, after standing for four hours at room temperature, we found that the glucose levels in the three tubes from each volunteer were statistically indistinguishable from one another using the two-tailed paired t-test. Also, a linear regression analysis showed that the values of glucose for the three pairs of two tube types were closely correlated with one another, with correlation coefficients of >0.97, slopes close to 1, and Y-intercepts close to 0. These results suggest that blood collection in any of these tubes will render similar values for serum glucose even after standing for four hours. The tubes were then refrigerated at 4\u00b0C and re-analyzed after another six hours and then once per day for the next four days. Beginning at the first day at the six-hour determination, the glucose levels in the red- and grey-top tubes were statistically indistinguishable from one another but not in the red- and green-top tubes and in the grey- and green-top tubes. This was due to a steady decrease in the glucose levels in the green-top tubes. The glucose levels in the red- and grey-top tubes from each volunteer remained constant over the five-day period so that the coefficients of variation (CV) were low. In contrast, due to the decrease of glucose levels in the green-top tubes, the CVs for repeated glucose determinations in these tubes were high. Interestingly, a regression analysis of the glucose values for all three sets of paired tubes showed high (> 0.97) correlation coefficients and slopes close to 1. However, a regression analysis of the glucose values in the red- and green-top and grey- and green-top tubes at day five showed Y-intercepts of about -32 suggesting that there is a constant decrease of glucose in the green-top tubes that amounts to approximately 6 mg\/dL per day over five days. These results suggest that red-top tubes with serum separator or grey-top tubes with a fluoride glycolysis inhibitor may be used for reproducible glucose determinations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24396624,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Squamous upper tract carcinoma presenting as a perinephric abscess.\nPerinephric abscesses are life-threatening conditions, which are rarely associated with neoplasms of the kidney or upper tract collecting system. We report, to our knowledge, the first case of squamous carcinoma of the upper tract presenting as a perinephric abscess, diagnosed after radical nephrectomy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28342805,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1}}},"text":"Phosphoethanolamine addition to the Heptose I of the Lipopolysaccharide modifies the inner core structure and has an impact on the binding of Polymyxin B to the Escherichia coli outer membrane.\nPhosphoethanolamine (pEtN) decoration of E. coli Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) provides resistance to the antimicrobial Polymyxin B (PolB). While EptA and EptB enzymes catalyze the addition of pEtN to the Lipid A and Kdo (pEtN-Kdo-Lipid A), EptC catalyzes the pEtN addition to the Heptose I (pEtN-HeptI). In this study, we investigated the contribution of pEtN-HeptI to PolB resistance using eptA\/eptB and eptC deficient E. coli K12 and its wild-type parent strains. These mutations were shown to decrease the antimicrobial activity of PolB on cells grown under pEtN-addition inducing conditions. Furthermore, the 1-N-phenylnapthylamine uptake assay revealed that in vivo PolB has a reduced OM-permeabilizing activity on the \u0394eptA\/eptB strain compared with the \u0394eptC strain. In vitro, the changes in size and zeta potential of LPS-vesicles indicate that pEtN-HeptI reduce the PolB binding, but in a minor extent than pEtN-Kdo-Lipid A. Molecular dynamics analysis revealed the structural basis of the PolB resistance promoted by pEtN-HeptI, which generate a new hydrogen-bonding networks and a denser inner core region. Altogether, the experimental and theoretical assays shown herein indicate that pEtN-HeptI addition promote an LPS conformational rearrangement, that could act as a shield by hindering the accession of PolB to inner LPS-targets moieties.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8347493,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Smear misclassification in a cervical cancer screening programme.\nA nested case-control study was undertaken in the Maribo County cohort of 27,811 women with negative Pap smears. Sixty women who later developed invasive cervical cancer constituted the cases, and five matched controls were selected from the cohort for each case. A total of 633 previous, negative smears for the cases and controls were reviewed independently by two pathologists. The review showed misclassification to be frequent in these smears collected in the period 1966-82. Thirty-five smears were considered positive at the review. The misclassification was differential in respect to the women's later disease status. The odds ratio for patients compared with controls for having at least one positive smear was 22.12 (95% CI 7.54-64.94). We were unable to identify specific characteristics of misclassified smears coming from later cases. Koilocytosis\/dyskeratosis, herpes virus changed cells and hyperkeratosis were equally rare in smears from patients and controls. The Maribo County data indicate that the fraction of preventable cases of invasive cervical cancer in women aged 30-64 within the first 5 years after a negative smear could be increased from 62-72% to 83-86%, if misclassification of true positive smears could be eliminated. As a rough estimate, this would be at the cost of a 2% increase in the work load. It should be remembered that there is a large element of extrapolation in applying these results based on relatively poor quality specimens from 1966-82 as compared to a modern screening service.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19043916,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A critique of the ACOEM statement on mold: undisclosed conflicts of interest in the creation of an \"evidence-based\" statement.\nIn 2003, the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) published its evidence-based statement, \"Adverse Human Health Effects Associated with Molds in the Indoor Environment,\" in its Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (JOEM). ACOEM's author selection, development, peer review, and publication of its mold position paper involved a series of seemingly biased and ethically dubious decisions and ad hoc methods. The resulting position paper resembled a litigation \"defense report\" which omitted or inadequately acknowledged research validating the association between mold and building-related symptoms. ACOEM nonetheless released the paper as an \"evidence-based\" statement and then published it in JOEM without any further changes or conflict disclosure. The Mold Statement has been relied upon by attorneys and expert witnesses representing defendants in mold litigation to disclaim and invalidate individuals', families', and workers' claims of building-related health effects from indoor mold exposure.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11981122,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Comparison of 3190 alcohol-dependent individuals with and without suicide attempts.\nSuicidal behaviors are often seen in alcohol-dependent individuals. The aim of this study is to identify and confirm risk factors for suicide attempts in a large, family-based sample of alcoholics. Semistructured, detailed interviews were administered to 3190 alcohol-dependent individuals as part of the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA). Information about suicidal behavior, socioeconomic characteristics, psychiatric comorbidity, substance use disorders, and characteristics of alcohol dependence were obtained from alcohol-dependent probands, controls, and their relatives. As determined by both univariate comparison and multivariate logistic regression analysis, alcohol-dependent individuals with a history of suicide attempts were found to have a significantly more severe course of alcohol dependence and a higher prevalence of both independent and substance-induced psychiatric disorders and other substance dependence. First-degree relatives of subjects with suicide attempts showed a significantly higher rate of suicide attempts, even after controlling for additional relevant diagnoses. These results support the hypothesis that alcohol-dependent individuals with a history of suicide attempts are more severely impaired. Screening and subsequent treatment of alcohol use disorder, psychiatric comorbidity, and substance use disorders among alcoholics may be crucial in preventing suicide attempts and completions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31242575,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-10":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mitochondria as a Source and a Target for Uremic Toxins.\nElucidation of molecular and cellular mechanisms of the uremic syndrome is a very challenging task. More than 130 substances are now considered to be \"uremic toxins\" and represent a very diverse group of molecules. The toxicity of these molecules affects many cellular processes, and expectably, some of them are able to disrupt mitochondrial functioning. However, mitochondria can be the source of uremic toxins as well, as the mitochondrion can be the site of complete synthesis of the toxin, whereas in some scenarios only some enzymes of the pathway of toxin synthesis are localized here. In this review, we discuss the role of mitochondria as both the target and source of pathological processes and toxic compounds during uremia. Our analysis revealed about 30 toxins closely related to mitochondria. Moreover, since mitochondria are key regulators of cellular redox homeostasis, their functioning might directly affect the production of uremic toxins, especially those that are products of oxidation or peroxidation of cellular components, such as aldehydes, advanced glycation end-products, advanced lipoxidation end-products, and reactive carbonyl species. Additionally, as a number of metabolic products can be degraded in the mitochondria, mitochondrial dysfunction would therefore be expected to cause accumulation of such toxins in the organism. Alternatively, many uremic toxins (both made with the participation of mitochondria, and originated from other sources including exogenous) are damaging to mitochondrial components, especially respiratory complexes. As a result, a positive feedback loop emerges, leading to the amplification of the accumulation of uremic solutes. Therefore, uremia leads to the appearance of mitochondria-damaging compounds, and consecutive mitochondrial damage causes a further rise of uremic toxins, whose synthesis is associated with mitochondria. All this makes mitochondrion an important player in the pathogenesis of uremia and draws attention to the possibility of reducing the pathological consequences of uremia by protecting mitochondria and reducing their role in the production of uremic toxins.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6361249,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Early intervention for alcohol problems.\nDespite awareness of the wide variety of clinical and laboratory abnormalities associated with alcohol abuse, drinking problems often remain undetected in clinical practice. There is increasing evidence that problem drinking can be successfully treated by brief intervention. The general practitioner is in a good position to identify patients who drink excessively, and to intervene with brief counselling at an early stage when prognosis is more favourable. A practical strategy is described for diagnosis and intervention that could be readily implemented in clinical practice.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30091945,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-18":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Addition of Vincristine and Irinotecan to Vincristine, Dactinomycin, and Cyclophosphamide Does Not Improve Outcome for Intermediate-Risk Rhabdomyosarcoma: A Report From the Children's Oncology Group.\nPurpose Intermediate-risk rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) includes patients with either nonmetastatic, unresected embryonal RMS (ERMS) with an unfavorable primary site or nonmetastatic alveolar RMS (ARMS). The primary aim of this study was to improve the outcome of patients with intermediate-risk RMS by substituting vincristine and irinotecan (VI) for half of vincristine, dactinomycin, and cyclophosphamide (VAC) courses. All patients received a lower dose of cyclophosphamide and earlier radiation therapy than in previous trials. Patients and Methods Patients were randomly assigned at study entry to either VAC (cumulative cyclophosphamide dose, 16.8 g\/m2) or VAC\/VI (cumulative cyclophosphamide dose, 8.4 g\/m2) for 42 weeks of therapy. Radiation therapy started at week 4, with individualized local control plans permitted for patients younger than 24 months. The primary study end point was event-free survival (EFS). The study design had an 80% power (5% one-sided \u03b1-level) to detect an improved long-term EFS from 65% (with VAC) to 76% (with VAC\/VI). Results A total of 448 eligible patients were enrolled in the study. At a median follow-up of 4.8 years, the 4-year EFS was 63% with VAC and 59% with VAC\/VI ( P = .51), and 4-year overall survival was 73% for VAC and 72% for VAC\/VI ( P = .80). Within the ARMS and ERMS subgroups, no difference in outcome by treatment arm was found. Severe hematologic toxicity was less common with VAC\/VI therapy. Conclusion The addition of VI to VAC did not improve EFS or OS for patients with intermediate-risk RMS. VAC\/VI had less hematologic toxicity and a lower cumulative cyclophosphamide dose, making VAC\/VI an alternative standard therapy for intermediate-risk RMS.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7938476,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Enhancement in irradiated mononuclear cells in culture of mitogen-induced incorporation of [3H]thymidine by homologous conditioned medium.\nIncorporation of [3H]thymidine in irradiated peripheral blood mononuclear cell cultures irradiated in vitro was stimulate significantly by either concanavalin A or phytohemagglutinin only in the presence of homologous conditioned medium. Production of this activity by mononuclear cells was enhanced by irradiation and\/or pulsed exposure to puromycin but was abolished by actinomycin D. Addition of anti-interleukin 1 or anti-interleukin 2 monoclonal antibodies to the conditioned medium before assay did not influence the stimulatory action. A similar significant stimulation of mononuclear cell cultures irradiated with 5 Gy by concanavalin A was obtained when purified preparations of homologous conditioned medium were used in the assay. Purification was done by ultrafiltration and concentration, heparin agarose chromatography, ammonium sulfate precipitation, concanavalin A agarose chromatography, DEAE-ion exchange chromatography and HPLC gel filtration chromatography. With SDS-PAGE and silver staining, the active HPLC fraction gave one band of 50 kDa, suggesting that this protein is responsible for the co-stimulatory effect of homologous conditioned medium for both mitogen-induced irradiated and nonirradiated mononuclear cell cultures.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23437705,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[CXCL10\/IP-10 as a new biomarker for Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection].\nIn low prevalence countries, where identification and treatment of latent TB infection (LTBI) are basis of national programmes against tuberculosis, the diagnosis is focused mainly on tuberculin skin test (TST) and interferon gamma release assay (IGRA), both of which seem to be imperfect. This is why searches for a new, more specific biomarker for TB infection have been conducted. A promising candidate for the new marker is interferon gamma induced protein (IP-10). IP-10 is a chemokine, which can be detected in increased amounts in patients with active tuberculosis, latent TB infection and in individuals who had contact with an index case. It has been commonly suggested that a simultaneous analysis of IGRA and IP-10 level increases the effectiveness of IGRA, however it is still not certain whether measurement of IP-10 level might help distinguish between the above mentioned forms of tuberculous infection. Hopes are high as the protein is proved to be a good marker for treatment monitoring in adults, though there is no available data on its usefulness in monitoring therapy in paediatric population. More studies are still needed to fully assess the benefits of IP-10 level measurement as a biomarker for tuberculous infection, especially in children.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28560711,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Recent advances in hypertrophic scar.\nHypertrophic scars (HTS) are predominant diseases after burn and trauma, which cause severe physiological and psychological problems. HTS have been researched for decades, and our knowledge about the mechanisms of HTS formation process has been increasing. However, the effects of currently available prevention and treatment strategies are limited. In this review, we summarize currently known mechanisms and recent studies of HTS, including extracellular matrix, matrix metalloproteinases, fibroblasts, myofibroblasts and their contraction ability, keratinocytes, growth factors, inflammatory and immune response, and stem cell treatment, hoping for a better understanding of HTS generation, development and effective translation to treatment strategies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25495711,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"N-Heterocyclic carbenes: versatile second cyclometalated ligands for neutral iridium(III) heteroleptic complexes.\nWith 2-(2,4-difluorophenyl)pyridine (dfppy) as the first cyclometalated ligand and different monoanionic N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) as the second cyclometalated ligands, 16 blue or greenish-blue neutral iridium(III) phosphorescent complexes, (dfppy)2Ir(NHC), were synthesized efficiently. The obtained Ir(III) complexes display typical phosphorescence of 455-485 nm with quantum yields up to 0.73. By modifying the phenyl moiety in the NHCs with electron-withdrawing substituents (e.g., -F or -CF3) or replacing it with N-heteroaromatic rings (pyridine or pyrimidine), the HOMO-LUMO gaps are broadened, and the emissions shift to the more blue region accordingly. Furthermore, to extend the application scope of NHCs as the second cyclometalated ligands, five other Ir(III) complexes from blue to red were synthesized with different first cyclometalated ligands. Finally, the organic light-emitting diodes using one blue emitter exhibit a maximum current efficiency of 37.83 cd A(-1), an external quantum efficiency of 10.3%, and a maximum luminance of 8709 cd m(-2). Our results demonstrate that NHCs as the second cyclometalated ligands are good candidates for the achievement of efficient phosphorescent Ir(III) complexes and corresponding devices.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28299201,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Lyssaviruses and rabies: current conundrums, concerns, contradictions and controversies.\nLyssaviruses are bullet-shaped, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses and the causative agents of the ancient zoonosis rabies. Africa is the likely home to the ancestors of taxa residing within the Genus Lyssavirus, Family Rhabdoviridae. Diverse lyssaviruses are envisioned as co-evolving with bats, as the ultimate reservoirs, over seemingly millions of years. In terms of relative distribution, overt abundance, and resulting progeny, rabies virus is the most successful lyssavirus species today, but for unknown reasons. All mammals are believed to be susceptible to rabies virus infection. Besides reservoirs among the Chiroptera, meso-carnivores also serve as major historical hosts and are represented among the canids, raccoons, skunks, mongooses, and ferret badgers. Perpetuating as a disease of nature with the mammalian central nervous system as niche, host breadth alone precludes any candidacy for true eradication. Despite having the highest case fatality of any infectious disease and a burden in excess of or comparative to other major zoonoses, rabies remains neglected. Once illness appears, no treatment is proven to prevent death. Paradoxically, vaccines were developed more than a century ago, but the clear majority of human cases are unvaccinated. Tens of millions of people are exposed to suspect rabid animals and tens of thousands succumb annually, primarily children in developing countries, where canine rabies is enzootic. Rather than culling animal populations, one of the most cost-effective strategies to curbing human fatalities is the mass vaccination of dogs. Building on considerable progress to date, several complementary actions are needed in the near future, including a more harmonized approach to viral taxonomy, enhanced de-centralized laboratory-based surveillance, focal pathogen discovery and characterization, applied pathobiological research for therapeutics, improved estimates of canine populations at risk, actual production of required vaccines and related biologics, strategies to maximize prevention but minimize unnecessary human prophylaxis, and a long-term, realistic plan for sustained global program support to achieve success in disease control, prevention, and elimination.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37447279,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Influence of Vitamin D on the Incidence of Metabolic Syndrome and Hormonal Balance in Patients with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.\nPolycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a heterogeneous endocrine disorder that affects 8-13% of women of reproductive age. It is one of the most common causes of infertility and is associated with hyperandrogenism in the form of hirsutism and acne, non-ovulatory cycles, and characteristic ovarian morphology. The available research on serum vitamin D deficiency in patients with PCOS and the appropriateness of vitamin D supplementation in this group of women is inconclusive, so we decided to investigate the influence of vitamin D on the incidence of metabolic syndrome and hormonal balance in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome. The study comprised 120 women aged between 18 and 42 years, who were divided into two groups: a group with diagnosed polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and a group of regularly menstruating women without features of androgenisation, in whom polycystic ovary syndrome was excluded. Each patient underwent a history and physical examination, including a gynecological examination, anthropometric measurements were taken, including height, weight, waist, and hip circumference, and blood pressure was measured using the Korotkow method. In the female patients, the following parameters were also determined from the blood: follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), oestradiol, TSH, ft4, prolactin (PRL), total testosterone, DHEASO4, 17-hydroxyprogesterone (17-OHP), sex-hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), androstendione, 25(OH) vitamin D3 metabolite. The majority of the patients with polycystic ovary syndrome were found to have deficient or suboptimal serum vitamin D levels, and the effects of vitamin D on the SHBG levels and free-androgen indices in these patients was examined. The effects of vitamin D on the incidence of metabolic syndrome and BMI, waist-to-hip ratio, waist circumference, and blood pressure in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome were also found.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19044382,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A pressure cell for nonresonant inelastic x-ray scattering studies of gas phases.\nWe report the design and performance of a gas-phase sample cell for measurements of momentum transfer (q) dependent nonresonant inelastic x-ray scattering (NRIXS). NRIXS measurements from He gas at 2 MPa (20 bars) readily demonstrate dipole-allowed and dipole-forbidden final states for two-electron excitations. Direct comparison of gas-phase NRIXS measurements with the corresponding nonresonant electron energy loss spectroscopy results (EELS) will be a valuable method for characterizing systematic errors in either technique for studies that require absolute normalization of the double differential cross section.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32357650,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Conditions for the genesis of early afterdepolarization in a model of a ventricular myocyte.\nEarly afterdepolarization (EAD) is a major arrhythmogenic factor in the long QT syndrome (LQTS), whose conditions for genesis have puzzled people for several decades. Here, we employ the phase I Luo-Rudy ventricular myocyte model to investigate EAD using methods from nonlinear dynamics and provide valuable insights into EAD genesis from a physical perspective. Two major results are obtained: (i) Sufficient parametric conditions for EAD are analytically determined and then used to analyze in detail the effects of the physiological parameters. (ii) The normal form of the Hopf bifurcation that leads to EAD is derived and then used to determine whether the Hopf bifurcation is subcritical or supercritical for EAD genesis and the corresponding amplitude and period of the EAD oscillation. Our work here paves the way for further studies of more complicated multi-scale dynamics of EAD and may lead to effective treatments for LQTS arrhythmias.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28741429,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Rapid systemic delivery of zolmitriptan using an adhesive dermally applied microarray.\nAdhesive Dermally-Applied Microarray (ADAM) is a device for intracutaneous drug administration consisting of a 3 cm2 disposable array of drug-coated titanium microprojections on an adhesive backing. It is applied using a low cost, reusable, handheld applicator. Microprojections penetrate the stratum corneum, delivering drug proximal to capillaries with limited likelihood of pain. The pharmacokinetics of zolmitriptan delivery using ADAM was evaluated in 20 healthy volunteers. Median tmax was <20 min, comparable to subcutaneous sumatriptan. Absorption was faster than for oral zolmitriptan, with higher exposure in the first 2 h. Most adverse events were consistent with those seen in previous triptan trials. Application site reactions were generally mild and resolved within 24 h. ADAM zolmitriptan shows a promising pharmacokinetic profile for migraine treatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29556657,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cyclopia and proboscis - the extreme end of holoprosencephaly.\nHoloprosencephaly (HPE), a major congenital abnormality in brain development is characterized by the absence or incomplete cleavage of prosencephalon into separate hemispheres, with cyclopia as the extreme manifestation of HPE, presenting as a failure of embryonic prosencephalon to properly divide the orbits of the eye in two cavities. We report the case of a 15-year-old pregnant patient, who delivered a 34-week living fetus with alobar HPE, cyclopia and proboscis. The patient did not have any routine scans during pregnancy; her first obstetrical exam was performed at 29 weeks of gestation (WG), when a prenatal ultrasound found a fetus with alobar HPE, cyclopia, proboscis, polydactyly and single umbilical artery. Despite adequate medical and genetic counseling, the patient and her legal representative refused further investigations - magnetic resonance imaging and genetic testing. She was admitted to the hospital at 34 WG for premature rupture of membranes, with clear amniotic fluid. Twenty-four hours later, she delivered vaginally a living male fetus, weighing 1995 g. Macroscopic examination revealed umbilical cord with two vessels, fetal proboscis, cyclopia, low implanted ears, bilateral polydactyly of the upper limbs, spina bifida occulta in the sacral region. The newborn lived for 40 minutes. Microscopy of the eyeball revealed choroid, ciliary body and conjunctiva structures, with no identification of the retina, and no evidence of the optic nerve in the fragments obtained from the optic chiasm region. This case underlines the importance of early obstetrical examinations during pregnancy and raises concerns about the ethics of allowing therapeutic termination of pregnancy after 24 WG in selected cases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28293943,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Electrothermally Driven Fluorescence Switching by Liquid Crystal Elastomers Based On Dimensional Photonic Crystals.\nIn this article, the fabrication of an active organic-inorganic one-dimensional photonic crystal structure to offer electrothermal fluorescence switching is described. The film is obtained by spin-coating of liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) and TiO2 nanoparticles alternatively. By utilizing the property of LCEs that can change their size and shape reversibly under external thermal stimulations, the \u03bbmax of the photonic band gap of these films is tuned by voltage through electrothermal conversion. The shifted photonic band gap further changes the matching degree between the photonic band gap of the film and the emission spectrum of organic dye mounting on the film. With rhodamine B as an example, the enhancement factor of its fluorescence emission is controlled by varying the matching degree. Thus, the fluorescence intensity is actively switched by voltage applied on the system, in a fast, adjustable, and reversible manner. The control chain of using the electrothermal stimulus to adjust fluorescence intensity via controlling the photonic band gap is proved by a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and UV-vis reflectance. This mechanism also corresponded to the results from the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulation. The comprehensive usage of photonic crystals and liquid crystal elastomers opened a new possibility for active optical devices.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1682304,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Characterization of the groEL-like genes in Streptomyces albus.\nThree GroEL-like heat shock proteins (HSP56, HSP58, and HSP18) have been observed in Streptomyces albus (G. Guglielmi, P. Mazodier, C. J. Thompson, and J. Davies, J. Bacteriol. 173:7374-7381, 1991). Here we report the cloning and complete nucleotide sequence of groEL1, which encodes HSP18 and HSP58, and groEL2, which encodes HSP56. Both nucleotide sequences predicted proteins of 56,680 Da that were 70% identical. The 5' nucleotide sequence of groEL1 coded for a protein corresponding to HSP18 that may be a processed gene product. At least two groEL-like genes were present in all 12 Streptomyces species tested; they were not closely linked in the genome. groEL1, but not groEL2, was adjacent to a groES-like gene.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28303546,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2017-13":1}}},"text":"Clathrin-Dependent Uptake of Paraquat into SH-SY5Y Cells and Its Internalization into Different Subcellular Compartments.\nThe herbicide paraquat (PQ) is an exogenous toxin that allows the selective activation of dopaminergic neurons in the mesencephalon to induce injury and also causes its apoptosis in vitro. However, uptake mechanisms between PQ and neurons remain elusive. To address this issue, we undertook a study of PQ endocytosis in a dopaminergic SH-SY5Y cell line as well as explored the subsequent subcellular location and potential functional analysis of PQ. The PQ was found to bind the SH-SY5Y cell membrane and then became internalized via a clathrin-dependent pathway. PQ was internalized by many subcellular organelles in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Interestingly, the taken up PQ and secretogranin III (SCG3), which became dysregulated with PQ treatment that induced SH-SY5Y apoptosis in our previous study, colocalized in cytoplasmic vesicles. Taken together, our findings indicate that PQ is endocytosed by SH-SY5Y cells and that its multiple, subcellular localizations indicate PQ may potentially be involved in subcellular-level functions. More importantly, PQ distributing preferentially into SCG3-positive vesicles demonstrates its selective targeting which may affect SCG3 and cargoes carried by SCG3-positive vesicles. Therefore, it is reasonable to infer that PQ toxic insults may potentially interfere with neurotransmitter storage and transport associated with secretory granules.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25517299,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Regulation of complement and modulation of its activity in monoclonal antibody therapy of cancer.\nThe complement system is a powerful tool of the innate immune system to eradicate pathogens. Both in vitro and in vivo evidence indicates that therapeutic anti-tumor monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) can activate the complement system by the classical pathway. However, the contribution of complement to the efficacy of mAbs is still debated, mainly due to the lack of convincing data in patients. A beneficial role for complement during mAb therapy is supported by the fact that cancer cells often upregulate complement-regulatory proteins (CRPs). Polymorphisms in various CRPs were previously associated with complement-mediated disorders. In this review the role of complement in anti-tumor mAb therapy will be discussed with special emphasis on strategies aiming at modifying complement activity. In the future, clinical efficacy of mAbs with enhanced effector functions together with comprehensive analysis of polymorphisms in CRPs in mAb-treated patients will further clarify the role of complement in mAb therapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20348984,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effectiveness of intra-operative Mitomycin-C in reducing the recurrence of pterygium in Irrua, Nigeria.\nTo evaluate the effectiveness of intra-operative Mitomycin-C application after pterygium surgery in Irrua, Nigeria. The medical records of all patients who had pterygium excision with intra-operative application of 0.4mg\/ml Mitomycin C between June 2002 and May 2007 and followed up for at least a year were reviewed. Two hundred and forty three eyes (196 patients) had pterygium excision with intra-operative application of 0.4mg\/ml Mitomycin C over this period. Male to female ratio was 2:1. The mean age of the patients was 47.1years (SD+ 15.4) Eleven eyes had recurrence after a minimum follow up period of one year. Six (54.5%) out of the eleven eyes that had recurrence had conjunctival granuloma and in such cases recurrence was early (between 2 to 3 months of surgery). Conjunctival granuloma was the main complication occurring in 35 eyes (14.4%). Occurrence of granuloma was significantly associated with recurrence (P =0.0006). Delayed wound healing occurred in 5 eyes (2.1%). There was no case of either scleral or corneal melting. Intra-operative application of 0.4mg\/ml Mitomycin C is very effective in reduction of recurrence of pterygium after excision. Hence patients should be given the benefit of intra-operative use of Mitomycin C during pterygium surgery.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28263589,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Improved Accuracy and Efficiency in Quantum Embedding through Absolute Localization.\nProjection-based quantum embedding methodologies provide a framework for performing wave function-in-density functional theory (WF-in-DFT) calculations. The total WF-in-DFT energy is dependent on the partitioning of the total system and requires similar partitioning in each system for accurate energy differences. To achieve this, we enforce an absolute localization of the WF orbitals to basis functions only associated with the WF subsystem. This absolute localization, followed by iterative optimization of the subsystems' orbitals, provides improved energy differences for WF-in-DFT while simultaneously improving the computational efficiency.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17012165,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Turkey breeder hen age affects growth and systemic and intestinal inflammatory responses in female poults examined at different ages posthatch.\nThis trial examined the effect of 2 turkey breeder hen ages (33 or 55 wk of age) on performance, intestinal histology, and inflammatory immune response of female turkey poults grown to market weight. Using a randomized design, female poults were separated by breeder flock age (n = 8 floor pens\/breeder flock age; n = 26 poults\/pen; 0.195 m(2)\/bird), fed identical commercial diets (9 phases), and grown to market weight (approximately 11.4 kg\/ bird). At young ages, poults from the older breeder flock tended to have higher BW (P < 0.01 for d 7, P < 0.09 for d 63), although feed consumed was not significantly different due to breeder flock age (P > 0.20 for all ages). After approximately 63 d posthatch, no difference in BW was observed, suggesting that poults from the younger breeder flock were eventually able to compensate for initial reductions in performance. In addition to growth measurements on d 10, 24, and 65 posthatch, poults were vaccinated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS, from Salmonella Typhimurium; 0.5 mg\/kg of BW intraabdominally) or not vaccinated (control), and intestinal histology and plasma haptoglobin were assessed at 24 h postadministration. In control birds, intestinal villus length was greater for poults from the older breeder flock (P < 0.05), as was crypt depth (P < 0.05 for d 11 and 25). Plasma haptoglobin levels did not change in 11-d-old poults after LPS administration, but they increased with LPS at d 25 and 66 posthatch (P < 0.05 for each). At d 66 posthatch, poults from the younger flock had increased haptoglobin levels post-LPS compared with those from the older breeder flock (P < 0.05). In general, LPS administration increased villus width in the jejunum and ileum (P < 0.05 for each), increased lamina propria width in the duodenum and ileum (P < 0.05 for each), and decreased ileum crypt depth (P < 0.05). Overall, poults from the older breeder flock had reduced inflammatory responses, even at 9 to 10 wk posthatch, even though performance was similar in poults from the 2 flocks by this age.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28298247,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Tissue-specific inhibition of urokinase-type plasminogen activator expression in the testes of mice by inducible lentiviral RNA interference causes male infertility.\nUrokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) is involved in many physiological processes, including male infertility. To explore the effects of uPA in male reproduction, we constructed an inducible uPA short hairpin RNA (shRNA) system expressed by lentiviral vectors. After proving inhibition of uPA expression in the mouse Sertoli cell line TM4 by 1\u03bcgmL-1 doxycycline (Dox), two lentivirus (pLenti4-shRNA and pLenti6\/TR) were co-microinjected into mouse testes to produce TetR&shuPA mice model. Though oral gavage by 0.75mgmL-1 Dox each day for 1 week, the Plau mRNA expression, uPA protein level and uPA enzyme activity in mice testis decreased significantly in TetR&shuPA mice model. After Dox induction of 1 week, the TetR&shuPA mice mated with female mice. Our results show that the pregnancy rate was reduced by approximately 40% and the sperm motility also decreased significantly. These data indicated that downregulation of uPA could decrease the fertility of male mice, which may be caused by a reduction in sperm motility. To investigate the reversible effect and safety of the inducible uPA shRNA system, we withdraw Dox and found the mating rate and sperm motility gradually recovered after 2 weeks. The histopathology structure of the testis, epididymis, and main organs was not altered significantly. The results of the present study indicating that uPA may be regarded as a novel target for the regulation of male fertility.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34424246,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Quantitative Methods to Study Protein Arginine Methyltransferase 1-9 Activity in Cells.\nProtein methyltransferases (PRMTs) catalyze the transfer of a methyl group to arginine residues of substrate proteins. The PRMT family consists of nine members that can monomethylate or symmetrically\/asymmetrically dimethylate arginine residues. Several antibodies recognizing different types of arginine methylation of various proteins are available; thus, providing tools for the development of PRMT activity biomarker assays. PRMT antibody-based assays are challenging due to overlapping substrates and motif-based antibody specificities. These issues and the experimental setup to investigate the arginine methylation contributed by individual PRMTs are discussed. Through the careful selection of the representative substrates that are biomarkers for eight out of nine PRMTs, a panel of PRMT activity assays were designed. Here, the protocols for cellular assays quantitatively measuring the enzymatic activity of individual members of the PRMT family in cells are reported. The advantage of the described methods is their straightforward performance in any lab with cell culture and fluorescent western blot capabilities. The substrate specificity and chosen antibody reliability were fully validated with knockdown and overexpression approaches. In addition to detailed guidelines of the assay biomarkers and antibodies, information on the use of an inhibitor tool compound collection for PRMTs is also provided.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6742577,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Maturation of the retina of the canine neonate as determined by electroretinography and histology.\nRetinal potentials were obtained by electroretinography from birth to maturity of dogs. Amplitudes, time latency, and flicker fusion frequencies under scotopic conditions were compared to the histologic development of the retina. There was no electroretinogram (ERG) recorded during the 1st week of life, but in the 2nd week, a small negative wave (not exceeding 5 microV) was detected. Small ERG waveforms appeared in dogs at 3 weeks of age; these markedly increased in amplitude and latency between the 3rd and the 4th weeks of age. Additional changes in the ERG amplitudes were evident in the 5th to the 8th weeks of life approximating amplitudes of the adult dog. Similarly, the greatest changes in flicker fusion frequencies occurred between the 3rd and the 5th weeks and the 7th and the 8th weeks. Latency of the a-wave indicated little change in the age groups studied. The greatest decrease in latency occurred in the b- and c-waves between the 3rd and 5th weeks of age. The rod and cone inner and outer segments were first observed microscopically in the 3rd week after the dogs were born. Further differentiation of the rod and cone segments and other retinal layers occurred from the 5th to the 8th weeks.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28253710,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Detection and characterization of ciRS-7: a potential promoter of the development of cancer.\nCircular RNAs (circRNAs) are a class of newly-identified non-coding RNA molecules. CircRNAs are conserved across different species and display specific organization, sequence, and expression in disease. Moreover, circRNAs' closed ring structure, insensitivity to RNase, and stability are advantages over linear RNAs in terms of development and application as a new kind of clinical marker. In addition, according to recent studies, circular RNA-7 (ciRS-7) acts as a sponge of miR-7 and thus inhibits its activity. Numerous evidences have confirmed expression of miR-7 is dysregulated in cancer tissues, however, whether ciRS-7 invovled in oncogenesis by acting as sponge of miR-7 remains unclear. Most recently, a study reported ciRS-7 acted as an oncogene in hepatocellular carcinoma through targeting miR-7 expression. This suggest ciRS-7\/ miR-7 axis affects oncogenesis, and it provides a new perspective on the mechanisms of decreased miR-7 expression in cancer tissues. Discovery of sponge role of circRNAs caused researchers to more closely explore the underlying mechanism of carcinogenesis and has significant clinical implications, and may open a new chapter in research on the pathology and treatment of cancers. This review summarizes the structure and function of circRNAs and provides evidence for the impact of ciRS-7 in promoting the development of cancer by acting as sponge of miR-7.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29361636,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Psychological Care for a High Risk Group of Refugees - Concept of Care for the Yazidi Women and Children of the Sonderkontingent Baden-W\u00fcrttemberg in Freiburg].\nAfter the genocide of Shingal in August 2014 in Northern Iraq, the humanitarian admissions program Sonderkontingent Baden-W\u00fcrttemberg \"Schutzbed\u00fcrftiger Frauen und Kinder aus dem Nordirak\" was implemented. 1100 persons, most of them Yazidis, were hosted by different municipalities in Germany. The target group is a particularly vulnerable group of persons with a high risk for developing post-traumatic stress disorder. We present the concept of care in Freiburg for 205 Yazidi women and children in Freiburg. A stepped-care approach was developed for the psychological care to introduce the Yazidi people to the daily life and to the health care system in Germany. An outreach of psychological services and an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary cooperation of all services involved were crucial.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28739091,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy: Effect on long-term remission for morbidly obese patients with type 2 diabetes at 5-year follow up.\nIn the short-term, laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy has been shown to be effective for the treatment of the type 2 diabetes in patients with severe obesity. There are few data with greater follow-up. Our aim was to evaluate the results of laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy on the control of type 2 diabetes in patients with severe obesity at 5 years at the University Hospital, France. From a total of 355 patients with severe obesity operated between January 2006 and June 2010, 52 (15%) had a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes before undergoing laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy. There were 31 females (60%) and 21 males (40%), with a mean age of 51 \u00b1 10 years (range 27-67) with a mean body mass index of 48 \u00b1 10 kg\/m2 (range 35-82). The mean duration of type 2 diabetes was 10.8 \u00b1 10.8 years before bariatric operation. The preoperative glycated hemoglobin was 8 \u00b1 2% (range 5.9-12.8) in 45 patients; 17 patients (38%) had levels of glycated hemoglobin \u22659%. Three patients (6%) required insulin alone, 4 (8%) were taking oral antidiabetic medicine and insulin, and the remaining 45 patients (87%) were taking only oral antidiabetic medicines. The complete data regarding weight loss at 5-year follow-up were obtained for 46 patients, yielding an overall follow-up rate of 89%. The prolonged remission of type 2 diabetes achieved at 1 year that persisted at 5 years of follow-up was present in 9 patients (17%). No patient with complete remission of their type 2 diabetes required insulin preoperatively. Improvement of type 2 diabetes was observed in 30 patients (58%) at 1 year, which was maintained for 27 patients (52%) at 5-year follow-up. Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy has demonstrated a moderate efficacy in the treatment morbidly obese patients with type 2 diabetes. Markedly increased preoperative glycated hemoglobin levels, older age, and preoperative need for insulin treatment may be the factors predicting failure of complete remission of type 2 diabetes after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37849988,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-22":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Macrophage immunometabolism in diabetes-associated atherosclerosis.\nMacrophages play fundamental roles in atherosclerotic plaque formation, growth, and regression. These cells are extremely plastic and perform different immune functions depending on the stimuli they receive. Initial in vitro studies have identified specific metabolic pathways that are crucial for the proper function of pro-inflammatory and pro-resolving macrophages. However, the plaque microenvironment, especially in the context of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, constantly challenges macrophages with several simultaneous inflammatory and metabolic stimuli, which may explain why atherosclerosis is accelerated in diabetic patients. In this mini review, we discuss how macrophage mitochondrial function and metabolism of carbohydrates, lipids, and amino acids may be affected by this complex plaque microenvironment and how risk factors associated with type 2 diabetes alter the metabolic rewiring of macrophages and disease progression. We also briefly discuss current challenges in assessing macrophage metabolism and identify future tools and possible strategies to alter macrophage metabolism to improve treatment options for diabetes-associated atherosclerosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37860106,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-10":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Identification of disease modules using higher-order network structure.\nHigher-order interaction patterns among proteins have the potential to reveal mechanisms behind molecular processes and diseases. While clustering methods are used to identify functional groups within molecular interaction networks, these methods largely focus on edge density and do not explicitly take into consideration higher-order interactions. Disease genes in these networks have been shown to exhibit rich higher-order structure in their vicinity, and considering these higher-order interaction patterns in network clustering have the potential to reveal new disease-associated modules. We propose a higher-order community detection method which identifies community structure in networks with respect to specific higher-order connectivity patterns beyond edges. Higher-order community detection on four different protein-protein interaction networks identifies biologically significant modules and disease modules that conventional edge-based clustering methods fail to discover. Higher-order clusters also identify disease modules from genome-wide association study data, including new modules that were not discovered by top-performing approaches in a Disease Module DREAM Challenge. Our approach provides a more comprehensive view of community structure that enables us to predict new disease-gene associations. https:\/\/github.com\/Reed-CompBio\/graphlet-clustering.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9155185,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[The possibility of drug design of quinolones effective for multiresistant gram-positive pathogens].\nRecently rapid increase in the emergence of multiresistant Gram-positive pathogen such as MRSA, penicillin resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae (PRSP), and vancomycin resistant Enterococcus (VRE). Whether quinolone antibacterial agent (quinolone) come to a promising drug or not for the treatment of these infectious diseases, it depend on an appropriate drug design of quinolones which have good toxicological and pharmacokinetic profile along with excellent antibacterial activities against these Gram-positive pathogens. In this chapter, we examine the possibility by following the history of the advances in quinolone research.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37457426,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Thigh Length as the Most Consistent Anthropometric Parameter in Predicting the Size of Hamstring Tendon Autografts in Patients Undergoing Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction: A Cross-Sectional Study.\nIndividual variability in the length and thickness of hamstring tendon autografts is a serious drawback in using these tendons for anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR). In this study, we aimed to determine the correlation between the anthropometric parameters and the size of hamstring tendon autografts. In a cross-sectional study, 52 male ACLR candidates were included. The length of semitendinosus and gracilis tendons and the diameter of single, doubled, and quadrupled tendons were measured. A graft sizing block device with an incremental size change of 0.5 mm (range 4.5-12) was used to measure the tendon graft diameter. The evaluated anthropometric parameters included age, gender, height, weight, BMI, thigh length and diameter, calf length, thigh-to-calf ratio, wrist diameter, and ankle diameter. A Pearson's or Spearman's correlation coefficient test was used for evaluating the correlation of anthropometric factors with graft characteristics. The mean age of the patients was 27.1 \u00b1 6.4 years. The semitendinosus length was significantly correlated with the patient's height (r = 0.373, P = 0.007), thigh length (r = 0.364, P = 0.009), and calf length (r = 0.340, P = 0.015). The gracilis length was significantly correlated with thigh length (r = 0.278, P = 0.049). The mean quadruple diameter was 8.56 \u00b1 1.15 mm (range 6.5-11). The quadruple diameter was significantly correlated with the thigh length (r = 0.283, P = 0.044). No other significant correlation was found between the tendons' size and evaluated anthropometric parameters. Thigh length was correlated with the semitendinosus length, gracilis length, and quadruple diameter. Therefore, it could be regarded as the most consistent and promising anthropometric factor in the prediction of hamstring autograft size.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20359297,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A micro-incubator for cell and tissue imaging.\nA low-cost micro-incubator for imaging dynamic processes in living cells and tissues has been developed. This micro-incubator provides a tunable environment that can be altered to study responses of cell monolayers for several days as well as relatively thick tissue samples and tissue-engineered epithelial tissues in experiments lasting several hours. Samples are contained in a sterile cavity closed by a gas-permeable membrane. The incubator can be positioned in any direction and used on an inverted or upright microscope. Temperature is regulated using a Peltier module controlled by a sensor positioned close to the sample, enabling compensation for any changes in temperature. Rapid changes in a sample's surrounding environment can be achieved due to the fast response of the Peltier module. These features permit monitoring of sample adaptation to induced environmental changes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31248830,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Is there still a role for the intra-aortic balloon pump in the management of cardiogenic shock following acute coronary syndrome?\nThe intra-aortic balloon pump has been widely used in the management of cardiogenic shock. Reducing cardiac afterload and myocardial oxygen consumption, and improving coronary blood flow, this safe and simple mechanical circulatory support has been considered the cornerstone of cardiogenic shock management for decades. However, because it failed to provide any clinical benefit in recent randomized trials, the latest guidelines discourage its routine use in this clinical setting. Moreover, new percutaneous circulatory supports providing greater haemodynamic improvement have recently been developed. Thus, intra-aortic balloon pump use has declined considerably in this clinical setting. However, the device does retain a minor role in cardiogenic shock management - mainly in the setting of mechanical complication of acute coronary syndrome, and for left ventricular unloading in patients treated with extracorporeal life support.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18590325,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Multiple time scale behaviors and network dynamics in liquid methanol.\nCanonical ensemble molecular dynamics simulations of liquid methanol, modeled using a rigid-body, pair-additive potential, are used to compute static distributions and temporal correlations of tagged molecule potential energies as a means of characterizing the liquid state dynamics. The static distribution of tagged molecule potential energies shows a clear multimodal structure with three distinct peaks, similar to those observed previously in water and liquid silica. The multimodality is shown to originate from electrostatic effects, but not from local, hydrogen bond interactions. An interesting outcome of this study is the remarkable similarity in the tagged potential energy power spectra of methanol, water, and silica, despite the differences in the underlying interactions and the dimensionality of the network. All three liquids show a distinct multiple time scale (MTS) regime with a 1\/ f (alpha) dependence with a clear positive correlation between the scaling exponent alpha and the diffusivity. The low-frequency limit of the MTS regime is determined by the frequency of crossover to white noise behavior which occurs at approximately 0.1 cm (-1) in the case of methanol under standard temperature and pressure conditions. The power spectral regime above 200 cm (-1) in all three systems is dominated by resonances due to localized vibrations, such as librations. The correlation between alpha and the diffusivity in all three liquids appears to be related to the strength of the coupling between the localized motions and the larger length\/time scale network reorganizations. Thus, the time scales associated with network reorganization dynamics appear to be qualitatively similar in these systems, despite the fact that water and silica both display diffusional anomalies but methanol does not.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17190065,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Adolescents' physical activity].\nThe paper defines the parameters reflecting the physical activity of adolescents and their correlation with health and a risk of behavioral disorders, bad habits, and cravings. A total of 9499 Georgian adolescents aged 14-18 years, the senior (9th-llth-form) pupils, selected through two-step cluster sampling were surveyed. The pupils anonymously filled in special questionnaires. This yielded the parameters reflecting the intensity of physical activity of the adolescents and the latter's going in for sports. The parameters were shown to have a beneficial effect on health, including mental health, and on the magnitude of unhealthy behavior.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34404189,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Treatment efficiency evaluation of left cardiac sympathetic denervation for patients with inherited arrhythmia by exercise-stress test].\nObjective: To evaluate the efficiency of left cardiac sympathetic denervation (LCSD) in inherited arrhythmia patients with adrenergic activity-induced malignant ventricular arrhythmia, and observe exercise-stress test features before and after LCSD. Methods: This retrospective observational study included catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia(CPVT) and long QT syndromes(LQTS) patients who underwent video-assisted LCSD at Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital and Peking University People's Hospital from September 2006 to May 2020. The indications for LCSD surgery were intolerant or refractory to beta-blocker medication. Clinical and exercise-stress tests data of included patients were collected before and 1 month after LCSD. Heart rate, exercise tolerance, atrial and ventricular arrhythmia, QTc interval and predictors for sudden cardiac death were analyzed. Patents were regularly followed up at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after LCSD and then once every year thereafter. Cardiac events and medication adjustment records were collected. Results: Five patients (2 CPVT, 1 LQT1, and 2 LQT2)were included in the study. All patients experienced syncope as first symptom at the median age of 12(10, 16)years, and underwent LCSD at the median age of 21(16, 26)years, Baseline heart rate was similar before and after LCSD ((65.6\u00b16.5) beats\/min vs. (68.0\u00b111.1) beats\/min, P=0.57); while maximum workload tended to be lower after LCSD ((12.1\u00b12.8) metabolic equivalents (METS) before surgery vs. (10.5\u00b12.4) METS after surgery, P=0.07). Incidence of atrial and ventricular arrhythmia were significantly reduced post LCSD, and the ventricular arrhythmia score was decreased after LCSD in CPVT patients (4 points before LCSD vs. 3 points after LCSD in case 1;5 points before LCSD vs. 3 points after LCSD in case 2). QTc interval was shortened significantly in three LQTs patients (QTc interval at baseline heart rate: (546.6\u00b172.3) ms before surgery vs. (493\u00b161.1) ms after LCSD, P=0.047; QTc interval at maximal exercise heart rate: (516.3\u00b173.7) ms before surgery vs. (486.7\u00b164.2)ms after LCSD, P=0.035). Additionally, sudden cardiac death risk indicator \u0394HRR1 (heart rate decreasing value within the first 1 min during recovery phase) decreased from (51.5\u00b121.1) beats\/min before surgery to (32.0\u00b113.9) beats\/min after surgery (P=0.035). During a median follow-up of 1(1, 4) year, all five patients were on low dosage of propranolol (37.0\u00b121.7) mg\/d. Cardiac events free survival was achieved in four out of 5 patients (80%) after sympathectomy, while 1 case suffered from sudden cardiac death after emotional stress. Conclusion: LCSD surgery can be safely and effectively performed in most hereditary arrhythmia patients with adrenergic activity-induced life-threatening cardiac events. Exercise stress test results show that LCSD could reduce malignant arrhythmias and improve sudden cardiac death risk indicators without decreasing heart rate.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7924002,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Physician resource planning: quest for answers.\nThe average annual rate of physician growth in Canada, just over 4% prior to 1989, has fallen to about 2% since 1990, approximating the average annual growth rate of the Canadian population. The growth rate is not uniform for all specialties, with surgical specialties experiencing the smallest increases. Sub-specialist growth in the past 5 y has occurred preferentially in disciplines identified as areas of need and those identified as emerging specialties. Assessment of average workloads of physicians derived from full-time equivalent measurements, reported by the National Physician Data Base, indicates increasing workloads in the specialist group, which is most marked in the surgical specialties. Among a number of factors influencing workload measures, which might explain differences noted among specialty groups, are age, gender, lifestyle choices, technology changes, physician growth rates, and saturation of the market place balancing physician availability with \"demand\" for services. All such factors, along with the impact of current health care reform initiatives, must be considered when forecasting and managing physician resources.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17003535,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Genetics teaching for non-geneticist health care professionals in the UK.\nIt was the aim of this study to describe the structure and content of training in genetics for non-genetics specialist health care professionals in the UK. Data were collected by assessment of published syllabi and curricula and through contact with educational leads at responsible organisations. Twenty-six universities, 7 Royal Colleges and various intercollegiate boards and committees are involved in the provision of medical education at various levels, in addition to institutions offering nursing and\/or midwifery training. Genetics is taught in variable formats, quantities and contents, and although some institutions are moving to adopt minimum competencies in genetics, this is by no means widespread. Given the wide number of stakeholders in the field, consensus competencies seem most likely to advance practice, and thus, phase II of the GenEd project will survey professionals to ascertain their priorities for genetic education.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19043921,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"The oncogenic potential of hepatitis B virus rtA181T\/ surface truncation mutant.\nPreviously, a less prevalent lamivudine-resistant mutant (rtA181T) was discovered in Taiwanese patients, in which a stop codon in the surface gene concomitantly occurred, leading to impaired secretion of hepatitis B virus (HBV) surface antigen. The rtA181T mutant also conferred drug resistance to adefovir. We discovered a 39-year-old patient with advanced hepatocellular carcionoma, who was seropositive for HBV e antigen but seronegative for HBV surface antigen. Nucleotide sequence analysis revealed the presence of polymerase rtA1 81T\/surface truncation mutant in both the serum and hepatoma samples. Surprisingly, this patient has never received lamivudine or adefovir antiviral therapy. Here, we aimed to evaluate the oncogenic potential of HBV rtA181T\/surface truncation mutant. Site-directed mutagenesis experiments followed by transactivation assays were performed in HepG2 cells to evaluate the transactivation activities of the corresponding pre-S\/S truncation mutant for c-Mye, c-Fos and Simian virus 40 promoters. NIH3T3 cells stably expressing the mutant were used to assess the tumourigenicity in nude mice. Transactivation experiments revealed that the corresponding pre-S\/S truncation mutant was capable of transactivating the Simian virus 40 and human c-Mye promoters but not the c-Fos promoter. NIH3T3 cells stably expressing this mutant were tumourigenic in four of the five nude mice tested. Our data indicate that an HBV polymerase rtA181T\/surface truncation mutant could emerge spontaneously without previous antiviral treatment. The presence of this mutant in a patient with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma as well as its oncogenic potential warrants careful re-evaluation of the current strategy of prolonged antiviral therapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34404962,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"EFFECT OF MENSTRUAL CYCLE PHASE ON THE GLUCOSE-INSULIN RELATIONSHIP AT REST AND DURING EXERCISE.\nThe purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of menstrual cycle phase on the insulin\/glucose relationship at rest and response to sub-maximal exercise. Eight eumenorrheic women completed exercise sessions (60 min, 70% V\u0307O2max) in the follicular (day 7\u00b12) and luteal (day 20\u00b12) phases of their cycles. At 45 min before each exercise session the subject consumend an oral glucose load (OGL) of 1 gkg-1 body weight in a 400 ml solution. Blood samples were obtained before the OGL (-45 min) immediately before exercise, and at 15 min intervals until the end of exercise (60 min). Results indicated that serum glucose and insulin increased (P<0.01) due to the OGL and decreased (P<0.01) due to exercise. No significant phase differences were observed for the glucose responses: however, insulin levels were greater immediately before exercise in the luteal than follicular phase (47.2\u00b15.8 vs. 39.3\u00b15.1 U\u00b7ml-1, respectively). The insulin-to-glucose ratio (I\/G) was calculated and also showed significant changes. The I\/G ratio was greater in the luteal than in the follicular phase at 0 min (6.5\u00b10.4 vs. 5.3\u00b10.6 mU\u00b7mmol-1, respectively). These data would suggest that in eumenorrheic women the menstrual cycle impacts the insulin\/glucose relationship at rest, but has no effect during exercise. Whether the mechanism of the resting effect is due to changes in pancreatic and\/or target tissue functions in unclear.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23433874,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Dose-dependence of changes in cortical protein expression induced with repeated transcranial magnetic theta-burst stimulation in the rat.\nTheta Burst stimulation (TBS) applied via transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) effectively modulates human neocortical excitability but repeated applications of the same TBS protocol at short intervals may be not simply accumulative. Our aim was to investigate the impact of multiple blocks of either intermittent (iTBS) or continuous TBS (cTBS) on the expression of neuronal activity marker proteins in rat cortex. Up to four iTBS- or cTBS-blocks of 600 stimuli were applied to urethane-anesthetized rats followed by immunohistochemical and Western blot analyses. The effects of iTBS and cTBS were similar but slightly differed with regard to the number of stimuli applied. The expression of the 65-kD isoform of glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD65) increased with each stimulation block, while that of the 67-kD isoform (GAD67), and that of the calcium-binding proteins (CaBP) Parvalbumin (PV) and Calbindin (CB) and that of the immediate early gene c-Fos progressively decreased. Both TBS protocols increased the expression of the vesicular glutamate transporter 1 (VGLUT1) with 1200-1800 stimuli but then decreased them after the 4th block. Our findings indicate that repeated TBS elicits no simple accumulative dose-dependent effect for all activity-markers but distinct profiles with threshold characteristics and a waxing-and-waning effect especially for the markers of inhibitory activity CB and GAD67. Interestingly, somatic activity markers, such as c-Fos for mainly excitatory and GAD67, CB and PV for inhibitory neurons, decreased with repeated stimulation while synaptic activity markers mainly increased which could be a result of the artificial stimulation of axons.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25409419,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"PPAR\u03b3 gene expression is autoregulated in primary adipocytes: ligand, sumoylation, and isoform specificity.\nBeing a key-factor in glucose homeostasis, PPAR\u03b3 transcriptional activity (TA) is of high importance. However, its mediation by ligands and post-translational modifications in insulin target tissues are unclear. We investigated effects of rosiglitazone (Rg) and sumoylation on PPAR\u03b3-TA by overexpressing expression vectors and promoter-reporters for PPAR\u03b31 and PPAR\u03b32 in primary rat adipocytes. Wild type (WT) PPAR\u03b31 and PPAR\u03b32 dose-dependently repressed transcription from their promoters to a maximum of 40-50%. PPAR\u03b32 mutants defective in either MAP-kinase phosphorylation (S112A) or the ligand-binding domain (LBD; P495L, L496A\/E499A) exhibited decreased repression of PPAR\u03b32 promoter. Rg enhanced repression by S112A, but not by LBD-defective mutants. Sumoylation-defective PPAR\u03b31 mutants K77R and K365R repressed PPAR\u03b32 promoter activity similar to WT, while Rg enhanced repression by K77R but not by K365R. Sumoylation-defective PPAR\u03b32 mutants K107R and K395R exhibited impaired TA and impaired responsiveness to Rg. GLUT4 promoter, previously shown by us to be repressed by WT-PPAR\u03b31 and WT-PPAR\u03b32, was similarly repressed by both sumoylation-defective PPAR\u03b31 mutants, while both sumoylation-defective PPAR\u03b32 mutants exerted reduced repression. Surprisingly, Rg alleviated only WT-PPAR\u03b32-induced repression, while augmenting that induced by WT-PPAR\u03b31 and all sumoylation-defective mutants. Promoter and chromatin immunoprecipitation analyses revealed that PPAR\u03b32 autorepression involves its direct binding to its promoter. In concert with effects at promoter level, Rg decreased endogenous level of PPAR\u03b32 mRNA, while increasing that of GLUT4. We suggest a hypothetical model for PPAR\u03b3 gene regulation in primary adipocytes that is isoform-specific and Rg\/sumoylation-dependent. These findings are important due to the role of PPAR\u03b3 and Rg in insulin sensitivity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28343651,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-26":1}}},"text":"Reconstruction of large cranial defects with poly-methyl-methacrylate (PMMA) using a rapid prototyping model and a new technique for intraoperative implant modeling.\nReconstruction of large cranial defects after craniectomy can be accomplished by free-hand poly-methyl-methacrylate (PMMA) or industrially manufactured implants. The free-hand technique often does not achieve satisfactory cosmetic results but is inexpensive. In an attempt to combine the accuracy of specifically manufactured implants with low cost of PMMA. Forty-six consecutive patients with large skull defects after trauma or infection were retrospectively analyzed. The defects were reconstructed using computer-aided design\/computer-aided manufacturing (CAD\/CAM) techniques. The computer file was imported into a rapid prototyping (RP) machine to produce an acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene model (ABS) of the patient's bony head. The gas-sterilized model was used as a template for the intraoperative modeling of the PMMA cranioplasty. Thus, not the PMMA implant was generated by CAD\/CAM technique but the model of the patients head to easily form a well-fitting implant. Cosmetic outcome was rated on a six-tiered scale by the patients after a minimum follow-up of three months. The mean size of the defect was 74.36cm2. The implants fitted well in all patients. Seven patients had a postoperative complication and underwent reoperation. Mean follow-up period was 41 months (range 2-91 months). Results were excellent in 42, good in three and not satisfactory in one patient. Costs per implant were approximately 550 Euros. PMMA implants fabricated in-house by direct molding using a bio-model of the patients bony head are easily produced, fit properly and are inexpensive compared to cranial implants fabricated with other RP or milling techniques.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28367181,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Childhood and adolescent obesity: Primary Health Care Physicians' perspectives from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.\nPrimary health care (PHC) physicians are foremost to confront childhood and adolescent obesity. Our objective was to evaluate PHC Physicians perspectives for managing overweight\/obesity in children and adolescents. PHC services from eight public hospitals in Riyadh participated. A self-administered tool maintaining anonymity evaluated facilitators and barriers for managing overweight\/obese children and adolescent patients. Physicians who 'always' recommended weight management for an overweight \/ obese patient during past year, by involving patient, parents, and others were classified as having positive and appropriate practice. Of the 58 respondents, 51.7% had appropriate practices. Lack of patient motivation (82.2%), and parental involvement (70.7%) were the major barriers. Physicians with appropriate practices differed in perspectives from those with less appropriate practices by attending continued education forums (p<0.026), referring patients to sub-specialty (p< 0.041), clinical knowledge (p<0.039), convinced on interventions (p<0.017), low concern for precipitating eating disorders (p<0.019), comfortable in examining obese patients (p<0.020), and considered patient's readiness for weight change (p< 0.007). Efforts are needed to equip PHC physicians in managing overweight and obesity in Saudi children and adolescents.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6164795,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Microsomal activation of chlordane isomers to derivatives that irreversibly interact with cellular macromolecules.\nIncubation of 14C-labeled cis and trans isomers of chlordane with cofactor-fortified mouse hepatic microsomes resulted in binding of insecticide-derived material to endogenous protein and RNA and to added DNA. The microsomes were prepared from male C57BL\/6J mice. Chlordane is known to cause hepatocellular carcinoma in a similar strain. The highest concentrations of radioactive material bound to protein, followed by RNA and DNA. The cis isomer produced greater amounts of bound radioactivity, while binding from trans-chlordane was slight and, in the case of DNA, not detectable. Investigation of the effect of microsomal enzyme induction by chlordane isomers and phenobarbital on the yield of bound, chlordane-derived material gave mixed results. Generally, use of induced microsomes increased binding to protein and DNA and had no effect on binding to RNA. The inducers caused increased mixed-function oxidase activity, cytochrome P-450 content, and epoxide hydratase activity in experimental microsomes. Omission of the NADPH generating system from microsomal preparations had a variable effect on binding. Inhibition of epoxide hydratase reduced cis-chlordane-related binding to DNA to unmeasurable levels.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19055420,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Enhanced detection of sphingoid bases via divalent ruthenium bipyridine complex derivatization and electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry.\nSphingoid bases, such as unsaturated sphingosine (So) and its corresponding dihydro-saturated species sphinganine (Sa), are present in cell samples in low abundance. This fact combined with their low-to-moderate electrospray ionization (ESI) potential, compared to other sphingolipids such as sphingomyelins, limits their detection and quantitation by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS(2)). To enhance the ESI efficiency of sphingoid bases, a novel procedure to generate stably derivatized analytes that enhance the LC-MS(2) detection of sphingoid bases when analyzed using LC-MS(2) was developed. In this method, a ruthenium complex, [4-(N-succimidyloxycarbonyl propyl)-4'-methyl-2,2'-bipyridine] bis(2,2'-bipyridine) Ru(II) dihexafluorophosphate, is added directly to a cell extract. This complex reacts with and covalently binds to an amino group within the sphingoid bases. The dicationic nature of the ruthenium ion enhances the compound's ionization efficiency resulting in increased LC-MS(2) signals for the derivatized sphingoid bases. Consequently, the detection and quantitation of sphingoid bases are greatly improved.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34415964,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"IMRAS-Immunization with radiation-attenuated Plasmodium falciparum sporozoites by mosquito bite: Cellular immunity to sporozoites, CSP, AMA1, TRAP and CelTOS.\nImmunization with radiation-attenuated sporozoites (RAS) by mosquito bites provides >90% sterile protection against Plasmodium falciparum malaria in humans. We conducted a clinical trial based on data from previous RAS clinical trials that suggested that 800-1200 infected bites should induce ~50% protective vaccine efficacy (VE) against controlled human malaria infection (CHMI) administered three weeks after the final immunization. Two cohorts were immunized separately. VE was 55% in Cohort 1 but 90% in Cohort 2, the cohort that received a higher first dose and a reduced (fractional) fifth dose. Immune responses were better boosted by the fractional fifth dose in Cohort 2 and suggested the importance of the fractional fifth dose for increased protection in Cohort 2 responses. Three protected subjects were later boosted and were protected suggesting that protection could be extended to at least 67 weeks. The ex vivo FluoroSpot assay was used to measure peripheral IFN-\u03b3, IL2, and IFN-\u03b3+IL2 responses to PfNF54 sporozoites and malaria antigens CSP, AMA1, TRAP, and CelTOS using pools of synthetic overlapping 15mer peptides spanning each antigen. There was no correlation between IFN-\u03b3, IL2, and IFN-\u03b3+IL2 responses to sporozoites and protection, but fold-increases between post-4th and post-5th responses greater than 1.0 occurred mostly in protected subjects. IFN-\u03b3 and IL2 responses to TRAP, CelTOS and CSP occurred only in protected subjects. Peripheral IFN-\u03b3, IL2, and IFN-\u03b3+IL2 responses were short-lived and low by 27 weeks post-CHMI but were restored by boosting. These studies highlight the importance of vaccine dose and schedule for vaccine efficacy, and suggest that CSP, TRAP, AMA1 and CelTOS may be targets of protective immunity. The correlation between fold-increases in responses and protection should be explored in other vaccine trials. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01994525.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20369937,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Critical-point analysis for three-variable cancer angiogenesis models.\nWe perform critical-point analysis for three-variable systems that represent essential processes of the growth of the angiogenic tumor, namely, tumor growth, vascularization, and generation of angiogenic factor (protein) as a function of effective vessel density. Two models that describe tumor growth depending on vascular mass and regulation of new vessel formation through a key angiogenic factor are explored. The first model is formulated in terms of ODEs, while the second assumes delays in this regulation, thus leading to a system of DDEs. In both models, the only nontrivial critical point is always unstable, while one of the trivial critical points is always stable. The models predict unlimited growth, if the initial condition is close enough to the nontrivial critical point, and this growth may be characterized by oscillations in tumor and vascular mass. We suggest that angiogenesis per se does not suffice for explaining the observed stabilization of vascular tumor size.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1155224,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Studies in asymptomatic primary hyperlipidaemia, III. Physical working capacity.\nOne-hundred-and-sixty male and 123 female subjects with asymptomatic primary hyperlipidaemia (HLP) selected from a health control centre have been studied with a heart rate (HR) controlled exercise test. Ther serum cholesterol and\/or TG at screening were above 350 mg\/100 ml and 3.5 mmol\/l, respectively. As a reference group 49 male and 60 female age-matched subjects from the same centre with serum cholesterol below 300 mg\/100 ml and TG below 2.00 mmol\/l were investigated using the same technique. Quantitative lipoprotein (LP) analyses and typing were performed on all HLP and control subjects. The subjects were divided into two age groups, 36-50 and above 50 years of age. Men with all types of HLP had lower working capacity, expressed in W170 or W150, than controls, most pronounced in the younger age group. Younger women with type II A had lower working capacity than their controls. After correction for variation in body weight and age there remained a significantly lower W150, in male types II A (11%) and IV (21%) and female type II A (11%). There was no difference in systolic BP during exercise between controls and HLP. The total exercise time and final HR did not differ in control and HLP subjects. Dynamic spirometry was performed im 102 of the male subjects and a significantly lower vital capacity was found in HLP subjects compared with controls after correction for variation in age, weight and height. No differences were found in the maximal flow values. The observed differences in working capacity between controls and HLP subjects are explained by a difference in stroke volume. The lower stroke volumes in male types II A and IV and female type II A could be explained by a lower degree of physical fitness, by a common genetic factor resulting in HLP and decreased stroke volume or by a less effective myocardial function in HLP subjects.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3068024,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Primary structure of the cytochrome P450 lanosterol 14 alpha-demethylase gene from Candida tropicalis.\nWe report the nucleotide sequence of the gene and flanking DNA for the cytochrome P450 lanosterol 14 alpha-demethylase (14DM) from the yeast Candida tropicalis ATCC750. An open reading frame (ORF) of 528 codons encoding a 60.9-kD protein is identified. This ORF includes a characteristic heme-binding domain, HR2, common to all P450 proteins. This protein and the 14DM from Saccharomyces cerevisiae share 66.5% identical and 23.1% conservatively replaced amino acids in a 516-amino-acid alignment, and thus are orthologous forms of the P450LIA1 gene. Conversely, C. tropicalis 14DM shares relatively little sequence similarity with P450alk, the predominant P450 protein present when this organism is grown on n-alkanes. Sequence information of these three yeast P450s will be useful for structure-function analyses in the future.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19028439,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Unilateral grip fatigue reduces short interval intracortical inhibition in ipsilateral primary motor cortex.\nThis study was designed to examine whether exhaustive grip exercise of the left hand affected intracortical excitability in ipsilateral motor cortex. Ten healthy male subjects (aged 21-24 years) participated in experiment 1 in which paired-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was used to test corticospinal and corticocortical excitability in right (relaxed) first dorsal interosseous (FDI) muscle during the recovery period after exhaustive forceful grip exercise of the left hand. Seven of the same subjects participated in experiment 2, in which the intensity of the test stimulus was adjusted so that the amplitude of motor evoked potential (MEP(TEST)) was kept constant throughout the measurement. In experiment 1, MEP(TEST) was slightly reduced from 5 to 15min after exercise whilst short interval intracortical inhibition (SICI) at interstimulus interval (ISI) of 2 and 3ms became less effective. Intracortical facilitation (ICF) was unchanged. In experiment 2 when the MEP(TEST) was maintained at a constant size there was again no change in ICF, and the reduction in SICI was still present at the same intervals. We conclude that unilateral exhaustive grip exercise reduced the excitability of the corticospinal output of the ipsilateral motor cortex whilst simultaneously reducing the excitability of SICI. These results would be compatible with the idea that fatigue increases the tonic level of interhemispheric inhibition from the fatigued to the non-fatigued cortex. Muscle fatigue to the point of exhaustion has lasting effects on the excitability of intracortical circuits in the non-exercised hemisphere, perhaps via changes in the tonic levels of activity in transcallosal pathways.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17006349,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Chondrosarcoma of the skull base: long-term follow-up.\nChondrosarcoma of the skull base is an uncommon neoplasm comprising 0.15% of all intracranial tumors and 6% of skull base neoplasms. The outcome of treatment is difficult to assess because the slow growth rate means that there is a long interval before detecting the recurrence. We describe the use of lateral skull base techniques for these lesions and examine the long-term outcomes. The pathological features, radiological findings, and radiotherapy options are also discussed. Retrospective case review with current follow-up where possible. Tertiary referral neurotologic private practice. Eight patients with histologically confirmed skull base chondrosarcoma operated on since 1979. At the time of the surgery, the five women and three men ranged in age from 31 to 63 years, with a mean of 42.9 years. The follow-up ranged from 9 months to 25 years and 5 months. All patients underwent surgical removal; the earliest patient underwent surgical removal via transcochlear and retrosigmoid approaches, and seven via an infratemporal fossa approach, with or without exenteration of the otic capsule. Number of patients with residual and recurrent tumors. In the patient who underwent surgery via the transcochlear approach, recurrence was noted within 3 months, and new exploration using the retrosigmoid approach was performed for the removal of the recurrent lesion. This patient showed no signs of recurrence for 25 years since last surgery. Of the seven patients who underwent surgery via the infratemporal fossa approach, one had residual tumor found at 1 year, but remained alive and well for 21 years after the surgery. The other six had gross total resection and showed no signs of recurrence at the last known follow-up. One patient died as a result of an unrelated cause 18 years after surgery for the chondrosarcoma. The gross total resection of these lesions is possible because of the evolution of lateral skull base techniques and can be routinely accomplished with the infratemporal fossa approach. The improved exposure afforded by this approach seems to have resulted in more complete extirpation of the tumor and a decrease in the recurrence rate.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37442799,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Doping-Free High-Performance Photovoltaic Effect in a WSe2 Lateral p-n Homojunction Formed by Contact Engineering.\nTwo-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are promising materials for semiconductor nanodevices owing to their flexibility, transparency, and appropriate band gaps. A variety of optoelectronic and electronic devices based on TMDs p-n diodes have been extensively investigated due to their unique advantages. However, improving their performance is challenging for commercial applications. In this study, we propose a facile and doping-free approach based on the contact engineering of a few-layer tungsten di-selenide to form a lateral p-n homojunction photovoltaic. By combining surface and edge contacts for p-n diode fabrication, the photovoltaic effect is achieved with a high fill factor of \u22480.64, a power conversion efficiency of up to \u22484.5%, and the highest external quantum efficiency with a value of \u224867.6%. The photoresponsivity reaches 283 mA\/W, indicating excellent photodiode performance. These results demonstrate that our technique has great potential for application in next-generation optoelectronic devices.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35343995,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mass spectrometry-based proteomics in neurodegenerative lysosomal storage disorders.\nThe major function of the lysosome is to degrade unwanted materials such as lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids; therefore, deficits of the lysosomal system can result in improper degradation and trafficking of these biomolecules. Diseases associated with lysosomal failure can be lethal and are termed lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs), which affect 1 in 5000 live births collectively. LSDs are inherited metabolic diseases caused by mutations in single lysosomal and non-lysosomal proteins and resulting in the subsequent accumulation of macromolecules within. Most LSD patients present with neurodegenerative clinical symptoms, as well as damage in other organs. The discovery of new biomarkers is necessary to understand and monitor these diseases and to track therapeutic progress. Over the past ten years, mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomics has flourished in the biomarker studies in many diseases, including neurodegenerative, and more specifically, LSDs. In this review, biomarkers of disease pathophysiology and monitoring of LSDs revealed by MS-based proteomics are discussed, including examples from Niemann-Pick disease type C, Fabry disease, neuronal ceroid-lipofuscinoses, mucopolysaccharidosis, Krabbe disease, mucolipidosis, and Gaucher disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7929733,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Differential RNA fingerprinting as a tool in the analysis of spermatozoal gene expression.\nThe apparent decline in human male fertility and the concomitant increase in testicular pathology have prompted discussion of the underlying molecular mechanisms which may underpin these observations. While monitoring the expression of protamine-2 genes in the human ejaculate, we found a representative complement of sperm mRNAs following sequence-independent amplification of reverse-transcribed cDNAs with the polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The revelation of unique sperm-derived PCR products using this method suggests that it should now be possible to investigate gene expression in human spermatogenesis by differential RNA fingerprinting of ejaculate spermatozoa. The identification of molecular markers and the corresponding genes associated with male infertility will be considerably enhanced by these investigations while obviating the requirement for invasive biopsy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9551511,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Long-acting beta-2 agonists. An attempted response to various questions which can be posed by pneumonologists.\nThe use of long acting beta 2 agonists is an undeniable improvement in the treatment of certain types of asthma. It enables better control of unstable asthma, improves and gives a superior quality of life. Current work confirms however that when used in the long term they ought to be associated with anti-inflammatory treatment. If they do not produce any important secondary effects, even when used for a long period, it is not currently possible to confirm that their prolonged use does not change the intensity of their bronchodilator effect and\/or the intensity of the bronchodilator effect of the short acting beta 2 stimulants. Some studies have shown that their addition to basic treatment with inhaled steroids is more effective than increasing the inhaled steroids. Other studies are necessary to know if they may enable the reduction in inhaled corticosteroids and how far.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17197975,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Asymptomatic cholelithiasis in children with sickle cell disease: early or delayed cholecystectomy?\nOur study aimed to evaluate the role of elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) in children with sickle cell disease (SCD) and asymptomatic cholelithiasis and, furthermore, to determine whether the outcome is related to the operation timing. The records of 30 children with SCD diagnosed with cholelithiasis from June 1995 to September 2005 were retraspectively reviewed. All 30 children were asymptomatic at the time of the first visit, and an elective LC was proposed to all of them. The operation was accepted in the period of study by 16 children and refused by 14. During medical observation, 10 of the 14 children who refused surgery were admitted for severe biliary colics. Acute cholecystitis was diagnosed by abdominal ultrasound in 3 cases and in 1 case choledocholithiasis, ultrasonographically suspected, was confirmed by magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) and treated during endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). All children, emergency admitted, underwent LC after the onset of symptoms. The patients were divided up into 2 groups (A: asymptomatic; B: symptomatic) depending on clinical presentation and operation timing and the respective outcomes were compared. Elective LC in asymptomatic children (group A) is safe with no major complications reported. During medical observation in children who refused elective surgery (group B), 6 biliary colics, 3 acute cholecystitis, and 1 choledocholithiasis were observed. Three sickle cell crises occurred in symptomatic children during biliary colics. The correlation between cholecystectomy performed in asymptomatic children (group A) and cholecystectomy performed in symptomatic children (group B) showed significant differences in the outcome. Morbidity rate and postoperative stay increased when children with SCD underwent emergency LC. Elective LC should be the gold standard in children with SCD and asymptomatic cholelithiasis to prevent the potential complications of biliary colics, acute cholecystitis, and choledocholithiasis, which lead to major risks, discomfort, and longer hospital stay.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32621285,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-10":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Volatile organic compounds from leaf litter decomposition alter soil microbial communities and carbon dynamics.\nInvestigations into the transfer of carbon from plant litter to underlying soil horizons have primarily focused on the leaching of soluble carbon from litter belowground or the mixing of litter directly into soil. However, previous work has largely ignored the role of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released during litter decomposition. Unlike most leaf carbon, these litter-derived VOCs are able to diffuse directly into the soil matrix. Here, we used a 99-d microcosm experiment to track VOCs produced during microbial decomposition of 13 C-labeled leaf litter into soil carbon fractions where the decomposing litters were only sharing headspace with the soil samples, thus preventing direct contact and aqueous movement of litter carbon. We also determined the effects of these litter-derived VOCs on soil microbial community structure. We demonstrated that the litter VOCs contributed to all measured soil carbon pools. Specifically, VOC-derived carbon accounted for 2.0, 0.61, 0.18, and 0.08% of carbon in the microbial biomass, dissolved organic matter, mineral-associated organic matter, and particulate organic matter pools, respectively. We also show that litter-derived VOCs can affect soil bacterial and fungal community diversity and composition. These findings highlight the importance of an underappreciated pathway where VOCs alter soil microbial communities and carbon dynamics.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23883113,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Topological, geometric, and chemical order in materials: insights from solid-state NMR.\nUnlike the long-range order of ideal crystalline structures, local order is an intrinsic characteristic of real materials and often serves as the key to the tuning of their properties and their final applications. Although researchers can easily assess local ordering using two-dimensional imaging techniques with resolution that approaches the atomic level, the diagnosis, description, and qualification of local order in three dimensions is much more challenging. Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and its panel of continually developing instruments and methods enable the local, atom-selective characterization of structures and assemblies ranging from the atomic to the nanometer length scales. By making use of the indirect J-coupling that distinguishes chemical bonds, researchers can use solid-state NMR to characterize a variety of materials, ranging from crystalline compounds to amorphous or glassy materials. In crystalline compounds showing some disorder, we describe and distinguish the contributions of topology, geometry, and local chemistry in ways that are consistent with X-ray diffraction and computational approaches. We give examples of materials featuring either chemical disorder in a topological order or topological disorder with local chemical order. For glasses, we show that we can separate geometric and chemical contributions to the local order by identifying structural motifs with a viewpoint that extends from the atomic scale up to the nanoscale. As identified by solid state NMR, the local structure of amorphous materials or glasses consists of well-identified structural entities up to at least the nanometer scale. Instead of speaking of disorder, we propose a new description for these structures as a continuous assembly of locally defined structures, an idea that draws on the concept of locally favored structures (LFS) introduced by Tanaka and coworkers. This idea provides a comprehensive picture of amorphous structures based on fluctuations of chemical composition and structure over different length scales. We hope that these local or molecular insights will allow researchers to consider key questions related to nucleation and crystallization, as well as chemically (spinodal decomposition) or density-driven (polyamorphism) phase separation, which could lead to future applications in a variety of materials.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9155456,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Understanding attitudes towards tissue donation.\nNurses discussing organ or tissue donation with patients and their relatives need to be well informed. Tissue donation is not being optimised. The attitude of health professionals towards organ and tissue donation can influence the relatives' decision.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30669174,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Serum Neuron-Specific Enolase Level as Predictor of Neurologic Outcome after Aortic Surgery.\nThis study aimed to evaluate the significance of serum neuron-specific enolase (NSE) level as a predictor of neurologic injury in thoracic aortic surgery. We neurologically assessed 60 consecutive patients who underwent thoracic aortic surgery for thoracic aortic aneurysm (n = 26) and aortic dissection (n = 34). Using moderate hypothermic circulatory arrest with antegrade cerebral perfusion, total arch replacement and hemiarch replacement were performed in 37 and 23 patients, respectively. Serum NSE levels in venous blood samples drawn before surgery and at 1 day after surgery were measured. Severity of neurologic injury was categorized as either uncomplicated (n = 48), temporary neurologic dysfunction (TND, n = 5), or permanent neurologic dysfunction (PND, n = 7). The extent of stroke was estimated on computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging. The NSE level significantly differed among the three groups (PND > TND > uncomplicated) on the first postoperative day. Receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis showed that the cutoff value of NSE level was 34.14 ng\/mL for neurologic injury (sensitivity, 0.769; specificity, 0.851) and 43.56 ng\/mL for PND (sensitivity, 1.000; specificity, 0.963). The NSE level significantly correlated with the extent of stroke (r = 0.61, p < 0.001). Serum NSE level is a significant predictor of adverse neurologic outcomes and extent of stroke after thoracic aortic surgery.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3057506,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Characterization of invasion plasmid antigen genes (ipaBCD) from Shigella flexneri.\nThe large invasion plasmid of Shigella flexneri M9OT-W was used to generate recombinant plasmids carrying the ipaA, -B, -C, and -D genes, whose products are associated with the entry of the bacteria into colonic epithelial cells. Complete DNA sequences of ipaB, -C, and -D were determined. The proteins predicted (62, 42, and 37 kDa, respectively) from the nucleotide sequences lack a signal-peptide sequence. Hydrophilic segments of the IpaB and IpaC proteins were found to overlap known epitopic domains of these membrane antigens. Analysis of total RNA demonstrated that temperature control of ipa gene expression occurs at the level of transcription. Multiple mRNA bands were detected by using ipa gene fragments as hybridization probes, and a putative transcript map for the ipa genes was constructed. Comparison of this map with the DNA sequence reveals a complex system of ipa gene regulation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30676270,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Head Down Generation: Musculoskeletal Symptoms and the Use of Smartphones Among Young University Students.\nBackground: Smartphones offer a variety of mobile applications for diverse purposes and access to services that contribute to an increased time of interaction with the device, influencing the users' health and behavior.Introduction: The time of interaction with smartphones is more intense with the younger generation, and physical, psychological, and social complications are reported. This research aims at identifying the factors associated with musculoskeletal symptoms due to the use of smartphones in university students in Brazil.Materials and Methods: The study has a quantitative transversal type approach, with 522 college students between the ages 18 and 26. A structured questionnaire was applied in 2017, to characterize the sociodemographic profile, composed of information regarding the use of smartphones added to the Nordic questionnaire of musculoskeletal symptoms.Results: One of the main results found was a tendency for participants to have symptoms of musculoskeletal pain with regards to their typing methods on smartphones. When asked about the cases when such symptoms were considered to be related to the use of the device, most cited the cervical region (43.87% of cases). It was also found that those who type on their phones with the head at 45\u00b0 and 60\u00b0 angles are about twice as likely to have higher scores of severe symptoms than those typing with their neck at 0\u00b0 (anatomical position).Conclusion: Within the university student population the typing position on a smartphone and time of use are associated with the presence of pain in the cervical region.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16235236,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Determination of protein phosphorylation sites by mass spectrometry: a novel electrospray-based method.\nSeveral methods are used to identify protein phosphorylation sites. We report a novel electrospray-based method for the determination of phosphorylation sites by mass spectrometry, using two different declustering potential values. This method allows one to obtain, with a single liquid chromatography\/mass spectrometry (LC\/MS) run, the pattern with either the phosphorylated or the unphosphorylated species of a protein tryptic digest, that can be further analyzed by tracing back the origin of each HPO3-deprived form using the capabilities of tandem mass spectrometers.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15237839,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sensitivity to interaural intensitive disparities: listeners' use of potential cues.\nThresholds for interaural intensitive disparities (IIDs) for a 500-Hz tone were measured in several stimulus conditions including those in which the use of intracranial position as a cue was effectively eliminated by roving the interaural temporal disparity of the stimuli. Removing position as a cue resulted in substantial degradation of sensitivity to IID. The overall patterning of the data suggests that threshold-IIDs measured in standard binaural paradigms that yield fused intracranial images reflect the use of changes in intracranial position. That is, comparisons among the data suggest that listeners' judgments depend upon binaural spatial cues and not on comparisons of the concomitant monaural increments and decrements in level, per se, that inevitably result from the imposition of IIDs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28297053,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"General, regional or local anesthesia for successful radial cephalic arteriovenous fistula.\nAutogenous fistulas and in particular radiocephalic fistulas are recommended as the first vascular access for hemodialysis. Unfortunately, the rates of early failure and non-maturation are very high. For more than a decade, brachial plexus block has been proposed as the anesthesia of choice for fistula creation due to its beneficial sympathectomy-like effect, causing vasodilation and attenuation of spasm. Until recently, there was not a single randomized clinical study supporting this proposition. Because performing regional anesthesia is time-consuming and requires expertise, many surgeons prefer local or general anesthesia for vascular access surgery. However, in August 2016 a randomized clinical trial was published showing that regional anesthesia significantly reduces early failure and improves primary and functional patency at 3 months compared to local anesthesia. The aging of the dialysis population, with their attendant morbidity and increased risk for general anesthesia, makes it clear that regional anesthesia is the recommended approach for fistula creation. The excess time required for this approach will decrease with increasing expertise along the learning curve, and will be compensated by a reduction in time that would otherwise be needed for new access construction due to failure of fistulas constructed under local anesthesia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31258371,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"An annotated checklist of the leaf beetles (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae) from El Salvador, with additions from the Bechyn\u00e9 collection in the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences.\nA checklist of the species of leaf beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) of El Salvador is presented based on data from literature and a digitization project of the Bechyn\u00e9 collection of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS). The RBINS collections contain a total of 2797 individual chrysomelid specimens from El Salvador, sorted into 89 species and 132 genera. In total, the current checklist contains 420 species, of which 33 are new records for El Slavador from the Bechyn\u00e9 collection. In these collections, there are also ten nomina nuda named by Bechyn\u00e9, which need further study. The leaf beetle diversity in El Salvador, partly due to the country's unstable political history, remains poorly studied, and many (new) species await discovery. This checklist provides a baseline for further study in El Salvador and nearby region.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17184399,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Quantifying potential health impacts of cadmium in cigarettes on smoker risk of lung cancer: a portfolio-of-mechanisms approach.\nThis article introduces an approach to estimating the uncertain potential effects on lung cancer risk of removing a particular constituent, cadmium (Cd), from cigarette smoke, given the useful but incomplete scientific information available about its modes of action. The approach considers normal cell proliferation; DNA repair inhibition in normal cells affected by initiating events; proliferation, promotion, and progression of initiated cells; and death or sparing of initiated and malignant cells as they are further transformed to become fully tumorigenic. Rather than estimating unmeasured model parameters by curve fitting to epidemiological or animal experimental tumor data, we attempt rough estimates of parameters based on their biological interpretations and comparison to corresponding genetic polymorphism data. The resulting parameter estimates are admittedly uncertain and approximate, but they suggest a portfolio approach to estimating impacts of removing Cd that gives usefully robust conclusions. This approach views Cd as creating a portfolio of uncertain health impacts that can be expressed as biologically independent relative risk factors having clear mechanistic interpretations. Because Cd can act through many distinct biological mechanisms, it appears likely (subjective probability greater than 40%) that removing Cd from cigarette smoke would reduce smoker risks of lung cancer by at least 10%, although it is possible (consistent with what is known) that the true effect could be much larger or smaller. Conservative estimates and assumptions made in this calculation suggest that the true impact could be greater for some smokers. This conclusion appears to be robust to many scientific uncertainties about Cd and smoking effects.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15559187,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Adaptation of the clinical trials directive: recommendations on the contents of a dossier for the request for authorisation of the first trials in human subjects.\nThe European Directive on clinical trials of medicinal products will fall within the scope of the legislation of Member States on 1 May 2004. In France, this adaptation will be carried out by a public health bill concerning, among other things, the reform of the current Huriet-S\u00e9rusclat law, and by means of regulations. For trials concerning the initial administration of a product to human subjects, the group suggested the following recommendations: In French texts, to include a deadline of 30 days for the initial authorisation by the competent authority (Afssaps [Agence fran\u00e7aise de s\u00e9curit\u00e9 sanitaire des produits de sant\u00e9]). To maintain an observed deadline of 20 days (35 official days) for the decision of the Ethics Committee (EC) [Committee for the Protection of Persons (CPP)]. To obtain a more specific evaluation of the pharmaceutical dossier of the investigational medicinal product (IMP) from the competent authority. To provide both bodies with nonclinical and possibly clinical data concerning the IMP information of the participants and their consent. To follow the recommendations posted on the Afssaps website for the entire IMP dossier. To submit a protocol under the International Committee on Harmonisation (ICH) E6 format adapted for phase I and, possibly as a separate document, justification of a certain number of points (a total of ten) that are more specific to this trial phase to facilitate and improve the document review while also providing the expected guarantees. To limit the 'substantial' amendments to those provided for in the European guidelines. To break the blind for every serious event reported to the sponsor by the investigator, and report to the competent authority any serious adverse event related to the IMP or to the trial or without documented cause, while keeping ECs and investigators informed. Furthermore, certain points concerning the authorisations for packaging, labelling and dispensing of the batches of medicinal products for clinical trials will need to be specified for these early studies. All these recommendations are intended to help promote the development of studies involving the initial administration of medicinal products in France.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3074299,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of captopril at two different dosage regimens in hypertensive non-insulin dependent patients.\nThirty patients (21 F, 9 M) of mean age 55.3 years with non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus of mean duration 10.8 years and hypertension (blood pressure 160\/95 mm Hg) of 0.3 to 4.0 years were randomly allocated to either a twice daily regimen of captopril (50 mg twice daily, Group A) or a once daily captopril schedule (50 mg once daily, Group B). Good glycaemic control (HbA1c, mean 7.63%) had been achieved with sulphonylureas in 22 patients and insulin in 8 patients. There were no statistical differences in baseline values between the two groups. For the 15 patients in Group A, blood pressure fell significantly from a baseline of 177 +\/- 13.2\/106 +\/- 7.8 mm Hg to 161 +\/- 14.3\/91 +\/- 6.9 after one month (P less than 0.05) and continued to decrease at 3 and 6 months. In Group B the blood pressure changed from 179 +\/- 19.0\/110 +\/- 15.6 to 169 +\/- 21.0\/98 +\/- 7.2 at 1 month (P less than 0.05) with further reductions again seen at 3 and 6 months. Nine patients had poorer response than the other 21 but there were no demographic differences between these subgroups nor were there any differences in plasma renin activity or aldosterone responses. There were no statistically significant changes in haematological or biochemical values in either group during treatment. In particular, HbA1c and fasting glucose were unaffected by captopril treatment. No side effects were encountered during the 6 months of follow-up. In conclusion, captopril is an effective antihypertensive in non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus with mild to moderate hypertension and a once daily regimen could improve compliance.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28576356,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-26":1}}},"text":"Quantitative proteomics reveals new insights into calcium-mediated resistance mechanisms in Aspergillus flavus against the antifungal protein PgAFP in cheese.\nThe ability of Aspergillus flavus to produce aflatoxins in dairy products presents a potential hazard. The antifungal protein PgAFP from Penicillium chrysogenum inhibits various foodborne toxigenic fungi, including Aspergillus flavus. However, PgAFP did not inhibit A. flavus growth in cheese, which was related to the associated cation content. CaCl2 increased A. flavus permeability and prevented PgAFP-mediated inhibition in potato dextrose broth (PDB). PgAFP did not elicit any additional increase in permeability of CaCl2-incubated A. flavus. Furthermore, PgAFP did not alter metabolic capability, chitin deposition, or hyphal viability of A. flavus grown with CaCl2. Comparative proteomic analysis after PgAFP treatment of A. flavus in calcium-enriched PDB revealed increased abundance of 125 proteins, including oxidative stress-related proteins, as determined by label-free mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomics. Seventy proteins were found at lower abundance, with most involved in metabolic pathways and biosynthesis of secondary metabolites. These changes do not support the blockage of potential PgAFP receptors in A. flavus by calcium as the main cause of the protective role. A. flavus resistance appears to be mediated by calcineurin, G-protein, and \u03b3-glutamyltranspeptidase that combat oxidative stress and impede apoptosis. These findings could serve to design strategies to improve PgAFP activity against aflatoxigenic moulds in dairy products.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37655753,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Ultrahigh activity and broad temperature resistance of amine-imine cobalt precatalysts for butadiene polymerization.\nA series of amine-imine cobalt complexes (Co1-Co7) has been prepared and characterized. The complexes Co3, Co4, and Co6 have a distorted tetrahedral geometry, as determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction. In the presence of ethylaluminum sesquichloride (EASC), Co3 exhibited ultra-high activity toward butadiene (Bd) polymerization (up to 7813 kgpolymer mol-1 h-1). The activity is higher than any yet recorded for which yield high cis-1,4 polybutadiene by the well-defined late-transition metal catalytic system. The catalyst also exhibited excellent tolerance towards the ratio of Co\/Bd and broad temperature stability. At a ratio of Bd\/Co3 = 50 000, the complexes Co1-3 can afford polybutadiene with yields higher than 96% within 2 hours. At -20 \u00b0C to 100 \u00b0C, the complex Co3 afforded relatively high polymer yields at low catalyst concentrations (Bd\/Co3 = 25 000). In addition, all polymers showed a relatively high molecular weight (up to 1.06 \u00d7 106 g mol-1).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25509070,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Carbon storage of forest stands in Shandong Province estimated by forestry inventory data].\nBased on the 7th forestry inventory data of Shandong Province, this paper estimated the carbon storage and carbon density of forest stands, and analyzed their distribution characteristics according to dominant tree species, age groups and forest category using the volume-derived biomass method and average-biomass method. In 2007, the total carbon storage of the forest stands was 25. 27 Tg, of which the coniferous forests, mixed conifer broad-leaved forests, and broad-leaved forests accounted for 8.6%, 2.0% and 89.4%, respectively. The carbon storage of forest age groups followed the sequence of young forests > middle-aged forests > mature forests > near-mature forests > over-mature forests. The carbon storage of young forests and middle-aged forests accounted for 69.3% of the total carbon storage. Timber forest, non-timber product forest and protection forests accounted for 37.1%, 36.3% and 24.8% of the total carbon storage, respectively. The average carbon density of forest stands in Shandong Province was 10.59 t x hm(-2), which was lower than the national average level. This phenomenon was attributed to the imperfect structure of forest types and age groups, i. e., the notably higher percentage of timber forests and non-timber product forest and the excessively higher percentage of young forests and middle-aged forest than mature forests.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17007587,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-26":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Preconditioning: the mitochondrial connection.\nOver the past decade there has been considerable progress in elucidating the signaling pathways involved in cardioprotection. Considerable recent data suggest that many of these signaling pathways converge on the mitochondria, where such pathways alter the activity of key mitochondrial proteins, leading to reduced apoptosis and necrosis. Inhibition of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore is emerging as a central mechanism in cardioprotection. This review focuses on mechanisms by which cardioprotection alters mitochondrial proteins and channels that regulate cell death and survival.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37859004,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Modeling and experiments of O-band transmission over G.654.C optical fiber.\nWe address the potential application of G.654.C optical fiber for O-band transmission in the wavelength range of 1270 nm to 1330 nm. Fiber samples at the extreme upper end of the cable cutoff manufacturing distribution are chosen for modeling and experimentation. Modeling of multipath interference (MPI) generation in bend conditions representative of cable deployment suggests minimal to negligible penalty and transmission experiments at 100 Gb\/s and 400 Gb\/s with commercial IMDD transceivers demonstrate longer transmission with increased power margin compared to standard G.652 fiber due to lower O-band attenuation and no adverse impacts from MPI.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28360905,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Improvement of the Process Stability of Arylmalonate Decarboxylase by Immobilization for Biocatalytic Profen Synthesis.\nThe enzyme arylmalonate decarboxylase (AMDase) enables the selective synthesis of enantiopure (S)-arylpropinates in a simple single-step decarboxylation of dicarboxylic acid precursors. However, the poor enzyme stability with a half-life time of about 1.2 h under process conditions is a serious limitation of the productivity, which results in a need for high catalyst loads. By immobilization on an amino C2 acrylate carrier the operational stability of the (S)-selective AMDase variant G74C\/M159L\/C188G\/V43I\/A125P\/V156L was increased to a half-life of about 8.6 days, which represents a 158-fold improvement. Further optimization was achieved by simple immobilization of the cell lysate to eliminate the cost- and time intensive enzyme purification step.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35345476,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A Case of Isolated Congenital Stapedial Suprastructure Fixation.\nWe report a case of conductive hearing loss caused by isolated congenital stapedial suprastructure fixation with normal footplate mobility. A 60-year-old woman visited the clinic for right-sided mixed hearing loss. Exploratory tympanotomy revealed a bony synostosis between the stapedial suprastructure and promontory, while all the ossicles were present and normally shaped. As the bony synostosis was separated, the stapes became mobile. This is the first report in the medical literature of this congenital ear anomaly. This case also illustrates that stapedial fixation can occur in the suprastructure as well as in the footplate; thus, one must be mindful of this when performing exploratory tympanotomy for stapes fixation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31260385,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A Monoclonal Antibody to M-Phase Phosphoprotein 1\/Kinesin-Like Protein KIF20B.\nKinesin-like protein KIF20B, originally named M-phase phosphoprotein 1 (MPP1), is a plus-end-directed kinesin-related protein that exhibits in vitro microtubule-binding and -bundling properties as well as microtubule-stimulated ATPase activity. It has been characterized as a slow molecular motor that moves toward the plus-end of microtubules. Human autoantibodies directed against KIF20B have been described in up to 25% of patients with idiopathic ataxia and less commonly in other neuropathies and autoinflammatory conditions. One of the limitations of research into the structure and function of KIF20B has been a reliable monoclonal antibody that can be used in a variety of applications. To establish a reference standard for anti-KIF20B immunoassays and facilitate studies on the role of KIF20B in developmental cell biology, we developed an IgG1 monoclonal antibody, 10C7, which reacts with the cognate KIF20B protein in Western immunoblots and in addressable laser bead immunoassays. In HEp2 cells, leptomeningeal pericytes, and transfected HEK293T cells, indirect immunofluorescence studies showed that reactivity was mainly localized to a proportion of interphase nuclei, but during metaphase, it was redistributed throughout the cytoplasm and perichromatin mass. Later in telophase\/anaphase, KIF20B was localized to the stem body and midzone of the midbody. 10C7 also showed remarkable staining of a subset of cells in the cerebellum, ovary, and testis tissues. KIF20B was shown to have extensive coiled-coil domains. The monoclonal antibody, 10C7, will be of value to diagnostic laboratory scientists interested in having a reliable reference standard for anti-KIF20B immunoassays as well as cell, molecular, and developmental biology researchers.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7940489,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Doppler flow measurement in coronary artery bypass grafts and early postoperative clinical outcome.\nThe present investigation attempts to correlate flow measurements made intraoperatively in coronary bypass grafts with clinical outcome. A total of 352 consecutive patients undergoing isolated coronary artery surgery underwent hemodynamic assessment of their bypass grafts (328 internal thoracic artery and 582 saphenous vein grafts) at the end of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) by using a 8 MHz pulsed Doppler ultrasound flowmeter. The total patient population was divided into three groups of distinct outcome (A: normal, 228 patients; B: complicated, 106 patients; C: poor, 18 patients) on the basis of a combination of the following parameters: difficult weaning from bypass, use of inotropic drugs, reduced left-ventricular stroke work index, myocardial infarction, intraaortic balloon counterpulsation, and death of cardiac origin. Univariate analysis has shown clinical outcome to be influenced by preoperative clinical condition and not by flow in bypass grafts (average flow per graft [ml\/min] was 60 +\/- 2 [mean +\/- SEM] in group A, 58 +\/- 3 in group B and 43 +\/- 6 in group C: NS by analysis of variance). Multivariate analysis (Fisher linear discriminant analysis) selected only the two following factors leading to normal (group A) or adverse (groups B and C) outcome: unstable angina (p = 0.026) and duration of additional CPB after unclamping the aorta (p < 10(-5). To conclude, clinical outcome was not influenced by flow as measured in well-functioning bypass grafts by pulsed Doppler technique.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22676375,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mohs micrographic surgery for cutaneous lymphadenoma.\nCutaneous lymphadenoma clinically present as pink papules or plaques resembling a basal cell carcinoma on the head and neck of young adults. Surgical excision is the treatment for these benign tumors. Cutaneous lymphadenoma may occur in an anatomically sensitive area, where margin control and conservative excision are indicated. Although not previously described in the literature, Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS) is a treatment option for cutaneous lymphadenoma. We present a series of three individuals with cutaneous lymphadenoma treated with MMS.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17182933,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Matrix metalloproteinase-2: the forgotten enzyme in aneurysm pathogenesis.\nThe pathogenesis of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAAs) involves progressive cycles of proteolysis and inflammation, the product of proteolysis driving subsequent inflammation. Little is yet known about the initiating events. We review the specific literature examining the possibility that MMP-2 may be the initial catalyst. Histologically, elastolysis is one of the earliest observable events in aneurysm genesis. Matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2), as the dominant gelatinase differentially expressed in aneurysmal tissue and cells derived from aneurysms, would be a good candidate. We report the results of in vivo and in vitro experiments, which lend support to the importance of MMP-2 as an aneurysmal initiator.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25518112,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"[Effect of electroacupuncture intervention on spinal AMPA-receptor expression in rats with neuropathic pain].\nTo observe the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) intervention on changes of spinal a-amino-3- ydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-4-propionate acid (AMPA) receptor (GluR 1) expression in rats with chronic constrictive injury (CCI) pain, so as to explore its mechanisms underlying improvement of neuropathic pain. Sixty male SD rats were randomly divided into sham-operation, CCI model and EA groups (n=20). Neuropathic pain model was established by ligature of the right sciatic nerve. EA stimulation (2 Hz, 1-3 mA) was applied to \"Weizhong\" (BL 40) and \"Huantiao\" (GB 30) on the injured limb for 30 min, once a day for 7 days beginning from the 11th day on after CCI. The mechanical and thermal pain thresholds were measured before and after the CCI procedure (baseline) and after EA intervention. The AMPA receptor subunit GluR 1 protein and gene expression in L5-L 6 segments of the spinal cord was detected using Western blot (WB), immunohistochemistry and re- verse transcription (RT)-polymerase chain reaction (PCR), separately. As the results of mechanical and thermal pain thresholds in our past study, EA intervention could markedly raise CCl-reduced decreased pain threshold. Compared with the sham-operation group, the expression levels of spinal GluR 1 protein and mRNA in the model group were significantly increased (P<0.05, P<0.01). Following EA intervention, the expression levels of GluR 1 protein and mRNA were remarkably down-regulated in the EA group in comparison with those of the model group (all P<005). EA intervention can down-regulate CCI-induced increase of AMPA receptor GIuR 1 expression in the lumbar spinal cord in CCI rats, which may contribute to its effect in alleviating neuropathic pain.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18605593,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Characterization of airborne particles during production of carbonaceous nanomaterials.\nDespite the rapid growth in nanotechnology, very little is known about the unintended health or environmental effects of manufactured nanomaterials. The development of nanotechnology risk assessments and regulations requires quantitative information on the potential for exposure to nanomaterials. The objective of this research isto characterize airborne particle concentrations during the production of carbonaceous nanomaterials, such as fullerenes and carbon nanotubes, in a commercial nanotechnology facility. We measured fine particle mass concentrations (PM2.5), submicrometer size distributions, and photoionization potential, an indicator of the particles' carbonaceous content, at three locations inside the facility: inside the fume hood where nanomaterials were produced, just outside the fume hood, and in the background. The measurements were not selective for engineered nanomaterials and may have included both engineered nanomaterials and naturally occurring or incidental particles. Average PM2.5 and particle number concentrations were not significantly different inside the facility versus outdoors. However, large, short-term increases in PM2.5 and particle number concentrations were associated with physical handling of nanomaterials and other production activities. In many cases, an increase in the number of sub-100 nm particles accounted for the majority of the increase in total number concentrations. Photoionization results indicate that the particles suspended during nanomaterial handling inside the fume hood were carbonaceous and therefore likely to include engineered nanoparticles, whereas those suspended by other production activities taking place outside the fume hood were not. Based on the measurements in this study, the engineering controls at the facility appear to be effective at limiting exposure to nanomaterials.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25498744,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"What is the link between synaesthesia and sound symbolism?\nSound symbolism is a property of certain words which have a direct link between their phonological form and their semantic meaning. In certain instances, sound symbolism can allow non-native speakers to understand the meanings of etymologically unfamiliar foreign words, although the mechanisms driving this are not well understood. We examined whether sound symbolism might be mediated by the same types of cross-modal processes that typify synaesthetic experiences. Synaesthesia is an inherited condition in which sensory or cognitive stimuli (e.g., sounds, words) cause additional, unusual cross-modal percepts (e.g., sounds trigger colours, words trigger tastes). Synaesthesia may be an exaggeration of normal cross-modal processing, and if so, there may be a link between synaesthesia and the type of cross-modality inherent in sound symbolism. To test this we predicted that synaesthetes would have superior understanding of unfamiliar (sound symbolic) foreign words. In our study, 19 grapheme-colour synaesthetes and 57 non-synaesthete controls were presented with 400 adjectives from 10 unfamiliar languages and were asked to guess the meaning of each word in a two-alternative forced-choice task. Both groups showed superior understanding compared to chance levels, but synaesthetes significantly outperformed controls. This heightened ability suggests that sound symbolism may rely on the types of cross-modal integration that drive synaesthetes' unusual experiences. It also suggests that synaesthesia endows or co-occurs with heightened multi-modal skills, and that this can arise in domains unrelated to the specific form of synaesthesia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17009449,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Case studies in advanced monitoring: OptiVol.\nTwo cases of congestive heart failure with decompensation are presented. The OptiVol fluid index (Medtronic, Inc., Minneapolis, MN) provides an objective gauge of fluid status that can be difficult to obtain with routine clinical history or even with physical examination. The Cardiac Compass Report (Medtronic, Inc.) can identify a patient's ability to achieve euvolemia and the need for pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic interventions. Future studies will help define diagnostic and management algorithms using the OptiVol index, as well as in combination with other parameters in the Cardiac Compass Report, to facilitate proactive monitoring of patients with congestive heart failure.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37844569,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Caffeine, CYP1A2 Genotype and Exercise Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.\nTo summarise and meta-analyse existing evidence regarding the influence of CYP1A2 genotypes on the acute effects of caffeine for exercise performance, and to investigate the interaction between genotype, dosage, and timing of caffeine supplementation. Six databases were searched for studies determining the effect of caffeine (except mouth rinsing) on exercise performance between CYP1A2 genotypes. Three-level meta-analyses were performed using standardized mean differences (SMD; Hedge's g) to determine the effect of caffeine on exercise outcomes within and between CYP1A2 genotypes (AA, AC, CC). Meta-regressions were performed for dose, timing, and for the presence of reported conflict of interests (RCOI). A meta-analysis was also performed with baseline values to assess for imbalances between genotypes. Thirteen studies, totalling 119 outcomes and 440 participants were included (233 AA, 175 AC, 34 CC). Caffeine improved performance for AAs (SMD = 0.30, 95%CI: 0.21; 0.39, p < .0001) and ACs (SMD = 0.16, 95%CI: 0.06; 0.25, p = 0.022), but reduced for CCs (SMD = -0.22, 95%CI: -0.44; -0.01, p < .0001). Dose affected only CCs, with greater doses generating more positive SMDs (CC*dose estimate: +0.19\/1 mg\/kg BM, 95%CI: 0.04; 0.33, p = 0.01). Timing influenced only CCs, with better performance with later onset of exercise after supplementation (CC*timing estimate: +0.01 \/minute, 95%CI: 0.00; 0.02, p = 0.02). RCOI only affected SMDs of CCs (CC*RCOI estimate: -0.57, 95%CI: -1.02; -0.12, p = 0.01). After excluding studies with RCOI, no influence of genotype was seen (all p \u2265 0.19). Small, non-significant differences were seen in placebo between genotypes (SMDs AAs vs. CCs: -0.13; AAs vs. ACs: -0.12; ACs vs. CCs: -0.05; all p \u2265 0.26). Caffeine improved performance for AAs and ACs, but worsened performance for CCs. Dose and timing moderated the efficacy of caffeine for CCs only. Caution is advised since baseline differences and studies with RCOI could have influenced these results.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19038229,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"In Yarrowia lipolytica mitochondria, the alternative NADH dehydrogenase interacts specifically with the cytochrome complexes of the classic respiratory pathway.\nIn Yarrowia lipolytica, mitochondria contain a branched respiratory chain constituted by the classic complexes I, II, III and IV, plus an alternative external NADH dehydrogenase (NDH2e) and an alternative oxidase (AOX). The alternative enzymes are peripheral, single-subunit oxido-reductases that do not pump protons. Thus, the oxidation of NADH via NDH2e-ubiquinone-AOX would not contribute to the proton-motive force. The futile oxidation of NADH may be prevented if either NDH2e or AOX bind to the classic complexes, channelling electrons. By oxymetry, it was observed that the electrons from complex I reached both cytochrome oxidase and AOX. In contrast, NDH2e-derived electrons were specifically channelled\/directed to the cytochrome complexes. In addition, the presence of respiratory supercomplexes plus the interaction of NDH2e with these complexes was evaluated using blue native PAGE, clear native PAGE, in-gel activities, immunoblotting, mass spectrometry, and N-terminal sequencing. NDH2e (but not the redirected matrix NDH2i from a mutant strain, Deltanubm) was detected in association with the cytochromic pathway; this interaction seems to be strong, as it was not disrupted by laurylmaltoside. The association of NDH2e to complex IV was also suggested when both enzymes coeluted from an ion exchange chromatography column. In Y. lipolytica mitochondria the cytochrome complexes probably associate into supercomplexes; those were assigned as follows: I-III(2), I-IV, I-III(2)-IV(4), III(2)-IV, III(2)-IV(2), IV(2) and V(2). The molecular masses of all the complexes and putative supercomplexes detected in Y. lipolytica were estimated by comparison with the bovine mitochondrial complexes. To our knowledge, this is the first evidence of supercomplex formation in Y. lipolytica mitochondria and also, the first description of a specific association between an alternative NADH dehydrogenase and the classic cytochrome pathway.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28694293,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Trophic Life Cycle Stage of the Opportunistic Fungal Pathogen Pneumocystis murina Hinders the Ability of Dendritic Cells To Stimulate CD4+ T Cell Responses.\nThe life cycle of the opportunistic fungal pathogen Pneumocystis murina consists of a trophic stage and an ascus-like cystic stage. Infection with the cyst stage induces proinflammatory immune responses, while trophic forms suppress the cytokine response to multiple pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs), including \u03b2-glucan. A targeted gene expression assay was used to evaluate the dendritic cell response following stimulation with trophic forms alone, with a normal mixture of trophic forms and cysts, or with \u03b2-glucan. We demonstrate that stimulation with trophic forms downregulated the expression of multiple genes normally associated with the response to infection, including genes encoding transcription factors. Trophic forms also suppressed the expression of genes related to antigen processing and presentation, including the gene encoding the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II transactivator, CIITA. Stimulation of dendritic cells with trophic forms, but not a mixture of trophic forms and cysts, reduced the expression of MHC class II and the costimulatory molecule CD40 on the surface of the cells. These defects in the expression of MHC class II and costimulatory molecules corresponded with a reduced capacity for trophic form-loaded dendritic cells to stimulate CD4+ T cell proliferation and polarization. These data are consistent with the delayed innate and adaptive responses previously observed in immunocompetent mice inoculated with trophic forms compared to responses in mice inoculated with a mixture of trophic forms and cysts. We propose that trophic forms broadly inhibit the ability of dendritic cells to fulfill their role as antigen-presenting cells.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23459583,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"An introduction of CO\u2082 conversion by dry reforming with methane and new route of low-temperature methanol synthesis.\nCarbon dioxide is one of the highest contributors to the greenhouse effect, as well as a cheap and nontoxic building block for single carbon source chemistry. As such, CO\u2082 conversion is one of most important research areas in energy and environment sciences, as well as in catalysis technology. For chemical conversion of CO\u2082, natural gas (mainly CH\u2084) is a promising counterpart molecule to the CO\u2082-related reaction, due to its high availability and low price. More importantly, being able to convert CH\u2084 to useful fuels and molecules is advantageous, because it is also a kind of \"greenhouse effect\" gas, and can be an energy alternative to petroleum oil. In this Account, we discuss our development of efficient catalysts with precisely designed nanostructure for CO\u2082 reforming of CH\u2084 to produce syngas (mixture of CO and H\u2082), which can then be converted to many chemicals and energy products. This new production flow can establish a GTL (gas-to-liquid) industry, being currently pushed by the shale gas revolution. From the viewpoint of GTL industry, developing a catalyst for CO\u2082 reforming of CH\u2084 is a challenge, because they need a very high production rate to make the huge GTL methane reformer as small as possible. In addition, since both CO\u2082 and CH\u2084 give off carbon deposits that deactivate non-precious metallic catalysts very quickly, the total design of catalyst support and supported metallic nanoparticles is necessary. We present a simple but useful method to prepare bimodal catalyst support, where small pores are formed inside large ones during the self-organization of nanoparticles from solution. Large pores enhance the mass transfer rate, while small pores provide large surface areas to disperse active metallic nanoparticles. More importantly, building materials for small pores can also be used as promoters or cocatalysts to further enhance the total activity and stability. Produced syngas from methane reforming is generally catalytically converted in situ via one of two main routes. The first is to use Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS), a process that catalytically converts syngas to hydrocarbons of varying molecular weights. The second is methanol synthesis. The latter has better atomic economy, since the oxygen atom in CO is included in the product and CO\u2082 can be blended into syngas as a reactant. However, production of methanol is very inefficient in this reaction: only 10-15% one-pass conversion typically at 5.0-10.0 MPa and 523-573 K, due to the severe thermodynamic limitations of this exothermal reaction (CO + 2H\u2082 = CH\u2083OH). In this Account, we propose and develop a new route of low-temperature methanol synthesis from CO\u2082-containing syngas only by adding alcohols, including methanol itself. These alcohols act as homogeneous cocatalysts and the solvent, realizing 70-100% one-pass conversion at only 5.0 MPa and 443 K. The key step is the reaction of the adsorbed formate species with alcohols to yield ester species at low temperatures, followed by the hydrogenation of ester by hydrogen atoms on metallic Cu. This changes the normal reaction path of conventional, high-temperature methanol synthesis from formate via methoxy to methanol.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15808480,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Synthesis and in vivo antihyperglycemic activity of 5-(1H-pyrazol-3-yl)methyl-1H-tetrazoles.\nA series of 5-[(5-aryl-1H-pyrazol-3-yl)methyl]-1H-tetrazoles 3a-h have been synthesized and evaluated for their in vivo antihyperglycemic activity. Some of the synthesized compounds have shown significant glucose lowering activity in male Sprague-Dawley rats in sucrose loaded model. These compounds were also evaluated for their peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma agonistic property, but none of them displayed any significant activity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28693215,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-30":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Expression of FOXC2, PinX1, Ki-67 and Cyclin D1 in cutaneous cell carcinoma.\nWe investigated the expression of FOXC2, PinX1, Ki-67 and Cyclin D1 in cutaneous cell carcinoma. We collected 30 cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), 30 cutaneous basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and 30 normal skin tissues. The protein expression and gene expression of FOXC2, endogenous telomerase-inhibiting gene PinX1, Ki-67 and Cyclin D1 was measured by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and semi-quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), respectively. In SCC and BCC tissues, the positive rate of protein expression and mRNA level of PinX1 were both significantly lower than those in normal tissues. However, the positive rate of protein expression and mRNA level of FOXC2, Ki-67 and Cyclin D1 were significantly higher than those in normal tissues (p<0.05). There was no significant difference between SCC and BCC (p>0.05). In conclusion, FOXC2 may participate in the carcinogenesis process of SCC and BCC. It may also correlate with the expression PinX, Ki-67 and Cyclin D1. However, FOXC2 alone cannot be used as a diagnostic indicator of SCC.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3068343,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Responders to antihypertensive treatment: how may they be identified?\nThe identification of responders to antihypertensive treatment is valuable as an aid to management, in determining the characteristics of a responder and as a measure of treatment efficacy. This paper discusses the various methods of identifying a responder and the factors influencing response, including the placebo factor and regression to the mean. Response is also discussed in terms of fall in systolic and diastolic pressure. Antihypertensive drugs that have a greater effect on systolic pressure rather than on diastolic pressure are identified, for example methyldopa; and drugs with more equal effects on systolic and diastolic pressure, such as verapamil, are also identified. If it is proven that isolated systolic hypertension requires active treatment it is important to identify those drugs with a greater effect on systolic pressure.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":935019,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The effect of the pellet binder \"Lignosol FG\" on the chicken's disgestive system and general performance.\nThe use of the pellet binder \"Lingnosol FG\" in broiler diets at three levels plus a control group revealed differences in the consistency, quantity and color of the caecal contents between the treated and untreated groups. By week 4, post-mortem examinations revealed that birds receiving Lignosol FG had enlarged caeca and the caecal contents were dark brown, shiny, tenacious and gelatinous which continued to slaughter age (7 weeks). The use of the pellet binder had little effect on general performance although there was an indication that it had the effect of increasing feed consumption and body weights but with a slight increase in feed conversion (feed\/gain).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35356662,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Associations between women's empowerment, care seeking, and quality of malaria care for children: A cross-sectional analysis of demographic and health surveys in 16 sub-Saharan African countries.\nFever and malaria are highly prevalent among children under five across sub-Saharan Africa, but utilization and quality of care for febrile illness remain insufficient. Many studies examine socioeconomic and demographic determinants of care seeking; however, few assess how women's empowerment influences care seeking and quality. We examine associations of women's empowerment with: a) care utilization for children with fever and malaria and b) the quality of that care in 16 sub-Saharan African countries. This cross-sectional study used data from Demographic and Health Surveys conducted between 2010 and 2018. We constructed indices for economic, educational, sociocultural, and health-related empowerment and calculated the proportion of children with fever and malaria who sought care and received a range of recommended clinical actions. We used multivariable Poisson hurdle models to assess associations between empowerment, utilization, and number of components of quality care, controlling for socioeconomic and demographic factors. Our sample consisted of 25 871 febrile children, 4731 of whom had malaria diagnosed by rapid diagnostic test. Empowerment among mothers of children with fever was 0.50 (interquartile range, 0.38-0.63). In both the fever and malaria groups, over 30% of children were not taken for care. Among care seekers, febrile children received on average 0.47 (SD = 0.37) of components of quality care, and children with malaria received 0.38 (SD = 0.34). Multidimensional women's empowerment was significantly associated with care seeking and quality among febrile children, and with quality among children with malaria. Associations persisted after adjustment for socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. Results demonstrate substantial gaps in women's empowerment and poor utilization and quality of care for fever and malaria among children. Increased women's empowerment is associated with seeking care and, separately, obtaining high-quality care. To improve health outcomes, consideration of how empowering women can promote care seeking and extract quality from the health system is warranted.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17177186,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Tumor-lymphatic interactions in an activated stromal microenvironment.\nMetastasis to lymph nodes is a common feature of many human tumors and may facilitate dissemination to other parts of the body. Peritumoral lymphatics, which are located at the periphery of a primary tumor, appear to be anything but peripheral for metastasis, as recent studies have highlighted their critical role in disseminating tumor cells to local lymph nodes. The metastatic process, including lymphangiogenesis, is likely governed by a complex series of interactions among tumor cells, endothelial cells, and non-endothelial stromal components. Therefore, a detailed understanding of the biology of the tumor microenvironment, particularly as it pertains to peritumoral lymphatics near the tumor-stromal junction, may someday translate into clinical approaches that target metastasis at the invasive front.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20376239,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Rehabilitation using single stage implants.\nImplant related prosthesis has become an integral part of rehabilitation of edentulous areas. Single stage implant placement has become popular because of its ease of use and fairly predictable results. In this paper, we present a series of cases of single stage implants being used to rehabilitate different clinical situations. All the implants placed have been successfully restored and followed up for up to one year.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9552438,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Determination of (pseudo)plastic flow properties of pharmaceutical semisolids using rheological AUC parameters.\nThe purpose of this study was to develop a simple and unique method of data reduction for pharmaceutical semisolids. Application and accuracy of different regression models for rate-controlled rotating cylinder and T-shaped spindle data was compared in a conventional analysis of variance. Methods employed to determine area under the flow curve (AUC) parameters included integration of fitting function, planimetration, and calculation of trapezoids. Complex rheological behavior such as structure breakdown at low rates of shear (D) and deflocculation of particle aggregates at high values for D is not sufficiently described by conventional fitting functions. Iterating the nonlinear power law function tau = tau 0 + k2. Dn0, however, gives the best fit of data for pharmaceutical samples, estimating a yield value, tau 0.1 calculated for D = 0.1 s-1 following double logarithmic transformation. Alternatively, rheological AUC parameters are determined for D: 0 < or = D < or = 98 s-1. Validating models, maximum deviation for different methods of determination is smaller than Srel of 5 consecutive planimetration experiments. In case of sufficient fit of experimental data, integration of a nonlinear power law function is acceptable. Convenient fitting parameters tau and n0 can be substituted by area parameters such as AT, Arel, or R for all liquids, and hydrophilic and lipophilic gels, as well as o\/w and w\/o emulsions being investigated. The new AUC method offers robust data reduction and universal pharmaceutical application for different Newtonian and (pseudo)plastic materials. The approach is, however, limited to instrumental conditions and the range of D.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32582495,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Metoprolol-Associated Central Nervous System Complications.\nMetoprolol is a common medication used by the elderly because it is affordable and has proven to decrease mortality in cardiovascular disease. Multiple studies have reported central nervous system (CNS) side effects associated with use of beta-blockers. The risk of beta-blocker CNS side effects is directly associated with the lipophilic property of the drug. We present the case of an 84-year-old male presented to the clinic complaining of increased confusion, fatigue, lightheadedness, nightmares, sleep disturbance, and gait problems for four weeks. The patient was evaluated for neurogenic and cardiogenic causes of his symptoms and both were ruled out. We believe that further review of his medical chart and medication reconciliation will lead us to the underlying cause of his symptoms. Despite being an effective treatment option, there are risks associated with beta-blocker therapy. The most common symptoms are psychiatric conditions, bizarre and vivid dreams, sleep disturbances, delirium, psychosis, and visual hallucinations. Elderly patients who are started on beta-blockers require close monitoring for any adverse neurological symptoms.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28708168,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Portable laser spectrometer for airborne and ground-based remote sensing of geological CO2 emissions.\nA 24 kg, suitcase sized, CW laser remote sensing spectrometer (LARSS) with a ~2 km range has been developed. It has demonstrated its flexibility in measuring both atmospheric CO2 from an airborne platform and terrestrial emission of CO2 from a remote mud volcano, Bledug Kuwu, Indonesia, from a ground-based sight. This system scans the CO2 absorption line with 20 discrete wavelengths, as opposed to the typical two-wavelength online offline instrument. This multi-wavelength approach offers an effective quality control, bias control, and confidence estimate of measured CO2 concentrations via spectral fitting. The simplicity, ruggedness, and flexibility in the design allow for easy transportation and use on different platforms with a quick setup in some of the most challenging climatic conditions. While more refinement is needed, the results represent a stepping stone towards widespread use of active one-sided gas remote sensing in the earth sciences.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32371621,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hypertension in children.\nHypertension is a common finding in children, and increases the risk for future cardiovascular events. This review focuses on recent advances in pediatric hypertension research including changes in hypertension guidelines, epidemiology, predictors of hypertension, blood pressure (BP) measurement, effects on target organs, and treatment of hypertension. Changes in the 2017 hypertension guidelines by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) have resulted in increased prevalence of elevated BP and hypertension in the United States, and there is no international consensus on these changes. Despite rising pediatric overweight and obesity in China, hypertension prevalence is stable, suggesting multifactorial effects on childhood BP. Maternal diabetes and exposure to particulate matter are associated with higher childhood BP, and body size in infancy and early childhood is a determinant of adult high BP. Children with elevated BP have evidence of target organ damage with altered retinal vasculature and pulse wave velocity parameters compared to normotensive patients. Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers may be the best antihypertensive medications for the pediatric population even for African-American patients. Research continues to illuminate contributors to pediatric hypertension and demonstrates opportunities for further study on the effects of hypertension and its management in children.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37848247,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Exploring the Protein Sequence Space with Global Generative Models.\nRecent advancements in specialized large-scale architectures for training images and language have profoundly impacted the field of computer vision and natural language processing (NLP). Language models, such as the recent ChatGPT and GPT-4, have demonstrated exceptional capabilities in processing, translating, and generating human language. These breakthroughs have also been reflected in protein research, leading to the rapid development of numerous new methods in a short time, with unprecedented performance. Several of these models have been developed with the goal of generating sequences in novel regions of the protein space. In this work, we provide an overview of the use of protein generative models, reviewing (1) language models for the design of novel artificial proteins, (2) works that use non-transformer architectures, and (3) applications in directed evolution approaches.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26480399,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Kinetic behavior of light emission in cholesteric liquid crystal lasers: An experimental study.\nSome dynamical aspects of fluorescence and lasing have been studied in a dye-doped cholesteric liquid crystal by measuring the response of the material to nanosecond optical pumping. It has been found that as the pumping energy is increased the fluorescence pulse duration decreases, reaching a minimum at the lasing threshold. Above the threshold the temporal profiles are irregular and consist of a set of narrow pulses whose measured duration is limited by the detector risetime (1 ns). The results are interpreted in terms of a recently proposed model [JETP, 118, 822 (2014)] that makes use of rate equations to account for the laser generation in cholesteric liquid crystals. The prediction of such equations for an experimental configuration appropriate for fluorescence lifetime measurements is analyzed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30656729,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dermoscopy of naevi in patients with oculocutaneous albinism.\nOculocutaneous albinism (OCA) increases predisposition to skin malignancies. Nevertheless, the differential diagnosis between melanoma and naevi in patients with OCA is still challenging, because pigmentary lesions have rarely been described in this population. We aimed to describe the dermoscopic patterns of naevi in patients with OCA. We prospectively evaluated 83 naevi from 37 patients with OCA in a single centre in Brazil. Lesions were analysed by eye and by dermoscopy and were grouped by dermoscopic pattern. Eight main patterns were identified: homogeneous structureless pattern (n = 28; 33.7%), globular pattern (n = 27; 32.5%), reticular pattern (n = 8; 9.6%), peripheral reticular pattern with central hypopigmentation (n = 8; 9.6%), peripheral globules (n = 8; 9.6%), irregular brown globules with pink background (n = 2; 2.4%), reticular globular disorganized pattern (n = 1; 1.2%) and peripheral reticular globular with central hypopigmentation (n = 1; 1.2%). We found previously undescribed dermoscopic patterns in patients with OCA, in addition to confirming previously described patterns. These descriptions may help the understanding of pigmented naevi in patients with OCA.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17202127,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Characterizing phosphoproteins and phosphoproteomes using mass spectrometry.\nThe reversible phosphorylation of proteins plays a major role in many vital cellular processes by modulating protein function and transmitting signals within cellular pathways and networks. Because phosphorylation is dynamic and the sites of modification cannot be predicted by an organism's genome, proteomic measurements are required to identify sites of and changes in the phosphorylation state of proteins. The low stoichiometry of phosphorylation sites that accompany the multifarious nature of protein phosphorylation in biological systems continues to challenge the dynamic range of present mass spectrometry (MS) technologies and proteomic measurements, despite the preponderance of research and analytical methods devoted to this area. This review addresses some of the strategies and limitations involving the use of MS to map and quantify changes in protein phosphorylation sites for samples that range from a single protein to an entire proteome, and presents several compelling reasons as to why comprehensive phosphorylation site analysis has proven to be so elusive without a hypothesis-driven experimental approach to elicit more meaningful and confident results.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34422249,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Image Risk Assessment of the Thyroid Cancer Model Based on Discriminant Analysis and the Value of TAP and CEA Combined Detection.\nThe incidence rate of thyroid disease is increasing rapidly worldwide, and the number of thyroid patients is increasing. In this study, serum TAP (tumor abnormal protein) and CEA (carcinoembryonic antigen) were used to detect patients with thyroid nodules of class IV and above to explore the value of serum TAP combined detection of CEA in the risk assessment of thyroid cancer. In this paper, 400 patients with thyroid nodules above class IV diagnosed by physical examination in our hospital health management center from January 2019 to June 2021 were included in the study. Combined with the pathological test results, the patients were divided into risk groups. At the same time, different groups of serum TAP and CEA levels were detected by aggregation and electrochemiluminescence methods, and serum TAP and CEA levels were analyzed according to the pathological diagnostic indicators of CEA levels. The results showed that the levels of serum TAP and CEA in patients with thyroid cancer were significantly higher than those in patients with benign thyroid diseases, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). The sensitivity, specificity, and AUC under the ROC curve area of serum TAP were 85.25%, 85.06%, and 0.605, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, and AUC under the ROC curve area of serum CEA were 89.85%, 88.00%, and 0.627, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, and AUC under the ROC curve area of serum TAP combined with CEA were 96.84%, 96.79%, and 0.915, respectively. Therefore, the combined detection of serum TAP and CEA has a high early screening value in thyroid cancer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":33731653,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Markers of Low-Iron Status Are Associated with Female Athlete Triad Risk Factors.\nThe Female Athlete Triad (Triad) is common in female athletes. The Triad is caused by low-energy availability (EA), which is often difficult to measure and has been postulated to be associated with low-iron status. Here, we explore whether markers of low-iron status may be associated with indicators of low EA including Triad risk factors. A total of 239 female National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I athletes completed preparticipation examinations that included Triad risk factors, medication\/supplement use, diagnosis of anemia, and elected to complete dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry scan to measure bone mineral density. The association of markers of low iron (defined as self-report of iron supplementation and\/or history of anemia) with each component of the Triad risk assessment score was assessed by stratifying low-iron status across different levels of Triad risk category. Differences across iron status groups were assessed using Fisher exact testing. Every component of the Triad risk assessment score excluding delayed menarche was associated with low-iron status. The proportion of women who reported low iron was 11.5% in the low-risk EA group compared with 50% in the moderate-risk and 66.7% in the high-risk EA groups (P = 0.02); respectively. These numbers were 11.6%, 25.0%, and 66.7% (P = 0.02) for body mass index; 9.7%, 16.7%, and 25.0% (P < 0.05) for oligomenorrhea; 10.3%, 45.5%, and 50.0% (P < 0.01) for bone mineral density; and 10.4%, 20.8%, and 30.8% (P = 0.03) for history of stress reaction or fracture. Lean\/endurance athletes were more likely to have low-iron status than other athletes (15.5% vs 3.4%, P = 0.02). Markers for low-iron status were associated with Triad risk factors. Our study suggests that female athletes with a history of anemia or iron supplementation may require further screening for low EA.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7946421,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Prognosis of supratentorial parenchymal hemorrhages].\nThe prognostic value of a group of parameters recorded upon hospital admission was assessed in a series of 135 supratentorial hemorrhages. The patients were divided into 3 groups based on survival < 30 days, between 30 days and 1 year, or > 1 year. Patients in the group with the shortest survival period were older; had more Glasgow scale scores < or = 10 and more Canadian scale scores < or = 5; had more hematomas > or = 4 cm in diameter revealed in computerized tomography with frequent midline shift and frequent ventricular hemorrhagic invasion; had higher stress reaction (hyperglycemia, leukocytosis and heart arrhythmia). Cholesterinemia, however, was lower in the shortest survival group. A range of quality of life was observed in the group (44%) with survival longer than 1 year. The subgroup with motor independence (Rankin < 3) (19%) differed from those with less motor independence (Rankin > or = 3) in that they were younger, more often had mean scores > or = 5 on the Canadian scale and normal blood pressure levels. We conclude that prognostic value of the clinical evaluation scales used, along with age and size of hematoma, was good.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27263787,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Achievement of hemodialysis discontinuation with lenalidomide and dexamethasone therapy in a refractory BJP-type multiple myeloma patient.\nA 63-year-old man with Bence Jones-\u03ba multiple myeloma (MM) presented with renal impairment. First, we administered a bortezomib-containing regimen which is considered to be the first choice among therapeutic approaches for MM patients with renal failure. However, his condition was refractory to bortezomib, and the renal dysfunction worsened (creatinine 12.55mg\/dl) necessitating the initiation of hemodialysis. Subsequently, we administered an adjusted dose of lenalidomide and dexamethasone. Dialysis could be discontinued after 3 cycles of lenalidomide therapy. After 4 cycles, he achieved a stringent complete response (sCR) with the creatinine level at 1.85mg\/dl. This case suggests lenalidomide to be an effective drug for patients with multiple myeloma and renal impairment refractory to treatment with bortezomib.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21755568,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Differences and over-time changes in levels of prescription opioid analgesic dispensing from retail pharmacies in Canada, 2005-2010.\nTo examine qualitative and quantitative levels and trends of prescription opioid analgesics (\"opioids\") use and the potential impact of prescription monitoring programs (PMPs), in the 10 Canadian provinces, for 2005-2010. Opioid dispensing data from a representative sample of 2700 retail pharmacies were obtained. Individual opioid dispensing values were translated into defined daily doses per day\/1000 population and categorized into \"weak opioids\" and \"strong opioids\" by standardized methods. Opioid prescription rates between provinces and over time, as well as the impact of PMPs, were examined using regression analyses techniques (i.e., Poisson, ANOVAs). Significant differences between provinces in the overall standardized rates of dispensing for total opioids, as well as for \"weak opioids\" and \"strong opioids\" categories, were found. The majority of provinces featured increases or curvilinear trends in the standardized amounts of opioids dispensed over time, mainly driven by increases in \"strong opioids\" use. In addition, significant inter-provincial differences in the levels of dispensing of individual opioids were found. Comparisons of changes in opioid dispensing between provinces with and without PMPs did not indicate significant differences. Opioid use featured significant quantitative and qualitative differences between provinces in Canada and showed an overall increasing trend mainly driven by changes in \"strong opioids\" in the study period. Reasons for the observed differences are not clear yet require systematic examination to allow evidence-based interventions in the interest of equitable pain treatment as well as the reduction of high levels of opioid-related morbidity and mortality in Canada.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17184031,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Advances in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.\nCOPD is one of the commonest causes of morbidity and mortality in the world and is increasing in prevalence. Current therapies are not very effective and no current treatment prevents the relentless progression of airflow limitation that characterizes this disease. Smoking cessation is the only strategy that reduces this decline in lung function and, although bupropion is the most effective aid to quitting, more effective treatments of nicotine addition are needed. The mainstay of treatment is bronchodilators for symptom relief and inhaled anticholinergics and beta2-agonists are useful by reducing hyperinflation of the lungs. A new once daily inhaled anticholinergic is the most effective bronchodilator, but long-acting inhaled beta2-agonsts are also useful. Theophylline is used as an additional bronchodilator in more severe patients and may have some anti-inflammatory action. By contrast, inhaled corticosteroids are poorly effective and do not reduce disease profession, although recent studies with combination inhalers (corticosteroid + long-acting beta2-agonist) have shown better effects. Long-term oxygen therapy is needed by patients with pulmonary hypertension and right heart failure. There is a pressing need to develop new classes of therapy, and several new drugs are currently in development, including inteleukin-8 antagonists, phosphodiesterase-4 inhibitors, protease inhibitors and antioxidants.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32353833,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Vibration monitoring based on flexible multi-walled carbon nanotube\/polydimethylsiloxane film sensor and the application on motion signal acquisition.\nFlexible sensors at small scales have potential applications in many fields. Until now, the research on high-performance vibration sensors based on soft materials with high sensitivity and precision, fast response and high stability are still in its infancy. In this work, a flexible, wearable and high precision film sensor based on multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) was prepared via a vacuum filtration process and then encapsulated within polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The sensor exhibits an ultrahigh sensitivity with gauge factor of 214.3 at flexural strain of 0.4%. When used to monitor the vibration responses of a carbon-fiber beam induced by the base excitation and impact hammer, the time and frequency responses were comparable with the results obtained by the accelerometer, with difference less than 1\\!%. In addition, when the MWCNT\/PDMS thin film was employed as an electronic skin sensor attached on the human body to detect human activities, the high sensitivity and repeatability demonstrate a great potential application in monitoring human motion.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28281340,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Direct and Selective 3-Amidation of Indoles Using Electrophilic N-[(Benzenesulfonyl)oxy]amides.\nSelective C-H amidation of 1H-indoles at the C3 position is reported as a direct entry to biologically important 3-aminoindoles. This transformation is achieved using novel N-[(benzenesulfonyl)oxy]amides as electrophilic nitrogen agents in the presence of ZnCl2. Interestingly, analogous reactions in the absence of ZnCl2 resulted in the formation of indole aminal products.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20359319,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Adult-onset Alexander disease with typical \"tadpole\" brainstem atrophy and unusual bilateral basal ganglia involvement: a case report and review of the literature.\nAlexander disease (ALX) is a rare neurological disorder characterized by white matter degeneration and cytoplasmic inclusions in astrocytes called Rosenthal fibers, labeled by antibodies against glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). Three subtypes are distinguished according to age at onset: infantile (under age 2), juvenile (age 2 to 12) and adult (over age 12). Following the identification of heterozygous mutations in GFAP that cause this disease, cases of adult-onset ALX have been increasingly reported. We present a 60-year-old Japanese man with an unremarkable past and no family history of ALX. After head trauma in a traffic accident at the age of 46, his character changed, and dementia and dysarthria developed, but he remained independent. Spastic paresis and dysphagia were observed at age 57 and 59, respectively, and worsened progressively. Neurological examination at the age of 60 revealed dementia, pseudobulbar palsy, left-side predominant spastic tetraparesis, axial rigidity, bradykinesia and gaze-evoked nystagmus. Brain MRI showed tadpole-like atrophy of the brainstem, caused by marked atrophy of the medulla oblongata, cervical spinal cord and midbrain tegmentum, with an intact pontine base. Analysis of the GFAP gene revealed a heterozygous missense mutation, c.827G>T, p.R276L, which was already shown to be pathogenic in a case of pathologically proven hereditary adult-onset ALX. The typical tadpole-like appearance of the brainstem is strongly suggestive of adult-onset ALX, and should lead to a genetic investigation of the GFAP gene. The unusual feature of this patient is the symmetrical involvement of the basal ganglia, which is rarely observed in the adult form of the disease. More patients must be examined to confirm, clinically and neuroradiologically, extrapyramidal involvement of the basal ganglia in adult-onset ALX.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3029368,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Influence of follicular health on the steroidogenic and morphological characteristics of bovine granulosa cells in vitro.\nIn 24-h cultures, steroid production by cells from non-atretic follicles increased with increasing follicular diameter. Cells from atretic follicles, of all sizes, produced low amounts of oestradiol-17 beta, but very high amounts of progesterone, relative to cells from non-atretic follicles. Increasing the culture period to 72 h caused little change in daily progesterone and oestradiol-17 beta production by granulosa cells from atretic follicles. In contrast, in cells from non-atretic follicles, daily progesterone production increased and daily oestradiol-17 beta production decreased to the levels observed with cells from atretic follicles. Dibutyryl cyclic AMP (1.0 mM) significantly stimulated progesterone production by cells from atretic, but not from non-atretic, follicles. Testosterone (1 microgram\/ml) had no effect on progesterone production by cells from atretic follicles, while oestradiol-17 beta, oestrone, testosterone, androstenedione and 5 alpha-dihydro-testosterone (0-1000 ng\/ml) each significantly suppressed progesterone production by cells from non-atretic follicles in a dose-dependent manner. Morphometric analysis revealed few subcellular differences between cells from non-atretic and atretic follicles. Mean cell volume was significantly higher for cells from atretic compared to non-atretic follicles, but the mean volumes of the major subcellular components were not influenced by follicle health. The mean surface area of the plasma and nuclear membrane, and granular endoplasmic reticulum was also significantly higher in cells from atretic compared to non-atretic follicles.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37444152,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Lifestyle Related Cancer Risk and Protective Behaviors Vary among a Convenient Sample of Physically Active, Young-to-Middle-Aged Adults 18-49.\nIt is an assumption that physically active adults lead an overall healthy lifestyle. To examine this assumption, we administered a cross-sectional, web-based survey to a sample of young-to-middle-aged US adults between 18 and 49 who self-reported participation in at least one recreational sporting event in the past month. Logistic regressions were conducted to examine demographic characteristics associated with cancer risk and protective behaviors. Gender was represented equally (N = 938), and the average age was 32 years (SD: 8.4). Most participants reported >three days of moderate- to high-intensity physical activity (79%), but not meeting fruit and vegetable consumption guidelines (78%). Many reported current tobacco use (32%), binge drinking at least once in the past 30 days (62%), and suboptimal sun protection use (67%). Participation in lifestyle-related cancer risk and protective behaviors varied based on age, sex, education, routine doctor visits, perceived overall health, health-information-seeking behavior (how participants obtained health information), or team-based sport participation in regression models. Future interventions should be tailored to address varied cancer risk profiles among even physically active adults to encourage multiple healthy behavior changes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36937727,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Linear growth in young people with restrictive eating disorders: \"Inching\" toward consensus.\nWhile the assessment of acute medical stability in patients with eating disorders should never be minimized, careful attention toward other specific age-related consequences of malnutrition can improve psychological outcomes and reduce long-term, potentially irreversible medical complications, like linear growth impairment. While the impact of malnutrition on linear growth is widely recognized, emerging data highlight consensus in several key areas: the time from onset to time of diagnosis, age at illness onset, pubertal stage at illness onset, and adequacy of weight restoration to achieve catch-up growth. This review provides concrete and actionable steps to help providers identify and explore deviations in expected growth and development while prioritizing early and aggressive weight restoration to provide the best opportunity for catch-up linear growth in patients with eating disorders. The impact of restrictive eating disorders on growth and development cannot be overstated, particularly in pre- and peripubertal patients. While many consequences of malnutrition are reversible, the loss of genetic height potential may prove irreversible without early and aggressive weight restoration.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28739435,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Ureaplasma spp. in male infertility and its relationship with semen quality and seminal plasma components.\nWe investigated the prevalence of Ureaplasma spp. in semen samples of infertile men in Shanghai, China and evaluated the correlation between the sperm parameters (seminal volume, sperm concentration, progressive motility and non-progressive) and the secretary function in these infectious populations. Semens were collected from 540 infertile men and 260 fertile control group in shanghai, China and subjected to standard bacterial and Ureaplasma spp. culture. Positive Ureaplasma spp. isolates were further tested by PCR to detect the biovars and serotypes of Ureaplasma spp. Sperm seminological variabilities were analyzed by Computer-Assisted Semen Analysis according to the fifth edition of World Health Organization (WHO) laboratory manual for the examination and processing of human semen. Seminal markers were measured by the automatic analyzer. The prevalence of Ureaplasma spp. in semen specimens was 39.6% (214\/540) and 19.2% (50\/260) in infertile and control group, respectively. Significant difference was observed between the two groups (P < 0.001). Among all clinical isolates from infertile men (n = 214), 59.3% (n = 127) was Ureaplasma parvum (UPA), 26.2% (n = 56) was Ureaplasma urealyticum (UUR), and 14.5% (n = 31) was mixed species. While those numbers in control group (n = 50) were 64.0% (n = 32), 20.0% (n = 10), 16.0% (n = 8), respectively. There was no significant difference between any two groups (P > 0.05). The progressive motility and the NAG activity of infertile men infected with UPA and mixed species were significantly lower than those of UUR infected subgroup (P < 0.05). The infection of Ureaplasma spp. plays an important pathogenic role in male infertility. UPA has higher pathogenicity on the progressive motility and the secretary function of epididymis than UUR.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9157476,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Primary malignant lymphoma of the brain].\nPrimary malignant lymphoma of the brain is a disease of unknown etiology, which is increasing in incidence and has an unfavorable prognosis. Despite the lack of specific changes on CT or MRI in most cases, these procedures may typically facilitate the diagnosis: a focal-enhancing mass with subependymal spread on CT or MRI and hyperattenuation on nonenhanced CT are the most reliable features in the diagnosis of primary malignant lymphoma of the brain. Peritumoral edema and mass effect are usually not prominent features. On unenhanced CT scans they usually appear homogeneously isodense to mildly hyperdense relative to the gray matter. On MRI these tumors are slightly hypointense on T1-weighted images and slightly hyperintense on PD- and T2-weighted images relative to the gray matter. On CT and MRI enhancement is usually homogeneous. Contrast-enhanced MRI, with its multiplanar capability, lack of bone-induced artifacts, and high-contrast resolution, is likely to reveal subependymal spread and meningeal involvement that have escaped detection by CT. Because there are no specific features on CT or MRI in most cases, patients who are suspected of having primary malignant lymphoma of the brain should immediately undergo biopsy and, if the diagnosis is confirmed, whole-brain radiation therapy. With early diagnosis and treatment, these patients benefit from radiation therapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35356731,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Psychological Correlates of Excessive Healthy and Orthorexic Eating: Emotion Regulation, Attachment, and Anxious-Depressive-Stress Symptomatology.\nOrthorexia nervosa, the pathological obsession with eating healthy, shares risks and significant comorbidity with other mental disorders. Based on a behavioral conceptualization of the overlap, emotion regulation, attachment style, and anxious-depressive-stress symptomatology are prominent but insufficiently researched endophenotypes for orthorexia nervosa. This study aimed at identifying ways in which difficulties in emotion regulation and attachment-related anxiety and avoidance become apparent in orthorexia nervosa and healthy orthorexia. Additionally, the moderating role of anxious, depressive, and stress symptoms was explored. A convenience sample of 399 adults (266 women) completed questionnaires to measure orthorexia nervosa and healthy orthorexia, difficulties in emotion regulation, partnership-related bond, and anxious-depressive-stress symptomatology. The healthy orthorexia subscale was negatively associated with lack of emotional awareness but no other subscale of difficulties in emotion regulation or attachment-related anxiety and avoidance. Orthorexia nervosa scores were positively linked to difficulties in emotion regulation as well as attachment-related anxiety and avoidance. Multiple linear regression indicated non-acceptance of emotional responses and impulse control difficulties to be the strongest predictors for orthorexia nervosa. Both subscales also mediated the effects of attachment style on orthorexia nervosa with anxious-depressive-stress symptomatology moderating some of these effects. Individuals with higher orthorexia nervosa tendencies showed difficulties in emotion regulation, a common feature also of affective and eating disorders. Improvement in understanding the psychological features of orthorexia nervosa can enable a better differentiation from other disorders, advances in the development of treatment approaches and treatment planning, and outlines directions for future research on mechanisms.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23877676,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Candida tropicalis antifungal cross-resistance is related to different azole target (Erg11p) modifications.\nCandida tropicalis ranks between third and fourth among Candida species most commonly isolated from clinical specimens. Invasive candidiasis and candidemia are treated with amphotericin B or echinocandins as first-line therapy, with extended-spectrum triazoles as acceptable alternatives. Candida tropicalis is usually susceptible to all antifungal agents, although several azole drug-resistant clinical isolates are being reported. However, C. tropicalis resistant to amphotericin B is uncommon, and only a few strains have reliably demonstrated a high level of resistance to this agent. The resistance mechanisms operating in C. tropicalis strains isolated from clinical samples showing resistance to azole drugs alone or with amphotericin B cross-resistance were elucidated. Antifungal drug resistance was related to mutations of the azole target (Erg11p) with or without alterations of the ergosterol biosynthesis pathway. The antifungal drug resistance shown in vitro correlated very well with the results obtained in vivo using the model host Galleria mellonella. Using this panel of strains, the G. mellonella model system was validated as a simple, nonmammalian minihost model that can be used to study in vitro-in vivo correlation of antifungals in C. tropicalis. The development in C. tropicalis of antifungal drug resistance with different mechanisms during antifungal treatment has potential clinical impact and deserves specific prospective studies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28685056,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"PML silencing inhibits cell proliferation and induces DNA damage in cultured ovarian cancer cells.\nThe promyelocytic leukemia (PML) gene is a tumor suppressor gene. It was first identified in acute promyelocytic leukemia, in which it is fused to retinoic acid receptor \u03b1 by the (15;17) chromosomal translocation. The function of the PML protein is frequently lost or aberrant in human solid tumors. In human ovarian carcinoma tissue, PML detected by immunohistochemistry was highly expressed. A PML-silencing vector, pSRG-shPml, was constructed and used to transfect human ovarian cancer cells. Cells were cultured and selected with puromycin for 10-15 days, and then the PML mRNA expression levels were detected by RT-qPCR and immunofluorescence. Proliferation and clone number of PML-depleted cells were detected using MTT assay and colony-forming assay. The protein expression associated with DNA damage and apoptosis was assessed in PML-depleted cells using western blot analysis and immunofluorescence. The results showed that PML was highly expressed in human ovarian tissue. The proliferation and colony formation of ovarian cancer cells were significantly inhibited after PML was depleted. Western blot analysis and immunofluorescence revealed that p-H2AX and cleaved caspase-3 expression significantly increased after PML silencing. PML was located in the nucleus, and it formed foci after X-ray irradiation. PML foci increased significantly with increasing irradiation doses.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34421379,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The prevalence of stress and burnout in UK emergency ambulance service workers and its impact on their mental health and well-being.\nTo assess the prevalence of burnout among emergency ambulance service workers in one ambulance station; to determine if there are any variances based on socio-demographic information such as gender, clinical grade and length of service; to examine the distinctions between personal, work-related and patient-related burnout; to identify current workplace interventions to reduce stress and burnout that will improve mental health and well-being. Mixed methods - the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) was utilised, measuring burnout across three domains (personal, work-related and patient-related) alongside collecting demographic information such as gender, role, full-time or part-time employment and length of service. A free-text space was available to provide opinions on causes of burnout and on how current practice can be improved; these were analysed via thematic analysis. Seventy-eight staff members completed the questionnaire. These were: 16 emergency care assistants, 15 technicians and 47 paramedics. Thirty-eight (48.7%) staff members experienced personal burnout, 42 (53.8%) experienced work-related burnout and 29 (37.1%) experienced patient-related burnout. It was found that those most at risk of burnout were full-time male employees with more than 10 years' experience and employed within a paramedic position. Six themes were identified through thematic analysis: unnecessary callouts, shift patterns, support options, management, sickness absence and job demands. Findings suggest that burnout is prevalent within the ambulance service environment and can result in long-term sickness absences and declining mental health. This requires further investigation into causation alongside consideration of preventative measures and interventions to improve ambulance service staff well-being while increasing staff resilience to prevent burnout. Support for managers in recognising symptoms of burnout is also imperative because providing them with the training to recognise a mental health issue, interpret it and promptly treat it can mean the difference between sickness absences, future PTSD, unwell staff presenting at work and staff feeling valued and supported by management. The introduction of mandatory counselling and well-being sessions was also recommended by participants to improve staff mental health and well-being and reduce instances of work-related burnout, while providing financial advantages to the ambulance service with a reduction in additional overtime and sickness payments.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27285144,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Morbidity and Mortality Conference: Its Purpose Reclaimed and Grounded in Theory.\nThe morbidity and mortality conference (MMC) remains a central activity within the departments of our academic healthcare institutions. It is deeply rooted in the premise that we can learn from our mistakes, thereby improving the care we provide. Recent advances in our understanding of medical error and quality improvement have challenged the value of traditional models of MMC. As a result the purpose of MMC has become clouded and ill-defined: Is it an educational conference that promotes mastery of clinical acumen, or is it a venue to drive quality improvement by addressing systems-based issues in delivering care? Or can it serve both purposes? Review of the history of MMC, the literature, and critical application of education theory demonstrates the source of the confusion and the challenges in viewing it through the exclusive lens of either education or quality improvement. Application of experiential learning theory helps resolve this discord showing how the conference facilitates the development of clinical mastery while informing quality improvement programs about important and relevant systems-based issues. Building on this, we present a model for MMC involving five essential elements: case-based involving an adverse patient event, anonymity for participants, expert guided critical analysis, reframing understanding of the case presentation and related systems-based factors, and projection to practice change. This model builds on previously described models, is grounded in the literature, and helps clarify its role from both the educational and the quality improvement perspectives.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25501044,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Uncovering genomic features and maternal origin of korean native chicken by whole genome sequencing.\nThe Korean Native Chicken (KNC) is an important endemic biological resource in Korea. While numerous studies have been conducted exploring this breed, none have used next-generation sequencing to identify its specific genomic features. We sequenced five strains of KNC and identified 10.9 million SNVs and 1.3 million InDels. Through the analysis, we found that the highly variable region common to all 5 strains had genes like PCHD15, CISD1, PIK3C2A, and NUCB2 that might be related to the phenotypic traits of the chicken such as auditory sense, growth rate and egg traits. In addition, we assembled unaligned reads that could not be mapped to the reference genome. By assembling the unaligned reads, we were able to present genomic sequences characteristic to the KNC. Based on this, we also identified genes related to the olfactory receptors and antigen that are common to all 5 strains. Finally, through the reconstructed mitochondrial genome sequences, we performed phylogenomic analysis and elucidated the maternal origin of the artificially restored KNC. Our results revealed that the KNC has multiple maternal origins which are in agreement with Korea's history of chicken breed imports. The results presented here provide a valuable basis for future research on genomic features of KNC and further understanding of KNC's origin.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28572711,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Buprenorphine Alters Inflammatory and Oxidative Stress Molecular Markers in Arthritis.\nBuprenorphine is recommended for use as an analgesic in animal models including in murine models of collagen-induced arthritis (CIA). However, the effect of buprenorphine on the expression of disease-associated biomarkers is not well defined. We examined the effect of buprenorphine administration on disease progression and the expression of inflammatory and oxidative stress markers, in a murine model of CIA. Buprenorphine administration altered the expression of cytokines, IFN-\u03b3, IL-6, and MMP-3, and oxidative markers, for example, iNOS, superoxide dismutase (SOD1), and catalase (CAT), in the CIA mice. As buprenorphine is an analgesic, we further monitored the association of expression of these biomarkers with pain scores in a human cohort of early rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Serum MMP-3 levels and blood mRNA expression of antioxidants sod1 and cat correlated with pain scores in the RA cohort. We have demonstrated that administration of buprenorphine alters the expression of inflammatory and oxidative stress-related molecular markers in a murine model of CIA. This caveat needs to be considered in animal experiments using buprenorphine as an analgesic, as it can be a confounding factor in murine studies used for prediction of response to therapy. Furthermore, the antioxidant enzymes that showed an association with pain scores in the human cohort may be explored as biomarkers for pain in future studies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37465878,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1}}},"text":"Nature-inspired functional porous materials for low-concentration biomarker detection.\nNanostructuration is a promising tool for enhancing the performance of sensors based on electrochemical transduction. Nanostructured materials allow for increasing the surface area of the electrode and improving the limit of detection (LOD). In this regard, inverse opals possess ideal features to be used as substrates for developing sensors, thanks to their homogeneous, interconnected pore structure and the possibility to functionalize their surface. However, overcoming the insulating nature of conventional silica inverse opals fabricated via sol-gel processes is a key challenge for their application as electrode materials. In this work, colloidal assembly, atomic layer deposition and selective surface functionalization are combined to design conductive inverse opals as an electrode material for novel glucose sensing platforms. An insulating inverse opal scaffold is coated with uniform layers of conducting aluminum zinc oxide and platinum, and subsequently functionalized with glucose oxidase embedded in a polypyrrole layer. The final device can sense glucose at concentrations in the nanomolar range and is not affected by the presence of common interferents gluconolactone and pyruvate. This method may also be applied to different conductive materials and enzymes to generate a new class of highly efficient biosensors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8347377,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A glucokinase-like enzyme carries out glucose phosphorylation in capillaries of normal and spontaneously hyperglycemic rabbits.\nWe have studied glucose phosphorylation at increasing glucose concentrations (1, 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100 mmol\/liter) in capillaries of the choroidocapillary lamina from the eye of normal female albino rabbits (n = 10; body wt 1800-2000 g; mean +\/- SEM morning glycemia: 147.77 +\/- 4.02 mg\/dl) and from the eye of spontaneously hyperglycemic rabbits (n = 5, body wt 1800-2000 g, mean +\/- SEM morning glycemia; 211.00 +\/- 10.76 mg\/dl). In the 3000g supernatant of capillary homogenates, the glucose phosphorylating activity (NADP reduction measured as optical density change at 366 nm at pH 7.5) increased progressively with the rise of glucose concentration (r = 0.36; P < 0.05), approaching the peak at high glucose level (25 mmol\/liter), with values ranging from 5.32 +\/- 0.46 (SEM) nmol\/min\/mg protein to 7.14 +\/- 0.74 (+34.21%, P < 0.01). When measured at a more alkaline pH (8.2) the glucose phosphorylation was higher than at pH 7.5 and retained the responsiveness to increasing glucose concentrations. These kinetic characteristics differ from those seen in most tissues and are somewhat reminiscent of those shown by hepatic glucokinase. Indeed, by subtracting the activity at 1 mmol\/liter glucose from that at higher glucose concentrations, we calculated the \"glucokinase component\" which together with the \"hexokinase component\" form the total glucose phosphorylating activity. Glucose phosphorylation in capillaries from spontaneously hyperglycemic rabbits was lower than normal (values: 3.66 +\/- 0.31 vs 5.32 +\/- 0.46 of the normal rabbits; -31.20%; P < 0.05). This could contribute to the hyperglycemia by reducing glucose utilization. However, in these animals the enzyme activity retained the responsivity to increasing glucose concentrations (r = 0.41, P < 0.05). Therefore, the actual capillary glucose phosphorylation in these animals would depend upon both the enzyme level (which is reduced) and the glucose concentration (which is increased). Due to the in vivo inhibition of the hexokinase component, the glucokinase component may be predominant in vivo, making the stimulating effects of hyperglycemia much more pronounced than it would appear from our data in vitro. This may lead to glucose overutilization. These kinetic characteristics of glucose phosphorylation in capillaries might be relevant to the mechanisms leading to diabetic microangiopathy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30304941,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Theophylline and Caffeine as Alternatives During an Aminophylline Shortage.\nThe latest aminophylline shortage has prompted a need for alternative reversal agents for pharmacological stress testing. Cardiac stress testing is common for diagnosis and prognosis in patients with coronary heart disease. Options for pharmacological stress test agents include adenosine, regadenoson, dipyridamole, and dobutamine, whereas aminophylline is the recommended reversal agent. Adenosine and dobutamine can be used as alternatives to regadenoson and dipyridamole to decrease or eliminate the use of aminophylline. Alternatives to aminophylline include theophylline and caffeine. It is important to efficiently identify alternatives during a drug shortage to maintain optimal patient outcomes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35358028,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Asymmetric genetic attributions for one's own prosocial versus antisocial behavior.\nPeople tend to rate prosocial or positive behavior as more strongly influenced by the actor's genes than antisocial or negative behavior. The current study tested whether people would show a similar asymmetry when rating the role of genes in their own behavior, and if so, what variables might mediate this difference. Participants were prompted to think about an example of their own behavior from the past year that was either prosocial or antisocial. Those in the prosocial condition rated the role of genetics in causing the behavior as significantly greater than did those in the antisocial condition. A mediation analysis suggested that this asymmetry could be accounted for by a tendency to view prosocial behavior as more natural and more aligned with one's true self than antisocial behavior. These findings add to a growing body of evidence suggesting that people's reasoning about genetics may be influenced by evaluative judgments.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37459288,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Crystalline Neutral Aluminum Selenide\/Telluride: Isoelectronic Aluminum Analogues of Carbonyls.\nNeutral aluminum chalcogenides (R-Al(L)\u2550Ch; L = ligand, Ch = chalcogen), stabilized by a Lewis base ligand, represent isoelectronic counterparts to carbonyl compounds and have long been pursued for isolation. Herein, we present the synthesis of an aluminum selenide, [N]-Al(iPr2-bimy)\u2550Se, and an aluminum telluride, [N]-Al(iPr2-bimy)\u2550Te, under ambient conditions ([N] = 1,8-bis(3,5-di-tert-butylphenyl)-3,6-di-tert-butylcarbazolyl; iPr2-bimy = 1,3-diisoproplylbenzimidazole-2-ylidene). These compounds arise from the oxidation reaction of [N]-Al(iPr2-bimy) with Se and (nBu)3P\u2550Te, respectively. One notable characteristic of the Al and Ch interaction is the presence of an Al-Ch \u03c3 bond, strengthened by the electrostatic attraction between the Al+ and Ch- centers as well as the donation of lone pairs from Ch into vacant orbitals at Al. This results in an Al-Ch multiple bond with an ambiphilic nature. Preliminary investigations into their reactivity unveil their remarkable propensity for facile (cyclo)addition reactions with diverse substrates, including PhCCH, PhCN, AdN3, MeI, PhSiH3, and C6F6, leading to the formation of unprecedented main group heterocycles and alumachalcogenides.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23445189,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Optoelectronic functional materials based on alkylated-\u03c0 molecules: self-assembled architectures and nonassembled liquids.\nThe engineering of single molecules into higher-order hierarchical assemblies is a current research focus in molecular materials chemistry. Molecules containing \u03c0-conjugated units are an important class of building blocks because their self-assembly is not only of fundamental interest, but also the key to fabricating functional systems for organic electronic and photovoltaic applications. Functionalizing the \u03c0-cores with \"alkyl chains\" is a common strategy in the molecular design that can give the system desirable properties, such as good solubility in organic solvents for solution processing. Moreover, the alkylated-\u03c0 system can regulate the self-assembly behavior by fine-tuning the intermolecular forces. The optimally assembled structures can then exhibit advanced functions. However, while some general rules have been revealed, a comprehensive understanding of the function played by the attached alkyl chains is still lacking, and current methodology is system-specific in many cases. Better clarification of this issue requires contributions from carefully designed libraries of alkylated-\u03c0 molecular systems in both self-assembly and nonassembly materialization strategies. Here, based on recent efforts toward this goal, we show the power of the alkyl chains in controlling the self-assembly of soft molecular materials and their resulting optoelectronic properties. The design of alkylated-C60 is selected from our recent research achievements, as the most attractive example of such alkylated-\u03c0 systems. Some other closely related systems composed of alkyl chains and \u03c0-units are also reviewed to indicate the universality of the methodology. Finally, as a contrast to the self-assembled molecular materials, nonassembled, solvent-free, novel functional liquid materials are discussed. In doing so, a new journey toward the ultimate organic \"soft\" materials is introduced, based on alkylated-\u03c0 molecular design.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23455732,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Optimized templates for bottom-up growth of high-performance integrated biomolecular detectors.\nElectrochemical deposition of metals represents an important approach in the bottom-up fabrication of nanostructures and microstructures. We have used this approach to generate high-performance chip-based biosensors using silicon as a platform for the generation of sensor arrays. Here, we explore the applicability of different materials to support the electrodeposition and identify the parameters that are essential for robust sensor growth. We show that inexpensive materials can be used as templates for electrodeposition, and demonstrate that these low-cost sensors exhibit clinically-relevant levels of sensitivity and specificity. In particular, we prove herein that the glass-based sensors successfully detect E. coli in urine, when present at the 100 cfu \u03bcL(-1) levels found typically in samples of patients with urinary tract infections.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31245043,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"New insights link low-virulent disc infections to the etiology of severe disc degeneration and Modic changes.\nWithin the last 5 years, international research collaborations including those of several research groups skilled in microbiology, immunology and pathophysiology, have identified a low-virulent intradiscal infection with the ability to provoke gradual and progressive disc degeneration, end-plate disruption, Modic changes and persistent clinical lower-back pain. Certain strains of the Propionibacterium acne bacterium seem able to invade, colonize and develop a protective biofilm inside the disc. The interaction of P. acne, disc tissues and mononuclear cells of the bone marrow are shown to trigger a relevant immunological response and an ensuing destructive inflammation of the disc and adjacent vertebrae. This process presents on MRI as Modic changes. Recent proof-of-concept data provide compelling evidence for this bacterial disc infection hypothesis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36930819,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dense and Acidic Organelle-Targeted Visualization in Living Cells: Application of Viscosity-Responsive Fluorescence Utilizing Restricted Access to Minimum Energy Conical Intersection.\nCell-imaging methods with functional fluorescent probes are an indispensable technique to evaluate physical parameters in cellular microenvironments. In particular, molecular rotors, which take advantage of the twisted intramolecular charge transfer (TICT) process, have helped evaluate microviscosity. However, the involvement of charge-separated species in the fluorescence process potentially limits the quantitative evaluation of viscosity. Herein, we developed viscosity-responsive fluorescent probes for cell imaging that are not dependent on the TICT process. We synthesized AnP2-H and AnP2-OEG, both of which contain 9,10-di(piperazinyl)anthracene, based on 9,10-bis(N,N-dialkylamino)anthracene that adopts a nonflat geometry at minimum energy conical intersection. AnP2-H and AnP2-OEG exhibited enhanced fluorescence as the viscosity increased, with sensitivities comparable to those of conventional molecular rotors. In living cell systems, AnP2-OEG showed low cytotoxicity and, reflecting its viscosity-responsive property, allowed specific visualization of dense and acidic organelles such as lysosomes, secretory granules, and melanosomes under washout-free conditions. These results provide a new direction for developing functional fluorescent probes targeting dense organelles.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28709185,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Fluctuation relations between hierarchical kinetically equivalent networks with Arrhenius-type transitions and their roles in systems and structural biology.\nThe legality of using simple kinetic schemes to determine the stochastic properties of a complex system depends on whether the fluctuations generated from hierarchical equivalent schemes are consistent with one another. To analyze this consistency, we perform lumping processes on the stochastic differential equations and the generalized fluctuation-dissipation theorem and apply them to networks with the frequently encountered Arrhenius-type transition rates. The explicit Langevin force derived from those networks enables us to calculate the state fluctuations caused by the intrinsic and extrinsic noises on the free energy surface and deduce their relations between kinetically equivalent networks. In addition to its applicability to wide classes of network related systems, such as those in structural and systems biology, the result sheds light on the fluctuation relations for general physical variables in Keizer's canonical theory.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16221487,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of repeated administration of PGF2alpha in the early post partum period on the prevalence of clinical endometritis and probability of pregnancy at first insemination in lactating dairy cows.\nTwo experiments were performed to determine the effects of repeated administration of PGF2alpha in the immediate post partum period on the prevalence of clinical endometritis at 22 and 58 days post partum, and the probability of pregnancy at first insemination, in post partum dairy cows. In Experiment 1, 228 cows on day 7 post partum were used. Cows in Group 1 (n = 114) were treated twice with PGF2alpha (25 mg, im) 8 h apart on days 7 and 14 post partum, and only once on days 22 and 35 post partum. Cows in Group 2 (n = 114) served as untreated controls. Vaginoscopy and transrectal palpation of the genital tract were done on days 22 and 58 post partum. Cows in both groups were inseminated at estrus after a voluntary waiting period of 100 days. Pregnancy was determined by transrectal palpation between 45 and 50 days after insemination. Repeated administration of PGF2alpha in the immediate post partum period did not reduce the prevalence of clinical endometritis on days 22 or 58 post partum (65 versus 62% on day 22 and 28.3 versus 35.2% on day 58 in Groups 1 and 2, respectively). There was no significant difference in the probability of pregnancy at first insemination between cows in both groups. In Experiment 2, 418 cows on day 7 post partum were used. Cows in Group 1 (n = 209) were treated twice with PGF2alpha (25 mg, im) 8h apart on days 7 and 14 post partum, and only once on days 22 and 35 post partum. Cows in Group 2 (n = 209) served as untreated controls. Cows in both groups were subjected to the Presynch and Ovsynch protocols on days 49 and 75 post partum, respectively. Pregnancy was determined by transrectal ultrasonography between days 29 and 32 after timed insemination. There was no significant difference in the probability of pregnancy at first insemination between cows in both groups. In conclusion, repeated administration of PGF2alpha to cows in this herd had no effect on the prevalence of clinical endometritis at 22 and 58 days post partum, and that there was no effect on the probability of pregnancy after insemination at estrus among cows with a voluntary waiting period of > 100 days, or at timed AI at 85 days in milk when Presynch was employed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22666089,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Toxicity of metals to a freshwater snail, Melanoides tuberculata.\nAdult freshwater snails Melanoides tuberculata (Gastropod, Thiaridae) were exposed for a four-day period in laboratory conditions to a range of copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd), zinc (Zn), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), iron (Fe), aluminium (Al), and manganese (Mn) concentrations. Mortality was assessed and median lethal times (LT\u2085\u2080) and concentrations (LC\u2085\u2080) were calculated. LT\u2085\u2080 and LC\u2085\u2080 increased with the decrease in mean exposure concentrations and times, respectively, for all metals. The LC(50) values for the 96-hour exposures to Cu, Cd, Zn, Pb, Ni, Fe, Al, and Mn were 0.14, 1.49, 3.90, 6.82, 8.46, 8.49, 68.23, and 45.59 mg L\u207b\u00b9, respectively. Cu was the most toxic metal to M. tuberculata, followed by Cd, Zn, Pb, Ni, Fe, Mn, and Al (Cu > Cd > Zn > Pb > Ni > Fe > Mn > Al). Metals bioconcentration in M. tuberculata increases with exposure to increasing concentrations and Cu has the highest accumulation (concentration factor) in the soft tissues. A comparison of LC\u2085\u2080 values for metals for this species with those for other freshwater gastropods reveals that M. tuberculata is equally sensitive to metals.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1159030,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The examination of some vinyl acetate\/olefin copolymers by pyrolysis gas chromatography mass spectrometry.\nA study of the thermal degradation of some vinyl acetate\/olefin copolymers reveals that side chain scissions at the backbone and scissions within the side chains themselves yield fragments which are apparently characteristic of the parent olefin.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36273278,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Epidemiological factors affecting outpatient department service utilization and hospitalization in patients with diabetes: A time-series analysis from an Ethiopian hospital between 2018 and 2021.\nThe burden of diabetes-related deaths reached two million in 2019 globally. Accessibility to health care services and adherence to follow-up and therapy are key to improving outcomes for diabetic patients. We aimed to assess outpatient department (OPD) service utilization and diabetes-related hospitalizations over a period of 44 months. A retrospective cohort study was conducted on OPD visits and hospitalizations recorded between January 1, 2018, and August 31, 2021, at the St Luke Catholic Hospital (Ethiopia). All diabetic patients were included in the analysis. A linear regression model was used for univariate analysis of OPD visits and hospitalizations and their association with potential predictors. The autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) method was applied to both the time series of OPD visits and hospitalizations. Potential predictors were sociodemographic factors, COVID-19 cases, mean monthly temperature and precipitations. In the time series analysis, OPD visits increased over time (P < 0.01) while hospitalizations were stable. The time series model was ARIMA (0,1,1) for OPD visits and ARIMA (0,0,0) for hospitalizations. There were 1685 diabetes OPD patients (F = 732, 43%). Females had an average of 16% fewer OPD accesses per month (P < 0.01) and a lower number of hospitalizations per month (P = 0.03). There were 801 patients missing follow-up (48%). The time between follow-up increased with age (P < 0.01). OPD visits decreased differently by geographic area as COVID-19 cases increased (P < 0.01). There were 57 fewer forecast OPD visits per month on average using COVID-19 cases as ARIMA regressor. The odds ratio (OR) of new diagnosis at hospitalization was lower in patients with type 2 diabetes (OR = 0.26, 95% CI = 0.14-0.49, P = 0.02). Despite an increase in OPD visits for diabetic patients over the study period, the number of losses at follow-up and diagnoses at hospitalization remains high. Female sex, older age, and COVID-19 were associated with impaired OPD service accessibility. Primary health care should be implemented to achieve better health coverage and improve diabetes management.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19039211,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Obstructive sleep apnea in patients on conventional and short daily hemodialysis.\nObstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is common among patients on maintenance hemodialysis. However, the factors associated with the origin of OSA as well as the cardiovascular consequences in this population are not completely understood. We evaluated, by standard overnight polysomnography, 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure (BP) monitoring and echocardiography in 30 patients (14 males, age 34 +\/- 11 years, BMI 23.2 +\/- 5.2) - 15 on short daily hemodialysis (SDH) and 15 matched patients on conventional hemodialysis (CHD). The hemodialysis dose (standard Kt\/V) was higher in patients on SDH than on CHD (p = 0.001). OSA (apnea-hypopnea index >5 events\/h) was present in 13 patients (43%). Patients with OSA were predominantly males (77 vs. 44%), presented a higher BMI (25.5 +\/- 6.2 vs. 21.5 +\/- 3.6), a larger neck circumference (38 +\/- 1 vs. 34 +\/- 1 cm) and a lower Kt\/V (2.6 +\/- 0.3 vs. 2.2 +\/- 0.1) than patients with no OSA (p < 0.05). Neck circumference and lower Kt\/V were independently associated with OSA on multivariate analysis. No patient with Kt\/V >2.5 (n = 10) presented OSA. On the other hand, hypertensive patients with OSA needed more BP control pills (p = 0.03). Despite similar BP control, patients with OSA presented a higher interventricular septum thickness (11.5 +\/- 0.5 vs. 9.9 +\/- 0.3 mm; p = 0.011). In conclusion, among patients on maintenance hemodialysis, the traditional risk factors for OSA are present and interact with hemodialysis efficiency. Among these patients, OSA is associated with difficult BP control and heart remodeling suggesting that OSA may contribute to poor cardiovascular outcome.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26415665,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Use of E-beam radiation to eliminate Listeria monocytogenes from surface mould cheese.\nCamembert and Brie soft cheese varieties were subjected to E-beam irradiation as a sanitation treatment. The effects of treatments on microbiota and selected physicochemical properties were also studied. The absorbed doses required to meet the food safety objective (FSO) according to EU and USDA criteria for Listeria monocytogenes were 1.27 and 2.59 kGy, respectively. The bacterial load, mainly lactic acid bacteria, was reduced by the treatment but injured cells were recovered during storage at 14\u00b0C. The radiation treatment gave rise to negligible changes in the pH and water activity at doses required to achieve microbial safety.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37654994,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The effect of internalized stigmatization on care burden in adolescent psychiatric patients and their parents.\nThe purpose of this study was to determine the effect of internalized stigma perceived by adolescents with mental disorders and their families, on the burden of care on their families. The study was conducted in a descriptive and correlational desing with adolescents and their parents who applied to the child and adolescent psychiatry outpatient clinic between March 1 and June 1, 2022. A total 101 adolescents and 101 parents who met the sampling criteria and agreed to participate in the study. Only 1 parent per adolescent was included in the study. It was found that the mean age of the adolescents was 15.05 \u00b1 (1.80), 57.4% were female and 56.4% were secondary school graduates, and 26.7% of the adolescents, all of whom were unemployed, were diagnosed with a mood disorder, 50.5% had received outpatient treatment previously, and 22.8% had chronic diseases. It was found that the mean age of the parents who participated in the study was 45.53 \u00b1 (6.48), 77.1% were female and 28.7% were secondary school graduates. Also, 22.8% of the parents had a chronic disease, 28.7% had a chronic disease in their family and 32.7% had another family member in need of care, and 17.0% of the parents had received training on mental disorders previously. It was found that the parents' total means ZBI score was 42.74 \u00b1 (11.92). When the ZBI total scores were examined in terms of sociodemographic variables, no significant differences were found between the groups according to the variables. There was only a weak, positive and significant relationship between the age of the parents and in the present study, it was found that adolescents with mental disorders and their families experienced internalized stigmatization and this stigmatization increased the care burden on parents. Mental health and psychiatric nurses can facilitate this population's access to treatment by planning and implementing psychosocial interventions to reduce the internalized stigma of children and adolescents and their families.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3042482,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cutaneous malakoplakia. Report of a case.\nA case of cutaneous malakoplakia in a 44-year-old women under immunosuppressive therapy after renal transplantation for nephrosclerosis is reported. A nodular lesion with inflammatory signs appeared on her right buttock. Histopathology showed a dermal infiltrate with histiocytes containing Michaelis-Gutmann bodies. Electron microscopy showed Michaelis-Gutmann bodies with concentric laminar structure ('target' appearance). Tissue culture revealed Escherichia coli growth. Lesions recurred on surrounding skin and left buttock after excision. Clofazimine treatment resulted in total remission.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28347871,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Acoustic emission source localization in thin metallic plates: A single-sensor approach based on multimodal edge reflections.\nThis paper presents a new acoustic emission (AE) source localization for isotropic plates with reflecting boundaries. This approach that has no blind spot leverages multimodal edge reflections to identify AE sources with only a single sensor. The implementation of the proposed approach involves three main steps. First, the continuous wavelet transform (CWT) and the dispersion curves of the fundamental Lamb wave modes are utilized to estimate the distance between an AE source and a sensor. This step uses a modal acoustic emission approach. Then, an analytical model is proposed that uses the estimated distances to simulate the edge-reflected waves. Finally, the correlation between the experimental and the simulated waveforms is used to estimate the location of AE sources. Hsu-Nielsen pencil lead break (PLB) tests were performed on an aluminum plate to validate this algorithm and promising results were achieved. Based on these results, the paper reports the statistics of the localization errors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":33725240,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-22":1}}},"text":"Circ_0023984 Facilitates Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Progression by Regulating miR-433-3p\/REV3L Axis.\nIt has been revealed that circular RNAs (circRNAs) play an important role in regulating the malignant phenotype of tumor cells, thus involving in the progression of malignancies. However, the role of circ_0023984 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) remains largely unclear. The quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blot assays were used to detect the expression of circ_0023984, microRNA (miR)-443-3p, and protein reversionless 3-like (REV3L). In vitro and in vivo assays were performed using cell counting kit-8, colony formation, transwell, wound healing, flow cytometry, and xenograft assays. The interaction miR-433-3p and circ_0023984 or REV3L was confirmed by dual-luciferase reporter, pull-down or RIP assays. Circ_0023984 was highly expressed in ESCC tissues and cells, knockdown of circ_0023984 suppressed cancer cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and promoted cell apoptosis in vitro. Mechanistic analysis confirmed that circ_0023984 functioned as a sponge for miR-433-3p to positively regulate the expression of REV3L that was verified to be a target of miR-433-3p. Circ_0023984 knockdown repressed the tumorigenesis of ESCC cells via targeting miR-433-3p. Additionally, miR-433-3p performed anti-proliferative, anti-migratory, and anti-invasive abilities in ESCC cells, which were reversed by REV3L overexpression. Pre-clinically, silencing of circ_0023984 suppresses the tumorigenesis and growth of xenografts in nude mice. Circ_0023984 exerted an oncogenic role in ESCC tumorigenesis and aggressiveness through promoting cell growth, migration, and invasion via miR-433-3p\/REV3L axis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34399830,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-30":1}}},"text":"An epigenetic and transcriptomic signature of immune tolerance in human monocytes through multi-omics integration.\nThe plasticity of monocytes enables them to exert multiple roles during an immune response, including promoting immune tolerance. How monocytes alter their functions to convey immune tolerance in the context of lower respiratory tract infections in humans is not well understood. Here, we sought to identify epigenetic and transcriptomic features of cytokine production capacity in circulating monocytes during community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). Circulating CD14+ monocytes were obtained from the blood of CAP patients included in a longitudinal, observational cohort study, on hospitalization (acute stage, n=75), and from the same patients after a 1-month follow-up (recovery stage, n=56). Age and sex-matched non-infectious participants were included as controls (n=41). Ex vivo cytokine production after lipopolysaccharide (LPS) exposure was assessed by multiplex assay. Transcriptomes of circulating monocytes were generated by RNA-sequencing, and DNA methylation levels in the same monocytes were measured by reduced representation bisulfite sequencing. Data were integrated by fitting projection-to-latent-structure models, and signatures derived by partial least squares discrimination. Monocytes captured during the acute stage exhibited impaired TNF, IL-1\u03b2, IL-6, and IL-10 production after ex vivo stimulation with LPS, relative to controls. IL-6 production was not resolved in recovery monocytes. Multivariate analysis of RNA-sequencing data identified 2938 significantly altered RNA transcripts in acute-stage monocytes (fold expression \u2264-1.5 or \u22651.5; adjusted p \u2264 0.01), relative to controls. Comparing DNA methylation levels in circulating monocytes of CAP patients to controls revealed minimal differences, specifically in DNAse hypersensitive sites (HS) of acute-stage monocytes. Data integration identified a cholesterol biosynthesis gene signature and DNAse HS axis of IL-1\u03b2 and IL-10 production (R2 =0.51). Circulating monocytes obtained from CAP patients during the acute stage exhibited impaired cytokine production capacities, indicative of reprogramming to a state of immune tolerance, which was not fully resolved after 1 month. Our split-sample study showed that 51% of the immune tolerance phenotype can be explained, at least in part, by coordinated shifts in cholesterol biosynthesis gene expression and DNAse HS methylation levels. A multi-scale model identified an epigenetic and transcriptomic signature of immune tolerance in monocytes, with implications for future interventions in immunosuppression. NCT number NCT02928367.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28738796,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Health profile for Danish adults with activity limitation: a cross-sectional study.\nStudies have indicated that people with disabilities die earlier and may experience a poorer health than the general population. This study investigated 31 factors related to health and well-being, health behaviour and social relations among Danish adults with activity limitation (AL). This study was based on data from the Danish Health and Morbidity Survey (DHMS) 2013 where 25,000 men and women aged 16 years or older were selected randomly from the adult Danish population. A total of 14,265 individuals answered the self-administered questionnaire including 100 questions on health-related quality of life, health behaviour, morbidity, consequences of illness and social relations. Based on an international standard question on AL, 888 individuals (6%) were defined as having profound AL and 4180 (29%) as having some AL. Multiple logistic regression analyses were used to analyse the associations between activity limitation and 31 indicators of health. The results were presented as relative risks 95% confidence intervals. Twenty-eight of 31 indicators showed consistently poorer health and well-being, health behaviour and social relations among individuals with AL as compared to individuals without AL. The increased relative risks were in a range of 7-661% the risk among individuals without AL. An example is obesity where RR (95% CI) was 2.07 (1.82-2.37). Only contact with internet friends was significantly higher among individuals with AL as compared to individuals with no AL. There was no association between alcohol and AL and no association between fast food and some AL. Danish adults with AL experience a poorer health and well-being, and have an unhealthier lifestyle and poorer social relations than adults without AL. People with activity limitation should be prioritized in public health and efforts done to secure availability and flexibility of health care services and primary prevention programs. Policies should address accessibility, availability and affordability of health care and health behaviour among people with activity limitation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22668653,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Severe phimosis as cause of urosepsis with Actinobaculum schaalii].\nActinobaculum schaalii is a small, Gram-positive, facultative anaerobic, CO2-requiring rod. It is now an acknowledged uropathogen, but often overlooked because of its slow growth. It is part of the normal bacterial flora in the urogenital area, but can be the cause of both local and invasive infections. We present a case of A. schaalii urosepsis in a 68-year-old male with phimosis caused by a severe lichen sclerosus et atrophicus. The only bacteria found in blood and urine was A. schaalii.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37444327,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Structural Properties of Quinoa Protein Isolate: Impact of Neutral to High Alkaline Extraction pH.\nIn this work, we extracted proteins from white quinoa cultivated in the northeast of Qinghai-Tibet plateau using the method of alkaline solubilization and acid precipitation, aiming to decipher how extraction pH (7-11) influenced extractability, purity and recovery rate, composition, multi-length scale structure, and gelling properties of quinoa protein isolate (QPI). The results showed that protein extractability increased from 39 to 58% with the increment of pH from 7 to 11 whereas protein purity decreased from 89 to 82%. At pH 7-11, extraction suspensions and QPI showed the similar major bands in SDS-PAGE with more minor ones (e.g., protein fractions at > 55 or 25-37 kDa) in suspensions. Extraction pH had limited effect on the secondary structure of QPI. In contrast, the higher-order structures of QPI were significantly affected, e.g., (1) emission maximum wavelength of intrinsic fluorescence increased with extraction pH; (2) surface hydrophobicity and the absolute value of zeta-potential increased with increasing extraction pH from 7 to 9, and then markedly decreased; (3) the particle size decreased to the lowest value at pH 9 and then increased to the highest value at pH 11; and (4) denaturation temperature of QPI had a large decrease with increasing extraction pH from 7\/8 to 9\/10. Besides, heat-set QPI gels were formed by loosely-connected protein aggregates, which were strengthened with increasing extraction pH. This study would provide fundamental data for industrial production of quinoa protein with desired quality.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34422135,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Construction and Validation of a Novel Prognostic Signature for Intestinal Type of Gastric Cancer.\nIntestinal type of gastric cancer (IGC) is the largest subtype of gastric cancer (GC) by Lauren classification. The purpose of this present study was to construct a prognostic signature for IGC patients, based on the high-grade dysplasia (HGD) and IGC tissues, to improve and enhance the prognostic accuracy. The microarray datasets and associated clinical characteristics of HGD and IGC were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Based on the differential expression analysis between HGD and IGC, the prognostic-related differential expression genes (DEGs) were identified in a training set by univariate COX regression analysis. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression was used to construct an optimal prognostic signature. The enrichment analysis was performed by using Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA). The performance of the nomogram was assessed by the calibration curve and concordance index (C-index). The results were validated by using a testing set. We identified 35 prognostic-related DGEs in the training set. The nine-gene signature was established by LASSO analysis. The nine-gene signature was an independent risk factor in both the training and testing sets. The areas under the curve (AUC) values of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis were 0.733 and 0.700 for the training and testing sets, respectively. In GSEA analysis, the gene expression in high-risk group was enriched in hedgehog signaling, epithelial mesenchymal transition, and angiogenesis. The nomogram for IGC showed good performance with C-index of 0.81 (95% CI: 0.76-0.86) and 0.70 (95% CI: 0.63-0.77) in the training and testing sets, respectively. We identified and verified a nine-gene signature for the prognostic prediction of IGC patients, which might identify subgroups of IGC patients and select more suitable therapeutic options.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17198321,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Seroprotection against tetanus in patients attending an emergency department in Belgium and evaluation of a bedside immunotest.\nIn most emergency departments, tetanus prophylaxis currently relies on vaccination history. Bedside evaluation of tetanus immunity may improve this process. (i) To determine the seroprevalence of tetanus immunity; (ii) to evaluate the accuracy of vaccination history in assessing tetanus immunity; (iii) to identify factors predictive of seroprotection and incorrect history. In a prospective observational study, tetanus immunity was assessed in 784 adults using T\u00e9tanos Quick Stick (TQS). A questionnaire was completed to obtain vaccination and general histories. Immunity assessed by TQS and by vaccination history were compared with anti-tetanus antibody levels measured by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (seroprotection threshold >0.15 IU\/ml). Overall, 64.2% of patients were protected according to TQS results. Four independent predictors of seroprotection were identified: young age, birthplace in Belgium, male sex and occupational medicine consultation. TQS performance was good: kappa=0.71, sensitivity 85.3%, specificity 87.2%, positive predictive value 92.1% and negative predictive value 77.2%. Seven hundred and sixty-two participants responded to the vaccination history: 23.4% said they were protected, 22.1% that they were not and 54.5% did not know. History performance was poor: kappa=0.27, sensitivity 60.3%, specificity 73.3%, positive predictive value 81.8% and negative predictive value 45.8%. Compared with history, TQS offered a significantly better sensitivity, negative and positive predictive values, but specificity was similar. No predictor of an incorrect history was identified. Lack of protective immunity against tetanus is frequent but poorly evaluated by history taking. Several demographic characteristics are good predictors of seroprotection. TQS could be a valuable tool in selected patients to improve tetanus prophylaxis in the emergency department.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":929644,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"8 alpha-Estra-1,3,5(10)-triene-1,3, 17 beta-triol as a special type of estrogen having a high vaginotrophic activity and a low uterotrophic activity in castrated mice.\nThe vaginotrophic and uterotrophic activities of 1-OH-8-alpha-E2 and its acetate in comparison with E2 and E3 were assessed on the basis of the effect on weights, water\/fat-and RNA\/DNA-contents of mouse vagina and uterus. The multiple doses of 8 alpha-steroids or E3 sufficient to achieve a maximal effect on the vagina were not enough to stimulate the uterus fully. At various periods of time after multiple injections, 1-OH-8 alpha-E2 acetate was found to have a higher vaginotrophic potency than the uterotrophic potency, when compared with E2 as a standard. The study on the time course of organ response to 8 alpha-steroids, E2 and E3 after a single injection of daily dose, being equipotent when injected one daily for 3 days, demonstrated that 1-OH-8-alpha-E2 and E3 were less vaginotrophic and uterotrophic than E2 and had a short duration of action. 1-OH-8 alpha-E2 acetate in comparison with E2 produced a long-lasting vaginotrophic effect and an early regressing uterotrophic effect. It can be confirmed that 8 alpha-steroids, like E3, are a special type of estrogen having a high vaginotrophic activity and a low uterotrophic activity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25518679,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Influence of sulfur on the bioavailability of arsenic uptake by rice (Oryza. sativa L. ) and its speciation in soil ].\nPot experiments using exogenous arsenic-polluted paddy soils were carried out to investigate the influence of different forms of sulfur fertilizers (sulfur and gypsum) on As uptake by rice and its chemical speciation. Soil solution pH value ranged 7. 38-7. 45 in different growth period of rice, and the pH value of AsS0 and AsS1 treatments was higher than that of AsS2 treatment. Variation of Eh value in soil solution was about 200 mV and the Eh of AsS0 was higher than those of AsS1 and AsS2 treatments. From dry matter weight of root and stem and grain of rice, S-fertilizer applied by sulfur and gypsum could improve the amounts of dry matter in rice, while the effects of sulfur treatments and gypsum treatments were not significant. Concentrations of Fe and Mn in iron-manganese plaque on rice roots were 10-30 g.kg-1 and 0.1-1.3 g.kg-1, respectively. Contents of Fe-Mn plaque were mainly different in the tiller stage. Elemental S treatment could more greatly promote the formation of Fe-Mn plaque of rice root than gypsum treatment. Concentrations of As adsorbed by rice roots surface plaque were 583-719 mg.kg-' in tiller stage, 466-621 mg.kg-1 in boot stage, and 310-384 mg kg-1 in flower and matur stage. And it was consistent with the thickness of Fe-Mn plaque on rice root surface. Concentrations of As uptake in roots and stem and leaf and grain were significantly reduced by the application of S fertilizer, and it may be related to the amount of As adsorbed by Fe-Mn plaque at boot stage. According to chemical speciation of soil arsenic, As of non-specific and specific adsorption was most active, and their amounts of As adsorbed in AsS, treatment were significantly lower by 2.85 mg kg-~' than that in AsS2 treatment in tiller stage, and was 0.77 mg.kg- higher than that in AsS2 treatment in the flower stage. Perhaps soil arsenic was easily dissolved in the soil solution and the bioavailability of AsS, treatment was better than that of AsS, treatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20363800,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Carbohydrate metabolism in mutants of the cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 defective in glycogen synthesis.\nADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (AGPase) and glycogen synthase (GS) catalyze the first two reactions of glycogen synthesis in cyanobacteria. Mutants defective in each of these enzymes in Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 were constructed and characterized. Activities of the corresponding enzymes in the selected mutants were virtually undetectable, and their ability to synthesize glycogen was entirely abolished. The maximal activities of photosynthetic O(2) evolution and the rates of respiration in the dark were significantly decreased in the mutants compared to those in wild-type cells. Addition of 0.2 M NaCl or 3 mM H(2)O(2) to liquid cultures markedly inhibited the growth of the AGPase and GS mutants, while the same treatment had only marginal effects on the wild type. These results suggest a significant role for storage polysaccharides in tolerance to salt or oxidative stress.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7945414,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Malformin-A1 inhibits the binding of interleukin-1 beta (IL1 beta) and suppresses the expression of tissue factor in human endothelial cells and monocytes.\nMalformin-A1, a cyclic pentapeptide of microbial origin, antagonized in a competitive manner the binding of 125I-IL1 beta (interleukin-1 beta) to human monocytes and cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) with IC50 values (doses which reduce specific binding by 50%) of 250 +\/- 80 and 230 +\/- 25 nM, respectively (N = 3). IL1 increased in a dose-dependent manner the expression of tissue factor, a ubiquitous membrane-anchored glycoprotein that initiates blood coagulation at the surface of HUVEC and human monocytes. Malformin-A1 strongly inhibited IL1-induced tissue factor expression in HUVEC and monocytes with IC50 values of 420 +\/- 35 and 105 +\/- 25 nM, respectively (N = 3), and reduced IL1-induced expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1, CD54) on HUVEC (IC50 = 125 +\/- 18 nM) (N = 4). These observations demonstrate that malformin-A1 recognizes and blocks IL1 beta binding to its receptor sites on monocytes and endothelial cells and protects these cells from IL1-induced procoagulant changes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28343226,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Effect of Ineffective Esophageal Motility on Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease.\nIneffective esophageal motility (IEM) is the most common gastrointestinal motility disorder. Studies have reported that IEM is related to gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). However, the relationship between IEM and GERD remains uncertain. This study aims to clarify this relationship retrospectively. We analyzed 195 subjects who underwent high-resolution manometry between January 2011 and September 2016. Of these subjects, 72 had normal esophageal motility (NEM) and 26 had IEM. We investigated differences in the clinical characteristics, severity and duration of GERD symptoms, and comorbid extra-esophageal symptoms of the subjects. Comorbid extra-esophageal symptoms were assessed with the Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale questionnaire. Investigation-defined GERD was diagnosed when erosive esophagitis or abnormal multichannel intraluminal impedance was present. We found no significant difference in the prevalence of IEM between patients with and without GERD (37.5 and 21.1%, respectively; p = 0.174). There were no differences in age, gender, body mass index, presence of hiatal hernia, or duration of GERD between the groups. Compared to patients with NEM, those with IEM were significantly less likely to have comorbid extra-esophageal symptoms (p < 0.05). There is no association between IEM and GERD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31258181,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Canonical Structure and Orthogonality of Forces and Currents in Irreversible Markov Chains.\nWe discuss a canonical structure that provides a unifying description of dynamical large deviations for irreversible finite state Markov chains (continuous time), Onsager theory, and Macroscopic Fluctuation Theory (MFT). For Markov chains, this theory involves a non-linear relation between probability currents and their conjugate forces. Within this framework, we show how the forces can be split into two components, which are orthogonal to each other, in a generalised sense. This splitting allows a decomposition of the pathwise rate function into three terms, which have physical interpretations in terms of dissipation and convergence to equilibrium. Similar decompositions hold for rate functions at level 2 and level 2.5. These results clarify how bounds on entropy production and fluctuation theorems emerge from the underlying dynamical rules. We discuss how these results for Markov chains are related to similar structures within MFT, which describes hydrodynamic limits of such microscopic models.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9150061,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Factors related to loss of root canal filled teeth.\nThis case-control study characterized factors related to loss of root canal filled (RCF) teeth among members of the Kaiser Permanente Dental Care Program, a dental health maintenance organization based in Portland, Oregon. Individuals were identified who were enrolled continuously from January 1, 1987, through December 31, 1994, underwent initial root canal therapy on a permanent tooth (excluding third molars) in 1987 or 1988, had a clinical examination within two years after endodontic access, and were at least 21 years old at access. Patients who lost the RCF tooth by December 31, 1994, were defined as cases (n = 96); those who did not were defined as controls (n = 120). Computerized data, dental radiographs, and chart entries were reviewed to ascertain variables of interest, and multivariable logistic regression was used to describe differences between the groups. RCF teeth of cases had fewer proximal contacts at access than RCF teeth of controls (odds ratio = 2.7; 95% Cl = 1.4, 5.1). Cases were older (odds ratio = 1.4; 95% Cl = 1.1, 1.9 per 10-year increase) and more likely to have had a facial injury than controls (odds ratio = 3.6; 95% Cl = 1.2, 10.5). Cases also had more missing teeth (odds ratio = 1.5; 95% Cl = 1.0, 2.1) and more plaque (odds ratio = 1.7; 95% Cl = 1.0, 2.6). Conditions evident during treatment planning may help dentists assess patients' chances of losing an RCF tooth.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9156714,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Sex behavior of patients attending a free, anonymous HIV screening center in Paris].\nPeople's sexual behavior changes as they acquire knowledge od HIV infection. During a 10-week period (September-November 1994), we analysed the results of interviews conducted prior to free, anonymous tests in the Figuier HIV screening center (CDAG, Paris). Men accounted for 61% of the 1275 attendees, and 62% were aged between 20 and 29 years (both sexes). Consultants were homo\/bisexuals in 26% cases and 23% had an HIV-infected partner. Male and female hetero-sexual represented respectively 35 and 38% of attendees, and 1.7% had an HIV-infected partner. Most of the subjects (76%) had had more than one sexual partner in the last 12 months. 72% of the homo\/bisexuals of all ages stated that they used condoms systematically during sexual penetration, compared to 35% of the heterosexuals. In contrast, only 3.9% of homo\/bisexual used condoms during oral intercourse. 12% of the subjects (21% of homo\/bisexuals, and 8.5% of heterosexuals) stated that they had been treated for an STD during the previous year, and most were aged between 25 and 34 years. The most frequent stated STDs were anogenital papillomavirus and herpes virus infections, and chlamydial infections. 80% of the homo\/bisexual considered they \"too a risk\" (oral intercourse), compared to 47% of heterosexuals. 10% of the subjects did not collect their result. In this study the seroprevalence of HIV was 1%, with the highest values in the 25-34 year age group and among homo\/bisexuals (3%), and the lowest values among male and female heterosexuals (0.4% and 0.2%, respectively). Most of the subjects, on the basis of their stated sexual behavior, were aware of the risk of HIV infection, but the high frequency of STDs shows that prevention campaigns must be reinforced. Practician must offer advice on prevention and screening in order to reduce the frequency of infective and tumoral diseases due to sexually transmitted pathogens.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17182448,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"More severe violence exposure associated with poly-pharmaceutical use.\nExposure to emotional, physical, and sexual abuse carries varying psychological and somatic sequelae, including the increased use of alcohol and illicit drugs. Less studied is the association between violence exposure and prescription drug use. Using previously determined lifetime exposure profiles of 16,000 men and women, the current use of three specific drug categories was assessed and a strong relationship between victimization severity and prescription drugs used within the last month was found. Victimization screening has important implications in health care settings.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9145744,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Human leishmaniasis: clinical, diagnostic, and chemotherapeutic developments in the last 10 years.\nThe current interest in leishmaniasis stems from the importance of this disease with respect to travel medicine, veterans of Operation Desert Storm, humanitarian concerns, and infection with human immunodeficiency virus. Herein, I review aspects of leishmaniasis that are of practical value to practitioners, including presentation, diagnosis, and chemotherapy; I will emphasize advances in chemotherapy over the last 10 years. Amphotericin B and its new lipid formulations are now competitive with pentavalent antimony as primary therapy for visceral leishmaniasis. Pentamidine, paromomycin, and adjunctive therapy with interferon-gamma are secondary regimens for the treatment of this condition. High-dose long-term regimens of antimony have been shown to be highly effective for the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis. Preliminary evidence of efficacy has been observed with short courses of pentamidine for the treatment of Leishmania braziliensis complex disease and topical paromomycin\/methylbenzethonium chloride for the treatment of Leishmania major disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6169271,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Topochemical aspects of nucleic-acid and protein metabolism within the neuron-neuroglia unit of the hypothalamic supraoptic nucleus.\nThe RNA and both the total and basic protein content of individual cells were determined by cytospectrophotometry in neurons and perineuronal oligodendroglia of the hypothalamic supraoptic nucleus in rats subjected to various stresses, as well as in ground squirrels during natural hibernation. Barbiturate narcosis and deep cooling, which induced a decrease in body temperature in rats and hibernation in squirrels, caused a marked decrease of all macromolecular constituents in neurons. A similar decrease was found in the perineuronal oligodendroglia in rats, but an increase was observed in ground squirrels. After cessation of cooling, while the body temperature of the animals returned to normal, the neurons, but not the oligodendroglia, of rats showed a significant accumulation of RNA, while RNA accumulated in both neurons and perineuronal oligodendroglia in ground squirrels. Milder cooling of rats, which did not lower their body temperature, induced reciprocal changes in basic-protein content in neuronal and glial cell nuclei, with the accumulation of protein occurring initially in neurons, and subsequently in glia. When cold adaptation was accomplished, the basic protein content of neurons and glial cells returned to the control level. Four days after adrenalectomy in rats, the RNA content decreased in oligodendroglia but not in neurons of the supraoptic nucleus. This effect was completely abolished by daily injections of cortisol in the adrenalectomized animals. The data obtained indicate the existence of differences in metabolic responses to stress between neurons and glial cells of the supraoptic nucleus of the hypothalamus.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34234852,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Upregulation of V-ATPase by STAT3 Activation Promotes Anoikis Resistance and Tumor Metastasis.\nMost cancer mortality results from metastatic tumor cells and not the localized tumor. Overcoming anoikis is one of the most important steps for detached tumor cells to migrate and metastasize. However, the molecular mechanisms remain to be fully deciphered. Herein, our study revealed upregulation of vacuolar ATPase (V-ATPase) in cancer cells during ECM detachment plays a key role in anoikis evasion. V-ATPase is an enzyme complex that utilizes energy from ATP hydrolysis to maintain cellular homeostasis and had been reported to enhance cancer progression. In this study, V-ATPase inhibition sensitized human cervical cancer, breast cancer, and murine melanoma cells to anoikis via increased ROS production, accumulation of misfolded protein, and impaired pulmonary metastasis in vivo. Scavenging ROS restored anoikis resistance and clearance of misfolded protein accumulation in the tumor cells. Mechanistically, STAT3 upregulates V-ATPase expression while blockade of STAT3 activity repressed V-ATPase expression in these tumor cells as well as sensitized cells to anoikis, increased ROS production, and misfolded protein accumulation. Altogether, our data demonstrate an unreported role of STAT3 in mediating the upregulation of V-ATPase to promote anoikis resistance, thus provides an alternative option to target cancer metastasis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19045882,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Invited article: physical and chemical analyses of impregnated cathodes operated in a plasma environment.\nDestructive analyses of impregnated-cathode assemblies from an ion thruster life test were performed to characterize erosion and degradation after 30,472 h of operation. Post-test inspection of each cathode included examination of the emitter (insert), orifice plate, cathode tube, heater, anode assembly, insulator, and propellant isolator. The discharge-cathode assembly experienced significant erosion due to ion sputtering from the discharge plasma. The keeper electrode plate was removed and the heater and orifice plate were heavily eroded at the conclusion of the test. Had the test continued, these processes would likely have led to cathode failure. The discharge cathode insert experienced significant tungsten transport and temperature dependent barium oxide depletion within the matrix. Using barium depletion semiempirical relations developed by Palluel and Shroff, it is estimated that 25,000 h of operation remained in the discharge insert at the conclusion of the test. In contrast, the neutralizer insert exhibited significantly less tungsten transport and barium oxide depletion consistent with its lower current operation. The neutralizer was estimated to have 140,000 h of insert life remaining at the conclusion of the test. Neither insert had evidence of tungstate or oxide layer formation, previously known to have impeded cathode ignition and operation in similar long duration hollow-cathode tests. The neutralizer cathode was in excellent condition at the conclusion of the test with the exception of keeper tube erosion from direct plume-ion impingement, a previously underappreciated life-limiting mechanism. The most critical finding from the test was a power dependent deposition process within the neutralizer-cathode orifice. The process manifested at low-power operation and led to the production of energetic ions in the neutralizer plume, a potential life-limiting process for the neutralizer. Subsequent return of the engine and neutralizer operation to full-power removed the deposits and energetic ion production ceased.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37839525,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Leisure-time physical activity and all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease in adults with type 2 diabetes: Cross-country comparison of cohort studies.\nThis study aimed to quantify the dose-response association and the minimal effective dose of leisure-time physical activity (PA) to prevent mortality and cardiovascular disease in adults with type 2 diabetes. Cross-country comparison of 2 prospective cohort studies including 14,913 and 17,457 population-based adults with type 2 diabetes from the UK and China. Baseline leisure-time PA was self-reported and categorized by metabolic equivalent hours per week (MET-h\/week) according to World Health Organization recommendations: none, below recommendation (>0-7.49 MET-h\/week); at recommended level (7.5-14.9 MET-h\/week); above recommendation (\u226515 MET-h\/week). Mortality and cardiovascular disease data were obtained from national registries. During a median follow-up of 12.4 and 9.7 years, higher levels of leisure-time PA were inversely associated with all-cause (1571 and 2351 events) and cardiovascular mortality (392 and 1060 events) in both cohorts, mostly consistent with a linear dose-response relationship. PA below, at, and above recommendations, compared with no activity, yielded all-cause mortality hazard ratios of 0.94 (95%CI: 0.79-1.12), 0.90 (95%CI: 0.74-1.10), and 0.85 (95%CI: 0.70-1.02) in British adults and 0.87 (95%CI: 0.68-1.10), 0.88 (95%CI: 0.74-1.03), and 0.77 (95%CI: 0.70-0.85) in Chinese adults. Associations with cardiovascular mortality were more pronounced in British adults (0.80 (95%CI: 0.58-1.11), 0.75 (95%CI: 0.52-1.09), and 0.69 (95%CI: 0.48-0.97)) but less pronounced in Chinese adults (1.06 (95%CI: 0.76-1.47), 1.01 (95%CI: 0.80-1.28), and 0.79 (95%CI: 0.69-0.92)). PA at recommended levels was not associated with lower rates of major adverse cardiovascular events (2345 and 4458 events). Leisure-time PA at the recommended levels was not convincingly associated with lower mortality and had no association with risk of major adverse cardiovascular events in British or Chinese adults with type 2 diabetes. Leisure-time PA above current recommendations may be needed to prevent cardiovascular disease and premature mortality in adults with type 2 diabetes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":275252,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Inducers of erythroleukemic differentiation. Relationship of structure to activity among planar-polar compounds.\nHexamethylenebisacetamide is a potent inducer of erythroid differentiation in murine erythroleukemia cells. A series of chemical compounds structurally related to hexamethylenebisacetamide were tested for inducing activity including polymethylene chains terminally substituted with various combinations of carboxylate, amino, amide, or sulfoxide groups. Effective \"dimerization\" of dimethyl sulfoxide through a linear polymethylene chain increases its inducing activity by a magnitude similar to that observed when N-methylacetamide is effectively dimerized in such a manner. It was found that all potent inducing agents possess both a hydrophilic and hydrophobic portion of the molecule, as well as a planar portion. All are Lewis bases, possessing a free electron pair available for hydrogen bonding. The polymethylene chain joining functional groups must be flexible and must be 5 to 6 carbon atoms in length to achieve maximal activity. Introduction of triple or double (cis or trans) bonds into the polymethylene chain does not alter activity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28275364,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Combined Effects of Gaze and Orientation of Faces on Person Judgments in Social Situations.\nIn social situations, faces of others can vary simultaneously in gaze and orientation. How these variations affect different kinds of social judgments, such as attractiveness or trustworthiness, is only partly understood. Therefore, we studied how different gaze directions, head angles, but also levels of facial attractiveness affect perceived attractiveness and trustworthiness. We always presented pairs of faces - either two average attractive faces or a highly attractive together with a less attractive face. We also varied gaze and head angles showing faces in three different orientations, front, three-quarter and profile view. In Experiment 1 (N = 62), participants rated averted gaze in three-quarter views as more attractive than in front and profile views, and evaluated faces with direct gaze in front views as most trustworthy. Moreover, faces that were being looked at by another face were seen as more attractive. Independent of the head orientation or gaze direction, highly attractive faces were rated as more attractive and more trustworthy. In Experiment 2 (N = 54), we found that the three-quarter advantage vanished when the second face was blurred during judgments, which demonstrates the importance of the presence of another person-as in a triadic social situation-as well as the importance of their visible gaze. The findings emphasize that social evaluations such as trustworthiness are unaffected by the esthetic advantage of three-quarter views of two average attractive faces, and that the effect of a faces' attractiveness is more powerful than the more subtle effects of gaze and orientations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30313649,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A new species of Aculus mite (Acari: Eriophyidae), a potential biocontrol agent for Australian swamp stonecrop, Crassula helmsii (Crassulaceae).\nA new, gall-forming eriophyoid mite species is described from Australia. Aculus crassulae sp. nov. was found causing significant leaf deformation in Crassula helmsii (Kirk) Cockayne (Crassulaceae), a semi-aquatic, succulent plant. Native to Australia and New Zealand, this plant is now a highly invasive weed in the United Kingdom and Western Europe. The host specificity of the new mite species, and damage caused to the host plant, infer its potential to be a valuable biological control agent in countries where Australian swamp stonecrop is threatening native flora. The species description provided here, which also includes a revised diagnosis for the genus Aculus, incorporates line drawings and scanning electron micrographs (SEM). This is supplemented by a partial mitochondrial gene sequence of cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (mtCOI) and the sequence was compared with Aculus amygdali Xue Hong and Aculus ichnocarpi (Ghosh Chakrabarati) available in the NCBI database. Pairwise comparison of mtCOI sequences between A. crassulae sp. nov. and two congeneric species revealed 22.6% and 23.1% genetic divergence, respectively.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22669304,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Thyroid dysfunction during late gestation is associated with excessive iodine intake in pregnant women.\nAdequate iodine intake during pregnancy is essential for both the synthesis of maternal thyroid hormones and the maintenance of normal fetal brain development. Scant evidence is available on the effects of excessive iodine intake during pregnancy. The study assesses the relationship between iodine nutritional status and thyroid function of pregnant women with excessive iodine intake during late gestation. A cross-sectional study of 384 pregnant women was carried out in Tianjin and Haixing from April to October in 2010. Morning urine samples and blood samples were obtained from all subjects. Serum levels of free T(3), free T(4), and sensitive TSH and urinary iodine concentration were measured. The median urinary iodine concentration of pregnant women with excessive iodine intake was significantly higher than those with adequate iodine intake (P < 0.001). The prevalence of thyroid disease, especially subclinical hypothyroidism, in pregnant women with excessive iodine intake was significantly higher than in those with adequate iodine intake (P < 0.05). Subclinical hypothyroidism was the most frequent pattern of thyroid disease for pregnant women and those with positive or negative thyroid autoantibodies. Living with high water iodine content and having urinary iodine concentration higher than 250 \u03bcg\/liter are associated risk factors for subclinical hypothyroidism in pregnant women (OR(1) = 41.822, OR(2) = 6.202; P < 0.05, where OR(1) is the odds ratio for living with high water iodine content and hypothyroidism and OR(2) is the odds ratio for urinary iodine concentration >250 \u03bcg\/liter and hypothyroidism). Excessive iodine intake during late pregnancy may lead to maternal thyroid dysfunction, particularly subclinical hypothyroidism. The appropriate measurements should be performed to monitor the onset of hypothyroidism in pregnant women with excessive iodine intake.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16988543,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Infective endocarditis of native valve after anterior nasal packing.\nWe present a case report of a patient who was previously treated for spontaneous epistaxis with a petroleum jelly gauze (0.5 in x 72 in) anterior nasal packing filled with an antibiotic ointment, along with prophylactic oral clindamycin. The patient presented with fever and hypotension 3 days after the nasal packing. Her blood cultures grew methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and the transesophageal echocardiography showed vegetation on the atrial surface of the posterior mitral valve leaflet, confirming the diagnosis of bacterial endocarditis attributable to nasal packing. Several case reports discuss toxic shock syndrome after nasal packing, but none describe endocarditis of the native heart valves subsequent to anterior nasal packing. Current guidelines on endocarditis prophylaxis produced by the American Heart Association, European Cardiac Society, and British Cardiac Society together with published evidence do not recommend endocarditis prophylaxis for patients with native heart valves undergoing anterior nasal packing.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15254336,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Haloacid induced alterations in fertility and the sperm biomarker SP22 in the rat are additive: validation of an ELISA.\nDibromoacetic acid (DBA) and bromochloroacetic acid (BCA) are prevalent disinfection by-products of drinking water that produce defects in spermatogenesis and fertility in adult rats. Previously we demonstrated that BCA compromises the fertility of cauda epididymal rat sperm and SP22, a sperm membrane protein that is highly correlated with the fertility of these sperm. Herein, we administered DBA and BCA, individually and in combination, to determine whether fertility and levels of SP22 on sperm were diminished in an additive fashion. Moreover, we wished to validate an immunoassay for quantitation of SP22. In a dose finding study, animals were exposed by oral gavage daily for 14 days to: BCA alone at 1.6, 4, and 8 mg\/kg; DBA at equimolar levels of 2, 5, and 10 mg\/kg; and two binary mixtures of 1.6 mg\/kg BCA + 2 mg\/kg DBA and 4 mg\/kg BCA + 5 mg\/kg DBA. The ED(50)s for the decrease in SP22 quantified by two-dimensional SDS-PAGE were 7.2 and 4.6 mg\/kg for DBA and BCA. The ED(50)s for the decrease in SP22 quantified by ELISA were 8.1 and 5.9 mg\/kg for DBA and BCA. The definitive study consisted of 2 and 4 mg\/kg DBA, 1.6 and 3.2 mg\/kg BCA, and a 2 mg\/kg DBA + 1.6 mg\/kg BCA mixture. The ED(50)s for decreases in fertility assessed by intrauterine insemination were 3.5 mg\/kg and 2.7 mg\/kg for DBA and BCA. Immunolocalization of SP22 in spermatocytes and spermatids, as well as on the cytoplasmic droplet and the equatorial segment of luminal sperm, was decreased by the DBA + BCA mixture. The decrease in SP22 in testicular parenchyma was comparable to that observed for sperm extracts. Based on 2D SDS-PAGE, ELISA, or fertility the haloacid-induced decreases in SP22 or fertility were additive or synergistic. The correlation between SP22 levels by ELISA and fertility was r(2) = 0.72 compared to 0.82 for SP22 levels by 2D SDS-PAGE and fertility, validating SP22 quantitation by ELISA.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31264458,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Educating registered nurses and healthcare support workers on nutrition and tissue viability.\nThis article provides an outline of an educational programme designed to inform and guide registered nurses and healthcare support workers on understanding the connection between nutrition and wound healing, with the aim of helping them recognise malnutrition in older community-dwelling adults with wounds. The Agents for Nutrition and Tissue Viability programme was set up 9 years ago, The Agents for Nutrition and Tissue Viability Programme was set up 9 years ago within an acute trust and has since then has been rolled out to a local community trust. Benefits have included greater networking between acute and community trusts and quality improvements for patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20365068,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Large deviation theory for coin tossing and turbulence.\nLarge deviations play a significant role in many branches of nonequilibrium statistical physics. They are difficult to handle because their effects, though small, are not amenable to perturbation theory. Even the Gaussian model, which is the usual initial step for most perturbation theories, fails to be a starting point while discussing intermittency in fluid turbulence, where large deviations dominate. Our contention is: in the large deviation theory, the central role is played by the distribution associated with the tossing of a coin and the simple coin toss is the \"Gaussian model\" of problems where rare events play significant role. We illustrate this by applying it to calculate the multifractal exponents of the order structure factors in fully developed turbulence.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30653756,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"N-Heterocyclic Carbene Catalyzed Synthesis of Dihydroxybenzophenones from \u03b2-Methylenals and Aurones.\nN-heterocyclic carbene catalyzed synthesis of 2,2'-dihydroxybenzophenones from \u03b2-methylenals and aurones was developed. The cleavage of the C-O bond by a retro-Michael addition is the key step from the spirocyclic intermediate to final product.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28719659,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dengue prediction by the web: Tweets are a useful tool for estimating and forecasting Dengue at country and city level.\nInfectious diseases are a leading threat to public health. Accurate and timely monitoring of disease risk and progress can reduce their impact. Mentioning a disease in social networks is correlated with physician visits by patients, and can be used to estimate disease activity. Dengue is the fastest growing mosquito-borne viral disease, with an estimated annual incidence of 390 million infections, of which 96 million manifest clinically. Dengue burden is likely to increase in the future owing to trends toward increased urbanization, scarce water supplies and, possibly, environmental change. The epidemiological dynamic of Dengue is complex and difficult to predict, partly due to costly and slow surveillance systems. In this study, we aimed to quantitatively assess the usefulness of data acquired by Twitter for the early detection and monitoring of Dengue epidemics, both at country and city level at a weekly basis. Here, we evaluated and demonstrated the potential of tweets modeling for Dengue estimation and forecast, in comparison with other available web-based data, Google Trends and Wikipedia access logs. Also, we studied the factors that might influence the goodness-of-fit of the model. We built a simple model based on tweets that was able to 'nowcast', i.e. estimate disease numbers in the same week, but also 'forecast' disease in future weeks. At the country level, tweets are strongly associated with Dengue cases, and can estimate present and future Dengue cases until 8 weeks in advance. At city level, tweets are also useful for estimating Dengue activity. Our model can be applied successfully to small and less developed cities, suggesting a robust construction, even though it may be influenced by the incidence of the disease, the activity of Twitter locally, and social factors, including human development index and internet access. Tweets association with Dengue cases is valuable to assist traditional Dengue surveillance at real-time and low-cost. Tweets are able to successfully nowcast, i.e. estimate Dengue in the present week, but also forecast, i.e. predict Dengue at until 8 weeks in the future, both at country and city level with high estimation capacity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28248929,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"RNAi screens for Rho GTPase regulators of cell shape and YAP\/TAZ localisation in triple negative breast cancer.\nIn order to metastasise, triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) must make dynamic changes in cell shape. The shape of all eukaryotic cells is regulated by Rho Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factors (RhoGEFs), which activate Rho-family GTPases in response to mechanical and informational cues. In contrast, Rho GTPase-activating proteins (RhoGAPs) inhibit Rho GTPases. However, which RhoGEFs and RhoGAPS couple TNBC cell shape to changes in their environment is very poorly understood. Moreover, whether the activity of particular RhoGEFs and RhoGAPs become dysregulated as cells evolve the ability to metastasise is not clear. Towards the ultimate goal of identifying RhoGEFs and RhoGAPs that are essential for TNBC metastasis, we performed an RNAi screen to isolate RhoGEFs and RhoGAPs that contribute to the morphogenesis of the highly metastatic TNBC cell line LM2, and its less-metastatic parental cell line MDA-MB-231. For ~6 million cells from each cell line, we measured 127 different features following the depletion of 142 genes. Using a linear classifier scheme we also describe the morphological heterogeneity of each gene-depleted population.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7945002,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Long-term study with gabapentin in patients with drug-resistant epileptic seizures.\nTo study the efficacy and safety of gabapentin in long-term treatment. A 4-year follow-up study of 25 patients with visits at 3-month intervals. The patients were followed up in the outpatient unit of the University Hospital of Kuopio (Finland). We treated 25 patients with drug-resistant complex partial seizures and secondarily generalized seizures in an open-label long-term study, using gabapentin as an additional means of therapy after a 3-month double-blind, placebo-controlled phase. Thirteen patients showed no benefit from gabapentin; the study medication was discontinued after 4 to 6 months of treatment. Of the 12 patients who responded enough to continue treatment, five were withdrawn due to different reasons, one because of loss of response. The number of patients receiving the study drug in the follow-up and reduction of seizure frequency from baseline level as analyzed by the Wilcoxon test. Seven patients received gabapentin therapy for more than 4 years. The median follow-up time was 54 months. There was a significant reduction in seizure frequency throughout the follow-up period. Five of seven patients had a greater than 50% seizure frequency reduction at 4 years, representing 20% of the 25 patients who entered the study. Gabapentin possesses good efficacy in long-term treatment of patients with partial and secondarily generalized epileptic seizures. It is safe to use, and it is fairly well tolerated even in long-term treatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36265846,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Safety Surveillance of Varicella Vaccines in the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, United States, 2006-2020.\n. The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) is the United States national passive vaccine safety surveillance system. We updated the data on the safety of single-antigen varicella vaccine (VAR) and assessed the safety of combination measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella vaccine (MMRV) licensed in the United States using VAERS data. US VAERS reports received after administration of VAR and MMRV during 2006-2020 were identified. Reports were analyzed by vaccine type, age, seriousness, most common adverse events (AEs), and concomitant vaccines. We reviewed medical records of selected reports of AEs of special interest and conducted empirical Bayesian data mining to identify disproportionally reported AEs. During 2006-2020, approximately 132.8 million VAR doses were distributed; 40 684 reports were received in VAERS (30.6\/100 000 doses distributed), with 4.1% classified as serious (1.3\/100 000 doses distributed). Approximately 35.5 million MMRV doses were distributed; 13 325 reports were received (37.6\/100 000 doses distributed) with 3.3% classified as serious (1.3\/100 000 doses distributed). The most common adverse health events after both VAR and MMRV were injection site reactions (31% and 27%), rash (28% and 20%), and fever (12% and 14%), respectively. Vaccination errors accounted for 23% of reports after VAR administration and 41% after MMRV administration, but \u226595% of them did not describe an adverse health event. AEs associated with evidence of vaccine strain varicella-zoster virus (vVZV) infection included meningitis, encephalitis, herpes zoster, and 6 deaths (all in immunocompromised persons with contraindications for vaccination). No new or unexpected AE was disproportionally reported. No new or unexpected safety findings were detected for VAR and MMRV given as recommended, reinforcing the favorable safety profiles of these vaccines. Providers should obtain specimens for viral testing and strain-typing for serious AEs if they consider vVZV as the possible causative agent.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27258499,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Overexpression of MutS\u03b1 Complex Proteins Predicts Poor Prognosis in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma.\nThe DNA mismatch repair (MMR) system is responsible for the detection and correction of errors created during DNA replication, thereby avoiding the incorporation of mutations in dividing cells. The prognostic value of alterations in MMR system has not previously been analyzed in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).The study comprised 115 cases of OSCC diagnosed between 1996 and 2010. The specimens collected were constructed into tissue microarray blocks. Immunohistochemical staining for MutS\u03b1 complex proteins hMSH2 and hMSH6 was performed. The slides were subsequently scanned into high-resolution images, and nuclear staining of hMSH2 and hMSH6 was analyzed using the Nuclear V9 algorithm. Univariable and multivariable Cox proportional hazard regression models were performed to evaluate the prognostic value of hMSH2 and hMSH6 in OSCC.All cases in the present cohort were positive for hMSH2 and hMSH6 and a direct correlation was found between the expression of the proteins (P < 0.05). The mean number of positive cells for hMSH2 and hMSH6 was 64.44 \u00b1 15.21 and 31.46 \u00b1 22.38, respectively. These values were used as cutoff points to determine high protein expression. Cases with high expression of both proteins simultaneously were classified as having high MutS\u03b1 complex expression. In the multivariable analysis, high expression of the MutS\u03b1 complex was an independent prognostic factor for poor overall survival (hazard ratio: 2.75, P = 0.02).This study provides a first insight of the prognostic value of alterations in MMR system in OSCC. We found that MutS\u03b1 complex may constitute a molecular marker for the poor prognosis of OSCC.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21755815,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Risk of hepatotoxicity with add-on leflunomide in rheumatoid arthritis patients.\nCombination of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) is increasingly used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. Hepatotoxicity has been an important safety concern with DMARDs therapy. Though leflunomide (CAS 75706-12-6) has emerged as an effective oral DMARD, its use is associated with hepatotoxicity. Limited data is available regarding hepatotoxic risk when leflunomide is used in combination therapy in RA patients. An open-label, prospective study was conducted to evaluate the hepatotoxic risk after addition of leflunomide with other DMARDs in RA patients, who did not respond to their ongoing DMARD therapy. A total of 46 patients were enrolled and leflunomide was given as add-on therapy with earlier DMARDs. Biochemical parameters of serum aminotransferase levels (AST and ALT) were estimated at the baseline and then every month after addition of leflunomide. Study results showed that 13.0% patients developed > 1.5 to < 2 times upper limit of normal (ULN) elevation; 6.5% patients developed > 2 to < 3 times the ULN elevation and 2.2% patients developed > 3 times the ULN elevation. In 20% of the patients with hepatic enzyme elevations, enzyme levels returned to normal within 4-6 weeks after discontinuation of leflunomide therapy, whereas in 50% of patients the dose of leflunomide was reduced from 20 mg\/day to 10 mg\/day for normalization of enzymes levels. 30% of patients were continued with leflunomide without dose reduction. None of the patients showed clinical signs and symptoms of hepatotoxicity. Leflunomide therapy with other DMARDs requires strict monitoring of serum aminotransferases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3070486,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The California Child Health and Development Studies of the School of Public Health, University of California at Berkeley.\nThe Child Health and Development Studies are prospective longitudinal studies on medical and social aspects of pregnancies and on the health and development of children. Data have been assembled on about 20,000 pregnancies occurring in one hospital between 1959 and 1967, and on follow-up of the children through adolescence. A currently ongoing project updates certain vital statistics of the entire study population. The data assembled in this longitudinal study supported a wide range of research projects, several of which proved to be important for the health of mothers and children. Notwithstanding, subsets of the assembled data, with potential value for public health, have not yet been explored. The data archive has been made accessible to the research community at large so that other significant research topics can be investigated. In the following article, brief descriptions are given of the history and design of the Child Health and Development Studies, of the contents of the data archive, and of the major areas of research that have been explored. Procedures to obtain access to the data and to the user's manual are explained, and a bibliography is included.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25517342,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Stability of anthocyanins from red grape skins under pressurized liquid extraction and ultrasound-assisted extraction conditions.\nThe stability of anthocyanins from grape skins after applying different extraction techniques has been determined. The following compounds, previously extracted from real samples, were assessed: delphinidin 3-glucoside, cyanidin 3-glucoside, petunidin 3-glucoside, peonidin 3-glucoside, malvidin 3-glucoside, peonidin 3-acetylglucoside, malvidin 3-acetylglucoside, malvidin 3-caffeoylglucoside, petunidin 3-p-coumaroylglucoside and malvidin 3-p-coumaroylglucoside (trans). The techniques used were ultrasound-assisted extraction and pressurized liquid extraction. In ultrasound-assisted extraction, temperatures up to 75 \u00b0C can be applied without degradation of the aforementioned compounds. In pressurized liquid extraction the anthocyanins were found to be stable up to 100 \u00b0C. The relative stabilities of both the glycosidic and acylated forms were evaluated. Acylated derivatives were more stable than non-acylated forms. The differences between the two groups of compounds became more marked on working at higher temperatures and on using extraction techniques with higher levels of oxygen in the extraction media.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9569351,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Characterization and developmental expression of AmphiNk2-2, an NK2 class homeobox gene from Amphioxus. (Phylum Chordata; Subphylum Cephalochordata).\nThe genome of amphioxus includes AmphiNk2-2, the first gene of the NK2 homeobox class to be demonstrated in any invertebrate deuterostome. AmphiNk2-2 encodes a protein with a TN domain, homeodomain, and NK2-specific domain; on the basis of amino acid identities in these conserved regions, AmphiNk2-2 is a homolog of Drosophila vnd and vertebrate Nkx2-2. During amphioxus development, expression of Amph- iNk2-2 is first detected ventrally in the endoderm of late gastrulae. In neurulae, endodermal expression divides into three domains (the pharynx, midgut, and hindgut), and neural expression commences in two longitudinal bands of cells in the anterior neural tube. These neural tube cells occupy a ventrolateral position on either side of the cerebral vesicle (the probable homolog of the vertebrate diencephalic forebrain). The dynamic expression patterns of AmphiNkx2-2 suggest successive roles, first in regionalizing the endoderm and nervous system and later during differentiation of specific cell types in the gut (possibly peptide endocrine cells) and brain (possibly including axon outgrowth and guidance).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6749473,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Tinidazole in anaerobic infections: a review of its antibacterial activity, pharmacological properties and therapeutic efficacy.\nTinidazole, like the structurally-related drug metronidazole, was initially introduced for treating protozoal infections. However, both these nitroimidazole compounds are also active in vitro against most clinically important obligate anaerobes. Most of the clinical experience with tinidazole to date has involved prophylactic use to prevent postoperative anaerobic infection. Prospective placebo-controlled studies demonstrated that a single dose of tinidazole administered orally prior to elective colorectal surgery significantly reduced postoperative infection. Similarly, when given intravenously prior to appendectomy, tinidazole reduced the incidence of postoperative infection in some subgroups of patients. Although results of non-blinded studies with prophylactic tinidazole were encouraging when used in women undergoing gynaecological surgery (mainly hysterectomy), results from double-blind placebo-controlled studies in this situation have been somewhat equivocal. Thus, although the overall weight of evidence suggests that the drug is effective in this area of use, further study is needed to clarify its role in preventing anaerobic infection following gynaecological surgery compared with other antibiotics which can also be used for this purpose. Relatively few studies have been conducted with tinidazole in the treatment of established anaerobic infections, and this is an area needing further investigation. The drug is well tolerated when administered orally or intravenously.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12037127,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Decrease of core body temperature in mice by dehydroepiandrosterone.\nDietary dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) reduces food intake in mice, and this response is under genetic control. Moreover, both food restriction and DHEA can prevent or ameliorate certain diseases and mediate other biological effects. Mice fed DHEA (0.45% w\/w of food) and mice pair-fed to these mice (food restricted) for 8 weeks were tested for changes in body temperature. DHEA was more efficient than food restriction alone in causing hypothermia. DHEA injected intraperitoneally also induced hypothermia that reached a nadir at 1 to 2 hr, and slowly recovered by 20 to 24 hr. This effect was dose dependent (0.5-50 mg). Each mouse strain tested (four) was susceptible to this effect, suggesting that the genetics differ for induction of hypophagia and induction of hypothermia. Because serotonin and dopamine can regulate (decrease) body temperature, we treated mice with haloperidol (dopamine receptor antagonist), 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine (serotonin production inhibitor), or ritanserin (serotonin receptor antagonist) prior to injection of DHEA. All of these agents increased rather than decreased the hypothermic effects of DHEA. DHEA metabolites that are proximate (5-androstene-3beta, 17beta-diol and androstenedione) or further downstream (estradiol-17beta) were much less effective than DHEA in inducing hypothermia. However, the DHEA analog, 16alpha-chloroepiandrosterone, was as active as DHEA. Thus, DHEA administered parentally seems to act directly on temperature-regulating sites in the body. These results suggest that DHEA induces hypothermia independent of its ability to cause food restriction, to affect serotonin or dopamine functions, or to act via its downstream steroid metabolites.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9143358,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The human glycinamide ribonucleotide transformylase domain: purification, characterization, and kinetic mechanism.\nGlycinamide ribonucleotide transformylase catalyzes the third reaction of de novo purine biosynthesis, namely, the conversion of glycinamide ribonucleotide to N-formylglycinamide ribonucleotide, with concomitant conversion of 10-formyltetrahydrofolate to tetrahydrofolate. This activity has been shown to be a target for cancer chemotherapy, which has generated renewed interest in both the enzyme and the pathway. Moreover, in higher eukaryotes this activity constitutes the C-terminal domain of a monomeric protein which also catalyzes two additional reactions of de novo purine biosynthesis. In this study, the human glycinamide ribonucleotide transformylase domain has been expressed to high levels in Escherichia coli and purified to homogeneity. Our improved expression-purification system produces the desired activity exclusively in a soluble form and in higher abundance than previously achieved. The kinetic constants have been determined and the kinetic mechanism has been established as ordered-sequential, with the folate substrate binding first. The correspondence of these data to those obtained for the glycinamide ribonucleotide transformylase activity of the mammalian trifunctional enzyme indicates that the recombinant enzyme is fully functional.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23442901,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Relationship between burden of infection in ungulate populations and wildlife\/livestock interfaces.\nIn southern African transfrontier conservation areas (TFCAs), people, livestock and wildlife share space and resources in semi-arid landscapes. One consequence of the coexistence of wild and domestic herbivores is the risk of pathogen transmission. This risk threatens local livelihoods relying on animal production, public health in the case of zoonoses, national economies in the context of transboundary animal diseases, and the success of integrated conservation and development initiatives. The level of interaction between sympatric wild and domestic hosts, defining different wildlife\/livestock interfaces, characterizes opportunities of pathogen transmission between host populations. Exploring the relationship between infection burden and different types of wildlife\/domestic interfaces is therefore necessary to manage the sanitary risk in animal populations through control options adapted to these multi-host systems. Here, we assessed the infection burdens of sympatric domestic cattle (Bos taurus\/Bos indicus) and African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) at an unfenced interface and compared the infection burdens of cattle populations at different wildlife\/livestock interfaces in the Great Limpopo TFCA. Patterns of infection in ungulate populations varied between wild and domestic hosts and between cattle populations at different wildlife\/livestock interfaces. Foot-and-mouth disease, Rift Valley fever and theileriosis infections were detected in buffalo and cattle at unfenced interfaces; bovine tuberculosis was only present in buffalo; and brucellosis and lumpy skin disease only in cattle. At unfenced interfaces, cattle populations presented significantly higher Theileria parva and brucellosis prevalence. We hypothesize that cattle populations at wildlife\/livestock interfaces face an increased risk of infection compared to those isolated from wildlife, and that the type of interface could influence the diversity and quantity of pathogens shared. Additional host behavioural and molecular epidemiological studies need to be conducted to support this hypothesis. If it is confirmed, the management of wildlife\/livestock interfaces will need to be considered through the prism of livestock and public health.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29380012,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Lymphocyte surface markers and cytokines are suitable for detection and potency assessment of skin-sensitizing chemicals in an in vitro model of allergic contact dermatitis: the LCSA-ly.\nAllergic contact dermatitis is a widespread health disorder and occupational skin disease. Hence, screening for contact-sensitizing chemicals is highly relevant to toxicology, dermatology, and occupational medicine. The use of animal tests for this purpose is constrained by ethical considerations, need for high-throughput screening, and legislation (e.g., for cosmetics in the European Union). T cell activation is the final and most specific key event of the \"adverse outcome pathway\" for skin sensitization and therefore a promising target for the development of in vitro sensitization assays. We present a novel in vitro sensitization assay with a lymphocyte endpoint as an add-on to the loose-fit coculture-based sensitization assay (LCSA): the LCSA-ly. While the LCSA measures dendritic cell activation, the LCSA-ly offers the option for an additional lymphocyte endpoint which can be measured concurrently. We incorporated lymphocytes in our previously established coculture of primary human keratinocytes and monocyte-derived dendritic cells and tested nine substances: five sensitizers [2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB) 1.25-15 \u00b5mol\/l, p-phenylenediamine (PPD) 15.6-125 \u00b5mol\/l, 2-mercaptobenzothiazole (MBT) 50-1000 \u00b5mol\/l, coumarin, and resorcinol (both: 250-1500 \u00b5mol\/l)] and four non-sensitizers (monochlorobenzene, caprylic acid, glycerol, and salicylic acid (all: 125-1000 \u00b5mol\/l)]. DNCB and MBT increased a subset of IL-23 receptor+\/IFN-\u03b3 receptor 1 (CD119)+ lymphocytes. DNCB, PPD, and MBT enhanced a subunit of the IL-4 receptor (CD124) and a memory marker (CD44) on lymphocytes. Remarkably, DNCB, PPD, and MBT raised IL-4 concentrations in coculture supernatants while IFN-\u03b3 levels decreased, which might point to Th2 activation in vitro. Coumarin, resorcinol, and non-sensitizers did not alter any of the tested surface markers or cytokines. IL-17 was not affected by any of the substances. Relative strength of sensitizers according to lymphocyte markers was DNCB > PPD > MBT, which corresponds to earlier results from the LCSA without lymphocyte endpoint, the murine local lymph node assay, and human data. This study is the first to prove the suitability of lymphocyte surface markers for sensitization testing and potency assessment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31245191,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Prognostic Significance of the Dynamic Change of Programmed Death-ligand 1 Expression in Patients with Multiple Myeloma.\nBackground The inhibition of programmed cell death protein 1\/programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-1\/PD-L1) signaling pathway has been shown to be an effective targeted therapy in fighting both solid organ cancers and hematological malignancies. PD-L1 expression also serves as a prognostic marker in various cancers. However, the expression of PD-L1 and its prognostic significance in multiple myeloma remains largely unknown. Methods Immunohistochemistry staining of PD-L1 was performed in bone marrow biopsy samples (total of 85 samples) in 32 myeloma patients receiving autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) at various time points: before ASCT, post-ASCT, and\/or at relapse after ASCT. More than 1% of myeloma cells with PD-L1 staining was considered a positive expression of PD-L1. A correlation analysis was performed between post-ASCT overall survival (OS) and the status of PD-L1 expression. Results In this pilot study, a total of 11 patients (34%) out of our cohort (32 patients) were positive for PD-L1 expression at least once during the course of the disease. A dynamic change of PD-L1 expression was noted in three patients converting from negative (before ASCT) to positive (post-ASCT) and two patients converting from positive (before ASCT) to negative (post-ASCT). Patients with positive PD-L1 expression persisting or occurring post-ASCT had shorter post-ASCT overall survival than those with negative PD-L1 expression post-ASCT (median survival: 13 vs 23 months, p<0.05). No significant differences were detected in the known prognostic factors between these two groups at the time of ASCT. Pre-transplant PD-L1 expression status, however, showed no significant impact on post-ASCT overall survival. Furthermore, a few patients switching from positive PD-L1 expression before ASCT to negative PD-L1 expression post-ASCT had a relatively good post-ASCT overall survival (n=2, overall survival of 29 and 56 months, respectively). Conclusion Immunohistochemistry can be reliably used for measuring PD-L1 expression in decalcified marrow core biopsy materials. Our results suggest that positive PD-L1 expression persisting\/occurring post-ASCT could be an adverse prognostic marker for post-ASCT OS. Additionally, PD-L1 expression appears to be dynamic and is subjected to change after ASCT. Our findings suggest that periodically monitoring PD-L1 expression in patients with multiple myeloma post-ASCT is warranted. Further studies are needed to confirm our initial observation and to evaluate if timely intervention with PD-L1 blockade can improve post-ASCT outcomes in myeloma patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32352986,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Language of Innovation.\nPredicting innovation is a peculiar problem in data science. Following its definition, an innovation is always a never-seen-before event, leaving no room for traditional supervised learning approaches. Here we propose a strategy to address the problem in the context of innovative patents, by defining innovations as never-seen-before associations of technologies and exploiting self-supervised learning techniques. We think of technological codes present in patents as a vocabulary and the whole technological corpus as written in a specific, evolving language. We leverage such structure with techniques borrowed from Natural Language Processing by embedding technologies in a high dimensional euclidean space where relative positions are representative of learned semantics. Proximity in this space is an effective predictor of specific innovation events, that outperforms a wide range of standard link-prediction metrics. The success of patented innovations follows a complex dynamics characterized by different patterns which we analyze in details with specific examples. The methods proposed in this paper provide a completely new way of understanding and forecasting innovation, by tackling it from a revealing perspective and opening interesting scenarios for a number of applications and further analytic approaches.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34407152,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Antitumor effects of chloroquine\/hydroxychloroquine mediated by inhibition of the NF-\u03baB signaling pathway through abrogation of autophagic p47 degradation in adult T-cell leukemia\/lymphoma cells.\nAdult T-cell leukemia\/lymphoma (ATLL) originates from human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) infection due to the activation of the nuclear factor-\u03baB (NF-\u03baB) signaling pathway to maintain proliferation and survival. An important mechanism of the activated NF-\u03baB signaling pathway in ATLL is the activation of the macroautophagy (herafter referred to as autophagy in the remainder of this manuscript)-lysosomal degradation of p47 (NSFL1C), a negative regulator of the NF-\u03baB pathway. Therefore, we considered the use of chloroquine (CQ) or hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) (CQ\/HCQ) as an autophagy inhibitor to treat ATLL; these drugs were originally approved by the FDA as antimalarial drugs and have recently been used to treat autoimmune diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). In this paper, we determined the therapeutic efficacy of CQ\/HCQ, as NF-\u03baB inhibitors, in ATLL mediated by blockade of p47 degradation. Administration of CQ\/HCQ to ATLL cell lines and primary ATLL cells induced cell growth inhibition in a dose-dependent manner, and the majority of cells underwent apoptosis after CQ administration. As to the molecular mechanism, autophagy was inhibited in CQ-treated ATLL cells, and activation of the NF-\u03baB pathway was suppressed with the restoration of the p47 level. When the antitumor effect of CQ\/HCQ was examined using immunodeficient mice transplanted with ATLL cell lines, CQ\/HCQ significantly suppressed tumor growth and improved the survival rate in the ATLL xenograft mouse model. Importantly, HCQ selectively induced ATLL cell death in the ATLL xenograft mouse model at the dose used to treat SLE. Taken together, our results suggest that the inhibition of autophagy by CQ\/HCQ may become a novel and effective strategy for the treatment of ATLL.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6731571,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of in vivo and in vitro surface protein deposits on the oxygen permeability of polyhydroxyethylmethacrylate gel contact lenses.\nThe effect of surface protein deposits on the oxygen permeability of polyhydroxyethylmethacrylate ( polyHEMA ) gel contact lenses was studied using: (1) previously worn lenses with protein deposits accumulated in vivo, and (2) new lenses with protein deposited in vitro. The oxygen permeability (Dk) of the protein-deposited in vivo lenses was determined before and after cleaning, and that of the new lenses before and after in vitro protein deposition. For both groups of lenses, the oxygen permeability did not change significantly after either cleaning (in vivo lenses) or protein deposition (in vitro lenses). It is concluded that surface protein deposits on polyHEMA lenses do not alter the oxygen permeability of the lenses.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15261064,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Expression of integrin beta1 and its roles on adhesion between different cell cycle hepatocellular carcinoma cells (SMMC-7721) and human umbilical vein endothelial cells.\nTo investigate expression of integrin beta1 and its roles on adhesion between different cell cycle hepatocellular carcinoma cell (HCC) and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC), the synchronous G1 and S phase HCC were achieved through thymine-2-deoxyriboside and colchicines sequential blockage method and double thymine-2-deoxyriboside blockage method, respectively. Expression of integrin beta1 on hepatocellular carcinoma cells was detected with flow cytometer. Further, the adhesive force of HCC to HUVEC and the role of integrin beta1 in this adhesive course were studied by micropipette aspiration technique. The results showed that percentage of each cyclic phases of the controlled HCC (non-synchronous) are: G2 + M phase, 11%; G1 phase, 54%; S phase, 36%; the synchronous rates of G1 and S phase HCC amount to 74 and 98%, respectively. The expressive fluorescent intensity of integrin beta1 in G1 phase HCC is depressed significantly than the values of S phase and controlled HCC. Accordingly, the adhesive forces of G1 phase HCC to HUVEC was significantly lower than the value of S phase cells (P < 0.01), but it has no remarkable difference when compared the adhesive force values of S phase HCC with control; the contribution of integrin beta1 was about 50% in the adhesion of HCC to HUVEC. It suggested that HCC would be synchronized preferably in G1 and S phase with thymine-2-deoxyriboside and colchicines, the adhesive molecule integrin beta1 expressed in a high lever in HCC and presented differences in vary cell cycle, and integrin beta1 played an important roles in adhesion of HCC to HUVEC. Possibly, S phase HCC take a great action in this adhesive course.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21168223,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2013-20":1}}},"text":"Risk factors for intraoperative floppy iris syndrome: a meta-analysis.\nTo evaluate risk factors (hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and current tamsulosin, alfuzosin, terazosin, or doxazosin use) for intraoperative floppy iris syndrome (IFIS) in patients undergoing phacoemulsification cataract surgery. Systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature. Seventeen eligible studies (17 588 eyes) examining the association between IFIS and risk factors. Pertinent publications were identified through a systematic search of PubMed. All references of relevant reviews and eligible articles were also screened. Language restrictions were not used, and data were extracted from each eligible study by 2 investigators working independently. For medications, 2 separate analyses were performed: an analysis using a dichotomous criterion (use\/non-use of the examined agent) and an alternative analysis performing comparisons with patients not receiving any \u03b1(1)-blocker. The fixed-effects model (Mantel-Haenszel method) or the random-effects (DerSimonian Laird) model was appropriately used to calculate the pooled odds ratio (OR). Publication bias was appropriately assessed. Pooled OR for the incidence of IFIS. The pooled OR for IFIS after tamsulosin use was approximately 40-fold greater (or 16.5 at the alternative analysis) than that after alfuzosin use, that is, the second \u03b1(1)-blocker in order of effect size. Alfuzosin and terazosin were also associated with IFIS with comparable ORs; the effect of doxazosin reached formal statistical significance at the alternative analysis. Intraoperative floppy iris syndrome was positively associated with hypertension (pooled OR = 2.2, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.2-4.2, fixed effects) but not with diabetes mellitus (pooled OR = 1.3, 95% CI, 0.7-2.2, fixed effects). This meta-analysis has highlighted a hierarchy concerning the role of \u03b1(1)-blockers in IFIS, indicating an extremely sizeable effect size of tamsulosin; this may entail important physiologic implications. Alfuzosin, terazosin, and doxazosin presented with comparable effect sizes. Hypertension, but not diabetes mellitus, emerged as a risk factor for IFIS.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28569875,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Vectorial extreme events in VCSEL polarization dynamics.\nWe report on the occurrence of extreme events (EEs) in the polarization dynamics of vertical cavity surface emitting lasers with optical feedback. We have identified two types of EEs based on numerical simulations: vectorial and scalar events corresponding, respectively, to the emission of a high-power pulse in both linear polarizations simultaneously and in single linear polarization. We show that these two types of events follow the typical statistics of rogue waves. Finally, we observe that an emission in both polarizations leads to a larger generation rate of EEs with a saturation over a wide range of feedback strength by comparison to a single-polarization mode emission.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20364958,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Asymptotic shape of the region visited by an Eulerian walker.\nWe study an Eulerian walker on a square lattice, starting from an initial randomly oriented background using Monte Carlo simulations. We present evidence that, for a large number of steps N , the asymptotic shape of the set of sites visited by the walker is a perfect circle. The radius of the circle increases as N1\/3, for large N , and the width of the boundary region grows as Nalpha\/3, with alpha=0.40+\/-0.06 . If we introduce stochasticity in the evolution rules, the mean-square displacement of the walker, <RN2> approximately <RN2> approximately N2nu, shows a crossover from the Eulerian (nu=1\/3) to a simple random-walk (nu=1\/2) behavior.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23464546,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Geography of the circadian gene clock and photoperiodic response in western North American populations of the three-spined stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus.\nControlled laboratory experiments were used to show that Oregon and Alaskan three-spined stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus, collected from locations differing by 18\u00b0 of latitude, exhibited no significant variation in length of the polyglutamine domain of the clock protein or in photoperiodic response within or between latitudes despite the fact that male and female G. aculeatus are photoperiodic at both latitudes. Hence, caution is urged when interpreting variation in the polyglutamine repeat (PolyQ) domain of the gene clock in the context of seasonal activities or in relationship to photoperiodism along geographical gradients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16231941,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Green chemical functionalization of single-walled carbon nanotubes in ionic liquids.\nSingle walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) are exfoliated and functionalized predominantly as individuals by grinding them for minutes at room temperature with aryldiazonium salts in the presence of ionic liquids (ILs) and K(2)CO(3). This constitutes an extremely rapid and mild green chemical functionalization process for obtaining the individualized nanotube structures. A number of ILs and various reaction conditions were surveyed. Raman, XPS, UV\/vis\/NIR spectroscopies, thermogravimetric analysis, and atomic force and transmission electron microscopies were used to characterize the products.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24388233,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Frontiers in polymer chemistry.\nThe article shows how the initial concept of Staudinger on linear macromolecules was expanded topologically by increasing the cross-section diameter of polymer chains and by introducing sheet polymers with planar rather than the commonly known linear repeat units. The two concrete projects addressed are the synthesis of dendronized and of two-dimensional polymers. It is explained how these novel macromolecules were achieved and which obstacles had to be overcome but also where these frontiers in polymer chemistry might lead to new insights in polymer science in general and novel applications in particular. The article also provides insights into analytical issues because both target macromolecules are in an extraordinarily high molar mass range and contrast\/sensitivity issues can turn rather serious in particular for the two-dimensional polymers.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14560971,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Larval spirurida (Nematoda) from the crab Macrophthalmus hirtipes in New Zealand.\nPreviously undescribed third-stage larvae of two species of Spirurida were found in the haemocoel of the stalk-eyed mud crab Macrophthalmus hirtipes (Heller) (Ocypodidae) in New Zealand. Examinations by light and scanning electron microscopy showed that the larger larvae (about 7 mm long) belonged to a species of Ascarophis van Beneden, 1871 (Cystidicolidae), the genus including parasites of fishes, whereas the smaller larvae (about 4-5 mm long) belonged to the Acuariidae, a family with species parasitic as adults mostly in aquatic birds. In a sample of 82 specimens of M. hirtipes collected in July 2002 from Papanui Inlet, on Otago Peninsula, South Island, 74 crabs (90.2%) were infected with larval nematodes with an intensity of 1-18 (mean 4.6) nematodes per crab; no distinction between nematode species was made in these estimates, although juvenile Acuariidae greatly outnumbered larval Ascarophis. Apparently, crabs play a role as intermediate hosts of these nematode species. This is the first record of larval representatives of Cystidicolidae and Acuariidae from invertebrates in the Australasian Region.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6742537,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Premedication using intrarectal midazolam. Study of effective dosage in pediatric anesthesia].\nThe object of this study was to determine the optimal dose of midazolam given per rectum which would produce sedation adequate for inducing inhalational anaesthesia in paediatric practice. Five doses were studied: 0.15, 0.25, 0.30, 0.35 and 0.40 mg X kg-1. The criteria used to appreciate the effectiveness of the sedation at 30 min were the change in the child's behaviour, with a scale of 6 levels, and the acceptance of the mask and anaesthetic vapours. There was a significant correlation between the dose administered and the degree of sedation, as well as between the dose administered and the lack of reaction to the mask. Significantly better results were found with the higher doses of 0.35 and 0.40 mg X kg-1, when compared with the children who had received 0.15 and 0.25 mg X kg-1. Only in the groups who received 0.35 and 0.40 mg X kg-1 were the degrees of sedation and acceptance of induction considered as adequate. The dose of 0.35 mg X kg-1 seemed to be the best dose for adequately premedicating a child.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16987029,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Reactive oxygen species signaling in plants.\nThe evolution of aerobic metabolism such as respiration and photosynthesis resulted in the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). A common property of all ROS types is that they can cause oxidative damage to proteins, DNA, and lipids. This toxicity of ROS explains the evolution of complex arrays of nonenzymatic and enzymatic detoxification mechanisms in plants. However, increasing evidence indicates that plants also make use of ROS as signaling molecules for regulating development and various physiological responses. In this review, novel insights into the mechanisms of how plants sense and respond to ROS are discussed in the context of the biological effects and functions of ROS in plants.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37657011,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Analyzing the epidemic situation and influencing factors of childhood pneumonia during the COVID-19 epidemic period in Laiwu, China.\nThis study aimed to analyze the trends of childhood pneumonia before and after the corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Laiwu, China, and explore the associated risk factors to provide a reference for the prevention, control, and treatment of childhood pneumonia. In this cross-sectional study, data were collected from 11,716 children aged 3 to 12 years who underwent chest radiography\/computed tomography from January 2018 to December 2021 in Laiwu, China. The generalized estimating equation model was used to analyze the time trend of the pneumonia detection rate. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the risk factors for pneumonia in children. The overall pneumonia detection rate was 40.3% (4721\/11,716). The pneumonia detection rate was 41.5% and 39.5% in 2018 and 2019, respectively, before the COVID-19 pandemic, which decreased to 38.1% in 2020 during the pandemic and increased to 40.7% in 2021 after the pandemic. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that preterm birth (odds ratio [OR] = 1.68), frequent exposure to secondhand smoke (OR = 1.79), hospitalization \u2265 1 time in half a year (OR = 2.13), and history of allergic rhinitis (OR = 2.14) were risk factors for pneumonia in children. Wearing masks when outdoors (OR = 0.89) and engaging in regular physical activity (OR = 0.65) were protective factors. The pneumonia detection rate in children showed a decreasing trend during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 but an increasing trend after the pandemic in 2021. Premature birth, exposure to secondhand smoke, frequent hospitalization, and allergic rhinitis were risk factors for pneumonia in children. Wearing masks when outdoors and exercising may reduce the risk of pneumonia in children.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28342943,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Would I take antipsychotics, if I had psychotic symptoms? Examining determinants of the decision to take antipsychotics.\nPoor adherence to treatment in schizophrenia is mainly associated to patients-related factors. However, social negative representations of schizophrenia and its treatment may also contribute to patients' decision to take or not to take antipsychotics. A web-based study on 1,807 participants was conducted during which participants imagined that they had a particular chronic illness based on clinical vignettes (mental illnesses: schizophrenia, depression; somatic illnesses: multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis). Participants rated their subjective distress and perceived social stigma associated with each illness. They also rated the perceived treatability of the illness, their belief in the effectiveness of treatment, and their treatment preference regarding medication. Results show that schizophrenia was considered more distressful, less treatable and associated with higher social stigma than somatic illnesses. Medication was less preferred for treating schizophrenia compared to somatic illnesses. Perceived treatability of illness and belief in the effectiveness of pharmacological treatment were the factors driving preference for medication in schizophrenia and depression, respectively; these factors had weaker influence on preference for medication in somatic illnesses. Our study points out more severe negative representations of mental illnesses in general, and their treatment, particularly schizophrenia. These attitudes are not confined to patients, and may influence patients' decisions to take psychotropic drugs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26444425,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Molecular Characterization and Expression Profiling of NAC Transcription Factors in Brachypodium distachyon L.\nNAC (NAM, ATAF1\/2, CUC2) transcription factors are involved in regulating plant developmental processes and response to environmental stresses. Brachypodium distachyon is an emerging model system for cereals, temperate grasses and biofuel crops. In this study, a comprehensive investigation of the molecular characterizations, phylogenetics and expression profiles under various abiotic stresses of the NAC gene family in Brachypodium distachyon was performed. In total, 118 BNAC genes in B. distachyon were identified, of which 22 (18.64%) were tandemly duplicated and segmentally duplicated, respectively. The Bayesian phylogenetic inference using Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithms showed that they were divided into two clades and fourteen subfamilies, supported by similar motif compositions within one subfamily. Some critical amino acids detected using DIVERGE v3.0 might contribute to functional divergence among subfamilies. The different exon-intron organizations among subfamilies revealed structural differentiation. Promoter sequence predictions showed that the BNAC genes were involved in various developmental processes and diverse stress responses. Three NAC domain-encoding genes (BNAC012, BNAC078 and BNAC108), orthologous of NAC1, were targeted by five miRNA164 (Bdi-miR164a-c, e, f), suggesting that they might function in lateral organ enlargement, floral development and the responses to abiotic stress. Eleven (~9.32%) BNAC proteins containing \u03b1-helical transmembrane motifs were identified. 23 representative BNAC genes were analyzed by quantitative real-time PCR, showing different expression patterns under various abiotic stresses, of which 18, 17 and 11 genes were up-regulated significantly under drought, H2O2 and salt stresses, respectively. Only four and two genes were up-regulated under cold and cadmium stresses, respectively. Dynamic transcriptional expression analysis revealed that six genes showed constitutive expression and period-specific expression. The current results provide novel insights into the structure and function of the plant NAC gene family.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30100909,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Combining Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors With Conventional Cancer Therapy.\nImmune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have recently revolutionized cancer treatment, providing unprecedented clinical benefits. However, primary or acquired therapy resistance can affect up to two-thirds of patients receiving ICIs, underscoring the urgency to elucidate the mechanisms of treatment resistance and to design more effective therapeutic strategies. Conventional cancer treatments, including cytotoxic chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and targeted therapy, have immunomodulatory effects in addition to direct cancer cell-killing activities. Their clinical utilities in combination with ICIs have been explored, aiming to achieve synergetic effects with improved and durable clinical response. Here, we will review the immunomodulatory effects of chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and radiation therapy, in the setting of ICI, and their clinical implications in reshaping modern cancer immunotherapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30091777,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Complex liquid crystal superstructures induced by periodic photo-alignment at top and bottom substrates.\nThe formation of nematic liquid crystal (LC) superstructures in cells with non-uniform photo-alignment at the confining substrates is studied experimentally and by simulations. An interference pattern of left- and right-handed circularly polarized light is used to define the alignment at both substrates separately, so that the alignment varies along the x-coordinate on one substrate and along the y-coordinate on the other substrate. The interplay between the complex surface alignment and the liquid crystalline soft matter leads to the formation of interesting 3D configurations. The periodic LC structures that are formed in the bulk of the cell are analyzed experimentally by polarizing optical microscopy (POM) for different applied voltages. In the region with strong photo-alignment at both substrates, a 2D LC polarization grating (PG) with a complex 3D director configuration is formed. Distinct periodic structures with different symmetry properties are observed in the regions with weak illumination at the top and\/or bottom substrate. The director configuration in the different regions was successfully simulated with the help of finite element (FE) Q-tensor simulations. The agreement between the simulations and the experiments was verified by comparing the POM images with simulated results for the transmission between crossed polarizers.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12177404,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Arizona porphyry copper\/hydrothermal deposits II: crystal structure of ajoite, (K + Na)3Cu20Al3Si29O76(OH)16*~8H2O.\nA crystal from the type locality Ajo, AZ, yielded just enough intensity from streaked diffractions using synchrotron x-rays at the Advanced Photon Source to solve the crystal structure with composition (K + Na)3Cu20Al3Si29O76(OH)16* approximately 8H2O; triclinic, P1, a = 13.634(5) A, b = 13.687(7), c = 14.522(7), alpha = 110.83(1) degrees, beta = 107.21(1), gamma = 105.68(1); refined to a final R = 12.5%. Electron microprobe analysis yielded a similar chemical composition that is slightly different from the combined chemical and electron microprobe analyses in the literature. The ajoite structure can be described as a zeolitic octahedral-tetrahedral framework that combines the alternate stacking of edge-sharing octahedral CuO6 layers and curved aluminosilicate layers and strings. Channels bounded by elliptical 12-rings and circular 8-rings of tetrahedra contain (K and Na) ions and water. The Al atoms occupy some of the Si tetrahedral sites. Each Cu atom has near-planar bonds to four oxygen atoms plus two longer distances that generate a distorted octahedron. Valence bond estimates indicate that 8 oxygen atoms of 46 are hydroxyl. Only one alkali atom was located in distorted octahedral coordination, and electron microprobe analyses indicate K and Na as major substituents. The water from chemical analysis presumably occurs as disordered molecules of zeolitic type not giving electron density from diffraction. The high R factor results from structural disorder and many weak intensities close to detection level. The crystal chemistry is compared with shattuckite, Cu5(SiO3)4(OH)2, and planch\u00e9ite, Cu8Si8O22(OH)4.H2O, both found in oxidized copper deposits of Arizona but only the former directly with ajoite.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37449234,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Delayed dislocation of the radial head associated with malunion of distal radial fracture: A case report.\nTraumatic radial head dislocation (RHD) is a well-described injury in the pediatric population. It is usually associated with an injury to the ulna in Monteggia fracture-dislocation, although it can occur as an isolated injury. Traumatic RHD with ipsilateral radial shaft fracture has rarely been reported. Delayed RHD secondary to the malunion of an isolated radial shaft fracture is extremely rare. We report a 9-year-old boy with limited pronation of the right elbow. The patient was diagnosed with delayed RHD associated with the malunion of a distal radial fracture. Since the annular ligament was disrupted with forearm rotation causing subluxation of the radial head, a modified double-strip Bell Tawse procedure was performed to reconstruct the annular ligament without corrective osteotomy for the malunited site. Four years after surgery, the angulation deformity of the distal radius was corrected with the restoration of the normal curvature of the radius. There was no recurrence of RHD. Annular ligament reconstruction without corrective osteotomy could reduce RHD and restore the normal curve of the radial shaft in children with delayed dislocation of the radial head associated with malunion of the radial shaft. Annular reconstruction using double triceps tendon strips might be useful for maintaining a more stable reduction by augmenting anterolateral parts.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25286637,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) in the ultra-orthodox community--cultural aspects of diagnosis and treatment].\nObsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is reflected similarly in different communities, while symptoms are affected by the patient's cultural and spiritual world. An ultra-orthodox Jew with OCD will perform compulsive actions and will have obsessive thoughts related to the Jewish religious world. The religious symptoms do not necessarily correspond with the main commandments. Despite their significance, Shabbat or moral commandments such as respecting one's parents do not play a central role in the compulsive pattern. The religious compulsiveness of OCD patients focuses on commandments having to do with order and cleanliness and is characterized by repetition, checking and slowness. Obsessive thoughts and compulsive actions of ultra-orthodox OCD patients are usually based on the Jewish scriptures. One might assume that religion, as a framework with rules and dictated rituals, serves as a strong foundation for the development of OCD. However, it is estimated that the prevalence of OCD in the ultra-orthodox community is similar to the general population. Rabbis acknowledge OCD as a psychiatric illness and do not encourage the obsessive punctuality in following the commandments. An ultra-orthodox patient will first consult his rabbi, and after receiving his recommendation, will turn to psychiatric treatment. He might prefer to receive drug treatment rather than Cognitive Behavioral Therapy that may oppose his beliefs. Understanding the cultural background of the patient is essential, in particular when the patient is ultra-orthodox and the treatment is considered \"secular\". Therefore, cooperation with the patient's rabbi is important in order to obtain the patient's trust and develop a treatment plan.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34407217,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"TCTP overexpression reverses age-associated telomere attrition by upregulating telomerase activity in mouse oocytes.\nA prolonged time span between ovulation and fertilization can cause postovulatory aging of oocytes, which impairs oocyte quality and subsequent embryo development. Telomere attrition has long been considered as the primary hallmark of aging or the cause of age-associated diseases. However, the status of telomere and its regulation during postovulatory oocyte aging are poorly understood. Here we found that oocytes experience telomere shortening during postovulatory aging, although they have the capacity to maintain telomere length. However, translationally controlled tumor protein (TCTP) overexpression could reverse age-associated telomere shortening by upregulating telomerase activity in mouse oocytes. Telomere length in mature oocytes gradually decreased with postovulatory aging, which was associated with a marked reduction in TRF1 expression, decreased telomerase activity, and decreased homologous combination (HR)-based alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT) with a concomitant increase in oxidative stress. Surprisingly, however, overexpression of TCTP led to a remarkable increase in telomere length during postovulatory aging. Notably, neither TRF1 nor BRCA1 level was altered by TCTP overexpression. Moreover, TCTP-mediated telomere lengthening was not blocked by HR inhibition. In striking contrast, telomerase activity, as well as TERT and TERC levels, increased after TCTP overexpression. Importantly, unlike the chromosome-wide distribution of endogenous TCTP, overexpressed TCTP was ectopically localized at telomeres, implying that TCTP overexpression is required to increase telomerase activity. Collectively, our results demonstrate that TCTP prevents telomere attrition during postovulatory aging by upregulating telomerase activity in mouse oocytes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17202574,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Punking and bullying: strategies in middle school, high school, and beyond.\nPunking is a practice of verbal and physical violence, humiliation, and shaming usually done in public by males to other males. This definition is based on interviews and discussion groups with 32 adolescent boys and on media sources within which adolescent males are embedded. Discourse analysis findings reveal that punking terminology and behaviors are usually interchangeable with bullying terminology and behaviors. Both practices are purposeful strategies taken up and used by many boys to affirm masculinity norms of toughness, strength, dominance, and control. Implications from this research promote a shift in understandings of how masculinity norms are achieved. Further, the research suggests that by bringing critical attention to social accountability for production of unhealthy norms and the violent practices that affirm these norms, we might well extend the scope and focus of intervention into harmful practices of violence, such as punking and bullying.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":2483698,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Recent development in antithrombotic therapy.\nThe present work reviews many newer concepts in antithrombotic therapy which have been introduced due to the understanding of the molecular thrombotic processes and to the advances in biotechnology and separation techniques.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12030689,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Benefits and pitfalls in the merging of disciplines: the example of developmental psychopathology and the study of persons with autism.\nRecent advances in the discipline of developmental psychopathology highlight the contributions of developmental thought to the study of persons with autism. This article briefly outlines primary developmental innovations in theory, methodology, and the interpretation of findings. Specifically. we discuss two sets of issues that arise from the general notion of developmental level. One set is relevant to the choice of persons that comprise the comparison group and the other to the various implications of the subjects' levels of functioning. In sum, we contend that researchers need to frame their empirical work within the context of developmental theory and methodology and interpret their findings accordingly. This will lead to scientifically compelling work and an increasingly heuristic approach to the study of persons with autism.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11638903,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Parisian psychiatric institutions under the Empire, as seen by a German visitor].\nThe author is setting out a book printed at Bayreuth in 1809 and stating a visit of parisian hospitals between 1806 and 1808 by the German botanist and medic August Friedrich Schweigger. The only part of that relation translated in French is concerning mental hospitals; it gives an out of ordinary look upon health cares in France during the 1st Empire.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9161824,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Complications of laparoscopic cholecystectomy in Hungary: a multicentre study of 13,833 patients.\nTo report our countrywide experience of laparoscopic cholecystectomy with particular reference to complications. National multicentre retrospective study. 71 university departments and public hospitals in Hungary. 13,833 patients operated on between 1 January 1990 and 31 December 1993. Follow up by questionnaire. 732 patients (5.3%) required conversion to open cholecystectomy, urgently because of intraoperative complications in 204 (1.5%), electively for acute or chronic inflammation or obscure anatomy in 441 (3.2%), for unexpected findings in 72 (0.5%) and for technical problems in 15 (0.1%). There were postoperative complications in 598 (4.3%) but reoperation was indicated in only 154 patients (1.1%). There were bile duct injury in 81 (0.6%) and 199 bleeds (1.4%) which required conversion in 102 patients (0.7%) and reoperation in 38 (0.3%). 36 of the 181 postoperative recognized bile leaks required reoperation (20%). 19 patients died (0.1%). The morbidity and the mortality of laparoscopic cholecystectomy are better than after the open operation. The 2-6 times higher risk of bile duct injury mentioned in early studies was not confirmed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12032301,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mutation of the Drosophila homologue of the Myb protooncogene causes genomic instability.\nVertebrates have three related Myb genes. The c-Myb protooncogene is required for definitive hematopoiesis in mice and when mutated causes leukemias and lymphomas in birds and mammals. The A-Myb gene is required for spermatogenesis and mammary gland proliferation in mice. The ubiquitously expressed B-Myb gene is essential for early embryonic development in mice and is directly regulated by the p16\/cyclin D\/Rb family\/E2F pathway along with many critical S-phase genes. Drosophila has a single Myb gene most closely related to B-Myb. We have isolated two late-larval lethal alleles of Drosophila Myb. Mutant imaginal discs show an increased number of cells arrested in M phase. Mutant mitotic cells display a variety of abnormalities including spindle defects and increased polyploidy and aneuploidy. Remarkably, some mutant cells have an aberrant S- to M-phase transition in which replicating chromosomes undergo premature histone phosphorylation and chromosomal condensation. These results suggest that the absence of Drosophila Myb causes a defect in S phase that may result in M-phase abnormalities. Consistent with a role for Drosophila Myb during S phase, we detected Dm-Myb protein in S-phase nuclei of wild-type mitotic cells as well as endocycling cells, which lack both an M phase and cyclin B expression. Moreover, we found that the Dm-Myb protein is concentrated in regions of S-phase nuclei that are actively undergoing DNA replication. Together these findings imply that Dm-Myb provides an essential nontranscriptional function during chromosomal replication.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11999924,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Kindred spirits? The benefits of egocentrism in close relationships.\nThe authors argue that people are happiest in their relationships when they believe they have found a kindred spirit, someone who understands them and shares their experiences. As reality may not always be that accommodating, however, intimates may find this sense of confidence by egocentrically assuming that their partners are mirrors of themselves. Both members of dating and married couples completed measures of satisfaction and felt understanding. They also described their own and their partners' traits, values, and day-to-day feelings. The results revealed that people in satisfying and stable relationships assimilated their partners to themselves, perceiving similarities that were not evident in reality. Such egocentrism predicted greater feelings of being understood, and feeling understood mediated the link between egocentrism and satisfaction in marriage.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19034788,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2013-20":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The effect of contact area on friction measured with the portable inclinable articulated strut slip tester (PIAST).\nA portable inclinable articulated strut slip tester (PIAST) measures friction at the shoe and floor interface. The squeeze-film effect with the PIAST is excessive in representing a human strike. The goal of this study was to investigate the effect of the contact area size on friction for reducing the squeeze-film effect. The footwear pad area of this slip meter was sequentially reduced from 7.62 cm square to 2.54 cm square. Five walkways were constructed. Friction was measured on each walkway under three surface conditions. Thirty-five participants rated their perceptions of slipperiness. The results indicated that the friction increased and plateaued as the size of the contact area was reduced. The effect of the pad size on the friction coefficient was statistically significant. The correlation coefficients between the friction and perception rating did not give a clear indication of what pad size might have a better correlation with human perception. Friction measurement at the shoe and floor interface is a critical issue in assessing potential interventions and identifying potentially dangerous locations for slip and fall incidents. This paper addresses a potential improvement in measuring friction on liquid-contaminated floor surfaces.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30305777,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Optimization of Variance Reduction Techniques used in EGSnrc Monte Carlo Codes.\nMonte Carlo (MC) simulations are often used in calculations of radiation transport to enable accurate prediction of radiation-dose, even though the computation is relatively time-consuming. In a typical MC simulation, significant computation time is allocated to following non-important events. To address this issue, variance reduction techniques (VRTs) have been suggested for reducing the statistical variance for the same computation time. Among the available MC simulation codes, electron gamma shower (National Research Council of Canada) (EGSnrc) is a general-purpose coupled electron-photon transport code that also features an even-handed, rich set of VRTs. The most well-known VRTs are the photon splitting, Russian roulette (RR), and photon cross-section enhancement (XCSE) techniques. The objective of this work was to determine the optimal combination of VRTs that increases the simulation speed and the efficiency of simulation, without compromising its accuracy. Selection of VRTs was performed using EGSnrc MC User codes, such as cavity and egs_chamber, for simulating various ion chamber geometries using 6 MV photon beams and 1.25 MeV 60Co photon beams. The results show that the combination of XCSE and RR yields the highest efficiency for ion-chamber dose calculations inside a 30 cm \u00d7 30 cm \u00d7 30 cm water phantom. Hence, properly selecting a different VRT without altering the underlying physics increases the efficiency of MC simulations for ion-chamber dose calculation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35357291,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mouse embryonic stem cells maintain differentiation potency into somatic lineage despite alternation of ploidy.\nVertebrates, including mammals, are considered to have evolved by whole genome duplications. Although some fish have been reported to be polyploids that have undergone additional genome duplication, there have been no reports of polyploid mammals due to abnormal development after implantation. Furthermore, as the number of physiologically existing tetraploid somatic cells is small, details of the functions of these ploidy-altered cells are not fully understood. In this present study, we aimed to clarify the details of the differentiation potency of tetraploids using tetraploid embryonic stem cells. To clarify the differentiation potency, we used mouse tetraploid embryonic stem cells derived from tetraploid embryos. We presented tetraploid embryonic stem cells differentiated into neural and osteocyte lineage in vitro and tetraploid cells that contributed to various tissues of chimeric embryos ubiquitously in vivo. These results revealed that mouse embryonic stem cells maintain differentiation potency after altering the ploidy. Our results provide an important basis for the differentiation dynamics of germ layers in mammalian polyploid embryogenesis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25423438,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"The evaluation of physical exam findings in patients assessed for suspected burn inhalation injury.\nThe purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the utility of singed nasal hair (SN), carbonaceous sputum (CS), and facial burns (FB) as indicators of burn inhalation injury, when compared to the accepted standard of bronchoscopic diagnosis of inhalation injury. An institutional review board approved, retrospective review was conducted. All patients were suspected to have burn inhalation injury and subsequently underwent bronchoscopic evaluation. Data collected included: percent burn TBSA, burn injury mechanism, admission physical exam findings (SN, CS, FB), and bronchoscopy findings. Thirty-five males and twelve females met inclusion criteria (n = 47). Bronchoscopy was normal in 31 patients (66%). Data were analyzed as all patients and in subgroups according to burn TBSA and an enclosed space mechanism of injury. Physical exam findings (SN, CS, FB) were evaluated individually and in combination. Overall, the sensitivities, specificities, positive predictive values, and negative predictive values calculated were poor and inconsistent, and they did not improve within subgroup analysis or when physical findings were combined. Further statistical analysis suggested the physical findings, whether in isolation or in combination, have poor discrimination between patients that have and do not have inhalation injury (AUC < 0.7, P > .05) and poor agreement with the diagnosis made by bronchoscopy (\u03ba < 0.4, P > .05). This remained true in the subgroup analysis as well. Our data demonstrated the findings of SN, CS, and FB are unreliable evidence for inhalation injury, even in the context of an enclosed space mechanism of injury. Thus, these physical findings are not absolute indicators for intubation and should be interpreted as one component of the history and physical.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17191170,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Viral gene expression in HIV transgenic mice is activated by Mycobacterium tuberculosis and suppressed after antimycobacterial chemotherapy.\nWe used human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transgenic (Tg) mice incorporating the entire viral genome to study the effect of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection on the induction of integrated HIV gene expression. When aerogenically infected with M. tuberculosis, these mice displayed a progressive increase in pulmonary gag and env mRNA levels and of p24 antigen production by cultured splenocytes. In situ hybridization of lungs revealed increased viral transcription associated with areas of inflammation and acid-fast bacilli. By neutralizing tumor necrosis factor (TNF) in vivo after M. tuberculosis exposure, we found that, although initially TNF independent, the increased HIV expression triggered by M. tuberculosis was highly dependent on this cytokine by 4 weeks after infection. Furthermore, treatment with antimycobacterial drugs markedly reduced HIV transgene expression. These studies establish an animal model for investigating the influence of M. tuberculosis on latent HIV expression and for testing therapeutic regimens for reducing the disease burden in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome-associated tuberculosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28569120,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Burning mouth syndrome.\nObjective To review the clinical entity of primary burning mouth syndrome (BMS), its pathophysiological mechanisms, accurate new diagnostic methods and evidence-based treatment options, and to describe novel lines for future research regarding aetiology, pathophysiology, and new therapeutic strategies. Description Primary BMS is a chronic neuropathic intraoral pain condition that despite typical symptoms lacks clear clinical signs of neuropathic involvement. With advanced diagnostic methods, such as quantitative sensory testing of small somatosensory and taste afferents, neurophysiological recordings of the trigeminal system, and peripheral nerve blocks, most BMS patients can be classified into the peripheral or central type of neuropathic pain. These two types differ regarding pathophysiological mechanisms, efficacy of available treatments, and psychiatric comorbidity. The two types may overlap in individual patients. BMS is most frequent in postmenopausal women, with general population prevalence of around 1%. Treatment of BMS is difficult; best evidence exists for efficacy of topical and systemic clonazepam. Hormonal substitution, dopaminergic medications, and therapeutic non-invasive neuromodulation may provide efficient mechanism-based treatments for BMS in the future. Conclusion We present a novel comprehensive hypothesis of primary BMS, gathering the hormonal, neuropathic, and genetic factors presumably required in the genesis of the condition. This will aid in future research on pathophysiology and risk factors of BMS, and boost treatment trials taking into account individual mechanism profiles and subgroup-clusters.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11990883,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Does case management work? The evidence and the abuse of evidence-based medicine.\nThis study reviews typologies of psychiatric case management and then discusses the efficacy, effectiveness and cost effectiveness of psychiatric case management, with particular focus on evidence from Australia and the UK. Subsequently, it aims to examine the way such evidence has been interpreted in the context of UK psychiatric research and services. Finally it examines the ways in which, by the selective reviewing or editorializing of evidence, case management has been brought into disrepute in the UK. This study reviews literature of the recent evidence for case management, and asks three questions of case management: has it been shown to be efficacious in controlled research, is it effective in applied settings, and is it cost effective? An examination is then made of the concurrent representations of the UK evidence in both the academic literature and the media. There is strong evidence for the efficacy effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of case management in psychiatry, the closer it conforms to active and assertive community treatment models. It appears, however, that studies and evidence-based reviews of case management have possibly been misused and misrepresented in a highly charged atmosphere of professional media debate. The potential for this abuse is not limited to psychiatry and remains a challenge for all evidence-based practice. On the evidence, assertive community treatment case management is one of the most effective interventions in psychiatry today. Despite improving the evidence base for practice (e.g. as has occurred for case-management in psychiatry), evidence-based medicine (EBM) is still susceptible to compromise and misrepresentation, due to unexamined or undeclared bias. Unless this potential for abuse is recognized and checked, EBM in psychiatry is in danger of being discredited at the hand of some of its own proponents. There is a need for more rigorous pursuit of evidence-based psychiatry, including more systematic declaration of bias in all research, whether quantitative or qualitative in design.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15248592,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Priming guesses on a forced-recall test.\nThe forced-recall paradigm requires participants to fill all spaces on the memory test even if they cannot remember all the list words. In the present study, the authors used that paradigm to examine the influence of implicit memory on guessing--when participants fill remaining spaces after they cannot remember list items. They measured explicit memory as the percentage of targets that participants designated as remembered from the list and implicit memory as the percentage of targets they wrote but did not designate as remembered (beyond chance level). The authors examined implicit memory on guessing with forced recall (Experiment 1), forced cued recall with younger and older adults (Experiment 2), and forced free and cued recall under a depth-of-processing manipulation (Experiment 3). They conclude that implicit memory influences guesses of targets in the forced-recall paradigm.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17912092,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Piezosurgery: a new method for osteotomies in rhinoplasty.\nTwo basic techniques for lateral osteotomy have been developed to date; the internal (endonasal) continuous technique and the external (percutaneous) perforating method. Numerous investigators have subjectively reported that the application of the two techniques results in less postoperative ecchymosis and edema compared to the use of other techniques, but an alternative and gentle method for performing lateral osteotomy or bony hump removal has not been proposed yet. The authors present a new soft technique to perform nasal osteotomy in rhinoplasty using piezoelectric ultrasonic vibrations, and emphasize the advantages of this method.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22812645,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"IPASS: a study on the tolerability and effectiveness of injectable testosterone undecanoate for the treatment of male hypogonadism in a worldwide sample of 1,438 men.\nMorbidity\/mortality is higher in men with below-normal serum testosterone. Restoring testosterone to normal is beneficial. Assessment of safety and effectiveness of injectable long-acting testosterone undecanoate (TU) in hypogonadal men in daily clinical practice. An international, multicenter, one-arm, prospective observational study in 23 countries. Parameters of erectile function, libido, vigor\/vitality, mood, and ability to concentrate assessed by physician interview using items and five-point Likert scales. Physical and circulatory parameters as well as hematocrit, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels, glucose control, and lipid profiles. IPASS: An International, multicenter, Post-Authorisation (after authorized use in respective country) Surveillance Study on long-acting-intramuscular TU conducted at 155 centers in 23 countries in Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Australia. Patients received up to five TU injections during 9-12 months. Of the 1,493 hypogonadal men enrolled, 1,438 (aged 49.2 \u00b1 13.9 years) having received 6,333 injections were analyzed. Scores of mental and psychosexual functions (libido, vigor, overall mood, and ability to concentrate) improved markedly, while mean waist circumference decreased from 100 to 96 cm. Blood pressure and lipid parameters were altered in a favorable and significant manner. After four TU injection intervals, the percentage of patients with \"low\" or \"very low\" levels of sexual desire\/libido decreased from 64% at baseline to 10%; moderate, severe, or extremely severe erectile dysfunction decreased from 67% to 19%. At the last observation, 89% of patients were \"satisfied\" or \"very satisfied\" with TU therapy. Adverse events and adverse drug reactions (ADRs) occurred in 12% and 6% of patients, respectively, mostly mild to moderate. The most common ADRs were increase in hematocrit, increase in PSA, and injection site pain (all <1%). No case of prostate cancer was observed. In this largest worldwide sample of hypogonadal men, injectable long-acting TU was effective and well tolerated.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16998534,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Phosphorylation and dephosphorylation of human myristoyltransferase type 1.\nN-Myristoyltransferase (NMT) is an essential eukaryotic enzyme that catalyzes the co-translational and (or) post-translational transfer of myristate to the amino terminal glycine residue of a number of important proteins, especially the non-receptor tyrosine kinases whose activity is important for tumorigenesis. Human NMT was found to be phosphorylated by non-receptor tyrosine kinase family members of Lyn, Fyn, and Lck and dephosphorylated by the Ca2+\/calmodulin-dependent protein phosphatase, calcineurin. In this review, we discuss the cross-talk that exists between NMT and their N-myristoylated protein substrates. The cross-talk among NMT, tyrosine kinases, and phosphatases may be determined by their subcellular localization and by the physiological state of the cell.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9558044,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Most Helicobacter pylori-infected patients have specific antibodies, and some also have H. pylori antigens and genomic material in bile: is it a risk factor for gallstone formation?\nBile may contain a 130-kDa protein endowed with aminopeptidase activity and the ability to promote cholesterol crystallisation. As >90% of H. pylori strains have a similar peptidase activity, and half the isolates express a 110- to 140-kDa antigen, the CagA protein, we investigated a possible association between H. pylori infection and gallstones, and the presence in bile samples of factors related to H. pylori that could increase cholesterol crystallization. The prevalence of H. pylori infection was 82.1% in 112 patients with gallstones and 80.3% in 112 controls (NS). Fifteen bile samples out of 23 specimens from infected patients (65.2%) contained anti-CagA antibodies. A approximately 60-kDa antigen only reacting with an anti-CagA antibody was found in five bile samples (21.7%) from 23 infected patients. One bile sample (4.1%) contained ureA and cagA genes of H. pylori. The homology of CagA with the N-terminal sequence of aminopeptidase N was very low. We concluded that the presence of specific antibody to H. pylori in most bile samples tested and of an H. pylori putative antigen in a discrete number of cases may represent factors that increase the risk of gallstone formation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18592518,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The use of a single-fiber reactor for the enzymatic removal of amino acids from solutions.\nIn this article we describe the use of bench-scale single-fiber dialyzers for the development and testing of an immobilized enzyme reactor for the treatment of leukemia. The treatment is based on the enzymatic removal of specific amino acids from the blood of leukemia patients. L-Lysine alpha-oxidase and catalase were coimmobilized within the void space of the porous region of asymmetric hollow-fiber membranes for the removal of L-lysine from simulated human plasma solutions. Hollow-fiber reactor performance was evaluated using a small single-fiber dialyzer (SFD) consisting of a single fiber encased in a protective glass shell. This small reactor affords ease of use, requires small amounts of chemicals and biochemicals, and gives useful reactor performance data. Single-fiber dialyzers were constructed using polyamide fibers with a molecular weight cutoff of 10,000 (PA10 fibers); these fibers demonstrated the best compatibility with and retention of the enzymes. The SFD performance in removing L-lysine from solution was evaluated under both steady and pulsatile flow operation. Pulsatile flow was tested for two reasons: (1) to enhance the radial mass transfer of lysine within the SFD and (2) to simulate the pulsatile flow of blood in dialysis treatment. The use of pulsatile flow increased lysine conversion by 15% over the steady-flow case. Approximately 40% of the lysine was removed from simulated plasma by the SFD in a 4-h experiment using pulsatile flow in the recycle mode.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28579095,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Recent progress in synchrotron-based frequency-domain Fourier-transform THz-EPR.\nWe describe frequency-domain Fourier-transform THz-EPR as a method to assign spin-coupling parameters of high-spin (S>1\/2) systems with very large zero-field splittings. The instrumental foundations of synchrotron-based FD-FT THz-EPR are presented, alongside with a discussion of frequency-domain EPR simulation routines. The capabilities of this approach is demonstrated for selected mono- and multinuclear HS systems. Finally, we discuss remaining challenges and give an outlook on the future prospects of the technique.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32375272,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Influence of Different Modalities of Grape Withering on Volatile Compounds of Young and Aged Corvina Wines.\nWithering is a practice traditionally used in various regions to produce sweet or dry wines. During withering there is an increase in sugar content but also a modification in volatile compound profiles. Controlling metabolic changes through the dehydration process to obtain wines with desired characteristics is therefore a challenging opportunity. The effects of two different withering technologies, post-harvest or on-vine with blocked sap vessel flow, on the volatile profile of young and aged Corvina red wines was investigated. The results showed that modulation of wine aroma due to the withering process is associated with fermentative metabolites, such as esters, higher alcohols, and acids, as well as grape-related compounds such as C6 alcohols, terpenes and norisoprenoids. Significant differences were also found by comparing the two withering techniques. Post-harvest in a traditional \"fruttaio\" warehouse wines showed higher content of ethyl acetate, ethyl butanoate, \u03b2-citronellol and 3-oxo-\u03b1-ionol, whereas post-harvest withering on-vine increased \u03b2-damascenone in wines. The type of withering technique has an influence on the evolution of some aroma compounds during the aging of wine, among them linalool, (E)-1-(2,3,6-trimethylphenyl)buta-1,3-diene (TPB), n-hexyl acetate, ethyl acetate, ethyl 3-methylbutanoate, 3-oxo-\u03b1-ionol and \u03b2-damascenone.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20354208,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Progressive leukoencephalopathy caused by primary CNS lymphoma.\nProminent leukoaraiosis is common in the clinical routine setting. In addition to microatheroma and hypertensive small vessel disease (lipohyalinosis), a large number of rare but clinically relevant differential diagnoses have to be considered. A man in his 60s presented with left pontine infarction and subsequent rapidly deteriorating leukoaraiosis associated with dementia. Standard non-invasive examination did not enable the correct diagnosis to be obtained. A brain biopsy sample revealed a combination of diffuse infiltrating and intravascular large B cell central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma, which has not previously been described in literature. Despite immediate treatment with state of the art chemotherapy, the patient died 3 months after the onset of symptoms. Diffuse infiltrating and intravascular primary CNS lymphoma is a rare cause of rapidly progressive leukoencephalopathy and stroke mediated by neoplastic microvessel occlusion and inflammatory tissue damage. This report intends to increase awareness among neurologists and other stroke physicians about this disease in order to accelerate diagnosis and initiation of treatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32589614,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"miR-27-3p inhibition restore fibroblasts viability in diabetic wound by targeting NOVA1.\nDiabetic wounds increase morbidity and decrease quality of life in patients with type 2 diabetes. Serum miR-27-3p levels are reportedly elevated in type 2 diabetic patients. In the present study, we explored the role of miR-27-3p during wound healing. We found that miR-27-3p is overexpressed in cutaneous fibroblasts of diabetic patients and mice. miR-27-3p knockdown enhanced the proliferation and migration of fibroblasts, while suppressing the incidence of fibroblast apoptosis. Overexpressing miR-27-3p in fibroblasts had the opposite effects. We also identified neuro-oncological ventral antigen 1 (NOVA1) as a target of miR-27-3p in fibroblasts. Knocking down NOVA1 using targeted siRNA mimicked the effects of miR-27-3p overexpression in fibroblasts. Administration of miR-27-3p to the area around wounds inflicted in mice delayed healing of those wounds. This suggests that miR-27-3p suppresses fibroblast function by targeting NOVA1, which results in the slowing of wound healing. These findings may offer a new approach to the treatment of diabetic wound healing.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19030206,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Rubber band ligation for 750 cases of symptomatic hemorrhoids out of 2200 cases.\nTo study the results for the treatment of symptomatic hemorrhoids using rubber band ligation (RBL) method. A retrospective study for 750 patients who came to the colorectal unit from June, 1998 to September, 2006, data was retrieved from archived files. RBL was performed using the Mc Gown applicator on an outpatient basis. The patients were asked to return to out-patient clinic for follow up at 2 wk, 1 mo, 6 mo and through telephone call every 6 mo for 2 years). After RBL, 696 patients (92.8%) were cured with no difference in outcome for second or third degree hemorrhoids (P = 0.31). Symptomatic recurrence was detected in 11.04% after 2 years. A total of 52 patients (6.93%) had 77 complications from RBL which required no hospitalization. Complications were pain, rectal bleeding and vaso-vagal symptoms (4.13%, 4.13% and 1.33% of patients, respectively). At 1 mo there were a significant improvement in mean SF-36 scores over baseline in five items, while after 2 years there were improvement in all items over baseline, but not significant. No significant manometeric changes after band ligation. RBL is a simple, safe and effective method for treating symptomatic second and third degree hemorrhoids as an out patient procedure with significant improvement in quality of life. RBL doesn't alter ano-rectal functions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1102684,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The efficacy of antimalarials in systemic lupus erythematosus.\nOf 209 patients who fulfilled the A.R.A. criteria for the diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus, 43 were selected for study because each had been treated for at least two years with antimalarials, but had not received antimalarials for at least one subsequent year. In each instance, the antimalarial was discontinued solely because of the development of retinopathy. Each year on antimalarials was matched with a subsequent year off antimalarials for each patient. The year immediately following diagnosis and years of pregnancy were excluded. Paired-t test analysis of matched years revealed that general symptoms (fever, fatigue, weight loss) were less common during years on 500 mg chloroquine daily than during years off the drug (p less than 0.05). Skin manifestations were also less frequent during the years on 500 mg chloroquine daily than during the years off (p less than 0.05). No significant steroid sparing effect was found. However, a greater incidence of flare-ups during the matched years off the drug was statistically significant.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37865856,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Novel approaches to treatment of leptomeningeal metastases.\nThe incidence of leptomeningeal metastases is increasing in the setting of improved survival from systemic cancers. In more recent years, our understanding of leptomeningeal metastasis pathogenesis, how to diagnose and treat has been evolving. Diagnosing leptomeningeal metastasis has been challenging due to the limitations of cytology and neuroimaging; However, newer techniques detecting circulating tumor cells (CTCs) or circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) have shown potential advantage with diagnosis, quantification and detection of oncogenic mutations. The use of small molecule inhibitors and immunotherapy has shown some promise in specific leptomeningeal metastasis subtypes. These new discoveries have improved clinical trials' ability to assess treatment response and thereby more optimally compare different treatments. Furthermore, they have helped the individual clinician better diagnose, monitor the disease and provide novel therapies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37856686,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Department of Defense Medical Examination Review Board Audiogram Screening Comparative Analysis.\nThe Department of Defense Medical Examination Review Board (DoDMERB) plays a pivotal role in the assessment of medical fitness for aspiring military officers. A crucial component of this process is the screening audiogram, designed to evaluate hearing capabilities. However, recent observations of high disqualification rates following screening audiograms led to concerns about their accuracy. This quality improvement project, conducted between 2017 and 2019, aimed to assess the concordance between screening audiograms and reference-standard audiometry, as well as to investigate the relationship between disqualification status and hearing thresholds at different frequencies. A sample of 134 candidates, drawn from various locations across the United States, was analyzed. Results revealed that the screening audiogram mean thresholds were twice that of the reference-standard audiogram, particularly in the lower frequencies. Additionally, we found that 84% of candidates were incorrectly disqualified by the screening exam when followed up by the reference-standard. Overall, Bland-Altman analysis revealed significant disagreement between these two tests. This discrepancy prompted a fundamental policy shift in 2020, where candidates who fail screening audiograms now automatically undergo reference-standard audiometry before any disqualification decision. This policy change reflects the commitment of DoDMERB to refining the medical screening process. It reduces the burden on candidates, provides a more comprehensive assessment, and ensures that qualified individuals are not erroneously disqualified.In addition to policy changes, this quality improvement project explored potential courses of action to enhance the screening audiogram process. Among these, improving contract specifications for testing facilities to minimize ambient noise emerged as the most practical and cost-effective approach. In conclusion, the project underscores the importance of refining medical screening processes to accurately assess candidates' qualifications while retaining the utility of screening audiograms. These efforts not only benefit aspiring military officers but also contribute to maintaining the high standards required for military service.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25525532,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Successful Thrombolysis despite Having an Incidental Unruptured Cerebral Aneurysm.\nPurpose. To report a case of successful thrombolysis performed in a patient with an incidental unruptured intracranial aneurysm and review the literature. Case Report. Patient admitted for ischemic stroke due to left posterior cerebral artery occlusion, with an incidental right middle cerebral artery aneurysm, who underwent treatment with tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA) resulting in clinical improvement without complications. Conclusion. The presence of unruptured intracranial aneurysms is considered as a contraindication to thrombolysis, due to a potentially higher hemorrhagic risk of aneurysm rupture. Patients, otherwise, eligible for thrombolysis are usually excluded from receiving this emergent treatment, despite its potential benefits. A reevaluation of the strict exclusion criteria for thrombolysis in acute stroke patients should be considered.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12002542,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Antibodies in crevicular fluid: an epidemiological tool for investigation of waterborne disease.\nA significant challenge in the epidemiological investigation of recreational waterborne disease is the establishment of a definite association between exposure to a contaminated water and infection. An increase in specific antibodies as a result of infection is a potent measure of disease exposure and its determination would enhance epidemiological studies of waterborne diseases. We report on the automated detection of HAV antibodies in crevicular fluid and its use in a field study. The method is easy to use, non-invasive, could be applied to volunteers of all ages and is comparable in sensitivity to serological procedures. Application to an epidemiological study of water recreationalists demonstrated that surfers were three times more likely to be immune to hepatitis A virus than either wind-surfers or a control group without recreational water contact.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31244945,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Bioengineering of Metal-organic Frameworks for Nanomedicine.\nControlled structure, tunable porosity, and readily chemical functionalizability make metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) a powerful biomedical tool. Nanoscale MOF particles have been increasingly studied as drug carriers, bioimaging agents, and therapeutic agents due to their excellent physiochemical properties. In this review, we start with MOF as a nanocarrier for drug delivery, covering therapeutic MOF agents followed by a comprehensive discussion of surface bioengineering of MOF for improved biostability, biocompatibility, and targeted delivery. Finally, we detail the challenges and prospects of the future of MOF research for biomedical applications.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28572549,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"The impact of anion ordering on octahedra distortion and phase transitions in SrTaO2N and BaTaO2N.\nIn this work we synthesized BaTaO2N and SrTaO2N using a two-step high-temperature solid-state reaction method and analysed the structural distortions, relative to the ideal cubic perovskite structure, according to group theory. From a complete distortion analysis\/refinement using high-resolution neutron diffraction data in the temperature range 8 to 613 K, we identified tetragonal structures for BaTaO2N [P4\/mmm (No. 123)] and SrTaO2N [I4\/mcm (No. 140)]. In contrast to an anion-disordered cubic perovskite (Pm \\overline{3}m No. 221) with Ta at the cell center, both systems show a site preference for oxygen anions in the two opposite corners (along the c axis) of the Ta-O\/N octahedra rather than the four square corners in the ab plane (\u03933+ occupancy distortion), which induces a tetragonal elongation of the unit cell with the c axis being longer than the a axis. A further Ta-O\/N octahedra displacement [R5-(a,0,0), rotation about the c axis] distortion was observed in SrTaO2N. This distortion mode is accompanied by an increased unit-cell distortion that decreases as the temperature increases. Ultimately a second-order phase transition caused by the loss of the R5-(a,0,0) mode was observed at 400-450 K.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15258515,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Fixed drug eruption induced by sulfaguanidine].\nFixed drug eruption is a lesion induced by drugs. The family of drugs usually incriminated are sulfonamides, tetracyclines and pyrazols. We describe nine cases of fixed drug eruption induced by sulfaguanidine, a sulfonamide with local action. All the patients presented one or more fixed drug eruption reactivation lesions induced by sulfaguanidine as self-medication for diarrhea. The number of lesions increased in 7 cases after reactivation. The delay in occurrence of the fixed drug eruption decreased during the different episodes. The lesions predominated on the hands in 8 cases of 9. The sulfaguanidine must be added to the list of drug-induced fixed drug eruptions with limited absorption from the gastrointestinal tract.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6173340,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Recent studies on antibiotics and small molecular immunomodulators with potential usefulness in treating lung cancer: Part I - Antitumor antibiotics and their derivatives.\nAclacinomycin, isolated from the culture of a Streptomyces, and 4'-O-tetrahydropyranyladriamycin, prepared by chemical derivation, exhibit significantly low cardiac toxicity and more effectiveness than does adriamycin. Pepleomycin, a new derivative of bleomycin, has 4-5 times lower pulmonary toxicity and more potent activity than the parent antibiotic. The future prospects of studies on antibiotics with potential usefulness in treatment of lung cancer are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7931644,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Surgical treatment of spinal cavernous angiomas.\nCavernous angiomas are vascular malformations that can occur in several compartments of the spine. Depending on their location, these lesions present particular clinico-diagnostic findings, and may require different modalities of treatment. The authors report a series of 10 patients with vertebral, epidural, subdural extra- and intramedullary cavernous angiomas. Clinical and radiological features, as well as surgical results of this series are presented. The different modalities of surgical treatment of cavernous angiomas variously placed along the spine are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23437606,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The effect of angulation sensors on implant placement.\nIt is hypothesized that use of an angulation sensor could increase the alignment accuracy of multiple implant osteotomies without requiring the use of guided-surgical templates. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine if use of such a sensor mounted on a surgical handpiece could improve implant placement.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28532276,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A review of the value of quadrivalent influenza vaccines and their potential contribution to influenza control.\nThe contribution of influenza B to the seasonal influenza burden varies from year-to-year. Although 2 antigenically distinct influenza B virus lineages have co-circulated since 2001, trivalent influenza vaccines (TIVs) contain antigens from only one influenza B virus. B-mismatch or co-circulation of both B lineages results in increased morbidity and mortality attributable to the B lineage absent from the vaccine. Quadrivalent vaccines (QIVs) contain both influenza B lineages. We reviewed currently licensed QIVs and their value by focusing on the preventable disease burden. Modeling studies support that QIVs are expected to prevent more influenza cases, hospitalisations and deaths than TIVs, although estimates of the case numbers prevented vary according to local specificities. The value of QIVs is demonstrated by their capacity to broaden the immune response and reduce the likelihood of a B-mismatched season. Some health authorities have preferentially recommended QIVs over TIVs in their influenza prevention programmes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30311876,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A description of Mycobacterium chelonae subsp. gwanakae subsp. nov., a rapidly growing mycobacterium with a smooth colony phenotype due to glycopeptidolipids.\nThree rapidly growing mycobacterial strains, MOTTH4W, MOTT36WT and MOTT68W, were isolated from the sputa of three independent Korean patients co-infected with Mycobacterium yongonense Type II strains. The 16S rRNA gene sequences of all three strains were unique, which were closest to that of Mycobacterium chelonae subsp. bovis KCTC 39630T (99.9 % similarity). Multilocus sequence typing analysis targeting 10 housekeeping genes including hsp65 and rpoB revealed the distinct phylogenetic location of these strains, which were clustered with M. chelonae subsp. chelonae ATCC 35752T and M. chelonae subsp. bovis KCTC 39630T. Phylogenetic analysis based on whole genome sequences revealed a 95.89 % average nucleotide identity (ANI) value with M. chelonae subsp. chelonae, slightly higher than the 95.0 % ANI criterion for determining a novel species. In addition, phenotypic characteristics such as a smooth colony morphology and growth inhibition at 37 \u00b0C, distinct MALDI-TOF MS profiles of extracted total lipids due to surface glycopeptidolipids, and distinct drug susceptibility profiles further supported the taxonomic characterization of these strains as representing a novel subspecies of Mycobacterium chelonae. Mycobacterium chelonae subsp. gwanakae subsp. nov. is proposed and the type strain is MOTT36WT (=KCTC 29127T=JCM 32454T).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27481295,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Antibacterial and Antifungal Activities of Lectin Extracted from Fruiting Bodies of the Korean Cauliflower Medicinal Mushroom, Sparassis latifolia (Agaricomycetes).\nIn this article we describe the isolation and characterization of a novel lectin from fruiting bodies of the mushroom Sparassis latifolia. The antibacterial activity of the purified lectin against Escherichia coli and resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa as well as the antifungal activity against Candida and Fusarium species were determined. Circular dichroism spectroscopy and the tryptophan blue shift assay indicated that the lectin interacts with microbial surfaces. This suggests the potential of the lectin isolated from S. latifolia, a valuable source of bioactive constituents, as a therapeutic in pharmaceutical agent.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28744252,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Deficits in Approximate Number System Acuity and Mathematical Abilities in 6.5-Year-Old Children Born Extremely Preterm.\nPreterm children are at increased risk for poor academic achievement, especially in math. In the present study, we examined whether preterm children differ from term-born children in their intuitive sense of number that relies on an unlearned, approximate number system (ANS) and whether there is a link between preterm children's ANS acuity and their math abilities. To this end, 6.5-year-old extremely preterm (i.e., <27 weeks gestation, n = 82) and term-born children (n = 89) completed a non-symbolic number comparison (ANS acuity) task and a standardized math test. We found that extremely preterm children had significantly lower ANS acuity than term-born children and that these differences could not be fully explained by differences in verbal IQ, perceptual reasoning skills, working memory, or attention. Differences in ANS acuity persisted even when demands on visuo-spatial skills and attention were reduced in the ANS task. Finally, we found that ANS acuity and math ability are linked in extremely preterm children, similar to previous results from term-born children. These results suggest that deficits in the ANS may be at least partly responsible for the deficits in math abilities often observed in extremely preterm children.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27286555,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-22":1,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Hip abductor neuromuscular capacity: A limiting factor in mediolateral balance control in older adults?\nMediolateral balance impairment is an important cause of falling in older adults. We aimed to investigate whether hip abductor muscular strength and\/or position sense are limiting factors in mediolateral balance control. Sixteen community-dwelling older adults performed three different mediolateral weight-shifting tasks, by tracking (1) a sinusoidally moving visual target, \"visual-MELBA\"; (2) a sinusoidally translating platform without explicit visual feedback, \"mechanical-MELBA\"; and (3) an unpredictable platform translation, \"sudden-platform-translation.\" Balance performance was quantified for each task and correlated with hip abductor position sense, isometric strength, and peak hip abduction\/adduction moments and moment rates. Participants with better balance performance showed higher and faster hip abduction\/adduction moment production during the tasks. Isometric hip abductor strength was significantly correlated with accuracy of tracking the visual target, while hip abductor position sense was associated with the bandwidth over which the mechanical target could be tracked and with a smaller delay between CoM movement and the sudden-platform movement. Hip abductor muscles play an important role in mediolateral balance control. Accurate balance performance appears limited by lower hip abductor strength when explicit visual information on balance reduces the need for hip abductor proprioception, while proprioceptive acuity may limit balance performance when no explicit enhanced feedback is presented and required weight shifts have to be inferred from \"normal\" sensory information.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9561701,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"A survey of tick-borne bacteria and protozoa in naturally exposed dogs from Israel.\nAntibody reactivity against seven bacterial or protozoal pathogens was measured in sera derived from 40 dogs suspected of a tick-borne disease. Sera from 73% (29\/40) of the dogs reacted with three or more test antigens. Seroreactivity was most prevalent to Babesia canis antigen (90%) followed by Babesia gibsoni (75%), Ehrlichia canis (63%), Rickettsia conorii--Moroccan strain (58%), Rickettsia conorii--Israeli strain no. 2 (28%), Borrelia burgdorferi (10%) or Bartonella vinsonii (berkhoffii) (10%). Seroconversion documented in seven dogs, supported an acute phase diagnosis of ehrlichiosis in four dogs, R. conorii infection in three dogs and babesiosis in one dog. In the remaining dogs, correlation of clinical abnormalities with increased seroreactivity was not established through the design of this study. Although Lyme borreliosis has not been reported in people in Israel, Western blot analysis for antibodies reactive to B. burgdorferi identified genus-specific antiflagellin antibodies indicating that dogs in Israel are exposed to a Borrelia species. Identification of species-specific seroreactivity was not possible and infection with a Borrelia species other than B. burgdorferi is likely. Seroreactivity to B. vinsonii (berkhoffii) in dogs outside the USA is reported here for the first time.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23461676,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Uncovering novel actors in astrocyte-neuron crosstalk in Parkinson's disease: the Wnt\/\u03b2-catenin signaling cascade as the common final pathway for neuroprotection and self-repair.\nParkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive loss of dopaminergic (DAergic) neuronal cell bodies in the substantia nigra pars compacta and gliosis. The cause and mechanisms underlying the demise of nigrostriatal DAergic neurons are ill-defined, but interactions between genes and environmental factors are recognized to play a critical role in modulating the vulnerability to PD. Current evidence points to reactive glia as a pivotal factor in PD pathophysiology, playing both protective and destructive roles. Here, the contribution of reactive astrocytes and their ability to modulate DAergic neurodegeneration, neuroprotection and neurorepair in the 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) rodent model of PD will be discussed in the light of novel emerging evidence implicating wingless-type mouse mammary tumor virus integration site (Wnt)\/\u03b2-catenin signaling as a strong candidate in MPTP-induced nigrostriatal DAergic plasticity. In this work, we highlight an intrinsic Wnt1\/frizzled-1\/\u03b2-catenin tone that critically contributes to the survival and protection of adult midbrain DAergic neurons, with potential implications for drug design or drug action in PD. The dynamic interplay between astrocyte-derived factors and neurogenic signals in MPTP-induced nigrostriatal DAergic neurotoxicity and repair will be summarized, together with recent findings showing a critical role of glia-neural stem\/progenitor cell (NPC) interactions aimed at overcoming neurodegeneration and inducing neurorestoration. Understanding the intrinsic plasticity of nigrostriatal DAergic neurons and deciphering the signals facilitating the crosstalk between astrocytes, microglia, DAergic neurons and NPCs may have major implications for the role of stem cell technology in PD, and for identifying potential therapeutic targets to induce endogenous neurorepair.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12042103,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Fluid absorption during percutaneous nephrolithotomy: does it matter?\nLarge amounts of irrigating fluid are used during percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL). This use may be associated with migrating calculus debris, infection, and fluid absorption. This study evaluated the presence of fluid absorption during PCNL, its clinical and biochemical significance, and maneuvers to reduce it. Fluid absorption during PCNL was evaluated in 148 patients by estimating the expired breath ethanol concentration. Factors thought to affect the amount of fluid absorbed were studied, including the amount of irrigating fluid used, the number of nephrostomy tracts, the presence of a low-pressure system, the presence of existing tracts, and complications such as bleeding or perforation of the pelvicaliceal wall. Fluid absorption was evident in all patients, although no patient had any clinical or biochemical evidence of intraoperative or postoperative electrolyte imbalance. Creating a low-pressure system by using an Amplatz sheath, reducing the amount of irrigating fluid used, and staging the procedure significantly reduced the amount of fluid absorbed. Fluid absorption does take place during PCNL. This may be clinically significant in patients with compromised cardiorespiratory or renal status and in pediatric patients, leading to fluid overload. Using a low-pressure system, reducing the nephroscopy time and the amount of irrigating fluid used, and staging the procedure for large renal stone burdens, especially in the presence of complications such as perforation of the pelvicaliceal system, reduces fluid absorption and avoids volume overload. Fluid absorption may also be associated with both infective and noninfective pyrexia, necessitating adequate preoperative control of urinary infection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9569323,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Umbilical hernia of stomach.\nHerniation of the stomach through the umbilicus is exceedingly rare with only one case reported in the international literature in the past 40 years. One case of a reducible gastric umbilical hernia, not diagnosed by endoscopy, is reported. Diagnosis was made by double-contrast barium examination after 5 years of symptoms and ineffective treatment. Herniation of the stomach is difficult to diagnose by endoscopy and radiological studies can be more sensitive and allow a more specific diagnosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35366908,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-22":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Demoralization in oral cancer inpatients and its association with spiritual needs, quality of life, and suicidal ideation: a cross-sectional study.\nDemoralization is a common problem in oral cancer patients owing to the chronic and severe nature of their affliction. However, the association between demoralization and the patient's spiritual needs, quality of life, and suicidal ideation remains unclear. This study aims to provide insights into possible links between demoralization among oral cancer patients and its effects on the patient's spiritual needs, quality of life, and suicidal ideation. We examined 155 Taiwanese oral cancer inpatients in Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan, using the following three rating scales: (a) Demoralization Scale Mandarin Version (DS-MV), (b) Spiritual Interests Related to Illness Tool, and (c) The Taiwan Chinese versions of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire. Suicidal ideation was established if at least one of the two suicide-related items on the DS-MV scale were checked. We divided the participants into high- and low-demoralization groups, per the cutoff score of 30. We then explored group associations with sociodemographic features, quality of life, and spiritual needs. Logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to determine demoralization and its association between these variables. Fifty-five (35.5%) patients were categorized as having high demoralization (DS-MV scale score > 30), with scores for DS-MV for all patients being 27.2 \u00b1 16.8. The rates of suicidal ideation were 29.1% (16\/55) in the high-demoralization group and 2% (2\/100) in the low-demoralization group, with an odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of 20.10 (4.41-91.55). Logistic regression analysis revealed significant effects of spiritual needs and global health status on the DS-MV scores (p < 0.001). Multivariate analyses further confirmed that only overall quality of life scores < 62.5 and spiritual needs < 3.7 significantly predicted the occurrence of high demoralization. High demoralization is associated with low satisfaction with spiritual needs, poor quality of life, and high risk of suicidal ideation. DS-MV may potentially be an effective tool for achieving holistic health care among oral cancer patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28724244,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Evaluating mercury concentrations and body condition in American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (MINWR), Florida.\nConcentrations of mercury (Hg) are not well studied in free-ranging wildlife. Atmospheric deposition patterns of Hg have been studied in detail and have been modeled for both global and specific locations and often correlate to environmental impact. However, monitoring the impact of Hg deposition in wildlife is complicated due to local environmental conditions that can affect the transformation of atmospheric Hg to the biologically available forms (e.g., rainfall, humidity, pH, the ability of the environment to methylate Hg), as well as affect the accessibility to organisms for sampling. In this study, Hg concentrations in blood samples from a population of American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (MINWR), FL, USA, over a seven-year period (2007 to 2014; n=174 individuals) were examined to assess Hg variation in the population, as well as the difference in Hg concentration as a function of health status. While most of this population is healthy, 18 individuals with low body mass indices (BMI, defined in this study) were captured throughout the sampling period. These alligators exhibited significantly elevated Hg concentrations compared to their age\/sex\/season matched counterparts with normal BMI, suggesting that health status should be taken into account when examining Hg concentrations and effects. Alligator blood Hg concentrations were related to the interaction of age\/size, sex, and season. This study illustrates the value of a routinely monitored population of large predators in a unique coastal wetland ecosystem, and illuminates the value of long-term environmental exposure assessment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37862510,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Reversible bonding of microfluidics: Review and applications.\nWith the development of microfluidic technology, new materials and fabrication methods have been constantly invented in the field of microfluidics. Bonding is one of the key steps for the fabrication of enclosed-channel microfluidic chips, which have been extensively explored by researchers globally. The main purpose of bonding is to seal\/enclose fabricated microchannels for subsequent fluid manipulations. Conventional bonding methods are usually irreversible, and the forced detachment of the substrate and cover plate may lead to structural damage to the chip. Some of the current microfluidic applications require reversible bonding to reuse the chip or retrieve the contents inside the chip. Therefore, it is essential to develop reversible bonding methods to meet the requirements of various applications. This review introduces the most recent developments in reversible bonding methods in microfluidics and their corresponding applications. Finally, the perspective and outlook of reversible bonding technology were discussed in this review.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25496205,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evaluation of nasal patency by acoustic rhinometry after repair of complete unilateral cleft lip and palate.\nThe aim of the current study was to evaluate nasal patency by acoustic rhinometry in children aged 4-8 years with repaired complete unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) compared with an age-matched control group without cleft lip and palate (CLP). This comparative cross-sectional study was conducted at a tertiary care teaching hospital and a private ENT clinic in Porto Alegre, southern Brazil. The case group consisted of 38 children who had undergone surgery for complete UCLP (mean age, 6.44 years), and the control group of 21 children without CLP (mean age, 6.21 years) recruited among patients seeking medical care for ear diseases at the private clinic. Acoustic rhinometry was performed in all children after administration of oxymetazoline hydrochloride (2 \u00d7 0.25 mg\/mL) for nasal vasoconstriction. The minimal cross-sectional area and nasal volume of the cleft side were smaller than those of the non-cleft side in the case group (p = 0.001). When the two groups were compared, the non-cleft side in the case group did not differ from the control group (p = 0.175), but the minimal cross-sectional area and volume of the cleft nasal cavity were smaller than the mean values of the two nostrils of controls (p = 0.001). In conclusion, our findings show that nasal patency on the cleft side is impaired in children surgically treated for complete UCLP.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20364434,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-22":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Connecting mean field models of neural activity to EEG and fMRI data.\nProgress in functional neuroimaging of the brain increasingly relies on the integration of data from complementary imaging modalities in order to improve spatiotemporal resolution and interpretability. However, the usefulness of merely statistical combinations is limited, since neural signal sources differ between modalities and are related non-trivially. We demonstrate here that a mean field model of brain activity can simultaneously predict EEG and fMRI BOLD with proper signal generation and expression. Simulations are shown using a realistic head model based on structural MRI, which includes both dense short-range background connectivity and long-range specific connectivity between brain regions. The distribution of modeled neural masses is comparable to the spatial resolution of fMRI BOLD, and the temporal resolution of the modeled dynamics, importantly including activity conduction, matches the fastest known EEG phenomena. The creation of a cortical mean field model with anatomically sound geometry, extensive connectivity, and proper signal expression is an important first step towards the model-based integration of multimodal neuroimages.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21142186,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"LiCoO2 concaved cuboctahedrons from symmetry-controlled topological reactions.\nMorphology control of functional materials is generally performed by controlling the growth rates on selected orientations or faces. Here, we control particle morphology by \"crystal templating\": by choosing appropriate precursor crystals and reaction conditions, we demonstrate that a material with rhombohedral symmetry-namely the layered, positive electrode material, LiCoO(2)-can grow to form a quadruple-twinned crystal with overall cubic symmetry. The twinned crystals show an unusual, concaved-cuboctahedron morphology, with uniform particle sizes of 0.5-2 \u03bcm. On the basis of a range of synthetic and analytical experiments, including solid-state NMR, X-ray powder diffraction analysis and HRTEM, we propose that these twinned crystals form via selective dissolution and an ion-exchange reaction accompanied by oxidation of a parent crystal of CoO, a material with cubic symmetry. This template crystal serves to nucleate the growth of four LiCoO(2) twin crystals and to convert a highly anisotropic, layered material into a pseudo-3-dimensional, isotropic material.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37838988,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Real-time three-dimensional micro-imaging of liquid front in spreading sessile droplet under transient spreading states.\nDynamic wetting behaviors of sessile droplets on substrates play crucial roles for various industrial chemical processes. In the case of complete wetting, it has been proposed that a precursor film which is nanometer-order thickness and micrometer-order length further expands outside the macroscopic contact line of the sessile droplet. While the time evolution of the precursor film is believed to strikingly affect the macroscopic wetting behavior (e.g., spreading velocity), it had been hard to visualize the three-dimensional shape of the precursor film at the early stage of wetting. Further, although the spreading velocity rapidly decreases upon time at the early stage of the wetting (transient state) and then converged to be a constant at later time (steady state), conventional fluid mechanics theories generally describe only the wetting behavior at the steady state. Therefore, experimental observation of time evolution of the precursor film shape in the transient state is essential to proceed the theories to the next step. Here, a monochromatic laser interference microscope was developed to visualize three-dimensional shape of the wetting front of sessile droplets in real time. By detecting an interference of the laser reflected at the liquid and substrate surfaces, the precursor film was successfully visualized with a time resolution of 20 ms and a thickness resolution of about 3.5 nm at worst. For 10 cSt silicone oil on Si substrate, a 60-nm-thick and 70-\u03bcm-long precursor film was observed for 2-10 min after dropping and its spreading velocity which decreased with time was quantitatively analyzed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27256766,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"G-STRATEGY: Optimal Selection of Individuals for Sequencing in Genetic Association Studies.\nIn a large-scale genetic association study, the number of phenotyped individuals available for sequencing may, in some cases, be greater than the study's sequencing budget will allow. In that case, it can be important to prioritize individuals for sequencing in a way that optimizes power for association with the trait. Suppose a cohort of phenotyped individuals is available, with some subset of them possibly already sequenced, and one wants to choose an additional fixed-size subset of individuals to sequence in such a way that the power to detect association is maximized. When the phenotyped sample includes related individuals, power for association can be gained by including partial information, such as phenotype data of ungenotyped relatives, in the analysis, and this should be taken into account when assessing whom to sequence. We propose G-STRATEGY, which uses simulated annealing to choose a subset of individuals for sequencing that maximizes the expected power for association. In simulations, G-STRATEGY performs extremely well for a range of complex disease models and outperforms other strategies with, in many cases, relative power increases of 20-40% over the next best strategy, while maintaining correct type 1 error. G-STRATEGY is computationally feasible even for large datasets and complex pedigrees. We apply G-STRATEGY to data on high-density lipoprotein and low-density lipoprotein from the AGES-Reykjavik and REFINE-Reykjavik studies, in which G-STRATEGY is able to closely approximate the power of sequencing the full sample by selecting for sequencing a only small subset of the individuals.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17916945,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Factors in fish modifying methylmercury toxicity and metabolism.\nWe report here some results of a long-term (19 month) study with cats fed methylmercury (MeHg) in nutritionally balanced diets based on fish. By using either freshwater pike (low in Se) or canned tuna (high in Se) as the major protein source, basal diets with low levels of MeHg were prepared having different Se content, all Se being of natural origin. The basal diets produced no signs of toxicity or pathological changes over the l9-month period. In cats fed basal diets spiked with medium or high levels of MeHg, evidence for delayed onset of toxic effects from the added MeHg was observed with the tuna diets compared to pike diets. In brain, muscle, and blood, the activity of GSH peroxidase, a selenoenzyme, was decreased by Hg. In liver, substantial accumulation of Hg with Se occured (molar Hg\/Se ratio approximately 1.4 to 1.8) but GSH peroxidase activity was unaffected. We suggest that the coaccumulation of Hg and Se in liver measures the extent to which MeHg has been metabolically transformed by metabolism to Hg++, and inactivated by deposition as a Hg\/Se complex of low bioavailability. The accumulation of Hg and Se in liver was much greater in cats fed tuna compared to pike, out of proportion to the relatively small differences in Hg and Se content of the tuna and pike basal diets. Some mechanisms are described by which selenium, vitamin E, and other factors might facilitate MeHg breakdown to inorganic Hg during long term low level exposure to MeHg.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3069252,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The effect of intracellular parasitism on cell phenotype.\nHuman peritoneal macrophages were harvested from 'long dwell' peritoneal dialysis bags. Adherent cells were harvested after 2 h culture on plastic and these were then exposed to M. lepraemurium (MLM) or latex beads (LB) for further culture periods of 2 and 24 h. Immunophenotyping of the macrophages was performed before and after culture both with and without the addition of MLM or LB. Monoclonal antibodies RFD1, RFD7 and RFD9 were used, which in control tissues recognize dendritic cells, mature macrophages and epithelioid cells respectively. MoAb RFDR1 (HLA-DR) was also used. Results revealed that the addition of MLM or LD for 2 h did not significantly alter the original proportions of RFD1+ and RFD7+ cells. A proportion of both RFD1+ and RFD7+ cells were found to phagocytose both MLM and LB, although RFD7+ cells seemed slightly more efficient. After 24 h culture with MLM reduced numbers of cells expressed the RFD1+ marker while increased numbers of cells expressing RFD7+ antigen were present. A concurrent small rise in the proportion of RFD7+ cells parasitized implied that this increase was due to RFD1+ cells becoming RFD7+ cells. Culture for 24 h with MLM significantly reduced the percentage of total cells expressing HLA-DR. Conversely, 24 h culture with MLM was shown to increase the proportion of cells expressing the epithelioid cell marker RFD9. These results suggest that intracellular parasitism may affect the expression of surface antigens on cells and by implication thus affect cell function.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30314996,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Vitamin D-induced vitamin D receptor expression induces tamoxifen sensitivity in MCF-7 stem cells via suppression of Wnt\/\u03b2-catenin signaling.\nObjective: Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are responsible for the drug resistance of breast cancers. Vitamin D deficiency promotes tumor resistance. The present study examined the effect of vitamin D and vitamin D receptor (VDR) expression on the tamoxifen resistance of CSCs. Methods: MCF-7 cells were treated with 1,25(OH)2D3 and their levels of VDR expression, viability, and apoptosis were detected. CD133+ MCF-7 stem cells were identified and transfected with a VDR-overexpression plasmid. The tamoxifen concentration that reduced MCF-7 cell viability by 50% (IC50) was determined. The activation of Wnt\/\u03b2-catenin signaling was also investigated. Results: Vitamin D reduced the viability of MCF-7 cells and promoted their apoptosis. Vitamin D enhanced VDR expression and induced DNA damage. When CD133+ stem cells were separated from MCF-7 cells, the IC50 of tamoxifen for stem cells was significantly higher than that of parental MCF-7 cells, suggesting a higher tamoxifen resistance in MCF-7 stem cells. Levels of VDR expression and Wnt\/\u03b2-catenin signaling in CD133+ cells were markedly lower and higher than those in CD133- cells, respectively. Stem cells transfected with VDR overexpression plasmids showed decreased tamoxifen IC50 values, viability, spheroid formation, and expression of Wnt and \u03b2-catenin proteins when compared with control cells. Cell apoptosis was increased by transfection with a VDR overexpression plasmid. Finally, the inhibitory effects induced by VDR overexpression could be reversed by the VDR inhibitor, calcifediol. Conclusion: Stem cells contributed to the tamoxifen resistance of MCF-7 cells. Vitamin D-induced VDR expression increased the sensitivity of MCF-7 stem cells to tamoxifen by inhibiting Wnt\/\u03b2-catenin signaling.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20350953,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Opioid modulation of oxytocin release.\nAnalgesia or anesthesia is frequently used for women in labor. A wide range of opioid analgesics with vastly different pharmacokinetics, potencies, and potential side effects can be considered by physicians and midwives for laboring patients requesting pain relief other than a labor epidural. The past 50 years have seen the use of the classic mu opioid agonist morphine and other opioids diminish markedly for several reasons, including availability of epidural anesthetics, side effects, formulary restrictions, and concern for neonatal respiratory depression. Morphine is now primarily used in obstetrics to provide rest and sedation as appropriate for the stressed prodromal stages of a labor without sufficient cervical dilatation. This review discusses the scientific basis for opioid modulation of oxytocin release from the posterior pituitary and the practical implications of this relationship to explain well-known clinical observations of the effect of morphine on prodromal labor.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25528049,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Psychometric properties of the system for coding couples' interactions in therapy--alcohol.\nFew systems are available for coding in-session behaviors for couples in therapy. Alcohol Behavioral Couple Therapy (ABCT) is an empirically supported treatment, but little is known about its mechanisms of behavior change. In the current study, an adapted version of the Motivational Interviewing for Significant Others coding system was developed into the System for Coding Couples' Interactions in Therapy-Alcohol (SCCIT-A), which was used to code couples' interactions and behaviors during ABCT. Results showed good interrater reliability of the SCCIT-A and provided evidence that the SCCIT-A may be a promising measure for understanding couples in therapy. A 3-factor model of the SCCIT-A (Positive, Negative, and Change Talk\/Counter-Change Talk) was examined using a confirmatory factor analysis, but model fit was poor. Because model fit was poor, ratios were computed for Positive\/Negative ratings and for Change Talk\/Counter-Change Talk codes based on previous research in the couples and Motivational Interviewing literature. Post hoc analyses examined correlations between specific SCCIT-A codes and baseline characteristics, and indicated some concurrent validity. Correlations were run between ratios and baseline characteristics; ratios may be an alternative to using the factors from the SCCIT-A. Reliability and validity analyses suggest that the SCCIT-A has the potential to be a useful measure for coding in-session behaviors of both partners in couples therapy and could be used to identify mechanisms of behavior change for ABCT. Additional research is needed to improve the reliability of some codes and to further develop the SCCIT-A and other measures of couples' interactions in therapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12023179,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"PFAPA syndrome in children evaluated for tonsillectomy.\nAmong 40 children undergoing tonsillectomy for recurrent pharyngitis, 15 (37.5%) had presented preoperatively with complaints compatible with PFAPA syndrome. All 15 had had periodic fever every three to four weeks and pharyngitis; 12 (80%) had cervical adenitis and five (33%) aphthous stomatitis. All children had been well between episodes and showed a dramatic postoperative improvement. PFAPA syndrome is not uncommon among children having tonsillectomy. Tonsillectomy is curative in most of these patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29564252,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Errors of insulin therapy: Real-life experiences from developing world.\nA significant bulk of people living with diabetes is on insulin therapy aiming for satisfactory glycemic control and resultant reduction in vascular complications of diabetes. Insulin undoubtedly is the most potent antihyperglycemic agent. However, a significant proportion of insulin-treated diabetics fails to achieve the desired glycemic goal. Errors of insulin therapy remain an important and correctable factor in many of them. Such errors of insulin therapy can potentially arise at each and every step starting from the office of the clinicians while prescribing it for the first time up to the point of administration. Here, we share some of our clinical experiences on potential errors of insulin therapy and discuss preventive measures to overcome these simple barriers to achieve long-term glycemic control. We believe, these unfortunate but interesting scenarios, though rampant in the developing world may not be uncommon in the other parts of the world if carefully looked for. It is important for the clinicians to learn from these experiences with insulin therapy because it represents, for a majority of patients, the last option in our therapeutic armamentarium.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24386933,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Low-temperature solution-processed perovskite solar cells with high efficiency and flexibility.\nPerovskite compounds have attracted recently great attention in photovoltaic research. The devices are typically fabricated using condensed or mesoporous TiO2 as the electron transport layer and 2,2'7,7'-tetrakis-(N,N-dip-methoxyphenylamine)9,9'-spirobifluorene as the hole transport layer. However, the high-temperature processing (450 \u00b0C) requirement of the TiO2 layer could hinder the widespread adoption of the technology. In this report, we adopted a low-temperature processing technique to attain high-efficiency devices in both rigid and flexible substrates, using device structure substrate\/ITO\/PEDOT:PSS\/CH(3)NH(3)PbI(3-x)Cl(x)\/PCBM\/Al, where PEDOT:PSS and PCBM are used as hole and electron transport layers, respectively. Mixed halide perovskite, CH(3)NH(3)PbI(3-x)Cl(x), was used due to its long carrier lifetime and good electrical properties. All of these layers are solution-processed under 120 \u00b0C. Based on the proposed device structure, power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 11.5% is obtained in rigid substrates (glass\/ITO), and a 9.2% PCE is achieved for a polyethylene terephthalate\/ITO flexible substrate.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31253653,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Operation RUMAN and the Ministry of Defence response to Hurricane Irma.\nOperation RUMAN was the British government's combined military and humanitarian operations in September 2017 to provide relief to the British Overseas Territories in the Caribbean affected by Hurricane Irma. The Ministry of Defence (MoD), in conjunction with the Department for International Development, produced a tangible effect by the delivery of healthcare and a response to a humanitarian disaster with very little time for planning. The rescue element was accomplished within days but this was followed swiftly by a recovery phase requiring a 'whole force approach', with additional assets from non-governmental organisations and the private sector. The aim of this article is to provide information on the role of the Defence Medical Services on behalf of the MoD, and other departmental organisations in achieving the mission of providing medical and logistical support for these British Overseas Territories.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19025287,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Suckers or saviors? Consistent contributors in social dilemmas.\nGroups and organizations face a fundamental problem: They need cooperation but their members have incentives to free ride. Empirical research on this problem has often been discouraging, and economic models suggest that solutions are unlikely or unstable. In contrast, the authors present a model and 4 studies that show that an unwaveringly consistent contributor can effectively catalyze cooperation in social dilemmas. The studies indicate that consistent contributors occur naturally, and their presence in a group causes others to contribute more and cooperate more often, with no apparent cost to the consistent contributor and often gain. These positive effects seem to result from a consistent contributor's impact on group members' cooperative inferences about group norms.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34426840,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evaluation of postoperative surveillance strategies for esophago-gastric cancers in the UK and Ireland.\nEsophago-gastric malignancies are associated with a high recurrence rate; yet there is a lack of evidence to inform guidelines for the standardization and structure of postoperative surveillance after curatively intended treatment. This study aimed to capture the variation in postoperative surveillance strategies across the UK and Ireland, and enquire the opinions and beliefs around surveillance from practicing clinicians. A web-based survey consisting of 40 questions was sent to surgeons or allied health professionals performing or involved in surgical care for esophago-gastric cancers at high-volume centers in the UK. Respondents from each center completed the survey on what best represented their center. The first section of the survey evaluated the timing and components of follow-ups, and their variation between centers. The second section evaluated respondents perspective on how surveillance can be structured. Thirty-five respondents from 27 centers consisting 28 consultants, 6 senior trainees and 1 specialist nurse had completed the questionnaire; 45.7% of responders arranged clinical follow-up at 2-4 weeks. Twenty responders had a specific postoperative surveillance protocol for their patients. Of these, 31.4% had a standardized protocol for all patients, while 25.7% tailored it to patient needs. Patient preference, comorbidities and chance of recurrence were considered as major factors for necessitating more intense surveillance than currently practiced. There is a significant variation in how patients are monitored after surgery between centers in the UK. Randomized controlled trials are necessary to link surveillance strategies to both survival outcomes and quality of life of patients and to evaluate the prognostic value of different postoperative surveillance strategies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15245500,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Context-independent directional cue learning by hippocampal place cells.\nIn a symmetrical environment possessing no other polarizing visual cues, the spatially localized firing of hippocampal place cells can be primarily orientated by a reliable distal visual stimulus, such as a white cue card. However, if such a directional cue is made unreliable by being frequently moved in full view of the rat, the rat's internal sense of direction comes, over the course of a few days, to control the orientation of place fields instead. We investigated whether this simple form of 'cue-instability' learning would transfer to a new context, in which the firing patterns of the place cells become reorganized and in which a new spatial representation is thus active. We found that after cue-instability learning, the 'remapped' place field representation in the new environment was also orientated by the internal sense of direction of the rat rather than by the cue card, showing that the cue learning generalized from one context (and hence spatial representation) to another. This contrasts with another kind of place cell learning, in which the cells can acquire the ability to discriminate two spatial locations in one context but do not transfer this discrimination to a new context. We discuss the different effects of context changes on learned place cell activity in terms of the possible architecture of the inputs to place cells.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25278095,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Clinical outcomes of prenatally diagnosed cases of isolated and nonisolated pericardial effusion.\nThe purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical outcome of fetal pericardial effusion (PE). This study involved a retrospective review of prenatally diagnosed PE cases. The criterion for inclusion was pericardial fluid in an area greater than 2 mm in diameter. A total of 276 cases of PE and 252 cases diagnosed with other anomalies were initially reviewed. PE is associated with cardiac malformation, hydrops fetalis, extracardiac abnormalities, infections, anemias, intrauterine growth restriction, and aneuploidy markers in fetuses. Of these reviewed cases, 24 cases of isolated fetal PE were studied. In all cases, pericardial fluid filled an area ranging from 2 to 17 mm in diameter. Four cases of isolated PE had an abnormal postnatal condition, and 3 cases were excluded due to lack of follow-up. The size of the PE was not related to the regression of pericardial fluid, adverse outcomes or mortality rate associated with the isolated PE. All newborns were healthy, and there were no chromosomal abnormalities in the study population. There were no adverse clinical outcomes or chromosomal abnormalities in the fetuses diagnosed with isolated PE. Most cases of isolated PE resolved spontaneously and were associated with a good prognosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25509834,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[The significance of innate immunity in juvenile idiopathic arthritis].\nFor years it was thought that the disorder of adaptive immunity is critical in the pathogenesis of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). However, the results of recent studies emphasize the importance of innate immunity and especially the role of alarmins, a group of multifunctional proteins that are released into the intercellular space during tissue injury or inflammation, mobilizing and activating the cells of innate immunity. These data indicate that inflammation triggered by alarmins plays a role in the pathogenesis of JIA. Furthermore, alarmins may serve as inflammatory markers and targets of therapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21143880,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Antimicrobial resistance patterns and prevalence of class 1 and 2 integrons in Shigella flexneri and Shigella sonnei isolated in Uzbekistan.\nShigella is a frequent cause of bacterial dysentery in the developing world. Treatment with effective antibiotics is recommended for shigellosis, but options become limited due to globally emerging resistance. One of the mechanisms for the development of resistance utilizes integrons. This study described the antibiotic susceptibility and the presence of class 1 and 2 integrons in S. flexneri and S. sonnei isolated in Uzbekistan. We studied 31 isolates of S. flexneri and 21 isolates of S. sonnei isolated in Uzbekistan between 1992 and 2007 for the susceptibility or resistance to ampicillin (Am), chloramphenicol (Cl), tetracycline (Te), co-trimoxazole (Sxt), kanamycin (Km), streptomycin (Str), gentamicin (Gm), cefazolin (Czn), cefoperazone (Cpr), cefuroxime (Cur), ceftazidime (Ctz), nalidixic acid (NA) and ciprofloxacin (Cip). Am\/Str\/Cl\/Te and Am\/Str\/Cl\/Te\/Sxt resistance patterns were found most frequently in S. flexneri. Single isolates were resistant to aminoglycoside, quinolones and cephalosporins. The resistance patterns were different in the two species. Integrons were detected in 93.5% of S. flexneri (29\/31) and 81.0% of S. sonnei (17\/21) isolates. In addition, 61.3% of S. flexneri (19\/31) isolates and 19.0% of S. sonnei (4\/21) isolates carried both classes of integrons. In 29.0% of S. flexneri (9\/31) isolates, only class 1 integrons were identified. In S. flexneri isolates, the presence of class 1 integrons was associated with resistance to ampicillin and chloramphenicol. Only Class 2 integrons were present in 61.9% of S. sonnei (13\/21) isolates. Our study documents antibiotic resistance among Shigella spp. in Uzbekistan. Ninety percent of Shigella strains were resistant to previously used antibiotics. Differences among S. flexneri and S. sonnei isolates in patterns of antimicrobial resistance to routinely used shigellosis antibiotics were observed. The majority of S. flexneri were resistant to ampicillin, chloramphenicol, tetracycline and streptomycin. Class 1 and 2 integrons were widely present in these Shigella strains. Resistance to ampicillin\/chloramphenicol was associated with the presence of class 1 integrons. Though several mechanisms are possible, the resistance of Shigella isolates to ampicillin\/chloramphenicol may be associated with the expression of genes within class 1 integrons.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23443231,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Role of TRPV1 and P2X receptors in the activation of lung vagal C-fiber afferents by inhaled cigarette smoke in rats.\nInhaled cigarette smoke (CS) triggers airway reflexes that are thought to result from the activation of lung vagal C-fiber afferents (LVCAs) via the action of reactive oxygen species in rats. We investigated the role of transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) and P2X receptors in LVCA activation. Activities of LVCAs were recorded in anesthetized and artificially ventilated rats. Airway challenge of CS produced a concentration-dependent fiber stimulation. Pretreatment with dimethylthiourea [DMTU; a scavenger of hydroxyl radical (OH)], capsazepine (CPZ; a TRPV1 receptor antagonist) and iso-pyridoxalphosphate-6-azophenyl-2',5'-disulphonate (iso-PPADS; a P2X receptor antagonist) separately reduced the fiber responses by 64, 40 and 44%, respectively, whereas pretreatment with hexamethonium (a nicotinic acetylcholine receptor antagonist) failed to alter the response. A combination of CPZ and iso-PPADS exerted a greater inhibitory effect compared with the effect of either single pretreatment. However, a combination of DMTU, CPZ and iso-PPADS did not further reduce the fiber response compared with the combined effect of CPZ and iso-PPADS. It was concluded that both TRPV1 and P2X receptors, but not nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, participate in the stimulation of LVCAs by inhaled CS, possibly through the action of OH.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29372672,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Rooted tRNAomes and evolution of the genetic code.\nWe advocate for a tRNA- rather than an mRNA-centric model for evolution of the genetic code. The mechanism for evolution of cloverleaf tRNA provides a root sequence for radiation of tRNAs and suggests a simplified understanding of code evolution. To analyze code sectoring, rooted tRNAomes were compared for several archaeal and one bacterial species. Rooting of tRNAome trees reveals conserved structures, indicating how the code was shaped during evolution and suggesting a model for evolution of a LUCA tRNAome tree. We propose the polyglycine hypothesis that the initial product of the genetic code may have been short chain polyglycine to stabilize protocells. In order to describe how anticodons were allotted in evolution, the sectoring-degeneracy hypothesis is proposed. Based on sectoring, a simple stepwise model is developed, in which the code sectors from a 1\u21924\u21928\u2192\u223c16 letter code. At initial stages of code evolution, we posit strong positive selection for wobble base ambiguity, supporting convergence to 4-codon sectors and \u223c16 letters. In a later stage, \u223c5-6 letters, including stops, were added through innovating at the anticodon wobble position. In archaea and bacteria, tRNA wobble adenine is negatively selected, shrinking the maximum size of the primordial genetic code to 48 anticodons. Because 64 codons are recognized in mRNA, tRNA-mRNA coevolution requires tRNA wobble position ambiguity leading to degeneracy of the code.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27255326,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Covalent versus Charge Transfer Modification of Graphene\/Carbon-Nanotubes with Vitamin B1: Co\/N\/S-C Catalyst toward Excellent Oxygen Reduction.\nHigh-performance nonprecious cathodic catalysts for oxygen reduction are highly demanded for low-temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Here, we report a noble-meta- free, nitrogen and sulfur codoped graphene(G)\/carbon-nanotube(CNT) material decorated with Co nanoparticles (NPs), which serve as catalytic sites for excellent oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in basic and acidic media. Out of the cathodic catalysts synthesized by either covalent (cov) or charge transfer (CT) modification of graphen oxide (GO) with thiamine (Th: Vitamin B1), ThG\/CNT\/Co-cov shows more promising ORR properties than ThG\/CNT\/Co-CT. Catalyst ThG\/CNT\/Co-cov exhibits onset\/halfwave potentials of 0.95\/0.86 V in 0.1 M KOH and 0.92\/0.83 V in 0.1 M HClO4, which are comparable to those of commercial catalyst Pt\/C (0.95\/0.86 V). As compared to Pt\/C, our catalyst shows higher current densities of 6.72 mA cm(-2) in basic medium and 7.08 mA cm(-2) in acidic medium at 0.55 V (vs reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE)). It also exhibits better catalytic stability and methanol tolerance. High catalytic efficiency and stability of ThG\/CNT\/Co-cov show a promising prospect of materialization of PEMFCs for clean energy production.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28564707,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Treatment of First-Time Perianal Abscess in Childhood, Balance Recurrence and Fistula Formation Rate with Medical Intervention.\nBecause of differences in therapy for first-time perianal abscess, a wide range of recurrences and\/or development of fistula-in-ano (RF) rates have been reported. The indication for determining when surgical intervention is needed remains obscure and controversial. This retrospective study sought to compare outcomes of conservative treatment with those after incision and drainage (ID) to determine the optimal time for surgical intervention. A total of 697 patients with first-time perianal abscess were included in this study. The median patient age at the time of onset was 129 days (range: 5-5,110 days). The median follow-up period was 395 days (range: 120-760 days). Of the 697 patients with first-time perianal abscess, 355 (50.9%) patients who received conservative treatment had 12.7% (45\/355) RF rate, which is less than that of abscesses treated with ID (24.6%, 72\/297; p < 0.001). The median course was 23 (2,466) days, which did not differ significantly from that of abscesses with ID (18 [3,510] days) (p = 0.609). Forty-six (6.6%) patients with abscesses that perforated spontaneously had 10.9% (5\/46) RF rate, which was less than that of abscesses with ID (p = 0.019), and the median course was 9 (3,316) days, which was shorter than that of abscesses with ID (p = 0.04). Conservative treatment is a safe and effective technique for most first-time perianal abscesses with less recurrence and a lower fistula formation rate. Incision must be performed when an abscess is likely to spread or shows no sign of spontaneous perforation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27477302,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Choosing to engage and choosing to persist: The role of non-specific factors in health-promoting activities.\nNon-specific factors play an important role in determining benefits from health-promoting activities. Previous studies have focussed on beneficial outcomes of motivation during engagement. There are two aims of this project. First, we investigated whether expectancy and intrinsic motivation influence people's decisions to engage with health-promoting activities in the first instance and then subsequently adhere to them. Second, we examined the effects of providing information on health-promoting activities as a method of influencing expectancy and intrinsic motivation. In two studies, participants were informed about a health-promoting activity (Study 1: A breathing exercise for well-being; Study 2: A gratitude exercise for smoking cessation) and told that it has either a 'known' or 'unknown' effectiveness. Participants were then given the opportunity to engage with the activity over the following days. Expectancy and intrinsic motivation were measured after reading the information and prior to engagement with the activity. Adherence to the activity was measured at follow-up. In both studies, intrinsic motivation positively predicted willingness to engage with the activities as well as subsequent adherence. Expectancy predicted adherence in Study 1 and choices to engage in Study 2, but not after controlling for intrinsic motivation. Describing the gratitude exercise as having a known effectiveness in Study 2 enhanced motivation and adherence to the activity. The non-specific benefit brought by intrinsic motivation plays an important role in choosing to engage with health-promoting activities as well as subsequent adherence. Our results also show that simple statements about the potential benefits of a health-promoting activity can motivate engagement and adherence. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Previous studies have established that non-specific factors, namely expectancies and intrinsic motivation, play an important role in determining benefit when engaging in health-promoting activities. These studies have neglected how non-specific factors relate to initial choices to engage in health-promoting activities in the first instance. Intrinsic motivation has been found to be more strongly related to benefit than expectancies in real-world health-promoting activities. What does this study add? Intrinsic motivation predicts choices to engage with a health-promoting activity. Simple statements about benefits of a health-promoting activity motivate engagement.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9558837,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Method and evaluation of experimental retinal reattachment].\nAn animal model of retinal reattachment is needed to study experimental macular relocation and recovery of reattached retina. The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate a simple technique of retinal reattachment. We used the right eye of 13 pigmented rabbits for this experiment. 3 weeks before the operation, the eyes underwent a gas induced vitreous compression with sulfur hexafluoride gas. Transcleral subretinal hydrodissecction was used to create a partial (60-70% of the whole retina) retinal detachment. Retinal reattachment was observed in ten eyes 18 hours after the operation. The dark-adapted electroretinograms (ERGs) were recorded in 3 rabbits from 3 days to 3 months after the surgery. Selected eyes were enucleated for histology. The amplitude of ERGs (a-wave and b-wave) were reduced to 30% and 40% of the control eyes on day 3. These waves were restored up to 70% and 80% of normal at 2 weeks and showed no significant changes thereafter. Degeneration and loss of photoreceptors in the early days after surgery as seen by light microscopy were almost completely restored to normal at 3 months after surgery. This model provides large retinal detachment and reattachment with minimized inflammatory response.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17885934,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Two formulations of the agricultural pesticide adjuvant, Toximul, reduce the glycogen content of HepG2 cells.\nYoung mice exposed dermally to the Toximul (Tox) class of agricultural pesticide adjuvants have reduced levels of hepatic glycogen, a marker of subclinical toxicity. The present study determined whether these effects on glycogen also occurred in cultured HepG2 cells. Exposure (3 hr) to Tox resulted in significant, concentration-dependent glycogen reductions (up to 70%) relative to control values (76 +\/- 3 microg glycogen\/mg protein). These reductions did not appear to be due to loss of cell viability, and were reversible with Tox removal. Two different formulations of Tox (3409F and MP-A) differed significantly in the magnitudes of glycogen reduction in the HepG2 cells.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16148476,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Vasoconstrictor hyporeactivity can be reversed by antioxidants in patients with advanced alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver and ascites.\nHyperdynamic circulation and systemic vasodilation complicate cirrhosis of the liver and are related to vasoconstrictor hyporeactivity. We investigated whether impaired vasoconstrictor responsiveness may be overcome by antioxidants in patients with decompensated alcoholic cirrhosis. Controlled clinical study. University setting. Nine patients with liver cirrhosis Child-Pugh grade C and nine healthy age-matched volunteers. Forearm blood flow responses to intra-arterial norepinephrine, angiotensin II, and the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor N-monomethyl-l-arginine were measured by strain-gauge plethysmography and compared between groups of patients. To assess the role of oxidative stress, the antioxidant vitamin C (24 mg\/min) was administered locally into the brachial artery, and forearm blood flow responses were reassessed. Plasma concentrations of vitamin C were lower in patients with cirrhosis (p < .05). In patients with cirrhosis, the reactivity to norepinephrine and angiotensin II was markedly reduced (p < .05 vs. controls). Coadministration of vitamin C completely restored the potency of vasoconstrictors to that in controls but had no effect in healthy subjects. No changes were observed in time-control experiments in cirrhosis patients (n = 3) employing vehicle coinfusion. The response to N-monomethyl-L-arginine was comparable between groups and not affected by vitamin C. Oxidative stress with consumption of antioxidants seems to play an important role in the development of vasoconstrictor hyporeactivity in patients with cirrhosis. Antioxidant therapy may be a promising clinical approach to restore vasoconstrictor hyporeactivity in these patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28584681,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Abdominal pseudocyst as a complication of ventriculoperitoneal shunt placement: Review of the literature and a proposed algorithm for treatment using 4 illustrative cases.\nVentriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt placement is one of the most commonly performed procedures in neurosurgery. One rare complication is the formation of an abdominal pseudocyst, which can cause shunt malfunction. We present four unique cases of abdominal pseudocyst formation. Our first patient initially presented with a right upper quadrant pseudocyst. Shunt was externalized and the distal end was revised with placement of catheter on the opposite side. He developed another pseudocyst within 5 months of shunt revision and developed another shunt failure. Our second patient had a history of shunt revisions and a known pseudocyst, presented with small bowel obstruction, and underwent laparotomy for the lysis of adhesions with improvement in his symptoms. After multiple readmissions for the same problem, it was thought that the pseudocyst was causing gastric outlet obstruction and his VP shunt was converted into a ventriculopleural shunt followed by percutaneous drainage of his pseudocyst. Our third patient developed hydrocephalus secondary to cryptococcal meningitis. He developed abdominal pain secondary to an abdominal pseudocyst, which was drained percutaneously with relief of symptoms. The fourth patient had a history of multiple shunt revisions and a previous percutaneous pseudocyst drainage that recurred with cellulitis and abscess secondary to hardware infection. Abdominal pseudocysts are a rare but important complication of VP shunt placement. Treatment depends on etiology, patient presentation, and clinical manifestations. Techniques for revision include distal repositioning of peritoneal catheter, revision of catheter into pleural space or right atrium, or removal of the shunt completely.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17009754,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mitigating human disturbance: can protection influence trajectories of recovery in benthic assemblages?\n1. Understanding whether Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) can be considered as a suitable tool for restoring the structure and function of populations and assemblages is urgently needed to achieve an effective policy of mitigation of human impact in coastal management. However, to date, the role played by MPAs in enhancing ecosystems resilience has been more advocated than unambiguously documented. 2. This study was designed to test whether full protection in marine reserves facilitates recovery of benthos impacted by the date mussel Lithophaga lithophaga fishery, one of the most harmful human activities affecting subtidal rocky habitats in the Mediterranean Sea. 3. The effects of this destructive fishery were reproduced at one fully protected location (P) and at two unprotected control locations (Cs) in the SW Mediterranean Sea. At each location, three plots (4 m2) of rocky surface at 4-6 m depth were disturbed experimentally, while another three plots served as reference. In each plot, the species composition and relative cover of the sessile benthic assemblages were sampled photographically on each of five occasions during a period of 20 months. 4. Over and above variation in habitat features among locations, multivariate and univariate analyses revealed significant differences between P-vs.-Cs in patterns of assemblage recovery and showed that, at the fully protected location, recovery was faster than at the unprotected control locations. 5. Our results suggest that MPAs have the potential to change the trajectories of recovery of disturbed assemblages by accelerating the processes of recolonization and call for further investigation to identify the specific mechanisms underlying increased resilience.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31255276,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Transcriptomic responses of Caco-2 cells to Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG and Lactobacillus plantarum J26 against oxidative stress.\nOxidative stress is the basic reason for aging and age-related diseases. In this study, we investigated the protective effect of 2 strains of lactic acid bacteria (LAB), Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG and L. plantarum J26, against oxidative stress in Caco-2 cells, and gave an overview of the mechanisms of lactic acid bacteria antioxidant activity using digital gene expression profiling. The 2 LAB strains provided significant protection against hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-induced reduction in superoxide dismutase activity and increase in glutathione peroxidase activity in Caco-2 cells. However, inactive bacteria had little effect on alleviating oxidation stress in Caco-2 cells. Eight genes related to oxidative stress-FOSB, TNF, PPP1R15A, NUAK2, ATF3, TNFAIP3, EGR2, and FBN2-were significantly upregulated in H2O2-induced Caco-2 cells compared with untreated Caco-2 cells. After incubation of the H2O2-induced Caco-2 cells with L. rhamnosus GG and L. plantarum J26, 5 genes (TNF, EGR2, NUAK2, FBN2, and TNFAIP3) and 2 genes (NUAK2 and FBN2) were downregulated, respectively. In addition, the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes indicated that some signaling pathways associated with inflammation, immune response, and apoptosis, such as Janus kinase\/signal transducers and activators of transcription (Jak-STAT), mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), nuclear factor-\u03baB, and tumor necrosis factor, were all negatively modulated by the 2 strains, especially L. rhamnosus GG. In this paper, we reveal the mechanism of LAB in relieving oxidative stress and provide a theoretical basis for the rapid screening and evaluation of new LAB resources.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20356156,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Self-assembly of silver-aminosilica nanocomposites through silver nanoparticle fusion on hydrophobic surfaces.\nSilver-nanoparticle-embedded aminosilica colloids synthesized via aminosilane-induced spontaneous reduction reaction exhibit selective adhesion properties on hydrophobic surfaces and have been utilized as a simple and one-step procedure to create patterned nanocomposite film with silver to aminosilica mole ratio at 0.9:1. Substrates that enable self-assembly of the colloids include silicon wafer, polydimethylsiloxane, and microscope slide, where patterns of hydrophilic surface were either created using oxygen plasma treatment or stamped with chemical ink using microcontact printing. Upon substrates being immersed in a solution containing silver-aminosilica colloids, particles attach to hydrophobic surfaces and continuously self-assemble onto the deposited film, allowing us to fabricate nanocomposite patterns with controllable thickness (approximately 200 nm).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14530475,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Changes in cardiac sympathetic nerve innervation and activity in pathophysiologic transition from typical to end-stage hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.\nLeft ventricular (LV) systolic function in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is usually normal. Late in the disease, however, LV systolic dysfunction and dilatation are recognized. Although abnormalities in cardiac sympathetic nerve activity in patients with HCM have been demonstrated using (123)I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) myocardial scintigraphy, the changes of cardiac sympathetic nerve activity throughout the clinical course from typical to end-stage HCM are unclear. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between abnormalities on (123)I-MIBG myocardial scintigraphy and pathophysiologic changes in patients with HCM. We performed (123)I-MIBG scintigraphy on 46 patients with HCM and 18 age-matched control subjects. The patients were categorized into 3 groups: 28 patients with normal LV systolic function (group A), 9 patients with LV systolic dysfunction (group B), and 9 patients with LV systolic dysfunction and dilatation (group C). With planar (123)I-MIBG imaging, the heart-to-mediastinum ratio for early and delayed acquisitions and the washout rate were calculated. With SPECT, polar maps of the LV myocardium were divided into 20 segments. The regional uptake and washout rate were calculated from semiquantitative 20-segment bull's-eye analysis. The early uptake was significantly lower in group C than in the control group (P < 0.01). The washout rate was progressively higher in group A, group B, and group C (P < 0.01). Reduced regional early uptake was found in 2.9 +\/- 3.4 (group A), 4.1 +\/- 4.7 (group B), and 7.4 +\/- 4.3 (group C) segments, respectively. In group C, regional early uptake was significantly reduced, predominantly in the interventricular septal wall, and regional washout rate was increased in the apex and lateral wall. These results suggest that cardiac sympathetic nerve abnormalities in patients with HCM may advance with development of LV systolic dysfunction and dilatation and that (123)I-MIBG myocardial scintigraphy may be a useful tool for the evaluation of pathophysiologic changes in HCM.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28300275,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Iron chelation therapy in low risk myelodysplastic syndrome.\nAnaemia is the commonest cytopenia seen in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), and the majority of patients will require transfusion support at some point. Blood transfusions are rich in iron, which leads to the accumulation of body iron over time. It is accepted that this ultimately causes end organ damage and may impact on both morbidity and mortality. In addition, recent data has increased our interest in the subject with regard to the potential impact on stem cell transplant outcome and an anti-leukaemic effect of iron chelation therapy. There is still debate over which patients should receive iron chelation therapy, but the emergence of new diagnostic and prognostic markers in MDS may help decision making in the clinic setting.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12018419,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Reduced insulin-like growth factor-I after acute feed restriction in lactating dairy cows is independent of changes in growth hormone receptor 1A mRNA.\nGrowth hormone receptor (GHR) and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) mRNA decrease in the liver of dairy cows at parturition. Epinephrine is released and feed intake is decreased at the same time. The objective of this study was to determine whether feed restriction and (or) administration of epinephrine could recapitulate the changes in the hepatic GHR 1A and IGF-I mRNA that occur at parturition. Eight lactating cows were randomly assigned to one of two rations (ad libitum or restricted). The cows assigned to the restricted ration were fed 75, 60, 60, and 25% of feed consumed by the ad libitum cows on successive days to mimic the changes in feed intake around parturition. Liver samples were collected by needle biopsy before and after feed restriction. Cows received either 0.02 mg\/kg of epinephrine or saline approximately 24 h before the second liver biopsy so that a 2 x 2 factorial arrangement of treatments was created. Feed restriction increased plasma nonesterified fatty acids and liver triglyceride percentages and decreased plasma IGF-I concentrations. The decrease in plasma IGF-I after feed restriction was associated with a decrease in IGF-I mRNA in feed-restricted cows. The amount of GHR 1A mRNA did not change after feed restriction. Epinephrine treatment did not affect the amount of GHR 1A or IGF-I mRNA. We conclude that the decrease in feed intake at parturition may be partially responsible for the decrease in IGF-I but may not cause the decrease in GHR 1A.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36935556,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Feasibility of Single - Encounter Telemedicine Lung Cancer Screening: A Retrospective Cohort Study in an Underserved Population.\nCOVID-19 forced a delay of non-essential health services, including lung cancer screening. Our institution developed a single-encounter, telemedicine (SET) lung cancer screening whereby patients receive low-dose CT in-person, but counseling regarding results, coordination of follow-up care and smoking cessation is delivered using telemedicine. This study compares outcomes of SET lung cancer screening to our pre-COVID, single-visit, in-person (SIP) lung cancer screening. A retrospective cohort study was performed we recorded independent variables of gender, race\/ethnicity, age, educational attainment, smoking status and dependent variables including cancer diagnosis, stage and treatment between March 2019 to July 2021. Using retrospective analysis, we compared outcomes of SIP lung cancer screening before COVID-19 and SET lung cancer screening amid COVID-19. There was a significant difference in number of patients screened pre- and amid COVID-19.673 people were screened via SIP, while only 440 were screened via SET. SIP screening consisted of 52.5% Black\/African American patients, which decreased to 37% with SET lung cancer screening. There was no significant difference in gender, age, or educational attainment. There was also no significant difference in Lung-RADS score between the 2 methods of screening or diagnostic procedures performed. Ultimately telemedicine based screening diagnosed fewer cancers, 1.6% diagnosed via telemedicine vs 3.3% screened by in person. We implemented SET lung cancer screening to continue lung cancer screening during a global pandemic. Our study established feasibility of telemedicine-based lung cancer screening among our predominantly African American\/Black population, though fewer patients were screened. We found no difference in distribution between age, or educational attainment suggesting other factors discouraging lung cancer screening amid COVID-19.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34402425,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dual mechanisms of opioid-induced respiratory depression in the inspiratory rhythm-generating network.\nThe analgesic utility of opioid-based drugs is limited by the life-threatening risk of respiratory depression. Opioid-induced respiratory depression (OIRD), mediated by the \u03bc-opioid receptor (MOR), is characterized by a pronounced decrease in the frequency and regularity of the inspiratory rhythm, which originates from the medullary preB\u00f6tzinger Complex (preB\u00f6tC). To unravel the cellular- and network-level consequences of MOR activation in the preB\u00f6tC, MOR-expressing neurons were optogenetically identified and manipulated in transgenic mice in vitro and in vivo. Based on these results, a model of OIRD was developed in silico. We conclude that hyperpolarization of MOR-expressing preB\u00f6tC neurons alone does not phenocopy OIRD. Instead, the effects of MOR activation are twofold: (1) pre-inspiratory spiking is reduced and (2) excitatory synaptic transmission is suppressed, thereby disrupting network-driven rhythmogenesis. These dual mechanisms of opioid action act synergistically to make the normally robust inspiratory rhythm-generating network particularly prone to collapse when challenged with exogenous opioids.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28267565,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Automating cell detection and classification in human brain fluorescent microscopy images using dictionary learning and sparse coding.\nImmunofluorescence (IF) plays a major role in quantifying protein expression in situ and understanding cell function. It is widely applied in assessing disease mechanisms and in drug discovery research. Automation of IF analysis can transform studies using experimental cell models. However, IF analysis of postmortem human tissue relies mostly on manual interaction, often subjected to low-throughput and prone to error, leading to low inter and intra-observer reproducibility. Human postmortem brain samples challenges neuroscientists because of the high level of autofluorescence caused by accumulation of lipofuscin pigment during aging, hindering systematic analyses. We propose a method for automating cell counting and classification in IF microscopy of human postmortem brains. Our algorithm speeds up the quantification task while improving reproducibility. Dictionary learning and sparse coding allow for constructing improved cell representations using IF images. These models are input for detection and segmentation methods. Classification occurs by means of color distances between cells and a learned set. Our method successfully detected and classified cells in 49 human brain images. We evaluated our results regarding true positive, false positive, false negative, precision, recall, false positive rate and F1 score metrics. We also measured user-experience and time saved compared to manual countings. We compared our results to four open-access IF-based cell-counting tools available in the literature. Our method showed improved accuracy for all data samples. The proposed method satisfactorily detects and classifies cells from human postmortem brain IF images, with potential to be generalized for applications in other counting tasks.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25414079,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Why do couples discontinue unlimited free IVF treatments?\nWorldwide, IVF is often discontinued before a live birth is achieved due to high costs. Even when partial financial coverage is provided, often medical providers advise treatment discontinuation. In Israel, unlimited IVF is offered free of charge for a couples' first two children. Our objective was to assess the reasons couples discontinue IVF treatments before achieving two children in a completely unlimited cost-free environment. This cohort study included all primary infertile women, <35 years, referred for their first IVF cycle to Sheba IVF unit between 2001 and 2002. Patients were followed until February 2012. Those who ceased treatments for 12 months were interviewed to assess the main reason they ceased treatments. Of the 134 couples included, only 46 ceased IVF treatments without achieving two children, after performing an average of 6.2 IVF cycles to achieve their first birth. The reasons given were: lost hope of success (13), psychological burden (18), divorce (6), medical staff recommendation (5), bureaucratic difficulties (3) and general medical condition (1). The main reasons for \"drop out\" in our cost-free environment were as follows: psychological burden and lost hope of success. Due to high availability of treatments, medical staff recommendation was a less significant factor in our study.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34403937,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Identification of phenylcarbamoylazinane-1,3,4-oxadiazole amides as lipoxygenase inhibitors with expression analysis and in silico studies.\nIn search for new anti-inflammatory agents that inhibit the enzymes of arachidonic acid pathway as the drug targets, the present article describes the screening of 1,3,4-oxadiazole analogues against lipoxygenase (LOX) enzyme. The work is based on the synthesis of new N-alkyl\/aralky\/aryl derivatives (6a-o) of 2-(4-phenyl-5-(1-phenylcarbamoylpiperidine)-4H-1,3,4-oxadiazol-3-ylthio)acetamide which were obtained by the reaction of 1,3,4-oxadiazole (3) with various electrophiles (5a-o), in KOH. The synthesized analogues showed potent to moderate inhibitory activity against the soybean 15-LOX enzyme; especially 6g, 6b, 6a and 6l displayed the potent inhibitory potential with IC50 values 7.15 \u00b1 0.26, 9.32 \u00b1 0.42, 15.83 \u00b1 0.45 & 18.37 \u00b1 0.53 \u00b5M, respectively, while excellent to moderate inhibitory profiles with IC50 values in the range of 26.13-98.21 \u00b5M were observed from the compounds 6k, 6m, 6j, 6o, 6h, 6f, 6n and 6c. Most of the active compounds exhibited considerable cell viability against blood mononuclear cells (MNCs) at 0.25 mM by MTT assay except 6f, 6h, 6k and 6m which showed around 50% cell viability. Flow cytometry studies of the selected compounds 6a, 6j and 6n revealed that these caused 79.5-88.51% early apoptotic changes in MNCs compared with 4.26% for control quercetin at their respective IC50 values. The relative expression of 5-LOX gene was monitored in MNCs after treatment with these three molecules and all down-regulated the enzyme activity. In silico ADME and molecular docking studies further supported these studies of oxadiazole derivatives and considered it as potential 'lead' compounds in drug discovery and development.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7931738,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evaluation of ocular health among alachlor manufacturing workers.\nEarlier toxicology studies found that one strain of rat (Long-Evans) developed severe ocular lesions when fed high doses of alachlor, a chloracetanilide active ingredient in some preemergent herbicides used for corn, soybean, and peanut crops. Because of a lack of eye effects in feeding studies conducted in dogs and other rodent species and strains, the effect was believed to be specific to Long-Evans rats. Nevertheless, to determine whether there were ocular effects among alachlor-exposed workers, we examined a group of the highest exposed alachlor production workers (n = 135) for the presence of a specific eye abnormality, analogous to the initiating lesion in Long-Evans rats, called pigmentary dispersion syndrome. A similar examination was given to unexposed coworkers and relatives (n = 84) to provide comparison rates. None of the exposed workers were found to have pigmentary dispersion syndrome, and prevalence rates for other eye abnormalities were similar for exposed and unexposed study participants. These results suggest that humans exposed to alachlor are not at increased risk of developing ocular disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36930679,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Human microbiome research: Growing pains and future promises.\nHuman microbiome research is evolving from describing associations to understanding the impact of bioactive strains on humans. Despite challenges, progress is being made to apply data-driven microbiome diagnostics and interventions, potentially leading to precision medicine breakthroughs in the next decade.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14524851,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Multioverlap simulations for transitions between reference configurations.\nWe introduce a procedure to construct weight factors, which flatten the probability density of the overlap with respect to some predefined reference configuration. This allows one to overcome free-energy barriers in the overlap variable. Subsequently, we generalize the approach to deal with the overlaps with respect to two reference configurations so that transitions between them are induced. We illustrate our approach by simulations of the brain peptide Met-enkephalin with the ECEPP\/2 (Empirical Conformational Energy Program for Peptides) energy function using the global-energy-minimum and the second lowest-energy states as reference configurations. The free energy is obtained as functions of the dihedral and the root-mean-square distances from these two configurations. The latter allows one to identify the transition state and to estimate its associated free-energy barrier.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35353790,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Investigation of clinical predictors of survival in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients: A cohort study in Taiwan.\nTwo antifibrotic medications, pirfenidone and nintedanib, have been approved as treatments for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF)-a life-threatening interstitial lung disease. However, there are insufficient current data regarding clinical predictors of survival for patients with IPF in the era of antifibrotics. We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of patients with IPF treated between April 2017 and May 2020. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazard models were used to identify independent predictors of mortality among these patients with IPF. A total of 40 patients with IPF (average age, 75.58 \u00b1 8.34 years) were included in the study, 27 (67.5%) of whom were treated with antifibrotic drugs. In the entire cohort, 14 (35%) patients died, and the overall survival of the study population was 48.52 \u00b1 5 months (median, not applicable [NA] [29-NA] months). The univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazard models indicated that chest tightness, finger clubbing, acute exacerbation after medication, decreased percentage forced vital capacity (%FVC), and decreased percentage 1-second forced expiratory volume were clinical factors linked to all-cause mortality among all patients, although without statistical significance at the multivariate level. Meanwhile, only finger clubbing was a significant mortality predictor among patients who received antifibrotic medications. A mortality scoring system was built upon the aforementioned risk factors, with the exclusion of %FVC, whose individual mortality score was nearly zero. Chest tightness, finger clubbing, acute exacerbation after medication, and decreased %FVC were clinical factors associated with mortality in patients with IPF, although without statistical significance. A scoring system including these factors can be used to predict all-cause mortality in patients with IPF. The mere intake of antifibrotic medications was not a significant mortality predictor in this study. This might be owed to the retrospective nature of the study, where many patients started the medications after the deterioration of their pulmonary function rather than from the start.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27474985,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Technical note: Comparison of instantaneous sampling and continuous observation of dairy cattle behavior in freestall housing.\nRecording behavior at fixed intervals (instantaneous sampling) can reduce labor relative to observing continuously. However, instantaneous sampling may inaccurately estimate potentially important responses, such as how frequently cows perform a behavior (i.e., the number of bouts). Our objective was to validate the use of instantaneous sampling for capturing how long and how frequently cows in freestall housing lie down or visit the feed bunk and water trough. We predicted that more frequent sampling would be needed to accurately reflect the behaviors that cows spent less time performing. In addition, we predicted that instantaneous sampling would underestimate how often cows engaged in behaviors that they frequently performed in short bouts or with short intervals between bouts, as some of these events may occur between sample intervals. Continuous video observations of 18 lactating Holstein-Friesian dairy cows were conducted for 48-h periods. Instantaneous samples (1 and 30 s, and 1, 3, 5, 10, 15, and 30 min) were generated from continuous data, with the samples recorded at 1-s intervals representing true values. Estimates from each sample interval \u226530 s were compared pairwise to true values with regression analysis. Sample intervals were considered accurate if they met 3 criteria: coefficient of determination \u22650.9 (i.e., strongly related to true values), slope=1, and intercept=0 (i.e., did not over- or underestimate true values). The amount of time cows spent lying (12.1\u00b11.8h\/24h, mean \u00b1 standard deviation) or visiting the water trough (1.1\u00b10.8h\/24h) and feed bunk (5.6\u00b10.8h\/24h) were accurately captured using sample intervals \u226430, 10, and 5 min, respectively. In addition, sample intervals \u22643 min accurately estimated the number of lying bouts (10.3\u00b12.4 per 24h), likely because cows were recumbent for long periods (74.0\u00b117.4 min, on average, with <6% of bouts lasting <5 min) and rarely resumed lying soon after standing up (0.4% of intervals between lying bouts were <30 s). However, shorter sample intervals may be needed in situations where cows more frequently transition between lying and standing. In contrast to lying in this study, cows visited the water trough and feed bunk for shorter periods (3.5\u00b11.7 and 25.6\u00b15.8 min, respectively) and frequently returned to these resources soon after leaving (17 and 7% of intervals between visits were <30 s long). As some of these events likely occurred between sample intervals, all sample intervals \u226530 s underestimated the number of times cows visited the water trough and feed bunk (18.5\u00b16.2 and 14.1\u00b14.4 per 24h, respectively). Therefore, continuous observation is needed to determine how often cows visit these resources.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3036759,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Correlation of pulmonary ACE activity and capillary surface area during postnatal development.\nAlthough a considerable amount of information is available regarding the remodeling and growth of the pulmonary arterial circulation, relatively little is known regarding postnatal development of the pulmonary microcirculation. We hypothesized that the maximal velocity (Vmax) of pulmonary angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) activity, measured from indicator-dilution outflow curves using a synthetic substrate, 3H-labeled benzoyl-phenylalanyl-alanyl-proline (BPAP), is directly related to the capillary endothelial cell surface area in the lungs of developing lambs. Accordingly we measured apparent kinetics of pulmonary ACE activity in 22 anesthetized ventilated lambs (2-171 days old) and compared our functional assessment to simultaneous in vivo determinations of CO diffusing capacity (DLCO) and postmortem structural assessment of alveolar septal dimensions using stereology and electron microscopy. There was a progressive increase in Vmax of ACE in this age group, with little change in apparent affinity for BPAP. Similar functional manifestation of growth was noted by an age-dependent increase in DLCO. Neither Vmax nor DLCO was significantly affected by an increase in left atrial pressure to 19 Torr (via inflation of a balloon in the left atrium), suggesting little recruitment of vessels under conditions of the present protocol. A close correlation was observed when either Vmax for ACE activity or DLCO was plotted vs. capillary endothelial cell surface area. Double logarithmic transformation of capillary endothelial cell surface area, Vmax-ACE and DLCO vs. lung volume revealed power functions with slopes all greater than that predicted from isotropic growth, suggesting selective differential postnatal development of the endothelium of the alveolar septum in lambs from 2-171 days of age.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12003816,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Parasympathetic effects on cardiac electrophysiology during exercise and recovery.\nDepressed parasympathetic tone is associated with an increased risk of sudden cardiac death. Exercise and the postexercise recovery period, which are associated with parasympathetic withdrawal, are high risk periods for sudden death. However, parasympathetic effects on cardiac electrophysiology during exercise and recovery have not been described. Electrophysiology studies were performed using noninvasive programmed stimulation (NIPS) in nine subjects (age 59 +\/- 18 yr) with implanted dual-chamber devices and normal left ventricular function during multiple bicycle exercise sessions. NIPS was performed at rest, during exercise, and in the early recovery period both before and after parasympathetic blockade with atropine. Parasympathetic effect was defined as the value of the parameter of interest in the absence of atropine minus the value of the parameter in the presence of atropine. During exercise, sinus cycle length, atrioventricular (AV) block cycle length, AV interval, and ventricular effective refractory period shortened; in recovery, the values were intermediate between the rest and exercise values (P < 0.0001 by ANOVA). Parasympathetic effects on sinus cycle length, AV block cycle length, AV interval, and ventricular effective refractory period were 247 +\/- 140, 58 +\/- 20, 76 +\/- 20, and 8.6 +\/- 7.5 ms at rest, 106 +\/- 20, 37 +\/- 14, 24 +\/- 13, and 2.6 +\/- 7.8 ms during exercise, and 209 +\/- 114, 50 +\/- 23, 35 +\/- 21, and 9.5 +\/- 11.8 ms during recovery, respectively. There was poor correlation among the parasympathetic effects noted at the sinus node, AV node, and ventricle. Further work evaluating parasympathetic effects on cardiac electrophysiology during exercise and recovery in patients with heart disease is required to elucidate its role in modulating the risk of sudden cardiac death noted at these times.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25279367,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hirschsprung's Disease and Associated Congenital Heart Defects: A Prospective Observational Study from a Single Institution.\nTo define the prevalence and characteristics of associated congenital heart diseases (CHDs) in patients with Hirschsprung's disease (HSCR). All patients with a histological diagnosis of HSCR admitted to our hospital between January 2010 and December 2013 were included in this prospective observational study and underwent cardiovascular screening. Cardiac anatomy was assessed by a segmental echocardiographic approach. Measurements of aortic root and left ventricular dimensions, wall thickness, and function were obtained. CHDs requiring a percutaneous or surgical intervention were described as major heart diseases. One hundred thirty-three consecutive patients were enrolled at median age of 2.3 years. Eleven patients (8.3%) presented an associated heart disease. Moreover, five patients had mild dilatation of aortic root. Six out of 11 (4.5%) patients had a major CHDs requiring surgical repair. Prevalence of associated CHDs was slightly higher than in previous papers, and mostly represented by septal defects. Four out of six patients with major heart disease had also a chromosomal anomaly. If we do not consider the subpopulation of patients with a chromosomal anomaly, cardiac defects were present in 3.8% of the patients. Based on these results, we suggest to perform routine echocardiogram in all Hirschsprung patients, with or without associated chromosomal syndromes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28717035,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Neurotoxic Concentration of Piperacillin during Continuous Infusion in Critically Ill Patients.\nThis retrospective cohort study included 53 patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), with an average age of 69 years, without neurologic disorder before initiation of a continuous piperacillin infusion at the standard dose and who underwent piperacillin serum concentration monitoring. Among them, 23 developed a neurologic disorder for which the piperacillin causality was chronologically and semiologically suggestive. A concentration threshold of 157.2 mg\/liter independently predicted neurotoxicity with 96.7% specificity and 52.2% sensitivity and may constitute a limitation when targeting less susceptible pathogens.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30314255,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Two new records of deep sea shrimp under the genus Parapontocaris (Crustacea: Decapoda: Crangonidae) from the southwestern coast of India.\nThis paper reports the occurrence of two species of the crangonid genus Parapontocaris Alcock, 1901 in waters off Kerala from the southwestern coast of India, viz. P. levigata (Chace 1984) and P. bengalensis (Wood-Mason Alcock 1891). Although P. bengalensis was reported off Bay of Bengal in India, after 121 years this species was now recorded off Kerala, Arabian Sea. Specimens were obtained at a depth of 250-300 m from Kalamuku (9\u00b059'02.91\"N \/76\u00b014'33.14\"E) and Sakthikulangara (8\u00b056'60.78\"N \/76\u00b032'34.27\"E) fish landing centres. Interspecies genetic divergence (COI: 8.8-9.1% 16S DNA: 2.1-6.2 %) was recorded in the present specimen P. bengalensis and NCBI sequences.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17172022,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Screening of short peptides binding to StxB by phage-display library].\nUnder induction with 41 degrees C, pBV220-stxb\/DH5alpha expressed the recombinant protein Shiga Toxin B Subunit (StxB), which was purified by centrifugation, salting out and ion exchange chromatography. As a target, the purified-protein-coated ELISA plate was used to screen phages able to bind onto it from a random 12-mer peptide library. After 4 rounds of affinity screening, a group of clones were isolated from the peptide library. ELISA assay detected their binding activity with the target. 27 clones showed the specific binding activity. The peptide sequences of these positive phage clones were analyzed. 16 of them had the same sequence named A6, 2 clones had the A9 sequence, and 3 clones had the A3 sequence. To evaluate the neutralization effect of A6 phage, animal test was carried out. The Shiga Toxin was incubated with A6 phage clone, then used to attack the Balb\/C mice. As a control, the toxin was incubated with negative phage. In the control group, no mice survived. Comparing with it, the survival rate of the mice in neutralization group could reach to a level of 33.3%. It showed that the toxicity of Shiga Toxin was partly inhibited. The A6 peptide could be developed as an inhibitor of Shiga Toxin to cure the diseases caused by Shiga Toxin.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12000315,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Population dynamics of type I and II methanotrophic bacteria in rice soils.\nMethane-oxidizing bacteria (methanotrophs) consume a significant but variable fraction of greenhouse-active methane gas produced in wetlands and rice paddies before it can be emitted to the atmosphere. Temporal and spatial dynamics of methanotroph populations in California rice paddies were quantified using phospholipid biomarker analyses in order to evaluate the relative importance of type I and type II methanotrophs with depth and in relation to rice roots. Methanotroph population fluctuations occurred primarily within the top 0-2 cm of soil, where methanotroph cells increased by a factor of 3-5 over the flooded rice-growing season. The results indicate that rice roots and rhizospheres were less important than the soil-water interface in supporting methanotroph growth. Both type I and type II methanotrophs were abundant throughout the year. However, only type II populations were strongly correlated with soil porewater methane concentrations and rice growth.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8351888,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Argyrophilic nucleolar organizers in squamous changes in bronchial epithelium].\nArgyrophil technique for presentation of interphase nucleolar organiser regions (AgNOR) is becoming an important method in tumour pathology which is used in diagnosis and prognosis. The number of interphase AgNOR is in the strict correlation with the degree of cell proliferation. We have used this technique in evaluation of degree of differentiation and proliferation of squamous changes of the epithelium of the bronchial mucosa. The statistically significant differences were found (p < 0.01) in the number of AgNOR by nucleus in cells of benignant squamous metaplasia (3.31) and epidermoid bronchial carcinoma (5.34). On the basis of numerical values of AgNOR epidermoid bronchial carcinomas could be divided into the group with low proliferative capability (AgNOR < 5.34) and in the group with high degree of proliferation (AgNOR > 5.34). Prognosis of patients with tumours with the high AgNOR value is poorer and they require additional systemic chemotherapy regardless of the clinical state of the disease at the moment of surgical intervention.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8342584,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"A case of Guillain-Barr\u00e9 syndrome with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis.\nAcute inflammatory polyneuropathy or Guillain-Barr\u00e9 syndrome may be associated with glomerulonephritis, especially membranous nephropathy. This paper details the case of a 73-year-old woman presenting with acute onset of Guillain-Barr\u00e9 syndrome associated with an abnormal urinary sediment and significant proteinuria. Renal biopsy was consistent with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. Despite an initial response to plasmapheresis, the patient's polyneuropathy deteriorated and subsequently improved with corticosteroid therapy. Simultaneously, her proteinuria and urinary sediment also improved. This implies that this was not a chance association. A brief discussion of the association between Guillain-Barr\u00e9 syndrome and glomerulopathies is undertaken.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36261705,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Learning to distinguish progressive and non-progressive ductal carcinoma in situ.\nDuctal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is a non-invasive breast neoplasia that accounts for 25% of all screen-detected breast cancers diagnosed annually. Neoplastic cells in DCIS are confined to the ductal system of the breast, although they can escape and progress to invasive breast cancer in a subset of patients. A key concern of DCIS is overtreatment, as most patients screened for DCIS and in whom DCIS is diagnosed will not go on to exhibit symptoms or die of breast cancer, even if left untreated. However, differentiating low-risk, indolent DCIS from potentially progressive DCIS remains challenging. In this Review, we summarize our current knowledge of DCIS and explore open questions about the basic biology of DCIS, including those regarding how genomic events in neoplastic cells and the surrounding microenvironment contribute to the progression of DCIS to invasive breast cancer. Further, we discuss what information will be needed to prevent overtreatment of indolent DCIS lesions without compromising adequate treatment for high-risk patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27276947,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Magnetoelectroluminescence in organic light-emitting diodes.\nThe magnetoelectroluminescence of conjugated organic polymer films is widely accepted to arise from a polaron pair mechanism, but their magnetoconductance is less well understood. Here we derive a new relationship between the experimentally measurable magnetoelectroluminescence and magnetoconductance and the theoretically calculable singlet yield of the polaron pair recombination reaction. This relationship is expected to be valid regardless of the mechanism of the magnetoconductance, provided the mobilities of the free polarons are independent of the applied magnetic field (i.e., provided one discounts the possibility of spin-dependent transport). We also discuss the semiclassical calculation of the singlet yield of the polaron pair recombination reaction for materials such as poly(2,5-dioctyloxy-paraphenylene vinylene) (DOO-PPV), the hyperfine fields in the polarons of which can be extracted from light-induced electron spin resonance measurements. The resulting theory is shown to give good agreement with experimental data for both normal (H-) and deuterated (D-) DOO-PPV over a wide range of magnetic field strengths once singlet-triplet dephasing is taken into account. Without this effect, which has not been included in any previous simulation of magnetoelectroluminescence, it is not possible to reproduce the experimental data for both isotopologues in a consistent fashion. Our results also indicate that the magnetoconductance of DOO-PPV cannot be solely due to the effect of the magnetic field on the dissociation of polaron pairs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29374033,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Functional Expression of the Clostridium ljungdahlii Acetyl-Coenzyme A Synthase in Clostridium acetobutylicum as Demonstrated by a Novel In Vivo CO Exchange Activity En Route to Heterologous Installation of a Functional Wood-Ljungdahl Pathway.\nEngineering the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway (WLP) in the established industrial organism Clostridium acetobutylicum would allow for the conversion of carbohydrates into butanol, acetone, and other metabolites at higher yields than are currently possible, while minimizing CO2 and H2 release. To this effect, we expressed 11 Clostridium ljungdahlii core genes coding for enzymes and accessory proteins of the WLP in Clostridium acetobutylicum The engineered WLP in C. acetobutylicum showed functionality of the eastern branch of the pathway based on the formation of labeled 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate from 13C-labeled formate, as well as functionality of the western branch as evidenced by the formation of CO from CO2 However, the lack of labeling in acetate and butyrate pools indicated that the connection between the two branches is not functional. The focus of our investigation then centered on the functional expression of the acetyl-coenzyme A (CoA) synthase (ACS), which forms a complex with the CO dehydrogenase (CODH) and serves to link the two branches of the WLP. The CODH\/ACS complex catalyzes the reduction of CO2 to CO and the condensation of CO with a methyl group to form acetyl-CoA, respectively. Here, we show the simultaneous activities of the two recombinant enzymes. We demonstrate in vivo the classical in vitro ACS carbonyl carbon exchange assay, whereby the carbonyl carbon of acetyl-CoA is exchanged with the CO carbon. Our data suggest that the low heterologous expression of ACS may limit the functionality of the heterologous WLP in C. acetobutylicumIMPORTANCE The bifunctional carbon monoxide dehydrogenase\/acetyl-CoA synthase (CODH\/ACS) from C. ljungdahlii was heterologously expressed in the obligate heterotroph C. acetobutylicum The functional activity of the CODH was confirmed through both the oxidation and reduction of CO, as had previously been shown for the heterologous CODH from Clostridium carboxidivorans Significantly, a novel in vivo assay for ACS exchange activity using 13C-tracers was developed and used to confirm functional ACS expression.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37655878,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Salivary microbiome of healthy women of reproductive age.\nThe human salivary microbial community plays a crucial role in local and systemic diseases. Biological and lifestyle factors such as menstrual cycle, oral hygiene, and smoking have been documented to impact this community. However, while hormonal contraceptives are the most prescribed drug in healthy women and intimate partners play key roles in microbial exchange between humans, their impact on the salivary microbiome of women of reproductive age have been understudied. Additionally, the role of other lifestyle factors such as diet, allergies, age, and stress on the saliva microbiome of the general population is not well understood. Here, we studied the salivary microbiome of 255 healthy women of reproductive age using self-sampling kits and 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing combined with questionnaires on lifestyle and host-related parameters. A preserved salivary bacterial community of 12 genera (Actinobacillus, Actinomyces, Alloprevotella, Campylobacter, Fusobacterium, Gemella, Granulicatella, Leptotrichia, Neisseria, Prevotella, Streptococcus, and Veillonella) was identified. Contrary to what we expected, the number of intimate partners or specific contraceptive use did not have a major impact on these bacterial communities. However, recent use of oral antibiotics was associated with a significant decrease in richness at genus level and increase in mean relative abundances of several taxa. Being stressed or nervous was associated with a significantly increased richness of the salivary microbiome at the level of amplicon sequencing variants . Nevertheless, these associations with host-related and lifestyle variables only appeared to be subtle, suggesting that the salivary microbiome is mainly driven by the buccal environment and health status of an individual. IMPORTANCE The salivary microbiome has been proven to play a crucial role in local and systemic diseases. Moreover, the effects of biological and lifestyle factors such as oral hygiene and smoking on this microbial community have already been explored. However, what was not yet well understood was the natural variation of the saliva microbiome in healthy women and how this is associated with specific use of hormonal contraception and with the number of different sexual partners with whom microbiome exchange is expected regularly. In this paper, we characterized the salivary microbiome of 255 healthy women of reproductive age using an in-depth questionnaire and self-sampling kits. Using the large metadata set, we were able to investigate the associations of several host-related and lifestyle variables with the salivary microbiome profiles. Our study shows a high preservation between individuals.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37462573,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Assessing the Readiness of Rural Public Health Agencies for Facilitating a School-based Intervention.\nPartnerships are best positioned for success when the readiness of those engaged is assessed and discussed from the outset. Doing so requires an approach to readiness that is responsive to the particular context of the partnership. This study contributes to the topic of partnership readiness through a readiness assessment used with rural local public health agencies (LPHAs) to partner with a university research team on implementing a Kindergarten to 12th-grade school-based health intervention called Assess, Identify, Make it happen. Through case study methodology, we explored the readiness of LPHAs to partner with a university on this initiative as well as the role the readiness assessment played in facilitating this partnership. We conducted semistructured interviews with directors and agency staff in five rural LPHAs before (n = 8) and after (n = 5) they implemented Assess, Identify, Make it happen. We also documented their work with Kindergarten to 12th-grade schools and in partnership with us throughout the initiative. The findings of this study are presented in three phases. Phase 1 outlines the results from the initial readiness assessment interviews as aligned with select constructs of readiness. Phase 2 recounts how these constructs materialized through partnership between LPHAs and the university. Phase 3 includes findings from a postintervention interview focused on readiness for partnership. Collectively, these findings portray prospective, operational, and retrospective perspectives on LPHA readiness for partnership. This study contributes to the constructs of readiness for partnership, highlights the distinction between assessing and cultivating readiness, and demonstrates the benefits of a multiphase approach to readiness for partnership.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3028595,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pathology of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Proposal of a new histologic classification correlated with prognosis.\nTo establish a new histologic classification with better correlation with patient prognosis, the histologic features of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) were correlated with prognosis and clinical stage among 494 patients who had been followed a minimum of 5 years after initial radiotherapy. A slight modification of World Health Organization (WHO) classification by the separation of spindle cell variant from the nonkeratinizing (NK) and undifferentiated carcinomas (UD) provided a better prognostic correlation: keratinizing squamous cell carcinoma (KS), spindle cell carcinoma (SP), round cell carcinoma (RC), and mixed cell carcinoma (Mix, or NK); 5-year survival rates were 21%, 41%, 51.8%, and 54%, respectively. This prognostic distinction was further improved by dividing the three nonkeratinizing carcinomas (SP, RC, and Mix) into two subtypes each, according to the degree of cell anaplasia and pleomorphism: Type A (with marked anaplasia and\/or pleomorphism), and Type B (with moderate or little anaplasia). The three Type A carcinomas had very similar 5-year survival rates (33.3 to 38.6%), as did the three Type B carcinomas (60% to 71.8%). Therefore, a working formulation for the malignancy of NPC emerged: high-grade malignancy (KS; 5-year survival, 21%), intermediate malignancy (Type A carcinomas, 5-year survival, 30%-40%), and low-grade malignancy (Type B carcinomas, 5-year survival rate, 60%-72%). The prognostic distinction remained true after stratification by clinical stage. Therefore, the histologic condition of the tumor of NPC correlated with patient's prognosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26434581,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"mirPRo-a novel standalone program for differential expression and variation analysis of miRNAs.\nBeing involved in many important biological processes, miRNAs can regulate gene expression by targeting mRNAs to facilitate their degradation or translational inhibition. Many miRNA sequencing studies reveal that miRNA variations such as isomiRs and \"arm switching\" are biologically relevant. However, existing standalone tools usually do not provide comprehensive, detailed information on miRNA variations. To deepen our understanding of miRNA variability, we developed a new standalone tool called \"mirPRo\" to quantify known miRNAs and predict novel miRNAs. Compared with the most widely used standalone program, miRDeep2, mirPRo offers several new functions including read cataloging based on genome annotation, optional seed region check, miRNA family expression quantification, isomiR identification and categorization, and \"arm switching\" detection. Our comparative data analyses using three datasets from mouse, human and chicken demonstrate that mirPRo is more accurate than miRDeep2 by avoiding over-counting of sequence reads and by implementing different approaches in adapter trimming, mapping and quantification. mirPRo is an open-source standalone program (https:\/\/sourceforge.net\/projects\/mirpro\/).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37864536,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Who affiliates with SMART recovery? A comparison of individuals attending SMART recovery, alcoholics anonymous, both, or neither.\nMutual-help organizations (MHOs) play a crucial role for many individuals with alcohol use disorder (AUD) or other substance use disorders in achieving stable remission. While there is now substantial research characterizing who uses 12-step MHOs, very little is known about who becomes affiliated with newer and rapidly growing MHOs, such as Self-Management and Recovery Training (\"SMART\" Recovery). More research could inform knowledge regarding who may be best engaged by these differing pathways. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of participants (N = 361) with AUD recruited mostly from the community who were starting a new recovery attempt and self-selected into one of four different recovery paths: (1) SMART Recovery (\"SMART-only\"; n = 75); (2) Alcoholics Anonymous (\"AA-only\"; n = 73); (3) Both SMART and AA (\"Both\"; n = 53); and (4) Neither SMART nor AA (\"Neither\"; n = 160). We compared the groups on demographics, clinical history, treatment and recovery support service use, and indices of functioning and well-being. We computed descriptives and conducted inferential analyses according to the data structure. Compared to study participants choosing AA-only or Both, SMART-only participants were more likely to be White, married, have higher income and more education, be full-time employed, and evince a pattern of lower clinical severity characterized by less lifetime and recent treatment and recovery support services usage, lower alcohol use intensity and fewer consequences, and less legal involvement. AUD symptom levels, lifetime psychiatric diagnoses, psychiatric distress, and functioning were similar across MHO-engaged groups. SMART Recovery appears to attract individuals with greater psychosocial stability and economic advantage and less severe histories of alcohol-related impairment and legal involvement. Findings suggest that certain aspects specific to the SMART Recovery group approach, format, and\/or contents may appeal to individuals exhibiting this type of profile. As such, SMART appears to provide an additional resource that expands the repertoire of options for individuals with AUD who seek recovery.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15243709,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Hereditary periodic fever].\nFamilial Mediterranean fever (FMF), hyperimmunoglobulinemia D periodic fever syndrome (HIDS), and tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated periodic syndrome (TRAPS) are hereditary periodic fever syndromes. FMF is caused by mutations in the Mediterranean fever gene, HIDS by mutations in the mevalonat-kinase gene, and TRAPS by mutations in the TNF-receptor superfamily 1A gene. Impaired function of the encoded proteins, i.e. pyrin in FMF, mevalonat-kinase in HIDS, and the p55 TNF-receptor in TRAPS, induces a dysregulated cytokine balance. Clinical manifestations are relapsing fever, serositis, arthralgia, myalgia, and miscellaneous forms of rash. The diagnosis is made through moleculargenetic analysis of mutations of the MEFV-gene (FMF), MVK-gene (HIDS), or TNFRSF1A-gene (TRAPS). Colchicine is the therapy of choice in FMF. HIDS is treated symptomatically. Impaired TNF-alpha regulation in TRAPS can be treated with etanercept.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25426453,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Radiographic comparison of apical root resorption after orthodontic treatment between bidimensional and Roth straight-wire techniques.\nThe aim of this study was to compare the amount of root resorption after orthodontic treatment between the bidimensional and the Roth straight-wire techniques. Another objective was to compare the amount of root resorption in the whole sample studied and record the prevalence of root resorption. The sample consisted of 40 patients (age ranged between 11 and 18 years) with Angle Class II division 1 malocclusions, treated nonextraction. Twenty patients were treated with bidimensional technique and 20 with a 0.018-inch Roth straight-wire technique. Root lengths of the maxillary incisors were measured on pre- and post-treatment periapical radiographs. The results demonstrated that the bidimensional and Roth straight-wire groups showed significant root resorption after treatment, 1.11 (0.17) and 0.86 (0.05), respectively, P < 0.001. When comparing the amount of root shortening between the bidimensional and Roth straight-wire groups, there was no significant difference between the mean change from pre- to post-treatment between bidimensional group (mean = 1.00 \u00b1 1.34) and Roth straight-wire group (mean = 0.88 \u00b1 0.86), P = 0.63. Considering the whole sample, there was no root resoprtion in 32.5% of the analysed teeth. There was only mild resorption in 56.2%, moderate in 8.8% and severe in only 2.5% of the teeth. Treatment with the bidimensional technique did not produce an increase in the amount of root resorption. The prevalence and amount of root resorption was similar between bidimensional and Roth straight-wire techniques.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37845313,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":2,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-22":1,"2024-26":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Formal analyses are fundamental for the definition of honey, a product representing specific territories and their changes: the case of North Tyrrhenian dunes (Italy).\nHoney is a variegate matrix depending significantly on the floral origin, and it could become an important agri-food product to valorise specific territories. Being so diverse, different analytical techniques are necessary for its description. Herein we characterized the honey produced in one of the Italian sand dunes systems hosting beekeeping activities. In terms of floristic origin, phytochemical characterization, and sensory and colour analysis, honey collected in 2021 and 2022 was comparable. Honey was polyfloral, with several pollens from dune habitat plants classified as minor. The presence of the allochthonous Amorpha fruticosa L. and the ruderal Rubus fruticosus L. pollens in the category of the secondary pollens testifies the alteration of the park vegetation. The phytochemical profile was rich in polyphenols. Other interesting compounds were coumarine derivatives, likely attributable to resin-laden plants as rockroses, long chain hydroxyacids typical of royal jelly and nicotinic acid and its analogues (2-hydroxynicotinic acid and 2-hydroxyquinoline). The above-mentioned honey showed interesting features and was a good representation of the vegetation of this area. Our study pointed out the importance of relying on multiple analytical techniques for the characterization of honey and the advisability of a technical support toward beekeepers to correctly describe and valorise their product.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21755266,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nitric oxide synthesis and biological functions of nitric oxide released from ruthenium compounds.\nDuring three decades, an enormous number of studies have demonstrated the critical role of nitric oxide (NO) as a second messenger engaged in the activation of many systems including vascular smooth muscle relaxation. The underlying cellular mechanisms involved in vasodilatation are essentially due to soluble guanylyl-cyclase (sGC) modulation in the cytoplasm of vascular smooth cells. sGC activation culminates in cyclic GMP (cGMP) production, which in turn leads to protein kinase G (PKG) activation. NO binds to the sGC heme moiety, thereby activating this enzyme. Activation of the NO-sGC-cGMP-PKG pathway entails Ca(2+) signaling reduction and vasodilatation. Endothelium dysfunction leads to decreased production or bioavailability of endogenous NO that could contribute to vascular diseases. Nitrosyl ruthenium complexes have been studied as a new class of NO donors with potential therapeutic use in order to supply the NO deficiency. In this context, this article shall provide a brief review of the effects exerted by the NO that is enzymatically produced via endothelial NO-synthase (eNOS) activation and by the NO released from NO donor compounds in the vascular smooth muscle cells on both conduit and resistance arteries, as well as veins. In addition, the involvement of the nitrite molecule as an endogenous NO reservoir engaged in vasodilatation will be described.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":936702,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Carbohydrate tolerance and behavior of insulin in the glucose infusion test in persons with normal weight with prediabetic suspicion].\nIn altogether 289 persons with normal weight with suspicion of the existence of a prestage of diabetes the 2 hour's glucose infusion test was carried out. In these cases 61% of the test persons showed a normal, 8% a critical, 26% a pathological and 5% a manifest diabetic metabolic condition. A reduction of the initial and late phase of the insulin secretion provable with deterioration of the carbohydrate tolerance must be regarded as cause of metabolic disturbances. The lack of a significant relation between diabetic heredofamiliality and carbohydrate tolerance indirectly refers to the importance of the environmental factors which on the basis of a genetic defect have a decisive influence of the morbidity caused by diabetes. The reduction of the initial phase which is provable already in potential diabetes, particularly clearly it is to be demonstrated in pathological and manifest diabetic metabolic situation, may be regarded as an early symptom of diabetes. Carbohydrate tolerance and preparation of insulin were reduced in decenniums of older age.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30099396,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Laparoscopic or open distal gastrectomy after neoadjuvant chemotherapy for advanced gastric cancer: study protocol for a randomised phase II trial.\nCurrent guidelines recommend open gastrectomy with D2 lymph node dissection and adjuvant chemotherapy as the standard treatment for advanced gastric cancer. However, the prognosis is not satisfactory. Perioperative chemotherapy has been proposed to improve survival. Although still in debate, the efficacy of laparoscopic distal gastrectomy (LDG) in patients with advanced gastric cancer has been demonstrated in a few trials. Therefore, LDG after neoadjuvant chemotherapy can be a candidate for future standard treatment on advanced distal gastric cancer. We propose a randomised phase II trial to compare LDG and open distal gastrectomy (ODG) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy for advanced gastric cancer. To test the efficacy and safety, a randomised, open-label, single-centre, phase II trial was designed to evaluate the non-inferiority of LDG compared with ODG after neoadjuvant chemotherapy, with 3-year recurrence-free survival as the primary endpoint. The chosen critical value of a non-inferiority margin was an increase of <8%. The study started in 2015 and enrolled 96 patients according to a prior sample size calculation. Intention-to-treat and per-protocol approach will be used for efficacy analysis, and as-treated analysis will be applied for safety analysis. The survival curves will be constructed as time-to-event plots using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared using log-rank tests and Cox proportional hazards model. All statistical analyses will be conducted in standard statistical software with a significance level of 0.05. This study was approved by the Peking University Cancer Hospital Ethics Committee. The results will be submitted for publication in peer-reviewed journals. NCT02404753; Pre-results.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6171779,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Antiviral activities of hybrids of two major human leukocyte interferons.\nFour hybrid human leukocyte interferon (LeIF or IFN-alpha) genes have been constructed by in vitro recombination of LeIF-A (IFN-alpha 2) and LeIF-D (IFN-alpha 1) genes at common restriction endonuclease sites located within their coding regions. These hybrid genes have been expressed in E. coli under trp promoter control. The interferons produced [LeIF-AD (BglII), -AD (PvuII), -DA (BglII), -DA (PvuII)] have antiviral properties distinct from the parental molecules LeIF-A and -D, varying considerably in their abilities to inhibit plaque formation by different viruses in a range of mammalian cells. All six of the cloned LeIFs exhibit the heat stability, pH 2 stability and antigenic specificity of natural leukocyte interferons.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28723753,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Tumor necrosis factor alpha-238G\/A polymorphism and risk of breast cancer: An update by meta-analysis.\nThe association between the tumor necrosis factor-alpha gene (TNF-a) -238G\/A polymorphism and the breast cancer has been analyzed in several studies, but the results have been inconclusive. We then performed a meta-analysis to get a precise estimation of the association. Eight case-control studies with a total of 37,257 cases and 39,564 controls were identified by searching the ISI Web of Knowledge database and the PubMed database up to August 2014. Overall, no association was found between TNF-alpha-238G\/A polymorphism and breast cancer in any of genetic model (additive model OR = 1.06, 95%CI: 0.94-1.21, Pheterogeneity = .02; homozygous model OR = 1.04, 95%CI: 0.83-1.30, Pheterogeneity = .98; dominant model OR = 1.06, 95%CI: 0.92-1.21, Pheterogeneity = .01; recessive model OR = 1.04, 95%CI: 0.83-1.30, Pheterogeneity = .98). Furthermore, no significant association was identified when stratified by ethnicity (Caucasian, Asian). This meta-analysis indicated that the TNF-alpha-238G\/A polymorphism is not associated with breast cancer risk in the overall population.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16990614,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Epithelial cell apoptosis by fas ligand-positive myofibroblasts in lung fibrosis.\nThe Fas\/Fas ligand (FasL) apoptotic pathway has been shown to be involved in bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis. We examined the hypothesis that myofibroblasts from fibrotic lungs possess a cytotoxic phenotype that causes apoptosis of epithelial cells via the Fas\/FasL pathway. We show in vivo epithelial cell apoptosis and associated upregulation of Fas and apoptotic Fas pathway genes in epithelial cells of lungs with bleomycin-induced fibrosis. In addition, we show that FasL surface molecules are overexpressed on alpha-SMA-positive cells in mice with bleomycin-induced fibrosis, and in humans with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. This enables the molecules to kill Fas-positive epithelial cells. In contrast, FasL-deficient myofibroblasts lose this myofibroblast cytotoxic phenotype, both in vivo and in vitro. In vivo, there was no bleomycin-induced epithelial cell apoptosis, as assessed by specific M30 staining in chimeric FasL-deficient mice that lacked FasL-positive myofibroblasts. In vitro, FasL-positive, but not FasL-negative myofibroblasts, induce mouse lung epithelial cell apoptosis. Thus myofibroblast cytotoxicity may underlie the absence of re-epithelialization, resulting in persistent lung fibrosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29556665,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Maxillary distomolars: case reports, differential diagnosis and literature review.\nSupernumerary teeth can be found anywhere in the oral cavity, during deciduous or permanent dentition, in males and females. They are rare, owned to various genetic or environmental factors and usually impacted. This article first reports three cases of young adult patients coming to the office for other reasons than their maxillary distomolars and without any pathology caused by them. The decision of keeping or removing these teeth was made based on other associated factors. The fourth case is one of a 40-year-old partially edentulous male patient, also with a good general health and no other associated condition, having a unilateral maxillary fourth molar; it was small, only partially erupted, with a normal morphology with crown and root and an impacted perpendicular position on the distal face of the third molar. It was extracted because of the periodontal and carious complications that it caused to the third molar facing it. The last reported case is a 64-year-old partially edentulous female patient with a maxillary tooth very similar to a distomolar because of its form and position; it was extracted because it interfered with the new removable partial denture treatment plan. The differential diagnosis between a distomolar and an anatomical variant of a third molar was difficult to make even using panoramic X-ray, also because of a very small inferior third molar. In young patients, distomolars are rather accidentally discovered during radiographic examination; later in life, they can cause both pathological issues and difficulties in diagnosis and prosthetic treatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29545887,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Role of mitofusin 2 in the protective effect of breviscapine against hepatic ischemia\/reperfusion injury in rats.\nThe purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of breviscapine injection on hepatic ischemia\/reperfusion (I\/R) injury in rats. To explore the relevance and discuss the underlying mechanism of mitofusin 2 (Mfn2) in hepatic I\/R injury, 40 Sprague-Dawley male rats were randomly and equally divided into five groups (n=8 per group) as follows: Sham, I\/R + normal saline 1 (NS1), I\/R + breviscapine 1 (Bre1), I\/R + NS2 and I\/R + Bre2 groups. Groups 1 and 2 represented ischemia for 20 and 60 min, respectively. Breviscapine or normal saline was injected via the tail vein (single dose of 10 mg\/kg) 1 h prior to surgery and immediately postoperatively. The classical model of hepatic I\/R injury was used in the present study. The blood and liver samples of different groups were collected following reperfusion to observe serum transaminases and histopathological changes. Alterations in Mfn2, cytosolic cytochrome c and cleaved caspase-3 were additionally assessed. The results demonstrated that breviscapine improved liver function, based on histopathological analysis, and decreased levels of the liver enzymes aspartate and alanine aminotransferase in the I\/R + Bre groups compared with the I\/R + NS group (P<0.05). The expression of Mfn2 was significantly increased in the I\/R + Bre groups (P<0.05), whereas the expression of caspase-3 and cytosolic cytochrome c protein was decreased in the I\/R + Bre groups (P<0.05) compared with the I\/R + NS group. These data provided substantial evidence that breviscapine treatment exerted a protective effect against damage induced by hepatic I\/R. This protective effect was possibly due to its ability to inhibit I\/R-induced apoptosis and promote the expression of Mfn2.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11981937,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Diagnosis of an intracranial arteriovenous malformation using extracranial carotid Doppler sonography.\nCarotid sonography is a well-established technique in the evaluation of patients with neurologic symptoms. We describe the case of a woman in whom duplex Doppler sonography of the extracranial carotid circulation showed high-velocity diastolic flow and a low resistance index without turbulence or morphologic abnormality of the artery. A suspected cause of this finding was low-resistance distal circulation secondary to low-resistance intracranial circulation due to an arteriovenous malformation. This diagnosis was later confirmed by CT. Because of the significant risk of bleeding associated with an asymptomatic intracranial arteriovenous malformation, duplex Doppler sonographic findings suggesting a low-resistance waveform in the presence of a morphologically normal carotid artery should prompt further imaging.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9557456,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Does cholecystectomy always resolve biliary disease?\nTo evaluate long-term effects of cholecystectomy on typical gallstone symptoms and associated digestive syndrome. Clinical prospective study on selected patients. First Surgical Clinic--Catania University. 143 gallstone patients, divided in highly symptomatic Group 1 (79) and mild symptomatic Group 2 (64), who underwent cholecystectomy during period 1991\/92. 125\/143 patients compiled a set questionnaire to detect any subjective postoperative disorders and to evaluate whether they were similar to preoperative symptoms or were new ones. 125\/143 patients completed the 12-month follow-up programme, which revealed a 30% (38\/125) with postcholecystectomy symptoms and 13.4% (17) with a postcholecystectomy syndrome. Moreover, 10% (13) of the patients reported the same digestive symptoms as before treatment. Statistical analysis confirmed that cholecystectomy was efficacious in curing gallstone related symptoms and digestive disorders in both Groups with a general improvement in clinical picture (p > 0.01). No significant statistical difference in the incidence of postcholecystectomy dyspeptic symptoms was found between the 2 Groups. Cholecystectomy is often efficacious in curing both typical gallstone related symptoms and digestive syndrome. Cholecystectomy patterns of failure in curing digestive disorders is unpredictable preoperatively on the basis of clinical features of the disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28357232,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Longevity pathways and maintenance of the proteome: the role of autophagy and mitophagy during yeast ageing.\nAgeing is a complex and multi-factorial process that results in the progressive accumulation of molecular alterations that disrupt different cellular functions. The budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is an important model organism that has significantly contributed to the identification of conserved molecular and cellular determinants of ageing. The nutrient-sensing pathways are well-recognized modulators of longevity from yeast to mammals, but their downstream effectors and outcomes on different features of ageing process are still poorly understood. A hypothesis that is attracting increased interest is that one of the major functions of these \"longevity pathways\" is to contribute to the maintenance of the proteome during ageing. In support of this hypothesis, evidence shows that TOR\/Sch9 and Ras\/PKA pathways are important regulators of autophagy that in turn are essential for healthy cellular ageing. It is also well known that mitochondria homeostasis and function regulate lifespan, but how mitochondrial dynamics, mitophagy and biogenesis are regulated during ageing remains to be elucidated. This review describes recent findings that shed light on how longevity pathways and metabolic status impact maintenance of the proteome in both yeast ageing paradigms. These findings demonstrate that yeast remain a powerful model system for elucidating these relationships and their influence on ageing regulation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15249853,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2013-20":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Out-of-pocket health care expenditures among older Americans with dementia.\nThe number of older individuals with dementia will likely increase significantly in the next decades, but there is currently limited information regarding the out-of-pocket expenditures (OOPE) for medical care made by cognitively impaired individuals and their families. We used data from the 1993 and 1995 Asset and Health Dynamics Study, a nationally representative longitudinal survey of older Americans, to determine the OOPE for individuals with and without dementia. Dementia was identified in 1993 using a modified version of the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status for self-respondents, and proxy assessment of memory and judgment for proxy respondents. In 1995, respondents reported OOPE over the prior 2 years for: 1) hospital and nursing home stays, 2) outpatient services, 3) home care, and 4) prescription medications. The adjusted mean annual OOPE was 1,350 US dollars for those without dementia, 2,150 US dollars for those with mild\/moderate dementia, and 3,010 US dollars for those with severe dementia (p < 0.01). Expenditures for hospital\/nursing home care (1,770 per year US dollars) and prescription medications (800 per year US dollars) were the largest OOPE components for those with severe dementia. We conclude that dementia is independently associated with significantly higher OOPE for medical care compared with those with normal cognitive function. Severe dementia is associated with a doubling of OOPE, mainly due to higher payments for long-term care. Given that the number of older Americans with dementia will likely increase significantly in the coming decades, changes in public funding aimed at reducing OOPE for both long-term care and prescription medications would have considerable impact on individuals with dementia and their families.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25283816,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nanoporous hollow transition metal chalcogenide nanosheets synthesized via the anion-exchange reaction of metal hydroxides with chalcogenide ions.\nNanoporous hollow transition metal chalcogenides are of special interest for a variety of promising applications. Although some advanced synthetic methods have been reported, the development of a facile and general strategy to fabricate porous hollow nanostructures of transition metal chalcogenides, especially with enhanced electrocatalytic performance, still remains highly challenged. Herein, we report a facile chemical transformation strategy to prepare nanoporous hollow Co3S4 nanosheets via the anion exchange reaction of Co(OH)2 with sulfide ions. The chemical transformation mechanism involves the as-formed layer of nanoporous cobalt sulfide on Co(OH)2 driven by the anion-exchange-reaction and lattice mismatch induced quick strain release, a following diffusion-effect-dominated core-shell hollow intermediate with hollow interiors, and subsequent Ostwald ripening growth of hollow nanosheets at elevated temperatures. This anion-exchange strategy of transition metal hydroxides with chalcogenide ions is also suitable for fabricating nanoporous hollow nanosheets of other metal chalcogenides (e.g., CoSe2, CoTe2, CdS, and NiS). The as-prepared nanoporous hollow Co3S4 nanosheets are found to be highly active and stable for electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37843206,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Autophagy in neural stem cells and glia for brain health and diseases.\nAutophagy is a multifaceted cellular process that not only maintains the homeostatic and adaptive responses of the brain but is also dynamically involved in the regulation of neural cell generation, maturation, and survival. Autophagy facilities the utilization of energy and the microenvironment for developing neural stem cells. Autophagy arbitrates structural and functional remodeling during the cell differentiation process. Autophagy also plays an indispensable role in the maintenance of stemness and homeostasis in neural stem cells during essential brain physiology and also in the instigation and progression of diseases. Only recently, studies have begun to shed light on autophagy regulation in glia (microglia, astrocyte, and oligodendrocyte) in the brain. Glial cells have attained relatively less consideration despite their unquestioned influence on various aspects of neural development, synaptic function, brain metabolism, cellular debris clearing, and restoration of damaged or injured tissues. Thus, this review composes pertinent information regarding the involvement of autophagy in neural stem cells and glial regulation and the role of this connexion in normal brain functions, neurodevelopmental disorders, and neurodegenerative diseases. This review will provide insight into establishing a concrete strategic approach for investigating pathological mechanisms and developing therapies for brain diseases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19025245,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"An examination of \"nonleadership\": from laissez-faire leadership to leader reward omission and punishment omission.\nLaissez-faire leadership has received much less attention than have the 3 transactional leadership dimensions of the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ). However, laissez-faire leadership has shown strong negative relationships with various leadership criteria, and the absence of leadership (laissez-faire leadership) may be just as important as is the presence of other types of leadership. This article focuses on a single type of laissez-faire leadership (i.e., the lack of response to subordinate performance). Using a reinforcement perspective, the authors developed measures and examined the effects of the lack of performance-contingent reinforcement in 2 forms: reward omission (leader nonreinforcement of good subordinate performance) and punishment omission (leader nonreinforcement of poor subordinate performance). They found strong evidence in support of the construct validity of the new measures and found that omission was related to follower satisfaction with the leader, subordinate-rated leader effectiveness, subordinate-perceived role clarity, and supervisor-rated subordinate performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32349833,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Decriminalizing LGBTQ+: Reproducing and resisting mental health inequities.\nSecure settings are not queer because lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, Two Spirit, and asexual (LGBTQ+) people populate them, and neither are LGBTQ+ people inherently criminal because they are found in those spaces. Queer people bear disproportionate health, mental health, and social inequities that have had, historically and currently, the effect to criminalize them. This review discusses effective language and ideologies when working with LGBTQ+ people in secure settings. Major health, mental health, and social inequities are reviewed, along with the applied framework of minority stress. Then, the process of criminalization is diagrammed across the phases of predetainment, being in the system, and through re-entering the community. Finally, multilevel strategies are offered to decriminalize LGBTQ+ people ideologically and in practice.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30668323,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"A chemical compound from fruit extract of Juglans mandshurica inhibits melanogenesis through p-ERK-associated MITF degradation.\nTrials for regulation of abnormal hyperpigmentation from the use of natural products have been going on for years. Leaf and root extracts from Juglans mandshurica are reported to function as antioxidants and to suppress allergic dermatitis. However, studies evaluating its fruit extract and the chemical compounds from the fruit extract are lacking in dermatology fields, including melanogenesis. The aim of this study is to understand the effect of the fruit extract from J. mandshurica on pigmentation and to search for specific chemical compounds that affect melanogenesis. After screening out any anti-melanotic effects of the fruit extract from J. mandshurica in B16F10 melanoma cells, three major phenolic compounds isolated from the fruit extract were tested by western blot analysis for expression of microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) and tyrosinase. Their effect on B16F10 melanoma cells with regard to melanogenesis was also confirmed in primary human epidermal melanocytes (PHEMs). PD98059 was tested to observe the compounds' signaling role in the extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase (ERK)-pathway. Fruit extract from J. mandshurica showed anti-melanotic effects in B16F10 melanoma cells. After chemical compounds were isolated from the fruit extracts, three phenolic compounds were evaluated for anti-melanotic effects. 2-[4-(3-hydroxypropyl)-2-methoxyphenoxy]-1,3-propanediol (compound 1) showed the highest suppression effect among the three compounds. In B16F10 melanoma cells and PHEMs, reduced melanin contents were observed after treatment with the compound (1). Experiments using a blocker of ERK showed that the inhibitory effect of the compound (1) on melanogenesis was dependent on ERK-associated MITF degradation. A chemical constituent of Juglans mandshurica Maxim. induces an inhibitory mechanism to melanogenesis. It has the potential to become a whitening agent in the medical field, though this requires further clinical investigation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23878896,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Postmortem detection of accidental methadone intoxication in a 10-year-old girl].\nIntoxications in children still account for a large part of the cases reported to poison control centres. Among drug intoxications, substitution drugs have gained in importance lately. Careless storage of take-home medications puts children living in the same household at risk. The authors report on a fatal case of a 10-year-old girl who died from intoxication with methadone belonging to a carer. The accidental intoxication had not been diagnosed at the hospital where the girl was treated for suspected meningitis. The question of medical malpractice is discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18588531,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Targeted mutation of the calbindin D28K gene disrupts circadian rhythmicity and entrainment.\nThe suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is the principal circadian pacemaker in mammals. A salient feature of the SCN is that cells of a particular phenotype are topographically organized; this organization defines functionally distinct subregions that interact to generate coherent rhythmicity. In Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus), a dense population of directly retinorecipient calbindin D(28K) (CalB) neurons in the caudal SCN marks a subregion critical for circadian rhythmicity. In mouse SCN, a dense cluster of CalB neurons occurs during early postnatal development, but in the adult CalB neurons are dispersed through the SCN. In the adult retina CalB colocalizes with melanopsin-expressing ganglion cells. In the present study, we explored the role of CalB in modulating circadian function and photic entrainment by investigating mice with a targeted mutation of the CalB gene (CalB-\/- mice). In constant darkness (DD), CalB-\/- animals either become arrhythmic (40%) or exhibit low-amplitude locomotor rhythms with marked activity during subjective day (60%). Rhythmic clock gene expression is blunted in these latter animals. Importantly, CalB-\/- mice exhibit anomalies in entrainment revealed following transfer from a light : dark cycle to DD. Paradoxically, responses to acute light pulses measured by behavioral phase shifts, SCN FOS protein and Period1 mRNA expression are normal. Together, the developmental pattern of CalB expression in mouse SCN, the presence of CalB in photoresponsive ganglion cells and the abnormalities seen in CalB-\/- mice suggest an important role for CalB in mouse circadian function.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3039973,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Antibody responses to early antigens of varicella-zoster virus (VZV) during varicella and zoster.\nThe antibody responses to membrane and early antigens and thymidine kinase of varicella-zoster virus (VZV) were studied in sera during both varicella and zoster by a test with fluorescent antibody to membrane antigen (FAMA), staining the biochemically transformed cells by the immunofluorescent technique and neutralization of virus-specific thymidine kinase activity, respectively. Similar increases in FAMA antibody titers were demonstrated in sera from patients with varicella and zoster. IgM was detected in both groups, but appeared earlier during varicella than during zoster. Furthermore, the antibody titers to early antigens and virus-specific thymidine kinase were higher in patients with zoster than in those with varicella. These data suggest that different types of antibody responses occur during varicella and zoster.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6730636,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Should elderly hypertensive patients be treated with a beta-blocker-diuretic combination?].\n30 hypertensive patients aged over 60 years underwent an antihypertensive treatment for a time of 3 months with Viskaldix . There was an excellent hypotensive effect in supine and standing position and no bradycardia or orthostatic dysregulation occurred. Metabolic parameters were not influenced, and this is of great importance in elderly patients. It seems notable that elderly patients may benefit from a beta-blocker therapy, as there is clinical or subclinical coronary heart disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9141624,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Regulation of parathyroid hormone-related protein secretion and mRNA expression in normal human keratinocytes and a squamous carcinoma cell line.\nParathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) has been identified as a causative factor in the pathogenesis of humoral hypercalcemia of malignancy (HHM). The regulation and mechanisms of PTHrP secretion in most normal and malignant cells are unknown. PTHrP secretion, mRNA expression, and transcription were measured in neoplastic human squamous carcinoma cells (A253) and normal human foreskin keratinocytes (NHFK) by radioimmunoassay, RNase protection assay, and transient transfections of the 5'-flanking region of human PTHrP in a luciferase expression vector. Mechanisms of PTHrP secretion were investigated using chemicals (monensin, colchicine, cytochalasin B, guanosine 5'-[gamma-thio]triphosphate (GTPgammaS)) that interfere with or facilitate intracellular transport. Monensin inhibited PTHrP secretion in both NHFK and A253 cells. Ultrastructurally, monensin caused dilatation of rough endoplasmic reticulum and the formation of numerous cytoplasmic secretory vacuoles in both cell lines. Colchicine decreased PTHrP production in NHFK cells and stimulated PTHrP production and mRNA levels in A253 cells. Colchicine also stimulated transcription of the PTHrP-luciferase reporter gene. Cytochalasin B stimulated PTHrP secretion and mRNA expression in A253 cells, but had no effect in NHFK cells. GTPgammaS had no effect on PTHrP secretion in either cell line. It was concluded that PTHrP secretion is dependent on the constitutive movement of secretory vesicles to the cytoplasmic membrane and regulation of PTHrP secretion and mRNA expression are altered in squamous carcinoma cells compared to normal human keratinocytes in vitro.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25301229,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A review of neuraminidase inhibitor susceptibility in influenza strains.\nInfluenza human infections are considered as a persistent global public health issue. Whereas vaccination is important for prevention, given its limitations, antiviral therapy is at the forefront of treatment, while it also plays a significant role in prevention. Currently, two classes of drugs, adamantanes (M2 blockers) and neuraminidase inhibitors (NAIs), are available for treatment and chemoprophylaxis of influenza infections. Given the resistance patterns of circulating influenza strains, adamantanes are not currently recommended. The current review mainly focuses on the development of resistance to NAIs among A and B subtypes of influenza virus strains over the last 5 years. 'Permissive' drift mutations and reassortment of viral gene segments have resulted in NAI oseltamivir-resistant A\/(H1N1) variants that rapidly became predominant worldwide in the period 2007-2009. However, the prevalence of antiviral resistance to NAI zanamivir remains relatively low. In addition, the recently developed NAIs, peramivir and laninamivir, while licensed in certain countries, are still under evaluation and only a few reports have described resistance to peramivir. Although in 2014, the majority of circulating human influenza viruses remains susceptible to all NAIs, the emergence of oseltamivir-resistant influenza variants that could retain viral transmissibility, highlights the necessity for enhanced epidemiological and microbiological surveillance and clinical assessment of antiviral resistance.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36938778,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"L-Citrulline: A novel hypothermic amino acid promoting thermotolerance in heat-exposed chickens.\nWith global warming becoming of increasing concern, poultry farms are experiencing a concomitant increase in heat stress. Chickens are very sensitive to high ambient temperature (HT), so the development of novel nutrients that will help deal with the challenge posed by heat stress is vital. We revealed that L-citrulline (L-Cit) can reduce body temperature in chickens. Orally administered L-Cit solution has been found to provide heat tolerance in chickens and to result in reduced food intake. Heat exposure and oral administration of L-Cit led to increased levels of plasma insulin, whereas heat stress led to a decline in plasma thyroxine. Dietary administration of L-Cit was also shown to be effective to reduce heat stress in broiler chickens. Moreover, L-Cit was found to be metabolized in the liver within 1 h of its administration, and in L-Cit-treated broiler chicks, the Cit-Arginine cycle and the Krebs cycle were found to be active. L-Cit has not yet been approved for inclusion in the poultry diet, so it is important to find alternative sources of L-Cit. Taken together, these findings suggest that L-Cit may serve as an important novel nutrient with the ability to produce heat tolerance in chickens under HT.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18605215,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2017-13":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Light harvesting and energy transfer in multiporphyrin-modified CdSe nanoparticles.\nMultiporphyrin-modified CdSe nanoparticles (CdSe-H2P) were prepared to elucidate the interaction between chromophores and luminescent semiconducting nanoparticles in the excited and ground states. The CdSe-H2P nanoparticles were obtained by place-exchange reactions of hexadecylamine-thiophenol-modified CdSe nanoparticles with porphyrin alkanethiols in toluene. The number of porphyrin molecules on the surface of a single CdSe nanoparticle increased with increasing reaction time to reach a saturated maximum of 21. The porphyrins as well as the core in CdSe-H2P can absorb UV\/Vis radiation. Steady-state emission and emission-lifetime measurements reveal efficient energy transfer from the CdSe excited state to the porphyrins in the CdSe-H2P nanoparticles. The resulting porphyrin excited singlet state is not quenched by the CdSe core. These unique properties are in sharp contrast with those of multiporphyrin-modified metal and silica nanoparticles. Thus, semiconducting nanoparticle-multiporphyrin composites are highly promising as novel artificial photosynthetic materials.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25402800,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Inverse analysis of light scattered at a small angle for characterization of a transparent dielectric fiber.\nThe objective of this paper is to discuss the possibility of noninvasive optical characterization of a transparent (glass) fiber by means of low-coherent light scattering. It will be shown that, by adjusting the temporal coherence of incident light, it is possible to select these specific orders of scattering, which are related to diffraction. Discussion will be devoted to the direct scattering and the inverse problem, where an inference about the diameter of a multilayered and transparent fiber is accomplished.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17916671,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Short-term treadmill running in the rat: what kind of stressor is it?\nThe use of short-term (1-5 days) treadmill running is becoming increasingly common as a model to study physiological adaptations following the exercise. Although the beneficial effects of acute exercise seem clear, a paucity of data exist describing potential markers of stress in response to forced running. We subjected male and female Sprague-Dawley rats to 0, 1, 2, 5, or 10 days of treadmill running. Twenty-four to 32 h after the last bout of exercise animals were killed and examined for training-induced changes in several physiological variables. No effect of skeletal citrate synthase activity was observed in the male animals after any duration, and only at 10 days of running did females show a significant increase in citrate synthase. Myocardial heat shock protein 72 (HSP72) content was higher in male rats than female rats, and exercise led to increased HSP72 in both sexes, although the time course was different between males and females. Animals displayed several markers of systemic stress in response to the treadmill running, and this was done in a sex-dependent manner. Serum corticosterone was significantly elevated in both sexes 24 h after exercise in three of four exercise groups. Corticosterone-binding globulin was higher in females, and decreased after running in female rats. Body and spleen weights decreased in males (but not females) in response to the exercise training, and running did not alter adrenal gland weights in either sex. These data indicate that in response to short-term treadmill running both male and female rats show signs of systemic stress, but that the pattern of changes occurs in a sex-specific manner.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25420558,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Decreased expression and aberrant methylation of RASSF5A correlates with malignant progression of gastric cardia adenocarcinoma.\nDue to alternative splicing and differential promoter usage, RASSF5 exists in at least three isoforms, RASSF5A, RASSF5B, and RASSF5C. Expression and epigenetic inactivation of different transcripts of RASSF5 in gastric cardia adenocarcinoma (GCA) progression have not been evaluated. Quantitative real-time RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry (IHC) methods were used respectively to detect the role of RASSF5A, RASSF5B, and RASSF5C in 132 GCA cases and BS-MSP method was used to clarify the critical CpG sites of RASSF5A. Expression of RASSF5A and RASSF5C transcripts were easily detectable in all normal gastric cardia epithelial tissues; however, expression of RASSF5B was rare detected in normal gastric cardia epithelial tissues and tumor tissues. Both RASSF5A and RASSF5C expression were frequently downregulated in GCA tumor tissues and RASSF5A was more commonly down-regulated compared to RASSF5C. Abnormal reduction of RASSF5A was more commonly observed in advanced stage and poor differentiated tumors. The methylation frequency of CpG island 1 region of RASSF5A in GCA tumor tissues was significantly higher than that in corresponding normal tissues and was inversely correlated with RASSF5A expression. Aberrant promoter methylation of RASSF5C was not found in GCA. RASSF5A methylation and protein expression were independently associated with GCA patients' survival. These results indicate that down-regulation of RASSF5A and RASSF5C expression is a tumor-specific phenomenon and RASSF5A may be a more common target for inactivation in GCA. Inactivation of RASSF5A through CpG island 1 methylation may play an important role in GCA carcinogenesis and may serve as a prognostic biomarker for GCA.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26497516,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Fc\u03b3R requirements leading to successful immunotherapy.\nMonoclonal antibody (mAb) immunotherapy is currently experiencing an unprecedented amount of success, delivering blockbuster sales for the pharmaceutical industry. Having experienced several false dawns and overcoming technical issues which limited progress, we are now entering a golden period where mAbs are becoming a mainstay of treatment regimes for diseases ranging from cancer to autoimmunity. In this review, we discuss how these mAbs are most likely working and focus in particular on the key receptors that they interact with to precipitate their therapeutic effects. Although their targets may vary, their engagement with Fc\u03b3 receptors (Fc\u03b3Rs) on numerous immune effector cells is almost universal, and here we review their roles in delivering successful immunotherapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25506309,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Simple Method to Produce in vitro Pyrenophora tritici-repentis Teleomorph.\nA fungus Pyrenophora tritici-repentis induces tan spot of wheat which is a foliar disease that causes yield loss to wheat crops worldwide. In this study, a new, simple and non-costly technique was performed to produce the sexual stage of this fungus in culture, within 9 weeks using wheat straw. This protocol will be helpful to researchers studying the biology of sexual stage development, disease epidemiology and genetics of this fungus.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23327290,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Immunoglobulin heavy chain\/light chain pair measurement is associated with survival in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.\nElevated serum free light chains (FLCs) have been associated with an unfavorable prognosis in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). The aim of this study was to determine the clinical relevance of a quantitative assessment of intact circulating immunoglobulin (Ig), using serum Ig heavy chain\/light chain pair (HLC) measurements in patients with DLBCL. FLC and HLC were measured in 409 serum samples of patients with DLBCL included in the LNH03-B clinical trial program of the Groupe d'Etudes des Lymphomes de l'Adulte (GELA). Patients with an abnormal IgM\u03ba\/IgM\u03bb ratio or an abnormal FLC ratio more frequently displayed adverse clinical characteristics. Patients with abnormal IgM\u03ba\/IgM\u03bb ratios had inferior progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) as compared to patients with a normal ratio in the overall cohort (5-year PFS 44.9% vs. 69.3%, p = 0.0003 and 5-year OS 50.8% vs. 78.1%, p = 0.0003) and in the R-CHOP (rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone) cohort (5-year OS 43.5% vs. 70.3%, p = 0.003). In multivariate analysis, including elevated FLC\/HLC and International Prognostic Index (IPI), an abnormal IgM\u03ba\/IgM\u03bb ratio (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.54, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.03-2.3, p = 0.03) remained predictive of shorter progression-free survival. Gene expression profile experiments and immunohistochemistry indicate that this measurement is at least partially related to tumor cell secretion. Both elevated serum FLCs and an abnormal IgM\u03ba\/IgM\u03bb ratio are associated with unfavorable outcomes in patients with DLBCL treated by R-CHOP.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26424119,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Interventions to promote adherence to antiretroviral therapy in Africa: a network meta-analysis.\nAdherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) is necessary for the improvement of the health of patients and for public health. We sought to determine the comparative effectiveness of different interventions for improving ART adherence in HIV-infected people living in Africa. We searched for randomised trials of interventions to promote antiretroviral adherence within adults in Africa. We searched AMED, CINAHL, Embase, Medline (via PubMed), and ClinicalTrials.gov from inception to Oct 31, 2014, with the terms \"HIV\", \"ART\", \"adherence\", and \"Africa\". We created a network of the interventions by pooling the published and individual patients' data for comparable treatments and comparing them across the individual interventions with Bayesian network meta-analyses. The primary outcome was adherence defined as the proportion of patients meeting trial defined criteria; the secondary endpoint was viral suppression. We obtained data for 14 randomised controlled trials, with 7110 patients. Interventions included daily and weekly short message service (SMS; text message) messaging, calendars, peer supporters, alarms, counselling, and basic and enhanced standard of care (SOC). Compared with SOC, we found distinguishable improvement in self-reported adherence with enhanced SOC (odds ratio [OR] 1\u00b746, 95% credibility interval [CrI] 1\u00b706-1\u00b798), weekly SMS messages (1\u00b765, 1\u00b725-2\u00b718), counselling and SMS combined (2\u00b707, 1\u00b722-3\u00b753), and treatment supporters (1\u00b783, 1\u00b736-2\u00b745). We found no compelling evidence for the remaining interventions. Results were similar when using viral suppression as an outcome, although the network contained less evidence than that for adherence. Treatment supporters with enhanced SOC (1\u00b746, 1\u00b709-1\u00b797) and weekly SMS messages (1\u00b755, 1\u00b701-2\u00b738) were significantly better than basic SOC. Several recommendations for improving adherence are unsupported by the available evidence. These findings can inform future intervention choices for improving ART adherence in low-income settings. None.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28369204,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Prediction of Bloodstream Infection Due to Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus in Patients Undergoing Leukemia Induction or Hematopoietic Stem-Cell Transplantation.\nBloodstream infection (BSI) to due vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) is an important complication of hematologic malignancy. Determining when to use empiric anti-VRE antibiotic therapy in this population remains a clinical challenge. A single-center cohort representing 664 admissions for induction or hematopoietic stem-cell transplant (HSCT) from 2006 to 2014 was selected. We derived a prediction score using risk factors for VRE BSI and evaluated the model's predictive performance by calculating it for each of 16232 BSI at-risk inpatient days. VRE BSI incidence was 6.5% of admissions (2.7 VRE BSI per 1000 BSI at-risk days). Adjusted 1-year mortality and length of stay were significantly higher in patients with VRE BSI. VRE colonization (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 8.4; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 3.4-20.6; P < .0001), renal insufficiency (aOR = 2.4; 95% CI = 1.0-5.8; P = .046), aminoglycoside use (aOR = 4.7; 95% CI = 2.2-9.8; P < .0001), and antianaerobic antibiotic use (aOR = 2.8; 95% CI = 1.3-5.8; P = .007) correlated most closely with VRE BSI. A prediction model with optimal performance included these factors plus gastrointestinal disturbance, severe neutropenia, and prior beta-lactam antibiotic use. The score effectively risk-stratified patients (area under the receiver operating curve = 0.84; 95% CI = 0.79-0.89). At a threshold of \u22655 points, per day probability of VRE BSI was increased nearly 4-fold. This novel predictive score is based on risk factors reflecting a plausible pathophysiological model for VRE BSI in patients with hematological malignancy. Integrating VRE colonization status with risk factors for developing BSI is a promising method of guiding rational use of empiric anti-VRE antimicrobial therapy in patients with hematological malignancy. Validation of this novel predictive score is needed to confirm clinical utility.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28301904,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Variation in Definitions of Immobility in Pharmacological Thromboprophylaxis Clinical Trials in Medical Inpatients: A Systematic Review.\nAlthough immobility is a common risk factor for venous thromboembolism (VTE) in medical inpatients, lack of a consistent definition of this term may limit accurate assessment of VTE risk for thromboprophylaxis. To examine various definitions of immobility used in recent pharmacological thromboprophylaxis clinical trials. PubMed and relevant references from articles\/reviews from 2008 to 2016 were searched. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and other clinical studies involving adult hospitalized medical patients in acute care hospital settings that used the term immobility were selected. Two investigators independently abstracted data in duplicate, and accuracy was checked by a third investigator. Twenty-one clinical studies were included. There was heterogeneity among individual VTE risk factors, with respect to the definition of immobility in medical inpatients in these trials. Thirteen studies utilized objective criteria to define \"immobility\" including duration (12 studies) and distance or time walked (6 studies). In contrast, 7 studies focused principally on subjective definitions (ie, describing the nature of immobility rather than specifying its quantitative measurement). Three RCTs vaguely defined the level of patient's immobility after hospitalization. Despite the well-known effectiveness of pharmacological thromboprophylaxis for the prevention of VTE in acutely ill medical patients, there is no current consensus on how to define immobility. The heterogeneous nature of definitions of immobility has led to uncertainty about the importance of immobility in VTE risk assessment models. Although clinical studies have incorporated varying definitions of immobility into their inclusion criteria, immobility as a specific VTE risk factor has not been clearly defined.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18606155,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"CD40 ligation mediates plaque-associated tau phosphorylation in beta-amyloid overproducing mice.\nNeuritic dystrophy with amyloid burden and neurofibrillary tangles are pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease. Genetic disruption of CD40 or CD40L alleviates amyloid burden, astrocytosis, and microgliosis in transgenic animal models of Alzheimer's disease. It has been reported that phosphorylated tau-positive dystrophic neurites are observed in transgenic mice over-expressing human mutant beta-amyloid precursor protein (Tg2576). Here, we studied the pattern of phosphorylated tau (labeled with AT8, CP13, PG5, and PHF1 antibodies) and plaques using immunohistochemical techniques. Phosphorylated tau-positive dystrophic neurites were exclusively associated with Congo red-positive plaques as previously reported. Further, we show that CD40L or CD40 deficiency reduces the mean ratio of dystrophic neurite area to congophilic plaque area and the level of expression of cdk5 and p35\/p25 in mice. In addition, we show that in a human neuroblastoma cell line treated with CD40L, cdk5 and p35\/p25 are increased. Together, our data suggest that CD40-CD40L interaction has an effect on tau phosphorylation independent of beta-amyloid pathology, and that this effect may occur through a decrease of cdk5 and p35\/p25.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22687311,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Incidence and severity of retinopathy of prematurity in extremely premature infants.\nTo analyze incidence and severity of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) among extremely premature infants. Retrospective, longitudinal study. We studied the data concerning 207 infants whose gestational ages (GAs) were equal to 27 weeks or fewer and who were admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit between July 2006 and July 2010. Data were extracted from the Canadian Neonatal Network, which maintains clinical information about neonates, and were confirmed by reviewing medical charts. Infants were classified into 2 groups: the GAs of the infants in group 1 were \u2264 25 weeks; those in group 2 had GAs between 26 and 27 weeks. The incidence and severity of ROP were assessed in the total screened population and between groups. The overall incidence of any ROP was 64.7%; 88% of infants in group 1 had any ROP compared to 48% infants in group 2. The overall incidence of type 1 ROP was 11.6%; in group 1 it was 24.4%, compared to 2.5% in group 2. Type 1 ROP was significantly associated with birth weight in grams (p < 0.001; OR = 8.20) and GA (p < 0.001; OR = 2.46). There was no difference in mean postmenstrual age at first ROP onset between group 1 and group 2 (33.5 vs 33.9 weeks, respectively). PMA at time of ROP diagnosis was not associated with development of type 1 ROP (p = 0.75; OR = 0.94; CI 0.62-1.41). Extremely premature infants with lower GA had a higher incidence of type 1 ROP. Earlier presentation of ROP did not predict development of type 1 ROP. No infant with a GA > 26 weeks at birth or birth weight > 1000 g had type 1 ROP.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22691932,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Recommended nutrient intake for dietary fibre: bar set too high for malaysians?\nThis article presents findings from three separate data sets on food consumption in apparently healthy Malaysian adult males and females aged 22-60 years, and secondary data extracted from the Malaysian Adult Nutrition Survey (MANS) 2003. Assessment of food intake by 24-hour recall or the food diary method and use of the nutrient calculator- DietPLUS- to quantify intake of macronutrients and dietary fibre (DF) in the primary data, revealed low mean DF intakes of 10.7\u00b11.0 g\/day (Course participants, n=52), 15.6 \u00b11.2 (University sample, n=103), and 16.1\u00b16.1 (Research Institute staff, n=25). An alarmingly high proportion of subjects (75 to 95%) in these three data sets did not meet the national population intake goal of 20-30 g DF\/day. A list of 39 food items which contain fibre, extracted from the MANS 2003 report as being average amounts consumed daily by each Malaysian adult, provided 19.2 g DF which meant that >50% of Malaysian adults consumed less than the recommended DF intake of 20-30 g\/day. This large deficit of actual intake versus recommended intakes is not new and is also observed in developed western nations. What is of great concern is that the preliminary findings presented in this article indicate that the national population goal of 20-30 g DF\/day may be beyond the habitual diets of the majority of Malaysians. Appropriately, the authors propose the inclusion of a daily minimum requirement for DF intake in the Malaysian Dietary Guidelines, which would somewhat mimic the Malaysian Dietary Guidelines 1999 for dietary fat, as well as the stand taken by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) of the United Kingdom. This minimum requirement, if agreed to, should not be higher than the 16 g DF or so provided by the hypothetical 'high-fibre' healthy diet exemplified in this article.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17920515,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hsp72 release: mechanisms and methodologies.\nTo date there are two mechanisms that are recognized by which heat shock proteins (HSP) are released from cells; a passive release mechanism, including necrotic cell death, severe blunt trauma, surgery and following infection with lytic viruses, and an active release mechanism which involves the non classical protein release pathway in which HSPs are released within highly immunologically potent exosomes and as free HSP. This chapter describes the experimental procedures that have been developed to study the mechanism by which stress induces the release of HSP72 into the circulation and addresses the biological significance of circulating HSP72 to host defense against disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18578531,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Total synthesis of (-)-saliniketals A and B.\nA stereocontrolled total synthesis of the orthinine decarboxylase inhibitors saliniketals A and B is described. Key features of the 17-step route include the use of two boron aldol\/reduction sequences to control six of the nine stereocenters, an intramolecular Wacker-type cyclization to install the bicyclic acetal core, and a late-stage Stille coupling to append the requisite (2 Z,4 E)-dienamide.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19052402,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Azathioprine versus betamethasone for the treatment of parthenium dermatitis: a randomized controlled study.\nParthenium hysterophorus is the commonest cause of airborne contact dermatitis in India. Azathioprine has been shown to be effective and safe in parthenium dermatitis, but there are no reports of comparison of steroids and azathioprine in this condition. To study the therapeutic efficacy of azathioprine versus betamethasone in patients having contact dermatitis to parthenium and compare the side effects of the drugs. Fifty-five patients of airborne contact dermatitis to parthenium were randomly assigned to treatment with azathioprine 100 mg daily (group A) or betamethasone 2 mg daily (group B), for 6 months in a blinded manner. The patients were evaluated every month for 6 months to determine the response to treatment and side effects and then further followed up for another 6 months to determine any relapse. There were 26 patients in group A and 29 in group B, of which 20 patients of group A and 21 of group B completed the study. Nineteen (95%) patients in group A and all 21 (100%) patients in group B had an excellent response (complete remission) to treatment (P=0.0156 vs. 0.0005). The patients in group B, however, had more adverse effects (Fisher exact, P<or=0.05). Nine (45%) patients in group A and 14 (67%) patients in group B relapsed during the post-treatment follow-up. Azathioprine and betamethasone appear to be almost equally effective (P=0.0156 vs. 0.0005) in the treatment of parthenium dermatitis. However, adverse effects and relapses were observed to be more frequent in patients treated with betamethasone.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19053774,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2013-20":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"New benzylureas as a novel series of potent, nonpeptidic vasopressin V2 receptor agonists.\nVasopressin (AVP) is a hormone that stimulates an increase in water permeability through activation of V2 receptors in the kidney. The analogue of AVP, desmopressin, has proven an effective drug for diseases where a reduction of urine output is desired. However, its peptidic nature limits its bioavailability. We report herein the discovery of potent, nonpeptidic, benzylurea derived agonists of the vasopressin V2 receptor. We describe substitutions on the benzyl group to give improvements in potency and subsequent modifications to the urea end group to provide improvements in solubility and increased oral efficacy in a rat model of diuresis. The lead compound 20e (VA106483) is reported for the first time and has been selected for clinical development.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23439243,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"AA amyloid nephropathy with predominant vascular deposition in Crohn's disease.\nA 44-year-old man with a 17-year history of Crohn's disease (CD) was referred to our nephrology department on suspicion of drug-induced nephrotoxicity. Over the preceding 18 months, he had slowly progressive renal insufficiency with slight urinary abnormalities. His disease activity had been well controlled up to that point with 5-aminosalicylic acid and azathiopurine. Laboratory examination revealed slight proteinuria without hematuria and an elevated serum creatinine level of 1.4 mg\/dl. Pathological examination revealed amyloid A (AA) deposition in the kidney, predominantly in the arterial and arteriolar walls with little to none in the glomerular capillaries. AA amyloidosis is typically accompanied by glomerular amyloid deposition and massive proteinuria. In the present case, however, vascular amyloid deposition was predominant, and the renal function was deteriorated with slight urinary abnormalities. The present case confirmed the importance of conducting a definitive pathological diagnosis of renal insufficiency in CD patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9552019,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Standards for the optimal management of COPD: a summary.\nTobacco smoking is the main cause of COPD, and encouragement and support in smoking cessation is the best way to help the patient with COPD. The three major goals of COPD management are to lessen airflow limitation, to prevent and treat secondary medical complications, and to decrease respiratory symptoms and improve quality of life. Outpatient pharmacotherapy should be organized in a stepwise manner according the severity of disease, the aims being to induce bronchodilation, reduce inflammation, and facilitate expectoration, although the role of anti-inflammatory and mucolytic treatment of COPD has not been clearly established. Patients whose conditions are not well controlled with optimal pharmacotherapy are candidates for enrollment in a pulmonary rehabilitation program. Correction or prevention of hypoxemia is a priority, and long-term oxygen therapy supplementation prolongs survival in hypoxemic patients. With only limited data on criteria for hospital admission and the objectives of hospitalization, the published standards on the management of COPD include an expert consensus statement on these aspects of hospital care. Surgery, special considerations such as sleep, nutrition, and air travel, and ethical issues are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17911778,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Coupling ontology driven semantic representation with multilingual natural language generation for tuning international terminologies.\nThe importance of clinical communication between providers, consumers and others, as well as the requisite for computer interoperability, strengthens the need for sharing common accepted terminologies. Under the directives of the World Health Organization (WHO), an approach is currently being conducted in Australia to adopt a standardized terminology for medical procedures that is intended to become an international reference. In order to achieve such a standard, a collaborative approach is adopted, in line with the successful experiment conducted for the development of the new French coding system CCAM. Different coding centres are involved in setting up a semantic representation of each term using a formal ontological structure expressed through a logic-based representation language. From this language-independent representation, multilingual natural language generation (NLG) is performed to produce noun phrases in various languages that are further compared for consistency with the original terms. Outcomes are presented for the assessment of the International Classification of Health Interventions (ICHI) and its translation into Portuguese. The initial results clearly emphasize the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of the proposed method for handling both a different classification and an additional language. NLG tools, based on ontology driven semantic representation, facilitate the discovery of ambiguous and inconsistent terms, and, as such, should be promoted for establishing coherent international terminologies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25288289,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Treatment of chronic mallet fractures using extension-block Kirschner wire.\nEleven patients with chronic mallet fractures that were seen later than four weeks after injury were treated by extension-block Kirschner wire technique. The average duration from injury to operative treatment was 56 days (range, 28-111). The follow-up evaluations took place after a mean of eight months. The radiographic bone union was obtained in all patients. The average extension loss of the DIP joint was 4 degree (range, 0-15) and the average flexion was 68 degree (range, 43-90). The results according to Crawford's criteria were six excellent, two good, two fair, and one poor. We would say that the technique we treated is effective method of treatment for younger patients with chronic mallet fractures.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1682440,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Peak offset times as an indication of stress relaxation during tableting on a rotary tablet press.\nDuring powder compaction on a Manesty Betapress, peak pressures, Pmax, are reached before the punches are vertically aligned with the centres of the upper and lower compression roll support pins. The interval between the time taken to reach this alignment and the time to reach Pmax is defined as the peak offset time, t(off). The duration of t(off) depends on the ability of the compacted powder to relieve stress and is an indication of the predominant mechanisms of particle deformation during consolidation. Thus, at a given Pmax, short t(off) values are characteristic of materials that consolidate mainly by brittle fracture while longer values indicate an increase in plastic flow. On the Betapress, the decrease in stress during t(off) occurs under conditions approaching constant strain and t(off) therefore, is an indirect measure of stress relaxation. Stress relaxation, and hence t(off), decreases with increase in Pmax due to the reduction in the porosity of the compact and consequent restriction of plastic flow into the void spaces. In addition to Pmax, the effects of variables such as punch head geometry, press speed and formulation on t(off) are reported.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18597807,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3,"dup_dump_count":2,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1,"2024-30":1}}},"text":"Domain architecture and oligomerization properties of the paramyxovirus PIV 5 hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN) protein.\nThe mechanism by which the paramyxovirus hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN) protein couples receptor binding to activation of virus entry remains to be fully understood, but the HN stalk is thought to play an important role in the process. We have characterized ectodomain constructs of the parainfluenza virus 5 HN to understand better the underlying architecture and oligomerization properties that may influence HN functions. The PIV 5 neuraminidase (NA) domain is monomeric whereas the ectodomain forms a well-defined tetramer. The HN stalk also forms tetramers and higher order oligomers with high alpha-helical content. Together, the data indicate that the globular NA domains form weak intersubunit interactions at the end of the HN stalk tetramer, while stabilizing the stalk and overall oligomeric state of the ectodomain. Electron microscopy of the HN ectodomain reveals flexible arrangements of the NA and stalk domains, which may be important for understanding how these two HN domains impact virus entry.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31266186,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Drug Delivery Applications of Core-Sheath Nanofibers Prepared by Coaxial Electrospinning: A Review.\nElectrospinning has emerged as one of the potential techniques for producing nanofibers. The use of electrospun nanofibers in drug delivery has increased rapidly over recent years due to their valuable properties, which include a large surface area, high porosity, small pore size, superior mechanical properties, and ease of surface modification. A drug loaded nanofiber membrane can be prepared via electrospinning using a model drug and polymer solution; however, the release of the drug from the nanofiber membrane in a safe and controlled way is challenging as a result of the initial burst release. Employing a core-sheath design provides a promising solution for controlling the initial burst release. Numerous studies have reported on the preparation of core-sheath nanofibers by coaxial electrospinning for drug delivery applications. This paper summarizes the physical phenomena, the effects of various parameters in coaxial electrospinning, and the usefulness of core-sheath nanofibers in drug delivery. Furthermore, this report also highlights the future challenges involved in utilizing core-sheath nanofibers for drug delivery applications.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12003437,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Amino acid substitutions in the nonstructural region 5A of hepatitis C virus genotypes 2a and 2b and its relation to viral load and response to interferon.\nThe interferon sensitivity-determining region (ISDR) in nonstructural region 5A (NS5A) of hepatitis C virus genotype 1b has been reported to correlate with response to interferon therapy and viral load. Recently the correlation between NS5A and response to interferon in genotype 2a was also reported. We examined the region of genotypes 2a and 2b corresponding to the ISDR of genotype lb to elucidate its correlation with response to interferon and viral load. The sequences of amino acid positions 2213-2248 in NS5A were determined in 39 patients with genotype 2a and 12 patients with genotype 2b. In the patients infected with genotype 2a, the number of amino acid substitutions in the ISDR-corresponding region compared with the consensus sequence of genotype 2a was significantly correlated with viral load (p = -0.541, p < 0.001) and with response to interferon therapy (p < 0.05); 83% of the patients with three or more substitutions obtained sustained responses, whereas only 44% of those with less than three substitutions obtained sustained responses. Multivariate analysis confirmed that the number of substitutions in the ISDR-corresponding region of genotype 2a was one of the independent predictors of response to interferon therapy (discriminant coefficient = 1.35, p < 0.001). Substitutions in the ISDR-corresponding region in NS5A of hepatitis C virus genotype 2a was confirmed to correlate to viral load and response to interferon therapy. In genotype 2b, further work must be considered because of the small number of patients studied.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21162318,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Effects of cysteamine on the plasma levels of SS and some metabolic hormones in adult geese].\nTo know the effect of cysteamine (CS) on the plasma levels of somatostatin (SS) and some metabolic hormones in adult geese. Fourteen adult crossbred geese (Chuan white x Tai lake) fitted with chronic wing vein cannulas were used in this study to evaluate the effect of CS on SS, TSH, T3 and T4 levels. The experiment was consisted of control and treated phase. The diet was added CS at dosage of 100 mg\/kg bw on the first day of the treated phase. The blood samples were collected from the cannulas and analyzed by radioimmunoassay. The plasma SS concentration was (1.87 +\/- 0.10) microg\/L in control phase. Whereas SS concentrations on day 1, 3, 5, 7 of treated phase were decreased markedly (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). Thereafter it was rose on the seventh day, however it was still lower than that of control. The thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) content (2.45 +\/- 0.31 mIU\/L) was significantly decreased by 21.63% (P < 0.01) on day 1, and 18.37% (P > 0.05) on day 3 and day 5. Comparing with control phase (5.41 +\/- 0.98 microg\/L), T4 contents were elevated by 60.26% (P < 0.01), 43.25% (P < 0.01), 37.15% (P < 0.01) and 16. 82% (P < 0.01) respectively on day 1, 3, 5, 7. T3 level was (1.05 +\/- 0.06) microg\/L in control phase, whereas the levels was significantly increased by 36.19% (P < 0.01) on day 3. Also, the insulin concentration was higher than that of control (4.43 +\/- 0.41 mU\/ L) by 18.28% (P < 0.05) on the day 5. These results indicate that CS can decrease the plasma SS and TSH levels, whereas increase the levels of T4, T3 and insulin, therefore change metabolism, improve the nutrition transform and accelerate the growth in geese.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15238012,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-30":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Two-dimensional supramolecular organization of copper octaethylporphyrin and cobalt phthalocyanine on Au(111): molecular assembly control at an electrochemical interface.\nMixed adlayers of 2,3,7,8,12,13,17,18-octaethyl-21H,23H-porphine copper(II) (CuOEP) and cobalt(II) phthalocyanine (CoPc) were prepared by immersing Au(111) substrate in a benzene solution containing CuOEP and CoPc molecules, and they were investigated in 0.1 M HClO(4) by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and in-situ scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The composition of the mixed adlayer consisting of CuOEP and CoPc molecules was found to vary depending on the immersion time. CoPc molecules displaced CuOEP molecules during the modification process with increasing immersion time, and the CuOEP molecules were completely replaced with CoPc molecules in the mixed solution after a long modification time. The two-component adlayer consisting of CuOEP and CoPc, which has a structure with the constituent molecules arranged alternately, was found to form either a p(9 x 3(square root)7R - 40.9 degrees) or a p(9 x 3(square root)7R - 19.1 degrees) structure, each involving two molecules on the Au(111) surface. The surface mobility and the molecular reorganization of CuOEP and CoPc were accelerated by modulation of the electrode potential. Different surface structures were produced at different electrode potentials, and hence potential modulation should allow a precisely controllable phase separation to take place in aqueous HClO(4).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37867298,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Heck Migratory Insertion Catalyzed by a Single Pt Atom Site.\nSingle-atom catalysts (SACs) have generated excitement for their potential to downsize metal particles to the atomic limit with engineerable local environments and improved catalytic reactivities and selectivities. However, successes have been limited to small-molecule transformations with little progress toward targeting complex-building reactions, such as metal-catalyzed cross-coupling. Using a supercritical carbon-dioxide-assisted protocol, we report a heterogeneous single-atom Pt-catalyzed Heck reaction, which provides the first C-C bond-forming migratory insertion on SACs. Our quantum mechanical computations establish the reaction mechanism to involve a novel C-rich coordination site (i.e., PtC4) that demonstrates an unexpected base effect. Notably, the base was found to transiently modulate the coordination environment to allow migratory insertion into an M-C species, a process with a high steric impediment with no previous example on SACs. The studies showcase how SACs can introduce coordination structures that have remained underexplored in catalyst design. These findings offer immense potential for transferring the vast and highly versatile reaction manifold of migratory-insertion-based bond-forming protocols to heterogeneous SACs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1697150,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Production and epitope analysis of monoclonal antibodies against a Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar trifolii strain.\nHeat-treated cells of Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar trifolii strain 162X95 were used to produce monoclonal antibodies (MAbs). The fusion produced three cross-reactive MAbs and eight MAbs specific for the immunizing strain and a group of five other R. trifolii strains from the same geographic region where 162X95 was isolated (California). Seven MAbs were analyzed by competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to determine the number of different epitopes detectable on strain 162X95. The results indicated that six MAbs reacted with the same or overlapping epitopes, and the seventh MAb gave inconclusive results.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28293152,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Risk profile of coronary heart disease among the staff members of Qassim University, Saudi Arabia.\nTo estimate the risk profile of coronary heart disease (CHD) among the staff members of Qassim University and assess their knowledge in a screening campaign in Qassim region, Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional study was conducted among male and female staff at Qassim University campus. All employees of Qassim University were invited to participate in the study. Data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire. The study sample size was 233 staff and employees. The data were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 18. The data analysis focused on providing point estimates for the risk factors. The study found that 30% of participants have one or more risk factors for CHD, namely obesity 20.6%, diabetes 10.3%, hypertension 12.4%, dyslipidemia 10.7%, and smokers (11.6%). About 54% of the participants have a family history of at least one chronic disease as a risk factor for CHD. The most common risk factor of CHD among the staff members is obesity by 20.6%. Risk factors for CHD are quite common among Qassim University staff. These findings need to increase the health education and disease promotion program as an important intervention to reduce the occurrence and severity of CHD risk factors and to improve the quality of the life of the staff members of Qassim University.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28691478,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mondani intraoral welding: historical process and main practical applications.\nThe intraoral welder was invented by Dr. Pierluigi Mondani during the early 70's to weld titanium needle implants to a titanium bar in patient's mouth and to load them immediately by means of resin prosthesis. The clinical use documented dates back to 1972. Over the years, many practical applications have been added to the initial one, which have expanded the use of this device. In this scientific work, main applications are described. The aim of the work was to trace the historical process of intra-oral welding according to Mondani and describe the main practical applications. Intra-oral welding is a process introduced by dr. Pier Luigi Mondani of Genova (Italy) which allows to firmly conjoin titanium implants of any shape by means of a titanium bar or also directly between them in the mouth during surgery. The immediate stabilization achieved by intraoral welding increases implants success rate, allows immediate loading even in situations of bone atrophy, saves implants that are running into failure, re-evaluates fractured implants, allows to stabilize submerged implants postponing prosthesis management, allows to achieve efficient rehabilitation protocols to deal with difficult cases. The 40-years' experience with intra-oral welding described in this article, confirms the ease of use and efficiency in providing immediate stabilization of titanium implants of all types.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28743590,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-30":1,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Sequence Specificity in the Entropy-Driven Binding of a Small Molecule and a Disordered Peptide.\nApproximately one-third of the human proteome is made up of proteins that are entirely disordered or that contain extended disordered regions. Although these disordered proteins are closely linked with many major diseases, their binding mechanisms with small molecules remain poorly understood, and a major concern is whether their specificity can be sufficient for drug development. Here, by studying the interaction of a small molecule and a disordered peptide from the oncogene protein c-Myc, we describe a \"specific-diffuse\" binding mechanism that exhibits sequence specificity despite being of entropic nature. By combining NMR spectroscopy, biophysical measurements, statistical inference, and molecular simulations, we provide a quantitative measure of such sequence specificity and compare it to the case of the interaction of urea, which is diffuse but not specific. To investigate whether this type of binding can generally modify intermolecular interactions, we show that it leads to an inhibition of the aggregation of the peptide. These results suggest that the binding mechanism that we report may create novel opportunities to discover drugs that target disordered proteins in their monomeric states in a specific manner.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17918302,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"John Hunter (1728-1793): founder of scientific surgery and precursor of oncology.\nIn the following article we briefly present the life and scientific work of John Hunter, founder of the experimental surgery, who by means of his researches and writings in the field of Oncology, contributed enormously to the development of this discipline. In reference to this matter, we quote some examples indicative of his work on Oncology.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28276832,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The incidence and outcome of ischemic colitis in a population-based setting.\nPopulation-based studies on patients with ischemic colitis (IC) are limited. We aimed to determine the incidence, risk factors and outcome of patients with IC. A retrospective nationwide study was conducted on adult patients with histologically confirmed IC in 2009-2013 in Iceland. IC patients were matched for age and gender with patients hospitalized with lower gastrointestinal bleeding. Data were collected on clinical presentation, comorbidities, smoking habits, management and outcome. Eighty-nine patients, 61 (69%) females and mean age of 65 years (\u00b117), fulfilled the predetermined criteria. Females were older than males, 68 years (\u00b114) vs. 59 years (\u00b120) (p = .0170). The mean cumulative incidence was 7.3 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. A total of 57 (64%) patients presented with abdominal pain, hematochezia and diarrhea. IC was localized in the left colon in 78 (88%) patients. Overall, 62 (70%) patients had cardiovascular disease vs. 53 (60%) of control group (NS) and 55 (62%) had a history of smoking vs. 53 (60%) in control group (NS). Ten (11%) patients required surgery and\/or died within 30-days from hospital admission. At the end of follow-up, 7 (9%) patients had experienced recurrence of IC with an estimated 3-year recurrence rate of 15%. IC is a common clinical phenomenon that affects a wide range of age groups, but is most prominent among elderly women. It typically presents with a clinical triad of abdominal pain, hematochezia and diarrhea. Most cases are mild and self-limiting with a good prognosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":941572,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Acid phosphatase activity during digestion in the anintestinal turbellaria Convoluta convoluta].\nStudies have been made on changes in the activity of acid phosphatase during the digestion in the turbellaria C. convoluta. The increase of the enzymic activity of cytoplasm of the peripheral parenchyma at the initial stages after feeding (6 hours, 1 day) and gradual decrease of this activity at later stages (2,4 and 7 days) were noted. The presence of acid phosphatase in the nuclei and cytoplasm of cells of the central parenchyma at all stages of the digestive cycle is explained by degeneration of these cells which is associated with holocrine secretion of the digestive enzymes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31249654,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Noise-Robust Heart Rate Estimation Algorithm from Photoplethysmography Signal with Low Computational Complexity.\nThis paper introduces a noise-robust HR estimation algorithm using wrist-type PPG signals that consist of preprocessing block, motion artifact reduction block, and frequency tracking block. The proposed algorithm has not only robustness for motion noise but also low computational complexity. The proposed algorithm was tested on a data set of 12 subjects and recorded during treadmill exercise in order to verify and compare with other existing algorithms.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15267452,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Relaxation dynamics of a polymer in a 2D confinement.\nThe molecular dynamics of oligomeric poly(propylene glycol) (PPG) liquids (MW=1000, 2000, and 4000 g\/mol) confined in a two-dimensional layer-structured Na-vermiculite clay has been studied by broadband dielectric spectroscopy. The alpha-relaxation and the normal mode relaxation processes were studied for all samples in bulk and confinement. The most prominent experimental observation was that for the normal mode process: the relaxation rate in the clay is drastically shifted to lower frequencies compared to that of the bulk material. This slowing down is probably caused by the strongly reduced number of accessible chain conformations in two dimensions. Also the temperature dependence of the relaxation time for the normal mode process is strongly affected by the confinement. In contrast, for the alpha-relaxation of the confined polymers we observed only a slight increase of the relaxation rate at high temperatures compared to the corresponding bulk samples, and a decrease of its relaxation strength relative to the beta relaxation. Thus, the glass transition is unaffected by the 2D confinement, suggesting that the underlying phenomena responsible for the glass transition is the same as in bulk. Moreover, in the clay the intensity of the normal mode is stronger than that of the alpha-process, in contrast to the bulk samples where the opposite behavior is observed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1683053,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Proliferation of villous trophoblast of the human placenta in normal and abnormal pregnancies.\nThe proliferation of villous trophoblast in the human placenta was estimated throughout normal gestation and in term placentae from preeclamptic and smoking mothers by two different methods. These were: 1) labeling of DNA producing cells by bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) followed by immunohistochemistry using a monoclonal anti-BrdU antibody, and 2) immunohistochemical identification of all proliferating cells by the monoclonal antibody Ki67. Both methods revealed comparable results. In uncomplicated pregnancies there was a remarkable decrease in the labeling indices from early gestation to term. This was the result of a diminution of the number of Langhans' cells, although the cell division rate within the Langhans' cell layer remained nearly constant throughout gestation. A prolongation of the cell cycle in the cytotrophoblast cells at term was indicated by an increase in the Ki67\/BrdU ratio. Compared with normal term placentae, there was an increase in the trophoblast proliferation rate in preeclampsia, but not in placentae from smoking mothers. Moreover, the number of Langhans' cells was diminished in placentae from smokers. The results indicate that there are different pathogenetic mechanisms of placental impairment in preeclampsia and in maternal smoking. In preeclampsia an injury to the syncytiotrophoblast seems to lead to a repair hyperplasia of the cytotrophoblast, whereas in maternal smoking, there seems to be a direct toxic effect on the cytotrophoblastic cells.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1702870,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Bacterial colonization of the epithelial cells of gingival pockets].\nCommon methods for microbiologic examination of the gingival pocket contents in periodontitis are rarely used in practical periodontology. The author proposes to quantify epithelial cells contaminated by bacterial flora. Results of cytologic studies of smear impressions from 30 patients with periodontal diseases and from 13 normal subjects are presented, evidencing a significant elevation of bacterial contamination of the epithelium in the patients vs. that in normal subjects (66.51 +\/- 3.5 vs. 44.66 +\/- 4.75 percent).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28706691,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Highly stable PtP alloy nanotube arrays as a catalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction in acidic medium.\nNanostructured Pt-metal alloys have shown impressive catalytic properties for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in acidic medium, but their long-term stability has not been satisfactory. Herein, we look beyond the traditional Pt-metal alloys and have developed a new kind of Pt-nonmetal alloy electrocatalyst for the ORR. Specifically, the novel catalyst is composed of interconnected platinum monophosphide (PtP) alloy nanocrystals (\u223c3-4 nm) and featured supportless nanotube array morphologies. Due to the unique combination of composition and structure, the obtained PtP alloy nanotube arrays not only exhibited remarkable ORR activity, but also showed almost no degradation of the half-wave potential after accelerated durability tests. The result suggests that alloying Pt with a nonmetallic element (such as P) is indeed an effective approach to address the poor stability of Pt-based catalysts in acidic medium.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6741599,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Twenty-four-hour serum levels of TSH in affective disorders.\nAs a part of a broad endocrine testing of patients with affective disorders the 24 h serum levels of thyrotropin (TSH) were investigated and correlated to the clinical history and disease symptoms. Thirty-two patients with the research diagnostic criteria of major depressive disorder were investigated. Twenty-six of these patients were reinvestigated in a state of full or partial clinical remission. Nine patients with unipolar and eight patients with bipolar affective disorders were also investigated in clinical remission. The control group comprised 32 healthy subjects. The results showed significantly lower 24 h serum levels of TSH and less variability of TSH levels during the 24 h period in the group with acute major depression compared with the controls. The 24 h serum levels of TSH normalized during clinical remission. Different subtypes of depression, different clusters of symptoms and severity of depression did not significantly correlate with the 24 h serum levels of TSH. There were also no significant correlations between abnormalities of the dexamethasone suppression test or nightly melatonin levels and the 24 h serum levels of TSH. The lower TSH levels seen in acute major depression could not be correlated to increased or decreased levels of peripheral thyroid hormones. The mechanism of the decreased 24 h serum levels of TSH is unclear. One possibility is an altered sensitivity in the thyrotrophs of the pituitary.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15252589,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cationic lanthanide complexes of neutral tripodal N,O ligands: enthalpy versus entropy-driven podate formation in water.\nThe cationic lanthanide complexes of two neutral tripodal N,O ligands, tpa (tris[(2-pyridyl)methyl]amine) and tpaam (tris[6-((2-N,N-diethylcarbamoyl)pyridyl)methyl]amine) are studied in water. The analysis of the proton lanthanide induced NMR shifts indicate that there is no abrupt structural change in the middle of the rare-earth series. Unexpectedly, the formation constant values of the lanthanide podates of tpaam and tpa in D2O at 298 K are similar, suggesting that the addition of the three amide groups to the ligand tpa does not lead to any increase in stability of the lanthanide complexes of tpaam in respect to tpa, even though the amide groups are coordinated to the metal in aqueous solution. The measurement of the enthalpy and entropy changes of the complexation reactions shows that the two similar ligands tpa and tpaam have different driving forces for lanthanide complexation. Indeed, the formation of tpa podates benefits from an exothermic enthalpy change associated with a small entropy change, whereas the complexation reaction with tpaam is clearly entropy-driven though opposed by a positive enthalpy change. The hydration states of the europium complexes were measured by luminescence and show the coordination of 4-5 water ligands in [Eu(tpa)]3+ whereas there are only 2 in [Eu(tpaam)]3+. Therefore the heptadentate ligand tpaam releases the translational entropy of more water molecules than does the tetradentate ligand tpa.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":934391,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"New potential cytotoxic and antitumor substances. II. Effect of hydroxyanthraquinones and their glucosides on Ehrlich ascites carcinoma cells in vitro.\nMono and dihydroxyanthraquinones and their derivatives affected the utilization of 14C-labeled precursors nucleic acid and protein synthesis into Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) cells. Inhibitory effect of the substances markedly increased when one acetyl group was introduced into the basic molecule. As the tested substances inhibited mainly incorporation of 14C uridine into the cold TCA insoluble fraction of EAC cells, their mechanism of action can be explained by the inhibition of RNA synthesis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19053382,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Novel system for reducing leaching of the herbicide metribuzin using clay-gel-based formulations.\nMetribuzin is an herbicide widely used for weed control that has been identified as a groundwater pollutant. It contaminates the environment even when it is used according to the manufacturer's instructions. To reduce herbicide leaching and increase weed control, new controlled release formulations were developed by entrapping metribuzin within a sepiolite-gel-based matrix using two clay\/herbicide proportions (0.5\/0.2 and 1\/0.2) (loaded at 28.6 and 16.7% a.i.) as a gel (G28, G16) or as a powder after freeze-drying (LF28, LF16). The release of metribuzin from the control released formulations into water was retarded, when compared with commercial formulation (CF) except in the case of G28. The mobility of metribuzin from control released formulations into soil columns of sandy soil was greatly diminished in comparison with CF. Most of the metribuzin applied as control released formulations (G16, LF28 and LF16) was found at a depth of 0-8 cm depth. In contrast, residues from CF and G28 along the column were almost negligible. Bioassays from these control released formulations showed high efficacy at 0-12 cm depth. The use of these novel formulations could minimize the risk of groundwater contamination while maintaining weed control for a longer period.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14527437,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Slit stimulation recruits Dock and Pak to the roundabout receptor and increases Rac activity to regulate axon repulsion at the CNS midline.\nDrosophila Roundabout (Robo) is the founding member of a conserved family of repulsive axon guidance receptors that respond to secreted Slit proteins. Here we present evidence that the SH3-SH2 adaptor protein Dreadlocks (Dock), the p21-activated serine-threonine kinase (Pak), and the Rac1\/Rac2\/Mtl small GTPases can function during Robo repulsion. Loss-of-function and genetic interaction experiments suggest that limiting the function of Dock, Pak, or Rac partially disrupts Robo repulsion. In addition, Dock can directly bind to Robo's cytoplasmic domain, and the association of Dock and Robo is enhanced by stimulation with Slit. Furthermore, Slit stimulation can recruit a complex of Dock and Pak to the Robo receptor and trigger an increase in Rac1 activity. These results provide a direct physical link between the Robo receptor and an important cytoskeletal regulatory protein complex and suggest that Rac can function in both attractive and repulsive axon guidance.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15236503,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Time of farmers' exposure to biological factors in agricultural working environment.\nWorking time in conditions of exposure to hazardous factors is an important element indispensable for the evaluation of human exposure in the working environment. Agricultural work is accompanied by co-occurrence of many risk factors threatening farmers' health, e.g. dust, elements of the thermal environment, noise, vibration, chemical and biological agents. Biological factors cause diseases with contagious, allergic or immuno-toxic backgrounds which constitute the majority of farmers' occupational diseases registered in Poland. Exposure to hazardous factors in agricultural working environment is due to contact with plants, animals and organic wastes, more precisely--with microbes, plant and animal particles present in aerogenic agricultural dust, as well as pathogens of contagious and invasive diseases present in contaminated soil, water and plants. Data concerning the duration of farmers' exposure to biological and other factors of the working environment were obtained with the use of the Private Farmer Work Chart. Time-schedule observations concerned an annual work cycle. The study covered 30 farms with the following production profiles: plant (Group A), animal (Group B) and mixed production (Group C). The total working time was: in Group A - from 106-163 % of the legal working time; in Group B - from 75-147 %; in Group C - from 136-167 %. Among 48 work activities contributing to the full working cycle among the farmers examined, 15 activities were accompanied by 5 factors. These were mainly field activities which covered plant harvesting and fertilizing, chemical plant protection, as well as cultivation activities. Agricultural dust and elements of the thermal environment were the environmental factors most frequently accompanying agricultural work, followed by contact with biological factors, noise, vibration, and chemical agents. Biological factors are a specific element associated with 19 work activities, mainly the spreading of manure, animal breeding and plant harvesting. Farmers' working time in conditions of exposure to these factors in the group of plant producers was 51 % of the total working time on average, among animal breeders--80 % and in the case of mixed production--77 %.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28718868,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Implicit Associations with Death: First Validation of the German Version of the Suicide Implicit Association Test (Suicide IAT)].\nNock, Park, Finn, et al. 1 developed an implicit association test for suicide (suicide IAT) measuring the implicit association between 'death' and 'self'. They demonstrated that psychiatric patients, who already attempted suicide, showed stronger implicit associations with 'death' than with 'life' compared to patients without suicide attempt history. The present study had 2 aims: (1) to present a new German version of the suicide IAT and provide its first validation and (2) to investigate how implicit associations (suicide IAT) relate to suicidal ideation and behaviour, well-known risk factors such as depressiveness and hopelessness, and central concepts of the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide 2, Thwarted Belongingness and Perceived Burdensomeness. The sample consisted of 16 patients with a current Major Depression and suicidal ideation as well as 16 non-depressive, non-suicidal controls. Patients showed stronger associations between 'death' and 'self' than controls. We further found positive correlations between implicit associations with death and explicitly self-reported suicidal behaviour - controlled for depressiveness, hopelessness, and suicidal ideation. Our results confirm the validity of the German version of the suicide IAT and are discussed in the light of the Interpersonal Theory of Suicidal Behaviour 2 and recent suicide research.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27484339,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Effects of remifentanil and remifentanil-alfentanil administration on emergence agitation after brief ophthalmic surgery in children.\nSevoflurane is commonly usedin pediatric anesthesia due to its non-irritating airway properties, and rapid induction and emergence. However, it is associated with emergence agitation (EA) in children. EA may cause injury to the child or damage to the surgical site and is a cause of stress to both caregivers and families. The efficacy of remifentanil and additional alfentanil on EA in the pediatric patients underwent ophthalmic surgery with sevofluraneanesthesiawas not well evaluated to date. This study was designed to compare the effects of remifentanil and remifentanil plus alfentanil on EA in children undergoing ophthalmic surgery with sevofluraneanesthesia. Children (aged 3-9 years) undergoing ophthalmic surgery undersevoflurane anesthesia were randomly assigned to group S (sevoflurane alone), group R (sevofluraneandremifentanil infusion, 0.1 \u03bcg\/kg\/min), or group RA (sevoflurane withremifentanil infusion and intravenous injection of alfentanil 5 \u03bcg\/kg 10 min before the end of surgery). Mean arterial pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR), and sevoflurane concentration were checked every 15 min after induction of anesthesia. The incidence of EA, time to extubation from discontinuation of sevoflurane inhalation, and time to discharge from the postanesthesia care unit was assessed. The incidence of EA was significantly lower in groups R (32 %, 11\/34; P = 0.01) and RA (31 %, 11\/35; P = 0.008) than group S (64 %, 21\/33). The time to extubation was prolonged in group RA (11.2 \u00b1 2.3 min; P = 0.004 and P = 0.016) compared with groups S (9.2 \u00b1 2.3 min) andR (9.5 \u00b1 2.4 min). MAP and HR were similar in all three groups, apart from a reduction in HR at 45 min in groups R and RA. However, the sevoflurane concentration was lower in groups R and RA than group S (P < 0.001). The administration of remifentanil to children undergoing ophthalmic surgery undersevoflurane anesthesia reduced the incidence of EA without clinically significant hemodynamic changes. However, the addition of alfentanil(5 \u03bcg\/kg)10 min before the end of surgery provided no additional benefit compared withremifentanil alone. NCT02486926 , June.29.2015.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37465043,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Adaptation of the Mental Health Inventory (MHI-38) for Adolescents - Indonesian Version.\nThis study validates the Indonesian version of the Mental Health Inventory-38 (MHI-38) for use among Indonesian adolescents. The adaptation process followed guidelines from the International Test Commission and involved translation, expert review, cognitive interviews, and psychometric evaluation. A total of 562 adolescents (mean age = 15.42, SD = 1.84) participated in the study. The MHI-38 demonstrated dual factors: psychological well-being and psychological distress. Internal consistency was high for the MHI-38 (\u03b1 = 0.892) and its factors: psychological well-being (\u03b1 = 0.894) and psychological distress (\u03b1 = 0.952). Confirmatory factor analysis indicated a good fit (RMSEA = 0.048, CFI = 0.945, NFI = 0.908, TLI = 0.929). Psychological well-being correlated moderately with the Satisfaction with Life Scale (r = 0.469, p = 0.00) and positive affect (r = 0.448, p = 0.00), but negatively with the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (r = -0.230, p = 0.00). Psychological distress correlated strongly with the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (r = 0.910, p = 0.00) and negative affect (r = 0.857, p = 0.00), but negatively with the Satisfaction with Life Scale (r = 0.556, p = 0.00). The Indonesian version of the MHI-38 demonstrated good psychometric properties and validity, making it a reliable tool for assessing mental health in Indonesian adolescents.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36264215,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Reflectance confocal microscopy in paediatric patients: Applications and limits.\nReflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) is a non-invasive diagnostic tool extensively studied for adult patients. In this retrospective case series conducted at the Dermatology Unit of the University of Campania, Naples, Italy, all patients under 19 years old who were submitted to RCM from January 2011 to December 2021 where evaluated. The aim of the study was to review the most usual indications and possible benefits that it might add for children. Data collection included 215 patients (86 males and 129 females, mean age: 12). Most of the exams (n = 85; 39.5%) were performed for lesions clinically compatible with Spitz nevi, congenital nevi (n = 50 23,2%) and atypical melanocytic lesions (n = 46; 21%) among which two melanomas were detected. RCM can be an useful instrument when evaluating paediatric patients and may help avoid unnecessary biopsy in most cases, representing an additional instrument to improve diagnostic accuracy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6161874,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of feeding bacterial lipopolysaccharide and dextran sulphate on the development of oral tolerance to contact sensitizing agents.\nThe effect of feeding the B-cell mitogens Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide and dextran sulphate on the development of orally induced tolerance to the contact sensitizing agent picryl chloride was studied in mice. Feeding either agent throughout the experiment or during tolerization, increased the tolerizing effect of a single feed of picryl chloride.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28253587,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"[Effect of ceramic thickness and resin cement shades on final color of heat-pressed ceramic veneers].\nObjective: To analyze the effect of ceramic materials thickness and resin cement shades on the final color of ceramic veneers in the discolored teeth, and to investigate the color agreement of try-in pastes to the corresponding resin cements. Methods: Sixty artificial maxillary central incisor teeth (C2 shade) were used to simulate the natural discolored teeth and prepared according to veneer tooth preparation protocol. Veneers of different thickness in the body region (0.50 and 0.75 mm) were fabricated using ceramic materials (LT A2 shade, IPS e.max Press). The ceramic veneer specimens were bonded to the artificial teeth using the 6 shades of resin cements (Variolink Veneer: shades of LV-3, LV-2, HV+3; RelyX\u2122 Veneer: shades of TR, A3, WO) (n=5). A clinical spectrophotometer was used to measure the color parameters of ceramic veneers at the cervical, body and incisal regions. Color changes of veneers before and after cementation were calculated and registered as \u0394E1, and the changes between try-in paste and the corresponding resin cements were registered as \u0394E2. Results: Three-way ANOVA indicated that \u0394E1 and \u0394E2 values were significantly affected by the ceramic thickness, resin cement shades and measuring regions (P<0.05). The \u0394E1 values of six shades ranged from 0.59-8.27. The \u0394E1 values were more than 2.72 when the ceramic veneers were cemented with resin cements in shades of HV+3 and WO. The \u0394E2 values of six shades ranged from 0.60-2.56. The shades of HV+3, WO and A3 resin cements were more than 1.60. Conclusions: Different thickness of ceramic materials, resin cement shades and measuring regions could affect the final color of ceramic veneers. The color differences of some resin cements and corresponding try-in pastes might be observed in clinical practice.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36264653,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Biologics for chronic spontaneous urticaria: toward a personalized treatment.\nChronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) is characterized by the recurrent occurrence of short-lived wheals with or without angioedema for more than 6 weeks. Although its pathogenesis is not completely defined, several mechanisms seem involved, including autoimmunity and autoallergy with complement and coagulation activation. Various biologics are currently available or under investigation to counteract different CSU pathomechanisms. The recent literature dealing with biologics in the treatment of CSU was screened and analyzed; the different treatments were divided into anti-IgE and other than anti-IgE biologics. The latter were subdivided according to their target mechanisms. Biologic drugs exert their effects in a very precise and specific manner. A majority of patients (arguably those with type I disease) respond to anti-IgE treatment. Others, possibly with type IIa disease, show a slow response to anti-IgE drugs. Things are much more complicated in anti-IgE-refractory patients. Some respond well to nonspecific immune suppressors, such as corticosteroids and cyclosporin suggesting that an immune-mediated pathogenic mechanism, not involving the high-affinity IgE receptor, is probably active. Several ongoing studies are evaluating biologics and small molecules counteracting other pathomechanisms, including anti-receptor biologics, Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitors, mast cell targets, and specific cytokines.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27274811,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Absence of Cytotoxicity towards Microglia of Iron Oxide (\u03b1-Fe2O3) Nanorhombohedra.\nUnderstanding the nature of interactions between nanomaterials, such as commercially ubiquitous hematite (\u03b1-Fe2O3) Nanorhombohedra (N-Rhomb) and biological systems is of critical importance for gaining insight into the practical applicability of nanomaterials. Microglia represent the first line of defense in the central nervous system (CNS) during severe injury or disease such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease as illustrative examples. Hence, to analyze the potential cytotoxic effect of nanorhombohedra exposure in the presence of microglia, we have synthesized Rhodamine B (RhB) labeled-\u03b1-Fe2O3 N-Rhomb, with lengths of 47 \u00b1 10 nm and widths of 35 \u00b1 8 nm. Internalization of RhB labeled-\u03b1-Fe2O3 N-Rhomb by microglia in the mouse brain was observed, and a dose-dependent increase in the cellular iron content as probed by cellular fluorescence was detected in cultured microglia after nanoparticle exposure. The cells maintained clear functional viability, exhibiting little to no cytotoxic effects after 24 and 48 hours at acceptable, physiological concentrations. Importantly, the nanoparticle exposure did not induce microglial cells to produce either tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF\u03b1) or interleukin 1-beta (IL1\u03b2), two pro-inflammatory cytokines, nor did exposure induce the production of nitrites and reactive oxygen species (ROS), which are common indicators for the onset of inflammation. Finally, we propose that under the conditions of our experiments, i.e. in the presence of RhB labeled-\u03b1-Fe2O3 N-Rhomb maintaining concentrations of up to 100 \u00b5g\/mL after 48 hours of incubation, the in vitro and in vivo internalization of RhB labeled-\u03b1-Fe2O3 N-Rhomb are likely to be clathrin-dependent, which represents a conventional mechanistic uptake route for most cells. Given the crucial role that microglia play in many neurological disorders, understanding the potential cytotoxic effects of these nanostructures is of fundamental importance if they are to be used in a therapeutic setting.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20357266,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Human endometrial stromal cell rho GTPases have opposing roles in regulating focal adhesion turnover and embryo invasion in vitro.\nImplantation of the embryo into the uterine compartment is a multistep event involving attachment of the embryo to the endometrial epithelia, followed by invasion of the embryo through the endometrial stroma. RHOA, RAC1, and CDC42 are members of the Rho GTPase family of proteins, which control cell functions such as cell migration and cytoskeletal reorganization. Herein, using a heterologous in vitro coculture model, we show that implantation of mouse blastocysts into human endometrial stromal cells (hESCs) is regulated by Rho GTPase activity in hESCs. Whereas iRNA-mediated silencing of RAC1 expression in hESCs led to inhibition of embryo implantation, silencing of either RHOA or CDC42 in hESCs promoted embryo implantation in coculture assays. Analysis of downstream signaling pathways demonstrated that RAC1 silencing was associated with decreased focal adhesion disassembly and resulted in large focal adhesion complexes in hESCs. In contrast, RHOA or CDC42 silencing resulted in perturbed focal adhesion assembly, leading to a decrease in the number of focal adhesions observed. Furthermore, inhibition of Rho signaling using a Rho kinase inhibitor, Y27632, led to decreased activation of protein tyrosine kinase 2 (PTK2, also called focal adhesion kinase) and decreased focal adhesion assembly. Importantly, perturbation of focal adhesion turnover in hESCs, mediated by PTK2 silencing, resulted in inhibition of embryo implantation into hESC monolayers. These findings suggest that Rho GTPase-PTK2-dependent remodeling of the endometrial stromal cell compartment may be critical for successful embryo implantation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28565462,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"EVOLUTION OF MULTIPLE KINDS OF FEMALE SPERM-STORAGE ORGANS IN DROSOPHILA.\nFemales of all species belonging to the family Drosophilidae have two kinds of sperm-storage organs: paired spherical spermathecae and a single elongate tubular seminal receptacle. We examined 113 species belonging to the genus Drosophila and closely allied genera and describe variation in female sperm-storage organ use and morphology. The macroevolutionary pattern of organ dysfunction and morphological divergence suggests that ancestrally both kinds of organs stored sperm. Loss of use of the spermathecae has evolved at least 13 times; evolutionary regain of spermathecal function has rarely if ever occurred. Loss of use of the seminal receptacle has likely occurred only once; in this case, all descendant species possess unusually elaborate spermathecae. Data further indicate that the seminal receptacle is the primary sperm-storage organ in Drosophila. This organ exhibits a pattern of strong correlated evolution with the length of sperm. The evolution of multiple kinds of female sperm-storage organs and the rapidly divergent and correlated evolution of sperm and female reproductive tract morphology are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27486792,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Aryne Compatible Solvents are not Always Innocent.\nArynes are important and versatile intermediates in a variety of transformations. Commonly used solvents for aryne chemistry include acetonitrile and dichloromethane. Although rarely reported, the reactive nature of aryne intermediates makes them prone to side reactions, which sometimes involve solvent participation. Acetonitrile and dichloromethane are not always innocent solvents and can participate in aryne-based reactions. These results are presented in the context of ongoing mechanistic investigations of the triple aryne-tetrazine reaction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17824384,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Protocol for high-sensitivity\/long linear-range spectrofluorimetric DNA quantification using ethidium bromide.\nEthidium bromide (EtBr) is the most widely used fluorescent dye in nucleic acid gel electrophoresis since decades. However it has been essentially forgotten in DNA quantification by spectrofluorimetry. While investigating sensitivity and dynamic range of available fluorochromes, we found that EtBr permits much more sensitive fluorimetric measurements than previously thought. We report here a revised, accurate, and easy-to-use protocol for EtBr-based DNA quantification in solution, which usefully complements the widely used indirect quantification on agarose gels.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17177560,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Active photosensitizers in butter detected by fluorescence spectroscopy and multivariate curve resolution.\nIn this study, fluorescence excitation and emission matrices and multivariate curve resolution (PARAFAC) were used to detect and characterize active photosensitizers spectrally in butter. Butter samples were packed under high (air) and low oxygen (<0.05%) atmospheres and exposed to violet, green, or red light. Six photosensitizers were found: riboflavin, protoporphyrin, hematoporphyrin, a chlorophyll a-like molecule, and two unidentified tetrapyrrols. By estimation of relative concentrations, we could follow how each sensitizer was photodegraded as function of wavelength, oxygen level, and time. The degradation rate of protoporphyrin, hematoporphyrin, chlorophyll a, and one of the tetrapyrrols correlated well (0.83-0.91) with the formation of sensory measured oxidation. The results suggest that mainly type I photoreactions were responsible for the degradation of photosensitizers in both high and low oxygen atmosphere. Type II photoreactions (generation of singlet oxygen) were involved in the oxidation of butter stored in air. The study shows that PARAFAC modeling of fluorescence landscapes is an excellent tool for studying photooxidation in complex systems.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21158034,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Exogenous carbon monoxide protects against liver injury induced by ischemia\/reperfusion of hind limbs in rats].\nTo investigate the protective effect of exogenous carbon monoxide (CO) on the liver injury induced by ischemia\/reperfusion (I\/R) of hind limbs in rats. 100 SD rats were divided randomly into sham operated group (S), S+ CO group (SC), I\/R group (I\/R), I\/ R+ CO group (RC). A rat model of ischemia in hind limbs and the reperfusion liver injury was established with the occlusion of the femoral arteries for 4 h and re-opening for 6 - 72 h, 10 d. The rats in SC and RC groups were exposed to air containing CO (the volume traction of CO: 0.05%) for 2 h before and after reperfusion or the corresponding control time point, while the other two groups were exposed to the routine air. The pathologic changes of liver tissue were morphologically observed by HE stain. Serum GPT activity was tested by Automatic Biochemical Analyzer. The percentage of apoptosis, expression levels of bax and bcl-2 protein in liver tissue were detected by Flow Cytometry. There was no difference between S and SC groups. Compared with SC group: (1) Pathological changes in liver tissue were significant in I\/R and RC groups. (2) The serum GPT activity of I\/R and RC groups was obviously increased. (3) In IR and RC groups, the percentage of apoptosis in liver tissue was all significantly increased. (4) The bax expression level was significantly increased. Compared RC group with I\/R group: (1) Pathological change was slight. (2) The serum GPT activity was depressed. (3) The percentage of apoptosis and expression level of bax protein in liver tissue were depressed. (4) The expression level of bcl-2 protein in liver tissue was increased. Exogenous CO could attenuate liver tissue injury induced by limbs I\/R in rats.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34415223,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Endoloop closure following gastric endoscopic submucosal dissection to prevent delayed bleeding in patients receiving antithrombotic therapy.\nGiven the high risk of bleeding in post-endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) patients receiving antithrombotic therapy, a new effective method is needed to prevent delayed bleeding among such patients. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of endoloop closure, using an endoloop and clips, after gastric ESD to prevent bleeding among patients receiving antithrombotic therapy. This retrospective study enrolled patients taking antithrombotic agents who underwent ESD for early gastric cancer between March 2016 and January 2019. Patients were classified into two groups: the endoloop closure group and the control group (no prophylactic treatment). We compared the rates of post-endoscopic submucosal dissection bleeding between the two groups. Overall, 178 patients were included, with 37 patients in the endoloop closure group and 141 patients in the control group. The rate of post-endoscopic submucosal dissection bleeding was in general lower in the endoloop closure group than in the control group; however, the difference was not statistically significant (8% vs. 23%, p = 0.06). Among patients with a resected specimen size <40 mm and those using multiple antithrombotic agents, the endoloop closure group showed a lower rate of post-endoscopic submucosal dissection bleeding (0% vs. 16%, p = 0.03 and 10% vs. 70%, p = 0.02, respectively). Closure using an endoloop and endoclips after gastric ESD might prevent post-procedure bleeding in patients receiving antithrombotic therapy, particularly in those patients with a resected specimen <40 mm and those receiving multiple antithrombotic agents.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11994279,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Rab11-FIP2 functions in transferrin recycling and associates with endosomal membranes via its COOH-terminal domain.\nRab11-FIP2 is a recently described member of the Rip11\/Rab11-FIP\/Rab coupling protein family of Rab11 interacting proteins. Rab11-FIP2 interacts with both Rab11 and myosin Vb and co-localizes with Rab11 in both HeLa and Madin-Darby canine kidney cells (Hales, C. M., Griner, R., Hobdy-Henderson, K. C., Dorn, M. C., Hardy, D., Kumar, R., Navarre, J., Chan, E. K., Lapierre, L. A., and Goldenring, J. R. (2001) J. Biol. Chem. 276, 39067-390751). Here, we characterized the specificity of the interaction between Rab11-FIP2 and Rab11 and report that it does not interact with Rab4, Rab3, Rab5, Rab6, or Rab7. We demonstrate that the COOH-terminal region of Rab11-FIP2, which contains the Rab11 binding domain (RBD), is necessary and sufficient for its early endosomal membrane association. In contrast, the amino-terminal region, which contains a phospholipid binding C2-domain, by itself was insufficient for membrane binding. Expression of a deletion mutant of Rab11-FIP2, containing the RBD, caused tubulation of a transferrin receptor-positive early endosomal compartment in HeLa cells. Endogenous Rab11 was also associated with this compartment. This phenotype cannot be reversed by excess wild-type Rab11, or dominant-positive Rab11 (Rab11Q70L), suggesting that Rab11-FIP2 functions downstream of Rab11 in endosomal trafficking.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7943380,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Involvement of activation of ATP-dependent potassium channels in ischemic preconditioning in swine.\nThis study evaluated the importance of ATP-dependent potassium channels (KATP) for ischemic preconditioning (IP) in swine. Swine were studied because due to the sparsity of their innate collateral circulation infarct size (IS) development closely resembles that observed in humans. Ninety minutes of ischemia at a blood flow reduction sufficient to reduce regional myocardial work by 90% caused 13.2 +\/- 8.9% (SD) IS of the area at risk. A single cycle of 10-min preconditioning ischemia followed by 15-min reperfusion reduced IS after 90 min of ischemia to 2.8 +\/- 2.7%. The epicardial monophasic action potential duration at 50% repolarization (MAP50) was decreased more markedly during the initial 10 min of the prolonged ischemia than during the first 10 min of the preconditioning ischemic period (84 +\/- 4 vs. 89 +\/- 2%). Transmural myocardial adenosine (ADO) uptake was reversed to net release during both ischemic periods and during the initial phase of reperfusion. Glibenclamide (0.5 mg\/kg, followed by 50 micrograms\/min i.v.) abolished the reduction in MAP50 without altering ADO release. Glibenclamide did not alter IS per se (13.0 +\/- 7.6%) but abolished the beneficial effect of IP (IS: 13.6 +\/- 6.2%). Thus blockade of KATP with glibenclamide abolishes the IS-reducing effect of IP in swine but does not reduce ADO release.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28301039,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Bach2 regulates AID-mediated immunoglobulin gene conversion and somatic hypermutation in DT40 B cells.\nThe transcription factor Bach2 is required for germinal center formation, somatic hypermutation (SHM), and class-switch recombination (CSR) of immunoglobulins. SHM and CSR are initiated by activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) which has potential to induce human B cell lymphoma. To understand the role of Bach2 in AID-mediated immunoglobulin gene diversification processes, we established a BACH2-deficient DT40 B cell line. We show that in addition to allowing SHM, Bach2 drives immunoglobulin gene conversion (GCV), another AID-dependent antibody gene diversification process. We demonstrate that Bach2 promotes GCV by increasing the expression of AID. Importantly, we found that the regulation of AID is independent of Blimp-1 and that BACH2-deficient cells have altered expression of several genes regulating AID expression, stability and function. Furthermore, re-expression of BACH2 or AID in Bach2KO cells restored the SHM and GCV defects. These results demonstrate that Bach2 has a previously unappreciated role in the production of high-affinity antibodies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24389528,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Autophagy and protein turnover signaling in slow-twitch muscle during exercise.\nThe aim of this study was to characterize skeletal muscle protein breakdown and mitochondrial dynamics markers at different points of endurance exercise. Mice run at 10 m\u00b7min(-1) during 1 h, and running speed was increased by 0.5 m\u00b7min(-1) every minute during 40 min and then by 1 m\u00b7min(-1) until exhaustion. Animals were killed by cervical dislocation at 30, 60, 90, and 120 min; at time to exhaustion (Te); and at 3 and 24 h during recovery. The soleus and the deep red regions of the quadriceps muscles were pooled. AMPK phosphorylation (Thr172) increased from 30 min to Te, and FoxO3a phosphorylation (Thr32 and Ser253) decreased from 120 min to 3 h after exercise. FoxO3a-dependent E3 ligases Mul1 and MuRF1 proteins increased from 30 min to Te and at Te and 3 h after exercise, respectively, whereas MAFbx\/atrogin-1 protein expression did not change significantly. The autophagic markers LC3B-II increased at 120 min and Te, and p62 significantly decreased at Te. The AMPK-dependent phosphorylation of Ulk1 at Ser317 and Ser555 increased from 60 min to Te and at 30 and 60 min, respectively. Akt (Ser473), MTOR (Ser2448), and 4E-BP1 (Thr37\/46) phosphorylation decreased from 90 min to Te, and the MTOR-dependent phosphorylation of Ulk1 (Ser757) decreased from 120 min to Te. Ser616 phosphorylation of the mitochondrial fission marker DRP1 increased from 60 min to Te, but protein expression of the fusion markers mitofusin-2, a substrate of Mul1, and OPA1 did not significantly change. These results fit with a regulation of protein breakdown triggered by FoxO3a and Ulk1 pathways after AMPK activation and Akt\/MTOR inhibition. Furthermore, our data suggest that mitochondrial fission is quickly increased, and mitochondrial fusion is unchanged during exercise.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29554085,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Which experimental systems should we use for human microbiome science?\nMicrobiome science is revealing that the phenotype and health of animals, including humans, depend on the sustained function of their resident microorganisms. In this essay, I argue for thoughtful choice of model systems for human microbiome science. A greater variety of experimental systems, including wider use of invertebrate models, would benefit biomedical research, while systems ill-suited to experimental and genetic manipulation can be used to address very limited sets of scientific questions. Microbiome science benefits from the coordinated use of multiple systems, which is facilitated by networks of researchers with expertise in different experimental systems.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28564360,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"GRADUAL CHANGE IN HUMAN TOOTH SIZE IN THE LATE PLEISTOCENE AND POST-PLEISTOCENE.\nStarting with the onset of the last glaciation approximately 100,000 years ago and continuing to the end of the Late Pleistocene approximately 10,000 years ago, human tooth size began to reduce at a rate of 1% every 2,000 years. Both the mesial-distal and the buccal-lingual dimensions of mandibular and maxillary teeth were undergoing the same rate of reduction. From the beginning of the Post-Pleistocene until the present, the overall rate of dental reduction doubled, becoming approximately 1% per thousand years. Buccal-lingual dimensions are now reducing twice as fast as mesial-distal dimensions, and maxillary teeth are reducing at an even more rapid rate than mandibular teeth. Late Pleistocene rates are comparable in Europe and the Middle East. The Post-Pleistocene rates are also the same for Europe, the Middle East, China, Japan, and Southeast Asia. It is suggested that the cookery at the beginning of the Late Pleistocene allowed the earlier changes to occur. The use of pottery within the last 10,000 years further reduced the amount of selection that had previously maintained usable tooth substance. Reduction then occurred as a consequence of the Probable Mutation Effect (Brace, 1963; McKee, 1984).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6167196,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Ratio of thyroxine to thyroxine-binding globulin. An assessment of the validity of a single reference range.\nThe thyroxine:thyroxine-binding globulin ratio in serum (T4:TBG) has been proposed as a measure of thyroid status unaffected by altered binding protein levels. Here 320 apparently euthyroid patients are used to derive euthyroid ranges for serum thyroxine concentrations at specific TBG levels. These ranges are compared with those predicted by a T4:TBG reference range derived from the same patient data. The comparison suggests that the ratio would give false positives for hyperthyroidism at low TBG levels and false negatives at high TBG levels. To overcome this the use of graphical reporting of results or the relation of patient results to empirical reference ranges appropriate to the TBG level is suggested.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37444230,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Ginsenoside Rh4 Improves Hepatic Lipid Metabolism and Inflammation in a Model of NAFLD by Targeting the Gut Liver Axis and Modulating the FXR Signaling Pathway.\nNon-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a series of disorders of liver metabolism caused by the accumulation of lipids in the liver, which is considered the main cause of hepatocellular carcinoma. Our previous study demonstrated the promising efficacy of ginsenoside Rh4 in improving the intestinal tract and its related metabolites. Meanwhile, many studies in the literature have investigated the gut microbiota and its metabolites, such as bile acids (BAs) and short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), which play a key role in the pathogenesis of NAFLD. Therefore, this study focused on whether Rh4 could achieve therapeutic effects on NAFLD through the gut-liver axis. The results showed that Rh4 exhibited sound therapeutic effects on the NAFLD model induced by the Western diet and CCl4 in mice. In the liver, the degrees of hepatic steatosis, lobular inflammation levels, and bile acid in the liver tissue were improved after Rh4 treatment. At the same time, Rh4 treatment significantly increased the levels of intestinal SCFAs and BAs, and these changes were accompanied by the complementary diversity and composition of intestinal flora. In addition, correlation analysis showed that Rh4 affected the expression of proteins involved in the farnesoid X receptor (FXR) signaling pathway in the liver and intestine, which modulates hepatic lipid metabolism, inflammation, and proteins related to bile acid regulation. In conclusion, our study provides a valuable insight into how Rh4 targets the gut-liver axis for the development of NAFLD, which indicates that Rh4 may be a promising candidate for the clinical therapy of NAFLD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":941620,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Immune complexes in chronic hepatitis.\nRheumatoid factors were present in 33.2%, crioglobulins in 47.6%, and anticomplementary assay in 34.2% of cases with chronic active hepatitis. No statistically significant loss of total complement was observed, but its components especially C1 and C3, exhibited lowered titers in 48.6% and respectively 45.7% of 160 cases. The origin, significance and pathogenicity of these factors are discussed in connection with the presence and possible role of the immunologic complexes to the development of chronic liver injury.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17175790,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Teratoma of umbilical cord: a case report and literature review].\nTeratomas are tumors that arise from totipotent embryonic germ cells. The umbilical cord is an extremely rare site for this tumor, only 12 cases have been reported in the medical literature. Herein we describe an umbilical cord mass presenting necrosis with clinical and histopathological features that can be considered as another case of umbilical cord teratoma. We discuss the differential diagnosis and review the complete literature on this subject.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6725365,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Esophageal transit scintigraphy--a cautionary note.\nEsophageal transit scintigraphy and esophageal manometry were compared in forty-two patients with symptoms of esophageal disease. Fifteen healthy volunteers were studied as a control group for the scintigraphic investigation. Agreement between the tests was present in 79% of patients. In all the five patients in whom the esophageal manometry was abnormal and the esophageal transit study was normal, the manometric finding was \"giant esophageal contractions.\" In four of the control group an abnormal transit pattern was observed on one of two esophageal studies. Esophageal transit scintigraphy has some limitations as a screening test for esophageal motor dysfunction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30662214,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dealing with technical challenges in embolization of a rare aberrant left inferior bronchial artery arising from the left gastric artery in a patient with massive hemoptysis.\nBronchial artery embolization is an established intervention for management of recurrent massive hemoptysis in a majority of patients. The source of bleeding in a majority of cases is systemic arteries - orthotopic bronchial arteries, anomalous bronchial arteries, or nonbronchial systemic collaterals. We report a case of an aberrant left inferior bronchial artery arising from the left gastric artery (LGA) in a patient with massive hemoptysis. Such origin from infradiaphragmatic vessels and specially left gastric arteries is very rare and needs to be considered by interventional radiologists and pulmonologists in case with hemoptysis disproportionate to supply by orthotopic arteries. Technical challenges were present in the present case in the form of an aneurysm in the aberrant artery and nontarget hepatic and gastric branches arising from LGA. Appropriate selection of hardware and embolic agents was done to deal with the clinical situation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12025435,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"The impact of latitude on the prevalence of seasonal depression.\nThis study sought to determine whether the prevalence of the seasonal subtype of major depression (SAD) in the community varied as a function of latitude. Random telephone numbers were generated across 8 degrees of latitude (41.5 degrees N to 49.5 degrees N) for the province of Ontario. Eight strata of 1 degree each were sampled equally throughout a 12-month period. Using a validated and structured diagnostic interview, we interviewed by telephone respondents over 20 years of age who had lived in the region for 3 years or more. We evaluated patterns of symptom change across seasons to establish a diagnosis of SAD according to DSM-IV criteria. Of the 2078 households that were assessed for eligibility, 1605 (77%) completed the interview. The crude prevalence of lifetime SAD was 2.6% (95% CI, 1.9 to 3.5). There was no impact of latitude on prevalence of either major depression or the seasonal subtype across the 8 strata, although the global measure of the severity of seasonal change in mood was significantly negatively correlated with latitude. SAD is a common subtype of major depression in Ontario, but there is no evidence to support an increase in prevalence with increasing latitude.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35127802,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Early Warning Models to Predict the 90-Day Urinary Tract Infection Risk After Radical Cystectomy and Urinary Diversion for Patients With Bladder Cancer.\nTo develop and validate a nomogram of the 90-day urinary tract infection (UTI) risk for patients with bladder cancer undergoing radical cystectomy (RC) and urinary diversion. The predictive nomogram was based on a retrospective study on the consecutive patients who underwent RC and urinary diversion for bladder cancer between January 2014 and March 2021. The incidence and microbiology of UTI were reported. The univariate and multivariate logistic analyses were conducted to determine independent risk factors associated with UTI. The predictive accuracy and discriminatory ability of the established nomogram were evaluated by the concordance index (C-index) and decision curve analysis (DCA). The performance of the model was validated internally. A total of 220 patients were included and the incidence of UTI within 90 days was 27.3%. The most commonly identified pathogens were Enterococcus (42.0%), Escherichia coli (21.70%), and Candida (13.0%). Urinary diversion type, Charlson comorbidities index (CCI), stricture, and prognostic nutritional index (PNI) were included in the nomogram. The C-index of the nomogram for predicting UTI was 0.858 (95% CI: 0.593-0.953). In the validation cohort, the nomogram also showed high-predictive accuracy. Net reclassification improvement (NRI) and integrated discrimination improvement (IDI) index indicated that PNI led to improvement in predictive ability. The proposed early warning model shows great accuracy in predicting the incidence of 90-day UTI after RC and urinary diversion in patients with bladder cancer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9550556,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Serum transferrin receptors are decreased in the presence of iron overload.\nTo test the hypothesis that the quantities of circulating transferrin receptors are reduced in iron overload, we studied serum transferrin receptors and indirect measures of iron status in 150 subjects from rural Zimbabwe. We found significant inverse correlations between serum concentrations of transferrin receptors and ferritin, the ratio of ferritin to aspartate aminotransferase, and transferrin saturation (r > or = 0.44; P < 0.001). The mean +\/- SD concentration of serum transferrin receptors in 23 subjects classified as having iron overload (ferritin > 300 microg\/L and transferrin saturation > 60%) was 1.55 +\/- 0.61 mg\/L, significantly lower than the 2.50 +\/- 0.62 mg\/L in 75 subjects with normal iron stores (ferritin 20-300 microg\/L and transferrin saturation 15-55%; P < 0.0005) and the 2.83 +\/- 1.14 mg\/L in 8 subjects with iron deficiency (ferritin < 20 microg\/L; P = 0.001). In keeping with the regulation of transferrin receptor expression at the cellular level, our findings suggest that serum transferrin receptors are decreased in the presence of iron overload.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28251252,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-30":1}}},"text":"Perimembranous Ventricular Septal Defect Device Closure: Choosing Between Amplatzer Duct Occluder I and II.\nTranscatheter closure of perimembranous ventricular septal defects (pmVSDs) is a well-established procedure. Recently, Amplatzer duct occluders (ADO) I and II have been reported to close large series of pmVSDs successfully (off-label use). ADOs are economical compared with the standard Amplatzer VSD occluders, a major consideration in developing countries with low-budget programs. We report closure of symptomatic, hemodynamically significant pmVSDs using the ADOI and ADOII devices. Although there are no set criteria for choosing between ADOI and ADOII, the former's price tag includes snare and long sheath. Thus, we aim to predetermine device usage based on transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) findings. Between March 2013 and November 2014, 30 patients had transcatheter closure of pmVSDs using the ADO devices. The median age was 4 years (range 1.1-13 years) and median weight was 15 kg (range 6.5-85 kg). ADOII could not be used in VSDs larger than 6 mm and\/or with a large aneurysm. The median VSD size as assessed by echocardiography was 5.5 mm while the mean was 5.5 mm (range 3-12 mm); while by angiography it was 5 mm & the mean was 4.75 mm (range 3-9 mm). The median fluoroscopy time (FT) was 8 min (range 5-38 min). We inserted ADOI in 13 patients and ADOII in 17 patients (no significant difference between median age and weight in each group). VSD size was significantly larger and FT was longer in ADOI patients; the device type matched what was decided from TTE data in 84% of cases. Follow-up ranged from 2 to 24 months (median 12 months). The mean LVEDD z-score of the patients was 1.1 before VSD closure, while it was 0.63, 0.35, and 0.23 at the 1-, 3 months, and last follow-up, respectively. Complete closure rates immediately, at 24 h, and at last follow-up were 87, 90, and 94% respectively. No patient developed heart block or any other complication. ADOI and ADOII are equally safe and effective in pmVSD closure. ADOII use, although cheaper than ADOI, is limited to smaller VSDs. The choice between ADOI and ADOII can be decided by TTE prior to procedure which is convenient in low economic programs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28559994,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"MiR-144-3p inhibits cell proliferation and induces apoptosis in multiple myeloma by targeting c-Met.\nMicroRNA-144-3p (miR-144-3p) has been implicated in the development of many types of cancer. However, its role in multiple myeloma (MM) remains largely unknown. In this study, we found that miR-144-3p was downregulated in both MM cell lines and plasma from patients with MM. In vitro studies further showed that transfection of an miR-144-3p mimic into MM cells inhibited their proliferation and colony formation, and promoted cell cycle arrest at the G0\/G1 phase and apoptosis. In addition, we found that miR-144-3p could directly target the 3'-untranslated region of cellular-mesenchymal to epithelial transition factor (c-MET) and suppress c-MET expression and its downstream signaling pathway (PI3K\/AKT). Rescue experiments revealed that overexpression of c-MET partially reversed the inhibition effect of miR-144-3p in MM cells. In vivo studies confirmed that restoration of miR-144-3p suppressed tumor growth in xenograft nude mice by repressing c-MET. Overall, these findings demonstrate that miR-144-3p functions as a tumor suppressor in MM by targeting c-MET, suggesting that miR-144-3p might serve as a potential therapeutic target in MM.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6732984,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Effect of tumor promoting agents on the in vitro malignant transformation of the fetal rat brain cells exposed in utero to ethylnitrosourea].\nThe potent tumor promoter 12-0-tetradecanoyl phorbol 13-acetate (TPA) and phenobarbital (PB) were tested for their abilities to promote effect of these agents on the in vitro malignant transformation of the fetal rat brain cells exposed in utero to Ethylnitrosourea (ENU). Rat fetal brain cells were transferred to cultured system at 72 hours after single pulse of ENU (50 mg\/kg B. W.) to pregnant SD-JCL rats on the 18th day of gestation. Primary cultured cells were divided into 20 groups, and graded doses of PB from 1.0 mM to 5.0 mM or that of TPA from 0.1 ng\/ml to 50.0 ng\/ml were added continuously into cultured medium. In the ENU group treated with TPA, it was found the results of more early appearance of \"piled up focus\" for about 90 days, more early capacity of colony formation in semisolid soft agar for about 110 days, and more early appearance of tumorigenicity for about 90 days than that in the ENU groups treated with or without acetone. An increased agglutinability to Concanavalin A (200 micrograms\/ml) was appeared more early in the ENU groups treated with TPA than in the ENU groups. On the basis of these results, it is suggested that TPA promoted the in vitro malignant transformation of the fetal rat brain cells with a transplacental carcinogen of ENU, and TPA might effect as a tumor promoter on the neurogenic carcinogenesis. As for the mechanisms of the promoting effect of TPA, it is speculated that TPA might modulate the function of cell membrane from the results of Concanavalin A agglutinability, and might modulate the differentiation on cell function from the results of morphological analysis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26418546,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"In-Depth Duodenal Transcriptome Survey in Chickens with Divergent Feed Efficiency Using RNA-Seq.\nSince the feed cost is a major determinant of profitability in poultry industry, how to improve feed efficiency through genetic selection is an intriguing subject for breeders and producers. As a more suitable indicator assessing feed efficiency, residual feed intake (RFI) is defined as the difference between observed and expected feed intake based on maintenance and growth. However, the genetic mechanisms responsible for RFI in chickens are still less well appreciated. In this study, we investigated the duodenal transcriptome architecture of extreme RFI phenotypes in the six brown-egg dwarf hens (three per group) using RNA sequencing technology. Among all mapped reads, an average of 75.62% fell into annotated exons, 5.50% were located in introns, and the remaining 18.88% were assigned to intergenic regions. In total, we identified 41 promising candidate genes by differential expression analysis between the low and high RFI groups. Furthermore, qRT-PCR assays were designed for 10 randomly chosen genes, and nine (90.00%) were successfully validated. Functional annotation analyses revealed that these significant genes belong to several specific biological functions related to digestibility, metabolism and biosynthesis processes as well as energy homeostasis. We also predicted 253 intergenic coding transcripts, and these transcripts were mainly involved in fundamental biological regulation and metabolism processes. Our findings provided a pioneering exploration of biological basis underlying divergent RFI using RNA-Seq, which pinpoints promising candidate genes of functional relevance, is helpful to guide future breeding strategies to optimize feed efficiency and assists in improving the current gene annotation in chickens.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36258498,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Widely tunable O-band lithium niobite\/III-V transmitter.\nThe ever-increasing traffic has been driving the demand for compact, high-speed, and low-power-consumption optical transmitters. Thin-film lithium niobite (TFLN) platforms have emerged as promising photonic integrated solutions for next-generation optical transmitters. In this study, we demonstrated the first widely tunable optical transmitter based on a butt-coupling a TFLN modulator with an electrically pumped tunable laser. The tunable laser exhibited a side-mode suppression ratio of > 60 dB, linewidth of 475 kHz, and wavelength-tuning range of over 40 nm. The TFLN modulator presented a voltage-length product of 2.9 V\u00b7cm and an electro-optic response of 1.5 dB roll-off at 50 GHz. The optical transmitter support data rate was as high as 160 Gb\/s.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6723968,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Possible bioactive conformations of alpha-melanotropin.\nBy comparing the results of energy calculation for alpha-MSH and its semirigid analogues Ac-[ Cys4 , Cys10 ]-alpha- MSH4 -10-NH2, Ac-[ Cys4 , Cys10 ]-alpha- MSH4 -13-NH2, and [ Cys4 - Cys10 ]-alpha-MSH, a detailed description of two possible bioactive conformations for the 'specific' central site of alpha- MSH6 -9 is proposed representing variants of chain-reversal structure. A possible explanation of the rise in melanotropic activity of the latter two semirigid analogues is presented.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14531590,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Two-year clinical performance of Class V resin-modified glass-lonomer and resin composite restorations.\nWhile a one-year report had been previously published, this study was undertaken to evaluate the clinical performance and appearance of a resin-modified glass ionomer and a resin composite over two years. Thirty-seven pairs of restorations of FujI II LC and Z 250\/Single Bond were placed in caries-free cervical erosion\/abfraction lesions without tooth preparation. Restorations were clinically evaluated at baseline, 6, 12, 18 and 24 months using modified Ryge\/USPHS criteria. No statistically significant difference (p = 0.13) was observed in the overall performance of the materials. Retention was 96% for the resin-modified glass ionomer and 81% for the resin composite, with no additional restorations of either material lost after one year. As previously reported, retention of the Z 250 restorations at six months was below the minimum specified in the ADA Acceptance Program for Dentin and Enamel Adhesives. The resin composite restorations generally had a better appearance, with a 100% alpha rating in color match, versus 85% for the resin-modified glass ionomer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37446398,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Preparation of Xanthene-TEMPO Dyads: Synthesis and Study of the Radical Enhanced Intersystem Crossing.\nWe prepared a rhodamine-TEMPO chromophore-radical dyad (RB-TEMPO) to study the radical enhanced intersystem crossing (REISC). The visible light-harvesting chromophore rhodamine is connected with the TEMPO (a nitroxide radical) via a C-N bond. The UV-vis absorption spectrum indicates negligible electron interaction between the two units at the ground state. Interestingly, the fluorescence of the rhodamine moiety is strongly quenched in RB-TEMPO, and the fluorescence lifetime of the rhodamine moiety is shortened to 0.29 ns, from the lifetime of 3.17 ns. We attribute this quenching effect to the intramolecular electron spin-spin interaction between the nitroxide radical and the photoexcited rhodamine chromophore. Nanosecond transient absorption spectra confirm the REISC in RB-TEMPO, indicated by the detection of the rhodamine chromophore triplet excited state; the lifetime was determined as 128 ns, which is shorter than the native rhodamine triplet state lifetime (0.58 \u03bcs). The zero-field splitting (ZFS) parameters of the triplet state of the chromophore were determined with the pulsed laser excited time-resolved electron paramagnetic resonance (TREPR) spectra. RB-TEMPO was used as a photoinitiator for the photopolymerization of pentaerythritol triacrylate (PETA). These studies are useful for the design of heavy atom-free triplet photosensitizers, the study of the ISC, and the electron spin dynamics of the radical-chromophore systems upon photoexcitation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14525777,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Epidemiology of human parvovirus B19 in children with sickle cell disease.\nHuman parvovirus (HPV) B19 causes significant morbidity and mortality in children with sickle cell disease (SCD), but little data are published about the epidemiology of HPV B19 infection and its associated complications in this patient population. In this study, prevalence and incidence rates of HPV B19 were determined in 633 patients with SCD followed at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia between November 1996 and December 2001. Thirty percent (30%) were HPV B19 immunoglobulin G (IgG) positive at first testing, and the 70% without evidence of past HPV B19 infection were tested annually. One hundred ten patients developed evidence of HPV B19 infection for an incidence rate of 11.3 per 100 patient years. Sixty-eight episodes of HPV B19-induced transient red cell aplasia occurred with the following clinical events: fever (89.7%), pain (61.8%), acute splenic sequestration (19.1%), and acute chest syndrome (11.8%). Pain, fever, and acute splenic sequestration were more frequent events with acute HPV B19 infections compared with acute events in uninfected patients. The results of this epidemiologic study, the largest and most comprehensive to date, justify the development of HPV B19 prevention strategies to diminish the frequent and often severe complications associated with HPV B19 infections in patients with SCD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37446433,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Numerical Approach to the Plasmonic Enhancement of Cs2AgBiBr6 Perovskite-Based Solar Cell by Embedding Metallic Nanosphere.\nLead-free Cs2AgBiBr6 perovskites have emerged as a promising, non-toxic, and eco-friendly photovoltaic material with high structural stability and a long lifetime of carrier recombination. However, the poor-light harvesting capability of lead-free Cs2AgBiBr6 perovskites due to the large indirect band gap is a critical factor restricting the improvement of its power conversion efficiency, and little information is available about it. Therefore, this study focused on the plasmonic approach, embedded metallic nanospheres in Cs2AgBiBr6 perovskite solar cells, and quantitatively investigated their light-harvesting capability via finite-difference time-domain method. Gold and palladium were selected as metallic nanospheres and embedded in a 600 nm thick-Cs2AgBiBr6 perovskite layer-based solar cell. Performances, including short-circuit current density, were calculated by tuning the radius of metallic nanospheres. Compared to the reference devices with a short-circuit current density of 14.23 mA\/cm2, when a gold metallic nanosphere with a radius of 140 nm was embedded, the maximum current density was improved by about 1.6 times to 22.8 mA\/cm2. On the other hand, when a palladium metallic nanosphere with the same radius was embedded, the maximum current density was improved by about 1.8 times to 25.8 mA\/cm2.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28709350,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Representation of the direct correlation function of the hard-sphere fluid.\nAn accurate representation of the structural pair correlation functions of the hard sphere (HS) fluid up to the freezing density is proposed which combines the pole expression for the total correlation function h(r), the Ornstein-Zernike equation, and molecular dynamics (MD) computer simulation data. In the scheme, h(r) is expressed in terms of a set of pole parameters, which reveals how the tail of the Fourier transform of h(r) contains information on the discontinuities in the derivatives of the direct correlation function (DCF). This formulation leads to a DCF expressed as the sum of a numerically obtainable part and an analytic part which consists of elementary integral terms, some of which are found to give rise to the discontinuities. An exact formula for the magnitude of these discontinuities is derived, which indicates that there is a particular density (\u03c1\u22450.133) below which the magnitude of the discontinuities decreases with increasing order of the derivative. With the accurate MD simulation data the set of parameters that specifies h(r) was determined. These can be used to obtain the different structural functions of the HS fluid, and following the calculation stages of the pole structure scheme the DCF is obtained. From this route to the DCF the second pole of the HS fluid can be determined and the non-negligible role of the \"out of core\" part of the DCF at high densities is revealed. The density-dependent separation range where the two pole approximation represents well the h(r) has been determined.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9152883,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A thermal heat summation model to predict the duration of the gonotrophic cycle of Culiseta melanura in nature.\nThis study determined the effect of temperature on the gonotrophic cycle of Culiseta melanura and developed a thermal heat summation model to calculate its duration under field conditions. A colony of Cs. melanura was used from New Jersey (F13-F17 generation) and the length of the gonotrophic cycle was observed at 2, 10, 16, 22, 28, 32 and 34 degrees C. None of the mosquitos survived at 2 degrees C or 34 degrees C and none laid fertile eggs at 32 degrees C. A linear regression analysis on the data showed that the thermal minimum for ovarian development was 6.4 degrees C and 95.87 degree days were required above 6.4 degrees C to complete one gonotrophic cycle. A thermal heat summation model is presented to allow calculation of the duration of the gonotrophic cycle under field conditions when average temperatures are known.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25297975,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Synthesis, structure, and properties of O6 -Corona[3]arene[3]tetrazines.\nO6 -Corona[3]arene[3]tetraazines, a new class of macrocyclic compounds, were synthesized efficiently in a one-pot reaction from the nucleophilic aromatic substitution reaction between 1,4-dihydroxybenzene derivatives and 3,6-dichlorotetrazine in warm acetonitrile. In the crystalline structure, the resulting macrocycles adopt highly symmetric structures of a regular hexagonal cavity with all bridging oxygen atoms and tetrazine rings located on the same plane with phenylene units orthogonally orientated. The constitutional aromatic rings are able to rotate around the macrocyclic annulus, depending on the steric effect of the substituents and temperature, in solution. The electron-deficient nature revealed by cyclic voltammetry, differential pulse voltammetry, and characteristic absorbances at a visible region show the O6 -corona[3]arene[3]tetrazines to be suitable macrocyclic receptors for electron-rich guests.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27279532,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Bioactive Compounds, Chemical Composition, and Medicinal Value of the Giant Puffball, Calvatia gigantea (Higher Basidiomycetes), from Turkey.\nIn this study, the compositions of Calvatia gigantea were first analyzed in order to elucidate its chemical basis for development as a health-enhancing food or medicine. This study investigates the chemical composition (nutritional value; phenolic, sugar and fatty acid content; aroma compounds) and antioxidant properties (radical scavenging activity, reducing power, and inhibition of lipid peroxidation) of C. gigantea. The results showed that C. gigantea contains phenolic compounds and sugars and is rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids (67.93%), proteins (34.37%), and carbohydrates (51.97%). The most abundant compounds were gentisic acid (23.26 \u00b5g\/g; as a phenolic compound), trehalose (9.78 g\/100g; as a sugar), and hexanal (34.71%; as an aroma compound). These findings suggest that C. gigantea might be a promising source of medicine and has the potential to be a health food and food supplementary product.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23442152,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Functional and molecular expression of the proton-coupled oligopeptide transporters in spleen and macrophages from mouse and human.\nThe aim of this study was to determine the expression and function of proton-coupled oligopeptide transporters (POTs) in spleen and macrophages and their contribution to innate immune response induced by bacterial peptidomimetics \u03b3-iE-DAP and MDP. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and Western blot results revealed the mRNA and protein expression of PepT2, PhT1, and PhT2, but not PepT1, in the spleen of mice and humans. In comparison to lymphocytes of the spleen, macrophages had higher transcript levels of PepT2 and PhT2. The cellular uptake of Ala-Lys-AMCA in mouse splenic macrophages was pH-dependent with maximum uptake at pH 6.0, and the kinetic parameters were K(m) = 75.5 \u00b1 14.3 \u03bcM and V(max) = 25.4 \u00b1 2.1 pmol\/min per mg protein. The uptake of Ala-Lys-AMCA by mouse splenic macrophages was not inhibited by histidine but was significantly inhibited by glycyl-sarcosine (GlySar) and carnosine (P < 0.01), and by bacterial peptidomimetics \u03b3-iE-DAP and MDP, ligands of nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD)-containing proteins. Carnosine and GlySar, but not histidine, attenuated the inflammatory response induced by \u03b3-iE-DAP and MDP in mouse splenic macrophages. Functional expression of POTs was also demonstrated in THP-1 cells, and dipeptides reduced the immune response induced by \u03b3-iE-DAP. In conclusion, our findings are novel by providing important information on the molecular and functional expression of POTs in the spleen. Moreover, it appears that the PepT2-mediated uptake of \u03b3-iE-DAP and MDP in macrophages further contributes to the innate immune response.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6729409,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Information processing and attentional functioning in the developmental course of schizophrenic disorders.\nThis article examines the evidence that certain deficits in information processing and attentional functioning are present across populations at risk for schizophrenic disorder, with active schizophrenic psychotic symptomatology, and in relative remission after a schizophrenic psychosis. In addition, the evidence that some deficits in processing information occur only in the actively psychotic period is inspected. Deficits in vigilance tasks with high-processing loads, in forced-choice span of apprehension for large arrays, and in serial recall for items that involve active rehearsal occur across risk populations, actively symptomatic schizophrenic patients, and relatively remitted schizophrenic patients. These deficits may reflect vulnerability factors for schizophrenic disorders. Reaction time crossover, dichotic listening, backward masking, and referential communication deficits might also be vulnerability indicators. These deficits may be related to a reduction in the processing capacity that is available for task-relevant cognitive operations in persons vulnerable to schizophrenic disorder, which could, in turn, be caused by several different underlying cognitive anomalies. Cognitive deficits that have been found only during actively psychotic periods or in chronic schizophrenic patients, such as poorer recognition of briefly presented, single, familiar letters or numbers, are characterized by low demands on processing capacity. These deficiencies may be caused by further reduction in available processing capacity or a temporary disruption of automatic as well as attention-demanding processes; they could also reflect a stable, more severe cognitive deficit in a subtype of schizophrenic disorder.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1102373,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Organ culture of foetal rat pancreas. Effects of parabiotic culture with foetal adrenal glands.\nThe differentiation and growth of the foetal rat pancreas (20 days postcoitum) was studied in parabiotic organ culture with foetal adrenal tissue. In such co-cultures, characteristic pancreatic morphology was preserved and further acinar cell differentiation was fostered. Acinar cells contiunued to represent about 65% of the total explant volume following short-term incubation. The selective islet cell proliferation, previously observed in control pancreatic explants cultured alone, did not occur when adrenals were co-cultured. In addition, the amylase content of the incubation media and of the explanted pancreatic tissue remained high with adrenal co-culture, while the insulin content of the media and of the explanted tissue was markedly suppressed when compared to control pancreatic explants cultured alone. The effects of the adrenal in maintaining the differentiated acinar component of the pancreas and suppressing media insulin concentration diminished over extended incubation. The addition of adrenals to culture of foetal pancreatic explants after 6 days of control culture (at a time when differentiated acinar cells were not identifiable in the explant) did not result in redifferentiation of the acinar component, but did markedly depress media insulin content. Removal of adrenals after 4 days of co-culture resulted in an immediate rise in media insulin concentration and a rapid decline in pancreatic acinar mass. An adrenal-exocrine pancreatic axis is proposed and it is suggested that foetal adrenal secretions may play an important role in the development of the exocrine pancreas in vivo as well as in vitro.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17009559,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Histomorphometric evaluation of six dental implant surfaces after early loading in augmented human sinuses.\nThis study investigated the bone-to-implant contact (BIC) and osteoconductive capacity (OC) of 6 different implant surfaces after early loading in humans. Two implants with different surfaces were placed side-by-side in the grafted (n= 5) and nongrafted (n = 1) sinuses of 3 volunteers. Single-tooth restorations were delivered 60 days later. After 6 months of full occlusal loading, implants were retrieved in block sections for histomorphometric analysis. One implant (acid etched) placed in grafted bone failed when loaded. There were no other complications. In grafted bone, the microtextured surface achieved the highest BIC value (94.08%), followed by the oxidized (77.32%), hydroxyapatite (HA) (74.51%), sandblasted and acid-etched (51.85%), and titanium plasma-sprayed (TPS) (41.48%) surfaces. In native bone, the acid-etched surface achieved a higher BIC value (69.03%) than the HA surface (59.03%). The highest OC value in grafted bone was exhibited by the microtextured surface (34.31%), followed by the HA (28.62%), sandblasted and acid-etched (25.08%), oxidized (17.55%), and TPS (-20.47%) surfaces. The HA surface exhibited a higher OC value (30.39%) in native bone compared with the acid-etched surface (24.0%). As a whole, highest BIC and OC values were exhibited by the microtextured surface, and lowest values were exhibited by the TPS surface. All other surfaces demonstrated excellent BIC (>50%) but varied in OC (range = 17.55%-28.62%). These findings are tempered by the limited scope and sample size of the study and should be considered preliminary. More research is needed to determine the impact of implant surface texture on BIC and OC.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12027424,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Interleukin-12 protects mice against disseminated infection caused by Paracoccidioides brasiliensis but enhances pulmonary inflammation.\nParacoccidioides brasiliensis is a facultative, intracellular pathogen causing the most important deep mycosis in Latin America. As the production of IFN-gamma and induction of cell-mediated immunity to P. brasiliensis is of critical importance in host defense, the immunotherapeutic effect of exogenous IL-12 administration was studied in a murine model of susceptibility to pulmonary infection. rIL-12 treatment led to a less disseminated disease, as confirmed by decreased fungal loads in liver and spleen. Administration of rIL-12 did not affect fungal growth in the lungs, although it did induce an augmented pulmonary mononuclear cell inflammation. IL-12 treatment induced an early (week 1) increase in pulmonary IFN-gamma, but decreased cytokine and specific antibody (IgG1 and IgG3) production at week 8 after infection. These results show that IL-12 administration induces a less severe infection, but the high inflammatory response detected in the lungs precludes its possible use as a new therapeutic tool for severe paracoccidioidomycosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37847755,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Struct2GO: protein function prediction based on graph pooling algorithm and AlphaFold2 structure information.\nIn recent years, there has been a breakthrough in protein structure prediction, and the AlphaFold2 model of the DeepMind team has improved the accuracy of protein structure prediction to the atomic level. Currently, deep learning-based protein function prediction models usually extract features from protein sequences and combine them with protein-protein interaction networks to achieve good results. However, for newly sequenced proteins that are not in the protein-protein interaction network, such models cannot make effective predictions. To address this, this article proposes the Struct2GO model, which combines protein structure and sequence data to enhance the precision of protein function prediction and the generality of the model. We obtain amino acid residue embeddings in protein structure through graph representation learning, utilize the graph pooling algorithm based on a self-attention mechanism to obtain the whole graph structure features, and fuse them with sequence features obtained from the protein language model. The results demonstrate that compared with the traditional protein sequence-based function prediction model, the Struct2GO model achieves better results. The data underlying this article are available at https:\/\/github.com\/lyjps\/Struct2GO.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8346573,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Experimental gastrointestinal motility].\nGastrointestinal motility is a major field of research today; however, despite there being a huge amount of available data in the literature, its exact role as a diagnostic tool has yet to be defined. The purpose of this paper is to describe some of the existing experimental models and methods for conducting motility studies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28543769,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Perceptions and Practices Regarding Atopic Dermatitis: A Survey.\nParents (N = 392) completed a survey at the Minnesota State Fair in August and September 2015 addressing knowledge regarding the pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis (AD), basic skin care practices, and the perceived role of infection and food allergies in AD. Of participating parents, 82% identified food allergy or sensitivity in AD pathogenesis, whereas only 42% identified bacterial infection as an important factor in AD severity. Participants most often received education on skin health from their pediatrician (49%), followed by Internet-based sources (23%), rather than a dermatologist or pediatric dermatologist. Parents of children with AD overestimate the role of food allergies in this condition and are not as aware of the role of bacterial infection. Future educational directions from our specialty should focus on resources for pediatricians and families that emphasize these factors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17173828,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Porokeratosis in a patient with dermatomyositis].\nThere are several reports of porokeratosis in the context of immmunosuppressive diseases. These mainly include organ transplant, HIV infection, lymphomas and some inflammatory and autoimmune diseases commonly treated with immunosuppresive drugs or chemotherapy. Disseminated superficial actinic porokeratosis is the clinical variant of porokeratosis that most frequently develops in immunosuppressive states. We report a case of porokeratosis in a woman with dermatomyositis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28271088,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Axillary Artery Injury Associated with Proximal Humerus Fracture: A Report of 6 Cases.\nProximal humerus fractures are common, but associated injury of the axillary artery is uncommon. The majority of published blunt traumatic axillary artery injuries are associated with anterior glenohumeral dislocation; a few are associated with isolated proximal humerus fractures or fracture-dislocation. Experience within our institution demonstrates that axillary artery injury is often unrecognized on initial presentation owing to palpable peripheral pulses and the absence of ischemia and places the hand at risk of necrosis and amputation if there is prolonged ischemia and the forearm at risk of compartment syndrome after revascularization. Accurate physical examination in combination with a low threshold for Doppler examination or angiography can establish the diagnosis of axillary artery injury. We present 6 cases of axillary artery injury associated with proximal humerus fractures in order to highlight the potential for this vascular injury in the setting of a proximal humerus fracture.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6742925,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A field-evolved differential filtration method for recovery of schistosome cercariae.\nModifications to Theron 's (1979) differential filtration technique are described which improve both sensitivity and reliability. Following pre-filtration to remove larger debris and some plankton, the sample is formalized; constant stirring prevents losses due to the cercarial stickiness normally caused by the fixation process. Once fixed, Schistosoma mansoni cercariae are reliably retained and well displayed on nylon monofilament cloth of 50 micrometers pore size. Such a coarse recovery filter permits very large samples to be processed and results in filters which are easy to read. Field comparison showed the method improved sensitivity by a factor of more than 20 times and laboratory evaluation indicated a recovery rate of over 80%.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23867208,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Effect of short-term administration of cinnamon on blood pressure in patients with prediabetes and type 2 diabetes.\nThe aim of this study was to systematically review and evaluate the effect of short-term administration of cinnamon on blood pressure regulation in patients with prediabetes and type 2 diabetes by performing a meta-analysis of randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials. Medical literature for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of the effect of cinnamon on blood pressure was systematically searched; three original articles published between January 2000 and September 2012 were identified from the MEDLINE database and a hand search of the reference lists of the articles obtained through MEDLINE. The search terms included cinnamon or blood pressure or systolic blood pressure (SBP) or diastolic blood pressure (DBP) or diabetes. A random effects model was used to calculate weighted mean difference and 95% confidence intervals (CI). The pooled estimate of the effect of cinnamon intake on SBP and DBP demonstrated that the use of cinnamon significantly decreased SBP and DBP by 5.39 mm Hg (95% CI, -6.89 to -3.89) and 2.6 mm Hg (95% CI, -4.53 to -0.66) respectively. Consumption of cinnamon (short term) is associated with a notable reduction in SBP and DBP. Although cinnamon shows hopeful effects on BP-lowering potential, it would be premature to recommend cinnamon for BP control because of the limited number of studies available. Thus, undoubtedly a long-term, adequately powered RCT involving a larger number of patients is needed to appraise the clinical potential of cinnamon on BP control among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26473675,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Detection of T- and B-cell Target Antigens of Fowlpox Virus Isolated from Backyard Chickens in India.\nWith the aim of assessing the antigenic characteristics of a circulating pool of fowlpox virus (FPV) that exists in the backyard poultry system in India, one of the field isolates generated was characterized by in vitro immunologic techniques. FPV was isolated from clinically positive fowlpox cases (n = 10) from the Jhargram (West Midnapur district) and Kakdwip (South 24 Pargana district) areas of West Bengal State, India. Initially, FPV-specific PCR was performed for confirmation of the samples. Isolation of FPV was done using embryonated chicken eggs and the choreoallantoic membrane route. Subsequently, FPV antigen was prepared from chicken embryo fibroblast cell culture-adapted field isolate. Biologic transmission of FPV was performed in Rhode Island red chickens experimentally to assess humoral and cell-mediated immune (CMI) responses. High level of anti-FPV antibodies were observed in test birds as assessed by indirect ELISA. Seroreactive polypeptides (B-cell antigens) of FPV antigen with molecular weights of 44.5, 66.5, 75, 90.5, and 99 kDa were detected by western blot analysis. Significant increases in CMI responses were observed in inoculated chickens as assessed by lymphocyte proliferation assay, cytotoxicity assay, and T-cell immunoblotting. The predominant T-cell antigen of FPV detected had a molecular weight of 66.5 kDa. The present study revealed the antigenic characteristics of FPV that exists in backyard poultry system in West Bengal for the first time, thus exploring the rationality of designing future T- and B-cell vaccines against fowlpox.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30665247,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Diagnostic Utility of Whole Exome Sequencing in the Neuromuscular Clinic.\nNext-generation sequencing is a powerful diagnostic tool, yet it has proven inadequate to establish a diagnosis in all cases of congenital hypotonia or childhood onset weakness. We sought to describe the impact of whole exome sequencing (WES), which has only recently become widely available clinically, on molecular diagnosis in the Nationwide Children's Hospital Neuromuscular clinics. We reviewed records of all patients in our clinic with pediatric onset of symptoms who had WES done since 2013. Patients were included if clinical suspicion was high for a neuromuscular disease. Clinical WES was performed in 30 families, representing 31 patients, all of whom were seen for hypotonia, weakness, or gait disturbance. Probands had between 2 and 12 genetic diagnostic tests prior to obtaining WES. A genetic diagnosis was established in 11 families (37%), and in 12 patients (39%), with mutations in 10 different genes. Five of these genes have only been associated with disease since 2013, and were not previously represented on clinically available disease gene panels. Our results confirm the utility of WES in the clinical setting, particularly for genetically heterogeneous syndromes. The availability of WES can provide an end to the diagnostic odyssey for parents and allow for expansion of phenotypes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27482871,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nurses' Perceptions of Quality Care.\nLimited research has been conducted on how nurses define or perceive \"quality nursing care.\" We conducted focus groups to identify nurses' perceptions of quality care at a Midwestern academic medical center. Transcripts of the focus group sessions were analyzed using thematic analysis techniques, and 11 themes emerged: Leadership, Staffing, Resources, Timeliness, Effective Communication\/Collaboration, Professionalism, Relationship-Based Care, Environment\/Culture, Simplicity, Outcomes, and Patient Experience.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34403444,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Urinary neopterin and total neopterin measurements allow monitoring of oxidative stress and inflammation levels of knee and hip arthroplasty patients.\nKnee and hip arthroplasty are common surgeries within an aging population. Some data has suggested that knee arthroplasty is more traumatic to the body than hip arthroplasty due to the increased complexity and load bearing nature of the joint. Here, we compare the stress of the two surgeries by measuring urinary neopterin and total neopterin as biomarkers of oxidative stress and inflammation. Urinary neopterin and total neopterin (neopterin + 7,8-dihydroneopterin) levels were analysed in 28 knee and 22 hip arthroplasty patients pre- and post-operatively to determine oxidative stress and inflammation levels. Total neopterin was 31.1% higher with knee arthroplasty (p<0.05). Urinary neopterin was 32.8% higher in the knee arthroplasty group versus hips. The increase in neopterin and total neopterin following a post-surgical decrease in levels was significant in both groups. Levels of neopterin and total neopterin were varied between patients, but all increased following surgery and subsided by day 28. The increased levels of urinary neopterin and total neopterin from knee arthroplasty indicate that knee osteoarthritis and arthroplasty is a more significant trauma to the body than hip osteoarthritis and arthroplasty surgery. This is also shown by faster inflammatory resolution following hip arthroplasty.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26474335,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pregnancy and Neonatal Outcomes in Gestational Diabetes Treated with Regular Insulin or Fast-Acting Insulin Analogues.\nFast-acting insulin analogues (FAIAs) are being used more frequently during pregnancy. Previous studies comparing regular insulin (RI) and FAIA consist primarily of women enrolled with pre-existing diabetes; therefore, we compared pregnancy and neonatal outcomes in women with gestational diabetes. We retrospectively investigated 197 pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) requiring insulin treatment for glycemic control. Individuals were divided into 2 groups: RI (n = 55) and FAIA (aspart or lispro; n = 142). Pregnancy outcomes, including caesarean section rate, and neonatal outcomes, including macrosomia and ponderal index, were compared between groups. There were no significant differences in maternal baseline characteristics (age, parity, body mass index and weight gain) between groups or in haemoglobinA1c before delivery. The frequency of emergency caesarean section (caesarean section after trial of labor) was not significantly different between groups (RI 16.7%, FAIA 24.7%; p = 0.452). There were no differences in frequencies of macrosomia (RI 3.4%, FAIA 6.5%; p = 0.518), ponderal index (RI 2.65 \u00b1 0.5, FAIA 2.71 \u00b1 0.5; p = 0.322), cranial-thoracic circumference ratio (RI 1.07 \u00b1 0.06, FAIA 1.07 \u00b1 0.06; p = 0.386) or neonatal hypoglycemia (RI 5.1%, FAIA 5.8%; p = 1.000). Our data indicate that FAIA achieves similar pregnancy and neonatal outcomes in GDM compared with RI. Considering patient convenience, FAIA may be better to use during pregnancy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28364457,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sleep-Wake Concordance in Couples Is Inversely Associated With Cardiovascular Disease Risk Markers.\nTo determine whether interdependence in couples' sleep (sleep-wake concordance i.e., whether couples are awake or asleep at the same time throughout the night) is associated with two markers of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, ambulatory blood pressure (BP) and systemic inflammation. This community-based study is a cross-sectional analysis of 46 adult couples, aged 18-45 years, without known sleep disorders. Percent sleep-wake concordance, the independent variable, was calculated for each individual using actigraphy. Ambulatory BP monitors measured BP across 48 h. Dependent variables included mean sleep systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP), mean wake SBP and DBP, sleep-wake SBP and DBP ratios, and C-reactive protein (CRP). Mixed models were used and were adjusted for age, sex, education, race, and body mass index. Higher sleep-wake concordance was associated with lower sleep SBP (b = -.35, SE = .01) and DBP (b = -.22, SE = .10) and lower wake SBP (b = -.26, SE = .12; all p values < .05). Results were moderated by sex; for women, high concordance was associated with lower BP. Men and women with higher sleep-wake concordance also had lower CRP values (b = -.15, SE = .03, p < .05). Sleep-wake concordance was not associated with wake DBP or sleep\/wake BP ratios. Significant findings remained after controlling for individual sleep quality, duration, and wake after sleep onset. Sleep-wake concordance was associated with sleep BP, and this association was stronger for women. Higher sleep-wake concordance was associated with lower systemic inflammation for men and women. Sleep-wake concordance may be a novel mechanism by which marital relationships are associated with long-term CVD outcomes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26422152,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"ISOLATION OF Cryptococcus neoformans FROM ENVIRONMENTAL SAMPLES COLLECTED IN SOUTHEASTERN NIGERIA.\nCryptococcosis caused by Cryptococcus neoformans is the second most common fungal opportunistic pathogen and a life-threatening infection with serious clinical manifestations especially in HIV\/AIDS and other immunocompromised patients. In Nigeria, HIV\/AIDS infection has reached an alarming level. Despite this, information on the presence of this fungus in clinical and environmental samples is very scanty in Nigeria and many other parts of Africa. We set out to evaluate the presence of Cryptococcus neoformans or C. gattiiin pigeon droppings obtained from Southeastern Nigeria. One hundred and seventy-seven samples of pigeon droppings from six sample types were collected. The area covered comprised of ten cities and other locations spanning across five States in Nigeria. Using established techniques, Cryptococcus neoformans was isolated from 39 of the 177 (22.0%) samples overall. No C. gattiiwas isolated. Most of the isolates (32.4%) were recovered from dovecotes (11 of 34) followed closely by samples taken from markets (31.8%; seven of 22) and least from the church (4.0%; one of 25). The highest isolation rate (38.9%) was found in samples from Enugu-Ezike(seven of 23) while the least came from Afikpo and the other locations each with 9.1% isolation rate. This is the first large-scale screening of Cryptococcus neoformans from pigeon droppings in Nigeria. The ecological and epidemiological significance of these findings are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17001835,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Achieving primary closure and enhancing aesthetics with periodontal microsurgery.\nThe continuous search for improved surgical procedures to address gingival deformities is a consequence of an increasing demand for aesthetics in the periodontal clinical practice. Innovative techniques have been reported to help clinicians achieve predictability in root coverage. Significant progress can be attributed to the inclusion of the operative microscope in periodontal therapy, particularly in regards to obtaining primary closure. This article describes a microsurgical technique used to treat gingival recessions, showing its potential for obtaining optimal aesthetic results.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8355408,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Laboratory medicine, my philosophy and prospect].\nI have been working in the field of laboratory medicine for 45 years including the period of working as a physician. During my career, some of my dreams in laboratory diagnosis have been realized, and some have not. Although the issues changed with time, our basic philosophy has not changed at all. In this session, I would like to discuss \"my philosophy of laboratory medicine\", that is, what I have intended and what I have done. First, I describe the role of laboratory medicine in the field of clinical medicine. Second, I discuss the value of laboratory tests especially for clinical diagnostics. Third, I summarize the history of clinical pathology with reflection of the past, and my anticipation for the future. Fourth, I mention about the task and responsibility of the laboratory technicians and clinical pathologists, in view of their common purpose, clinical diagnosis. Finally, I discuss the future aspect of laboratory medicine.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12006395,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Delayed and exaggerated postprandial complement component 3 response in familial combined hyperlipidemia.\nVery low density lipoprotein overproduction is the major metabolic characteristic in familial combined hyperlipidemia (FCHL). Peripheral handling of free fatty acids (FFAs) in vitro may be impaired in FCHL by decreased action of acylation-stimulating protein (ASP), which is identical to the immunologically inactive complement component 3a (C3adesArg). Because decreased FFA uptake by impaired complement component 3 (C3) response (as the precursor for ASP) may result in enhanced FFA flux to the liver in FCHL, we have evaluated postprandial C3 changes in vivo in FCHL patients. Accordingly, 10 untreated FCHL patients and 10 matched control subjects underwent an oral fat loading test. Fasting plasma C3 and ASP levels were higher in FCHL patients (1.33+\/-0.09 g\/L and 70.53+\/-4.37 mmol\/L, respectively) than in control subjects (0.91+\/-0.03 g\/L and 43.21+\/-8.96 mmol\/L, respectively; P=0.01 and P<0.05). In control subjects, C3 concentrations increased significantly after 4 hours (to 1.03+\/-0.04 g\/L). In FCHL, plasma C3 was unchanged after 4 hours. The earliest postprandial C3 rise in FCHL patients occurred after 8 hours (1.64+\/-0.12 g\/L). The maximal apolipoprotein B-48 concentration was reached after 6 hours in FCHL patients and control subjects. Postprandial FFA and hydroxybutyric acid (as a marker of hepatic FFA oxidation) were significantly higher in FCHL patients than in control subjects, and the early postprandial C3 rise was negatively correlated with the postprandial FFA and hydroxybutyric acid concentrations. The present data suggest an impaired postprandial plasma C3 response in FCHL patients, most likely as a result of a delayed response by C3, as the precursor for the biologically active ASP, acting on FFA metabolism. Therefore, an impaired postprandial C3 response may be associated with impaired peripheral postprandial FFA uptake and, consequently, lead to increased hepatic FFA flux and very low density lipoprotein overproduction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9147104,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Medical treatment of symptomatic endometriosis.\nThe concept of endometriosis and strategies for its treatment are reviewed. Treatment is mainly endocrine-based, using progestogens, danazol and luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) agonists. Such treatment is complex, and therapy strategies have to be tailored to the individual; the choice of treatment, therefore, depends on the metabolic and side-effects of each compound.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37465573,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Selective determination of nitrite in water and food samples using zirconium oxide (ZrO2)@MWCNTs modified screen printed electrode.\nNitrite ions are being used in different forms as food preservatives acting as flavor enhancers or coloring agents for food products. However, continuous ingestion of nitrite may have severe health implications due to its mutagenic and carcinogenic effects. Thus, this study constructed an electrochemical assay using disposable nano-sensor chip ZrO2@MWCNTs screen printed electrodes (SPE) for the rapid, selective, and sensitive determination of nitrite in food and water samples. As a sensing platform, the use of nanomaterials, including metal oxide nanostructures and carbon nanotubes, exhibited a superior electrocatalytic activity and conductivity. Morphological, structural, and electrochemical analyses were performed using electron microscopy (SEM and TEM), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), cyclic voltammetry (CV) and chronoamperometry (CA). Accordingly, a wide dynamic linear range (5.0 \u03bcM to 100 \u03bcM) was obtained with a limit of detection of 0.94 \u03bcM by the chronoamperometric technique. In addition, the sensor's selectivity was tested when several non-target species were exposed to the sensor chips while no obvious electrochemical signals were generated when the nitrite ions were not present. Eventually, real food and water sample analysis was conducted, and a high recovery was achieved.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25504772,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Clinical assessment of non carious cervical lesion using swept-source optical coherence tomography.\nNon-carious cervical lesions (NCCLs) involve various forms of tooth loss with different etiologies. This study aimed to utilize swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) at 1300 nm wavelength range in vitro and in vivo to evaluate and clarify the mechanism of NCCLs. In the in vitro phase, a dentin attenuation coefficient (\u03bct ) derived from the SS-OCT signal at NCCL was compared with mineral loss obtained from transverse microradiography (TMR) to determine a \u03bct threshold to discriminate demineralization of cervical dentin in vivo. In the clinical study, 242 buccal surfaces were investigated in 35 subjects. Presence and dimensions of NCCLs, cervical cracking and the degree of demineralization at the exposed cervical dentin were determined using SS-OCT. Dentin demineralization was observed in 69% of NCCLs. SS-OCT results confirm that dentin mineral loss and occlusal attrition were associated with larger NCCLs, and can be considered as an etiological factor in formation and progress of these lesions. (A) We determined the attenuation coeffcient (\u03bct ) threshold of SS-OCT signal for the detection of demineralization (1.21) from in vitro study. DEM: demineralized dentin, sound: sound dentin. (B) Using the \u03bct threshold, we observed NCCLs in vivo to detect the demineralization in cervical dentin. SS-OCT scanning was performed along the red line. (C) SS-OCT image obtained along the red line in B. In SS-OCT, brightness of dentin beneath the NCCL was increased (arrow) compared with intact zone. The cervical dentin was slightly demineralized (\u03bct : 1.25). e: enamel, d: dentin, g: gingiva.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16221241,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Apparent successful mesothelial cell transplantation hampered by peritoneal activation.\nMesothelial cell transplantation has been suggested to improve mesothelial repair after surgery, recurrent peritonitis and peritoneal dialysis. In this study we evaluated mesothelial cell transplantation during the resolution phase of experimentally thioglycollate-induced peritonitis in rats. To this end 4 x 10(6) DiO-labeled autologous mesothelial cells were transplanted 1 week after peritonitis induction. Peritoneal inflammation and permeability characteristics were evaluated after another week. Mesothelial cell transplantation after peritonitis resulted in incorporation of these cells in the parietal mesothelial lining, leading to an acute transient submesothelial thickening which was not seen in transplanted animals without prior peritonitis induction. Long-term functioning of these repopulated mesothelial cells leaded to peritoneal activation as evidenced by a approximately twofold increase in peritoneal lymphocytes (P < 0.01) and omental mast cell counts (P < 0.05), accompanied by the induction of inflammation markers monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) (P < 0.01) and hyaluronan (P < 0.01) in the transplanted peritonitis group, but not in rats with peritonitis without mesothelial cell transplantation or in control rats without mesothelial cell transplantation (all four parameters P < 0.01). In addition, trapping of transplanted mesothelial cells in the milky spots of omental tissue and lymphatic stomata of the diaphragm both in control and thioglycollate rats seems to increase microvascular permeability, reflected by apparent increased diffusion rates of small solutes and proteins. Altogether, our data underscore the importance of controlling peritoneal (patho)physiology and function in mesothelial transplantation protocols.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37455386,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Short-term use of Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus SD11 and the oral microbiome: Low caries RCT study.\nThe objective of the study was to investigate the effect of short-term lozenges containing Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus SD11 on cariogenic pathogens and on oral microbiota. This double-blind, randomized, controlled trial included 121 subjects and was randomly divided into the control and probiotic group. All subjects were blindly administered to receive the control- or probiotic L. rhamnosus SD11 lozenges every day for 4 weeks and then followed up for another 4 weeks. After probiotic consumption, the probiotic group had significantly lower levels of Streptococcus mutans and significantly higher levels of total lactobacilli at 4 and 8 weeks compared with the baseline. The 16S rRNA sequencing revealed an increase in bacterial diversity and beneficial bacteria in the Firmicutes phylum, Bacilli class, and a reduction in the mutans streptococci group in the probiotic group. The opposite results were found in the control group. This study did not find any caries increment, nor did the subjects have any side effects after product consumption. With the limitation of a short-time study in low caries children, it showed that L. rhamnosus SD11 could increase beneficial bacteria in the Firmicutes phylum and Bacilli class that might support good oral health in children.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28572928,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of soy flour on nutritional, physicochemical, and sensory characteristics of gluten-free bread.\nThe aim of this study was to assess the effect of soy flour on nutritional, physicochemical, and sensory characteristics of gluten-free (GF) bread. In this study, corn flour was replaced with soy flour at different levels 5%, 10%, and 15% to produce a more nutritionally balanced GF bread. Physical and chemical properties, sensory evaluation and crust and crumb color were measured in bread samples. The results of evaluations showed that protein content of soy flour-supplemented GF bread significantly increased from 9.8% to 12.9% as compared to control along with an increased in fat (3.3%-4.1%), fiber (0.29%- 0.38%), and ash (1.7%-2.2%) content. Moisture (27.9%-26.5%) and carbohydrate (58.3-52.3) content decreased with the incremental addition of soybean flour. The highest total score of sensory evaluation was for the bread sample containing 15% soybean flour. The evaluation of crust and crumb showed that bread samples with 15% soy flour were significantly darker than the other bread samples. In conclusion, adding higher levels of soybean flour into GF bread can improve bread quality, sensory characteristics, and nutritional properties of bread. Nutritional status in patients with celiac disease (CD) can be improved through the produce GF bread in this way.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25501434,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Thyroid hormone does not induce maturation of embryonic chicken cardiomyocytes in vitro.\nFetal cardiac growth in mammalian models occurs primarily by cell proliferation (hyperplasia). However, most cardiomyocytes lose the ability to proliferate close to term and heart growth continues by increasing cell size (hypertrophy). In mammals, the thyroid hormone triiodothyronine (T3) is an important driver of this process. Chicken cardiomyocytes, however, keep their proliferating ability long after hatching but little information is available on the mechanisms controlling cell growth and myocyte maturation in the chicken heart. Our aim was to study the role of T3 on proliferation and differentiation of embryonic chicken cardiomyocytes (ECCM), enzymatically isolated from 19-day-old embryos and to compare the effects to those of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and phenylephrine (PE). Hyperplasia was measured using a proliferation assay (MTS) and hypertrophy\/multinucleation was analyzed morphologically by phalloidin staining of F-actin and nuclear staining with DAPI. We show that IGF-1 induces a significant increase in ECCM proliferation (30%) which is absent with T3 and PE. PE induced both hypertrophy (61%) and multinucleation (41%) but IGF-1 or T3 did not. In conclusion, we show that T3 does not induce maturation or proliferation of cardiomyocytes, while IGF-1 induces cardiomyocyte proliferation and PE induces maturation of cardiomyocytes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34410108,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Treading Water: Tire Wear Particle Leachate Recreates an Urban Runoff Mortality Syndrome in Coho but Not Chum Salmon.\nTire tread wear particles (TWP) are increasingly recognized as a global pollutant of surface waters, but their impact on biota in receiving waters is rarely addressed. In the developed U.S. Pacific Northwest, acute mortality of adult coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) follows rain events and is correlated with roadway density. Roadway runoff experimentally triggers behavioral symptoms and associated changes in blood indicative of cardiorespiratory distress prior to death. Closely related chum salmon (O. keta) lack an equivalent response. Acute mortality of juvenile coho was recently experimentally linked to a transformation product of a tire-derived chemical. We evaluated whether TWP leachate is sufficient to trigger the acute mortality syndrome in adult coho salmon. We characterized the acute response of adult coho and chum salmon to TWP leachate (survival, behavior, blood physiology) and compared it with that caused by roadway runoff. TWP leachate was acutely lethal to coho at concentrations similar to roadway runoff, with the same behaviors and blood parameters impacted. As with runoff, chum salmon appeared insensitive to TWP leachate at concentrations lethal to coho. Our results confirm that environmentally relevant TWP exposures cause acute mortalities of a keystone aquatic species.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31602927,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Cloning and characterization of a monoterpene synthase gene from Tripterygium wilfordii].\nTripterygium wilfordii is a medicinal plant commonly used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis,and with pharmacological activities in anti-tumor and obesity treatment. The known active ingredients in T. wilfordii are mainly terpenoids,but with very low content. Therefore,the analysis of the biosynthesis pathway of terpenoids in T. wilfordii has become a research hotspot to solve the problem of its resources. Terpenoid synthase( TPS) is a key enzyme that catalyzes the formation of a wide variety of terpenoid skeletons. In this study,a gene fragment with an ORF of 1 785 bp was cloned from T. wilfordii. Bioinformatics analysis was performed using NCBI's BLASTP,ProtParam and Interpro online tools and MEGA 6.0 software. The response of this gene to methyl jasmonate was also detected by real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR,and its catalytic function was verified by prokaryotic expression and in vitro enzymatic assay. Bioinformatics analysis indicated that the amino acid sequence encoded by this gene had both N-terminal domain and C-terminal domain of TPS,as well as the DDxx D conserved domain of the class I of TPS family. And Tw MTS gathered together with TPS-b subfamily in the Neighbor-Joining Tree constructed with known homologous TPSs. The results of RT-PCR showed that 50 \u03bcmol\u00b7L-1 MeJA 12 h could increase the expression of Tw MTS to 735 times in the control group at 12 h,and 1 644 times at 24 h. In addition,in vitro enzymatic reaction results showed that Tw MTS can catalyze the production of \u03b2-citronellol with GPP as substrate,indicating that Tw MTS was a monoterpene synthase. The above results provided a new element for the synthetic biology database of T. wilfordii terpenoids,and laid the foundation for future biosynthesis research.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25412055,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Simulation of the Velocity and Temperature Distribution of Inhalation Thermal Injury in a Human Upper Airway Model by Application of Computational Fluid Dynamics.\nInhalation injury is an important cause of death after thermal burns. This study was designed to simulate the velocity and temperature distribution of inhalation thermal injury in the upper airway in humans using computational fluid dynamics. Cervical computed tomography images of three Chinese adults were imported to Mimics software to produce three-dimensional models. After grids were established and boundary conditions were defined, the simulation time was set at 1 minute and the gas temperature was set to 80 to 320\u00b0C using ANSYS software (ANSYS, Canonsburg, PA) to simulate the velocity and temperature distribution of inhalation thermal injury. Cross-sections were cut at 2-mm intervals, and maximum airway temperature and velocity were recorded for each cross-section. The maximum velocity peaked in the lower part of the nasal cavity and then decreased with air flow. The velocities in the epiglottis and glottis were higher than those in the surrounding areas. Further, the maximum airway temperature decreased from the nasal cavity to the trachea. Computational fluid dynamics technology can be used to simulate the velocity and temperature distribution of inhaled heated air.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12032490,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Doxycycline and tissue repair in rats.\nIterations in collagen turnover are integral to tissue repair. Repair gone awry, as a result of excess collagen accumulation or degradation, can contribute to pathologic ventricular remodeling. Pharmacologic interventions that would attenuate either aspect of faulty repair have therefore attracted interest. Tetracyclines, which inhibit both collagen synthesis and degradation, as well as angiogenesis, may hold promise, unrelated to their antimicrobial properties, in this regard. Assessment of their potential in rodent hearts with experimental injury can be problematic, given the often microscopic nature of tissue repair and brief involvement of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). We therefore selected a subcutaneous model in which granulation and fibrous tissues form over several weeks in response to croton oil and where fibrous tissue is subsequently resorbed because of high levels of collagenolytic activity. Untreated rats were compared with those given daily oral doxycycline (40 mg\/kg). We harvested pouch tissue and exudate weekly for 5 weeks to assess hydroxyproline concentration and MMP activity (gelatin substrate zymography) of pouch wall and mononuclear cell count of pouch exudate. At week 2, neovascularization in pouch wall was measured by means of intravenous infusion of carmine-red dye in gelatin. The resultant \"vascular cast\" was solubilized and dye content quantitated with the use of spectrophotometry. Serum was assayed weekly for type I collagen carboxyterminal telopeptide (ICTP), a marker of collagen degradation. During weeks 1 and 2 and compared with untreated controls, doxycycline-treated rats had attenuated pouch tissue weight, collagen concentration, MMP2 lytic activity and vascularity, and reduced exudate volume and mononuclear cells. In vitro, doxycycline inhibited tissue gelatinolytic activity in a dose-dependent manner. At weeks 4 and 5, pouches were larger and collagen concentration was higher in doxycycline-treated rats, and serum ICTP levels were reduced at weeks 3 and 4. During the initial phase of pouch development, doxycycline exerts an inhibitory effect on tissue formation, likely mediated through its attenuation of angiogenesis and modulations of collagen turnover. As repair proceeds in subsequent weeks, doxycycline retards collagen degradation and pouch resorption by inhibiting MMPs. Doxycycline offers a multifaceted pharmacologic profile with which to modify various aspects of tissue repair in the rat.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6745796,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Notes on the development of metacercaria and adult of Echinostoma porteri Fashuyi (Echinostomatidae).\nThe metacercaria of E. porteri was found to retain its viability for a longer time in Bulinus (Physopsis) globosus (Morelet) than in Bulinus (Bulinus) forskalii (Ehrenberg) and Lymnaea natalensis (Krauss) which is the natural host for other larval stages. It becomes infective to definitive hosts about 6 h after commencement of encystment and loses its viability after 14 days in the snail host. Development of adult takes place experimentally in chicks, pigeons and rats, but hosts show age resistance to infection. Growth of adult worm is most rapid between 4th and 6th day and declines after the 17th day. Proportionate increase in body length is higher than similar increases in size of other parts of the body.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14525693,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Systemic antifungal agents].\nInvasive fungal infection is the infectious complication with highest associated mortality. Until the 90's amphotericin B was the only drug available to treat these infections. Its spectrum of antifungal activity is excellent, but its use is associated with toxicity in many cases. The development of amphotericin B lipid formulations has resulted in a significant decrease in most of the side effects associated with this drug. Triazoles are safe and effective for treating most invasive fungal infections. Fluconazole is an excellent drug for the prevention and treatment of Candida and Cryptococcus infections, itraconazole has good activity against Candida and Aspergillus, and voriconazole has shown to be better than amphotericin B for invasive aspergillosis. Caspofungin belongs to a new group of antifungal agents, the echinocandins, which are very safe and present excellent activity against Candida and Aspergillus.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17824711,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Asymmetric total syntheses of two phlegmarine-type alkaloids, lycoposerramines-V and -W, newly isolated from Lycopodium serratum.\nTwo new Phlegmarine-type alkaloids, lycoposerramines-V and -W, were isolated from Lycopodium serratum, and their structures including the absolute configuration were established by asymmetric total synthesis involving such key steps as Johnson-Claisen rearrangement, asymmetric allylation, and ring-closing metathesis (RCM)- or SmI(2)-mediated stereoselective piperidine ring construction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16983858,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Avian flu from an occupational health perspective.\nAlthough a pandemic scenario necessarily involves a situation in which a large number of people become infected in a nonoccupational setting, past infectious disease events have highlighted the unique role that occupational exposure may play in the emergence of disease in humans. While small-scale poultry farmers have already demonstrated their high risk of exposure and subsequent infection with H5N1 avian flu, other bird handling occupations may also be at high risk. In this review article, the author highlights the occupational health aspects of a newly emerging infectious disease, H5N1 avian flu, and the efforts being made by various authorities to confront the possibility of the next flu pandemic. Various measures potentially available to protect high-risk workers are outlined, emphasizing a hierarchy of controls in which these measures can be placed. The author postulates that, by reducing the risk of transmission of avian flu to these workers, occupational medicine can play a pivotal role in the world's effort to prepare for a pandemic, and may be uniquely positioned to contribute to the effort to delay or even avert the emergence of the next pandemic.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17180263,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-26":1,"unknown":3}}},"text":"The role of the surgeon in the evolution of flexible endoscopy.\nSeveral cultures, including the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and Arabs, made attempts to view accessible human body cavities using a variety of instruments such as spatulas and specula. The first endoscope was created in 1806 when Phillip Bozzini, a German-born urologist, constructed the lichtleiter, which used concave mirrors to reflect candlelight through an open tube into the esophagus, bladder, or rectum. Maximilian Carl-Friedrich Nitze, another German urologist, produced the first usable cystoscope in 1877 by using series of lenses to increase magnification. He was also the first to place light inside the organ of interest to aid visualization. In 1880 Mikulicz made the first gastroscope using a system similar to Nitze's cystoscope. Modern endoscopy was born with the introduction of the fiberoptic endoscope in the late 1950s. Over the ensuing 50 years endoscopy revolutionized many aspects of the surgeon's practice. Endoscopy can now be used to diagnose and often treat gastrointestinal cancer, hemorrhage, obstruction, and inflammatory conditions. This review was initiated by the SAGES Flexible Endoscopy Committee to chronicle the role of the surgeon in the development and introduction of flexible endoscopy into clinical practice, historically and in contemporary surgery. Flexible endoscopy evolved out of surgeons' need to overcome diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. There have been many recent technological advances that facilitate endoluminal therapies, and flexible endoscopy is now traversing new ground. Surgeons have been major contributors in the development of all aspects of endoscopy. There is a continually expanding list of therapeutic options available to patients. The difficult questions of which procedure, on which patient, and when can be answered best by the surgeon versed in endoscopic, laparoscopic, and open surgical techniques.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29554352,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"EVALUATION OF EYE LENS DOSE TO WORKERS IN THE STEAM GENERATOR AT THE KOREAN OPTIMIZED POWER REACTOR 1000.\nICRP (2011) revised the dose limit to the eye lens to 20 mSv\/y based on a recent epidemiological study of radiation-induced cataracts. Maintenance of steam generators at nuclear power plants is one of the highest radiation-associated tasks within a non-uniform radiation field. This study aims to evaluate eye lens doses in the steam generators of the Korean OPR1000 design. The source term was characterized based on the CRUD-specific activity, and both the eye lens dose and organ dose were simulated using MCNP6 combined with an ICRP voxel phantom and a mesh phantom, respectively. The eye lens dose was determined to be 5.39E-02-9.43E-02 Sv\/h, with a negligible effect by beta particles. As the effective dose was found to be 0.81-1.21 times the lens equivalent dose depending on the phantom angles, the former can be used to estimate the lens dose in the SG of the OPR1000 for radiation monitoring purposes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32584518,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The influence of packed cell volume versus plasma proteins on thromboelastographic variables in canine blood.\nDetermine the correlation between kaolin-activated thromboelastography (TEG) variables (R, K, angle, and maximum amplitude [MA]) and PCV, fibrinogen concentration (FC), and total fibrinogen (TF) in an ex vivo model. Two healthy adult mixed-breed dogs. Citrated whole blood was obtained and separated into packed red cells, platelet rich plasma, and platelet poor plasma (PPP). An aliquot of PPP was heated to denature heat labile proteins (fibrinogen, factor V, factor VIII). Blood components were recombined for analyses of 6 physiological scenarios: anemia with low fibrinogen; anemia with moderate fibrinogen; anemia with normal fibrinogen; anemia with normal saline; normal PCV and normal fibrinogen; and normal PCV and low fibrinogen. A Kruskal-Wallis test, along with linear regressions on pairwise combinations of TEG variables, was used to determine the correlation between TEG variables and PCV, FC, and TF. Maximum amplitude correlated with FC (R2 0.60, P < 0.001) and TF (R2 0.57, P < 0.001) but not PCV (R2 0.003, P = 0.7). Angle and K time were moderately correlated with FC ([angle: R2 0.53, P < 0.001]; [K: R2 0.55, P < 0.001]) and TF ([alpha angle: R2 0.52, P < 0.001]; [K: R2 0.51, P < 0.001]) but not PCV. The R time was weakly correlated with PCV (R2 0.15, P < 0.009) but not FC or TF. In an ex vivo model, plasma proteins but not PCV impacted TEG variables. This suggests that TEG changes noted with anemia are imparted by changes in available fibrinogen in a fixed microenvironment rather than artifact of anemia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20377998,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Morphine-sparing effect by COX-1 inhibitor sustains analgesic function without compromising antigen-specific immunity and antitumor effect of naked DNA vaccine.\nMorphine and ketorolac, two analgesics with different mechanisms, have been widely used in controlling cancer pain and postoperative pain in surgery. Our previous study revealed that morphine could suppress the anti-tumor effect of antigen-specific DNA vaccine. In this study, we further evaluated and compared another analgesic drug, ketorolac, with morphine for its analgesic functions and the antitumor immunities of antigen-specific DNA vaccine. We first observed that ketorolac-treated mice did not enhance tumorigenesis nor suppress the anti-tumor effects of antigen-specific (calreticulin linked to HPV16 E7) CRT\/E7 DNA vaccine. We then demonstrated that ketorolac was less potent in inducing apoptosis of T lymphocytes and the generation of reactive oxygen species, in reducing mitochondrial membrane potentials, and leading to the activation of caspases 3 and 7 in T lymphocytes than morphine. When CRT\/E7 DNA vaccinated mice treated with ketorolac, the declines of frequencies of E7-specific IFN-gamma-secreting CD8+ T cell precursors were slower in the morphine-treated group. CRT\/E7 DNA vaccinated mice, treated with a mixture of morphine and ketorolac, could maintain the analgesic function without experiencing a decrease in the anti-tumor effects. CRT\/E7 DNA vaccine with the opioid-sparing effect of ketorolac could provide potent anti-tumor effects and good analgesic function.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28275483,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Variations in positron emission tomography-computed tomography findings for patients receiving neoadjuvant and non-neoadjuvant therapy for non-small cell lung cancer.\nThe aims of this study were to predict locoregional lymph node (LN) metastases using positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) and investigate variations in PET-CT findings for patients receiving neoadjuvant (NT) and non-neoadjuvant (non-NT) for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Data from 578 consecutive patients from January 2010 to December 2015 who met this study inclusion criteria were retrospectively reviewed. All patients underwent curative and complete resections for NSCLC in a Korean hospital. We analyzed the associations between maximum standard uptake value (SUVmax) and pathological stage, compared disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS), investigated relationships among SUVmax values, evaluated LN status and compared pathologically negative and positive LNs by SUVmax, and assessed the influence of neoadjuvant therapy on SUVmax. All LNs were analyzed separately for N1 and N2. (I) For non-NT, we found significantly positive associations between pathological stage and SUVmax (tumor, N1 LN, and N2 LN, all P<0.001). For NT, we found positive correlations between pathological stage and tumor and N2 LN SUVmax, except for N1 LN (tumor P=0.005, N1 LN P=0.981, N2 LN P=0.045); (II) for non-NT, the low SUVmax group had higher DFS and OS than the high SUVmax group (DFS: tumor SUVmax P<0.001, N1 LN SUVmax P=0.002, N2 LN SUVmax P=0.027; OS: tumor SUVmax P<0.001, N1 LN SUVmax P=0.006, N2 LN SUVmax P=0.006). For NT, the low SUVmax group had nonsignificantly higher DFS and OS than the high SUVmax group. When age, sex, and SUVmax were equal, pathological stages were significantly higher for NT than non-NT (P<0.001). Non-NT had significantly higher DFS (P=0.001) and OS (P=0.024) than NT; (III) for non-NT, tumor, N1 LN, and N2 SUVmax were positively associated (all P<0.001). For NT, tumor and N2 SUVmax (P<0.001), and N1 and N2 SUVmax (P=0.025) correlated positively; tumor and N1 LN SUVmax did not (P=0.911); (IV) for non-NT, there was significant cutoff values for prediction of LN metastases using both tumor and LN SUVmax (N1 LN: tumor SUVmax cutoff 5.95, sensitivity 66.3%, specificity 66.0%, area =0.748, P<0.001; N1 LN SUVmax cutoff 2.05, sensitivity 57.83%, specificity 66.43%, area =0.676, P<0.001) (N2 LN: tumor SUVmax cutoff 5.95, sensitivity 63.04%, specificity 63.95%, area =0.726, P<0.001; N2 LN SUVmax cutoff 2.05, sensitivity 65.22%, specificity 69.96%, area =0.678, P<0.001). For NT, no SUVmax values significantly predicted LN metastases; () Pathologically malignant and benign LN SUVmax after neoadjuvant therapy were not different (N1 LN P=0.570, N2 LN P=0.105). For non-NT, pathologically malignant LN SUVmax was significantly higher than pathologically benign LN SUVmax (N1 LN P<0.001, N2 LN P=0.001). This study showed variations in PET-CT findings for NT and non-NT, which should be verified for evaluation and management, especially for surgery planning. SUV max is not a reliable predictor of lymphatic involvement after neoadjuvant therapy in patients with NSCLC. Surgery should not be withheld or delayed based on lack of knowledge about variations in PET-CT findings, which must be interpreted in conjunction with other conditions. Further studies on interpretation of PET-CT findings, especially for NT, are needed for better management and prognosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28585692,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"OsGCD1 is essential for rice fertility and required for embryo dorsal-ventral pattern formation and endosperm development.\nRice fertility is critical for rice reproduction and is thus a focus of interest. Most studies have addressed male sterility and its relation to rice production. The mechanisms of regulation of embryogenesis and endosperm development are essential for rice reproduction, but remain largely unknown. Here, we report a functional analysis of the rice gene OsGCD1, which encodes a highly conserved homolog of Arabidopsis GCD1 (GAMETE CELLS DEFECTIVE1). OsGCD1 mutants were generated using the CRISPR\/Cas9 system and subjected to functional analysis. The homozygote mutants cannot be obtained, whereas heterozygotes showed altered phenotypes. In the majority of aborted seeds, the endosperm nucleus divided a limited number of times. The free nuclei were distributed only at the micropylar end of embryo sacs, and their oriented positioning was blocked. In addition, aleurone differentiation was interrupted. The embryo developed slowly, and pattern formation, particularly the dorsal-ventral pattern and symmetry establishment, of embryos was disturbed. Thus, the embryos showed various morphological and structural dysplasias. Our findings reveal that OsGCD1 is essential for rice fertility and is required for dorsal-ventral pattern formation and endosperm free nucleus positioning, suggesting a critical role in sexual reproduction of both monocotyledon and dicotyledon plants.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23445289,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Relationship between dynamin 1 mutation status and characteristics of recurrent episodes of exercise-induced collapse in Labrador Retrievers.\nTo identify characteristics of exercise-induced collapse in Labrador Retrievers and compare characteristics for dogs with various dynamin 1 gene (DNM1) mutation statuses. Retrospective cross-sectional study. 109 Labrador Retrievers with a history of recurrent exercise-induced collapse, clinically normal behavior and gait between episodes, and no reason for collapse identified via medical evaluation. Data were collected via surveys from owners of dogs that were tested for an autosomal recessive DNM1 mutation causing DNM1-associated exercise-induced collapse (d-EIC). Dogs were identified as having d-EIC (homozygous for the mutation) or not having d-EIC (heterozygous for or without the mutation). Survey data were reviewed by an investigator unaware of the genotypes of dogs, and collapse characteristics were compared between groups. 74 dogs had d-EIC; 35 dogs did not have d-EIC. Dogs with d-EIC were young (median age, 12 months) at the time of the first collapse episode; collapse in such dogs typically originated in the hind limbs and was characterized by low muscle tone, clinically normal mentation, and rapid recovery. Dogs without d-EIC were older (median age, 23 months) than dogs with d-EIC; such dogs had various characteristics of collapse that were not consistent with a single disease. Characteristics of exercised-induced collapse in Labrador Retrievers with various DNM1 genotypes were identified in this study; findings may help distinguish dogs with d-EIC from those with other types of collapse conditions. Characteristics of collapse in Labrador Retrievers that were not homozygous for the DNM1 mutation differed substantially among dogs and may have been attributable to multiple causes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16985695,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Bladder cancer 2000: molecular markers for the diagnosis of transitional cell carcinoma.\nThe search continues for better tumor markers to improve the rate of detection of transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) more quickly in larger populations and to predict the possibility of disease recurrence. Among several new tests currently being screened, telomerase and hyaluronic acid\/hyaluronidase (HA\/HAase) have shown sensitivity and specificity equal to or better than cytology, and other promising tumor markers are being investigated. Although no marker has yet replaced the need to perform cystoscopy and cytology, the new tests can minimize the cost and difficulty of screening and long-term surveillance of patients who have or are at risk for bladder cancer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16215373,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Prognostic value of a simple evolving disseminated intravascular coagulation score in patients with severe sepsis.\nWe postulated that the coagulopathy initiated by the inflammatory response to severe sepsis would be reflected by changes in the platelet count and prothrombin time that convey prognostic information. To examine this hypothesis, we looked at the utility of a simple evolving disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) score that awarded 1 point for each of the following: a) an absolute platelet count <100 x 10\/L; b) a prothrombin time >15.0 secs; c) a 20% decrease in platelets; and d) a >0.3-sec increase in prothrombin time in predicting outcome in patients with severe sepsis. Prospective observational study. Intensive care units of university medical center. Patients were 163 critically ill severe sepsis patients. None. Patients were clinically classified as having capillary leak syndrome (n = 24), multiple organ failure with death from sepsis (n = 37), or multiple organ failure with recovery (n = 57) or as well (n = 45) if they showed rapid improvement in their modified Multiple Organ Dysfunction Syndrome (MODS) score (which did not score for thrombocytopenia). Patients with capillary leak syndrome had the highest Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score, modified MODS, and prothrombin time and the lowest platelet counts, whereas well patients had the most normal values. The simple evolving DIC score increased with worsening clinical class and was associated with worsening organ failure (increased modified MODS). Mortality rate increased from 10% for a simple evolving score of 0 to 73% for a score of 4 (p < .01). Overall, 86% of those with a score < or =1 survived, whereas 85% of those with a score of > or =2 developed multiple organ failure and half of them died from sepsis. The simple evolving DIC score calculated in the first 48 hrs from two readily available global coagulation markers appears to reflect the severity of the underlying disorder. It can be easily calculated at the bedside and provides useful prognostic information for the patient with severe sepsis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24396417,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"CD4+CD25+FoxP3+ regulatory T cells and cytokines interact with estradiol in cases of missed abortion.\nThe aim of this study was to examine the interaction of estradiol (E2) with CD4+CD25+FoxP3+ regulatory T (Treg) cells and cytokines in cases of missed abortion (MA). The peripheral blood lymphocytes from patients with MA and controls (normal pregnancy and non-pregnant females) were isolated from the blood by Ficoll density gradient centrifugation. CD4+CD25+ Treg cells were isolated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). The frequencies of CD4+CD25+FoxP3+ Treg cells and mRNA expression of transcription factor forkhead box protein 3 (FoxP3) in the peripheral blood of MA (n=33), normal pregnancy (n=33) and non-pregnant females (n=27) were determined by intracellular three-color flow cytometry and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), respectively. The serum levels of interferon-\u03b3 (IFN-\u03b3) and interleukin-4 (IL-4) were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and a chemiluminescent immunoassay was used to examine the serum E2 levels. It was observed that the percentage of Foxp3+ T cells in the peripheral blood of patients with MA were lower compared with those in the normal pregnancy and healthy non-pregnant controls. The results demonstrated that MA patients exhibited decreased levels of a peripheral Th2-related cytokine (IL-4) and E2. Furthermore, the low levels of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ T cells and IL-4 correlated positively with serum concentrations of E2. The data indicated that maternal immunological changes may reverse maternal tolerance in MA, and this phenomenon may be due to the interaction of E2 with CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ T cells and cytokines in MA.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19041009,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Prospective evaluation of 100 robotic-assisted unilateral adrenalectomies.\nOur aim was to determine the learning curve for robotic adrenalectomy and factors that influence operative time and cost. We prospectively evaluated of 100 consecutive patients who underwent robotic, unilateral, transperitoneal adrenalectomy. The mean operative time for robotic-assisted adrenalectomy was 95 minutes and conversion rate was 5%. Pathology was aldosteronoma (n = 39), pheochromocytoma (n = 24), nonfunctional adenoma (n = 19), Cushing adenoma or hyperplasia (n = 16), and cyst (n = 2). Morbidity and mortality rates were 10% and 0%, respectively. The mean operative time decreased by 1 minute every 10 cases. Operative time improved more for junior surgeons than for senior surgeons (P = .006) after the first 50 cases. By multiple regression analysis, surgeon's experience (-18.9 +\/- 5.5), first assistant level (-7.8 +\/- 3.2), and tumor size (3 +\/- 1.4) were independent predictors of operative time (P < .001 each). The robotic procedure was 2.3 times more costly than lateral transperitoneal laparoscopic adrenalectomy (euro4102 vs euro1799). Surgeon experience, resident training level, and tumor size are important variables for robotic-assisted, unilateral adrenalectomy and should be taken into account when this approach is evaluated. Controlled studies need to be performed to show potential relevant clinical benefits that could balance costs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28541719,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Studies of Archaeological Pottery with the Use of Selected Analytical Techniques.\nModern analytical methods play an important role in archaeological objects, including ceramics. This review focuses on the use of analytical methods such as: gas chromatography coupled mass spectrometry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS), powder X-ray diffraction with thermal analysis to study the chemical and mineralogical composition of archaeological samples and organic residues preserved inside. In this paper, special attention was paid to the ToF-SIMS method, which allows the determination of characteristic ions on the surface of ceramic samples.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16163698,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Chromosomal imbalances in laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancers detected by comparative genomic hybridization.\nThe prognostic divergence of laryngeal and hypopharyngeal carcinomas is well known. Hypopharyngeal tumors are characterized by frequent metastasis formation and local recurrence, which is the source of the unfavorable prognosis of this subtype. The aim of this study was to define chromosomal alterations associated with the aggressive behavior of hypopharyngeal tumors. Twenty-nine head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (larynx n = 14 and hypopharynx n = 15) were analyzed by comparative genomic hybridization (CGH). Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was used to validate the CGH data and to compare the amplification pattern of the most frequently altered gene (cyclin-D1, CCND1) located on 11q13. The average number of genetic alterations was significantly higher in the hypopharyngeal tumors (P = 0.02). A good correlation of FISH and CGH data were seen. Gains on 11q13 were present in both subtypes, whereas amplification of CCND1 was associated with the aggressive phenotype by FISH. Chromosomal alteration, which was rarely detected in hypopharyngeal tumors but was observed in more than 50% of laryngeal carcinomas, was 8q gain. Our CGH and FISH data show that head and neck squamous cell carcinomas contain complex cytogenetic alterations and further support the hypothesis that different molecular pathways are responsible for the progression of differently localized tumors of the upper aerodigestive tract.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3035244,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"An unusual pleomorphic sarcoma in a hybrid mallard.\nAn unusual pleomorphic sarcoma from a hybrid mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) is described. Rhabdomyosarcoma was considered in the original differential diagnoses but rejected due to lack of specific characteristics generally seen in these tumors. The histologic characteristics described are consistent with mammalian sarcomas recorded in the literature as malignant fibrous histiocytoma.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20357494,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dopamine D2 receptor genotype (C957T) and habitual consumption of sugars in a free-living population of men and women.\nThe dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2) has been implicated in modulating the rewarding effects of foods high in sugar. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a variation in the DRD2 gene affects habitual consumption of sugars in a free-living population. Caucasian men (n = 96) and women (n = 217) 20-29 years of age completed a 1-month food frequency questionnaire and were genotyped for the C957T polymorphism in the DRD2 gene. Analyses of covariance with post-hoc Tukey tests were used to compare nutrient intakes between genotypes adjusting for potential confounders. Among men, consumption of sucrose was 60 +\/- 6, 48 +\/- 4, and 39 +\/- 5 g\/day for those with the CC, CT and TT genotypes, respectively, with a significant difference between the homozygotes (p = 0.03), suggesting an additive mode of inheritance. Among women, sucrose consumption was 42 +\/- 4, 53 +\/- 2, and 44 +\/- 4 g\/day for the CC, CT and TT genotypes, respectively, with CC and CT differing significantly (p = 0.02), suggesting a partial heterosis mode of inheritance. No differences were observed for protein or fat. These findings suggest that genetic variation in DRD2 influences food selection and may explain some of the interindividual differences in sugar consumption.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28300891,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Lichen planopilaris-like eruption during treatment with tyrosine kinase inhibitor nilotinib.\nTyrosine kinase inhibitors are effective as a target therapy for malignant neoplasms. Imatinib was the first tyrosine kinase inhibitor used. After its introduction, several other drugs have appeared with a similar mechanism of action, but less prone to causing resistance. Even though these drugs are selective, their toxicity does not exclusively target cancer cells, and skin toxicity is the most common non-hematologic adverse effect. We report an eruption similar to lichen planopilaris that developed during therapy with nilotinib, a second generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor, in a patient with chronic myeloid leukemia resistant to imatinib. In a literature review, we found only one report of non-scarring alopecia due to the use of nilotinib.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28289437,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Best hits of 11110110111: model-free selection and parameter-free sensitivity calculation of spaced seeds.\nSpaced seeds, also named gapped q-grams, gapped k-mers, spaced q-grams, have been proven to be more sensitive than contiguous seeds (contiguous q-grams, contiguous k-mers) in nucleic and amino-acid sequences analysis. Initially proposed to detect sequence similarities and to anchor sequence alignments, spaced seeds have more recently been applied in several alignment-free related methods. Unfortunately, spaced seeds need to be initially designed. This task is known to be time-consuming due to the number of spaced seed candidates. Moreover, it can be altered by a set of arbitrary chosen parameters from the probabilistic alignment models used. In this general context, Dominant seeds have been introduced by Mak and Benson (Bioinformatics 25:302-308, 2009) on the Bernoulli model, in order to reduce the number of spaced seed candidates that are further processed in a parameter-free calculation of the sensitivity. We expand the scope of work of Mak and Benson on single and multiple seeds by considering the Hit Integration model of Chung and Park (BMC Bioinform 11:31, 2010), demonstrate that the same dominance definition can be applied, and that a parameter-free study can be performed without any significant additional cost. We also consider two new discrete models, namely the Heaviside and the Dirac models, where lossless seeds can be integrated. From a theoretical standpoint, we establish a generic framework on all the proposed models, by applying a counting semi-ring to quickly compute large polynomial coefficients needed by the dominance filter. From a practical standpoint, we confirm that dominant seeds reduce the set of, either single seeds to thoroughly analyse, or multiple seeds to store. Moreover, in http:\/\/bioinfo.cristal.univ-lille.fr\/yass\/iedera_dominance, we provide a full list of spaced seeds computed on the four aforementioned models, with one (continuous) parameter left free for each model, and with several (discrete) alignment lengths.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21756210,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Lorazepam effects on Word Memory Test performance: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial.\nThe Word Memory Test (WMT) is a common measure of symptom validity. To investigate the effects of acute benzodiazepines on WMT scores, oral lorazepam 2 mg (LOR) and placebo were administered 1 week apart in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study. A total of 28 participants completed the study and were administered the WMT during each drug condition. Within-participant comparisons of LOR vs placebo revealed significant LOR effects for Immediate Recognition (p = .007) and Consistency (p = .019), but not Delayed Recognition (p = .085). Significant LOR effects were present for Reaction Time Measures (Immediate Recognition RT, p = .013; Delayed Recognition RT, p = .001; Multiple Choice RT, p = .011) and Delayed Memory scores (Multiple Choice, p = .007; Paired Associates, p = .029; Free Recall, p = .001). A pattern similar to crossover results was detected for LOR vs placebo between-group differences for initial test assessment scores. When examined using publisher recommended cut scores for the principal WMT measures, there were six participants failing the WMT during initial LOR testing; all six subsequently performed in the normal range upon retesting with placebo. One participant failed WMT during placebo and obtained passing scores during LOR. These data indicate that multiple WMT measures may be affected by acute LOR dosing, and provide additional evidence that potential latent variables and their effects on both SVT performance and cognitive function should be part of the clinical decision-making process.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28263757,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Profile differences in tetrodotoxin transfer to skin and liver in the pufferfish Takifugu rubripes.\nTetrodotoxin (TTX) was intramuscularly administered to nontoxic cultured specimens of the pufferfish Takifugu rubripes to investigate differences in the toxin transfer and accumulation profiles between the skin and liver. Test fish were administered TTX at doses of 30 (Low dose; LD), 100 (Medium dose; MD), and 300 (High dose; HD) \u03bcg\/individual, respectively. Liquid chromatography\/mass spectrometry analysis for TTX revealed that the TTX concentration in both the skin (0.48-1.7 \u03bcg\/g) and liver (0.43-6.0 \u03bcg\/g) at 24 h after the toxin administration increased with an increase in the dose. The TTX accumulation ratio (ratio (%) of accumulated TTX in each tissue (\u03bcg\/tissue) to the administered dose (\u03bcg\/individual)) of the skin (11.1-38.6) significantly decreased with an increase in the dose, whereas that of the liver (18.4-21.3) was almost constant irrespective of the dose. Immunohistochemical observations of the skin sections revealed TTX-positive signals in basal cells in LD, but as the dose increased, TTX-positive signals were also observed in the epidermis. In the liver sections, TTX-positive signals were rarely observed in LD and MD, but the TTX was distributed throughout the liver tissue in HD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29386160,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Preventive effect of Xanthoria parietina polyphenols on the complications of diabetes in white rat.\nPolyphenols have shown antioxidant activity and an ability to prevent the toxic effects of oxidative stress in diabetes. The objective of this study was to evaluate the hypoglycemic and antioxidant effect of the methanolic extract of Xanthoria parietina on rats diabetes induced by streptozotocin (40 mg\/g). The results obtained show that streptozotocin induces diabetes in the animal characterized by hyperglycemia, elevation of oxidative stress markers and a decrease of enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant defense system. However, the methanolic extract results in a marked improvement in the antioxidant state in the liver. Indeed our results show a decrease in the malonyldialdehyde concentration of 25.91% and an increase in the reduced glutathione rate of 23.62%, an increase in the superoxide dismutase activity of 23.53% and catalase activity of 49.10%. The effect of the polyphenolic extract on the blood glucose level is tested on rats rendered hyperglycemic. The feeding with the extract showed a significant hypoglycaemic effect during 120 minutes of treatment. In conclusion, the present study suggests that Xanthoria parietina has a beneficial effect on the control of blood glucose, lipid profile and oxidative status, activating antioxidant enzymes and decreasing lipid peroxidation in the liver. Such treatments may help reduce the development of complications associated with diabetes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":33730710,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Temperature-dependent electrical resistivity of macroscopic graphene nanoplatelet strips.\nThis paper studies the temperature dependence of the electrical resistivity of low-cost commercial graphene-based strips, made from a mixture of epoxy and graphene nanoplatelets. An equivalent homogenous resistivity model is derived from the joint use of experimental data and simulation results obtained by means of a full three-dimensional (3D) numerical electrothermal model. Three different types of macroscopic strips (with surface dimensions of cm2) are analyzed, differing in their percentage of graphene nanoplatelets. The experimental results show a linear trend of resistivity in a wide temperature range (-60\u00b0C to +60\u00b0C), and a negative temperature coefficient . The derived analytical model of temperature-dependent resistivity follows the simple law commonly adopted for conventional conducting materials, such us copper. The model is then validated by using the graphene strips as heating elements by exploiting the Joule effect. These results suggest that such materials can be used as thermistors in sensing or heating applications.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20376735,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Successful unilateral thoracoscopy for bilateral ectopic mediastinal parathyroidectomy.\nEctopic parathyroid glands are frequently located in the thymus and may become hyperplasic in patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism. When medical management fails, surgical removal is required, using either a traditional open sternotomy approach or video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS). We were able to excise large, bilateral, mediastinal parathyroid glands using only left VATS. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first reported case of the use of unilateral thoracoscopic subtotal thymectomy for the excision of bilateral ectopic mediastinal parathyroid glands.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31263627,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Extracellular vesicles from human urine-derived stem cells prevent osteoporosis by transferring CTHRC1 and OPG.\nOsteoporosis is a debilitating bone disease affecting millions of people. Here, we used human urine-derived stem cells (USCs), which were noninvasively harvested from unlimited and easily available urine, as a \"factory\" to obtain extracellular vesicles (USC-EVs) and demonstrated that the systemic injection of USC-EVs effectively alleviates bone loss and maintains bone strength in osteoporotic mice by enhancing osteoblastic bone formation and suppressing osteoclastic bone resorption. More importantly, the anti-osteoporotic properties of USC-EVs are not notably disrupted by the age, gender, or health condition (with or without osteoporosis) of the USC donor. Mechanistic studies determined that collagen triple-helix repeat containing 1 (CTHRC1) and osteoprotegerin (OPG) proteins are enriched in USC-EVs and required for USC-EV-induced pro-osteogenic and anti-osteoclastic effects. Our results suggest that autologous USC-EVs represent a promising novel therapeutic agent for osteoporosis by promoting osteogenesis and inhibiting osteoclastogenesis by transferring CTHRC1 and OPG.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17195214,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Use of molecular imaging to quantify response to IKK-2 inhibitor treatment in murine arthritis.\nThe NF-kappaB signaling pathway promotes the immune response in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and in rodent models of RA. NF-kappaB activity is regulated by the IKK-2 kinase during inflammatory responses. To elucidate how IKK-2 inhibition suppresses disease development, we used a combination of in vivo imaging, transcription profiling, and histopathology technologies to study mice with antibody-induced arthritis. ML120B, a potent, small molecule inhibitor of IKK-2, was administered to arthritic animals, and disease activity was monitored. NF-kappaB activity in diseased joints was quantified by in vivo imaging. Quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction was used to evaluate gene expression in joints. Protease-activated near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF) in vivo imaging was applied to assess the amounts of active proteases in the joints. Oral administration of ML120B suppressed both clinical and histopathologic manifestations of disease. In vivo imaging demonstrated that NF-kappaB activity in inflamed arthritic paws was inhibited by ML120B, resulting in significant suppression of multiple genes in the NF-kappaB pathway, i.e., KC, epithelial neutrophil-activating peptide 78, JE, intercellular adhesion molecule 1, CD3, CD68, tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin-1beta, interleukin-6, inducible nitric oxide synthase, cyclooxygenase 2, matrix metalloproteinase 3, cathepsin B, and cathepsin K. NIRF in vivo imaging demonstrated that ML120B treatment dramatically reduced the amount of active proteases in the joints. Our data demonstrate that IKK-2 inhibition in the murine model of antibody-induced arthritis suppresses both inflammation and joint destruction. In addition, this study highlights how gene expression profiling can facilitate the identification of surrogate biomarkers of disease activity and treatment response in an experimental model of arthritis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20373827,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Premonitory epidermolysis bullosa acquisita mimicking eyelid dermatitis: successful treatment with rituximab and protein A immunoapheresis.\nWe report a unique case of a 71-year-old female patient with epidermolysis bullosa acquisita. The patient initially presented with the clinical symptoms of bilateral eyelid dermatitis that occurred several months prior to the development of oral and pharyngeal erosions and blisters. While no contact allergy was found by patch testing, direct immunofluorescence microscopy demonstrated linear deposits of IgG at the basement membrane zone. By indirect immunofluorescence microscopy on human salt-split skin, IgG antibodies bound to the dermal side of the split. Immunoblot analysis showed predominant IgG4 reactivity of the patient's serum with the recombinant non-collagenous-1 domain of type VII collagen. Because of treatment resistance to systemic corticosteroids, dapsone, and colchicine, we initiated a combination treatment of protein A immunoapheresis and rituximab. With this treatment, complete remission was achieved within 4 months. Our case highlights that epidermolysis bullosa acquisita may initially mimic an eyelid dermatitis. Consequently, dermatologists should be aware of this rare differential diagnosis of eyelid dermatitis where a contact allergy or atopic dermatitis is absent.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7920975,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Thermotrophic effect of melatonin in adrenalectomized and thyroidectomized rats.\nA single injection of 25 micrograms melatonin induced hyperthermia in rats. The mechanism(s) by which melatonin induces hyperthermia is not clear. In this study the thermotrophic effects of melatonin were studied in adrenalectomized (ADX) and thyroidectomized (TX) rats to ascertain if melatonin-induced hyperthermia is mediated through these glands, as both these glands play a significant role in mammalian thermoregulation. Melatonin (25 micrograms) was administered as a single subcutaneous injection at 06.00, 12.00, 18.00, and 24.00 h. Body temperatures were recorded, using an anal thermometer at hourly intervals, round the clock. In the scotophase the animals were located using dim red light and injected. Although the administration of melatonin to both intact and ADX rats resulted in a rise in body temperature, the effect was more pronounced in the former compared to the latter group. Melatonin induced hyperthermia only during the photophase of the diurnal cycle; in the scotophase the response was either poor or nil. In TX rats melatonin was ineffective in inducing hyperthermia in either the photophase or scotophase. The body temperatures of TX rats and melatonin-injected TX rats were parallel. The results indicate that in ADX rats melatonin induced minor hyperthermia, whereas in TX animals it failed to produce any hyperthermia. The findings suggest that melatonin induces hyperthermia probably through its action on thyroid activity. Other mechanisms of action cannot be ruled out, however.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27477469,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Large-Scale QSAR in Target Prediction and Phenotypic HTS Assessment.\nThe advent of in silico compound target prediction offers a potential paradigm shift in how large compound collections are understood and used strategically in high-throughput screens (HTS). Specifically, phenotypic HTS hits may be annotated both with known targets and predicted targets using large-scale QSAR models, enabling a more sophisticated hit assessment. Efforts in massive bioactivity data integration and standardization is empowering such compound-target annotations. These approaches differ fundamentally from the traditional role of QSAR in lead optimization and binding affinity predictions to global, probabilistic target predictions for thousands of human proteins.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30303013,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Absorption of 1-Dicysteinethioacetal-5-Hydroxymethylfurfural in Rats and Its Effect on Oxidative Stress and Gut Microbiota.\nThe absorption of a 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF)-cysteine adduct, 1-dicysteinethioacetal-5-hydroxymethylfurfural (DCH), and its effect on antioxidant activity and gut microbiota were investigated. Results indicated that DCH is more easily absorbed in rats than HMF. Serum DCH concentrations were 15-38-fold of HMF concentrations from 30 to 180 min after intragastrical administration at the level of 100 mg\/kg of body weight, and 2.7-4.5% of absorbed DCH was converted to HMF. The malondialdehyde content in the plasma, heart, liver, and kidneys significantly increased after drug (100 mg\/kg of bw) administration for 1 week, suggesting that HMF and DCH were oxidative-stress-inducing agents, instead of antioxidant agents, in rats. HMF and DCH also modulated gut microbiota. HMF promoted the growth of Lactobacillus, Tyzzerella, Enterobacter, and Streptococcus. DCH increased the ratio of Firmicutes\/ Bacteroidetes and promoted the growth of Akkermansia, Shigella, and Escherichia while inhibiting the growth of Lactobacillus.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32375912,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Association between age at menarche and age at menopause among women of an indigenous population of North Bengal, India.\nMenarche and menopause are two major components of a woman's reproductive life. Ages at menarche and menopause vary widely between and within populations and are influenced by various factors, both genetic and environmental. The present community-based cross-sectional investigation aimed to assess the association between ages at menarche and natural menopause among women belonging to the indigenous Rajbanshi population of North Bengal, India. The investigation was carried out from January 2015 to May 2015 among 510 Rajbanshi women aged between 45 and 55 years residing in the district of Darjeeling, West Bengal, India. A structured schedule was used to collect data on ages at menarche and natural menopause, marital status, parity, education, age of first and last pregnancies, duration of breastfeeding, nature of occupation, health status, smoking and monthly family income. Anthropometric measurements of height and weight were recorded and Body Mass Index (BMI) calculated. The statistical analyses, which included descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression (BLR), were done using SPSS. The women's mean age of menarche and median age of natural menopause were 12.52 years and 50 years, respectively. The BLR analysis indicated that education, age at first pregnancy had significant effects on the age at natural menopause among women who experienced menarche at <12 years of age (p<0.05). In the case of women who attained menarche at \u226512 years of age, marital status, age at last pregnancy, parity, education, duration of breastfeeding, smoking, occupation, monthly income and BMI had a greater influence on age at natural menopause. There appears to be an indirect association between age at menarche and age at natural menopause, along with different predictor variables, among the Rajbanshi women.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26467108,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Functional Heart Valve Scaffolds Obtained by Complete Decellularization of Porcine Aortic Roots in a Novel Differential Pressure Gradient Perfusion System.\nThere is a great need for living valve replacements for patients of all ages. Such constructs could be built by tissue engineering, with perspective of the unique structure and biology of the aortic root. The aortic valve root is composed of several different tissues, and careful structural and functional consideration has to be given to each segment and component. Previous work has shown that immersion techniques are inadequate for whole-root decellularization, with the aortic wall segment being particularly resistant to decellularization. The aim of this study was to develop a differential pressure gradient perfusion system capable of being rigorous enough to decellularize the aortic root wall while gentle enough to preserve the integrity of the cusps. Fresh porcine aortic roots have been subjected to various regimens of perfusion decellularization using detergents and enzymes and results compared to immersion decellularized roots. Success criteria for evaluation of each root segment (cusp, muscle, sinus, wall) for decellularization completeness, tissue integrity, and valve functionality were defined using complementary methods of cell analysis (histology with nuclear and matrix stains and DNA analysis), biomechanics (biaxial and bending tests), and physiologic heart valve bioreactor testing (with advanced image analysis of open-close cycles and geometric orifice area measurement). Fully acellular porcine roots treated with the optimized method exhibited preserved macroscopic structures and microscopic matrix components, which translated into conserved anisotropic mechanical properties, including bending and excellent valve functionality when tested in aortic flow and pressure conditions. This study highlighted the importance of (1) adapting decellularization methods to specific target tissues, (2) combining several methods of cell analysis compared to relying solely on histology, (3) developing relevant valve-specific mechanical tests, and (4) in vitro testing of valve functionality.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8345209,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Pentoxifylline attenuates neutrophil activation in experimental endotoxemia in chimpanzees.\nCostimulation of neutrophils and cytokines may play an important role in organ injury in sepsis. Pentoxifylline inhibits various neutrophil functions in vitro, and attenuates endotoxin-induced production of TNF in both in vitro and in vivo models. To assess the effect of pentoxifylline on neutrophil activation in endotoxemia, nine adult chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) were i.v. injected with saline (n = 2), Escherichia coli endotoxin (4 ng\/kg; n = 4), or E. coli endotoxin (4 ng\/kg) in combination with pentoxifylline (500 mg\/3 h, starting 30 min before the endotoxin injection; n = 3). Serial blood samples were obtained for measurements of leukocyte counts and the granulocytic proteinases elastase complexed with alpha 1-antitrypsin and lactoferrin, and cytokines during the next 5 h. No changes were observed in the saline-treated chimpanzees. Endotoxin induced a marked leukocytosis and neutrophilia, which were slightly reduced by pentoxifylline. In contrast, pentoxifylline almost completely prevented endotoxin-induced neutrophil degranulation: peak elastase-alpha 1-antitrypsin was 164 +\/- 21 ng\/ml (mean +\/- SE) after endotoxin alone, vs 71 +\/- 7 ng\/ml after endotoxin with pentoxifylline (t = 3 h; p < 0.05); peak lactoferrin was 329 +\/- 15 and 182 +\/- 5 ng\/ml, respectively (t = 5 h; p < 0.05). Pentoxifylline also inhibited the endotoxin-induced release of TNF (271 +\/- 26 vs 55 +\/- 23 pg\/ml at t = 1.5 h; p < 0.05) and IL-6 (225 +\/- 42 vs 73 +\/- 25 pg\/ml at t = 2 h; p < 0.05). IL-8 release was not significantly inhibited by pentoxifylline. In none of the animals activation of the C system could be detected. We conclude that pentoxifylline attenuates neutrophil activation in endotoxemia in chimpanzees, probably in part by inhibiting the release of TNF.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7920916,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Ectopic pregnancy risk factors after assisted reproductive technology].\nEctopic pregnancies are more frequent among pregnancies resulting from assisted reproductive technology (ART) than in natural conceptions (6% to 7% vs 1%). Fivnat registry has allowed us to analyse 349 ectopics among 6049 clinical pregnancies collected from 1986 to 1990. Ectopic rate decreased with increasing women's age, and since 1986. The risk was also decreased in infertilities of non tubal origin, except for those of unknown origin in which it was at the same level than for tubal infertility. The risk was increased by 65% in stimulation regimens involving clomiphene citrate (CC). The observed decrease from 1986 to 1990 was strongly related to the decrease in use of CC.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9145855,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Topotecan inhibits human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infection through a topoisomerase-independent mechanism in a cell line with altered topoisomerase I.\nTopotecan (TPT), a known inhibitor of topoisomerase I, has previously been shown to inhibit the replication of several viruses. The mechanism of inhibition was proposed to be the inhibition of topoisomerase I. We report that TPT decreased replication of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) in CPT-K5, a cell line with a topoisomerase I mutation. TPT inhibited production of HIV-1 RNA and p24 in CPT-K5 and wild-type cells equally effectively. The antiviral effects of TPT were observed not only in the topoisomerase-mutated CPT-K5 line but also in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) acutely infected with clinical isolates and in OM10.1 cells latently infected with HIV and activated by tumor necrosis factor alpha. Little toxicity from TPT was noted in HIV-1-infected PBMC and in CPT-K5 and OM10.1 cells as measured by cell growth and proliferation assays. These observations suggest that TPT targets factors in virus replication other than cellular topoisomerase I and inhibits cytokine-mediated activation in latently infected cells by means other than cytotoxicity. These results suggest a potential for TPT and for other camptothecins in anti-HIV therapy alone and in combination with other antiretroviral drugs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25291359,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mesenchymal Stem Cells Overexpressing Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 Rescue Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Lung Injury.\nBone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which have beneficial effects in acute lung injury (ALI), can serve as a vehicle for gene therapy. Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), a counterregulatory enzyme of ACE that degrades angiotensin (Ang) II into Ang 1-7, has a protective role against ALI. Because ACE2 expression is severely reduced in the injured lung, a therapy targeted to improve ACE2 expression in lung might attenuate ALI. We hypothesized that MSCs overexpressing ACE2 would have further benefits in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced ALI mice, when compared with MSCs alone. MSCs were transduced with ACE2 gene (MSC-ACE2) by a lentiviral vector and then infused into wild-type (WT) and ACE2 knockout (ACE2(-\/y)) mice following an LPS-induced intratracheal lung injury. The results demonstrated that the lung injury of ALI mice was alleviated at 24 and 72 h after MSC-ACE2 transplantation. MSC-ACE2 improved the lung histopathology and had additional anti-inflammatory effects when compared with MSCs alone in both WT and ACE2(-\/y) ALI mice. MSC-ACE2 administration also reduced pulmonary vascular permeability, improved endothelial barrier integrity, and normalized lung eNOS expression relative to the MSC group. The beneficial effects of MSC-ACE2 could be attributed to its recruitment into the injured lung and enhanced local expression of ACE2 protein without changing the serum ACE2 levels after MSC-ACE2 transplantation. The biological activity of the increased ACE2 protein decreased the Ang II amount and increased the Ang 1-7 level in the lung when compared with the ALI and MSC-only groups, thereby inhibiting the detrimental effects of accumulating Ang II. Therefore, compared to MSCs alone, the administration of MSCs overexpressing ACE2 resulted in a further improvement in the inflammatory response and pulmonary endothelial function of LPS-induced ALI mice. These additional benefits could be due to the degradation of Ang II that accompanies the targeted overexpression of ACE2 in the lung.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32580526,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Array-Based Epigenetic Aging Indices May Be Racially Biased.\nEpigenetic aging (EA) indices are frequently used as predictors of mortality and other important health outcomes. However, each of the commonly used array-based indices has significant heritable components which could tag ethnicity and potentially confound comparisons across racial and ethnic groups. To determine if this was possible, we examined the relationship of DNA methylation in cord blood from 203 newborns (112 African American (AA) and 91 White) at the 513 probes from the Levine PhenoAge Epigenetic Aging index to ethnicity. Then, we examined all sites significantly associated with race in the newborn sample to determine if they were also associated with an index of ethnic genetic heritage in a cohort of 505 AA adults. After Bonferroni correction, methylation at 50 CpG sites was significantly associated with ethnicity in the newborn cohort. The five most significant sites predicted ancestry with a receiver operator characteristic area under the curve of 0.97. Examination of the top 50 sites in the AA adult cohort showed that methylation status at 11 of those sites was also associated with percentage European ancestry. We conclude that the Levine PhenoAge Index is influenced by cryptic ethnic-specific genetic influences. This influence may extend to similarly constructed EA indices and bias cross-race comparisons.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32369603,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Life Course Pathways From Childhood Socioeconomic Status to Later-Life Cognition: Evidence From the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study.\nA growing body of research indicates that older adults are at greater risk for poorer cognition if they experienced low socioeconomic status (SES) as children. Guided by life course epidemiology, this study aimed to advance understanding of processes through which childhood SES influences cognition decades later, with attention to the role of scholastic performance in adolescence and SES in midlife. We used data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS), which has followed a cohort of high school graduates since they were 18 years old in 1957. Childhood SES was measured prospectively in adolescence, and measures of memory and language\/executive functioning were based on neurocognitive assessments at age 72. We used participants' scores on a statewide standardized test in high school as an indicator of scholastic performance in adolescence. The measure of SES in midlife included years of postsecondary education, income, and occupation status at age 53. Findings from structural equation models indicated that scholastic performance in adolescence and midlife status attainment together fully mediated associations between childhood SES and both memory and language\/executive functioning at age 72. Adolescent scholastic performance was directly associated with later-life cognition, as well as indirectly through midlife status attainment. Findings provide support for both latency and social pathway processes when considering how SES in childhood influences later-life cognition. Results contribute to growing calls for social policies and programs to support optimal brain health at multiple phases throughout the life course, especially among individuals with lower SES as children.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18590045,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[The radiation dose problem in computed tomography. Actual data and strategies for a corrected use of ionizing radiation in computed tomography].\nNew technologies in these years has taken to a spread and to a growth of the CT application with an increase of patients and population exposure. In clinical practice some technical devices can be used to reduce the exposure dose of multidetector CT that allows radiologist to answer the clinical question with less damage to the patient. The radiologist remains however the guarantor of the ionizing radiation exposition and he has to consider also the opportunity to use other methodics (MR, US) to answer some questions. The radiologist has the role to evaluate the clinical indication to the exam demanded from other doctor and has the responsibility for exam management and for progressive radiologic course, controls and follow-up.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21752697,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Antioxidant, electrochemical, thermal, antimicrobial and alkane oxidation properties of tridentate Schiff base ligands and their metal complexes.\nIn this study, two Schiff base ligands (HL(1) and HL(2)) and their Cu(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Pd(II) and Ru(III) metal complexes were synthesized and characterized by the analytical and spectroscopic methods. Alkane oxidation activities of the metal complexes were studied on cyclohexane as substrate. The ligands and their metal complexes were evaluated for their antimicrobial activity against Corynebacterium xerosis, Bacillus brevis, Bacillus megaterium, Bacillus cereus, Mycobacterium smegmatis, Staphylococcus aureus, Micrococcus luteus and Enterococcus faecalis (as gram-positive bacteria) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, Yersinia enterocolitica, Klebsiella fragilis, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and Candida albicans (as gram-negative bacteria). The antioxidant properties of the Schiff base ligands were evaluated in a series of in vitro tests: 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging and reducing power activity of superoxide anion radical generated non-enzymatic systems. Electrochemical and thermal properties of the compounds were investigated.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16995567,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Quality of life and gender role behavior in disorders of sexual differentiation in India.\nCulture-specific tools to assess longterm psychosocial outcomes for patients with disorders of sexual differentiation are scant. We conducted a study to develop tools for evaluating gender role behavior and health related quality of life for Indian adolescent patients with intersex disorders. We also studied factors important to parents while deciding sex of rearing for their baby. A 29-item gender role behavior questionnaire and an 18-item health related quality-of-life questionnaire were administered to 82 healthy controls, 13 patients with intersex disorders and 18 patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus. Internal consistency was checked by Cronbach's alpha and test-retest reliability using intra-class correlation coefficient. Responses of 28 parents to a questionnaire on factors affecting the decision of sex of rearing were recorded on a 5-point Likert scale in order of importance. Cronbach's alpha was 0.92 and 0.75, and intra-class correlation coefficient 0.76 and 0.75, for the gender role behavior and quality-of-life questionnaires respectively, indicating a high degree of internal consistency and stability. The mean composite scores for healthy girls on the gender role behavior questionnaire (82.5 +\/- 8.7) differed significantly from that for healthy boys (53.2 +\/- 7.1, p <0.001). Factors important to parents while making decisions for sex of rearing were appearance of the genitalia, medical advice, ability to bear children and economic independence. We have created valid tools to study gender role behavior and quality of life in adolescent patients with intersex disorders in India. We have also identified in a quantitative way the factors of greatest importance to parents while deciding sex of rearing. These results have direct utility in the management of patients with intersex disorders in India and other similar cultures.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15558240,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Potentiation of the teratogenic effects induced by coadministration of retinoic acid or phytanic acid\/phytol with synthetic retinoid receptor ligands.\nPrevious studies in our laboratory identified retinoid-induced defects that are mediated by RAR-RXR heterodimerization using interaction of synthetic ligands selective for the retinoid receptors RAR and RXR in mice (Elmazar et al. 1997, Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 146:21-28; Elmazar et al. 2001, Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 170:2-9; Nau and Elmazar 1999, Handbook of experimental pharmacology, vol 139, Retinoids, Springer-Verlag, pp 465-487). The present study was designed to investigate whether these RAR-RXR heterodimer-mediated defects can be also induced by interactions of natural and synthetic ligands for retinoid receptors. A non-teratogenic dose of the natural RXR agonist phytanic acid (100 mg\/kg orally) or its precursor phytol (500 mg\/kg orally) was coadministered with a synthetic RARalpha-agonist (Am580; 5 mg\/kg orally) to NMRI mice on day 8.25 of gestation (GD8.25). Furthermore, a non-teratogenic dose of the synthetic RXR agonist LGD1069 (20 mg\/kg orally) was also coadministered with the natural RAR agonist, all- trans-retinoic acid (atRA, 20 mg\/kg orally) or its precursor retinol (ROH, 50 mg\/kg orally) to NMRI mice on GD8.25. The teratogenic outcome was scored in day-18 fetuses. The incidence of Am580-induced resorptions, spina bifida aperta, micrognathia, anotia, kidney hypoplasia, dilated bladder, undescended testis, atresia ani, short and absent tail, fused ribs and fetal weight retardation were potentiated by coadministration of phytanic acid or its precursor phytol. Am580-induced exencephaly and cleft palate, which were not potentiated by coadministration with the synthetic RXR agonists, were also not potentiated by coadministration with either phytanic acid or its precursor phytol. LGD1069 potentiated atRA- and ROH-induced resorption, exencephaly, spina bifida, aperta, ear anotia and microtia, macroglossia, kidney hypoplasia, undescended testis, atresia ani, tail defects and fetal weight retardation, but not cleft palate. These results suggest that synergistic teratogenesis can be induced by coadministration of a natural RXR ligand (phytanic acid) with a synthetic RAR agonist (Am580). Thus, certain potentially useful therapeutic agents or nutritional factors such as phytanic acid should be tested for teratogenic risk by coadministration with other retinoid receptor agonists.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16224955,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Supramolecular systems-based extraction-separation techniques coupled to mass spectrometry.\nThe combination of supramolecular chemistry and MS has not only been fruitful in the field of gas-phase fundamental studies of host-guest complexes and supramolecular assemblies. Mass spectrometric analysis has also benefited from the ability of supramolecular systems to behave as pseudophases in which solutes partition from the bulk solvent phase. Supramolecular systems-based extraction and concentration schemes and separation techniques have been widely used in different fields of analytical chemistry and are ideally suited for coupling with MS. This review describes the present status of the application of supramolecular chemistry in mass spectrometric analysis and includes topics such as the use of coacervative liquid-liquid extraction and hemimicelle\/admicelle-based SPE of organic compounds prior to chromatography and electrophoresis. It also discusses the recent advances in enantioselective analysis using CD in electrophoresis- and chromatography-MS. The potential and analytical challenges of these approaches in environmental and bioanalytical chemistry, where one can expect significant developments in the future, are outlined.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28691920,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Artificial Manduca sexta forewings for flapping-wing micro aerial vehicles: how wing structure affects performance.\nA novel approach to fabricating and testing artificial insect wings has been developed. Utilizing these new techniques, locally harvested hawk moth (Manduca sexta) forewings are compared to engineered forewings with varying wing structures. A number of small, flexible engineered forewings were fabricated with identical planform size and shape but with variations in camber, ribbing, thickness and composition. A series of static and dynamic assessments compares the forewings in terms of structure and performance. Data from these experiments show that the fabrication method can produce artificial forewings with similar properties to that of M. sexta. Flexural stiffness (EI) data shows a maximum percent difference of 41% between the left and right natural M. sexta forewings, whereas engineered forewings have a maximum percent difference of 18%. When deflection is induced from the ventral side of the forewing, EI values are at least 9.1% higher than when it is induced from the dorsal side. According to simulations, approximately 57% of this difference can be attributed to the camber of the forewings. Fabricated forewings produced comparable amounts of lift to natural M. sexta forewings (1.00 gF and 0.96 gF at 25 Hz flapping frequency respectively).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3035103,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Congenital Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome.\nA 4 year old girl had been hypotonic and areflexic since birth with delayed milestones in motor development. Repetitive stimulation at high rates performed at 3 years elicited an incremental response typical of the Lambert-Eaton Syndrome.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34235056,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Photoacoustic imaging of occlusal incipient caries in the visible and near-infrared range.\nThis study aimed to demonstrate the presence of dental caries through a photoacoustic imaging system with visible and near-infrared wavelengths, highlighting the differences between the 2 spectral regions. The depth at which carious tissue could be detected was also verified. Fifteen permanent molars were selected and classified as being sound or having incipient or advanced caries by visual inspection, radiography, and optical coherence tomography analysis prior to photoacoustic scanning. A photoacoustic imaging system operating with a nanosecond pulsed laser as the light excitation source at either 532 nm or 1064 nm and an acoustic transducer at 5 MHz was developed, characterized, and used. En-face and lateral (depth) photoacoustic signals were detected. The results confirmed the potential of the photoacoustic method to detect caries. At both wavelengths, photoacoustic imaging effectively detected incipient and advanced caries. The reconstructed photoacoustic images confirmed that a higher intensity of the photoacoustic signal could be observed in regions with lesions, while sound surfaces showed much less photoacoustic signal. Photoacoustic signals at depths up to 4 mm at both 532 nm and 1064 nm were measured. The results presented here are promising and corroborate that photoacoustic imaging can be applied as a diagnostic tool in caries research. New studies should focus on developing a clinical model of photoacoustic imaging applications in dentistry, including soft tissues. The use of inexpensive light-emitting diodes together with a miniaturized detector will make photoacoustic imaging systems more flexible, user-friendly, and technologically viable.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9144451,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Iron deposition at mineralization fronts and osteoid formation following chronic cadmium exposure in ovariectomized rats.\nTo investigate whether chronic exposure of cadmium (Cd) chloride induces osteomalacic lesions similar to Itai-itai disease (IID), ovariectomized rats were injected intravenously with the cadmium at doses of 0.05 and 0.5 mg\/kg\/day, 5 days per week, for 50 weeks. In six rats in the 0.5 mg\/kg group, the administration was continued for up to 70 weeks. In the 0.5 mg\/kg group, the plasma concentration of calcium was similar in the treatment and control groups throughout the treatment period. The urinary excretion of calcium increased from 20 weeks and the increase became marked from 40 weeks. Histopathologically, osteoid seams in the femur, tibia, and humerus were increased from 50 weeks, and these changes became prominent at 70 weeks. Hypertrophy and hyperplasia of chief cells in the parathyroid were also observed from 50 weeks. The osteoid morphometry of the trabecular bone of the femur and sternum revealed a dose-dependent increase in osteoid\/bone volumes. Roentgenographs of the antebrachial and metacarpal bones taken at 70 weeks showed so-called paper bone. The bone Cd content markedly increased until 25 weeks, but thereafter decreased linearly for up to 70 weeks. In contrast to the Cd content, the iron content decreased until 25 weeks, but thereafter increased until 70 weeks. Undecalcified section of the humerus showed the deposition of iron and formation of osteoid at mineralization fronts. Our data suggest that osteomalacic lesions were caused by chronic Cd intoxication, and that iron, as well as Cd, was involved in osteoid formation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30313612,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Cryptic diversity of the rocky crab genus Glebocarcinus Nations, 1975 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Cancridae): description of a new species from Russian coastal waters of the Sea of Japan based on morphology, DNA and distribution.\nA new cancrid crab species Glebocarcinus kashini sp. nov. (Decapoda: Brachyura: Cancridae) is described from Russian coastal waters of the Sea of Japan. The new species can be clearly separated from relative and sibling, Glebocarcinus amphioetus (Rathbun, 1898), by a less prominent and granulated dorsal surface of the carapace and dorsal surface of the cheliped propodus, less prominent sculpture of the carapace front and bluntly triangular anterolateral teeth of the carapace. Comparison of COI gene sequences supports the subdivision of these two species and shows their clear genetic separation from a related species, the American pygmy rock crab, G. oregonensis (Dana, 1852). Along the mainland coast of the Sea of Japan, G. kashini and G. amphioetus possibly overlap only in Posyet Bay and adjacent areas; the new species is distributed to the north from the bay while G. amphioetus is distributed to the south. Previous and new records of G. amphioetus from the area are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3057321,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Factors affecting cold acclimation and thermogenesis in man.\nThree types of cold exposure are observed in man: systemic moderate cold (SM), systemic severe cold (SS), and local severe cold (LS). Contrary to rat, prolonged exposure to SM cold does not produce non-shivering thermogenesis, as it does in the rat, possibly because of lack of active brown adipose tissue. Instead there is a reduction in heat production, in shivering, and in discomfort through a process known as habituation. No adaptation was found with exposure to SS cold, since shivering and discomfort always prevail and there is indirect evidence of enhanced sympathetic response after repeated exposure to SS cold. Exposure to LS cold leads to adaptive responses in which discomfort and autonomic activity are reduced. It is suggested that LS adaptation is also related to habituation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17202767,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Polymorphisms of the factor VII gene associated with the low activities of vitamin K-dependent coagulation factors in one-month-old infants.\nDespite administration of vitamin K (VK), some infants show lower activity of VK-dependent coagulation factors and they could develop intracranial hemorrhage. For preventing VK deficiency bleeding (VKDB) in infants, oral administration of VK and a screening test for VK deficiency are carried out in Japan. For the screening, the total activity of VK-dependent coagulation factors is measured using a commercial product, Normotest. This study was undertaken to clarify the importance of the following genetic and environmental factors on the coagulation status in one-month-old infants: two polymorphisms in the factor VII gene, -323P0\/10 (a 10-bp insertion in the promoter region at position -323) and R353Q (the replacement of arginine [R] with glutamine [Q] at residue 353) and sex, age, gestational age, birth weight, and feeding regimen. Two hundred Japanese infants (34.6 +\/- 4.0 days old) were screened for VK-dependent coagulation activity with Normotest and were genotyped for the two polymorphisms. Among the subjects screened, 18 infants (9%) carried the P10 allele and 26 (13%) carried the R353Q allele. Multiple regression analysis showed that the 10-bp inserted (P10) allele or the Q allele was associated with the lower coagulation activities. The coagulation activities for the R\/Q genotype were significantly lower than those for the R\/R genotype and those for the P0\/P10 genotype were significantly lower than those for the P0\/P0 genotype. Therefore, infants who carry the P10 allele or the Q allele show lower activity of VK-dependent coagulation factors. These infants may have a higher risk of VKDB manifestation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25425463,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Entecavir promotes CD34\u207a stem cell proliferation in the peripheral blood and liver of chronic hepatitis B and liver cirrhosis patients.\nEntecavir (ETV) has been used for more than 2 decades in treating hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections. It has shown significant anti-HBV effect and has led to histological improvement in the liver of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients. In patients treated with ETV for over two years, reversal of cirrhosis to normal tissue has also been observed. However, the mechanisms of these tissue repairing or recovery processes are not yet clear. In order to determine the roles that bone marrow and liver stem\/progenitor cells play in these processes, we evaluated the CD34\u207a and CD133\u207a stem\/progenitor cells in peripheral blood from 292 patients and liver tissues from 43 patients who had received therapies with and without ETV. A significant increase in both CD34\u207a and CD133\u207a cells was found in CHB and cirrhosis patients compared to the healthy controls. In patients treated with ETV, CD34\u207a cells increased 2 and 4 fold in peripheral blood and liver tissues, respectively, while their CD4\u207a and CD8\u207a cells remained the same. On the other hand, CD133\u207a cells did not change or even slightly decreased with ETV treatment. Results from immunohistochemistry staining, real time RT-PCR, and the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay also revealed the same level of CD34\u207a cell increase and CD133\u207a cell decrease (or no change) in ETV treated patients, compared to patients without ETV therapies. Liver functions in patients with ETV treatment improved in general, but one liver cirrhosis patient with high expression of CD133 in liver tissue developed hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In summary, ETV may have differential effects on various stem cell subtypes. ETV-activated stem cells in bone marrow and liver tissues may contribute to the recovery from injuries caused by HBV infection. They also contribute to the regeneration of normal tissue and the recovery of normal liver function. Meanwhile, ETV does not activate stem cells that may participate in the initiation of HCC.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23440722,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Correction of gradient-induced phase errors in radial MRI.\nTo correct gradient-induced phase errors in radial MRI. Gradient-induced eddy currents affect the MRI data acquisition by gradient delays and phase errors that may lead to severe image artifacts for non-Cartesian imaging scenarios such as radial trajectories. While gradient delays are dealt with by respective shifts of the acquisition window during radial image acquisition, this work introduces a simple method for quantifying and correcting phase errors from the actual data prior to image reconstruction. For a given gradient system, the approach yields a specific phase error per gradient that can be used for correcting the raw data. Phantom studies at 9.4 T demonstrated marked improvements in radial image quality. It could be shown that the phase correction is not compromised by data undersampling. Moreover, the selective correction of gradient-induced phase errors retained the phase information caused by different concentrations of a paramagnetic contrast agent. The proposed method does not require additional reference measurements and separately corrects for phase errors induced by eddy currents, while retaining the residual phase of the object which may carry physiologic information.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23868854,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Inhibition of in vitro and in vivo brown fat differentiation program by myostatin.\nObesity arises mainly due to the imbalance between energy storage and its expenditure. Metabolically active brown adipose tissue (BAT) has recently been detected in humans and has been proposed as a new target for anti-obesity therapy because of its unique capacity to regulate energy expenditure. Myostatin (Mst), a negative regulator of muscle mass, has been identified as a potential target to regulate overall body composition. Although the beneficial effects of Mst inhibition on muscle mass are well known, its role in the regulation of lipid metabolism, and energy expenditure is not very clear. We tested the effects of Mst inhibition on the gene regulatory networks that control BAT differentiation using both in vivo and in vitro model systems. PRDM16 and UCP1, two key regulators of brown fat differentiation were significantly up regulated in levator-ani (LA) and gastrocnemius (Gastroc) muscles as well as in epididymal (Epi) and subcutaneous (SC) fat pads isolated from Mst knock out (Mst KO) male mice compared with wild type (WT) mice. Using mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEFs) primary cultures obtained from Mst KO group compared to the WT group undergoing adipogenic differentiation, we also demonstrate a significant increase in select genes and proteins that improve lipid metabolism and energy expenditure. Treatment of Mst KO MEFs with recombinant Mst protein significantly inhibited the gene expression levels of UCP1, PRDM16, PGC1-\u03b1\/\u03b2 as well as BMP7. Future studies to extend these findings and explore the therapeutic potential of Mst inhibition on metabolic disorders are warranted.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25416912,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Bridging from particle to macroscopic scales in uniaxial magnetic gels.\nConnecting the different length scales of characterization is an important, but often very tedious task for soft matter systems. Here, we carry out such a procedure for the theoretical description of anisotropic uniaxial magnetic gels. The so-far undetermined material parameters in a symmetry-based macroscopic hydrodynamic-like description are determined starting from a simplified mesoscopic particle-resolved model. This mesoscopic approach considers chain-like aggregates of magnetic particles embedded in an elastic matrix. Our procedure provides an illustrative background to the formal symmetry-based macroscopic description. There are presently other activities to connect such mesoscopic models as ours with more microscopic polymer-resolved approaches; together with these activities, our study complements a first attempt of scale-bridging from the microscopic to the macroscopic level in the characterization of magnetic gels.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9548982,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Uncoupling PR gene expression from NPR1 and bacterial resistance: characterization of the dominant Arabidopsis cpr6-1 mutant.\nIn Arabidopsis, NPR1 mediates the salicylic acid (SA)-induced expression of pathogenesis-related (PR) genes and systemic acquired resistance (SAR). Here, we report the identification of another component, CPR 6, that may function with NPR1 in regulating PR gene expression. The dominant CPR 6-1 mutant expresses the SA\/NPR1-regulated PR genes (PR-1, BGL 2, and PR-5) and displays enhanced resistance to Pseudomonas syringae pv maculicola ES4326 and Peronospora parasitica Noco2 in the absence of SAR induction. cpr 6-1-induced PR gene expression is not suppressed in the cpr 6-1 npr1-1 double mutant but is suppressed when SA is removed by salicylate hydroxylase. Thus, constitutive PR gene expression in cpr 6-1 requires SA but not NPR1. In addition, resistance to P. s. maculicola ES4326 is suppressed in the cpr 6-1 npr1-1 double mutant, despite expression of PR-1, BGL 2, and PR-5. Resistance to P. s. maculicola ES4326 must therefore be accomplished through unidentified antibacterial gene products that are regulated through NPR1. These results show that CPR 6 is an important regulator of multiple signal transduction pathways involved in plant defense.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28740472,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Benefits of Working Memory Capacity on Attentional Control under Pressure.\nThe present study aimed to examine the effects of working memory capacity (WMC) and state anxiety (SA) on attentional control. WMC was manipulated by (a) dividing participants into low- and high-WMC groups (Experiment 1), and (b) using working memory training to improve WMC (Experiment 2). SA was manipulated by creating low- and high-SA conditions. Attentional control was evaluated by using antisaccade task. Results demonstrated that (a) higher WMC indicated better attentional control (Experiments 1 and 2); (b) the effects of SA on attentional control were inconsistent because SA impaired attentional control in Experiment 1, but favored attentional control in Experiment 2; and (c) the interaction of SA and WMC was not significant (Experiments 1 and 2). This study directly manipulated WMC by working memory training, which provided more reliable evidence for controlled attention view of WMC and new supportive evidence for working memory training (i.e., far transfer effect on attentional control). And the refinement of the relationship between anxiety and attentional control proposed by Attentional Control Theory was also discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31256777,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Prevention of parastomal hernia using mesh in patients undergoing rectum extirpation.\nDeveloping a parastomal hernia can lead to emergency surgery and cause discomfort. Placing a pro-phylactic mesh around the ostomy may potentially prevent hernias from developing. Randomised clinical trials and reviews have reported contradictory results from this prophylactic procedure with different rates of hernias and success. This descriptive cohort study aimed to investigate the rate of parastomal hernia after applying prophylactic mesh in patients undergoing surgery for rectal cancer. In the period from 2010 to 2016, we included 133 patients who had a permanent colostomy with prophylactic mesh placement due to rectal cancer. The patients were seen in the ostomy ambulatory at least three times annually, and bulges and hernias were registered by a trained nurse. Computed tomography was used for verification of parastomal hernia. Data were registered retrospectively from patient files. After a median follow-up of 22 months, 24% of patients developed a parastomal hernia. Development of parastomal bulge without a subsequent hernia diagnosis was seen in 21%. The one-year rate of parastomal hernia was 9.7%. This cohort study supports the thesis of a low short-time rate of parastomal hernia in patients who had a prophylactic mesh placed during the ostomy formation and indicates that the rate of hernia increases over time after the first post-operative year. none. not relevant.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17008569,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sudden infant death syndrome and reported maternal smoking during pregnancy.\nWe investigated the effect of maternal smoking during pregnancy on the relative risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) by linking data from Georgia birth and death certificates from 1997 to 2000. We estimated the effect of misclassifying smokers as non-smokers and the effect of being misclassified on SIDS rates, and we calculated the fraction of cases caused by exposure. Of all SIDS cases, 21% were attributable to maternal smoking; among smokers, 61% of SIDS cases were attributable to maternal smoking. Maternal smoking during pregnancy is associated with a significantly increased risk of SIDS.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34423130,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Use of Blood Biomarkers in Precision Medicine for the Primary Prevention of Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease: a Review.\nA biomarker is a substance, structure, or process that indicates the presence of a disease, infection, or environmental exposure. Clinically useful biomarkers are measurable, improve diagnostic or prognostic performance, and ultimately aid clinicians in determining the initiation, duration, or magnitude of therapy. The purpose of this review is to explore the roles of various blood biomarkers of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) and how their use may improve the precision with which clinicians can identify, treat, and ultimately prevent ASCVD. Our review will include lipid biomarkers, markers of cardiac injury and wall stress, markers of inflammation, and a few others. Several biomarkers have recently been highlighted as \"risk-enhancing factors\" in the 2019 American College of Cardiology\/American Heart Association Guideline for the Primary Prevention of ASCVD, which can help guide shared decision-making. These included elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, lipoprotein(a), apolipoprotein B, or high-sensitivity C-reactive protein. However, some other biomarkers mentioned in this review are not commonly used despite showing initial promise as prognostic of ASCVD risk, as it is not clear how treatment decisions should be changed after their measurement among asymptomatic individuals. Future studies should focus on whether biomarker-directed management strategies can improve clinical outcomes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37841359,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A Stepwise Intraoperative Protocol to Minimize Complications after Volar Plating.\nBackground Although outcome of volar plating is generally good, care should be taken to avoid specific iatrogenic and preventable complications, with an incidence reporting averaging 15%. Flexor tendon rupture due to a prominent plate, extensor tendon rupture due to a dorsal protruding screw tips, cartilage lesions due to intra-articular screw placement, loss of reduction due to insufficient stability, and persisting ulnar pain with distal radioulnar joint instability due to unstable triangular fibrocartilaginous complex lesions or unstable ulnar styloid base fractures all have been described. Purpose We believe that a majority of these complications can be prevented by meticulous assessment of several intraoperative parameters during volar plating. Therefore, we introduce the WRIST protocol, a stepwise easy-to-remember manual that combines multiple fluoroscopic measurements to guide intraoperative decision making. Conclusion Large prospective studies of the \"WRIST\" protocol are needed for validation. But we believe that it may help surgeons to optimize surgical technique, functional and radiographic outcome, and prevent complications when treating distal radial fractures.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28587426,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evaluation of the shape, viability, stemness and osteogenic differentiation of cell spheroids formed from human gingiva-derived stem cells and osteoprecursor cells.\nThe present study was performed to create stem cell spheroids from human gingiva-derived stem cells and osteoprecursor cells and to evaluate the maintenance of the stemness, the viability and osteogenic differentiation of the cell spheroids. Gingiva-derived stem cells were isolated, and a total of 6\u00d7105 stem cells and osteoprecursor cells were seeded into concave micromolds at various ratios. Gingiva-derived stem cells and\/or osteoprecursor cells formed spheroids in concave microwells. The spheroids demonstrated a smaller diameter when the number of osteoprecursor cells seeded was lower. The majority of cells in the spheroids were identified to be live cells and the cell spheroids preserved viability throughout the experimental period. The cell spheroids, which contained stem cells, were positive for stem-cell markers. Cell spheroids in concave microwells demonstrated a statistically significant increase in alkaline phosphatase activity as time progressed (P<0.05). A statistically significant difference in phosphatase activity was observed in the stem cell alone group when compared with the osteoprecursor cell group at day 5 (P<0.05). Mineralized extracellular deposits were observed in each group after Alizarin Red S staining. Within the limits of the present study, cell spheroids from gingival cells and osteoprecursor cells maintained shape, viability, stemness and osteogenic differentiation potential.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9158256,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Optimising the medical management of benign prostatic hyperplasia.\nThe ageing population is presenting an increasing demand on future healthcare services. In males, prostatic disease is one of the commonest disorders contributing to this. Alternatives to surgical intervention have to be considered as the preferred option for individuals and whether this be a therapeutic or a financial option to be taken. Two major medical alternatives are alpha-blockers and 5-alpha reductase inhibitors. The results of such treatment can be very beneficial in selected groups of patients. Side-effects with improved drugs electivity are reducing. Overall, while surgery still holds the gold standard, medical therapy has a significant role in the treatment of benign prostatic hypertrophy. Cost analysis may be a factor in deciding which treatment to have.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17878674,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Distinct effects of anterior pyriform cortex and the lateral hypothalamus lesions on protein intake in rats.\nSeveral specific locations in brain, including pyriform cortex and hypothalamus, are associated with regulation of food intake. Although lesions of these locations significantly alter food intake, their involvement in the selection of macronutrients is not well characterized. In this study, we examined distinct effects of anterior pyriform cortex (APC) and lateral hypothalamus (LH) lesions on protein intake in rats. The APC or LH of male adult rats were lesioned by treatment with kainic acid, and the rats were then given free access to two kinds of casein diets containing high (60%) and low (5%) protein. Total energy content of these diets was kept constant by changing the carbohydrate content. Following the APC lesions, body weight and food intake decreased, but returned to control levels on day 13 and day 4, respectively. APC lesions did not change the ratio of protein intake. In contrast, LH lesions disturbed body weight gain and the selection of a high protein diet for at least two weeks, although food intake returned to control levels by day 2. Our results suggest that LH, but not APC, may play an important role in the selection of protein intake in rats.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22674401,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Diagnosis of hereditary hemochromatosis in the era of genetic testing.\nHomozygous C282Y mutation in HFE gene is responsible for the majority of hereditary hemochromatosis cases. Since 1996 this mutation can be identified by a simple genetic test. To determine the clinical presentations in patients with homozygous HFE C282Y mutation and the impact of genetic testing on the time needed for diagnosis. A total of 414 patients diagnosed with C282Y homozygous hereditary hemochromatosis before and after the introduction of genetic testing were evaluated regarding symptoms and clinical findings at diagnosis as well as first hemochromatosis-related clinical features in their past medical history. At the time of diagnosis, the predominant symptom was joint pain, in particular of the hands\/wrists. Those patients presenting with hand\/wrist arthralgia had significantly higher ferritin levels than patients without this joint involvement (p = 0.0005 for males and p < 0.0001 for females). After the introduction of the HFE genetic test an earlier diagnosis after first onset of hemochromatosis-associated clinical features was observed between 2006 and 2009 vs. 2000-2005 p = 0.01). Arthralgia, in particular of the hands\/wrists, is a hallmark of hereditary hemochromatosis and its presence is associated with higher ferritin levels. Despite the availability of a genetic test, it often takes more than 6 years from the first onset of clinical features to diagnose hereditary hemochromatosis. This underlines the importance of raising the awareness of hemochromatosis and its typical clinical presentations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1700558,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Electron microscopical localization of the lead in peripheral blood neutrophils of the rat with timm sulphide silver method and X-ray probe microanalysis.\nThe distribution of lead ions in rat peripheral neutrophils was investigated using Timm sulphide silver method. In the neutrophils of adult male rats the Pb-precipitates were electron microscopically localized at 1.5, 3.0 and 6.0 hours after a single intraperitoneal injection of lead at dose 150 mgPb kg b. w. After increased lead ions input to cell matrix a formation of cytoplasmic metal deposits as well as an aggregation of Pb-complexes within deep invaginations of nuclear membrane was detectable. Furthermore, the neutrophils were prepared to examination by scanning electron microscope according to Domaga\u0142a et al. (1979). In neither case there was a clear difference of neutrophil surface morphology between exposed and control populations. The same preparations were then used to X-ray probe microanalysis, and correlation between the presence of Timm reaction product and lead indication was obtained.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7934237,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Injuries of the liver].\nIn first 9 months of the war, on our Clinic we accepted 138 wounded with injury of liver, diagnosed during the operation. Injuries of liver are classified (Moor) on 5 groups. Harder injuries are treated using: deep sutturae of liver or debridman with haemostasis, with deep sutturae, resection of liver, tamponade of hepatotomia. Each surgery is analysed. The most frequent way of treating was with deep sutturae with or without debridman. Concerning the small mortality 7.2%, and rare complications 3.2%, this way of treating is accepted under condition to analyse indications for using this method.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37463053,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Circadian regulation of lung repair and regeneration.\nOptimal lung repair and regeneration are essential for recovery from viral infections, including influenza A virus (IAV). We have previously demonstrated that acute inflammation and mortality induced by IAV is under circadian control. However, it is not known whether the influence of the circadian clock persists beyond the acute outcomes. Here, we utilize the UK Biobank to demonstrate an association between poor circadian rhythms and morbidity from lower respiratory tract infections, including the need for hospitalization and mortality after discharge; this persists even after adjusting for common confounding factors. Furthermore, we use a combination of lung organoid assays, single-cell RNA sequencing, and IAV infection in different models of clock disruption to investigate the role of the circadian clock in lung repair and regeneration. We show that lung organoids have a functional circadian clock and the disruption of this clock impairs regenerative capacity. Finally, we find that the circadian clock acts through distinct pathways in mediating lung regeneration - in tracheal cells via the Wnt\/\u03b2-catenin pathway and through IL-1\u03b2 in alveolar epithelial cells. We speculate that adding a circadian dimension to the critical process of lung repair and regeneration will lead to novel therapies and improve outcomes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37667718,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Reliability of the Divergence Angle for Evaluating Rotational Implant Positioning in Medial Unicompartmental Knee Replacement.\nBackground Unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) is a highly effective surgical procedure used to treat patients with osteoarthritis affecting a single knee compartment. UKA has gained significant popularity, accompanied by an expansion of its surgical indications. This increasing trend can be attributed to the consistently excellent clinical outcomes associated with UKA, which rival those achieved with total knee arthroplasty (TKA). However, despite these advancements, implant rotation malposition remains a prevalent factor contributing to early failure in UKA cases. The aim of this study is to analyze the rotational positioning of femorotibial implants in UKA and to identify an appropriate angle formed by the femoral component and the tibial component using a newly described angle. Methods This was a retrospective study of patients' data of 40 medial UKA cases of 33 patients who were operated on in our hospital between October 1998 and March 2019. The study introduces a new angle called the \"divergence angle.\" This angle is formed between the lateral portion of the femoral component and the lateral part of the tibial component, as measured on a patellofemoral Merchant view at 30 degrees of knee flexion. The divergence angle was evaluated through radiographic assessment by two independent reviewers. Results According to statistical analysis, the divergence angle was highly reliable with both intra- and inter-observer reproducibility. Intra-observer reproducibility was excellent with an intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) between 0.901 and 0.933 (p < 0.001). The inter-observer reproducibility was excellent with an ICC of 0.92 (p < 0.001). The Gaussian curve confirmed the normal distribution of the divergence angle values with moderate dispersion of values. The majority of the angles of divergence (85%) measured between the femoral and tibial components were less than 10 degrees (n = 34), with a mean angle of 6.3 \u00b1 4.5\u00b0. Conclusion The divergence angle between the femoral and tibial components, measured at 30 degrees of knee flexion using the Merchant view, is an easily accessible, reliable, and reproducible method. This technique enables the assessment of the optimal rotational positioning of implants in medial UKA.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35128047,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-10":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"From Race to Racism: Teaching a Tool to Critically Appraise the Use of Race in Medical Research.\nDespite the ubiquitous use of race within scientific literature, medical trainees are not taught how to critically appraise the use of racial categories. We developed a tool to appraise the use of race in medical literature and a workshop to teach this approach. Third-year medical students and second- and third-year residents participated in workshops between 2015 and 2018. We evaluated our UME workshop with a postworkshop survey. We evaluated our GME workshop with a pretest, immediate posttest, and 6-month posttest on self-assessed knowledge, skills, and use of the Critical Appraisal of Race in Medical Literature (CARMeL) tool in subsequent journal clubs. We delivered this workshop to 560 students and 82 residents. Of the initial 140-student cohort evaluating the workshop, 99 (71% response rate) highly rated clarity of presentation, quality of teaching, and quality of slides. Of PGY 2 and PGY 3 residents, 67 (82% response rate) rated the workshop greater than 4.5 out of 5 on quality, clarity, and appropriateness of content. Residents had significant improvements in self-assessed knowledge and skills immediately after the session and 6 months later. Of residents, 74% reported using the CARMeL tool in subsequent presentations. We designed the CARMeL tool and a workshop to teach it. Trainees rated this workshop as useful, with the majority of residents later applying the tool. Limitations included a lack of objective assessment of knowledge acquisition. We recommend that institutions invest time in faculty development and pair new faculty with those experienced in anti-oppressive facilitation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37456588,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Association of Tacrolimus Formulation on Cerebral Blood Flow and Cognitive Function.\nCalcineurin inhibitors are inherent vasoconstrictors. Cerebral vasoconstriction can reduce cerebral blood flow (CBF), and negatively impact cerebrovascular response (CVR) to exercise, and cognitive function. The once-daily extended-release (LCP) tacrolimus has fewer side effects than the immediate-release (IR) tacrolimus. The role of calcineurin inhibitors on CBF and the impact of specific formulations of tacrolimus on CBF, CVR, and cognitive function are unknown. In this pilot study, we evaluated whether changing from IR tacrolimus to LCP tacrolimus modulates CBF, CVR, or cognitive function in kidney transplant (KT) recipients. We randomized (2:1) 30 stable KT recipients on IR tacrolimus to intervention (switch to LCP tacrolimus) and control (continue IR tacrolimus) arms. We measured CBF, CVR, and cognitive function at baseline and at 12 wk. We used ANCOVA to evaluate changes in outcome variables, with baseline values and study arm as covariates. We used descriptive statistics with mean changes in outcome variables to compare the 2 groups. Participants were 51 \u00b1 13 y old. There was no difference in plasma tacrolimus levels at baseline and at 12 wk in the 2 arms. The changes in CBF, resting middle cerebral artery velocity, CVR, and cognitive function were more favorable in the intervention arm than in the control group. Changing IR tacrolimus to LCP tacrolimus may improve CBF, cerebrovascular dynamics, and cognitive function in KT recipients. Larger studies are needed to confirm these results.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8344087,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"[Diagnosis of basal body temperature, serum progesterone and endometrial biopsy for luteal phase defect].\nFourteen infertile women and two women with recurrent abortions were suspected of having luteal phase defect (LPD) by BBT charts. In these patients, the midluteal phase serum progesterone (P) levels were determined together with histological examination by the late luteal endometrial biopsies during the same cycle. The diagnostic criteria for LPD was BBT of luteal phase < or = eleven days, mean P level of 3 blood samples taken on three days during midluteal phase was less than 48 nmol\/L (15 ng\/ml) and the histological dating of endometrium was two or more days behind. The results showed that histological abnormality and low P level were 6.3% and 31.3%, respectively. When histological abnormality combined with lowered P level at the same cycle, the diagnosis of LPD increased to 87.5%. The author suggests that both midluteal phase P level and late luteal endometrial histological examination should be assessed at the same cycle in the diagnosis of LPD. BBT should also be assessed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34404349,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Immunopeptidomics toolkit library (IPTK): a python-based modular toolbox for analyzing immunopeptidomics data.\nThe human leukocyte antigen (HLA) proteins play a fundamental role in the adaptive immune system as they present peptides to T cells. Mass-spectrometry-based immunopeptidomics is a promising and powerful tool for characterizing the immunopeptidomic landscape of HLA proteins, that is the peptides presented on HLA proteins. Despite the growing interest in the technology, and the recent rise of immunopeptidomics-specific identification pipelines, there is still a gap in data-analysis and software tools that are specialized in analyzing and visualizing immunopeptidomics data. We present the IPTK library which is an open-source Python-based library for analyzing, visualizing, comparing, and integrating different omics layers with the identified peptides for an in-depth characterization of the immunopeptidome. Using different datasets, we illustrate the ability of the library to enrich the result of the identified peptidomes. Also, we demonstrate the utility of the library in developing other software and tools by developing an easy-to-use dashboard that can be used for the interactive analysis of the results. IPTK provides a modular and extendable framework for analyzing and integrating immunopeptidomes with different omics layers. The library is deployed into PyPI at https:\/\/pypi.org\/project\/IPTKL\/ and into Bioconda at https:\/\/anaconda.org\/bioconda\/iptkl , while the source code of the library and the dashboard, along with the online tutorials are available at https:\/\/github.com\/ikmb\/iptoolkit .","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6913467,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Shortage of chemical fuel as a cause of fatigue: studies by nuclear magnetic resonance and bicycle ergometry.\nThe technique of nuclear magnetic resonance (n.m.r.) is briefly described to illustrate its use for estimating metabolite levels in vivo. Our studies of fatigue in anaerobic frog muscle at 4 degree C are described in relation to (a) force development, (b) speed of relaxation and (c) the switching on and off of glycolysis. Both (a) and (b) are closely related, though in different ways, to the concentrations of key metabolites. In contrast, (c) is not related to metabolite levels as such but to the events of contraction and relaxation. A special n.m.r. technique (saturation transfer) has been used to study the creatine kinase system in vivo. The results show that this system is highly active and is in equilibrium in resting muscle. The free [ADP] is consequently only a small fraction of that found by analysis of muscle extracts. Studies of human power production as a function of duration of exercise also indicate that it is shortage of chemical fuel that brings short- and medium-term exercise (0.1-10 min) to a halt. It is proposed to extend n.m.r. methods to human subjects in the near future. A working hypothesis to account for fatigue is suggested in which both the contractile system and the activating system play a part.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35342554,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The alternative splicing landscape of a coral reef fish during a marine heatwave.\nAlternative splicing is a molecular mechanism that enables a single gene to encode multiple transcripts and proteins by post-transcriptional modification of pre-RNA molecules. Changes in the splicing scheme of genes can lead to modifications of the transcriptome and the proteome. This mechanism can enable organisms to respond to environmental fluctuations. In this study, we investigated patterns of alternative splicing in the liver of the coral reef fish Acanthochromis polyacanthus in response to the 2016 marine heatwave on the Great Barrier Reef. The differentially spliced (DS; n = 40) genes during the onset of the heatwave (i.e., 29.49\u00b0C or +1\u00b0C from average) were related to essential cellular functions such as the MAPK signaling system, Ca(2+) binding, and homeostasis. With the persistence of the heatwave for a period of one month (February to March), 21 DS genes were detected, suggesting that acute warming during the onset of the heatwave is more influential on alternative splicing than the continued exposure to elevated temperatures. After the heatwave, the water temperature cooled to ~24.96\u00b0C, and fish showed differential splicing of genes related to cyto-protection and post-damage recovery (n = 26). Two-thirds of the DS genes detected across the heatwave were also differentially expressed, revealing that the two molecular mechanisms act together in A. polyacanthus to cope with the acute thermal change. This study exemplifies how splicing patterns of a coral reef fish can be modified by marine heatwaves. Alternative splicing could therefore be a potential mechanism to adjust cellular physiological states under thermal stress and aid coral reef fishes in their response to more frequent acute thermal fluctuations in upcoming decades.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28250850,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Effect of different concentrations of omega-3 fatty acids on stimulated THP-1 macrophages.\nInflammation plays a central role in chronic diseases occurring in the contemporary society. The health benefits of omega-3 (n-3) fatty acids (FAs), mostly eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), have been reported. However, their mechanisms of action are poorly understood. We explored dose and time effects of EPA, DHA, and a mixture of EPA + DHA on the expression of inflammatory genes in stimulated macrophages. Lipopolysaccharide was used to stimulate human THP-1 macrophages. Cells were incubated in different conditions in the presence of n-3 FAs and LPS, and mRNA levels of inflammatory genes were measured by real-time PCR. Cytokine levels in culture media were measured. The mixture of EPA + DHA had a more effective inhibitory effect than either DHA or EPA alone, DHA being more potent than EPA. For both EPA and DHA, 75 \u03bcM of FAs had a more important anti-inflammatory effect than 10 or 50 \u03bcM. For gene expression, EPA had the greater action during the post-incubation (after LPS treatment) condition while DHA and EPA + DHA were more potent during the co-incubation (n-3 FAs and LPS). Cytokine concentrations decreased more markedly in the co-incubation condition. These results suggest that in stimulated macrophages, expression levels of genes involved in inflammation are influenced by the dose, the type of n-3 FAs, and the time of incubation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1157782,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Desulfurization of gasoline.\nAlthough gasoline blending streams exhibit widely varying sulfur concentrations, significant quantities of low-sulfur motor gasoline cannot be manufactured by reallocation of existing components without substantial sacrifices in the useful properties of the remaining fuels having normal sulfur levels. To meet the anticipated demand for low-sulfur unleaded gasoline which may be required for catalyst-equipped automobiles it will be necessary to install process equipment based on known hydrotreating technology. The effects which this construction program would exert on the activities, abilities and needs of one petroleum refiner are sketched for two degrees of sulfur removal. The impacts of installing the process facilities which would be necessary are discussed in terms of time requirements, capital needs, and added energy expenditures.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28370394,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"There is no functional small-fibre neuropathy in prurigo nodularis despite neuroanatomical alterations.\nPrurigo nodularis (PN) is a pruritic condition with altered epidermal neuroanatomy as demonstrated previously. Here we elucidated neuroimmunological mechanisms by combining functional, morphological and gene expression experiments in twelve subjects with PN and eight healthy controls. Subjects with PN showed a reduced intra-epidermal nerve fibre density (IENFD) in lesional skin. Quantitative sensory testing indicated maintenance of somatosensory function compared to controls. None of the tested molecular markers including the neuron-distracting SEMA3A and neuron-attracting NGF were altered in lesional vs non-lesional skin in PN subjects. Accordingly, we speculate that scratching may contribute to reduced IENFD rather than an authentic endogenous neuropathy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25426307,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Rapid progression of symptomatic vertebrobasilar artery dissection on magnetic resonance imaging: a case report.\nSpontaneous intracranial vertebrobasilar dissection can manifest with various clinical symptoms, including subarachnoid hemorrhage or ischemic symptoms from impaired posterior circulation. A 29-year-old woman came to our emergency department with a sudden onset of left sided mild motor weakness and headache. Initial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed mild luminal irregularities in the vertebrobasilar arteries with an eccentric periluminal hematoma. Follow-up MRI obtained 3 days later showed a progression of vertebrobasilar dissection to multifocal stenoses with an increased intramural hematoma.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28353417,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Do Patients with Pre-Existing Psychiatric Illness Have an Increased Risk of Infection after Injury?\nTrauma remains a leading cause of death and long term-morbidity. We have shown that patients who sustain traumatic injuries are at increased risk for the development of infectious complications. Psychiatric illnesses (PIs) are also noted to occur frequently among the general population. The presence of a PI has been shown to be a risk factor for the development of infections. Despite the prevalence of both traumatic injuries and psychiatric diseases, there are little data relating the impact of PI on the outcome of patients with trauma. We hypothesize that the presence of a PI will be associated with an increased risk of an infection developing after injury. This is a five year retrospective chart review of all admitted patients with trauma age 18 years and older. Patients with and without a major psychiatric illness were compared. Demographic data, mechanism of injury and Injury Severity Score (ISS) were reviewed. Co-morbidities included diabetes mellitus, obesity, pre-injury steroid use, and International Classification of Diseases, 9th edition, based psychiatric illness. All infections were diagnosed by microbiologic criteria (urinary tract infection [UTI], ventilator-associated pneumonia) or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria for clinically evident infections (surgical site infection). Of the 11,147 admitted trauma patients, 14.5% had a pre-injury PI diagnosis. The PI patients were older (61.5 \u00b1 0.5 vs. 54.3; p < 0.001), more often female (56% vs. 39.1%; p < 0.001), and had no difference in blunt mechanism rates (88.4% vs. 89.9%; p = 0.06) or median ISS (9 vs. 9; p = 0.06). There was no difference between PI and non-PI patients in pre-injury diabetes mellitus (13.4% vs. 12.7%; p = 0.4), steroid use (2.5% vs. 1.9%; p = 0.1), but patients with PI were more likely to be obese (15.7% vs. 13.6%; p = 0.03). Patients with PI were more likely to have an infection develop (10.4% vs. 7.5%; p < 0.001). The most common infection in both groups was UTI (6.9% vs. 4.2%; p < 0.001). Compared with non-PI patients, adjusting for age, gender, ISS, diabetes mellitus, and obesity, patients with PI were more likely to have an infection develop (odds ratio 1.3, 95% confidence interval = 1.1-1.5) Conclusions: Patients with an underlying PI are at increased risk of having a UTI after traumatic injury. This study identifies a previously unknown independent risk factor for UTIs in patients with trauma. This stresses the need for increased awareness and attention to this vulnerable population.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24387158,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nontemplate synthesis of CH3NH3PbBr3 perovskite nanoparticles.\nTo date, there is no example in the literature of free, nanometer-sized, organolead halide CH3NH3PbBr3 perovskites. We report here the preparation of 6 nm-sized nanoparticles of this type by a simple and fast method based on the use of an ammonium bromide with a medium-sized chain that keeps the nanoparticles dispersed in a wide range of organic solvents. These nanoparticles can be maintained stable in the solid state as well as in concentrated solutions for more than three months, without requiring a mesoporous material. This makes it possible to prepare homogeneous thin films of these nanoparticles by spin-coating on a quartz substrate. Both the colloidal solution and the thin film emit light within a narrow bandwidth of the visible spectrum and with a high quantum yield (ca. 20%); this could be advantageous in the design of optoelectronic devices.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1699030,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[The filterability of whole blood (the role of leukocytes and erythrocytes)].\nFilterability of the blood with various red cell and leukocyte concentrations was examined in 17 patients with coronary heart disease. The blood was filtered through a filter with pore diameter of 5 microns under a pressure of 100 cm water column. Blood filterability drastically deteriorated if leukocyte concentrations in the blood increased and depended on the leukocyte filtration characteristics. The number of red cells passed through the filter was in direct proportion with the blood red cell count.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28726785,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"JUN is important for ocular hypertension-induced retinal ganglion cell degeneration.\nOcular hypertension, a major risk factor for glaucoma, is thought to trigger glaucomatous neurodegeneration through injury to retinal ganglion cell (RGC) axons. The molecular signaling pathway leading from ocular hypertension to RGC degeneration, however, is not well defined. JNK signaling, a component of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) family, and its canonical target, the transcription factor JUN, have been shown to regulate neurodegeneration in many different systems. JUN is expressed after glaucoma-relevant injuries and Jun deficiency protects RGCs after mechanical injury to the optic nerve. Here, we tested the importance of JNK-JUN signaling for RGC death after ocular hypertensive axonal injury in an age-related, mouse model of ocular hypertension. Immunohistochemistry was performed to evaluate JUN expression in ocular hypertensive DBA\/2J mice. JUN was expressed in a temporal and spatial pattern consistent with a role in glaucomatous injury. To determine the importance of JUN in ocular hypertension-induced RGC death, a floxed allele of Jun and a retinal expressed cre recombinase (Six3-cre) were backcrossed onto the DBA\/2J background. Intraocular pressure (IOP) and gross morphology of the retina and optic nerve head were assessed to determine whether removing Jun from the developing retina altered IOP elevation or retinal development. Jun deficiency in the retina did not alter DBA\/2J IOP elevation or retinal development. Optic nerves and retinas were assessed at ages known to have glaucomatous damage in DBA\/2J mice. Jun deficiency protected RGC somas from ocular hypertensive injury, but did not protect RGC axons from glaucomatous neurodegeneration. Jun is a major regulator of RGC somal degeneration after glaucomatous ocular hypertensive injury. These results suggest in glaucomatous neurodegeneration, JNK-JUN signaling has a major role as a pro-death signaling pathway between axonal injury and somal degeneration.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22662235,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Integrative gene regulatory network analysis reveals light-induced regional gene expression phase shift programs in the mouse suprachiasmatic nucleus.\nWe use the multigenic pattern of gene expression across suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) regions and time to understand the dynamics within the SCN in response to a circadian phase-resetting light pulse. Global gene expression studies of the SCN indicate that circadian functions like phase resetting are complex multigenic processes. While the molecular dynamics of phase resetting are not well understood, it is clear they involve a \"functional gene expression program\", e.g., the coordinated behavior of functionally related genes in space and time. In the present study we selected a set of 89 of these functionally related genes in order to further understand this multigenic program. By use of high-throughput qPCR we studied 52 small samples taken by anatomically precise laser capture from within the core and shell SCN regions, and taken at time points with and without phase resetting light exposure. The results show striking regional differences in light response to be present in the mouse SCN. By using network-based analyses, we are able to establish a highly specific multigenic correlation between genes expressed in response to light at night and genes normally activated during the day. The light pulse triggers a complex and highly coordinated network of gene regulation. The largest differences marking neuroanatomical location are in transmitter receptors, and the largest time-dependent differences occur in clock-related genes. Nighttime phase resetting appears to recruit transcriptional regulatory processes normally active in the day. This program, or mechanism, causes the pattern of core region gene expression to transiently shift to become more like that of the shell region.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36284820,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Among Patients Attending the General Outpatient Clinic in a Tertiary Hospital in Southern Nigeria.\nBackground As most of the available studies on acceptance of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine were done prior to the development of a vaccine, this study aimed to determine the current willingness to receive the available COVID-19 vaccines in Nigeria and ascertain factors influencing its acceptance. Methodology A cross-sectional descriptive study using a paper-based questionnaire was conducted among patients aged 18 years and above, attending the General Outpatient Clinic of Federal Medical Centre, Asaba, Delta State, Nigeria (n= 366). Data were analyzed using SPSS version 26 (Armonk, NY: IBM Corp.). Univariate and bivariate analyses were conducted at an alpha level of significance set at p<0.05. Results This study comprised 366 participants, of which 56.28% were willing to take a COVID-19 vaccine if it was made available to them. Generally, it was found that participants aged <40 years (56.90%), females (56.88%), singles (57.32%), and unemployed respondents (67.44%) were more willing to receive the vaccine than others. Those who agreed that COVID-19 was not an invention by man (p=0.031; OR=1.64; 95% CI=1.05, 2.58) were more likely to receive a vaccine. Suspicion of the government's intentions about COVID-19 was a perceived barrier by participants to accepting a vaccine. Conclusion Our findings represent one of the few estimates of the acceptability of the COVID-19 vaccine in Nigeria. They can be used to guide the planning and development of future public health efforts, increasing the awareness of the COVID-19 vaccine, its acceptability, and its uptake.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32590370,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Proposed diagnostic reference levels for general radiography and mammography in Japan.\nDiagnostic reference levels (DRLs 2015) in Japan were first published in 2017, on the Japan Network for Research and Information on Medical Exposures network. Medical facilities in Japan are now presumably reconsidering radiation doses at their facilities and approaching protection optimisation through the application of DRLs 2015. However, since more than 3 years have elapsed since publication, radiation doses received by patients in Japan may have diverged from DRLs 2015. We therefore undertook the present study. Based on our questionnaire survey implemented in 2017, we estimated the entrance skin dose (ESD) under general radiography fields and the mean glandular dose (MGD) under mammography, to compile a report on the doses received by patients under general radiography fields and mammography, and to propose new DRLs as replacements for DRLs 2015. Radiation doses under general radiography fields and mammography were estimated from the results of the 2017 questionnaire survey and applied to determine new DRLs at 75% values of dose distributions in general radiography fields and at 95% values of dose distributions in mammography. Among all the modes for general radiography fields and mammography, median ESD and MGD were significantly smaller with flat panel detector systems than with computed radiography systems. Comparison of the results with DRLs 2015 values showed a trend toward decreases in all imaging methods of the general radiography fields and mammography ranging from 5.0% (child chest radiography) to 31.7% (skull radiography). Moreover, responses showed that DRLs 2015 were recognised and used for comparison at many facilities. We have described the doses received by patients in general radiography fields and mammography in 2017 and proposed new DRLs as replacements for DRLs 2015. The DRLs we proposed for general radiography fields and mammography were determined to be lower than DRLs 2015 for all modes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15265312,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Behavior of human dermal fibroblasts in three-dimensional fibrin clots: dependence on fibrinogen and thrombin concentration.\nFibrin sealant products are used in hemostasis and tissue sealing, and potentially as a cell delivery vehicle. In this study, fibrin sealant was evaluated as a delivery vehicle for human dermal fibroblasts. Fibroblast proliferation and migration were assessed in various dilutions of fibrin sealant by changing the fibrinogen and thrombin concentration. Fibroblasts proliferated well within three-dimensional (3-D) fibrin clots consisting of fibrinogen (5-17 mg\/mL) and thrombin (1-167 U\/mL). These fibroblasts also retained good morphology and growth characteristics after migrating out of the 3-D fibrin clots. Furthermore, using Western blot and fluorescence-activated cell-sorting analysis, we found that the expression of growth factors and interleukins in the entire fibroblast-fibrin construct was dependent on the fibrin sealant formulation. For example, in a formulation in which fibroblasts showed modest proliferation and migration, interleukin 8 was secreted to a lesser extent than in a formulation that supported robust proliferation and migration. To our knowledge, this is the first time that it has been shown that modifying the concentration of fibrinogen and thrombin affects fibroblast behavior within formed 3-D fibrin clots. In addition, some of these formulations present an ideal delivery vehicle for fibroblasts that could be used for the treatment of chronic wounds.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21152804,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Subcutaneous phaeohyphomycosis.\nThis report shows images of a case of subcutaneous phaeohyphomycosis caused by Exophiala jeanselmei in a patient who has undergone renal transplantation. The paper comments briefly on the disease and emphasizes the need to take this mycosis into account in the differential diagnosis of other dermatoses, including non-infectious dermatoses.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6746479,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"High temperature purge and trap procedure for determining seven volatile N-nitrosamines in animal feed, using gas chromatography\/thermal energy analyzer.\nA rapid and sensitive procedure is described for determining 4 N-nitrosodialkylamines (dimethyl, diethyl, dipropyl, and dibutyl) and the N-nitroso analogs of piperidine, pyrrolidine, and morpholine in animal feed. The volatile N-nitrosamines were isolated by using a modified high temperature purge and trap apparatus designed for multiple sample cleanup. The feed sample was mixed with mineral oil and a nitrosation inhibitor, and the N-nitrosamines were purged onto a ThermoSorb\/N cartridge, eluted with acetone-dichloromethane (1 + 1), and determined by gas chromatography, using a thermal energy analyzer. The effects of purge rate, purge time, and temperature on recovery are discussed. Feed samples spiked with 10, 50, and 200 ppb of the 7 N-nitroso compounds yielded recoveries ranging from 70 to 97%, with precision ranging from 1.3 to 5.4% and minimum detectable levels in the low parts-per-billion range.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25297033,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Disseminated Bacillus Calmette-Guerin infections after intravesical therapy.\nIntravesical instillation of Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) is the treatment of choice for superficial bladder carcinoma. Disseminated BCG infection presenting as granulomatous hepatitis or pneumonitis is a very rare complication of this treatment. Here we report a case series of seven patients previously treated with BCG presenting with pneumonitis. In two of the cases, identification of Mycobacterium bovis was achieved with molecular methods.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9150200,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The RIB element in the goaG-pspF intergenic region of Escherichia coli.\nThe sequence (2,700 bp) between the aldH and pspF genes of Escherichia coli was determined. The pspF gene encodes a sigma54 transcriptional activator of the phage shock protein (psp) operon (pspA to pspE). Downstream of the pspF transcribed region are two open reading frames (ORFs), ordL and goaG, convergently oriented with respect to pspF. These two ORFs, together with the adjacent aldH gene, may constitute a novel operon (aldH-ordL-goaG). The goaG-pspF intergenic region contains a complex extragenic mosaic element, RIB. The structure of this RIB element, which belongs to the BIME-1 family, is Y(REP1) > 16 < Z1(REP2), where Y and Z1 are palindromic units and the central 16 bases contain an L motif with an ihf consensus sequence. DNA fragments containing the L motif of the psp RIB element effectively bind integration host factor (IHF), while the Y palindromic unit (REP1) of the same RIB element binds DNA gyrase weakly. Computer prediction of the pspF mRNA secondary structure suggested that the transcribed stem-loop structures formed by the 3'-flanking region of the pspF transcript containing the RIB element can stabilize and protect pspF mRNA. Analysis of pspF steady-state mRNA levels showed that transcripts with an intact RIB element are much more abundant than those truncated at the 3' end by deletion of either the entire RIB element or a single Z1 sequence (REP2). Thus, the pspF 3'-flanking region containing the RIB element has an important role in the stabilization of the pspF transcript.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28724094,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Temperature Impacts on Soil Microbial Communities and Potential Implications for the Biodegradation of Turfgrass Pesticides.\nMaintaining healthy turfgrass often results in the use of pesticides to manage weed, insect, and disease pests. To identify and understand potential nontarget impacts of pesticide usage while still maintaining attractive and functional turfgrass sites, it is important to improve our understanding of how pesticides degrade in various environments throughout the growing season. Temperature heavily influences microbial community composition and activity, and the microbial community often heavily influences pesticide degradation in soil ecosystems. Pesticide transformation products generated through the action of soil microbial degradation networks can vary in their toxicity, with the potential result that a pesticide applied in the spring at 10\u00b0C could produce different transformation products with different toxicological impacts than the sample pesticide applied to the same site at 22\u00b0C. The objective of this review is to examine past research surrounding soil microbial activity related to pesticide degradation and provide a foundation for how the soil microbiome interacts with pesticides and how seasonal temperature variations may influence those interactions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6168925,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Interaction of [125I] beta nerve growth factor with acidic proteins.\nWe have demonstrated that the beta nerve growth factor will interact with various acidic proteins apparently nonspecifically. When 125I-labeled beta nerve growth factor at a concentration of 3.8 X 10(-10) M is incubated with an acidic protein at 2 mg\/ml (4.5 X 10(-6)-4.4 X 10(-5) M), a complex is formed. This complex changes the isoelectric point of the 125I-labeled beta nerve growth factor sufficiently so that the 125I-labeled beta nerve growth factor migrates anomalously in polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The interaction between beta nerve growth factor and bovine serum albumin, which appears to be complex, may be the cause of the previously reported activation of the beta nerve growth factor when bovine serum albumin is present in a typical bioassay.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7947821,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Galectin-3 is a novel substrate for human matrix metalloproteinases-2 and -9.\nThe primary structure of galectin-3, a approximately 30 kDa galactoside-binding protein (aka CBP-35, mL-34, hL-31, L-29, Mac-2, and epsilon BP), reveals two structural domains: an amino-terminal domain consists of a Pro-Gly-rich motif, and a globular carboxyl-terminal domain containing a carbohydrate-binding site. In this study, we report that the amino-terminal domain of galectin-3 contains a cleavage site for two members of the matrix metalloproteinase family of enzymes: the 72 kDa (gelatinase A, MMP-2) and the 92 kDa (gelatinase B, MMP-9) proteinases. The major cleavage site for the gelatinases in galectin-3 is at the Ala62-Tyr63 bond, and its hydrolysis by these enzymes was inhibited by TIMP-2. Cell-surface expression of galectin-3 was reduced following treatment of viable T47D human breast carcinoma cells with gelatinase A. These results suggest that galectin-3 may be a substrate for gelatinases and that its degradation may play a role in modulating the biological activities of galectin-3.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32370530,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Socio-economic impacts of working horses in urban and peri-urban areas of the Cape Flats, South Africa.\nIn the Cape Flats townships, Cape Town, South Africa, there are more than 250 working cart horses. They serve the community with scrap metal and garden refuse removal, human transport and the selling of goods. A questionnaire was undertaken to understand the social and economic impacts of a horse and cart in the Cape Flats on individual owners and\/or drivers, their households and the community. A mixture of classical quantitative questions combined with qualitative participatory technique questions were used. A total of 100 participants took part in the questionnaire, who cart with 163 horses between them. The majority (89%) identified the cart horse income as their primary income source. Apart from the participants, an additional 716 people were supported financially through this income, where the mean number of children supported was 2.9 (95% confidence interval [CI]: \u00b10.42) per interviewed participant. Scrap metal transportation was the most common work and the season (winter) had a negative impact on their ability to work. The spatial extent to which a cart horses work was determined and related back to the impact on the horse and participant of the survey. It was demonstrated that the cart horse industry had an impact not only on those who worked in the industry, but also on the surrounding residents, either through their work or through supporting others with their income. This study revealed that the concepts of 'One Health' and 'Health in Social-Ecological Systems', in action as horse and human health within the Cape Flats are closely intertwined.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8344640,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of arterial-portal glucose difference on gluconeogenesis from lactate in the isolated bivascular-perfused rat liver.\nThe effects of arterial-portal glucose difference on the gluconeogenesis from lactate were studied using the bivascular perfused liver isolated from the fasted rat. The liver was cyclically perfused at flow rates of 14 ml\/min from the portal vein and of 7 ml\/min from the hepatic artery with the total volume of 35 ml of perfusion medium containing 2 mM glucose, 3 mM lactate and (U-14C)-lactate for 20 min. Glucose was infused at a rate of 27.75 mumol\/min into the arterial cannula (A-experiment) or the portal cannula (P-experiment), making each arterial-portal glucose gradient of +3.96 mM (arterial glucose > portal glucose) and -1.98 mM (arterial glucose < portal glucose) throughout the experiment. Perfusate lactate concentration was lower in A-experiment than in P-experiment (1.40 +\/- 0.25 vs 1.93 +\/- 0.23 mM at 20 min, mean +\/- SD, p < 0.05). Incorporation of radioactivity from (U-14C)-lactate into glucose carbon 1 in perfusate was 5.7 +\/- 0.8% of total radioactivity per 20 min in A-experiment vs 2.8 +\/- 0.6%\/20 min in P-experiment (p < 0.01). These results suggest that the arterial-portal glucose difference is an important factor to regulate the hepatic gluconeogenesis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35360446,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"COVID-Net CT-2: Enhanced Deep Neural Networks for Detection of COVID-19 From Chest CT Images Through Bigger, More Diverse Learning.\nThe COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage on, with multiple waves causing substantial harm to health and economies around the world. Motivated by the use of computed tomography (CT) imaging at clinical institutes around the world as an effective complementary screening method to RT-PCR testing, we introduced COVID-Net CT, a deep neural network tailored for detection of COVID-19 cases from chest CT images, along with a large curated benchmark dataset comprising 1,489 patient cases as part of the open-source COVID-Net initiative. However, one potential limiting factor is restricted data quantity and diversity given the single nation patient cohort used in the study. To address this limitation, in this study we introduce enhanced deep neural networks for COVID-19 detection from chest CT images which are trained using a large, diverse, multinational patient cohort. We accomplish this through the introduction of two new CT benchmark datasets, the largest of which comprises a multinational cohort of 4,501 patients from at least 16 countries. To the best of our knowledge, this represents the largest, most diverse multinational cohort for COVID-19 CT images in open-access form. Additionally, we introduce a novel lightweight neural network architecture called COVID-Net CT S, which is significantly smaller and faster than the previously introduced COVID-Net CT architecture. We leverage explainability to investigate the decision-making behavior of the trained models and ensure that decisions are based on relevant indicators, with the results for select cases reviewed and reported on by two board-certified radiologists with over 10 and 30 years of experience, respectively. The best-performing deep neural network in this study achieved accuracy, COVID-19 sensitivity, positive predictive value, specificity, and negative predictive value of 99.0%\/99.1%\/98.0%\/99.4%\/99.7%, respectively. Moreover, explainability-driven performance validation shows consistency with radiologist interpretation by leveraging correct, clinically relevant critical factors. The results are promising and suggest the strong potential of deep neural networks as an effective tool for computer-aided COVID-19 assessment. While not a production-ready solution, we hope the open-source, open-access release of COVID-Net CT-2 and the associated benchmark datasets will continue to enable researchers, clinicians, and citizen data scientists alike to build upon them.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25525509,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Interocular symmetry in macular choroidal thickness in children.\nObjective. To report interocular differences in choroidal thickness in children using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) and correlate findings with biometric data. Methods. This observational cross-sectional study included 91 (182 eyes) healthy children aged 6 to 17 years with no ocular abnormality except refractive error. After a comprehensive eye exam and axial length measurement, high definition macular scans were performed using SD-OCT. Two observers manually measured the choroidal thickness at the foveal center and at 1500 \u00b5m nasally, temporally, inferiorly, and superiorly. Interocular differences were computed; correlations with age, gender, refractive error, and axial length were performed. Results. Mean age was 10.40 \u00b1 3.17 years; mean axial length and refractive error values were similar between fellow eyes. There was excellent correlation between the two observers' measurements. No significant interocular differences were observed at any location. There was only a trend for right eyes to have higher values in all thicknesses, except the superior thickness. Most of the choroidal thickness measurements correlated positively with spherical equivalent but not with axial length, age, or gender. Conclusion. Choroidal thickness measurements in children as performed using SD-OCT revealed a high level of interobserver agreement and consistent interocular symmetry. Values correlated positively with spherical equivalent refraction.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34241463,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Spatially variant autofocus for circular synthetic aperture sonar.\nCircular synthetic aperture sonar (CSAS) is a method for improving the resolution and target detection capabilities of a synthetic aperture sonar system. CSAS data are difficult to focus because of their large aperture sizes and elevation sensitivity. This difficulty has sometimes been addressed by using transponders or distributing isotropic scatterers in the field of view of the system; however, this comes at the cost of reduced practicality. As an alternative, map-drift based multipoint autofocus (\"multilateration\") was proposed by Cantalloube and Nahum [IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens. 49, 3730-37 (2011)] for autofocusing analogous circular synthetic aperture radar data. Multilateration also solves the problem of aberration spatial variance by providing a three-dimensional navigation correction. In circular synthetic aperture focusing problems, though, correcting aberrations is a joint navigation and elevation estimation problem, and the present work extends the multilateration approach to simultaneously solve both a navigation solution and coordinate corrections for the multilateration control patches. Additionally, methods for addressing the stability and behavior of the inverse problem are addressed, and an adaptive weighting scheme for reducing the influence of outliers is presented. The field results demonstrate near optimal point-spread functions on distributions of natural isotropic scatterers and robustness in regions with bathymetric variability.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29376598,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Analysis of clinical effectiveness and risk factors for complication of percutaneous nephrolototripsia in patients with a solitary kidney].\nManagement of patients with large and staghorn stones of a solitary kidney is widely debated among urologists and has not been sufficiently investigated, which determined the relevance of this study. The study comprised 80 patients with large (>20 mm) and staghorn stones of an anatomically or functionally solitary kidney. Of them, 58 patients underwent percutaneous nephrolithotripsy (PNL), and 22 had open surgery. The criterion of the treatment effectiveness was the complete stone clearance or small residual fragments sized less than 3 mm. The safety criterion was the absence of intra- and postoperative complications, according to Clavien-Dindo grading system. The study analyzed the following factors influencing the effectiveness and safety of PNL: the number of accesses; nephroscope diameter; use of a nephroscope sheath; type of lithotripter; size, density, type and composition of the stone. Percutaneous nephrolithotripsy demonstrated statistically significantly better safety results compared with open surgery with comparable effectiveness. Long-term stone recurrence rate after PNL and open surgery was 10.4 and 18.2%, respectively. PNL resulted in a statistically significant improvement in the kidney function while it worsened after open surgery. The effectiveness of PNL depends on the stone type and size and the kind of lithotripter. It was 7.5 times greater for a large stone than for staghorn calculi and 4.6 times higher for stones sized less or equal 45 mm than for those sized > 45 mm. Ultrasonic lithotripter was 2.2 times more effective than another type of lithotripter. The safety of PNL depends on the nephroscope diameter, of a sheath, the number of accesses, the type of lithotripter and the type of stone. Using a 24-Ch nephroscope was 3.6 times safer than that with a diameter greater than 24-Ch; not using a sheath was 3.2 times safer than using it; one access was 3 times safer than at multiple ones; using an ultrasound lithotripter was 2.7 times safer than with another type of lithotripter; treating a large stone was 2.1 times safer than a staghorn stone. The study findings can be used to optimize the treatment of patients with large and staghorn stones of a solitary kidney.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28701329,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Multisubunit DNA-Dependent RNA Polymerases from Vaccinia Virus and Other Nucleocytoplasmic Large-DNA Viruses: Impressions from the Age of Structure.\nThe past 17 years have been marked by a revolution in our understanding of cellular multisubunit DNA-dependent RNA polymerases (MSDDRPs) at the structural level. A parallel development over the past 15 years has been the emerging story of the giant viruses, which encode MSDDRPs. Here we link the two in an attempt to understand the specialization of multisubunit RNA polymerases in the domain of life encompassing the large nucleocytoplasmic DNA viruses (NCLDV), a superclade that includes the giant viruses and the biochemically well-characterized poxvirus vaccinia virus. The first half of this review surveys the recently determined structural biology of cellular RNA polymerases for a microbiology readership. The second half discusses a reannotation of MSDDRP subunits from NCLDV families and the apparent specialization of these enzymes by virus family and by subunit with regard to subunit or domain loss, subunit dissociability, endogenous control of polymerase arrest, and the elimination\/customization of regulatory interactions that would confer higher-order cellular control. Some themes are apparent in linking subunit function to structure in the viral world: as with cellular RNA polymerases I and III and unlike cellular RNA polymerase II, the viral enzymes seem to opt for speed and processivity and seem to have eliminated domains associated with higher-order regulation. The adoption\/loss of viral RNA polymerase proofreading functions may have played a part in matching intrinsic mutability to genome size.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28534332,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Efficacy comparison of robotic and laparoscopic radical surgery in the treatment of middle-low rectal cancer].\nTo compare the clinical efficacy of robotic and laparoscopic radical surgery in the treatment of middle-low rectal cancers. From January 2015 to March 2016, intra-operative and postoperative follow-up data of 30 patients with middle-low rectal cancers who underwent robotic radical resection(robot group) and 32 patients with middle-low rectal cancers who underwent laparoscopic radical resection (laparoscopy group)n in our department were retrospectively collected. The distance from cancer to anal margin was less than 10 cm in both two groups and advanced rectal cancers were confirmed by preoperative colonoscopy biopsy. Associated data were compared between two groups. There were 13 males and 17 females in robot group with age of 27 to 85 (mean 59.7) years, disease course of 3 to 12 (mean 6.2) months and clinical stage T2-3N0-1. There were 16 males and 16 females in laparoscopic group with age of 32 to 79 (mean 60.3) years, disease course of 2 to 10(mean 5.9) months and clinical stage T2-3N0-1. The baseline data of two groups were not significantly different (all P>0.05). All the patients in two groups completed operations successfully without conversion to open operation. Compared with laparoscopic group, the blood loss was less [(100.3\u00b143.7) ml vs. (150.3\u00b168.2) ml, t=3.413, P=0.001], the first flatus time [(49.3\u00b112.4) h vs. (58.6\u00b112.5) h, t=2.838, P=0.006] and urinary catheter removal time [(3.0\u00b10.7) d vs. (4.8\u00b10.9) d, t=5.491, P=0.000] were shorter, while the operation time [(217.3\u00b157.8) min vs. (187.9\u00b123.1) min, t=2.772, P=0.009] was longer in robot group. No cancer tissue was observed in resection margin of two groups. Number of harvested lymph node per case (15.2\u00b17.4 vs. 13.9\u00b14.9, t=-0.764, P=0.448), distance from anal margin to tumor distal edge [(7\u00b13) cm vs. (6.5\u00b13) cm, t=-1.952, P=0.056] and postoperative hospital stay [(13.6\u00b11.3) d vs. (13.8\u00b11.8) d, t=0.925, P=0.359] were not significantly different between two groups. No serious complications occurred in two groups during intra-operative and postoperative period. During following up of 3 to 12 (average 8.7) months, 1 case of anastomotic fistula occurred in each group and was cured by conservative treatment without significant difference [3.3%(1\/30) vs. 3.1%(1\/32), P=1.000]. No sexual dysfunction was found in either groups. Two cases in laparoscopic group presented relapse and metastasis, but no recurrence and metastasis was observed in robot group. There was no death in two groups. Robotic radical surgery in the treatment of middle-low rectal cancers is safe and effective with the advantages of less trauma, less bleeding, rapid recovery of intestinal function and urinary function.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12026885,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A collaborative screening program for the discovery of inhibitors of HCV NS2\/3 cis-cleaving protease activity.\nThis report describes the development of a cell-based assay for high-throughput screening and detection of small-molecule inhibitors for hepatitis C virus (HCV) NS2\/3 protease. The HCV NS2\/3 protease is essential for the normal infectious cycle of HCV. Generation of a cell-based assay for this cis-acting viral protease involved reporter constructs in which the NS2\/3 protease sequence was inserted between the ,B-lactamase (BLA) reporter and a ubiquitin-based destabilization domain. In stable cell lines, NS2\/3 cis cleavage of the NS2\/3-BLA fusion protein resulted in differential stability of the cleaved versus uncleaved BLA reporter, providing a robust readout for protease activity. BLA reporter activity was shown to be a function of NS2\/3-specific protease activity, by using genetic mutants of the NS2\/3 sequence. In addition, the cell-based assay was validated and screened in a 384-well format on a fully automated robotic platform where small-molecule inhibitors of NS2\/3 protease activity were identified.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23439361,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Left ventricular myxoma producing cardiac failure.\nSeventy-five percent of primary cardiac tumors are benign, and most are myxomas. Seventy-five percent of myxomas originate from the left atrium, and 2.5% arise from the left ventricle. Heart failure is a rare complication of myxoma. A 54-year-old male patient with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was admitted to the pulmonology department with a diagnosis of pneumonia and congestive heart failure during hospitalization. An echocardiography evaluation revealed a mobile mass (3.3 cm X 1.2 cm) in the left ventricle. The measured ejection fraction was 22%. Transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography and magnetic resonance imaging examinations confirmed the presence of a myxoma in the left ventricle. The myxoma was a hanging mass with a stalk on the interventricular septum near the anterior mitral valve annulus. We visualized the gelatinous fragile mass on the septum; we then extracted the myxoma via a transaortic approach with the patient on cardiopulmonary bypass. The patient was discharged 10 days after surgery. Myxoma is treated by early surgical resection because of the potential for serious complications. Left ventricular myxomas have been reported to lead to a silent heart failure. This case is important because of its location and the patient's resultant heart failure.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26431028,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"High-Affinity Sites Form an Interaction Network to Facilitate Spreading of the MSL Complex across the X Chromosome in Drosophila.\nDosage compensation mechanisms provide a paradigm to study the contribution of chromosomal conformation toward targeting and spreading of epigenetic regulators over a specific chromosome. By using Hi-C and 4C analyses, we show that high-affinity sites (HAS), landing platforms of the male-specific lethal (MSL) complex, are enriched around topologically associating domain (TAD) boundaries on the X chromosome and harbor more long-range contacts in a sex-independent manner. Ectopically expressed roX1 and roX2 RNAs target HAS on the X chromosome in trans and, via spatial proximity, induce spreading of the MSL complex in cis, leading to increased expression of neighboring autosomal genes. We show that the MSL complex regulates nucleosome positioning at HAS, therefore acting locally rather than influencing the overall chromosomal architecture. We propose that the sex-independent, three-dimensional conformation of the X chromosome poises it for exploitation by the MSL complex, thereby facilitating spreading in males.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32592033,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Prediction of mucositis risk secondary to cancer therapy: a systematic review of current evidence and call to action.\nDespite advances in personalizing the efficacy of cancer therapy, our ability to identify patients at risk of severe treatment side effects and provide individualized supportive care is limited. This is particularly the case for mucositis (oral and gastrointestinal), with no comprehensive risk evaluation strategies to identify high-risk patients. We, the Multinational Association for Supportive Care in Cancer\/International Society for Oral Oncology (MASCC\/ISOO) Mucositis Study Group, therefore aimed to systematically review current evidence on that factors that influence mucositis risk to provide a foundation upon which future risk prediction studies can be based. We identified 11,018 papers from PubMed and Web of Science, with 197 records extracted for full review and 113 meeting final eligibility criteria. Data were then synthesized into tables to highlight the level of evidence for each risk predictor. The strongest level of evidence supported dosimetric parameters as key predictors of mucositis risk. Genetic variants in drug-metabolizing pathways, immune signaling, and cell injury\/repair mechanisms were also identified to impact mucositis risk. Factors relating to the individual were variably linked to mucositis outcomes, although female sex and smoking status showed some association with mucositis risk. Mucositis risk reflects the complex interplay between the host, tumor microenvironment, and treatment specifications, yet the large majority of studies rely on hypothesis-driven, single-candidate approaches. For significant advances in the provision of personalized supportive care, coordinated research efforts with robust multiplexed approaches are strongly advised.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18605860,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Neural bases of moderation of cortisol stress responses by psychosocial resources.\nPsychosocial resources have been tied to lower psychological and biological responses to stress. The present research replicated this relationship and extended it by examining how differences in dispositional reactivity of certain neural structures may underlie this relationship. Two hypotheses were examined: (a) psychosocial resources are tied to decreased sensitivity to threat and\/or (b) psychosocial resources are associated with enhanced prefrontal inhibition of threat responses during threat regulation. Results indicated that participants with greater psychosocial resources exhibited significantly less cortisol reactivity following a stress task, as predicted. Analyses using functional magnetic resonance imaging revealed that psychosocial resources were associated with greater right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and less amygdala activity during a threat regulation task but were not associated with less amygdala activity during a threat sensitivity task. Mediational analyses suggest that the relation of psychosocial resources to low cortisol reactivity was mediated by lower amygdala activity during threat regulation. Results suggest that psychosocial resources are associated with lower cortisol responses to stress by means of enhanced inhibition of threat responses during threat regulation, rather than by decreased sensitivity to threat.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19042524,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evolution and acceptability of medical applications of RFID implants among early users of technology.\nRFID as a wireless identification technology that may be combined with microchip implants have tremendous potential in today's market. Although these implants have their advantages and disadvantages, recent improvements how allowed for implants designed for humans. Focus was given to the use of RFID tags and its effects on technology and CRM through a case study on VeriChip, the only corporation to hold the rights and the patent to the implantable chip for humans, and an empirically based study on working professionals to measure perceptions by early adopters of such technology. Through hypotheses-testing procedures, it was found that although some resistance to accept microchip implants was found in several applications, especially among gender, it was totally expected that healthcare and medical record keeping activities would be universally treated in a positive light and the use of authorities (namely governmental agencies) would be equally treated in a negative light by both sexes. Future trends and recommendations are presented along with statistical results collected through personal interviews.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37465398,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Scdrake: a reproducible and scalable pipeline for scRNA-seq data analysis.\nWhile the workflow for primary analysis of single-cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) data is well established, the secondary analysis of the feature-barcode matrix is usually done by custom scripts. There is no fully automated pipeline in the R statistical environment, which would follow the current best programming practices and requirements for reproducibility. We have developed scdrake, a fully automated workflow for secondary analysis of scRNA-seq data, which is fully implemented in the R language and built within the drake framework. The pipeline includes quality control, cell and gene filtering, normalization, detection of highly variable genes, dimensionality reduction, clustering, cell type annotation, detection of marker genes, differential expression analysis and integration of multiple samples. The pipeline is reproducible and scalable, has an efficient execution, provides easy extendability and access to intermediate results and outputs rich HTML reports. Scdrake is distributed as a Docker image, which provides a straightforward setup and enhances reproducibility. The source code and documentation are available under the MIT license at https:\/\/github.com\/bioinfocz\/scdrake and https:\/\/bioinfocz.github.io\/scdrake, respectively. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics Advances online.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37464359,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Antihyperalgesic effect of joint mobilization requires Cav3.2 calcium channels.\nThe present study was undertaken to explore the relative contributions of Cav3.2 T-type channels to mediating the antihyperalgesic activity of joint manipulation (JM) therapy. We used the chronic constriction injury model (CCI) to induce peripheral neuropathy and chronic pain in male mice, followed by JM. We demonstrate that JM produces long-lasting mechanical anti-hyperalgesia that is abolished in Cav3.2 null mice. Moreover, we found that JM displays a similar analgesic profile as the fatty acid amide hydrolase inhibitor URB597, suggesting a possible converging mechanism of action involving endocannabinoids. Overall, our findings advance our understanding of the mechanisms through which JM produces analgesia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37849027,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effectiveness of nursing intervention in the operating room to prevent pressure ulcer and wound infection in patients undergoing intertrochanteric fracture: A meta-analysis.\nIn this study, a meta-analysis was conducted to comprehensively assess the effectiveness of nursing intervention in the operating room to prevent pressure ulcers and wound infections in patients with intertrochanteric fractures. A computerised search of PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), VIP Database of Chinese Technical Periodicals, and Wanfang databases was performed to identify randomised controlled studies (RCTs) on the effectiveness of nursing intervention in the operating room for patients undergoing intertrochanteric fractures from the time of construction of the respective databases to June 2023. Two researchers independently searched and screened the literature, extracted information and performed quality assessments of the included literature. The meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.4 software. Eighteen studies were finally included, including 1517 patients, with 757 in the intervention group and 760 in the control group. The results showed that nursing intervention in the operating room significantly reduced the incidence of postoperative pressure ulcers in patients with intertrochanteric femoral fractures compared to the control group (1.69% vs. 6.01%, odds ratio [OR]: 0.32, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.18-0.57, p < 0.001) and reduced the incidence of surgical site wound infection (1.00% vs. 6.15%, OR: 0.23, 95% CI: 0.11-0.50, p < 0.001). Current evidence suggests that nursing intervention in the operating room is superior to routine care in reducing the incidence of pressure ulcers and wound infections in patients with intertrochanteric fractures and that such interventions should be promoted for clinical use.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37841462,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Structural enrichment for laboratory mice: exploring the effects of novelty and complexity.\nProviding structural enrichment is a widespread refinement method for laboratory rodents and other animals in captivity. So far, animal welfare research has mostly focused on the effect of increased complexity either by accumulating or combining different enrichment items. However, increasing complexity is not the only possibility to refine housing conditions. Another refinement option is to increase novelty by regularly exchanging known enrichment items with new ones. In the present study, we used pair-housed non-breeding female C57BL\/6J and DBA\/2N mice to investigate the effect of novelty when applying structural enrichment. We used a double cage system, in which one cage served as home cage and the other as extra cage. While the home cage was furnished in the same way for all mice, in the extra cage we either provided only space with no additional enrichment items (space), a fixed set of enrichment items (complexity), or a changing set of enrichment items (novelty). Over 5 weeks, we assessed spontaneous behaviors, body weight, and extra cage usage as indicators of welfare and preference. Our main results showed that mice with access to structurally enriched extra cages (complexity and novelty) spent more time in their extra cages and complexity mice had lower latencies to enter their extra cages than mice with access to the extra cages without any structural enrichment (space). This indicates that the mice preferred the structurally enriched extra cages over the structurally non-enriched space cages. We found only one statistically significant difference between the novelty and complexity condition: during week 3, novelty mice spent more time in their extra cages than complexity mice. Although we did not detect any other significant differences between the novelty and complexity condition in the present study, more research is required to further explore the potential benefits of novelty beyond complexity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16215697,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Degradation of abamectin and doramectin on sheep grazed pasture.\nAvermectins are widely used veterinary medicines. They bind strongly to faeces in their non-metabolized form and their half-life in faeces depends on field conditions. There are conflicting data regarding the behaviour of avermectins in the environment. Therefore, we investigated the degradation of abamectin and doramectin on sheep grazed pasture under field conditions in soil, soil-faeces and faeces samples from day 6 to day 70 (abamectin) or to day 50 (doramectin) after sheep treatment. Field conditions were recorded periodically during the experiment. Degradation of abamectin in sheep faeces and in soil-faeces was observed until day 60, with small amounts present in faeces until 70 days post treatment. Because the concentration of abamectin residues in soil was very low on day 6 after treatment, further significant degradation could not be measured. The concentration of doramectin in all analysed matrices decreased rapidly until day 50. It can be concluded that high concentrations of both avermectins were present during the first 20 days after treatment and that field conditions have an important role in degradation of avermectins on grazed pasture of treated animals. Clear identification of the consequences of avermectin exposure and the period of the greatest environmental risk will require further investigations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7929016,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Gene fusion analysis of membrane protein topology: a direct comparison of alkaline phosphatase and beta-lactamase fusions.\nTo compare two approaches to analyzing membrane protein topology, a number of alkaline phosphatase fusions to membrane proteins were converted to beta-lactamase fusions. While some alkaline phosphatase fusions near the N terminus of cytoplasmic loops of membrane proteins have anomalously high levels of activity, the equivalent beta-lactamase fusions do not. This disparity may reflect differences in the folding of beta-lactamase and alkaline phosphatase in the cytoplasm.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22665050,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"SVCT-2 in breast cancer acts as an indicator for L-ascorbate treatment.\nL-ascorbate (L-ascorbic acid, vitamin C) clearly has an inhibitory effect on cancer cells. However, the mechanism underlying differential sensitivity of cancer cells from same tissue to L-ascorbate is yet to be clarified. Here, we demonstrate that L-ascorbate has a selective killing effect, which is influenced by sodium-dependent vitamin C transporter 2 (SVCT-2) in human breast cancer cells. Treatment of human breast cancer cells with L-ascorbate differentially induced cell death, dependent on the SVCT-2 protein level. Moreover, knockdown of endogenous SVCT-2 via RNA interference in breast cancer cells expressing high levels of the protein induced resistance to L-ascorbate treatment, whereas transfection with SVCT-2 expression plasmids led to enhanced L-ascorbate chemosensitivity. Surprisingly, tumor regression by L-ascorbate administration in mice bearing tumor cell xenograft also corresponded to the SVCT-2 protein level. Interestingly, SVCT-2 expression was absent or weak in normal tissues, but strongly detected in tumor samples obtained from breast cancer patients. In addition, enhanced chemosensitivity to L-ascorbate occurred as a result of caspase-independent autophagy, which was mediated by beclin-1 and LC3 II. In addition, treatment with N-acetyl-L-cysteine, a reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenger, suppressed the induction of beclin-1 and LC3 II, implying that the differential SVCT-2 protein-dependent L-ascorbate uptake was attributable to intracellular ROS induced by L-ascorbate, subsequently leading to autophagy. These results suggest that functional SVCT-2 sensitizes breast cancer cells to autophagic damage by increasing the L-ascorbate concentration and intracellular ROS production and furthermore, SVCT-2 in breast cancer may act as an indicator for commencing L-ascorbate treatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15267586,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Revealing the roles of Hamiltonian coupling in bound-state quantum systems.\nA Hamiltonian coupling identification (HCI) technique is introduced to reveal the independent and cooperative roles of Hamiltonian matrix elements in determining the bound-state energies of quantum systems. The HCI technique operates by encoding each Hamiltonian matrix element with a unique modulation signal, producing a nonlinear signature in the energy eigenvalues that may be decoded to reveal the contributing coupling structure in the Hamiltonian. The HCI technique is capable of exploring the roles of Hamiltonian coupling structure within and beyond the convergence limits of standard perturbation theory expansions. The flexibility residing in the encoding and decoding processes may be exploited to tailor the analysis to meet the desired degree of sought-after information about the Hamiltonian coupling structure. HCI, based on a Fourier encoding and decoding scheme, is illustrated by extracting information on the role of coupling interactions in the potential matrix elements of several simple model systems.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6155758,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The effects of long-term antithyroid drug treatment on serum reverse T3 in patients with Graves' disease.\nThe effects of long-term treatment with antithyroid drugs, carbimazole (CMI) or propylthiouracil (PTU), on serum reverse triiodothyronine (rT3) levels were studied in 23 patients with Graves' disease. Nineteen patients were given CMI and four PTU for a minimum of six months. After one month of treatment the serum levels of thyroxine (T4), triiodothyronine (T3) and rT3 had normalized in both groups. When L-thyroxine was added to the regimens after two months of therapy, both serum T4 and rT3 levels increased, whereas serum T3 level continued to fall. The serum levels of rT3 seemed to be dependent on and followed the T4 levels so closely that determinations of rT3 in the medical management of patients with Graves' disease will be of little clinical use.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28743251,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Acceptability of lifelong treatment among HIV-positive pregnant and breastfeeding women (Option B+) in selected health facilities in Zimbabwe: a qualitative study.\nZimbabwe's Ministry of Health and Child Care (MOHCC) adopted 2013 World Health Organization (WHO) prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) guidelines recommending initiation of HIV-positive pregnant and breastfeeding women (PPBW) on lifelong antiretroviral treatment (ART) irrespective of clinical stage (Option B+). Option B+ was officially launched in Zimbabwe in November 2013; however the acceptability of life-long ART and its potential uptake among women was not known. A qualitative study was conducted at selected sites in Harare (urban) and Zvimba (rural) to explore Option B+ acceptability; barriers, and facilitators to ART adherence and service uptake. In-depth interviews (IDIs), focus group discussions (FGDs) and key informant interviews (KIIs) were conducted with PPBW, healthcare providers, and community members. All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and translated; data were coded and analyzed in MaxQDA v10. Forty-three IDIs, 22 FGDs, and five KIIs were conducted. The majority of women accepted lifelong ART. There was however, a fear of commitment to taking lifelong medication because they were afraid of defaulting, especially after cessation of breastfeeding. There was confusion around dosage; and fear of side effects, not having enough food to take drugs, and the lack of opportunities to ask questions in counseling. Participants reported the need for strengthening community sensitization for Option B+. Facilitators included receiving a simplified pill regimen; ability to continue breastfeeding beyond 6 months like HIV-negative women; and partner, community and health worker support. Barriers included distance of health facility, non-disclosure of HIV status, poor male partner support and knowing someone who had negative experience on ART. This study found that Option B+ is generally accepted among PPBW as a means to strengthen their health and protect their babies. Consistent with previous literature, this study demonstrated the importance of male partner and community support in satisfactory adherence to ART and enhancing counseling techniques. Strengthening community sensitization and male knowledge is critical to encourage women to disclose their HIV status and ensure successful adherence to ART. Targeting and engaging partners of women will remain key determinants to women's acceptance and adherence on ART under Option B+.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32374034,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Neuroarchitecture of the central complex in the brain of the honeybee: Neuronal cell types.\nThe central complex (CX) in the insect brain is a higher order integration center that controls a number of behaviors, most prominently goal directed locomotion. The CX comprises the protocerebral bridge (PB), the upper division of the central body (CBU), the lower division of the central body (CBL), and the paired noduli (NO). Although spatial orientation has been extensively studied in honeybees at the behavioral level, most electrophysiological and anatomical analyses have been carried out in other insect species, leaving the morphology and physiology of neurons that constitute the CX in the honeybee mostly enigmatic. The goal of this study was to morphologically identify neuronal cell types of the CX in the honeybee Apis mellifera. By performing iontophoretic dye injections into the CX, we traced 16 subtypes of neuron that connect a subdivision of the CX with other regions in the bee's central brain, and eight subtypes that mainly interconnect different subdivisions of the CX. They establish extensive connections between the CX and the lateral complex, the superior protocerebrum and the posterior protocerebrum. Characterized neuron classes and subtypes are morphologically similar to those described in other insects, suggesting considerable conservation in the neural network relevant for orientation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19045510,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Control of circumferential wall stress and luminal shear stress within intact vascular segments perfused ex vivo.\nProportional, integral, and derivative (PID) controllers have proven to be robust in controlling many applications, and remain the most widely used control system architecture. The purpose of this work was to use this architecture for designing and tuning two PID controllers. The first was used to control the physiologic arterial circumferential wall stress (CWS) and the second to control the physiologic arterial shear stress (SS) imposed on intact vascular segments that were implanted into an ex vivo vascular perfusion system (EVPS). In order to most accurately control the stresses imposed onto vascular segments perfused ex vivo, analytical models were derived to calculate the CWS and SS. The mid-vein-wall CWS was calculated using the classical Lame solution for thick-walled cylinders in combination with the intraluminal pressure and outer diameter measurements. Similarly, the SS was calculated using the Hagen-Poiseuille equation in combination with the flow rate and outer diameter measurements. Performance of each controller was assessed by calculating the root mean square of the error (RMSE) between the desired and measured process variables. The performance experiments were repeated ten times (N=10) and an average RMSE was reported for each controller. RMSE standard deviations were calculated to demonstrate the reproducibility of the results. Sterile methods were utilized for making blood gas and temperature measurements in order to maintain physiologic levels within the EVPS. Physiologic blood gases (pH, pO(2), and pCO(2)) and temperature within the EVPS were very stable and controlled manually. Blood gas and temperature levels were recorded hourly for several (N=9) 24 h perfusion experiments. RMSE values for CWS control (0.427+\/-0.027 KPa) indicated that the system was able to generate a physiologic CWS wave form within 0.5% error of the peak desired CWS over each cardiac cycle. RMSE values for SS control (0.005+\/-0.0007 dynescm(2)) indicated that the system was able to generate a physiologic SS wave form within 0.3% error of the peak desired SS over each cardiac cycle. Physiologic pH, pO(2), pCO(2), and temperature levels were precisely maintained within the EVPS. The built-in capabilities and overall performance of the EVPS described in this study provide us with a novel tool for measuring molecular responses of intact vascular segments exposed to precisely simulated arterial biomechanical conditions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1100208,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Isolation and characterization of a bacteriophage infective for a UDP-galactose-4-epimeraseless mutant of Escherichia coli.\nA DNA bacteriophage, designated CP13, was isolated against Escherichia coli J5, a UDP-galactose-4-epimeraseless mutant of E. coli 0111:B4. Bacteriophage CP13 appears to be specific for rough bacterial strains. Adsorption studies with E. coli J5 grown with galactose show that the bacteriophage will not adsorb when complete lipopolysaccharide is present in the cell membrane. This indicates that lipopolysaccharide may be directly or indirectly involved with the receptor site for bacteriophage CP13. The bacteriophage DNA has a G + C content of 52%.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31250285,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-18":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Treatment of patients with geriatric depression with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation.\nRepetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has become a useful tool to treat different neuropsychiatric conditions such as depression, dementia and extrapyramidal syndromes insufficiently responding to conventional treatment. In this SHAM-controlled exploratory study safety, symptom improvement as well as changes in inflammation markers and neurotransmitter precursor amino acids availability were studied after a prefrontal cortex (PFC) stimulation using rTMS as add-on treatment in 29 patients with geriatric depression. Out of these, ten patients received SHAM treatment. Treatment was well tolerated, no serious adverse effects were observed. A clear improvement in symptoms of depression with a significant decrease in the HAMD-7 (U = 3.306, p = 0.001) was found by rTMS treatment. In parallel, serum phenylalanine dropped significantly (U = 2.340, p < 0.02), and there was a decline of tryptophan and of Phe\/Tyr concentrations, both the effects, however, failed to reach the levels of statistical significance. In the patients who underwent SHAM treatment, no significant changes of HAMD-7 or the concentrations of any biomarker in the study could be found. In addition to the significant effect of rTMS on depression scores, these results point to a possible influence of rTMS on the enzyme phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH), which plays a crucial role in the biosynthesis of neurotransmitter precursors related to geriatric depression.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29377807,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Simultaneous Multimodal PC Access for People With Disabilities by Integrating Head Tracking, Speech Recognition, and Tongue Motion.\nMultimodal Tongue Drive System (mTDS) is a highly integrated wireless assistive technology (AT) in the form of a lightweight wearable headset that utilizes three remaining key control and communication abilities in people with severe physical disabilities, such as tetraplegia, to provide them with effective access to computers: 1) tongue motion for discrete\/switch-based control (e.g., clicking), 2) head tracking for proportional control (e.g., mouse pointer movements), and 3) speech recognition for typing, all available simultaneously. The mTDS architecture is presented here with new sensor signal processing algorithm for head tracking. To evaluate the device performance, it was compared against keyboard-and-mouse (KnM) combination, the gold standard in computer input methods, by 15 able-bodied participants, who used both mTDS and KnM to generate and sent an email with randomly selected content, under a 5-minute time constraint. In four repetitions, in the last trial, it took participants only 1.8 times longer to complete the email task, on average, using the mTDS versus KnM at 82.4% typing accuracy. Mean task completion time and typing accuracy improved 24.6% and 18.8% from first to fourth trial using mTDS. Multimodal simultaneous discrete and proportional control input options of mTDS, plus rapid typing, is expected to provide more effective computer access to people with severe physical disabilities.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25412504,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Comparison of the decomposition VOC profile during winter and summer in a moist, mid-latitude (Cfb) climate.\nThe investigation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) associated with decomposition is an emerging field in forensic taphonomy due to their importance in locating human remains using biological detectors such as insects and canines. A consistent decomposition VOC profile has not yet been elucidated due to the intrinsic impact of the environment on the decomposition process in different climatic zones. The study of decomposition VOCs has typically occurred during the warmer months to enable chemical profiling of all decomposition stages. The present study investigated the decomposition VOC profile in air during both warmer and cooler months in a moist, mid-latitude (Cfb) climate as decomposition occurs year-round in this environment. Pig carcasses (Sus scrofa domesticus L.) were placed on a soil surface to decompose naturally and their VOC profile was monitored during the winter and summer months. Corresponding control sites were also monitored to determine the natural VOC profile of the surrounding soil and vegetation. VOC samples were collected onto sorbent tubes and analyzed using comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography--time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC \u00d7 GC-TOFMS). The summer months were characterized by higher temperatures and solar radiation, greater rainfall accumulation, and comparable humidity when compared to the winter months. The rate of decomposition was faster and the number and abundance of VOCs was proportionally higher in summer. However, a similar trend was observed in winter and summer demonstrating a rapid increase in VOC abundance during active decay with a second increase in abundance occurring later in the decomposition process. Sulfur-containing compounds, alcohols and ketones represented the most abundant classes of compounds in both seasons, although almost all 10 compound classes identified contributed to discriminating the stages of decomposition throughout both seasons. The advantages of GC \u00d7 GC-TOFMS were demonstrated for detecting and identifying trace levels of VOCs, particularly ethers, which are rarely reported as decomposition VOCs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18592251,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Experiences with a centralised national service for autologous serum eyedrops in England].\nThe majority of patients with dry eye syndromes respond to conventional treatment aimed at optimising the ocular surface environment. There are some, however, who do not respond adequately to conventional lubricants. The first description of the use of autologous serum as a nutrient tears substitute was published more than 20 years ago. In 1997, NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) developed a reliable and reproducible method for the production of eyedrops derived from autologous serum according to GMP Guidelines. The current cost of a batch of eyedrops (i. e. the product from one donation episode) is approximately 1300 GBP - this covers costs of collection, processing, testing and distribution. One \"batch\" of eyedrops will last for approximately 5 months if a bottle a day is used. A 6 month shelf life is put on the product and patients keep them in their domestic freezer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27264484,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The utility of thromboelastography in inherited and acquired bleeding disorders.\nThromboelastography (TEG) was first described by Hartert in 1948, and was designed to monitor viscoelastic clot strength in whole blood in real time. The current TEG method and Rotational Thromboelastometry (ROTEM) were subsequently developed from the original principles. Both of the modern methods provide data by measuring changes in the viscoelastic strength of a small sample of clotting blood in response to a constant rotational force. The important advantage of these techniques is to visually observe and quantify blood coagulation including the propagation, stabilization and dissolution phases of clot formation under low shear conditions. Analysis of the results provides detailed kinetic data on fibrin generation, clot strength and fibrinolysis. These TEG\/ROTEM analyses therefore enable evaluation of global clotting function and the monitoring of haemostatic treatment in various clinical situations, not only in patients with genetic bleeding disorders, such as haemophilia, but also in patients undergoing cardiac surgery, liver transplantation or suffering from traumatic injury. Some evidence suggests that haemostatic management using TEG\/ROTEM leads to a reduction in total transfusions of whole blood or clotting factors. Wider clinical application of this technology seems likely.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6737091,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The iron-zinc interrelationship in the chick as influenced by Eimeria acervulina infection.\nTwo 14-day growth trials were performed to assess the effects of Eimeria acervulina infection (duodenal coccidiosis) on the Fe-Zn interrelationship in growing chicks. In the first assay, two levels of Fe (0 and 2000 mg\/kg) were added to diets that contained either 0 or 52 mg supplemental Zn (from ZnCO3) per kilogram to establish whether excess Fe would affect Zn status of healthy and coccidial-infected chicks. In the second trial, either 0 or 2000 mg Zn\/kg was added to diets containing 0 or 500 mg Fe\/kg to determine whether Zn could modify Fe utilization. Based on chick performance as well as plasma Zn concentration, excess dietary Fe did not antagonize Zn in either healthy or E. acervulina-infected chicks. Coccidial infection, however, increased liver Fe and decreased intestinal Fe and hemoglobin concentration. Excess dietary Zn reduced performance and Fe content of tissues in both healthy and infected chicks. Coccidial infection ameliorated the adverse effects of excess Zn on performance and tissue Zn concentration and consequently enhanced Fe status of birds fed 2000 mg Zn\/kg. These data suggest that the Fe-Zn interaction is a one-directional phenomenon in the chick, i.e., excess Zn reduces Fe utilization but excess Fe does not antagonize Zn.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26435908,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"A case of advanced rectal cancer with rectovesical and ileal fistulae that developed hyperammonemic encephalopathy.\nHyperammonemic encephalopathy is rarely caused by a urinary diversion. We herein experienced a case of rectal carcinoma with rectovesical and ileal fistulae that developed hyperammonemic encephalopathy. A 72-year-old man suffered from a fever, diarrhea, pneumaturia, and fecaluria beginning in April 2013 and was referred to our hospital in May 2013. He developed a loss of consciousness and whole body cramping on the first hospital day. The laboratory data indicated an inflammatory reaction and hyperammonemia with a highly elevated serum ammonia (NH3) level of 703 \u03bcg\/dl. The patient was diagnosed to have rectal carcinoma with rectovesical and ileal fistulae according to computed tomography (CT) and a water-soluble contrast enema. We administered a solution of branched chain amino acids (BCAA) and antibiotics. Furthermore, we repeatedly irrigated bladder through the urethral catheter. The patient's symptoms recovered, and the serum ammonia levels on the second and third hospital day were decreased to 210 and 135 \u03bcg\/dl, respectively. However, the symptoms of infection and confusion were suspected to repeat; we elected to perform surgical treatment. An ileal disconnection with ileocecal bypass and sigmoidostomy were effective for preventing hyperammonemic encephalopathy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18587170,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The influence of emotional distress on the outcome of in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and\/or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) treatment among infertile Turkish women.\nTo determine whether the emotional distress of infertile Turkish women is related to social support and influences the outcome of their IVF and\/or ICSI treatment. The Beck Depression Inventory, State- Trait Anxiety Inventory, and Social Support scales were administered to 104 primary infertile Turkish women before the date of their embryo transfer. Comparisons were made between the women who became pregnant and those who did not following the embryo transfer. Compared to the pregnant women, the non-pregnant women had a greater number of emotional symptoms despite similar levels of social support. Also, the increased severity of depressive symptoms and higher levels of anxiety were predictive of low pregnancy rates. The pregnancy rate of infertile Turkish women was associated with emotional distress and low levels of social support were associated with increased emotional distress. Further research is needed to determine the factors and mechanisms that contribute to emotional distress in the treatment of infertility.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20353288,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Inactivation of Salmonella enterica and Listeria monocytogenes inoculated on hydroponic tomatoes using chlorine dioxide gas.\nThe main objective of this study was to determine survivability of a cocktail of three strains of Salmonella enterica (Montevideo, Javiana, and Baildon) and two strains of Listeria monocytogenes (LCDC 81-861 and F4244) on hydroponic tomatoes after treatment with chlorine dioxide (ClO(2)) gas. An initial concentration of 8-9 log cfu\/mL of Salmonella and Listeria cocktails was inoculated individually, in separate experiments, on tomato skin to obtain a population of 7-8 log cfu\/cm(2) after drying of the inoculums on the tomato skin. The aim was to achieve a 5 log reduction consistent with the recommendations of the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods. The tomato skins were treated with 0.1, 0.3, and 0.5 mg\/L ClO(2) gas for 12 min at 22 degrees C and at the relative humidity of 90%. Untreated skin samples were processed under the same conditions. ClO(2)-gas-treated and untreated samples were recovered by an overlay method. The bottom layer contains tryptic soy agar, and the top layer consists of xylose-lysine-desoxycholate agar or modified Oxford antimicrobial supplement agar for Salmonella and Listeria, respectively. More than a 5 log reduction in Salmonella and Listeria was observed on the tomato skin surfaces after treatment with 0.5 mg\/L ClO(2) gas for 12 min. Treatment with 0.5 mg\/L ClO(2) gas for 12 min also delayed the growth of natural microflora on tomato surfaces and extended the shelf life of tomatoes by 7 days during storage at 22 degrees C, compared with the untreated control. These results revealed that ClO(2) gas is a promising antimicrobial technology for fresh tomato skin surfaces.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12024994,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Neuropsychiatric manifestations in patients of primary hyperparathyroidism and outcome following surgery.\nA wide variety of psychiatric symptoms ranging from mild personality changes to severe depression and psychosis have been described in patients of PHPT. However, the psychiatric profile in Indian patients remains a mystery. It remains to be seen if surgery can alleviate the psychiatric morbidity and improve the quality of life of patients. Although, the pathophysiology remains largely unknown, we attempted to see if psychiatric morbidity correlated with serum calcium values. a) To study the nature and severity of neuropsychiatric manifestations in patients of hyperparathyroidism before surgery and their outcome after surgery b) To study their correlation with levels of serum calcium. This prospective study documented the occurrence of psychiatric symptoms among 14 patients of primary hyperparathyroidism (group I). 13 patients of gall stone disease (group II) and 12 patients of thyromegaly, undergoing total thyroidectomy (Group III) constituted the control groups. The relationship between such symptoms and degree of hypercalcemia was also studied. Assessment of psychologic symptoms, using the CPRS scale (validated in Hindi) and the scale for Memory and Intelligence for use in Hindi speaking population was carried out preoperatively and at 1 wk, 6 wk, 3, and 6 months postoperatively. The hyperaparathyroid group had significantly higher levels of total serum calcium and PTH preoperatively, with biochemical normalization postoperatively. The preoperative CPRS rating of the 14 patients with primary hyperparathyroidism revealed pronounced psychiatric symptoms, with a mean total CPRS score of 20 +\/- 8.7, compared with 10.5 +\/- 6.9(II) and 12.7 +\/- 5.6 (III) in the control groups. Statistically significant improvement was seen in the CPRS score, maximally at 6 weeks post operatively for the following symptoms: Sadness, lassitude, ache and pains, and fatigability. There was no memory and intelligence impairment in any of the groups pre or post operatively. No correlation was found between the serum calcium levels and the psychiatric morbidity. The psychologic symptom distress is multidimensional and symptoms significantly improved by 6 weeks post parathyroidectomy. There was no memory and intelligence impairment in any of the groups pre or post operatively. No correlation was found between serum calcium levels and psychiatric morbidity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28581965,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Global Acute Myocardial Infarction Perspectives: Beyond Door-to-Balloon Interventions.\nThe goal in ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) intervention is achieving a door-to-balloon time of less than 90 minutes. Challenges in North America and Europe include patient education and implementing legislative mandates for STEMI guidelines. Globally, hurdles for primary percutaneous coronary intervention include limitations of access and financial constraints to providing STEMI care to vast populations. Adherence to North American and European guidelines globally remains an unrealistic goal given the unique cultural, demographic, and fiscal dynamics in poorer countries. The authors propose a four-phased population-based strategy for global acute myocardial infarction development and a pharmacoinvasive approach to STEMI care based on socioeconomic characteristics.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1702382,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Molecular basis of altered excitability in Shaker mutants of Drosophila melanogaster.\nMutations in the Shaker (Sh) locus of Drosophila melanogaster have differing effects on action potential duration and repolarization in neurons as well as on A-type K+ channels (IA) in muscle. The molecular basis of three exemplary Sh alleles (ShKS133, ShE62 and Sh5) has been identified. They are point mutations in the Sh transcription unit expressing aberrant voltage-gated A-type K+ channels. Replicas of each mutation have been introduced by in vitro mutagenesis into Sh cDNA. The expression of in vitro transcribed mutant Sh cRNA in Xenopus laevis oocytes reproduced the specific phenotypic traits of each Sh allele. The lack of IA in ShKS133 is due to a missense mutation within a sequence motif occurring in all hitherto characterized voltage-gated K+ channel forming proteins. The reduction of IA in ShE62 is due to a mutation in an AG acceptor site. The intervening sequence between exons 19 and 20 is not spliced in ShE62 RNA. As a consequence, ShE62 flies do not contain the full complement of Sh K+ forming proteins. Finally, the Sh5 mutation leads to an altered voltage dependence of K+ channel activation and inactivation as well as to an accelerated rate of recovery from inactivation. This is due to a missense mutation altering the amino acid sequence of the proposed transmembrane segment S5 of the Sh K+ channels. Segment S5 is located adjacently to the presumed voltage sensor of voltage-gated ion channels. The results explain the altered properties of excitable cells in Sh mutants and provide a general model for the possible role of A-type K+ channels in modulating action potential profiles.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34408950,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Aberrant Left Colic Artery and Its Surgical Implications.\nArterial anomalies of the viscera are not unusual. Of the arterial anomalies, the celiac and the superior mesenteric anomalies are well studied and reviewed in the literature. These variations are due to changes occurring during the development of vessels. Also, the variations in the colonic blood supply have been detailed in the context of conduit surgery in esophageal replacement and oncological resections. Of these, the rarer anomaly is the aberrant left colic artery (ab LCA). Previously described in various anatomic descriptions; it has never been reported in a clinical situation. A middle-aged female presented with abdominal pain and lower gastrointestinal (GI) bleed. On further evaluation, she was diagnosed to have transverse colon malignancy. She underwent extended right hemicolectomy with complete mesocolic excision and D3 lymphadenectomy as classically described. During the dissection, she was found to have an LCA arising from the superior mesenteric artery (SMA) just below the inferior border of the pancreas two centimeters higher to the origin of the middle colic artery. This artery was carefully dissected and preserved. Injury of the ab LCA is possible given the unusual course of the artery. Implications of iatrogenic injury in colonic and pancreatic surgeries may result in additional morbidity which is discussed in detail.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19029314,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"The effect of repair of the lacertus fibrosus on distal biceps tendon repairs: a biomechanical, functional, and anatomic study.\nTo date, repair of the lacertus in distal biceps tendon ruptures, recommended by some, has not been evaluated. The goal of these biomechanical experiments was to evaluate the degree to which its repair increases the strength of a distal biceps tendon repair. An intact or repaired lacertus fibrosus will increase the strength of a distal biceps tendon repair. Controlled laboratory study. Four matched pairs of fresh-frozen human cadaveric upper extremities were prepared by isolating the lacertus fibrosus and the distal biceps tendon. The extremity was placed in a custom-built rig with the distal biceps brachii clamped and affixed to a stepper motor assembly. The distal biceps tendon was sharply removed directly from the radial tuberosity and repaired through a bony tunnel in all specimens. One side of each pair was randomized to also receive repair of the lacertus. The specimens were pulled at a constant rate until failure. The mean failure strength, defined as maximal strength to 15 mm of displacement, was higher in specimens with a repaired lacertus (250.2 N vs 158.2 N; P =.012), as was mean maximum strength (256.8 N v. 164.5 N; P =.0058). Mean stiffness was not significantly different (16.36 N\/mm vs 13.8 N\/mm; P =.58). All specimens failed due to fracture at the bony bridge. Repair of the lacertus strengthened distal biceps tendon repair in a controlled laboratory setting. Repair of the lacertus fibrosus as an adjunct to distal biceps tendon repair strengthens the repair in the laboratory setting. Clinical testing is needed to verify that this increased strength improves clinical results. Surgeons should be cautioned to protect the underlying neurovascular structures during repair of the lacertus fibrosus and to avoid an overly tight repair.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37851950,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Combined Stabilizing of the Solid-Electrolyte Interphase with Suppression of Graphite Exfoliation via Additive-Solvent Optimization in Li-Ion Batteries.\nPropylene carbonate (PC) is a promising solvent for extending the operating temperature range for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) because of its high dielectric constant and wide temperature range stability. However, PC can cause graphite exfoliation through cointercalation, leading to electrolyte decomposition and subsequent irreversible capacity loss. This work reports the formulation of a ternary electrolyte with the introduction of an inorganic salt additive, potassium hexafluorophosphate (KPF6), to address the aforementioned concerns. We demonstrate the cumulative effect of solvent and additive on delivering multiple performance benefits and safety of the battery. The faster diffusion rate of K + solvation shell decreases the rate of PC decomposition, thereby reducing its cointercalation. Additionally, the optimum concentration of KPF6, i.e., 0.1 M constructs a robust and insoluble LiF-rich electrode\/electrolyte interphase, further suppressing graphite exfoliation and Li dendrite formation. The stable cyclability is achieved by enhanced Li + transportation through the LiF-rich interphase, enabling an exfoliation-free and dendrite-free graphite anode in the ternary electrolyte.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25424603,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Consumption of fatty foods and incident type 2 diabetes in populations from eight European countries.\nDiets high in saturated and trans fat and low in unsaturated fat may increase type 2 diabetes (T2D) risk, but studies on foods high in fat per unit weight are sparse. We assessed whether the intake of vegetable oil, butter, margarine, nuts and seeds and cakes and cookies is related to incident T2D. A case-cohort study was conducted, nested within eight countries of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer (EPIC), with 12,403 incident T2D cases and a subcohort of 16,835 people, identified from a cohort of 340,234 people. Diet was assessed at baseline (1991-1999) by country-specific questionnaires. Country-specific hazard ratios (HRs) across four categories of fatty foods (nonconsumers and tertiles among consumers) were combined with random-effects meta-analysis. After adjustment not including body mass index (BMI), nonconsumers of butter, nuts and seeds and cakes and cookies were at higher T2D risk compared with the middle tertile of consumption. Among consumers, cakes and cookies were inversely related to T2D (HRs across increasing tertiles 1.14, 1.00 and 0.92, respectively; P-trend <0.0001). All these associations attenuated upon adjustment for BMI, except the higher risk of nonconsumers of cakes and cookies (HR 1.57). Higher consumption of margarine became positively associated after BMI adjustment (HRs across increasing consumption tertiles: 0.93, 1.00 and 1.12; P-trend 0.03). Within consumers, vegetable oil, butter and nuts and seeds were unrelated to T2D. Fatty foods were generally not associated with T2D, apart from weak positive association for margarine. The higher risk among nonconsumers of cakes and cookies needs further explanation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26440547,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A unique alpha dosimetry technique using Gafchromic EBT3(\u00ae) film and feasibility study for an activity calibrator for alpha-emitting radiopharmaceuticals.\nTo develop an alpha dosimetry technique for activity calibration of alpha-emitting radiopharmaceuticals using the Gafchromic(\u00ae) EBT3 (Gaf-EBT3) radiochromic film (International Speciality product, Wayne, NJ). The Gaf-EBT3 has a tissue equivalent radiosensitive layer (approximately 28 \u03bcm) sandwiched between two 100-\u03bcm thick polyester sheaths, thereby making it insensitive to alpha particles. We have split a Gaf-EBT3 sheet using a surgical scalpel to remove one of the polyester protective layers and covered the radiosensitive layer with thin Mylar(\u00ae) foil (Goodfellow Cambridge Limited, Huntingdon, UK) (2.5 \u03bcm). Small pieces of modified film were exposed at contact with a 560-Bq thin (241)Am source for 5, 10, 24 and 94 h. The optical density of the films was evaluated using an optical densitometer. The alpha energy spectra of the (241)Am source were recorded using a Si(Li) surface barrier detector. Time-integrated specific alpha surface activity (kBq cm(-2) h) was represented as a function of optical density. By removing one of the 100 \u03bcm thick polyester protective layers, the authors have modified the Gaf-EBT3 film to a sensitive alpha dosemeter. The calibration function relevant to a (241)Am reference source was evaluated from the optical densities of the dosemeter foils. Furthermore, calibration functions for important alpha emitters such as (223)Ra, (225)Ac or (210)Bi were parameterized from the (241)Am reference data. The authors have developed and tested the principle of a clinical alpha dosemeter using Gaf-EBT3 radiochromic films originally developed for photon dosimetry. This novel, user-friendly technique could be implemented in quality assurance and calibration procedures of important alpha-emitting radiopharmaceuticals prior to their clinical applications.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15554815,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Multidimensional self-esteem and alcohol use among Mexican American and White non-Latino adolescents: concurrent and prospective effects.\nSelf-esteem was evaluated among Mexican American and White non-Latino adolescents. Three dimensions of self-esteem-(a) self-confidence, (b) competence, and (c) social acceptance-were assessed for concurrent and longitudinal relationships to alcohol use. Various concurrent relationships were found between dimensions of self-esteem and alcohol use. Only 1 prospective effect was found, among Mexican American female adolescents, indicating that prior poor self-confidence predicts higher levels of alcohol use.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25420282,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Post-remission therapy for acute myeloid leukemia.\nInduction followed by post-remission therapy including intensive chemotherapy with high-dose cytarabine, autologous and allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is recognized as the main road towards cure in acute myeloid leukemia. In recent years, also a renaissance of maintenance therapy after completion of intensive consolidation has been observed with the introduction of kinase inhibitors and demethylating agents in clinical trials. Greater insight into the genetic background of the disease fostered the extension of disease classification and pretreatment risk-categorization by gene mutations. In addition, the pre-treatment risk-defining parameters have been supplemented by markers evaluated at distinct time points during treatment and follow up. In this context, minimal residual disease assessment is increasingly used to dynamically fine tune treatment recommendations. Currently, the gold standard to counterbalance a higher risk of relapse by treatment strategies based on hematopoietic stem cell transplantation with grafts from matched related or unrelated donors is still valuable, whereas autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation showed promising results especially in patients categorized as low-risk. Nonetheless, more targeted approaches including kinase inhibitors and demethylating agents in combination with or sequentially before or after intensive chemotherapy are currently in clinical evaluation and may lead to more genotype- instead of purely risk-adapted treatment strategies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28710559,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Aloe-emodin inhibits Staphylococcus aureus biofilms and extracellular protein production at the initial adhesion stage of biofilm development.\nStaphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) biofilms are clinically serious and play a critical role in the persistence of chronic infections due to their ability to resist antibiotics. The inhibition of biofilm formation is viewed as a new strategy for the prevention of S. aureus infections. Here, we demonstrated that minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of aloe-emodin exhibited no bactericidal activity against S. aureus but affected S. aureus biofilm development in a dose-dependent manner. Further studies indicated that aloe-emodin specifically inhibits the initial adhesion and proliferation stages of S. aureus biofilm development. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) indicated that the S. aureus ATCC29213 biofilm extracellular matrix is mainly composed of protein. Laser scanning confocal microscope assays revealed that aloe-emodin treatment primarily inhibited extracellular protein production. Moreover, the Congo red assay showed that aloe-emodin also reduced the accumulation of polysaccharide intercellular adhesin (PIA) on the cell surface. These findings will provide new insights into the mode of action of aloe-emodin in the treatment of infections by S. aureus biofilms.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24398182,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Folate and neural tube defects.\nThe multifactorial aetiology of neural tube defects has stimulated many theories related to dietary factors in pregnancy. The results of the Medical Research Council Study confirm that folate has a protective effect if taken in the 3 months prior to conception and for the first trimester. The dosage recommended is 5mg daily for women at risk for recurrence of spina bifida or anencephaly and 0.5mg daily for those at low risk. Dietary modification to include foods with high folate such as leafy green vegetables and wholemeal grain is not considered sufficient. Fortification of staple food items such as bread and cereals with folate is being considered in some countries. A comprehensive health education programme is essential, directed to women in the reproductive age group and to doctors involved in primary care, family planning and obstetric management. The incidence of neural tube defects could be reduced by 70% with the introduction of folate supplementation in all pregnancies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6367145,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminidase activity in serum of patients with epidermolysis bullosa.\nA spectrophotometric study for serum N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminidase activity in patients with different types of epidermolysis bullosa and other bullous diseases was carried out. The activity in recessive type of epidermolysis bullosa dystrophica was higher than in dominant type of epidermolysis bullosa dystrophica and other bullous diseases. High levels of this enzymatic activity may be related to the metabolism of glycosaminoglycans, especially hyaluronic acid in recessive type of epidermolysis bullosa dystrophica.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37846834,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Nursing cooperation in surgical collection of testis tissues from prepubertal male patients for cryopreservation: A study of 4 cases].\nTo explore nursing cooperation in surgical collection of the testis tissue from prepubertal male patients for cryopreservation. We retrospectively analyzed the methods and effects of perioperative nursing in surgical collection of the testis tissue from 4 prepubertal male patients for cryopreservation in our Center of Reproductive Medicine. Before, during and after operation, we took strict measures in making sterilized ice containers, intraoperative nursing cooperation, protection of the isolated testis tissues and transferring of the samples. Testis tissues were successfully collected from all the 4 prepubertal males, 31, 31, 20 and 34 samples from each case respectively, well protected and subjected to slow cryopreservation after standard processing in the embryo laboratory. In surgical collection of the testis tissue for cryopreservation, preparation of sterilized ice containers, intraoperative nursing cooperation and protection and transferring of the samples are essential for standard processing and cryopreservation of the testis tissue in the embryo laboratory.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23873294,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Induced production of 1-methoxy-indol-3-ylmethyl glucosinolate by jasmonic acid and methyl jasmonate in sprouts and leaves of pak choi (Brassica rapa ssp. chinensis).\nPak choi plants (Brassica rapa ssp. chinensis) were treated with different signaling molecules methyl jasmonate, jasmonic acid, linolenic acid, and methyl salicylate and were analyzed for specific changes in their glucosinolate profile. Glucosinolate levels were quantified using HPLC-DAD-UV, with focus on induction of indole glucosinolates and special emphasis on 1-methoxy-indol-3-ylmethyl glucosinolate. Furthermore, the effects of the different signaling molecules on indole glucosinolate accumulation were analyzed on the level of gene expression using semi-quantitative realtime RT-PCR of selected genes. The treatments with signaling molecules were performed on sprouts and mature leaves to determine ontogenetic differences in glucosinolate accumulation and related gene expression. The highest increase of indole glucosinolate levels, with considerable enhancement of the 1-methoxy-indol-3-ylmethyl glucosinolate content, was achieved with treatments of sprouts and mature leaves with methyl jasmonate and jasmonic acid. This increase was accompanied by increased expression of genes putatively involved in the indole glucosinolate biosynthetic pathway. The high levels of indole glucosinolates enabled the plant to preferentially produce the respective breakdown products after tissue damage. Thus, pak choi plants treated with methyl jasmonate or jasmonic acid, are a valuable tool to analyze the specific protection functions of 1-methoxy-indole-3-carbinole in the plants defense strategy in the future.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7926670,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evidence for importance of the Staphylococcus hyicus lipase pro-peptide in lipase secretion, stability and activity.\nTo investigate the function of the pro-peptide (PP) region of the Staphylococcus hyicus exolipase, restriction sites were created in the lipase gene to facilitate the construction of deletions in this region. Lipase gene expression was carried out in Staphylococcus carnosus. In the presence of the entire PP region, the 86-kDa pro-lipase was efficiently exported, had high lipolytic activity, and hardly any degradation products were seen in Western blot analysis. In addition to the 86-kDa pro-lipase, the membrane fraction contained a 106-kDa immunoreactive form. If the PP was completely or partially deleted, signal peptide processing, lipase secretion, lipase activity and\/or lipase stability were impaired. The results obtained with lipase PP deletion mutants indicate that the PP region may have two functional domains. The N-terminal region of the lipase PP appears to be more important for lipase activity and the C-terminal portion for lipase secretion and proteolytic stability. In the presence of only the C-terminal part of the PP lipase, secretion was hardly affected. However, the activity of the extracellular lipase was markedly reduced. If only a small portion of the C-terminal part of the PP was present, lipase secretion was again markedly reduced and no lipase activity was detectable. In the presence of the N-terminal half of the PP region, lipase secretion was affected to a lesser extent. However, the resulting 60-kDa form, which showed comparably good specific lipase activity, suffered severe proteolytic degradation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32359249,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Frequency modulation of laser ultrasound transducer using carbon nanotube-coated polyethylene microsphere.\nAn ultrasound transducer was fabricated by dropping a multi-walled carbon nanotube solution containing a mixture of carbon nanotubes and ethoxyethanol directly on the surface of polyethylene microspheres. The frequency modulation depended on the diameter of the polyethylene microspheres. To investigate this relationship, three types of polyethylene microspheres with different diameters were used in simulations and experiments. These specimens were attached to polydimethylsiloxane and glass plates. A comparison revealed that the 50 \u03bcm diameter polyethylene spheres coated with carbon nanotubes had the highest ultrasound frequency. This work showed that smaller polyethylene microspheres generate higher ultrasound frequencies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25412302,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Eating disorders treatment patterns by age.\nThis longitudinal, retrospective study examines patterns in eating disorder outpatient mental health treatment by age. Participants (n = 5,445) included patients treated for an eating disorder, with claims for treatment from Cigna, a leading health care insurance provider in the United States. Treatments for individuals 55 and older were less expensive and shorter than for any other age group. Treatments for individuals 44-55 were less expensive than for 15-24. Individual therapy is the most common treatment modality, but younger individuals are likely to receive family therapy. Younger individuals have lower dropout and higher return to care rates.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3079332,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Musculoskeletal magnetic resonance imaging.\nIn the short time that MRI has been available, it has become apparent that one of the more important nonneurologic applications is in imaging the musculoskeletal system. MRI is effective at providing high-contrast images with acceptable spatial resolution for a variety of bone marrow disorders, soft tissue masses, osseous tumors, and muscle diseases. The multiplanar aspect of the method is a great advantage and promises to be a major reason why MRI will be selected instead of CT for many examinations. Currently, it appears that MRI is a leading method of detecting ischemic necrosis of the femoral head and determining the extent of soft tissue masses and bone tumors. Surface coil technology promises better resolution of small parts such as the wrist and temporomandibular joint. Phosphorous spectroscopy should make important contributions to our basic understanding of normal and altered muscle energy metabolism as well as providing a safe method of following the course and therapy of muscle diseases. It is anticipated that MRI will have an important position among the variety of imaging tests for musculoskeletal diseases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29376325,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Carboxyl-Photo-Reactive MS-Cleavable Cross-Linkers: Unveiling a Hidden Aspect of Diazirine-Based Reagents.\nA major challenge in cross-linking\/mass spectrometry (MS) is targeting carboxyl functions in proteins under physiological conditions that do not disturb the protein's conformation. Cross-linking of glutamic acid and aspartic acid residues in proteins will greatly expand the scope of structural mass spectrometry. We discovered that carboxyl-reactive cross-linkers have already been employed for many years in cross-linking\/MS studies, yet in a completely different context. Diazirine-based cross-linkers, such as photomethionine and succinimidyldiazirine cross-linkers, are currently considered to react nonspecifically upon UV-A photoactivation with all 20 proteinogenic amino acids through a reactive carbene that inserts mainly into C-H bonds. We discovered that the cross-linking capability of diazirines based on X-H (X = C, N, O) insertion is in fact only the tip of the iceberg. Diazirines isomerize to linear diazo compounds that can react with carboxylic acids to yield esters. On top of that, the resulting cross-linked products are MS-cleavable allowing an automated analysis of cross-links via customized software tools. Therefore, diazirines open an entirely new route for photo-cross-linking of carboxylic acids. Previous cross-linking studies using diazirines have to be revisited in the light of these findings.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17178038,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Prospective cohort study on the relationship between pathogenic bacteria in the nasal middle meatus and acute bacterial respiratory infection in children].\nTo study the relationship between pathogenic bacteria in the nasal middle meatus and acute bacterial respiratory infection in children. Three hundred and twenty eight children with respiratory infection (mean age 8 years) were included into the prospective cohort study. The mucosal fluid specimens from the nasal middle meatus were collected under an endoscope for bacterial culture. The patients with bacterial culture positive were defined as the Exposed group and those with bacterial culture negative as the Non-exposed group. The grouping of the patients was blinded to the patients, patients' parents and physicians. Both groups received anti-virus and symptomatic treatments, without antibiotic administration. Five days later, the patients were evaluated as to whether they had bacterial infection based on the leucocyte count and CRP results. Of the 328 patients, 168 had a positive nasal bacterial culture. The incidence of bacterial respiratory infection in the Exposed group [51.2% (86\/168)] was significantly higher than in the Non-exposed group [13.1% (21\/160)] (P < 0.01). The relative risk of bacterial respiratory infection occurrence in patients with nasal bacterial culture positive was 3.9002. The children with respiratory infection who had potential pathogenic bacteria in the nasal middle meatus were more prone to develop bacterial respiratory infection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34423069,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Superconducting nanowire single-photon sensing of cerebral blood flow.\nSignificance: The ability of diffuse correlation spectroscopy (DCS) to measure cerebral blood flow (CBF) in humans is hindered by the low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the method. This limits the high acquisition rates needed to resolve dynamic flow changes and to optimally filter out large pulsatile oscillations and prevents the use of large source-detector separations ( \u2265 3 cm ), which are needed to achieve adequate brain sensitivity in most adult subjects. Aim: To substantially improve SNR, we have built a DCS device that operates at 1064 nm and uses superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPD). Approach: We compared the performances of the SNSPD-DCS in humans with respect to a typical DCS system operating at 850 nm and using silicon single-photon avalanche diode detectors. Results: At a 25-mm separation, we detected 13 \u00b1 6 times more photons and achieved an SNR gain of 16 \u00b1 8 on the forehead of 11 subjects using the SNSPD-DCS as compared to typical DCS. At this separation, the SNSPD-DCS is able to detect a clean pulsatile flow signal at 20 Hz in all subjects. With the SNSPD-DCS, we also performed measurements at 35 mm, showing a lower scalp sensitivity of 31 \u00b1 6 % with respect to the 48 \u00b1 8 % scalp sensitivity at 25 mm for both the 850 and 1064 nm systems. Furthermore, we demonstrated blood flow responses to breath holding and hyperventilation tasks. Conclusions: While current commercial SNSPDs are expensive, bulky, and loud, they may allow for more robust measures of non-invasive cerebral perfusion in an intensive care setting.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6161593,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Blood bactericidal activity in calves under various lighting regimes].\nReported in this paper are the effects of varying lighting regimes on serum-bactericide capacity of calves, aged between 3 and 15 weeks. The results, first of all, have shown that the serum-bactericide system is affected by visible light. The reactivity of the complex defence system is reduced by extremely short days, as compared to extremely long days, with the animals being exposed to something between 80 and 100 lx, round the clock. Extremely long days were found to have positive effects on adaptation to changing environmental conditions, but negative effects of other abiotic factors of the environment could not be offset by visible light. Substitution of artificial light for natural light did not bring about any disadvantageous effects upon immunological reactivity of calves, aged between 3 and 15 weeks, under the authors' experimental conditions. Therefore, production in windowless structures is possible without any risk, provided that the fattening animals are kept in a properly controlled artificial light regime.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7921569,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Bilateral rotatory subluxation of the scaphoid.\nWe describe the case of a 17-year-old girl, who presented to our Accident and Emergency (A&E) department following minor trauma to her forearm. Initial x-rays were misread as normal. Radiographs demonstrated classical features of rotatory subluxation of the scaphoid, which was found to be bilateral.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25495249,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Supervised clustering of immunohistochemical markers to distinguish atypical and non-atypical endometrial hyperplasia.\nThe risk of endometrial hyperplasia (EH) progressing into endometrioid endometrial cancer ranges from 1% for simple EH without atypia (EHWA) to 46.2% for atypical EH (AEH). Differentiation between both entities is crucial to determine optimal management. As preoperative diagnosis of AEH can be difficult, we aimed to establish clusters of immunohistochemical markers to distinguish EHWA from AEH. We studied 13 immunohistochemical markers (steroid receptors, pro\/anti-apoptotic proteins, metalloproteinases (MMP), tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP), CD44 isoforms) known for their role in endometrial pathology. Using supervised clustering, we determined clusters of co-expressed proteins which contributed the most in differentiating EHWA from AEH. From 39 tissue samples (17 EHWA and 22 AEH), we found three clusters of co-expressed proteins: Cluster 1 included two proteins (over-expression of estrogen receptor (ER) and under-expression of progesterone receptor (PR) B in AEH compared to EHWA); Cluster 2: an ER, PR A, MMP-2 and TIMP-1 over-expression and a PR B and TIMP-2 under-expression; Cluster 3: over-expression of ER and MMP-7 and under-expression of PR B and TIMP-2. AEH can be accurately distinguished from EHWA using a supervised clustering of immunohistochemical markers. This promising approach could be useful to improve the preoperative diagnosis of EH.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21751611,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation--late onset slowly progressive variant.\nNeurodegeneration with Brain Iron Accumulation (NBIA) is a rare type of neuroaxonal dystrophy that can be familial or sporadic, characterized by progressive extrapyramidal degeneration. We report a case of 23 year old male who presented with cervical dystonia, dysarthria and MRI brain suggestive of characteristic \"eye-of-the-tiger\" appearance in the globus pallidus.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14534641,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The 'Seamless Web': the development of the electronic patient record in Aarhus region, Denmark.\nThe article surveys the organization of the current project to develop an electronic patient record in the Aarhus Region, Denmark. The article is based on various policy documents and reports as well as a number of semi-structured interviews with project managers from the EPR organization in Aarhus County and with participants in the development process at local hospitals. This material is used to present and discuss the framing of the project in a 'discourse coalition'. The stabilization of a specific discourse coalition has been an important factor in ensuring the success of the development project up to the present moment. This coalition became relatively stable by integrating a diverse set of actors in a story-line about the relationships between co-operation, management and technology in the medial sector, and has influenced the modular organization of the project. The successful maintenance of the discourse coalition allows the project to appear 'seamless' from the outside. Conversely, the project is likely to be continually reviewed as successful only to the extent that it is able to flexibly keep the fluctuating set of relevant actors in alignment. If the practical work of keeping a coalition in place remains invisible it becomes easy to imagine an ideal way of planning large socio-technical projects, like developing an ECR. But practical success is more likely to be achieved if one takes seriously the thorough intertwining of discursive, organizational and technical aspects of development projects.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16986205,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cancer support groups: a critical review of empirical studies.\nSupport groups for adults affected by cancer are widely offered by local community and national agencies in North America. This type of psychosocial intervention is defined in terms of its structure and functions, and its theoretical underpinnings and models of practice are described. Forty-four empirical studies of professionally led cancer support groups are summarized and critically reviewed. These studies include 32 outcome evaluations of randomized controlled trials, two process evaluations, and 10 consumer satisfaction studies. The findings reveal high levels of consumer satisfaction, and the outcome evaluations substantiate the morale and other quality of life benefits short of prolonging life. Discussion centers on priorities for future research and practice.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23436061,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Spontaneous vegetation succession at different central European mining sites: a comparison across seres.\nWe performed detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) ordination to compare seven successional seres running in stone quarries, coal mining spoil heaps, sand and gravel pits, and extracted peatlands in the Czech Republic in central Europe. In total, we obtained 1,187 vegetation samples containing 705 species. These represent various successional stages aged from 1 to 100 years. The successional seres studied were more similar in their species composition in the initial stages, in which synathropic species prevailed, than in later successional stages. This vegetation differentiation was determined especially by local moisture conditions. In most cases, succession led to a woodland, which usually established after approximately 20 years. In very dry or wet places, by contrast, where woody species were limited, often highly valuable, open vegetation developed. Except in the peatlands, the total number of species and the number of target species increased during succession. Participation of invasive aliens was mostly unimportant. Spontaneous vegetation succession generally appears to be an ecologically suitable and cheap way of ecosystem restoration of heavily disturbed sites. It should, therefore, be preferred over technical reclamation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16217163,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Progress in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in multiple myeloma.\nAn attempt is made to value the place of autologous and allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in the treatment of multiple myeloma. Recent progress with each treatment modality has significantly changed the outcome for myeloma patients. The gold standard for conditioning treatment before autologous transplantation is melphalan 200 mg\/m, and the use of peripheral blood stem cells is superior to that of bone marrow. Tandem autologous transplantation is superior to single autologous transplantation, at least for patients who do not respond with complete remission to the first transplant. Allogeneic transplantation using standard high-dose myeloablative conditioning reduces the relapse rate in comparison with autologous transplantation; however, treatment-related mortality is significantly higher. Progress in allogeneic transplantation has been significant, and transplant-related mortality has been reduced. The recent use of nonmyeloablative reduced-intensity conditioning has significantly decreased transplant-related mortality; however, the relapse rate is higher than with standard conditioning, and therefore no significant improvement in overall survival has as yet been seen. Relapse following allogeneic transplantation can be counteracted by donor lymphocyte infusions, but the survival results are so far inconclusive. Autologous transplantation is still the first choice for most myeloma patients, but it does not seem to be curative. Therefore, allogeneic transplantation should be continued in clinical trials exploring new conditioning methods, the graft-versus-myeloma effect of new cell types, and its combination with new targeted drugs such as bortezomib and lenalidomide.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28702270,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Prevalence and Risk Factors of Mortality among Adult HIV Patients Initiating ART in Rural Setting of HIV Care and Treatment Services in North Western Tanzania: A Retrospective Cohort Study.\nHIV still causes high mortality despite use of ART. This study was designed to determine the prevalence and risk factors of mortality among HIV patients receiving ART in northwestern rural Tanzania. A retrospective study of HIV patients on ART was done at Sengerema in Mwanza, Tanzania. The data on demography, date of HIV diagnosis, WHO stage, opportunistic infections, CD4, hemoglobin, ART regimen, and time and outcome on treatment as dead or alive were collected and analyzed using STATA version 11. In total, 740 patients were studied. The median age was 35 (27-42) years with female predominance of 465 (62.8%). Of the participants, 261 (35.3%) had WHO stages 3 and 4 diseases. Most participants, 258 (34.9%), had baseline CD4 counts <200 cells\/\u03bcl. Deaths occurred in 86 (11.6%) patients which were independently associated with male gender (16.0% versus 9.0%, p = 0.015), being divorced (OR = 2.7, p < 0.001), WHO stages 3 and 4 (OR = 2.3, p = 0.05), CD4 <200 cells\/\u03bcl (OR = 3.4, p < 0.001), and severe anemia (OR = 6.6, p < 0.001). The mortality is high among HIV patients receiving ART in northwestern rural Tanzania. Universal testing could increase early diagnosis and treatment. A close follow-up of at-risk patients within the first year of ART could reduce the mortality of this subgroup of patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18596108,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of glucagon-like peptide-1, yohimbine, and nitrergic modulation on sympathetic and parasympathetic activity in humans.\nGlucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), an incretin, which is used to treat diabetes mellitus in humans, inhibited vagal activity and activated nitrergic pathways. In rats, GLP-1 also increased sympathetic activity, heart rate, and blood pressure (BP). However, the effects of GLP-1 on sympathetic activity in humans are unknown. Our aims were to assess the effects of a GLP-1 agonist with or without alpha(2)-adrenergic or -nitrergic blockade on autonomic nervous functions in humans. In this double-blind study, 48 healthy volunteers were randomized to GLP-1-(7-36) amide, the nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitor N(G)-monomethyl-l-arginine acetate (l-NMMA), the alpha(2)-adrenergic antagonist yohimbine, or placebo (i.e., saline), alone or in combination. Hemodynamic parameters, plasma catecholamines, and cardiac sympathetic and parasympathetic modulation were measured by spectral analysis of heart rate. Thereafter, the effects of GLP-1-(7-36) amide on muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) were assessed by microneurography in seven subjects. GLP-1 increased (P = 0.02) MSNA but did not affect cardiac sympathetic or parasympathetic indices, as assessed by spectral analysis. Yohimbine increased plasma catecholamines and the low-frequency (LF) component of heart rate power spectrum, suggesting increased cardiac sympathetic activity. l-NMMA increased the BP and reduced the heart rate but did not affect the balance between sympathetic and parasympathetic activity. GLP-1 increases skeletal muscle sympathetic nerve activity but does not appear to affect cardiac sympathetic or parasympathetic activity in humans.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3040355,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Flow cytometric evaluation of anti-herpes drugs.\nA rapid means of screening drugs for toxicity and anti-herpes simplex virus activity was developed based on the flow cytometric detection of HSV induced changes in cellular DNA content. Subconfluent monolayers of human diploid fibroblasts (HEL 299) were assayed for DNA content with propidium iodide 24 h after infection with HSV-1 (multiplicity of infection 1-10) and treatment with the drug to be tested. Infection was detected by a broadening of the normal diploid and tetraploid peaks and presence of greater than 4-n DNA staining. Inhibition of viral DNA synthesis and maintenance of the normal growth pattern of control cells was indication of antiviral activity. Toxicity of the compound was indicated by the loss of S phase and tetraploid cell populations. Using this assay, we evaluated the activities of one experimental and two established antiviral agents.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36269623,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"B(C6F5)3-Catalyzed \u03b1,\u03b2-Difunctionalization and C-N Bond Cleavage of Saturated Amines with Benzo[c]isoxazoles: Access to Quinoline Derivatives.\nHerein, we disclose a strategy to realize \u03b1,\u03b2-difunctionalization and C-N bond cleavage of saturated amines with benzo[c]isoxazoles via a B(C6F5)3-catalyzed consecutive hydrogen-borrowing and [4 + 2] cycloaddition followed by a C-N bond cleavage process. In general, the reactions proceed efficiently in the absence of any oxidant and metal catalyst to afford a broad range of quinoline derivatives starting from easily accessible substrates in an atom-economical manner.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16238218,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-30":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The oral health assessment tool--validity and reliability.\nThe Oral Health Assessment Tool (OHAT) was a component of the Best Practice Oral Health Model for Australian Residential Care study. The OHAT provided institutional carers with a simple, eight category screening tool to assess residents' oral health, including those with dementia. This analysis presents OHAT reliability and validity results. A convenience sample of 21 residential care facilities (RCFs) in urban and rural Victoria, NSW and South Australia used the OHAT at baseline, three-months and six-months to assess intra- and inter-carer reliability and concurrent validity. Four hundred and fifty five residents completed all study phases. Intra-carer reliability for OHAT categories: percent agreement ranged from 74.4 per cent for oral cleanliness, to 93.9 per cent for dental pain; Kappa statistics were in moderate range (0.51-0.60) for lips, saliva, oral cleanliness, and for all other categories in range of 0.61-0.80 (substantial agreement) (p < 0.05). Inter-carer reliability for OHAT categories: percent agreement ranged from 72.6 per cent for oral cleanliness to 92.6 per cent for dental pain; Kappa statistics were in moderate range (0.48-0.60) for lips, tongue, gums, saliva, oral cleanliness, and for all other categories in range of 0.61-0.80 (substantial agreement) (p < 0.05). Intraclass correlation coefficients for OHAT total scores were 0.78 for intra-carer and 0.74 for inter-carer reliability. Validity analyses of the OHAT categories and examination findings showed complete agreement for the lips category, with the natural teeth, dentures, and tongue categories having high significant correlations and percent agreements. The gums category had significant moderate correlation and percent agreement. Non-significant and low correlations and percent agreements were evident for the saliva, oral cleanliness and dental pain categories. The Oral Health Assessment Tool was evaluated as being a reliable and valid screening assessment tool for use in residential care facilities, including those with cognitively impaired residents.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25277695,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sexual partners, sexually transmitted infections, and prostate cancer risk.\nThe etiology of prostate cancer (PCa) is poorly understood. Sexual activity and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are among factors under scrutiny, with controversial findings to date. We examined the association between the number and gender of sexual partners, STIs and PCa risk in the context of PROtEuS, a population-based case-control study set amongst the mainly French-speaking population in Montreal, Canada. The study included 1590 histologically-confirmed PCa cases diagnosed in a Montreal French hospital between 2005 and 2009, and 1618 population controls ascertained from the French electoral list, Montreal residents, frequency-matched to cases by age. In-person interviews elicited information on sociodemographic, lifestyle and environmental factors. Unconditional logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) between sexually related factors and PCa risk, adjusting for age, ancestry, family history of PCa, and PCa screening history. Subjects with more than 20 sexual partners in their lifetime had a decreased risk of PCa (OR 0.78, 95% CI 0.61-1.00) as did subjects who specifically had more than 20 female sexual partners (OR 0.72, 95% CI 0.56-0.94). By contrast, having had several male sexual partners appeared to confer some excess in risk of PCa. No association emerged for history of STIs and PCa but STIs prevalence was low. Our findings are in support of a role for the number of sexual partners in PCa development. The gender of sexual partners should be taken into account in future studies investigating this association.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27282379,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Comparative expression patterns and diagnostic efficacies of SR splicing factors and HNRNPA1 in gastric and colorectal cancer.\nSerine\/arginine-rich splicing factors (SRSFs) and HNRNPA1 have oncogenic properties. However, their proteomic expressions and practical priority in gastric cancer (GC) and colorectal cancer (CRC) are mostly unknown. To apply SFs in clinics, effective marker selection and characterization of properties in the target organ are essential. We concurrently analyzed SRSF1, 3, and 5-7, and HNRNPA1, together with the conventional tumor marker carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), in stomach and colorectal tissue samples (n = 420) using semiquantitative immunoblot, subcellular fractionation, and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction methods. In the semiquantitative immunoblot analysis, HNRNPA1 and SRSF7 levels were significantly higher in GC than in gastric normal mucosa, and SRSF7 levels were higher in intestinal-type compared with diffuse-type of gastric adenocarcinoma. Of the SFs, only HNRNPA1 presented greater than 50 % upregulation (cancer\/normal mucosa > 2-fold) incidences and CEA-comparable, acceptable (>70 %) detection accuracy (74 %) for GC. All SF protein levels were significantly higher in CRC than in colorectal normal mucosa, and HNRNPA1 levels were higher in low-stage CRC compared with high-stage CRC. Among the SFs, HNRNPA1 and SRSF3 presented the two highest upregulation incidences (88 % and 74 %, respectively) and detection accuracy (90 % and 84 %, respectively) for CRC. The detection accuracy of HNRNPA1 was comparable to that of CEA in low (\u2264 II)-stage CRC but was inferior to that of CEA in high (>II)-stage CRC. Extranuclear distributions of HNRNPA1 and SRSF6 (cytosol\/microsome) differed from those of other SRSFs (membrane\/organelle) in both cancers. In an analysis of the six SF mRNAs, all mRNAs presented unacceptable detection accuracies (\u226470 %) in both cancers, and all mRNAs except SRSF6 were disproportionate to the corresponding protein levels in GC. Our results provide a comprehensive insight into the six SF expression profiles in GC and indicate that, among the SFs, HNRNPA1, but not HNRNPA1 mRNA, is the most effective, novel GC marker. Regardless of the good to excellent detection accuracy of SRSF3 and HNRNPA1 in CRC, the SFs have lower practical priority than CEA, especially for high-stage CRC detection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15245622,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Evaluation of treatment programs for persons with severe mental illness: moderator and mediator effects.\nThis study evaluated several statistical models for estimating treatment effects in a randomized, longitudinal experiment comparing assertive community treatment (ACT) versus brokered case management (BCM). In addition, mediator and moderator analyses were conducted. The ACT clients had improved outcomes in terms of housing and psychiatric symptoms than BCM clients. Case management housing assistance and financial assistance partially mediated housing outcomes. No reliable mediators were found for psychiatric symptoms, and no reliable moderators were found for either housing or psychiatric symptoms. The study also made several important methodological advances in the analysis of longitudinal data in randomized experiments.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17201017,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Does three-dimensional power Doppler ultrasound help in discrimination between benign and malignant ovarian masses?\nTo determine if tumor vascularity as assessed by three-dimensional (3D) power Doppler ultrasound can be used to discriminate between benign and malignant ovarian tumors, if adding 3D power Doppler ultrasound to gray-scale imaging improves differentiation between benignity and malignancy, and if 3D power Doppler ultrasound adds more to gray-scale ultrasound than does two-dimensional (2D) power Doppler ultrasound. One hundred and six women scheduled for surgery because of an ovarian mass were examined with transvaginal gray-scale ultrasound and 2D and 3D power Doppler ultrasound. The color content of the tumor scan was rated subjectively by the ultrasound examiner on a visual analog scale. Vascularization index (VI), flow index (FI) and vascularization flow index (VFI) were calculated in the whole tumor and in a 5-cm(3) sample taken from the most vascularized area of the tumor. Logistic regression analysis was used to build models to predict malignancy. There were 79 benign tumors, six borderline tumors and 21 invasive malignancies. A logistic regression model including only gray-scale ultrasound variables (the size of the largest solid component, wall irregularity, and lesion size) was built to predict malignancy. It had an area under the receiver-operating characteristics (ROC) curve of 0.98, sensitivity of 100%, false positive rate of 10%, and positive likelihood ratio (LR) of 10 when using the mathematically best cut-off value for risk of malignancy (0.12). The diagnostic performance of the 3D flow index with the best diagnostic performance, i.e. VI in a 5-cm(3) sample, was superior to that of the color content of the tumor scan (area under ROC curve 0.92 vs. 0.80, sensitivity 93% vs. 78%, false positive rate 16% vs. 27% using the mathematically best cut-off value). Adding the color content of the tumor scan or FI in a 5-cm(3) sample to the logistic regression model including the three gray-scale variables described above improved diagnostic performance only marginally, an additional two tumors being correctly classified. Even though 2D and 3D power Doppler ultrasound can be used to discriminate between benign and malignant ovarian tumors, their use adds little to a correct diagnosis of malignancy in an ordinary population of ovarian tumors. Objective quantitation of the color content of the tumor scan using 3D power Doppler ultrasound does not seem to add more to gray-scale imaging than does subjective quantitation by the ultrasound examiner using 2D power Doppler ultrasound.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37856211,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Global transcriptomic analysis of breast cancer and normal mammary epithelial cells infected with Borrelia burgdorferi.\nThe bacterial spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme Disease, can disseminate and colonize various tissues and organs, orchestrating severe clinical symptoms including arthritis, carditis, and neuroborreliosis. Previous research has demonstrated that breast cancer tissues could provide an ideal habitat for diverse populations of bacteria, including B. burgdorferi, which is associated with a poor prognosis. Recently, we demonstrated that infection with B. burgdorferi enhances the invasion and migration of triple-negative MDA-MB-231 cells which represent a type of breast tumor with more aggressive cancer traits. In this study, we hypothesized that infection by B. burgdorferi affects the expression of cancer-associated genes to effectuate breast cancer phenotypes. We applied the high-throughput technique of RNA-sequencing on B. burgdorferi-infected MDA-MB-231 breast cancer and normal-like MCF10A cells to determine the most differentially expressed genes (DEG) upon infection. Overall, 142 DEGs were identified between uninfected and infected samples in MDA-MB-231 while 95 DEGs were found in MCF10A cells. A major trend of the upregulation of C-X-C and C-C motif chemokine family members as well as genes and pathways was associated with infection, inflammation, and cancer. These genes could serve as potential biomarkers for pathogen-related tumorigenesis and cancer progression which could lead to new therapeutic opportunities.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23459193,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Incretin-based therapy for type 2 diabetes mellitus: pancreatic and extrapancreatic effects.\nThe prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus has increased at an alarming rate in recent years. Recent estimations project that 366 million people could have diabetes by 2030. The incretin system emerges as a new target for type 2 diabetes therapy, and new molecules are being approved for its use in humans since the year 2005. These agents could be divided into 2 main groups, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists and dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors. Endogenous GLP-1 is an incretin hormone composed by a 30-amino acid peptide and is secreted from L-cells in distal small intestine in response to calorie intake, causing a glucose-dependent \u03b2-cell response resulting in a restoration of the first-phase insulin response. Additionally, GLP-1 regulates glucagon production, which leads to inhibition of glucogenolysis and gluconeogenesis in the liver. Synthetic molecules such as exenatide and liraglutide have been developed to bind GLP-1 receptor and mimic GLP-1 effects in pancreatic cells and other target organs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3080034,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Release of beta-alanine from the frog skeletal muscle determined by thin-layer chromatography].\nThe release of beta-alanine from the resting and contracting frog sartorius muscles was demonstrated by the two-dimensional thin-layer chromatography. The release of beta-alanine from indirectly stimulated muscles of frogs in winter was about 230% higher than at rest. When synaptic transmission was blocked by d-tubocurarine the release of beta-alanine from directly stimulated muscles did not exceed the release at rest. Thus, activation of neuromuscular synapse leads to increased beta-alanine release from contracting muscle.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22663343,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A developmental perspective on neuroeconomic mechanisms of contingency management.\nThis paper provides a developmental overview of relevant theory and research on delay discounting and neuroeconomics, and their implications for contingency management (CM) approaches to treatment. Recent advances in the neuroscience of decision making have the potential to inform treatment development for adolescent substance use in general, and CM treatments in particular. CM interventions may be informed by research on delay discounting, a type of decision making that reflects how individuals value immediate versus delayed rewards. Delay discounting reliably distinguishes substance abusers from nonabusers and is a significant predictor of individual differences in response to substance use treatments. Discounting may also be important in predicting response to CM, as CM attempts to directly influence this decision-making process, shifting the preference from the immediate rewards of use to delayed rewards for choosing not to use. Multiple neural processes underlie decision making, and those processes have implications for adolescent substance abuse. There are significant neurodevelopmental processes that differentiate adolescents from adults. These processes are implicated in delay discounting, suggesting that adolescence may reflect a period of plasticity in temporal decision making. Understanding the neural mechanisms of delay discounting has led to promising working memory interventions directly targeting the executive functions that underlie individual choices. These interventions may be particularly helpful in combination with CM interventions that offer immediate rewards for brief periods of abstinence, and may show particular benefit in adolescence due to the heightened neural plasticity of systems that underlie temporal discounting in adolescence.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14520097,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Combining acoustic and electrical hearing.\nThe concept of combining electrical stimulation for high-frequency sound with acoustic hearing for low-frequency information was tested. In addition, whether residual hearing can be preserved when an electrode is placed into the inner ear up to 10 mm and whether place of electrical stimulation influences speech perception were tested. A single-subject clinical trial design was employed. Six postlingual adults with severe high-frequency hearing impairment were recruited to participate in the study. A new six-channel cochlear implant was designed for the clinical trial. The intracochlear electrodes were either 6 or 10 mm in length based on a Nucleus CI-24 multichannel implant. Monosyllabic word understanding and consonant identification testing in a recorded sound-only condition were used to assess changes in speech perception. Follow-up was greater than 12 months. Acoustic hearing was preserved in all six subjects (n = 3, 6-mm electrodes; n = 3, 10-mm electrodes). Preoperative monosyllabic word and sentence scores were unchanged in all subjects following implantation. A 30% to 40% improvement in consonant recognition occurred with the 10-mm electrode. The subjects with 10-mm electrodes were able to understand 83% to 90% of the monosyllabic words using the implant plus binaural hearing aids. Scores were more than doubled when compared with preoperative scores with hearing aids only. The human ear has the capability to integrate both acoustic and high-frequency electrically processed speech information. Placement of a short, 10-mm electrode does not appear to damage residual low-frequency inner ear hair cell function, interfere with the micro mechanics of normal cochlear vibration, or decrease residual speech perception. The improvement in speech recognition was due primarily to the increased perception of higher-frequency consonantal speech cues, and this improvement took several months to become apparent. Such a device can provide a substantial benefit in speech understanding to individuals with severe high-frequency hearing loss, while still maintaining the benefits of the residual lower-frequency acoustic hearing. The position of the electrode and the place of frequency information within the cochlea were shown to be important factors in the success of such a device.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31250062,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Improvement of bio-cementation at low temperature based on Bacillus megaterium.\nA low production rate for calcium carbonate with microbial solidification technology at low temperatures often restricts its application. For this reason, adding urea to the medium and the domestication of Bacillus megaterium at low temperature were proposed to produce more calcium carbonate based on an analysis of growth characteristics, urease activity, and the production rates for calcium carbonate under different conditions. Sand solidification tests were conducted to demonstrate improvements caused by the methods. The results showed that the higher the temperature, the faster the growth of Bacillus megaterium and the stronger the urease activity. Growth was fastest and urease activity strongest at a pH of 8. Adding urea to the medium and the domestication of B. megaterium at low temperature can both improve the production rate, effectively increasing calcium carbonate precipitation at low temperature. Combining the two methods resulted in greater improvement of the production rate for calcium carbonate. The two methods were also found to improve the effect of sand solidification. Therefore, our study provides a solid foundation for the actual engineering application of bio-cementation technology at low temperature.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20354379,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Activities, productivity, and compensation of men and women in the life sciences.\nTo determine whether professional activities, professional productivity, and salaries of life sciences faculty differ by gender. The authors undertook this study because previous studies found differences in the academic experiences of women and men. In 2007, the authors conducted a mailed survey of 3,080 life sciences faculty at the 50 universities whose medical schools received the greatest amount of National Institutes of Health funding in 2004. The response rate was 74% (n = 2,168). The main outcome measures were a faculty member's total number of publications; number of publications in the past three years; average impact score of the journals in which he or she had published; professional activities; work hours per week; the numbers of hours spent specifically in teaching, patient care, research, professional activities, and administrative activities; and annual income. Among professors, the women reported greater numbers of hours worked per week and greater numbers of administrative and professional activities than did the men. Female faculty members reported fewer publications across all ranks. After control for professional characteristics and productivity, female researchers in the life sciences earned, on average, approximately $13,226 less annually than did their male counterparts. Men and women in the academic life sciences take on different roles as they advance through their careers. A substantial salary gap still exists between men and women that cannot be explained by productivity or other professional factors. Compensation and advancement policies should recognize the full scope of the roles that female researchers play.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19045334,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A periodic density functional theory study on the effects of halides encapsulated in SiC nanotubes.\nIn this paper we present results of density functional theory calculations on the configurations, band structures, and optical properties of halides MCl (M=K,Ag) intercalated single-wall SiC nanotubes. The results show that the M-Cl distances perpendicular to the tube axis are slightly smaller than the ones parallel to the tube axis, which could be due to the axial strain of MCl. The electronic and optical properties of the resulting MCl@SiCNT composite are modified with respect to both the bulk halide and the empty nanotube. It is shown that AgCl affects the structures and properties of SiC nanotubes more significantly than KCl, and that the interaction between the nanotube and the encapsulated halide is stronger for narrower SiC nanotube. The AgCl encapsulation into SiCNTs results in band gap narrowing of AgCl@SiCNTs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29371535,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Molecular Identification and Antifungal Susceptibility Patterns of Clinical Dermatophytes Following CLSI and EUCAST Guidelines.\nDermatophytes are associated with superficial infections in humans worldwide. The aim of the present study was to determine the species distribution and susceptibility patterns of clinical dermatophytes. Samples received for routine mycological processing from 124 suspected cases attending a dermatologic clinic in a tertiary care hospital were included in the study. On direct microscopy, 74.1% (92\/124) were positive and 53.2% (66\/124) grew on culture. The isolates were comprised of Trichophytoninterdigitale (56%) followed by Trichophytontonsurans (25.7%), Trichophytonrubrum (7.5%), Trichophytonviolaceum (4.5%), Microsporumgypseum (4.5%), and Trichophytonverrucosum (1.5%). Conventional mycological identification was concordant with ITS sequencing except for T.mentagrophytes. High minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values (geometric mean, >1 \u00b5g\/mL) were observed for T.tonsurans and T.rubrum to terbinafine and griseofulvin. This study highlights the shift in epidemiology from T.rubrum to T.interdigitale. It also raises a concern of high MICs of terbinafine and griseofulvin among our isolates. Surveillance of antifungal susceptibility patterns can provide clinicians with local MIC data that can further aid in guiding better management in relapse cases of dermatomycosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9563267,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Aneurysmal bone cyst of the zygomatic arch.\nWe present a case of aneurysmal bone cyst in the jaw investigated with plain film, US, computed tomography (axial, precontrast) and magnetic resonance (1 Tesla, axial T1 weighted before and after Gadolinium administration, axial and coronal T2-weighted after Gadolinium administration). The zygomatic arch is a very rare location for an aneurysmal bone cyst: as far as we know, only a few cases are found in the literature.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25506628,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"High-throughput platform assay technology for the discovery of pre-microrna-selective small molecule probes.\nMicroRNAs (miRNA) play critical roles in human development and disease. As such, the targeting of miRNAs is considered attractive as a novel therapeutic strategy. A major bottleneck toward this goal, however, has been the identification of small molecule probes that are specific for select RNAs and methods that will facilitate such discovery efforts. Using pre-microRNAs as proof-of-concept, herein we report a conceptually new and innovative approach for assaying RNA-small molecule interactions. Through this platform assay technology, which we term catalytic enzyme-linked click chemistry assay or cat-ELCCA, we have designed a method that can be implemented in high throughput, is virtually free of false readouts, and is general for all nucleic acids. Through cat-ELCCA, we envision the discovery of selective small molecule ligands for disease-relevant miRNAs to promote the field of RNA-targeted drug discovery and further our understanding of the role of miRNAs in cellular biology.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17200870,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Mapping of susceptibility and protective loci for acute GVHD in unrelated HLA-matched bone marrow transplantation donors and recipients using 155 microsatellite markers on chromosome 22.\nDespite matching donors and recipients for the human leukocyte antigens (HLAs) expressed by the major histocompatibility genomic region of the short arm of chromosome 6, several recipients still develop acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) after bone marrow transplantation (BMT). This is possibly due to non-HLA gene polymorphisms, such as minor histocompatibility antigens (mHas) and genes coding for cytokines. However, a detailed genetic background for aGVHD has not yet been established. To find novel susceptibility and\/or protective loci for aGVHD, a whole genome-wide association study of donors and recipients needs to be performed. As the first step to such a study, we retrospectively analyzed polymorphisms of 155 microsatellite markers spread across the long arm of chromosome 22 in 70 pairs of HLA-matched unrelated BMT donors and recipients. We performed individual typing and then compared the markers' allele frequencies (1) between all the aGVHD (grades III and IV GVHD) and GVHD-free (grade 0 GVHD) groups in donors and recipients and (2) between the aGVHD and aGVHD-free groups in donor\/recipient pairs that were matched and mismatched for the microsatellite marker's allele. Screening of the microsatellite markers revealed five loci with a significant difference between the aGVHD and GVHD-free groups and revealed eight loci on chromosome 22, where the microsatellite allele mismatched markers were associated with aGVHD. This screening analysis suggests that several aGVHD-associated susceptible and protective loci exist on chromosome 22, which may encompass novel gene regions that need to be elucidated for their role in aGVHD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23464571,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Genetic and phenotypic characteristics of baker's yeast: relevance to baking.\nYeasts rarely encounter ideal physiological conditions during their industrial life span; therefore, their ability to adapt to changing conditions determines their usefulness and applicability. This is especially true for baking strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The success of this yeast in the ancient art of bread making is based on its capacity to rapidly transform carbohydrates into CO2 rather than its unusual resistance to environmental stresses. Moreover, baker's yeast must exhibit efficient respiratory metabolism during yeast manufacturing, which determines biomass yield. However, optimal growth conditions often have negative consequences in other commercially important aspects, such as fermentative power or stress tolerance. This article reviews the genetic and physiological characteristics of baking yeast strains, emphasizing the activation of regulatory mechanisms in response to carbon source and stress signaling and their importance in defining targets for strain selection and improvement.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25414322,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Contemporary antithrombotic strategies in patients with acute coronary syndrome admitted to cardiac care units in Italy: The EYESHOT Study.\nSeveral new antithrombotic therapies have emerged for the treatment of acute coronary syndrome (ACS). We sought to assess contemporary patterns of antithrombotic therapies use in patients with ACS. EYESHOT (EmploYEd antithrombotic therapies in patients with acute coronary Syndromes HOspitalized in iTalian cardiac care units) was a nationwide, prospective registry aimed to evaluate antithrombotic strategies employed in patients admitted to intensive cardiac care units (CCUs) for an ACS in Italy. Over a three-week period, 203 CCUs enrolled 2585 consecutive patients: 41.2% with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and 58.8% with non-ST elevation ACS (NSTE-ACS). During hospitalisation, low-molecular-weight heparins, aspirin, and clopidogrel were the most commonly used antithrombotic therapies. Among patients treated with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI, n=1755), any crossover of heparin therapy occurred in 30.8% of cases, while switching from one P2Y12 inhibitor to another occurred in 3.6% of cases in the CathLab and in 14.2% before discharge. Of the 790 patients who did not receive revascularisation, switching of a P2Y12 inhibitor occurred in 5.7% of cases. At discharge, a new P2Y12 inhibitor (ticagrelor or prasugrel) in association with aspirin was prescribed in 59.5% of STEMI and 33.9% of NSTE-ACS patients: the most powerful predictor for prescription was PCI (odds ratio (OR) 6.18; 95% confidence interval (CI) 4.76-8.01; p<0.0001), whereas age \u2265 75 years was strongly associated with clopidogrel use (OR 0.28; 95% CI 0.22-0.36; p<0.0001). The EYESHOT registry shows the current pattern of antithrombotic treatments for ACS patients admitted to Italian CCUs and provides insights which may help to improve the clinical care of such patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17002231,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Intertrial sources of stimulus control and delayed matching-to-sample performance in humans.\nTwo experiments compared delayed matching-to-sample (DMTS) accuracy under 2 procedures in adults with mental retardation. In the trial-unique procedure, every trial in a session contained different stimuli. Thus, comparison stimuli that were correct on one trial were never incorrect on other trials in that session (or vice versa). In the 2-sample DMTS procedure, the same 2 comparison stimuli were presented on each trial, and their function changed quasi-randomly across trials conditional upon the sample stimulus. Across 2 experiments, 7 of 8 subjects showed the highest overall accuracy under the trial-unique procedure, and no subject showed consistently higher accuracy under the 2-sample procedure. Negative, exponential decay functions fit to logit p values showed that this difference was due largely to the steeper delay-mediated decline in sample control for the 2-sample procedure. Stimulus-control analyses indicated that, under the 2-sample procedure, the selection of the comparison stimulus on Trial N was often controlled by the comparison stimulus selection on Trial N-1 rather than the Trial-N sample stimulus. This source of competing stimulus control is not present in trial-unique procedures. Experiment 2 manipulated intertrial interval duration. There was a small but consistent increase in accuracy as a function of intertrial interval duration under the 2-sample procedure, but not under the trial-unique procedure.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8343585,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Structures of peptides from alpha-amino acids methylated at the alpha-carbon.\nThe structural preferences of peptides (and depsipeptides) from the achiral MeAib and Hib residues, and the chiral Iva, (alpha Me) Val, (alpha Me) Leu, and (alpha Me) Phe residues, as determined by conformational energy computations, x-ray diffraction analyses, and 1H-nmr and spectroscopic studies, are reviewed and compared with literature data on Aib-containing peptides. The results obtained indicate that helical structures are preferentially adopted by peptides rich in these alpha-amino acids methylated at the alpha-carbon. Intriguing experimental findings on the impact of the chirality of Iva, (alpha Me) Val, and (alpha Me) Phe residues on helix screw sense are illustrated.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30308767,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Mental Health Policy in Ireland 1984-2004: theory, overview and future directions.\nRecent years have seen renewed emphasis on the importance of mental health policy as a key component of health and social policy at both national and international levels. In 2001 the European Commission produced a public health framework for mental health in the EU. In the same year, the World Health Organisation devoted its annual health report to mental health and called on countries to formulate, update and implement mental health policies. The EU and WHO initiatives both recognised that the challenges facing mental health policy makers are increasingly transnational in scope, related to issues such as rapid demographic change, increased transnational migration, the protection of human rights and the implementation of a growing number of international laws, directives and protocols in relation to mental health care. Significant progress has been made in the development of Irish mental health services over the past 40 years. Nevertheless, many challenges remain. The aims of this paper are to outline: \u2022 Prevailing theoretical perspectives on mental health policy \u2022 Mental health policy in Ireland since the last major policy revision in 1984 \u2022 Relevant economic and demographic changes in Ireland since 1984 \u2022 Relevant clinical, legislative and policy developments in relation to mental health \u2022 Future directions for mental health policy. Electronic literature searches were performed using Psyclit (American Psychological Association, 1887-2003), Medline (United States National Library of Medicine, 1985 - 2003), with broad search terms related to mental health policy. Additional books and papers were identified by tracking back through references and consulting with colleagues. Policy documents and selected literature on Irish psychiatric services were reviewed and related to recent literature on mental health policy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30667543,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"TREM-1 regulates neutrophil chemotaxis by promoting NOX-dependent superoxide production.\nNeutrophil migration across tissue barriers to the site of injury involves integration of complex danger signals and is critical for host survival. Numerous studies demonstrate that these environmental signals fundamentally alter the responses of extravasated or \"primed\" neutrophils. Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 1 (TREM-1) plays a central role in modulating inflammatory signaling and neutrophil migration into the alveolar airspace. Using a genetic approach, we examined the role of TREM-1 in extravasated neutrophil function. Neutrophil migration in response to chemoattractants is dependent upon multiple factors, including reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated either extracellularly by epithelial cells or intracellularly by NADPH oxidase (NOX). We, therefore, questioned whether ROS were responsible for TREM-1-mediated regulation of migration. Thioglycollate-elicited peritoneal neutrophils isolated from wild-type (WT) and TREM-1-deficient mice were stimulated with soluble and particulate agonists. Using electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy, we demonstrated that NOX2-dependent superoxide production is impaired in TREM-1-deficient neutrophils. Consistent with these findings, we confirmed with Clark electrode that TREM-1-deficient neutrophils consume less oxygen. Next, we demonstrated that TREM-1 deficient neutrophils have impaired directional migration to fMLP and zymosan-activated serum as compared to WT neutrophils and that deletion or inhibition of NOX2 in WT but not TREM-1-deficient neutrophils significantly impaired direction sensing. Finally, TREM-1 deficiency resulted in decreased protein kinase B (AKT) activation. Thus, TREM-1 regulates neutrophil migratory properties, in part, by promoting AKT activation and NOX2-dependent superoxide production. These findings provide the first mechanistic evidence as to how TREM-1 regulates neutrophil migration.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37858968,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"First Report of Fruit Rot Caused by Fusarium incarnatum-equiseti species complex on Greenhouse Bell Pepper in Malaysia.\nIn Malaysia, bell pepper (Capsicum annuum var. grossum), also known as sweet pepper or paprika, is one of the highly imported vegetable crops. In 2021 alone, Malaysia imported nearly 74 thousand metric tons of its chilies, including bell peppers, from other countries (DOSM, 2022). Often, farmers grow the bell peppers in moderate to cool conditions within highland regions for local commercial purposes. In June 2022, the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI) in Serdang, Selangor, conducted a research study to grow lowland bell peppers under a glasshouse rain protection system. A disease inspection carried out found fruit rot on approximately 30% of mature bell pepper fruits in the greenhouse. Symptoms appeared as firm and sunken black lesions covered with white to light pink spore masses on the outer surface, which eventually fell off. Infected fruit parts were disinfected with 10% hypochlorite (NaOCl) for 2 min, followed by double washing with sterile distilled water, air-dried, and placed onto potato dextrose agar (PDA). After 3 days of incubation, the fungal colonies that grew from the symptomatic tissue pieces were transferred onto new PDA to obtain pure cultures. The pure fungal colony appeared dense, whitish aerial mycelium that slowly became cream to pinkish-orange after 7 days of incubation at room temperature (25\u00b12 \u00b0C). To examine the morphology features, the pure cultures were subbed onto carnation leaf agar (CLA) and incubated at 25\u00b12\u00b0C for 14 days. Macroconidia were abundant, slightly curved with tapered apical cells, 3- to 5-septate, and ranged between 21.8 and 34.0 x 3.0 and 5.1 \u03bcm. Microconidia were single-celled, often 1-septate, and ranged between 10.0 and 12.6 x 2.1 and 3.4 \u03bcm. Chlamydospores were globose and in chains. The fungus was identified as Fusarium sp. according to Fusarium key by Leslie and Summerell (2006). PCR amplification and DNA sequencing were performed using primers EF1F\/EF2R and ITS1\/ITS4 (O'Donnell et al., 1998; White et al., 1990) to amplify the partial elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF1-\u03b1) gene and internal transcribed spacer region (ITS), respectively. The TEF1-\u03b1 and ITS sequences of this isolate were deposited in GenBank as OQ672911 and OR349657. BLAST analysis with TEF1-\u03b1 gene sequences revealed 99.74% and 99.33% sequence identity with F. pernambucanum (accession no. ON330424) and Fusarium isolate NRRL 25134 (accession no. JF740755), respectively; both belonged to the Fusarium incarnatum-equiseti species complex (FIESC). BLAST search of the TEF1-\u03b1 sequence in the database of the International Mycological Association (www.mycobank.org) showed 99.18% identity with FIESC (NRRL 36548). The ITS sequences were 100% identical to those of F. incarnatum (MT563420, MT563419, and MT563418). Pathogenicity test was conducted on three unwounded and three wounded mature red bell pepper fruits (SP299 Red Masta variety). Two healthy bell peppers were used as controls for each treatment. Prior to inoculation, the fruits were surface-sterilized by dipping in 70% ethanol and rinsed twice with sterile distilled water. Unwounded fruits were inoculated with fungal mycelium disks (5 mm diameter), whereas control fruits were inoculated with sterile PDA agar disks. For wound method, 6 \u00b5l of spore suspension (1x106 spores\/ml) was obtained from 7-day-old cultures and injected (1 mm depth) into the fruit wall using a sterile syringe needle. Control fruits were inoculated with sterile distilled water only. Each fruit was inoculated with the inoculum at three distinct spots and kept in a humid chamber at a temperature of 25\u00b12 \u00b0C. The pathogenicity test was done twice. Five days post-inoculation, the control fruits showed no symptoms, whereas all inoculated wounded and non-wounded fruits developed necrotic lesions with white mycelium growing on the inoculation points. The pathogen was successfully re-isolated from the infected fruits and morphologically identified as FIESC, fulfilling Kochs postulates. It has been reported previously that the members of FIESC are responsible for the fruit rot of bell peppers under greenhouse conditions (Ramdial et al., 2016). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of FIESC causing fruit rot on greenhouse bell peppers in Malaysia. This fruit rot disease may impose significant constraints on bell pepper production in Malaysia; hence, effective strategies to control the pathogen and prevent disease dispersal should be implemented.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28370845,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Benchmarking predictions of allostery in liver pyruvate kinase in CAGI4.\nThe Critical Assessment of Genome Interpretation (CAGI) is a global community experiment to objectively assess computational methods for predicting phenotypic impacts of genomic variation. One of the 2015-2016 competitions focused on predicting the influence of mutations on the allosteric regulation of human liver pyruvate kinase. More than 30 different researchers accessed the challenge data. However, only four groups accepted the challenge. Features used for predictions ranged from evolutionary constraints, mutant site locations relative to active and effector binding sites, and computational docking outputs. Despite the range of expertise and strategies used by predictors, the best predictions were marginally greater than random for modified allostery resulting from mutations. In contrast, several groups successfully predicted which mutations severely reduced enzymatic activity. Nonetheless, poor predictions of allostery stands in stark contrast to the impression left by more than 700 PubMed entries identified using the identifiers \"computational + allosteric.\" This contrast highlights a specialized need for new computational tools and utilization of benchmarks that focus on allosteric regulation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7941573,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Amoebiasis--a problem in patients with ulcerative colitis].\nThe increasing problem is presented of Entamoeba histolytica invasion in patients with ulcerative colitis. The diagnostic-therapeutic management in five patients with amoebiasis is discussed in detail. This parasitic invasion occurred in five out of 103 patients with ulcerative colitis which accounts for 4.85%. This data is important for the treatment of chronically ill patients with ulcerative colitis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14525127,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Light transmission from a twisted nematic liquid crystal: accurate methods to measure the azimuthal anchoring energy.\nIn this paper, we analyze the light transmission from a twisted nematic liquid crystal (NLC) and we propose two accurate and very direct optical methods to measure the azimuthal anchoring energy. In both of them, a monochromatic beam of wavelength lambda with a polarization vector that rotates at an angular frequency omega impinges on a twisted nematic liquid crystal. The intensity of the transmitted beam is modulated at angular frequency 2omega with a phase shift beta, which is related to the surface azimuthal director angle phi(1) at the investigated interface. It is shown that there exists a special geometry where the simple adiabatic relation phi(1)=beta\/2 is satisfied up to second order in the small perturbative parameter alpha=lambda\/(2piDelta(n)xi), where Delta(n) is the anisotropy of the refractive indices of the NLC and xi is the twist distortion length. Furthermore, the small residual higher order correction terms can be greatly reduced by choosing a proper geometry for the experiment. With this choice, the range of validity of the adiabatic theory is greatly extended. The perturbative theoretical results are fully confirmed by numerical calculations. The azimuthal anchoring energy coefficient can be obtained by measuring phase shift beta versus the intensity of an applied magnetic field. These methods greatly improve the accuracy of the previous transmitted light techniques and also provide accurate measurements of strong azimuthal anchoring energies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35368251,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"A Model of Combined Exposure to Nicotine and Tetrahydrocannabinol via Electronic Cigarettes in Pregnant Rats.\nNicotine and cannabis are two of the most commonly consumed licit and illicit drugs during pregnancy, often consumed together via e-cigarettes. Vaping is assumed to be a safer alternative than traditional routes of consumption, yet the potential consequences of prenatal e-cigarette exposure are largely unknown, particularly when these two drugs are co-consumed. In a novel co-exposure model, pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats received nicotine (36 mg\/mL), tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) (100 mg\/mL), the combination, or the vehicle via e-cigarettes daily from gestational days 5-20, mimicking the first and second human trimesters. Maternal blood samples were collected throughout pregnancy to measure drug and metabolite levels, and core body temperatures before and after exposure were also measured. Pregnant dams exposed to combined nicotine and THC had lower plasma nicotine and cotinine levels than those exposed to nicotine alone; similarly, the combined exposure group also had lower plasma THC and THC metabolite (THC-OH and THC-COOH) levels than those exposed to THC alone. Prenatal nicotine exposure gradually decreased initial core body temperatures each day, with chronic exposure, whereas exposure to THC decreased temperatures during the individual sessions. Despite these physiological effects, no changes were observed in food or water intake, weight gain, or basic litter outcomes. The use of this model can help elucidate the effects of co-exposure to THC and nicotine via e-cigarettes on both users and their offspring. Understanding the effects of co-use during pregnancy is critical for improving education for pregnant mothers about prenatal e-cigarette use and has important implications for public policy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7933675,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"An adult case of polycystic kidney disease associated with congenital hepatic fibrosis.\nCongenital hepatic fibrosis is often associated with infantile, but not with adult polycystic kidney disease. We report the unusual case of an adult patient with polycystic kidney disease complicated by congenital hepatic fibrosis. A 27-year-old women was admitted to our hospital because of gross hematuria due to hemorrhage from renal cysts. She presented hematemesis from ruptured esophageal varices at the age of 14 years. She was diagnosed as having end-stage renal disease due to polycystic kidney disease at the age of 23 years, and maintenance hemodialysis was initiated the following year. Gross hematuria was managed with supportive therapy. However, the patient developed cholangitis and died of sepsis. Postmortem examinations as well as the patient's clinical course suggested that she had an autosomal dominant type of polycystic kidney disease. Histological findings of the liver were compatible with congenital hepatic fibrosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28303826,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Prevalence of pneumococcal serotypes in adults \u226550 years of age.\nCurrently, majority of studies on antibiotic resistance and serotype prevalence in Streptococcus pneumoniae are in paediatric population and there is limited epidemiologic data pertaining to elderly Indian population. This study was undertaken to assess antibiotic resistance pattern and the coverage of the polysaccharide vaccine 23 (PPV23) in the elderly population. This was a prospective 2-year pneumococcal surveillance study in patients with community-acquired pneumococcal infections of \u226550 years' age group on fifty isolates of S. pneumoniae. Antibiotic susceptibility by Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method and minimum inhibitory concentration susceptibility testing by E-test method were performed for various antibiotics. All isolates were serotyped by the capsular Quellung method with commercial antisera. All S. pneumoniae isolates were sensitive to penicillin and ceftriaxone. Non-susceptibility to levofloxacin, co-trimoxazole, erythromycin and clindamycin was noted as 16%, 74%, 10% and 6%, respectively. Prevalence of multidrug resistance in S. pneumoniae was observed as 6%. The most common serotypes observed in our study were 19A (14%), 8 (10%), 19F (8%), 3 (6%) and 9N (6%). PCV7, PCV10, PCV13 and PCV23 coverage was observed as 16%, 24%, 48% and 66%, respectively. The non-vaccine serotypes (NVTs) comprised 30% (n = 15) of the isolates. Our study shows different antibiotic susceptibility patterns of S. pneumoniae as compared to other neighbouring regions in Asia. The modest coverage of S. pneumoniae serotypes by PPV23 vaccine and prevalence of diverse NVTs in adult population make it a challenging task to recommend further changes in the future vaccine.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34414397,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Transformer-Based Named Entity Recognition for Parsing Clinical Trial Eligibility Criteria.\nThe rapid adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) systems has made clinical data available in electronic format for research and for many downstream applications. Electronic screening of potentially eligible patients using these clinical databases for clinical trials is a critical need to improve trial recruitment efficiency. Nevertheless, manually translating free-text eligibility criteria into database queries is labor intensive and inefficient. To facilitate automated screening, free-text eligibility criteria must be structured and coded into a computable format using controlled vocabularies. Named entity recognition (NER) is thus an important first step. In this study, we evaluate 4 state-of-the-art transformer-based NER models on two publicly available annotated corpora of eligibility criteria released by Columbia University (i.e., the Chia data) and Facebook Research (i.e.the FRD data). Four transformer-based models (i.e., BERT, ALBERT, RoBERTa, and ELECTRA) pretrained with general English domain corpora vs. those pretrained with PubMed citations, clinical notes from the MIMIC-III dataset and eligibility criteria extracted from all the clinical trials on ClinicalTrials.gov were compared. Experimental results show that RoBERTa pretrained with MIMIC-III clinical notes and eligibility criteria yielded the highest strict and relaxed F-scores in both the Chia data (i.e., 0.658\/0.798) and the FRD data (i.e., 0.785\/0.916). With promising NER results, further investigations on building a reliable natural language processing (NLP)-assisted pipeline for automated electronic screening are needed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14562383,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"No requirement of HCV 5'NCR for HCV-like particles assembly in insect cells.\nTo express all three HCV structural proteins in the presence or absence of HCV 5'NCR to investigate the requirement of 5'NCR for the assembly of HCV-like particles in insect cells. HCV structural protein encoding sequences CE1E2 and 5'NCR-CE1E2 were amplified with PCR. Recombinant baculovirus were constructed with recombinant DNA techniques. HCV structural proteins expressed in insect cells were analyzed by immunofluorescence and SDS-PAGE. Immunoprecipitation experiment of insect cell lysates with anti-E2 monoclonal antibody (MAb) was carried out and the immunoprecipitated proteins were subjected to SDS-PAGE and immunoblotting with anti-C, anti-E2 MAbs and HCV positive serum. The virus-like particles in insect cells were visualized by electron microscopy (EM). The HCV-like particles were purified by sucrose gradient centrifugation and identified by EM and immune aggregation EM. The recombinant baculovirus reBV\/CE1E2 containing HCV C, E1, E2 genes and reBV\/CS containing the same structural protein genes plus 5'NCR were constructed. The insect cells infected with either reBV\/CE1E2 or reBV\/CS expressed HCV C, E1 and E2 proteins with a molecular weight of 20 kD, 35 kD and 66 kD respectively. The results of immunoprecipitation and the immunoblotting revealed the coimmunoprecipitation of C, E1, and E2 proteins, indicating the interaction of HCV structural proteins expressed in insect cells. Electron microscopy of insect cells infected with reBV\/CE1E2 or reBV\/CS demonstrated spherical particles (40 to 60 nm in diameter) similar to the HCV virions from sera or hepatic tissues of HCV infected humans. The HCV-like particles were partially purified by sucrose gradient centrifugation, and the purified VLPs showed immuno-reactivity with anti-HCV antibodies. HCV 5'NCR is not required for the assembly of HCV-like particles in insect cells, HCV core and envelope proteins are sufficient for viral particle formation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30310558,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mechanical Properties of the Periodontal System and of Dental Constructs Deduced from the Free Response of the Tooth.\nThe biomechanical behaviour of the periodontal ligament (PDL) is still not well understood although this topic has been studied for almost 100 years. This study reports on clinical and mathematical studies to determine the constitutive law of the PDL. A set of mechanical parameters of the tooth-PDL system is obtained, and a new method for the evaluation of these parameters from the free response of the tooth is introduced. This response is produced by repeated impacts applied to the gingival tissue in the apical part of the tooth investigated-with the aid of a Periotest exciter. A Doppler ultrasound probe is utilized to determine the response of the tooth-PDL system. The parameters evaluated from these measurements can be considered as the elastometric properties of the dental system investigated. A modal analysis\/system identification method is utilized to estimate these parameters. The investigations are carried out for different teeth abutments, both with and without a dental bridge\/fixed partial prosthesis (FPP). The differences between the responses of the systems in these two cases are determined with the new method proposed. They are discussed with regard to the specific purposes of the FPP. The study demonstrates that this method can provide the dentist with the necessary objective evaluations regarding the properties and health of the tooth-PDL system, as well as of the construct that is obtained after installing a dental bridge.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6735080,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Radioimmunoassay, pharmacokinetics, and neuronal release of gastrin-releasing peptide in anesthetized pigs.\nUsing a newly developed radioimmunoassay for porcine gastrin-releasing peptide in plasma, we studied the pharmacokinetics of this peptide after infusing it into pigs at two dose levels. The disappearance of the peptide from plasma was characterized by two components, a fast one (t 1\/2 1.4 min) and a slow one (t 1\/2 6.6 min). With the same assay the release of gastrin releasing-peptide from the stomachs of 8 pigs that had been catheterized for selective sampling of fundic and antral blood was studied during vagal and splanchnic stimulation with or without acute adrenalectomy at neutral, acidic, and alkaline intragastric pH. Electrical stimulation of the vagal nerves resulted in a marked increase in both antral and fundic gastrin-releasing peptide release, whereas splanchnic stimulation was without effect. The effects of nerve stimulation were neither influenced by intragastric pH nor by adrenalectomy. Because of its presence in nerves in all layers of the gastric wall, its potent effect on gastrin release, and its release after vagal stimulation, gastrin-releasing peptide is likely to play a role in the vagal control of gastrin release, gastric motility, and acid secretion.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17002995,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Age shift in patterns of injection drug use among the HIV\/AIDS population in Miami-Dade County, Florida.\nAnalysis of HIV exposure category for 20,034 persons in three age groups (13-29, 30-49, 50 and over) who were alive through 2003 and had been reported to the Florida Department of Health with HIV or AIDS in Miami-Dade County, Florida, found that having a history of injection drug use increases with increasing age (p < .001). Consideration of age-specific HIV risk profiles has implications for primary and secondary HIV prevention interventions, planning, and policy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37854132,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Remote, tablet-based assessment of gaze following: a nationwide infant twin study.\nMuch of our understanding of infant psychological development relies on an in-person, laboratory-based assessment. This limits research generalizability, scalability, and equity in access. One solution is the development of new, remotely deployed assessment tools that do not require real-time experimenter supervision. The current nationwide (Sweden) infant twin study assessed participants remotely via their caregiver's tablets (N = 104, ages 3 to 17 months). To anchor our findings in previous research, we used a gaze-following task where experimental and age effects are well established. Closely mimicking results from conventional eye tracking, we found that a full head movement elicited more gaze following than isolated eye movements. Furthermore, predictably, we found that older infants followed gaze more frequently than younger infants. Finally, while we found no indication of genetic contributions to gaze-following accuracy, the latency to disengage from the gaze cue and orient toward a target was significantly more similar in monozygotic twins than in dizygotic twins, an indicative of heritability. Together, these results highlight the potential of remote assessment of infants' psychological development, which can improve generalizability, inclusion, and scalability in developmental research.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28355492,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Longitudinal Bone Mineralization Assessment in Children Treated With Long-Term Parenteral Nutrition for Severe Intestinal Failure.\nMetabolic bone disease is common in children receiving home parenteral nutrition (HPN) for intestinal failure (IF). Long-term evolution of bone mass in pediatric IF is poorly documented. The aims of this study were (1) to determine the prevalence of low bone mass (LBM) in children receiving HPN for IF, (2) to evaluate the evolution of total bone mineral content (TBMC) during HPN with dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA), and (3) to identify related factors. All children referred in our HPN center from 2004 to 2014 were eligible. Inclusion criteria were HPN dependence due to noninflammatory IF, at least 2 TBMC assessments, and HPN duration of at least 2 years at last DXA. TBMC was expressed in z score for ideal weight for height (WFH). LBM was defined by a TBMC WFH z score \u2264-2 standard deviations (SD). A total of 175 DXAs for 31 children were performed, mean of 5.6 \u00b1 2.9 assessments per child. The median time between first and last DXA recorded was 6.2 years (0.7-16.6). At the first DXA, 14 children (45%) had a LBM. TBMC increased by +0.1 \u00b1 0.04 SD per year of HPN (P = .012). The risk of LBM decreased with an odds ratio of 0.9 per year of HPN (95% confidence interval, 0.92-0.99; P = .018). Lean mass z score and calcium parenteral intakes were related to the TBMC improvement. LBM is common in pediatric IF, but bone status could improve during HPN in these children.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15240098,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Interaction of ligand-receptor system between stromal-cell-derived factor-1 and CXC chemokine receptor 4 in human prostate cancer: a possible predictor of metastasis.\nInteraction of ligand-receptor systems between stromal-cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1) and CXC chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) is closely involved in the organ specificity of cancer metastasis. We hypothesized that SDF-1-CXCR4 ligand-receptor system plays an important role in prostate cancer metastasis. To test this hypothesis, expression level of SDF-1 and CXCR4 was analyzed in prostate cancer (PC) cell lines (LNCaP, PC3, and DU145) and normal prostate epithelial cell line (PrEC). We also performed migration assay and MTT assay to investigate the chemotactic effect and growth-promoting effect of SDF-1 on DU145 and PC3 cells, respectively. Furthermore, we performed immunohistochemical analysis of CXCR4 expression in tissues from 35 cases of human prostate cancer. CXCR4 expression was detected in all three prostate cancer cell lines, but not in PrECs. SDF-1 significantly enhanced the migration of PC3 and DU145 cells in a dose-dependent manner, and anti-CXCR4 antibody inhibited this chemotactic effect. However, SDF-1 itself did not significantly stimulate the cell growth rate of prostate cancer cell lines. Positive CXCR4 protein was found in 20 out of 35 clinical PC samples (57.1%). Three patients with lung metastasis showed definitely positive CXCR4 immunostaining. Logistic regression analysis revealed that positive expression of CXCR4 protein was an independent and superior predictor for bone metastasis to Gleason sum (P < 0.05). Furthermore, among PC patients with PSA greater than 20 ng\/mL, the positive rate of CXCR4 protein was significantly higher in patients with bone metastasis than in those with no bone metastasis (P = 0.017). These findings suggest that the interaction between SDF-1 and CXCR4 ligand-receptor system is involved in the process of PC metastasis by the activation of cancer cell migration. This is the first report to investigate the role of interaction of ligand-receptor systems between SDF-1 and CXCR4 in prostate cancer metastasis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25502549,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dementia RED (Respect Empathy Dignity): Collaborating to build dementia supportive communities in North Wales--reporting on a pilot project (innovative practice).\nThere is increasing interest in developing dementia supportive communities world wide. Dementia RED (Respect Empathy Dignity) is a unique example from North Wales which is based on the twin concepts of people living with dementia as citizens in their community and developing 'bottom up' rather than 'top down' approaches to dementia supportive communities. Most people with dementia prefer to live at home thus making community connectivity key to maintaining healthy relationships and wellbeing. For those living with dementia, the community plays a pivotal role in providing value, meaning, purpose and acceptance. Building dementia supportive communities helps to raise awareness about dementia in the community through engagement and from identifying champions in the locality to voice issues. Dementia RED is an initiative and service which helps to develop such a philosophy in creating a dementia supportive community.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26483224,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Clinical efficacy of montelukast for the treatment of bronchiolitis in infants].\nTo observe the effect of montelukast treatment on levels of serum leukotriene B4 and urinary leukotriene E4 in infants with bronchiolitis. Seventy-five children who were diagnosed with bronchiolitis between June 2014 and December 2014 were randomly assigned into two groups, one with thirty-eight cases as the montelukast treatment group and another thirty-seven cases as the control group. All of the children were given routine medical treatment. The children in the montelukast treatment group were additionally given montelukast daily (4 mg once a day, for 7 days). The serum leukotriene B4 and urinary leukotriene E4 levels were measured using ELISA before and after treatment. The relationship between serum leukotriene B4 and urinary leukotriene E4 levels was analyzed by Peason correlation analysis. After 7 days of treatment, the serum leukotriene B4 and urinary leukotriene E4 levels in the montelukast treatment and control groups were significantly reduced compared with before treatment (P<0.05). The montelukast treatment group showed significantly lower serum leukotriene B4 and urinary leukotriene E4 levels than the control group (P<0.05). The remission time of cough, wheezing and lung wheezes and the length of hospital stay in the montelukast treatment group were significantly shortened compared with the control group (P<0.05). There was a positive correlation between serum leukotriene B4 and urinary leukotriene E4 levels (r=0.723, P<0.05). Montelukast has a reliable clinical curative efficacy for bronchiolitis in infants, possibly by decreasing serum leukotriene D4 and urinary leukotriene E4 levels.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6166443,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Tissue distribution of N-acetylprocainamide in rats.\nThe purpose of this study was to determine the distribution of N-acetylprocainamide (NAPA) in heart, kidney, and liver tissues of rats and their relationship to the plasma concentration after intravenous administration of the drug (100 mg\/kg) to 24 Charles River rats. A specific HPLC procedure was used. The plasma and tissue concentrations of NAPA declined biexponentially in parallel, with an elimination half-life of about 1.8 hr. The equilibrium between plasma and the organs tested in this study was attained within 5 min. The tissue\/plasma concentration ratio remained constant throughout the study. The tissue\/plasma ratios for heart, kidney, and liver were 2.1, 7.9, and 2.4, respectively. The data indicate that: a) these organs have greater affinity to NAPA than do plasma proteins, and b) plasma concentrations may be reliable measures of the therapeutically effective concentrations at the site of action, i.e., the heart tissues.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28560718,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Suzuki Cross-Coupling for Post-Complexation Derivatization of Non-Racemic Bis-Cyclometalated Iridium(III) Complexes.\nA straightforward method for post-complexation derivatizations of diastereo- and enantiomerically pure bis-cyclometalated benzoxazole and benzothiazole iridium(III) complexes is reported. Triflate- and bromine-functionalized iridium(III) complex dimers, represented as [Ir(\u03bc-Cl)(C^N)2 ]2 , were converted to the corresponding diastereomeric complexes, represented as Ir(C^N)2 (N^O), using readily available chiral salicyloxazolines and salicylthiazolines as ancillary ligands, which are represented as N^O. The Ir(C^N)2 (N^O) complexes, formed as mixtures of diastereomers, were then resolved by flash chromatography and the diastereomerically pure complexes Ir(C^N)2 (N^O) subjected to Suzuki cross-couplings. The post-complexation cross-couplings proceed without affecting the metal-located stereocenter and hence provide post-complexation derivatized non-racemic iridium(III) complexes, which were not easily accessible with previous methods. This strategy expands the toolbox to access functionalized non-racemic iridium(III) complexes for diverse applications in the life sciences, materials sciences, and catalysis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37855751,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Histology and transcriptome insights into the early processes of intestinal anastomotic healing: a rat model.\nUnderstanding the early processes underlying intestinal anastomotic healing is crucial to comprehend the pathophysiology of anastomotic leakage. The aim of this study was to assess normal intestinal anastomotic healing and disturbed healing in rats to investigate morphological, cellular and intrinsic molecular changes in the anastomotic tissue. Anastomoses were created in two groups of Wistar rats, using four sutures or 12 sutures to mimic anastomotic leakage and anastomotic healing respectively. At 6, 12, 24 hours and 2, 3, 5 and 7 days, anastomotic tissue was assessed macroscopically using the anastomotic complication score and histologically using the modified Ehrlich-Hunt score. Transcriptome analysis was performed to assess differences between anastomotic leakage and anastomotic healing at the first three time points to find affected genes and biological processes. Ninety-eight rats were operated on (49 animals in the anastomotic leakage and 49 in the anastomotic healing group) and seven rats analysed at each time point. None of the animals with 12 sutures developed anastomotic leakage macroscopically, whereas 35 of the 49 animals with four sutures developed anastomotic leakage. Histological analysis showed increasing influx of inflammatory cells up to 3 days in anastomotic healing and up to 7 days in anastomotic leakage, and this increase was significantly higher in anastomotic leakage at 5 (P = 0.041) and 7 days (P = 0.003). Transcriptome analyses revealed large differences between anastomotic leakage and anastomotic healing at 6 and 24 hours, mainly driven by an overall downregulation of genes in anastomotic leakage. Transcriptomic analyses revealed large differences between normal and disturbed healing at 6 hours after surgery, which might eventually serve as early-onset biomarkers for anastomotic leakage.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23330648,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Dendritic amphiphiles strongly affect the biophysical properties of DPPC bilayer membranes.\nMolecular dynamics (MD) simulations were used to gain insight on the molecular interactions in a model biological membrane comprised of a bilayer with DPPC (dipalmitoylphosphotidylcholine) and antimicrobial dendritic amphiphile molecules [RCONHC(CH(2)CH(2)COOH)(3), where R is the saturated hydrocarbon tail (R = n-C(n)H(2n+1)), to be abbreviated as 3CAmn]. This study analyzes different biophysical properties of the equilibrated mixed bilayers, at 300 and 325 K, to determine how the presence of the 3CAmn, in varying concentrations and tail lengths, affects the lipid bilayer. Lipid tail order parameter data, bilayer thickness trends, and qualitative lipid tail tilt observations suggest that a molar ratio of 0.2 3CAm19\/DPPC is sufficient to induce a phase transition in the bilayer from gel to liquid crystalline at 300 K. These results also imply that the phase transition temperature of the mixed bilayer decreases upon incorporation of higher concentrations of 3CAm19. Hydrogen bonding takes place between the 3CAmn and DPPC at specific sites, as evidenced by the radial distribution function. Increased hydrogen bonding and the smaller headgroup size of the 3CAmn molecule result in a decrease in the total lateral area with higher concentrations of 3CAm19. Diffusion constants of 3CAmn varied with concentration and tail length; diffusion constants of DPPC and 3CAm19 increased with increasing 3CAm19 concentration at 300 K and shorter 3CAmn tails had higher diffusion constants at both temperatures. These computational studies provide a comprehensive understanding of the biophysical changes to model biological membranes by the association of 3CAmn.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29381350,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Scalable Access to Arylomycins via C-H Functionalization Logic.\nArylomycins are a promising class of \"latent\" antibacterial natural products currently in preclinical development. Access to analogues within this family has previously required a lengthy route involving multiple functional group manipulations that is costly and time-intensive on scale. This study presents a simplified route predicated on simple C-H functionalization logic that is enabled by a Cu-mediated oxidative phenol coupling that mimics the putative biosynthesis. This operationally simple macrocyclization is the largest of its kind and can be easily performed on gram scale. The application of this new route to a formal synthesis of the natural product and a collection of new analogues along with their biological evaluation is also reported.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30669973,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Surveillance for severe hand, foot, and mouth disease from 2009 to 2015 in Jiangsu province: epidemiology, etiology, and disease burden.\nSevere hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) is a common childhood illness caused by various enteroviruses. The disease has imposed increased burden on children younger than 5 years old. We aimed to determine the epidemiology, CNS complication, and etiology among severe HFMD patients, in Jiangsu, China. Epidemiological, clinical, and laboratory data of severe HFMD cases were extracted from 2009 to 2015. The CNS complication, annually severe illness rates, mortality rates, severity-PICU admission rates, severity-hospitalization rates, and so on were analyzed to assess the disease burden of severe HFMD. All analyses were stratified by time, region, population, CNS involvement and serotypes. The VP1 gene from EV-A71, CV-A16, CV-A6, CV-A10 and other enteroviruses isolates was amplified. Phylogenetic analysis was performed using MEGA5.0. Seven thousand nine hundred ninety-four severe HFMD cases were reported, of them, 7224 cases were inpatients, 611 were PICU inpatients, and 68 were fatal. The average severe illness rate, mortality rate, severity-fatality rate, severity-PICU admission rate, and severity-hospitalization rate were 14.54, 0.12,8506, 76,430, and 903,700 per 1 million, respectively. The severe illness rate was the highest in the 12-23 months age group, and the greatest mortality rate was in the 6-11 months age group. Geographical difference in severe illness rate and mortality were found. Patients infected with EV-A71 were at a higher proportion in different CNS involvement even death. EV-A71, CV-A16 and other enteroviruses accounted for 79.14, 6.49, and 14.47%, respectively. A total of 14 non-EV-A71\/ CV-A16 genotypes including CV-A2, CV-A4, CV-A 6, CV-A9, CV-A10, CV-B1, CV-B2, CV-B3, CV-B4, CV-B5, E-6, E-7, E-18, and EV-C96 were identified. Phylogentic analyses demonstrated that EV-A71 strains belonged to subgenotype C4a, while CV-A16 strains belonged to sub-genotype B1a and sub-genotype B1b of genotype B1. CV-A6 strains were assigned to genogroup F, and CV-A10 strains belonged to genogroup D. Future mitigation policies should take into account the age, region heterogeneities, CNS conditions and serotype of disease. Additional a more rigorous study between the mild and severe HFMD should be warranted to elucidate the difference epidemiology, pathogen spectrum and immunity patterns and to optimize interventions in the following study.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28536729,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Clinics in diagnostic imaging (177). Medical meniscus bucket-handle tear with medial oblique meniscomeniscal ligament.\nA 29-year-old man with a previous football injury to his left knee presented with pain of the same knee. The patient twisted it as he was turning a corner quickly while going up the stairs, leading to internal rotation of his femur on his tibia with his knee in flexion. MR imaging revealed a bucket-handle tear of the medial meniscus, as well as a complete tear of the anterior cruciate ligament. However, image interpretation was complicated by the presence of a medial oblique meniscomeniscal ligament, a rare normal variant among intermeniscal ligaments of the knee. All four recognised variants of intermeniscal ligaments are discussed, with emphasis on their prevalence, imaging and anatomical features, and the way in which they may mimic meniscal tears.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34412061,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Differentiation Potential of Cultured Extracellular DEAD-Box Helicase 4+ Oogonial Stem Cells from Adult Human Ovaries into Somatic Lineages.\nThe transdifferentiation potential of human oogonial stem cells (hOSCs) isolated using the antibody against extracellular DEAD-Box Helicase 4 (ecDDX4) remains undetermined. Hence, this study isolated OSCs from ovarian cortical pieces of premenopausal women using ecDDX4 antibody by magnetic activated cell sorting and expanded these cells under embryonic stem cell (ESC)-like culture conditions to inves-tigate their transdifferentiation potential. The number of ecDDX4+ cells obtained was variable in each isolation. When cultured on inactivated mouse embryonic fibroblast feeder layer with human leukemia inhibitory factor (hLIF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) in Minimum Essential Medium, the hOSCs aggregated, forming ESC-like colonies. The average size of these cells was around 10 \u03bcm. hOSCs in culture were positive for alkaline phosphatase and further formed embryoid bodies (EBs) when grown on low attachment plates containing Essential 6 Medium without hLIF and bFGF. Subsequently, EBs differentiated into 3 germ layers, which were confirmed by staining with beta-III tubulin (TUJ1) for ectoderm, alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) for endoderm, and smooth muscle actin (SMA) for mesoderm. Further, using appropriate induction media, the EBs derived from ecDDX4+ hOSCs were differentiated into somatic lineages such as adipocytes, osteoblasts, cardiomyocytes, and neuronal precursor-like cells, which were confirmed by immunofluorescence using antibodies against specific markers for each cell type. This study corroborated the previous findings that ovaries of adult women possess germ cell progenitors that can be isolated using ecDDX4, and these cells can be manipulated as pluripotent stem cells by culturing them under ESC-like culture conditions akin to their male counterparts, the spermatogonial stem cells. Further, these cells could differentiate into somatic lineages under specific signalling environments.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12023891,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Polarized cholesterol and phospholipid efflux in cultured gall-bladder epithelial cells: evidence for an ABCA1-mediated pathway.\nGall-bladder epithelial cells (GBEC) are exposed to high concentrations of cholesterol in bile. Whereas cholesterol absorption by GBEC is established, the fate of this absorbed cholesterol is not known. The aim of this study was to determine whether ABCA1 (ATP-binding cassette transporter A1) mediates cholesterol efflux in GBEC. Polarized canine GBEC were cultured on porous membrane filters allowing separate access to apical (AP) and basolateral (BL) compartments. After AP loading of cells with model bile and [14C]cholesterol, cholesterol efflux was measured. Cholesterol loading together with 8-bromo-cAMP treatment, which increased ABCA1 expression, led to a significant increase in cholesterol efflux with apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I) as the acceptor. Cholesterol efflux was observed predominantly into the BL compartment. Similar results were found for phospholipid efflux. Confocal immunofluorescence microscopy showed a predominantly BL ABCA1 localization. Interestingly, apoA-I added to either the AP or the BL compartments elicited BL lipid efflux with cAMP treatment. No paracellular or transcellular passage of 125I-apoA-I occurred. Ligands for the nuclear hormone receptors liver X receptor alpha (LXRalpha) and retinoid X receptor (RXR) elicited AP and BL cholesterol efflux, suggesting the involvement of both ABCA1- and non-ABCA1-mediated pathways. In summary, BL cholesterol\/phospholipid efflux consistent with an ABCA1-mediated mechanism occurs in GBEC. This efflux pathway is stimulated by cAMP and by LXRalpha\/RXR ligands, and in the case of the cAMP pathway appears to involve a role for biliary apoA-I.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17198374,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The alpha helix of ubiquitin interacts with yeast cyclin-dependent kinase subunit CKS1.\nUbiquitin serves as a molecular zipcode to direct and sort ubiquitinylated proteins into distinct biological pathways. Although novel modes of ubiquitin interaction have recently been characterized, conventional ubiquitin-binding domains (UBDs) recognize ubiquitin through a hydrophobic pocket centered around isoleucine 44 and lined by residues in beta sheets 3 and 4. In this study, we report a novel mode of interaction between ubiquitin and the cyclin-dependent kinase subunit of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Cks1p, an adaptor protein involved in transcriptional regulation through recruitment of proteasomal subunits to gene promoters. Cks1p interacts specifically with monoubiquitin and tetraubiquitin with an affinity several orders of magnitude greater than that of other ubiquitin-binding domains and in an unconventional fashion, which differs from interactions documented so far between ubiquitin and conventional UBDs. The loop between helices alpha 1 and alpha 2, and to a minor extent the N-terminal alpha-helix of Cks1p, are involved in the interaction with the alpha-helix of ubiquitin, instead of its I44-centered hydrophobic pocket. Not only is this the first time the alpha-helix of ubiquitin is implicated in a protein\/protein interaction, thereby shedding new light on the mechanisms of ubiquitin recognition, but also the first report of a direct physical interaction between ubiquitin and Cks1p, inferring a role for ubiquitin binding in the transcriptional function of Cks1p.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14523045,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Identification of App1 as a regulator of phagocytosis and virulence of Cryptococcus neoformans.\nCryptococcus neoformans is a fungal pathogen that, after inhalation, can disseminate to the brain. Host alveolar macrophages (AMs) represent the first defense against the fungus. Once phagocytosed by AMs, fungal cells are killed by a concerted mechanism, involving the host-cellular response. If the cellular response is impaired, phagocytosis of the fungus may be detrimental for the host, since C. neoformans can grow within macrophages. Here, we identified a novel cryptococcal gene encoding antiphagocytic protein 1 (App1). App1 is a cryptococcal cytoplasmic protein that is secreted extracellularly and found in the serum of infected patients. App1 does not affect melanin production, capsule formation, or growth of C. neoformans. Treatment with recombinant App1 inhibited phagocytosis of fungal cells through a complement-mediated mechanism, and Deltaapp1 mutant is readily phagocytosed by AMs. Interestingly, the Deltaapp1 mutant strain showed a decreased virulence in mice deficient for complement C5 (A\/Jcr), but it was hypervirulent in mice deficient for T and NK cells (Tgepsilon26). This study identifies App1 as a novel regulator of virulence for C. neoformans, and it highlights that internalization of fungal cells by AMs increases the dissemination of C. neoformans when the host cellular response is impaired.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19053827,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"5-(1-Acetoxyvinyl)-cycloSaligenyl-2',3'-dideoxy-2',3'- didehydrothymidine monophosphates, a second type of new, enzymatically activated cycloSaligenyl pronucleotides.\nIn our attempt to further develop the cycloSal pronucleotide concept, we report on 5-(1-acetoxyvinyl)-cycloSal-d4TMPs as a new type of enzyme-activated pronucleotides. These compounds were converted into 5-acetyl-cycloSal-d4TMPs by (carboxy)esterase cleavage inside the cells. The enzymatic reaction led to the formation of a strong electron-withdrawing substituent that strongly accelerates the chemical hydrolysis of the cycloSal nucleotide to give d4TMP. For some cycloSal-d4TMPs a separation into the diastereomers was achieved. The absolute configuration was assigned by correlation of circular dichroism spectra with similar compounds. Most of the compounds showed complete retention of antiviral activity in TK-deficient CEM\/TK(-) cells, which proves the TK-bypass potential of this approach. Interestingly, (S(P))-isomers of cycloSal phosphate triesters showed better antiviral activity in HIV-2-infected thymidine-kinase deficient CEM\/TK(-) cells than their (R(P))-counterparts.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22681630,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Practical considerations for sensitivity analysis after multiple imputation applied to epidemiological studies with incomplete data.\nMultiple Imputation as usually implemented assumes that data are Missing At Random (MAR), meaning that the underlying missing data mechanism, given the observed data, is independent of the unobserved data. To explore the sensitivity of the inferences to departures from the MAR assumption, we applied the method proposed by Carpenter et al. (2007).This approach aims to approximate inferences under a Missing Not At random (MNAR) mechanism by reweighting estimates obtained after multiple imputation where the weights depend on the assumed degree of departure from the MAR assumption. The method is illustrated with epidemiological data from a surveillance system of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in France during the 2001-2007 period. The subpopulation studied included 4343 HCV infected patients who reported drug use. Risk factors for severe liver disease were assessed. After performing complete-case and multiple imputation analyses, we applied the sensitivity analysis to 3 risk factors of severe liver disease: past excessive alcohol consumption, HIV co-infection and infection with HCV genotype 3. In these data, the association between severe liver disease and HIV was underestimated, if given the observed data the chance of observing HIV status is high when this is positive. Inference for two other risk factors were robust to plausible local departures from the MAR assumption. We have demonstrated the practical utility of, and advocate, a pragmatic widely applicable approach to exploring plausible departures from the MAR assumption post multiple imputation. We have developed guidelines for applying this approach to epidemiological studies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16984634,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Can care of elderly be measured? A method for estimating the individual care of recipients in community health care.\nAlmost every country in the Western world has great difficulties allocating enough financial resources to meet the needs in the care of the increasing elderly population. The main problem is common to all countries and concerns the efforts to meet elderly persons' needs on an individual level while still maintaining society's responsibility for distributing justice. The aim of this study is to elaborate an instrument for measuring the quality of individual care and staff's working time in order to allocate public resources fairly. The present study gives an account of a new classification system named TiC (Time in Care), indicating how it can be used most effectively and also investigating the validity and reliability of the system. All recipients in 13 sheltered homes for elderly care (n = 505) in a Swedish municipality were surveyed regarding the care they needed, in dimensions of General Care, Medical Care, Cognitive Dysfunction and Rehabilitation, and the time required. Construct validity was assessed by means of factor analysis. The inter-rater agreement of two raters concerning 79 recipients was measured using weighted Kappa. The stability of the instrument and its sensitivity to change were investigated through test-retest reliability measurements, conducted once a month during a six-month period. The content validity of the instrument was also assessed. Factor analysis resulted in a reduction of the number of items from 25 to 16 in three dimensions: General Care, Medical Care and Cognitive Dysfunction. The Kappa analysis showed satisfactory to excellent inter-rater agreement. The care need scores were basically stable but showed sensitivity to change in health status. The instrument was found to be useful and reliable for assessing individual needs in community health care.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23436403,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Identification of aptamers as specific binders and modulators of cell-surface receptor activity.\nIn recent years, the SELEX (Systematic Evolution of Ligands by EXponential enrichment) technology has established itself as a powerful tool in basic research with promising applications in diagnostics and therapeutics. Oligonucleotides with high-affinities to their targets, denominated as aptamers, are obtained from partially random oligonucleotide pools by reiterative in vitro selection cycles and screening for binding activity. The original technique allowing the identification of aptamers binding to soluble targets, has recently been extended in order to produce aptamers binding to complex targets including receptors and ion channels embedded in the plasma membrane as well as whole cell surfaces or parasite organisms. In addition to discussing the most recent developments with focus on possible diagnostic and therapeutic application, we provide a simple protocol which has been successfully used to select for RNA aptamers as allosteric modulators of nicotinic receptor activity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":5822573,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Diaphragm activity in obesity.\nDIAPHRAGM ACTIVITY DURING CARBON DIOXIDE BREATHING AND TOTAL CHEST COMPLIANCE DURING DIAPHRAGM RELAXATION WERE MEASURED IN EIGHT OBESE SUBJECTS: four with normal blood gases and four with hypercapnia and hypoxemia. Whereas there were no significant differences in the values of total chest compliance between the two groups, there were marked differences in diaphragm activity. The increase in integrated electrical activity in the diaphragm, per millimeter increment in carbon dioxide tension in the arterial blood, averaged 66 units (range: 48-90) in the obese-normal subjects and 17 units (range: 12-22) in the obese-hypoventilation subjects. These results suggest that an incapacity to increase the activity in the respiratory muscles, to levels necessary to overcome the load caused by obesity, plays a major role in the genesis of respiratory failure in obese subjects.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32622376,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Emergence of Kawasaki disease related to SARS-CoV-2 infection in an epicentre of the French COVID-19 epidemic: a time-series analysis.\nKawasaki disease is an acute febrile systemic childhood vasculitis, which is suspected to be triggered by respiratory viral infections. We aimed to examine whether the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is associated with an increase in the incidence of Kawasaki disease. We did a quasi-experimental interrupted time series analysis over the past 15 years in a tertiary paediatric centre in the Paris region, a French epicentre of the COVID-19 outbreak. The main outcome was the number of Kawasaki disease cases over time, estimated by quasi-Poisson regression. In the same centre, we recorded the number of hospital admissions from the emergency department (2005-2020) and the results of nasopharyngeal multiplex PCR to identify respiratory pathogens (2017-2020). These data were compared with daily hospital admissions due to confirmed COVID-19 in the same region, recorded by Public Health France. Between Dec 1, 2005, and May 20, 2020, we included 230 patients with Kawasaki disease. The median number of Kawasaki disease hospitalisations estimated by the quasi-Poisson model was 1\u00b72 per month (IQR 1\u00b71-1\u00b73). In April, 2020, we identified a rapid increase of Kawasaki disease that was related to SARS-CoV-2 (six cases per month; 497% increase [95% CI 72-1082]; p=0\u00b70011), starting 2 weeks after the peak of the COVID-19 epidemic. SARS-CoV-2 was the only virus circulating intensely during this period, and was found in eight (80%) of ten patients with Kawasaki disease since April 15 (SARS-CoV-2-positive PCR or serology). A second peak of hospital admissions due to Kawasaki disease was observed in December, 2009 (six cases per month; 365% increase ([31-719]; p=0.0053), concomitant with the influenza A H1N1 pandemic. Our study further suggests that viral respiratory infections, including SAR-CoV-2, could be triggers for Kawasaki disease and indicates the potential timing of an increase in incidence of the disease in COVID-19 epidemics. Health-care providers should be prepared to manage an influx of patients with severe Kawasaki disease, particularly in countries where the peak of COVID-19 has recently been reached. French National Research Agency.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31603021,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Teachers' and Students' Support for Corporal Punishment-A Practice Outlawed by the Government of Kenya.\nApplication of corporal punishment (CP) in Kenyan schools continues to be controversial in that CP is banned but esteemed by parents, some teachers, and even students. This investigation sought to establish and describe participants' degrees of support for the application of CP in schools in Eldoret Municipality. Randomly selected samples of 86 teachers and 192 students were investigated for their support of CP through survey questionnaires. Data analysis was undertaken using nonparametric and descriptive statistics. Teacher support for CP was found to be undifferentiated by gender, teaching experience, and professional qualification. Teachers with less than 12 years of teaching experience were more pro-CP in attitude compared with their older colleagues. A higher ratio of male-to-female teachers is associated with a greater tendency to apply CP in the schools investigated. Differences in support for CP among students were found by gender, age, and school grade. The findings have implications for school discipline and success of the government ban.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16995460,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Primary prophylaxis of variceal bleeding in cirrhotics awaiting liver transplantation.\nTo evaluate the efficacy and safety of prophylactic band ligation and propranolol versus propranolol alone for the primary prophylaxis of variceal bleeding in patients with high-risk esophageal varices listed for liver transplantation. Out of 152 cirrhotic patients included on the waiting list between January 2001 and January 2003, high-risk esophageal varices were detected in 72. These patients were randomized to undergo combined therapy or propranolol monotherapy. The actuarial probabilities of bleeding from esophageal varices and bleeding-related death were calculated by Kaplan-Meier method and compared using the log-rank test. Variceal eradication was achieved in 33 patients (91.6%) in 2.5 +\/- 1.4 ligation sessions. The mean daily dose of propranolol was 72 +\/- 25mg in the propranolol group and 68 +\/- 21 mg in the ligation group. Six percent of patients in the ligation group and 31% in the propranolol group had one episode of bleeding during the 18 months of follow-up (p = 0.03). The actuarial probabilities of bleeding-free survival after 18 months of follow-up, in the ligation and monotherapy groups were 96% and, respectively, 69% (p = 0.04). Endoscopic band ligation associated with propranolol significantly reduces the occurrence of the first episode of variceal bleeding and improves bleeding-related survival in cirrhotics included on the waiting list.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":939477,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Critical issues in mental health service delivery: what are the priorities?\nThe director, one other professional, and one para-professional in 515 community mental health centers and 193 state hospitals throughout the United States were asked to rate 57 critical issues in mental health services as to their importance now and five years from now. Issues judged most important now are services for children and for adolescents; five years from now children's services still top the list. Answers to two other questions revealed that respondents placed research on prevention at the top of a list of needed research areas, and that the most useful NIMH service to agencies was person-to-person assistance such as consultation and workshops.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1686582,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Comparison of three commercially available antibodies for flow cytometric monitoring of P-glycoprotein expression in tumor cells.\nCellular drug resistance to natural products is often due to the presence of an efflux pump which reduces intracellular drug content and chemosensitivity. A 170 kD cell surface resident P-glycoprotein is believed to act as the efflux pump. In the present report, we have compared three commercially available antibodies C-219, JSB-1, and mdr(Ab-1) for use in flow cytometric detection of P-glycoprotein positive cells. Our data show that C219 gives uniformly good results in a variety of murine and human tumor cell lines for detection of P-glycoprotein positive cells. We have also compared data of C219 stained cells analyzed in parallel on a flow cytometer equipped with a small laser (15 mW) and a large laser (5 watt) cell sorter. Data obtained on these two instruments are comparable. A staining protocol and data on dual staining of cells for DNA content by propidium iodide and P-glycoprotein expression after FITC labeling are also presented.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28258310,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Head injuries and the risk of concurrent cervical spine fractures.\nCervical spine injuries of variable severity are common among patients with an acute traumatic brain injury (TBI). We hypothesised that TBI patients with positive head computed tomography (CT) scans would have a significantly higher risk of having an associated cervical spine fracture compared to patients with negative head CT scans. This widely generalisable retrospective sample was derived from 3,023 consecutive patients, who, due to an acute head injury (HI), underwent head CT at the Emergency Department of Tampere University Hospital (August 2010-July 2012). Medical records were reviewed to identify the individuals whose cervical spine was CT-imaged within 1 week after primary head CT due to a clinical suspicion of a cervical spine injury (CSI) (n = 1,091). Of the whole cranio-cervically CT-imaged sample (n = 1,091), 24.7% (n = 269) had an acute CT-positive TBI. Car accidents 22.4% (n = 244) and falls 47.8% (n = 521) were the most frequent injury mechanisms. On cervical CT, any type of fracture was found in 6.6% (n = 72) and dislocation and\/or subluxation in 2.8% (n = 31) of the patients. The patients with acute traumatic intracranial lesions had significantly (p = 0.04; OR = 1.689) more cervical spine fractures (9.3%, n = 25) compared to head CT-negative patients (5.7%, n = 47). On an individual cervical column level, head CT positivity was especially related to C6 fractures (p = 0.031, OR = 2.769). Patients with cervical spine fractures (n = 72) had altogether 101 fractured vertebrae, which were most often C2 (22.8, n = 23), C7 (19.8%, n = 20) and C6 (16.8%, n = 17). Head trauma patients with acute intracranial lesions on CT have a higher risk for cervical spine fractures in comparison to patients with a CT-negative head injury. Although statistically significant, the difference in fracture rate was small. However, based on these results, we suggest that cervical spine fractures should be acknowledged when treating CT-positive TBIs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23330589,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Web-based environmental health education: fish facts.\nNurses and other health professionals are often asked about the benefits and risks of fish consumption. The combination of conflicting media messages about these risks and benefits and limited knowledge has led to confusion about how to properly advise people about safe fish consumption. \"Fish Facts for Health Professionals\" was the result of a collaborative effort of environmental, public health, medical, nursing, and media experts to create a web-based educational series to address the need for reliable information on fish consumption. Using interviews and real case studies, the 3- to 5-minute media modules provided a strong visual element while remaining conversational. The modules were viewed worldwide, and 121 participants successfully completed the requirements for professional continuing education credit.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26442808,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Is emotional intelligence relevant to a fighting force?\nOver the past decade, the expectations of what the fighting force are tasked to deal with has changed significantly. The high-risk, high-tempo operational environments in which personnel have deployed in recent years have been complex and diverse, creating a spectrum of conflict where having EI would be an essential attribute. EI could be beneficial for the organisation and the individuals involved, and historically, there has been a distinct lack of EI. For it to be better used within the military, the entire concept needs to be explored, accepted and integrated into training throughout the rank structure; from the recruitment process to throughout the career development with support from senior commanders. This article discusses the relevance of emotional intelligence (EI) to the British Armed Forces.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35354857,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-10":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Development of a high sensitivity RT-PCR assay for detection of SARS-CoV-2 in individual and pooled nasopharyngeal samples.\nThe COVID-19 pandemic requires sensitive detection of the SARS-CoV-2 virus from samples to ensure accurate detection of infected patients, an essential component of effective national track and trace programs. Due to the scaling challenges of large sample numbers, sample pooling is an attractive solution to reduce both extraction and amplification reagent costs, if high sensitivity can be maintained. We demonstrate that the Erba Molecular ErbaMDx SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR Kit (EM kit) delivers high sensitivity, achieving analytical detection of 5 copies\/reaction SARS-CoV-2 genomic RNA, and 200 copies\/mL SARS-CoV-2 inactivated virus spiked into nasopharyngeal swab (NP) samples and extracted through workflow. Furthermore, the EM Kit demonstrates high sensitivity in both pooled (1 in 5) and non-pooled NP samples when compared to an FDA Emergency Use Authorization approved assay, following published FDA guidelines. These findings demonstrate that the EM Kit is suitable for sample pooling, with minimal impact on assay performance. As the COVID-19 pandemic progresses, high sensitivity assays such as the EM Kit will have an important role in ensuring high throughput and sensitive testing using pooled samples can be maintained, delivering the most cost-effective sample extraction and amplification option for national test and trace programs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25526089,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"A unique role for p53 in the regulation of M2 macrophage polarization.\nP53 is critically important in preventing oncogenesis but its role in inflammation in general and in the function of inflammatory macrophages in particular is not clear. Here, we show that bone marrow-derived macrophages exhibit endogenous p53 activity, which is increased when macrophages are polarized to the M2 (alternatively activated macrophage) subtype. This leads to reduced expression of M2 genes. Nutlin-3a, which destabilizes the p53\/MDM2 (mouse double minute 2 homolog) complex, promotes p53 activation and further downregulates M2 gene expression. In contrast, increased expression of M2 genes was apparent in M2-polarized macrophages from p53-deficient and p53 mutant mice. Furthermore, we show, in mice, that p53 also regulates M2 polarization in peritoneal macrophages from interleukin-4-challenged animals and that nutlin-3a retards the development of tolerance to Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide. P53 acts via transcriptional repression of expression of c-Myc (v-myc avian myelocytomatosis viral oncogene homolog) gene by directly associating with its promoter. These data establish a role for the p53\/MDM2\/c-MYC axis as a physiological 'brake' to the M2 polarization process. This work reveals a hitherto unknown role for p53 in macrophages, provides further insight into the complexities of macrophage plasticity and raises the possibility that p53-activating drugs, many of which are currently being trialled clinically, may have unforeseen effects on macrophage function.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":924699,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Epidemiology abuse: epidemiologic and Psychosocial perspectives on heroin maintenance.\nTwo perspectives on drug abuse have evolved. Epidemiologic approaches treat drug abuse as if it were an infectious disease and deal with it within the framework of host, agent, and environment. Epidemiologists, approaching drug abuse from a public health standpoint, tend to think in terms of supply reduction. Psychosocial approaches focus on the demand aspect of drug abuse. Interest centers on psychological\/sociological explanations of drug-taking behavior, such as psychopathology and alienation, and on unintended consequences of supply-reduction strategies. The author proposes that the two models eomplement each other and need to be integrated. A policy of strict supply reduction for nonaddicts coupled with heroin maintenance for addicts is suggested. Such a policy combines epidemiologic emphasis on supply reduction with psychosocial stress on the impractible nature of addiction and the futility of prohibitionlike approaches.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17188940,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Effects of combined administration of captopril and DMSA on arsenite induced oxidative stress and blood and tissue arsenic concentration in rats.\nWe compared the therapeutic efficacy of captopril and a thiol chelating agent, meso 2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) either individually or in combination against arsenite induced oxidative stress and mobilization of metal in rats. Animals were exposed to 100 ppm arsenite as sodium arsenite in drinking water for six weeks followed by treatment with DMSA (50 mg\/kg, orally), captopril (50 mg\/kg, intraperitoneally) either alone or in combination, once daily for 5 consecutive days. Arsenite exposure led to a significant depletion of blood delta-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (ALAD) activity, glutathione and platelet levels while significantly increased the level of reactive oxygen species (in RBCs). Hepatic reduced glutathione (GSH) level showed a significant decrease while, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) levels increased on arsenite exposure indicating arsenite induced hepatic oxidative stress. Kidney GSH, GSSG, catalase and TBARS remained unchanged on arsenite exposure. Treatment with DMSA was effective in increasing ALAD activity while, captopril was ineffective when given alone. Captopril when co-administered with DMSA also provided no additional beneficial effect on blood ALAD activity but significant brought altered platelet counts back to the normal value. In contrast, administration of captopril alone provided significant beneficial effects on hepatic oxidative stress, and in combination with DMSA provided a more pronounced recovery in the TBARS level compared to the individual effect of DMSA and captopril. Renal biochemical variables remained insensitive to arsenite and any of the treatments. Interestingly, combined administration of captopril with DMSA had a remarkable effect in depleting total arsenic concentration from blood and soft tissues. These results lead us to conclude that captopril administration during chelation treatment had some beneficial effects particularly on the protection of inhibited blood ALAD activity, and depletion of arsenic level. The study supports our earlier conclusion that a co-administration of an antioxidant is more beneficial than monotherapy with the chelating agents, in order to achieve optimal effects of chelation in arsenite toxicity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28276317,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Inhibitors of PI3K\/ERK1\/2\/p38 MAPK Show Preferential Activity Against Endocrine-Resistant Breast Cancer Cells.\nCurrent mainstream pharmacological options for the treatment of endocrine-resistant breast cancer have limitations in terms of their side effect profile and lack of discrimination between normal and cancer cells. In the current study, we assessed the responses of normal breast epithelial cells MCF10A, estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) MCF-7, and ER-silenced pII breast cancer cells to inhibitors (either individually or in combination) of downstream signaling molecules. The expression\/activity of ERK1\/2, p38 MAPK, and Akt was determined by Western blotting. Cell proliferation, motility, and invasion were determined using MTT, wound healing, and Matrigel assays, respectively. Morphological changes in response to variation in external pH were assessed by light microscopy. Our results demonstrated that the inhibitors of ERK1\/2 (PD0325901), p38 MAPK (SB203580), and PI3K (LY294002) preferentially reduce breast cancer cell proliferation. In pII cells, they also reduced motility, invasion, and bleb formation induced by alkaline conditions. Combination treatment with lower concentrations of inhibitors was significantly more effective than single agents and was more effective against the cancer cell lines than the normal MCF10A. In contrast, the commonly used cytotoxic agent paclitaxel did not sufficiently discriminate between the MCF10A and the cancer cells. We concluded that combination therapy using ERK1\/2 inhibitor and either p38 MAPK or PI3K inhibitor may provide a greater therapeutic benefit in treating breast cancer by specifically targeting cancer cells with lower doses of each drug than needed individually, potentially reducing unwanted side effects.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31266355,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Normal basic 2D echocardiographic values to screen and follow up the athlete's heart from juniors to adults: What is known and what is missing. A critical review.\nIn the last few years, multiple echocardiographic nomograms have been published. However, normal values calculated in the general population are not applicable to athletes, whose hearts may be enlarged and hypercontractile. Accordingly, athletes require specific nomograms. Our aim is to provide a critical review of echocardiographic nomograms on two-dimensional (2D) measures for athletes. We performed a systematic search in the National Library of Medicine for Medical Subject Headings and free text terms including echocardiography, athletes, normal values and nomograms. The search was refined by adding the keywords heart, sport, elite, master, children and young. Twenty-eight studies were selected for the final analysis. Our research revealed that currently available ranges of normality for athletes reported by different authors are quite consistent, with limited exceptions (e.g. atria, aorta). Numerical and methodological limitations, however, emerged. Numerical limitations included a limited sample size (e.g. < 450 subjects) of the population assessed and the paucity of data in women, non-Caucasian athletes, and junior and master athletes. Some data on M-mode measurements are available, while those for some specific structures (e.g. left atrial (LA) area and volumes, right ventricular diameters and aorta) are limited or rare (e.g. LA area). There was heterogeneity in data normalization (by gender, sport type and ethnicity) and their expression was limited to mean values (Z-scores have rarely been employed), while variability analysis was often lacking or incomplete. We conclude that comprehensive nomograms using an appropriate sample size, evaluating a complete dataset of 2D (and three-dimensional) measures and built using a rigorous statistical approach are warranted.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11991714,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Search for genes positively selected during primate evolution by 5'-end-sequence screening of cynomolgus monkey cDNAs.\nIt is possible to assess positive selection by using the ratio of K(a) (nonsynonymous substitutions per plausible nonsynonymous sites) to K(s) (synonymous substitutions per plausible synonymous sites). We have searched candidate genes positively selected during primate evolution by using 5'-end sequences of 21,302 clones derived from cynomolgus monkey (Macaca fascicularis) brain cDNA libraries. Among these candidates, 10 genes that had not been shown by previous studies to undergo positive selection exhibited a K(a)\/K(s) ratio > 1. Of the 10 candidate genes we found, 5 were included in the mitochondrial respiratory enzyme complexes, suggesting that these nuclear-encoded genes coevolved with mitochondrial-encoded genes, which have high mutation rates. The products of other candidate genes consisted of a cell-surface protein, a member of the lipocalin family, a nuclear transcription factor, and hypothetical proteins.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16241463,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of microtextured substrates on the molecular orientation of a nematic liquid-crystal sample.\nThe in-plane orientation of a nematic liquid-crystal sample, confined by two periodic microtextured substrates, is theoretically analyzed by means of the Frank-Oseen continuum elastic theory and a suitable surface term. In addition, an easy optical method to produce such textures using photopolymeric films is presented. It is shown that, in the limit of large pattern period, the orientation depends only on the ratio of the splay and bend elastic constants K1\/K3 and on the easy axis direction of the individual stripes. In the particular case for which K1 = K3, the stability depends only on the easy axis direction for a general pattern period.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29560765,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A Retrospective Analysis of Bloodstream Infections in Pediatric Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplant Recipients: The Role of Central Venous Catheters and Mucosal Barrier Injury.\nBloodstream infections (BSIs) are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in children undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT). Indwelling central venous catheters (CVCs) increase risk for BSIs, yet mucosal barrier injury-associated laboratory-confirmed bloodstream infection (MBI-LCBI) may also occur due to translocation of pathogenic organisms from the gastrointestinal tract into the bloodstream. The purpose of this study was to determine the association between stool organisms and BSIs in children with CVCs who underwent HSCT. We performed a retrospective analysis of 78 children who received allogeneic HSCT over 3 years (2012-2014). Surveillance stool cultures were analyzed pre- and post-HSCT to assess correlations between organisms isolated from stool and CVC cultures. Twenty-four of 78 children experienced 31 BSIs. Fifteen (48%) of these isolates were identified in stool within 30 days of the positive blood culture, and 11 (36%) isolates met criteria for MBI-LCBI. Mucosal barrier injury leads to translocation of pathogenic organisms into the bloodstream and accounts for a significant number of BSIs in children undergoing HSCT. Nursing assessment of mucosal changes during HSCT and interventions to preserve intact mucosa are essential to prevent MBI-LCBI.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28729970,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Severe cyclophosphamide-related hyponatremia in a patient with acute glomerulonephritis.\nCyclophosphamide is frequently used to treat cancer, autoimmune and renal diseases, such as rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis. Its side effects are well-known, including bone marrow depression, infections, alopecia, sterility, bladder malignancy and hemorrhagic cystitis. Moreover, in some cases cyclophosphamide use has been related to the onset of hyponatremia, by development of a syndrome of inappropriate antidiuresis. Indeed, severe hyponatremia has been previously reported in patients treated with high-dose or moderate-dose of intravenous cyclophosphamide, while only few cases have been reported in patients treated with low dose. Here, we discuss a case of a syndrome of inappropriate antidiuresis followed to a single low-dose of intravenous cyclophosphamide in a patient with a histological diagnosis of acute glomerulonephritis, presenting as acute kidney injury. After cyclophosphamide administration (500 mg IV), while renal function gradually improved, the patient developed confusion and headache. Laboratory examinations showed serum sodium concentration dropped to 122 mmol per liter associated with an elevated urinary osmolality of 199 mOsm\/kg, while common causes of acute hyponatremia were excluded. He was successfully treated with water restriction and hypertonic saline solution infusion with the resolution of the electrolyte disorder. This case, together with the previous ones already reported, highlights that electrolyte profile should be strictly monitored in patients undergoing cyclophosphamide therapy in order to early recognize the potentially life-threatening complications of acute water retention.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9550597,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Cervical spinal epidural abscess following acupuncture: successful treatment with antibiotics.\nA 67-year-old man with poorly controlled diabetes mellitus (DM) had acupuncture several times a month for chronic shoulder muscle stiffness. A few days after acupuncture in the posterior nuchal region, a low-grade fever and backache developed, and subacutely progressed. Finally he complained of gait disturbance, and then respiratory distress appeared. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) demonstrated high cervical epidural abscess with massive soft tissue inflammation and vertebral osteomyelitis. Conservative treatment with antibiotics was effective and it was well documented by following serial MRIs. This case suggested that needle acupuncture should be avoided for immunocompromised subjects such as patients with poorly controlled DM.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20368480,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Partner violence and psychological well-being: buffer or indirect effect of social support.\nTo determine the effect of two kinds of intimate partner violence (IPV) (physical and psychological) in the previous 12 months (current) and before the previous 12 months (past) on psychological well-being among women aged 18 to 70 years who attend primary healthcare centers in Spain; and to analyze the effect of the duration of lifetime IPV and social support on psychological well-being. A cross-sectional survey was carried out among 10,322 women randomly recruited in primary healthcare centers in Spain. Outcome variables were three indicators of psychological well-being (psychological distress, psychotropic drug use, and self-perceived health). Predictor variables were the different types of IPV, IPV timing (current and past), duration of lifetime IPV, and social support. Logistic regression models were fitted. Both types of IPV increased the probability of worse psychological well-being in both IPV timings (current and past). Longer duration of lifetime IPV, friends network size, and tangible support were independently associated with worse psychological well-being. However, an interaction between current IPV and family network size was found. The probability of poor self-perceived health status was reduced by 29% among women exposed to current IPV who had a large family network (odds ratio, 0.71; 95% confidence interval, 0.54-0.94). Psychological well-being was independently affected by IPV (types and duration) and social support (friends network size, tangible support). Only family network size mitigates the negative consequences of IPV on self-perceived health status.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23870885,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Sacha inchi (Plukenetia volubilis): a seed source of polyunsaturated fatty acids, tocopherols, phytosterols, phenolic compounds and antioxidant capacity.\nFatty acids (FA), phytosterols, tocopherols, phenolic compounds, total carotenoids and hydrophilic and lipophilic ORAC antioxidant capacities were evaluated in 16 cultivars of Sacha inchi (SI) seeds with the aim to valorise them and offer more information on the functional properties of SI seeds. A high \u03b1 linolenic (\u03b1-Ln) fatty acid content was found in all cultivars (\u03c93, 12.8-16.0 g\/100 g seed), followed by linoleic (L) fatty acid (\u03c96, 12.4-14.1g\/100g seed). The ratio \u03c96\/\u03c93 was within the 0.83-1.09 range. \u03b3- and \u03b4-tocopherols were the most important tocopherols, whereas the most representative phytosterols were \u03b2-sitosterol and stigmasterol. Contents of total phenolics, total carotenoids and hydrophilic and lipophilic antioxidant capacities ranged from 64.6 to 80 mg of gallic acid equivalent\/100g seed; from 0.07 to 0.09 mg of \u03b2-carotene equivalent\/100g of seed; from 4.3 to 7.3 and, from 1.0 to 2.8 \u03bcmol of Trolox equivalent\/g of seed, respectively, among the evaluated SI cultivars. Results showed significant differences (p<0.05) among the evaluated SI cultivars in the contents of \u03c93, \u03c96, antioxidant capacities and other evaluated phytochemicals. SI seeds should be considered as an important dietary source of health promoting phytochemicals.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30095249,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Influencing Early Stages of Neuromuscular Junction Formation through Glycocalyx Engineering.\nAchieving molecular control over the formation of synaptic contacts in the nervous system can provide important insights into their regulation and can offer means for creating well-defined in vitro systems to evaluate modes of therapeutic intervention. Agrin-induced clustering of acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) at postsynaptic sites is a hallmark of the formation of the neuromuscular junction, a synapse between motoneurons and muscle cells. In addition to the cognate agrin receptor LRP4 (low-density lipoprotein receptor related protein-4), muscle cell heparan sulfate (HS) glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) have also been proposed to contribute to AChR clustering by acting as agrin co-receptors. Here, we provide direct evidence for the role of HS GAGs in agrin recruitment to the surface of myotubes, as well as their functional contributions toward AChR clustering. We also demonstrate that engineering of the myotube glycocalyx using synthetic HS GAG polymers can replace native HS structures to gain control over agrin-mediated AChR clustering.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24389322,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"[HDL, or non-HDL: that is the question. Possibilities of pharmacological treatment in residual dyslipidaemia].\nInstead of LDL-cholesterol, non-HDL-cholesterol is proposed as a secondary lipid target when triglyceride level is above 2.3 mmol\/L. Non-HDL-cholesterol target values are 0.8 mmol\/L higher than those for LDL-cholesterol in the same cardiovascular risk category. Currently, the main issue of lipidology is the degree by which the cardiovascular risk can be reduced with the treatment of residual dyslipidemia that exists under statin therapy. In such a role the examined agents have essentially failed despite their more or less profound effect on HDL-cholesterol and\/or non-HDL-cholesterol. The largest loser has been the nicotinic acid. The results of cardiovascular, otherwise controversial fish oil studies cannot be considered convincing because of the administered low doses. In a combination with statin (i) ezetimibe may have role if the LDL-cholesterol target cannot be reached with statin monotherapy, or (ii) fibrates, in case of large increase of triglyceride level, or in less severe hypertriglyceridemia if it is associated with considerable decrease in HDL-cholesterol level. Potential further possibilities are: (i) cholesterol ester transfer protein inhibitors that dramatically raise HDL-cholesterol, while reduce LDL-cholesterol, or (ii) proprotein convertase subtilisin\/kexin 9 inhibitors that markedly decrease LDL-cholesterol even on the top of statin.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28698456,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Combining NMR Spectroscopy and Chemometrics to Monitor Structural Features of Crude Hep-arin.\nBecause of the complexity and global nature of the heparin supply chain, the control of heparin quality during manufacturing steps is essential to ensure the safety of the final active pharmaceutical ingredient (API). For this reason, there is a need to develop consistent analytical methods able to assess the quality of heparin early in production (i.e., as the crude heparin before it is purified to API under cGMP conditions). Although a number of analytical techniques have been applied to characterize heparin APIs, few of them have been applied for crude heparin structure and composition analyses. Here, to address this issue, NMR spectroscopy and chemometrics were applied to characterize 88 crude heparin samples. The samples were also analyzed by strong anion exchange HPLC (SAX-HPLC) as an orthogonal check of the purity levels of the crudes analyzed by NMR. The HPLC data showed that the chemometric analysis of the NMR data differentiated the samples based on their purity. These orthogonal approaches differentiated samples according their glycosaminoglycan (GAG) composition and their mono and disaccharide composition and structure for each GAG family (e.g., heparin\/heparan, dermatan sulfate, and chondroitin sulfate A). Moreover, quantitative HSQC and multivariate analysis (PCA) were used to distinguish between crude heparin of different animal and tissue sources.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26423741,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Urinary Phytoestrogens Are Associated with Subtle Indicators of Semen Quality among Male Partners of Couples Desiring Pregnancy.\nPhytoestrogens have been associated with subtle hormonal changes, although effects on male fecundity are largely unknown. We evaluated associations between male urinary phytoestrogen (isoflavone and lignan) concentrations and semen quality. This study was a prospective cohort study of 501 male partners of couples desiring pregnancy and discontinuing contraception. Each participant provided up to 2 semen samples that were analyzed for 35 semen quality endpoints the following day. Linear mixed-effects models were used to estimate associations between baseline urinary phytoestrogen concentrations and semen quality parameters, adjusted for age, body mass index (BMI), research site, and serum lipid and cotinine concentrations. Most associations between urinary phytoestrogens and semen quality parameters were null. However, select individual phytoestrogens were associated with semen quality parameters, with associations dependent on the class of phytoestrogens and modified by BMI. Specifically, genistein and daidzein were associated with a lower percentage of normal sperm and increased abnormalities in semen morphology, with reduced associations observed as BMI increased (P < 0.05) [percentages (95% CIs) of normal morphology by WHO traditional criteria: genistein, main effect: -5.61% (-9.42%, -1.79%); interaction: 0.19% (0.06%, 0.31%) per log unit increase; daidzein, main effect: -5.35% (-9.36%, -1.34%); interaction: 0.18% (0.05%, 0.32%) per log unit increase]. Enterolactone was associated with fewer abnormalities in semen morphometry and morphology and decreased DNA fragmentation, with reduced associations observed as BMI increased (P < 0.05) [percentages (95% CIs) of abnormalities in the neck and midpiece: enterolactone, main effect: -3.35% (-6.51%, -0.19%); interaction: 0.11% (0.01%, 0.21%) per log unit increase]. These results suggest that male urinary phytoestrogen concentrations characteristic of the US population may be associated with subtle indicators of male fecundity and semen quality but were not associated with couple fecundity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16221395,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-26":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Central nervous system tumours in children. An evaluation of the completeness and validity of the Cancer Registry].\nThe aim of this study was to evaluate the registration of childhood CNS tumours in the Danish Cancer Registry (CR) from 1980 to 1996, based on completeness and validity. The completeness of the CR was estimated by examination of the Danish National Hospital Register and an independent hospital registry. To determine the validity of the CR, 640 cases of childhood CNS tumours identified in the CR were compared with the corresponding medical record, with regard to cancer morphology and date of diagnosis. The completeness of the CR was 98-99%. For 82% of all cases, the morphology registered in the CR was identical with that in the medical record. The validity of the morphological diagnosis was 84% for astrocytomas, 88% for ependymomas, 95% for medulloblastomas, 47% for other gliomas and 76% for miscellaneous intracranial and intraspinal neoplasms. In a further 7% of all cases, the morphological diagnosis in the CR was incorrect with respect to details but correct within these main diagnostic groups, 6% were tumours of another main diagnostic group than that registered in the CR and 5% were not tumours, were tumours outside the study criteria or were registered in the hospital journal as suspected tumours. The date of diagnosis in the CR and that in the medical records were concordant in 88% of the evaluated cases. Registration of childhood CNS tumours in the CR was highly complete, while the validity of the morphological diagnosis differed among the main diagnostic groups. The relatively low validity might be explained by the anatomic location of CNS tumours, which makes tissue sampling for histological verification and therefore diagnosis difficult.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19053467,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Cytoplasmic water and hydration layer dynamics in human red blood cells.\nThe dynamics of water in human red blood cells was measured with quasielastic incoherent neutron scattering in the temperature range between 290 and 320 K. Neutron spectrometers with time resolutions of 40, 13, and 7 ps were combined to cover time scales of bulk water dynamics to reduced mobility interfacial water motions. A major fraction of approximately 90% of cell water is characterized by a translational diffusion coefficient similar to bulk water. A minor fraction of approximately 10% of cellular water exhibits reduced dynamics. This slow water fraction was attributed to dynamically bound water on the surface of hemoglobin which accounts for approximately half of the hydration layer.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30094497,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Flexed femoral component improves kinematics and biomechanical effect in posterior stabilized total knee arthroplasty.\nThe kinematics and biomechanics of the knee joint are important in ensuring patient satisfaction and functional ability after total knee arthroplasty (TKA). There has been no study on knee joint mechanics with regard to the sagittal alignment of the femoral component. The objective of this study is to determine the extent of the impact of the femoral component's sagittal alignment on kinematics and biomechanics. A validated computational TKA model was used. The femoral component was simulated at - 3\u00b0, 0\u00b0, 5\u00b0, and 7\u00b0 of flexion in the sagittal plane. This study evaluated the tibiofemoral (TF) joint kinematics, contact point, quadriceps force, and contact stress on the patellofemoral (PF) joint under a deep-knee-bend condition. The kinematics of the TF joint in the posterior direction increased with the flexion of the femoral component position. For all tasks, the overall posterior locations of the TF contact points were observed in the medial and lateral compartments as the femoral component flexion angle increased. The quadriceps force and contact stress on the PF joint decreased with the femoral component flexion. This study found that the femoral component sagittal position is an important factor in knee joint mechanics. In this study, the flexion of femoral component showed a stable reconstruction of the knee extensors' mechanism. Surgeons may consider neutral-to-mild flexed femoral component position, without concerns of anterior notching of the femoral cortex.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28367697,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Life lessons after classes: investigating the influence of an afterschool sport program on adolescents' life skills development.\nThe purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of an afterschool sport program on adolescents' life skills development and to identify which characteristics of the program would have an influence on their life skills acquisition. The participants were six children (4 boys, 2 girls) who participated in a 12-week afterschool program implemented in two elementary schools, as well as the two program instructors who implemented the afterschool sport program. Data were collected from individual interviews with program participants and instructors. The inductive analysis of data revealed four categories of life skills developed through program participation: (1) playing well and being more active, (2) connecting well and having better social skills, (3) coping well and becoming a better problem solver, and (4) dreaming well and having a better sense of purpose. Regarding the characteristics of the program that influenced life skills development, three themes emerged: (1) having a clear goal and building consensus with stakeholders, (2) establishing a firm yet flexible structure, and (3) instructors' use of effective strategies for teaching life skills.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8355139,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Does childhood personality predict longevity?\nKey models relating personality and health predict that personality in childhood is indicative of later health and longevity. Longevity predictions are tested using data derived from the 7-decade longitudinal study initiated by L. M. Terman 1921 (L. M. Terman & M. H. Oden, 1947). Variables representing major dimensions of personality are used in statistical survival analyses of longevity in 1,178 males and females. Conscientiousness in childhood was clearly related to survival in middle to old age. This finding (a) establishes that childhood personality is related to survival decades into the future, (b) confirms the validity of the conscientiousness dimension in conceptualizing personality, and (c) points to likely and unlikely pathways linking personality to health. Contrary to expectation, cheerfulness (optimism and sense of humor) was inversely related to longevity, suggesting a possible need for reconceptualization of its health relevance.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29375045,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Increased gene expression of selected vesicular and glial glutamate transporters in the frontal cortex in rats exposed to voluntary wheel running.\nThough positive effects of exercise on mood and well being are well recognised, the central regulatory mechanisms are still not fully understood. The present study was aimed to testing the hypothesis that voluntary wheel running activates the gene expression of glutamate transporters in the brain cortex of rats. The animals were assigned to the control and voluntary wheel running groups. Voluntary wheel running rats had free access to a stainless steel activity wheel for 3 weeks. The daily running distance gradually increased to 6.21 \u00b1 1.05 km by day 21. Vesicular glutamate transporter 3 (VGLUT3) mRNA levels in the frontal cortex were significantly elevated in the group of running animals compared to the values in sedentary controls, while the expression of other vesicular transporters were unchanged. The concentrations of mRNA coding for glial glutamate transporter 1 (GLT-1), but not glutamate aspartate transporter (GLAST) were increased by running. Voluntary wheel running resulted in an elevation of plasma corticosterone and increased expression of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the frontal cortex. In conclusion, chronic voluntary wheel running results in increased gene expression of VGLUT3 and GLT-1 in the brain cortex without changes in other glutamate transporter subtypes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34427213,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Normative values of visual evoked potential in adults.\nVisual evoked potentials (VEP) are used to determine the function of visual pathway from the optic nerve to visual cortex. Various factors may affect VEP response, viz., technical and environmental. The aim of this study is to obtain the normative value of VEP latency and amplitude parameters in adulthood in Indonesia, as well as the relationship of height, weight, body mass index (BMI), head circumference, and visual acuity with the variety of latency and amplitude values of VEP parameters. It is a cross-sectional study on 120 healthy subjects consisting of 60 males and 60 females between 18 and 65 years old. Height, weight, BMI, head circumference, and visual acuity were measured and continued with VEP examination using a 26' checkerboard pattern on the left and right eyes alternately. All data were collected and analyzed with the Shapiro-Wilk test using statistical software R version 3.5.2. Mean value of P100 latency (interocular latency) of left and right eye were 104.6 \u00b1 3.4 ms and 104.1 \u00b1 3.4 ms, respectively, as well as 9.8 \u00b1 4.7 \u03bcV and 10.3 \u00b1 5.4 \u03bcV for the amplitude. There was no significant difference between the male and female group, as well as on the age group. Female significantly exhibited a higher P100 amplitude than male. The greater the age, the lower amplitude of P100 significantly. Gender and age do not affect the P100 latency value but only affect P100 amplitude. Height, weight, BMI, head circumference, and visual acuity also do not affect the P100 latency and amplitude.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14525488,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Field-induced structural aging in glasses at ultralow temperatures.\nIn nonequilibrium experiments on the glasses Mylar and BK7, we measured the excess dielectric response after the temporary application of a strong electric bias field at millikelvin temperatures. A model recently developed describes the observed long time decays qualitatively for Mylar [Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 105501(2003)]], but fails for BK7. In contrast, our results on both samples can be described by including an additional mechanism to the mentioned model with temperature independent decay times of the excess dielectric response. As the origin of this novel process beyond the \"tunneling model\" we suggest bias field induced structural rearrangements of \"tunneling states\" that decay by quantum mechanical tunneling.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25420954,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Tuning the phase transition temperature of thermal-responsive OEGylated poly-L-glutamate via random copolymerization with L-alanine.\nTwo series of copolymers were prepared by ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of \u03b3-(2-methoxyethoxy)esteryl-L-glutamate (L-EG2Glu) N-carboxyanhydride (NCA) and L-alanine (L-Ala) using HMDS and PEG-NH2 as initiator, respectively. Poly-(L-EG2Glu-co-L-Ala) displayed lower critical solution temperature (LCST) behavior but had a lower phase transition temperature than poly-L-EG2Glu at similar molecular weight (MW). The clouding point (CP) of random copolypeptides can be tuned by altering the alanine content and overall MW. Circular dichroism (CD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) indicated that the thermal-responsive properties depended on the content of ordered conformations. PEG-b-poly-(L-EG2Glu-co-L-Ala) can spontaneously form hydrogels in water at room temperature. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) revealed that these hydrogels were formed by nanoribbons. The intermolecular hydrogen bonding among copolypeptide blocks accounted for the nanoribbon assemblies and hydrogel network formation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16232813,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Biological deodorization of hydrogen sulfide using porous lava as a carrier of Thiobacillus thiooxidans.\nBiological deodorization of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) was studied using porous lava as a carrier of Thiobacillus thiooxidans in a laboratory-scale biofilter. Three different samples of porous lava, A, B, and C, which were obtained from Cheju Island in Korea, were used. The water-holding capacities of samples A, B and C were 0.38, 0.25, and 0.47 g-H2O\/g-lava, respectively. The pHs and densities of the lava samples ranged from 8.25-9.24 and 920-1190 kg\/m3, respectively. The buffering capacities, expressed as the amount of sulfate added to lower the pH to 4, were 60 g-SO4(2-)\/kg-lava for sample A, 50 g-SO4(2-)\/kg-lava for B, and 90 g-SO4(2-)\/kg-lava for C. To investigate the removal characteristics of H2S by the lava biofilters, T. thiooxidans was immobilized on the lava samples. Biofilters A and C showed a removal capacity of 428 g-S.m(-3).h(-1) when H2S was supplied with 428 g-S.m(-3).h(-1) of inlet load at a space velocity (SV) of 300 h(-1). At the same inlet load and SV, the removal capacity of biofilter B was 396 g-S.m(-3).h(-1). The H2S critical loads of biofilters A, B and C at a SV of 400 h(-1) were 396, 157 and 342 g-S.m(-3).h(-1), respectively. It is suggested that natural, porous lava is a promising candidate as a carrier of microorganisms in biofiltration.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22666234,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Efficacy of a \"Rescue\" Ciprofloxacin-Based Regimen for Eradication of Helicobacter pylori Infection after Treatment Failures.\nThe aim of our study was to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of a ciprofloxacin-based regimen for H. pylori eradication failures as an alternative to bismuth based quadruple therapy. Methods. prospective single-center study. Patients in whom a first eradication trial with omeprazole\/esomeprazole, clarithromycin plus amoxicillin or tinidazole\/metronidazole had failed were included. H. pylori status: established by histology, rapide urease test and polymerase chain reaction. esomeprazole 20 mg, ciprofloxacin 500 mg, and metronidazole 500 mg, administered together before breakfast and dinner for 10 days. Susceptibility testing was performed by the Epsilometer test. Ciprofloxacin resistance was defined as a MIC of \u22651 \u03bcg\/mL. Eradication was established by a negative 13C-UBT and 4-6 weeks post-therapy. Efficacy and side effects were determined. Results. 34 patients were enrolled, 32 completed the study. Compliance was excellent (100%). Side effects were mild. Ciprofloxacin-based therapy cured 65% (22\/34) of patients by intention to treat and 69% (22\/32) per protocol analysis. The prevalence of ciprofloxacin resistance was 8%. Conclusions. The effectiveness of ciprofloxacin-based therapy was greatly reduced despite the high prevalence of ciprofloxacin sensitive H. pylori strains. Bismuth based quadruple therapy still remain the best choice as a \"rescue\" regimen in our region.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14563038,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Longitudinal analysis of data with multiple binary category choices.\nIn many experiments, subjects mark all categories that apply when responding to a cafeteria or multiple-response question. One exact and two approximate permutation methods are described to analyze binary answers to multiple-response questions in longitudinal experimental designs, wherein the same or matched subjects respond to the same multiple-response question over two or more trials. The described methods provide probabilities, under the null hypothesis, that the multiple binary responses do not differ over trials.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29379235,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Levoatrial cardinal vein with normal left ventricle: A forgotten cause of pulmonary arterial hypertension.\nLevoatrial cardinal vein (LACV) is anomalous connection between left atrium or pulmonary veins and systemic veins such as innominate vein or superior vena cava. This persistence of splanchnic circulation occurs when there is left-sided obstructive cardiac lesions such as hypoplastic left heart or mitral atresia. In this report we present three cases of LACV with well-developed left heart, without any obstructive lesions. All our cases presented with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and had associated intracardiac shunt such as ventricular\/atrial septal defect and supracardiac partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection. Apart from the above shunts, LACV contributed to PAH in these cases. It is important to detect and report LACV as this may require surgical correction along with other defects. If LACV goes undetected during imaging workup, it may cause persistent PAH postoperatively.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17191700,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Use of endoscopic surgery and combined radiotherapy for inoperable cancer of the esophagus].\nA comparative evaluation of the efficacy of combined radiotherapy (112 - group 1) carried out in conjunction with a battery of procedures of endoscopic surgery plus combined radiotherapy (76 - group 2) for inoperable cancer of the esophagus was conducted in 118 patients. Maximum local regression was reported in group 2 (77.6%) as compared with only 33.9% in group 1. Relatively longer relapse-free period (133 days) and lower residual growth incidence (44.6%) were in group 2, too, as compared with 107 days and 63.5% in group 1. Mean survival duration was nearly identical in both groups - ca.15 months. Similarly, survival rates in groups 2 and 1 were: 69.2 and 58.8% (year 1), 22.2 and 22.3% (year 2), and 11.3 and 12.9% (year 3), respectively. It was concluded that combinations of endoscopic surgery and combined radiotherapy for inoperable cancer of the esophagus improved immediate results and reduced the rates of residual tumor incidence. However, no significant differences in mean duration or rates of survival were observed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6729363,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Peripheral arteriography at an advanced age using a new contrast agent].\nA new non-ionic contrast agent containing 300 mg iodine\/ml ( Jopamidol ) was used in angiographic examination of over 200 patients with a median age of about 70 years. A total of 492 arterial injections was performed. There were no serious side-effects, especially, there were no cardio-vascular disturbances nor any renal dysfunctions. It was remarkable though to note, the lack of subjective discomfort in most patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3078623,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Fractures of the mandible.\nAn overview of the various methods available for treatment of mandibular fractures is presented; these range from the application of arch bars and intermaxillary fixation alone to open reduction with compression plating. Whenever possible, particularly in young patients, mandibular fractures requiring open reduction are approached transorally.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20355534,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nanowire photodetectors.\nThe use of nanowires and nanowire structures as photodetectors is an emerging research topic. Despite the large amount of reports on nanowire photoresponse that appeared in the literature over the last decade, the mechanism leading to high photosensitivity and photoconductive gain in high aspect ratio nanostructures has been elucidated only recently. Novel device architectures integrated in single nanowire devices are also being actively studied and developed. In this article, the general nanowire photodetector concepts are reviewed, together with a detailed description of the physical phenomena occurring in nanowire photoconductors and phototransistors, with some examples from recent experimental results obtained in our groups. An outlook on future directions toward the use of semiconductor nanowire photoconductors as intrachip interconnects, single-photon detectors, and image sensors, is also given.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14558095,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Increased apoptotic neutrophils and macrophages and impaired macrophage phagocytic clearance of apoptotic neutrophils in systemic lupus erythematosus.\nTo evaluate whether patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have a higher rate of apoptosis in and secondary necrosis of polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) and macrophages compared with controls; to compare the rate of macrophage phagocytic clearance of apoptotic PMNs in patients with SLE and healthy controls; to evaluate whether in vitro PMN and macrophage apoptosis and secondary necrosis, and the ability of macrophages to phagocytose apoptotic bodies, are correlated with lupus disease activity; and to determine whether macrophage clearance of apoptotic bodies in patients with SLE and normal controls is related to certain serum factors. Thirty-six patients with SLE and 18 healthy, nonsmoking volunteers were studied. PMNs and monocytes were isolated from fresh blood and cultured in the presence of different sources of serum. Apoptotic PMNs and macrophages were examined by annexin V binding and morphology on May-Giemsa-stained cytopreparations, at different time points. The presence of secondary necrotic PMNs and macrophages was verified by staining with trypan blue. Macrophage phagocytosis of apoptotic PMNs was measured using a coded, observer-blinded, microscopically quantified phagocytosis assay. Cells were cultured in the presence of serum obtained from healthy subjects or from patients with SLE. At 5 and 24 hours, the percentage of apoptotic PMNs from patients with SLE was significantly higher than that of PMNs from healthy subjects. At 24 and 48 hours, the percentage of secondary necrotic PMNs from patients with SLE was also significantly higher than the percentage of necrotic PMNs from controls. Serum from patients with SLE accelerated the rate of apoptosis in and secondary necrosis of PMNs from healthy subjects. Macrophages from SLE patients were less capable of phagocytosing apoptotic PMNs compared with macrophages obtained from controls. Macrophages from patients with active SLE were less capable of phagocytosing apoptotic PMNs than were macrophages from patients with inactive SLE, but the difference was not statistically significant. The percentage of phagocytosis of apoptotic PMNs by macrophages from SLE patients correlated negatively with the SLE Disease Activity Index, serum levels of anti-double-stranded DNA, and the erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and correlated positively with serum levels of C3, C4, and albumin, the hemoglobin level, and the leukocyte count. Serum from SLE patients not only significantly increased macrophage apoptosis in cells from healthy subjects but also remarkably down-regulated the clearance of apoptotic PMNs by macrophages from healthy subjects. In contrast, serum from healthy subjects significantly increased phagocytosis of apoptotic PMNs by macrophages from SLE patients. The observed increase of apoptotic PMNs and macrophages and the poor ability of macrophages from patients with SLE to phagocytose apoptotic bodies may indicate an impaired clearance mechanism, which may be mediated by factors in a patient's serum.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37668131,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Escitalopram-associated rhabdomyolysis.\nThis case history describes a case of rhabdomyolysis resulting from treatment with escitalopram as monotherapy at the recommended dose. This is a rare and little-known side effect of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35348338,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Detection of SARS-CoV-2 Proteins in Wastewater Samples by Mass Spectrometry.\nThe recent COVID-19 pandemic overwhelmed the health system worldwide, and there was a need to track outbreaks and try to use this information as an early warning system. Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) enabled detection of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in wastewater treatment plant influents. Until now, the most used technique for this detection has been the quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR)-based quantification of SARS-CoV-2 RNA. This study proposes a mass spectrometry (MS)-based method that detected specific SARS-CoV-2 proteins in wastewater, 5 and 6 days ahead of the case data for two municipalities. We identified unique peptides of eight proteins related to the SARS-CoV-2 virus and COVID-19 infection. We detected the nonstructural protein (NSP) pp1ab (transcribed after host cell infection) most frequently in all of the samples. As a result, we suspect that in the active cases of COVID-19, the pp1ab protein is present in high abundance in the urine and feces and that this protein could be used as an alternative biomarker. These data were collected before mass vaccination occurred in the population.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12180798,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-26":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A modified method to culture human osteoblasts from bone tissue specimens using fibrin glue.\nTo establish primary osteoblast cultures is a challenge. The methods for isolation mostly comprise digestion with extracellular matrix degrading enzymes after mincing the bone samples. These methods are labour intensive and lead to an inefficient recovery of cells. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop a more reliable method for culturing human osteoblasts. Bone tissue specimens were obtained from 20 patients undergoing reconstructive operations. Bone specimens were dissected and put into petri dishes with the bottom covered with fibrin glue. To identify the nature of the outgrowing cells, cytological staining was performed, i.e. Von Kossa, Azan, Dahl's, alkaline phosphatase, and collagen type I. Mean time interval of cellular outgrowth was 12 days after preparing the bone tissue specimens. Confluence of the cell cultures was reached after four to five weeks on average. All cells were positively stained using Von Kossa, alkaline Phosphatase and collagen type I. The matrix consisted of lime, calcium and collagens. A simplified method to culture osteoblasts from all kinds of bone tissue specimens is presented. The fibrin glue allows firm adhesion of the specimens to the petri dish. This allows the cells to grow out without disturbance. Normally, due to movements during medium exchange the adhesive bonds are disrupted. The fibrin glue retains the adhesive bonds. This method allows studying human osteoblasts in different clinical settings.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23884601,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Large deletions in the CBF gene cluster at the Fr-B2 locus are associated with reduced frost tolerance in wheat.\nWheat plants which are exposed to periods of low temperatures (cold acclimation) exhibit increased survival rates when they are subsequently exposed to freezing temperatures. This process is associated with large-scale changes in the transcriptome which are modulated by a set of tandemly duplicated C-repeat Binding Factor (CBF) transcription factors located at the Frost Resistance-2 (Fr-2) locus. While Arabidopsis has three tandemly duplicated CBF genes, the CBF family in wheat has undergone an expansion and at least 15 CBF genes have been identified, 11 of which are present at the Fr-2 loci on homeologous group 5 chromosomes. We report here the discovery of three large deletions which eliminate 6, 9, and all 11 CBF genes from the Fr-B2 locus in tetraploid and hexaploid wheat. In wild emmer wheat, the Fr-B2 deletions were found only among the accessions from the southern sub-populations. Among cultivated wheats, the Fr-B2 deletions were more common among varieties with a spring growth habit than among those with a winter growth habit. Replicated freezing tolerance experiments showed that both the deletion of nine CBF genes in tetraploid wheat and the complete Fr-B2 deletion in hexaploid wheat were associated with significant reductions in survival after exposure to freezing temperatures. Our results suggest that selection for the wild-type Fr-B2 allele may be beneficial for breeders selecting for varieties with improved frost tolerance.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22685717,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Expression and effects of microRNA-155 in the livers of septic mice].\nTo evaluate the effects of microRNA-155 (miR-155) on liver injury in mice with sepsis. One hundred and twenty BALB\/c mice were randomly divided into two groups of equal number according to random number table. Sepsis was induced by intraperitoneal injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS,20 mg\/kg). The mice were sacrificed at the time-points of 0, 2, 6, 12, 24, 48 hours. Blood and liver tissue were collected, and the levels of tumor necrosis factor- \u03b1 (TNF- \u03b1 ), interleukin (IL-6, IL-10) in serum and liver homogenate and alanine transaminase (ALT) in serum were determined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA). The injury of liver tissue was evaluated by histopathology. The expression of miR-155 in liver tissue was assessed by fluorescent quantitation reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The levels of TNF- \u03b1 , IL-6 and IL-10 in serum and liver homogenate of septic mice increased with passage of time, and then the levels of TNF-\u03b1 and IL-6 lowered after reaching the peak value, but remained higher than that of control group.TNF-\u03b1 (ng\/L) reached the peak value at 2 hours post-LPS-injection (serum: 1538.46 \u00b1 102.12 vs. 64.52 \u00b1 18.44,liver homogenate: 255.26 \u00b1 41.23 vs. 60.21 + 13.55, both P<0.05). The level of IL-6 (\u03bcg\/L) reached the peak value at 6 hours post-LPS-injection (serum: 875.33 \u00b1 102.37 vs. 153.72 \u00b1 20.67, liver homogenate: 9.22 + 0.82 vs. 3.35 \u00b10.36, both P<0.05), and that of IL-10 (ng\/L) reached the peak value at 48 hours post-LPS-injection (serum: 520.13 \u00b1 88.52 vs. 23.43 3.01, liver homogenate: 260.12 + 50.38 vs. 16.37 \u00b1 3.71, both P<0.05). There were significant differences in above indexes between septic and control group (all P<0.05). The serum level of ALT (U\/L) rose with passage of time, reaching the peak value at 48 hours post-LPS-injection (603.26 + 70.21 vs. 45.84 + 5.64, P<0.05). The values showed significant differences between septic and control group (P<0.05). A large number of leucocytic infiltration was found in liver. Hepatic tissue showed architectural distortion. Hepatocyte vacuolation and nodular necrosis were obvious at 12 hours post-LPS-injection. Relative expression of miR-155 was found to be increased at 2 hours post-LPS-injection, reaching its peak value at 12 hours post-LPS-injection [(72.96 \u00b1 9.34)-fold of control group, P<0.05]. The increase in miR-155 expression might play an important role in the mechanism of liver injury during sepsis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19040049,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Study on patients with benign prostate hyperplasia treated by the therapeutic regimen of watchful waiting during a twenty-four-month follow-up period].\nTo analyze the changes of the main clinic parameters in patients with benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) treated by watchful waiting and to find out the risk factors contributing the progress of BPH. According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria,61 patients diagnosed as BPH were recruited in the group of watchful waiting. Data on IPSS, prostate volume, prostate specific antigen (PSA), maximum flow rate, average flow rate and residual urine volume during follow-up period of 24 months, were recorded. At 0, 12, 24 months, the IPSS, prostate volume (ml), PSA(ng\/ml), maximum flow rate (ml\/s) were 7 +\/- 4, 4 +\/- 3, 4 +\/- 3; 33.0 +\/- 9.0, 33.8 +\/- 7.6, 30.9 +\/- 6.8; 1.53 +\/- 1.35, 1.43 +\/- 0.95, 1.22 +\/- 0.99; 17.1 +\/- 5.0, 17.2 +\/- 6.1, 19.2 +\/- 8.0, respectively. At the end of the 24-months follow-up, all observed parameters had a little improvement except the average prostate volume in this group. Of the 61 patients, 42 (62%) progressed slowly or became better when comparing with baseline data of the study. Moreover, the difference between at 24-month and at baseline period, IPSS showed statistical significance (P < 0.0001) in t test. In the study of BPH progression risk factors by logistic regression analysis, prostate volume (P = 0.0910) and residual urine volume (P = 0.0780) showed a trend of becoming the risk factors. Our study showed that patients treated with watchful waiting had slow progression and majority of these patients did not need to alter their treatment options. Through data analysis, we noticed that the changes of data watchful waiting patients could help us to choose more precise and reasonable treatment option in clinical practice.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36275697,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Molecular subtypes based on Wnt-signaling gene expression predict prognosis and tumor microenvironment in hepatocellular carcinoma.\nBased on increasing research evidence, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is heterogeneous, and genetic profiling has led to the identification of multiple subtypes of this disease. To advance our knowledge and the ability to use individualized medicine in the treatment of HCC, it is essential to perform a complete and methodical characterization of various molecular subtypes. The canonical Wnt\/\u03b2-catenin pathway is an evolutionarily conserved complicated signaling mechanism that plays a role in carcinogenesis and progression of HCC. In this study, we acquired RNA sequencing, somatic mutation, and clinical data from 701 patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas and Gene Expression Omnibus databases and stratified patients into two subgroups: WNT-high and WNT-low. In general, the WNT-high subtype is associated with an immunosuppressive microenvironment, poor prognosis, cancer-related pathways, and a low response to immune checkpoint therapy. We also found that WNT3 is negatively linked to CD8+ T-cell infiltration using multiple immunofluorescence assays. Finally, we developed a WNT-related prognostic model to predict the survival time of patients with HCC. In summary, we developed a new classification scheme for HCC based on Wnt signaling signatures. This classification produced substantial clinical effects, both in terms of assessing patient prognosis and immunotherapy administered to patients with HCC.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28685711,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Static and time-resolved mid-infrared spectroscopy of Hg0.95Cd0.05Cr2Se4 spinel.\nStatic and time-resolved mid-infrared spectroscopy of ferromagnetic single crystal Hg0.95Cd0.05Cr2Se4 was performed below the absorption edge, in order to reveal the origin of the electronic transitions contributing to the magneto-optical properties of this material. The mid-infrared spectroscopy reveals a strong absorption peak around 0.236 eV which formerly was assigned to a transition within the selenide-chromium complexes ([Formula: see text] Se-Cr2+). To reveal the sensitivity of the transition to the magnetic order, we performed the studies in a temperature range across the Curie temperature and magnetic fields across the value at which the saturation of ferromagnetic magnetization occurs. Despite the fact that the Curie temperature of this ferromagnetic semiconductor is around 107 K, the intensity of the mid-infrared transition reduces substantially increasing the temperature, so that already at 70 K the absorption peak is hardly visible. Such a dramatic decrease of the oscillator strength is observed simultaneously with the strong red-shift of the absorption edge in the magnetic semiconductor. Employing a time-resolved pump-and-probe technique enabled us to determine the lifetime of the electrons in the excited state of this optical transition. In the temperature range from 7 K to 80 K, the lifetime changes from 3 ps to 6 ps. This behavior agrees with the phenomenon of giant oscillator strength described earlier for weakly bound excitons in nonmagnetic semiconductors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37867462,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"In Situ Rapid Analysis of Squalene, Tocopherols, and Sterols in Walnut Oils Based on Supercritical Fluid Chromatography-Quadrupole Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry.\nQuantification of liposoluble micronutrients in large-scale vegetable oil samples is urgently needed, because their health benefits are increasingly emphasized. However, current analytical methods are limited to either labor-intensive preparation processes or time-consuming chromatography separation. In this work, an online oil matrix separation strategy for direct, rapid, and simultaneous determination of squalene, tocopherols, and phytosterols in walnut oil (WO) was developed on the basis of the lipid class separation mode of supercritical fluid chromatography. A single run was completed in 13 min containing 6 min of column cleaning and balancing. Satisfactory limit of detections (0.05-0.20 ng\/mL), limit of quantifications (0.15-0.45 ng\/mL), recoveries (70.61-101.44%), and matrix effects (78.43-91.62%) were achieved, indicating the reliability of this method. In addition, eight sterol esters were identified in WO, which have not previously been reported. The proposed method was applied to characterize the liposoluble micronutrient profile of WO samples obtained from different walnut cultivars, geographical origins, and processes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3064449,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Russia-Halle reciprocity in medicine of the 18th century. V. Halle graduates employed in Russia and their medical fields].\nIn the 18th century about 40 medical men of non-Russian descent graduated in Halle temporarily or permanently entered the Tsarist services. Their activities are to be proved in nearly all fields of medicine. They occupied positions as court-physicians and military surgeons, worked in hospitals or as free practitioners. Some of them occupied important positions in research and education at the Academy of Petersburg and the University of Moscow.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3074839,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Neoplastic transformation of 3T3 mouse embryo cells with c-myc- and c-Ha-ras-1 oncogenes.\n1. Peptide growth factors and products of some oncogenes are likely to be active in common regulatory pathways that control the cell cycle. 2. Cell transformation by DNA-mediated transfections with cloned oncogenes is an approach that can provide insight into the mechanisms of both growth factor action and cell cycle regulation. 3. This paper deals with this approach, summarizing and discussing transfection experiments of mouse c-myc and human c-Ha-ras-1 cloned oncogenes into mouse embryo Balb-3T3 cells.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30092137,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Oligo(ethylene glycol) Length Effect of Water-Soluble Ru-Based Olefin Metathesis Catalysts on Reactivity and Removability.\nA study of reaction kinetics and removal efficiency of a family of ruthenium (Ru)-based olefin metathesis catalysts containing ethylene-glycol-oligomer-tethered N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligands has been carried out, with a focus on variation of ethylene glycol oligomer length. The length of ethylene glycol oligomer was precisely defined by sequential addition of repeating units. Due to the dual solubility of ethylene glycol oligomer, the produced catalyst was highly soluble in both aqueous and organic solvents (dichloromethane). In aqueous solution, the polarity increase with longer ethylene glycol oligomers enhanced the reactivity in homogeneous solution. The length of ethylene glycol oligomer did not significantly affect olefin metathesis rate in organic solution. Yet the removal efficiency of catalyst strongly relies on the length of ethylene glycol oligomer. A longer ethylene glycol oligomer demonstrated better catalyst removal efficiency. The tested catalyst removal method was aqueous extraction from organic solution using its higher water solubility property compared to its lower organic solvent (dichloromethane) solubility property. The results obtained from the aqueous extraction catalyst removal method demonstrated similar and\/or better removal rates compared to previously reported host-guest catalyst removal methods.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12030020,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Antibiotic activity of P. aeruginosa against MRSA and Candida albicans].\nThe antibiotic activity demonstrated by P. aeruginosa (Bacillus pyocyaneus) has been reported more than one hundred years ago by Emmerich et al (1899). Studies on such bacterial interference between P. aeruginosa and other pathogenic bacteria or fungi have not been extensively reported in recent years. In this paper, we report on the anti MRSA activity and anti Candida activity demonstrated by clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa (34 strains). The antibiotic activity was tested by reversed agar plate method, as previously reported, and the degree of the activity was expressed as the diameter of the zone of growth inhibition. The stability of both anti MRSA activity and anti Candida activity was evaluated at the time after 24 and 48-hr incubation. Also the effect of agar plate with or without 5% sheep blood on antibiotic activity was evaluated. Strong anti MRSA activity and anti Candida activity was shown at the time after 24-hr incubation. At the time after 48-hr incubation, anti MRSA activities were significantly suppressed but anti Candida activities were persisted. The inhibitory activity was correlated with dye production of P. aeruginosa. Some strains having non or weak dye production, showed the inhibitory activity by 48-hr incubation. Result from these strains without suppression of anti Candida activity by additional blood may suggest that the existence of a new factor produced by P. aeruginosa. Because of frequent isolation of MRSA or Candida from clinical materials, we must consider bacterial flora and bacterial interference against pathogenic bacteria at the time of the antibiotic choice for the patients infected or colonized with P. aeruginosa.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32375806,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Reappraisal on pharmacological and mechanical treatments of heart failure.\nHeart failure (HF) is a highly frequent disorder with considerable morbidity, hospitalization, and mortality; thus, it invariably places pressure on clinical and public health systems in the modern world. There have been notable advances in the definition, diagnosis, and treatment of HF, and newly developed agents and devices have been widely adopted in clinical practice. Here, this review first summarizes the current emerging therapeutic agents, including pharmacotherapy, device-based therapy, and the treatment of some common comorbidities, to improve the prognosis of HF patients. Then, we discuss and point out the commonalities and areas for improvement in current clinical studies of HF. Finally, we highlight the gaps in HF research. We are looking forward to a bright future with reduced morbidity and mortality from HF.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30301834,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Red cell distribution width in coronary heart disease: prediction of restenosis and its relationship with inflammatory markers and lipids.\nRed cell distribution width (RDW) is associated with a poor prognosis and adverse events in cardiovascular diseases. The aims of this study were to investigate the relationship between serum RDW levels and outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention and to identify potential novel laboratory markers for evaluating the risk of in-stent restenosis (ISR) with stable angina pectoris. A total of 261 patients with coronary heart disease from Dongfeng General Hospital implanted with a coronary drug-eluting stent (DES) were enrolled in the study. We retrospectively analysed the role and prognosis values of serum parameters that were measured before angiography at the first admission. According to the results of the second angiogram, the patients were divided into two groups as follows: the non-ISR group (n=143) and the ISR group (n=118). The clinical characteristics and all laboratory data were considered for univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses. The white cell count, RDW, neutrophil count, C-reactive protein (CRP), total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), blood urea nitrogen and uric acid levels were higher in the ISR group than in the non-ISR group. There were no differences in the rates of hypertension, fasting plasma glucose, red cell count, neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio, platelet count, triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and creatinine levels. In the univariate regression analysis, age, diabetes, white cell count, neutrophil count, RDW, CRP, total cholesterol, LDL-C, blood urea nitrogen, Gensini score and number of stents were predictors of ISR. According to the multiple logistic regression analysis, age, RDW and number of stents were independent predictors of ISR. Preprocedural blood parameters can independently predict ISR. Our study results demonstrated that a high preprocedural RDW is an independent predictor of DES restenosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9151075,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sustained attention and aging: overcoming the decrement?\nA literature review found equivocal evidence of a performance decline at senescence on sustained attention (vigilance) tasks. The strongest evidence for such age effects was from Parasuraman and Giambra (PG; 1991). It was hypothesized that reduced perceptual and information-processing abilities of older adults (i.e., non-sustained attentional components of the task) were responsible for the age effects reported by PG and that such outcomes could be eliminated or reduced by minimizing the influence of those components. In Tasks 1 (n = 457) and 2 (n = 427), which used PG's procedure and stimulus conditions, age effects on detection accuracy and on the detection time decrement were not found. False alarms were significantly greater in the old group than in the young group. In Task 3 (n = 417), which minimized non-sustained attention components, some marginal evidence of age effects emerged. Potential explanations of these outcomes, such as an extremely small age effect, sampling bias, power differences, and undetected visual difficulties are considered, and further manipulations and controls are proposed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6737626,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Trends in postneonatal mortality in the United States. 1962 through 1978.\nTrends in postneonatal mortality (PNM) rates in the United States were analyzed for the period 1962 through 1978 using National Center for Health Statistics birth and death certificate data. The PNM rates declined from 5.5 to 3.6 per 1,000 live births for whites and from 15.6 to 7.6 per 1,000 live births for blacks. Most of the decline in PNM rates could be accounted for by a drop in mortality from infectious diseases. A dramatic increase occurred in the reported rates of unexplained sudden infant death (SID), which emerged as the leading reported cause of PNM. The second leading cause of PNM was birth defects among whites and infectious diseases among blacks. Gaps in PNM continued to exist between whites and blacks, and between metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas. These gaps suggest that further improvement in PNM may be possible by improving access to health care. The massive increase in the rates of SID, although partially explained by coding or reporting phenomena, warrants active pursuit for a better pathophysiologic and etiologic delineation of the entity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3035567,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Specific requirement for ATP at an early step of in vitro transcription of human mitochondrial DNA.\nThe ATP concentrations allowing transcription of both heavy- and light-strand of human mtDNA in a HeLa cell mitochondrial lysate were found to cover a broad range, with a maximum around 2.5 mM, and with reproducible differences in the ATP response curves for the two transcription events. Direct measurements showed that nonspecific ATP degradation during the assay did not account for the high ATP requirement. 5'-Adenylyl imidodiphosphate (p[NH]ppA), an ATP analog with a nonhydrolyzable beta-gamma bond, was unable to substitute for ATP in supporting mtDNA transcription but greatly stimulated this transcription in the presence of a low concentration of exogenous ATP. Evidence was obtained indicating that p[NH]ppA did not support an early event in mtDNA transcription (formation of preinitiation complex or initiation), whereas this analog could substitute effectively for ATP in the subsequent elongation steps. These results pointed to a specific requirement for ATP at an early step of the transcription process.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30664993,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"A review on 5-aminosalicylic acid colon-targeted oral drug delivery systems.\nSite-specific colon drug delivery is a practical approach for the treatment of local diseases of the colon with several advantages such as rapid onset of action and reduction of the dosage of the drug as well as minimization of harmful side effects. 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA) is a drug of choice in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease and colitis. For the efficient delivery of this drug, it is vital to prevent 5-ASA release in the upper part of the gastrointestinal tract and to promote its release in the proximal colon. Different approaches including chemical manipulation of drug molecule for production of prodrugs or modification of drug delivery systems using pH-dependent, time-dependent and\/or bacterially biodegradable materials have been tried to optimize 5-ASA delivery to the colon. In the current review, the different strategies utilized in the design and development of an oral colonic delivery dosage form of 5-ASA are presented and discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17825200,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Recent results of carotid stenting for treatment of extracranial carotid occlusive disease].\nTo analyze the recent results of CAS performed by vascular surgeons to treat extracranial carotid occlusive disease (ECOD) retrospectively in a single medical center. Forty-eight carotid arteries underwent CAS. Procedures were transfemoral. The postoperative follow-up was separated to 2 periods (<or=30 d and >30 d). The mortality and all kinds of complications were analyzed. 91.7% of them were men; 8.3% were women; mean age was (70.6 +\/- 5.9) years. Preoperative asymptomatic cases were 37.5%; symptomatic cases were 62.5%. Mean internal carotid artery diameter stenosis was (71.2 +\/- 14.8)%. 43.8% patients had single preoperative risk factors; two or more of these risk factors were present in 47.9%. In 33.3% cases the contralateral carotid artery had 50% or greater stenosis or was completely occluded. Technical success was achieved in 100%. There were no death, no major or minor stroke but 4.2% TIA. Carotid sinus compression syndrome occurred in 18.8% of patients. At follow-up > 30 days, there had been 4.2% instances of in-stent recurrent stenosis great than 50%, noted by color doppler ultrasound scanning. No stent deformity happened. CAS can be preformed safely enough in patients with ECOD at high CEA risk, with lower perioperative morbidity and mortality.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7945727,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Enthalpy of oxygen addition to anthraquinone derivatives determines their ability to mediate NADH oxidation.\nAnthraquinone derivatives are important anti-cancer drugs possessing undesirable cardiotoxic properties related to their peroxidating activity. Previous studies have suggested that this activity can be caused by the binding of a singlet oxygen molecule to an anthraquinone, followed by the one-electron reduction of the complex formed, and its further dissociation into anthraquinone and the superoxide anion radical. In this study, we have carried out semi-empirical PM3 calculations of the energetics of the formation of peroxides and hydroperoxides from hydroxy, amino and imino derivatives of 9,10-anthracenedione. These calculations were supplemented with ab initio calculations, using STO-3G, 4-31G and 6-31G basis sets, on the energetics of oxygen binding to 1,4-dihydroxy and 1,4-diaminobenzene. It was found that for anthraquinones possessing hydroxyl groups, the formation of hydroperoxides is significantly favored energetically compared with the formation of peroxides. In the case of anthraquinones containing only amino groups, the formation of hydroperoxides is less favorable, owing to a greater enthalpy of amino group deprotonation compared with that of hydroxyl group. The effect of electrostatic solvation on the energetics of oxygen addition was also investigated using the Conductor-like Screening Model (COSMO) approach. The effect of solvation on peroxide formation was found to be small, while in the case of hydroperoxides solvation was found to lower the enthalpy of this reaction by approximately 10 kcal\/mol for epsilon = 78 (simulating an aqueous environment). Significant stabilization of hydroperoxides was estimated in weakly polar media (epsilon = 4) which can simulate the quinone-reducing center of the mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase. The enthalpies obtained for oxygen addition to anthraquinones involving the formation of the most stable of the peroxide and hydroperoxide species are in good correlation with the rates of NADPH oxidation stimulated by these compounds and, in turn, with their peroxidating properties. This correlation can be directly implemented in the design of non-peroxidating anthraquinone-derived anti-cancer drugs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6725726,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Epidemiology of parturient paresis: predisposing factors with emphasis on dry cow feeding and management.\nDry cow feeding and management were examined for predisposing factors for parturient paresis in 1,983 Holstein cows from New York Dairy Herd Improvement Cooperative records, monthly technician visits to 31 farms, and questionnaires. Variables were estimated transmitting ability, season of calving, lactation number, parturient paresis, estimated potential hours per day of exercise, and estimated nutrient intakes (protein, calcium, phosphorus, and energy) during the preceding dry period. Nutrient intakes were estimated by farmers for the average dry cow (season dependent) in their herd for the early (greater than or equal to 3 wk prepartum) and late portions of the dry period. Intakes were percentages of National Research Council requirements for a 550 kg dry cow in the last 2 mo of gestation. Nutrient intakes were coded by ranking the herds by percentage of each requirement. Codes represented the approximate lower third, middle third, and top third of the herds. Individual cows were assigned their herd nutrition codes by their season of calving. For stepwise discriminant analysis, the group variable was parturient paresis (94 cases, 1,889 controls). As lactation number (most important) and estimated transmitting ability (second most important) increased, incidence of parturient paresis increased. Parturient paresis was reduced with high dietary protein fed during the early stage of the dry period, with low phosphorus and high energy (lead feeding) closer to calving, and with decreased opportunity for exercise. Most cows were overfed calcium, especially in the late stage of the dry period, but calcium intake was not important when phosphorus was low.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29565828,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A Metabolomics Approach Uncovers Differences between Traditional and Commercial Dairy Products in Buryatia (Russian Federation).\nCommercially available and traditional dairy products differ in terms of their manufacturing processes. In this study, commercially available and traditionally fermented cheese, yogurt, and milk beverages were analyzed and compared. The metabolomic technique of ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time of flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF) in the MSE mode was used in combination with statistical methods, including univariate analysis and chemometric analysis, to determine the differences in metabolite profiles between commercially and traditionally fermented dairy products. The experimental results were analyzed statistically and showed that traditional and commercial dairy products were well differentiated in both positive and negative ion modes, with significant differences observed between the samples. After screening for metabolite differences, we detected differences between traditional milk beverages and yogurt and their commercial counterparts in terms of the levels of compounds such as l-lysine, l-methionine, l-citrulline, l-proline, l-serine, l-valine and l-homocysteine, and of short peptides such as Asp-Arg, Gly-Arg, His-Pro, Pro-Asn. The greatest difference between commercially available and traditional cheese was in the short peptide composition, as commercially available and traditional cheese is rich in short peptides.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30308348,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"The economic burden of child maltreatment in the United States, 2015.\nChild maltreatment incurs a high lifetime cost per victim and creates a substantial US population economic burden. This study aimed to use the most recent data and recommended methods to update previous (2008) estimates of 1) the per-victim lifetime cost, and 2) the annual US population economic burden of child maltreatment. Three ways to update the previous estimates were identified: 1) apply value per statistical life methodology to value child maltreatment mortality, 2) apply monetized quality-adjusted life years methodology to value child maltreatment morbidity, and 3) apply updated estimates of the exposed population. As with the previous estimates, the updated estimates used the societal cost perspective and lifetime horizon, but also accounted for victim and community intangible costs. Updated methods increased the estimated nonfatal child maltreatment per-victim lifetime cost from $210,012 (2010 USD) to $830,928 (2015 USD) and increased the fatal per-victim cost from $1.3 to $16.6 million. The estimated US population economic burden of child maltreatment based on 2015 substantiated incident cases (482,000 nonfatal and 1670 fatal victims) was $428 billion, representing lifetime costs incurred annually. Using estimated incidence of investigated annual incident cases (2,368,000 nonfatal and 1670 fatal victims), the estimated economic burden was $2 trillion. Accounting for victim and community intangible costs increased the estimated cost of child maltreatment considerably compared to previous estimates. The economic burden of child maltreatment is substantial and might off-set the cost of evidence-based interventions that reduce child maltreatment incidence.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22694253,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The effect of fucoidan on tyrosinase: computational molecular dynamics integrating inhibition kinetics.\nFucoidan is a complex sulfated polysaccharide extracted from brown seaweed and has a wide variety of biological activities. In this study, we investigated the inhibitory effect of fucoidan on tyrosinase via a combination of inhibition kinetics and computational simulations. Fucoidan reversibly inhibited tyrosinase in a mixed-type manner. Time-interval kinetics showed that the inhibition was processed as first order with biphasic processes. For further insight, we simulated dockings with various sizes of molecular models (monomer to decamer) of fucoidan and showed that the best binding energy change results were obtained from the pentamer (-1.89 kcal\/mol) and the hexamer (-1.97 kcal\/mol) models of AutoDock Vina. The molecular dynamics simulation confirmed the binding mechanisms between tyrosinase and fucoidan and suggested that fucoidan mostly interacts with several residues including copper ions located in the active site. Our study suggests that fucoidan might be a potential natural antipigment agent.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17199929,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Contraceptive efficacy of bioadhesive benzalkonium chloride gel in comparison with nonoxynol-9 gel].\nTo compare the contraceptive efficacy of a new spermicide, bioadhesive benzalkonium chloride (BZK) gel, with the traditional nonoxynol (NP-9) gel. A total of 240 child-bearing age women volunteers were randomly divided into two groups: 120 using the BZK gel for contraception, and the other 120 using the NP-9 gel. Using life table method and log-rank test, we compared the pregnancy rates and discontinuation rates after follow-up for 6 months in two groups. No abnormal findings of cervical smears were detected before and after this clinical trial in all 240 women. The follow-up rates at 6 months were 100.0% and 99.2% in the BZK group and the NP-9 group, respectively. The 6-month gross cumulative pregnancy rates of typical use were 1.72 and 0.91 per 100 women (P > 0.05), respectively. If we excluded the 2 pregnant women (1 in each group), who did not correctly or consistently use the spermicides for every intercourse, the cumulative pregnancy rates at 6 months in perfect use would be 0.87 and 0 per 100 women (P > 0.05). And the gross cumulative discontinuation rates due to allergy or other adverse reactions at 6 months in typical use were 0 and 2.68 per 100 women (P > 0.05), respectively. The contraceptive efficacy of bioadhesive BZK gel is the same as that of the NP-9 gel, and it is more acceptable in clinical use.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28702928,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Underuse of Oral Anticoagulants and Inappropriate Prescription of Antiplatelet Therapy in Older Inpatients with Atrial Fibrillation.\nSeveral studies have shown that the prescription of antiplatelet therapy (APT) is associated with an increased risk of oral anticoagulant (OAC) underuse in patients aged 75 years and over with atrial fibrillation (AF). An associated atheromatous disease may be the underlying reason for APT prescription. The objective of the study was to determine whether the association between underuse of OAC and APT prescription was explained by the presence of an atheromatous disease. We performed a retrospective, observational, single-centre study between 2009 and 2013 based on administrative data. Patients aged 75 years and over with non-valvular AF were identified in a database of 72,090 hospital stays. Prescriptions of anti-thrombotic medications and their association with the presence of atheromatous disease were evaluated by the mean of a logistic regression. A total of 2034 hospital stays were included (mean age 84.3 \u00b1 5.2 years). The overall prevalence of known atheromatous disease was 25.9%. OAC underuse was observed in 58.5% of the stays. In multivariable analysis, the prescription of an APT was associated with an increased risk of OAC underuse [odds ratio (OR) 6.85; 95% confidence interval (CI) 5.50-8.58], independently of the presence of a concomitant known atheromatous disease (OR 0.78; 95% CI 0.60-1.01). Among the 692 stays with APT monotherapy (34.0%), 232 (33.5%) displayed an atheromatous disease. The underuse of OAC is associated with the prescription of APT in older patients with AF, regardless of the presence or absence of known atheromatous disease. Our results suggest that APT is often inappropriately prescribed instead of OAC.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17176185,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Attentional bias for smoking and affective stimuli: a Stroop task study.\nPrior research has demonstrated attentional biases to smoking-related cues among smokers, and several lines of research suggest strong ties between smoking and negative affect. The authors tested attentional biases to both smoking and affective cues in 27 smokers using an emotional Stroop paradigm, and examined the relationship between these forms of attentional bias. Findings indicated significant attentional biases to smoking-related and negative-affect words, but not positive-affect words. In addition, there was a significant correlation between the degree of attentional bias to smoking and negative-affect words. These data provide evidence of a close association between smoking-related and affective cue processing from a cognitive perspective. Potential theoretical and clinical implications for these findings are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37669090,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Data-Efficient Computational Pathology Platform for Faster and Cheaper Breast Cancer Subtype Identifications: Development of a Deep Learning Model.\nBreast cancer subtyping is a crucial step in determining therapeutic options, but the molecular examination based on immunohistochemical staining is expensive and time-consuming. Deep learning opens up the possibility to predict the subtypes based on the morphological information from hematoxylin and eosin staining, a much cheaper and faster alternative. However, training the predictive model conventionally requires a large number of histology images, which is challenging to collect by a single institute. We aimed to develop a data-efficient computational pathology platform, 3DHistoNet, which is capable of learning from z-stacked histology images to accurately predict breast cancer subtypes with a small sample size. We retrospectively examined 401 cases of patients with primary breast carcinoma diagnosed between 2018 and 2020 at the Department of Pathology, National Cancer Center, South Korea. Pathology slides of the patients with breast carcinoma were prepared according to the standard protocols. Age, gender, histologic grade, hormone receptor (estrogen receptor [ER], progesterone receptor [PR], and androgen receptor [AR]) status, erb-B2 receptor tyrosine kinase 2 (HER2) status, and Ki-67 index were evaluated by reviewing medical charts and pathological records. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve and decision curve were analyzed to evaluate the performance of our 3DHistoNet platform for predicting the ER, PR, AR, HER2, and Ki67 subtype biomarkers with 5-fold cross-validation. We demonstrated that 3DHistoNet can predict all clinically important biomarkers (ER, PR, AR, HER2, and Ki67) with performance exceeding the conventional multiple instance learning models by a considerable margin (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve: 0.75-0.91 vs 0.67-0.8). We further showed that our z-stack histology scanning method can make up for insufficient training data sets without any additional cost incurred. Finally, 3DHistoNet offered an additional capability to generate attention maps that reveal correlations between Ki67 and histomorphological features, which renders the hematoxylin and eosin image in higher fidelity to the pathologist. Our stand-alone, data-efficient pathology platform that can both generate z-stacked images and predict key biomarkers is an appealing tool for breast cancer diagnosis. Its development would encourage morphology-based diagnosis, which is faster, cheaper, and less error-prone compared to the protein quantification method based on immunohistochemical staining.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30677083,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Epidermal growth factor and its influencing variables in healthy children and adults.\nEpidermal growth factor (EGF) stimulates cell proliferation and differentiation after binding to its receptor. Next to its role in magnesium homeostasis, EGF disturbances have been described in oncology, diabetes and autism spectrum disorders. The aim of this study was to determine EGF serum and urine values for both healthy children and adults. Next, we investigated the relation between several variables and urinary and serum EGF concentrations. Both healthy adults (n = 50) and children (n = 78) were included. Serum and urinary EGF concentrations were measured with ELISA technology. Serum EGF was inversely correlated with age (r = -0.873; p<0.001) and positively correlated with serum magnesium (r = 0.597; p<0.001). The urinary EGF was also inversely correlated with age (r = -0.855; p<0.001). In adults and children older than 13 years of age, the urinary EGF significantly differed between sexes (p = 0.001). Urinary EGF was positively correlated with serum magnesium (r = 0.583; p<0.001) and creatinine clearance (r = 0.524; p<0.001) and negatively correlated with the fractional excretion of magnesium (r = 0.248; p = 0.014). In a multivariate model, age and serum magnesium remained independently related to serum EGF while age, serum EGF and serum magnesium remained independently related to urinary EGF. This study provides valuable insights in urinary and serum EGF patterns in healthy subjects. By systematically correcting EGF for body surface, significant correlations with age, gender and magnesium were observed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37450198,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Application of Statistical Methods for Central Statistical Monitoring and Implementations on the German Multiple Sclerosis Registry.\nMonitoring of clinical trials is a fundamental process required by regulatory agencies. It assures the compliance of a center to the required regulations and the trial protocol. Traditionally, monitoring teams relied on extensive on-site visits and source data verification. However, this is costly, and the outcome is limited. Thus, central statistical monitoring (CSM) is an additional approach recently embraced by the International Council for Harmonisation (ICH) to detect problematic or erroneous data by using visualizations and statistical control measures. Existing implementations have been primarily focused on detecting inlier and outlier data. Other approaches include principal component analysis and distribution of the data. Here we focus on the utilization of comparisons of centers to the Grand mean for different model types and assumptions for common data types, such as binomial, ordinal, and continuous response variables. We implement the usage of multiple comparisons of single centers to the Grand mean of all centers. This approach is also available for various non-normal data types that are abundant in clinical trials. Further, using confidence intervals, an assessment of equivalence to the Grand mean can be applied. In a Monte Carlo simulation study, the applied statistical approaches have been investigated for their ability to control type I error and the assessment of their respective power for balanced and unbalanced designs which are common in registry data and clinical trials. Data from the German Multiple Sclerosis Registry (GMSR) including proportions of missing data, adverse events and disease severity scores were used to verify the results on Real-World-Data (RWD).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29389163,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Why consumers misattribute sponsorships to non-sponsor brands: Differential roles of item and relational communications.\nBrands engaged in sponsorship of events commonly have objectives that depend on consumer memory for the sponsor-event relationship (e.g., sponsorship awareness). Consumers however, often misattribute sponsorships to nonsponsor competitor brands, indicating erroneous memory for these relationships. The current research uses an item and relational memory framework to reveal sponsor brands may inadvertently foster this misattribution when they communicate relational linkages to events. Effects can be explained via differential roles of communicating item information (information that supports processing item distinctiveness) versus relational information (information that supports processing relationships among items) in contributing to memory outcomes. Experiment 1 uses event-cued brand recall to show that correct memory retrieval is best supported by communicating relational information when sponsorship relationships are not obvious (low congruence). In contrast, correct retrieval is best supported by communicating item information when relationships are obvious (high congruence). Experiment 2 uses brand-cued event recall to show that, against conventional marketing recommendations, relational information increases misattribution, whereas item information guards against misattribution. Results suggest sponsor brands must distinguish between item and relational communications to enhance correct retrieval and limit misattribution. Methodologically, the work shows that choice of cueing direction is critical in differentially revealing patterns of correct and incorrect retrieval with pair relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17201980,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2013-20":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Geographic biotype and host-associated local adaptation in a polyphagous species, Lambdina fiscellaria (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) feeding on balsam fir on Anticosti Island, Canada.\nThe debate about mechanisms underlying the evolution of host specialization by herbivorous insects remains open. Natural selection may act locally and lead to different patterns of geographic variation in life history traits of polyphagous herbivores. The hypothesis of genetically-based trade-offs in offspring performance on different hosts has been proposed but this has rarely been demonstrated. Under laboratory conditions, the biological performance of two populations of the hemlock looper Lambdina fiscellaria (Guen\u00e9e), a highly polyphagous lepidopteran, was compared when reared on three different tree host species: balsam fir, eastern hemlock and sugar maple. One population originated from Anticosti Island, Qu\u00e9bec, Canada, where the insect has evolved without having access to two of the three tree species tested, the other being from the mainland where all tree species are present. When reared on balsam fir foliage, which was naturally available to each population, larvae from Anticosti Island underwent four instars compared with five for the mainland population, indicating the existence of geographic biotypes in L. fiscellaria. When reared on the foliage of non-naturally available host trees, larvae from Anticosti Island had a higher incidence of supernumerary instars. This is a unique example where local adaptation to environmental conditions of an insect herbivore is expressed through a differential number of larval instars. Moreover, the Anticosti Island population showed a higher growth related index on the host available to both populations indicating that a fitness trade-off was the evolutionary process underlying the local adaptation of this population on balsam fir.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34240970,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Identifying systematic errors in a power spectral analysis of simulated lipid membranes.\nThe elastic properties of lipid membranes can be measured by monitoring their thermal fluctuations. For instance, comparing the power spectra of membrane shape or lipid director fluctuations with predictions based on suitable continuum theories gives access to bending-, tilt-, and twist-moduli. However, to do so in a computer simulation, we must first define a continuum surface shape and lipid director field from the discrete configurations of lipid molecules in a typically fairly small box. Here, we show that the required mapping choices, as well as the details of the subsequent data analysis, can shift the measured values of these moduli by far more than their statistical uncertainties. We investigate the resulting systematic errors on the basis of atomistic simulation trajectories for 13 different lipids, previously published by Venable et al. [Chem. Phys. Lipids 192, 60-74 (2015)]. Specifically, we examine mapping choices for surface- and tilt-field definitions, normalizing and averaging lipid directors, accounting for wave vector dependent time autocorrelations, error propagation, and finding the right fitting range. We propose a set of criteria that may help to decide upon a particular combination of choices underlying the fluctuation analysis, and we make several recommendations based on these. While systematic shifts in observables that are extracted from large-wavelength limits vanish, in principle, for sufficiently large system size, no such exact limit exists for intrinsically local parameters, such as the twist modulus or the splay-tilt coupling, and so not all potential choices can be trivially verified.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22668719,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Suppression of TRIF-dependent signaling pathway of toll-like receptors by allyl isothiocyanate in RAW 264.7 macrophages.\nToll-like receptors (TLR) play a significant role in the induction of innate immune responses that are essential for host defense against invading microbial pathogens. In general, TLRs have two major downstream signaling pathways: myeloid differential factor 88 (MyD88)-dependent and toll-interleukin-1 receptor domain-containing adapter inducing interferon-\u03b2 (TRIF)-dependent pathways. Allyl isothiocyanate (AITC) found in cruciferous vegetables has an effect on treatment of many chronic diseases. However, the exact molecular targets of AITC are still unidentified. Here, it was investigated whether AITC can modulate TLR signaling pathways and what is the molecular target of AITC in TLRs signaling pathways. AITC suppressed the activation of nuclear factor-\u03baB by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (poly[I:C]), but not by macrophage-activating lipopeptide of 2kDa (MALP-2) or cytosine-phosphate-guanine dinucleotide (CpG DNA). AITC also suppressed the activation of interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF3) and the expression of interferon inducible protein-10 (IP-10) induced by LPS or poly[I:C]. These results suggest that AITC can modulate TRIF-dependent signaling pathways of TLRs leading to decreased inflammatory gene expression.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":2787853,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Plasmacytoid monocytes (so-called plasmacytoid T cells) in Hodgkin's disease.\nThe occurrence and distribution of plasmacytoid monocytes (so-called plasmacytoid T cells) were investigated immunohistochemically in 40 cases of Hodgkin's disease. Large numbers of plasmacytoid monocytes were found in all cases of lymphocyte predominance, nodular sclerosing, and mixed cellularity Hodgkin's disease, characterized by a minor degree of architectural effacement. They occurred at the periphery of lymphoid aggregates which mimic the composite nodule of the reactive lymph node and which contained Reed-Sternberg cells and their variants. Despite some immunophenotypic similarities, no further arguments were found to support a relationship between plasmacytoid monocytes and Reed-Sternberg cells. We conclude that plasmacytoid monocytes represent one of the monocyte-derived cells that contribute to the cellular reaction in Hodgkin's disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6747167,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The use of monoamine oxidase inhibitors in the treatment of elderly, depressed patients.\nDepression is an extremely common illness in the elderly, and is, at times, refractory to the usual therapies. The elderly are also particularly prone to develop toxic side effects from standard antidepressive agents. Monoamine oxidase inhibitors are rarely used in this population, although much evidence and clinical experience would indicate that they can be extremely effective and non-toxic. This paper outlines the indications and precautions for use and side effects of monoamine oxidase inhibitors in the treatment of depression in elderly patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14534448,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Lung function in Pakistani welding workers.\nOur objective was to study the effects of welding fumes and their duration of exposure on lung function. This was a matched case-control cross-sectional study of spirometry in 50 nonsmoking manual metal arc welders who work without the benefit of welding fume control ventilation or respiratory protective devices. Welding workers, with exposures longer than 9 years, showed a significant reduction in spirometry (forced expiratory volume in one second [FEV1], FEV1\/forced vital capacity [FVC%], and peak expiratory flow [PEF]) relative to controls. Lung function in nonsmoking welding workers is impaired and stratification of results shows a dose-effect of years of welding on lung function. This effect primarily shows an obstructive pattern of airways disease. Preventive measures in developing countries have to be adopted to avert long-term lung damage in welders.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15236835,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Has dopamine a physiological role in the control of sexual behavior? A critical review of the evidence.\nThe role of dopaminergic systems in the control of sexual behavior has been a subject of study for at least 40 years. Not surprisingly, reviews of the area have been published at variable intervals. However, the earlier reviews have been summaries of published research rather than a critical analysis of it. They have focused upon the conclusions presented in the original research papers rather than on evaluating the reliability and functional significance of the data reported to support these conclusions. During the last few years, important new knowledge concerning dopaminergic systems and their behavioral functions as well as the possible role of these systems in sexual behavior has been obtained. For the first time, it is now possible to integrate the data obtained in studies of sexual behavior into the wider context of general dopaminergic functions. To make this possible, we first present an analysis of the nature and organization of sexual behavior followed by a summary of current knowledge about the brain structures of crucial importance for this behavior. We then proceed with a description of the dopaminergic systems within or projecting to these structures. Whenever possible, we also try to include data on the electrophysiological actions of dopamine. Thereafter, we proceed with analyses of pharmacological data and release studies, both in males and in females. Consistently throughout this discussion, we make an effort to distinguish pharmacological effects on sexual behavior from a possible physiological role of dopamine. By pharmacological effects, we mean here drug-induced alterations in behavior that are not the result of the normal actions of synaptically released dopamine in the untreated animal. The conclusion of this endeavor is that pharmacological effects of dopaminergic drugs are variable in both males and females, independently of whether the drugs are administered systemically or intracerebrally. We conclude that the pharmacological data basically reinforce the notion that dopamine is important for motor functions and general arousal. These actions could, in fact, explain most of the effects seen on sexual behavior. Studies of dopamine release, in both males and females, have focused on the nucleus accumbens, a structure with at most a marginal importance for sexual behavior. Since accumbens dopamine release is associated with all kinds of events, aversive as well as appetitive, it can have no specific effect on sexual behavior but promotes arousal and activation of non-specific motor patterns. Preoptic and paraventricular nucleus release of dopamine may have some relationship to mechanisms of ejaculation or to the neuroendocrine consequences of sexual activity or they can be related to other autonomic processes associated with copulation. There is no compelling indication in existing experimental data that dopamine is of any particular importance for sexual motivation. There is experimental evidence showing that it is of no importance for sexual reward.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28699686,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Ablation of ceramide synthase 2 exacerbates dextran sodium sulphate-induced colitis in mice due to increased intestinal permeability.\nCeramides mediate crucial cellular processes including cell death and inflammation and have recently been implicated in inflammatory bowel disease. Ceramides consist of a sphingoid long-chain base to which fatty acids of various length can be attached. We now investigate the effect of alerting the ceramide acyl chain length on a mouse model of colitis. Ceramide synthase (CerS) 2 null mice, which lack very-long acyl chain ceramides with concomitant increase of long chain bases and C16-ceramides, were more susceptible to dextran sodium sulphate-induced colitis, and their survival rate was markedly decreased compared with that of wild-type littermates. Using mixed bone-marrow chimeric mice, we showed that the host environment is primarily responsible for intestinal barrier dysfunction and increased intestinal permeability. In the colon of CerS2 null mice, the expression of junctional adhesion molecule-A was markedly decreased and the phosphorylation of myosin light chain 2 was increased. In vitro experiments using Caco-2 cells also confirmed an important role of CerS2 in maintaining epithelial barrier function; CerS2-knockdown via CRISPR-Cas9 technology impaired barrier function. In vivo myriocin administration, which normalized long-chain bases and C16-ceramides of the colon of CerS2 null mice, increased intestinal permeability as measured by serum FITC-dextran levels, indicating that altered SLs including deficiency of very-long-chain ceramides are critical for epithelial barrier function. In conclusion, deficiency of CerS2 influences intestinal barrier function and the severity of experimental colitis and may represent a potential mechanism for inflammatory bowel disease pathogenesis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22666195,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Electrophysiological correlates of predictive coding of auditory location in the perception of natural audiovisual events.\nIn many natural audiovisual events (e.g., a clap of the two hands), the visual signal precedes the sound and thus allows observers to predict when, where, and which sound will occur. Previous studies have reported that there are distinct neural correlates of temporal (when) versus phonetic\/semantic (which) content on audiovisual integration. Here we examined the effect of visual prediction of auditory location (where) in audiovisual biological motion stimuli by varying the spatial congruency between the auditory and visual parts. Visual stimuli were presented centrally, whereas auditory stimuli were presented either centrally or at 90\u00b0 azimuth. Typical sub-additive amplitude reductions (AV - V < A) were found for the auditory N1 and P2 for spatially congruent and incongruent conditions. The new finding is that this N1 suppression was greater for the spatially congruent stimuli. A very early audiovisual interaction was also found at 40-60 ms (P50) in the spatially congruent condition, while no effect of congruency was found on the suppression of the P2. This indicates that visual prediction of auditory location can be coded very early in auditory processing.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22692220,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"mcaGUI: microbial community analysis R-Graphical User Interface (GUI).\nMicrobial communities have an important role in natural ecosystems and have an impact on animal and human health. Intuitive graphic and analytical tools that can facilitate the study of these communities are in short supply. This article introduces Microbial Community Analysis GUI, a graphical user interface (GUI) for the R-programming language (R Development Core Team, 2010). With this application, researchers can input aligned and clustered sequence data to create custom abundance tables and perform analyses specific to their needs. This GUI provides a flexible modular platform, expandable to include other statistical tools for microbial community analysis in the future. The mcaGUI package and source are freely available as part of Bionconductor at http:\/\/www.bioconductor.org\/packages\/release\/bioc\/html\/mcaGUI.html","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17176662,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Event-based prospective memory for poorly attended events.\nIn the most frequently used paradigm for studying event-based prospective memory (PM, Einstein & McDaniel, 1990), participants perform an ongoing task and are asked to perform an additional task when a particular stimulus (the PM cue) is presented. In this study three experiments examined how PM performance depends on stimulus selection, which is a major process involved in executive task control according to current theorizing. Participants made semantic judgments about a target word accompanied by two nontargets (distracters). The target was indicated by its spatial position (Experiment 1) or color (Experiment 2). The findings indicated that PM performance was much poorer when the PM cue was irrelevant to the ongoing task, in spite of the fact that nontargets were processed semantically as shown in Experiment 3.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24390355,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Workplace Violence: An Extensive Issue for Nurses in Pakistan-: A Qualitative Investigation.\nThe objective of the present study was to examine the incidences of violence during nurses' careers and their impacts on their work life in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The current article highlights workplace violence toward nurses as a serious issue in Pakistan, which is almost an unexplored area as data are scarce. Individual interviews were conducted, applying a qualitative approach for getting the in-depth knowledge about the subject. Grounded theory method was used for data analysis and NVIVO-10 was used for information processing. Majority of the nurses experienced violence in the previous 6 months of their career. Nurses also confirmed that verbal abuse was witnessed and although experienced frequently, they did not report it, as they believed that reporting was useless and no action would be taken. Most nurses reported that due to violence, they experience stress, low work performance, low job satisfaction, high absenteeism, and high turnover intentions. The results illustrated a clear trend of an increasing number of violence incidents toward nurses. The findings of the present study possibly will assist hospital administration to manage and reduce violence at workplace.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9544616,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Immunochemical detection of hepatic cocaine-protein adducts in mice.\nCocaine is capable of producing hepatic necrosis in laboratory animals and humans. Studies in mice indicate that N-oxidative metabolism of cocaine is required for hepatotoxicity and have suggested that toxicity may result from the adduction of proteins by cocaine-reactive metabolites. To aid in identifying protein targets for cocaine-reactive metabolites, an antibody was raised in rabbits immunized with cocaine linked via the tropane nitrogen to a carrier protein (bovine serum albumin). Hepatic proteins from cocaine-treated mice (ICR males, 50 mg of cocaine\/kg of body weight, ip) and saline-treated controls were prepared from whole liver homogenate or following subcellular fractionation, and Western blot analyses of hepatic proteins using this antibody were conducted following one- and two-dimensional SDS-PAGE. Analysis of liver homogenate from cocaine-treated mice revealed major protein targets with approximate molecular masses of 20 kDa (pI = 6.0), 44 kDa (two proteins with pI's of 5.0 and 7.0), 52-54 kDa (pI = 4.5), and 64 kDa (pI = 5.5). These specific protein targets were shown to be localized in the mitochondria and microsomes. Several minor bands of immunoreactivity were also seen in mice treated with cocaine, but not in saline-treated controls. Pretreatment of mice with the P450 inhibitor SKF 525A diminished or eliminated the formation of these cocaine-protein adducts. Liver sections from cocaine-treated mice immunostained using the antibody indicated the presence of cocaine-adducted proteins in the centrilobular and midzonal regions of the lobule, corresponding to areas of hepatocyte swelling and necrosis. This study indicates that reactive metabolites from cocaine bind to discrete proteins in specific regions of the liver, consistent with a role for protein adduction in cocaine hepatotoxicity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22666622,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Traumatic brain injury, microglia, and Beta amyloid.\nRecently, there has been growing interest in the association between traumatic brain injury (TBI) and Alzheimer's Disease (AD). TBI and AD share many pathologic features including chronic inflammation and the accumulation of beta amyloid (A\u03b2). Data from both AD and TBI studies suggest that microglia play a central role in A\u03b2 accumulation after TBI. This paper focuses on the current research on the role of microglia response to A\u03b2 after TBI.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11994051,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Population pharmacokinetics model and limited sampling strategy for intravenous vinorelbine derived from phase I clinical trials.\na) To characterize the pharmacokinetics of intravenous vinorelbine, b) to use a population analysis for the identification of patient covariates that might appreciably influence its disposition and c) to define a limited sampling strategy for further Bayesian estimation of individual pharmacokinetic parameters. All data were collected from 64 patients (99 courses) entered in three different phase I trials that have been previously reported. All patients received vinorelbine as a 20 min infusion with dose levels ranging from 20-45 mg m-2. The population pharmacokinetic model was built in a sequential manner on a subset of two-thirds of the data, starting with a covariate-free model then progressing to a covariate model using the nonlinear-mixed effect methodology. The remaining one-third of the data were used to validate several sparse sampling designs. A linear three-compartment model characterized vinorelbine blood concentrations (n=1228). Two primary pharmacokinetic parameters (total clearance and volume of distribution) were related to various combinations of covariates. The relationship for total clearance (CLtotal (l h-1)=29.2xBSAx(1-0.0090 Plt)+6.7xWt\/Crs) was dependent on the patient's body surface area (BSA), weight (Wt), serum creatinine (Crs) and platelet count before administration (Plt). The optimal limited sampling strategy consisted of a combination of three measured blood concentrations; the first immediately before the end of infusion or 20 min later, the second at either 1 h, 3 h or 6 h and the third at 24 h after drug administration. A population pharmacokinetic model and a limited sampling strategy for intravenous vinorelbine have been developed. This is the first population analysis performed on the basis of a large phase I database that has identified clinical covariates influencing the disposition of i.v. vinorelbine. The model can be used to obtain accurate Bayesian estimates of pharmacokinetic parameters in situations where extensive pharmacokinetic sampling is not feasable.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27266872,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"High molecular weight of polysaccharides from Hericium erinaceus against amyloid beta-induced neurotoxicity.\nHericium erinaceus (HE) is a well-known mushroom in traditional Chinese food and medicine. HE extracts from the fruiting body and mycelia not only exhibit immunomodulatory, antimutagenic and antitumor activity but also have neuroprotective properties. Here, we purified HE polysaccharides (HEPS), composed of two high molecular weight polysaccharides (1.7 \u00d7 10(5) Da and 1.1 \u00d7 10(5) Da), and evaluated their protective effects on amyloid beta (A\u03b2)-induced neurotoxicity in rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cells. HEPS were prepared and purified using a 95 % ethanol extraction method. The components of HEPS were analyzed and the molecular weights of the polysaccharides were determined using high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). The neuroprotective effects of the polysaccharides were evaluated through a 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay and an MTT assay and by quantifying reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitochondrial membrane potentials (MMP) of A\u03b2-induced neurotoxicity in cells. Our results showed that 250 \u03bcg\/ml HEPS was harmless and promoted cell viability with 1.2 \u03bcM A\u03b2 treatment. We observed that the free radical scavenging rate exceeded 90 % when the concentration of HEPS was higher than 1 mg\/mL in cells. The HEPS decreased the production of ROS from 80 to 58 % in a dose-dependent manner. Cell pretreatment with 250 \u03bcg\/mL HEPS significantly reduced A\u03b2-induced high MMPs from 74 to 51 % and 94 to 62 % at 24 and 48 h, respectively. Finally, 250 \u03bcg\/mL of HEPS prevented A\u03b2-induced cell shrinkage and nuclear degradation of PC12 cells. Our results demonstrate that HEPS exhibit antioxidant and neuroprotective effects on A\u03b2-induced neurotoxicity in neurons.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26425802,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Variation of the Pseudomonas community structure on oak leaf lettuce during storage detected by culture-dependent and -independent methods.\nThe genus Pseudomonas plays an important role in the lettuce leaf microbiota and certain species can induce spoilage. The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence and diversity of Pseudomonas spp. on oak leaf lettuce and to follow their community shift during a six day cold storage with culture-dependent and culture-independent methods. In total, 21 analysed partial Pseudomonas 16S rRNA gene sequences matched closely (> 98.3%) to the different reference strain sequences, which were distributed among 13 different phylogenetic groups or subgroups within the genus Pseudomonas. It could be shown that all detected Pseudomonas species belonged to the P. fluorescens lineage. In the culture-dependent analysis, 73% of the isolates at day 0 and 79% of the isolates at day 6 belonged to the P. fluorescens subgroup. The second most frequent group, with 12% of the isolates, was the P. koreensis subgroup. This subgroup was only detected at day 0. In the culture-independent analysis the P. fluorescens subgroup and P. extremaustralis could not be differentiated by RFLP. Both groups were most abundant and amounted to approximately 46% at day 0 and 79% at day 6. The phytopathogenic species P. salmonii, P. viridiflava and P. marginalis increased during storage. Both approaches identified the P. fluorescens group as the main phylogenetic group. The results of the present study suggest that pseudomonads found by plating methods indeed represent the most abundant part of the Pseudomonas community on oak leaf lettuce.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12032224,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria: nature's gene therapy?\nThe development of paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria (PNH) requires two coincident factors: somatic mutation of the PIG-A gene in one or more haemopoietic stem cells and an abnormal, hypoplastic bone marrow environment. When both of these conditions are met, the fledgling PNH clone may flourish. This review will discuss the pathophysiology of this disease, which has recently been elucidated in some detail.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20366471,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Direct observation of a sub-Poissonian number distribution of atoms in an optical lattice.\nWe report single-site resolution in a lattice with tunneling between sites, allowing for an in situ study of stochastic losses. The ratio of the loss rate to the tunneling rate is seen to determine the number fluctuations, and the overall profile of the lattice. Sub-Poissonian number fluctuations are observed. Deriving the lattice beams from a microlens array results in perfect relative stability between beams.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35348165,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Reactivity of organogermanium and organotin trihydrides.\nThe organogermanium and organotin trihydrides (TbbEH3) [E = Ge (3), Sn (7)] with the Tbb substituent were synthesized by hydride substitution (Tbb = 2,6-[CH(SiMe3)2]2-4-(t-Bu)C6H2). Deprotonation of the organoelement trihydrides 3 and 7 was studied in reaction with bases MeLi, BnK and LDA (Bn = benzyl, LDA = lithium diisopropylamide) to yield the deprotonation products (8-11) as lithium or potassium salts. Hydride abstraction from TbbSnH3 using the trityl salt [Ph3C][Al(OC{CF3}3)4] gives the salt [TbbSnH2][Al(OC{CF3}3)4] (12) which was stabilized by thf donor ligands [TbbSnH2(thf)2][Al(OC{CF3}3)4] (13). Tintrihydride 7 reacts with trialkylamine Et2MeN to give as the product of a reductive elimination of hydrogen the distannane (TbbSnH2)2 (14). Transfer of hydrogen was observed in reaction of trihydrides TbbEH3 (E = Ge, Sn) and Ar*GeH3 with N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC). The NHC adduct TbbSnH(iPrNHC) (15) was synthesized at rt and the germanium hydrides exhibit hydrogen transfer at higher temperatures to give Ar*GeH(MeNHC) (16) and TbbGeH(MeNHC) (17).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30673858,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Blocking the IL-1\u03b2 signalling pathway prevents chronic viral myocarditis and cardiac remodeling.\nCoxsackieviruses of group B (CVB) are well-known causes of acute and chronic myocarditis. Chronic myocarditis can evolve into dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) characterized by fibrosis and cardiac remodeling. Interleukin-1\u03b2 (IL-1\u03b2) plays a decisive role in the induction of the inflammatory response as a consequence of viral replication. In this study, we analyzed the effects of IL-1\u03b2 neutralization on the transition of acute to chronic myocarditis in a mouse model of CVB3 myocarditis. Mice were treated with an anti-murine IL-1\u03b2 antibody as a surrogate for Canakinumab at different time points post CVB3 infection. Treatment was performed in the early phase (day 1-14 pi, day 3-14 pi) or at a later stage of myocarditis (day 14-28 pi). Subsequently, the hearts were examined histologically, immunohistochemically and by molecular biology. A significant reduction of viral replication, cardiac damage and inflammation was found after administration of the antibody in the early phase and in the later phase of infection. Furthermore, less collagen I deposition and a considerable reduction of fibrosis were found in antibody-treated mice. Using microarray analysis, a significant upregulation of various extracellular matrix and fibrosis-associated molecules was found in CVB3-infected mice, including TGF-\u03b2, TIMP-1 and MMP12, as well as diverse matricellular proteins, whereas, these molecules were significantly downregulated in all IL-1\u03b2 antibody-treated infected mice. Neutralization of IL-1\u03b2 at different stages of enteroviral infection prevents the development of chronic viral myocarditis by reducing inflammation, interstitial fibrosis and adverse cardiac remodeling. These findings are relevant for the treatment of patients with acute and chronic myocarditis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8348066,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Rationale for the clinical use of immunotoxins: monoclonal antibodies conjugated to ribosome-inactivating proteins.\nThe use of chemotherapeutic drugs in combination with bone marrow transplantation to treat cancer patients has markedly improved the disease-free survival and cure rate. Part of the tumor cells, however, can escape from therapy due to resistance. Tumor-specific delivery of toxins that do not interfere with conventional drugs and are not cell cycle dependent seems to be a reasonable approach to overcome this problem. Natural ribosome-inhibiting-proteins (RIPs) from plants, bacteria and fungi which are extremely toxic inhibitors of protein synthesis are isolated and coupled to monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) and receptor-specific ligands, immunotoxins (ITs), to fulfil this purpose. ITs are very suitable to eliminate malignant cells in vitro and in vivo. RIPs contain two or three active sites: a binding site which can be absent in a part of the RIPs and can be replaced by the MoAb; a translocation site that facilitates transport into the cytosol after internalization, and a cytotoxic site that enzymatically inhibits protein synthesis. Binding site containing toxins induce strong nonspecific cytotoxicity when coupled to MoAbs. Recent developments in recombinant DNA techniques enable genetic elimination of the binding site to reduce nonspecific cytotoxicity of these toxins. In this review the structures and mechanisms of action of RIPs as well as factors that influence cytotoxicity of immunotoxins are discussed. Moreover the problems dealing with in vivo application of ITs such as blood clearance by instability of the IT and hepatic entrapment, and production of antibodies directed against MoAb and toxin are reviewed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12181704,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Effects of iso- and hypervolemic hemodilution on regional cerebral blood flow and oxygen delivery for patients with vasospasm after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage.\nArterial vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage may cause cerebral ischemia. Treatment with hemodilution, reducing blood viscosity, and hypervolemia, increasing cardiac performance and distending the vasospastic artery, are clinically established methods to improve blood flow through the vasospastic arterial bed. Eight patients with transcranial Doppler verified vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage were investigated with global (two-dimensional (133)Xenon) and regional (three-dimensional (99 m)Tc-HMPAO) cerebral blood flow (CBF) measurements, before and after 1\/iso- and 2\/hypervolemic hemodilution. Hematocrit was reduced to 0.28 from 0.36. Hypervolemia was achieved by increasing blood volume by 1100 ml. Isovolemic hemodilution increased global cerebral blood flow from 52.25+\/-10.12 to 58.56+\/-11.73 ml * 100 g(-1) * min(-1) (p<0.05), but after hypervolemic hemodilution CBF returned to 51.38+\/-11.34 ml * 100 g(-1) * min(-1). Global cerebral delivery rate of oxygen (CDRO(2)) decreased from 7.94+\/-1.92 to 6.98+\/-1.66 ml * 100 g(-1) * min(-1) (p<0.001) during isovolemic hemodilution and remained reduced, 6.77+\/-1.60 ml * 100 g(-1) * min(-1) (p<0.001), after the hypervolemic hemodilution. As a test of the hemodilution effect on regional CDRO(2) an ischemic threshold was defined as the maximal amount of oxygen transported by a CBF of 10 ml * 100 g(-1) * min(-1) at a Hb 140 g\/l which corresponds to a CDRO(2) of 1.83 ml * 100 g(-1) * min(-1). The brain volume with a CDRO(2) exceeding the ichemic threshold was 1300+\/-236 ml before intervention. After isovolemic hemodilution the non-ischemic brain volume was reduced to 1206+\/-341 (p<0,003). After hypervolemic hemodilution the non-ischemic brain volume remained reduced at 1228+\/-347 ml (p<0.05). The present study of controlled isovolemic hemodilution demonstrated increased global CBF, but there was a pronounced reduction in oxygen delivery capacity. Both CBF and CDRO(2) remained decreased during further hypervolemic hemodilution. We conclude that hemodilution to hematocrit 0.28 is not beneficial for patients with cerebral vasospasm after SAH.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6929910,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sleep apnea syndrome: correction with surgical advancement of the mandible.\nMandibular retrognathism is occasionally associated with sleep apnea syndrome. Most cases of this disorder have, until now, been treated with permanent tracheotomies. One patient with this syndrome was treated with surgical advancement of the mandible with bilateral C osteotomies and iliac corticocancellous grafts. Complete reversal of the sleep apnea symptoms and return of the sleep EEG to normal resulted after surgery. Although further study needs to be done, mandibular advancement would appear to be a preferable alterantive to tracheotomy for such patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27483304,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Validity and Reproducibility of a Dietary Questionnaire for Consumption Frequencies of Foods during Pregnancy in the Born in Guangzhou Cohort Study (BIGCS).\nThis study aimed to examine the reproducibility and validity of a new food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) used in a birth cohort study to estimate the usual consumption frequencies of foods during pregnancy. The reference measure was the average of three inconsecutive 24 h diet recalls (24 HR) administrated between two FFQs, and the reproducibility was measured by repeating the first FFQ (FFQ1) approximately eight weeks later (FFQ2). A total of 210 pregnant women from the Born in Guangzhou Cohort Study (BIGCS) with full data were included in the analysis. The Spearman's correlation coefficients of FFQ1 and FFQ2 ranged from 0.33 to 0.71. The intraclass correlation coefficients of the two FFQs ranged from 0.22 to 0.71. The Spearman's correlation coefficients of the 24 HR and FFQ2 ranged from 0.23 to 0.62. Cross-classification analysis showed 65.1% of participants were classified into same and contiguous quintiles, while only 3.2% were misclassified into the distant quintiles. Bland-Altman methods showed good agreement for most food groups across the range of frequencies between FFQ1 and FFQ2. Our findings indicated that the reproducibility and validity of the FFQ used in BIGCS for assessing the usual consumption frequencies of foods during pregnancy were acceptable.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17876780,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A multiphase microscopic diffusion model for stratum corneum permeability. II. Estimation of physicochemical parameters, and application to a large permeability database.\nThe full parameterization for the stratum corneum biphasic microtransport model presented previously in this Journal [95:620-648 (2006)] is developed through a combination of fundamental transport theory and calibration with existing data. Of the five microscopic transport properties, four (D(cor), K(cor\/w), D(lip), K(lip\/w)) are developed from sources independent of the existing steady-state permeability database. The fifth parameter, k(trans) (the mass transfer coefficient for transbilayer hopping), is derived from a fit of the model to the permeability data according to a modified free surface area function of the form log(10) k(trans) = A-B x (MW)(1\/3). Examination of the experimental data in terms of the two dimensionless groups, R and sigma, arising from the analysis leads to the conclusion that SC permeation for most compounds is dominated by the transcellular pathway regardless of their lipophilicity, a striking departure from recent skin permeability models. Overall fit of the developed model(s) to the permeability data is somewhat better than for the Potts-Guy equation and variants thereof; however, marked improvement is seen in the estimation of lag times and the related potential for predicting skin hydration effects and transient skin permeation profiles. Simple approximations to the full numerical solution are presented that allow the developed model(s) to be implemented on a spreadsheet.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12001034,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Treatment of hepatitis C and anemia in human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients.\nBecause of shared modes of transmission, co-infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) is common. Co-infection with HIV increases HCV virus load, liver-related mortality, and the risk of sexual and perinatal transmission of HCV, and it may accelerate HCV disease progression. With combination interferon (IFN)-alpha 2b\/ribavirin or pegylated IFN-alpha 2b\/ribavirin therapy, long-term remission is possible for HCV-infected patients. Preliminary evidence suggests that the combination of IFN-alpha 2b\/ribavirin can achieve similar response rates in HCV\/HIV-co-infected individuals with no adverse effect on HIV RNA concentrations. Although adverse effects are more frequent with combination therapy than with IFN-alpha monotherapy, most are manageable. In addition, few instances of drug-drug antagonism have been reported among drugs used to treat each disease, although further study is necessary. Ribavirin-associated hemolytic anemia is a potential problem in a patient population that is already susceptible to anemia but is manageable with recombinant human erythropoietin (epoetin alfa).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28370140,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Global Gleason grade groups in prostate cancer: concordance of biopsy and radical prostatectomy grades and predictors of upgrade and downgrade.\nTo evaluate concordance, upgrades and downgrades from biopsy to prostatectomy, and associated clincopathological parameters, using the recently proposed Gleason grade groups\/International Society of Urologic Pathology (ISUP) grades. We evaluated 2529 patients who underwent biopsy and prostatectomy in our institution from 2005 to 2014. A global grade group (GR)\/Gleason score (GS) was used. Factors associated with GR1\/GS \u22646 upgrades and GR2\/GS3 + 4 downgrades were analysed by multivariable logistic regression. The final GR\/GS was identical with the biopsy GR\/GS in 59.3% of cases, with the highest concordance for GR2 and GR5 and lowest for GR4. In GR1-5, identical grades were found in GR: (i) 47.6%, (ii) 73.6%, (iii) 52.8%, (iv) 21.4% and (v) 68.3%, respectively. Final GR was upgraded in 32.3% cases; in GR1-4: (i) 52.4%, (ii) 19.0%, (iii) 16.4% and (iv) 32.9%. Most frequent upgrades occurred from biopsy GR1 to prostatectomy GR2. A final GR downgrade was found in 8.3% cases. For individual GR2-5 the downgrades were found in GR: (i) 7.4%, (ii) 30.8%, (iii) 45.7% and (iv) 31.7%. Upgrades of biopsy GR1 were associated with: age \u226560 years, PSA density \u22650.2, \u22652 positive cores, \u22655% core tissue involvement and perineural invasion [area under receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve 0.699]. Downgrades of biopsy GR2 correlated inversely with: age \u226560 years, PSA >10 ng\/ml and \u22652 positive core (area under ROC curve 0.623). We found highest concordance for GR2 and GR5 and lowest for GR4. The baseline clinical variables associated with GR1 upgrades and GR2 downgrades may play a role in clinical decision-making.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31601122,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Levator recession and minimal lateral tarsorrhaphy for the management of lagophthalmos and corneal exposure in facial palsy.\nRecession of levator muscle can potentially decrease the severity of corneal exposure by reducing margin-reflex distance 1. The purpose of this study is evaluation of effects of levator recession on lagophthalmos in facial palsy. In a non-comparative case series of consecutive patients with exposure keratopathy due to facial paralysis between 2012 and 2017, levator recession was performed through lid crease incision. Small-size (\u2a7d3 mm) lateral tarsorrhaphy was performed on a case-by-case basis for those with moderate-to-severe keratopathy. Preoperative and postoperative measurements of margin-reflex distance 1 and lagophthalmos were compared using paired t-test. Thirty-four patients (14 men and 20 women) were enrolled with an average age of 52.3 years. Mean follow-up was 13.3 months (range, 6-36 months). The most common etiology of facial paralysis was Bell's palsy (22 cases), followed by motor vehicle accident (8), parotid surgery (3), and brain tumor surgery (1). No additional procedure was performed for eight patients, while lateral tarsorrhaphy was performed in 26 cases. Mean margin-reflex distance 1 decreased from 5.0 \u00b1 0.4 mm to 4.0 \u00b1 0.5 mm (p < 0.001) and mean lagophthalmos decreased from 3.3 \u00b1 0.9 mm to 1.8 \u00b1 0.9 mm (p < 0.001). Subgroups of patients with additional lateral tarsorrhaphy and without tarsorrhaphy experienced the same amount of reduction in margin-reflex distance 1 and lagophthalmos. Recession of levator muscle was effective in reduction of margin-reflex distance 1 and lagophthalmos in facial palsy patients. This procedure can be added to the surgical armamentarium for management of patients with facial palsy and lagophthalmos.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26441963,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Computational Models for Transplant Biomarker Discovery.\nTranslational medicine offers a rich promise for improved diagnostics and drug discovery for biomedical research in the field of transplantation, where continued unmet diagnostic and therapeutic needs persist. Current advent of genomics and proteomics profiling called \"omics\" provides new resources to develop novel biomarkers for clinical routine. Establishing such a marker system heavily depends on appropriate applications of computational algorithms and software, which are basically based on mathematical theories and models. Understanding these theories would help to apply appropriate algorithms to ensure biomarker systems successful. Here, we review the key advances in theories and mathematical models relevant to transplant biomarker developments. Advantages and limitations inherent inside these models are discussed. The principles of key -computational approaches for selecting efficiently the best subset of biomarkers from high--dimensional omics data are highlighted. Prediction models are also introduced, and the integration of multi-microarray data is also discussed. Appreciating these key advances would help to accelerate the development of clinically reliable biomarker systems.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16234354,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Phagocytosis of codeveloping megakaryocytic progenitors by dendritic cells in culture with thrombopoietin and tumor necrosis factor-alpha and its possible role in hemophagocytic syndrome.\nTumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and thrombopoietin (TPO) have been shown to induce the differentiation and proliferation of CD34+ cells toward dendritic cells (DCs) in the presence of multiacting cytokines. We hypothesized that the costimulation of TPO and TNF-alpha generates megakaryocytic progenitors and DCs together from human CD34+ cells and that the interaction of these cells may indicate a physiologic and\/or a pathologic role of DCs in megakaryopoiesis. When highly purified human CD34+ cells were cultured for 7 days with TPO alone, the generated cells expressed megakaryocytic markers, such as CD41, CD42b, and CD61. The addition of TNF-alpha with TPO remarkably decreased the number of megakaryocytic progenitor cells without affecting the cell yield. Almost half of the cells thus generated expressed CD11c, and most of them were positive for CD4 and CD123. Furthermore, CD11c+ cells were found to capture damaged CD61+ cells and to induce autologous T-cell proliferation, although the cytokine productions were low. We also confirmed an engulfment of CD61+ cells and their fragment by CD11c+ cells in bone marrow cells from patients with hemophagocytic syndrome. These findings suggest that DCs generated under megakaryocytic and inflammatory stimuli are involved in megakaryopoiesis and the subsequent immune responses to self-antigens.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3063503,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Interrelationship of hypertension, plasma lipids and atherosclerosis.\nThe relationship between hypertension and atherosclerosis has been illustrated by epidemiological, clinical and experimental observations. Typical atherosclerotic lesions develop in arterial wall when hypercholesterolaemia is present. Hypertension aggravates these lesions by causing vascular structural changes. In clinical studies, however, the correction of high blood pressure does not decrease the incidence of coronary heart disease. Several hypotheses have been formulated to account for this observation: one is that reversibility of the structural vascular changes induced by hypertension is not complete when the blood pressure is lowered; another is that antihypertensive drugs have a deleterious effect on the vascular wall.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28295893,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Do older adults with chronic low back pain differ from younger adults in regards to baseline characteristics and prognosis?\nLow back pain (LBP) in older adults is poorly understood because the vast majority of the LBP research has focused on the working aged population. The aim of this study was to compare older adults consulting with chronic LBP to middle aged and young adults consulting with chronic LBP, in terms of their baseline characteristics, and pain and disability outcomes over 1 year. Data were systematically collected as part of routine care in a secondary care spine clinic. At initial presentation patients answered a self-report questionnaire and underwent a physical examination. Patients older than 65 were classified as older adults and compared to middle aged (45-65 years old) and younger adults (17-44 years old) for 10 baseline characteristics. Pain intensity and disability were collected at 6 and 12 month follow-ups and compared between age groups. A total of 14,479 participants were included in the study. Of these 3087 (21%) patients were older adults, 6071 (42%) were middle aged and 5321 (37%) were young adults. At presentation older adults were statistically different to the middle aged and younger adults for most characteristics measured (e.g. less intense back pain, more leg pain and more depression); however, the differences were small. The change in pain and disability over 12 months did not differ between age groups. This study found small baseline differences in older people with chronic LBP compared to middle aged and younger adults. There were no associations between age groups and the clinical course. Small baseline differences exist in older people with chronic low back pain compared to middle aged and younger adults referred to secondary care for chronic low back pain. Older adults present with slightly less intense low back pain but slightly more intense leg pain. Changes in pain intensity and disability over a 12 month period were similar across all age groups.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":946024,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Psoriasis day care centers.\nWith the rapidly mounting cost of medical care in hospitals, physicians must seek alternative forms of therapy for illnesses that could conceivably be treated by less confining methods. One appraoch to this problem is the Psoriasis Day Care Center, where psoriasis patients with extensive disease are treated during the day and allowed to return home at night. The advantages include reduced cost, accessibility for more patients, and superior therapeutic results. This day care center concept could be equally applicable to other diseases now routinely treated by complete hospitalization.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18583296,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Personal health records: key adoption issues and implications for management.\nElectronic Personal Health Records (PHRs) has been perceived as the tool to empower consumers to become active decision-makers of their healthcare instead of leaving the decision to providers. However, there has been the lack of enthusiasm and adoption of PHRs. This paper examines the current healthcare climate and attempts to understand the major challenges associated with PHRs adoption. The paper-based and fragmented healthcare system is no longer appropriate for the digital economy of the 21st century. The integrated health information technology system is the solution to transform clinical practice to consumer centric and information driven. Tools such as PHRs are means to an end that provide better, safer and more affordable healthcare for consumers. However, there has been little research conducted to demonstrate PHR's tangible value, despite the widespread perceived value of these technologies. Although survey data reveals that there is a lack of awareness among the public, consumers are receptive to this concept, especially when a physician recommends it. Key issues in adopting PHRs and strategies for successful implementation of PHRs are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19042492,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The increase of treatment options at the end of life: impact on the social work role in an inpatient hospital setting.\nTreatment choices for cancer patients are becoming increasingly complex as medicine advances and doctors are able to offer more treatment options at the end of life. Research data shows that 22% of all Medicare patients start a new chemotherapy regimen in the last month of life. In a study released in 2004, data showed treatment within two weeks of death has increased from 13.8% to 18.5% over a period of three years. Treatment options should be presented to ensure that the final treatment decision made is optimal and encompasses the patient's wishes, prognosis, financial barriers, and familial support. In this article we explore three case studies where patients and families were faced with the challenges of making treatment decisions at the end of life and the importance and impact of the social work role in the multidisciplinary team. An inpatient social worker can assume a leadership position to assist patients and families in navigating the health care system and with difficult treatment options.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29367213,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Trained Innate Immunity as a Novel Mechanism Linking Infection and the Development of Atherosclerosis.\nThere is strong epidemiological evidence for an association between acute and chronic infections and the occurrence of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. The underlying pathophysiological mechanisms remain unclear. Monocyte-derived macrophages are the most abundant immune cells in atherosclerotic plaques. It has recently been established that monocytes\/macrophages can develop a long-lasting proinflammatory phenotype after brief stimulation with micro-organisms or microbial products, which has been termed trained immunity. The aim of this study is to assess whether trained immunity mediates the link between infections and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Brief exposure of monocytes to various micro-organisms results in the development of macrophages with a persistent proinflammatory phenotype: this represents a de facto nonspecific innate immune memory, which has been termed trained immunity. This is mediated by epigenetic reprogramming at the level of histone methylation and a profound rewiring of intracellular metabolism. Although this mechanism offers powerful protection against reinfection, trained macrophages display an atherogenic phenotype in terms of cytokine production and foam cell formation. Trained monocytes are present up to 3 months after experimental infection in humans. Moreover, a trained immunity phenotype is present in patients with established atherosclerosis. We propose that trained immunity provides the missing mechanistic link that explains the association between infections and atherosclerosis. Therefore, pharmacological modulation of trained immunity has the potential to prevent infection-related atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease in the future.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27266261,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Quantitative and In-Depth Survey of the Isotopic Abundance Distribution Errors in Shotgun Proteomics.\nAccuracy is an important metric when mass spectrometry (MS) is used in large-scale quantitative proteomics research. For MS-based quantification by extracting ion chromatogram (XIC), both the mass and intensity dimensions must be accurate. Although much research has focused on mass accuracy in recent years, less attention has been paid to intensity errors. Here, we investigated signal intensity measurement errors systematically and quantitatively using the natural properties of isotopic distributions. First, we defined a normalized isotopic abundance error model and presented its merits and demerits. Second, a comprehensive survey of the isotopic abundance errors using data sets with increasing sample complexities and concentrations was performed. We examined parameters such as error distribution, relationships between signal intensities within one isotopic cluster, and correlations between different peak errors in isotopic profiles. Our data demonstrated that the high resolution MS platforms might also generate large isotopic intensity measurement errors (approximately 20%). Meanwhile, this error can be reduced to less than 5% using a novel correction algorithm, which is based on the theoretical isotopic abundance distribution. Finally, a nonlinear relationship was observed as the abundance error decreased in isotopic profiles with higher intensity. Our findings are expected to provide insight into isotopic abundance recalibration in quantitative proteomics.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25408729,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Primary omental torsion in a 9 year old girl: a case report.\nPrimary torsion of the omentus is an extremely unusual cause of acute abdomen in the pediatric population. This condition occurs from twist of the pedicle of the omental apron around its longer axis, leading to edema, ischaemia and necrosis. Here we present a rare case of a 9 year old girl referred by her general practitioner due to severe right lower quadrant abdominal pain with a presumed diagnosis of acute appendiceal inflammation. Surgical operation disclosed primary omental torsion. The infarcted segment was resected and the girl's clinical recovery was uneventful without any complication. The condition may mimic a variety of other causes of acute abdominal symptoms. In this case report, a presumed diagnosis of acute appendicitis urgently induced the decision of a surgical approach. Physicians involved in the acute pediatric care have to include this rare condition in the differential diagnosis of acute onset right-sided abdominal pain.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16218046,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Comparison of different regimens of glucocorticoid replacement therapy in patients with hypoadrenalism.\nSince the optimal glucocorticoid replacement needs to avoid over and under treatment, the adequacy of different daily cortisone acetate (CA) doses was assessed in 34 patients with primary and central hypoadrenalism. The conventional twice CA 37.5 mg\/day dose was administered to all patients (A regimen: 25 mg at 07:00 h, 12.5 mg at 15:00 h), while in 2 subgroups of 12 patients the dose was shifted on 2 thrice daily regimens (B: 25 mg at 07:00, 6.25 mg at 12: 00, 6.25 mg at 17:00; C: 12.5 mg, 12.5 mg, 12.5 mg). In other 12 patients the conventional dose was reduced to a thrice 25 mg\/day administration (D regimen: 12.5 mg, 6.25 mg, 6.25 mg). In all patients, urinary free cortisol (UFC) excretion and cortisol day curves were evaluated. During the CA 37.5 mg administration, nadir cortisol levels were significantly higher with the thrice daily regimens (143 +\/- 31 on B and 151 +\/- 34 nmol\/l on C) than with the conventional twice (85 +\/- 16 nmol\/l). Moreover, UFC, morning cortisol levels and mean cortisol day curves were similar in each group. Finally, during D regimen nadir cortisol levels were higher than in A and similar to B and C regimens. No difference in UFC and in cortisol day curves by reducing the CA dose was found. In conclusion, the thrice daily cortisone regimens, in which more physiological cortisol levels are achieved, perform better as replacement therapy. The administration of 25 mg\/day CA confirms that replacement therapy is more adequate with a lower dose, particularly in patients with central hypoadrenalism.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23884871,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Diagnosis of stroke due to cocaine and its complications].\nINTRODUCTION. Cocaine is an independent cerebrovascular risk factor both for ischaemic and haemorrhagic events, above all among persons under 55 years of age. CASE REPORT. A case report of stroke due to the consumption of cocaine is used to review its pathophysiology and the complexity involved in the management and diagnosis of the associated complications. One of these complications reported in relation to the consumption of cocaine is vasospasm. This condition shares findings observed in ultrasound imaging studies with other conditions, such as early-onset post ischaemic hyperperfusion. Yet, there are important differences between the two as regards their treatment and prognosis. CONCLUSIONS. The consumption of cocaine is associated with cerebrovascular disease through a number of different mechanisms, which each give rise to different complications. By identifying these complications, correct management can be implemented.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12005922,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Highway on-ramp control.\nWe study the phase transition on a highway induced by the fluctuations of on-ramp flow. The highway traffic is provided by a hydrodynamical model. We analyze the characteristics of perturbations to induce congestion near on ramp. The phase boundary is obtained. A scaling relation is revealed. We also analyze the time evolution of the local density profile. Conventional control mechanisms to regulate the on-ramp flow are examined. A control scheme is proposed to suppress the congestion.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18588036,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Production of human immune interferon by recombinant mammalian cells cultivated on microcarriers.\nRecombinant Chinese hamster ovary (rCHO) cells were cultivated on microcarriers for the production of human immune (Gamma) interferon. The effect of basal medium, serum, and microcarrier concentration on interferon production was investigated. The specific interferon productivity in the post-confluent stage was similar to that in the growth stage. Control of the pH results in a significant improvement in the volumetric interferon production. The volumetric production rate of interferon by these rCHO cells did not decrease after one month of cultivation on microcarriers.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9558912,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Role of autologous stem cell transplantation in the treatment of Hodgkin's lymphoma].\nAmong lymphomas, treatment of Hodgkin's disease (HD) allows the highest cure-rate. Radiotherapy (RT) represents first choice therapy in early stages, providing complete remission (CR) rate even superior to 90%. Chemotherapy (CHT) or, when indicated, the combined modality treatment (CHT + RT) is successful, in terms of long overall survival (> 10 yrs) in more than 60% of patients with advanced stage disease at onset. Considering all stages of disease at onset, about 75% of patients can be cured. However, the remaining 25% results resistant to the conventional approach (CHT +\/- RT) or, mainly, relapses after first CR. For these poor prognosis patients, it has been assessed the possibility of inducing (or reinducing) a CR by using high dose CHT with stem cells rescue. Autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) consists in the administration of antiblastic drugs at so high dosages to require the consequent reinfusion of stem cells, preventively harvested and cryopreserved, thus dramatically decreasing the risk of a prolonged bone marrow aplasia. This procedure is currently performed as intensification treatment in selected cases of patients with advanced stage at onset, once in CR after first-line therapy. Therefore, the development of prognostic models aimed to define with higher sensibility and specificity patients at high risk of relapse and to be submitted to ASCT as consolidation therapy, is becoming of increasing interest.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23448223,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Different electroclinical picture of generalized epilepsy in two families with 15q13.3 microdeletion.\n15q.13.3 microdeletion has been described in a variety of neurodevelopmental disorders. Epilepsy appears to be a common feature and, specifically, the 15q13.3 microdeletion is found in about 1% of patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsy. Recently, absence seizures with intellectual disability (ID) have been reported in patients carrying this mutation. We describe two families in which several affected members carry a 15q13.3 microdeletion in a pattern suggestive of autosomal dominant inheritance. Their phenotype includes mainly absence epilepsy and mild ID, suggesting only similarities with genetic\/idiopathic generalized epilepsies but not typical features. The importance of studying such families is crucial to broaden the phenotype and understand the long-term outcome of patients with this condition.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1690880,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Internal mammarial lymphoscintigraphy with SPECT after ultrasound-guided injection of 99mTc-dextran.\nTwenty-two women with stage II or III breast cancer were evaluated by SPECT to determine the number, size, three-dimensional localization and depth from skin surface of the internal mammary lymph nodes for accurate radiotherapy portal planning. The results were also compared with those of planar imaging (PI). Two-step injections of 99mTc-dextran were made under ultrasound guidance into the anterior sheath of the M. rectus abdominis first at the ablation side. 1.5 h thereafter an anterior planar view was obtained to evaluate cross drainage (13.6% was observed). Then, the second injection was done at the opposite side in the same manner. Planar and tomographic images were obtained 1.5 h after the second injection. Similar values were obtained for the depth from skin surface, distance from the midline and diameter of the lymph nodes with both PI and SPECT. The total number of nodes in 22 patients detected by SPECT was higher (138) than that from PI (129), the difference being statistically significant (0.005 greater than p greater than 0.0005).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28733398,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Live Imaging of Chromosome Segregation during Meiosis in the Fission Yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe.\nThis protocol describes the live observation of chromosome segregation during fission yeast meiosis. To visualize one chromosome of interest, the lac operator (lacO array) is integrated at its centromere-proximal locus, and the lac repressor (lacI)-GFP fusion protein is expressed in a haploid strain. This haploid strain, in which mCherry-tagged tubulin is also expressed exogenously to monitor meiotic progression, is crossed with a nonlabeled haploid strain to induce meiosis. GFP and mCherry signals in resulting zygotes are observed by a fluorescent microscopy during the progression of meiosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30313480,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A new species of Schistura (Teleostei: Nemacheilidae) from the south-western lowlands of Sri Lanka.\nSchistura scripta, new species, is described from Nakiyadeniya in the south-western lowlands of Sri Lanka. It can be distinguished from all other congeners from Sri Lankan and peninsular India by the combination of the following characters: an incomplete lateral line with 53-76 pores, ending beneath the dorsal-fin base or slightly beyond; 7-13 post-dorsal bars; 7\u00bd branched dorsal-fin rays; absence of an axillary pelvic lobe; and absence of a suborbital flap.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9161034,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Tam3 produces a suppressible allele of the DAG locus of Antirrhinum majus similar to Mu-suppressible alleles of maize.\nTam3 from Antirrhinum majus belongs to the Ac\/Ds family of transposable elements. An allele of the DAG locus of Antirrhinum (dag::Tam3), which is required for chloroplast development and leaf palisade differentiation, has been generated by Tam3 insertion into the untranslated leader sequence of the gene. This allele gives rise to a cold-sensitive phenotype, where mutant tissue containing wild-type revertant somatic sections is observed in the leaves of plants grown at 15 degrees C, while leaves of plants grown at 25 degrees C appear near wild-type. The temperature sensitivity of dag::Tam3 results from expression of the DAG locus responding to the activity of the transposable element, the transposition of which is very sensitive to growing temperature. Genetic suppression of Tam3 transposition, using the STABILISER locus, also results in suppression of the dag mutant phenotype. dag::Tam3 represents a Tam3-suppressible allele similar to those described for Mu transposons in maize. Suppression of the dag mutant phenotype in response to element inactivation appears to result from use of an alternative promoter at the 3' end of the Tam3 element. The production of suppressible alleles by an Ac-like element is discussed in relation to the mutagenic potential of plant transposons in producing complex genetic diversity.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28719922,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Stigmatization in Employed Patients with Breast, Intestinal, Prostate and Lung Cancer].\nBackground The stigma of cancer patients can lead to far-reaching consequences, both for the individual and for the society. Quantitative studies on the stigmatization of cancer patients are scarce. The present study assessed the stigma of cancer patients in relation to their status of employment, and analyzes sociodemographic, disease and occupational predictors. Methods In a bicentric study, 858 patients with breast, bowel, lung or prostate cancer were included. Of these, n=305 were employed and entered into the analyses (age average 55 years, 43% female, 47% breast cancer). As a comparison group, a matched sample of non-employed persons (n=213) is used from our data set. In addition to questions on work and health aspects, stigmatization was measured using the SIS-D (Social Impact Scale). The data are evaluated uni- and multivariable. Results Employed persons with prostate or breast cancer are less stigmatized (p<0.01) than non-employed persons, with effects between d=0.35-0.97. The strongest influence on perceived stigma is the lack of support from the employer, further predictors are poor health, low mental workability and diagnosis of breast cancer (R2 of the final model=0.35). Conclusion The employment of cancer patients is associated with lesser perceived stigmatization. Occupational stigmatization depends above all on the work environment or the employer's supportive attitude.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20378847,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Junctional adhesion molecule A expressed on human CD34+ cells promotes adhesion on vascular wall and differentiation into endothelial progenitor cells.\nTo investigate the role of junctional adhesion molecule A (JAM-A) on adhesion and differentiation of human CD34(+) cells into endothelial progenitor cells. Tissue healing and vascular regeneration is a multistep process requiring firm adhesion of circulating progenitor cells to the vascular wall and their further differentiation into endothelial cells. The role of JAM-A in platelet-mediated adhesion of progenitor cells was investigated by adhesion assays in vitro and with the help of intravital fluorescence microscopy in mice. Preincubation of human CD34(+) progenitor cells with soluble JAM-A-Fc (sJAM-A-Fc) resulted in significantly decreased adhesion over immobilized platelets or inflammatory endothelium under high shear stress in vitro and after carotid ligation in vivo or ischemia\/reperfusion injury in the microcirculation of mice. Human CD34(+) cells express JAM-A, as defined by flow cytometry and Western blot analysis. JAM-A mediates differentiation of CD34(+) cells to endothelial progenitor cells and facilitates CD34(+) cell-induced reendothelialization in vitro. Pretreatment of human CD34(+) cells with sJAM-A-Fc resulted in increased neointima formation 3 weeks after endothelial denudation in the carotid arteries of nonobese diabetic\/severe combined immunodeficient mice. These results indicate that the expression of JAM-A on CD34(+) cells mediates adhesion to the vascular wall after injury and differentiation into endothelial progenitor cells, a mechanism potentially involved in vascular regeneration. Human CD34(+) cells express JAM-A, mediating their interaction with platelets and endothelial cells. Specifically, JAM-A expressed on human CD34(+) progenitor cells regulates their adhesion over immobilized platelets or inflammatory endothelium under high shear stress in vitro and after carotid ligation in vivo or ischemia\/reperfusion injury in the microcirculation of mice. Moreover, it mediates differentiation of CD34(+) cells to endothelial progenitor cells and facilitates reendothelialization.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":952131,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Problems of premedication in pediatric gynecologic consultation hours].\nIt is reported about the behavior of 300 children, which were examined and treated gynecological after premedication, which was performed with Elroguil, Faustan, Lepinal, Myocuran, Sinophebin liqu. The sedative effect was not good in all cases. A premedication is not generally indicated, but in some of the cases the situation of examination is better.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20369080,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Metronomic chemotherapy: Back to the future!\nAngiogenesis is crucial for the growth of cancer. As such, it has become an established target to fight cancer. Metronomic chemotherapy-the chronic administration of chemotherapy at relatively low, minimally toxic doses on a frequent schedule of administration, at close regular intervals, with no prolonged drug-free breaks-is a potential approach to control advanced cancer disease. It is thought to work primarily through antiangiogenic mechanisms and has the property to kill resistant cancer cells and\/or to inhibit tumor growth while significantly reducing undesirable toxic side effects. Here, we will discuss potential mechanisms of action of metronomic chemotherapy and briefly review the data regarding the clinical experience with this kind of anticancer treatment. Based on recent insights in the various mechanisms of action, we will try to predict the potential new developments of metronomic chemotherapy in oncology.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15259578,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Abandoned endoscopic procedures.\nIntraoperatively, it may be prudent at times to abandon or defer the intended therapeutic procedure due to adverse prevailing conditions. A decision to abandon or defer an endoscopic procedure would necessarily result in less morbidity compared with conventional open surgery. A retrospective review of endoscopic procedures that were abandoned or deferred and subsequent patient outcomes were noted. Between January 1998 to May 2003, 48 procedures out of a total of 11,550 endoscopic surgical procedures had to be abandoned. Previously unsuspected intraabdominal malignancy was the cause in 32 patients. Anesthesia-related problems led to the decision in 6 patients. Coincidental tuberculosis and failure in accessing the target organ were the cause in two patients each. An ectopic gallbladder, an absent gallbladder, a pancreatic phlegmon, and a failure to achieve proper single-lung ventilation led to the decision in one patient each. In two patients, presence of dense intraabdominal adhesions that precluded further progress led the surgeon to abandon the surgery. The patients with intraabdominal malignancy were staged for their disease and treated accordingly. Nine patients without malignancy who had their operation deferred due to diverse reasons were operated on a later date, whereas 4 patients were lost to follow-up. The 9 patients who underwent operation at a later date are well on follow-up. Four patients with intraabdominal malignancy died, whereas the others are well in follow-up after being treated according to the stage of their disease. Certain adverse situation encountered intraoperatively may lead the surgeon to change the approach to surgery and abandon the procedure. He may consider operation at a suitable time later or consider a different treatment altogether. The morbidity consequent to such a decision is much less if the operative approach is an endoscopic one.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26421175,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"No Evidence for Association Between Norepinephrine Transporter-3081 (A\/T) Polymorphism and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Iranian Population.\nAttention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) can lead to drastic problems for the patient and its worldwide prevalence is 5%-12%. It also has many comorbidities with other disorders, and the genetic contribution seems the most significant cause. The current study was conducted to investigate the association between norepinephrine transporter-3081 (A\/T) polymorphisms and ADHD in Iranian population. Participants were chosen from children and adolescents diagnosed with ADHD referred to Imam Hoseyn Hospital. A child and adolescent psychiatrist confirmed the diagnosis using the Kiddie-Sads-Present and Lifetime Version (K-SADS-PL) semi-structural interview. The control group was from pupils of schools in Tehran (capital city of Iran) who had no history or presence of psychiatric and medical complications. Also, a child and adolescent psychiatrist confirmed their health using the K-SADS-PL semi-structural interview. Genetic examinations were DNA distraction, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), and Restricted Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP), which were conducted according to standard protocols. The statistical analysis was performed using chi-square and Fisher's exact test in SPSS version 21. The percentages of ADHD subtypes for combined, inattentive, and hyperactive\/impulsive were 72.2%, 17.2%, and 11.9%, respectively. There was no significant association between norepinephrine transporter polymorphism and ADHD (P = 0.81). Moreover, no significant relationship was found between gender [male (P = 0.92) and female (P = 0.63)] and polymorphism. No significant association was found between subtypes of ADHD [combined (P = 0.46), inattentive (P = 0.41), hyperactive\/impulsive (P = 0.32)] and polymorphism SCL6A2. This lack of association can also be seen in gender in every subtype. The results of the study show no significant association between norepinephrine transporter polymorphism SCL6A2 and ADHD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25405916,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Prenatal molecular diagnosis of \u03b2-thalassemia and sickle cell anemia in the Syrian population.\nOur objective was to evaluate the prenatal diagnosis (PND) of \u03b2-thalassemia (\u03b2-thal) and sickle cell anemia in Syria. Mutations detected from blood of at-risk couples and 55 amniotic fluid samples collected at the second trimester of pregnancy (14-22 weeks' gestation) were characterized. Molecular screening and direct DNA sequencing of the HBB gene was carried out. DNA analyses showed 14 affected fetuses (25.45%), 32 (58.18%) carriers and eight (14.54%) normal fetuses. It appears that 20.0% of individuals carried the sickle cell anemia mutation and 80.0% carried the \u03b2-thal mutation. Thirteen different known mutations were detected in the fetuses. The most common mutations were: IVS-II-1 (G > A), codon 39 (C > T)], IVS-I-110 (G > A), IVS-I-1 (G > A) and IVS-I-5 (G > C). The Hb S [\u03b26(A3)Glu \u2192 Val; HBB: c.20A > T] mutation was the only abnormal hemoglobin (Hb) that was found. The results point to a successful future for PND of \u03b2-thal and sickle cell anemia in Syria, using a rapid and accurate molecular method. We hope that this method will be used as a common application approach to decrease the incidence of \u03b2-thal major (\u03b2-TM).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14523377,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"SLC11A1 (formerly NRAMP1) and susceptibility to visceral leishmaniasis in The Sudan.\nGenetic susceptibility to visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is indicated by differences in incidence and clinical phenotypes between ethnic groups in Sudan. In mice, innate susceptibility to Leishmania donovani, the etiological agent of VL, is controlled by Slc11a1 (formerly Nramp1). We therefore examined polymorphisms at SLC11A1 in 59 multicase families of VL from the high-incidence Masalit tribe in Sudan. Multipoint nonparametric analysis in ALLEGRO shows a significant linkage across SLC11A1 (Zlr scores 2.38-2.55; 0.008< or =P< or =0.012; information content 0.88). The extended transmission disequilibrium test shows biased transmission of alleles at 5' polymorphisms in the promoter (P=0.0145), exon 3 (P=0.0037) and intron 4 (P=0.0049), and haplotypes formed by them (P=0.0089), but not for 3' polymorphisms at exon 15 or the 3'UTR. Stepwise logistic regression analysis using a case\/pseudo-control data set derived from the 59 families was consistent with main effects contributed by the intron 4 469+14G\/C polymorphism. Although the two alleles for 469+14G\/C lie on haplotypes carrying different alleles for the functional promoter GTn polymorphism, the latter did not itself contribute separate main effects. Sequence analysis of 36 individuals failed to identify new putative functional polymorphisms in the coding region, intron 1, intron\/exon boundaries, intron 4\/exon 4a, or in the 3'UTR. One novel promoter polymorphism (-86G\/A) was located within a putative nuclear factor kappa B binding site that could be functional. Further work will determine whether additional polymorphisms occur upstream in the promoter, which could be in linkage disequilibrium with the intron 4 polymorphism. These studies contribute to knowledge of the role of SLC11A1 in infectious disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28731696,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Tuning Nonradiative Lifetimes via Molecular Aggregation.\nWe show that molecular aggregation can strongly influence the nonradiative decay (NRD) lifetime of an electronic excitation. As a demonstrative example, we consider a transition-dipole-dipole-interacting dimer whose monomers have harmonic potential energy surfaces (PESs). Depending on the position of the NRD channel (qnr), we find that the NRD lifetime (\u03c4nrdim) can exhibit a completely different dependence on the intermolecular-interaction strength. We observe that (i) for qnr near the Franck-Condon region, \u03c4nrdim increases with the interaction strength; (ii) for qnr near the minimum of the monomer excited PES, the intermolecular interaction has little influence on \u03c4nrdim; and (iii) for qnr near the classical turning point of the monomer nuclear dynamics, on the other side of the minimum, \u03c4nrdim decreases with the interaction strength. Our findings suggest design principles for molecular systems where a specific fluorescence quantum yield is desired.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36940050,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Genomic epidemiology and transmission dynamics of recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection in Western Australia.\nRecurrent cases of Clostridioides difficile infection (rCDI) remain one of the most common and serious challenges faced in the management of CDI. The accurate distinction between a relapse (caused by infection with the same strain) and reinfection (caused by a new strain) has implications for infection control and prevention, and patient therapy. Here, we used whole-genome sequencing to investigate the epidemiology of 94 C. difficile isolates from 38 patients with rCDI in Western Australia. The C. difficile strain population comprised 13 sequence types (STs) led by ST2 (PCR ribotype (RT) 014, 36.2%), ST8 (RT002, 19.1%) and ST34 (RT056, 11.7%). Among 38 patients, core genome SNP (cgSNP) typing found 27 strains (71%) from initial and recurring cases differed by \u2264 2 cgSNPs, suggesting a likely relapse of infection with the initial strain, while eight strains differed by \u2265 3 cgSNPs, suggesting reinfection. Almost half of patients with CDI relapse confirmed by WGS suffered episodes that occurred outside the widely used 8-week cut-off for defining rCDI. Several putative strain transmission events between epidemiologically unrelated patients were identified. Isolates of STs 2 and 34 from rCDI cases and environmental sources shared a recent evolutionary history, suggesting a possible common community reservoir. For some rCDI episodes caused by STs 2 and 231, within-host strain diversity was observed, characterised by loss\/gain of moxifloxacin resistance. Genomics improves discrimination of relapse from reinfection and identifies putative strain transmission events among patients with rCDI. Current definitions of relapse and reinfection based on the timing of recurrence need to be reconsidered.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17177438,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hydrogen storage in a microporous metal-organic framework with exposed Mn2+ coordination sites.\nUse of the tritopic bridging ligand 1,3,5-benzenetristetrazolate (BTT3-) enables formation of [Mn(DMF)6]3[(Mn4Cl)3(BTT)8(H2O)12]2.42DMF.11H2O.20CH3OH, featuring a porous metal-organic framework with a previously unknown cubic topology. Crystals of the compound remain intact upon desolvation and show a total H2 uptake of 6.9 wt % at 77 K and 90 bar, which at 60 g H2\/L provides a storage density 85% of that of liquid hydrogen. The material exhibits a maximum isosteric heat of adsorption of 10.1 kJ\/mol, the highest yet observed for a metal-organic framework. Neutron powder diffraction data demonstrate that this is directly related to H2 binding at coordinatively unsaturated Mn2+ centers within the framework.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28291748,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The crystal structure of mouse LC3B in complex with the FYCO1 LIR reveals the importance of the flanking region of the LIR motif.\nFYVE and coiled-coil domain-containing protein 1 (FYCO1), a multidomain autophagy adaptor protein, mediates microtubule plus-end-directed autophagosome transport by interacting with kinesin motor proteins and with the autophagosomal membrane components microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (LC3), Rab7 and phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate (PI3P). To establish the structural basis for the recognition of FYCO1 by LC3, the crystal structure of mouse LC3B in complex with the FYCO1 LC3-interacting region (LIR) motif peptide was determined. Structural analysis showed that the flanking sequences N-terminal and C-terminal to the LIR core sequence of FYCO1, as well as the tetrapeptide core sequence, were specifically recognized by LC3B and contributed to the binding. Moreover, comparisons of related structures revealed a conserved mechanism of FYCO1 recognition by different LC3 isoforms among different species.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29546424,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Drought affects abortion of reproductive organs by exacerbating developmentally driven processes via expansive growth and hydraulics.\nAbortion of reproductive organs is a major limiting factor of yield under water deficit, but is also a trait selected for by evolutionary processes. The youngest reproductive organs must be prone to abortion so older organs can finish their development in case of limited resources. Water deficit increases natural abortion via two developmentally driven processes, namely a signal from the first fertilized ovaries and a simultaneous arrest of the expansive growth of all ovaries at a precise stage. In maize (Zea mays) subjected to water deficits typically encountered in dryland agriculture, these developmental mechanisms account for 90% of drought-associated abortion and are irreversible 3 d after silk emergence. Consistently, transcripts and enzyme activities suggest that the molecular events associated with abortion affect expansive growth in silks whereas ovaries maintain a favourable carbon status. Abortion due to carbon starvation is only observed for severe drought scenarios occurring after silking. Both kinetic and genetic evidence indicates that vegetative and reproductive structures share a partly common hydraulic control of expansive growth. Hence, the control of expansive growth of reproductive structures probably has a prominent effect on abortion for mild water deficits occurring at flowering time, while carbon starvation dominates in severe post-flowering drought scenarios.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32588928,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Coordination-Induced Emission from Tetraphenylethylene Units and Their Applications.\nThanks to the potential of aggregation-induced emission (AIE) phenomena, improved stabilities, and the good selectivity and sensitivity of the chemical responses exhibited by the products, coordination-driven self-assembly with tetraphenylethylene (TPE) units has recently received much attention and has been widely investigated for application in chemical sensors, cell imaging agents, light-harvesting systems, and others. Several reviews have emerged on the topics of AIE chemistry and aggregation-induced emission luminogen (AIEgen)-based supramolecular assembles, however, there is still a distinct lack of full overviews of emission enhancement from the viewpoint of metal-coordination effects. Thus, this minireview offers recent advances that have been made in the design and application of TPE-based metallacycles, metallacages, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and coordination polymers (CPs).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6723366,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Oral warty dyskeratoma.\nWarty dyskeratoma of the oral mucosa is a rare cause of solitary mouth lesions. Of the thirteen reported patients, only three have been described in the dermatologic literature. We now present an additional patient, and review both the medical and the dental literature on warty dyskeratoma. Various factors possibly related to its cause are discussed, including cigarette smoking, a heretofore largely unappreciated possibility.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":27483500,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Residential Exposure to Natural Background Radiation and Risk of Childhood Acute Leukemia in France, 1990-2009.\nExposures to high-dose ionizing radiation and high-dose rate ionizing radiation are established risk factors for childhood acute leukemia (AL). The risk of AL following exposure to lower doses due to natural background radiation (NBR) has yet to be conclusively determined. AL cases diagnosed over 1990-2009 (9,056 cases) were identified and their municipality of residence at diagnosis collected by the National Registry of Childhood Cancers. The Geocap study, which included the 2,763 cases in 2002-2007 and 30,000 population controls, was used for complementary analyses. NBR exposures were modeled on a fine scale (36,326 municipalities) based on measurement campaigns and geological data. The power to detect an association between AL and dose to the red bone marrow (RBM) fitting UNSCEAR (United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation) predictions was 92%, 45% and 99% for exposure to natural gamma radiation, radon and total radiation, respectively. AL risk, irrespective of subtype and age group, was not associated with the exposure of municipalities to radon or gamma radiation in terms of yearly exposure at age reached, cumulative exposure or RBM dose. There was no confounding effect of census-based socio-demographic indicators, or environmental factors (road traffic, high voltage power lines, vicinity of nuclear plants) related to AL in the Geocap study. Our findings do not support the hypothesis that residential exposure to NBR increases the risk of AL, despite the large size of the study, fine scale exposure estimates and wide range of exposures over France. However, our results at the time of diagnosis do not rule out a slight association with gamma radiation at the time of birth, which would be more in line with the recent findings in the UK and Switzerland.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36934238,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-18":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A novel clinical prediction model of severity based on red cell distribution width, neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio and intra-abdominal pressure in acute pancreatitis in pregnancy.\nAcute pancreatitis in pregnancy (APIP) with a high risk of death is extremely harmful to mother and fetus. There are few models specifically designed to assess the severity of APIP. Our study aimed to establish a clinical model for early prediction of severity of APIP. A retrospective study in a total of 188 patients with APIP was enrolled. The hematological indicators, IAP (intra-abdominal pressure) and clinical data were obtained for statistical analysis and prediction model construction. According to univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis, we found that red cell distribution width (RDW), neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and Intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) are prediction indexes of the severity in APIP (p-value < 0.05). Our novel clinical prediction model was created by based on the above three risk factors and showed superior predictive power in primary cohort (AUC = 0.895) and validation cohort (AUC = 0.863). A nomogram for severe acute pancreatitis in pregnancy (SAPIP) was created based on the three indicators. The nomogram was well-calibrated. RDW, NLR and IAP were the independent risk factors of APIP. Our clinical prediction model of severity in APIP based on RDW, NLR and IAP with predictive evaluation is accurate and effective.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37846829,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Expressions of NLRP1 and NLRC4 inflammasomes in prostate cancer and their clinical value].\nTo explore the clinical value of the inflammasomes NLRP1 and NLRC4 in the diagnosis and treatment of PCa. Using immunohistochemical staining, we detected the expressions of the inflammasomes NLRP1 and NLRC4 and the inflammatory cytokines IL-18 and IL-1\u03b2 in 54 cases of BPH and 58 cases of PCa treated in Pinghu First People's Hospital from January 2022 to May 2022. We analyzed the characteristics of their expressions in the two groups of patients and the correlation of NLRP1 and NLRC4 expressions with tPSA, fPSA and Gleason scores in the PCa patients. Based on the Cancer Genome Atlas dataset, we compared the expressions of NLRP1 and NLRC4 in different stages of PCa. The NLRP1 and NLRC4 expressions were significantly increased in the PCa patients (P < 0.001). The expression of NLRP1 was linearly correlated with those of IL-1\u03b2 and IL-18 (P < 0.05), and so was the expression of NLRC4 with that of IL-18 (P < 0.05). The expressions of NLRP1 and NLRC4 were positively correlated with the Gleason scores of the PCa patients (P < 0.05), the former remarkably higher in T3 and T4 than in T1 (P > 0.05), and the latter markedly higher in T2, T3 and T4 than in T1 (P < 0.05). The inflammasomes NLRP1 and NLRC4 are highly expressed in PCa and facilitate tumorgenesis by promoting the maturation and release of the inflammatory cytokines IL-1\u03b2 and IL-18, which indicates their important role in the progression of tumors and clinical value in the risk assessment and prognosis of PCa.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12016142,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of resistant starch and nonstarch polysaccharides on colonic luminal environment and genotoxin-induced apoptosis in the rat.\nFermentation of polysaccharides in the colon seems likely to regulate tumorigenesis but the mechanisms are unclear. A possible mechanism may be through facilitation of the acute apoptotic response to genotoxin-induced DNA damage. This study evaluated the effects of selected dietary polysaccharides, resistant starch (supplied as Hi-maize) and nonstarch polysaccharides (supplied as wheat bran and cellulose) on certain biological events relevant to protection against colon cancer (fecal bulk, pH, butyrate and apoptosis). Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed the different experimental diets for a period of 4 weeks, after which a single azoxymethane injection was given to induce DNA damage; 6 h later the acute apoptotic response was measured. Other measures included short chain fatty acid (SCFA) levels, fecal bulk and pH. All wheat bran treatments significantly (P < 0.05) enhanced carcinogen-induced apoptosis in the distal colon, increased fecal bulk and butyrate levels and reduced fecal pH, when compared with rats fed NF or Cellulose diets. Total SCFA (P < 0.001, r = 0.496) and butyrate levels (P < 0.001, r = 0.353) in the feces correlated positively with the acute apoptotic response in distal colonic crypts. Resistant starch supplementation by this modest amount did not enhance carcinogen-induced apoptosis. While it did significantly increase bulk, SCFA and butyrate levels and lower pH, the magnitude of these effects was not as great as with wheat bran. These findings indicate that wheat bran is the most effective regulator of these biological events of relevance to protection against colon cancer. Assuming that the acute apoptotic response to genotoxic carcinogens acts to remove genetically damaged cells that might otherwise form mutated clones that progress to malignancy, we have identified an additional biological mechanism by which dietary polysaccharides provide protection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28693645,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Morphometrics and allometry of the larvae of five Characiformes species in the Para\u00edba do Sul River Basin.\nThe aim of this study was to analyse the morphology and allometry of larvae belonging to five potamodromous species. Five breeding species belonging to the order Characiformes [Salminus brasiliensis (Cuvier, 1816), Leporinus steindachneri, Eigenmann, 1907, Prochilodus lineatus (Valenciennes, 1837), Prochilodus vimboides (Kner,1859) and Brycon insignis, Steindachner, 1877] were used to obtain larvae samples during the pre-flexing, post-flexing, and juvenile developmental stages. When we observed the degree-hour (DH) amplitude time values, we found three developmental groups based on allometry and morphometrics within the period between the pre-flexing and post-flexing phases. Group 1 consists of the species S. brasiliensis and B. insignis, Group 2 consists of P. lineatus and P. vimboides, and Group 3 consists of L. steindachneri. Group 1 requires less development time and has more slender larvae. Group 2 has a moderate development time and larvae with a more rounded shape. Group 3 presents a greater development time and an intermediate larval morphology. It was possible to classify the larvae through cross-validated discriminant analyses based on seven morphometric variables with 90% accuracy in B. insignis, 83% in L. steindachneri, 91% in P. lineatus, 80% in P. vimboides, and 96% in S. brasiliensis. These results indicate larval characteristics that can be used for the taxonomic identification of the icthyoplankton.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31257353,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Structure and Functional Properties of Antioxidant Nanoemulsions Prepared with Tea Polyphenols and Soybean Protein Isolate.\nIn this study, tea polyphenols (TP) was added to a soy protein isolate (SPI) to prepare nanoemulsions by ultra-high pressure homogenization (UHPH). The nanoemulsions were characterized by a confocal laser scanning electron microscopy, infrared spectroscopy, dynamic rheometer and size-potential analyzer. The effects of TP on the hydrophobicity, emulsifiability, particle size, potential and antioxidant capacity of the prepared nanoemulsions were investigated. The properties of the nanoemulsions with different concentrations of TP were analyzed. The results indicated that ultra-high pressure homogenization treatment contributed to the formation of the SPI-TP complex that showed higher antioxidant activity. The nanoemulsions with good emulsifying properties and high DPPH scavenging ability at the concentration of TP ranged from 0.15-0.20g \/ mL. Furthermore, nanoemulsions prepared in this way also had a uniform particle size. Therefore, this nanoemulsions exhibited a good potential to act as an efficient emulsifier.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11989718,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Comparative modeling of the phosphatase and kinase domains of protein tyrosine phosphatase and insulin receptor kinase from Drosophila melanogaster (DPTP61fm), and a computational study of their mutual interactions.\nThe components and functions of the insulin receptor kinase signaling pathway have been conserved in a broad range of Metazoa ranging from mammals to insects and nematodes. There is a high degree of sequence homology and functional similarity between the human insulin receptor kinase (IRK) and the drosophila (Drosophila melanogaster) form (DIRK) of this enzyme. Similarly, a high degree of homology exists between human protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) (which directly regulates IRK) and its drosophila counterpart DPTP61F (DPTP). However, genetic and biochemical studies have yet to demonstrate that DPTP61F acts in the DIRK pathway. Comparative structural modeling techniques using the known structures of human IRK and PTP1B as templates have yielded structures for the drosophila enzymes. The derived structures confirm that there is a high level of structural conservation at the tertiary level. Association of the DIRK and DPTP enzymes with each other was then investigated with a view to ascertaining whether DIRK might be a substrate of the DPTP. Evaluation of the interaction surfaces, including hydrophobic patch, shape, hydrogen bonding, and electrostatic compatibility, strongly suggested that the drosophila insulin receptor is a substrate of the DPTP. The interaction surfaces of the human and drosophila enzymes are structurally similar, although changes in critical residues modify possible electrostatic and hydrogen-bonding interactions. This suggests that in the mixed systems, DPTP-IRK or PTP1B-DIRK, the kinase domain will be a comparatively poor substrate for phosphatase activity when compared with the native systems.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6748362,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Chorioretinitis sclopetaria caused by fishing line sinker.\nA case of chorioretinitis sclopetaria caused by a grazing injury from a fishing line sinker was reported. A man was struck in his left orbit by the sinker, and immediately lost visual acuity. The sinker was removed, but funduscopy showed the typical appearance of chorioretinitis sclopetaria six months later. On fluorescein angiography, mottled background fluorescence appeared in a star-shaped scar. Fluorescein angiography, computed tomography, and roentgenography indicated that direct damage to the ciliary vessels was present.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3044276,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Phase III study of carboplatin in ovarian cancer].\nA phase III study of carboplatin vs cisplatin in CAP regimen for ovarian cancer was conducted by a cooperative study group consisting of 22 institutions nationwide. The response rate for 23 cases allocated to carboplatin regimen group was 34.8% and 42.1% for 19 cases allocated to cisplatin regimen group. No significant difference was observed between these two regimens in response rates, and no significant differences were noted between the two regimens in each of the clinical toxicities and abnormalities in laboratory findings. Since the carboplatin regimen group did not require hydration, or the use diuretics or antiemetics, these results suggested that carboplatin is more useful in the treatment of ovarian cancer than cisplatin.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28700234,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Assessment of Tuned Range Separated Exchange Functionals for Spectroscopies and Properties of Uranium Complexes.\nThe Kohn-Sham delocalization error (DE) is quantified in select uranium compounds for various functionals and shown to correlate with the magnitude of dative ligand donation into the 5f shell. Range separated exchange functionals are reparametrized to minimize the DE and analyzed for their spectroscopic predictive capabilities. Valence excitation spectra of occupied 5f systems exhibit noticeable improvement upon reparametrization, e.g. UCl6-, UCl62-, and UO2+. Less sensitivity to the reparameterization was observed for closed shell 5f systems and core excitation spectra. A general parametrization is proposed to perform well for valence excitation spectra with small DE.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30096074,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Regression of liver fibrosis after curing chronic hepatitis C with oral antivirals in patients with and without HIV coinfection.\nTreatment with direct-acting antivirals (DAA) eradicates hepatitis C virus (HCV) from most chronic carriers. Information on regression of liver fibrosis and the influence of HIV is scarce in cured patients. All consecutive HCV-infected individuals treated with DAA at our institution were examined. Hepatic elastography was performed at baseline and at the time of SVR12. Liver fibrosis regression was defined as a shift from advanced fibrosis (Metavir F3-F4) to null-mild fibrosis (F0-F2) and\/or a reduction greater than 30% kPa. AST to platelet ratio index (APRI) and fibrosis 4 (FIB-4) scores were calculated in parallel. A total of 260 patients were treated with DAA. All but 14 achieved SVR12 and represented the study population. HIV confection was present in 42%. At baseline, 57.2% had advanced liver fibrosis with a median of 11 kPa, FIB-4 of 2.4, and APRI of 0.95. At the time of SVR12, a median reduction of 2.1 kPa (P < 0.001) was recognized using elastography. A significant fibrosis regression was seen in 40%, being more frequent in patients with baseline advanced fibrosis than in those with null-mild fibrosis (52.3 vs. 22.5%; P < 0.001). Even so, 41.2% of patients with baseline F3-F4 kept within cirrhotic scores. In multivariable analysis, only baseline stiffness was significantly associated with the extent of liver fibrosis regression. HCV cure with DAA is associated with regression of liver fibrosis in most patients treated with DAA, as measured using elastography, FIB-4 and APRI. This benefit is more pronounced in patients with baseline advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis. The dynamics of liver fibrosis regression are not influenced by HIV coinfection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22678829,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Entrapment of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and 3T3 fibroblast cells into blue light cured hydrogels.\nHydrogels, containing yeast cells or fibroblast cells, were fabricated using blue light-induced polymerization technique. The cell-loaded prepolymer formulation was comprised of poly(ethyleneglycol) diacrylate (more than or equal to 50% v\/v), 0.5 wt % Eosin Y and 0.5 wt % triethanolamine as the base oligomer, photo-initiator, and co-initiator, respectively. The two model cell lines, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and NIH 3T3 fibroblasts maintained high viability pre- and post-processing. Several bioassays have demonstrated the unaffected intracellular and extracellular activities of the cells entrapped within the hydrogels. Scanning electron microscopy confirmed the proliferation of S. cerevisiae cells that were entrapped and cultivated for 48 h in growth media, which validated the favorable microenvironment and nutrient transport in these gels. Upon entrapment, fibroblast cells remain viable upto 12 h, however they failed to attach within the crosslinked network, thus no further proliferation was observed. The tunable properties of this hydrogel system project it as a useful matrix for specialized biohybrids.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6745603,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Endoscopic screening for gastric stump cancer--would it be beneficial? A hypothetical cohort study.\nThe incidence of gastric cancer is increased in the gastric stump. It has, therefore, been recommended that subjects who have undergone partial gastrectomy be screened by regular endoscopy. However, several factors make it very difficult to test, in a clinical trial, the efficacy of such screening. To solve this problem, known clinical observations on partial gastrectomy patients were applied to a hypothetical cohort of 100,000 German or American partial gastrectomy patients. In this way the possible benefits of regular endoscopic screening in such a population were predicted. Markov type of decision analysis was used on the hypothetical cohorts to see if yearly endoscopy significantly improved outcomes as compared with no endoscopic screening. Under the very liberal, but arbitrary, assumption that endoscopic screening could prevent death from gastric stump cancer in 80% of those diagnosed as having gastric stump cancer, 8.5% and 5.4% of German male and female gastrectomy patients, respectively, and 2.2% and 1.3% of American male and female gastrectomy patients, respectively, would benefit from screening. Lives of German men and women would be prolonged 10 and 13 yr, respectively, [11 and 15 yr for American men and women]. Life expectancy of the total male and female cohort would increase by 9 and 8 mo, respectively, [U.S.A: 2 and 2 mo]. Per 100 endoscopies invested, 6.4 and 4.3 [U.S.A.: 1.8 and 1.2] male and female life years would be gained. However, a sensitivity analysis shows the outcomes of the calculations to depend most on the rate of a 5-yr survival gained by endoscopy and surgery: as the postoperative 5-yr survival of gastric stump cancer patients falls below 80%, the benefit achieved by endoscopic screening becomes even less apparent. In American subjects who have undergone partial gastrectomy, the benefit of endoscopic screening would probably be too low to justify screening. Only in populations with high frequencies of gastric cancer may endoscopic screening be beneficial.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28295288,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Overexpression of FoxO3a is associated with glioblastoma progression and predicts poor patient prognosis.\nForkhead transcription factor FoxO3a has been reported to have ambiguous functions and distinct mechanisms in various solid tumors, including glioblastoma (GBM). Although a preliminary analysis of a small sample of patients indicated that FoxO3a aberrations in glioma might be related to aggressive clinical behavior, the clinical significance of FoxO3a in glioblastoma remains unclear. We investigated the expression of FoxO3a in a cohort of 91 glioblastoma specimens and analyzed the correlations of protein expression with patient prognosis. Furthermore, the functional impact of FoxO3a on GBM progression and the underlying mechanisms of FoxO3a regulation were explored in a series of in vitro and in vivo assays. FoxO3a expression was elevated in glioblastoma tissues, and high nuclear FoxO3a expression in human GBM tissues was associated with poor prognosis. Moreover, knockdown of FoxO3a significantly reduced the colony formation and invasion ability of GBM cells, whereas overexpression of FoxO3a promoted the colony formation and invasion ability. The results of in vivo GBM models further confirmed that FoxO3a knockdown inhibited GBM progression. More, the pro-oncogenic effects of FoxO3a in GBM were mediated by the activation of c-Myc, microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 beta (LC3B) and Beclin1 in a mixed-lineage leukemia 2 (MLL2)-dependent manner. These findings suggest that high FoxO3a expression is associated with glioblastoma progression and that FoxO3a independently indicates poor prognosis in patients. FoxO3a might be a novel prognostic biomarker or a potential therapeutic target in glioblastoma.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26425050,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effect of Propofol and Desflurane on Immune Cell Populations in Breast Cancer Patients: A Randomized Trial.\nSeveral factors can affect the perioperative immune function. We evaluated the effect of propofol and desflurane anesthesia on the surgery-induced immune perturbation in patients undergoing breast cancer surgery. The patients were randomly assigned to receive propofol (n = 20) or desflurane (n = 20) anesthesia. The total and differential white blood cell counts were determined with lymphocyte subpopulations before and 1 hr after anesthesia induction and at 24 hr postoperatively. Plasma concentrations of interleukin (IL)-2 and IL-4 were also measured. Both propofol and desflurane anesthesia preserved the IL-2\/IL-4 and CD4(+)\/CD8(+) T cell ratio. Leukocytes were lower in the propofol group than in the desflurane group at 1 hr after induction (median [quartiles], 4.98 [3.87-6.31] vs. 5.84 [5.18-7.94] 10(3)\/\u00b5L) and 24 hr postoperatively (6.92 [5.54-6.86] vs. 7.62 [6.22-9.21] 10(3)\/\u00b5L). NK cells significantly decreased 1 hr after induction in the propofol group (0.41 [0.34-0.53] to 0.25 [0.21-0.33] 10(3)\/\u00b5L), but not in the desflurane group (0.33 [0.29-0.48] to 0.38 [0.30-0.56] 10(3)\/\u00b5L). Our findings indicate that both propofol and desflurane anesthesia for breast cancer surgery induce a favorable immune response in terms of preservation of IL-2\/IL-4 and CD4(+)\/CD8(+) T cell ratio in the perioperative period. With respect to leukocytes and NK cells, desflurane anesthesia is associated with less adverse immune responses than propofol anesthesia during surgery for breast cancer. (Clinical trial registration at https:\/\/cris.nih.go.kr\/cris number: KCT0000939).","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22694023,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2017-13":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Out of bounds? A critique of the new policies on hyperandrogenism in elite female athletes.\nIn May 2011, more than a decade after the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) abandoned sex testing, they devised new policies in response to the IAAF's treatment of Caster Semenya, the South African runner whose sex was challenged because of her spectacular win and powerful physique that fueled an international frenzy questioning her sex and legitimacy to compete as female. These policies claim that atypically high levels of endogenous testosterone in women (caused by various medical conditions) create an unfair advantage and must be regulated. Against the backdrop of Semenya's case and the scientific and historical complexity of \"gender verification\" in elite sports, we question the new policies on three grounds: (1) the underlying scientific assumptions; (2) the policymaking process; and (3) the potential to achieve fairness for female athletes. We find the policies in each of these domains significantly flawed and therefore argue they should be withdrawn.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25514317,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Co-expression of CD40\/CD40L on XG1 multiple myeloma cells promotes IL-6 autocrine function.\nMultiple myeloma (MM) is characterized by uncontrolled proliferation of malignant plasma cells in the bone marrow and peripheral blood. Here, we found that CD40 and CD40L co-expressed on XG1 MM cells and the coordinated expression of CD40-CD40L was critical for production and autocrine IL-6 in XG1 cells. Furthermore, TNF-\u03b1 enhanced the expression of both CD40 and CD40L expression on XG1 cells. We also found that persistent CD40L\/CD40 signaling was required for the constitutive activation of NF-\u03baB in the cells.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16988474,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Curcuminoids enhance amyloid-beta uptake by macrophages of Alzheimer's disease patients.\nTreatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is difficult due to ignorance of its pathogenesis. AD patients have defects in phagocytosis of amyloid-beta (1-42) (Abeta) in vitro by the innate immune cells, monocyte\/macrophages and in clearance of Abeta plaques [5]. The natural product curcuminoids enhanced brain clearance of Abeta in animal models. We, therefore, treated macrophages of six AD patients and 3 controls by curcuminoids in vitro and measured Abeta uptake using fluorescence and confocal microscopy. At baseline, the intensity of Abeta uptake by AD macrophages was significantly lower in comparison to control macrophages and involved surface binding but no intracellular uptake. After treatment of macrophages with curcuminoids, Abeta uptake by macrophages of three of the six AD patients was significantly (P<0.001 to 0.081) increased. Confocal microscopy of AD macrophages responsive to curcuminoids showed surface binding in untreated macrophages but co-localization with phalloidin in an intracellular compartment after treatment. Immunomodulation of the innate immune system by curcuminoids might be a safe approach to immune clearance of amyloidosis in AD brain.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11641969,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Functional genomics in sarcoidosis--reduced or increased apoptosis?\nA variety of studies have stressed the importance of the control of inflammatory cell longevity and the balance of pro-survival and pro-apoptotic signaling pathways. The aim of the study was to investigate the systemic activation of apoptosis pathways using cDNA array technology in patients with acute onset sarcoidosis. We have performed a comprehensive genomic analysis, applying high-density human GeneChip probe arrays (HGU95A, Affymetrix) for RNA expression profiling from peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with acute pulmonary sarcoidosis and matched healthy controls. Twelve patients and 12 controls were assessed, mean age 36 +\/- 12 and 33 +\/- 10 years respectively. Results focus on apoptosis-related gene products. Group differences were assessed with the Mann-Whitney U-test. Seven patients had self-limited disease (all type I sarcoidosis) and 5 progressive disease requiring immunosuppression (all type II or III sarcoidosis). We found 53 of 112 (47%) apoptosis-related gene products dysregulated in sarcoidosis compared to controls. Particular growth factors, especially heparin-binding EGF-like GF, EGF, PDEGF, SISPDGF2 and VEGF, were upregulated in patients consistent with a pro-survival profile. The Bcl-2 family of genes also showed a net pro-survival profile in sarcoidosis patients. In contrast, alterations in the TNF-pathway were compatible with increased apoptosis signals in both, type I and type II\/III sarcoidosis patients. Other cell death receptors were equally expressed, as were caspases and p53-associated genes. In contrast to patients with type I-sarcoidosis, patients with progressive type II or III disease showed an upregulation of NFKB and a leak of downregulation of inhibitor of apoptosis 1. Significant differences in the expression of apoptosis-related genes were found in peripheral blood of patients with acute onset sarcoidosis. Gene expression did not show a definite pattern that was suggestive of pro-survival or proapoptosis. However, the number of genes whose altered expression would be predicted to favour increased survival exceeded that of genes likely to reduce survival. Protein-based confirmation of the differences in the activity of apoptosis-pathways needs to be done in further studies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1700320,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Development and clinical usefulness of a new neuroendoscope system for CT-guided stereotactic brain surgery.\nSince computed tomography (CT)-guided stereotactic surgery is essentially blind surgery, it always involves the risk of injuring viable brain tissue and vessels, and it is difficult to obtain a sufficient amount of biopsy specimen from cystic or necrotic lesions. Moreover, the direct observation of the lesion would provide extremely valuable information. The authors have therefore developed a new subminiature rigid endoscope and an ultrasonic aspirator for use in stereotactic surgery, as well as a new micromanipulative system to attach the equipment to the stereotactic frame so that they can be accurately inserted into the optimum position from any direction. The new neuroendoscope includes a graded refractive index glass rod only 1.0 mm in diameter (Selfoc, Nippon Sheet Glass Co., Osaka), which provides a focal depth from 1 mm to infinity, as well as an extremely bright and wide visual field with an angle of 70 degrees. Furthermore, because the outer probe and endoscopic sheath share the outer rigid metal tube 4.5 mm in outer diameter, a large internal channel of 2.1 mm in diameter allows the introduction of various microinstruments such as an ultrasonic aspirator probe, laser probe, and biopsy forceps. When a miniaturized video camera is attached, the surgical procedures can be controlled using the video monitor and photographed. The new probe for the ultrasonic aspirator has been developed in various types suitable for fragmentation and aspiration of hematomas and brain tumors, so under endoscopic control even the harder coagulants and tumors can be removed.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":36934410,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"SAMHD1 restricts the deoxyguanosine triphosphate pool contributing to telomere stability in telomerase-positive cells.\nSAMHD1 (Sterile alpha motif and histidine\/aspartic acid domain-containing protein 1) is a dNTP triphosphohydrolase crucial in the maintenance of balanced cellular dNTP pools, which support genome integrity. In SAMHD1 deficient fibroblasts isolated from Aicardi-Gouti\u00e8res Syndrome (AGS) patients, all four DNA precursors are increased and markedly imbalanced with the largest effect on dGTP, a key player in the modulation of telomerase processivity. Here, we present data showing that SAMHD1, by restricting the dGTP pool, contributes to telomere maintenance in hTERT-immortalized human fibroblasts from AGS patients as well as in telomerase positive cancer cell lines. Only in cells expressing telomerase, the lack of SAMHD1 causes excessive lengthening of telomeres and telomere fragility, whereas primary fibroblasts lacking both SAMHD1 and telomerase enter normally into senescence. Telomere lengthening observed in SAMHD1 deficient but telomerase proficient cells is a gradual process, in accordance with the intrinsic property of telomerase of adding only a few tens of nucleotides for each cycle. Therefore, only a prolonged exposure to high dGTP content causes telomere over-elongation. hTERT-immortalized AGS fibroblasts display also high fragility of chromosome ends, a marker of telomere replication stress. These results not only demonstrate the functional importance of dGTP cellular level but also reveal the critical role played by SAMHD1 in restraining telomerase processivity and safeguarding telomere stability.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9164114,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Proton MR spectroscopy of hyperplastic hematopoietic marrow in aplastic anemia].\nThe purpose of this study was to compare the findings of magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy of hyperplastic hematopoietic marrow with those of normal bone marrow. Twenty-four samples of normal marrow from eight control subjects and 19 samples of hyperplastic marrow in aplastic anemia were examined with a 1.5T MR unit. The former showed low intensity on opposed-phase T1-weighted images, while the latter showed high intensity on both fast STIR and opposed-phase T1-weighted images. MR spectroscopy quantitatively confirmed that the water: fat ratio was increased and the transverse relaxation time of water was changed in hyperplastic bone marrow, compared with normal bone marrow. In summary, MR imaging is able to detect hematopoietic regions among a wide range of bone marrow of aplastic anemia, while MR spectroscopy allowed us to quantitatively analyze the cell population of hyperplastic hematopoietic marrow in aplastic anemia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15258660,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Bits and q-bits as versatility measures.\nUsing Shannon information theory is a common strategy to measure any kind of variability in a signal or phenomenon. Some methods were developed to adapt information entropy measures to bird song data trying to emphasize its versatility aspect. This classical approach, using the concept of bit, produces interesting results. Now, the original idea developed in this paper is to use the quantum information theory and the quantum bit (q-bit) concept in order to provide a more complete vision of the experimental results.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9548109,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Occurrence of cervical spine injuries during the rugby scrum.\nA retrospective study of cervical spine injuries that occurred during the rugby scrum in the United States was undertaken. In the U.S., from 1970 to 1996, 36 (58%) of the 62 documented injured players injured their cervical spines during the scrum. Thirty-five men (97%) and one woman (3%) were injured. Twenty-three of the injuries (64%) occurred when the opposing packs came together (engagement), and 13 (36%) occurred when the scrum collapsed. Twenty-eight (78%) hookers, seven (19%) props, and one (3%) second-row player were injured. Twenty (56%) hookers and three (8%) props were hurt during engagement. Eight hookers (22%), four props (11%), and one second-row player (3%) were injured when the scrum collapsed. Significantly more injuries occurred during engagement than during collapse, and hookers were injured significantly more than props. We conclude that in the rugby scrum in the U.S., the hooker suffers most of the cervical spine injuries (78% in this study) and this position is by far the most vulnerable. This study should be used to develop rugby law (rule) changes and educate players, coaches, and referees in United States rugby.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32349612,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Chemokine receptor CXCR4 activates the RhoA\/ROCK2 pathway in spinal neurons that induces bone cancer pain.\nChemokine receptor CXCR4 has been found to be associated with spinal neuron and glial cell activation during bone cancer pain. However, the underlying mechanism remains unknown. Furthermore, the RhoA\/ROCK2 pathway serves as a downstream pathway activated by CXCR4 during bone cancer pain. We first validated the increase in the expressions of CXCR4, p-RhoA, and p-ROCK2 in the spinal dorsal horn of a well-characterized tumor cell implantation-induced cancer pain rat model and how these expressions contributed to the pain behavior in tumor cell implantation rats. We hypothesized that spinal blockade of the CXCR4-RhoA\/ROCK2 pathway is a potential analgesic therapy for cancer pain management. Adult female Sprague-Dawley rats (body weight of 180-220 g) and six- to seven-week old female Sprague-Dawley rats (body weight of 80-90 g) were taken. Ascitic cancer cells were extracted from the rats (body weight of 80-90 g) with intraperitoneally implanted Walker 256 mammary gland carcinoma cells. Walker 256 rat mammary gland carcinoma cells were then injected (tumor cell implantation) into the intramedullary space of the tibia to establish a rat model of bone cancer pain. We found increased expressions of CXCR4, p-RhoA, and p-ROCK2 in the neurons in the spinal cord. p-RhoA and p-ROCK2 were co-expressed in the neurons and promoted by overexpressed CXCR4. Intrathecal delivery of CXCR4 inhibitor Plerixafor (AMD3100) or ROCK2 inhibitor Fasudil abrogated tumor cell implantation-induced pain hypersensitivity and tumor cell implantation-induced increase in p-RhoA and p-ROCK2 expressions. Intrathecal injection of stromal-derived factor-1, the principal ligand for CXCR4, accelerated p-RhoA expression in naive rats, which was prevented by postadministration of CXCR4 inhibitor Plerixafor (AMD3100) or ROCK2 inhibitor Fasudil. Collectively, the spinal RhoA\/ROCK2 pathway could be a critical downstream target for CXCR4-mediated neuronal sensitization and pain hypersensitivity in bone cancer pain, and it may serve as a potent therapeutic target for pain treatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3066620,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Slowed gastric evacuation accounts for the reduction of food intake by anorectic drugs.\nThe effect of mazindol given orally on gastric emptying of a radiolabelled solid meal was examined in 10 obese females. The patients underwent the measurement of gastric emptying twice: 2 mg mazindol was compared with placebo according to a double-blind study protocol. Mazindol significantly delayed gastric emptying (P less than 0.02 for both the gastric half emptying time, t1\/2, and emptying index, Ix). The inhibition of the late phase of gastric emptying by mazindol was reflected by a significant (P less than 0.05) decrease of the shape parameter S of the power-exponential fitted gastric emptying curves, as well as by the comparison of the amount of food retained within the stomach (P less than 0.05 at 80 min and P less than 0.02 at 90 min). Potential mechanisms and the meaning of the findings are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14566395,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Intrarenal artery injection of capsaicin activates spontaneous activity of renal afferent nerve fibers.\nThe effects of intrarenal artery injection of capsaicin on multi- and single-unit spontaneous discharges of renal afferent nerve fibers were investigated in anesthetized rabbits. The results obtained are as follows: (1) intrarenal artery injection of capsaicin (20, 40, and 60 nmol\/kg) increased the renal afferent nerve activity (ARNA) in a dose-dependent manner with unchanged arterial pressure; (2) pretreatment with ruthenium red (40 mmol\/kg), a capsaicin receptor antagonist, completely abolished the effect of capsaicin; and (3) pretreatment with a nitric oxide synthase inhibitor L-NAME (N(6)-nitro-L-arginine methylester, 0.1 mmol\/kg), significantly enhanced the ARNA response to capsaicin. The results suggest that intrarenal artery injection of capsaicin can activate ARNA via capsaicin receptors in anesthetized rabbits and that nitric oxide may be involved in regulating the activity of renal sensory nerve fibers as an inhibitory neurotransmitter.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6736399,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Relationship between N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase activity and cell count, lactose, chloride, or lactoferrin in cow milk.\nActivity of N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase was measured in foremilk samples collected from cows. A total of 64 samples were collected from these cows, some of which were affected by mastitis. They were examined for N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase activity, cell count in whole milk, and milk chloride, lactose, and lactoferrin. The correlation coefficient was .72 between activity and cell count, -.80 between activity and lactose, and .88 between activity and chloride. Therefore, the correlations between N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase activity and milk components, chloride and lactose, were larger than that between N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase activity and cell count. The correlation coefficient was high (.91) between N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase and lactoferrin. The N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase activity in cow's milk has potential for diagnosis of mastitis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37654078,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Implication of Peripheral Neuropathy on Unplanned Readmissions in Patients Hospitalized for Complicated Diabetic Foot Disease.\nIntroduction. Unplanned readmissions are common following discharge in patients after hospitalization for diabetic foot disease (DFD) complications. The aim of this study was to identify factors associated with readmissions in these high-risk patients, treated in a multidisciplinary setting and the implication of measures that could effectively reduce readmission rates. Methods. Patients presenting with DFDs admitted between 2015 and 2017 were studied retrospectively in a single-centre patient database. The demographics and clinical comorbidities were analyzed and comparison was made between 2 groups: patients readmitted within 30 days of discharge and those who did not require readmission. Multivariate analysis was performed to identify risk factors associated with readmissions. Results. In total, 340 patients were included. The unplanned readmission rate was 10.9%. More than half of readmissions (71%) were related to wound deterioration and infection. In the readmission group, the patients had lower body mass index, higher rate of osteomyelitis, lower rate of debridement, and evidence of peripheral vascular disease below the knee in the index admissions but these were not significant. In the multivariate analysis, peripheral neuropathy was the only significant risk associated with unplanned readmissions (odds ratio: 2.78, 95% confidence interval: 1.23-6.29, P = .014). Conclusion. This study demonstrates a significant association between peripheral neuropathy and unplanned readmissions. The implications of this nonmodifiable risk factor in reducing readmissions include all levels of patient care delivery such as adequate preparation for discharge and transition back into the community. Recognition and education in successful long-term offloading of insensate diabetic feet may help reduce rates of unplanned readmission.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12033904,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Spontaneous assembly of a polymeric helicate of sodium with LVO(2) units forming the strand: photoinduced transformation into a mixed-valence product.\nThe anionic cis-dioxovanadium(V) complex species LVO(2)(-) of a tridentate ONS ligand (H(2)L) can bind sodium ion in a bis-monodentate fashion like a bridging carboxylate group. The product [LVO(2)Na(H(2)O)(2)](infinity) (1) is a water soluble polymeric compound in which the complementary units are held together by the simultaneous use of hydrogen bonding and Coulombic interactions. Crystallographic characterization reveals that 1 is a single stranded helicate with LVO(2)(-) units forming the strand which surrounds the labile sodium ions that occupy the positions on the axis. In solution of protic solvents, viz. water and methanol, 1 is quite stable as indicated by electrical conductivity and (1)H NMR measurements. In aprotic solvents, viz. CH(3)CN, DMF, or DMSO, however, the extended hydrogen bonded network in 1 breaks apart and the helical structure collapses when irradiated with visible light. The product is a mixed-oxidation vanadium(IV\/V) species obtained by photoinduced reduction as confirmed by EPR, time dependent (1)H NMR, and electronic spectroscopy. Compound 1 is a rare example of a nonnatural helix where hydrogen bonding interactions play a crucial role in stabilizing the single stranded polymeric structure such as that frequently observed in the biological world.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30677200,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nutrient affinity, half-saturation constants and the cost of toxin production in dinoflagellates.\nThe two parameters of the Michaelis-Menten model, the maximum uptake rate and the half-saturation constant, are not stochastically independent, and the half-saturation constant is not a measure of nutrient affinity, as commonly assumed. Failure to realise their interdependence and mechanistic interpretation may lead to the emergence of false trade-offs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26493414,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Marriage Patterns and Childbearing: Results From a Quantitative Study in North of Iran.\nSocial changes have rapidly removed arranged marriages and it seems the change in marriage pattern has played a role in childbearing. On the other hand, there is a great reduction in population in many countries which requires a comprehensive policy to manage the considerable drop in population. To achieve this goal, initially, the factors affecting fertility must be precisely identified. This study aims to examine the role of marriage patterns in childbearing. In this cross-sectional quantitative study, 880 married women 15-49 years old, living in the north of Iran were studied using a cluster sampling strategy. The results showed that there are no significant differences in reproductive behaviors of three patterns of marriage in Bobol city of Iran. It seems there is a convergence in childbearing due to the different patterns of marriage and Policymakers should pay attention to other determinants of reproductive behaviors in demographic planning.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":24389203,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of rapamycin on DC-SIGN expression and biological functions in DC.\nRapamycin, a macrolide antibiotic, has potent immunosuppressive properties as an antirejection therapy in organ transplantation. Studies show that dendritic cells (DC) are important targets for rapamycin, which can inhibit DC maturation and DC-induced allogeneic T cell proliferation. In this study, we investigated the effects of rapamycin on the expressions of DC-SIGN and transcription factor PU.1 and the function of DC. Treatment with rapamycin significantly reduced the expression of DC-SIGN in a dose-dependent manner associated with suppression of PU.1 gene expression and the ability of DC to migrate and stimulate T cell proliferation. The expression of DC-SIGN was significantly suppressed using PU.1 siRNA. Intriguingly, rapamycin treatment largely decreased the expressions of PU.1 and DC-SIGN in THP-1 cells. In addition, treatment with rapamycin down-regulated the promoter activity of DC-SIGN. In conclusion, rapamycin inhibits DC-SIGN expression and suppresses the ability of DC to migrate and stimulate T cell proliferation through the PU.1 gene transcription pathway.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9568218,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Effect of dexamethasone therapy on the neonatal ductus arteriosus.\nPatent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is believed to be a contributing factor in the etiopathogenesis of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). We studied the effects of early dexamethasone therapy on persistent ductal patency and the role of PDA in the etiopathogenesis of BPD during the course of a randomized double-blind trial of dexamethasone to prevent BPD. Infants, who weighed between 700 and 999 g, had severe RDS, and had been given surfactant, were randomized to receive a 12-day course of dexamethasone (n = 13) or placebo (n = 17) starting within the first 12 hours of postnatal life. The diagnosis of PDA was made clinically and was confirmed by cardiac ultrasound. The incidence of clinically significant ductus in infants who weighed less than 1000 g was 23% in the dexamethasone-treated group, as compared with 59% in infants who were given placebo. This difference was marginally significant, p = 0.05, odds ratio 0.21, 95% confidence interval 0.04-1.05. None of the infants in the dexamethasone group had recurrence of PDA after indomethacin therapy as compared with three infants in the placebo group. Dexamethasone significantly reduced the number of days infants required ventilator and supplemental oxygen as compared with infants who received placebo. Dexamethasone, as compared with placebo, also reduced the incidence of BPD, p = 0.025, odds ratio 0.08, 95% confidence interval 0.01-0.58. Dexamethasone may reduce the incidence of PDA in premature infants who weigh less than 1000 g at birth and thereby reduce the incidence of BPD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17001708,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Biomechanical evaluation of a new augmentation method for enhanced screw fixation in osteoporotic proximal femoral fractures.\nA biomechanical investigation on eight pairs of human cadaver proximal femurs was performed to evaluate the impact of a new augmentation method on the internal fixation of osteoporotic proximal femur fractures. The study focused on enhancing implant purchase to reduce the incidence of implant cut-out in osteoporotic bone. In a left-right comparison, a conventional hip screw fixation (control) was compared to the new cement augmentation method. After bone bed preparation through high pressure irrigation to remove fat, blood, and bone debris, the bones were augmented with low viscosity polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) cement. Step-wise fatigue testing was performed by cyclically loading the femoral heads in a physiological manner, beginning at 1,500 N and increasing 500 N every 5,000 cycles to 4,000 N, and continuously monitoring head displacement. Failure was defined as >5.0 mm head displacement. The head displacement at 2,000 N was significantly smaller (p=0.018) for the augmented group as compared to the conventionally treated bones (0.09+\/-0.01 mm vs. 0.90+\/-0.32 mm; mean+\/-SEM). The displacement rate at the second load step was significantly higher (p=0.018) for the conventionally treated bones as compared to the augmented ones. All of the nonaugmented specimens failed during testing, where 50% of the augmented specimens did not fail. The promising results of these experiments suggest that this new standardized irrigation\/augmentation method enhances the implant anchorage and offers a potential solution to the problem of implant cut-out in osteoporotic metaphyseal bone.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28296647,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Intra- and inter-rater reliability of lower leg waterplethysmography, bioelectrical impedance and muscle twitch force for the use in standing work evaluation.\nProlonged standing is associated with multiple risk factors for musculoskeletal and venous disorders. In Germany over 50% of the working population spend most of their working time in a standing position. Basic understanding of prolonged standing physiology is lacking. We therefore plan to investigate the influence of 5 h standing (including breaks) on lower limb oedema measured by waterplethysmography (WP) and bioelectrical impedance (BI) and fatigue in the triceps surae muscle using muscle twitch force (MTF). In order to interpret our results, test-retest and inter-rater reliability of these measurement methods was evaluated first. 20 subjects (9 female) were included to test each method three times (M1, M2, M3) in 30 min periods with two raters (R1, R2) on separate days. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC; 2,1), standard error of measurement (SEM) and smallest real difference (SRD) were calculated for both raters. The SEM and SRD calculated for WP were 27 and 75 ml, respectively, for R1 and 23 and 64 ml, respectively, for R2 with an ICC of 0.98 (p < 0.0001). Statistically significant mean differences between M1 and M2 (R1 = 23 ml, p = 0.004; R2 = 19 ml, p = 0.027) but not significant mean differences between M2 and M3 (R1 = -6 ml, p = 0.45; R2 = 4 ml, p = 0.27) were calculated for both raters. BI data revealed SEM and SRD values of 3.8 and 10.5 \u03a9, respectively, for R1 and 3.4 and 9.4 \u03a9, respectively, for R2 with an ICC of 0.24 (p = 0.001). The differences between M1 and M2 (R1 = 3.9 \u03a9, p = 0.0001; R2 = 2.4 \u03a9, p = 0.049) and between M2 and M3 (R1 = 2.3 \u03a9, p = 0.012; R2 = 2.0 \u03a9, p = 0.008) were found to be statistically significant for both raters. SEM and SRD for MTF were 0.19 and 0.53 N, respectively, for R1 and 0.23 and 0.64 N, respectively, for R2 with an ICC of 0.71 (p < 0.0001). Mean differences between M1 and M2 were statistically significant for rater 1 but not for rater 2 (R1 = 0.13 N, p = 0.022; R2 = 0.12 N, p = 0.082) and the same was found for the difference between M2 and M3 for both raters (R1 = 0.04 N, p = 0.37; R2 = 0.08 N, p = 0.12). All three measurement methods showed good reliability and should be suitable for detecting effects of standing work on oedema development and fatigue as seen in previous results of long term standing experiments. Inter-rater reliability is found to be satisfactory as well, demonstrated by the small differences in SEM values of R1 and R2. Statistically significant differences shown for all three measurement methods could be due to lacking standardisation of leg placement and thus an actual lower leg volume change between measurements, indicating possibilities for further improvement of SEM values.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19035206,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Protective effect of enalaprilat injection against early postburn organ damage in rats].\nTo investigate the dose-effect relationship of enalaprilat (ENA) injection on the organ damage following early burn injury in rats. A total of 54 SD rats were subjected to 30% total body surface area III scald injury, and were randomly divided into simple scald group (B group, with conventional fluid transfusion after scald), ENA treated group (E1, E2, E3 group, with intraperitoneal enalaprilat injection of 1, 2, 4 mg\/kg after scald respectively). Other 6 rats were taken as normal control. Aortic systolic pressure (AOSP), aortic diastolic blood pressure (AODP), mean arterial pressure (MAP), angiotensin 1, blood urea nitrogen (Bun), creatinine (Cr), creatinine kinase (CK), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) of the simple scald group, E1 group, E2 group and E3 group were investigated at 6 h and 12 h post burn. Ang II, Bun, Cr, CK, ALT, AST levels in ENA treated group after 6 h and 12 hours were significantly lower than those of simple scald group (all P < 0.05). AOSP, AODP, MAP in ENA treated group after 6 and 12 hours were significantly higher than those of simple scald group (all P < 0.05). Low-dose enalaprilat, injection (1 mg\/kg) could alleviate organ damage in post-burned rats, but has little effect on AOSP and AODP.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15243220,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Estrogens, lipoproteins, and cardiovascular risk factors: an update following the randomized placebo-controlled trials of hormone-replacement therapy.\nThe effects of hormone-replacement therapy on cardiovascular risk factors are examined. In an attempt to explain the results of recent randomized controlled trials in which no benefit of hormone-replacement therapy for postmenopausal women has been observed, Changes in lipoproteins in response to hormone-replacement therapy have now been analysed for both primary and secondary prevention studies. In none of the large randomized controlled trials was there any effect of hormone-induced changes in low-density lipoprotein, high-density lipoprotein, or triglyceride on clinical outcome. Further detailed studies of lipoprotein metabolism have not revealed any adverse effect of hormone-replacement therapy. Recent analysis of the Heart Estrogen\/Progestin-Replacement Study data suggests hormone-replacement therapy reduces the risk of developing diabetes. The effect of hormone-replacement therapy on inflammatory markers and on flow-mediated dilatation is largely beneficial, although the effect on flow-mediated dilatation is modulated according to endothelial function, which is adversely affected by known risk factors, including age and presence of atherosclerosis. In this respect the work on polymorphisms of estrogen receptor-alpha may in due course help to define those women who would benefit most from use of estrogen. Crucially, oral but not transdermal hormone-replacement therapy increases activated protein C resistance independently of the presence of factor V Leiden. This effect increases the risk of venous thromboembolic events, which is reflected in the results of a hospital case control study of thromboembolism. Despite the outcome of the hormone-replacement therapy trials, recent work has confirmed the putative antiatherogenic effects of hormone-replacement therapy on lipoprotein metabolism. Metabolic differences of route of administration of estrogen, particularly on haemostatic variables, may explain this clinical paradox, which continues to be an important research area.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37842898,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"An Overview of Diabetic Cardiomyopathy.\nDiabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a myocardial disorder that is characterised by structural and functional abnormalities of the heart muscle in the absence of hypertension, valvular heart disease, congenital heart defects, or coronary artery disease (CAD). After witnessing a particular form of cardiomyopathy in diabetic individuals, Rubler et al. came up with the moniker diabetic cardiomyopathy in 1972. Four stages of DCM are documented, and the American College of Cardiology\/American Heart Association Stage and New York Heart Association Class for HF have some overlap. Diabetes is linked to several distinct forms of heart failure. Around 40% of people with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) have diabetes, which is thought to be closely associated with the pathophysiology of HFpEF. Diabetes and HF are uniquely associated in a bidirectional manner. When compared to the general population without diabetes, those with diabetes have a risk of heart failure that is up to four times higher. A biomarker is a trait that is reliably measured and assessed as a predictor of healthy biological activities, pathological processes, or pharmacologic responses to a clinical treatment. Several biomarker values have been discovered to be greater in patients with diabetes than in control subjects among those who have recently developed heart failure. Myocardial fibrosis and hypertrophy are the primary characteristics of DCM, and structural alterations in the diabetic myocardium are often examined by non-invasive, reliable, and reproducible procedures. An invasive method called endomyocardial biopsy (EMB) is most often used to diagnose many cardiac illnesses.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31603808,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"CR-Unet: A Composite Network for Ovary and Follicle Segmentation in Ultrasound Images.\nTransvaginal ultrasound (TVUS) is widely used in infertility treatment. The size and shape of the ovary and follicles must be measured manually for assessing their physiological status by sonographers. However, this process is extremely time-consuming and operator-dependent. In this study, we propose a novel composite network, namely CR-Unet, to simultaneously segment the ovary and follicles in TVUS. The CR-Unet incorporates the spatial recurrent neural network (RNN) into a plain U-Net. It can effectively learn multi-scale and long-range spatial contexts to combat the challenges of this task, such as the poor image quality, low contrast, boundary ambiguity, and complex anatomy shapes. We further adopt deep supervision strategy to make model training more effective and efficient. In addition, self-supervision is employed to iteratively refine the segmentation results. Experiments on 3204 TVUS images from 219 patients demonstrate the proposed method achieved the best segmentation performance compared to other state-of-the-art methods for both the ovary and follicles, with a Dice Similarity Coefficient (DSC) of 0.912 and 0.858, respectively.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25301195,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Unique Genotypic Differences Discovered among Indigenous Bangladeshi Rice Landraces.\nBangladesh is a reservoir of diverse rice germplasm and is home to many landraces with unique, important traits. Molecular characterization of these landraces is of value for their identification, preservation, and potential use in breeding programs. Thirty-eight rice landraces from different regions of Bangladesh including some high yielding BRRI varieties were analyzed by 34 polymorphic microsatellite markers yielding a total of 258 reproducible alleles. The analysis could locate 34 unique identifiers for 21 genotypes, making the latter potentially amenable to identity verification. An identity map for these genotypes was constructed with all the 12 chromosomes of the rice genome. Polymorphism information content (PIC) scores of the 34 SSR markers were 0.098 to 0.89 where on average 7.5 alleles were observed. A dendogram constructed using UPGMA clustered the varieties into two major groups and five subgroups. In some cases, the clustering matched with properties like aromaticity, stickiness, salt tolerance, and photoperiod insensitivity. The results will help breeders to work towards the proper utilization of these landraces for parental selection and linkage map construction for discovery of useful alleles.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26415854,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Surface plasmon resonance as a high throughput method to evaluate specific and non-specific binding of nanotherapeutics.\nSurface plasmon resonance (SPR) is a powerful analytical technique used to quantitatively examine the interactions between various biomolecules, such as proteins and nucleic acids. The technique has been particularly useful in screening and evaluating binding affinity of novel small molecule and biomolecule-derived therapeutics for various diseases and applications including lupus medications, thrombin inhibitors, HIV protease inhibitors, DNA gyrase inhibitors and many others. Recently, there has been increasing interest in nanotherapeutics (nanoRx), due to their unique properties and potential for controlled release of encapsulated drugs and structure-specific targeting to diseased tissues. NanoRx offer the potential to solve many drug delivery challenges by enabling, specific interactions between molecules on the surface of the nanoparticle and molecules in the diseased tissue, while minimizing off-target interactions toward non-diseased tissues. These properties are largely dependent upon careful control and balance of nanoRx interactions and binding properties with tissues in vivo. Given the great promise of nanoRx with regard to engineering specific molecular interactions, SPR can rapidly quantify small aliquots of nanoRx formulations for desired and undesired molecular interactions. Moving forward, we believe that utilization of SPR in the screening and design of nanoRx has the potential to greatly improve the development of targeted nanoRx formulations and eventually lead to improved therapeutic efficacy. In this review, we discuss (1) the fundamental principles of SPR and basic quantitative analysis of SPR data, (2) previous applications of SPR in the study of non-particulate therapeutics and nanoRx, and (3) future opportunities for the use of SPR in the evaluation of nanoRx.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3083780,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Regulation of alpha 1-acid glycoprotein externalization and intracellular accumulation in glucocorticoid-induced rat hepatoma cells.\nalpha 1-Acid glycoprotein (alpha 1-AGP) is a glucocorticoid inducible gene product that is synthesized and secreted by certain rat hepatoma tissue culture (HTC) cell lines such as M1.54. Exposure to monensin, a Na+-K+ ionophore, causes a significant redistribution of alpha 1-AGP into two distinct fractions; immunoprecipitation of [35S]methionine-labeled proteins revealed that a 27% decrease in secretion accounts for a sixfold increase in accumulation of a stable intracellular species. The new intracellular alpha 1-AGP is more heterogeneous than normal while the extra-cellular form is 6000 Da smaller than normal. These effects are due to selective alterations in carbohydrate maturation; endo-beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase H (endo H) digestion demonstrated that both alpha 1-AGP species contain variable numbers of endo H-resistant oligosaccharide side chains ranging between zero and five. Ricin affinity chromatography revealed that the attachment of galactose residues is strikingly correlated with alpha 1-AGP externalization while neuraminidase digestions demonstrated that sialic acid attachment appears unessential for its secretion. Taken together, our results suggest that in the presence of monensin the cellular transport of intracellular destined and externalized alpha 1-AGP proceeds in common through the early segments of the Golgi and at a point prior to or at the compartment containing galactosyl transferase, alpha 1-AGP becomes committed for secretion.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6152369,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Inhibition of hepatic drug metabolism by (+)-cyanidanol-3 (Catergen) in chronic alcoholic liver disease.\nThere are some controversies regarding the effect of (+)-cyanidanol-3 on hepatic drug metabolism. In the present study the effect of (+)-cyanidanol-3 was investigated on the microsomal and mitochondrial enzyme functions (hydroxylation, glucuronide production, D-glucaric acid excretion and acetylation) in alcoholic liver disease. Eight patients with biopsy-proven chronic alcoholic hepatitis were investigated before and after a 10-day, as well as after a further 30-day, treatment with (+)-cyanidanol-3 (Catergen), 3000 mg\/day orally. Besides biochemical liver function tests (serum bilirubin levels, GOT, GGT), antipyrine metabolic clearance rate, mentholglucuronide production, urinary D-glucaric acid excretion and sulphadimidine kinetics were determined. Biochemical liver function tests improved markedly after the first period of treatment, at the same time antipyrine metabolic clearance rate decreased. Menthol-glucuronide production and D-glucaric acid excretion decreased significantly only after the second two course of Catergen administration. Sulphadimidine kinetics was not remarkably changed. Our findings suggest that (+)-cyanidanol-3 inhibits the hepatic microsomal drug metabolizing enzyme function in chronic alcoholic hepatitis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9149760,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The role of limb movements in maintaining upright stance: the \"change-in-support\" strategy.\nChange-in-support strategies, involving stepping or grasping movements of the limbs, are prevalent reactions to instability and appear to play a more important functional role in maintaining upright stance than has generally been appreciated. Contrary to traditional views, change-in-support reactions are not just strategies of last resort, but are often initiated well before the center of mass is near the stability limits of the base of support. Furthermore, it appears that subjects, when given the option, will select these reactions in preference to the fixed-support \"hip strategy\" that has been purported to be of functional importance. The rapid speed of compensatory change-in-support reactions distinguishes them from \"volitional\" arm and leg movements. In addition, compensatory stepping reactions often lack the anticipatory control elements that are invariably present in non-compensatory stepping, such as gait initiation. Even when present, these anticipatory adjustments appear to have little functional value during rapid compensatory movements. Lateral destabilization complicates the control of compensatory stepping, a finding that may be particularly relevant to the problem of falls and hip fractures in elderly people. Older adults appear to have problems in controlling lateral stability when stepping to recover balance, even when responding to anteroposterior perturbation. Increased understanding and awareness of change-in-support reactions should lead to development of new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for detecting and treating specific causes of imbalance and falling in elderly people and in patients with balance impairments.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":939741,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nitrite in meat products determined by fluorescence quenching of p-aminobenzoate ion.\nA direct fluorometric method is presented for determining nitrites in meat products by means of quenching. The extracted sodium nitrite is consumed in a diazotization reaction with a measured excess of the fluorescent reagent p-aminobenzoic acid (PABA) in boiling water and at pH less than or equal to 1.4. The amount of decrease in fluorescence (quenching) of PABA, in alkaline medium (pH 11.0) with excitation at 265 nm and fluorescence at 339 nm, is directly related to the amount of nitrite present. The slope for that standard curve is 1% decrease in relative fluorescence intensity per 2.76 ppm NaNO2. Results obtained for a series of 20 meat samples analyzed by this fluorometric method are in good agreement with results obtained by a colorimetric method with an average difference of +\/- 6.1 ppm NaNO2.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6157347,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Immunological recognition of three polynucleotide structures associating adenylic and uridylic acids.\nThe reactions of antibodies directed against the two double-stranded synthetic polyribonucleotide complexes poly(A).poly(U) or poly(I). poly(C) with three polynucleotide structures associating equimolar amounts of adenylic and uridylic acids were studied by immunodiffusion, quantitative precipitation and readioimmunoassay. The three sequence isomers of the same base composition but different nucleotide distribution were: the double helical complex poly(A).poly(U) containing two homopolymeric strands; the copolynucleotide poly(A-U) composed of a strictly repeating riboadenylic acid and ribouridylic acid sequence in both strands; and the copolymer poly(A,U) where the two strands contain both residues but in a random distribution. The three antigens reacted with anti-poly(A).poly(U) and antipoly(I).poly(C) antisera but not to the same extent. The random copolymer poly(A,U) reacted poorly with sera of both specificity. In contrast the reactivity of the alternating copolnucleotide poly(A-U) was widely different according to the specificity of the sera used. Whereas it was recognized by the anti-poly(A).poly(U) antibodies almost to the same extent than the homologous complex, its activity was much lower with anti-poly(I).poly(C) antisera. In addition, the relative efficiency of poly(A-U) was approximately 50 times lower than that of poly(A).poly(U) when tested with anti-poly(I).poly(C) antibody, thereby indicating recognition of different antigenic determinants in both duplexes. Antibodies directed against defined conformational determinants are therefore able to distinguish between three polynucleotide structures of the same base composition but different sequence.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20355799,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Coating individual single-walled carbon nanotubes with nylon 6,10 through emulsion polymerization.\nSolvent microenvironments are formed around individual single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) by mixing SWNT suspensions with water-immiscible organic solvents. These microenvironments are used to encapsulate the SWNTs with the monomer sebacoyl chloride. Hexamethylene diamine is then injected into the aqueous phase so the formation of nylon 6,10 is restricted to the interface between the microenvironment and water. This emulsion polymerization process results in uniform coatings of nylon 6,10 around individual SWNTs. The nylon-coated SWNTs remain dispersed in the aqueous phase and are highly luminescent at pH values ranging from 3 to 12. This emulsion polymerization method provides a general approach to coat nanotubes with various polymers.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17175600,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Opportunistic infection of HIV-infected\/AIDS patients in Indonesia: problems and challenge.\nInfectious diseases are one of the biggest health-problem in the world, while HIV\/AIDS itself ranks second in mortality. The latest situation shows a remarkable increase of HIV\/AIDS cases in Indonesia. About 90.000 to 130.000 people in Indonesia are predicted of being infected with HIV nowadays. HIV may progress to AIDS as patient's immune status decreases. As well to the condition, opportunistic infections will occur and eventually it may lead to death. An efficient and effective approach in early detection and proper management of opportunistic infections, followed with sufficient anti retroviral administration, may reduce mortality. Other approaches in managing HIV\/AIDS and opportunistic infections are needed to support a complete and holistic management for patients with HIV. Full participation from family, medical experts, government and public is strictly a must to overcome this problem.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28744218,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Bioconcentration and Metabolism of Emodin in Zebrafish Eleutheroembryos.\nEmodin is a major active anthraquinone of various herbal laxatives, which can exert many pharmacological effects. However, chronic use of anthranoid laxatives, even at low dosages, may cause melanosis coli (MC). It has been suggested that the accumulation of anthraquinones is a risk factor in the MC process. To investigate the accumulation of emodin, we conducted a bioconcentration study of emodin in zebrafish eleutheroembryos. Based on the economic cooperation and development (OECD) 305 test, zebrafish eleutheroembryos were exposed to emodin at a constant concentration for 48 h, before the test media were replaced by the blank medium for 24 h of depuration. To eliminate the effect of metabolism of emodin for assessment of the bioconcentration factor (BCF), we also conducted a modified test for which zebrafish eleutheroembryos were exposed to the non-renewed test media, whose emodin concentration decreased with time. At different exposure time points, zebrafish eleutheroembryos and exposure media were sampled for analysis of emodin concentration using HPLC-MS\/MS. The results showed rapid accumulation of emodin in zebrafish eleutheroembryos to reach a steady-state concentration within 24 h. Meanwhile, emodin was actively metabolized by zebrafish eleutheroembryos to result in 29.5-40.7% of its elimination. In the groups with high or low concentrations of emodin, the standardized BCF (sBCF) values in the standard test were 24.0 and 20.0, while those in the modified test were 50.4 and 52.0. These results showed that emodin could accumulate in zebrafish eleutheroembryos when used for 48 h and beyond, suggesting that the accumulation of anthraquinones may be a risk factor in the MC process. Accordingly, emodin should be unsuitable for long-term use due to its accumulation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19031555,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Cortisol in burnout and vital exhaustion: an overview.\nIn this overview, we summarize findings on hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis functioning in burned out and (vitally) exhausted though otherwise healthy subjects as well as clinically diagnosed patients. The main focus will be on basal diurnal free cortisol regulation and cortisol responses to acute psychological stress. First, we describe normal HPA axis regulation as well as dysfunction which manifests in hyper- or hypoactivity. We also briefly illustrate three established methods to assess HPA axis activity, reactivity, and feedback functioning, namely the cortisol awakening rise (CAR), Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), and low-dose Dexamethasone Suppression Test (DST). Then, an up-to-date summary of empirical findings on the relationship between burnout, respectively vital exhaustion, and cortisol is provided including field as well as laboratory studies. Finally, we briefly discuss possible methodologically confounders and speculate on underlying mechanisms explaining, at least in part, how burnout and vital exhaustion might relate to disease vulnerability.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28686263,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"One-pot mass preparation of MoS2\/C aerogels for high-performance supercapacitors and lithium-ion batteries.\nIn this paper, we report the successful design and synthesis of a hierarchically porous MoS2\/C composite aerogel by simple one-pot mass preparation. The synthesis involves the in situ formation of MoS2 nanosheets on agarose molecular chains, the gelation of MoS2-deposited agarose monomers to generate a composite hydrogel, and in situ transformation of the composite hydrogel into a MoS2\/C composite aerogel through carbonization. This composite aerogel can be used as a high-performance electrode material for supercapacitors and lithium-ion batteries. When tested as a supercapacitor electrode, it achieves a high specific capacitance of 712.6 F g-1 at 1 A g-1 and 97.3% capacity retention after 13 000 cycles at 6 A g-1. In addition, as a lithium-ion battery electrode, it exhibits a superior rate capability (653.2 mA h g-1 at 0.1 A g-1 and 334.5 mA h g-1 at 5.0 A g-1) and an ultrahigh capacity retention of nearly 100% after 1000 cycles at 1 A g-1. These performances may be ascribed to the unique structure of the MoS2\/C composite aerogel, such as hierarchical pores, (002) plane-expanded MoS2 and interconnected carbon networks embedded uniformly with MoS2 nanosheets. This work may provide a general and simple approach for mass preparation of composite aerogel materials and pave the way for promising materials applied in both supercapacitors and lithium-ion batteries.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29382249,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Methoxsalen as an in vitro phenotyping tool in comparison with 1-aminobenzotriazole.\nThe objective is to evaluate methoxsalen as an in vitro phenotyping tool in comparison to ABT as a nonspecific inactivator of P450 mediated metabolism. The reversible inhibition of methoxsalen and ABT against the P450, FMO, AO, MAO-A and -B, enzymes were evaluated using standard marker probe reactions. The time-dependent inhibition of P450 enzymes was evaluated in human liver microsomes. CES1 activities were determined by monitoring the depletion of known substrate, the clopidogrel. The metabolism of P450 substrates in the presence and absence of methoxsalen or ABT was evaluated in human liver microsomes. Methoxsalen is a direct inhibitor and inhibited the activities (>90%) of all enzymes at a concentration of 300 \u00b5M except for CYP2C9. Methoxsalen is also a potent time-dependent inhibitor of all P450 enzymes except for CYP2C19 (moderate) at a concentration of 300 \u00b5M. Methoxsalen inhibited the metabolism of P450 substrates in the pre-incubation mode. ABT is a potent TDI of several P450 except for CYP2C19 (47%) and CYP2C9 (27%). The results indicate that methoxsalen is a potent pan P450 inhibitor than ABT and can be a better tool in distinguishing P450 mediated metabolism form non-P450 metabolism in human liver microsomes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6749581,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Family study of congenital hydrocephalus.\nThis study concerned 74 patients with uncomplicated congenital hydrocephalus who were born in Northern Ireland between 1974 and 1977. Three of their 159 sibs (1.89 per cent) were also themselves hydrocephalic, which represents a recurrence risk of 26 times the population incidence. There was a smaller but significant increase of congenital hydrocephalus among first-cousins; three of 846 (0.35 per cent) first-cousins were affected, five times the population frequency. The occurrence of neural-tube defects among sibs and cousins was similar to that for the general population. For the purpose of genetic counselling, this study indicates that once X-linked inheritance has been excluded in uncomplicated congenital hydrocephalus, the over-all empirical risk of recurrence is approximately one in 50; or one in 40 after an affected male and one in 80 after a female index patient.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19036751,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Indigenous evolution of Plasmodium falciparum pyrimethamine resistance multiple times in Africa.\nResistance to pyrimethamine in Plasmodium falciparum is conferred by mutations in the gene encoding dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR). It is known that DHFR double mutants have evolved independently in multiple geographic areas, whereas the triple mutant prevalent in Africa appears to have originated in south-east Asia. In this study, we investigated whether other triple mutants may have evolved independently in Africa. We determined the DHFR genotypes and haplotypes of five microsatellite loci flanking the DHFR locus between 4.49 kb upstream and 1.48 kb downstream of 159 isolates collected from three African countries (Republic of Congo, Ghana and Kenya). The CIRNI type of DHFR triple mutant (with mutations underlined at amino acid positions 51, 59 and 108) was predominant in the Republic of Congo (82%) and Ghana (81%) and was the second most prevalent in Kenya (27%), where the CICNI type of DHFR double mutant was dominant. Three distinct microsatellite haplotypes were identified in the DHFR triple mutant. One haplotype was identical to that originating in south-east Asia. The other two haplotypes occurred in Ghana and Kenya, which were unique, previously undescribed and identical to those of the two DHFR double mutants found in the same locations. This study presents strong evidence for the unique, multiple independent evolution of pyrimethamine resistance in Africa. Indigenous evolution of the triple mutant from the double mutant appears to have occurred in a step-wise manner in Kenya and Ghana or in nearby countries in east and west Africa.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25496332,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evaluation of epratuzumab as a biologic therapy in systemic lupus erythematosus.\nB cells play a key role in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus. Some of the current biologic therapies target B cells or B-cell activating factors. Epratuzumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody, which targets CD22 on B cells. This review focuses on the safety and efficacy of epratuzumab in systemic lupus erythematosus based on the information from various published clinical trials and presentations at international meetings. Epratuzumab acts as a B-cell modulator through inhibition of B-cell receptor signaling. It has been shown to be efficacious in open-label and Phase I and Phase II randomized controlled trials. The drug has steroid-sparing properties and treatment is associated with significant improvements in Health Related Quality of Life and its safety profile is comparable to placebo.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22698416,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Diabetes mellitus and the heart.\nDiabetes mellitus is a risk factor for the development of coronary artery disease and chronic heart failure. When carefully screened for, diabetes or prediabetic disorders, are present in the majority of patients with clinically manifest ischaemic heart disease, and confer a major adverse impact upon morbidity and mortality. Important therapeutic modifications are required in the management of coronary artery disease and chronic heart failure associated with diabetes, and vice versa. However, despite optimal management, aided by recent landmark trials solely recruiting patients with diabetes, outcomes for patients with diabetes and heart disease remain poor. This review outlines the epidemiology, pathogenesis and management of diabetic heart disease, along with highlighting the many gaps in the evidence-base and suggesting future research priorities.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17914853,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Importance of the Debye screening length on nanowire field effect transistor sensors.\nNanowire field effect transistors (NW-FETs) can serve as ultrasensitive detectors for label-free reagents. The NW-FET sensing mechanism assumes a controlled modification in the local channel electric field created by the binding of charged molecules to the nanowire surface. Careful control of the solution Debye length is critical for unambiguous selective detection of macromolecules. Here we show the appropriate conditions under which the selective binding of macromolecules is accurately sensed with NW-FET sensors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19046038,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Occipital epilepsy: spatial categorization and surgical management.\nOccipital resections for epilepsy are rare. Reasons for this are the relative infrequency of occipital epilepsy, difficulty in localizing epilepsy originating in the occipital lobe, imprecisely defined seizure outcome in patients treated with focal occipital resections in the MR imaging era, and concerns about producing visual deficits. The impact of lesion location on vision and seizure biology, the management decision-making process, and the outcomes following resection need elaboration. The authors studied 21 consecutive patients who underwent focal occipital resections for epilepsy at Cleveland Clinic Epilepsy Center over a 13-year period during which MR imaging was used. Demographics, imaging, and data relating to the epilepsy and its surgical management were collected. The collateral sulcus, the border between the medial surface and the lateral convexity, and the inferior temporal sulcus were used to subdivide the occipital lobe into medial, lateral, and basal zones. Lesions that did not involve most or all of the occipital lobe (sublobar) were spatially categorized into these zones. Visual function, semiology, and scalp electroencephalography were evaluated in relation to these spatial categories. Preresection and postresection visual function and seizure frequency were evaluated and compared. Lastly, an exhaustive review and discussion of the published literature on occipital resections for epilepsy was carried out. Five lesions were lobar and 16 were sublobar. Patients with medial or lobar lesions had a much greater likelihood of preoperative visual field defects. Those with basal or lateral lesions had a greater likelihood of having a visual aura preceding some or all of their seizures and a trend (not significant) toward having a concordant lateralized onset by scalp electroencephalography. Invasive recordings were used in 8 cases. All patients had lesions (malformations of cortical development, tumors, or gliosis) that were completely resected, as evaluated on postoperative MR imaging. At last follow-up, 17 patients (81%) were seizure free or had only occasional auras (Wieser Class 1 or 2). The remaining 4 patients (19%) had a worthwhile improvement in seizure control (Class 3 or 4). Of the patients for whom both pre- and postoperative visual testing data were available, 50% suffered no new visual deficits, and 17% each developed a new quadrantanopia or a hemianopia. Lesional occipital lobe epilepsy can be successfully managed with resection to obtain excellent seizure-free rates. Individually tailored resections (in lateral occipital lesions, for example) may help preserve intact vision in a subset of cases (38% in this series). Invasive recordings may further guide surgical decision-making as delineated by an algorithm generated by the authors. The authors' results suggest that the spatial location of the lesion correlates both with the semiology of the seizure and with the presence of visual deficit.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28720064,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evaluation of the antitumor activity of platinum nanoparticles in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma induced in rats.\nThis study aimed to evaluate the antitumor activity of platinum nanoparticles compared with cis-platin both in vitro and in vivo in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma induced in rats. The treatment efficacy of platinum nanoparticles was evaluated by measuring antioxidant activities against oxidative stress caused by diethylnitrosamine in liver tissue. The measurements included reduced glutathione content and superoxide dismutase activity, as well as malondialdehyde level. Liver function tests were also determined, in addition to the evaluation of serum alpha-fetoprotein, caspase-3, and cytochrome c in liver tissue. Total RNA extraction from liver tissue samples was also done for the relative quantification of B-cell lymphoma 2, matrix metallopeptidase 9, and tumor protein p53 genes. Histopathological examination was also performed for liver tissue. Results showed that platinum nanoparticles are more potent than cis-platin in treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma induced by diethylnitrosamine in rats as it ameliorated the investigated parameters toward normal control animals. These findings were well appreciated with histopathological studies of diethylnitrosamine group treated with platinum nanoparticles, suggesting that platinum nanoparticles can serve as a good therapeutic agent for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma which should attract further studies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3037826,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Concurrent appearance of stomach polyposis and hepatocellular carcinoma].\nAn 18 year old woman had been known to have juvenile polyposis since five years with multiple hyperplastic polyps of the stomach and several polyps of the colon. Death occurred from hepatic coma with hepatocellular carcinoma. A lymphangiosis carcinomatosa was observed in some stomach polyps with a circumscribed infiltration into the stroma and into the adjacent glands. Such an unusual combination of diseases readily causes diagnostic confusion.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32581397,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Current trends in thoracic surgery.\nThoracic surgery has evolved drastically in recent years. Although thoracic surgeons mainly deal with tumorous lesion in the lungs, mediastinum, and pleura, they also perform lung transplantation surgery in patients with end-stage lung disease. Herein, we introduce various major current topics in thoracic surgery. Minimally invasive surgical procedures include robot-assisted thoracic surgery and uniportal video-assisted thoracic surgery. Novel techniques for sublobar resection include virtual-assisted lung mapping, image-guided video-assisted thoracic surgery, and segmentectomy using indocyanine green. Three-dimensional (3D) computed tomography (CT) simulation consists of surgeon-friendly 3D-CT image analysis systems and new-generation, dynamic 3D-CT imaging systems. Updates in cadaveric lung transplantation include use of marginal donors, including donation after circulatory death, and ex vivo lung perfusion for such donors. Topics in living donor lobar lung transplantation include size matching, donor issues, and new surgical techniques. During routine clinical practice, thoracic surgeons encounter various pivotal topics related to thoracic surgery, which are described in this report.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9141052,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Visual working memory for shape and 3D-orientation: a PET study.\nIn order to determine the neural substrate of working memory for shape and 3D-orientation, regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) changes were estimated using positron emission tomography (PET). Subjects were scanned during the performance of two delayed-matching-to-sample tasks using flat polydedrical objects of different shapes and 3D-orientations presented in a virtual environment. The shape matching task was associated with activation in the occipito-temporal junction, occipito-parietal cortex and mesial frontal pole of the right hemisphere. During the orientation matching task, rCBF increased in the mesial occipito-temporal cortex, superior temporal gyrus and middle frontal gyrus of the left hemisphere. The right supramarginal gyrus was also activated. These results suggest that both visual pathways are engaged in the processing of objects presented in different orientations. The dorsal stream is involved mainly in working memory of 3D-orientation, while the ventral stream is involved especially in shape working memory.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31258849,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Impact of eIF4E phosphorylation at Ser209 via MNK2a on tumour recurrence after curative surgery in localized clear cell renal cell carcinoma.\nBackground: We investigated the roles of eIF4E phosphorylation (Ser209) in tumour recurrence after curative nephrectomy for localized clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). Methods: Expression of eIF4E, p eIF4E and MNKs (MAPK interacting kinases), was evaluated in surgical specimens obtained from consecutive non metastatic ccRCC patients (n = 290) by immunohistochemistry (IHC), immunoblotting, and qRT PCR at the protein and mRNA levels. In human RCC cell lines, the effects of eIF4E phosphorylation were examined using immunoblotting, proliferation, migration and invasion assays with pharmacological inhibitors (CGP57380 or ETP45835) and specific small interfering (si) RNAs against MNK1\/2(a\/b). Results: In postoperative follow-up (median, 7.9 y), 40 patients experienced metastatic recurrence. In multivariate Cox analyses, higher IHC expression of p eIF4E in ccRCC significantly predicted a longer recurrence-free interval. eIF4E is phosphorylated mainly by MNK2a in tumour specimens and cell lines. In 786-O and A-498 cell lines, pharmacological inhibition of MNKs decreased p-eIF4E and increased vimentin and N cadherin but did not influence proliferation. Similarly, MNK2 or MNK2a inhibition with siRNA reduced p-eIF4E and enhanced vimentin translation, cell migration and invasion in the cell lines. Conclusions: MNK2a-induced eIF4E phosphorylation may suppress metastatic recurrence of ccRCC, partially due to vimentin downregulation at the translational level, consequently leading to inhibition of epithelial-mesenchymal transition.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28692861,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Getting to the elephants: Gesture and preschoolers' comprehension of route direction information.\nDuring early childhood, children find spatial tasks such as following novel route directions challenging. Spatial tasks place demands on multiple cognitive processes, including language comprehension and memory, at a time in development when resources are limited. As such, gestures accompanying route directions may aid comprehension and facilitate task performance by scaffolding cognitive processes, including language and memory processing. This study examined the effect of presenting gesture during encoding on spatial task performance during early childhood. Three- to five-year-olds were presented with verbal route directions through a zoo-themed spatial array and, depending on assigned condition (no gesture, beat gesture, or iconic\/deictic gesture), accompanying gestures. Children presented with verbal route directions accompanied by a combination of iconic (pantomime) and deictic (pointing) gestures verbally recalled more than children presented with beat gestures (rhythmic hand movements) or no gestures accompanying the route directions. The presence of gesture accompanying route directions similarly influenced physical route navigation, such that children presented with gesture (beat, pantomime, and pointing) navigated the route more accurately than children presented with no gestures. Across all gesture conditions, location information (e.g., the penguin pond) was recalled more than movement information (e.g., go around) and descriptive information (e.g., bright red). These findings suggest that speakers' gestures accompanying spatial task information influence listeners' recall and task performance.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8343943,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Changes in blood pressure, proteinuria and renal hemodynamics in type I diabetes with manifestations of diabetic nephropathy after 2 months of captopril therapy].\nIn 15 type I diabetics with manifest diabetic nephropathy the authors investigated the antihypertensive and antiproteinuric effect of captopril and in seven patients of this group also its effect on renal haemodynamics. Captopril treatment or its combination with hitherto used antihypertensive treatment was associated after two months with a significant drop of the systolic and diastolic blood pressure from 150\/95 (120\/70-195\/110) to 130\/90 (110\/65-180\/115) mmHg, (p < 0.005 < 0.05). The median aortic pressure declined from 118.5 (92-140.8) to 106.5 (84-1334.8) mm Hg (p < 0.005). Nine of 11 patients (82%) could be changed to reduced antihypertensive therapy. The antiproteinuric effect was manifested in 11 patients (73%). Quantitative proteinuria dropped from 2.7 (0.83-8.65) to 1.85 (0.38-8.84) g\/24 h., (p < 0.05) without a significant change of serum creatinine: 109 (70-342) vs. 135 (90-288) mumol\/l, p = n.s.). The change of proteinuria, as compared with the baseline value, was -41 (-77 - +88)%, (p < 0.05) and did not correlate with the change of the median aortic pressure (correlation coefficient = -0.165, p = n.s.). In the group of seven patients the change of the median aortic pressure was -15% (-26.1 - +6.6), (p < 0.05). No statistically significant change of glomerular filtration was observed: 0.96 (0.32-1.38) vs. 0.96 (0.19-1.71) ml\/s, p = n.s.); effective renal plasma flow: 6.32 (2.24-7.74) vs. 7.22 (1.68-10.55) ml\/s, (p = n.s.); filtration fraction: 0.136 (0.123-0.220) vs. 0.130 (0.110-0.236), change 0.0 (-43.0 - +31.0)% (p = n.s.) and renal vascular resistance: 15429 (12907-54148) vs. 13243 (7099-77832)%, (p. = n.s.).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30673745,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Opinion limits study for the multi-selection bounded confidence model.\nIn this work, we study the opinion limit states for a generalized bounded confidence agent-based opinion model. Agents can select multiple opinions in the network, and the confidence bound is considered on the distance between the average of the selected opinions and agent opinion itself. The number of selection agents for a certain agent, which is also called the selection number, means the agent opinion interaction degree. It is known that when the confidence bound is large sufficiently, opinions reach consensus almost surely. We mainly study the opinion consensus and the opinion polarization when the confidence bound is small sufficiently. Firstly, we provide and prove the upper and lower bounds for the opinion consensus probability of this bound confidence model. It shows that the opinion consensus probability almost always decreases as the confidence bound decreases. Secondly, the opinion consensus probability is larger than the one for the opinion evolution of the Deffuant-Weisbuch model. Finally, we demonstrate the ultimate probability distribution of one agent opinion and compare it with the gossip form and the general bounded confidence form, and demonstrate how the opinion polarization probabilities evolve as the selection number changes. Specially, different from other studies, we find that the opinion polarization would happen more easily if the opinion interaction degree is strengthened. In a sum, the multiple selection mechanism will increase the opinion consensus probability and the opinion polarization probability, respectively, comparing to the single selection mechanism.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34398825,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Inhibition of endoplasmic reticulum stress reverses synaptic plasticity deficits in striatum of DYT1 dystonia mice.\nStriatal plasticity alterations caused by endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress is supposed to be critically involved in the mechanism of DYT1 dystonia. In the current study, we expanded this research field by investigating the critical role of ER stress underlying synaptic plasticity impairment imposed by mutant heterozygous Tor1a+\/- in a DYT1 dystonia mouse model. Heterozygous Tor1a+\/- mouse model for DYT1 dystonia was established. Wild-type (Tor1a+\/+, N=10) and mutant (Tor1a+\/-, N=10) mice from post-natal day P25 to P35 were randomly distributed to experimental and control groups. Patch-clamp and current-clamp recordings of SPNs were conducted with intracellular electrodes for electrophysiological analyses. Striatal changes of the direct and indirect pathways were investigated via immunofluorescence. Golgi-Cox staining was conducted to observe spine morphology of SPNs. To quantify postsynaptic signaling proteins in striatum, RNA-Seq, qRT-PCR and WB were performed in striatal tissues. Long-term depression (LTD) was failed to be induced, while long-term potentiation (LTP) was further strengthened in striatal spiny projection neurons (SPNs) from the Tor1a+\/- DYT1 dystonia mice. Spine morphology analyses revealed a significant increase of both number of mushroom type spines and spine width in Tor1a+\/- SPNs. In addition, increased AMPA receptor function and the reduction of NMDA\/AMPA ratio in the postsynaptic of Tor1a+\/- SPNs was observed, along with increased ER stress protein levels in striatum of Tor1a+\/- DYT1 dystonia mice. Notably, ER stress inhibitors, tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA), could rescue LTD as well as AMPA currents. The current study illustrated the role of ER stress in mediating structural and functional plasticity alterations in Tor1a+\/- SPNs. Inhibition of the ER stress by TUDCA is beneficial in reversing the deficits at the cellular and molecular levels. Remedy of dystonia associated neurological and motor functional impairment by ER stress inhibitors could be a recommendable therapeutic agent in clinical practice.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31254279,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Twelve-month outcomes of a bioabsorbable implant for in-office treatment of dynamic nasal valve collapse.\nTo examine 12-month outcomes for in-office treatment of dynamic nasal valve collapse (NVC) with a bioabsorbable implant. Prospective, multicenter, nonrandomized study. One hundred sixty-six patients with severe-to-extreme class of Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation (NOSE) scores were enrolled at 16 U.S. clinics (November 2016-July 2017). Patients were treated with a bioabsorbable implant (Latera, Spirox Inc., Redwood City, CA) to support the lateral wall, with or without concurrent inferior turbinate reduction (ITR), in an office setting. NOSE scores and Visual Analog Scale (VAS) were measured at baseline and 1, 3, 6, and 12 months postoperatively. The Lateral Wall Insufficiency (LWI) score was determined by independent physicians observing the lateral wall motion video. One hundred five patients were treated with implant alone, whereas 61 had implant + ITR. Thirty-one patients reported 41 adverse events, all of which resolved with no clinical sequelae. Patients showed significant reduction in NOSE scores throughout 12 months postoperatively (77.4 \u00b1 13.4 baseline vs. 36.2 \u00b1 22.7 at 1 month postoperatively, 33.0 \u00b1 23.4 at 3 months, 32.1 \u00b1 24.6 at 6 months, and 30.3 \u00b1 24.3 at 12 months; P < 0.001). They also showed significant reduction in VAS scores postoperatively (69.7 \u00b1 18.1 baseline vs. 31.3 \u00b1 27.1 at 12 months postoperatively, P < 0.001). These results were similar in patients treated with implant alone and those treated with the implant + ITR. Consistent with patient-reported outcomes, postoperative LWI scores were demonstrably lower (1.42 \u00b1 0.09 and 0.93 \u00b1 0.08 pre- and postoperatively, P < 0.001). In-office treatment of dynamic NVC with a bioabsorbable implant improves clinical evidence of LWI at 6 months and improves nasal obstructive symptoms in a majority of patients up to 12 months. 2b Laryngoscope, 130:1132-1137, 2020.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22698254,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Piezo-phototronic effect on electroluminescence properties of p-type GaN thin films.\nWe present that the electroluminescence (EL) properties of Mg-doped p-type GaN thin films can be tuned by the piezo-phototronic effect via adjusting the minority carrier injection efficiency at the metal-semiconductor (M-S) interface by strain induced polarization charges. The device is a metal-semiconductor-metal structure of indium tin oxide (ITO)-GaN-ITO. Under different straining conditions, the changing trend of the transport properties of GaN films can be divided into two types, corresponding to the different c-axis orientations of the films. An extreme value was observed for the integral EL intensity under certain applied strain due to the adjusted minority carrier injection efficiency by piezoelectric charges introduced at the M-S interface. The external quantum efficiency of the blue EL at 430 nm was changed by 5.84% under different straining conditions, which is 1 order of magnitude larger than the change of the green peak at 540 nm. The results indicate that the piezo-phototronic effect has a larger impact on the shallow acceptor states related EL process than on the one related to the deep acceptor states in p-type GaN films. This study has great significance on the practical applications of GaN in optoelectronic devices under a working environment where mechanical deformation is unavoidable such as for flexible\/printable light emitting diodes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14531812,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Epidermal basement membrane alpha 5(IV) expression in females with Alport syndrome and severity of renal disease.\nX-linked Alport syndrome is a progressive nephritis caused by mutations of the COL4A5 gene. This gene encodes the collagen alpha 5(IV) chain, which is abnormally distributed in the glomerular basement membrane (GBM) and epidermal basement membrane (EBM). It has been reported a negative correlation between alpha 5(IV) chain distribution in EBM and the degree of proteinuria in heterozygous females with Alport syndrome. In the present study, we evaluated the distribution of the alpha 5(IV) chain in the EBM and the degree of proteinuria in 22 females with X-linked Alport syndrome. The distribution of the cutaneous alpha 5(IV) chain was measured by a confocal laser microscope using an anti-alpha 5(IV) monoclonal antibody. The expression ratio of alpha 5(IV) distribution was quantified dividing the extension of the positive signal and the maximal extension of the specimen. Urinary protein excretion was expressed as urinary protein over urinary creatinine ratio. Proteinuria was present in five of the 22 patients. In two patients with proteinuria, alpha 5(IV)chain was normally distributed; in the remaining three, the expression ratio of alpha 5(IV)chain was 35%, 47%, and 48%. Of the 17 patients without proteinuria, two displayed a complete absence of the alpha 5(IV) chain in EBM, five displayed a normal staining, and the remaining 10 had an expression ratio between 18% and 65%. Our data suggest that there is no correlation between the severity of the glomerular involvement (expressed by proteinuria) and the staining of the alpha 5 chain in the EBM in females with X-linked Alport syndrome.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":33727190,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Prevalence of Low Birth Weight, Premature Birth, and Stillbirth Among Pregnant Adolescents in Canada: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.\nAlthough most studies show that adolescent pregnant women are at a higher risk for adverse birth outcomes, there has been limited research examining this relationship in Canada. This systematic review and meta-analysis investigated the prevalence of low birthweight (LBW), preterm birth (PTB), and stillbirth in Canadian adolescent women compared to adult women. Studies were included if they were primary research and included a sample of adolescent mothers (\u226419 years) and adult mothers (\u226520 years) who gave birth to singleton infants in Canada. Birth outcomes must have been measured consistently in at least 3 studies for inclusion. Comprehensive electronic literature searches were conducted from database inception until August 2020 in 5 databases. Random effects meta-analysis models were used to estimate pooled odds ratios (pOR) for LBW, PTB, and stillbirth between adolescent and adult pregnant women. Outcomes reported included PTB (8 studies), LBW (6 studies), and stillbirth (3 studies). Compared to adult mothers, adolescent mothers had a 56% increase in the prevalence of LBW (pOR 1.56, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.24, 1.97), a 23% increase in PTB (pOR 1.23, 95% CI 1.06, 1.42), a 20% increase in stillbirth (pOR 1.20, 95% CI 1.05, 1.37). Heterogeneity, as assessed by I2, was high for LBW and PTB and was low for stillbirth. A subgroup analysis did not remove the high heterogeneity, and some studies did not adjust for confounding variables and were missing information on sociodemographic and behavioral factors. Future research is needed to investigate the mechanisms surrounding these differences by maternal age.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":19051112,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Occupational practices and the making of health news: a national survey of US Health and medical science journalists.\nNews media coverage of health topics can frame and heighten the salience of health-related issues, thus influencing the public's beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. Through their routine coverage of scientific developments, news media are a critical intermediary in translating research for the public, patients, practitioners, and policymakers. Until now, little was known about how health and medical science reporters and editors initiate, prioritize, and develop news stories related to health and medicine. We surveyed 468 reporters and editors representing 463 local and national broadcast and print media outlets to characterize individual characteristics and occupational practices leading to the development of health and medical science news. Our survey revealed that 70% of respondents had bachelor's degrees; 8% were life sciences majors in college. Minorities are underrepresented in health journalism; 97% of respondents were non-Hispanic and 93% were White. Overall, initial ideas for stories come from a \"news source\" followed by press conferences or press releases. Regarding newsworthiness criteria, the \"potential for public impact\" and \"new information or development\" are the major criteria cited, followed by \"ability to provide a human angle\" and \"ability to provide a local angle.\" Significant differences were seen between responses from reporters vs. editors and print vs. broadcast outlets.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15555239,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Ye shes dpal'byor and Gan lu si bu (The four Tantras of nectar)].\nYeshes Palbyor was born in Haiyan County, Qinghai Province in 1704. As a youngster he studied medicine, Buddhism and linguistics in Ta'er Monastery. At the age of 28, he returned to Gunglung Monastery in his home town until his death. He devoted his whole life to the study of clinical therapeutics and Mongolian medicine. Gan lu si bu was his representative work, in which he advanced the theory of Six Basic Syndromes and Chills and Fever.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12015047,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[116 multiple primary cancers in the digestive system].\nTo study the clinical characteristics, diagnosis, strategy of treatment and prognosis of multiple primary cancers in the digestive system. All malignant lesions in the digestive system encountered in the past 10 years were analysed by a computer software. 116 cases of multiple cancers were observed with an incidence of 1.74%. Male to female ratio was 2.7:1. There were 62 synchronous carcinomas and 54 metachronous ones. In decreasing sequence, they were: colon > stomach > rectum > liver. The 1-, 3-and 5-year survival rates of the synchronous ones were 42.3%, 23.1% and 11.5%. Those of metachronous ones were 95.2%, 85.7% and 76.2%. High frequency of multiple primary cancers is found in the colon, especially over the right side. Metachronous carcinomas usually give better prognosis than the synchronous ones. The longer the interval between the development of the two primary lesions, the better the prognosis. Multiple cancers of the colon have satisfactory prognosis. The key to improve the treatment is to be vigilant against lesions in the digestive tract so as to arrive at a timely diagnosis and treatment. The strategy of combining radical treatment with immuno-supportive therapy is advocated.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1162166,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Active transport of sugars by the intestine of snail (Cryptomphalus hortensis M\u00fcller).\nSugar transport by sacs of everted intestine of snail have been measured in vitro at 30 degrees C. D-galactose, D-glucose and 3-O-methylglucose were actively transported against a concentration gradient from the mucosal to the serosal compartment. The transport of these sugars was inhibited by 5 times 10(-8) to 10(-6) M phlorizin. L-arabinose was also accumulated in the serosal compartment against a concentration gradient; in this case, transport was not affected by phlorizin. The snail intestine did not show any ability for D-fructose active transport but there was a clear uptake of this sugar by the tissue. The O2 uptake of the snail intestine was not significantly affected by the presence of either sugars or phlorizin.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37868722,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Successful reconstruction of the rat ureter by a syngeneic collagen tube with a cardiomyocyte sheet.\nUreteral injuries require surgical intervention as they lead to loss of renal function. The current reconstructive techniques for long ureteral defects are problematic. Consequently, this study aimed to reconstruct the ureter in a rat model using subcutaneously prepared autologous collagen tubes (Biotubes). The lower ureter of LEW\/SsNSlc rats was ligated to dilate the ureter to make anastomosis easier, and reconstruction was performed six days later by anastomosing the dilated ureter and bladder with a Biotube that was prepared subcutaneously in syngeneic rats. Some rats underwent left nephrectomy and ureter reconstruction simultaneously as negative controls to evaluate the effects of urine flow on patency. The other rats were divided into three groups as follows: a group in which the ureter was reconstructed with the Biotube alone, a group in which cardiomyocyte sheets made from the neonatal hearts of syngeneic rats were wrapped around the Biotube, and a group in which an adipose-derived stem cell sheets made from the inguinal fat of adult syngeneic rats were wrapped. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography and pathological evaluations were performed two weeks after reconstruction. In the Biotube alone group, all tubes were occluded and hydronephrosis developed, whereas the urothelium regenerated beyond the anastomosis when the left kidney was not removed, suggesting that urothelial epithelial spread occurred with urinary flow. The patency of the ureteral lumen was obtained in some rats in the cardiomyocyte sheet covered group, whereas stricture or obstruction of the reconstructed ureter was observed in all rats in the other groups. Pathological evaluation revealed a layered urothelial structure in the cardiomyocyte sheet covered group, although only a small amount of cardiomyocyte sheets remained. Urinary flow may support the epithelial spread of the urothelium into the reconstructed ureter. Neonatal rat cardiomyocyte sheets supported the patency of the regenerated ureter with a layered urothelium.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22699693,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of an adapted physical activity program on the physical condition of elderly women: an analysis of efficiency.\nSpecific research tools and designs can assist in identifying the efficiency of physical activity in elderly women. To identify the effects of physical activity on the physical condition of older women. A one-year-long physical activity program (123 sessions) was implemented for women aged 60 years or older. Four physical assessments were conducted, in which weight, height, BMI, blood pressure, heart rate, absences, grip strength, flexibility, VO2max, and static and dynamic balance were assessed. The statistical analyses included a repeated measures analysis, both inferential (analysis of variance--ANOVA) and effect size (Cohen's d coefficient), as well as identification of the participants' efficiency (Data Envelopment Analysis--DEA). Despite the observation of differences that depended on the analysis used, the results were successful in the sense that they showed that physical activity adapted to older women can effectively change the decline in physical ability associated with aging, depending on the purpose of the study. The 60-65 yrs group was the most capable of converting physical activity into health benefits in both the short and long term. The >65 yrs group took less advantage of physical activity. Adherence to the program and actual time spent on each type of exercise are the factors that determine which population can benefit from physical activity programs. The DEA allows the assessment of the results related to time spent on physical activity in terms of health concerns. Article registered in Clinicaltrials.gov under number NCT01558401.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30671078,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Effect of Naphthazarin on the Growth, Electrogenicity, Oxidative Stress, and Microtubule Array in Z. mays Coleoptile Cells Treated With IAA.\nNaphthazarin (5,8-dihydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone, DHNQ) is a naturally occurring 1,4-naphthoquinone derivative. In this study, we focused on elucidating the toxic effect of this secondary metabolite on the growth of plant cells. The dose-response curves that were obtained for the effects of DHNQ on endogenous and IAA-induced growth in maize coleoptile segments differ in shape; in the first case, it is linear, while in the presence of auxin it is bell-shaped with the maximum at 1 \u03bcM. It was found that DHNQ at almost all concentrations studied, when added to the incubation medium inhibited endogenous growth (excluding naphthazarin at 0.001 \u03bcM) as well as growth in the presence of IAA. Simultaneous measurements of the growth and external medium pH of coleoptile segments indicated that DHNQ diminished or eliminated proton extrusion at all of the concentrations that were used. Interestingly, the oxidative stress in maize coleoptile cells, which was measured as hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) production, catalase activity, redox activity and malondialdehyde (MDA) content, increased at the lower concentrations of DHNQ (<1 \u03bcM), thus suggesting a specific character of its action. It was also found that naphthazarin at concentration higher than 0.1 \u03bcM caused the depolarization of the membrane potential (E m). An analysis of the organization and anisotropy of the cortical microtubules showed that naphthazarin at all of the concentrations that were studied changed the IAA-induced transverse microtubule reorientation to an oblique reorientation. Our results indicate that naphthazarin diminished the growth of maize coleoptile cells by a broad spectrum of its toxic effects, thereby suggesting that naphthazarin might be a hypothetical component of new bioherbicides and biopesticides.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37867223,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Potential of thermoresponsive hydrogel as an alternative therapy for rat knee osteoarthritis.\nOsteoarthritis is a degenerative condition that is highly prevalent and primarily affects the joints. The knee is the most commonly affected site, impacting the lives of over 300 million individuals worldwide. This study presents a potential solution to address the unmet need for a minimally invasive technique in the treatment of osteoarthritis: a biocompatible, injectable, and thermoresponsive hydrogel. In comparison to commercially available products such as lyophilized platelets, dextrose, and triamcinolone, the thermoresponsive hydrogel exhibits significantly superior performance in dynamic behaviors, including print area, stability, and step cycle, when tested on rats with knee osteoarthritis. However, it demonstrates similar treatment efficacy to these products in static behaviors, as observed through histopathological and immunohistochemical analysis. Therefore, the thermoresponsive hydrogel holds promise as an effective alternative therapy for osteoarthritis. Moreover, by blending the hydrogel with drugs, controlled and sustained release can be achieved, thereby facilitating the long-term management of osteoarthritis symptoms.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30667285,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Feasibility, Acceptability, and Preliminary Outcomes of a Culturally Adapted Evidence-Based Treatment for Latino Youth With ADHD.\nObjective: To advance our knowledge about the most effective way to treat Latino youth with ADHD, the current feasibility and pilot study compared a culturally adapted evidence-based treatment (CAT) for ADHD to standard evidence-based treatment (EBT). Method: Following a comprehensive ADHD assessment, 61 Latino families of school-aged children (mean age of 8 years) were randomly assigned to either CAT or standard EBT (i.e., parent management training). Results: CAT outperformed standard EBT when examining homework completion and mother-reported treatment satisfaction. Apart from two trends favoring CAT, CAT and EBT both resulted in significant improvements in parent- and teacher-reported ADHD symptoms and functional impairment, as well as mother- and father-reported parental functioning. Conclusion: CAT outperformed standard EBT when examining several engagement and acceptability outcomes. CAT and EBT were equally effective when examining traditional treatment outcomes, which is impressive considering the robustness of standard EBT, especially when delivered by culturally competent staff.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9165734,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Spectral weights in level discrimination by preschool children: synthetic listening conditions.\nOn most auditory discrimination and detection tasks young children perform more poorly than adults. The current experiment applies a technique which potentially can reveal the extent to which the adult-child performance difference results from suboptimal attentional strategies or simply greater internal noise in the children. In this experiment preschool children and adults were asked to discriminate between complex tones comprised of three random-amplitude sinusoidal components. A trial-by-trial correlational analysis [R. A. Lutfi, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 97, 1333-1334 (1995)] provided an estimate of the weight listeners placed on the level information from individual spectral components in making the discrimination. The patterns of weights were interpreted as measures of \"attentional strategy.\" Both children and adults produced reliable patterns of weights. This is an especially important result since measuring a single weighting pattern requires large numbers of trials and hence multiple sessions with the children. While individual weighting patterns were reliable, weighting patterns differed both within and across groups. Moreover, neither the children nor the adults produced weighting patterns that would maximize percent correct in the task. A substantial proportion of the responses from both children and adults could be predicted from their weighting patterns even when performance was near chance. However, differences in overall performance between children and adults could not be accounted for by differences in their weighting functions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30664206,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"ZEB1 promotes tumorigenesis and metastasis in hepatocellular carcinoma by regulating the expression of vimentin.\nHepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignancies worldwide and its prognosis remains poor. Epithelial\u2011to\u2011mesenchymal transition (EMT)\u2011induced markers have emerged as key regulators of tumor development and progression in HCC. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of zinc finger E\u2011box\u2011binding homeobox 1 (ZEB1) in the tumorigenesis of HCC and to elucidate the mechanism underlying the correlation between ZEB1 and vimentin (VIM). The expression levels of ZEB1 and VIM were assessed by immunohistochemistry, western blotting and reverse transcription\u2011quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis in HCC tissues and cell lines. The biological significance of ZEB1 was examined by downregulating the expression of ZEB1 in Huh\u20117 cells. A luciferase reporter assay was used to investigate the association between ZEB1 and VIM. The expression levels of ZEB1 and VIM were higher in tumor tissues compared with those in adjacent normal tissues, and they were significantly associated with a poor prognosis in patients with HCC, whereas ZEB1 silencing led to the attenuation of HCC cell proliferation, invasion and migration. Furthermore, it was observed that ZEB1 was able to bind to a certain site in the VIM promoter and regulate the transcriptional activity of VIM. Therefore, the present study demonstrated that ZEB1 is a potential biomarker of the tumorigenesis and progression of HCC, and it may regulate transcription of the VIM gene.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28288317,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Filtration of chlorine and hydrogen chloride gas by engineered UiO-66-NH2 metal-organic framework.\nChlorine (Cl2) and hydrogen chloride (HCl) are heavily utilized industrial chemicals that present significant respiratory health risks. The metal-organic framework UiO-66-NH2 has shown an unprecedented ability in powder form to remove chlorine gas. Here, we engineered UiO-66-NH2 into 20\u00d740 mesh granules and evaluated their ability to remove chlorine and hydrogen chloride gas challenges. The exposed materials were characterized with nitrogen isotherms, powder X-ray diffraction, and attenuated total reflectance - Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Breakthrough results revealed that UiO-66-NH2 sorption of chlorine and hydrogen chloride met or exceeded sorption of state-of-the-art metal-impregnated activated carbon materials on a mass and volume basis in engineered form.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1692982,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hemodynamic changes associated with intravenous infusion of the calcium antagonist verapamil in the treatment of severe gestational proteinuric hypertension.\nThe calcium antagonist verapamil was intravenously infused after plasma volume expansion with dextran-70 in nine patients with severe gestational proteinuric hypertension. The hemodynamic response of these patients was monitored using a flow-directed pulmonary artery catheter. Verapamil produced a statistically significant reduction in mean arterial pressure and systemic vascular resistance without adversely affecting the cardiac output. The decrease in blood pressure was smooth and controlled and was associated with an insignificant increase in heart rate. There were no adverse fetal effects as evidenced by cardiotocographic monitoring. The apparent efficacy of verapamil in this study justifies further investigation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37670560,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Hyper-CVAD versus dose-adjusted EPOCH as initial treatment for adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.\nWe recently performed a single-arm phase II trial of DA-EPOCH in adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). We sought to compare these results to those with standard Hyper-CVAD. We created a retrospective matched cohort of patients who received Hyper-CVAD (n = 69) at our center and otherwise met eligibility criteria for the DA-EPOCH trial (n = 53). Our outcomes support the use of Hyper-CVAD over DA-EPOCH in Ph- disease for both overall survival (OS; HR 0.18, p = .004) and event-free survival (EFS; HR 0.51, p = .06). In contrast, outcomes were similar in Ph+ disease (OS HR 0.97, p = .96; EFS HR 0.65, p = .21). Rates of morphologic remission and measurable residual-disease negativity were similar between the regimens. Hyper-CVAD was associated with significantly more febrile neutropenia (OR 1.9, p = .03) and a greater incidence of Grade 4 or 5 adverse events (20% vs. 6%). Average transfusions per cycle of both red blood cells (p < .001) and platelets (p < .001) were five-fold higher with Hyper-CVAD. Our findings support continued use of Hyper-CVAD for Ph- ALL but suggest that DA-EPOCH may be a reasonable alternative for Ph+ ALL. These data also highlight a potential role for DA-EPOCH in resource-limited settings or when more intense therapy is not feasible.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20355211,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Validated stability-indicating TLC method for the determination of noscapine.\nA sensitive, selective, precise and stability-indicating thin-layer chromatographic (TLC) method was developed and validated for the analysis of noscapine, both as a bulk drug and in its formulation. The method employed TLC aluminium plates precoated with silica gel 60F-254 as the stationary phase. The solvent system consisted of chloroform-methanol (10:0.5 v\/v). Densitometric analysis of noscapine and its degradation products was carried out in the absorbance mode at 254 nm. This system was found to give compact symmetrical spots for noscapine (R(f) value 0.85 +\/- 0.04). Noscapine was subjected to acid and alkali hydrolysis, oxidation and photo degradation. The drug undergoes photo degradation and also degrades under acidic and basic conditions. The prepared degradation products were identified and verified through infrared (IR) and mass spectral analyses. The degraded products were also well resolved from the pure drug with significantly different R(f) values and they were quantitatively determined. The method was validated for linearity, precision, robustness, limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantitation (LOQ), specificity and accuracy. Linearity was found to be in the 1.0-10.0 microg, 0.4-3.2 microg, 1.0-9.0 microg and 0.5-5.0 microg\/band ranges for noscapine, cotarnine, meconine and opionic acid, respectively. The polynomial regression analysis for the calibration plots showed a good polynomial relationship with r(2) of 0.9998, 9989, 9996 and 0.9997 for noscapine and its three degradation products, cotarnine, meconine and opionic acid, respectively. Statistical analysis proves that the method is repeatable and specific for the estimation of noscapine. As this approach could effectively separate the drug from its degradation products it can be employed as a stability-indicating method in Quality Control laboratories.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28266877,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Glucuronidation: driving factors and their impact on glucuronide disposition.\nGlucuronidation is a well-recognized phase II metabolic pathway for a variety of chemicals including drugs and endogenous substances. Although it is usually the secondary metabolic pathway for a compound preceded by phase I hydroxylation, glucuronidation alone could serve as the dominant metabolic pathway for many compounds, including some with high aqueous solubility. Glucuronidation involves the metabolism of parent compound by UDP-glucuronosyltransferases (UGTs) into hydrophilic and negatively charged glucuronides that cannot exit the cell without the aid of efflux transporters. Therefore, elimination of parent compound via glucuronidation in a metabolic active cell is controlled by two driving forces: the formation of glucuronides by UGT enzymes and the (polarized) excretion of these glucuronides by efflux transporters located on the cell surfaces in various drug disposition organs. Contrary to the common assumption that the glucuronides reaching the systemic circulation were destined for urinary excretion, recent evidences suggest that hepatocytes are capable of highly efficient biliary clearance of the gut-generated glucuronides. Furthermore, the biliary- and enteric-eliminated glucuronides participate into recycling schemes involving intestinal microbes, which often prolong their local and systemic exposure, albeit at low systemic concentrations. Taken together, these recent research advances indicate that although UGT determines the rate and extent of glucuronide generation, the efflux and uptake transporters determine the distribution of these glucuronides into blood and then to various organs for elimination. Recycling schemes impact the apparent plasma half-life of parent compounds and their glucuronides that reach intestinal lumen, in addition to prolonging their gut and colon exposure.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16148415,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Benign cutaneous pseudoglandular schwannoma: a case report.\nSchwannoma is a common peripheral neural neoplasm that could present as a primary skin lesion. In addition to typical schwannoma with classic Antoni A and Antoni B areas, many variant types have been described, such as plexiform, cellular, epithelioid, and ancient schwannomas. Glandular schwannoma is a rare variant characterized by the presence of glands in an otherwise typical schwannoma. There are also a few reported cases in the literature of pseudoglandular schwannoma from central nervous system, eye, submandible, and shoulder, in which the gland-like structures were lined by Schwann cells. We report here a patient with a benign cutaneous schwannoma composed of predominantly gland-like spaces that contained mucinous material and were lined by Schwann cells confirmed by immunohistochemistry and ultrastructural studies. The tumor was well circumscribed and showed minimal cytologic atypia, indicating benignity. We report this unusual case of benign cutaneous pseudoglandular schwannoma to further awareness of the morphologic diversity of schwannoma.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30662429,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Functional Biomarkers for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.\nThe clinical diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) relies on determination of progressive dysfunction of both cortical as well as spinal and bulbar motor neurons. However, the variable mix of upper and lower motor neuron signs result in the clinical heterogeneity of patients with ALS, resulting frequently in delay of diagnosis as well as difficulty in monitoring disease progression and treatment outcomes particularly in a clinical trial setting. As such, the present review provides an overview of recently developed novel non-invasive electrophysiological techniques that may serve as biomarkers to assess UMN and LMN dysfunction in ALS patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30302598,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Spatial correlations between MRI-derived wall shear stress and vessel wall thickness in the carotid bifurcation.\nTo explore the possibility of creating three-dimensional (3D) estimation models for patient-specific wall thickness (WT) maps using patient-specific and cohort-averaged WT, wall shear stress (WSS), and vessel diameter maps in asymptomatic atherosclerotic carotid bifurcations. Twenty subjects (aged 75 \u00b1 6 years [mean \u00b1 standard deviation], eight women) underwent a 1.5-T MRI examination. Non-gated 3D phase-contrast gradient-echo images and proton density-weighted echo-planar images were retrospectively assessed for WSS, diameter estimation, and WT measurements. Spearman's \u03c1 and scatter plots were used to determine correlations between individual WT, WSS, and diameter maps. A bootstrapping technique was used to determine correlations between 3D cohort-averaged WT, WSS, and diameter maps. Linear regression between the cohort-averaged WT, WSS, and diameter maps was used to predict individual 3D WT. Spearman's \u03c1 averaged over the subjects was - 0.24 \u00b1 0.18 (p < 0.001) and 0.07 \u00b1 0.28 (p = 0.413) for WT versus WSS and for WT versus diameter relations, respectively. Cohort-averaged \u03c1, averaged over 1000 bootstraps, was - 0.56 (95% confidence interval [- 0.74,- 0.38]) for WT versus WSS and 0.23 (95% confidence interval [- 0.06, 0.52]) for WT versus diameter. Scatter plots did not reveal relationships between individual WT and WSS or between WT and diameter data. Linear relationships between these parameters became apparent after averaging over the cohort. Spearman's \u03c1 between the original and predicted WT maps was 0.21 \u00b1 0.22 (p < 0.001). With a combination of bootstrapping and cohort-averaging methods, 3D WT maps can be predicted from the individual 3D WSS and diameter maps. The methodology may help to elucidate pathological processes involving WSS in carotid atherosclerosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28351894,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Long-term load duration induces N-cadherin down-regulation and loss of cell phenotype of nucleus pulposus cells in a disc bioreactor culture.\nLong-term exposure to a mechanical load causes degenerative changes in the disc nucleus pulposus (NP) tissue. A previous study demonstrated that N-cadherin (N-CDH)-mediated signalling can preserve the NP cell phenotype. However, N-CDH expression and the resulting phenotype alteration in NP cells under mechanical compression remain unclear. The present study investigated the effects of the compressive duration on N-CDH expression and on the phenotype of NP cells in an ex vivo disc organ culture. Porcine discs were organ cultured in a self-developed mechanically active bioreactor for 7 days. The discs were subjected to different dynamic compression durations (1 and 8 h at a magnitude of 0.4 MPa and frequency of 1.0 Hz) once per day. Discs that were not compressed were used as controls. The results showed that long-term compression duration (8 h) significantly down-regulated the expression of N-CDH and NP-specific molecule markers (Brachyury, Laminin, Glypican-3 and Keratin 19), attenuated Alcian Blue staining intensity, decreased glycosaminoglycan (GAG) and hydroxyproline (HYP) contents and decreased matrix macromolecule (aggrecan and collagen II) expression compared with the short-term compression duration (1 h). Taken together, these findings demonstrate that long-term load duration can induce N-CDH down-regulation, loss of normal cell phenotype and result in attenuation of NP-related matrix synthesis in NP cells.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17195348,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Automated external defibrillation in children].\nVentricular fibrillation is an infrequent arrhythmia in cardiac arrest occurring in the out-of-hospital setting in infants and small children. However, outcome is good provided early defibrillation is performed; consequently, this procedure is one of the main links in the chain of survival in children with a shockable rhythm. Automated external defibrillators are small devices that can analyze heart rhythm and deliver a dose of electric energy when considered timely by the operator. Automated external defibrillators are easy to use and can be operated, if necessary, by anyone. Therefore, all pediatricians should be aware of how these devices work and be able to use them safely and effectively, following the current defibrillation protocol.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29552387,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Holographic line field en-face OCT with digital adaptive optics in the retina in vivo.\nWe demonstrate a high-resolution line field en-face time domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) system using an off-axis holography configuration. Line field en-face OCT produces high speed en-face images at rates of up to 100 Hz. The high frame rate favors good phase stability across the lateral field-of-view which is indispensable for digital adaptive optics (DAO). Human retinal structures are acquired in-vivo with a broadband light source at 840 nm, and line rates of 10 kHz to 100 kHz. Structures of different retinal layers, such as photoreceptors, capillaries, and nerve fibers are visualized with high resolution of 2.8 \u00b5m and 5.5 \u00b5m in lateral directions. Subaperture based DAO is successfully applied to increase the visibility of cone-photoreceptors and nerve fibers. Furthermore, en-face Doppler OCT maps are generated based on calculating the differential phase shifts between recorded lines.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31257642,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"Use of remote monitoring with continuous glucose monitoring in young children with Type 1 diabetes: the parents' perspective.\nRemote monitoring with continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) in children with Type 1 diabetes mellitus has recently become available, but little is known about caregivers' experiences of its use, particularly in younger children. The aim of this study was to explore parents' everyday experiences of using this technology. The parents of children with Type 1 diabetes diagnosed for > 1 year, aged 2-12 years were invited to participate in a semi-structured interview. Interviews were the second phase of a randomized cross-over study using standard insulin therapy with or without CGM and remote monitoring for two 3-month periods. Open-ended questions were used to explore parents' real-life experiences of the remote monitoring and CGM system. Interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. Five themes related to remote monitoring emerged: (i) impact on sleep quality for the parents, (ii) peace of mind, (iii) impact on anxiety, (iv) freedom and confidence for the parents and children, and (v) impact on relationships. Furthermore, parents reported on themes related to CGM in general, such as better understanding of how to manage and control their child's diabetes and experiences related to physical or technical aspects. Overall, parents of primary school children reported that using remote monitoring and CGM was a mostly beneficial experience. However, negative aspects within the themes were also reported. These findings will help to provide a structure to discuss parent and child expectations and provide targeted education at the start of using remote monitoring and CGM.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":11993628,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Dioxin reservoirs in southern Viet Nam--a legacy of Agent Orange.\nIn the isolated Aluoi Valley of central Viet Nam, very high levels of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) were measured in soil, fish fat, duck fat, pooled human blood and breast milk samples collected from A So village between 1996 and 1999. The village was situated on a former military base occupied by US Special Forces between 1963 and 1966. TCDD was a contaminant of the herbicide \"Agent Orange\", aerially sprayed in the valley between 1965 and 1970, and stored at the A So base. Measured levels were lower near the sites of two other former US bases in the valley which had been occupied for shorter periods of time. In areas where Agent Orange had been applied by low-flying aircraft, levels of TCDD in soil, food and human samples were elevated, but lower than those near the three former US bases. We confirm the apparent food chain transfer of TCDD from contaminated soil to cultured fish pond sediments to fish and duck tissues, then to humans as measured in whole blood and breast milk. We theorize that the Aluoi Valley is a microcosm of southern Viet Nam, where numerous reservoirs of TCDD exist in the soil of former military installations south of the former demilitarized zone. Large quantities of Agent Orange were stored at many sites, used in ground and aerial applications, and spilled. TCDD, through various forms of soil disturbance, can be mobilized from these reservoirs after decades below the surface, and subsequently, introduced into the human food chain.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26473654,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Tuning the Origin of Magnetic Relaxation by Substituting the 3d or Rare-Earth Ions into Three Isostructural Cyano-Bridged 3d-4f Heterodinuclear Compounds.\nThree isostructural cyano-bridged 3d-4f compounds, [YFe(CN)6(hep)2(H2O)4] (1), [DyFe(CN)6(hep)2(H2O)4] (2), and [DyCo(CN)6(hep)2(H2O)4] (3), were successfully assembled by site-targeted substitution of the 3d or rare-earth ions. All compounds have been structurally characterized to display slightly distorted pentagonal-bipyramidal local coordination geometry around the rare-earth ions. Magnetic analyses revealed negligible magnetic coupling in compound 1, antiferromagnetic intradimer interaction in 2, and weak ferromagnetic coupling through dipolar-dipolar interaction in 3. Under an applied direct-current (dc) field, 1 (Hdc = 2.5 kOe, \u03c40 = 1.3 \u00d7 10(-7) s, and Ueff\/kB = 23 K) and 3 (Hdc = 2.0 kOe, \u03c40 = 7.1 \u00d7 10(-11) s, and Ueff\/kB = 63 K) respectively indicated magnetic relaxation behavior based on a single [Fe(III)]LS ion and a Dy(III) ion; nevertheless, 2 (Hdc = 2.0 kOe, \u03c40 = 9.7 \u00d7 10(-8) s, and Ueff\/kB = 23 K) appeared to be a single-molecule magnet based on a cyano-bridged DyFe dimer. Compound 1, which can be regarded as a single-ion magnet of the [Fe(III)]LS ion linked to a diamagnetic Y(III) ion in a cyano-bridged heterodimer, represents one of the rarely investigated examples based on a single Fe(III) ion explored in magnetic relaxation behavior. It demonstrated that the introduction of intradimer magnetic interaction of 2 through a cyano bridge between Dy(III) and [Fe(III)]LS ions negatively affects the energy barrier and \u03c7\u2033(T) peak temperature compared to 3.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21754220,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"1-Cyclo-hexyl-3-{(E)-[1-(pyridin-2-yl)ethyl-idene]amino}-thio-urea.\nIn the title thio-urea derivative, C(14)H(20)N(4)S, the non-ring non-H atoms are approximately planar, with an r.m.s. deviation of 0.0720 \u00c5. The pyridine ring is twisted out of this plane and makes a dihedral angle of 16.85 (13)\u00b0 with it. The mean plane passing through the cyclo-hexyl ring is almost normal to the central plane [dihedral angle = 69.23 (8)\u00b0]. An intra-molecular N-H\u22efN(imine) hydrogen bond occurs. Centrosymmetric dimers are formed in the crystal structure via pairs of N-H\u22efS hydrogen bonds, and these are connected into a supra-molecular chain along the a axis via C-H\u22ef\u03c0(pyrid-yl) inter-actions.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26418573,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"High-Performance and Omnidirectional Thin-Film Amorphous Silicon Solar Cell Modules Achieved by 3D Geometry Design.\nHigh-performance thin-film hydrogenated amorphous silicon solar cells are achieved by combining macroscale 3D tubular substrates and nanoscaled 3D cone-like antireflective films. The tubular geometry delivers a series of advantages for large-scale deployment of photovoltaics, such as omnidirectional performance, easier encapsulation, decreased wind resistance, and easy integration with a second device inside the glass tube.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35341261,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nonlinear saturation controller simulation for reducing the high vibrations of a dynamical system.\nThis paper studies the nonlinear vibrating behaviour of a nonlinear cantilever beam system (primary system) using a nonlinear absorber (the secondary system). The nonlinear vibrating behavior for the present dynamical system is considered with the effect of the external force. The one controller type, nonlinear saturation controller (NSC), is introduced to decrease the vibration of this system. Perturbation method treatment is produced to get the mathematical solution of the equations for the dynamical modeling with NSC. The perturbation technique is used to obtain the approximate solution of the dynamical system. This research focuses on resonance case with primary and 1:2 internal resonance. Time histories of the primary system and the controller are shown to demonstrate the reaction with and without control. The time-history response, as well as the impacts of the parameters on the system and controller, are simulated numerically using the MATLAB program. Routh-Hurwitz criterion is used to examine the stability of the system under primary resonance. A numerical simulation, using the MATLAB program, is obtained to show the time-history response, the effect of the parameters on the system and the controller. The effects of system parameters on the performance of the primary system and the controller are investigated. A comparison between all the obtained solutions made to confirm the results. Validation curves are provided to show how closely the perturbation and numerical solutions are related. A comparison is made with recently released papers.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18594889,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Production of biosurfactant by Bacillus subtilis LB5a on a pilot scale using cassava wastewater as substrate.\nThe main characteristic of biosurfactants is their property of reducing the superficial and interfacial tension between two immiscible liquids of different polarities. The main obstacle to the application of biosurfactants is the high production costs, the use of alternative substrates being indicated to solve this problem. This work report the production of biosurfactant by Bacillus subtilis LB5a on a pilot scale using cassava wastewater as the substrate, and the study of the parameters related to its production. The cassava wastewater was heated, centrifuged and poured into a 40-liter batch pilot bioreactor adapted for simultaneous foam collection during the fermentative process. The temperature was maintained at 35 degrees C, agitation at 150 rpm and aeration 0.38 vvm during the first 12 h, and 0.63 vvm for the rest of the process. Samples of liquid fermentate were collected at regular intervals for the analysis of total carbohydrates, reducing sugars, pH, CFU\/mL count and superficial tension. The foam was centrifuged and the biosurfactant purified. The kinetic data of the process showed that both the microbial population, which reached a maximum after about 24 h, and the foam production of 10.6 L, peaked between 24 and 36 h, coinciding with the greatest production of biosurfactant. The yield of semi-purified surfactant in the foam was 2.4 g\/L. The superficial tension of the medium was reduced from 51 to 27 mN\/m and the critical micellar concentration was 11 mg\/L, which, in principle, characterizes it as a good tensoactive agent. As a function of its composition and productivity, cassava wastewater was identified as a good substrate for the production of the biosurfactant.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1701100,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[The structural and functional properties of light and dark mouse hepatocytes].\nThe morphofunctional analysis of the light and dark hepatocytes of mouse C3HA line has shown that the dark cells have increased electronic density of hyaloplasm in contrast to the light ones. The light hepatocytes predominate among tetra- and octaploid cells. Both cell types are able to incorporate [3H] uridine and [3H] thymidine. Mitosis are met among the light hepatocytes only.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23328735,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Ethical challenges in advanced heart failure.\nAdvanced heart failure (AHF) is an increasingly important field. Both the population of AHF patients and the therapeutic and diagnostic interventions available are expanding, creating a host of difficult ethical challenges. This article discusses these important issues and proposes an approach to caring for AHF patients. Recent guidelines and clinical trials describe the benefits of costly and invasive therapies for AHF, such as ventricular assist devices and cardiac resynchronization therapy which prolong life and improve symptoms but may create burdens and conflict over deactivation at the end of life. Prognostication, informed consent, and early involvement of palliative care are central to addressing the decision-making challenges raised by these devices. Societal concerns such as cost-effectiveness and distributive justice will play an increasingly important role in the dissemination of these devices. More research, increased end-of-life education, emphasis on advance directives, a more comprehensive informed consent process, and a true multidisciplinary approach are needed to provide optimal care for patients with AHF.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1695647,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"IL-4 regulates endothelial cell activation by IL-1, tumor necrosis factor, or IFN-gamma.\nAlteration in the surface membrane of endothelial cells (EC) is a feature of endothelial activation both at sites of inflammation in vivo and after stimulation with cytokines in vitro. The effects of stimulating EC with IL-1 or TNF include enhanced adhesiveness for polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) and T cells, the induction of EC leukocyte adhesion molecule-1 (ELAM-1) expression, and the increased expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and the 1.4C3 Ag. In contrast, IFN-gamma stimulation increases EC binding of T cells but not PMN and enhances ICAM-1 expression but not ELAM-1 or 1.4C3 Ag expression. Recently we have reported that the T cell-derived cytokine IL-4 also increases EC adhesiveness for T cells but not PMN. In this study we have examined the effect of IL-4 on the expression of several cytokine-inducible EC activation Ag, by using a previously described ELISA technique. IL-4 modulation of activation Ag expression was concentration dependent, optimal at around 100 U\/ml, and exhibited a unique pattern compared to that seen with the other cytokines. Although, IL-4 stimulation increased 1.4C3 Ag expression (p less than 0.001), it significantly inhibited constitutive ICAM-1 expression (p less than 0.01) and did not induce ELAM-1. Furthermore, IL-4 exhibited significant synergy with IL-1 or TNF in inducing 1.4C3 Ag expression (p less than 0.001) but inhibited the increased expression of ICAM-1 produced by IL-1, TNF, or IFN-gamma (p less than 0.01) and inhibited the induction of ELAM-1 by IL-1 and TNF (p less than 0.001). In contrast, IL-4 had no effect on the expression of EC HLA-class I, -DR, -DP, or -DQ and neither enhanced nor inhibited the effect of IFN-gamma on the expression of these molecules. Finally, although IL-4 alone caused little if any shape change in EC monolayers, it strongly synergized with TNF or IFN-gamma in causing a change in shape to a more fibroblastic morphology. These observations indicate that IL-4 increases EC adhesiveness for T cells by the induction of a different adhesion molecule to ICAM-1. Furthermore, the ability of IL-4 to both enhance and inhibit the expression of activation Ag on EC already activated by IL-1, TNF, or IFN-gamma suggests that it may be important in altering the quality of inflammatory responses such as may occur during the development and maintenance of chronic or immune-mediated inflammation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17004866,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Mentoring console improves collaboration and teaching in surgical robotics.\nOne of the most significant limitations of surgical robots has been their inability to allow multiple surgeons and surgeons-in-training to engage in collaborative control of robotic surgical instruments. We report the initial experience with a novel two-headed da Vinci surgical robot that has two collaborative modes: the \"swap\" mode allows two surgeons to simultaneously operate and actively swap control of the robot's four arms, and the \"nudge\" mode allows them to share control of two of the robot's arms. The utility of the mentoring console operating in its two collaborative modes was evaluated through a combination of dry laboratory exercises and animal laboratory surgery. The results from surgeon-resident collaborative performance of complex three-handed surgical tasks were compared to results from single-surgeon and single-resident performance. Statistical significance was determined using Student's t-test. Collaborative surgeon-resident swap control reduced the time to completion of complex three-handed surgical tasks by 25% compared to single-surgeon operation of a four-armed da Vinci (P < 0.01) and by 34% compared to single-resident operation (P < 0.001). While swap mode was found to be most helpful during parts of surgical procedures that require multiple hands (such as isolation and division of vessels), nudge mode was particularly useful for guiding a resident's hands during crucially precise steps of an operation (such as proper placement of stitches). The da Vinci mentoring console greatly facilitates surgeon collaboration during robotic surgery and improves the performance of complex surgical tasks. The mentoring console has the potential to improve resident participation in surgical robotics cases, enhance resident education in surgical training programs engaged in surgical robotics, and improve patient safety during robotic surgery.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6153660,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Evaluation of a safranin-O-stained antigen microagglutination test for francisella tularensis antibodies.\nA microagglutination test for Francisella tularensis, with 0.025-ml amounts of diluted sera and 0.025-ml amounts of safranin-O-stained antigen in U-bottom microtitration plates, was compared with a tube agglutination test by using 137 sera. There was 86.3% agreement (+\/- 1 dilution variation) between the microagglutination results and the tube agglutination results for sera with tube agglutination titers of greater than or equal to 20. There was 100% agreement (+\/- 1 dilution variation) for sera with titers of less than 20. The advantages of the microagglutination test are: (i) it requires fewer man hours to perform; (ii) it requires only one-twentieth of the amount of antigen; and (iii) it is easier to read.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20350431,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[NMDAR expression in the cochlear nucleus and hearing damage in neonatal rats with hyperbilirubinemia].\nTo study the role of N-methyl-D-aspartate-receptor (NMDAR) expression in the development of hearing damage in neonatal rats with hyperbilirubinemia. Sixty seven-day-old Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly injected with bilirubin of 100 microg\/g (low-dose treatment group) or 200 microg\/g (high-dose treatment group) or normal saline (control group). Auditory brainstem response (ABR) was examined. The concentrations of bilirubin in blood and brain were measured. NMDAR expression in the cochlear nucleus slices was examined by immunohistochemistry assay. ABR reflecting threshold obviously increased, and I, II and III wave latency as well as I-II, II-III and I-III interval were more prolonged in the two bilirubin treatment groups when compared with the control group. The NMDAR expression in the cochlear nucleuse in the two bilirubin treatment groups was obviously lower than that in the control group. The NMDAR expression in the cochlear nucleuse was negatively correlated with the brain bilirubin content and the ABR reflecting threshold in the two bilirubin treatment groups. An increased NMDAR activity may play an important role in hearing damage following hyperbilirubinemia.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23326467,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"GMP-compliant, large-scale expanded allogeneic natural killer cells have potent cytolytic activity against cancer cells in vitro and in vivo.\nEx vivo-expanded, allogeneic natural killer (NK) cells can be used for the treatment of various types of cancer. In allogeneic NK cell therapy, NK cells from healthy donors must be expanded in order to obtain a sufficient number of highly purified, activated NK cells. In the present study, we established a simplified and efficient method for the large-scale expansion and activation of NK cells from healthy donors under good manufacturing practice (GMP) conditions. After a single step of magnetic depletion of CD3(+) T cells, the depleted peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were stimulated and expanded with irradiated autologous PBMCs in the presence of OKT3 and IL-2 for 14 days, resulting in a highly pure population of CD3(-)CD16(+)CD56(+) NK cells which is desired for allogeneic purpose. Compared with freshly isolated NK cells, these expanded NK cells showed robust cytokine production and potent cytolytic activity against various cancer cell lines. Of note, expanded NK cells selectively killed cancer cells without demonstrating cytotoxicity against allogeneic non-tumor cells in coculture assays. The anti-tumor activity of expanded human NK cells was examined in SCID mice injected with human lymphoma cells. In this model, expanded NK cells efficiently controlled lymphoma progression. In conclusion, allogeneic NK cells were efficiently expanded in a GMP-compliant facility and demonstrated potent anti-tumor activity both in vitro and in vivo.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20361907,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Neurocognitive functioning in patients with bipolar I disorder recently recovered from a first manic episode.\nAlthough cognitive impairment is an important clinical feature of bipolar disorder, it is unknown whether deficits are present at illness onset. The purpose of this study was to determine whether neuropsychological impairments are present in clinically stable patients with bipolar disorder shortly after resolution of their first manic episode. Within a large university medical center, 45 recently diagnosed (DSM-IV-TR) patients with bipolar disorder type I were evaluated after resolution of their first manic episode, along with 25 matched healthy comparison subjects. Participants were administered a neuropsychological battery evaluating 5 broad cognitive domains, including verbal\/premorbid intellectual functioning, learning\/memory, spatial\/nonverbal reasoning, attention\/processing speed, and executive function. Data were collected from July 2004 to August 2007. Relative to controls, patients showed broad impairments in learning\/memory, spatial\/nonverbal reasoning, executive function, and some aspects of attention (all P < .01). Specifically, deficits were evident on tests assessing sustained attention, attentional and mental set shifting, spatial working memory, nonverbal reasoning, and verbal learning and recall (all P < .01). Cognitive impairments in patients could not be fully attributed to substance abuse, medication status, or residual mood symptoms. Results indicate that core neuropsychological deficits in sustained attention, learning and recall, spatial\/nonverbal reasoning, and several aspects of executive function are present at illness onset. Cognitive deficits in bipolar disorder are, thus, most likely not exclusively attributable to progressive decline associated with increased illness burden, cumulative treatment effects, or chronicity of illness. These findings may provide etiologic clues into the illness and identify clinical targets for early treatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30310327,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Parental nicotine replacement therapy and offspring bronchitis\/bronchiolitis and asthma - a nationwide population-based cohort study.\nPrior evidence shows that environmental tobacco smoke is a risk factor for respiratory tract infections, wheeze, and asthma. Nicotine replacement therapy has been shown to increase smoking cessation. However, no prior studies have explored if parental use decreases the risk of bronchitis\/bronchiolitis and asthma in the offspring. To examine whether nicotine replacement therapy varenicline, given to parents, was associated with a reduction in bronchitis\/bronchiolitis and\/or asthma in their children. This study is a population-based cohort study, linking data from nationwide registers, and using a within-individual design that minimizes selection effects and controls for time-invariant confounding factors. Participants included 37,420 parents with a collected prescription of varenicline with 72,392 offspring <18 years of age. Exposure was defined as collected prescriptions of varenicline among the parents. Primary outcomes were offspring hospital visits for bronchitis\/bronchiolitis (ICD10: J20 or J21) and offspring hospital visits for asthma (ICD10: J45). Parental varenicline treatment was associated with a lower rate of visits for bronchitis\/bronchiolitis in their children (incidence rate ratio [IRR]=0.67; 95% CI=0.50-0.91), but no association was found for asthma (IRR=1.08; 95% CI=0.97-1.19). The rate reduction of bronchitis\/bronchiolitis was similar when we restricted data to children aged 0-3 years (IRR=0.71; 95% CI=0.52-0.97) and to maternal varenicline treatment (IRR=0.64; 95% CI=0.43-0.96). When restricting the outcomes to unplanned visits only (ie, excluding booked appointments, followups, and referrals), no associations were found (IRR=0.72, 95% CI=0.51-1.02). In this cohort study, nicotine replacement treatment in parents was associated with reduced hospital visits for bronchitis\/bronchiolitis in their children.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31249434,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Virtual screening of novel compounds as potential ER-alpha inhibitors.\nMajority of breast cancers diagnosed today are estrogen receptor (ER)-positive, however, progesterone receptor-positive (PR-positive) is also responsible for breast cancer. Tumors that are ER\/PR-positive are much more likely to respond to hormone therapy than tumors that are ER\/PR-negative. Nearly 105 ERa inhibitors from literature when docked resulted in 31 compounds (pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine analogs and chromen-2-one derivatives) with better binding affinities. The maximum score obtained was -175.282 kcal\/mol for compound, [2-(4- Fluoro-phenylamino)-pyridin-3-yl]-{4-[2-phenyl-7- (3, 4, 5-trimethoxy-phenyl)-pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine-5-carbonyl]-piperazin-1-yl}-methanone. The major H-bond interactions are observed with Thr347. In pursuit to identify novel ERa inhibitory ligands, virtual screening was carried out by docking pyrazole, bipyrazole, thiazole, thiadiazole etc scaffold analogs from literature.34 bipyrazoles from literature revealed Compound 2, ethyl 5-amino-1-(5-amino-3-anilino-4-ethoxycarbonyl-pyrazol-1-yl)-3-anilino-pyrazole-4-carboxylate, with -175.9 kcal\/mol binding affinity with the receptor, where a favourable H-bond was formed with Thr347.On the other hand, screening 2035 FDA approved drugs from Drug Bank database resulted in 11 drugs which showed better binding affinities than ERa bound tamoxifen. Consensus scoring using 5 scoring schemes such as Mol Dock score, mcule, SwissDock, Pose&Rank and DSX respectively resulted in better rank-sumsfor Lomitapide, Itraconazole, Cobicistat, Azilsartanmedoxomil, and Zafirlukast.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30095371,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Y-Balance Test Performance and Leg Muscle Activations of Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder.\nThis study compared Lower Quarter Y-Balance Test (YBT-LQ) performance and leg muscle kinetics between children with and without developmental coordination disorder (DCD), and investigated the association between YBT-LQ performance and muscle kinetics in children with DCD. Forty-eight children with DCD and 51 children without DCD participated in the study. Leg muscle kinetics were measured using surface electromyography when performing YBT-LQ. Children with DCD exhibited an overall lower YBT-LQ scores than controls. They had a lower peak gastrocnemius medialis activation for YBT-LQ posteromedial direction and shorter duration for the muscle to reach peak torque for YBT-LQ anterior direction. No relationship was found between YBT-LQ performance and leg muscle activations in children with DCD. Children with DCD exhibited a less competent YBT-LQ performance with atypical neuromuscular control.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32357666,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Synchronizability of directed networks: The power of non-existent ties.\nThe understanding of how synchronization in directed networks is influenced by structural changes in network topology is far from complete. While the addition of an edge always promotes synchronization in a wide class of undirected networks, this addition may impede synchronization in directed networks. In this paper, we develop the augmented graph stability method, which allows for explicitly connecting the stability of synchronization to changes in network topology. The transformation of a directed network into a symmetrized-and-augmented undirected network is the central component of this new method. This transformation is executed by symmetrizing and weighting the underlying connection graph and adding new undirected edges with consideration made for the mean degree imbalance of each pair of nodes. These new edges represent \"non-existent ties\" in the original directed network and often control the location of critical nodes whose directed connections can be altered to manipulate the stability of synchronization in a desired way. In particular, we show that the addition of small-world shortcuts to directed networks, which makes \"non-existent ties\" disappear, can worsen the synchronizability, thereby revealing a destructive role of small-world connections in directed networks. An extension of our method may open the door to studying synchronization in directed multilayer networks, which cannot be effectively handled by the eigenvalue-based methods.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16988504,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Is primary hyperaldosteronism a risk factor for aortic dissection?\nPrimary hyperaldosteronism is a rare (<1%) and underdiagnosed cause of secondary hypertension. We present a case of aortic dissection in a patient with primary hyperaldosteronism. To our knowledge, there are six other reported cases of aortic dissection in patients with primary hyperaldosteronism. Our case strengthens the hypothesis that primary hyperaldosteronism is a potential independent risk factor for aortic dissection.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3048778,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Progesterone receptor: stability studies and correlation between steroid binding assay and enzyme immunoassay.\nWe evaluated and compared Abbott Laboratories' newly developed enzyme immunoassay (EIA) for measuring progesterone receptors (PgR) with that of DuPont's steroid-binding assay (SBA). We also used both methods to study the stability of PgR under various conditions. THere were excellent correlations for all 59 cytosols compared (r = 0.94) and for the 44 cytosols containing PgR greater than 10 fmol per milligram of protein (r = 0.93), but the correlation for cytosols containing less than 10 fmol of PgR per milligram was poor. We found PgR to be more stable as assayed by EIA than by SBA. The biological half-lives of PgR at 30, 4, and -60 degrees C were approximately 3 h, 6 days, and 19 days, respectively. The effect of molybdate on PgR is complex. Its presence during tissue homogenization leads to analytical recovery of more PgR and may stabilize PgR during storage. Its presence during enzyme immunoassay is less critical. Unlike estrogen receptor, PgR is not protected by its ligand, R5020.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3054403,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Activities of the Department of Radiation Diagnosis of the Central Scientific Research Roentgenoradiology Institute].\nThe main stages in the activities of the scientific units of the Institute since its foundation up to now were represented. The role of Prof. M.I. Nemenov, the founder of the Institute, as a scientist and organizer, and investigations of the staff-members, conducted in different periods, were described. The essence of some researches, carried out at the Institute, was briefly reported.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29375386,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The Case for TAAR1 as a Modulator of Central Nervous System Function.\nTAAR1 is widely expressed across the mammalian brain, particularly in limbic and monoaminergic areas, allegedly involved in mood, attention, memory, fear, and addiction. However, the subcellular distribution of TAAR1 is still unclear, since TAAR1 signal is largely intracellular. In vitro, TAAR1 is activated with nanomolar to micromolar affinity by some endogenous amines, particularly p-tyramine, beta-phenylethylamine, and 3-iodothyronamine (T1AM), the latter representing a novel branch of thyroid hormone signaling. In addition, TAAR1 responds to a number of psychoactive drugs, i.e., amphetamines, ergoline derivatives, bromocriptine and lisuride. Trace amines have been identified as neurotransmitters in invertebrates, and they are considered as potential neuromodulators. In particular, beta-phenylethylamine and p-tyramine have been reported to modify the release and\/or the response to dopamine, norepinephrine, acetylcholine and GABA, while evidence of cross-talk between TAAR1 and other aminergic receptors has been provided. Systemic or intracerebroventricular injection of exogenous T1AM produced prolearning and antiamnestic effects, reduced pain threshold, decreased non-REM sleep, and modulated the firing rate of adrenergic neurons in locus coeruleus. However each of these substances may have additional molecular targets, and it is unclear whether their endogenous levels are sufficient to produce significant TAAR1 activation in vivo. TAAR1 knock out mice show a worse performance in anxiety and working memory tests, and they are more prone to develop ethanol addiction. They also show increased locomotor response to amphetamine, and decreased stereotypical responses induced by apomorphine. Notably, human genes for TAARs cluster on chromosome 6 at q23, within a region whose mutations have been reported to confer susceptibility to schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. For human TAAR1, around 200 non-synonymous and 400 synonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms have been identified, but their functional consequences have not been extensively investigated yet. In conclusion, the bulk of evidence points to a significant physiological role of TAAR1 in the modulation of central nervous system function and a potential pharmacological role of TAAR1 agonists in neurology and\/or psychiatry. However, the specific effects of TAAR1 stimulation are still controversial, and many crucial issues require further investigation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28365719,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Outreach and online training services at the Saccharomyces Genome Database.\nThe Saccharomyces Genome Database (SGD; www.yeastgenome.org ), the primary genetics and genomics resource for the budding yeast S. cerevisiae , provides free public access to expertly curated information about the yeast genome and its gene products. As the central hub for the yeast research community, SGD engages in a variety of social outreach efforts to inform our users about new developments, promote collaboration, increase public awareness of the importance of yeast to biomedical research, and facilitate scientific discovery. Here we describe these various outreach methods, from networking at scientific conferences to the use of online media such as blog posts and webinars, and include our perspectives on the benefits provided by outreach activities for model organism databases. http:\/\/www.yeastgenome.org.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17195277,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Customized PEG-derived copolymers for tissue-engineering applications.\nPEG-containing copolymers play a prominent role as biomaterials for different applications ranging from drug delivery to tissue engineering. These custom-designed materials offer enormous possibilities to change the overall characteristics of biomaterials by improving their biocompatibility and solubility, as well as their ability to crystallize in polymer blends and to resist protein adsorption. This article demonstrates various principles of PEG-based material design that are applied to fine tune the properties of biomaterials for different tissue engineering applications. More specifically, strategies are described to develop PEG copolymers with various block compositions and specific bulk properties, including low melting points and improved surface hydrophilicity. Highly hydrated polymer gel networks for promoting cellular growth or suppressing protein adsorption and cell adhesion are introduced. By incorporating selectively cleavable cross-links, these hydrophilic polymers can also serve as smart hydrogel scaffolds, mimicking the natural extracellular matrix for cell cultivation and tissue growth. Ultimately, these developments lead to the creation of biomimetic materials to immobilize bioactive compounds, allowing precise control of cellular adhesion and tissue growth. [image: see text]","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28251914,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Rituximab exposure is influenced by baseline metabolic tumor volume and predicts outcome of DLBCL patients: a Lymphoma Study Association report.\nHigh variability in patient outcome after rituximab-based treatment is partly explained by rituximab concentrations, and pharmacokinetic (PK) variability could be influenced by tumor burden. We aimed at quantifying the influence of baseline total metabolic tumor volume (TMTV0) on rituximab PK and of TMTV0 and rituximab exposure on outcome in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). TMTV0 was measured by 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography-computed tomography in 108 previously untreated DLBCL patients who received four 375 mg\/m2 rituximab infusions every 2 weeks in combination with chemotherapy in 2 prospective trials. A 2-compartment population model allowed describing rituximab PK and calculating rituximab exposure (area under the concentration-time curve; AUC). The association of TMTV0 and AUC with metabolic response after 4 cycles, as well as progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS), was assessed using logistic regression and Cox models, respectively. Cutoff values for patient outcome were determined using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. Exposure to rituximab decreased as TMTV0 increased (R2 = 0.41, P < .0001). A high AUC in cycle 1 (\u22659400 mg \u00d7 h per liter) was associated with better response (odds ratio, 5.56; P = .0006) and longer PFS (hazard ratio [HR], 0.38; P = .011) and OS (HR, 0.17; P = .001). A nomogram for rituximab dose needed to obtain optimal AUC according to TMTV0 was constructed, and the 375 mg\/m2 classical dose would be suitable for patients with TMTV0 <281 cm3 In summary, rituximab exposure is influenced by TMTV0 and correlates with response and outcome of DLBCL patients. Dose individualization according to TMTV0 should be evaluated in prospective studies. These studies were registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT00498043 and #NCT00841945.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3036514,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Internal acidification and cAMP increase are not correlated in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.\nAddition of glucose to a yeast suspension can produce both an increase in the level of cAMP and a decrease in the intracellular pH. This observation led to the idea that internal acidification triggers the cAMP increase. We have tested this hypothesis using different approaches. To study the effect of sugar metabolism on internal pH we added to the yeast either glucose or a sugar, like xylose, that cannot be phosphorylated. We also utilized yeast strains lacking hexose kinases or phosphoglucose isomerase. We found that phosphorylation of the sugar added is a requisite for internal acidification but not for the cAMP increase. Internal acidification is due to an imbalance between the rate of the metabolic reactions that generate protons and the rate at which protons can be pumped out of the cell. We have manipulated the excretion of protons by using yeast harvested at different phases of growth and resuspended in a medium with or without added K+. Addition of glucose produced a marked drop in internal pH only when the yeast was harvested in the stationary phase of growth and transferred to a medium without added K+. In contrast an increase in cAMP was observed in all situations. We conclude that in yeast there is no correlation between internal acidification and cAMP increase.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16237615,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Distribution of caffeine levels in urine in different sports in relation to doping control.\nCaffeine concentrations were measured in the urines of 11 361 athletes tested for doping control in the Ghent doping control laboratory during the period 1993 - 2002. Determination of these concentrations was done using an alkaline extraction with a mixture of dichloromethane and methanol (9:1; v\/v) followed by high performance liquid chromatography and ultraviolet detection (HPLC-UV). The method was validated according to ISO 17 025 standards (International Organisation for Standardisation). Quantification was done by using a calibration curve in the range from 0 to 20 microg\/ml. The limit of quantification (LOQ) was 0.10 microg\/ml. Most caffeine concentrations were far below 12 microg\/ml. Because the results were not normally distributed, transformation of the data was done to evaluate the difference in detected concentrations in several sports. This resulted in an overall average concentration of 1.22 microg\/ml +\/- 2.45 microg\/ml. Comparison of those sports with more than 200 samples being analysed demonstrated that caffeine concentrations in urine samples from bodybuilders are significantly higher in comparison to urines taken in the other sports. Also, a significant difference between caffeine concentrations found in cycling and concentrations found in other sports, including athletics and some ball sports, was observed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37843425,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-22":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Exceptional Thermochemical Stability of Graphene on N-Polar GaN for Remote Epitaxy.\nIn this study, we investigate the thermochemical stability of graphene on the GaN substrate for metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD)-based remote epitaxy. Despite excellent physical properties of GaN, making it a compelling choice for high-performance electronic and light-emitting device applications, the challenge of thermochemical decomposition of graphene on a GaN substrate at high temperatures has obstructed the achievement of remote homoepitaxy via MOCVD. Our research uncovers an unexpected stability of graphene on N-polar GaN, thereby enabling the MOCVD-based remote homoepitaxy of N-polar GaN. Our comparative analysis of N- and Ga-polar GaN substrates reveals markedly different outcomes: while a graphene\/N-polar GaN substrate produces releasable microcrystals (\u03bcCs), a graphene\/Ga-polar GaN substrate yields nonreleasable thin films. We attribute this discrepancy to the polarity-dependent thermochemical stability of graphene on the GaN substrate and its subsequent reaction with hydrogen. Evidence obtained from Raman spectroscopy, electron microscopic analyses, and overlayer delamination points to a pronounced thermochemical stability of graphene on N-polar GaN during MOCVD-based remote homoepitaxy. Molecular dynamics simulations, corroborated by experimental data, further substantiate that the thermochemical stability of graphene is reliant on the polarity of GaN, due to different reactions with hydrogen at high temperatures. Based on the N-polar remote homoepitaxy of \u03bcCs, the practical application of our findings was demonstrated in fabrication of flexible light-emitting diodes composed of p-n junction \u03bcCs with InGaN heterostructures.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37441368,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Association of IGF-1 Level with Low Bone Mass in Young Patients with Cushing's Disease.\nFew related factors of low bone mass in Cushing's disease (CD) have been identified so far, and relevant sufficient powered studies in CD patients are rare. On account of the scarcity of data, we performed a well-powered study to identify related factors associated with low bone mass in young CD patients. This retrospective study included 153 CD patients (33 males and 120 females, under the age of 50 for men and premenopausal women). Bone mineral density (BMD) of the left hip and lumbar spine was measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). In this study, low bone mass was defined when the Z score was -2.0 or lower. Among those CD patients, low bone mass occurred in 74 patients (48.37%). Compared to patients with normal BMD, those patients with low bone mass had a higher level of serum cortisol at midnight (22.31 (17.95-29.62) vs. 17.80 (13.75-22.77), p=0.0006), testosterone in women (2.10 (1.33-2.89) vs. 1.54 (0.97-2.05), p=0.0012), higher portion of male (32.43% vs. 11.54%, p=0.0016) as well as hypertension (76.12% vs. 51.67%, p=0.0075), and lower IGF-1 index (0.59 (0.43-0.76) vs. 0.79 (0.60-1.02), p=0.0001). The Z score was positively associated with the IGF-1 index in both the lumbar spine (r = 0.35153, p < 0.0001) and the femoral neck (r = 0.24418, p=0.0057). The Z score in the femoral neck was negatively associated with osteocalcin (r = -0.22744, p=0.0229). Compared to the lowest tertile of the IGF-1 index (<0.5563), the patients with the highest tertile of the IGF-1 index (\u22650.7993) had a lower prevalence of low bone mass (95% CI 0.02 (0.001-0.50), p=0.0002), even after adjusting for confounders such as age, gender, duration, BMI, hypertension, serum cortisol at midnight, PTH, and osteocalcin. The higher IGF-1 index was independently associated with lower prevalence of low bone mass in young CD patients, and IGF-1 might play an important role in the pathogenesis of CD-caused low bone mass.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3055863,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Pathogenesis of the anemia of chronic renal failure: the role of erythropoietin.\nIn summary, the anemia of CRF results from several interactive processes, chief among these inadequate Ep production relative to the degree of anemia. The anemia of renal failure can be regarded as an endocrine deficiency state, which is corrected by the specific replacement therapy. The advances of molecular biology have provided a biosynthetic Ep, a potent tool for correction and prevention of the anemia of renal failure. However, new problems often arise as new treatments become available. The rapid improvement in hematocrit and the resultant lowering in plasma volume may affect dialysis clearances in hemodialysis patients. Since the well-being and appetite of the patients improves as the hematocrit rises, newer methods to increase the weekly dialysis clearances will be needed to prevent the complication of underdialysis in these patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":8355808,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Development of the cortical dysplasia of type II lissencephaly.\nA detailed neuropathological study of five immature brains with type II lissencephaly is reported. The cases described include two pairs of siblings. One infant survived for 2 months after birth, the others died at 18, 20, 20 and 32 weeks of gestation. This series of cases demonstrates the sequence in which the malformation develops from mid-gestation to post-natal life and shows that type II lissencephaly is not an intracortical malformation but is the result of massive glial and neuronal ectopia in the leptomeninges. This results from a failure of arrest of neuronal migration due to defects in the integrity of the pial\/glial barrier.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30666718,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Covalently Palladated Oligonucleotides Through Oxidative Addition of Pd0.\nAn 11-mer oligonucleotide incorporating a central (2-iodobenzoylamino)methyl residue has been synthesized and palladated by oxidative addition of Pd2 (dba)3 . UV melting profiles of the duplexes formed by the palladated oligonucleotide with its natural complements were biphasic and the higher melting temperatures (Tm ) exhibited considerable hysteresis. CD spectra, in turn, resembled those of canonical B-type double helices. Two-step denaturation, with the \"low-Tm \" melting involving only canonical base pairs and the \"high-Tm \" melting involving also dissociation of a PdII -mediated base pair, appears the most likely explanation for the observed UV melting profiles. As the latter step in all cases takes place at a higher temperature than denaturation of natural duplexes of the same length, the putative PdII -mediated base pairs are stabilizing.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28287842,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The correlation between insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) and novel adipocytokines in postmenopausal women: A population-based study.\nThe adipocytokines and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) are involved in insulin resistance, the cardiometabolic syndrome, and atherosclerosis. Therefore, investigating the relationship between circulating levels of the novel adipocytokines and IGF-1 is worthwhile. The correlation between IGF-1, visfatin, and omentin-1 has not been adequately investigated. In a population-based study, 324 postmenopausal women were randomly selected. Circulating IGF-1, visfatin, omentin-1, adiponectin, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels were measured with the highly specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. In multiple regression analyses adjusted for alkaline phosphatase, osteocalcin, and hs-CRP, circulating IGF-1 was significantly correlated with visfatin levels (standardized \u03b2 coefficient [\u03b2] = 0.13, partial correlation coefficient [r] = 0.12, p = 0.028). The significant positive correlation between serum IGF-1 and visfatin levels remained after additional adjustments for age and BMI (\u03b2 = 0.12, r = 0.12, p = 0.025), metabolic syndrome (\u03b2 = 0.13, r = 0.12, p = 0.021), and type 2 diabetes mellitus (\u03b2 = 0.13, r = 0.12, p = 0.026). No significant correlations were found between IGF-1, adiponectin, and omentin-1. There is a significant correlation between serum IGF-1 and visfatin levels in postmenopausal women beyond metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, bone formation markers, and hs-CRP levels. The observed correlation between higher circulating IGF-1 and the higher visfatin levels might be a physiological compensation and adaptation to protect against visfatin-induced proinflammatory effects.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28700003,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4}},"text":"The effects of chitosan oligosaccharides on OPG and RANKL expression in a rat osteoarthritis model.\nTo investigate the effect of chitosan oligosaccharides (COS) against osteoarthritis (OA) and preliminarily discuss the osteoprotegerin (OPG), receptor activator of NF-\u03baB ligand (RANKL) and RANK expression in a rat OA model. Thirty-six 6-week-old Male SD rats were randomly divided into three groups: sham-operated group(CON), OA-induction group(OA), COS intervention group(n=12\/group). At 4 weeks after the operation, COS (50 ul) intervention weekily for consecutive 5 weeks. The OA and CON groups received an injection of 50 ul physiological saline. At death, 11 weeks following surgery, cartilage was harvested and total RNA and protein were extracted. Both the morphological changes of the cartilage were observed and harvested the total RNA and protein. Meanwhile, the expression of OPG, RANKL and RANK in cartilage were determined. The expression of OPG and RANKL were both enhanced in the cartilage of the OA model. Compared with the OA group, COS treatment improved the cartilage damage (both extent and grade). Furthermore, the COS group showed highly OPG and lower RANKL. Simultaneously, COS treatment upregulated the ratio of OPG\/RANKL and downregulated the RANKL\/RANK. Chitosan oligosaccharides may be used as a unique biological agent to prevent and treat osteoarthritis, and this effect is associated with modulation of the expression of osteoprotegerin and receptor activator of NF-\u03baB ligand.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20351911,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Challenges in exchanging medication information: identifying gaps in clinical document exchange and terminology standards.\nThe availability of accurate medication history information is invaluable for making sound therapeutic decisions. The Continuity of Care Document (CCD) could serve as a mechanism for exchanging interoperable medication information between EHRs. We evaluate the feasibility of representing a medication and its underlying components in a Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel (HITSP) compliant CCD. Our evaluation resulted in successfully mapping 94% of medication entries and greater than 92% of medication component mappings to CCD constraints. We identify gaps and provide recommendations for improving the representational adequacy of the Federal Medication Terminology (FMT) to fully represent orderable medication concepts.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20355376,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nanoimmiscibility: Selective absorption of liquid methanol-water mixtures in carbon nanotubes.\nDespite the continuing research interests in CNT-liquid systems, the microscopic structure and transport behavior of liquid mixtures in carbon nanotubes (CNTs) remain poorly understood. Methanol and water liquids are completely miscible across the entire range of concentration; however, recent research reveals that they are immiscible at a molecular level. In this work, we carried out classical molecular dynamics to study the molecular distribution, structure ordering, clustering and transport behavior of liquid methanol-water mixtures within CNT confinement. We found that CNTs preferentially absorbed methanol over water molecule even though the latter has a smaller molecular size, indicating that chemical effect such as molecular hydrophilicity plays a crucial role in the molecular absorption of CNTs. Due to the selective absorption of CNTs, methanol aqueous solution changes from microscopically immiscible to macroscopically immiscible at nanoscale. This nanoscale immiscibility may be utilized in various applications of CNTs including direct methanol fuel cells, nanosensors, molecular sieves, nanofluidic chips, and capsules for drug delivery.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28248637,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Bivariate Poisson models with varying offsets: an application to the paired mitochondrial DNA dataset.\nTo assess the effect of chemotherapy on mitochondrial genome mutations in cancer survivors and their offspring, a study sequenced the full mitochondrial genome and determined the mitochondrial DNA heteroplasmic (mtDNA) mutation rate. To build a model for counts of heteroplasmic mutations in mothers and their offspring, bivariate Poisson regression was used to examine the relationship between mutation count and clinical information while accounting for the paired correlation. However, if the sequencing depth is not adequate, a limited fraction of the mtDNA will be available for variant calling. The classical bivariate Poisson regression model treats the offset term as equal within pairs; thus, it cannot be applied directly. In this research, we propose an extended bivariate Poisson regression model that has a more general offset term to adjust the length of the accessible genome for each observation. We evaluate the performance of the proposed method with comprehensive simulations, and the results show that the regression model provides unbiased parameter estimations. The use of the model is also demonstrated using the paired mtDNA dataset.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37860655,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Photocyclization by a triplet-triplet annihilation upconversion pair in water - avoiding UV-light and oxygen removal.\nWe present a formal [2 + 2]-cycloaddition of unsaturated ketones enabled by a green-to-ultraviolet triplet-triplet annihilation upconversion (TTA-UC) pair, using commercially available Ru(bpy)32+ and pyrene as sensitizer and annihilator, respectively. In the developed protocol, visible light irradiation at \u03bbmax = 520 nm allows for the reaction to proceed without the need for UV-light and the aqueous medium eliminates the need for oxygen removing protocols. Through this study, the application of the readily available upconversion pair is broadened to include cyclization reactions. We showcase the utility of the system by generating bicyclo[2.1.1]hexanes that are valuable bioisosteres of ortho-substituted benzenes, a promising motif for pharmaceuticals.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28589044,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Asymmetric Expansion with a Modified Quad Helix for Treatment of Isolated Crossbite.\nUnilateral posterior crossbite often involves only one tooth, especially upper first molar; in these cases it is never easy to obtain an asymmetrical movement of a molar and a proper planning of the orthodontic device with its anchorage is necessary to avoid arch overexpansion. Thanks to its simplicity and efficacy, the modified Quad Helix here described represents a valid therapeutic tool in cases of isolated posterior crossbite.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28691643,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Rap2B promotes angiogenesis via PI3K\/AKT\/VEGF signaling pathway in human renal cell carcinoma.\nHuman renal cell carcinoma which is a highly vascular tumor is the leading cause of death from urologic cancers. Angiogenesis has a pivotal role in oncogenesis and in the viability and expansion of renal cell carcinoma. Rap2B, as a small guanosine triphosphate-binding protein of the Ras family, was first discovered in the early 1990s during the screening of a platelet complementary DNA library. Previous studies have shown that Rap2B aberrantly expressed in human carcinogenesis and promoted the development of tumors via multiple signaling pathways. However, the function of Rap2B in tumor angiogenesis that is necessary for tumor growth and metastasis remains unknown. In this study, we examined the role of Rap2B in angiogenesis in renal cell carcinoma by Western blot, quantitative polymerase chain reaction, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, human umbilical vascular endothelial cells growth assay, and endothelial cell tube formation assay. We found that Rap2B promoted angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, our data illustrated that phosphoinositide 3-kinase\/AKT signaling pathway is involved in Rap2B-mediated upregulation of vascular endothelial growth factor and renal cell carcinoma angiogenesis. Taken together, these results revealed that Rap2B promotes renal cell carcinoma angiogenesis via phosphoinositide 3-kinase\/AKT\/vascular endothelial growth factor signaling pathway, which suggests that Rap2B is a novel therapeutic target for renal cell carcinoma anti-angiogenesis therapy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12005819,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Transport of solutes undergoing a Freundlich type nonlinear and nonequilibrium adsorption process.\nWe investigate the behavior of solutes undergoing nonequilibrium adsorption processes that lead to a Freundlich isotherm in equilibrium. In contrast to a frequently used model we do not assume that the adsorption rate is proportional to the difference between adsorbed and equilibrium concentrations, but inspect two nonlinear laws governing the path to equilibrium. With some asymptotic considerations and numerical simulations we find that depending on the model parameters, the concentration in solution and the mass adsorbed by the matrix do not necessarily reach quasiequilibrium.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21163310,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Cerebral magnetic resonance imaging reveals marked abnormalities of brain tissue density in patients with cirrhosis without overt hepatic encephalopathy.\nWe applied advanced magnetic resonance imaging and Voxed based Morphometry analysis to assess brain tissue density in patients with cirrhosis. Forty eight patients with cirrhosis without overt hepatic encephalopathy (17 Child A, 13 Child B, and 18 Child C) and 51 healthy subjects were matched for age and sex. Seventeen patients had history of overt hepatic encephalopathy, eight of them had minimal hepatic encephalopathy at inclusion, 10 other patients had minimal hepatic encephalopathy at inclusion but without history of previous overt hepatic encephalopathy, and 21 patients had none of these features. Patients with cirrhosis presented decreased brain density in many areas of the grey and white matter. The extension and size of the affected areas were greater in patients with alcoholic cirrhosis than in those with post-hepatitic cirrhosis and correlated directly with the degree of liver failure and cerebral dysfunction (as estimated by neuropsychological tests and the antecedent of overt hepatic encephalopathy). Twelve additional patients with cirrhosis who underwent liver transplantation were explored after a median time of 11months (7-50months) after liver transplant. At the time of liver transplantation, three patients belonged to class A of the Child-Pugh classification, five to class B and four to class C. Compared to healthy subjects, liver transplant patients showed areas of reduced brain density in both grey and white matter. These results indicate that loss of brain tissue density is common in cirrhosis, progresses during the course of the disease, is greater in patients with history of hepatic encephalopathy, and persists after liver transplantation. The significance, physiopathology, and clinical relevance of this abnormality cannot be ascertained from the current study.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":1697658,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[A case of embryonal carcinoma arising in the basal ganglia of the cerebrum].\nThe occurrence sites of intracranial primary germ cell tumors are most often the pineal and suprasellar regions. The histological type observed most frequently in these tumors is germinoma. Cases of embryonal carcinoma arising in the basal ganglia are rarely reported. To our knowledge, only 4 such cases have been previously reported in the literature. A case of an embryonal carcinoma arising in the basal ganglia is reported. A 17-year-old boy was admitted to our hospital on July 30, 1988 because of headache and vomiting, and a right hemiparesis. On admission, physical inspection showed no abnormalities and neurological examination revealed obtunded consciousness, a right central facial paresis and a right hemiparesis with Hoffman and Babinski reflexes. Noncontrast CT scan showed a large mass of low-to slightly high-density in the region of the left basal ganglia accompanied with midline shift and ventricular dilatation. Enhancement of the lesion was made by contrast CT scan. It was not homogeneous. Cerebral angiogram displayed a contralateral shift and an unrolling of the anterior cerebral artery, a lateral stretch of middle cerebral artery, a downward stretch of anterior choroidal artery and a tumor stain fed by the Heubner artery. On August 3, left frontotemporal craniotomy was performed. The tumor was totally removed in a piecemeal manner using microsurgical techniques. Histopathological diagnosis was mixed-type of germ cell tumor comprising embryonal carcinoma and teratoma. Postoperative CT scan showed complete disappearance of the tumor. A course of radiation of 4950 rads and two courses of a combination chemotherapy with cis-platinum, vinblastine and bleomycin were given within 3 months after the operation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14529510,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Recent progress towards the identification of inhibitors of mycobacterial cell wall polysaccharide biosynthesis.\nMycobacterial infections have recently attracted significant attention from international health agencies due to the resurgence of these diseases worldwide. This review summarizes the recent work directed towards the identification of new anti-tuberculosis agents that act by inhibiting mycobacterial cell wall polysaccharide biosynthesis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6736079,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A canine ex vivo series shunt for evaluating thrombus deposition on polymer surfaces.\nA new acute canine ex vivo femoral A-V series shunt experiment is described. Platelet and fibrinogen deposition on a series of up to ten different polymers may be tested in the same nonanticoagulated animal. The method reduces the time and expense associated with animal testing, and also allows for the simultaneous monitoring of platelet and fibrinogen deposition on a number of polymer surfaces. The series shunt technique was used to examine platelet and fibrinogen deposition on polyethylene, Silastic, polyvinylchloride, and oxidized polyethylene surfaces. Following an initial period of minimal deposition, platelet deposition increased dramatically to a peak by about 15-20 min of blood contact on all surfaces studied. The amount of adsorbed fibrinogen fell from initial levels to a minimum at about 5-10 min of blood contact and then increased to a peak at about the same time as observed for the platelet response. Oxidized polyethylene was the most thrombogenic surface studied, followed by polyethylene, polyvinylchloride, and Silastic. Peak platelet and fibrinogen levels were found to be inversely related to flow rate over the range studied. In this experiment it appears that the interaction of blood components with a foreign surface in vivo or ex vivo is localized to the interface with the flowing blood. Within experimental errors, no effect of segment position or any downstream effects were observed. These results suggest that a series shunt may be used to investigate the short-term interactions of blood with a number of test surfaces.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31603583,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Crystal and solution structures of human oncoprotein Musashi-2 N-terminal RNA recognition motif 1.\nMusashi-2 (MSI2) belongs to Musashi family of RNA binding proteins (RBP). Like Musashi-1 (MSI1), it is overexpressed in a variety of cancers and is a promising therapeutic target. Both MSI proteins contain two N-terminal RNA recognition motifs and play roles in posttranscriptional regulation of target mRNAs. Previously, we have identified several inhibitors of MSI1, all of which bind to MSI2 as well. In order to design MSI2-specific inhibitors and compare the differences of binding mode of the inhibitors, we set out to solve the structure of MSI2-RRM1, the key motif that is responsible for the binding. Here, we report the crystal structure and the first NMR solution structure of MSI2-RRM1, and compare these to the structures of MSI1-RBD1 and other RBPs. A high degree of structural similarity was observed between the crystal and solution NMR structures. MSI2-RRM1 shows a highly similar overall folding topology to MSI1-RBD1 and other RBPs. The structural information of MSI2-RRM1 will be helpful for understanding MSI2-RNA interaction and for guiding rational drug design of MSI2-specific inhibitors.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3056855,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Comparison of antibody avidity and titre elicited by peptide as a protein conjugate or as expressed in vaccinia.\nThe immunogenicity of a malaria peptide presented in various forms was tested in terms of the quality and quantity of the antibody response in rabbits. Peptide conjugated to a protein carrier, diphtheria toxoid (DT), required strong adjuvants (e.g. muramyl dipeptide, MDP and Freund's adjuvant, FCA) to elicit high levels of antibody with high avidity. Alum was a poor adjuvant, producing the lowest titre and avidity of antibody compared with all the other groups. Peptide expressed in vaccinia (and without carrier) produced intermediate levels of antibody but the avidity of the antibodies produced were comparable to that produced by peptide conjugates given with muramyl dipeptide.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9568858,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Peritoneal solute transport predicts survival on CAPD independently of residual renal function.\nLoss of residual renal function has a profound effect on the survival of peritoneal dialysis patients. Less is known of the impact of peritoneal function. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of solute transport on clinical outcome in CAPD patients. Two hundred and ten consecutive patients commencing CAPD since 1990 were enrolled into a single centre prospective longitudinal observational study of urea, protein, and peritoneal kinetics. On entry, and at 6-monthly intervals, estimations were made of weight, body mass index (BMI), plasma albumin, Kt\/V, residual renal function (RRF), NPCR, low-molecular-weight solute transport (D\/Pcreat), and peritoneal protein losses. All patients were censored in 1996, regardless of treatment modality. During the 6-year follow up period (median 22 months) there were 51 deaths, and the actuarial survival was 58% at 5 years. Urea, protein and peritoneal kinetics varied with time on dialysis: as anticipated there was a reduction in Kt\/V, attributable to loss of RRF, whereas plasma albumin was stable for the first 2 years of treatment, but subsequently started to decline, a trend that became significant at 42 months. Peritoneal kinetics stabilized within the first 6 months of treatment and then showed a trend of increased solute transfer with time on treatment, which became significant by the end of the study. Comparing survivors with non-survivors Kt\/V and RRF were similar at the start of treatment, but loss of RRF occurred significantly earlier in non-survivors than survivors (0.37 vs 0.68, P=0.02 at 6 months, 0.19 vs 0.54, P=0.01 at 12 months). D\/Pcreat was also identical at commencement of treatment, but subsequently whilst survivors had stable solute transfer, non-survivors had consistently higher solute transfer beyond 6 months that reached increasing significance after 18 months, (0.70 vs 0.67, P=0.05 at 18 months, 0.72 vs 0.66, P=0.03 at 24 months). A Cox proportional hazard model constructed for the variables age, sex, BMI, albumin, Kt\/V and D\/Pcreat at 6 months of treatment indicated that low Kt\/V (P=0.004), high D\/Pcreat (P=0.013) and age (P=0.028) were independent predictors of death. There is good reason to believe that high peritoneal solute transport is an independent marker of poor outcome in CAPD patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":25419390,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Outcome analysis of laporoscopic D1 and D2 dissection in patients 70 years and older with gastric cancer.\nGastric cancer is a worldwide aggressive tumor with a bad prognosis. The purpose of this study was to retrospectively investigate operative findings of 53 patients aged over 70 with gastric cancer who underwent laporoscopic operations in our clinic. A retrospective review of all patients who underwent laporoscopic surgery for pathologically confirmed gastric cancer at our clinic between March 2008 and October 2010 was conducted. D1 resection (Level1 lymphadenectomy) was compared with D2 resection (Levels 1 and 2 lymphadenectomy). The two groups in which D1 and D2 Lymph node Dissection (LND) were applied were compared with respect to number of patients, sex, age, stage of disease, and score of American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA). We analyzed surgical methods, the use of staplers, operative time, additional organ resections, hospital stay, postoperative complications and the need for re-operation, operative mortality, and the effects of prognostic factors on survival. The patient group consisted of 31 (58%) males and 22 (42%) females. Of the patients, 28 (52%) underwent D1 and 25 (48%) D2 LND. There was a significant difference between the two groups with regard to length of surgery (p < 0.01). The length of operation, blood loss, and transfusion requirement in the D2 group were significantly more than those in the D1 group. There was no mortality in cases that underwent additional organ resection. The survival times of cases with a \u2264 0.25 ratio of dissected number of lymph nodes to metastatic lymph nodes were significantly longer than those of other cases. The survival time of cases with perineural and vascular invasion was significantly shorter. The survival rates of Stage I patients was significantly higher than those of Stage III (p:0.002) and Stage IV (p:0.003) patients. Although extensive dissection had an increased morbidity, there was no significant statistical difference between the two procedures. Early complications should not be attributed only to the extent of LND. The important prognostic factors related to long-time survival are the stage of the tumor, perineural and perivascular invasion, and metastatic lymph nodes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26426032,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Water Environmental Capacity Analysis of Taihu Lake and Parameter Estimation Based on the Integration of the Inverse Method and Bayesian Modeling.\nAn integrated approach using the inverse method and Bayesian approach, combined with a lake eutrophication water quality model, was developed for parameter estimation and water environmental capacity (WEC) analysis. The model was used to support load reduction and effective water quality management in the Taihu Lake system in eastern China. Water quality was surveyed yearly from 1987 to 2010. Total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) were selected as water quality model variables. Decay rates of TN and TP were estimated using the proposed approach. WECs of TN and TP in 2011 were determined based on the estimated decay rates. Results showed that the historical loading was beyond the WEC, thus, reduction of nitrogen and phosphorus input is necessary to meet water quality goals. Then WEC and allowable discharge capacity (ADC) in 2015 and 2020 were predicted. The reduction ratios of ADC during these years were also provided. All of these enable decision makers to assess the influence of each loading and visualize potential load reductions under different water quality goals, and then to formulate a reasonable water quality management strategy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37656505,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Developing a Core Outcome Set for Prognostic Research in Palliative Cancer Care: Protocol for a Mixed Methods Study.\nStudies exploring the impact of receiving end-of-life prognoses in patients with advanced cancer use a variety of different measures to evaluate the outcomes, and thus report often conflicting findings. The standardization of outcomes reported in studies of prognostication in palliative cancer care could enable uniform assessment and reporting, as well as intertrial comparisons. A core outcome set promotes consistency in outcome selection and reporting among studies within a particular population. We aim to develop a set of core outcomes to be used to measure the impact of end-of-life prognostication in palliative cancer care. This protocol outlines the proposed methodology to develop a core outcome set for measuring the impact of end-of-life prognostication in palliative cancer care. We will adopt a mixed methods approach consisting of 3 phases using methodology recommended by the Core Outcome Measure in Effectiveness Trials (COMET) initiative. In phase I, we will conduct a systematic review to identify existing outcomes that prognostic studies have previously used, so as to inform the development of items and domains for the proposed core outcome set. Phase II will consist of semistructured interviews with patients with advanced cancer who are receiving palliative care, informal caregivers, and clinicians, to explore their perceptions and experiences of end-of-life prognostication. Outcomes identified in the interviews will be combined with those found in existing literature and taken forward to phase III, a Delphi survey, in which we will ask patients, informal caregivers, clinicians, and relevant researchers to rate these outcomes until consensus is achieved as to which are considered to be the most important for inclusion in the core outcome set. The resulting, prioritized outcomes will be discussed in a consensus meeting to agree and endorse the final core outcome set. Ethical approval was received for this study in September 2022. As of July 2023, we have completed and published the systematic review (phase I) and have started recruitment for phase II. Data analysis for phase II has not yet started. We expect to complete the study by October 2024. This protocol presents the stepwise approach that will be taken to develop a core outcome set for measuring the impact of end-of-life prognostication in palliative cancer care. The final core outcome set has the potential for translation into clinical practice, allowing for consistent evaluation of emerging prognostic algorithms and improving communication of end-of-life prognostication. This study will also potentially facilitate the design of future clinical trials of the impact of end-of-life prognostication in palliative care that are acceptable to key stakeholders. Core Outcome Measures in Effectiveness Trials 2136; https:\/\/www.comet-initiative.org\/Studies\/Details\/2136. DERR1-10.2196\/49774.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30659647,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"miR-98 acts as an inhibitor in chronic constriction injury-induced neuropathic pain via downregulation of high-mobility group AT-hook 2.\nNeuropathic pain, resulting from somatosensory nervous system dysfunction, remains a serious public health problem worldwide. microRNAs are involved in the physiological processes of neuropathic pain. However, the biological roles of miR-98 in neuropathic pain development have not been investigated. Therefore, in our current study, we focused on the effects of miR-98 in neuropathic pain. It was shown that miR-98 was significantly downregulated in chronic sciatic nerve injury (CCI) rat models. In addition, high mobility group A2 (HMGA2) was obviously upregulated in CCI rats. Overexpression of miR-98 inhibited neuropathic pain progression, including mechanical and thermal hyperalgesia. By a bioinformatics analysis, HMGA2 was predicted as a direct target of miR-98. The negative correlation between miR-98 and HMGA2 was validated in our present study. Furthermore, overexpression of miR-98 dramatically repressed HMGA2 protein and messenger RNA (mRNA) expression. Neuroinflammation participates in neural-immune interactions, which can contribute to the neuropathic pain development. Meanwhile, we found that inflammatory cytokine (interleukin [IL]-6, IL-1\u03b2, and COX-2) protein expression in rats infected with LV-miR-98 was greatly suppressed. Taking these results together, we concluded that miR-98 might depress neuropathic pain development through modulating HMGA2.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34423842,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"RADON INFILTRATION BUILDING ENVELOPE TEST SYSTEM: EVALUATION OF BARRIER MATERIALS.\nThe performance of radon barrier materials currently available for housing foundations was evaluated using a unique radon infiltration building envelope test system that was designed to test radon prevention and mitigation systems using real world construction techniques. The reduction in radon concentration measured across the air barrier in the foundations has been used to evaluate five representative barrier materials installed in the radon infiltration building envelope test facility. The reduction in radon concentration in the mock house varied from 68% for 6 mil polyethylene to 98% for the spray polyurethane foam. The five representative barrier materials were selected after determining the radon diffusion coefficient and the corresponding radon resistance from samples of 14 barrier materials in a radon diffusion testing chamber. The Canadian experience evaluating whether radon barrier materials would satisfy building code requirements was described.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":30658371,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Natural Product Triterpenoids and Their Semi-Synthetic Derivatives with Potential Anticancer Activity.\nTriterpenoids are distributed widely in higher plants and are of interest because of their structural diversity and broad range of bioactivities. In particular, there is a very large literature on the propensity of a variety of triterpenoids to act as potential anticancer agents. In the present review, the anticancer potential is summarized for naturally occurring triterpenoids and their semi-synthetic derivatives, including examples of lupane-, oleanane-, ursane-, and cucurbitane-type pentacyclic triterpenoids, along with dammarane-type tetracyclic triterpenes including ginsenosides and their sapogenins and dichapetalins, which have been characterized as antitumor leads from higher plants. Preliminary structure-activity relationships and reported mechanisms of the antineoplastic-related activity are included. Prior studies for triterpenoids of plant origin are supportive of additional work being conducted on the more detailed biological and mechanistic evaluation for the progression of this type of natural products as possible cancer chemotherapeutic agents.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3082121,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Determining value for money in day hospital care for the elderly.\nThis paper describes how a prospective evaluation of the costs and effectiveness of day hospital care for the elderly and its alternatives could be undertaken. The number of day hospitals for the elderly has grown from zero to slightly over 300 in just over 20 years. Despite this there is no study in the existing literature which gives an indication of whether day hospitals provide a reasonable return on this substantial investment. The best way of determining whether day hospitals are a better investment than alternative modes of care would be a randomized controlled trial involving comparison of subgroups of day hospital patients against similar subgroups utilizing alternative modes of care, the costing of each patient's consumption of services within the treatment mode in which they commence the study plus any subsequent use of other services over a predetermined time period, the collection of clinical, social and psychological outcome data (including data on dependency) for each subgroup before, during and at the end of the study period, and some measure of patients' and relatives' satisfaction with the treatment received.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28559754,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Effectiveness of Manual Therapy Combined With Physical Therapy in Treatment of Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome: Systematic Review.\nThe purpose of this study was to conduct a review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to determine the treatment effectiveness of the combination of manual therapy (MT) with other physical therapy techniques. Systematic searches of scientific literature were undertaken on PubMed and the Cochrane Library (2004-2014). The following terms were used: \"patellofemoral pain syndrome,\" \"physical therapy,\" \"manual therapy,\" and \"manipulation.\" RCTs that studied adults diagnosed with patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS) treated by MT and physical therapy approaches were included. The quality of the studies was assessed by the Jadad Scale. Five RCTs with an acceptable methodological quality (Jadad \u2265 3) were selected. The studies indicated that MT combined with physical therapy has some effect on reducing pain and improving function in PFPS, especially when applied on the full kinetic chain and when strengthening hip and knee muscles. The different combinations of MT and physical therapy programs analyzed in this review suggest that giving more emphasis to proximal stabilization and full kinetic chain treatments in PFPS will help better alleviation of symptoms.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9157302,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Gluten as food additive in The Netherlands: cheese forbidden for celiac patients?].\nA new coating for cheese, to be introduced in May, consists entirely of natural degradable components. The coating is based on wheat gluten. This increase in the amount of gluten in the Dutch diet may lead to overt coeliac disease in people with a subclinical form of it, and will limit the dietary choices of patients already suffering from the disease.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16215165,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Is insulin an anabolic agent in bone? Dissecting the diabetic bone for clues.\nDiabetic osteoporosis is increasingly recognized as a significant comorbidity of type 1 diabetes mellitus. In contrast, type 2 diabetes mellitus is more commonly associated with modest increases in bone mineral density for age. Despite this dichotomy, clinical, in vivo, and in vitro data uniformly support the concept that new bone formation as well as bone microarchitectural integrity are altered in the diabetic state, leading to an increased risk for fragility fracture and inadequate bone regeneration following injury. In this review, we examine the contribution that insulin, as a potential anabolic agent in bone, may make to the pathophysiology of diabetic bone disease. Specifically, we have assimilated human and animal data examining the effects of endogenous insulin production, exogenous insulin administration, insulin sensitivity, and insulin signaling on bone. In so doing, we present evidence that insulin, acting as an anabolic agent in bone, can preserve and increase bone density and bone strength, presumably through direct and\/or indirect effects on bone formation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14559065,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Capillaries within compartments: microvascular interpretation of dynamic positron emission tomography data.\nMeasurement of exchange of substances between blood and tissue has been a long-lasting challenge to physiologists, and considerable theoretical and experimental accomplishments were achieved before the development of the positron emission tomography (PET). Today, when modeling data from modern PET scanners, little use is made of earlier microvascular research in the compartmental models, which have become the standard model by which the vast majority of dynamic PET data are analysed. However, modern PET scanners provide data with a sufficient temporal resolution and good counting statistics to allow estimation of parameters in models with more physiological realism. We explore the standard compartmental model and find that incorporation of blood flow leads to paradoxes, such as kinetic rate constants being time-dependent, and tracers being cleared from a capillary faster than they can be supplied by blood flow. The inability of the standard model to incorporate blood flow consequently raises a need for models that include more physiology, and we develop microvascular models which remove the inconsistencies. The microvascular models can be regarded as a revision of the input function. Whereas the standard model uses the organ inlet concentration as the concentration throughout the vascular compartment, we consider models that make use of spatial averaging of the concentrations in the capillary volume, which is what the PET scanner actually registers. The microvascular models are developed for both single- and multi-capillary systems and include effects of non-exchanging vessels. They are suitable for analysing dynamic PET data from any capillary bed using either intravascular or diffusible tracers, in terms of physiological parameters which include regional blood flow.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17914796,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Tuning the molecular properties of polybenzimidazole by copolymerization.\nIn the present work, a series of novel random polybenzimidazole (PBI) copolymers consisting of m- and p-phenylene linkages are synthesized from various stoichiometric mixtures of isophthalic acid (IPA) and terephthalic acid (TPA) with 3,3',4,4'-tetraaminobiphenyl (TAB) by solution copolycondensation in polyphosphoric acid (PPA). The resulting copolymers are characterized by different techniques to obtain their molecular properties parameters. The monomer concentration in the polymerization plays an important role in controlling the molecular weight of the polymer. Surprisingly, a simple change in the dicarboxylic acid architecture from meta (IPA) to para (TPA) increases the molecular weight of the copolymers, which is maximum for the para homopolymer. The low solubility of TPA in PPA is found to be the dominating factor for obtaining the higher molecular weight polymer in the case of the para structure. FT-IR study shows that the introduction of the para structure enhances the conjugation along the polymer chain. The positive deviation of the copolymer composition from the feed ratio is due to the higher reactivity ratio of TPA than IPA, which is obtained from proton NMR studies. The incorporation of the para structure in the chain enhances the thermal stability of the polymers. The para homopolymer shows 59 degrees C lower glass transition temperature compare to the meta homopolymer indicating enhancement of the flexibility of the polymer chain due the introduction of the p-phenylene linkage in the backbone. The T(g) of the copolymers shows both positive and negative deviation from the expected T(g) calculated by the Fox equation. The enhanced conjugation of the polymer chains also influences the photophysical properties of the polymers in solution. All the PBI polymers exhibit strong fluorescence in dimethylacetamide solution. As expected, that all the polymers are amorphous in nature reveals that the copolymerization does not influence the packing characteristics of the PBI chains.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28359347,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Characteristics of M\u00fcller glial cells in MNU-induced retinal degeneration.\nRetinal M\u00fcller glial cells have been shown to undergo reactive gliosis in a variety of retinal diseases. Upregulation of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) is a hallmark of M\u00fcller cell activation. Reactive gliosis after retinal detachment or ischemia\/reperfusion is characterized by hypertrophy and downregulation of inwardly rectifying K+ (Kir) currents. However, this kind of physiological alteration could not be detected in slowly progressing retinal degenerations. The photoreceptor toxin N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU) leads to the rapid loss of cells in the outer nuclear layer and subsequent M\u00fcller cell activation. Here, we investigated whether M\u00fcller cells from MNU-treated mice exhibit reactive gliosis. We found that M\u00fcller cells showed increased GFAP expression and increased membrane capacitance, indicating hypertrophy. Membrane potential and Kir channel-mediated K+ currents were not significantly altered whereas Kir4.1 mRNA expression and Kir-mediated inward current densities were markedly decreased. This suggests that MNU-induced M\u00fcller cell gliosis is characterized by plasma membrane increase without alteration in the membrane content of Kir channels. Taken together, our findings show that M\u00fcller cells of MNU-treated mice are reactive and respond with a form of gliosis which is characterized by cellular hypertrophy but no changes in Kir current amplitudes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28533808,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"How one institution overcame the challenges to start an MRI-based brachytherapy program for cervical cancer.\nAdaptive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based brachytherapy results in improved local control and decreased high-grade toxicities compared to historical controls. Incorporating MRI into the workflow of a department can be a major challenge when initiating an MRI-based brachytherapy program. This project aims to describe the goals, challenges, and solutions when initiating an MRI-based cervical cancer brachytherapy program at our institution. We describe the 6-month multi-disciplinary planning phase to initiate an MRI-based brachytherapy program. We describe the specific challenges that were encountered prior to treating our first patient. We describe the solutions that were realized and executed to solve the challenges that we faced to establish our MRI-based brachytherapy program. We emphasize detailed coordination of care, planning, and communication to make the workflow feasible. We detail the imaging and radiation physics solutions to safely deliver MRI-based brachytherapy. The focus of these efforts is always on the delivery of optimal, state of the art patient care and treatment delivery within the context of our available institutional resources. Previous publications have supported a transition to MRI-based brachytherapy, and this can be safely and efficiently accomplished as described in this manuscript.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28694708,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Spiritual care may impact mental health and medication adherence in HIV+ populations.\nTo explore a potential role for spirituality in medication-related needs assessment for integrated care in chronically ill populations. A systematic literature review was conducted to explore the impact of faith beliefs on health and\/or medication adherence in individuals with depression and\/or HIV+\/AIDS. Retrospective electronic medical record review of adult HIV+ patients of an urban primary care clinic with integrated mental health services was conducted, with Substance Abuse and Mental Illness Symptoms Screener (SAMISS), major depressive disorder (MDD) incidence over the preceding year, and history of contact with a spiritual advisor. A convenience sample was interviewed to qualitatively assess potential medication therapy management needs and medication-related problems. Another sample was examined utilizing the Daily Spiritual Experience Scale. The literature reports positive influence on health behaviors, coping and outcomes; and poor medication adherence and treatment decisions due to patient passivity or resistance. Spiritual advisor contact (not limited to a specific religion) was significantly associated with MDD absence (1.7% vs. 15.3%, P<0.005) and inversely related to SAMISS, depression, and poor health behaviors. Patient interviews reflected significance of faith in terms of insight and acceptance of illness, the role or need for medications, coping, and medication adherence. An illustrative model was designed based on the literature and data collection. Spiritual assessment may help identify positive or negative influence on health. Spiritual interventions could be beneficial in promoting adherence and positive health outcomes. Further research is recommended.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16226695,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Laparoscopic treatment of biliary atresia and choledochal cyst.\nMinimally invasive surgery (MIS) has overcome many technical limitations and has evolved into a safe alternative for the treatment of many complex pediatric surgical procedures. The introduction of this approach for the correction of congenital biliary tract anomalies had to wait until instrumentation and surgeons' skills improved enough. This happened not so long ago: less than 10 years have elapsed since the first reported case of a minimally invasive operation for choledochal cyst and less than 3 years since the first reported case of a laparoscopic Kasai. This article summarizes the experience gained by the authors in laparoscopic treatment of 41 patients with biliary atresia and 15 patients with choledochal cyst with similar surgical techniques, which are described in detail. Based on the encouraging results, the authors believe that MIS will soon become the gold standard for the correction of congenital biliary tract anomalies.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":18604673,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Henoch-Schonlein purpura in pregnancy.\nHenoch-Schonlein purpura (HSP) is a hypersensitivity vasculitis. This is a case report of HSP during pregnancy and a review of the literature in this rare pregnant disease. We present a case of a 32-year-old woman with HSP. Treatment with low-dose oral corticosteroids was administered leading to a beneficial outcome for the fetus and the mother. Henoch-Schonlein purpura is the most common connective tissue disorder of children. It is rarely reported in adults. Only 16 cases of HSP during pregnancy have been described in the literature worldwide, and this is the 17th reported case.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28717712,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"EGFR Mutations in Latinos From the United States and Latin America.\nEpidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations confer sensitivity to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). There are limited and conflicting reports on the frequency of EGFR mutations in Latinos. Samples from 642 patients with NSCLC from seven institutions in the United States and Latin America were assessed for EGFR mutations (exons 18 to 21) at Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments-certified central laboratories. EGFR mutation analysis was successfully performed in 480 (75%) of 642 patients; 90 (19%) were Latinos, 318 (66%) were non-Latino whites, 35 (7%) were non-Latino Asians, 30 (6%) were non-Latino blacks, and seven (2%) were of other races or ethnicities. EGFR mutations were found in 21 (23%) of 90 Latinos with varying frequencies according to the country of origin; Latinos from Peru (37%), followed by the United States (23%), Mexico (18%), Venezuela (10%), and Bolivia (8%). In never-smoker Latinos and Latinos with adenocarcinoma histology, EGFR mutation frequencies were 38% and 30%, respectively. There was a significant difference in the frequency of EGFR mutations among the different racial and ethnic subgroups analyzed (P < .001), with non-Latino Asians having the highest frequency (57%) followed by Latinos (23%), non-Latino whites (19%), and non-Latino blacks (10%). There was no difference between Latinos (23%) and non-Latinos (22%; P = .78) and Latinos and non-Latino whites (P = .37). Patients from Peru had an overall higher frequency of mutations (37%) than all other Latinos (17%), but this difference only exhibited a trend toward significance (P = .058). There was no significant difference between the frequency of EGFR mutations in NSCLC in Latinos and non-Latinos.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":14528458,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Paraffin spheres as porogen to fabricate poly(L-lactic acid) scaffolds with improved cytocompatibility for cartilage tissue engineering.\nThree-dimensional poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) scaffolds with high porosity and pore size ranging from 150 to 700 microm were conveniently prepared with paraffin spheres used as porogen. PLLA\/1,4-dioxane solution containing a given amount of paraffin spheres was frozen at -25 degrees C to obtain a solidified mixture, followed with freeze drying and subsequent leaching with hexane to remove the 1,4-dioxane and paraffin spheres, respectively. The fabricated PLLA scaffolds were highly porous with evenly distributed and interconnected pores. The microstructures of the PLLA scaffolds as a function of paraffin-sphere size, paraffin-sphere dosage, and PLLA concentration were characterized by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and scanning-electronic microscopy (SEM). To improve the cytocompatibility of the bioinert material, a hybrid PLLA scaffold containing Type I collagen was prepared by pressing the collagen solution into the scaffold under reduced pressure. The amounts of the collagen introduced in the scaffolds were detected by ninhydrin method. The distribution of the collagen in the scaffolds was studied with CLSM. Finally, in vitro cell culture was performed by injecting a chondrocyte suspension into the scaffolds. The results showed that the chondrocytes were more evenly distributed and more spread out in the collagen-modified PLLA scaffolds than in the unmodified ones.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26472025,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Aberrant high expression of immunoglobulin G in epithelial stem\/progenitor-like cells contributes to tumor initiation and metastasis.\nHigh expression of immunoglobulin G (IgG) in many non-B cell malignancies and its non-conventional roles in promoting proliferation and survival of cancer cells have been demonstrated. However, the precise function of non-B IgG remains incompletely understood. Here we define the antigen specificity of RP215, a monoclonal antibody that specifically recognizes the IgG in cancer cells. Using RP215, our study shows that IgG is overexpressed in cancer cells of epithelial lineage, especially cells with cancer stem\/progenitor cell-like features. The RP215-recognized IgG is primarily localized on the cell surface, particularly lamellipodia-like structures. Cells with high IgG display higher migration, increased invasiveness and metastasis, and enhanced self-renewal and tumorgenecity ability in vitro and in vivo. Importantly, depletion of IgG in breast cancer leads to reduced adhesion, invasion and self-renewal and increased apoptosis of cancer cells. We conclude that high expression of IgG is a novel biomarker of tumor progression, metastasis and cancer stem cell maintenance and demonstrate the potential therapeutic benefits of RP215-recognized IgG targeted strategy.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37853829,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Kluyveromyces marxianus supplementation ameliorates alcohol-induced liver injury associated with the modulation of gut microbiota in mice.\nThe aim of this study was to evaluate the intervention effect of the potential probiotic Kluyveromyces marxianus YG-4 isolated from Tibetan kefir grains on alcoholic liver disease (ALD). Eight-week-old male C57BL\/6J mice were fed with a Lieber-DeCarli (LDC) diet containing ethanol with a progressively increasing concentration from 1% to 4% (vol\/vol) to establish an ALD mouse model. Our results suggested that K. marxianus treatment improved ALD, as demonstrated by the reduction of serum ALT and AST levels and the suppression of TLR4\/NF-\u03baB-mediated inflammatory response in the liver. K. marxianus administration significantly elevated antioxidant activities of SOD, CAT and GSH-Px, and reduced the MDA level in mice. K. marxianus supplementation repaired the gut barrier by increasing tight junction proteins and the number of goblet cells in the colon of ALD mice. In addition, treatment with K. marxianus restored alcohol-induced gut dysbiosis. Specifically, K. marxianus administration depleted the abundance of Lactobacillus, Coriobacteriaceae_UCG-002 and Candida, while increased that of Allobaculum, Dubosiella and Epicoccum in mice. Our findings open new possibilities for K. marxianus application in ALD treatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28533305,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":2}},"text":"Changes in Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors With Immediate Versus Deferred Antiretroviral Therapy Initiation Among HIV-Positive Participants in the START (Strategic Timing of Antiretroviral Treatment) Trial.\nHIV infection and certain antiretroviral therapy (ART) medications increase atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk, mediated, in part, through traditional cardiovascular disease risk factors. We studied cardiovascular disease risk factor changes in the START (Strategic Timing of Antiretroviral Treatment) trial, a randomized study of immediate versus deferred ART initiation among HIV-positive persons with CD4+ cell counts >500 cells\/mm3. Mean change from baseline in risk factors and the incidence of comorbid conditions were compared between groups. The characteristics among 4685 HIV-positive START trial participants include a median age of 36 years, a CD4 cell count of 651 cells\/mm3, an HIV viral load of 12 759 copies\/mL, a current smoking status of 32%, a median systolic\/diastolic blood pressure of 120\/76 mm Hg, and median levels of total cholesterol of 168 mg\/dL, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol of 102 mg\/dL, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol of 41 mg\/dL. Mean follow-up was 3.0 years. The immediate and deferred ART groups spent 94% and 28% of follow-up time taking ART, respectively. Compared with patients in the deferral group, patients in the immediate ART group had increased total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and higher use of lipid-lowering therapy (1.2%; 95% CI, 0.1-2.2). Concurrent increases in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol with immediate ART resulted in a 0.1 lower total cholesterol to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio (95% CI, 0.1-0.2). Immediate ART resulted in 2.3% less BP-lowering therapy use (95% CI, 0.9-3.6), but there were no differences in new-onset hypertension or diabetes mellitus. Among HIV-positive persons with preserved immunity, immediate ART led to increases in total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol but also concurrent increases in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and decreased use of blood pressure medications. These opposing effects suggest that, in the short term, the net effect of early ART on traditional cardiovascular disease risk factors may be clinically insignificant.\" URL: http:\/\/www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT00867048.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28573006,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"A new fossil dolphin Dilophodelphis fordycei provides insight into the evolution of supraorbital crests in Platanistoidea (Mammalia, Cetacea).\nMany odontocete groups have developed enlarged facial crests, although these crests differ in topography, composition and function. The most elaborate crests occur in the South Asian river dolphin (Platanista gangetica), in which they rise dorsally as delicate, pneumatized wings anterior of the facial bones. Their position wrapping around the melon suggests their involvement in sound propagation for echolocation. To better understand the origin of crests in this lineage, we examined facial crests among fossil and living Platanistoidea, including a new taxon, Dilophodelphis fordycei, nov. gen. and sp., described herein, from the Early Miocene Astoria Formation of Oregon, USA. We measured the physical extent and thickness of platanistoid crests, categorized their relative position and used computed tomography scans to examine their internal morphology and relative bone density. Integrating these traits in a phylogenetic context, we determined that the onset of crest elaboration or enlargement and the evolution of crest pneumatization among the platanistoids were separate events, with crest enlargement beginning in the Oligocene. However, we find no evidence for pneumatization until possibly the Early Miocene, although certainly by the Middle Miocene. Such an evolutionary context, including data from the fossil record, should inform modelling efforts that seek to understand the diversity of sound generation morphology in Odontoceti.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":20376207,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The ulcerative colitis marker protein WAFL interacts with accessory proteins in endocytosis.\nUlcerative colitis (UC) is one of the major forms of inflammatory bowel disease with unknown cause. A molecular marker, WAFL, has recently been found to be up-regulated in the inflamed colonic mucosa of UC patients. Towards understanding biological function of WAFL, we analyzed proteins interacting with WAFL in HEK-293 cells by immunoprecipitation and mass spectrometry. Among four proteins found to specifically interact with WAFL, both KIAA0196 and KIAA1033 bind to alpha-appendage of the adaptor protein complex 2 (AP2), which acts as an interaction hub for accessory proteins in endocytosis mediated by clathrin-coated vesicle (CCV). The specific interaction between WAFL and KIAA0196 was also confirmed in human colorectal carcinoma HCT-116 cells by co-immunoprecipitation with specific antibodies. Meta-analyses of the databases of expressed genes suggest that the three genes are co-expressed in many tissues and cell types, and that their molecular function may be classified in the category of 'membrane traffic protein'. Therefore, these results suggest that WAFL may play an important role in endocytosis and subsequent membrane trafficking by interacting with AP2 through KIAA0196 and KIAA1033.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28294797,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Perfusion, Metabolism and Regional Myocardial Contractility in Patients With Valvular Heart Disease: a Long-Term Follow-Up After Valve Replacement].\nTo perform complex assessment of myocardial perfusion, metabolism, and regional contractility in patients with valvular heart disease (VHD) in remote period after surgical correction of heart defects. We examined 30 patients with VHD in 1-8 years after heart valve replacement because of mitral (n=13) or aortic (n=17) valve defects of the following etiology: rheumatic heart disease (n=10), degeneration of connective tissue (n=13), infective endocarditis (n=7). For assessment of myocardial perfusion, metabolism, and regional contractility, we used single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). Myocardium of patients who had undergone surgical correction of heart valve defects was characterized by dominating diffuse sclerotic changes localized mostly in basal segments. Hibernating myocardium was a less frequent finding. There were segments of borderline state with normal parameters of metabolism but slight impairment of perfusion without pronounced disturbances of kinetics. Patients with infectious etiology of valvular defects had combined perfusion and metabolic changes in multiple myocardial segments. Extensive derangements of perfusion and metabolism were characteristic for patients with connective tissue degeneration. Signs of cardiac failure caused by disturbances of myocardial perfusion and metabolism in patients with valvular heart disease can persist even after successful correction of valvular defect with normalization of intracardiac hemodynamics.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17915051,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Adenocarcinoma following restorative proctocolectomy for ulcerative colitis: a case report and review of the literature].\nRestorative proctocolectomy with ileal pouch-anal anastomosis has been accepted as the surgical treatment of choice for most patients with ulcerative colitis. The occurrence of adenocarcinoma arising near or into the ileal pouch is rare. Only 19 such cases have been reported so far. The authors report a case of a 67-year old male who developed an adenocarcinoma in the small rectal stump 12 years after a restorative proctocolectomy with double stapled ileal pouch-low rectal anastomosis for ulcerative colitis unresponsive to medical treatment. They, after a literature review, examine same steps of the procedure and emphasize the importance of regular and prolonged follow-up for all patients having restorative proctocolectomy for ulcerative colitis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34408699,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Morpho-Phonetic Effects in Speech Production: Modeling the Acoustic Duration of English Derived Words With Linear Discriminative Learning.\nRecent evidence for the influence of morphological structure on the phonetic output goes unexplained by established models of speech production and by theories of the morphology-phonology interaction. Linear discriminative learning (LDL) is a recent computational approach in which such effects can be expected. We predict the acoustic duration of 4,530 English derivative tokens with the morphological functions DIS, NESS, LESS, ATION, and IZE in natural speech data by using predictors derived from a linear discriminative learning network. We find that the network is accurate in learning speech production and comprehension, and that the measures derived from it are successful in predicting duration. For example, words are lengthened when the semantic support of the word's predicted articulatory path is stronger. Importantly, differences between morphological categories emerge naturally from the network, even when no morphological information is provided. The results imply that morphological effects on duration can be explained without postulating theoretical units like the morpheme, and they provide further evidence that LDL is a promising alternative for modeling speech production.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16157953,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The association between cholesterol and mortality in heart failure. Comparison between patients with and without coronary artery disease.\nHypercholesterolemia is a risk factor for development of coronary artery disease (CAD), however, several reports have suggested that low serum cholesterol is associated with a worse prognosis in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF). The objective of this study was to determine the prognostic value of cholesterol for CHF. The study subjects consisted of 133 consecutive patients hospitalized in our institution for progressive heart failure from April 2000 to March 2003. Thirty-two percent of the patients had CAD. After improvement of congestive heart failure and discharge from the hospital, lipid profiles, including serum total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides, and high and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL, LDL, respectively), were obtained. During the follow-up period (2.3 +\/- 0.9 years), 21 patients died. There was a significant difference between survivors and nonsurvivors in HDL (53 +\/- 15, 43 +\/- 15 mg\/dL, P = 0.01), but no differences were observed in other variables. In patients with CAD, survivors had significantly lower TC concentrations (179 +\/- 30 versus 246 +\/- 55 mg\/dL, P = 0.004), although in patients without CAD, survivors had significantly higher TC concentrations (203 +\/- 37 versus 170 +\/- 40 mg\/dL, P = 0.02). Multivariate analysis showed high TC predicted a worse outcome in patients with CAD (odds ratio (OR) = 1.052, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.002-1.104, P = 0.04), but a better outcome in patients without CAD (OR = 0.972, 95% CI 0.948-0.997, P = 0.03), independent of age, gender, medication, and complications. Thus, low serum cholesterol is associated with an improved outcome in patients with CAD, while it predicts a worse outcome in patients without CAD.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32377003,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Molecular analysis of the massive GSH transport mechanism mediated by the human Multidrug Resistant Protein 1\/ABCC1.\nThe transporter Multidrug Resistance Protein 1 (MRP1, ABCC1) is implicated in multidrug resistant (MDR) phenotype of cancer cells. Glutathione (GSH) plays a key role in MRP1 transport activities. In addition, a ligand-stimulated GSH transport which triggers the death of cells overexpressing MRP1, by collateral sensitivity (CS), has been described. This CS could be a way to overcome the poor prognosis for patients suffering from a chemoresistant cancer. The molecular mechanism of such massive GSH transport and its connection to the other transport activities of MRP1 are unknown. In this context, we generated MRP1\/MRP2 chimeras covering different regions, MRP2 being a close homolog that does not trigger CS. The one encompassing helices 16 and 17 led to the loss of CS and MDR phenotype without altering basal GSH transport. Within this region, the sole restoration of the original G1228 (D1236 in MRP2) close to the extracellular loop between the two helices fully rescued the CS (massive GSH efflux and cell death) but not the MDR phenotype. The flexibility of that loop and the binding of a CS agent like verapamil could favor a particular conformation for the massive transport of GSH, not related to other transport activities of MRP1.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37852369,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Spanish pacemaker registry. 20th official report of the Heart Rhythm Association of the Spanish Society of Cardiology (2022).\nThis article reports the cardiac pacing activity performed in 2022, including the total number of implants, adherence to remote monitoring, demographic and clinical factors, and the characteristics of the implanted devices. The information sources were the CardioDispositivos online platform, the European pacemaker patient identification card, and data provided by the manufacturers. The rates of conventional pacemakers and low-energy resynchronizers were 866 and 34 units per million population, respectively. A total of 815 leadless pacemakers were implanted. In all, 16426 procedures performed in 82 hospitals were reported (9407 through CardioDispositivos), representing 40% of the activity. The mean age was 78.6 years, with a predominance of men (60.3%). The most frequent disorder was atrioventricular block, and 14.5% of the patients had atrial fibrillation. There was a predominance of the DDD\/R pacing mode (55.6%), and pacing mode was influenced by age, such that more than one-third of patients older than 80 years in sinus rhythm received single-chamber ventricular pacing. The remote monitoring program included 35% of conventional pacemakers and 55% of low-energy resynchronization pacemakers. The number of conventional pacemakers increased by 5.6%, low-energy resynchronizers by 16%, and leadless pacemakers by 25%. Adherence to remote monitoring was stable. The number of procedures included in CardioDispositivos increased by 11%, although the sample volume decreased. In the coming years, the widespread use of the platform will likely lead to a high-quality registry.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17009709,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Comparison of different methods for examining the feces of suckling piglets for Isospora suis].\nA highly sensitive diagnostic method is of great importance for detection of I. suis (Isospora suis). In the present study KSFV (combined sedimentation-flotation method) using different flotation solutions (NaCl, ZnSO4, NaCl-sucrose) was investigated regarding sensitivity, costs and expenditure of human labour in comparison to FV (flotation method) using NaCl-sucrose solution and to AM (autofluorescence microscopy). Ninety faecal samples were examined. Using AM, oocysts were detected in 83.3% of the samples. In cases of KSFV and FV, respectively, 41.1% to 53.3% of samples were tested positive. The quantity of detected oocysts was markedly higher in AM than in KSFV or FV. Therefore AM is the most sensitive of the comprised methods. The expenditure of labour is lowest in AM, time exposure is lower in FV than in KSFV. For performance of AM a fluorescence microscope is required contrary to KSFV and FV.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15245169,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Density-of-states Monte Carlo simulation of a binary glass.\nA newly proposed Monte Carlo formalism has been used to simulate a glass-forming liquid above and below the glass transition temperature. The heat capacity exhibits a sharp peak at a temperature lower than that reported from extensive molecular dynamics simulations. Its height is larger than that reported earlier. At temperatures below mode coupling, the average inherent-structure energy of the configurations generated in this work is significantly lower than that reported in the literature. The entropy of the supercooled liquid is calculated directly from our simulations and that of a disordered solid is calculated by a normal-mode analysis. We find that at low temperatures these two entropy curves become essentially parallel. They do not intersect each other, raising questions about the existence of a Kauzmann temperature in this glass-forming mixture.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6154987,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Anti-idiotype antibody in the primate. 1. Characterization and specificity against cells primed for histocompatibility determinants.\nAn anti-idiotype serum was raised in a chimpanzee (A) by immunization with autologous lymphocytes primed in vitro against an unrelated chimp (B). This autoantiserum in the presence of complement was cytotoxic for 5 to 7% of the resting lymphocytes from chimp A and for 30 to 45% of the mixed lymphocyte culture (MLC) primed cells (A X Bx), but was not reactive against the lymphocytes of the priming chimp (B). Anti-idiotype antibody and complement treatment of autologous resting or primed cells blocked the ability of these cells to respond in MLC or primed lymphocyte test (PLT) to the stimulator cells from chimp B, but not to cells from a third chimp. When cells from the immunized animal (A) were incubated with the autologous antiserum in vitro, they were stimulated, thus producing cells which had the same activity in PLT as did cells primed against stimulator cells of chimp B. Thus, an autoanti-idiotype serum has been raised in a primate system which identifies the recognition structure on autologous T cells directed against antigeneic determinants on the stimulator cells of a histoincompatible donor.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17891974,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[Vertical distribution characteristics of organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls in sediment core from Lake Nansihu].\nThe organochlorinne pesticides (OCPs) and the polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in sediment core collected from Lake Nansihu were quantificationally analyzed by GC-ECD. The pollution history of OCPs and PCBs in this area was reconstructed by analysis of the concentrations of OCPs and PCBs connected with the deposition time by 210Pb isotope dating method. The results indicated that the concentration ranges of OCPs, HCHs, DDTs and PCBs were 1.64 - 17.9, 0.66 - 12.5, 0.24 - 2.99 and 7.84 - 42.8 ng g(-1) respectively. The sediment rate and the average mass sedimentation were calculated to be 0.330 cm a(-1) and 0.237 g (cm2 a)(-1), and the sediment time of this core sample ranged from 1899 to 2000. OCPs and PCBs had the peak value at 1960s and 1970s. The source analysis showed HCH came from HCH products and lindane, and HCH and DDT came from historic using. The source of PCBs had been deduced to be the blench process of paper making and incinerator emission. Except the concentration of beta-HCH, gamma-HCH and aldrin at 14 - 16 cm depth, the other concentrations of OCPs and PCBs were all less than the low ecologic risk value. The whole sediment core of Lake Nansihu belonged to the low ecologic risk level.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7922102,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Delayed effect of QUIN-neurotoxicity. Ultrastructural study.\nThe ultrastructural studies of QUIN-injected rat hippocampus were performed in long-term experiment in order to determine delayed neurotoxic effect of this compound. QUIN, in a single dose, was administered stereotaxically into the dorsal hippocampus. The morphological changes were characterized by marked atrophy of neuropil accompanied by remarkable glial pathology. The neuronal changes consisted in loss of many nerve cells, abnormalities of nuclear chromatin in the persisting pyramidal neurons and degeneration of postsynaptic dendrites. The glial changes were represented by electron-lucency of astrocytic cytoplasm and their processes. The mechanism of this reaction is unclear and the suggestion, that electron-lucent astrocytes represent a form of transformed glia especially sensitive to amino acids, releasing from degenerating neurons is discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26471644,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":2,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-18":1,"2024-30":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Intermolecular binding of blueberry pectin-rich fractions and anthocyanin.\nPectin was extracted from blueberry powder into three fractions of water soluble (WSF), chelator soluble (CSF) and sodium carbonate soluble (NSF). The fractions were incubated with cyanidin-3-glucoside (C3G), a mixture of five anthocyanidins (cyanidin, pelargonidin, malvidin, petunidin and delphinidin) or blueberry juice at pH 2.0-4.5. Free anthocyanins and bound anthocyanin-pectin mixtures were separated by ultrafiltration. WSF bound the least amount of anthocyanin at all pH values. CSF had stronger anthocyanin binding ability at pH 2.0-3.6, while NSF had stronger anthocyanin binding ability at pH 3.6-4.5. The pectin and anthocyanin binding was lowest at pH 4.5 and higher at pH 2.0-3.6. Nearly doubling C3G pigment content increased bound anthocyanin percentage by 16-23% at pH 3.6, which favored anthocyanin aromatic stacking, compared to 3-9% increase at pH 2.0. Ionic interaction between anthocyanin flavylium cations and free pectic carboxyl groups, and anthocyanin stacking may be two major mechanisms for pectin and anthocyanin binding.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28296251,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Association of Lead aVR T-wave Amplitude With Cardiovascular Events or Mortality Among Prevalent Dialysis Patients.\nIn dialysis patients, electrocardiogram (ECG) abnormalities are common. However, the associations between the T-wave of the lead aVR (aVRT) amplitude and cardiovascular (CV) events or total mortality are unknown. We performed a prospective, observational cohort study of prevalent hemodialysis patients (N = 474), followed for 4 years. Outcomes were composite CV events and all-cause mortality. Predictors were baseline aVRT and other ECG findings. ECG parameters were analyzed in three models: model 1, univariate; model 2, basic adjustments; and model 3, model 2 plus serum albumin, C-reactive protein level, and NT-proBNP. By Cox analysis, aVRT was best associated with both endpoints through model 1 to 3 compared to other ECG findings. Patients categorized according to aVRT amplitude showed a step-by-step increase in hazard ratios for both endpoints. The aVRT amplitude level was significantly associated with not only composite CV events but also with all-cause mortality in prevalent dialysis patients.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":12018433,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Effects of sucrose supplementation on dry matter intake, milk yield, and blood metabolites of periparturient Holstein dairy cows.\nThirty-four multiparous Holstein dairy cows (780 +\/- 17.2 kg body weight; 3.4 +\/- 0.08 body condition score) were used in a completely randomized design to evaluate the effects of fermentable carbohydrate source on dry matter (DM) intake, milk production, and blood metabolites of transition cows. Treatments were initiated 30 d before expected calving date. After calving, all cows went onto a similar lactating cow diet. Dry matter intake was measured daily, and milk production and composition were measured weekly for 56 d after calving The control diet consisted of 11.5% ground corn, whereas the treatment diet consisted of sucrose replacing 2.7% of ground corn on a DM basis. Prepartum plasma glucose concentrations were higher (66.3 vs. 69.3 +\/- 1.13 mg\/dl) for cows fed the diet containing sucrose. Glucose concentrations were not different postpartum. Prepartum and postpartum nonesterified fatty acids, blood urea N, and insulin did not differ between treatments. Substitution of sucrose as a readily available carbohydrate source for ground corn did not affect prepartum or postpartum DM intake. Milk yield, 3.5% fat-corrected milk yield, and milk components did not differ between treatments. Results from this research demonstrated that partially replacing ground corn with sucrose did not enhance prepartum or postpartum intake or performance.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":23327707,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[A new method for purification and identification of hepatocellular carcinoma stem cell of SMMC-7721].\nTo explore a new efficient purification method of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) stem cells and identify their features. Human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line SMMC-7721 was cultured in sphere-culture system of polyhedra-treated dish and tumor stem cell specific medium. Upon the formation of cellular sphere, the cells were inoculated subcutaneously into immunocompromised mice and received the interventions of different concentrations of cisplatin. Then the drug-resistant cells were purified and re-cultured in TSC medium. Finally the stem cell markers and tumor stem cell markers were determined through real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), immunofluorescence method and flow cytometry. Through the double filter of TSC medium and cisplatin-resistance, SMMC-7721 stem cells could be grown in a suspended form and formed spheres in TSC medium. The stem cell markers (NANOG, OCT-4, SOX-2 and Notch) and tumor stem cell markers (CD24, 90.0%; CD133, 6.1%; CD90, 4.8%) were all over-expressed in purified cancer stem cells as compared with ordinary cells. And the over-expression of CD24 was the most obvious. The combination of in vitro cell culture with TSC medium, in vivo proliferation and cisplatin resistance test is a new efficient method of purifying hepatocellular carcinoma stem cells. Tumor stem cell with stem cell characteristics and an over-expression of CD24 may be cloned from SMMC-7721.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7944617,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Immunohistochemical markers for arthritis in psoriasis.\nTo examine the immunohistological features in the involved skin of patients with psoriatic arthritis (PA) (n = 15), compared with those in involved skin from patients with psoriasis but no arthritis (n = 5), and with a group with normal skin (n = 4), to identify markers for arthritis in psoriasis. Skin was obtained from patients by 6 mm punch biopsy and normal skin was provided by the department of plastic surgery. Samples were stained with monoclonal antibodies against T cells (CD3, CD8, CD4, CD45Ro), B cells (CD20), macrophages (mac387), vascular endothelium (FVIII-related antigen) and a Langerhan's cell marker (p155). The number of cells\/vessels staining with each monoclonal antibody was calculated and serial sections of skin were examined to estimate the presence of DR+ keratinocytes. There were significantly more CD45Ro T-cells and blood vessels in patients with psoriatic arthritis compared with both psoriasis alone, and with normal controls (p < 0.02). While B-cells were not seen in psoriasis without arthritis or in normal skin, a small but significant number were observed in PA (p < 0.02). Furthermore, while DR+ keratinocytes were present in both psoriatic arthritis and psoriasis skin, there were significantly more DR+ cells in the psoriatic arthritis epidermis compared with psoriasis alone (p < 0.02). This study suggests that increased numbers of CD45Ro T-cells, greater vascularity, the presence of B-cells, and increased numbers of DR+ epidermal cells are markers for arthritis in patients with psoriasis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9546271,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Short- and long-term results of stapedectomy in children.\nStudies have indicated that stapedectomy can be an effective procedure in children for correcting conductive hearing losses due to juvenile otosclerosis. However, because childhood otosclerosis is rare and children commonly choose to use hearing aids in lieu of undergoing surgery, little outcome data are available. The purpose of this retrospective study was to provide additional outcome data in both the short and the long term. Stapedectomies were performed on 47 children. Preoperative hearing results were compared with 6-month postoperative hearing results. Hearing results for the children who had long-term follow-up (5 years or more) were compared with the 6-month postoperative results. Stapedectomy was successful (postoperative air conduction pure-tone average [PTA] within 10 dB of the preoperative bone conduction PTA) in 91.7% of the cases. The mean overclosure of the preoperative bone conduction PTA by the postoperative air conduction PTA was 0.2 dB. The mean PTA hearing improvement was 32.8 dB. Results from the 21 children (28 ears) who had long-term follow-up indicated an average 0.7 dB\/year PTA worsening from the 6-month postoperative PTA. Results from this study provide additional evidence that stapedectomy can be an effective procedure for correcting conductive hearing losses due to juvenile otosclerosis.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9564824,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Murine leukemia inhibitory factor gene disruption attenuates the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis stress response.\nRecently, we have shown that human fetal pituitary, mouse corticotroph AtT20 cells, and murine hypothalamus and pituitary express leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF). LIF knockout mice (LIFKO), heterozygous and wild type (wt), of B6D2F1 genetic background were used to examine whether LIF may play a role in the regulation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis in vivo. Resting levels of plasma ACTH and corticosterone were similar in all three genotypes. However, LIFKO mice did not respond to 30-min restraint and 45-min immobilization stress with increased plasma ACTH. Increased circulating ACTH was only observed in LIFKO mice after very short immobilization stress (15 min), but this ACTH level was lower than in wt animals (P < 0.05). Injection of mycobacterial adjuvant resulted in a 2-fold increase of corticosterone levels 7 days after treatment in wt, but not LIFKO, mice (P < 0.05). Pituitary POMC messenger RNA (mRNA) levels were very low in LIFKO animals. Although 15 and 45 min of immobilization stress resulted in enhanced POMC mRNA content in all three groups, this elevation was lowest in LIFKO mice. Injection of 12 microg murine LIF to LIFKO and normal C57BL\/6 animals resulted in increased plasma ACTH and corticosterone levels and elevated pituitary POMC mRNA levels in both LIF-repleted and LIF-depleted mice. Thus, LIF appears to play an important role in activating the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis during stress and inflammation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3054274,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"[The renin-angiotensin system in diabetic patients].\nWe review available data on the activity of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS), responsiveness to angiotensin II (ANG II), ANG II receptor number, and effects of inhibition of the RAS by angiotensin I converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors in patients with diabetes mellitus. Most authors, including ourselves, observed a normal or enhanced activity of the RAS in metabolically stable diabetics. Increased but also reduced activity of the RAS was described in nephropathic diabetes. This is in contrast to the common suggestion that the RAS of diabetics is generally suppressed and functionally inactive. The last assumption was mainly based on the finding of reduced ANG II receptor numbers in anorectic, severely hyperglycemic rats. These findings could not be reproduced in man, and a higher ANG II receptor concentration on platelets of diabetics goes in parallel with the frequent finding of an enhanced pressor response to infused ANG II in diabetes. This increased responsiveness is most probably of functional importance since the RAS is not suppressed - as one would expect - in the face of a supranormal body sodium content. A number of data also indicate that renal resistance vessels display increased responsiveness to ANG II in diabetics. This may be a reason for hyperfiltration. This notion is further supported by the reduction of albuminuria which is usually observed following inhibition of the RAS with ACE inhibitors, and which may be an index of reduction of glomerular capillary pressure in human diabetes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":15252021,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Role of tyrosine phosphorylation in the regulation of cleavage secretion of angiotensin-converting enzyme.\nBoth germinal (gACE) and somatic (sACE) isozymes of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) are type I ectoproteins whose enzymatically active ectodomains are cleaved and shed by a membrane-bound protease. Here, we report a role of protein tyrosine phosphorylation in regulating this process. Strong enhancements of ACE cleavage secretion was observed upon enhancing protein Tyr phosphorylation by treating gACE- or sACE-expressing cells with pervanadate, an inhibitor of protein Tyr phosphatases. Secreted gACE, cell-bound mature gACE and its precursors were all Tyr-phosphorylated, as was the endoplasmic reticulum protein, immunoglobulin heavy chain-binding protein, that co-immunoprecipitated with ACE. The enhancement of cleavage secretion by pervanadate did not require the presence of the cytoplasmic domain of ACE, and it was not accomplished by enhancing the rate of intracellular processing of the protein. The observed enhancement of cleavage secretion of ACE in pervanadate-treated cells was specifically blocked by an inhibitor of the p38 mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase but not by inhibitors of many other Ser\/Thr and Tyr protein kinases, including a specific inhibitor of protein kinase C that, however, could block the enhancement of cleavage secretion elicited by phorbol ester. These results indicate that ACE Tyr phosphorylation, probably in the endoplasmic reticulum, enhances the rate of its cleavage secretion at the plasma membrane using a regulatory pathway that may involve p38 MAP kinase.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26419522,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5}},"text":"Host-parasite coevolution in populations of constant and variable size.\nThe matching-allele and gene-for-gene models are widely used in mathematical approaches that study the dynamics of host-parasite interactions. Agrawal and Lively (Evolutionary Ecology Research 4:79-90, 2002) captured these two models in a single framework and numerically explored the associated time discrete dynamics of allele frequencies. Here, we present a detailed analytical investigation of this unifying framework in continuous time and provide a generalization. We extend the model to take into account changing population sizes, which result from the antagonistic nature of the interaction and follow the Lotka-Volterra equations. Under this extension, the population dynamics become most complex as the model moves away from pure matching-allele and becomes more gene-for-gene-like. While the population densities oscillate with a single oscillation frequency in the pure matching-allele model, a second oscillation frequency arises under gene-for-gene-like conditions. These observations hold for general interaction parameters and allow to infer generic patterns of the dynamics. Our results suggest that experimentally inferred dynamical patterns of host-parasite coevolution should typically be much more complex than the popular illustrations of Red Queen dynamics. A single parasite that infects more than one host can substantially alter the cyclic dynamics.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":37455856,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3,"dup_dump_count":2,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":1,"2024-18":1,"2024-30":1}}},"text":"A landscape ecology assessment of land-use change on the Great Plains-Denver (CO, USA) metropolitan edge.\nFor better or worse, in those parts of the world with a widespread farming, livestock rising, and urban expansion, the maintenance of species richness and ecosystem services cannot depend only upon protected natural sites. Can they rely on a network of cultural landscapes endowed with their own associated biodiversity? We analyze the effects of land-cover change on landscape ecological patterns and processes that sustain bird species richness associated to cropland-grassland landscapes in the Great Plains-Denver metropolitan edge. Our purpose is to assess the potential contribution to bird biodiversity maintenance of Great Plain's cropland-grassland mosaics kept as farmland green belts in the edge of metropolitan areas. We present a quantitative landscape ecology assessment of land-cover changes (1930-2010) experienced in five Great Plains counties in Colorado. Several landscape metrics assess the diversity of land-cover patterns and their impact on ecological connectivity indices. These metrics are applied to historical land-cover maps and datasets drawn from aerial photos and satellite imagery. The results show that the cropland-grassland mosaics that link the metropolitan edge with the surrounding habitats sheltered in less human-disturbed areas provide a heterogeneous land matrix were a high bird species richness exists. They also suggest that keeping multifunctional farmland-grassland green belts near the edge of metropolitan areas may provide important ecosystem services, supplementing traditional conservation policies. Our maps and indicators can be used for selecting certain types of landscape patterns and priority areas on which biodiversity conservation efforts and land-use planning can concentrate.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28530191,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles using bovine skin gelatin and its antibacterial effect on clinical bacterial isolates.\nNanoparticles are being increasingly used in day-to-day life. Therefore, concerns have been raised regarding their interactions with the surrounding environment. This study focused on a simple green method for synthesizing silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) in an autoclave at 15 psi (103 kPa) and 121\u00b0C. An aqueous solution of AgNO3 as a precursor of Ag-NPs and gelatin (type B) reducing and\/or stabilizing (capping) agent were used. The effect of various AgNO3 concentrations of certain gelatin concentration and various gelatin concentrations at constant AgNO3 concentration, and autoclaving time, was studied. UV-Vis spectra ascribed that the presence of localized surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of the synthesized Ag-NPs. TEM images and the selected area of electron diffraction confirmed, the formation of Ag-NPs with a diameter of approximately 5 \u00b10.35 nm. Furthermore, FT-IR revealed that a gelatin polymer matrix stabilized the synthesized Ag-NPs. The Well diffusion assay was used to test the effect of Ag-NPs on six clinical bacterial isolates, where Gram positive bacteria were more susceptible to Ag-NPs than Gram negative bacteria. Therefore, Ag-NPs capped by gelatin have remarkable potential effect as an antibacterial agent, and they not only have various medical applications but can also be used in biological, pharmaceutical and industrial fields.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":7923384,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Activation of AP-1 in primary B lymphocytes by surface immunoglobulin requires de novo Jun-B synthesis.\nWe demonstrate herein that resting primary B lymphocytes do not contain detectable levels of AP-1 (TRE)-binding activity. Upon cross-linking of surface immunoglobulin (sIg) receptors, TRE-binding activity is induced within 2 hr and its appearance requires de novo protein synthesis. Antisera to Jun-B inhibits the vast majority of TRE-binding activity, indicating that Jun-B is a primary component of B cell TRE-binding complexes. In keeping with this, Jun-B protein is not detectable in cytosol or nuclear extracts from resting B lymphocytes, as determined by immunoblotting with Jun-B antisera. However, the nuclear expression of Jun-B is induced within 2 hr following sIg cross-linking and is completely blocked by cycloheximide. 35S-labeling studies suggest that the increase in Jun-B expression results from de novo protein synthesis. Moreover, Jun-B migrates in SDS-polyacrylamide gels as two distinct electrophoretic proteins that correspond to a 41-kDa species and a phosphorylated 47-kDa form. These results suggest that the induction of AP-1-binding activity in primary B lymphocytes following sIg cross-linking does not result from post-translational phosphorylation of a preexisting cellular pool of Jun-B protein, but rather is coupled to the stimulation of de novo Jun-B synthesis. Thus Jun-B synthesis represents an integral event in the production of receptor-mediated AP-1 in B cells. The significance of these results with respect to the role of Jun-B in controlling gene expression during the activation of primary B cells is discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":22684071,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Overexpression, purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of putative molybdenum cofactor biosynthesis protein C (MoaC2) from Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv.\nRv0864 (MoaC2) from Mycobacterium tuberculosis is one of the enzymes in the molybdenum cofactor (Moco) biosynthesis pathway. Together with MoaA, MoaC is involved in the conversion of guanosine triphosphate (GTP) to precursor Z, the first step in Moco synthesis. Full-length MoaC2 (17.5 kDa, 167 residues) was cloned in Escherichia coli and purified to homogeneity. Crystals of recombinant M. tuberculosis MoaC2 were grown by vapour diffusion using a hanging-drop setup. Diffracting crystals grew in a condition in which 3 \u00b5l protein solution at 10.5 mg ml(-1) was mixed with 1.5 \u00b5l reservoir solution (0.025 M potassium sodium tartrate tetrahydrate pH 8.0) and equilibrated against 1000 \u00b5l reservoir solution. Diffraction data extending to 2.5 \u00c5 resolution were collected at 100 K. The crystal belonged to the cubic space group P2(1)3, with unit-cell parameter 94.5 \u00c5. Matthews coefficient (V(M)) calculations suggested the presence of two molecules in the asymmetric unit, corresponding to a solvent content of about 39%. Molecular-replacement calculations using the E. coli homologue as the search model gave an unambiguous solution.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28576412,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":3}},"text":"Test-retest reliability of the magnetic mismatch negativity response to sound duration and omission deviants.\nMismatch negativity (MMN) is a neurophysiological measure of auditory novelty detection that could serve as a translational biomarker of psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia. However, the replicability of its magnetoencephalographic (MEG) counterpart (MMNm) has been insufficiently addressed. In the current study, test-retest reliability of the MMNm response to both duration and omission deviants was evaluated over two MEG sessions in 16 healthy adults. MMNm amplitudes and latencies were obtained at both sensor- and source-level using a cortically-constrained minimum-norm approach. Intraclass correlations (ICC) were derived to assess stability of MEG responses over time. In addition, signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) and within-subject statistics were obtained in order to determine MMNm detectability in individual participants. ICC revealed robust values at both sensor- and source-level for both duration and omission MMNm amplitudes (ICC = 0.81-0.90), in particular in the right hemisphere, while moderate to strong values were obtained for duration MMNm and omission MMNm peak latencies (ICC = 0.74-0.88). Duration MMNm was robustly identified in individual participants with high SNR, whereas omission MMNm responses were only observed in half of the participants. Our data indicate that MMNm to unexpected duration changes and omitted sounds are highly reproducible, providing support for the use of MEG-parameters in basic and clinical research.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34402687,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Therapeutic Multidose Preparation of a Ready-to-Use 177Lu-PSMA-617 Using Carrier Added Lutetium-177 in a Hospital Radiopharmacy and Its Clinical Efficacy.\nIntroduction: [177Lu]Lu-prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-617 has emerged as a promising radiopharmaceutical for targeting PSMA in metastatic castrate-resistant prostate carcinoma (mCRPC). We have optimized the radiolabeling protocol for a multidose formulation (27-28.8 GBq equivalent to 6-7 patient-doses) of [177Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 using [177Lu]Lu3+ produced via 176Lu(n,\u03b3)177Lu route with moderate specific activity (0.66-0.81 GBq\/\u03bcg). Methods: [177Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 was synthesized using moderate specific activity [177Lu]LuCl3 (0.74 GBq\/\u03bcg) with PSMA-617 having metal-to-ligand molar ratio \u223c1: 2.5 in CH3COONH4 buffer (0.1 M) containing gentisic acid at pH 4.0-4.5. Human prostate carcinoma cell line LNCaP cell (high PSMA expression) was used for in vitro cell-binding studies and generating tumor xenograft models in nude mice for tissue biodistribution studies. Several batches of the present formulation have been clinically administered in mCRPC patients (single patient dose: 4.44-5.55 GBq per cycle). Results: In this study we report a consistent and reproducible protocol for multidose formulations of [177Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 for adopting in a hospital radiopharmacy setting. Although the radiochemical yield of [177Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 was found to be 97.30% \u00b1 1.03%, the radiochemical purity was 98.24% \u00b1 0.50% (n = 19). In vitro and serum stability of [177Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 was retained up to 72 and 120 h after radiolabeling and upon storage at -20\u00b0C with a radioactive concentration between 0.37 and 0.74 GBq\/mL upon using stabilizer concentration as low as 43-48 \u03bcg\/mCi. Preclinical cell-binding studies of [177Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 revealed specific binding with LNCaP cells of 17.4% \u00b1 2.4%. The uptake in LnCaP xenografted tumor (nude mice) was 7.5 \u00b1 2.6% ID\/g for \u223c1.5-2.0 cm3 tumor volume at 24-h post-injection. Post-therapy (24 h) SPECT image of mCRPC patients with prior orchidectomy and various hormone therapy showed specific localization of [177Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 in the tumor region. Conclusions: Formulation of a ready-to-use multidose formulation of [177Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 was successfully achieved and the procedure was optimized for routine preparation at a hospital radiopharmacy set-up. High degree of localization of [177Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 in post-therapy SPECT scan and the post-therapeutic response confirms its therapeutic efficacy. Clinical Trials.gov ID: RPC\/51\/Minutes\/Final dated 16th October, 2019.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28361010,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Verrucoid Variant of Invasive Squamous Cell Carcinoma in Oral Submucous Fibrosis: A Clinicopathological Challenge.\nVerrucous carcinoma (VC) is an exophytic, low-grade, well-differentiated variant of squamous cell carcinoma. It is described as a lesion appearing in the sixth or seventh decade of life that has minimal aggressive potential and, in long-standing cases, has been shown to transform into squamous cell carcinoma. Oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) is a potentially malignant disorder, and about one-third of the affected population develop oral squamous cell carcinoma. The histopathological diagnosis of verrucous carcinoma is challenging, and the interpretation of early squamous cell carcinoma requires immense experience. Here we present a rare case of a 24-year-old male with OSMF transforming to verrucous carcinoma with invasive squamous cell carcinoma. Even though the case had a straightforward clinical diagnosis, the serial sectioning done for pathological diagnosis disclosed the squamous cell carcinoma.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28365950,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Nitric oxide synthesis modulation - a possible diagnostic and therapeutic target in colorectal cancer.\nConsidering the contradictory literature data about the role of nitric oxide (NO) in colon carcinogenesis, the purpose of this study was to examine the changes of L-arginine metabolites in colon cancer and surrounding tissue as possible molecular markers of tumor behavior after surgery and the possibility of NO synthesis modulation in new individualized therapeutic strategies. The study encompassed 50 patients who underwent surgery for colorectal cancer (CRC). The three tissue specimens were taken by surgery (tumor, adjacent and healthy tissue) and the concentrations of NO2+NO3, asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) and symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA) were determined in the tissue specimens. The results proved higher NO2+NO3 concentrations in adjacent tissue compared to the tumor, implicating high angiogenic potential of the tumor-surrounding tissue, which could have clinical importance in the assessment of the probability of tumor local recurrence and metastasis. Increased ADMA concentrations in tumor tissue associated with low NO levels, could lead to new therapeutic strategies directed to the use of inhibitors of NO synthesis as ideal candidates for molecular therapy of CRC. ADMA concentration in adjacent tissue was an independent predictor of distant metastasis. The obtained results suggest that determination of the examined biomarkers in CRC and adjacent tissue samples could give useful information about tumor proliferative and angiogenic potential, which in turn could enable individualization of therapy and the choice of proper adjuvant therapy in patients with CRC.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28251166,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Clinical Features and Genetic Analysis of 48 Patients with Chronic Granulomatous Disease in a Single Center Study from Shanghai, China (2005-2015): New Studies and a Literature Review.\nChronic Granulomatous Disease (CGD) is a rare inherited primary immunodeficiency, which is characterized by recurrent infections due to defective phagocyte NADPH oxidase enzyme. Nowadays, little is known about Chinese CGD patients. Here we report 48 CGD patients in our single center study, which is the largest cohort study from Mainland China. The ratio of male to female was 11 : 1. The mean onset age was 0.29 years old, and 52% patients had an onset within the 1st month of life. The mean diagnosis age was 2.24 years old. 11 patients (23%) had died with an average age of 2.91 years old. 13 patients (28%) had positive family histories. The most prevalent infectious sites were the lungs (77%), followed by gastrointestinal tract (54%), lymph nodes (50%), and skin (46%). In addition, septicopyemia, thrush, and hepatosplenomegaly were also commonly observed, accounting for 23%, 23%, and 40% of the cases. Lesions due to BCG vaccination occurred in more than half of the patients. X-linked CGD due to CYBB gene mutations accounted for 75% of the cases, and 11 of them were novel mutations. Autosomal recessive inheritance accounted for 6% patients, including 1 patient with CYBA, 1 with NCF1, and 1 with NCF2 gene mutations.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":3055947,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Turner's syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease: a case report with immunologic studies.\nA patient with Turner's syndrome who developed ulcerative colitis (UC) is reported, and reports from the literature of 16 cases of Turner's syndrome with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are reviewed. Most of the patients previously described had severe disease. Half of the patients had ulcerative colitis and half had Crohn's disease (CD). Of those with Crohn's, most had colonic involvement. Of note, also, half of the patients had an isochromosome for the long arm of X which usually is found in only 17% of all patients with Turner's syndrome. A high incidence of autoimmune diseases is associated with this syndrome. We demonstrate the presence of specific anticolonic antibodies in this patient and propose some possible explanations for the association of this particular chromosomal disorder with autoimmune diseases.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":28256809,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) enhances the osteogenic activity of bone morphogenetic protein-6 (BMP-6) in vitro and in vivo, and together have a stronger osteogenic effect than when IGF-1 is combined with BMP-2.\nBone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) is widely used in orthopedic surgery and bone tissue engineering because of its strong osteogenic activity. However, BMP-2 treatments have several drawbacks and many groups are actively exploring alternatives. Since BMP-6 has been demonstrated to be more osteoinductive, its use, either alone or together with other growth factors, might be an interesting option. In this work, we have compared the effect of BMP-2, BMP-6, or insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), either alone or in combination. Murine preosteoblasts were treated with 15 nM IGF-1 and\/or 6 nM BMP-2 or -6 and the expression of osteogenic marker genes, proliferation, and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity in vitro were analyzed. The results showed that IGF-1 greatly enhanced the BMP-induced osteogenic differentiation of these cells in general and that the ALP activity in the cultures was higher when the combination was made with BMP-6 than with BMP-2. Furthermore, we tested the osteogenic potential of these treatments in vivo by loading 25 pmoles of IGF-1 and\/or 10 pmoles of BMP-2 or -6 onto absorbable collagen sponges and implanting them into an ectopic bone formation model in rats. This study revealed that only BMP-6 was able to induce bone formation at the used dose and that the addition of IGF-1 contributed to an increase of the mineralization in the implants. Hence, the combination of BMP-6 with IGF-1 might be a better alternative than BMP-2 for orthopedic surgery or bone tissue engineering approaches. \u00a9 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 105A: 1867-1875, 2017.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":35344459,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Subjective Nearness-To-Death and Retirement Anxiety Among Older Workers: A Three-Way Interaction With Work Group Identification.\nRetirement anxiety represents a major challenge for older workers who hold negative expectations and concerns regarding the consequences of their future retirement. Although prior studies suggest that retirement is an age-related transition that may serve as a reminder that life is nearing its end, little is known about how subjective nearness-to-death is related to retirement anxiety, and the role of work group identification as a boundary condition. The current study draws on terror management and social identity theories to hypothesize and investigate these relationships. A three-way interaction model was tested on a sample of 327 Israeli older workers. We found a positive association between subjective nearness-to-death and retirement anxiety. Further, we demonstrated that the positive relationship between subjective nearness-to-death and retirement anxiety was more prominent for older workers whose work group self-definition and self-investment were both high or were both low. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6174395,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Molecular analysis of the human interferon-alpha gene family.\nFifteen DNA clones containing sequences related to human interferon-alpha cDNA were isolated from a human chromosomal gene bank (Nagata et al., Nature 287 (1980) 401-408) and characterized by restriction mapping, R-loop and heteroduplex analysis. Nine distinct DNA segments hybridized strongly with interferon-alpha 1 cDNA and formed R-loops with poly(A) RNA from interferon-producing human leukocytes; most if not all of these segments represent functional interferon genes. Five segments hybridized weakly with the probe and did not form R-loops with the poly(A) RNA; one of these was characterized as an interferon-alpha pseudogene. Several DNA segments overlap and define a region of 36 kilobase pairs (kb) that contains three strongly and three weakly hybridizing sequences. From our data and those of Goeddel et al. (Nature 290 (1981) 20-25) we conclude that there exist at least 11 distinct genes of gene-like sequences of the interferon-alpha type in the human genome, of which most likely represents an allelic variant, and at least five pseudogenes distantly related to the interferon-alpha genes.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31603200,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Associative effects of wet distiller's grains plus solubles and tannin-rich peanut skin supplementation on in vitro rumen fermentation, greenhouse gas emissions, and microbial changes1.\nTwo sets of in vitro rumen fermentation experiments were conducted to determine effects of diets that included wet distiller's grains plus solubles (WDGS) and tannin-rich peanut skin (PS) on the in vitro digestibility, greenhouse gas (GHG) and other gas emissions, fermentation rate, and microbial changes. The objectives were to assess associative effects of various levels of PS or WDGS on the in vitro digestibility, GHG and other gas emissions, fermentation rate, and microbial changes in the rumen. All gases were collected using an ANKOM Gas Production system for methane (CH4), carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) analyses. Cumulative ruminal gas production was determined using 250 mL ANKOM sampling bottles containing 50 mL of ruminal fluid (pH 5.8), 40 mL of artificial saliva (pH 6.8), and 6 g of mixed diets after a maximum of 24 h of incubation. Fermenters were flushed with CO2 gas and held at 39 \u00b0C in a shaking incubator for 24 h. Triplicate quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) analyses were conducted to determine microbial diversity. When WDGS was supplied in the diet, in the absence of PS, cumulative CH4 production increased (P < 0.05) with 40% WDGS. In the presence of PS, production of CH4 was reduced but the reduction was less at 40% WDGS. In the presence of PS, ruminal lactate, succinate, and acetate\/propionate (A\/P) ratio tended to be less with a WDGS interaction (P < 0.01). In the presence of PS and with 40% WDGS, average populations of Bacteroidetes, total methanogens, Methanobrevibacter sp. AbM4, and total protozoa were less. The population of total methanogens (R2 = 0.57; P < 0.01), Firmicutes (R2 = 0.46: P < 0.05), and Firmicutes\/Bacteroidetes (F\/B) ratio (R2 = 0.46; P < 0.03) were strongly correlated with ruminal CH4 production. Therefore, there was an associative effect of tannin-rich PS and WDGS, which suppressed methanogenesis both directly and indirectly by modifying populations of ruminal methanogens.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":9564668,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Bone densitometry as an adjunct to GnRH agonist therapy.\nTo outline the optimal use of bone densitometry in women receiving gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist therapy. The use of bone densitometry during clinical trials of the use of GnRH agonists in endometriosis has resulted in a number of publications with varying conclusions about the effects of these agents on the skeleton. A review of this literature, taking into account known concepts of bone physiology and the varying quantities measured by different bone densitometry devices, was done to place these results into a common framework. Within this context, a proposal is made for when and how to use various bone densitometry methods in individual patients and how to interpret the results properly. Bone density in young women being treated for endometriosis is usually within the normal range, with even those 2 SD below normal not at significant risk of osteoporotic fracture. However, the clinical results show that most, if not all, women treated with GnRH agonists experience an increase in bone turnover due to estrogen deficiency during treatment, and this can result in a transient decrease in bone density. Even though the bone is regained after treatment is stopped, it may take years to recover fully. For those women who had low bone density to start, they may lose sufficient bone to increase their risk of osteoporotic fracture, and it is important to identify those individuals before treatment and to monitor them carefully. If the result of a peripheral bone density measurement (hand, forearm, heel) or central measurement (spine or hip) before treatment is higher than about 1 SD below a young normal mean, then even if a woman loses some bone, she will not have a significant increase in the risk of fracture. However, if a measurement is low (> 1 SD below the mean, putting her in the lower 15%), then it is advisable to have a spinal measurement by quantitative computed tomography or dual energy x-ray absorptiometry before and after therapy to determine what the bone changes are and to follow-up after the end of treatment. This is especially true if she decides to become pregnant, needs retreatment with a GnRH agonist or will be going through natural menopause in the near future; all can cause further bone loss. Different bone density methods give different information and must be interpreted properly when used in evaluating patients on GnRH agonist therapy. Any bone measurement may be used to assess skeletal status before treatment, but if a peripheral bone measurement is low, it should be followed with a spinal measurement by quantitative computed tomography or dual energy x-ray absorptiometry so that the effect of the treatment can be monitored. Bone loss is transient with GnRH treatment, but only spinal measurements have sufficient sensitivity to follow patients and evaluate the skeletal changes in a meaningful way.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31603308,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Activatable Fluorescence Imaging and Targeted Drug Delivery via Extracellular Vesicle-Like Porous Coordination Polymer Nanoparticles.\nCancer imaging with minimal background signal and targeted intracellular drug delivery are of vital importance in clinical cancer diagnosis and therapy. Herein, we developed a biomimetic nanoprobe for activated fluorescence imaging and targeted drug delivery. pH-responsive porous coordination polymer nanoparticles (PCP NPs) were first synthesized by a codeposition method, anticancer drug doxorubicin (DOX) was then loaded into PCP NPs through physical and electrostatic adsorption (PCP-DOX), and finally the cell membranes extracted from Bel-7402 cancer cells were coated on the DOX-loaded PCP NPs (PCP-DOX-CM). The fluorescence of DOX was quenched due to the fluorescence resonance energy transfer between DOX and PCP NPs. Under acidic environment inside cancer cells, PCP NPs degraded, DOX was released from PCP-DOX-CM, and the fluorescence of DOX was activated, which was very specific for cancers with a high signal-to-noise ratio. Benefited from immune escaping and homologous targeting ability from cancer cell membranes, compared with PCP-CM and PCP-DOX, PCP-DOX-CM significantly enhanced the cellular endocytosis of DOX in Bel-7402 cancer cells and exhibited excellent cancer therapy effect in vitro. Together, our work provides a useful platform for an activated cancer imaging system and personalized cancer treatment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":26473232,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"Description and phylogenetic relationships of a new species of treefrog of the Dendropsophus leucophyllatus group (Anura: Hylidae) from the Amazon basin of Colombia and with an exceptional color pattern.\nWe describe Dendropsophus manonegra sp. nov. from the upper Amazon basin in the eastern foothills of the Andes in Colombia (1 degree 47' 42.2\" N, 75 degrees 38' 48.7\" W; 1040 m a.s.l.). Phylogenetic analysis of DNA sequences of 2582 aligned base pairs of the 12S and 16S rRNA genes recovered the new species as a member of the D. leucophyllatus species group and sister to D. bifurcus. Morphological traits, such as the presence of pectoral glands in males and females, support this hypothesis. The new species is readily distinguished from all other members of the species group by having bluish-black coloration on fingers, toes, webbing, axillary membranes, groin and hidden surfaces of arms and legs. Some aspects on the composition and systematics of the D. leucophyllatus group are discussed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":31245887,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sperm morphology and evidence for sperm competition among parrots.\nSperm competition is an important component of post-copulatory sexual selection that has shaped the evolution of sperm morphology. Previous studies have reported that sperm competition has a concurrently directional and stabilizing effect on sperm size. For example, bird species that show higher levels of extrapair paternity and larger testes (proxies for the intensity of sperm competition) have longer sperm and lower coefficients of variation in sperm length, both within and between males. For this reason, these sperm traits have been proposed as indexes to estimate the level of sperm competition in species for which other measures are not available. The relationship between sperm competition and sperm morphology has been explored mostly for bird species that breed in temperate zones, with the main focus on passerine birds. We measured sperm morphology in 62 parrot species that breed mainly in the tropics and related variation in sperm length to life-history traits potentially indicative of the level of sperm competition. We showed that sperm length negatively correlated with the within-male coefficient of variation in sperm length and positively with testes mass. We also showed that sperm is longer in sexually dichromatic and in gregarious species. Our results support the general validity of the hypothesis that sperm competition drives variation in sperm morphology. Our analyses suggest that post-copulatory sexual selection is also important in tropical species, with more intense sperm competition among sexually dichromatic species and among species that breed at higher densities.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17886086,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Stability of vitamin B1 in Ultra Rice in the presence of encapsulated ferrous fumarate.\nFood fortification with iron is effective in combating iron-deficiency anemia. As iron is reactive, it can destroy micronutrients, contribute to poor taste, and discolor the food. Encapsulation could be used to prevent the reaction of iron with food components. The stability of thiamin (vitamin B1) and its effects on organoleptic properties in Ultra Rice were investigated in the presence of encapsulated ferrous fumarate. The preparation of simulated rice grains did not affect the solubility of encapsulated ferrous fumarate in simulated gastric juice. After 20 weeks at 40 degrees C\/ approximately 100% relative humidity, essentially all of the vitamin B1 and ferrous iron were retained. Antioxidants were effective in preventing the loss of thiamin and retarding oxidative rancidity catalyzed by ferrous iron. This study demonstrated the feasibility of incorporating both iron and vitamin B1 in a stable Ultra Rice formulation. Inclusion of other stable B vitamins in the formulation should be also feasible.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":34411203,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Influence of Abutment Design on Stress Distribution in Narrow Implants with Marginal Bone Loss: A Finite Element Analysis.\nThe aim of this study was to determine the effect of solid (one-piece) and two-piece abutments on the stress profile of narrow implants with marginal bone loss. Solid and two-piece abutments were connected to a conical internal octagon-connection implant (3.3 mm in diameter, 10 mm in length) and restored with a single crown. Three-dimensional finite element analysis was used to simulate the stress distribution in implant models with different levels of marginal bone resorption (0, 1, 2, and 3 mm). The effect of the design variables under increased bone resorption scenarios, including abutment screw length and diameter, was assessed. Static loading was applied to determine the mechanical response of the implant and cortical and trabecular bone. Marginal bone resorption levels dominated the mechanical response under static loading conditions. A marginal bone loss of 3 mm significantly increased stress values in the implant vicinity and abutment screw. Both abutment designs displayed similar stress distribution in the surrounding bone, but lower stress values were observed in the implant body with two-piece abutments. The abutment screw length was more effective in the resultant stress, as the longer screws reduced the stress in the implants. Marginal bone resorption magnitude is the crucial parameter in biomechanics to determine the mechanical behavior. As bone loss increases, resultant stress around implants under mastication forces may lead to implant failure, regardless of abutment type.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16149092,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":3}}},"text":"The epigenome as a molecular marker and target.\nTumor cell proliferation, de-differentiation, and progression depend on a complex combination of altered cell cycle regulation, excessive growth factor pathway activation, and decreased apoptosis. The understanding of these complex mechanisms should lead to the identification of potential molecular markers, targets, and molecular profiles that should eventually expand and improve therapeutic intervention. It now appears clear that methylation plays a central role in transformation, both in vitro and in vivo. However, the exact targets and mechanism(s) are not yet fully understood. This is partly due to the significant number of genes altered by changes in intracellular methyltransferase activity and the chemical agents used to modulate gene expression. The complex nature of methylation's role in regulating gene expression suggests that in addition to investigating individual genes, researchers should develop more comprehensive methods to examine gene expression patterns and their predictive value as this will likely be necessary in the future. If methylation plays a role in transformation, then it seems logical that genes regulating intracellular methylation status may be used as molecular markers to profile tumors by any new methods currently being developed. Perhaps more noteworthy is that DNMT genes may be found to be novel molecular targets for new factor-specific anticancer agents. This idea will be addressed.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":17192310,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Conserved determinants for membrane association of nonstructural protein 5A from hepatitis C virus and related viruses.\nNonstructural protein 5A (NS5A) is a membrane-associated essential component of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) replication complex. An N-terminal amphipathic alpha helix mediates in-plane membrane association of HCV NS5A and at the same time is likely involved in specific protein-protein interactions required for the assembly of a functional replication complex. The aim of this study was to identify the determinants for membrane association of NS5A from the related GB viruses and pestiviruses. Although primary amino acid sequences differed considerably, putative membrane anchor domains with amphipathic features were predicted in the N-terminal domains of NS5A proteins from these viruses. Confocal laser scanning microscopy, as well as membrane flotation analyses, demonstrated that NS5As from GB virus B (GBV-B), GBV-C, and bovine viral diarrhea virus, the prototype pestivirus, display membrane association characteristics very similar to those of HCV NS5A. The N-terminal 27 to 33 amino acid residues of these NS5A proteins were sufficient for membrane association. Circular dichroism analyses confirmed the capacity of these segments to fold into alpha helices upon association with lipid-like molecules. Despite structural conservation, only very limited exchanges with sequences from related viruses were tolerated in the context of functional HCV RNA replication, suggesting virus-specific interactions of these segments. In conclusion, membrane association of NS5A by an N-terminal amphipathic alpha helix is a feature shared by HCV and related members of the family Flaviviridae. This observation points to conserved roles of the N-terminal amphipathic alpha helices of NS5A in replication complex formation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":21158237,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Sonographic characteristics of presumptively normal canine medial iliac and superficial inguinal lymph nodes.\nThe medial iliac and superficial inguinal lymph nodes are not routinely palpable in the dog, and ultrasound imaging provides an alternate noninvasive technique to assess these lymph nodes, as well as to guide needle aspiration. Herein we describe the ultrasound characteristics of the medial iliac and superficial inguinal lymph nodes in 50 healthy dogs, as well as frequency and ease of node detection. The relationship between the size of the lymph nodes and the following variables was assessed: age, gender, body weight, body condition score, body length, and thoracic height and width. Right and left medial iliac lymph nodes were detected in 50 (100%) dogs, right superficial inguinal lymph node(s) in 49 (98%) dogs, and left superficial inguinal lymph node(s) in 47 (96%) dogs. In > 90% of both sets of lymph nodes, the echogenicity was hypoechoic or isoechoic to surrounding tissues, with a corticomedullary or homogenous echotexture, smooth, clearly defined margins, and a fusiform shape. Increasing weight, distance from the sternal manubrium to the ischium, and thoracic height and width were associated with increased lymph node size (P-values < 0.05). Average lymph node sizes and range of sizes provide preliminary reference values for the medial iliac and superficial inguinal lymph nodes in normal dogs.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":32370604,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Soilborne Phytophthora and Pythium Diversity From Rhododendron in Propagation, Container, and Field Production Systems of the Pacific Northwest.\nRhododendron root rot is a severe disease that causes significant mortality in rhododendrons. Information is needed about the incidence and identity of soilborne Phytophthora and Pythium species causing root rot in Pacific Northwest nurseries in order to better understand the disease etiology and to optimize disease control strategies. The last survey focusing solely on soilborne oomycete pathogens in rhododendron production was conducted in 1974. Since then, advances in pathogen identification have occurred, new species may have been introduced, pathogen communities may have shifted, and little is known about Pythium species affecting this crop. Therefore, a survey of root-infecting Phytophthora and Pythium species was conducted at seven nurseries from 2013 to 2017 to (i) document the incidence of root rot damage at each nursery and stage of production, (ii) identify soilborne oomycetes infecting rhododendron, and (iii) determine whether there are differences in pathogen diversity among nurseries and production systems. Rhododendrons from propagation, container, and field systems were sampled and Phytophthora and Pythium species were isolated from the roots and collar region. Root rot was rarely evident in propagation systems, which were dominated by Pythium species. However, severe root rot was much more common in container and field systems where the genus Phytophthora was also more prevalent, suggesting that Phytophthora species are the primary cause of severe root rot and that most contamination by these pathogens comes in after the propagation stage. In total, 20 Pythium species and 11 Phytophthora species were identified. Pythium cryptoirregulare, Pythium aff. macrosporum, Phytophthora plurivora, and Phytophthora cinnamomi were the most frequently isolated species and the results showed that Phytophthora plurivora has become much more common than in the past. Phytophthora diversity was also greater in field systems than in propagation or container systems. Risks for Phytophthora contamination were commonly observed during the survey and included placement of potting media in direct contact with field soil, the presence of dead plants that could serve as continuous sources of inoculum, and the presence of excess water as a result of poor drainage, overirrigation, or malfunctioning irrigation equipment. In the past, research on disease development and root rot disease control in rhododendron focused almost exclusively on Phytophthora cinnamomi. More research is needed on both of these topics for the other root-infecting species identified in this survey.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":29381739,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"Impaired memory is more closely associated with brain beta-amyloid than leukoaraiosis in hypertensive patients with cognitive symptoms.\nHypertension is the strongest modifiable risk factor for subcortical ischemic changes and is also a risk factor for Alzheimer's dementia. We used neuroimaging to investigate the pathological basis of early cognitive symptoms in patients with hypertension. In this cross-sectional cohort study 67 patients age >60 years with hypertension and Clinical Dementia Rating scale score of 0.5 without dementia, and without history of symptomatic stroke, underwent MRI for measurement of subcortical vascular changes and positron emission tomography (PET) scan with Pittsburgh Compound B (PiB-PET) to detect beta-amyloid deposition. These imaging measures were related to neuropsychological tests of memory, executive function and processing speed. Mean age was 75.0 (standard deviation, SD, 7.3). Mean neuropsychological Z scores were: episodic memory -0.63 (SD 1.23), executive function -0.40 (SD 1.10), processing speed -0.24 (SD 0.88); 22 of the 67 subjects met criteria for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and the remaining 45 subjects had subjective cognitive concerns only. In multivariable models adjusting for age and years of education, each 0.1 unit increase in mean cortical PiB-PET binding was associated with 0.14 lower mean Z score for episodic memory (95% CI -0.28 to -0.01). This means that for every 0.1 unit increase in mean cortical PiB-PET, episodic memory was 0.14 standard deviations lower. White matter hyperintensity volume, silent brain infarcts and microbleeds were not associated with neuropsychological test scores. Episodic memory was prominently affected in hypertensive participants with MCI or subjective cognitive concerns, and was associated with PiB-PET binding. This suggests a prominent role for Alzheimer pathology in cognitive impairment even in hypertensive participants at elevated risk for vascular cognitive impairment.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":16145548,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":5,"dup_dump_count":1,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"2024-10":1,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The effect of transformation on the virulence of Streptococcus pneumoniae.\nAlthough pneumococcus is one of the most frequently encountered opportunistic pathogen in the world, the mechanisms responsible for its infectiveness have not yet been fully understood. In this paper, we have attempted to characterize the effects of pneumococcal transformation on the pathogenesis of the organism. We constructed three transformation-deficient pneumococcal strains, which were designated as Nos. 1d, 2d, and 22d. The construction of these altered strains was achieved via the insertion of the inactivated gene, comE, to strains 1, 2 and 22. We then conducted a comparison between the virulence of the transformation-deficient strains and that of the wild-type strains, via an evaluation of the ability of each strain to adhere to endothelial cells, and also assessed psaA mRNA expression, and the survival of hosts after bacterial challenge. Compared to what was observed with the wild-type strains, our results indicated that the ability of all of the transformation-deficient strains to adhere to the ECV304 cells had been significantly reduced (p < 0.05), the expression of psaA mRNA was reduced significantly (p < 0.05) in strains 2d and 22d, and the median survival time of mice infected with strains 1d and 2d was increased significantly after intraperitoneal bacterial challenge (p < 0.05). The results of our study also clearly indicated that transformation exerts significant effects on the virulence characteristics of S. pneumoniae, although the degree to which this effect is noted appears to depend primarily on the genetic background of the bacteria.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}
{"meta":{"pmid":6360446,"dup_signals":{"dup_doc_count":4,"dup_details":{"curated_sources":2,"unknown":2}}},"text":"The distribution of lymphoid and macrophage like cell subsets of sarcoid and Kveim granulomata: possible mechanism of negative PPD reaction in sarcoidosis.\nImmunohistological observations of lymphoid and non-lymphoid cell subsets in biopsies of sarcoid skin granulomas have been compared with positive Kveim tests and the sites of PPD injection in sarcoid patients. Monoclonal antibodies have been used in indirect immunofluorescence often in combination with histochemical methods for the detailed characterization of the cells involved. The antibodies used included two new reagents, RFD-1 and RFD-2, which react with interdigitating cells and acid phosphatase positive macrophages, respectively. Sarcoid granulomas had a distinctive pattern of organization though there was a heterogeneity of macrophage like and T lymphoid cells. In the centre, predominantly HLA-DR+, acid phosphatase positive macrophages (RFD-2+) were seen and the lymphoid cells were almost exclusively T4+. At the periphery of the granulomas the HLA-DR+ dendritic cells were ACP negative and RFD-1+. Here T8+ cells were admixed with the T4+ population. The Kveim granuloma had fewer RFD-2+, macrophages and therefore the RFD-1+ cells were more evenly distributed, but the other cells showed a similar distribution to the established lesions. The PPD injection sites contained fewer T cells than the normal control infiltrates in PPD positive healthy individuals. The T4+\/T8+ ratios were about 3:2. The most likely explanation for the PPD anergy in sarcoidosis is the sluggish traffic of T4+ cells which could be due to the sequestration of T4+ cells in sites of ongoing inflammation.","subset":"pubmed_abstract"}